#pt review

[i-consume-content]

PIZZA TOWER

Piping-Hot Platformer Perfection

Having been a long-time fan of Super Mario and all things Nintendo, I have never played a Sonic the Hedgehog game. I never really thought going extra fast was enough to hook me into a new platforming experience, but when I tried out early 2023's indie highlight Pizza Tower, it began to change my mind.

You play as Peppino Spaghetti, who's on a quest to destroy the Pizza Tower before the evil Pizzaface uses it to blow up Peppino's Pizza. Pizza Tower's gameplay loop is simple: run to the end of the level, destroy the load-bearing pillar, and get back to the start before the escape timer runs out. Hidden beneath this simple premise is one of the most addicting games I've ever played. Peppino controls like a dream, even at top speeds, with responsive controls that have been finely tuned to encourage high speed, tight turns, and well-timed reactions. Levels have been carefully built, with each wall, gap, and enemy meticulously arranged to create a satisfying experience for the average player, and a potentially godlike one for those who have mastered Peppino's moveset. Once you've familiarized yourself with a stage, it can be an absolute joy to breeze through it like nobody's business, especially if you're going for those P-ranks. The difficulty feels comfortable on first playthrough and provides a fun challenge for those who want to be as great as can be.

The artstyle is messy and it works. The large-canvas pixel art echoes the classic look of Microsoft Paint, and fans of old Cartoon Network shows like Ren & Stimpy will recognize how those shows' energy works its way in to make the art look great. The animation is fluid and snappy, conveying Peppino’s brutal rage when attacking enemies and speeding around the level.

And the soundtrack? Don’t even get me started, it’s phenomenal. There was not a single miss in this musical journey, and even the bonus tracks on the OST go above and beyond. It’s Pizza Time gets you pumped up and sweating for the harrowing run back to the start, the boss themes set the stage just as well as the art, and the final track (which I will keep vague to avoid spoilers) really lets you know that this is it, you’ve done it.

Pizza Tower exploded in popularity for good reason. It is one of the best platformers I’ve had the pleasure of playing in recent years, so if you haven’t played it yet, this is your wake-up call. Go drop some cash on it on Steam, and I guarantee you’ll love it in 30 minutes or less. That’s an ICC promise!

FINAL RATING:

A Supreme Pizza out of 10

- Rock

[notmeowse]

so apparently some of the dialogue quips are almost exactly the same between the companions, rather than being unique little asides.

[source] [source] [source] [source]

[cobra-wives]

serious philosophical question; should one of us kick the bucket?

small comic page thingy for the INSANE fic that is zelotypia by @terrence-silver - i definitely recommend giving it a read! so much interesting perspective on that ponytail-kreese-twig trio goodness; and terry’s inner workings and detestment for everyone that john loves more than him!

[thecrownnetflixuk]

Fond Farewells Mark the End of an Era for The Crown.

Pt 2 of Season 6 Accedes to the Next Generation – But Reigns Most Triumphant Saluting Its Sovereign.

Review & gifs by L.L @The Crown TV

I wasn't sure what to expect from the final 6 preview episodes of The Crown. Part 1 gifted us with a season-defining performance from Elizabeth Debicki, but such intense focus on the tragedy of Diana and Dodi's deaths was heavy-going. How to move forward?

Not many TV shows stick the landing, but I believe The Crown does, mostly by putting Queen Elizabeth front and centre. In four different ways! But Part 2 takes a while to forge ahead and reign triumphant.

Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy make shy William and swotty Kate believable as a young couple who meet at university – or earlier, as per a flashback with (not Ghost!) Diana. I still found it hard to invest in their will-they-won't-they relationship (we already know they do.) 

Instead, it’s sisters Elizabeth and Margaret who have long been the emotional heart of this show; at every stage of their lives.

Former Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville (alongside Queen Imelda Staunton) is truly magnificent in Ep 8 as Princess Margaret, though it's painful watching this vibrant lady struggle as her health worsens.

Memories of the 1940's are a delight. However, I wish we'd seen more of wide-eyed teen Lilibet let loose (Viola Prettejohn) and carefree Marg (Beau Gadsdon) before older Margaret says her final goodbye.

Staunton saves her best for last, bringing dry humour, vulnerability as well as leadership to Ep 10. The 70+ min epic finale 'Sleep, Dearie Sleep' has its shaky moments, but beautifully completes Queen Elizabeth's story when it counts, bringing near-perfect closure. That alone elevates Season 6 beyond Season 5.

Warning - MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. This is my final *EVER* review (might be extra long!)

S6 is NOW ON NETFLIX - WATCH THE EPISODES before reading.

Images: courtesy of Netflix

Starting with less good news; the first couple of episodes of Part 2 were my least favourite. Ep 5, 'Willsmania', feels transitional, and a little stuck in the past. Following his mother's death, Prince William (Ed McVey; taking over from younger actor Rufus Kampa) turns inward as he struggles to cope with public attention and grief.

It's an understandable reaction to losing a parent, but Part 1 already spent nearly half a season on Dodi and Diana. It felt like we grieved in real time. As a result, whenever the subject of Diana crops up again in Part 2, it tends to weigh down both pace and narrative.

Ep 6 brings a welcome change of topic. This being The Crown, I'm sure there are critics poised to be offended by Queen Elizabeth's nightmare about Prime Minister Tony Blair being crowned king, but to me, his 'coronation' was hilarious, as was the choir boy singing Blair's cheesy Labour pop anthem.

It felt like deliberate tongue-in-cheek humour, an absurd reminder why monarchy might still be better than populist elected leaders.

I really wanted this episode to work, but it didn't go anywhere, and themes like tradition-vs-modernity were covered more effectively in episodes such as 'Marionettes.' Bertie Carvel has Tony Blair's voice down but suffers from comparisons with Michael Sheen, who was uncanny as the Prime Minister in 3 earlier Peter Morgan projects.

^ PM Tony Blair. The Women's Institute weren't fans of his grandstanding.

The Crown: The Next Generation fully arrives during Ep's 7, 9 & 10. Some will love it. Those who prefer more historical episodes with broader scope may be disappointed, as the show follows William and Kate through University life in the early 2000's.

The newcomers do bring fresh energy to the show. It helps that they cast Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, who make a sweet couple as Will and Kate, even if William sometimes comes across as petulant.

Unlike Ed McVey as William, Luther Ford doesn't bear much physical resemblance to Prince Harry, other than red hair. Ford does however put in a good performance as Harry becomes increasingly reckless.

The Crown doesn't hide either Harry or William's bad behaviour. The brothers seem to get on well at the start, but it later seems like they're more at odds. Underneath a lot – a LOT – of boozing, both boys appear quietly screwed-up over their mother's death. Neither of them seem to enjoy playing happy families with Charles, either.

The show mostly concentrates on William and Kate, but there aren't many episodes left to develop a genuine romance. They have potential, but it feels fairly surface level. Suddenly, they rush to move into a house share together when we've barely seen them kiss. They (and we) needed more screen time to really get to know each other.

There's a bigger issue here with Kate's mother, Carole Middleton (Eve Best.) Pushy parent Carole is keen to play matchmaker between her 'commoner' daughter and the young eligible Prince, keeping tabs on William. Carole isn't as conniving, but ... didn't we just watch a similar storyline with Mohamed Al-Fayed/Dodi/Diana in Part 1?

^ Kate 'n' Will. Her Mum would frame this picture.

Ep 8 'Ritz' plays like a standalone film. Margaret's final story is touching, but upsetting, at times; I was a fan of Diana, yet sobbed as much for Margaret as the credits rolled, even though her eventual death isn't shown. In fact, her final goodbye is sensitively done and stands as a fitting tribute to the princess, as well as to the Queen.

Lesley Manville makes Margaret's predicament so real as her health slowly breaks down. She bounces back from one stroke, then another hits. How awful too for Elizabeth to watch a much-loved sister deteriorate, though it was wonderful to see Lilibet read Margaret a bedtime story. It brought out the warmer side of Staunton's Queen.

The scene where Margaret scalds her feet in the bath is genuinely horrifying. I've suffered from ill health and loss of control myself and this was so much worse. I could feel her pain. That poor woman.

Human moments are where The Crown excels; through this episode, this working-class lass from a council house could somehow relate to a Princess in a palace. Peter Morgan has surely done more to humanise the royal family than any P.R team ever could.

^ Fans of Margaret (and Lesley Manville) prepare yourselves for her sad final journey.

Onto the big reveal: when I mentioned at the start there are FOUR ways Queen Elizabeth appears – this is what I meant:-

^ Newcomer Viola Prettejohn plays teenage Princess Elizabeth.

^ & there's Olivia Colman & Claire Foy alongside older Queen Imelda Staunton.

Satisfyingly, all 3 of The Crown's leading ladies return to close the show. Olivia Colman and Claire Foy each have an additional scene, too (I won't spoil the entire finale, as it covers a lot of ground in over 70 mins, but Olivia and Claire aren't back as 'ghosts.')

As we get older, the ghosts who speak loudest are our own; the former versions of us we berate ourselves with. Not everyone may warm to the Queen (sort of) talking to herself, but personally, I was thrilled to see these talented actors on screen together.

Foy's scene with Staunton is particularly effective, as the younger Queen gives her older self an old-fashioned dutiful talking to. It's somehow also credible that they're aspects of the same person.

It reminded me of Peter Morgan’s 2013 (extraordinary) play, ‘The Audience', which inspired this series, and included scenes where Helen Mirren shared the stage with young Elizabeth. That play is also why this theatre-fan started watching The Crown to begin with, and later went on to create this website.

When Ep 10 finished playing, my Netflix returned itself to Season 1. 60 episodes over 7 years! I will miss the grand scale of The Crown, but appreciate the legacy which remains. Now feels like the right time for this story to end. A full-circle moment in more ways than one.

**Majestic thanks for reading, and to every person who has liked, reblogged, messaged, supported The Crown TV for all these years.

💎♕You each deserve a Crown of your own!♕💎**

N.B: These are my humble opinions at this point in time. No offence is intended. Agreement = lovely; not compulsory. Disagreement = happens; kindly coexist. Ta!

[animehouse-moe]

Chainsaw Man Chapter 137: Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura

Oh what, you thought we were going to be thought provoking and actually dive into Denji's struggle as a character through a normal lens? Ha-ha, you fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is “Never get involved in a land war in Asia,” but only slightly less well known is this: "Never expect Fujimoto to be normal".

The whole chapter is expectation subversion, which perfectly captures both Fujimoto's sense of humor, and his absolute desire for b-list and camp. I mean, just look at how we open, Denji giving a surprisingly long winded (for him) monologue about maturing past the point of taking whatever kind of affection he can.... before it's revealed that it's all in his head and he's sucking on a dead devil.

In all honesty though, this is rather unironically an important moment for Denji. Why? Because he knows better. He himself understands the situation that he's in, that he should be better than what he's doing, that he shouldn't be caving to the whims and mockery of a girl offering an empty promise. But he can't stop himself. He's so far below rock bottom in this moment that it doesn't matter if it's a lie, it doesn't matter if she's hazing him. What matters is that she's giving him attention, and a chance to delude himself from his current station in life.

Anyways, the pair go to a karaoke place and the girl gets going on a song, leading to probably one of Fujimoto's best action sequences in all of part 2 now.

And no, it's not the action itself that makes this an incredible moment, it's quite literally everything else. Denji fell for the trap, he took it hook, line, and sinker and is now stuck fighting off a small army of men with baseball bats while the girl sings an absolute rager in the background. The entire setup is just incredible, the sheer thrill that both viewers and Denji alike feel from the moment is impeccable, and it ends the chapter on just the right note.

I mean, look at this, the pile of bodies littering the hallway, the three panel shot of Denji's face, the matchup to end the chapter. Absolutely masterclass Fujimoto work on display.

I'd really like to take a closer look at Denji's reaction (and all the guys with bats too). These three panels give sort of a double meaning to Denji's character, in my opinion. The first, is self-deprecating humor at the fact that he ever thought he might stand a fraction of a snowball's chance in hell for the trap to not be a trap. And the second, well the second is Denji finding that Chainsaw Man spark again. Pure unadulterated violence, the feeling of superiority, of a challenge or uphill fight laid against him. Denji's in his element now, and that's dangerous for our girl here.

Anyways, the guys with bats. Very funny idea considering the girl "gets around", so seeing a lineup of guys appear with bats while Denji and this girl are on a "date" is a pretty good type of humor.

Overall, for how insane this chapter is, it's exactly what Denji needed. He needed to be beat down, he needed to feel that desperation, he needed to remember who he is. That even if he goes to school now, even if he has a little sister and a house and food and all sorts of stuff, that the part of him that became Chainsaw Man is still a part of Denji. That they're two sides of the same coin. That he's still strong and capable and dangerous, and that he can keep chasing all the dreams he could ever want.

[areseebee]

how do you like Thomas Hamilton and do you think the ending is real?

i was just thinking about this when falling asleep last night lol.

my thoughts are: i think silver killed flint on skeleton island, that it was premeditated and the story of flint in savannah was intentionally constructed by silver and jack to mitigate rebellion. i think that silver's re-telling of it to madi and how artificial it feels, and how silver relies on the semantics of "unmaking" flint to counter madi's accusation of killing flint reinforces this. i think madi, like the audience, chooses what to believe in order to move forward. and i think silver asking for her belief so that they can move forward together reifies that which he has just tried to kill in flint - asking for the belief of a lie to further a selfish (if sympathetic) end.

and yet! i keep going to back to the foundational logic of the show: if you don't see the body, then they're not dead. i would love to believe that's true for flint, but, in the context of flint's possible-but-unseen death, i see this less as proof that flint is alive more than i see it as the show using its own form and logic to introduce metatextual questions and, in a way, break the fourth wall: the story asking us to decide what we think is real, and then each of us creating our own meaning from that.

so, for me, ultimately there's what i want to be real (flint alive and kicking it with his boyfriend on a farm in savannah) and what i think is more likely real (flint dead and buried at sea, living on as legend instead of as a threat or a martyr). and, in the spirit of black sails, i'm not sure that what i want to be real and what i think is real are totally mutually exclusive. or, put a different way, i feel like i can hold both possible endings and find more truth and richness in both possibilities existing together.

do i think flint was reunited with thomas hamilton? yes, i think he was, i'm just not convinced it was while either of them were alive.

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

when someone else’s ship gets more content than yours ever will:

[therefugeofbooks]

[29.05.24] 1/50 days of booklr.

Esse livro estava na minha estante há um bom tempo e eu finalmente li ele! Gostaria que Você Estivesse Aqui tinha tudo para ser um livro ótimo, mas ainda não consigo apontar exatamente o que fez eu não gostar tanto. Achei difícil sentir simpatia por qualquer dos personagens, com todo aquele aura de novela retratando a vida de classe média alta brasileira, as coisas começam e terminam sem muito sentido, adicionando detalhes que é difícil de parar para se importar. O único personagem que tem uma trama mais interessante acaba seu arco em um final trágico feito de qualquer forma. Também, eu adoro uma escrita mais trabalhada, e apesar de o Fernando Scheller fazer isso aqui, é num tom tão blasé que só é cansativo. No fim, acho que acabei terminando o livro tentando achar um desfecho, mas apenas tive um comentário meio batido sobre como o tempo sempre continua.

E aí? Alguém para me recomendar livros brasileiros? :)

[school-sanctioned-movie-bullying]

Turning Red Defense Post

It has come to my attention that some people think this blog is just me whining. I can see why those people think that, because it is true. I love to whine, and it is what I am good at. But there comes a time when one must venture out of her comfort zone. 

In this post I am praising Turning Red, a movie that I like very much but that many other people seem to hate. My reasons for this are threefold. For one, I am running out of movies to complain about; two, I really like Turning Red; and three, my professor said I can’t just bitch about movies anymore, so my classic complaining style posts are hence extinct. 

 Before I get into my praise for the film, I want to address the common criticisms I have seen people make of it. I perused the one-star reviews on Google, and the most common complaints seemed to be “it’s cringe-worthy," “the characters were annoying," and “it has inappropriate themes.”

 The reviews that said the movie was cringe-worthy mostly said so because of the main characters. The protagonist of the movie is a thirteen-year-old girl named Meilin Lee, whom many reviews had stated to be very annoying. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I was thirteen years old, I was absolutely insufferable. Cringe would be putting lightly how annoying I was. Comparably, I found Mei to be a sweet, if not dorky, tween with a similarly sympathetically dorky friend group. They were cringeworthy, but so is almost every thirteen-year-old out there, so really, the movie is just realistic. 

Many reviews also found Mei Lin’s mother to be overbearing and weird, which I found to be true as well, but then that was kind of the point. Her mother is not the villain of the story by any means, but she is a flawed character. One of the most touching moments of the movie came in the form of Mei Lin helping her mother overcome those flaws. If her mother had been perfect from the start, we would have missed out on that moment.

Aside from the characters, the negative reviews for this movie took offense to the “inappropriate” themes, namely the fact that periods were brought up and the fact that the protagonist rebels against her parents. The whole concept of Mei turning into a giant red panda is supposed to be a metaphor for puberty and growing up, and as it is such a huge part of puberty for girls, there was a quick mention of periods. This came in a very quick scene where Mei Lin’s mother brought out a stash of pads when she thought her daughter had gotten her period.

It was an extremely brief moment, but evidently, that was long enough to get some people upset. I was personally thrilled to see that periods were being brought up in a normal way, and I think it is a step in the right direction for this movie to have that scene. Some parents want to take the puberty talk at their own pace, but the mention of periods in this movie is brief and vague enough that most parents should be able to sweep it under the rug until they want to discuss it with their children. 

 As for Mei Lin rebelling against her parents, I am truthfully confused as to why this movie specifically is guilty of that message. Plenty of other Disney or Pixar movies have the main characters going against their parents. To name a few: The Little Mermaid, Brave, Mulan, and Pocahontas. I thought that Turning Red handled Mei Lin growing up and learning to be her own person very nicely, while still portraying her overbearing mother as sympathetic.

 I can see why a lot of people don’t like this movie. It was risky, and it certainly was not made to please everyone, but I think much of the hate this movie gets is undeserved. I, and many others, really enjoyed Turning Red. Despite the plethora of negative reviews I read, there were more five-star reviews than one-star reviews by a good amount. 

I do truly understand where the desire to loudly hate a movie comes from; I will crap on The Greatest Showman at any opportunity. But it is necessary to remember that the movies you hate may simply not have been written to please you. There are, for some reason, people out there who really like The Greatest Showman, despite the numerous reasons I have for reviling it. And there are people out there who hate Turning Red, even when I think it was one of the best Pixar movies made in some time.

[unopenablebox]

one of life's special consuming yet pointless games is encountering a tumblr user/substack youve never seen before and trying to figure out if it's secretly one of p3yton th0mxs's writing buddies from that knockoff of the toast they ran for a year, or if it's an unrelated person with the same habit of repeating danny lavery bits about 30 rock as broadly known fact who just also loves lists of kind of gayish 90s movies and what we might call "plausible deniability public-facing rpf"

[shameboree]

“ive never had a hyperfixation ever in my life” i say having been neurotically obsessed w prions and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies since i was actually for real 6 years old. i think about protein misfolding once a day at MINIMUM. blorbos come and go but prions are Literally forever

[gaybosposts]

GNX Album Review

Edit: please give it a chance, even if it’s super long

I… I don… don’t know what to say… the announcement of this album was shocking enough. But releasing it literally 5 minutes after, is absolutely crazy! This album reminds of when Frank Ocean released Blonde without the studio ever knowing it or Frank’s intentions. And that changed or even broke the music industry forever. For better or worse. Now, I feel like this new Kendrick album is going to do something similar, but not just to do with the music industry, but hip-hop as a whole. As hip-hop hadn’t been the same for a while. Let’s take a look at this album.

1. wacced out murals

Not his best opener but if THIS isn’t his best opener, then we know that this album is gonna be fire! From the Spanish singer at the very start, to the simple sounding yet hard beat, to the (as usual) amazing lyrical content from Kendrick to how he raps on this song. And the Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg mentions were unexpected. But one mention was taken in a more friendly term than the other. So yeah, I loved this opener a lot and so do I with the rest of these songs. 10/10.

2. squabble up

FINALLY! A snippet that actually made it into a full song, let alone onto this album. It’s so fun and ridiculously entertaining. Such a Party anthem for the west coast. It’s Not Like Us, but for the West Coast. And I love that. 10/10.

3. luther (feat. sza)

Holy shit! What the fu-? Kendrick singing was not on my 2024 bingo card. But I should’ve. Because it’s actually really good. More than good. It’s unlike anything Kendrick has ever done before. PGLang has really given Kendrick way more freedom and control over his work. Not that TDE was bad or anything. Kendrick’s whole discography before the Drake beef was made at TDE. But it was people within the music industry that Kendrick didn’t like. But I’ll explain more later in this review. Anyway, SZA was perfect for this and another one on this album. 10/10.

4. man at the garden

He deserves it all. No really. He does tho. He has one of the greatest discographies of all time. But just because he is the greatest rapper of all time, but what he’s done for hip-hop as a whole this past year is something that hasn’t been done in a long time. Kendrick has also worked his way to the top. It’s like he’s planned how he was going to climb the ladder and the charts. Drake has lost over and over this year and decided to sue (aka, the coward’s way out). And these delusional fans of drake’s think drake is the best rapper ever. Commercially, yes. But talent-wise, he doesn’t deserve it all. Drake’s a coward, a creep, delusional, certified boy lover and a talentless hack who thought he could win against fucking Kendrick “Lamar” Duckworth. Anyway… 10/10.

5. hey now (feat. dody6)

At first, I didn’t really think much of the song, but now. I think it’s a really great song and it slaps so hard. dody6 was such an unexpected feature and only adds to the album even more and what this album is trying to convey and accomplish. 9/10.

6. reincarnated

The Tupac sample?!??!! 4 and a half minutes of one of the best rap songs of the year. I don’t know how to describe my feelings for this song… the lyrics were top notch, the sample is absolutely incredible, the rapping is perfect and the message is telling the black community to take those who created a road and build upon the artistic greatness of those before. This tops everything else earlier on this album. But it doesn’t stop. 11/10.

7. tv off (feat. lefty gunplay)

Not Like Us 2.0, but in the best way possible. There’s actually nothing much to say except that it’s one of the best from the album. So yeah… 10/10. MUSTAAAARD!!!!!!!

8. dodger blue (feat. wallie the sensei, siete7x, roddy ricch)

The best is so incredibly interesting and I wish there was more. Also, the features were the absolute highlight of this song. This is making me feel like I’m in love or something 😅. The Only low is the runtime is too short. 9/10.

9. peekaboo (feat. azchike)

This is a good song and I think the goofy and ridiculousness of it all is fun. With that said, I wouldn’t really go back to this song by itself anytime soon. Tho I do love the lyric “Bing-bap-boom-boom-boom-bap-bam, The type of shit I’m on, you wouldn’t understand”, it’s soooooo good. 7.5/10.

10. heart pt. 6

How the fuck do we go from peekaboo to this?!?! No joke. This song is easily Top 20 favourite Kendrick Lamar songs ever. I’m in love with this masterpiece of a song. And it’s a storytelling song, so yeah… when Kendrick is retelling or telling a story in one whole song, that will be my automatic favourite. Take DUCKWORTH. That song is the best song from DAMN. Not only do we get the most beautiful chorus from Kendrick to ever grace this earth, but his verses are also beautiful in the sense of reflecting on memories that stuck with you forever. Whether it was for better or worse. This is in my top 20 favourite K-Dot songs and I don’t care if it’s too early to for sure tell. I love this song so much that it’s on the same level of beautiful and amazing as the previous Heart song. Fuck Drake and his stupid fucking delusional ass fans, this album fucking rules and I don’t give a shit if Drake has had better opening week sales. This is a 12/10 song. 12/10.

11. gnx (feat. hitta j3, youngthreat, peysoh)

Now… this ain’t the worst song off the album. Kendrick does do some weird adlips I’ll admit, but it’s not Kendrick’s time to shine on this song. It’s the features and they get to work their West Coast charm so well. But being after heart pt. 6, it had the almost impossible task of trying to keep up with that song. But I still love this song. 8.5/10.

12. gloria (feat. sza)

Two Sza features on one Kendrick album?!?! This is a very beautiful song but not heart pt. 6 beautiful tho. But still beautiful in its own way. Sza is also amazing in this as well as she was on luther. At first, I was confused by this song being the last song to end an album that was absolutely amazing. But after some time, this is a great song to end this album that people think is half of what Kendrick has up his sleeve. And I believe that. So yeah… love this song. A beautiful closing track to an amazing album. 9.5/10.

Overall: I love this album a lot and I love the west coast stuff this album presents so well. But this album reveals the whole point of the drake beef and why Kendrick hated him so much. It’s because Drake is an industry suck up and makes music that sells well but is actually boring. I tried listening to one drake’s songs and I was bored the second I heard him speak. Anyway, Kendrick hates Drake because Drake is an industry suck up, but Kendrick hates the industry even more. Hence why he left TDE. Because it was connected to the industry. If you know why the industry is terrible, then I don’t need to tell you’s. So yeah… I love the album and I hope Kendrick wins the lawsuit Drake placed against Kendrick. Fuck Drake, love Kendrick. 10/10.

[theloneliestblackgirlblog]

SOOOOOOOO I decided to reread the entire Hunger Games trilogy as an adult and then write about it. Thanks to everyone who commented on my question about Katniss loving Peeta. I agree with most of the points. I do think she does just not in the way we’re used to. Wrote about all of that and more. Check it out!

[thecrownnetflixuk]

Goodbye to Diana, Goddess of the Hunt

Pt 1 of The Crown S6 Will Stand as the Definitive Dramatised Version of Diana & Dodi’s Final Days

Review (& gifs) by L.L @The Crown TV

Having seen Pt 1 of The Crown S6 before its official release, I can understand why Netflix decided to split the final season. The first 4 episodes are almost exclusively dedicated to the events surrounding the tragic deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.

It's first-rate drama, but it's not always an easy watch. The series does have some lighter moments too, but it makes sense for The Crown to take a short pause before moving forward in December.

To be clear, Diana and Dodi's car crash is not portrayed in a voyeuristic way. We don't see the moment of impact; hearing it is traumatic enough. Diana's body is not shown. The show doesn't delve into what caused the accident. This is still The Crown, not CSI Paris.

Kudos to Peter Morgan and his research team who somehow scrutinised all reports of Diana and Dodi's final days and managed to turn no doubt conflicting accounts and opinions into 4 brilliantly dramatised episodes which feel like a definitive screen version.

I prefer the sharpened pace of S6 after a disjointed S5. All the cast seem more comfortable in their respective roles ... except ... Dominic West is a great actor, his grief and regret is so believable in these episodes, but for me, West's natural charm and roguishness still doesn't fit well with Charles. Perhaps Camilla would disagree!

There are no such issues with Diana. It's a difficult task playing an icon hunted by the paparazzi, but Elizabeth Debicki radiates the right emotional intelligence and effortless star quality of the princess. In fact, Debicki's empathetic and assured performance largely carries these pivotal episodes and tops her earlier impressive work in S5.

Warning - long read: more detailed spoilers ahead! GO & WATCH THE EPISODES FIRST (NOW ON NETFLIX)

Interview/images: courtesy of Netflix & Elizabeth Debicki.

The final season of The Crown begins in Paris with a bold flash forward to a dog-walker who witnesses the crash at the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. It's a jarring change of tone after S5, but effective.

From the start, we know where this story is headed. But first, it's back to Diana on her summer hols, impertinent rodents scurrying in the palace and Charles getting grumpy over the Queen not showing up for Camilla's birthday. Reassuringly, it's royal business as usual.

^ Happy 50th, Camilla. I'm with the Queen about this pair; still not quite on board.

Enter Dodi Fayed, who could not be more different to his overbearing father. Khalid Abdalla infuses the shy son-of-a-billionaire with an engaging soulfulness which contradicts Dodi's two-timing behaviour.

Dodi starts out romancing his fiancée, Kelly Fisher (Erin Richards), but after being bullied into it by his father Mohamed Al-Fayed, Dodi pursues Princess Diana. For a while, Dodi juggles both women, before redeeming himself and confessing the truth to Diana.

^ Diana & Dodi. This time, it's Diana herself who ends up not quite on board this ship.

BAFTA nominee Salim Daw is a force of nature as a magnificently Machiavellian Mohamed Al-Fayed. Daw's performance, along with Elizabeth Debicki's note-perfect Diana, is a standout in S6.

Those who had concerns that The Crown was too generous towards the real Al-Fayed in S5 have no such worries about S6. By episode 3, Mohamed almost crosses into arch villain territory, bribing Dodi into marrying Diana to get British citizenship and raise his social status.

^ Mohamed Al-Fayed. Give him a cat & he'd be the perfect future Bond villain.

It's a controversial post-death chat with a 'ghost' which (nearly) absolves The Crown's Mohamed. Salim Daw is tremendously genuine during his imagined conversation with Dodi, sobbing for forgiveness. Too little, too late, but we feel his real pain about the loss of his son.

Before watching these episodes, the idea of Ghost!Dodi and Diana in the show did seem off-putting. Confession: I didn’t make it through the surrealistic film ‘Spencer’, where Diana talks to the ghost of Anne Boleyn (although Kristen Stewart seemed well cast in her role.)

Now that I've actually seen the 'ghost' scenes in The Crown, they don't feel ghoulish or disrespectful. Following the crash, both Charles (Dominic West) and Imelda Staunton’s Queen have small conversations with Diana, as though the princess is still with them.

You could take that to mean they’ve gone full royal-bats-in-the-belfry, but as a person who recently lost my dad, I talk to the dead all the time. It’s often what happens when you lose somebody you love. To see this depicted on The Crown felt honest. And human.

^ Wassup, Betty? Just chillin', chatting w/dead Di* (*not dialogue from The Crown)

As the show wades through the aftermath of the crash, dealing with public sorrow, funerals and grief-stricken young William and Harry, it becomes heartbreaking. However, The Crown does handle heavy subject matter very well, as shown in episodes such as ‘Aberfan.’

With a golden jubilee coming up, hopefully Pt 2 of this final season will be more uplifting, and feature more scenes with Imelda Staunton as Elizabeth II. When we do see the Queen in Pt 1, her intonation is superb. There’s continuity too, with Staunton merging Claire Foy’s vulnerability and regality with Olivia Colman’s steely durability.

I'm no ardent monarchist, but now that we've said goodbye to Diana, I can't imagine that The Crown would end without paying tribute to another Queen of Hearts who reigned for over 70 years.

THE CROWN S6 PT 2:-premieres on Netflix | Thurs 14th Dec 2023

N.B: These are just my (humble) opinions at this point in time. No offence is intended. Agreement = lovely; not compulsory. Disagreement = happens; kindly coexist. Ta!

[animehouse-moe]

Chainsaw Man Chapter 127: Save The Asa

This if Fujimoto in his element, mixing parts and characters and approaches to create something that only he could. Lifting characters up with fancy words and emotional sentiments, only to have it come crashing down in the most hilarious and apt ways possible. Hardly a big chapter, but within the context of what's around it, certainly one that will be remembered.

⚠️Warning: Spoilers Ahead⚠️

A lot of the chapter focuses on Asa's attachment to life, as you'd expect. She circles the drain, remember her fears, her worst moments. She remembers just how much her life has sucked, how she's only kept alive to be used as a tool by a devil. It's all very outstanding, and is like an accelerated version of Denji's story because Asa is more aware of herself. It doesn't take the terrible moments for reality to break her, because she was never anywhere near the same rock bottom as Denji.

And that's what I love the most about it, Fujimoto's aware. Fujimoto's aware how terrible Denji's life has been, how brutal an existence he's been given, and rather than leveraging that against Asa, he uses it to subvert expectations and assert just what kind of person Denji is. An insane hybrid devil that is driven only by dreams. The kind of guy that can save Asa.

It's equally as ridiculous, because on the surface you hardly get what's really going on (cue the "Fujimoto fan making something out of nothing"). It's just crazy how Fujimoto is throwing out the dumbest stuff possible, but ends up cobbling together a far more realistic and approachable sentiment to suicidal thoughts. Who cares about the "big things" in life? Why would that matter to someone ready to end it all? It's the smaller pieces of life that they'll miss. Reading their favorite manga weekly, or not being able to pet another cat or dog.

And it just keeps going. It doesn't say "oh there's good stuff to life", or "I moved past it", because the last thing someone wants to hear is "it gets better". Because no shit, thinking it'll get better doesn't make it get better.

Instead, Denji steals the show with his idiocy, and proudly proclaims his dream. No longer is it something as childish, or lowbrow as "touching boobs". Nay, it's something more noble, something more lofty. Something that a young man would truly dream of.

And what gets me here is Asa's disgust, as if she didn't allude to the same thought earlier. Also, cute little symbolism of the pair of birds together. Simple piece about freedom and Asa finding someone, as the two birds join up with one another.

Anyways, it's hard to really give this chapter its flowers when you read weekly. But when you put it into the context of the world ending, of Asa slipping deeper and deeper into depression, of her being driven to suicide, of absolutely nothing going her way, I'd honestly say it's the pinnacle of the arc. Purely because it comes in to mock it. It basically laughs in the face of a nuanced conversation on depression and suicide and says, "yeah it's sucks ass, but don't you want to have sex or pet dogs & cats or have ice cream whenever you feel like it?". It's a beautiful aspect of Fujimoto, and I'd honestly liken it to the finale of Fire Punch (though as a lesser form). His grasp of how people tick is incredible, and being able to stretch that understanding to fit the insanity that he loves chasing is amazing.

[bunny-the-bunny]

How about Alexis?

Alexis Rhodes

Alright let’s give this a go.

Why I like them/why I don’t: I liked her character the first time I saw her in the dub. Something about a strong woman who takes no shit from anyone. God I fell in love while I was watching the sub and omg I love her so much. I wish that she got more duels and more screen time though.

What I like about their appearance: I love her hair. It’s an interesting shape and the color matches the fire she has in her personality.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? Well in the beginning when I first watched Yu-Gi-Oh GX, I used the dub name the most. But after I started watching the original version, I started calling her Asuka and Alexis at different times. So I use both names interchangeably to refer to her. So you might hear me call her Alexis one time and then Asuka another time.

OTP: None. I don’t actually ship her with anyone at the moment since I like the headcanon someone else had about her that she’s an aroace lesbian.

NOTP: I don’t like fianceshipping. Like goddamn… ever since I saw the episode where people started shipping them in the first place, I couldn’t stand it. The logic behind it doesn’t make sense to me and I personally headcanon Judai as gay and there’s too much evidence in the show that he’s queer. Plus I just can’t see Asuka with anyone.

OT3: Again I don’t ship her with anyone although maybe some day that might change.

Favorite card they use: My favorite card has gotta be Cyber Angel Benten. She’s amazing and I love the fusion summoning action in the show. I love all of Asuka’s cyber cards but Cyber Angel Benten is up there next to the spell card, Doble Passe.

Favorite moment they were in: Ooh that’s an easy one. During the society of light arc, even though Alexis was possessed, she still stood up for the Obelisk Blue girls. I loved that she put that dude to shame in the duel and she still stood up for the girls’ pride. It told me a lot about her as a person. No matter if she’s possessed or not, Asuka will always stand up for what she cares about.

Least favorite moment: Ok we’re taking it all the way back to Season 3 (Dark world arc) and Season 4 (Nightshroud arc), I just don’t like that scene where she also blamed Jaden for what happened. It just had a bad taste in my mouth ever since and then it’s worse in season 4 when she tried to confess her feelings to Jaden. It’s like worthless for her to do that when he doesn’t feel the same way. I feel like season 3 just almost destroyed her character for me.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them? Am I allowed to say this? Nevermind. F**k it. I fell in love with Asuka… so I’d marry her omg. Leave me alone. She’s everything I want. Her personality, her style, her voice, her dueling. It’s just makes my lesbian heart just explode. Alexis is a goddess.

And… done. Woo that was fun. Thanks for sending in a character for me to review, Pen. 🫶🏾