#GRAH ITS A COMIC

[basilthymee]

Humble beginnings.

[shenxhi]

What Xie relationship with Mei, Wukong, and Nezha...?

— GRAH THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION!!, basically Mei and Xie treat each other like sisters. Xie is quite shy and soft and doesn't do well in confrontations so Mei would often protect her and stand up for her. Meanwhile Wukong has trouble staying in room with her because something happened between them,no they are not exes but he does carry some sort of guilty when he sees her 👀, it's very deep in the comic tbh !. Meanwhile Nezha and her never actually met each other personally due to Nezha so busy with his work in heavens, but I do have an AU where Nezha sees Xie as his younger sister and very protective of her its called Lotus and Hydrangeas AU x3! —

(GRAHHH ENJOY Y'ALL ASKING SIJXJS PLEASE ASK MOREEE )

[gorgynei]

yashas comic was supposed to be a fun summer treat for me! its currently set to release on my first day of school.

[yoshimickster]

Legion of Superheroes Issue 8 Rant

OKAY-oooooooooooookay, I NOW understand that Brian is making the Legion of Super Heroes the worst super hero team on PURPOSE, I GET that, they are bunch of stupid teenagers making terrible decisions and the ultimate lesson from the series is to learn from their mistakes. The artwork is also top notch, featuring a CAVALCADE of DC’s best artists. It ALSO finally starts to focus on the Legionaires as singular characters which I enjoy.

THAT SAID THOUGH-even understanding what he’s going through...ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuck this comic! HIT THE READ MORE!

NOW-for any hardcore Superman or LOSH fans, I’m about to show you the dumbest fucking addition Brian has added to the canon since Rogol Zaar. And trust me...its going to piss you off.

MON-EL...the...FAMOUS honorary brother to Superman, who is a DAXAMITE, from the MODERN FUCKING ERA, is now GENETICALLY related to SUPERBOY....GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

TELL ME THIS IS A FAINT! TELL ME HIS KRYPTONIAN PARENTS ADOPTED HIM! THIS! IS! SO! FUCKING! LAME!

I mean my GOD, think of the implications it takes away form the found family aspect, Lar Gand was but a brother to Kal-El for a day, but chose to keep the name Mon-El to honor him the fight for the future. NOW-its just his born mother fucking Kryptonian name and I FUCKING HATE EVERYTHING!

BUT-once again, this COULD be a faint, and even though I’m still...BOILING with rage...I WILL ALLOW...Bendis to...prove himself-GRAH I’M SO FUCKING MAD HE’S FUCKING WITH SO MUCH LORE FOR NO REASON-in the future.

Edit: YES I’m aware I typed Lor Zod instead of Lar Gand, its humid and I’m PISSED OFF!

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #147: Crisis on Other-Earth

May, 1976

Which is, of course, a riff on DC’s Crisis on Earth-Whatever type stories. Where superheroes cross universes to team up. Or fight, in this case. Because Marvel.

A good cover that feels like it fits into that whole Crisis on Earth-Whatever type story. Really tries to hook you in. Serpent Crown? War Against the World? Squadron Sinister (no they’re explicitly not the Squadron Sinister, they’re the Squadron Supreme but they are acting kinda sinister grah)? The rest of the Avengers holding the line so Wanda can escape with the crown? Tell me more.

Last time: the Avengers Captain America (not technically on the team right now), Iron Man, the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Beast (on a trial membership), and Hellcat (Patsy Walker doing a ride-along, found a supersuit and went hells yes I want to be a superhero) were investigating the sinister Brand Corporation when they were captured by the Squadron Supreme (thinly-veiled parodies of the Justice League FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE). The Avengers busted out, escaped some missiles, and prepared to fight the Squadron again when Roxxon president Hugh Jones sent both teams back to the Squadron’s world.

And that’s where we pick back up.

Dr. Spectrum wastes no time getting the ‘donneybrook’ started, blasting the Avengers with his Power Prism. But Iron Man shoves Hellcat and Beast out of the way and takes the attack.

Hellcat is the second into the fray, jump kicking Hyperion right in the face and then dodging his reprisal punchies, musing how the suit has heightened her natural athleticism.

Also good on you, Patsy, for immediately picking the biggest person and kicking him in the face. You’ll go far in this biz, kid. Then you’ll die. Then you’ll come back to life again. And then you’ll get your own book where you start a superpowered temp agency.

The Whizzer proves that superspeed is only as good as the user by rushing straight at Iron Man and getting repulsored for his lack of tactics.

And Vision shoves a hand right through Lady Lark, intangible pain style, to take her out of the fight. Lady Lark is kind of a glass cannon. Her sonic song is pretty OP but she’s not that hard to knock out.

Golden Archer takes exception to Vision hurting his ‘bird’ but then Cap throws his mighty shield and it hits him in the stomach so he kinda has to yield.

And Scarlet Witch makes good of her recent powerup by using scarlet witchcraft to turn Dr. Spectrum’s Power Prism against him.

But then the military arrives. Army helicopters, tanks and troops, oh my! Even Airforce Whichever One Is The Helicopter.

(Sadly Hellcat’s daring ‘Kick the Superman-Ersatz in the face’ strategy did not end well, with Hyperion putting the literal squeeze on Hellcat and also Beast who joined her at some point)

Because of Different Universe, the president of these United States is Nelson Rockefeller. And he’s wearing the Serpent Crown DUN DUN DUN!

Even though its an incredibly powerful and dangerous artifact, it still makes for an absolutely ridiculous hat.

Cap recognizes the Serpent Crown from Captain America and the Falcon #181 where the Serpent Squad used it on Hugh Jones (Roxxon President) so they could use his oil rig to raise Lemuria from the sea. Lemuria being some Atlantis type dealie and the crown being from there and also EVIL. Luckily, Nomad And Definitely Not Captain America, stopped their schemes.

The takeaway is that the crown is bad news. Which Vision reads loud and clear and immediately ghosts.

Just intangibles right behind President Rockefeller and swipes the crown from him. And then tosses the arcane obscenity to Scarlet Witch.

She threatens to destroy it if the president doesn’t call off his goony goons. Which he does. Sort of desperately. And allows the Avengers to run off with the crown while everyone glares at them impotently.

After they’ve gone, President Rockefeller does a cross-universal psychic telephone call.

Because here is the thing: the thing is this: all Serpent Crowns are the same Serpent Crown and they’re all manifestations of the single nethermind. So anyone that wears a crown in whatever universe becomes the crown’s servant forever, linked with whoever else wore the crown in whatever universe.

Pretty terrifying for a gaudy hat.

So Rockefeller reaches out to contact Hugh Jones (Roxxon President) who is at the moment doing damage control over all those missiles that exploded the roof of the Brand facility.

But apparently having actual missiles launch through your roof doesn’t merit more than a verbal reprimand because Colonel Buzz Baxter just promises that they’ll put better controls on their next missiles and the police leave just like that.

This world is corrupt.

Interestingly, the narration makes a point that in the Squadron World, bereft as it is of a Nixon, nobody could suspect that a president is up to no good. Even though he wears a snake crown in public.

Meanwhile, some sunbathers have their rays blocked by Vision and Iron Man flying overhead. Even though they were sunbathing, they are apparently up on current events and recognize the two as some of the ‘aliens’ that were rioting downtown and go to report it.

Meanwhile again at street level, all the not as cool kids who can’t fly are just trundling along. Scarlet Witch, Cap, Hellcat, and Beast.

Although. Beast has been an ape, a lion, a horse-faced lion, and an ape again. Maybe his random mutations through mammalia will make him into a bat. And then he can be a beautiful blue flying garbage man.

I digress. It’s practically all I do aside from synopsizing in an irreverent manner.

Scarlet Witch has been probing the crown with her witch senses, I guess. Knowing instinctively not to put it on, its evil power is still wearing on her. Like a One Ring. Or <insert corruptive evil artifact of choice here>.

But she has determined that this particular corruptive evil artifact has crowned the heads of all the Squadron’s world’s major conglomerates at one time or another. And with its mesmerizing power, banded them all together psychically to take control of the government and big business.

Hence why Rockefeller is president, since his family is as big business in this world as in the 616 (and our world).

But the Avengers get so involved in this conversation about how there was no big moment when evil took control, just a gradual change-over, that they don’t notice Wanda has collapsed, and just walk on without her.

Vision notices though because of course he does.

Meanwhile and actually meanwhile for a change, the Current West. Thor, Hawkeye, Moondragon, and Two-Gun Kid arrive back in the present. Hawkeye even found his shirt again at some point.

While Two-Gun marvels that the Current West looks just the same as the Old West, Hawkeye Explains. The reason he’s leaving the Avengers this time is because while he was in the past, he realized he really dug the western scene. And being a bow-and-arrow man will make more sense out here than in Manhattan, Hawkeye claims. He’s not quitting though. He just won’t be around. But if they really need him, give him a call.

I think he just wants to play cowboy for a while longer.

Anyway, he and Two-Gun head off to catch some wild cayuses.

And Moondragon wants to Real Talk with Thor.

BUT WHOOPS SCENE IS CHANGING OH WELL

While the rest of the Avengers walked on, Vision swooped down to check on Wanda Witch. And the Serpent Crown really is like a One Ring or a horcrux because Wanda starts shouting at Vision that he’s a cold, unfeeling computer that never cared about her.

To his credit, Vision realizes immediately that this is the crown’s influence and suggests that maybe he take it for a while to reduce the burden slash influence on her.

She doesn’t take kindly to him trying to take her precioussss so she blows him up and runs off, intending to return to the president.

Meanwhile, Hyperion slums it with Golden Archer and Lady Lark. Just casually sauntering like non-flying people do. What a lark, if you’ll forgive the expression, Lady Lark. One leg in front of the other, how zany.

What isn’t zany is Lady Lark and Golden Archer having a big relationship fight. Time and place, guys. Time and place. It kind of darkly foreshadows some tragic stuff that happens in the Squadron Supreme maxi-series though.

Hyperion just doesn’t understand Earth’s courting rituals but reassures himself that as the Earth’s most powerful superhero, it’s impossible for him to become interested in women.

Which again kind of darkly foreshadows some stuff from the maxi-series, where Hyperion’s evil duplicate kills Wonder Woman-ersatz’s husband because he wants to be with her.

Geez. Knowing what happens in that maxi-series makes a lot of earlier appearances of the Squadron that tiniest bit harder to read.

Okay. So the takeaway is that the Squadron are people with their own problems and are not cackling mustache twirling supervillains.

And also that Hyperion runs smack dab into Scarlet Witch just when he’s talking about his disinterest in women. Just the woman they were looking for and such.

Except Vision was right behind her and he is pissed.

And now its time to show that Vision has one of the most effective powersets in Marvel comics, at least whenever he’s not being instantly taken out by cape devices so he won’t single-handedly solve everything forever.

Hyperion rushes in, peeved that Vision copped that tone with him.

And bounces off Vision who had switched to his high density form.

He then goes intangible so that Golden Archer’s detonation arrow flies right through him.

Lady Lark goes to sing but Vision just Solar Beams her, knocking her out.

So Golden Archer uses his ultra-sonic siren arrow (which is kind of like having Lady Lark in convenient arrow form as far as her actual participation in fights goes). The ultra-sonics stun Vision long enough for Hyperion to CRUMP him with a light pole. And then wrap it around him to tie him up.

Meanwhile, ‘a greater war is being waged’ as the Scarlet Witch has a battle of wills against the evil consciousness behind the Serpent Crown as it tries to get her to don that crown.

As Hyperion ties up Vision, he comments that he used this against his archenemy Burbank (Not-Luthor. Because he’s much more hirsute) the first time they fought and that he has always considered it one of his best.

Vision just deadpans “How wonderful” (which I think is his version of ‘cool story bro’) and floats down into the ground, out of the pretzeled streetlight. BECAUSE DENSITY CONTROL!

And then he pops up and Solar Beams Golden Archer.

Its Super Effective.

Because, yes. I do have to make that joke every time.

Hyperion is pretty fed up by this point. Or really, at every point of this encounter. And he gives a pretty neat badass boast while BLAM! and BOM!ing Vision around.

Unfortunately, Vision counters with his own badass boast. And he who boasts last boasts best, probably.

Hyperion: “You -- humbled me, Avenger -- something no man or creature has ever done -- or will ever do -- a second time! I AM HYPERION -- sent to Earth to become its greatest champion -- more powerful than the crashing surf -- able to fly, to see thru walls, bend titanium with my bare hands! I am invincible -- invulnerable!”

Vision: “Are you, Hyperion? Even when you face -- THE UNEARTHLY POWERS OF THE VISION?! There is no material object I cannot enter -- and disrupt!”

And down goes Hyperion.

Lady Lark has recovered her senses by this point. And sort of rolls her eyes at the men telling her to stay out of the fight, men that at this point have fallen like rag dolls.

She goes to do the one thing that she do. But Wanda punches her in the back of the head.

The narration even sort of bemoans Lady Lark’s lot in life.

Poor Lady Lark! It’s always a gamble with her super-power: will she sing her song of inevitable victory--? --Or will her opponents silence her first, and save themselves?

Anyway, Scarlet Witch is back to herself, obviously. Either that or the crown really doesn’t like Lady Lark for some reason.

But, no. She’s back in full control over her facilities.

Some part of her refused to submit to the Serpent Crown’s mental coercion. Either the inner strength of a true witch or her mutant soul or maybe being a stubborn cuss.

Vision proposes that instead it was love because that’s the kind of romantic fool Vision is, despite his computer brain and logics. He just really believes in the power of love over ancient evil crowns.

And then they kiss.

Which will get the Scarlet Vision (I personally like the ship name ‘Seeing Red’) fans hype.

And like the past several many pages of action scene didn’t even happen, Vision offers again to carry the evil crown. He doubts that it can influence his beep boop robot mind but even if it can, LOVE WILL SAVE HIM!

Also, they just walk off leaving Hyperion, Golden Archer, and Lady Lark lying unconscious in the street. But what are brightly primary colored costumes for if not to prevent people from accidentally running you over when you’re lying unconscious in the road?

And that’s how Vision soloed Superman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary.

Next time, the rest of the Avengers get their chance to fight some ersatzes some more.

Hey, follow me @essential-avengers, why not? Its the dedicated side-tumblr just for this liveblog. Send me Avengers questions or share your own thoughts on the issues I’ve been covering!

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Kado 11 | Boku no Hero Academia 26 | Hina Logi 1 | Grimoire of Zero 12 (FINAL) | Tsukigakirei 12 (FINAL)

I’ll just leave another reminder for this straw poll here, because I need a tiebreaker vote.

Kado 11

Even anisotropic beings have dreams? Welp, that was unexpected.

Uh, hey. Kado staff. Algerian people don’t all look like Asians, y’know? Google says Algeria is in Africa…

So, staff. Why is Shindo the only man/person/human who can stop zaShunina?

Oh yeah. Shinawa knows a way to stop the fregonics!

Basically how I feel about Kado is how Hanamori feels about the situation + Saraka right now – confused and torn.

(laughs) Thank…(face falls) you, Hanamori, for making me laugh with your mapo tofu comment and remember why I loved this show in the first place. It was fleeting, but good…Wait, but isn’t abduction against the law?

Uhhhh. Kado staff. The fregonics suit has boob space. Meaning a woman will wear it…awkwarddddddd…

Finally, we get back from our “shonen battle” roadtrip to drive to the final battle.

zaShunina’s like an old lady now, LOL. Reading on a rocking chair and enjoying the sunset.

Yeah…please just keep your lips away from each other, guys. I was here for the negotiation, remember?

Oh. That wasn’t a boob plate. I was LOLling at their idea to give that to a woman, because the one woman who needs that plate is Shinawa, whose job is already over. Good thing I was wrong there, then. It’s also interesting to note this suit looks like a gladiator suit…like humanity has reverted itself to medieval times to fight zaShunina, who represents the future. (I’m still laughing though, because I knew Shindo was hot under that shirt, but damn, I did get more than enough eye candy this season just by this one gladiator suit…and zaShunina’s butt.)

Well, I kinda did get what I wanted by having the Hanamori/Shindo ship broken, but even though I got a het ship (which I’m normally more supportive of), I don’t support this het ship at all.

It’s cute to see a floating pink cube act like a phone. Or one of those annoying fairy companions…

Welp, it’s almost over. See you next ep for the final simulcast commentary.

Boku no Hero Academia 26

Apparently BnHA’s on break this week, meaning I’m caught up after this.

There was a thing called work experience that we had to do at one point – that’s how I got the experience needed for One Wish They Never Wanted’s bookstore scenes.

It’s cool to see Eraserhead and Present Mic in the same situation as Deku and everyone else. Aizawa looked kinda bishie then, which is unexpected.

I don’t get the reference involving acid blood…

That’s nice. I already knew the names everyone was going to come up with due to the time I’ve spent on the wiki, but the homage becomes much more significant when you see it in context.

Dangit, Midnight. You stole my explanation thunder.

I always wondered why Shouto never got a better hero name. So he literally just used his own name, huh?

I wanna cry at the Iidas’ plight but I have no tears, dangit!

I don’t get it- what’s the “air chair exercise”?

Gran Torino. I’ve watched the movie that has that name, it’s about a vintage car (Ford Gran Torino), an old guy called Walter (Walt for short) and racism. I always suspected Walt was the reason Gran Torino (hero) was named thusly...but until Horikoshi says something about it, we’ll all have to keep speculating…(By the way, the racism perspective in that movie resonated with me, despite my not being a Hmong person. Maybe I’m not properly acknowledging it, but it might be one of my inspirations for Half-Paid Heroes…?)

Hina Logi 1

I have come here to hate on this magical girl spinoff, because man, Luck and Logic squandered what could have been a very good plot – it was “pretty but no substance”, to quote a past me. Indeed, it’s because magical girls are my passion that I have high expectations of new entrants into the genre…

Okay, what is this? Hogwarts???...Actually, the best match, right down to the white turrets, would be Alfea of Winx Club.

It’s stoic girl, Ojou-sama + companions and Shinawa-lite. See? Stereotypes, although I ribbed the names from ANN (having read it a few weeks before I got here). However, before I read ANN, I’d already predicted this would be a pile of road apples.

I feel like I should know who Nina is (from ANN), but I didn’t get far enough to familiarise myself with Nina in the original Luck and Logic, haha.

This genki glutton girl is basically gender bent shonen cliché, y’know? Serve me something slightly different, and I’ll be a happy camper.

I can’t believe I laughed at Nina going “my teacher told me to”, because I expected it.

The humour isn’t funny in this for the most part…the eyecatch says, “16th May. Fluffy! (Fuwaafuwaa!)” “Fluffy” of course being in reference to the messed-up hair.

Urgh, this fanservice is driving me up the wall and giving me a headache…

Ooh, nice transformation sequence!

Enough with the yuri between Nina and Lion! Gah!

“May 16th. From this point forward,  [Kagura] became very angry.” (I had to Google the teacher’s name. She’s so insignificant this episode, I can’t even remember it…)

Lion’s face is getting more annoying by the second…

“May 16th. Everyone ate heartily.” (I used the word “heartily” because I didn’t have a better substitute for oishii in this case, but *shrugs* I don’t care either way.) The use of itadaku I’m still fairly new to, so hopefully someday I can use the word with confidence…

“…reminds me of my mommy.” – Gah, Lion. Are you a toddler? I imagine you with a toddler’s tone when the subs say that.

“Send your beloved Hina on a journey.” – It’s actually a reference to something. Check this article’s title for what it is. That’s a Japanese proverb which says to not baby your kids too much.

I feel like this is a pretty clean drop. After all, if I rage for all the wrong reasons (and come out with a slight headache in the end), you know that the show is a drop.

Grimoire of Zero 12 (FINAL)

Thirteen’s with the crew at the end of the OP. Huh.

I have the feeling that Holdem will never kill Thirteen, even though that dogface is trying to stab the sorcerer right now.

Intruders,much? It’s an army!

It seems like these animal fights were meant to be a big spectacle but observe the background animals and see how off model they are. That’s how much care was put into what was meant to be the show’s climax this ep.

I would’ve loved to see Mercenary do a Batman backhand. Those are always cool and sometimes funny.

The cloud and white-frame animation look gorgeous in a sakuga way! Now we’re talking!

Having someone die solves nothing. It is only those who need an outlet for blame that require needless death, am I right?

Ohhhhhhhh! One kiss made at least 2 or 3 people jealous, LOL.

I wanted to see Mercenary as a human. He could’ve been real hot…dangit.

The ED song is real cute and iyashikei. I don’t think I’ve properly listened to it until now, so…good on me for doing so, haha.

Tsukigakirei 12 (FINAL)

Tsukigakirei’s been a middle ranker for me most weeks, so to suddenly get better around the time when Kado fell was practically begging for the two to switch places…(Note: I’ve made a personal ranking for each ep in a document I’ve kept all to myself, and I haven’t posted them online. That’s why I’ve had comments that indicate where shows are on that ranking at the start and end of an ep’s simulcast commentary.)

That sparkly shot of the river is in the OP too, so when there was a shot of Kotarou and Akane, I was disappoined I wasn’t seeing the OP (even though I still think the live-action bit is a lil’ weird). It’s cute how those guys are wearing the same jackets, though.

There’s a water thermos in the back of Tachibana’s (glasses guy’s) bookstore.

Kotarou’s dragon background is so cool. I want one.

The thing with the rhino doesn’t translate well. The word for “goodnight” here is oyasuminasai and rhino is sai, so…yeah. I think it would be better to call it “sleep rhight” (including typo) to convey that pun better, but hey. I’m not going to major in Japanese.

When Chinatsu revealed she got into the same school as Kotarou, I verbally went, “Oh no!” Don’t you remember how I was with ep 7???

Even Chinatsu has that black jacket, so it seems to be a school-issued one.

My heart just broke a lil’ bit as Chinatsu hugged Kotarou…I’m not sure what to make of it…

I’ve never seen “graduation” being abbreviated to “grad” unless it’s “grad school” and the “grad” in that stands for “graduate” (noun). It’s a very American term, so I never use it, but…the term translated to “grad” is “graduation ceremony” (sotsugyoushiki). Seriously though, CR. Enough with your Comic Sans translations.

The translation of the prologue misses something. The first sentence has da to omou at the end, meaning “I think…”.

A novel board. Y’know, like Honeyfeed. I’ve got quite a lot of experience with ‘em, because I don’t intend to be a person who gains money from writing…not fulltime, anyway.

There’s a site called Syousteuka ni Narou which is basically Honeyfeed for a Japanese audience, with the added bonus of possibly getting your works into print and then anime. The recently announced Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari, as well as Re:Zero and a lot of its kin, have come from that board. It’s pretty clear that Syousetsuka is being parodied here, that’s all…even though the titles of the websites are completely different phrases.

What’s that bird with the long neck called? The one standing in the water? I wanna know…

Normally with anime tears, it’s like me and CGI - I bash most efforts. However, I think this is the effort that I commend the most so far…this anime season is full of surprises…Well, Kotarou? Can you keep up with a girl that does track?

Everyone cries when someone leaves, so long as that person has made an impact. I know that all too well…

Dangit trash CGI people. Just as I got used to you, you become obvious again! Grah!

I admit I shed a few tears there…I’m not crying, you’re crying! (Also, if you haven’t paid any attention to what I’ve been writing, One Wish They Never Wanted was based on similar experiences to Kotarou and Akane’s graduation, although a lot of it happens outside Takuma’s point of view and so I didn’t write it.)

Oh! Hey, these are the end of ep LINE convos from previous eps, coupled with pics of the ones who typed them! The “seaman” convo would’ve made more sense if the translator would’ve bothered translating the word “semi” (short for “seminar”) as it was, because that makes more sense. I really don’t get the “marr” one though.

Well, any show that makes me cry on its first run is a show I don’t regret. I still feel weird putting Kado below it, because Kado was betted than Tsukigakirei for most of its run (as I’ve said at the start of this commentary). Regardless of what happened though, I guess…I’ll see you all for the next show then! Bye for now!

[peanutdracolich]

Peanut Dracolich Watches Horror: Poltergeist (1982)

So first things first I have in fact seen this film before. I might have missed the very beginning but I have seen it in pieces and in most of its entirety at least once as a child between the ages of the youngest two in the film. As it did not scare me then, I didn’t expect to be scared now even though it would probably be easier (due to willing buy in with the scary instead of child-like obliviousness).

That said intestinal issues had me pausing the film for about 2 hours during its 2 hour length, and was having some level of distracting physical sensation throughout. As a horror film, like a short story, is made with delicate pacing, and direct single sitting consumption this hurt the film a lot and yet it was still a fun enough movie to be enjoyable, and one that I don’t think hit my horror buttons well so much as fun buttons. It was a film I didn’t mind watching in this state and a functional distraction.

I’d guess at it being worse than The Omen, at least as a horror movie; it’s just not scary, but ghosts are a hard sell for me (not because they’re unbelievable, but because as a kid I fervently believed in them and that they were highly likely to be good). Still the use of music struck me as worse than The Omen, the lighting was, well it used the bright and cheering lighting for a purpose, the cast was worse. Where The Omen was solidly B all around (with grah protagonist being a C-), Poltergeist was C+. I’ve not watched enough Horror movies while paying full attention to form a top 100 (I mean I haven’t counted, I might have watched 100 but ordering them wouldn’t be my cup of tea) but I’d not guess at Poltergeist coming in above 60. Still it is a fun film, and the reason it sank into the American subconscious is evident; in fact as it plays on the horror laying beneath the skin of the idealized America of the time (which we’re more jaded about now) it was probably a better film then.

Play by play and a shrunken Good/Bad/Ugly below the cut.

The Good:

The Special Effects: While rudimentary by today’s standards they’re good enough for the purposes of weaving the spell (just require a little imagination on the viewer’s part) and have some nice ones.

The Bad:

Putting the children back in that bedroom: I don’t care if it was only for 1 hour, I don’t care if it was only for 1 minute. I don’t care if the psychic lady said the house is cleansed. You do not put your children back in that room. You do not let them in that room. It was stupid and sort of feels out of character and forced.

The Ugly:

The Tree: While the special effects are basically good throughout the film, this scene looked goofy.

The Play by Play:

Poltergeist (1982)

 So I started this earlier but comp crashed losing my writing, had to update. Things went poorly. Let's give this a take 2. Since I'll be giving the basic intro of what I know when I write an overview tomorrow or whenever I do it, I'm not going to here, I'm going to go straight into the film.

 The start with the American Anthem is neat in that it's that all-American sound that really sets it at home in the American suburb. It is not a story of horror on merely the personal level, but of the rot in the American people. It also starts with blurry images in a TV screen, including the flag raising at Iwo Jima which from there gives way to static.

 Quiet start with a dog seeing if it can wake people up or not by stealing the food they're sleeping on. Disgusting people by the way. Dog likes potato chips, not that I can completely blame him. Husband does not like embracing his wife, having chosen to sleep in the chair watching TV instead. I mean the little girl is being drawn to the flashing TV, and talking to the static fairies that live within, but really of the four bothersome things this is the most normal. Small children talk to the static fairies, the ones in my TV as a child told me to play video games, and this girl seems to have trouble hearing them. Play video games. The fairies love Mario. Still this is normal. The TV flickering and flashing that brightly is not, you might want to have that checked on. But the big problems are: You're using potato chips as a pillow, and dude you prefer the cold embrace of a chair to your wife. One of you might need some help with eating habits and the parents might just need marital counseling.

 We get to see the suburbs, and the little shits of kids who live there. They send RC cars out to crash the bike of a guy carrying a load of six packs. They're little shits, and no one reprimands them. The guy is in too much of a rush and just carries spraying beer cans into the house for fear of missing one extra moment of fools' ball.

 A bird has died in one of the children's Star Wars themed rooms and the mom wishes it'd have waited till a school day and flushes it hoping the daughter won't see. I'm going to say the bird died from negligence.

 We also get more 'people are obsessed with TV' and a show that these people have much better TV remotes, through 2 walls, and 10+ ft while not directly pointed at the set. This is a much better remote than I ever had.

 They bury the bird instead of flushing it since the little girl caught her. More important than the TV but less funny. The girl gets over the bird quickly and wants a gold fish. There's also a creepy tree. I do not remember the creepy tree, but conservation of detail promises me it is an important thing so I am noting it.

 And we see that the young boy and young girl share a room and the Star Wars themed part is the boys and he reads Captain America comics. He's an all American boy and excepting his creepy clown doll has good taste; Star Wars is awesome, and classic Cap (before Marvel decided to play around with the idiot ball) is awesome. Boy also has an Alien poster. This implies he has seen Alien.

 We see the parents have a TV in the bedroom. WHY WAS THE DAD SLEEPING IN A CHAIR WATCHING IT INSTEAD OF WITH HIS WIFE? I'm not sure what they're watching, it could be a war movie, or it could be Twilight Zone. I feel I might be missing something by missing the reference; I'm thinking I've seen it and as I don't watch war movies, but have marathoned the Twilight Zone I'm guessing it's an episode of Twilight Zone. Apparently the daughter sleep walks, which is not what we saw, and the mom did as a kid, which makes getting a diving board problematic. Bits of middle aged man yearning for the glories of youth, and kids' room. And actually I think it's a war movie; I don't know why it's familiar.

 The boy is scared of flashes of thunder outside, and his clown doll. This is weird. Kid's clown doll is implied to have been there, and same with the tree, yeah stormy night makes it worse, but the kid has a night light. This bothered me as a kid. He seems mostly bothered by the thunder, but that's after he covers the clown. I found the clown logically bothersome as a child and remembered bother is bothering me now. The tree bothers me less. It's a new house, maybe it's the first thunderstorm, and the boy thinks the tree wants to kill him. Trees have faces sometimes. Trees watch you. Old trees grow wicked and cruel. They can hate you. Most trees are friendly spirits. They are normally protective and kind. Loving and caring things. This is an evil looking tree. The little kids end up in their parents' bed; the tree is conspiring against their marriage.

 We get a non-blurry version of what the dad was watching last time, images of the Lincoln Memorial, the Iwo Jima flag raising pose (really a statue). AMERICA (Fuck yeah), and then the TV becomes much brighter as it begins to flicker with static, drawing the girl in. She has become its creature. The TV controls her. There are actual static fairies, flickering lights which reach out for her as a skeletal and spectral hand, and then move as cartoonish ghost spirits over the bed, before causing the room to bounce and leap. "They're here." It's a happy, cheerful, little line. The presentation sells it, and the movie goes from vaguely toxic suburb to something is wrong.

 As a note I'm pretty sure my make believe of static fairies as a child was me mocking this movie having seen most of it. Oh and a glass spontaneously drops its bottom, that's a bad sign, a fork and spoon are twisted that weren't moments earlier... and the girl is watching the static.

 The elder daughter is hit on by the pool digging construction crew, who also do thigs like taste the cooking beans(?) and put the spoon back into the beans, and steal the mom's coffee through the window. Chairs move themselves, and dog sees people where there are none. The chairs have stacked themselves. There's a ghost, and the mom believes something is up.

 We get a scene of the father trying to sell a house that is either the house earlier or more likely an identical house. And it's Phase 4, where the family is in the first Phase 1 house. There's a comment about how all the houses are the same, and the dad tries to sell their customizability. He arrives home to an excited wife, who wants to show him how the magic chairs work. She's not cooked any dinner because she's been playing with them all day (understandable, but the little girl complains). We get to see the magic chairs moving on their own.

 The dad and the mom go to the neighbors and... are awkward. As they stand outside getting bit by mosquitoes, they eventually ask if they've had anything of that sort. Neighbors think they're crazy; a good use of showing through implication as opposed to directly doing...

 How the hell did I forget the scene with the tree reaching through the window and abducting the boy. I might have missed it. Some bad 80s effect show up. Oh and before I forget we got some of the dad thinking about the safety of his family first in saying everyone should stay out of the kitchen, and the mom just being excited. Still there's a tree eating a child and it's exciting. Though the parents are there to save him... unlike the daughter who is getting sucked into the bright light in the closet. The father saves the son, as the tree is pulled into Arthurian times by the Necronomicon, and they realize no one is watching their baby girl and... she's missing. Adult fear is real, and having seen the film before I know the film would do something to a small child.

 They look for the girl, and there's just a gnawing knot of worry in my stomach... though that might be my intestines being a pain as a stomach bug and too much wheat has left me with some intestinal rebellion. Still they start to look everywhere, and the boy, covered in ketchup and mustard (I think it's supposed to be blood and mud from the tree attack but it looks like someone just squirted ketchup and mustard on him), finds her in the tv behind the static.

 And the knot was intestinal. So while things are paused let's look at the tree scene in more detail, since the purity of pacing is wrecked anyway, and my lack of memory of it is bothering me. It's not scary enough for me to believe I blocked it out. I was never one to be scared of trees as a child, though the cartoon scenes like this were creepier and scarier. Maybe it's just the lack of fear made it not stick. It's supposed to be scary, though, but... maybe it just failed that hard. Maybe there's the instinctive trust that the parents would get him safe at work. I mean right now being distracted with my stomach going angry at me definitely didn't help, the boy's counting build up to it was theoretically good. Hands reaching in and grabbing him, but looking a little phony. I don't know. Maybe it's just that the creepy whispering of something trying to lure the little girl is more terrifying, and the look of everything being pulled it. It is definitely overshadowed by the creepier but less immediately dangerous events, and its special effects are just not all that. Maybe, though, I just deeply trusted most trees as a child. I can't say. Whatever it is I wasn't scared as a child and I'm not scared now... though again part of that might be that stomach gives a more immediate and dominant visceral reaction.

 Either way back to continuing. The girl is now in the TV and the mother reaches for it to try and push into the Darkside, and pull her daughter from the Mirror Universe. Yes I know this came before Prince of Darkness. Still they go get parapsychologists to investigate what's going on. They're talking about how much paranormal energy is involved in moving a matchbox car 7 ft in 7 hours, and the dad is just giving them a look of 'yeah that's impressive hurry up' and opens the children's room to them and despite bad special effects you get a fun scene where things are flying about and the parapsychologist lady's just shocked.

 Still they start talking about the difference in a haunting and a poltergeist. Hauntings are about places, poltergeists are about people. Hauntings last years, poltergeists are short term. Given the film's name...

 We get a good scene of the mom talking to the missing little girl, and the parapsychologists watching. Good reactions, good creep with the girl's voice, stuff to make us feel for the family. It's a good scene, a good combination of pathos and creep, and the parapsychologist's warning to stay away from the light helps sell the lady as a character. The relief of the mom as 'smelling' her daughter after she 'moves through her soul' is... well the acting isn't good enough to really get past the cheese and it comes off a little melodramatic but is touching with a mother's desperation sense, and adult fear. And then something dark drives her off... and something bit a dude.

 Dad wants them all out before night, he doesn't trust the house (reasonable), mom doesn't want to leave it as long as her daughter is stuck in it (also reasonable). The older daughter wants out (Also reasonable). And we cut to the night with them all still in the house, and the parapsychologists having a little freak out in private (also reasonable). It's reasonable in they're trying not to freak out the family, and she actually does confide in the mom that she doesn't perfectly understand and is scared, that she's out of her depth. It's an example of hiding thing because on the same side that makes sense; after watching Saw yesterday and Adam this is nice to see.

 The boy child (Robby) makes things creepy, though, by being morbid. 1) He thinks his little sister is dead and a ghost (reasonable). 2) He thinks that if he died he would have the same thing happen (he's a small child this is reasonable). 3) He thinks they could tie a rope around him to pull him and Carol Anne out (sort of odd; like if I wasn't writing it I'd not question it, but weird thought for a small child). 4) The dad gets an idea lightbulb from this (and remembering they do that in the end, sort of odd).

 Parapsych lady tells how ghosts happen and it's mostly a good, sort of chilling scene, except that the 'they stay around to watch TV' line is a little too... I get it the film is about TVs. Still it's a nice scene.

 So I've mentioned being in the midst of some stomach issues. I am eating because by Hades I need to eat. Watching the meat begin to rupture from within, the chicken leg drop from his mouth crawling with maggots, and then the parapsych aide guy dig his own face apart was not what I needed with food in my mouth. Good job movie. Good job. Nah the scene was legit good, creepy, and gross, but wasn't what I need with my stomach at the moment.

 Other parapsych aide is slacking and listening to rock music (drawing the stairway to heaven with a girl's head at the bottom), and ignoring that the machines are saying 'shit's about to go down'. Good going watch dude. Good job. And yes this time it is sarcastic.

 Movie is sparing with the music but it begins to rise to emotional effect as a ghost arrives. Now in Saw I complained about laugh track of horror, and to an extent that is common to horror movies. Sound is an extremely important part of horror movies. Music can make things many times creepier. This film has been doing not the best on music, band that makes it more obvious that this is 'be creeped now music' but it's effective, it's not a sudden jarring sound, but a building one that builds with the scene. It is not an auditory jump scare, it is not a laugh track of horror, but your standard horror music. It works, even if I do find that The Omen and anything John Carpenter made has better music.

 The kids are shipped off. Aide #1 has fled. Aide #2 is staying. Parapsych lady is taking the tapes, leaving, and will be coming back with help. Get the feeling that she cares about the family. And the dad's boss arrives to see why the dad hasn't shown up for work; the excuse is the flu but... well they try and rush him from the house. The boss drags him away to show him something, and we learn Carol Anne was born in that house. We also learn that the house was built on a relocated cemetery.

 Music tells me to be scared. Not the most effective. I'm going to say that is largely because the purity of effect of the film has been shattered by stomach and pausing. More than any genre I find horror suffers when you break it up (this is movies, and short stories, and others intended to be taken in with a single sitting; novels and series are traditionally exempt). So it does hurt my enjoyment of the film, that said despite feeling much worse than yesterday (but not the day before where I didn't watch anything) I am enjoying the film. I am not scared by the film, but the fact that I wasn't scared by the film as a child (I believed in ghosts as a child, but held no fear of them) sort of sabotaged it anyway.

 The vaguely creepy (she scared me as a child), Southern old psychic lady has arrived. The father doesn't believe in her, the mother does. The father has not generally been the disbeliever, but he has been cautious. Still she earns some points by... hearing him whisper? I'll accept that it's supposed to be quieter in comparison to the rest than it seems, everything is vaguely whisper in this film. The psychic lady (I have not caught her name if it's been said) begins to explain what's happening, the daughter is a light that the ghosts want, and distracts them from the other light. There is an evil presence, the beast, that is perceived as a child by Carol Anne and is keeping her, using her to keep the others from moving on. Still Lady Van Helsing gives the call to arms and preparations begin.

 The father has to threaten the daughter into coming, using her fear of discipline (he threatens a spanking after making it clear he has never spanked her in her life), and she begins to pull from the beast and... Lady van Helsing makes the mom tell the girl to run towards the light (the true afterlife instead of limbo) and lie about being in the light waiting for her. It's a painful scene to watch (in a good way). The mother pained to do it, but doing it trusting that it is for her daughter's own good.

 They establish that the closet it linked to the living room ceiling, a wormhole that passes through the limbo realm. The mother then tells the small girl not to go into the light, making it almost certainly confusing to the small child who they keep telling 'avoid the light' 'go into the light' 'avoid the light'.

 One of them will have to be tied to the rope and go into the Limbo Realm. The mom, the dad, and Lady Van Helsing fight over who gets to go, but the mom wins because she's the best choice. I want to say you know that the mom will be alright, that she'll get the child, but ... I want to say I was certain as a child, and my foreknowledge makes it hard. Still the psychic lady starts to try and encourage the souls to pass over and the father pulls them back early, drawing the Beast to attack... Still when he drops the rope, the mom and daughter fall out. Despite lacking real worry it's a good scene.

 The psychic lady declares the house clean, and we see the family beginning to move. A conversation with the elder daughter highlights that the mom's hair has gone gray in places and that the daughter is family with the motel they're going to because... she's gone there for sex. I didn't catch that as a child.

 Husband is quitting his job, they're moving, and they're going to sleep in a motel tonight, but... the children's bed time is before he gets home, they go to bed in the house. In that room. Sleep on a sofa. This is just... Worrisome. And the mom knows it and... Gah.

 And there's the scene of the creepy clown trying to kill the boy! I've been waiting. I remembered that one. It's an effective use of a... well there's build up and it's not 'remove a sheet from something HORROR MUSIC' to generate horror, it builds and grasps. A ghost attacks the mom, the closet turns evil, and the bedroom door locks itself. Fungus grows from one door, a strange four legged ghost-skeleton with weirdly long front legs appears in front of the other. It looks sort of cool.

 We learn they didn't relocate the graveyard. Skeletons are floating up out of the pool, coffins rising from the ground. This movie is not going to have skeletons kill the mom or do anything that bad to her. It's child friendly horror, but for a moment you almost feel it might, and the scene works regardless. The neighbors arrive and save the mom (who had been calling for their help), but are freaked out by the strange sounds and lights.

 We get a lot of nice effects in this part. Some nice momma bear too. She manages to pull them free as the husband arrives home... with the boss? And the graveyard erupts preventing him from getting in two help. The mom and children are calling for the dad. He ends up screaming at the boss about 'you left the bodies behind and only faked moving them' and the family escapes the house. They get in the car and the older daughter arrives, but won't get into the car (she's having a freak out)... Her extended freak out there is a bit... Get in the car already. The house implodes into the portal and the boss doesn't seem to have gotten any comeuppance which disappoints me. I mean he's breaking down and crying, but 'lost his best employee' doesn't sting enough.

 They arrive at the holiday inn, battered, bruised, scared, but whole and a family. The father immediately pushes the TV out, they have escaped its curse. I for some reason thought there was an ending of it trying to call the young daughter out again. I guess not, childhood memories playing with me. I wash the credits just in case of course. After all if it's a poltergeist it's tied to a person not a place, but there's nothing.

[yoshimickster]

Okay the more I read of 90s Supergirl, the more I feel they NEED to bring back Mae Kent and Linda Danvers(No relation).

AND YEAH-I’m mother fucking calling Matrix MAE KENT-as Ma and Pa Kent think of her as her daughter so DAMMIT she is!

Its like...WHY, why can’t there be more than one Supergirl? Batman has over a THOUSAND prodigies, yet DC seems fit to make the Superman family so...CONDENSED!

AND WHERE THE HELL IS POWER GIRL-do  NOT tell me because Earth-2 was destroyed because helllllllllllllllllllo CONVERGENCE! GRAH-god damn you DC, you’re my favorite comic book company but you leave me HIGH and dry! ESPECIALLY with female superheroes, its unchecked sexism that’s gone on WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long!

[yoshimickster]

What I feel would’ve improved StarVS(part two of a few)

Hey, its Mick again, how hangs it? Its weird that I’m both criticizing a show I still somewhat like, as WELL as giving off a list of things that I feel would improve it BEFORE its finale, but I feel its still worth talking about. Today I’m gonna talk about the forgotten Los Angeles suburb that we all miss-

-Echo Creek, settled on the battlefield of a massive opossum war, this charming town is composed of several gi-GANTIC hills that people thought putting houses on was a good idea because its Los Angeles. With that, I’m going to point out all the forgotten characters in the show, and how they could’ve EASILY stayed in the show, or how they could’ve been improved while they were still there. 

FIRST OFF-

-Ferguson and Alphonso. Many wondered where the HELL they went in season 2 after having prominent roles as side characters in season 1. The answer is that they were BANISHED due to the creators being able to write more of the original story they WANTED to write, that never featured them. As you may or may not  know, Alphonso and Ferguson were never meant to be a part of the show, Disney made the writers squeeze them in because they wanted Marco to have male best friends as for whatever dumb reason they thought a show with a female-centric cast wouldn’t sell as much. SPOILER ALERT-it totally sold as much, and once they got the season 2 order Alphonso and Ferguson were PRETTY much out.

How they could’ve been improved: Now once again I understand WHY they were written out, but the fact of the matter is that while the writers hated them, the fans didn’t, hell in one of the comics-

-they were even ADVERSTISED to be in it! They were THAT much of a draw. Ultimately, what I feel would’ve improved their characters if the show straight up ACKNOWLEDGED that they weren’t supposed to be in the story, like maybe have them gone for only half or a quarter of the season, and then explain that Omnitraxis took them out of the space time continuum as they never truly belonged. Either that or just...keep them in normal style and develop them beyond the role of “Funny fat friend” and “Funny foreign friend” respectively, but what do I know?

How they could’ve stayed: The EASY answer is having them be squires to Star as well, allowing them to become just as kick ass as their best pal Marco...buuuuuuuuuuuut there’s a better answer: LET MARCO VISIT HIS FREAKING FRIENDS! Remember in “Marco Jr” how the Diazes gave him crap for not visiting as much? THAT-was a valid ass point considering oh I don’t know-HE OWNS MAGICAL SCISSORS(another reason to hate the original “Neverzone” deal because him getting his own scissors wasn’t NEEDED). He could’ve visited home at ANY time, caught up with his besties, solve a mystery or something, but NO-the bulk of Marco’s arcs in seasons 3 and 4 are pri-MARILY romance based. I would’ve taken like ONE episode of him catching up with his friends, ALL I need, BUT because the writers washed their hands of Echo Creek we’ll never get that chance.

NEXT UP-two characters that are...dis-TURBINGLY the same.

BRITTNEY Wong, the spoiled mean girl head cheerleader in literally every high school story that’s EVER existed because status quo-

-and Jeremy Birnbaum, Marco’s pint-sized karate rival.

How they could’ve been improved: Literally ANYTHING that would the two of them past basic bitch bullies. Now Jeremy had a LITTLE bit of development in “All Belts are Off” in explaining the reason he even HAS a black  belt is because his parents practically bribe Sensei Brantley...much like how Brittney’s father bribed the school to make her...head cheerleader-DEAR GOD-they’re both the exact same character if you think about it! Honestly, just have Brittney and/or Jeremy bond with their rival Star and/or Marco in some way or fashion that either quells or AMPLIFIES the rivalry. Hell, I’m amazed Jeremy never tried to TRULY get back at Marco after “Monster Arm”, give the kid some credit for only enacting petty pranks.

How they could’ve stayed: Okay with Brittney the answer isn’t so much obvious as it is HILARIOUS. You know how Rich Pigeon’s family became royal SOLELY because their insanely rich? Same thing, just have her dad straight up BUY a kingdom and she becomes a princess. Don’t lie, that’d be hilarious. And with Jeremy, I think he should’ve gone full on kung fu rival after realizing EVERY accomplishment he ever had was because his parents bought it for him. He can’t handle that he’s not special, and because of that turns to the DARK side! Plenty of ways to go with him.

NEXT UP-

OSKAR GREASON(thought it was Gleason for years)-the boring love interest of Star Butterfly whom she BARELY bonded with in seasons 1 and 2, and was only there to exist!

How he could’ve improved: You know how Marco and Jackie slowly bonded over seasons 1 and 2, how they developed as an actual couple, RIGHT up to the very end? THAT-but with Oskar. Have her go on like, a FEW dates with him, HELL-have them double date making Star realize how little she actually cares for him and have THAT be the point where she realizes she likes Marco! GRAH-freaking waste of a love interest, as well as a generally amusing character.

How he could’ve stayed: Musical apprentice to Ruberiot, easy. Have it be really awkward since Star used to crush on him, yadda yadda, writes itself.

NEXTAH-

Sensei (Brantley) Marco’s dimwitted but lovable sensei!

How he could’ve improved: HONESTLY-he personally as a character needs to improve the least from a story standpoint, he had a pretty funny mini-arc in being a fraud of a karate teacher, somehow getting away with every lesson BEFORE the red belt, it works. A concept that SHOULD’VE been more explored was his friendship with Marco, maybe have the two improve their martial arts together to become CHAMPIONS of justice!

How he could’ve stayed: Become a squire with Marco, easy. No more to say there.

NEEEEEEEEEEEERXT-

MISS MARGARET SKULLNICK-the strict, yet caring school teacher to Star Butterfly and her other classmates! She’s a bad ass troll school teacher, what MORE do you want?!

How she could’ve been improved: Nothing, because she was fucking awesome and underrated.

How she could’ve stayed: FREAKING TUTOR TO STAR AND MARCO! I KNOW the writers think all the magical Mewni nonsense trumps the school aspect but...WHEN THE HELL ARE ANY OF THE KIDS GOING TO SCHOOL ANY MORE?! They could’ve EASILY had an ep where like, Star misses school or something, and then gets her math checked up on by Miss Skullnick, I don’t know I just miss the bad ass troll lady! 

TXEN-

Starfan13, the whacky Star Butterfly fangirl who is also voiced by show creator Daron Nefcy!

How she could’ve been improved: The biggest problem with her is that outside of Star being shown to be bi in season 4, most representations of queer rep in the show are of nameless background characters. THE EXCEPTION-Starfan13, who has a DEFINITE crush on Star. The problem is obvious, said crush is only mentioned once throughout the series, and is never brought up again. Maybe have Starfan13 try to get over Star with another crush, but ultimately that fails because she becomes Janicefan13, basically absorbing the supposed persona of her obsession. Have her go through a real personal arc realizing that before she can obsess about others, she should become obsessed with her-SELF...I worded that horribly, LOVE herself. Also, do we know her ACTUAL first name? Four seasons and we only know her social media handle, what’s up with that?

How she could’ve stayed: Pretty much the same “Getting over Star and learning to love herself” story-BUT-where she somehow follows Star to Mewni and is still as obsessed with her. Honestly, isn’t it STRANGE that the writers never thought about that with her? She’s the most fan-girly fangirl of ALL time, you think the physical borders between realities would stop HER?! Just unrealistic.

FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-

Principal Edwin Bonner-Skeeves, easily bribed public servant of Echo Creek.

How he could’ve been improved: Go to jail. Look this guy got bribed canonically TWICE in the show, whose to say he wasn’t bribed several other times? Then he gets replaced by...Miss...Heinous-OH DEAR GOD-that is what should’ve happened! YES-the best development for Skeeves is to get replaced, EASILY!

How he could’ve stayed:...ya got me, he’s like the ONE character I can’t see on Mewni.

SHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-

Rafael and Angie Diaz, the loving but in-CREDIBLY irresponsible parents to Marco Diaz.

How they could’ve been improved: Honestly not by much, they were pretty fun in season 1 and 2-BUT-the one thing that always bugged me about them was in “Heinous” how they FINALLY acknowledged how little they knew about their son and would keep more of an eye him...said subject is CLEARLY forgotten as they just FULL ON allow their son to move to the dangerous hellscape that is Mewni. I know they joke about “Star stealing their son” but-NO-dammit, they could’v said NO , they could’ve tried to be actual parents and showed some FREAKING backbone! ALSO-not have them name their second born after their first born, that is WEIRD!

How they could’ve stayed: Now they actually didn’t have to MOVE to Mewni, but they should’ve been to Marco what Moon and River were to Star in seasons 1 and 2, where Marco would regularly talk to them via magic mirror. If you’ve seen my previous post, you can see how turning Marco into the Star(pun intended) of Mewni was a good idea in theory, but wasn’t well done in practice. They only appeared ONCE in season 3, and only had a passing mention in one of TEN episodes into season 4. River and Moon weren’t abandoned as characters, why were the Earth parents?

And finally-HA-THE BIG ONE!

Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco’s former crush and former girlfriend.

How she could’ve stayed: Yeah I skipped improved on purpose, she was great and she should’ve stayed. I don’t know WHY TV shows keep doing this, be it StarVs or New Girl, but sometimes REGARDLESS of how interesting they are they’ll just write out love interests completely once the romance ends. A person doesn’t disappear when you break up with them, they continue to exist and live on their life. Maybe Marco could’ve had a Mewni day and have her moving on with a new guy, to which Marco gets jealous or something. Point is, waste of a character and I hope she at least has ONE cameo in the final season.

And that’s part 2, hoped you liked it, after this I think I’m going to end it with the personal arcs of the title characters. With that, I’m Yoshimickster a.k.a. Mick the nerd, and hope you have a kickin’ time.