#fun fact she dubbed huey

[into-september]

people who complain about dubs never heard Mari Maurstad belt it as Georgette

[scream-into-the-voiddd]

this looks like fun! [I can’t seem to find the og poster but i got it from @lizzaroona]

September 1st: Favourite s1 episode?

Honesty a super hard pick, and i think there are better episodes in the season but the one i go back too most often is ep 10 “The Sear of Selene” 

It just has some of the best character moments (for me) and is truly funny and interesting. And has some real insight into Donald and Dewey’s feelings about Della and her being gone. we saw glimpse of this in ‘dime chase’ and ‘woo-woo/Atlantis’ but here we actually see the pain Della left in her wake. And what it means going forward. 

Plus stokeulse is a big sweet boi and i love watching him and Donald ‘re-connecting’ speaking of witch it is also the frist time Scrooge and Donald have a form of re-connection to 

“just like old times ah lad”

look at that face.

its a strong ep and lead the way for bigger ‘emotional hits’ down the line (the last crash of the sun chaser)

September 2nd: Favourite triplet?

I don’t really have one as they are all fleshed out and well rounded, that being said I am looking forward to more of Huey this season. But i don’t have a fav.

September 3rd: Favourite member of team magic

Webby, but i don’t know if that counts as she is main cast so i see her more often then any other Team Magic characters. The girl is fun and filled with so much love and she is to be feared. and I love her faults to she is awkward and hyper-fixated on Mcduck history to the point that its scary. and is a fun loving social shut in.

She is just so multifaceted and complex that i love her with all my heart.  

September 4th: favourite three caballeros 

I am bias on this one as i love José Oliveira (the og José) and anything involving that funky little parrot makes me happy. But in DT17 I do love that there is elements of that Og Jose in his characterisation

like in s2 ep 4 

when he calls over and hugs Donald (so sweet), and that he knows how to claim Donald down so fast (by making him dance and then getting him to sing) and to my knowledge he is the only one to do this in the whole show not just once but twice, so it shows that he has a deep understanding of Donald that most just don’t, and i have always loved that about their friendship.

plus from what i can tell from that ep as well it was Jose’s idea to meet up and he planned the trip (as he payed for it) so the fact he made arraignments for Panchito, Donald and THE BOY’S (+ scrooge) shows how much Jose really loves his friends, and plays an umbrella as an trumpet.       

September 5th: favourite ep of season 2

This was a hard one as most of the eps knock it out of the park, but i’m going to have to go with, ep 16 “the Duck Knight Returns” its just such a good ep and has so many wonderful layers to it, and i was actually caught of guard with the final Jim Starling twist. like i can’t even remember the lat time a twist hit me that hard (i got side swiped) I actually had to sit in silence for a solid minute or two and then watch the whole ep again.

they wasted no detail big or small in this ep (like that Jim was already wearing an unbuttoned DW suit and had the hat in the box next to him, or the sound drake made being thrown into the bathroom just like og DW, and the meta jokes and the animation, the whole ep just went so hard) 

and it was a really fun way to ‘pass the torch’ from one actor to another, especially playing with the idea of someone just not being done with the character yet and not wanting to let go, (as a lot of audiences have that issue, with re-boots and relaunches, and especially when a version of a character has an unfinished story left, think Andrew Garfield’s spider-man for e.g.)

i could honesty talk forever about this ep but i’ll spare you all.     

September 6th: favourite hug? 

Honesty its a three way tie...

1) Scrooge and Della when she first comes home. Just they way he scoops her up like a kid and holds her tight, makes my heart full. 

2) this one with Louie, just the mother son embrace was really earned here. 

3) and this one with Jose and Donald, its rare we see Donald so happy to see anyone (who is not his family) and just how naturally he ran into his arms was so nice. And Jose dropping his umbrella right away show how he knew what was coming. Plus i am a big fan of men showing their love and friendship in sweet fun ways like this, so a win for non-toxic masculinity here.   

September 7th Gizmoduck or Darkwing duck?

this is a hard one as i do like both of these hero boy’s and i have talked about how they have conflicting views of their own success through the other (basically, Drake has is personal life together, but Fenton has his hero life together, and i think it would be a point of envy for both characters) And I love Fenton and Drake for different reasons, but at their core they are somewhat the same just two people who want to help others for no other reason then it is the right thing to do.

And i Love what the show has done for both characters but...I will have to give it Drake by a fraction of a hair (feather?).

As unlike Fenton I only needed one ep to be 100% on board with Drake and i know everything i need to know about him from that. As DW had a whole ass show for a reason and that one ep showed it. As Fenton is a wonderful character and he is a very well done character, but one of his defining traits is that he is all over the place (like in his life, work, the way he specks ect) but that can get messy from time to time as it can be hard to be ‘on board’ with someone with no clear ‘goal’ persay (they did cover most of this in “who is Gizmoduck” but some of it still lingers now that can be a tiny bit jarring at times) But like that is SUPER Neat-picky, tho. 

And Drake has that chaotic feral energy that Fenton just don’t have (Fenton has more Bi panic energy), but Drake also has tired dad energy (like how he growls at GD in moonvation and when he calls to LP before the set explodes) and i love that about him. 

Get this man his Gosalyn already so he can be the dorky dad he is destined to be.     

September 8th: Favourite duck cousin?

I’m going to have to go with Gladstone, because he is a HUGE prick, but in a way he is not fully aware of. He is generous (he literally offers the boy’s a bucket of diamonds, just because they came by)    

And I love that half hazard nature about him, he is true neutral, things just happen to him and for him and he just takes it, and that is actually really interesting, (don’t get me wrong i love Fethry, Della and Donald) but Gladstone is such a wild card in the duck/mcduck family when compared to everyone else that its a nice change of pace from the rest in a way (all of them good hearted and well meaning people) I generally have no idea what he might do when presented with an actual problem/ choice, so to see that will be fun and this crews take on Gladstone in that regard.

As i think out of all the cousins he has the most growing/changing to do.      

September 9th: favourite ship?

Ok here is the thing.

in general fandom 

I don’t really have any strong feelings about most ships one way or the other. I think a lot are nice and I enjoy seeing others enjoy themselves and all the wonderful art and time they put into it. That being said out of all my years of being in fandoms I have had a grand total of 5-10 ships i am super passionate about and that is over the span of 10+ years. 

and one of the things i love the most about ducktales is how much it focuses on family love and pure platonic friendships (for both kid and adult characters). And that makes my ace heart happy.  So basically I’m saying is I have no strong feelings about most ships in general beyond “aww” or “man i love how much the fandom loves them” and “that is some great art/ fic / creative output I’m happy for them.” 

But with that out of the way, the question at hand.

I’m going to have to go with Donald and Daisy, as from a writing sand point it was so well done and sweet and cute. And it gave a new perspective on a relationship that has been around for 70+ years, so that was impressive all on it’s own, and it is going to be a loving, interesting relationship going forward.

September 10th: Favourite season 3 episode  

I am going to assume that this is out of the 7 eps so far (duh), which again is hard cause this show is just so damn good. But I would have to say it is ep 6 “Astro B.O.Y.D”

now cue story of me as a kid in 3...2...1...

when i was a kid, I was obsessed with Astro boy, i was maybe 6 years old and i loved it. I was a relatively poor kid so in the early/mid 2000′s i would get a lot of my reading/watching materials from my local library. This included 4 VSH tapes of Astro boy episodes for the 80′s series and i would watch the 2003 anime dub on Saturday mornings TV (one ep a week if that), The library also had the first 2 vols of the og manga that i read so many times that i could probably re-sight it from memory. anyway, the reason i love astro boy so much was because it gave me a feeling i had not felt in my young life before that point, even if i did not full understand it at the time.

Its a feeling i still can’t fully put into words, but i will do my best. Astro boy goes right for the heart in every way possible, but it always twist the knife when it goes for, grief, regret and longing agony. specifically when in looks at lost love, usually platonic love (Tobio and Tenma e.g), the feeling these story’s gave me was the complexity of pain that losing love can bring, but it is most effective because it is through the lens of a child (astro/ tobi) and an innocent, loving child at that. The child is (somewhat) untouched by the tragedy (via memory loss) but is still shaped by the love that was put into them, despite the grief's overall out come (the abandonment of said child). So the feeling is a bitter-sweetness that comes from a place of innocents but also personal understanding of the self Astro was made by Tenma, but he was not what tenma made him to be (his lost son) but astro became his own person who loves and is loved by others, and is a whole person on his own outside of what he was made for (and is in a way still A son to tenma just NOT Tobi). and there is that sense of a child just wanting to be heard and understood for who they ARE and not what others what them to be, regardless of their “potential” (in other words personal choice’s and passions that the child actually wants for themselves)

I just love Astro Boy ok...and i never get a chance to talk about it, so i thought i would here, as this list was foolish enough to give me an opening.

Moving on to the DT17 ep.

The Astro Boyd ep. hit all of these notes, the longing agony of lost love (Gyro and Boyd) the regret that came from Gyro for boyd’s creation.

Boyd’s innocents and loving nature coupled with his wants and identity not being fully understood (gyro thinking he is evil, Fenton wanting him to be a hero, Akita having him be a tool and Tesuka thinking he is just a mindless robot) and just wanting to be seen for what he truly is “a defiantly real boy” and he gets that conformation from Gyro at the end!

and Gyro has is own actualisation, about his own grief, after thinking his love was “misplace” for years on end in a way that made him shut down his heart almost completely. Only to find that he was right to let himself love and that love is actually what helped Boyd help himself. Gyro in essence realising that both him and Boyd are not mistakes or failures but two people who lost the one they loved (each other) and have finally found a way back to each other so they can both begin to fully heal.    

So it was a good episode *wipes tear away from eye*

September 11th : favourite villain?

I don’t really have a favourite villain as the show don’t tend to focus to heavy on them and when they do it is somewhat short lived, (like Magica in season 1 and Lunarus in season 2) and since this season has a group of villains (FOWL) and not just one main one like the last 2 seasons, I have a feeling that one of the up coming FOWL members may take the top spot later down the line.  

but if we are going off the one i find most entertaining...

I’m going to have to give it to

Magica she is played as scary, funny and damn relatable on occasion (the funzo scene), and i am never disappointed to see her. I think she is very different from comic magica in a lot of ways, but i enjoy this version for different reasons. And i think this magica has room to grow/ change (for good or for worst). So safe to say i am looking forward to the first ep in the line up.  

September 12th : favourite character?

why must you make me choose...

seriously all of the characters major or minor is shown in a way that makes them feel very real and well rounded even if they have very little screen time. for god sake the ottoman empire guys get character development (one left the show to pursue acting and they fight with scrooge in the moonvation). So this is not an easy pick to say the least.    

but I will be judging it by the one i ‘get the most out of’ so to speck....

and I have to say its a tie...

Donald Duck

I love him ok. He is very small and very angry and he will fight god(s) for his family safety. Anyway, I have always love Donald Duck shorts and everything else he shows up in he is always my fav.

I have always been able to relate to Donald as i too have a bit of a disability that makes it hard for people to understand be (in writing) and i have a ‘voice issue’ that makes me different from everyone around me. So i really understand the feeling Donald have and the anger that comes from being misunderstood in the most basic ways. Its not fun

So Donald has always been important to me in a sense,  

The thing about Ducktales 2017 that i love is that it fleshes out Donald’s already established characteristics, by giving them context (e.g. using his outbursts to protect the boys). this gives him something that me has been missing (in animation) for awhile now, and that is how functions outside of himself.

what i mean by that is that Donald is kind of unique when it comes to the Disney sensational 6, unlike the rest is/ can be

-selfish

-cowardly

-rude/ mean spirited

-a loser

these things are what make him different to the rest but in animation for a while he has been shown by himself (without his family or even Daisy) so all of the above characteristics are not “diluted” or held to any standard outside of Donald’s personal misery.

So he can be super selfish and an all around ass cause, yeah, if your life was one pain after the other no matter what you did and you were all on your own all the time, then yeah, your going to be a miserable little shit.  

But by reintroducing the boy’s and giving him a more defined role (father/ solo care giver) at least at the start of the show, it gives Donald a reason to “fight off” his less than noble parts of his personality. It also makes his action have more weight as everything he does or fails to do effects the boy’s. So that makes him more appealing overall as what he does (or doesn’t) do now matters, and all the tragedy in Donald’s life are also given weight (Della being gone for 10 yrs, and what that did to his relationship with Scrooge) so his pain is now REAL and even tho he is funny and reckless, he is now a person with flaws and failings but also victory's (getting Della back and his family being close again) and dreams (the three caballeros and his relationship with Daisy)

I do love this little Rage machine  

the other fav is

Drake Mallard

(maybe I just like single duck dads? idk, lol)

I have already talked a bit about his intro ep,

but as of right now i am more in love with the potential i see in the character. As we have not really seen to much of him like maybe 4 ep’s total. But Drake is the character i am most hyped to see more of (and the people who are around him, Gos and LP etc.)  

as i find him really interesting and he is (ironically) one of the more “normal” people in the show as a whole, He is not rich (high society rich anyway) he is not an explorer, not a scientist, he don’t have a ‘crazy’ backstory (like Gyro in Tokyok) and he doesn't have a direct connection to Scrooge himself (he never worked for him directly, and is not a family member)

so he is just a random guy, who thought “I’m going to do this crazy shit just because a handsome pilot man said i could if i wanted to”

and honestly that’s cool.    

he is fun and goofy in an engendering way, and his ego is the right amount of controlled (ish) but still over the top. the character is full of story’s that can be taken from the og show and mixed in with the new show (like his intro ep),

Drake is a just fun to think about, and how his world relates to the world of ducktales in general, as they were separate for such a long time, so seeing it come together in a new way is super existing.

I was already blown away by his last solo ep I can’t wait to see more of him (and his how he will be with his Gos, and how that adventure will unfold)  

September 13th Favorited actor/ actress 

now this is just an unfair question, this is a star strutted cast and everyone is amazing. There is a pop culture icon and a Disney legend in the cast (and the fact your not 100% sure which one’s i’m talking about proves my point)

So i am going to cheat a little here, I’m not going off the actors and actress themselves per say but rather I’m going to talk about my favourite performance in the show.

I judge this on two things

1) how much the act ‘disappears’ into the character (as in i don’t see the human person when there talking, even if its still just their normal voice)

2) I can’t see (/hear) anyone else being able to do the role

So on those two things in mind i will have to go with.

Paget Brewster

she just plays Della with this fun life to her, she can switch on a dime from crazy adventurer to comic foil to herself and then have moments of deep self refection. And she had to carry the introduction to the character all on her own, as Della was isolated, so if she didn’t sell Della to us (the audience) then the whole mystery/ build up to Della would have fallen apart. So that was not easy but she pulled it off (with great writing as well).

and she was/is amazing as Della, she is just awesome and I love listening to her and how she plays Della.

September 14th Favourite song

Oh for me it hands down has to be “not good enough” I love a good Bond ballad and Ben kills it. Plus it plays a big part in the episodes theme’s for LP,

its perfect, it fits the story, character and the parody.   

September 15th: Favourite scene from favourite episode.

well out of my top 3 episode (that i have already listed) I’m going to not talk about ‘the dark duck returns’ as there is a scene in there that i will talk about later. my favourite scene out of the other 2 episodes i have picked, i would have to go with...

The ‘Defiantly real boy’ scene from Astro BOYD

(i have already talked about my love for Astro boy and this ep in relation to that)  what i love the most about this scene is that not only did Gyro and Boyd ‘find’ each other again, but they found themselves again.

Boyd turned back into the real boy Gyro ‘made’ him to be (the boy Gyro always believed he was/could be) and that not only was that ok, but the best way for Boyd be himself. Thus his reclaiming of the word Boyd, he is still ‘the same’ but now has a clear sense of what it actually means to himself, mixing both 2BO and Boyd into one. With the love given to 2BO by Gyro and the life experience he has had as Boyd, so Boyd didn’t have to change everything about himself to be complete he just needed to understand that he was loved for being himself and to get confirmation that he is what he believes himself to be a ”Defiantly real boy” (T-T)

as for Gyro, he realised that his love, care and idealism (as he put it) was not misplaced (on Boyd), as when the little boy he loved so fully seemingly turn on him, that broke his heart and his spirit in a way that just would not fully mend. (thus his cold and rude behaviour through out the show so far...) But when Gyro fully embraces his idealism and loving side again (by embracing Boyd) he realises that he can bring his true feeling to the surface again as it was never a mistake for him to do so. thus why he embraces Fenton as an equal, by calling him Doctor and showing the respect he actually always felt for Fenton.

They found themselves through each other, and it melts my heart (T-T) 

September 16th: Favourite moonlander

Penny.

September 17th: Favourite Beagle Boy

Black arts Beagle,

I mean he is the reason we have Duckworth back so thats got to count for something.

September 18th: Favourite scene of your favourite ship

I have to say its this little moment here...

Donald spent the whole episode wanting to impress this woman (Glamor), but after spending time with Daisy decided that Daisy’s dignity was more important then his Big Break. And Daisy returns in kind like ‘yeah i shouldn’t be treated this way’ and its just really sweet. It also got Daisy noticed and most likely jumb started her career and Daisy (again) returned in kind (most likely) by having the three Caballeros perform on stage right after.

so its a small but very insight look into the new dynamic Donald and Daisy are going to/ do have in this show.

[plus this screen shot was funny to me,

i think it has meme template vibes]

September 19th: Favourite scene of  your favourite character.

oh my, where oh where to take this?

every character in this show is so good so this is just hard man....

but I will go with “The Duck Knight returns” one of my favs, and honesty i could talk about this episode all on its own (and I just might after “Lets Get Dangerous” airs)  but for me one of the scenes that really stuck out to me (that others have not really touched on) Is when they have the “meeting” with Alister, Jim, Scrooge and Dewey and then Drake comes in (and then immediately gets his shit wrecked by Jim).

As a film student, I feel this scene on a personal level.

the old(er) man who knows nothing but wants to take control.

the Pretentious “artist” that thinks “making it dark” makes it meaningful.

the person who pretends they know what there talking about but is to stuck in their ways to really change their mind.

and a child or child like understanding (its more common then you think)

(tho i would place LP in the audience position, which is the point of this scene) This scene hit me where I live, and is a really good commentary on Corporate meddling. As there are three ‘battles’ happening in this scene

1) Scrooge Vs Alistair

this acts as a money vs art argument, that is seen all to often in movies and shows, as I can guess we can all name at least one movie or show that has the “the record studio is changing your sound its not authentic...”

but Dt 2017 shows the other side to this and asks

authentic to what? like its one things when its your own creation but what if its was someone else's (like a reboot)  

is it better to be authentic to what was before (the og material), or is it best to take a new direction because its more ‘comfortable’ for you to do (fits your style / sensibility's)

thus leading to

2) LP Vs Dewey  

or a young audience vs the older audience, now Dewey and LP don’t really clash in this ep per say but, they act as a more “aggressive” views on audience backlash now they are Not Malicious but they do act as conflicting presences. Dewey (understandably) doesn’t get why it has to be dark and gritty, or what was happening at all as Alistair is going for a high concept film, but guess what, kids aren’t always great at picking high concepts up (at least not right away) and they can be easily bored by it, if its not engaging in a way that can appeal to them.  

and LP as an older audience member does know what the show/ movie is “meant to be” so seeing these high concepts added in a way that is not in the sprit of og material can be unnerving. And high concepts can miss the point or main message/style of the og material to the point that unrecognisable (*cough*Live action, Titians *cough*).

both of these points are legitimate concerns for audiences to have, as if something is so different its not unrecognisable then why not just make something original? and not draw a comparison.

and if your main audience is meant to be younger, they how are you going to engage them in way that matters to them or in a way they can understand (youth culture or ‘young truths’ i.e. things kids deal with/experience when growing up)          

speaking of which

3) Jim Vs Drake

this one is kind of the mix of the pervious two, or nostalgia vs update? (i can’t think of a better word),  

Jim is so determined to be in the spot light that he is willing to ‘throw away’ is morals (as seen at the end), his ‘artist integrity’ no longer matters as long as DW gets to come back, he just wants some sense of being back that it doesn’t actually matter how (*cough* Teen Titians Go*cough*), so he losses a big part of what made it DW to begin with and not because he don’t care about DW but because he places his value of it in one spot (himself as darkwing)  

as Drake on the other hand. understands that changes need to be made but he knows the movie is off base (he says so himself later), but he puts the value of DW in more then himself, as he has felt it be bigger then what was just on screen (Jim) and has carried that with him here. And since he is set up as an ‘enemy’ here (Jim jumps him) new is seen as an enemy as well, but he literal gets attached for just existing, so yeah not a great move by Jimbo there, and due to nostalgia (both in and out of the show due Jim starling/cummings) most may not of have pick up on it right away.

so yeah, this is an underrated scene and i wanted to talk about it a little as it sets up the rest of the episode.  

September 20th: Favourite friend group 

hmmm....

I have a feeling that this is going to change after the new wave of episodes (i like how team hero is shaping up) but for now i will have to say team science. They just have a nice balance of personalities and ability's, plus they the most team (ish) as they literally have to work together (most of them)

huey, gyro, fenton, manny and lil bulb

and all have their own style and smarts

Manny and Lil blub don’t even talk but they have big personalities and now with the addition of Boyd this little group feels well rounded.

I love them nerds

[raz-b-rose]

Huey Duck has Anxiety.

As I’ve watched DT2017, I find myself relating deeply with Huey. (despite Louie being my favorite). I decided to write this quick little story, about how I experience anxiety best I can. 

Now anyone who also has anxiety, (especially social) please remember it does not control you, your brain will trick you but at the end of the day, you decide how to react to what you’re feeling and how you handle it. I still have bad days, and neutral days, and probably always will, but I’ve made the effort not let it influence my decisions. 

No without a further delay, enjoy!

_____________________________________________________________

Huey was a lot of things. He was smart, maybe not always street smarts like Louie, but definitely had extensive knowledge of many recorded facts. He worked hard for himself and his brothers. He was responsible, taking extra care to ensure everything was always taken care of. He was logical and thorough. However a part of his brain worked against him constantly. He could argue with it using logic all day long, and it would never see reason. It was as though it ran on emotion alone. Fear and insecurity being its main drive. 

Now while Huey had been fighting this for a few years now, he wouldn’t let it control him. While his logic never worked well during this time when his brain fought with him, deep down he knew he was still in control. He didn't have to be afraid, or tense. He didn’t have to focus on what his body was feeling. By focusing on the bad, it only got worse. So when he got attacks, it may take a moment, but he was ignoring it before long. Clearly some days were worse than others, and those were the days when it came out of nowhere.

He hated those days, because it felt even more unwarranted. Why would his brain, he dubbed it Willard, attack him for no good reason. He hated Willard. It wasn’t like the times when he felt he said or did something to feel panicked about. That made sense to him in a weird way. No, some days Willard just came at him with its grotesque hands and awful lies. 

Louie and Dewy didn’t understand the first time he tried to explain to them what these attacks felt like, because he never really outwardly showed it. He appeared as though he was completely calm. He was good at not letting anyone know that his stomach had tied itself into many, many sheet bend knots. They couldn’t understand the heavy pressure that would settle itself upon his chest or how that pressure rose to his throat. However some days it felt as though someone, Willard, was wrapping its hands around his throat. Not in like a truly choking way, but his lungs would labor to push out air, the lump in his throat feeling in the way. 

He knew that his stomach wasn’t truly tied in sheet knots, or that his breathing had changed at all. He knew that there wasn’t a shadowy presence choking him out. He knew there was nothing to fear in the moment, not even life threatening (he had been in plenty of those situations and not once had Willard made itself known). And despite all those reminders, he could still feel the stinging behind his eyes, tears threatening to fall. 

When that happened, it's like everything else went into overdrive. He felt sick to his stomach, it was so tied up. He took deep breaths to alleviate the tightening, focusing heavily on how the air traveled from his chest and out his nose and mouth. And then Willard would start to taunt him. 

Why would you say that? 

That was stupid. 

Wow, they are really good at pretending to like you. 

It would be best if you never spoke again, you only ever make a fool of yourself anyway. 

Why would you say that!?! You really offended them, if they didn’t hate you before, they do now. 

You’re so self-focused, do you ever stop talking about yourself? 

No one cares about what you have to say. 

Why did you wave your hand like that? 

That was stupid. 

They are thinking about how weird you are.

About how much they can’t wait for you to leave. 

You really are an idiot. 

“I am not an idiot” Huey would hiss back at the voice. He was smarter than most, he knew a lot of things, and knew how to help people. His knowledge was a good thing. 

No one likes a know-it-all. 

You’re really condescending, always acting better than others. 

“I am not better, just smart,” Huey would protest weakly, as he would start to crack his knuckles, rubbing his hands together with far too much force, pulling against his feathers painfully. “I didn’t even do anything” Huey could feel the pressure building behind his eyes. He looked over to Louie who was laughing with Webby. 

Look at them laugh at you.

That’s embarrassing. 

They can’t believe they have to pretend to like you. 

You really made a fool of yourself this time. 

“I didn’t do anything” Huey combats again, walking over to his brother and friend. Webby bounced on her toes when he approached, Louie giving his usual lazy smile. 

“Huey! Louie had this great idea to train an octopus to be a butler, doesn’t that sound amazing!” 

“Well Octopi are one of the most intelligent species on planet Earth. However because of that, I feel like they are too intelligent to be obedient to any commands” Huey speaks before thinking, the dread at his words already loaded as more ammo for Willard. 

“Well phooey” Louie pouts, “That was a good idea too.” He shrugs before striking up another conversation with Webby, brainstorming other ideas for a butler. 

Look at them. They are so angry with you shooting down that idea. 

Louie is annoyed with you. Why do you always ruin his fun? 

Annoying know-it-all, acting like you’re smarter and better than Louie. 

Louie is angry that you think he’s stupid. 

“Hey Huey, are you ok?” Webby tilts her head at him. He can’t tell if she’s actually worried or if she wants him to leave her and Louie alone. Louie glances at him, eyes narrowing when they meet his own. 

“Yup. Couldn’t be better.” He smiles at Webby, avoiding Louie’s gaze. He quickly makes his exit, continuing to smile at them until he’s out of sight. 

Wow, nice job, idiot. 

You’re so stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid. 

He takes a deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. I’m in charge, not Willard. It doesn’t control how I am feeling. I do. And yet, today, he struggled to regain control of his head. Huey jumps, following the hand on his shoulder, finding a deep green sleeve covering the wrist. He looks into Louie’s eyes, searching for anything decipherable emotion. Even if doing so is next to impossible with Willard in his head right now. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong Huey.”

“But you’re idea-”

“Was stupid, I was only joking around” Louie tightens his grip on his shoulder. 

“But-”

“No. Now what is it saying this time?” Louie continues to insist, winning out against Huey’s weak protest. 

“I’m stupid”

“A lie”

“I’m a know-it-all.”

“That’s ok.”

“That I think I’m better than everyone”

“No you don’t. If anyone does, it’s me. You care about everyone.” 

“I should stop talking”

“Why? You never say anything wrong”

“But I’m awkward and say stupid annoying things and have trouble reading social cues, and-”

“Huey stop.” He quickly shuts up, pulling his fists clothes to his chest. When did he start rubbing his hands together again? He rubs harder, against the grain of his feathers, wincing at the pull, but not stopping. 

Louie throws his arm around him, poking his cheek with one finger. “Repeat after me, I’m going to be telling you some facts you forgot, so don’t go forgetting them again.” Huey nods, hunching his shoulders further. The prickling behind his eyes was growing stronger, but he hadn’t started crying. Yet. 

“You’re not stupid.”

“I’m not stupid.”

“We love to hear all your facts and woodchuck recitations”

Huey looks at him in doubt, he only returns the pointed look at waves at him to continue, “You love to hear my facts and woodchuck recitations.”

“You’re not stupid”

“I already said that.”

“Say it again,”

“I’m not stupid.”

“You are great as you are. Everyone loves you.”

“I am gr-” He struggles to say the word great. Louie is patient, giving him time to win this battle. 

Louie always hated when Huey would get stuck in his head like this. He was one of the most reasonable ducks he knew, so it was always upsetting to see his brother struggle against believing anything positive about himself. 

“I am great as I am.” Huey finally says, his words trembling from his beak, “Everyone loves me.”

Huey could feel the weight slowly lifting from himself, he took a few deep breaths at Louie’s encouragement, closing his eyes to focus on mentally repeating the words once again. Afterwards he always felt stupid, letting Willard lie to him like that. Believe Willard for even a moment. He knew his worth, why did he forget it every few months? 

Huey opened his eyes at the feeling of another arm coming around him from his other side. Dewey smiled at him, giving a thumbs up. 

“I need help if you’re up for it Hues.” Dewey tightens his side hug, reaching over with his other hand to disentangle his hands. 

“Oooh are we having a hugging party? I want in!” Webby’s joyous voice sounds next to his ear as she body slams into him from the front, laughing as Huey hugs her back. 

Yes Huey Duck was a lot of things, but alone was not one of them. He smiles at Dewey and Louie and Webby, laughing in relief. Just another battle won. Unfortunately, a few tears were shed this time. 

“I’m sorry Huey, did I hurt you!?” 

“No Webby, I’m just happy” He gives her another quick hug, along with a pat on the back. “What did you need help with Dewey?” 

Then there were the days that Huey couldn’t bring himself to really love or hate. In all honesty they were preferable to the other end of the spectrum when his emotions would go haywire and to the extreme. However these days had their own drawbacks and were exhausting in a different sense. 

He had woken up feeling ready for the day, his teeth were brushed, his shirt clean and hat comfortably on his head. Breakfast was a simple affair, however, and he’s still not sure what set it off, but he could feel the beginning tingles of anxiety creeping up his arms, his hands seizing up. 

He glared at them, irritation building up at the idea of a perfectly good day going to waste with Willard in his head. Unfortunately, the first side effect of these types of attacks are the irrational irritable anger that came before. He would feel annoyed at the smallest of things, and he was not pleasant to be around when that happened. 

He separated himself from his brothers, finding solace in the library. And slowly but surely, the anger diminished, but then so did his joy. He was now completely numb. Well not completely. He got up to join everyone for lunch, knowing he would be better company now. 

He sat between his brothers, content to just eat. He listened to Dewey and Webby excitedly chat about that afternoon's adventure, discussing everything they would attempt and what they hoped to find. Louie would chip in with his desire to add to his growing collection of valuables. If his brothers noticed his mood, they didn’t say anything. 

He would feel small bursts of joy from one of Dewey’s jokes, a spark of excitement alongside Webby or slight irritation at Louie's schemes. But the emotions wouldn’t last long. He didn’t feel any particular emotion strongly and over all felt content. He was quieter than usual, and just felt the need to observe. 

He felt as though he should be concerned at the lack of emotion on these days, but again preferred this to in insenant taunting with Willard on his bad days. So he called these his content days. Nothing overly negative, but also no positives either. However some days this state would be overridden if he started to talk incessantly, then Willard would make an appearance. So it was in his best interest to just be a neutral party, silently observing and enjoying everyone's company. 

When he took his seat on the plane, Louie was once again the first one to initiate contact. He didn’t say anything, clearly enjoying the silence. He sat close to Huey, shoulders pushed together and he didn’t initiate any conversation. He appreciated this, because he did not feel like being a conversationalist today. 

Dewey was next, quick to lean his back against his other arm, continuing to chat wildly with Webby, however being more controlled and still in his action compared to other days. He could tell Webby noticed, but enjoyed his brother's silent support nonetheless. She only turned her head in confusion. 

Webby loved her friends, the triplets. They were all so different but so similar at the same time. They were also a complex puzzle with new pieces of information being revealed with time. Like now for instance. Something was wrong with Huey, maybe, the others didn’t act like there was. He was quieter than normal. He was uniquely the middle one when it came to volume. Dewey was the loudest, always having something to say. Huey was a step down, always offering information. And Louie was a sweet talker, only using his voice when necessary. 

Watching them sit so closely together, and she would have to say she was amazed at Dewey’s ability to sit still for this long, in what was clearly a quiet call for support for their older brother, was sweet to witness. 

She loved her friends, but was also a little jealous she would never truly understand the bond they held for one another. She had only had Granny for a majority of his life. They had always had one another, a silent language being perfected between them for the last twelve years. A secret triplet language that was almost spoken telepathically from their eyes and body language. 

She watched as Huey sighed loudly. Not with malice, or annoyance, almost like he had been holding his breath and hadn’t realized it. She watched as Dewey pushed himself further against Huey and Louie threw a foot into Huey’s lap. She didn’t understand, and was afraid to ask. Huey gave her a small smile before returning to the emotionless state he had been in for the majority of the afternoon. 

“Don’t worry Webby, I’m ok” Huey spoke suddenly, starting the other ducklings. “Just one of those days.”

The boys nodded in understanding, Dewey giving her a thumbs up. “Heubert here should be fine by tomorrow, if not the end of the day.” Huey rolled his eyes at him, before relaxing further in his seat, hands limp in his lap. 

“Ok, I don’t understand, but clearly Dewey and Louie do” They boys exchange glances, having another one of those silent conversations that she would never be a part of. Louie gestured his head towards her, and Huey looked deep in though for a moment before nodding. 

“Well Webby what is going on is-” Louie started to explain everything to her, the rest of the plane ride filled with new knowledge, and questions mostly answered by everyone but the duck in question. 

Heubert Duck was a lot of things. He was smart, and had extensive knowledge of many recorded facts. He worked hard for himself and his family. He was responsible, taking extra care to ensure everything was always taken care of. He was logical and thorough. His brain worked against him some days, but at the end of it all he was ok. He was in control, and would always have help when he had trouble remembering he was in control. Huey Duck was not alone and that was wonderful.

[quinquinhd]

Brazilian Name Translations

So, i saw @keriwi1's posts about Polish translations of some duckverse characters, i liked it and i decided to steal their idea and make a Brazilian Portuguese one, so.. Yeah.

Let's start with the main cast of DuckTales:

Here we have Patinhas McPato but in older comics he was Patinhas McAnjo, and in the Life and Times he was Patinhas Mac Patinhas.

The translation of his name would be "Ducklings McDuck", aand since for some reason every word in the portuguese language has gender, his name [Patinhas] is female, but it's still a unisex name. His older name would be "Patinhas McAngel", and the Life and Times one is "Ducklings Mac Ducklings" (i hate the "Mac Patinhas" one, the whole translation of the Life and Times is terribly generic).

Also, he didn't had an actual last name in previous appearences here (the other names appeared every once in 200 comics), everyone just called him "Mr Patinhas" when in the original they called him "Scrooge McDuck", for some reason that happens with maaaany Duckverse characters here (Gyro never had a first name here for some reason).

Now meet, Pato Donald!

The translation is "Duck Donald", eh, his name never changes in any translation.

Dumbela Pato!

Yep, she just kept the old name. I guess it's because "Dumbela" sounds perfectly better than Della in here, and because "Della" sounds exacly like "Dela", which is "Hers" here.

There, Huguinho, Zézinho and Luisinho Pato!

These are actual Brazilian names, the equivalent of Huey and Louie (Hugo and Luís).

Now this one is really nice: "Zézinho" is like "Little José". Yes! José Carioca and Dewey have the same name here!

She's Patrícia VanderPato.

It's "Patrícia VanderDuck" (Fun fact: in the Agent 22 episode Scrooge calls her "Webby VanderDuck", in the Brazilian dub Scrooge calls her "Patrícia VanderPatinhas" or "Patrícia VanderDucklings", which can be seen as a reference to Scrooge's original horrible name in the comics, Mac Patinhas)

Now here's a weird one, Capitão Boing.

First, the translation, it's "Captain Boeing", Boeing being a a type of plane.

It's weird because.. It's not clear whether Captain is his name or not? Like, every time Scrooge calls him by his first name it's always just "Boing", but when he calls him by his full name it's "Capitão Boing". It's confusing (I have no idea what are his parents's or sister's name here). But in my headcanon his last name is "McBico", why? Because It's "McBeak" and his beak is long and puns and yeah.

Now it's Bentina Patilda.

It's like "Bentina Duckilda". Much like Launchpad, Gyro and Webby, she also suffered from lacking a first name, until the Agent 22 episode when Scrooge called her Bentina, yay.

So yeah, that's it, tomorrow (or maybe today if i cant control my self) i'll release another one, bai.

(i realized the Della pic doesn't want to stay where i want it to stay, so.. Yeah)

[askaceattorney]

Dear Sinless,

I have no idea where that came from, for one thing.  I’m neither almighty nor all-knowing, but I appreciate the praise (even if it’s supposed to be sarcastic -- I can’t really tell).

Dear sinyove,

You look familiar...

Anyway, that’s a good question.  Sweating isn’t something you just forget how to do, so I imagine AJ Phoenix still sweats in nervous situations, just not as often since he isn’t involved in courtroom proceedings.  Plus he works at a cold restaurant, so that’s probably helped to cool him down a little.

Dear sinyove again,

Sorry, but there’s no way for us to do that without answering it right away, so we’ll probably have to leave it as it was.  We’ll change it if we remember, though.

(Song in Letter)

Dear CreatorOfSinyove,

That’s a pretty cool mashup, but I’m a little confused as to why you wanted me to call you by a different name.  You can always send letters with whatever name you want if you log out of your account first.  (Please forgive me if I’m missing something obvious here.)

Dear Ethan Starbright,

Cute!  Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the play, so sorry for not getting the references.

Dear Ethan Starbright, 

I'm not sure how I feel about Dahlia being Eliza... But a more important question, does that make Miles Burr? Or maybe Godot? 

(Previous Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

I wasn’t sure if this was meant for Phoenix or for us, so I’ll go ahead and answer it.  He’s saying he wouldn’t hire Shelly de Killer because he himself would end Kristoph.  You’d better hope and pray we never have to see that timeline.

Dear skibot99,

It’s hard to say since I enjoy just about all of them, but my least favorite case is probably Turnabout Big Top.  The characters were charming, but the story was slow-going, and the contradictions were way too hard to figure out sometimes.

Incidentally, my favorite case is Turnabout Time Traveler.  It delighted me to see that the writers at Capcom still had it in them to make such a fun and imaginative legal adventure for Phoenix and Maya after all these years, and that neither of them had last their edge as clever and quirky crime-solvers.  I also happen to be a homeless hopeless romantic, and the idea of a man rescuing his bride from certain death (and the two of them continuing to love each other despite his anterograde amnesia) was incredibly touching for me.  In the words of Huey Lewis, “The power of love is a curious thing.���

Dear skibot99,

I honestly don't think I have a least favorite case, because maybe in one case I dislike how the story is proceeding (very slow or confusing), but I may find the characters very interesting, and vice versa.

However, my favorite case would have to be Rise from the ashes or any case from AAI2.

Dear skibot99 again,

I haven’t really seen enough of the anime to judge it as a whole, but from what I’ve seen of it, it’s definitely worth watching.  I'd have to say that I prefer the games overall -- though, to be fair, I’d probably say that about any cartoon based on a game -- but the music, voice-acting, and animation are all pretty spectacular, and I love how many extra details it includes that would’ve been practically impossible to fit into the original trilogy games.  The adaptation from game to anime is fantastic as well, but I definitely prefer the English dubs over the Japanese ones.  Japanese is a lovely language, but hearing the characters speak English, rather than only seeing it, opens the series up to a much wider audience, and you’ve gotta love that.

Speaking of Japan, I’d say the best change to the storyline is having Phoenix and company actually live there instead of America, so we no longer have to wonder where all the Japanese culture is coming from or call it “Japanifornia” -- true, that inconsistency has made for some hilarious jokes, but at least now things make a little more sense.

As for the worst storyline change, it was sort of disappointing for me that Phoenix and Maya’s first encounter was so short -- they didn’t even say anything to each other until he visited her in prison.  It was still pretty sweet, but Maya’s introduction of herself to Phoenix was one of my favorite parts of the game, so I was sad to see that cut out of the anime.  I’ve never attempted to turn a video game into an anime, though, so I can let it go.

I do have to wonder why they thought they needed more than ten policemen to arrest Frank Sahwit, though...

Dear Bruce Goodman,

Aw, crud...  I accidentally smudged an important part of this letter.  And it was sent to us over a year ago, wasn’t it?  Sheesh, I’m getting clumsy...

In all serious, I prefer not to show the names of real-life politicians on this blog, but I hope you can put that information to good use.

Dear Anonymous,

Let’s see...

Yep, that’s a pretty uncanny resemblance, but I think it’s just coincidence.  I can’t imagine his mom letting him take on that sort of role, even if he had a stunt double.

(Picture in the Final Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

I hate to spoil all your hard work, but I’m afraid I don’t know which image link you’re referring to (unless you meant this one).  Could you please clarify?

(Previous Letter)

Dear M,

Thanks a bunch, first of all.  There’s a lot to be said about the Royal Family of Khura’in (plus I tend to ramble anyway), so I did my best to keep it short.

Secondly, you’ve raised some good points.  I sort of snuck in the comparison to the Hawthorne twins at the last minute, so I didn’t give it as much thought as I probably should have.  It’d be more accurate for me to say that I thought she was that she was too meek to disobey her sister (in fact, I went ahead and rewrote it that way in the essay).

I'm a huge fan of Iris, by the way, and I agree that she can be strong when the need arises, but there are at least a few things that led me to believe she still has a bad habit of caving in to pressure from others.  First, while she never actually obeyed Dahlia, she chose to do whatever was necessary to keep her crimes a secret, rather than making the harder but wiser decision of turning her in to the police.  Second, she was willing to cooperate with someone she barely knew (Godot), even to the point of taking a dead body and impaling it with a statue’s sword -- that took some guts, I’ll admit, but it also landed her in prison.  And third, she was willing to take the fall for everyone involved in the plan to stop Dahlia in case something went wrong.  Whether she decided to do that out of guilt for her past sins, or for some other reason, it was still highly questionable at best.  Take the blame for a murder I didn’t commit and let Godot have his way?  Sure, why not?

All that being said, I also believe that she managed to forgive herself after everything was out in the open.  Most of Iris’s responses were written by someone else (the ones with lowercase tags were written by the Mod), but I guess I have sort of portrayed her as still feeling guilty about her masquerade, and that does seem a bit out of character now that you mention it, so I’ll try to keep that in mind for future letters to her.  Thanks for bringing it up.

Also, while we’re on this subject, this comparison reminded me of this letter that I sent back before I was a moderator.  It’s sort of heartwarming, isn’t it?

(You were so sweet sometimes, Mod...  *sniffle*)

-Co-Mod and Mod Paups

[pancoleon]

Baccano Rewatch Rambling Commentary

So. due to having a long and fun talk about Baccano at MCM Manchester, I felt like rewatching the anime and OH BOY I forgot how the first episode goes, so I decided I might as well do (spoilery) commentary on here as I rewatch. Don’t expect anything written nicely or concisely, I do the numberwang, not the wordidoo.

This is the first 3 episodes and because I ramble like hell and I do reference the books, it’s a “Read More”. I apologize in advance, but “Short Form” has never been a thing I can manage. This is me essentially writing down what I say to myself while watching it. I added the formatting later, but I want to keep the rambling as in tact as possible, partly out of laziness and partly out of interest in looking back later and seeing what was going through my head.

Episode 1

I forgot just how much time is spent with the discussion between (Christ me, you literally saw this half an hour ago, how have you already forgotten her name!?) *Carol* (Thanks Baccano wiki, and by extension most likely thanks Rev) and Gustav St Germain. Looking back after reading the books, I like the fact that they used the paper explosion scene and would have loved to see that reappear later had they continued the anime. That would’ve been a nice scene of the anime doing a foreshadow of a scene to come while not making it blatantly so, and that final context would’ve probably put an extra spin on things. (Oh boy, it’s really clear I can’t write short sentences…)

The scenes foreshadowing Book 6 (Was it? I lose track. Either way, the Mist Wall book.) really hurt me. I’d have loved to see Christopher, Adele, (Heck, ALL THE HOMUNCULI) and Maria, along with seeing Ronnie just be Ronnie and fuckin’ be extra as hell with the help of essentially Omnipotent powers.

The sequence initially showing Firo... Y'know, I remember this properly, but I have to say I prefer the book version? In the books, it’s before he becomes immortal and he avoids getting hit by the knife in the first place. I feel that while how this scene was rewritten means it’s good for revealing his immortality, the books help show that he is rather suspicious as a character, which works well considering his discomfort from the fact that even after becoming immortal he is careful due to the knowledge that there *is* a way to kill him. Then again, I’m not a literary master and the change probably works considering the more carefree Firo you see in the show.

I like the setup for the Flying Pussyfoot (even if I’m sad the stuff being called in doesn’t pay off due to them not using Vino in the 1932 arc that *should* be Drugs and Dominoes). What you know from the first episode is:

that the train’s been swapped out do to an “accident”

there’s an assassin on there,

there’s immortals on there,

there’s bombs on there,

a bunch of corpses and a murderous guy with no arm and a woman he’s talking of killing litter the tracks (On an off hand note, I thought that Ladd actually killed Lua there when I initially watched Baccano),

and that the people that are leaving the train are the thieves mentioned earlier (who if you pay attention are probably immortal),

the immortal child (Funny how early it’s revealed that Czes is immortal in comparison to the books),

and a group of people of which the middle one seems to be in great pain.

You also know of an unknown figure reading an unknown message about finding someone, but that’s rather late in the story.

Point is, you are swiftly shown a lot of information you probably won’t piece everything together from, but will help give you one specific idea: Something bad happened on the Flying Pussyfoot and that (probably) included the supernatural.

Episode 2

Okay, I’ll now be writing as things happen, so I might remember names this time! And before I start, let me say this at least once. “Hah! Flying Pussyfoot is a silly name!”

I like the fact they left in the couple where the woman just calls stuff in advance.

I have to say, I am love with Isaac and Miria’s logic. “If we mine, we’re stealing from the earth!”. Along with that, the story of them being shouted at for panning for gold in other people’s land is something I want to hear more about. I’m being reminded that I damn well wish I knew more about Japanese Mythology to be able to directly pinpoint where Isaac went wrong.

Oh, and the letter from Ennis. I like how this directly implies than Ennis is not actually human without going “SHE’S A HUMONCULUS, NOT HUMAN” and then quickly makes you forget about that by having I&M start talking about this clearly means she wants a brother, rather than there having been previous people before her who were destroyed before she was created.

(Oh shit, this is gonna get looooooooong, I haven’t got past the I&M scene yet). This is followed by perfectly showing what I&M are like, by having them figure out how do to a train robbery. i.e not how you actually do one. And then I&M go to the train station, move past the Lemures, and then as they talk about the “Orchestra”, the camera zooms in on Rachel. If only the Dub hadn’t specified Vino’s gender, people might’ve thought she was Vino, that’s how the books spun it anyway. And then we get to Claire, who starts talking before coming on screen and has a conversation with Tony just before Tony gets murdered. It would have been nice if the other conductor got a couple lines here, but this does set up Claire’s anger at Tony being dead later on nicely.

Meanwhile, best panicking wreck of a leader, Jacuzzi Splot, explains what his group are doing on the train, namely stealing something. Then the anime moves focus from Nice to Czes, nicely implying that their aims/jobs are related. I’ll stop listing what happens now, but OH JEEZ I LOVE THE CUTS AND PANS AND FOCUS CHANGES. I don’t know much about cinematography, but this feels good to me. 

So to abridge a conversation: Nice: Why don’t you ask them? You might make some new friends. Jacuzzi: (Panics a bit) I don’t wanna. Nice then persuades Jacuzzi to go talk to Isaac and Miria. Not much meaning, but I just wanted to say, SAAAAAAME Jacuzzi. If not for @thingsarenotwholesome taking the place of Nice, I wouldn’t talk to a lot of people. but yeah, then Jacuzzi starts crying because he thinks he’s nothing but some delinquent. Props to I&M for supporting him in the only way they know: By being lovely, funny and acting ridiculously.

Some day Narita, I’d like to see how much of this is them faking it to avoid a bad topic and how much of it is their own joy in insanity. I just can’t accept “They’re a bit mad” with no other details, because even if Isaac routinely gets stuff wrong, he’s weirdly well read. I also love the fact that Jon and Fang spend their time calling out bullshit and commenting on what’s happening. It gives a nice contrast of the straight man, while not overpowering I&M and also properly showing what their influence on Jacuzzi is.

I like that the voice acting makes it clear that Czes struggled to say his own name. Clearly from the immortal thing. Good Dub there.

The Lemures in general feel much cultier than when I was reading the books. Perhaps because in the books the individual greed for immortality in the members is made clear before the operation starts, whereas this has them speak of their unwavering loyalty (yeah fucking right) to Huey Laforet, while the Conductor preaches about how this is all for the sake of freeing their “Glorious Leader”. Shame there’s a Claire on board.

Episode 3

And we start with poor Eve Genoard looking for Dallas, too bad some other poor person has him. [Edit Note: Look, you can’t expect me to remember every detail of the books perfectly, I barely remember what I had to eat most days]

 I love the Daily Days and their information based business model. The Runorata Goons just got to experience information based capitalism.

Well, I might have to source the music playing while Lua and Ladd are dancing. This is also the first scene where Lua doesn’t seem to only be some poor girl who was forced into something by Ladd, but someone who actually wants to be with Ladd.

I love Randy and Pecho, those glove burning fools. I’m also starting to realise how damn good this show is at giving you information in off-hand comments. From their short conversation we know they’re friends with Firo and that there’ll be a party, while also starting the fire that kickstarts the events of the Rolling Bootlegs.

Similarly, the anime then goes on to show that Firo is joining the Camorra as a Capo and that I&M are in town at the time. This is also why I’m writing so much, BECAUSE THEY MAKE SUCH GOOD USE OF THE TIME GIVEN. This reminds me though. Narratively, in the books, the hobo attempting to stab Firo happens just before the hat shop. I damn well wish we could properly place that scene somewhere chronologically in the show.  It could literally any time still during the depression after Firo becomes immortal.

The fight between Firo and Dallas' Gang really does show the fighting talent Firo has in an impressive way, which again makes Firo getting cut in episode 1 more frustrating.

And here is the first big change to Rolling Bootlegs! Firo does not have the time nor the bottles to swap about his wine with the immortality potion for the heck of it. I'm not sure how I feel about this change, but I will commend the 2016 Manga for keeping to the books on this. 

And then Jacuzzi finds the two corpses in the Conductors Wagon, which is surprising when you’re first watching considering we *know* the murderous conductor was using a gun, not sawing off people's faces.(Goddammit it Claire, kill cleaner) You could explain the second corpse as being the white suit we see get the uniform in the second episode, but if you’re looking at the corpses, the body with the face torn off is the one that looks like the Young Conductor, not the Lemure Conductor. This isn’t exactly important considering it’s revealed later, but i like that the detail can be seen. Hey, this anime is doing a better job at the Mystery genre than BBC’s Sherlock!

And at the end, with the faceoff in the Dinner Wagon, I'm calling it a night.

Well, I'll be posting this in the morning evening after as I'll be doing some formatting at my PC tomorrow, but it's midnight and I'm rather tired after MCM Manchester.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Shield Hero 11 - 13 | Price of Smiles 12 (FINAL) | Morose Mononokean II 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Spec Ops Asuka 11 - 12 (FINAL) | My Roommate is a Cat 12 (FINAL) | Mob Psycho 100 II 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Yu-No 1 | Fruits Basket (2019) 1 | We Never Learn 1 | Kimetsu no Yaiba 1 | Kono Oto Tomare! 1 | Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin 1 | Fairy Gone 1 | Rendai Utena 1

Notably, Sarazanmai’s first ep isn’t here, but it’s a huge contender for making my spring watchlist.

Shield Hero 11

Okay, someone’s trying to remind me of Goblin Slayer, aren’t they…? *grumble grumble grumble*

I wonder if Naofumi has a Thunder move like those guys…?

Why isn’t Raphtalia, who was cursed by Rage Shield, affected, but Filo, who was eaten by the zombie dragon, is???

Price of Smiles 12 (FINAL)

Is Huey…not an a$$? Is he just really tsundere…?

Fingers don’t move that way, Layla…

Post-credits segment. Keep watching…

I feel like making Stella and Yuki meet off the back of Layla’s death was a bit much and pushing the button together was a bit…much-er, if that’s a concept. Anyways, see you next time!

Morose Mononokean II 12

The Cobweb = Above the Spider (by literally translating that ep title, that is).

I’m finally listening to Koura’s voice. Koura sounds like she’s always teasing Itsuki…

Jinja = Shinto shrine. That nuance is missing from the translation.

Why did that one track (when Itsuki was escaping) sound like Mission Impossible…?

What’s an analeptic? I can’t seem to pause the video…Update: Apparently my ad blocker was stuffing with the pause button. Also, an analeptic appars to be a restorative drug, or describing a drug as restorative.

Rippou sounds so enthusiastic (sarcastic) when Shizuku offers to make him tea.

Spec Ops Asuka 11

Wat. A girl in Thailand going “nya”? Update: Uhh…apparently the girl in Thailand…was Peipei??? Wuh???

Hmm…I never actually put 2 and 2 together regarding karate and the whip. It makes sense in retrospect, though.

“…sever the…” – Sever the…what, exactly?

I thought human!Giess didn’t exist anymore under that armour…so seeing him surprised me.

Sometimes I feel like I sympathise with Chisato more than Asuka or Kurumi…that’s how developed Chisato is.

Mob Psycho 100 II 12

Serizawa is playing Bomberman.

I like the symbolism of the umbrella as a “light”.

My Roommate is a Cat 12 (FINAL)

The ep title is “Kimi to Boku to” (You and I and…). Presumably it should end with “everyone else”…or something.

Wait, wasn’t Subaru’s umbrella handle round before??? It’s straight now!

What a waste of a perfectly good umbrella!

Somehow I knew Subaru would go to Nana once he needed cat knowledge.

*Subaru rescues Haru* - *cue Lion King song* Ahhhhhhh ze ban yaaaaaaaaaaa…or something like that.

Why is it that I want a dub for this so…darn���badly???!!! Wait…*record scratch* it already has one. Scratch that.

Shield Hero 12

“I can’t stop trembling,” Raphtalia says as she stands there, still as a statue…geesh.

I’d assume there’s a Meteor Shield in there for Naofumi as well…?

Come to think of it, we never learnt that weapon merchant guy’s name until now, huh? Elhart. I’ll try my best to remember it.

Spec-Ops Asuka 12 (FINAL)

Twin-headed Dragon Peipei, huh?

Morose Mononokean II 13 (FINAL)

*Fuzzy gets punched away* - Fuzzy, noooooooo!

In the same way Mob became a so-called “bishonen” for s2 ep 5 of his show, Hanae became kind of hot – but also kind of weird – for the finale.

Notably, the “Ashiya” Abeno is referring to is only Hanae…not Sakae at all. Hmm.

Mob Psycho 100 II 13 (FINAL)

“Bishonen” Mob returns!

I keep getting the feeling that Mob will sacrifice himself this episode. It’s a very Mob thing to do, but…I worry about him, because without him we have no show.

*explosion* - I wanna yell “KANEDAAAAAAAAAA!” Is that appropriate for this scene?

I LOLled at Dimple wearing Serizawa’s chunk of hair, haha.

Anyways, that was way too fun (and way too worrying at the end). See you next time!

Yu-No 1

Okay, first episode of this particularly meager season…coming right up!

I’ve never had to watch an ep on phone for subs before…I much prefer a bigger screen.

Okay…as soon as I heard Potato-kun say “Panties?” I knew I was in for a bad time. I’m watching based on the title and the series image, not the fact it’s based on an adult VN.

I can’t believe we have to be told about these ladies from the guys first…I feel sorry for Yuki.

I-Is Arima-mama the kind of person one would call a “MILF”…? I dunno since I don’t swing that way.

Seriously, how long ago did Potato-kun’s father die??? (I know his name is Arima Takuya, but…he’s “Potato-kun” to me, even as a joke.)

Potato-kun is so obviously following his…pen island, so to speak.

Ah, Potato-kun. The only time you make me laugh is when you humiliate yourself on public news. Thank goodness this show isn’t particularly lewd…yet.

It’s like Grand Blue…only with less drinking.

Seriously, why does Yuki call Potato-kun “boss”???

The one time I hear the name “Neumann”, it’s this time travel show, of all things…*remembers von Neumann architecture* Yup, that’s where I remember his name from. By the by, Googling “Neumann space” yields this site on travelling to the…stars? Wrong frontier, folks.

Okay, that was probably the least exciting way to pull off a big reveal like that. Drop.

Shield Hero 13

To be honest…I like Rise better…

“You’re are surrounded.” – I know you’re in a hurry to sub your content, CR subbers, but seriously?????

It’s always funny to see Motoyasu get a good socking from Filo, LOL.

Fruits Basket 1

I have zero experience with OG Fruits Basket outside 1 episode I didn’t really finish (but finishd the entire manga and may have caught a tiny bit of it - not enough to mark on anyone’s anime list as “complete” - while it was on TV), so…this’ll be interesting.

This is exactly as I remember it! Beautifulllllllllllll…so beautiful I wanna cry…(Keep in mind I binged most of the manga years ago, so it’s getting harder and harder to remember the exact story every day.)

Holeeeeeeeeeeee…sugar. I just realised how old Fruits Basket is! Also, rumour has it Motoko has differently coloured hair in the OG version, but I didn’t watch (or didn’t remember) that part, so…I don’t have a standard to hold her up to, really. Plussssss…I love how Motoko and her Prince Yuki fanclub are like Mean Girls. The reason I had to check up how old Fruits Basket is is because of that comparison. Mean Girls is from 2004, thereby being 5 or 6 years younger than Fruits Basket.

The angelic “ahhhhh” in the background really sold how good Tohru’s food was (for Hanajima).

This CGI fan is going to haunt me until the end of my days, isn’t it…?

Ouch…I think I just realised why Fruits Basket is so powerful (at the part where Tohru is working hard at her job). It resonates strongly with those who are lost in life. I found I couldn’t really relate when I first read it though, which may have been attributed to the fact I was…what, 13?...at the time.

Shigure, you a$$!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna kick you for laughing at poor Tohru!!!!!!!!!!!

Photorealistic clouds…no. I think that Indian festival with the dye (I don’t remember which one it is off the top of my head) happened to my eyes…(i.e. my eyes…my poor eyes…)

I didn’t think Vickeblanka was capable of doing slower songs. This song’s kinda nice…but only because I heard the last few seconds of the ending (the rest was obscured by background noise and I don’t have time to play it again).

Between the comment about Shigure and the comment about the clouds, I was internally bawling about how stupid and spoilt I’d become. This is the power of Fruits Basket!

We Never Learn 1

Hmm…I thought the manga of this (or what I saw of it, at least) was kinda vanilla, so…this’ll be an experience, one way or another.

Yuiga’s face game is spot-on, LOL.

Aw, this show encourages the growth mindset…how cute. *does Kaguya-sama face*

The eyecatch is about what classes the main trio are in, but Furuhashi is taking it as related to boob size…*sigh*

The sign just says “library”. There’s no need to contextualise it more than that…

Yup, this is vanilla like ice cream…

Come to think of it, why did I pick this series up? I’ve read the manga parts that correspond to this episode…Well, I remember when this series was still new. I think it was that it was refreshing to see these guys so gung-ho about uni, because recently I’ve been in doubt about my own future (and to tell the truth, I’ve been thinking different things about what I want to do at different stages of my life anyway). I’ve literally only settled on the things I’m doing because I suck at everything else, but I can do whatever I put my mind to…for most things I try. Much like Fruits Basket is for those who are lost in life, We Never Learn is an affirmation that you can change your future…or something like that, anyway.

…The disembodied mouths creep me out…anyways, this show isn’t bad, it isn’t 100% a keeper either (unless I get co-opted into a collab for it). It’s just squarely in the middle.

Boob grope…eesh. That brought down the keeping factor down a little.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 1

[big chunk of information redacted because it’s me stressing over what has to be done before I go overseas...and also it reveals I had a collab for this lined up, which I’m trying to keep a surprise at the time this post went out]

To be honest, I don’t like 1st person cam.

Hmm…there’s more CGI than I’d like to admit is in here…

I remember reading a while ago that the “Tan” in Tanjiro is the word for “charcoal”.

Take = bamboo, and he’s a woodcutter kid. LOL.

This is exactly as I remember it! It’s kinda cool, since the smelling thing is obviously foreshadowing.

I remember I didn’t quite get the idea that Nezuko was growing in size in the manga…well, now I just did.

Oh-hoh-hoh-hohhhhhhh! Giyu Tomioka, me boy! There he is!

I didn’t know Giyu Tomioka was basically a ninja, LOL.

This is definitely one of the better series out there this season. It might not be the best due to its sheer amount of shonen trappings, but it’s still dang good! (I like Giyu Tomioka already, but now that I think of it, I’d like to see Lightning Boy in action within the show and not just the OP…hmm.)

[Sarazanmai 1 is not here because I saw it at the anime club first. I do intend to cover subsequent episodes here though…]

Kono Oto Tomare! 1

I find Funi’s video player unwieldy, to be honest. Maybe it’s because I’m too used to CR’s…

Oh! It seems like the Defence Club has a legacy now!

Surprisingly, this is very funny…!

Hmm…this seems like a show where you should ship people, but there doesn’t seem to be enough of a connection between anyone that I can see anyone shipping. I guess that’s why this thing is basically a shoujo in appearance, huh…?

By the way, who’s “Nadeshiko”? Takezo…?

Do you guys even know what a koto is? If you do, that’s great, but if you don’t, you’re going to have to infer…that’s a bit nasty for an ancient instrument the West doesn’t know about. Then again, this clearly isn’t something made for the West.

I’m wondering why the culprits confessed so easily…

Well, that was…alright. I went “aw” more than I expected and laughed more than expected. It’s not going to top the other shows I’ve got though.

Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin 1

For some reason, I’m just not used to calling this show “Midnight Occult Civil Servants”…that sounds clunky. That’s why I’m calling it “Mayonaka” for short…oh yeah, right now Funi is undergoing maintenance which is why I had to shuffle Mayonaka forward. I was meant to be doing Fairy Gone in this slot, to be honest with you.

Hmm…*thinks about time talking with Plyasm* *thinks about how Seo trid to kick this Reiji Kyoichi person* I see a resemblance here…with the kicking and all…Update: There is a guy called “Reiji” in this show, I just read “Kyoichi” wrong because I was trying to type up comments here.

Somehow it never actually occurred to me that Seo was a gender-neutral name. I’m normally quite good with these things…or maybe it was Ply keeping me up late that’s making me not notice…or even the fact I’m not listening to Seo’s voice, since that’s sometimes a hint to a person’s gender in particularly ambiguous cases (I’m currently not listening to the audio). Update: Okay, that’s definitely a man’s voice coming from the effeminate-looking Seo.

Oh yes…I forgot to mention, this show does an awful lot of telling and not showing.

I keep noting this episode is set on April Fool’s Day…what a day for pranking, huh?

I’ve seen a Cait Sith in anime before…so there’s a dog version too (Cu Sith), huh?

Tape? That’s so mundane…then again, I guess this is what happens when you have boring jobs in interesting places, huh? Reminds me a lot of my own stabs at this kind of story.

This is…angel-tengu Romeo and Juliet…

Now this is the real Reiji…I think?

Ohhhhhhh crab balls…these CGI angels look terrible.

I never thought cherry blossoms could look so terrible…urgh.

I’m of two minds when it comes to this show – on the one hand, I like its plot (it’s better than Charlotte in this field, at least). It’s a bit cliched, but it might lose against competition like Sarazanmai or even Kono Oto Tomare. On the other hand, its visuals are kinda…ugly.

Fairy Gone 1

Fa-Fanatica…? What sort of name is that??? (That’s not a good sign if I question the first name on the screen now, is it?)

Lay Dawn, would you please…lay down? (Okay, that joke only works with a particular pronunciation of “down”, but you get the bad pun…right? Right?)

So this is Spec-Ops Asuka without the huge boobs, I expect? That would make Fairy Gone at least 10 points (on my anime list) better than the thing I’m comparing it with.

I think the tiny symbols under most of the credits are stylised English, although I was looking at a credit for a guy with the surname Yamamoto and it wasn’t quite working.

The CGI is one of the better efforts I’ve seen, but still slightly obvious.

Veronica’s run reminds me of Akira from Devilman Crybaby. You know the one GIF of him running while leaning forward at an impossible angle? That one.

Post-credits scene…keep watching.

This is another anime Jesus…(the first one was Kagura’s dad in Ga Rei Zero.)

Rendai Utena 1

(Update: This was an anime I had to watch via VPN. Notably, the last time I resorted to one was B Project...however, no one remembers that but me, so the last big time I had to use a VPN was for Sakamoto Desu Ga?.)

Uh…yeah. This is the one Buddha anime this season. But before you run off, screaming about how blasphemous I must be to Buddhists, I’ll have you know I was originally not intending to watch this…if you know me well enough, you’ll know I like bishies. Only after I compiled my to-watch list for this season did one of the star bishies show up and convince me to watch…yeah, now you can run away screaming. (Oh and if you’re interested as to what image caught my attention enough to make me watch a show…it’s the top image on this CR page – not the thumbnail, the other top image.)

Okayyyyyyy…for a show about bishies, you sure aren’t capturing me right now with this plight of a salaryman.

Aw, dangit. I actually liked the few moments this was a zombie anime! Give me High School of the Dead, but with bishies instead of jiggly-boob girls! *shakes fist at cloud*

Oh, great…I can’t even tell who’s who around here. They even had little name cards and everything! So much for my great memory…*grumble grumble* But hey, at least I recognise some names…not from being Buddhist, but from other anime. I mean, Miroku is the guy from Inuyasha and Fudo Myouou is the guy who inspired Okurikara in Touken Ranbu, yeah?

Uh, hey. Isn’t sloth meant to be a vice? Isn’t “lounging around” a vice???

Another thing. I get the feeling that putting these guys in tracksuits is just trying to coast on the success of Touken Ranbu. Touken Ranbu is nice, but only because I was familiar with the source game and a bit about the fandom. This? I have no such basis.

Lotus Head – Bonten – his nagging is starting to get on my nerves already. I came for Taishakuten, not you!

Yeah…even in Touken Ranbu, they have washing machines. Convenience, but also…vice in terms of that old-timey Buddha stuff, I guess…? Update: Actually, I thought about it and I don’t think they’ve ever shown a washing machine in Hanamaru, but I think they might’ve had a fridge.

Wait, wait, wait…the bird was a bishie tooooooooo?????????????? I think that’s the biggest bending my brain’s going to get all premiere season (for this season)! Even more so than the entire debut of Sarazanmai!

Wait, wait, wait…Bonten likes porridge?! D’ya mean “congee” or “oatmeal” kinda porridge? I can’t tell because I’ve got the volume off, but if it’s the latter then Bonten wouldn’t have known about it. Update: It appears to be the latter. How Bonten would’ve ever known about porridge…I don’t know.

New aesthetic – Taishakuten’s hair. I like me a man with a ponytail (which is why I fell hook, line and sinker for him in the first place), but his hair done up like it is in the bath…*swoons, then goes back to normal* That is all.

What’s up with Paomi anyway…? And…this is kinda petty if the central conflict is just getting Shaka to get off cooking duties. That’s too low a conflict for even Hanamaru, methinks.

So…you introduce all these Buddha guys and then expect me to care about some human who doesn’t even have a name? Wuh…?

Okayyyyyyy…I’ve never seen an earthquake that was that fast before.

Wait, wait, huh???????? The guy who voices Taishakuten is…Choreo (Brave Beats)??????????? Oh no, I should’ve listened to it! Anyways, I’ve decided I’m dropping it, simply because if I want Taishakuten only for his looks, I can just find a wallpaper of him.