#TOP TEN TUESDAY

[mysteriesofmarcy]

#1: Marcy at the Gates

Ok, so I meant to bring back Top Ten Tuesdays when I posted #2 a few weeks ago. But today is another Tuesday, and I was just thinking about this episode!

Marcy at the Gates is the hands down best character in Amphibia (and one of the best characters ever), at her absolute best, in the best episode of Amphibia. And it was only her first ever speaking appearance! Hard to believe nobody knew a thing about the adorkable nerd until halfway through the show's run. But reality is funny like that sometimes.

And honestly? What is there to say about Marcy that hasn't already been said? Seriously, I can't think of anything. She's an innocent child who wouldn't hurt a fly (unless it was served to her on a tray with other bug appetizers). She's an adventurer. She craves friendship, and this is somehow both a strength and her greatest weakness. She's a brainiac. She's a nerd. She's amazing. She's charming. She is small and cute and needs to be protected at all costs. Some say she's selfish, but she's like 12-13; we can forgive that. She's sometimes so smart she crosses over into being really dumb. She's great at zoning in, not so great at multitasking.

Wait, I just thought of something that I haven't heard anywhere else: that last sentence cost Marcy her life at the hands of King Andrias. If she was paying more attention she would have noticed him and tried to -- you know -- avoid his sword. And hey, something else I've never heard before: Sasha was right that this habit would get her killed someday.

Anyway, I know I'm just going on about Marcy, but come on, this was her episode. Her story. She was the star. She made this episode #1 overall.

But I love details, and the plot was the details here. The first detail is the Plantars finally making it to Newtopia. And the second detail is Anne inadvertently introducing the plot of the episode by showing Sprig pictures of Marcy and telling him about her. Then you get more details about how the city works. You know the episode title, so by the time the hooded figure descends on the wagon, you know you're about to meet Marcy. Right away after the commercial break she makes it clear whose episode this is. Crazy how in just 2/3 of an episode she had everybody like this:

Then you got your standard Marcy mission with a brand new crew (for her). Chock full of twists and turns. Achievement unlocked: 3 new allies join your party! Instavines! Queen barbariants! The process of digestion! And then, a potent penetration and another friendship forged in the bonds of battle later, we finally get to see Newtopia, and the episode came to an end.

(Technically it is Wednesday now, but it's shortly after midnight and I started writing this post on Tuesday so it still counts.)

Marcy is awesome. That's all I'm really trying to say here.

Oh, and I just remembered this, which I posted shortly after this episode.

[brin-guivera]

Top Ten Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme previously hosted by the lovely folks @ The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl Top Ten Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List I kinda disappeared for a while there eh? I thought it was about time I dispelled my blogging hiatus with a TTT post! 1. The Imperial Uncle by Da Feng Gua Guo 2. Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright 3. A…

[mysteriesofmilo]

OK, missed a week because of Labor Day, but we're back with Top Ten Tuesday!

#5: Disco Do-Over

I'm so glad they finally figured out a perfect way to utilize Doof!

This was a fun episode all around. From the Murphy Dream Board, to the training montage, to the actual competition, it felt like the universe was FINALLY trying to throw the Murphys a bone by enhancing their routine in order to gift them a win. The signs were clear throughout the episode:

With the Dream Board: they were left with one final opportunity to win it all before the skate park itself closed, so it almost didn't matter how much damage they caused to the place.

With the training montage: they were gifted a son who had learned more about how to evade Murphy's Law in 13 years than Martin had in roughly 3 times that long.

And with the competition itself: Doof was a judge. That's it. That's the sign.

And I'll just end with a couple pictures of the Dream Board because this is pretty funny:

[meltotheany]

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018! hi hi, loves! i hope you’re all doing well and staying cool (or warm) in whatever hemisphere you are in! i always love doing posts like this, and just reflecting on all the good book options i have for the last six months of 2024 (which feels wild to even type)! but truly, so many good books are publishing over the last half of this year, and i can’t wait to talk about them all with you! 😍 🌞 SUMMER RELEASES ☆ The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark – august 6th ⤷ once again, this book is about necromancers, assassins, and a vow our mc isn’t supposed to remember, but does. it very well could be my new personality very soon! ☆ Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright – august 13th ⤷ maybe the summer buzzword is assassins, because this queer filipino debut also stars one who is forced to work with two others to solve a magical murder mystery that could also involve vampires. this is truly the debut that i have been looking most forward to all year! ☆ The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter – august 27th ⤷ we love a tuesday birthday, and this year for mine i get a sapphic snow white dark retelling. i am obsessed with this author’s writing and her malice duology that ended up being a favorite of mine. i can’t wait for all the sapphic stories she will give us, but this birthday release one feels very special to me already. 🍁 FALL RELEASES ☆ Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio – september 24th ⤷ i mean, once everyone saw there was a new ml rio book coming out i think the entire book community let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. it is “only�� a novella (i say this as a novella lover), but it is about a group of night shift workers trying to solve a mystery at the graveyard, involving a gravedigger, and i know it’s going to be everything. ☆ The City in Glass by Nghi Vo – october 1st ⤷ at this point, i will just beg tor for anything that nghi vo writes. but this is a brand new standalone all about angels and demons and a lost city and i just know that i am going to love it like everything else this author writes! ☆ Lore Olympus: Volume Seven (Lore Olympus, #7) by Rachel Smythe – october 1st ⤷ there is just something really happy and healing about waiting for my next preorder of lore olympus to come in. volume six  was actually my favorite so far, so i extra can’t wait for this newest installment for the fall! ☆ Spectacular (Caraval, #3.5) by Stephanie Garber – october 22nd ⤷ i cannot believe we are actually get a caraval holiday story right before the holiday season! i am so curious if we will see characters from both of her trilogies in this, and if we will get some hints for what is to come next! but i love being in the world of caraval and i can’t wait for this! ❄️ WINTER RELEASES ☆ The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong – november 5th ⤷ this is actually one of my favorite covers… ever. but is a new debut about a immigrant fortune teller, traveling from town to town with her magical cat, and i think this is the tale of them trying to help someone in one of these towns! this is going to be cozy and heartfelt and i can’t wait to read. ☆ The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3) by Carissa Broadbent – november 19th ⤷ i am all caught up and so ready to read this new carissa broadbent book! this third full length story is about a character we know and love from books one and two, but i am curious how i am going to enjoy it because i really didn’t love the last novella i read set in this world. but i am still excited to find out this winter! ☆ Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5) by Brandon Sanderson – december 6th ⤷ the fifth and last (of this story arc, before a very big time jump) of the very beloved stormlight archives. i cannot believe it will be in my hands in six months, and i also can’t believe brandon has said it is the longest bo...

[memoriallibrarytmc]

Top Ten(ish) Tuesday: TMC Easy #2

The #2 most checked out picture book from TMC Easy last year was... We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom! This book has come up on both the lists (for the TMC in general AND TMC Easy), and it's been popular since it arrived... and with good reason! It's definitely worth sharing in the classroom, for its themes, as well as its award-winning illustrations. There are a lot of great ideas out there for lessons you can teach from it.

[biblionerdreflections]

Top Ten Tuesday - Reasons Why I’m Thankful for Books

Today I’m participating in Top Ten Tuesday, which was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week there is a new theme/topic, and participants choose ten books that fit it. This week’s theme is Reasons Why I’m Thankful for…

[books-and-dachshunds]

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Things getting in the way of my reading

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Things getting in the way of my reading #TopTenTuesday #Bookmemes #booklr #bookblr #bookblog #bookblogging

Hello! We are in early for the May 16th prompt, about what’s getting in our way of reading: What’s taking up your time right now? – lovingly stolenfrom A Cocoon of Books during freebie week. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish…

[rewritingkel]

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Recommend to Others the Most

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday a topic is assign, and from that topic a top ten list is formed. This weeks topic is Books I Recommend to Others the Most and this list is going to feel…

[booksandotherpursuits]

Top Ten Tuesday: Books or Covers that Feel/Look Like Summer

“Top Ten Tuesday, this was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010. It’s now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, this weeks prompt is: Books or Covers that Feel/Look Like Summer My top 10 are: Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy Love on the Lake by Helena…

[holley4734]

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books

@ArtsyReaderGirl #booktwitter #booktwt #bookblog @BlazedRTs #TopTenTuesday @bibliophileRT @LovingBlogs @bloggingbeesrt #newrleases #TBR

[taylorfennersbookishworld]

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Winter 2022-2023 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Winter 2022-2023 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books On My Winter 2022-2023 TBR This week’s TTT is about the books on our Winter 2022-2023 TBR. I actually just did a post for this (not for TTT) but I’ve read a couple of the books already so I’ll list the unread ones here… 1. Texas Gothic by…

[mysteriesofmarcy]

#2: Battle of the Bands

I'm looking back at the blog and realizing we never completed Top Ten Tuesday! So since today is Tuesday, we're picking up where we left off.

The idea of a one-off fun episode sandwiched in between plot episodes at the end of the season can be a drag if done wrong (Gravity Falls - Roadside Attraction), but in this case (The Dinner / Battle of the Bands) it works.

In this pair of episodes we get a glimpse of what the home life of Anne, Sasha and Marcy might have been like prior to their involuntary vacation, we get a look into how the Plantars treat guests, we get a surprising glance at what Grime's career choice might have been had he not been born into a species-based caste system, and we get one last adventure in Wartwood before the excrement collides with the rotating oscillator.

Last episode was all about Grime, Sasha, and the Plantars trying to bury the hatchet with each other, but Grime and Sasha still having other plans to make this the Calm Before the Storm. Which did happen, but not in the way they expected.

This episode was all about just genuinely enjoying the calm period. As the mayor said, "we could all use some levity," and this was the perfect way to do it.

The idea of Anne, Sasha and Marcy having their own band back home felt a little forced to me, but it made the episode carry that much more weight. The #1 cause of bands breaking up seems to be creative differences among the members. So when that inevitably happened with Sasha quitting (and us still knowing she had another trick up her sleeve for the next episode), it was easy to see an ending where she did not rejoin her friends.

Here's the part of the review where the other bands get the spotlight:

Chuck and his singing tulips. That he apparently grew. Brilliant way to use him. (Side note: I wonder if he grew them in his own yard or in the Plantars' yard while they were away?)

Mrs. Croaker and Archie. Just such a dynamic duo that they needed a song.

Sprig, Hop Pop, Wally and Loggle. An odd pairing, but their use of the jugs... I just realized as I was writing this that Wally learned to play the jug from his father. And since he didn't know before that episode, he learned to play in the time since then.

And Grime. We don't get his whole performance, but it almost feels like he forced a win by ending the show with a 3 hour performance. On point for his character.

Then there was Sasha and Toady. I'll be honest, I was surprised that this act didn't come on stage. But I guess since Sasha already played in the Sharps, she wasn't allowed to compete in multiple acts. That means we never get to see the full version of Heartstomper, although I thought I saw it somewhere on YouTube.

Now back to the main event: the Sharps! I guess Anne's journey through this song sort of mirrored her journey through Amphibia as a whole, in that it started out solo, then Sasha decided to leave because she wanted to be in charge and Anne was left with just Marcy and the Plantars in a charming state, but Sasha ended up returning to make the ending that much more epic. Makes sense, too, because I've also heard that No Big Deal was written prior to the show and was initially considered as a candidate to be the theme song. And, if there's one thing I've learned through writing this blog, it's that much of Amphibia is a mirror.

And the song itself was a banger. My favorite Amphibia song by a country mile. (Come to think of it, there weren't that many songs in this show to choose from.) But still, this one was on par with GF's T8king Over Midnight and all three songs by MML's Just Getting Started.

Overall, just an amazing episode to bring the Wartwood chapter to its natural conclusion.

[brin-guivera]

Book Covers Representing My Country’s Flag

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme previously hosted by the lovely folks @ The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl Book Covers In the Colours of My Country’s Flag Today is 4th July but as I’m not American the red, white, and blue theme does not fit with my country’s flag colours. The Scottish flag is blue with a white saltire (Saint Andrew’s Cross) and it’s…

[mysteriesofmilo]

#6: Chain Reaction: Cast Party Edition

This is one of those ideas that's so ridiculous, it just... works in the Dwampyverse.

Several of them, actually.

Let's go through them:

Zack trying interpretive dance. It makes sense for his character once you know him, but it's not exactly something you'd think of for a male character. And it carries on the "trying unusual activities" motif of season 2.

Zack thinking everybody got sympathy casts for him, only to find out that they're all real casts. How they all managed to get to the hospital that day is beyond me, especially considering Zack's mom is a doctor and would have probably noticed the huge influx of patients that strangely didn't include her son. And, it's just a really fitting plot twist for this universe and this episode.

All the wounds came from one single convoluted chain reaction. Dan and Swampy would make the best Rube Goldberg devices, between this and the way Doof is always messing up Phineas and Ferb's inventions.

All the wounds came from one incident that started with Milo. It's like of course. Of course it started with him. That's Milo Murphy's Law: all the chaos begins (and ends!) with the Murphy Men. (Yes, Diogee counts, since he is technically a Murphy Man and also he was the last one hit by the tile.)

All the wounds came while everyone was doing something they love, something that you'd never think of them doing. Which again... of course. It's the law. Everything happens for a reason. Everything follows the theme of the episode. Everything has oddly specific similarities.

And setting it to a song about chain reactions. Beautiful. Absolutely perfect ending to the episode. And all too fitting for the universe.

Overall, an amazing episode and a perfect, chef's kiss, 10/10 song to go with it.

EDIT: OK, I posted this a little early by accident. But I'm not going back and redoing it so you get it a little early.

[tea-books-and-middleearth]

Top Ten Tuesday - Childhood Favourites (Freebie)

Top Ten Tuesday – Childhood Favourites (Freebie)

Hi friends, I’ve decided to start up with Top Ten Tuesday, I used to do this every week on my old blog and I thought it would be nice to get back into it. This week’s topic is a freebie and I couldn’t think of my own topic, so I looked back at the list of past topics and decided to do Childhood Favourites. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl (more…)

[memoriallibrarytmc]

Top Ten(ish) Tuesday: TMC Easy #10

We're getting back in the swing of top ten(...ish) countdowns with a countdown of the most checked out books from the TMC Easy section! TMC Easy is by far the most popular area of the TMC... so why not take a closer look at what circulated the most last year?

At #10 is a multi-ways tie!!! It's such a massive tie that we'll be picking books for the #10, 9, and 8 posts from this tie. (There's a reason it's a top ten... ish... this year!)

Without further ado, at #10 is We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins. This comedic book is a hilarious twist on the first day of school, as the main character is a T. Rex who needs to learn a very important lesson about how to treat her classmates!

A few other books from the #10 list include:

We're All Wonders by Palacio

What is Given from the Heart by McKissack,

What to do with a Box by Yolen

What's the Difference? by Richards

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Broach

Where the Wild Things Are by Sendak

Why am I Me? by Britt

Winter Sleep by Taylor

Zonia's Rain Forest by Martinez-Neal