#also it's so funny that this season was called a ''reboot'' when it feels more like a direct sequel to classic who than the 2005 series lol

[longtimewish]

Ok finally finished the new Doctor Who season and overall I really liked it! It was half campy fun space travel adventures and half the most heart-wretching terrifying thing you'll see in a sci-fi show. It reminded me a lot to season one of New Who, which was probably what RTD intended, and it made me impossible not to enjoy it as it brought me back to when I first watched DW over ten years ago. Ncuti is absolutely fantastic as the Doctor, probably one of the actors that most seamlessly adjusted to the role and made it his own. Millie was also great, I'm still impressed that 73 yards was the first episode she shot.

HOWEVER I wasn't really sold on the overreaching arc. First of all, this season was in dire need of more episodes. The Doctor and Ruby became besties off-screen, the flow of the episodes was strange (having two episodes which barely featured the Doctor back to back wasn't ideal, despite how good they were) and the set-up for the Sutekh big reveal was non-existant. Secondly, after finishing the season I don't even think we were suppossed to figure out the mysteries of this season, which left me feeling conflicted. Like Ruby's mother just being a normal teen wasn't necessarily a bad twist and it would've worked for me... if the show hadn't go out of its way to make her seem special. What in the actual narrative of the series could have lead us to the conclusion that she was ordinary? She was ominous as fuck. The "oh she was just pointing at the sign to name Ruby" doesn't make any sense and I'm not buying it lol. Also none of that explains why Ruby could make it snow or why she still remembers the 73 yards timeline so I still believe there is something more to her storyline - otherwise it would be just plain bad writing.

Tl,dr: the new season was fun and it had some banger episodes (the Boom - 73 yards - Dot and Bubble - Rogue quartet went so hard), the Doctor and Ruby was a lovely duo I wish we had seem more of, and in general I enjoyed the season - but RTD pulled all the plot twists out of his ass and then gave them the most anti-climatic resolutions he could think of (this time the time vortex did kill Sutekh because idk reasons).

[inky-evergreen]

Here's my redesign of Frida that's apart of my version/rewrite of the reboot. Frida is definitely one of my favorites out of the gen 2 clones buts it's sad that she doesn't have that much development and personality. Like you can describe the other clones personality in much more detail that Frida's which sucks. Like she doesn't really have that much flaws and flaws are basically a staple in clone high character so it just feels like the writers didn't really try hard. And the only times they really focused on her character are episode 2 and 8 from season 3 which breaks my heart as a Frida fan.So she's probably one I change the most(?). I just want to give her justice and give her the same appeal that the others clone have.So here's some info about my version of Frida

•Frida is a socially weird but chill artist who wanted people to accept her for who she is apart from her clone mother for so long that she gave up and started not caring about anything or anyone that isn't close to her.

•Frida likes the simple things like painting her weird drawings in her studio and observing nature.The only thing that she doesn't like being simple is her wardrobe where she feels like she could express herself other that her artwork.

•She also likes to keep to herself and doesn't really like to be in the spotlight. Like she doesn't care about half the people in the school so what gives. But her friends are Harriet and Confucius so that gets flown out the window sometimes. Like how Harriet convinced her to become class president with her so they could be popular together.

•Speaking of popularity Frida isn't the most popular person in school anymore that title belonging to Confucius. I mean people know her but she isn't the same popularity level such as her friends. Like if there was a rating between her Harriet and Confucius she would be last.She doesn't go out of her way to get to know everybody since she didn't want to know them in the first place.

•If Frida was a song she would be A Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl by Olivia Rodrigo

•She can't get a reasonably time of sleep for the life of her. She usually sleep between the times of 12 something pm through 5 am. But she sure does sleep during school mostly she sleep at things she doesn't find interesting.

•Doesn't like being compared to her clone mother and has a EXTREMELY complicated relationship to her clone mother. She also has massive identity issues.

• Absolutely do NOT talk about her middle school through freshman years cause she isn't to proud of them. Like if you tough she was weird and awkward now you just had to see her when she was 13.

•Like explained in Tophers info dump, Frida and Topher are mortal enemies for an unknown reason. She's more obnoxious in hating him though like calling him out publicly and accusing him of doing something that isn't woke.

•She changes personalities DRASTICALLY when she's around her friends. With her friends she gets to be herself and is more happy unlike when she's out in public. She's mostly dismissive out in public giving her a "cool" aura too her.

•Has a weird sense of humor like she finds stupid things and things that most people won't find funny funny (sometimes she's embarrassed ashamed about that fact though).

•Has very complicated feelings towards Cleo

• Basically the sudo "Gandhi replacement" out of the new cast since bro is still a popsicle in the timeline in my rewrite (at least for now hehehehehehe). And since Frida and Abe friendship is more apparent in my rewrite to that Abe kinda sees Gandhi in Frida sometimes. Like she act kinda similar to Gandhi just a calmer and less hypered out version of him. She also parallels him in her friendship with Harriet and Confucius (Like Harriet paralleling Abe and Confucius paralleling Joan that type of stuff).

• She can sometimes be rude and brutally honest to the point that it seems rude (but most of the time she means well). She can also selfish and disrespectful. Keeps huge grudges like her relationship with Topher. Acting a little childish and very impulsive, insecure and handles conflicts very poorly. She also can be judgemental of new people and imidetly thinks they have wrong intentions that resulting in acting dismissive towards that person.She has periods of times we're she acts irrational mostly of her bad sleeping schedule.

•But Frida is a pretty cool person if she cares about you. She's enthusiastic, extremely loyal, would give you solizied advice (even if it's harsh). Would always make you laugh and is fun to be around. Determined to be herself even if people don't like her. She usually stays quite and listens to either Harriet or Confucius rambling but when she gets excited for some she gets EXCITED. Like she would talk about that something for hours. She can be optimistic at times and would reassure you if your feeling down. She also playful and would playfully tease you sometimes as a sign of friendship. She cares and love her friends deeply and would move heaven and earth for them. She may look cold and "cool" on the outside but she's a loving and genuine person.

[pixiedust-poppers]

you know funny enough, I feel like Jake and the neverland pirates would actually do really well as a Disney channel show for older kids (like say Gravity falls) instead of a preschool show. You’d be able to get more into lore and emotional stuff. Maybe even plot?

I don’t know, if they ever did decide to reboot the show it’s a neat idea.

*grabs your shoulders and shakes you excitedly*

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!!! LIKE!!!!

Ok, I think there is something to be done with Jake and his crew and his dynamic with Peter and Hook. Like for example how do the kids feel that Peter is only here for a day or a few hours, just enough to help with their issue? I'm sure the kids have a bit of an unhealthy attachment to him as he's really the only guardian figure they know, and as shown in Peter Pan's return, they all crave his attention so bad that they fuck up the mission trying to impress him! Like sure they can call him to bring him back to Neverland, but they don't perhaps he implemented a rule that they can only call him for emergencies. Which is also kinda hm. But you know he doesn't completely neglect them.

Word vomit incoming

Now let's take this a step deeper; what about Peter's relationship with them individually, it's clear he has a favorite, and it's Jake like that isn't a contest. Even if the show tries not to portray it in that manner it's obvious (I mean for fuck sake his name is in the title lol). His item(s)? A wooden sword personally hand-carved by Peter himself. After completing the Forever Quest, a golden sword called the Destiny Sword (towards the end of season 3) turns him into Captain Jake after giving the others a rousing speech about teamwork and how they can all get together to defeat Fathom with it. So it's clear he's the chosen (I'll touch more on that pressure later) by Neverland. But what does that mean for Izzy and Cubby? I mean sure they got items from him and he does care about them, but they're not as special as Jake. And they're never going to be, I mean god, Disney didn't even bother to make them Birthday episodes yet gave Jake two, then gave Skully and a minor character one. So it could develop into them realizing that while they are well-liked they aren't loved by Peter, Cubby is in denial about this revelation as he has gotten more gifts than Izzy. Izzy, the only girl in the main cast, is grated by this knowledge, she KNOWS and she has known for a long time. Enough to the point where perhaps she deserves a villain arc (then a redeemed villain arc) with the help of Captain Hook, who sees this opportunity to manipulate her for his gain.

Ok so jumping, let's go back to that Captain Jake issue. I personally didn't like Season 4, I thought it was shit BUT this new Captain Jake in a reboot could bring up an interesting little angst point called, "The pressure of being forced to be THE responsible one when you're only still a child." You might have all these other well-established Captains around you but, they depend on you to think of ideas, and come up with solutions to save the day, if you fail then it's on you but you're only 8 or 10 years old!!! A user mentioned this before but Jake could develop an entirely new personality as a Captain to make himself seem smarter and more capable than he actually is! This can go two ways A) he burns out and he burns out REAL bad and rather fast. B) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and the realization of how much power he holds makes him realize he can almost do whatever he wants because he IS the 2nd most powerful person after Peter. This then comes his Power-tripping arc and the consequences of Peter not dividing this power between the trio, and being gassed up everyone, which raises his ego through the roof. This can only end badly obv and it does, how? idk but just know it does.

As for Captain Hook, because this is New Disney he can't be 100% back to his OG self but he can absolutely be raised to be more of an asshole in a Disney channel show and probably a bit fucked up. But you also would have to thread carefully on how you do these things, because one wrong move and Disney will have you rewrite the whole thing and tone it down more than need be. I also think there would be more to explore with the kids and their dynamic with him, since they also would have more nuance to them. They could have more stakes with him, and could honestly do more messed up shit with them he could make them have an inner conflict, he could manipulate one to join his side temporarily. Put the kids in more life-threatening situations that they don't come out unscathed from. Hell, you know what, I want him to win some episodes and get his way with Jake and his crew being powerless to stop it. It would teach a lesson that some days, you just can't win, someone who is nasty will win and get away with it and you have to be ok with that! (if you have resourced all your options first) Life will not always go your way. As for him and Red Jessica, show a toxic relationship, I mean come on do you REALLY think she has a thing for hook lol, it was shoehorned Hetero-shipping bait and it worked now can we do something else with it? As for smee, sharky and bones? I guess they can be less friendly to the sea pups, it would be more of a loyalty thing rather than a personal thing.

Also, the show could bring back the lost boys, to make the island seem less empty than it is, and maybe a different set of kids to replace the Native Americans.

Finally, to end this word vomit, the relationship between the kids. I really beg it be explored more. Now don't get me wrong they can have a wholesome and loving bond but not everything has to be peachy-keen. Like sure Jake is their captain but do they, not envy or resent him in some way? For example, they're all bright but Izzy is shown to be the brightest she has more knowledge about Neverland and its artifacts, so why is she not captain? Is it because she isn't naive enough? She isn't as nice or forgiving as Jake? She has no issue snapping at you when she's fed up? Then there's cubby, does he even have the real guts to be cut up for this type of thing? The classic "why him and not me?" type of deal. Then there's Cubby, does he hate being just stuck as coconut boy by his peers and other pirates? Will he ever break out of his shell, does he have a breaking point with his friends? Then Jake gets annoyed that they're not as in sync as they once were, he kinda hates that they're developing on their own and steadily gaining more and more independence. They're willing to talk back to him, be rude, and do less trio activities. Which leads to more conflicting ideas, possibly fights, and less "what I say goes!". He is scared of them changing and becoming their own individuals, he's scared that they might be growing up.

Sorry this is so so so long and rambly, I just have a lot to say about a reboot for this show that I cannot help myself.

[grifff17]

Audiodrama Sunday 8/11/2024

On Monday my shoulder was sore enough that I had to call in sick from work, so I lied in bed and binged InCo. After that I listened to some new episodes and started The Boar Knight.

I finished @itmeblog's InCo this week! All the political scheming and manipulation by Nova and Hatov to make the coup work was great. I love a good scheme. The ending was really good, so many feelings. Normally I hate timeskip endings but this one worked really well. There's a quote by the creator of the SheRa reboot that criticizes timeskip endings, and this dodges all those criticisms perfectly (right at the end of this interview).

I started The Boar Knight. I love a musical, some of the theme songs are really catchy. Making dwarves Spanish instead of Scottish was such an inspired choice.

I finished Piss Harbor on Rude Tales of Magic. It was a surprisingly dramatic finale for such a silly show, the "post-credit scene" was actually really cool.

I loved the new Skyjacks Courier's Call. Alba’s whole deal with the mask was so cool, but also terrifying. Can't wait for Kieran to introduce their new friend(/crush?) to Cici and June, though the clothes making them mostly visible makes it less funny. I'm guessing we're going to see Cici next episode, I'm really curious what her curse is going to be on the Black Audron.

I listened to the first episode of Moonward of @midstpodcast. I was kinda iffy on a recording of a livestream at first, but from the first moment of narration I was sucked back into the universe of midst. Audio only is so much more approachable for me than a 2 hours video to watch, though the props and set did seem very cool. I love a good map.

This week on Spout Lore we had the season finale of the hogpocalypse arc, and the first 2 parts of the Critshow crossover. When this show gets emotional, it always does such a good job. I also laughed out loud and looked like an idiot at the image of Billy swapping places with Razortusk's helmet. As far as the Critshow crossover, it's really fun so far. I don't know anything about the Critshot, but the crossover framing device doesn't feel forced at all and the cast mesh really well together.

Once I wrap up The Boar Knight this week I'm gonna start The CryptoNaturalist, @boombox-fuckboy's post about it I saw today sold me.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 07/07/2023

Epic Flintstones

Season 1 Featured on: GilvaSunner's Highest Quality Video Game Rips: Volume 7: Part mm2wood Also on: Now That's What I Call Quality!, SiIvaGunner: Starter Kit & Essentials

Ripped by Can of Nothing, wolfman1405, MtH Ending Visuals by Dosh

Look...it's the 7th day of the 7th month, in the midst of SiIvaGunner's 7th Season - during a year with the digital root of 7. (2+0+2+3 = 7). Today is when the stars align for the funniest number on the entire SiIvaGunner channel, the funny number that laid the foundation for everything the channel would eventually become. I couldn't NOT talk about it.

I get the impression from a lot of newer fans, or ones who maybe just pop in every now and then, that SiIva's neverending obsession with The Flintstones theme comes off as a bit of a gimmick. There was a novelty to it in Season 1, when the bait-and-switch nature of the channel was at full force, and people genuinely got caught off-guard hearing The Flintstones instead of their favorite game music: In turn parallelling Joel's original reaction to "MARIO 7" instead giving him Flintstones music. But a lot of time has obviously passed since then, to where even during the latter half of Season 1 people were starting to realize that just hearing the Flintstones wasn't really all that funny anymore. Even just the name Epic Flintstones comes from an in-joke during that time, where people like Triple-Q would post it as a form of ironic celebration over hearing the same old joke as always show up again.

So if that was the case even back in Season 1's final months, that long-time viewers were even then not really finding the joke funny and even growing a bit tired of it...how has it stayed with the channel for so long? And why did a rip like Epic Flintstones itself land so perfectly as the end of Season 1?

In my eyes, its entirely due to the emotional connection that viewers formed with the meme, in a way that feels almost exclusive to SiIvaGunner. There's no doubt that jokes like Grand Dad became played out to some people, yet its a joke that stems from the very origins of the channel - it represents how everything began, the core, beating heart of the entire ripping team. The first official story arc on the channel, Season 1's SiIvaGunner: Rebooted, used this emotional tie to jokes as the crux of its entire conflict: It gave viewers a look into an alternate world where all the channel's beloved jokes were replaced with equivalents, turning The Flintstones theme into The Simpsons, Love Live music into IDOLM@STER music, and so on. In terms of comedic effect, all of these really worked just as well as the original jokes. Yet they weren't the original jokes: The emotional attachment the community held for Grand Dad bound viewers together during the story arc as we all prayed for its return.

Its this kind of emotional attachment to the strangest of things that really draws me to the channel, and codified me as a die-hard fan when SiIvaGunner: Rebooted came to an end. And its this kind of emotional attachment that gives Grand Dad weight as a musical theme, even seven seasons in. The Flintstones theme has become a sort of celebratory anthem more than a joke: It cameos up in just about everything, from big joke medleys like Rips Are Forever to full-on event anthems like The King for Another Day Tournament's Main Theme, as a kind of way to remind us in the audience of just how far the channel's come whilst still being the same.

Which, brings us back to todays rip: Epic Flintstones, the finale of Season 1. Through music and visuals, it follows Grand Dad's journey throughout the channel's first nine months, walking along its history not as a joke, but as genuine celebration. It's celebratory, bittersweet, and genuinely heartfelt. The visuals, sound, and the animation by the end - none of it is played for laughs, and none of it was met with ridicule. It was met with becoming the 5th most viewed video on the channel.

There's little I can say about Epic Flintstones that isn't conveyed perfectly by the rip itself, but what I will say is that it hit me in every way it was intended to. Though it didn't end up marking the end of SiIvaGunner as a whole, it was a beautiful end to the channel's original run, and a testament to the emotional power these silly memes have to us fans.

[thatseventiesbitch]

My That ‘90s Show Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Alright, a few days (and rewatches) in, and I’m finally ready to give my thoughts on That ‘90s Show - a show I waited on for two years (but really, more like 17 years). Buckle in for a looooong essay, lol.

I give That ‘90s Show a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I’ll do my best to explain my rating below.

The Good

The Eric-and-Donna of it all. Well - this is an Eric & Donna blog above all else, so of course we were watching first and foremost to see our OTP reunited onscreen after 15 years! And we were not disappointed by what we found. 💗😭

Eric and Donna are happily married in 1995, and navigating the perils of parenting a teenager (shudder). They’re still just as in-love as ever, but now in their mid (late??) 30′s and acting like they’ve been married for 150 years. I guess they have been together since they were 4 🤣.

One thing I think the show really got right is Eric-and-Donna-as-parents. That went exactly as I could’ve predicted. Eric is Kitty to his daughter, well-intentioned but overbearing - and Donna sets boundaries with Leia (like her parents didn’t with her) but is also there to reel Eric in and to remind him of the important stuff: to trust their kid, to let her have her own experiences, to help teach her to take (smart!) risks. I adored that we got to see them “in action” as a parenting team, I loved when Donna went out to check on him and they talked through his fears about Leia growing up and not needing him anymore, I loved seeing how Eric is clearly worried he’s going to become his father (but it’s so clear that he’s so not)... I just loved it all.

Specific shout out to Donna-as-a-mom, which I never knew I needed in my life so much until I saw it! Her running into the Forman’s living room, screaming that she got Leia condoms, jellies, and the uglies underwear she could find... 🤣 Hysterical, and also felt so true to character. That’s exactly how I saw Donna parenting a teenager.

The Red-and-Kitty of it all. Red and Kitty are a joy. Seeing them as grandparents - and as a still-happy couple, enjoying their retirement (or not-so-retirement?) -was the other high point of the series for me.

Red and Kitty are still happy and in love. I never doubted they would be, but it was just heartwarming to see. I also loved their interactions with other characters, like seeing Bob and Fez come back (!!) and the introduction of Sherri, who very much feels like pseudo-daughter for them.

Red as a grandparent was everything I wanted it to be. Him calling Leia “kiddo” - my heart 💗. We kind of got glimpses that he was excited to become a grandparent on the show - like Eric and Donna’s pregnancy scare in season 6 - and I think now we see why. Red knows being a grandpa is where it’s at! He’s done with all the hard parts of being a father, being the ‘bad cop’, and just gets to enjoy and be the fun one! I am picturing him doing this Leia’s whole life lmao... like Eric and Donna sent her over for an afternoon and she comes home hopped up on sugar and Red’s like, “Sorry, she wanted it all and I couldn’t say no. Oh, getting her to bed tonight? I don’t know, not my problem!” Or like, he always gets her the noisiest gifts for Christmas. Kitty as a grandparent was also very sweet - her and Leia making up the pasta names is what immediately comes to mind 😂. Their “good cop” and “bad cop” dynamic has definitely shifted with the grandkid, and I could have predicted that (but it is fun to see!!).

Leia Forman. I adore Leia. I saw someone online say she’s the rare case of two great characters not having a super annoying kid, and I thought yep, spot on. Reboots are always a tricky beast, casting the kid of two beloved characters even more so, but this one worked out.

Leia is funny, endearing, smart, and I see a lot of shades of both Eric and Donna in her but also plenty that sets her apart as her own character. Her storyline about being a coddled, sheltered kid looking to break free and have some adventure worked for me, and I would love to get the chance to see how Leia continues to evolve as she gets older and spends more summers in Point Place.

Gwen and Leia, aka Geia. This is my ship! I really love Gwen and Leia together, and want them to fall in love (cackles in *fanfic author*). But I want it to be a slow-burn, where they realize they’ve fallen for each other, ‘accidentally’, over time. Falling for your best friend... who lives next door... hmmm, wonder why I like this pairing so much...? 😉🤣🥰

Pure nostalgia. The basement. The Hub. The Vista Cruiser. Fenton. Leo. I wanted nostalgia, dammit, and the show delivered. I will even (tentatively) put a few ‘90s references in this column, like hearing ‘Shoop’, ‘I’ll Make Love to You’, and ‘You Outta Know’ and seeing a few other 90s things that reminded me of my childhood, like Free Willy and snap bracelets. 

The humor. I went into the show with low expectations, specifically in this department. I was worried the humor would feel ‘off’, or would feel cheesy, or just not funny to me. There were definitely a few jokes that didn’t land (aren’t there always?), but over all I am happy to put the show’s humor in the ‘win’ column! I laughed out loud - a lot. I could tell that the same writers/showrunners were involved - it felt like similar humor from the original series. I think I enjoyed so much partly because I just love these characters, but many of the new characters had me in stitches too. Ozzie and Sherri in particular.

Sherri. Speaking of Sherri, she was my favorite of the new characters. Obvious Laurie stand-in is obvious, and that’s sad/unfortunate, but once I can move beyond that I really enjoyed her. I liked that she was a well-meaning mom but she definitely needs Red and Kitty’s support and guidance - I look forward to seeing how their relationship will develop. I even thought Sherri’s storyline with Fez was funny. It leaves the door open for Wilmer to return.

The references back to the OG show. The split-screen moments. The extended 90210 daydream/fantasy sequence. The Circle. The screen change sequences (the one with Kitty and Leia in the beanie hats is my favorite!)

The Bad

The 10-episode format. To me the most glaring issue was the 10-episode format, which rendered the season far too short to develop any of the characters or plot-lines they’d set up to satisfaction. Now, in fairness, maybe this is just the order they got for season 1. If they are successful, perhaps a longer order can be made for season 2. But also - maybe not. A lot of Netflix shows are consistently 10-episodes only these days.

But That ‘90s Show had less than half the episodes That ‘70s Show had in its first season to develop character and interesting conflict - and it shows. I like where they were going with everything, but storylines often felt rushed or like a lot of jumping around had happened from one episode to the next (For instance, I thought the Leia-and-Jay dating story went really fast. One minute they were all will-they-won’t-they, Leia’s never kissed a boy, and then BAM they’re together, calling each other babe, and she’s sneaking him up into her room for make-out sessions. Whoa!). The characters felt underdeveloped, too, or like we only knew one thing about them - because we didn’t have time to learn more.

So I know this is unlikely to change, but my biggest gripe is that there wasn’t enough runtime. You have an interesting premise here, you’ve sucked me in. Now properly develop it.

The focus on romantic relationships. Related, the focus on Leia’s romantic relationships was not my favorite aspect. I actually liked how they started the thing with her and Jay - Jay’s a playboy, but he’s not being one with her. They should’ve developed that out through all ten episodes, and had him just give her her first kiss in like, episode 9 or 10. The twist with Nate at the end is kind of interesting and could still happen (but as it is, it comes out of left field... which, now that I think about it, is how Leia felt about it too, I guess).

Regardless, I am neither team-Jay or team-Nate. I didn’t think either couple like, blew me away with their chemistry (although I don’t think we’re meant to feel that way yet, as viewers). My favorite parts of the season were seeing Leia’s friendships blossom, with Gwen and with Ozzie mostly. I’d have liked this season to be more focused on that - and maybe she stumbles into her first kiss along the way by the end of the season, anyway, and there’s still a romantic cliff-hanger.

The timeline inconsistencies (and others). There were several - the most notable being the timeline around Jackie-Kelso getting back together and Jay’s existence, and Eric’s age (38? He was born in 1960 so he and Donna would be 35 in 1995) - and while I am disappointed, I am not surprised. 

These are the same showrunners who gave us 3 different birthdays for Eric during the run of the show. The same people who gave us 3 different stories about how/when Eric and Donna met for the first time. The same people who gave Donna 2 sisters and then - poof - magically wrote them off (including in That ‘90s Show lol - “There’s only one girl in the world with Bob as her dad, and Eric had to pick her!”). The same showrunners who had Hyde turn 18 two seasons before Eric. The same - you know what, I’m going to stop myself. The point is, this shit is nothing new. That ‘70s Show fans are used to setting their non-sensical mistakes aside and enjoying the show anyway. Their inattention to detail officially goes in the ‘Bad’ column, though. It’s frustrating.

Jackie and Kelso endgame. Well, this ended up being exactly as it was leaked to be, and Jackie and Kelso were on their second remarriage. I do not mind Jackie and Kelso together and do frankly find it realistic, but this isn’t the happiest ending for Ms. Jackie Burkhart. I thought their scene was pretty funny (we did get a “Damn, Jackie!”), albeit brief, but I had higher hopes for the state of their relationship based on some recent promo materials. I also wished we’d seen (1) Jackie, Kelso and Jay interact as a family, (2) Learned what Jackie and Kelso do for a living/a little bit of backstory as to how they ended up back in Point Place.

No on-screen character reunion. I am bummed that Eric and Donna didn’t interact with the Kelso’s - or with Fez! (I guess Donna did, briefly) Seeing this picture makes me want to see it so, so badly in season 2! I think we’re all curious as to what Eric and Donna’s relationship is like with Jackie and Kelso these days.

The Ugly

Hyde’s absence. I think any long-time fan of the show felt Hyde’s absence, and wondered about the character’s ending. The character’s ending is: totally open-ended, since he was not mentioned at all. Although it was painful to feel his absence, I preferred this to giving him an ending like prison or death, which would have felt like a fuck you to the actor but not fair to the character of Steven Hyde. Mostly because it allows us to fill in our own ending for him. I’m going to say that he finally moved to New York, and he’s happy out there. He keeps in contact with Eric and Donna still. 😊

A few side-notes: One, I have a feeling most of the OG cast actually supports Danny Masterson, so... yeah. Do with that sinking feeling in your heart what you will. But I doubt they will write him off in a mean way for that reason.

Two, I think they were in between a rock and a hard place with this. Honestly, if they’d written Hyde in, in any way, I’d feel squicky about it. Even an off-screen mention. But long-live the fan fiction, am I right?? I’ve already started to see some popping up 👀

Kitty’s moment. Kitty had a moment where I clapped my hand over my mouth (even though I literally knew it was coming), and that was when she called Leia, “That lying little bitch,” when Ozzie told her they were at a rave. It was very shocking, and very un-Kitty-like. Did not like.

(That said, I am not one who uses labels like out-of-character in a context like this. It’s not my character - it’s Debra Jo’s and the showrunners’. It’s a part of her character I didn’t like. And that’s okay. She was in a moment of huge stress, probably suddenly worried sick about her granddaughter. I have certainly had bad reactions to stress, too. As my girl Brene Brown says, “People get scary when they’re scared.”)

Overview

So, I mean... I have largely good things to say about That ‘90s Show, and it was a tall order man, because That ‘70s Show is my baby. And ain’t nobody finna touch my baby!!!

Was it perfect? No. Some of the little things were off, but it felt like overall, the big things were on. And that’s what’s important. I also feel invested enough in the new kids (definitely in Leia), and I think they have a lot of different directions they can take the rest of the series. So 4 out of 5 stars, and when can I expect a season 2 announcement, Netflix??? 😆

[safyresky]

I am so ?????????

Finally watched the episode! UM. What in the fuck??? What?? The fuck??? Um???? I cannot really put into words the feeling I am having but I have a great emoji for it! 🤨🤨🤨

That's the vibe, lads.

So the Council. Ho boy. WOW. Allow me to just go OFF for a moment here :) :) :)

THEY CANNOT INTERFERE? THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE? HELLO?????

THE SAME COUNCIL THAT WAS SO KIND AND SUPPORTIVE TO SANTA DURING TSC2.

WITH THE TOOTH FAIRY WHO GAVE HIM A LIFT BACK NORTH.

MOTHER NATURE LITERALLY MARRYING SCOTT AND CAROL AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT.

OFFERING TO HELP SANTA MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE WHEN THEY WERE BEHIND OR WHATEVER IN TSC2

THE COUNCIL THAT WAS LIKE "NO YOU CAN'T STOP BEING SANTA UR SO GOOD AT IT!"

THE SAME COUNCIL THAT CHARLIE WAS ABLE TO CALL UP ON CHRISTMAS EVEN FOR SOME EXTRA HELP? NO QUESTIONS ASKED>?

WOULD NOT HELP THE ELVES WITH MAD SANTA????

SO LA BEFANA, WHO WAS APPARENTLY ALSO A LEGENDARY FIGURE TOO (which is giving age old fanfics vibes lmao, not sure that's a good thing???? more at 10) HAD TO DO A ROBBERY? BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T HELP?? BECAUSE THEY APPARENTLY CAN'T INTERFERE?????

WHEN THEY DO INTERFERE A LOT? SEE: THE ENTIRETY OF TSC3 WHERE THEY HAVE A MEETING BC OF SOME CARDBOARD STANDEES AND BAD WEATHER????? AND YOU ARE TELLING ME. THAT THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH:

MAD SANTA ATTACKING THE POLE

EASTER BUNNY BEING TURNED INTO A BUNNY AND THEN A LEMON

EASTER BUNNY'S BASKET BEING STOLEN

EASTER BUNNY BEING KIDNAPPED

CRAZY AMOUNTS OF SANTA MAGIC ALL UNACCOUNTED FOR IN THE R E A L WORLD?????

SANDMAN MAGIC BEING USED ON SANDMAN?

BILLIONS OF SNOW GLOBES FILLED WITH CHRISTMAS MAGIC POPPING INTO THE REAL WORLD AND BEING GIFTED TO HUMANS?

THE WHOLE SIMON THING LAST SEASON?????

THEY WOULD NOT INTERFERE??? WHAT IN THE FUCK!!!!! It's funny, because like. When I was rage fic-ing post S1, I was thinking that the Council, given Scott being...SCOTT, had stopped talking to him as much bc tscs!Scott sucks so bad!! He 100% would've made comments that deffs did not sit well with ANY of the other Council Members, I mean, look at how he treated Cupid and Sandy! I'd hate to be on THAT Council during Covid, YIKES.

But like. GOD. @lmelodie you were SO RIGHT about Council stans being pissed bc I am MAD PISSED. ALSO, JUST LEARNT THAT I AM APPARENTLY A V BIG COUNCIL STAN!! (Checks out I suppose given my fic writing and reading habits, lol).

It's just so MADDENING and INFURIATING and SADDENING, IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY REALLY SAD TO SEE THAT T H I S IS HOW THEY'RE REACTING TO NOT BEING ABLE TO GET ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS BACK. Like, GOD, if you're unable to properly use them in the story JUST DON'T USE THEM AT ALL. I am once again REJOICING that the Millers have been left untouched, thank GOD for that!

AND ANOTHER THING (took a kitchen cleaning break and got all annoyed about loopholes). IF RESIGNING AS A LEGENDARY FIGURE ALLOWS YOUR POWERS TO WORK ON OTHERS, WHY WOULD THEY THREATEN JACK WITH THAT IN THE THIRD MOVIE? WOULDN'T YOU WANT HIM TO KEEP HIS TITLE SO THAT HIS POWERS WOULDN'T WORK ON THE REST OF YOU, INCLUDING SANTA?!?!?!?!?! THIS SHIT DOESN'T LINE UP! IT DOESN'T! LINE! UP! MY GOD! THIS SERIES IS MY VILLAIN ORIGIN STORY! THIS SERIES IS WHY PEOPLE NEED TO STOP REBOOTING OLD THINGS! 80% OF THE TIME IT'S A MISS! THAT'S TOO MUCH RISK! TOO MUCH!! AH!

I THINK I'M DONE YELLING ABOUT THE COUNCIL. PROBABLY NOT TBH. BUT FOR NOW I'LL CALL IT. GOD, I MEAN, I KNEW WHEN WE LEARNT WE'D BE SEEING SOME OF THEM THEY WOULD NOT MAKE IT OUT UNSCATHED BUT DAMN! DAMN! MORE RETCONNING LORE! DAMN!

eurhgjrbewhfnujqncwje nsdjk. GOD I'm EXHAUSTED. My brain itches. I was thinking of lobotomys today. I wonder why (/sarcasm)

(it was bc of a shitty patron at work but this just adds to the freudian slips)

UGH. Ick. Yuck. Moving on (impossible for me but we're gonna TRY!)

Elves vs Gnomes

So. The backstory thing. I just. It's cool lore but it leaves more questions than answers and just makes things SO CONFUSING. AS A DISCLAIMER: GO OFF BETTY, WE LOVE TO SEE HER BEING A BADASS. BETTY! HELL YEAH! WE HERE AT SAFYRESKY INDUSTRIES LOVE TO SEE BETTY THRIVING!

Now for the wank. From a LORE PERSPECTIVE. EURGH.

They drop that Mad Santa was a good Santa until he thought everyone was ungrateful and implemented coal and became buds with the gnomes, who apparently ran the coal mines. The gnomes get in his head and prey on his paranoia. Paranoia of WHAT. I've not done a second watch and I don't think I will because I don't actually want a lobotomy despite them being on my mind today a little too much tbh, so maybe i missed that bit, but like, come ON. We can do better in terms of giving antagonists a believable descent into villainy! GOD!

And the trap scene, that was so needlessly drawn out. They should have held him in the trap, Betty revealed her badass self, had Magnus taunt and THEN boom, Befana ALREADY THERE, and she nutcrackers his ass.

Also, calling it NOW. Not ONLY will Sandy un-nutcracker Cal, but she's deffs gonna re-nutcracker Magnus. I bet it'll be like a reversal spell or something lmao

BUT YEAH the lore for the elves around Mad Santa's reign is not quite hitting with me, I gotta say! I am not a fan of it and every time I see it (Betty and Noel aside bc they of course SHINE) it leaves me very :\. It just. Doesn't seem to hit? Or really work? It's just so convoluted to me and goes against everything they said NOT JUST in the movies but LAST SEASON AND ALSO IN INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE SERIES BEFORE TI CAME OUT! It's infuriating y'all. GOD. "A war we didn't see coming" wow, the gnomes and Pyros sure do have something in common, eh? 🤔🤔

Cal and Sandra

God, I love them. They're so funny. Cal is like destroying his room and Sandy is like BRO what the FUCK and HELPS HIM HUNT DOWN THE VEST WITH SANTA MAGIC!! USING HER BEFANA TRAINING! AND THEN HE HELPS HER MAKE UP WITH BEFANA! By lying, of course, so he can go be stupid and heroic and GET NUTCRACKER'D (they nutcrackered my boy ): BUT I LOVE THE WAY THEY SUPPORT EACH OTHER

And the almost hug that turned into punches, lol. That's so Toph coded. We love to see it!

We DON'T love to see Cal DOING THAT! THOUGH! I DID LOVE HIS SCENE WITH KRIS. I'm really hoping, given that he and Cal got duct tapped together and he knows Cal's been nutcrackered, that they give him more of a role, you know? Honestly, it'd be neat if they made Kris the next Santa! I think he'd fit the bill quite well! And then Cal could have his odd job montage and, you know, cross guard and sail on a cruise ship and such. I am VERY intrigued with this pairing, as an aside. Kris and Cal? There's potential. They're gonna fuck it up I'm sure, but we have some DANK POTENTIAL HERE

Sandra and Befana

I'M SO GLAD THEY CHATTED! I am still v much like Sandra did NOTHING wrong and Befana overacted, but I'm glad they talked. Interesting stuff about the magic taking a tole/consequences. Mad Santa really do be out here messing up the balance of things huh? And Mother Nature WON'T intervene. GOD. I know it's bc they probz couldn't get the rest of the ALIVE actors back but like. THEN WHY EVEN USE SOME OF THEM? YEESH. ANYWAY

I'm excited to see how Sandy and Befana manning home base goes! I'm glad they talked and hopefully they can un-lemon EB and just be general badasses around the Workshop, lol.

BUT YEAH. OVER ALL. ARGH. I AM ONCE AGAIN SEEING POTENTIAL, BUT KNOWING THAT IT WON'T BE REACHED IS ACTUALLY LIKE. DEVASTATING.

ALSO. I HATE THAT I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MAD SANTA GETTING TO THE POLE IN EPISODE 6. ARGH

[letstalkaboutit100]

Ideas part 12: Blue= concepts pink=ep ideas Green: note

Anyway, Meeshell and Sparrow become good friends. Every day at lunchtime they meet up at the pool. They talk about music and their parents. They even start to write song lyrics! Meeshell is still shy though. So Sparrow sticks up for her a lot. "SHE SAID NO FISH!" He feels protective over her. She's his little sister at this point. ("I'm a year older than you." "Only in numbers.") She's a year older than him but they are still in the same grade. I feel like she is very mature. She looks like it. She's the mom of the group lol. (she wasn't left back or anything, BUT HE WAS) She's been a good influence on him. Helping him study and stay out of trouble (sometimes) and learn to respect women more. Every day he asks her if she would join his merry crew/band. And every time she says no because she's shy and worried she'll embarrass herself. "Come on! PLEASEEE!" "No." *cue puppy dog eyes* "You know that doesn't work on me" "Yeah I know" He literally calls her his sister! "Hey, where you going?" "To see my sister" *Confused faces on his friends' faces* "Did you know he had a sister?" "Sparrow your grades have gone up quite a lot!" "Thanks my sister helped me." *Confused teacher face* You know how in fanfic the school's bad boy that has a gang falls in love with the nerdy girl and puts her "under his protection". like "Oh wait! We can bully her that blab blab's girl". That's basically them. except it's sibling love. PLATONIC! No one touches her. "I'm having a sister." "Oh that's great! *slams adoption form on the table* "It's you. sign here." I will say she does become more confident in herself over time under his influence but is still mostly shy.

Both Poppy and Holly were born with their mother's long hair. But Holly didn't like it so when she was 7 she cut it off. It's a long story. Everyone was shocked! Sparrow liked it saying it looked cool and now he won't have any trouble telling them apart.

Dec 1: Ok so I thought that the long-haired twin was Poppy and the other was Holly. And personally, I like my way better. So long hair is poppy and short hair is holly. Also Poppy is older. My Poppy is the older mature twin while my Holly is rebellious and a troublemaker. They like blossom and buttercup. I also haven't seen any of the web episodes so don't judge me if I get something wrong!

Episode idea (season 2): The twins Poppy and Holly Rider (In my reboot version their last name isn't O'hair. I think it's dumb. sorry not sorry.) have a fight over Sparrow. They both have a crush on him. But it's not what you think. (not anymore. They see him as a brother again like before.) All three of them are childhood friends. Their father is his hero lol. They grew up together! They went on crazy adventures when they were kids! He always took the fall for them if something went wrong! Robin Hood likes them. He and Engene are friends. He and Lance used to be a part of his merry crew. Until they turn to a full life of crime. Eugene calls him 'son' a lot. Lance loves the girls to death. Their his nieces! And angry and Catalina's godmothers. "Listen, son, If so much as hurt my girls in any way I will find you. *points to max* You see him? That is the best horse in the whole world. He has caught thousands of criminals and put them away. He loves those girls. He will find you and we will make you pay." Lance said all of that lol. E: "Lance come on! Back off. I'm sorry about him. *whispers* But he's not kidding. And neither am I." Anyway, the episode starts with the twins in their room on their beds on opposite sides of the room. *Both of them sigh dreamily while looking at photos of Sparrow* *At the same time* P: "He's so dreamily!" H: "He's so hot!" *both of them look up at each other and laugh* P: "So? *smirking* who's the lucky guy?" H: *also smirking* "Well I could ask the same." P: "Well my guy is really funny." H: "Well my guy is really strong." P: "Me and him have known each other for a long time. H: "Same! Me and him have a lot in common. H: "Same! He's really talented on the guitar." P: "So is mine!" H: "Oh my fairy dust!" H: "What if they know each other!" P: "He does have a lot of friends!" H: "So does mine!" P: *squeals* "Ok! I can't wait any longer! Say at the same time?" H: "I'm not sure. I'm worried about how you'll react. You might be shocked." P: *takes her hand* (they got up from their beds as they were comparing Sparrow) "Honestly me too. But you know I'll support you. Your my sister. And I know whoever the guy is the luckiest guy in the world." H: "Thank Sunny. (that's her nickname for Poppy! Eugene calls Rapuzenl sunshine so Holly calls Poppy sunny!) H: "Ok! I'm ready! P: "Alright! On 3." P/H: 1, 2, 3... SPARROW! WHAT?! YOU?! YOU LIKE HIM?! SPARROW'S YOUR CRUSH?!

To be continued... MWHAAAA!

[brendleellipsis]

Brendle Rambles About CPU Kerfuffle For No Good Reason

I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing this.

I've been having a lot of Thoughts and Feelings these past couple days. Even more so than usual, I mean. And the way I've been working through all that is by just... talking. Kind of a lot. Massive text walls in discord servers, meandering monologues in voice call. To be frank, I'm not sure if anything I've been saying makes any sense at all, if anyone can follow my frantic, stream-of-consciousness ruminations as they jump from one topic to another, desperately clawing at the walls in the hopes that, at some point, I'll say something that matters.

But it's whatever. The written word has always been my most trusted tool of communication, of bridging the seemingly unassailable gap between me and the rest of the world. It's through sharing these thoughts of mine that I feel just a bit less alone.

Enough about that, though. I'm here to talk about CPU Kerfuffle.

(WARNING: This Shit Is Loooooong)

What a fuckin segue, am I right fellas hahahaHA

I want to make clear before I start this Already Too Long Diatribe, I have quite literally no plans going into this. I hardly have an inkling of what I'm going to say and when I'm going to say it. But, in a way, I think that can be a good thing. I too often tend to overthink things, needing my ideas to be perfectly crystallized in my mind before they're worth putting on the page. As a writer, I need to get over that shit. That sort of thought process is the enemy of progress. I've wanted to talk about this sort of thing for quite a while, but I had been putting it off because I "don't have any ideas".

Ideas are overrated. Let's fly by the seat of our pants, just this once.

So. For a bit of background, CPU Kerfuffle is a stream series, streamed on Twitch by resident silly fella @chongoblog that involves taking a bunch of Level 9 CPUs in the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, assigning them some characters (for example, pink Captain Falcon is Captain Valentine, silver Samus is The Guy From Spy Kids 3D, etc.), and throwing them into a tournament to watch them duke it out. The series changes and evolves and becomes something so much more as it continues, but that is pretty much the core premise of it. There's improv comedy and silly character interactions, it's a ton of fun and I love it.

But yeah, the series does start off relatively simple. And in a way, that's good. The first season, comprising of the first ten episodes, is... a little bit rough, but they're still very fun. Many recommendations on how to get into the series suggested skipping Season 1 and starting with Season 2, which premiered after a lengthy hiatus and served as a soft reboot, as it's a bit more indicative of what the rest of the episodes would be like. And I'm not going to disagree with that... but I also think the Season 1 episodes are worth watching too. Not just because they have the same charm, though they certainly do, and not just because you'll get to see the first appearances of some major characters, but because it's honestly quite fascinating to watch the show evolve from its more simple roots.

The first couple episodes don't really have much in terms of an overarching story, but I feel that they establish a status quo, which I feel is necessary for a story before you shake it up. You'd also get to see the commentators experiment with giving the characters small arcs within the confines of the tournament, the first of which being a character named Squid Jenny, who had her arc in Episode 2. You'd then be able to see the hosts try out their first arc that extended beyond the barriers of a single episode, with the Crimson Arc. I started watching this series around Episode 5, so being there, on the ground floor, watching the silly funny Smash Bros. show become a bit more than that. Of course, it was still very much a comedy, and the major players in the story didn't have nearly as much depth as they would in future episodes and arcs, but... there's something very cathartic and fascinating about watching this creative process happen in real time, to see the creators test their limits with each consecutive episode.

CPU Kerfuffle is the very first, and so far only, fandom that I have actively participated in. Ryan Chongoshow, aforementioned host of CPUK, has a discord server for his streams, and as such, there's a channel for the silly funny Smash Bros. show as well. This was my first real experience interacting with people who care about a story as much as I do, being able to actually express my thoughts on a piece of media to others. Eventually, I started writing fanfiction. For a show about Smash Bros. CPUs. On its face, the idea seems a bit absurd and dumb, and part of me felt insecure about it, but I knew the people I had found company with cared just as much as I did. Yes, the show was a comedy, it was irreverent and filled with shitposts, but there was still a passion there for the stories being told. And that passion only grew when Season 2 came around.

As I said before, the beginning of Season 2 acted as a sort of reboot for the series. Season 1 had gone on hiatus with a bit of a cliffhanger, with the Crimson Arc having some major loose ends untied (for context, the previous episode ended with Crimson seemingly killing one of the contestants). The first order of business was wrapping that shit up, and then continuing from there. There was a mini-arc that involved, to use a wrestling term, an absolute heel of a character that everyone, including the hosts, loathed with all their being, and again, it had the hosts experimenting with character arcs once again, which led rather cleanly into the next arc, which is widely considered one of, if not the best in the series. (My opinions on whether or not that's true are complicated, we'll get into it later)

If Crimson was an experiment in seeing what an overarching villain could do for a series like this, Dr. Order was the refined final product. Of all the villains in this series, she by far had the most incredible stage presence; she was arrogant and egotistical, she knew she was better than you and she was going to make sure you knew it too.

She is also a Wii Fit Trainer. So, there's that.

Order was introduced in Episode 14, and honestly, even then, I don't think anyone really realized what she was going to become, not even the hosts. Because, like. How could you think she'd be that good a villain? She's a Wii Fit Trainer. She sucks at fighting. She got unceremoniously dunked on by a Chrom named Bing. And then she came back the next episode with a clone of Bing, named Google.

(This is going to be a weird aside, but I want to talk about the community again and how cool they are. One of the greatest joys of being a CPUK fan is that the only real designs we have of these characters are Smash Bros. renders. And while this was certainly unintentional, I think Ryan Chongoshow accidentally created the most fan-artable show of all time. The Smash Bros. characters and the color schemes created a base with which to build off of, with everyone in the community having their own interpretations of the characters. That said, one of the fun things about it being a community is that, sometimes, collective headcanons just Become the way everyone thinks about the character. Google, who I mentioned earlier? I don't remember who decided he was a robot clone, I don't think it was mentioned in the show itself, but the community just Decided he was a robot! I love that! It's great!)

Anyways. I won't get too deep into the specifics of how the plot progresses, because if I did, we'd be here forever, and we all know this post is too fucking long as it is, but Dr. Order showing up again with Google starts the arc proper. Dr. Order is your classic mad scientist, she's just making shit happen because she can. There are several very important characters that have direct connections to her, being her experiments. There's the aforementioned Google, a clone of Bing meant to be the perfect fighter. There's Machiavelli, the ultimate lifeform, and Mach 2, who was built to be superior to Machiavelli in every way and just Isn't. There's Hackerman J0hn, who's an actual cyborg. There's Larry the Florida Man, a shapeshifter who's a whole fuckin can of worms that I won't get into but he's one of the best characters and honestly a perfect microcosm of what makes Kerfuffle's method of storytelling kick so much ass.

One of the great things about this arc is how personal it all feels. Crimson was, at most, an agent of chaos. He was characterized as this malevolent force of nature that tormented the tournament for no reason other than that he could. Crimson would get recharacterized later, with new lore being added to flesh him out a bit, but it took a bit for that to happen. Dr. Order, from the very beginning, is human. One would think that she'd be a downgrade in terms of scope, but not only does she begin dealing with forces she doesn't understand, she also makes every interaction she has with the tournament fighters feel intentional, calculated, and malicious.

This arc is where the show fully comes into its own. The final stretch, from Episodes 17-20, are some of the most tense and fun and satisfying experiences I had ever seen, seeing the culmination of what the show was. Dr. Order might not have been intended to be a villain from the beginning, but she became the perfect villain for CPU Kerfuffle. Season 2 begins with the disparate chaos of the tournament be brought to a standstill by a new head of the tournament, Iggy Koopa (yes, that one). Teams are put in place, and each fighter from that point on is enrolled in the tournament as a part of those teams. There's a real sense of camaraderie there, where these eight teams lift each other up, while also competing fair and square to see who's the best. Yes, the Kerfuffle tournament can get a bit... dramatic at times, but at the heart of it, it's a community. And Dr. Order is the antithesis of all of that. She does not have a team, she has subordinates, tools, with which she can claw her way to the top. She does not fight fair, she uses trickery and subterfuge to win her battles. Part of this is because she's a Wii Fit Trainer who sucks at fighting, but it unintentionally allows her to become even more of a malign figure in the cast of characters. And this makes it so, when she's eventually beaten in Episode 20 (which was an absolute Event in my life that I'll never forget, I cried actual tears), it doesn't only feel like the jerk was beaten up, but that community and friendship and love had triumphed over callous selfishness, that the ideal of defining who you are had beaten this monolith of petty control. And, yeah, that sounds like some Saturday morning cartoon Power Of Friendship nonsense, but. Fuck, man, that breaks me open.

And in many ways... I might very well be reading too far into things, but sometimes it feels like the themes of the silly funny Smash Bros. show reflect the feelings I have with its community. The world can be horrifying and monstrous. And it sometimes feels as though there is no way to endure it, that there's no point in enduring it. But... every once in a while, while I'm walking through this cold, dense, endless forest, enduring the slow but excruciating crawl of time moving forward... I find a campfire. I find people, telling jokes, telling stories. And... I think those little campfires are so deeply important. I think they're necessary. In a cold and indifferent world, it's vital that we find little pockets of joy and whimsy and absurdity and optimism, and that we share it with one another. We take our hope and our joy wherever we can get it. We try telling stories. We try telling jokes, drawing little pictures in the dirt. And that is the point.

To be honest, I've been considering ending this overly long diatribe here, if only because this has gotten insultingly long, and expecting people to read it is probably hoping for too much. If I did end it here, it would feel right. I've reached an emotional climax, and end point, I've said something that matters.

But... there's still more of the show to talk about.

CPU Kerfuffle does not end at Season 2. There was a hiatus after the Season 2 finale, which was by all means earned. But it did eventually come back for a Season 3. And I'm not going to talk too terribly much about Season 3? But I want it to be clear that it's not because it is somehow not as good as Season 2. In many ways, I prefer it. It explored the ramifications of Dr. Order's reign of terror in some really cool ways, and it's truly astonishing how, even after the villain's definitive defeat, her impact still echoes through all of the characters that she hurt. It's really great stuff.

The lore of the show is expanded even further. I didn't mention it earlier, but the first arc villain, Crimson, had a sister introduced in the tail end of Season 2, named Chartreuse. Where Crimson had domain over dimensions and space, Chartreuse had domain over time. And in Season 3, a third sibling is introduced, named Cobalt, the god of life and death. These deities are some of my favorite characters in the show. They're vastly different from one another, but in their own ways, they do very much come off as gods, as immortal, unfathomable beings. All three of them are fascinating, but I did not bring them up so I could gush about how much I love them.

I brought them up to talk about Prism.

This is another example of CPU Kerfuffle expanding on and, occasionally, slightly retconning parts of its established lore to tell a kickass story. Prism first appeared in Episode 15, and beyond doing some Wacky Stuff, she didn't seem particularly noteworthy. So imagine my surprise when she returns in Season 3 and introduces herself as the caretaker of the color gods, their babysitter, for lack of a better term. I honestly can not describe how kickass that revelation was.

Prism is a really fun villain. She is similar to Dr. Order in a lot of ways, but different in others. She does represent a monolith of control, with even the deities that look after time and space being simple disobedient children to her. But she is quite different when it comes to her mannerisms and methods. She is much more prone to talking things out, with an honestly chilling cheer, a smile that you can't quite tell whether it's genuine or false. Dr. Order is a villain that is fun to watch. Prism is oppressive, she dominates every conversation she is a part of, all while maintaining her bright attitude. It's absolutely chilling.

Prism begins an arc called The Grand Kerfuffle, an absolutely gargantuan bracket that was more akin to eight tournaments stacked in a trenchcoat than a single tournament. And to me, it honestly felt like the closest we could ever get in this show to a Final Arc. Each leg of the tournament felt like an event, with major plot turns, more build up to Prism as a villain, and the reveal that Spectrum, the elusive parent of the color gods, is dying. Spectrum had been foreshadowed for quite a while, so getting confirmation on its existence was huge. Crazy bullshit was happening, it was all ramping up to something incredible, I could just feel it-

And... then CPU Kerfuffle went on hiatus. And it never came back.

First off, I want to make this damn clear, I do not blame the creators for this happening. Mental health and maintaining ones own stability is so much more important than streaming a silly funny Smash Bros. show. Also, it's also not like things have abruptly ended, never to be seen again. During this lengthy break, Ryan Chongoshow has been doing Non-Canon Curiosity Tournaments (or NCCTs) in the aforementioned discord server. They're a lot of fun, and while it isn't the same, it is giving me the things about CPUK that I cared about most, the character interactions and the interesting plot lines. I honestly want to go into some of the ideas posed there, but this interminable post is long enough and explicitly non-canon material is where I draw the line.

With all that being said, though... I can't help but feel at least a little sad about that. Because, the more time passes, the more it becomes likely that CPU Kerfuffle just isn't coming back. Not in the way it was, at least. I've been trying to come to terms with that for a long time. Other people in the community seem to have done that. But... I'm not really sure if I can? To be clear, this is not meant to be a guilt trip. That being said, I've had far too many things in my life just... end. And not in a satisfying way, the way most stories do. They just stop. Friendships, and lives, and my own damn childhood. Done, just like that. Very abrupt. No closure. And as much as I can understand that sometimes, things are just Like That... it doesn't stop it from hurting. It doesn't stop me from wishing things were different. Wishing that my best friend in elementary school would have at least talked to me before wordlessly ending our friendship. Wishing that I could have spoken to my grandmother one more time before I lost the chance to. Wishing that a global pandemic hadn't ended my high school experience early, cutting me off into a cold, frightening world that I didn't know how to navigate.

Wishing that... that silly funny Smash Bros. show that helped me get through those hard times didn't have to end like that.

I'm well aware that I'm being wildly selfish, and irrational. Turns out, people are just like that sometimes. I get angry that my thoughts and feelings never coalesce, never make sense... but then I have to remember that none of us make sense. The world doesn't make sense. Life doesn't make sense.

But we have to live it anyway.

This could very well just be me reaching for a poignant ending to this meandering thesis I just wrote. Maybe I'm looking too deep into things where that depth just doesn't exist. Maybe I'm feeling just a bit too much about a silly funny Smash Bros. show. But, to be honest? I don't care.

The world is cruel, and cold, and uncaring, and confusing, and every day that I keep living has the potential to be a trial that I can't overcome.

But sometimes the rat wins. Sometimes a Florida man hits a shitty lady in the face with a volleyball. Sometimes a time traveling dog flirts with a time goddess and it becomes something beautiful, and you laugh and you cry and you feel as much as you can.

And then, with the memories of those times behind you, propping you up, keeping you from falling, you keep living.

[banditomojado]

Roberto’s Spooky Season Binge 2024:

Halloween (2018)

We interrupt your hourly scroll through tumblr for another entry in RSSB 2024! For this entry I’ll be reviewing/discussing Halloween 2018! Obviously Carpenter’s original 1978 classic is mandatory viewing for any horror fan, and is arguably the best slasher ever made. That being said, Halloween as a franchise has suffered through far too many bad sequels over the years, so back when they announced this direct sequel/reboot (“requel” if you must, ugh), I was understandably skeptical or even down right cynical that it could work. So what did I think after finally watching it today? My spoiler thoughts and review below!

Okay so straight up, I LOVED this freakin’ movie. There are so many reasons why this movie works not only as a requel but also as a modern slasher. But before I get into all the good juicy parts, I felt like for this one I should go ahead and get my one issue with the movie over with first. Apologies in advance for having to be “that guy”. So yeah, let’s talk about that opening scene. Not gonna lie, it felt pretty gross. The dated and dehumanizing depictions of people with severe mental illnesses stands out here. Now, to be fair, the movie does go out of its way to make it clear to the audience that Michael is simply pure evil (often hilariously I must add, but more on that later) and that trying to look for any deeper meaning behind his murderous ways is a fool's errand. Still, having him be surrounded by other chained up patients, who by all accounts aren’t serial killers, who then go into a state of agitation when scummy journalist guy attempts to provoke Michael, well it got a little too close to exploitative for my tastes. It doesn’t help that the one “mental health professional” in the movie is also your stereotypical quack (who then graduates to straight up murderer) and that the movie even goes out of its way to tell you that the other patients/prisoners who escaped were not only recaptured without issue, they were just wondering around confused. For most, this is likely not a big deal, and I totally understand that. The movie otherwise is sharply written and very self-aware of its status in the horror canon, so one could argue the movie itself is trying to tell the viewer to lighten up and enjoy this absurd horror ride for what it is: A good ol’ fashioned slasher made for the modern age. I’ll let you guys decide how y’all feel about it, but yeah, sorry I just had to bring it up.

With that unpleasant business out of the way, let’s get into what works! The slasher sub-genre lives and dies on the scariness of the killer, inventive kills, and an interesting and well-written cast of sacrificial lambs, erm, I mean characters that could die at any moment. Check, check, and check! 2018’s Michael may be in his 60’s canonically, but our boy hasn’t lost a step! He’s still the same horrifying and violently effective force of nature we all know. As I mentioned earlier, the movie is very self-aware and sharply written, which often serves to provide the audience with well-executed fan-fare, cheeky call-backs, and surprisingly funny moments. While this movie noticeably lacks the haunting and menacing atmosphere of the original, it manages to carve out its own unique identity and boldly reaffirms its status as horror royalty. It cares not for today’s “elevated horror” trends, and hilariously goes out of its way to poke fun at the fans of that kind of horror. The purposely scummy journalists at the beginning who want to “get inside” of the mind of Michael getting killed immediately was hilarious. Speaking of which, it also comes as no surprise that Dr. Quack was the victim of the movies grisliest kill, a hilarious final “fuck you” to uppity horror fans who insist the slasher genre holds little artistic value and has “nothing to say”.

"Say something." LOL *STOMP*

Can’t go much further without mentioning Jamie Lee Curtis and her badass performance. As one of the most iconic scream queens, it was so awesome to see her back and this time kick some ass! I was curious to see what direction they would take with her return and I think what they wrote works. Deeply traumatized from the original’s events, Lori has spent her life living in constant paranoia and preparation for the return of her would-be killer. Curtis nails every scene, showing the full nuance of a damaged survivor who tried to prepare her daughter for the worst, but ended up alienating herself from her family. You feel for her when she breaks down during the family dinner scene, but more importantly you believe the conviction in her eyes as the viewer approaches the final act. She’s ready to kill or be killed tonight. 

The rest of the characters are all great in their relative supporting roles. We get plenty of unlikeable but comedic characters that we get to enjoy watching get killed off in cool ways, which is a must for the genre. It’s pretty easy to tell in slasher’s which characters are gonna get the ax, but the movie also keeps you on your toes by killing off genuinely likeable characters too. The pacing is solid and the viewer never goes too long without seeing another body added to the count. The Strode women are obviously the heart of the movie and we get a lot of good scenes with them. I do wish we could have gotten more of Judy Greer’s Karen since I was most curious to see how she would be affected by her mothers trauma, but what we do get is perfect and Greer nails all of her scenes (that “gotcha” scene? Pure badassery). Allyson is also a great addition and I think casting a little-known actress like they did with Curtis back in 78’ was the right move. As we all know now, 2018”s Halloween was the first installment of a new trilogy, so there’s a lot of pressure on a character like Allyson to be well performed and accepted as the heir apparent to Curtis’s scream queen title in the franchise and I think she nails it. Knowing in advance that I was getting into a trilogy, Karen's and Allyson's somewhat lacking character exploration is understandable, thus I was extra curious to see how this movie would decide to end. You can’t launch a successful new trilogy on the back of a weak ending to the first installment after all!

And what a final act it was! Ahhh so many badass moments to choose from. What I loved most is how expertly the roles are reversed in the end. Laurie has now become the predator, and giving her some of Michaels iconic shots from the original was so cool to watch. The two that stand out are the shot with her coming out of the shadows behind Michael to attack him, and her giving Miachael a taste of his own medicine by disappearing after she falls out the window and he turns away from her body for a second. I was geeking out for most of this and the shot of three generations of Strode women staring down upon their caged prey while everything engulfs in flames was fucking epic. This really becomes a story of women overcoming generational trauma and getting revenge on their tormentors and I’m all here for it! Honestly, I would have liked for the story to have ended there. But two more were made and I must admit I’m nervous about them ruining it after such a great start! Not sure if I’ll get to them for this year's binge, but hopefully they nailed it! 

Final Rating: 9.5

I had a blast watching Halloween 2018 and I think that’s what the creatives were going for! A witty, confident requel of an all-time classic, Halloween 2018 succeeds in every area a slasher should, and more than earns its place among the canon. Curtis is at her best returning as Laurie, and Michael is still as menacing as he was back then. Fun fact, the original Michael Myers actor returned for this, which I think is so fucking cool! While I do wish the story would have ended here, I’m cautiously optimistic for the next two entries. The movie works well as a stand-alone, but make no mistake about it, this was a work of love from hardcore fans, for hardcore fans of the original.

[lcndonboysstuff]

I also haven't watched a TV show in ages too tbh. Atleast like from start to finish. Same with books. I tend to have fixations and over the last year and half or so, my mind has been mostly on all of this. I have been trying to find a new thing to fixate on so I can actually focus on a fun thing, but I haven't been feeling about tv shows in a while. I actually have been into astrology lately (hence why I started that convo the other day) and I have been getting back to rewatch some old soap operas I know I already love. That has been fun actually. I live in Portugal and we are big on soap operas or telenovelas as we call it. I wish there was a way to share that with subtitles for y'all.

Still, here are some TV shows I watched like a big while ago and I liked. Others are some of my old comfort shows. I usually am into drama, thriller, crime shows. I also like to be a shipper so I do love a romance too (even though the couples I like all get screwed up somehow). I try to not stick with just the stuff I know I like and try something different every once in a while (same with books but yeah). I also like to watch anime sometimes. Anime is like my happy place. I only watch the romance and good vibe ones.

Charmed (this is the original version by the way, not the reboot. one of my ultimate comfort shows. Some of you probably will know this one, since it's very popular. But long story short, it has 3 sisters who find out they are witches. There's a lot of magic ofc, there's a lot of family union and bonding moments, there's a lot of good romance, there's a lot of funny moments. It's just a feel good show to me)

Instant star (other old but gold. Not sure if this one is very known, because it's canadian. Ok so for those who like series that have a music storyline this is it. Like the whole show is so well developed. It's basically the story of this 16 year old who wins a talent contest and the prize is to record a CD and the show is her whole journey inside the music industry. It goes from her having 16 to 19 years. It depicts the ugly sides of fame and the industry and how is definately not easy to reach success. The songs on the show are all originals written by the lead actress specifically to fit the storyline. But the show also puts a lot of emphasis on her as a person. One thing I will say is, there's a relationship with a problematic age gap here. I know to some people that can be an immediate discard, but don't just rule out. I'm someone who really gets uncomfortable with age gaps as far as up to 5 years. Here, it's higher then that. Yet I still shipped them because it has to do with the way the story is built. Looking back I can admit they were kind of toxic at times but that wasn't due to the age, but ✨ trauma ✨ Also the show treats the age gap like a real issue, it's not swept under the rug. It's a constant talk. And the couple doesn't really get together like that, that's why you end up rooting for them (when they aren't being toxic that is). It's a very slow burn and yes they do pine for each other but that doesn't stop any of them from being with other people and actually fall in love with other people. I think the first ep does give the impression that the fact she immediately crushes on him is going to lead to something right away but it's not. Anyway...ahahaha)

I already wrote a huge ask so I'm going to do a second one with more shows on it

i’ve actually managed to read a few books this year, which i’m proud of cuz i don’t read much anymore.

i think one telenovela that i’ve watched a few years ago, “La Patrona” very entertaining.

my sister has actually watched charmed and recommend it to me a few times!

i’ve never heard of the second one but i’ll add it to my list, i’m looking for a long series to watch throughout the summer. i watched greys anatomy through the last winter break, i stopped at season 11 but it was very enjoyable. those first 8 seasons are class

[asidewalksymphony]

Watching Doctor Who s14e01 (also fuck you I'm not calling it s01, its s14)

SPOILERS BELOW

40:00/46:31 - One of the things that annoys me a little, is because of this entire "reboot" thing, they're info dumping at the top of this episode. They just speed ran explaining the Doctor's back story in like a few minutes. Half of me is fine with it, it's helping new people get caught up quickly. But also annoying cause like...it's removing literally all the mystery to him that we all got to experience back in 2005. I dunno I'm feeling a bit mixed so far.

39:20/46:31 - Okay I do enjoy that he's much more casual with touch, lmao. He just INSTANTLY grabs onto Ruby, when he's startled/scary that was honestly very cute.

36:45/46:31 - Yeesh they are REALLY speed-running some shit. Starting to not enjoy the weird info dump and way of bringing Ruby "up to speed" with other companions. She's not getting to discover anything about the Doctor herself, she's just getting the information thrown at her.

32:50/46:31 - Okay the Space Babies are so fucking weird LMAOOOO. The SFX for their mouths looks terrifying. Though the Doctor and Ruby being so sweet to the babies is honestly super cute. OH NO, THE ONE BABY SAID SHE'S NEVER HAD A HUG. Okay, I'm fine with the Doctor showing fatherly/parental tendencies, it's cute, and a nod to him being a father before.

25:28/46:31 - Okay I am enjoying the mystery of Ruby's backstory being the over-arching plotline for the season. Sprinkling in the mystery of her origin throughout the season will hopefully have a good conclusion at the end of the season. The seasons for 10 were great for sprinkling small things for an overly arching plot line happening in the background that would resolve in the last 2 episodes.

23:10/46:31 - IT'S THE ACTRESS FOR QUEEN CHARLOTTE FROM BRIDGERTON!!!! YAAAAAY! I love her as an actress. Also, oh my fucking god is the moral of the story about the wrongness of abortion bans?! The whole "They won't let the baby machine turn off, but once the babies are born, they won't take care of them?" thing made me go !!! lmao.

19:05/46:31 - Okay the "Nanny Filter" thing is funny. "Invoking the Deity" made me cackle. Wait oh my god I love how Ncuti Gatwa runs? He runs like...like a dancer?? Does he have dance experience??

16:07/46:31 - THE BABY HAS A FLAMETHROWER!!!!!

11:52/46:31 - Okay I enjoy how Ncuti made the Doctor cunty. I enjoy it so much, he's bringing back the sass that 9 had.

[magsmapsmtl]

If you ain’t runnin’ game…

Dis Mon Nom | Sep. 11, 2017 | Bad Nylon

A lot of people who know me professionally know that I’m someone who draws a lot of inspiration from 90’s media, especially animation and music. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, being a superfan of PPG (… don’t talk to me about the reboot) and Sailor Moon (don’t talk to me about that one either cause tbh I couldn’t keep up). I thought I’d grow up to be a cartoonist, but always found myself daydreaming about being in a girl-group. Funny enough, this had little to nothing to do with the fact that I was also musically inclined, and began producing beats to my original lyrics at the age of 11. Growing up in the 90’s, it was a Spice World. The Spice Girls were on every conceivable piece of merch and media and I was here for it. And while I hailed Missy Elliott as my hip hop queen, something about the unison of girls into a team spoke to me in more ways than one. Anyone who knows me personally knows that as of lately, I haven’t been myself. I lost myself in people and in projects that took more out of me than they were willing to give back, and as a result, I was losing a part of my identity. I hadn’t found the drive to draw a proper piece in months, I was inundated in my work with my band, to the point that I nearly forgot why I was in one in the first place. I always tell people that I do what I do to inspire the next generation (which is 1000% true, love the behbies), but I was losing sight of what was inspiring me, and quickly relapsing into a low-maintenance depression. That is until August 28th, 2017. Strange Froots opened for Princess Nokia at Club Soda. It was an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. I got to perform with my friends, my younger sister got to see me in action, and in the crowd was a sea of melanated fans my own age. For the first time, I really felt like our presence made a difference- in this generation. And then. AND THEN. I SAW BAD NYLON LIVE.

Bad Nylon is a wonderful fellow gurl squad of primarily franco “rappas”, as they so aptly call themselves. Both groups performed last Friday at the OUMF Festival. They came to see us perform near the end of our set and were some of the most energetic folk in the audience. It was a truly beautiful spontaneous moment. They were performing on the main stage later that night, and I hadn’t seen them live yet, so I was definitely not missing it. As soon as they hit the stage (after a mini-skit intro by a little girl, much à-la-Missy), they set it on fire with color-coordinated jumpsuits and the attitudes of well-seasoned masters of the game. Their energy, as well as their moves, were in sync; they were a unit, but still able to let their individuality shine through in their mannerisms. But what really got me… they hit us with a throwback medley, covering artists from Ja Rule to Ciara, from TLC to Destiny’s Child. And they did in such a fun-loving way, but still with no wahala. I felt something I hadn’t in a very long time. I got home that night, playing it back in my head, playing back our conversations in the green room after the fact. They fully acknowledged the Powerpuff Girls comparisons, even going so far as debating who would be which. They had their families and young fans waiting for them at the bottom of the stage, as if just seeing a middle school recital. I saw in them what I saw in my junior high daydreams. 3 girls totally owning the stage like their faces are already on lunchboxes somewhere, exuding an energy of near-calculated success, but maintaining the carefree attitudes of 4 best friends who just got let out of detention for the weekend. Expect great things from this group. I feel like a kid again, and I wanna be them when I grow up.

[clonehighdoublehelix]

Quick reflection on my pre-season thoughts now that I've binged everything!

My general feelings are that the reboot is still a very different show to the original but accepting that, I definitely laughed more this season and can point to more individual episodes that I thought had fun premises that I'd watch again on their own.

If there's a major flaw, it's that the relationships (romantic and platonic) are even harder to track when characters fall in love, break up, get back together and find new relationships every other episode. Sorry to be a broken record but I pine for the simplicity of the love triangle from season one.

I'll address my predictions that get into spoiler territory after the break!

Okay, now that the FAKE fans are gone (jk jk jfk) I had felt that Joan and Confucius getting together felt arbitrary since they'd barely interacted last season but I ended up enjoying them more than most of the blink-and-you'll miss it relationships this season. It's always seemed like Joan prefers guys that aren't super-masc; she liked Abe for his integrity and good heart, meanwhile she really had to consider whether to date JFK because she never pictured herself with a jock. All this to say, her ending up with Confucius began to make sense once it happened. Sad but not surprised that we still don't have any canonically non-straight male leads but at least we got crumbs of queer side characters.

(Clone High Tatler reference!!!!!!!)

JFK is still written as really good homie who is completely comfortable being intimate with his male friends.

Much like Cleo, we have to accept that they're dead-set on writing him 100% nicer than the original show.

I find the lack of non-straight male leads and lack of in-world homphobia a peculiar combo but I'll dig into that in another post.

The Scudworth B-plots were a huge improvement. Now that he's apparently over his infatuation with Candide, we got some real pearls like 'Scudworth pretends to be religious for tax purposes' and 'Scudworth put on disguises to get a bunch of free burritos'. Amazing, no notes, thank you for the grade-A shenanigans. I'm glad the Skunky-Poo episode wasn't simply more Looney-Tunes shtick (though you could have fooled me with this title card)

Mr. B being really tired and frustrated with Scudworth's inability to see through Skunky-Poo's disguises was funny. How would you react if your boss was constantly fooled into being blown up by what is clearly a skunk wearing lipstick? The buried-eroticism of their Bugs/Elmer dynamic is brought to the surface in the shockingly explicit scene where we actually watch a cartoon skunk riding Principal's Scudworths dick.

Real photo of me watching this unfold

Was surprised that we actually got more of the foster parents, mostly in the parent-teacher conference episode. The only new foster is Frida's Dad who's a nice, well-adjusted, supportive parent. Not much to like or dislike there.

The reboot seemed to be on a mission to tidy away all of the more-problematic elements of the original , so imagine my shock at the return of Cleo's drunk foster mum. The so-called plot twists had nothing on this. Damn jaw was on the floor.

Not only that, she has lines, is made the butt of jokes about her alcoholism and we even get a glimpse of how Cleo feels about her. A really welcome surprise!

Beyond that, we get a silent cameo from the more-acceptable of JFK's Dad's, Candide all but abandons any pretense of being Joans foster-mom and sadly no return from Topher's spacey housewife mum. All I'm saying is, when the original introduced us to a funny foster parent, they appeared and participated in multiple episodes. A few more of the background clones get incidental lines here and there but most of the new named Clones are part of the Bleacher Creatures. Also, it was confirmed by colour design artist Kelly Bloom that the mustachioed guy is Vlad the Impaler, not Salvadore Dali. I still think they're neat!

As expected, I couldn't stand *ugh* Baby Patrick Swayze but I can appreciate that he's jailed for making everyone uncomfortable. As for my prediction that this will be the last season, nothing has been confirmed but it's safe to say the reboot hasn't exactly lit the world on fire. I think pulling the trigger on Cloney Island suggests that the writers know that if they didn't do it now, they may never get the chance. My only question is with that big endgame idea checked off and having blasted through so many potential pairings already, where would a potential fourth season even go? (Before you say it: I'm still adamant that they're never bringing Gandhi back even if they're renewed.) So that's my response to all my pre-season thoughts and predictions. A few steps forward and a few steps back! I'm going to rewatch the season and write up some more detailed thoughts in individual characters and episodes because I have literally nothing better to do! Oh, except work on my short which people have been very encouraging about. Thanks fellow Clone Heads!

CLONE HIGH S3 NOTES

This poster art is such eye-candy! I wish the animation budget was slightly higher so it could look this hand-made throughout. Though as someone who works on Flash shows, the production value has been high overall but nothing can compare to the unnecessary lavishness of Rough Draft Korea animating the original series. I never watched the show for shipping and last season the romances were so arbitrary and unengaging that I have no reason to expect anything. Joan and Confucius? Yeah, why not. Who cares! (I might pay attention if they had an mlm couple that aren't background characters that appear for one second)

I'm still crossing my fingers we get some more zany Scudworth B-plots that aren't getting wasted or mooning over Candide. This little snippet of them grave-robbing looks promising!

Though I'm a little disappointed that they're revisiting the Looney Tunes hijinx with Skunky-Poo. We can hope there's some new angle to it. (PITCH: Candide becomes jealous of the 'new woman' in Scudworths life, not because she's winning his heart but because SHE wants to be the one causing him grievous bodily harm)

The new writers really like writing JFK as a big golden retriever so, having him be Abe's goofy comic relief buddy could work. That's right: JFK is the new Gandhi! (A very normal sentence)

The cast list also reveals some new foster parents and school faculty which I'm super excited for. Last season had such a myopic focus on the leads that it felt like they existed in a vacuum. I hope some of the supporting characters get to, y'know, speak this season.

Sighting a Salvador Dali clone almost makes up for Baby Patrick Swayze. Is the name the whole joke? Because it *kinda* rhymes? I refuse to screencap the creature but me and my friends would beat that thing with hammers, I can tell you that much. And we all agree this is the last season, right? I'm shocked such a niche cult show didn't get shelved indefinitely but Zaslav's reign of terror is characterized by writing shows off seemingly at random. Maybe the sheer clout of Lord and Miller got this reboot made and released? The crew seem to indicate the shows future depends on how many people watch the show on premiere day through an app only available in the United States. Yikes! 'Max' is doing the bare-minimum of legally required advertising but the audience still appears to be a handful of die-hard fans who complain about every creative decision the reboot has made so far.

Here's looking forward to February 1st!

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

okay but full thoughts on the animaniacs reboot i wanna get out: 

dislikes:

i do think there was a bit too much gross-out. i assume it was there bc animaniacs ended before that really became A Thing™ in kids’ tv and they’re experimenting a little? but i didn’t really feel like it fit but that might just be because it’s not my thing 

i get the russian jokes were written in 2018-19 back when we were all pissed about the election but it did go on for a bit too long? i did like at the end though when they were like “yeah we’re not all like this we just have a shit leader” “we know the feeling comrade” but they probably coulda done more on that 

i’m not a huge fan of the human character designs? idk i know the designs in the original were supposed to be just as odd and wacky as the toons but sometimes the designs are just bad to look at now 

BRING BACK SLAPPY 2K21 

though most importantly: 

i want to see the warners fucking up the studio and the world. there’s a reason they live in a water tower, it’s because the wb studio built it over their faerie circle locked them there to stop them from destroying everything in sight. 

i know they’ve probably mellowed a bit and are still trying to figure out the 21st century but i want to see them bouncing off the walls and making the new ceo bang her head on a desk while they sing the song that gets on everybody’s nerves

because like that’s kinda the thing with the warners... they’re wacky and out of control but mainly because nobody gets them. they just get frustrated and lock them up- and you notice that it’s the humans who don’t seem to get them. 

when they interact with other toons (looney tunes cameos, the other segments) they seem to have stable friendships and all seem to get™ each other, like when the warners unleashed mindy on elmyra and then gave buttons the day off or when they go to slappy to get rid of their new nanny. 

i could go on for a while about the implications of this plus the implications of them living in the warner bros studio while being locked in a water tower but i’ll just sum it up with “it really hits with the neurodivergent kids” and anyone who’s in that category. you get it

and i don’t feel that was brought out enough yet? but it’s only season one, they’re still getting back into the swing of things, so we’ll see how it goes

however, the overwhelming positives:

THE SIBLING LOVE THEY ALL HAVE FOR EACH OTHER??? THAT’S SO PURE AND GOOD GIVE IT ALL TO ME 

these writers are NOT backing down from the political jokes and adult humor. i’m sure you all saw my out-of-context compilation but wakko literally said “hell” and yakko called someone a dick, and also they mock drumpf like every other episode. fucking fantastic 

you can tell the writers know how we all see pinky and the brain. they’re slowburn building to that labrat romance 

my GOD is wakko so fucking cute. the real reason dot’s new schtick is being “witty” and not “cute” is because they realized that wakko’s the real babey of the family 

the lowkey sad elements are starting to slip into the show- the brain backstory is the most clear, due to it being framed in such a sad light, but also yakko literally having a breakdown when he feels like he can’t be the “funny one” and can’t speak also a neurodivergent mood really does HIT doesn’t it 

the new ceo seems funny! i like her fast-paced movements and way of speaking. hope we learn more about her or she gets, like. a name? does she have a name yet? 

MY GOD THAT REVEAL ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER SEGMENTS 

the new animation and songs are so good oh my god i literally taught myself how to play “reboot it” on guitar because i couldn’t get it out of my head 

every time dot is just feral and out for blood i’m like “yeah. yeah she’s the youngest sibling you can tell” 

i would still die for these siblings istg 

THE PENNYWISE SKETCH WAS THE FUNNIEST THING IN THE WORLD

tl;dr it’s not perfect but by GOD is it close. really looking forward more to season three than two- cause one and two were made in quick succession, so three will be made knowing how the fans reacted and what they want 

but by god would i still die for these puppy rabbit salamander fae children i--

[increasinglygeeky]

Uhhh. Stranger Things Season 4 VOL 1. thoughts

I'm conflicted about the whole Mileven/Byler dilemma b/c I've been a Mileven girl since the beginning but hey, whatever happens in Vol 2., happens.

Mileven deserves rights just b/c El has been through so much she needs to be happy no matter what when it's all over.

RONANCE BROMANCE HELLS YEAH!!!

why the fuck weren't Dustin and Steve being my fave funky duo of this show???...DUFFERS EXPAIN

LUMAX LIVES BITCHES!!!!

Eddie being my new fave skrunkly scrimblo

Why the f is no one talking about Fred?? (His name is deadass Fred Benson hehehe) What did he kill a bunch of people????

Also did they seriously force Nancy to go through the loss of TWO close friends in the span of 3 years???

Also Chrissy deserved better she was so cute

EDDIE AND HER COULDVE BEEN BFFS MAYBE EVEN MORE B/C I DOUBT THAT PRICK JASON ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT HER TO NOT EVEN SUSPECT ABUSE!!!

Robin is....diff in this season but I'll let that slide b/c she was adorable

I feel so bad for Lucas. Baby sacrificing all his healths to just help out his friends.

Still Anti-Billy. Just beacuse of his dad gave him NO right to treat Max the way he did.

Although the letter scene did hurt especially when you think about how much Max probably wanted a normal, big, family no matter what....

I also feel so bad for Jonathan he's probably going through so much internally if he's giving himself over to weed.

EL DESERVED TO BEAT ANGELAS FACE IN I SCREAMED YOU GO MY FUNKY LITTLE GIRLBOSS!!

ERICA MY OTHER FUNKY LITTLE GIRLBOSS NOW APART OF THE PARTY HELL YEAH WHAT A QUEEN SHE WAS THIS VOLUME.!

Love the look of how you communicate from the Upside Down its probably the only comforting thing there

Honestly I'm Argyle in THAT situation

Why did we stop the California plot line midway???

Suzie is so goddamn funny

Her family helping her out was the best ever

I feel like this season/volume dials up the comedy and it actually works

I nearly had a stroke when the boys were asking about the Internet.

You could've gave Will some friends of his own or something Duffers, gotdamn.

Why did they fuck up his role so bad??

At least he actually gives a damn about El.

Im so glad will and Jonathan do refer to themsleves as El's brothers its what she deseves.

El and Will being in sibling sync had me hollering.

Seriously Mike, wtf were you thinking with those letters???

Loving the Nightmare on Elm Street shoutouts and parallels it's my fave horror series.

THEY DEADASS GOT ROBERT ENGLUND HELL YEAH!!!

NO NO STEVE/NANCY ENDGAME ARE YOU KIDDING ME NO!!! HE LITERALLY WENT THROUGH HALF OF THE SERIES GETTING OVER HER FUCK OFF.

At least their interactions reminded of how much Natalia and Joe would be so good as Nancy Thompson and Glen Lantz in a proper Elm Street remake/reboot I'm frothing at the mouth thinking about it.

STEVE HARRINGTON STOP BEING SO HOT WHEN YOU'RE BEATING THE SHIT OUT HELL BATS HAIRY TIDDIES OUT AND SPITTING UP BLOOD!!

I am in desperate need of a reader fic where we react to Steve in that scene.

Max is strong...stronger than all of us.

Wait was it Vecna who killed Barb and not the Mind Flayer??

I felt SO BAD for El when they buzzed off her hair especially when you remember her commenting that Argyle's is longer than hers she probably wanted to grow it out for as long as she can.

The rope going through the Upside Down was chefs kiss.

At least we get a proper reason to why they call it the Upside Down.

When Hopper found the church and peanut butter I almost cried b/c that's obviously the most peace hes gotten in like a year.

JOPPER JOPPER JOPPER JOPPER JOPPPER REUNION WAS BETTER THAT MY EXPECTATIONS IM SO HAPPY MY PARENTS!!!!

DID VECNA TAKE WILL THIS WHOLE TIME!?!?