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the girlies (mako and amon are also there, ig)

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Pokemon, 2D era (1996 - 2012)

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piplup and torchic greet the snow

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So I have a deep appreciation for late night host John Oliver and all he does, but I have an even greater love for one of his running gags. In several of his episodes he flashes up a joke alternative title card for his show and I have been collecting screenshots of these cards. Here is my collection.

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“Stone no likey Gerald Robotnik…” 😭⁉️

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Texts From Superheroes

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Best Fight 2024: Luffy vs Kaido (One Piece)

Freedom and Food.

A fight that has been in the making for twelve real years but twenty years in the story. One started with a group of samurai that led to joining forces with pirates, minks, and alliances that were thought to be impossible. All of this leading to Luffy fighting one on one against the King of Beasts and Emperor of the Sea: Kaido.

And ending with the one who was most free.

Just to liberate an island based on Japan: Wano.

This fight and arc was a long time coming. Luffy met the samurai of Wano over a decade ago to the point that they traveled with the crew to different islands. While this arc on the Island of Wano could have been something simple as fighting Kaido and his underlings. It ended up being more than just that as Luffy and his crew met the people of Wano from the full group of samurai to the actual people of Wano. Everybody who was suffering under the oppressive rule of Kaido who took over the island twenty years ago.

And this fight had it all. Punches. Slashes. Gunshots. Kicks. 

While the Pirate-Mink-Samuari alliance arrived on the battlefield together. It was the samurai and Minks that had the first bout against Kaido. They wanted to fight and earn their freedom themselves. Eventually the group of pirates along with Luffy took on Kaido.

Still, Kaido is no slouch. He is one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. One of the pirates who is closest to finding the One Piece.

In the end it was Emperor of the Sea Kaido vs Worst Generation Pirate Luffy. Old vs New. 

A clash where Luffy had to throw everything against a man who had the power of a Dragon on his side. Literally as Kaido could turn into a Dragon. Vs Luffy he kept bouncing back like a rubber ball. Still, even that wasn’t enough as Luffy pretty much came to death’s door leading to Luffy’s peak.

Freedom.

The ability to do anything he wants. All Luffy wants is to be the most free. And that is exactly what Luffy’s new Gear 5 power up allows him to do. From grabbing lightning, to making himself as big as a giant to doing the Sonic spinning leg thing to make himself go fast. Even use Kaido as a jump rope. If Luffy can imagine it then he is free to do it. Thus Luffy has the ultimate freedom to do as he wants in the fight against Kaido.

Then, there is the final point where this fight really took it for me. The final thing that Kaido said to Luffy before the final punch: What kind of world do you want to create? Straw Hat!

“To create a world where my friends can eat as much as they want!”

This arc began with Luffy meeting a little girl named Tama. She knew Ace from before his death and instantly took a liking to Luffy. Though, just like everybody else on the island of Wano, she was left hungry due to Kaido’s rule. 

As the Wano arc moved, we saw with Luffy the same tale being shown. So when it came to this fight. This line. It means that Luffy carried that image of Tama happily eating with him with the promise that she will get to eat like this everyday.

That they get to eat as free as they can.

And this whole fight felt as if we were going back to basics. The idea that Luffy not only wants to be the most free but he wants his friends to be free. The fact that he sees his Gear 5 as his “Most Free”. The only reason the creator decided on the Rubber powers for Luffy was so he can draw Luffy doing the silliest things possible even in the most intense of fights. That nobody has the stakes, Luffy can fight with a smile while putting a smile on our faces. That if Luffy is eating then so should everybody else. Because that is what free means to Luffy.

So the fact that Luffy’s new power is just the embodiment of freedom feels as if we are going back to base One Piece. The days where Luffy would do crazy things with his powers and stretch all over the place. The last few arcs had Luffy take some atypical Shonen looks but serious at the same time. It was all fun to watch and cheer Luffy on. Though, his Gear 5 just makes me smile and glad to see that Luffy and the creator were having fun. You can really feel it with everything Luffy was doing in this fight where the livelihood of a whole nation was on the line. Yes. Serious stakes but with the biggest of smiles for Luffy, the creator and us.

And in the end, Luffy was able to free everybody using a form that means freedom in the world of One Piece. Luffy has no idea of this but in the end Luffy was the most free because he wanted to make sure everybody was free to eat as much as they wanted.

And really. That is the most Luffy thing ever. As a fight and response. 

That Luffy would be freeing the people of the island so they can not just be free but free to eat as much they want. The ultimate “Most Luffy thing” that beats to the beat of his heart. That response ties everything together so neatly because Luffy isn’t doing this for power or fame. He just wants to be free and that includes his friends.

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Best of Best 2023: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

What if Scott Pilgrim…dies?

Would Ramona do the same thing that Scott did if the roles were reversed? 

Those are the questions that Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and how they answer them in eight episodes made it my Best of the Best for 2023.

When we started planning the Best of the Best for 2023, Scott Pilgrim Takes off was pretty high in my ideas for this category. I even had Ramona as Best Female and the main couple pretty high in contention for Best Couple. Though, when I was writing Ramona for Best Female was when I realized that I couldn’t put her in Best Female. While she was great and amazing in the show with her taking the lead as main character. The thing is that it was overall the whole situation that she was in that made it great. It took everything you knew about Scott Pilgrimand and just reversed it. Ramona wasn’t the prize or the princess. She was out there doing the legwork in finding out what happened to Scott Pilgrim. Thus, a show that you thought was going to be filled with fights was instead made into a mystery whodunit. 

Of course there was some fighting in the show but this time we had Ramona not only be the center of it but also the forefront. 

But let’s get past Ramona and talk about this show! It is a pretty solid mystery show that really does have plenty of surprises. From how they handle the Seven Evil Exes where each one of them gets some sort of closure to expanding the world beyond Scott Pilgrim’s precious little life. It even makes fun of the live action movie because they actually make a movie in the show that is pretty much just the live action movie but everything goes wrong. Haha So if you are a fan of the original movie then you will get a few good laughs with the few episodes involving the movie. Heck. One of the movie episodes is pretty much done documentary style. So this show gets some awesome points in just playing around with the medium of entertainment. 

We also see the other characters like Knives, Young Neil and Kim get some attention as well. Especially Knives, who you get to see grow and move past Scott and learn more about herself. And I do love some good Knives stuff. This show brings back all the favorite characters you may love from the comics and live action movie plus the ones you hate. Then gives you a reason to love them all. It takes the time to really give them all a purpose and feel that makes them complete instead of just obstacles that need to be punched. 

Eventually Scott does come back and they handle that pretty well because the show does a great job in keeping Ramona as the main character. Even the final fight had it where Ramona finally confronts her issues of running away and learns the power of love.

Herself. 

Honestly, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is an amazing show and it is pretty funny that the title was a hint to what would happen. Scott Pilgrim really does take off. And Ramona steps up to be the main character. The show was so good that it did something that the live action movie failed to do. Pick up the comics and read them all. I really wanted to see how these characters from the anime stack up with the characters from the comics. And while they are different due to the situations they are in, it really does feel like if this did happen that the characters did act the way they were in the comics. Which makes this anime really takes off. 

Honorable Mention: My Adventures with Superman- It would have gotten Best of the Best. It was a fresh take on Superman. Heck just Superman in general for animation. Cute and funny.

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Best Couple: Stede and Edward “Blackbeard” Teech (Our Flag Means Death)

Since Ben 10, I have kind of noticed that most people love writing about a couple getting together but never deal with the whole making the relationship works. Maybe it has been a thing and just not something in the shows I watch. Still, I do appreciate when shows do the whole “let's make the relationship works” when I do see it. Which is why I made Stede and Edward my Best Couple for 2023.

And boy was there a lot of work to be done for Stede and Edward. They were not left in a good spot at the end of Season 1 and that was picked up with Season 2. Stede being a hopeless romantic hoping to see Edward with no ship to seek him out. Meanwhile Edward was going through a huge self destructive depression that was going to get everybody killed.

And things didn’t get better when they got back together. Still, they put the work into it with the help of a friend turning into a bird. If I had to pick one episode from Season 2 of OFMD as a top 3 episode then Episdoe 4: Fun and Games where Stede and Edward meet Anne Bonny and Mary Read. 

I'm pretty sure neither one of these guys have any idea how a relationship works but seeing how Anne and Mary’s relationship really did help them. In…A really weird way. They got to see how another relationship works. While it didn’t fully convince Edward to give Stede a second shot, the episode ended with Buttons giving Edward the idea that change can happen.

By changing into a bird…Which I guess. Why not! 

Still, things were not all perfect after that as Edward had his issues to deal with. Then Stede being…Stede. Still, they worked through their problems. Granted, Blackbeard left again and I  could have done with less of that. Still, they did get back together to work through their stuff and give it another try. That was really good and glad that Stede and Edward ended the season on a happy note. While we may never see what becomes of them after this, I would like to think that they are running the best inn possible before they get captured and killed by the government. 

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Best Group of 2023: Lois, Jimmy and Clark (My Adventures with Superman)

A good group is one made up of people that you care about. They stick together no matter what. And while this group is just three people, they really do stick through it all. That is why Lois, Jimmy and Clark from My Adventures with Superman is my Best Group.

My Adventures with Superman is maybe the best Year One Superman adaptation that could ever exist. The little group of Lois, Jimmy and Clark is what really helps push this. Clark and Jimmy are college roommates who have both gotten jobs at the Daily Planet. Both of them are living together in Metropolis with Clark trying his best to hide his powers from Jimmy. Meanwhile, Lois is an intern at the Planet doing anything to get her foot in the door from lying to sneaking around. And with them meeting, the group has assembled.

And the dynamic is great to watch as Clark, as mentioned before, is the goodest boy to have ever goodest boy existed. That clashes with Lois who isn’t beyond lying to their boss Perry and sneaking around for a scoop. At the start, Clark and Lois don’t agree with how they do things. Clark would always try to discourage Lois’s ideas while Lois is a train who just keeps going.

Meanwhile, Jimmy is in the middle and willing to do anything. He just want to be with his best friend and new friend. 

Eventually things get tense. Especially with Clark and Lois. So much so that Jimmy felt abandoned with Lois and Clark forgot about Jimmy’s camping trip to find cryptids. This was mostly because Lois was getting close to finding Clark’s identity of Superman. Eventually the secret is out and in the end the group’s friendship is repaired.All they wanted was to be friends with each other.

And It is so fun and nice to see. For the whole show, you just want good things for these guys but you know something is going to happen and things will blow up. Still, no matter what this trio sticks together through it all. From fighting robots to taking down giant monsters. 

So maybe the real superpower is friendship. Because this group has plenty of that which makes Lois, Jimmy and Clark so great.

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Barb and the batboys over time

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Best Worst: Ava Coleman (Abbott Elementary) 

“I have to photoshop Janine out of this but…This is a cute picture though.” -Ava

And that is exactly what Ava did as we saw that picture on her desk with Janine photoshopped out of it. And really. Is that enough to prove that Ava is The Best Worst of 2023.

How did Ava make it to another Best List? By just being the worst. What isn’t she the worst at? Ava is the worst principal. She is the worst person. Worst…I don’t know. She is just really good at being bad on multiple fronts. 

And trust me. I have seen bad principals and somehow Ava can encompass the worst part of all of the principals that I have worked with and then multiply them by ten. Constantly throwing Janine under the bus,teaching kids how to scam various misuse of school resources, and running her pyramid schemes from the school…I am pretty sure the writers asked what bad things can be done at a school that isn’t murder.

And the best part is that she is still successful and does somewhat good in the end. She defends her teachers such as Jacob from parents, in her own weird way supports Janine and does what she can to make sure the school is successful. She isn’t the best at her job but she does her job using every worst and good thing she can think of. Even if it means stealing some of Janine’s ideas. 

Honorable Mention: Buggy (One Piece Live Action) - He is just a really bad guy. I mean he held a town hostage and when he was useful, he turn tail and run.

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Best Employee: Yor Forger (Spy x Family)

Moms are the hardest working people. I don’t need to go into too much detail on how they are expected to take care of the household and also take a job. Though, when you are an assassin and trying to keep your cover of a mother while also trying to be said mother, then I guess that means Yor Forger is the Best Employee for 2023.

Season 2 was Yor’s season. While she was mostly playing support during Seasons 1 with some great moments. Seasons 2 was when she got her big arc where she was taken out of her element and questioning her why. 

Yor was asked to instead of killing somebody that she needed to protect somebody. Granted. It highly suggested that she had to kill plenty of people who wanted to kill the person she was protecting. And did she slay. Though, as the good employee that she is. Yor was able to do that. She is a pro at her job in keeping an eye on her surroundings and leading her people she is protecting to a safe location. Meanwhile, taking out other assassins. All while on a boat! That part should be easy.

The hard part was the why. Why was she still an assassin. After all, she took the job as a kid only so she could support her little brother. And now that brother is all grown up and able to take care of himself. Why does she need to do it.

All of this was happening while she was doing her job. On top of that, for some reason Loid (her husband) and Anya was on the same ship as her. Now she had to avoid seeing them even though they wanted to see each other. So now she had a distraction to deal with and try not to get herself hurt where Loid and Anya would question her. Even though Anya knew that Yor was on the ship and was doing assassin work. 

Still, in the end Yor was able to be successful on her job and found her why. That in the end she just wanted to protect the carefree lives of the people she love.Even if it means putting herself on the line, she knows that the people around her would respect that. And in the end, she was able to enjoy a day of fun with Anya and Loid as the Forger’s mom. Thus finding that balance between the job of an assassin and the job of being a mother. Even if it is for a fake family. 

Honorable Mention: Loid Forger (Spy x Family) - This man is devoted to his job as a spy and he does that job really well. Even when he is overworked. Especially considering that his work with this family is also a job. Still, during the episodes where Yor was doing her assassin work, Loid was assigned to be on vacation with Anya and…He was not good at that. Especially because he also handled a bomb situation even though that could be a good reason to take a break from vacation. I guess. 

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