#josh clone script

[riverianepondsims]

Hey, hey, guess what I stumbled upon, or what I've managed to figure out: Boroughsburg has payphones!, and they've been there since the beginning, duh! Any clue on how to make them work? I've tried to get them functional with your mod's script, but it seems like they need more than that, but I'm clueless, honestly haha!

Hey there Josh, Apologies for it being a while since you originally sent this...I've been caught up in a flurry of work for the last long while. This turned out to be a novel 📝, so I'll hide it under here:

So the payphones in Boroughsburg are likely deco items, so they are there for visual appeal but do not have a function! The ones that I posted were the same, they were originally deco items. What I did to make them work was even more simple than a mod, but honestly so tedious! Wall phones already exist in TS3 (can you believe my surprise that they don't have those in TS4??), so I cloned a wall phone to start. Then I imported the mesh for the payphone I wanted to overwrite the old one, as well as the textures. The next thing to do for items like this is to add geostates. These seem to be at least somewhat unique to TS3 and sims game creation-spaces in general, so it was hard to learn how to do this or what in the world a geostate is. They're present in a lot of TS3 objects, starting from the base game. For example, the bookcase getting more or less full based on how many books are in it, food plates getting slowly more empty until they are completely clean when the sim is done eating, pizza slices disappearing, drink glasses becoming empty when the sim is done (some of these are geostates, some are effects), the phone handset disappearing from the phone when the sim "picks it up" etc...there are so many more but these are just some examples. How these work, at least from a CC creating standpoint, is modification of the mesh in TSR Workshop. When you set the geostates, you are telling the game to remove certain polygons/parts of the mesh when needed. So the entire mesh is there, but parts of it disappear and reappear when told to. So the handset on the payphone when not in use stays, but when a sim interacts, that piece of the mesh disappears. The handset sims actually use is another default object called from somewhere else, like the mop sims use to clean puddles that they carry around in their pocket everywhere XD Setting geostates is a painful clicking activity. You need to de-select each individual triangle that you want to disappear for a geostate. Some objects have more than one (like bookshelves). With certain meshes, it is enough to drive one up a wall. Simple enough but definitely one of the most annoying CC creation tasks! This is also something important to keep in mind that with objects that have geostates, they will be invisible in-game if you don't make sure to set up their geostates. Even if you don't plan to make them dynamic (eg, a bookcase that never gets empty or full, just stays the same no matter how many or little books are added), they need to have all faces selected for their geostates or else they will be invisible in-game. This is luckily easy, there's a shortcut to select all at once (the exact shortcut fails me, but I'm pretty sure TSRW tells you when you're in the editor). This was a long winded half-rant about geostates but I hope this (and maybe this tutorial here) helps give you an idea of how these work @joshttewloves!

📝

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic - Fragments Shaun Flaherty

wada sez: Welcome to the second of our script showcases! In late 2012, after the Mosaic project came to an end, Shaun Flaherty shared a bunch of his original scripts to his deviantART. Many of these never actually made it through production, but date all the way back to the inception of the project. Let's take a look, eh?

"Homecoming" (Slag) [2007-09-05 (file date), 2007-10-22, 2007-11-11, 2012-09-28]

Panels 1-2.  Slag drifts lifelessly through space.

CAP/RATTRAP: "I finished decryptin' the datatracks we ripped from that Pred orbital."

CAP/CHEETOR: "And?"

CAP/RATTRAP: "The humans never found him when they dug it up."

Panel 3.  In the background, Cybertron (reformatted/techno-organic) fills the panel.  In the foreground, Slag drifts close to the planet.

CAP/CHEETOR: "One of these mega-cycles you're going to have to let this go."

Panel 4.  Identical to Panel 3, except that Slag drifts closer to Cybertron.

CAP/RATTRAP: "He was on the Nemesis when it crashed --

CAP/RATTRAP: "-- they shoulda found him!"

Panel 5.  Slag enters Cybertron's atmosphere.

CAP/CHEETOR: "Forget about it, Rattrap."

Panel 6.  Slag begins burning up in Cybertron's atmosphere.

CAP/RATTRAP: "But what about what the bug said?"

Panel 7.  Slag crash-lands on the surface.  Debris and plumes of smoke mark the impact site.

CAP/CHEETOR: "I told you to forget it!

Panel 8.  Slag lies lifelessly in the center of the crater created by the impact.  Rattrap stands on the crater's edge, looking in.

CAP/CHEETOR: "It's over."

Panel 9.  Identical to Panel 11, except that Rattrap is silhouetted and out of focus.

RATTRAP: You okay, big guy?

Panel 10.  Rattrap's point-of-view.  Slag's head, shoulders, and upper torso fill the panel.  He is confused, but begins to reorient himself.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 11.  Slag's point-of-view.  Rattrap's head, shoulders, and upper torso fill the panel.  He is concerned, yet hopeful.

RATTRAP: ...

RATTRAP (continued): Dinobot?

Panel 12.  Identical to Panel 10, except that Slag is reluctantly pleased.

SLAG: Vermin.

wada sez: This strip was originally solicited under the title "Home Again". Is the idea that Dinobot, the clone, goes on to become G1 Slag, eventually reuniting with Rattrap post-Beast Machines? If so, then why is the script so damn obtuse in communicating that that's what's going on? Also if so, that's a terrible idea. Josh van Reyk would later color the one preview panel released for this strip, as seen above.

"Carry That Weight" (Kup) [2007-09-07 (file date), 2012-09-28]

wada sez: This one's set during The Transformers: The Movie, naturally.

Panel 1.  Toward the left side of the panel, Hot Rod sits near a wall of bars that separates one cell from the next.  He faces right with his arms rested on his knees.  He looks toward the window in the door.  Light shines through the window and casts a barred shadow on his face.  Toward the right side of the panel, Kup stands in shadow near a wall of bars on the opposite side of the cell.  He faces left with his arms crossed.  He looks toward the floor.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 2.  Hot Rod looks up and to the right, toward the window.  The barred shadow crosses his face.  He is perturbed, afraid.  He quietly awaits the same fate as Kranix.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 3.  Kup looks to the left, toward Hot Rod.  He is concerned.  His experience tells him that Hot Rod is in need of comfort.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 4.  The same as Panel 3, but with Kup's eyes cast downward.  He searches for the right words.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 5.  The same as Panel 3, but with Kup's mouth open to speak.

KUP: This reminds me of a story...

Panel 6.  Toward the left side of the panel, Pirate Captain stands, facing right, holding some sort of lance.  Pirate 1 stands in the background to the left of Pirate Captain.  Pirate 2 stands farther in the background to the right of Pirate Captain.  Toward the right side of the panel, Autobot Commander kneels, facing Pirate Captain with his hands bound behind his back.  To the right of Autobot Commander, Young Kup also kneels, facing Pirate Captain with his hands bound behind his back.  Pirate Captain stands over Autobot Commander and Young Kup, looking down at them.

CAP/KUP: "...I was part of a survey team stationed on Janguru 2.

CAP/KUP: "Pirates caught us by surprise.

Panel 7.  Pirate Captain gets right in Autobot Commander's face.  On the left side of the panel, Pirate Captain faces right, smirking toward Autobot Commander.  On the right side of the panel, Autobot Commander faces left, glaring toward Pirate Captain.  Pirate Captain should be slightly higher in the panel than Autobot Commander, as if Pirate Captain has bent down to be nearer to Autobot Commander's level in his knelt position.

CAP/KUP: "They wanted something from us.

Panel 8.  Pirate Captain threatens Autobot Commander.  Autobot Commander's chest plate fills the panel.  Pirate Captain's lance points to the right, directly at the insignia on Autobot Commander's chest plate.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 9.  Autobot Commander's eyes fill the panel.  His expression is one of defiance.

CAP/KUP: "My commanding officer wouldn't give it up.

Panel 10.  Pirate Captain, now standing, looks down and to the right, toward Autobot Commander.  He wears a slight, contemptuous grin.  Autobot Commander will not yield, but his sheer force of will impresses Pirate Captain.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 11.  Young Kup looks to the left, toward Autobot Commander.  He reacts with terror to the act of violence revealed in Panel 12.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 12.  In the foreground, toward the right side of the panel, Young Kup faces left, still knelt and bound.  He stares vacantly ahead.  He is disoriented, defeated, powerless.  To the left of Young Kup, somewhat silhouetted and out of focus in the background, Autobot Commander faces left, also still knelt and bound.  He is hunched forward, his head slack, motionless.  He has been run through with Pirate Captain's lance and killed.  The butt of the lance rests on the ground; the shaft pierces his torso; most of the tip protrudes out through his back.  The lance is the only thing propping him up.

CAP/KUP: "They took it anyway."

Panel 13.  Kup faces left, staring vacantly ahead -- an aged copy of Young Kup's face from Panel 12.

KUP: No matter what happens, lad:

Panel 14.  Hot Rod looks to the right, toward Kup.  He is attentive, fascinated.  He is honored that Kup has shared this personal story with him.  It has given him strength.

KUP (OP): You look 'em square in the optics --

Panel 15.  The same as Panel 1, but Hot Rod and Kup's attention has been drawn to the door, which is now open.  Light spills in.  The time has come for their trial and likely execution.

KUP: -- and you give 'em the Pit.

"Mirror, Mirror" (Punch/Counterpunch) w/ Mike Ackerman [2007-09-30 (file date), 2012-11-12]

wada sez: This is another tantalising script, as much like with Martin Fisher's "Huffing & Puffing", it seems that full artwork was completed by Mike Ackerman; again, you can see the clean page in his portfolio overview. Presumably it never made it to the coloring or lettering stage?

Panel 1.  In an Autobot war room, Punch receives his orders from Springer while Whirl stands by.  On the right side of the panel, in the foreground, in extreme close-up, Punch faces left, in profile.  On the left side of the panel, in the mid-ground, Springer faces forward, looking toward Punch.  He stands, arms crossed; his mouth is open to speak.  In the center of the panel, in the background, Whirl stands by, looking toward Punch.  He is dimly lit, but his single eye "pops".

SPRINGER: It's the only way.

Panel 2.  In a Decepticon war room, Counterpunch receives his orders from Doubledealer while Sixshot stands by -- a mirror image of Panel 1.  In Punch's place, on the left side of the panel, in the foreground, in extreme close-up, Counterpunch faces right, in profile.  In Spinger's place, on the right side of the panel, in the mid-ground, Doubledealer faces forward, looking toward Counterpunch.  He leans back against a console; his arms prop him up.  In Whirl's place, in the center of the panel, in the background, Sixshot stands by, arms crossed, looking toward Counterpunch.  He is dimly lit, but his red eyes "pop".

DOUBLEDEALER: It's the only way.

Panel 3.  Counterpunch walks down a corridor, toward us.  It is a wide-shot in which we see him from head to toe.

CAP/PUNCH: Are you still you --

Panel 4.  Punch walks down a corridor, toward us -- a mirror image of Panel 3.  It is a wide-shot in which we see him from head to toe.

CAP/COUNTERPUNCH: -- if after you've played a part for so long --

Panel 5.  Counterpunch surprises Springer and Whirl in the Autobot war room.  On the left side of the panel, in the foreground, we see the back of Counterpunch's head.  He has just entered the room and is slightly silhouetted.  On the right side of the panel, in the background, Springer and Whirl turn toward Counterpunch, surprised.

CAP/PUNCH: -- you can't remember --

SPRINGER: Punch?

Panel 6.  Punch surprises Doubledealer and Sixshot in the Decepticon war room -- a mirror image of Panel 5.  On the right side of the panel, in the foreground, we see the back of Punch's head.  He has just entered the room and is slightly silhouetted.  On the left side of the panel, in the background, Doubledealer and Sixshot turn toward Punch, surprised.

CAP/COUNTERPUNCH: -- where it stops --

DOUBLEDEALER: Counterpunch?

Panel 7.  Punch-Counterpunch is in the center of the panel.  He is split right down the center.  His left half is Counterpunch; his right half is Punch.  His head is craned back, shouting; his fists are raised.  Energy, in the form of light, spills from his seams.  He is surrounded on either side of the panel by an explosion emanating from his center.

CAP/PUNCH: -- and you begin?

CAP/COUNTERPUNCH: -- and you begin?

"No Assembly Required" (Bumblebee) w/ Mike Paraiso [2007-10-05 (script file date), 2008-02-28 (sketch file date), 2012-11-13]

wada sez: I considered giving this one a post all to itself, but it's so clearly unfinished that it felt more appropriate to include with these scripts, which it was originally shared alongside.

"Insult to Injury" (Beast Wars Scourge) [2007-11-09 (file date), 2012-12-19]

wada sez: This script picks up after the events of The Gathering issue #3, in which Scourge watches Powerpinch get dismembered by the Mutants.

Panel 1.  Scourge returns to the swamp where he and his squad of Predacons first encountered the Mutants.  He quietly surveys the area.

CAP: Southwest:

SCOURGE: No more Mutants?

CAP/SCOURGE: "Relax.

Panel 2.  Scourge pulls Powerpinch from the muck.  Powerpinch is off-line and still missing his left leg.

CAP/SCOURGE: "Parts of you are missing.

CAP/SCOURGE: "I understand.

Panel 3.  Scourge transforms into beast mode and leaps with Powerpinch in tow.

CAP/SCOURGE: "Imagine if you'd chosen a beast mode with actual pain receptors!"

Panel 4.  Powerpinch's eyes are in extreme close-up as he comes back on-line, groggily.

SCOURGE (OP): Right now --

Panel 5.  Powerpinch shrieks in terror as he discovers that he is wet with a substance that is grotesquely dissolving his outer shell.

SCOURGE (OP): -- you're bathed in a naturally-occurring organic chemical compound.

SCOURGE (OP): Delightfully corrosive.

Panel 6.  Scourge tears a fistful of circuits from Powerpinch's throat, driving him into stasis lock.

SCOURGE: That'll do, thank you.

Panel 7.  Scourge drags away the unconscious Powerpinch.

SCOURGE: Relax.

SCOURGE (continued): A quick dip and a snip-snip --

SCOURGE (continued): -- and you won't remember this time either.

"Modes Make The 'Bot" (Hot Rod) [2008-01-25 (file date), 2013-02-23]

wada sez: Set in IDW continuity, between Escalation and Devastation.

Panel 1.  Wheeljack sits at a console.  Hot Rod stands, arms crossed.  They look up toward a hologram of Hot Rod’s Cybertron vehicle mode (as seen in Escalation).  The hologram is semi-transparent with a glowing effect.

WHEELJACK: So, I took into consideration all the features you're looking for in a new alt mode --

HOT ROD: Okay.

Panel 2.  Similar to Panel 1.  Wheeljack and Hot Rod have slightly different body language and facial expressions, reflective of the dialogue.  The hologram has changed to Classic Rodimus’s vehicle mode.

WHEELJACK: -- and this is what I came up with.

WHEELJACK (continued): What do you think?

HOT ROD: It's nice.

HOT ROD (continued): Don't get me wrong -- I like it.

HOT ROD (continued): It's nice.

Panel 3.  Similar to Panel 1.  Wheeljack and Hot Rod have slightly different body language and facial expressions, reflective of the dialogue.  The hologram has changed to Energon Rodimus’s vehicle mode.

WHEELJACK: Maybe something with a little more muscle?

HOT ROD: You're kidding me, right?

Panel 4.  Similar to Panel 1.  Wheeljack and Hot Rod have slightly different body language and facial expressions, reflective of the dialogue.  The hologram has changed to Hot Rod’s Earth vehicle mode (as seen in Devastation).

WHEELJACK: Fair enough.

WHEELJACK (continued): How about this?

HOT ROD: Oh, yeah.

HOT ROD (continued): That's the one.

HOT ROD (continued): It's perfect.

"End of Discussion" (Grimlock) [2008-02-08 (file date), 2013-02-23]

wada sez: I think this is set towards the end of Megatron Origin, while the Decepticons are taking Kaon? "Prime" thus refers to Sentinel Prime, not Optimus!

Panel 1.  In the foreground, Grimlock walks toward us.  In the background, the other Dynobots stand in a staggered pack with Slag at the front.

CAP: The Battle of Kaon:

SLAG: Prime's forces are almost on top of us!

SLAG (continued): What are you doing?!

GRIMLOCK: Leaving.

GRIMLOCK (continued): Didn't sign up for a war.

Panel 2.  A close-up of Slag’s face.  He is angry and disgusted.

SLAG: Coward.

Panel 3.  Grimlock turns.

NO DIALOGUE

Series of Panels.  Grimlock kicks the asses of the Dynobots.  Fists collide with faces; maybe teeth and optics shatter; kicks to the ribs; et cetera.

SFX (?)

Final Panel.  Grimlock walks away from the defeated Dynobots.

GRIMLOCK: We're leaving.

GRIMLOCK (continued): End of discussion.

"Storytelling" (Animated Blitzwing) [2008-05-06 (file date), 2013-02-28]

Panel 1.  "Cold As Ice" Blitzwing sits surrounded by a group of Children -- some stand, some kneel, some sit cross-legged, some sit on his lap, but all are recognizable faces from ANIMATED.

BLITZWING: Come, my little human protoforms -- attend your Uncle Blitzving und he'll veave you a tale...

Panel 2.  An illustration befitting "Cold As Ice" Blitzwing’s personality.  In the foreground, legions of Decepticons march in formation.  In the background, Megatron stands powerfully.  The image is cold and gray with clean lines and angles.  In a corner of the panel, "Cold As Ice" Blitzwing’s head "floats", narrating.

CAP/BLITZWING: "A brilliant military strategist und tactician, Megatron raised a mighty army to topple ze oppressive Autobot empire.

Panel 3.  An illustration befitting "Hot Blooded" Blitzwing’s personality.  In the foreground, Megatron tears an Autobot (or Gobot?) limb from limb.  His eyes are vacant and monstrous.  Fluid drips from his mouth as if he salivates for this.  In the background, a battle-ravaged city burns and explosions...explode.  The image is bright, hot, and passionately violent.  In a corner of the panel (a different corner than in the previous panel?), "Hot Blooded" Blitzwing’s head "floats", narrating.

CAP/BLITZWING: "Ze Decepticons devastated countless settlements across ze galaxy, annihilating Autobot forces in engagement after engagement.

Panel 4.  An illustration befitting "Insane In The Brain" Blitzwing’s personality.  In the foreground, Megatron prances through a beautiful field or flower garden.  Happiness beams from his face.  Woodland creatures attend him.  In the background -- rainbows.  The image is anime-inspired, colorful, and obviously ridiculous, but it may be substituted with other such nonsense.  In a corner of the panel (a different corner than in the previous two panels or perhaps back to the original corner?), "Insane In The Brain" Blitzwing’s head "floats", narrating.

CAP/BLITZWING: "Vonce upon a time zey lived happily ever after und vent ve-ve-ve-ve all ze vay home.

CAP/BLITZVING: "Ze end!"

Panel 5.  "Insane In The Brain" Blitzwing and the Children (as seen in Panel 1) are joined by Lugnut, who falls to his knees, raises his hands, and cries to the heavens.

LUGNUT: All hail Megatron!

BLITZWING: Yes, kids --

BLITZWING (continued): All buy comics.

CHILD: What's a comics?

Panel 6.  ALL HAIL MEGATRON promotional image.

CAP: On sale now!

wada sez: Ah, that old Mosaic classic: "what if that story I don't like was written by an idiot?"

"Compliance or Defiance" (Orion Pax) [2008-05-12 (file date), 2013-02-28]

Panel 1.  Orion Pax pushes a hovering pallet of energon cubes down a corridor.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 2.  Orion Pax stands in an open doorway.  Light from the corridor behind him spills into the dimly lit room.

ORION PAX: Lord Megatron?

ORION PAX (continued): Delivery, sir.

MEGATRON (OP): Orion Pax.

MEGATRON (continued): My hero.

Panel 3.  In the center of the panel, we see Megatron from behind; his hands are clasped behind his back.  He looks through a floor-to-ceiling window that takes up the entire wall.  Lush, purple curtains adorn either side.  Through the window, we see Cybertron in a golden age -- a skyline of pristine structures, banners bearing the Decepticon insignia, et cetera.

ORION PAX (OP): Sir?

ORION PAX (continued): You remember me?

MEGATRON: Of course.

MEGATRON (continued): The day we met, you chose the lives of your friends over the energon you were charged with protecting.

MEGATRON (continued): Your choice allowed me to have all of this.

Panel 4.  Megatron whispers to Orion Pax in extreme close-up.  On the left side of the panel, we see the right (his left) portion of Orion Pax’s face, including his left eye and left “ear”.  On the right side of the panel, we see the lower portion of Megatron’s face, including his mouth, but not his eyes.

MEGATRON: I suppose that's why they've demoted you to "courier", but look at it this way:

MEGATRON (continued): You may not know it, but you saved lives with your choice that day --

MEGATRON (continued): -- countless lives --

MEGATRON (continued): -- because I would have killed everyone on this planet to get here.

Panel 5.  In the foreground, we see that the pallet of energon cubes has been pushed into the room.  On the side facing us, we see that a small, black box has been stuck to the energon cubes.  In the background, Megatron and Orion Pax continue their conversation, in silhouette.

MEGATRON: In my book, that makes you one of the good guys.

Panel 6.  A close-up of the small, black box.  We see that it is a timer.  The display reads, "0:00:01".

MEGATRON (OP): Never forget, Orion Pax --

Panel 7.  Blackout.

MEGATRON (OP): -- you're a hero.

wada sez: I admit I'm out of my depth with this one. Presumably it's inspired by "War Dawn".

"Last Straw" (Huffer) [2008-05-17 (file date), 2013-02-28]

Panel 1.  Inside the Ark, headquarters of the Autobots.  In the background, Optimus Prime appears on the large, central view screen.  Smokescreen stands in front of the view screen with his head turned toward Huffer.  In the foreground, Huffer sneaks away from the view screen and toward us in an effort not to be seen by Optimus Prime.

OPTIMUS PRIME: -- and take Huffer with you.

Panel 2.  Smokescreen holds up a mirror.  In the mirror, Huffer’s face is reflected.  Huffer has been "repainted" to look like the Stunticon, Motormaster; Smokescreen has been "repainted" to look like the Stunticon, Dead End.  Huffer’s expression is one of angered disbelief.

CAP: Monday:

HUFFER: Somehow, I don't think this is what Optimus had in mind.

SMOKESCREEN: Relax -- it's gonna be fine.

Panel 3.  Huffer, followed by Smokescreen, falls toward us from a great height.  Huffer screams with terror; Smokescreen, less so.

CAP: Tuesday:

HUFFER: AAAAAHHH!

Panel 4.  Smokescreen speeds out of a cave in vehicle mode; Huffer follows closely behind, also in vehicle mode.  Smoke billows from the cave and trails from Smokescreen’s exhaust pipe.  Bolts of blaster fire fly out of the cave, only nearly missing Huffer and Smokescreen.

CAP: Wednesday:

SMOKESCREEN: We're okay --

SMOKESCREEN (continued): We're okay!

Panel 5.  Huffer and Smokescreen are tied up and hang suspended upside-down over a fire.  Members of a human culture indigenous to a rain forest dance around the fire, wielding spears.  Huffer stews; he is steamed!

CAP: Thursday:

SMOKESCREEN: You know --

HUFFER: Don't.

Panel 6.  Huffer and Smokescreen have been transformed into humans.  Human Huffer is shorter, has glasses, and wears an orange, hooded sweatshirt with the hood up.  Human Smokescreen is taller, has blonde hair, and wears a red and blue leather jacket bearing his signature number, 38.  They stand in the rain, waiting for the bus.  Human Huffer shouts at Human Smokescreen.

CAP: Friday:

HUMAN HUFFER: You're dead to me!

Panel 7.  Optimus Prime sits at a console.  Over his shoulder, we see Smokescreen on a view screen.  Smokescreen winks, smiling.

OPTIMUS PRIME: I trust Huffer did well?

SMOKESCREEN: Huffer did great.

HUFFER (OP): I quit!

wada sez: This isn't strictly Sunbow continuity, but it references "Masquerade" and "Only Human".

[dorothydalmati1]

Obscure Animation Subject #82: Mission Hill

Originally supposed to be posted on Twitter a week ago but delayed and moved here due to abysmal TOS update.

Created by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein for The WB, it premiered on September 21, 1999 with a 13-episode order, but was cancelled and only eight aired, with the final episode airing on July 16, 2000. The unaired episodes aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block from May 26 to August 11, 2002. A second season was originally planned with 5 scripts written for that season, but ultimately didn’t get completed due to the series cancellation.

The reason for its cancellation was due to low ratings, it later developed a cult following thanks to Adult Swim reruns, but not enough to order a revival, unlike with Family Guy which became an immediate break-out thanks to Adult Swim reruns and DVD sales.

While it didn’t get a revival like Family Guy, I understand why it did get a cult following because of how interesting it is. It’s about a group of roommates that live in a hip neighborhood in a major city. Pretty standard for a sitcom show but it makes up for it with great humor. This show satirizes the modern day teen life and throughout the series there are tons of pop culture references, relatable humor for young adults, and some drug humor. It's got it all for this show about 20 something year olds just chilling. The visuals look inspired from cartoons in the 1950s and 60s, and it makes the show very vibrant and interesting to look at.

In 2020, co-creator Bill Oakley announced plans for a spinoff titled "Gus and Wally" and they would include the unproduced episodes that were being worked on in the original. I do hope that this show will be successful, it's nice that after all these years it can come back for another hurrah, and it better be worth the wait because I don’t want a revival that’s like Clone High season 2 or Futurama season 8, I want it to be very true to the original series with keeping the same style and humor while also something new that doesn’t kill the show. That what I want out of a revival right there!

[melinaperley]

“I want to start a business” – Here’s how the Josh clone can help you.

Mobile applications have become an inseparable part of our day-to-day lives. As of now, mobile applications help us in almost everything. From booking cabs to providing entertainment, mobile apps have all bases covered. Such demand for applications presents app-based entrepreneurial opportunities. One such entrepreneurial opportunity is the readymade Josh clone that helps the entrepreneurs to launch their (app-based) business hassle-free.

Let’s dig in.In-built Features of the Josh clone

Sign up/Login

The users can get access with their mobile number or email address or social media accounts.Curated Home feedAn all-in-one Josh clone app has a feed designed for every user, and what they like to watch, like, and follow in their language.

Filters & Effects

The users can apply a wide variety of filters to their dance and lip-sync videos. The selection of filters & effects enhances the visual impact of their videos.

Push Notifications

Whenever the users’ favorite content creator posts any video, they will be alerted with personalized notifications.

Social Sharing

The users can share the videos with friends and family on Whatsapp, Facebook, or set as social media status, whether it's your own short video or other’s video

.

I’m a first-timer. Can I leverage this Josh clone?

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[raeynbowboi]

The Mayday Crew Deserves a Spin-Off

I know this seems a bit silly at the outset. Really? Them? A throwaway group of minor antagonists getting their own series? But honestly, after giving it some thought, I think there’s some merit to this concept.

Out of every group of antagonists introduced thus far, they are the biggest, giving the main cast of this supposed spin-off a lot of inter character relationships for the series to explore. Unlike Striker who is mostly a solo villain and the Cherubs who are more or less foils to IMP, the Mayday Crew has enough members to work really nicely as a big ensemble workplace comedy mixed with a dysfunctional found family. By having more than 3 central characters, it has room to exist as its own thing instead of just feeling like a clone of Helluva Boss.

There’s a lot of potentially compelling drama you could squeeze out of lust demons trying to navigate meaningful and healthy relationships. It’s an interesting dichotomy, and with Candy Apples (Coco x Apple) and Incubi (Josh x Ace) being canon ships, that’s already two relationships that can serve as foils to one another.

Helluva Boss has an irritatingly impressive knack for getting its audience invested in (or just simping for) its side characters, and of all the side characters introduced, I think the Mayday Crew has the most room to turn their group dynamic into something interesting.

There’s a chance to flip the script and show Blitz as an antagonist to Verosika’s crew instead of the other way around. There’s also a chance to create an interesting foil by seeing how say, Verosika and her crew treats Tex versus how Blitz and M&M treat Loona, as well as showing how different life is for higher status demons like Verosika compared to low-status imps.

As higher ranking demons, Verosika and by extention her crew have access to parts of both Hell and Earth that IMP simply lacks. Places like Ozzie’s are an extremely rare night out, whereas for someone of Verosika’s clout, she probably just waltzed past the bouncer like it was any boring old day. So, if the writers wanted an easier way to have characters rubbing elbows with the elites more often without always having to use Stolas, this is another approach they could use.

Because Verosika is famous and the Mayday Crew are her entourage, it’s also a great way to explore celebrity culture, idol worship, paparazzi, advertisements, and other sorts of pressures that someone of Verosika’s status has to deal with that someone like Blitz can avoid.

But while that’s all fine and good, what about the details? What would it be called? Who would be the star? What would be the focus? Well, I think the best candidate for main character would be Ace. It’s only my own personal headcanon, but I’ve always gotten the sense that he’s Verosika’s second-in-command, and we already have a show where the “boss” is the main character. Two actually, since Charlie is the CEO of the Happy Hotel. So, having a show star and primarily focus on the employees might be a nice change of pace. The unsung heroes who break their backs to make the celebrity look good. Her back-up dancers or vocalists, stylists, choreographers, assistants, groupies, or whatever all of their individual job descriptions end up being, someone as big as Verosika needs a full time team to keep her afloat, and that could be an interesting focal point for the Mayday Crew beyond just being an excuse for more dirty jokes and sexual inuendos. So, a show that follows Ace as he works to maintain order and peace in Verosika’s chaotic little clique while also trying to apease his bitch of a boss feels like a good basis for a show, and since he also has a blossoming relationship with Josh (which the fans already are interested in) this gives free reign to develop them as characters and put them through relationship issues, with Apple and Coco serving as the other primary couple. And since we don’t want a repeat of M&M who are meant to be a subversion of standard Hell relationships, this means we’re likely to see and deal with two problematic relationships where the partners are trying, but aren’t as perfect and sweet as Millie and Moxxie. As for what the show would be called... why not just Mayday! Verosika strikes me as a drama queen meltdown sort of boss, so anytime anything goes wrong, it’s time to set off the alarms. It’s a little cheeky, but I think it has room to work. Is it perfect? No. The Mayday Crew is extremely flat. Their only real personalities come through fan headcanons. But they’ve managed to be relatively popular, and there’s enough of them to make an interesting ensemble cast out of them. Whether it becomes its own completely separate entity, or it just becomes a standalone episode of Helluva Boss, I think there’s something there that has the potential to become one Helluva show.

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, January 18

You can now buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Bill and Hillary Clinton 

Page 2: Katie Holmes’ friends are warning her to wise up about her hot-tempered beau Emilio Vitolo Jr. after he went on a profanity-laced rant -- Emilio’s been in an edgy mood over his family New York City restaurant losing money while they’re forced to stay closed because of the pandemic and he’s definitely let his nice guy mask slip and it’s affecting their relationship and everything was all peaches and cream before but now it’s strained and difficult at times -- Emilio showed his ugly side when he raged against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for shutting down indoor dining on his Instagram Stories 

Page 3: Tom Cruise’s chemistry with his latest Mission: Impossible co-star Hayley Atwell has spilled over to real life but it’s no surprise because the British beauty is the mirror image of Tom’s ex-wife Katie Holmes and Tom deliberately hunted down a Katie clone to be his on-screen leading lady and Hayley is everything Tom is looking for in a partner and more -- physically Katie was Tom’s definition of total perfection which is brunette with an athletic build and he’s been quietly looking for a girlfriend for some time who had the features he loves which is brown hair and a squarish jaw and hazel eyes

Page 4: Stressed-out and scandal-scarred Ellen DeGeneres in binge eating her way toward an early grave and Ellen is burying her sorrows by bingeing on junk food and milkshakes -- she’s packed on 30 pounds in 30 days after Kelly Clarkson beat her in the ratings for the third week in a row -- Ellen is convinced the world has turned on her and hides in her dressing room and locks herself in her bedroom and eats until she can barely breathe and it’s the only thing that gives her any comfort these days and the results speak for themselves because she’s bursting out of her clothes 

* Radio shock jock Howard Stern has blasted back at former staffers who painted him a cheap and petty monster -- the King of All Media said at the end of night he sleeps fine 

Page 5: Concerned mom Andie MacDowell is fearing for the safety of her starlet daughter Margaret Qualley after she was caught canoodling with accused abuser Shia LaBeouf -- no one can understand why she’d be with this guy after he’s been accused of such horrible things and Andie is beside herself with worry and she fears Shia may have staged his PDA with her daughter to polish his tarnished image 

Page 6: TV couple Chip and Joanna Gaines have prepped for the reboot of their wildly popular Fixer Upper reality show by undergoing extensive renovations on their looks and they spared no excuse in getting personal makeovers for the show’s return -- they are splurging on trainers, stylists, new clothes, designer makeup, at-home spa days and pricey hairstyling plus other indulgences

Page 7: Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani have called of their spring wedding plans after they were caught on camera in a vicious street fight -- they’ve been fighting about everything since they got engaged and all that tension finally exploded in a brutal screaming match -- the ruckus erupted over groomzilla Blake’s feeling that Gwen has given him little support after he’d spent endless hours and millions of dollars planning their over-the-top nuptials and after all his plans Gwen suggested they simply elope and Blake blew his stack -- Blake was already bristling because Gwen seemed more focused on jump-starting her career than their wedding plans 

* Jennifer Lopez recently confessed she and retired slugger Alex Rodriguez are mulling never getting married after benching their wedding plans amid the coronavirus crisis and she’s been spotted without her engagement ring 

Page 8: Barbra Streisand and James Brolin have bounced back from the brink of a $400 million divorce and now they’re even talking about making a movie together with Babs feeding him directing tips -- they’ve had their ups and downs but they’re getting a second wind and believe doing a project together will give their relationship the kick-start it needs -- James has seen his career revitalized with his role in the sitcom Life in Pieces and directing several TV movies and his recent success is pretty exciting to both of them -- James’ dream is to direct a big-budget feature starring his son Josh Brolin and Barbra wants to help him realize that goal 

* Barely a year after leaving Britain broke and beaten Meghan Markle has regained her Markle Sparkle with Hollywood flooding the former D-list actress with movie scripts and big-bucks deals  -- the wife of Prince Harry is savoring her triumph as Hollywood’s newly crowned queen and thumbing her nose at the royals -- since leaving the cable TV drama Suits Meghan has missed acting and now she’s looking for the right big-screen project to relaunch her career 

Page 9: Sex and the City is on track for a reboot only this time without black-sheep cast member Kim Cattrall -- Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are all reuniting for what Sarah has called a revisit of the hit series -- Kim who has had widely publicized spats with series star and producer Sarah over the years has complained about the fan backlash she received for bowing out of a third Sex and the City movie follow-up 

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Tiger Woods hit the links at a Florida tournament with son Charlie, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen walked hand-in-hand during a hike with pals in St. Barts, Pete Davidson took a stab at knitting, Paris Hilton with white roses 

Page 11: Bill Cosby is refusing to shower with his fellow prisoners because an outbreak of COVID-19 in the SCI Phoenix prison has caused the fallen funnyman to steer clear of the showers

* Martha Stewart turns 80 in 2021 but the scrappy senior’s been working her farm like an energetic 20-year-old -- the domestic diva has been riding out the pandemic at her 153-acre farm in Upstate New York but she’s doing anything but taking it easy as she’s up early milking cows, shoveling snow and even chopping wood for the fireplace and she hasn’t ignored her Martha Stewart Living lifestyle empire 

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Ryan Seacrest personally tapped Billy Porter as his co-host on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve because Ryan is Billy’s biggest fan 

* Kanye West and televangelist Joel Osteen have parted ways -- Joel loves the spotlight as much as Kanye but he wasn’t prepared for the backlash after they were criticized for their walking-on-water stunt and that was when things started to sour 

* The Kardashians’ new show on Hulu promises to spark even more controversy as it will show a much more X-rated version of the family 

* New Bachelor Matt James gets in a round of golf near his home in Jupiter, Florida (picture) 

Page 13: Michael Douglas was over the moon after becoming a grandfather again at 76 and has big plans for the Douglas family dynasty -- reformed bad-boy Cameron Douglas and longtime partner Viviane Thibes welcomed son Ryder nearly three years after their daughter Lua -- making him a grandfather again is the greatest gift Cameron could have given his poor old dad and Michael hopes he loves to be 103 like his dad Kirk Douglas so he can watch Lua and Ryder grow up 

* Reba McEntire’s new beau Rex Linn is a junk food junkie and she’s worried he’s digging his own grave with a knife and fork -- Reba loves Rex and he’s the sweetest guy in the universe but it’s just troubling the way he eats everything in sight -- Reba’s worried he’ll be six feet under if he doesn’t change his ways soon and she’s desperate for him to lose 25 pounds and she’s determined to put him on a sensible mostly vegetarian diet but Rex keeps sneaking chips and sweets when he thinks she’s not looking 

Page 15: Four years into their brutal divorce battle Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are entering into a new custody battle this time for their pets -- the fractured couple’s clash over their five youngest children remains at a standstill as Angie refuses to budge on her demand for full custody -- while Brad continues to battle for shared custody of the kids he’s now making moves to ensure he has equal time with their critters as well -- Angie’s house is full of animals many of which Brad helped choose and raise and while he doesn’t want full-term custody of them he’d like to at least have them accompany the kids when they visit because Brad has noticed the children miss their pets when they’re with him and he wants to rectify that and he thinks they’ll want their visits to be longer if they have their pets with them 

Page 16: Scandal-tarred Prince Andrew faces a shocking new investigation into how he lives like a billionaire despite being cut off from British taxpayer funds -- the disgraced playboy stripped of royal duties in 2019 over his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal has no steady stream in income to explain his lavish lifestyle of private jets and ski chalets and luxury cars -- but Randy Andy has apparently been secretly trading on his blue-blood roots to sponge off Arab princes and score lucrative deals with shady tycoons and cash-rich international oligarchs like Qatar’s Minister of Economy and Trade Sheikh Mohammed Bin Ahmed Althani and Secretary General Issa Abu Issa -- a probe of his financial dealings could see Andrew further shamed and banished from the royals forever 

Page 19: Taylor Swift’s heady brew of mysticism in her new album Evermore has fans wondering is Tay Tay a witch -- in a music video for her song Willow she pursues a magical glowing thread through an enchanted forest and joins in with a witchy circle of cloaked revelers -- Wiccans are rushing to embrace her but others are wondering whether Taylor’s interest in witchcraft is merely to boost sales 

Page 22: Devastated Lisa Marie Presley struggled through Christmas as the heartbroken mom is still coming to terms with the suicide of her only son Benjamin Keough -- her holiday was somber after she wasn’t included in her mom Priscilla Presley’s holiday plans -- Lisa Marie arranged to spend one night at Graceland to be with Ben at his final resting place 

Page 26: Health Watch 

Page 34: Kat Von D has made herself at home in a haunted house -- she left L.A. with her husband Leafar Seyer to give their son a more normal environment and instead they wound up in a seven-bedroom Victorian mansion in rural Vevay, Indiana that has 13 fireplaces and a local reputation as a retreat for ghosts 

Page 36: Grateful Dead fans have been dying violent and mysterious deaths for decades sparking fears the hippie band’s superfans are being targeted by a bloodthirsty serial killer 

Page 38: John Mulaney chatted up young girls on sex sites and sent nude selfies that suggested he was doing cocaine before checking into rehab -- the married star decided to get help after girls who partied with him online threatened to expose how he’d broken his 15 years of sobriety 

Page 40: Garth Brooks confessed his life in lockdown with wife Trisha Yearwood hasn’t been in perfect harmony because he’s driving her bonkers with his nonstop whistling 

* Hollywood Hookups -- Joe Giudice showed off his new squeeze who is a lawyer, Tyler Perry and Gelila Bekele split, Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez engaged 

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Duchess Kate Middleton in 2020 

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Tichina Arnold and Beth Behrs on the sitcom The Neighborhood 

Page 47: Odd List -- two months after hoofing it from a New Jersey slaughterhouse a runaway goat was captured and given a new lease on life according to the animal rescue that snagged the fleet-footed critter, a Texas man helped his boss turn the page on an old debt by settling his 48-year-old library fine as a joke 

[trylonandperisphere]

TATIANA MASLANY ON 'SLIPPERY' CHALLENGE OF SLIPPING BACK INTO CHARACTERS FOR ORPHAN BLACK REUNION

Tara Bennett

May 14, 2020

It’s been three years since BBC America’s Orphan Black ended its five-season run, but the Clone Club is still beloved and not forgotten. And that’s especially true for Tatiana Maslany and the cast of the series, so she’s reuniting the Clone Club on Sunday to use their seestra powers for good. 

In a turn of events we’re sure not even Cosima could have imagined, the global pandemic has created hardship for everyone, including those marginalized in the LGBTQ community. With that in mind, Maslany and the show’s cast and creators are welcoming fans to join them for a two-episode table reading that will be streamed on the official Orphan Black Facebook page Sunday, May 17 at 3:00 p.m. ET. 

Tatiana Maslany on rejoining the sestrahood with Orphan Black: The Next Chapter

WTF Moments: Orphan Black's Helena dances with a severed human tail, proving she's the best clone

“There’s definitely a feeling of what can we do to help, and also to be creative right now,” Tatiana Maslany told SYFY WIRE today about how the event came to fruition. “We were inspired by the Big Mouth, Parks and Rec, and the Queer as Folk casts getting back together to raise money for charity and to also create community. It felt like a no-brainer.”

Despite the cast residing all over the globe, Maslany says it wasn’t a big challenge to get everyone back together. “Everyone was gung-ho to do it and it was pretty easy to get it into motion when everyone said yes. We really valued our time on Orphan Black and valued the Clone Club and just wanted to do it.”

To read the Season 1 episodes “Variations Under Domestication” and “Parts Developed In An Unusual Manner,” Maslany will be joined by Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs. S), Jordan Gavaris (Felix), Kristian Bruun (Donnie), Kevin Hanchard (Detective Art Bell), Dylan Bruce (Paul), Evelyne Brochu (Dr. Delphine Cormier), Josh Vokey (Scott), Michael Mando (Vic), Inga Cadranel (Detective Angela DeAngelis), Eric Johnson (Chad Norris), Natalie Lisinska (Ainsley), Kathryn Alexandre, creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, executive producer Kerry Appleyard, writer Will Pascoe, and co-producer Mackenzie Donaldson. 

For how they settled on those two particular scripts, Maslany says, “It was tough to find one [episode] that was juicy for everyone, so doing two episodes was the only way to do it. 'Variations Under Domestication' was so fun and light, and highlighted the different dynamics of Donnie and Sarah. And Cosima and Delphine have a lot of budding relationship stuff that became beloved by the fans, and we wanted that to be highlighted. 'Parts Developed in An Unusual Manner' has gorier stuff and some beautiful stuff with Mrs. S and Art. So, it was all about a balance.”

And to add a little intrigue to the whole affair, Maslany also hints that there will be some surprises about just who will read what parts on Sunday. “I cast a few people in roles that they didn’t play in the show, so I’m really excited to see what they bring to it, and for the Clone Club to see them in parts that weren’t for them, so I hope they get a kick out of that.”

Maslany also asks for some patience from the fans because she admits slipping back into the skins of Sarah, Cosima, Alison, and Helena again was not just like riding a bike. “Even just looking at the scripts now and working through them in prep for Sunday is way harder,” she laughs. “The muscle memory has softened, but it’s fun to go, ‘Oh, right’ with the voices, or the accents. It’s all slippery but it will be fun for people to see where it falls off the rails here and there.”

While the streaming event is free, Maslany encourages fans to support the two charities they’ve selected all the proceeds go towards: CenterLink and Sistering.

“Our LGBTQ fanbase has always been so deeply important to us,” Maslany explains. “We realized really early on the show was striking a cord with LGBTQ youths and adults finding themselves and seeing themselves reflected back. It was eye-opening to feel that response, and how impactful it could be, and how important it was to people. We felt protective of the community and aware of them in our writing. So, getting to work with CenterLink, an organization that helps over 250 LGBTQ community centers around the world, is so important to us. They are disproportionately affected right now due to stigma or having to be isolated with family members who are unsupportive or even violent. There’s a loss of community which is so incredibly important to identity and feeling safe.”

She continues, “And then the other charity is a smaller charity in Toronto called Sistering. It’s a group that helps women and trans people across Toronto who are precariously housed or homeless. It’s also a community that is deeply impacted right now. Our show has always had feminist ties and we wanted to ally ourselves with a charity protecting women and trans people in this time.”

As for how she’s personally dealing with the lockdown, the actress admits it’s been a real challenge for a “deeply social person” like herself. “I’m missing that for sure. But what was so obvious to me when we were putting this together is the deep need for artists to create. And at the same time, I’ve held the opposite to be true and have felt deeply unmotivated to create because there’s so many other places your brain and your heart are trying to process and contend with. I think if you do feel that impulse, it’s wonderful to know that there are so many other people who want to get on a Zoom and read a play, or writing something with a friend at a distance, or whatever is available to us. But at the same time, I’ve had to let myself off the hook, when I feel completely disconnected from that. And that’s OK too, because we’re just surviving.

“By all accounts, I should be reading novel after novel right now, but I have no capacity for it,” Maslany says, laughing. “But the one thing I do feel connected to is dance classes. Ryan Heffington, who is the choreographer of Sia’s music video 'Chandelier' and The OA, has been doing these classes on his Instagram live three times a week. He’s a choreographer that most of us would never get to work with so it’s crazy to get to do his classes. And in L.A., I used to do Dance Church, which is Kate Wallich’s creation. She does two a week and it’s saving my life. I feel like there’s so much anxiety in our bodies, and you don’t want to have to talk, so it’s a great way to express. Also, both teachers allow for a lot of emotion in it. Get it out and whatever feeling is OK. It’s deeply connective.”

As the Clone Club knows, even when it’s a party of one, there’s never a bad time for a dance party…

[tlbodine]

They Walk Among You...90s Horror Sci-Fi

Science fiction was really popular in the 90s, fueled by the rapid development of technology -- from the adoption of the internet and advancements in computers to an understanding of the human genome and the secrets of cloning. Some extremely fine sci-fi movies came out in that decade, movies that helped to define a generation. 

Here are two on a similar theme! 

Species (1995), directed by Roger Donaldson, tells the story of an extraterrestrial being who can take on the shape of a human (in this case, a vulnerable-yet-oh-so-attractive young girl) and is driven by a deep need to reproduce with the local species...and also maybe rip their heads off. Y’know. Like you do. 

Despite the vaguely porn-y premise, Species is actually a surprisingly good film, mostly because the bulk of the narrative is sympathetic to the alien. We alternate between seeing her move in confused and frightened ways through the world, and catching up with the scientists who are following after her. You’ll recognize a lot of the themes and tropes from the film (”super-powered young girl escapes a laboratory by killing people!” for one, just to mention the first scene), but the performances are pretty solid and you get to enjoy both Ben Kingsley and Forest Whitaker. Maybe you also get to be nostalgic about a big-budget genre box-office hit film with an original script about a bunch of science nerds who don’t have superpowers. I miss the 90s....

Mimic (1997) was directed by Guillermo Del Toro, based on a story by Donald A. Wollheim. It also somewhat inexplicably includes Josh Brolin and a young Norman Reedus as a surfer dude, who is pretty great. 

Anyway: Mimic is about giant mutant cockroaches that were genetically engineered to help fight a disease, but then started wreaking havoc with their murderous cockroach ways. 

It hits on a lot of themes that were really popular in the time period -- the dangers of playing god, the unseen consequences of hubris -- and the visual effects are pretty great and disgusting. It doesn’t entirely feel like a Del Toro movie, although there are some hints of his fingerprints on the narrative (a subplot involving a church involved with human trafficking, for starters). 

Overall, it’s not a great film, but it’s worth the watch if you’re a Del Toro completionist or enjoy movies about bugs eating people. 

[spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia]

SpongeGuy Reviews Every Disney Sitcom Ever!: Liv and Maddie (1.1): “Twin-A-Rooney”

Sorry this one is a day late!

Liv and Maddie is a Drake and Josh clone I don’t hate starring Dove Cameron as two human beings, something that still impresses me! The show focuses on Liv and Maddie Rooney (a girly girl teen actress and a tomboy jock respectively) as they try to deal with life as a family again, alongside their brothers Joey and Parker and their parents Karen and Pete.

The show was a massive success for the channel, and I never really watched it, but it always struck me as intriguing. And Now I’m finally giving it a review, so let’s get to it!

SUMMERY: Liv Rooney has returned home from a four-year stint in Hollywood to the open arms of her parents, brothers, and twin sister Maddie. When Maddie confesses she has a crush on a boy named Diggie, Liv disguises herself as Maddie in an effort to win her a date to the upcoming dance. Unfortunately, Diggie says no. When Liv confesses that she asked Diggie to the dance, Maddie is upset and tells Liv that she wishes Liv had never left Hollywood. Liv prepares to leave, but her parents stop her, trying to show Liv that twins are special and she and Maddie will always be sisters. When Maddie is out practicing basketball, Diggie comes up to her and tells her he knew that it was Liv that asked him and that was why he said no, telling her that even though she and Liv have the same face, he knows Maddie. He then asks Maddie to the dance and she says yes. Meanwhile, Joey and Parker attempt to turn their shared bedroom into a bro-cave, but it backfires when Liv almost leaves. Liv gets emotional about a painting that she and Maddie made, and decides to stay.

COMEDY: 3 Out of 5

This is a strong 3, it has to be added. Yes, while this too has a lot of sitcom humor fodder, somehow, it’s more charming with this set of characters and this delivery. The Office esque interviews actually add instead of hinder, and a lot of the humor ends up relying on the character’s quirks and dynamics with each other rather than banal zingers we’ve all heard over and over again. In fact, I was quite impressed with the delivery on the jokes more than  the jokes themselves! For example, the subplot is a fairly standard one: Joey and Parker, the brothers, realize that Liv and Maddie are getting all the attention, and take advantage of the situation to build a bro cave. When they have to bring the fridge back it falls down the stairs and crashes into a popcorn machine. Fairly standard teen sitcom slapstick, but the execution really made me smile.

It’s hard to explain, but the show has great execution, even if the jokes aren’t really that hysterical. But perhaps our next category can explain that.

CHARACTERS: 4 Out of 5

Once more, our show here has a lot of sitcom fodder: A girly girl diva, a tomboy jock, they’re twins, they butt heads but are also besties, there’s a geek brother and a trouble making brother, and two clueless parents. Heck, the episode ends with a date to the dance! But somehow, despite all these clear tropes, this episode manages to make me like nearly each one, even the parents! (I don’t like Parker, but that’s just a matter of preference, he wasn’t bad by any means)

A lot of it, I think, comes down to the script’s respect for the characters and the execution. Let me explain: The writers of this show know they’re working with tropes. But these tropes HAVE worked before. They just need a little extra kick. So the writers write the characters with respect, giving them motivations and actions that fit them and make them likable, and not assholes (an easy trap to fall into in shows like this), and the actors than execute these actions and make them even more likable. So when Liv dresses up as Maddie, we don’t think that this is absolutely stupid, because Liv is clearly trying to help. And when Maddie gets angry at Liv, it makes sense (even if that part was a little rushed, which is why I am Story and Heart will get):

STORY AND HEART: 3 Out of 5

Again, a strong 3, but a 3 nonetheless. This is no revolutionary story: This is the Drake and Josh pilot if they were always brothers. But once more, execution is so key to this show. Yes, the twin bond could have been shown to us a little more, yes the story is VERY STANDARD, yes the ending is predictable.

I honestly don’t have much to say but: I had FUN watching this. Good Luck Charlie was better, especially in the writing and realism, but this one was a lot of fun, it just was. And I honestly felt happy to see the characters happy in the end, so if that’s not a sucess, i don’t know what is!

FINAL SCORE: 10 Out of 15

A very respectful score, an excellent start for this show for sure! 

Next time: Stuck In The Middle, a show that cannot possibly be a Loud House ripoff, but does feel a lot like a live action version of it. But Isabelle from Elena of Avalor is in that and she is super cute so that’s good!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/100qHOP9aQ1AmKbrYuc--CQAP3LQnHfsS/edit

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Writing Advice (Part 1 of 3)

I recently stumbled across this writer ask meme about pieces of writing advice, and I was having so much fun thinking about it that I decided to just respond to them all!

1. Nothing is perfect

This is one of those truths that can be used for good or ill.

It’s easy to see the flaws in your own work, to hold your own writing to a higher standard than literally anyone else would. It’s good to say “nothing is perfect” to assure yourself that your work is good enough.

But if someone has called you out for using racist stereotypes in your writing, and your response is, “Well, nothing is perfect! So leave me alone and don’t tell me to fix it!” That’s bad!

Allow me to misquote the Talmud and tell you to keep two pieces of paper in your pocket, and take each out as you need it. The first says “nothing is perfect.” The second says “I can, and should, always do better.”

2. Don’t use adverbs

Adverbs are tools. Understand their purpose and use them wisely.

To prove my own point, I could not have written that second sentence without an adverb – “wisely.” The purpose of an adverb is to modify a verb or an adjective. It wouldn’t be enough for me to just say, “use them.” How should one use them? Wisely!

The best advice I ever got about adverbs is that they should be used when they are necessary for clarity.

If I write, “Sophie smiled happily,” that is not a necessary adverb. It is already obvious from the fact that I am smiling that I am happy. Using “happily” is redundant and uninteresting.

If I write, “Sophie smiled sadly,” on the other hand – that is necessary. The adverb changes the picture that you make in your head, and the sentence is more interesting as a result.

3. Write what you know

I get why people use this as advice. I’m much more a fan of saying “know what you write.”

Feel free to go beyond your own individual experience when you write – but for god’s sake, do your research. Expand what you know, so that you can write.

4. Avoid repetition

Like adverbs, repetition is a tool. Use it wisely.

What can repetition accomplish?

Emphasis – highlighting something as important.

Memorability – helping the audience remember.

Familiarity – we tend to like and believe what we hear over and over.

Musicians understand this. Listen to the Hadestown soundtrack and keep a tally of how many times Orpheus is referred to as “a poor boy” or Eurydice as “a hungry young girl.” Listen to the Hamilton soundtrack and count how many times Burr opens a song with “How does a –?” Think back on all the times you heard the new hit song of the year and you shrugged it off, but a couple weeks later, after you heard it on every radio station, on everyone’s Spotify playlist, in every YouTube ad – it “grew on you.”

The trick is using repetition just enough that it provides a useful structure, but not so much that it’s noticed to the point of instilling boredom.

5. Write every day

Sure, why not. If you write just ten words every day for a year, you’ll have nearly 4,000 words at the end of it – a short story. If you write a hundred words every day for a year, that’s almost 40,000 words – a decent novella. Writing every day is a good way to end up with something written.

But don’t beat yourself up if you don’t or can’t write every day. Writing takes effort. You have other things to devote energy to – work, school, groceries, cleaning, socializing, confronting your own mortality, finding out how season seven of Clone Wars ends.

I encourage you to notice all the things that you do every day which isn’t officially “writing” but is still a part of being a writer.

Now, this is something I struggle with. I go months without touching my novel, and it’s easy for me to dismiss that time as “not writing.”

But I send emails. And I write essays for school. And I jot down thoughts and dreams in my journal. And I read – you have to read in order to write. And I spend time on my walks and in the shower imagining dialogue and figuring out character paths and themes for my novel, all things that will help me when I do get back to writing it. And I have all the smaller projects I gave myself – this weekly blog post, my weekly poem or quote, my fanfiction.

If you’re a writer, then you’re a writer, whether or not you write every day.

6. Good writers borrow from other writers, great writers steal from them outright

I’m not sure what the distinction is here between “borrowing” and “stealing.”

Stealing is definitely a part of writing, though. I’ve written about this before – check out my old article on stealing bicycles as a writing metaphor.

7. Just write

Oh I am a BIG fan of this one. Even if you don’t know what to write, just write. So many pages of my journal open with the line “I have no idea what to write about.” Eventually, as you ramble, you start writing about what you wished you would be writing about. And then you find yourself actually writing.

8. There’s nothing new under the sun

Sure, but the art is in making something familiar feel new. I wrote about this a couple weeks ago in this Thursday Thoughts.

9. Read

Yes, yes, yes! Read to find out what’s out there. Read to learn the conventions of your genre. Read to ignite your love of the craft. Read to discover your people. Read to add tools to your toolbox (or pieces to your bicycle). Read to find agents and editors and publishing imprints. Read to learn what stories are not being told. Read to be a writer.

10. Don’t think!

Thinking is a tool. Use it wisely.

The best parts of my writing I’ve discovered not while writing, but while thinking about writing.

Just don’t think yourself out of writing altogether.

11. Write what you love

You’ll certainly be happier writing something you love than something you don’t love. You won’t love everything you write, though. It can still be good and valuable even if you don’t love it. But if you love it, or if you can remember why you loved it, you will come back and finish it.

12. Never use a long word where a short one will do

Forget the length of the word. Is it the right word?

To paraphrase Mark Twain and Josh Billings, the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

If you do find yourself needing to choose between two words with identical definitions, and the only difference between them is their length, then think about the effect of the word on your reader. Read the sentence aloud a few times with either option. Different words have different connotations; they evoke different moods. It may in the end just come down to which word feels right for this moment.

13. Less is more

No, it definitionally is not. See my above thoughts about adverbs, repetition, and long words vs short words.

All words are tools. All words have a purpose. Is it the right word for this moment?

14. Never use the passive when you can use the active voice

Again, active voice and passive voice are tools! They have purposes!

The simplest way to differentiate between the two is that active voice is “the girl threw the ball” and passive voice is “the ball was thrown by the girl.” Both make sense. Both describe the same action. But one places the emphasis on the girl – the subject – while the other places the emphasis on the ball – the object.

Are you trying to create a sense of immediacy, to immerse the reader in the moment? Use active voice. He did this! She did that! Bam! Pow! It’s happening right now, and we know exactly who did it!

Are you trying to create distance between the reader and something in the moment? Use passive voice. He was being followed – by who, we don’t know. Passive voice adds a touch of mystery or disassociation.

15. Show don’t tell

How do you show? How do you tell? There are engaging ways to do both, and boring ways to do both. Do what the moment needs.

In prose, I recommend setting up with showing and then hitting your reader with a tell. Say your protagonist is standing alone in a room. Then, a woman enters. Show the protagonist’s reaction to that woman – their heart pounds, they tear up, they grab a chair for support…

And then, in the narration: “Her mother had been dead for five years, and yet there she stood.” Bam! A well-placed tell which contextualizes the reaction.

Plays and screenplays come down on different sides of the “show vs tell” debate. Film usually does more “showing,” while a stage play usually has more “telling.”

This comes from writers leaning into the limitations of the mediums. The first few lines of any scene in a Shakespeare play lets you know the location and time of day, because they didn’t have the scenic or lighting elements available to show it.

While a film can cut to different places and times quickly and easily, many plays are set in just one or two locations to remove the need for frequent scene changes. A play will capitalize on the characters’ reactions to and conversations about unseen offstage events, while a film will show these offstage events.

These are not hard and fast rules, of course. Plenty of films stay in one location, and plenty of plays jump around from place to place. It’s worth noting that standard formatting for plays and screenplays highlight this typical difference. In a stage play script, the dialogue (what we’re told) is left-aligned while the action (what we’re shown) is indented. In a screenplay, the action is left-aligned and the dialogue is indented.

Neither showing nor telling is superior. They are both tools. Use them wisely.

To be continued...

[bobafettanthologyfilm]

Boba Fett Star Wars Anthology Film Details

Below is a summary of some of the main events that were anchor points in Josh Trank's Boba Fett movie based on the notes provided to us by Lucasfilm. I'm releasing this in hopes that some of the incredible art we developed for months will leak because I really believe the fans missed out on something special.

-The first sequence featured a squadron of mandalorian armored mercenaries storming an Imperial garrison looking to assassinate a yet unidentified imperial commander (likely to be someone for the canon fans, in concept art it was Thrawn). The mercenaries quite easily mow through the stormtroopers until they enter a command station that has Darth Vader flanked by death troopers. Vader mows them all down and force chokes Boba, the last man standing, in the air trying to interrogate him. Boba reveals he was hired by a third party. Vader puts the pressure on and Boba's masks breaks and Vader recognizes the face of a clone trooper right away. He spares him and has the troopers entering the room put him in a detention cell.

-Vader confronts Boba in the cell interrogating him about his past. Vader originally thought he might be a clone from the clone wars but reveals that any surviving clones would be much older than Boba appears to be now. Boba establishes that he is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe and Vader senses that Boba will do anything for the right price. He offers Boba to hunt down and bring in whomever put out the hit on the imperial commander in exchange for the location and name of the Jedi that struck down his father.

-The seconds act was Boba hunting down the third-party alien that originally hired him. Once Boba finally finds him/her, the alien gets tipped off when Boba starts asking who called in the hit. The alien flees which leads to a speeder bike chase through the streets of malastare. One of the main features of the chase were it finding itself in the middle of a pod race. One of the ideas was to showcase a pod race on a different planet and how this race would suggest that pod racing would vary from planet to planet based on that planet's features. Malastare would feature much more narrow canyons and uneven terrain than the Tatooine race featured causing more issues for Boba to navigate during the chase sequence along with avoiding being killed by the pod racers.

-Boba manages to get a location out of the alien and travels to a tbd rainy jungle planet. He lands far away from where Slave I detects life forms and tries to sneak into their camp. He avoids a series of traps until he is eventually caught in one of them.

-When he comes to he is confronted by a man that looks just like his father, and then several more come to him looking for answers. Boba has come across a large camp of who is left of the surviving clone troopers from the clone wars. The empire is hunting them down as they were able to override their programming and disobey order 66. They now plot and try to find ways to strategically disrupt the power of the empire. They are joined by their ranking general, the jedi master Mace Windu who is scarred and has a metallic arm (concept art which sneakily was put in the Force Awakens concept art book without context). Boba does not recognize him, but Windu is particularly stern to Boba and all the clones in general, so Boba develops a distaste for him. Boba finds out the remaining clone troopers that didn't desert and were accounted for were destroyed when the empire decided to start recruiting civilians.

-Boba assimilates into the group of clone troopers and starts to become one of them. A long time passes and Windu and Boba are sitting around a tented fire, the battle hardened Windu finally opening up to Boba. Windu is about to tell Boba that he killed his father when a sonic boom erupts in the sky. A lone star destroyer peaks out of the clouds of the rainy atmosphere while troop transports come out of the sides. It's later revealed Vader had a placer tracked on Slave I assuming Boba would be killed while looking to collect his bounty.

-It's jungle warfare as the clone troopers fight the stormtroopers for their survival. Midpoint through the battle Windu looks up at the star destroyer and senses "Skywalker." Windu tells Boba he needs his ship to get to Vader and Boba says no one pilots that ship but him. They fly up to the ship together and and Boba supports Windu as he cut his way to the bridge of the ship.

-Windu and Vader face off. Windu defeats Vader. He is going to give the final strike when Vader reveals to Boba that it was Windu who killed Boba's father. Boba has a flashback in which he sees the moment replay of his father being slain. He is taken over by rage and lifts his blaster to shoot Windu. Windu has been in a similar position before and lifts his hand and uses the force to crush Boba's blaster which explodes and knocks Boba back several feet. Boba in a great deal of pain raises his wrist rocket and presses a button on it that is suggested in the first act of the script in a throw away line could be fatal if used as he's not exactly sure what it does. Boba presses it and it discharges a very bright beam that completely disintegrates Windu and several feet of the interior of the star destroyer. The few remaining clone troopers win their land battle, and are spared orbital bombardment at Boba's request.

The media said the reason why the Boba Fett movie got the boot was due to Fantastic 4 tanking and the alleged on set behavior of Trank. This is partially true, but there were so many more issues that factored into this getting canned.

-Disney wanted a strong female protagonist/love interest for Boba which did not come to fruition

-The movie would have featured Samuel L Jackson and Temuera Morrison but there was a large debate about what to do with Boba. Having Morrison in the movie made sense but it would make less sense to have a different young actor to play Boba since we already knew what the young version of the clone looked like.

-The ending was deemed "a major bummer" by Lucasfilm higher-ups

-There was worry about featuring Vader too soon since a common complaint being bandied about online was people being sick of the Skywalker story

-lots of other internal politics that make little sense to even people who work here

-Ultimately Disney could not determine if they wanted to lean into the prequel trilogy in such a prominent way. Very briefly the art team was creating concept art for a potential remake of the prequel trilogy that would happen a few years after episode 9 was completed as an exploratory option just to see what something like that might look like. It would also be a way to continue the big money episodic events and help blow open the almost non-existent Chinese market by "starting over" at the first episode. It was never seriously discussed but it was something that was at least being talked about as a remake of the OT was completely off the table. This movie would have completely pushed out any possibility of that and the success of later movies would determine if they actually needed to consider this a viable direction of the property.

-Many of the ideas being developed for this film got snatched up for use in some upcoming projects, so if a version of this movie ever goes back in production, expect some pretty big changes. Based on what Lucasfilm is currently planning, it's safe to assume the Boba Fett movie isn't coming back any time soon but pod racing on malastare could be just around the corner.

[littlebitwriter]

12 DAYS OF STAR WARS: AN ORIGINAL FANBOY-DRIVEN BLOG SERIES “EPISODE 5: INFINITIES: WHAT IF BRUCE TIMM AND PAUL DINI MADE A STAR WARS ANIMATED SERIES”

What struck this idea I have expressed in the title, was when I glanced on Paul Dini’s Wookieepedia page his opening quote says "After a few years working staff and freelance for various studios in LA, I got the opportunity to work on some Saturday Morning Star Wars-based series for Lucasfilm. The restrictions were very tight on animation, and while I enjoyed working at beautiful Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, I was sorry we were not able to cut loose and really do a Star Wars-style action show. I got my wish years later when I scripted several episodes of the new Clone Wars series, so I guess it all evened out."

This made me think ‘what if’ Paul Dini and his comrade Bruce Timm who both have worked on Batman: The Animated Series in the 1990s made a Star Wars show for Disney +. I know this sounds ridiculous and crazy and probably would never happen but it would be such a dream come true for not only me but for these two creators. Both of these creators always wanted to tell stories set in a galaxy, far far away sadly for Timm he almost had the opportunity in a Star Wars comic but it sadly didn’t happen. As opposed to Paul Dini who got to work on the Ewoks and Droids series as well as the modern-day Clone Wars cartoon but ‘what if’ Dini got to write this action-packed Star Wars show featuring the original cast from the Original Trilogy filling in the gaps between A New Hope or Empire Strikes Back, or Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi, or post Return of The Jedi potentially adapting the classic Thrawn trilogy or the iconic comic Dark Empire in animation or possibly taking the best of each of the storylines and doing their own thing with it. This would be the same model as they produced the DC Animated Universe shows of Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, etc. where they took what made the iconic characters and lore so great and did new and exciting things and delivered top-notch storytelling. What if now Paul Dini and Bruce Timm worked on an animated Star Wars show with the OT characters we all know and love. However doing it potentially with an all-new voice cast which I’m sure people would not be happy with but it is what it is.

My dream cast for the series would have Will Friedle (the voice of Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond) as Luke Skywalker, magnificent voice actress Tara Strong as Princess Leia Organa-Solo, Josh Keaton (The Spectacular Spider-Man, Green Lantern) or Nathan Fillion (Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly) as Han Solo. I think that cast as the triad of Original Trilogy characters with the writing of Paul Dini and Bruce Timm would make for a great Star Wars experience.

Imagine a writer’s room with Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Dave Filoni, Glen Marikami, Christopher Yost, Eric T. Carrasco, etc. You have the makings of a freaking amazing Star Wars animated series called none other than Star Wars: The Animated Series. Doing seasons of the show that explore the gaps between the movies (like the Marvel Star Wars comics) and moving beyond the OT exploring the adventures of Han, Luke and Leia during the time of The Mandalorian to pave way for the Sequel Trilogy of films (2015-2019). In my mind this is an idea I desperately want to happen and I’d love to show run it, “DISNEY, PLEASE, PLEASE CALL ME!” Haha, Don’t worry I’m kidding. In all seriousness Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and company should make a Star Wars cartoon because it would be Emmy Award winning and would potentially be one of my favorite Star Wars things since the OT.

Make it happen Disney :)

- LilBitWriter 12/17/19

[dewbond-blog]

The Summer of Love: The English Dub of High School DxD

We will be jumping into the second half of season one next week with a look at the “Raiser Arc” and all it brings to the table, but this week I wanted to steer the Summer of Love into a topic that many people don’t really discuss: The English Dub, and my overall thoughts and feelings on it. There is a good, a lot of good, and some slightly not so good. So join me after the cut as we jump into our next chapter of The Summer of Love, the dub! This is another long one, so be ready!

To discuss the English Dub of High School DxD, it is important to give some backstory about English dubbing of anime in general. If you grew up in my generation, (late 90s, early 2000s)  then you are very familiar with the 4kids of era; a time in which the american company 4kids entertainment pretty much had a stranglehold on the western anime market. Simply put, they called the shots and every anime that was actually on television had to go through the 4kids “Americanizing process.” Needless to say, this was a bad thing.

Cardcaptor Sakura had it’s entire yuri/yaoi subtext removed and whole episodes removed. Dragon Ball censored and omitted world building, Yu-Gi-Oh became a “so bad it’s good” mess of a dub. Vision of Escaflowne became a shadow of it’s former self. Monster Rancher went from a 50+ episodes series to only a handful, and of course what they did to One Piece. The list just goes on and on. The 4kids era of anime was not a good time for the youthful medium, and frankly the wounds inflicted by this era are still fresh in many minds of my generation.

Things have gotten far better since then, with companies like Funimation, Sentai Filmworks and Aniplex taking over the dubbing market and delivering quality dubs of anime that are true to form and (sometimes) even superior to their Japanese counterparts. Yet despite this massive improvement there are still many who refuse to even give an English dub a chance, whether it is loyalty to the “authentic’ Japanese version, or trauma for the scars of the 4kids era.

Now how is this connected to High School DxD? Well not really that much, but I think it is important for readers to understand why people are somewhat hesitant on English dubs, despite a whole new generation growing up with them. There are old wounds that have yet to heal, and in this era where censorship is a hot button issue, I wanted to explain why.

Anyway, let’s get into the dub itself, and let’s start by talking about the cast.

The Cast

The English cast of DxD is frankly very strong, though it has been a cast that has had a few replacements. Akeno has been voiced by two different actress, as has Asia, and the while voice changes are noticeable, they thankfully don’t differ too much to make much of a difference. What I can say is that Asia and Akeno are both voiced excellently, with Asia being played with that cute innocent perfection, and Akeno with a level of sultry seductiveness that, while not on par with her Japanese seiyuu, gets the job done well.

The biggest voice change though has to be Issei himself, who was voiced by both Scott Freeman and later Josh Grelle, and while the change over in season 3 is a rather noticeable change (unlike Akeno’s voice change in the same season), with many people being initially put off by the sudden shift in voices. I can both say that they play an excellent Issei and bring a-

Wait..what’s this?

Fuck…do I have to do this? Do I really have to bring it up? REALLY?

ALRIGHT FINE…FINE..I’LL FUCKING ADDRESS IT.

In 2015. Scott Freeman, the voice actor of Issei and several other Funimation dub roles, was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for the possession of Child Pornography. Funimation rightfully and subsequently cut all ties with him and his roles current and future were replaced with new actors, hence the sudden change to Josh Grelle in season 3 and later 4.

Anyway, Issei’s work in the English dub marks the first, but not the most significant change in the DxD anime. While the script plays him true to form, Issei’s performance in the dub is markedly more “american” compared to his Japanese counterpart. While it is 100% loyal to the authentic story, there is a lot more ‘sex jokes’ and ‘western references’ that peek out from time to time. I’ll get into this when I discuss the script, but I did find it worked quite well for the story, and both voice actors are able to ‘get serious’ when the time comes, especially in season 4 when Josh Grelle gives his best performance as a harem lead, and this guy has MANY to his name.

However the biggest and frankly best change has to be Jad Saxton as Koneko Toujou, who completely re-invents the character for the English dub. In the Japanese version, Koneko is the quiet little kouhai who seems to only have one single emotion, very much in the veins of the Rei-clones that had a stranglehold the industry for years. The English dub however turns this completely on it’s head. Koneko becomes a motor-mouthed little girl who, while still holding true to the character’s spirit, adds far more to the plot and group chemistry than her Japanese counterpart. I just find Jad Saxton’s Koneko to be a far more interesting character, acting as a sort of the reality foil for Issei for many season, and still willing to call him out on his perverseness even after falling in love with him. Frankly, the difference between the two voices is astonishing, just watch this comparison clip.

The rest of the cast do a find job. Jamie Marchi as Rias is an excellent casting choice, and while I prefer the Japanese voice, Marchi’s signature voice is able to play both sides of Rias’ personality well and she only gets better as the seasons roll on. Kiba, Gasper, Xenovia and Rossweise are all again done very well, but it is only really characters listed above who are the real stand outs.

The Script

Remember how I brought up 4kids at the start of this post. Well I did also bring that up, because the English script of High School DxD does feel very much like a bit of a holdover from that era of anime dubs. There is more than a hint of the adapters putting in their own lines and having some fun with the dialogue than compared to other shows. It was clear to me that the writers were having some real fun trying to adapt this show for an English dub, and while some may grumble by only  being a 90% authentic script, the show does give us some great memorable one-liners like:

“I’m gonna make you eat those words like a kid doing the tide-pod challenge!”

“Cunt-tuckey fried chicken over there is in love with you”

“Forgive dat ass, don’t spank it!”

“Her milk-shakes are all over my yard”

Those are just some of the examples of the fun bit of humor that is injected into the series via the English dub and yes, it is not for everyone and yes, it is going to turn some of the purists off. Yet the voice actors give it their all and when the time comes for the show to “get serious” like with the Akeno break down, Asia story-line, the Issei/Rias fight, and more, those actors absolutely step up to the table and deliver excellent performances. So I can forgive them for having just a bit more fun with a show that is, again, about busty big boobed girls fawning over a perverted idiot.

What I do NOT forgive though, is the “president gaffe,” which undermines a vital and important plot point.

See, there is a very clear reason that Issei calls Rias “president throughout most of the anime’s run.” It helps show the class and social difference between the two characters and how, despite Rias falling truly deeply in love with Issei, her social status and his role as a servant make him hesitant to step up. It is only when that issue comes to a head that does Issei finally start calling Rias by her full name, and it is a great moment to cap off four seasons of development.

The dub however ignored that completely for the first four seasons and admitted that they weren’t aware of just how important it is. While they do address it in the season 4 dub, making an offhand comment that “Issei has been calling her President a lot lately” it doesn’t really fix the problem and remains an annoying nitpick for me. Is it a deal breaker? No, but it is a pretty glaring problem when looking at the series as a whole.

Final Thoughts.

Overall, the English Dub of High School DxD is a great one, and I honestly love it to death. As i said in my primer, I would have watched the series dubbed to do this event, but I wanted to be faithful to the Japanese release. The dub is still my go-to way of watching DxD and I suggest anyone to give it a show after watching a bit of the OG Japanese version. It’s not perfect, but it’s made with love and affection and doesn’t stray too far from it’s routes, but when it does what 4kids never could do to anime. It adds something without taking anything away.

[sol1056]

three anons: what the hell was all that in S7

Picking out the three that are most to the point for this answer, but I’ve got another dozen or so that overlap. Not sure I’ll have time/energy to answer the rest individually, so hopefully this meta will be sufficient. 

I mean it could be that they had different execs back then who were better at their jobs and kept Shiro around. No one disliked black paladin Shiro, even the DotU fans were ok with it, and the writing in s1-2 was mostly very good. Changing all that was a bad idea. I would have left on the spot if Shiro died or was benched, like now, I'm only around for closure. Maybe they were different execs with this decision & the EPs leaped at the chance. Well, we know who's also gonna be in trouble if that's the case.

With your theory on how storyboards were reused and characters shuffled around for cost cutting, might this not also partly explain the Adam flashback scene and how it was staged? I mean, they were originally supposed to be roommates and the scene was meant to appear in season 2 but got cut. What if they just reused the storyboard (or even animation, if it was already mostly done) the way it was and then just changed the dialogue? This could explain the lack of intimacy in the staging, too. Ezor and Zethrids interactions were more openly intimate maybe not (just) because they‘re villains who die immediately after, but because the decision to make them an item came before storyboarding was done, so the staging is more suggestive. I mean, if you think Shiro was mostly pasted in in the first half of s7, that might make sense.

If cost was the issue and they already had the black paladin Shiro version written, and got the greenlight to change it to Keith then things don't add up. Because they changed it once more! Which could have been avoided if they stuck to the Shiro one. And it goes without saying it would be better written to follow canon instead of the mess we got, like, I cant imagine this NOT discussed. So if it wouldn't be cost effective to change it again for Keith and it would be badly written, why did it happen?

Behind the cut: the most likely chronology of revisions, the clues in S7 as to its original form, and what this means for S8 and the Black Paladin position. 

This is everything I’ve been able to figure out between interviews, podcasts, tweets, plus researching the industry and a few reality-checks with friends more familiar. As always, any mistakes are my own. 

version 0: "five teenagers"

This would’ve been the first pitch after getting the green light, and probably only a loose synopsis, with just the pilot given a rough storyboard. A post-apocalyptic Earth conquered by the Galra, who are seeking Blue. The execs rejected JDS' mechanism for the discovery of Blue, in favor of simply having Keith ‘sense’ Blue. The execs also rejected the idea that Shiro would die only a few episodes in. This summary seems to be the basis of the "five teenagers" part of the teaser.

version A: "shiro kicks the bucket"

Timelines would've dictated moving onto an outline pretty quickly, detailed down to the episode level, including bits of dialogue, motifs, turning points or emotional beats. In this revision, Shiro dies/leaves at the end of S2 and does not return. This is the “originally we wanted him to kick the bucket” version, which the execs rejected.

version B: "shiro goes away for awhile"

If I'm interpreting the hints correctly, the "does Shiro die or not" question got tossed back and forth all the way into S1/S2 pre-production. Rather than rearrange everything, the easiest fix would've been to leave most of the story intact and write only a new ending where Shiro returns. The execs reject this rewrite, saying Shiro can’t be gone that long. This is the “we tried to just have him gone for awhile, but the execs said he had to come back sooner” version.

version C: "enter the clone"

Again, easiest fix is to insert Shiro/Kuron, remove Keith, and reverse that just before Shiro's return in version B. This impacts only the middle seasons (S3-S6); the clone compromise satisfies the execs. Kuron's characterization makes a lot more sense if it’s Keith, in visuals (ie Kuron leaning against the wall in Keith fashion), dialogue (fighting with Lance), and action (leaving without consulting the team). It's also why no one mentions Keith's absence. Because in the original version A, Keith was standing right there.

version D: "wtf is going on", aka Season 7

When JDS mentions having a full season written with Shiro as Black Paladin, it didn't make sense how they'd have a script and not use it. With @ptw30's visual detective work, I think I may've figured it out.

Technical notes: first scripts are all written for a season, then voices are recorded, and then the combined script+recording is used to storyboard. Production seasons are 26-episodes, independent of actual broadcast seasons; VA may be recording scenes across two 13-episode seasons completely out of order, since the recording schedule's going to be based on who's available, not chronology of the file numbers. The biggest staff changes are usually in April ('staffing season') when new shows get the greenlight and start sharking around to catch writers, designers, directors, etc.

In March of this year, S5 was released. At least some of the storyboarders were released in time for staffing season; in April, Hedrick moves to a new project. With S7/S8 being unchanged since version B, I suspect Hedrick delivered the scripts for S7 and S8 by winter of last year, at latest. Even that would be tight, since that's expecting animation to deliver 26 episodes in an 8-month timeframe. [edit: probably delivered much earlier, given the studio leaks show images we can recognize from S7/S8, so some amount of these seasons were in production by then.]

In June, S6 dropped, and a week later, Hamilton was announced as the new story editor via the Lets Voltron podcast. With the lead time required in production, there doesn't seem to be any reason to even need a story editor, at this point. All the pre-production work should be done.

In August, S7 dropped. Hedrick's editor credit is only for the first half of the season; Hamilton gets it for the second half. That means the last six episodes were written after Hedrick's departure. (May Chan's S2 script was reused in part, and she gains a belated co-writing script credit for that. Hedrick should've received the same; it's standard.)

Let's recap a few things we know (and a few we can intuit) about S7:

The season was already written with Shiro returning as Black Paladin, possibly also recorded and storyboarded. 

S6 reversed the S4-S5 trend, lending strength to exec arguments that Shiro is necessary in the story.

After S6 dropped, the EPs said the wolf's name was a spoiler. See this post from @pwt30; tl;dr is that perhaps the EPs intended the wolf to be Shiro's spirit. 

Despite Shiro's return, he's absent for the majority of the first half; when he is present, he barely speaks a half-dozen words, and none are plot-relevant. See @ptw30's post for more details. 

There's a glaring incontinuity when Allura says the paladin armor protected the team, yet Shiro is frozen with the other non-paladins despite wearing armor. 

Keith never offers for Shiro to pilot, nor mentions it, nor even seems to consider it an issue.

Not everything dovetails since I don't have the full picture, but here's my theory: S7 was originally outlined with Shiro's spirit in the wolf, rather than Black. I have no idea when/how JDS would've thought up the CA:WS parallels for his sole writing credit, but Shiro's "I died" and Lotor's psychotic breakdown are squeezed into S6E6, which was written by Josh Hamilton, Hedrick's later replacement. The only other Shiro-in-Black point is a few minutes at the end of S6's final episode. Shifting from Shiro-in-wolf to Shiro-in-Black really only affects one episode, with a bit of editing for another.

Anyway, S6 ends version C, and we segue to version B. For the first half of S7, the clone's body may have been in stasis while the team traveled through its various non-adventures. The episode we now know as S7E1 may have been the mid-point, with about six episodes of Shiro being unconcious. After watching the numbers drop from S3 to S6, the execs may've rejected another six episodes of where-is-Shiro and insisted he come back ASAP.

S7 only has two episodes that must be in order; the rest are pretty rearrangeable. All they had to do was insert Shiro into the background and record a few lines. (Several lines are pure voice-over, which also saves cost/time by not needing to animate moving mouth.) But the moved episode is only his memory/awakening, and the logical next episode would be Shiro's reconnection, and the rest of the season would roll from there. Without moving the entire second half of the season to the start, moving only his awakening episode would mean Shiro does nothing for 5-6 episodes and then abruptly reconnects.  

In a recent interview, JDS said at first the execs weren't enthused until JDS talked up the new mecha they'd give Shiro to captain. Honestly, there's no way JDS got to be EP without giving a really good pitch, but there may've been another element to his argument: nostalgia. The EPs seem certain everyone suffers from their same nostalgia dementia, which if you do, then you probably have been waiting for any glimpse of that og!Keith. If Shiro returns at the start of S7, then Keith's time in Black has been limited to a few disastrous episodes in S3, and a single big battle in S6. The beginning of S7 is the only time we'd ever see the Voltron84 formation working as a unified team, and returning Shiro too soon would defeat the whole purpose of showing how the team has grown in his absence.

The solution seems to have been to remove Shiro's reconnection completely, and keep Keith in Black. That would mean re-recording Shiro's lines from the midpoint onward, and editing in Keith over Shiro. The savings would be that only half the seaon would have to be reworked, not all. The loose end of the space wolf --- an artifact of version B --- was left in place.  

What I'm not sure of is whether the following are significant enough changes to warrant removing Hedrick's name and replacing it with Hamilton's. It could be, if supervising the revision process is enough to override the previous credits. I have no idea about that part of the industry, and it's the kind of edge case you're just not going to find a lot of blog posts about, so if you know, tell me. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, this would've meant Shiro was switched in for Allura, Allura was put back in a lion, and Keith was switched in for Shiro. This would explain why Shiro speaks as the leader of Voltron despite no longer being a paladin, and the uneasy sensations a lot of people got about the characterizations. It was most striking in the last three episodes: Shiro felt like Allura v2, while Keith felt like Shiro v2. And that further, the Altean-Earthian ship just 'lighting up' for Shiro --- and becoming that oversized white mecha --- may've meant as Allura's fourth (fifth?) deus ex machina.

I'd be willing to bet that mid-battle, Allura repeated her stunt from the end of S2, heading out to destroy Sendak's crystal by herself. She wouldn't need Sam to hack her brain, and then we'd also have a call back to when she got knocked down by the crystal-ball thing on Naxzela. If she was the one meant to go toe-to-toe with Sendak, that would explain the bizarre neutrality of Sendak's words --- he says nothing personal to Shiro, at all --- and the even more bizarre silence on Shiro's part. Allura's words wouldn't fit Shiro, so he's silent.

And lastly, it'd mean that the one leaping out of Black to cut down Sendak wouldn't have been Keith. It would've been Shiro.

Where would the story go from here?

If I look at the events of S7, the first half is terribly disjointed, really. If Shiro was supposed to wake at the midpoint, an episode (or two) is missing. One for him to reconnect with Black, and a second that would provide some minor conflict to settle him back into position. Those two episodes were likely replaced with the unexpected and frankly over-told two-parter of the Earth flashbacks.

Two problems with that, one technical, one structural.

First, the flashback two-parter has a lot of moving parts. Brand-new designs, characters, and backdrops. It's far too elaborate to be done in an ultra-compressed timeframe, not without several heart attacks and therapy bills on the part of the animation staff. (Plus, the US-based storyboarding team is already downsized, so fewer hands to do the work.)

Second, it doesn't make a lot of structural sense, especially against the big revelations in S6 of an existing Altean colony. Within the story, there's no reason to halt everything and travel across the universe to take however long to build a new castle, when the Altean colony question is far more pressing. Returning to earth also violates the structure, because it's really just a standard milieu: start on earth, head out to have adventures, and return home at the end.

But here, they're returning home and then possibly leaving again. That's just... a rather peculiar and imbalanced way to do it. It doesn't help that doing so means literally telling Romelle her people are just gonna have to rot, the paladins are certain they need the castle more. Why would you take one of the more compelling storylines you've come up with, only to background it again, and wreck the traditional bookending milieu structure at the same time? Especially if that means coming up with major set-pieces and brand-new designs in the space of several months, after a chunk of your core staff are already onto other things.

I think those two flashback episodes -- and the rewritten finale episodes --- may've been cribbed from S8. In other words, the second half of S7 was the original end of S8. That would mean repurposing already-created storyboards and animation artifacts, so there's a huge time savings there (not counting the need to re-record voices and edit the visuals to match the changed-around parts). 

[note: if there’s anywhere you want to frontload introductions for the spin-off, it’d be in the final season, not the penultimate season. Here it feels like a big honking distraction, rather than an organic segue into the next iteration.]

That change necessitated that utterly bizarro mecha that appeared out of nowhere with the most ridiculously impeccable timing. There needed to be a reason to pull the team back out to space to deal with Haggar and/or the alt-Alteans and/or Lotor or whomever else it turns out to be.

So... where we go from here depends on when S8 gets released, because that’ll tell us how much they did (or did not) edit the episodes. Another clue will be whose name gets listed as head editor for an episode; if we see Hedrick’s name reappear at the top, we’ll know we’re dealing with episodes that are enough unrevised to qualify as being Hedrick-edited, that it’s a version B episode. 

My expectation? They’ll move Shiro’s reconnection to the first part of S8, and add an episode or edit pieces of another, to blend it into what would’ve been the first half of S8 (probably with filler to mask the gap). Then add an episode to segue into the version B finale of S7, where we’d end with the original VLD lineup. With the time needed for animation, that’d be the easiest (if potentially awkward) way to repurpose as much as possible of existing artifacts. 

If we don’t get S8 in the next 1-2 months, though, all bets are off, and there’s a much greater possibility that the entire final season is being redone from scratch. I’d expect Keith to stay in Black, in that case, but I’m always willing to be pleasantly surprised.  

edited to add: see this followup for another detail that supports the reversed-seasons theory