#the version of the theme is so lighthearted and cheerful.

[ladyinthebluebox]

aaaagsgdfsghshd... the version of Brasidas' theme playing when he shows up with greetings in Sparta...

[the-s1lly-corner]

Pet names (fnaf sb edition)

Woo yeah baby!! First time writing fnaf characters that arent the dca- dont get used to this.. I'm.. probably not going to write the rest of the cast.. maybe.. idk

Characters: just the animatronics, no glam bonnie though :(

Notes: reader is GN, reader is implied to be a human worker, can be read as romantic or platonic or even crushing!, mostly what they call you and what you call them in return, no real scenarios, takes place prior to SB/au where the pizzaplex is.. fairly normal, use of they pronouns but not for hc i was just copy/pasting stuff LMAO

CWs: none

FREDDY

What they call you: obviously superstar comes out like second nature because its what hes used to, but he does sometimes call you sweetheart, lovely

What you call them: you sometimes call him old man as a joke, i mean... its the dad vibes.. and you know what? he takes it in stride! obviously bear themed names are a given, and he loves all of them. cuddle bear, honey bear, bear, ect ect ect

MONTY

What they call you: babe/baby, runt (affectionately)... i cant explain it but he looks like someone who would use sugar every now and then

What you call them: Handsome, stud, big man, hunk, and if you slip it when hes in a good mood he will only snort if you call him a cutie patootie

ROXY

What they call you: babe, your name. nicknames arent really for her, but if you have anything you want to be called shes open to it!

What you call them: you sometimes call her captain every now and then though its far from the main thing you call her. roxstar is another lighthearted one and you tend to drop it after cheering her up! dorky and dumb name, cant help but get an eye roll from her.. usually though you call her babe or just her name

CHICA

What they call you: if youre masc shes gonna call you a hunk, especially if youre on the muscular side, loads of food based nicknames... cherry pie, honey pie, dumpling, honey bunny, and so on!

What you call them: sweetheart, queen, princess, lover girl, things like that are some of her favorites!

SUN

What they call you: Maybe I'm biased but Starlight Starshine by steam powered giraffe is so dca x reader coded, so naturally and obviously... Sun calls you Starshine! On the flip side he also calls you Sunshine!

What you call them: Love the idea that he's a lover of all things cheesy when it comes to romance, maybe it's the theatre loving side of him that peaks out... something something cliches... call him a sillier nickname and hes going to try to one up you

MOON

What they call you: Yoinking from Sun's part, he tends to call you Starlight! Sometimes though he calls you Brat, not in a sexual way, he does it to tease you or get at you when you're being a bit difficult-

What you call them: he likes something thats a little less... generic... and preferably something that doesnt hinge off of what you call sun. matching names are cute and all but he likes having something for himself sometimes.. you sometimes call him bed bug in a similar way people call someone love bug

ECLIPSE

What they call you: comet, and keeping up with the star names i think starbright would be cute... reference to the "starlight starbright" thing!

What you call them: casanova, Lovely, Prince, Lover to name a few! similar to sun though, they're not all that picky so long as you put though behind it!

DJMM

What they call you: blasts the djmm uses sign hc- calls you lovey, as well as a shortened version of your name. loooove the idea of having a set of notes that just get associated with you that kind of just play out of him

What you call them: hunk, love bug, sweet thing, he looks like he would enjoy being called a cutie patootie every now and then

[selfieignite]

Selfie (2014) production art with earlier versions

From designer Sarah Orenstein:

There are many reasons why “Selfie” was one of my favorite projects. Besides for the super talented all-lady team (!), I was so fortunate to be given more than the usual creative freedom to explore designs for the title sequence of this modern-day “My Fair Lady”: a narcissistic social media addict who undertakes a reluctant journey to discover the value of genuine friendship. The mixed media “analog” style was a refreshing break from the glossy aesthetic expected of most social-media related motion graphics projects. By creating cheeky vignettes mixing historical photographs of “selfies”, a hand drawn network, and collaged elements that typically represent natural beauty (flowers and butterflies, for example) we were able to depict the potentially cliché theme of shallow online personas vs. true human connection in a lighthearted and cheerful way. Although the show itself was short lived, the title sequence still makes me smile.

Producer: Eve Strickman

Director: Jordan Bruner

Design: Sarah Orenstein

Animation: Ashley Farlow & Jordan Bruner

[x]

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 29 - Prompt: Mug

Fanfiction writers used prompt “mug” for some lighthearted one-shots that are all equally adorable. They all leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling, so I thought I would share them with you all as well. The header image is my attempt at visual representation of the mugs mentioned in stories below 😘

(@iamcharlotte88- if you need inspiration, there is no Dr Chiba with a pink mug image that I could find)

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Miscellaneous Works: Short Stories That Tumbled From Tumblr: Chapter 4: His Bunny Mug - @floraone

This one-shot is written from outside-looking in perspective of someone else working with Mamoru, observing him and his relationship with Usagi.

In Your Orbit - UsaMamo Shorts: Chapter 1: Mug - @daikon1

Mamoru sneaks a mug out of Usagi's apartment to help him have a tangible reminder of her while doing grueling shifts at the hospital. Except that there was very little actual "sneaking" involved.

In Your Orbit - UsaMamo Shorts: Chapter 2: Mug Take 2 - @daikon1

In this version, mug serves as a meet-cute for our duo, with Mamoru picking it up at a thrift store. Fate does work in mysterious ways with these two.

These Games We Play: Chapter 9: Caught in the Act - @allyunabridged

Usagi is super excited to finally spend a little bit of quality time with Mamoru over lunch, with how busy their lives are. That fades quickly into annoyance when she realizes what he is holding.

My Own Little Stage: A Collection of Prompts: Chapter 6: Prompt: Coffee date - @tinacentury

This one is slightly less "mug" prompt, and more mug is a plot device to get Mamoru and Usagi to address what happened during the break-up arc of R-season of the anime.

Well, and since we were talking about Mugs, I decided to use a bunny mug for my photography class homework. So here are a couple of my favorite shots:

---

That's it for this week! Next week we start on April posts:

April 3 - Flowers

April 10 - Traditions

April 17 - Dreams

April 24 - Friends

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffee shop AU

Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

Week 22 - Friends to Lovers

Week 23 - ❤️Valentines Day❤️

Week 24 - Do a Grouch a Favour Day (or Cheer Up Fics)

Week 25 - Soulmate AU

Week 26 - Amnesia Fics (and resources)

Week 27 - 🍀St Patrick's Day🍀

Week 28 - Fix it Fics

[downthepub]

First i want to say i am engaging in this post in good faith. if this is unwelcome by the OP i'll be willing to delete this.

i would argue that the show and characters matter to so many people SO MUCH that, to balance how important it is, and how serious and heavy some of the themes are, many are drawn to engage with art and fiction and jokes / memes in a way that minimizes how serious and important (even life-changing) the series can be to many. to sort of balance the heavy stuff and feel better.

these characters and the story are so potent, so powerful to many of us - and can bring up some extremely raw and painful emotions - and the story matters so much, it's so heavy in many ways. it currently doesn't have the happy ending we're all longing for. (we trust and believe it's coming, but it may be a long time coming...)

so, many people are engaging with the characters in a way that lightens that load. instead of constantly going over the heavy trauma, some might be focusing on things like "why do people who are very different fall in love," or "how to [accept affection / confess your feelings / live openly as who you are / etc] when your life experiences make that difficult." these characters are good for those sorts of conversations, too, because it's easy to imagine them dealing with issues like this. (or some version of them dealing with issues like this. the way we do. they are supernatural and ancient creatures, but one of the draws is just how human they seem, how much of ourselves we can see in them.)

personally i write and engage with some very heavy content for good omens. but i also desperately crave the lighter stuff - stuff that makes me laugh and smile and have hope. i want to read about them finding each other in every single world no matter what. i want to see pictures that make me smile, read memes that make me giggle like a loon. i want to enjoy the many rainbow shades of this fandom. i would argue that the silly and lighthearted stuff is super, super important in a fandom with dark and heavy content. because the people engaging with the show matter as much or more than the characters. and many people desperately need hope, and things to laugh about, and distractions from a world that can be very dark, as well.

and i want the real story, the one we're all waiting for, to have a hopeful and happy ending too. i want it to engage with and answer the heavy questions and themes set up by the authors, and do them justice. i believe we'll get it. someday. but right now, i'm reading a lot of AUs where they always end up together, and smiling a whole heck of a lot at sweet and cheerful art, and enjoying various other imaginative interpretations of these wonderful, thought provoking characters that have hold of so many hearts and minds.

there's a lot of darkness out there. sometimes we're not ready for the whole orchestra of it. sometimes it's good for people to engage with a lighter melody, to hum along in a tune that rhymes, or even to turn it all into a different genre of music instead and dance to it. (a clumsy metaphor.)

anyway i agree that the story is so heavy and important and serious. i agree with the things you said about the story - but not about why people engage with the content you described. there's room for all of it and i just wanted to explain my viewpoint. it's all wonderful to me.

The uwu-fication of Good Omens

I’m not saying this to piss on anyone’s parade, everyone can like whatever they want and I realize that people who are perhaps… not experienced in traumatic adult relationships and/or aren’t bitter remnants of whatever ray of light they were supposed to be - I realize their fiction will probably be (for lack of better words)… light and easy.

I also realize that due to the collective heartbreak we’ve experienced after the end of season 2, a little fluff is perhaps needed. Again, not defecating on any crowds - but, like, we did watch the same show, right?

There are some REALLY good meta out there, as well as some fics and some art that really captures the essence of both Crowley and Aziraphale, and the context they struggle within.

…And then there are fics and art/comics where particularly Crowley is reduced to this very tsundere, cranky-despite-secretly-affectionate anime character who blushes and gets ✨ve-y angy✨ whenever he gets a kiss on his cheek or something and I’m like… okay? But. That’s not Crowley, is it? (Yes, you can make him into a hemipened waifu pillow for all I care, go do what makes you happy) - it’s just… You know?

Crowley and Aziraphale are (despite their celestial origins) - at their core - two middle aged, closeted, homosexual men who used to work for two equally oppressive, evil and incompetent fascist governments. That’s why they meet on the benches in the park, like all the other agents sent from other oppressive nations and agencies. The book was written during the last years of the cold war, and during the height of the AIDS crisis. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the first meds for HIV came in 1992 - being gay and being seen with the enemy could bring about equally terrifying death sentences. Yet, they do their best to thwart their Cold War, and then, the nuclear apocalypse.

After barely succeeding, they become as close as they dare to be, and they both know they love each other. Of course they do. That’s why Crowley wants them to stop pretending they don’t. He already assumes Aziraphale knows, because HE DOES KNOW.

Crowley isn’t (canonically) an uwu angy tsundere snek. He is a miserable ex-agent screaming at his closeted, gay lover for refusing to run away with him after 6000 years of war. Crowley is the opposite of tsundere, he is an open, aching wound.

Aziraphale isn’t a kawaii angel cup of hot chocolate, he is a desperate and scared idealist who is threatened into compliance by Great Leader, and who secretly wants nothing more than to let go of all propriety and just allow himself to be happy and freely experience life and love with the man he’s wanted all along, far from all oppression both from society and Heaven.

You guys, this is a story about fighting oppression for love. I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same side.

And perhaps I’m just old, perhaps my experiences with multiple failed relationships, friendships and my own fallen idealism tints my glasses… But I feel a certain way about all the uwu. I’m sorry. Do uwu if you want. I’m gonna focus on the OPPRESSION, because - apparently - that’s the wall my socks stick to.

And yeah, I know this is very old man yells at cloud. Younger people (or people who just aren’t exactly like me) seeing this show or reading the book deserve the right to play around with it, just like I do. I know, I know, I know. I just needed to say this. Slay me if you must.

End of rant. Thank you for coming to my depression.

EDIT: Yes, I made the Avril Lavigne thing further down. Yes, I am a hypocrite. I’ve made my peace with this.

[aitaikimochi]

BNHA Team Up Mission Spin-Off Manga Chapter 9 Summary Translation

The Boku No Hero Academia TEAM UP MISSION manga Chapter 9 follows Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima as they team up with Shiketsu's Camie to act in a stage play at a theme park. The chapter is really hilarious and lighthearted. 

The title of the chapter is “That’s Totally Overdoing the Illusion!”

Here's the entire chapter summary! Enjoy~

Boku No Hero Academia TEAM UP MISSION

By Akiyama Youkou

Chapter 9 That’s Totally Overdoing the Illusion!

The chapter starts off with Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki on a Team Up Mission at a theme park called “Future World.” They arrive at the theme park and Kirishima says the theme park is amazing. Todoroki notes that it’s really big, and Bakugou says, “Whatever, it’s just for kids.” They then are approached by Camie, who says, “Omg no way! U.A. is like, here too??”

Camie says “I’m like so totally excited to be meeting up with some hotties again, like woah!”

Bakugou says he has no idea what the hell Camie is saying, and Kirishima exclaims, “Oh! It’s a Shiketsu student from the Provisional Hero License Exam!” Kirishima proceeds to introduce himself in his intense manner, and Camie says that he kinda acts like Inasa.

It turns out that the Team Up Mission requires U.A. Academy to team up with Shiketsu at the amusement park to assist the staff with something. They meet up with the CEO of the park to figure out what exactly he needs help on. The CEO is a tiny man with a large mustache dressed up like a jester.

The CEO asks them to follow him to another side of the park, called Retro Land. This theme park is a run-down and old looking traditional theme park with barely any customers. The CEO of the theme park says that he brought them here to take part in a stage play to attract more customers.

He hands them a script, which is about a town being attacked by villains. The heroes show up and fight the villains, and the heroes end up in a pinch. However, with the help of the citizens cheering them on, the heroes are able to restore peace back to the city.

Kirishima hears the outline of the play and gets excited, saying it’s such an awesome mainstream story. Bakugou scoffs and says, “but it’s damn basic.” Kirishima then says, “Nah, I like it!”

The students then go into a rehearsal of the scene where the heroes are in a pinch. One of the professional actresses, a Dog Lady wearing a skull choker, low v-neck vest, studded belt, and long pants, says, “Oh you guys are actually heroes? Then you probably haven’t acted before?”

Kirishima then tries to do his best acting, saying “Gahh…I’m…strong….guhhh I won’t…fall down…I’ll never turn my back…because I….I….!!!” and overdoes his acting.

Camie then says “Like holy crap the Villain blindsided me, and now I’m on the floor like discarded bubble tea!”

Todoroki just falls onto the floor silently. Bakugou tries acting, screaming “I WILL NEVER FALL TO THE LIKES OF A VILLAIN!” The Dog Lady actress asks them if they were actually even trying to act, and they all say they were doing their best. The Dog Lady says she’s a bit worried about how this will go.

In either case, they need to decide which role everyone will be taking part. The Dog Lady instructs them to decide among themselves who will get what role.

Bakugou and Camie both say at the same time they want to be the lead Hero role. Camie says, “Wait, but I’m older than you so I totally should be the lead Hero role!” Bakugou gets mad and screams, “BUT I AM THE STRONGEST ONE HERE. BESIDES, I AM Q.E.D.!**”

Camie says “Damn yo, that’s the lowest of the low” and Bakugou yells, “Shut the hell up and speak your mother tongue, damnit!”

Kirishima tries to calm him saying, “Calm down guys, Camie-senpai too…!” He then notices that Todoroki is looking at a child’s playground bear spring rider, and Kirishima asks, “Oh, do you want to ride it? The staff did say we could enjoy the park as much as we’d like!” Kirishima mentions that they never really had a chance to go to a theme park ever since entering High School, and being at a theme park feels nostalgic as it brings back memories of his childhoold.

Todoroki then says, “No…I don’t have any memories of ever going to a theme park.”

Camie looks at Todoroki and says, “Uh, like no way?”

Kirishima then grabs Todoroki and says, “WELL IF THAT’S THE CASE…JUST PRACTICING OUR LINES WILL GET STALE, SO LET’S ENJOY THE THEME PARK!” and rides the bear spring rider together with Todoroki.

Camie wants to join them too, and she, Kirishima, and Todoroki go on a carousel while Bakugou gets irritated. Camie is taking a picture for Kirishima and Todoroki on her cellphone while Kirishima calls out to Bakugou saying, “Heeyyy! Bakugou, come join us!”

Bakugou scoffs, “Hmph, waste of time.”

Kirishima, Todoroki, and Camie then ride a roller coaster together and Kirishima shouts, “It’s fun you know!”

Bakugou says, “This is no time to be playing with these stupid toys…!”

Kirishima then grins and says to Bakugou “All right then, if that’s the case, let’s decide who gets the lead Hero hero role by seeing who can get the least dizzy from the tea cup ride!” This piques Bakugou’s interest, and Kirishima further taunts him saying, “If you’re not confident about it, then you don’t gotta force yourself!”

This gets Bakugou fired up and he says, “I’m going to spin this shit and kill all of you guys!!!!!!!” He sits in the tea cup next to Kirishima, Camie, and Todoroki and spins it like crazy. Camie looks like she’s going to throw up and says, “Wait…Bakugou…you’re like, turning it way too fast!”

Bakugou looks at Kirishima and taunts, “HOW IS IT!? YOU DON’T LOOK SO GOOD. GONNA GIVE UP YET!?” and Kirishima yells back, “YOU MUST BE JOKING! NOT EVEN CLOSE! TURN IT UP!!”

Bakugou then screams, “PLUS ULTRAAAAAA!!!” as he spins the cup so fast it looks as if they are not moving at all. Camie squeaks “Helllaaaaaaa…”

After they get off the ride, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Camie are wobbling around and walking unevenly, with Kirishima accidentally heading towards the direction of the girl’s bathroom in his dizzy state and Camie about to throw up on the floor. Bakugou sways and proudly points at no one, saying “You bastard, you’re all dizzy!”

Kirishima says, “Guh…did…didja see that, Bakug….erghh!” Camie says she’s going to hurl. Todoroki asks, “Uh, where are you guys even going?”

Kirishima then notices that Todoroki is completely unphased, and he asks “Todoroki…you’re okay!?” Todoroki responds, “I feel a bit uneasy…”

With that, it’s decided that Todoroki gets the lead Hero role. They then head back to the stage, and there’s a few people in the audience already as well as two camera men who will be filming this performance and uploading it online later.

All the students are ready for their performance, and as they act out the first scene, a group of people corner the CEO and threaten him. The group are land developers who tell the CEO to give up Retro Land since it’s going out of business anyway. He grabs the CEO in a chokehold, but the CEO says he won’t hand over the park to these people.

As this is happening, Camie, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima go backstage after their first act. Camie says they can take a short break until the next scene. Kirishima remarks that the camera was focused a lot on him, but Bakugou says he’s pretty damn sure he was the one getting more spotlight.

As they walk backstage, they see the group of people threatening the CEO. Kirishima, Todoroki, and Bakugou easily take out these villains, but the villain tells the CEO that they had planted a trap at the roller coaster in Retro Land where a part of the roller coaster tracks were destroyed. The ride operators did not know this, and there’s currently a cart that will be falling off the roller coaster tracks soon. The villain mentions that no one would want to go to a theme park after hearing of such a bad accident. Kirishima realizes this and rushes first to the roller coaster ride.

Meanwhile, Camie is wondering what to do because their break is over, and they’re due to be on stage again. Since the boys are dealing with the villains, she decides to create illusions of all of them and wing the performance off script with her illusion versions of Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima.

She recreates the pretty boy Todoroki illusion, who turns to the Dog Lady, who’s playing the role of the villain, and says, “Won’t you…please stop being a villain? You should become a Hero instead!” and the Dog Lady blushes and immediately falls for it, saying “YES…!”

Since Camie can’t access the script right now, she just decides to ad lib everything and make up a new story. She makes the Illusion Kirishima turn out to be the actual villain of the story, and the camera men who are in the audience wonder what happened to the original script.

On the other side of the park, Kirishima is already on top of the roller coaster tracks and uses his hardening to stop the oncoming roller coaster cart. He tries to stop it but the cart still keeps going.

Bakugou then comes behind him and steps on his back, and Kirishima looks back and says “Bakugou!”

The guy on the front seat of the ride screams “Why are there two people [on the tracks]!?”

Bakugou says that there’s not enough manpower to stop the roller coaster. He places one hand on Kirishima’s back to support him while using his other hand to set off a huge explosion, propelling them forward to nullify the movement of the roller coaster cart.

Back at the stage, Camie is doing her best trying to improv the play. Her Illusion Villain Kirishima gloats that he will fulfill his revenge. The Illusion Todoroki cries out, “No! Please stop this fight!” while a very quiet and calm looking Bakugou places his hand on Illusion Todoroki’s shoulder.

The real Bakugou and Kirishima are still trying to stop the roller coaster cart from going further, and Kirishima hugs the front of the roller coaster as Bakugou continues to use his explosion to stop the cart. They finally successfully stop the coaster, and Kirishima falls back in relief, showing a dent in the front of the roller coaster cart in the shape of his body.

Just as they saved the roller coaster cart, Camie was finished with the play as well. The two camera men who were filming the play were so moved they started crying at how good the play was. One of the camera men mentions that he wants to bring this Hero Stage play around the entire country because it was so moving.

The resolution scene shows the Illusion Villain Kirishima shaking hands with the Illusion Quiet Bakugou with the closing line, “And with that, the hero that looked the most like a Villain was able to open the actual Villain’s heart and let him turn a new leaf.”

The crowd cheers as Illusion Bakugou and Illusion Villain Kirishima continue to shake hands.

At the roller coaster, Todoroki assists the people in the roller coaster cart off the tracks by using his ice to create an emergency ladder. Kirishima then smiles at Camie and says, “Good work Camie-senpai! You did it!” Camie looks like she’s going to hurl again since she overused her quirk, saying “I feel hella sick…I like, overdid the illusions…hella…”

With that, the four students finish their training at the amusement park together. Later that week, the Retro Land Stage Play was uploaded onto a video streaming site, and the video got 1,200 likes and counting. The show was a hit online, and because of that, Retro Land’s popularity bounced back and more people started going to the theme park.

However, because of the stage play, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Todoroki also gained some new fans.

The last scene shows the two camera men hiding in the bushes with cameras while Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima are walking.

Kirishima ask them, “Hey uh…do you guys get the feeling we’re being watched…?”

THE END!

[hungrydolphin91]

My top 10 Tales games openings

well this is sure to upset some people 😅 Tales games have so many amazing intros i decided to rank them according to my own tastes. I’m only doing the intro songs for the games, so anime songs like "Kaze no Uta" or late-game songs like "Rising Up" or "Party! Love Beat!" are not included (though i love these ones too)

10. “flyaway” by BACK-ON - Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2

Irresistibly catchy, makes you want to sing along. A really underrated song but it’s competing with some real bangers, so I sadly can’t put it higher.

9. “Yume de Owarinai” by Yumi Yoshida - Tales of Phantasia

What an iconic intro. Lively but not fast paced, sweet and nostalgic. A great intro to start off the series.

8. “VS” by misono - Tales of the Tempest

Another underrated gem- Tales of the Tempest did poorly but this song did not. It sounds like a Japanese version of Footloose, and I mean that in the best way possible. The boppy rhythm makes you start tapping your foot immediately, and you wanna belt out the English words. (this one’s by misono too haha im biased)

7. “Hibana” by Kankaku Piero -Tales of Arise

Love the fast pace and energy, you have to dance a little while you sing the refrain, it’s so good. Even the Japanese version uses a lot of English that doesn’t make sense but it’s ok, you’re singing fast enough that no one can tell what the words are anyway.

6. “Song 4 U” by Ayumi Hamasaki - Tales of Xillia 2

An excellent emotional piece, perfect for Xillia 2’s story. The game even remixes it into an epic boss theme and an emotional orchestral one, which I always love. I know my association between the games and songs makes me biased, which is why I think that I’d love this song even more if I enjoyed Xillia 2 more.

5. “Burn” by Flow - Tales of Berseria

Just a great song, it starts pretty and calm then comes right at you with such vivacity and an infallible melody. Suits the game and characters so well. This song is here to kick ass.

4. “White Light” by Superfly - Tales of Zestiria

So badass. I adore that it’s basically about punk kindness, like ‘I’m here to make the world a better place bitch suck it up.’ I do feel like it doesn’t quite match the tone of Zestiria, which is usually more lighthearted or somber instead of rebellious, but the message absolutely matches and it just sounds so so good. Only complaint is that it’s completely out of my range, I can only sing the “na na na” part but I don’t mind that much, the singer is incredible.

3. “Mamoritai: White Wishes” by BoA - Tales of Graces f

This song, and Tales of Graces itself, are so, so corny. It sounds like the ending credits theme to a Disney Channel original movie. I love it. I wanna sing it into a crappy High School Musical-themed karaoke machine.

2. “Starry Heavens” by misono (Day After Tomorrow) - Tales of Symphonia

This is a good song. I know it’s not nostalgia this time because I didn’t know this song existed until a few years after I beat Symphonia; I only knew the orchestral North American Gamecube song. Starry Heaven is just stellar (pun intended), it suits the game, it carries emotion as it goes through the verses, then rises up into an iconic refrain. A great song to get a crowd cheering.

1. “Karma” by Bump of Chicken - Tales of the Abyss

As much as I love these other songs, I doubt anything will top Karma. Its melody is so incredible it works in all of its variations, from the original with awesome vocals to sing along with to the epic guitar solo in the NA localized version to the emotional remixes like Mirrors or Meaning of Birth that make me wanna cry. And those ending notes? Everyone likes them. Just brilliant. Perfection.

[just-honey-dewd]

What medium best expresses Sonic’s character?

Right, so this is a bit of a detour from the typical Hazbin Hotel posts I’ve been making, but I really did a heck-ton of work to come up with this. Then again, I type overly long paragraphs as a hobby, so jokes on anyone who thinks I don’t do this for fun... but then again... jokes on me for making the time to type Hamilton-esque essays on fictional characters ._.

Okay enough with tangents, this is an essay dedicated to answering what medium -- songs, scenes, cartoons, maybe even a comic issue -- best encompasses Sonic’s character. Take in mind, throughout the 29-almost-30 years of Sonic, there have been many iterations and takes on the character that either differentiate on a minor level, or to the point that some Sonics when compared seem to be starkly different characters altogether, so this is purely what I feel is the best take on Sonic’s character. For my sake, I’ve sworn off including material that require a long-winding read through some mediocre storylines -- nothing personal, Archie Comics. I won’t be covering Archie Comics because I’ve yet to finish reading all 200+ comic issues because that’s not humanly possible for me. If I ever manage to though, I might make a post about Archie Comics in some way. For now, here’s my personal essay on “What medium best expresses Sonic’s character”

Starting off with shows...

Sonic SatAM (1993) and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) are products of their time, and I never got to watch them when I was young, so I hold no sentimental nostalgia. Sonic SatAM seems in-line with Archie Comics, with the Freedom Fighters plotline and the infamous Sonic mohawk with lasted for a significant amount of issues. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was pretty comical and lighthearted in comparison. Both were voiced by Jaleel White, had the same artstyle, and established Sonic’s character in vastly different tones. It’s rather outdated as Sonic has lived past the 90s for 20 years, where he got revised and reinvented to suit the decades. So both characterizations are simply inapplicable to Sonic’s character.

2003′s Sonic X worked off of the newly reinvented Sonic and paved way for Sonic’s personality for the following years, but I do have critique over the show, and their execution of Sonic’s character.  Though they did provide Sonic's "constant desire to run", he lacked soul and the over-the- top nature of his character. Sonic throughout this show displayed a rather hollow connection with his relationships, was as distant and aloof as Knuckles for seemingly no reason, lacked much depth and barely developed, and was overall, very poor with communicating his thoughts and actions -- which ultimately led to a number of plot lines where his friends and/or authorities saw his intentions as malicious or even evil. Sonic is hyperactive and free-spirited -- something this show doesn't fail to display -- but Sonic lacked his heart. Where was that desire to hang out with his friends? Where was the underlying love and compassion he'd constantly display in and out of battle? Where were his cheesy yet well-meaning impromptu speeches? These aspects of Sonic were sorely lacking and missed when I watched through this series which is why I believe this anime didn’t really express Sonic's character.

Sonic Boom...

...is a lighthearted, slapstick sitcom-based comedy. Very episodic, which is aight, but the the show’s execution as a whole was mediocre-borderline-bad. It doesn't have much elements inherently Sonic-esque -- it's a product of the Modern era, which at this point, doesn’t seem to have good connotations. No worthwhile soundtrack, stunted animation and movement, embarrassingly heavy reliance on overused archetypes/stereotypes at the expense of the characters, repetitive plots that get the THICC layer of frosted sarcasm and self-awareness. Sonic had attitude sure, there was a clear level of disinterest and cynicism to this portrayal -- it was as though protecting people felt like a burden and chore to him. It doesn’t help that this feeling is justified as Eggman’s been reduced to a pathetic Saturday Morning villain with lesser competency in being a world threat, and much rather a constant nuisance to Sonic’s town than anything else. Subjectively speaking, this show's clearly not for me -- even when I was in the supposed age range at the time. Objectively, this Saturday morning cartoon should've been branded as it is, rather than a Sonic cartoon because the identity of Sonic the Hedgehog definitely got skewed and misconstrued by the eyes of newcomers whose first exposure to Sonic the Hedgehog character was this. Ironically, due to this show, I subsequently furthered my distance from the franchise at that age, and got into it much, much later in life.

Now moving onto the songs...

Initially, I considered “Escape from the City”, “Live and Learn", "His World" and "Fist Bump" as good contenders in defining who Sonic is. But through some vigorous looping of those songs, I've pinpointed what they've to offer in showing Sonic's character, and due to my consistent nature of typing overly long arguments about anything I find interesting, I'll be putting each song into its own paragraph -- picking out any significant verses, and explaining why I think each song subconsciously contributed to my thought process that they would be the best take on his character. Afterwards, I’ll finish with my conclusion. (I personally suggest you go listen to each song as you read each paragraph)

"Escape from the City" is a timeless bop, and I will play it in the car whenever I'm actively escaping from authorities in my city. What this song does is use rhythmic beats and repetitive bass line to emulate the constant adrenaline and excitement Sonic feels when he's moving around, it embodies his carefree nature and spontaneity to a T. It succeeds in portraying the energetic, upbeat aspect of his personality as the song itself contrasts the very dangerous implication of being chased down by the government for a crime you didn't commit. Sonic doesn't get enough credit for the amount of cheerful optimism he has -- always moving with a spring in his step, or steps considering the speed part. He brushes off the most life-threatening dangers he has to face and takes it all in with that well known Sonic™ grin. It also shares a constant message of "Live and Learn" (which the song of the same title) -- this is a rather succinct version of Sonic's mantra. The song is very Sonic, but only manages to show his surface level personality. Kinda like Sonic X's theme song "Gotta Go Fast" but it's much less in your face about Sonic's whole shtick. Another thing to note is the element of "escape" is a constant in both "Escape from the City" and "Endless Possibility", which I'll get further into later. Given that this song was more focused on the primary objective of ‘City Escape’ the game level rather than exploring Sonic’s fundamental character, it's very cool how it just so happened to tie in well with him...

"Live and Learn" was more of a Sonic and Shadow song, so I already kinda figured it wouldn't manage to explore Sonic's character much. The first verse and chorus offers as much for Sonic's character as Shadow's oh-so few lines of verse 2 does. Again, the song only manages to provide Sonic's surface level personality. Reason it came up in my mind was because of the words 'Live and Learn'. It's a very motivational and inspiring line -- what got me thinking about Sonic’s character in the first place. It's an unspoken rule for him to take life headfirst and live in the moment, and legit the second issue of the IDW's comics reiterates this by Amy expressing that this free-spirited approach to life is what essentially makes her love him.

"Fist Bump" was like my first exposure to Sonic main theme songs -- and I'm still into listening to the song. I realize the lyrics are pretty generic, but it does reflect the general focus of Sonic character very well -- which may further explain why Modern Sonic is much less... developed, to say the least. What the lyrics essentially hone in on are Sonic's loyalty to his friends and his.... unyielding determination? Honestly, a very generic take for a main theme, and it reflects on the quality of the game if even the music lacked much personality compared to any heroic video game character theme song. Sonic had more personality to offer in his silent protagonist games, compared to this. This issue with Sonic's character barrels down to Modern Sonic retaining his previous counterpart's cheesy insistence to spout improvised speeches and embrace the power of friendship -- though it's definitely gotten out of hand in this case. We need balance.

Making Sonic more family-friendly ≠ Dumbing down what nuance or individuality there was to his character and making him every other generic hero protagonist who quips for 90% of his dialogues.

Finally, "His World", but I'll do Crush 40 and Zebrahead's separately, sort of. Crush 40 explicitly tells Sonic's character how it is -- his strict moral code, good intuition, confidence in himself, "seize the day" mentality, straightforward disposition, stubborn determination, love for his friends, and fearless risk-taking -- it's pretty lengthy but it does a good job as Sonic's theme and manages to state what it's like in his world. However, the song faces eerily similar issues to "Fist Bump" with it's lack of creative interpretation with its lyrics, and compared to "Escape from the City", it seems more formal and serious in tone which is reflective of their portrayal of Sonic. 

I interpret Sonic as a multifaceted character, but when listing out all those traits in the verses and chorus in the song’s tone and format melody-and-lyric-wise, the song makes it appear as though Sonic is strictly a pillar of justice and represents the strong, untouchable hero persona -- which I find to be a detrimental writing aspect for his character. It writes off his personality as second priority to the reputation that would have receded him through the years of defeating Eggman and saving the world -- and subsequently, paints his character in a rather dulled and overly no-nonsense light.  Not saying I don't want Sonic to be serious at certain points, but I think with this song, and this game as a whole, there was some truth to the issue of Sonic '06 being a little too serious. While these characters were well-written in this game e̶x̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t, I've had personal issues tied to em: 

Shadow coming back was quite risky and foolhardy for his character journey and I believe if it weren't for the great execution for his storyline in '06, his appearance would've been viewed as fanservice -- which is what he's sadly been reduced to now

Silver's character concept as a whole was pretty dark and serious, which again isn’t a bad thing, but with the plot resulting in him seeing Sonic as the Iblis Trigger, it limited Sonic's ability to play up his easy-going, carefree nature since he couldn’t just brush off that accusation with offhanded remarks as that would’ve risked Sonic coming off as insensitive and unsympathetic at that moment. Which is not what the writers want their characters to go.

Elise. There, I said it. 

On top of it all, "His World" is pretty slow-going for Sonic’s theme, which I could try justifying by saying it might’ve been a representation of significant growth to Sonic's character -- perhaps the journey managed to shape him into a man (hedgehog) who could spare a bit of time to contemplate his next course of action -- as this game definitely explored a major deviation from typical Sonic game story lines. But, even with that, I still really prefer Zebrahead's version.

Zebrahead's is vastly the same when telling Sonic's character how it is, but the instrumentals, pacing and speed is increased significantly that it definitely sounds more reminiscent of Sonic's musical style -- fast-paced rock and roll. But, I’ve yet to figure out the significance of the lyrics:

Especially when it follows right after "Never fear the fall" -- so you take the leap of faith, but also don't let yourself fall in the process? Pretty weird flow of words there, but maybe I’m just not getting it at all. Point is, what both songs hone in on is Sonic's intuitive sense of justice and a bit of his carefree nature -- since the lyrics from Zebrahead's specifically highlight on Sonic's "leap before looking" nature. What Zebrahead further hones in on is his adventurous and hyperactive qualities as verse 1 and the bridge show. It's a timeless song of anticipation and build-up with good execution, but it doesn't cover the main essentials in what makes Sonic Sonic.

Finally, reaching the song I've found best covers the basics and essentials to Sonic's character is...

Believe it or not, “Gotta go fast” encompasses the defining characteristics of a well-written Sonic -- the title itself is a testament to the his motto and is all things Sonic stands for. 

While this refers directly to the plot of the show itself, it manages to familiarize us with the speed and urgency crucial to Sonic’s character and--

Okay, clown time’s over, here’s the real winner.

Unleashed's main theme: "Endless Possibility" 

From the get-go, intro already separates itself from the other songs by being freeing and exciting, without being too carefree like "Escape from the City", too orchestral or urgent like "His World", and definitely more compelling lyric-wise compared to "Fist Bump". This tone is a constant throughout the song, and makes it seem like Sonic's the one directly singing -- the singer nailed it with the level of obnoxious and genuine tone to his voice. 

This song, like the rest of the other main themes, reflect the game itself. Unleashed is a race against time for Sonic to fight Dark Gaia before the Earth gets torn apart. But similar to the gameplay and form of story, the music is very fast-paced yet unburdening, with hints of inner contemplation, and darkness (or how I like to put it, edge).  The first verse already succeeds in getting into the bare bones of Sonic's character -- he runs, he can never stay still out because he knows that's not who he is, he's free-spirited and will run around the world out of his own volition, it's a form of escape and liberty to him -- and this is what ties into "Escape from the City”. This verse sums up the essential traits to Sonic better than any of the previous songs without letting one attribute overpower it. It refers to his three fundamental traits: that he's fast, adventurous and carefree.

The pre-chorus further expands from verse 1's establishments, by showing the deeper, inner turmoil that pass through Sonic's mind -- “How will I know when I get there? And how will I know when to leave?” -- these are the rare instances where Sonic is found in inner conflict with himself which came out of his simplistic philosophy rather than an external conflict or influence, and it's more of unspoken and nuanced as Sonic never usually calls himself into question for the way he lives. This showcases that he's capable of processing the long-term effects of living and moving around aimlessly -- constant adventure and freedom might eventually feel mundane, so he might eventually find the destination his heart feels is right for him, so what will he do when that period of his life unfolds, and will this period end the days of adventure and freedom? The possibilities are never-ending, so as always, he'll take everything in stride, and prepare for whatever hits him.

This is what the song's main theme is. Endless possibility. Potential and growth -- which reflects back to Sonic: mentally, physically and emotionally. Mentally, he's acknowledged that he's always growing and developing throughout his adventures -- as there's one thing that no one, not even Sonic can outrun, and that's change. "Endless Possibility" opens us up to the concept of ever-changing development for Sonic, and the possibility that he might eventually reach his unknown destination and end this long-running journey, while also implying that every journey that he goes through and ends -- whether it directly ties into the games or off-screen adventures -- will always lead with a new one. Unleashed encompasses this youthful feeling of change and vigor. Sonic is in his element and is going through a personal journey to save the world once again, but as always, he'll do it with enthusiasm and unbridled drive. 

Interestingly, Unleashed feels reminiscent of Sonic X's Sonic but done right. Both have the character mostly isolated from his friends for the majority of their respective stories, but where Sonic X forces Sonic to clean up on Isle Eggbot each episode, Unleashed puts him through a singular adventure that requires he takes care of the major issue at stake while the others are doing their respective jobs or living their own lives. Unleashed's Sonic even has a temporary companion which he clearly warms up to and befriends throughout the whole journey, whereas Sonic X shows Sonic actively dismissing his previous friends to sleep, travel, and adventure for the heck of it -- while they spent a majority of the first season trying to find the chaos emeralds without him. 

Sonic being isolated is usually due to situational happenstance rather than conscious preference. Sonic  isn't inherently solitary or aloof, it's just due to his ability to move from place to place with ease that he subsequently has to leave his friends behind to confront the source of the problem. It's not a part of his character that he plays lone wolf like those archetypal "cool characters", the nature of what he does and excels at leads him to fight front and center, even if it means doing it alone. Despite this, he still is the sentimental, over-the-top dork that believes in the power of friendship and will go to the ends of the Earth to protect his friends. Which is exactly what he does in Unleashed.

The bridge provides the hints of edge where Eggman and Sonic exchange dialogue in the song, very much referring to the events of Unleashed's intro battle between the two. Eggman essentially tells Sonic to give up as he's actually beaten him -- which Sonic replies that it's not over, that this is just another start to another journey. The lyrics aren't very subtle about what they're saying, but it does a good job in encompassing two key traits when Sonic responds to any threats -- his cheerful optimism and unyielding determination. He doesn't respond to danger with simply quips, he responds to it with a campy but genuine declaration of strength and courage. The cheesiness in his words are very prominent, but he says them with a straight face like he's announcing his battle cry and promise to do what it takes to save the world and protect the ones he love.

In short, "Endless Possibilty" manages to fully encompass the best iteration of Sonic, and humanizes him to the point that I can only really see this as the current best sum up of his character without any needed dialogue, animation, or prior context. This song could just be tied directly to Sonic's overall character outside of the game's plot, and I'd be fine.

[carebearbro]

Why was Harmony Bear disappointed in Cheeri-No?

I had never watched this episode until I got this ask. I THINK the moment you’re talking about is the one I took a screenshot of. Harmony is kind of angry throughout the episode, but this moment (which I think is powerful in a very subtle way) is the one where I think she’s actually disappointed. To give context to those who haven’t seen the episode: The Bears have a big project and each one has their own job. Many of them (Tendy, Wonderheart, Funshine, Grumpy and Share) all ask Cheer to help them with their jobs. Cheer does, but doesn’t have enough time to do her own job. They realize she didn’t do it and confront her. Cheer realizes that she can’t make herself ask them for help, even though in that moment they are directly offering it.  Cheer runs off, overwhelmed by her anxiety. Throughout all of this, Harmony is being very strict and demanding. She harps on Cheer the whole time.  However, she also gets on all of the other Bears for being selfish...always asking Cheer for help when they don’t need it and basically taking advantage of her. So, they go to Cheer’s house trying to find where she’s run off to. When they get to her room, they find it covered in reminder notes Cheer has written to herself for all of the things she’s told the other Bears she’ll help them with over a long period of time.  Harmony is still frustrated with the other Bears, even when she starts reading some of the notes about what the other Bears have asked Cheer to do in the past. Then she reads one that says:  “Cheer up Harmony when she doesn’t think she’s talented enough....even though.....she knows she....is.”   And then her face falls.  For the first time in the episode she looks very solemn and sad.   So you’re asking why she’s disappointed.  She’s disappointed in herself.  The entire episode she’s been nagging everyone else about their actions. In this moment, she realizes she’s just as guilty as everyone else and never realized it. To me, it’s very powerful because she realizes that she’s been so angry at everyone else for doing things that she does herself...so she had no right to ever yell at them. It’s pretty masterful because they just move on right afterwards.  They don’t beat you over the head with that message.  I bet a lot of kids (and maybe even adults) might not even notice it. I myself may not have if I hadn’t been looking at it due to this ask. The episode focused on Cheer and the other Bears, so you might not catch how strong of an emotional moment that this is. Even though AiC and WtC are my least favorite Care Bears versions, along with UtM, I do think they do a very good job of trying to teach lessons.  Because the characters have very distinct personalities compared to the 80s versions, I think they really focus on the different issues that different personality types have. While I’m very different than Cheer, I can relate to the notion of being a control freak and not wanting to ask for help (the UtM episode Waffle Cones for Whiffles has a similar theme involving Share).  Sometimes you feel like you want to do everything yourself and it feels good to help people. It feels bad asking for help and feeling like you’re burdening them. Sometimes it also feels embarrassing or makes you feel like you’re weak or stupid for needing help.  So it can be hard to ask for it. It’s interesting to me because these issues are actually things adults deal with, not just kids.  So it’s funny how even though it’s a show designed to teach kids lessons, there are actually a lot of things that adults can learn from it too. The episode is interesting because it’s actually kind of like the Nelvana episode “The Factory of Uncaring” where Champ neglects his duty trying to help others that actually could do things themselves.  While that episode does a very good job teaching the lesson, it feels a little more lighthearted to me.   In this WtC episode, it feels like it hits a little harder.  And I think that moment with Harmony is particularly strong.  

[goingoverthegardenwall]

Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies

Since there have been stories, there have been stories that anthropomorphize animals. Folks have imagined creatures behaving as humans in every corner of the world, in myths and fables and fairy tales from ancient cultures to today. So by the turn of the 20th century, when a mycologist known for painting incredibly detailed images of fungus decided to instead write and illustrate stories about animals in contemporary clothes, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. But perhaps that makes it more impressive: despite the multitude of animal books for children that have been published in the last hundred and fifty years, the work of Beatrix Potter still stands out.

She’s not alone, of course: no good conversation about humanized animals in Western kid lit can last long without mentioning Richard Scarry or Margaret Wise Brown or Arnold Lobel. And Peter Rabbit’s extended family is quite British, which puts it at odds with the nostalgic Americana of Over the Garden Wall: it’s not for nothing that our assortment of animals in Schooltown Follies includes a raccoon and an opossum. But the timeless quality of Potter’s work is still felt in this episode in two ways. First, while the show has a cartoony lens, the school animals are far more anatomically accurate than Beatrice or the frogs of Lullaby in Frogland, evoking Potter’s signature field guide style. And second, there’s a mischief to Potter’s animals that makes them feel more like real children than the cute but bland residents of Scarry’s Busytown, and mischief is the name of the game when Greg comes to schooltown.

Schooltown Follies is full of clever tricks, but perhaps its most clever is introducing animals with human qualities (they wear clothes, play instruments, and walk on their hind legs) but not giving them voices. It’s generally great comedy fuel, showing the inherent ridiculousness of a school for sorta normal animals, but it more importantly allows the episode a silent movie feel, with plenty of physical humor enhanced by characters without dialogue. That style completes the episode’s subversion of Beatrix Potter’s oeuvre: she wrote stories about naughty animals learning that they should behave, but in this vaudeville version, the only way to save the day is by misbehaving.

“Then I’ll do what I need to do, I guess.”

Despite being one of our three main characters, Greg trades a full character arc for a comic relief role. At the beginning of Over the Garden Wall he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun, and at the end he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun. This doesn’t mean he’s fully static, as he matures enough to accept some responsibility to others instead of seeking entertainment for himself: he abandons a potential happy ending to try to save Wirt with the Beast, and returns his stolen Rock Facts Rock in the last shot of the series. But even this obligation to help out is present early on: Schooltown Follies is the first of his two focus episodes, and the foundation of his eventual heroism is established right here.

And frankly? I think it’s okay if he’s not that dynamic. Greg doesn’t change as much as Wirt or Beatrice because he doesn’t have nearly as much to overcome, and he still contributes to the show without forcing the crew to juggle three distinct arcs. Our older kids are on a shorter timer to grow up, and have clearer negative traits (Wirt’s got no confidence, Beatrice is a jerk), and while we can accuse Greg of lacking social cues, he’s so young that it’s not indicative of a larger problem. He’s just acting his age, albeit in a heightened way for entertainment, and to lose that innocence this early in his life would make this show a serious downer.

“Heightened” is the general mood of Schooltown Follies, where Greg’s less realistic behavior fits much better than The Old Grist Mill’s bottom-of-the-barrel aside. This is an episode where Two Old Cat, an old-timey bat-and-ball game that evokes a similar old-school era as our old school, involves searching for actual old cats, somehow finding them immediately, then realizing one is too old to play and must instead be taken care of by a raccoon in a newsboy cap and overalls.

While there’s plenty of humor to go around in Over the Garden Wall, this is the only fully silly episode. Our other lighthearted outings come with dark twists: Songs of the Dark Lantern introduces the Beast, Lullaby in Frogland reveals Adelaide, and Babes in the Wood turns out to be the most somber episode of the series with context. Here we almost get a parody of such a twist, with characters repeatedly mentioning a wild gorilla on the loose apropos of nothing, then revealing that the gorilla is Miss Langtree’s paramour trapped in a suit. It’s a ridiculous setup to a ridiculous punchline, aided by casting Thomas Lennon for a few lines of dialogue (his read for “I. Was. The gorilla” was worth every penny), so there’s never any sense of danger. Jimmy Brown and Enoch are equally harmless in the end, but I doubt any little kids watching are gonna get nightmares about the ape suit.

This mood is enhanced with song, but among the many musical moments in the series—Mad Love is the only episode without singing in some form—Schooltown Follies stands out by not letting any of the numbers finish. We begin and end the episode in song, but Greg doesn’t have the last lines for Adelaide Parade figured out, Langtree’s Lament faces numerous interruptions before being cut short by the bell (they actually did a full version though!), and Potatoes and Molasses gets stopped first by Mr. Langtree, then by the end credits. Even Miss Langtree’s piano rendition of last episode’s Patient is the Night halts when Greg mashes the keys. It’s the perfect atmosphere for an episode about a kid who loves fun, but is easily distracted and hasn’t developed good planning skills.

Which isn’t to say that Greg is dumb, but that he’s prone to winging it in a way that sets him apart from Wirt. While Wirt rambles his thoughts aloud, Greg takes action without telling anyone why, making his decisions appear random in a medium that often explains motives concretely to young viewers. Wandering in his own direction has become a running gag by now, and while he sets off to make the world a better place, he instead plays outside with animal truants. He’s jolted back to his quest by the bland food and dull atmosphere of lunch hour, and his irrepressible energy lightens everybody’s day without much effort. When Mr. Langtree steps in as an antagonist, Greg decides once again to do something about it, this time saying explicitly that he has no plan, but everything works out again. We get an excellent joke from his decision to rob Langtree right after he becomes sympathetic, but as usual, Greg has bigger ideas behind the humor that he just hasn’t articulated. 

While Greg is busy delightfully saving the day, Wirt and Beatrice ease into a sniping side story that establishes their relationship for the next few episodes. They got off on the wrong foot in The Old Grist Mill and twisted that ankle in Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee, so by now Beatrice doesn’t even try to hide her disdain and Wirt gets fed up with it. This is the perfect type of subplot, one that develops our characters and fits into the theme of the episode—Wirt’s rebellious obedience bounces off Greg’s rebellious call to disobey—but doesn’t distract from the main story.

Beatrice is helpful in opening up Wirt’s snotty side in a way that allows us to cheer for him. Until now his biggest conversation partner has been Greg, and it’s tough to side with Wirt when he’s mean to Greg, but Beatrice is an equal in terms of sparring, and her rudeness is a more understandable motive for Wirt to be obstinate than Greg’s playfulness. Our last episode had him aimlessly suggest staying in Pottsfield, and he’s similarly bound to this new location, but his different attitude changes the entire story. After two episodes of dithering, it’s nice that they let Elijah Wood play a character who’s funny on purpose for a spell, reveling in annoying Beatrice.

And even though he doesn’t know what to do, we actually get our first heroic moment from Wirt here. Greg saved the day in Grist Mill, and the situation resolves without much issue in Hard Times, but Jimmy is saved from the gorilla costume because of Wirt. True, he only interferes after being commanded to by Mr. Langtree, and he clearly has no idea what to do, and he trips over his shoelaces rather than contribute in an intentional way, but it sets the stage for his rescue of Beatrice in our next episode. Deep down, when he’s not overthinking it, the kid is capable of bravery when it’s asked of him. And it’s wonderful that for all his differences from Greg, both share an impulsive approach to heroism when they decide to help others. It’s almost like they’re related.

Beyond getting a few good digs in at Wirt, Beatrice extends her meanness to Miss Langtree, which makes her pestering of the boys feel less personal: it’s not that she hates them, she’s irritable with everyone. But we also get the first hint of her warming to our heroes, letting Greg have his fun at the concert and telling Wirt to finally tie his shoes with just a tiny speckle of fondness. While she gets a bigger friendship moment in Mad Love, when she’s essentially forced to get to know Wirt better, it’s neat to see Beatrice gradually come around instead of flipping a switch after a major story event.

We’re about to get our next big Plot Episode, introducing the Beast and adding new doubts about the Woodsman, so a silly episode is just what we need. It’s our third in a row where something sinister turns out to be okay: obviously the gorilla is an example of this, but Mr. Langtree is similarly an intimidating presence who ends up being a regular man. Even the creepy squirrels from the opening shots of the Unknown’s dangers in The Old Grist Mill return as comic relief. We’re fully primed to look for goodness where we see wickedness. Just in time for us to learn to fear merry opera echoing from the woods.

Rock Factsheet

Greg’s spiel on hot dogs might not summon the Rock Fact Rock, but it certainly evokes the stone’s spirit.

Where have we come, and where shall we end?

Adelaide Parade and Potatoes and Molasses will both get dark reprises, and the former also gets the rare jolly reprise as well. But we unfortunately don’t get a harrowing future scene featuring Langtree’s Lament.

Two Old Cat is part of a list of bat-and-ball games mentioned by a rambling background teen in The Unknown.

[moviestorian]

Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl 1982 concert (Hot Space Tour) LIVEBLOGGGGGGGG

As promised! :) Initially I was supposed to go directly from Montreal to Wembley, but dear @his-majesty-king-mercury convinced me to do Live at the Bowl before, and I’m glad she did!

Background: The concert is dated at June 5, 1982. As I wrote in the title, it was part of the Hot Space tour and was initially supposed to be played at Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. A day before the gig Freddie had a nasty fight with his then-boyfriend who had bitten him between a thumb and forefinger.

Let’s begin! - ugh Hot Space - but hey, it's gonna be fun! It's Queen, and Queen always puts the bestest live shows! - oh wowzie, this is mah first liveblog since April, long time not seen right? - my pizza's ready, my coffee's ready, my dip is ready - I think I can start watching now - Ooo wow, this concert lasts an hour and 43 minutes? I would die if I had to play on stage for that long - I can already feel the enthusiasm!!! The ENERGYYYY - FLASH AAAAAAHHH AHHHH - they're leaving the plane and look so hella cuuute - oh hi Crystal! oh hi Phoebe! Great to see you all! - gotta say... Freddie's outfit is fabulous. - Brian: plays the guitar and jumps the Crowd: HELL YEAH - I'm only 3 minutes in and my current mood is: fuck the critics whoever trashed Queen and disrespected their music skills - WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU - I love the fast version, slaps 100 times harder than the studio version - Deaky looks awesome in blue, I mean I already noticed that when I watched Rock Montreal, but let me reiterate - It's only been 5 minutes but let me tell you...not enough zooms for Roger - Freddie's in a good shape and form... not that I'm surprised - ROGER - cute red little scarf on mah boi's neck - THE FIRST FREDDIE AND ROG INTERACTIONS, I LIVE, I'M HAPPY - "hello everybody" "hey hey hey" good time to miss Freddie - Action This Time... Anyone surprised that it sounds better live than on the album? - ROGER'S VOCALS HOTDAMN - Brian's hair is floofy as usual... why am I acting like it's an unusual thing - I really really miss hearing Freddie and Roger together... POWER DUO - the synths get introduced... I neither love nor hate it tbh - okay not Queen related but the pizza is not bad, for a frozen one - Freddie, you feeling too hot for that jacket? And you Deaky, too? Get undressed, babes, I certainly don't mind - Play the Game! I love this song... Also Freddie playing on a piano is a blessing to us all - He really puts his soul into this one... Bless this man - Brian's backing vocals always sound so soft... My tenor angel - THANK FRICKING GOD THE SYNTHS IN THE BACKGROUND ARE BARELY AUDIBLE - LOL FREDDIE - he put a towel on his head I'm XDDDD what a legend - this and the famous plastic bag is a thrilling saga - AAAAA YOOOO - LMAO at Freddie throwing his...water?beer? at the audience - *Hot Space apologist speech* :P - we're at the funky part, I guess... - Brian and John's synchronized movements :)))) - ah okay it's Staying Power... I forgot what the song sounds like - Roger in black... I'm swooning - Roger has a nice closeup view on Freddie's butt, I mean back :D - This is not bad, but I'm gonna bet that I'll forget what this song sounds like again in less than two hours - John's haircut is cute and adorbs :D - OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - Somebody to Love!!!!!!!!!!!!! - The intro...sounds so sublime, soft, and raw at the same time - I love that it sounds slightly different, depending on the concert - This is really emotional... We shall see how it goes, but so far it surpasses even the god tier Montreal version! - Forgive me for not saying too much now... I'm fully sunk in the sheer beauty of this sincere performance - Love Roger's drumming and the crowd clapping to the beat! - "I like it" ME TOO FREDDIE - I wish we could hear Roger a tiny bit better! I love the crescendo part - That was beautiful :') - Now I'm Here!!!! asjgashasashjgas - I love it when they perform it at higher speed - The jumping crowd fairly represents what my brain cells currently look like - I hella love Roger's drumming in this song - well not just this song but y'know - Freddie...what was that??? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THAT FINGER??? - hehe you can tell that Brian's very into it :D - Brian trying to get Roger's attention... Rog is, however, fully dedicated to his drums :D - Freddie lying down after the song is a post-exercise or post-dinner mood - "Let's play a game" YES SIR - yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah - "Go pretty boy, go" I'm SOFT - hear that bassline? YES ME TOO - (it's Dragon Attack if anyone's wondering) - Freddie Mercury: lead singer AND fitness instructor - wish I could make some screencaps, alas I'm watching this online so it would take too much effort so here we are - Fred, let BRIAN PLAYYYY nooo don't distract him! - out of context those cuts and shots look like John is jealous of Freddie and Roger XDDD this is gif and meme worthy (around 39 minute) - btw probably no one is interested because you came here for the Queen concert liveblog, but I got my period and I'm starting to feel it - IT SUCKS - ooooo Brian speaking! His voice is so soothing, I could listen to him all day and it would probably calm my nerves - acoustic guitar...I'm already in - WHY SO QUIET THOUGH - Love of My Life, I'm cry - Everyone's singing along from the very first line... this is beautiful - Everyone united by this song's pure beauty :))))) I'm not crying you are - Do you sometimes think about Brian playing the acords for this gorgeous track and there is no Freddie sitting beside him? - Yeah, I hate myself for that thought too - I might be a little bit emotional - No wonder it was this particular song was the one that finally convinced Bri's father to FINALLY accept his son's career - Brian's gentle smile I'm :') :') :') - *clap clap clap clap* SAME - We're at Save Me now... Are we doing a crying compilation or what? - This is almost as bad as the Queen Forever album I recently bought.. TOO EMOTIONAL - Don't get me wrong, I ADORE Save Me - But this is too much - Almost 50 minutes in and Freddie's voice is still STRONG AS A BELL - Remember what I said about the "fuck the critics" mood? Yeah the mood is back - Even the cute Roger/Freddie interaction almost makes me cry I'm agsahjhsAAAAAAAAA - I need a more lighthearted now BLEASE - I'm a tough cookie but when I have Queen feels very little can help! - Is this Back Chat? OH GOD - Please bring me back to the crying mode, I DIDN'T MEAN THIS - (I'm sorry Fidan and all the Back Chat fans over there, I'm not a huge fan of this song :-*) - We get a nice view on Roger's back, though *Lenny face* - The synths sound like a main theme for some mystery-drama tv show from the 1980s XDDD - I forgot how long this song is... - Get Down Make Love *insert Lenny face again* - Okay I gotta admit... lyrically this song is a mess and borderline cringey in the first verse, but I really like it musically - I GIVE YOU HEAT - I GIVE YOU MEAT *three Lenny faces* - Okay, let's just listen to the song and pretend we all forgot the English language, maybe? - That mid parts always makes me feel like I'm about to be abducted by aliens - Thank God I don't do drugs, I would start thinking I might be hallucinating - I assume that Brian's guitar solo starts now? - Nice intro! - And Roger gets time to breathe, the boy needs his oxygen - Actually, this may be one my favourite of Brian's guitar solos? - Brighton Rock :))))))))))))))) - Brian's hands are very pretty - oh noooooo - an error? - poor Bri - that disappointed guy who screamed "No" when the guitar stopped playing :D - thankfully he issue quickly got solved! - hi Roger, nice to see you back <3 - It's Roger's time to shine! - YEs, Under Pressure! - The Montreal version is gonna be hard to beat, though - Let's see - uu I like Fred's red jacket! - ...do you have any shirt underneath, though? Naughty boi - he does not LOL - "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH" - let me tell you again...Roger's mic is definitely not turned loud enough - This is great but still, I prefer the Montreal one - That beer always amuses me XD - Freddie, you want us to slap your ass? - Oh no, he's just announcing Fat Bottomed Girls XDDDD - "I was just a skinny lad" the editing team: cuts to the camera angle which shows Brian first and Freddie after him - Roger's "oooh" is funny because he's really into it :D :D :D - Freddie is now a pole dancer, he changed profession - The crowd, always cheering when Freddie gets undressed :P - I sense Crazy Little Thing Called Love incoming! - yes it is Crazy Little Thing! - Freddie's joke about the three guitar cords XDDD - This song always slaps - "she drives me crazYY" - ReAdY fReDdIe - FREDDIE PLS STOP FCKING YOUR GUITAR - this is pretty - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY YEAH - he sounds so soft :)))) - and now so raw - "Momma UwU" - can't unsee this fricking meme now ajsdhjgdhjds - My favourite guitar solo :')))) - they actually played the video??? - I miss spaniel haired Deaky tbh - *instense drumming* *fireworks* - Oh Brian is wearing this cool shirt he also wore in Montreal! - jumpy Deaky...too bad you can onnly see him from the distance - GONG - that was sexy - Roger hitting that gong in the black outfit is sexier than shirtless Rog hitting the gong, change my mind - TIEE YOUR MOTHER DOWN TIEE YOUR MOTHER DOWN - There's only some 15 minutes left... The time always passes so quickly when I'm watching a Queen concert - Another One Bites the Dust! I've been waiting for thiiiis - Deaky: happy jump - He knows it's his time to shine - wait a second, when did Roger change his shirt? - I need a good closeup - Freddie be like *imma slap my thigh now* - ooo I see Roger's Japanese shirt now! It's pretty cool! - Brian looks great too - Those flashing light are kinda migraine-inducing, thankfully I don't have an aura today - SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER heartattack - Looks like Freddie is flirting with Red Special :P - they're going absolutely crazy XD - WE WILL ROCK YOU DRUMLINE INTENSIFIES - LOL the sombrero on Freddie's head :P - ups mr editor dropped a frame - And now we're truly heading towards the end... I'm gonna start associating We Are the Champions with farewells soon - Well done, boys - I know I say it every single time - But you can't stress this enough - :)))) I'm glad I did this liveblog - They look exhausted but very satisfied :))) - Bye bye!

Next time I’ll be doing Wembley 1986, hopefully soon!

Tagging all the people who expressed their wish to read my ramblings. :) Enjoy!

@his-majesty-king-mercury, @x5vale, @radio-ha-ha, @mephisto92, @39-brian, @melisa-may-taylor72, @silapril, @kitty-rushes-in, @lydiannode, @an-abyss-called-life, @litsy-kalyptica, @importantmuggoophero, I hope I didn’t forget anyone! ^^ Comments are nicely welcome! :3

[miraculously-dedicated]

PUPPETEER 2

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I have SO MANY FEELINGS (Good feelings!)

DJWifi continues to be one of the most sweetest things I’ve ever seen❤

I LOVED finally seeing the Musée Grévin animated! The interiors were just so pretty and aesthetically pleasing to look at and enjoy💖. Even the character design for Veronic (the women who works there, guiding the group) was just so cute and perfectly fit the aesthetic🥰

Manon is adorable

That little moment where Alya reflected on her past akumatization added a lot of realism and emotional depth to both her character and the show in general, and Nino reminding her that version of herself was saved by Ladybug and Chat Noir really touched me. It reminded how this show saved me from a worst version of myself.❤ I can’t wait for more somber moments like this.

Awww, Adrien just wants to be a good friend to Marinette. He was genuinely concerned that he wasn't being the best with her and that she wasn’t too fond of him (WELL HE SURE WAS PROVED WRONG)

PLAGG AND ADRIEN HAVE DEVELOPED SUCH AN AFFECTIONATE RELATIONSHIP! Having fun playing the piano together, fun little jokes, head-pats and little scratches! My heart is full❤❤

THAT SCENE. YES THAT SCENE

I was laughing so hard, I didn’t care about the second embarrassment! I was too busy losing my shit 🤣

POOR MARI

POOR ADRIEN

MY POOR IDIOT CHILDREN🤣🤣

ADRIEN PROTECTED MARINETTE 💕

THAT WHOLESOME LADYNOIR 💕

Loved the fighting scenes of Puppeteer 2

HOLY SHIT MANON WHY DO YOU WANT TO MURDER PEOPLE NOW

ADRIEN AND MARINETTE RECONCILING 😭

“The girl I love” Marinette’s depressed again (my poor bby, I legit feel really bad now)

“It would have been a lousy first kiss” BUDDY THAT WASN’T YOUR FIRST

Overall, I really enjoyed today's episode! A lot of feel good moments, laughs, depressing moments, wholesome moments, then depressing with a hint of hope at the end, yeah basically a roller coaster of different feelings.

With that said I want to talk about THAT scene.

A lot of people have pretty mixed feelings and that’s alright! I understand why some couldn’t have taken the situation as lighthearted as I did at first but...I feel some people are taking the whole thing a bit TOO seriously. I’ve seen people put a lot of blame on Adrien and are seriously pissed at the writers for having Marinette go through that kind of embarrassment, so here’s my take on the whole thing:

Adrien never had any bit of ill intent. He was worried that Marinette was angry towards him (thanks to Nino’s panicking) and thought he wasn’t being a good friend towards her.

That shows how much he cares about being good to her. He wanted ease the tension between them by playing a lame little joke. He got that idea because of the friendship between him and Plagg. They play safe, lame little jokes to cheer up each other and laugh.

THAT was his intent. To help cheer Marinette up. He just wanted to play a little joke to make her laugh and feel more comfortable around him. Nino, Alya, and Manon were even playing this kind of game themselves and having fun so why not?

LOGICALLY Adrien was thinking; “Marinette knows there’s no way that my statue could have been finished THAT quickly. Especially just to have it be placed in some hallway, without any employee supervising it, right outside the restrooms, where she conveniently is and just a minute ago before she entered, there was no statue that looked like me.” MEANING, Adrien thought, FOR SURE, Marinette would be able to tell that he was playing a joke.

Let’s be real, even if it WAS just a statue of Adrien,

MARINETTE, SWEETHEART, MY DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? 

(I’M CACKLING AGAIN😂)

You could tell Adrien was beyond confused by her actions, he just figured “Oh, is...this her way of joking back?? Um..alright, everyone has different reactions...I guess?”  She was being really silly and comfortable, smiling and all, so he figured that she was just playing too and his plan was working.

It wasn’t until Marinette kissed him, Adrien reacted with “WHOA OKAY, THIS JOKE IS GETTING A BIT TOO FAR, ABORT ABORT.”

It wasn’t until Adrien saw how genuinely hurt Marinette got he realized that he made a BIG mistake and thought “Oh no, this isn’t what I wanted! Did she really not know that it was actually me? Did...Did she actually mean all that then?” 

He felt so guilty about unintentionally hurting her and his immediate response was to apologize and explain his actions.

Before ANYONE says “But he should have pulled back sooner! Why did he think that a joke like that would be alright?” How ON EARTH was Adrien suppose to know all of THAT was going to happen? He’s talked with Marinette before, joked with her before, laughed with her before, he thought she just needed a little laugh to loosen up a bit. He really thought she was joking around too until he saw how embarrassed she got! Not to mention, (why does this need a constant reminder) Adrien is HEAVILY undersocialized so there are certain social cues he has yet to understand. That’s NOT to say he didn’t make a mistake. He DID and he UNDERSTANDS that! 

Adrien never even meant for this whole thing to go south, he TRULY thought that Marinette would quickly catch on that he was pretending to be a statue and was just playing a lame joke. The whole situation in his head went like this: “Marinette will walk out the bathroom, see me pretending to be a statue, laugh and tease me, and she will be more comfortable around me!” 

He felt HORRIBLE for making Marinette feel embarrassed and never tried to make up excuses for his actions. He took full blame and wanted to fix the damage in any way he could. 

Even when Marinette said “Oh no, I knew it was a prank, I was just in the role playing someone who was in love!”, Adrien didn’t say “Oh great, then it’s all good!”. No. He knew Marinette was still clearly hurt by his action and wanted to properly fix things. He thought about her feelings, took full responsibility, apologized, and respected her by promising not to play a joke like that again. 

That’s what’s important in the end. They both were mature in the end and talked about situation, apologized for their actions and improved their communication with each other. They set boundaries and made sure to assure each other that they both deeply care and respect their feelings (That’s why in Party Crasher you see them interact so well). I think this whole theme around this episode is about communication. How a lack of communication can lead to hurting someone despite what intentions you had. And an important message that you need to be mature and talk about how feel directly if you want to have a healthy relationship with someone. Something really important for little kids to learn, that even lighthearted jokes can really harm a person you truly care about. It’s all about learning what you did wrong and improve.

[idolizenews]

12/16 SCHEDULES.

Each schedule post provides a snapshot into the way the company is marketing your group as a whole, the expectations they have for your involvement in the industry, and so forth. They’ll range from fun things like CF deals to run of the mill events like fan parties, concerts, or rest time. We’ll be varying things across the board and using this as a way to tease upcoming plot lines for groups. Schedules illuminate the often difficult realities of being an idol, and because of that we award +5 exp / + 5 sp to those who complete a 350+ 4/4 thread or a 500 word solo. Solos must be completed during the three week run of the schedule, but threads may be finished after the end of the prompt provided they were started well in excess of the end point (e.g. finishing up a reply or two after is fine, but posting the starter right before the next prompt goes up is not). These needn’t be taken extremely literally when threading and are open to tangential preparation threads and other flexibility.

OLYMPUS.

Olympus is preparing for the year end ceremonies with a new song under their belts, and the ballad-heavy influence is something new for the boys, providing a complicated mix of approval and skepticism. However, overall reception to Universe has been unexpectedly positive, with many fans speculating the initial short run of promotions planned was designed to provide a throwaway winter season release. The boys will be doing a Q&A on v-live with a radio show format, playing some of their favorite songs of their own and of others, and talking about the new vibe of their current promotions.

JINX.

JiNX had an impressive performance on Yu Huiyeol's Sketchbook this past session, and continues their promotional roundup with a special Christmas gift to fans: covering a Turbo classic in animal onesies! The filming is expected to be cheerful and lighthearted and will showcase their uniquely charming personalities. A link to the inspiration for this can be found here. This is expected to really show off the cheerful and bizarre charm of the girls, promising a counterpoint to their sexualized image that plays into their more offbeat mvs in a positive way.

TITANIUM & AURORA.

With both groups on a steady rise of late, Midas is keen to leverage their popularity off one another, and are doing so for this Christmas season with a special Christmas release. While it won't be promoted formally outside of KBS The Showtime's  Christmas Special, the video will be released in the upcoming weeks and is expected to chart well enough amongst fans, though of course the company hopes for a boost from the general public, despite the lack of promotion. Whether that pays off or not remains to be seen. 

HEAVEN.

Heaven has been surprising fans this year in more ways than one, and this year's Christmas gift to fans is no exception. Showing off variety and acting talents as well as the group's close bond, the girls plan to release a fun Christmas mystery themed skit that will be filmed alongside their Season's Greetings photoshoot and will be included in the photobook on DVD along with special behind the scenes footage. The skit is rumored to have a vibe reminiscent of Crime Scene 2 and will feature the girls' antics heavily, in a half variety half acting setting.

POIZN.

POIZN has had an unexpectedly impactful year, and that is showing in the recent CF deal they have landed with online shopping mall G-market. This Christmas themed CF series gives each boy a "wish list" item (bag, coat, camera, etc) and a 15 second solo commercial with that item, ultimately compiled in a "wish list" motif showing the most desirable gifts of the season. This CF is a big opportunity for the boys, as while it is a group deal, they do get a one-shot style commercial all to themselves, even if the frequency of airing will be split amongst all members. The inspiration for this schedule can be found here.

IMPERIAL.

Riding off their success throughout the year, Imperial has taken on a CF with Cass Beer. Though they're not repping the brand as full faces, the endorsement is a big deal for the group as it provides a lot of exposure and a hefty helping of revenue. The CF itself is a cheeky rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas done with beer bottles and glasses, and inspiration for the commercial can be found here. The boys will soon find themselves all over the television and in various promotional material that will likely sit around in fried chicken joints well past the end of the season.

CHERRY BOMB!

CB! is ringing in the new year with the filming and production of a special Christmas greetings photo book, inspiration for which can be found here. The girls have announced they'll be donating part of the profits for the Season's Greetings photo book in an even split to the charities they are currently affiliated with in the spirit of the holiday season. Of course, that money is the part that would otherwise have gone to the girls, leaving them doing unpaid labor for company profit in the name of the Christmas spirit. Perhaps all the money went to Honey's surprise release, leaving CB! with the dregs of the Christmas schedule.

HONEY.

With the girls not promoting at the moment, fans were caught by the surprise by the special seasonal release of a Christmas single, Merry and Happy ! While they won't be promoting it formally, they do have special stages scheduled for the week of Christmas and have released an accompanying music video for the song, which promises a more matured, bright sound than some of their title singles, showing a fresh side of the girls. Like most of the girls' efforts lately, it's already sitting near the top of the charts, despite nearly nonexistent promotions or hype.

1NFERNO.

With a high profile collab finished and preparations for a comeback in the works, the boys are taking to VLive to connect with fans via a filmed segment titled 1nferno's Christmas Party, wherein they film the boys eating a cake, decorating a Christmas tree together, and reading letters from their fans. Like CB! their holiday festivities this year are a bit lacking in budget, perhaps indicating, again, that company resources are directed far more towards Honey at this point.

ATLAS.

Joining the army of special holiday releases, Atlas is producing, recording, and releasing "Christmas Day" - a sweet Christmas song that shows a warm and soft side of the boys for the holiday. Just as with the other similar releases this season, they'll be promoting it only on special Christmas stages and won't be formally doing promotions. It is expected to chart admirably despite that, given their current status in the industry and its romantic vibes.

JAWBREAKER.

In keeping with KJH's reputation for a heft variety presence via V-live, the girl's will continue their intermittent filming with a special holiday series of episodes, following the girls as they select Christmas presents for one another and then exchange them, followed by reading one another heartfelt letters that they've written, each one to a randomly selected other member. Fans are highly anticipating the air date and have been hoping to catch them out during filming for some time now, so keeping those gifts chosen secret will be a bit of a chore for the girls- alas, the price of rising fame! 

NIGHTMARE.

The Nightmare girls are, surprisingly, in Japan for Christmas. And what are they doing, one might ask? Alongside some general promotional activities they're putting on a special mini-concert and fanmeet which will soon be revealed to feature a Japanese version of their debut song, Chase Me, done in full goth-Santa girl gear. The performance is scheduled for Christmas eve, and it's expected that rumors will fly about the girls' advancement into the Japanese market thereafter, though the veracity of that remains to be seen - but we'll give you a hint; it's coming, and soon!

NITRO.

Nitro are showing off their charm with the unexpected holiday release "Confession Song" - like many of the other seasonal releases this isn't a full comeback but will feature a music video and some special stage performances around the Christmas season, particularly on the Christmas day specials of the music shows. The video is a bit more low budget and home made in feel and features real high school couples using the motif of the video and the dating holiday vibes of Christmas to confess to one another, with the help of the Nitro boys, which will hopefully culminate in a lot of viral approval and at the very least will make for a very sweet release.

XLNC.

After the positive reception of their projects on youtube so far, which have been growing their discography steadily, the boys have announced an ambitious special schedule for the season: a Christmas Concert! Titled The Present suitably, the concert will be a one night only affair with tickets going on sale on 12/15. The venue is smaller in size and expectations are modest, but rumors have it the boys were insistent on giving back to their fans with a special live performance gift - and if it happens to be a great time for the company to media play about their merits as "actual artists" well that helps too. 

[kyashin]

Voltron: The Fandom of You

Soooooo, hi. I want to talk about Voltron fandom, because I have some positive things to say about it. But first, I want to talk about due South.

due South is one of my favorite shows, and the fandom produced some of my favorite fan content. All around, it was a fantastic contribution to the universe. Well done, humanity.

For the uninitiated, the show is: Canadian Mountie Benton Fraser, the most upstanding and honest (and sarcastic) person imaginable, first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of his father; and, for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, he remained, attached as liaison officer with the Canadian Consulate. It was a buddy cop show, and for seasons one and two, his cop buddy was an Italian-American dude named Ray Vecchio. Some people shipped it.

The show was canceled, and then, after enthusiastic fan campaigning, lovingly revived for two more seasons with Paul Gross––the actor who played Fraser––at the helm as executive producer. Unfortunately, David Marciano was unable to reprise his role as Ray Vecchio, so yikes! Now what? The entire premise of this thing was “sincere Canadian Mountie and cynical American cop shenanigans”. The solution was to replace Ray Vecchio. Literally. Like...in the show.

The first episode of season three has Fraser arriving in Chicago after a vacation in Canada to find this hot blond dude with a way different accent claiming to be Ray Vecchio, who is dark-haired and different-accented and just...you know...an entire different human being. Aaand let’s skip to the end of the episode where it turns out that Actual Ray Vecchio is undercover with the mob, so this new dude is gonna pretend to be him ‘til Vecchio gets back. New dude’s name is Ray Kowalski. People also shipped that.

But the fans who’d like, worked feverishly to get their show back on the air weren’t counting on having half the duo they wanted back erased from the show. !!!!!!!!!!!

Enter the Ray Wars. (Seriously, there’s a whole thing about them on fanlore.)

And a disclaimer: I wasn’t in the fandom for the height of the rage and fury, but I did saunter in as things were winding down, and even then some of the wreckage was still smoldering. That whole kerfuffle was Fandom Infamous for a super long time––and people who’ve been in Fandom long enough definitely know the Ray Wars by name AND reputation. For years, I’d see the Ray Wars held up by others as one of the ultimate examples of “intense fans” and just how Not Good a Look fandom can make for itself.

Here’s the thing though: the Ray Wars took place in the late 90s. No social media, no widespread understanding of fandom throughout the population. Fans were, like, on mailing lists and shit. The people who created AO3 were posting fic on web hosts like Geocities and Angelfire. Some people still called the internet “the web”, AOL was the gatekeeper to the internet things for a lot of people, and fans were figuring out that we could do ~*~*~*this*~*~*~ to make our user names look super unique and cool (not that I did that, just to be real, real clear). In that time, fandoms were very, super insular worlds with very tall, very robust fourth walls separating fans from creators and actors.

And for decades, these niche-occupying fans were accustomed to consuming very heterosexual content––shows and movies and comics and video games––and then writing whole-ass essays about how you could interpret this same-sex ship as legitimate within canon if you tilted your head 23 degrees, closed one eye, ignored the heterosexual ending, and stared long enough at these four screenshots from that one scene in episode 13.

You’d see flinches of contact between Fandom and The Established Source Material Creators sometimes. but it was rare. Anne Rice, for example, haaaaaaaaates fanfiction, and she’d go to great lawyery lengths to erase all she could find of it from the internet. Generally speaking, though, creators lived over there, and fans lived here, and we didn’t have much of an opportunity to interact with each other outside of, like, letters and conventions. There were still disrespectful fans, but you had to, like, make an effort to be a direct nuisance to the cast or crew.

Also, admitting to liking “slash” fanfiction as a woman back then got you “you just like slash because you’re too jealous to imagine your favorite male characters with women” at best and “that’s disgusting” at worst. ...Eh, there was probably worse, let’s be real.

So you can imagine the reaction many of us had when Paul Gross was interviewed about due South’s upcoming third season in 1997 and said of Callum Keith Rennie, the actor who’d play Ray Kowalski, “I tell you, slash fiction is going to go crazy when they see the new guy. He is really good-looking and sexy, the dangerous side of Fraser. It will be totally homoerotic.” THESE WERE THINGS AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SAID. IN 1997. KNOW WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN 1997? ELLEN DEGENERES CAME OUT. AND THEN LOST HER CAREER BECAUSE OF IT FOR A LONG-ASS TIME. WILL AND GRACE WASN’T EVEN A THING YET (1998). NEITHER WAS THE ORIGINAL UK VERSION OF QUEER AS FOLK (1999).

Like, holy shit???

And the thing is? He wasn’t baiting. The show intentionally included a LOT of subtext between Fraser and Ray Kowalski, to the point where the last episode of the show showed Ray having a literal identity crisis because he could tell Fraser wanted to go back to Canada permanently and like, “who am I without him” and then the series ends with the two of them sledding into the actual sunset no I’m not exaggerating that happened WHAT EVEN WAS THIS BLESSING IN 1999.

Were they canon? Eeeeeh. Kinda? It was 1997, I’d call whatever they were groundbreaking, at least for me. And the reason I say it wasn’t baiting is because all Paul said was, “Slash fans will like this,” and many of us did. So, y’know. Truth in advertising. Well done, Paul.

AND NOW IT IS THE YEAR OF OUR QUEERS, 20gayteen, and SO MANY THINGS have changed for the better for LGBTQ folks in the last two decades. Like, Voltron fandom is WILD to me sometimes (in a fantastic way) because some of the fans are actually young enough to have been born after the AIDS crisis, after Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered, after Don’t Ask Don’t Tell––after all these horrible, devastating wounds were inflicted on our beautiful queer family. There are actually fans in Voltron who believe, without a sliver of doubt, that a same-sex pairing can and will become canon.

That’s bananas to me. That there is hope like that! Belief like that! Because I was born at the very end of the AIDS crisis and I didn’t hear the word bisexual until I was, like, twelve, let alone have enough of a support system around me to embrace that label for myself. B A N A N A S.

So of course––of course––there’s a part of me that hopes a same-sex pairing will happen in Voltron. Just thinking about how Dreamworks almost made Miguel and Tulio a canon couple in The Road to El Dorado in 2000 makes my heart twinge with disappointment. (Yes, Chel is great, but.)

See, I’m super attached to Voltron even when the writing is clearly stifled and bridled in by the people whose job it is to sell lots and lots of Voltron toys. I read klance fic and reblog VLD fanart and I have one (1) friend who also watches the show. We talk about it sometimes, and I throw fanart of Shiro at her because he’s her favorite. She doesn’t ship anything, and I am a cheerful little klance-shipping demon. I am in a fandom of two, and it’s pretty great in here.

But.

Voltron’s a lighthearted kid’s show about humans and aliens piloting mecha lions in space to save the universe from space colonialism, and while I will be dizzy with glee if a same-sex couple becomes canon in this show, I want it more for the intended audience of Voltron: kids.

I met a kid last year at Osaka Pride whose mother said, “He came home from school and told me, ‘I don’t feel like a girl or a boy,’” so this young mother brought her child to Pride to learn more about the community that her baby might belong in. And that lovely little human stayed on the fringes at first, apparently shy, until their mother told them, “Go on,” and then they spent the next ten minutes literally jogging around all the booths and beaming at everyone: the trans women in neon dresses cooing at how cute this little sunbeam was, the booth folks selling rainbow-themed merch, the couples hand-in-hand without shame or fear. And when they came back to their mom, they were completely carefree. And I thought, I wish that had been me.

And maybe it could’ve been, if every single cartoon I consumed as a child wasn’t coding gay men as villains, overtly implying that LGBT people had a direct link to actual pedophilia, and aggressively promoting heterosexual romance as The Only Acceptable Way of Love. If I’d grown up in a world where Ruby and Sapphire were on TV being happily in love every week, I might’ve realized what was in my own heart sooner than college.

So there is part of me who understands why people are so emotionally connected to the possibility of a ship like klance becoming canon. I’ve felt that urgent hope, that wild hunger, again and again and again and again in my life, and the only time I’ve ever had that hope realized in canon was in 2016 watching Viktor and Yuuri skate together in Yuri!!! on Ice. I cried. A lot.

I understand the emotion fueling the very, very bad decisions being made. In the simplest possible terms, the people who repeatedly harass the Voltron cast and crew are people who want a thing and are prioritizing getting that thing over the mental health of real people. I think it’s a symptom of internet detachment. When one is flinging words into a void, one doesn’t have to see how they’re received. Their actions––if I haven’t made it clear––are objectively harmful, and I don’t condone them.

But what I want to say––what I wrote this whole thing to say––is that Voltron isn’t a terrible fandom, and it isn’t the first fandom to have loud, overzealous fans who cross the line and make people inside and outside the fandom alike think, Yeesh they’re/we’re all lunatics. Voltron fandom is not The Worst, because I guarantee you if The Ray Wars were happening today, there’d totally be people on Twitter attacking Callum Keith Rennie directly for daring to replace David Marciano. It could have been so, so much uglier than it was, and it was already Bad.

In 1997, the fourth wall still more or less existed, and LGBT content––let alone respectful content––was scarce to say the least, so Fandom Discourse at the time remained generally contained to fan-on-fan unpleasantness. Today, that fourth wall is utterly gone, and I think all fandoms have to adapt to that and learn a whole new code of etiquette. LGBT rep is important, but there are respectful and effective ways to get it that don’t involve harassing the cast and crew. The voice actors and creators and crew of Voltron deserve basic human decency, and to be seen as people first and content creators second. It’s entirely possible for the majority of fandom to interact respectfully with the creators––it’ll just take time and patience, like most things that last.

So listen, everything’ll be fine. Try to have patience with each other. To quote a manga I’ve been translating: “There will be times in your life when you won’t be able to avoid being angry. Don’t make little things bigger than they have to be. Laugh and forgive.” Or, in this case, laugh and ignore. If you like a thing, awesome! Tell people! Or don’t! And if you don’t like something, carefully consider the consequences of what you do after you realize, I don’t like this. I don’t ship sheith at all, but for the last two years I’ve managed to leave alone the fans who do ship it and not send Shiro’s voice actor and his family angry, threatening messages. It wasn’t even difficult, guys. I just, like, read some klance fic instead.

I felt compelled to make this because I keep seeing posts from Voltron fans calling Voltron fandom a raging garbage fire and sure, there’re people playing near dry kindling with flamethrowers more than is advisable, but Voltron fans have created and will continue to create some beautiful content and friendships just for love of a show, and that’s lovely as fuck. If you’re feeling ashamed of your fandom and you haven’t done anything wrong, remember that you’re fandom, too. Keep being respectful, kind, and good. The terrible people won’t go away, but they won’t define the fandom for you unless you let them.

Be kind to each other, and things will improve.

And if anyone tells you your ship is bad, don’t talk to that person anymore, because that person probably has some dry kindling and a flamethrower.

And hey, if you’re at the end of this post and you’re like: Wow, this was way too short, and I would like to read more things this person has written, there’s always my Team Voltron-in-Japan AU. It has klance and Nyma/Allura and I enjoy writing it.

Wow, I’m hungry. Bye! :D/

[mymurderbooks]

5 Anime Recommendations for Your Stay Home Time

So you’re on lockdown, more or less. You’ve watched the most popular anime recommendations: Sailor Moon, Naruto, Death Note, etc. etc. Here’s some anime I love that you might not have come across yet. Yes, you could be productive, you could (rather unproductively) worry about the future of mankind, but it’s also important to not stress out too much (it weakens your immune system!) and watch some shows.

These are some of my favourite animes. I rate them all five stars and I’ve listed them in no particular order, but I’ve chosen them for different reasons. A couple I think are better than others, notably, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju and Planetes, which are two of the best shows I’ve seen in any format. I won’t give too many spoilers, but briefly summarise the theme of the anime and my impressions, and why I recommend it.

1. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju English title: Showa and Genroku Era Lover’s Suicide Through Rakugo Studio: Studio Deen First premiered: Winter 2016 Where to watch? You can stream this on Crunchyroll.

Rakugo is a traditional Japanese form of comedic storytelling theatre, and this anime narrates the lives of a line of rakugo performers. This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen on TV. It’s slow but not draggy, it’s very well paced and nothing feels like filler. It tells the story of the rakugo performers with respect and sensitivity, and above all, subtlety. Everything about this show is elegant, from the artwork to the portrayal of the characters.

Since it’s a show about rakugo, you will see the characters performing rakugo in it, and this is done so realistically and so well that you feel you’re in the theatre with them, which is one reason I think this is a good pick for being in lockdown. I was completely unfamiliar with rakugo before this, but as I watched I became interested enough that I really really wanted to see a show. I was lucky enough that I was able to see an English-language rakugo artist, Katsura Sunshine, perform in London. He travels and does rakugo around the world, so if you get a hankering to see a rakugo performance after watching this anime, that’s something to maybe put on your post-Covid-19 list to look forward to when theatres reopen.

The classic ‘Shinigami’ rakugo performed by Kikuhiko in the anime:

Even if you don’t like anime and don’t normally watch it, I highly recommend you watch this. It’s so good. I promise it’s better than anything on Netflix.

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2. Planetes Studio: Sunrise Premiered: Fall 2003  Where to watch? It’s streaming on Netflix Japan, but not Netflix anywhere else at the moment, but maybe it will be? The boxset is on sale on Amazon for a lot of money. Sorry, I don’t know where you can watch this at the moment, but if you find a way, I recomend you do.

Planetes is a hard sci-fi anime that follows a team who are, essentially, trash collectors in space (’Debris Section’ of a large corporation). I recommend this as one of the best space shows I’ve seen, and because I find the latest Star Trek series super disappointing. I’m gonna be real, I’m a fan of Next Generation and Captain Picard himself, but Picard (the show) sucks. If you compare it to Planetes, it’s like Picard was written by 14 year olds.

Planetes is very adult, although it may not seem so at first. Stick with the first few episodes, and you’ll find that this show really delivers. It’s dark, but not dark in the way that many Hollywood shows are ‘dark’. Hollywood seems to interpret this to mean violent death murder torture, and there’ll be at least one scene in the season of someone plunging their bare hands into the core of another person’s body, or eye poking torture, but Planetes is dark in that it’s probably one of the more plausible/realistic representations of mankind’s future in space.

In Planetes there’s no alien friends, no federation of planets, no post-money world, no intergalactic battles. There’s just us humans, being shitty, but now we’ve infected space too. Capitalism is worse. Life is harder. There’s crap floating around the universe, and this show follows the underpaid people doing the dangerous job of retrieving it. If you like sci-fi, this is some of the best sci-fi TV, ever.

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3. Shirokuma Cafe English title: Polar Bear Cafe Studio: Studio Pierrot Premiered: Spring 2012 Where to watch? Streaming on Crunchyroll

This anime revolves around a cafe run by a Polar Bear. It’s a slice of life genre anime. It’s very lighthearted, but also, to me, feels more adult than many adult-oriented shows. In Japan it falls under the category of ‘josei’ anime, ie. anime for adult women.

It’s so lovely. I guess kinda like Cheers, but in a cafe, and far lovelier. The cafe regulars are Panda and Penguin, and Llama sometimes comes in. Grizzly runs a bar (that’s also lovely! You want to go to his bar!) and there’s a human called Sasako who works there. There’s an adorable Red Panda! A bunch of squirrels who sort through coffee! Everything is lovely and cute!

What do they do? Random adorable everyday things. One of my favourite episodes, and a great one to watch in the spring, is the cherry-blossom viewing episode. Some episodes we learn about coffee from the tree squirrels. Sometimes they just sit around the coffee. At some point Panda gets a job at the zoo. They go to a baseball range, etc.

If what you’re looking for is a cute, light-hearted, relaxing show for adults where everybody knows your name and nothing dark happens, I recommend this highly. Particularly if your hobbies are chilling out, going to cafes, drinking coffee, taking walks, flowers - you’ll love this.

There’s a real Shirokuma Cafe (anime-themed cafe) in Tokyo, in Takadanobaba. I visited last year and loved it there! If you end up watching and loving Shirokuma Cafe too, add it to your post-Covid-19 travel cafe bucket list! 

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4. Sakamachi no Apollon (Apollo on the Slope) English title: Kids on the Slope Studios: Tezuka Productions, Mappa Premiered: Spring 2012 Where can I watch it? Streaming on Crunchyroll

Kids on the Slope is, essentially, a jazz anime. It celebrates jazz. The actual storyline is a coming of age story of some kids who jam together, and they experience adolescence together and grow up and all that, and there’s some romance, some adolescence angst. The art is beautiful. The story is told well. That’s all fine. But really the draw here is jazz.

Jam session:

The unofficial theme song is Moanin’ by Art Blakey. The song features throughout the series, the organ version is particularly good (and I think it only exists in/for this anime). I chose this anime for the list because the characters’ love for jazz is infectious and sparks the fire for jazz within you. It makes you want to play jazz, or at least listen to jazz, or read about jazz, or maybe learn an instrument, and that’s something you can do at home on lockdown. Be inspired by the jazz children!

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5. Shinsekai Yori English title: From the New World Premiered: Fall 2012 Studio: A-1 Pictures Where can I watch it? Streaming on Crunchyroll

This is a show set in the future. The art is beautiful and moody, the soundtrack is excellent. It’s sci-fi/fantasy, and has a classic setting: a portion of humanity develops psychic powers. This show follows Saki and her friends into their adulthood in an authoritarian dystopia, masquerading as a utopia.

It’s not a coming of age story. This show is dark. It’s also deceptive. The world built in the anime is layered, complex, and it feels like a full, complete, rounded tale, despite being only 25 episodes. It’s ultimately really a story about inequality, power, and the cost of 'civilisation' - I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil it for you, we the viewers begin to understand the full nature of the society the children are growing up in as they do, as it unwraps slowly in each episode.

[mrmichaelchadler]

30 Minutes on: "The Meg"

Who could have guessed that the scene in "Jaws" where Sheriff Brody says they're going to need a bigger boat would spawn 40 years' worth of thrillers? Ever since Steven Spielberg's nautical adventure became one of the top-grossing movies of all time, movie studios have tried to bite off a piece of its success by serving up their own nature-in-revolt films—as well as films about inhuman and even mechanical stalkers that, to quote that same film's ichthyologist Hooper, exist only to kill, consume and make more of their ilk. 

It started in the 1970s with movies like "Grizzly," "Piranha," "Tentacles" and "Prophecy" (where the monster was a giant bear mutated by pollution). The homage/theft continued, in disguised fashion and on a parallel track, in the stalker movies of the late '70s and early '80s (particularly "Halloween," the original "Terminator," and the original "Alien," which was sold to its studio as "Star Wars" meets "Jaws' in a haunted house), and more officially via through "Anaconda" and "Lake Placid" and finally this year's "The Meg," about an enormous prehistoric shark that escapes from the bottom of the ocean and wreaks havoc on the surface. Directed by Jon Turteltaub ("National Treasure") and starring bullet-headed action hero Jason Statham, "The Meg" is a modestly bloody, sometimes sentimental, mostly lighthearted fusion of "Jaws" and another Spielberg classic, "Jurassic Park." The latter was recently rebooted as "Jurassic World"; a key scene in that one showed visitors to a Sea World-type arena cheering as a Jaws-like great white was dangled in midair as bait for a sharklike aquatic dinosaur known as a Mosasaurus. 

Tracing the chain of associations, remakes, inspirations and ripoffs that brought us to this point would've been an irrelevant film nerd's exercise if "The Meg" didn't all but compel it, by serving up its own version of nearly every memorable moment from the original "Jaws" plus several of its sequels. The list includes the mass terror in the harbor filled with bathers, scenes where the heroes tag the shark with a tracking device and try to kill it with explosives and harpoons, some helicopter action plus a version of the teens-on-a-raft section of the second "Jaws,"  a moderately scary sequence in an underwater laboratory reminiscent of moments in "Jaws 3-D," and a man-on-fish showdown reminiscent of Quint's final struggle with the shark in the original "Jaws" (but with a happy ending). The movie is so shamelessly indebted to "Jaws" that during a climatic moment, Harry Gregson-Williams' score even subtly alludes to John Williams' iconic four-note "Here comes the teeth" main theme. Turteltaub and the movie's four credited screenwriters also work in references to "Moby-Dick" and the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale (Staham's character is even named Jonas). The story even resolves itself with a slight nod to one of Jonah's threats against the Leviathan, to leash the creature by its tongue and let the other fish eat it. 

Statham, who like his contemporary Dwane Johnson is always happy to go right up to the edge of self-parody and even cross over, plays Jonas as an obsessive but disgraced figure. Jonas is a search-and-rescue badass written off as a coward for abandoning a nuclear sub on the bottom of the ocean after he became convinced that the Megaladon was what destroyed it and was certain to kill everyone who was still alive if he didn't get the survivors out of there pronto. Like Ripley in the second "Alien," he's the only one alive who can verify the existence of the monster. 

So of course when we first meet him he's a hard-drinking exile, basically Quint but with great abs and more people skills. The billionaire who funded the research station (Rainn Wilson) and two of Jonas' trusted colleagues, Cliff Curtis' Mac and Winston Chao's Zhang, beg Jonas to come and rescue a submersible containing Jonas' ex-wife Lori (Jessica McNamee) that's gotten trapped on the same stretch of the ocean floor where the hero first encountered the Meg. And then the Meg escapes from the ocean floor and ships start going down and people start getting torn apart in the water, and hey, look, it's the movie you paid to see. 

There's a parallel story that posits Zhang's daughter, Suyin (Bingbing Li), an oceanographer and single mom to an adorable young daughter Meying (Sophia Cai), as the main character in the film, and whenever the hardbitten Jonas is in the presence of either of them, he warms up and smiles and even tells jokes. The film genuflects in the direction of giving both of these adults a happy ending by rewarding their heroism with an intact nuclear family that will give Meiying a father, Suyin an intellectual partner and best friend to replace her dad, and Jonas a reason to trust humanity again. But the movie doesn't hammer too hard on any of that stuff, a rare instance where it gets things just about right rather than doing too much or too little, which is usually the case. 

The movie's never dull, frequently funny and occasionally inspired, particularly in the climactic shark assault on a marina filled with bathers. But it feels not-quite-there somehow. Despite the shark-on-human and human-on-shark violence, and a fair amount of (mostly fish-related) blood and gore, it doesn't have much impact either as a high seas thriller or a science fiction fantasy. And there are plentiful signs that it was undermined in the editing. A lot of the cutting, not just from scene to scene but within scenes, is choppy and awkward, failing to show you what you want or need to see at the moment when ought to. And Statham's granite-faced determination in the action sequences promises a much rougher adventure than is actually delivered. (Statham has indicated that Turteltaub shot the film as a ridiculously nasty "R" thriller but it was cut to earn a PG-13 rating.) 

The most impressive thing about "The Meg" is that it manages to have any personality at all, given its obsessive self-awareness of being a "Jaws" ripoff and its equally blatant status as a deal memo that somehow managed to get filmed. It's obviously a project that wouldn't exist without the Chinese filmgoing market—it's set in the Pacific Rim, stars many Asian actors and never once mentions the United States as a factor in any of the main action. It might intrigue aficionados of Asian action cinema, for the way it tries to be both a classic, "Jaws"-styled American thriller and a Pacific monster film at the same time. The almost religious sentimentalization of motherhood here feels more Chinese than American, as does the particular way that the leather-souled Jonas instinctively knows how to talk to the little girl. The marina sequence boasts candy-colored production design and numerous, borderline-slapstick gags, including an extended bit involving a wedding party and an impeccably groomed poodle, and numerous shots of oblivious bathers traversing the ocean's surface in transparent rolling plastic bubbles; it's like something that South Korea's Bong Joon-Ho ("The Host," "Okja"), a great pop filmmaker with a social satirist's tendencies, might stage, though he surely would've done a lot more with it than "The Meg" ultimately delivers. And when the prehistoric shark is fixating on tiny humans, as if the terms of Captain Ahab and Moby-Dick's relationship had been reversed, the film moves into the realm of a Toho monster movie from the '60s or '70s, in which the humans did battle with gigantic rubbery creatures who amounted to manifestations of their own neuroses and ambitions. 

The movie needed to be at least 30% crazier than it is. It often feels as if it's holding something in, like it doesn't quite feel free enough to be what it truly wants to be, whatever that is.  

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