#its a comedy episode obviously

[grimbeak]

i think there should be a nv bonus episode where cecil keeps getting killed every time he resurrects for some unknown reason and who has to solve the mystery? the two most cecil-obsessed people possible. earl and kevin.

[mariocki]

New Scotland Yard: A Case of Prejudice (2.2, LWT, 1972)

"Now, what about this audience - do you know any of them?"

"A lot of them, some of them are friends of mine, they live in the street."

"Black and white or... all black?"

"Both, black and white. That's what this is all about, right?"

"That's what what's all about?"

"This place, this street, this district, this killing."

"Tell me what you mean by that, please."

"This was a community venture; I spent ten years in this district trying to get people together: black and white, together. That's what my play's all about, right? Simple people power. Look, my play says that white power is finished, but there is always a chance that -"

"I don't think we want to go into politics, Mr. Buckingham."

"No, go on, please."

"You don't want to go into it? But that is why Charlie was killed!"

[murphysiblings]

honestly hazbin hotel isnt that bad

[oh-no-its-bird]

Special edition Christmas fic where genin aged team 7 decide hatch their newest plot to see Kakashi's face: using mistletoe

Because if they trap him under it with someone, he'll surely have to take his mask off to give them a kiss! ...Right?

(Sasuke thinks this is fucking stupid)

The entire thing is just a fucking slapstick comedy as Kakashi goes "what's the funniest way I can go along with this." And decides he will in fact lower his mask and give a kiss to everyone the kids corner him with. But only when they look away / blink / their view is obstructed

The kids are chasing him around with a string on a stick w mistletoe tied to the end of it, and every time they miss seeing the kiss (and his face) hey scream even louder

Reactions range from "???!?????!?!??????" (Iruka) to straight up passing out (Gai) to laughing hysterically with a bright red face (Kurenai) to just sort of freezing up like a deer in headlights (Asuma)

Kakashi, having way too much fun, makes a shadow clone to pull the Sukea thing again. And the kids get "Sukea" on board, thinking he can take a photo the second Kakashi pulls his mask down for a smooch. Kakashi has WAY too much fun, essentially role-playing with himself and swooning dramatically. Then, at the end, Sukea goes, "Oh no the camera's memory card is gone, Kakashi must have stolen it :((" and the kids all scream in agony

They try to get him to describe Kakashi's face and Sukea gets all coy and goes "umm... its kind of... indescribable?"

(They get another person to try to snap a photo of him but they turn out to be a freezer so they don't take the picture. When the kids harass them ab it they just giggle a little maniacally ab his face)

This does escalate to doing this shit w enemy nin btw. Funniest option is obviously Tobi but I'm also raising u a really freaked the fuck out Itachi looking like an angry, surprised cat after Kakashi gives him a peck on the cheek (Sasuke is gonna fucking KILL HIMSELF)

Obito gets the full makeout session bc its funniest.

He shows up looking for a dramatic fight but like halfway through his villain speech, team 7 dangles the mistletoe over him, and he's so thrown off guard he just kinda "???? excuse me I'm kind of in the middle of—"

Kakashi, who is a) in too deep to stop the bit now, and b) recognizes a good way to throw off an enemy, fucking launches himself at him, pushes Tobi's mask up just enough to kiss, and starts to make out w him

His back is turned to the kids and they're all scrambling to try to catch a single glimpse, but he keeps his back to them as they scream and run around (thus prolonging the kiss)

Kakashi is totally checked out of the actual kiss, this is all fun and games to him. Obito is having a fucking religious experience wrapped in a manic episode flavored internal breakdown topped off with a very loud high pitched kettle noise that may or may not be confined to his brain

This lasts for like a solid minute before Kakashi releases him and readjust his mask, pats him on the shoulder and goes "sorry about that teehee"

Obito just kinda 🧍‍♀️ and they stare at eachother for another solid minute as team 7 screams and cries and throws up in the bg

Kakashi, seeing the opportunity to leave and avoid what was for sure going to be a potentially devistating fight: "cool. So, anyways. Bye lmao." And runs for it w his students

Obito is left tanding still as a statue in the middle of the clearing. After like 20 seconds alone he starts hyperventilating.

Merry Christmas everybody 👍

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 5

Part 5 - Translating humor and wordplay

Translating jokes from one language to another can be difficult, especially when the humor revolves around wordplay that's only apparent in the original language. Luckily for a comedy series like SxF, most of the humor relies on concepts that are universal to all languages, but there are the occasional jokes that require creative translation in order to get the same effect in English. What I think is the most well-known example of this kind of joke in SxF is from chapter 26, where Yuri tells Anya that "knowledge is power" during their tutoring session.

The Japanese phrase for this is 知は力 ("chi wa chikara"). Anya mishears this as ちわわぢから ("chiwawa jikara"), which means "chihuahua power," which is why we see the image of a muscular chihuahua in her thoughts. This results in Yuri calling her チワワ娘 ("chihuahua girl") from then on. Obviously this joke would be lost if translated directly, so Casey Loe, the official English translator for the SxF manga, got creative with making it work in English. He cleverly utilizes the English expression, "the whole enchilada," which sounds enough like "swole chihuahua" for Anya to believably mistake the two. This translation also makes it so that Yuri calling Anya "chihuahua girl" later on makes sense.

But unfortunately, because a series can have different companies working on the localization of its anime versus its manga, inconsistencies between the two often come up. In this case, the anime team translated this joke completely differently, and less effectively in my opinion. You can see from the below screenshots that they had Yuri use the word "unleash," which then led to Anya associating a (muscular) dog without a leash as powerful (?) Again, this translation was a stretch in my opinion and not as good as the manga version. This also makes it so that translating Yuri's nickname for Anya as "chihuahua girl" won't make sense.

But what's interesting is that, many months and episodes later in season 2, they stayed consistent with that translation and had Yuri call Anya "stupid leash girl" in episode 28.

Despite my dislike for this translation, I have to give them kudos for remembering it all that time later and not just directly translating it as "chihuahua girl." Though it makes me wonder if they'll stay consistent in season 3 where Yuri will be referring to Anya as "chihuahua girl" once again.

A further complication is that, not only do these kinds of inconsistencies exist between the anime and manga translations, but they also exist between the different streaming services that stream SxF with English subtitles throughout the world. I only have access to the subtitled version from Hulu, which is where my screenshots are from, and I think other streaming services in the US like Crunchyroll, Amazon, Netflix, etc, use the exact same subtitles. So when I refer to "the Hulu subtitles" throughout this post, I mean other major US streaming services too. However, I'm not totally sure if they all do share the same subtitle script, so if anyone who has these services could confirm, that would be great! However, @tare-anime informed me that Muse Asia's English subtitles for SxF are completely different! For example, they translated the above joke more closely to the original, by using the phrase "puppy power" and keeping Yuri's nickname for Anya as "chihuahua girl."

There are further differences with Muse Asia's translation as well, for example, they directly translate Anya's names for Loid and Yor, "chichi" and "haha," as "Father" and "Mother" instead of "Papa" and "Mama."

(thanks again to Tare for the Muse Asia screenshots!) This is different, not only compared to the Hulu subtitles, but also the official English manga as well, both of which have Anya consistently use "Papa" and "Mama."

Tare also let me know that Disney Plus in Asia, another service that streams SxF, has yet another version of the English subtitles! And these are only the subtitled versions for the US and Asia - if SxF is streamed with English subtitles in other countries, I wonder if those are different as well. That means there's at least 3-4 different English subtitle scripts for SxF, with different ways of translating certain things, like what I described above. This could make things confusing for someone without any knowledge of Japanese who reads the English version of the manga and watches the subtitled version of the anime on one or more streaming services...if they read the first few volumes of the manga with the "swole chihuahua" translation, then watch season 2 of the anime, they're gonna be confused about why Yuri calls Anya "stupid leash girl." There's other more minor inconsistencies too, like how the Hulu subtitles have Yor call Anya "Miss Anya" all the time, but the manga doesn't.

I'm sure there's some licensing reasons why there isn't one official English subtitle script that all the streaming services can use, and why they don't consult the manga translations, especially for the more difficult-to-translate parts. It seems like wasted effort for so many official English translations to exist for the same thing.

But anyway, back to the translations of jokes in SxF, another one that stood out to me occurred in chapter 23. During the scene where Loid is asking Anya about a name for Bond, he explains how dogs have trouble discerning the sounds of consonants. The phrase he uses for this is 子音の聞き分け("shiin no kiki wake"), which means "distinguishing consonants," with "shiin" meaning "consonant." However, there's another word "shiin" with the kanji 死因 that means "cause of death." This is what Yor thinks he means - 死因の聞き分け ("shiin no kiki wake"), which means "determining the cause of death." So in her thoughts, she imagines asking Bond if he prefers death by blood loss (失血死) or by being crushed (圧死), and when he shakes his head at both, she says "you're not good at these distinctions, are you?"

This is a difficult joke to translate, so Casey got a bit loose by having Loid use the word "plosives" instead of "consonants," and then having Yor mishear it as "explosives." He then changed up Yor's dialogue by having her say that Bond prefers C-4 explosions over other methods of death.

While I don't think the translation of this joke worked as well as the previous one (I feel like Yor wouldn't know about C-4 explosions?) I couldn't come up with anything better myself, lol. It just goes to show how translating things as closely to the original as possible isn't always the best choice…but oddly, that's what the Hulu subtitles did! For some reason they opted not to even attempt to rework this joke for English, and kept both Loid and Yor's dialogue as exact translations. This results in an exchange that makes no sense and will leave people wondering how Yor could mistake Loid's "can't tell consonants apart" as "can't tell causes of death apart."

However, there are some cases where the wordplay works similar enough in both Japanese and English that the joke can be translated without too much modification. An example of this is in chapter 59 where Becky asks Yor how she was able to "get" Loid…"pierce his heart" as she puts it. Yor thinks she means this literally, to which she replies that she wouldn't hurt Loid.

The Japanese version is very similar, with Becky using the verb 射止める("itomeru") which means "to shoot down" (with an arrow). However, it has a figurative meaning too, which is "to win" as in "win someone's heart." Yor thinks Becky means the literal meaning of shooting down, so she says that she wouldn't shoot Loid and that she doesn't even use a bow and arrows.

The Hulu subtitles translate it more or less directly, having Becky say "shoot an arrow through his heart" and keeping Yor's "I don't use a bow and arrows" that the manga omitted. Rare case where I think the anime translation worked better than the manga!

In the case of this joke, the concept of "shooting someone's heart" to mean "winning someone's heart" is universal in both English and Japanese, so little reworking was needed. This also helped keep consistency with Yor's tendency to associate otherwise benign concepts with violence due to the nature of her work.

I'll wrap up this post with what I think is the most commendable translation of a joke so far in the manga: how Casey translated the names of the guest characters at the ski resort in chapter 94.

Their names are puns in Japanese as well, and Annie over on Twitter already did a great breakdown of how each of the wordplay in their names was translated, so definitely check out that thread here. Since this chapter has yet to be animated, I'm really curious how the anime translators will handle this…since it seems like they don't reference the manga, they'll probably either translate the names literally or come up with their own pun names, and either will unfortunately lead to the same kind of inconsistencies between the anime and manga translations that I touched on earlier.

To summarize, humor can be a very culture/language specific thing, so it's up to the translator to make sure the same feeling is conveyed in their translation even if they have to essentially make up their own jokes. With that said, it's a shame that there isn't collaboration between the translators of the anime and manga to ensure consistent translations across the franchise. So I hope this post helped shed light, not just on how some of the jokes in SxF were conveyed in Japanese, but also on why some things in the English version of SxF seem inconsistent between the anime and manga.

<- Return to Part 4

[cecilysass]

Undercover Smolder Mulder: Pine Bluff Variant Fic Recs

I'd describe Pine Bluff Variant as a low key fan favorite, an episode that I even feel like appreciation has grown for over the years. Oh sure, it doesn’t get the fan love that a Memento Mori or Pusher might, but we sure do see those Mulder Scully intense looks gifs popping up pretty often, right? Plus, it has partner trust angst, undercover intrigue, hurt/comfort, genuine thriller-style suspense, and serious MSR overtones.

I like PBV for all of those reasons obviously, but also because it feels like the show going with a slightly different tone. Starting from its action-based, FBI operation cold open, we know this is more conspiracy / bioterrorist thriller than classic X-file. Yes, there’s a sci fi component to the biotoxin--and the scenes that reveal its victims have a horror feel--but this episode just isn’t as much about the supernatural. It also raises the interesting--and nowadays more pointed--question: aren’t anti-government groups operating under their own rules sometimes potentially as dangerous as the government itself?

TXF tried several kinds of experiments in its later seasons, in production and structure of show (Triangle or X-Cops), in exploring all kinds of playful, self-aware and satirical comedy (lots of season 6, Hollywood A.D., etc.), in making drastic moves with its mytharc (One Son, Requiem, etc). Going in the direction of a more purely action-suspense thriller for a MOTW wasn’t something they ever tried again (that I can think of anyway). And I think that's kind of a shame? It feels like a good change up. Different without messing too much with the show’s basic DNA.

Not to mention, y'all, Scully thinks he betrayed her! And there's the scene with the finger! And Mulder thinks he's going to die! There's so much good stuff here!

Here is a list of Pine Bluff Variant fic recs. (As usual, I really think there should be more. This episode has sooooo many openings. You should write some.)

Calling Bluffs - mangokiwitropicalswirl An angsty little post ep that doesn’t flinch from the way coming close to death affects Mulder (or Scully). It also raises the question of how much their bond always puts them at risk. Moving ending.

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before - pinebluffvariant Immediately post ep, Scully protects Mulder. There is some satisfying hurt/comfort. But what really shines in this fic is the ending, which ties a nice bow on season 5 and kicks me in the feels. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, indeed: sniff.

Passing Solace - DarlaBlack An intensely romantic NC-17 scene set in the middle of the episode, focused on their deep care and need for one another. Beautifully written.

All of This (around) Us - secondsflat In this sweet fic they share whiskey before Scully sets his finger bone, and Scully voices her frustration at not knowing about his undercover work. An intimate, atmospheric little scene.

Snakebitten - onpaperfirst This is a riff on all of season 5 written with great skill and subtlety. So, so good. It’s canon divergent in that it seeds the Pine Bluff Variant / New Spartans storyline back earlier in the season—and it has more RST. Such a treat.

Postcards Slipped Under the Door - skuls Two years after Pine Bluff Variant, some time after the events of En Ami in season 7, Mulder begins receiving ominous postcards from the New Spartans, suggesting they have regrouped. Skinner and Scully think it’s too dangerous for him to get involved in the case again, so Scully goes instead. This is hard on Mulder, as they’re in a recently begun relationship. Angsty, plot-driven, satisfying.

[thefirstknife]

Feeling abnormal about Echoes continues. Apologies for the scrunchy screenshots, it's from a recording. Immediately starts with Saint and Osiris killing me on the spot:

A little bit of comedy to ease on the crying:

Help. Osiris obviously doesn't want to do this because like. He's seen this before and it made him very unwell. Seeing Saint's dead body is very clearly not something he wants to experience again, but Failsafe says that Saint needs him so he goes anyway. Yippee.

Then the answer to my question. Nessus basically holds an archive for the Vex which includes the archives from the Forest, which is where we're going. I expected something that doesn't require lengthy explanations about how we're getting to the Forest. Saint even helpfully asks:

Some more info:

This is a really neat explanation that migth allow us to revisit this some time without having to go through the hoops of complicated shenanigans with what happened to the original Forest (and Mercury). But also it does leave me with the feeling that they may just never give us that answer. This will take me a while to process and come to terms with.

More interactions to kill us:

And then the big room. I'll put it under read more because damn:

From above where you enter:

It's a whole new area. It's absolutely bizarrely filled with a lot of details. There's four gates to the Forest, each designed differently. Spent a long time wandering around trying to figure stuff out and it's quite interesting. Makes me feel like we will use this area for something again because this level of brand new designs only being used one would be very strange.

So this one without the actual blue barrier:

This is the "Nessus" gate. When you gate closer, you can see the new plants from this episode and stuff. It's also used at the end of the mission to leave to the core of Nessus. The other three gates have the barriers and they later open, though we can only enter one of them. The one from behind that's basically the last you can actually see... Is Europa:

The snow? The ice crystals? The blue ice streaks? This is completely new. It looks like a gate leading to Europa. When it opens later, the enemies that come out of here are the normal Vex, which you can also see on Europa. I'm saying that because other gates have Vex associated with what the gate looks like. This is unhinging me. What does this mean. It can't just be a random thing they made to use once. There's no way. Bro...

And then there's this one which is the one we use to get to Saint's tomb; it's a gate leading to the future:

VERY interested in the enemies that come out of there. Obviously Descendants aka future Vex, but that also includes WYVERNS. Which are the first Descendant Wyverns we've ever seen:

And there's this one which I couldn't originally place; it looks too similar to a lot of other stuff, including Nessus itself, but I thought it might be Black Garden or Venus. Turns out? Black Garden. When you fight in the center later, Sol Divisive Vex come out of that gate.

The Europa and Black Garden gates fully open when you start the fight and they let the Vex out; as I said, normal ones from Europa and Sol Divisive from the Garden. Then when they're cleared, the future gate opens too and there come Descendants. The other two gates remain open but you can't access them; there's a firewall. Let me in.

In the future gate, there's the worn down corridor and then directly after it is the tomb.

And then the tomb.

I highly recommend doing this yourself or checking out a playthrough for all the lines because I can't feasibly summarise it all. Osiris and Saint show up and Saint interacts with the body, then experiences its memories and finally realises that every Saint is equally the same Saint. He also gets the information on how to find the Conductor. But before that we're treated to emotional damage about Saint and Osiris. Primarily Osiris' incredible worry and also trauma which more or less sends him crying which is fine and okay (lie). Like it's not actually sobbing on screen, but it's very much implied in how he moves and the way lines are delivered.

Okay I guess! How about we all jump into lava! Just to make it clear, Saint's last thoughts before he died were of Osiris. And in Immolant, when Osiris thought he would die, his last thoughts were of Saint.

But there is one where Osiris finds happiness. He finds a time away from strife. He finds Saint—a dream of warm serenity. The peace to his purpose. With Saint, there is a future that could have been enough.

So we're all jumping into lava, right?

Outside we fight Agioktis, except this time it's "Archived Mind" aka the archive of the Martyr Mind, the Vex that killed Saint originally.

Then we move on into the planetary core which reveals... certainly a sight. Of something that looks like an alien civilisation, with like a garden and also a HUGE pyramid inside of a artificially made Vex crater. And that's inside of Nessus. And now we know what they meant in the showcase when they said we'll be exploring an ancient civilisation.

I am unhinged. We don't even get to see more because the cutscene starts when you move forward and then we get the beautiful cliffhanger that will make me the most normal Destiny fan for the next 3 weeks.

Maya explains that she's here because we all suck apparently and she wants to fix the world by using Vex radiolaria to essentially convert everyone and everything into a "better" form. She's having a normal one.

Radio message is more or less a recap on all Veil Logs for people who didn't listen to them and the lore page, which randomly now isn't on Ishtar yet even though all others were available right away is about... well. Maya and Chioma living together in the Vex network peacefully and lovingly until the page break and we see the Conductor experimenting by doing open surgery on Exo Chioma. Very normal. very fine. But I guess now we know what that Exo thing from the trailers was.

Now we have to wait 3 weeks.

[haphazardlyannotated]

Steven Universe told from the perspective of other characters

Garnet: A story of gay empowerment from start to finish. As a book it would be titled either Made of Love or Stronger Than You and feature Garnet's gauntlets with her wedding rings on them as cover art.

Amethyst: A seemingly wacky coming of age story that drops the most heartfelt moments when your guard is down. The cover resembles kids' detective stories, the kind where the whole gang is looking around for clues to the mystery.

Pearl: Everything up to Rose's death is an ancient literary classic titled The Ballad of Rose Quartz, illustrated with intricate inkbrush paintings. Steven Universe season one to three is the kind of introspective life after tragedy novel you pick up to look sophisticated reading. It's probably titled Without Her or something similiar. I don't have a title for season four and onwards, but the blurb is "it's not easy to manage twenty girlfriends, two life partners, a son and a dark past at the same time!" It's much more lighthearted than the previous two, but still prone to punching you in the emotions with little warning.

Connie: A magical adventure series just like the Unfamiliar Familiar! It centers Steven the magical boy with his best friend and eventual love interest Connie as the female lead. The tone gets a little darker after the first book/season, but less so than the original Steven Universe (let alone Steven Universe Future).

Greg: First a coming of age story, but unlike Amethyst this one is about breaking away from toxic people in your life. This story gets its happy ending when Greg finally finds someone he can be himself with in Rose. The time until Rose's death is a romantic comedy titled My Girlfriend, her Girlfriend and Me and conists mostly of shenanigans. After Rose's death and Steven's birth, it turns into something more bittersweet centering Greg's worries about being an adequate father to his magical son.

Peridot: It's titled How I learned to stop worrying and join the Rebellion and is easily the most lighthearted installment here. Our dorky protagonist is very obviously a somewhat unreliable narrator, but in a funny way. She encounters a few struggles, but they are quickly overcome with the power of friendship.

Lapis: This is just multiple whump fics. They're in a collection titled Bad Things Happen Roulette. Steven Universe the Movie is a pretty standard fantasy adventure with a group of powerful heroes though, and Steven Universe Future is the fluff fic with a smidge of angst you'd read as a pick me up after Bad Things Happen Roulette.

Bismuth: The war is a good vs evil sci-fi story with lots of social commentary. The Diamonds are definitely irredeemable here. I don't know what to do with the few episodes of the original Steven Universe she was in, but the movie is an empowerment narrative against systemic oppression titled Still Standing, or something in that style. Steven Universe Future however is a romantic comedy.

Rose: This is just a straight (well, bi) up tragedy. Our protagonist desperately tries to recover from her childhood trauma and be a good person, but is ultimately unable to escape the prison of her own mind. The book wins several literature prizes, but very few people actually read it because it's just too depressing.

[canonsinthehead]

so hows the night life in the villages? which is the best and worse? 😸😸

Glad you asked... there are few topics ni the answer ill go deeper in another post but i hope yall get the picture...

Naruto Headcanons - Ranking Nightlife in Different Villages (from best to worse)

1- Kumogakure (THE Party City)

Obviously Kumo takes the first place for its unmatched nightlife culture. It is alive at night and very welcoming of foreigners, some people make a whole trip to Kumo just to party.

There are sooooo many nightclubs of different types. Hip hop, Pop or Western etc. Kumo is known for being the only nation to have stripclubs. other countries, always claim to be more conservative in that area. it ties into the more liberal/accepting expression of sexuality (especially from women).

everything is intertwined when you look up the country's music history. Many famous artists strated in nightclubs.

The city lives at night, many sports clubs are operating during dark hours and inviting the night owls to join in. Along this, you can take all types of classes/courses taking place at night if clubbing is not your cup of tea.

Kumo is so diverse, there is a district/area or stores/businesses for all types of preferences, interests or way of life. Are you LGBT, plus size, disabled, a salary man, vegan, emo, a sneaker head or whatever it is, you will find a place for taste.

it has become a challenge some residents (and tourists), to make a 6PM to 6AM Challlenge. where it consist of staying awake and indulging in the nightlife until sunrise. it was popularized by an episode of Killer Bee's Showtime where they came up with the concept and has became a legit tourist attraction since theres so much to do

2- Konohagakure (6 to 9 Heaven)

In Konoha, a lot of people have a 9-5 schedule so big part of the village nightlife is centered around "after work" activities. When you go out on weekdays, you will mostly encounter employees trying to unwind after a long workday

regardless there are so many activities to do after the sunset. the most popular are karaoke, hot springs and street food stands.

Konoha's foundation being a mountain, there are many hidden spots hidden in its complex foundation. when look over it, you can observe spots of hundred of spotlights all over the city because small goups loves to meetup in various places and just chill together

the largest cinemas are located in Konoha. it one of the few places where you can go watch movies from other nations to the exceptions of Kiri for their heavy censorships laws and Suna for being in a different language.

Cabaret clubs are huge in Konoha.

you can find many 24/7 ramen shops and Internet Cafes

The comedy scene in Konoha is big. off course it doesnt match Kumo's but Konoha produced many well known comedians. All the "Comedy Open mic nights" are to die for.

Konoha scored high also for being a welcoming nation and embraces tourist/foreigners with open minds.

3- Iwagakure (Rock 'n' Roll)

if you are looking for a good music concert to attend. especially for rock and indie music.

it scored lower because many of those locations (to party) and the culture surrounding them are sometimes hard to find

mixed with the nightlife, Iwa has a strong adult entertainment industry. There are countless soaplands and burlesque show, again only if you can find them

(Honorable Mention) 3.5 - Modern Kirigakure (Work in Progress)

On the way to become like Konoha (along with their own sauce) but is not there yet

outside of the capital, they still operate like the previous system like the rest of the country of water.

4- Sunagakure (Organized Events)

The nightlife of Suna is more made of organized events where mass of people attent. The largest venues happen on Fridays since there are a lage diversity of shecdules among the population but everthing stops from Friday night to Sunday morning.

A typical night activity is enjoying tea, there are hundreds of tea stands across the country, sometimes even in the middle of nowhere for travelers during their long journey in the desert. they along serve flavourful whiskeys and tasty snacks. It is the #1 socializing spot.

The food is to die for. The culinary scene of Suna is unmatched, with all the ingredients natives to the regions it gives unique meal you cant find anywhere else. there are many restaurants of all types open until the early hours of the morning.

Live performing is a very prevelant part of Suna's nightlife,

A lot of night activities are meant to be enjoyed in large numbers especially among families since many of them are large.

the problem is that Suna is really weary of tourists/foreigners, so accessing certain areas, restaurants or pubs may be denied because they require invitations. That would limit your acess to tea houses and restaurants in the main city/touristic areas where the inflation is crazzzzyyyyyyy for outsiders. Also the language barrier doesnt help...

the best deal would be to be invited among someone's familiy and celebrate with them, it's just as good as going out

5- Old Kirigakure (Dangerous Territories ahead...)

It is advised for regular citizen (especiall women and children) to stay inside as soon as the sun sets. They say the freaks come out at night, all criminals and gang members come out after nightfall. they occupate various pubs and bars. The city is dual face because it is literraly re-birthed at night for a whole different aura to plague the city at night.

most illegal activities take place at night.

there are a lot of brothels operating under criminal leadership. along with illegal/dubious boxing matches and fight clubs where gambling happens.

Gambling is no joke, it is a serious widespread practice where you can witness (and participate with) players with dices on street corners.

At all time, territories are clearly separated, either by criminal affiliations, ethnicities or caste levels. cross it and will likely pay it with your life.

as a foreigner, if you fit the physical attributes of the local men, you could go unnoticed for some time but it adviced not to even try since you may be cooked when people ask for your paperwork to enter certain spaces. also even if you make and get "accepted", the wrong gesture, word could lead to a misunderstanding and escalate into violence

Kirigakure is male centered society. 90% of the people outside at night are male. many levels of society caters to them hence why a lot of adult males without criminal affialition have no problem going out at night to drink their souls away.

you can witness public intercourse

going on the previous point, there is a deep (but hidden) male LGBT culture running in Kiri. many of them are affiliated with various gangs or crimelords like Gato. Some would suggest that homosexuality is lowkey normalized among gangs (do the homie) but it will never be confirmed. So if you know where to look, are determined (crazy) enough, and looking for a hookup with a tattoed muscular dude with a questionable (dead) body count, then go ahead.

Ironically, the gigolo scene industry is as large as female adult entertainment/prostitution in Kiri. they are not going to tell you that most of them are gang members who fell from grace/punished for making mistakes or literal human trafficking.

6- Amegakure (DO NOT TRESSPASS)

RAVES. The rave culture is unmatched. If you are looking for hardcore parties with moshpits and loud eletronic music you are looking at the right place.

The night culture is really the bulk of what there is to do in Ame, its residents uses thoses parties and alcohol to escape for the reality of their daily lives.

Like everything in the country, it is so hard to acces and it doesnt like outsiders not even a little bit. most of them are not allowed to even enter the city's walls.

There you can find the HARDEST drugs in the entire world. Addictions is a real issue in Ame but when i mean hard i mean amnesia (you forget your life before you consumed it) type of hard

if you go there, you 10000% getting robbed.

thanks yall for your request, that was fun to do. hope the formatting is not too much.

shoutout to @getyourmindrightson, @oceanjenna! thanks for the support.

[paulkleestan]

Even More Random IZ facts!

The show itself never reveals where exactly on Earth ZIM and Dib live although the comics confirm it is in the United States. Zoomed out maps used by the Tallest in one episode put it somewhere around the upper Midwest region, either in Michigan or Ohio (some fans theorize it to be Detroit)

In early brainstorming stages the show was originally a more light hearted Mork and Mindy style comedy about an alien misunderstanding human social norms and learning a lesson at the end. Jhonen decided after a sleepless night to go a bit darker by making the alien a hostile invader

The various symbols seen on Irken property in the series have specific meanings. The two eyed symbol is for all of the Irken race and the one eyed one is for Invaders specifically

Jhonen rejected every voice actor who auditioned for GIR because he thought they were “too good”. He ended up giving the role to his friend Rikki Simons who at the time had no voice acting experience

ZIM is responsible for the death of every named Almighty Tallest shown in the series(4)

Dib and Gaz are heavily inspired by Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, respectively, from The X-Files

Almighty Tallests Red and Purple were actually unnamed in the original run of the series. Their names started as nicknames given by the IZ crew and fans and only became canon after the show ended in the script of the unaired episode “The Trial”

Dib has been voted as IZ fans’ favorite character (surprisingly not GIR) and is Jhonen’s personal favorite

Had the series not been cancelled, TAK would eventually come back to Earth and become ZIM’s reoccurring archenemy

It is unknown if the Almighty Tallest are naturally tall or if their suits are just robot shells that they pilot inside their torsos. Jhonen has not given a definitive answer on purpose to keep fans guessing

Enter the Florpus was supposed to end in a cliffhanger, with TAK breaking out of Moo-Ping 10 (space prison), setting the series up for a potential sequel

The Control Brains are the true authority figures of the Irken Empire, with the Tallests only being figureheads. They are actually Irkens that are genetically-engineered to not require bodies

The episode “Lice” was originally called “Lice Nazi”. Nickelodeon obviously did not approve.

Minimoose is canonically genderless and uses they/them pronouns

There is no 100% definitive answer for why Invader ZIM was cancelled by Nickelodeon and even Jhonen himself does not know the exact reason. The most plausible theory is that the ratings it pulled in did not justify its enormous animation expenses.

[adamsmasher]

Okay it's after 1am and I've had a lot of wine so obviously it's time for a late night wall-of-text post, but this time it's less likely to piss off your weird uncle or whatever because once again, I gotta talk about the best $4.99 a month I've ever spent.

Please, if you haven't yet, I'm begging you to look into all of the incredible content available on the Dropout.tv streaming service (formerly known as College Humor) . Not only did Whose Line Is It Anyway's Wayne Brady say that the Dropout crew are the only ones doing improv comedy on the same level as Whose Line, but they were also one of the only studios/streaming services allowed to work during the writers' strike because their contracts went above and beyond industry standards. (And, from my own observations, Dropout LOVES hiring queer, trans/nonbinary, and BIPOC performers + crew. Obviously I don't know much about the industry, but they seem like one of the most inclusive companies in Hollywood.)

"Alex, thanks for the recommendation! What shows do they have that you think I'll like?" Oh, you're asking me to gush about my favorite tv shows? Don't mind if I do!!!

Are you D&D curious, but took one look at actual play shows like Critical Role and thought "6 hours an episode? and there's like 750 episodes or whatever? oh baby not my adhd ass..." Don't worry, me too (sorry CR I love you I promise). But Dropout has a show called "Dimension 20" where comedians play Dungeons and Dragons with emotional, immersive storytelling, gut-busting laughs, and spectacular set design that makes you forget it's a fully improvised series controlled by the roll of the dice. They even did a miniseries perfect for D&D beginners called "Dungeons and Drag Queens" where absolute novices and Drag Race royalty Jujubee, Monet X Change, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Bob the Drag Queen embark on an adventure full of mystery, intrigue, and stupidity. I mean, Alaska plays a muscle-bound, axe-wielding, caveman-grunting Orc named Princess, what more could you want? Plus, the primary game master Brennan Lee Mulligan is so easy on the eyes. Oh, you're not into dorky ginger dudes? How about Aabria Iyengar, a 6 foot tall goddess who's equally as nerdy as Brennan but loves basketball. that's right, if nothing else, there's eye candy for every person in every season.

"Oh, why aren't there any good game shows on TV?" you wonder, wishing that the Game Show Network could come up with something that isn't a lame remake of a free-to-play phone game. Well how about Game Changer, "the only game show where the game changes every show (except for [...] Game of Games, Taskmaster, and a few others that have come to light AFTER [Game Changer first aired]. That's right, [the] players have no idea what game it is they're about to play. The only way to learn is by playing, the only way to win is by learning, and the only way to begin is by beginning." And yes, I did sit there and watch the beginning of an episode to make sure I was accurately quoting Game Changer host (and Dropout CEO) Sam Reich's description of his flaghship game show that has THREE separate spin-offs. (for context, he only mentions the other shows that copied his in the one episode I pulled up to get an accurate quote. could you imagine how uncomfortable it would be if he said that every episode? hah!)

Are you more of a traditional Whose Line fan? Look no further than Game Changer spin-off Make Some Noise, where contestants act out "improvisational prompts that [they have] never seen before, isn't that right contestants?" ("We won't know if we've seen them before or not until we see them!" Brennan insists every time he's on...)

You like musicals but wish they were less... ya know, scripted? Check out "Play It By Ear", a fully improvised musical! (you may be familiar with its primary cast members Jess McKenna and Zach Reino from the podcast that inspired it all, "Off Book: the Improvised Musical Podcast with Zach and Jess")

Or maybe you're more into trivia, cuz you're a total nerd like me (and every single performer that's ever appeared on dropout.tv). How about "Umm, Actually" where contestants are given an incorrect statement and have to buzz in to correct it - but you have to say "Umm, Actually" first!

Straight up, you can't go wrong on Dropout. Please, check it out. They're nearly doubling the amount of original shows they have in 2024, and no other streaming service is doing it like them. If I haven't convinced you yet, get the 7 day trial and give em a chance. There's no referral code I can give you that gives me some sort of kickback or whatever, I genuinely wrote what looks like a thousand word essay about Dropout at 1am just because I love them so much.

[pendwelling]

hiii been getting interested in twsb, planning to read after looking at ur posts. would you recommend starting it with the novel or the manhwa first?

OH ABSOLUTELY THE NOVEL!!! Like Please. I am actually begging for most people to start the novel first before reading the webtoon hahaha........

I love the webtoon dearly, but there are very obvious problems with it (especially if you read the adaptation on the official WEBTOON platform—the translation team clearly have no idea what they're doing and don't seem to have a good quality checker on the team which leads to mistakes on the most basic things such as name romanization (which has already been provided for FOR FREE by the novel author on their Munpia page 😭) and the wrong use of pronouns/titles of address for several characters)... Many readers in the comments have even expressed confusion because of the botched "official" translation, and despite having gone on for several episodes, they haven't bothered to go back and correct these errors :')))

The adaptation also skips over many details, and while some changes do a decent job in reorganizing the narrative flow into a smoother visual experience format, TWSB is actually quite a lore-heavy and emotionally compelling story driven by a lot of the subtle relationship development between characters through their many, MANY interactions, and elevated through the inner narrations of the characters themselves (which is obviously tricky to translate into a visual medium). A lot of such interactions do unfortunately end up getting cut from the webtoon (especially in Season 2, although the art definitely captures the novel's atmosphere better than the first season), so webtoon-only readers unknowingly end up missing out a LOT on the very strongly built characterization and the setting of foundations for the relationships that will be so fundamental in the long run.

All in all, the webtoon is decent. It's not the best, it's actually quite enjoyable, but as an adaptation, it very unfortunately suffers in many aspects, and since the webtoon is often the first impression of TWSB that many new readers are introduced to, it often leads to the belief that TWSB is just some simple and silly story without much depth (it is very much NOT. If you are familiar with ORV, TWSB is actually quite similar, just thrown into a RoFan, directed towards a different target audience, and with the promises of offering a lighthearted fun story. Think ORV on light mode, with its own unique spin. "Kim Dokja" and "Jung Eunseo". You'll get what I mean.)

Anyhow, Season 1 probably adapts the novel the best in terms of the story and scenes, but the atmosphere leans more towards the silliness and doesn't capture the balance between comedy, tension, and drama as well as it should, and is very simplistic, leaving out many relevant visual details. Season 2 on the other hand is near perfect when it comes to visual design, mood, and atmosphere, but is lacking when it comes to adapting the story and character interactions, with a surprising number of important scenes being left out. Both seasons are good in their own ways, but both are still ultimately lacking when you know what you're missing out on..... 🥹

Oughhh sorry I kinda went on a rant, but my point is, the TWSB novel is actually very deceivingly complex. At first glance, it seems like a comedic and lighthearted story, but the more you read the more depth you find is actually present, many of which are between the lines or very blatant, but presented in an initially unassuming light which makes you take it at face-value (making rereads a very enlightening experience). The novel manages to balance several different kinds of tones and moods in a way that the webtoon struggles to juggle the fine line of, and I should note that throughout all 920 chapters of the novel, it is clear that, from the very start, the author has always had an extremely clear vision, direction, and ending for the story. Each character you meet is important. Each of their stories is important. It is actually quite meta, but, this is something you'll only fully understand upon reading the novel haha. Everything is written in confidence and as a reader, you can actually feel this the more you read, and it's frankly impressive because there are other fantasy stories that feel like they drag from one arc to the next leaving you wondering how the story will even be able end, but with TWSB, the structure and end goals are always there. The writing of the protagonists definitely contribute to this, as TWSB is, to its core, an very character driven story.

Oh and in addition to a great main cast, the way the story treats its supporting cast is also so impressive. Most of my favourite character are actually not even part of the main cast—but even though they're only in the background, supporting the protagonists from the sidelines or even the shadows, the story treats their roles with great importance and depth, and even though they're minor characters, their presences are absolutely integral in their own ways, and it's nice to see a story treat its characters with such respect (so it's a shame that the webtoon doesn't seem to place as much importance onto all of its characters, focusing mainly on the MCs). TWSB is so well crafted and it will always pain me to see that the webtoon cannot do full justice to the amount of care put into the universe..... TvT

But yes, please read the novel first haha... 🥹 The webtoon is fine on its own, but is somewhat superficial compared to the novel. It's lovely, and the artists have definitely worked hard on their project, but the adaptation writers truly cannot live up to the full original experience presented by Sookym themselves! So yes, I would definitely recommend the novel first 🥹🥹🥹👍

[infizero]

ok so im gonna be real i have mixed opinions on the founders cut... I THINK IT WAS GOOD! TO BE CLEAR. but i did have someee problems with it. i think the og is better and here's why

^ this shot is fucking fantastic btw i gasped so fucking loud.

i think the editing in certain moments kind of ruined their original impact. for example, turning the scene where ranboo is digging through charlie's insides into a montage, where the iconic moment of sudden horrific screaming is just one of those many quick scenes in that montage, reallyyyy removed a lot of the impact it originally had.

before you were lured into a false sense of security with the extended comedy of ranboo and charlie going back and forth and then out of NOWHERE the slime turns to blood and charlie's screaming and it's horrifying. but with it being a montage, it goes by so quickly and there's way less emphasis placed on the sudden change. idk i was just really disappointed with how that scene went down in the founders cut personally

there's also an opposite problem with a few scenes imo where they made stuff MORE emphasized and it kinda ruined the impact that way. specifically the scene where ranboo's button gets pressed while he's going through the doorway. i think that scene works wayyyyy better where it gets pressed, ranboo shuts down, and then is reset. adding the glitching and the big "FACTORY RESET" text on screen just feels really unnecessary, like just totally spelling it out rather than the horrific subtlety of the original. idk maybe that's just me

in general i think having to cut stuff down does alter the vibe a lot, i think a lot of what makes genloss genloss IS the live format. and obviously if ur making a cut down version then no matter what you're gonna lose some of that vibe. buttttt that does contribute to my feeling that the founders cut is inferior to the original vods

another thing is. i reallyyyyy dont like the new hetch lines in the final scene SORRY. he sounds so over the top evil and it really ruined the scene for me. him sounding much more like Some Guy in the original made it all the more scarier and REAL seeming in my opinion. thats what makes that scene so horrifying is how REAL it feels! in this version everything hetch said just sounded cartoonish and corny. sorry.

now WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID. there was plenty of stuff i really liked!!!!!!! i thought the animations with squiggles were FANTASTIC, all the new camera angles, the cuts between charlie's stream and the episode were really well done, the baby ranboo pictures.... i think there was a lot of stuff that was improved. im not saying i dislike the founders cut. and im glad it exists!! not everyone is willing to sit through the full thing

basically what i'll say is that the founders cut is perfect for someone who isn't willing to watch the vods in full, and im glad that it exists for the new content it provided, but i think that the best viewing experience for genloss the social experiments IS the original full vods. even with all of its dead air and drawn out bits and everything, i think it's the superior version. but idk that's just my opinion lol

also the third episode barely needed to be edited because it is already perfect <3

[theoneiroveil]

Did you wake up on October 1st, 2016 to a very strange channel in your subscription box on Youtube?

Well if not, here is a little bit that channel.

Soursalt is a series that began in 2016 with roughly 600 people waking up subscribed to it without knowing. That's a very real thing that happened, which is a great selling point of the story.

Over the next few days these weirdly edited potato-quality home videos get uploaded and nobody has any idea what's going on. Some descriptions keep changing, some are pieces of conversations, etc. People are immediately hooked because what the fuck is going on? Then Madman Re starts getting mentioned, is it a place, a God, Freddy Krueger, who knows. More cryptic and weird dream videos get uploaded and then suddenly there's a break. This is the end of the prologue of the story.

Suddenly, we started getting rapid fire uploads a few months later of these two idiots making a really shitty ghost hunter parody knock off sketch. This is basically meant to be like a needle in the haystack for viewers. There are moments in these videos that are completely filler and just dumb comedy or filler -- b u t there are teases that something is up sprinkled within these videos. You'll have one of them mention the path looks different (implying they scouted it out before hand), or they'll hear or see something the camera just straight up doesn't see of pick up. This continues on until it's obviously getting dark, but we don't see their journey home. Instead, a few days later, we're treated to another sketch. This time shit gets fucky.

The two do the Ghost Guy routine on a haunted road by the woods, but as the move past the housed area towards the side of the park, their patience with each other starts running thin, they start hearing strange things, and feeling off. After taking a break off the road in a nearby Gazebo, they find a mysterious grave site and a stuffed monkey. Here, we learn out of character that they were filming at locations posted on a strange forum ; the same one implied to have launched the Soursalt spread.

After getting covered in some shit, blood and rot the characters introduce the audience to the Madman of Re as Aidan "Ghost Guy" Calloway touches the Window of a spooky run down bus and a ghastly hand touches his back -- all separated thematically by … a Window.

And this is where Soursalt takes you, into the Window; a terrifying physical nightmare space that seperates the viewer from their body and traps them in their own mind, a mind that can be easily manipulated by the Madman of Re.

BUT WAIT

This is only the end's beginning.

Timeskip -- Seven Years Later:

The story returns with Eulacram on the eve of the Spread's seven year anniversary following Aidan as he struggles to live with the trauma of his past and present following the events he experienced in Soursalt. It's at this point where the shattering of Aidan's mind takes literal form and we're presented with various versions of him through a system that he calls the Crucible Channel.

Meanwhile, another entity has pursued the same goal as Madman Re and sought out those that were victims of various Spreads to put together what it calls the Eulacram Tribute, a tournament of survival that allows those touched by the Oneiroveil (the dream realm the Window is in) to compete for an evolution of their flesh. Aidan and the other Spread victims are unknowingly pulled into a shared dream where it seems reality is once again being manipulated as their lives are being toyed with. However, Aidan's access to the Crucible Channel may be prove useful in saving him and the other victims from this new nightmare.

Eulacram is designed both as an Epilogue to Soursalt and its own series. While Soursalt is to be seen as a more found-footage style story, Eulacram utilizes the idea posed by the prologue that the entity can create videos with dreams, to showcase a cinematic-like view of events within the story. Some episodes can transition between hand-held, cinematic handheld, and cinematic third person, to allow for a unique approach on telling the story.

New viewers of the series can pick up with Act 1 or Act 2 Eulacram (on 10/1/23) without having fully watched Soursalt or Eulacram's prologue ; which will allow for an easier transition into the new content while everything you need to know will be given to you through the story. Viewers of the past content, and even those part of the first 600 subscribers will get the full experience though, as they will have seen the journey of some of these characters from the beginning, understanding the trauma that led them to becoming who they are today.

Soursalt // Eulacram is unlike any other web series you have seen, or dreamed. It's dark, gritty, there's a talking lizard, it's sharp and brutal at times ; but comedic, light hearted and emotional at others. The characters feel real, their pain feels real. If you're looking for web series horror that breaks the mould, takes risks, and isn't afraid to pop out an eye or two… or three… or ---

Then on October 1st, 2023, you should wake up to a very strange channel in your subscription box on Youtube.

This is that channel.

[lunarisverysilly]

Silly Helluva Boss Rant/Critic

!Spoiler Warning!

NOTE: I Am NOT A Professional Writer, This Is My OPINION On Season 2. If Opinions Trigger You, Dont Read.

i have so much to say about this stupid show oh my gosh where do i even start?

honestly i just miss the older episodes of the show, like season 1, when it was just silly demon comedy and viv wasnt trying to add depth to the characters. even though originally i liked the idea of more depth in the show when episode 7 happened. but clearly viv doesnt know how to write characters. blitz(obviously cuz hes the main character) and verosika(somehow) are the only half decent characters imo. but thats not saying much

i love the shorts though. they feel like mini season 1 episodes.

in episode 7, it introduced a conflict between stolas and blitz. but then it put it off the ENTIRE SEASON til full moon which was 8 episodes. and in those 8 episodes, blitz and stolas just acted like nothing happened?? no mention of it at all?

and full moon was hyped up so much for what? there was like 5 minutes of actual stolitz. the entire episode was basically about the cherubs, agents, and blitz buying sex toys.

and all the conflict is so fucking forced. all these fucks need to do is communicate omg. like in full moon , if stolas let blitz talk to him at the end, we'd be done. blitz clearly has a hard time opening up and being vunerable but he was about to actually talk with stolas BUT NO stolas teleports him outside so they can stretch it on a couple more episodes! and then in sinsmas when stolas and octavia are fighting if octavia just listened, it would be over. but of course, we still need more drama even though the show was better WITHOUT it.

mastermind wasnt all that good tbh. i feel like it needed more time. and the fake out deaths bored me. viv already confirmed that the end of season 1 would have canon stolitz so obviously they werent gonna kill blitz or stolas. but andrealphus' plan made no sense. like, it completely depended on stolas watching tv at the exact time the broadcast happened and there being no live delay. comedy was actually pretty good though. and the stolas poor arc seems fun.

and the only slightly good that came out of the stolitz mess was ghostfuckers(aka the millie episode) cuz blitz was sad abt stolas. but im very glad we got that because i started watching around like episode 2 release(which means i waited 4 YEARS) and i always really liked millie(i love strong women) and im actually quite happy with it even if blitz was still technically in the spotlight more. but also shes pregnant. wow. but i feel like the show needed something like that. because i doubt they can stretch the octavia and stolas shit a whole seasons length. so their gonna need something else to bring drama because they love drama.

and unhappy campers. i fucking hate unhappy campers. it baited everyone into thinking it was the millie episode. but she says like two lines that mean something for her character. and moxie felt so ooc too. it was so unfunny. i watched it straight faced. season 2 hasnt been focused on comedy as much as before and its obvious. but usually i at least let out a small chuckle once or twice. BUT NOT THIS EPISODE. and the barbie wire stuff felt shoved in. it literally came out of nowhere. it was just such a shit episode entirely.

fucking stolas used to be my favorite character but all the self-victimizing shit was so annoying especially in apology tour. he said blitz made him uncomfortable but what about all the times he made others umcomfortable? like in harvest moon, when he called blitz blitzy in front of everyone and blitz is clearly embarrassed?? and when he started talking about blitz' dick IN FRONT OF HIS DAUGHTER??? stop acting like a victim, stolas. you arent. i think maybe he got a little better in sinsmas but barely. and this isnt story related, but stolas' voice actor has such a good vocal range?? like the apology tour song blew me away. i love his voice so much.

oh my god, dont get me started on how viv treats octavia.. i used to love octavia and still kinda do... but now theres 3 episodes of just her being mad at her father and its getting REALLY repetitive. and yea, she does have the right to be mad at him because stolas sacrificed himself for blitz, thinking he would die(even if he didnt) which probably hurt her a lot. but i was hoping sinsmas would show us more of her as a person, like her hobbies(ig they showed her singing but so does everyone else in the show soo), her interests, literally anything about her but her being mad at stolas. i was hoping we'd finally see how her and stella feel about eachother. but no. they talked once but could you even call it talking cuz all stella did was take her phone while laughing and octavia didnt say anything. she was clearly annoyed with her mother but that doesnt really give us a dynamic. and also in stolas and vias argument at the end of sinsmas, it felt like she was purposely taking everything he said the wrong way just for more drama. especially about the happy pills thing. stolas said she was the only good thing in his life so she then says shes an obligation. LIKE NO, hes saying he cares. which yea, he might kinda be bad dad but he does try his hardest and she could at least acknowledge that but still be disappointed.

and stella. i was hoping they would end up doing something with her like giving her a back story that made her so bitchy or something. but then the first ep of season 2 turns her into just a villian. she was just born evil apparently because that totally happens. shes literally nothing but a plot device. and im not against plot devices if they actually do their job. like isha from arcane for example, shes a plot device for jinx development but she actually does her job. shes interesting enough and gives you all you need from a plot device. but stella literally just leaves you wanting more. shes barely a character. we know nothing about her. all she does is start more meaningless drama. shes not even likable as a villain.

now, verosika(AKA best character). shes actually kind of well written? i wish we had more of her this season but also dont because they probably wouldve ruined her too. she only had a 5 minute convo with blitz in apology tour but it made me love her so much more. and her trying to help others after blitz hurt them like he hurt her is so sweet. and then her giving blitz cake, acknowedgling he hates himself just as much as everyone else at this party. i love her sm bro. unrelated but her design is so nice. and she looks so good in all her outfits. loved her fit in the 1 second of screentime she had in mastermind. and i immdediatley recognized her voice in the chrsitmas party song and got so happy

also on the official yt video for the verosika song, the second comment said "I guess Blitzo finally enjoys her music now after, I can imagine, years of it tormenting him with guilt and regret" and i would like to agree with that statement.

i think thats all my criticism. so uh.. bye

[lady-of-ocs]

hey babe guess who finished season two

I DID! I DID!

I’m HYPED AS FUCK TO SEE THE SHIRATORIZAWA MATCH. And disappointed to discover there’s only ten episodes this season. I’m already half done with the series help-

I mentioned that I’ve been on my winter break and haven’t been posting my reactions, but I’ve been watching! And oh, OH OH OH, I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Let’s get my favorite scene from today’s episode out of the way:

Please observe the cuties. I love them, each and every one. Someone fucking sedate me. lmao look at Kags fighting demons back there.

So I scrolled back through my notes and read through to get my big points or exclamations. In order of the episodes since the one after Daichi’s death:

THE SCENE WHERE UKAI FUCKING THREW TAKEDA OFF THE BENCH TO SAVE HINATA FROM CRASHING WAS A DELIGHT TO WATCH. Look at that man fly! How much do these benches weigh because I know at my high school they weren’t super heavy but I’m pretty sure you usually grabbed them from the middle at least (just to balance the weight). I don’t know. He’s just a good coach and I appreciate him. RIP Takeda say hi to Daichi for me

Daichi lives!!! Obviously I knew that already but it was good to see him back! I wasn’t totally sure how many matches he’d be out for, but I’m glad he was back for the Seijou match. No shade to Ennoshita but I don’t think Karasuno would’ve won without Daichi. Also RIP the rest of Daichi’s body because Suga and Nishinoya fully attacked him when they saw he was okay

The Seijou-Date Tech match was wild to see too. KOGANE!!! I know you only vaguely but I love this giant boy already. He’s trying his hardest, alright! And it’s always good to see Aone! This man is one of my favorite giants in the show. He’s a silent sweetie. But anyway, the match itself was ooooooh. Not Asahi calling Oikawa a “cool cat” in the English dub- I love this man. I need to marry this man. I obviously knew Seijou was gonna win but PIERCING THROUGH THE IRON WALL HOLY SHIT. IWAIZUMI HAJIME THE MAN THAT YOU ARE-

As I’ve mentioned several times, I’m a Tsukkiyama enjoyer. But that Tadashi and Yachi scene was adorable, alright. Bless my babies and the hands that drew them into existence. I love my anxiety children, they just like me fr fr

OH ALSO I FORGOT ABOUT THIS AND IDK WHAT EPISODE IT’S FROM BUT THE LITTLE MOMENT WHERE THEY SCORE A POINT OR SOMETHING AND ASAHI LIFTS HINATA UP LIKE IT’S NOTHING? I need to lie down.

I love how Seijou is this big shot team with seemingly no-nonsense players but they are entirely unserious. That one guy trying to get Yachi’s attention by tossing a ball in her direction and then running after it? Comedy gold. Hajime and the other two third years picking on Oikawa about his serves? Friendship at its finest (I love them). Mad Dog not listening to Oikawa for almost the entire match? Only respect for my rowdy king who I now ship with Seijou’s number six. I read a fic for them last night and enjoyed it very much, thank you. Iwaizumi being the only person (until 6 confronts him) who Mad Dog respects because he’s the only one who can beat him? Love this pack dynamic. They’re so unserious and they seriously grew on me in this match (and the last one, but that was lessened by them beating Karasuno).

Serious expressions >:| Except for Noya because of course not. An agent of chaos. A short king

I spent a lot of time in the Seijou match just screaming and flailing about. There were some wicked cool plays in this game. Asanoya did their own attack (Noya setting to Asahi and him spiking it), Tsukki had some incredible blocks, Daichi was digging up balls all over the place, Kagehina and their fucking quick attacks, just Hinata on his own, SUGA’S BIG PLAY OH MY GOD, Tanaka had a lot of great moments and I was right there screaming with Saeko, aND WE CANNOT FORGET THE BOY HIMSELF: MY DEAREST YAMAGUCHI AND HIS MANY SERVICE ACES. I WAS SO FUCKING PROUD OF HIM LOOK AT HIM FUCKING GO OH MY GOD. He brought us back from the dead and I was HYPED. AND HE AND SUGA WEREN’T THE ONLY ONES WITH GREAT SERVES. ASAHI GOT HIS SERVICE ACE TOO LET’S GOOOOOO!!!

*singsong voice* Oikawa’s serves fucking scare me. And while we’re at it so do Mad Dog’s unholy spikes. Nah but seriously. Oikawa would go up to serve and I’d be sitting here like “I hear boss music. Why the fuck do I hear literal boss music.”

There were some really great Tsukki-encouraging-Yamaguchi-but-in-the-way-that-only-Tsukki-can moments in the last few episodes. Like, my Tsukkiyama heart aside, he really pays attention to Tadashi. He knew how hard he’d been working. He actively encouraged him multiple times. And Yamaguchi really gets him and they are so BEAUTIFUL. SLAMMING MY HANDS DOWN ON THE NONEXISTENT TABLE

A quote from my document: “They really cut my son off like that- Hajime I love you but HEADS GONNA ROLL” But Yamaguchi’s serve was legitimately ART. If Iwaizumi were even a fractionally worse player, Yams would have nailed that point and it would’ve been over. But unfortunately, Iwa’s an excellent ace

I was literally just vibrating through those last two plays. Shaking me to my core, my heart was racing, the whole thing. This match was bad for my health. That being said, OH MY GOD KAGEYAMA’S SETTER DUMP AND THEN HINATA GETTING THE FINAL POINT AND MANAGING TO GET IT PAST OIKAWA BECAUSE OF SEIJOU’S OWN BLOCKERS- AHHHHHHHH

nah but Seijou being so broken up over the loss actually hurt me a little. Where do I find the scene where they’re in a gym and Oikawa walks up and thanks them for the three years before everyone starts crying? Is that next season somewhere? I know it’s not in season 4 because the animation matches seasons 1-3. Also Iwa being upset at himself and his friends just smacking him on the back in silent encouragement and comfort (literally just hug each other like normal people. Fucking MEN am I right /j) just- Hajime is my favorite on Seijou. I think Oikawa is the fan favorite for them, but I like Iwazumi Hajime. That’s my guy right there.

THE GROUP KARASUNO HUG TURNED INTO A BIG PILE GOD BLESS. They have to end up in a pile once a season I guess. I also loved how much everyone was supporting them. Saeko’s enthusiasm was delightful to watch (speaking of, lucky Yachi if you know what I mean- ). And then all of those students and teachers sticking around to celebrate their win!! My boys are getting the recognition they deserve! Except from the news but that’s not surprising.

I have ten episodes to become endeared to Ushijima and Shiratorizawa (aside from Tendou who I already love). We will see how I feel. But when that confrontation between Ushijima and Oikawa happened I was just like YOU FUCKING TELL HIM TŌRU. GET HIS ASS. NOW STRUT OFF LIKE THE BAD BITCH YOU ARE- YEAHHHHHHH

I love the fact that Hinata and Kageyama stayed to practice more. That’s just so very them. Thems my idiot sons. And Yachi is just a victim to their magnetic enthusiasm. And the little fist bump at the end!!! They’re so cute. Besties. Boyfriends, even. BOYS THAT CONFRONT USHIWAKA TOGETHER STAY TOGETHER WOOOOO

Idk if I’ll make another of these immediately but I’ll definitely make one when I finish season 3! Good seeing you all! Be back soon!