#what an entertaining hilarious and awesome show

[mendokayalways]

watched my lady jane expecting it to be regency romance - did not expect him to be a horse actually that was wild

turns out Im wrong about the regency party too its tudor era lol

[zerozerozio]

OMG YOU LKE HOUSE I LITERALLY JUST LIKE GOT THE MOTIVATION TO WATCH IT AND IM CRASHING OUT!!!!! WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SCENE

I FUCKING LOVE HOUSE!!!!!!!! UGHHHH omg ok

my favourite scene is INCREDIBLY hard to choose, so instead i will give you what TYPE of scenes are my favourite. theres 3 main ones

1. moments between House and Wilson. I could just go on and on about their chemistry and what they mean to eachother but it might kill me if i do, so anyway. The "gay" scenes (where they joke about being gay, ppl thinking theyre gay, etc etc) are ofc entertaining and awesome, but i actually like another type even more. Scenes that show how they fit together like no one else, their casual intimacy, the married couple behaviour, the scenes that show THEM. if that makes sense. if i weren't concussed, maybe i could explain exactly what I mean better, but basically, i love the gay joke scenes however i love the scenes that make you actually wonder "whats the deal with these guys" Those. Those are my favourites.

2. times when we see under House's shell. I love scenes where we can see that he does care, just in his own weird twisted way. when he's vulnerable in general, it's interesting to see. i love characters with walls up and seeing them be broken down, even if just for a moment.

3. anytime something happens that is just so ridiculous or absurd that it's hilarious (think of when Chase tried to dominate a patient to help him accept treatment, or when House dances at work with a beatbox on his shoulder for example.) House is a super entertaining show over all, and i love when they do things that are just so unserious

[foodfightnovelization]

Foodfight! The (OFFICIAL) Video Game

Yes, you read the title right! No it's not the fangame I made a couple months ago, this is the real deal, the whole enchilada, the ACTUAL Foodfight! tie-in game! Shortly after ROTTEN: Behind The Foodfight was released, its creator Ziggy, myself, and everyone else in the Foodfight! community thought we'd found everything there was left to find. After all, we'd uncovered the workprint, the novelization, almost all the original footage, Ziggy had interviewed countless people who worked on the movie, some character models had even been found...so that was it, right? But as I hinted at in my last few posts, the Foodfight! story wasn't quite over yet.

Reese, a friend of Ziggy's, had reached out to one of the developers involved in the Foodfight! tie-in game that was set to be released alongside the movie, and shortly after ROTTEN came out, Ziggy also managed to get in touch with them. One thing led to another and we were sent a HUGE 10GB folder of art, documents, models, and footage related to the game. What you see above is a concept submission trailer created to show off the game and what it'd look like, similar to the pitch reel created for the movie itself. Needless to say, this blew our minds! If you've read my previous post on the subject, you'll know that up until now the only thing anyone had EVER seen of this game was a few seconds of grainy footage from E3 2006. To go from that to a whole stockpile of material from its development was INCREDIBLE! To learn more about how this found its way into our hands, I'll direct you to a blog post from Ziggy himself, explaining a little more about the game's developers (and relaying a truly hilarious story about Larry Kasanoff)

However, I want to talk more about the INCREDIBLE plethora of material included in the folder that was shared with us. Ziggy uploaded everything he was sent to archive.org, so I'll link it below if you'd like to peruse the files yourself, but keep reading if you want to know more about what's included!

Just to start off with, the footage from the above concept trailer and the assorted screenshots- doesn't it just look awesome? It's way more visually appealing than the finished movie ended up looking, for one thing, and it's seemingly inspired more by the early pre-motion capture footage than anything that came later on. It's also just mindblowing to finally see all this, to suddenly go from knowing basically nothing about the game to knowing so much about it! And best of all...doesn't this just look EXACTLY like a movie tie-in game from the mid 2000s? I mean, that shouldn't be too surprising, that's exactly what it is, but tie-in games of that era had a very specific look and feel and this just takes me right back to that. Remember the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory game where you're racing around on a trashcan lid, the Spider-Man game where you're running around Oscorp avoiding security robots, or the Incredibles game where you're rushing through a burning building fighting guys with flamethrowers? Doesn't this just look EXACTLY like one of those?

And you might be thinking "it's too bad we only have a few minutes of footage and some screenshots, I wish we could know even more about what the game would've been like". Well, your wish just came true! Buried deep in the files is a copy of the game's design documents, telling us EXACTLY how each level would've played out! (If you're struggling to find it, it's in AUDIO> Final Drop> FF> Docs) So not only do we get to see a ton of what the game would've looked like, we also get to see how the whole thing would've come together, with 26 action-packed levels consisting of a variety of different gameplay types. Looking at several other files, it seems like the number of levels may have been cut down to 15 later in development, but hey, it's fairly common for design docs to be more complex than the finished game. Regardless, reading about everything they had planned...this really is the ultimate stereotypical tie-in game. I mean, just look at some of these level descriptions! Isn't this every movie-based game you've ever played, all rolled into one? You can bet your boxtop if it had made it all the way through development, it'd easily have the honor of being one of the few tie-in games BETTER than the movie it was based off, although considering how the finished film turned out maybe that's not saying much.

Based on what the developers said in the article linked above, it's unclear exactly how much of the game was finished before it was cancelled, and unfortunately it's incredibly unlikely they'll ever be able to compile a build together to send our way. However, there's just SO much included in this folder it's hard to complain. Not only do we get basically a complete picture of how the game would've come together from all the documents, screenshots, audio, cutscenes and footage included, there are all kinds of additional files that are both interesting and incredibly useful.

Not only are there models and environments from the game itself (unfortunately the only character model included seems to be Dex), there are also models of the ENTIRE CAST taken directly from the earlier version of the movie! Every main character is here, from Dex to Sunshine to Mr Leonard, as well as a bunch of other models such as Dan's plane and cockpit. This is HUGE, and I can't wait to see what talented artists will do with all these resources. At the time I'm writing this, someone already ported several of the models into SFM (Source Filmmaker) and another made several animations in Blender!

I'm sure even more will happen soon, but right now this is pretty incredible. Who thought this would EVER happen? That one day we'd have models of every main character, a complete workprint of the movie from 2005, a tie-in novelization, footage of the long-sought after videogame, and so, so much more. In the span of less than a year, Foodfight! went from some of the most obscure lost media of all time to some of the most well-documented lost media of all time. We have so much there's no way I'd ever even be able to discuss it all, that's how far we've come in the past few months.

Seriously, I've barely even scratched the surface of what's in this folder. There are 3D cutscenes from the game, 2D cutscenes, concept art for the planned toy line, footage of prototypes of those toys in action, MORE gameplay footage, previously unseen storyboards not included in the workprint, raw audio of Charlie Sheen's voice sessions from the movie, tons of songs from the game, the entire score from the movie, and that's STILL not everything! I mean, holy chips! I STRONGLY encourage you to download the folder for yourself and take a look...maybe you'll even find something I haven't yet?

I really think that with this folder now out in the public, this is as much closure on Foodfight! as we'll ever get. I know I always say that and then there's some amazing discovery a few months later, but this is just such a huge smorgasbord of material that I don't even think we can count Foodfight! as lost media anymore...okay, we haven't found absolutely everything so it's partially found media at best, but could you really ask for more than all this? We have countless models from the movie, design docs and footage from the planned tie-in game, early drafts of the script, we know EXACTLY what the movie and game were going to be like before everything collapsed... now, if you're so inclined you can take all that and make something out of all of it, but me? I'm pretty satisfied just having the knowledge. Knowing what could've been before it all fell apart, getting to see so much I never thought I'd get a chance to see... right now, I'd say my Foodfight! cravings have been satiated. Unless another monumental discovery is unearthed anytime soon (at this point I wouldn't be surprised), I think there's really not much more to say. If nothing comes up in a month or two, I'll make a post showing off my personal collection of Foodfight! merchandise, an epilogue to the past year I've spent obsessing over this movie. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the absolute treasure trove of Foodfight! material that's been discovered! Dig through it all! Make something out of it! There's so much in these files, you could create your OWN Foodfight!, with blackjack and hookers!

[ericdeggans]

My List of the Best TV in 2023: An Abundance of Quality Even in Adversity

What’s the surest proof that there truly is too much television available these days?

The fact that, even though 2023 featured historic performers and writers strikes in Hollywood which crippled film and TV production for months, there was still enough great series and projects to fill an entire notebook page.

Way too many, in fact, for me to cover in my small part of NPR’s awesome annual listing of the best TV and film of the year, compiled among six different critics. It’s one reason the strikes went on so long in the first place – for fans of great TV, it didn’t really seem like much changed, as streaming services kept dropping cool stuff, thanks to their long production lead times.

Ironically, viewers may notice the strikes’ impact more next year – in part, because a lot of cool TV shows left us in 2023 (pour one out for Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Crown, Reservation Dogs, Succession, and, possibly, Ted Lasso) and also because the streamers will spend some time rebuilding lineups which got depleted.

Here, where I have a lot more room is my highly subjective and surprisingly long list of the Best TV of 2024:

TOP PICK - Succession – A show which perfectly captured how the dysfunctions of wealthy families can impact the world delivered a note-perfect finale that surprised – though I did predict Tom would win out – and yet felt completely inevitable. All while the world was second-guessing and writing their own endings. Masterful.

The Last of Us – Who knew reinventing the zombie apocalypse story was simple as coming up with a new cause – fungus, eww! – and the willingness to hand big chunks of the story over to compelling, fully drawn supporting characters. Doesn’t hurt to have ultimate zaddy Pedro Pascal and precocious acting genius Bella Ramsey on the case, either.

The Bear - Speaking of compelling supporting characters…this show’s second season sparkled by giving the other employees in Carmy’s greasy spoon-becoming-a-great-restaurant lots of narrative room. But it took flight with unexpected, brilliant cameos from Jon Bernthal, Olivia Colman, Oliver Platt, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, and the legendary Jamie Lee Curtis.

Reservation Dogs – Proof of the amazing, authentic, original stories which come from letting indigenous people tells their own stories, smashing together a crushing realism with the sense that a jarring visit from the spirit world is always around the next corner.

Fargo – Not sure I love the ultimate message on the healing power of suburban, white, upper middle class Midwestern family life (or what happens to the one major Black character). But crackling performances from Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason leigh and Dave Foley make this year’s installment the best version in many years.

Shrinking – An emotional and truly funny comedy that reminds us how hilarious Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams can be while not making us spend too much time on Jason Segel’s angsty privileged white guy shtick.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The TV series which scored the most by taking the boldest swings, leaning into Trek’s original heritage as an adventure-of-the-week which told the most ambitious stories on the small screen.

(The dancing, dubstepping, boy band-style Klingons on Strange New Worlds powered my favorite TV scene of the year.)

Star Trek: Picard – Yeah, I put TWO Trek series here, because everyone else in critic-land seems to be sleeping on the fact that they made more than one excellent season of a new Trek series filled with nods to what came before, including this show, which reunited the Next Generation cast in a storyline basically about old people saving the universe from young, clueless, mind-controlled pawns.

Barry – Wasn’t thrilled about how grim this series’ finale eventually became. But respected the fact that co-creator/star Bill Hader never shied away from the fact that the show was going to be his laboratory for all the directing and storytelling tricks he ever wanted to try, and a dark comedy about a hitman-turned-actor has to be seriously dark to mean something.

Beef – A road rage incident becomes a crackling, entertaining look at everything from Asian family culture to Elon Musk-level mogul dysfunction while also proving my girl Ali Wong can act her ass off.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Story – While other celebrities are executive producing documentaries to show how legendarily cool they are, Fox helped create an up close look at his struggle with Parkinson’s disease which show how hard it is to put on socks and take a walk on a new York street without crashing to the ground right in front of a concerned fan.

Only Murders in the Building – A comedy about over-privileged crime podcasters in an Upper West side apartment building should not stay entertaining over three seasons. But this show pulls it off, tossing in against-the-grain cameos by Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep that provide the best icing on a very fine cake.

Slow Horses – This show about a department filled with failed British intelligence agents not only subverts the spy genre, it subverts the satires which originally subverted classic spy dramas, like Get Smart. Topped by mesmerizing performances from Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas, I would have subtitled this one, Get Smarter.

Happy Valley - This series about an experienced, ball-busting divorced single mom of a police sergeant in a mid-size town in Britain notched an underappreciated series finale featuring the amazing Sarah Lancashire as Catharine Cawood, finally confronting the man she blamed for her daughter’s suicide and her grandson’s emotional turmoil.

BS High – A great documentary often tells a story which keeps going deeper and better, like a descent into a spellbinding madness. This film achieved that by giving center stage to master manipulator/football coach Roy Johnson, who got ESPN to air a game featuring his Bishop Sycamore High School team; the film contends their crushing loss eventually exposed that the school didn’t really exist.

I’m a Virgo – Creator and activist Boots Riley made an urban parable where Black excellence became superpowers and the world’s exploitive class came for a 13-foot-tall Black teen played by the always compelling Jharrel Jerome. Always inspiring to see how Boots turns mainstream media’s tropes and expectations against itself.

[wondrousmay]

Mayonaka Punch was a wild and entertaining ride! It’s always exciting to watch an original anime because you never know what to expect with the story. This show did a great job of combining two unlikely concepts (video-making and vampires) to make a fun story!

Masaki was a really fun protagonist! She’s a huge mess and can be very self-centered at times in order to make Mayonaka Punch channel grow. She does care a lot about Live and the others but she’s very stubborn about it haha. It’s nice to see characters like this.

The vampires are also very entertaining too. I love how chaotic they all are! Fu and Ichiko’s backstories were bittersweet while Yuki’s backstory with Live was hilarious. It’s cool that in-universe, Mayonaka Punch got famous because of the organic interactions of the members while the audience in real life enjoys their antics as well as Masaki’s story too. It’s a pretty neat meta.

The production value of this show was awesome. I love the dynamic animation which captured the ridiculousness of the characters really well!

While the show ended on an open-ended note, the final episode was unexpected in many ways which is very in-line with Mayonaka Punch’s style haha. It was an enjoyable time!

7/10

[elliwiny]

TLDR The Musical Chicago Taught Me About The Terrible Societal Pressure to Perform Gender Way Before I Really Understood What That Even Was

So it's Pride Month! And I've been listening to Chicago basically every day because it's exactly the length of my commute right now so I wanted to write about it.

I didn't grow up questioning my gender, and I guess my sexuality was 'I'll worry about that when I'm older' - until I got to my 20's and hit the 'oh shit, I haven't got the feelings I'm supposed to have, is something wrong with me?' phase of my existence.

Bringing it around to Chicago - I mean, look at her! It's Catherine Zeta Jones! Everybody is a little attracted to women, right? They're supposed to be hot! That's just how it is!

Hahahahaha.

But other than my hilariously delayed lesbianism I think Chicago stealthily gave me a primer on the fucked up ways our society enforces gender performance. Because you don't have to be trans to be in a situation where your life depends on giving 'em the ol' razzle dazzle.

The protagonist, Roxy Hart, is an asshole, a murderer, and kind of a ditz. Most of the criminals are right assholes, some are more sympathetic, and one is even 100% innocent! Aside from the innocent Hungarian, the thing the prisoners have in common is that they were boxed in, and were driven to violence after being pushed too far.

Whether 'too far' is justified is immaterial to the point. They became outlaws, and must perform womanhood to win over the court of public opinion and earn their 'not guilty' verdicts. And it's not just the kind of performance where you have to color inside the lines to not come off as weird, it's the kind where you dance and contort for the entertainment of the people who get to decide whether you get to live or die.

In Roxy's case this is kind of awesome. She's always wanted to be a star and with the power of hot-headed cold-blooded murder, she's stumbled ass-backwards into an unexpected avenue of fame and attention. She's determined to do this well, not for her survival (she doesn't appreciate the gravity of the situation, yet) but for a way to launch a career as a singer.

I mean what's Roxy's other choice? Go back to Amos? The guy who affectionately puts her on the same level as a housecat in his song? He's not the one who 'pushed' her, poor guy can't push anybody to do anything, but that's not even an option she entertains. I used to think he was one of the few good people in this movie/show, but it became pretty clear to me that devotion isn't the same thing as love.

Anyway, enter Billy Flynn, famous lawyer and expert ringmaster. In the song where he talks to the press, they do this cool thing where the reporters' initial questions don't follow the melody at first. As Billy crafts Roxy's story they quickly fall into the structure of the music, too. They draw the conclusions he wants them to, too. "Understandable! Comprehensable! Not a bit reprehensible, it's so defensible~"

Roxy's cover story is absurd, by the way, but it ingeniously plays to her type. She's a ditz but she's not naive, she has incredible natural instincts for the game she's playing. (Well, when it counts. She is resistant following the script, which sometimes gets her in trouble)

Roxy's innocent veneer plays contrast to the Hungarian, who becomes the first woman in the county to be hung for murder. She can't speak the language, literally, which locks her out of being able to play the game at all. In the framework of Roxy's imagination, we see the Hungarian's death as another performance... Because it is!

If you cannot perform, a narrative will be assigned to you and we will cheer for your pretty corpse. The metaphor could not be more clear. This is when shit gets real for Roxy, too.

Velma Kelly is also a good performer, who knows the game, but she has a disadvantage to Roxy. Her story just isn't as good. Nobody really believes she didn't do it, she's already so entrenched in the circus of jazz and liquor and sin that sentencing her is the least interesting outcome. I think that's why she gets away with shit like 'oh I blacked out I can't remember a thing' and getting her charges thrown out in exchange for her testifying against Roxy.

After all, she can't do it alone ;) if she didn't suck up her pride and embrace the pivot to playing the heel in Roxy's story, I bet she'd be hanging, too. Or at least, destitute.

They're both discarded by the public as soon as the verdict is passed and there's fresh blood to gawk at. The only way they survive as independent women cast outside the protections offered as stifled housewives is to embrace the world of Jazz, liquor, and sin... and most importantly, the narrative of the rivalry that they perform for those roaring ding-dong-daddies.

And it's not so bad, because that's what they both wanted, anyway.

[kstaki]

Basically just me, wondering what exactly did I just do 😂 it wasn't planned to be honest. Something happen soooo that why I decide let go Niigata FLT too!

So mad chase for tickets the last minute & thankful I found for all three timing! Nearly gave up on one but manage to find it.

What can I say about the FLT? It awesome & just taken back it still so good. 🥹 Plus when Takano-Sensei say he wrote for it to fit prefecture I think it depends which Retainer & Suzume are attending. (Yes they are apart of the show)

I did went for all three timing but my brain isn't that capable of remembering everythinggggg sadly but the Act 2 every session was different yet it was sooo entertaining & hilarious. I remember the bit & pieces I got write it down but people X (Twitter) are just so good at remembering. I will probably just write down my note later maybe?

Between I think right now everyone is sooo hype about Racles, Yano-San tends to just be so ridiculous performing in Act 2 plus I feel like they all tease him too much.

I will post some pictures on goods later ☺️

[zeravmeta]

*Hopes for the as least of a harsh response* Yuya Sakaki

Why I like them/why I don’t:

さぁ、お楽しみはこれからだ！

What the hell can I say about Yuya that I haven't already said in the past decade. Arc-V is the series that got me out of my ygo hiatus and back into the series as a whole, and Yuya is a big part of that. I've written metas on him in the past which you can find on my blog, but whats always stuck out to me about Yuya is that he's kind of a pathetic depressed loser failure (best way possible) but still drags himself back up. We see him stumble so damn much throughout the show and he does fail and lash out and suffer and make things worse BUT HE STILL GETS BACK UP!!!!

HE!!! TAKES THE STEP FORWARD!!! WITH COURAGE!!! HE WEARS A SMILE!!!!!! NOT BECAUSE IT IS EASY!!! OR BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO PLEASE THE AUDIENCE!!! BUT BECAUSE A SMILE CAN HELP YOU FEEL COURAGE!!!!! BECAUSE PENDULUM IS THE RANGE, THE OSCILLATION BETWEEN JOY AND SADNESS!!! IT'S AN EXCHANGE, A CONVERSATION!!!! A WAY TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE AND HAVE THEM UNDERSTAND YOUR VIEW!!! ENTERTAINMENT CAN BRIDGE THE TRAGEDIES OF WAR BECAUSE WHATS MORE UNIVERSAL THAN THE SMILES IT CAN BRING!!!!!!

I've made the joke before but he is the closest analogue yugioh has ever had to shirou emiya which is a hilarious statement but it's true, from clinging to his fathers ideals because he knows no other way to live to his genuine mercilessness when pushed to the edge, all the way down to the living weapon metaphors and transfem subtext

What I like about their appearance: I think Yuya's design is unironically the best out of the protags, he just combines so many aspects of what makes previous protags designs work, but specifically I also love that they put him in different outfits. I have such a soft spot for his clown outfit and his riding duel outfit is sleek and minimalist.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: Sub only man, again I have a candid vitriol of YGO dubbing past DM because it turned any serious dubbing of ygo into a joke

OTP: As an Arc-V fan I'm under a binding geas so it is physically mentally and spiritually impossible for me to answer anything other than Fruitshipping here.

NOTP: probably the only one of these I hold but out of all the protag/rival ships across all ygo, yuya/reiji never actually compelled me all that much.

OT3: I while ago I made a post talking about how awesome the fucked up codependency of yuya/serena/shun could have been so yeah here. IG fruit salad also works here, any combination of the yuboys/bracelet girls is funny to me, selfcest is not just a suggestion but a necessity as well as a competition and THEY ARE WINNING

Favourite card they use: This one might be a hot take but out of the three archetypes Yuya blends in the Performapals, Odd-Eyes, and Pendulum Magicians, my favorite bar none and my fully fav archetype in all of yugioh is the Magician Pendulums. Yuya's own arc in the show is about differentiating himself from his father, and I think the Magician Pendulums stick out to me so much in this regard because they're HIS archetype: Performapals are from Yusho and the Dragons are from Zarc, but the Magician Pendulums are from Yuya!!!

I think Enlightenment Paladin and Nirvana High Palandin are my fav cards he ever uses, but Arc-V does this genius thing with action duels where it just wildly humanizes the monsters, so they all have tidbits of personality throughout the show and I love all of them.

Also obligatory shout out to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon I love the big chicken and no one loves Yuya the way Odd-Eyes loves Yuya

Favourite moment they were in: Man. People thinking that Yuya just shouts Egao and fixes everything and that he never examines this when we have the Barret duel within ep91-92 where hes having a panic attack between saving Yuzu and just. discarding Smile World because he's so desperate to cling to his dad while also desperate to save Yuzu he is at one of his lowest lows here its just SUCH a good character moment that shows how much Yuya suffers from all the responsibility on his shoulders, self-imposed and otherwise

Least favourite moment: My live reaction- "Man, the Zarc duel was so fucking good!!! Literally peak yugioh, the best duel of all time! Alright so I bet we've got 1-2 more episodes to finish things off we've hit the series climax no way they can ruin this- Why are there 8 more episodes?"

Would I fuck, marry or kill them: im sorry yuya but move over im going to humiliate your older dragon god alter ego and shape the mattress like him

[chronotopes]

building on that last ask, what would aivide be like if she was hatched a malcos heiress? not a hybrid, just malcos. i know she and vinbre both have mommy issues a pathological need to right the (perceived) wrongs of their ancestors, but i would be curious to see how aivide would differ, especially with regards to her pitch and her attitudes about the board

now HERE'S a question i am eminently prepared to answer. i've considered aivide malcos a lot (with the help of friends) and can tell you that the two most revelatory things about her are that a) she gets on the board and b) she's a page of space (canon aivide, for context, is a mage of hope).

but i'm not going to stop there. some fun facts about aivide malcos under the cut, with allusions to a big spoiler from the end of vtn in case someone follows me who's making their way through rn

aivide malcos grows up, obviously, in the same way that vinbre does: at the bottom of the ocean, listening to eubala's schoolfeeds, with nothing but that and internet access to keep her company. vinbre and aivide are hilariously minmaxed at their core – vinbre has the commitment to strong principles and quick action-taking and decision-making ability that aivide lacks, whereas aivide has an ability to strategically defer to authority that we see vinbre struggle with profoundly over the course of vtn. where that leads to is that, regardless of aivide malcos's complicated but profound admiration of eubala, she can read between the lines enough to determine that impressing eubala is not what's going to get the other fuchsias to safely vote aivide onto the board.

as such, aivide's pitch is something fairly safe and uncontroversial. i hadn't thought about the specifics before this morning, but my first thought is something like 'rethinking midspectra education and entertainment in the light of labor shortages' – sixteen-year-old aivide malcos basically makes the argument that instead of raising a2's substantial teal population to expect centuries-romanticized office work and then pulling the rug out from half of them and sending them to the navy instead, malcos enterprises schoolfeeding should be teaching teals interesting and compelling facts about a variety of subjects, combined with initiatives to make adventure shows about a SUPER AWESOME AND HANDSOME TEAL NAVAL RECRUIT or a workplace commentary about a QUIRKY TEAL GREENHOUSE MANAGER WHO LOVES HER JOB. in essence, aivide malcos shares vinbre malcos's impression that teals are a very confusingly leveraged labor force and makes her pitch on the basis that we should be gently propagandizing them into liking the non-office jobs that they're pretty desperately needed in.

she passes that pitch with flying colors. with no small degree of horror, and the recognizable 'horrified inertia-driven bit commitment' that you already know aivide has, she helps eat her mom. untovy, very pleased about getting Her Own Sixteen Year Old Vote On The Board and getting rid of eubala, acts very gentle and parentally understanding about how much it sucks to eat your mom, earning aivide's confused loyalty. for her first few years on the board, aivide is quiet, respectful, deferential, votes with untovy pretty unfailingly, open to untovy's pitch to aivide of chiono as a non-eubala role model. she's even given all the resources she needs to work on her cute little teal propaganda project.

between the ages sixteen and twenty, the bright spot is that aivide learns to read as fast as she can. that's about the only bright spot. aivide confronts with the reality of board politics, rewatching old videos of her mom and acknowledging for, how all of how horrible eubala was, for all that she would have killed aivide without a thought if things had shaken out differently, she was still right about a lot more than aivide ever imagined. subconsciously, she had been hyping herself up for her pitch by convincing herself that eubala was The Problem rather than the board – 'if you meet an asshole, you met an asshole, if you meet twenty assholes, you might be the asshole' type thinking. the more she stays on the board, the more she knows that eubala was simply an asshole surrounded by assholes. an asshole who understood things, important things. she's stuck in aivide's teeth and her words are stuck in aivide's head. a weird combination of grief guilt and the knowledge that aivide did the only thing that enabled her to live, which....

or in other words (invokes esther and katia texts from 2021 again) -

needless to say aivide malcos is very suicidal but in the sort of way where it doesn't make her worse at doing her job because she is pretty sure that wanting to kill yourself if you're that important of a pawn will invoke some kind of consequence. (she is a Good Pawn who has never had to be told about the calm down tank, but she soon understands the board well enough to know that something like it exists.)

eventually, with no vinbre to get in the way of untovy's schemes, carett gets on the board, untovy gets her supermajority, and aivide gets marriage of convenience'd to carett. even though canon aivide would have gotten along really well with carett if she had ever chanced to meet them, this version of their respectful marriage of convenience involves a fair bit less real camaraderie because aivide may have the juice to Smile In Board Meetings but she is attached enough to being miserable and insane and depressed in isolation that having a MATESPRIT!! is just not thrilling to her. i think there is some measure of solidarity between them, but neither of them is stoked about being in an untovy-mandated marriage of convenience and (for a long time, at least) they do not feel as if they can speak freely to each other.

if vinbre malcos's take on fuchsias is that everybody should access the benefits of being one, aivide's take on fuchsias is simply that they should not exist. whether she thinks this should be put into action or whether this is just a heart-of-hearts belief depends on the day.

(bonus: since this is a bloodswap, vinbre thieri exists. she is a secretarial focus at amhl santerre, has been arrested four times, got told off by nora for making fun of her presentation and then never spoke to her again. professional idgafer when it comes to stelad's stupid book – the isolation and on-video incisive charisma that defined vinbre's parasocial relationship with eubala are just not factors when your ancestormom is a thick tome full of cutting meanness and your lususmom is a soft and warm cat who loves you. eventually she finagles her way into becoming aivide's secretary. they have an unformalized pale-ashen thing going on and aivide makes vinbre teach her to use troll google docs even though she can't get the hang of sharing settings)

(bonus bonus: sasara is a goldblood whom aivide meets when investigating alternative energy strategies and Rescues From The Psihives. the resulting dynamic is exactly as fucked up as it sounds.)

(bonus bonus bonus: hold on i'll find my old AUvide Field Guide, which has an aivide malcos image in it, and post that)

[marley-manson]

Gabrielle and Trapper for the ask meme?

Thank you! 💖

Gabrielle

Something I like: Well I've talked about her awesome character arc and her muscles plenty, so how about her humour! Renee O'Connor has great comic timing and she can be a very funny character. I love that she's not relegated to funny comic relief, she's a protagonist in her own right, but when she's in a comedy role she's delightful. A Day In The Life, The Quill is Mightier, The Play's The Thing, Deja Vu All Over Again, Altared States, etc etc. Hilarious stuff.

Something I dislike: Now this is hard lol. I don't like how often Xena/Gab fic emphasizes her youth inexperience naivete etc. I don't kink on any of that and I generally slightly prefer season 4+ Gab because in addition to finding the short hair hotter, I prefer the sense of maturity. I still like baby Gab a lot in the show but a lot of fandom seemed really obsessed with exaggerating that version of her instead of embracing her growth and character arc.

If I have to say something that's actually canon though, then I'll say her brief true pacifist period in season 4. I was meant to hate it and it led to a really satisfying conclusion to that particular subplot, but it was still a little painful to watch at times lol.

Trapper

Something I like: I love how fun he is. I think Wayne Rogers had a certain charisma that really worked and made Trapper very appealing even as more of a side character. He's always fun to watch, his chemistry with Alan Alda is always on, his comic timing and line delivery is great, etc. Even in episodes where the script doesn't really let him be engaging as a character, Rogers still makes him v entertaining and likeable.

Something I dislike: Difficult lol. Saying the womanizing is so passe. Well, I wish he and Hawkeye got more drama. That's always been the one thing about HawkTrap that disappoints me, how in-sync and perfect together they are lol, ironically. And I mean I love that for Hawkeye, ~it's what he deserves~ but for myself I like angst and misery and strife before the happy ever after and it would be nice if there was a good canon source for that with Trapper. A lot of fic writers just fall back on internalized homophobia which doesn't suit his vibe imo.

I think like my ideal hypothetical mash ship would have beejhawk style evil fuckery but hawktrap style chemistry so I could enjoy both the positive happy moments and the fucked up moments lol. But given the choice I do prefer the ship that's more engaging while positive and happy as an endgame ship for Hawkeye.

Send me a character and I’ll tell you something I like about them, as well as something I dislike about them

[crowsandturtlesandbatsohmy]

Haikyu!! Season 2 Thoughts

I’ve been working on this for a while, trying to do what I did last time for the Season 1 finale, but I honestly don’t have the mental energy to give an in depth review of each character’s growth because there are so many who deserve to be talked about and I’d feel bad to leave any of them out :(

SO! Instead, I’m gonna do bullet points and cover things that way!

As always, my thoughts will be under the cut.

• I like the addition of Yachi! She fits in nicely and her friendship with Hinata is adorable!

• Tanaka is such a good big brother figure. He came running to break up the fight when Yachi asked, he got his sister to drive Hinata and Kageyama to Tokyo, he’s generally just got people’s backs, and he’s encouraging. I love him <3

• I NEED TO KNOW THAT OTHER PEOPLE RECOGNIZED THAT NOYA CALLS SAEKO “Saeko-nēsan” BECAUSE IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. Noya is an honorary Tanaka and I love it!!!!

• Just because it was my two favorites interacting, appreciation for Suga tutoring Noya! It was a small scene but it made me very happy.

• Training camp Arc was AWESOME!!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!! • Nekoma is pretty cool. I didn’t have any strong opinions on any of them initially but I like them more now. Kenma seems like a sweetheart, and I love Kuroo. I also like Yaku, even though he doesn’t get much screen time. • BOKUTO. THAT’S IT. JUST. BOKUTO. AAAHHH I LOVE HIM!!!!! He’s got so much golden retriever energy and he seems like such a genuinely great guy! I loved his dynamic with Kuroo and Tsukki, and also his dynamic with Hinata!

• Appreciation for Yamaguchi yelling at Tsukki! I stand by my theory of Tsukki being Yamaguchi’s safe person, and speaking from experience, it is not easy to confront your safe person about anything. • Appreciation for Tsukki actually listening to Yamaguchi!!! This is where I went from not liking him to wanting to see him grow more. Is he a jerk? Yeah. But he’s a sympathetic jerk and he’s doing some growing as a person. I want to see where he ends up!

• Appreciation for Noya teaching Hinata diving receives. Like yeah he laughed at him first but then he said “here, let me show you” and did and Hinata can do them now!! Big brother vibes honestly, in a different way from Tanaka’s, but still there.

• Appreciation for Tanaka and Noya ganging up on Hinata. And honestly just for their trio in general? Their trio is so fun and gives me warm feelings :)

• Getting into tournament stuff now, let’s start with Hinata being ganged up on outside the bathroom. That was hilarious! XD

• WHY DO I ACTUALLY LIKE THESE OTHER TEAMS?? Like I’m over here getting emotional over the other teams trying their best and still losing! • I just want to highlight Johzenji specifically because I personally really enjoyed watching them. They were so entertaining!!! Like yeah I know all the teams love the game or they wouldn’t be playing, but Johzenji looked like they were having fun, and it was contagious. Yeah, they had to learn to take it more seriously if they wanted to go further, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying the game. They’re the only team that seems to legitimately be having fun playing, and it really set them apart. Like after Karasuno they’re probably my favorite team. Anyways, Johzenji ramble over, moving on.

• Love Hinata protecting Kiyoko! He was so scared but it was so sweet :)

• I don’t remember where exactly this happened but I’m gonna talk about it now because I can: Suga being a little gremlin. He karate-chopped Asahi in the stomach for being negative, and then when Daichi came back from the medic Suga punched him in the gut for no reason. • You might be thinking, “Crow, you always talk about how sweet Suga is and how that’s why you like him so much. Does this change anything?” The answer is no. No it does not. He’s still a sweetheart, he’s just also a gremlin and I think it’s funny.

• LET’S TALK ABOUT DAICHI!! • The other reason the Johzenji match is my favorite is because of how much Daichi got to shine. THAT SCENE OF HIM WITH THE JOHZENJI BANNER IN THE BACKGROUND!!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! • Listen, I liked Daichi from season 1, but he was always kinda just there for me. This match changed that SO MUCH! Like the reasons he didn’t stand out (No personal struggles of his own, no obnoxious defining trait, kinda works in the background) are the same reasons that he stood out so much during the Johzenji match! To quote the banner, Daichi is “Simplicity and Fortitude”. He’s simple, in that his defining traits are being stable and hardworking (traits that don’t grab a lot of attention), and he’s fortitude, in that not only does he keep going, but he keeps the team going. AH I LOVE THAT MATCH!!!! • Also I’m gonna talk about the incident here really quick just from the perspective of why Daichi is so important. And that’s because he keeps the team together. He’s their stability. He works in the background, but he’s SO ESSENTIAL. I’m glad he’s okay and he’s back now.

• Just wanted to make sure I mentioned that I’m so proud of Ennoshita! He did a good job filling in and he’ll be an excellent captain after the third years graduate.

• Also poor Tanaka felt so bad about running into Daichi. I think my favorite thing about him is just how much he cares about his teammates. He’s a big old softie <3

• I don’t remember when exactly this happened because all the episodes run together when you binge them like I did, BUT, Noya’s libero set!!!!!! It made me so happy!!!! He did it!!! • Additional remark on this: I loved seeing him work with Suga and Asahi on it! Also him scolding Asahi for trying to make him feel better instead of telling him how to be better.

• Yamaguchi!! I would like to say that when he didn’t do his jump float serve and Ukai got mad at him my reaction was basically this:

Like the boy has only gotten to serve in one other official match and he missed. You thought he was anxious the first time you swapped him in? GUESS WHAT! NOW HE’S GOT THE ONLY OTHER GAME HE PLAYED IN HANGING OVER HIM TOO! Oooh, I was so mad. There is no reason for Ukai to have been yelling at this boy, especially when Yamaguchi is clearly anxious already and THEN Ukai keeps swapping him in only at crucial points. That’s a lot of pressure, especially for A FIRST YEAR who spends the majority of his time ON THE BENCH. Sorry. I have a lot of feelings about this. I’m moving on now because it’s making me mad again. • Alternatively, when he did do his serve and he kept scoring!? AAAAHHHHH!!! HE DID IT!!!!!!!! I was so so so excited and so proud of him!!!!! He’s grown a lot and it’s been so delightful to watch :)

• Suga and Kageyama’s two setter move was SO COOL!!!!

I’m gonna wrap this up because there are so many things and I can’t possible cover them all. So, two more things I want to touch on:

• Seijoh. Both the match as a whole and with a focus on Oikawa. • This match was SO INTENSE. WOW. I loved it! But it was so intense. It was really amazing seeing how everyone had grown! • I think Mad Dog is the only Haikyu character I dislike. He irritated me because he’s arrogant and entitled and disrespectful. I appreciate how Seijoh managed to work with him though! Props to them. • Small pause from the Seijoh focus to appreciate that Noya’s reaction to Oikawa’s serve was a starry-eyed “I want to receive that!” • Speaking of Oikawa, I… honestly don’t quite know what to say? But I knew I wanted to talk about him some, so I guess I’m just gonna start. • I hated Oikawa through all of season 1 and most of season 2. By all rights I should still hate him for how he treated little Kageyama. So why the heck do I like him now? I can’t even explain it. I just looked at him one day and went “Stupid (/affectionate)” and that was that. • I’d like to appreciate how determined his was during those last few points. He launched himself backward with his final set, CRASHED BACK FIRST INTO A TABLE AND CHAIRS, and still got back in there. • Last thing I want to talk about is how his last set of high school was to Iwaizumi. He didn’t have to set across the whole court, but he chose to because he wanted to set to his best friend, the team’s ace, one last time. I loved that! And I loved that he hauled off and whacked Iwaizumi on the back after they lost and Iwa was breaking, because it’s what Iwa would’ve done if the roles were reversed.

Okay. Last thing I wanted to talk about was this:

The amount of happiness this scene brings me is just… ah! I replayed it multiple times. The team already huddling up and waiting on Noya and Hinata to complete the group hug. Noya and Hinata with 0 prior communication deciding “Yes, we should jump at our teammates to hug them” and then doing it in sync. THEM TACKLE-HUGGING THE ENTIRE TEAM AND LAUGHING ABOUT IT. The way that I’m sure after the initial shock wore off the rest of the team found it endearing. The joy from winning. The camaraderie. The relief. The way it’s the ENTIRE TEAM, including everyone who was on the bench. Man. I love this scene.

Alright, that’s all I have to say about season 2. If there’s anything I didn’t talk about or something I touched on but didn’t get into and you’d like to know my thoughts, feel free to send an ask!

ON TO SEASON 3!

[misteria247]

More 12 Turtle Tot Leo cuz I'm a shameless self indulgent slut-

12 Donnie will often have his toddler older brother fall asleep on them, his little cheek resting against the back or side of his head. Because 12 Donnie much like the other 12 boys, make the toddler feel comfortable enough to do these kinds of things. 12 Donnie won't admit it but he lowkey dies from cuteness overload whenever he feels 12 Leo drifting off to sleep on his shoulders. 12 Leo will also hang out on 12 Donnie's shoulders to watch him do his inventions, asking a bunch of questions a mile a minute to pass the time. The older turtle indulges him and enjoys the little conversations they have.

Rise Raph whenever he has the toddler on his shoulders, 12 Leo loves to wrap his little hands around his head or neck and hug the large snapping turtle. The turtle toddler will also nuzzle Rise Raph's cheek, and if he's in a chipper mode will even chirp and churr at him. Rise Raph is instantly a puddle of goo whenever he gets 12 Leo's happy little noises or his nuzzles and hugs from his shoulders. In fact the reason 12 Leo does this is because he considers Rise Raph along with the other Rise boys as his own brothers. The first time the toddler had let out a happy little turtle churr and chirp made Rise Raph lowkey cry from the action.

12 Raph is one of 12 Leo's favorite playmates to mess with. The toddler will often times do little things or pranks on his younger brother resulting in some rather hilarious reactions from the lively teen. However when he's not messing with 12 Raph, 12 Leo will also often seek him out whenever he's uneasy or frightened or wanting affection. 12 Raph at first wasn't sure what he should do but after one puppy dog eyed look from his older brother and 12 Raph broke giving in to his brother's wishes and needs. 12 Raph will never admit it but he secretly loves being needed so much by 12 Leo.

Rise Mikey is 12 Leo's go to for all things game related and arts related. Rise Mikey is one of the more fun and chaotic playmates that the toddler likes to interact with. Whenever 12 Leo's full of energy or gets fidgety Rise Mikey's one of the first to step in and help distract the toddler. They'll draw together and sometimes bake sweets (with Rise Mikey being the main baker and 12 Leo helping out in little ways) and do all sorts of things together. Rise Mikey loves it when 12 Leo will come running for him, excited to do something fun and it always makes the box shell turtle's day.

Rise Leo is 12 Leo's partner in crime. If the toddler is feeling mischievous or in desperate need of entertainment via pranking or watching awesome TV shows or movies Rise Leo's the toddler's favorite person to go to for all of it. Rise Leo will tell the turtle tot funny little jokes and puns earning his little childish giggles of humor and making him smile in return. Rise Leo will help him plan out small pranks and help him ditch the scene of the crime whenever they get catch. 12 Leo's always attached to the red eared slider's side whenever they have TV show or movie marathons and has even joined the other turtle in training sessions like meditating.

12 Mikey is 12 Leo's unassigned Mom of sorts. While 12 Mikey is just as chaotic and full of energy to keep up with the turtle tot and is one of the ultimate playmates to 12 Leo, 12 Mikey is also one of the first to get 12 Leo out of a jam or to intervene in a situation that could be somewhat disastrous. 12 Mikey is also the person 12 Leo goes to when he's got boo boos, or he's in need of the TLC that a lot of toddlers crave. And 12 Mikey gives it to him freely even churring and chirping at him on occasion much like how the turtle tot would do for him whenever he was still a teenager.

Rise Donnie is 12 Leo's second favorite playmate that he plays pranks on or messes with. Rise Donnie has some of the most amusing reactions to them and the turtle toddler can't get enough of them, often times pressing the soft shell's buttons just to get a reaction. Yet when he's not doing this he's always seeking Rise Donnie out to just be around him. The toddler finds the soft shell's presence comforting and if he's getting a bit overwhelmed or uncomfortable with something Rise Donnie's always the first to take 12 Leo away from the thing that's upsetting him, giving a rather nasty glare at the offender who'd caused it. He's basically 12 Leo's unassigned Dad in a way.

[theonethatyaks93]

Hi everyone!! I’m not dead, I’m back!! I apologize for the lack of posts recently; I was taking a break. But now, I’m ready to make regular posts again. But before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming, I have some exciting news! Last night, I attended both performances of Animaniacs in Concert!!! I finally got the opportunity to see this after two years of wanting and wishing. I was so excited!! Both shows were absolutely amazing and there were so many incredible songs, both recognizable and unreleased. I also laughed so hard that I got a minor headache. But it was worth it! I had the time of my life and it was so cool to see the number of fans who also love this show. So many people were wearing t-shirts or carrying the Animaniacs Loungefly backpack around. There were even some younger fans there and that was so awesome. I, of course, went all out, wearing an Animaniacs t-shirt, Pinky and The Brain leggings, a Pinky and The Brain sweatshirt, Pinky and Brain socks, my own Animaniacs backpack, and my cool Nike Air Force Ones which I’ve christened my “space shoes.” I got to sit in the third and second row at the venue (which I’ve been to many times) and I cheered and clapped as loud as I could. The talent here was unbelievable. Rob was incredible and I can’t believe he can sing this good. He is truly my inspiration. Randy was amazingly talented and it was great to finally see him. I was ecstatic when Maurice came on stage since I’ve never seen him in person before. The real Pinky and Brain were right in front of me!!! Ahhhhhh!!! This show was not only entertaining and hilarious, but I also learned a few new things and got to hear a few songs I’ve never heard before (I can’t get that song about things getting smaller out of my head!). Even my parents, who aren’t as into the show as I am, had a great time. Seriously, whenever they come back, I’m buying tickets pronto! This was incredible and I loved it so much. However, the best part of this experience would come before and after each show.

(This is kind of a real name reveal so surprise!!)

I met both Rob and Maurice not just once, but twice!!! OMG!! This has been a dream of mine for a long time and it’s come true. I hope I can meet them again soon! So, I’m going to get into a little story about what happened and what has happened in the past few months. Back in June of 2022, I got a surprise Cameo message from Rob, which made my entire summer! I actually started crying when I got the surprise and I thought that my dream of meeting him would never come true. I mean, he did respond to a few of my questions on Instagram Live back in October of 2022 (I stayed on for four hours!) but I really wanted to meet him. Thankfully, I got my wish when for an early Christmas present from my parents, I got to meet and talk to Rob for over an hour on Cameo. It was a great experience and my parents enjoyed it, too. I still wanted to meet him in-person, but this was close enough. And then, Animaniacs in Concert came around. I got tickets to both shows as a Christmas present back in December and I expected just to have a fun time. I did not expect to meet both Rob and Maurice twice! I met Rob before the first show. My mom pointed him out just walking into the lobby and I, of course, rushed over to him. It took a minute, but he did remember me and my family from the Cameo. We took some pictures and he was just the sweetest person you’ll ever meet. We even hugged! I was so excited and I was even shaking a little. After my family went home for an hour after the first show, we came back and though I’d seen it before, I was still excited. And then, when we were pulling into the parking lot, we saw Maurice walking down the street!!! We rushed to park and we got to meet him! I was so ecstatic! He was really nice and I got some pictures with him. It was an honor!! After the second show, my family waited so we could maybe meet Rob and Maurice and get them to sign my book (Which was in fact Rob’s book, Voice Lessons). We were about to leave when my mom said that they were just hanging out in the auditorium. We rushed in there and waited a few minutes. Rob even remembered my name! Eeeeeeeeeeeee! We got to meet him again and the Maurice showed up and joined us! They both were the sweetest things and they both signed my book! We got some pictures and I even got to show some of my impressions to them. They liked my voices especially when I did both Yakko and Pinky. Some people were even surprised! I told them how much Pinky and Brain meant to me and it was so cool of them. They were so sweet and nice. I was so excited and I didn’t want to leave. It was a true honor and of course, I hugged Rob goodbye. I hope I can see them again, maybe for a convention. It was a dream come true and I’ll never forget it.

So, yeah. All that happened in the span of about 8 hours. It was crazy and I’m actually still processing it currently. My dream came true and I had so much fun! I hope to see both Rob and Maurice again and maybe, Animaniacs in Concert will come around. Alright, that was my experience! It was so amazing and I couldn’t recommend it more. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to regular posting either tomorrow or the next day! Thank you guys for sticking with me!!

[hidingoutbackstage]

Okay I’m STILL procrastinating watching s15 bc I’m SCARED so here’s my extremely biased ratings/opinions on the episodes of s14 to help me procrastinate (episodes which are multiple parts of a single story will be condensed into one slot)

Room Zero: SO cute and good, I LOVED the animation style, it was simple and short but really well done with great colors, fun alien designs, and fluid animation, and I just like seeing the guys go on missions like that. It's a shame that the animated show never got picked up bc I would've adored seeing more of it. 10/10

From Stumbled Beginnings: Very cute and funny origin story for Simmons and Grif, and I love that they were p much always together since they enlisted lmao makes their dynamic rlly good and the humor actually got a couple laughs out of me. 8/10

Fifty Shades of Red: Sarge's humor never quite landed with me like is has for some people (my boyfriend lmao I literally have to pause episodes sometimes so he can stop laughing. Anyway) but it was a very humorous and in character origin for him as well. 5/10

Why They’re Here: Less interesting than the previous two, obviously just meant to fill in plot "holes" and to also show us the origins of the other characters. Also I am completely ignoring that one line from Tucker in the interview, just gonna chalk it up to the "edgy" humor it does not exist to me. 4/10

The Brick Gulch Chronicles: WONDERFUL stop motion, very fun and cute and entertaining, very wholesome and still in the vibe with what the show itself is. I appreciate the willingness to do stop motion for most of it. 10/10

Red Army Unit FH57’s Adventure: It was kinda interesting and kinda funny but I found myself kinda tuning it out cuz it just felt kinda whatever. The combo of the different animation styles was cool though and I thought the ship misunderstanding them was funny. 5/10

Locus and Felix: Okay I'm gonna be a black sheep for a second and say that I rlly don't care that much about Locus and Felix. I don't think Felix is a secretly deep sadboi whom I'm gonna spend an unnecessary amount of time thinking about, I don't think Locus as secretly good all along, and I don't care that much about their partnership and what they were like before Chorus. That being said, the animation here is absolutely gorgeous, this is probably my favorite animated story in the whole season, it looks awesome. The plot is nothing special but who cares like I said it's beautiful, 6/10

Fight the Good Fight!: VERY funny and well-executed propaganda video, short and sweet and nothing more to it. It does its job. 5/10

Meta vs. Carolina: Dawn of Awesome: Another one I really don't care for because literally everything leading UP to the fight between Meta and Carolina is a waste of time. Maybe some people really care about their weapons and stats, but I don't. And even then, you kinda know Carolina is gonna win the fight, the question is just how. 4/10

Grey vs. Gray: I don't know or care about the Game Grumps and the entire thing felt like a short gag that went on for way too long with a predictable ending. 2/10

Caboose's Guide to Making Friends: Again, ADORABLE art style and very cute having a story be told from Caboose's perspective. 7/10

Head Cannon: Kinda funny I guess. I wish we'd gotten it spread out more equally among the heads Omega jumped into. Ik he didn't spend equal time in there but who cares. Whatever, still funny. 5/10

Get Bent: I LAUGHED PROBABLY THE HARDEST AT THIS ONE AND THAT'S MOSTLY BC OF LESBIAN DONUT IT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD AND IT WAS HILARIOUS (also hello, bisexual church?) 9/10

Red vs. Blue: The Musical: it was fine. it was creative. The dancing was well animated. Enjoyable. 5/10

Mr. Red vs. Mr. Blue: I haven't seen Reservoir Dogs but Kaikaina was in this which automatically boosts it to a 8/10 (I also like that they have movie nights it's cute)

RvB Throwdown: Fine but mostly forgettable. 3/10

The Triplets Story: REALLY interesting concept (y'all know I love the freelancers) that felt like it dragged on too long and only gave Ohio something to do. 4/10

Immersion: The Warthog Flip: I loved the costumes and the actual Warthog and it got a couple laughs out of me. 5/10

Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth: This was made for the fans/themselves. As someone who is neither, none of it was funny and I just kinda waited for it to be over. At least the animation of the armor irl looked rlly good

[agentnico]

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - Season 1 (2023) Review

We are Sex Bob-omb!!... 1... 2... 3... 4!!!

Plot: A 20-something Toronto indie rocker's adventures in getting and keeping jobs, avoiding being kicked out of his apartment, and surviving encounters with the seven evil exes of the new girl in town on whom he has a crush.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is one of Edgar Wright's best films, and to be fair it is easy to argue that any movie directed by Wright is the best in his career as he's yet to make a proper dud. I have on the other hand never read a single word from the original Scott Pilgrim, so my knowledge of the source material is primarily and sorely based on the 2010 movie. Luckily with the new Netflix show, the creators very much are targeting and appealing to fans of both the film and the books, and as such if you are acquainted with either you'll easily get to enjoy some of that delightful nostalgia flavour. However, if you are a newcomer to Scott Pilgrim, then you may be a tad lost in all the chaos.

When I first started watching this show, I was skeptical and concerned. Especially with the first episode playing nearly shot for shot with the 2010 movie only in anime form, and for a moment I wondered if this was simply a stylish yet pointless reenactment. However, in the final moments of the first episode, the writers reveal this surprising bait and switch, though not that surprising if you observe the show's title. From there the show continuously goes forth to subvert expectations of what we know, playing up to our knowledge of the movie (and books) and then flipping things around. There's also a bigger focus on the characters who maybe did not get to enjoy the limelight in the original story, and as such it's actually to the show's advantage that they manage to bring back most of the original film cast to reprise their characters' voices, as again, adds to the nostalgia, but also allows these actors to play around more with their roles. It results in a very entertaining take on the story and is delivered with such funky and exciting animation. The fight sequences are reminiscent of a lot of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter with a narrator constantly jumping in with an announcement of yet another character VS character match-up, and these anime fights were truly awesome!

There are also so many Easter Eggs and random references in this show, that you'd easily enjoy rewatching each episode multiple times to catch every single detail. Naturally with Edgar Wright producing you can expect his regulars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost popping in for vocal cameos, and then the references can be as obscure as a character leaving the room whistling the tune from Disney's Robin Hood. You know, the one with the animals! Also, don't be fooled by the animation, this isn't a family-friendly show. There were a surprising amount of sex jokes in this, so this is very much oriented towards the adults.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is a joy to the fans of the source material, yet also tries to do something original and different and tell this story with a new approach. The show is quirky, colorful, fast, and spontaneous like a comic book strip, and as such I had no issue binging through the 8 episodes within two sittings. It's also hilarious, and as myself having worked in a coffee shop for over 4 years, I really appreciated the amount of jokes that were included about work life and customers in a cafe. I'd say the comedy still doesn't hit the highs of the original movie, which doesn't come as a surprise as Edgar Wright is only on producing duties here rather than scriptwriting, but nonetheless, there were consistent chuckle-worthy moments throughout. I'd also say even though I enjoyed the new narrative direction of this show, I do think they dragged a little the central Where's Waldo-style mystery, and they could have resolved that mystery an episode or two earlier and progressed more in the crazy sooner. But still, I'm pleasantly surprised and delighted that instead of rehashing the old, the writers here decided to do something different with the property. Also solid music and again, have I mentioned those anime fight sequences? Pure awesomeness!!

Overall score: 7/10

[charthanry]

OurSkyy2xBBS: My Initial Reaction to EP13

This will be full of spoilers, so please watch the episode first!

Ohm and Nanon seemlessly transitioned back into being Pat and Pran. Their chemistry was alive and thriving! 

The passage of time was well done. It felt like Pat and Pran continued on with their lives without us. These specials are just a peek into what they’ve been up to. Kudos to Ohm and Nanon for living these characters so believably. It felt like they were never gone.

The scenes felt a bit recycled from the series. I guess if it ain’t broke, why fix it? 

We got the fake fight with Pat ending up with a shiner and Pran there to nurse him back with some healing lovin’ instead of pharmacy bruise cream. Also, shout out to the curtain drop only this time much less dramatic and more comical. I loved the curtain-shadow misinterpretation by their dumbass friends, ha! Well played, BBS.

Pa’s uncanny skill at bad timing is hilarious and I love that Pran is the one who points it out. Pat’s not the only one getting thwarted here, though he consistently shows otherwise, Pran wants that loving from Pat too. It’s so in-character of them both.

Ohm’s high-pitched “Hia Pran” made me LOL, I had to replay it several times. Ohm really has awesome comedic timing. It’s more difficult to pull off than it looks and relies heavily on delivery.

They’re still competing with each other, but more so due to their environment than any hidden animosity between them. Just like in the OG series.

They consistently help each other and their open communication is still relationship goals. I love that this time it’s Pran that allows Pat to see things (e.g. the bench) in different ways. This calls back to their EP3 bus stop scene. I love how the communication and help goes both ways. Their’s is a true partnership. Neither taking more or giving less.

Pat still gives into Pran, but now it’s more thoughtful. It’s less about Pat winning or beating Pran at something and more about Pran’s success being Pat’s success. They are a team. When one is happy, they are both happy. Again, this shows maturity and relationship goals.

The livingroom tent camping called back to the end of EP4 only with happier results. Their conversation also calls back to the EP3′s bus stop scene where Pat asked Pran if he liked -it- and EP4′s “would you like me?” and now we get Pran’s answer: “I like you. You’re always there for me.” This might’ve been my FAVORITE call back of the episode.

Pat’s friends still gets Pat into shitty situations. The amount of times Pat got kiss-blocked in this episode alone can be its own drinking game. I love this running gag and feel like it’s leading up to a BIG PAYOFF.

Anyone catch Pat saying “you called me out for this” and Korn says “how else would I get you to leave your BOYFRIEND” right in front of Mo and Chang? Was that an NG because at this point Mo and Chang should still be in the dark about Pat and Pran, right?

Pran waiting up for Pat to come home from a night of drinking, did anyone else get EP5 vibes here? Where Pat sat in front of the dorm building waiting for Pran’s return? 

Pran calling Pat out on publicly shunning him while secretly apologizing was A+. There’s no repression of hurt feelings here. Open communication is the way of it. And I absolutely LOVE this for them.

Pat makes everything more fun. I imagine the trek up that hill would have been more entertaining for Pran if Pat were there teasing him and calling him an old man. They’d probably race to see who could get to the top first.

Unless it was mistranslated/subbed, they finally changed their caller IDs to each other’s names instead of “just a friend”. End of an era, sadly. But also, I wish it was more creative naming, like LOML or That 5-minute Guy or the one who FEEDS me, hell, I’d even settle for Dimples and Fierce Eyes.

Overall, the episode went by much too quickly. I wish we got a little bit more domestic Pat and Pran. I missed Pat’s scent kink except for the little mention of it in the elevator scene. I want to see them both waking up and getting ready in the morning as well as them turning in for the night. I want to see shared PJs (where Pran wears the top and Pat wears the bottom and nothing else). Them dividing the household chores where Pran comes up with an entire chart with a whole smiley-faced sticker reward system and Pat just stares at him lovingly like, that’s MY MAN with his charts. Going grocery shopping together where Pran has a checklist and Pat is throwing things willy-nilly into the cart. Making dinner together where they get distracted making out and dinner ends up ruined. I guess I’m greedy and want MORE.

I’m happy we got these specials. But I’m a greedy bitch and WON’T say I’m SATISFIED with what we were given (at least not yet). P’Aof has a special way of ending his episodes so my expectations are high, my hopes even higher, and I have zero doubts this team will stick the landing. They’ve been here before.

Also, I thought Ohm’s hair would bother me more than it did, but it grew on me. Ohm pulls it off. I’m a fan. Also, Ohm’s singing is so much improved, so proud of my guy for working on it because it shows.

Post-credit scene to beat the “Pran, it’s not a Porno!” in the works?! PLEASE. Have a feeling this is where we get Pat licking Pran’s finger from the promos.