#Positive review

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

Alrighty! @number-one-shadisper-shipper and I binged the Knuckles series today, so time for thoughts! SPOILER ALERT.

I'll admit the show wasn't perfect. I've seen the negative reviews, and I kinda get where they come from. BUT! I did enjoy this show greatly! And I'm not here to complain. Time for some happy thoughts, y'all! 💙🤩

I think you need to have a love, not just tolerance, for the SCU in order to properly enjoy this show. I do have such, so I had a lot of fun with it.

There were definitely scenes from every episode that had me either squealing, laughing, crying, or flipping out. But my favorite was likely the first episode, because come on, we saw the Wachowski family! Most of them, anyway! While I missed Tom's presence, I was grateful for that comment from Maddie about him being "out of town," so he wasn't just gone for no reason.

The SECOND it showed our three space babies hanging out together in their room?! I SCREAMED. THE BOYS!!!!

Tails sitting on his bed tinkering with one of his gizmos, Sonic rocking out to music with an air guitar, and Knuckles exercising from one of the ceiling planks. IT'S THEM!!! They're just hanging out, doing their thing, looking oh so much like brothers. And Sonic's narration at the beginning was GOLD. 🤣💙

Even though we didn't get enough of Maddie being a parent, we definitely got a nice chunk for it only lasting part of an episode. Maddie called Knuckles "one of our kids" (that had me SCREECHING). The angry mama vibes were GOLDEN. 🤣 The way she made breakfast for them, the "Boys, breakfast is ready!" I love the normalcy of it! Can't wait to see more in the future! (Her calling to them with "boys" is somehow just the sweetest thing and I'm melting.)

The poor mailman being like "I just wanna go home, man" 🤣

We were right, fellas, Knuckles had no idea what being grounded meant. 🤣 Although the way Sonic piped up with "Oh, I definitely know what it means," has me suspecting that Sonic himself has gotten grounded a decent amount before. 😂

Knuckles trying to talk back, and Maddie going, "ExCUSE ME?!" then just making those tiny, terrifying noises and Sonic being like "Bro don't mess with Mom when she's mad" (okay, he didn't say "mom" and that made me sad, but the mom vibes were 110% there so I'm here for it). 😂 And since Knuckles snuck out and later Wade said, several times, "Aren't you grounded?" seems to confirm that this entire show is basically what Knuckles does when he's grounded. 🤣 Although ... his comment about not being able to be grounded because he had no home made me very sad. 😭

I did not have an issue with so much Wade screentime! Sure, he isn't my favorite SCU character, but I love what this show did with him! I'd already seen his moments in the movies (like nearly shooting Robotnik in the face with an actual handgun). I like how they gave him actual family issues; a dad who abandoned him and his family, a realistic sister, a mom. Bad family memories. Awkward reunions. They could've made it a joke, but they didn't, and I greatly appreciate that. Especially since I've witnessed firsthand how painful family separations can be. 😔

All the emotional talks Wade and Knuckles had caught me off guard in the best way! The way they talked about their different family issues, the way they talked of betrayal from friends, and being left alone, hit way harder than I was prepared for. Especially that talk they had at the burger place in the middle of the night? Oof. Good talk right there.

Also, even though they took a "show don't tell" take with it, I loved how Knuckles relaxed more and more throughout the show. In the beginning, he couldn't rest, he couldn't sit back and have a genuine good time. But the more he hung out with Wade and his family, the more he learned. He learned about music and found "his jam" (that was literally amazing btw). He watched movies with Mrs. Whipple and ate snacks in the hotel room in Reno and watched more movies. He had his teenager moments of rolling his eyes and rebelling, but he was so well portrayed here, I loved it. I felt for him.

Despite the bizarre nature of the episode "Flames of Disaster," (we were cracking up so hard) I'm trying to glean bits of the truth of Knuckles's story from the crazy musical play that Pachacamac put on in Wade's dream. I mean, "Longclaw" and her tribe were there, and ... what the heck was that giant demon thing?! Iblis?! Does our Knuckles Wachowski have an actual history with freaking Iblis?!?! 😱🔥

I was deeply intrigued by the two main antagonists, especially at the implication that G.U.N. did seem to exist before the events of the first movie?! Did it exist, get disbanded after the Maria incident, then get reformed?! My brain is exploding. 🤯 I was even more shocked that they apparently died? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the Wachowski kids don't seem to have much qualms about getting rid of the baddies for good as the game versions do. That was a terrifying phenomenon, what happened with the two rings. 🫣

And then the Buyer getting crushed by the giant glass ball 👀

Although in those last two episodes, I admit I was freaking out and legitimately near tears at Wade's seemingly having to "betray" Knuckles. Before the reveal that all was in good communication, all I could think was how relaxed Knuckles finally seemed, chilling in the hotel room, being excited about whatever Wade wanted to "show" him, questioning whether it was a song, him declaring that he was going to bring his favorite hat, 🥹 all I could think was of their previous discussions about betrayal from friends and family, and when Knuckles called Wade "my friend" right before the elevator doors closed, I just about sobbed. I was like "please, don't let him be betrayed, don't let him have come all this way and relaxed so much only to get 'betrayed' once again by someone he's come to consider a friend." 😭 We heaved a HUGE sigh of relief when it revealed he was aware of the trap the whole time. 😪

Maternal instincts went nuts when he got so badly hurt in that final battle 😭 I literally reached for the screen several times and was right back to almost weeping 🥲 And someone tell me I wasn't the only one noticing the parallel in that scene with Wade standing in front of his unconscious body the way Tom did with Sonic in the first movie. That, PLUS Knuckles's epic comeback, and his retrieval of his own power?!?! EPIC!!!!

The ending was abrupt, sure, but the pure joy on Knuckles's face after everything as he jumped up to high five Wade was just too sweet. 🥹

So yes, even though I would have loved just a little more, a return to Green Hills, a reunion with Maddie, Sonic, and Tails, I adored this show. It was a wild ride, full of laughs, tears, excited screeching, etc. 💙💛❤️ I don't care what anyone says, nothing will make me hate it.

[girl4music]

Well…

So far, what I’ve played of Hogwarts Legacy has actually been very good. The devs are clearly very passionate about staying true to the canon lore written by J.K. Rowling, but are also very adamant on showing how far their own values and morals differ to hers. There is actual LGBTQ characters in this game.

There’s a barkeep in The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade named Sirona who is transgender who protects your character and Sebastian Sallow when Rookwood and Harlow come to attack your character.

There’s a woman named Nora Treadwell that lives in Lower Hogsfield that has a wife who have been researching all about the Trials Of Merlin.

And I suspect there’s much more LGBTQ representation as I progress through the game.

The creators have tried to be as inclusive as possible amidst the terrible controversy surrounding this game and I think they deserve a fair chance to prove themselves and turn this controversy around.

I might be ignorant in saying this in defence of the game and the devs that worked very hard on it but there’s only so much you can do when the creator of the entire IP is the one you want to avoid supporting. If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter series or anything related to it - I’m afraid it just comes with the territory. It’s up to her what she does with it. Not you.

Don’t deprive yourselves of something fun, entertaining and possibly a dream come true just because J.K. Rowling is a terf turd. And also - I may just be too early into the game to notice it, but I do not detect any antisemitism in this game at all. I don’t know where that rumour came from but it’s unfounded as far as I’m concerned - at least so far.

I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played so far and I’m excited to get really immersed into exploring the map of this game once I’m able to fly via Broomstick or Mount.

Oh, and I’m in Ravenclaw. How fitting 👍😏

[pentimint]

don't think i've ever had a piece of media make me feel as straight up bad as what happens next

[necarion]

I went to see Spirited Away in theaters last night, and I'd forgotten how amazing that film is (haven't seen it since in 15 years, and never on a big screen). Some amazing things about it:

Good story, with consistent theme and character development. It's also a way of exploring a beautiful spirit world. And one that definitively answers "was this real?" with a "blink and you miss it" moment at the very end.

A strong protagonist who succeeds through kindness and hard work, despite being terrified all the time. She's ten, and this is all so hard for her, but she does it because it's what's needed. She is also intensely genre savvy.

Stunning visuals. I mean, it's Miyazaki. It's just so imaginative and full of detail, with highly expressive anime characters. Clever little details that could bring giggles amid serious moments.

Amazing music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zeFbkqY4Q8) that captures the sense of wonder and melancholy. Also an incredible grasp of silence. A number of moments where the music stops and there is only the sound of footsteps or the breeze.

I saw it in Japanese with subtitles, because I have enough Japanese to give little insights to untranslatable moments (during the film, obviously the context can be discussed afterwards).

My favorite is the central way in which the character's name changes. When the witch steals her name, it goes from Chihiro (千尋) to Sen (千), due to the wildly shifting pronunciation of the kanji in compounds (note: Japanese kanji are terrible that way).

The other is the title itself: 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi / Sen and Chihiro's Kamikakushi). The kami refers to the gods/spirites and kakushi refers to "hiding/vanishing". It could literally mean "The mysterious disappearance of Sen and Chihiro". "Spirited Away" is very close in meaning, given the dual sense of the gods, and to vanish mysteriously. (I think dropping the "Sen and Chihiro" part was a good call; I'm not sure why they did that in the original.) However, in Japanese, there is an additional, more morbid meaning: if a child dies suddenly and mysteriously, they are said to have been taken by kamikakushi, in a sense similar to children being stolen by the Erlking in Germany mythology.

This article discusses a number of other elements that are impossible to translate on-screen

In this movie, it is quite literal, but there is the risk that Chihiro will be taken by the gods forever, particularly if she cannot reclaim her name.

I came out of the movie both warmed and sad in a way I could not quite place. I think it was a regret that the magic had gone, and a shared sense of grief with the protagonist. But it wasn't truly unhappiness. Melancholy isn't quite the right word either. Tumblr can maybe help answer this.

[ladycharles]

Hey thanks for blazing that post, your music fucks severely 💜

💖💖💖

Thanks so much, it means a lot to hear! 💖

[savebylou]

Review of Louis Tomlinson's Brisbane concert at the Riverstage.

By Keali Russell. [Scenestr, 30.01.24].

Highlights below.

The genuine affection Louis holds for his fans shone throughout the night, especially when he expressed his love for them saying: "Every now and then you get one of those gigs where absolutely everything clicks into place. This is one of those gigs!

Fans had some delightful surprises in store for Tomlinson himself, organising special fan projects to demonstrate their unwavering love and support for him. From illuminating the venue with red lights on their phones during 'Kill My Mind' to creating a breathtaking sea of lights during 'Angels Fly', their thoughtful gestures added an extra layer of magic to an already unforgettable evening.

From leaping onto the barrier to join the crowd to staying behind after his performance to take photos with fans, Louis Tomlinson ensured the night was truly unforgettable, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of every single person in attendance.

Read full article here.

[cardinal-sukikyo]

My take on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. P2, Positive review!

I included the pros and cons on the previous slam- but I didn’t really give it too many pros. I decided to make a part two because ima admit- I was harsh haha

ROTTMNT is fashionable, aesthetic, fun, colorful, and so much more. I was hyped to find out that Nickelodeon was making a new TMNT series. I still believe that the personalities of the turtles are really different, but it doesn’t make them terrible! I mean Donnie is literally a genius, Mikey looks so much more huggable, Raph literally is boyfriend material, and I KIN to Leo.

Even though I described it as “the high school girl” side of me, it is still a big side of me. I cannot with that fashion episode- my greedy hands can’t wait to draw Leo in a suit. I already drew Donnie (I used a reference- I didn’t trace. Just in case you find something similar to it. I don’t use refs anymore, but I drew that when I need refs. Of course I need the occasional pose and anatomy help- but that’s really all.) I also made an animatic on scratch on the ye old days of ROTTMNT.

The aesthetic of Rise is unmatched to any other show. Literally cannot find any tv series close to it. It’s original- and that’s why I slammed so hard on it. With originality, comes infinite pros and cons. I am speechless with this show for the most part- and that slam I made was a mash up of a lot of different opinions from multiple people. I read articles before I made it, then finalized it in my own words.

I have one guilty wish to all ye animators and artists. Please do more x YNs. I’m kinda tired of seeing post apocalypse headcanons lol sorry. I also live for the New York aesthetic and the bright lighting and colors.

I know this positive review is short, but I am writing this at a restaurant currently and don’t feel like looking up articles with opinions on ROTTMNT. That was a lot of research I did.

Once more- i truly love Rise and I hope you understand that the slam was just exactly that. A slam. Despite that, I truly want to know your thoughts on upcoming content: should I do a movie review for rise? Want some headcanons? How about art? And because I’m currently vibing with four followers, I’ll take in free self/OC inserts and draw you with your favorite turtle or April! As well as headcanons. I’ll also take in ideas for a one shot book, Quotev quiz, fan fiction, and a possible animatic.

As always, I hope you enjoyed your time on my blog my feathered friend. Thank you for reading my two part review!

[russiansappho]

Even though I don't have any feelings towards any woman, the delicacy between two women is something that calls my attention. Looks like a piece of art, an sculpture or poetry of how both express tenderness and admiration between each other. If you have any explanation of why I feel that way would love to know your opinion, you can message me anytime.

And won't lie that your blog is very welcoming. Like the other ask said down here, I steal her words. Your blog is heartwarming.

Arabella.

I have re-discovered my inbox after two years of negligence... Thank you for your kind words, Arabella! The feelings you describe lean closer to an aesthetic attraction. This is the way we admire beautiful paintings - without necessarily wanting to “become” them if that makes sense...

I'm glad this blog is a welcoming place ❤️

[huaandbloom]

oh my freaking goodness

So was anyone gonna tell me that I would absolutely love the Welcome Home ARG OR DID I HAVE TO USE NIGHT MIND'S VIDEO AS BACKGROUND NOISE WHILE DRAWING ONLY TO ACCIDENTALLY PAY ATTENTION AND GET HOOKED?

But seriously, I'm beyond impressed with @partycoffin's work. So much lore and art of professional quality, jam-packed into one (1) college student's solo project! There is just so much care and attention to every detail. Clown has said that we've barely scratched the surface of this story, but already there is plenty to sink your teeth into.

And of course the fanbase is just so lovely. Perhaps because it is big enough for meaningful discussion, but still small enough that any toxic minority is too soft to be heard. Either way, I love that people are sharing all kinds of theories and interpretations, as well as fanart and even fan OCs.

As a storyteller myself I have...project-envy? I also have art-envy but it's mostly the project variety. Getting anything officially started feels impossible for me, much less having said projects gain enough traction for a decent-sized fandom! I hope to use this as fuel to make my own projects a reality!

I'm still new, but I've been in enough fandoms that were once small and suddenly grow so big, to admit that I selfishly wish we stay this size. It's quite the sweet spot, I believe. But whatever happens, I'm more than happy to patiently wait for the next instalment.

Till then, if anyone sees this at all could you tell me how to navigate horror ARGs without screaming every 5 seconds? A morbid fascination with horror disguised as an innocent children's franchise brings about quite the predicament when you're a scaredy-cat!

[amingethia]

TMNT The Next Mutation

My thoughts (spoilers)

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

I loved it. The last five episode titles gave me a very wrong impression. I thought for sure Unchain My Heart would be TCest and Who Needs Her would be Venus returning to China. But they weren’t. I like Vam-my and the vampires. The little girl looked like Dora and sounded like she sucked helium balloons, and the guy vampire had the opposite effect.

Bonesteel was hilarious everytime he was on screen. He’s absolutely looney and I love him for it.

I didn’t like how the main four were kinda jerks to Venus. I mean yeah, they’re not angels but they don’t have to be such assholes. They weren’t always jerks, but when they were, they were.

Puppets were hard to get over at first but honestly, they worked. Wik was also the star everytime he was on screen.

Venus is so cute and sweet and I really do wish she was in other works, and that Jennika could have some on screen time someday. (I say this as somebody who doesn’t enjoy the comics very much.)

All in all, would recommend. The first couple episodes take time to get used to the plot and the puppets/costumes. It starts out as “so bad it’s good” and then it’s like “wait I love this it’s not even bad it’s just good”

It ended on a good note.

[grimmboytezxd]

I am upset because so many people genuinely have no idea about the game Remember Me. For all my fans of combo games and sci-fi. Please-I beg-Go play it. It's so good. The main character is a POC for Christ's sake. (This game was made in like 2013, but it's available on Steam rn please, go play it)

[wiw3]

Why We Scream

Hi hi! I wish I could actually do a videolized review of this but I’m glued to that new Guillermo del Toro anthology series on Netflix right now, and it’s kind-of the most stimulating horror experience I’ve had in a while. Without spoiling anything, I love the weird horror tropes they play with in this series, all eight episodes of them.

The themes are great as well, at points, it feels as if it’s an after-school special, trying to teach me something with the scary things it pushes forth. I want to go episode-by-episode just because I’ve been being driven fizzucking raczy by this series, for various reasons.

Episode 1 teaches you about not being racist, and warns you against the dangers of being a foolhardy person who doesn’t listen to other people, also a commentary on American greed.

Episode 2 gives you a fantastic commentary on British slumhood and the idea of the black plague, that had been spreading during that period in England, as well. Another commentary on predatory loaning comes here, as well, and the main character owes money, always a good inciting incident to inspire greed or flippantness when it comes to cash m-m-m-m-money.

Episode 3 is my personal favorite when it comes to logic, and how it plays by its own rules. I highly recommend that if any of you are to watch any episode of sweet Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, please watch Episode 3: The Autopsy. You will not regret it, it feels very clever, and I very much so enjoyed my first viewing.

Episode 4 is... weird. I have a personal fondness for Kate Micucci from her Garfunkel & Oates days, and if she’s still making music, all the power to her, but she stars in this gorgeous warning against the idea of conformity over comfort. This girl suffers and suffers and suffers through this episode, but the ending had me... puzzled. It certainly threw me, but I appreciated the artistic value it had, even if I nonetheless still didn’t understand it entirely. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe one of the ways that art could be perceived is that by the end of your path to conformity... you are unrecognizable... a shell of your former self, and entirely foreign to the people watching you from your beginning, but fitting in with a niche group that will abandon you for the next fad... hmm... Maybe it’s better than I thought since I keep writing about it in this long-rant paragraph format. Onward!

Episode 5 is... very fun. I forgot it initially since I tend to get episodes 5 and 6 confused for one another, but it’s a playful romp in an H.P. Lovecraft universe, based on a short story by him, Pickman’s Model, for anyone curious. It made me want to go read every Lovecraft publication, ever. Despite the problematic name of his cat, I still think that, art-from-artist, Lovecraft’s work is at the very least, interesting on the mind from a horror perspective.

Episode 6 made me laugh, unfortunately some of them aren’t very good and I did have to slog through this one so exhaustedly in order to get to the next. I feel bad for not enjoying this one as much as the others since it clearly had a lot of production value. This episode had all of the pieces, it just didn’t know how to put them together. Keziah was... weirdly voiced. Rupert Grint really gives it his all and if you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll really enjoy the... darker twist on the magical arts that this episode takes. Other than that, as the kids nowadays say, mid.

Episode 7 was amazing. It was a wild trip of cosmic proportions that I watched while high and sleep-deprived. I can’t sing the praises of this goddamn episode anymore, I think. Other than that, the writing felt very excellent. Every word flowed like syrup and I’m pretty sure every line from Steve Agee’s character ‘Guy Landon’ made me laugh. Fantastic monster concept, Eric Andre killed it in his performance. You really feel for the character and when Peter Weller plays a very... flippant, drug-addled billionaire and nails the performance, I think. I’m going to spoil one thing because it made me sad. I’m going to say that I wish that Guy Landon made it out instead of Charlotte. I think you could’ve done much more impressively-horrific things to Charlotte rather than blowing the head off of Steve Agee. That’s my pitch.

Episode 8 bums me out, but also funnily enough, scared me the most out of any of them. The scene of the mom charging forward from the darkness, confronting a naked Nancy in her bathtub had me protecting my vital organs. The sound-design feels good in this final episode, from what little I know of distortion and whining static feedback effects, this episode does decently well at immersing me into the world. That’s what this episode does best for me, at least. It immerses you into the world of two ornithologists who refuse to speak to their mutual and tragic loss... It’s a fantastic tale about the dangers in not letting go. The dangers in not talking about the things that are bothering you, and the dangers of... well, fucking ghosts I guess. Go watch it.

All in all, I love this show! I want more people to watch it despite me having not worked on writing of my own projects in months. I’ve just been working and working and working. And smoking. Although I still want more people to know about this, because it’s good horror, and good horror is hard to find.

[boyd-speaks]

I watched NOPE last night.

This movie is simultaneously one of the greatest movies I have ever seen, and one of the absolute worst.

Part of me wishes it was bad so I didn’t have to be conflicted about it, instead it is a masterpiece covered in offal.

No spoilers, except for some discussion about tone and genre.

See, NOPE is a 2 hour film with about 60 minutes of flawless scenes. The rest are kind of slow, and drag on, and don’t go anywhere, and you could argue that that’s okay, it adds to the slow burn, but it overstays it’s welcome, and isn’t even building tension. It’s just arbitrary.

Now there are some great scenes tucked away in these poorly paced segment, but there are also some disturbing and uncomfortable scenes that seem to exist just to upset you.

Going into this movie I heard it was a horror film, so when the movie opens up on a cryptic and upsetting scene I wasn’t surprised, this was just a movie for people who like horror, I’m not the audience, I understood that.

The movie then proceeds to never have that scene be relevant, despite occasionally cutting back to it seemingly randomly, as if it’s going to matter.

Nope. It’s to upset you and nothing else.

Again, there’s this feeling that, maybe this movie just isn’t for me.

Other than these unrelated scenes the movie has not been horror. It’s either been good banter, or poorly paced stretches of nothing happening.

About an hour into the movie something starts happens that looks like it’s moving into horror finally. And not just jumpscares and tension strings, the movie had already been doing that with no pay off. Here things get weird and threatening in a very tangible way.

But despite this, after the scene ends, the movie seems to forget it ever wanted to be horror, and instead shifts into a completely different genre.

That’s the wild thing about this movie. It never was a horror film.

Not to give too much away, this film is a mystery/investigation film. It even dips it’s toes into action, but in this very compelling, down-to-earth way that you don’t get to see very often. The action segments bring with them some scary  and disturbing scenes. But their not horror.

The only horror in this film is the series of unnecessary, unrelated gorey scenes in the first half that do not matter, and do not need to be there.

I don’t think I can get into why the latter half of this movie is perfect without giving too much away, but at that 1 hour mark the movie suddenly became so incredibly good that I’m still having a hard time believing it.

I’m focusing a lot more on the negative than the positive, because I’m trying to put into words how frustrating it is, and I don’t really need to explain why it’s amazing, it’s jut a really well made piece of film.

If I wasn’t watching this movie with my girlfriend I almost certainly would have stopped watching before the 30 minute mark.

Nothing is compelling, nothing is interesting, there is no reason I would want to keep watching.

Maybe other people would be curious about where the story was going, but it really didn’t seem like it was going anywhere. And I really don’t think it did go anywhere. The movie that NOPE became, was really just a different movie.

Also NOPE is a terrible name for a movie, but that’s beside the point.

All things said, NOPE is one of the best 90 minute movies I’ve ever seen.

No idea why they insisted on keeping the other 30 minutes in there.

That might sound petty, like isn’t a great 90 minutes worth a bad 30? But it affects everything.

It’s worse pacing, making the good scenes feel so few and far between in the first half, that they don’t feel worth the wait.

It’s irrelevant scenes that feel like they exist just to shock me with gore, when the movie isn’t even gorey otherwise.

And it all comes together to just be a miserable first half of the film.

The second half is somehow completely untouched and perfect. Like actually cinematic genius.

It legitimately upsets me that such a perfect film is buried under such an awful start.

Cut it down to 90 minutes, and it could have been one of the greatest films of all time.

[myownjadedpieceofmind]

Moments that make me feel better...

Getting reviews like this?!?

Couldn't ask for a better way to boost my mood.

[commentsfromgenius]

[tasuenterprises]

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