#Good Girls: Season Three dvd review

[spryfilm]

DVD review: "Good Girls: Season Three" (2020)

[racingliners]

F1 Re-Watch 2013: Round 2 - Malaysia

Happy Multi-21 Day to all who celebrate!!

Fun fact about me, I’ve never watched Malaysia 2013 in full. Until today. 

For all the newbies who started following me over the winter break, my abridged F1 story is that I grew up watching F1 with my Dad, then stopped when he passed away in 2007, then started watch it again mid-way through 2013 thanks to one of my high school friends. The first race I watched after my hiatus was Spain, then due to the BBC rights deal where they only had half the races live, the next race I saw after that was Canada. Which Seb won, and I felt bad that people were booing him, so I decided to start supporting him as a result.

I was filled in on the whole Multi-21 drama later, and have since seen the highlight reel in my 2013 season review DVD. But in honour of the race’s tenth anniversary, I’m watching the race in full. So, this may or may not be agonising (live blog under a read more to avoid clogging up your dashes!)

Worth adding, I’m not going to discuss in detail who was right or wrong or whatever, this is simply a record of me watching the Great Red Bull Civil War of March 2013. (with snacks to stress eat obvs)

This liveblog is once again brought to you by F1 TV Access, truly one of the best purchases I’ve made all year.

Anyway I’ve put my big girl trousers on and pressed play and THE OLD F1 INTRO I MISS YOU SO. Proper core memory right there.

Also also Sepang is a banging circuit and I miss her :(

It rained half an hour before the race???? oh jeez

Seb on pole, about to go and commit crimes

AHHHH JENSON!!!!

also remember when Checo drove for McLaren??? wild times.

I do really want to re-watch the 2013 season in full since there’s races from the first half of the season I missed, but that’s for a later day today is dedicated to the drama

Helmet watch: Seb’s blue chrome helmet is super pretty

[Formation Lap]: Everyone on inters bc of the aforementioned rain. Malaysia 2013 really was going for the That Bitch title of 2013.

ayyyy Toto sighting

“This should be a cracking motor race” Oh Brundle, if only you knew what was about to unfold

[Start/Lap 1]: Seb keeps P1, Mark into P2 bc Fernando got a little too frisky

oh rip Fernando’s front wing

Jenson into P5. Yeah that feels good.

Fernando re-took P2, I don’t think he knows half his front wing his hanging off.

[Lap 2]: Oop there she breaks.

Ah, not telling your driver they have a broken front wing. Just Ferrari things.

[Lap 3]: Did not notice Lewis getting up into P3 as a result of Fernando’s DNF.

Meanwhile Rosberg and Jenson are having a little fistfight. Nico won P4.

The supposedly fun part of watching this race for the first time is that I know exactly what happens between Seb and Mark, I just have no idea when. It’s like jaws and a jack in the box combined.

oh man I do not miss the old graphics of having the grid on the bottom of the screen, and waiting for your driver to come back up and hoping they were in the same place

[Lap 5]: ROCKY!!!!!!

Rocky team radio, feels good feels organic. (Don’t make me pick a favourite Seb engineer I love them all equally)

oh Kimi’s gone rallying on the apex of one of the corners.

[Lap 6]: Seb pits for mediums! First onto the dry tyres

oh jeez he just lost three places between corners bc of how slippery the track still is

[Lap 7]: RBR: Mark stay out it’s too wet in sector 1!! Meanwhile 5 or 6 cars come into the pits for slicks

Seb up into P7, which becomes P6 as Lewis pits.

dfaeguighush Lewis drove into the McLaren pit box 🤣

I lowkey love it when drivers do that

“Felipe Massa is now the fastest man on track” 2010s F1 intensifies 

Live Nicole Scherzinger reaction to Lewis’ pitstop

[Lap 8]: Hiiiiii Bono!!!

Gotta take all the nice crumbs before the race turns round and stabs me

[Lap 10]: oh wow James Vowels was already head of Merc strategy at this point.

[Lap 11]: ANYWAY, after the pitstop shuffle Mark is in P1 on hards, Seb in P2 on Mediums. I’m anxious.

The race has calmed down now it’s dry but I am not calm as I’m now waiting for the jump scare to happen.

[Lap 12]: Meanwhile Lewis is a second faster a lap than Webber. Drama.

Rosberg sets the fastest lap, while munching on popcorn probably.

“They’re telling Webber he will not be challenged from behind by Sebastian” Oh. Oh no. It’s coming.

It’s only Lap 14

*chuckles* I’m in danger

[Lap 15]: Rosberg continuing to set fastest laps. Mostly unbothered.

Mark is 2.2 secs ahead of Seb who’s 2.1 ahead of Lewis.

I’ve also finished my snacks.

[Lap 16]: And Kimi gets past Perez for P9.

Aaaand a Romain Grosjean fastest lap.

[Lap 17]: Still all quiet on the Red Bull front. I’m still anxious.

I’m pretty sure there’s one maybe two more rounds of pit stops to go

Seb’s now 2.5 seconds behind Mark and 2.7 ahead of Lewis.

[Lap 18]: Livery watch: as much as I’m a black Merc apologist, I miss the silver livery with Petronas green sidepods, it’s soooo pretty

Back in the good old days when team could actually have full liveries and there wasn’t all the exposed carbon nonsense we have now :)

[Lap 19]: “Paul needs to establish himself” Don’t worry Brundle he’ll be your colleague at Sky in a few years

[Lap 20]: And Mark pits for mediums.

Imagine telling an F1 fan in 2023 that Mark only did 11 laps on a set of hards at a race in 2013, there certainly is something to be said for Pirelli I’m just not sure what.

[Lap 22]: And Lewis makes his second stop for more mediums. He drove into the proper pit box.

[Lap 23]: Seb pits for hards! He stays in P2.

Still no signs of violence yet.

Meanwhile Jenson is still in P5!!!

“They [McLaren] can see bright skies on the horizon, and challenge Ferrari in China” yeah lol that didn’t happen. 

[Lap 24]: “3 second gap, save your tyres” Seb is two seconds behind Mark dfvdsvsgig

[Lap 25]: “If he’s saving his tyres he’s producing a muck quicker lap time with it” Seb’s barely a second behind Mark at this point I’M VERY ANXIOUS

[Lap 26]: The gap between the RBRs is 6 tenths of a second. Mum please pick me up I’m scared.

Meanwhile Lewis is just over a second behind Seb.

Rocky telling Seb to save his tyres, I don’t think he’s listening.

1.8 seconds covering the top 3 cars. oh boy.

[Lap 27]: Seb still 6 tenths behind Mark. *distressed yelling*

If there’s a big gap between laps it’s because I have my hands over my face in distress.

[Lap 28]: Jenson still in P5!!!

��Mark is too slow, get him out of the way” oop there’s Bastard Seb.

Gap now up to 1.4 seconds.

*half race distance klaxon*

Jenson in P5 while all of this is unfolding, an unbothered King.

[Lap 31]: Lewis makes his third and I’m guessing final stop for Mediums

“Look at Nico Rosberg” Must I?

[Lap 32]: Mark now in for his final stop for hards

JENSON IN P2 STOP THE RACE!!!

“The biscuit barrel is not just full of custard creams” Crofty???? That was meant to be an analogy about teams doing different strategies but I really don’t know man.

[Lap 33]: Seb pits for hards. And he’s in P4 behind Lewis now and barely in front of Rosberg.

JENSON’S LEADING!!! STOP! THE! RACE!

[Lap 34]: Lewis already being told to lift and coast to save fuel. oop.

“Button leads” INJECT IT!!!!!

Malaysia 2013 giveth and Malaysian 2013 about to taketh away.

[Lap 35]: And Mark gets past Jenson into turn 2

Hulkenberg and Kimi racing each other coming out of the pitlane svheghaeugh

And Jenson pits. It was very fun while it lasted.

NOOOOOO unsafe release his tyres aren’t properly on 😭

[Lap 36]: Oh yeah Ross Brawn was Merc TP in 2013, I always forget that. Toto joined Merc as his deputy I think before taking over in 2014.

[Lap 38]: “Sebastian Vettel the meat in the Mercedes sandwich” fic writers start taking notes

 Meanwhile Hulkenberg and Kimi are still fist fighting over 8th and 9th

[Lap 39]: Seb up into P2.

[Lap 40]: “Sebastian Vettel has just reduced the advantage Mark Webber has by 8 tenths” There’s jaws music playing my head now fwiw.

Niki sighting ❤️

[Lap 41]: Now Rosberg is closing up to Lewis for a double serving of teammate on teammate violence

[Lap 42]: Oh Lewis pits again, that’s a fourth stop

Man if a driver has a four stop race in 2023 they’ve had a shit show but it seems perfectly normal aeogvaheoh

Meanwhile Seb is still catching Mark

[Lap 43]: And Seb also pits again for Medums, as does Rosberg. Seb stays P2 and Rosberg stays P4.

Livery watch: the glossy soft metallic blue with the purple accents is the superior RBR livery change my mind.

[Lap 44]: And Mark pits for hards.

And he barely came out the pits in front of Seb.

ahhhhhhhhh I think we’re in violence territory.

HELP

[Lap 45]: The gap between them is about half a second dvbaheuhs

(For anyone wanting to watch the race back for whatever reasons, the Civil War starts at around 1hr 26mins)

Presidential alert THE MERCS ARE FIGHTIIIIIIIING

and cut to mildly distressed Merc mechanics

Love that the internal Merc drama was completely overshadowed by Seb and Mark, truly no one was doing it like them

[Lap 46]: AH SHIT SEB AND MARK ARE WHEEL TO WHEEL

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Seb into P1. idk if there’s actually been the Multi 21 call yet. bc comms aren’t calling for Seb’s head as of yet.

Man that replay is yeah... violence

[Lap 47]: oop yellow flag, fits the mood perfectly.

Oh it was for Maldonado.

Live Adrian Newey Reaction.

and Live Ross Brawn reaction to the Merc on Merc violence.

[Lap 48]: Wait this race was on Ted’s birthday??? HBD TED!!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

[Lap 49]: Still no Multi-21 name drop... was this something that came out after the race??? bc I’m sure there’s an actual Multi-21 radio message.

“Pastor Maldonado with an attack of the gravel rash” Thanks Crofty.

[Lap 50]: Massa passes Kimi for 6th

Yeah Seb’s 4 secs ahead of Mark now so surely that’s it????

so where’s the drama???

I can’t have zoned out bc comms would have yelled if Seb got past

[Lap 51]: Oh Rosberg asked to get past Lewis and Ross Brawn straight up said no. oof.

[Lap 52]: Yeah comms are dissecting the Merc drama but not Seb and Mark so I think they didn’t hear the Multi-21 radio call aeughaeuhg

Oh I wish that were me

[Lap 54]: Man Nico and Lewis are still nose to tail it’s like the precursor to 2014-16

Was there something in the water at Malaysia or did the racing gods just wake up and choose violence

Ted sounds so sad about Jenson’s mechanical DNF, a whole mood

[Lap 55]: Seb a whole six and a bit seconds ahead of Webber.

Perez pits????

Oh he had a 30 second gap to P10 nvm

Rosberg is still around half a second behind Lewis. Britney be bitching.

[Lap 56]: Will Lewis have the fuel to finish the race though???

[Finish]: SEB WINS. IT’S OVER.

Lewis P3, Rosberg P4. Cut to some eerily silent RBR and Merc pitwalls.

I don’t think Crofty knows about the Multi-21 message he hasn’t said anything about it.

😳

Did I zone out and miss it?????

Yeah Crofty thinks RBR are mad because Mark and Seb nearly took each other out not bc of the Multi-21 call OH BOY

Oop here’s the cool down room.

Bastard Seb is hot. sorry not sorry.

dbshbuhgru Seb and Adrian just chatting tyres. Still no Mark yet.

I’m watching this with very nervous laughter.

“Multi-21 Seb, Multi-21″ OOP THERE IT IS.

There’s so much tension in the cool down room it has its own gravitational pull.

ah the German anthem my beloved. 

The Austrian anthem my belothed. 

There is not a single smiling driver on that podium this is so awkward aevheugh

Okay there’s one (1) thrilled Merc mechanic, good for him!

“But was he [Seb] told to hold station?” Yeah they didn’t play the Multi-21 radio during the race.

God this is the most awkward champagne spray I’ve ever seen.

The drivers left the podium aeiihgaeghs

Oh they’re back.

Mark flung away his podium cap into the crowd jeeeeez

Tag yourself I’m Brundle trying to fill the conversation with fluff bc he can pick up the awkward tension a mile off

“It was very close wheel to wheel racing” YOU DON’T SAY SEB

Mark meanwhile looks seething. 

“So you were surprised when he came passed you” YOU’RE TELLING ME BRUNDLE DIDN’T KNOW UNTIL THE PODIUM INTERVIEW ABOUT THE MULTI-21 CALL????????

Welcome to F1 the drama never stops.

Live Nicole Scherzinger reaction 2

Lewis saying nice things about Nico. That feels weird post-2016.

Well. That happened. ngl it felt less stressful knowing that they seemingly didn’t play the Multi-21 radio call on the global feed. Honestly the actual race itself was pretty dull until the RBR/Merc infighting.

Still I’m going to got for a lie down now.

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

The Thrilling Saga of Connie paying real life money for the Worst Sonic TV Show

Let’s begin with the simple fact that me and my sister, @birdsareblooming​ “Cori”, have both been hyperfixating on Sonic the Hedgehog since last March. During this hyperfixation, I was on Sonic Wiki to copy-paste song lyrics onto my stolen mp3s, and I called my sister in and pointed at the template at the bottom. 

“What is this Sonic Underground thing?” I asked. “It has one shit billion songs.” 

So we clicked on the page to read about it, and each sentence we read was a punch in the gut and this quickly became the funniest thing we’d ever read. Highlights include:

It looks like this:

“Sonic[...] is known to be a prince” 

Sonic has two siblings who actually have good characterization but their names are literally just Sonia and Manic. Like. Sonic split into two names. jesus christ 

Also Sonic and his siblings all share a voice actor. honestly Jaleel White does his best with it but 

“The three siblings possess enchanted medallions that transform not only into musical instruments, but also into weapons.”

“Some fans consider Sonia to be a clone of Amy Rose, minus the attraction Amy feels for Sonic.” YEAH I SURE HOPE IT DOES

“Manic is the most often captured of the siblings” himbo king 

Knuckles shows up, and for the first, like, two sentences his description is very similar to the game, and then you get immediately pulverized by “He has a pet Dinosaur called Chomps.”

Literally so many sentences on Sonic Wiki are lowkey salty about this show. The page features lines such as “Sonic Underground bears little relation to the often complex Sonic universe (including previous animated series, as well as Sonic comics and games), and shares only three established characters” and “many of the characters in the Freedom Fighter group that were in Sonic the Hedgehog are completely left out (including Tails).”

“The show met with mostly negative reviews.”

*checks air dates* It only lasted two goddamn months

So after seeing this we thought it was the funniest thing and we showed our older sister, @patema-introverted​ “North.” To our surprise, our at the time “knew nothing about this sonic bullshit” sister recognized the show. Turns out she’d seen trailers for it as a child and that was her sole exposure to Sonic canon. 

We were in quarantine at the time, so we ended up finding it on YouTube and binge-watching it all together as a sibling bonding activity. It was just as hilarious as we thought it would be- some stuff was legitimately good, like the sibling dialogue for instance, but good lord were the character designs ugly, the plot all over the place, and pretty much every song, um, not great. Also there was one episode that we skipped because it got, um, I think “stereotypical” is the nicest word I can use here. 

But the point is, we had a jolly good time watching it, and afterwards we binged all the other Sonic shows and bonded as a family. 

After quarantine, North and I go back to college. My roommate gets groceries at Walmart, while I get them elsewhere, so while she and North collect food I wander the DVD aisle to look at the cool movies and also dumpster-dive in the bargain bin for Cats (2019). I am also short as fuck, so the top shelf of movies I cannot see, I can only read the labels. 

So one day I was browsing the DVDs, and glancing over at the labels for the top shelf. I read over the final one before the shelves end. 

And then I stop, do a double take, and have a heart attack, because there is a label that reads “SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74″

I immediately climb the shelf but there aren’t any DVDs atop the shelf. However, the label is still there. I excitedly tell my sister and roommates, freak out with them a bit, and then give myself a mission statement:

I will buy the $4 Sonic Underground DVD from Walmart

I did not want it as a gift, I did not want to find it online. I wanted to walk into a store, pick up the Worst Sonic Show on DVD, walk it straight to the checkout, and in front of the cashier and God, pay for it with my own money. I did not care if it was the whole series or two episodes; I needed to do this for my own serotonin.

We would go to Walmart about once a week. Every time, I would go to the DVD aisle, and go right to the end of the shelves. I would stare at the label SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74 and empty space above it and wonder who the fuck was buying this other than me. I would occasionally ask employees if they had any copies in storage. I would build a shrine to Manic in my room. Okay, no I didn’t, but only because my RA would have murdered me. 

Christmas break comes, and we have to go home. We have a nice Christmas, and Cori and I infodump at each other about how we would make Sonic Underground a good show (note: we’re both galaxy braining) and also play Bendy and the Ink Machine. Fun times. 

When we finally get back to College, it’s late January- long story short we have a very long winter break. My roommate who gets food at Walmart got food without us the first week cause she showed up first, so we take her out to Walmart the first time in the year of our lord 2021 on January 29. 

I wander the Valentine’s aisle, immediately grabbing a sequin puppy. I go to the DVDs and see Animaniacs Season One, also grab that. 

And then.

There it is.

The Holy Grail. 

Above the label SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74, is one DVD left. 

Already I am losing my mind. It’s roughly seven hours of episodes- I couldn’t find an episode list, but I think that’s half the show, for $4! And the cover is amazing. 

That’s a png of Sonic from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) with a medallion badly photoshopped over it. The medallion is too small. 

Manic is shoved into the corner. He doesn’t have his medallion at all. 

Sonia isn’t even pictured on the front cover, probably because they realized she was the worst designed of the bunch. I’m not ragging on her though, because she’s still one of the better designed characters of the show. Those background characters make me cry 

So you bet your ass I finally paid my hard-earned $4 for this shit. Upon getting home, I discovered that there was even wilder shit with this DVD than I thought. 

For starters: the bonus features listed are as follows:

Original Concept Art - did not expect that these character designs were the final draft

Storyboard-to-screen - did not expect they bothered to storyboard this 

Music Video Jukebox - that’s cute, they thought we liked the music 

Interviews with original screenwriter & executive producer - I fully expect the only questions to be “why.” 

On the left of this list are screenshots from the show, where people can finally see Sonia, who we Know™ is a girl because she is pink and has hair and also an actual body shape instead of just circles like her brothers. 

But wait... what’s that in the lefthand corner? 

That looks like some kind of robot. But it’s not a robot from Sonic Underground! That didn’t appear once. Why is it here? 

The mystery continues upon opening the DVD case: inside are advertisements for other collections, including other Sonic DVDs: two volumes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) and the final episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog “SatAM” (1993)

First of all, the first volume of AOSTH has the exact same PNG of Sonic as the Underground Volume 1. Not even trying to hide it. But second... the second volume of AOSTH also has this robot on its cover. 

And THIS ROBOT IS ALSO DECORATING THE THIRD DISC IN THE SET?

So you may be asking, who is this robot? Is it from AOSTH or Underground?

IT’S FROM FUCKING SATAM. The one show that doesn’t have it decorating the DVD covers.

Also, not only is it from SatAM, it only appears in one fucking episode. Not a major character! AND IT HAS A DIFFERENT DESIGN ON THE PROMO ART, WITH HAIR AND FANGS.

Why is it showing up everywhere? What is going on? 

I have not yet had the opportunity to watch this glorious piece of animation, but I am so glad at the confusion I have felt upon receiving it. 

But before I go, I must share with you the best part of this DVD purchase. And it was flipping to the back, scanning the details, and discovering the exact runtime of the episode collection. 

Guys, gals, and enby pals, friends and enemies, Nintendo and Sega, the first Volume of Sonic Underground has a runtime of...

420 MINUTES.

Maybe I’m wrong and this IS the best Sonic show. 

[magiamemoriareview]

Dawn of a Shallow Dream

MLB Effect: Damage Up Versus Witches [30%] & Regenerate HP [4%]

Effect Definitions:

Damage Up Versus Witches deals more damage to Witches and their familiars (this does not include Uwasa or Kimochi enemies). Damage dealt is increased by the % shown. This effect stacks with Damage Increase and Damage Up.

Regenerate HP will cause the equipped character to regenerate a percentage of their HP for the number of listed turns. The Regen will occur at the end of the turn (note: the end of the enemy’s turn). Regenerate HP can stack.

TLDR: “Dawn of a Shallow Dream” is a very handy memoria that will provide a great damage boost against witches and their familiars thanks to its high effect and great passive ATK stats. This memoria is exclusive to logging in during the Magia Record Season Three Blu-Ray and DVD volume two Release Campaign.

Review: “Dawn of a Shallow Dream” is actually a pretty decent memoria, and you should definitely try to log on during the Release Campaign to get it. It’s not the only memoria in the game with the effect of Damage Up Versus Witches, but so far all of these memoria are limited to event rewards of some form (meaning they’re unlikely to return):

(Limited 4*) “Dawn of a Shallow Dream” Damage Up Versus Witches [30%] & Regenerate HP [4%]  

(Limited 4*) “Happy Halloween NANO” Damage Up Versus Witches [30%] & Status Ailment Resistance Up [25%]

(Limited 4*) “Victory Goes Through Time” Damage Up Versus Witches [20%] &  Attack Up [15%] & Regenerate HP [3%]

Damage Up Versus Witches should function similarly to Damage Up/Damage Increase. That means the 30% Damage Up here is roughly equivalent to 25% Attack Up-- which is pretty good! The catch to this of course is that the memoria is only going to give you that offensive bonus against witches and their familiars. However, this isn’t as bad as it sounds, because the vast majority of fights you’ll encounter will be against familiars, making this a pretty neat freebie memoria for generic battles. Add in the excellent passive ATK stats it has and you have a great free-to-play friendly powerhouse of a memoria on your hands.

You can easily compare this memoria to these two:

(Limited 4*) “Walking an Entwined Path” Damage Increase [30%] & Regenerate HP [5%]

(4*) “Ryouko and Sakuya: Moment of Perfection” Damage Increase [30%] & Regenerate HP [5%]

Both of them are very good thanks to that 30% Damage Increase, however they both also have pretty poor ATK stats. In contrast, “Dawn of a Shallow Dream” will outperform them (assuming you’re fighting witches and familiars).

However, it’s important to also recognize what content this memoria will be good to use with and what content it won’t-- for example, this memoria will do nothing for you but act as a Regenerate HP stat stick for Kimochi or Mirrors. It also won’t help in content like the One Hundred Evils, as you only face magical girls in it.

Yet, you still might find use for it in harder content. For example, EX-Challenges don’t always have magical girls as opponents-- they can include witches and familiars on occasion too. Additionally, this memoria is excellent for the Witches’ Paradox, as all you do in there is fight witches!

Overall this is a really good example of a memoria that is extremely valuable for free-to-play players without being overpowered or providing a massive advantage to Whales. It provides a good boost for most of the fights in the game while also not being useful for endgame content, like Kimochi. 

Lastly, this memoria will not help against Uwasa! Uwasa and their familiars can seem kind of similar to Witches, but they are not considered the same in the game and for this effect. So double check if you decide to use this memoria that it’s actually a Witch and not an Uwasa.

You can use this on your Supports, as most pve fights will be against witches and their familiars.

[popculturebuffet]

Prince of Wishful Thinking (Tom Retrospective): Tough Love or The True Monster

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Prince of Wishful Thinking, what is usually my look at the life and times of Tom Lucitor but since I NEED to cover the season 3 finale as vital part of Tom’s story, we’re taking one last look at the tragic tale of Meteora Butterfly before the finale sends these two stories hurtling together. You’d THINK this would be the last detour of this already sizeable arc.. and you’d be wrong as i’ll also be covering Kelly’s World, as I feel it’s vital for both “Curse of the Blood Moon” and “A Boy and his hard to remember title”, as it provides extra context for Marco’s anguish in the former.. and provides extra evidence for why a CERTAIN MOMENT in the latter pisses me off to no end.. seriously even when as universe dies and the only people left are Frankllin Richards and Galactus, there will still be a little note reading “Fuck how they treated Kelly” written in all caps so Galactus remembers to yell it. 

So sadly that DOES mean it’s been three entries in this retrospective in a row that either haven’t feature Tom at all or in the case of the last episode only had him in short cameos. I mean we did get his love affair for pie but we also got a creepy goblin man forcing his girlfriend and best friend to kiss each other, his best friend being WAY to eager to jump to that conclusion, and neither considering using Marco’s Scissors because the writers only remember he has those half the time in Season 3... and clearly I ddn’t either as I forgot to mention that plot hole, something @jess-the-vampire​ brought up to me. Sadly I DID forget to consult on this when we talked earlier this week , and she’s not online as I write this so I won’t have her insight for this one. 

But if you want some Tom content, i’m happy to share my crossover ship for the boy with you. I’ve been shipping him with Octavia from Helluva Boss lately.  Because of course it’s Helluva Boss, i’ve not been at all subtle with my obession with it and much like Letterkenny, X-Men and Dragon Ball Z Abriged it is a love I never plan to be subtle about. 

But I just think they compliment each other well: They have contrasting atittudes, and tastes in music, but seem like they’d share hobbies. Like taxidermy.. I could see Tom buying this... demonic combination of a badger, a skunk, a deer and my nightmares Octavia is preciously holding up.

Granted I also feel tom would both animate them with their dead souls.. and then use his new woodland friends of the dammned as a chorus to sing “Can You Picture That” from the Muppet Movie, because that’s what my mind does on a regular day. I think the contrasting attitude creates great chemstiry and it made me also realize I have a thing for ships with directly contrasting home lives.  Tom has two loving decent parents who deeply love one another and at worst simply didn’t reign in his worse behavior because it was standard for demon stuff. Octavia in contrast simply has two parents, one who DOES love her and tries his best, but his best includes calling his side piece “My big dicked blitzy” right in front of her and hiring said side piece to guard them, and her mother who clearly thinks so little of her daughter’s emotional well being she hired a cowboy to shoot her daddy dead in the middle of a large crowd. The point is I think they’d be adorable and they both badly need to be happy after being emotionally fucked over by people they care about. 

But  alas my new ship will have to wait as we marginally important things to get down too.. things that will impact both this season and the next’s endgame and utterly destroy Eclipsa and Moon’s relationship for good. Sound fun? Well if so join me under the cut won’t you?

We open in the Pidgeon Kingdom.. and things aren’t exactly great.. and by that I mean Meteora stomped a hole through it and ravaged the place and Rich demands blood.. and vengance.. and possibly blood vengance. But not Tekken Blood Vengance.. he already has like 5 copies of that on dvd. Still needs it on Blu Ray though, hook him up if you got it. 

So Moon and Eclipsa are trying to smooth this over/find out which way did she go George which way did she go, and are angrily dismissed after they try Rich’s patience, not helped by Eclipsa not being familiar with the Pidgeon Kingdom because they hadn’t slaughtered everyone who used to live there yet. Look that’s what happened, Star outright mentions in the Big Book of Spells that htey suddenly sprung up where another kingdom was and no one knows what happens. There was some bird murders up in that place.. or birdur if you will. Some birds drank some human blood. This is what Alfred Hitchock tried to warn us about with his film built on horrifying actress abuse. 

The point is with some more pidgeon-led murder stabbings on the cards our heroines are trying to find her since their attempts to convince Rich not to go on an Archer Style Rampage fell on deaf ears. 

But it’s clear from the second the two are alone both have diffrent priorties: Eclipsa desperatley wants to find the daughter she lost and talk her down from what sh’es become, help her become better and hopefuly heal from the pain she’s been in. She’s lost her husband, her kingdom and centuries. She can’t loose her baby girl too.

Moon on the other hand... clearly has no intrest in helping Meteora or stopping this peacefully. Her first thought is stopping Meteora. Her living through it is not necessary. It’s also clear her racisim isn’t REMOTELY gone depsite Buff Frog and Star’s best attempts and despite learning just how deeply and horribly Mewni’s engrained racism has hurt eclipsa and destoryed Moon’s own family history. To Moon this is just a big monster to fight.. i’ll dive into this more in a bit.

For now our heroines encounter an angry mob. This time their not here for Homer Simpson, but for Meteora as her rampages have destroyd their towns, livelehoods and given some weird guy a hat. It’s the best bit of the episode and i’m embarassed I forgot it happened. 

So with them being no help our queens back out but end up finding some actual help: Eddie! You know the guy from the episode I skipped over... River’s cousin or something like that. He dosen’t have a wiki entry, I do not know why. He’s voiced by Rhys Dharby of Flight of the Conchords Fame whose since made quite the career as a voice actor. No major roles yet that i’m aware of, but a lot of delightful minor ones like this. It’s good to see him he was one of the highlights of that show and not just because he sang this..

Eddie showed up in the Bog Beast of Boggabah and I honestly forgot he was in this episode.. but again, it’s Rhys Dharby. It’s not like suddenly finding out “Aw god dammit Pauly Shore is in this”. So Eddie agrees to help as he’s been tracknig Meteora.. and we find out something troubling: Meteora is getting BIGGER. Gradually, to the point the bog from said episode Is skipped over is drained because she DRANK IT. We also get a great exchange “I’d hate to see the size of her mother” “Actually her father more than helped with that”

Awwwww.... seriously Esme Blanco is a national treasure and has some great deliveries in this one.. and some heartbreaking ones. But before we can get to that it turns out Meteora sucked the powers out of Eddies family.. who he misses..e xcept one guy> That guy can fuck right off. Seriously Eddie is also a national treasure and I wish he’d shown up in season 4. I mean he couldn’t of HURT it. For one it’s Rhys Dharby and for another that season shot itself in the face, both feet, the groin and then the face again enough that I don’t think anything could hurt it as bad as the writers already did. 

But sadly we say farwell to Eddie as he goes out how men have since the begining of time.. deciding to poke a strange creature till it murdered him. Or took his soul out in this case, speaking of which...

Yeah while I couldn’t get Jess in time for this review, she did bring this up in the past: Meteora’s ablility to pull a 

Comes right the fuck out of nowhere with no build up and no explination for it. She DID drain personalites and according to this episode youth.. but that was with a big ole machine. It MIGHT have been intended to be one of Globgor’s powers.. but that makes zero sense, as if he COULD do that, as we saw with Toffee last season when he had that power, also out of nowhere but at least it made a touch more sense given his power was draining magical energy anyway at the time, so adding souls to that isn’t a huge stretch, but as we saw that would’ve been game over for the comission, especially since we DO see him fighting them one on three next season. If he had this power, he wouldn’t be in crystal and I think they realized that, but just tried to act as if his daugther COULDN’T do that and assumed everyone would casually forget. And I get not accounting for me writing about this years later, even I wouldn’t of thought that, but not counting on fans both young and old to latch onto a continuity error? Have you met fandoms Disney, have you? It dosen’t bring the story down entirely and I get WHY ti’s there, so she can nonlethally kill people so we’re not down most of the cast for Season 4, but it feels like an easy win button and one she barely uses despite it being eye beam activated. It should be easy enough to pull, boom, soul suck, win, rinse and repeat. It’s okay to have uber powerful tequniques but they have to have a drawback. For instance the Kaioken from DBZ. It’s a really damn cool technique that gives the user a neat red aura and amplifies poewr.. but the more you amplify the more strain it puts on your body and the more likely you’ll die, and Super later creatively explained why it hadn’t been used since Super Sayian was introduced because said form would’ve sped it up so much it’d be too much for a body to take. Here whie Meteora dosen’t use it in EVERY fight, she uses it enough that it makes no sense this isn’t just her first move for every fight she gets into, mental breakdown or not. 

That being said Meteora’s current mental state as she talks to her mother, having regressed to talking in only a few words and acting like a child, makes perfect sense. Henious already wasn’t in great mental shape to begin with, having a slow sustained breakdown since Marco overthrew her. and now on top of this she remembers her whole life has been a lie, starts to mutate into her natural state at a rapid and likely unehalthy pace, and then finds out on top of all of this Mewni is rightfully owed to her. Given she ended last episode blowing a guy up for rejecting her, it’s not a stretch that given even more power and no time to process anything, Metora would deteroate further. 

Esme and Jessica really knock this scene out of the park as Eclipsa presents Metora with her old doll Bobo and gently trying ot talk to her.. but you also get the fear Eclipsa feels as she tries to awkardly manuver around the fact her daughter is far more unhinged than she was prepared for, even threanting Eclipsa simply because Eclipsa wanted to be called mother instead of mommy. But despite this fear.. Eclipsa wants to help and Walter beautifuly captured metoera as a hulk like tragic figure:a being with low sanity and too much power desperate to be loved by the one person it cares about. And it makes it even more heartbreaking as Eclipsa explains what happened: bad people trapped her , a disfunctoinal society with a racist queen and even more racist subjects has taken hold in her absence... and it’s clear both want opposite things: Meteora wants what sh’es owed, her family back on the throne and Mewni back in her graps, but has lost herself so much to rage, anger and insanity she can’t see it’s not hers to take, while Eclipsa.. just wants her daughter back. She’d be happy just settling down with her and having a LIFE after hers was taken away. Eclipsa just wants a chance to be with what family she has left. It just HURTS to know that despite RIGHTFULLY hating the comission, despite having eveyr reason to take the crown from Moon by force and make the world better by force.. she dosen’t want that. She just wants some peace. It’s selfish... but it’s hard not to be when you havealmost nothing to hold onto. Eclipsa has lost her legacy, her husband and her crown... Meteora is all she has and all she wants and sh’ed of been happy if she just accepted that. If that was enough. 

But the real telling part, and the thing that ultimately makes this go as bad as it does.. is Moon’s reactions to all of this. Sh’es CONFUSED by Meteora having a toy as if that’s foreign to her a monster would, and she’s cleaerly livid , if restrianing it, at both Meteora’s deire for the crown and Eclipsa RIGHTFULLY calling out the state of how things are, and mildly at that. Despite seeing how much damage Mewni’s inherent racisim has done, how it lead to her living a lie, ruined Eclipss, Globgore and Metora’s lives, despite how DESPERTLY her daughter struggles to fight against it, despite seeing firsthand that Monsters can have famiies and lives... she can’t let it go. She can’t see monsters as people. SHe dosen’t see a flawed person who was turned into a metpohrical monster by years of brainwashing and abuse and is slowly unravling under the weight of her true self.. she just sees a threat to her kingdom. She dosen’t see her kingdom as racist, just as it should be. And she dosen’t see herself as stepping down like hse damn well should’ve the MOMENT she found out everything. Because at her heart Moon can’t accept the truth and clings to her racisim. 

And that my friends.. is what ultimately leads to Tragedy. Not Meteora’s unraveling mental state, not Eclipsa’s naitvite. What happens next is ENITRELY Moon’s fault. Whle Eclipsa was failing to get through to Metora, she was trying her best and might of gotten somewhere.. but Moon was already settling to attack.. and does so, making it look like Eclipsa set her own child up. 

A fight ensues, a suprisingly even one... but Eclipsa breaks it up and PROVES her way could’ve worked. In one of Esme’s best performances sshe tearfully tells her daughter she loves her.. that ALL she wants is time with her to make up for what she’s lost.. she dosen’t need a kingdom or her crown or her wand, all things she DESERVES... she just wants her daughter. She just wants to help her baby girl before she goes so far down this path of hatred and vengance she’s alreayd well trod upon there is no point to return to. 

It gets through to Meteora, makes her stop... and Moon TAKES ADANTAGE OF THAT. She then restrains metoera with a magical rock barrier and starts palpatineing her to death. It’s a horrifying moment that ultimately shows who Moon really is.. that when given the chance to let Meteora go, let her CHANGE and grow as a person and help the kingdom.. she instead tries to kill her. When she’s no longer a threat,  hasn’t seriously hurt her in their fight, and could use her power to RESTORE the damage she’s done, fix what she’s broken and help the kingdom grow and mend the bridges racisim has torn down. But all she can see is a monster, and something to destroy.. not someONE to save. 

So Eclipsa does what Moon would do if it were star about to die and saves her daughter, desperatly trying to stop mooon.. and allowing Meteora to get a clear shot and take half of moon’s soul. While Eclipsa is able to stop her from taking the full thing, Moon is left disoreinted and half alive and leaves on insticnt to parts unknown while Meteora escapes. Eclipsa is left alone, devistated and with her daughter truly lost. And the worst is truly yet to come. 

Before we get into final thoughts i’d like to talk about how this scene impacts Moon’s betryal later. To me having rewatched this scene.. it only makes it work MORE making it clear Moon simply can’t fahtom racial equality and that she can’t fahtom that eclipsa had very good reason for doing what she did ... to me it comes off as her using Eclipsa betryaing her as a very flimsy justifcation to not validate her rule and to first retire and then try a coup. That “Well she “BETRAYED” me so i’m fine. “ But in truth... she betrayed Eclipsa first. She attacked her daughter TWICE when Eclipsa was close to getting through to her Her reasons are flimsy.. because i’ts not ABOUT eclipsa, but what eclipsa represents: equality with a race Moon dosen’t see as people. It’s about Moon’s racisim coloring everything tills h’es truly blinded and should have lost everything She didn’t because the ending is a fucking disgrace, but we might get to that at some point, the point here is for all that disgrace’s faults... it did get it right here, and Moon was always portrayed as being unable to let go of her racisim no matter what it cost her or how much her daughter despteratly tried to change her. Trust me as someone whose Dad used to argue that gay marriage meant he should be able to marry his cat, and who still argues against trans people using the bathroom of their choice, I get trying desperatley to change someone who don’t wanna. “Sigh”. 

Final Thoughts: This episode is truly excellent. The writing is top notch as is the voice acting for all involved and the climax isa true, well led up to tragedy. The animation is also on point, with the characters emotions on perfect display. This is an episode I now realize is one of the series best and worth ar ewatch if you haven’ts een it. Truly amazing stuff that gets me pumped for the finale.. and disapoints me in how the series could reach these highs for one finale.. but would sink to it’s lowest point for next seasons.  Next Time on Prince of Wishful Thinking: Star tries depseratly to find her mom, while Marco, Tom and a motely crew of misfits try to take down Meteora and Tom learns the awful truth from the photo booth and wears a zuko ponytail which weirdly looks good on him. That boy can rock anything let me tell you. 

If you enjoyed this reviews, please consider joining my patreon at patreon.com/popculturebuffet. As mentioned my 30 dollar stretch goal includes a review of the cluster fuck that is the series final arc, and the goals up to that , me making 20 and 25 dollars a month repectively, have their own nifty rewards: At 20 i’ll review Darkwing Duck once a month, the two remaning Ducktales 87 mini series I have not covered and the Danny Phantom film The Ultimate Enemy. 25 meanwhile gets you reviews of the Proud Family Movie, the theatrical recess movie and the Kim Possible almost finale movie so the drama. And 30 also gets you reviews of every episode of gravity falls season 1 at least one a month till I finish it at some point, so as you can see you get a lot of bang for your buck and these reviews will be public for everybody. Not only that but joining my patreon gets you a review a month if you pitch in 5 dollars and evne if you can’t swing THAT much just 2 bucks gets you access to my discord, a guarnateed pick in my shorts, votes for patreon exclusive reviews, and SAID patreon exclusive reviews. It’s a lot of bang for your buck is what i’m saying so please help me out so I can make a living off this and sign up today. I even JUST ADDED an exclusive and utterly insane scrooge mcduck review, The Great Wig Mystery. So throw in a buck to check that out. 

And if your intrested in Tomtavia... please hit me up. I’m really proud of it and until then... i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[therealabbyham]

Racism in modern media.

A lot of controversy over the depiction of people of color (POC) in modern media has arisen. With both the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements that have happened in the last year, both new and old shows and movies have been brought forward as examples of what is not okay. Now, with some research, I'd like to go through these examples and go through what has made them controversial.

"Stock characters and slapstick tropes have always existed in theatre, from Shakespearean comedies to even something as seemingly benign as the Disney Channel show “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” (remember Esteban?). But ethnic stock characters have been tricky to write in an increasingly politically correct 21st century, despite their appearances in such Broadway classics as “West Side Story” and “The King and I." (The Muse at Dreyfoos)

”Song of the South (Disney film) - By far one of the most controversial and well-known instances of controversy. So much so that Disney never sold the movie on DVD and will not be putting it on Disney plus. Disney's most recent effort to erase the racism from their history (also see: the crows in Dumbo and the original draft of Fantasia), was to go farther in changing Splash Mountain. Originally they had gotten rid of the characters on the ride (who were all characters from the movie), now, however, they are changing the ride altogether, changing it into a Princess and the Frog-inspired ride. "Song of the South’s African American characters are treated warmly, particularly Uncle Remus, who is Johnny’s best friend and confidant, a charismatic storyteller, and, most importantly, the film’s conduit to the animated world of Br’er Rabbit... The problem isn’t necessarily what Song of the South depicts, but what it chooses not to depict. Although Harris’ Uncle Remus stories were set in Georgia after the Civil War, the film adaptation never makes it clear when the story is taking place... If you’re not a scholar or an Uncle Remus expert, it’s very easy to assume that the film is set before the Civil War, and that Remus and Aunt Tempy (Hattie McDaniel) are slaves — and that they are completely fine with that." (Quotes from Screencrush) "By stripping out any concrete details of time and place, Disney essentially turned the plantation system into a ludicrous utopia where blacks and whites live in harmony — a harmony where the only thing that’s clear is that the blacks are inferior and servile to the whites, but are content to work the fields anyway." "Several of Remus’ stories are about Br’er Rabbit wanting to run away from his problems; the moral, inevitably, is that you can’t avoid trouble and there’s no place like home. These lessons are particularly important to Johnny because he doesn’t like life on the plantation initially and wants to run away to live with his father in Atlanta. But when coupled with the African American characters’ oddly cheerful attitude about their social status, the movie seems to be arguing on behalf of complacency. Don’t leave the plantation, don’t try to better yourself. Just go with the flow."

Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway show) - The show is about a young girl named Millie who moved from a small town to NYC, and the show is known for having "the subplot and the peddling of outdated Chinese stereotypes". (A lot of this will be in quotes from the previous link). Although "the play is set in the 1920s... the script was written in 2000, based on source material from the 1967 film of the same name" On Playbill, another study is done, "As much as the 2002 Tony-winning Best Musical is a love story about making it in the big city, the show’s major subplot centers on “white slavery.”" An argument could be made that “To actually have real Chinese guys singing and speaking in their own language and meaning it, and to link their immigrant story to the same story as Millie ... and come to America because of the American Dream, all these people who come to New York to reinvent themselves and be modern—I think is exactly what the Chinese guys are all about." (This is irrelevant if the characters are not played by someone who's Chinese). With accurate casting then it might be "another opportunity to cast shade on racist attitudes and assumptions about us [the Chinese] and what we know and how smart we are and what we’re capable of..." However it still "can be racist if you do it racist. This show can be done racist but it doesn’t have to and actually, it can actually be anti-racist." Personally, I think if the line you walk is so fine and covered in eggshells, it may not be worth it (but of course, it's an opinion, even if it's widely accepted). Even Ashley Park, who wanted to be Millie, thought “It’s one of the characters that I’ve loved, always, but I always figured I’d never play it just because of the race stuff that’s in [the show].” because she's Korean-American.

Emily in Paris (Netflix show) - Speaking of Ashley Parks, let's talk about Emily in Paris, one of Netflix's most controversial and most hated shows. To put it simply, the show (which I have not seen) is about an American girl who moves to Paris. Yep. That simple. In a video by Friendly Space Ninja (who's French), he says "I've been insulted by this show, more than once... Emily in Paris has a huge racism problem... and it also comes up as arrogant." He goes on to say, "When people say Emily in Paris portrays French culture in a very insulting way, they're not exaggerating." "The French in this show think Americans are the greatest and they aspire to be more like them and as a French person myself... Yeah no that's not accurate." "During the entire show, Emily tries to teach the French that doing things the American way is the right way." (I highly recommend watching this video if you don't mind the swear words, it has good points, that's why I'm just using quotes). "Emily in Paris only has two characters of color... these two characters of color are made of degrading cliches..." "All of the racist things [Mindy, a POC character,] says were written by a white writer." "The other non-white character is this guy... He's one of Emily's co-workers and he's gay... and I had to read he was gay online... and his entire point of existence in this show is to be the most stereotypical gay man the writers could come up with... all he does is stand in the background and act sassy... The writers are so dismissive with him I'm pretty sure the only reason they made him black is so they could kill two birds with one stone." "Emily in Paris has two actors of color and both of them feel like an afterthought." My thoughts: Don't watch this show. It has a season two coming out, don't watch it, even if you want to see how bad it is. There will be someone online who will tell you why it's bad and you'll save time reading or watching their review instead of giving Netflix a reason for a season three.

Anyways, those are just a few (obvious) examples of how racism isn't okay, even if it isn't inherently meant to be racist. Song of the South was meant to be a heart-warming movie full of stories about morals, but it's been banned and basically erased from Disney history because it comes off as being pro-slave. Millie was meant to be a commentary on Asain stereotypes while lifting up Asain actors so they were given more opportunities, yet most schools have banned it. And Emily in Paris, despite its connections that got it nominated for awards, was such a dumpster fire, a good review is near impossible to find.

[scoutception]

A look at: Moon.

Writing reviews is always a learning experience for me, and one of the important things I’ve learned is that, sometimes, it’s pretty hard to write about certain individual games, visual novels, or such considering the kind of detail I like to go into. Therefore, this will be the first in a new series of mini reviews, or as mini as they get with me. Maybe there’s just not enough to a game to really give me details to dig into, or maybe it’s difficult to talk about without giving away more than I wish, or maybe there’s just something related to it that I’m more interested in talking about than the actual product; whatever the reason, these will hopefully be less rambly and excessive than my usual reviews, while still giving enough of an overview that they stand as proper reviews on their own. Either way, the subject of this post is an old, obscure visual novel from 1997 with a bit of history to it, called Moon.

Moon was developed by Tactics, a humble developer of adult visual novels, and was the second one developed by them, with the first, Dōsei, seemingly just being, well, a plain H-game, and the third, One ~To the Radiant Season~, while still obscure, is actually fairly notable for being a prototype to Kanon in a lot of ways, as many key staff at Tactics would later break off to form Key afterwards, with them having also worked on Moon beforehand. Thus, Moon is in a very interesting spot when it comes to the progression of the developers that would change VNs as a genre with the release of Kanon, and that’s really the only reason I checked it out.

Moon follows Ikumi Amasawa, a girl who joins a mysterious organization called Fargo, which recruits others with the promise of acquiring an alleged “invisible strength” that can put one far ahead of ordinary humans, in order to investigate their possible connections to the murder of her mother, and if possible, take revenge on the ones responsible. Upon arriving at the Fargo facility, Ikumi quickly befriends two other initiates with ulterior motives of their own for joining: Haruka Mima, a determined girl with a cool attitude who keeps her goal to herself, and Yui Nakura, a cheerful, but naive girl who’s seeking to bring home her older sister, who joined Fargo several months prior. Though the three agree to become allies and help each other achieve their goals, they are quickly separated in different “classes” housed in different buildings, with Ikumi being assigned to Class A, the most prestigious of them all. Settling into her new life as a Fargo initiate, which mostly consists of “training” with the Minmes and Elpod, machines that confront her with various parts of her very troubled past for the purpose of “mental reinforcement” in the form of a vengeful doppelganger of herself, Ikumi gradually discovers many strange things about her situation, such as there only being one other member of Class A, that being Youko Kanuma, a quiet, cold woman who has been part of Fargo for many years. Additionally, Ikumi is forced to share her room with a strange boy who doesn’t volunteer his name, who, though part of Fargo itself, is quite low ranking, and more than a bit dim witted at times. Worst of all, upon finding a passage that allows her to access the buildings where her allies are kept, Ikumi finds that the other classes are subjected to horrific abuses by Fargo’s personnel in order to further their mental reinforcement. As Ikumi struggles to aid her allies however she can, the confrontations with her past begin to put a heavy strain on her mind, and the existence of the invisible strength Fargo claims to have starts to become more and more plausible.

Needless to say, Moon isn’t exactly Clannad. I did not know much about this VN before I got into it, and finding it to be a psychological horror VN was a bit of a shock. Even more of a shock was just what form the majority of the horror came in. You see, even though One ~To the Radiant Season~, Kanon, and Air were all released as adult games, the h-scenes are very disconnected from the plot, most of the time, to the point of losing nothing from skipping them or even removing them from the game, and were pretty much just obligatory inclusions to help them sell better. From Clannad onward, most Key VNs have been clean to start. With Moon, on the other hand, you can’t go 5 minutes without running into some explicit scene, the main source being the Elpod sequences and the abuses the Fargo personnel inflict, and it wastes no time getting to them, at that. This is the biggest thing that drives off many of the few who go out of their way to experience Moon, and even with me having just watched an understandably censored playthrough of this on Youtube due to its shorter length, I almost quit very early into it, and definitely would have if I had actually played it. The Elpod is one thing, as the sequences are used for the purpose of developing Ikumi, but even then, most of them are just excessively disgusting more than disturbing, and that goes doubly for the sequences outside of it. Instead of really changing things up, they’re just content to get gradually more and more depraved, and outside of disgusting, the main thing I can even call them is repetitive. This is one of my biggest problems with Moon, and it was pretty hard for me to get into it because of it.

Another major problem I have with Moon is how it handles its cast. Moon is pretty short for a VN, only around 10 or 11 hours if you go straight for the true ending, and even though there are 7 endings in total, they don’t add much more time onto that, with two being worse variants on the true ending, and the rest being bad endings gotten through making bad choices. Having as small a cast as it does should naturally work fine with that, but they really aren’t balanced well. While Ikumi gets developed across the whole game, and Yui gets a good arc pretty early on, Haruka only gets a short arc that ends as quickly as it starts and doesn’t do a lot for her, Youko barely has any screentime despite establishing a good dynamic with Ikumi, and the boy doesn’t have much presence or relevance until late in the story. The pacing is just bizarre and rushed feeling.

That’s not to say there aren’t a number of good points to Moon’s story. Ikumi is very well developed throughout the story, with the Minmes in particular leading to many melancholic scenes that make her quite sympathetic, and were definitely the high points of the normally rigid daily schedule much of the story takes place during for me. Despite the story’s flawed handling of some of them, the cast is still decent on a whole, with Youko’s gradually developing friendship with Ikumi and Yui’s development during her arc being some of the more memorable parts for me. The atmosphere is very well done, with the cramped, depressing corridors of the facility always feeling like they’re hiding something awful just around the corner, especially since you need to manually navigate the place using a map screen, and once the plot really kicks into high gear things become much more compelling, with the final days containing many high points in characterization and an infamous mindscrew of a sequence that, once looked back on with a more understanding eye, is actually quite fascinating in its own right.

Visually, Moon’s art was done by Itaru Hinoue, the same artist as the majority of Key’s VNs, and it’s a lot rougher than the art of, say, Kanon. It’s not outright bad, but it looks very dated, with the designs and sprites not really sticking out. The CGs vary in quality, as some look pretty ridiculous, but others are quite good. Most impressive, though, is two animated intro sequences included in the DVD version, which happens to be the only version with an English patch anyway. They’re fairly brief, but do a great job of setting up the atmosphere and premise despite that.

On the sound side, the soundtrack is great. It’s not a very big one, with only about 16 tracks, and the use of them can get a bit repetitive, but most of them are just a joy to listen to. From the electronic and tense Closed Space, to the wistful, yet peaceful The Place Where the Sun Shines, to Youko’s ethereal theme, to the credits theme, Sorrow, and especially the nostalgic music box theme, Memory, it’s worth looking up even if you hold no interest in the VN itself. There’s also voice acting, also added in the DVD version, and most of it is just average, with not many performances standing out, with the exception of Kahoru Sasajima as Ikumi, who delivers a very solid performance, especially during the more intense moments.

Overall, Moon can be a pretty hard sell. While I thought it was a decent experience by the end, its very offputting content, lack of similarity to any other Key works, and bleak atmosphere can make it pretty hard to go through even if you’re prepared for what’s to come. Even if you wanted a horror VN, there’s plenty others out there, like Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child, Higurashi: When They Cry, Wonderful Everyday, Raging Loop, or just about anything from nitro+. That said, if you can stick to the end, I definitely feel it becomes fairly satisfying, and when I got to thinking, I realized something that actually boosted my opinion quite a bit just by itself. As much as Moon is a story about cults and psychic powers with a somewhat unclear point to it all, it’s even more so just a story about a very troubled youth struggling with her grief, irrationally falling in with a bad crowd, and being forced to face her past and actions if she wishes to accomplish anything. Looking at the story that way, it’s actually quite well done, and going in with that in mind may even make it a bit more palatable. Still, I wouldn’t especially go out of my way to recommend it, and ultimately it’s still very far from being one of my favorite visual novels out there. Either way, that concludes my first mini review, which still turned out longer than I thought it would. My next post will be something unusual for me as well, but that’ll take a bit to come. Till next time. -Scout

[tinknevertalks]

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My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Day two of the Sanctuary Appreciation Week. Favourite relationship.

(Nobody is surprised.)

The love is requited, they're both just idiots. XD

--

I also love (as I pointed out yesterday with my spamming of Helen) the (found) family thing. Good old Sanctuhana - ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. And if that doesn't sound like the Sanctuary crew, I don't know what show you've been watching. (Course I can't find any decent gifs of Helen and Ashley in the gif search thing. Fail, Tumblr, fail.)

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34 notes • Posted 2021-04-06 13:00:47 GMT

#4

Day five in the Big Brother household of the Sanctuary Appreciation Week. Today is favourite location.

My favourite is the Old City Sanctuary. It's the right mix of homey and science lab-y and broken down cathedral-y. XD They even have a cloister! And I swear a sanctuary can be a TARDIS when plot dictates. I would not be surprised to find all the things we fic writers have written about the place actually being there.

Last year, a user on Twitter posted the floor plan to the Old City Sanctuary, lemme see if I can find it again.

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39 notes • Posted 2021-04-09 12:26:50 GMT

#3

Day three of the Sanctuary Appreciation Week got me thinking about: Favourite Season/Story Arc. There's two answers to this.

My favourite season is season three, not just because it's the season that brought me back to the fandom like five years later, or because of this cardigan:

(I *will* knit my own one, one day) but because it is just such a comfort blanket for me. So much happens but at the same time there's also chances for the show to sit and breathe.

But also because it is the season that brought me back to the fold and I love the dvds I got signed by Amanda at ATX.

But my favourite arc isn't in one season, it bridges two. I am, of course, talking about Nikola's devamping and subsequent revamping.

(Sorry, random aside. There were scorpions in the Tesla ep of Doctor Who?

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48 notes • Posted 2021-04-07 21:48:01 GMT

#2

If you have Disney+, and you want something gentle, may I suggest Bluey for your viewing pleasure?

It's so cute, but will get you in the feels (in a good way - Sleepytime in s2 had me crying real tears, first of joy then of actual overwhelming emotion)(I have been awake on and off since 4:28am so that might be part of it).

And its Australian! It's so bloody cute. XD

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87 notes • Posted 2021-02-14 14:45:23 GMT

#1

Ffs cat, where am I meant to sleep?

204 notes • Posted 2021-09-05 02:25:13 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[medea10]

My Review of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni GOU

(a.k.a. When They Cry Gou)

I know what you’re thinking. Why the heck am I reviewing this anime again? I’ve already written a review in 2009 and re-polished it in 2016. (Here it is BTW) I’ve made my point on who I like, hate, what ships are worthy, and poked fun at all the deaths that happened throughout the series. I think some time has passed that I should say some thoughts on this…um, story. After all, Higurashi is one of my favorite animes.

STORY: Ah shit, here we go again!

Higurashi or When They Cry is about a boy named Keiichi Maebara who recently moved to a place called Hinamizawa. And ever since moving to this town, he’s found his days are filled with fun mischief with fellow friends Rena Ryuuguu, Satoko Hojo, Mion Sonozaki, and Rika Furude. But little does Keiichi know that there’s a little murder mystery that surrounds the town. During a town festival known as Watanagashi (or Cotton Drifting), there’s usually one or two people that go missing or turn up dead. And this year, Keiichi is next. So let’s relive the horrors that plague the town of Hinamizawa and…

One episode later.

Wait, what the…?! It’s episode 2, why are we seeing Hanyuu? I don’t remember that in the manga. The visual! THE VISUAL! WHAT THE FUCK?! ISN’T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A REBOOT? WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS THERE AN ADULT RIKA?! WAIT, IS THAT ADULT RIKA OR BERN? IS THIS GOING TO BE THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE TO THE WITCHES OF UMINEKO?! THE SHADOWS IN THE OPENING ARE TOO FAMILIAR FROM OTHER WORKS! Ryukishi07, you magnificent, fucking troll master for keeping this hidden until the second episode’s air date!

Many of us did not see this coming. When they announced a new Higurashi series that was going to be done by a different studio, many of us speculated whether this was going to be a reboot or a sequel. But then we got the PV trailers and it looked like we were going to get a reboot to correct the mistakes Studio Deen made years ago. Rika’s head doesn’t look like its gonna snap off because her body is so small in comparison. Improvements! I mean, they showed everything we were already used to like the yandere girls, the original soundtrack, the original freakin’ cast, and death by baseball bat. Hell, the first episode ended with an Eiko Shimamiya song! It was on track to being a reboot! A better looking reboot!

Here in lies the sequel aspect! After episode one, we get a scene that isn’t usually seen until the Kai part of Higurashi (a good 4-5 arcs away). And they give away the secret that Rika Furude is repeating the timeline of June 1983 over and over because she keeps dying. And as the series progresses, you notice little things different from the original series. Many of the well-known storylines end much differently than what you remember. Instead of Keiichi killing Rena and Mion with a baseball bat, you’ve got Rena going psycho on Keiichi. And Rika’s fate is somehow worse than the stories of the original series. So let’s head back to Hinamizawa to hear the cicadas cry and watch a murder mystery unfold.

THE SUB: All the original voice actors have returned to voice their respected roles. Perfection in a nutshell!

LICENSING: You’ve gotta be shitting me!

As I’ve mentioned years ago in my review, the original Higurashi anime went through a turbulent time being licensed in the states. It was originally licensed and dubbed by Geneon. But once Geneon collapsed, FUNimation licensed it and did absolutely fuck all with it. Geneon could only manage to squeak out one season. At this point, FUNimation was picking up titles that Geneon used to have before it fell under including Familiar of Zero, Kyou Kara Maou, and yes, Higurashi. All of these titles mentioned here were done absolutely nothing with despite having cult followings, second seasons, and OVA’s.

A year or two after licensing it, the license expired for Higurashi. For nearly six years, the only copies you could get were out of print and estimating at $500 at the very least for a full collection. Single DVD’s could be found in rare shops, but it would take like 13 years to complete the fucking collection if you did it that way. And that was only for the first season. Second season, the best all of us could do was bootleg DVD’s from Japan Town or fansubs with glaring errors for the best season to Higurashi. We had to deal with this shit until Sentai Filmworks licensed and released the first 2 seasons and the Rei OVA’s.

AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME FUNIMATION IS CLAIMING HIGURASHI ALL FOR THEMSELVES?!

Where the shit was this love 10 years ago when we were asking politely to release Kai? People ignorantly blew Higurashi off for years because season two was never released in the states until 2016 because they thought the damn anime ended after Rena held up the school. I’m already irritated with FUNimation after the Interspecies Reviewers debacle and I’m still quite butt-hurt over them re-releasing Nichijou with a dub to make a quick buck. Licensing Higurashi just brings back old anger. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Higurashi is legally licensed and can be seen on at the very least Hulu. It’s just that I hold grudges and this was a big one.

THE DUB: Holy…um, okay! This is a rather big gulp to take in. As I’ve repeatedly mentioned in past reviews, the Higurashi dub was a mixed bag of okay, bad, and oh gasperts kill it with fire. So, not great! The good folks at Geneon (before bankrupting in America) dubbed the first season with a good chunk of folks that put their fake names to the credits. Again, not great! To me, there were some aspects of Megan Hollingshed, Mela Lee, and Grant George’s performances of Mion, Rena, and Keiichi that were okay. SOME! John Snyder and Karen Strassmen as Ooishi and Takano were the best out of that dub. Everything else was just irredeemable! It needed a redub, an overhaul, and a spit-shine. For years, I’ve wondered who would be the dream cast. Sentai Filmworks unfortunately never dubbed the remaining seasons when they released them. Would Luci Christian be the heavenly voice to do Rika Furude? Could we get Hilary Haag to do Satoko? Okay, that never came to pass.

This dub is a breath of fresh air. Rika doesn’t sound like Mihoshi. Satoko doesn’t sound fake, Keiichi doesn’t sound like a weird Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s perfect. ESPECIALLY BRITTANY LAUDA AS SATOKO! I knew the second she was cast as Satoko that she was going to excel the fuck out of this role. And I was not disappointed! The only voice I’m still not quite used to is Michelle Rojas as the Sonozaki twins. Probably because I was somewhat okay with Megan Hollingshed’s voice in the 2006 version that it’ll take some time! And we FINALLY got a voice for Hanyuu. I am super excited that Xanthe Huynh is the voice and I know she’ll do great with this role! With all of that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Keiichi is now played by Khoi Dao (known for Kiriyama on March Comes in Like a Lion, Murata on Demon Slayer, Chaka on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 3, and Iskhan on SAO: Alicization)

*Rena is now played by Emi Lo

*Mion/Shion is now played by Michelle Rojas (known for Shizu Delta on Overlord, Touka on Assassination Classroom, Minase on Psycho Pass, Kanan on Love Live Sunshine, and Kusakai on Keijo!!!!!!!!)

*Rika is now played by Apphia Yu (known for Rio on Assassination Classroom, Marie on Black Clover, You on Love Live Sunshine, Victorique on Gosick, Natsumi on Danganronpa 3, and Laki on Fairy Tail)

*Satoko is now played by Brittany Lauda (known for Riko on Made in Abyss, Meidri on Interspecies Reviewers, Lessar on Index III, and Ichigo on Darling in the FranXX)

*Hanyuu is played by Xanthe Huynh (known for Menma on Anohana, Haru on Persona 5, Hanayo on Love Live, Hidomi on FLCL: Progressive, PallaPalla on Sailor Moon Super S [redub], and Sachi on SAO)

ANY CHANGES IN YOUR HATE-O-RADE:

Okay Medea, let-a-rip!

*inhales and exhales*

Teppei Hojo is trash. He is ultimate trash. This fucker needs to be murdered in every timeline. He is a turd in a Glenn Quagmire shirt. Him and his wife are trash. And when this pile of trash is cheating on that pile of trash, he sleeps with peak trash named Ritsuko. Teppei Hojo needs to die in every timeline. Whenever Keiichi bashes this cum-burger’s head in with a blunt instrument, I scream at the top of my lungs, “DIE SCUM, DIE”! And nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will change my opinion of Teppei Hojo.

Episode 23.

Oh, fuck you Higurashi Gou!

MUSIC: Okay, thank you for proving me wrong. I did not despise the opening theme. Having Higurashi with no Eiko Shimamiya is like having Pokemon with no Rika Matsumoto. Or Rozen Maiden with no ALI PROJECT. But this new opening is fine by my standards.

That’s right, get the niceness of the review before I get angry down below.

THESE TIMELOOPS: Rika tries to find solutions to end her time-loop in June 1983. Much like the original series, we follow stories from the Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, and Tatarigoroshi-hen arcs (the first three stories to Higurashi, although now these have different names). However, all of these arcs have different endings. And after a positive turnaround with Satoko escaping from her abusive uncle, shit goes south when Detective Ooishi, who up to this point has never suffered under the Hinamizawa Syndrome or died a painful death goes on a murderous rampage. Higurashi style! That means, he’s after Rika Furude, will slaughter anyone in his way, and scratching his neck because he sees maggots (part of the hallucination effect).

What the shit? Ooishi for the most part has been a great guy. With the exception of the Tatarigoroshi-hen storyline, he was a nice guy! In the limbo with Hanyuu, Rika now remembers who has killed her. Every time Rika dies up to this point, she never remembers who was the cause of her demise. Hanyuu implanted that power to remember the deaths and a clue for Rika to use and then she disappears.

Now seriously, imagine Rika’s plight here. She has been repeating the month of June 1983 for over a hundred years. And each of these times she repeats, she’s horribly murdered. Rika got the shit-end of the deal in the murder department in the original series, including being dissected on while alive. Then, leaving her bloody, naked corpse out in the open of the Oyashiro altar! She’s tired of this shit! She wants to live a happy life away from Hinamizawa. She wants to grow older, become a teenager, and have fun. And this series made it worse by having her die four times in one episode. Not just that, but murdered by the most unexpected people including Akasaka, Chief Kimiyoshi, Mion’s mother Akane, and Keiichi. Keiichi has never killed Rika in any of the timelines up to this point. He has killed Mion and Rena, but never Rika. Keiichi loves Rika! Welcome back to A Million Ways to Die in Hinamizawa.

I’ll just add decapitation, drowning in a lake, set on fire, drowning in a sewage pipe, and death by…um…

Alexa, play Chandelier by Sia.

ENDING: We all know by now that in the original series, Miyo Takano is the betrayer and the reason behind all the murders during the Cotton Drifting Festival. This time, it’s someone closer to Rika that’s causing Rika so much pain. After we watched the worst kinds of murders happen to Rika, the episode after gave us our answer. Satoko, Rika’s friend and confidant is not happy that Rika is turning her back on Oyashiro and Hinamizawa. All the while pulling out her intestines!

Oh Higurashi, don’t stop being gory!

Yes, Satoko is aware of past timelines much like Rika and is almost on a god-like state. So what the hell happened to her? I know Satoko’s past has been a cluster-fuck of horror with her brother disappearing, her parents dying, and every form of abuse from her uncle. But she was able to prevail after all that. After surviving 1983, a lot has changed in Hinamizawa. The three big families of Hinamizawa put an end to the Cotton Drifting Festival and claiming there is no curse of Oyashiro. Mion and Shion moved on and are going to high school. And Rika decides she wants to move away from this village. By attending St. Lucia! And she wants to do this with Satoko.

Oh, if you don’t recall St. Lucia, Shion attended this academy until she escaped during the Meakashi-hen arc. It was also the same school that Ange from Umineko attended. But of course Ange attended it in the 90’s and we are clearly in the 80’s. Moving on!

Rika and Satoko studied their butts off for years and their hard work paid off as both were admitted into St. Lucia. Now Rika was able to prevail and fit in with everyone. Satoko on the other hand couldn’t do the same as her grades took a dip, her manners are atrocious, and she doesn’t seem to fit in with anyone. And this caused a drift between Rika and Satoko! And so during a trip to Hinamizawa, Satoko went to the old shrine where she ended up getting sent to that limbo place Rika and Hanyuu were at many times before. There, she meets Eua (God, I hope that really isn’t her name). She’s much like Hanyuu except a lot more condescending. Oh, and she’s that mysterious shadow during the opening theme. She bestows the power to Satoko of reviving on death and returning to a certain point in time. In the hopes that Satoko is able to stop Rika from going to St. Lucia! But Rika is not going to budge. She wants out of Hinamizawa no matter what. And Satoko just wants to be with her friend no matter what. Satoko is even shown Rika’s past and still no dent in…Okay, this is bugging the fuck outta me. Pause the Ending portion!

MY GRIPES WITH SATOKO: Satoko, girl, the fuck is wrong with you?! I know Rika is like your main chick and everything, but for fuck’s sake loosen the grip you have with Rika. This season has changed you and not for the better. You made a connection with ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS from Hinamizawa. Big connections! At least in the original series you did. Look at your moments with Keiichi and Shion. Are you just going to shove them off? And what really sets me off is that Satoko literally had the opportunity to learn about Rika’s hundred year’s loop of death. And feels nothing about it! Only that it’s a challenge to break her herself! God damn, at the end of season one, Keiichi learned the truth and he was remorseful. This bitch doesn’t care that her friends were murdered in such a way. And Rika’s been shot in the head, had a live dissection performed on her, and other forms of torture…AND IT DOESN’T FAZE SATOKO!

I know in my original Higurashi review, I felt sorry for Satoko as she did seem to get the short-end of the stick living in Hinamizawa. I mean, her parents died right in front of her, she suffered abuse from her uncle, abuse from her aunt, ostrisized by the town for years, and a myriad of all types of shit to befall her. But Higurashi Gou has ruined this character. Rika didn’t really do anything wrong to Satoko. She didn’t snitch on her when Satoko got in trouble. She offered help to Satoko when she thought her grades were slipping. Satoko just held onto this petty vendetta. Satoko acted like Rika sexually assaulted her and have two other people gang rape her while drugging her. Okay, that’s a call for revenge, not your petty shit.

YOU SEE WHERE I’M AT WITH YOU SATOKO?! Your actions are so bad that you have me siding with the protagonist from Redo of Healer.

REDO.

OF.

HEALER!!!

I’m done with you! Girl, bye! We now return you to my talk about the ending already in progress.

BACK TO THE ENDING: Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Yeah, Satoko is leaving a bad impression on many of us who have been following the Higurashi story for years. And it just gets worse as she uses her new power for petty shit and abusing it at that. I mean, we saw Rika use her power in order to find a way to live past June 1983. Satoko is just using that shit to win some games and have things go her way. What else could this series bless us with? How about an epiphany from Teppei Hojo?

What?!

Teppei changes for the better.

What?!

Look, I admit that these moments with Teppei and Satoko were tame compared to the shit she’s pulled in the last several episodes. But this is Teppei Hojo! The same guy that used Satoko as his personal punching bag! The same guy who fleeced Rena’s father! The same guy many of us who cheer every time we see him on a moped because we know someone’s going to bash his head in with a baseball bat. Even my best friend knows how I am with this guy. When she gave me Higurashi free swag, I took everything except for Teppei. I don’t take trash. So seeing him so remorseful makes me…conflicted.

So now Satoko’s got things turned around for her. Her uncle has…changed?! Add to that, her God-like power. Satoko decides to change the past for her own advantage. This includes changing one of the biggest stories in Higurashi Kai with the kids vs. Miyo Takano. If Rika doesn’t experience the pain in those timelines, she won’t think about leaving Hinamizawa. And if she doesn’t leave Hinamizawa, she’ll stay with Satoko forever.

Oh what a tangled web of crazy Higurashi Gou was! I gotta tell you, Higurashi got me excited all the way up until we learn it was Satoko. And then it went straight to Hell. They turned Satoko into a straight-up selfish monster. Totally unlike the Satoko we’ve all grown to love in the original series. Yes, Satoko had those moments where, yeah, you would want to throw a chair at her and beat her ass with it. But that was only temporary! You would always see the good in Satoko despite that mischievous laugh and those episodes in Higurashi Rei. And God help me, I was a shipper of Rika x Satoko 10 years ago. Not a big one, but a supporter of it. Now, I would rather support Amourshipping from Pokemon than root for this. And I despise the living fuck out of Amourshipping. That should tell you something!

If original Satoko were bestowed the powers from Eua, I think things would be different. Satoko would probably use her powers to prevent all the bad stuff from happening to her friends and to her brother Satoshi. I mean, my goodness, not once did I see her think, hey maybe I should find a way to help my ailing brother. Change a few timelines, make him all better! And of course, feel sympathy for Rika’s plight. Do it for Rika’s sake, not your own selfish desires! Rika has died horrificly for hundreds of years. And I seriously just can’t get over Satoko’s reaction to that when she learned the truth. Instead, she wants to treat Rika like a caged bird. Best friend my ass!

Now can Higurashi SOTSU fix the hot mess of Satoko? Time will only tell! And good on them for having Higurashi air in the summertime. Summertime is for Higurashi! Autum is for Umineko. Speaking of, it’s been since 2009. Any chance you want to give Umineko the old reboot or sequel it sorely needs? Oh forget it! My likeness for this season is conflicted. I was annoyed by it, but I didn’t fully hate it. It’s just that last arc with Satoko really burned my beans. And I’m sure a lot of you all feel the same way.

Guys, if you want to watch Higurashi Gou, do yourselves a favor and watch the original series first. Let that swirl around your heads for a while. I know the creator tricked us at the beginning of this series thinking it was going to be an honest-to-God retelling. It is not! It is a sequel. And a sequel that isn’t based off a game or manga of all things. So fans are jumping into this with eyes closed! And if you’re a fan of Satoko Hojo, I’m sorry. I’m just sorry.

If you want to check out Higurashi Gou, it is available to watch on FUNimation and Hulu. But please, if you haven’t watched the original series, go to HI-DIVE now and watch “When They Cry” and “When They Cry Kai”. I think you can manage without watching any of the OVA’s.

I’d rather watch that Kira OVA where the fanservice is thin, you can practically lick off the whipped cream from the Sonozaki’s tit.

That should tell you something if I’m starting to say something nice about Higurashi Kira.

See you in a few months when Higurashi SOTSU comes out.

[plcstic]

❝   ︴ ぃ  𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘  ≽ MONA DAKOTA

The popular Disney Channel TV series Mona Dakota chronicled the adventures of a teenage girl who moves from New York City to Malibu, California, and lives a double life as a pop star. The show helped make a star of Chloe Love, who played Chloe Lawrence and Mona and was a zeitgeist in the second teen-pop invasion. Mona Dakota’s -- and Love’s -- success was reflected on the charts: The show's soundtracks, which included 2009's Best Of Both Worlds and 2012's Mona Dakota: The Movie, made her the youngest performer to have four chart-topping albums (15). On songs such as the multi-platinum hit "The Climb," she bridged the pop sound of her Disney contemporaries with nods to her country and rock roots, a perfect fit for her already powerful vocal chops.

Chloe caught the acting bug in 2004 after seeing a production of Mama Mia!, and made her debut with a supporting role in Aquamarine (2006). That year, she also snagged a lead role in the Andrew Fleming film Nancy Drew followed by 2008′s Wildchild. With her mother acting as her manager, Love connected with agent L.A. Reid, who helped her score auditions for projects including Mona Dakota. She won the lead role in the Disney Channel TV series, and Mona Dakota became an instant hit when it debuted the following March. The show's first soundtrack appeared in October 2009, around the time that Love hit the road with another Disney pop act, the Cheetah Girls.

Over the next few years, Mona Dakota's popularity continued to grow. In June 2009, the show's theme song, "The Best of Both Worlds," was released as a single that peaked at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart that August. The second Mona Dakota full-length, Mona Dakota 2: Nobody’s Perfect, appeared in June 2010. It reached the top of the Billboard 200 Albums chart a month later, marking her second number one album in a row. Later in the year, she embarked on the Pumpin’ Up The Party Tour. The concert film Pumpin’ Up The Party Tour and its soundtrack appeared that December, with the album reaching number three on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. A year later Love was shooting Mona Dakota: The Movie. Mona Dakota: The Movie was released in March 2012 and its soundtrack peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, making the 15-year-old Love the youngest performer to have four chart-topping albums. Meanwhile, the soundtrack's lead single -- the country-pop ballad "The Climb" -- became one of the year's most omnipresent songs, giving Love her second multi-platinum hit. In 2012, Mona Dakota filmed its final season, and Mona Dakota Forever followed in October of that year.

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰: 𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙱𝙾𝚃𝙷 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳𝚂  

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 27, 2009

RIAA CERTIFIED: 3X PLATINUM

IFPI REPORT:  5,100,000 UNITS

Mona Dakota: Best Of Both Worlds is the soundtrack album for the first season of the television series Mona Dakota. The program itself premiered through the Disney Channel on March 20, 2010; after becoming an immediate commercial success, production on its soundtrack began the following month. The soundtrack was promoted during the Cheetah Girls’ Party’s Just Began Tour, for which Chloe served as an opening act, and her own Best of Both World Tour. 

WHO SAID: #83 PEAK

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: #92 PEAK

IF I WERE A MOVIE: #47 PEAK

I GOT NERVE: #67 PEAK

PUMPIN' UP THE PARTY: #81 PEAK

THE OTHER SIDE OF ME: #84 PEAK

THIS IS THE LIFE: #89 PEAK

JUST LIKE YOU: #99 PEAK

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰: 𝙽𝙾𝙱𝙾𝙳𝚈'𝚂 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙵𝙴𝙲𝚃

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 23, 2010

RIAA CERTIFIED: 3X PLATINUM

IFPI REPORT:  4,115,000 UNITS

Mona Dakota 2: Nobody’s Perfect serves as the soundtrack for the second season of Mona Dakota. The album was further promoted by her first headlining concert tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour as well as the Pumpin’ Up The Party Tour. The soundtrack debuted at number one in the US, with first-week sales of 325,000 copies.

NOBODY'S PERFECT: #27 PEAK

LIFE'S WHAT YOU MAKE IT: #27 PEAK

MAKE SOME NOISE: #92 PEAK

TRUE FRIEND: #99 PEAK

ROCKSTAR: #45 PEAK

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰: 𝙿𝚄𝙼𝙿𝙸𝙽' 𝚄𝙿 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚈 𝚃𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙴

RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 13, 2010

IFPI REPORT: 1,392,000 UNITS

Mona Dakota: Pumpin’ Up The Party Live is a concert album released alongside the tour DVD for the accompanying tour. The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200.

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰: 𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙶𝙸𝚁𝙻

RELEASE DATE: JULY 4,  2011

RIAA CERTIFIED: PLATINUM

IFPI REPORT:  2,442,000 UNITS

Mona Dakota 3: Supergirl is the soundtrack album for the third season of Mona Dakota. The soundtrack received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who appreciated the combination of upbeat tracks and mid-tempo ballads. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 137,000 copies in it’s first week.

SUPER GIRL: #4

HE COULD BE THE ONE: #10

ICE CREAM FREEZE (LET’S CHILL): #87

LET’S GET CRAZY: #57

I WANNA KNOW YOU: #74

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰: 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚅𝙸𝙴

RELEASE DATE: MARCH 23,  2012

RIAA CERTIFIED: 2X PLATINUM

IFPI REPORT:  5,331,000 UNITS

Mona Dakota: The Movie is the soundtrack for the film of the same name. The soundtrack received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who appreciated the combination of upbeat tracks and mid-tempo ballads. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 137,000 copies in it’s first week. Love performs twelve of the songs on the album, seven of which are credited to Mona Dakota, including “The Climb” which would become a signature Love song.

THE CLIMB: #4, 5X PLATINUM, 12,735,000 WW

HOEDOWN THROWDOWN: #18, 2,455,000 WW

YOU’LL ALWAYS FIND YOUR WAY BACK HOME: #81

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁

RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 25,  2013

RIAA CERTIFIED: PLATINUM

IFPI REPORT:  2,442,000 UNITS

Mona Dakota Forever is the soundtrack album for the fourth and final season of Mona Dakota. Although the show was projected to last for up to six seasons, Chloe’s relationship with Disney began to sour and she lost interest in continuing the show. Love allegedly didn’t show up for the album’s cover shoot which is why the soundtrack cover work is the only from the franchise without her face. Due to Love’s uncooperation to promote the new material the album debuted at no. 11 on the Billboard 200; an all-time low for the artist, as no previous album of new material released by Love had failed to reach the top ten. First week sales for the album were projected to be around 28,000, which is over 109,000 less than the previous year's release.

ORDINARY GIRL: #91

GONNA GET THIS: #66

I’M STILL GOOD: #51

𝚃𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙻:

20,822,000 ALBUMS SOLD WW

31,713,000 SINGLES SOLD WW

52,535,000 TOTAL RECORDS SOLD WW

@popcraverp​

[dougluberts]

“You’re Never Weird on the Internet” by Felicia Day (a quickie book review)

I've known Felicia since working as her (Unpaid) VFX Supervisor for Season 2 of "The Guild".

It just boggles the mind that someone who has built a self-described "Multi-million dollar empire" on the backs of unpaid labor can whine, bitch, and moan about how unfair she has been treated by everyone from the TV and Gaming Industries to the many fans (and former labor and talent) who have been burned by her strident over-stated sense of, I don't know, self.

In one chapter she goes from talking about how George Ruiz, her then agent, secured the Microsoft deal for "The Guild" that would allow her to keep full ownership of Intellectual Property rights for the show while having all production costs (plus some) paid by Microsoft in exchange for a first-play exclusive on XBox,, then announcing on every platform, from Late Night TV to every Podcast she could book, that this signaled a new day for creators who now would be compensated fairly while not being stripped of ownership of their work.

Fast forward to 2015ish, when she launched a vlog series of young creators who were expected, by Felicia, along with her co-producers Sherri and Kim, sign away all ownership to their work in perpetuity.

At one point she comments that she was proud that nobody working on The Guild Season Two would go unpaid. Hah! I'm calling Shenanigans there.

At the time the Microsoft Negotiations were going on, I was working through a three-week hiatus from my day job at a major VFX studio in the Bay Area, which extended from 3-weeks of 13 hour days to several weeks of after-work overtime to finish the big effects sequence at the end of the Season Finale where Codex dies a Warcraft-like death at the site of Zaboo making out with another girl.

My compensation? 

A DVD signed by the principal cast, while everyone on set got paid... Not a lot, but it was cash $US.

Felicia recognizes that her neuroses and various mental health disorders drives her neurotic behavior and has caused damage to key relationships, like the rift that arose between Felicia and her producing Partner Kim Evey Benson, during the early days of Geek & Sundry.

At the same time I feel disabused, as many of Felicia Day's former "volunteers" (who had no idea we were signing on to something that was going to make Felicia and her "Key People" good money, I also feel sorry for Felicia, as she is lost in her own world of Pop Culture issues and squeezing every drop of blood from anyone who will help her.

Felicia quotes the often misattributed statement, "The only thing necessary for Evil to succeed is for good men (and women) to do nothing, yet she will burn anyone who stands up to her, or her equally morally-bereft and ethically bankrupt D-List Hollyweird fans.

She neglects to mention facts like her Director and Editor for Season 2-5 of the Guild wound up homeless and destitute after leaving Geek & Sundry.

Meanwhile, Kim, Sherri, and Felicia set up multiple shell companies to avoid/evade paying union benefits to anyone but their "preferred" talent.

Thanks for the memories, Felicia, oh, and for the two lunches and DVD... The DVD is going on eBay with the rest of my "The Guild" swag, as Disability isn't paying the bills, and I need to cash in on the only benefits I received from helping you build your Flagship product. More in depth on dougluberts.com later...

[takaraphoenix]

So, what's The Owl House?

And who is this adorable lesbian i keep seeing on my dash?

(I’m assuming these two belong together ;D)

OOOH YES LEMME FANGIRL SQUEAL ABOUT THE OWL HOUSE! *^*

The Owl House is a cartoon about a human girl, Luz, who loves magic and despite still being a kid her mom thinks that she needs to get over fantasy stuff and imagination, which honestly horrifies me, so mom sends her to a summer camp where she’s supposed to “grow up”.

Instead, Luz goes into a weird old house and through a portal into a literal magic realm, where she meet Eda, the Owl Lady.

Eda the Owl Lady is a witch and she, more or less willingly, takes Luz on as an apprentice. Even though humans don’t have magic. Eda is the epitome of that trope I love where a grumpy loner likes no one but oh no sudden found family.

Luz is the kind of protagonist I love the most. The pure-hearted, happy, optimistic and just inherently sweet kind who just... everyone grows attached to. She’s also canonically bisexual; her exact sexuality hasn’t been confirmed on-screen yet but it has been indicated.

(There’s also this little guy who you have to love. His name is King and he is a good demon puppy!)

So, that’s half the main plot. Luz, a human, wants to learn magic from a witch who is also a total crook and a wanted criminal - which is the other half of the main plot. Which, might I add here, is actually really well-written. The story, the pacing, the points where things are revealed to the viewer. It’s also funny as hell, there are so many fun, ridiculous little moments and jokes in it, but it’s also still always very heart-felt.

Luz also comes with her own lovable Golden Trio type - Gus, who is a total fanboy for humans in a very Ariel way as that he doesn’t quite understand human culture and objects but finds them fascinating and assigns them new meaning (as can be seen in this GIF, where he mistook a DVD for a “shiny cookie”). Willow is a total sweetheart, who struggles with her own issues.

NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS FUNKY, USELESS JOCK LESBIAN.

I love her so much. This is Amity Blight! She is first introduced as a rival to Luz, in a way - a prodige witch from the nearby witch-school. But very quickly, their dynamic changes as they learn more about each other and grow closer and become friends - and, for Amity, already... more.

This is the part where my heart races with anxious excitement. I’ve been let down three times by canon queer rep in cartoons at this point. And in nearly all cases - also some I haven’t watched - it’s just... a quick end-note. They get to go gay in the very last episode of the cartoon, when it’s all done. So when I first heard they were going to go gay on this, I rolled my eyes, fully bracing myself for another “five seconds confirmation for now but then we Go Gay when the show ends”, because this isn’t just a cartoon, this is a Disney cartoon and we’ve all seen the way Disney has handled ““queer rep”“ in the past (Star Wars’ two second kiss of unnamed background characters, a random cop lady mentioning her girlfriend once in Onward, Avengers: Endgame and an unnamed character in one scene talking about a date with a guy. You know, things that really only barely pass as rep).

But this is not that. This is... gay. Really gay. Good gay. Authentic gay.

Throughout the entire second half of the first season, it is very clearly shown just how gay Amity is for Luz. I’ve seen reviews... which I assume were from ignorant straights tbh... that her blushing is too excessive and annoying.

It’s not. It is a very easy way of not just establishing that “yes, she has feelings for the other girl”, but also to be a constant reminder of it. Also, let’s be real, these are preteens, you were awkward with your crushes at that age. That’s authentic not excessive.

Every episode, Amity’s feelings for Luz are explicitely shown in the way she acts around Luz. Blushing, stammering awkward nonsense, shy little gestures. There is no arguing about whether or not this is gay; it is gay, it is repeatedly shown to be gay and quite honestly, it makes me weep tears of joy. And it’s not just in subtle behavior, we get it spelled out that Amity likes Luz like that.

And from everything we get, we may be dealing with a very oblivious protagonist (see two GIFs up; clearly the blushing girl wanted to ask you out, Luz), but we are also definitely setting this up as the romance.

And we’re only one season in.

So, let me recap:

beautiful found family trope

WITCHES! Witch school! Magic!

A CANON BISEXUAL PROTAGONIST AND HER LESBIAN LOVE INTEREST

seriously there’s canon queer witches

a diverse, fun, lovable cast

the writing’s really good, honestly

it’s funny and quirky

GO AND WATCH IT

[werewolfbarbie]

Halloween Top 5′s

Thought I would start reviewing again! Just not on camera:p for one I want to wait to get back to the review show on Youtube with @breakfast-owl when our new plans come into place and for another I really need to start writing again! So what better time to get my creative juices flowing again then Halloween? 

So for the first week I’m gonna do a Halloween Top 5 List with different categories! 

Today is Top 5 Favorite Cartoons to watch during Halloween. And this won’t be listed favorite to least it’s just my favorite top 5 lol

So here we go!

Top 5 Favorite Cartoons:

1. Danny Phantom: A teenager enters his ghost hunting dad’s Ghost Portal and is fused with Ghost DNA, while unleashing all the ghosts into his town. Now as a half boy half ghost, he uses his new powers to protect the town of Amity Park while surviving high school at Casper High. 

Oh my word I LOVE this show. I remember the day I discovered it. Or when I was introduced to it. I was a little girl hanging out with my cousin and my older brother at Papa and Grandmas. Being that my cousin was older it meant one very crucial thing, HE was in charge of the remote. I really wanted to watch Boy Meets World but he didn’t like the episode that was on. I was about ready to pout (my go to reaction as little Janny, which NEVER worked), when he turned to Nick. Danny Phantom was on and he was so excited. He started telling me the plot and I was soon joining in on the excitement. I would later find out that the episode we were watching was the pilot “Mystery Meat”.  As soon as it was over I wanted more! I went home and waited for the next episode to air. It has been part of my life since and every Halloween I can’t wait to watch it with my friends. 

2. Scooby Doo: Three teens and a talking Great Dane travel the world and solve crimes. Crimes that usually include masked villains pretending to be ghosts vampires and other creatures. 

I’ll be covering this show more with my Movies to watch, to my gosh how can I NOT include Scooby Doo on here?! I don’t even know when I first saw this show. It’s just been in my life that whole time. Turn on the TV, no matter what time, and you’ll probably find it. It’s be rebooted and remade many times and most of the reboots have been pretty good! I watch all of them cuz they always get me pumped for the October celebrations. The best memory I have with Scooby Doo is pretty recent. I was working at a video store (BEST. JOB. EVER.) and it was a brisk Autumn week. I was by myself at the store and no customers. As I was cleaning the place, I put in the dvd’s of Scooby Doo and just felt so excited! I got off work one day and headed over to my friend Kayla’s where we watched more Scooby Doo. This show is just so fun and will never end. 

3. Beetlejuice: A ghost from the Neitherworld and his best friend a teenage girl named Lydia journey between the real world and Neitherworld and numerous adventures. That’s..that’s it that’s the plot. 

Now with the show whenever I talk to people about it, the usual response I get is, “There’s a show?” Beetlejuice the Animated Series is based on the famous film Beetlejuice, with few minor tweaks. For one thing, Beetlejuice (the antagonist of the film) is now the protag of the show and he’s best friends with Lydia from the movie. The Maitlands are not in it and I’m pretty sure Delia is her birth mom instead of step mom. I didn’t watch the movie until recently, (sorry @breakfast-owl I tried to wait but it was on at work!) but I LOVED the musical and got the gist of the film. I love this show. It is so funny, so creative, and so nostalgic! I own the entire show on DVD. In fact to show you my love for this show, I was at Walmart where I had to choose between Danny Phantom and Beetlejuice and I chose that one!! (I love you Danny but it’s BJ! The ghost with the most!!)

4. Darkwing Duck: By night he’s Darkwing Duck, protecting the city of St. Canard from evil doers. By day he’s Drake Mallard, single father raising his adopted daughter Gosalyn. Night and day he’s 100% awesome. 

Okay this one is not a Halloweenie type show per se.. but this show is so much fun to watch during Halloween!! I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia of the show, the way it mostly takes place in the night, the masked crusader and his masked villains, or just cuz I darn well want to! I’ve talked ALOT about this show on my blog and I plan on reviewing it at the end of season 3 of the reboot of Ducktales once I see where the writers are going with him, but for now it’s on this list. It’s just such a good show guys. SO GOOD. 

5. Casper the Friendly Ghost: A friendly little ghost named Casper searches the world for a friend. 

I watch this classic show every Halloween. I love the theme song (yeah the famous one is “Casper” but I love the instrumental one from the old show). It’s a pretty straight forward plot but I just love the mood it puts me in. The artwork is haunting and the characters that Casper interacts in are so entertaining. Despite them being popular, we don’t really see the uncles til later in the show and they aren’t all that mean to Casper. They just wanna make him scary. Wendy is one of Casper’s best friends so I’m glad he got a movie with her later on. Casper is another character that he continued to be remade and rebooted. I’m ready for another! 

So that’s my top five favorite Cartoons to watch during Halloween! Next is my favorite movies. I would love to hear your favorite cartoons!! Feel free to reblog with your response or message me! 

[luthienebonyx]

Shipping Post Game

@dame-lazarus  tagged me

Rules: tag 9 people you want to know better. 

I haven’t been on tumblr much this week so I have absolutely no idea who’s done this and who hasn’t. Because of that, I won’t tag anybody, but if you’re reading this and you’d like to play, go for it and satisfy my nosiness. 

Top three ships

Weeeeell, I’m not really a shipper. Yes, I have ships, and often one ship at a time, but I’m really more a One True Character rather than a One True Pairing sort of girl. This has led me down some rabbit holes to some unexpected places at times. I could start with a ship from my first writing fandom. Or I could start with HP, where I was responsible for not just writing multiple ships myself, but for a lot of other people writing all sorts of (sometimes very) strange pairings too, thanks to a fest I ran in the early 2000s. But it’s probably easier to just talk about the three ships that I’ve written the most words about since those days. (Also, that means that I DON’T have to include Lewis/Hathaway, which has recently  been completely ruined for me by a certain asshat actor who used to play a character whose name begins with H.)

1) John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, aka McKay/Sheppard, aka mcshep

In 2005, I went to America to attend an HP con in Salem, Massachusetts, with a bunch of online friends, and also to travel to some other places and meet some other online friends. In the course of my travels, I watched several episodes of Stargate Atlantis, and several people tried VERY hard to lure me into the fandom. The episodes they showed me had a definite McKay emphasis, as did the fic that ended up loaded onto my ipaq (a small hand-held device that has long been an historical relic - this was a LONG time ago) for consuming on the 14 hour flight back over the Pacific. 

There was a lot of McKay focus in the early days of the fandom. The emphasis changed over time, but right then people were all McKay, all the time. The problem was that while I liked everything in the fandom addiction package that I’d been given a lot, I kept looking past McKay and going: but what about THAT guy? (See above re One True Character.) So when I got home, I ordered the pilot episode on DVD (again, this was a LONG time ago) and once it arrived, I think I watched it seven times in three days? Something like that. And all because of THAT guy.

And yes, in time, I did grow to appreciate Rodney McKay and the very specific dynamic he had with John Sheppard. I read an awful lot of fanfic over the next five-ish years - some of it very, very good; some of it very, very cracky, because that fandom was ALL ABOUT THE CRACK (my favourite was the one where Rodney was a unicorn and John was a rainbow, but the one where one of them was a table lamp was also pretty memorable, or where John was a blue tulip and Rodney was a sunflower, or where they were both girl scout cookies.... Well, you get the idea)... I forget where that sentence was going. 

Anyway, I read a lot, and I wrote quite a bit, though nothing like as much as I wanted to, thanks to RL intruding a lot in not very pleasant ways. I think I came pretty close to capturing John Sheppard the way I wanted to in my final SGA story, Home, which I wrote in 2010 and was set post-series, but he always had an elusive quality, and the inside of his head was a fascinating, if frustrating, place to be. People in SGA fandom were fond of describing the characters as being from the Island of Misfit Toys (particularly in comparison to their counterparts on SG-1), and I think that aspect was what made me enjoy Sheppard so much. On the surface, he looked like your typical utterly boring, good looking, vaguely renegade US military leading man, but underneath he was just SUCH an individual. 

If I had to choose a single favourite character from a fandom I’m no longer actively involved in, that character would still be John Sheppard.

2) Belle/Rumpelstiltskin|Mr Gold aka rumbelle

I was also lured into this fandom, though it was a bit more accidental than SGA. Nym, who is one of my oldest fannish friends (as in, has been my fannish friend for a very long time - though we’re both no longer as young as we once were) has been a HUGE Robert Carlyle fan for many years, so when he was cast as Mr Gold aka Rumpelstiltskin in Once Upon a Time, of course she started watching. And then I started watching so that I could discuss it with her, and THEN she started writing this thing, and of course I beta-ed for her, and Rumple really sort of fascinated me quite a lot (see above re One True Character) and then I started writing too. I hadn’t written het in quite a few years at that point, apart from a single T-rated Yuletide fic, but pairing Rumple with anyone but Belle required getting very convoluted with the canon, and their canon relationship did have plenty to explore so...

I wound up writing quite a few stories over the next few years, including several that I’m still quite proud of, so in that respect I’m glad Nym dragged me into that fandom with her. I’m pretty sure this was the first time I wrote, or was even really interested in, a canon pairing. There were aspects of that that I REALLY didn’t enjoy, including that the two characters whose relationship I was most interested in were so much (more) at the mercy of the showrunners. I also wasn’t always thrilled about the (extremely specific) expectations that some groups of fans had about what the canon should deliver for their favoured pairing, rather than accepting that that’s what fanfic is for. I wound up swearing that I’d never get into a canon pairing again.

Yeah, well.

3) Jaime/Brienne, Jaime x Brienne, braime...

Those of you who’ve been following me awhile have probably heard this before, so feel free to skip, but for anyone who’s fairly new...

I stopped writing fanfic in mid-2015, and apart from a brief burst of activity in late 2016-mid 2017, I continued not to write. By the time 2019 rolled around, I thought it pretty likely that I wouldn’t write fanfic again. Then the final season of Game of Thrones happened.

Jaime Lannister has been my favourite character since I read A Storm of Swords when it was first published twenty years ago. It’s a bit of an understatement to say that I wasn’t exactly pleased with how the show ended his story arc. And yes, I know what I just said above about fans having too-specific expectations, but there’s quite a bit of middle ground between fans expecting too much from a show and a show spectacularly under-delivering.

I started writing this pairing the day after the final episode aired, because I couldn’t NOT write, and I pretty much haven’t stopped since. I think my word tally is somewhere around the 240k mark atm.

Last song I listened to:

Journey of the Sorcerer by the Eagles, because the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy came up in the conversation when I was at @undun-duz‘s place tonight, and of course I immediately got this earworm.

Last movie I watched:

The Aeronauts - because watching Eddie Redmayne suffering from hypoxia and almost freezing to death in a balloon is more entertaining than you might think.

Currently reading:

Dress in the Age of Jane Austen by Hilary Davidson, WAY too many car reviews as I wait for the payout from the insurance company for our poor, dead car, and waiting on False Value by Ben Aaronovitch, the next Rivers of London novel, which is due out later this month.

Last thing I ate:

Some cheesecake that D insisted on getting for dessert. I really should know better than to leave those choices up to him. If I ask him to “get a cake” he inevitably returns with a cheesecake.

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Della Arc Finale and Shadow Into Light  Combo: The Shadow War! or The Last Stand of Lena DeSpell (For at least a year)

Hello all you happy people! And today the two arcs of Ducktales i’ve been covering unite for the season 1 finale! It’s been a hell of a ride: We’ve had a family reborn, gay subtext, a warriors homage, an underground adventure, a vacation with the gods, gay subtext, a giant shark made of money, a trip to old Scotland for some family fun shouting, gay subtext, a trip into Lena’s innermost nightmares that also involved a sasquatch for some reason, a heart stopping reveal, a heartbreaking argument due to said reveal and gay subtext. It’s been a hell of a ride and while the Lena train will go on, I feel both acomplished and happy to have finished up the Della arc in such a short time. Never doing that again mind, as it took up my entire schedule and pushed any other ongoing projects out, but i’m still proud to have pulled it off. 

When we last left off.. yesterday, The truth came out, the boys lashed out at Scrooge, Scrooge lashed out at everyone, and we all cried. Now Magica looms, our family is broken again and it’s up to two unlikely people to bring them together again. So join me under the cut for some parent trapping, some adventure and even more Weblena subtext than usual, as we enter the Shadow War.

Part One: Night of De Spell! 

I”ve come around on the episodes being treated as two parts in reuruns and on Disney +. They were BUILT to be chunked up later as there are clear breaks between episodes, said chunking is to make reruns on tv easier.. and it makes my job easier as it gives me clear act breaks. I’ll still cover them all in one article, but it makes it easier to recap it when I have two clearly defined acts, something that’s been a struggle when reviewing episodes that just aired like Let’s Get Dangerous! and the Last Adventure!, hence why I switched to breaking down the episode instead for the latter. So I really can’t gripe about something that dosen’t really affect anything negatively, at most it just adds credits to both episodes, and HELPS me a lot. 

And it really helps with this one as like most of the episodes for the Della arc... the first half of the finale is two plots that don’t really intersect that much aside from Magica mimicking Scrooge on the phone to keep him from going to the dinner. Other than that they don’t really impact each other until the end of the first part. So i’ll be covering both plots separately, and then just the episode as a whole for part two. 

Good. Let’s get quackin. 

Everyone But Scrooge and Lena in Parent Trapped:

It’s three days after the end of the last episode and everything still sucks: Webby is desperate to try and get her family back but none of them are hearing it and Dewey and Huey are taking it an extra mile and throwing their mementos from their adventures in the bay. Louie however dosen’t want to and it’s the one bit of an otherwise great episode that does not work for me as he’s not keeping it for sentiment: it’s a solid gold Kopesh. As someone who makes about 30 bucks a month and gladly sells stuff he doesn’t need, this annoys me on a fundamental level. Sell the damn thing and buy yourselves some food or some ninja turtles dvds like me. 

So Webby is worried they might leave soon and she’ll be back to almost no one but Launchpad assures her they aren’t going anywhere.. right as Donald, desperate to help the boys cheer up and relating to what their feeling, offers to take them where they always wanted to go: Cape Suzette! Spin it!

The Sea Ducks’ even on the flier. Baloo was a legend.. I hope he enjoys his retirment on Cocaine Island as Secretary of Goodtimes under President Snowflame. So our dynamic duo spiral into panic at the thought of loosing their family and best friend respectively. 

Webby: Someone’s gotta remain calm here Launchpad: So you? Even Launchpad knows he isn’t the adult in the situation between him and an 11 year old girl. So they come up with a plan. It’s time to parent trap those sons of bitches. They’ll host a heartwarming dinner reminding them of all the good times, invite Scrooge as the suprise guest and then spring the parent trap. Probably also sing Let’s Get Together given the two people we’re dealing with and given Beakley’s age she likely showed Webby both. Sidenote... I really wish we’d seen more of these two. It’s a team up we only got this once but both Webby and Launchpad being friendly weirdos with a lot of heart but not a lot of common sense made them the dream team and make this part of the plot hilarious and help lighten the mood given the heavy stakes. 

So later that day, we cut to Huey and Lewey who are looking into Cape Suzette.. and find themselves not as excited anymore. They wanted to go all their lives.. but it’s clear that traveling the world.. it’s just another port town, not much more or less adventuerous than Duckburg, and was likely only appealing because it wasn’t here. They’ve flown higher now, seen more and while they won’t admit it... they probably really DON’T want to leave Scrooge forever. it sounded good a few hours ago, it sounded great 6 months ago but now.. it’s just not the same. Dewey is all for it.. but that’s because Dewey was the one who took everything the worst. He put all this effort into finding his mom, into this whole big hunt... and also put all his faith and love and future into scrooge, so having that all puleld out from under him without the maturity to get that he lost a lot too, combined with his natural stubborness, has lead him to dig in. But before hec an convince the other Webby and Launchpad slip them the invitation. The boys accept, probably because with a child’s handwriting it could only be either Webby or Launchpad.. Donald set out traps for Doofus after the last time. 

So they take over the kitchen with Donald confused and upset and then just grumpy after.. they explain their making a farewell dinner. And one of them is his friend. And the other one is his boys surrogate sister. And their offering to make him free dinner and brought all the fixings when he’s out of a job

So naturally their attempt at a parent trap is about as subtle as a Killdozer through your living room, with Webby having made replicas of all their adventures out of food. Launchpad provided drinks.. that are melted popscilces (”There’s a riddle on the stick”). God bless you thoughtly dumb thoroughly beautiful man. So naturally this really isn’t working at all, not helped by Scrooge not showing up thanks to Magica, and Beakley showing up because Webby made the crucial mistake of thinking Launchpad could think bout anything but Darkwing Duck, Planes or a Darkwing Duck Shaped planes clearly so he gave her an invitation telling her NOT to come. 

Webby’s attempt to get them to remember Scrooge fondly gets no-sold, though in a very touching way as Dewey, clearly sensing what she’s trying to do instead picks Uncle Donald, with Huey, Louie and Launchpad all joining in saying he’s Loyal (Dewey, who also uses it as a jab at scrooge because he’s being a little shit this episode, and not in his usual fun way or Louie’s usual fun way), Thoughtful (Huey), Passionate (Louie) and that he likes his sailor suit (Launchpad). It brings the duck to tears and as a big fan of Donald, I love this a lot and it shows that, even if Dewey is doing it to take a jab at his uncle, they really do love and apricate their uncle and all he did despite perferring scrooge for the last 6 months. They may love their rich uncle.. but Donald’s there Dad and nothing can take that away from him.. not that a lack of an emphasis on  his role as their adopted dad in season 3 didn’t try. They love him and wether they realized that because of what happened with Scrooge or always felt this way and just never expressed it, i’ts sweet. For the record I feel while they loved him it took till this for Dewey and Louie to appricate him while Huey, being a sweetheart and the most like him out of the three, always did. Launchpad attempts to use a bouncy castle to fix things for some reason.. the inner machinations of his mind are an enigma.... or just this on a loop. 

You make the call. Beakley naturally, being a spy with decades of experince and someone with half a brainn, figured out their parent trapping them.. but to the suprise of both and the audience she agrees. The family’s been apart too long and she’s fully on board with keeping it together. It makes sense both just in the context of season one and with the reveal of the finale. For the former, she’s watched Scrooge be miserable and withdraw for a decade, and was the one who acitvely encouraged him to spend time with the boys. Sure she wasn’t happy about them moving in, but that settled quickly and last episode she was every bit as worried about the boys as she was her own daughter. She WANTS her best friend to be happy and knows he and his family are stubborn as hell, and knows that our dream team’s heart is in the right place.. but they have about a third of a brain cell between them when it comes to social situations. The finale just adds to it by not wanting Webby to loose her dad or the rest of her family because her dad’s being an idiot. And as a third I just thought of, now we know Beakley’s only ever had one family member before joining the McDuck family, she likely wishes she’d had one and dosen’t want Scrooge to loose that.  It’s also a VERY touching moment: Webby forgave Scrooge easily out of desperation, Launchpad did because he’s nice.. but Beakley while justifably pissed at the time and pulling Webby out of there til lhe stopped being a shithead, given the “your not family” comment, despite having EVERY reason to shun him too.. she gets that right now her best friend needs her to keep his family from running off. 

She also wins easily, making a pie that scrooge liked and taking it away saying they don’t want a reminder of that “awful man”.. before giving them Scrooge’s side of the story, if through double negatives Launchpad dosen’t get. She points out he spent nearly all his money, that their mother was her own woman who made the decision, and that Scrooge spent TEN YEARS looking for her, the entirety of her lives and only stopped because he was on the brink of loosing everything. That starts to turn the boys minus Dewey, but the killing stroke is her pointing out a very simple fact: he lost someone too and all their doing is cutting out their family and costing him more people for something that wasn’t ENTIRELY his fault and he spent a decade trying desperatly to fix. 

This gets Donald, whose the first to say they should go home. “This family has been apart too long.” To me, while I wish the show had built it up more.. i’ts Donald realizing how WRONG he was. He shunned his uncle and while he was right to be mad.. Scrooge did everything he could to fix things, and not trying to reconcile cost him a decade with the only family he has left that he cared about. Cost the boys their uncle and is NEVER what his sister would’ve wanted. And now he’s enabling the boys to make the same mistake he did, his own anger in the past making them think their resitment and shunning is okay when it’s not helping anyone. All he’s done is hurt someone he loves, someone who is easily his second father and teach his boys to do the same. That has to stop. It’s a great bit of character. 

Huey and Louie are natually easily convinced while Dewey refuses to at first and cries.. before joining in, letting go of his anger too forced to finally realize the truth, or at least what I feel it is: He attacked scrooge because he didn’t want to admit his mom wasn’t perfect, that after all this time he found out she DID do something bad, if not villiaonous, by leaving them and taking the rocket before it was ready, something reckless and selfish, and admitting Scrogoe wasn’t the only one responsible.. was admitting she left him. He finally lets go... just in time for a giant eruption of purple from the mansion. Wuh-oh.. as for why let’s go back a few hours. Boys?

Scrooge and Lena in Night of De Spell!

So a few hours ago Magica is still using Lena’s body, to the point that when Lena is able to force her out for a second she genuinely FORGOT she was there. That’s horrifying..nothing to add there that entire sentence was just really fucking terrifying. 

So naturally she plans to use Lena’s body to get back to the mansion only to find out the kids left from Launchpad (this is before he entered the other plot), but gets in anyway by manipulating him by faking that webby said something about him being weak. 

That being said.. he is in a VERY bad place, beginning the series running gag of characters eating nothing but Pizza and having pizza boxes everywhere as a sign of depression, as the mansion is littered with it despite, as mentioned before everyone only having been gone three days. He’s not even wearing his robe, instead wearing a dirty undershirt and rolling around. He’s so horribly depressed and miserable.  Magica being kind of nuts can’t fathom why he’s miserable and keeps trying to make him Tea.. which leads to something like this for about 7 minutes. 

Granted i’ts more by accident he avoids  Magica poisoning him but still. Also before we move on I have to give props for the animation here and Kimiko Glenn’s performance. She plays Magica perfectly (as Magica only uses her own voice when not around scrooge), and the animation shows off the diffrence between owners of the body incredibly well.

Eventually Magica realizes he’s not faking it and dosen’t want an easy win. She’s waited a decade and a half for this she wants at least some fight. So she manipulates him, talking about family (Not that sh’es a good family member but we’ll get tot hat), and how it weighs you down.. likely also beliving given what we know about her backstory, that he belivies that. That what he said to poe back then was accurate, not realizing.. he changed. 

So he decides to go back to baiss and get rid of everything.. except the dime and Magica being too eager for it gives the game away, so she simply bites him and takes it and... frees herself with the power of the eclipse. After 15 years Magica is free, at full power and quickly imprisons our heroes. 

Scrooge naturally tears into Lena before blaming his family for it.. before she shuts him up, pointing out that Magica got in here BECAUSE his family was gone. Had Webby been here she would’ve realized something was off and stopped her, as would the rest of the family. With no one left to watch his back and his insincts dulled by misery, he was an easy target. She WISHES she had his family. She realized too late that what she wanted wasn’t freedom.. it was somewhere to belong, somewhere where she’s loved and people care about her. Actual parents or parental figures, a warm bed, and a place where no matter how much you argue your welcome at the end of the day. To have a home. Scrooge takes both things in and thanks her for making him realize he was a moron, she was right.. and that if she helps him get out of this.. she has a place in said family.  Naturallly though given this is only part one their beaten easily once they escape: Magica turns Lena back into her shadow, more on that in a minute and traps Scrooge in the dime, and so part 1 ends with Magica ascending at full power and Donald giving the natural response “Aw Phooey”. Time for an intermission...

Part 2: Day of the Ducks!

So we pick up where we left off.. with Magica’s manical laughter and Dewey wondering.. who the hell is this? Webby fills him: Ancient sorceress,  mortal enemy of scrooge usual stuff between them. Except in this version she’s leagues more powerful. She��s also voiced by Comedic Actress and Former Doctor Who Star Cathrine Tate who I haven’t complimented enough int he roll but will now. She easily rolls between comedic and thretaning in an instant and was perfect casting, able to be delightfully hammy.. and unspeakably vile and abusive. 

Back to the plot Magica proceeds to make things worse by moving her base from the Mansion to the bin... and summoning ALL the shadows of the citizens of duckburg. We also get a few neat scenes as a result: Glomgold tries to force his to stay but gets dropped in the bay.. and suprisingly is not a throaway gag but a gag that leads to the setup of his plot next season and the introduction of Kev, who comissioned this episode,’s faviorite character. More on that someday. Fenton does some stargazing.. and naturally when his turns into an evil shadow ghost tries to summon his armor.. and instead his shadow steals it. 

Finally Gladstone’s... gives him 20 dollars because of course it does. All nice littlle nods and in fentons’ case setup for later. 

So while Magica begins her gloating, she had a long speech prepared, our heroes back at the boat try to come up with a plan. They do end up getting unexpected reinforcements: Gyro, Manny, and Little Bulb all show up as their shadows emerging destroyed the glass in the underwater lab. “That’s it no more underwater labs! it’s volcano’s and abandoned castles from now on!”. Well the last one worked for the Mads for a while. i’d of gone for it. Though fair play while they do keep Gyro’s cool underwater lab next time we see it and the windows break security shutters activate to prevent another flooding. Likely Scrooge wouldn’t pay to move the whole thing i’m betting. Fenton also shows up so with most of the supporting cast at this point in the show present, they can begin the raid. 

Donald does try to squak out a plan.. but it’s here an intresting idea of the series pops up: No one can understand donald. Well some people can, but not everyone can and even the boys mostly take it from context.. or at least Dewey does. This causes Donald to angrily chase Dewey around

So Gyro, not having the time for any of this, shoves a thing in his mouth, phrasing. This is the Barksian Modulator, a nod to Carl Barks and how Donald could speak in the comics and thus gives him a Don Cheadle voice.. wait.. does this mean comics Donald is voiced by War Machine too? I’ll table that. The point is he can speak clearly and in the sliky tones of Don Cheadle. Not as sexy as Keith David but i’ll take it. I also appricate Cheadle being fully game for this, doing a silly promo video about his roll here, likely taking a bit of a pay cut to do voice acting, and even doing donald’s trademark untitllegble raises. I do WISH donald got to give his badass speach in his own voice as Anselmo would nail it, but he got plenty of good performances before and after this and the gag of having an academy a golden globe and sag award winning actor with tons of charsima as Donald’s intelligble voice was too good to pass up. He even gives out an ah phooey! Such a legend. 

So he gives a big inspirisng speech and a new motto of “Ducks never back down” that Dewey uses afterwords to diminishing returns. Andddd has the kids stay on the dock for their saftey SEEMINGLY having leanred nothing. Seemingly being the key word. Just to jump ahead a bit his assault team of him and the other adults goes decently: They are overwhelmed, but Fenton is able to improvise a ray gun, and then uses little bulb to turbocharge it. It’s awesome and shows the guys got talent with or without the suit. Beakley keeps the boat safe as she can (and gets as frustrated as donald, which is great, showing i’ts not so easy is it?)< and Gyro gets captured and is disapointed when he tells magica he’s only an aquantince when asked instead of a friend, though let’s be fair here... Scrooge REALLY does value gyro and did not want him to die. Are they friends... eh I dunno, but I do think he’s more than aquantince. Gyro also deserved it after putting Manny and LIl Bulb up against each other for the job. That will teach you to try and unemploy keith david! Launchpad also gets the awesome task of crashing into the bin as a distraction, though Magica keeps tossing him back, which at least does the job... he also gets a TRULY magnificent moment where he leaps onto the plane, singing his own version of the darkwing duck theme song. Fucking amazing and a shame they never called back to this at any point once Darkwing was introduced. I’d pay money to see them both do that. 

So meanwhile with the kids, they naturally say nerp to staying behind. But they need someone who could help them bring them in. In Webby’s actual words, which I am not paraphrasing nor manipulating “Like a noble teen ne'er-do-well who can break into anything, including your heart?” And just in case you think i’m reading too much into things this is her face after saying that. 

That my friend is a face that just SCREAMS 

There’s no straight explination for this face or this line, and for anyone whose going to bring up the sisters thing in the finale 1. Sisterhood is complicated and sometimes not literal and 2. she was trying to keep Webby from walking into what she thought, correctly, was a trap. I’m doing this NOW because I forgot to in the review, and want to make it painfully clear i’ts okay to ship them as long as you don’t do sex stuff. Their chlidren. It’s gross. Don’t. It is precious. 

So they head to Lena’s and find the place deserted and kinda messed up.. and find her Journal which reveals her secret origin: 15 years ago, though her age is not exact and even frank’s said that and while we do see her fully formed as a teen, that might of been an artistic thing we don’t know. Point is 15 years ago Lena was born when Scrooge sealed Magica’s phsyical form away in a dime during their final battle on Mt. Vesuvius, her base in the comics and original series, so she constructed Lena out of her shadow to act as her minon. 

Webby of course is heartbroken, feeling Lena used her and all that bad stuff, though the boys comfort her, saying she’s still got them.. not getting the diffrence between familial love and romantic love but point is they know how Magica got out and what she did with scrooge, but they still need to get inside.

Huey, I think, Gets an idea and they swim underwater to emerge from Gyro’s flooded lab. Louie also gets his Kopesh back. 

Naturally though their own shadows go after them but Dewey cleverly disapates them: since their shadows they need light to exist, and a simple hit of the fuse box disapates them. Presumibly since Magica was forced to make Lena into a more indepdnent and unique being, she’s immune to this hence why this has only happened to magica’s shadow before.

So they continue making their way up, facing Louie’s old nemisis THE STAIRS in a whopper call back.. only to find the bulk of the shadows, inclduing ShadowdGizmoDuck, waiting.. only for Donald to show up just in the nick of time. Turns out het PLANNED for all of this: he knew they wouldn’t stay put if he told them to and would find their own way in, thus allowing his force to be the bait. Fucking brilliant. 

So our heroes head inside while Donald takes on an army single handed.. if with his modulator bugging out.. and given he and Beakely enter the bin via the office entrance later, he BEAT THE GIZMODUCK ARMOR. If you needed proof donald is a legend, there you go. Goodnight.

Anyways our heroes head inside, and when asked what they do, Dewey manages to give his own badass line “Do what we do best make trouble”. What follows is an awesometastic final fight with every one of the kids using their own talents against Magica in one epic clash. Huey simply asks the questions he has while dodging Magica, throwing her off ballance, and nearly getting her weakness out of her. Louie uses his faster speed at burrowing in the gold to easily dodge her and to get her to break a mirror and claims it was a curse. While she dosen’t buy it he eventually uses his silver tounge to wear her down... and leave her open for a kick to the ribs. “Ow my ribs”. Magica drops the dime and it’s clear our first two boys were just the warmup. This is the headliner and she is pissed, coming at Magica with everything. While we’d seen how badass Webby was all season.. this is her crowning glory. The moment that shows she’s not just the best of the kids she EQUALS Donald and Della in martial combat, if not in experince and easily keeps the pace with Magica, railing at her for taking her family and her friend away. Magica tries gaslighting her by saying Lena wasn’t real.. only for lena to come back. 

In one glorious moment, Lena shows off how far she’s come, defying Magica at FULL power to return and fight back, keeping her off webby and giving Dewey, who magica kept from getting the dime seconds earlier, heads for the dime. She’s gone from going with her aunt for her own selfish reasons.. to fighting her with everythig she has left knowing she won’t surivive.. and Webby gets proof that Lena really did love her. Wether she tricked her or not.. she loved her.. and sadly enough to die for her as Magica, after telling Lena “your not family” after Lena calls her aunt, seemingly destroys her and a furious webby attacks in grief and rage. The “your not family part” also gives horrifying context to magica’s abuse: she likely abused Lena.. because Lena wanted family.. and Magica just wanted a minion.. and now we know her backstory.. she already LOST the only family she thought she had and hardenred herself, refusing to loose anyone again and thus took it out on an innocent child like the heartless monster she is. 

However while Lena’s temporary death didn’t stop Magica.. it gave Dewey a dewstraction and he got the dime back. He tearfully apologizes to Scrooge.. before having to run again, but both have genuinely and finallyr econclied, putting away their own anger and pride and hurt and restoring the family good. Dewey uses the dime to block as Magica corners him.. and that desepration move frees Scrooge. We then get another hell of a fight as Scrooge easily counters her, uses his cane as a sword.. and THANKS HER. As far as he knew without her he’d of lost his family..w ith her , and with Lena, he found the strength to welcome them back in and they came for him when he needed them. This , given the Poe thing, infuraties her MORE, though this time she deserves him making her feel bad and using his douchebaggery against her, and he disarms her of her staff, which breaks on Donald’s head. Magica is dewpowered without her staff and without her amulet which was absorbed into Lena. Laucnhpad also gets a moment by bodyslamming her from the plane. She escapes, why they don’t go after her I have no fucking clue seriously guys what, but the point is for today our heroes have won. The bin, mansion and most of the city may be damaged.. but the family is whole again, cemented by scrooge callign out his nephews names (Minus dewey.. but intetoinally this time) and saying “Curse me kilts i’ve missed you”. After years of pain, hurt and sorrow..the family is whole once more and as they enjoy a midnight swim together, the future is all ahead of them. 

But there’s only one thing.. or rather one person missing. And as we close out the episode and the season we cut to the moon.. where Della is watching a newscast.. and sees her boys for the first time. And we hear her for the first time. SEQUEL HOOK BITCHES. 

Final Thoughts on The Shadow War!:

Shadow War is an EXCELLENT capper to the season and both it’s arc, tying both together beautifully by having Scrooge’s misery over his family leaving him vunerable to Magica. Any complaints I can muster are minor nitpicks, it ties in everything that had happened up to this point into a neat bow while leaving two big sequel hooks for next season for each arc. Though it’d take their sweet time, and some weird rescheduling from Disney ,  to get to the Lena one. It’s heartfelt, satisfying and awesome in every measure and is only the weakest of the three finales because the other two had even more shit to work in after seasons of hard work building up this world, with larger stakes and what not.  It also has great symmetry with Woo-ooo and had the series ended here, and taken out the stinger.. it would’ve been decently satisfying. Thankfully it didn’t and we got two more knockout seasons after this and a whole other arc to cover at some point.  It’s still utterly fantastic and still worth your time. Now for something new as this is the first story arc for a series i’ve finished, and as such ...

Final Thoughts on The Della Arc:  I”ll get to the Lena arc, both for this season and as a whole, once I finish this retrospective. But for now how does the Della Arc hold up after all this time? Decently. It does have i’ts problems: The pacing is pretty bad: the arc is staggered out fairly but the size of it’s mystery coupled with the lack of any real info about Della for the entire goddamn season when this is her first big roll in anything, is annoying and will never not be even though we now have all the answers. 

So while i’ts not perfect.. it’s still pretty damn good. They took one of Disney’s greatest lingering questions that went purposfully unanswered.. and answered it.. turning it into a masterful series of character pieces and using it to drive Dewey as a character. This was his arc and it shows depth to him: in most episodes he’s mostly pluck and adhd, but the arc shows off the hole left by not knowing his mom, his determination.. but also his selfishness and stubborness. It really fleshes the kid out and makes you root for him even when he’s fucking up a lot. The character work with EVERYONE, from Dewey in general to Webby and Donald in Ithaquack, to the other boys on the sunchaser to Scrooge in the last two/three eps, to Beakly in the same.. ther’es just lots of great stuff in this arc and way too many great moments to dismiss it. The pacing may of been shot, we may not have learned mcuh about della.. btu sometimes adventure is about the journey not the destination, and the journey AND where it took us were both phenominal so yeah. It’s a good arc. Not the series best, but a good start. 

As for the Lena Arc i’m saving my throughts on that till we finish it as unlike this arc, which leads into the next but isn’t 100% connected to it, her arc extends for the rest of the series character wise, story wise and weblena wise. So we’re not done with this retrospective and i’ll save my thoughts for when we get to season 3. But Covering the della arc was a lot of fun, exausting but fun, and again any future arcs that aren’t paid for will be staggered out and any interlocking arcs that are paid for will have both paid for. Now with that out of the way..

NEXT TIME ON SHADOW INTO LIGHT: Lena gets SO JEALOUS as Webby makes a new friend and everyone gets a new faviorite as Violet is introduced! Meanwhile Beakley is desperate to prove to her 11 year old grandaughter she has friends and decides to befriend launchpad. Shenanigans insue. See you next week!

Next Time on this blog: It’s back to Amphibia! It’s time for some Zelda action as our heroes go to the first temple. I’m expecting either a giant spider or a shadowy ghost version of andrias. Don’t let me down show!

Until then, stay safe, follow me on patreon and on this blog and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[mrjoelgarcia9]

Let’s Talk #KimPossible: The Movie

Despite some fans online declaring it as being one of the worst things ever made, the live action Kim Possible remake was OK. Compared to the animated series, it is far better than that terrible final season.

For a review of the Disney Channel Original Movie Kim Possible, feel free to keep reading. There will be spoilers.

After another successful mission, Kim Possible and her friend/crime fighter Ron Stoppable go to school. They meet Athena, a new girl who just enrolled and is somehow the perfect student. When she tags along on a mission to fight Shego and Dr. Drakken and defeats them all by herself, Kim starts to get jealous. During a ceremony to honor Athena, the villainous duo kidnap her and Kim fails to stop them. It is now up to Kim and Ron to save her from Drakken’s evil scheme.

Prior to the film’s premiere, I wrote that it was too soon to judge the movie. The negative reception was reminiscent of Disney’s theatrical live action remakes, with longtime fans childishly refusing to even acknowledge its existence.

Having actually seen the film, it was OK. It was neither awful or amazing.

Considering this was the first time Disney ever adapted any of their Disney Channel animated series into live action, they did a good job. Being produced for TV, the limitations are obvious, from Professor Dementor wearing biker gear to Rufus being CG. However, the latter is mostly forgivable after looking at an actual naked mole-rat. Other changes were clearly made to accommodate the conversion.

While Kim was a cheerleader in the animated series, she is a soccer player in the movie. The change makes sense due to the former sport not being well-known outside of a few countries, while the latter is far more prevalent everywhere except the United States. The Kimmunicator went from being a handheld device to a pendant with holograms. If Kim had used the then-latest smartphone, it would have badly dated the film.

The plot was OK. It recycles a plot point from the show’s animated DCOM So The Drama, where the new kid in school (Eric) also turns out to be a robot. Out of all the plots they could have adapted into live action, it was the cheapest one to produce. It would be highly unlikely for a made-for-TV movie to even try having the duo either confront Monkey Fist or deal with time travel.

The only original parts of the movie were Drakken wanting to steal Kim’s motivation and the subsequent de-aging, neither of which made any sense even for this franchise. It made the movie a bit too nonsensical when it could have presented something more straightforward like a mind swap.

Going back to So The Drama, Athena is just a gender-swapped Eric. Both characters are humanoid robots created by Drakken, interfere with Kim’s life in some form or another, and turn out to be evil. The only difference between the two is Eric getting killed by Rufus while Athena is spared because they just need to reboot her into being a good guy.

The acting was overall good. Sadie Stanley played quite possibly the most realistic version of Kim Possible. Sean Giambrone stood out by giving the most accurate performance of the film, being able to recreate Will Friedle’s take on Ron to a T. As for the villains, Taylor Ortega was really good as Shego while Todd Stashwick was OK but trying too hard to mimic John DiMaggio’s Drakken. Everyone else did not even bother to recreate their original voice actors’ performances and went in wholly different directions.

Three actors from the animated series returned for the film. Both Nancy Cartwright and Patton Oswalt reprise their respective roles of Rufus and Professor Dementor, while series star Christy Carlson Romano cameos as a pop star giving Kim a ride. It was great seeing the former two reprise their roles, especially Oswalt despite the redesign. For Romano, it was an OK cameo, but she should have had a bigger role in the movie.

Several references to the show were shown throughout the film. At one point, Kim acknowledges her original animated attire. Athena wears a suit reminiscent of what Kim wore in the final season. Even the original theme song makes an appearance, playing over a live action recreation of the intro. The movie even ends with a stinger reminiscent of those featured during the final season.

Kim Possible is an OK movie. It is neither the best or worst DCOM ever made. Disney Channel has aired far worse films by comparison, such as Can of Worms. This movie has some good acting, but the plot is just OK. The TV movie’s budgetary limitations are far too obvious. It just shows why the premise works far better in animation than live action. 

Also, it could have been worse. Just imagine a live action Gravity Falls DCOM.

If you liked the original show, you might hate this film. If you either want a summation of what Kim Possible is all about or are a fan of the actors starring in this DCOM, then it is worth checking out. Otherwise, skip this film and just watch the original show.

Kim Possible is available to own on DVD and Digital. Both the DCOM and the complete animated series are available to stream on Disney+.

Until next time, thank you for reading!