#Mac watches tv

[macgyvertape]

Castlevania Nocturn s1 thoughts/liveblog

This season more like Castlevania: colonialism, and power structures that support it

For a Symphony of the Night adaptation the inclusion of symphonic and operatic music was fantastic, especially the attention to the times the music was diegetic vs nondiegetic

Really enjoyed how many outfit changes characters got, I really want some meta about the Emissary's costume changes because she has a wide range of outfits from modern to 2 different historical ones.

Favorite plotline: the whole Orlox/Mizrak relationship and both characters (it probably seems obvious based on what I focused on), least favorite plotline Richter gets his mojo/magic back based on processing grief aka vibes

Felt much more like a coming of age story line for the protagonists, and (without checking a timeline) them a few years younger than the series 1 Trevor/Sypha /Alucard

This show really balanced well the introduction of the cosmic threat (cat goddess filling Dracula’s place) vs local threat (Emissary here vs leader night creature s1 of main show) in a way I haven't seen since s1 of the original show

more liveblog notes below cut

I knew going in Olrox was gay, a fan favorite favorite of blogs I check, and had gifs portraying him sympathetically. Funny how that probably influenced my initial impression of the opening

Lmao of course the abbey is on the evil vampire side considering I saw gifs beforehand of one of the guys with Olrox. (edit: funny that Olrox isn’t with the main vampire group at that time in the season, so I was right about the alliance for the wrong reason) 

I like how the Emissary's clothing is so modern I can't tell if she's wearing hoof heels or has cloven feet

Edouard’s singing sounded super awkward without musical backing, sure the fact its Dido's lament is foreshadowing. 

Edouard has a tailcoat, I didn’t expect to see it during this time period considering this is before the Regency. Olrox is wearing a frock coat, that’s older style?

Oooh wish they had done the fight to Vivaldi’s summer presto instead and made it nondiegetic music vs generic action music

Devil forgemaster automation!? Note to self check when first steam engine is and the Victorian times which is when I usually thing steam/magic punk

Also lmao Olrox gets the last word again

Ok so they have the French aristocrat vampires doubling as confederate vampires with the explicit colonialism slavery

Do we get more evil lesbian vampries with a take over the world plan?

I’m glad night creatures are a thing here too, its such fun monster designs

Real inversion of Castlevania’s Isaac having forge mastering be freedom from slavery and here it be a process used by the institution of the church as a method of slavery

How does “we need a plan” mean “children with no experience of the world and no experience of the hard choices adults make” in Annette’s response and not have a response because the subject changes??? Like Richter has a point about snapshot moral decisions, 2 or 4 doesn’t have experience so they should really work out any difference of opinion

Oh no the last alive mother figure keeps being helpful that’s a death flag 

Damn lol Olrox and abbey sword guy were dtf Grindr quick. Ass shot!! lmao having that final conversation about demons and Olrox is doing it leaning back, legs spread, dick out 

Can’t wait to see how it goes paying that price, what demon and Olrox’s seemingly invested question “will you [pay the price]” edit: season 1 seems to have ended demon consequence free

The world building this season seems so much richer and broader than the previous Castlevania series, all these different types of demons, magic users, gods, and spirits

Nick pick note: ok the waterproofing can’t be good enough for water to not flow down the staircase into the cellars and give away the secret passage. ask me how I know water loves to travel into basements

I'm enjoying the Emissary's ahistorical fashion in modern club/bdsm gear. Holy shit the “all about sex with you priests, every orifice I have has teeth” holy shit vagina dentata. I literally had to rewind to make sure I heard that correctly 

When Maria’s mother was pushing the stone and talking about being there for people she loves I was thinking “wow considering the hair colors for Maria it  would be funny if the Abbot was her father because it would explain why Maria’s mother, a speaker, would be so defensive of him. But surely they won’t be that tropey predictable” then as soon as the eyes met I was like LMAO

Interesting that Olrox chose then to step in vs letting Mizrak fight Belmont, since maybe he’d be better off letting the Emissary get killed

Love vampires talking with vampires about being an immortal being trapped in the shadows as they power play each other 

“You’re the one with the brand on your forehead” this was such a metal af scene burning the slaver vampire in a cage of crosses. Especially the extremely distorted fisheye focus on the symbol that distort’s the vampries face even creepier 

Oh that’s a good shot of Maria being visually isolated in the black of the Abotts’s cloak when she learns he’s her father, with a bit of visual exaggeration.  The selected impressionism animation in this series is great

The Emissary is now in her second period style outfit (red militaryish tailcoat) the first being the black outfit worn for the funeral/graveyard that looked a lot more rococo aristocratic 

Wait wat, so the vampire messiah look like a white woman with red hair wearing double side petticoats in the European aristocrat style, who has a Russian name and was living in snowy Russia, but she’s talking like she is Sekhmet despite having no Egyptian characteristics at all. Like she looks nothing like the Emissary who is Egyptian. What’s up with that?

Grandpa Belmont is somehow beating “I attacked my son and devastated a country Dracula” in worst hurting a family member reaction to grief IMO

Lacrimosa is GOATed really just best choice to include for this moment especially how they did it with nondiegetic string accompaniment in Edouard’s PoV but that cuts out with the shift to Mizrak/Olrox PoV

“I love everything about adding tension to the relationship and denial of feelings with: "is [turning me into a vampire without permission] what you had planned for me" “Of course not… I’m not in love with you”

Fucking gun axe, and did the vampires just sit around listening to the family drama to know so much 

Nooo don’t hang a lampshade on an ending line be “witty, cunning, and brutal” then say “fuck it” which fits the standard 

Power play the Messiah calling Olrox a dragon when he turned into a Quetzalcoatl in ep1, and then doing a show of force to force him from an insincere bow into a deep on. You can tell he’s fucking pissed off

“Just read the fucking book” and Orlox gets the last word again lmao

Lmao the very on the nose bible verse lines “lift up thy feat” when the birds lift Maria up, the line about slipping after she nearly slips. Wonder what was done first; picking the psalm (Psalms 73:2-5) or the animation direction?

So I thought the vampire messiah was supposed to be an a fraud in identity, but damn she can control the moon. Or was Selhmet not a delusion but a actual magic being waiting to possess her and take over, as seen by the physical transformation to part cat?

I guess Orlox does care enough for Mizrak to get involved awww

Ah the establishing shot visible proof of the limit to the eclipse which doesn’t even cover all of France 

Love the angst breakup, Orlox/Mizrak favorite ship in the whole show

It felt obvious the mother figure character wouldn’t last the whole season but I wasn’t expecting her to be turned

Word Effect where The Emissary is built up as a power threat the whole season then she’s 1 hit KO to show Alucard’s power 

[rexscanonwife]

I've been wanting to draw something like this since I threw out the idea of my s/i being Little Mac's older sister, so here's a little doodle comic!

[judyalvqrez]

Honestly the biggest unanswered question in Alan Wake 2 is what were the “good dinner recipes” Alan sent Rose??

[charmac]

I wish I could tell people I know in real life that in December of 2022 I sat down and wrote Mac McDonald in love with Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies as opposed to Chase Utley in the show, and then in May of 2024 Rob McElhenney starred in an MLB advertisement for a Phillies Series where he replaces Chase Utley with Bryce Harper

but that requires revealing the fact that I'm actively writing a hundred-thousand word It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Sugar Daddy AU fanfiction

[sunscall]

i find dennis' toxic love for the gang sooo interesting. the lengths he goes through to ensure that their group dynamic never changes. the amount of planning he puts in implies that this is one of his fears– how they might one day change and abandon him.

an example of this would be in "frank retires" where he had formed the franquito plan seven years before he needed to use it, which felt devious (towards frank) to charlie, dee and mac, but dennis had justified it by saying he just didn't want them to change. the ending had dennis acting like he didn't mean a word he said, but i doubt it, because just a few episodes before (the gang misses the boat) he concluded that he just wanted things to stay normal in the gang after a minor freakout about how they're all gradually getting more and more insane staying in the bar together.

dennis resisting change is a consistent theme for his character. he does not want the gang to live in virtual realities, charlie to get smart, mac and dee to leave, mac's mom to stay with them, mac to connect with his dad, dee to actually be successful, mac to be so forward in his advances, frank to retire, etc etc. because he already likes the gang so much the way it is.

that is, unless he personally seeks the change. he could get married in a day, because he wanted to. he could kick mac out. he could leave the gang and start a family. he could change his car to a more modern one. but each time he tries to change and leave, he comes back to the gang... and his range rover.

and this is why he seems to hate them too, because most of his hatred comes from his resentment from loving them too much and being unable to leave. and the love he has for them is toxic, because he wants to drag them down together with him. the s13 narrative wants us to know that he's the main reason the gang stays the same for 16 seasons.

it's what makes dennis takes a mental health day so notable to me though. the commentary on systems throughout the episode, and how dennis is sick of it. dennis' rejection of technology when it takes away real life interactions, parallels the episode "charlie rules the world" in s6 which was the major turning point for dennis developing a god complex (where british dennis tells him that 'you create your own reality'). i believe dtamhd will also be a turning point for dennis, perhaps where he starts letting things go without putting as much control (systems) because he wants to live in a reality where he doesn't need to do these things anymore.

[no27-autonation-honda]

Wild monday night with Scotty Mac

[ocularpatdowns]

criminally underrated macdennis moment: dennis during mac’s fantasy sequence in “the gang saves the day”

[newfeeling77]

anyway im going to watch stop making sense.

[macgyvertape]

Shadow & Bone s2 thoughts

S1 of shadow and bone was a surprise favorite show; I’ve rewatched it a lot as something to watch when I’m cooking or wanted something familiar and comfortable.

After last season I tried reading the books; I didn’t finish Seige and Storm because I kept negatively comparing book Alina, Mal, and Darkling to their show versions. I did like the Six of Crows series but have no interest in the other books. So I’ve got a vague idea on the plot points unlike when I watched s1 

Oh I really like the map to cgi city transitions, and the wanted posters as establishing shots for storyline transitions

Sturmhond meeting the Crows like this, this is so much more fun than the book intro of him

I don’t remember seeing Jasper’s gun misfire in s1 or see gifsets of him fixing it.

Tolya and Tamar get a cool intro camera pan and theyre both really hot

Huh Darkling intro very different than the book, honestly he comes off as someone who spent a bit too much time alone by himself than menacing

How come in pirate clothes Sturmhond becomes the most baby faced of the cast

Love Alina’s stag antler embroidery dress, I’d love to wear a dress with that kind of neckline

Having one of Kaz’s plans go wrong and it not be something he accounts for, really ups the tension and makes Pekka Rollins a threat, and he’s actually more threatening than the Darkling. Wolf mask guy is just a creep, the costume kinda felt out of place

I expected the flying ship look more aerodynamic and either there’s a lot more flying ships or the show really glossed over them being repaired after being totaled because it needed characters to move around in ways they didn’t in the book

“Who do you want standing in that door when the lion gets hungry” then cut to a taxidermied lion. Lmao fun transition

This is one of the shows where I find basically all of the main cast attractive, very much including Inej in a knife fight

“All that matters is we know what’s real” with a political engagement, damn this is so much better than the YA jealousy drama of the books

OFMD AND S&B, edgy dude after his love abandons him starts cutting off the digits of the people who drove the breakup 

Rip to Matthias because the show didn’t seem to know what to do with him, I enjoy his plotline much more than s1 but its because he has such low screentime

The costume budget and workmanship is so good this show as it covers so many different styles and cultural influences

Bloody beaten up Kaz threatening as he gets his long awaited revenge is fucking incredible top moment of the season, especially because for Pekka “but for me, it was a Tuesday” he just couldn’t remember 

Genya’s really going through it this season and characters mistreating her is a more understandable and relatable evil than vague war crimes. “I should be your greatest shame!” and “ask me how I did it” she gets some great moments

Mal’s capture then causal return felt like an awkward plot point, like it shows up here because maybe it happened in the book

Huh for a major season 1 character and a global Big Bad threat the Darkling really isn’t getting much material this season, he just sits around and broods in a dark room while his underlings who wear lots of eyeshadow (to show they’re evil) do things. Like early on in the season he seemed sick but then he isn’t, then he just gives up all his action items about Grisha revolution to chase after Alina

Actually very curious about how much screentime Kaz’s dead brother gets vs the Darkling lmao

I didn’t realize at the height difference between Kaz and Inej until she hallucinated them almost hooking up. Eps 4-8 I watched playing a drinking game of take a drink for every romantic moment

The show really contrasted The Disciple and Neyar have such a good relationship compared to whatever the fuck toxic parent child relationship of Baghra and Aleksander 

Great that the Darkling and Mal can interact and bonus its in some weird fucked up way (dead peoples bones), there isn’t enough of that in fandom or canon 

The final battle has basically no tactics just people running around for cool dramatic timing, especially the Crows fighting in the frontlines

Darkling died in this show like he lived in s2, anti-climatically standing around downbad for Alina

Tbh there’s a lot of sex that could be done with gloves and clothes on 

Lmao where is Feydor he didn’t appear at all

Things I didn’t expect: David being killed off early RIP, Alina not losing her powers and faking her death to live with Mal but instead this weird non emotional breakup, and Zoya to not get more character backstory

Think it's interesting the contrast of the bee highlighted by the camera during the Darkling’s funeral as a subtle hint to the Elizaveta plotline vs the last few minutes throwing in: Jurda Parem, Nikolai’s shadow monster infection, a future war with Fjerda, Alina using shadows, all as continuation bait if it gets another season 

Verdict: enjoyable season 2, I’m so glad this season got about 15 minutes more per episode so it could cover the full Grisha trilogy in case it gets the infamous netflix s2 cancel. Still a favorite show because its  the perfect mix of drama, romance, and just enough writing cracks for fun AUs. The show covered a lot in the 8 hours with a fast moving plot that I watched over 2 days, so I’m very curious how my opinion of plot points will change with distance and reading others perspectives 

[incorrect-ulster-cycle]

Cú Chulainn: Why was I born so attractive? Láeg: Because everyone would have throttled you within the first five minutes otherwise

[digitalchase]

Introducing SPLODGE! Our newest original collection that is sure to brighten those shorter winter days.

Save them above or download from our website, head over to our website for Christmas wallpapers too and so, so much more.

[blunderpuff]

so i wasn't enthusiastic enough about the day's activities, i froze up when they put me on the spot and accusatorily asked "So what do you like [to do]/[to eat]?", my energy+participation levels waned exponentially as the day went on, and so now they're talking (loudly!) about me like there's something wrong with me :|

[rosesradio]

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[intertexts-moving]

ok the concept of space vampires has me intrigued.... gimme the stargate propaganda 👀

OH GOD UM.to be fair i haven't watched stargate since like. god. middle school probably it's been a LONG time but. propaganda........... personally my favorite scifi show franchise ever, like, star wars/star trek/farscape/firefly/babylon5 inclusive. like. in that sweet spot of 90/00s shows along with buffy & x-files & deep space 9 & maybe leverage that manage to be incredibly sillygoofy w shitty greenscreen aliens etc & also build really fucking good & meaningful work. its like. oh my god what if aliens built the pyramids but then they took that idiot idea & then just kept running..... & running..... & running... wait where are you going.where did the space vampires come from. whats the pegasus galaxy. etc. possibly the most fucking unhinged worldbuilding in any of those classic scifi shows. anyway the reason i personally like it or would recommend it is really just. extremely delightful really good character work & silly episodic shenanigans. !!!! <333

[gargoyleofhumankindness]

can we talk about why in bear trap + mob boss theres randomly inserted archival footage in the episode?? like they dont do that in any other episode 

[campgender]

it still makes me sooo mad that the only album josie’s mentioned including in staff picks is motherfucking freewheeling bob dylan. like i get it was for the bit but she could’ve met a songwriter obsessed with + modeling himself after any artist, josie’s own music taste is constantly being sidelined & she deserves to talk about more Black artists she likes!!!!