#it’s a fucking. silly comedic pirate show

[sunnibits]

literally do not understand why people will come on this website and actively engage in activities that are Not Fun. like why would you do that. what is the appeal. this is the website where you’re supposed to only do Fun Things on your specifically tailored Fun Blog. why do you people not like Having Fun. does it give you joy to write discourse essays or argue with people or send hateful anons??? is that fun for you?????? I just genuinely don’t get it. why would you do it if it’s not Fun

#ok I admit this is ab the amount of discourse I see about ofmd 😶 don’t kill me #but like. can y’all just chill for TWO seconds #it’s a fucking. silly comedic pirate show #why do you people spend so much time and energy arguing with people over the moral ethics of the pirate show it’s so funny #but also exhausting to witness #it’s one thing to engage critically with a piece of media #it’s another thing to just overanalyze everything and argue 24/7 #you are allowed to have critical and nuanced opinions like. in your head. and not argue with people about them #just bc I limit my blog to only Fun Posts doesn’t mean I don’t have complex opinions ab the characters and shit #I just don’t feel the need to throw my hat into the fucking clown rodeo that saps your soul like the dark crystal #I think there’s a difference between having critical discussions about media and trying to analyze it deeper #and like. just making things up to get mad about #I’m not saying we should never engage in debate ever I just don’t understand the urge to engage in discourse that’s not actually meaningful #like y’all realize you could just Not Do That right?????

[sitzfleischh]

The first batch of episodes of ofmd S2 begin with Stede's fantasy of his and Ed's reunion, and end with Ed's fantasy of their reunion.

They're both overdramatic, extremely silly, completely sincere, and self-aware without being ironic/cynical. It's camp!! (or more precisely, camping, because it's deliberate).

I'm working on a longer post about camp and comedy in ofmd that I will probably wait to finish until I've seen the whole season but in the meantime: About That Mermaid Scene.

The thing to remember about this scene is that it's fucking hilarious. Something being funny in ofmd doesn't mean it's insincere (often the opposite!) but we shouldn't lose ourselves in its romance and forget that ultimately it-- just like Stede's Competent Beardy Pirate Fantasy-- is also a comedic sendup of the distorted ways they are thinking about each other at this point in the series.

If you've seen the trailer you know what's coming next-- the head bonk, followed by an "awkward exes" dynamic. Of course it wouldn't be much of a show if everything was resolved between these two at the end of episode 3. But I think these two fantasies are key to understanding where we're going. Stede's fantasy is about seeing himself as a traditionally masculine and hyper-competent pirate, "saving" Ed from Izzy, and being forgiven with no hard feelings. Ed's fantasy is about being wanted, being rescued, & brought to safety, by a beautiful untouchable creature that is completely different from him.

Their respective distorted views of each other are what drove them apart at the end of the first season. Ed thinks Stede is too much of a fine thing for him to deserve. Stede thinks he's not enough of a real pirate to do anything but "ruin" Ed.

The rest of the season, then, has to be about both of them failing to achieve those fantasies. They've both hurt each other and caused a lot of harm. They're both not traditionally masculine. They're both imperfect. They're both human. They both deserve to love and be loved.

We will get to the romantic moments, like the ones in season 1, where the comedy -- even the camp comedy -- falls away. But until then I look forward to more laughing as they both figuratively bonk their heads against the reality they are refusing to see.

#ofmd #ofmd meta #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #not me posting this at 11pm when nobody's gonna see it #i am THINKING THOUGHTS!!!!!!! #looking forward to watching the boys fail and learn and etc #sitzfleischh.meta

[amygdalae]

metal recs? if you fuck w that :)c

I'm a bit less versed in metal recs but I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of Alice in Chains (ik they're more grunge but they still count lol), Opeth, Dress the Dead, Arch Enemy, Meshuggah, Revocation, Green Lung, Lacuna Coil, Type O Negative, Combichrist, King Woman, Rob Zombie

Also if you want a fun silly time try Alestorm, they're ridiculous (pirate metal with a strong comedic lean). I went to one of their shows for my birthday last year, they're really fun live

#i know there are more bands im just not thinking of at the moment. my brain is full of holes #music

[apollos-olives]

I also had to cut ties with ofmd, it’s weird coz I love history, but I didn’t know that the real Stede Bonnet was a slave owner. I mean, we know all about Blackbeard, but Blackbeard is so common in pirate tales and adaptations that I didn’t think much into it but then I did my research and found out that both Stede and Edward Teach (Blackbeard) were slave owners and it made me feel icky as a black person, so I decided to pirate the show (no pun intended).

Then Taika signed the Zionist letter and I couldn’t watch the show anymore. I also found out that he may or may not have fired Guz Khan for… reasons ( Guz Khan was the only pro Palestine actor on his show) and then I also found out about him and Hitler (I didn’t watch JoJo Rabbit, never cared about it or knew about it until recently).

It seems as if Taika Waititi has some sort of kink for taking horrible historical characters and turning them into fun loving, comedic characters.

Hitler is now comedic, comedic enough to be played by a Jewish man! Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach may have been slave owners… but it’s okay because they’re funny and gay! I bet you in 5 years, he’ll make a lesbian version of Golda Meir just for shits and giggles.

Idk man. Taika Waititi and his black fishing wife can go fuck off.

you're so right in cutting off that show completely. like the whole real slave owners part was absolutely horrible, but that on top of taika being a zionist and playing a quirky silly hitler?? he's genuinely so out of touch it's not even funny. genuinely really disgusting. he needs to be cut off from the film making industry fr

[spaceshipkat]

one of these days, i need to make a full, proper post about how important it is (to me personally, though i’m sure others feel the same—we’ve seen Taika himself talk about how comedy opens a very real, very genuine avenue to discussing difficult topics) that ofmd is a romcom that has Things To Say and Actually Says Them, and takes them (and itself) seriously. granted, not every romcom needs to do that, but when you have a story like this, touching on so many topics (racism, homophobia, toxic masculinity, imperialism, to name just a few), the fact it handles them in a way that’s so respectful while carrying the messages on humor’s back is just fuckijg stupendous. people hear “romcom” and immediately have a very specific image in mind, however derogatory that image is, or they assume it’s going to be one thing when it’s actually that one thing and so much more. that image intrigues them enough bc they’re going to automatically assume this is just a carefree, escapist show (and it is in many respects!! but it’s not just that)

ofmd pulls people in by promising a silly gay romcom about pirates falling in love amidst fuckeries and completely entrances the viewer and then says “great, while you’re here laughing your head off and admiring all the ridiculously pretty actors kissing each other, you’re also gonna confront these tough but important subjects and you’re gonna damn well enjoy it” and it’s frankly fucking brilliant. it’s exactly what i do in my own romcoms. people hear me say i write romcoms and immediately supply a very specific image (however derogatory) only for me to sit them down and say “great, while you’re admiring these pretty thieves bantering and having shenanigans, you’re also gonna confront these tough but important subjects and you’re gonna damn well enjoy it”

comedy is such a great medium to have these discussions, bc it has them in a way that makes people address these lessons or challenge these unconscious biases without even realizing it. comedy, like romance, is easy to digest when it’s done right, which makes it the perfect medium to convey messages. ofmd does it right, and with aplomb, and it’s so nice to see a romcom that promises silly shenanigans with pretty people and snappy dialogue handle these various topics with such impressive gravitas

(and this doesn’t even touch on how the humor and romance in and of itself is written. it’s not mocking the material, like so many “comedic” things do these days, or looking down on the audience who enjoy the genre. it’s a celebration and a dissertation in equal measure)

#okay and yes not everyone who watches the show will actually learn the lessons #(just look how many people misread Ed and Stede and even izzy) #but it still says them and a good number of people WILL pick up what the writers are putting down #it just means a lot to me as someone who uses their romcoms to have important conversations and address difficult subjects #while drawing people in with a promise of humor and romance (that i do actually deliver if my agent is to be believed) #it’s like putting medicine in a treat for a dog #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2

[girlbossblackbeard]

brain thoughts whilst watching s2 ep1

if u saw me post some of these as their own posts no u didnt

-y'all are so smart for predicting that the steard HAD to be a fantasy/dream sequence

-"I never made you leave him. You did that yourself" *stede kills him* hmmmmmm definitely not a metaphor for stede trying to kill/silence the part(s) of himself and his actions that he hates and is ashamed of and that story arc DEFINITELY isn't a parallel to Ed's comatose dream journey we see later in ep 3 when he confronts Hornigold's ghost only to realize that it's actually a manifestation of Ed's self-hatred. this is just a silly little pirate show with silly little fake sword battles that's all :)

-Okay. We know this is a fantasy. We know this is a silly little pirate show. We know it's a haha funny comedy with two of the best comedic actors the world has ever seen in the starring roles. And Yet. The ungodly heartbreaking "Ed" that Stede yells the second time just before running to him is so gut-wrenching, so full of desperation, so overwhelmingly breathtaking in the undeniable agony laced throughout that one syllable, I wish god had put me in Izzy's place instead bc it would've been a thousand times less painful to literally be stabbed directly through my abdomen than to hear Stede say Ed's name like that while tears well up in his eyes

-watching stede and ed run like that gave me the ick im so sorry yall i wanted to be brave about it but i just cant be

-okay but WHY am i blushing when Ed looks directly into the camera for his lines in the fantasy sequence.........how in the hell did stede not spontaneously combust the second those stupidly big brown beautiful doe eyes made eye contact with him

-EVERYONE SHUT UP STEDE'S FACE AFTER HE AND ED COLLIDE AND ARE ROLLING AROUND IN THE SAND IS A LOOK OF ABJECT DESPERATION AND AGONY WHAT THE FUCK HE MISSES HIM SO MUCH AND FEELS SO GUILTY HE CAN'T EVEN BE TRULY HAPPY IN HIS OWN DREAMS

-"I knew you'd find me, babe" "You're not mad?" "I knew you'd find me, love" "So, we're good? About everything?" "Fuckin' love the beard, mate" Even in Stede's dreams Ed does not confirm that everything is alright between them. I'm starting to think this dream sequence is actually a nightmare sequence because he gets confronted by his fears by not only Izzy throwing it in his face that Stede left Ed of his own volition but Ed steadfastly refusing to answer Stede's questions about their relationship being okay

-in stede's dream ed has his full beard because that's a marker of the last time/era stede remembers being truly happy with ed before he ruined everything at the naval academy and broke ed's heart so severely it turned him into the very monster the rest of the world always wrongly made him out to be

-"can't be worse than you moaning 'ed, oh ed' all night long" black pete my beloved

-GOD stede's hair and scruff look so GOOD on him what the HELL

-WEE JOHN'S HAIR AND EYELINER AND PIERCINGS AND EVERYTHING LOOK SO GOD DAMN GOOD HE LOOKS SO GOD DAMN GOOD

-stede's silly little thumbs up to the swede as jackie makes him throw that ass in a circle reblog if u agree

-stede talking to the patrons at spanish jackie's is just a typical customer interaction working in the service industry

-ayo i think spanish jackie's is serving food now?? guess that overhead issue she mentioned to geraldo in s1 is no longer an issue bc that place is popping

-if ricky was able to clock stede immediately and doesn't think he's dead even after his very public and very loony-tunes-esque death then how many people in barbados actually believe he's dead??? does the whole town just kinda know he faked it and have accepted that he abandoned his family, became a pirate, came back home, drunkenly bisexualized his ex(??) wife's new boo thang, then faked his death so he could abandon his family again???

-"Demon? I'm the fuckin' Devil" I can't accurately put into words how hearing this line so softly spoken paired with seeing Ed's beautiful kohl-covered eyes as the guitar and xylophone from the song kicks in has affected me but I can say with 100% certainty it is the root cause of my new mental illness, whatever that may be

-fuck OFFFFFFFFFFFF EVERYONE LOOKS SO FUCKING GOOD ON THE KRAKEN CREW IT'S ACTUALLY INSANE

-LOVE LOVE LOVE the freeze frame with the day of the week overlay it is SUCH a visually excellent component of those scenes

-i know we're all supposed to be very sad and upset at ed shooting a guy (that was BASICALLY ALREADY DEAD) but for the love of GOD that man has never served so much princess babygirl gender in one cocking and shooting of a gun as he did in that scene

-JUST REALIZED ED IS WEARING A LONG TRENCH COAT JACKET THING IN THE SHOOTING SCENE AND THAT'S WHY THAT SHOT IS AFFECTING ME SO MUCH IT LOOKS LIKE A DRESS

-the immediate stoppage of the music with the smash cut to the crew trying to process the trauma that they've been through is so fucking funny, the editors have absolutely mastered the science of comedic timing

-"i dunno, i've never really been to a wedding before so i've got nothing to compare it to really" archie my beloved

-"i've never seen blackbeard like this. he didn't even bat an eye when ivan got killed" i don't have the energy to really put all my thoughts about this into coherent sentences, so all i'll say is that i'm really disappointed this is how they chose to deal with ivan not being in the show anymore. idk what went down with guz khan and whomever made the decision not to invite him back for s2, but at the very least i feel like they could've either written him off in some other way or simply not mentioned him at all. killing him off in one sentence that gets immediately interrupted with a comedic line just doesn't sit right with me

-"i lock the box and then i don't open it again" frenchie just like me fr

-i know stede did NOT just say "he's just blowing off some steam" in response to olu pointing out that ed has been committing so many crimes they literally had to start listing them on the back of the wanted posters. it's giving "girlfriend whose boyfriend acts like a massive asshole to her in front of her friends but she tells them he's actually soooo sweet when it's just the two of them together"

-"well, we can't turn up with any old ship. we need to look good" stede you literally haven't touched clean water in who knows how long, i think pulling up to the revenge in a dope af whip might need to be a little lower on your priority list babe

-the way ed gently strokes that cake topper before stuffing it in his jacket right above his heart like he used to do with the red silk bc stede's entire being eclipsed the silk when he became ed's whole heart. cinema

-i said it before and i'll say it again: izzy looks like a sad clown with his rudy giulliani lookin ass hair dye dripping down his face and the black panda rings around his eyes as a sad excuse for war paint

-when watching the first ep for the first time, i found myself becoming extremely uncomfortable and even anxious at times watching ed doing drugs and having a very public spiral that he takes out on the crew. massive props to taika and the writers for being able to make me genuinely a little terrified of Blackbeard in those scenes

-conathan o'neill. words cannot describe how enrapturing every single second of screentime you get is. every pixel of your performance is pure perfection. every tear that glimmers in your eye but refuses to fall is gloriously gut-wrenching. every laugh out of izzy's mouth is uniquely, ineffably uncomfortable in ways that should be futilely studied by science. also u look really hot when you're leaning on the rigging in the storm

-the swede shaking his head "no" at stede trying to warn him not to talk back to jackie when she steals their savings. he was trying to help his friends :(

-"i know that guy, we had breakfast together :D" "you'll be having a lot of breakfasts together" "oh okay :))" the swede my beloved

-buttons opening his mouth when it starts raining. buttons my beloved

-"im afraid your...your life is better without me" is SUCH an amazing line read from rhys, the way stede's voice hitches and you can hear the tears in his throat as he tries to voice his deepest fears is so incredibly moving which is why i got both the ick and medically diagnosed whiplash when he busts out that extraordinarily cringe ed voice to RESPOND TO HIMSELF. idk what's wrong with that man but it's not in ye olde DSM-5

-the fact that, once again, in stede's own imagination ed is not refuting stede's fears but is rather confirming them in the case of him talking to ed's wanted poster about how he's worried ed's life is better without stede in it and stede responding "could be...could be mate" in "ed's" voice is actually really desperately tragic and heartbreaking when you think about it ! :)

-"i know everything about you" i truly hate to say it but SOME of us, and im not saying who (me), are unfortunately extremely ricky-coded. it's giving "hi kevin" in spongebob

-"i, too, am a child of wealth" STOOOOPPPPPPPP I WAS ABSOLUTELY HOWLING AT THIS LINE IDK WHAT THE WRITERS ARE GETTING PAID BUT IT NEEDS TO BE ON PAR WITH WHATEVER RICHES RICKY WAS CLEARLY STRUGGLING WITH AS A CHILD VICTIM OF TOO MUCH MONEY

-someone smarter than me should do an analysis on how quickly stede's attitude towards ricky flipped once ricky told stede he was his hero and the gentleman pirate saved his life and how stede maybe saw a lot of his past self in ricky and is intimately aware of how the mundanity of living a life that's been prescribed to you from birth with expectations you could never live up to can drive you to the edge unless you choose to do something drastic to change your situation and how stede already feels like such a failure because of both the situation with his family/old life AND with ed/his new life that he took the opportunity to be the kind of gentle guide he could've used when he was starting out in the same situation ricky is before stede met ed and started to learn the ropes more. so if ur reading this please get on that thx <3

"my time with jackie has been the happiest of my life. her love has helped me locate parts of myself i didn't even know existed" (his prostate) "and reclaim others that i had long missed" (his teeth and nails)

-"but...i owe you a life debt and i am bound to honor it" something something mary telling stede "we made a contract in front of god and i am bound to honor that" something something stede being told by multiple people he cares about that the only reason they're dealing with him is because of societal convention

-i was gonna start this post off with "sorry" but i actually will not be apologizing for the unabated foaming-at-the-mouth level of hedonistic intoxication i experience every time i look at ed in his warpaint. if you have any issues with this that's between u and god buddy

-"i have...love for you, edward" actually made me gasp so hard i choked

-"i heard that you think the vibe here on the ship is poisonous" ed said VIBE CHECK and then took izzy's leg

-fang whimpering is actually illegal

-ed asking blackbeard about the vibes on the ship was such an incredibly well done performance from taika because i was genuinely so uncomfortable watching that go down i almost had to look away

-frenchie shaking his head "no" at izzy after izzy yells at ed to stop with his insane blackbeard monologue about the vibes on the ship is such a tiny moment but speaks VOLUMES about how trauma-bonded that crew has become under the kraken's rule. frenchie doesn't want to see izzy get even more hurt than he already does on a daily basis but i think he also knows it's already too late

-god the way ed just casually turns away and shoots izzy the second he hears the first "st" syllable of stede's name is so chilling

>>>side note: does ed look away because he can't watch himself actually hurt izzy THAT badly? he later turns his back to izzy in the hopes izzy will shoot him and when he doesn't, ed leaves before izzy shoots himself

-izzy's resigned inhale and small smile before starting to say "your feelings for stede bonnet" is so unbelievably heartbreaking because he knows. he knows he's about to get majorly fucked up for what he's about to say but he's tired of everyone walking on delicate shards of glass around ed

-the fucking joke of "how are you so good at this" because he's literally doing the swedish massage. credit goes to my friend shane for realizing this right away when it would've taken me 20 rewatches to come close to getting it

-"I can't believe how well this is going" black pete my beloved

-"this is where you went wrong with the whole gentleman pirate thing. details like this are important to build a brand" she's an influencer

-"i cant believe you guys robbed jackie. wow. so bad" the swede my beloved

-wee john covering his nose as jackie says she's about to get more noses for her nose jar

-"aint you that soup bitch" "im the money bitch" well im gay and i want them both to step on me

-"it's okay sexy dutchman"

-ed crying on the bow of the ship is sooooooooooo insane to me like i keep getting reminded of the fact that he's literally been crying every single night for MONTHS over stede

-"never going back to land. we're gonna sail, rob, and raise hell forever and ever without end" "sounds like a plan" frenchie's face as he realizes he's probably gonna spend the rest of his life on that ship may have actually caused heart damage

-HI THE TRANSITION FROM ED SAYING "FUCK YOU STEDE BONNET" AND LOOKING AT THE MOON TO STEDE LOOKING AT THE SAME MOON AND SAYING "GOODNIGHT ED TEACH" SHOULD EITHER BE GIVEN AN OSCAR OR CODIFIED AS A VIOLATION OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION I JUST DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE YET

#ofmd #our flag means death #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #edward teach #stede bonnet

[eemcintyre]

"Seawolf: The Pirate's Curse" (2005) review

Surprisingly, honestly... why did I enjoy this? I guess after a couple of major misses for me in the form of "The Kidnapping" and "Beyond Forgiveness", my expectations were appropriately low, but this one actually had some likable characters and humor, and that always manages to rope me in. I have a soft spot for fun, silly action fare like this bc of childhood shows like "The Greatest American Hero", I think.

So, the title never makes any sense... what was it supposed to mean? what curse?

First and foremost, I must say TIG is looking oh-so-very pretty and rugged here- the necklaces, the bandanas, the curly-q hair, the tank tops, the sweaty, the ARMMMSSSS 😩

Initially had absolutely no clue what was going on in the beginning; a bunch of people with weird ass outfits in the dark and I was just like please no don't let that be him in the damn fucking cape and eyepatch and o n e l e g; I was like he can't possibly have one leg the whole time, right?? 🤨

But yeah I was definitely experiencing the "dear God what did I get myself into, cheers to another awful mess" 🫡🥂

Why does half the audio sound dubbed (particularly everything that comes out of Rachel's mouth)? Also props to Rachel for being the most emotionally unaffected person ever bc her reactions were so disproportionately calm to what would happen if my bf was constantly disappearing overseas and totaled my gorgeous pink car

We're getting some very Max Parrish-type hooting and hollering up in here; a concise summary of Thorpe is that he's basically if Max had a boat and was an alcoholic instead of a drug addict

We get another hallmark of TIG's movies with a slew of incredibly cringe one-liners that elicit a physical reaction of pain from me, but for every few there was actually a genuinely funny one here and there, so I'll allow it this time...

The whole "I'm a pirate, my father was a pirate, etc." speech had me ROLLING and NOT IN THE WAY THE WRITERS INTENDED I THINK BC HUH??

When he met Helene in that random room full of paintings I was sure we were supposed to take it that the mission was smth art theft-related. but no she just has a passion for maximalist design ig.

Why does the camera get randomly shaky for no reason? Very avant-garde of them

Am I the only one who thinks that Carlos looks like a Walmart George Clooney? Someone else pls tell me I'm not insane

Always throws me off-guard but it's such fun to see TIG in an uncharacteristically light scene like the one where he's dancing in the parade and surrounded by the circle of dancers in the bar. At least he seemed like he was having a good time in this movie 🎉

Ramon and his lil book and the bar scene of Thorpe and Helene drunkenly arguing w each other and sitting on the side of the road was what really started to sell me

anD THEN HE FKIN DR A G S HER ASS 😂

Plus I cannot go without mentioning my appreciation for the way he was holding her knee 👀💕

Love how he spends the majority of this movie just dressed like someone's hot dad who works out, in his cargo shorts, tank top and goatee- oH WAIT IT'S BC HE IS A HOT DAD WHO WORKS OUT IN REAL LIFE

Love how Carlos and all the other villains are devoid of personality or motive except for ~money~, like "the Colonel" doesn't even have a name!!!

Was genuinely stressed that my boy was going to clock himself in the head when he was swinging that rope trying to scale that building

When Helene straight-up PUNCHED HER SISTER IN THE FACE like these ladies have some beef and I need to know where it stems from

This film is another great example of TIG's grossly underutilized comedic potential- a là the map reading scene

Hilarious how Carlos just shrugs like "I don't care, whatever I guess" when who he believes to be Marlena says she wants to say a dramatic goodbye to Thorpe

Ok but how did he not die?? Thank goodness but how??

Even more hilarious how the Colonel, who has had nothing but hatred and murderous intent for Thorpe throughout, is just so touched by Thorpe's being a ✨ big softie with morals ✨ that his vengeful compulsions are soothed and he's content with taking the gold like "hey bro, we're square now <3" and just fuckin walks away

Good on them for giving the treasure back to Mexico

Was legit concerned for too long there that they weren't actually going to end up together and I was screeching

DO THEY ACTUALLY USE THE SAME SHOT OF THE BOAT AT SUNSET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVIE AND AT THE END?? lmaooo

Honestly, I think they could have leaned even more into the humorous aspect and the treasure hunt part of the film; made it a bit more of a National Treasure/Indiana Jones sort of thing, and I definitely would have liked some more character development, esp. for the sidekicks and villains, but overall, I award this film an unexpected 6/10. I had a good time 🙃🩷

#thomas ian griffith #the pirate's curse #seawolf #seawolf: the pirate's curse #jeffrey thorpe #film review #movie review

[bulkhummus]

ofmd spoilers

That ending was heart breaking. I know it’s a comedic show, but they really nailed the balance of serious and comedic for it to make an impact where it counts.

I also think it really effected me because it so plainly, at least to me, read as being forced back into the proverbial closet.

Finding someone who you feel sees you for who you are and you can grow with is amazing!! And then having outside forces tell you that isn’t how you are or how you should be (Ed) is heart breaking— as well as feeling like you have a commitment to honoring your ‘old’ life (Stede) only to find you don’t really fit there anymore. (Although they both have a bit of those feelings honestly).

I know its silly show about pirating, but its also so clearly about the nuances and struggles of being queer in a way I didn’t expect the show to present. There’s also that matter of reverting back to old ways when you get hurt from being vulnerable with someone, which includes the feeling of being rejected by someone you thought you could be open and honest with. It’s so raw for me and I’m sure for a lot of other queer people.

The whole exchange between Stede and Mary discussing those they love is one of my favorites of the entire show because there is this commaderie that you rarely see depicted in situations like these that are very real for a lot of people (ie. my partner is gay but i still love and support them and its complicated). I mean they took the idea of ‘killing my old self to be free’ literally, and his wife helped. That’s amazing, AND good writing, linking the first episode with Ed who says he hasn’t tried dying yet.

I know comedy often downplays the seriousness in shows like these, but never once did I feel like it detracted from the more serious and abrupt bursts of trauma displayed in the show. It’s such a good way to write humor. I’m also grateful that not once was anyones queerness meant to be the butt of a joke, and that is so, so amazing.

Things I loved:

1. I’m overjoyed at a nonbinary character who is referred to with they/them pronouns (honestly Jim is how I’d LOVE to look)

2. Casual queer intimacy, development of queer intimacy and QUEER ALLYSHIP!!!! (the whole, ‘ive drawn everyones likeness on this ship’ conversation with Izzy)

3. The openly gay character being the one to realize that his captains are flirting with one another.

4. The Seagull. The seagulls wife. THE FACT THAT HE CAN SPEAK SEAGULL.

5. The whole Egyptian King bit and letting the servants have all the winnings.

6. The nose jar.

7. Spanish Jackie in general— she’s such a good character (lowkey a dominatrix which is awesome) and I’m so excited for her and Jim’s team up at the end.

8. Taika in a red robe with long hair being dramatic looking like a fucking GOD jfc yall have been sleeping on him for real, FOR REAL.

9. The losing of his beard — I mean I took it as a joke on ‘beards’ (you know, a gay man with a wife to present as straight) except Ed’s beard was Blackbeard? Like a joke reversal of sorts.

10. The cook slapping the english soldier in the face and gallivanting away.

11. The knife taped to the turtle fighting the crab.

12. Stede actually developing as a person in the last episode which is amazing! I saw someone who was annoyed that he left to go back to his wife— but I didn’t read it that way at all. I think it was important to the story and his arc that he go back and work his shit out, as well as important queer representation that you NEVER see (his daughter with the orange, my HEART). You know? Not to mention we get to see Mary who has developed as a person and artist which is so nice instead of her just being this lady in waiting trope.

13. The ongoing cannibalism bit.

14. The bed time story bit.

There’s probably more — but I just really enjoyed the show and I hope we get to see more. It was very good for me in a lot of ways. Definitely going to be drawing some things. 😎

xoxo

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #ofmd edward teach #ofmd stede bonnet

[calciferstims]

granted, i dont scroll down far anymore, aint done for a while, but yea, the little i do have scrolled down, aint seen nobody talk about it. saw its about some historic thang though? but do go off talk about it haha, i have no idea what it is about other than its historic?

OHHHH HO HO HO YOU’VE UNLOCKED THE HYPERFIXATION POWERPOINT BUCKAROO

historical… histor.. yeah that’s a word you could use to describe it uh huh

but anyways

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH?? MORE LIKE

🏳️‍🌈 GAY 🏳️‍🌈

PIRATE

✨ROM-COM✨

You heard me right bitches. It’s a fun pirate comedy series with a gay romance at the center and when I say gay I mean like, actually gay. It is not queerbaiting, it is not just hinted at it is very legitimately gay. And it is not just like, about being gay at all or about pretty teenagers with abs discovering their sexuality. It’s the middle aged men falling in love you’ve always wanted and it’s fucking pirates like. Dude.

It uhhh it’s actually the best queer rep I’ve seen like, ever and it seriously got to me actually. Just the show combined with the way the creators and cast interact with the fandom is just so lovely it feels like I am being kissed gently on the head and healed from years of being teased and baited… gosh…

It stars Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi as these darlings, Blackbeard (Edward Teach) and The Gentleman Pirate (Stede Bonnet), two real pirates who sailed together at some point in history.

Y’all all know who Blackbeard is, he’s the most feared pirate and history bla bla bla (but of course in this show he’s just a big softie wrapped in leather and tattoos). Meanwhile, you have Stede, who’s basically this frilly privileged rich guy who ran away from home to be a pirate but he’s just super rubbish at it.

Basically the premise is that Stede and Blackbeard/Ed meet, they are immediately fascinated with each other, and they make an arrangement between them where Ed teaches Stede how to be a better pirate, and Stede teaches Ed how to live the fancy life and also just how to enjoy nice things. Plot and romance ensues!!

It’s obviously a comedy so it’s very silly at times, but those comedic moments are also intercut with plenty of very deep, dark emotional stuff and genuinely tender, heart-wrenching romance, and it’s full of real good symbolism as well as just ‘he he gay pirates’ and it’s just so fucking good guys.

It also has some really sweet side pairings that are also queer, and actual, legit they/them nonbinary rep with an actual nonbinary actor! It’s super cool!

It is on HBO Max (and I’m sure there’s some way to pirate it. hehe pirate pun) and I highly recommend you all watch it :)) I’ve converted two irl friends already and I have no plans of stopping >:)

#I’ve watched it three times now bc I had to make my parents watch it too #but literally like. i don’t wanna accidentally overhype it but it is the best show I’ve seen in a damn long while #it consumed SO many of my mutuals like half my dash was blocked spoilers at one point so I HAD to watch it #and then it ate me too #the finale made me legitimately insane for like two days straight #ask box #go view 👁👁 #treat yo self

[darklymelanatedstories]

Hello friend :) I saw your request are open and your work is so cute! Could I get a Vegeta x reader where reader tries to fluster Vegeta like openly flirting and trying to get a reaction from him?

WARNING: SOME MAJOR CHEESY PICK UP LINES😹

Breathing heavily from the training, Vegeta turned down the gravity before wiping the glistening sweat off the side of his face with a towel.

"That's enough for today."

He stepped out of the gravity chamber and headed for the kitchen. As if sensing his presence, his phone rang.

He immediately knew who it was due to the special ringtone.

He picked up the phone from the island and stared at it for a moment, looking at the stupid picture of you that you had taken with his phone. He smiled at how silly and adorable you looked before shaking it off and composing himself when he realised his smile had grown wider.

He sighed, hesitantly swiped to the right then placing it by his ear.

"Hey, my sexy, delicious Veggie Burger."

Vegeta grimaced at the nickname. "Hello, (Y/n). What do you want?"

"Can't I just call my favourite person in the world without ulterior motives."

"So I guess I'm not talking to (Y/n). Sorry, but you got the wrong number.",he teased.

"Hey hey hey. Hold up."

He chuckled. "What?"

"Can I come over?"

Before he could respond, he was cut off by a knock on the door. Wondering who it could be, he headed to the door, praying internally that it wasn't Kakarot or anyone else since he didn't feel like being social at the moment.

"(Y/n) last time you came over you–"

He let out a sigh when he opened the door, revealing a certain smiling (Y/n) with a phone by your ear.

"Too late. I'm already here."

•••

"What the hell are you looking at?",Vegeta asked, trying to hide how flustered he was by the way you were looking at him. He can't blame you for staring though. He set himself up by not wearing a shirt and exposing his hard abs and flexing muscles.

"Well maybe if you had put a shirt on before inviting me over then i wouldn't be staring at your sexiness right now."

A scowl shaped his lips as a light blush coated his cheeks.

"I didn't invite you! You just showed up to my house unannounced.",he said before heading to his room to change.

"I announced it over the phone, didn't I?"

"Good Lord, give me strength.",he muttered. "I'm gonna take a a shower. Do whatever since you pretty much live here now."

"Just don't expect me to pay rent."

You heard the door close and Vegeta shout from the other side. "I wouldn't expect your broke ass for such a thing."

"Care to treat this broke ass to lunch then?"

You didn't receive a response, instead you heard the running of water which you assumed was Vegeta taking a shower.

"So rude.",you said to yourself, walking in direction of the kitchen. "He could've at least offered me a showered with him."

•••

After what felt like forever, Vegeta stepped into the living room, his fresh scent hitting you immediately. You halted your actions of devouring the ice cream, to look at him. Your mouth fell to the floor as your eyes roamed his body from top to bottom.

The man had on a tight black Adidas T-shirt that showed off his toned upper body, followed by a slightly skinny, dark blue jeans with black and white Adidas sneakers. You didn't even know Vegeta had other clothes besides his suit.

You looked back at his face to find him with an annoyed scowl. "What?"

You licked your lips seductively. "Damn, check out my Veggie Burger looking like a snack. Mm, I might just take a bite out of you."

You could see his face turn a violent red before he turned around and crossed his arms.

He scoffed. "Would you just get up so we can go?"

"Where are we going?",you asked. You placed another scoop of ice cream into your mouth as you awaited a response, taking the opportunity to stare at his toned back and round, firm ass.

"You asked me to take you out for lunch so that's what I'm gonna do.",he said without turning around. "Just so you don't complain the rest of the day."

When he didn't hear a response, he glanced over his shoulder. He followed your gaze and noticed you staring at his booty, the mere thought almost making him face fault to the ground in embarrassment.

He turned his body around, earning an annoyed whine from you.

"What are you–?"

"Mm-mm-mm," you said, moving your head from side to side in a sassy manner. "Boy, are you a pirate? 'Cause I'm wondering where you got that booty."

And with that, Vegeta dropped, face faulted to the ground in a flustered comedic manner.

"I can't with you.",he said as he got up. Checking his dark brown designer watch, he tried changing the subject back to lunch.

"We should get going."

"Sure." You got up and his eyes instantly fell on your chest.

You placed your hands on your hips. "Pfft, and you say I'm the perv but I see you checking me out.",you added with a wink.

His eyes widened, realisation hitting him at what you thought.

"W-what...no I-its just. God, you're impossible." He ran his hand down his face, trying to cool his heated blush and to compose himself.

"You spilled ice cream on your shirt.",he said, pointing at the spill.

"Oh."

He sighed then headed to the direction of his room then came out with a shirt before tossing it at your face.

"Here, wear this."

You looked at the slightly oversized shirt then at Vegeta. "Thanks."

When his gaze was off you, you discreetly shoved his shirt in your face, loving the smell of his scent. You stopped yourself before Vegeta could see you and took off your shirt to put his on.

"What the–!" you heard just as you were about to put his shirt on.

"What?",you asked, clear confusion hinted in your tone.

"Why didn't you–you know what? Nevermind. Just hurry up.",he said before heading outside. You couldn't help but smile, remembering the large dark blush of red on his face.

"He's so cute when he's flustered."

You tied a knot on the side of the large shirt to make it look more presentable on your form.

"So...I guess this means we're dating.",you said to yourself before laughing at the statement.

•••

"Took you long enough."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you're eager to see me in your shirt, Veggie Burger."

He scoffed. He was about to suggest flying but you stopped him by jumping up excitedly.

"Can we drive there?" You wrapped your arm over his shoulders and stared up at the sky as you envisioned it. "You know, just two cool dudes on the road, blasting music, wearing shades and looking savage as fuck."

He let out a defeated sigh, not bothering to argue. "Fine."

"Yay!" You skipped to the car with Vegeta following behind, trying to battle a smile as he watched you. He wouldn't admit it but he liked how you looked in his shirt.

"Wait," you turned just in time to catch the keys he threw at you. "I'm not expert at this driving shit but I'm pretty sure you need keys."

You smiled as you looked at the keys then back at Vegeta with a devilish grin. He already knew what was coming yet was never prepared for it.

You held the keys up, whilst your other hand rested on your hip. "Boy, you don't need keys to drive me crazy."

You couldn't tell by his expression if he wanted to kill you or fuck you then kill you but you decided to head in the car despite your curiosity.

"So where are we headed.",you asked him when he got in the passenger seat.

"You choose."

•••

You both stood at the parking lot. Vegeta leaning against the car as he waited for you to pick a place between McDonald's, Burger King or KFC. He didn't really know why you loved these places considering how unhealthy he thought they were.

"Hmm, what do you think, Veggie burger?"

He just shrugged. "I don't know, idiot. Just pick a place. I'm starving." Just as he said that, every aroma from the surrounding restaurants found a way to his nose.

"If I don't eat soon, then I'll have you for lunch."

You perked up at the sound of his empty threat then placed your hands on his chest as you leaned closer to him. "How do you want me served, your majesty?",you whispered in a sultry tone, uncaring of the passerbys that spotted you two.

"I-I...(Y/n).",he stuttered, which you found pretty adorable.

"You-you w-what?",you teased.

That was a mistake.

You were soon pressed against the car and his body, with Vegeta's hand trailing down your waist while the other was on your cheek. The predatory look in his eyes somewhat told you that you were gonna pay for all that teasing.

"Vegeta?" He smiled at that. Seeing you so flustered that you didn't call him by his nickname. You were all talk but when the tables were turned, you had been as flustered as he was.

He kissed along your jawline till he reached your ear, whispering huskily,

"I'll be Burger King and you'll be McDonald's. I'll have it my way and you'll be loving it."

∆∆∆∆

Probably gonna make another part to this. It was fun.

#vegeta #vegeta x reader #requests

[queerticulate]

Hi sorry, just wanted to clarify something. You know that Izzy is an actual nickname for the name Israel right? Like you're not calling the name itself ridiculous, you're calling it ridiculous when it's applied to that specific person?

Okay, then I will now exclusively refer to this character / person as 'Basilica Hands'. Or perhaps 'Basilicum Hands' if I feel fancy.

In all seriousness if you have a real source that talks about how the real Mr. Hands was ever referred to as 'Izzy' I would love you to share it with me, cause I am a history nerd and stuff from the 'Golden Age of Pirates' is definitely on top of my list of rabbit holes I love to go down in.

Being that type of nerd though, I have a lot of pre-existing notions about the historical characters in OFMD and the context of the story. Some of their comedic takes and fictional liberties work well for me, others not so much. I am a little taken aback by how I ended up getting an ask, especially one with a judgmental tone, about how I vibe with specific parts of a comedic pirate show. It seems so utterly inconsequential.

What makes me even more flabbergasted is that to me it read as if the writers fully intended for the name to sound silly. His character is set up as the unwavering serious 'no fucking around' kind of character, in the middle of a comedy show. It's a common if not effective comedic instrument in setting up a comedy. This one seems to be set up as the variation where the narrative punishes him for his seriousness - he's the one character that just does not get it - and we're often supposed to laugh at him, he's the bud of the joke. Now, it seems incredibly implausible to me that the creative team has a character with 'Hands' for a last name, and did not have him exclusively referred to by a bastardization of his first name, for the very reason that 'Izzy Hands' sounds silly (pre-schoolers, I bet, would be quick to turn that into 'Icky Hands' or 'Jazzy Hands' and chant it over and over like it would be the most devilish taunt ever). And this too, it seems to me, is meant to be another narrative taunt.

Now, Israel Hands may possibly be the only (historic) pirate that I had a pre-existing image in my head of as a guy who genuinely struck some fear in my heart. (And both to enjoy the pirate fiction genre and to grasp the historic phenomenon and it works better, imo, not to think of all of them as poor little meow meows.) So my brain trips momentarily every time I break down that image a little by referring to the OFMD character as 'Izzy Hands'.

It also goes the other way around by the way. OFMD presents Calico Jack as a total brute. I cringed the whole time he was in the show. This because I am very attached to Black Sails' interpretation of him which deconstructs what - at least classically speaking - is the image of a pirate very well. Still though, that has no bearing on the quality of OFMD or my overall enjoyment of the show.

To end on a positive note: I was delighted to find out that a bunch of the details about Stede Bonnet which I read as complete whimsical nonsense, were actually historically true. And while reading his Wikipedia page - prior to hearing about the show runners' opinions on it - it also crossed my mind that becoming a pirate because "the discomfort he found in a married state" either made the dude sound pretty gay or a like a total fuckboy. So I love that someone went and was like: and we could make a show about explanation number one!

#long post #i had no idea how to respond to this ask #so i indulged myself by going way too deep into a bit of media analysis #at least that way I entertained myself with this #before anyone wants to deliver more judgments to my inbox about what i wrote here: none of this matters #it is just a show #we can all enjoy it in our own ways and what some tumblr user vibes or does not vibe with has no meaningful impact on the world #and shouldnt have any meaningful impact on any of yalls enjoyment of the show i wish

[adultswim2021]

The Brak Show #1: “Leave It To Brak” (AKA “Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk”) December 21, 2000 - 5:15AM | S01E01 regular series version aired October 7, 2001 @ 11:00PM

I’m trying to break the habit of assuming only my friends are reading my various blogs, but I failed in one fundamental way: I didn’t really describe the premise of Sealab 2021, like, at all. Despite digging into it’s roots somewhat by watching it’s various pilots, I failed to include even a paragraph with the basic premise of the show. I’ll try not to make the same mistake with Brak. Instead I'll make a DIFFERENT mistake by writing way too long of a blog entry.

On December 21, 2000, after Sealab 2021, The Brak Show, then titled “Leave It To Brak” debuted. Who the fuck is Brak? Brak began life as a villain on the 1960s iteration of Space Ghost, a fairly garden-variety Saturday morning action kid’s show. He appeared in, I wanna say, a very small handful of episodes. I’ve seen the whole series, and I don’t think he was like, a regular or anything. Without looking it up I'll say he was on it twice. In the show he was a space pirate and had whiskers. He has a very memorable design. I’ve never been sure if we’re actually looking at Brak’s face or if he’s wearing a helmet. His fangs imply that we’re looking at his actual face (or at least his actual jaw), but that little curtain thing that hangs down from his, uh, ears? Is that a naturally occurring part of his head? It suggests that his wardrobe is actually his body, and vice-versa. He just looks absurd, making him perfect fodder for an absurdist revision.

Brak as we know him today was first used (barring some kind of Cartoon Network commercial that I’m unaware of) in Space Ghost Coast to Coast, appearing with Sisto. Sisto is his twin brother who appeared in the 60s show. Why Brak was targeted for comedic revision and not Sisto eludes me. I’m guessing “HI MY NAME IS BRAK” just sounds funnier than “HI MY NAME IS SISTO”. Anyway, in the first Coast to Coast episode they are voiced by C. Martin Croker (RIP) doing a Beavis and Butt-head parody. Eventually Andy Merrill took over the role, basically turning Brak into a, uh, childish adult. Okay, he’s basically doing a retarded guy voice. Sorry, but it’s time to grow up.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast debuted in 1994 and remained a cult hit on the network until it was moved to Adult Swim and eventually canceled in 2004. The concept of Space Ghost Coast to Coast was Space Ghost, a super hero from the 60s, now hosts a modern 90s late night talk show, interviewing live-action celebrities on a monitor that hangs over the set. Random obscure Space Ghost villains would show up with skewed personalities from their original 60s counterpart. Brak was easily the runaway star of the touted rogues gallery. He would come in and cheerfully sing a song about beans or something else equally wacky. He rarely had a definable role on the show, he was just a figure that was around and would wander into the set.

A second 90s Space Ghost spin-off was commissioned called Cartoon Planet. This was an actual kiddy show that aired during the day as opposed to Space Ghost Coast to Coast which was kid-friendly but meant for adults. This time Space Ghost, Zorak (Space Ghost’s bandleader on Coast to Coast), and Brak would host an hour of classic cartoons, with little absurd skits between segments set in a studio SORTA like the Space Ghost Coast to Coast set but different. LOTS of Brak’s fandom is based on these skits, which were a little more silly and lighthearted than the material on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The skits were popular enough that they repackaged them into their own half-hour show, sans classic cartoons. This was an early point of confusion for me. Beloved Brak songs turned out to be from Cartoon Planet and NOT Space Ghost Coast to Coast, so I'd tune into Space Ghost wondering if they cut out all the Brak segments or what?

Cartoon Planet would answer viewer letters (conceivably real ones; they DID include various ways to contact “Ghost Planet” at the end of both Space Ghost Coast to Coast and, I’m guessing, Cartoon Planet, which I never did see in it’s original form). They actually answered the reason for Brak’s lack of intelligence (brain-damage caused by Space Ghost, using an actual clip from the 60s show). I bring this up not out of genuine concern for continuity or canon; these aren’t huge concerns for the writers of these shows. The real reason Brak is dumb is because Andy Merrill thought the voice was funny, probably. I bring it up because generally the premise of Space Ghost in the 90s is that even though he IS a super hero with super hero abilities, he’s also an actor who makes cartoons about being a super hero. So, it can be concluded Brak’s brain damage is from a stunt gone wrong and not carried over from the fiction of the show.

The premise of Space Ghost Coast to Coast is that Space Ghost has captured evil villains Zorak and Moltar and is forcing them to work on the show. But they also freely reference their personal lives outside of the show, breaking character. They are actors who are sticking to a premise only when it’s convenient. Yes, it’s fun for the kids to pretend that Space Ghost has enslaved his enemies to work on his talk show, but the reality is that when the camera turns off they all go home to their apartments or wives or whatever. This concept feeds directly into The Brak Show: we aren’t watching Brak’s real home life; Brak, cartoon character and actor, is playing himself in a sitcom. His mom isn’t his real mom. His Dad isn’t his real dad. Zorak isn’t his real best-friend. They are all actors. This isn’t played up in any significant way on the show itself except for a few moments and certain episodes, but THAT IS WHAT’S HAPPENING and you wouldn’t really understand that just by watching this episode and nothing else. You would have to have been paying attention all this time to Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Planet, and also, yes, Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak.

Okay, Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak isn't REALLY required viewing for this series. But guess what? I watched it for the first time ever in preparation for this and now we all have to deal with Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak. Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak (sorry I keep repeating the full title which is Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak) was a two-episode special presentation that aired on Cartoon Network while Space Ghost was on hiatus and before The Brak Show's stealth premiere. It (Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak, that is) was a Sonny and Cher style variety show, featuring Brak and Zorak on stage together performing songs, intentionally corny sketches, and a LITTLE BIT, but NOT A LOT of backstage drama; which could be argued to have been part of the show itself. Variety shows doing sketches fictionalizing the backstage antics of the production is nothing new. There are also live-action integrated celebrities, and the show comes to a screeching halt whenever they show up. Maybe their performances are hampered by having to perform on a green screen, but these segments come off lame and pandering. Space Ghost Coast to Coast would make it's name featuring washed-up, kitschy, or counter-culture celebrities. Here we are treated to Monica, Freddie Prinze Jr. (whose segment in particular really drives me up a wall), some wrestler guy, and a lady who's name I don't remember. Okay, I admit I fast forwarded through the second of the two episodes a LOT. Sitting through one episode in real time was just too much to bear.

Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak is written off by a lot of Brak fans as a substandard product, and they're not wrong. I myself never sought out the whole special until I started writing this blog. But there's one thing I'll give it, the visuals (minus the live-action celebrity parts) are actually pretty fun. There's a lot of weird character designs, and the same playful use of stock footage and kinetic editing from Cartoon Planet carries over into this. Skipping past the celebrity guests and watching the special on mute would be the preferred viewing method here. Honestly, I've never been that charmed by Brak's songs. I never cared much for Cartoon Planet.

Brak Presents the Brak Show Staring Brak eventually became The Brak Show, but with one more step: a scrapped audio-only pilot. This pilot appears as an audio commentary track on The Brak Show Volume 1 DVD set. I discovered it by accident. In preparation for this blog I popped the DVD in, saw there was commentary for Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk, and pressed play. Instead of Andy Merrill and Pete Smith dryly talking about their creative process, I was treated to what would have been the audio for a Brak Show pilot (there are stage directions being read in lieu of visuals), roughly the length of an 11 minute episode. This version plays up the backstage antics of Brak's variety show much more, kinda like Larry Sanders meets Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak. Returning from the show is Brak and Zorak, along with Allen Wrench, a talking Allen wrench that appeared in Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak. On Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak, Allen had a crazy high-pitched voice. In this audio pilot he sounds closer to Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Also present in the audio pilot is Thundercleese, who curiously sounds like the regular series version of Thundercleese. In “Leave it to Brak”, Thundercleese sounds slightly different. Maybe they went back and rerecorded Thundercleese for the DVD?

That FINALY brings us to the actual episode. “Leave it to Brak” was the first episode of “The Brak Show” proper to air (though if I remember correctly from what was reported way back when, they wanted to call the actual show “Leave It To Brak” but couldn't for legal reasons). It feels more like a first episode than Goldfish does, which was the first episode I saw when Adult Swim officially began in 2001. “Leave it to Brak” introduces each character with fake studio audience applause. They even introduce Sisto, who simply walks in front of the camera, farts, and is not seen again. The premise of the show is this: Brak stars in a family sitcom. His mom belongs to the same species as Brak, but his dad is a tiny human voiced by George Lowe doing a Ricky Ricardo voice. According to this episode; Brak is roughly high-school aged, but it's all a pretense to get this cast of weirdos together under one roof. Again, Brak is a cartoon character playing himself here, so we're not meant to actually think these are his real parents; Brak is not half-human, necessarily. It's all just for the sake of this dumb show.

The plot of the episode is this: Zorak, Brak's best friend and worst influence, convinces Brak to help him kidnap the mascot of their rival high school, a chicken named Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk. Having done this, Brak grapples with the morality of his actions, tries to deceive his parents by dressing the chicken up like a little man, is caught, and is taught a lesson. There's a comedic final scene that reverses the lesson Brak supposedly learned, and then it ends. Somewhere in there we are introduced to Brak's giant robot neighbor who blows up Zorak for ripping up his lawn.

The Brak Show was possibly the most anticipated show when Adult Swim was announced. We all quietly ignored how much Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak sucked; mostly because this was touted to be a show for adults. Afterall, Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak's biggest shortcoming was the fact that it was the first Brak-centric product to pander directly to children. Brak was always seen as a uniquely weird creation that just so happened to appeal to kids, kinda like Pee Wee Herman or Joe Camel. Also the idea of parodying the sitcom genre seemed novel, despite the fact that it wasn't really a new idea. Now it just comes off like a shallow observation: boy, old sitcoms sure were corny, right?

I don't know exactly how to pinpoint what was so disappointing about this show. I can see there was a genuine effort to make it funny. Dad was a decently funny character. They weren't just trying to mock sitcoms, they were trying to build a genuinely strange world that resembled our own. Brak lived in the suburbs but there were aliens and robots everywhere. Sci-fi situations casually reared their ugly heads into the lives of these characters. I mean, look at the plot description of Brak stealing a high school mascot; it's an ACTUAL SITCOM PLOT. There's no real subversion to it other than the fact that Brak and Zorak from Space Ghost Coast to Coast are doing it. This could have been decent as a one-off special like Tim & Eric's Bag Boy staring Steve Brule. But they made more.

Oh wait, I figured out why The Brak Show sorta sucked. It's the fact that the show was a musical. Fuck, I hated that so much that I blocked it out of my head until this moment. Every episode had musical numbers in it sung by Brak and the family. Ugh. They were supposed to be funny nonsense but I never liked it. In fact if there were ever an edit of the show without the songs I would probably remember it much more fondly.

This version of the pilot had very simplistically drawn backgrounds. When the show went to series they redid the backgrounds with photo-realistic settings and props. It's a much more appealing look. This version of the pilot was briefly featured in an episode of Sealab, where Murphy was flipping through the channels on his monitor. He flips past this and Aqua Teen Hunger Force and maybe Space Ghost? This was back in the early days when every show seemed like it was connected to each other. I miss that. The “regular series” of The Brak Show used to give the show a different parodic on-screen title; “Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk”, which aired fifth on Adult Swim, had the opening title “B.J. And the Brak”. “Goldfish” used “Leave It To Brak”, which causes some episode guides to get confused over which episode is which. In fact, Adult Swim's website features the pilot version of this show and incorrectly uses the plot summary for “Goldfish”. I'm not linking to it because the listing says it expires today. But go look for it if you want.

The other big difference between this version and the “regular series” version is there are a few missing bits here and there. For example, the pilot version starts with Dad asking Mom for another biscuit. She sighs and says “maybe later”, to which dad just shrugs off. There's also a cut song I call “Kiss you hot” that dad sings to mom. There's probably other differences here and there. Oh, Brak's clock is the beeflog illustration from Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak. Isn't my life fuller for being able to make that connection? God, I'm so glad I watched Brak Presents the Brak Show Staring Brak last night instead of getting an extra hour of sleep.

So what's good in this? I REALLY like the scene where Bawk Ba Gawk is at the dinner table and everyone keeps stealing his little hat to wear. Mom scolds Dad for wearing the hat, to which he mutters “I'll do what I damn well please”. Mom then plucks the hat from his head. When we cut to the wide shot, she's wearing it. Funny! SOLIDLY VERY FUNNY. But the series generally suffers from them trying to cram in weird pointless bits of absurd comedy. Only sometimes does it work. Not sure why. But that's how it goes, I guess.

#the brak show #brak #space ghost coast to coast #space ghost #brak presents the brak show starring brak #adult swim #adultswim2021

[themadlostgirl]

Movie Night

*Short and sweet*

Prompt: Reader watches Disney’s 1953 Peter Pan with Pan and the Lost Boys

Requested by: anon

Warnings: language

---

“Peter, I don’t know how good of an idea this is.” I told him as I set up the stuff to watch the movie on.

“Why not?” he asked lounging on a log and not helping in the least.

“Just because it has a characterization of you in it doesn’t mean you should watch it. I know this movie, I don’t think you’ll like what you see.” I straightened out the sheet I was using as a screen and went over to check the projector.

Ever since I had talked about movies and the fact that there was one about Peter Pan and Neverland the boys were breathing down my neck to see it. So here we were. I would have much preferred to show them something else but Peter’s ego knows no bounds. At least this film should knock him down a few pegs.

“What could be so bad about it?” Peter asked.

“You’ll see,” I sighed and switched on the projector. I skipped to the menu and hit play. I couldn’t wait to see everyone’s reactions.

It opened and the opening song and narration brought the first comment. “The Darling’s are in this?” Peter asked.

“Wendy is arguably the main character of the story, babe.” I patted his back.

“But it’s named after me!”

“Shut up and watch the movie!” I snapped.

The movie kept playing and eventually Peter and Tink appeared on screen. I wasn’t even watching the movie. I was staring at Peter watching his reaction unfold.

“What the actual fuck did they do to me?” he seethed.

“What? You’re cute.”

“I’m a child!”

“That’s kinda the point.”

“I’m more weirded out by the fact that Tinkerbell is this combination of adorable and hot.” one of the boys near the front said.

“Really, Ali?” the kid next to him said.

“Look how short that dress is! They knew what they were doing!” Ali fumed.

“Boys!” I shouted, “Shut up and watch the movie!”

The boys silenced themselves once more and continued to watch the movie. There was a lot of snickering and teasing any time something with Peter happened on screen. When the Wendy in the movie tried to kiss Peter that’s when everyone’s eyes swiveled to me. Were they expecting me to react? I’m not about to be jealous over a cartoon.

“How much longer is this movie?” Peter grumbled.

“We haven’t even made it to Neverland and you’re wondering when it’s over?” I smirked at him.

“This version of me is so annoying.”

“Oh yeah, conceited, immature, punchable face,” I stared him dead in the eye. “nothing like you in the least.”

“You know what--”

“Shut up. Musical number.” I covered his mouth.

Eventually they got to Neverland in the movie and there were various comments from the boys about how they wished it looked that nice. They chuckled over the silly pirate song and Smee abuse. Then Captain Hook came on screen.

I swear on my life I have never seen Peter laugh so hard as when the film version of Captain Hook entered with his ridiculous hat, permed hair, stupid mustache, and big nose. Hook was one of the best parts of this movie. His terrified screams and slapstick humor  It was a rather change from the version we were familiar with. One that all the boys found hilarious.

“Oh god,” Peter was hunched against me holding his stomach, “I can’t--I can’t breathe!”

“See, you may look like an annoying child but Hook is ten times worse.” I laughed too. “Just wait. It gets even better.”

The Lost Boys in the film appeared and everyone suddenly wasn’t laughing anymore. Peter and Hook may have looked funny but at least they weren’t tiny children in animal costumes. “What boys? Not funny anymore?”

The boys grumbled in response.

We’re just not gonna talk about the Indians. The boys were confused about why they were on the island and I didn’t want to explain the racial insensitivity that existed in the modern world.

Cut to the mermaid lagoon and the comments from the boys started again. I think I’m done trying to get them to be quiet. Let them react however they want.

“Why don’t our mermaids look like that?!”

“Why are they all fawning over Pan?”

“Are they trying to drown Wendy?”

“Wendy is gonna bash a mermaid’s head in!”

The scene at Skull Rock was pure Hook abuse and slapstick that had the boys and me screaming with laughter. For as out of character as they got Hook I have to say they nailed how much of an arrogant little shit Peter is.

“Seriously! Why do all these girls like Pan so much in this movie? Wendy, mermaids, fairies, Indian princesses! What is so great about him?” One of the boys shouted at the screen.

“Maybe try some sit ups, Sal.” Peter called back, “Take a bath once in a while and maybe a girl would be able to stand the sight of you.”

“Why do I bother with you...” I sighed.

The last of the movie played out bringing with it more laughter at Hook’s expense. No matter how annoyed I may have been at first I have to admit that I liked seeing the boys get excited. It was also refreshing to see Peter unwind and have fun with everyone else. I started making a list in my head of more movies to watch in the future. Something comedic for sure.

“What are you thinking?” Peter asked as the credits rolled.

“I’m thinking that for our next movie night I am definitely having you guys watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I chuckled to myself.

#ouat peter pan #peter pan ouat #ouat #neverland #peter pan imagine #request

[cyanidas]

Pls get into Penny Arcade Adventures: a summary

I killed the creators it's my city now

here's the setting;

1920s lovecraftian horror comedy-to-tragedy with Sherlock Holmes undertones and gay subtext that for the purpose of my rendition I'm making explicit

Plot synopsis;

You play as Yourself. You live in a nice suburb, nice home, on Desperation Street, in New Arcadia - a fucked up city with a power imbalance. A giant robot just crushed your house and 2 weird guys are chasing after it, so you pick up your rake and start swinging at tinier robots, which also just suddenly appeared. You crave vengeance. You also team up with the guys to take down a few gods and it all goes downhill from there.

Game one: d--k jokes galore + f-ck mimes

Game two: comedic torture + f-ck ableists and rich people

Game three: the world ends + we meet some badasses, Gabe gets a cape

Game four: HELL WE'RE UNDER HELL also you're playing pokemon the whole game too

Characters;

You! You're blunt, snarky, and rightfully pissed that you're now homeless because of a stupid robot. You stop at nothing and you are so, so tired.

Tycho Brahe. A respectable guy who no one respects, majored in Apocalyptics, always on his toes, has a very leaderly aura. He's smart, kinda dorky, but probably cares about a well-read book more than a human life. He uses guns.

Jonathan Gabriel. I only draw him as kinda burly so that's all you're gonna get. The dumbass who gets pegged and probably thinks gender is a myth (he's right). He's silly, imo he's autistic-coded and I for one identify with that, and he's always down for a good brawl.

Anne-Claire. A sweet little girl in a pretty pink dress who is a mechanical genius, has shitty parents, and loves scientists and getting her hands on tech. She's Tycho's niece and helps you beef up your weapons.

Jim! He's a skull in a jar of green goo, and talks too much.

Moira. Tycho's ex fiancé? Wife? Girlfriend? Shrugs. She's a detective who also wields guns, hates Tycho so much, but sticks around because the world's is falling apart. She's pretty cool but only shows up in the 2nd half.

There's many more. That's only a chip off the gold block.

Pros;

Watching the descent from comedy into tragedy is one hell of a ride you will not wanna miss. It makes you go thru fridge horror thinking of all the implications when comparing 1 and 2, to 3 and 4.

The plot twist still gets me and I've been a fan for years. Don't trust the Narrator. That's all i wanna say.

The creators had little to say for the 3rd and 4th games, so in comparison they're better written and the difference is noticeable.

You get to beat up rich people

If you make fanart or fanfic, it will be noticed by the whole fandom

The games have f-ck all to do with the comics, god bless

Cons;

The fandom is 3 people big 😔

Fuck the creators

The plot of 2 is a little over the line of offensive, taking place in an asylum. It's overlooked if you consider that the enemies are all brainwashed, but if it's still bothersome then it's easily ignored.

If you don't like homeless jokes?? I guess avoid this

Grinding sucks d--k and 3 and 4 drag on forever because of this. The songs will get so annoying. I will kill Fish Force with my bare hands.

The games cost money :(

In conclusion;

Please play the games we're begging you. Pirate them or something idc

If not then me and @diredevilrulz are working on a cut-down letsplay of all the games. Still trucking along tho.

If you enjoy Flux Buddies, especially S4, or Ao Oni - then you'll definitely love this series. It's a trip. It really is.

#intercom #penny arcade adventures

[toomanyfeelings5]

so I don't know anything about merlin or black sails so i'll just ask general writing questions: what's some of your work that you're the most proud of atm? can you laugh at your own work? have you written anything recently that you didn't expect/that surprised you? what's on your to-write list?

omg thanks so much for these questions!! if you’d be interested in a show about gay pirates fucking shit up in the 1700s, watch black sails! ANYWAY, answers to your questions:

1. i’m proud of this passage in one of the recent bits of my black sails fic:

It is better to be nothing than it is to be a written-down-thing, a paper-creature conjured by Richard Guthrie’s hand.

Ekundayo takes each crumpled page and smooths it out, and he gets out an inkwell and quill that Richard had left behind on his little writing desk, and Ekundayo blots out every word, one by one, until the crumpled pages are nothing but splotches of ink. The ink bleeds onto his hands, but he is very good at scrubbing the stains out of him. When he is finished, when the ink dries, he sits in his little cot and looks at each destroyed page. His fingers trace over every splatter and splotch and scribble of ink, every suffocated word. Ekundayo smiles, just slightly, and dreams of his iya’s voice, of his baba’s laugh, for the first time in months.

2. I laugh at my own work all of the time! Mostly because my writing is being way too self-serious or pretentious and I gotta laugh at it as I edit it to something that’s hopefully reasonable. this bit from my WIP of my merlin fic makes me chuckle. i’m not very good at writing comedic parts, but at least I can laugh at this:

It grows late, later even than when they’d arrived at the tavern, exhausted and battleworn and smelling like dried blood and mud and shit. Percival and Elyan sing loud drinking songs, Arthur and Merlin bicker, and Gwaine--Gwaine is--

“You should get properly smashed.”

Gwaine is being Gwaine.

3. hmmmmm something that surprised me was when I was writing the Merlin fic was when Gwaine and Lance wrote each other letters and it got Real Gay Real Fast sdfsds here i was planning to write some silly letters between them for some light character development and it winds up being:

My heart is a dull and heavy weight. I would not want anyone to carry it.

and 

Anyone would be lucky to love you.

To-write list:

-THE BLACK SAILS FIC

-THE HP FIC

-THE GWAINE/LANCE FIC AND THE MERLIN TRIVIA FIC 

-maybe a Mrs. Coulter is an Evil Lesbian fic

#writing #ask #thanks so much!!!!! #fic #my fic

[zukadiary]

Bakumatsu Taiyouden / Dramatic “S”! ~ Snow Troupe 2017

nngg…

I always feel this weird sort of out-of-body sense of detachment in the Tokyo theater. It’s not home, I’m not grounded… you leave and it’s just Tokyo, no bowl of homemade oyakodon and sympathetic conversation waiting for you with open, friendly arms. I wound up watching Sou’s taidan here too, also in blistering heat. I so wish I’d seen this in Takarazuka, more times, and without such a vast sea of heads in front of me (although having the opportunity to read the July GRAPH talks first added some lovely nuanced depth to the pain).

I did not expect to be this invested in Chigi when my much-loved Sou left. The evolution of my interest in Chigi went from “I wish Kaname was still here” to “eh, I guess” to shattering my personal record for in-theater crying (and I’ve cried in *a lot* of theaters). She lasted longer than I expected, and no one leaving with her is a huge shock, but this taidan is gutting me. I love this Yukigumi so much. I’ve loved a lot of Yukigumis, but this one has its hooks in me real deep. And it feels like its soul is being torn out. 

At my first viewing my friend flawlessly described Bakumatsu Taiyouden as “distilled essence of Chigi ft. Miyu’s beautiful voice.” It’s a perfect, lovingly crafted tribute to the Chigi-est parts of Chigi, which also means it’s an amazing troupe show.  

::insert 7 minute crying break::

Koyanagi-sensei transformed what I thought was a really mediocre movie (that had me particularly worried Miyu would get shafted) into such a playful, fun, well-orchestrated musical. There are so many opportunities for ad-libs I think I could have gone every day of the run and not gotten tired of it. Even though I’d seen the movie, it was a bit difficult to follow at first; Chigi uses a silly voice and a lot of slang, and it’s kind of a slice of life story with a lot of random happenings going on as opposed to one continuous plot line… but it gets easier once you have a general picture of the character relationships. EVERY CHARACTER’s personality comes across so clearly even with no background (which was soooo refreshing after three viewings of Yamataikoku no Kaze), and I adore Koyanagi-sensei for how well she executed that. 

Chigi’s character, Saheji, has contracted tuberculosis and has come to this inn/brothel by the sea to live out the rest of his life (I thought tuberculosis was highly contagious, but *SHRUG*). He winds up meddling, mostly hilariously, in all of the brothel’s drama. The best parts should be seen fresh so I won’t spoil them, but in general, this was so on-brand for Chigi’s comedic abilities, and it looked like she was having a TON of fun. Saheji and Osome (Miyu’s character) aren’t romantically involved, but they play off each other so well and there are so many opportunities for primarily MIYU TO TEASE CHIGI that it’s just beautiful. 

Miyu is so heartbreakingly good in this show. Her growth over her tenure with Chigi has been incredible, and her Osome is overflowing with sass and confidence. She’s also dancing the best I’ve seen her dance and singing like an absolute angel; the last time I saw her live was in Kenshin when her voice was broken, so I was beyond happy to hear this. I’m so glad she’s going out on such an amazing performance, but also IT HURTS SO BAD. Lord I hope she continues a career on stage, because she is really blossoming right now… and depriving the world of the full bloom would be such a travesty.

The other taidansha: Anri landed the role of a lifetime with Koharu, Osome’s rival (and almost equal in terms of importance), and she slayed. Dai and Gaori don’t have a ton of stage time, but they each have their own very funny and memorable scenes, so charming that they don’t feel slighted. MomoHina and Miki are primarily dancers, but they get their time up front.

Daimon is the calm and collected leader of a team of hot-headed isolationist samurai comprised of Kiraha Reo, Tachibana Kou, Kanou Yuuri, Hinata Haruki, Suwa Saki, and Manomiya Rui (interestingly, Kari may have had more stage time than anyone other than Chigi and Miyu). And Shou I guess?? She seems to be part of their team but not 100% on board with their plans, which are to blow up the foreign traders’ living quarters. It’s definitely an amusing group; Daimon’s character is all SERIOUS BUSINESS, but between the ridiculousness of their plot and the buffoonery of her comrades it’s just as silly as everything else going on.

I was fawning over Saki after my jet lagged, unfed live viewing of Takarazuka senshuuraku. Unless she was particularly on fire that day, I’m not sure exactly what hit me quite so hard then… BUT, I DO really like this character for her. She’s the spoiled, kinda flamboyant, completely useless son of the two kumichou innkeepers, and she wore that really well. Since Kenshin was the first place I saw her start to level up, it was nice to see her do such a good job with something that could not be more different. 

HIME was used properly, which is REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME. 

My heart’s not really in summary and analysis… I just want to gush. Spoilers ahead.

Dramatic S is a roaring river of tears. 

It doesn’t have a flashy theme; it reminds me of My Dream Takarazuka in that way, all soul-crushing lyrics and simple but sharp, passionate dance numbers. I find myself referencing most of the scenes by the color of the suit, versus “the pirate number” or “the gigolo number” or, you know, “the passion of the christ number,” etc. There isn’t a scene I don’t love, and all the music is beautiful; I’m excited to cry my eyes out at work while listening to the CD. 

The part choreographed by Bryant Baldwin, in particular, was a spectacle. It wasn’t a flashing lights and glitter spectacle, but the dance was cool, aggressive, and visibly challenging, and it was full of little Chigi things—a Lupin heel click, a kizuna fist pump…

My kangeki schedule last year included HOT EYES!! and The Entertainer, both of which featured breathtaking special top star numbers: Maakun’s barefoot dance to Chopin under blue starlight, and Micchan ascending from the floor singing while playing a glass piano. I’ve had my fingers crossed since leaving The Entertainer that Chigi would get hers. At first I thought she didn’t, but she completely did. You’ve probably at least seen the mint green outfits in pictures floating around if you haven’t seen the show; they’re from this cruel, devastating Kizuna number. Everyone is in it, everyone is gushing Yukigumi pride… everyone lines up and Chigi looks at them one by one. Chigi’s masterpiece is this close-knit family she built, and they showed it off absolutely spectacularly. I have no idea how they’re going to be able to do it the last time without breaking down.

The kuroenbi is also devastating. Every otokoyaku (except for the newly assigned 103rds) is in it, because that’s what Chigi wanted. I lost it every time they knelt down on the stairs in her direction.

It’s hard to decide whether the Kizuna number or the duet dance is the most awful part. The dance is so stupid and tender and terrible, I need them to stop touching foreheads and looking at each other like that on loop in my memory so I can stop crying and see my damn screen. 

……….

But as if that’s not bad enough, the song is so incredibly beautiful… Chigi starts singing it up on the stairs, and when she meets Miyu to dance Daimon’s voice takes over from the kage box. I was hoping that would happen… in her personal book’s Special Talk, Tomu mentions how much she loved dancing to Daimon’s voice, because it created a whole world she could get lost in. It did, and it was a lot… arguably too much. Honey and silk and love and admiration and maddeningly soft at times…

On a personal note, whoever thought of giving first Miyu and then Daimon to Chigi is an absolute genius. Not only did they support her in the exact way she needed to be supported, but she took these two insanely talented but somewhat shy/awkward ladies and nurtured them until they bloomed into something so BEYOND… And I seriously can’t think of a top 3 whose collective chemistry I love more. 

And on an even more personal note, as a Daimon fan, I watched Fancy Guy in my despair on Tuesday night and was struck anew by how awkward Daimon was when she came here, and how despite my JOY at my FAVORITE coming to MY TROUPE of all places I couldn’t help but think “Oh honey, I’m so sorry…” And now I get choked up looking at this bit of a photo…

…because look at how fully entrenched she is in our warm beautiful family, I’m so overflowing I genuinely can’t stand it. 

I remember Lupin shonichi too clearly for it to have been 2.5 years ago, even though I wasn’t there. It was New Year’s Day and snowing. How fucking perfect is that?

Chigi, I really can’t thank you enough for this ride. 

#takarazuka #reviews #bakumatsu taiyouden #Dramatic S(ummer 17)