#even more fake logos!!!!! all my ideas

[solas-backpack-mug]

[therabbitthatpostthings]

Okay let's talk about Reality in Welcome Home.

YES THIS IS JUST ME RAMBLING AGAIN BUT I SWEAR I HAVE A POINT TO MAKE. This is more of my collecting my thoughts and trying to make sense of what we have right now.

TLDR: The reality of Welcome Home is separated by the "fourth wall" that the characters are not aware of except for few.

So ever since the first update after the website launched I have been wondering about where the reality shift lies in Welcome Home. How can this be a haunted puppet show with no notable names for actors, production crew, puppeteers, etc. I was basically trying to figure out if this was Hello Puppets or My Friendly Neighbourhood kind of situation. Especially after Sally's Halloween Story, it came ever more clear that they are not fully aware of the fact that people are filming them.

This past update has somewhat solidified what I think is happening. The Welcome Home Puppet show exist in it's own version of reality literally separated by the fourth wall. The neighbours are completely unaware that they are puppets, being filmed, etc. The idea that a magic narrator can talk to them is normal (as it is in many children's cartoons, the Narrator from The Powerpuff Girls and The Storyteller from Into the Woods comes to mind). This really all comes together for me alongside the theory that some of the neighbours are self-aware. I'm not gonna argue who is and who isn't but I don believe the Neighbours featured in promotional material that directly speaks to the viewers or anything outside the show are aware.

(Note: It would be a big stretch to say the things like the TV and radio apprenticed were staged or faked by the Welcome Home Crew)

I think the ones most aware are Wally, Barnaby, Frank and Howdy. Everyone else is rather slowly becoming aware or going through the motions like Eddie. Wally and Barnaby are self-explanatory, they are closest to Home and the Narrator(s). Frank by the way of the Bug Theory and the fact that he "breaks script" to comfort Eddie. Howdy is because I cannot think of a way that he would participate in those commercials without knowing somehow. If Home really is antagonistic towards the Neighbours, I can believe they would act in line. Also during Eddie's panic attack, he doesn't move ever after expresses him desire to leave, because he can't move. He's a puppet. It's worth noting that everyone else has a puppeteer accept Wally and Home. Wally has a handler and Home's eyes are the only thing on it that can move via a crank on the side of it not showing to the camera.

I believe the cartoon reality is the one that the puppets see and why in all of Wally's answer videos we see it in IRL footage. He is not blind to what the show is doing. Eddie's panic attack shows up that what they see and we see are very different. This isn't like a foolproof way of thinking because it leaves a lot of holes but most of those holes have to do with things I believe will be answered later. Like:

What exactly is Home and the power Home has over the Neighbours?

Why did the show shut down?

The benefactor sending the packages

Why is Wally the one that remains? Where are the others?

Why were we able to see what Eddie and Wally sees outside of the reality they exist in?

etc.

Thats last point is still up in the air for me because that easier could of been a storyteller point but the fact that Welcome Home narrator and logo pops up at the end of the Homewarming Special alludes that everything Eddie went through we saw. Or at least it was filmed and probably cut out of the official broadcast.

I don't have any answers. What we do know now is that the show shut down, someone is still present and sending packages to the WHRP and Playfellow. This mysterious black goop has the power to influence those in contact with it, even causing loss of time. The WHRP went through an investigation internally and in the website. W is a part of the website and actively doing their own investigation after "supposedly" making contact with Wally in the post-halloween/pre-March 9th update (which you can see btw on the Wayback Machine). Wally, regardless if he is the one sending the packages, is using them to communicate. He wants someone to find him because he KNOWS we are watching and we are looking for him.

Personally I believe Home or whatever entity is controlling it, is sending the packages and trying to control others. I think Wally is a by product of all this and is trying to find his way out by any means necessary. I will never let my "Wally did nothing wrong" propaganda go.

This all btw does nothing to answer the mystery on the website. I have no idea how this reality breaking allowed Wally yo infiltrate the website. The fact that his eyes are no longer visible on the page means he's not here watching us (for now). Also the "You" character description is missing. As far as the Bug theory goes, I still believe that is Frank trying to give us more insight on what happened/happening. Same goes for W, who we know is human since they described the same events of the phone ringing and hearing Wally that the curator did. I don't believe this is Wally vs the Neighbours. I think this is the neighbours being physically or metaphorically trapped while not able to reach Wally they can reach this website and are doing the same as Wally, reaching out to us. I still believe Home/Entity has some control over them and is connected to who is sending the packages and infecting the WHRP and Playfellow. W is also apart of WHRP but has taken notice to everything going around and is choosing to document their findings since the WHRP is starting to run a tighter ship after the last slip up of W (probably) contacting Wally.

Hopefully this made sense to you guys...

[majosullivan]

Since it has been on my mind lately and I’m in the mood to ramble, I present to you: why I believe Lenore’s spectre is going to be a Phoenix/Phoenix themed.

Before I go more deeply into this, I want to cover the most agreed upon detail of Lenore’s possible spectre: Lenore having wings. This really seems like a slam dunk at this point. Lenore so far has had a clear association with birds, specifically ravens; with one of the Poe works she is based on being The Raven, her talking to and seeking out the Raven in Nevermore, the cane we see her using in her and Annabel’s memories having a Raven skull as the handle and her family crest having a pair of black wings a part of its design.

Additionally, there’s also the detail of Nevermore’s logo. Nevermore’s logo is comprised of a beating heart and a pair of black wings. Since Annabel’s spectre has a heart shaped hole in her chest, Lenore’s spectre having wings would make up the rest of the logo, with the logo symbolising our pair of deuteragonists.

Furthermore, there is also the scene with Lenore and The Raven, with him mockingly asking Lenore if she has a pair of wings under her blazer after she tries to stop him from leaving in episode 35.

Honestly, this panel might as well have a massive sign titled ‘FORESHADOWING’ in blinking lights attached to it when we take into account everything that we’ve pointed out. So, while it seems very likely that Lenore will have wings, why do I think she will be a phoenix specifically? With her connections to ravens, surely it make more sense for her to be a raven? Well, this is because of one word: rebirth.

Just to have a quick explanation for the basis, a phoenix is an immortal bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Being associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again. Throughout the comic, there has been a lot of links to Lenore and the ideas of rebirth. Specifically, there are three examples where Lenore has gone through a death of some form, before being reborn/brought back to life in some form.

The first time we see this after the accident with the tree. With the death of Theo, who was seemingly the only person in Lenore’s life at the time who genuinely cared about her, and being locked away in the attic for years after being deemed as never being able to recover from her injuries, along with her parents no longer seeing her as any respectable use since they wouldn’t be able to marry her off, we see Lenore go through her first ‘death’. Forced to live a lifeless existence hidden away in shame, with her ripping away the wallpaper being the only real change that occurred during her time in the attic. All of this leads into first time Lenore is reborn/brought back to life when she first meets Annabel, which allowed her to be freed from the attic and form a genuine connection with someone in years. Lenore even says so herself, describing Annabel as the one who brought her back to life long before she died.

The second time, and the one that arguably has the most obvious link to the ideas of Phoenixs, is when Lenore faked her death to go after Annabel. Here we see her in the process of disguising herself as a man, before finishing her packing and setting the house on fire so everyone will assume she died in the fire and she can assume her new identity without suspicion. Here, I don’t think I have to go too in-depth to point how through her actions, Lenore arose from the ashes of the house fire as Leo Vandernacht, leaving her life as the disgraced daughter of the Vandernachts to burn away in the house fire, just like a Phoenix arising from the ashes of its predecessor (side note quickly but Lenore I swear to fucking god you better actually have a cousin named Leo or I’m coming through the screen to shake you like a maraca). The parallels here are pretty clean cut.

Finally, we have her actual death and her appearing at Nevermore. While we don’t know the full details behind Lenore’s and Annabel’s deaths, whatever they are only have the possibility to strengthen the links to rebirth that have been clearly shown from the start. The whole conflict in Nevermore is the competition for a new life. With Lenore’s death and her arrival to Nevermore placing her in a competition for a second chance at life, she has once again been placed into a position similar to the cycle of a Phoenix, with this time following closer to legends where a Phoenix simply dies and decomposes before being born again. Additionally, Annabel’s complete faith in Lenore can also fed into this. We see in episode 41, how no matter what awaits them, no matter challenges they have to overcome, Annabel has absolute faith that Lenore will find a way to get them out of Nevermore. Not herself or any complex plan she has, Lenore is the one who will ultimately be the key to their escape. Lenore is the key to their second chance at life, to their rebirth.

Speaking of Annabel, the way she describes Lenore in episode 66 can add onto this line of reasoning. During the episode, we see Annabel describe Lenore as ‘ash the moment we met’, before going on to talk about how all madwoman die at least twice. First off, describing Lenore as ash already brings her back to the idea of being a Phoenix, with Pheonix rising from the dead through the ashes of predecessor. Secondly, the idea of all madwomen dying at least twice in relation to Lenore is yet another link to the concept of a Phoenix, with them going through multiple deaths in their cycle of rebirth.

To focus on some of the smaller details, the colours associated with Lenore can also strengthen the idea of Lenore’s spectre being Phoenix themed as well. As we all know well at this point, in very Romeo and Juliet fashion, Annabel and Lenore have clear colours associated to them, with Annabel often dressing in blue, in addition to other cold colours, while Lenore often dresses in reds, in addition to other warm colours. Considering this and Lenore’s already clear association to fire, like Lenore’s spectre having wings, it seems likely that Lenore’s spectre will also have fire powers. Now, what is something that has wings and it linked to fires? That’s right, a Phoenix. This small point can be strengthen by what we know about Annabel’s spectre. Annabel’s spectre is freezing to the touch, which matches up with the colours associated to her. Since White Raven’s spectres are definitely going to parallel each other, this detail increases the possibility of Lenore’s spectre having fire based abilities, and as a result, increases the possibility of Lenore being a Phoenix.

While there are still loads of other ideas about what Lenore’s spectre will be going around, to me at least, Lenore’s spectre being at least Phoenix themed is definitely the strongest theory I’ve seen so far. If anyone else has any other ideas about what Lenore’s spectre will be, or if you have any other evidence supporting the idea that Lenore will be Phoenix themed, I would love to hear it!

[all-pacas]

the FANFIC DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY: no mystery left

(because this is the one i was thinking about. bc reddit.)

OK, no idea how to do these things. Part of me is really tempted to pretend this is an actual director's commentary, you know, make a fake script, like here I am in a booth and we're doing a little watch along together. Right: Hi, I'm Helen. (We're doing the RP, ya'll)

So this was the first story I wrote for House. I think I did it in about two hours; most of it in one burst and then finishing it up. I have the bad habit of doing editing after posting, I'll just sit and re-read it until I spot errors or wording issues.

no mystery left alpacas

I kind of regret the title of this fanfic. It's called after a lyric from Portions for Foxes, which is kind of just my general Chase Soundtrack Song, which is why I chose it — except I kind of feel like I could have used it on something else, or picked something more fitting. But I don't hate the title either. I can never think of proper titles, I'm always stealing from songs. I've been trying to use as many Portions for Foxes lyrics as possible in my House fanfics.

"Who," House says grandly as Cuddy approaches, "ever heard of a diagnostics fellowship?" He's sitting in the hall by the elevators, ready to pounce. "Who ever heard of a diagnostics department?" she retorts distractedly. She slows. "You're hiring a fellow. Maybe even two, if you can find that many people who can stand you. This is a teaching hospital." House doesn't retort. She looks at him suspiciously and he twists his expression as if to suggest he has no idea what she's suspicious about. "Hire a fellow," she repeats. "That Treiber kid -"

This is a continuity error!! House actually did have fellows before Chase. This exchange really bothers me, but I've let it stand. I guess my excuse is that neither House or Cuddy say Chase will be your first fellow; House is just at a moment where he doesn't have any (also a continuity error, btw, Chase mentions meeting one in All In).

I… hadn't actually completed my watch of the show when I started this fanfic, which is where the error crept in. You'd think referencing S8-only Trier would imply I'd at least watched most of it, but no. I skipped ahead. I watched it coz the summary implied Chase Backstory.

He watches as she tries to enter before the doors close. A blond kid sticks out his arm to block them, flashes a thousand perfectly white teeth at her when she says thanks. Interesting.

I never have House refer to Chase by name in the story. This is meant to be the first time House sees (or hears of) him, and what he sees is Chase on a Charm Offensive towards Cuddy. Enough to pique his curiosity.

"I don't trust nurses." House keeps staring over Wilson's shoulder. The papers are too far away to read, but he can just make out the logo on the cover sheet. "Who does immigration paperwork in a hospital?" he asks.

This is still meant to be an accidental run-in. This is also shoddy immigration law, although I reference it in another fanfic too: as much as I like the idea Chase leveraged a 3 month holiday visa into a work visa, I'm pretty sure there is no way the department of immigration would let him. But I like how careless and sort of arrogant it seems. (very Rich Kid) Chase just assumes it'll all work out for him.

House flips a page in the rheumatology textbook he's examining. Trier tries not to fidget. "Classic power play," he blurts. "Read a book to show how little you care." House glances up.

Now House is actively researching Chase, probably because he also knows he's playing it fast and loose with his visa, and by implication is trying real hard to get a job by sucking up to Cuddy. I wish we'd had Trier more. I love everything about him. I love the idea that Chase just has a Nemesis in pathology. Like that one episode where he has to biopsy a dead baby? So funny if you imagine Trier is just off-camera and pissed Chase is in his department.

You're Dr. Thomas, aren't you?" the kid asks as the elevator starts to move. "Oh - I'm not a patient, don't worry." He smiles, sticks out his hand. "I'm interviewing for the surgical residency. Dr. Cuddy spoke highly of you. Rob Chase. Fantastic to meet like this - we're due to interview next week?" "Dr. Chase. Of course." Thomas clearly has no idea who the kid is but shakes his hand. The elevator dings. "Nice to meet you," the kid says, oozing charm, as Thomas exits. "Nice trick, Doogie," House says when the doors close. The kid jumps, noticing him for the first time. "Repetitive, though. Do you just hang out around the elevators waiting for your future bosses to climb aboard?"

I went back and forth on how Chase would introduce himself. We know his sister, at least, calls him Robbie, and even though the show itself is pretty consistent on calling him Robert, boy, can we agree that doesn't suit him? In my head, he started using his full name to "sound professional," but before House usually called himself Robbie or Rob. So he's not quite polished yet.

House is making a power play here, obviously. He's figured out Chase's game, and inserting himself into it just to let Chase know he's been caught: Chase is trying to "accidentally" charm his way into being hired. Also, something about him asking if Chase waits for his future bosses on elevators, House being on an elevator…

He turns on the kid, who stops short, uncertain. "Say," House asks, mock innocent. "Is my photo on the website?" The kid recites obediently: "You're Dr. House. Head of diagnostics. Double specialty in -"

Chase did research House, but didn't think he was a useful person to stalk. Trying to imply here that Chase really is being quite cynical and calculating about this — he isn't just targeting the specific folks he needs to hire him, he looked at every possibility and then chose who to seduce.

At House's office, he hesitates until House waves him inside. "The way I see it, Dr. Chase's only son could get a job in any hospital down undah he wanted, no matter how mediocre his grades."

Honestly, biggest argument against Chase being a lazy nepobaby, imo. He seriously could have done this in universe. Instead he moved across the world. This is one of the reasons I am so Interested in this idiot: he's so unambitious but he does wild things like this.

"Surgery and intensive care," he says. He turns to the counter behind him, picks up the resume he'd had Wilson procure. "You must love saving lives." "I do," he says, eyeing the resume and the copy of his father's book House had strategically placed under the manilla folder. "How sweet." "I like them when they're dying," the kid says, leaning forward. "When you have a bleed and ten seconds to find it. When they crash and you don't know why and you have less than a minute to fix the problem." "And that's why you're a perfect candidate for my fellowship?" House mocks. "You tell me. You're courting me, aren't you?" "Sudden attitude shift. Trying to appeal to the nearest authority figure by imitating his grizzled charm?"

I don't love this exchange. I think it's pretty decent banter, it flows nicely, but I do think Chase is too aggressive, even if I handwaved it with him doing in intentionally, trying to match House's energy. House revealing he's been tracking Chase's job hunt, and showing off Rowan's book, proves that he's interested in Chase and has been paying attention. So Chase notices this, and he's trying to imitate House.

I don't think (she says, having written it) that Chase's explanation for his specialties is necessarily true here. Or not the whole truth. He's just trying to say what he thinks House wants to hear. From his perspective, this dude he hasn't seen before just walked up to him and told him "I know everything about you, sit in my office, let's look at your resume." House mentioned Chase's immigration winging-it, that he's hoping to charm his way into a job. So Chase in turn is making his specialty sound sort of reckless and seat of his pants, too.

From House's perspective, he's seen this kid stroll into the hospital and attempt to manipulate

He skims the kid's file again. Looks up at him over the top of the folder, then tosses it down. "Have your dad give me a call." "What?" he blinks. "You want the job, I'd like a character reference." "I have references." "Yeah, but I'm such a fan of daddy. Shouldn't be a problem. Not like you fled England rather than live in his shadow or anything." "Australia." House waits. Finally the kid stands up. He offers his hand to House to shake. He doesn't take it. Rowan Chase calls the next morning.

This is the reason both the story and this commentary exists. It's a power play. House wants Chase to demean himself and do something he doesn't want to in order to prove he wants the job. Chase, meanwhile, realizes that House is pursuing him. So the real question is "will you do something you don't want to do because I asked you?" House has seen Chase is manipulative, and observant, but is he willing to do this?

Chase, meanwhile, knows House is interested in him and pursuing him. He doesn't know how much House has been tracking him, but clearly House wants him. This is enough to get Chase, naturally, to abandon his other plans to charm his way into a job: he might be able to get Thomas to hire him, but House is taking the initiative and showing an interest, which makes him way more valuable. (ie: daddy issues. It's always daddy issues.)

"I want to hire Bobby," House says, cornering Cuddy Friday morning.

[…]

"One's black and the other has milk and sugar. Did - did my father --" He blinks, losing his confidence. House takes the black coffee. Chase throws the other cup in the trash.

House calls him Bobby to mock him, obviously, but it's not until the last paragraph of the story the narration (and so, House) thinks of Chase by name. Now that Chase is in Diagnostics, he Exists.

Further useless headcanon director's notes:

I think Chase introduced himself as Robbie exactly once in New Jersey, and House heard, and it was also the last time he ever used that name.

For some reason, I feel like Chase drinks coffee black with sugar. So neither of those cups were ever going to be from him. He's blatantly sucking up here.

Finally, in an earlier scene:

"Do you even have an interview with Thomas, or were you planning on kissing his ass until you got one?" "I'll have it by the end of the week," the kid says defiantly. House smirks.

And in the last scene:

He passes her the manila folder. Cuddy skims it and looks disapproving. "Dr. Chase is the new surgical resident. Dr. Thomas specifically asked --"

I just liked this bit. Chase did end up getting the other job, he just picked the boss who wanted him over the one who didn't. From Dr. Thomas's brief appearance in S6, he seems to have Issues with Chase and Chase as an extension of House. I think it makes sense on its own, but it makes more sense with this context. He offers the kid a job, the kid rejects the job, four years later Cuddy makes Thomas hire him again, and Chase still pays more attention to House?? Lowkey Chase has as many enemies in the hospital as House and I think that's great.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

thank you + ep 88

I'm so sorry for freaking out...

I've been trying to get a handle on my emotions, but I feel like I'm in a downward spiral a lot of the time - I come from DeviantArt and Discord where things have been rough to say the least, and it gives me a LOT of paranoia for other sites. I had to leave the Murdle Discord server after I was scolded for being too affectionate to my murdlers. That as well as my psychiatrist not giving me a straight answer on whether I have autism (my god what do I have why will no one tell me) really takes a number on my ability to talk to people and create art

I am essentially void of human companionship aside from talking to a couple people through Discord (mostly raven) and Fletch (who is my blood-related sister so it's a little different lol) and it's made me crazy lmao. All I ever want is to be loved no matter how cheesy it sounds <3

Your words genuinely touched my soul and helped me to calm down, and I love you all so much <3

awkwardly transitioning into usual episode...

Background Marengo is designed by Fletchinderat based on my idea of a faceless mannequin, she designed the dress pattern though. I love her!

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico can finally walk straight again. He heads to the next stage for filming. It looks like Irratino’s mansion. It looks like… Irratino’s mansion…

There’s a dumb-looking fake Irratino standing there - a lifeless robot. It has this uncanny smile. It’s not Irratino’s smile. Logico KNOWS Irratino’s smile.

The fake 50-car garage, the fake hair-textured grass, the fake cauldron-sized bed… it’s all FAKE. Just like everything that Irratino gave him… Logico’s tears flood as he remembers the past two season finales. He can scarcely tell which was worse. He sees robots of the Duke, and Brownstone, and Azure, and Obsidian…? The Obsidian robot looks a LITTLE too realistic, and it makes him uncomfortable. He hasn't thought about Obsidian since the first season!

FAUX OBSIDIAN: Welcome back to the game, Deductive.

With one more 180 degree spin, the Irratino robot is dead flat. Just like he pretended to be on the island. The robots are killing other robots… this is ridiculous. 

FAUX DUKE: I want to rob a grave. FAUX AZURE: I love hypnosis. FAUX BROWNSTONE: In the name of God, small spaces remind me of my monastery.

You know, normal things they would say. Logico gets a phone ring and IMMEDIATELY flips his mood.

IRRATINO: SQUEEEEEE!! The robot playing me died?? Was it handsome?? LOGICO: No. It couldn’t be. IRRATINO: AAHHAHAWW LOGICO. Hehe. So what’s been going on with you? LOGICO: Oh, just another DUMB MYSTERY! There’s more of these creepy robots and there’s even one of Obsidian, if you can believe it. IRRATINO: Wow, I thought Midnight flat-out said that they weren’t gonna have her in that movie at all! :0 LOGICO: …what

Gico runs over and finds the Obsidian twirling a stick. 

FAUX OBSIDIAN: Imagine if he really DID die when you met him.  LOGICO: Jesus Christ, these… wait a second… ohhhhhh… you’re the real Dame Obsidian aren’t you!  OBSIDIAN: Of course, Logico. I thought you figured that out already. Have you figured out the significance of THIS yet? 

She points to the Midnight Prop Shop’s MPS logo. Logi squints. That CAN’T just stand for Midnight Prop Shop. Does it stand for My… Painful… Scream?? No… that’s-

Oh, Obsidian is gone. Shocker.

The end!

I apologize again </3

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers

[bzhitstruth]

Mystical musical moment

On October 10, YBO released a video vlog on Weibo, where DD walks through Paris at night. The BGM that was used in the video is Franz Gordon “Theme for Autumn”, this music was played in the Thai BL drama “Cupid’s Last Wish”, in particular, in the episode where the two main characters were talking in a cave - episode 8, approximately 13:30.

This in itself is very wonderful that DD used such music, but the main intrigue lies elsewhere.

Everything that is written here is my invention, fake, nonsense. I'm kidding.🤡

As we all know, GG used the music of JVKE Golden Hour in his vlog about Paris and Rome, which he posted on Weibo in March. In the part of the vlog where this song is played, there is an episode where GG waves his arms in front of the Eiffel Tower.

One of the Chinese turtles came up with the idea to put Golden Hour on DD's video (here is the Weibo post). An amazing thing was discovered - DD’s hand wave perfectly coincided with the same moment of music as GG’s. In addition, several more frame changes coincided with changes in musical phrases. And the most interesting thing is that DD’s vlog (before the final screensaver with the logo) lasts exactly as long as the first verse of the song. Listen for yourself:

Golden Hour suits the DD's vlog no worse than the original version, and in my opinion, even better. It feels like this video was made specifically for this song, but then published with different music.

Later, another wonderful thing became clear - it turns out that GG used the second verse of the song in his vlog, because after the main theme he has a final melody. And it turns out that in their two vlogs the song was heard in full. You can watch the combined parts of the DD's and GG's video here.

I'm not very good at musical analysis, I don't know if this is a real coincidence or if it was intended that way from the beginning, but it shocked me. It is at a certain moment that both hand waves coincide, can this be accidental? In DD's original video, this hand wave is not very clear; someone even joked that DD was catching a taxi to go to the hotel. But when combined with Golden Hour, it takes on meaning and mood. And the length of the video is equal to the length of the verse!

This is very subjective, but that doesn't make it any less intriguing. I would actually be very surprised if this wasn't intentional.

💚❤️.

[glitchy-across-aus]

Vanished

Tyler one shot, 686 words

You ever get a flashback of some random argument that never happened but you feel like it did? Sorry, that's probably hella specific but you know what I mean. Anyways, I was digging through some of my stuff when I found this weird ass script, with a picture of a TV wearing a bow tie on it. Thinking about it now, I probably should've told someone about it, 3 or 4 maybe. But I didn't. Mainly because I just didn't think it was important. Its not like it had a name on it or anything, just a picture. Anyways, I opened it and all it had was a script. Well, not a script exactly, more like a part of a story? I don't know, but this is what it said:

"That’s exactly it! I can’t deal with this boring game anymore. I just want to break out of this stuffy studio where everything feels like it’s on some weird script. It’s driving me crazy! I’m so ready to get outside and see what the real world is like—breathe real air, you know? I want to hang out at a real mall, surrounded by actual people, not just actors pretending. I want to feel real grass under my feet, touch something that isn’t fake. I’m so tired of this endless show, Evelyn. Is it too much to ask to know what life is like without cameras always watching? Is it wrong to want to experience true freedom and all the crazy, unpredictable stuff out there? I can’t keep pretending this is okay. I need more! Can’t you see that?" 

Evelyn stood there, listening to Tyler's ranting about wanting to leave for what seemed like the millionth time. "Seriously? You think you’re the only one stuck here? Everyone feels trapped sometimes. This is how it is—this is what we signed up for. You can't just bail because it’s getting boring. What do you expect, a fairy tale? The real world is messy and complicated, and you’d miss this once it’s gone. You think walking in a mall is gonna solve everything? Newsflash: it won’t. You’re just chasing a fantasy, and it’s honestly exhausting to hear you whine about it. We all want more, but this is our reality right now. Just deal with it, okay?" Tyler snapped back. "No, Eve, I'm sick of it. You're the only one who wants to stay here. The only one who wants to continue this stupid "stardom". I don't care how many stars the boss gets, I'm sick of being his pawn. Sick and tired of it, Eve. And I'm sure L!1L|4n is too. She just won't say anything because she's scared of your reaction."

Evelyn's eye twitched at that. How dare she use L!1L|4n's name like that, like she actually cared. She watched as Tyler walked off, too exhausted to argue back with the stubborn girl. Evelyn had more important things to worry about, such as finding out how to get the lead role in the next production they were making. She'd get over it soon enough. And if she didn't, well… 

She had some tricks up her sleeve. 

Reading it again, I couldn't help but get this weird sense of deja vu, like I knew what this argument was about. Of course, I had no idea who Evelyn was, or what that other name is, but I saw my name perfectly clear. Did someone make this up? Or was this another memory that seemed to vanish completely from my mind? It seemed like a lot of my old memories were doing that. Just appearing in my brain, then vanishing as soon as I try to get a grip on them. Starting to wonder what the point is, you know? I mean, why even try to remember if they're just gonna disappear? Still, I can't help but wonder about that script/story thing. The logo looks familiar too. I'm sure as soon as I try to remember, the memory of where it belongs is gonna disappear. Vanish.

Just like whoever I was before the Mushroom Kingdom.

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episodes 4-25 and 4-26: The Risk and Strikeback Two-Parter

Alright, we are finally back. Also is this really a two-parter? Why haven't I heard anyone talk about Risk, anyways?

Oh, and one more thing: I've been calling these reviews but really they're just my live reactions as I watch the series. But 'Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews' rolls off the tongue far better than 'Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Live Reactions.'

Wait, was Luka always in the title sequence?

I mean, it'd be good for Chat Noir to know as a failsafe.

Wait, does Rena Furtive know?

So fun fact, that "Adrien No" scene from a future episode blew up on Twitter and I saw it get reposted to two of the Discords I'm in. In one of them they called Gabriel Agreste G-Man and that fucked me up. Just call him Poopmoth or Hawkmoth or something.

Weird ahh looking teeth

Wait, is Froggy's dad Tom Kenny or am I just hearing things?

No wait, that's the same VA as Poopmoth.

Holy crap! AOE attack! There's potential for that Wild West akuma idea I had!

Bro sees his father so little that even breakfast with him is a rare commodity

Shirt

Has this kid been up all night? I guess he has been taking risks...

Damn Adrien's sick of everyone's shit now

Wait, is Gabriel affected by Risk as well?

And it's the three girls I think genuinely adore and believe Lila.

Lila you bitch. Just let Marinette announce her love to Adrien. You're going to get aeons of time to spend with her anyways.

Oh right. Chloe's teaming up with Lila.

Both sides have a point, but really? Alya, you helped Marinette steal Adrien's phone just to delete an embarrassing message.

Is it just me or does this episode feel weirdly hard to watch?

"Oh Nathalie, I threw up at school because of dad's shitty-ass pancakes." "Get out my damn room!" "You've always been a whiny little bitch."

But it seems like Felix is actually starting to help Adrien now. Good!

The safe crackerr

Good. Now that you have Poopmoth's Miraculi, take them to the cops as evidence that Gabriel Agreste is Poopmoth.

Oh right. Nathalie has her walker things.

Knights don't typically convince dragons in these kinds of stories. At most they stand around idly and evade all the dragon's attacks until the dragon gets tired and gives in.

I'm tired of the word "Risk" at this point. This is too on-the-nose for themes. At least Simpleman was fun.

Oh god Kagami's character is getting poisoned already

Oh god Risk is just Simpleman but worse the IQ poisoning is real

Wait, Lila isn't disguising herself around her other mother? Or did she fake her death around the first mother?

Oh. They were fakes. Back to the "Yoink Gabriel Agreste" plan.

Kaiju

This has been hell so far to watch. Stop saying the word of the day without everyone screaming after it. On to part 2.

Well, Alya knows now. And Luka.

That fucking LEITMOTIF!!!

Wait, this is just reused from last episode!

THEY'RE STILL SAYING THE FUCKING WORD! I AM SO SICK.

Shouldn't Ladybug realize that kid has green skin?

And didn't anyone realize the frog marks on the backs of their necks?

Reused footage

Oh. Is Strikeback a Pokemon?

Nino's got a loose tongue. Noted.

FINALLY!

Oh. The sky's red now.

Well, the shitshow's over, now for Felix to ruin everything.

The traitor. Is he really sorry?

Oh god she's genuinely freaking out

And right in her time of need. Thank you, Chat Noir. Everyone say "Thank you, Chat Noir" in the reblogs/replies as well.

Alright, the ending was actually fine since I knew what was happening. Cathartic too. But otherwise these episodes were like Peewee's Playhouse without any good qualities. Up next is season 5. Play us off, Peewee's Playhouse ending with Peewee Pictures closing logo.

[w1f1n1ghtm4r3]

followup fun facts about together, to that promised aquarium

this is gonna be just kinda a disorganized post of random things so uh. dont mind that.

the event title is actually a double reference ^^ its both a callback to 1dt with 1c promising to find time to do things as friends despite getting busier (even if theres no ichika this time), and also a reference to harusakis first kizuna!

colopale you still havent given us that aquarium they said theyd go to. theres a reason i had to do it myself. the fact that theres not an aquarium event in general is a crime tbh i know theres some romantic connotations with a pair going to an aquarium but theres very easy solutions to avoiding that? sending a group of 3+ characters together, having them run into other characters while there, inviting someone else along (even if they cant go, it helps make it feel more like a friend thing i think). i did a bit of the latter two, as you mightve noticed! in general though its just SUCH an obviously fun event theme i cant beleive we havent had one yet

while i am a known harusaki shipper, i kept the story pretty light on the stuff that could be read as explicitly shippy, since when im trying to make fake events, i like to think about how itd work in canon, which means keeping it low on explicit ship content. plenty of stuff that could be taken as ship food (as id like it to be!) but nothing that would alienate non shippers from enjoying the story too.

i actually didnt write shizukasas presence as intended for ship content at all though, but im definitely okay with people taking it that way lol they can be on a date too if you want them to be. my plan with them was simply theyre childhood friends too but dont get to spend time together that often anymore -> their schedules line up with a free day and tsukasa heard about the aquarium from saki, decides to invite shizuku to go there with him as a part of hanging out together -> surprise encounter with harusaki!

also both of them were scoring quite high on the form when i decided to lock in the lineup (tsukasa was absolutely sweeping the 2* category, and while shizuku wasnt winning anything, she was a pretty popular choice) and theyre very easy to work into a story together and also into a story that is focused on harusaki (╯▽╰ ) the benefits of siblings and unitmates

(tsukasa 2* poll sweep at the time of me solidifying my lineup)

the event and gacha names actually both came to me one night while i was about to fall asleep. struck by inspiration so strong i had to grab my phone and write them down in my notes app. and they actually worked very well! also heres the transparents of the logos if you want them i guess

the card/skill/costume names also mostly came to me in similar ways, in the last couple nights before i finished everything. i think only saki, luka, and shizukus skills didnt come to me that way.

while the rui fish in tsukasa card might be obvious, theres actually more animals referencing other characters too! theres a group of three fish in sakis card that are the colors of the rest of leoni, the sneakiest of the bunch, and also not quite as sneaky but maybe not as obvious as the rui fish is the airi and minori sea slugs :)

i did think about giving tsukasa fish to be emu and nene too, but that many differently colored fish in a 2* seemed like too much, so i didnt do it... at least of the units involved, 2/3 of them are fully represented in some way!

and now most importantly probably, is that this is in fact my second pass at an aquarium event! the original one i started back in 2022 and......... i think you guys can figure out why i couldnt just reuse it when i decided to go for making an aquarium event again this time.

yep, youre seeing that right. 4/5 of the characters i chose are the same as what ended up being 1dt, all i got wrong was the vs. thats pretty crazy, honestly. im still not fully convinced colopale isnt just stealing my ideas after val3 happened too /j

it was also saki focus actually! i had written out a rough idea for the story back then too, and while theres some similarities to the current one, it obviously went through a lot of changes when revising the lineup and also with everything that has happened in the story over the past two years. it was definitely a bit more explicitly shippy than my new attempt, although i still tried to keep the shipping stuff toned back somewhat

i only ever made one card for that set though, just lukas 2*... but thats the original reason i made the old 2* backgrounds! its always those fake events throwing me into the graphic design trenches (fist shake) i had been trying to do a more canon-accurate style to......... mixed success. its not terrible, but i definitely could not have done the full set like this. theres a reason i did promised aquarium in my own style!

the original theme for the set was kind of like..... performers at an aquarium? along with living water sculptures of animals. it was a fun idea, but i think i was much better suited to doing the underwater scenes of promised aquarium and also we have plenty of performance themed trained sets already ^^

considering i also technically kept her from the original set (plus she was also winning the vs poll), i gave her a higher rarity card this time around for fun. and also because i knew none of shizuku tsukasa or luka would have super significant roles in the story, and i thought it would be fun to design a lim hairstyle for her!

one final random fun fact: the thing that kicked me into gear making promised aquarium was the fact that haruka wasnt on beautiful sound. i was just a little mad that they had an underwater set WITH A PENGUIN COSTUME and there was no haruka. sometimes petty beef brings out my craziest motivations and then i proceeded to spend the better part of a month planning and making it happen.

[321spongebolt]

With the "Animaniacs" movie, "Wakko's Wish" turning 25 next year, I figured I would discuss an idea that I had for if Warner Bros. gave "Wakko's Wish" more promotion at the time. Like if it was given a soundtrack (as I previously discussed here) or a storybook with screenshots from the film used on each page. In this case, why not a tie-in videogame released on Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast (possibly), and PC. That's not to say I'm the one who has this idea. My friend, @iantheartandtapecollector had a similar idea, and even posted box art for how he would interpret "Wakko's Wish" as a tie-in movie video game. My view is a lot different, as I have two directions for how this would go. On one hand, I would've chosen Infogrames, given the experience they had with "Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time", which was also released in 1999, albeit exclusively for PS1 and PC. On the other hand, I would've chosen Ubisoft, who developed "Tonic Trouble" and "Rayman 2: The Great Escape" as their first 3D platformers. Down below are two options I had in terms of gameplay style. The only similarity between the two is that they would both be 3D platformers, but without a life limit, just health.

ESRB RATING

Obviously rated E for everyone, moving on.

DEVELOPER

(You decide)

PUBLISHER

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

GAMEPLAY OPTION 1

"Wakko's Wish" would be a 3D platformer with its gameplay style based on "Super Mario 64", "Banjo-Kazooie", and even "Donkey Kong 64", where you can freely explore open levels and perform missions to unlock some power star-like collectable needed to progress through the story.

GAMEPLAY OPTION 2

"Wakko's Wish" would be a 3D platformer with its gameplay style based on "Rayman 2: The Great Escape" and "Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time", where you are still free to roam around levels and explore hidden areas, but the levels still have a Point A to Point B setup.

CONCEPT FOR A BOSS BATTLE

Unlike in the movie where Dot faked her death, Dot's death will be real in the game. As Yakko and Wakko, you must fight King Salazar until his health is down. The final level has you play as Wakko alone, who is on a time limit. As Wakko, the goal is to avoid King Salazar's cannonballs until time runs out, with Wakko touching the wishing star. And instead of wishing for two ha'pennies like in movie, Wakko will wish for Dot to be brought back to life, which works, thus ending the game's story mode.

CONCEPT FOR THE MENU SCREEN

After the game's opening logos, you are taken to the Warner Bros. water tower from the show itself. Pressing "Start" causes the door to open, resulting in the camera flying into the interior of the water tower. The setup could even have the camera focus on areas of the tower itself. Like, there could be a desk where the "Wakko's Wish" book lies. When it opens, you can select something like "New Game", "Load Game", or "Multiplayer". There can also be an option to take you into this movie theater room based on projector interstitial from "Animaniacs". On the PS1, Dreamcast, and PC versions, you can view the clips from the movie that play before each level. Due to limitations of Nintendo 64 cartridges not being able to use movie clips, the Nintendo 64 version uses an art gallery where you can view the stills from the movie.

MULTIPLAYER

One idea I was thinking of is if this game would have a multiplayer mode similar to what "Donkey Kong 64" would do by having 2-4 player split-screen battles. You play as Yakko, Wakko, Dot, or the other characters and throw snowballs at each other until they lose all their health. This can be played in 4-player free-for-all matches, or 2 vs. 2 matches.

Up above are some designs I thought of for what the N64 version's cartridge would look like.

[sanstropfremir]

Hello, A rover, A gambler, A libertine. I just wanted to say that I really love your blog and all the info you give on stage designing and outfit styling, and basically any other info you have to share about what work goes into making a performance/video look the way it looks. It's really informative and I always love food for brain so mwahhh thank youu.

That being said, I'm very new to the k-pop scene and even newer to being a SHINee fan, but I am already pretty deep down the hole and I absolutely adoreee them and your insight on them (specially Taemin) has made me appreciate them as artists sooooo much moree.

So if you don't mind could you share some thoughts about the Hard era styling? I would love to hear your thoughts on it!! I hope you're doing good <3

not the full government name slfjlskjdf you can just call me d! thank you for sticking around and reading 😊

as for the hard styling, i'm a fan! a lot of people have compared hard and dcm for various reasons (mostly negative ones bc they both are proving to be controversial shinee tracks) but i'm going use the comparison to talk about the styling bc i think the intentions were really similar, but hard was more effective. a thread that's been present in shinee's post military cbs is 'shinee twist on a modern industry trend', which is not a wrong way to go about anchoring cbs, especially since it does work as far as attracting new fans goes, but it does have a built in flaw where if the contemporaneous trends themselves don't have a strong thematic basis then............obviously trying to do any kind of twist on them takes a lot more conceptual work. this is the problem that dcm had; dcm was very much a 'look we can do what the kids do!' but what the kids were doing in late 2020/early 2021 was very formless and right before the crash of the 'fourth gen hardcore bg' trend, so it was a lot of disconnected but persistant loose threads from the entire fourth gen era that had culminated into a mush. so in the shinee's stylists' attempt to make some kind of sense of it they kinda also created a mush. but a different kind of mush. my hypothesis is that the stylists and creative team didn't want to commit seriously to a specific concept bc that wasn't on trend at the time, and so that's why dcm had several different promising ideas but then botched them all on the landing bc the creative team got cold feet about going against the grain for the first cb back in three years. personally i don't agree with their strategy bc there are a lot of flaws with dcm and the whole reality/fake reality concept ended up being racist when they could have very easily not done that, but the strategy DID work and it seems that the creative team were right about fans not being as interested in concept based cbs bc atlantis got paid dust. anyways.

how does this compare to hard? well, hard has the same ideological footing: shinee twist on a current trend. and the current trend this time is an actual concept! so already hard has an easier base to stand on because there IS something there thematically to work with. all the threads are very clearly anchored in the 'y2k' but the shinee twist is that it's more based in late 90s/early 00s hiphop, which is both sonically relevant and different from the hyperpop esque candy crush that a lot of the y2k stylings have become. the oversized shapes and loud logos are all prominent in early hiphop styling (and thus popular culture on a 5ish year delay), and elements like neon colours, layering unconventional garments together and repurposing military looks are all hallmarks of subculture fashion from the 00s, namely skater/emo/punk. the styling feels coherant and put together bc it's drawing from historical evidence (feels fucking WEIRD saying that about the 90s oof) and trends that did actually exist and were worn by real people. but of course with the typical kpop level of exaggeration, obvs.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 103

Chapter 103: “One More Move”

I know this is a common question, but how do you guys even see outta those masks? The fake eyes don’t line up with your real ones! No wonder the stairs are mildly concerning right now since y’all would probably trip right up them.

They eventually notice all the clues on the ceilings of the towers, but it’s kinda humorous that the “logo” to the Seven Walls is in plain sight. They just have no idea what it means yet.

As pretty as the Day & Night ceiling was in the anime, it definitely didn’t ease the pain of randomly seeing it at the GF headquarters near the end of the season. What a punch to the gut.. throwing in something so important last minute with no explanation or reason.

I’m still surprised the kids manage to figure out the exact way to arrive at the Seven Wall entrance based on such vague clues. Then again, those from GF are smart as hell, so yeah.

"We CaN’t LeT oUr GuArD dOWn,” my boy, do I have some mildly exciting NEWS FOR YOU!

Big bad bastard incoming!! like damn.. I wish I could say it’s been so long since we last seen him with the whole year that has passed in the story but nope, just a couple chapters.

Favorite panel/moment:

Violet cutting their little celebration short.

[noddytheornithopod]

Alright, some more Ahsoka thoughts under the cut. Spoilers beware.

So we actually get an opening crawl of sorts, and the Star Wars logo is red too. Filoni definitely trying to make this an event.

People have been rightfully comparing the opening scene where Baylan and Shin break into the New Republic ship to The Phantom Menace and A New Hope’s openers. Honestly not as on the nose as I was expecting.

The opening scene with Ahsoka where she finds the map did feel a bit too long. Like I understand trying to set a slower tone, but I feel like this went on for a bit.

Speaking of the map, anyone getting The Force Awakens flashbacks? All they needed to do was give it to Chopper, lol.

So the three figures in that mural... I have no idea if it’s going to be significant down the line, but the fact that there’s three of them makes one wonder... Mortis gods?

“Location of the last missing Imperial Grand Admiral”. So do they know where Sloane is? Or is she going to be presumed dead (along with the proto-First Order types?), like they seemed to think Thrawn was until the whispers of his return? Either way, just a small detail, and one that people are probably gonna get way too hung up over.

I will say Ahsoka definitely looks better than in previous appearances. IDK if it’s the performance, my own jadedness based on the controversy around Rosario Dawson, or an intentional character choice that is making it harder to connect with her at first, but Ahsoka weirdly doesn’t have that much of a presence? Like, there’s a stoicism to the character, but even when other characters are around, they always end up feeling like they stand out more than her. Hopefully they’re building to something, otherwise it’s going to be weird to have your lead character feel this distant.

“It’s never a straight line with you Jedi”. Why do I feel like Hera was thinking of Kanan when she said that? Maybe Ezra too for that matter.

I do wonder what Ahsoka specifically heard that lead her on the trail to Elsbeth, TBH.

So with Ahsoka and Sabine, we still don’t really know what happened. We know at some point Ahsoka agreed to train her, but then gave up on her and left.

Lothal looks cool! Okay maybe some shots do look clearly fake, but I like seeing that aesthetic translate into live-action, and also seeing Lothal after the Imperial occupation rebuilt.

Ryder Azadi is back, wasn’t sure if he would be back but it’s a cool connection nonetheless. Jai Kell is apparently Lothal’s senator now too. Stuff like this definitely adds to the feeling of it being a continuation.

Not sure how I feel about Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera. I THINK I like her? There’s one or two scenes where I find myself questioning it, but then there’s others where I think she works perfectly fine.

Of our main heroes, Sabine was easily the standout character. I do feel like they could’ve found a better actor to look the part (I do think she’s a bit pale for Sabine’s complexion, but that’s a whole can of worms to open and I’m probably not the person most invested in this topic), but even if her performance is quite different to what Tiya Sircar did, I feel like she manages to embody the character well in her own way.

I do like seeing Sabine the way we did. That opening scene for her with her on the speeder chased by the E-wings was pretty cool, the fact that the Kiners decided to have a rock track play over it only added to the feeling of Sabine’s rebelliousness (also NGL with the sudden change in sound from the usual Star Wars score, I thought for a moment they were playing a licensed song, but nope it’s just an in-universe track I guess XD). You do get the sense she’s feeling pretty lost after everything that happened. Like Sabine’s lothcat too.

Also, confirmation that Ezra recorded another message specifically for Sabine. No real comments on Eman Esfandi’s portrayal yet, but I do hope to see more of Ezra.

“But you’re like a sister to me.” This line is sweet of course but primarily I find it unintentionally hilarious because Season 1 Ezra was really trying to hit on her. Obviously this is Ezra at the end of Rebels and he grew out of that crush and his bond with Sabine was more serious and of course platonic... but still. Lol.

Just noticed Shin has a padawan braid. Seems like Baylan is still doing Jedi stuff but isn’t operating as one? Also, neat touch that Huyang was able to identify Baylan from his lightsabre, but not Shin because obviously hers would be constructed well after he was around to document it.

Speaking of which... no explanation on why Huyang is around. I mean, I’m not complaining, but it’s kind of wild this major piece of Jedi history was able to avoid being hunted down and destroyed by the Empire.

Morgan Elsbeth confirms she’s a Nightsister, and the temple on Arcada Ahsoka was raiding (which is what she got out of her in Mando S2) was apparently built by them. It sounds like the Nightsisters may have been bigger many millennia ago.

Alright so we still don’t know what the deal with Marrok is, if they’re a familiar face or just some new ex-Inquisitor. Elsbeth is lucky to have managed to hire three Force Sensitive mercenaries, huh? Marrok doesn’t even have any lines, lol.

So with Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship, we’re not really sure what happened yet. I think we might learn more over the course of the show, but from what I can tell, Sabine’s feeling pretty disillusioned after losing Ezra (even acting surprised at the idea he might be alive), and even if it’s yet to come up, I’m sure the Great Purge on Mandalore affected her too. She isn’t at the celebration of Lothal’s liberation because that day is painful for her. She seems to be lacking a sense of purpose. Ahsoka probably saw these things and realised she couldn’t commit, hence leaving her. The fact that Sabine and Huyang confirm that she never showed any Force sensitivity is just salt in the wound. So I guess that still begs the question: what happened to make them initially train together in the first place?

I love how Huyang makes sad eyes when Ahsoka talks about how she left the Jedi (I think he does it in other scenes too but this was when it stood out to me the most). “Sometimes even the right reasons have the wrong consequences” I think is a standout line for sure, Ahsoka definitely still feels guilt for Vader’s existence. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is affecting a lot of her decisions, like her lack of faith in Sabine (maybe she’s afraid that being taught by the Jedi who became Vader would cause her to create that again?).

Oh yeah, Ahsoka saying she did some stuff that wasn’t very Jedi to get the map info from Elsbeth... yeah, still no Jedi, apparently. Even if she’s gotta get dark.

When Sabine reacts to Ahsoka mentioning the Nightsisters, I definitely think she was thinking back to the creepy ghost possessing her.

Shin is obviously young and seems quite impressionable, always asking questions and needing to know what to do from her superiors, so she’s still clearly inexperienced. She definitely wrecked Sabine there, though. Cue someone complaining about another character surviving a stab wound when characters like Qui-Gon never did or whatever.

I do think it’s cool that Sabine is still showing her wide skillset to do things like analyse the map and get info out of the HK assassin droid head. The one to one with Hera was nice too. I like that Hera thinks they’re gonna work best if they’re together and she’s trying to make that happen, heck even Huyang is. Lol at Hera also saying that them both being difficult is what she thought would “make it work”.

We catch up with Elsbeth on Seatos, who has some big teases and reveals. She describes the location she’s showing the map with it as being built by people from a distant galaxy millennia ago. So yeah, Star Wars is finally going extragalactic, at least in a major way. Seems Thrawn and Ezra wound up in this distant galaxy these people that traveled here did (I wonder if the connection between the Arcana and Seatos locations implies the Nightsisters also built this, implying that they themselves are extragalactic... which is one big can of worms to open for sure).

So Baylan describes the route they’re taking as the “Pathway to Peridea”. IDK if Peridea is this new galaxy or a specific world or place in it, but yeah. Apparently even the Jedi had stories about this.

Elsbeth acts and sounds very witchy, appropriate for a Nightsister. In a particularly eerie moment, she says Thrawn “calls to her” (which must be how she knows all of this shit to even get to him in the first place, how she knew she needed the map with the right route to this galaxy and all that) and even describes it as being from “across time and space”. Those specific words make me wonder if there’s some World Between Worlds type shit going on. Also what is even calling to her? Is it really Thrawn, or someone from this distant galaxy? If this IS Thrawn, what does this mean for him? What has he found that is enabling him to reach out this far?

Morgan is constructing a ship called the Eye of Sion to travel to Peridea, one that is pretty huge and requires hyperdrives of super star destroyers. Side note, but it’s cool that the villains seem to be ahead of the heroes here. And this is even without Thrawn’s strategic genius.

Okay, hiring a Jewish actor to play your shady businessman character... I think someone should’ve thought about the optics of that a bit more.

That one questionable casting choice aside, I do think it’s an interesting idea to have ex-Imperials who are still loyal to the Empire still working in places like these shipyards. Big structural change is hard, and it tracks with the New Republic we’ve seen to rush things and overlook things like this.

We see Chopper again, which is cool.

Huyang saying “Lady Tano” gives me Maul flashbacks, lol.

Sabine feels like Ahsoka came back just because she was useful to her, and well Huyang’s account of things certainly doesn’t help that (because it WAS Hera’s idea to let Sabine know the news). Also, Sabine cutting her hair and putting her armour back on. The haircut definitely called back to Kanan’s for sure.

The final conversation between Bayland and Elsbeth was interesting too. Through these episodes I’m definitely getting the impression Baylan is following some kind of code, or at least isn’t just simply just a bad guy there to do bad guy things. Honestly, Shin has seemed more ruthless so far, lol. But especially when he says stuff like “it would be a shame to kill [Ahsoka]” and how he doesn’t immediately attack in the opening scene of the first episode is intriguing. Anyway, the giant hyperdrive ring that is the Eye of Sion seems close to completion, I have a feeling next week it might be.

I do like the tone the show’s going for. It’s no Andor, but it does feel a bit more serious than The Mandalorian, with more scenes that slow down for character beats and such. Also appreciate that they’re truly trying to make this feel epic, even for a TV show filmed in the volume. Filoni is definitely getting better directing live-action, and of course after her Boba Fett outing Steph Green is great. It definitely is adding to the Space Opera feel more than say the Space Western that is The Mandalorian.

So yeah, enjoyed this premiere! Goddammit Filoni, still finding ways to suck me in. :P

[tsuki-sennin]

Uh oh, seems like somebody doesn't like Spanner very much.

...I'm, so shocked, he seems like such a friendly and personable fellow. He's probably just shy, y'know~?

Spoilers, I guess...

-TV as a whole peaked last week, idk where we're going from here.

-"YOU FUCKING SLUG, I'LL CUT YOUR DICK OFF AND NAIL IT TO MY- hello?"

-Lachesis, hello~! Good to see you again, queen.

-"How do you feel now, bestie? :c"

-S

-Spicy

-Nooooo, poor pepper boy!

-Spanner with the save!

-"Who are you, dweebo boy?"

-Wow, that was easy. I can't believe she fucking died.

-Walking out like an absolute chad.

-"Ohhhhhh~! This guy sucks~! He'll be perfect!"

-I really hope the constant memory wipes aren't scrambling poor Kajiki's brain. Or anybody's, for that matter.

-The male Spanner has entered the male Hotaro's territory.

-"Show me your cooking skill."

-Oh that's mean.

-Oh he loves it.

-At least wash your hands first

-O

-Ourple egg

-Did you lay that?

-"Please sample my cuisine."

-Shown up at his own work.

-">:)"

-Even paid for his own cooking.

-This is some petty-as-hell bullshit, I love it.

-This guy looks familiar

-I think he was a Hitotsu-ki in an episode of Donbros.

-"How about you get lost?"

-Time for Valvarad.

-These Wild Forms simply boggle the mind.

-"I have no idea who that moron is." Spanner lied.

Renge: Y'know, I reckon that guy was just a jealous little bitch who couldn't stand the fact somebody showed him up at something. Hotaro: Hahah, hah... :)

-Hawk...

-B

-BORUTO?

-Super A-Rank?

-I suppose they haven't invented the S-Rank yet.

-Oh, there's a whole process.

-"You suck."

-I wonder how often the Alchemists' Academy would come into conflict with the Sword of Logos if they coexisted.

-Boruto, I dodn't think you're doing.

-I see Clotho prefers her Malgams put together.

-I'm calling it now, Lachesis is gonna try to supplant Atropos.

-Aww, Rinne :(

-Purin~! Purin~! Purin~!

-No need to bug her, man.

-Oh never mind, apparently Kurogane with the rare card to add to her collection.

-"Yeah thanks, whatever man."

-Here comes Boruto, bringing peak mid once more.

-That was cheap, I'm sorry

-YOOO GOLDDASH

-Here comes the boy~!

-"SHUT UP LOSER I ONLY CARE ABOUT SPANNER"

-Oh, that's a sexy-ass bike.

-Burningnero...

-Gorillasensei...

-Together at last!

-Welcome to the quarry, motherfuckers.

-"Get on your knees and beg!" Y'know I'm starting to get what Clotho means.

-"First off, my Jordans are fake. Secondly, I have no maidens. And third, I haven't even thought of buying Spotify Premium. None of that matters though, because you will always be lesser than me."

-Nice catch!

-OHUILOHUGUIOHJLHKLHJLJKH

-Peak

-This is so inventive I absolutely love it

-HawkStar...

-"Can I ask... why tho?"

-Cheer up, Hotaro. At least he knows who you are~!

-Oh hi sensei.

-OHHHHHHHHHH SOMEBODY WIPED SPANNER'S MEMORY

-Not even their own are safe.

-"You two just keep doing whatever. These guys're all gonna die soon."

-I really hope that kid gets told how good a job she does, she's clearly giving it her all.

-Ohhhhh, cactus...

-More conflict with the folks in charge, I presume.

[wrestlingwiththoughts]

Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd, Wrestle Dynasty, January 5, 2025

“I watched this and was like, ‘dude, just make this guy AEW Champion.’ You know what I mean? I don’t even know if that’s really the right idea, but I’m watching this going like ‘this guy should just be the God of everything’. It was an unbelievable performance.” - Dave Meltzer

"For God’s sake, this match had Hiroshi Tanahashi in tears on commentary. That is how fucking incredible this match was. I can run through the rest of the big spots, but I can’t do this match any type of justice no matter how hard I try. Gabe Kidd is a made man. Kenny Omega is all the way back. Omega won with the Kamigoye and the One Winged Angel. Five days into the year, the bar has been set for Match of the Year. *****" - Suit Williams

I hadn't intended to watch Wrestle Dynasty; I was on a break from the pro graps to recharge after running through the El Hijo del Fishman vs. Mascara Sagrada and the Mad Dog Connelly vs. 1 Called Manders series, and I wasn't convinced that the card would be worth staying up way past my bedtime to watch. I've learned that if I don't watch something live, I tend to deprioritize it or not pay as close attention to it as I should or would.

However, when you see such gushing praise for a match, the curiosity is unavoidably piqued.

So, I tracked down Wrestle Dynasty and jumped right to Kidd vs. Omega. I have to admit: I don't completely get it.

Let's start by acknowledging the physically taxing work that Omega and Kidd did to make this match dramatic. Omega is coming off of a long recovery from various surgeries, and it would have been easy for him to take his return match easy. Instead, Omega and Kidd took incredible risks with each other's bodies, and Omega lived up to his Best Bout Machine moniker once again. Kidd and Omega abused each other with tables and chairs, and both bled buckets during the match.

Unfortunately, the match lost me from the start. I just couldn't buy Gabe Kidd, member of the Bullet Club, the heel faction that's been invading New Japan Pro Wrestling since 2013, and specifically, the Bullet Club War Dogs, the more extreme subgroup of the faction, as the great defender of NJPW against Kenny Omega. This shift in character is too great a mental leap for my imagination, especially when Kidd still cusses up a storm during the match. Wearing the NJPW Lion Mark logo on his arm and the NJPW logo on his shorts felt fake. Even when Kenny Omega abused a young lion for taking too long to bring him some ice after a dive, I was not inclined to see Gabe Kidd as the last, best line of defense against Kenny Omega's invasion.

With the match's undergirding falling apart, all I could do was admire the athleticism and the wrestlers' work, which was admittedly tremendous. However, the match is built on Kidd gaining sympathy from the beating that Omega delivered and the comebacks that Kidd would make, and I felt detached from the emotions that Kidd was trying to evoke. That lack of attachment left me at a cold distance from the fire that made Tanahashi cry.

Perhaps this match will be the launching point for Gabe Kidd to turn away from the Bullet Club War Dogs and actually become a face of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Maybe he'll step in as the true successor to all those who wore the Lion Mark proudly before. As it stood, in January 2025, when he wore them against Kenny Omega, it just felt like pandering in the worst way, and it detracted from what was on a technical level a very good match for me.

[uncwfst]

Lighthouse Films Blog #1 - Natalie McCulloch

I have loved this first month of getting to work as an intern alongside Lighthouse Films. One of things I frequently work on during my hours is metadata. Lighthouse has a partnership with Getty video where they do concept shoots around an idea and produce content off of it. In one of these shoots they produce multiple clips that other corporations can buy and use in advertisements, films, and television. Once a shoot is done the clips go through three different passes in adobe to perfect color correction, start and end time, and framing. I guess I never imagined that so many different elements could go into a 4-10 second video. This isn't something i'm crazy passionate about but it was fascinating to uncover so many different levels of something I had known so little about. I specifically work in metadata which is one of the final processes the selects go through before they are published on to Getty video. In this program we choose the cover image for the video, put all the relating words so companies can discover that clip, and breakdown different elements of whats happening specifically in the shot. Which seems quite bland as I write it hear now, but Ive discovered that after hyper-analyzing what happens in a 5 second clip and writing about it extensively, it conditions you to really see a shot.

Another thing that Lighthouse has been preparing for is the Lighthouse on the Lawn event. This event is in the Northside of Downtown Wilmington, and functions as a community event to outreach to the lower income families that live in the area. The event itself will be a screening of Hotel Transylvania with food and drinks. For this event I've handled mostly the donations for the event. Im also planning on filming the event with another intern to document the community aspect of it.

One of the things I've more recently worked on which was the most interesting to me was designing record covers for a Getty shoot. When Lighthouse films for Getty there can't be anything that shows a brand or a logo. So I created fake records as props for the shoot they are doing. To do this I was actually able to use images I have taken myself and make all different kinds of funky names for them. I even added a lot of overlays and graphic designs for them. Personally the artistic aspect of production design has always been at the front of filmmaking in my mind, so I loved the opportunity to create these for them.