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spotlightlowlife · 21 days

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Where the hell is everyone?

Not my usual post but something stood out to me, the views on these shows.

Figures declining is normal, only the drop seems quite a lot and I can't help but think that the characters ( so obviously the writing) deserve the blame.

Oops and Mammon's mid season at this moment both have approximately 26 million views, however, the mammon episode has 13k more comments dispite Oops not only being almost 2 months older, but

it being an episode we saw Fizz, Ozzie who we hadn't seen for a while

we saw Striker and Crimson again

most of all, this is the one where Fizz and Blitzø made up AND we learned what happened

there's no Stolitz in either of these or IMP

no IMP or Stolas at all in the Mammon episode

Now take into account that these two episodes are VERY episodic, following straight on from the event of the other with the setup of Mammon special only being possible because of the outcome of Oops. This gave Oops excellent rewatch value, I know I rewatched it (and found hypocrisy and possible retcon)

So though both are Fizz x Ozzie episodes and both let us return to the plot, the Mammon episode definitely did the Oops episode a massive service. Since this was the third Fizz x Ozzie episode and they existed in attached at the hip each time, we have only seen Fizz without Ozzie's presence in flashbacks childhood or as a robot, Ozzir without Fizz hasn't really been a thing.

It would be interesting to see them outside their ship but then again, Fizz no longer has his other job and isn't Blitzø's adversary anymore, there appears to be a crush element in this relationship too and Ozzie has been neutered as a businessman and the embodiment of lust itself, the two of them currently have the looming threat of Mammon and whatever he's planning over them. All this is fine, they're side characters but it really shows how much they're carried.

Now, fast forward and the next two episodes have half the view count, even though we have

the main cast back

Loona's voice actor is back

Stolitz drama

the return of angels, D.H.O.R.K, Verosika and some sinners we know

most of all, a curveball with the Stolitz transactionship ending and Blitzø having another option to run business

To add to this, the shorts become a thing around the same time as these episodes, they offer freedom to show the characters working and feature extras, so why are the first and second 12M and 13M views? Why aren't these 5 minute shorts surpassing episodes that take 4x the amount of time to watch?

Furthermore, the last episode to do as well as the Mammon special that made Oops episodic was the episode where we met Crimson and Millie and Moxxie's somehow shared (yet how was this relevant) ex Chaz, which gave us some of Moxxie's background, his meeting with Blitzø, a mobster theme and some action for Millie to flex her skills again with no dialogue needed up against characters who don't matter. This episode also has approximately 26M views, released 6 months prior to Oops, yet sat in between these two episodes are three more

the one were Striker would return, abducted and injured Stolas, in addition Millie and Moxxie would get their freedom to work without Blitzø and Blitzø would face a frustrating social issue of taking his daughter to a long overdue medical appointment, but at 22M views

Unhappy campers, the announced 'Millie episode' which also allowed us to also meet Barbie in the last 5 minutes at the end with no build up, it took us to Earth, give us no human designs for the main cast and give Millie an opportunity to flex without dialogue to no names who don't matter

the LONG AWAITED season one finale that got blocked, featuring Kesha! Playing on of the princes of hell! Featuring one of the most catchy songs to date. How did this get caught up in the plateau at just 23M? Surely it bought a number of dwindling viewers back to what we all missed out on? Surely it has a high chance of rewatch value because a lot had happened since?

Is it that the main cast and 'nice' villains aren't holding attention?

The second episode of season two had Octavia, who we hadn't seen in a while, run away. We got to see Earth, we got to see Stolas's human design, Stolas's interactions with his estranged wife and daughter, there were unnecessary and odd because of how the episode started and where they left off last time we saw them Stolitz moment and we got to hear Octavia and Loona speak.

This has just 2M more views than (episodic) Oops but is 11 months older.

At just 5M more views and 3 months older is the season premiere (so expected to do well) where we get a shared backstory for Stolas and Blitzø,

their cute childhood selves, some of Stella's story, we meet Blitzø's dad, we meet Stolas's dad, we see their transactionship start and a massive step in neutering Stolas.

I'm quite sure people liked him when he was the creepy, easily dangerous rich guy who held the operation of Blitzø business and maybe even his life in his hands and I'm quite sure 'humanising' him by having him realise he doesn't really know his daughter was a fine addition to his character, villains don't need to be in the wrong every time we see them.

In other news, Stolas' song 'Just look my way' may have 19M views (well done I hope they're genuine) but the song Clown Bitch from two extra we may never see again has more views than 2 minute notice, which is from the much loved Fizz,

it even has more views than Poison from parent series Hazbin Hotel, the song of an actual lead character Angeldust and this track has a remix.

There's reason I bring up Hazbin. Is it a coincidence that between the Mammon special and the next episode of Helluva, the long awaited Hazbin hotel that made it big and streamed on Amazon aired in its entirety, in that we would meet further neutered down characters who hold hire rank than those in Helluva?

The fact that we meet the leader and owner of hell, Lucifer the devil himself and he's a fun, sarcastic sad boy authors pet who did nothing wrong, let's blame another (breeder) wife and mother who's absent from the story for whatever reason yet to make matters worse, he isn't even a lead, his totally underwhelming 'nice girl' daughter is along with her friends.

Here's how watering down the powerful along with making them 'nice' comes into play and harms the plots.

Charlie ranks higher than Ozzie and gets to rub shoulders with sinners and call them her people without issue

sinners are higher than imps but imps as good as make sinners, Blitzø's whole business is to kill humans, many of which become sinners who are then seen as vermin who need to be wiped out, yet sinners are above imps, so are imps punching up?

Charlie is above Ozzie, Bee is equal to Ozzie and her relationship with a hellhound is just fine, we totally miss out in an overlord in an inappropriate power balance relationship with someone who could have been in one of the dog pounds she signs off on

where's the controversy in 'Blitzø and Stolas done better' Fizz x Ozzie, where Ozzie is loving and affectionate, doesn't like love potions and now doesn't like coersion and lusting after his mans image? There is none, no scandal or consequence, their drama is all personal issues, who is Ozzie, the leader we have spent the most time with to answer to? Not Lucifer who's welcome to hang out with his daughters sinner friends dispite condemning sinners as a waste of time the last time we saw him. Who cares, everyone is 'nice'

When we met Mammon he was met with a load of hatred and this was clearly the desired effect, there was so much that people could lazily project his way, and look how well his episode did. We actually got an excellent representation of ruthless and adaptive business and leadership with a lack of morals and genuine interest. I'm guessing this character was essential in seeing hell thrive.

King Paimon's introduction should have been a much bigger deal, it's bad enough that he went from from shapeshifting and manifesting in a mirror, not remembering this particular child, spending the day with Stolas through the mirror to stood beside him with no introduction, but we learn that he has many children and that he sets Stolas up with an arranged marriage.

So there is a hierarchy, there are people doing business with one another, there are those to answer to, there are numerous high ranking families. Why was the heir (Octavia) important? Business merger? Prophecy? We can only assume he set Stolas to work at a young age, encouraged his (unfortunately now lost) classism by giving him his own place, no family closeness and servants to toss about and we can only assume it's the same story for all the other children. King Paimon is not one of Lucifer's circle of seven but where does he rank next to him?

Both seem to be great candidates for a devil in charge. I'm sure there are numberours people who would discuss this but would be drowned out by those who will only give these characters the time of day blame them for 'being the reason Fizz and Stolas were sad' in the same note as dumped upon Stella and "supremacist" Striker another two who just happen to actively move the story forward.

Chances are plenty of people are too nervous to admit amongst the drowning out to liking any of these characters for fear of being ganged up on, but it seems that the 'good' characters, the fun and nice characters with power and the leads who we are to follow and just 'like' aren't cutting it really. Their stories are lacking.

There's a good chance that noisy fanbase fanning out, crying all over Twitter, attacking people full time and wanting to see hookups and representations are getting their fill amongs themselves. They make the shows seem more popular than they are because these people are chronically online and engaged in the discourse of attack and defend, rather than really following and discussing the story, coming back to it and taking interest where it is needed. As much as writers are online a lot and get to see the love and hide behind and encourage attack dogs, fandoms are contained and not good to write for, fandoms do their own thing. Any reasonable person, a critic who likes, one who doesn't care for and one who truly hates a story can do what a blind loyal person and one who's more invested in fanbase can't, which is offer feedback.

Looks like there's a silent majority of people who are here for the story, don't care for the digressions too much and are falling out of interest in the main characters. No doubt the silent majority are still waiting on things to improve, first of all by returning to the standard set in season one.

#helluva boss critique #helluva boss critical #fandumb #character analysis #hazbin hotel criticism #helluva boss criticism

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pagerunner-j · 2 months

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The Long Road Home: the story so far

And now, a whole lotta fic links.

I might be cheating a bit with this post, seeing as the inception of this series predated any particular theme months, and the stories haven’t been written specifically to prompts. But since I’ve cranked out over 160,000 words of fic about these crazy kids since March (how? help), and I just completed a story arc with the installment I posted this past Tuesday, @tentoorosemonth2024 seems as good an excuse as any to share the lot of them.

SO.

The series at large: The Long Road Home

Following the arrival of Rose and Tentoo in their new world, the development of their relationship with each other, and the adventures and dangers they start to face as a new family. The series was named after its first chapter, in large part because names are hard and I wasn’t expecting to keep going like this, but here we are. Begins mostly as a romance. The plot whacks me over the head soon thereafter. Includes, so far:

The Long Road Home (M, 24,500 words)

Rose and Tentoo, getting to understand each other, trust each other, and eventually love each other, on the way home from Bad Wolf Bay.

Featuring a long-overdue family road trip, deleted scenes turning into essential plot, existential crises, asides from Jackie Tyler, the wrong Beatles, inappropriate ways to answer room service, and your author shamelessly abusing the limits of touch telepathy.

Understandings and Ultimatums (M, 6,800 words)

An interlude following The Long Road Home, in which Rose and Tentoo, temporarily staying with Rose's parents, maybe start getting a little carried away with each other. And Pete's got a few words to say to the Doctor about it. Oops.

Featuring badly timed father-daughter check-ins, the Doctor continuing to come to terms with having a whole lot less a in his sexuality these days, a children's toy as a conversation starter, Rose getting alternately irritated and turned on by possessive men, and absolutely everybody complaining about London real estate.

At the Threshold (T, 8,500 words)

Rose and Tentoo find themselves facing a number of major life decisions. Some aren't quite yet decided upon...but some important ones are coming together at last.

Featuring the joys of house hunting, the tricky question of names, pointed motherly advice, Time Lord talents at work, gratuitous Shakespeare geekery, ongoing telepathy shenanigans, and life-changing phone calls happening at really inconvenient times.

Four Ceremonies (T, 21,800 words)

A home claimed, a seed planted, a commitment made, and promises spoken.

Rose and Tentoo on the road to marriage...and a few other, perhaps even more significant things.

Entanglements (M, 21,000 words)

Rose and the Doctor may have found a good life together, but that doesn't mean all their worries--or their past traumas--have gone away quite yet.

In which the emotional rent comes due, some painful stories are revealed, risky levels of intimacy are reached, a good number of unsettling memories and dreams unfold, and Rose finds her way to the solution for a tricky problem with their TARDIS...but that might come with a certain cost, too, and it might not only be hers to pay.

Featuring Rose, Tentoo, and...well, Ten, too.

Coming to Light (E, 6,500 words)

A Long Road Home interlude, in which Rose and Tentoo take that trip to Barcelona (the Pete's World version, anyway), discover the alien weirdness behind one of this city's strangest neighborhoods, and then, inspired by that day's escapades, make good on both the rating of the story and the verb choice in the title.

...hey, they're having a nice time on their holidays, who am I to argue.

The House Among the Briars (M, 22,300 words)

Go big or never go home.

In which Rose and Tentoo finally discover the secret of the house where they've been living, but get stranded in separate dimensions in the process. To find their way back to each other, they might have to confront parts of themselves that they might not want to have to accept. For the Doctor, it's the rage he's been warned about virtually ever since he first came to be. And for Rose, it might be something even more dangerous, and a whole lot stranger.

Because it might be time for a certain bad wolf to come back out to play...

The Wolves in the Woods (T, 48,300 words)

Rose and Tentoo have secrets. Torchwood has questions. Everything is about to come to a head one way or another, especially if the director of interdimensional research at Torchwood gets her way.

And Rose and the Doctor are going to have to figure out how to stop her, before she lays a claim on their growing TARDIS...or on the two of them themselves.

#doctor who #fic #tentoorosemonth2024 #timepetals #tentoorose

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thatcatbasil · 15 days

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extremely overdue site update with a fresh layout! check it out on desktop as usual

reason why this took so long is cause i wanted to have the blog section and first blog post ready to upload at the same time that i put up everything else but i kept hitting roadblocks with what to write and how to format it so i figured might as well go ahead put up what i've already gotten done cause it's all been sitting in my files for months at this point OOPS

sitebuilding resources have been moved into a new section called "library" where i'm gonna keep collections of links and resources for other things etc. i need to make the navigation of it a little better but i'll probably do that when i get around to adding more pages for it. thinking a menu for jumping to different sections of a page would be really nice to have in particular

game review section now has an index. first review will likely be about endless ocean luminous whenever i get the motivation to finish it (got burnt out and haven't played it in a while since the completion and the access to the last chapter of story mode is so dependent on RNG. probably gonna mention that in the review itself haha)

music's been changed up a bit too, some stuff's been added and some stuff's been taken out. notably i put in some more music from rain world and also added some stuff from spore and petscop too

#basil speaks #neocities

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spopsalt · 9 months

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Okay! Finished Helluva Boss season two! I should've listened to the people telling me not to watch it.

This post is inspired by @kittenface40 after they said they would like to see my thoughts on season two. This is a very long post, just a little warning.

Sooo let's start off with the things I like, don't worry there's not a lot. Well the animation is really good as always, they gave more depth to Fizzarolli and Ozzie and they actually became my favorite couple and Fizzarolli is now my favorite character. I liked Blitzo in this season, particularly his interactions with Fizzarolli. I think they have a very sweet friendship. Millie and Moxie were lovely as always. And I really liked seeing Blitzo vent about his frustrations with Stolas in "Oops!" He wasn't even wrong, but now the show is trying to say Stolas cares about Blitzo when nothing showed that. But I'm supposed to be talking about the stuff I like. We find out Moxie is bisexual which is really cool! Striker is also an amazing villain, and I'm prettyyy sure he is ace, which again is really cool! Now onto the stuff I disliked. Everything else. Just kidding. Mostly. Well I hate the way they try to make it seem like Blitzo is the abuser, while what he did to Stolas in season 2 episode 1 was not cool and definitely a new low for him, that doesn't make what Stolas did ok!? Two wrongs don't make a right?? It feels like they only made that episode to victim blame Blitzo, which is never a good look. And now they are trying to insist that Stolas has feelings for Blitzo when like nothing showed that? He always treated him like a sex toy, talked down to him, embarrassed him in public, and continued to call him Blitzy when he knew he didn't like it, but apparently, that's fine! We never see him slowly treat Blitzo with more respect and actually value him as anything more than a sex toy. He always treats him the same all the time, and we're just supposed to believe that Stolas loves him? I'm not buying it. And Stolas getting badly hurt, while it was satisfying deserved and long overdue, did nothing to advance the plot? It seemed like it would be some big emotional moment that would have serious consequences but the next time we see him he's completely fine? Just walking and talking like everything's normal? Huh? It was just filler for the sake of filler. Very few episodes actually advance the plot and while most of the characters are lovely, most of them. That's not enough to make me not realize the filler. Now, I do know a show does not need to really have an ongoing plot, some shows want to be shows you can jump into without needing to watch previous episodes. And that's fine, one series that did this really well was The Amazing World of Gumball. But the thing is Helluva doesn't know what it wants to be, some episodes will be filler for the sake of filler then it will randomly have super plot-heavy episodes? What? I do see potential in this show, like how I did with spop, and I don't think it's too far gone. Hopefully, it gets better but my hopes aren't high. If you read this, ik this was a very long post but I hope you liked it! I might look into each episode more in a later post, and thanks for reading it all! I hope you liked reading my analysis of it! Have a good day/night/afternoon.

#helluva boss salt #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critical #anti stoliz #anti stolas #I hate that bird man #Blitzo you can do better #Please anyone but stolas

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umbracirrus · 3 months

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WIP Whenever 💛

I was thinking that I would most likely have a WIP out on Sunday because I wasn't mentally in the place to do anything on Wednesday and I'm busy tomorrow... But I've been able to get something pulled together!

My beloved idiots Balgruuf and Elyse are finally talking after their argument! But don't worry, there's some ✨drama✨ too hehe :)

I said that I wasn't gonna post The Perfect Storm WIPs for a while but oops. My hand slipped.

Thanks for the tags @pitiable-arisen and @bostoniangirl21!!

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The cold air actually felt nice against Elyse's skin for once as she stepped through the doors onto the balcony, and found herself surprised when she realised that laid out before her was the entirety of the city of Whiterun, almost like a tapestry spread across the ground below. Her feet carried her forward towards the wooden railings, and snow crunched beneath her gloved fingers as she took hold of it and gazed below.

"This is one of the few quiet places in Dragonsreach where people will not disturb me… usually because I do not allow anyone out here," Balgruuf stated from where he remained by the doors. "It is peaceful."

Her eyes fell shut as she exhaled quietly. "I can see why…" She then lowered her head, and released her hold of the railing so that she could turn back to face him. "Balgruuf, I-" Her voice caught as she began to feel tears building up in the corners of her eyes, her hands shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for causing all of this trouble-!"

"What? Elyse, why are you-?" She never noticed that he had closed the distance between them until he had taken hold of the top of her arms, his breathing shaking and voice almost wavering as he spoke. "No… No, none of this is your fault," he whispered, one of his hands moving to wipe away some of the tears falling down her face as she quietly wept. "I overstepped, that has been made abundantly clear to me whilst you were gone. You had every right to get angry at me. Please… don't cry, you did nothing wrong."

Slowly, she moved closer to him, and it didn't take long for her head to be resting against him as his arms wrapped around her. His heart ached for her – after what he had done, and her belief that she had to apologise when he knew that it was he who needed to do so… It would take more than words to compensate. He had hurt her badly. Perhaps things would never return to how they were… but perhaps it was an opportunity to learn from his own idiocy and rebuild their relationship – dare he say friendship? – stronger than before.

"I am the one who should be saying that they are sorry," he whispered, taking a deep breath and a step back. "I know that it will not change anything now, and is long overdue… but may I explain why I did what I did? I am in no way justifying what I did… but I want you to know that none of this – absolutely none – is your fault."

Wiping away some of the tears which were still slowly slipping down her face, she gave him a slight nod. "That… That's why I came here. I wanted to know… wanted to know why you paid off that fine. I left it be because I knew… because… Ulfric was the one who instigated it. He grabbed my arm! Was I not meant to fight back against somebody who tried to keep me as a prisoner?" Her tone of voice grew louder and more panicked as she spoke, before taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. "I was told that you likely only paid it off to help, but if I wanted to know for sure about why, I needed to talk to you… That it would give me peace of mind."

Balgruuf glanced back towards the doors leading out onto the balcony, and pursed his lips together. "I believe that you had best sit down for what I need to tell you then. We could return indoors, or I can bring some seats outside… it's your choice."

"… I wouldn't mind staying out for a while longer. Maybe if it gets any colder we can go indoors, but for now…"

He nodded at her response, then went over to the doors and quickly slipped inside. She remembered that there had been a long table surrounded by chairs just by the door, so it wouldn't take long for him to return. When he did though, she had to go to hold the door open for him as he pulled the two seats outside.

When they eventually sat down, the wind thankfully remaining little more than a gentle breeze, she couldn't help but notice the conflict across his face as he looked towards the floor with his arms folded over. But he soon began to speak. "In his usual correspondence with me, Ulfric began accusing Whiterun of harbouring a criminal, and he made it clear that he was talking about you," he stated, his fists starting to clench. "He made an ultimatum - pay off the fine, or Whiterun gets attacked."

Her blood ran cold – colder than the snow and ice and wind which surrounded them on that balcony. "B-But I'm not…"

"I know."

#meg has done some writing #fic - the perfect storm #dragonborn oc elyse #balgruuf x dragonborn #they HUGGED. this is like. a huge deal. Balgruuf is worried that their relationship would need rebuilding but they HUGGED.#they have this deep-rooted trust in each other even if they don't realise it. they wouldn't have hugged or even spoke again if they didn't.#elyse values him massively!!! he's a comfort to her (she definitely doesn't realise it though!)#+ balgruuf has started noticing some boundaries which are being crossed but he's in denial! he hasn't felt like this for years!! he forgot!

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purplekoop · 3 months

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How about a classic? Reverse Unpopular Opinion: TMNT 2012

oh god, okay, this really is easy mode, I gotta say nice things about TMNT 2012. I gotta hold off some praises for the long overdue Things I Love (paused my rewatch because I meant to make a season 1 post, never got around to that so I stopped because I didn't wanna watch more past that. oops. anyways,)

Theme Song! Very good! Very nice evolution of the classic theme that perfectly sets the vibe for the show. I don't think I need to specify that the Season 5 theme is also incredible. An incredibly random choice for an homage, but still an awesome intro that helps set apart the weirdo (affectionate) season.

Uhhhh god wanna keep these more specific so uhhh Leatherhead. Just him. the whole guy. Love his voice, LOVE his design, love how the show uses him as the "things are getting serious" backup in the earlier seasons. He's one of the characters I was always excited to see in episodes as a kid and that feeling hasn't really gone away.

On a related note of just saying a character, Fishface. Visually he's a great example of how 2012 will take a goofy concept and make it look and move as cool as possible, it's astounding a character proportioned like that fights mostly with his feet and doesn't look stupid. Well. Too stupid anyways. He's also a fun personality, enough a jerk to warrant being a bad guy but charming enough to where you almost wish he wasn't. Also, without spoiling any specifics, the way he exits the show still cracks me up. I think the whole Foot Clan villain gang is a great batch of mainstay baddies but Fishface is definitely the standout to me, especially as someone entirely new to 2012 (unless I'm unaware of some obscure comic character of the same name)

Tales of the Yokai. banger episode. Especially the big scene at the end. I don't need to specify what I mean, you know it if you know it.

The whole first half of season 3 is so fun. The classic farm house being turned into a setting of horror parodies is such a fun choice that they use for a bunch of great episodes that don't have to keep the main plot going after the big bang of season 2's finale.

Actually on that note, the canon explanation for Leo's VA swap is so funny, more shows should do that. I mean I guess in a way Doctor Who already does that... and like. Fugitoid in almost every sense but literal is basically a Doctor.

Speaking of

FUGITOOOOIIIIIIID THE BOY

Look I feel like it's not a shock at all I love a good overly formal robot character. Before his introduction in 2012 I already adored him from seeing him sporadically in a few 03 episodes I saw, so I was ECSTATIC to see him in this show too. He's also just great in general, maybe my favorite character in the entire show if not franchise, I love this little guy war criminal so much

Gonna stop there because this WILL devolve into me either incoherently rambling about almost every individual character or just an analysis about all the major show elements like the art style or humor or something. Again, this is easy, except in the respect I need to save something for the actual long post about the show.

Actually wait okay one more:

armagon.

shark :)

Okay now I'm done, thank you.

#tmnt 2012 #ninja turtles #asks #tmnt

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omegaremix · 5 months

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MRKE, 2021.

It’s April. To me, I feel that nothing’s changed. By now I know that all of my favorite businesses to patronize stayed open. Not one record store on the island shuttered. So far, I was proud of myself to visit Williamsburg’s Rough Trade before their relocation this summer. It was the best $417.00 I ever spent. A pinball parlor opened up at my former local mall to my total surprise. It’s something that Long Island never had before. For eight hours and $25.00 I had more than my money’s worth. It’s safe to say that most of the money is coming back again, even if the third stimulus has no face or feelings of how people either benefit or still suffering. Businesses re-opened after New York State’s mandated closures, like my local ticket arcade where I benefit from buy-twenty-get-twenty specials and half-off games on Wednesdays so I’m relieved. It’s been years since I went and I’m long overdue for a night out of a real life 2021 version of The Price Is Right.

My friend M-Ro, brother of archivist and WUSB’s J-Ro, had been out of a job since the cinema-house closed down. He’s done nothing but stay home with his four kids watching infinite amounts of Disney, long-forgotten sitcoms, and other cringy obscurities. Not long ago, he started working again with a friend who later changed career paths and decided to open Pickle Island, a pickle house in Oyster Bay. He offered M-Ro to help run the place and Pickle Island is now a two-man operation.

I hate pickles. I think they’re disgusting, unappetizing, and revolting, They’re an unattractive food to me. I’d never have a reason to buy them ever, ergo be near a pickle house. But when your friend sells part of their CD and video collections there, then you do have a reason to go. I always support my friends with what they do. Snakeskin belts, local shows, photography books, or new ventures. You sell it, I buy it. I haven’t seen M-Ro since one of his final live performances of This’ll Kill Ya’ for his bro-’s bornday at a crowded bar in Hauppauge, so it’s about time I do.

I traveled west on the Long Island Expressway / Rt. 495 and drove past Exit 46, Sunnyside Blvd. / Plainview, where a once-astonishing world of fresh faces and memories that opened up my junior year was an era long dead. Then up north on Rt. 106 / 107. The last time I traveled down that path was when I worked at the Jewish center post-senior year. I got the girl, a Dutch caramel blonde, and also got the job through her father; a mean, threatening, over-protective scumbag who had me on his shit-list for two summer months because I was dating his daughter. I drive up Rt. 106 / Oyster Bay Rd.’s silent, wide-open, grassy roads riding past the stables and million-dollar houses on hills. View the scenic picturesque neighborhoods and one would think how Nassau County sits at the top ten highest-taxed neighborhoods in the entire U.S. Go up North Shore Rd. and see an amazing grandiose view of the harbor’s massive body of water as you coast over the Bayville Bridge and slide into the parking lot across from Pickle Island. I see M-Ro through the storefront, sitting on the couch minding his own as I walk in. He sees me walking towards and waves hello as I come in.

I unintentionally give him a friendly good-to-see-ya’-again hug. Oops. I realized you’re not supposed to do that in a pandemic world. But it’s two weeks after the fact and we’re still alive. After a few lines of conversation, I said to him that it’d be quick and he knows.

I’m not here for the pickles. I’m here to see what CDs he’s selling. It’s already cramped quarters. A Ms. Pac-Man cocktail cabinet sits behind the front window. There’s a few racks of issues of Captain America, Green Lantern, and Wolverine. Another rack of VHS tapes and a shelf of DVDs and Blu-rays. Then the CDs. They’re from his collection. Some duplicates and others he didn’t care about parting, he says. Eight rows or sixteen shelves of discs in total which would take me no more than ten to fifteen minutes to scan…and some neck pain from having to see it all sideways because that’s how he placed them, you Tetris artist. I’m already positioned in blocking the owner from going behind the front counter. And an all-too-nice suburbanite family of three just walked in; a father and his two kid who are all so fine and dandy to be there. As if they never experienced a bad day or tragedy in their white-winged innocent lives. Nice to know that Dad Of The Year never looked in my direction and wondered why a stranger is twisting over by the shelves.

Seeing his partial stash, M-Ro was never one to shy away from pop. Jewel, Head Automatica, Pretty Girls Make Graves, some pop-punk, first and third-wave ska, Warped Tour bands…no judgment here. Because he’s a solo artist who goes by The Matt Roren Karaoke Experience doing covers and music videos of various popular chart-topping hits. Before that, he was also part of the legendary local pop-punk / ska band The Microwave Orphans and after that the garage-punk outfit The Repercussions which I ended up getting two CDs of. Don’t Fear…and Modern Sounds were the two most expensive discs I bought at $7.00 and $10.00 respectively, still sealed. Come on. You have to support your friends.

As with any receipt, there’s plenty of firsts. This one, however, had the majority of them. Veruca Salt, Faith No More, and The Posies were bands that my alternative circles of friends from both Brentwood and Plainview were into. A low price point allows me to have them now for the first time. Stabbing Westward, as it’s industrial rock, is in my hands. The Presidents Of The United States Of America? Yes. They wrote that song about peaches so that’s valid. Why not get The Stooges first album with a second disc of live material? And being I have their second album, why not get the first from The Specials? It’s one of the very select few ska bands I’ll allow in my collection. None of that too-important elitist third-wave carnival music. I don’t think I have Phil Collins’ But Seriously, and he was someone I listened to feverishly during my Nintendo youth. And Richard Marx? None of you know who he is and if you did you wouldn’t dare mention his name. But I will. My ma’ loved him and once had the cassette. So both middle digits flying high to you all.

As M-Ro counted up the tab, I look to my right and there it was: a Sony Watchman. It’s the third one in two months I seen. My interest in them started when during my Saturday shift, one of my favorite customers, a young 20-ish redhead with glasses asked me for a power bank. On my way of showing them to her, she mentioned about buying some more accessories for her Watchman. I’m not much of a movie person so that kind of flew over me until she showed me an actual Sony Watchman handheld TV. She took it out of the box and turned it on for me. I almost dropped dead in front of her. I read about these things all the time but never saw one in the wild. Now here it was. She recently bought one at Savers for only $4.00 and bought an analog-to-digital converter from us to try and stream it to her flat-screen TV. She even went a step further and told me the manufacture date on it: 1985. The fact that it was her holding obsolete antiquated technology in her hands and was still in working condition made my entire month for me. I told this story to my friends at the radio station and our resident fantasy aficionado Captain Phil offered to send me one from his eBay store, which I’m now a proud owner. Pickle Island had a larger unit sitting on its counter showing a random movie and I’m wondering if some talking head, celebrity, influencer, or magic cartoon kangaroo on Instagram recently touted them for everyone to grab.

This one-and-done expedition was just as quick as when I visited Rosie’s Vintage three years ago, but not the least expensive. $62.00 later, I was the proud owner of a piece of M-Ro’s life. Not a gift, but a purchase. Being Pickle Island is not a legitimate music store by any means, it doesn’t count towards my record-store victory tour. I thanked M-Ro profusely for my patronage and told him to stay in touch which he would. It’s now time to reverse the drive home under partly cloudy blue skies with a playlist of past Springtime discoveries as the evening’s soundtrack. I’ll get to experience the harbor one more time and get an idea of where to take a scenic shoot in the near future. I’m not taking the L.I.E. this time as it’s cramped with traffic but this time the Northern State to Rt. 25, Rt. 345, and Rt. 454 all the way through. I’ll log on to social media for all of my friends and allies at WUSB to hear about because I never shut up about what I bought. I need the assurance and affirmation from everyone which I bought with my money today and, so far so good, it’s favorable. Then I see this posted under my purchase:

“You’re lucky I left some stuff for you.” said his brother J-Ro.

You don’t say! I had no idea some of his collection was mixed in for sale with his brother’s. So which ones, exactly? Unlike his offering, the stuff I left for him from my collection was totally free and not out of pocket. Take that to the bank and cash it in.

Repercussions, The: Don’t Fear…

Stabbing Westward: Wither Blister Burn + Peel

Stooges, The: self-titled

Veruca Salt: American Thighs

Phil Collins: But Seriously

Faith No More: Songs To Make Love To

Lacuna Coil: Karmacode

Richard Marx: Repeat Offender

Posies, The: Frosting On The Beater

Specials, The: self-titled

Presidents Of The United States Of America, The: self-titled

Raveonettes, The: Whip It On

Faith No More: Angel Dust

Repercussions, The: Modern Sounds

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overnightheartbeats · 3 months

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📸

send 📷 for my muse to post the “ this is her / him / them ” photo of your muse. — meaning ; the go-to photo that one’s significant other pulls up when asked about their partner. // @clubsmarties

Laurel & Eli

Now, we know how Laurel feels about the scruff (and the beard, of course)! She is absolutely the proudest girlfriend, and loves talking about him. She loves taking pictures of him any chance she gets and definitely has photos at all different angles and poses. Still, most pictures don't get shown to many people. According to her, the two photos above are 'appropriate' pictures to show without enduring so many comments about her hot boyfriend (aka why she keeps that side-eye photo to herself). Hey, Laurel knows he's hot, doesn't mean she wants others saying it.

picture #1: oops..she might've made a dinner reservation for the wrong time, so this is them waiting around for an extra half hour after getting dressed up. She took this picture as evidence of a long-overdue dinner with her dad. picture #2: lounging around, but she couldn't resist taking a picture because he just looked so good! Right after, she tossed her phone to the side and jumped on the couch to snuggle up next to him. This definitely became her home screen picture right after.

Aaron & Jolie

His favorite thing in the world? Her laugh. Naturally, his favorite pictures are those where she's mid-laugh or he just said something dumb to bring out her smile. Aaron is happy to show any of these pictures, always proud to show off his wife!

picture #1: he decided to get creative and do a painting date outdoors. Of course, he decided to mess with her and got paint on her hands..then a paint fight began. Picture was captured after she saw the different paint colors on his face. picture #2: visiting family, and his youngest brother had just gotten a new dog. The picture was taken in the middle of a funny story.

Isaac & Nettie

If asked about Nettie, Isaac would happily talk about his new friend. He wouldn't mention the countless times he's fucked up with her, or their previous fwb arrangement. When they ask him to show a picture, he brings these two up. Both are kind of pictures where she's caught off guard, but he's super happy with them. Odd friendship he has.

picture #1: on a day where he had nothing to do, invited her to grab food to make up for the times she made him breakfast - this was a post-lunch walk for sure! He called her, and snapped the picture right as she turned. Isaac thought it was funny! picture #2: he definitely ran into her at a store, took this picture of her, and sent it to her before coming up to her. what a creep!

#clubsmarties #answered meme #Laurel x Eli #Aaron x Julia #Isaac x Nettie #of course I had to give you all three of them!!!#because i couldn't help myself #and I know isaac and aaron would throw a fit otherwise #anywaaays why are they all so beautiful !#my clowns are so lucky truly

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thepunkpanther · 8 months

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CREATIONS FROM EVERY MONTH OF 2023

rules: post your favourite and most popular post from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months).

JANUARY

most popular: coraline gifset (0.9k) favourite: ray kowalski + ray vecchio in mounty on the bounty (0.2k)

FEBRUARY

most popular: ray kowalski + fraser bickering gifset (0.3k) favourite: my all-time favourite characters: ray kowalski (0.2k)

MARCH

most popular and favourite: ray kowalski and his slutty shoulder holster (0.3k)

APRIL

most popular: taylor swift selected videography (0.7k) favourite: ray kowalski in fraser's clothes (0.09k)

MAY

most popular: narnia gifset (0.9k) favourite: ray kowalski + ray vecchio parallels pt. 1 (0.1k)

JUNE

most popular: barbie dreamhouse design (4.5k) favourite: ray kowalski + ray vecchio parallels pt.2 (0.1k)

JULY

most popular: barbie gifset (26.0k) favourite: directionless ray kowalski gifset (0.3k)

AUGUST

n/a

SEPTEMBER

most popular: winona ryder in heathers gifset (1.5k) favourite: isabel bottoms gifset (0.9k)

OCTOBER

most popular: heathers gifset (10.2k) favourite(s): little mermaid (0.8k), romeo + juliet gifset (1.7k), cher horowitz/isabel bottoms (0.7)

NOVEMBER

most popular: clueless gifset (3.3k) favourite: my all-time favourite characters: kit tanthalos (0.4k)

DECEMBER

most popular: home alone gifset (5.1k) favourite(s): katniss & peeta + book excerpts (3.2k), only peeta can give me that gifset (2.3k), hunger games district 12 tributes + humanity (1.6k), hunger games cato & coral (1.3k), venetia's monologue from saltburn (1.3k) (so many oops)

not tagging anyone cause this is so long overdue and time consuming but i wanted to do it v much lol. it's fun to look back at the year! much progression I think. (also i clearly love ray kowalski a normal amount) + thank you to iselin @userparamore for the tag, it was fun <3

#tag games #shea.stuff

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fourseasonsfigs · 11 months

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Love Surrounding

Here we have a pair of Junzhe figs that are all about celebrating love.

This fig set reminds me of this interview question and Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun's responses:

One of the great things about being a Junzhe fan, is that all of our merch celebrates love in one form or another. It's really delightful.

Speaking of delightful, these two figs seem to be a combination of all sorts of great fandom nods.

First, the two of them are sporting pink hair, so this is clearly meant to be post Happy Camp pink powder! Gong Jun is here wearing a "Happy and Love" sweatshirt.

Gong Jun wore this cheerful Happy and Love sweatshirt during the filming of Legend of Anle. The fig maker kept the sentiment but also made it JZP themed with the orange symbol.

Zhehan is wearing a Surround-theme shirt, inspired by his Surround single released on May 7, 2021:

I can't help but mention here that Gong Jun actually wore a surround-themed shirt on the 5-month anniversary of the release of Surround, also during the filming of Legend of Anle:

Thank you RealGe forthe pics!

I feel like I've seen Zhehan wearing an outfit like this somewhere before. The fig maker clearly took the base clothing inspiration from something specific, but I couldn't find anything in my (badly organized) picture folder. If I find it, I'll come back and update this post!

Found! Through the sharp eyes of a very clever fandom friend, HERE is the inspiration for Zhehan's outfit:

Even the pose and everything. Wow! The fig maker did indeed switch up the Lanvin name, but everything else is right on. Fantastic!

I've had this set for a very long time, and just hadn't gotten around to posting about them, mostly because I was trying to dig up that picture of Zhehan. I figured they're well overdue a nice long post, so they're getting one!

These two cuties are too wobbly to get to pose for more than a few seconds at a time, so I popped them onto fig stands with some fig stickers.

They look like they're high-fiving here!

Gong Jun is quite a bit taller here in this set than Zhehan, and the volume the fig maker gave his hair lends it even a little more height in the back.

Case in point, with the larger hair diameter making his head look quite a bit bigger. I'm a big fan of Junjun's hair swooped off his face and touseled a bit, so I approve.

Their little pose with their feet turned in is very cute.

I missed out on buying this fig set at the time, so I had to hunt it down on Xianyu. Well worth it.

The detail on the shoes is just charming.

The expressions are so bright and cheerful!

Yes I love the little JZ on their feet. Did you notice the little notch detail on Zhehan's pants? You probably saw it before, but I'm not sure I registered it until just now.

I was hoping with the cute foot positions they'd be super stable figs just standing around, but no, they turned out to be a bit wobbly.

Oops, the top-down view here is more like an angled-top view, but it's still good enough to see the hair and the cute little details on the outfits.

Speaking of cute, these box cards are adorable!

What a sweet set! I really like this one, I'm glad I was able to track it down.

Material: PVC

Fig Count: 467

Scene Count: 31

Rating: ...say bye bye to all the troubles

#junzhe #gong jun #zhang zhehan #word of honor cast #shl cast #figthusiast

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