#mental slapstick humor

[wow-an-unfunny-joke]

Silly Game Time: WRONG ANSWERS ONLY! What is Math?

A fucked up comedy routine that includes fire and chainsaws and the Greek alphabet.

It’s a hit with the autistic community.

[quixoticprince]

Yayyy!! Yippee!! I finally get to make one of these!! Art without the text under the cut and some long-winded elaborations:

How long I've been playing: well, it hasn't been a straight 11 years, rather off and on - but I have drawings of these guys dating back to when I was 14, so I'll give it to me. And man I had no business reading the fanfics I was reading back then It's also crazy how this was a super influential media for me in so many ways. It's the reason I ever made a tumblr, it changed the direction of my drawings for a long while, my broken sense of humor (gmod animation memes and yt poops were the brainrot back then), tf2 Sniper changed my god damned gender (rather, it was the inspiration for me to start socially transitioning at 15). This is part of my personal lore that I tend to not admit to 😓

Your main: I've always been completely ass at the game, and I can play flexibly, but I enjoy playing Sniper, and more recently as Heavy. Whenever I'm sitting around somewhere, occasionally throwing sandwiches and attracting Medics, I feel like this:

Favorite character: When I was younger it was definitely Medic, and I think you can tell that he's still up there based on how much I've drawn him! However, since getting back into it, I've felt quite a shift in focus towards Heavy, very strongly. It's unfortunate that he's side-lined in a lot of fanwork, and I think I'm also complicit in this so far - but for me it's cuz, how tf2 works is that it's going to prioritize humor over character and consistency haha, and Medic is just so loud and insane that he's really easy to make fun stuff with. Heavy is a more serious and grounded character, not to say that he's not funny or that he doesn't have his own cartoon slapstick moments! But that aspect of him is what is really really intriguing to me. I love his quiet, stoic, and intimidating character, I like how loud and boisterous he is when filled with bloodlust in contrast! I love his bird story and him getting into wrestling as a child from Poker Night. I love his back story setting, there's so much to extrapolate from a young boy in Russia growing up during WWII, what his parents must have been through before that from the aftermaths of the revolution, all the way to his fathers execution and his imprisonment. I love his strong relationship with his family, his role as an older brother, as a protector, as a man - the way that he performs these roles - and because I personally see him as bisexual - how his orientation intersects with all that! He is incredibly fascinating to me and I wish that he was played around with more to see a lot more corners and angles of these things that I listed! There's way more that I want to say here too but this is getting very long 😅

Character I relate to: It's so interesting that a lot of the characters have very strong, tho maybe dysfunctional, families. Heavy, Demo, and Sniper in particular really speak to me in that relation. From Heavy being an eldest brother (I am also an eldest sibling) the parentification that comes with that, especially with him probably being like 10 years older than his sisters from the looks of it. Demo and Sniper both struggle living up to their parents expectations (although there's a lot of love there from everyone), being disappointments in one way or another (not gonna deep dive into that lol), and the general alienation both of them feel. From Sniper not knowing why he's not like other Australians to Demo being "a black Scottish cyclops." And well, I'm Filipino, I'm queer, and mentally ill so - there's a lot to project there!

Class you want to play as: I find Medic incredibly stressful to play as but I find the idea of battle medics incredibly funny. However I usually find myself rushing around madly trying to cater to everyone, and I'd like to just not give a shit and just start stabbing people with a saw lol

Favorite ship: "I just like the dynamic" - The dynamic:

No but fr, they're really compelling to me, I'd probably need a longer more thought out post as to what I like about them and I was already going crazy up there ^ Overall tho I like that they're practically built for each other in terms of mechanics, really plays into my desire to spiral into intense codependency haha. I also think that Medic's drive to cheat death and hide behind meat shields plays really well into Heavy's desire to be a meat shield and a protector, and how nice it is in turn, that Medic can grant this man who's been around death, starvation, and war invulnerability. (He outsmart boolet, yknow?) They're also depicted together a lot and I like how much they enjoy each others company, and bring a lot of joy to each other. It's beautiful to me :'^)

Character you like to draw: What can I say! Medic is handsome! He is very fun to draw and easy to make memes and shit posts out of!

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ok so like objectively yes ed did things wrong but not only do i personally feel no negative emotions about any of that, i swear it would make more sense tonally with the rest of the show to NOT make a huge chunk of s2 be about ed facing the consequences for and redeeming himself from the marooning/pushing lucius overboard/izzy toe thing. like if im wrong i’m wrong and it’s whatever but i really really think the focus will be more on ed’s internal emotional state and how his choices were informed by trauma and how he’s going to learn to heal more than it’s gonna be like, Ed Learns It’s Wrong To Maroon People And Force Feed People Their Own Toes. like if anything i think it’ll be Ed Learns That He Deserves To Be Happy And He Also Realizes That Marooning People And Force Feeding People Their Own Toes Is An Unhealthy Coping Skill That Negatively Affects His Mental Health And He Learns New, Healthier Coping Strategies. like i think the focus of coming out of the kraken era is going to be almost entirely on ed’s feelings, and any mention of how his actions harmed the rest of the cast will be brief and/or it’ll primarily be played for comedy

which yes irl this would kinda suck to have some guy respond to getting his heart broken (and other stuff) by killing and maiming people and then have his whole journey of self-discovery be solely abt him and not any of the people he’s hurt. HOWEVER a biiiiiig part of the humor of the show is that the characters are experiencing some very real and very relatable self-esteem issues and insecurities and vulnerabilities, and all of that is placed on a backdrop of comedically gratuitous pirate violence. like this is a romcom and ed is basically going through the classic emotional beats of the romcom heroine getting her heart broken and eating a whole tub of ice cream and crying in her room for days before becoming cold and distant and “love is dead” edgy, only the joke is that bc he’s a pirate his “love is dead” romcom era includes some people actually literally dying. izzy and the crew all just happen to be in the blast radius for this joke, and while we as fans might love and care abt those characters too, the plain fact is that ed and stede are the main characters and the other characters’s feelings or storylines or internal motivations simply do not matter nearly as much to the show as theirs (with the exception of maybe jim, and also maybe olu depending on how s2 goes). and that’s literally just how romcoms work. this sort of “protagonist bias” is like, a core part of this kind of story.

and there’s nothing wrong with not vibing with the story because of that. if season two comes and goes and you aren’t happy with how the show handled the consequences of ed’s actions in e10 that’s fine, nobody has to feel any specific way about this show. but if i’m right and this is how s2 plays out and some of y’all don’t like this, the problem is not that ofmd is bad. the problem is just that this is not the story you wanted or expected to be told.

i DO think, tho, that there’s something very powerful abt a character like this being a queer indigenous man. he’s a gay romcom protagonist and narratively speaking his feelings trump all. this is a queer romcom that uses gratuitous slapstick violence as a punchline and where the queer main characters are allowed to get violent and unhinged about their feelings, and at the end of the day they ultimately get a pass bc it’s a gay romcom and the show is about them. like literally that description itself is more than i could’ve ever dreamed of from any tv show ever, and THEN you’re telling me that one of the main characters is indigenous???? it’s been a year and a half and s2 is right around the corner and i swear to god i still can’t believe this show actually exists. we don’t GET shows like this, we don’t GET characters like this. ed teach is such a fucking blessing of a character and i love him with all my heart.

[poisonousquinzel]

I dont understand how the same man who wrote the absolute insulting atrocity that is the Harley & Ivy comic (and the fuckint Harvest comic i stg) is the same one behind the Harley & Ivy episode and this

[Ivy disappearing on the other line is because she Immediately left when she heard what Joker had said.

She may have been teasing Harley and laughing at first when she was going on about all the things planned for her birthday night with her love, probably because Ivy knows he doesn't have a romantic hone in his entire body. but the second he Actually did something, he pulled the plug on her special night because he wanted to go do the "Yacht Club Job", she wasn't having it.

"No way was that going to happen."

"Look at her smile. Isn't this better than robbing that stuffy old yacht club? So glad I ran into you en route."

Just those lines of hers :')

Like even though she thinks he sucks and she knows he probably wouldn't have made the night as wonderful as Harley deserved in the first place, damnit she deserved Something. something other than him leaving her behind on standby in case they need a get away driver.]

like does this man flip a coin every time he writes Ivy and decides whether or not he wants to characterize her accurately or make her essentially a joker stand in purely so they can add plain ol' slapstick humor. it's fucking baffling to me. like who the fuck creates a character who's in YOUR og canon an abuse victim and the literal episode her and Ivy meet in that fact is reiterated time and time again. it built Ivy up as someone that really is going to care about her and wants to help her improve her mental health because he's destroyed her self esteem.

and then to take that bond YOU made and throw them into a disgusting, over sexualized comic that you incorporate fucking slapstick humor into?!?! Like wtf is wrong with him how do you manage to create a couple great (female centric) stories but most of the time just come off as nasty and frankly sexist.

p*ul d*ni i just wanna talk, i swear i will not viciously bite your ankles i swear

[poobit]

jthm is a lot of things , its a gore slapstick, its a vent piece from a teenager, its a parody of every goth thing from the 90s, its a mockery of the satanic and crime panic , its about toilet humor, its about a deep fear and repulsion to intimacy, its about losing yourself to mental illness, its about being an artist who cannot draw but has to feed a wall with blood, its about true crime, its about disgust towards your own audience, its not The Crow, its just The Cockroach, its deeply earnest at the same time its embarrassed on its honestly, it laughs at you and laughs with you, its about knowing a kid deserves better but you are too utterly fucked up in the head to give them something better.

[cometomecosette]

Les Misérables" musical character interpretations: Madame Thénardier

Here are the four main musical characterizations I've seen of a nasty woman we all love to hate.

Whenever I want to shorten her name, I've used "Thénardiess," Charles Wilbour's translation of Hugo's "la Thénardier" ("the Thénardier woman").

The Giantess

            This boisterous, imposing Mme. Thénardier embodies Hugo’s description of the character as a “mastodon,” who “swore splendidly” and could crack nuts with her fist. She’s typically a very large, masculine-looking woman, with a gruff, booming voice, but regardless of what she looks or sounds like, her personality is larger-than-life. She’s loud, coarse, money-grubbing, hard-drinking, and fun-loving, yet with a monstrous temper. Her abuse of Cosette is ferocious: while her bellowing might get laughs just for being so over-the-top, they won’t laugh at the way she grabs, shoves, and threatens to beat the little girl. But apart from this, she tends to be the more comical Thénardier spouse compared to her slimier, more sinister husband, and she gleefully hams up all her comic business: faking sobs at the news of Fantine’s death and over her fake baby in “The Robbery,” slapstick at the wedding, etc. Yet broadly funny though she is, she isn’t stupid. It varies whether she comes across as her husband’s equal partner in crime or a the real “brains of the outfit,” but either way, her brutish exterior hides a scheming mind, and though she bickers nonstop with Thénardier, he couldn’t get by without her. At any rate, he won’t dominate her; this Thénardiess is indominable.

The Witch

         This Mme. Thénardier is less physically imposing than the Giantess, but she’s arguably more sinister. She tends to be thin, angular, and bony, and she likely has big teeth with a gap or two in them. Physically, she’s all sharp edges, more like a stereotypical witch (hence her name) than like Hugo’s “ogress.” Those sharp edges extend into her personality too. Where the Giantess tends to be the more comical of the Thénardiers while her husband has a darker edge, the Witch is the more serious and blatantly ruthless of the two: the embodiment of the villainy her husband hides behind his amiable façade. Her humor is sarcastic and bitter, and while her abuse of Cosette is probably less loud than other Mme. Thénardiers’, it’s more venomous, without playing any lines for laughs. Whether she comes across as her husband’s equal partner in crime or as the one in charge will depend on the portrayal of her husband, but either way, she’s at least just as cunning as he is and likely more so. It’s also likely that within her sharp, sinister demeanor, there’s a hint of mental instability. If the novel’s version of Éponine were to live to middle age, marry a man she didn’t love, and become much less sympathetic, she would probably resemble this version of her mother.

The Oppressed Oppressor

            While still a comic character and still a villain, this Mme. Thénardier is more sympathetic than others. While the Giantess best captures the grotesque and brutal qualities of Hugo’s character, this one captures her pathetic aspects. Like Hugo’s Thénardiess, this one is dominated by her more cunning husband, and he treats her shabbily. Throughout “Master of the House,” he’ll be shown treating her more like a servant than a wife, and when Valjean arrives, Thénardier will direct her every move: when to feign tears, when to stop, when to fish for more money, when to stop so as not to seem greedy, etc. It’s clear that she’s both bitter and utterly exhausted by this life. Yet at the same time, she might convey unrequited love for her husband. (Foreshadowing her daughter’s plight?) During “Master of the House” she might genuinely try to attract him, only for him to repulse her and flirt with younger women. Thus, her string of insults toward him stems from weariness and hurt, and she makes it comical as a coping mechanism. Of course, none of this can excuse her treatment of Cosette (who clearly serves as an outlet for her general frustration), or her willing role in all her husband’s schemes. But whether we like her or not, we understand where she’s coming from.

The Fallen Beauty

            This Mme. Thénardier is very, very different from Hugo’s character, but within the musical, she can be effective. This Thénardiess is neither a brute nor a frump, but a sensual and reasonably attractive woman. Yes, she’s aging, blowsy, and mean, with a gaudy fashion sense, but she was clearly a beauty in her youth, still has charms, and knows it. She specializes in flirting and seducing men to pick their pockets or manipulate her way out of trouble. We’ll see her do this successfully with at least one inn customer during “Master of the House” and later attempt it, not so successfully, with Valjean and Javert too. And the same erotic hold she has over the drunks at the inn she also has over her husband, enhanced by the fact that she’s smarter than he is. While in front of others she lets him talk more and pretend to be in charge, she’s unquestionably the true “master of the house.” Both she and Thénardier enjoy this arrangement. The insults she aims at him are playful: though his blundering exasperates her, she really is happily married. As for the rest of her demeanor, she sometimes shows a temper, but in general she’s an understated schemer, with a distinctly dry, deadpan sense of humor. Hugo’s Thénardiess she’s not, but she’s an interesting comic character in her own right.

[x-soapbox-x]

Sigh. Once again random posting about an anime that I binged on my day off but. I just want to talk about it!!! This is about Kaguya-sama Love is War. Anyways.

Aside from how much the humor of this show really got to me when the slapstick-esque humor typical in anime isn’t usually my favorite, and how the romance itself is so!! Sweet!! Like it’s obvious from the beginning that they’re perfect for each other just by the fact that they’re playing these mind games with each other knowing the other is also playing, and it’s so much fun watching these two characters have insane mental chess games about following each other on social media and misunderstand each other while also being the only other person that really gets each other. The drama and tension doesn’t come from wondering if one will succeed in winning the others heart bc from the beginning you know they’re already head over heels for each other. The drama all comes from dramatic irony and the narrator himself is in one the joke with the audience and it’s GREAT. But I just want to talk about two specific really small moments I really loved.

The first one is when our lady lead, Kaguya, paints her nails. She worries all day about it-will he like them? Does it go against her identity to cave to girly things just for this stupid boy? She wants him specifically to notice that she painted her nails. It’s such a big deal to her. And of course, because we are privy to both of their internal monologues we know that he notices right away and spends the whole time she’s wishing he’d say something, wondering if it would make him a creep to say something, calculating the likelihood she’d accept a compliment, wondering if it’s a big deal. And at the end of the day he says nothing and she’s walking home staring at her hands disappointed, just a tiny heart break. But then he rides up next to her on his bike and points at her and yells. “Your Nails!”. He doesn’t even compliment them. He rides off before he can get the whole compliment out. But it shows he noticed, and then she’s floating around on cloud nine. It’s so cute and it just feels so…true. Like that’s what it’s like to have a crush for the first time-all this fragile hope, all this heavy anxiety. I love what it says for these specific characters! Like he’s so attentive to her and puts so much work into pretending that he’s not but it becomes so important that he lets her know that he thinks she’s pretty in all these little changeable ways and it’s pretty much the first time in the series that either one of them attempts to be earnest in their interactions instead of straight up doing psychological warfare.

The second little moment I really like is when Miyuki, our fella, has stepped down from being the student class president and as a result has gotten enough rest for multiple nights for the first time in the show, and it changes him. Like physically, he’s suddenly much more youthful looking and approachable and handsome. Everyone is into the well rested former president- except Kaguya. She LOVED his tired eyes, his exhausted and kind of mean glare. He gets all this confidence from being more handsome now and attempts to flirt and it’s completely ineffective. She was so attracted to his ‘death glare’ partly bc of the actual appearance, but also bc it represented his dedication and his work ethic. And then she has this spiral bc she’s not as attracted to him (most people who were young girls attracted to boys might recognize this exact spiral in their history if the object of their affections ever got a haircut) and she wonders if this means she doesn’t actually love him the way she thought. Luckily it’s resolved pretty quickly, but what I loved about this was that her favorite thing about the way he looked was a physical aspect that manifested bc of something intrinsic to who he is as a person, and it was a thing a lot of people actively thought made him look worse. I might be biased bc I also like tired looking eyes on a person (and kind of sport them as well-I am writing this at 2am). But this just seemed so sweet and loving and once again indicates just how much they pay attention to each other.

I guess what I love about this show is that it’s the slowest burn to ever slow burn but they use all that space to explore the hundred little ways to notice and care for another. Love is stored in the attention to detail!! I love how they agonize over every little thing!! I love how much courage it takes them to get over that, I love the hypervigilance of self. I can’t wait to see where it goes next, now that I’ve gotten to the end of season 3 and OOF what an end!!!!

Also it’s just very funny but maybe we can discuss using comedy as a bait and switch for earnestness in some other post. ❤️

[bobauthorman]

Dragon Ball: First Arc Review

What is Dragon Ball?

Overall, it’s an action series with lots of muscular guys screaming, throwing huges blasts of energy, and changing their hairstyle at the drop of a hat.

But it wasn’t always thus.

When it first came out, Dragon Ball was a silly, satirical gag manga very loosely based on the Chinese novel, Xīyóu Jì / Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en. The manga was to the novel what Spaceballs was to Star Wars, a silly romp where the plot is nothing more than a vehicle to squeeze in as many jokes as one can squeeze in. Akira Toriyama had just finished up his famous gag-series Dr. Slump, and you can its influence in the art style and humor.

Now, I’d like to address this right now and get it out of the way. Dragon Ball’s first story arc has a lot of rather perverted moments that can be very unsettling for modern readers (As of this writing, year 2024). I can’t justify it, but after reading other series like Urusei Yatsura, I just assume that this sort of thing is what manga-ka thought was funny at the time. Luckily, DB has other things going for it than raunchy humor, with slapstick and even some decent (at the time of its writing) action sequences.

Don’t worry, I won’t bore you to tears or kill every joke by telling you why it’s funny. Instead, I’d like to take a look at the overall story and narrative function of its principle characters and maybe try and squeeze something meaningful out of it. However, I should warn that there will be SPOILERS.

The title refers to the seven mystical orbs that, when brought together, summon a dragon that will grant a wish. (Uh-DURR!) In truth, this ‘quest’ is just an excuse so our players can move from one setting to another, and from the beginning makes it clear just how irrelevant the wish is in the big scheme of things.

Our first and central character is Son Goku. The Monkey King of Dragon Ball, our story focuses on this jungle boy. Like Arale in Dr. Slump, Goku’s gimmick is his immense strength disproportionate to his childish exterior.

Another thing about him is that, in a cast full of perverts, he probably commits the most sexual harassment. 

Not because he’s like that, but he literally doesn’t know better. See, the little king grew up in an isolated area, at first with his adoptive grandfather, Son Gohan, then, when the old man died under “Mysterious Circumstances”, all by himself. The kid claims to be 14 (He’s not, as we learn in the next arc) but his emotional development probably stopped long ago. He knows objectively that there are these things called ‘wimmin’ and that they should be treated nicely, but clearly Gohan did not go into detail on the subject. Goku’s never seen any other person besides Gohan Sr., and curious monkey that he is, he pokes and prods whatever he doesn’t understand. And since the most crucial difference between men and women (For Goku) is what they have or don’t have under the belt. Fortunately, he stops this after Mt. Frypan as the story slowly becomes more serious.

Speaking of more serious subjects, I wanna talk about Goku’s more mental skills. Fans like to sleep on that Goku is an idiot, but it’s more nuanced than that. Goku is uneducated and clueless about societal norms, not to mention rather blunt and insensitive. But he’s not, y’know, stupid. We see him demonstrate a keen problem solving ability throughout the story. However, he’s not a long-term planner, something that is the dominion of… 

Our secondary protagonist, Bulma. In the original Japanese language, her name is written as Buluma, or rather Bloomer. If it were me, I’d change the position of the ‘u’ and call her Bluma to preserve the pun, but whatever. 

Bulma is the driving force of the story, as she’s the one seeking the Dragon Balls. She literally crashes into Goku’s idyllic wilderness lifestyle because he has one of the Dragon Balls she wants (his Grandpa’s momento), and manipulates him into joining her. Bulma is a self-professed genius, having invented the Dragon Radar, but this technical skill doesn’t show up in the story. It’s merely an excuse to justify how she can track down these lost ornaments, or why she has a drug that makes someone go potty on command. However, Bulma does demonstrate a forward-thinking attitude, such as her recruiting Goku and Oolong as she realizes the potential their abilities could serve her interests. She also comes up with the plan to track down and rescue Oolong’s kidnapped victims…which doesn’t pan out, but hey, she tried.

Here’s the thing, though. Bulma is also a horrible person. She’s a teen drama queen who thinks the world revolves around her. She literally refers to herself as the heroine of the quest, and that everyone should be honored to help in that. She tricks Goku into giving her his Dragon Ball, falsely claiming he’ll get it back after the wish, knowing that once they’re used the Dragon Balls will fly off to the ends of the Earth. However, she doesn’t get off easy for this attitude, as we see her suffer quite a bit of slapstick throughout the story.  As the only member of the cast with a mature female body, she unfortunately gets the brunt of the arc’s lewd-ness, though she finds a way to, uh, delegate this.

Which brings us to…this guy.

The Turtle Sage, Muten-Roshi. (Invincible Old Master)

You know this guy. In a fantasy story, there’s this old wizard the heroes stumble upon who will grant his magic in exchange for a trivial favor. Only, the favors aren’t quite so trivial to Bulma. But even without his lecherousness, Roshi is quite frankly a terrible wizard. Guy loses two out of three magical tools for no reason other than carelessness. Of course, the turtle rider does have credible martial arts skills, which only get a glimpse of during this arc. Beyond dispensing plot devices, Roshi helps plant the seed of the next step in Goku’s personal journey, offering training which will be the focal point for the second arc. However, Roshi has a very small role, albeit a crucial one for the current arc. 

But speaking of those with larger roles, let’s talk about Oolong.

Oolong’s DB’s first enemy-turned-ally, this piggy’s role is similar to Iago from Disney Aladdin franchise; a complainer who brings a rare form of common sense but is ignored by their more adventurous companions. Oolong never wanted to come along on Bulma’s search, and is kept in line at first by false promise of erotica, and later on by the aforementioned hair-trigger diarrhea. Oolong spends much of the journey endlessly whining and trying to convince the other members of the Dragon Team that what they’re doing is Dangerous and they should Turn Back. The only thing keeping him from turning on the duo is that they’re the only thing protecting him from real dangers. Dangers like…

Yamcha the Desert Bandit! (Dun Dun-duh!)

Every major manga has one. A rival. A smooth and suave foil to the roughneck hero. That’s Yamcha. He’s handsome. He’s skilled. He’s knowledgable. He’s…

...A complete and total dork. While Goku has no interest in girls besides a passing curiosity, Yamcha completely falls apart when around women. (Though, it should be noted that this only is around ones his age) However, Yamcha isn’t just Goku’s foil, but Bulma’s. They both can’t control themselves around the opposite sex, but while Yamcha runs away, Bulma eagerly chases any hot guy she sees. They both have shapeshifting sidekicks, but Oolong and Bulma are constantly arguing, Pu’ar has no identity beyond being Yamcha’s aide. Both are forward thinking, with Bulma’s aforementioned plans, and Yamcha deciding to follow Goku to steal the Balls once all are collected. And finally, both want the Balls for their love lives, but while Bulma wants a ‘magical dream boy conjured by the Dragon’, as Oolong put it, Yamcha just wants his fear of women gone so he could pursue a relationship.

On the subject, it should be noted that while Oolong, Yamcha & Pu’ar are active criminals, pretty much everyone in the first Ball Hunt are pretty selfish, with the exception being Goku, Chichi, and Sea Turtle. Even the girls Oolong abducted were more than happy to play along as the snotty little perv extorted their families. But that’s comedy, isn’t it? Selfish people doing horrible things to one another and we laugh because we know they sorta deserve it.

The Frypan Mountain mini-arc is where the story begins to shift. Before, any problem could be solved by pointing Goku at it and saying “Get ‘em”. The one time he lost to Yamcha, it was because his strength was nerfed by hunger. But Frypan is where we start getting problems that Goku simply can’t solve with his strength, such as the titular flaming mountain.

(Also, is there an unspoken rule that a Monkey King ripoff needs to deal with a peak on fire? No? Just me? All right then)

Anyway, Frypan plants four narrative seeds, three of which will come up at Castle Pilaf, and one that won’t be seen until years later, at the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budokai.

First off…THE KAMEHAMEHA! This iconic moment, when Roshi Hulks out and shoots a friggin’ Death Stay beam from his bare hands, would be a taste of what Dragon Ball would become further down the line. It also gives Goku what would become his signature attack, replacing the Fist of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Second, the events of Frypan demonstrate the chink in Goku’s armor. For the entire story beforehand, Goku had been seen as an unstoppable force. But the revelation of his Achilles Tail puts a level of tension to Goku’s strength. Yamcha is watching, and now has a plausible way of beating the little monkey. But this is a bait-and-switch. Yamcha won’t be using this weakness to rob the Dragon Balls.

The third seed to be planted is Roshi’s offer of training to Goku. While it has no bearing on the plot now, it will give Goku a reason to separate from the gang at the end of the arc.

And finally, Chichi. With how Toriyama writes, I’m not sure if it was his intention to bring her back into the fold at any point. However, Toei clearly enjoyed the idea of Goku having a girlfriend and had her reappear in filler episodes. Nonetheless, I wanna talk about their, ah, engagement. A guy doing something inexplicably perverted and getting a girlfriend/betrothed is a cliche in anime, but it happening here makes a degree of sense. Chichi is established as being incredibly innocent, where she gets hot and bothered just at the idea of holding hands. So that she assumes being touched there means a marriage proposal.

That the fire on Frypan isn’t quelled by a magical plot device, but instead smothered by Muten-Roshi’s sheer strength (along with the rest of the mountain…) could be seen as an example of one of Dragon Ball’s themes that true victory is found within…or that Toriyama thought Roshi wiping out Ox-King’s castle was funny. Could be both.

The Carrot Master episode seems like pointless filler, even in the manga, but it serves a very crucial purpose, story-wise. It forces Yamcha, who’s been following the gang to steal the Dragon Balls at the last moment, to intervene and help Goku rescue Bulma from Boss Rabbit. In turn, this means that when Yamcha has to help the group reach Pilaf’s castle, they will be more inclined to accept his support (Well, Oolong will- Goku is too trusting and Bulma doesn’t care about anything but cozying up to a hot guy).

And now, we reach the long-awaited wish. The confrontation the Dragon Team has with the Pilaf Gang is culmination of the aforementioned seeds mentioned in the Frypan section, first and foremost being the Kamehameha Goku learned watching Roshi. Not big enough to help the entire out, but enough for the shapeshifters to escape Pilaf’s dungeon. 

Speaking of Oolong and Pu’ar, I’ve mentioned in my overview of Yamcha that the two are very different in how they respond to their human bosses.  Oolong can’t stand Bulma, but Pu’ar is overly dedicated to Yamcha. However, this difference turns out to be crucial in the climax of the Dragon Ball hunt; Pu’ar who has always relied on Yamcha to call the shots, cannot find a way to stop Pilaf. Oolong, however, who maintains an independent (If not cowardly and selfish) sense of self and thus manages to intervene.

Well, I suppose it’s fitting. Panties have played significant (Albeit lewd) role in the story. Granted, he probably should have wished for him and his friends to safety, as we immediately cut to the Dragon Team stuck inside an even more secure dungeon…that will cook them alive in the morning.

Now, we all know that Goku will see the full moon, turn into a giant monkey, but isn’t that a little contrived? Could it be that Toriyama wrote himself into a corner? While it is a bit of a asspull, it might not have had the same dramatic impact if there had been significant foreshadowing. Nothing kills a story’s tension than when you already know what’s going to happen.

However, as much as there was no indication that Goku could transform…there was no indication that he couldn’t.

In the second chapter, Goku admits that his ‘grandpa’ was just a kind stranger who took him in as a baby, having been apparently abandoned by his parents. No warnings about monsterness, and with all the other crazy stuff being shown in the Dragon World, but also plenty of blank spaces to squeeze in any shocking twist.

“But since Goku’s a Saiyan-“ SHADDUP! Goku’s not a Saiyan in this arc. Saiyans won’t even be considered until much, much, much further down the road. As in, probably a week before Raditz showed up.

ANYWAY, with Goku’s transformation into a berserker King Kong conveniently solves the problem with escaping Pilaf’s castle, but now there’s a much bigger problem. You thought Pilaf was the final boss? Nope! After being the major player throughout the story, we now have Son Goku as the last enemy to defeat. And who is going to save the day?!

And this is where our next plot seed sprouts. When Yamcha learned about Goku’s Achilles Tail, it was all but stated that he would exploit it. However, I doubt anyone was expecting that moment to happen during something like this. I don’t have any access to the original Japanese dialogue, save the anime version where Yamcha’s reasoning for cutting the tail off was ‘maybe it’ll knock him out’. But I suppose you couldn’t expect him to cling to that giant tail for the entire night?

Regardless, the final chapter is the denouncement, where everything caps off. Oolong makes the now-prophetic inquiry on whether or not Goku’s an alien (Again, this was just a one-off aside) while Bulma and Yamcha learn that the real wish was the friends they made along the way, giving Oolong indigestion. Good for him. At least he’s got his wish-panties. It’s a tired cliche, but not unwanted given all the slapstick and humiliation they’ve suffered maybe it’s good for all them to get something out this ordeal. Tragic that Bul-Cha only lasts until the Android Arc. That Bulma offers to take Goku with her and then gives him the Dragon Radar is sign that she’s developed some level of affection for the monkey boy.

Sources conflict on whether or not the manga was at risk of being cancelled around this time, or if Toriyama wanted to end the story here but was convinced to keep going. Either way, it makes sense that everyone gets something at the end gives this arc a good sense of closure, with Goku going to Muten-Roshi’s providing just enough open end-ness. 

Final thoughts? Overall, the first arc of Dragon Ball is a cute, humorous romp, even if you find its more lewd content unsettling. (Lord knows I do) But the pure imagination and rare moments of epic-ness are enticing enough that you can see why it kept going.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Hey why does Dobbington hate Anime and Manga but has works inspired by it and what do you think of the critisisms he has of them.

very, VERY post note (and slightly incorrect or too simplified) version of that answer because it is such a basic one regarding Dobson, you can find it better explained and more detailed in a lot of other places:

Dobson began hating anime and manga for overall the following main reasons: as it became severely more popular for kids in the 2000s, Dobson, who had stumbld upon anime erlier in the 90s before Pokemon etc. could no longer feel as special about himself and his interests as before. In addition I assume he hated that people enjoyed certain types of anime that he simply could not get into. To elaborate a bit as I think it is always overlooked kinda: It isn't that Dobson hated anime in and on itself, as evident by the fact that his work was heavily inspired by it aesthetically (more on that later). But he only enjoyed certain types of shows. And those types were mostly those "wackier" cartoony anime of the late 80s and mid 90s. Slayers, Ranma 1/2, the more whimsical Miyazaki movies, Secret of Blue Water etc. Dobson was never really much an "action" guy, or grittier stories. Frankly, the more episodic a show was, the happier he was with it. Mind you, I don't think it is a bad thing to enjoy such shows, we all have our preferences. But as we know, Dobson was a mental case and if something did not stand up to his (bottom of the barrel) standards, he would dismiss it as shit. Or at least for as long as it did not include lesbians or he got enough shit talked on it so that he had to begrudingly join the chorus. to his "defense" I would say that him disliking certain anime may have also been related to having had bad dubbing experiences with some. I once read he hated Sailor Moon, till he saw the japanese dub as before he had been exposed to an early 90s american dub that supposedly was not very good. Lastly, there is just the factor that as his stuff was criticzd as being derivative of anime and manga, he began hating on it on proxy. Blaming his failure as an artist who couldn't make it in the mianstream on anime having been a shitty influence on him. Instead of, you know, the fact his artistic talents both in drawing and writing were again rather low level compared to other stuff, among other things (such as his failure to keep up steady releases or the interest of people looking his name up)

2. his work was "influenced" by anime only in the sense as that he tried to (badly) emulate the very simplistic cartoony art style of a handful of artists he knew of (particularly Rumiko Takahashi) in his comics and essentially drew newspaper strips but with the humor being the "slapstick" humor he saw in some of the anime and manga he read and consumed. And like many people and corporations in the 2000s who tried to emulate "anime" in style to sell their shit (Like the guys who did Martin Mystery, Kappa Mickey or certain webcomic artists) he failed to get the bigger picture. That anime and manga were not simply enjoyed for the aesthetics, but also because of a general different tone and approach of telling a story (progression, devlopment etc) compared to the average saturday morning level writing we got normally in cartoons. Dobson just tried to draw in a way he thought was cool and believed people will eat up because it was hype back then. But instead everyone else just saw it for what it was: a shallow product with very little (if any) identity of its own. Like say about Avatr-The Last Airbender what you will, it had an identity. You know, lore, world building, internal logic, characters with development etc. Dobson had a school bully bcoming a lesbian after 40 pages and some kid dropping from the sky in some cavemen inhabited fantasy place whose actual name (despite being the title of the comic) was not even really mentioned in the very first volume.

3. I think his opinions are like him: Worthless. Primarily because Dobson's criticism were too generalized. He just "hated" all of anime and manga, ignoring the fact that there are all sorts of different creators, genres, stories etc attached to those terms. It is like if I said "I hate books and writers" because I don't like Moviebob's "Brick by Brick", or I say "All videogames are terrible and videogamers should be gased" just because I have only been exposed to one shitty gaming experience in my life. It is just a display of utter ignorance for the craft of storytelling in itself. And coming from a guy who wanted to be a storyteller, that is bafflign to hear. There are more than a few things one can criticize about individual bad anime, manga, creators or trends within the industry or a fandom. I for example am not a big fan of bland isekais where the story is just that character X lands in fantasy setting and is immediately the most special of them all. But that doesn't mean everything in the genre is immediately trash. It means that I should at least take some time out of my less than busy schedule to see if perhaps there do exist one or two good exceptions. Do my "research". But that was something Dosbon was also more than allergic to do.

So yeah, hope that helps a bit.

[freebooter4ever]

Geno collection part 2: quick doodles version. I’ve been holding off on posting this one because i wanted to write my usual yearly blurb summary underneath but i’ve been struggling to put it into words which is a new one for loquacious me. What to say about geno…

Normally i’m very logical about my favorites - i know exactly why i picked them and there's a list of reasons. This time left me confused. One minute i’m insisting i’m not going to root for pittsburgh, even though its my city, and i'll only do ONE drawing of sid as a homage. But then there's this photo of some dude sitting on the boards in a blue jersey - you can’t even see his face it’s all about the Attitude and his posture - and it’s the most compelling hockey photo i’ve seen yet. Who is this guy, how the fuck is he so sexy, he's just SITTING, he's not even skating? And then i find out his name (and whoops it’s that guy i already decided to hate, guess i have to rethink my snap decision), and then i start noticing things. And noticing more things, and reading old blogs, and more, and more…

And next thing i know ive got over 271 doodles in my sketchesdone folder, and a favorite that was never supposed to be a favorite, and also a new sculpting project.

So. Why? his expressions are a joy to draw. he looks like he escaped from an animated film. He's got that elusive quality where half of what i want to draw is physical and the other half is in his movements, and body language, and personality. It drives me crazy because i am terrible at capturing that second half so i’m never fully happy with any of my doodles. That glow of personality, the look in his eyes - how the fuck do you draw that? I don’t know.

His body alone is also interesting - unique proportions. He's long, with lots of muscle, but also soft? I could cry over it probably. Actually i just study, and study, and want to throw my computer at the wall when i get it wrong in my art yet again for the thousandth time.

He's funny. But he's sneaky about it. If you dont pay much attention he seems like this kind of slapstick guy. But underneath the surface goofball he almost miserly keeps to himself how sly his humor can be. You get the feeling that he doesn't miss much, even if he doesn't comment on it. Yet even that's hilarious - how in some interviews it's obvious he's mentally checked out. All so you're thrown for a loop when in other interviews he's the most vivacious guy in the room. Which is the real evgeni? only he knows. :P well, and obviously the lucky few who know him personally.

I have a small confession. I’ve been sending him art. Look - the missing the playoffs thing happened - and i was suddenly overcome with concern that they might not get as much fanmail as usual. And that was so sad. And then i realized i had all these drawings. And a printer. I could send fanmail. (i have only sent famail once before. this was a very anxiety inducing undertaking) Normally i don’t like the subject of my art seeing my art, it’s just supposed to be for us. But i carefully picked out each drawing - mostly the ones that were more badass or powerful in the traditionally masculine sports sense. I definitely avoided any of the thirsty ones (duh) and tried not to use any of the more personal ones of his face where it was obvious i was just drawing him instead of him as a hockey star. And tried to be respectful and desperately hoping my art wouldn’t accidentally insult him somehow or be inappropriate. i have zero idea if i succeeded and it only worries me sometimes.

So there you go. The year of geno.  \o/ nothing in this list has any logic to it

[warningsine]

There are so many moments in season 5 that make me facepalm.

Leaving aside the fact that in the first four episodes nothing happens and the plot is nonexistent, many of the farcical developments do not land.

Not only does it feel like they are belittling the tragedy as well as the critical subject matter it represents (BLM and police brutality), but it also cheapens heartbreaking moments like Tasha's speech about Poussey and Brook's library tribute to her deceased lover.

Exhibit A: The seance in order to talk to Poussey. What is this, Yellowjackets 1996?

Other ridiculous scenes that may make you chuckle momentarily and might have worked tonally in earlier seasons (s2-s3), but not as parts of a season with such serious consequences for everyone involved:

The guards playing "fuck, marry, kill" while the inmates run amok.

Luschek getting a boner in front of all the angry prisoners while his colleagues are being humiliated and then joking about it.

That extended scene where that guard is performing a striptease. Wanted to capture the female viewers' attention there, huh?

The whole "talent show" arc.

Linda running around like a puppy instead of using her mobile phone. I enjoyed the short-lived Boo/Linda thingy because it allowed me as a viewer to see Boo's softer side, but sheesh.

The neonazis hanging out with the women they hate, because [spins wheel] there are coffee and funny impressions. Whatever happened to that tension among the tribal units in late season 4?

Gloria getting the hostages to the Poo.

Red, the other matriarch, spending half a season running around aimlessly.

“The Tightening” episode in general.

Moreover, I cannot for the life of me understand why the scenes where the inmates abuse, harass and rape the guards are treated as sitcom moments with no laugh tracks.

(Black comedy would have been more fitting than slapstick humor anyway.)

Subverting the power structure did not have to be about how the inmates, whom they had been humanizing for 4 seasons, are capable of doing bad things. We already know that.

More things that had me either scratching my head (bullets no. 1 & 2) or eye-rolling (bullets no. 3 & 4):

Certain background episodes. Until this season, the flashbacks had served a purpose: telling us why the ladies have ended up in prison and helping us gain insight into their personalities and actions. But Freida, Red and Alison's were not exactly that. At least, Linda and Piscatella's episodes--just like Bayley's in season 4--were used to point out the hypocrisy: these fuckers are responsible for people's deaths as well. Also, in the latter's case, his focus on avenging his lover made him lose his last shred of humanity--unlike Tasha's which remained intact.

Judy King being forced to look like Jesus. The series had tried to tackle white privilege before, but this symbolism (?) was bizarre.

It's no secret that I didn't like how they turned Maria (and Blanca and Ouija) into an antagonist in season 4 by having her brand Piper. Similarly, very original that in a room full of women the ladies of color are the ones perpetuating the abuse and herd mentality whereas a white character (Alex) cannot stand the sight and walks.

For similar reasons, the "white pride nationalists are mistaken for Muslim terrorists" arc rubbed me the wrong way.

Moving on to some of the other topics they touched upon and then dropped like hot potatoes.

Mass shootings? No mention of gun control.

Internet culture and inappropriate memes being toxic af? No commentary there.

The series asking us to root for the neonazi inmates because, um, they're funny and just like the other inmates, yo. No commentary on white supremacy being extremely dangerous either.

When they needed a strong script to make an organic transition from lightheartedness (s1-s3) and the existential grief of season 4 (from Piper and Maritza to Lolly, Sophia and Poussey) to drama, they failed.

The riot was not enough to sustain the stakes for 13 episodes, which is why the season dragged.

At least:

Selenis Leyva (Gloria), Danielle Brooks (Tasha) and Uzo Aduba (Suzanne) were there, managing to evoke some strong emotions out of me. Too bad that Laverne Cox didn't get more screen time.

Janae's flashbacks were great.

The show did try to say something about hostages, slavery, mob mentality and that portion of humanity that chooses to distance itself from the torturers.

Except for the case of the white pride inmates that I cannot comprehend, it was interesting to see the usual cliques fall apart, e.g., Flores working with Red instead of Gloria or Maria, Piper working with Taystee and the others.

The season came full circle. Daya, who accidentally got the gun and then chose to shoot one of the most brutal guards, to Taystee deliberately pointing the gun at the true villain--whose actions led to Poussey's murder--and then choosing not to murder him. Too bad that even touching that gun will come to bite Tasha in the ass.

Choosing to have Piscatella killed by a rookie with no training was quite poetic.

Reversing the roles and having Nicky comfort Red (and Lorna but that's besides the point here) was great to watch. If only these three women had been given actual arcs.

[tamaharu]

both lolita movies are bad, but theyre bad in near polar opposite ways. '62 lolita is overly comedic (and im talking slapstick humor) and shies away from the main conceit of the story, instead rendering dolores as the nagging wife to the exhausted husband. '97 lolita is serious, but has a gauzy romantic filter over everything and honestly, i wouldve liked it to be a bit more shy, its really gross sometimes in a way even the book isnt. one thing, though, that both movies agree on, is the portrayal of dolores as the manipulator, the cause of H.H.s mental strain, an almost willing participant. which was, im sure, always nabakovs intention.

[wishbrightdreams]

Get To Know Me!

1. IF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT TITLE WOULD BEST FIT?

* Dazed and confused lol. 🤣 (not smoking btw just the title describes my life haha)

2. WOULD YOU RATHER BE A FANTASTIC DANCER OR BE GREAT AT MATH?

* Definitely math. I’ve always struggled understanding math in school and it caused me a lot of frustration. I don’t need to be a math wizard, just being able to understand it is all I need!

3. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COMEDY MOVIE?

* I love slapstick and potty humor. I don’t have a particular favourite comedy movie as I tend to lean towards animated movies instead of live action. But I guess if I had to choose I would choose The Minions, I love those guys!

4. ARE YOU MORE OF A CAT PERSON OR A DOG PERSON?

* definitely a dog person. My mom is super allergic to cats and my dad is allergic as well. (They are also allergic to dogs, but we managed to get a hypoallergenic dog which has helped with their allergies)

5. WHAT CELEBRITY WOULD YOU RATE AS A PERFECT 10?

* Tom Holland of course! Not just looks wise either, I’m in love with his personality. 😍 I love goofy, funny and nerdy hot guys like Tom Holland. If only he was a musician too. 🤤

6. WHAT’S THE CLOSEST THING TO REAL MAGIC?

* Manifestation! Technically that’s not magic, but whatever. I believe that we are all born with some type of psychic ability, we’re just not all awakened to it.

7. WHAT IS THE BEST AND WORST PURCHASES YOU’VE EVER MADE?

* Hmm, I’m not sure about this one. I often go by reviews because I have a tough time making up my mind about which thing I want to buy. I try to analyze each thing I buy to make sure I’m buying a good product haha.

8. IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO COLONIZE MARS IN OUR LIFETIME, WOULD YOU GO? WHY OR WHY NOT?

* Heck no! Space is scary haha. Plus Earth needs help healing so I’d rather spend my time helping people here and devote my time to bettering the planet we currently live on. Now that being said, if I lived in a reality like in the movie Interstellar I would go because it’s our only option to survive haha.

9. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM VACATION ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?

* Japan for sure! It’s been my dream to travel to Japan since I was a pre-teen. And not just because of anime haha. I’d also love to visit Europe and the United Kingdom where my ancestors are from.

10. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL AS A STUDENT?

* I took singing vocal class in high school which I really enjoyed, but I had to drop it in my second half of high school due to my mental health which sucked. I also really enjoyed communications class!

11. IF YOU COULD LIVE IN A BOOK, TV SHOW, OR MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

* This is a tough decision to make. I can’t decide on which one. I’d like to travel to different stories and experience life in them first before making a permanent decision.

12. HOW MANY SIBLINGS DO YOU HAVE?

* I have three half siblings, they are all about a decade older than me. I have two half brothers and one half sister. I don’t see them that often, only at Christmas time.

13. WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?

* I’m not a very adventurous person, so I would have to say just meeting my spirit guides during a meditation and having my spiritual awakening?

14. IF YOU COULD MASTER ONE SKILL YOU DON’T HAVE RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

* Housekeeping and adulting stuff haha. As well as manifesting if you count that as a skill!

15. WHAT WORDS OF WISDOM WOULD YOU PASS ON TO YOUR CHILDHOOD SELF?

* Don’t be so hard on yourself, learn to love and accept your uniqueness and don’t worry about what others think of you. It’s also okay to feel emotions, don’t be ashamed of feeling sad or angry!

16. HOW WOULD YOU SURVIVE A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

* I wouldn’t haha. I wouldn’t be able to survive in such a place. I don’t think I would want to anyway. I tend to get very affected by apocalyptic stories so I’m trying to distance myself from them more these days.

17. IF YOU COULD ABOLISH ONE PIECE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

* Nuclear weapons! We don’t need them and they’re dangerous. Peace and love man!

18. WHAT IS YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE?

* Hmm… not sure I have a guilty pleasure. The thing that comes to my mind is comfort food that isn’t good for me, does that count?

19. WHAT WAS YOUR NICKNAME YOUR GRANDPARENTS USED TO CALL YOU?

* I don’t think they had nicknames for me, but my dad always calls me pumpkin.

20. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CLIMBED A TREE JUST FOR FUN?

* I don’t think I ever climbed a tree haha. I wasn’t an outdoorsy kid (by choice).

That’s all for now! I will post more later.

[trashyswitch]

An Unexpected Roommate

Chapter 23: Guilt, Pain, and Communication

Jamie and Chase have a lengthy argument about what they feel is best for Robbie. Some angry words are said, some pain is felt, and a decision is reached. With Robbie's location now known, the boys decide to try and bring Robbie home.

It has been forever since I uploaded! I did not know that I would go 2 months without uploading this chapter...so, I hope it's worth it. Also, there is a lot of angst, and hurt/comfort in this one. So...read at your own risk. And despite the tears, I hope you enjoy.

Jamie was laying in his bed, mentally preparing himself for Chase’s footsteps to show up at his doorway. He knew he was going to do it. He knew Chase was going to be angry with him because of multiple reasons. But the one thing he knew he would be mad about…was the fact that he failed to tell Chase he had found Robbie. Cause that’s what led to the domino effect of ‘mistakes’ he made yesterday morning. Finding Robbie’s dog, buying Robbie food, and worst of all, his decision to not take the boy home. 

Jamie couldn’t even sleep a wink that night because of all the stress. That, and the physical pain coming from his lower throat. The use of his larynx was affecting his throat tremendously. It hurt really bad, and he knew he needed to give it a break. But giving it a break didn’t stop the soreness from setting in. It still set in, and at full force. He wanted to groan in pain. He wanted to rub it till it got better. He was even willing to put ice on his throat to see if it would help. But groaning would’ve made it worse. Rubbing it wouldn’t help anything, and putting ice on it wouldn’t do anything besides make his throat cold. 

Jamie closed his eyes in an attempt to try and sleep. But trying to sleep with one ear open is really difficult. And trying to sleep while also under immense stress is even harder. So…It was practically laughable that Jamie was attempting to sleep at this point. But…The man was tired and growing restless. Part of him wanted Chase to arrive as soon as possible so he could get the conversation over with so he can be stress-free. But…the other part of him wanted Chase to not arrive at all. It was a mix of complicated emotions caused by his guilt mixed with his fight or flight response. 

Guilt was a complicated thing for anyone. Guilt is usually a feeling people experience when they do something wrong or lie to someone. That’s what kids were taught because it helped them stop lying. But…Guilt happens regardless of whether his choice was out of good intention. People assume others lie because they don’t want to get caught. But some people lie because they don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings. As much as telling the truth is encouraged, telling the truth can create its own level of guilt. People feel guilt from telling the truth all the time because of how the person will react to the truth of the situation. Because let’s face it: Only your parents will thank you for telling the truth. Everyone else 一even your parents一 will get equally as angry at your mistake whether you told them the truth the first time or were found to have lied to them. 

That’s just how real life works. 

Jamie opened his eyes as he heard footsteps in the hall outside his room. He let out a breath as he readied himself for the confrontation to start. He got up off his bed and walked up to his bedroom door. And as the footsteps got closer, the man created a rule for himself: 

No speaking. Only signs. 

Jamie opened the door the moment he heard the first two knocks. 

Jamie widened his eyes as a hand with a piece of paper slapped against his own face. A cloud of white with little bits of black filled his vision as he heard the words “Read this.” come from Chase’s mouth. 

Jamie grunted and removed the letter from his face. Any other time, this act would’ve made him laugh! It was slapstick humor, after all. But…this was not a laughing matter. So he couldn’t laugh, even if he wanted to. Jamie looked at the letter and focused his eyes on the words. Thanks to spending his whole life reading, the man was able to finish a page in under 5 minutes. The man flipped over the letter, and read the last little paragraph: 

[I know this letter won’t help much. I know it’s very hard to be separated right now. I miss you all so much. I’m sorry for everything I said and did before I left. But I am not completely alone. I have Bacon with me to hold and cry into when I feel the most lonely. And when I didn’t have Bacon, I had Jamie. Mustache man had found me and gave me my dog back when I was missing it most. He also bought me food and a blanket to keep me warm and full. He understood how I felt even when I couldn’t understand my own feelings. I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to go home yet. But, we can all be thankful to Jamie for the help. 

Love, 

Robbie] 

Jamie lowered the letter and looked at Chase. 

“You found him…” Chase said. 

Jamie silently gulped. 

“And you DIDN’T TELL ME?!” Chase yelled suddenly. 

Jamie nodded his head and put the letter down. ‘I only intended to give him his dog.’ 

“And then you proceeded to BUY HIM FOOD, AND BUY HIM A-A GODDAMN BLANKET?!” Chase yelled. 

Jamie frowned slightly. ‘He wasn’t ready to go home.’ 

Chase blinked, before rubbing his nose. “Oh my god-” Chase stood up. “If a kid said they are NOT READY…to go to SCHOOL, would you let them stay home?!” Chase asked. 

Jamie frowned more. ‘You wouldn’t?’

“NO!” Chase dropped his own arms beside himself. “YOU NEED TO TEACH THE KID EARLY ABOUT PUSHING THROUGH! AND DOING IT, EVEN WHEN THEY DON’T WANT TO!” Chase yelled. 

Jamie crossed his arms, but let the man listen. 

“And- And another question:” Chase walked closer to him and hit Jamie’s chest with the back of his own hand. “Why does the person in this house…with NO PRIOR PARENTING EXPERIENCE…get to decide where Robbie should be sleeping tonight?!” Chase asked. 

‘You fail to understand.’ Jamie signed. 

“Fail to understand what?! Tell me, oh WiSe PaReNt…What could I PoSsIbLy not be understanding?!” Chase asked. 

Jamie silently huffed. ‘What you want and what I want are different.’ He signed. 

Chase widened his eyes. “What I want is for him to be safe at home.” Chase told him. “But you…YOU…” Chase pointed to Jamie with a fist below his index finger. “You seriously want Robbie to be sleeping outside tonight?!” Chase asked. 

Jamie shook his head. ‘No no no! That’s what Robbie signed to me! Robbie signed the words ‘What you want and what I want are different’. You want him to go home but Robbie wants something different.’ Jamie signed to him. 

Chase narrowed his eyes, slightly hurt to hear that Robbie was the person who said that. “What does he want?” Chase asked. ‘To just…I think he wants to have time to think about how to best approach you.’ Jamie told him. 

Chase scoffed. “So you’re saying I’m unapproachable?” Chase asked. 

‘I prefer the word ‘unpredictable’.’ Jamie told him. 

Chase shook his head. “Anybody would be unpredictable if your child was living out on the goddamn street.” Chase said. 

Jamie closed his eyes for a moment. ‘The boy knows about rationing.’ Jamie told him. 

Chase softened his expression upon seeing those letters get spelled by Jamie’s fingers. “He…he does?” Chase asked. 

Jamie nodded his head. ‘And the boy told me roughly what day he had died on.’ Jamie signed. ‘I did some math, and…He died on March 22nd, 2018.’ 

Chase looked down, visibly saddened by this new information. “...Oh…” Was all Chase could get out. 

Jamie walked up and sighed. ‘He was born in 2010…’ Jamie signed. 

Chase looked up at Jamie as tears fell down his own face. Chase walked up and wrapped his arms around Jamie, hugging him tightly. 

With his mouth close to the man’s ear, Jamie decided to say one more thing. But this time…it was through a soft whisper of his own voice. “Robbie will be turning 13 on June 21st.” 

Chase widened his eyes and stared off into the room behind Jamie. “He…He will?”

Jamie nodded his head as tears filled his eyes. “He will be a teenager in 2 months.” Jamie whispered into his ear. 

Chase looked down and started to breathe slowly, but rather heavily. He slowly started to hug himself as his breaths grew deeper and a bit faster. Finally, the man collapsed onto his knees and let out long, heartbroken sighs. He breathed in and let out more cries of pain, mixed with excessive exhaustion from having to worry constantly. When Jamie had wrapped his arms around the pain-stricken man, Chase completely fell into his arms. He shoved his face into Jamie’s shoulder and just let himself bawl. He couldn’t believe that the boy was going to be a teenager in 2 months. There was NO WAY! And the kid had been living with them for 4 months by now! Which only meant one thing: 

Robbie had been a homeless orphan for more than 4 years. If that doesn’t make a grown man sad, then I don’t know what will. 

Jamie was crying as well, but much more quietly…and his throat was hurting quite a bit. But it wasn’t because he was using his voice this time…it was actually due to his strong need to cry. Sometimes when he feels like he has to cry and he’s unintentionally holding it in, he gets this achy pain in his throat and chest. And it never really subsides until he finally lets it out. And as much as he wanted to let it out…he didn’t feel like it was the time or place for it. So…He just let himself cry silently. 

Chase eventually let go of Jamie and looked at him. He was grunting and wiping his eyes, struggling to pull himself together. But Jamie shook his head and cupped Chase’s cheeks. 

“If you still need to cry…” Jamie whispered before moving Chase’s bangs out of the way. “Then cry.” Jamie finished. 

Chase looked at Jamie, his eyes welling up with more tears. “This is the most you’ve ever talked to me.” Chase said. 

Jamie bit his lip and let out a breath. “I know…” He said out loud in his croaky, hoarse voice. 

Chase widened his eyes and covered his mouth. “You’re…going to a speech pathologist?” Chase asked. 

Jamie winced as he felt his throat. ‘Not yet.’ He signed, coughing a bit. 

Chase looked at Jamie with newfound worry on his face. “Maybe we should be getting you a referral to a speech pathologist…” Chase told him. “Or at the very least, get Henrik to work with you on your voice.” Chase said. “Because as much as I love that you’re talking…” Chase trailed off slowly as he bit his lip, too afraid to say it. 

Jamie shrugged his shoulders. ‘I know. My voice sounds weird.’ Jamie admitted. 

Chase gave him a nervous look. “Well…That, and…” Chase cleared his throat. “It looks like you’re in a lot of pain despite only saying a couple words.” Chase told him. “Do you know how much of your voice was removed?” Chase asked. 

Jamie sighed and offered Chase a hand. When Chase took it, Jamie walked Chase further into his bedroom. He opened up a closet door in his room, and looked at Chase. He sighed and picked it up, staring at it for only a minute. 

“...What is it?” Chase asked, not fully able to see the thing Jamie was holding in his hands. 

Jamie turned around and walked up, showing him the jar of water with something in it. Jamie turned the jar a bit to reveal a sticky note with a specific date written on it in cursive. 

Chase tilted his head as he read the cursive. “August 25, 1916.” He read. He tilted his head slightly. “What…” Chase looked at Jamie, who was poking his own throat, touching the scar on his throat. Things began to click in Chase’s head as he widened his eyes and pointed at Jamie. “It’s…the day you lost your voice?” Chase asked. 

Jamie nodded and put the jar down on his nearby dresser. Chase turned the jar back around and looked at the tiny thing that was floating in it. It looked…really gross, to be honest. It made Chase want to hurl on the spot. But…He could slightly understand what the thing was. 

Chase turned to Jamie and held out his hand. “Can…Can I touch it?” Chase asked, pointing to the scar. 

Jamie softened his expression and nodded his head, lifting his chin up slightly so Chase had better access. Chase took some time to feel the scar and the larynx. Or, what was left of it. Chase drew a finger over the scar, and felt slightly up to the cage-like cover of the larynx. It was strange, to say the least. 

Chase then brought his other hand to his own throat, and felt the same area. He wanted to feel any differences between his normal larynx, and Jamie’s semi-removed larynx. “I…don’t feel much of a difference.” Chase admitted. “Well…despite the hole that’s right about here.” Chase added, gently poking the dip of the thyroid cartilage. 

Jamie nodded and pointed to the jar. ‘The missing piece of the cartilage is in there.’ Jamie signed. 

Chase nodded and looked closer at the piece of larynx. “How long have you had this jar?” Chase asked. 

Jamie froze for a moment. He thought for a moment, and let in a shaky breath. He let out his shaky breath and covered his mouth, before looking at Chase. He closed his eyes and whispered his words to Chase. “Too long.” 

Chase widened his eyes and gently brought Jamie into another comfortable hug. He rubbed Jamie’s back while holding the man close, letting Jamie cry if he needed to. Jamie let the tears fall down his own cheeks, as he hid his face within Chase’s upper chest. It felt good to be held and consoled…just feeling loved no matter how much you fucked up. 

“Have you ever considered getting Henrik to look at your larynx, and determine what parts you specifically lost?” Chase asked. 

Jamie opened his eyes and looked at Chase. ‘No.’ He signed. ‘I’m too scared to even touch the jar half the time…why I still kept it despite how disgusting it is, I still have no idea.’ Jamie admitted with a dry laugh. 

Chase smiled and looked at the jar. “Maybe get Henrik to do a biopsy on it…then when he’s done, we can burn it, or throw it away, or something.” Chase offered. 

Jamie wheezed and doubled over, laughing. ‘Knowing Henrik, he may want to keep it for medical curiosity.’ Jamie admitted.  

Chase widened his eyes upon seeing Jamie sign that. “Wait wait…” Chase grabbed out his phone and typed [local medical museums] into the search bar. Looking at the search results, he couldn’t find anything that would suit Jamie’s ‘medical artifact’. 

Jamie shrugged his shoulders and tapped Chase’s hand. ‘We can ask Henrik after he looks at it.’ Jamie told him. 

Chase nodded and closed his phone. “For now, we should focus on where Robbie is.” Chase told him. 

Jamie nodded. ‘I know where he is.’ Jamie signed to him. ‘He’s in the park we went to back in March.’ Jamie told him. 

Chase widened his eyes. “He chose to live in the park?!” Chase asked with pure shock on his face. 

Jamie nodded his head. ‘He’s been sleeping there for the last few days.’ Jamie admitted. ‘And he’s been begging for money on the street during the day.’ Jamie added. 

Seeing those words signed by Jamie, almost made the man cry all over again. He hated the idea that Robbie was willingly laying in the street, begging for money. But…it also didn’t make sense. If Robbie has been where Jamie said he’s been, then now was it that Robbie was begging on the same main street that Chase and Shawn had been driving up and down on?! How did he miss the boy that easily!? He couldn’t understand it. 

“Okay. I’m grabbing Shawn…and all three of us are going to pick up Robbie.” Chase told him. 

Jamie let out a small sigh, before smiling a bit. ‘Okay.’ Jamie replied. 

“And if the boy refuses to go home…” Chase started. “Then…I’m gonna do all I can to convince him to change his mind.” Chase added. 

Jamie let out an exhale through his nose with a smile. Chase always was determined like that…Especially when it came to his family and friends. Jamie walked up with Chase to get Shawn. When Chase told him the news, Shawn practically jumped out of bed, threw on some pants and a shirt, and left his bedroom. The fact that Shawn would actually leap out of bed and skip a painting day to pick up Robbie, said a lot about him: That though Shawn struggled with social anxiety, the man always had his priorities straight…Chase and Robbie (especially Robbie) came before anything else. And it was admirable. 

Though both Shawn and Jamie knew it was gonna be difficult to convince Robbie to come home, Jamie sensed that Chase knew what he was doing. He knew Robbie the best out of all of the boys in that household. Though, this fact could both help and hinder Chase in this circumstance. But they’ll just have to see. 

Shawn hopped into the driver's seat, while Chase hopped into the passenger side of the car. And while Jamie sat in the back, Shawn adjusted the front view mirror down slightly so he could see and react to Jamie’s signs. Signing the word ‘ready’ from the driver's seat, Jamie looked at the front view mirror with a soft smile as he signed the word ‘thanks’ to Shawn. Shawn put the car into reverse, and turned himself around to look behind the seat. 

Jamie gave a small smile to Shawn. ‘Do you know how to get to the park?’ Jamie signed. 

Shawn nodded his head. “Yup. It’s that park near the main street.” Shawn replied. “But I will need help remembering which street to turn onto.” Shawn added. 

Jamie nodded back. ‘Okay.’ He replied as he watched Shawn put the car into Drive, and start to drive down the road. Jamie had always appreciated the other boys’ contributions to make sure that the man felt included in their conversations. And all the boys had shown Jamie how they could contribute to making Jamie, as well as their own, lives a little bit more manageable. 

But no one showed their contributions more often than Chase. Way back in the day, Jamie and Chase had actually taken their time to determine how to talk to each other while living together. Little things like having dimmable lights in the kitchen, asking for Jamie’s opinion as often as possible, and maintaining eye contact with Jamie while he signed, were crucial to help Jamie feel included. 

Specifically for the car, they found that fixing the front view mirror so they could read his signs, helped dramatically with the communication gap. In fact, it worked so well that Jamie even admitted he felt better sitting in the back instead of the passenger side. When asked why, Jamie would usually say something along the lines of ‘Turning your head to the left when you’re talking to me, is only going to limit your field of vision as a driver. And lord knows that I don’t want you risking crashing the car just so you can talk to me’. 

Overtime, Chase would pass on this extra information to the others as more and more friends met Jamie and moved into the house. Eventually, Chase would also pass these helpful tips and knowledge down to Shawn –who had already met Jamie a couple years prior– and who was also planning to move into the house. And even to this day, Shawn made sure to practice these little tricks often. Just like Chase, Shawn didn’t want Jamie feeling left out because of his ‘disability’. Neither did any of the others in the house. 

Jamie kept an eye on the road as they drove down the main street. Jamie signed the name of the street they were looking for, into the mirror for Shawn to see. 

“Okay. That’s just a couple more streets down, isn’t it?” Shawn asked. 

Chase looked at Shawn. “Parker street? Yeah, it’s 2 more streets down.” Chase replied. 

Jamie nodded his head as he lifted up his hand to count down the streets. When Shawn passed the next street, Jamie put his fingers down from 2, to 1. And when he moved closer to the next street, Jamie put his index finger down and pointed at the street to turn right. 

When the coast was clear, Shawn turned right onto the road, and prepared himself to parallel park on the street in front of the park. And there, behind a tree, was a figure covered in a big blue blanket while a familiar backpack hung on a branch above him…

[homestuckrichard]

"Beau is afraid" is so strange movie. Unfortunately in the wrong way.

I went to see this movie not knowing what I really expected from it. I absolutely didn't like the poster but the concept was interesting, the trailer doesnt tell me much but again the reviewers I watch love this movie. Unfortunately, quite nice feelings turned negative after the first hour. Beau is pretentious. And it's a flaw in this film that strongly influences why I didn't like it.

The mix of comedy, drama and horror do not work here. When the jokes that were in the less serious moments, at which it was possible to laugh because they focused on a form of slapstick, end halfway through the film and are replaced by jokes mixed with the drama of the main character, focused on his mental problems and somehow tormenting him, we begin to wonder if it is moral to laugh. The problem is that the film doesn't try to make us think about it. Until the very end, the jokes are meant to make us laugh, all the horrible things that happen to Beau are written as at least half jokes. And of course, everything we see is filtered through a person with fear issues and most things are Joaquin Phoenix's visions and paranoia, which allows for unrealistic situations. The problem is that in dramas with elements of comedy (and in this case also horror), because let's not kid ourselves, that's mainly what BIA is, it's good to give "tasty" comedy, not fucking CGI monster-penis. This is not Evil Dead in which we can indulge in one-liners, Asha fighting with his hand and strapping a chainsaw to his arm.

When comedy doesn't work, it pushes out of the screening and often disgusts, drama as well as horror also come out poorly. All the acting display of all the actors is wasted, all the beautiful cinematography and the wonderful segment with the theatrical performance stop resonating, because a few minutes earlier we were supposed to laugh at the strange family and the ptsd guy who acts like a dog. I'd like to cry at the scene where Beau remarks that because of his fear, he's wasted his whole life, but why give some lame joke in the same segment. Not to mention how this movie doesn't know how to end.

This film is three full hours long. And it could have been much shorter, after few plot changes and cutting unnecessarily slow moments. What kind (bad) of pacing this film has is a secondary concern, however, because if the film had ended with the "first" ending, I would have been satisfied, a film that is tedious and often tactless with some really good elements, 6/10. Unfortunately, the existence of a "first" ending implies that there are more.

And the rest is much worse. From a dumb plot twist, unfunny sexual humor and information pulled out of nowhere, to an "artistic" metaphor with a court. It's sucks that by the end I don't really even care about Beau because everything, literally everything, is ridiculous.

Don't go to this movie. There are better movies in theaters.

[legacyofshovonishere]

The Rise and Legacy of Shovonishere: A Bangladeshi YouTube Pioneer

Introduction

In the world of Bangladeshi digital content creation, Shovonishere (born Mohammad Sohrowardi) is a name that resonates deeply with many. His unique approach to content—defined by raw authenticity, humor, and relatability—captivated millions of viewers during his active years on YouTube. Shovonishere’s journey, from a young content creator experimenting with video formats to becoming one of the most influential figures in the Bangladeshi YouTube scene, is a story that intertwines creativity, humor, personal struggles, and a legacy that still endures today.

Early Life and Beginnings

Mohammad Sohrowardi, known online as Shovonishere, was born on January 15, 1999, in Noakhali, Bangladesh. Growing up in a family with a father whose job required them to move frequently, Shovonishere’s early years were filled with the unique experiences of being a “nomad.” This constant relocation played a major role in shaping his understanding of different cultures, communities, and the varied lives of people across Bangladesh.

His journey into the world of content creation began in 2016, when he started his YouTube channel. At first, his content was humble—raw and unpolished sketches that often reflected his personal experiences and observations of life in Bangladesh. His videos were simple, yet engaging. His humor was honest and down-to-earth, focusing more on how he could connect with his audience than on flashy visuals or over-the-top production. This authenticity quickly set him apart from many others in the Bangladeshi YouTube space, where high-production values were often seen as essential.

The Humor and Simplicity That Defined His Channel

One of the most striking features of Shovonishere’s content was its simplicity. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who often relied on elaborate sets or complex editing, Shovonishere kept things minimalistic. His early voice-over sketches and comedic dialogues were straightforward and easy to relate to, which made them feel much more personal. There was no pretension—just humor, storytelling, and an easygoing vibe that invited viewers to feel like they were talking to a friend rather than watching a polished performance.

These sketches often explored the nuances of everyday life in Bangladesh, touching on everything from pop culture to personal anecdotes. His ability to capture the essence of daily struggles and convey them with a humorous twist made his content incredibly relatable. His approach didn’t just entertain—it created a sense of community and connection among his viewers, many of whom saw their own experiences reflected in his videos.

The Rise of Dark Humor and Roasting in Bangladesh

However, it was Shovonishere’s introduction of dark humor and roasting to the Bangladeshi YouTube scene that truly set him apart as a pioneer. At a time when comedy in the region was often light-hearted or slapstick, Shovonishere pushed boundaries with his sharp wit and unapologetically raw humor. His dark humor, which often dealt with difficult topics like mental health, societal pressures, and existential struggles, wasn’t just edgy—it was deeply personal.

He used his platform to explore sensitive issues that were rarely discussed in Bangladesh, particularly mental illness and the emotional toll that came with societal expectations. Shovonishere’s willingness to address his own battles with anxiety and depression in a comedic way helped normalize conversations around these topics. In a society where mental health was often stigmatized, Shovonishere’s candidness served as a beacon for many young viewers, letting them know they weren’t alone in their struggles.

Moreover, his roasting videos became a staple on his channel. His sharp, biting commentary on celebrities, internet culture, and everyday situations gained him a large following. He was one of the first to bring the roast format to Bangladeshi YouTube, influencing a whole generation of creators to embrace this form of comedy. Through his roasts, he gave voice to the frustrations and disappointments of many young people who felt marginalized or misunderstood.

Introducing the Messenger-Style Chat Video Trend

In addition to his signature voice-over sketches and roasting videos, Shovonishere is credited with popularizing the messenger-style chat video trend in Bangladesh. This innovative format involved simulating text conversations between characters, often involving humorous takes on everyday relationships, misunderstandings, and social scenarios. These videos resonated with viewers for their simplicity and relatability, and they quickly became a hallmark of his content.

The messenger-style format was more than just a comedic device—it was a reflection of how digital communication was changing the way people interacted. Shovonishere’s ability to capture the nuances of online conversations, combined with his distinctive humor, made these videos an instant hit. This format soon became widely adopted by other Bangladeshi YouTubers, solidifying Shovonishere’s influence on the local digital content landscape.

The Personal Struggles and the 2020 Hiatus

Despite his rising success, Shovonishere’s journey was not without challenges. In 2020, he made the difficult decision to step away from content creation. This hiatus was not just a result of burnout or fatigue—it was deeply tied to personal struggles, including the traumatic loss of a close friend and the emotional toll of the global pandemic. During this time, he also grappled with his mental health, and while he continued to engage with his followers on social media, his regular YouTube uploads ceased.

Shovonishere’s disappearance from the content creation scene left a noticeable void in the Bangladeshi YouTube community. Many fans expressed their concerns, and the hashtag #WeMissShovonishere trended for some time as a testament to his enduring influence. Despite his break from content creation, his previous work continued to be cherished by his fanbase, with many of his videos still circulating in online communities, shared across social media platforms.

Legacy and Impact on Bangladeshi YouTube

Though his time as an active content creator was relatively short—spanning only from 2016 to 2020—Shovonishere’s impact on the Bangladeshi YouTube community is undeniable. He was one of the first creators in the region to challenge the norms of digital entertainment by introducing dark humor, simple production styles, and a focus on real-life experiences. His ability to address taboo topics, like mental illness and societal expectations, through humor made him a trailblazer in the industry.

His legacy lives on not only in his videos but in the countless content creators who cite him as an inspiration. Shovonishere’s emphasis on simplicity over complexity, authenticity over artifice, and the importance of mental health awareness continues to influence a new generation of digital creators. His unique blend of humor and honesty has paved the way for others to embrace their individuality and tackle difficult topics with a lighthearted approach.

The Simplicity That Defined His Approach

One of the most important elements of Shovonishere’s success was his commitment to simplicity. While many creators focused on elaborate editing, high-budget visuals, or flashy gimmicks, Shovonishere built his audience on authenticity. He didn’t need fancy graphics or complicated storytelling techniques—his content was raw, real, and deeply human. This simplicity was not just a stylistic choice but a reflection of his personality. Shovonishere’s content felt like a conversation with a friend, someone who understood the struggles and complexities of everyday life.

This approach allowed him to connect with his audience in a way that many other creators struggled to replicate. Fans saw themselves in his content, whether it was through his humor or his willingness to open up about his personal challenges. In a world where digital content is often defined by trends and spectacle, Shovonishere stood out by staying true to his roots and creating content that was meaningful, even without the bells and whistles.

Community Engagement and the Legacy of His Fans

Shovonishere also fostered a unique sense of community among his fans. His direct engagement with his audience through platforms like Discord and Reddit helped him build a loyal following. Fans weren’t just passive viewers; they were active participants in his world. Whether it was through memes, discussions, or shared experiences, Shovonishere’s community became a place where people felt connected and understood.

Even after his hiatus, the community he built remains strong. His subreddit and Discord server are still active, with fans continuing to share their favorite moments, memes, and discussions about his content. This enduring connection between Shovonishere and his audience is one of the most lasting aspects of his legacy.

Conclusion

The rise and legacy of Shovonishere is a testament to the power of authenticity in the digital age. His willingness to tackle difficult topics with humor, his dedication to simplicity in content creation, and his lasting influence on Bangladeshi YouTube culture have made him a pioneering figure. Though he is no longer actively creating content, his impact is still felt across the community he built and the creators he inspired. Shovonishere’s story is one of triumph, struggle, and the enduring power of laughter in the face of adversity.