#insane loser capitalists: the show

[dazesanddoodles]

bellbottom business pants, thoughts?

[mail-me-a-snail]

kicking my legs in the air. tell us more abt silvervance i am fascinated with whatever they've got going on

i mean. god where do i even begin.

so first off there's their main tag where i put all the posts that even vaguely remind me of them............like there are posts in there i would not show to my irls let alone god.

anyway. silvervance is the ship ever. they're both products of arasaka's influence, whether thru their own free will (in vance's case, or so he'd like to believe) or otherwise (in johnny's, vis-a-vis his eponymous prosthetic arm). they both manufactured their identities for an audience wider than themselves. they both recognize this similarity between them.

when vance came back 2 life with johnny in his head, he saw himself in johnny and he didnt like what he saw.

but as u know, in game canon, vance had no choice but to suck it up and bear the ghost's anti-corp, anti-capitalist, anti-night-city, rambling. oh woe! woe! is johnny silverhand, night city's last rockerboy turned co-pilot for arasaka's missing asset.

the thing is. the thing is. with everyone telling vance that the best course of action would be to excise johnny--with hellman telling him point blank that its not possible as well--he doesn't want johnny gone.

johnny becomes second nature to him, more than just a poltergeist who offers him snippy quips and lame one-liners. who likes annoying the hell out of him or who likes making him laugh by doing bits of physical comedy that johnny knows only vance will see.

he just grows to have so much. affection for this man. this man loser who he wishes he had known when things might've been simpler between them.

in the hypothetical good ending for silvervance where they get their own bodies, they're gonna move out to some colder state, somewhere that snows. they're gonna move as far away from local civilization as possible. but they're still gonna find merc work together because neither of them are quite suited to a domestic life.

they take each other's poisons when they finally separate; vance grows wolfish and snarky and johnny goes quiet and smiles a little too much like a dog, lips curled over his teeth. vance is brash and a risk-taker; johnny is loyal to someone other than himself for once.

they'll eat each other alive one of these days. they could not think of a better set of teeth to do it than one that so closely resembles their own.

in my heart n soul i know they find each other in every universe. not that they will happen upon each other; that they'll actively look for the other, not knowing who it is they're looking for at first, but just knowing that there is someone out there for them. i don't usually like throwing the term soulmate around but it's something a lot like that.

they'll find each other in the corpo rat au, they'll find each other in the father vance au, they'll even find each other in the ending where vance stayed with arasaka. there's no separating them and it drives me bonkers. insane, even. i wrote four fics in a haze for them bc of how much they drive me up a wall

anyway ty for the ask <3

[cannibalismyuri]

coming out as a passive jopper hater bc the insane level of capitalist pandering they did with s3 (with ERICA who is like. one of the worst, stereotyped portrayals of a black girl ive ever seen, bless her heart) was truly crazy. combine that with the copaganda and the general attitude of hopper in s3 which was played off as 'awkward loser guy doesnt know what to do with Feelings more at 8' was a bit .... Eh :/ to me. because it is so obviously a fictional character and show but like. disliking hopper/jopper bc of the ideals st is perpetuating and the fact that they arent compatible at All in s3 (to me, atleast) is valid. some ppl might just think that jopper is unhealthy and/or 'overrated'. because they do sort of pay a disproportionate amount of attention to jopper, compared to the other canon romantic ships (afaik, bc of the screen time counter) and that can be Weird, esp with the... how should i say this? balancer/savior role hopper takes in the relationship (we constantly see him placating joyce, sometimes even being slightly patronizing, and also they place a lot of importance on him saving joyce from a lot of stuff, which is cool and sick if it wasnt for the fact that it directly correlates with him being a cop, yk). and the general power imbalance bc he's a Cop and abuses his position of power constantly, and that is exactly Why anything that joyce does is seen as a #insane girlboss category 5 woman moment because she simply has the short stick in the power race and when she does manage to make an impact DESPITE her economic/social/'general uselessness in say in Major decision-making when it comes to authorities' shortcomings it is seen as an amazing win. hopper on his own is extremely fleshed out as well, because we get to see his arc play out with his relationships with his daughter and ex-wife and el and re-learning how to be a parent and how to not let love allude him, and that is lovely! it's so great to see the adults in the show being focused on! but joyce is absolutely disregarded and underdeveloped as a character of her own right outside of her relationships with hopper or her kids. we see that she is determined and a force to be reckoned with and that she cares very deeply for the people she loves and would go to insane lengths for them but all that doesn't Mean anything, because we never see a backstory for her. we never figure out who she is without her family or hopper, or what her motives and aspirations and emotional shortcomings and stumbles and mistakes are. for a character to be fully fleshed out, they need to be an interesting, refreshing and palatable character On Their Own without their relationships with other characters, and we just don't see that with joyce. like u have Thee winona ryder on ur show, and u forsake developing her character in favor of developing hopper's character with /not the best taste/ and causing her to be a blank slate of a mother, lover, woman and friend, but not a PERSON. all she's been reduced to is a Mother and Hopper's Girlfriend, and honestly, that's the worst decision they could've made in relation to her and her relationship with hopper.

anyway, all this to say; these are my thoughts on the matter, but i'm definitely not hating on people who enjoy jopper passively and DEFINITELY not any by/ler (the most predominant fandom im part of in the parent fandom of st) who enjoys them as a ship with their own dynamic separate from canon. because the by/ler fandom is NOT a monolith and nobody is obligated to agree with me or change their opinion if it doesn't align with mine or be forced to look at my opinion and feel bad for shipping anything. im not going to act Holier Than Thou for expressing my opinion and u should definitely continue shipping jopper if it makes u happy! as long everybody recognizes the copaganda and capitalist mindset grind propaganda shit in st (which is Pretty Obvious) and respects that while shipping what they want, i have no problem with it. all that is to say; peace and fucking love. can we (the by/ler fandom) stop fighting abt jopper we all have our own opinions this is bc we are Not a hivemind or a monolith and not obligated to have the same opinions relating to all aspects of st just because we happen to ship one thing. i am a hater and a lover

[talkingbl]

GMMTV 2024 Part 2: Winners and Losers

Losers

GMMTV as a whole by creating shows for ships instead of ships for shows. They really pulled the KristSingto and (seemingly) EstWilliam shows out of their asses just to give these two pairs something to star in. And even to the shows based on works by others, I feel like they looked for ships first, concept second.

Now, that's not to say none of those series will be good. On the contrary, I am highly anticipating Thame-Po, for example. Just that it's not a good way to get the best content. But it makes money and Thailand is a capitalist economy, so I guess that's expected.

Perfect10 Liners. Yawn.

Winners

The Heart Killers. While I'm not sure exactly what the plot is supposed to be, it does seem intriguing and the chemistry between both pairs is off the charts. I don't think I've seen FirstKhao in a more natural posture, and JoongDunk are actually trying to act a little here. I do hope they minimize the comedy aspect (since this seems like a cross between a thriller and a rom-com), but this is gmmtv and it stars JoongDunk alongside a (in my opinion) much more talented pair of actors. It seems that Jojo Tichakorn is at the helm on this one so I am only cautiously anticipating... Lately, Jojo has a habit of literally changing his stories after they've been shot in order to satisfy viewers. He's not as bad as aof who takes edgy concepts and makes them boring, but he's starting to show creativity-stifling behaviors that I don't appreciate.

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist. I really hope GMMTV does two things with this script: 1) condense the backstory of how they got together and focus on the vlogger/food review couple aspect, and 2) give their relationship an obstacle that will be difficult to surmount in the present timeline.

I will say, this storyline is not new at all, but it helps a lot that Mark and Ohm's chemistry is unique among the GMMTV lineup, they look INSANE together, and they're both improving as actors with each role.

Thame-Po Heart That Skips A Beat. I honestly thought WilliamEst was just in everyone's imagination because I literally have not seen any content of them. But then...OH BOY BUT THEN...the Thame-Po trailer dropped!

I usually hate to see singers in acting roles because usually either the talent or the passion (or both) is lacking. But William seemed competent in the trailer. It helps that the storyline is just his regular life with a few curveballs thrown in, but it works well enough.

And then Est...oh boy EST. He really shocked me in this trailer. Not only is he portraying a wide range of emotions through his eyes quite well, but he's also doing an excellent job at playing off of William. He is my favorite part of the trailer and makes me wonder what he'd be like next to a more seasoned actor. (Nothing against William, of course).

To address the elephant in the room: I think most people were expecting a traditional seme-uke type of pairing with Est being seme-coded. But I like the fact that they didn't really code the story in this way.

[kid-az]

Make a list of villains from any media that you can’t bring yourself to hate

Ummm okay this is kinda at the top of my head lol! This will all be villains who were intended to be hated.

Amalthus (Xenoblade Chronicles 2): A villain with an extremely tragic backstory and still having some humanity while still being an utterly despicable POS.

Luxaar (Xenoblade Chronicles X): This loser is probs the biggest downgrade in villainy I’ve ever seen in a videogame franchise. From absolutely amazing villains like Metal Face, Egil and Zanza to some hideous frog slug man whose only character trait is being a speciest asshole who gets zero respect from Anyone, allies and enemies alike. He doesn’t even get acknowledged by the main characters until the FINAL CHAPTER OF THE MAIN STORY! The fact he sucks so much as a villain makes him oddly endearing in an ironic, memetic way. His lines are also surprisingly good.

Jason Dante (Uncharted: Golden Abyss): Def intended to be a hateable asshole yet he’s extremely hilarious and endearing due to his quips and how no one respects him and the story is aware of that, making him an underdog villain. From the get go Nathan and everyone else just looks down on him. Plus bro got to die on his own terms, getting to die in an ancient treasure room full of (Low) radioactive gold while screaming at Nathan about how he leaves empty-handed.

Every character in Cruelty Squad (Cruelty Squad): Almost all of them are sick, rotten, morally depraved, completely insane psychotic pieces of shit who also, like the rest of the game, are an absolute hideous eyesore to look at. All of this is intended to present the themes of Cruelty Squad, as well as present a unique ascetic for a biopunk, quasi-capitalist-theocratic dystopia.

The Shadow Queen (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door): For how little screentime she gets she STEALS the entire show for how utterly terrifying she is! I rlly hope the Remake does her well!

Osmund Saddler (Resident Evil 4 Remake): Terrifying bastard man who proceeds to chant about the Plagas in his boss battle, honestly his entire boss battle and the cutscenes go absolutely hard and ham.

The End (Sonic Frontiers): Not so much for them as much as how they serve the overall role and characters of the ancients, and how they’re attempted survival and extinction drives the entire plot and themes of the game, plus the Ancient’s descendants the Chao are cute! Also I’m With You should’ve been included in the Supreme End in someway!

[mightyflamethrower]

America’s Wind Industry Implodes: More Offshore Projects Scrapped

In the US the offshore wind industry is completely underwater, in every sense. The insane cost of attempting to (occasionally) generate electricity with no commercial value in hostile marine environments has finally caught up. Projects are being scrapped in the same way that punters rip up their betting slips when their long-shot nag fails to place.

Hubris is never far away when it comes to crony capitalists and rent-seekers promoting projects that were always too good to be true. That hubris worked a treat while gullible governments were merrily forking out endless streams of taxpayer’s money to prop up one of the greatest Ponzi schemes, of all time.

However, in recent times the politics of power have turned toxic. Power consumers are increasingly hostile to their ever-escalating power bills. With one eye firmly on the ballot box, politicos have rejected calls for even more massive subsidies from wind power outfits in the form of fixed-priced contracts at ludicrous prices – that would ultimately be added to those already crippling power bills.

All of that means wind power outfits are being squeezed on both sides – with rising construction and operating costs and shrinking subsidies (in real terms, at least).

Call it the beginning of the end, but things look less than rosy for the cats who have been wallowing in oodles of other people’s money for almost 20 years – as these pieces from the New York Post explain.

Collapse of projects shows again that wind power is not affordable New York Post James Hanley 2 November 2023

The renewable-power fantasy is being blown apart by furious financial headwinds.

Already this year projects have tumbled in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and now Danish wind-power giant Ørsted has canceled two wind farms in New Jersey.

Over and over, the litany of causes is the same: inflation, higher interest rates that drive up capital costs and severe kinks in the supply chain.

These same problems are slamming proposed offshore-wind projects in New York as developers make final decisions on whether to start building turbines or cut their losses before they get worse.

Seeing that the wild cost increases threaten to make their projects unprofitable, these companies went hat-in-hand to the state’s Public Service Commission asking for increases of 35% to 65% on the price of electricity they hope to generate.

But the commission declined to dig deeper into ratepayers’ wallets, sending them away empty-handed.

The four companies behind these prospective wind farms have all taken big hits to their balance sheets. Equinor has written its value down by $300 million.

All this chaos caused a top BP executive to lament that the offshore-wind industry is “fundamentally broken.”

Indeed — and yet this broken industry is what New York’s climate activists have pinned their clean-energy hopes on.

If offshore wind had to compete on the free market, we wouldn’t even be talking about it.

The levelized cost of energy from natural gas is around $37 per megawatt hour.

The contracts the wind-energy companies struck with the state sets offshore wind’s price at $118 per megawatt-hour, three times as expensive as gas but still not enough to make turbines turn a profit.

To get out of the red, the firms had begged the PSC to jack up the price to between $140 and $190 per megawatt-hour.

These wind farms will almost certainly be built someday, even if the current contract-holders back out and the state has to rebid them.

And if it does, every bidding company will demand higher prices, socking ratepayers across the state with higher bills to subsidize them.

This is the danger of letting the government pick winners and losers. Watch the show “Shark Tank,” and you’ll see real investors having to decide whether to risk their own bankroll.

When experienced people are playing with their own money, they don’t care whether an idea sounds exciting or ticks the proper ideological boxes. They only care whether they’re likely to make money off it.

But when government provides subsidies to businesses, the investment decisions are made by folks who get to play with other people’s money.

Not having anything of their own at stake dulls their judgment, making them care more about the ideological appeal of a proposal than whether the money picked from the public’s pocket will provide a real return on their (unwilling) investment.

And while an investor will walk away from a project that’s going down the tubes, government agencies will keep throwing good money after bad — there’s no cost to them, and it hurts to publicly admit you’re wrong.

New Yorkers are capable of choosing the future they want. They don’t have to have it forced on them.

It’s time to shove the cost-immune policymakers to the side and let the market work. Let firms innovate to find affordable sources of clean energy, and climate conscious New Yorkers will beat a path to their door. [Note to James: it’s called nuclear power and New Yorkers have enjoyed it for more than 50 years.] New York Post

The wheels are coming off New York’s insane alternate-energy plans New York Post Editorial 15 October 2023

New York state’s insane renewable-energy plan is starting to implode, and the sooner Gov. Kathy Hochul and other leaders admit the truth, the better.

On Thursday, the state Public Service Commission nixed a request for vastly greater subsidies — about $12 billion worth — for 90 alternate-power projects that are supposed to provide a quarter of the state’s electricity. That would have doubled public support, most likely meaning huge increases for ratepayers in a state where power already costs far above the national average and rates are even now rising to help pay for this “transformation.” The companies involved say they’re facing far higher costs, thanks to inflation, supply-chain issues and other developments since they inked the original deals.

Many, likely most, will now look to exit.

Hochul, meanwhile, released a new “10-Point Action Plan” that rhetorically doubles down on the state’s commitment its goals but doesn’t hold a hint of how to pay for it.

The state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires cutting fossil-fuel emissions 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050.

Solar and (mostly offshore) wind plants are supposed to replace that electricity.

Oh, and cover the natural growth in demand for power.

Plus, New York wants everyone switching to electric cars, electric heat and electric cooking, so these green dreams require even more growth in electricity generation.

Again, the PSC’s (wise) ruling means the wheels are coming off the entire alternative-energy scheme.

Nor is that the only blow.

For example, part of the supply-chain issue is the utter lack of ships that can actually build the vast fields of offshore wind towers that New York’s leaders want.

The only vessels with that capability are foreign-flagged, and so prohibited under the federal Jones Act, a sacred cow for the American labor movement.

Then, too, plans for a battery factory in the Hudson Valley are on the brink of collapse after its CEO resigned, its stock cratered and its workers got laid off.

Vancouver-based Zinc8 Energy Solutions had won $68 million in state tax credits for a Kingston plant to manufacture long-duration energy storage systems.

Its implosion means the imagined renewables-heavy electric grid would lack crucial help in maintaining service when the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing.

Meanwhile, the folks in charge of overseeing the state electric grid have warned that this “transition” risks leaving New York City facing blackouts as soon as 2025.

By the way, statewide conversion to electric heat would mean peak power demand will come in the coldest months, not the hottest: So the blackouts won’t leave people sweating uncomfortably but instead freezing in the dead of winter.

The entire US and Western drive to end carbon emissions is a ruinous wild-goose chase.

New York’s rush to lead the way, begun simply to boost then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s presidential hopes, only guarantees that Empire Staters will suffer the worst ruin before reality comes crashing down. New York Post

[aizenat]

Listening to conservative commentators “blame” the lack of a red wave this election season on things like mail in ballets and democrats being able to appeal to independent/undecided voters is wild. Tomi Lahren legit on Fox News stating, in laymen terms, that democrats won because people voted.

And they phrase it like it’s a bad thing! Oh people exercised their constitutional right to vote, something not all of us had until recently, and that’s why republicans lost. Because how dare people we don’t want voting actually vote! Like how insane do you have to be to make that your point! And to say it so blatantly. Like voter suppression is unconstitutional, but conservatives don’t care if it gets them their votes.

This line of thinking is ironically why people came out and voted democrat this year. Because the message has been that letting republicans win means the end of our democracy. The way I’ve heard that said so many times this election cycle. And then to pretty much prove that point by unironically saying “we need to get a handle on these election proceedings!”

Most people do not like trump. He lost the popular vote TWICE. Most people do not believe he lost in 2020 unfairly. Most people, especially moderates/independent voters who can go either way with their votes, do not like the culture war shit republicans keep trying to bank on. Wages are stagnant and inflation is drastically raising the cost of living. People don’t care about “big government spending” because that’s not what is making the cost of living go up (talking about Oz’s campaign in PA vs Fetterman’s free healthcare and lobbying for abortion rights which voters are going to care more about as that directly impacts them).

Republican politicians have become so out of touch, leaning into the most radical and zealous of their base instead of actually trying to relate to those moderates who want to see real change and do not like the culture war shit republicans have been running on for the last decade. Ppl are tired. They want to pay their bills, not debate who goes in what bathrooms and who should get married. The average American isn’t looking for a total upheaval of our capitalistic system, they just don’t want to be crushed by it. And at no point do you hear these republicans talking about tax breaks for the working class. They’re not talking about incentives to encourage companies to pay their workers well. They’re not talking about cracking down on predatory loans by banks or free childcare to working moms parents or safety incentives at schools to prevent mass shootings and the such.

Nope, they just want to keep running on building a costly wall that doesn’t impact the vast majority of Americans, bathroom bills when the average American not living in a metropolitan area will likely never meet a trans person, and robbing women of their right to decide not to risk their lives in childbirth. And then cry and blame trump or people ACTUALLY going out to vote on why they can’t win.

Republicans don’t stand for anything anymore. They just try to bank on “hey, at least I’m not that yuppy drinking soy lattes amirite?” But look at Fetterman! He is an Everyman! He gave speeches in jeans and a hoodie! He looks like the grumpy white men who work in my insanely white-male conservative industry and he believes in free universal healthcare! He believed in a living wage as the minimum wage! He believes in a woman’s right to choose! And you expect working class Pennsylvanians to vote for the tv fake doctor yuppy over this guy???? The guy who looks like the dude we call over to fix out dishwashers or would chat up at a car show or see down in jersey fishing for a relaxing weekend????? The guy who looks and lives just like us??????

Republicans are nuts and what they really need to get a grip on is building a case for why we would want to maintain the status quo because the longer we live in it, the less reasonable it seems.

Anyway, republicans get fucked. See you losers in 2024. ✌🏾

[goldenites]

sad vibes man

cw uuuuh existential bullshit and general depression

ive just been really going through it lately my mental health has never been on the up and up i mean i was pretty content and happy most days in college i felt really good about being productive and i didnt have really any friends but i just plain like being around other people even if i dont talk to them i feed off knowing there are other regular people around me living their lives i just like being part of a crowd even if theres no other commonalities between us

but now im 25 and i feel like such a loser i have nothing to show for it i have nothing but a college degree i have basically nothing else to show for being an adult its rough man i feel like ive wasted so much time and for what who am i what do i contribute to anything i dont believe in the capitalist idea of productivity but i dont like just hanging around at home not interacting with people and not giving to other people

i feel like i chose art because its something ive always been good at and its something ive always done and i love making art but is that a good reason to have an art degree or try to build a career off it? i just feel like maybe i fucked up big time and now i have nothing to show for it other than being 25 and basically a loser i hate being a burden on other people and knowing i have to rely on others to support me

so ive taken a big mental hit i mean its been building up for a while ive felt this internal timer ticking down in my brain ever since i graduated and that was years ago now theres nothing im counting down to i just feel like i need to have something anything to really show that i didnt make a huge mistake and im not just a burden on those around me

i dont really talk about it a whole lot with anyone but im a pretty spiritual person i mean i dont like to say that i or anyone knows for certain what life is about or if we have souls or whatever but i feel like theres got to be something mystical about life? anyway im starting to feel like all my spiritual beliefs are just bullshit and maybe im wasting my time on that too ive spent so long studying spiritual concepts maybe this is dumb but feeling my faith in that sort of stuff crumbling is really scary for me i always felt that if nothing else at least my inner self is separate from this outer world like the I Am of my mind isnt determined by what happens outside of me but now im feeling like im wrong and actually everything i use to comfort myself is just a bunch of bullshit like everyone says

idk ive always coped by going inside myself and that hasnt always been good bc ill check out of reality and go into my own mind for hours just to escape things i dont want to think about so ive always felt really disconnected from what happens outside of me bc im never fully engaged and its always something ive worried about bc i dont want there to be this layer between me and everyone or everything else ive lived so long connected more with my own thoughts than with anything happening outside of me to the point i dont know if i can fully be in the moment i dont know what that means because im always half in my own fantasies or ideas of the future

i guess its just been building up inside my mind for a while and since i cope with disengaging ive been stuck in a loop of my own thoughts for months on end i feel crazy and delusional and just plain sick of my own company im sick of being me i wish i was someone else i havent felt this way in a long time but i just wish i wasnt stuck with myself 24/7 im sick of this bitch shes insane

i feel gullible and dumb that i would believe spiritual bullshit like manifesting and assumptions and thoughts crafting reality bc its comforting to think that maybe i have some control over things that ive always been told are outside of anyones grasp i hate having to give up control to anything i have always felt this anxiety to have full control over my body and my circumstances bc i dont want to be a victim to the things outside of me i just feel like OF COURSE someone so mentally unstable would believe stuff like this bc im already living in my own fantasies and i just feel like,,,, idk everyone else has such a better grasp on life everyone else is doing things right and im constantly fucking up im not doing something right im not making this work everyone else is able to be an adult and i still feel 14 i feel like everyone SEES me as 14 like im some kid incapable of fully having control of my life

its scary im not a kid im an adult i should know how to do this i should be able to stand on my own two feet but i just cant im not doing something right im not being the person i should be

i hope it gets better thats all i have i hope please please please that something will get better i need something to really live for i cant keep living like this im not suicidal or anything ive never really been the type thats able to hurt myself i just need to have something to wake up for i just hope my future self is doing better than i am right now thats all i want

[flying-elliska]

So i started binge-watching Superstore (currently in s4) and !!! i love it. it feels a lot like Parks and Rec except in a store, and more anti-capitalist.

first of all, i love Jonah so much. Not only is he very cute, he's also very relatable with his whole educated under-achiever, idealistic, well meaning but pretentious and frequently annoying thing, but in the end strives to be a kind person and an amazing friend. I love that he frequently comes over as an idiot trying to be super-woke (and the show generously makes fun of him for that) but he doesn't stop, and he also frequently really helps and inspires the people around him. I love Amy - America Ferrera has such a likeable vibe - she feels so real in all her glorious messiness. As the most reasonable, responsible person in a group of people who are all at least slightly insane she could easily be boring but her deadpan humor and chaotic streak make her so funny to watch instead and her 'perpetually done with this shit' expressions are gold. I love it when female characters who have been assigned the 'mom role' get to break out of that and explore who they are.

And those two as a couple are one of my new faves on TV. It's a slow burn, which I live for - it starts with a workplace rivalry where they're constantly roasting and pranking each other but you slowly start to see that they just really enjoy spending time together, getting up to all sorts of shenanigans and becoming partners-in-mischief - this is just too fucking rare in stories ! She grounds him and gets him out of his head, he is so supportive of her in small and big ways, encouraging her to take time for herself when nobody else does. They lean on each other when life throws all sorts of shit at them and make routine fun for each other, they immediately reach out to each other whenever there's trouble...i find that amazingly romantic, really. Like it doesn't really matter where you are or what you're doing as long as you're doing it with the right person. Goals. You see why they're in love like, a season before they realize it themselves, this is show over tell in a nutshell.

The politics of the show are also amazing. The tone is generally fun and trashy but it never misses an occasion to show how deeply shitty capitalism is, especially in the US - touching on stuff like anti-union politics in corporations, shitty healthcare, lack of maternity leave, ageism, etc... So the contrast between the zany shenanigans and the very dark/absurd undertone is amazing, just like the contrast between the corporate propaganda and how awfully the company treats its employees - it feels so real and refreshing and important. Like you have those people who are exploited by the company they work for in ways that create real suffering, but they're also fully rounded characters with complex lives and they manage to have fun and care for each other regardless of how they're not even treated like human beings - it all feels very humanizing. It's a rare narrative about working class jobs, I feel it's either 'ha hah look at those losers stuck in shitty jobs' or misery porn or inspirational bullshit about 'the grind'. This strikes a great balance of like, the conditions of these jobs are horrible, yes, (because of capitalism) but at the same time there is nothing wrong with being proud of doing a job that is essential for the daily lives of so many people, and it's worth telling stories about. The fact that it's a comedy allows them to go over some real insane shit and at first you're laughing and then later you're like 'oh my god this is so incredibly fucked up' and it's a great storytelling dynamic. It manages to combine light and dark humor in a great way.

My main criticism (i have to have one lol) is that some of the secondary plot-lines are frequently hit-or-miss, a bit blah or cringe-worthy or boring ; they rely too much on gross out humor for my taste (the boob cheese ??? whyyyyy) and some of the secondary characters are kind of annoying at times, even though they all have their moments of being awesome too. So I found myself skipping some bits (maybe it's also because I'm binge-watching and it can get a bit repetitive).

But yeah overall I'm really digging it and I feel this is going to end up being a new comfort-watch favorite.

[739337369137371082]

Hey so I found u thru the Halved Live Funnies and I gotta ask... whose Leon? What series these dudes from?

i got this ask and then forgot about it for like 2 days. anyways.

IVE ANSWERED THIS BEFORE BUT. GOD. LEON. ok so like....... long story short last year was when i first played resident evil........ bc we got a copy of re2remake in and.... jesus christ. i hyperfixated so fucking hard for the better part of a year going on into this year. and then i watched hl/vr and well. we know where that went. but now i am once again hyperfixated and now im back to where i was in like.... june of last year LMAO. but anyways i am once again going to ramble under the cut about them <3 (seriously. its very long and doesnt go much of anywhere. also spoilers)

tl/dr:

OK. SO. resident evil. the last time i answered this ask i either hadnt played some of them or just completely forgot the plot of others LOL but now upon beating/playing a large majority of them (besides 6 which i have not touched yet, and 7 is first person and im not rly interested in it rn)...... well others have said this as well but if you like cheesy b action movies you would love resident evil!!! 

the orig 1-2 are more survival horror which is what i like the most. 3 is where it starts branching into more actiony stuff but is still survival horror. but 4 and after is just like..... cheesy action stuff which is fine but not really like.... my thing. altho i do think that they are fun in a “this plot is hilariously bad” type way because i do enjoy horrible things. but people who like resident evil dont like it for the plot they like it for the characters. and for me i latched the fuck onto leon kennedy and tyrant t-00 aka mr fucking x

listen.......... you guys know me relatively well enough to know that i have a type......... and i would define leon as not really fitting under it usually because he is 1. under 6 foot 2. human and 3. very much not a villain. but something about (mostly remake) leon hits fucking different!!!!!! hes kind and means well, thinks about others constantly, looks like an actual fucking person in the in game graphics instead of being some manufactured perfect model, nice voice, etc....... i fucking care him so much. also gameplay wise i find his weapons to be more enjoyable than claires so i always end up playing his route/2nd route the most compared to hers. but i do also like claire :) shes nice and epic

i dont really like the newer leons (4 and afterwards) as much.... i mean a lot of it has to do with trauma and general “growing up” after what happened in re2 but hes just so constantly... snarky? jaded? constantly spouting lines to make him seem cool? when in my head hes very much like... a loser LMAO. i mean dont get me wrong hes a badass. he survives a fucking zombie outbreak and nearly gets murdered dozens of time. thats the definition of badass. but also you cannot change my mind that hes also a anxious loser twunk. there is literally nothing you can do to convince me he is “cool” like the games and movies want to think. this is probably heresy to re fans but this is my truth

https://youtu.be/aVZWuSfGStk?t=129

here is a vid of his cutscenes. obvious spoilers in there but you can skip around and see how cute he is. also yes in his first cutscene he is listening to butt rock. i switch between thinking hes just listening to it because nothing else is on the radio or his taste really is that terrible

also you literally CANNOT convince me that he is straight. the games try SOOOOO hard to get you to ship leon/ada or leon/claire but like...... i cannot see it. he has one of the gayest run animations i have ever seen in re2 remake and i mean... he just radiates gay trans man energy to me. also please look at this small scene from one of the animated movies where a licker jumps on top of him and he wraps his legs around its hips and lifts it off of him to not die. gay king

https://youtu.be/d-VNikxYBPw?t=9

but yes ive basically decided to ignore all characterization from re4 and onwards regarding leon at least. every leon after that is not my leon (except in special cases when im thinking about something like leon/jd from re damnation..... they did jd so dirty and they should have fucking kissed. or how cute he looked in vendetta sometimes)

ANYWAYS. MR X

so basically there are these enemies in resident evil called “tyrants” that are manufactured by the evil capitalist company umbrella that are near indestructible save for like.... rocket launchers or super heavy artillery that youre not buying at your local gun store. and in re2 one of them get sent to the police station where leon and claire are and is told to wipe out all witnesses. (i also do think that 2 or more were sent there... or at least in the area when this happened due to some very obvious plot hole stuff on each route no matter how you play, even tho the devs have come out and said that only 1 existed in the game and that each route is like “a parallel dimension” to each other. i wont go into it more than that but i choose to ignore that)

and well. when i first played it i knew of mr x but didnt like... know much about him other than that he was a monster and Tall (like 7 or 8 feet tall) and that he chased you around. that already sold me on him but then. well. you first encounter him because he lifts up an entire goddamn helicopter and then proceeds to chase you. and it was then that i knew i was in deep shit because he fucking stomped his way into my heart and never left.

mr x basically has serious Side Character Disorder where (even tho the remake made him very cool and epic and did him really well compared to nemesis in re3 remake which is an entire different can of worms) he has LITERALLY no personality or like. thoughts. or anything. hes only there to chase you around and be on screen for like 10 seconds for a couple of cutscenes and then not show up again until the very end of the game for you to fight on leons route. but god. he means so fucking much to me. 

you know how people latch onto random side characters that have no personality and essentially flesh them out more than the creators ever will? thats me with mr x. its gotten to the point where certain songs come on on my spotify and i actually get EMOTIONS or even TEARS because they remind me of him, but its not even really HIM, its the fucking ideas that ive come up with regarding him because all he ever does in game is chase you around and punch you and then die and is never brought up again

but anyways. mr x is a tall monster who chases leon and claire around in their routes but mr x is leons main monster in the game (claire has a different one). he chases leon around, literally never stops looking at him as he chases him, gets hit by an entire fucking car which then explodes BUT THEN chases him down into the sewers and into a secret underground lab just to get to him like a fucking bloodhound who, once he has the scent, will never stop chasing him

(you can see why this made me kind of insane)

just. AGHHH. the tyrants in this series get treated so dirty. i desperately want capcom to give us some sort of tyrant that can actually fucking like.... go against orders and brainwashing or whatever and actually have emotions and thoughts!!!!!!!!!! but capcom would never do anything with it cause its a rough and tough action series and people arent here to see tyrants have some sort of thought process beyond punching and killing and people only want to shoot guns at them instead of thinking about the possibilities of a tyrant that goes against its programming.

i so desperately want an au where mr x got the transmitter shot off of the side of his head (and while capcom never mentioned this ever many re2 fans have since decided that it is what feeds info/orders to him. i flip flop between thinking that it either is near controlling him and prevents free will and thought or that its just giving him orders and that hes just burying/hiding/not showing free will and thought in fear of being killed. either that or someone at umbrella is “piloting” him but also the whole point of tyrants is that theyre supposed to be smart enough to think for themselves somewhat so... eh). GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

ive explained a bunch of this stuff in my other ask about it but just...... xleon means so much to me when it should not and will never be actually canon

anyways please play re2 remake at least, you dont have to know everything about re1 to like it, just go into it knowing that a few months ago in the mountains outside raccoon city claires brother chris and a few members on his team went to a mansion where they discovered umbrella doing shady zombie shit there. re2 remake was hyped up for years for a reason and it is really good, even if its short (altho i do appreciate short games in this day and age cause not every game needs to be like 60 plus hours long). 

maybe one day when its not late and i can actually think i will explain all this better but todays not that day <3

(EDIT: ALSO RE DAMNATION TYRANTS ARE 14 FEET TALL. AND CHASE AROUND LEON AND ACTUALLY FUCKING RUN. FUN FACT! anyways while i do think jd in that movie and leon should kiss i also want leon and a tyrant from that movie to kiss. bye)

[ambitionsource]

S2 Rewatch - Maggie’s Take [ 207 ]

oh honey we’ve got a big storm coming...

Favorite scene

We’re getting to the point now in the season where all these questions become a million times harder to answer. All the scenes have an oomph to them. All the characters are at their richest. All the performances go off. So forgive me for cheating and giving multiple answers from here on out most likely. So in 207, three answers jump to mind. 1) The sequence where Farkle is having his true meltdown, before “Santa Fe.” From a writing standpoint, I remember I was really proud with how that scene turned out. It was a fun challenge, trying to capture that anxiety and panic and loss of reality. A fun fact that you may or may not know is that nearly all of the lines of dialogue said by the hallucinated characters are repetitions or variations on dialogue that has actually already been said in the show, meant to highlight how Farkle’s brain has taken these (usually offhand) comments and held onto them obsessively and in some cases even warped them into something more antagonistic than they were. Then there was the pattern of tying the sentiments together into one overarching monologue of sorts, repeating that thematic word over and over, “enough.” It was just so fun to write, and I’m really happy with how it came together. 2) The Dylan, Lucas, and Asher argument in the booth. Ooh, buddy. This was a true turning point, both for the narrative and for Asher and Dylan as characters. To me, that is the scene where they rise from supporting characters to mains, and in some ways it’s a long time coming. I love how it highlights the imperfections at play between that trio, and the way that Lucas and Asher know exactly how to get at one another, but nothing gets me more than Dylan’s “HEY” and stepping in between them. How Dylan snapping seems to be what pulls Lucas out of his anger, and how Dylan’s anger only lasts seconds before it shifts into like shock / concern... ugh I love him. I love them! Definitely a standout scene, even back when I first wrote it, but even more so now that Dylan and Asher have such larger roles in the third season. 3) The unintentional coming out scene between Riley and Charlie. The whole thing is just rich with tension, like I love the moment where Charlie is like you can’t tell anyone you can’t -- and she just interrupts him and it goes dead silent until she’s emphatically like I would never tell anyone... like chills, bro. Chills. And the relief that comes from Riley finally understanding why he’s been acting the way he has... so good. The follow up to this choice is the Zay and Charlie scene at the end where the freedom of someone knowing seems to allow him the strength to kiss Zay in their studio... I love them. I love it all. Whew. 

Favorite performance

It’s getting hard... it’s getting tough to choose... like “Santa Fe” is up there because of the raw emotion of it and what it represents for Farkle and his arc. “Loser” is great too, mainly in concept, as we have Dasher acting as Lucas’s subconscious mind essentially and all of the cool choices in the production of the number. But I think I will have to go with “Waving Through A Window,” as that is such a standout performance in my opinion. It delivers emotionally, it has a cool flow and concept, there’s snow... whenever it comes on AMBITION shuffle I’m like oh yeah. Now we’re talking. And I love the visual of Isadora being stuck on the acting block / courtyard table, always inches from falling off the ledge but managing to avoid disaster. It’s just a really cool visual in my head. So that’s the top for me I think.

Favorite character (within context of the episode)

I literally can’t choose. I don’t know what to say. I think I’ll say maybe Charlie and Zay? Both in their storyline together as well as individuals. They’ve both got great solos (“Consideration” and “Exhale”), Charlie has his devolution emotionally and Zay finally (righteously) snaps at Angela. They find refuge, in Riley and Harper and of course each other. There are standout moments throughout the episode for their relationship -- holding hands at the top in the studio, Charlie hugging Zay in the hallway to comfort him and telling him it’s okay, the fraught moment of Charlie snapping at Zay about being at his locker which feels like a tiny unintentional step back, Charlie’s frazzled kiss on the cheek in public, the ending scene with another handhold and the softest kiss... ugh I love them. They were at a peak this episode, which makes sense considering what’s about to come...

Favorite line(s)

“You know what, you’ve got a lot to think about. Let me just get out of your hair. Best of luck with this next phase in your life, sir. Save a little social security for the rest of us provided climate change doesn’t kill us first!” --Lucas James Friar, to Eric

“I mean, but what am I going to do instead? Follow in the footsteps of my mom? I won’t survive veterinary school, Mister E. And you can only cure lung cancer once!” --Darby Winters

“Might be nice to help combat the impending danger of climate change and issues with renewable resources by studying environmental sciences or maybe aeronautical space engineering in pursuit of space materials that could be used as new energy sources. Ooh, or a rodeo clown!” --Dave Williams

“Actually, I’m near-sighted. But I wear contacts.” --Dylan Orlando, in response to Eric asking if his future plan is “short-sighted”

“I looked into “space cowboy,” but as it turns out you need a degree in aerospace engineering as well as a license to boy cows, and that seems like a lot of work. So then I thought, well, if I don’t have the capacity to work, what else is there in this capitalistic hell we call society? Sure, I could probably enter myself in human cage fights and scrap to death for spare change, but I think that would hurt after a while and to be honest, I think I’d feel a bit like a piece of meat if I took up that mantle. Who would I be fighting to impress? The bourgeoisie? Hard pass. But after some deep, probing soul-searching, I finally hit the one. Trophy husband. Now, I know what you’re thinking. To accomplish such a grand ambition, I’d have to get someone to like me. And that’s a pretty hefty task, believe me I know, but I’ve devised a work around. This is, as Dave would say, galaxy-brained thinking, Mister E. I’m going to put an ad on Craigslist.” --Lucas James Friar

“It’s easy to say you believe in someone. Showing up for them is a different story.” --Zay Babineaux

“We’re friends, Lucas. We care about you. Asher wasn’t lying about that. And when you decide you want to do something about this, we’ll be there. When you need us... we’re going to be there for you. No matter what.” --Dylan Orlando

“I don’t know if this will make you feel better or worse, but the truth is it all comes down to endurance. How long you can take it, how long you can stick it out until it ends up being your shot. The true test of who lives the dream is who hangs on… and who gives up.” --Harper Burgess

An underrated moment

There are so many it would be so hard for me to pick one if I thought about it too hard, so I’m gonna go with my gut. My favorite mini moment in the episode is during the end montage, when Dylan climbs in the window to comfort Asher. There’s a lot of small details I like about it that occur just within like 30 seconds -- Asher’s routine with crushing up his anxieties (a thing elaborated on in Cruel Summer), how commonplace it is for Dylan to climb in the window, and how he jumps into comfort mode and they both fall into that without any words at all. I just love it. And I can picture the way Dylan kisses his cheek and then his shoulder and then rests his head against him so perfectly... I adore them. They are angels.

First impression vs your reread impression

Obviously, even when I wrote this last year it felt major. Because it is. This is the turning point episode, literally and narratively. It’s smack in the middle, and from here I knew everything was going to be bigger and more, especially since we pulled the (metaphorical) trigger with Farkle. We knew that was a narrative risk, but we felt strongly about it, and we took every method we thought possible to set it up well, be cautious about it to y’all (with trigger warnings and hotlines, etc.), and then follow through on it in a way that balanced realism with care and attention. I think we managed to pull it off, but it was a great relief that you all reacted so well to it (in terms of the narrative, not like joyously LMAO) and trusted us to carry it forward. That kind of trust in a writer means a lot, and that’s what I’ll always remember when I think about this episode. Thankfully, we all survived it, and now here we are on the cusp of S3. Insane. And now onto 208... the storm is here...

[dazesanddoodles]

i understand the need to throw water bottles at him

[i-am-the-market]

King And Queen Of The Losers American Squalor Review

Hello! I usually don’t do this BUT I wanted to do a kind of review for the new King and Queen album because I fucking love this band and I’ve already listened to the album over 10 times since I came out this morning.  If you DO NOT want to see spoilers if you haven’t listen to the album, go listen to it and then read this really crappy review. (Honestly Nate’s review is probably better but I wanted to review it too) THIS IS COMPLETELY OBJECTIVE AND IN NO WAY AM I SAYING THAT MY OPINION IS THE ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS OK? Black Hole: This is the first song on the album and since Scooter is the main one singing, we can assume that he’s the one that wrote this (they mentioned before that they sing whichever song they wrote). Right away you can hear the synth sounds in the background and during the chorus mostly. Scooter already mentioned he wanted to work more with that before so, it’s nice to hear the first song of the album dive into it. The lyrics have a morbid type of undertone that is honestly pretty standard with their songs but, this feels different since it’s hidden mostly in the chorus with the line “Everything is ok” or some variation of that.  This song took me a bit to really get into so, 7/10 for me.  Swing State: This is probably the most political-esque song on the album but, even with that it mostly is about the millennial/Gen Z struggle of living in this modern day political hell. This song highlights very real struggles of dealing with the capitalist bullshit that we have to live through by having our congressmen spend money on useless shit and not wanting the patriarchal company that is Apple to take over the modern day bullshit that is America.  The lyrics, which were written by Kiwi, have this very anxious and nihilistic (Which is now called apathy) vibe that her songs from Crutch had too. This differs from Crutch though because it has a more anxious and having to deal with grown-up shit vibe instead of a “fuck everything life sucks” vibe that Crutch had (if that makes sense???) A solid 8/10  Hospitality: This song sound the most like a story than any other song. Much like Another Rehab song, Scooter talks about recovering from addiction and finding another wake-up call by landing in the hospital from a bad trip. They lyrics are very solemn and it crashes with the tempo and the key of the song in a tasteful way. This is a nice change of pace from Crutch since it shows a kind of growth that Scooter had from one album to another, with the last verse being hopeful in that he will get better.  Because I liked Another Rehab Song, this is a 9/10  Jean Luc Godard: This song very much has Kiwi’s signature “fuck the government” and nihilistic attitude about everything (not to mention she sings this song too). This song mostly talks about finding comfort in similarities and differences but most importantly, realizing that most people in this generation can relate and come together over the need to fuck over capitalism but, not finding enough energy to do so. The lyrics really show justice to the apathy that young adults hold now and how the system has done nothing but fuck them over in the last 20 years with Jeff Bezos existing (”We both want to kill Jeff Bezos”) and how gas prices are insanely high. Although, this song is not one of Kiwi’s most political songs (*Cough* see Swing State *Cough*), it is very much about accepting that even though politics deem this generation as “lazy” and “useless”, it’s ok to find comfort in things that you can relate to with friends and just being straight up lazy.  Overall, an 8/10  Electric Boy: When first listening to this song, It reminded me of Nine in the Afternoon by Panic since it like has that weird piano part (not entirely relevant but, I really like that song nonetheless).  Since this song was a pre-release, I had more time to listen to it than the other ones so, I may sound a little better when talking about it. This song is mostly about Scooter finding that he is very much a source of comfort for other people even though that in the back of his mind, he is very nervous and insecure about living and trying to make it through this fucked up world. I believe this song is him saying how at most times, he has to step up to the plate for making other people happy but, neglecting his own feelings at times. You can tell by the lyricism in this song that he is growing as a musician and a writer. Especially if you compare this to his (arguably) best written song, Detox Days, from Crutch. Also, the fact that he tastefully uses the synth and auto-tune in this song makes it even better musically.  This is a solid 10/10 for me.  Lackadaisical:  This song is very much the millennial/gen Z mood of the century with the work lackadaisical meaning “lacking enthusiasm”. Again, Scooter mostly talks about feeling a sort of way about life and living. Very much the apathy we are all extremely used to in KAQOTL fashion. The lyrics are a bit solemn but, as the rest of the album, hidden behind a curtain of major keys and high tempos. Not one of Scooter’s best lyrically written songs but, it’s still good. A solid 7/10.  Up On Yr Feet: This song sounds more like Kiwi’s “Fuck you” letter to her job. She is very tired of having to put on a brave smile for everyone else and most likely is warning everyone else to run away from the fucked up-ness that is working a regular 9-5 job.  The lyrics are a great warning for anyone else just settling to work a 9-5 job. They are very real and raw since Kiwi herself works a job like that but of course since she is in KAQOTL, she is looking towards just quitting her job and becoming someone who she WANTS to be instead of someone she HAS TO be.  Great song. 8/10  Burning Building: Again, you can hear another band’s influence in this song (since in the beginning it really reminds you of Good Riddance by Green Day). Plus, the fact that the “Burning Building” talked about in this song is supposed to reference how Kiwi felt trapped in a mind-fuck where everything around her feels like its all crumbling around her. The building representing Kiwi’s mind while the fire represents her state of mind and how she feels that her mental health is collapsing from this metaphorical fire. The fire could represent many different things but, overall it’s a story of her wanting to stop that fire and save herself even though she feels like she is unable to.  The lyrics are well-written by making this building come to life and manifest in a way where we, as the audience, can easily see what’s happening and how anxious and upset Kiwi is over all of this. This is easily her best written song by making her mental health come to life in this fire that seems to have a mind of its own. “I fought wild fires in prison but I didn’t qualify to be a firefighter when I got out” is easily my favorite line of lyrics in this whole album since it shows how even though she may have beat this “fire” before, that doesn’t mean that she is able to do it every time.  Favorite song of the album. 10/10. I need the chord sheet right away. Stargazer: A H H H THIS IS THE ONE THAT SCOOTER GOT THE ORCHESTRA ON!!!! Honestly this song sounds fucking awesome with the orchestra and because of that, it gives this song a nice whimsical vibe since this song is about stargazing and is another love song between both Kiwi and Scooter. This mostly talks about the feeling of dreaming about being with your significant over and being love struck over anything and everything they do. This is a nice change of pace from the rest of the album and Crutch since it feels more complete and finalized as opposed to Detox Days (which I still love).  The lyrics are amazing and beautiful since this song is another love song between them and in KAQOTL fashion, there are nihilistic undertones but, it still is very much a nice song between those two and I love how the orchestra in the background accompanies the guitar.  10/10. I’m a sucker for love songs.  Deep Dream: This song was one of the pre-releases and I gotta say it’s a bop. This song is mostly Scooter’s manifesto about being in a dream-like state of going through the motions of living in this capitalist society. Having to go through the motions of a job for material possessions and being deemed “greedy” by the rich who forced him into taking part in this vicious cycle.  The lyrics are very monotonous and this feels like an amazing artistic choice to really embody the hell that are capitalist jobs. These lyrics are amazing and do the song justice.  9/10  Apologies to the Hollow Men: Finally, we finish at this gem of a song sung (and presumably written) by Kiwi. This was one of the pre-releases and the first moment I listened to it I fell in love. I feel like this song is a sort of love song to the younger fans of KAQOTL who are caught up in societal standards that are detrimental to anyone’s mental health. Although Kiwi is saying that we don’t have to live up to the world’s standards of who we should be, she’s most importantly saying this to herself and I commend that.  The lyrics of this song are amazing and I love how most of them start with “You don’t owe it to...” and I think that’s insanely important. You never owed anyone anything and you never will and I love that this is the message that ends this clusterfuck of an album. Also, always be as honest as you can with your doctor because it is helpful!!!!  “This is how the world ends, with both a bang and a whimper”.  Amazing song. 10/10  Overall Review of Album: I feel this is an amazing second album. KAQOTL took all of the feedback they got from the first album and used it to better themselves when creating this album. The overall tone of this is just a big middle-finger to capitalism and I fucking love that.  Although this album tends to kind of repeat certain aspects, they did it in a way where it’s not super annoying so, every song feels like an entirely new experience and I love that. I definitely recommend listening to this album in it’s entirety cause it’s a roller coaster of a ride from start to finish. Most of the songs you’ll have to listen to more than once to really understand how great they are.  Sure, this album has a few kinks to work out and the band is still so new that they don’t necessarily have a strong footing in the music industry but, this is a strong second album and let’s hope it doesn’t take another 2 years for another album.  Overall score:  8.7/10 

@kingandqueenofthelosers (Idk if they’ll see this but I hope they do) 

[mitchmarnier]

semi charmed life | chapter seven | 3.2k  | teen |

“You guys have kept in contact this whole time?” Bill asked, brow disappearing underneath hair line as he looked like his old friends in amazement. “And you guys are.. what? Room mates?” Eddie avoided looking at Richie as he answered. “Yeah, uh… room mates. Something like that.” [or: the adult!losers reunion, done 2000s sit-com style, just like we all deserve.]

PREVIOUSLY ON SEMI CHARMED LIFE: “You and Richie adopted two kids? Twoactual human children and this never came up?“  Beverly leaned over the side of crib, peering down at the sleeping baby inside. She furrowed her brow and tilted it to the side. |  “We haven’t started talking about the wedding yet,” Stan answered happily. “Its enough to be engaged honestly. |  I should have told you, I know. I know. But I think I need to do this.”  “ I think you’ll find the most sudden of changes are sometimes the best ones.”  You made it through a day with Spencer Pearsons, which is more than can be said about the mass majority of new hires. So what’s it’s going to be? Are you going to sink… or are you going to swim?” |  “You know I liked you too, right? In high school, and… before that. Pretty much the whole time I lived in Derry.” “I’ve always wanted you.” Ben said openly. “and I will always want you.”Beverly cupped the side of his face and brought their lips together.”

“Beverly, please!” Richie dropped to the floor and wrapped his arms around Beverly’s legs. Beverly stumbled and fell to the ground herself. She kicked at Richie, but he had a vice grip around her.

“No!” Beverly cried, still kicking at Richie. “Kids and I do not mix! Especially not babies! You’re insane!”

“BEVERLY!” Richie cried mournfully. “I’m not asking you to take them and move to Hawaii and become their new mother! I’m merely saying that you’re going to be here… the girls are going to be here… maybe you could… be here with the girls while Eddie and I are out on well needed Valentines date. We’ll even make it an afternoon date, you won’t have to do the dinner or bedtime routines!”

Beverly kicked again, nailing Richie between the eyes. He groaned, but still did not let go. “First of all, what makes you so sure that I don’t have any Valentines’ plans? Hmmm?”

Richie sighed. “Then invite Ben over here. I don’t care.”

Beverly spluttered, cheeks going red.  “I… I’m not… Ben.. Who said anything about Ben!?! That’s just… crazy.”

Richie raised one brow, the look of disbelief a little undercut by how his head was resting on her shin. “Beverly, my darling, do you take me for an idiot?”

Beverly yanked on her leg. “YES! Let go of me!”

“Bevvvvv….” Richie whined. “Eddie and I have barely seen each other in weeks. We both have today off, and we didn’t even book it off! It just happened! It’s a sign from the universe! We’re meant to go on a date!”

“What the hell did you do last year?” Beverly finally got her leg free, and rolling free and jumping to her feet. She stared down at Richie with her hands on her hips.

“We only had one kid,” Richie pointed out with a pout. “It’s much easier to find somebody willing to watch one child, rather than two and one being less than a year old. Bev, please.”

Beverly squeezed her eyes shut. “Fine. But if you come home and things are a disaster, then you have nobody to blame but yourself!”

Richie let out an over excited shout, jumping to his feet and launching himself at her. They both collapsed back down onto the floor.

→  →  →

“I’m sorry, I have to go.” Mike said frantically into his phone. The sound of the barking in the background made his heart clench and he bit down on his bottom lip to keep the tears from filling his eyes. “My boss is coming. Well, I don’t know if he’s my boss exactly but he-“

“It’s alright,” Alexander said on the other end of the line, sighing. “I get it. Call me later when you’re not too busy.”

“Yeah,” Mike cleared his throat. “I love y-“ The line went dead. He inhaled deeply, determined to keep himself together as Pearsons came into the room. He raised his brow at Mike.

“You still here?” Pearsons asked. “Most people who aren’t giving tours today took the day off, you know? Spending it with their sweethearts.”

Mike forced a smile, trying to ignore the bitter tone in Pearsons’ voice and the bitter feeling in his own chest. “I had a tour this morning. It was my first solo one, and I guess I’m just… decompressing.” That… and the idea of sitting at home alone on Valentines hurt, and if Mike convinced himself that he was working then it wasn’t as bad.

Then Spencer Pearsons did the last thing Mike would have ever expected him to do. He smiled. He also moved closer and sat down at the other side on the table. “You just moved to New York, yeah? I imagine it’s hard, this being your first real holiday away from home.”

“Valentines day isn’t a real holiday,” Mike said. “It’s made up by capitalist to make money.”

Pearsons chuckled under his breath. “Alright, well, I’m not going to be going home any time soon, either. And I ordered in some food if you’re hungry.”

Mike blinked at him.

→  →  →

“Patty…” Stan said as he entered his apartment, staring down at his feet. “What is this…” The small grey tabby meowed up at him, and Stan took a quick step backwards. Patty came rushing into the front foyer, sliding in her striped socks and nearly collided face first with the kitchen island.

Stan made a half aborted noise of concern, moving towards her, but quickly backing back up when he remembered the cat in front of him.

“That’s Periwinkle!” Patty said, dropping down onto her knees and crawling towards the cat. The small cat gave a even louder meow at the sight of Patty, and patted over to her. Stan let out a soft sigh once the cat was away. “I was at the humane society today-“

“Why?” Stan asked, crinkling his nose. “Do you just go there for fun?”

Patty looked up at him with wide, owlish eyes. “Yes.”

Stan pursed his lips and nodded. “Alright. Proceed.”

“Anyway,” Patty scooped up the cat and cuddled it up towards her chest. “And the person working was saying that Periwinkle was nearing her last days, and if she didn’t get adopted soon, then they were going to have to euthanize her.”

Stan frowned, looking at the tiny ball of fur in his loves’ arms. There certainly didn’t seem to be a single thing wrong with the thing.

“She and her siblings were all found in a box outside the building,” Patty continued on, scratching the cat behind the ears. “All the others go adopted, but not Periwinkle because she was so shy. But I don’t think she’s that shy? You know, she went straight to the door when she heard you coming in. I know you don’t really like cats, but I couldn’t just let them put her down! She’s just a baby.”

Stan sighed, crouching down slowly, and leaning in towards the little cat. “I don’t not like cats… they just scare me a little bit.”

His aunt Sylvia had a cat when he was a child. A big, mean one. Stan always came home from her house covered in scratches, and he’d only ever wanted to play with the stupid thing. He’d been turned off from the animal ever since… but this one didn’t seem very vicious. She fit almost perfectly in Patty’s hands, and was purring nicely as she was pet. Stan narrowed his eyes at it.

“You’ve just never been around a cat that was shown enough to love to show love back,” Patty said fondly, shifting so she could hand the animal over. Stan’s eyes widened and he started to shake his head. “No, come on, Stan. Love her.”

Stan took the kitten into his arms, and held it to his chest. He smiled softly as it began to purr.

→  →  →

Beverly dropped herself onto the couch, knowing she needed to waste the seventeen layers of dirt off of her, but she honestly just did not have the energy to. “I don’t know how Eddie and Richie do it. I only had them for a few hours and I’m honestly ready to nap for three years.”

Ben laughed, watching lil Frankie toddled back into her bedroom with the baby’s diaper bag and an arm-full of toys. “They’re adorable, though, aren’t they?” He said a little wistfully. Growing up, Ben had always imagined himself with a  big family and a loving marriage by this point in adulthood. He remembered being twelve years old and heartbroken when a certain Beverly Marsh had said she never wanted kids. “To think Eddie and Richie have their shit together better than any of the rest of us.”

Beverly laughed. “I’m sure it’s mostly to do with Eddie. Bet he whipped Richie’s ass right into shape.”

Ben clucked his tongue. “I don’t know, Beverly. I don’t think we ever really have Richie enough credit. Isn’t that why you two broke up in the first place?”

Beverly exhaled hard, and the heavy silence settled over them. It was one of uncertainty, and Beverly could feel it. Of all the things that weren’t being acknowledged between them just now- the kiss, the fact that they were now officially hovering somewhere between just friends and being together. The fact that neither of them wanted to bring it up, to make anything more or less than it already was.

Clearing his throat, Ben stood and moved towards the stroller that Beverly had left in the front entrance. He knelt down in front of it, and felt his blood run cold. “Bev… where’s the baby?”

→  →  →

Richie slid his hand across the café table and tangled his fingers with Eddie’s. “This is where you proposed to me, you know?”

Eddie raised his eyebrow, a little bit of whipped cream on his nose from sipping his hot chocolate. “Yes, Richard. I do know that. I was, in fact, there.”

Richie beamed and squeezed Eddie’s hand. Eddie had chosen this café to propose, because it had been the first place they’d ever gone on a date in New York City. During Eddie’s days in college, they had come here once a week without fail. They had come in often enough that the people who worked there had known them by name and order. The faces around here had changed greatly over the years, but they still made the meanest hot chocolate in the city, as far as Eddie was concerned.

“How did you get Bev to agree to watch the girls?” Eddie asked, blushing as Richie wiped the cream off his nose.

“I tackled her into the carpet,” Richie said with a smirk. “She was reminded of how persuasive I am. I also told her that she could have her date at our place.”

“Date?” Eddie asked, raising his eyebrows. “I didn’t know she’s seeing anybody.”

Richie rolled his eyes, stuffing half his muffin into his mouth in one go. “She’s acting like she isn’t,” he said through his full mouth. Eddie didn’t even crinkle his nose in disgust anymore, long past caring about that kind of thing when it came to his husband. “But she and Benny boy are definitely an item.”

“Wait, Ben Hanscom?” Eddie squawked, shaking his head as Richie nodded. “That’s not going to end well.”

Now Richie was the one frowning, eyes turning sad. “What do you mean? Are you actually going to pretend you haven’t been rooting for Benverly since high school.?”

“I just mean…” Eddie sighed. “Ben has been hung up on Beverly since we were like… thirteen. And Beverly is the middle of a divorce, if that. More like the start of a divorce, since she just ran away from her marriage and haven’t talked to her husband in weeks. This could get really messy, really fast.”

“Why don’t you believe in love, Eds?” Richie sighed dramatically, pressing the back of the hand that wasn’t tangled up with Eddie’s against his forehead.

Eddie gave him half a smile and squeezed Richie’s hand. “You think with the life I’ve got that I don’t believe in love?” Eddie asked, matching Richie’s dramatic tone and beaming when his husband blushed. “But I am also a realist, baby. I hate the idea of this turning out badly. Imagine if… you’d been crushing on me since high school, and I only dated you as rebound for my divorce.”

Richie sighed and rubbed his thumb against the back of Eddie’s hand. “That would be fucking suck balls… but I also don’t think we’re allowed to pass judgement on our friends relationships. Since, you know, we’ve had the loves of our lives locked down since we were fifteen.”

Eddie grinned. “Really? I think that is the perfect reason to be able to pass judgement. They’re lucky to have such experts at their disposal.”

→  →  →

Mike Hanlon had never been a big beer drinker, not even back in high school when there was a keg at every part, but his politeness was in his blood stream and he couldn’t bring himself to say no when Pearsons offered him one.

“So, Hanlon,” Pearsons said, carrying the piece of pizza up towards his mouth. “Which is it… did somebody blow you off or are you just painfully single this Valentines day?”

Mike nearly choked on the pizza. “I… What?”

Pearsons held one hand up defensively. “I’m just saying, I’ve never heard somebody refer to Valentines as a Capitalist holiday unless they’re struggling romantically.”

“I’m in a perfectly happy relationship,” Mike said slowly, taking a drink and finding that maybe beer wasn’t so bad if you drank enough of it.

“But…” Pearsons said slowly, raising the pizza and looking at Mike over it.

“But..” Mike sighed. “He’s in Maine. And the long distance is a little bit harder than I’d originally thought it would be.”

Pearsons hummed, nodding at him. He took another beer from the mini fridge beside his desk and slid it across the table to Mike. “That’s shit luck, mate. The things they tell you about long distance aren’t just myths, you know? Everybody always feel like they’re strong enough to do it… most aren’t.”

Mike squared his shoulders. “It’s not forever,” he said. “He’s going to come live with me, once we find a place big enough for our dog.”

Pearsons gave him a disbelieving look. “A place big enough for a dog? In New York City? On a interns salary?”

Mike let out another self-pitying sigh, and Pearsons pushed the beer closer towards him.

→  →  →

Beverly tossed the door open, sighing in relief as Stan and Patty enter the house. She frowned at the baby carrier strapped to Stan’s chest, frowning hard when she noticed the small cat inside of it. “Uh…”

“If anything happens to Perwinkle,” Stan said, staring her dead in the eye without a hint of a smile. “I will kill everybody in this house and then myself.”

Patty slid her hand into Stan’s, beaming, and leaned her head against his shoulder. Beverly opened her mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by Ben calling from the kitchen. “You better mean everybody in this house above the age of five! Because I’m sure Eddie and Richie could get over coming home to all of us dead, but I think you killing their children would be a bit upsetting.”

Stan nodded, and Patty walked into the house. “That’s why we’re here. What did you do with the baby, exactly?”

“I still can’t believe any of this, and if Ben wasn’t sure, I’d still be pretty convinced that this was very intense prank.”

“You think I’d lie about loosing an infant?” Beverly asked, offended as Stan just raises his eyebrows at her. Beverly made an offended noise. “Look. We don’t want to call the police, because you know… then Eddie and Richie would know.”

“Beverly.” Stan said patiently. “I think they’re going to notice having one less child when they get home.”

“I was planning on finding her before that happens!” Beverly shot back, leading him into the living room.  She gestured towards the stroller. “I swear that I never even took Marty out of this thing while were out! She was in there when we left the park but we got back here and she was just… gone.”

Patty crossed her arms and turned towards Ben. “The baby just vanished into thin air, is that what you’re saying?”

Ben pinched the brim of his nose. “I don’t know what happened, okay? She was there one second, gone the next. I-“

The adults all froze at the sound of the bedroom door down the hall clicking open, and a small pair of feet padding down the hallways. A small girl peaked her head out, hair a mess of braids.

“Damn,” Stan said slowly with a whistle. “They really do have kids. What the fu-“

“Language!” Patty hissed towards him.

Stan just laughed- maybe a little wetly- as he moved towards Frankie. “This is Richie Tozier’s daughter. I promise that she’s heard worse.” He crouched down in front of her. “Hey, sweetie. What’s your name?”

“What’s your name?” Frankie shot back at him, frowning. “This my house. You’re the stranger.”

Stan let out a small laugh despite himself. “My name is Stanley.”

Frankie’s eyes went wide. “Your name is Stanley?” She asked softly. “My daddy has pit-ures of you in his room. You had longer hairs, though.” Stan widened his eyes back at the girl but before he could ask any other questions, her eyes dropped to the carrier on his chest. “Is that a kitty? Can I hold him? Please? Papa says if I say please, big people are more a-likely to do what I say.”

Stan chuckled, spoken like a true child of Eddie Kaspbrak. He put his hand down on the small cat and smiled at Frankie. “We’re looking for your sister right now, sweetie. Maybe after we find her?”

Frankie quickly looked down at the ground, her cheeks growing red. Stan frowned.

“Do you know where she is? Can you tell me?”

Frankie looked up at Stan through her lashes, cheeks still mad. “I don’t wanna get in trouble.”

“You’re not going to be in trouble,” Stan assured her. “Okay? We’re all worried, we’ll just be happy to get her back.”

“Promise, promise?” Frankie challenged and Stan’s heart clenched. There was so much Richie in this little girl, it made his head spin.

“Promise, Promise.” Stan said solemnly. Frankie told hold of Stan’s hand and tugged him down the hall. She opened the door to her purple bedroom and there Marty was. Fast asleep on some roll-out childrens couch, surrounded by possibly hundreds of stuffed animals.

“I just a-wanted to play with her!” Frankie quickly began to explain, sounding tearful. “My daddys never let me play all by myself! They always ‘ave tuh watch us, cuz Marty is little but I can take cara her! Bev and Benny weren’t payin’ attention and Marty hates stayin’ in the stroller! She was sad! So, I took her and out I took care of her! Look!”

Frankie let go Stan’s hand and rushed towards the sleeping baby. She knelt down and rubbed the baby’s head with a surprising amount of care. “She’s okay. She’s happy.”

“Yeah, kiddo.” Stan said with a smile. “She’s just great.”

→  →  →

Mike and Pearsons were laying underneath the dinosaur bones, and he was pretty sure that they were not supposed to be down here but he couldn’t really be bothered to care.

“It fucking sucks, you know,” Mike said, anger finally sinking into his voice. “It’s like… he’s trying to make it seem like he’s being supportive, you know, but he still… he’s not. I have to figure everything out, while he lives in the fancy ass farmhouse and works at his job and plays with our dog and nothing else has changed, you know? For him… He just misses me, whatever, but he didn’t have to pick up and start a whole new life. I just wish he’d cut me some slack.”

Pearsons didn’t say anything but he was giving Mike a small, encouraging smile.

“It’s like… sometimes…” Mike exhaled hard. “Sometimes I feel like he’d rather me be in Derry, a place I’ve always hated, with him than out here doing what I love. He’s just… waiting for me to come back. I don’t think he thinks this is real. Permanent. He’s waiting for me to come back.”

Pearsons reached out and patted Mike on the shoulder. It was only then that he realized he hadn’t called Alexander back.

[thoughts-on-musicals]

The SpongeBob musical

Before I started to even listen to this I had the worst expectations, and those low expectations weren't even met. The SpongeBob musical isn't nearly beyond words, but the words that do stick out to me whenever I think of it is uncreative, confused, and boring. I heard one of the songs for the first time a few months ago and hated it from the get-go. This was a bad idea and I knew it. I saw it was nominated for Tony and was very disappointed. And the second song I heard from it was at the Tony's. I was less than thrilled. I decided I can't have a proper negative opinion about something before I've listened to it. So without seeing the stage show, I'm giving my review on the SpongeBob musical. I do acknowledge that some people really like this, and if you do, please enlighten me on the aspects that make you such a big fan, because I think there's only one song I "like" in the whole musical. Nonetheless, I went through this catastrophe and reviewed song by song, what I kinda liked and what I didn't. So without further Ado, my review of the SpongeBob musical. (I feel like that one sentence made more sense of the show. )

Here's a quick synopsis. So SpongeBob is having a nice day in Bikini Bottom, going to work etc. He meets all his friends along the way and themes the discovery of volcano is going to happen and that everyone is going to die if they don't fix it. So they stop the volcano and everything is happy. The end. Fun story right? (I thought it was stupid, frankly? So volcanos erupt underwater, I know that, but wouldn't the water immediately cool the lava down? That's how islands are made? The sea creatures shouldn't have a fear of lava, more of getting boiled alive. They could just... Swim away, but that's... Kinda addressed in the musical? Anyway. Onto it. )

"Prologue"

I really did forget the announcer was French. Kudos to them for finding a fake French accent.

"Bikini Bottom day"

So the singers in this musical aren't bad. I genuinely like all of the actors' voices. I think they're all very talented, but the stupid cartoon voices they put on made my head hurt. The rhymes are uncreative a messy. Lyrics Always balance the thin, thin line of being creative or random. SpongeBob the musical bounces back and forth between either, and the good creative parts are few and far between. The uncreative Rhymes are accompanied with an uncreative score. This song did make me laugh once or twice though. Good for that. I got some enjoyment. I do wish they could have spiced things up more in this first number. Like SpongeBob having the Bikini Bottom day little theme. What would have made it a little better for me is if the characters all had themes? Like Patrick has some Bongos in a cute little rhythm, maybe Squidward has some classical music nods, they did Sandy good with the banjo, which I liked. I wish they did more of that through the whole thing? I think it would make it better. We see excellent examples of those types of things in some amazing musicals like Les Miserables, Wicked, Into the Woods, Company, and more!! Anyway. It's excited poorly. Plankton and Squidward's voice is super, though. Like WOW. I do hate how Mr. Crabs has... Such a light voice. I wish they got a deeper one, honestly. It really sets the tone of a money grabbing crab man FOR SURE! I really cannot get over Squidward’s voice WOW. He’s too good for this musical. I give it this- it can be kinda fun. I see it too.  Plankton’s voice is good too, but. He works pretty good as a bad guy. Can I have Spongebob’s little monologue on a plaque? This is way, way too silly. And apparently, the sun shines down, because they say it ten times, but I digress. 

“ No Control “

Honestly, I kinda like this one. Like, it's nice. I like how menacing it is. Like, the protagonists' parts, and that’s the parts I don’t really like. PLANKTON IS SO GOOD THOUGH!  The little rounds at the end are something I dig too. I do think that its a good set up for the main plot too. I also like the no control emphasis it has. I didn’t know that this musical was smart enough to do that. I just really like this song, though. That’s going to be a first and last. 

“BFF”

It sounds like a song that a camp leader would make that all this four-year-olds want to shoot themselves over. The talent is good, though. Got good singers. I do think it’s not very creative. This song can’t get more repetitive. That is also a common theme for this musical. Repeating things so you get bored enough to listen to the poorly crafted different parts. It makes you think the differences are important and interesting when it’s just the opposite. I feel like this musical is treating me like I don’t know anything. I know this was most likely aimed at children, but kids have brains and can listen to a good musical. This song is just stupid. Again, an occurring thing 

“When the Going Gets Tough “

Plankton rapping makes me laugh. The first time I listened to this was at 3am and I was laughing like an idiot when this came on. It was insane. I didn’t see it coming. That’s another thing. This musical doesn’t know what I want to be. It has so many different things. It’s trying to be diverse and has an interesting score, but I feel like it should have a coherent theme. Like I said about “Bikini Bottom Day”. There should be themes to tie things together. It’s weird how they try and give up at the same time. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the writing room to see what was going on all these peoples’ who wrote this minds, But I do like this song.  I REALLY LIKE IT. But the “It’s time to get lost” part is bad. they should have thought about that a little more. These things rapping unironically is good though wow. 

“ [Just a] Simple Sponge “

I like the guitar riff. I can tell in the first five seconds I know this song is so stupid. Chorus you’re about to hear a trillion times. The score is OK? It sounds nothing like the rest of the musical. (Ahem. have a solid theme ahem). This is really stupid and not good. Jesus Christ. It’s the least motivational motivation song I’ve ever heard. RAP AGAIN THAT WAS GOOD AND WOULD FIT TALKING AROUND HIS FRIENDS AND TIE INNN THE MUUUUSICCCCAAAALLLLLLL!

“ Daddy Knows Best “

This was the first song I heard before I actually sat down and listened to the soundtrack. I hate the song, but the tune is way too catchy. I was looking through the youtube comments while I was listening to this and the second one was “ the shit dad trope meets the capitalist agenda “ and I thought it summed up the song. also boring. It’s uncreative lyric wise and score-wise.  I want it to get  0.5 seconds faster every time it says money. 

“ Hero is My Middle Name “

It’s pretty upbeat, but it needs to be more hopeful score-wise. Sandy is amazing though. Her voice and her jokes. Talent is amazing in here, REALLY! I do love the voices! The chorus is annoyingly repetitive. I want more energy to this. It’s too slow paced, but it’s an okay song. 

“Super Sea Star Savior” 

This sounds like a gospel chorus, which I think they’re trying to go for? I guess Patrick is Jesus? The beat is... okay? It feels very generic. I expected more from this musical this “diverse”.  This is another pointless song that doesn’t really advance the plot. The talking voice of Patrick is different than the singing one, that really bothers me. Don’t like it. 

“Tomorrow Is” 

I’m kinda ready for the musical to be over after that song, maybe one more song and then it being over.  Too bad that it seems we’ve not really even gotten into act two yet. This sounds like an end of act one song. If this weren’t about SpongeBob, it might be a bit better and worse. I don’t like how ambiguously “I only have tomorrow to succeed “ thing the first verse is. Squidward is singing in the second verse and I more than love his voice. I haven't seen any of the actual stage play, and do not intend to, but I like to think Squidward is having a little epic about himself trying to be a famous clarinet player, but it not working out. PLANKTON IS BACK I LOVE. It’s too happy. It's supposed to be more depressing, come on. I thought the music was going to change for a second, but it’s just that same tune over and over and over. I like this nice, little, last part, though. 

“Poor Pirates” 

Okay, I love this song. it’s good and amazing and has no flaw. I’m assuming that this is the beginning of act two! it’s halfway done!! I do like how self where this thing is.  It’s a good catchy and I wish the rest of the musical had this theme. It’s funny and clever and a good thing to listen to and kinda stupid, like SpongeBob. it’s good and I want the musical to be like this. 

“Bikini Bottom Boogie” 

I hate this song. the little electric guitar is fine and kinda cool to listen too, but really. Didn’t the Plain White T’s write this? Where’s David Hasselhoff? That was the good part about the first SpongeBob movie. I don’t want to talk about the rest of them. it’s stupid and repetitive in the wrong ways and doesn't match the rest of the musical. Diverse, not randomness. COME ON PEOPLE. 

“Chop to the Top” 

Sandy is my baby. I lover her. I remember this chorus was annoying, and it is. I like that usually when Sandy sings there’s a banjo. It’s good, that’s one of the only things I like about this song. I don’t like how literal it is with how scared SpongeBob was climbing up the mountain. This thing has no subtly. 

“[I Guess I] Miss You”

Is the little SpongeBob Patrick makeup. This song is annoying. I hate the pacing and the words and everything. this song really reminds me of the Bully Sized Hole song in Phineas and Ferb song. It’s stupid and can’t end too soon. 

“I’m Not a Loser” 

This was one of the first songs that I heard from the Tony’s and I don’t like it at all.  I’m just going to skip this one because I don’t want to mess up the amazingness of Gavin Lee’s voice. 

“Best Day Ever” 

Okay, I think this is the song from the first movie, but Tom Kenny isn’t singing so it isn’t going to be half as good. I’ve been pretty bored since the beginning of this. Maybe that’s why I like poor pirates so much? at least it’s not boring.  Also, this song fooled me at the start. I was thinking it was a new, cool song because it doesn’t sound too bad, but then it goes into the actual song. Sure, it puts a more sad tone to it, like a more optimistic thing to it-or reason for optimism. I appreciate that. It’s still a boring song, but still. 

“Finale: Bikini Bottom Day Reprise” 

I hated the first one and don’t need a second one. Won’t this ever end? Thanks for the recap of everything we just witnessed. It’s not like we just watched it.  I sat for over an hour and I know what’s happening. I’m not five... But I guess that's who you’re pandering to. 

Okay. I didn’t like it all and it was a waste of time. I have two catchy songs that didn’t go to the point of annoying. It’s clearly just another way to make more money for Nickelodeon. I don’t like it and it was a waste of time. I don’t see how anyone would pay to see this. No one should spend money on that, but that’s just me? IT’S CRAP. 

THE END YOU’RE WELCOME 

[obligatoryblogforaudiencest-blog]

Week 10: Audience Interactivity and the Loser-Watch

Well you wouldn`t guess what happened the day after I wrote Blog number 9. I was working on The First Light and it tipped over and exploded into a thousand pieces. Every single thing I do out of love ends up being smashed and I`m left with less than what I had to begin with. I am in the process of rebuilding her but damn did I ever jinx something like that happening. I don`t know what it`s like reading my blogs but I hope it`s more funny than it is depressing.

Regardless here we are at interactive online audiences. I like how the way the textbook and course is set up is sort of chronological. Each chapter brings us to a more modern theory. That`s a good way to have things laid out honestly. Makes me feel like I`m really understanding the progression of audiences and how they`ve interacted with their media over the course of history, rather than just over the course of a bunch of dull ass theories. I am a highly interactive online audience member. I comment, like, favorite, donate, until recently I did online fan dedications. I am a guy who does a lot of online audience interaction with the media I enjoy. In seminar I was told to use the blog to discuss my Loser-watch. If you don`t recall, Loser-watch is a habit I have developed wherein I consume the content put out by mostly unheard of individuals who, for one reason or another, fascinate me. These ‘losers’, as it were, tend to be poor, eccentric and unemployed. Because of their usually destitute situations, I donate to their patreons, paypals, gofundmes etc. I figure if I’m going to consume the free content put out by these people, I might as well sling them a few dollars while I’m at it. Because you requested to know who some of these ‘losers’ are, I shall indulge you:

Brett Keane – Internet scam artist from Missouri whose religious flip-flops, bizarre speech patterns and mysterious onslaught of illnesses make for an intriguing if not occasionally upsetting spectacle.

Christine Weston Chandler – Autistic trans woman from Virginia whose life has been very carefully catalogued by a set of dedicated fans. One of the more popular individuals I follow, Christine’s life is a tragic but fascinating one.

Abby Brown – A dreadful rapper but a strangely kind soul, Abby is lovably innocent but also incredibly dim-witted and this combination makes for a unique individual whose antics range from cringe-inducing to heart warming.

Christopher Anderson – A friend of Brett Keane’s, Chris Anderson’s life is nothing short of insane. A once popular youtuber from 2007 now wallows in obscurity and, in many ways, absurdity. Plagued with mental health issues and addictions, Anderson’s unfolding story is sobering to say the least.

There are a few others but I’ll spare you for now. While I am a very active audience member when it comes to the online media I enjoy, I try to keep a real distance from the people mentioned above. Despite giving them money, I have never commented on any of their videos or had conversations with them or any of their fans. As an avid user of the internet, I have learned when it is good to be an active audience member and when it is wise to keep quiet. When it comes to dealing with the individuals above, I don’t feel like I could gain anything from talking to them or bothering them. I also hold a tiny little bit of fear when it comes to a few of them. Regardless when it comes to online communities that I am active in, I would say the one I engage most with is the Star Wars wiki known simply as Wookieepedia. As a long time lover of the galaxy far far away and an avid consumer of all things star wars from video games to books to comics to the movies to the television shows, I consider myself more than qualified to edit the pages on Wookieepedia. I edit existing pages more than I actually create new pages for things. The situation tends to be that pages exist for nearly everything however the quality of said pages is highly variable. As a particular scholar in alien species and Clone Wars era chronology, I often find myself editing the pages for certain battles and events that took place between 22 BBY and 19 BBY and a variety of creatures who often have criminally underwritten pages.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I belong on a Loser-watch myself. Well jokes on you because now that my YouTube channel is dead, all the info about me is basically erased.

Also before I wrap things up, I need to say how much I admire all of those companies that did the viral marketing campaigns wherein they had the fans submit their own designs/inventions to the company. Using the internet’s massive reach to essentially get marketing work done for free is absolutely genius. Even with the Starbucks one where they offered the job to the person who submitted the best design- Starbucks got tons and tons and tons of people to basically advertise Starbucks for free. Because everybody posted their stupid cup designs when that campaign was going on and sure enough, front and center was that putrid grinning capitalist mermaid. Hats off the wily bastards down at Starbucks. They know what’s up. That’s just about a thousand words then. Six more. Four more. Two more. Done.