#// took 40 episodes but every one knows who every one else is now!!

[macheteddy]

THEYRE ON A DATE!!!!

[jaskierx]

Is it a safe space ship? Can I admit that I was completely uninterested when Izzy sang La Vie en Rose? It feels like a widly unpopular opinion on fandom spaces but I can't lie, I really don't care for it. Nothing against Con, he has a lovely voice, I just cringe so hard when people sing in non-musical shows. Add to that, that we had to hear him sing it not once but twice and that Izzy kind of stole Wee John's moment ... I literally have to mute the episode when I rewatch Ed and Stede's first time because it kind of kills me that it has an Izzy filter over it. I like a lot of things in that episode but I could've done with less Izzy.

this is always a safe space ship 🚀 have no fear

i'm exactly the same. con does have a lovely voice and i completely get why david and co wanted to let him use it and why they wanted to have a scene to show izzy allowing himself to be less repressed. but ep6 did feel like the most izzy-centric episode of the whole season and that wouldn't be so bad on its own but it felt like he took so much time away from the rest of the crew

and it felt so unearned. i can't criticise the pacing of s2 now i know there was a 40% budget cut bc holy fucking christ. but it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth that izzy got to do the exact things that ed was doing when izzy threatened him and forced him back into the blackbeard persona. and it kills me that him doing that is overlaid over ed and stede, especially since he's then the one who interrupts them in the morning in ep7 (which again could've been literally anyone else in the crew and it would've felt better)

and don't even get me Started on the amount of nonsense steddyhands takes that came out after that scene about how izzy was technically part of their first time or how the song was so tragic bc izzy is singing a love song while the man he 'loves' is with someone else 🤮

like every time the camera cut to izzy singing i was like 'wtf no my blorbo has my other blorbo pinned up against the wall rn please cut back to that'

[ellies-enrichment]

movie night picks

summary: Ellie & Joel look for something to watch for movie night

warnings: light strong language from everyone’s favorite uncle

word count: 1210

preview:

Every Friday there would be boxes set out on a table in the church full of movies for the people of Jackson to borrow and bring back the following week. Almost everyone in town had a DVD player and if someone was missing one, there would always be someone else who was willing to share. Ellie and Joel were given one by Tommy when they moved in and now every Friday morning Ellie would drag Joel down to the church for first-pick of the new movie selection

You never knew when new stuff would be added because it's all found while on patrol. If Jimmy went on patrol on Sunday and brought back 4 new movies, you wouldn't know until Friday. So it was important to Ellie that she was one of the first in line.

She sat down the movie she and Joel watched last week, his choice of some old western film, and started looking for a new movie. The western film wasn't bad but since she was sick last week and couldn't do stable duty, it made her miss Shimmer.

Joel stood behind her with his arms crossed, as he usually would, and started up a conversation with one of the other exhausted Jackson parents who got pulled away from their bed that morning.

"She made us watch that Barbie movie two weeks ago," the woman started, "She was tired of it within the first fifteen minutes."

Ellie took a quick glance over her shoulder to see what the woman looked like, then dropped her head back down to the movie box she was currently digging through.

"That's kids for ya," Joel replied and Ellie could suddenly feel his eyes on her. "She decided to watch The Ring while I was out on patrol about a month ago and–"

"Oh!" She quickly turned around and held up a DVD to Joel to get him to shut up, "What about this one?"

Joel took the movie from her, read the title of it, then handed it back. "No."

She frowned, reexamining the cover. Curtis and Viper 2. The cover was two guys, one had a sword. The description was a little vague but it seemed like a dumb action film. Joel loved these.

"Why?"

"Because it's your movie night," he nodded towards the boxes as a way to tell her to pick something else.

"Okay,” she turned around to look at the options again, then spun once more to face Joel. “I pick this," she held the case up again.

"No you don't.”

"Why not?"

"You're too young for that."

She dropped her hands to her sides, still holding onto the movie. He did not just tell her some cheesy action film was too mature for her.

"What's in this that I haven't already seen?" She sat the movie down on the table and crossed her arms.

"I'll explain when you're older."

She's 15 how much older does she need to–

"Is it dirty?" She raised her eyebrows, turning around to judge the cover again.

"No, it's just…” he looked around the church like he was searching for an excuse. “You wouldn't like it."

She sighed, putting the movie back in the box. She was confident she would like the movie but, for whatever reason, Joel was against it and she had to respect that. She planned on hounding him about it later until he told her why he was against it, but for now she had to find something he wouldn’t immediately veto.

She dug around for a few more minutes before coming up with a larger DVD case. She studied the front of it then turned around for Joel to see.

"No." He didn't even give her a chance to fully lift it up to him. 

"You can't say no to everything if it's my movie week."

"Do you even know what that is?" He pointed to the case and she flipped it around to look at it again.

It was some yellow square with holes in it. SpongeBob SquarePants was written across the front. 40 episodes, season 1…

"It's a cartoon," she shrugged. "It says PG."

"It's worse than The Ring."

She tilted her head and looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. "Is that your personal opinion?"

"Yes, it is." He nodded, taking the case from her. As he read over this nightmare choice, a grin appeared on his face. He looked up from the DVD and called for Tommy to come over from the other side of the church.

When Tommy walked up, Joel held the case out for him and immediately it was out of his hands and in Tommy’s. 

"No fuckin' way we got Spongebob," he opened it to make sure all the discs were present then closed it again, examining the front and back covers. "How the hell did we get this?"

Joel shrugged, not that Tommy was paying any attention to him. 

"You wanna come over and watch it?" Ellie offered, assuming if it was two vs one then she could get it. She’d figure out what it was about later.

Tommy looked between Joel and Ellie, handing the case over to her. "I'd love to," he smiled then turned towards Joel, his smile somehow getting bigger, "Just like old times."

Joel shook his head, stepping away from the movie table so Tommy and Ellie would follow and more people could get through. 

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked, following Joel out of the church and onto the street.

"Sarah and I used to watch it all the time. We'd leave Joel at the kitchen table the second the show started–"

"He's never been mature," Joel interrupted, taking the case back from Ellie so she wouldn't have to hold it as they walked back to the house.

"He hated it but he knew how much we liked it. I think the tradition of eatin' on the floor in front of the TV started with that show." 

"It started because you two would've rathered starve than miss a rerun." 

"I regret nothin'." Tommy shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

About halfway down the street the three of them came to a stop.

"So.. movie night tonight?” Ellie looked between the two of them.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Tommy nodded once before turning to Joel. "Want me to bring somethin'?"

"I've got a short patrol in about two hours. I should be back in time to cook."

Tommy waved him off, "I can bring somethin'." He turned around to start walking back towards the church. "I'll see y'all tonight."

On the way back to the house, Ellie took the case from Joel again to become familiar with the yellow sponge that was about to occupy her week. "Are you okay with this?" She looked up at him, trying to get an idea of how he feels through facial expression.

He nodded, looking back down at her. "Yeah, of course. I haven't seen Tommy so excited in a long time and I think you'd like it," he stared down at the smiling yellow figure. "He's got a God-awful voice though."

She laughed, holding up the case to try to imagine what voice could come from such a strange looking creation.

[juminsswife]

my thoughts on Netflix's ATLA live action

As an adult who watched this show growing up and was there for the countdown to the comet (iykyk!!) I have thoughts!

Best: Zuko. angsty, teenage boy depression, father issues, determined to a self-destructive degree. The actor is great at capturing all these facets of Zuko's conflicting, complex character. Really great with the choreography/martial arts too. Its not easy to pull off Zuko's mostly shaven but with a ponytail haircut, but this actor manages it. And yes, the opening scene with him seeing the beam of light from the iceberg and saying, "Finally." did give me some chills. Honestly the actor just captures Zuko really well. Great casting.

Worst: Katara. has the personality of an elegant yet unassuming well watered house plant. Its more because of the writing than the actress… she's doing her best with this depressing egg whites version of Katara she's had thrusted upon her. It's not going to be convincing when Toph comes along next season and calls her sugar queen.

Aang: never has any fun. spends every episode staring into the distance being sorrowful and melancholic. *teardrop rolls down cheek* he is a depressed 40 year old in the body of a 12 year old. He has no fun side to him anymore- an important side for a 12 year old kid to have! Also spends the entirety of season one (you know, titled "water"!) and doesn't learn a lick of waterbending, not even from Katara, who spends a lot of it learning from the waterbending scroll!! Why??? However the actor is doing a great job and I think he captures Aang's essence really well. He is young and I think next season he will improve a lot.

Sokka: I almost forgot to write thoughts down for him, which I think says more than anything else. He's essentially been boiled down to the same old overprotective big brother, but now he comes complete with daddy issues. It's a little hilarious that Katara's worst memory is watching her mom get burned alive by a firebender soldier while Sokka's is hearing his dad say he's disappointed with him. Kind of ruins the moment tbh. They really took all the fun aspects of the main Gaang and dulled them down completely, its sad. At least he's cute though- and imo, the chemistry with Suki's actress was there.

The previous avatars: every single one meets Aang just to berate & yell at him and tell him he shouldn't have friends and where has he been for the past 100 years without giving him a second to speak. What?? Sadly it seems any dignity, grace, or wisdom the previous avatars had in the original, has been completely wiped out in this live action. Also, this idea of them telling Aang about things that are going to happen makes no sense. Did no previous avatar tell Roku his friend was going to betray him, let him die on the island, and start a 100 year long war? Also the idea of Aang being able to communicate ONLY if he's in one of their temples is stupid. What is the point of the avatar state, then? Will Roku be able to teach him anything at all?

Princess Yue: yes I wrote an entire paragraph about her lol. She is one of my favorite minor characters. I think they wanted her to look so accurate to her original counterpart that she just looks too much like a cosplayer, with such a stiff and lifeless looking wig. This is the one and only time I will concede I prefer M. Night's version of Yue as far as costuming goes, though both funnily enough forget her eyebrows shouldn't be dark. The actress was fine. But this version of Yue is quite a different person from og Yue, I can't really compare. Plus, it feels like we see her for a good 10 minutes before she dies for the moon spirit. I couldn't buy into her and Sokka having feelings for each other because it felt like they knew each other for a good 2 hours at most. Ideally, I think these two versions kind of fused together would be perfect.

Azula/Mai/Ty Lee: Grouping them together because. Azula is the most unconvincing out of the characters for me. I don't buy that this girl is supposed to be the princess Azula for a second. I'm neither intrigued nor intimidated, and that's pretty bad as Azula was one of my top favorite characters from the original. The costume is fine, the wig feels cheap, her dialogue is horrendous, the actress can't convince me. Azula isn't smart or cunning, sharp, or collected, and her "working with Zhao" just made her look dumb when the entire plan flopped. She is a whiny, petulant little girl stamping her feet in every other scene. It's not for me. Also, the way her relationship with Ozai is depicted here makes Ozai look like a loser, too. It's like they want us to not be afraid of either of them.

As for Mai and Ty Lee. Ty Lee is fine. She looks okay, the actress is fine for how little we see her. On Mai, the wig is just so bad I don't get what happened. It's like they're struggling on the line of being realistic with the styling, or leaning completely in cartoon-character-came-to-life. I don't think the actress for Mai here was a good choice.

Dialogue: the worst part of this show. When they're not completely quoting word for word from the original, it's.. just bad. Everything is always exposition and thats not good. The few moments that aren't are just... idk.

CGI: not bad. I was expecting worse. Fire, earth, and air all look great. Water feels a little slow, mostly when its just water and not ice but that can be improved I assume. Koh was pretty cool, as was Wan Shi Tong.

Settings: Beautiful!! Omashu looked great. South and North water tribes looked great. Ozai's throne room looked incredible and I was annoyed every time we see it, he is just standing around and not sitting on his throne. It just reminded me how amazing the buildup to Ozai and Azula's reveals were in og season 1.

Costume: Its either a hit or a miss. There's strangley not much in between. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Iroh, June, Ozai, Jet, Suki, the Kyoshi warriors, all look pretty great. Then you have characters like Azula, Mai, or Yue, who just look like half decent cosplayers. It kind of takes you out of the moment when it looks like the person is a cartoon character, rather than just a normal person. For example, compare how Katara looks compared to Azula.

Music: of course it was fantastic. A lot of it (I think most) was from the original show, which has one of the greatest soundtracks an animated show has ever had imo.

Final thoughts: Ultimately, it was kind of what I was expecting. You can't condense 20+ episodes worth of development into 8 and expect it all to flow perfectly. However, there are also a lot of changes that really don't make sense to me. I am very curious to know how on earth they will do seasons 2 and 3, as season 1 is the slowest in pace compared to the next two seasons. The original's finale was split into four episodes! Unless they add more episodes for next season, it's going to be a big jumbled mess of lore being shoved into our faces. I am also concerned about Toph. The Gaang so far has been stripped of their fun/unique personality traits. Is Toph going to be the same?

[mamaladeskies]

I'm Watching The Double

I asked for drama recommendations on MDL and someone suggested The Double. I'm late to the party, but I'm here now.

The story gives me Story of Kunning Palace (SOKP) vibes. I can't say I looooved SOKP but I devoured that show in two weeks which is incredible considering my terrible attention span. Compare this to Till The End of The Moon (TTEOTM) which took me 2 months to finish and I love that show.

SOKP missed the mark with the romance, but I was there for the redemption plot, court drama and Bai Lu.

The Double's romance dynamics echoes that of SOKP. Both female leads are strong, loyal, cunning, on their own paths to revenge/redemption, and the male leads, who are cold, ruthless, powerful and intelligent, find this attractive and work in the background to clear any obstacles that may be on the female lead's path.

Aside from that, they have nearly a similar layout. Duke Su is trusted by the Emperor and seems to have unquestionable power despite not showing allegiance to any of the court's cliques. He's also incharge of a very important case that seems to have the Emperor in a twist. Jiang Li has beef with her family members and most of everyone else, but somehow manages to attract male attention. Lastly, there's the school setup, I'm on episode 13 but it seems the school part is done for now because our female lead has met the ultimate villain, but the school setup reminded me so much of SOKP.

As I was writing the latter paragraph I came to the realisation that my description could also fit Love Like The Galaxy, which I swear I actually like, I just need to get around to finishing it... One day, I swear, for Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi.

I think the cold, powerful, calculating male lead in East Asian media is to the West what the rich, bad boy with daddy issues is.

While I've done my time with the bad boy, I have not had my fill with the cold male lead yet. Something about a male who knows how to measure his words and dedicate his all to this one person is so satisfying.

Anyway, as of now in episode 13, I am hooked! I don't know if my attention span will hold till episode 40. Pray for me.

What captured me first were the beautiful shots, the colour grading and the acting. They could not have chosen a more perfect Shen Yu Rong and Jiang Li. The actor for Shen Yu Rong, our female lead's ex husband, knows how to use his eyes to express his guilt and pain, and how Jiang Li holds herself together when she just might crack is stunning. Incredible. That scene when Jiang Li is playing the Guqin gave me goosebumps. I had to play it twice.

Now, the plot is not perfect, for somethings you have to halt your brain; How does the real Jiang Li have the energy to walk after that many lashes? How do you believe that someone could look exactly like the other? Jiang Li's neck is slashed and she heals but the third sister's slash doesn't?

But the drama? The drama is where it's at. The court drama is entertaining. Every time A-Li puts herself in a situation it's so satisfying to watch her get out of it. I like how the drama is not repetitive and somehow each 'side quest' contributes to the bigger arc that I can sense coming. The side characters are well handled, they have their own motivations and their arcs are wrapped up nicely, no loose ends. And the mystery of why Yu Rong betrayed his wife has me wanting to skip to the end, because what was the reason?

As for the romance, I am not sold yet. Duke Su as a character is entertaining and we seem to share the same passion for drama, but it's still incomplete. Sure he's helpful towards Jiang Li, but I am going with her emotions now and she doesn't seem into him yet. I'll wait to see more.

For a second there I had been worried TTEOTM was the last entertaining historical drama I would enjoy. It had been nearly a year! I hope by the time I finish this something else pops up, either in Kdrama or Cdrama.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball GT 45

✨GT Stands for Generating Trichomania✨

✨Positivity Page✨

This Super 17 Saga sucks, so I’ve decided to give myself a side-challenge of giffing every single time he sweeps back his long, silky hair, like Kevin Nash used to do.  This episode has two such hair-sweeps, so I almost missed one.  But I got them both, plus the one from Episode 44, so we’re all caught up.  Don’t worry, I’ll be making a gallery post soon.

Also, we see the oni who run Hell taking Cell and Frieza away in a cage.  Wait, they’re already in Hell, so where are they taking them to? Mostly, I like this shot because I’m pretty sure this is the last time my favorite character (Cell) will appear in this shitty, shitty show.  Also, I like how Frieza is shoulder-to-shoulder with Cell, so there’s no way his feet can touch the floor.  Cell’s basically wearing him like a backpack. 

All right, let’s get down to business.  Piccolo died in Episode 40, and Goku got trapped in Hell in Episode 42, and then Piccolo tricked King Yama into sending him to Hell in Episode 44, all so he could carry out some idea to get Goku back to Earth.  Ideas?  I know just the place to talk about this!

✨”Good” “Ideas”, Poorly Executed✨

Okay, so this is the stupidest shit...

So this all started when Dr. Gero and Dr. Mu teamed up to build an exact duplicate of Android 17, and then they somehow linked the minds of both 17′s and used them to send energy at each other, which somehow opened up a rift between Hell and Earth.  It makes no sense because they literally refused to explain any of it. One minute the doctors were shaking hands, and then the title card, and then they show them toasting their newly created Hell portal. 

Somehow, Piccolo knows exactly how they did this, even though he wasn’t there.  He was in Heaven the whole time, which sounds about as far removed from Hell as you can get.  Like, people write poetry about how far apart these two things are from each other.  Meanwhile, King Kai and King Yemma, who are literal gods responsible for keeping an eye on this sort of thing, they had no idea how the portal opened in the first place, but Piccolo has the whole thing scouted.

Piccolo’s plan, then, is to just do what the 17′s did in Episode 41, so he telepathically contacts Dende to assist him from the other side.  They send “concentration” at each other, and this is supposed to re-open the portal.  But they have to time it just right, and that seems to be the only real problem they have with it. 

So Goku suggests they use the same chant that he and Pan used to defeat Luud back in Episode 14.  Piccolo is furious about having to use such a stupid chant, but it works.  I’m more furious that they flat-out admitted that this whole portal-to-Hell business was swiped from an earlier episode, and one of the shittiest episodes, at that.  

Also annoying: Just like Episode 14, it takes for-flippin’-ever to get the portal open, because they keep trying and trying and trying until finally Goku suggests the thing that works.  Above all else, GT’s primary mission is to waste time.

Goku wants Piccolo to come with him, but Piccolo can’t move, or the portal will collapse.  This means Piccolo will be trapped in Hell forever, but he says he knew what he was getting into when he came up with this plan.  Goku thanks him, and dives through the portal.  As Piccolo watches it close, the bad guys start to return, and Piccolo decides he can spend his time whoopin’ all the bad guys’ asses. 

Okay, three things that make me livid about this.

1) Piccolo is now not only dead, but he’s stuck in hell?   This is bullshit.

2) Piccolo clobbering dead villains sounds a lot more appealing than whatever Goku does next to round out this series.  If they took it seriously, GT Piccolo vs. GT Cell could actually be a cool fight, so let’s just see that instead.

3) NONE OF THIS WAS NECESSARY!  GOKU COULD HAVE TURNED SUPER SAIYAN 4 AND TELEPORTED OUT OF HELL WHENEVER HE WANTED!

Oh, also, when the re-killed villains return to Hell, they go through the same process as the first time they died, so King Yemma has to stamp new papers to send them back to Hell.  I bring this up because when Piccolo asked to be sent to Hell to help Goku, Yemma refused, saying that once he stamps your paper you can’t change your afterlife assignment, no matter what. 

My point here is that it sounds like if Piccolo had jumped through the portal and returned to Earth, he could have gone through the line again and gotten a new paper stamped, allowing him to return to heaven.  But none of this matters, because Goku can teleport anywhere he wants.  He should have just used Instant Transmission to meet Piccolo in Heaven, and they could have done Piccolo’s portal thingy there instead.  Or Goku could have just teleported directly to Earth, because HE ALWAYS HAD THAT OPTION!

Oh, and why do the dead people in GT lose their halos when they’re in hell?  They get to have halos everywhere else, but in DBZ, every dead person had a halo, no matter where they were.  What’s the deal?  Did they forget about this?  Did they change it for some reason? 

Sigh....

Let’s move on.

✨Is this episode worse than “The Roaming Lake”?✨

Yes, it is.  GT has lost forty-six straight matches with the worst Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z episode ever made.  That’s 45 episodes of GT, and the TV Special, by the way. 

So, when I came up with this idea, my thought was that a lot of GT would fail to clear this bar, but once I got to the episodes with some fighting, things would improve.  I just assumed that an action-heavy episode of GT could overcome all the shitty writing and annoying side-characters.

But so far, that hasn’t panned out, and I think this Super 17 fight provides a good illustration of the problem.  Let me pick out two examples.

First, we have this shot of 17 landing a heavy punch on Trunks’ abdomen. 

Now, the still image doesn’t look too bad.  We’ve even got the thing where it looks like 17′s arm is pushing all the way through Trunks’ body, a classic trope from the glory days of DBZ.  Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if they used this because it was a callback to the 17 vs. Piccolo fight in Z. 

Well, here’s the gif version of this shot.

It just doesn’t work at all.  The whole point of those “my arm went through your tummy” spots is that they’re very fast.  So fast that by the time you realize that it doesn’t make any sense, the action has already shifted to something else.  And that’s sort of what happens here.  The next cut is a closeup on Trunks coughing up spittle as he reacts to the blow, and then 17 rises up behind him.  That part’s kind of in slow motion, and then it cuts to a wide shot of 17 following up with a kick.  I think that’s in slow motion too.

I say “think”, because this whole sequence is very slow, and some parts of the sequence are probably supposed to be slowed down for dramatic effect, but I’m positive that this tummy punch wasn’t supposed to be one of them.  I’m not an animation expert or anything.  I’m just a guy who watches a lot of Dragon Ball Z.

The point I’m getting at here is that this fight sucks.  The story is that 17 is too strong and too fast, and Trunks can’t even touch him.  17′s punches are so hard and quick that there’s just nothing Trunks can do.  That’s the script, but the animation tells a completely different story, one where 17′s punch isn’t hard or quick.  It looks like he’s gently pressing his arm into Trunks, and Trunks is holding perfectly still as 17′s arm passes through him.  Also, the “camera” shakes around. 

There’s just no impact to any of this.  It’s so plodding and slow, and when the characters hit each other, there’s no flashes or other effects to make it feel more authentic.  And this happens all the time in GT.  There’s a handful of episodes where the animators seem to be on their game, but those episodes are always dragged down by the shitty storytelling.  But most of the time, the show is like this, where all the fighters look like they’re moving underwater.

 Okay, next example: Uub tries to jump back into this thing, and 17 removes his left forearm and reveals a machine gun.  It’s kind of like Dr. Cochin shooting Krillin in DBZ Movie 2. 

Except Uub doesn’t dodge the bullets.  He just lays there and covers up his head. 

Super 17 shoots him for a while, and then Uub sort of lays there like “Ohhh, those bullets hurt me so much, you guys!  Now I can’t do anything!”  He’s not dead or anything, he’s just worn out.

And this is the big problem with every fight in this series.  The idea here is to show off all the characters’ powers, and demonstrate which ones are stronger than the others.  In this case Super 17 is outclassing everyone.  The others are no match for him, even when they work together.  And yet, scenes like this completely muddy the waters.  Who is strong in this scene?  Who is weak?

I mean, 17 seems strong because he shut down Uub so easily, but think about it.  If he’s that much stronger than Uub, why didn’t his bullets kill him?  And if the bullets can’t kill Uub, why is he using them?  Why doesn’t he just run over and cut his head off or something?

You could argue that this is being done to show how strong Uub is, but I don’t buy it.  If he’s strong enough that the bullets can’t hurt him, then why is he just lying there, letting them hit him?  Shouldn’t he at least roll out of the way, and try to find some cover?

I want to stress here that this has nothing to do with power scaling.  I’m not bringing this up to talk about whether DBZ characters are bulletproof, or make up some fanlore about how Dr. Mu made special Machine Mutant ammo for 17′s gun arms.  That’s irrelevant.  All that matters is that 17 is supposed to be dominating this battle, and yet we see him using attacks that don’t actually hurt anyone, at all.  He hit Trunks and Uub with TWO Flash Bombers before this.  I think Flash Bomber is Super 17′s finisher, but they took two of those last episode, and they’re still putting up a fight in this one.  And Super 17′s like “Let me finish the job with a really slow punch and some non-lethal bullets!”

Then Vegeta tries to rally, and from here on, it’s basically Vegeta vs. Super 17, which would make sense except 17 already beat him down in the last episode.  Somehow Vegeta lasts longer this time, even though he’s still using his Super Saiyan form, which did him no good earlier.

So while that’s going on, Pan gets fed up and takes matters into her own hands.  She sneaks up on Dr. Gero and puts him in a hammerlock AND a choke hold at the same time, then has Giru hold a gun to his head.  She threatens to kill him unless he orders Super 17 to stand down, and Gero... agrees?   Shouldn’t Gero be a lot stronger than this?  No, wait!  Shouldn’t he be using the receptacles on his hands to steal Pan’s energy?  He could just launch himself into the air, faster than Giru could follow, and drain Pan before she knows what’s happened. 

I mean, what was the point of turning himself into an android if he can’t do things like that? 

Anyway, he orders 17 to halt his attack on Vegeta, but then 17 aims at Gero instead.  Gero is shocked, and then he’s shocked again when Dr. Mu reveals that he reprogrammed 17 to follow Mu’s orders alone.  Apparently, every time 17 seemed to obey Gero, Mu was transmitting the same orders to him.

So 17 betrays Gero again, and Mu gloats that there’s no one left to stop him, now that Goku is trapped in hell.  That offends Vegeta, who gets up and turns Super Saiyan one more time, insisting that he can win this fight without Goku’s help.  Normally, this would be the part where Vegeta gets clobbered for a while, but instead Goku shows up almost immediately, and tackles Vegeta before he can eat another blast from 17.  Why?  Was this the blast from 17 that was actually going to kill someone?

So Goku’s finally here to take on Super 17.  All he has to do is turn Super Saiyan 4 and even the playing field, but no.  No, he won’t do that.  Instead he turns Super Saiyan 1, and starts fighting 17 that way. 

Motherf--! 

Vegeta was already doing that this whole time, and it didn’t work!  At all!  Just turn into a Super Saiyan 4!  What the hell is wrong with you, Goku?!

✨The Blade Braxton Memorial Haiku*✨

Piccolo’s in hell.

Can it get worse? Ask his new

Roomate: Castiel.

[toonifiedchaos]

Disney Vault : Mortimers Suicide (suicide mouse rewritten)

Exposition

You remember watching those old Disney cartoons late into the night when you can’t sleep, like Steamboat willie, Plane crazy, Karnival kid and so many of those others that just fill you with a strange sense of nostalgia you can’t describe. Well there is one so many have claimed to see but nobody truly knows about, until now. I have found the real suicide mouse, and I’m going to shed some light onto it.

Continuing on before I get stuck on nostalgia stuff, the film according to the rumors is Mickey mouse walking past six buildings in a three to four minute loop, and while that is partially true, there are a few key things that need to be addressed before getting into the film itself. For one it was on an old school film reel like anything else from that time, not a vhs, and not ever put onto any other digital device, or at least till I found it, it was a clusterfuck because I have never done something like that before. But by the grace of God, or whatever deity of your choice may be watching over us I didn’t break the damn thing. And to clear up another thing this was a test reel of Mickey Mouse's original incarnation, Mortimer Mouse. A total of three other test films were made during this period but this is the only one I could recover. The test film was shown to a single test audience unlike the others which were shown to multiple audiences for a higher rate of potential feedback, the result of this film being shown to that test audience was paranoia, severe discomfort and there was one poor guy had a heart attack and had to be hauled away to a hospital, he made it out without further complications fortunately. Everyone in the test audience who watched the film have several years worth of records in therapy for depressive episodes and suicidal thoughts, hence the name of the film in todays urban legend format.

Following this incident and all the rumors that spread of the film being cursed shortly thereafter, Walt Disney took the drastic call to completely scrap Mortimer Mouse and replace him with Mickey mouse, because the reputation Mortimer had earned from the Mortimer’s Suicide preview was according to Walt himself “Completley shattered, nobody could look at him the same again, and I don’t want that for the leading mascot of my company. So I decided to take what remained and breathe new life into him with our current day Mickey Mouse.

The Film

Mortimer’s suicide starts with Mortimer Mouse happily walking down the street of a small town with a gravel road and small buildings with a bakery or candy store every now and then most notably, he whistles a tune we can’t hear the music notes swinging and dancing as if they had a life of their own, his arms swinging back and forth in a prideful stride for about a minute before he pauses, standing there with a growing look of uncertainty before he puts his hands in his pockets, he looks behind him, then ahead of him and then begins to walk again slowly as the sunny town seems to dim around him as if day is rapidly fading, he looks down at his feet as the look of uncertainty begins to turn to a sad expression like he’s about to burst out wailing. But he doesn't, he just keeps walking and walking for about 3 minutes before the film cuts to a blurry corrupted mess, footage unrecoverable. My guess is it happened when I was trying to get it onto a digital format. It continued like this for nearly 40 seconds before I could properly make out the images again.

At this point it is approaching the 5th minute, Mortimer is now wearing a strange smile. It looks kind of like the smile you would have when you do something embarrassing or feel anxious but don’t want to show it. His eyes seem wild and shaky. After 20 seconds of this his smile widens into a cheesy grin, his teeth look similar to the teeth he shows in Plane crazy, so that is to say mildly discomforting but not necessarily disturbing. His pupils began to change again rapidly dilating, the veins in his eyes bulging and pressing against his eyes, it looked like his eyes were about to burst, like an overfilled water balloon threatening to blow up in your face.

The film reached the 6th minute mark. He began to walk faster and faster but not quite running, the town began to collapse behind him slowly being consumed in flames, Mortimer at this point lunges into a full on sprint as if running for his dear life as the shadows grew around him nearly swallowing him in darkness, the hungry maws of the shadows wanting to clench around Mortimer and consume any hope he may have had, but unable to for some reason. His eyes then shake in his head for a bit before morphing and popping out of his skull bouncing like balls behind him for a short period before falling behind him.

The street began shifting and twisting unnaturally, Mortimer defying  physics as we understand them  running up steep, cliff like parts of the street into the heavens above and down similar steep slopes into the depths of hell in the twisted world he walked on walls and on the clouds as the street continued to break into mind shattering shapes and patterns, and as the fire grew, I could have sworn I was looking into the depths of hell. Suddenly, without warning Mortimer screeched to a stop, looking down at the sidewalk where an old revolver lay on the ground, his twisted grin turning to a frown as he collapsed onto his knees. Mortimer proceeds to grab the gun and silently cries and whimpers something unintelligible to himself before slowly pulling the trigger and closing his eyelids hiding the dark pits where his eyes used to be., as a loud bang rings out and the screen flashes white the film goes completely black all sound instantly ceasing. The film then ends with a shot of Mortimer's almost headless body on the ground, still twitching as if he was alive, smiling at the viewer with the small chunk of his lower head he has left, a quote lays below him in hastily scribbled text poorly written over the frames of the reel, it reads "hells gates beckon the foolish." I turned it off past that point and refused to watch the last 30 seconds, but according to one of my old friends who dedicates his work to archiving old films like this, it is just a picture of Walt Disney smiling with a broken music box playing over it.

Sorry if I didn’t describe the film or its backstory very well, I'm writing this in a rush as I have to drive to work soon if I don’t want to be late. I really hope you don’t have to see this film and experience what me and that test audience back in late ‘28 did. Best wishes - Nathan H.

Conclusion

This film is definitely not cursed or anything of the sorts. But it remains one of the most interesting and debated pieces of Disney lost media I have seen and makes me wonder if maybe there is some truth to other legends and stories told about Disney. Whether or not you believe this story or even care to read it, I felt like I had to tell it for the sake of the preservation of history. Thank you for your time, and I’ll see what else I can find.

[purplesurveys]

1708

How many friends do you have on Facebook? 682.

What was on the last sandwich you ate? It just had some scrambled egg and mayonnaise on it. We have some leftover luncheon meat and egg (again) meant for me though because I skipped dinner earlier, so I might sandwichify those two later as a midnight snack. 

Have you ever gotten back together with an ex? I have. Ended catastrophically the second time around, but I’ve been doing okay for a while now.

What is your favourite Thai dish? You can’t go wrong with pad thai. I was already in Bangkok a month ago, but when I tell you it was still the only thing I had besides the street food, hahaha.

How many contacts do you have in your phone? I have no idea and I can’t be bothered to check, sorry.

When was the last time you made out with somebody? No idea. Three years ago, four years ago? Something like that.

What month of the year was your mother born? September.

Do you have any friends that seem to know all the hot gossip? Well, not all. Angela and I will update each other on whatever we’ll find, but it’s not like we treat gossip as life. We’ve also softened a lot in the last few years, like our gossipy conversations will usually go, “Apparently X does Y now... happy for them / hope they pull through!”

What TV show(s) have you been watching currently? I don’t watch TV shows. If anything I just do re-runs of Run BTS - at least one episode a day - even though it doesn’t technically count. If we’re strictly doing TV shows, I will watch an episode of Friends every now and then for the giggles and happy vibes.

How many apps do you have on your phone? Somewhere around 30-40. It’s a lot...it’s mostly so that I have options, and also because I have a handful of interests. I have 6 apps related to BTS alone, like Weverse and Stationhead haha. Then I have all the local online shopping app options, all the local ride-hailing app options, and all the parcel delivery app options too.

What pet names do you use with your significant other? I don’t have a significant other.

Do you have to wear a name badge where you work? Nope.

What brand is your toaster, if you have one? We don’t have a toaster. We have a microwave, but I don’t remember the brand name right now.

Can you hear anything right now? An interview with Yoongi and Jin.

Is there anybody else in the room you’re currently in? Nope, it’s just me 99% of the time here.

What’s the name of the store you usually get your groceries? Continued from last night. S&R.

Does your house have a porch/balcony? In the most technical sense, we do; but the balcony has actually been mostly transformed into my brother’s room. My parents did keep a small portion intact so my brother can have some kind of mini-balcony in his space.

What’s your favourite type of bread? I’m not really a big fan of bread. I’ll eat it, but I don’t like it enough to know the different kinds or have a favorite type.

Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? Like our second name? Nope.

Have there ever been any bushfires/wildfires in your area? Never happened here.

Have you ever taken a ride in an ambulance? I have not.

When was the last time you took a nap during the day? Saturday. I was already awake for a while, but I wanted to sleep again so I napped from 11 to 1.

What did you have to eat for dinner last night? I skipped dinner because I had a really heavy lunch.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Water.

Who was the last message you received from and what did they say? It was just Angela sharing a TikTok link.

What’s your favourite kind of accent? I don’t have any.

Have you ever missed a flight? That has never happened. I’ve been delayed many times, but I’ve never missed.

Have you ever seen a lunar eclipse? Idk eclipses hate this part of the world so I’ve only seen like 1 or 2 and never knew what kind they were. All I remember is that it was very exciting to see the moon turn red.

Do you know your significant other’s passwords? I don’t have one.

What’s your favourite type of salad? Spicy tuna salad.

Is your house usually too warm or too cold in the winter? We don’t have winter.

Have you ever been in love with someone much older or younger than you? No for both.

Would you rather have someone ask to kiss you, or just kiss you? It’s better to ask. Unless I was actually dating you, then feel free to do it any time.

What, if anything, do you substitute for fries? I dunno...I’m never in a situation where I have to find a substitute for fries.

Have you ever been in a building that was on fire? This has never happened to me.

Would you change your partner’s hair color if you could? I don’t have one...

Have you ever written a poem for someone? No. I would if I could, but poems were never my strong suit.

Have you been best friends with someone of a different race? Yes, I was very close with Carley, who’s from Pennsylvania. She struck me as a little alone, a little troubled...but I was very happy to be her friend and we used to video chat every single day when I’d come home from school while she would get ready for it. I don’t know what happened, maybe her life circumstances started to get the best of her, but she started going in and out of the radar for long periods of time. 

Like she’d come back and I’d be very excited to have her around again, only for her to stop talking to me for the next six months. Then she’d resurface and talk like nothing happened. It was very disorienting and somewhere down the line it started to feel more of an inconvenience, so I eventually just stopped replying whenever she’d have a ‘comeback.’

Who’s the last person who cussed you out in anger? I dunno anyone who would do this other than my mom.

Have you friended your parents on FB? Yes.

What’s the last tourist area you visited? Kuala Lumpur.

Have you ever been in a submarine? No, and especially after that Titan mess happened you will never find me in one.

Is there anyone whose grave you visit? Not a grave, but like the cubbyholes(?) in a columbarium, hehe. I visit my grandpa’s every now and then, usually during his birthday and All Souls’ Day.

Did your mother change her maiden name when/if she got married? Yes, she did.

Do you use TikTok? Very rarely; mostly for work. I like using IG Reels if I want to watch that kind of content.

What decorations do you have in your bathroom? We have some fake plants on top of the toilets.

Do you like Seinfeld? I haven’t tried watching it but it’s something I’ve always wanted to see.

What year was your favourite band formed? 2004 and 2013.

What’s your least favourite pizza topping? Pepperoni, sausage, beef, pork, pineapples.

What percentage battery is your phone on right now? 93%.

Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Did you like it? I have. It was okay, but it never felt like I needed to keep doing it.

Are you closer to your mother or father? Dad.

Have you ever sent a postcard? Where from? I’ve never done it.

Do you know anyone who speaks Spanish as a first language? No.

Who was the last person you kissed? My ex.

Do you have a Bachelor’s degree? If so, what in? Yes, in journalism.

Do loud noises bother you? It depends on the context. Construction noises while I’m working certainly won’t make me feel relaxed.

Do you rent or own the place you live? My parents own the house.

Have you ever made yourself as a Sim? Of course.

What brand is your phone? It’s an iPhone.

Have you ever had a friend named Mary? I mean her nickname is Mary, but her actual name is longer than that.

What does the name “Ada” make you think of? My high school classmate named Ada, and Ada Wong from Resident Evil.

Have you ever ridden in a horse-drawn carriage? I’ve been on a calesa once.

Did you ever sneak out of your house when you were younger? No, my mom has a way of finding things out anyway.

What is your best friend’s name? Angela, Andi.

Is anyone in your family an author or poet? We have an author.

Have you ever dated a guy with a girl’s name? I’ve never dated a guy.

Would you rather be named Fanny or Faye? Not a fan of both, but...eh, I guess I’ll go with Faye.

Do you have a godmother? Yes. Kind of a mandatory if you’re getting baptized in the Catholic Church.

Are you someone’s godmother? Yes.

When was the last time you wrote a poem? High school, I think.

Do you believe that it’s possible for someone to be resurrected from the dead? Save for experiences where the heart has been inactive for only a short period of time and it was able to be jolted back into activity, no. <--- this. < There we go.

What color hair does your current crush (or boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, whatever) have? I don’t have a crush.

What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you in a theater? Falling asleep way after the credits stopped rolling. Mind you this was the last screening for the day, so the mall literally couldn’t close down fully because of me haha. It was embarrassing but in hindsight I couldn’t understand why no one could just wake me up and told me to get the fuck out of there.

Have you ever had someone copy you or steal your ideas for something? Not that I can remember. If this ever happened I can tell you I’d definitely be petty about it and find a way for the credit to somehow come back my way.

Have you ever dated someone behind your parents’ back? Yes.

[inthesaddle]

Is this still a medium or am I old?

Anyone else feel aimless? (I ask this as though one single person will see it/read it/respond/care?...but just go with me.)

I, per usual, am steeped in nostalgia. I just spent the better part of my night listening to Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos, followed by Ray of Light by Madonna. I’ve been watching old movies like Mystic Pizza and re-watching early seasons of Real Housewives of NY, doing it all from my bed, on my computer instead of the relatively new, nice, big TV downstairs. It’s as if I’m 20s Alison, alone in my apartment in New York, watching tapes of recorded-from-tv episodes of Friends and Sex and the City on my 12″ TV/VCR combo, purchased in 1996 when I went to college. It’s purposeful, in a way. I’m indulging. I’m going back to 20s Alison—even teenage Alison, watching TV at one in the morning when I couldn’t sleep, discovering Fiona Apple on MTV or laughing at first-season episodes of Saturday Night Live from before I was born. I have these comforts; music and media that touches a part of me that is stuffed away from the rest of myself. The part that felt the promise of the future. The part that had time to sit in that promise and that hope. Time to feel every bit of sadness, drama, anger, self-righteousness, self-loathing, ambition, heartbreak and, despite it all, optimism. There was so much time. It was safe. It was heavy, but it wasn’t real.

Or I just didn’t realize how real it could get.

I’ve wanted to write into this void many times over the last few years. Whenever I’ve attempted, I usually get caught up reading old posts; connecting with a part of my life from 15 years ago, for which I’m grateful there’s documentation. My early days of my marriage, my time before kids, my time with babies—really, my last time as only me. Again, there was time. Now it’s five minutes here and there...the rest tied up in tasks and life that is decidedly much less self-indulgent. There is no time to create anew. There is time to reread/relive/remember. Nostalgia is a drug for 40s Alison. It allows me to feel. And I feel so much.

I can’t quite articulate the emotions that bubble up when I listen to music or watch shows/movies that I connected to deeply—or even not that deeply. I don’t recall being super into Little Earthquakes, yet I can experience teenage Alison listening to it...feeling every bit of Me and a Gun despite not knowing any version of that kind of violence (even still, thank god). And tonight, after listening to that and Ray of Light, I dabbled in watching old Janet Jackson videos, namely for If. I had to see that iconic dance. I had to relive the wonder of watching Janet, gorgeous as ever, doing a dance I would pause and rewind and freeze frame and slow-mo for hours trying to learn. The nostalgia drug reminded me—I was a kid once. I was a kid who spent hoooooouuuuuuurrrrrrrs dancing. I was a teenager who took herself and the dances she choreographed way too seriously. I was not that good of a dancer, but goddamnit I believed I could be Janet.

I’m 44 now. I’m tired. I’m decidedly middle-aged. I was at Georgia’s dance recital today, watching my now eleven year old on stage. I sat next to a young mom, squealing in delight at her tiny daughter doing ballet in front of an audience. I was that young mom with her tiny daughter at her first recital eight years ago. Where did it go? Why don’t I remember enough of it? Why do I miss it so much?

How has it gotten so hard to keep time?

I want to write more music. I want to interview people I find interesting and find out where their time goes. I want to sit and do nothing. I want to do more. I want to do something that counts. I want to do something meaningful. I want to do things right and well. I want to make my family proud. I want to be present. I want to be anywhere but here. i want to be alone. I want to be with people. i want to be responsible for myself. I want a puppy. I want to teach my kids every possible life lesson.

I want. I want. I want.

Where to begin?

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 40

Roadkill/Age of Steel

“Roadkill”

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: one time I was driving down to Louisville and my gps told me a shortcut that took me through some backroads The Deer Hunter lookin place instead of the highway….I did feel like I was in an episode of spn. But I didn’t get distracted like these two, so I might be alright

How’s this guy gonna leave his wife? girlfriend? in their totaled car in the middle of the woods with not even a text or voicemail to tell her where he went on their ANNIVERSARY

I don’t think you should go into the spooky house in the woods unless you actually live there

Love that everyone is going to sound crazy to everyone else in this scenario…like, we’re joining Sam and Dean already in the middle of their investigation.

MAYBE DONT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE ROAD DEAN

Omg…I too would be backing away slowly if I saw the entire arsenal the Winchesters have in their trunk, but, man, I think I’d start running if they told me they were ghost hunting…lucky for them, Molly has had to plead to them to be believed

Dean’s bluntness and Sam’s empathy are a good combination actually

I don’t know that I’d let Molly walk behind me if I knew she was in the kind of danger she’s in…she’d be right at my side

We’re getting philosophical up in this bitch this afternoon

Oh they KNOW what happened to her husband???

God I hate jump scares…even when I know for sure they’re coming because they’re playing House of the Rising Sun

“You’re like a walking encyclopedia of weirdness.” What does that make you, Dean?? You’re one too

“thank god” “call me Dean” bestieee please (though to be honest, it’s the kind of stupid remark I’d also make in that kind of situation)

There are 10 minutes left, this can’t possibly be over….wait what??? How…how long was she there? Is…is SHE dead? Is MOLLY ALSO A GHOST?? Omg…how horrific to have to relive a night like that every year

I really do resent how good some of these episodes can be…

“Been On My Mind…”: the only characters they interact with are an already married woman and the ghost, so………no

"Age of Steel"

Did I even mention Ricky in the last episode?? Because...it's very funny to see that actor being something of a hardass after watching him be Mickey for a season and a half.

Love that Ricky just has the most parking tickets and that's got him on some most wanted list...truly love that for him

Is this the moment Mickey starts getting some self respect? well...alternate-self respect? becuase Ricky told him he wasn't so bad

Did the cybermen just kill Ricky??? RIP

These little punk rebels are adorable, and they care so much about each other (as they should and would). It's just sad that there are so few and one of them just died...

YES YES YES!!! YOU DID IT!! You gained self respect!!

Half expected that cyberman to turn its head as they passed....because that would of course happen.

And this, kids, is why you stick to wired headphones. Get rid of your air pods now, guys

Even though you see the people right before they turn into cybermen, they're already being controlled and are very robotic, it's easy to think of them as sci-fi fodder, but listening to the cyberman whose emotional inhibitor gets turned off or destroyed...talking about how she's getting married and is worried that her fiance might see her before the wedding...just destroyed me

And then having Mickey straight up looney tunes trick the cyberman to disable the transmitter. Brilliant

This dude has factories on all seven continents?? Why've you got them on Antarctica my dude??

"I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room." love when he's like that.

Don't they call Ten something like "the one who regrets" in the 50th anniversary special? Is that why he's always telling all his enemies and everyone he fails to save "I'm so sorry." I swear they call him the one who regrets and Eleven the one who forgets...and I'm gonna go crazy til we get tho that point.

Characters who learn to operate vehicles from video games are underrated. Except Mickey's not so bad at flying this zeppelin where as Spinner shouldn't have been allowed on the road...

I'm so proud of Mickey...(wait, then how DOES he come back later?)

Okay but low key I want the adventures of Mickey and Jack liberating the world from the clutches of the cybermen. Just think it would be neat.

[livingfancyfree]

the four day weekend

There are some perks to an office job and that includes the PTO/vacation time. In addition to 12 paid holidays, I have 30 PTO days to use, with the option to carry over 10 to the following year. Since I always carry over the 10 as a just in case, that gives 20 days to use throughout the year. The last vacation I took was in January 2020 to Disney with my friend and before that, in 2018 to the Poconos with my husband (I realize I will be mentioning him a lot so he will henceforth be Husband). We got married in November 2019 but didn’t get a chance to go on a honeymoon before the world shut down and since then, there hasn’t been the time or money to travel. So those 20 days sit around. I take off the day after Easter (I typically give up drinking during Lent so Easter I allow myself to let loose), maybe a day in July or August when my sister has off from teaching, and that’s it until the fall.

In September I’ll take off about 3-4 for my birthday, then it’s heavy loading on days off in November and December. This year, I’m off essentially every Monday the last two months of the year with a couple other days thrown in, it’s great. And one of the reasons I get to enjoy all this free time is because I don’t have to save my days for a child’s potential illness, school closure, school commitments, etc. My mom was lucky that my sister and I were fairly healthy and, if we did need to leave school early, my grandma was usually available to pick us up and take care of us, but her days were never guaranteed to be her own until we graduated. Even now, she still uses some of her days for activities related to us. In September, she took off the day before my birthday party and the day before my sister’s engagement party so she could prepare food for the two days. We appreciate what she did for us and we didn’t force her to use the time off but she did it for us.

I’m appreciative that I get to use my time off that I work for towards my own relaxation. This week in New Jersey, public schools were off on Thursdays and Fridays for teacher conventions. My sister had off from teaching and since we’ve both had jam packed weeks since September, we decided to make the most of the free time. I took off on Friday and we got some treats and watched 4 episodes of the Great British Bake Off. We usually watch the show

together but haven’t had the time so our day was saved purely for that. It was a nice lazy day hanging out.

Then Saturday I did a nice workout, watched Saw 2 for the first time (little underwhelmed by it to be honest), did a Target run with Husband and got some Japanese take out, and spent the evening chilling and finishing reading the first Vampire Dairies book. A perfectly lazy Saturday.

Today I did the shopping before another workout, got a stew going in the Crockpot, and hung out with my sister while she painted her room. I took off from work for Monday, giving me a nice four day weekend, and it will be a little busier with chores but it will be at my own pace and once I get bored, it’ll be back to reading and maybe watching a little more Lost season 2.

The free time is mine. Sure, there are the responsibilities of taking care of the house, making sure the kitchen is cleaned up, the lawn is mowed, laundry is done and actually put away, but the only creature to take care of apart from myself is my cat. Right now he’s content to just lay on my lap and enjoy the body warmth since it’s a nice chilly New Jersey day. The time I took off was at my discretion, it was for me and me alone. With the time, I didn’t have to worry about running a child to any activities (I worked at the YMCA during fall soccer and let me tell you, I saw parents sitting in 40-something degree rain enough times to know I did not want to be dealing with that), I didn’t have to feed a child throughout the day or entertain them. Being lazy was fine because it didn’t affect anyone else. 

I see my in-laws who don’t get their weekends to themselves because they are constantly attached to their young children (the oldest is 5 and goes down to 1). They’re too young to be left alone and they also want to play with their parents. It’s sweet but the majority of their childrens’ waking hours when they are at home is devoted to doing what the children need. Children are needy little buggers, as they should be. At that young age, they can’t cook for themselves, they can’t be trusted to be safe with their decisions. Not devoting the time to them

is neglectful and the children don’t deserve that.

I like having my freedom during the weekend and after work. At the end of the workday, I’m exhausted. By the weekend, I just want to stop for a bit and watch TV, read my book, if my husband is home spend some time with him. Adding another 1-2 lives into the mix would significantly alter that time I would have just to myself. Husband works 6-7 days a week, odd hours, you think I’m getting to relax like I do now if we had kids? Not a chance, and that was a big factor in our decision.

Husband said that while having kids would be nice, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to give up his own free time like he would be expected to do. And let me tell you, I very much appreciate him being honest about that. The last thing I would want is for us to have kids with the expectation that we would both be giving up our time as equally as we could just to have him drop the ball. That would not fly with me and I would rather him say up front that it wouldn’t happen than find out when it was too late.

And that’s one of the big discussions that needs to be had before having kids. I know too many people who didn’t have any legitimate talks before getting pregnant (a lot of the pregnancies I’ve seen in my life have actually been whoopsies, some have turned out well, many have not). It has an effect on the relationship and on the parenting. The children don’t deserve it, the partners in the relationship don’t deserve it. 

I’ll leave it with this: Unhappiness is preventable, just talk honestly and openly before making life altering decisions. If you love someone enough to consider taking the huge step of adding a child into the mix, then you should be able to have the deep conversations. If you don’t love someone enough to do that, then maybe you’re not with the right person or at the right point in your life. That’s okay, but maybe don’t do something rash that could have huge implications on your life and the life others.

I’m going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday evening. Dinner’s almost done cooking, Lost is getting intense, and I have more Vampire Diaries calling my name. Peace out until next time.

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

I took a day or so off because of life factors and now it’s a rainy Saturday and I’m gonna at least watch a few episodes and give some reactions to random stuff as well as note things I forgot or didn’t notice before. I at some point will stop doing an intro since I don’t think anyone is reading these consistently.

1.) I forgot El really just starts this episode back at the last time we saw her in episode 1, like almost a full year before season 2 starts.

2.) honestly I’d forgotten this sequence in general of her reaching through the placenta hole in the wall and then making it bigger.

3) I especially forgot that Mike kind of saw her through the window while agents are trying to get him to talk and he just keeps staring at the window like a dipshit

4.) I love this comically large tree that El can hide under that no one checks.

5.) Jonathan still does scrambled eggs and toast as a speciality

6.) Erica exists now

7.) the montage of the costumes us so cute

8.) Mike being a little bit racist

9.) I forgot literally no one else dressed up

10.) hopper is still very sweet and patient about Will when talking to Joyce

11.) I don’t care about these guys in the lab even though I probably should care about them fixing a power issue

12.) I fully understand where Nancy is coming from and I hate that at this point the Hollands are wasting their time and money and are tearing themselves looking for Barb when she will never come home. That being said, Steve isn’t wrong here. There is a shadowy agency that literally killed a man and covered it up as a suicide and covered up Will’s disappearance with a fake body that resulted in a funeral. They could really put themselves and others in danger. And something not fully discussed in this scene is: literally what would they even say? “hey, long story short, your daughter was killed by a creature from another dimension and her body is still there but you can’t talk to anyone about it or get her back or anything. Anyway, thanks for the McDonald’s.” Like that would be worse and they probably would not believe it anyway.

13.) Steve doesn’t even say forget forever, he asked to pretend to be normal on Halloween for one night

14.) I adore Max and if I’d known her in middle school, I’d desperately want to be her friend

15.) ok but how did el go from not knowing what half of food is to knowing how to skin and cook a squirrel? Like who taught her to do that? Her skill level varies wildly

16.) Billy is the fucking woooooooooooooorst and if he hadn’t died in season 3, it would have been something I did on my own in fanfic. People wanting to save him is crazy to me. He literally ran a bunch of kids off the road with his speeding car as one of the first things in the show!!!

17.) Jonathan not seeing what his mom likes bob is kind of hilarious to me because there’s a non insignificant chance that’s what he’s like when he’s 40

18.) still love Jonathan and will being adorable bros

19.) why is Billy so greasy???? Did he lather in baby oil before doing a keg stand???

20.) It was Nancy’s idea to go to this stupid party in the first place but now that she’s going with Steve instead of Jonathan, its a chore. Like ma’am you could have stayed home or insisted on doing some other normal thing. And by you, I mean the Duffers could have made up their minds

21.) bob and Joyce dancing in the living room is so cute

22.) every time max appears on screen I grin and whisper, ‘that’s my girl’, especially when she jump scares boys

23.) hop broke a promiseeeee but also that small child was only out there for hopper to buy candy off of

24.) max lives on Old Cherry Road

25.) Mike hating Max for no damn reason is so annoying

26.) jump scared right into the upside down

27.) Jonathan shows up to the party. Forgot that happened.

28.) all Steve was trying to do was stop Nancy from giving herself alcohol poisoning and he did apologize. But then she shatters his heart.

29.) Steve did leave her at the party which sucks but idk how I would be able to do anything else if someone called me a killer and said our love was bullshit

30.) I forgot El visits Mike through the void

31.) oh hi demodog. I remembered you were found in a trash can but not that you technically show up in episode 2, although not like seen by the audience

[ear-worthy]

Do You Need A Co-Host For Your Podcast​?

You’ve just finished that first episode of your brand-new podcast. It took a lot of work to complete only the first episode – the planning, then the agonizing, then more planning, then more agonizing. Finally, your girlfriend got tired of listening to your “plans” for your podcast and went all Shia Labeouf on you, screaming, “just do it.”

You sit back and just listen to your podcast and, of course, hate how your voice sounds. But after that self-loathing dissipates, you focus on the timbre of the podcast and ask yourself, “Do I need a co-host?”

That question is asked by thousands of new and experienced podcasters every day. As we listen with a critical – sometimes hypercritical – ear to our own podcast, we worry about the possible monotony of only one voice. Would the podcast be better served to have another voice to spice up the narrative and have someone to bounce ideas off of?

Then you blast off into the podcast universe to evaluate one host versus a co-host or even a panel of hosts. You check out single-host successful podcasts like Drilled, Freakonomics, Hidden Brain, Something You Should Know, and Problem Solvers. After listening again to these podcasts, you realize these single-host podcasts maintain your interest throughout an episode with just one host.

And then you notice something else. More often than not, these single-host podcasts spend an episode interviewing a guest on the podcast. On Freakonomics, it could be an economist. On Unexplainable, it’s probably a scientist. On Problem Solvers, it’s an entrepreneur, and on Something You Should Know, it’s typically an author. The interaction between the host and the guest being interviewed creates interest and enables another voice to impart information that listeners did not know, knew but did believe, or were skeptical of its efficacy.

Now you do more research. You listen to single-host podcasts that do not have guests. Slate’s Hit Parade with Chris Molanphy typically has that single voice talking about music on the Billboard charts for about an hour an episode. And you realize, Molanphy is good. His voice exudes passion; his words convey knowledge about chart history, and his narrative builds toward a dramatic climax.

You ask yourself: Can I do that? Can my voice keep the interest of listeners for 40 minutes?

The answer is: you’re not sure. So you do more research.

You go through your podcast playlist again and now look for podcasts with multiple hosts and do a sample listen of those episodes. Curiosity Daily has a man and woman who co-host, and their chemistry is evident throughout the podcast. Political podcasts like Pod Save America and Slate’s Political Gabfest have multiple co-hosts that serve up morsels of insight that make them popular with so many listeners. The Rewatchables discusses established movies with various people talking, and the mash-up of voices seems to work.

After several days of research, you still have not answered the question: Should I have a co-host?

The Deciding Factors

This dilemma often goes unresolved by new podcasters who become paralyzed by conflicting information. Sometimes, single-host podcasts are highly successful. At other times, co-hosted podcasts are wildly popular. So how does a new podcaster make that critical decision?

Let’s look at the factors that can help you decide on a co-host.

What is the length of your podcast?

The Quick and Dirty Tips people have built a mini-podcast empire (Nutrition Diva, Grammar Girl, Savvy Psychologist, etc.) with circa 10-minute podcasts on particular topics packed with factual information. Each of these podcasts has a single host, and for 10 minutes minus the ads, the hosts seem to keep listeners’ interests.

So if your podcast is short, then a single host may be preferable. Having two people talking within a ten or 15-minute time span could be too frenetic.

What is the topic of your podcast?

Suppose your topic is, for example, the history of rare stamps. In that case, your podcast can flourish with a single host because that one person can keep the podcast interesting with a revolving door of factual information on the topic.

If, however, your podcast is political in nature or a pop culture – books, movies, TV, music – review show, you’ll definitely need at least one co-host because these topics, by definition, require disagreement, insight, even vitriol to make the podcast interesting for listeners. It would be difficult, for example, to sustain any kind of review podcast if you were the only one reviewing the book.

“On today’s episode, we’ll review Frozen II. I loved it. See you next week!”

What is the current state of your podcast hosting skills?

Do you sound nervous or stiff on the podcast? Is your voice robotic as you read the script you’ve so lovingly prepared for the episode?

Sometimes, hosts encounter rookie jitters that fade with time and experience. At times, that sense of unease never goes away, despite the passion you have for your podcast.

If that is the case, a co-host can loosen you up, and your back-and-forth banter can instill new life into your pride and joy.

How do you find the right person to be an effective co-host? First, that person must also have a passion for podcasting. Second, the co-host candidate must sound articulate, relaxed, and relatable on the podcast. Having two people co-host a podcast who are uncomfortable speaking isn’t any better than one person muddling through the hosting duties.

Most important of all, find a person who knows the definition of “co-host.” It’s your podcast, and that person is the co-host. Their job is to make the podcast more spontaneous, more effortless, and more enjoyable. You don’t need a co-host – no matter how engaging, insightful, or funny – who talks over you and cuts you off mid-sentence.

The History Chicks podcast, for example, manages the secret recipe of Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider in just the right proportions. On Switched On Pop, Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan exemplify how their combined skills make the show more robust and ultimately more compelling. When Harding was on paternal leave in late 2019, Sloan wrangled a strong cast of fill-in co-hosts, but something was missing without Harding.

What is the contrast in voices?

Here, I’m making a plug for vocal diversity. If you and your co-host are both men – or women – with similar voices that may be indistinguishable by your listening audience, think again about your co-host choice. The contrast between a male and female voice can provide freshness and sonic interest. For instance, Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete of the Money Pit podcast offer a perfect counterpoint in vocal range and knowledge base on the show.

Moreover, that vocal blending should include voices from different races, ethnic backgrounds, and other countries. Wendy Zukerman from the Science Vs podcast uses her Australian inflections to maximum effectiveness in her episodes.

The Bottom Line

Don’t worry if you hate your own voice on your podcast. Unless you’re a card-carrying narcissist, we all have that “ugh, is that what I sound like” feeling.

But do an honest assessment of whether your podcast needs a co-host. If you decide you need a podcasting partner, find someone with complimentary – not identical – skills who can help you transform a monologue into an irresistible dialogue.

For women entrepreneurs with podcasting aspirations, check out Golden Goose Creative for help with issues such as co-hosts.

[reservoirreputation]

My Journey to Brain-rot, or It Took Me Three Views to “Get” Reservoir Dogs.

Similar to my main blog, where I described my tale as a Supernatural fan, first casual then wanting something more, something a lot gayer, only to be delighted that the answer’s been under my nose the whole time. Very similar story.

I’m going to recap from memory my first three viewings of the 1992 classic. So:

1st viewing: I was probably 12. Pretty sure I’d rented it from Blockbuster. Yes, this was in the 2000’s, no, I don’t expect you to believe me. Not the watching violent movies at twelve part, but the whole “you know what a Blockbuster is?” Point being, I really liked Kill Bill, and figured this would be no different. Problem is, I’m terrible with names. Like, can’t name a relative of mine if we’re not that close, even if Mom’s told me five minutes ago. How do you think I fared with a movie of white guys dressed the same way with similar dialogue? Not well, and I wasn’t impressed. Promptly forgot about the movie, its plot, its characters, its twist, all of it.

In the years that followed, and having enjoyed the likes of Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Bastards, I decide, at about 17? I wanna say? to give Reservoir Dogs another shot. 

2nd viewing: It’s like my mind’s been wiped, have no recollection of this fucking film. Had zero expectations, but there was one important difference at this time, and where it crosses over with my experience with Supernatural: I’d been craving some gay shit. That good ol’ MLM. Only at this point, I had zero tools in my media literacy belt, and had to go by gut feeling. You know, when you watch or read something, and you get that funny feeling in your gut that it’s really quite queer, and you’re not instantly sure if you’re into it. That was me when I saw Tim Roth screaming his head off and the older guy holding his hand, comforting him. Literally nothing else in the movie held my interest the way these two’s bullshit did. Every moment they weren’t on screen being the definition of hurt/comfort was like losing the heart of the story.

Too long later, to March of this year, at 25 years old. I see someone who’s movie reactions I like has also reacted to this film, and I instantly think ‘oh yeah, the one where those two characters are really homoerotic’. Watch this 40 minute reaction, and am stunned at how it’s not only still really fucking gay, but queerer than I remembered. Late at night, done with the video, and I’m like “I need to rewatch this movie now.”

3rd viewing: glued to my seat, absolutely enthralled with this fucking movie. The brain-rot has properly set in. This is my life now. I wonder how more people don’t talk about this movie as the queer masterpiece that it is. I’m cursed with the sight, and cannot express what haunts me. A week later, I realize, to both my delight and horror, that Supernatural has done an episode of this in season 12. I mean, straight up, a Tarantino tribute to specifically Reservoir Dogs, that’s also known as one of the best Destiel episodes of the series, and blatantly foreshadows characters betraying their love interest in the season finale. Listen, I didn’t start writing SPN meta until season 13, I never even considered that the source material was equally as gay. Just, this revelation both fascinated and confounded me, but provided me with another comfort; I’m not alone in recognizing how ridiculously queer this movie is, and that professional writers got paid to make what amounts to crossover fanfiction.

So, to go from being unimpressed at 12 to obsessed at 25. God, I love movies.

Reservoir Dogs is truly one of those movies that is more rewarding the more you watch it. Makes me wish there were more videos of people online rewatching movies with a twist, or to be able to take a deeper dive into a story and not be lost from trying to absorb all the details and characters and plot-points for the first time.

That's it. Now I'm stuck here with maybe a dozen fanfic plots in my noggin. I shall never know peace.

[boombox-fuckboy]

5 Underrated Audio Drama: Weird Fiction Edition

Weird fiction* is a bit of a niche genre, but is my absolute favourite, and is easiest to describe as that hard-to-define space between sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. *The more accurate term here is probably "New Weird" or something else. I'm not great at genre names, and depending on who you ask, you may be told that "weird fiction" is more cosmic-horror-leaning, or is the earlier movement, or the name of the overall genre category, or that the two terms are interchangable. I tend toward the last two but I think the first two are more accurate.

Notable weird fiction shows include Infinity Train and the OA, and popular weird fiction podcasts include Archive 81 and The Far Meridian (if you haven't heard these already, you absolutely should). While it's a smaller genre, it has a lot to offer, and there are some incredible smaller productions that are plenty deserving of attention! Here are 5 absolutely quality weird fiction podcasts. And I mean quality: I've heard each one at least twice.

Up to date as of 21st July 2021

Midnight Burger

"When Gloria took a waitressing job at a diner outside of Phoenix, she didn't realize she was now an employee of Midnight Burger, a time-traveling, dimension-spanning diner. Every day Midnight Burger appears somewhere new in the cosmos along with it's staff: a galactic drifter, a rogue theoretical physicist, a sentient old-timey radio, and some guy named Caspar. No one knows who built Midnight Burger or how it works, but when it appears there's always someone around who could really use a cup of coffee.

"When the waves of the universe crash unrelentingly, when the stars seem indifferent to your plight, suddenly there is a diner."

We open at 6."

The above summary is a great one, so I won't give my own. An incredibly funny and charming piece of weird fiction and sci-fi with an absolutely delightful cast of characters, fun and unique story ideas, and really clean voice and soundwork. The radio is a 1920s Christian channel specifically, so if like me you aren't used to Christianity it might be a bit weird, but it's not excessive. There are currently 9 episodes of between 25 and 55 minutes each, averaging 40 minutes per episode.

Midnight Burger is available on major podcasting platforms and Spotify. There are no currently available content warnings, but transcripts are available on the website. You can also follow their Tumblr at @midnightburgr

Out of Place

"Andrew Moss loved his anthropology job, until mysterious artifacts from a Mr. Havisham started arriving in brown paper bags. The artifacts are... Wrong"

A young archivist takes a job cataloguing strange items, and speculates on how the past, present, and future of the alternate timeline the item is from might vary from our own, based on the differences in the items. Out of Place is a delightful piece of both Weird and Speculative Fiction, and I was really surprised to find it's not more popular. It's very well written, the sound design is simple and clean, and the research and ideas are super fascinating. There's also a super cute subplot involving his boyfriend's niece that I adore. There are currently 18 episodes available with more airing. The twelve season 1 episodes range from 10 to 15 minutes, and the five season 2 episode average at 25 minutes each.

Out of Place is available on major podcasting platforms, and Spotify. It unfortunately does not have content warnings or transcripts at this time.

The Godfrey Audio Guide

"The world-famous audio guide for the Annabelle H. Godfrey Historic Estate and Museum. Please do not touch the art. This is for your own safety. Though this is a self-guided tour and you may listen in whatever order you choose, the Estate recommends that you start at the beginning."

The Godfrey Audio Guide is an audio tour guide of a weird and wonderful (and occasionally supernatural) art gallery and associated gardens. Each episode has two or three pieces, elegantly described and with a little context or history behind both the art and it's place in the estate. Simple but effective audio with delightful, professional, but friendly narration, it's a very relaxing and easy listen without ever slipping into boredom, and enticing mystery behind it. Casually and comfortingly very queer. There are currently 26 episodes available, between 10 and 15 minutes each.

The Godfrey Audio Guide is available on major podcasting platforms and Spotify. There are no currently available content warnings, but transcripts of each episode are freely available on the Patreon.

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality

"Hello, and welcome to the Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality. This Audio Tour Guide is aware that this is your first visit to the museum! On behalf of the Museum: Welcome! It’s a pleasure to have you with us here today. The Audio Tour Guide will be your window into the history of the museum and its exhibits today. Please note, that if you notice your version of the Audio Tour Guide behaving oddly, kindly ensure that you dispose of your Audio Device in the nearest incinerator at the earliest convenience."

Another audio tour guide, Godfrey and Mistholme might share a basic idea and format, but both are distinct and neither intrude on the other's flavour. The Mistholme Museum has you toured around a museum of strange artifacts by an incredibly sweet AI, who will tell you both about the item, and the story behind it. Amazing writing and narration that dips into both heartwarming and horror flawlessly, it features between 1 and 3 items an episode. Very creative and makes use of both original ideas and historic strangeness very well. Big on water, mirrors, changelings and doubles, and a healthy dose of subtle queerness. The third season is currently airing, and there are currently 27 episodes available, between 20 and 40 minutes each (but usually 25-30 mins).

The Mistholme Museum is available on major podcasting platforms and Spotify. It has external advertising at the start and end of episodes to support the production. Content warnings are given at the start of the transcripts, and transcripts are linked in each episode description. You can also follow their Tumblr at @the-mistholme-museum!

The Tower

"A young woman leaves behind her isolated, suffocating existence to climb The Tower, an abandoned relic of a forgotten age, built by a proud king who wanted to rule the sky as well as the land. It stretches up into the sky, through the smog."

The above description will be enough, so I shant write my own. A very pretty and meditative piece with stunning soundwork and a truely amazing original soundtrack. A great exploration of a simple idea with lovely written interpersonal relations and a great framing device. There are currently 7 episodes episodes of 5-13 mins in length, and season 2 is coming up soon!

The Tower is on major podcasting platforms and Spotify, and you can also find the soundtrack on spotify. There are no currently available content warnings, but transcripts linked in each episode description. You can follow their tumblr and find out more about their other amazing podcasts at @tincanaudio!

Feel free to leave a comment on what genre you want me to do next!

Want more good new audio content?

5 Criminally Underrated Sci-Fi Podcasts

5 Criminally Underrated Supernatural Podcasts

5 Underrated Sci-Fi Horror Podcasts

5 Underrated Superpowered Podcasts

5 Underrated Comedy Podcasts

[amorpho]

@sp00pygal has got me thinking about Amorpho...

I've never really thought about it until now but it all makes sense

I think he was an undercover private investigator, who was really good at blending into spaces for reconnaissance.

Probably some sort of guy that didn't love who he was, sometime back in the 20s-40s? He died trying to tail the wrong person.

Probably some mafia boss, they tortured him for information before cutting him off. It was who he was, being a private investigator, that's what got him killed.

Now as a ghost he has repressed any memory of that life and is happy being no one. If he knew who he was once, he would be very upset about it. There was probably even a time where he did regain his memories, only to beg Desiree to let him forget and know no more. He also avoids Walker like the plague, too mafia like... Not to mention that he never quite liked cops even when living and forced to work with them. Maybe he was actually a prankster to cops on the force- thus starting his love of pranks!

His obsession revolves around knowing others/getting in their shoes/understanding the info that being someone else creates. His restless spirit is always looking for new perspectives to gain and to understand what makes people tick.

However, he has the most horrid memory issues.. both because needing to remember info was how he died, and because he can only store so much in his noggin.. not to mention that Desiree's wish may have left side effects.. So he forgets names and faces, especially if it's someone who he's morphed as before.

I imagine his lair is just layers and layers of filing cabnets of people and ghosts he's seen and become, and the relations between everyone. He knows everyone in the zone, and could tell you any of their frequent hangouts.

And finally.. Billy. I believe that perhaps when the ghost zone opened, Amorpho left it completely. He took the positions of people in Amity, switching through people happily, avoiding Danny so he could stay longer to fulfill his obsession. And then the people of Amity began to get wiser to ghost hijinks. He no longer always could keep up his charades, sometimes getting called out way too early into the game. It was much too frustrating, every single time this happened.

One day he snaps, realizing Danny is the only ghost who 'gets' to stay in the human realm.. his jealousy leads to the episode Forever Phantom. And of course, having been living as an Amity Parker, he calls him by Inviso-Bill instead of Phantom.

He overall seems like a pretty cool dude, friendly when he wants to be, and probably also lives under Danny’s nose, which is just amazing, and rife with potential.

And those are my headcannons for Incognito Uncle.