#serial killer vs. big boss

[gameo-archive]

"Dear George and Jayden, thank you so much for doing this. MistressCha sent me this question, which I loved. Between the two of you, who do you think could play the best villain in a film/show? Also, what type of villain would either of you like to play?"

Edited to add a transcript:

J: This cameo just in from Anke to MistressCha. We just want to say thank you so, so much for requesting this cameo, and we are super, super excited to be here to answer this incredible questions you all have. We are so overwhelmed by the love and support that the show has and we have as actors, so yeah, let's get into the questions. "Dear George and Jayden, thanks again for doing this." You are so very welcome, thank you for doing this. "MistressCha sent me this question, which I loved: Between the two of you, who do you think could play the best villain in a film/show. Also, what type of villain would either of you like to play?" G: Not best villain J: What do you mean? G: Which of us do we think is gonna be the best villain J: Let's say who would be the BETTER villain G: I think we can both be villains J: Yeah G: How do I see Jayden as a villain? J: Serial killer G: Well, Jayden is naturally very charming, so that actually... if we are gonna go down that narrative... something where like, you know... everyone thinks that Jayden is this really charming guy, but...not necessarily Jayden, but the character is this really charming guy... J: [whispering] "The character" G:...but behind closed doors, yeah, there's a much darker side I could see there J: I always imagine you being a super villain with loads of people working for you... G: [whispering] love that J: ...like you're right at the top of, like, the food chain, ordering people around, sat there at your desk, everyone is like shaking when they come in, like yeah G: Just typecasting, me sat at a desk, ordering people around J: Well I know you would be good at sat at a desk AND ordering people around, so G: I do like to be sat at a desk, I'll tell you that J: Also, "what type of villain would either of you like to play?" G: One that pays J: Just one that pays? I just wanna be one that can like transform into something, like I always go back to vampires and werewolves. So being like Dracula would be pretty cool G: I, as long as...I'll do anything. [Singing:] I do anything for you... J: I think he needs to be careful what he wishes for. Listen, MistressCha, we hope you were satisfied with that answer. Anke, thank you so much for, you know, being so generous as to ask somebody else's question. We hope you guys have the best rest of your year, happy holidays and happy new year. Take care, brush your hair, Garnier

This is the Gameoden I got for MistressCha (on Twitter). They wanted to know what kind of villain Jayden and George would like to play.

Link: https://www.cameo.com/recipient/6738c858beeb7ac3a8e7703f

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

My problem with Sallie May—a discussion of representation:

There’s been some discourse around Sallie May lately that’s gotten me thinking more about her. Not really as a character, but what her purpose is in the narrative and how she’s treated by the fandom and the show’s creators.

Sallie May is an interesting case study in representation without depth, and I wanted to talk a little more about what that means.

OPINION DISCLAIMER—I’m gonna be talking about how I personally view lgbtq+ and queer representation and what I consider to be well-rounded representation vs. empty or shallow representation.

Also. I am only one member of the queer community—I don’t speak for all lgbtq+ people, and I am DEFINITELY NOT trying to talk over other’s experiences. My opinions are my own, and if you agree with me, cool! And if you don’t agree with me, that’s great too!!

Also also. I don’t think I should have to say this but, this is NOT a personal attack on ANYONE involved w/i the production and creation of Helluva Boss. This is my own analysis, b/c I like to talk about media and the ways we interact with and interpret it.

So, with all of that out of the way, if you’re interested in my analysis, let’s talk about Sallie May!! (TLDR @ end of post)

First do want to make it clear that my issue is not actually with her like…existing. Or with her general characterization. Mostly because, even with Hell’s Belles, she still doesn’t really have a very strong characterization to begin with, and isn’t a fully-fleshed out character.

In her initial appearance she was a bit-character, bordering on just being a straight up background character. She had three lines in her debut (and to date, ONLY) appearance in the show proper.

Until Hell’s Belles we knew next to nothing about her other than that she likes violence and also that she has a neighborhood body count? Which. I don’t know if they were trying to imply that she’s a serial killer, I doubt that was the intent. Or maybe they were. I can’t know.

Regardless, I honestly believe they didn’t really think the implications of that writing decision through at all. There’s a very real and very harmful “trans serial killer/murderer” trope in media, and while the impact is definitely lessened by the vast majority of HB characters being violent murderers—it still feels weird having the only trans character we’ve seen at this point be literally INTRODUCED to the audience by the fact that she’s a murderer, and to then be given NO further information on her.

Luckily, we DID get more information about Sallie, even if it was still very little and surface level. In Hell’s Belles we learn that Sallie May and Millie used to be a lot closer, and that Sallie May felt left behind when Millie moved to the big city.

In the short, Sallie May expresses her frustration with having to pick up the slack around their family’s ranch, and that she’s been lonely without Millie there. Millie and Sally have a little heart to heart and are able to make up, and the short ends.

This is a nice little piece of backstory, and does give us slightly more insight into Sallie May and what her life is like, but because the episode is a short, we still really don’t get to know her as a person.

Like Millie, Sallie May doesn’t have any real depth. We only know starter information about her, like that she cares about her family, and that she’s violent.

But unlike Millie, Sallie May is a minor character. She has (at the time of my writing this) appeared in ONE episode of the actual show, and one short. She is a minor character, and the ONLY transgender character in the show with a name and lines.

So. Okay. Why does literally any of that matter??? Who cares if Sallie May is an under-developed minor background character??

Well, in my opinion, it matters because the show-runners frame and treat Sallie May as if she is a main character, without actually writing her—or any trans character for that matter—as a main character.

This really rubs me the wrong way, because it comes across as tokenism.

In my opinion since she was introduced, Sallie May has become a token transgender character—an excuse for the HB writers to not write or develop more transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse characters and stories, because they already have one.

I worry that, if anyone rightfully points out that HB is severely lacking in gender-diverse characters and storylines, the creators and fandom will point to Sallie May as “proof” that they do have representation.

If HB is as radically queer and LGBTQ+ friendly as it claims to be, why do we only have ONE named trans character in the show’s 5 years of existence?

Due to all of the above, I find I can’t agree with people who praise the show for its representation, because of how stunted it is. I just don’t think I, or anyone, should have to read sources outside of the narrative to learn important parts of a character’s identity.

I feel this very deeply as a lesbian and nonbinary person—I understand that most of the women characters in Helluva Boss are sapphic, but I ONLY know that because of the HB Pride Print that came out just this year. I have not actually gotten to SEE any of these character’s sexualities fully represented, and it’s because of this that I struggle to see myself represented in HB in any way.

I do need to clarify that what I am NOT SAYING is that no one can feel represented by Sallie May, or that if they do, they’ve been tricked somehow by writers into thinking they got more representation than they actually did.

Sallie May is a very popular character, and because of that I honestly would like to see more of her. I want to see more of her because she’s the only trans character on the show, and I want her to be properly developed.

I talked previously about how I enjoyed Hell’s Belles, but wished we had gotten to see more of Sallie and Millie’s relationship in the actual show. Their relationship has a lot of potential to show the unique ways in which siblings interact and navigate conflict, but we only got to see a few seconds of them interacting in Sallie’s debut. The short gives us an idea of what Sallie’s personality is like, but it’s so brief that I still don’t feel like we really KNOW her on a deeper level.

To me, three lines + one short with a brief backstory doesn’t feel like the sort of amazing representation that fans of the show laud Helluva Boss for.

As a series that often boasts about its queer and trans rep and inclusivity, I can’t help but feel like Sallie May should either have been a main character from the very beginning, or that she shouldn’t have been trotted out like some sort of bastion of trans representation, when the only indication she is trans is her horns/white roots.

And yes. As a genderqueer gay I KNOW that it can be extremely tiring to have all of our stories revolve around our struggles and ONLY be about being LGBTQ+. I also want to see a variety of stories about queer people like me going on adventures and getting to do things that don’t revolve around our struggles. But I also want to still actually see myself represented.

Not just know outside the story that, “oh that character is nonbinary, but it will not be mentioned in the narrative in any way and will not ever be important in the context of this character I’m supposed to see myself in.”

Madeline Maye talked about this specifically in her critique of Helluva Boss, and her pointing this out was kind of what made me realize that, yeah. Anyone watching Helluva Boss for the first time would probably have NO IDEA that Sallie Mae is a transgender woman.

It also made me realize that the only reason I knew that Sallie May was trans was because her VA, Morgana Ignis, who is also a trans woman, tweeted about it, and the official Helluva Boss Twitter retweeted it.

The original tweet is hidden now (Ignis has since left Twitter—idk why, I genuinely hope it wasn’t due to harassment—that’s never okay) but I was able to confirm that this was the case based on the HB wiki, and the official HB’s retweet still being up:

The only confirmation we’ve ever had that Sallie May is transgender has been outside of the show—either from social media Q&As and the show’s wiki or merch—

Sallie May has a LOT of merch. Like a lot, this isn’t even all of it. And yes, SOME of the merch is from the recently released “Hell’s Belles” short, but the vast majority of it is from the 3 years since her initial introduction.

The vast majority of it is also highly sexualized, and highlights Sallie’s penis through her swimsuit. Now, I’m aware that Morgana Ignis requested this, and I honestly don’t have too much of an opinion on it. I’m not a trans woman, and I’ve seen multiple opinions from trans women on this design choice for Sally’s merch. I’ve seen some trans women say that they liked and felt represented by this choice, and some say that they felt objectified and that it made them dysphoric. This is one of those situations where I don’t think everyone can be pleased—like I said at the beginning of this post, LGBTQ+ people are as diverse in their opinions as we are in our identities and self-expression, and I think everyone’s feelings regarding Sallie’s portrayals in the merch are valid.

I bring it up because, other than the wiki explaining that Sallie May has “male horns”, this is the only other way to confirm that Sally is trans, as it is never acknowledged in the story. I bring it up because I don’t think merch should be the only way an LGBTQ character’s identity is validated.

I assume that all of Sallie Mae’s merch is because of her popularity, but I also can’t help but wonder if this has contributed to the impression that Sallie is a main character, when, in the narrative so far, she is still a minor one.

I don’t believe that when she was originally created to be a “token trans” character, but since her introduction, there have not been any main characters that are transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer.

We’ve only had one other trans character with a speaking role—this imp:

Who is FTM. He seems to know Blitz from a while back, and talks Blitz into staying at the party. Then he watches him drunkenly make out with random people with another (I assume) trans imp who is probably MTF:

(Also—as an aside, this scene kinda bothers me?? I don’t THINK this was the intention at all, but having a VERY CLEARLY drunk off of his ass Blitz, who can’t meaningfully consent at this time, being watched, and almost like…leered at by two of the only visibly trans characters in the show…it feels gross. Like why are two of the only other confirmed trans characters voyeuristically watching a drunk man who can’t consent making out? It would be one thing if we had a story full of different trans characters who acted in all sorts of different ways, but at this time these two are 2/3rds of the show’s ENTIRE trans rep. With the other 1/3rd being introduced to us as a serial killer. Like. Guys. What is it that you’re trying to say?)

Apparently Sallie May’s VA has stated the below on Social Media, and stated that there’s a lot more coming for Sallie May in the future. And that’s great!!! I really really want to believe that.

But I look at the above and can’t help but wonder…if this is the case, why did it take three years for her to get another appearance? In just a short? Why wasn’t she given more focus and importance from the very beginning, in her introductory episode? If her original appearance wasn’t representative of her and Millie’s relationship then why did they even write it that way???

I want to believe all of the above—that Sallie May actually WILL get to become a main character. But I look at the way she’s been barely portrayed, and the way that she’s basically been used to just sell merch, and it makes me sad.

I would love to see more of her, more of any trans characters that aren’t 2 second background characters, but I honestly have a hard time believing we ever will when the episodes take as long as the do to come out, and the when the episodes focus so heavily on shipping pre-existing pairings.

As a lesbian, I would love to see Sallie May get a girlfriend, but given Spindlehorse’s track record with lackluster sapphic pairings and representation, I don’t have much hope of seeing that either.

I just. If you managed to get all the way through this heinously long post, thank you for reading. If you didn’t, that’s very fair (lol) and I’ve got the tldr for you here—

TLDR:

—My issue with Sallie May is not actually with Sallie May at all. It’s with the fact that we don’t get enough of Sallie May, or any trans characters, for that matter.

—You can, of course, feel represented by any character, but I think it’s important to ask yourself how you are being represented, and if you are actually being represented.

—Not every queer/trans/lgbt story has to explicitly be about being queer. The stories in which we are represented should be as diverse and vibrant as all the members of our community. But, I still want to actually be able to tell and to see that the characters are lgbtq+. If a character is a lesbian or sapphic, I want to see her show an interest in other women. If a character is transgender I want to see that acknowledged by the narrative, whether it’s the character mentioning their transition or just saying they’re trans. I want to SEE myself and other queer identities. Not just know that they’re there.

[all-souls-matinee]

Quick-bite reviews: The Night Flier (1997) dir. Mark Pavia

Asshole, alcoholic, good-at-his-job tabloid reporter Richard Dees (Miguel Ferrer) is tasked with investigating a serial killer who flies a matte black Cessna and drains the blood of his victims. Dees' boss is eager to market the guy as a vampire, but Dees doesn't believe in the stories he covers. He just gets them at any cost.

This is a 90s HBO movie based on a Stephen King short story of the same name, and it feels it. Too drawn out for its goofy premise, with pacing calculated around the audience getting up for snacks approximately nine different times, many old Mainers telling stories within a story, and many more groaner lines of dialogue that must've come straight from King. The climatic 'battle' is the worst part of the film rather than the most exciting, and production decisions are consistently bad and weird. I'm front-loading the negatives here to say I understand why this is not a well-regarded movie, but I think it's one of the greatest vampire movies ever made.

I love that the titular Night Flier isn't just a 90s TV vampire, this is a dracula that adheres to all of the most interesting dracula rules And Then Some (I screamed in delighted disgust at least twice.) If you can avoid being spoiled* on the big reveal his vampire form owns, and I think the dog scene is genuinely frightening; hints at things to come in a surprising way for a very unsubtle movie. The plot is all about 'vampire vs Dees,' so 'bright-eyed rookie coworker vs Dees' feels a little half-baked and tacked on, but I like their characters and I really like what it ultimately does for the story. The scenes that bookend the climax with Night Flier and Coworker respectively? Flawless. The thing I liked most about this movie was, surprisingly, the way it looks. I think it's really well-shot and there's a lot of interesting stuff going on with bodies and environments. Americans kind of stopped shooting TV in the style of The X-Files or Sex and the City because that look is more melodramatic than 'real,' but here it works in favor of the plot, and coupled with film language starts to feel like more than the sum of its parts. The flashbacks pull off a format that was never intended for film with good framing, editing, and acting alone (special shoutout to John Bennes, a character actor who seemingly only ever played weird old men he KILLS IT as the first guy Dees interviews), and Dees' state of mind is always clear even when the movie isn't. I suspect part of the reason The Night Flier flopped is because it has an insane tone problem, torn between 'extremely lonesome and gruesome' and 'silly,' but it looks great doing it.

Buy a ticket? Night flyyy with me let's night flyyy night flyyy away~

[just-jae]

Hazbin Hotel 7-8 (Spoil McNoil)

Hazbin Hotel is indeed not an action show.

But at least they tried to have some action.

Should they have tried tho?

(I'm gonna start out ripping, but, I don't hate this show, it's actually pretty funny that does some things super well but then just bumble fucks other big moments)

I mean, here's the thing, they're great at street fights, apparently. Vaggie vs Lute was pretty brutal, I felt like I was watching two bird tear eachother apart. Like a scene out of Gardians of Ga'Hoole.

But the ninja anime fantasy, martial arts type stuff was pretty weak, and didn't really track as something the characters would utilize. Like, Alastor is a cannibalistic voodoo serial killer from 1930's New Orleans. And twice before we've seen Alastor grow and contort to intimidate, kill, etc. But he doesn't do any of that against Adam except for that one aesthetic moment. Instead it's got generic "Tentril powers, GO!" vibes. Husker and Charlie also have this problem. Why is an American Gambler using cards like ninja stars? He can fly dude-- or, can he?

Can Husker fly?

And Charlie- like, she has a sheild, but she can only really use it to protect herself :/ Like, girl, just go inside.

Lucy beating the shit out of Adam was cut so short, Like, 2 secs and 4 punches b4 Charlie goes "DAD STOP ITS TOO MUCH"-- no, let Lucy COOK; I think it would have actually been an interesting point to make on how the reason Lucifer gives for discouraging the Hotel is sinner's being "The Worst", yet here he is clearly having a fit of violence (an understandable one but, Charlie, who's never even been to heaven except for a bs court hearing, has to remind a high-ranking angel to have mercy.) Charlie, razz and Dazz transforming didn't really do anything-- it actually felt more like a game of thrones reference, which would be fine if Razz or Dazz DID anything except die. They also didn't explain Carmilla's motive for helping them well. Like, neat entrance, but the build ups to the pay offs didn't exist :,O

And the voice acting: These guys are great singers, but the noises they make when they get hit, their mid-battle dialogue, is so corny and tonally off for certain characters. Like, Alastor and Charlie's yells in particular are- pardon my accent but cringe af.

Charlie in particular has so many anti-climatic moments. If they meant for her to not be particularly good at fighting, maybe establish that and not have all these super dramatic badass magical girl moments that just lead to her getting dunked on. It was so anticlimactic jeezuz christ.

And really it's more about picking a tone, the anti climactic moments could have been funny if they framed it as a funny moment or a joke, but it's framed seriously so it's read seriously.

But, who doesn't bumble fuck around how to end something though. I've read some juicy, golden touch stories that really freaked out on the gas and steering at the end. So, this isn't anything uncommon, especially for relatively new creators.

They have flaws, who doesn't. I loved so much about this show even when my first impression going in was just cringing at it not being what I expected. This is a critique of love, guys, I genuine wish the best for this show, bc it's apparent that when Viv has the freedom and breathing room she needs to plan and pace, she can cook up a good ass goddamned meal (See: Helluva Boss, Season one). This was them crunching and smushing a ton of story and moments into too-few episodes, which, looking back could have been done better, but its easy to see how something can be better once it's done and out in the world. (See: literally any amature artist 2 seconds after posting their work)

The season finale ended with so many good set ups tho! :D

Lilith vacaying in heaven, having made a deal with Adam.

Alastor becoming desperate for a way out, having made deals with Vaggie and Charlie-- And far more explicitly there against his will. Also--is a future antagonist?

Yes PLEASE. I love that they showed Al loosing his shit through his eyes even with the smile he's always wearing. And they built this up before hand having him talk previously about wearing a smile, basically as a mask.

PENTIOUS

YOU REDEEMED FU-

(I was actually cringing at Pentious the entire time inep 8, I'm sorry but he's so hard to take seriously-- even his "death" was funny as hell. I love him but its like how someone loves a clumsy puppy that destroys your house without neither malice nor remorse)

Also: The exorcists switching leaders- I am wondering how things are gonna change with them, especially given how much more sadistic and violent Lute is. Like, Adam just liked laughing at sinners. He saw them as insults to his existance, his mini-me hates and seems like she just enjoys violence and malice, using ego and "they deserve it" narratives as an excuse to indulge in acts that ordinarily would lan someone in hell.

Overall-- Not the best season finale I've ever seen, execution-wise through these 8 episodes (like, Vaggie got her wings learning to fight for love, but she's been doing nothing but supporting and protecting Charlie this whole time. There was no hint that she was bitter or wanted revenge). They definitely needed to pace and build things better but there's so much to love. Like, Seeing Alastor in his element with Rosie and Nifty was so fun, even if they were small moments (his laugh is so stiff tho, c'mon Al.)

The finale did a good job setting up the future, but I don't have much more to say than that. Hopefully, now that they know they're getting a second season, they'll just, breathe on this one a bit more ya?

I'm glad I watched it, I cried, I laughed, I cringed, I yelled at Pentious for subjecting me to second hand embarrassment. It's great :,D

Also- I hope he doesn't read this and takes it the wrong way, but Vox reminds me of my brother-- Especially with the scenes where he's watching the battle :,D

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Resurrect Bracket (Losers Bracket) Side B

ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to [make it to the finals]

Propaganda below ⬇️

Amon

Being catholic is literally the only thing he allowed himself to keep that he got from his father (who was a priest who turned out to be cannibal feasting on children in the orphanage he built). Anyone else would go 'the person who taught me this never lived by this and was using it as a cover, there is no reason for me to believe in it anymore' but this madlad decided it's go big or go home (and he just lost his home ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and hold to it as if his life depended on it (which totaly doesn't represent how conflicted he really feels about his father despite the superficial hate, no sir, not at all, why would you even think that). His cross necklace was a plot point at other character's moral turnabout, his weapon takes a form of a cross, he talks about God when fighting etc. On a lighter note, he once spent all night doing pushups to stop feeling horny about his coworker. What a loser <3

Literally so catholic he cannot fuck he was in the same room as a woman and felt so guilty about being attracted to her he did push ups all night

He's such a catholic himbo he did push ups for 9 hours to distract himself because had a singular horny thought. I'm not even joking, that's canon

He's like if the antichrist made him catholic and he didn't find out until later

This idiot has the general disposition of a communion wafer.

Orphan raised by a serial killer catholic priest that I'll submit in a second. The priest killed and ate (he's a ghoul) the kids in the orphanage and it's even implied he fed the other kids the flesh of the killed kids like hello eucharistic parallel??? He did not kill Koutarou tho bc he loved him like a real son. 15 years after his father's been caught and thrown in ghoul prison and Amon's become a ghoul cop, Amon still wears the cross he had when in the orphanage *puppy eye emoji* also!! His weapon's ultimate form was a giant cross sword made from a part of himself (he became a ghoul at some point in the story). He used it to kill his dad (he failed bc it wasn't his dad's real body but kudos for trying)

I mean homie was raised by a potentially *censored* human eating priest so that’s. Something.

Justin

he's soo. idk how to describe him. he never takes out his earbuds (which are constantly blasting music), he's killed at least 99 (probably more) monsters by the age of 17, he thinks his boss is god, he dresses like a catholic priest. the autistic homophobic gay guy ever

He is a priest who can turn into a guillotine. Has killed at least a hundred people. He constantly wears headphones that play non stop death metal music at max volume claiming that doing so helps him hear the voice of God causing him to shout when talking so he can hear what he's saying and people have to repeteadly signal him to take them off so they can talk to him and when that inevitably fails knock the off. He eventually betrays the good guys after going crazy and allies himself with a demon who wants to take over the world. After beign damaged by a magic sun ray the left half of his faces becomes perpetually engulfed in flames.

[obstinaterixatrix]

so because alicia really likes it I’m watching a kdrama called psychopath diary which is, as per the title, Very Not With It in terms of language and sensitivity (though part of it could be attributed to the loanword aspect) and once you calibrate to that level. it’s really funny. this hapless low level analyst stock broker guy is set up to take the fall for a scandal and is driven to the point of almost dying by suicide, EXCEPT, he ends up witnessing a serial killer trying to kill a homeless guy, gets scared, runs away, gets hit by a cop car, and gets amnesia. but before he ran away, the homeless guy throws the serial killer’s diary towards the analyst, so the analyst reads it and goes like OH NO I’M A SERIAL KILLER!!! and he waffles back and forth on it but there’s JUST enough that coincidentally matches with the serial killer’s life, like having a sister who’s married, a stepmother, a younger half brother, and a father with the nickname ‘president’ (because he was president of the neighborhood hiking club). so the analyst is in this weird place of going like MY SICK AND TWISTED MIND… MY DARK AND EVIL HEART whenever he’s getting power-harassed by his boss and feels mad about it. plus he’s a big horror fan so sometimes he just, like, lifts monologues/information from his horror collection for his posturing. it’s really funny so far. I definitely wouldn’t be able to watch it alone because I’d get too sad about the serial killer’s victims (dude he killed a grandma what a pathetic loser) but apparently next ep the analyst and serial killer meet. I actually do like it when it takes a little time for the leads of a show to interact, feels like there’s more build up & a chance to see a bit more of them before vs after.

[moran-with-a-g]

[image id: a twitter screenshot of a post by Kumi (@/Kumistarr). The post reads "DNI list" with a pondering emoji and a screenshot of a long list of franchises.

A reply from the user sonata: randomly zoom in on one and that's the universe you'll be reborn in when you die.

The list of franchises in the screenshot is as follows:

FNAF, Dandy's World, Sprunki, Warrior Cats, Wings of Fire, voltron, Kipo: the age of wonderbeasts, My Little Pony, My Hero Academia, Sanrio, Demon Slayer, Bendy and the Ink Machine, poppy playtime, Yandere simulator, Mouthwashing, Minecraft, Hollow Knight, A Hat in Time, Detroit: Become Human, Borderlands, the promised netherlands, bleach, oyasumi punpun, rick and morty, dont hug me im scared, love is war, asobi asobase, Bee and Puppycat, Sekai Project, Vocaloid, Bones, Dress to Impress, Kirby, Heathers, Miraculous Ladybug, Danganronpa, Object Show Community, Total Drama Island, Disventure Camp, Brawl Stars, DSMP, cartoon cat, strawberry shortcake, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Touhou Project, Serial Experiments Lain, Super Mario, Pokemon, Regretevator, Webfishing, madoka magica, Arcane, Jujitsu Kaisen, Stardew valley, murder drones, Dandadan, Death Note, how fish is made, marvel, DC superhero's, hunter x hunter, Attack on titan, amphibia, owl house, star vs the forces of evil, gravity falls, sailor moon, South Park fans, country ball, omori, Hamilton, k-pop stans, wolf 359, Azumanga daioh, Nichijou, cookie run kingdom, bungou stray dogs, sonic, bluey, Hazbin hotel, helluva boss, Alien stage, Haikyuu, undertale, deltarune, sims 4, rainworld, Celeste, turning red, genshin impact, honkai starrail, zenless zone zero, mr beast, baba is you, Amazing digital circus, v-tuber, roblox, Naruto, spy family, smiling friends, plants vs zombies, Persona 5, Identity V, Lion King, One piece, Home Stuck, furries, villainous, parappa, ace attorney, doki doki literature club, needy streamer overload, creepypasta, song of saya, romantic killer, ranma, chainsaw man, higurashi when the cry, elden ring, red dead redemption, yakuza, Harry Potter, Hungergames, twilight, game of thrones, sherklock Holmes, bambi, yuri on ice, Doctor who, invader zim, Star Wars, SpongeBob, Steven universe, amazing world of gumball, adventure time, mega man, portal, avatar: the last airbender, other avatar with the blue guys, over the garden wall, jojo's bizzare adventure, spooky's jumpscare mansion, super smash bros, The Last of Us, Life is Strange, little witch academia, valorant, overwatch, wonder egg, Ergo proxy, perfect blue, Haibane Renmei, cowboy bebop, land of the lustrous, league of legends, goat simulator, dragon ball, night in the woods, little nightmares, terraria, disco elysium, binding of issac, cuphead, baldi's basic, shovel knight, dont starve, cult of the lamb, fear and hunger, lackadaisy, fundamental paper education, dogman, many Disney princess movie, you and me and her, class of 09, ghost stories, SMG fans, tom and jerry, Garfield, simpsons, family guy, GTA, yume nikki, in stars and time, garten of banban, Skibidi toilet, kintopet, Amanda the adventurer, balatro, fortnite, call of duty, just shapes and beats, block blast, fall guys, among us, half life, the dance of fire and ice, ENA, Until Dawn, candy crush, resident evil, The Quarry, Bocchi the rock, walking dead, phasmaphobia, animal crossing, silent hill, world of horror, cooking mama, geometry dash, incredibox, crossy road, Tetris and Puyo puyo tetris, bob's burgers, subway surfers, spider man, disenchantment, futurama, dead end: paranormal park, big mouth, paw patrol, inside job, ghibli studio, beyblade, how to train your dragon, slay the princess, minions, outlast trials, Taylor swift, cookie run ovenbreak or actually any game from them, fever, spider man, yu gi oh, black clover, from me to you, miss kobayashi dragon maid, Saiki K, school babysitters, Ouran host club, sound of the sky, Welcome to the NHK, Cardcaptor Sakura, wicked, Barbie, mean girls, legally blonde

/.End id]

why is legally blonde here

[theteethofgod]

Week One of Random Horror.

Stream of consciousness reviews below (heavy spoilers)

Insidious: Chapter 2.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/3

Typical that our first spin would land us on a sequel - luckily I watched the first one all the time as a kid so I’m pretty familiar with both plot and characters.

I’ve got to be honest, the majority of my enjoyment of this film came both from how damn good it looks and its commitment to being a Ghost Story™️. The lighting is wonderful, especially for a Blumhouse horror which typically either under light or simply take no creative direction with it whatsoever.

Narratively it’s above average. I am a sucker for a sequel that expertly fills in the gaps from the original and the scenes of Josh in the Further recontextualised without really uprooting some of the best sequences from the first film. Also a big fan of the comic relief of the two idiot ghost hunters trying to contact their dead boss via haunted dice - honestly kinda giving Shakespearean comedy in some places.

Despite some strong scares early on and a very clear love for its neo-gothic aesthetics the film falls flat in the third act. I remember a lot of discourse around whether or not a cross dressing serial killer is transphobic but honestly the bigger crime here is that they do nothing with him. I appreciate the attempt at the twist that the ghost isn’t actually “evil” just desperate to relive a stolen childhood but nothing interesting was done with it and it did feel like the film decided that it was time that you understood that and dropped everything else in favour of conveying this singular idea.

Was it scary? No

Was it fun? Yeah.

Would I recommend? Watch the first one, if you like it keep going.

The Blob (1988 Remake)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

The fact that I have gone my entire life without seeing this is outrageous. I believe that I naively dismissed it due to the ridiculous title (I have never seen the original either). Turns out that this is a properly nasty film. Characters are introduced, fleshed out, made funny, gentle, awful, or just irritating and then all are dissolved in a screaming, writhing mess of stunning practical effects. This film has no regard for horror conventions when it comes to violence: children are dissolved on screen and the sheriff off - his acid eaten body floating past the woman he was on his way to rescue in her final moments.

I can only assume that the twist would have been even more effective had I seen the original - the “alien” turning out to be a US government biological warfare experiment feels uniquely post-Vietnam. Even without the impact of the original story being subverted, it was a great reveal that breathed some brand new tension into a second half that could have fallen flat once the blob had used all his tricks (there’s only so much “oh no he’s on the ceiling” a film can make fun).

Was it scary? Kinda.

Was it fun? Fuck yes.

Would I recommend? Yes absolutely it is on youtube go watch it.

Bone Tomahawk

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I literally watched this film for the first time like a week ago so of course it would come up immediately.

I don’t know why but the first time I watched this I was absolutely convinced it was a lot older than it is. Maybe it was the first kill where they just bash a totally stiff mannequin around. Maybe it was because I just don’t associate the 2010s with 2 hour long horror western hybrids. Either way, this film is a lot of fun. I’ve read plenty of debate around whether or not it qualifies as a horror film but I think these people are too caught up in base aesthetics. Monsters come to town and kidnap the doctor, a cowboy, the sheriff and his deputy (who defo have something going on, it can’t just be me), and a sketchy outsider must hunt them down and get her back. The film uses the classic western formula but supplements the Cowboys vs Indians model for Cowboys vs Other, whilst maintaining the native presence as kind of mediators - aware of both sides and choosing, fairly, to say fuck that we’re not getting involved.

That’s not to say it’s some kind of radical colonial horror. Instead I think this was simply included to acknowledge the issues of writing a genre that inherently requires the Other in a period of genocide and displacement.

Mannequin kill aside, the gore is fantastic. There’s one scene in particular that is just absolutely sickeningly brutal and I loved it so much.

Not all that much to say about this one - it’s a slow burn character drama against the backdrop of western horror. It’s fun it’s gross there’s cowboys.

Is it scary? No

Is it fun? Yes

Would I recommend? Yes!

The Omen

⭐️⭐️1/2

Full disclosure: I have tried to watch this film many times and this was the only time I managed. Nothing about this really resonates with me. There’s two main subgenres of horror that never really move me, religious and children/family. I was raised not only atheist but completely removed from any form of religion, genuinely believing that Jesus was kinda like santa in the sense that it’s something you tell kids to make christmas more fun. The idea that people genuinely believe in souls and hell and the like is something that I really struggle to empathise with, no matter how much I’ve tried. I also can’t think of anything worse than being married with kids so the whole Desecration Of The Nuclear Family also falls totally flat. Luckily for me this film combines the two and then goes on for all of time. Damien is not threatening, his nurse is not threatening, the dogs are not threatening. The baboons were kind of scary but not exactly the antagonist.

The priest and photographer both had insanely good deaths - the latter felt a little cheapened by how impressed the film seemed to be with it, but good all the same. The graveyard scene was beautifully lit and I was briefly engaged when he got his arm impaled on the fence.

I don’t like this one. It’s boring and I have nothing to say about it. I hope I never have to watch it again.

Is it scary? No

Is it fun? No

Would I recommend? No.

Hatchet

⭐️

I hate this fucking movie. Perhaps unfairly, but hear me out. 2000s horror is perhaps one of the most cohesive periods in the genres history. The post-9/11 practical effects torture porn dirty warehouses rusty metal and that awful brown/green diseased colour scheme that feels like it infects everything it touches. Controversially I do not attribute this to the classic Saw -> Hostel -> Worthless Derivative Imitators that every History Of Horror book will. Instead I think that we do not pay enough attention to the 2003 Texas Chainsaw remake. Tobe Hooper’s OG commentary on the meat industry finds new thematic relevance in the wake of mass loss of life - especially an event such as 9/11 which saw people trapped amongst the dying and the dead, knowing it was only a matter of time. What is that if not the experience of the slaughterhouse. “Torture porn” (which is a whole discussion in itself) was not about the act of killing, it was about the knowledge that you will die. Combine this genuinely compelling emotional foundation with some of the most ridiculous chinese-whisper warped tropes from the classics (sex being thematically important -> some of the horniest shit you’ve seen in your life, for example) and you get the weird offputting hybrid of the schlocky and the cliche with the genuine zeitgeist of the destruction of the body and sudden outbursts of violence.

How the FUCK do you fail at parodying that. By the time Hatchet came around (2006) these themes had become so codified that if you ask anyone about horror, even now in our “elevated” era, they’ll probably default to describing them (aside from maybe the classics, but that’s a given). Hatchet fails to nail down a single piece of commentary on the genre aside from “sexualised girls” (who incidentally are the funniest part of the film for this exact reason). The villain is cool looking and the practical effects are genuinely outstanding but for a horror comedy that consistently seems desperate to reflect on itself it ends up creating nothing more than a below average replication of the genre with perhaps one or two jokes funnier than your average bottom tier slasher. The whole time I just wished I was watching Scary Movie.

Was it scary? No

Was it fun? No

Would I recommend? No

[landlordrecords]

Films, Films, (TV), Films

The last year has seen all sorts of upset & moving around for me, so (after a strong start to 2023), I haven't watched half as much film & TV stuff as I did in the coupla years previous. However, I'm still chipping away at my Great Lifetime Film Catch-Up list (to be followed by similar for books), with the assistance of streaming location finder JustWatch and, in the last year or so, the insanely good Cully's World of Blackpool, which reputedly holds 100,000 DVDs, generally priced at four for a fiver. As previously, I hadn't seen them unless I say so below.

Eyes Wide Shut (After all the Greatest Ever Vs Total Rubbish, turns out to be a solid bit of stuff, sort of stayed with me a bit without being as full of portent as some seemed to have suggested)

Knives Out (greatly enjoyed this with the missus)

The Watcher (TV series - we also quite enjoyed this)

Charade (Not quite as amazeballs as all the Hitchcock-He-Never-Made press, but well worth a watch)

Dynamite Chicken (tenuously Richard Pryor-connected DVD that had been sat around for about 15 years with me never quite getting to it...quite good in the end, one of those 60s mash-up thingies, all sorts of clips splurged out in a row)

Seven Of One (Ronnie Barker 70s pilots series, from which sprang Open All Hours & Porridge - very good, enough so that I soon after chewed through the first series of Open All Hours, and greatly enjoyed it)

Gregory's Girl (quite good...I wouldn't rush to see it)

Rocky (had started & stopped this previously, due to the mumbliness, but glad I eventually persevered, top movie!)

Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer (after the fuss had long died down...quite good)

Shaolin Drunkard (great fun...& the Wu-issued DVD actually had a significant amount of decent clips from other related stuff as well, good package)

Stark Raving Mad (rave-heist mash-up DVD that had sat around, again, for about 15 years...Alright! Can't have been too bad, cos a bunch of that pile went straight into my swaps pile in the end)

Gangland (bonkers so-bad-it's-good one with minor Ice T role)

Glass Onion (see Knives Out)

Collateral (decent blockbuster)

Dark Knight Rises (I had to remind myself which one this was...Not at all bad though)

Never Been Kissed (this was just on the telly, but I did actually enjoy it quite a bit in the end!)

Big Momma's House (continuing my soft spot for extremely stoopid comedies...Not quite as much laughing as at White Chicks, but still pretty darn funny in part, provided you leave your brain at home)

Angels With Dirty Faces (solid super-retro classic)

Batman Vs Superman (Yes, quite Crash-Bang-Whallop, but not as bad as people had said, I thought)

Black Bird (TV series - we thought this was really good)

The Chumscrubber (another from the ancient DVD mop-up pile...Again, I did watch it, so it must've been alright on some level, but not a great movie, lots of bad stylistic choices)

Art School Confidential (I couldn't quite remember if I watched all of this originally, so returned to it, & laughed like a drain, great fun)

Shottas (a bit low rent, but a bit different if you like action movies, being genuinely Jamaican-themed)

Fist of the Vampire (a so-bad... one...I did doze off a bit in the middle, but pretty insane, yeah)

The Public Enemy (another super-retro gangster classic)

The Hurt Locker (bit laddish for me really, but very well-done)

The Artist (boss)

The Chaser (Korean action thingie - good stuff, pretty tense)

Spellbound (on the second or third go...pretty good)

Napoleon Dynamite (I gave up on this after a while at first, cos the guy is so unsympathetic, but I guess that's the point...Lots of very funny bits, if you haven't seen it, & pleasantly surreal in a small way)

Blue Remembered Hills (Would have doubtless had more impact at the time. Having known the conceit for decades, it just seemed OKish at this point)

More of Dekalog

Escape Plan (pretty good fun)

A load of shorts by that Cornish guy

Wicker Man director's cut

Dirty Harry (solid classic)

Blood Simple (on the second go - a bit low rent compared to their later ones, but good plot etc)

Raging Bull (I tried the stream & the DVD & still thought the pic was shady, so picked up a Blu Ray cheap in the end, my first, thought it deserved it. Obviously a very good film but not much up my street apart from the peerless boxing ring scenes)

Woman Of Tokyo (super-retro Ozu bit...not as good as the later stuff but worth a look)

The People Just Do Nothing film (we were actually surprised how good this was for a broad Brit comedy film)

Elephant (1989) (absolutely excellent, seems a bit forgotten, glad I tracked it down)

Samurai Cop (probably fairly well as good as people say, in terms of so-bad... ones, although I'd seen so many by the time I finally saw it that it didn't have quite the impact expected)

To Catch A Thief (not bad)

The Asphalt Jungle (this is really good)

Detour (OMG, SEE THIS! The main print kicking around is nearly unwatchable, but I read there was a Criterion or whatever one where they had blended that with a much better print, just to fill in losses, and it is SO much better, & the film is thus revealed to be as good as all the cineastes say. Famously Poverty Row stuff, yet transcending that - storyline is good, actors great for the roles, and...it is all of about an hour & 10 & yet fits tons in. Highly recommended)

Stranger Than Paradise (I'm glad I watched it but I'm starting to realise I'm a bit pickier with which Jarmusch ones I like than I originally thought)

The Bat (another that had sat around on a DVD for years - no classic, but worth a watch, quite nice eerie atmosphere)

Death Wish (really good, I thought!)

School Daze (I got through half of this years ago & had to stop it, with an enormous eyeroll...I felt I had to finish it this time, & tbf I was kinda half-watching it while doing something else, but...I actually quite enjoyed it this time! Weird!)

Sunset Blvd (obvs a classic)

The Crazies (70s OG, not bad considering how low rent it is).

That was Jan/Feb last year...then my Dad had a stroke...Didn't even watch any more til end of March...Friday The 13th (OG...kinda does the job, doesn't it, despite not being very original)

Death Wish 2 (surprisingly not a total disaster after the first)

The Bay season 4 (fairly well dug in with these now, with the missus, set just up the coast)

Bullitt (super stylish)

Junebug (picked it up for Will Oldham, who is barely in it...I thought this was pretty darn good, very different, off-beat stuff)

3 Colours Blue

3 Colours White (realised I had seen White before. Obvs both classics)

Nil By Mouth (I was slightly terrified of watching this, owing to the strength of clips I've seen, but it is all justified in the context of the film, which is a corker, really convincing slice of life, well recommended)

The Honeymoon Killers (sleazoid!)

Rust Never Sleeps

Hukkle (obscure little Hungarian offering I stumbled across...DVD pic is quite poor quality, but great little film, very distinctive)

Get Out (very good)

Yojimbo (classic)

The Pledge (probably not regarded very well or whatever, but I liked it)

Birth Of A Nation (long - had started it sometime before & didn't rewatch that portion, then sorta did other stuff through portions of the rest. We all know the score - deeply controversial but massively important, off the list now!)

This Is Spinal Tap (thought it was time for a rewatch, still extremely funny)

White Chicks (rewatch - same)

Bodies Bodies Bodies (no classic, but very watchable)

Who Killed Captain Alex (rewatch)

Under the Ice (Henry Kaiser rewatch, still beautiful)

The Witch of King's Cross (doc, about some freaky-deaky Aussie woman, good stuff)

Love In the City (intellectual chore)

Meet the Parents (rewatch, umpteen time)

Step Brothers (same, White Chicks down all while a friend staying over at the start of June)

The 6th Commandment (TV series, think everyone watched this)

The Tower (TV series - quite good)

A quite good BBC grime documentary

A really interesting documentary about an ancient Yank crossdressing resort called Casa Susanna

80. Still Life (very good stuff)

81. Inside Man (Lee - rewatch - start of a small season of rewatching ones you are 'meant' to see more than once)

82. Usual Suspects (rewatch)

83. Memento (rewatch)

84. National Treasure (TV series - been meaning to watch this for years, pretty good)

85. The Ladykillers (OG - I don't think I've seen any of these before, should probably watch more)

86. That Steve Coogan Savile TV series, & the Netflix doc (seedy)

87. Psycho (OG - finally!! Very good, of course, & starting a brief season of films reffing the Psycho shower scene)

88. Friday The 13th 2

89. Aerobicide (superior so-bad... movie)

90. Scream (season ends)

91. Astrid (TV series - joyous)

92. Everything Everywhere... (these multiverse things are all somewhat gimmicky, but pretty great to look at)

93. Movie Hoarders (decent enough doc)

94. Vatican Girl (TV series - pretty good)

95. Dahmer (Netflix series - again, pretty good)

96. The Night Agent (TV series - same again)

97. Easy Come Easy Go (lesser-known Elvis film,watched with Diehard Elvis fan My Dad)

98. Death In Paradise catch-up (sorry not sorry)

99. Vera catch-up

100. Ban the Sadist Videos! (good - if dated - video nasty doc)

101. Still Tickin (similar Clockwork Orange doc, from the DVD)

102. Old School (had to eventually watch, as I really like Will Ferrell...not the best one to feature him, but very watchable)

103. Anchorman (second try...some laugh out loud moments, but again not one of my favourite Ferrell Man-Baby ones)

104. Spider Verse 2 thingie (see Everything Everywhere...)

105. The Pez Outlaw (highly entertaining doc on something I was almost totally unaware of)

106. Widows (superior heist shizzle from McQueen, great cast)

107. Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (decent enough doc)

108. Blood & Flesh (quite interesting Al Adamson doc)

109. Anatomy Of A Fall (extremely well-made)

[finns-fandom-blog]

for anyone who is also having a bit of trouble reading all of this because that text is wildly small:

FNAF, Dandy’s World, Sprunki, Warrior Cats, Wings of Fire, voltron, Kipo: the age of wonderbeasts, My Little Pony, My Hero Academia, Sanrio, Demon Slayer, Bendy and the Ink Machine, poppy playtime, Yandere simulator, Mouthwashing, Minecraft, Hollow Knight, A Hat in Time, Detroit: Become Human, Borderlands, the promised netherlands, bleach, oyasumi punpun, rick and morty, don’t hug me I'm scared, love is war, asobi asobase, Bee and Puppycat, Sekai Project, Vocaloid, Bones, Dress to Impress, Kirby, Heathers, Miraculous Ladybug, Danganronpa, Object Show Community, Total Drama Island, Disventure Camp, Brawl Stars, DSMP, cartoon cat, strawberry shortcake, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Touhou Project, Serial Experiments Lain, Super Mario, Pokemon, Regretevator, Webfishing, madoka majica, Arcane, jiujutsu kaisen, Stardew valley, murder drones, Dandadan, Death Note, how fish is made, marvel, DC superhero’s, hunter x hunter, Attack on Titan, amphibia, owl house, star vs the forces of evil, gravity falls, sailor moon, South Park fans, country ball, omori, Hamilton, k-pop stans, wolf 359, Azumanga daioh, Nichijou, cookie run kingdom, bungou stray dogs, sonic, bluey, Hazbin hotel, helluva boss, Alien stage, Haikyuu, undertale, deltarune, sims 4, rainworld, Celeste, turning red, genshin impact, honkai starrail, zenless zone zero, mr beast, baba is you, Amazing digital circus, v-tuber, roblox, Naruto, spy family, smiling friends, plants vs zombies, persona 5, Identity V, Lion King, One Piece, Home Stuck, furries, villainous, parappa, ace attorney, doki doki literature club, needy streamer overload, creepypasta, song of saya, romantic killer, ranma, chainsaw man, higurashi when the cry, elden ring, red dead redemption, yakuza, Harry Potter, Hungergames, twilight, game of thrones, sherklock Holmes, bambi, yuri on ice, Doctor who, invader zim, Star Wars, SpongeBob, Steven universe, amazing world of gumball, adventure time, mega man, portal, avatar: the last airbender, other avatar with with the blue guys, over the garden wall, jojo’s bizarre adventure, spooky’s jumpscare mansion, super smash bros, The Last of Us, Life is Strange, little witch academia, valorant, overwatch, wonder egg, Ergo proxy, perfect blue, Haibane Renmei, cowboy bebop, land of the lustrous, league of legends, goat simulator, dragon ball, night in the woods, little nightmares, terraria, disco elysium, binding of isaac, cuphead, baldi’s basic, shovel knight, don’t starve, cult of the lamb, fear and hunger, lackadaisy, fundamental paper education, dogman, many Disney princess movie, you and me and her, class of 09, ghost stories, SMG fans, tom and jerry, Garfield, simpsons, family guy, GTA, yume nikki, in stars and time, garten of banban, Skibidi Toilet, kintopet, Amanda the adventurer, balatro, fortnite, call of duty, just shapes and beats, block blast, fall guys, among us, half life, the dance of fire and ice, ENA, Until Dawn, candy crush, resident evil, The Quarry, Bocchi the rock, walking dead, phasmaphobia, animal crossing, silent hill, world of horror, cooking mama, geometry dash, incredibox, crossy road, Tetris and Puyo puyo tetris, bob’s burgers, subway surfers, spider man, disenchantment, futurama, dead end: paranormal park, big mouth, paw patrol, inside job, ghibli studio, beyblade, how to train your dragon, slay the princess, minions, outlast trials, Taylor swift, cookie run ovenbreak or actually any game from them, fever, spider man, yu gi oh, black clover, from me to you, miss kobayashi dragon maid, Saiki K, school babysitters, Ouran host club, sound of the sky, Welcome to the NHK, Cardcaptor Sakura, wicked, barbie, mean girls, legally blonde, 

everything copied down exactly as written above, including the comma at the end lol

Impressive.

[eurofox]

Yakuza 4 review

Fatigue was starting to set in by the time I got to this game so having more characters with different styles helped it feel fresh. It also finally got around to explaining events I’d seen alluded to in 0 . While 3 felt very dated and I feel it oculd use the Kiwami treatment, this one stands up pretty well. Aside from a few goofy faces.

Spoilers:

The Good shit:

Well it looks nicer this time around, a bit anyway

Akiyama and Saejima are a nice change of pace

Kiryu is still happy.

I liked the way Hana lost weight and instead of the usual trope Akiyama immediately goes to get her something to eat

Hana in general was fun, I really thought she’d be annoying at first but no

Hamazaki get’s to return, odd since bad guys usually stop existing after each game

The hit scene is brutal and hard to watch, before you know the twist anyway. Very effective.

Another great soundtrack. The myth is a highlight, as is material delights , Rebellions and recieve and bite you

Female serial killer, bit of a twist

The yakuza pretending to be a cop was interesting

Some real tragic moments with Saejima, realising he fucked up big time, not only himself but his whole family

Akiyama is likeable, even if he has an uncomfortable darker side. An interesting character.

I don’t mind the initial rubber bullet twist. After that however...

Munakata actually acknowledges how fucking dumb that hit report was.

Less blocking enemies this time around thank Christ

Most bosses are good. Kiryu especially

Kiryu acknowledges that he left Daigo between a rock and a hard place at least

Kiryu arriving full powered

Closure for Mahima and saejima

Kiry vs akiyama and tanimura is great

Haruka making a stand about kiryu’s overly trusting nature

Helicopter Date is back!

Helping a suicidal man by tossing him off a building

Saejima having a comment about every shop and the differences between now and then

Someone actually having the sense to wear body armour

An attempt to tie events back to yakuza one

Boat chase was kind of fun

‘everybody pick an ass to kick’ was badass. Also Saejima going for Kido reminds me of Moe ending up fighting against Drederick Tatum in the Simpsons  ‘Oh geez, how did this happen’

Creepy wannabee rapist guy get’s his ass shot dead. Good.

The Bad Shit:

I do not care for Tanimura, I kind of wish they kept him as an asshole instead of the helping immigrants thing. But by now I realised you don’t actually get to play as bad people. His story was pretty bland and I never got to grips with his fightstyle. Don’t miss him tbh.

Katsuragai’s ugly, greasy mug. When he kept getting up in Daigo’s face during the meeting 🤢 

That fucking guard with the baton can go to hell. Should have been allowed to shove it up his arse in the final encounter. Fuck him. Same goes for his clone in red in the final long battle

Soon as I heard Yasuko and Saejima had a talk I knew it was curtains for her. Mission accomplished so she can die now I guess.

Saijima having to go long round about ways to avoid police got annoying fast

chase sections again...

Akiyama creeping on Yasuko cos she kind of reminded him of some girl who dumped him was weird. Glad he was called out on it.

Akiyama’s treatment of women in general. Men can get loans for cleaning up rubbish but women have to work in the red light district? Get tae fuck.

Hostess club is boring. I don’t like dress up

THAT FUCKING SCENE with Saejima and Haruka. Gross AF They did not handle that well and Kiryu’s reaction was such bullshit. He’s far too blasé about it, big F on parenting there. Soured Saejima’s whole character for me. Worst scene in the series and unnecessary.

JAPANESE POLICE CAN’T SHOOT’ The hell was this about, block the door or something at least?

Too many coincidences, everyone surviving lethal wounds only to then wash up on Kiryu’s beach? Bullshit.

Where’s the Ryudo family?

Kiryu lecturing Haruka on trust when random prisoners keep washing up on their doorstep. Including one who tried to kill him after he offered friendship. She’s not an ass-kicker like him, she’s a young girl who can’t afford to be so trusting of strange men He comes across as a real dumbass in this game.

Too many characters and too many twists. Twists upon twists. It got so convoluted that I lost track of who betrayed who.Cops who are yakuza, yakuza who are cops. Rubber bullets pinging off all over the place .

 Arai buggers off for most of the game and is one of the blandest characters in the series. Glad he never comes back.

Kido is just kind of there. Maybe if he joined the saejima family I’d care but he doesn’t. Also missed opportunity not giving him a kitsune tattoo.

Hamazaki dies off-screen, bit anti-climatic

I don’t get how akiyama makes so much money. I know he’s a banker but the amount he has is crazy. And why not get a code for that damn vault?

Why is Daigo so deferential to some low income nobody clan who have to pay the Tojo to stay relevant? Why not just tell them to either take the money or GTFO?.  Forget the equality bullshit. Does he know the police are involved by that point? His whole role in this game was a bit strange.

Kiryu acknowledges he screwed up to Daigo, but still gives him a beating. And we don’t see how he reconciles with Majima after betraying him. Also Kiryu says he’s done running but ditches Daigo again next game. OK...

Saejima say’s he’s remorsful about killing those guys but also has no regrets? Then goes on about balls a lot. Right...

JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE NOT PICKING UP GUNS. It felt like a real joke here, not a funny one. 3 times, once in the space of 5 minutes. 

You shoot a guy point blank  in his office and don’t notice it’s a rubber bullet

The fight with Munakata (or should I say, bodyguard captains) is the worst boss in the entire series. Fought with the lamest character who is not good with crowds (I admit he was underlevelled with few healing items in my playthrough as I was rushing and thought Kiryu would be facing the last boss). My PS4 could barely handle all the goons on screen. And after getting stunlocked and shot to death I gave up. Only time I ever switched to easy in any of the games. FUCK THAT CUNT. Worse than Jingu.

Ok, looks I have a lot of complaints about this game, mostly plotwise.  It just got too wacky. Had they just left it at the one instance of rubber bullets I would have been ok with it. But nooooo, they had to keep escalating and shovelling in more betrayals.  Anyway the gameplay is an improvement over 3 and aside from tanimura it was enjoyable and refreshing, kind of cool having a powerful Kiryu saved til last. I’m glad Akiyama stays on, he’s an interesting morally grey character. And while I didn’t like Katsuragai and his motivations got confusing, it was cool to see a real piece of shit villain who wasn’t as cartoonish as Jingu or Munakata, or as undeveloped as Mine, I really got to hate that snake, a good performance. I’d rank it above 3 anyway.

[gideongrace]

The Pandemic Survival Guide

The world feels like it's going to hell, so here is a list of cute, dumb, happy, fun things to cheer people up so we can try and survive this disaster.

Youtube:

-Jenna Marbles - Cute craft projects, weirdness and dogs.

-Julian Solomita - Jenna's boyfriend Julien has a cooking show and it's adorable.

-Wood Hawker/beat em ups - Wood is the cutest goober of all time, he has two channels, one is beat em ups, where he talks about nintendo switch and one is Wood Hawker where he just does goofy, fun stuff.

-Monster Factory - So these guys, the mcelroy brothers, make monsters in games like Fallout and WWE Wrestling and name them stuff like Snack Braff. It's hilarious.

-MEF (Movies Explained For) - This guy named Jeb does comedy reviews of movies with titles like "Back to the Future part 2 explained for realists!" and "Overboard explained for rich folks!"

-the try guys - Four guys try out all different sorts of stuff, from lie detectors to wearing corsets to baking cakes without recipes.

- unraveled - One of the greatest dorks ever BDG (Brian David Gilbert) does videos like "every sonic game is blasphemous" and "which dark souls boss is the best manager?"

-Satisfying slime video

-Hot knife cuts through stuff

-The lockpicking lawyer - This guy teaches you how to break any lock. It's oddly calming.

-kinda funny's internet explorerz - Basically the best of the dumb stuff on the internet packed into an hour long show every week.

-Markiplier doing a clickhole quiz about fucking rl stine.

-That time on murder she wrote - A comedy review show of the show murder she wrote.

my favorite asmr channels:

-raphytaffy - Lots of noises and whispering.

-shadowywhispers - Soooo many rps from overwatch to batman to captain america sam falcon to stuff like werewolf boyfriend, demon knight boyfriend and the android chronicles: syndicate.

-gibiasmr - Lots of sounds and whispering and clicking noises.

-jojoasmr - Really visual asmr.

-heatherfeather asmr - She does lots of roleplays and has a very soft voice.

-asmrdarling - Lots of different sounds and roleplays.

-dr. t asmr - This one is weird in the best way. He does like sci-fi asmr and calls viewers "the tingledroid army".

TV Shows:

-Lois and Clark - A cheesy 90s version of Superman that focuses more on the relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent as reporters while also having goofy villains every week.

-Golden Girls - Do people exist who don't know what Golden Girls is? Sophia Petrillo is the best, fiestiest little old lady ever.

-Brooklyn Nine-Nine - This show is the funniest, nicest, best, most diverse show on tv.

-Schitt's Creek - This show is just so gay.

-Yuri on Ice! - Gay ice skating boys fall in love! That's it. That's the show! Really, though.

-Jane the Virgin - A virgin gets accidentally inceminated, the girl (who is engaged to somebody else) falls in love with the guy whose kid it is, the kid gets kidnapped... this is an english language telenovella.(With voiceovers!)

Movies:

-Evolution - David Duchovny, Sean William Scott and Orlando Jones fight aliens with head & shoulders shampoo. No, really.

-Clueless - 90s LA retelling of Jane Austen's Emma.

-Blockers - Three girls try to get laid on prom night. (And one of them is queer!)

-Street Fighter - Um, this movie has this scene in it.

-Knives Out - The best modern whodunit about rich people getting what they deserve ever.

-In & Out - 90s gay film that's about an adorable gay english teacher coming out.

-Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil - Two backwoods dorks rent a cabin in the woods and a bunch of teens mistake them for serial killers.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before - This movie is one of the cutest rom-coms I've ever seen. A teenage girl's sister sends out all her sister's unsent love letters.

-French Kiss - So a french thief (Kevin Kline with an accent) hides a necklace he's stolen in the bag of this American girl (Meg Ryan) and has to follow after her as she tries to get her boyfriend back and of course the thief and the girl fall in love.

-You Should Meet My Son! - A super cute movie about a mom realizing her son is gay and trying to find him a boyfriend.

Short, Sweet (Harringrove) Fic:

-rockisdead by flippyspoon

Billy is an instathot and Steve is into it.

-boldly go by tracy7307

Star trek but harringrove and Billy is a betazoid.

-homemade by lazybaker

So basically this one is like a Miyazaki movie, but Harringrove.

-starry night, portrait hung by lucdarling

Billy is a painter and he wants to paint Steve.

-I'm Falling Again (But This Time It's In Love With You) by greyspilot

The boys are just really sweet in this canon fic.

Stand-up comedians:

-John Mulaney

-Jim Gaffigan

-Trevor Noah

-Gabriel Iglesias

Music:

-chilledcow lo-fi - youtube

-chilledcow lo-fi spotify

-notice my lo-fi, senpai playlist by be_honest on spotify

-night runner - magnum bullets music video

-dance music - playlist by bree_cheese

-exciteable music - playlist by bree_cheese

-pretty - pretty songs playlist by bree_cheese

podfics/audiobooks

-audiobooks for the damned - A whole bunch of people did audiobook recordings of movie novelizations.

-the art of running by pprfaith, read by reena jenkins - The fast and the furious if Brian was a girl and gets together with Dom.

-dilf by twentysomething - teenwolf podfic read by rhea314 - Scott and Jackson are Derek's sons and Stiles is Scott's kindergarten teacher.

-drop dead gorgeous written by maya, read by heatherifics - The harry potter fanfic where Harry and Draco are Aurors and Harry is part Veela.

other stuff:

-The original script to the movie The Room.

-i write like - A website that allows you to put in bits of your writing to see what famous author you write like.

-squishables - Giant, spherical plushes.

-Not without you: a big, massive, hardcover stucky anthology.

I'll also be making other lists and tagging them #thepandemicsurvivalguide.

If you have anything to add to this list (fics, art, comics, shows, books, whatever) please reblog this and add it!

[madeofcc]

10 random questions, tag 10 simmers !

I was tagged by @crescendemon thanks a lot ! It’s always nice to know more about each others.

1. If you could travel one place in the world where would you travel? I didn’t travel much and far away but I really loved Amsterdam when I went there few years ago. This city is so beautifull. Also I’d love to visit some Northen countries such as Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Norway ... But not sure that’s gonna happen one day now ...

2. What do you do in your free time away from sims? I do a lot of things in order to stay busy when I’m not trying to find a job. Currently, I’m making silly videos on Instagram but otherwise I watch a lot of movies and TV Shows, I play other video games, I write movies and TV Shows, recently I’m starting to work on some comic book aboutsociety and some stuff that happened to me or some people I know, I’m trying to learn how to edit/make poses/ create song, I dance ... Well, let’s say that I just live ^^

3. What other games do you play besides the sims? I just finished Detroit Become Human for the fourth time (I had to try the bad endings). I mainly play with my PS4 so here some games I’ve enjoyed : Tomb Raider, Until Dawn, Horizon Zero Dawn, All the Quantic Dreams games, The Last Of Us, The Kingdom Hearts Saga, The Evil Within, Overcooked, Abe’s Escape, Crash Bandicoot, Senua’s Sacrifice, RE Saga, Shadow of the colossus ... And sometimes I play on my computer : Plant VS Zombies, Plague Inc. and South Park the stick of truth ^^

4. How tall are you? 5 ft 9 (180cm)

5. One random interest of yours? Dogs *0* 

6. Current favorite bands or artists? I realised recently that I’m still listening to the same band : Depeche Mode, Vampire Weekend, Son Lux, IAMX, The Do. But I listen and enjoy all kind of music so I’d rather stop here but don’t hesitate to ask me if you want more :)

7. Something your looking forward to: I was looking forward to celebrate my birthday this year but it seems that it won’t happen ^^” It’s June 1st but I’m not sure that we’ll be free...

8. Current favorite films? I’ve watched so many recent great movies recently ! French movies : Docteur? , Play, La Belle Epoque, Chanson Douce, Forte, Vampires (A TV show on Netflix). Random international ones : Little Women, Birds of Prey, Invisible Man, The Hunt, Underwater, Like a Boss. 

9. Who is a historical icon who has left an impact on your life? Not sure, but the Obamas always make me happy. I’m not american but I was just so happy everytime I saw them, I still do ^^ And everytime I think of that time it’s like the all world was a better place then >< But also it was already pretty shitty but we just didn’t have the guts to do anything and now it’s to late? I have to stop overthink XD

10. Favorite series (book or movie series)? I’ve always loved the Scream movies (but hate the TV show). Also, not a big series but I really enjoyed the “I am not a serial killer” trilogy, also Scott Pilgrim but it’s a comic book ... Well, ask me in private if you want to know more ‘cause I read so many things ^^

This was fun and weirdly introspective XD I tag @pralinesims @illuner @aliennooboo @mauxais @s4simomo @enerosims @prismaticpixels @plushpixels @saurussims @cupcakegnome @sunflowerpetalscc

[aion-rsa]

Psych: The Essential Episode Guide

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As a TV series, Psych is like one of those frozen yogurt chains where the wall is ringed with different flavors and you can keep pulling levers for whatever combination you want. There are the Shawn/Gus episodes, the “Shawn’s psychic lie is threatened” episodes, the increasingly genius and lovingly rendered (often ‘80s-tastic) tributes, and the ensemble classics where the whole cast is just a well-oiled machine after years of riffing off one another. You can have whatever flavor you want. And don’t even get me started on toppings (there’s gotta be pineapple, at the very least).

Over its eight-year run, Psych interrogated its own premise, built out its supporting cast, let its characters play their favorite movie characters, and adapted its own internal mythology into trilogies that would make any movie-buff weep with appreciation. Here is a baker’s dozen of the most giggle-worthy, self-referential, surprisingly dramatic episodes of Psych. (And with so many to choose from, your favorite flavor combinations might be different from mine—share your own best episodes in the comments!)

Season 2 Episode 1: “American Duos”

Once the show had had a season under its belt of the fake-psychic shtick, the writers and actors got to really start playing in the sandbox they’d created. The second-season premiere has it all: a pop culture riff on a certain popular reality show competition; Tim Curry and Gina Gershon going above and beyond in their parodies of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul; and Shawn and Gus giving a truly spectacular mashup performance as Curt Smith and Michael Jackson.

Season 2 Episode 3: “Psy vs. Psy”

I’m a sucker for the episodes where Shawn might have to come clean about his big fat lie. Season 2 poked at that possibility early on, with a counterfeit case that brings in government agent Lars Ewing (Lou Diamond Phillips) and female psychic Lindsay Leiken (Bianca Kajlich). Not only does Lars ruffle Lassiter’s feathers and get Jules hot and bothered, but Lindsay seems to be a lot more intuitive than Shawn—to the point where the SBPD may be looking to replace their consultant. Shawn has a knack for making things harder for himself, but the situations in which he has to actually fight his way out are always rewarding.

Season 2 Episode 13: “Lights, Camera… Homicidio”

The second season really cemented the series’ delight in its own ridiculousness—not just in the bizarre cases, but in how Shawn and Gus (and the rest of the SBPD) react to them. This week, it was an accidental murder via botched prop knife on the set of Explosión Gigantesca de Romance, Gus’ (and Henry’s) favorite telenovela, that really highlighted Psych’s embrace of the absurd. While doing his psychic thing, Shawn gets “discovered” enough to play the sexy delivery guy, who becomes a beloved character in his own right… only to learn for himself how badly the show’s fans blur the lines between characters and actors. Though not as outright meta as the tribute episodes, it still was wonderfully self-aware about the pitfalls of emotionally investing in fictional characters.

Season 4 Episode 5: “Shawn Gets the Yips”

This episode is a bit of a bait-and-switch in that Shawn having the yips (about baseball, not being a psychic) doesn’t really impact the plot, which starts with a shooting at a known cop bar and culminates in a commentary on the police force not properly punishing drug lords who sell opioids. The subplot about the drug lord supposedly targeting SBPD members is a bit of a red herring for the more nuanced twist about the cost of the opioid epidemic, but it contains one of my favorite moments, in which Shawn unintentionally gets a great workout because he believes that the message on his water bottle (your heart rate drops below 150, you die) is a threat. Just a solid mid-series episode.

Season 4 Episode 16: “Mr. Yin Presents…”

Just like with Bones, Psych really came into its own when it mixed the laughs with actual life-or-death stakes—and in both cases, that was thanks to a serial killer obsessed with our protagonist. Season 3 ended on “An Evening with Mr. Yang,” which introduced Ally Sheedy (one of many, many famous cameos) as the eponymous serial killer who kidnapped Shawn’s mother to get closer to him. But with her locked away and more artfully arranged kills discovered, the SBPD have to confront that Yang might have a Yin—which of course spawns a trilogy. 

Read more

Movies

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Review

By Natalie Zutter

TV

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Stars on Hitchcock Homages and Special Reunions

By Natalie Zutter

The Empire Strikes Back of the Yin/Yang saga is my personal favorite, though I highly recommend watching all three. The team’s introduction to Yang’s twisted mentor is through his love of Alfred Hitchcock movies: He casts each of them in an iconic role while leading them on a wild goose chase through Santa Barbara, ending at a movie set mashup and presenting Shawn with an impossible choice between saving girlfriend Abigail or Juliet. The latter has one of her most powerful moments, stoically accepting her death while suspended from a clock and later breaking down in Lassiter’s arms. Her PTSD remains through the Yin/Yang saga, another sign of the series’ maturity as it explores the ripple effect of its more dramatic plots.

Season 6 Episode 2: “Last Night Gus”

While Shawn and Gus are the series OTP, part of the show’s beauty has been in building up its other bromances. This spoof of The Hangover has Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, and Woody waking up in the Psych offices with no memory of their antics the night before, but plenty of incriminating clues tying them to a dead body. Their attempt to solve the mystery of how they got so memory-obliteratingly drunk has them encountering a sweet gay bartender couple, a murdered donut mascot, and a hot girl who’s very into Last Night Gus… if only he knew what he did. In addition to riffing superbly on the movie, the episode is a fun commentary on our present selves solving the mysteries of our past personas.

Season 7 Episode 5: “100 Clues”

I managed to watch this without realizing what the Psych crew was going for, so the moment that Shawn and Gus pulled up in the Blueberry to a mansion in a rainy homage to Clue, I was squealing harder than Gus at the notion of a secret chocolate room. For the series’ 100th episode, they lovingly parodied the perfect locked-mansion murder mystery, with killer cameos from Lesley Warren, Christopher Lloyd, and Martin Mull (plus little nods to the Clue alums who couldn’t be there, like Eileen Brennan). From the Singing Telegram Girl to the secret passageways, only true fans could achieve this level of detail—a perfect landmark celebration.

Season 7 Episode 7: “Deez Nups”

The sign of a great ensemble series is that they can make the standard, super-tropey wedding episode feel fresh again. It helps that it’s Lassiter’s nuptials, and everyone wants to see the guy happy, which is what leads to Shawn, Gus, and Woody kidnapping the detective for a bachelor party, while Juliet and the Chief get roped into being Marlowe’s bachelorette buddies. The threat of a mob boss taking revenge on Lassie takes a backseat to such wedding fare as Vick getting weepy-drunk on shots and McNab popping up as a police stripper (I cackled at the payoff of his Chekhov’s tearaway pants). Just like with a real-life wedding, when you know the people involved, it feels special and unique. (There is also a gross, transphobic joke about a stripper, one of the aspects of Psych that did not age well.)

Season 7 Episode 8: “Right Turn or Left for Dead”

Tribute episodes are Psych’s bread and butter, but rarely do they advance the plot as effectively and emotionally as this riff on Sliding Doors. After Juliet finds out that Shawn has been lying about being a psychic, which makes her believe that everything about their relationship has been a lie, Shawn indulges in a fantasy in which he’s 1990s Gwyneth Paltrow (naturally) pondering the diverging paths of whether Jules does or doesn’t discover the truth. 

The story immediately splits into two takes on the same case, but in one she’s a Jane Doe and in the other Shawn actually has a chance to save her… only to discover that her life path was already set in stone after an abusive childhood. Even with subtle moments of humor that highlight the parallel universes’ differences in solving cases, overall the episode is a study in how one choice has ramifications far beyond the initial action—a lesson Shawn needed to learn, in the penultimate season.

Season 7 Episode 11: “Office Space”

If the boys trying to cover their tracks in “Last Night Gus” was worth a few giggles, Gus and Shawn tampering with a murder scene and then trying to clean their hands of it in this episode is the kind of laughter that hurts. When Gus publicly confronts his abusive boss, only for the man to wind up offed and poor Guster very incriminated. The sequence in which they hysterically stumble their way through the crime scene is worth watching alone; but as evidence mounts and it looks like they could actually be caught in the crosshairs, the levels of ingenuity to which they’re pushed shows why this is the show’s best partnership.

Season 8 Episode 1: “Lock, Stock, Some Smoking Barrels and Burton Guster’s Goblet of Fire”

This is the episode that got me back into the show after years of casual viewing: a mashup of Guy Ritchie and Harry Potter that manages to add a whole new layer to one of Psych’s best recurring characters, refined art thief Pierre Desperaux (Cary Elwes) while giving him a proper send-off.

Like the Yin/Yang trilogy, the entire Desperaux quartet is worth watching for the heists, the Indiana Jones lampooning, and especially for his continued double-crossing of his greatest fan Shawn. But this one takes the cake because it adds a new layer to the Desperaux mythology: He’s actually Royston Staley, an Interpol agent who went undercover as a gentleman thief. Or is he?? Plus, add in the runner about poor Gus in his Hogwarts robes just trying to make it to PotterCon, and you have a near-perfect episode.

Season 8 Episode 3: “Remake, A.K.A. Cloudy… WIth a Chance of Murder”

What better way to mark your final season than by remaking one of your season 1 episodes? What’s incredible about Psych is how many different ways it goes meta, but there was something especially entertaining about its remake of season 1, episode 12 “Cloudy… With a Chance of Murder.” With periodic reminders that this episode is set in 2006, it recasts almost all of the characters—a teacher accused of killing a local weatherman, the lawyer for the prosecution (Ralph Macchio)—and makes space for new jokes (about remakes and My Cousin Vinny) and new twists. All long-running series should get a chance to try and redo their early episodes after they’ve gelled their characters and dynamics.

Season 8 Episode 10: “The Break-Up”

After trying to make their long-distance relationship work, Shawn decides to move to San Francisco to be with Juliet, a far easier choice than actually breaking the news to Gus. Of course the Psych series finale would be about these two facing the end of their partnership. Specifically, Shawn’s inability to say goodbye, so instead he and Gus wind up investigating a case involving special guest star Billy Zane, careening around in their high-school drivers ed car, and competing with SBPD’s peppy new detective Betsy Brannigan (Mira Sorvino). When none of this helps Shawn come out with the truth, he does so through DVD—a whole batch of DVDs, tailored to each of his colleagues and dear friends. Because Shawn loves telling a story.

There’s no better end for Shawn and Gus than a bromantic one, complete with driving cross-state (albeit turning back 12 times), dramatic declaration of love (at a crime scene), and pledging their lives together before Shawn actually proposes to Juliet (as a formality). And it’s not just about them: The finale has sweet moments of closure for new junior detective McNab (aww) and especially Lassiter, who finally gets Shawn’s confession—then breaks the DVD. If the Psych movies had never happened, it would have been enough; but instead, it’s the sugary-sweet end of one chapter and the opening of another.

The post Psych: The Essential Episode Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[troofless]

Servamp Chapter 85 summary

So, if you read the raws without any context and have no idea of the predicament Kuro is in, now you do! Spoilers under the cut, but that should be obvious.

Many thanks to @svpages​ for posting the raws of Chapter 85! This chapter focuses solely on where Tsubaki is at the hospital. Yeah, that means no Mikuni vs Tsurugi or more onsen shenanigans…

Chapter starts off with Kuro carrying Mahiru towards the hospital.

Mahiru: I can see it! The hospital!

Kuro: Are you sure Tsubaki really did appear…

- Cue a giant explosion -

Kuro: …We’d better hurry.

(Cue gasp at how much character development Kuro has gone through for him, the Servamp of Sloth, to say those words.)

Cut back to Tooru and Iori facing off against new-makeover-with-abs Tsubaki.

Iori: Where’s [Sloth]?

Tooru: …He’ll be here soon…

Iori says it’s been a while since he’s fought on the frontlines, and laments The Disappearance of Touma Taishi. (Touma, where? This is the second time Iori’s mentioned Touma, Iori really wants you back LOL)

(The first time was last chapter when Iori was all, Tooru YOU’RE LATE if it was Touma he would have been here in 2 minutes, and Tooru was all, well if it was Touma he wouldn’t have come here in the first place!)

Iori mentions that 15 years ago the three of them were known as the Tokyo Branch’s strongest 3 idiots (literally 3 baka). Touma, where.

Then Tsubaki looks at Tooru and says, hmm… you… we’ve met before, haven’t we. Tooru apologises for not introducing himself at the sushi bar (way back in the early chapters of Servamp), since he was hiding his identity as a member of C3 from Mahiru back then.

Tsubaki: Shirota Mahiru’s family…

Next panel is just Tsubaki with a serial killer face: …He, too, must be grieving.

(cue the uh ohs.)

Tooru brandishes a stake not unlike Junichirou’s signature weapon, which Tsubaki comments on as familiar (having being caught in it during the Greed arc), and is Tooru the legimitate user?

Tooru: Junichirou is my chosen successor.

Tooru: The user of Mjolnir (read: this weapon), [The one who captures], Thor…

Tooru: Its predecessor is, I, Shirota Tooru! Because I’m Thor!

Tsubaki: That’s not amusing in the slightest.

Yup, you guessed it, Tooru puns on his name ‘Tooru’ and ‘Thor’ in the same fashion when he and Tsubaki met in the sushi place… To-ru dake ni na! Tanaka Strike even says they’ve been waiting for a long time (8 years) to use this one(1) gag in the manga… I’m so glad it’s finally here.

Iori stops Tsubaki momentarily with his barrier magic, apologising for Tooru’s ‘trademark bad puns’. And because new-makeover-with-abs Tsubaki is apparently an unstoppable force now, he breaks the barrier like it’s nothing. Iori stabs more keys into his arms (which activates his magic) but Tsubaki just button-mashes the slice-and-dice button and shatters them into pieces.

Iori, again, laments the disappearance of Touma. Touma, where?

Next, it’s Uncle Tooru’s turn to cast a giant magic spell. His first words are “Look at me, children of the sun.” The rest are too confusing to translate. Something about a castle, and a hero. Tsubaki tries to interrupt his spellcasting because no good demon king waits for the hero to finish casting a giant spell of mass destruction, but is blocked by Iori’s barriers.

Tooru raises his stake, and a swirl of lightning appears on its tip, and he ends the spell with: “My name is… THE THUNDER GOD.” Or the God of Thunder, whichever one you like. In Japanese, that's raijin, which also serves as the chapter’s title. Which is also a reference to Thor, the god of hammers thunder, if you didn’t catch that.

The end of the stake transforms into a giant hammer, and he slams it down on Tsubaki, shouting a fancy Japanese move name. And here’s the kicker: Because it’s Tooru, it’s full of puns too. The furigana 'Lion Reign’ is written in English, and the kanji 雷音礼印. In Japanese, separately, each kanji would read something like: rai/on/rei/in, which would sound, in Japanese, when read, like Lion Reign. Yeah. Translated to English the kanji would read thunder/sound/gratitude/stamp (like those you put on a document). Considering that he’s smashing that hammer down on Tsubaki like a rubber stamp I’d say Tanaka Strike’s choice of kanji is pretty spot-on. Tanaka Strike is a chuuni confirmed?

But of course, remember how Tsubaki got buffed up to cheat-level status? He catches Tooru’s hammer in one hand, and goes, “Oh, let me return the favour.” and stabs Tooru right in the stomach with his black katana. Smooth.

Tooru shouts for Iori to run but before he can even move Tsubaki slashes Iori in the chest as well.

Cue Mahiru and Kuro to arrive on scene. Mahiru, of course, cries, “Uncle!” and goes to his side. Kuro and Tsubaki have a glaring face-off. Mahiru keeps crying out “Uncle… Uncle Tooru…” but Tooru doesn’t reply, lying prone facedown on the ground. He’s been stabbed in the chest, after all.

Tsubaki: Hey there, nii-san.

Kuro comments on how Tsubaki’s gone too far in his mischief or something. This part’s a little unclear to me, to be honest. Tsubaki responds with ‘Is that so?’, ‘Because they’re human, they die when they are cut (the kanji for behead is used here for the word cut)’. (is this a fate reference)

Tsubaki addresses Mahiru, talking about how when you can’t save a life that’s about to die, you feel sad. Because it’s the life of a person that you treasure, you want to do something about it, right? An extremely universal and natural emotion. There’s nothing wrong with thinking that way. Right?

Tsubaki and Kuro get another face-off panel. We all know there’s a buildup. Something big is coming. And here it is:

Tsubaki: Hey, nii-san. Right now, Shirota Mahiru (furigana reads: your precious friend) is wishing for his dying family to continue to live for eternity.

“How about you bring back his uncle’s life by turning him into your subclass? He’s counting on you.”

“What will you do?”

And the caption at the side reads, “The cruelty… of Tsubaki!” Zankoku, like in A Cruel Angel’s Thesis, but I’m digressing.

…And dang, those last few lines were hard to translate. Tsubaki’s original words are more of the lines of ‘Why don’t you turn him into your subclass, and connect his life together (??? the word for ‘tie’ is used here, like string)? I’m/We’re/He’s (no subject here) relying/depending on you here…’

So, will Kuro break his vow of not making subclasses? Or will Tooru not die when he is killed and continue to live on? tfw when you bust out a super special move but the last boss takes no damage and one-shot kills you

[aishilyn]

Own-Recommended K-dramas ❤

Only You

~ rich guy and average girl love story with passion in cooking

49 Days

~true love, friendship, betrayal, afterlife

Gourmet

~competition, skills in cooking

Baker King: Kim Tak Goo

~talent in baking, struggles from childhood, family, corporation

Playful Kiss

~campus crush and 1st in class falling in love with a stupid girl 

Big Thing (DaeMul)

~politics, ambitions, love and dignity

Princess Hours

~falling unexpectedly in love, becoming a princess

Master of Study

~striving for the impossible, studying hard with dedicated and talented teachers

City Hunter

~revenge, action, eliminating corruption, politics

Dream high

~dance and sing talent, friendship, and journey to stardom

Heartstrings

~sweet love story with passion in music

Rooftop Prince

~love from different times

The Love Story of Kang Chi

~immortality, destiny and love

King  2 Hearts

~north and south korea collaboration, revenge, wise king

The Master’s Sun

~helping ghosts and finding love

Liar Game

~survival, skills, money

Third Hospital

~western vs eastern (traditional) medicine, competition between brothers

Flower in Prison

~witty strategies between enemies, law, justice, action, love, economy (merchants), politics

Live Up to Your Name: Dr. Heo

~legendary doctor, travelling between past and present, meeting love 

Manhole

~changing the past, travelling between times, confessing love

Defendant

~falsely accused, memory loss, family tragedy, fighting for justice

Switch

~twins switching roles, con artists and lawyers, suspense, action

Haechi

~righteous king, fighting for corruption, civil servants, friendship and love

Save Me

~escaping from a cult religion

Hospital Ship

~saving lives around islands, medical talents, dealing with emergencies

Mad Dog

~seeking truth about insurance fraud, airplane crash, family tragedy, revenge, con artists

Criminal Minds

~special force investigating and catching a serial killer

When the Camellia Blooms

~falling in love and protecting a single mom from a serial killer, facing fears, being courageous

Diary of A Prosecutor

~daily lives of prosecutors, dealing with bosses, clients, and their personal relationships

Born Again

~reincarnation, past tragedy, serial killer, true love

Class of Lies

~lawyer becoming a teacher and discovering deceits between the students

Miss Hammurabi

~judges passion and sentiments, friendship and love

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

~hiding fears and weaknesses, healing, finding one’s self, family, friendship and love

Royal Secret Agent

~unexpected assignment, journey to catch corrupt officials, action and strategies, friendship and love

Witch’s Court

~ materialistic female prosecutor who does not hesitate to use personal attacks, fabricate evidence, and incite perjury in order to win her case is assigned to lead the special task force for sexual assault crimes

Delayed Justice

~specializes in retrials, acquitting those falsely accused and imprisoned, attorney at-law and journalists collaboration, fighting corruption and injustices

Stranger/Secret Forest

~a prosecutor team-up with a police detective to conduct investigations on a murder case and fight corrupt officials

....