#but they did a good job in having nuance in some of their songs like Nerdy Prudes Must Die and Just For Once like those r GOOD DEEP DIVES

[thewhizzyhead]

before I sleep, here is my definitive ranking on all the NPMD songs and some rambles on why I placed them there - also the ranking is based on how much I vibe with them (music production and lyricism have different rankings)

1. Hatchet Town (aka the hatchetfield trilogy theme song like this tune perfectly encapsulates the chaos Hatchetfield has to go through with every Starkid project pos-2018 and I love it - kinda wish it was a number that is more integrated with the plot with the kids tho BUT I REALLY DID LIKE that this melody was quite prominent in the other songs too)

2. High School is Killing Me (I've watched many teen centered musicals and believe me when I say that this song is one of, if not, the best introduction numbers out there for this genre - also it's a really great opening hook for a show)

3. Nerdy Prudes Must Die (FUCKING AMAZING HONESTLY - amazing way to REALLY re-establish a villain back from the dead and to establish the main theme for the nerds here: "I'm Not A Loser" (tho i fucking wish that motif was used a bit more))

4. Just For Once (everyone cheer for Lauren Lopez flexing not just her high tier soprano skills, but also how amazing of a fucking actor she can be like the concept of this song is quite layered and to pull it off both comedically and emphatically takes great lyrical and acting prowess)

5. The Summoning (a well-anticipated onstage introduction to all 5 of the LiB that balances out befuddling neon-entertainment with genuine fucking menace)

7. Cool As I Think I Am Reprise (A FUCKING GENIUS REPRISE I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH HOW COOL I FIND THEM RECONTEXTUALIZING THE OG SONG AND IF I LOVED YOU TO FIT THE SITUATION AND BOTH OF THE CHARACTERS GROWTH. LIKE IN TERMS OF THEMATIC IMPLICATIONS WITH CHARQCTER DEVELOPMENT, THIS SONG AND ITS SCENE WOULD BE THE TOP)

6. If I Loved You (I think this song could be a bit more honestly like I know how much Starkid has explored Steph and Pete's relationship in their other projects and I was really hoping that they would have it more portrayed here - however the song is a bop nonetheless and it matches neatly with their themes and the harmonies are top tier. I placed this higher than the next just due to my personal bias like I really do like the song)

8. Dirty Dudes Must Die (A GREAT TWIST THAT MAKES ME WANT ANOTHER MUSICAL ABOUT GRACE CHASITY'S DERANGED SELF - also the new context of the song Grace is reprising here makes her a villain even scarier than MAX of all people but that's just me)

9. Literal Monster (A very catchy beat and well structured song that provides a good introduction to a jock-bully with the god complex. also kinda foreshadowing to nerdy prudes must die)

10. Cool As I Think I Am (the instrumentation reminded me of Dear Evan Hansen ngl fjsjd but it really does sound like an I-Want song from a teen-musical which is of course what they are going for - it sounds very nice and earnest though and I loved how it was utilised in the reprise. However I still fucking wish that the I'm Not A Loser motif was used more)

11. Dirty Girl (look I'm sorry for ranking this quite low on the list but like there is no fucking way I'm using this as bait to lure other people in like they'd be scared away I'm sorry fjdjs BUT I love how Will and Angela perform this though like top tier starkid performances ever - its not just what I would listen to on repeat personally jgjdjs)

12. Go Go Nighthawks! (This one gets plus points because of FUCK YOU CLIVESDALE GO GET FUCKED. otherwise its nice and cheery and perfectly shows how happy everyone is without Max but um I kinda wish it could be a bit more especially in terms of showing how happy the other nerds are now that Max is gone but that's just me)

13. Bully The Bully + Bury The Bully (Look I couldn't decide which was better like they both are the same melodies so like gjxjs these two are cute though and I liked seeing the 5 kids bonding in Bully The Bully since we don't get that many scenes with them)

14. The Best Of You (the pop-punk happy number is a staple of teen-centered musicals and it does really sound nice - just isn't that much of a standout compared to the others.)

#also for the best of you i have like a bone to pick with that one as much as i find it a fun song #but that is once again a rambly critique on how steph was utilized in the show sO WE'LL SAVE THAT BONE FOR ANOTHER DAY #but yea that's my NPMD ranking #the music prod here is on another level honestly #like they stepped up their game here #as for lyricism hmm given the genre it's more or less as I expected - i like it but there are some parts where i expected more #but they did a good job in having nuance in some of their songs like Nerdy Prudes Must Die and Just For Once like those r GOOD DEEP DIVES #hmmm maybe i'll do a full review soon of NPMD to just consolidate all my critiquey rambles #rn it's sittiing at a score of 8.5/10 #and is probably my top 3 fav starkid musical of all time - tgwdlm and twisted are top 2 and 1 #(i cant say much about black friday yet cause i havent watched it but um i have a feeling it could technically be a tie with npmd) #nerdy prudes must die #npmd #npmd spoilers #starkid

[shadowed-dancer]

I watched the Netflix atla and I have thoughts

I will break them down into positives, negatives, and assorted, but if you want the short version: it's better than the M Night Shyamalan film.

Positives

I like that Zuko's crew is the 41st division. It's a cute detail, and honestly I had always wondered how they chose soldiers to accompany an exiled prince

I actually liked Suki's characterization. Like yeah, I believe that girl has never had contact with outsiders. And I think her chemistry with Sokka is great! I can't wait for her to come back and see more of the world (her "thank you for bringing the world to me" line is cute when you consider he brought her an air, water, and fire bender... less cute that her village almost got destroyed but still)

Hot take: I don’t mind that they cut Sokka’s sexism arc. It was minimal in the original series to begin with, and with the pacing of the Netflix series it would have been pointless and rushed. I truthfully believe that if they hadn't mentioned the cut beforehand, 5 people at most would have noticed it was gone

Wow Koh the Face Stealer is SO MUCH WORSE in live action. So gross. His face BLINKS. 10/10 to whoever designed that, I hated it and recognize that it was perfect. I look forward to seeing it in my nightmares (also I don't mind the change of "don't show any expression". It still works)

Gyatso telling Aang that it wasn't his fault and that he wouldn't have been able to do anything was so sweet and important to me, especially with all the other adults in this series being turned into Grade-A assholes. It’s been a while since I watched the entire original series but were the adults THIS mean about it in the original? I know the occasional random townsperson would say "you abandoned us" but I don’t remember people like Bumi or THE OTHER AVATARS blaming him like that (I know this is the positive section but just to be clear, the positive is the Gyatso scene. Turning everyone else so mean will be touched upon in the negatives)

All of Gyatso's scenes were actually amazing. I cried. Also finding his body hit so much harder in live action.

Leaves from the Vine playing during Lu Ten's funeral and then again when Iroh chose to go with Zuko... I tearbended HARD at that one

I think they did a good job merging three story lines into Omashu. I know it may bother some fans, but for the time they had I thought combining all of those together within the city was clever. Plus, since we see the city get taken at the end of the season, we feel more invested since we spent more time there! (I'm also glad they didn't destroy the Northern Air Temple... that always bothered me)

The sets are lovely. They look so similar to the original show and it makes me happy to simply see these places come to life. I got so giddy seeing Omashu you don't even understand

I like the interpretation of Aang’s tattoo. That was actually the one thing I liked from the M Night Shyamalan film (intricate designs rather than a straight blue block) and I feel this is an even better interpretation (the designs are more subtle until he lights up)

The wink and nod to the great divide (and other episodes like the pirates) was cute. I do wish we got to see some adventures of the kids bonding, but boy am I glad they didn't feel the need to adapt the great divide

I liked that they sang secret tunnel a little early. The second the mechanist brought up the secret tunnels I burst into song on instinct, so it's only fair the characters do the same

I liked Zuko having a notebook on the avatars. Of course he would have made that. And I liked that Aang used it as a reference

I liked how they teased the "my cabbages!" line before giving us the real thing. Just a fun thing for fans of the original

Negatives

The first episode had so much exposition it actually felt exhausting. Also Zuko really came out of the gate swinging with his motivation, eh? No nuance or slowly unveiling why he wants to capture Aang? Ok...

Ozai confused me. After finishing the season I believe Ozai's motivation was "sacrifice the weak to become strong, use Zuko to fuel Azula to be better" but it felt so confusing to get there. There was a point where I thought he genuinely wanted to see Zuko grow and find the avatar, and while it's fine for Zuko to think that, it felt weird for us to be jerked around like that (especially the in-between point where it feels like he prefers his banished son to his spy-catching daughter).

I also don’t like the way he acts with Azula (again, I know it's an act, but it's a bothersome change). He calls her performance below average. What happened to "she’s a true prodigy, just like her grandfather for whom she was named"? When characters like Mai and Zhao have to tell us "he's just playing games" it feels like they are telling rather than showing. "She's a true prodigy" SHOWS US he has a very obvious favourite. "He's playing with you" TELLS US that he's lying, and we therefore need to just accept that Azula is actually his favourite even though nothing he has done supports that

I don’t like that Aang was heading North due to a premonition from Kyoshi. I always liked how "the avatar must travel the world and find their own teachers in order to care for the world". Why not let him look for teachers? It enforces the idea of the avatar needing to care for all nations in order to protect all nations. I feel like it was supposed to go for this new direction of “the avatar must do it alone” but unfortunately I don't like that message as much

I mentioned in the positive section, but so many of the characters are weirdly mean (specifically the adult characters). I feel like they are trying to go for a message like "childlike mentality isn’t bad and it’s this innocence that will succeed where adults failed" but it just comes across as every grownup but Gyatso being the worst. Why are Kyoshi and Kuruk yelling so much and blaming Aang for everything? I feel like the goal will ultimately be to prove them wrong, but I do not like this characterization

Zuko’s scar needed to be SO MUCH WORSE. Something I love about the original is that every time we look at Zuko, we get a horrific reminder of what kind of person the Fire Lord is. It didn't just make his skin a little red, his eye is stuck in a permanent squint. His ear is shrivelled. You can tell that it was BAD. Here? He could cover it with makeup if it bothers him that much. Where's the texture? Where's the ear and eye damage? Sometimes it looks more like a birthmark than a serious injury. At the very least, take away his eyebrow!

Sokka and Katara’s being trapped in the spirit world was lowkey a little dumb but I get what they were going for (it's more urgent than them needing to suck on frogs). It just makes it seem worse when Aang is sitting there chatting with Zuko about his brushes. Like I loved the conversation but the fact that Sokka and Katara's lives were in danger (along with the villagers) makes Aang seem weirdly dismissive in that moment

Also... I just realized while typing this, but did they give us an ending to Hei Bai being in pain? Did I completely forget the resolution to that or was it not shown?

I don't like that Zuko chose to fight in the Agni Kai. Seeing him on the ground begging forgiveness and THAT'S the kid Ozai scars and banishes is way more impactful than "he fought but didn't go all out"

This shit went off the rails in episode 7. Why is Yue a fox who just chills in the spirit world? What happened to Tui and La? Push and pull? Yin and Yang? I got confused somewhere along the way

Am I the only one who felt the Yue and Sokka kiss came out of nowhere? She literally said she called off her betrothal when she was 16 (before meeting Sokka) because that dude wasn't the right guy. But then the kiss immediately after implies Sokka is the right guy??? The guy you didn't know existed??? Or are we supposed to infer that she fell in love with him in the spirit world? Either one is so bad pleasssseee

I infinitely prefer Zuko trying to save Zhao and Zhao choosing to die out of sheer stubbornness, compared to Iroh killing Zhao to save Zuko. Like yeah, he'd do anything for Zuko, but I felt that crossed a line (and was less impactful)

Assorted Thoughts

They mentioned the mother of faces, are we gonna see Zuko’s mom get addressed at some point? Or was that just a wink and a nod for fans who know?

The kids are pretty good actors but Katara’s sometimes feels like she's… in a school play. For lack of a better description. She's not bad, it just doesn't always feel natural or as expressive as she could be

Yue's actress on the other hand... look I don't like insulting child actors but her performance was not my favourite

Meanwhile, I loved the casting for Zuko and Aang. I like this slightly-less-angry Zuko, and Aang's actor has such a sweet face that it hurt me to see him sad

I wish we got to see an Agni Kai between Zuko and Zhao. Simply because establishing it early helps introduce us to this idea. It makes it more impactful when Ozai declares Zuko must fight, since we now know what that entails

I feel like the series is at its best when it's doing it’s own thing (the Gyatso scenes, Suki's new characterization, Lu Ten's funeral) and is at its weakest when it's trying to copy the original

#atla #atla live action #natla #zuko #aang #sokka #katara #azula

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

In celebration of Animaniacs' 30th Anniversary...

I'm gonna list some of my favourite segments/episodes from the franchise and explain why they're my favourites! The segments/episodes will be listed in order of their debut in their respective series.

I'll start with my favourite episodes from the original Animaniacs:

Taming of the Screwy

I see this episode as the turning point of Warners' and Scratchy's relationship. Before they'd drive him crazy and he'd want nothing to do with them, but because of his job he's forced to deal with them. This episode was the start of Scratchansniff realizing that the Warners' aren't all bad, which eventually leads to them to getting along a bit better later on. The Warners still mess with Scratchy a lot because, as they say in this episode, it's their way of showing affection, but he genuinely tries to tolerate them (key word being "try"), and they even help him a bit ("La La Law"), until eventually he starts acting somewhat like a guardian to them and he's even willingly choosing to hang out with them (like in "I'm Mad", "Fake", "The Party", etc).

This episode also puts the Warners' characters in a new perspective, being the first that tries to get the audience to genuinely sympathize with them. We knew about them being locked in the water tower, but that wasn't taken too seriously and (because of how "Newsreel of the Stars" presented their origin) you could argue the studio's treatment of the Warners was just a reaction to the Warners' antics. Here the Warners kept their end of the deal and were well behaved, yet were betrayed anyway. They had gone up against a "special friend" before this episode, but this episode was pretty much the first to firmly establish that the Warners are capable of behaving if treated fairly (although they'd rather mess about, not out of maliciousness, but because they just wanna have fun), but if not they're not afraid to fight back and wreak havoc.

A big reason why I like the Warners so much is that they seem like simple characters on the surface, but there is nuance to how they act, and this episode is a good example of that ("The Sound of Warners" also being a good example). It would've been easy to write the Warners as one-dimensional characters who all act the same, are completely incapable and/or unwilling to behave and do nothing but make anyone and everyone's lives worse for no reason, especially since it's a variety show, but they didn't and I appreciate that. I also think the way they're drawn in this episode is adorable! They don't look how they usually do when animated by TMS, but I still like it.

The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special

This episode gives a more detailed retelling of the Warners' origin story. This time it is presented as a "live" TV special, which is a unique premise for this show that helps this episode stand out. I like how "Newsreel of the Stars" tries to make the studio look as good and reasonable as possible, only for that to be flipped on its head in this episode which makes it clear that really the problem was that Memlo and Plotz were the unreasonable ones. The Warners' backstory itself expertly manages to be both comedic yet sad at the same time in a way that doesn't feel tonally inconsistent at all. I still find it hilarious that they took an actual Looney Tunes character and made them into a twist villain just because they were unpopular in real life (let it be known that Animaniacs did that joke before the 2002 Scooby Doo movie did). Combine all that with some fun cameos and beautiful TMS animation, and you've got one of the show's best episodes.

Episode 92

Yup-the whole episode. This episodes is a great summary of Animaniacs' strengths, because each segment is a perfect example of an aspect (or multiple) of Animaniacs that the show does expertly well. "It" has some of the best animation in the whole show, "Dot-The Macadamia Nut" is one of the best parody songs in the show, and "Bully for Skippy" provides some of the best meta humour, political satire, slapstick, and irreverent humour in the show. It's one of my favourite Slappy segments, and although I think the message isn't supposed to be taken seriously...I legitimately think it's a good moral? After seeing other shows/movies/etc (particularly since the 2010's) have their protagonists easily talk down and redeem multiple incredibly vile villains, or sometimes just outright let the villain get away for the sake of keeping them passive/non-violent, this episode's conclusion was incredibly satisfying.

Children's media will often tell kids to just ignore bullies or to constantly try to "get through to them" no matter what, because if they don't that makes them "just as bad" and I'm sorry but that's not something we should be teaching kids, and I'd argue they're not just bad but straight up dangerous messages. Ignoring bullies doesn't work most of the time, it just makes them try harder to get your attention, which often means acting more aggressive and malicious. I do think teaching kids to try and make peace with people non-violently is very important, but if the bully keeps harassing them, at some point you have to draw the line and stand up for yourself. Sometimes you have to yell. Sometimes you have to fight. It sucks but that's life...so anyway, back to Animaniacs. Duke seemingly does learn his lesson in the end, because he's seen helping Slappy, but only after getting his butt kicked, and it's not like him and Skippy are BFFs or anything.

I think this is one of the most well-balanced non-singular story episode of the show, quality wise that is. Most Animaniacs episodes with multiple segments have at least one that is mediocre or straight up bad in comparison to the other(s), but that's not the case here. They're all great.

Honourable Mentions: The Sound of Warners, La La Law, Meatballs or Consequences, A Christmas Plotz, Super Strong Warner Siblings, Morning Malaise, Season 3's Finale (Episode 82), Win Big, Puppet Rulers, Bubba Bo Bob Brain, Yes, Always, Bumbie's Mom, ...And Justice for Slappy, One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock, Critical Condition, Woodstock Slappy, When Rita Met Runt, Smitten With Kittens, Phranken-Runt

Best Songs: Yakko's World, Wakko's America, I'm Cute, Yakko's Universe, The Ballad of Magellan, Variety Speak, I'm Nobody's Mama, Let's Try for Two, Humans Ain't What They Seem to Be, A Quake! A Quake!, The Senses Song, There's Only One of You

Now on to Pinky and the Brain:

A Pinky and the Brain Christmas

Yeah, yeah. I'm just gonna get this one out of the way now. You love it, I love it, and we all know why...but I'll explain anyway!

For one, this is the only episode TMS animated for the spin off, and it looks gorgeous. The writing's as good as ever. I'd like to point out the Donner Party joke for being clever; but Bill Clinton being unable to open the window is the joke that gets me to chuckle when I think about it. Although let's be honest, people mostly like this episode because of the ending. I get it though, it's touching! It shows just how much Pinky loves Brain and how selfless he can be, dedicating what was supposed to be his Christmas list to Brain. Then the smashing, the keychain, the credits, blah blah blah we know how it goes.

I mean if you're reading this then chances are I don't need to convince you; it's the show's most well-known episode, and it's really good.

Welcome to the Jungle

This episodes flipped Pinky and Brain's dynamic on it's head. Brain was out of his element, meanwhile Pinky took charge. This is the main reason it's one of the most memorable episodes of the show, although another is that Snowball makes his grand return in this episode, and is even more antagonistic this time by trying to get Pinky and the Brain killed, whereas last time he was really only trying to one-up Brain. I find it interesting that Brain’s more sympathetic towards Snowball this time around, insisting that he needs help and attempting to save his life. Perhaps he always missed Snowball as a friend (and still cares about him deep down), perhaps being so out of his element softened him, maybe both? And when Brain defeated Snowball towards the end, after what he went through in the episode that genuinely felt triumphant and deserved.

This episode really shows off how Pinky and the Brain is distinct from Animaniacs. The Warners don't take serious situations seriously, they're always on top of things and are ultimately winners. Pinky and the Brain are kind of the inverse; mice wanting to take over the world is ridiculous, but they take it completely seriously, and fail every time. Though it is exactly that that allows the protagonists to be vulnerable and struggle more often, hence allowing the characters and their stories to often times be slightly less zany and a bit more sincere.

Star Warners

This episode was just fun, what more can I say? It was nice to see many of the Animaniacs characters again, especially the Warners and Slappy, but we even got to see the more obscure characters like Pip, Zalgar, the aliens from “Space-Probed”, Sid the Squid and Beanie the Braindead Bison. Some Looney Tunes characters and Freakazoid appear too. I also like a lot of the "castings": in particular Yakko as Han, Wakko as Luke and Dot as Leia are perfect choices.

There's more to this episode than cameos though, like the interactions between characters who pretty much never interact. Dot and Brain, Wakko and Mindy, etc. My absolute favourite aspect of this episode is that the Warners, Pinky, Brain and Slappy all got to star alongside each other throughout the episode! The Warners have interacted with Slappy a few times, they've also interacted with Pinky and the Brain too, as has Slappy (very briefly in "Spell-Bound"), but they've never all interacted as a group for an extended period of time. I haven't kept it a secret they're my favourite Animaniacs characters (and also have pretty much the only segments I truly care about aside from maybe also Rita and Runt), so to see them interact as a group was great!

Also, the final credits gag was “Nympholepsy - To have a desire for an unattainable idea”. That's a perfect Brain’s Word to end the show on, and this episode was a pretty good way to end the show. Sure, something with higher stakes that takes place in the main setting of PatB (as in an episode where Pinky and the Brain live in Acme Labs in the modern day) like the "Brainwashed" trilogy would've made for a good finale too, but honestly having the final episode of the show essentially be a crossover between it and its parent series is cute. In fact it's probably...eh screw it, it IS the best Animaniacs-related series finale there is.

Honourable Mentions: TV or not TV, Snowball, The Pink Candidate, Pinky and the Brain…and Larry, This Old Mouse, A Pinky and the Brain Halloween, You’ll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again, The Family That Poits Together, Narfs Together

Best Songs: Brainstem, Cheese Roll Call, Just Say Narf!, A Meticulous Analysis of History

And now, because I haven't seen "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain" and don't plan to, the Animaniacs reboot:

Fear and Laughter in Burbank

I love that the Warners' Halloween costumes were the Marx brothers, it's a cute reference to the fact that Yakko and Wakko were partially inspired by Groucho and Harpo respectfully. That and I really like segments where the Warners torment some evil supernatural being. The fact that these literal children can not only hold their own against but outright best beings like a soul-sucking clown, the Devil or even Death himself is both hilarious and admirable. They're not just pests, they're powerful pests.

It's pretty interesting that Yakko is the only one of the siblings who falls victim to Nickelwise, before being narrowly saved by Dot. His encounter with Nickelwise reveals a few things about him: that he hates being alone, fears losing his voice, and is at least a little insecure about his comedic skills whilst seeking validation via comedy. It also implies that despite the fact that he acts as the most mature, experienced and the de facto leader, he may be the most anxious and have the most self-worth issues of the three. This would make sense since he's the eldest, and therefore presumably has a lot more worries on his mind than Wakko and Dot. I do like this segment overall, but this moment is what made it one of my favourites. It provides depth to Yakko's character like never before, which I appreciate given that he's my favourite.

Rome Sweet Rome

This segment had a lot of good gags, solid satire, a fun song, and each Warner shows off their skillset pretty well: Yakko using his words and not his fists in a fight, Dot weaponizes cuteness to blindside an opponent, Wakko has an endless appetite and is really destructive. Titmouse animated this one so of course the animation was great. Pretty much everything I like about the Warners' segments is here and in top form. Not much more to say other than that, it's just...really good!

The Island of Dr. Warneau

Titmouse animated so once again there's great animation (Jurgen's lab was wonderfully creepy), and I really liked how the Warners were written in this one. I like that Yakko has a picture of Scratchy in his wallet (I'll take all the "Scratchansniff is their dad" crumbs that I can get), the clones are adorable, and of course the comedy was as good as ever ("You're living beings, not unpaid interns!" in particular got me).

Jürgen seems to be depiction of what an abusive family member might act like (although obviously exaggerated, since this show is a zany cartoon and all). In addition to forcing them to do whatever he wants whilst giving no love in return, Jürgen makes the clones call him "brother" to condition them into thinking he's family so they'll feel obligated to associate with him, has convinced them that he's their "protector" so they'll feel helpless without him (unfortunately that worked because Ratto straight up says they're helpless in his first line), and when the clones finally do stand up for themselves he tries to bribe Ditto towards the end by offering her a strawberry, whilst claiming she was always the "sensible one". The ending was very satisfying, with Ditto refusing to call Jürgen "brother" anymore and switching to using his first name (basically disowning him) and calling the Warners her real family. The six of them hug and just before things get a bit too cute-Jürgen gets eaten by a whale. The ending, like the whole segment really, is a perfect mix of both wholesomeness and dark humour.

This segment essentially emphasizes the importance of who the Warners are as characters. It explored the idea of what the Warners would be like if instead of being chaotic and rebellious, they were meek and well behaved, essentially the opposite of themselves, and it made for an interesting watch! It shows the importance of being assertive, and why being "perfectly behaved" and "obedient" isn't always a good thing. In hindsight, had Scratchansniff actually managed to successfully "de-zanitize" the Warners, it might've been the worst thing to have happened to them.

The Warners aren't perfectly behaved. They're snarky. They're chaotic. They're insane(-y). They're a lot of things, BUT when they see something wrong they don't stand aside, they fight back and make it right, just in a comedic way (they're like the embodiment of karma). Their backbone is one of their biggest redeeming qualities, and although people in-universe give them a hard time over their chaotic and irreverent nature, they'll always be better than the corrupt authority figures (like Jürgen, or many of their "special friends") they tend to take down.

Honourable Mentions: Suspended Animation Part 1, Ralph Cam, That's Not the Issue, Future Brain, Roadent Trip, Yakko Amakko, Christopher Columbusted, Reichenbrain Falls, 23 and WB, Planet Warner, Talladega Mice: The Ballad of Pinky Brainy, Fantasy, Teeniacs, Animaliens, Global Warnering, Slappy's Return

Best Songs: Suffragette Song, The Cutening, Be Like Me, A Zit!, I Am The Very Model of an Ancient Roman Emperor, Yakko's Big Idea (Yakko's Big Song), Magna Cartoon, Warner's Ark, D.I.WHY?, Here Comes the Sea!, Some of Humanity's Wins

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Before Animaniacs, many syndicated cartoons (specifically ones from the 60's to the 80's) had either a) good writing but cheap animation or b) more expensive and impressive looking animation but were essentially over glorified toy commercials. Animaniacs had both witty, intelligent writing and downright beautiful animation (seriously, the segments animated by TMS are some of the best hand drawn animation I've ever seen in a TV show). This wasn't unheard of by the early 90's, but only a handful of other cartoons could claim the same at the time. It's higher budget compared to a lot of other contemporary cartoons also meant it could afford a 25-to-40-piece orchestra, and that (along with the extremely talented staff) allowed Animaniacs to have one of the best soundtracks from any cartoon ever. Not to mention it was one of the first TV shows to garner an interactive online audience. Animaniacs was one of the first examples of internet fandom culture. Think about that. That is huge.

The Warners, Pinky and the Brain and Slappy are unironically some of my favourite characters of all time. I love that that the Warners are chaotic, nigh-omnipotent beings who can do anything, but also non-conforming outcasts who look out for each other because no one else will, but also well-meaning rebels, but also cute silly little children all at the same time. And that's just what they have in common, that's not even getting into their individual personalities. To put it very briefly (because I literally already wrote an essay about Dot so if you've read that you know how long I can go on about them but this post is long enough already and I'm still not done) I admire Yakko's wit, Wakko's optimism, and Dot's confidence.

I love that Pinky and The Brain are complete opposites in every sense of the word yet still manage to have an unbreakable bond. I love Slappy's unapologetically violent but never too meanspirited sense of humour (even though she's only one in-universe I genuinely think she makes for a better female Looney Tunes character than most of the actual female Looney Tunes characters) and how despite how bitter and cranky she is, she never lets that get in the way of her bond with Skippy.

Both the original Animaniacs and the reboot are some of my favourite shows of all time. I love their sense of humour, I love the main characters, I love that they never hold back and go places/accomplish things that a lot of other kids shows wouldn't even dare to. Not only was Animaniacs heavily influenced by Looney Tunes but it (and a series of Looney Tunes television spin-offs) helped bring Looney Tunes back from a period of stagnation by popularising its sense of humour (particularly its type of snark, wordplay, slapstick and visual gags). I feel like not enough people talk about just how influential the original show was; not only did it have more pop culture references and social commentary than pretty much any children's cartoon had before it, it played a big part in popularising those two things as well as sharp satire, cynical irony, meta humour, self awareness, and just witty humour in general being in children's cartoons, if not TV as a whole.

And above all else...it was fun. It was a fun show that just wanted to make you laugh above all else. It knew what it wanted to do and was good at it, and sometimes that's all you need for success.

I love this franchise, and I can't wait to see what it does next.

#animaniacs #animaniacs 1993 #pinky and the brain #animaniacs 2020 #animaniacs reboot #yakko wakko and dot #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #the warner siblings #the warner brothers #the warner sister #patb #patb pinky #patb brain #slappy squirrel #skippy squirrel #slappy and skippy #animaniacs 30th anniversary #animaniacs 30 years old

[cluescorner]

Thoughts on Canto V

Spoilers ahead. Also, disclaimer that I did not play it but instead watched it because I really like the story but I don't play the game anymore. I do not think playing it through would have impacted my experience, but do keep that fact in mind and let me know if you think my feelings would change if I had played it.

OH MY FUCKING GOD I REALLY LIKED IT! The characters were solid (though there are some problems), the theme of hoping for the future and allowing yourself to discover it for yourself rather than holding onto the past, and there were some incredible fucking moments.

Firstly, Ishmael. She was pretty stellar throughout. Watching her slowly degrade into becoming a mirror of the very woman she sought to destroy was heartbreaking, I felt like she actually had a real arc this canto that helped her become a less burdened person, and some of her deepening bonds with the other sinners were awesome. I particularly liked watching her interactions with Outis because Moby Dick and the Odyssey/Illiad are the two literary works from Limbus that I know well, and based on that info it makes sense that they would both understand and annoy each other. The moments with Heathcliff were also incredible because they've always had a really cool dynamic. Ishmael's relationships with her crew were also interesting and I feel like that could have easily been the best part of this cant, but ultimately that didn't end up happening (more on that later). I felt like the sudden character development 'Oh the other characters are my friends and they are my compass' thing was a BIG JUMP especially for Ishmael, but it's not a bad idea. I think it just needed more time in the oven, let Ishmael interact with the other sinners inside the dungeon and have her work together with them to get through things. Fortunately, Ishmael's VA + the Mili song really carried that ending so I still wound up getting caught up in the moment regardless. Speaking of Ishmael's VA...HOLY SHIT WHATEVER THEY ARE GETTING PAID IT WAS NOT ENOUGH!! Singlehandedly made me like this Canto so much more than I otherwise would have. An incredible performance all around, stand out moments include but are not limited to: Her ranting at the pirates about them not knowing what shame is, the euphoric hatred in her voice as she fantasizes about finding and killing Ahab, the grief as she discusses Queequeg and the hope as she sees Queequeg again, and OF COURSE WHEN SHE GOES AHAB MODE! Bravo Jang Ye-na, you carried this Canto through its weaker moments and helped the best ones become my favorite moments in this game.

Next, Ahab. I liked her a lot, fucking awful captain woman who reminds me of my old pastors. GOOD JOB MAKING THIS A FUCKING HORROR GAME THIS BITCH SCARES ME! I wish we could have seen more of her (and maybe we will in the future) because what we got was incredible. I was expecting a shitty boss but instead got another fucking cult leader. Her design is also a solid mirror to Ishmael's, further emphasizing the point that they are becoming more alike as this stuff goes on AND making the moment where Ishmael breaks the cycle of hatred more impactful. She is an incredible mirror of what happens where you allow hatred to consume you entirely, and the VA really reflects that. The only complaint I kinda have is that she probably should have been a lot more morally grey than she was. I feel like we just kinda got Kromer version 2 in terms of the role she played in the story and in Ishmael's life, granted that might change in the future so I will be very happy to be wrong if that's the case. But after Dongrang, I was expecting something a little more sympathetic or at least nuanced than 'evil cult leader captain lady hates that fucking whale and will kill her crew and makes that abundantly clear'. Again, I do like what we got so I can't complain too much but still.

I LOVE THAT BIG FUCKING WHALE! SCARY FUCKING BIG WHALE COMETH! ELDRITCH WHALE!

The Indigo Elder is so fucking cool. I wish he were here for more than 3 minutes and actually had something to do. They really introduced a man by having him tear the arm off the guy who we were struggling to survive against, said he was a Color and that he killed another Calamity, teased this really cool plan, and then...he's just waiting outside presumably 1v1-ing the whale but we get to neither see nor hear about it at all. I hope he comes back and we can see him do cool shit, because we had an incredible set-up with mediocre pay-off.

Ishmael's crew...I loved them so much I wish they were in the Canto for more than 1 level. They should have been introduced MUCH EARLIER in order to have their deaths have more of an impact. We should have been in the whale for longer, even if it meant shortening other parts of the chapter, just for the crew. Because those are Ishmael's ties and these are the people who Ahab's hatred is robbing the world of. What we did get of them was very strong, but Starbuck and Pip got nothing in terms of character moment and time. Queequeg got a little bit more (by the way I love that Queequeg actually looked like the design team at least LOOKED at a Polynesian person, I'm so jaded from other gacha games that I'm thrilled somebody actually looks like they're from the culture they're inspired from. She looks like a buffer, female version of one of my Polynesian neighbors it's great.) and it made her feel a lot more developed. She was a solid adaptation of Queequeg and her relationship with Ishmael was so sweet. The moments we got of them together were some of the highlights and it made me really want them to manage to escape together. Of course that was never gonna happen, but still. I also don't like how we don't even see Queequeg and Starbuck die. Are we supposed to assume Ahab killed them to manifest the ego? Did we kill them? I see some criticism around the fact that they stood by Ahab's side at the end and wondering why they did that. And I get that criticism because it is weird, but also that's just kinda what cult leaders can do especially when they're the only reason you've been alive for however long + you're slowly being overtaken by BAD WHALE JUICE. I 100% buy that they chose to follow the Captain because the Captain is always right and even when She does horrible things Her understanding is elevated above ours. And if Her fight is our fight, then surely it is ok for us to die here.

I feel like this is also a criticism that only I care about but why is the story suddenly like 'oh revenge is bad don't do revenge'? Like, I get it revenge is bad and that was kinda the point of Moby Dick. BUT WE HAVE LITERALLY DONE SO MUCH REVENGE AND REVENGE WAS KINDA SINCLAIR'S WHOLE THING AND IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE HEATHCLIFF'S! Why is revenge suddenly bad and 'oh no it makes you just like the other person' no it does not Sinclair did not suddenly become genocidal because he kept trying to murder Kromer. Is revenge only bad when it's successful? IDK, I just hate narrative inconsistency and this immediately jumped out at me.

Overall, I really liked this Canto! I have my problems with it, but they are relatively minor compared to all it does well.

#limbus company #limbus company spoilers #ishmael #outis #ahab #starbuck #queequeg #I love her so much #heathcliff #BIG FUCKING WHALE #the indigo elder

[edai-crplpnk]

Hello (:

Mind if you share some list of KankuKiba favorites fics of yours? Or where can I find some recommendations? Suddenly I wanna read about them but I don’t wanna filter them by kudos or # comments on AO3. Feel free sharing of your own jobs.

(You can omit this of course) Thank you! Have a nice day.

Of course! I haven't been reading a lot lately so all the fics I have to mention are a bit old, and maybe you know them already, and also maybe there are more recent gems that I don't know about, but I've got those.

Thirst, by kranquro

60k words, canonverse, action and pining

Kiba and Kankurou work on a joint mission in the Land of Wind and pine for each other while Kankurou is meant to be arranged marriage very soon. Lots of tension (sexual, but really not just that). I really like their dynamic, it's funny, it's angsty, it's hot, it's nuanced and real. The more plot and mission part is really well built too and intersects with the pining in a very well balanced way, love it.

(Note: There's also a little sequel in the series that is nice!)

20 Tracks - Kankuro collection, by shadowstrangle

65k words, canonverse, a bit of action and a lot of romance

Our little internalised homophobia and alcohol abuse Kankurou treat. I can never turn down one of those. Kankurou's very far into the closet when Kiba sort of busts the door open, I suppose. It's a lot about Kankuro figuring that out and the two of them being cute, but there is also some political plot around the political consequences of Kankurou being gay. There are some scenes that have really stuck with me hard.

If I had a criticism it would be that I'm not wholly fond of the trope of Konoha being super liberal and Suna being super conservative and that the political side of things is sometimes a bit simplistic in that area. But it's still nice, it has still surprised me in good and subtle ways in its development, so still a fic I love.

(Note: It comes with read-along songs that are great, and that's what made me want to do the same thing for Haemorrhage!)

Blanket Retrieval Arc, by HelloThereGhoul

25k words, modern college au, mostly fluff

Kiba and Kankurou live in the same college dorm and stumble upon each other. Classic meet cute. They're sweet and funny and crushing babies. Very soft, I thoroughly enjoyed it, several times.

(Note: The fic is technically abandonned? The author said they had plans for more and stopped, but it's written up to the point when they get together and it doesn't feel like it's lacking an ending to me.)

Time to heal, by Lycka

110k words, modern au, figuring out relationships and trauma

Kankurou and Kiba meet at a time where Kankurou is looking over Gaara who is in rehab. They start dating a bit but Kankurou initially identifies as ace and it causes a lot of doubts and questions about how that could work out between them.

It's not in the tags and there's no warning so I feel like I need to add it: there are mentions and non-graphic memories of incest and one other instance of sexual assault in it.

This one is a bit of a wild card. The author's note mentioned that it was their first time writing in English and that the first chapter was not representative of their current writing. So I decided to give it a go and trust that it would improve over the course of the fic, which it really did. This fic has really good scenes that I've reread a bunch of times, but : 1 It's true that the first chapters are really not at the level of the ones down the road so you have to be willing to work with that. 2 It becomes quite KankuKiba centric, but it starts GaaNaru centric, there is also a bit of SasuNaru and a bit of SakuTema. 3 It's abandoned, but the author left a last chapter to summarise the plot that they didn't write up until the end and the KankuKiba part of the fic is not what is left hanging.

Overall, some interesting and good things, but a lot of variety in both quality and content. I've read it once whole, and I'm very happy I did, and then several times just the (KankuKiba) parts that I was really involved in.

While I'm here I will briefly do a little self-promo recap of my own KankuKiba stuff but let it be know it's almost exclusively smut. They're just like that.

I have a series of KankuKiba kinky T4T smut. Canonverse. Shino is also involved in some. I hope to write non-smut in this AU eventually (mostly just pregnant Kankurou fluff), but I have none yet.

I have a modern AU with KankuKiba in a polycule (KankuKiba, KibaShino, ShinoHina). There is a bunch of smut, and a long fic about them getting together that I have yet to finish. I started it two years ago so I too am a bit insecure about my old writing in it, but I love this AU a lot so I still hope to finish it eventually. I update sporadically.

And finally, I have a KankuKiba hook-up fic in my beloved other modern AU. I have ideas to write them again in this AU, maybe not even smut, but I don't know when that'll happen.

That's it for this time I think! Thank you for asking, I hope you will like them. (Anyone passing around this post please feel free to reblog with your own rec!!)

#kankukiba #kankiba #fic rec #trans kiba #kiba inuzuka #kankuro #trans kankuro

[stillness138]

for the character ask game: Vernon Roche

i gotta think about this! thank you

first impression: i actually remember this pretty well because witcher 2 was my first exposure to the franchise. i think i felt pretty much what i was supposed to feel though; "this guy imprisoned me but seems more sensible than the goons he employs". i liked his matter-of-fact but clearly proud and protective attitude towards Ves and his putting the key on the table and walking away like 'surely Geralt will manage'.

impression now: i still like him! surprisingly, cdpr writes original characters with really commendable nuance. of course, if Iorveth is to be believed word for word, Roche is responsible for carrying out hate crimes (he doesn't deny the accusations Iorveth makes, so i think that's just fact), and yet he shows time and time again that he really is more sensible than most. compare him to Rayla - also a special forces leader - and see the difference. Roche lacks the outright bloodthirst or really even the prejudice; it seems to me that he does his job and obeys Foltest without objection because he sees it as doing something worthwhile with his life, considering how he grew up. he and Iorveth contrast and parallel each other in fascinating ways.

favorite thing about him: his relationship towards Ves, because he clearly values her as an employee and as a person. his relative level-headedness. and the unpacked daddy issues that are most definitely there even if he won't talk about it. that part of him is sadly the most relatable to me. i also enjoy his humor, whether intentional or not. "emhyr var emreis, spice merchant" bursting into the elven baths while Triss is trying her hardest to seduce Geralt, fucking comedy gold.

least favorite thing about him: apart from the hate crimes? i think most of my issues that relate to him are metatextual - because the entire political landscape and plotline of witcher 3 sucks ass. maybe he could've held back the cops that beat Geralt though ngl.

favorite line/scene: "And we did. For three days. Then they smashed us into splinters." again, as much as i dislike the politics in witcher 3, this bit stands out to me. maybe also because it's punctuated by a reprise of the second game's main theme, in 3's instrumentation and a much more somber mood. good scene. that and the funny bits. "Some professional you are..."

favorite interaction he has with another character: it should be mainly credited to Letho's absolutely hilarious one-liner, but their little reunion at Kaer Morhen always gets a chuckle out of me. the entire interrogation at the beginning of witcher 2 is up there too.

a character that i wish he would interact with more: in the second game, elves in general. he mostly proves he's not completely shit-headed in context, but it would've been interesting to see him have a conversation with someone like Cedric. third game should've had Iorveth, we all know that.

another character from another fandom that reminds me of him: i know 5 things, but if i had to make a comparison... general Tullius from Skyrim? both are very capable and dedicated servants of a government despite its obvious failures and both show a noticeable sensibility or even calm you perhaps wouldn't expect. both have a badass lady as their right-hand person, too.

a headcanon about him: he hates the smell of cheap alcohol. childhood reminder. i also think he has a notable appreciation for architecture. can't remember if he actually comments on Loc Muinne in any way but somehow it feels like a thing he'd do. and i think it's pretty much canon that his hair color is towards light brown? or have i been living with fanon for far too long. either way, yeah, dirty blonde or warm light brown, super short on the sides.

a song that reminds of him: Shadowplay by Joy Division, in a way. first verse about beginning to serve Foltest, second verse about Foltest's and Temeria's fall. "but i could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left" versus "and we did, for three days, then they smashed us into splinters".

an unpopular opinion about him: i famously dislike shipping him with Iorveth and i'm actually yet to see a good Roche ship. but the real hot take is that he doesn't need one. did i just say aroace Vernon Roche? maybe.

favorite picture: i'm sorry, but it's gotta be this one. on a more serious note, i always liked this piece of fanart a lot too. he gets to be cool.

#thanks again! #ask game #shut up elis #the witcher

[hoodoo12]

Dec 16th show

This show was the last I'll see till closing night, which I am lucky enough to be able to go to. Is lucky the right word? Shouldn't it be heart-breaking or something? idk

It has been nice to be able to have seen the show a few times, because I pick up new things each time. I don't mean that a lot in the show has changed, but because I familiar with it I'm not hyper-focused on the "action" of the scene and can watch the secondary actors on the stage. I feel like I saw a lot more of the individual clones during TBS, and of course I watched Elliott a little more. (Okay, a lot more, lol)

Dana Steingold was Lydia. She did an excellent job of navigating all of Lydia's emotions, instead of having just one overwhelm the nuance of the character.

Notes from show:

Alex wore a plain white shirt for several of the numbers. But not all of them (TBS, for example). I don't understand why.

Alex mocked my laughter at one point (after 'gay republican'), copying it before going to the next line.

The kid he picked for sad puppet show was right behind us (over our left shoulder). We overheard the family talking before it the show and the kid had never seen it before. His mom had to answer for him because he Alex terrified him mute (the kid was 10, for christ's sake). Alex could def see how uncomfortable the kid was because he crouched down to stare him directly in the eye and shouted, "YOUR PARENTS HAVE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE BRINGING YOU HERE", which only scared the kid more.

During his Katherine Hepburn speech, he pretended to be her down on all fours like they were going to screw doggy style.

During FoTL when David suggests, "act like a baby" Alex says, "What the shit is wrong with you?" and now that's my new favorite line.

Alex fumbled for "Brigadoon". He said, "I know my name is on the marquis, but you'll have to watch a new show. The Maitlands," and then stood there for a moment too long, gestured to them again for more time/effect before finally coming up with the line. The person with me thought since he couldn't remember the word he'd just finish with, " . . . the Maitlands. I'm out of here" and then "Yeah, I'm out of here. Fuck me, I guess" instead of "fuck Brigadoon."

Alex screwed up his mic during SMN. He went a little extra (more on that later) when he pulled back his wig to showcase the maggot brain, which messed it up. He repeatedly had to tap it/adjust it during the song to get it working correctly again. This is the second time I've seen that happen to him; it was pointed out that maybe I'm the common denominator when it stops working correctly . . .

Adam Dannheisser almost lost it when Leslie said "prostitution?" responding to his, "you're my employee and my lover" line. He had to take several moments to compose himself to not laugh. He did it though! Good job!

The guy Alex picked on as "that guy" was wearing a suit. The last time he addressed him, he added, "You got all dressed up tonight and got ROASTED." Pause for laughter. "Thanks for coming."

The guy sitting by me was INTO the show. Like leaning forward to laugh and shaking enough during it he rocked the seats.

The two kids (mid-teens) next to us were NOT into it. I don't know why their mom paid for front row seats for kids who didn't give a shit and who, during "Home", pulled out their phones to check their IG or Tiktok or whatever.

Maybe this is something everyone else was aware of, but the knees on his red suit are completely patched. Like his overcoat and the striped suit, they have these big stitches which I had never seen before. That whole suit looked a little more ratty to me than I remember it.

During COG when he and David swing each other over to stage right, Alex got some serious air. He was literally parallel to the ground (my companion pointed out after the show that I gasped, lol) so David must be gdamn strong to lift Alex like that.

Alex also made not one, not two, but three attempts to kiss David at stage right + made a grab at his crotch. Two of those things David was either not expecting or he's just a really excellent actor. It could be both.

Juno's leg skittered across the floor and almost fell into the pit, which I would have paid extra money to see because what the heck would they do??

Going back to "Alex being extra" . . . during intermission the person I was with was like, "What the hell? Why is he exhausting himself? Did you see? His make up is sliding off his face he's so sweaty and I've never seen him go so ham. This is Beetlejuice, not Alex."

She was genuinely concerned for him. Honestly, me too. He exuded more of a frenetic energy which, while appropriate for the character, was so much for so long the miasma of it hung in the air. Maybe he's just giving his all because the show is closing in 3 weeks. idk But with flu, COVID, and RSV also floating around, I hope he doesn't overstress his immune system so he can close the show out.

#Beetlejuice #beetlejuice broaway #musical beetlejuice #Alex Brightman #Alex brighman appreciation

[justicerikai]

graduation

In Japan, when one decides to move onto greener pastures or simply quit the current job they have been doing for quite a while, that is referred to as graduation.

And thus, I too, will be graduating from translating Charisma House.

Earlier this month (May 2023) I decided to go on a break due some medical and personal issues I had to deal with. No thinking about translating at all, just doing what I want and what I like. It's been roughly two weeks now and for someone who is doing things all the time, it was more than enough to decide where I want to keep going with translating.

Of course, this isn't a spontaneous decision. It's something that weighed in the back of my mind for a bit- can I handle all of this? I love translating, but can I handle all of it? No, I cannot. I need to know my limits.

But most importantly, know what's fun.

Charisma House was very novel for me. I had to learn to understand the humor, grasp what's being implied, the nuances of the jokes that can be easily misunderstood if not read properly. It was a challenge that definitely pushed me beyond anything else ever could. And yet, that honeymoon phase of grasping something so novel, so different, has come to an end.

I still love Charisma House, and always will. I actively keep up and peruse the interwebs for fun theories and content. Yet with the direction of Season 2, I have noticed... translating it no longer sparks joy as it once did. It is still good content, but not the one that made me lose my marbles, or perhaps I have simply gotten used to it?

Or perhaps, I simply just... lost the spark and drive I once had for it. And that is fine. Such is the beauty of what's fleeting, 物の哀れ if you will.

Translating Charisma House was, and will always, be a fun experience for me. I'm happy I took the risk, a mere amateur like I, to still translate it. I learned a lot, I laughed a lot, I shared a lot. I never thought I would translate drama tracks, or even still try with song lyrics (which I did give up on but alas). Besides this, I have also dabbled in subbing anime, I have even attempted manga translating. But at the end of the day I realized that what truly sparks joy, what actually is fun for me, for me is visual novel type content.

Not only that, I also want to translate because... I want to. Not because it is an obligation to give the people content. A few weeks ago, my favourite mobile game released an event with my two fave characters and I had so much fun working on it. I felt so excited with each phrase I translated, I couldn't wait to show this to people.

Even when I am thinking of an other mobile game that's coming out soon, all I can think of is "God, I cannot wait to share this with the masses! I have to! It's my duty as a human being!"

That feeling is, alas, what I have been lacking with Charisma House for a while. And that is when I should know better, and draw the line.

As I said, it is no longer fun.

Is it that serious? That I'm dropping a series that I have translated? No, probably not. Happens all the time, I'm sure there are others waiting in line to continue what I was doing, or maybe not. Who knows.

But to me, it is, and that's why I wanted to convey it in a long hefty post.

As closure, I will share some words of one of my favourite manga. Something I live by, and will for as long as possible.

"The world is filled to the brim with nice things... and all of them are carrying someone's intentions and feelings.

When those feelings get across and manage to make someone happy... I gain little pieces of confidence,

that I'll gather together and carry with me as I move on."

And I believe something like that, is only achievable when you do something that is fun, to you.

Thank you for reading, this post, and my translations. Thank you for being able to find enjoyment in Charisma House through my translations. This blog is not going anywhere and will stay up, of course. You will probably still see me around on my other ventures, just not here.

And never forget,

Rikai-kun is cute and he will always be.

Sayonara

[cha0ticr0b0tic]

I just watched Manhunter – the 1986 Michael Mann adaptation of Thomas Harris’ infamous novel Red Dragon – and I have some THOUGHTS that I cooked up in the shower because this could not be more different from Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, and that’s not a bad thing at all!

A little bit of context so I can explain where I’m coming from: back in late 2019 I was studying abroad in the UK and our professors took us to a Blake exhibition in London. As a writer, socialist, and avid horror fan, I was floored. I got really overwhelmed in there and spent the next couple days decompressing before I started digging into his work in earnest, as well as works revolving around his art. I bought a copy of Red Dragon not long after that trip and worked my way through it when I had free time. I also started working on a paper for class about Blake’s influence in my favorite movie, Blade Runner, which meant I was deep-diving into noir as well as this trippy artwork – lots of anticapitalist rhetoric, lots of body horror, lots of monsters. Sooooo many monsters. 

The pandemic hit, we all were sent home, and I watched a lot of crime shows – Twin Peaks, Mindhunter, and Hannibal were the main ones. I was really excited to get to the Red Dragon storyline in Season Three and I was not disappointed. By that point in the show, Hannibal had turned from a police procedural with supernatural undertones to a full blown queer Gothic romance. That also includes the Dolarhyde/Reba storyline, even if it didn’t last. 

Dolarhyde got a lot of attention in the show – more than I was expecting, honestly. Richard Armitage did SUCH a wonderful job portraying that character, it’s incredibly nuanced and sympathetic. Our first moments with Dolarhyde are where he’s working out, practicing his speech, and getting his infamous back tattoo of the Dragon. There is a lot of attention paid to his body, and his discomfort in his body. I’m half-joking, but the trans vibes are strong with this one: “Becoming” might as well be referring to transitioning, albeit into a giant monster (whatever floats your boat!). As an out-and-proud director making an out-and-proud show, it makes sense that Fuller is focusing on the queer elements of the Red Dragon – the coding was always there, but now he’s really bringing it front and center via Dolarhyde’s physicality/body language.

I was kind of surprised, then, that Dolarhyde was not as prominent in Manhunter. There was hardly any discussion of the Red Dragon artwork at all, which was also surprising – is it because it was too fantastical for a director who deals with grounded, gritty crime? Compared to the NBC show, this Red Dragon was kind of one-note, which was a shame. He’s the bad guy, after all. He’s the guy Will is supposed to catch. But then I remembered: Dolarhyde is this movie’s Waingro. He’s the destabilizing element. I’m not an expert in Michael Mann, but I know he’s very into the stability of the family unit (shout out to good dad Will Graham!) and Dolarhyde specifically targets stable families – this was already in the Harris novel, he didn’t have to make that up to fit his thematic interests. Dolarhyde only matters because he serves as a threat to our hero and his values.

This version of Will Graham is surprisingly grounded, privately tortured, and full of resolve and dedication. We see that he’s got a history with Hannibal – there are definitely some queer moments here (there are a surprising number of 80s love songs in the soundtrack, hmm wonder what that’s about), and it’s a bummer we don’t get much of Cox’s Lecter because he is delightfully funny. Still, I don’t see this Will succumbing to his inner darkness anytime soon; he’s got a very good relationship with his wife and son (Vincent Hanna, take notes.) He is very much a Michael Mann Protagonist, even if he comes from another writer’s mind. In contrast, Bryan Fuller’s Will comes across as a Gothic hero(ine) in that his sensitivities are always highlighted, he looks like he needs to be taken to the seaside for his health, and he can’t seem to shake his demons (Hannibal is, after all, difficult to avoid.)

In any case, both adaptations are valid and it’s kinda comparing apples to oranges. Manhunter leans way more noir, Fuller’s Hannibal is Gothic all the way. I am definitely going to be rewatching Manhunter to pick apart some of the queer coding & subtext hehe

#rant #hannibal #bryan fuller #will graham #manhunter 1986 #michael mann #the great red dragon #thomas harris

[beta-adjacent]

Playlist Makes Brain Go Brrrrr

First off, the playlist in question here was created by the amazing @softomegaposting. They did and excellent job I'd highly recommend listening to it first, especially if you weren't familiar with the songs like me!

Vibe Assessment

I was really struggling to describe the tone of this playlist. To solve that, I....may or may not have roped in some of my irl music-loving friends.

I challenged myself to describe this playlist without mentioning omegaverse. These are the phrases I came up with: "utopian domesticity and All its vile implications", "calming your lover down like they're a feral animal", "you've been reduced to your body and pray you will transcend physicality", "bawling your eyes out as the credits of an indie romcom roll", and "healing a debutante of her tuberculosis despite knowing her illness is prized".

After many listen-throughs, I still stand by these descriptions, except for the tuberculosis one (though it has great potential to be for another dynamic).

I think it's interesting how you found songs that have shockingly great parallels to omegas. "Froot", "Calm Me Down", and "One Day Robots Will Cry" FLOORED me when I first heard them because of this. I thought the religious aspect to some of the songs was interesting; not only were they good portrayals of that nuanced worship, but it also fit into the late 20th century domesticity theme?? I don't know, it's just *chef's kiss*

Song Reccs

Dicslaimer

What this is: Chai trying their best at using their and their friends' knowledge to find songs that Chai would include if this were their playlist. Chai is heavily biased by their musical background, and tries their best to explain the issues they have with each recc What this is NOT: Chai stating that these songs should actually be added, that these are the perfect/most-fitting songs for the playlist, or that these songs were chosen purely through an objective pattern-seeking lens

Friend's picks:

"Video Games" by Lana del Rey, "Abandoned" by Alexander Ryback,

Putting this category first because it's the shortest and also incomplete since I'm still waiting on another friend's reccs. To be fair, my friends had way more suggestions than this, but these were the only two I felt really fit the themes described? But they're, naturally, missing the canine edge

My picks:

"Sweet Nothing" by Taylor Swift, "Grenadine" by Dreadlight, "Impostor Syndrome" by Sidney Gish, "Los Angeles" by Sugarcult,

"Sweet Nothing" hurts the most if it's played directly after "Hey Good Lookin", which is what took it out of the Honorable Mentions category tbh. It is the only song I believe actively captures one of the listed descriptors

"Grenadine" feels like it has the most on-the-nose for feral animal energy, but I also feel like it doesn't nail the theme 100%? It has more of a 'man-eater' vibe than anything

"Impostor Syndrome" is just a personal favorite of mine, omegaverse aside. Content-wise, a song about feeling disturbingly different/lesser than others feels very omega-coded, at least by many verses' standards. Lines like "these sweet instincts/ruin my life" and "for canine/grossly overqualified" are just icing on the cake

LISTEN!!! “Los Angeles” is THE typical omegean heat story. This is the hardest song to place in the descriptors, since it's describing a common trope instead of the psyche of an omega, but I've thought about this song for too long to not mention it. There's something very omega in struggling between intimacy and just getting through the day, especially as you try to fight against the "heat".

Honorable mentions:

"Summertime" by Dutch Criminal Records, "Sirens" by Elefant, "Sanctuary" by Utada, "The Detail" by Delta Sleep, "Self Defense" by Paul Westerberg, "The Garden" by the Crane Wives

Out of all of these, I think "The Garden" is the strongest, but I couldn't sit down and explain why to you if I tried :')

"Sanctuary" is here because I listened to FOB's "Church" and heard the singular word 'santcuary'. And then I read the lyrics and debated for 20 minutes on if this was a good addition, so I compromised and put it here

"Self Defense" first entered the scene for the 'cheekbones and hormones' line, and remained because it felt on-theme in its somberness

"Summertime", "Sirens", and "the Detail" were just ones that stood out when I was pilfering through Spotify, and fit the musical themes enough for me to say "fuck it, someone could reasonably interpolate this probably"

A few other artists I listened to on the quest for suitable reccs: Owl City, The Smith's, Crystal Castles, The Pierces, Melanie Martinez, the Front Bottoms, and the Barbie album (haven't seen the movie yet either oops). I wish I could've gone through so much more, but life really caught up to me

#fun fact: day 3 into my research I rb'd the original post and cass said I didn't have to do any reccs #little did she know this whole production was happening lol #I think overall this took me... 5(?) days?? #I don't quite know Why my brain decided this was the penultimate project for me to take on this week but it is what it is #omegaverse playist #omegaverse #a/b/o #Spotify

[smokeyloki]

When I have a moment, I want to sit down and write out a more detailed review and criticism of the film, but for right now:

Barbie was not a great movie, and I'm not even talking about the on-the-nose, in-your-face, preachy intersectional feminism that was shoved down the audience's throat for about two hours.

Plot, character development, story development and direction: all basic elements of a good story were missing or convoluted.

I will also add that it is not a film for people to take their little kids to. Overt and explicit sexual humor, a bleeped swear word, and mature concepts are gratuitously thrown in without any subtlety or nuance; they're not presented in a way that is appealing to kids, nor sensitive to them and their lack of maturity. The final song that plays during the end credits is full of swear words and objectifying language targeted at women.

I plan to address some of these in more detail in a longer post, but that's the short and sweet of it. The marketing team did an excellent job of making it seem like a fun, stupid comedy, and it was not that.

#Barbie #movie review #short movie review #personal #criticism #longer review coming later when I have more time

[thegeminisage]

TNG UPDATE TIME. wednesday (i think?) we did "the loss" and "data's day" and thursday we did "the wounded."

the loss: GIRL GO OFF. deanna was INCREDIBLE in this episode. the way she immediately called out other people acting weird around her because now she's disabled...she was so angry and scared but also like weirdly assured at the same time. very much in a take-no-bullshit (except her own) mood we rarely see from her

also, her and riker this episode...a whole "imzadi" mention and everything. i DON'T like the way he called her aristocratic but she did tell him off about it in the end so i can live with it. sorry to say this but it's a very ben and claire dynamic they had going on in this episode. i was fascinated

the whole time i was thinking about her horrible mother, who always encouraged deanna to talk with her mind and not her mouth. i'm so glad she wasn't in this episode. she would have made deanna feel SO much worse.

i loved her little moment with guinan too wah...guinan the only person on that ship who got through to her because she WASN'T walking on eggshells. god!!! women.

data's day: I LOVE HIM SO MUUUUUCCCHHH

HIS CAT. I THOUGHT THERE WAS A WHOLE EPISODE ABOUT THE CAT. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN...

also, data tapdancing <3 he did a great job. what a funny thing for beverly to know too.

finally some true o'brien content??? i hear jokes about his immense suffering constantly so im assuming poor keiko dies eventually. rip queen

btw, keiko was in mash. except in mash she was korean, not japanese. wild how that works. (rosalind chao is chinese.)

"geordi is my best friend" 🥺

the only truly wack thing about this ep is that the log was going to maddox. FUCK maddox. i'll kill him with my bare hands.

the wounded: HELLOOOOOO tng sometimes does pop off

first of all, SO thrilled to finally meet the famed cardassians. secondly, holy shit about the monster war makes out of people

like obrien isnt being racist bc he hates the enemy or whatever like that would be totally understandable (not at all acceptable, but understandable) given the circumstances but they went deeper. they literally went deeper. he was like actually i DONT hate cardassians i hate myself for killing one. KING.

his talk with that crazy ass captain at the end was so fucking good. them singing the war song together...my jaw was on the ground. like some people literally do fucking need the war.

i think the plot twist at the end was so good too. that he can be RIGHT about the supply ships but WRONG in what he chooses to do about it is so nuanced and important...i wish tng was good like this more often. what an ethical dilemma they presented here and like with so much compassion for people who are doing bad things for good reasons, and even for the innocent cardassians who that captain guy killed, because even if they're doing bad things for bad reasons it's not acceptable to like. just summarily execute hundreds of people. idk. it was great.

do you know the cold war was STILL GOING when they aired this episode. i think about that a lot

NEXT TIME which is hopefully tonight: "the devil's due" and "clues"

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb #FINALLY finished updating my spreadsheet. i was so behind

[majimemegoro]

Hello Ms. Majimemegoro! I saw that you're playing Lost Judgement now, so I have a few questions I'd like your opinion on (feel free to answer as seriously/un-seriously as possible sgsggdsds this is def for fun)

1. Why do you think RGG Studios decided to name the generic boss fight theme song in LJ as "vore"?

2. In Soma's theme song "Viper", there are at least 2 (3?) instruments playing. Obviously Soma can't be playing his own music since he's busy doing the stabbing, so do you think he outsourced the job to his RK lackeys? Or does he only trust Akutsu to play all instruments? He is a very competent subordinate after all!

3. What is your opinion on this detective?

For me, Nabe-san's the hottest man in the entirety of LJ hands down, but also he ruined my Hard mode streak because my controller wouldn't respond to his QTEs and I had to switch to Easy for his fight only, which I'm still bitter about

4. Which do you side with (aesthetically or morally or whatever), Black Leather Jacket with Cigarettes, or Brown Leather Jacket with Vapes? (follow up question: does your mom agree?)

1.Why do you think RGG Studios decided to name the generic boss fight theme song in LJ as "vore"? I saw the full name is vorarephilia and i was like 'oh but thats just latin, i wonder what it means'

ok. no further comment.

2. In Soma's theme song "Viper", there are at least 2 (3?) instruments playing. Obviously Soma can't be playing his own music since he's busy doing the stabbing, so do you think he outsourced the job to his RK lackeys? Or does he only trust Akutsu to play all instruments? He is a very competent subordinate after all!

i think soma has no boss theme, that wonderful terrifying slasher music was in my mind. a reflection of my mental state.

3. What is your opinion on this detective? Well I think he should be friends with Date-san because they are both gruff slightly rumpled but competent detectives whose hearts are in the right place. I don't have strong opinions with him really but my SISTER. well she thought this dude had mad chemistry with Yagami. and also with her.

4. Which do you side with (aesthetically or morally or whatever), Black Leather Jacket with Cigarettes, or Brown Leather Jacket with Vapes? (follow up question: does your mom agree?)

aesthetically kuwana's outfits suck, he has a big baby head, and vaping is yuck. i also find his voice in the dub really annoying. finally I think he is, frankly, an idiot.

*BIG SPOILERS ALSO MENTIONS OF BULLYING AND SU*CIDE* there's room for nuance and im not categorically opposed to vigilanteism in principal. But there's one thing I can't get over: out of people who kill themselves, a certain proportion of them will have done so partially in response to someone who was harming them in some way—emotionally or physically or whatever. but only a specific subset of these harm-creating people are going to be called 'bullies': and that's kids. Kuwana is choosing to go after specifically children whose behavior led someone to su*cide, and not adults whose behavior did the same. WHat the heck kuwana!! did you even think this through !! hes a deranged little man. i can appreciate that in a character but sadly coupled with his lacklustre aesthetic this is an L for him on all sides. and my mother:

"This is easy! Black and brown leather jackets are both fine, but more important to have a vintage/used one! Cigarettes - you actually know what they are doing to you. Sorry, vapers, but to me those look stupid, like sucking on a great big ball point pen. Plus, popcorn lung."

After i gently suggested that the question was supposed to make her pronounce on yagami vs. kuwana, she said the following:

"One. *disparaging tone* Kuwana's voice.

"Two. Yagami is cute but in a mainstream way that's a bit irritating.

"Three. Well I might get in trouble for saying this. But I like the way his jeans fit and the way he walks. They did... a good job on that.

"Four. Yagami is better in every way.... except when he's dancing and he SMILES."

she also drew a picture of yagami getting hit by a car <3

#lost judgment #meme #rgg #kuwana jin #yagami takayuki #lost judgment spoilers #theres so many anecdotes i havent told you guys about haha #its so fun to play video games with people and shoot the breeze #memecomradeoriginal

[bookcub]

13 the movie musical review

so i have three categories for everything. the good, the bad, and the poorly executed. the poorly excuted is changes and updates that were made that i agreed with in theroy but didn't think the execution worked

the good

the child actors all did a good job, amazing dancing, good singing, and decent acting. i hope this leads to more roles for most of them. they also were actual tweens, and looked it. media about kids with kids in it is important.

the Jewish culture and herritage was still a large part of evan's story, and i am not Jewish, but it seemed like overall it was a good job. (i would have liked more, the whole theme of becoming a man and what it means to be an adult was taken out, which was a huge part of evan and tied to being Jewish because of his bar mitzvah)

the cast of children is much more diverse, not just race, but there were a few kids who were queer, and it was incidental diversity (a term ive heard some romance writers use)

costuming was great, loved how the teens were dressed like teens and all clearly had their own styles

the lighting!!! i could see everything!!! it was so bright!!!

i think im glad "the tongue" was taken away and it was about your first kiss instead but . . . im still not sure, like this was more sanitation but also felt more accurate to my middle school experience??

some of the songs cut I approved of because we didn't need hey kendra or any minute

while i was upset they added new songs after cutting many important ones, the originals were better than a lot of the original songs because of how many changed lyrics sounded so awful but worked in the original ones better

they gave lucy, kendra, and brett some actual nuance and less of a stereotypical persona, like there were motivations that were explained and kendra had more agency, so . . .. i think i liked that change overall, but despite the updates they still felt fairly flat

the actors who played brett and kendra can actually sing, in the original musical they have the weakest voices so that was a great change

the bad

who the fuck sanitized this? no one says hell or damn or ass, and those words were used frequently in the musical. no one talked about bras or wanting to get drunk. the kids were messy in the musical, they were jerks, and they were all lost and that was all taken away. no one cried or really shouted? the emotions were gone and it lost so much of the reality

i said this earlier, but evan has multiple songs about what it means to grow up and become a man and that was erased until it shows up in the second to last song which. . . ruined the whole theme and evans arc as a character. the songs could have been shortened, but becoming a man, here i come, and if that's what it is, should all be in there. im so upset they didn't make it into the cut

the end was totally changed!!! i didn't need all the other students to hate him like they did in the end but evan realizes that he prefers patrice and archie, and that the popular kids don't care about him and ugh. he realized he didn't need his ideal party to have the bar mitzvah he needed.

turn!! off!! autotune!! or if you use it, the average listener should not be able to tell

as much as I liked having more of brett, kendra, and lucy, patrice and archie were shoved to the side of the narrative and that was incredibly frustrating, ensemble movies are hard to make with everyone fleshed out rip :/

the antisemantic joke made me deeply uncomfortable, esp considering it was the only . . . .inappropriate thing said?? like the word bra was taken out but they had a remark about circumcision?? it makes it feel even worse. (is it just me???) i also have no idea if this was in the original, i only have the music memorized

the poorly executed

i haven't heard any commentary on archies character uh. . . ever, but not surprising to me that an adaptation would need to redo a lot of his character. however, the answer was not to cut his character entirely. he went from one of the characters with the most time on stage to some of the least screen time. dont just cut a role, give the work it needs to be updated.

lucy lucy lucy. .. . i loved seeing her motivation but let her be meaner. shes our lead villain, she does some terrible things. let her be terrible!!! (possibly we could have talked more about eating disorders?? her line in the musical at the end is jarring and very real and i wish we can time to unpack the complexity of mental illness in teens??? but also this show does not have the time or skill to do that)

I get there needed to be adults and they needed to not just. .. be there but this is about kids, this is not about your parents. put them on the back burner and give their screen time to kids. they should have the smallest parts ever.

opportunity. . . it needed to be changed some but every word except opportunity and the last line were changed . . . .like that's not the same song then??? and the rap was *shudders* bad. i liked trying to change the placement and ofc the inclusion of it in the musical but . . . no do better.

so many lyrics needed to be changed because they did not age well but the updated lyrics were so sloppy and didn't fit and whoever updated them clearly put random lyrics in without any actual thought into what a good change might be

(and many lyrics did not need to change, the producers were just cowards but whatever)

i have so much more to say but i just need to post this now

please tell me your thoughts, if you agree or disagree with any points, i really want to hear other perspectives!!

#13 the musical #thirteen the musical #jason robert brown #13 the musical movie

[chaseyesterdays]

Mahonia and papyrus?

mahonia: what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

You know, I see what you mean about these ask games being too subjective. Good lord, how the fuck do I answer this?

Basically what it comes down to for me inspiration-wise is this: I either see something done really right, or really wrong. For example: I went to a production the other night in which some of the actors sang eighties and nineties power ballads in three part harmony. Afterwards, all I wanted to do was sing, because they all blended so well together and I wanted to be a part of that myself. Similarly, I watched some of the less seasoned performers in that show really struggle to find their characters, and all I could think was "Hmm, okay, here's what I would do different and how I would execute that nuance more effectively," and down the mental rabbit hole I went.

Same thing goes for writing too - sometimes I see words woven together so beautifully it creates a visceral reaction in me and I just...desperately want to make something that beautiful or impactful myself. Sometimes I read (or see, thanks to tv and film) something so poorly constructed or just outright bad that I have to try and fix it. I don't even know if this is really answering the question or not, because I don't know if any of this is inspiration so much as it's motivation to create or correct, but that's usually what spurs me into action, so. I guess it works?

(As for what inspires fics... God only knows. Most of those things hit me like a meteor strike in the middle of the most boring fucking banal things you could imagine. If I had a dime for every time a plot bunny caught me in the shower or while I'm working my actual full time job, I...probably wouldn't need the job, to be honest.)

papyrus: if you put your 'on repeat' playlist on shuffle, what's the first song that comes up? what do you like about it/associate it with?

(Under a cut because this is insanely long and also...way more emotional than I intended to be, but I am at the mercy of shuffle here, so.)

I literally just did this and the song it picked is "The View Between Villages (Extended Version)" by Noah Kahan. And that just...fucking wrecks me, to be honest. In the best way, but whoo boy, shuffle is coming for the jugular tonight.

I discovered that song a few days ago (and honestly it's got some verses in it that are very Percy-coded), but when I listened to it for the first time, all I could see is my two best friends' hometown in the mountains. All I could feel is that...bittersweet longing for things you just can't have back. Hiraeth, I think they call it - a homesickness for a home you can never return to, or a home that never existed in the first place. Mine is in those mountains, and I hear it in the most...insane ways in that song.

So, for starters, the first time I visited my closest friend Su in her hometown (six hours away from mine), it was 2014 and all we listened to was the soundtrack for The Fault in Our Stars. M83's song "Wait" was on that soundtrack and I fucking loved it - we listened to it driving at night, when the streetlights smear against the night sky and you can only see by the backlit numbers on the dash, and it was just such an atmospheric song for those summer nights with the windows down and the mountain breeze coming in. I don't know why, but that was one of two or three songs I've come to associate with that place, and I hear them in my head every time I drive back into town.

Cut to a few years later when I'm in the same town, but hanging out with my second best friend. Aly. The one I called "sister" because "friend" never seemed to be enough. We listened to so many of the same songs, and so many memories of the things we did in that exact same place got attached to those songs as a result. They went on my playlists and I would send those playlists to her sometimes - music was such an outlet for us both, and trauma bonding drives people together in some strange, strange ways.

Now, cut to July 2022 when Su and I drive back into town for our sister's funeral. Grief thick in the back of our throats, eyes too glazed over to really see. Some of those same songs are on my sad playlist, because they made me think of her. Made me think of all the places we'd been and things we'd done. Made me miss those things. Made me realize none of us would ever have those things again.

And then fucking Noah Kahan releases a song that's...objectively about his hometown. About the love you have for a place and the desire to just...run from it. Drive away and never look back. Feeling the hold it has on you, the tether that keeps you here, stuck between two places, suspended. "The things that I lost here, the people I knew - they got me surrounded for a mile or two. Left past the graveyard, I'm driving past ghosts; their arms are extended, my eyes start to close. The car's in reverse, I'm gripping the wheel - I'm back between villages, and everything's still." And Jesus Fucking Christ if that isn't everything I feel when I think about Aly's hometown. When I drove back through it for what I knew might be the last time, right past the house she never came home to, past the graveyard where they buried her ashes.

And here's the kicker: it sounds so much like those songs we used to listen to together. There's a huge layered vocal swell that reminds me so much of "Wait." The build from something soft into something huge and loud and impactful is both "Wait" and "All I Want". The vibe and some of the harmonies I add in over the melody line when I sing along make me think of "The Night We Met" in places - the last song I sang for her, the one that autoplayed literally right as I drove by her house for her funeral. And all of that, all of that is mirrored for me in this song.

It makes no sense. It makes perfect sense. And this is way, way more than you asked for, I know. But I've listened to this thing over and over so many times now, and every single time, it just hits me in the face with all of the above.

Will it speak to everyone that way? No, and I would never expect it to. But goddamn if it doesn't hurt just the way I need it to now, driving home alone in my car, windows down and sky night-dark and dashboard lights the only thing to guide my way.

#jesus i'm so sorry i didn't intend that to get...bittersweet? #but I am at the mercy of the prompts and the shuffle so. #cw: grief #ask game #essay of thoughts #forcie rambles #adventures of a panic-stricken word nerd

[sheskindaperfecttryhardboys]

inspired by a post i saw by @mh-midnight-wanderer

🌹🦇Things I Liked About The Movie🦇🌹

Frankie…thats it thats the post - Ceci played the HELL out of them I loved the casual representation like the thing I hate about most shows that add representation is thats all there is to the character and here it isn’t the case Frankie is my favorite character of the movie not just because of them being nonbinary. between the Info-dumping and how relatable their struggle with socializing was and how consistent they were with their movement and the first day they were 15 days old and the next they were 16 days old I really enjoyed that. They in my opinion had the best outfits in the movie like I did not hate them as someone where my clothing and makeup expression is very important to my gender presentation. Overall they held up the movie definitely.

The music was fucking great there was not a bad song all of them bops going onto my musical playlist hell my main playlist even cuz the hyperfixation is real

The visuals and like background music was so on brand in my opinion like I don’t know how they could have been done better with the budget they had I really did feel immersed in the universe

The humor was also so on brand the football scene and the main 3 disturbing ghoulias rest in the graveyard were some highlights for me

Eventhough I am Jacksons biggest simp the teacher I did like I know alot of people were saying it was predictable but their motives and everything and how they didn’t want Clawdeen to get involved and thought their way was the best way for her I enjoyed. and hell from what i recall they never said his first name that could be Jackson.

I enjoyed headmistress and Dracula’s characters they are just as I would have imagined them and how Draculaura has conflict with her dad due to their family’s legacy I related to alot as a kid who feels like they haven’t done enough as an 18 year old because my siblings already had cars and high gpas and stable jobs by then

🌹🦇Things I Disliked About The Movie🦇🌹

Cleo - fucking white woman jumpscare everytime she came on screen I omfg

The casting in general when it came to the poc in the movie yall know damn well Cleo and Clawdeen could and should have been casted by darker actresses and the argument of talent can not be made because there are plenty of darker skinned poc actresses who can act and sing yall could have found

i wish they kepted ghoulia nonverbal/speaks zombie i made a post touching on this lightly ill link it here

🍒🧟Things I Liked About The Cartoon🧟🍒

Draculaura, Cleo, and Lagoonas cartoon characters looked very cute

Im trying to be positive here okay

🍒🧟Things I Didn’t Like About The Cartoon🧟🍒

TORALEI!! im not even not even upset about the fact that she’s fucking british okay its the fact they scrapped her origin of being an orphan that had a rough upbringing and how they brought nuance to her character instead to make her some bigoted chav she was one of my favorite characters and yall shat on her

i didnt like the story felt rushed and cheap but that was only one episode I watched so

felt like a baby show and not a good one like miraculous ladybug or sophia the first like just bright colors make them shut up for 10 minutes baby show i was hoping for something fun to watch at any age like the og Bratz show

the styles of the character are hard to look the only ones that I like are draculaura and cleo and maybe lagoona really the rest of them I don’t see myself getting dolls of which makes me upset cuz as someone who really liked live action Frankie if their doll looked like that I would have bought it

why did they make clawdeen biracial? i dont know if this is for the show and the movie im assuming both because of how the character looks. like did the idea of having a fully black main character not vibe with y’all what is the reason if yall wanted to have a biracial character then create a new character making a character who was fully black now biracial is crumby as hell making it seem as if having a dark skinned femme lead isn’t appealing

this can apply to both the movie and the show really where are clawdeens siblings??? howleen my girl where are you!! clawd my himbo!? i loved how the wolf siblings showed the variety of shades black teens came in and their characters in general and thats just gone now

ill add more as i go!!🖤

#monster high #the formatting on this looks horrible jfc