#but like?? it’s ben schwartz i can’t

[lotsazombie]

does house of lies even have a fandom on here😭😭😭 just finished house of lies for the millionth time and im forever in such a love hate relationship with clyde ,,,

[lazorbeanz]

Just finished watching the 2022 tmnt movie for the first time (also the first one I’ve ever watched too)

Gotta say I really enjoyed it! Might be a lil obsessed now hehe 👀

Though I can’t help thinking that Leo and Sonic Wachowski are so alike in regards to their mannerisms 🤭 and then both discovering in their own movies what it means to be a hero

[kaiaden]

Reincarnated Spin Dash

Hehe I made a Sonic Au and oc’s

(implied major character death, Sonadow)

MEET MY OC’S MY SILLY GOOBERS

Blue one is Sonic’s reincarnation and his name is Dash! The orange twin is Spin, he’s his own character and NOT A SHADOW REPLICA!! They are similar in some ways though! These two aren’t biologically related to Sonic or Shadow, idk they don’t even know their parents. They’re five years old and rambunctious

More info!

Spin:

Introverted, he’s selectively mute and when he does talk he says very little

When doing a spin dash his quills spark and he leaves a fire trail behind him, which can cause explosions if he wanted to explode something, he has a naturally high body temperature as a result

loves music, specifically classic and wants to learn how to play the piano

Dash:

Extroverted, fun fact, the voice I imagine him to have when he’s older is Ben Schwartz, lmfao

He has Sonic’s speed but can’t control it very well, so he rams into things on accident when running fast

loves art, makes it out of anything, even using mud on Shadow’s driveway (he had to clean it up after but Shadow bought him sidewalk chalk)

I might make more short comics like this about Shadow slowly becoming a dad lol

[14th-century-verona-queer]

GUYS

GUYS YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND

I USED TO LOVE VOLTRON WHEN I WAS YOUNGER LIKE I LOOOOOOOOVED THAT SHOW

OBVS ITS BEEN A LARGE NUMBER OF YEARS (WILL NOT BE SPECIFYING HOW LONG IN ODER NOT TO DATE MYSELF TYVM) AND I HAVENT HEARD ANY OF THE CHARACTER’S VOICES IN A HELLA LONG TIME

I TOOK A LITTLE GANDER ON PINTREST CAUSE I WANTED TO SEE WHAT LANCE SOUNDED LIKE TO SEE IF IT WAS THE SAME AS I REMEMBERED AND

BITCH WHAT THE ACTUAL FRESHLY-SQUEEZED BEETS FUCK??

I DID NOT IMAGINE THIS MAN TO HAVE THIS SLIGHTLY DEEP VOICE THAT IS LITERALLY EQUIVALENT TO KEITHS (except Keith has more gravel to his voice) I THOUGHT THIS MAN SOUNDED LIKE FUCKING BEN SCHWARTZ.

I AM SO DISRTUBED RN

HAVE I BEEN LYING TO MYSELF ALL THESE YEARS?

DOES CORAN HAVE AN AUSTRALIAN ACCENT OR IS THAT ANOTHER THING MY STUPID MEMORY MADE UP??????

WHAT THE HELL GUYS??????

ON A SIDE NOTE IF THERES EVER A REBOOT OF VOLTRON (AND AN ACTUAL GOOD ONE WITH BUDGET PLEASE) I HAVE A SHORT LIST OF REQUESTS

Make Lance be voiced by Ben Schwartz cause no way this mans has a (semi-deep) ish voice??

Klance is cannon

keep the rest of the cast from voltron EXCEPT FOR LANCE

DO NOT BY ANY MEANS KILL ALLURA. YOU WANT LANCE TO HAVE ALTEA CHEEK MARKS? MAKE IT HAPPEN BY THEIR CLOSE BOND IDFK

LANCE DOES NOT END UP AS A FUCKING FARMER WTF?

The whole gang wear dresses for AT LEAST once fight

we figure out why tf allura’s mom was always wearing pink like who was she mourning??

she-ra and the princesses of power reference

black paladin lance cause YOU CANNOT TELL ME HE ISNT PERFECT FOR THE JOB. SHIRO CAN BE MENTORING ON TEH SIDELINES OR SOME SHIT OR MAYBE THEY FIND A KICKASS SHIP THAT IS A GOOD ASSET IDK??

Cursing, cursing, CURSING. My girl pidge needs to say fuck at least once an episode. Make it at least pg-13 or something bro.

Yup thats it! (Will probably continue to update as I spontaneously gain new ideas)

Fr haven’t watched the show in a long time so i dont even remember the plot, so go wild! Make them go on new adventures! Do fun shit! Idk! I just can’t keep living off of fanart knowing that it will never become a reality!

(Lowkey if anyone knows how to pitch ideas to people who will make this shit happen pls lmk cause i need cannon klance like i need air to breathe. But just be forewarned i have like 50 cents to my name)

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Something that I think might be kind of funny is that I kind of think that you could possibly make a joke about Leo’s sleeplessness originally following him from another show

Randy: It’s like I keep living the same moment over and over and over and over and over and over, ahh!

Dream Howard: I know the feeling,

Randy: Ahh!

Dream Howard: Would you relax!?

Randy: No I can’t relax! I don’t know what’s real and what’s a dream! Is this a dream?

In the episode Ninjception of RC9GN Randy gets stuck in a dream loop of a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream while his dreams try to trick him into throwing one of the Chaos Pearls into the hole where the Sorcerer’s prison is

Randy: What the juice am I doing!?

After the episode first came out there were a few people in the fandom who wondered how Randy was going to be able to sleep properly after having his dreams manipulated which is kind of funny in kind of retrospect as Randy wouldn’t be the last Ben Schwartz character that the fandoms might think has trouble sleeping.

Leo: Hey buddy, trouble sleeping?

Donnie: What’s with the interrogation Leo!? Everything’s fine I said!

The are a few people in the Rise fandom that think Leo might have trouble sleeping as there are a few times where Leo can be seen up while his brothers have been asleep such as in the episode The Purple Jacket where Leo was up in the middle of the night or when Leo is shown to not really even try to sleep with the noise that Shelldon is making in the Lair in the episode Smart Lair.

The fact that two teen Ninja’s voiced by Ben Schwartz have been thought to have trouble sleeping is kind of funny since it is almost as if Randy’s possible sleeplessness followed him into another show.

[what-gs-watching]

"HOW GREAT IS THIS PARTY?!"

So here’s a thing: I’ve been in a bit of a rut in terms of what I’m watching. I’ve clearly been doing a ton of comfort binging - Supernatural, Good Omens, Murder She Wrote, etc. because I can’t get my brain to focus on anything, I’ve just been trying (and very much succeeding) at turning it off.

But the other day, my sister came to the rescue. She and I definitely have different opinions on what’s good (again, she got all the way through Good Omens, and was like “I never got a romantic vibe from them…” which caused the biggest eyeroll of my life, possibly). Sometimes, though, she comes through. Which led me to…

THE AFTERPARTY on Apple TV.

You’ve never heard of it, right? Because I definitely hadn’t. Which is crazy because I am 10000000% their core audience. Like, so hard. And it’s soooo good.

Wherein a group of friends attend an afterparty, and somebody ends up dead. 

This is one show I don’t wanna ruin, because I had absolutely no idea what would happen going into it and it was SO delightful, so I won’t get too detailed but there is a ton to love about this show.

One of which is the cast. 

Tiffany Haddish is the detective that’s attempting to solve the murder. And sometimes I feel like she's wayyyyy too much, but she is the perfect amount of something in this show. Honestly one of my favorite parts. She’s fucking hilarious. Her method is insane and perfect, it’s exactly the way I’d go about solving a murder, and it’s just enough of ridiculous.

And Ike Barinholtz! And the dude who plays Gabe on The Office. AND JACK WHITEHALL, aka freakin’ NEWT from Good Omens season 1. Who you will absolutely not recognize because he’s hot as hell. And Ken Jeong. And John Cho! And weirdo Dave Franco. 

ALSO, Ben Schwartz, aka JEAN RALPHIO from Parks and Rec! Jean Ralphio is one of my absolute favorite insane characters, he’s so obnoxious and silly and his character Yasper in this show is similar, but also really charming. I was immediately in love with him because I’m a super weirdo, and his episode in the first season was definitely a highlight. I promise you’re gonna be singing “Yeah, Sure, Whatever” for a couple of days.

And that’s another thing - each of the episodes have their own motifs, which is clever and fun. A romcom episode, a musical episode. An episode that seems like a thriller movie. A heist caper. There’s even one that’s a fucking Wes Anderson love letter, which made me laugh out loud. 

Each season is dedicated to a murder and both are self-contained, which I appreciate, with a few characters recurring. Maybe people more clever than me can predict who the murderer is, but I have to say, I love the surprise. And both of them were definitely a shock to me. I was basically live-tweeting at my sister, who’d also gotten my parents into it,  while I watched and made her promise ‘no spooooilies’, so all she would say was “none of us could guess who did it.” 

The point is, it’s just a dope show. Again, satisfying my blood lust, but in a hilarious way. It’s FUN. And I haven’t been excited to watch anything new in a while, and it helped in my effort to wake my brain up (if only minutely, it’s an effing process y’all). Apple TV apparently canceled it after the second season which is a huge miss on their part, but there are no cliffhangers and it’s just silly and wonderful. And it made me happy, which I appreciate. 

So yeah, go watch it. You know you’re subscribed to Apple TV even if you forgot about it after Ted Lasso ended. And then, maybe watch Ted Lasso again…

[bambiraptor9blog]

Crush 40--On Shadow the Hedgehog, Keanu Reeves, and Grief

(and maybe an impending mid-life crisis)

I will be 40 years old soon.

Somehow, I feel like I am 40 going on 14. My obsession with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has yet again reached a zenith with the release of two amazing things: Shadow Generations, an add-on to Sonic Generations focusing on my favorite character, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Movie 3, one of the highest grossing video game films of all time.

I can’t stop listening to Crush 40, the band that plays for the 3D Sonic games (and whose song, ‘Live and Learn,’ was featured in Sonic Movie 3), and revisiting that back catalogue of songs and game titles. I feel like part of me has been revived—reawakened—as I let Sonic music, movies and games guide me on my own healing journey.

In addition to this, I have developed a crush on Keanu Reeves. At 40.

I know what you’re thinking: Whoa. Wait. What? I know, I’m going too fast. It’s kind of my thing. Let me back up a bit to give you some additional context. Just try to keep up with this stream-of-consciousness blog post in the meantime. 😉

I also know what you’re thinking: Hey. That was a bit from Ben Schwartz, the charismatic voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. Stealing others’ lines to write is the wo-o-o-o-o-rst!

Well, yeah. I enjoy using echolalia to communicate how I’m feeling. Deal with it. *sunglasses emoji, CGI explosion in the background*

*blows ash off the laptop screen, wipes keyboard with sleeve, keeps writing*

Silliness aside…it’s been a rough past few years for me, personally. I’ve experienced a lot of loss in a myriad of forms. And while I have managed to do some incredible things—I’ve self-published a dinosaur fantasy novel, I’ve solo traveled to Australia, and I’ve got 15+ years of teaching experience under my belt—writing and creating in general have taken a back seat thanks to anxiety and depression…and grief.

I’ve been in and out of therapy for years, I’ve been managing my symptoms with medication, dietary changes, journaling, even walking places when I have the energy. I have my beloved gray cat Mochi too, with her insistent chirps, yowls and purrs to help me feel present and grounded and most importantly, loved. And my online/offline friends and family—you know who you are—are here for me, too.

Still…I keep yearning for more in my life. For fulfilling my creative destiny, as it were. And my heart is begging me to open up again.

Is it gonna be alright? Therein lies the question that plagues me night and day.

After I finished my novel, I found myself in a creative rut, in a desert of epic proportions with a looming storm on the horizon. It’s like I’m sitting there in my computer chair, the dust swirling around me, and the Word document page is there on my laptop screen, bright white, screaming, For God’s sake, write something! I think I took the wrong pill, I want to tell whoever my Morpheus is. I think I don’t like this freedom you’ve promised me. So I sit and stare at the screen…waiting…waiting for inspiration to strike like a lightning bolt before the flash flood.

And…nothing. No white rabbit to follow, no magic to chase, no one has come to my rescue except me. Sitting there, some nights unable to sleep well, some days I struggle to eat. And yet, probably due to sheer stubbornness of will, I move on. I keep going, I keep trying, I keep putting myself out there on forums, on Discord, on so many applications and message feeds. I walk away from the computer chair out of frustration, because once again—my energy has gone elsewhere instead of the place my heart so desperately wants to be. Wherever that is, I am uncertain. And this uncertainty eats at me worse than the wind and water erodes the coastline.

I go to the beach on weekends, I feel the wind and admire the ocean, only to smell and taste the ash from the beloved towns near Hollywood burning, and again, I think in song:

Is it gonna be alright?

Instead of writing, I’d turned to Sonic video games and rewatching the first two movies to cope. This is a lifelong habit of mine, ingrained in me since I was young. When my world has crumbled to chaos, the only certainty I can salvage is in a blue blur and his black and red nemesis. The blue rat is a source of comfort, familiarity, and attitude that I deeply enjoy. Reciting the lines from Sonic Adventure 2 since its debut in 2001, bouncing joyously to the music, reveling in the teenage me that I never fully appreciated nor understood—these things kept me going at low ebbs in the tides of life.

I was binging Sonic and Shadow YouTube videos late at night when I saw it: a comic by a Sonadow shipping artist. A very well made comic, sourced from tumblr. And when I saw Sonic and Shadow kiss passionately, something stirred within me. Something was not the same. I was tired of playing by the rules of society’s game…

Unfortunately, I could not defy gravity, but I could decide to start somewhere with my writing.

And on hearing Shadow’s new voice, I felt a similar thrill. So I started again. I decided to write fan fiction based on the Sonic movies, in particular emphasizing Shadow from Sonic Movie 3.

I admit I didn’t think much of Keanu Reeves in a crush kind of way decades prior. Oh yes, I knew of his work—there was no doubt there—I, like Sonic, loved him in Speed, and enjoyed teasing everyone I knew when I took the bus back and forth to school and work that it couldn’t go faster than 55 miles an hour, thus the reason why I was perpetually late (ADHD? Pfft, what’s that?).

I loved his voice in Dracula and in Shakespeare’s works, because I too have the dreaded SoCal accent—what some typecast as Valley Girl or Skater/Surfer Boi—and I thought he was rather handsome then as well. I remember his smile, too, that brilliant grin that made me smile back.

But my heart in my teen years was stolen by an Aussie knight in shining armor—Heath Ledger—so I let Ted from his Excellent Adventure days slip from my mind. Yeah, I know—bummer.

The Matrix was a film I barely remember seeing, probably because the body horror still makes me squeamish—even though comics and writings with such scenes don’t detest me in the slightest. But I do remember the trenchcoats and the sunglasses, how popular that look became. I rewatched the film recently, and I enjoyed it, although its messages have aligned very well with my internal quicksand of existentialism.

I couldn’t place why I liked the toy stuntman Duke Kaboom when I saw Toy Story 4, but I really liked his character, and then I found out Keanu voiced him—well, shoot.

And when I learned about his personal tragic backstory, with glimpses in the entertainment media channels—well, this is interesting.

Why is it that people who create my favorite things—musicians, voice actors, writers—all share a similar trajectory traumatically with me? I’m sure there’s some psychoanalytical thing here. Maybe an energy thing, like a vibe check. Who knows—but oof. The resonance intrigues me.

Because Keanu, a very private man, embraces grief in every role, in every creative thing he does. It’s an outlet for his pain, for his personal growth. And he works really hard, too, to bring that message of hope in chaos. I admire that deeply. Because unlike Keanu, I tend to run and hide from my own healing process, tend to dismiss the impact grief has on me right now. And I struggle with channeling my grief into my writing beyond journaling and therapy homework.

An even more interesting parallel, is that Keanu is a writer too. He recently published a comic series and then a follow up novel about an ageless man who becomes a weapon of war, with…get this…a thirty-something scientist WITH MY RL NAME that revives his memories and well…!

Spider-Man pointing meme is activated!

And so too was my storytelling.

Days before Sonic Movie 3 was released to theaters, I challenged myself. At first, I thought, ugh. No one is gonna want to read my goofy Sonadow story. So I slept on it. And then, I thought, what the hell. And I published the first chapter to Archive of Our Own.

Within hours, dozens of kudos notifications hit my inbox. I had set off a deluge in my personal creative desert. And my heart began to pitter patter in a way I hadn’t let myself feel in years.

Holy shit. What have I done?!

John Wick: "Yeah. I'm thinking I'm back!"

The more I wrote the story, the more I referenced the Sonic Movie 3 actor interviews after seeing the film in theaters twice. Is that research? I guess. I don’t know, I tend to think of it as, oh look! Another form of my obsessions taking place—neat!

And I admit I love the Shadow the Hedgehog video game from 2005. Yes I played it, yes it was fun. I mean, come on, I get to be the cool guy on a motorcycle—which in reality, my ex was into that stuff for a time, to try and impress me I guess? Never me haha—with a gun—which I will never wield, I’m more of a pacifist than that—and I get to sass Sonic into submission while I kill aliens?! I mean, sign me up!

Shadow as a character is also meant to be voiced by Keanu Reeves. His gruff demeanor, his anger, his fear, the volatility of his emotions—it’s there, in his character arc, as well as held nicely by Keanu’s inflection. Shadow is the quiet rebuke to Sonic’s effervescent chatter, the sobering steel of his gaze and voice merging to tone down Sonic’s wild, rebellious, fun nature. While Sonic represents young boyhood—all over-confidence, bragadocious sass—Shadow represents maturity when he wasn’t ready for it. Shadow is suspicious of the world, and given his upbringing, he has every right to be. When we experience loss at a young age—before we can talk and think for ourselves—it makes healing from depression an arduous mountain to ascend. Add to that later moments of trauma, and it’s like you lose a foothold somewhere on the way up, only to land on your ass in the pouring rain, wondering why in the hell you decided this was a good idea in the first place. Get outside and see Nature, everyone says. Feel the sunshine! Touch the grass! All that stuff. Oh yeah don’t forget yoga, meditation—that will keep the internal horrors at bay. At least, for a little while.

What really helps in healing is connection. Connection in parasocial ways is just as valid as connection in the real world, though it is rare the two shall meet. I’m honestly just happy to be creating again, and finding meaning in my stories and making connections through it too. The connections I’ve made through seeing the Sonic Movie 3 actors, in seeing the passion the director and writers brought, ignites a fire in me that I’ve denied for a really long time. And for that, I thank them. Always.

My wish for the year ahead is to continue forging new connections, to strengthen the ones that matter most, and for me to continue on in my journey of self-discovery through creativity. Because at my heart, at my core, I am an artist.

And in connecting to my younger self, in writing again and seeing the response to my work, I’ve decided yeah.

It’s gonna be alright.

[onearmedlegend]

Thanks @estrellami-1 for tagging me!! Here you go!

Last song: Dancing Through Life from Wicked! (The movie, with Jonathan Bailey. That song is so exciting!)

Favorite color: Red! Always a good color on everything!

Last book: Wicked by Gregory Maguire! Comparing notes and whatnot!

Last movie: ‘Happy Anniversary’ ft. Ben Schwartz. He’s very good at being serious, I loved it! On Netflix!

Last TV show: Started ‘The Big Bang Theory’ today. 😂 I’m loving it so far! Brings back memories of watching it with my family.

Sweet/savory/spicy: Sweet. I eat more savory stuff, but I give into sweet food a lot. Spicy food, I’ve tried more often these past couple of years.

Relationship status: Single!

Last Google: Play 2048. It’s such a simple but addicting game, guys. I can’t stop.

Looking forward to: Learning ASL this week. Always love learning more about American Sign Language. And catching up with my cousin tomorrow! She’s always fun to talk to.

People I’d like to get to know better: @migsneptune you do your thing bud!

[mushroom-punk]

the renfield movie review.

After getting rained on, having our first movie theater’s projector break, and having to drive to a different theater, I have finally watched Renfield (2023). ...and it was...fine? The movie’s overall tone is campy and fun, and it never takes itself seriously. It’s writing is horrible, god its so bad - the characters say exactly what they’re thinking at all times, and no emotional arc feels earned or fought for, there are no stakes (haha). But due to how silly the film is, this never makes it hard to watch. Nicholas Hoult truly shines in this movie and makes each scene with him engaging and fun. But god the writing. More thoughts bellow!

I think this movie’s biggest flex is its art direction, with over the top set pieces that create this nasty atmosphere that hangs over the whole film. Its like a grimy combination of The Lost Boys and The Phantom of the Opera. This is all complimented by the score. Without spoiling anything, there’s a moment where Dracula is monologuing and a sinister, orchestral rendition of Swan Lake plays, another reference to the 1931 movie it’s so heavily based off of. Although, it does get points of for the worst use of “na na na na” by MCR I’ve ever seen. It’s second best quality is certainly Nicholas Hoult, who took the shitty script he was given and really made something good with it. There’s a moment when Awkwafina’s character is on the phone, telling another character how fucked up Renfield is - who is sitting in the background cutely drinking some tea. Another detail I really appreciated about Hoult’s performance was the unexpected intensity with which he delivered some lines. On top of keeping Dwight Frye’s iconic laugh, it’s clear Hoult cares deeply for the source material and, if the script was better, I think he could have done a compelling book-accurate Renfield. NICHOLAS CAGE ITS NICK CAGE BABY HE WAS AWESOME ITS NICHOLAS CAGE! His portrayal of Dracula is fun and nasty as hell and might have fucked Ben Schwartz’s mom? The down side to having a movie that uses stylized hyper violence is that any threats of violence Dracula makes don’t really stick. Oh you’re gonna be violent? This is the violence movie! This isn’t an effective threat, you’re not scary! Contrasting this, the few moments where Dracula is simply talking to Renfield, acting like a real-world abuser and not the cartoon villain he is for most of the movie, are eerie and off-putting. Awkwafina’s there. Onto the bad. This film has no stakes, there are few things Renfield can’t slice apart or Awkwafina’s character can’t shoot, and due to the stated hyperviolence, Dracula never feels like a real threat to anyone except the main cast. The characters state what they feel, they experience something, and then state that they feel different in detail.  I’ve mentioned that it’s extremely frustrating that 2023′s Renfield is not written with psychosis in mind, and how this is made worse by its use of pop-psychology terms and the labeling of Dracula as a narcissist - a real condition that doesn’t make the people who have it inherently bad or abusive. This is still true, in fact the frequent references to the 1931 film, while well done, simply reminded me of what Hoult’s performance could have been. The poor writing is this film’s largest downfall, it betrays the heart Hoult brings to his role and its art department. ....however, none of the pop-psychology ever seems to really...do anything effective? Yes, Renfield literally calls Dracula a narcissist and they never really discredit it, but its also shown that calling him all these things and using snappy language doesn’t actually do anything. What does help Renfield the most is finding community and bonding with other people who have experienced abuse. What helps him is talking to people about it and realizing he isn’t alone, which I think is a pretty decent take. I’m going to watch it again when it’s uploaded to my pirating site of choice, but overall it felt more like a criticism of pop-psychology, rather than a celebration of it. Oh and also that the most effective thing you can do to get out of an abusive relationship is to beat the shit out of your abuser with your best friend. 6.5/10.

[chil-aglia]

Hmmm, 🤔 Oh I got it. How it would look like Gio met Ronin? What would be their first reaction to each?

(Also I was on Sonic the Hedgehog 3, yes the one with the Hedgehog voiced by Ben Schwartz, voice actor of Rise Leo. And it was EPIC🤩)

Ohhh I can’t wait to see the Sonic movie! I’m going with my friend soon. I’ve been avoiding spoilers like the plague—

Anyway, what would Gio and Ronin be like if they met? Oh boy…

Gio is already an anxious guy, so meeting Ronin will just double the anxiety he already has. At first he’ll be nice cause he has to get adjusted to seeing new faces but over time, I feel like he’ll become a bit like Raph in the terms of being an older brother. He’ll probably see Ronin as a brother of sorts and try to look out for him. Even if Ronin does scare him at times.

Ronin on the other hand will see Giovanni and is already thinking of ways to tease him and give him mini heart attacks by pretending to slip off a rooftop and whatnot. Ronin is just treating Gio as the same as he does with the other brothers and is just messing around with him. But Ronin would probably dial down the pranks and teasing when he starts knowing more about Gio and what he’s been through. Honestly Ronin would probably just get a lil protective over him, but tries to play it off.

So yeah, I think that’s what their interactions would be like in a summary.

[kaycode1999]

Hi KayCode, since that season one of earthspark is over and i don't know if we are ever going to get a second season for the show. I want to hear your thoughts of what would a earthspark season 2 will be like and how will the story go?

Actually there will be a second season. It’s already been renewed 😊

But as far as what I think will happen/ what I want to happen

1. More bots will be introduced (maybe from cybertron or ones that were already on earth) namely: Hot Rod, Ironhide, Ratchet, Drift, Cheetor, Cliffjumper, and Jazz (also Blurr voiced by Ben Schwartz)

2. Hopefully the Energon pollution by GHOST will be discussed

3. Agent Schloder will create his own organization that will actually do what GHOST was intended for (not what his sister corrupted it for) (maybe call it NEST?)

4. He and Alex will have a Bumblebee fanboy off and become best friends

5. The bots will try to use the space bridge GHOST made to contact/get to Cybertron

6. MORE OF BUMBLEBEE’S BACKSTORY PLEASE!!

7. Alex’s family visits from the Philippines and dote on the Terrans and Robby and Mo (and Bee)

8. Jeffery Combs as Ratchet

9. We find out the Allspark isn’t destroyed and made it to Cybertron ( Hot Rod discovered it and become a leader in Optimus’ absence and restored Cybertron)

10. CAN WE PLEASE HAVE ONE FREAKING SHOW WHERE CLIFFJUMPER IS INVOLVED SOMETIMES AND ISNT KILLED OFF HORRIBLY?! Please?!?

11. If they can’t get the space bridge to work I think it would be cool to have Hot Rod and a bunch of other bots show up in the lost light ship

12. Quintessons

13. Optimus actually uses the matrix of leadership

14. Although I think it’s unlikely I would really enjoy a multiverse ark where they go through the different iterations of transformers

That’s all I can think of right now but I’ll come back and add more if I think of anything

[nicoleanell]

Forgot to say it might actually be the snorting the centipede thing that won me over bc WHAT HAPPENS lol. I can’t imagine what the whole movies like and now I want to know lol

Okay since I just wrote that other long post and managed to bring it up AGAIN -

[SPOILERS FOR RENFIELD]

Ben Schwartz (a.k.a. Jean Ralphio from Parks and Recreation, bringing that exact energy) plays Teddy Lobo, the bratty son of a MILF Crime Boss & the secondary antagonist. (He might actually have more screentime than Dracula AND DESERVES EVERY MINUTE OF IT, but he's obviously not the big bad.)

He is a complete dumbass, a coward, a gun-wielding maniac, probably on cocaine at all times, and I can fix him. <3

This is a pretty big spoiler but not that hard to see coming, since he's basically set up as a foil/parallel to Renfield as soon as you see his relationship with his mom - he does end up aligning himself with Dracula and becoming a familiar by the third act, and he reveals this by making a terrible pun and then snorting a CGI centipede off his hand like it's a line of coke.

(See because Renfield eats bugs. That is important vampire lore that I'm glad wwdits did not adopt, but this movie took it in an "eating bugs gives him a temporary burst of superpowers" direction and apparently snorting them works too. CINEMA.)

[afreakingdork]

Ok. I had a conversation with a friend and it sparked a debate, and I wanted to see what your opinion was-

When you are writing, imagining, creating the aged up versions of the rise turtles, do they have the same voices in your mind? I know in the movie FLeo’s voice actor was the same (and nothing on his VA I just- listen if Leo is gonna be a blorbo of mine and I’m gonna get on the Leo train, I can’t imagine Ben’s voice nope can’t do it) sorry. Tangent.

Anyway, back to the main question, do their voices change for you? And If so (disregard if they don’t change for you) who is a closer voice claim for them?

🦝, I argued strongly for Nathan Fillian for grown up Leo but I insert that just as a dig against myself not to sway your opinion. It’s what started the whole debate and whether that really was an improvement on Ben Schwartz.

Disregard

/j

😂😂😂😂

No, but seriously, I've had this conversation before and I don't get it?

They're men. They're not putting on voices and some boys hit their voice for the rest of their lives that young! It's not uncommon at all! I know you don't mean it like that because I adore you Racoonie, but this conversation of their 'grown up voices' always cracks me up because it's such a dunk on Ben and Josh!

For me the voices are the same. I hear Ben and Ben speaks through me when I write Leo's lines. It's like that for all the guys.

Also to take it in a slightly different direction (I'm not trying to sway you btw, in fact I WANT YOU to dig your heels in and keep your opinion that the voices change! Different opins are the spice of life!), Ben has an incredibly specific speaking manner. It's so intrinsically him that I don't think anyone else could possibly. I'm trying to imagine Nathan Fillion (stand up my fearless racoon, NF is great. His cameos always make my heart sing) talking in that way and it wouldn't be the same. He's a great actor, but I don't think he could do it because it's just so intrinsic. I recently read something and, ugh I'm forgetting everything today, but someone said that if you use your real voice when voice acting then you're going to be harder to replace as opposed to doing 'a voice.'

but hey, this is a whole spice rack!

Thanks for sending this in. I love thinking about stuff like this! /gen

[heroictoonz]

Thoughts on the sonic movies?

SO FUCKING GOOD

I adore the Sonic Movies they do a REALLY good job and retelling a very well known story in a whole new way. I've never been the biggest on the new really weird need companies have to make everything live action, but I have to give the credit where it's due that the Sonic Movies LOOK BEAUTIFUL the animation is so good and like admittedly I never thought the OG Sonic design everyone hated actually looked that bad. He wasn't like overly cute or anything it was like alright ya that's IRL Sonic anyways time to go watch Satam for the millionth time. But I didn't like overly hate it the way other ppl seemed to. But the new one is AWESOME. The Sonic design we ended with looks AMAZING and also it was super cool for them to listen to the audience like that!

The movie original characters are also SO FUN. Obviously I know the inherent copaganda where it lay whether it was intentional or not but Tom RULES. Tom and Maddie are an ADORABLE couple and they are PARENTS to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. I love them so much.

Also! The Sega characters are done SO WELL. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were so so so perfect. Now I haven't seen the Knuckles series yet but I'm p sure it's out. So I'm only talking about the first two movies but MAN the characterization for these guys is fantastic. Also Eggman was so fun. Like they really made him such a fun villain for the movies.

Also the voice casting is AWESOME. Ben Schwartz is one of my top favorite VAs and I was SO excited when he was first announce for Sonic. And just as I suspected he BLEW IT OUT OF THE FUCKING PARK. Sonic is so perfect for his usual voice casting like Rise Leo, 2017 Dewey, and of course Randy Cunningham. Sonic, especially this version of Sonic, fits PERFECTLY. And of course Colleen O'Shaughnessey did amazing as always. Admittedly, I was kinda disappointed at first when she was announced as Tails. If only because everyone else was getting a new voice cast so then why not Tails? But I wasn't disappointed for long because, as usual, she fucking killed it. Now, admittedly, I had no fucking clue who Idris Elba is before Knuckles and still kinda don't (he is an actor! that's all I got ^^;) but MAN HE DID GREAT!!!! Also the reports that he started reading the fucking Knuckles comics to get in characters?! 1) Hot damn the dedication 2) I'm so sorry for his loss if he spent actual time reading the Ken Penders stuff

And of COURSE I can’t talk about actors without talking about Jim Carrey as fucking Eggman GOD what a choose. I’m convinced that when they were writing the script for Eggman that they wrote it a FOR Carrey I’m really not sure if anyone else coulda done all that. Maybe Tim Curry but also I think Tim Curry and Jack Black can do anything they want every and for always acting wise

I also LOVE the easter eggs from the movies I think thats one of my other favorite parts is how may Sonic details are in the movie and how much the ppl working on them clearly love the franchise so so much

I could probably say so much more but this is so long and I honestly haven't seen them in a hot second lol but MAN they are good fucking movies

[destiny-in-the-universe]

I finally watched the pilot for RC9GN and while I still prefer the final product- I also can’t help but wonder if like, OG Randy (Ben Schwartz) met pilot! Randy, just have the two universes interact! Also I might see about referencing the pilot in ITNV but woof- the pilot has such different vibes

[benschwartzcinematicuniverse]

The Big Video Game Post I Took Too Seriously

This one is going to be lengthy, with links stuff. I’ll put a break after the initial shoot!

New York Times

Photos by Nathan Bajar

Here we see Ben in his natural habitat:

If you ever hit up an arcade in the 80s / 90s this whole article hits different…

This shot is the clear winner:

Smoosh. Note to self: do a basketball post

Interview take aways

Ben

Likes

Gaming

“Playing video games by myself makes me happy,” he said.

Played at Nathan’s 🌭 as a kid

First system was a Super Nintendo

The descriptions are always my favorite part of Schwartz interviews. The article refers to him as “An urban Peter Pan, he specializes in portraying young men who can’t or won’t grow up” and “Grinning and pale, like a friendly ghost with good hair…” with his outfit being “a polka-dotted shirt buttoned to the neck and basketball-print socks under spotless white Nikes.”

They talked about all the characters he’s voiced, to which Ben concluded “nobody cares about my face.” Ah, if he only knew…

There’s so much good stuff here guys just read the article!

My favorite fun-fact about Ben Schwartz comes from this article: he wore a Super Nintendo controller over his gown when he graduated college

More video game content after the break if you’re truly into it 🎮

[tl;dr there’s so much fun stuff here, but I highly recommend the Nerdist video at the bottom]

Okay let’s go>>>

Some things never change

Here are Ben’s current favorite video games (circa 2023):

One of my favorite things to do when I’m sad is to watch Ben play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 because it was one of the earliest games I played and he always says things while he plays that you’d have to be a certain age to understand, haha. Here’s a couple links:

Ben obliterating a video game knowledge test (when he sees Leonardo and says “that’s me” he’s so)

Obligatory Game Grumps content

If you watch no other links, please watch this next one ⚠️ only if you want to fall madly in love with him though ⚠️

Okay I’m going to stop now because there’s just so much I could put here

This was fun

If you’re sad, pop back here whenever you need, I know I will

Happy Friday <3