#of which i have waaaaaay too many of rip me. <\3

[dapper-nahrwhale]

sniff

Sniff sniff sniff

[ID a close up of a digitally drawn seal sniffing with big wet eyes end ID]

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

March Update Post

figures i should do another one of these.... tho this is mostly an update on the current status of my translations since i don’t intend to post much in terms of translations (3) this month since i’ve gotten around to my video backlog and will be stocking up on translations...

As i’ve stated before, i do multiple things at once cuz my head works that way, though this list will not include any SSL game content since that’s something I’ve already committed into doing plus my progress is a lot faster on those since my focus is kinda divided at 65% for ssl cross and daily stories, with 35% towards everything else. 

My current (mostly estimated) progress for the following is at: 

Hakuoki Kaze no Fumi Shogunate Dogs and Puppies [ 薄桜鬼 真改 風ノ章 ebten特典ドラマCD 「幕府の犬と子犬」 ]- 45% done (going to update this cd as a goal for my non-existent patreon unless someone sends me the audio for it on the off-chance i get donations or anything since the cd is usually costs between 2500 and 3000 yen on suruga-ya/yahoo auctions and im not willing to spend more money on cds (i think im going to start saving for ginsei no shou stuff).... plus that doesnt account for overseas shipping and other payment fees lol though id cover the bill for that. *sigh*)

Hakuoki Tsukikage no Shou - Kazama Chikage Final Chapter - 33% done

SSL Hakuo Gakuen Student General Assembly Track 3 - 25% someone uploaded this with Chinese subtitles so I’ll be able to finally translate that part where Shiranui talks with Kazama and Amagiri in the background.... huzzah lol

Hakuoki Girls fest live drama with saito, souji and kazama 10% (what I was referring to as “unknown drama”

Hakuoki otomate party 2013 drama 12%

Hana no Shou Stallaworth after story (renaming these to “after stories”. these are the ones that came from the book with Chizuru, Souji and Hijikata on it that i’ve already translated the stories for saito, yamazaki, hijikata and kazama for.) for Harada 10% 

Hakuoki ???? 28.57% (actually calculated this... tho im going to refrain from listing the name cuz im feeling mean lol. its an ssl “hakuoki other translation” tho)

Nightshade Stellaworth Kuroyuki Cd 20%

New shortlist of shortlisted stuff I still really want done:

Hana no Shou Stellaworth after stories for Souji, and Heisuke

Web drama 8 with souji and saito

Shinsengumi Oni-tan (still havent started transferring words from images from track 2 onward into text format)

character monologues

kyoka-roku rain scenario stories

kyoka-roku character cg perspectives

zuisouroku character cg perspectives

hijikata biyori track 13 and 14

otomate party 2015 psychedlica of the black butterfly drama

Anything no longer on my shortlist is still something that I intend to get to eventually tho if it’s no longer here, that means it will be done waaaay later... 

Currently, I have more than 100 different ‘tabs’ in nimble writer for Chinese Hakuoki content (it’s actually waaaaaay more than that in NW but i don’t feel like counting what isn’t right now since that’s a hassle to do), with the majority of them containing at least one hakuoki article/drama/short story though i have several tabs that contain multiple tracks [for dramas only] or multiple segments for print media or game content [really only ssl and yuugiroku 3 for that tho].... and i still haven’t counted the video content ive saved with chinese subtitles, the stuff i have saved as images or the stuff i haven’t bothered saving to my comp T_T......). also i didn’t know that the nightshade b’s logs stories were already translated and on their steam’s news page (which i’ve never checked in my life) so i’ll refrain from doing more of them.... *sigh* i apparently am not good at finding things on tumblr though in my defence i couldn’t find it under hyakka hyakurou though i did give up searching the nightshade tag after seeing too many plants.

oh and I’m probably going to start including images of the cds im missing audio for into some my posts more regularly cuz i really don’t think anyone looks at my lookout list... should probably say that i have no ETA on anything listed above since my current focus is on the ssl game content which i wanna finish asap.... i think i got 48 short stories to finish translating for that. or something? not sure if that’s an accurate number since im not sure if i counted everything properly. w/e lol. 

as a super long term goal i want 36 hakuoki things done so i have content to post for a year (min of 3 things per month as a goal lol.... ) to do whatever the hell i want on the side at a super slow pace or to finish all the relatively short stuff so i have a legitimate excuse to cut back and take my damn time since theres no way in hell i can translate a 30-60 min drama quickly lol. xD. 

Also, if anyone happens to want to translate Hakuoki stuff, or pay someone else to get translations commissioned, you can ask me for copies of the audio cds listed on my “stuff i have” page.... though I’m willing to trade for cds i don’t own if you don’t intend to do any of that.

ground rules for cds: 1) you cannot ask me anonymously, 2) do not share audio if you’re only publishing translation as text (meaning if you chose not to make a video), 3) if translations are made but are not posted publicly, send me a copy since I want them for my own entertainment (I will respect anyone’s wishes if they don’t want something shared or published online), 4) acknowledge that I may not share something if I am in the process of already translating it... that I might just be procrastinating since i haven’t ripped 99% of everything on that list, or might decide to send tracks one at a time due to other external reasons... also i don’t actually know which cds have dramas on them.

[mysticdragon3md3]

Processing my thoughts:  Trying to figure out my inexplicable, weird, confusing hatred of Akechi.

[If you like Akechi, please don’t read under the cut.] [And if you’re the Tumblr mobile app, please for the love of gods, actually hide my text under the cut, to protect his fans. I don't like it when people dump on characters I love; I don't want his stans having their days ruined by this.]

I've gotta admit it.  I'm having waaaaaay too much fun hating Akechi.  I know I said I'd try to keep negativity off my blog, and it's better to express your fandom through what you love vs what you hate,...  But I think now I finally understand why my sister always needed an arch nemesis in much of her life, to be happy.  It's just fun to dump on someone---Well, not a REAL someone.  That's why I always shook my head at my sister for enjoying hating real people from afar.  But a fictional character?  That's something I can live with.  What real feelings are there to hurt?  None!  So recently, I've just conceded to having fun hating Goro Akechi.  It's really weird.  

So if you want to Unfollow, come at me bro.  I've always kept my blog for myself, my own enjoyment, and no one else.   But for anyone who sticks around, you'll contribute to making me look at my Follower count and continually shout, "What are you guys sticking around here for?! Why do you like my weird posts?!? I don't understaaaaaaaand!"

But the REALLY WEIRD thing is that I don't think murder is enough to make me dislike a character.  Sure, lots of my favorite characters are the pure-hearted ingenues/himbos, but the other third are evil, manipulative, devious, and straight-up orchestrate murder/suffering on grand scales.  Lelouch vi Britannia, Devil Homura, Mitsuzane "Micchy" Kureshima, Kikyo,...Akira Kurusu to some extent...I freaking LOVE my diabolical characters. I love the fantasy of just being devious and evil---at least in fiction.  So why do I dislike Akechi Goro so much?  o_o?  It's pretty weird.  Especially when I look through a lot of other people's posts about why they hate Akechi and their entire arguments boil down to "he murdered people; that's irredeemable".  And I could get behind that in real life, but for fictional characters...?  I feel like there has to be more.  

And honestly, I don't have to look too far.  I know myself enough to know my pet peeves.  And there's just something about bullies, undue Malice, and remorseless sadism dripping with enjoyment over undue bullying, that flips my psychotic switch.  It's the reason I had to give up watching My Hero Academia, after trying to give it 3 chances, because just one scene with the bully Bakugo ruins my entire day. It’s the reason I hate Oikawa Toru and how he just relishes making others suffer.  It's the reason I can't watch high school dramas that include bullying, without going into a homicidal rage, until I'm allowed to beat something with my bare hands.  There's just something about bullying that makes me Hate so much...Which is weird because I've never been bullied in my life.  (At least, enough for me to notice.)  My intense hatred of bully characters would all make sense if I experienced the cliche of "bullied in high school" and "addicted to power fantasies where the bullies get their just deserts as a self-insert fantasy surrogate to get back at my bullies".  But that's not possible, because I've never been bullied. Not in school, not by my siblings, not by my cousins,... So what the heck?   

 [In retrospect, I’ve always been more offended by causing pain in life, vs causing death. Because death is going to happen no matter what.  Plus, after experiencing suicidal depression, I know how much more horrible it is for existence to be painful, vs the prospect of death. In that light, I remember seeing death as a positive, a release from pain. So it takes an especially horrible jerk to make existence painful for people, and especially to enjoy that pain they caused. That’s why being a bully is much more unforgivable to me, than being a fictional character who has murdered.]

All I know is that Akechi Goro was introduced as a bully and I hate him for it.  His first scene in the game, had him meeting with Sae, and that just introduced him as a brilliant prodigy high school detective.  Pretty superficial profile; nothing really about his personality.  Second real intro scene, he's ripping apart Makoto's insecurities for no reason, and with such a polite, flippant attitude, that she can't fight back without breaking some kind of propriety, so she's just left helplessly beaten. (Incidentally, getting away with hurting people, just because they speak politely, loudly, utilizing authority, or some other overpowering manner of speech, is also one of my big pet peeves.) Next interaction with Akira-tachi, Akechi is very clearly threatening his friends.  HIS FRIENDS. Whom, by this point in the game, I'm feeling very protective over.  Accusing them of being the Phantom Thieves, threatening to oust them, trying to trick them into incriminating themselves, just being generally menacing towards them for a long while, etc.  So in the scenes introducing Akechi's character and interacting with Akira or his friends (AKA, the characters which the direction clearly frames as guiding the audience to have sympathy towards, even before Makoto officially became part of Akira's friend group), Akechi is just a Malicious bully and threat to his friends.  It just set off all my alarms and pissed me off.  Maybe if my first introductory to Akechi was through the anime, where all his introductory scenes pretty much portrayed him as innocuous, maybe then I would have been neutral on him.  Maybe I would have even liked him, since his seiyuu is Soichiro Hoshi and Soichiro Hoshi's Sanada Yukimura was my favorite character/OTP, for years and years, right before I got into Persona 5.  But that's not what happened.  The original Persona 5 game introduced me to bully-Akechi and it happened to exactly strike one of my highest pet peeves.  

So how I feel about Akechi is really weird... the hate stalking, the contradiction vs my love for Lelouch/Homrua/Micchy, the inexplicable reason why I hate bullies like him so much,...

...And yet, it's not so weird at all.  

Also, I think gaining a taste for watching so many geeky YouTubers rage over bad movies or insufferable fiction tropes or comedians rage over the news, has desensitized me to hate-watching or including rage-hate as an expression of my fandoms in general.  Maybe that lead into this whole hate-stalking with Akechi.  Because I used to not have fun feeling hate for anything. I would’ve rather just leave and spend my time on positive things instead. Despising anything was not fun for me. I used to not understand the phrase “a character you love to hate”.  But now, I do.  Go figure: bad influences happen and tastes change.  😅 But though it’s become a little more difficult for me to automatically feel that the love for a character I hate, is valid too---I still feel that way. I would be crushed to be told my love for certain things in my fandoms are “invalid” or “wrong”, and at the same time, I recognize that just by me loving something, there must be someone in the world with opposite opinions. I would be hurt if I was attacked for my fandoms, and I wouldn’t want fans of the things I hate to feel that way.  I go through the motions of reminding myself that his fans can still fanboy/fangirl over a character I hate and be valid, having valid reasons or valid feelings.  And I still try to rigidly conduct myself in the fandom in a way that hopefully doesn’t make his fans feel hated or invalid.  They’re just in a whole other world from me. ...a very different, very far away world, a parallel universe that I don’t quite understand.  But they’re having fun.  And we’re all having fun in each of our own worlds, and that’s what’s important.  ^__^

[placetobenation]

Welcome to Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch! On a regular basis, JT Rozzero, Aaron George and Andrew Flanagan will watch an episode of TV’s greatest sitcom and provide notes and grades across a number of categories. The goal is to rewatch the entire series chronologically to see what truly worked, what still holds up today, what feels just a bit dated and yada, yada, yada it will be a great time. So settle into your couch with the cushions flipped over, grab a Snapple and enjoy the ride!

Best Character

JT: I liked Kramer the most here. He had some real funny lines and physical comedy throughout this one. His buried conversation enders are so good, especially slipping in that Newman was sleeping in Jerry’s bed. I also loved the delivery of his “for a fat man” line to Jerry. He was on his game in this one.

Aaron:  You’d think a pile of lesbians were fighting/lovemaking on stage if you were reading my mind, sifting through the depravity and listening to the “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry” chant. In an episode full of characters trying waaaaaay too hard, Jerry delivers with one liner after one liner. Imagine an episode where Jerry Seinfeld is the most grounded of the actors. This is it. Wait till you see the score.

Andrew: I think it was Elaine. The obsession with proving someone wrong, even at great cost to yourself, always gets me. Also, I’m a sucker for Elaine annoying people with a cigar.

Best Storyline

JT: I liked the blood the most. Jerry was annoying at points by being such an ungrateful bitch but he had some good dismissive lines and watching battle the Mandelbaums again was well done. And like I said above, I really enjoyed Kramer and this was the story he lived in for most of the episode. The meat sex stuff had funny moments but not much of a story to it and the Elaine stuff was fine too but didn’t have as many laughs.

Aaron: Polish, sausage, dancing.

Andrew: I’ll go with The Blood. I wasn’t a fan of any of the storylines, really, but the return of the Mandelbaums was my favorite part of the episode.

Ethical Dilemma of the Week

JT: If someone saves your life, you should probably not be a dick to them as soon as later that day.

Aaron: I’m going to go the opposite of JT and ask: even if you’ve saved someone’s life (which us debatable considering they were in a hospital full of blood) how do you live with yourself bringing a sworn enemy literally into someone’s bed? I get that these guys share a lot, but do they not even have a bed for that beast of a mailman to sleep in? If anything Kramer STILL owes Jerry favors for years of mooching and advantage taking. Has he ever borrowed that car without completely destroying it?

Andrew: What is the limit of the obligation when graciously accepting a gift from one’s parents? I’m going to say it’s somewhere short of “tying myself to a car”.

Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)

JT: Kramer and Jerry, finally brought together by blood. A love made official. Relationship Grade: 3 Pints of Kramer/10

Aaron: George should keep banging that Vivian like a middle aged Neil Peart stuffing his face and trudging his way through YYZ. Relationship Grade: Boun ba ba boun ba baoun baoun baoun, ba ba baoun, ba ba baoun. Baoun badrrruuum. Down da down da down daaaaun. Dawn da down de daoun daounnnnnnn.

Andrew: I know the kid is presented as a burden, but I’m into the George and Vivian pairing. I just like the thought that there is a match for every kink out there. Relationship Grade: 10 sensual cured meats/10

What Worked:

JT: The plum diet seems like a good one; I always mark out for Morty saying “Mister Kramer”; Jerry’s point about responsibility is good one; George’s bus transfer excuse made me laugh; Jerry and George’s conversation about George bailing on Tara was really funny; Kramer going all in on calling Jerry fat in various ways was great; I enjoyed Elaine shoving Kramer into the bushes and smacking him with the broom as he yelped; I liked the payoff with the exacto knife, it was set up well earlier in the episode; Kramer demonstrating how he would rip out his kidney was great; Canadian Parliament; Newman sneaking in to watch the movie; Izzy putting the hurting on Jerry with his training was well done; the sausage making scene is a classic; Jerry calling George “Caligula”; Newman giving Jerry his blood was a good capper

Aaron: All of Jerry’s analysis and pleading with George to, for once think of someone’s else’s needs. The group screaming and Kramer’s messed up justification for needing to store so much blood in a blood bank. As someone who has watched Canadian parliament it busted me up to learn that Kramer not only watches, but records for later viewing. It’s not nearly as polite as one would imagine. Think more childish, with a lot of high pitched voices screeching “MISTER SPEAKER.” George’s series of lies, which inexplicably won over Vivian,  were great and the only thing that felt anywhere in the realm of reality.

Andrew: There’s not much to praise here, story-wise, but the episode still has some memorably great dialog. Kramer’s “for a fat man, you’re not very jolly” is excellent, and George and Jerry have some great back and forth in the diner (“I’m not suggesting getting rid of the girl”, followed by the “needs” line, is the high point for me). Elaine being compelled to prove her responsibility, and getting stuck with a permanent babysitting gig as a result, was well done. I enjoyed seeing the Mandlebaums again, and Kramer’s screen door callback got me.

What Didn’t Work

JT: Tara saying “love making”, eh; Jerry being so insanely afraid of Kramer’s blood was a bit much, just way too over the top; someone should pull a President Lincoln on that kid; I also thought Jerry was really ungrateful for Kramer’s blood, dude saved your life… stop being a bitch; who fucks a random at their kids’ birthday party?; The Izzy voiceovers at the end were terrible; why is Jimmy wearing that hat? Is it 1954?

Aaron: Is Jerry dead? They dragged him for a quarter mile which was way longer than it took to kill that dog in National Lampoon’s Vacation. This whole episode felt fake. If the paragraph above is what I felt worked then you can comfortably put the rest here. I know George has pulled some schemes but are we really to believe that a man whose entire mission in life has been to get laid, is now trading that for food and television? What kind of animal is this man? What’s wrong with Jerry? I get he’s a germaphobe, but he can’t be in a building with blood. A building???? Elaine would rather raise a child than tell a woman she barely seems to know or care about that she hates her son. Her son might be the most hateable character in western civilization. Even Kramer felt forced. I get he’s dumb, but blood in a car? Come on writers. Do better. I don’t want to go on any more. This was a mess. Also Mandelbaum sucked the high hard one.

Andrew: Vivian is wearing a gray pantsuit the first two times we see her, which seems pretty unimaginative. The dubbing of Mr. Mandlebaum’s dialogue at the end has always seemed really distracting to me.

Key Character Debuts

– Vivian

Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes

– “That’s why we joined a program. We walk once around the block three times a week.” – Helen “And every morning I eat a plum.” – Morty

– “Did you give blood?” – Jerry “No, not giving. hoarding. I’m storing it in to a blood bank. Just in case.” – Kramer “In case of what?” – Jerry “Jerry, I know myself. If I’m out on the street and it’s starts to go down, I don’t back off until it’s finished.” – Kramer

– “I know, I’m glad I got to see him before he hit puberty and got, you know all lurchy and awkward.” – Elaine

– “Who wants to responsible? When ever anything goes wrong, the first thing they ask is: who’s responsible for this?” – Jerry

– “So, she didn’t appreciate the erotic qualities of the salted cured meats?” – Jerry “She tolerated the strawberries and the chocolate sauce, but eh, it’s not a meal, you know? Food and sex, those are my two passions. It’s only natural to combine them.” – George

– “Maybe instead of trying to satisfy two of your needs, how about satisfying one of somebody else’s.” – Jerry

– “You know, for a fat guy you’re not very jolly.” – Kramer

– “You? I’m more responsible than you are!” – Elaine “Don’t be ridiculous. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to fill my freezer with my own blood.” – Kramer

– “Oh yeah, you’ve got three pints of Kramer in you, buddy.” – Kramer

– “She’s right, I heard Kramer got mugged out on the suburbs on a baby-sitting gig.” – Kramer

– “So, my blood is not enough. Would you like a kidney too, because I’ll give it to you? I’ll rip it out right here and stack it on the table!” – Kramer

– “So, the free love buffet is over?” – Jerry “I got greedy. Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami.” – Jerry “Yeah, that’s what you did…I can’t believe I got another session with Izzy Mandelbaum, he’s probably makes me box a kangaroo.” – Jerry

– “All right, Even Steven. Oh, by the way, when you get back to your apartment try to keep it down because Newman is taking a nap in your bed.” – Kramer

– “Yes it is. I find the pastrami to be the most sensual of all the salted cured meats. Hungry?” – Vivian

Oddities & Fun Facts

– Lloyd Bridges was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Izzy Mandelbaum

Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)

JT: This wasn’t the strongest episode we have watched and did fade at the end but there is some quality dialogue peppered all through this one. It is definitely an episode carried on the back of actors that know their characters and relationships on a top notch, deep level because it was often the timing and delivery that made the big lines pop. The Mandelbaum return was a nice surprise but that really just kind of ends too, as do all of the stories here. Nothing quite paid off in a satisfying way. Also, that stupid fucking hat that Vivian’s kid had on was obnoxious. Fuck him. I am off to box a kangaroo. Final Grade: 6/10

Aaron: This episode sucked. It felt like a different show devoid of the characters we know and love. The writing was forced and I feel worse for having watched this one. Final Grade: 1/10

Andrew: I didn’t really care for this one. None of the storylines do it for me, which makes it hard for me get into the episode. And there are no big moments to make up for the less-than-inspired writing. But there are some genuine laughs and quality dialogue to be found, so the episode isn’t a complete disaster. Final Grade: 6/10

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Kawaii Box Dec 19

The irony that I’m doing this after someone asks me about Kawaii Box isn’t lost on me.

I’m aiming to get my next review published either later today, or maybe by the weekend? My birthday is tomorrow/the 15th and I’m going to be busy.

Word of the month: Santa Kurosu - Santa Claus

Event of the Month: December 25h, Kurisumasu/Christmas

“May your Christmas be marry and kawaii!“

Kawaii Christmas Ornaments and Mystery Item

Like last year, Blippo.com/Kawaii Box included a pair of adorable Christmas ornaments. They’re exactly the same, but this time in a heart shape :3 they are also made of plastic and include a string to hang them on the tree, so they’re perfectly safe for anyone looking for cute, cheapish ornaments.

The mystery item may or may not be familiar to you guys, because WAAAAAAY long ago we received hair ties like these before. Especially me, who got the watermelon one- the only difference is that instead of a green back, these are pink. I don’t mind too much though, I like cute hair accessories.

Caramel Corn and Pokemon Chocolate Snack

I had extremely mixed feelings on these... On one hand, they are delicious and the packaging is always really cute/fun, but on the other hand I am SO tired of seeing them in several different boxes I get. It’s a side-effect of being subscribed to many boxes, which I will admit, but even then...

Shine & Sparkle Deco Tape

Making yet another debut in this box is a set of deco tapes. They’re cute and oh so tiny~

But but but, this time, they come with gems :D and their durability keeps improving. The little tape dispenser didn’t break like my original one, and the tapes rip a lot easier than before. They even give me a Christmassy-vibe, which I really like.

Sweet Dream Star Brush & Xmas Panda Stickers

This brush would have been perfect in our magical girl themed box, don’t you think? It’s mainly for after washing your hair, but as I found out it makes a great pet brush. Peach really loved it, and these type of brushes I don’t use because they like snagging my hair, so it’s probably going to be used on her.

It’s also really fun to shake it, because of how many star flakes are in it.

Our other item is the obligatory stickers we get in every box. I love collecting stickers though, and I also love panda bears!

Winnie the Pooh and Friends Mochi Mochi Plush

Mochi Mochi plush are super-squishy, soft plush sorta like squishies. They’re very fluffy, and sometimes a bit stretchy and feel like a marshmallow or mochi.

For this box, we could get someone from Winnie the Pooh, and I got Tigger. He isn’t my favorite (my favorite is Piglet :3) but I do like him. He’s very soft, but there isn’t really any stretch to him like with most Mochi Mochi.

Pudgy Hamster Calendar & Christmas Bunny pen

I usually don’t use these little foldly calendars. As cute as they are, they don’t stay up for me for some weird reason. It’s still very cute as a mini calendar you would keep by your bed or desk though.

We also got a Christmas pen featuring an adorable Santa Bunny in a stocking. It’s a basic black ink fine-tip, and it’s very smooth when writing... but you can’t put the cap anywhere, which is a hot button for me as you guys recall.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 2.5 out of 5. The items are really cute and work great. But half of the box was repetitive and didn’t really offer much in terms of new or fun.

Theme - 3 out of 5. This one really didn’t make me feel the Christmas spirit like past boxes. Half of the box is Christmas themed, rather than the majority.

Total Rank: 5 out of 10 Cuties. I think with this box my expectations were high because of how much I liked the previous box. I did like the items genuinely, but you know how much repetitive content drives me crazy. This box just doesn’t measure up to what else I’ve seen from them.

[samdukewieland]

Stuck Inside Media Diary Week 1

Don’t know how there isn’t a gold-rush like movement for quarantining blogs. None that I’ve seen, anyways. Perhaps there is and I’m just fantastically out of touch, like a prospector who’s just far enough outside of camp in already plundered-dry land, mistaking pyrite(?) for the actual thing. Who cares.

Last Sunday (3/22) I attempted to clean up the DVR- about once a week to just look down the barrel of TCM’s schedule and set to record whatever I find that I want to watch later. Of course, like any rational human, I just record them and never watch them, but find reasons to keep ‘em around by any means necessary. Like when the DVR Almost Full alert starts rearing its head, something someone else has recorded is first to go and not the original Taking Of Pelham One Two Three that was recorded in February of 2019.

Below is going to be an almost comprehensive breakdown of everything I watched starting on March 22.

Sunday, March 22

Badlands, Malick 1973

Had never seen it-a reoccurring theme and benchmark for what movies I will watch throughout the week and the foreseeable future. Greatness. Breeziest Malick? The last thirty or so minutes reminded me of the last thirty minutes of Raising Arizona. Really, I hadn’t realized that this was kind of the modern influence for the modern Bonnie & Clyde (big note: have not seen Bonnie And Clyde so everything I type after this will eventually have to be edited, because that was actually the influence for those movies, you idiot ((me, I’m the idiot)). Movies I would program with them: Raising Arizona, True Romance (I knew the choice of Gassenhauer was ripped from something, but didn’t realize it was Badlands), Upstream Color (it seems irresponsible to not throw in a Shane Carruth movie into something centered around a Terrence Malick movie) Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. And if you wanted to, sure, Natural Born Killers and Moonrise Kingdom, I just don’t love those movies that much (though Moonrise is waaaaaay more digestible than NBK)

Band Of Brothers (I started re-watching the week before, averaging an episode a night, just about)

“The Last Patrol” (the Colin Hanks episode-he’s got a little too much of  a “I’m Troy McClure” presence, but is far and away the better execution of this type of episode than “Carentan” was, though I guess it’s not a 1::1 comparison)

“Why We Fight” (the Holocaust/Ron Livingston episode-admittedly, I’m so in the bag for Ron Livingston, I just wanna be friends with him. The liberation of the work camp is not something you look forward to and I always forget how it is and isn’t a huge part of the episode. It’s used as the driving force behind the title of the episode and seeing that realization hit the men in Easy Company is purposely uncomfortable. One of several installments where you kind of want to skip it, because of how heavy it is. This is also the episode where you see bony Tom Hardy’s little butt)

“Points” (the baseball game at the end episode-instant waterworks once you see the baseball field, for me at least. Everything happens so quickly in this episode while at the same time feeling almost like an opus. I love the conversation between Webster and Liebgott in the back of the truck where they’re talking about themselves and they realize they’d probably hate each other if they met outside of the military. Almost a perfect encapsulation of male friendships, that and when Nix asks Winters to come home with him in New Jersey)

Monday, March 23

Moonstruck, Jewison 1987

To my knowledge, there is no call for a Frasier movie, but should there be one, I’d simply laugh and say that this is what that is. I also just realized that Cher beat out Holly Hunter for Best Actress that year. Kinda dumb and I say that as an enjoyer of Cher in the movie Moonstruck.

[I was probably watching an episode or two of Better Call Saul as well. I think I was rounding out season 1 at this point-admittedly I wasn’t keeping very good track of this. Sue me.]

Tuesday, March 24

The Apartment, Wilder 1960

Really I watched the first hour before going to bed the night before, but who cares. Weird movie! And thats after the very playful suicide jokes that’re thrown around that made me feel like a prude. What do you want me to say here, that I didn’t like The Apartment? Get outta here!

Wednesday, March 25

Shampoo, Ashby 1975

It was here that I started noticing a theme with the movies I was watching. Unplanned. I don’t know where the genre of emotionally-frustrated-and-aloof-hot-guy starts, probably much earlier than Shampoo, but Warren Beatty is quite the model example.

[I think I finished season 1 of Better Call Saul this night]

Thursday, March 26

Defending Your Life, Brooks 1991 [As of now this is available on HBO Now/GO]

This was the first movie not on the DVR. Coincidentally it was also the one liked best this week. Last summer I watched Lost In America for the first time and it dawned on me how many dudes try to make Albert Brooks movies and just come up short so often. What a movie for Rip Torn and good God, I was not adequately prepared for how big of a crush I developed on Meryl Streep because of this thing (though slightly manic-pixie-dream-girl-ish). Fun back-to-back with Shampoo. 

[I think I started season 2 of Better Call Saul this night]

Columbo “Prescription: Murder” (made-for-TV-Movie Pilot--I can’t remember what made me look it up, but I just really wanted to watch Columbo and by the grace of God, they’re all up on Amazon Prime. I’ve seen maybe a handful of episodes in my life and I guess decided, “eh, maybe I should be a Columbo-guy, it fits.” This was when Columbo was more of a concept, I guess, because he’s Falk is playing slightly against type, but like what, you want me to be mad about an episode of Columbo?)

Friday, March 27

Landline, Robespierre 2017 [As of now this is available on Amazon Prime]

I like basically everyone associated with this movie and it’s just kinda nice. My tolerance for modern day norm/mumble-core varies, though the inclusion of a Duplass brother is a pro rather than a con. Jenny Slate is very underrated, re: physical comedy. I guess my biggest gripe is how do you get Edie Falco and use her sparingly? And why come yer trying to fit in more than what the movie wants to handle? It’s kinda lazy Squid And The Whale, but whatever.

Saturday, March 28

Better Call Saul 

“Bali Ha’i”, “Inflatable”, “Fifi”, “Nailed”, “Klick”, “Mabel”, “Witness”

This is the back half of Season 2 and the first two of Season 3 and I forgot how stupid easy it is to just binge through a show. Haven’t done it and a real long time, probably since college I want to say. It’s just so good. Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald have talked for a while about how BCS sometimes lends itself better to a binge watch model, which I can be a living testimony to now. Saturday started a real problem for me, in terms of just burning through episodes at an unsettling pace. Don’t sleep on BCS like I did, folks.

A Serious Man, Coen Brothers 2009 [As of now this is available on Netflix]

Did you realize that Joel and Ethan were cranking out a movie a year for four years in a row? And that this was after Burn After Reading and before True Grit. I think, can’t remember for sure, that a common criticism of the Coens is how cold they tend to be, which I think is a conveniently lazy take to have about them. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are cynical, but no more cynical than your average mid-westerner. I haven’t really talked about the movie, because it’s still sitting with me like all there movies are still sitting with me. The ranking filmography game is a stupid simple pleasure a lot of the times, but if you try’n do that with The Coens, you feel like you’ve insulted yourself and them with whatever arbitrary ranking you’ve come up with. Me? I’m just glad we got Richard Kind in one of these movies.

See ya next week

[mistake-messenger-trash-blog]

How would the RFA + V + Saeran pamper themselves? I've got the most lovely image of Zen getting a manicure, and 707 would definitely be the 'feel my legs i just shaved and they're soo smooth' person.

 Before anyoneasks.. yes, I did look up what the parody name of each company was in MysticMessenger (Noogle, NouTube, Moonbucks…), and I’m planning to use them since it’stechnically ~their~ world.

 Also, this came out waaaaaay longer than I intended it to, so the rest will be under the cut.

 Feel free to send in asks and requests!

~~~~~

Yoosung

   ● Yoosung is a broke college student, so anythingthat involves him buying himself some nice things is out of the question.

   ● But… he wants to try something different.

  ● From the Christmas DLC, it’s canon that Yoosung enjoysusing face-masks, as he had tried them on after being given them by Zen.

  ● So he asks Zen to give him some recommendations fordifferent cheap face-masks that would relax him.

  ● After buying them, he’ll go home and put anything thatwould stress him out of his sight.

  ● College textbooks? In the closet. Class notes? Wedgedbetween some books in a bookcase.

   ● Dick: out (I’msorry this is an old meme but I couldn’t help myself)

   ● He even hides his phone to make sure Seven won’t tryto call him in the middle of his me-time.

  ● I can just imagine Yoosung with his usual two bobbypins on one side of his hair and then two more on the right side to keep hishair from ruining the face-mask.

  ● After taking the mask off he’ll just stroke his facefor like an hour because of how smooth it is

   ● He’ll also try to pamper himself in smaller ways.

  ● For example, after studying hard for exams/finalshe’ll allow himself to have a day where he sleeps in, has his favorite foodsfor each meal, stays in his pajamas all day, watches movies…

  ● He’s the type of person to go on a Noogle deep-dive andend up findings some sort of NouTube video explaining the basics of yoga.

   ● He’ll attempt to do a few poses, but he has thebalance of a newborn giraffe and the flexibility of a stick, so he just ends uptumbling down to the floor.

 Jaehee

  ● When Jumin decides to finally give Jaehee somedays off, she promises to herself that she will make the most out of them.

  ● I imagine that Jaehee will go back to training Judofor a little bit, to keep the knowledge inside her head and her body fit.

  ● She’ll also go to some sort of tea store, where shebuys some fancy natural teas that will help her relax.

  ● Every day when she comes back from Judo, she’ll take arelaxing bath and then brew a new tea and accompany it with a plate ofbiscuits, before settling in to the sofa with some comfy clothes for the restof the night.

  ● She binge-watches almost all of the musicals that Zenhas been in, along with some of his singing performances that were put up on NouTube.   

   ●  Baeheeis probably the one to get pampered the most.

   ● By this, I mean that as soon as Zen hears that TheTrust Fund Kid™ has let Jaehee some days off, he immediately books a spaappointment for her.

 ● She gets massages, manicures, pedicures, facials…literally everything.

 ● Like she said during the Christmas DLC, she earns alot of money but she never has the time to properly spend it.

 ● So, she’ll go out to the shops and buy herself somenew clothes, shoes, accessories, and even some books that caught her eye.

 ● While she still has time, she plans out some ways inwhich she could take breaks and relax during her workdays.

 ● She’ll make a promise to herself to go out and buysome scented candles, so that when she has to come home to work, she can lightsome up and relax.

 ● In addition to doing all of that, she will go and lookup some recipes that are easy to make, so she can quickly make them for herselfwhen she’s working. 

 ● By the end of her well-deserved break, Jaehee feelslike an entirely new woman.

 Zen

  ● When itcomes to pampering himself, he likes to do it one day at a time and in themiddle of doing something stressful.

  ● It’slike deciding to take everything easy on a Wednesday and then continue workingthe next day.

  ● Likethe anon said, he will 100% go out to get himself a manicure.

  ● He’llprepare some comfy clothes for the day and he’ll put his hair up in a bun. (whata babe)

  ● He’llwalk in to the spa sipping on some sort of natural tea from Moonbucks,sunglasses on and his usual radiant smile.

  ● Eventhe straightest of guys are swooning over him like what??

  ● Whilehe’s getting the manicure and pedicure, he’ll still be sipping on his freakingtea, looking like some sort of Hollywood superstar.

  ● When he’sdone there, he’ll return home and just use like three facemasks and any andevery skincare product imaginable.

  ● At somepoint during the day, Zen will be angrily typing away at his phone with afacemask on while venting about Jumin Han.

  ● Consideringwhat his career is, he decides to rest his voice for that entire day.

  ● He’llonly speak when truly necessary (like when he went to the spa or ordered hisdrink).

  ● Sincehe’s also the mom-type of guy, he’ll look up some drinks/foods that help histhroat so that he can be fully rested.

  ● Duringthat day, he’ll force himself not to have any beer and not to smoke. Albeit henever does it incredibly frequently, today is one of the many days in which hecompletely restrains himself from doing so.

  ● He’llalso watch his own musicals at the end of the day…. It’s Zen that we’re talkingabout, what were you expecting?

 Jumin

  ● Eventhough Jumin has a lot of money, he’s never been the type of person to buy manythings for himself.

  ● He’svery humble when it comes to spending money on personal things.

  ● Though,when his father tells him that he should take a day off since he has beenworking nonstop and suggests that he does some things for himself for once, heagrees.

  ● Becauseof this, he decides to take Elizabeth the 3rd out on her little cagewith wheels so that he can walk her around the stores.

  ● He, of course,chooses to spend more money on Elizabeth the 3rd than on himself.

  ● Hepulls the little cage around with him into pet stores, where he throws treatsupon treats into a cart, as we all many gifts and toys for his dear Elizabeth.

  ● It’squite the sight, really. A six-foot tall man clad in a complete suit, pulling acage with a cat in it behind him, throwing any cat product that seems remotelyinteresting to him into a shopping cart, and a couple of bodyguards trailingbehind him.

  ● He gotmore than one questioning look, to say the least.

  ● When hearrives at his penthouse, he takes every product out of its packaging and letsElizabeth test them.

  ● Thepoor cat has to have her food bowl taken away from her because of how manytreats she ate.

  ● At theend of the night, he’ll simply have a nice meal and he’ll change into somethingmore comfortable.

  ● He’lllounge around for a while before settling down on a small sofa before one ofthe many windows of his penthouse with a book in hand.

  ● He’llhave some classical music playing in the background, preferably some pianoaccompanied by a violin, while taking a sip of wine every now and then.

  ● Otherthan that, he prefers to pamper himself in very simple ways, considering howhis attitude towards himself is.

  ● A walkin the park here, some light exercising there, a couple of minutes of staringinto his aquarium…

 Seven

   ● Afterbeing forced by literally everyone to take a day or two off of work, he agreesto take things smoothly for a couple of days before taking a full day off.

  ● When heactually takes his day off, he decides to actually leave the bunker,considering how he barely ever goes outside, and needs to take vitamin Dsupplements every day to prevent him from having a vitamin D deficiency. (Ihave to take vitamin D3 every day because of the same reason, rip me)

  ● He’llhave his headphones over his ears, listening to his favorite music while takinga stroll around the city.

  ● Thepath that he took “coincidentally” led him to a cat café near lunchtime.

  ● He boughthimself a nice, big lunch since he usually only eats Honey Buddha Chips and PhDPepper for every meal.

  ● Sincehe actually doesn’t want to be kicked out of the café, he treats the catsnicely, and even uses the laser from his phone to get the cats on a wild chasearound his table.

  ● When hegets back home (Seven you were only out for like two hours??), he’ll bein the mood to wear a dress, but his legs are hairy af, so he’ll make it hismission to completely shave his legs.

  ● He’llthrow on so much lotion that everyone is surprised he didn’t die of some sortof chemical poisoning.

  ● But hislegs end up being soooooooo smooth???

  ● He justruns over to Saeran with his pants rolled up and he’ll just scream “TOUCH MYLEGS”

  ● Saeran knowsthat there’s no way that he’s getting out of this, so he’ll just sigh andstroke his brother’s leg once…

  ● ….butomfg they’re so soft??

  ● Saerancan’t bring himself to stop stroking his brother’s leg (as weird as it sounds).

  ● Seven’sjust standing there with the smuggest look to ever be seen.

 V

   ● Thissoft bby will make sure to relax as much as possible.

  ● His carwill be completely full of cameraequipment. He’s more prepared than anyone will ever be to take a photograph.

  ● Itstarts raining? He has a waterproof camera in his car. The scenery is too dark?He has a lens that allows a greater aperture for the photographs. Nothing seemsto be in focus? Your boy has a camera with some lenses and filters that giveyou a greater depth of field. (Wow the photography nerd in me just came outI apologize)

   ● V willhave everything that he’ll be doing completely planned out.

  ● Sincehe’s constantly travelling around the world to take photographs, he decides tostay within the boundaries of his city, in order to ‘catch up with his roots’.

  ● Hevisits many antique stores and shops,as well as local vendors and artisans.

  ● C a n d l e  s to r e s

 ● Thissweet man will spend hours choosing candles to buy. He ends up with morecandles than he’ll ever need in three lifetimes, but the smile on his facewhile picking them out is so bright no one can stop him.

  ● If he’sin the mood to talk, he’ll drop by Jumin’s penthouse and have a long chat thatlasts until the late night.

  ● If Juminproposes that he stays the night because of the time, he won’t refuse, and thenext day he’ll continue catching up with what’s been going on in either of themen’s lives.

  ● He’salso very likely to want to stay inside for a while, so he’ll give himself sometime off of taking photographs and he’ll just stay inside reading some books.

Saeran

  ● Saeran’sused to doing nothing for the entire day ever since he moved in with hisbrother, so his days are overall pretty chill stress-wise.

  ● Wheneverhe wants to give himself a little treat, he’ll go out on a peaceful walk,preferably where there’s little to no people.

  ● He’llgo into an ice cream shop, where he gets the biggest cone they have in hisfavorite flavor.

  ● I alsoenvision him going into a candy store, where he buys lots and lots of sweets tolast him for at least an entire year.

  ● I hcthat Saeran is actually really good at drawing, but just doesn’t like showinghis art to anyone.

  ● So, he’llgo out with a couple of pencils and a sketchbook to some sort of forest orpark, and he’ll sketch out his surroundings.

   ● If he’s feeling extra artistic, he’ll even stay for alittle while longer to fully color the sketches.

  ● He’llprobably look up some sort of animal shelter that allows visitors to play withthe animals, and he’ll end up playing with all the different little animals.

  ● Saeranabsolutely loves looking at the sky, so he’ll drive to some secluded placewhere he has a view of the entire city, and he’ll sit down with a blanket towatch the day turn into night.

  ● Thestars will be his company as he watches them appear across the sky, every oncein a while seeing a shooting star pass by.

  ● Thoughwhen he returns home, Saeyoung keeps insisting that he strokes his legs forsome reason??