#like i guess if you cant handle that it's not that enjoyable so i guess hm

[out2pasture]

My partner showed me the most Stoliz song ever a while ago i just didn't realize until Apology tour

ANYWAY HERES 8BALL GIRL BY MADDIE ZHAM

"Called you a Swiss Army knife

'Cause you're small and you're useful and beautiful

Didn't think I'd have a thing for redheads

You said you liked my hair in handfuls

You're black and white 'bout everything but me

So tell me, dynamite, what's it gonna be?

Eight ball girl, tell me how you feel about me

Shake it up

Eight ball girl, making up your mind without me

It's a yes or no or maybe

But just please don't make me guess

Do you love me? Is it hazy?

Do the signs all point to yes?

Eight ball girl, tell me how you feel about me

While the boys at the bar are buying us drinks

I'm undressing you inside my head

Your skin's on my skin but I still don't know what you think

What keeps happening between us wouldn't happen between friends

Eight ball girl, tell me how you feel about me

Shake it up

Eight ball girl, making up your mind without me

It's a yes or no or maybe

But just please don't make me guess

Do you love me? Is it hazy?

Do the signs all point to yes?

Eight ball girl, tell me how you feel about me

You like my hair in handfuls

The tension's hard to handle

You like my hair in handfuls

The tension's hard to handle

Eight ball girl, tell me how you feel about me

Shake it up

Eight ball girl, making up your mind without me

It's a yes or no or maybe

But just please don't make me guess

Do you love me? Is it hazy?

Do the signs all point to yes?

Eight ball girl, tell me how you feel about me"

A song about a queer situationship where one party is just deprate to get a clear signal you say???? And they don't care if its good or bad so long as it means something???

Damn cant believe Maddie Zahm is a Helluva Boss enjoyer /J

[dateamonster]

what’s your opinion on monstrous transformations (both fast and slow), and also more controversially what do you think about having monsters/nonhuman characters serve as minority allegory (as opposed to society’s hate for them being being an allegory)

ohhh hold on this is a rly good question i think abt a Lot actually.

ok getting the first bit out of the way, love a good monstrous transformation. fast, slow, its all good. i personally like gradual slow shifts the most but its a situational thing. transformation is one of those things that like just always has to be symbolic. even more than the degree to which Everything is symbolic ya know. so like context rly matters when it comes to how to invoke it most effectively.

MOVING ON

i think from the phrasing of the ask ur looking for something more along the lines of like. for example shapeshifters as representation of nonbinary people or aliens as representation of different cultures rather than like monsters vs humans as allegory for racism. but im also not sure you can meaningfully separate the two! the latter i think is more overused so it like registers more as an immediate red flag, but its like. if the aliens from avatar werent being violently invaded by humans it wouldnt make like their reskinned stereotypical indigeneity anymore tolerable i dont think.

which isnt to say i think every story that draws connections between fantastical fictional species and real world people are inherently bad. i dont really think theres any trope that i believe cant be handled well by anyone under any circumstance. the super easy fix to bad rep via monster or fantasy creature characters is basically just have actual humans who also represent those same identities and communities and experiences so that the audience isnt drawn to connect the traits of any one group with your fictional species.

the harder fix is to like seriously analyze why you want this character to be a monster and what that says about them and what that says about you and your own experiences and biases and what you actually want to communicate with the inclusion of this character. and when applicable hire a sensitivity reader. its kinda crazy how many pieces of media seem to prefer half-assing the hard way over just doing the easy thing and not assigning the status of token minority to a literal monster.

of course once again all of this is ya know circumstantial. im speaking to like my own experiences and the things ive observed. and its weird too! bc im also speaking as someone who like is trans and nonbinary and thinks of myself and my gender expression as inherently intertwined with monstrosity. and as someone who is autistic and thinks of myself as a changeling. and as someone who is a fat person who represents themself with a pig themed sona. if i talk abt cringeass hollywood blockbusters engaging in High Fantasy Racism i feel like to be fair i kinda have to talk about independent own-voices creators who write stories and make art about their own identities in the lovely language of monstrosity. theres not rly a way to draw a hard line around the former without the risk of catching some of the latter.

so umm as usual i dont rly have a snappy all encompassing answer for how i feel abt this kind of characterization. im simply too much of a Nuance Enjoyer. i do i guess think this is something that generally turns out better when it is someone making art about their own experiences, but also unless i believe minority artists are a monolith, which i dont, i need to accept that artists will inevitably make stuff that is beautiful and resonant to some people and totally repugnant and offensive to others, and that both of those responses can be like totally justified and correct. thats art babey!

anyway slight digression but i think any case where a character feels more like an allegory than a fully fleshed u know Character is gonna flop for me no matter how relatable it is. tbqh, id rather more ppl try and fail to make beautiful grotesque frightening sensually moving monsters out of their lived experiences and their empathetic connections with others than succeed at creating bland toothless universally approachable Good Rep tm. if u know u know. if u feel me u feel me. that is all.

[its-no-biggie]

FINALLY finished ultra despair girls. rambles and ending spoilers ahead

i almost rage quit during the final boss fight because the combat mechanics were at their absolute worst (which is saying something because i found the combat incredibly frustrating front to back). but narratively the ending was. fine i guess. i think sdr2 did the whole "i reject your dichotomy" thing better and the way monacas plan got thwarted was kinda. dumb. i liked the fukawa/komaru development though! having monaca back komaru into a corner and then fukawa saves her, which monaca didnt account for, was good! but the whole. giant monokuma comes out of nowhere and tears the building down. defeat it and then you win!!!! really ruined the whole scene i think.

honestly komaru and fukawas friendship arc was the best part of the game. (also every komaeda appearance but thats just because im insane.) like the fight in the middle was SO yuri. especially when genocide jack held the knife up to komarus throat and she didnt even flinch??? obsessed. honestly fukawa kinda gets on my nerves as a character and that didnt really change, but it was cute that she finally made a friend. i liked it. the scene where fukawa finally got komarus name right was nice, and i like that she never once messes it up after that. and the way komaru tries to call her toko-chan once they become friends and fukawa really cant handle it so she goes back to fukawa-san, but then she calls her toko-chan in the after credits scene....... really good. theres more than that but just..... their relationship is a little unconventional but still really sweet and i like it. i think its good as the central relationship of the game. and also i think they should kiss

and. im sure ive complained about this before but im complaining about it again. absolutely BAFFLED at the decision to make the main villains abused children. genuinely what the fuck is that. its not that it COULDNT work but its not handled well at all..... like. yes they were manipulated by monaca, who was manipulated by junko. yes they werent REALLY the bad guys because komaru was being manipulated into siding with the adults for monacas grand plan (although by the end it was more like. both sides are wrong. so they /were/ still bad guys, just not the only bad guys). i dont CARE. the whole "woahhhh monaca was faking her disability for attention!!! because shes evil!!!!" twist??? awful. im not opposed to the concept of a character faking their disability for manipulative reasons but i resent the constant framing around these kids being "the bad stuff you went through doesnt excuse your actions". to be clear - im not saying that because you were abused as a child means its okay to kill all adults ever. but i am saying that kids acting out after being abused by their fucking parents is extremely reasonable, and the narrative is intentionally exaggerating this type of behavior in order to punish it. and im TIRED OF IT. monaca faking her disability for attention is literally explicitly because she felt like an outsider in her own family. yes it was manipulative. yes you shouldnt fake having a disability. but children whose needs arent being met will do whatever it takes to make sure those needs are met. and this is framed as Evil Villain Behavior and i am NOT HAVING IT. humanize the motherfucking abuse victims or die by my sword

anyway. overall. i got through it so it clearly couldnt have been too bad. i think im making it sound worse than it was - it does have its charms. but. i didnt really find the characters, plot OR gameplay that enjoyable. it has its moments but overall i didnt really have fun. so. not really a good game for me. but now its done and i can move on to the rest of the series!! yippee!!!

[sylvainahyperfixation]

bro sometimes i get real confused about why so many people straight up hate minthara when they havent even TRIED her route. oh there's your answer right there. how could they like her when they have no idea what kind of person she is? also the fact that she's not fleshed out because of all the bugs, which is a damn shame.

and then there's also the reality some people live in that if you arent willing to commit war crimes for drussy (ugh, it's not like i didn't do it for this too but reducing a whole ass character to one sex scene is so disgusting) she's not "worth it". i would kill for larian to make her recruitable in a regular party because there's SO MUCH to her. i would wait years if it means there's as much content for her as there is for origin characters. and to the people who're gatekeeping her bc "if you cant handle being evil you dont deserve minthara" listen. fair. but i want more people to see her beyond The Sex Scene and The General Power Hungry Evilness. she's so much more than a one dimensional character a lot of people think she is and it's real obvious when they never take a look beyond her surface. but theyre willing to make excuses for Other Characters.

no shade on astarion lovers (and there are a lot of those) but what makes it so your traumatized horrible man is more worth exploring than my traumatized horrible woman? the level of devotion she exhibits to tav suggests that while she may disapprove of your actions she'll stand with you no matter what you choose (and honestly the bad ending proves that it's even to HER detriment, not that she knows that but there's an argument to be made for if you knew what would happen, would you still pick it? and therefore opportunities for character development). she's no less of a wonderful companion than all of the origin characters. in fact most people think wyll is bland af and yea, i agree. i romanced that guy in my first playthrough as astarion (which btw completely blinded me to what a Terrible Little Vampy Boi he actually is because i was the one making his choices) and i was like dude can this guy just be interesting. not that that's necessarily a bad thing...and wyll's probably the greenest flag companion there is because of how boring he is.

anyways my POINT is. all of our fucking companions are traumatized in some way and have a shady/sus past. why is minthara not worth "redeeming" (by this i literally mean i want to make her happy and not because i want to fundamentally break what makes her who she is, then i'd be no better than the absolute. but if you WERE to change someone it would be a slow and long process and there would have to be a lost of trust and openness, which from the way she's written i believe she's completely willing to share with tav by the end). i want to say this is because there's simply not enough content for her (and it's true) but also that just leads to the conclusion "my opinion of her is tbd because there's not enough info" and not "minthara evil therefore bad". but even with the content we're given if you think that her upbringing didnt completely fuck her over in a way that would take years and years to unlearn and heal from and That's Why She's Like That...not saying it's an excuse but it's a damn good reason. it's not that hard to recognize what makes a character good and the parts that you can poke and prod at to start making them question their worldview and also at the same time not be an apologist and be like "she did nothing wrong" (i would still say that ironically tho)

this has already been too long im just so fucking tired all the time of people who enjoy Other Terrible But Ultimately Redeemable characters and then turn around to slap a label on minthara when theyre formulaically the same because all of our companions are Problematic in one way or another. i guess some of them are just more palatable to you. i've also tried to keep this civil but i have So Many Words for astarion/shart/laezel enjoyers that dont have anything nice to say ab minthara. there's a reason those characters can make an actual party even if you slaughter the whole fucking grove

[screechingzephyrr]

So i finished watching the first season of CBS Ghosts, so this is the sequel to my first impressions post. My brain is preventing me from coherently creating thoughts but i know if i dont post this now i will never post it ever.

My thoughts in a big unfiltered list (sorry):

--Isaac is still my favourite character and he is going to forever live rent free in my brain. Him constantly gasping dramatically, him saying Hamilton was “fiNEee” with an eyeroll as hes battling with his love for theatre and his hatred for Hamilton. Icon behaviour. And Isaac and Nigel are so sweet and i love them so much. Everytime he pushed Nigel away i was screaming crying throwing up, silly guy behaviour over here.

--Nigels accent made me fucking wheeze as a british person, its so posh its hilarious and i love him for it

-The contrast between The Captain’s repression and Isaac’s acception is really great and i love them both dearly.

--Trevor is better in my brain now, he barely hits on Sam anymore so uncomfortableness has been vanquished and his backstory made me like him more. I like the twist and how he’s different from Julian with the fact that he didnt die in the act. Im separating them more in my head

--Jay is slightly better i guess? yeah thats it. hes allowed to exist, his and sams relationship still dont really have the right vibes for me but idk its probably just me

—Isaacs and Hettys relationship is so adorable like go off besties gossip about men but very specifically nigel

--Okay im going to be honest some of the episodes dragged and werent really enjoyable for me? maybe its because i thought there were thirteen episodes and when i was finishing episodes ten i was like hyped like “ok im nearly finished lets go!!!!” and then i checked and saw there were EIGHTEEN.

--Episodes i liked a lot / loved:

8)DND

9) Alberta’s Fan

15) Thorapy

16)Trevor’s Pants

17)Attic Girl

18)Farnsby & B

(Mostly because they had Isaac +Nigel in some of them. Also you can see the massive gap which is when i began to lose hope in existing)

--Episodes i hated:

13)The Vault

(BURN IT WITH FIRE. Elias’ ghost power made me want to scream and i had to mute it and fastforward it at on point bc my secondhand embarrassment was too strong for me to handle. The only good part of this episode was when Elias went down -into hell im guessing- and the ghosts screamed collectively. That was funny )

--The humour is really different from BBC ghosts. CBS is less subtle and very outright! i did laugh out loud quite a lot (Mostly bc of Isaac tbh. Also “Oskar is squirrel”).

i do think that its more “in the moment” type humour, if that makes any sense? like i laugh in the moment but i cant remember any jokes from it that i would reference in daily life, BUT maybe thats just because im comparing it to bbc ghosts which i had an allconsuming obsession with and can quote whole parts of episodes off the top of my head and which i influenced my parents into watching it too so we both know the jokes. so yk. its probably just me (again lol)

--also, CBS ghosts treats the Ghosts deaths in a very lighthearted way. None are very heartbroken over their deaths and many easily tell the stories of how they died. I do like this but sometimes they try to have some emotional moments?????? i mentioned this before but they literally have no impact

compared with BBC ghosts which treats each Ghosts death with varying degrees of poignancy, its very different and a nice change

— im glad i got to see more of Sasappis and Flower, theyre both icons tbh. im still wondering where Crash is?? Ive seen him maybe three or four times and one of them was in the background?

UHHH so to conclude,,, i think its a mostly entertaining show with interesting characters! Ive been rewatching a few episodes ive really liked. The episodes i didnt like as much would serve as good background noise i think.

[toytulini]

I saw Barbie last night, I dont think i have a long film review of it for yall but idk I'll put some thoughts under a readmore I guess?

-Right off the bat, I enjoyed it, it was fun. It was a fun pink poppy romp. Thats about what I expected of it, and thats pretty much what I got

-Its not particularly radical in its gender/feminism takes, its very basic, which, I saw a number of ppl mention that before I saw it so I wasnt expecting anything radical. It couldve done better. it was. fine. im shrug about it i guess.

-My mom enjoyed it and was apparently not expecting any sort of emotional depth or story at all so it caught her off guard. I heard her crying. she cries easy at movies. I'm glad my mom liked it. Maybe she'll absorb some of the very basic feminism it drops idk.

-I knew the Kens adopted patriarchy and introduced it to Barbieland but it felt lile that happened very fast, idk.

-The ending....I. is her going to a gynecologist supposed to be like. shes gotten a vagina by deciding to be human?? or is she trying to schedule a surgery or something? that felt pretty weird to me if im honest, i thought it was gonna be a job interview or smth... Especially with how everyone was like "Barbie is ace (heheeh i agree) cos she has no genitals! (sorry what. excuse me. wanna run that by me again?)" like okay that makes that headcanon reasoning even more dewply uncomfortable that it already was?

-I enjoyed weird Barbie. i wish theyd cast someone else cos iirc ka/te mckin/non was a transmisogynist? unless she apologized or said she changed her mind on the topic since like 2017?? but i havent seen anything? idk. just. annoying to keep platforming these ppl. i guess theres probably other actors involved that have shit views of trans ppl. whatever i guess.

-I did dress up a little. i feel like my outfit had Weird Barbie Vibes. maybe ill post a pic.

-I did enjoy it and it had a number of shots and or transitions i liked, i think the one with the disco ball to the moon or whatever was enjoyable.

-god we really are so weird about barbie

-it just feels factually incorrect that all dolls pre barbie were baby dolls? idk. im sure it was the most common kind. but idk. not to be weird about The History Of Dolls but like. the porcelain dolls from the Victorian era. idk if those count as baby dolls. iirc those were to help young girls practice prepping dead bodies of loved ones for funerals or smth??? but i guess porcelain dolls have a sort of babyish look about them. and are fragile so you cant play rough with them.

-Like i Know its a 2hr long toy commercial for mattel but also god that cant be right. even if they werent filling the same niche as barbie as idk basically a fashion doll? there had to be other dolls right?

-I know the flat foot thing is Supposed to be over the top and silly for them all to get upset about but also tbh. as a bitch with falling arches the way some of yall make jokes about flat feet still is uh. well. rude. but also lmao man. the day my arches started hurting for no reason while i was barefoot did sorta feel emotionally like her feet falling to the ground lol.

-i want to introduce barbie to margot robbie's harley quinn owo. i think that would be Fun :3

-i want Ken's job. how do i do Beach as an occupation.

-I actually liked how they handled Ken and Barbie's rship til the end. i feel weird about that ending overall and also it feels weak wrt her dynamic as Ken. they make him grapple w her not reciprocating his feelings the same way but then she just leaves barbieland anyway?? and ig they dont get to explore a friendship or qpr dynamic. ok. its fine i guess.

-her saying she has no genitalia felt so transgender in a way im not sure it was intended to. ken saying he has all of the genitalia felt even more transgender. headcanoning them both as extremely transgender in fun weird new ways and no one can stop me.

-Allan is my favorite character i think. bro me too

-bibbleless movie. add bibble.

[sincerely-shin-ae]

sometimes i see idiots complaining about others using typing quirks/fonts because their screen reader cant read it and insisting that people who use typing quirk/font are ableist and need to stop

honestly the people who think that are stupid; genuinely stupid

the internet is not for YOU it is for EVERYONE that means there will be things that are not accessible to you, things you dont like, whatever, but that problem is there for EVERYONE in different ways.

if a font breaks your screen reader? block people who use fonts. don't interact with their posts or tell the algorithm you LIKE that by interacting with it because guess what happens when you do that? IT SHOWS YOU MORE!

if something is not accessible to you on the internet, there is ALWAYS another way, look for it.

if you do not like something on the internet, there is ALWAYS other content, don't engage with what you dislike.

i saw some pretentious prick on a bunch of social sites complaining that fonts and typing quirks are ableist;; they are not. they are just kids on the internet having fun. and those kids deserve to have fun in their section of the internet, the problem is YOU. YOU are in the wrong section of the internet.

if you do not like it or it is not accessible; then it is the wrong part of the internet for you and that isnt everyone else's problem, it's YOUR problem. YOU need to stop interacting with it and start interacting with what you like.

and if typing quirks are ableist; which don't get me wrong SOME are INACCESSIBLE; then by that logic that "oh my screen reader can't read it that means you're ableist" the people complaining like that must have a problem with other disabled folk; specifically im thinking of dyslexics like myself; who y'know, tend to have difficulty spelling / etc due to it. like if you think something is ABLEIST because YOU SPECIFICALLY cannot access it you have got to be stupid lmao like what if i spell something wrong and your screen reader can't read my blog i guess i'm ableist and hate people who need screen readers according to your logic????

then there's scientific documents; i know for a fact the scientific field as a whole uses MANY characters and just words that screen readers can't handle, so is science ableist?

what about people who are still learning English and may mistake words or spellings? are they ableist

the internet is for EVERYONE; there are always things you will not like; there are always things you cannot access; that is not ableist, that is not hate against you, that is not any kind of marginalisation that the internet as a whole is simply made to cater for a wide audience instead of you specifically

now of course there's a line to this, if someone comes sending you asks/comments/friend reqs/etc, yeah i totally agree that on their choice to interact with YOU, they should make their interaction something that you can understand. but i DO NOT believe in the slightest that ANYONE has to change their blog/account/whatever as a whole for ANYONE other than themself/their own personal enjoyment

your blog/account is for you, make it yours, but recognise that their blog is for them, and they will make it theirs as well.

[nezz-cringe-crib]

Anyone But You -- movie review

summary of plot (no spoilers): a girl named bea ends up coming across this guy named ben at a coffee shop. they hit it off really well and end up having a date that ends with them sleeping (literally, not the spicy no-no way) together. however, bea ends up leaving ben's house without saying anything and this sparks a lot of resentment between the two. they avoid each other for the most part, but they're no longer able to keep their distance when bea's sister and ben's friend end up getting married. now they're being forced to get along while stuck in australia.

general thoughts: if i had to rate it, i'd give it a solid 6.5 or 7 out of ten. it was a feel-good movie and it was pretty wholesome, but nothing special. it also definitely felt like a netflix movie, if that makes sense????? like in the sense that it would've been easier to read if it was a fanfic on wattpad, y'know?????? and if i had to recommend this to anyone, i'd only recommend it to people who either enjoy cringey-but-charming rom-coms or a group of drunk people. it probably would've been a lot funnier to watch while intoxicated honestly.

movies "Anyone But You" reminds me of: Choose Love (it was that one interactive rom-com thing netflix did???? if anyone saw that?????), The Package

SPOILERS + MORE IN-DEPTH THOUGHTS:

in depth but also scattered thoughts bc i cant organize for shit:

I HAVE NO IDEA HOWNTO EXPLAIN THIS BUT LIKE. LIKE THIS IS A NETFLIX MOVIE. SPECIFICALLY A HETERO NETFLIX MOVIE. I SINCERELY DON'T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT OTHER THAN THAT. I WAS NOT LYING WHEN I SAID IT FEELS LIKE I WOULD'VE ENJOYED IT A LOT MORE IF IT WERE A WATTPAD FANFIC????? I CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT BUT IF YOU WATCH IT MAKES MORE SENSE.

the characters are like. charming but also meh???? cuz they're all flat?????? and normally i'd like to appreciate the background characters but you're given so little about them that it's hard to really attach to them. like there are some scenes that i honestly thought were funny as hell and really enjoyed, but it was only ever like small quips, y'know????? it never lasted for the whole show so it was hard to actually become emotional about them. those small clips did still make it enjoyable to watch though.

there were emotional scenes because it's a rom-com obviously, but personally i couldn't really attach onto it that much?? it's not like they were poorly executed, it just. was kinda meh??? kinda mid?????? it felt very tell-not-show and when they were over i just kinda felt like "oh okay we're past that then." it wasn't bad but it wasn't good either????? so that's my take on the emotional scenes.

ALSO EVERYONE THROWS IN F WORDS AT THE WEIRDEST MOMENTS LMAOO??????? IT FEELS LIKE A JUMPSCARE TBH. IT'S LIKE EVERY FEW MINUTES THE WRITERS REMEMBER SWEAR WORDS EXIST AND THEN FOR LIKE 2 MINUTES PEOPLE START SWEARING BACK AND FORTH FOR LIKE NO REASON??????? IT'S SO STUPID AND WEIRD THAT IT'S FUNNY LMAOAOAO. KINDA GAVE HELLUVA BOSS VIBES SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF THAT.

for the actual characters, ben and bea were like. meh? like, i enjoyed watching them (because the whole movie is about them, duh), but i didn't really care for them that much. i personally didn't like bea because she reminded me too much of y/n fanfics but that was just a me thing. she was a pretty decent character overall, i guess? nothing special though. same with ben. i liked ben a little more because he had some pretty funny lines that his actor pulled off pretty well, but i didn't exactly care that much for him? they were both just. y'know, basic mid couple.

i was also less inclined to like them because how the plot was handled overall. aND THIS IS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF THE WHOLE MARRIAGE THING GOING ON?????? BECAUSE LITERALLY EVERYBODY IS SO MUCH MORE FOCUSED ON SETTING UP BEN AND BEA THAT. THAT THE MARRIAGE BARELY MATTERS???? LIKE IT'S MORE SO JUST A PLOT DRIVING THING. THEY LEGITIMATELY DO JUST SHOW UP AND TAKE OVER THEIR FRIENDS' WEDDING. WHICH IN A REAL LIFE SITUATION WOULD BE BAFFLING AND RUDE AS HELL, YKNOW????? AND THE FACT THAT THE WEDDING IS A WLW MARRIAGE AND BEN AND BEA ARE JUST. JUST TWO RANDOM WHITE HETERO GUYS IS DEFINITELY NOT HELPING THEIR REPUTATION EITHER LMAOOOOO. IDK WHY BUT I JUST THINK THAT'S SO. STRANGE THAT YOU HAVE TO LAUGH AT IT?????? I DON'T KNOW MAN.

the background characters honestly had some pretty damn good lines. for the most part, a LOT of the dialogue didn't really land (mainly because either the line could've been written better or because the acting just didn't match up with the line), but there were a lot of clips that actually had me laughing. also beau (there's a lot of B names, i have no idea why) was funny as hell to me. he's just a little surfer guy and yk what good for him good for him.

als the ending scenes with everyone singing was honestly super wholesome. that was probably the best part of the whole movie, and probably the most emotional one tbh. it was really neat to watch, at least for me.

credits song was also peak. a lotta the music was nice, very much feel-good vibes. a lil cheesy but it was the kinda cheesy that's just cringey enough to come off as charming. the heteros were gettin a lil concerning but yk what its okay i forgive them they have good music taste at least.

i can't think of what else to put here. if you're into watching shitty movies that are just good enough to not be completely shitty, then this is a good movie for you. it wasn't entirely my thing, but i don't regret watching it. it got me through doing my algebra homework at least.

[octopi-wall-street]

Just to mention something based off your tags, Starkid is a small business that doesn't make nearly as much as you think. They do a digital release to help pay for so many things-- this probably includes paying those people we love and adore on stage. People who are currently out of jobs because of a strike. People who work so very hard to get us this content. They're putting it on Youtube for FREE in October. It's a wait, but it'll be there and up for everyone to watch. And $15 for a digital download is not nearly as bad as it could be compared to other shows/movies/etc. My point is, don't get angry over something that is necessity to the future enjoyment of these shows in such ways people who CANT afford it can enjoy it (the free versions on Youtube). I might sound like some damn elitist saying all this, but it's really not something to be pissed over. It's something to celebrate.

So I have supported SK financially in multiple ways (digital tickets to several shows, BackerKit, & Jangle Ball tour tickets) so I think I have the right to get a little frustrated over it. This is the first time they've done this kind of release schedule where it's exclusive for a month despite the filmed version being ready, I'm not yelling about the general presence of the digital release. It's not even that you're getting anything like bonus features/a physical copy, those all cost extra. What they're doing is they HAD an exclusive release in February w/ the digital tickets, which I paid for, and now they're doing another one with a product that is already funded and ready, putting in what I feel to be an unnecessary paywall.

Beyond that, I'm annoyed because the BackerKit was really not handled well. Physical rewards were delayed by several months meaning that I wasn't able to get mine, since you had to lock in your address several months early and I (and I'm guessing many other college students/graduates) had to move in the meantime. Beyond that it's been a year and there's been very few updates on the Starkid Labs projects, which is actually some of the work I was most excited about- since these are smaller scale projects all w/ an estimated 2023 release I was hoping we'd have more than just brief pre-production updates.

I enjoy Starkid's work, but I don't think they're immune to criticism just because they're a small business. Yes, funding is necessary to the accessibility of these shows, I just believe this particular model of funding is going against that very notion of accessibility.

[bitegore]

this fucking chapter is kicking my ass

@ project forged chains why do you have to be like this. why are you hard to write. why is anything other than my Megs chapters so hard

GOD i hate writing

[somberine]

Dont Dylan and Adrian get along though?

No! Before I get into this uh

Massive Spoilers for Hypnospace Outlaw

Cant "read more" on mobile sorry :-(

This post isn't to like...make you hate Dylan less btw, its more just me looking into these two characters interactions more after having to restart the game three or four times from it corrupting my saves.

In the Wiki's words on Adrian's page it says "Adrian is brothers with Dylan. It is likely that they have a good relationship, as they seem to get along and agree with each other.", but listen, I know a shitty strained relationship between siblings when I see one. At no point do Dylan or Adrian properly agree with each other. They agree, but its never a full agreement on either side. Theres always that feeling of "somethings not right here" between them.

Example A: Adrian not understanding anything about Hypnospace itself, and putting the pressure on Dylan to get rid of areas Dylan himself probably has some enjoyment in, being who he is. Reading these messages sucks. Seeing how Adrian acts dismissive about Dylan's worry sucks. Roddy is Dylan's friend at this time, together working on their passion project "Outlaw", Roddy is one of the "geeks" in these zones, and Adrian requesting the zones be removed and murged ultimately makes Roddy think this is Dylan's fault exclusively :/

Dylan not wanting to rat out Adrian making this choice (I guess??) is forced to lie to Roddy about the whole situation, notice how hes dismissive like Adrian was earlier about it at the end.

Dylan didn't wholly agree to this choice, he seemed more upset about it if anything.

Example B: Adrian instantly assumes that Dylan is going against him in some way when Dylan comes to him about the medical info they had done privately. And as a way to defend himself, Dylan dismisses it (much like his brother would) and says it doesn't matter.

What frustrates me about this, is that theres no way Adrian isnt aware Dylan spends near 18 hrs working both outside of and in Hypnospace. (Ignore that it says hes 99, Dylan is 21)

Dylan is one of those many people who probably uses the headband frequently. Theyre both adults, but Adrian is older, and should know better than to fuel his brother's unhealthy habits like that. Especially when Adrian is piling so much onto Dylan over time. Which leads us to the next point.

Example C: Adrian fueling Dylan's ever growing unhealthy obsession for this game just because he wants their tech to "Look Good" despite it already looking pretty great for its time period.

On top of this, Dylan isnt only working on Outlaw, but also working on the Enforcer thing as well, with also handling all the back lash of people being upset when the zones are merged ontop of doing all the coding for this place at least 60% of the time because Roddy left due to what happened and Dylan put Samantha on the Enforcer team so he cluld focuse on Outlaw leaving him as the group's only coder. Dylan spiraled into an awful spot because his brother fuled this. His brother manipulated him into his own way of thining. Outlaw became less of a passion project and more something Dylan wanted to get done because Adrian wanted it to be done so it would make the business look good.

All Adrian cares about is looking good and the money they're getting out of it, he could clearly care less about the work overload and mental stress hes constantly dropping onto his brother. He couldn't give a rats ass if Dylan disagreed with him because in the end Dylan will always agree because Dylan wants to make his brother proud wants his approval and it causes Dylan's downfall.

Adrian doesn't even bother to ask Dylan if hes okay when he snaps at Samantha, but sides with the fact that he just practically blew up on her over the stress and frustration of everything. Doesn't tell him to take a break, doesn't offer help like siblings sometimes should, just agrees "Yes we need to get this game out soon as possible."

Hypnospace was Dylan's passion project, it was Dylan's dream and Dylan's idea.

Adrian doesn't care and Dylan doesn't get along with him. They do not have a good relationship. They have a bad relationship built on lies and manipulation. Adrian doesn't care about Dylan's dreams or feelings or anything.

Adrian is just as much to blame for the Mindcrash as Dylan is, and should have been arrested as well.

Anyway

[rabble-dabble]

Johnkat should've became canon, there's too many parallels between them. Friendleadershipping ftw

i would like to once again think about how right johnkat is.

you are absolutely CORRECT and this is why i enjoyed writing them so much, they are just so similar to each other yet have enjoyable differences that them falling in love is just MWAH! i mean i love that john just literally declares karkat his friend and karkat can't say anything against it, i love that karkat eventually warms up to the idea of being buddies and literally thinks about their one-day interactions for three years, i love that they have similar problems and insecurities and yet they handle it in different ways, enough that they slot together so fuckin perfectly!

i dunno what it is about dave/kat (oh god here rabble goes again) but i guess its just that....dave and karkat literally never got along like that. they never had that immediate connection, in fact they were more than sour towards each other in the beginning and i always hated the fact they became friends in the other timeline bcus there 'wasn't a girl between them' because that's so stupid. like i totally get becoming friends with someone you used to not like, i get that people's relationships can change based on knowing each other but also..........we never got to see that. we never got to see that and even in the intermissions with the games with the alpha troll ghosts we just get hints and we never see how karkat and dave become friends besides them holdin hands and having fun i guess. and like it's not like karkat didn't have that type of antagonistic friendship before - sollux for example!! they shit talked all the time!!! dave could've filled sollux's place perfectly or even alongside him - but there is nothing sustained 'cept those hints in the end and the two hanging out for three years i guess??? that we barely even get to see??

to be fair i guess in canon john and karkat spent just one day together.

but like i wanna point out we get more out of one day than three years - we get to see that day and john talks about how he cant wait to meet his human friends and karkat (he literally mentions karkat a lot) and their friendship comes so easy (despite karkat being a bitch in the beginning lol) and i dunno about you but the act 5 act 2 animation karkat has about hating john for his safer life is literally the cutest and best animation in the whole thing, literally it was a whole ass animation about just the two of them.

anyways i fuckin love the johnkat anons have some art

[advertisesouls]

Ah, yes. Wasn't it so curious how an ordinary Sinner like herself was able to climb the ladder so quickly, yet she had never claimed the title Overlord before? It was still a topic of the ever persistent rumor mill that went around Hell, yet it never had a definitive answer. And when Xifeng caught these whispers, it always amused her to see what theories people proposed.

Though, she wasn't the type to kiss and tell. No, no —— it's much more fun to let people keep guessing, to feed that rumor mill for the entertainment and enjoyment for those that were the topics of said gossip. After all, it's only for fun, right?

Even so, not everything was meant to be for fun as was the case in point during the sudden appearance of the Overlord barging right into her office with a copy of the newspaper she put out. She could hear her receptionist say that he had to wait and make an appointment, but then even they realized just who this was and decided to let Xifeng handle it.

As she wasn't expecting this sudden visitor, Ruby irises gaze downward at the front page while her head cants to the side with her hand holding the receiver of her telephone, the other around the shaft since she was on a call with another client at the time of this unexpected visit.

"...I'm going to have to call you back."

She hung up the phone like she said, clearing her throat before smiling slightly towards the Overlord—though, it was hardly a sincere one and more for business' sake.

"Well, I've got to say that this is quite the unplanned visit. Here I don't even have any tea or snacks made. Tsk tsk~" She shook her head, letting a brief sigh pass her lips. "Anyway, I'm sure we can come to some sort of mutual agreement here, yes? Have a seat and I'll have my receptionist make us some coffee. I'm sure you must be famished after such a long trek."

STARTER FOR @advertisesouls // STARTER CALL

AS WELL - CONNECTED as he was , it was no surprise that samael had heard of the sinner who may as well have been alastor's shadow in the flesh . xifeng was hardly an overlord , but she still managed to become a MAJOR PLAYER in hell's economy . samael could respect someone who didn't hesitate to seize an opportunity . although , her ties to the radio demon were rather . . . curious .

he would need to be careful around her . if there were one thing he knew to be true , it was that the ones who showed the most devotion were often far more dangerous than the ones they were loyal to . faith , blind or otherwise , had a NASTY HABIT of driving people to do outrageous things ⎯⎯⎯ war , genocide, &&. enslavement chief amoung them .

that being said , samael had to draw his boundaries somewhere . he would not have this PRO - HEAVEN PROPAGANDA sullying his territory &&. stealing away his hard - earned souls . he confronted the demoness at her very own firm ⎯⎯⎯ nobody was going to stop an overlord such as himself from waltzing right in . he tossed the newspaper onto her desk with the front page on full display , touting that blasted hotel again .

❝ OUT OF RESPECT for alastor , i won't be razing your establishment to the ground , ❞ he began as his form of greeting , bat - like wings unfurling behind his back ever so slightly , ❝ but i would kindly ask that you &&. yours keep your romantic notions of redemption off my streets . i don't pretend to know what the RADIO DEMON serves to gain from this silly little exercise in naivety , but i'm certain there are other places in pride you can advertise . ❞

[kodocha4ever]

long post about how i'm enjoying pokemon scarlet :D

warning for some spoilers for the game. not story spoilers. just spoilers on some mechanics and moments that could be enjoyable as a surprise!

so a little of my background with the franchise before i go into my thoughts (so you can see how closely my own opinions align with your own, and therefore know how much my opinion on the game does or does not mirror yours).

I grew up with the spinoff games, Stadium & Snap for the N64 were some of the first video games I ever played (and played constantly all the time growing up). And when I was around 7/8/9 I got really into the Pokemon Ranger series (my favorite of the time being Shadows of Almia) and I played Battle Revolution a lot as well (I used to rent it all the time from the library). This is of course, in addition to watching the anime.

I tried other pokemon games, including the main series, but they didn't resonate with me at that phase in my life.

so anyways, when Pokemon Black & White came out, I was suddenly interested in the main series. if i had to guess -- i think it was because people i knew on deviantart at the time were into it lol.

so that came out, i played through it. enjoyed it enough! black & white 2 came out, i played through it and enjoyed it enough.

then X&Y were announced, and it was the first era i was actively watching nintendo directs all the time, and just keeping up w gaming news. so i was stoked! i got it on release day, and played through it very quickly, and tried matsuda method shiny hunting when i was done lol (i never got the shiny tho. i quit after like 600 eggs)

meanwhile in contrast, when sun and moon came out. i was keeping up with things, but idk? i have to assume it was the stage in my life i was in (i was 17 and it was my era of dropping out of every extracurricular activity i was in because i couldn't be fucked to do or care about anything that wasn't drawing). i bought the game, but legit only played the first few hours and stopped playing. it's always been funny to me, because i really loved the way the 3DS era style had been plused up. i liked the new pokemon, i was interested in the story... but it just didn't keep me engaged at that time.

so when sword and shield came out and it was soooo blasted. i didn't know how i'd feel about the game, but still bought it release day. and uh. i loved it? i loved it so much. its the most fun i've ever had with a mainline game.

so now going into scarlet & violet, there's a lot of options on the table for how i'd feel about it lol. i wanna add: i'm not done yet. i've beaten 4 gym leaders, gotten one titan, and my pokemon are level 35-40.

I didn't like the start of the game very much. There was no easy answer for how to handle it, like they needed to give a lot of info out the gate, and it's hard to do that in a way that isn't overwhelming. I like Nemona a lot though, and I like how the legendaries of these games are just with you the whole time (the way legendaries are handled typically is not for me) also i LOVE the customization out the gate (hair & face & stuff) i love how my character looks.

so anyways, felt negative for the opening. and then when i started with my adventure, i was soooo bugged by the camera angle you have in most battles. like i'm a slut for a fixed camera angle. the way the camera moves in past pokemon games did not need to be changed lol. the new free camera just has no optimal view. i feel so far removed from the action, like im watching ants.

when i complained abt this to a friend, he brought up it might have to do with the way terrain works in this game. and like... that could be true? but also i don't think the terrain being the way it is is a good enough mechanic to warrant removing the fixed camera. i wish they figured something out.

so the thing that made me start feeling positive was sort of a funny thing lol. i was feeling bummed abt the things all above, and i was also feeling weird abt the nonlinearity. like it means there cant be as many unique interactions since they dont know where in the game u are. and in sword & shield, i really got attached to the gym leaders (for the first time) and i wasn't feeling that same spark here.

i sorta felt like, lol. well. the nonlinearity is here, i might as well take advantage of it and just go across the whole map to get a pokemon i like early (in this case my goals were to get: zorua & gothita).

so i started on my way, and i was passing through one of the dessert/mountainous terrains and i bumped into that giant klawf (the stony cliff titan). and was trying to avoid him bc i didn't know what was going on and didn't want him to wreck my pokemon. but i accidentally got in a battle with him. and panicked a bit because i thought i sequence broke and wasn't supposed to be there yet or something, only to get him in one hit because i was actually over leveled LMFAO.

stumbling on major events randomly like that are my favorite part of nonlinear sandbox games. and it just gave me this perspective change of like, okay. this isn't sword and shield. it's not meant to be sword and shield! this is it's own game, and i should enjoy it for what it is and not dwell on what it isn't... and i'm having so much fun now lol.

i got an outfit i like, my team is bringing me a lot of joy, i'm gonna ask if my bestie (who happened to get violet) could send me a misdreavus because thats my only fav [who's in the game] that i don't have yet... and its because they're not in my version of the game lol.

here's my party right now :D

other good experiences i've had: u can see my beloved babygirl Gus in both of these. azumarill and the line has never been a fav of mine, but i was charmed by a wild azurill near the start of the game, and decided to catch it. i was talking w my mom while i was playing, and asked if she wanted to name her, and she said "Gus" SOO fast. like even before i finished asking her. thank u mom, i love gus so much.

i ADORE how when tandemaus evolves into maushold, the game doesn't tell u. like, i thought i'd encountered my first glitch (that people love to talk abt so much).. but no its just the cutest mechanic.

[cdmodule]

Who in goiky can handle horror movies the best and who can’t even get past the title screen?-🐕 anon

GELATIN AND NAILY LOVE HORROR MOVIES Naily comes over at gelatin's house to watch them sometimes I think Btw for these upcoming answers, Nate is answering them (Im just writing out what xes saying to me) cuz I am NOT a horror person at all nor do I really watch movies... but Nate on the other hand When It comes to horror movies Naily would like the more "obscure" ones, she has some kind of fascination w them cuz usually when it comes to those theyre either pure gold or very crude but that doesnt mean she doesnt like the more popular ones as well Gelatin loves sci fi horror and also stuff thats like, 80s-90s horror films that are just shitty slashers movies there for a cash grab lmao - anything thats "so bad theyre funny" Leafy and Gelatin usually like the same things but Leafy does Not like horror movies unless theyre also comedic because most of the time he just gets bored by them in the "Its not real anyway" type of way, hes that kinda person. Plus most of them r live action which shes not a fan of Cake prefers those horror movies that are I guess more "down to earth", think of those horror movies that r like "oh group of teen girls having a sleep over" and then someone gets their asses, he just likes the vibe of those. He likes older stuff a lot more (around80s to 2000s) and he doesnt rly like cheaply produced ones, he leans towards more popular stuff. The one thing he doesnt like about some movies is excessive gore, he has a high tolarance to it cuz he can tell its fake most of the time but sometimes Its just too much ykno NOW LOSER.. Loser is the complete opposite, he's like terrified by it even If she knows It knows real but It gets her anyway - as a kid she thought they were real though which is why he doesnt like em as an adult either. She still sits down to watch them with cake cuz he acts like he can handle it but give it about 10 minutes and Loser's like shaking and clinging onto cake. The gore and jumpscares get to him more, the former making him squeamish most of the time so he tends to just Look Away or Leave or Turn That Shit Off etc. Not a big fan of horror movies My addition was that I think cake would only pretend to be scared the first one or two times they watch horror movies so he can cling onto Loser HEHEH The death pact frat house occasionally has movie nights so horror movies are a thing that come up for sure. Bottle and Pie love watching them, Pillow as well but not as much. Bottle likes the more gorey shit because - to quote nate - "Shes quirky like that". Another thought by me (Certified Pie Enjoyer) but I feel like Pie doesnt actually like horror movies in the way you would expect but she LOVES picking them apart and making fun of them which can sometimes annoy others but half the time Its rly funny so Its okay. Its her way of enjoying things. After they watch movies Bottle and Pie would def discuss the movies afterwards n Bottle takes them WAY more serious than Pie does sometimes but mostly Its just for the funsies Pen acts like he can handle it but then cant fall asleep, Tree seems calm cuz he's quiet but when you look at him he's like clutching onto a pillow for dear life HAH. One of them probably sleeps with the other that night cuz theyre both scared. I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT ITS ALREADY SO LONG I HOPE U DONT MIND ANON

[sunhowler]

i only watched it once and im not doing it again so i may be misremembering some things here or there but... man. youd think that a show with the aesthetic it has would be exciting or new in any way but its unavoidably bland. the characters and the plot arent that engaging, yes, but i think my biggest gripe is that its one of those narratives that thinks being self aware and pessimistic is quirky and enjoyable. and like... i guess it is, given how widespread this damn pilot is, but for me its very grating. the whole "straight man character gets inexplicably sucked into a new universe where everything is silly and they dont know how to handle it" CAN be good!!! i think a lot about how what weve seen from this show compares to centaurworld (yes yes i know indie team vs netflix show i understand) which has a very similar concept. the exhausted female lead gets ripped from her world into a new, far more colorful one, with wacky characters that they initially have trouble getting along with, as they fight to get back to their own world. the biggest difference here, though, is that the centaurs are fun when we meet them!! they have a love for the place they live in!! and of course they have problems with it, of course its flawed, but thats something that gets expanded upon later on after the audience and the main character are already firmly invested in those characters. but when clown girl (my brain keeps calling her pawmi. thats a pokemon) gets to the circus, everyones fucking miserable. everyone hates it there, they all wanna leave too, and the whole time you have gods most wretched twink following along and making "ermmm... well that just happened" tier jokes. i cannot get invested in these characters, i cant get invested in the world, youve given me no reason to be invested. youve shown me that both the lead and the people inside the digital circus are miserable assholes (with like 1 or 2 exceptions) and that the setting is a temporary difficulty that has to be escaped from. but like, in just the first episode of centaurworld, the setting is already alive and vibrant and fascinating, and more importantly i think: horse's quest of finding the shamans is established. the shaman quest implies a long journey with concrete steps and exploration of both the setting and the characters. but tadc... does not have anything of the sort. it just plops the lead down into this lifeless place, has her go on a fetchquest that ultimately doesnt matter at all, has a character weve had no time to get acquainted with or attached to nearly die for some reason, briefly come across some sliver of random hope before getting it equally as randomly taken away, and thats it. its an exercise in futility, which could be an interesting thing to explore if this were a different genre. but it seemingly wants to be some kind of situational comedy or something, so the nihilism of it all is just very grating and trite. it feels like, for all its vibrant colors and character designs and wacky backgrounds, it should revel in its own whimsy, but it just doesnt. it feels like at every turn, the inherent silly nature of the digital circus is made fun of in a very marvel movie ass self referential way. the most prominent characters, save for the tooth guy maybe, are all unimpressed and jaded with their world. but, to compare it to centaurworld again, horse was the only character to be like that up until some of the last episodes. all of the centaurs took pride in their whimsy, didnt feel the need to be little shits about it, didnt have to joke about it to make themselves seem relatable.. thats how you get characters and audiences invested, not through some lame detached post irony bullshit.

i dunno. its a pilot, i think it has potential, but i will never like it unless it learns to be unabashedly whimsical. because without that sense of wonder and optimism it just feels really hollow and more like a project for the creator to show off their ocs than anything.

also i hate that stupid fucking rabbit i hate the "guy who sucks but the fandom loves him because hes sassy and tortured and (most importantly) skinny" archetype. die rabbit die

the problem with the amazing digital circus is that its not very good