#Sam dullard

[shyblacksheep]

[video320]

I drew the Rocket Power Kids

[incorrect90snicktoonquotes]

Otto: Tell me in twenty-five words or less "why Otto is the greatest skater of them all" and I'll grade you on the quality of your praise. Reggie, Twister, and Sam: ... Reggie: I can praise you with EIGHT words: You are the biggest little tyrant I've ever met! Otto: Uh, that's nine.

[kaisaunders85]

Happy 24th Anniversary Rocket Power!

[shallowseeker]

Lucifer + war

I know that no one wants Lucifer takes, but...

I keep thinking about that funky, exhilarated smile Lucifer dons when Amara attacks Heaven.

For this brief time in season 11, Lucifer feels like Lucifer again.

He has a purpose. He's the impossible hope against The Great Evil, gearing up for the prize fight. He's not even alone. He's with a brother who gray-rock-tolerates him as comrade instead of actively trying to kill him.

For a second, he even starts becoming so used to being part of a team that he forgets who he is. But he's Lucifer, and that means he doesn't have to spare Sam. Hell, why should he want to? He ain't got no feelings! So, he keeps living up to the idea of Lucifer. He's evil, he's cunning, he's strong, he's a warrior...

He even gets to go back to Heaven, where they uneasily accept him as he tries to ape the charisma expected of God's finest. But he learns he's not so good at that part. So, he calls on his brother, Castiel (the more natural leader), to do the soldiering part. (From SPN 11x22 -> LUCIFER: And here I thought I had made real inroads with you guys. Welp, I came here to ask a good-faith favor of you folks, but as you are clearly less than kindly disposed, perhaps you'll, uh, lend an ear to my very own Jiminy Cricket. Hmm? CASTIEL: Hello, brothers. Sisters.)

And then, on the eve of battle, after doing everything they asked of him, Amara rips him away from his brother and his father, and he's brutally untethered after his first bout of security for eons. (Say what you will, I still stand by that Lucifer begrudgingly likes as much as he resents Cas and the security/safety he provides for his loved ones. He likes Gabriel, too.)

And he despairs.

///

In season 12, he seems to have been waiting for Castiel specifically:

Vince Vincente: Castiel. Took you long enough. Did you bring the rest of the Little Rascals?

Lucifer doesn't even wanna be Lucifer anymore. Playing him last season sucked. He went to war, was hated for it, and then he got horrifically tortured by Amara, and nobody cared.

Lucifer (Vince Vincente): Because it's fun. Because I can. And because being Lucifer? So much Judeo-Christian baggage. But Vince? He's famous. Everybody loves him. And I need love. I had a really jacked childhood.

And Lucifer is frustrated with Cas. As he fights him, his voice is unusually heavy with emotion:

Castiel: You think this is fun? Lucifer (Vince Vincente): Oh, I wouldn't expect you to understand. I was inside you. I know what a weak, duty-bound… Castiel attempts to attack again but he is swiftly knocked aside by Lucifer Lucifer (Vince Vincente): ...pleasureless dullard you are.

This whole scene, Lucifer is appealing to (and usually speaking directly to) Castiel, doing things to try and get a rise out of him and get his attention (killing innocents, beating up Crowley). Like many of the emotionally unhinged characters (Rowena, Crowley, pretty much all the demons), Lucifer is frustrated by Castiel's coping strategy, which is to withdraw and gray-rock him (i.e. "become as uninteresting and unengaged as possible so that the other person loses interest"). Getting a rise out of Cas is its own kind of Holy Grail.

But just like when they were roomies, Castiel won't grace Lucifer with a reaction, which triggers him pretty hard. This scene reads as incredibly emotionally charged, especially for Lucifer. That's because Lucifer wants Castiel to react...just like he wants Chuck to react.

(Everybody loves Cas, and he won't even bask in it. No one loves Lucifer.)

///

Lucifer doesn't even kill him. His last hit tosses Cas onto a couch, for Christ's sake. Lucifer chooses to take the majority of his violence out on the human and the demon. He says to Cas: "Stick around for the afterparty." He wants to see him hurt post-Sam and Dean deaths, most likely. (That'll surely get a reaction.)

///

Sam: You and God made up. You forgave him. What would he think? Lucifer (Vince Vincente): I'm not especially interested in his opinion. Dear old dad, he finally apologized for abandoning me. And what's the very next thing he does? [Voice breaks] He ditches me. [Laughs, openly crying] And you, too, by the way. His words, your words, they mean nothing. Don't you get it? This is all meaningless. Heaven, Hell, this world. If it ever meant anything, that moment is past. Nothing down here but a bunch of hopeless distraction addicts, so filled with emptiness, so desperate to fill up the void… they don't mind being served another stale rerun of a rerun of a rerun. You know what my plan is? I don't have one. 

For a half-second, he loved them and wanted their love, too. He had war companions in Sam and Dean. He had a brother in Cas. But Lucifer has gone from being too faithful in The Cause to having no plan at all. And with that, he, too, has fallen to the ultimate SPN bad guy: NIHILISM.

Thus, Jack.

He doesn't go to kill Cas until after Jack is secured. It's as he tells Sam, "I don't need you anymore!" (Because now he has Jack. The thing that will make his life "meaningful.")

[bishop-percival]

@stuckinuniformdevelopment

(prev) Theodore simply nodded in acknowledgement, unsure of how he felt about receiving praise from such a repulsive man. Then he started to trudge off to bed and smirked at Sam’s scolding Once he heard the lightning clap he momentarily froze, started to slowly head towards it, then pivoted on his heel to scuttle off in the opposite direction. If it wasn’t for the sensory spell his footsteps would be inaudible. Now that Theodore could use the vents again it took no time at all to make it back to the sea of cots (while grabbing an ice pack on the way.) He cautiously walked near the middle to his bed before slipping under the covers, taking a dose of melatonin, and dozing off as if he had never left.

Once Bishop Percival sensed Bowtie was gone and no one else was listening, he sat on the floor across from Sam. He gave a heavy sigh. 

Sam, still stunned by the entire situation really, worked up the nerve to ask “W-what was that all about?”

Percy chuckled. “Oh, you know how nosey we Glornists are. Y’all love to listen in on me rebuking folks! I just wanted to make sure that Bowtie heard what he wanted to hear so he’d go away.”

Sam’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Your Excellency, I-I’m really sorry. I just hate that asshat so fucking much and I- and I–!”

“Oh, I know, I know. Believe me, if I couldn’t use him right now I’d let you have at him. But I need my mitre, y’know?”

Sam looked back up. “S-so I can kill him when he finishes your hat?”

The bishop shook his head. “Tsk, no, don’t kill him. Listen, Samanthanuel. Let me elaborate on what I said about choosing your targets. Sometimes, there’s more joy to be had in indirectly hurting someone. To let them run free, unbothered. Except, maybe some of their small belongings mysteriously go missing here and there. Maybe unexplained accidents start to happen to them. To their friends. Their loved ones. Maybe their friends and loved ones even… start to go missing. They aren’t so unbothered anymore. They’re a wreck, in fact. But in the end, they’re fine… at least physically. Do you see what I’m saying?”

Sam stared back blankly at him, the gears trying to turn in her head. 

Percy sighed. Dullard. “Sooo, I forbid you from directly hurting Bowtie. Buuut, you can hurt his….” he rolled his hand, encouraging Sam to finish the sentence. 

She finally perked and shouted “Friends and family! I can hurt his friends and family!”

“Sure!,” Percy said with a hearty fist pump. “And remember, it’s always best not to get caught, though!” Did Percy have faith in Sam to be discreet enough to go about these things? Not really. But he didn’t really care either. 

The bishop stood to his feet. “Now go on and get your arm taken care of. I’m still miffed at you for breaking Bowtie’s in the first place, so I’ve forbidden Reverend Miriam from healing you.”

Sam’s eye widened and she jumped up, briefly flinching at the pain it caused. “B-but sir! Who knows how long this’ll take to heal! I have an invasion coming up in two weeks! I-I can’t miss that! The battlefield is where I serve Glorn the best!”

Percy rubbed his chin. “Well… Maybe I’ll lift the order just before then… I’ll think about it. Now get, go on!"

Stepping back and again disrobing, Percy tossed his vestment in the air flat like a pizza. As it fell back down on him, it glowed that bright red light and looked as if the watchdog disappeared into it before the robe bunched up into a ball and vanished into thin air. 

Sam stood blankly for a moment before stuttering “Th-Thank you Bishop Percival!” to nothingness. They then took off from the closet, going to look for a medical professional to finally get their shoulder taken care of.

[cartoonvibe]

The main characters Rocket Power:

Otto Rocket – A confident and talented extreme sports enthusiast.

Reggie Rocket – Otto’s older sister, who was equally skilled in sports and a budding journalist, often wrote for her own ‘zine called “The Zine.”

Twister (Maurice Rodriguez) – Otto’s best friend, a videographer who often films their stunts and adventures.

Sam (Squid) Dullard – The newcomer to Ocean Shores, initially less adept at sports but eventually finds his place among the group. He’s named “Squid” because he’s the new kid.

[platinum-iridium]

Claire deserved so much better! The writing didn’t always give her the credit she deserved but the actress held it down. Really made space for both compassion and cleverness and I enjoyed the calm sincerity she brought to the cases. I rewatched seasons 6-12 this spring (skipped her death episode so stupid and they didn’t even grief her properly after like really) and you’re right after her no other ADA is fully fleshed out like they either over focus on one aspect of her personality or they flip-flop like they did Serena. She changes motivation and personality traits depending on which direction writers went to take her for the case of the week. I think the actress handled it well and tried to create a sense of coherency throughout the seasons but the writing was ass. Very idgaf energy lol. For faves it’s Ross (she could’ve been great and often was, but then they would put her in her ‘place’ by having her encounter some despicably misogynistic judge or her lameass, uglyass, shortass ex-husband, who was nasty and did not need to be involved in the narrative at all) and Abby, who was second only because I despised her hatred for female suspects. Like yeah she’s conservative (likely due to the actress herself being conservative) but so many times they would just make her vicious and nasty even when it went against the point she was arguing. I often think of the rape case where she said something to the effect of wanting the victim to suffer because being assaulted as a prisoner was no excuse and then she used her own assault to justify it? Can’t fully remember because I’ve fast-forward through most of it, but it was terrible. The writers really dropped the ball on so many of the “woman’s issues“ cases like the misogyny really jumped out. I really enjoyed her when she was on a regular murder/scam case though. She’s shrewd and funny and loves to nab a perp with a nasty one liner and I think she and Jaime are the few that felt equally matched Jack. Haven’t seen past s13 so idk how that goes but the new seasons are ass, lawyer wise. Nolan is a big old wet blanket that I actually like lol but Sam is a dullard. Hot but that’s where it ends and it’s annoying because they could write her better but they simply don’t care to. Baxter(?) is fine so far but more because I know him as Kerry Washington’s fake white husband and not because of this role because again, boring. They need to shake things up over there fr. 

i want you to know how happy i was to see this block of text lmao. answer is going under the cut because this turned into a manifesto

yeah i think jill hennessy was a real credit. some of the best acting on law and order for me is when the characters aren't actually speaking. it's in the looks and the expressions. and the thing that i liked about claire that we don't see from a lot of ADAs is that i felt like we got to watch her struggle and develop, maybe because she had to have been one of the youngest. i actually kind of like her final episode but i don't know if i'll ever watch it again. it's hard to get through. also i think they decided to kind of pull back after showing us their personal lives so much but i think the subtle effects of claire's loss are felt. in the way briscoe was immediately and strongly back on the wagon. in the way jack's dick found its way firmly back into his pants.

serena was a mess as a character lmfao. i could never get a read on her and then there's her final line like oh ok. i'm wondering if a second watch will clear anything up for me with her character but i suspect not. is it because i'm a lesbian, no it's because you're insane

i really like jamie too. i agree that her biggest character flaw is that ex husband of hers but honestly i'm chalking it up to man probably being intimidated by her a lot and sometimes it's the short ugly ones who have built up a callus to rejection so they'll just go for it. he's a real piece of work though so i guess she mainly saw that nasty streak channeled through work so she chalked it up to passion about the job? not like they got into it too deeply. i hate watching her get sexually harassed all the time but it's probably realistic. it got handled about as well as could be hoped for by a mostly male writers room when jack and adam defended her but creating strong male heroes in that scenario ... ok lol i thought we were going for realism. with all the repeated stories of women "sleeping their way to the top" would have been more interesting i think if they explored the catch-22 of it all. damned if you do play along, damned if you don't. but i don't expect that kind of depth from men.

abby i have very mixed feelings about as a person. i would start liking her until her opinions started shining through lmao. i think the exploration of a right wing woman is really interesting (shout out dworkin lol) but I don't think the writers were equipped to do it well. the viciousness did seem misplaced but i think it could have been explained by unresolved feelings about the assault. i think that internalized misogyny can be really interesting but again i don't really trust men to bring it home. for all that she was still a good character, i agree she could have been better written.

the new lawyers are ass but i enjoyed the last lawyers of the old law and order, cutter and rubirosa. i think they have big shoes to fill following after the mccoy show both as actual actors but as characters (which i want to say i enjoy when the character and the actor have parallel journeys, like when olivia benson has to figure out how to move past elliott leaving) and if you watched cutter as bureau chief on svu, that's not the real him, that was his tether

nolan is so fucking boring lmao. but he's grown on me enough to be kind of lukewarm about it. like he doesn't really seem to have that much passion. ben stone was motivated largely by justice and doing the right thing within the rules. jack mccoy tells us he wants to win and we see him do it by any legal means necessary. cutter is kind of in between, he wants to fill jack's shoes and he's willing to tip toe over some lines ethically to get it done. wtf does nolan really want. i don't feel it from him at all. like what is his central motivation. like they gave us that moral conflict in the death penalty episode but it just didn't hit for me. what is he really about? i don't know. watching the actor tear up while being stoic is fine enough though i guess.

feel the same about sam lol so gorg but literally a blank slate of a character. like they aren't even trying with her. someone needs to tell the writers that establishing that her sister died to dv and never got justice is not the same as creating character traits. also that one episode where she's speaking in court (i think doing a cross examination of a woman, all she's good for of course) and then nolan has to save her is sooooooo. like i get what they were going for but like wtf.

baxter is giving me weird vibes but i watched scandal so i could understand how people feel about him. i am still not seeing the vision. i think everyone is allowing kerry washington's fineness to cloud their eyes there.

[lboogie1906]

Gary LeRoi Gray (born February 12, 1987) is an actor, who has appeared in movies, television, and animation. He was born in Chicago.

He is known for his childhood role as Nelson Tibideaux, the son of Sondra Huxtable Tibideaux and Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Show. He appeared in the series during its eighth and final season (1991–1992). He is known for his role as Nelson Minkler in Even Stevens and as the voice of A.J. in The Fairly OddParents.

His voice roles include Charley on Clifford the Big Red Dog, Sam “The Squid” Dullard on Rocket Power, and Mitch in Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? Recurring live-action roles have included Nelson Tibideaux on The Cosby Show, Nelson Minkler on Even Stevens, and Bobby the Inquisitive Boy on The Weird Al Show. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[dorothydalmati1]

Obscure Animation Subject #98: Rocket Power

A forgotten NickToon from Klasky Csupo, it aired from August 16, 1999 to July 30, 2004 on Nickelodeon, it follows the day-to-day zany hijinks of a gang of four young and loyal friends; the adventurous and vain sports enthusiast and perfectionist Oswald "Otto" Rocket, his tomboyish and kind-hearted older sister Regina "Reggie" Rocket, Otto's dim-witted but loyal best friend and videographer Maurice "Twister" Rodriguez and the brainy techno whiz kid and relative newcomer, Sam "Squid" Dullard. They live in the fictional Southern California beach community of Ocean Shores, where they spend their free time playing varied extreme sports (such as Skateboarding, Surfing, Snowboarding, Biking, Street Hockey, etc.), getting into various situations and overcoming the trials and challenges of growing up. It had 71 half-hours of 132 segments.

And as you look at it, this is a product of its time. It’s about friendship, but with the EXTREME and skateboarding! That’s radical man! Wicked! The show is unfunny and has lousy morals at the end of their episodes, no matter how forced and out of nowhere it is (cmon even the bad Loud House episodes aren’t as obnoxious as these). The characters are annoying stereotypes, and there aren’t even many different stereotypes either. Just dumbasses. I guess one of the exceptions would be Reggie Rocket who I guess is the most tolerable by default. The animation quality is pretty solid though.

People often ignore this show when they talk about the 90s (and 2000s) era of Nickelodeon and it’s easy to see why. This show came out too late and none of the characters are remarkable. If you want a better show that actually makes use of one-note characters and has better morals without trying too hard to be cool, go watch the early years of The Loud House.

[sandybrett]

I need to create an official TBR list instead of just having a bunch of titles rattling around in my head.

So here it is, in no particular order:

The Instructions by Adam Levin (started but not finished)

The Cursed Heart by Derin Edala

Tris's Book by Tamora Pierce

Warriors Redux by Dullard

Almost Nowhere by nostalgebraist

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas

Jerkbait by Mia Siegert

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya McGregor

Pym by Mat Johnson

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones

Not So Stories, edited by David Thomas Moore

Nobody Nowhere by Donna Williams

And probably some other stuff I’m forgetting, which I’ll edit in if I remember it.

ETA: A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar

ETA: The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E.M. Anderson

ETA: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

ETA: Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison

[xesoteric-extraterrestrialx]

[incorrect90snicktoonquotes]

I'm a nerd? We'll, that's FINE! 'Cause nerds use their brains. I set goals for myself, and then, through education and hard work, I figure out ways to achieve them!

Sam

[maybe-just-whelmed]

Endless Cartoon intro’s: 7/♾

Rocket Power 1999~2004

[ideasenborrador]

“El Juego del Calamar”

[giasesshoumaru]

“‘No Worries!’ You mean ‘No Talent!’“ - Lars Rodriguez to Sam Dullard, Twister Rodriguez and Otto and Reggie Rocket (Rocket Power, Episode 3.11)