#the siren episode was insane actually

[toasty-broski]

People making THE siren episode about Destiel piss me off. I’m sorry but be so serious for like 2 seconds and see what’s right in front of you. All Dean wants is his brother!!!! It’s all about Sam!!! Them fighting each other in the end was filled with tension regular brothers shouldn’t even have towards each other. Like yes the siren was spurring it on but that shit didn’t come from no where and we all know it!They’re literally obsessed freaks when it comes down to it and I fucking love them for it.

[witherbythesword]

if the theory of sam reich being replaced by .. evil wizard dalton reich (and i cant believe i am partaking in this discurse) is true..

i've seen some people asking the question about what those childhood tapes mean. Well i am one of the ancient ones that owned vhs tapes and you know you could replace whats stored on those tapes with overwriting it with new material but it would slowly degrade the quality as the magnetic tape the information is stored on isn't necessarly made to be re-recorded on indefinetly which would also explain the degrading quality of the gamechanger episode.

So my theory is that dalton reich wants to erase sam from history and to do this he is slowly erasing any proof that could hint on sam and dalton being two different people. One thing he appearantly needed to do is overwrite these old vhs tapes of sams childhood.

[benoitblanc]

THAT'S THEIR BABY

about to watch xmas carol... yikes...

[marcygoo]

okazyyyy here we go. parts from murder drones eps 6-7 that really tickle my brain that i never see people mention like ever (if you come into the reblogs or comments of this post being like "why didnt you include (x part that everyone talks about)!!!" then that is why. and also i am going. to Eat You.) this isnt really going to be organized or anything. basically just me being abnormal about sounds and movements and other minuscule details that im really fond of for however many words

okay, first thing is gonna be a sound thing. i absolutely LOVE the beeping sound uzi's visor makes in this part. i really like sounds.

cant get a good screenshot of the movement cus.. yknow. duh. movement. but the way alice moves from there to the ground to where v is so. idk. fluid. its so fun to look at i really like it

the finger snap here. i love this finger snap. the noise. the movement. its so good. its so crisp. i love it

the lighting on uzi's face. forgive me for using the word crisp twice in a row but its crisp. its really good. okay

and the lighting on n's face here??? the colors are so harsh. i really like looking at it. okay. i feel like im not writing enough to just describe how much i like the lighting here. i really like it. its cool. okay i think its cool. i dunno

i really like this hallway. thats it. thats the section. the way the camera slowly tilts just a little bit while it zooms in? the way the slowed down music in the background almost sounds like alarm sirens? like okay

another thing i cant capture properly because, duh, movement! but the way the red sentinel kind of dips down here? i dont know why it did that but it slayed. and id like you all to ignore the fact that my nyan cat youtube bar got caught in the screenshot

the sound effect that plays here when "tessa" cuts herself with the sword. i dunno. its just a really satisfying sound to me thats all

another thing about sound effects really close to the last one but. the sorta crunching noises that uzis hand being contorted here make. im normal about sounds i promise. ok on to episode 7

the lighting here. on nori. insane. im not normal. as mentioned before with n i love this kind of harsh lighting especially with the drones it just looks so visually appealing

okay ANOTHER part i cant properly capture. this bit where it zooms in on the screen and shows the elevator. im. not normal about it. i really really like it alright.

UGHHHH THE WAY UZIS HAND MOVES HERE. THE MOVEMENT. THE FLUIDITY OF IT. IM ACTUALLY OBSESSED. AAUUGHHHHHHHHHHGGGGHHHHHH

LETS EAT!!!! DUDE. UGHHHH. AUGH. i LOVE this part SO MUCH you guys have no idea. im obsessed with it. the line delivery. the pose. the shot. the implications. the way that its just such a simple and commonly used phrase. do you get it. do you understand. genuinely one of my favorite little parts in the whole series im not kidding. let's eat

o-o-o-o-ow! ! !!! i always love the glitched voice effects alright. and that combined with the movement of nori's body being forced back by the crucifix. idk. i dunno man. i just like it

and UGH. LITERALLY right after that. the lighting flash just as she pulls it out of her face????? i hate this show so much guys. aughhhhhUGHHHHHHHHH AUGHJJ

grrrr this part. i literally NEVER see people mention it but. the way uzi.. the solver.... uh. whagever. the way their eyes sorta wobble when they turn to look up at n and nori. its a really cool movement to me i dunno

THE CRUNCHING NOISE WITH THE MOUTH GETTING PULLED SO FAST FROM A TINY FROWN TO A HUGE SMILE LIKE THAT??? EWWW????? INSANE. CRAZY. I LOVVE ITTT AUGH

no comment needed. the 😁

ok im kinda putting a lot of stuff from this fight on here. forgive me. its got a lot of really cool stuff. this part like. like. the way all the sound gets kinda muffled and crunchy.. aughh.... i love it. hurts me in my bones. 10/10

ok bit of an unusual thing to point out here but. the solvers flapping here. its so strange. it looks so weird and mechanical to me. in a good way i love it

the hand twitch. no further comment.

eugh. this part. the way the coagulated blood (???) almost jiggles like jelly. eughhh ewwwwwww. why are you like thattttt. (positive! i love blood.)

drone sound: much, crunch (i REALLY like the sound effect that plays when uh... flesha. bends down and Crunches dolls core. the sorta glass breaking sound. sorry doll.)

the fucking frog blink. why are you like that. i hate this thing so much.

the music that starts up right as j lands.. eughjghgjhhhh. augh. dies. also side note that i wasnt able to fit really anywhere. but i love the sound that the ship makes. dont know how to describe it but yknow what im talking about right

the fucking. sound effect. of uzi stabbing her own hand with the protruding bone. crunch. i really really love crunchy crunching sounds. theyre so good. one of my favorites honestly

uh. okay. well thats it thats the post. thanks for coming to my Autism. walks away

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 34 - Heads for no Tails (part 1)

This is THE Kerubim Child Neglect episode, and yet all I can say about its beginning is "what a silly little goofster"

At first, I thought, "Well, at least he put this item at the very top. A normal child might not have climbed that".

And then I paused, and thought to myself, "why is Joris allowed to enter the Evil Cursed Weapons That Kill People storage room to play".

I hate everything about this man, even his stupid bonsai tree. What do you MEAN you're caring for a bonsai tree while Joris is pretty much playing with matches next to a gas pipe.

I need to kill them both, actually. This is so unserious.

I wish he was real, so I could know what his beating him up feels like.

He is so #girlslay

I NEED to beat his ass for not taking this seriously.

Also yeah, the person who these were created to contain was an Ondine. The Ondine named Ondine from the Episode 23, which is all about sirens, who are Ondines, is probably not the Ondine that is mentioned in this Ondine story though.

SAME FUCKING QUESTION, SIMONE. I HAVE THE SAME QUESTION.

BUT THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS WHY IS JORIS ALLOWED TO BE THERE ALONE TO BEGIN WITH??

I really hate him for joking like this, especially when we know what happens next.

I would say "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" but this is too sad to joke about.

Kill him. Please. I hate how he laughs after she says that.

His entire character thing is that he hates not being able to solve issues. He will "It's ok, it can be fixed :)" his way though the most insane things — and it's a strength of his, it allowed him to find Lou and have a relationship together for a while after what happened. Chances are, he wouldn't have survived for this long, had he not employed an insane degree of toxic positivity in his personal life.

But it also makes him... extremely obnoxious at times.

He himself knows that this is Not a good situation, and it's starting to sink in, considering he grows more and more worried with each of these animations. Which is a really cool detail. He SHOULD be having a slow panic attack about this. It is what he deserves.

Anyway, here's the real most important moment of the entire show:

[istharoth]

HI!!! I hope you don't mind me asking you a whole package of questions but 4, 5, 6, 8 and 15 please? 🥹🙏🩷

Omg I'm honoured to have you here iakhsav no, no I don't mind!! :D

4) Favorite home screen dialogue? THESE TWO Everything that comes out of Ed's mouth is amusing and Ren is a mood, he's a hater. I love him for that.

5) Which character did you choose as your first ghoul and why? I chose Jiro! I really like Frankenstein designs + purple hair + red eyes + glasses sets the entire deal for me 😭

6) Did your first ghoul stay as your favourite ghoul, or did you change your mind afterwards? ...Haku but also Sho I would say. Jiro is still in my Top 5 Ghouls though lol,

8) What's your favorite SSR warding card and favorite SR warding card? OOH I have a lot! I love the art style of these two SSRs! Towa's one is so beautiful, it's my homescreen 😭😭

For SRs! Jiro's so pretty, it's actually insane and the Morpheus, Subaru's warding card! I like the Sun and Moon symbolism, I will consume it in any media lol [+ Morhepus being the son of the God of Sleep? Hello, greek mythology?]

15) Which episode was your favorite so far? Why?

"It Came From the Sea" the Jabberwock episode! Sirens? Yes. I liked the entire story leading from the Kraken to Princess Otohime + Calarami and Peekaboo's friendship is absolutely adorable!! [and we get free Ren screams!]

[faun-the-hound]

will i be crucifed for not liking Castor?

I can't make myself watch the episodes he's in- which sucks because there seems to always be some major plot whenever he shows up

anyway, he's a siren in Daybreak- a bird siren specifically, so think like a harpy of sorts. chicken man. he's a loon actually. the bird.

these things

also a metaphorical loon. man's lowkey insane.

anyway

yeah.

bird.

bird sirens can't fly btw. their wings are meant for swimming/diving. at least they are in Ru'aun.

[stormyoceans]

monica watches » sleep with me

summary: harry, an overnight radio DJ who is in a wheelchair, and luna, who suffers from a sleeping condition, navigate their respective disorders and issues from past relationships as they start their romance

details: GL, philippines, 6 episodes, ~20 min each

content warning: ableism

available on: GagaOOLala, iWantTFC

what i liked:

high quality production and amazing performances

great representation of disability

all the characters, even the side ones, are fully fledged and nuanced. this show is actually a great example of how effective visual language and good dialogues can help conveying informations about the characters without falling into exposition dumps that take away from the feeling of immersion in the story. luna’s character development, in particular, is fantastic and the use of colors, lighting and setting to show it is [chef’s kiss]

janine gutierrez (harry) and lovi poe (luna) have a very nice chemistry and the relationship between the two characters feels incredibly natural. instant attraction doesn’t always seem believable to me, but in this case it fully does, maybe because there’s also an initial awkwardness to it that makes it really charming and close to real life: the characters talk over each other, stumble over their words, hesitate over the right thing to say….. it’s a carefully crafted unpolished feeling that makes you forget you’re watching a show   

communication and consent are SO SEXY it’s honestly insane how sexy and hot those are

it features what has become one of my favorite female friendships of all time!!!!

the cinematography is very immersive and atmospheric, you really get to breathe in the night time and inhabit all the different spaces these characters live in, which is also helped by the editing and the framing of each scenes (some of them looks like paintings)

need me the entire soundtrack of this show tbh

what i disliked:

'disliked' is definitely too strong of a word, but this is one of those rare cases where i wish the show was just a little bit longer. around episodes 4 and 5 the pacing feels slightly rushed to me and i would have liked to linger more on the different stages of harry and luna's relationship. i also would have loved to see more of harry's job as a DJ and learn more about why she wanted to become one in the first place

as an italian, seeing spaghetti getting broken in half got kill bill sirens blasting in my head (JOKING IM JOKING) [but also please don't break your damn spaghetti]

notes: a huge thank you to lisa @stickymoonsoul for recommending this to me, i HIGHLY RECOMMEND it too!!!

[huntinglove]

Adventure time! 0, 1, 2, and 3. - Lovesmenot2015

Hi hi!! Thank you so much for the ask!!

0 – What are some of the inspirations behind your S/I? Are they exactly like you? Were they an OC? Did any of your favorite characters have any influence in their design/personality?

All of my self inserts are mostly me but in my F/O's universe, however, there are six different characters that also inspired Ocean Princess' design and personality!

The water nymphs, from Adventure Time itself, helped me come up with her design, especially when it comes to her hair!

Lapis Lazuli, from Steven Universe, helped me come up with her abilities and powers, especially Ocean Princess' control over large bodies of water, as well as shapeshifting!

Rapunzel and Ariel are the biggest influences when it comes to her personality and character development! She went from a sheltered and curious monarch to an adventurous and loving wife!

Flame Princess is, ironically enough, one of the characters that's the most similar to Ocean Princess, especially when it comes to her emotions and how they affect her decisions and abilities!

The guardian angel from the episode Dungeon is also a quiet inspiration for Ocean Princess' more... Animalistic behaviours. She can absolutely be sweet and loving but she's still very much a siren that thrives on feasting on the hearts of men (Simon included)

1 – How do you come up with lore for your S/I and their relationship with your F/O? Is there any media that represents your S/I? (e.g.: a song that inspired their backstory, an episode that changed something in their lore, etc)

The best way for me to come up with lore for Ocean Princess is to rewatch Adventure Time and Fionna and Cake in general, as well as just taking the time to let maladaptive daydreaming run it's course!

I feel like the episode Incendium is a wonderful representation of Ocean Princess in her unaltered state!

2 – Is your S/I more on the loner side or are they a social butterfly? Are there any other characters that are dear to them other than your F/O?

Ocean Princess is very fluid when it comes to socializing, however she doesn't exactly feel connected to any of Ooo's royals, considering the fact that she's actually a queen (she dislikes the title because it makes her feel old) which makes it all the more complicated to relate to the princesses.

She feels disconnected from most of Ooo in general because her kingdom was never really taken into consideration whenever choices were made throughout the land. She's insanely territorial and that scares people away from trying to form a diplomacy with her.

However, when she's fond of someone, she can be very patient and loving, almost like a mother! She enjoys looking out for the people that are dear to her and whenever she feels heard by her friends and husband she feels safer to be herself around them!

3 – Have you ever imagined any episodes or segments of your F/O's source starring your S/I? If so, what did they get up to?

What haven't I imagined with her, honestly! Some of my favorite reoccurring episode ideas are:

Ocean Princess meeting Ice King for the first time! Having her curiously stalk him throughout the day, watching his shenanigans from the frozen waters and eventually working up the courage to walk around his kingdom when she feels like he isn't around. It eventually leads to him kidnapping her and her willingly staying around until Finn and Jake take her back home.

Her and a fluffy friend exploring the Ocean Kingdom and helping out a kraken like monster that was causing trouble to her citizens, turns out the poor thing just had a spear piercing it's tentacle and needed help!

Her introducing Simon to Abyss and him seeing himself in the butler a bit, he raised Ocean Princess as if she was his own daughter, just like Simon did with Marceline (at least for as long as he could) Basically a flashback episode that showcases Abyss' misadventures taking care of the little royal!

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

us the voices recommends! shows, and movies! part 1

Larva 11/10

this show is genuinely amazing, I literally have cried multiple times it's genuinely the best show in the whole "potty humour, screaming" genre, literally if you can get past the kinda obnoxious screaming you will be treated with a wonderful show that has so much love put into it.

(most media critics are snobs, this show is awesome. embrace the silly and the cringe.)

Upload (2020) 10/10

black mirror if it was funny and wasn't anti-technology, best take on cyberpunk I've seen in a long time. if you liked black mirror but hated the doomer parts and the trash writing of some of the later seasons and episodes you will adore upload!

(I actually hate black mirror, like it's all short stories at the end of the day and I like some of them so much and others can go in a hole and die genuinely. it's the most mixed bag of a show I've ever seen, because it just kinda is such a doomer show like make up your mind on what it is!!! 4.7/10 overall and 11/10 for select short stories.)

dinosaur king (dubbed) 10/10

if you like "Pokemon" and "Digimon" you will fucking love dinosaur king, it has (for the time) accurate dinosaur facts. the VA's for jessie and James! and I think ash? appear, and it's a all round fun show! lots of dinosaurs and crying to be had!

squid girl (dubbed/subbed) 10/10

if you like anime girl, fish out of water, slice of life, funny shows you will love squid girl! many many squid puns, and general tomfoolery.

Siren: Survive the Island 11/10

a south Korean reality game show, where a bunch of women from different jobs and backgrounds compete to be the last one standing.

it's genuinely the coolest, edge of your seat show I've watched in a long time!

Physical 100 10/10

a reality game show where the top 100 south Korean sports people? compete against each other to win, it's fucking crazy and awesome and I can't believe it's a show.

Star Trek: lower decks 11/10

if you in any shape or form liked Star Trek you will fucking love lower decks! it's a love letter to Star Trek in all ways, it's extremely funny and a fresh take on the Star Trek formula!

(if you think the first ep is a bit meh, stick through it! it gets so much better)

sword art online: abridged 12/10

I have only ever watched, "sword art online: alicization" and so that was my intro to the sword art online series. but after watching the "something witty's" sword art online: abridged I can never go back. it is extremely well written, the characterisation is impeccable, it has the most realistic feel of if a whole bunch of people actually got trapped in a VR game, and is such an amazing version of the show you will wonder why you hadn't heard of it before!

the Red turtle 11/10

if you like beautiful animation, sadness, and to get your brain chemistry changed. you should check out the red turtle! it's a joint production with studio gibbli, and is so visually stunning and mesmerising you will just sob.

this movie is so amazing, and you will adore the hell out of it.

Megamind 11/10

Dreamworks cult classic film, a family movie that breaks down the superhero genre and reinvents it into a tale of redemption, grief, and rejecting what people think of you. one of the best family movies of the 2010s.

bolt 11/10

if Disney wasn't cowards we would have more of these cult classic early to late 2000s 3D movies, but they hate fun.

if you took everything anti-hollywood and a solid critic on the state of cinema and tv and threw in some animals, chucked it in a pot.

you would have this amazing film! genuinely one of the best Disney movies ever, and the fact people don't talk about it more is saddening.

treasure planet 11/10

one of the last 2D Disney movies, it bombed bad in the cinemas but it is an amazing film that deserves love.

the score is amazing, the characters are so weird and wonderful, and it evokes insane feelings.

chicken little 10/10

if you like kinda campy goofy movies about autism coded characters and sci-fi, and also animals you will adore chicken little, it's one of the weirder 2010s Disney movies. lots of fun and a good family movie.

that's all! see you next instalment!

[ode-12-20-23]

Tonight I see is one of those extra painful yearning episodes .. I wanna cry so bad but i know it wont change the fact that your gone ..the stupid day dreams of hoping to run in to you in a store knowing id break down at the slightest glimpse of you actually being in my presence again ,why did i have to love you so.. and why didnt you love me the same the loneliness i feel in the place you carried in my heart so high is brittle as a thin sheet of ice in a faded winter turning to spring i d not dare take a step forward cause the fear of what was once a fire could go out at any moment . So still i stand in what i am well aware is the insanity of a hopeless love affair that was never going to be . Why do i still wait for you to return knowing you were never ment for me i am merely a fool who road her ship straight in to your sirens song repeatedly crashing her ship in your mesmerizing serenade of lies

You promised me you wouldn’t

But yet i lay here in the wreckage of my once strongest ship now to pieces replaying the song you played that took me off course to this inevitable record scratched on my favorite part of your song of lies.

I wish I could hate you..

To you my ode:L71198

[flowers-in-your-basement]

You're amazing, thank you for the recs! I don't trust myself to even attempt to write an actual fic for this prompt, so no worries. Never be scared to respond to my asks, I'll never be disappointed by your response. I just love talking about wincest with like-minded people, my friends think I'm a freak for shipping wincest so it's nice to be able to get all these thoughts out. And like I try to explain this to them, the show did it to itself, they're Canon soulmates and everything. Let's not even get into the siren episode, or the fact that Jessica is female Dean down to the Same birthday. Sam fucks women who remind him of BigBrotherDean, and a demon literally weaponized this fact to gain his trust. Plus, so much more.

The show said: 🧑🏼‍🍼👨‍👦🧑🏽‍🤝‍🧑🏼🧑🏼‍❤️‍💋‍🧑🏽🧑🏼‍❤️‍🧑🏽👰🏽🤵🏼 but we're wrong for acknowledging it 🙃🤪😤🤡

yeah the show really did say 🧬🧬👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨♥️♥️

And yeah why do ppl think that we're freaks for shipping wincest, I really think that there are better things to do with your time (like watching paint dry, or cataloguing the decomposition of plastic)

Yeah it was absolutely insane that they made them CANON SOULMATES and still people don't see it like!?

Thanks so much, you're so nice to me. Sorry I took so long to respond :))

[galactic-squiddo]

I just wanna say thanks for all the love you have shown for this! Kinda insane just knowing how many people have seen it and liked it or reblogged it and leave nice things in the tags :,) 💖💖

As a little thank you, I thought I might point out some of my process in making this piece! My thoughts, how I wanted it to be, etc!

The Little Mermaid poster

- this whole thing is based on a Little Mermaid poster variant that I really like :D

Thank you for all the love about the composition, but I’m not that original sorry

—-.•*

Persephone’s color scheme

- since everyone else is just wearing what they were wearing in the long form, I wanted Persephone’s colors to be similar to what Tom was wearing! I flip-flopped between actually having the top and the tail match his shirt and pants but I liked the inversion more!

-I guess also tacked onto this was deciding if she’d have a tail at all! For the most part in modern day, the only thing separating sirens from mermaids is the fact that sirens…kill people. They usually look just like mermaids in most media, maybe looking a bit more feral, but I was also kinda thrown off because there were a few instances in the long form where Persephone is mentioned/shown to have wings? So I looked into it, and historically, sirens looked closer to what we might consider harpies! Which is cool, but that but me at a crossroads: do something more historically accurate and somewhat compliant to the play, or do what I initially thought before I went down this rabbit hole?? As you can see, I merged best of both, and gave her a tail and some arm wings :)

—-.•*

Boat and captain hat references

-ok this part is gonna kill me just a tiny bit, but I needed like a million references for this hat. It was crazy. Eventually after struggling for like half an hour I remembered there was an Eddsworld episode where they go fishing, and one of the characters was wearing a hat. Perfect!! I watch the episode and not only is there a hat, but the perfect angle of a boat, a fishing rod, AND a harpoon. Yay for references but also I hadn’t touched anything Eddsworld related in like 7 years so not only remembering that there was an episode that could help me, but that also had all this stuff.. I had to step away for a bit. Woof.

-also boat colors inspired by SpongeBob baiting school boats

—-.•*

Disney Font

-this was the most fun part! I do a lot of hand lettering in my free time, and the Disney font is my absolute favorite to do :)

-did a lot of referencing with The Little Mermaid title font, but I think it came out really well :3

—-.•*

Geoff’s leg

- I really debated if the leg that’s propped up on the rock should be more visible to show it was a fish, or do you could see that the harpoon he’s holding is lodged in his foot. He would’ve had a more pained expression if it was the latter. I would’ve had a bit of cartoonish blood spurt from that area, but it never looked right so I just opted to keep it hidden 👍

-he’s holding a harpoon btw, idk if that even came out the way I hoped

Ok I think that’s all, thank you so much again for all the love! 💖💖

*part of your world tune* "two brothers at sea; one looks like an egg, the other stabbed a harpoon into his legggggg"

Wild, Wet and Worrisome fanart based off a Little Mermaid poster!

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

05/12/2024 – 05/18/2024

Sunday

Week 14 of missing Cipher Academy

Not much to say about Girl Meets Rock except hell yeah Hatocchi get his ass!!!!

UNDEAD UNLUCK IS CRAZY GOOD THIS WEEK WOAGHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHH This battle was predicated on the idea of “imagination”, but now it has developed into the idea of “conviction”, given how Feng’s determination helped power the cannon and plant the seed of doubt in Lang’s mind. BUT ALSO NICO OPENING THE WORMHOLE TO THE MASTER RULES ROOM IS AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGG I LITERALLY SCREAMED OUT LOUD LMAOOOOOOOOO it’s simultaneously the funniest shit ever while also being a genius move, and seeing Soul being absolutely flabbergasted is so incredible. But then seeing him appear to feel genuinely frustrated and sad at Lang’s defeat is also really interesting…of course Tozuka would give the villains compassion and care for each other…love is one of the central themes of UU after all…and this makes this war all the more compelling… That last spread is genuinely so beautiful…Lang conceding defeat and granting her foe some happiness in her final moments…NicoIchi marriage…it’s just so peak… I don’t know how UU manages to top itself every week but god it feels good to be a part of the journey.

Obligatory beach episode in Oshi no Ko is fine, there are some fun jokes in there. And the love triangle seems to be resolving itself…if not for the Ruby thing LMAO

I’m glad they got that guy out of the air in Dandadan, because the drawings of hand to hand combat are just gorgeous.

Damn, the information drop in One Piece is actually insane…it feels surreal to be finally hearing history that I first got hints about literally ten years ago…

Ahghhrhghghaeujglhgeayhgj the new SpyFam chapter…Martha/Henry is so so so so so so sooooo good…SpyFam is so good when it’s a genuine war drama because it doesn’t shy away from how war permeates and affects society…the kids going through air siren drills and the talk of drafts and everyone’s futures…Martha suffering the loss of her dream and taking control of her life by enrolling in the army and confessing to Henry, only for the bell of war to toll once more and shove a wedge between them that will last for most of their lives…agh… I really hope they get together, and not just at the end of the manga like a lot of shounen manga like to do because I want to see them explore their new dynamic in their old age… If only every manga was as proactive and caring about romance as Undead Unluck is…

I reread Hoshi Dake ga Shitteru to see if I would want to buy it when the officially licensed book comes out and I think I will…! The writing in this was always pretty refreshing to read, and it’s fun and realistic to watch Kengo and Sora slowly orbit around each other and read each other’s intentions until they finally concede that they’re in love. And the astronomy theming and all this talk about dreams is just the cherry on top because it reminds me of Twin Spica. It’s an 8/10 for me, and I’m looking forward to picking up the physical version.

Finally finished reading If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late… I’ve harped on about my issues with this series enough, so I’ll just say that the gist of my problem with it is that it’s a fairly shallow narrative. I’m sure that kids enjoy it, and I probably did as a kid myself, but it’s not particularly rewarding to revisit as an adult because there’s no added depth to be found. Just a quirky series banking on punny humor and the allure of a big mystery and a secret society that lets kids work for them for whatever reason. Unfortunately I’m committed to seeing this series through to the end, so you’ll probably get a lot more griping from me.

Man…I think I’m genuinely too stupid to understand Monogatari. I finished Nekomonogatari Black today and I just feel confused… Monogatari’s trademark of long-winded conversations just leave me always playing catch up as I try to understand the line I just heard while the next line is being said. I went to go read some essays about Nekomonogatari and I think I get it more now, but I don’t get Araragi at all…I rarely do… Maybe I should read the books, at least I can control the pacing there…but I feel like Monogatari might just not be for me, because I can hardly feel emotionally impacted by it when I can’t tell what’s going on. I really wanted to like Monogatari, though…it seems to mean a lot to a lot of people and I love Cipher Academy by the same author so much so I don’t know why this just isn’t clicking for me…

I watched the second episode of Smartypants and it was about as mildly entertaining as the first. Jess’ presentation felt the most straightforward, just straight up facts rather than jokes lol. Jacob’s was solid and genuinely funny at times and came to a satisfying conclusion, much like Trapp’s in the last episode, but I think my favourite of the three has to be Katie’s for her sheer commitment and enthusiasm. I relate, as an egg lover myself…

Monday

Living Dead…Sleeping Dead… Having now read the ending, the name of the manga hits like a truck… Both can refer to Sada, of course, but I’m also inclined to believe that Living Dead also refers to Mamiya in a way… He was aimless in life, only chasing the one ambition he knew and leaving behind the rest of the world in the process… But Sada brought him back…and tried to keep him there, even using up his last moments to try and impart that message to him… Meanwhile, the Sleeping Dead moniker makes me want to die because it’s what Mamiya desperately wanted for Sada in the end…but of course it couldn’t come to pass… This story was never going to end happily… I was surprised to see Mamiya just straight up admit his feelings, but I suppose it was the last chapter so the mangaka wanted to get things moving along. But god, seeing them being intimate and Mamiya slowly opening up to happiness was so incredible…and it only made the ending all the more tragic. Narratively, I think the story was a bit all over the place and not always in control of what direction it wanted to go in, but that last conversation somehow tied everything together and illuminated the themes of the work so beautifully that I can’t even be mad. But god I feel so miserable…8/10…

At least the new Oni to Tengoku chapter cheered me up somewhat…Aoki and Tengoku’s tentative relationship and its down to earth writing is always fun to read about…

And then I read Koisuru Psycho no Shirayuki-kun lmao It seems to be a quintessential edgy “get revenge on your cartoon bullies” escapist power fantasy, but the BL theming and excellent figure art have intrigued me… I normally wouldn’t read a story like this but sure, I’ll watch the “crazy” guy kill some kids for his crush, why not. Everything about this story is so over the top, though, so let’s see if I get annoyed enough to drop it before it concludes.

Tuesday

I’d been itching to read another Sammy Keyes book so I picked up Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception today and finished it in one sitting lol I love this series so much that I’m trying savour them and not read them all at once, so it’s always a treat when I do get to read one. This entry was pretty cute, with some musings about the value and purpose of art in a way that a younger audience could appreciate and some more progress on the Sammy/Casey romance front, but the highlight for me was definitely seeing Rita take more of an active role in the mystery. It’s nice to learn more about her and see her step out of the “worried guardian” role for a bit, and the old people love quandrangle was really fun to watch play out. Personally I think Rita deserves to have a fling with Lance before marrying Hudson but that’s just me. The mystery was kind of the weakest link here, given how 80% of its runtime was less so about a specific crime and more “things seem suspicious, better investigate”, but it was still decently interesting.

Wednesday

I tried reading Moju by Edogawa Ranpo, but the translation was a little off and filled with typos and grammatical errors that I couldn’t really get into it (and after looking up the translator, it seems like this wasn’t a one-time occurrence). The intro itself was also meh – it seems a little ridiculous that after two run-ins with the blind man, Ranko wouldn’t connect the dots right away that the weird guy wearing sunglasses at her show is the same guy??? And I’m sure the ero-guro stuff was shocking for 1931, but now it just reads as edgy slasher stuff. So yeah, no thanks.

Thursday

DunMesh with a side of excellent spicy noodles today – I used水煮鱼 broth, shanxi noodles, ricecakes filled with cheese, spring onions, and some meatballs I made yesterday and oh my god it was so good. Possibly the best “throw stuff together” meal I’ve ever made for myself. I felt very immersed in the dungeon cooking experience. Watching Izutsumi learn how to actually relate to people and be a part of a team is very cute! Also a nice lesson in learning how to deal with things you don’t like in order to move forward in life.

Friday

Drag Race All Stars 9 huh… I have to be honest…I’m not really feeling this season… I’m glad that they’re competing for these great causes, but now it feels like Drag Race is trying too hard to be a “feel good” activism season and the vibes are just way off. This overly positive tone was fitting when it was the winners season and we were celebrating the girls’ achievements and how skilled they are at their craft, but it’s not really working for me here. I guess part of the issue is that there isn’t anyone I’m particularly rooting for in this group? And then not having eliminations sucked a lot of tension out of the room… I think I’ll actually skip this season entirely. I’ve been watching every main Drag Race and All Stars season since 6 and 3 respectively, but I’m just not compelled enough to continue with this one. I did watch the first episode, though, and it was alright. The song performance was weirdly good in a way where I feel like production stepped in to help (it definitely felt like they were trying to avoid turning the charity song into a meme if one of the verses flopped), but then the sudden perfume themed runway threw me way off. This is something that would’ve been its own main challenge back in the day (flashbacks to that extremely weird animated sidekick challenge from season 9??), and seeing it thrown in here for seemingly no reason was so weird. At least the voiceovers were all pretty funny, and the outfits were nice…except for Gottmik’s. Literally what was that…the placement of the chains was so weird and random and unflattering, and the base was just a basic black dress… Gottmik was a favourite of mine on season 13, so this was a bit of a disappointment. Plastique’s outfit was pretty amazing, I was marvelling at the mechanics of having two sets of wings that closed over each other…it’s definitely a step up from the Courtney Act wings, though those still have a special place in my heart. But yeah, the vibes are just off and I don’t want to watch the rest of the season.

Saturday

To be honest I was sad today but then a four hour video essay I’ve been anticipating for two years got posted just as I was about to eat dinner so I spent most of my day watching that instead of anything else

[bellmo15-blog]

Villains In Fiction Act Like Villains? *Gasp!*

So, there was a post I saw on Twitter last night that was poking fun of some of the sillier complaints people have about Disney Star Wars and the post contained screenshots of posts from Ticktok complaining about how certain factions, the Empire in particular, had been depicted in Star Wars media recently and these shots contained a bunch of fickle arguments such as “where is the war in Star Wars” as if people don’t understand that war isn’t all just big explosions and screaming “FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY” at the top of your lungs. You know, it was the stereotypical “Disney Star Wars bad” kinda stuff you’d expect to see at this point. However, there were two particular screen shots in this post that bothered me the most. This shot from opening of The Force Awakens where the First Order assaults the village on Jakku which ends with them all being executed, and another shot from one of the recent episodes of The Bad Batch showing that the Empire has started experimenting on kids with that same episode also showing Cad Bane kidnapping a literal baby.

And these complaints, they got to me. Like they actually got to me and not in a good way. Because ignoring the fact that the sequel trilogy actively goes out of it’s way to show the audience that the First Order is A LOT more brutal than the Empire anyway and this opening assault is a great way of showing that and this wasn’t even the first time in cannon that Cad Bane had kidnaped children, they were acting like the Empire being as evil as it is is a new thing. No it is not! This is the same group of people who killed Luke’s aunt and uncle, blew up an entire planet, tortured Princess Leia for information and would of killed her two if Luke, Han and Chewbacca didn’t show up to save her, Darth Vader killed some of his own men just because they fucked up at their job, blackmailed Lando into luring our heroes into a trap and set up a shield generator on a planet they likely didn’t ask the consent of the local Ewoks beforehand. And let’s not forget the Galactic Empire is also being led by a man who manipulated his best solider from childhood, planned a mass genocide on a group of what’s basically Space Samurai wizards and any Jedi that DID survive often ended up working for this new regime to basically hunt down and kill any Jedi who survived Order 66 and let’s not forget Palpatine basically lied his way into power. The Empire experimenting on children in The Bad Batch is no different from how they acted in the past BEFORE Disney brought the rights to this franchise!

However, this post of the Star Wars fanbase just being the Star Wars fanbase also highlights a bigger issue that extends to all works of fiction. Apparently, we can’t have villains in fiction who are irredeemable assholes that do some really horrible shit anymore. And I really have to wonder, do you people NOT know some of the really horrible shit villains have done in fiction over the years. Do you also know that some of them also have no real motivation to do half the shit they do other than “just cause” or because of “insanity?” This really isn’t a new thing or anything!

Don’t believe me? How about we bring up Green Goblin from the first Sam Rami Spider-Man film? This is a villain who literally becomes a villain though a science experiment gone wrong leading to him going insane and he actively takes joy in the horrible stuff he does. Does he have a reason to continue doing evil shit after killing off the Oscorp executives who screw him over at one point? No. Is he still a joy to watch on screen? Yes!

Or how about Risky Boots from the Shantae series. Does she have any deep or personal or sympathetic reason as to why she does half the shit she does in this series, including kidnapping Shantae’s Uncle, stealing her genie magic out of her, inverting Shantae’s Genie Magic to turn her evil or helping the Empress Siren just for the sake of a ship? As far as we know, no! She just really likes being a pirate and stealing shit save for the one time in the series she had no choice but to work with Shantae to stop the Pirate Master. And that’s fine! Because she’s still an incredibly entertaining villain.

Or what about Bowser from the Super Mario franchise. Does he have any detailed reasons as to why he constantly goes after Princess Peach? No! And yes, there is the Super Mario Bros Movie where he wants to marry Peach but that’s a different cannon altogether anyway.

And what about Commander Tartar from Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion who wanted to commit mass genocide on the entire Inkling and Octoling race just because he wasn’t happy with how they had become the new dominant species on earth and wanted to replace them with a new race?

“But Bellmo, we need our villains to be sympathetic otherwise what’s the point of half the stuff they do.” No no no. You can NOT just sit here and tell me making a villain Sympathetic instantly makes that character likable or justifys half the shit they do. Because even the ones who are do some pretty horrible stuff.

Don’t believe me still? How about Magneto in the X-Men movies? Now one look at this guy and you might think that he has a noble goal. He wants mutants to be respected and the X-Men universe mutants are seen as freaks or monsters. Well guess what, Magneto does some pretty awful shit in these films just for that goal. In the original X-Men he was more than willing to sacrifice Rouge, who casual reminder is ALSO a mutant, just to turn a bunch of people into Mutants despite the fact that we see before this point that it does NOT end well if a normal person get’s forcibly turned into a Mutant. X-2 despite helping to stop a plot to wipe out all mutant on the earth he then ends up turning that plan on its head and try’s to have all non mutants wiped out instead. Last Stand he rally’s a bunch of mutants to his side because of a recent “cure” for mutations and his plan is to literally go to the source of the cure, who is a literal child, and probably kill him two. And that’s not even counting some of the stuff he does in the First-Class saga such as being more than willing to blow up American and Russian boats with mislles, thinking the best way to stop the apocalyptic future we see in Day’s of Future Past is to kill Mystic because her actions in the 70’s lead to what happened and willingly working for Apocalypse because he has nothing left anymore. Yeah, I don’t care how much of an activist for mutant rights Magneto is, if I was a mutant I’d be going straight to the school run by the telepath in a wheelchair. Which is ironic for me to say considering Magneto is arguably one of the best parts of these movies. He’s incredibly well acted and his dialogue with other characters is great to listen two.

“But Gannondorf is a sympathetic villain in Zelda Wind Waker. He had good reason for doing what he did.” Yeah, a sympathetic villain who lied his way into the Hylian Royal family and plunged Hyrule and the Sacred Realm into chaos. And that’s just in the Adult Timeline. Don’t even get me started on how he basically used Zant to try and take over Hyrule again in the Child Timeline or how he actually kills OOT Link in the Downfall timeline.

Look, the point I’m trying to get across with all this rambling is that I don’t get why villains acting like villains is such a shocking thing to people nowadays. What, are we going to complain about Heroes being Heroes next? Villains doing villainous shit isn’t a brand new thing nor do they all have to be sympathy to justify the shit they do either. But then again, we live in an age where media literacy is deader than my hopes for that Sands of Time remake to be finished. I know I said this already a while ago but I swear to God, I will NEVER forgive what a lot of overly critical Youtubers from the 2010’s into now have done to an entire generations ability to consume media.

[mystical-one]

im so tempted to make a list of monkees episodes ordered so that it forms a kind of legible plot but idk what would be a good series finale.....