#this is like the fifth time i've rewatched season 2 since it came out

[nightmarettd]

ok but can we talk about how insanely good the sound design and music is in Squid Game, like hello?

[everywishway]

My Top 5 Favorite Seasons of Dimension 20

Before I start, these are all great and they could alternate depending on my mood, especially the top three. I'm also watching Unsleeping City for the first time right now (im sorry. i know it's great, i just never got around to watching it because i was rewatching Fantasy High for the 10th time) so that's why it's not on the list.

Also, there is a poll at the end to see what everyone's favorite is out of these 5 choices and whichever wins I'm going to rewatch.

5. Misfits and Magic. My personal favorite of the shorter seasons (6-8 episodes). I loved all the cast members, they were all amazing but it just felt very rushed for me? Like, throw in a fifth episode for me just for the sake of pacing. The Tri-Wizard Tournament thing came out of nowhere and I think the pacing would've worked if they lead with the fact the Magical Misfits had to prove themselves to stay (and they had to do it too). I know the Headmistress was trying to blindsight them but anyone else could've mentioned it. Other than that, this was amazing. I love this and am trying to get my mom to watch it with me because she loves the books that shall not be named

4. Fantasy High Season One. It was really good and I love all of the Bad Kids so much it's not even funny. Bill Seacaster and Jawbone are my favorite NPCs in any TTRPG show ever and I love Fabian, Riz and Fig so much My main thing was the fight scenes. Fight scenes every other episode was a lot for me, someone who hates combat in my actual games of TTRPGS. I'm glad Brennan paced it so fight scenes were only every couple of episodes afterward, it made them feel more heavy and exciting that way.

3. The Seven. This season feels so underrated for some reason? No one ever talks about it, I never see fanart for it like I see the others on this list. All six Heroic Highschoolers did such a great job bringing their characters and teen struggles to life, it made me feel every single emotion at once. Two problems with this season though: One, no one played Zelda which I'm willing to forgive since they were playing it safe with covid regulations. Number two though is how much Sam Nightingale hogged screen time. Don't get me wrong, I love Sephie so much and she really made this season great, but I can't help but feel like she just got more attention that could've gone to other members of the Seven. Maybe it's the fact she got more one on one scenes since she was always talking to Zelda who was played by Brennan? At times it just felt like the Sam show and not an adventure about The Seven. But everyone go rewatch this though. I think I'm the only person who's rewatched it since it came out and I've rewatched it at least six times.

2. A Court of Fey and Flowers. Literally a perfect season. It has my personal favorite cast, amazing characters, and one of the best blends of humor and emotions a season of Dimension 20 could have. My only trouble is that parts of it don't have the rewatchability the other seasons have with all the secrets and rumors. I do still cry at Hob's confession though, even after the fourth time.

1. Fantasy High: Sophomore Year. I think this is one of, if not the best, seasons they have ever done. You get so much world-building for Spyre compared to other campaigns, you already know the characters so you spend more time fleshing them out and meeting new amazing side characters, like Ayda and Kalina, or fleshing out ones we already know, like Sandra-Lynn and Cathilda. I still openly sob every single one of the Bad Kid's troubles and I love them so much. Give me a season of the Bad Kids and The Seven, Brennan!

So, now that we're done, which is the best season out of these? Are there other The Seven lovers out there? IDK, VOTE!

[iamnotawomanimagod]

2021 Year in Review!

I was tagged by the forever-lovely @boomheda (thank you Luce!!) to do our annual year-in-review post. I did this last year (and I think the year before, but I can't find it!) Very happy to keep the tradition going!

Tagging a bunch of people but don't feel obligated!! @dylanobrienisbatman @bombshellsandbluebells @rosealie @laufire @lovelybeautifulpretty @neverwantedsaving @theemptysound @nomattertheoceans @nicoleanell @tolerateit and anyone else who wants to do this!! Please feel free to steal it!!

Under a cut because I've got a lot to say, dammit. I don't expect anyone to read the whole thing, it's mostly for me, haha <3

Top 5 Movies You Watched This Year

I so rarely watch movies, especially since COVID-19 started. So the top 2 of this list are the only "new" ones I watched, and the other three were revisits.

1. Inside (Bo Burnham)

This was such an incredible film experience, one which I think will be remembered as very emblematic of 2020 and 2021. I've kept the music on rotation all year, too.

2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

I never got around to watching this one when it came out in theaters. I finally rewatched the entire movie series this year, and finished it up with the final film. I think it's a decent adaptation!

3. Josie and the Pussycats

My sisters and I loved this movie when we were younger and watched it over and over again. I was surprised at how much I'd forgotten, and how much of it had gone over my head as a kid. It's very fun and campy and super underrated as a satire of musicianship under capitalism. But it's also a sweet and charming Grrl Power movie, which I rediscovered my love for this year, also thanks in part to...

2. The Cheetah Girls

This was another one that was on constant rotation when I was a kid. So I was especially delighted to share that cheetahlicious love with @rosealie in 2021! The music still slaps, and the looks will never be replicated in terms of iconic early 2000s girl fashion.

1. The Emperor's New Groove

I think I could watch this movie a thousand times and never get tired of it.

Top 5 TV Shows You Watched This Year

TV was soooo good this year, honestly. I had a blast with a bunch of different shows.

5. Season 3 of You -

Especially because I got to watch it more or less in tandem with several mutuals, and seeing everyone react in real time was a delight. It was such an insane season. Really great to watch Love and Joe fully embrace who they were and all of the absolutely batshit choices they made as a result. Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti absolutely killed their performances, and really kept the entire season so engaging when it could've been really slow.

I'm still pretty bummed about the ending and not sure if I'll continue on with s4, but s3 was a fun ride!

4. Midnight Mass

I almost gave up on this show, because it really tested even my deep love for long, introspective monologues. And the animal death in the beginning is rough. But once I finished the fifth episode, I was so glad I pushed through. It ends up being one of the most beautiful, heart-wrenching, hopeful meditations on the afterlife and faith and love that I've ever watched.

It's not for everyone. It wasn't much like The Haunting Anthology at all. This is a challenging show on a lot of levels, and certainly not one everyone is going to find value in. But I really loved it, and it only confirmed for me how brilliant Mike Flanagan is at telling dark, human stories.

3. Shadow & Bone

I gained like 3.5 OTPs from this show, lmao. It's a really fun setting, great world-building and magic systems, and the story is pretty good. But I think what really pulled me in and kept me going is how drop-dead gorgeous every. single. character. is.

I don't know what it is about this cast, but they are all my type. Inej, Kaz, Alina, Mal, Nina, Mattias, Anya, Zoya, of course Jesper, even the Darkling - hottest people I've ever seen, never leave my screen, let me feast my eyes on you forever.

2. Squid Game

I managed to sneak in riiiight before the hype really kicked off. I'm glad because I was able to go in with fresh eyes and zero spoilers, plus no real expectations of what I was about to see. I don't know if any show could've lived up to the hype levels this one reached, but damn, it comes really, really close.

Brilliantly acted, well-written, full of twists and turns and crazy suspense, plus enough comic relief to break the tension. Gi-Hun is such a funny, silly protagonist at first, so to see him break down as the violence progresses was so compelling. Big kudos to Lee Jung-jae for making him so layered and human. And of course, my heart was stolen by Sae-Byeok just like everyone else's was.

Visually it was one of the most unique settings I've seen in a long time. It was refreshing to get bright, bold colors and big, hard lines and shapes. Plus it added such a lovely contrast to the horrors of the games. I really liked it, and I'm excited to check out more non-English language shows, because I think there are a lot of really cool stories that don't make it to the Western mainstream often enough.

1. Legacies

Ahh, this dumb, fun, stupid show. I talk about it too much for it to not top my list. It's basically my new The 100, although I'll never let myself get that emotionally invested in a show from The CW again, lmao. And the fandom is clearly a dumpster fire, one I want nothing to do with.

But the show really has my heart!! I appreciate that we're finally coming to some of the consequences we've been building towards for so many seasons - Hope becoming a tribrid and flipping her humanity switch; Landon fufilling his "destiny" as Malivore's vessel and then tragically being killed by Hope; Lizzie becoming a heretic; the whole compelling Hope/Lizzie frenemy dynamic; Alaric coming to terms with his sins in limbo; even Josie leaving to go live her own life. It's all stuff that's been hinted at for so long, it's nice to have some closure. And I've loved seeing Cleo's story progress, and Finch finding a home. Even Kaleb turning into a dragon has been a welcome surprise, albeit a weird one.

I'm a bit anxious about where it'll go from here - I think we've hit the peak now and can only go downhill. They're about to invent more villains and more problems, since the original conflict has now been resolved, and that has never gone well in a TVDU show. But they might surprise me!

Top 5 Songs of 2021

Well the first five are all from If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, so I'm putting them, in order, at #1, lol. Just so there's actually some variety. Taken from Spotify Wrapped!

5. "E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE" by CORPSE, feat Savage Ga$p

4. "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" by Lil Nas X

3. "Save That Shit" by Lil Peep

2. "Serotonin" by girl in red

1. "I am not a woman, I'm a god," "honey," "You asked for this," "Bells in Santa Fe," and "Easier Than Lying" - Halsey

Top 5 Albums You Heard In 2021

5. NEED by 3Oh!3

Top tracks: LAST BREATH, I'M SO SAD, LONELY MACHINES

4. Happier than Ever by Billie Eilish

Top tracks: Happier than Ever, Lost Cause, NDA, Therefore I Am, I Didn't Change My Number, and Billie Bossa Nova.

3. Inside (The Songs) by Bo Burnham

Top tracks: All Eyes on Me, Welcome to the Internet, 30, Don't Wanna Know, Shit, That Funny Feeling, Look Who's Inside Again, and Goodbye.

2. MONTERO by Lil Nas X

Top tracks: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name,) DEAD RIGHT NOW, LOST IN THE CITADEL, TALES OF DOMINICA, LIFE AFTER SALEM, and ONE OF ME (feat Elton John.)

1. If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

Top tracks: Easier than Lying, honey, You asked for this, Bells in Santa Fe, Whispers, 1121, Ya'aburnee, Lilith, and I am not a woman, I'm a god.

Top 5 Books You Read in 2021

I really don't read anymore, unfortunately! So I'm going to make my own category. Feel free to do top books, or my suggestion, or your own thing, or whatever!

Instead - Top 5 YouTube Channels in 2021

5. Binging with Babish is fun, informative, and great for learning about slightly more advanced techniques in the kitchen that the average home cook doesn't consider trying. Getting to see different pop culture foods recreated in a tasty way is really neat!

4. Watcher is where you can find the Buzzfeed Unsolved boys now, as well as their former Buzzfeed compatriot Stephen Lim. Ryan and Shane have come up with a lot of funny, interesting, and spooky new shows, and it's been really fun to watch their channel grow this year. I especially love Are You Scared? and Puppet History.

3. Mila Tequila has produced some of my favorite pop culture video essays this year, especially her takes on The Bling Ring scandal of the mid-aughties, as well as as really sensitive but thorough explainer on Amanda Bynes' tumultuous career. Her relaxed setup is refreshing when compared to so many other incredibly polished YouTubers, and I think she's really talented for an unpaid student, which makes her stick out on this list!

2. Trixie & Katya crack me up beyond belief, I'm so glad I discovered them, even if I'm not all that into drag race anymore. They've really transcended their beginnings and now have so much content, it's sometimes hard to keep up. I'm not complaining though! It's been a great year for them both and I'm excited to see what they do next.

1. The Try Guys are pretty much a daily part of my life, and I enjoy almost everything they produce. They're great role models, funny dudes, and really creative at coming up with new content, even almost seven years into their friendship. They are very much so my comfort show, and I'm glad they've gotten to do so much in 2021, even with the pandemic limiting their production style.

5 Positive Things That Happened In 2021

5. I was fortunate that I didn't get COVID-19, and although I do know a few people who had it, no one I know was permanently impacted or killed by it. I feel very lucky about that and I know what a blessing it is to not be grieving someone or something this year.

4. I visited Albuquerque, New Mexico for the first time and got to see some really cool art during their First Friday Art Walk. It was so refreshing to be around people and art again, and because New Mexico has a mask mandate and we were all vaccinated and this was pre-delta-or-omicron, it felt safe enough to really relax and have fun. It'd be a long time since I'd been able to do something like that and it really helped me feel a lot less restless.

3. Halsey released a truly stunning album this year, alongside a beautiful film. I wasn't expecting another album from them for at least a few years, so it was a really awesome surprise. It's one of my favorite albums of all-time and certainly my favorite in their discography.

2. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and started taking the right medication. I'm working with a psychiatrist that I trust, for the first time in my life, and I'm feeling better than ever. I still have a long way to go, but I'm moving forward for the first time in a very long time.

1. My husband got a job that he's been working towards for at least five years. He's settling into it and is very happy. We're in a more stable place than ever.

***

Overall this was actually a pretty good year for me, personally!! It could've been a lot worse, and I'm grateful things have mostly been okay for me and the people I love. I have no idea what 2022 holds, or really any expectations for what it should be. These days, I'm just happy to be here. And I'm happy you're along for the ride, if you've read this far, or follow me, or are my mutual!

Happy holidays! <3

[beautifully-lumpy]

the beautiful person's journal - #3: original caddicarus show tier list/review!

now!! finally time to talk about the caddicarus show itself rather than branding!

so last night, i finally finished my rewatch of the original caddicarus show! it had been years since i'd seen a lot of these episodes, and i saw seasons 12 and 13 for the first time. and man this was definitely an experience. some opinions changed, and some opinions stayed.

it's been really cool to see this dude grow up and change his style over time.

i've put together a tier list that sums up my thoughts, and below the cut i'll give a rundown of my thoughts on each season!

(heads up: this post is LONG. like, VERY long. open the readmore at your own risk.)

season 1!

the season that started it all! i remember watching these for the first time in 2014 as i began watching through all of caddy's backlog. at the time, the episodes weren't that old, but even then the newer episodes felt so different. the jump in quality from season 1 to even mid-season 2 was spectacular.

these episodes were serviceable at the time, and they gave me lots of laughs and entertainment. however, as time went on, these episodes have aged just a little too much for my enjoyment these days. it has its moments, but ultimately it's a product of its time.

favorite episode: santa claus saves the earth rating: 6/10

season 2!

i still enjoyed this season a lot upon rewatching it! it's also aged, but it still gave me so many nostalgic flashbacks. it had been years since i heard the salvaging noise, so when it came on in the voluptuous raider episode i had quite the nostalgic reaction.

i rewatched the grinch doesn't know where things are and the worst thing ever (coronation street) episodes so many damn times, i pretty much know them by heart. so it was great fun rewatching those.

other episodes i loved were destruction derby, croc, the fifth element, and south park.

favorite episode: coronation street rating: 7/10

season 3!

this was a pretty iconic season back when i came along because it was the season with:

the first collab videos, which made up the first two episodes - those being with scarfulhu and the completionist respectively

the lucrative dalmatians 3 video aptly titled "THE WORST GAME EVER MADE", - which was the first caddicarus video to reach a million views and the most viewed video on the channel for over 6 years...and the video that created a whole generation of beautiful people - me included!

the first appearances of the mackay family, specifically in the 200,000 subscriber special formerly titled "bratz: the splatty ratz that are gnatz covered in shatz"...which is still the greatest old caddicarus video title in my opinion.

it's aged, but damn i'd be lying if i said i didn't still love it. all the hidden block stuff, caddy as an adorable little lad just before he moved out of his parents' house, that echoey mic quality before he had the pop filter, the silly game reviewer gimmicks and overarching plot...it's all just too charming and nostalgic for me not to love.

do i prefer it to the videos now? HELL NO. was it fun for the time, and fun to look back on now? HELL YES.

favorite episode: dalmatians 3 (duh) rating: 9/10

season 4!

ah yes...this was the current season when i came! in august 2014, at the age of 12, i became the caddicarus connoisseur i still am today! of course, i just mentioned that dalmatians 3 was my first episode, but i came five months after its release...which means when i clicked on the most recent episode at the time, i saw a nearly-bald caddy in a totally different house. now THAT was jarring.

but yeah this was the first season after he'd gone to SGC and met hidden block and moved out of his parent's house. with this season we had gems such as the vib ribbon and LSD dream emulator episodes. vib ribbon in particular was my favorite caddicarus episode for years!

i was such a huge defender for this season in particular because of my extreme nostalgic connection to it. it was my favorite for so long. these days that's changed, but i really honed in on that "buzzcut-era caddicarus fan" identity LOL. but that's another topic for another day.

but yeah this season is still very fun! i love it for the same reasons i love season 3.

favorite episode: no one can stop mr. domino rating: 8/10

season 5!

this season lasted a whole year, and that's because episodes started becoming more sparce due to the other side shows caddy had going on at the time. there were also these "easter egg hunting" videos caddy would do for didyouknowgaming between retrospectives installments, and...yeah this was an interesting time.

the episode quality didn't suffer as much though, or maybe that's just my nostalgic view lol. i still loved this season looking back! playstation cheats was basically the blueprint for caddy's content nowadays. cheesy, snow white and the seven clever boys, top 10 games that scared me as a kid, rascal, and legoland were bangers. there was the first month of terrarrrr (arr) with the casper 2-parter! caddy moved in with cerys and the girls! stanley came along! and it was also when the polarizing mohawk came into the picture. but i personally LOVED the mohawk and its variations. ┐(︶▽︶)┌

favorite episode: snow white and the seven clever boys rating: 8/10

season 6!

the first weekly season, and the first season in which the caddicarus intro had a backing track and a melody!

and oh boy...it's DEFINITELY early-mid 2016 in nature. IHE collab, references to stuff like daddy derek and gradeAunderA, the word "cringe" is said a lot...man i kinda miss that era and don't miss it at the same time.

but i still loved this season looking back! i still remember when it started with the 50th episode...that's no longer the 50th episode anymore, but we'll talk about that another day.

this season had the april fools "sonic the fighters" episode, the notification of which woke me up at 6 in the morning. there was the scooby doo and the cyber chase saga, rosco "god's precious water!" mcqueen, caddy reacting to his rascal racers video on his 22nd birthday, and the net yaroze games video that capped off 500,000 subs! ....before they were purged, that is.

favorite episode: 66 net yaroze games rating: 9/10

season 7!

man i liked this season a WHOLE lot more upon rewatching. back then i thought it didn't live up to season 6 but i love it a lot more now. there was the crash bandicoot trilogy videos and the R/C stunt copter and hercules vids that started up the miluk joke...which honestly grated on me after a while, but others seemed to love. each to their own i guess. oh yeah...that month of terrarr was GOD TIER. it was so god tier that it drug on into november.

and man i laughed so HARD at the spice world episode. it aged so damn well, it's on par with his content nowadays!

favorite episode: spice world rating: 9/10

season 8!

the first season in the now-iconic current house! it also started out with the artificially created naturally reached 101st episode on ape escape.

i have a lot of personal baggage and emotional trauma that occurred during the first couple months or so of episodes of this season, so that taints them a bit for me, but i was able to look past that stuff and they're better now on rewatch.

the season was brilliant, although not one of my favorites. we had the episodes on the tweenies, the lion king, parappa the rapper, shadow-man, and experimental videos such as the ones on nursery rhymes and TV shows that scared caddy as a kid. there was the iconic peppa pig episode which created another new generation of caddicarus fans. and caddy sported a beanie for the whole season until the spider-man episode...where he revealed that he had a full head of hair! we hadn't seen him like that for 3 years at the time!

overall this season was great. better than i remembered - i thought it was pretty meh when it was new.

favorite episode: pappy rappy rating: 8/10

season 9!

i thought this was a very, VERY meh season when it came out. i considered it the worst season of the series - 15-year-old me will gladly rant to you about how i thought mega man 8 was the worst episode of the entire series. i lamented my criticisms in an unreleased video i made about the problems with modern caddicarus - again, another topic for another day.

but these days? i like it! i don't love it, but i like it. like season 8, it's not one of my favorites, but it's better than i remember. although i will say it wasn't as memorable as season 8. we still had gems like crash on GBA, phoenix games pinnochio, and abe's exoddus.

i think this is definitely when the flaws of the weekly schedule began to show. as caddy said himself in that arlo podcast episode: "there's only so much you can do in a week". and that's the exact concern i had at the time.

favorite episode: toilet duck rating: 7/10

season 10!

now this is a season i mostly thought was meh. it was pretty forgettable, lots of jokes fell flat and it relied a lot on reference humor (especially that rugrats studio tour episode uuuugh). and as i said before, i could REALLY see the formulaic structure and weekly schedule grating on the show. there was the first bandicoot month, but honestly? i think it's the weakest bandicoot month by far.

i DID remember loving and rewatching the aladdin episode a lot when it came out because it reminded me of older episodes. and man...i remember when caddy said "you miss videos coming out at least every two weeks?" and i audibly said "....YES??"

again...another topic for another day!

favorite episode (or the least mid one in this case): spyro orange rating: 6/10

season 11!

this was the season caddy got rid of the slaughter/salvage gimmick, and that was such a big deal at the time because that's what we were accustomed to for so long. but it's exactly what this show NEEDED.

the show had so much more breathing room! there were experimental episodes, episodes on modern games, one of which clocked in at 40 minutes which was INSANE back then. honestly, i always preferred episodes on older games but that's just me. ┐( ˘ ､ ˘ )┌

...although there was still one glaring problem...the weekly upload schedule.

but this season is still one of my favorites looking back!

favorite episode: a gaming magazine for babies rating: 9/10

season 12!

in all honesty, i thought this season started out pretty eh (with the exceptions of the playstation classic, klonoa and breakout episodes), but it started gaining momentum around bandicoot month. i dunno what it is but something changed between the borderlands and crash butts episodes. yeah the camera angle changed, but it was something else as well. maybe the humor was becoming more refined? i dunno but i was starting to see the TCS revival's DNA forming with this season.

favorite episode: crash twinsanity rating: 7/10

season 13!

and here we are...the final season of the original series. the season that introduced the now-iconic brick wall and the unexpected mid-roll sponsors. and boy...was it a wonderful sneak peek of things to come.

i think that this season - although being one of my favorites - is the biggest offender of caddy's "i wanted to do serious reviews while also wanting to do monty python shit" comment in his behind-the-scenes vid. it especially showed with his videos on yooka laylee, death stranding, and star wars. and those were honestly my least favorites of the season.

my favorite episodes from this season were the ones on gaming opinions, that beautifully chaotic "top 10 sads in video games", peppa pig's album, and thomas PS1. i was laughing so damn hard at those.

favorite episode: thomas PS1 rating: 9/10

and of course, this caps off the original caddicarus show - and come 2020, we were blessed with the almost-perfect masterpiece that is the 2020-present caddicarus show. it's so inspiring seeing how this show evolved over the years - i'll be doing separate entries on the different eras of the channel where i'll be going into much more depth on these seasons.

so how would i rate this show? well, let me calculate my ratings for each separate season...

the original caddicarus show gets...

a 7.8 out of 10!

this is a very solid, nostalgic, and fun show that holds a special place in my heart. there were some points where the show slipped in quality - and had some of those seasons/episodes more time to cook, they could've been amazing. however, this series pales in comparison to the current caddicarus show, which i will root for until the end of time LMAO. there is a reason why those old videos are tagged as such. that's probably an unpopular opinion amongst other fellow caddicarus fans from my era but eh. to each their own.

in the next journal, i'll be going over the criticisms teenage me had for the series - and how caddy seemingly addressed all of them.