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jillianwarts · 2 years

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1-100

1. What have you eaten today?

liempo and rice after workout lol.

2. Who was your last kiss with? Was it pleasant?

ex ko pa ata yon. Saks lang. HAHAHAHA

3. What color shoes did you last wear?

white sneakers.

4. Who has made you laugh the hardest in the last week?

si ano... philip. si davaoconyo hahaha. pakahayop ng mga skits non.

5. What is your favorite scent?

floral/powdery scent na perfume.

6. What is your favorite season? Why?

cuffin' season char. yung dating ber months. yung purely malamig lang pero di binabagyo.

7. Can you do a handstand or cartwheel?

neither

8. What color are your nails?

natural color. walang nail polish atm. pero sa feet, red.

9. If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?

ti... char. maliit na mukha ng puppy.

10. What is something you find romantic?

when someone makes the effort for you without you asking for it

11. Are you happy?

nope.

12. Is there anything in particular making you happy or sad?

sad. yung credit card bills ko. maya't maya kaskas kala mo milyonarya e.

13. Dogs or Cats?

dogs.

15. Which do you prefer:a museum, a night club, the forest or a library?

library.

15. What is your style?

laid back.

16. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would it be?

sit by the beach while having my favorite drink and plainly staring at the moon.

17. Are you in a relationship or single?

single.

18. What makes you attracted to the person you like right now?

i don't like anyone right now. awit. baka meron ka dyan? hahaha. but if i like someone right now, it'll probably be because we could laugh at the same things and talk about the most random things lol.

19. If you could replace your partner/best friend with a celebrity of your choice, would you? Who with?

nope. celebrities are boring. char.

20. Are you holding on to something you need to let go of? If so then what?

noooope.

21. How did you celebrate last Halloween?

nanunuod siguro netflix. lol.

22. Have you recently made any big decisions?

i decided not to change kasi perfect ako e. char HAHAHAHAHA

23. Were you ever in a school play?

yes. little teapot. HAHAHAHAHA nyeta.

24. What movie would you use to describe your life?

dreams ni akira kurosawa. pinanuod lang namin to kasi pina-homework samin ng advertising professor namin before. i didn't even understand the whole point of the movie. baka i was just stupid. pero yep, that movie kasi di ko na din maintindihan life ko. hahahaha

25. Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

dream ko makapunta sa lahat ng disney parks. haven't done it because madaming gastusin pero konti ang panggastos.

26. Complete this sentence, “I wish I had someone with whom I could share…”

different stories and other things without any judgment.

27. What are two things that irritate you about the same sex?

pag mahilig sumapaw pag may nagkkwento tas magfofocus about sa sarili. also, pag physically/emotionally abused na nagsstay pa din sa jowa nilang kumag.

28. What are two things that irritate you about the opposite sex?

yung ma-ere tsaka walang proper hygiene.

29. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?

na-approve yung project proposal ko, but it's also the worst thing this week kasi that's going to be one hell of a project to deal with. hahahaha

30. What is something that makes you sad when you think about it?

growing old alone.

31. How long was your longest relationship?

7 years. :D

32. Have you ever been in love?

yezzir.

33. Are you currently in love?

nawp. :(

34. Why did your last relationship end?

i got tired of the repetitive cheating.

35. What jewelry are you wearing right now, and where did you get it?

none.

36. When was the last time you cried and why?

last week ata. dunno, hormones probably. not so fun fact, bigla na lang akong naiiyak pag sobrang pagod ko.

37. Name someone pretty.

Dana. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. gago. ano uh... hayley williams.

38. What did you receive last Valentines Day?

badtrip. HAHAHAHA wala.

39. Do you get jealous easily?

unfortunately, yes. as an only child who grew up getting everyone's attention... i even get jealous when my friends get new friends. hahaha. but i'm trying to change that.

40. Have you ever been cheated on?

yes mamser. ang saya saya. chz.

41. Do you trust your partner/best friend?

bestie, yes.

42. Ever had detention?

detention nope. pero na-disciplinary office. nung hs to. before christian living subject started, nagjajamming kami tas kinakantahan namin ng silvertoes yung isa naming kaklase na nagsabing crush daw siya ng lahat ng lalake sa classroom namin. ayon. umiyak siya sa teacher naming madre. tas lahat kaming magkakaibigan eh binitbit sa YLC office (basta siya yung may capability to suspend a student hahaha).

43. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city?

city. mamimiss ko ingay ng city pag tumira ko sa countryside lol.

44. What do people call you?

ganda. HAHAHAHAHAHA char gagi. dana perfect. char ulit. ano... dana.

45. What was the last book you read?

i decided to live as me.

46. How big of a nerd/dork are you?

10% lang ata kung yung stereotype na nerd na matalino. stupid ass. pero if being introverted... 80% lol.

47. What kind of music do you listen to?

r&b. pop. rap. minsan rock. minsan kpop.

48. How tall are you?

4'10. huhu

49. Do you like kids?

oks lang. wag lang yung mga mahilig magtantrums.

50. Favorite fruits?

green mango. strawberry. melon.

51. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?

jeans.

52. What’s your earliest memory?

yung tatay kong dadalhin ako sa ATC noon, tapos magtitingin tingin ng mga damit. tas papasok sa osh kosh no, may gusto kong ipabili tapos ayaw niya bilhin. tas nagstay lang ako sa tapat nung damit, tas sabi niya "tara na, pinapahiya mo ba ko?" pero pabulong lol

53. Ever had a poem or song written about you or to you?

song ata. yung fling ko before. HAHAHAHA. ganda ba yarn? hahahahahaha

54. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

in front kasi vain tayo eh.

55. Do you have a collection of anything?

receipts from my different trips.

56. Do you save money or spend it?

spend. tangina sana magbago na ko. lol.

57. What would your dream house be like?

itong bahay namin, pero yung kwarto ko nasa rooftop.

58. What top 5 things make you the angriest?

getting stood off. getting shouted at. being lied to. yung tatanungin ka kung ano yung dapat gawin pero hindi ka pakikinggan hahahahaha. fifth... yung ginagawa ng gobyerno satin ngayon. lol.

59. What top 5 things always brings a smile to your face?

money, new shoes, new clothes, food, kdrama.

60. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

syempre magtatawag ako ng ibang tao para kunin yung nalulunod na aso. di tayo bayani beh. kelangan natin ng pera kasi maluho tayo ih.

61. You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

a. sasabihin ko sa besties ko. b. magttravel na kami pa europe. c. hindi, hirap hirap mabuhay e.

62. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

evangelista. hahaahahahhaahha

63. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

switzerland.

64. Do you like the beach?

Y E E E E E E E E S.

65. Ever sleep on the couch or a bed with someone special?

i did before.

66. Do you have a middle name? If so what is it!

wag na beh.

67. Do you talk to yourself?

oo, pag agit.

68. Describe your hair.

dry as fuck. brown with a few streaks of blonde.

69. What is the meaning of life.

answered.

70. What is your ideal partner like?

someone mature enough to calm me when i'm being agitated. tsaka someone who can laugh with me even when it's the corniest thing in the world.

71. Do you want to get married?

right now? idk. i don't even have someone to marry. hahaha

72. Do you want to have kids?

not in this economy.

73. Like or dislike your family?

i prefer my father's side than my mom's.

74. Are you Chunky or Slim?

smol chonk.

75. Would you consider yourself smart?

nah.

76. What would you change about your life?

financial situation.

77. Religious or Not?

not. accck.

78. You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?

my best friends.

79. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?

yessir.

80. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?

si barney. char. wala beh.

81. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?

wala beh. wala naman akong wish makasama.

82. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in?

tatawag ako ng barangay. char.

83. Do you like when people play with your hair?

yeppppppppppppppppp. makes me sleepy

84. Do you like bubble baths?

yez.

85. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?

nope. acab btw.

86. Have you ever danced in the rain?

nope. di ako rnb singer e. sorry. HAHAHAHAHAHA

87. Do you trust anyone with your life?

yep. tatay ko.

88. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?

yung presentation and execution ng project ko HAHAHA

89. If money wasn’t an issue, what top 10 places would you travel to? (You get to stay at each place for a week)

switzerland. sapporo. seoul. havana. paris. shanghai. hong kong. tokyo. california. florida.

90. How was your day today?

boring pero hectic.

91. Play an instrument?

used to play flute.

92. Describe the what you think of the ocean.

dangerous.

93. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

not really?

94. Honestly, are things how you wanted them to be?

nope.

95. Do you have a mean bitchy scary side?

at work. sabi nila. eh ang bait bait ko naman kausap?

96. When are you vulnerable?

when i'm comfortable with someone. also pag may period lol.

97. How much free time do you have?

free ako after work and during weekends.

98. Do you like to go hiking?

nope.

99. Odd or Even Numbers?

odd.

100. Would you ever go sky diving, bungee jumping , cliff diving, wing suit gliding, parasailing, snorkeling, or other extreme activities?

went cliff diving and snorkeling already. wanna try sky diving and bungee jumping next.

salamat ho sa pagtatanong ng 100 questions agad agad. hahahaha!

#ta

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beautifully-lumpy · 2 years

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the beautiful person's journal - #14: the arduous climb to one million

august 22nd, 2022 was a special, monumental day in caddicarus history. a new national holiday. it was the day the channel finally hit one million subscribers - a day that many older fans had concluded at one point would never come.

four months later on december 23rd, the spyro video was released. not counting the season compilations, it was the longest video ever released on the caddicarus channel, clocking out at 2 hours and 24 minutes. and yet, despite its length, many lumpies and germs of all eras sat down for the entire runtime. it was a hit, and it now currently sits at 2.1 million views after a month - something that would've been unimaginable four years ago.

it may have taken a decade for the channel to reach a million, but as many fans have commented, this special wouldn't have been this spectacular had he reached this milestone in the late 2010's. now that caddy has perfected his craft, the special was as perfect as it could be, and many folks flocked over to celebrate. and some new fans were created as well!

so how arduous was this climb? what challenges led to this achievement taking so long? caddy obviously worked very hard for this milestone, and the work paid off in the quality and recognition department. but of course, there were many obstacles on the way.

in this entry, we'll be looking back at every subscriber special, and we'll sprinkle in some context as to what was going on with the channel when those specials dropped.

10,000 subscribers! (january 8th 2013)

the very first subscriber special on the caddicarus channel was a 5-minute sketch, and in that sketch was a song! the song was a parody of super sonic racing from sonic R, and it was the first time we had seen caddy showing off his musical talent...well, at least in this era of the channel. of course he had shown it off in the 2011-12 skits but i assume those had been deleted at this point. i obviously wasn't around yet so i can only assume.

but this was a certified hood classic, so classic that jim decided to keep this up after the october 2021 purge. in fact, just a few months ago, he pinned this comment...

this video is a wondrous time capsule of caddicarus history! it deserves to be seen and remembered! such humble times these were.

the worst thing ever (50,000 subscriber special, may 5th 2013)

and here was the first proper subscriber special, as in a fully-fledged caddicarus episode. this was actually one of those generation-defining episodes - this was the first episode for a lot of 2013 folks. it was one of the highest viewed episodes on the channel, and i think it was the highest viewed video on the channel before dalmatians 3 and peppa pig.

and this episode deserved these figures. this and its companion episode about the grinch DVD menu were my favorites of season 2, and they're two of the episodes i rewatched the most back in my earlier days as a caddicarus fan. they actually still hold up pretty well today!

this episode is actually how i learned about coronation street (because i'm american and therefore was not knowledgeable in the subject of british soap operas), and every time i hear about it i instantly think of caddy.

the fifth element (100,000 subscriber special, august 4th, 2013)

posted one day before my first day of middle school, the episode on the fifth element marked both the end of season 2 and caddy's entry into the 6-digit club. he was now growing faster than ever, and this speed of growth was a trajectory that would continue for 2 more years.

the story in this episode was about as classic as you could get for this style of content - the world was going to end, and in order to save the world, caddy had to get through the fifth element for the PS1.

bratz: the splatty ratz that are gnatz covered in shatz (200,000 subscriber special, may 11th 2014)

this landmark episode was like a secondary introductory episode to 2014 fans, along with the dalmatians 3 episode that premiered two months earlier. sandwiched between these two episodes was the jungle book groove party episode, and this trio of episodes closed out season 3 and formed a story arc that stitched them together. they were filmed by olly, there were plenty of goofy skits with jim and rosie to go around, and percy even made an appearance.

this story arc was when most fans agreed the caddicarus show was starting to come into its own - after his brief encounters with telegames and whoever developed the corrie game, you had caddy finding his solidified "mortal enemy" in phoenix games. you had cheesy lore and skits over 20-year-old kids games. and it was in the bratz episode where we saw the first appearances of the mackay household in the show's history!

jim would stop making frequent subscriber specials after this, only doing them for major milestones. and this was the last subscriber special (and caddicarus episode in general) before jim moved out of his parents' house.

he'd go on to reach 300k subscribers just 5 months after the bratz video's release - fans from that year in particular make up the largest group of pre-2020 caddicarus fans. as you could probably tell, 2014 was a very busy year.

it's also the last subscriber special from a more innocent era of the channel before any rebrands or any kind of generational division between fans. back when these specials were common, the channel uploaded once a week on sunday, and you never knew which of the 5 shows at the time would be uploading.

the general blog meals! (2013-14)

anyone remember general blog? it wasn't widely known throughout the caddicarus community, but i loved this channel back in the day. it was a side channel of olly's used between 2013 and 2014 that featured vlogs with his family and friends. caddy was featured in the classic soggy bunny challenge video, and when olly did the ice bucket challenge in 2014, caddy poured the bucket for him. i rewatched these videos a good bit back then; in fact, one of the most obscure caddicarus references i know is his "I WANT BUBBLES!" outburst in the soggy bunny video.

while we didn't get a 300k subscriber special, we did get a general blog meal video! and we also got videos to accompany the 100k and 200k specials.

for the first two installments, olly, caddy and other family and friends would head to atomic pizza. for the 300k one, they went to another restaurant called bluegrass. the 300k meal was the first and only general blog video i was around for, and i remembered anxiously waiting for a 400k meal video in 2015. but that didn't happen as the 300k meal would be the last video ever uploaded to general blog. which is a shame because i absolutely loved these videos!

(except that olly made a beefy boys video on his main channel in 2019 that made up for those missed milestones! this one completely slipped my radar! i wonder if this weekend's magfest vlog will count as a 700k/800k/900k/1m celebration meal vlog. XD)

i remember there was a short little clip of caddy singing in the 100k meal video, and it was the first time 12-year-old me had ever heard caddy singing decently. needless to say, i repeated that clip over and over.

i also remember when caddy revealed his business cards in the 200k video, and it was always so funny to me how he put a cooltext logo on a BUSINESS CARD.

and i think there was this one bit in the 300k video where cerys joked she was pregnant...but 12-year-old me legitimately believed she was pregnant. so i actually expected there to be a fourth mackay child by june...and of course there wasn't one. XD

66 net yaroze games (500,000 subscriber special, june 26th 2016)

the season 6 finale, and the only subscriber special to have aired during the weekly caddicarus era - 66 net yaroze games is a gem within what i believed to be the start of the decline of the original caddicarus show. yes, i've praised seasons 6 and 7 in my tier list, but of course, this quality couldn't be kept up every single week as this schedule kept going on beyond 2016.

in june 2016, the beautiful people were clamoring for another subscriber special of any sort, as the general blog channel had been seemingly abandoned and olly and caddy weren't really collaborating anymore. after missing out on a 400k special a year earlier, we were eager to see what jim had in store for the 500k special. and fun fact - he actually hit 500k on his 22nd birthday! we celebrated through the rest of june, and rejoiced the release of this 30-minute beast - which was the 2nd longest caddicarus episode ever at the time! and i was in washington DC for it; therefore i had to wait a week to watch it properly. 🙃

because of this episode's length, and the fact that 66 different games are covered in it, this episode was SUPER revolutionary for the time. and what's even crazier is that it was produced in a week and it was still one of the greatest episodes of the 2016-19 era! back in 2017-18 when i was wishing for monthly/fortnightly caddicarus episodes to return, i remember thinking "imagine how much cooler this episode would be if jim had a couple more weeks to produce it...?"

what i find even more interesting is that jim discussed in the create unknown podcast about how he had wanted to do the "world of" style for years but couldn't because of how scared he was to lose everything he had. and i sometimes think about how things would've turned out if he'd just changed to that format in early 2016 - sure, it would've been ballsy, but a lot of fans were still around and the stagnation hadn't really started yet. we would've hit 1 mil a LOT earlier. but hey, i'm getting ahead of myself. that's another discussion for another day!

so yeah, this episode was wonderful. it showed some of the first peeks into the 2020-present writing style and just how crazy things can get when jim looks at multiple games in one video.

so, what happened through those six years between this and the spyro video?

well, obviously lots of things changed. but the main reason for that six-year wait was stagnation. half of those years were spent in stagnation, with views and subscriber rates dwindling. hell, the stagnation had already been going on when the 500k special dropped - the catch is that jim only reached 500k when he did because there was an insane side-wide increase in subscriber rates through june 13th-14th.

i remember waking up on the 13th to see the caddicarus channel growing the fastest it ever has in its history. it started out at 490-something, and by the end of the day on june 18th - when it was already june 19th in the UK - we were at the glorious half mil.

yes, i filmed this on my 3DS.

to this day, i'm not sure what caused this strange event. but nevertheless, the beautiful people were ecstatic. and as you heard in the video, 14-year-old me turned into a tornado siren.

the next day, caddy reacted to his rascal racers video for his 22nd birthday. and the next week, we celebrated 500k subs with net yaroze games. and two days later...

it was like nothing ever happened.

on june 28th, the major youtube subscriber purge happened. tens of thousands of subs were removed from the channel, seemingly returning us to where we were on june 13th. in fact, we were BELOW where we started...we were at 487k. it was like a dream had been fabricated for us, a dream of high subscriber rates and longer, higher-quality caddicarus episodes with lots of people flocking to them in droves.

after we experienced this brief dream, it took the channel until late august to truly reach 500k subs, and the stagnation would just continue after that. we'd be in the 500k range for two years - we had been used to going up 100k-200k every year.

in november 2018, he finally reached 600k, but there wasn't really much fanfare as this was peak stagnation. in fact, i believe socialblade at this point projected he'd reach 1 million in 2026. nevertheless, 16-year-old me made a crab rave video for the occasion, as 16-year-olds did in late 2018. (volume warning for headphone users)

what was relieving at the time is that by the time he reached 600k, he already had his SEO guy and videos were performing slightly better than they used to. the videos would continue performing slightly better throughout the rest of 2019, until, well...december 2019 happened.

so after the revamp in 2020, the channel hit 700k in june...and had this rebrand never taken place, it would've also taken two years to get out of 600k hell. but alas, it only took a year and a half this time!

but what's this? it only took under a year for the channel to reach 800k! 10 months!!

and it only took 9 months after that for the channel to reach 900k! and 8 months after that...

the legendary world of spyro games (1,000,000 subscriber special, december 23rd 2022)

if you're a caddicarus veteran, you know the story. in may 2014, caddy posted on twitter that at 1 million subs, he would do a spyro retrospective. this promise was strictly kept for over 8 years, with slight changes over the years - after caddy's retrospectives was cancelled, the spyro special went from being three separate videos to one huge caddicarus episode about the original trilogy. then it became a huge episode about every spyro game.

through the stagnation period, the hope from fans began to dwindle, and had the caddicarus channel gone completely dormant after december 2019, the special would've never happened at all.

yet, here we are in february 2023, almost 2 months after the 2 and a half-hour spyro video dropped.

when i was watching this video for the first time, i still couldn't believe it was real. these skits, characters, cameos, jokes...all of these came to be within a video that used to just be an elusive, distant goal. a video that fans would theorize about as far back as 2013. now, new fans just coming in will already know what the spyro video is like. they never experienced a pre-spyro video time, when this video was enshrouded in mystery.

for older fans, it really was a shock to see this video in our sub boxes. it felt like a dream...but it wasn't. it was finally here. and while it took so long to get to this point...this was the best possible time it could've happened. after all the blood, sweat and tears jim put into this channel, and after all the changes and adversity, now was the best time for a video like this to drop, because it was after he had truly perfected his craft.

this video was perfect in every way, and i couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate this milestone.

when i get my blu ray, i'm going to cherish it with every fiber of my being. because caddy deserves all the love in the world. 💜💜💜

#caddicarus #the caddicarus show #the beautiful person's journal #the BPJ #hidden block #hiddenblock #jim caddick

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wiihtigo · 3 years

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hi. osomatsu?

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them

hmmmmmmmmmm osomatsu...well maybe my favorite thing would be that hes the oldest..im the oldest out of my siblings too so i always really liked the "that oldest sibling feeling when" jokes in ososan bcuz theye really funny and relatable to me. Something that definitely tunrned me into an osoguy coming back to ososan was that hes a problems guy. the pipeline of events was this "osomatsu is a good older brother :) -> ohh osomatsu wanted to be a ballerina when he was a kid -> OSOMATSU HAD A TRAUMATIC CHILDHOOD EVENT? -> ohh osomatsu wants kids:) -> osomatsu is normal" im like. mesmerized by the beauty of his brain. i want to study him on a petri dish. umm like i dunno. theres a lot to dissect in how he acts in episode 24 of both season 1 and 2 and not to mention a lot of little scenes throughout the series like the nyaa chan episode and the fucking tortoise and the hare skit. basically the thing i like most about oso is that i want to put him in a bug jar and study his behaviors and also i think its nice that hes a good older brother

least favorite thing about them

osomatsu is a really hard character to find things you dislike about him if you already like him bcuz if you like osomatsu you kind of have to like him for his faults because hes made up of 99% flaws. which is to say i couldnt think of anything i really dislike about him. i guess some of the SEX jokes go a little far for me sometimes but thats less of a problem with him and mroe of a problem with the writing itself Lol

favorite line

when hes like "i just want someone to treat me! i want someone to treat me for the rest of my life!"

also when he mentioned he wanted kids. well it was over for me

brOTP

i really like choukei, parka, and sokudo and beni and bhmmmmmmmm umm well thats all of his stupid brothers isnt it. well i really like those first 2 a lot i like the oldest 2 solidarity oso and kara have (them in the choromatsu incident was the funniest shit ive ever seen, and also the ear cleaning skit is so so so funny) and i think its really cute that ichimatsu lets osomatsu baby him and osomatsu is the only older brother he has that he calls niisan. ough. it hurts. also the scene they have in the working dead game is seriously stuck in my mind forever. jesus christ i just watched it again its seriously EXCUSE ME! HE HAS AUTISM

im sorry i have to show the whole fucking thing its so good. i love that he flips out at their boss implying ichimatsu isnt taking this job seriously when osomatsu knows very well how hard it is for ichimatsu to communicate to others and how severely out of his comfort zone it is for him to be doing this in the first place

OTP

i like him and totoko and also my very specific vision i have of totonyaa and also osomatsu is there. he babysits nyaas kid and they let him eat their leftovers from their dinner date

nOTP

nothing really

random headcanon

this ties into an au i have with some friends but osomatsu highschool gym teacher who gets REALLY REALLY into the dance unit

unpopular opinion

this is really weirdly specific but when some people write jyushimura stuff where osomatsu is like "Jyushimatsu..i have to you something really important.." and he tells jyushimatsu about what he saw at the AV store BITCH he would not do that to homura do you think hes that insensitive in this regard

song i associate with them

is this - oingo boingo - another place another time? another face that looks like mine? ummm. this is the only saddish sounding song on my oso playlist but the lyrics fit so so well

pills for everything - handsome devil - i sort of associate this one with his #tougoutrauma moment and how i think that affected his adult life. umm. anyways.

now shes gone - felt - this is on my friends oso playlist and i just associate it with choukei now bcuz i was in call with him when he was adding it and i was like getting hit with beams of some kind

favorite picture of them

#asks #i wont apologize. if you follow koby wiihtigo you should be prepared for long rambly posts from the get go.

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trinketprince · 4 years

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All the Youkaimatsus so far

JExcept sets that have all of them as the same youkais (Nekomata, Tanuki and the various Kitsune sets from Tabimatsu)

Pinup Poster from the Osomatsu Character Book #6 (July 2016)

A classic. The very first iteration of Youkaimatsu. Kind of hard to find since it was a bonus poster from the character book, so unless you were actively looking for the book, you wouldn’t find this.

Osomatsu - Kitsune (unknown how many tails he has but is often depicted in fan artworks as 6 or 9, 9 meaning strongest/wisest a kitsune has been, Spirit Fox)

Karamatsu - Karasu-Tengu (pun on Kara, Bird Man)

Choromatsu - Dodomeki (usually a woman cursed with long arms littered with many bird eyes because of greed. Most popular one imo)

Ichimatsu + ESP Nyanko - Nekomata (Two-tailed cat, legend says that cats who live longer than a 100 years gain a second tail)

Jyushimatsu - Rokurobi (available in two flavors. Long Neck and Floating Head. He is the former. Theorized to not actually be a youkai but created for entertainment. Also used as a literary device for a wandering soul.)

Todomatsu - Yukki Onna (Also a joke on Todo being scared stiff. Yuki Onna pull tricks on humans that usually end on the person’s death via cold. Has a harsh and soft side)

Youkai Units from The Great Youkai War event from Hesokuri Wars (November 2016)

Most popular Youkaimatsu set, this baby could get milked for miles, but for some reason isn’t. Has a lot of variants (Awakened, Darkness, Snow, Sakura and Hyakki Yagyou) and connected to a lot of other sets: Denki Mystery, Colorless Overalls, Mononoke and a bunch of others. She is the top DOGG set.

Osomatsu - Shuten-Douji (Oni Leader with a penchance for Sake, literally carrying a big ass bottle of it on his back, since he is the leader of the sextuplets and the one seen drinking beer the most)

Karamatsu - Aoandon (Summoned after 100 supernatural stories are told. Originated from the blue (ao) paper lanterns (andon) that were sometimes used to give a chilling atmosphere)

Choromatsu - Daitengu (Great Tengu, Tengus were theorized to be ascended souls, but also has its origins in a Dog Beast that looked like a comet. For some reason Dog Beast turned into Bird Man. The bird man’s beak is often anthropomorphized into long noses. Tells humanity to behave by throwing invisible stones at them)

Ichimatsu - Nine-tailed Kitsune (So wise. So powerful)

Jyushimatsu - Inugami (Dog God that possesses people)

Todomatsu - Bake-Danuki (also known as tanuki, mischievous spirits, mostly known in pop culture for their BIG FAT NUTS)

Dayon is a miko, a shrine maiden. Hatabou is an Onmyoji, an exorcist, Dekapan is a kannushi, a shrine priest. Totoko and Iyami are regular civillians

Youkai Hyakki Yagyou merchandise from Animate Girls Festival (September 2017)

One of the lesser known sets, considering that it’s just designs for a line of merch but their designs are so good? Why don’t people use these designs more often.

Osomatsu - Karasu-Tengu

Karamatsu - Nine-tailed fox

Choromatsu - Shuten-Douji (A possible reference to Season 1 Episode 2 where he gets the most drunk?)

Ichimatsu - Mizuchi (Legendary Water Serpent/Dragon)

Jyushimatsu - Kamaitachi (Beast that rides on dust devils. Cuts people using it’s scythe-like nails. The wounds are sharp but painless)

Todomatsu - Ungaikyou (A haunted mirror that can be used to trap spirits. The spirits in the ungaikyou can manipulate the reflection shown on it’s reflection.)

Kitsune Servant Set from Tabimatsu (September 2017)

Ok I know I said I wouldn’t cover the Kitsune sets from Tabimatsu since there are like 5 different Kitsune sets, but this one is noteworthy cause they have secondary Youkai traits other than the regular kitsune traits.

Osomatsu - Oni’s horns

Karamatsu - Tengu’s wings

Choromatsu - Orochi around his neck

Ichimatsu - True Kitsune (Or Nekomata’s paw?)

Jyushimatsu - Wanyudo (Flaming Wheel)

Todomatsu - I don’t know, but there’s something around his neck?

Japanese Youkai set from Shimamatsu (January 2018)

Shimamatsu was such a good game, what a shame it ended so soon. The 3D models were so cute. Edit: The two designs are from before and after evolution!

Osomatsu - Enma-san (A wrathful god in charge of judging souls in the afterlife. Resides over hell)

Karamatsu - Yamato no Orochi (Eight headed and Eight-tailed serpent/dragon)

Choromatsu - Kamaitachi (wields an actual scythe)

Ichimatsu - Youkai Catman or a Bakaneko (Catboy, furry)

Jyushimatsu - Yobuko (lives in the mountains, repeats whatevers shouted into the mountain, explains the phenomemon of Echos)

Todomatsu - Yuki Otoko (Snowman, a Yuki Onna basically)

“Inn” Osoma and Choroe from Osomatsu Season 2 Episode 17

A BUNCH OF PEOPLE REMINDED ME AND HOW COULD I FORGET THE BEST YOUKAI EVER. Osoma baby,,,, I’m so sorry..... Srsly, this skit was so good, I hope they make more skits like this where they make entirely new characters out of the framework of the sextuplets.

Osoma - A Zashiki-warashi, child spirits who live in store rooms or extra rooms, they died buried in their homes. Pranksters but meeting one is said to bring good fortunes to families. Osoma gets crossovered a lot with the other Youkai sets in JP fanart. A popular pairing is Dodomeki Chorosuke (from Denki Mystery) and Osoma also Kitsune Osomatsu (from the poster) and Osoma.

Choroe - Not necessarily a youkai, in fact in the episode she’s presented as just a regular human. But is theorized often to be a Yama-uba. An old woman banished to the mountains. She provides shelter to weary travelers (in the myth it’s just a humble shelter but you know. an inn is also considered a shelter) before eating them. In one story she eats the recently birthed baby of a woman who had to give birth in the mountains.

Mononoke from Hesokuri Wars (May 2019)

Technically they are all the same type of being, Mononoke, but they look different from each other. Mononoke can posses individuals and cause suffereing and even death. And technically they aren’t Youkais but Onryos, vengeful spirits. But Onryos can also be used to refer to youkais and truthfully I just wanna include this set cause their designs are so cool looking. This set’s attacks contain glimpses of units of other sets.

Osomatsu - Bear themed

Karamatsu - Wolf themed

Choromatsu - Rooster/Chicken themed

Ichimatsu - Spider

Jyushimatsu - Boar

Todomatsu - Bull or Ox

Edo Rock The Great Youkai Harvest Festival from Tabimatsu (October 2019)

This set is interesting cause rather than youkai alone, they are also musicians. This set also has another set like Hesokuri called The Great Youkai NEET which is basically the awakened versions, properly showcasing more of the youkai traits.

Osomatsu - Shuten-Douji (Again, we need to stage an intervention for you damn)

Karamatsu - Karasu-Tengu (Again)

Choromatsu - Mizuchi (actually riding said serpent)

Ichimatsu - Black Kitsune (Hot Topic, Goth version)

Jyushimatsu - Frog. Just. Frog. (could be a reference to the legend of Jiraiya, the ninja who could shapeshift into a frog/ride big frogs. His mouth is cover just like a ninja is too.)

Todomatsu - Kamaitachi (could be a reference to season 1 where Todomatsu wields a scythe)

Iyami - Oni (not sure if he’s any particular oni but he does have the horns and metal club)

Atsushi - Ibaraki-Douji? (White hair and singular horn, most imporant servant of Shuten-Douji)

Promo Merch from Sega Cafe collab (September 2020)

Edit: Thank you @zenryokubatankyu for notifying me! Another set of promo youkais! You can get them by random by ordering a drink or meal at the now-defunct Sega x Osomatsu collab cafe. And the return of F6? Damn I haven’t seen you since Season 2!

Osomatsu - Oni

Karamatsu - I’m not exactly sure but he seems like a Mizuchi, a water serpent/dragon. He also could be another legendary serpent/dragon though.

Choromatsu - Kappa

Ichimatsu + ESP Nyanko - Karasu-Tengu

Jyushimatsu - I’m not sure, at first i thought it might be a crab youkai judging from the legs, but upon closer inspection he has spider webs on his robes, so they may be spider legs instead. Could be a Jorogumo, a youkai that wields fire breathing spiders with it’s spider legs

Todomatsu - Bakaneko (I think? The veil could be the napkin a bakaneko puts on it’s head)

Ayakashi Sextuplet’s Retro Halloween Cafe merch from Web Kuji (October 2020)

Thank you @gradelstuff for telling me about this! Ayakashi are Youkai that appear above nearby bodies of water. Although the youkais they’re dressed up as (or are?) aren’t really what you would call ayakashi? Although it’s cafe themed, it isn’t actually from a cafe collaboration. These designs are merchandise meant to be won through lottery. So if say you really love Kara and Choro’s designs (I do), then tough luck buddy!

Osomatsu - Oni

Karamatsu - Now you may think he’s Dodomeki since he’s covered with eyes, but turns out there are two other eye-relateed youkai! Mokumokuren is a youkai phenomenon where eyes appear from torn paper walls and tatami floors, initially i thought this was it given the checkered pattern he was wearing. But he might actually be a Hyakume, a youkai covered head to toe in yellow eyes specifically. Underneath those eyes is a body of flesh roughly in the shape of a man. This Youkai isn’t particularly malicious, only detaching one of it’s many eyes to follow you and survey you for criminal activiy. He might also be a BackBeard, a youkai allegedly from the US, err that would make him a cryptid I guess? A Backbeard is often characterized as a shadow with a Yellow eye with a red iris in the center. Note: Backbeard’s true origins are not known as there doesn’t seem to be any cryprid called a Backbeard, it first entered the Japanese public eye as an antogonist in the show Gegege no Kitaro. Although ever since then this “yokai” has appeared in other media and games in Japan.

Choromatsu - He isn’t exactly dressed as it (only themed as it) but the youkai he represents is the one he’s holding, a Kasa-obake, One of my favorite youkais and it’s literally iconic. Thought to be a Tsukomogami, an object that gains a spirit after it turns 100 years old.

Ichimatsu - Edit: I’m not sure but he might be a Kuchisake-Onna. In the description attached to his teaser, it makes mention of specifically his wide smile, his dos dagger and his beautiful shirt. A kuchisake onna is a yokai that wanders in the street covering her face with a mask (skull mask for ichi) and a sharp object (his dos dagger). TW GORE DESCRIPTION: She asks you if you think she’s attractive and depending on your answer she muders you with her scissors, plunging it into you OR she takes off her mask showing her wide smile, her mouth slit at the corners to her ears and asks “how about now?” and depending on your reaction she cuts you in half with her sharp object OR she slits the corners of your mouth to look like hers. END DESCRIPTION. Ichi has the mask, sharp object, wide smile and “attractiveness”. Obviously it would be inappropriate to portray ichi in the same fashion as the kuchisake onna so he was probably given the internal organ tattoos to represent the gory yokai. (internal organs usually = gore in japan). This is speculah and he might be another youkai but this is all i can think of rn.

Jyushimatsu - sailor themed Jiangshi. Jiangshi are basically Zombies originally from Chinese culture. They hop around, and crave for life force. this little jyushimatsu has taken to tomato juice instead. (Bonus: the zombie that osomatsu is in the zombie set in hesokuri wars is also a Jiangshi)

Todomatsu - Kitsune (sly fox)

“The Night Path” Youkai from Osomatsu-san Season 3 Episode 6 (November 2020)

The latest and what sparked me to make this post tbh. This set reuses the Rokurobi design from the very first Youkaimatsu iteration! Full circle yo! I like to think of this set as an addition to the original youkaimatsu, since they’re both from the primary sources.

Jyushimatsu - Rokurobi (Again)

Totoko - Amabie (mermaid with three legs? prophesized about either good harvest or an epidemic, trivia: “Amabie” trended when Covid 19 hit the world)

Hatabou - Azukiarai (a youkai that originated from the sound of something like beans being washed near a river, anyone who comes near will fall into the river)

Dayon - Nopperabou (Faceless spirits that take the form of humans. They are harmless usually, they just scare humans)

Dekapan - Kappa (Mischievous River spirits)

That should be all of them!

Recap:

Osomatsu has been a Kitsune, Shuten-Douji (twice), Karasu-Tengu, Enma-san and an Oni

Karamatsu has been a Karasu-Tengu (twice), Aoandon, Kitsune, Yamato no Orochi and a Mizuchi (?)

Choromatsu has been a Dodomeki, Daitengu, Shuten-Douji, Kamaitachi, Mizuki and a Kappa (No repeats!)

Ichimatsu has been a Nekomata, Kitsune (twice), Mizuchi, Bakaneko and a Karasu-Tengu

Jyushimatsu has been a Rokurobi (twice-ish), Inugami, Kamaitachi, Yobuko, a Frog from Jiraiya and a Jorogumo (?)

Todomatsu has been a Yuki Onna (twice), Bake-danuki, Ungaikyou, Kamaitachi and a Bakaneko

You can definitely see a trend (lmao), I’m looking forward to more Youkaimatsus from Osomatsu-san!

bonus:

Osomatsu-san cameo from Yokai Watch!!!

#Osomatsu san #Youkaimatsu #Yokaimatsu #妖怪松 #Hesokuri Wars #Shimamatsu #Tabimatsu #I'm not tagging all the matsus lmao #long post

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oldpunkfromda90s-blog · 2 years

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Lineages of Protest: A Brief Review Of, Reflection On, and Postscript to Season 1 of the podcast Mother Country Radicals By Chris White

Lineages of Protest:

A Brief Review Of, Reflection On, and Postscript to Season 1 of the podcast Mother Country Radicals

By Chris White

The first season of Zayd Dohrn’s podcast, Mother Country Radicals, is exceptional. First, in an era where everyone releases recordings of tired conversations into the world for 15 minutes of fame, it is well written, well produced, and well paced. My friend who told me about it said something to the effect of, “Have you heard that Serial podcast about the Weather Underground?” Zayd has such a unique intimate connection to the material and an access to people about a part of their lives that is closely guarded. And also, he discovers things in the reporting that he did not know or realize before. But also, I like it especially because it fills in a lot of context of both my family’s life and my own journey.

Zayd Dohrn is the oldest son of Bernadine Dohrn and William Ayers who were part of an underground, sometimes violent, direct action movement against U.S. Imperialism and racism beginning in the 60s.. He was born while his parents were still in hiding and grew up as they emerged from it.

William Ayers, once served on a foundation board with Barack Obama, and was therefore a central figure in the opposition research about Obama the candidate. My favorite tv moment during the 2008 election was the Saturday Night Live skit in which they portray William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright performing the Gnarls Barkley song Crazy.

One of the episodes, the fourth one I believe, describes the death of Diana Oughton in a Greenwich Village townhouse due to a bomb that exploded during manufacture. I first heard about Diana Oughton when I was in high school. I lived in my mother’s basement where one of her bookshelves was. There was a sensational biography of Diana Oughton next to an anthology of underground newspapers. My mom told me about almost getting kicked out of high school for distributing the newspaper and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for protests that Oughton was a part of.

Someone in the podcast says something to the effect of, “Those who do don’t tell and those who tell can’t do.” I assume that if Mother Country Radicals was a movie, my parents and some of my other relatives would be composite characters and extras. I imagine them in the closing credits with role names like Hippy Making Sandwiches #2 and Woman Living In Commune. But what do I know? None of them would want to have burdened me with any information nor would they have shared specifics about themselves or their friends.

When I was growing up in the 80s I remember the feeling that my parents were from the 60s. My mom has so many stories, but the accuracy of them is unclear. My dad mostly just says that it was a very difficult time and that it’s hard for him to think about.

In the 80s, there were a lot of cultural tropes about the 60s. There were reruns of Laugh In and The Monkees. I went through a period of being obsessed with The Beatles.

During my childhood, there were many pop culture references to groups like the Weather Underground and also to the Symbionese Liberation Army or SLA who were known for allegedly kidnapping and possibly recruiting the heiress Patty Hearst. The one I remember most vividly was a two part Laverne & Shirley episode. I saw the films Flashback and Rude Awakening in the theater which were both screwball comedies about radicals emerging from the underground into a world they struggle to understand. I wonder if the Dohrn Ayers family has ever seen either of these films, because I can almost hear their eyes rolling.

My parents met at a concert in Gallup Park in Ann Arbor organized by the 60s activist John Sinclair. It was the MC5 opening for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Do you remember the end of Back To The Future where Michael J Fox has to play Johnny B Goode so his parents will kiss or else he will cease to exist? That’s how I feel about these two bands.

In particular, the stoner country stylings of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen are particularly bizarre cultural artifacts. I have a live album in which they do an epic cover of the long form narrative country classic “Hot Rod Lincoln.” In this version, the singer has to convince the police officer that pulls him over that he is not some “long haired hippie S-L-A commie weirdo.” “I had to show him my house.”.

My parents have such very hippy wedding photos.They were two hippies that loved to cook and planned to get married and open a little hippy restaurant. And then they have the most awkward photo of my dad with a haircut and a shirt and tie with my mom in a sprawling apartment complex . At this point my dad has stopped being counter cultural and is being mentored in food service management by a man named Michael from whom I got my middle name. By the time I was born, my dad was an assistant manager at the Stouffer’s Restaurant at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

In between, there are stories. There is the honeymoon where they attempt to hitchhike to California. My mom says that the Bay Area was exhausting, because my dad was constantly wandering off and she had to rescue him from being taken by cults. She says he would come up to her and say something like, “These guys in the van have these really good free burritos and they just want us to go with them so they can show us this really cool place.”

And after I was born, we eventually moved back to the Midwest, and my mom’s stories continue. They are of a different era. My dad took a job in Flint, Michigan, as the assistant food service manager of Hurley Hospital where part of his brand was that he went along to get along with his employees’ union. While the Fair Housing Act passed in 1969, our historically white Flint neighborhood was only just beginning to integrate in the 80s. And for my mom, what we would say in today’s anti-racist parlance is that she was recruited by black leaders to do the organizing and emotional labor with the parents who supported integration.

I did get taken to protests growing up. I remember seeing Jesse Jackson get in a heated exchange with police in Washington D.C at an Anti-Apartheid protest. during a family road trip. But more often, I was at community meetings and canvasses. Slow careful populist organizing was what I witnessed, not the frantic disruption of “Days of Rage.”

Meanwhile, the generation between us, perhaps the youngest siblings or older niblings of the Weather Underground, were supporting Latin American uprisings like the Sandinistas and attempting to infiltrate factories. One epicenter of this was the factories around me in Southeastern Michigan, and another was the textile factories in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Also, in Flint, you could see the traces of the old left. Every year, my cub scout troop would march in a parade with the surviving sitdown strikers who in 1936 occupied Chevy In The Hole, over by my house, and won recognition for the UAW.

About first grade, I had a friend Juanita, a white kid with a Latin name, who started coming over after school so her hippy mom could stay at work. And then in return, I would sometimes go over there or join them on camping trips. I only met her dad a couple times, but he was one of those leftists who had long hair, worked in the factory, and sold radical newspapers on street corners. Juanita and I got enrolled in a weekly Alvin Ailey style dance class at the arts center on the historically African-American side of Flint. We were the only white kids and I was the only boy in the class. I felt insecure about having to wear tights. I remember my Republican grandparents coming from Ann Arbor for the recital.

But the initial attempts to build left wing factions inside the UAW and in nonunion factories sputtered due partly to a lack of rank and file interest in leftist theory and also the intense wave of deindustrialization.The big auto companies slashed the Michigan workforce through automation, outsourcing parts and processes to nonunion suppliers, and also exporting jobs to Texas and Mexico I remember when the Detroit Tigers played a Texas Rangers home game and half the stadium was wearing Tiger hats. Michael Moore’s Roger & Me came out when I was in middle school and talked about how this process led to Flint falling apart and having more rats than people. These days, people who hear my wife and I spent part of our childhoods in Flint ask us about the water crisis, but that happened long after we had lived there. And also, the block I grew up on was devastated by disinvestment and abandonment years before the water crisis.

The water crisis in Flint is better understood when you look at what happened years earlier when Coleman Young was Mayor of Detroit. So many white families refused to live in a city with black leadership that Southeastern Michigan became a ring of suburbs who used and extracted resources from Detroit but fought viciously against any resources going into Detroit. It was a similar pattern of racism and neglect that lead to the takeover and mismanagement of Flint’s government and failed to continue the water treatment that had previously prevented lead from leaching into the taps.

There were some activists who got their coworkers involved in a stronger more authentic space in the labor movement, but it was from talking about occupational health and safety more than Marx and Lenin. There was also an organizing wave of “pink collar” office jobs that was informed by feminism and lead by the organization “9 to 5” which inspired Jane Fonda to help make the film 9 to 5 that I saw in the theaters.

Also, in 1979, a group of Greensboro counter protesters were shot and killed at a Klan rally, and the movement there scattered. Many of them would eventually be in the staff and/or leadership of unions and nonprofits I would later work with.

My parents split up, my mom got sick, and the late 80s found me in high school and living with her in affordable housing on the edge of the increasingly fluent Ann Arbor. My mom bought me an army surplus jacket like she used to wear as an SDS militant and I covered it in art and buttons. I started going to punk shows in a basement on Hill Street where bands like Green Day played a couple years before they became big names playing stadiums.

The first Gulf War led to a resurgence of radical youth organizing. A group of students at my high school threatened a walk out and then negotiated with the principal to have a “teach in” forum about the war instead. A member of the Bush Sr. cabinet flew in to speak in between our parents’ generation of anti war activists. The war, along with the collapse of Soviet Communism, led to a revival of interest in Anarchism.

But also, the collapse of the leftist movement in the factories devolved into what felt like fifty mostly white middle class students in sixty different partisan leftist organizations that constantly fought over a shrinking amount of attention. If you’ve ever seen the heated argument between the Judean People’s Front and the People’s Front of Judea in the Monty Python movie LIfe of Brian, then you know exactly what it was to sit in a cafe near the University of Michigan in the 80s and 90s watching stacks of rival leftist newspapers fall over each other while people argue about interpretations of Marxism while drinking expensive coffees..

Some of my friends went to the selective enrollment Community High School, Commie High, as it was affectionately called, was where there was an open campus, rampant alternative chic, students calling teachers by their first names, and other values and practices that seemed to come out of the 60s cultural space. However, most kids did not get into Community. There were so few spots and so much demand that at one point parents were literally camping out to be in line for enrollment. The kids in my mostly POC neighborhood disproportionately ended up in the mainstream high school which felt less pressure to reform because families with resources who wanted something different should just go to the alternative school. While Community High students could leave campus for any reason without penalty, an Ann Arbor police officer at my high school would literally hide in the bushes to bust you for doing the same.

That was a strange part of my upbringing. The values of intervention and attention to the disparities in the world that the Weather Underground wanted to address in solidarity with the Black Panthers and Black Liberation Army turned into a lot of spaces that were supposed to create a container for those values but became exclusive spaces for people who were mostly wealthy and white. One of the reasons that I got into punk was that between Grateful Dead tickets, organic cotton clothing, and high grade marijuana, I couldn’t really afford to be a hippy. Parents in Ann Arbor were very interested to read about neighborhoods like mine, but lost their freaking minds if the African American kid next door to me got in one little fight at their kid’s school. Being a white articulate poor person helped me get a lot of financial aid that allowed me to attend a small, high tuition “progressive” liberal arts college. We boycotted Pepsi over their involvement in Burma and took classes about Saul Alinsky, but we had very few African American students if any.

Meanwhile after the end of the Vietnam War, another wave of anti war activists calling themselves Movement For A New Society or MNS moved en masse to a working class neighborhood in West Philadelphia. The ones with means would buy some of the large houses that were dropping in price so that people could have an inexpensive room and the free time to be part of organizing. Many found jobs and leadership positions in the American Friends Service Committee, the social justice ministry of the Quaker Church. MNS and allied activists created a training institute, a book publisher, a food coop, a land trust, and other social and economic infrastructure that supported an activist lifestyle.

Meanwhile or a little later, a number of activists began taking over and squatting large tenement buildings on the Lower East Side of New York that had either been abandoned or kept vacant by speculators. Many were part of the punk rock or new wave art scenes. Some that left New York bought or squatted in Philadelphia and enjoyed the immense infrastructure that Movement For a New Society had built. One house I lived in off and on for 8 years, was a former squat that the residents had managed to purchase at a tax sale.

The new wave of anarchists that came out of opposition to the first gulf war during my high school years turned into, during my college years, what I jokingly refer back to as the golden age of anarchist franchise organizing. On weekends, I would hitch hike from my isolated college campus into town and end up sleeping on the floor of an activist household. This group of people had met at protests and conferences and moved there together. They bottomlined the regional or local chapters of Earth First, Food Not Bombs, Anti Racist Action, Radical Cheerleaders, radical library, 60’s poltical prisoner support group, books to prisoners project, etc. I started showing up and eventually traveled and visited projects across the country, especially in California’s Bay Area.

On New Years Day 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation or EZLN rose up in arms to seize the land from the handful of wealthy families that owned most of the state of Chiapas in Mexico It was the first post Soviet revolution. This indigenous army, many of which had survived Reagan’s bloody intervention in the political tumult in neighboring Guatemala, immediately declared a ceasefire and attempted negotiations. People from across Mexico and the world organized support caravans and delegations of human rights observers. I would eventually spend time there in the late 90s. While the Mexican Government has mostly failed to honor its promises and conducted a low intensity war, the EZLN has mostly held on to the land and created a development model on its own terms lead by its own people.

After graduation and before and after my trips to Chapas, I ended up in West Philly. A Zagat review of my favorite neighborhood Eritrean restaurant described it as being in the “Anarchist Section of Philadelphia.” I was enticed to get the “West Philly Deal” which was the idea that if you moved to West Philly and joined the activist community you would get a cheap room, six romantic dates (or dried figs), a bicycle made out of spare parts, and a role in a band. Also, West Philly was where the Food Not Bombs (a movement of radical food distribution collectives) and ACT-UP chapters were becoming more diverse and having more traction with and ownership by affected communities of color, though progress was slow and not without problems. .

During my second trip to Chiapas, I missed the 1999 World Trade Organization Protest in Seattle. I had been traveling around the country going to different protests with what felt like the same 200 people and therefore had planned to go to Mexico instead. But then just about every other activist in North America was there as well as the activists who were about to take over SEIU, HERE, and the AFL-CIO. It was the zenith of the movements that had started organizing in reaction to the first Gulf War. I was then part of a number of follow up mega-protests though they seemed to dwindle in size and effectiveness.

The September 11th attacks seemed to change the political space in which movements operated. Also, the legal fallout from the protests at the 2000 Republican National Convention had taken years to clear up.

About that time, I’d heard that the janitors union needed someone bilingual in English and Spanish to help. I showed up and was shocked to learn that I was getting paid for a 9 week internship normally reserved for members. I had been surviving off of odd jobs and medical studies for five years and never been paid to be part of a movement (although protest movements had allowed me access to a lot of resources.) I stayed at the union for six years and then followed the man who hired me back into community organizing. Now twenty years have passed and I have bounced between paid labor organizing, community organizing, and fair housing enforcement ever since .

And now my stepkids think I’m a strange old guy from the 90s. They think of me in a foggy photo of a sea of black denim of filthy white kids screaming along at a Los Crudos show in a Losaida Squat.(not that this happened all at once as far as I can remember). There’s a goofy clip of me on the news in Eugene Oregon in 1996 and a picture of me in a boxcar a few days later wearing a shirt with a Propagandhi patch.These look so retro now, but to me that was almost yesterday.

I’m hoping there will be more seasons of Mother Country Radicals. I would love for Season 2 to cover the era when middle class, mostly white, leftists coming of age in the 80s who supported left wing uprisings in Latin America tried to become factory workers. Maybe there could be prequel seasons about Alinsky and the Civil Rights Movement and the characters in Reds. Maybe I would be a background character in the season about the 90s.

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incorrectosomatsu · 3 years

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Yo! 👋 wanted to do that ask meme you posted! If this is too much feel free to answer them separately, or just pick out the ones you want, but I'm real curious...

💖💕👌🔥😍🌈🏆☔👀💬🌚📷📚

My stupid phone didn't have all the ones I wanted, but hey! This is a start lol 😂 thanks fam!

Thank you for asking so many! I'm having a lot of fun answering these. q(≧▽≦q) I'm going to skip any I've already answered, though.

💖 Who is your favourite matsu?

Ichimatsu is my absolute favorite, but Karamatsu and Choromatsu aren't far behind. I just have a thing for stoic, depressed characters, I suppose. >w>

💕 What are your favourite matsu duos?

Iro is my absolute favorite, I can't get enough of those two idiots. o((>ω< ))o I think they have a really fun dynamic that I just love to see. Second favorite is sokudo, I love Choromatsu playing the straight man to Osomatsu's idiocy. Third favorite is nenchuu, I think they're a very interesting and unconventional combination! I think it's funny that they're intimidated by each other. Honorable mention goes to choukei!

👌 What are some matsu duos that you think are underrated?

Nenchuu. Absolutely nenchuu. I see no fucking nenchuu content and it makes me so sad. (┬┬﹏┬┬) That's the one I crave to see more of the most. I also think 110 is super underrated. I never paid them much mind, but a friend of mine is writing a 110 fic and it really got my attention. Oh, and cyber! I've taken an interest in cyber lately as well.

🔥 What’s an aspect of the show that you think is underrated?

Ooh, tough question! I don't know if this really count as an "aspect", but I think a lot of people don't like the dub and that's a shame. Among the people I interact with in the fandom, a lot of them seem to dislike the dub pretty strongly and I'm like (っ °Д °;)っ

🌈 What’s your favourite skit/episode to rewatch?

I'm so goddamn predictable, but my favorite is The Ichimatsu Incident. Surprise, surprise, the iro stan loves the iro episode. Shocking, isn't it? >v> If I had to give a less obvious answer, I would say Choromatsu And Ichimatsu and Campaign Starting Now.

🏆 What’s a skit that you think is underrated?

I don't see people talking about Campaign Starting Now very often, but I think it's delightful. I love seeing Ichimatsu pop off when he's normally so blasé about everything. Plus, I really love hearing Ichimatsu shout "Hey guys, shut the fuck up!" in the dub.

👀 If you had to show someone a clip or episode to get them into the show, what would it be?

Oh god, this is another difficult question. If I get to pick a whole episode, I'd probably go with episode 15 of season 2, the one with Jar, Karamatsu Taxi, and Totty Quiz. I think those skits really encapsulate the type of humor the show utilizes, and Jar is a really solid crash course on the personalities of each of the sextuplets given how short it is.

📸 Drop a screenshot from the show.

📚 What are some of your favourite fics?

Most of my recommendations are not quite appropriate for this blog, to be quite honest. =v=;;;; You can always DM me if you want *those* kinds of recommendations.

As for what I CAN share on this blog, I highly recommend Ichi-month by Gnattine! Ichimatsu is my favorite, and this is a really delightful collections of vignettes about him. They do plan on finishing it eventually, and I eagerly await that day! The characterization is exceptional, and it's just really wholesome and cute, I go back to it frequently.

One other recommendation I have is Closing Time by Lunarmatsu. I'm admittedly not caught up with it, but I still would be remiss not to highlight a rare case of a Matsu x MALE Reader fic! I never read x Reader fics because they're almost exclusively female readers and that triggers my dysphoria, so it's such a breath of fresh air to have an x Reader fic that I can enjoy. o(≧∀≦)o

#not a quote #about the admin #thank you for asking so many questions!!! i enjoyed answering them

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imfluentinfangirlandgay · 3 years

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Ok so unpopular opinion but the Animaniacs reboot simply wasn't quite as good as the original: an essay.

I've seen other fans of the previous series give their opinions but its mostly just "it doesn't feel the same" which i wholeheartedly agree with but after rewatching the old series and the new, I've pinpointed a few things that really changed.

Let's start with the new series because most people have that fresh in their minds. Basically, the Warners come back reanimated doing sketches and being actors. They do specific stunts and such but the sketches tend to follow a theme and are kind of tame. Very A---->B. (Also negative points for removing Slappy and Skippy, they were easily my other favorite segment). Its charming and has some good songs but generally, it all seems scripted, as in, the actor characters follow the rules and while they annoy some people, thats about it. Yakko makes dad jokes, wakko eats things, and now dot is witty. Which was true in the original but back then- well we're getting there

Now, the old series. The Warners are still toon actors in the original but there are episodes detailing the skits they had set up for them - and then how they consequently fucked them up so bad that they drove people clinically insane. The studio owners hated them, their lack of obedience, and the fact that they were "unusable" as cartoons so much, they literally stored them inside the water tower for 60 years. They were created in the 1930s and they escaped in 1993, when the show started. And they were no less insane. The warner kids were known for being so obnoxious that any person they met would rip out their hair (literally in some cases! Dr. Scratchansniff had a full head of hair that he ripped out within a week of meeting the kids!). Basically, they caused problems on purpose. They knew they were like this. So many fanfics are so angsty and base the Warners personality off being orphans but here's the thing:

What would happen if you gave 3 children God powers, invincibility, and no adult supervision?

Yeah, that's right. Exactly what happened in the old show. They were all the bits of a WB cartoon rolled up into children. Do you think child Bugs Bunny would have shown mercy?

In a lot of skits, the kids would annoy Rich Old White Men with big egos half to death. And it was awesome. Yakko made so many jokes that still make me laugh to this day. Wakko was hungry all the time. Dot? She was CUTE. That was her main characteristic. And yet she had standards and boundaries and would beat up creepy men. And she'd use her looks to get what she wanted. She was not afraid.

But above all else, they were shown and characterized as children. Smart and witty children, yes, but they'd eat ice cream for dinner, their water tower had a damn roller coaster inside it. They'd argue like kids, ask questions like kids, and even went to school a couple times like kids. They were three kid siblings with power. And they knew it.

They were really what I wanted to be. Confident, powerful, and not afraid to get back at people who offended them. And they did it in a fantastic way.

The new one still has this potential, though. Here's what I'm imagining: 1) GET TOM RUEGGER BACK ON STAFF. THE WARNER SIBLINGS ARE BASED OFF HIS OWN SONS. HE WAS A GOOD DIRECTOR. PLEASE BRING HIM BACK. 2) the second season, they reveal that the Warners had been under very strict contracting and they'd get more money if they did. However, now they have their fans and then some back and money is boring. So, they decide to rip up their contract and just go around the studio causing issues again. Maybe even bring back the old animation style - I loved it. They go see Plotz in retirement and fuck with him to no end. They make the new CEO want to quit her job and even go to Plotz for advice. Scratchansniff just quits. I just really miss the style of it all. It was more A--->Y--->Q------>W->T--------------->F------>B

I've had these thoughts for awhile but didn't know how to say it properly. Good night everybody!

#animaniacs #animanics 2020 #yakko #wakko #yakko wakko and dot #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #princess angelina contessa louisa francesca banana fanna bo besca iii

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cdt12345 · 4 years

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We've been friends many years but I've never thought to ask; Top 10 gay OTPs?

1.) Ian & Mickey (Gallavich) - Shameless us

What can I say about these two that we haven’t already said about them?! They are my absolute all-time favorite couple ever! Gay or straight. They perfectly complement each other, they love each other on a level I feel like I’ve never seen before (and I have watched a lot of tv/movies), they’re like a comedy duo, they support each other, understand each other better than anyone else ever will, they fell in love as kids, they bring out the best in each other, and they’re each other's best friend. I’m a sucker for opposites attract, who are also best friends. Gallavich really fits that bill. I wish they didn’t have to struggle so much to get their happiness, but I’m happy they finally got it. When they got married, it felt like the biggest victory ever! We went through those years of struggle with them, rooted for them, mourned for them when John Wells let Noel go after season 5. So much has tried to keep these two apart, even real-life circumstances tried to keep them apart. The chemistry between these two characters and between Cameron and Noel was so powerful, they were brought back to the show. That kind of thing doesn’t happen very often. When an actor leaves a show, they don’t usually come back as a series regular, let alone two actors who have already left the show. It felt like a miracle! I will never forget getting the news that Noel was coming back from you @luckyshazmrsmonaghansblog I was crying with happiness bc we wanted this for so long and I never believed we would get to see both Cameron and Noel back on the show. Or that they would get their happy ending outside of a jail cell. Especially after Cameron left the show in season 9. With their return we got a wedding, an entire season of them as a married couple, we got to see them dance with each other twice, we got them singing together, we got to see them start a lucrative business together, we got to see them free and happier than we’ve ever seen them before, and we got to see Terry get what he deserved after putting them through hell. We are only halfway through season 11, but I already feel so fulfilled with this extra time with gallavich that we were never supposed to have. JW tried to take that away from us. I will never understand why, but he failed. I am not surprised this is the one I wrote the most about. I can go on and on about gallavich!

2.) David and Patrick - Schitt’s Creek

This was everything I ever wanted to see onscreen, where there was zero homophobia. The pansexual character didn’t need to have a big coming out or tell everyone in the town of his sexual orientation, except his best friend. The gay character had a coming out with parents who loved and accepted him for who he is and was only upset that he felt he couldn’t tell them sooner. I dreamt of a day where I could see this kind of representation onscreen. The casual treatment of their sexuality was so refreshing and something I’ve been waiting for. There is no darkness or huge struggle they had to overcome to be together or a sad ending for them. They were allowed to be together without the major conflicts most LGBTQ characters have to go through. Once David made the first move Patrick was comfortable allowing himself to fall for David and start a relationship with him. He was so sure of his feelings for David after that first kiss, he never looked back and I loved that. They had such an adorable love story. Truly one I have been waiting to see for so long between two LGBTQ characters. They made me smile every time they were on screen. They are another of my OTPs that are exact opposites who complement each other perfectly. Patrick was welcomed into David’s family and blended in with them so well, even when he and David had very different upbringings. Patrick serenading David with Tina Turner and then Mariah Carey at their wedding is one of the most romantic things I have ever seen!

3.) Holt and Kevin - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Captain Holt and Kevin are strange men on their own but together they are the perfect pair. They get each other in a way no one else does. The best part is their adorable fur baby, Cheddar! They seriously make the cutest family! I was so nervous when they went through a rough patch for a while because I didn’t want them to split up. Thankfully, they made it through and are still going strong!

4.) Will and Vince - Will & Grace

On the show's first run, Will and Vince were in a serious relationship and Vince was Will’s longest relationship on the show. They broke up a few times but were together by the series finale. The two reunite during the funeral of Will's father. There was a time jump on the series finale. Though I didn’t love everything about the last episode, I did love the fact that Will and Vince had been together for 20 years and raised a son together, who was conceived through in vitro fertilization with a surrogate. After the time jump, nearly twenty years later, their son goes to college and meets Grace's daughter, whom he would eventually marry. Though I wasn’t happy with the fact that Will and Grace didn’t stay close over the years, it did allow for their kids to one day meet, fall in love, and get married. I did like that outcome out of the finale. My family and I used to watch the original show, but we refused to accept or watch the 2017 revival because they completely changed everything from the original series finale. The second I found out they were changing everything; I knew I couldn’t watch it. They even wiped the existence of their kids from the first series finale. The revival was an attempt to cash in on the reboot craze and I wasn’t happy about that already, but even more so when they were going to break up one of my OTPs for easy money. Bobby Cannavale, who played Vince, has become even more famous since starring in Will & Grace. So, I already figured he wouldn’t be back for the show as a regular, but I know he did guest star. I won’t accept the revival and to me, Will and Vince stayed together, and their son married Grace’s daughter. THE END!

5.) Albert and Armand - The Birdcage

Miss Albert and Armand were the earliest gay couple I remember ever watching onscreen when I was eight years old. I have watched this movie more than I can count over the years. It is a family favorite that we quote often. Their son is planning to marry a girl whose father is in politics and is very conservative. They have to hide the fact that he has two gay fathers for one night, but everything goes awry, and comedy ensues. Nathan Lane and Robin Williams give a wonderful performance without resorting to using the stereotypes that are often used on gay characters, especially back then. It’s a classic!

6.) Stefon and Seth - Saturday Night Live

Okay, hear me out on this one! They’re not the most conventional OTPs on my list, but I really do love them so much! Stefon started doing a correspondent segment on Weekend Update on SNL. The first time Stefon came on, he flirted with Seth Meyers. The second he did I was like ooh they would make a cute couple! Stefon the wild party guy and Seth the serious news anchor. It was a match made in heaven for me. Before Seth Meyers left SNL to do Late Night with Seth Meyers, Bill Hader came back to play Stefon for Seth’s last episode. I didn’t expect what happened next to happen at all! They gave Seth and Stefon the ending that I haven’t even gotten from some actual scripted shows. I never expected Stefon and Seth to have this big ending, but I could not be happier that they did. I’m posting the link to the six-minute skit/ending and I hope it works. It’s worth watching. Though the video says it’s Stefon’s farewell it was really Seth’s farewell episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj-wYWMdWNk

7.) Mr. Simmons and Peter - Hey Arnold!

Anyone who grew up watching this show already knew that Mr. Simmons, Arnold’s teacher, was probably gay. It was hinted at in the Thanksgiving episode. Arnold and Helga visit Mr. Simmons on Thanksgiving at his house and his family and “friend” Peter are there. Mr. Simmons mother says she didn’t know Peter was coming to dinner and Peter responds with the infamous line “There’s a lot of things you don’t know.” When Mr. Simmons mom tries to get him to take a woman friend to the ballet, he says he loves the ballet and Peter gives him a disapproving look and Mr. Simmons immediately declines. Those were enough hints for us fans to decide Peter was his boyfriend. Years later, the show's creator Craig Bartlett finally confirmed Mr. Simmons is gay and had them together in the 2017 Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie. It was so exciting to finally get the confirmation years later, even though I was already certain of it for many years. I was happy that the cartoon no longer had to settle with vague hints about it.

8.) Callie and Arizona - Grey’s Anatomy

I was very happy to see a lesbian couple on prime time tv and I really liked both characters. I was excited to root for them but sadly as most couples on this show, their relationship took a turn, and I wasn’t thrilled about it. I was disappointed that it came to an end. By then I was already getting tired of watching the show. It was starting to feel like a chore to watch it every week. I tried to stick it out because I don’t like to give up on shows in the middle of it, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’m glad I did though because the shocking events with Derek Shepard, is something I’m glad I wasn’t around for. Anyway, I heard things between Callie and Arizona got even worse, so I was even happier I left when I did.

9.) Sherwin and Jonathan - In a Heartbeat

This was one of the cutest things I have ever seen! I wish this got the full-length movie treatment instead of a short film. But it was still a step in the right direction for the LGBTQ community. Gay characters in cartoons always bring me such joy and that was the focus of this short. A boy with a crush on another boy with a cute ending. What is not to love?!

10.) Mitch and Cam - Modern Family

Another show I had to give up on in the middle of the series. The show began to be less funny and more annoying to me. Another reason, that really has nothing to do with the show itself, that used to annoy me was that this show repeatedly beat out Parks and Recreation during award season. Parks and Recreation is a superior show when compared to Modern Family. This show won almost every year for years and it got really annoying especially when the quality of the show started slipping and they kept winning. After a few years, they finally stopped winning all the time. But before all that, I was a fan of Cam and Mitch. They were a great couple who I loved watching on the show. They were the best part of the show most of the time. But sadly, my annoyance of the show no longer being as funny as it used to be, was enough for me to stop watching.

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bangtanblurbs · 3 years

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autumn leaves

song: autumn leaves by BTS

first experience: my first listen of autumn leaves was when HYYH pt. 2 released. thanksgiving had just ended -- it was 2015. i was well into my fourth year of undergraduate studies and going through both a rough patch in some respects but also in others -- hitting my stride. i remember my first listen through of HYYH pt. 2 was in my tiny dorm room, perched on my bed, avoiding the responsibility of studying for my final exams. autumn leaves followed skit in the tracklisting, and before skit came baepsae. talk about whiplash... my emotions were all over the place. immediately i was taken by the unique backbeat and the beautiful blend of devastating vocals with emotional raps. for me, autumn leaves was immediately a favorite of mine from the album -- following closely behind butterfly. i can confidently say today though that the song is one of my top ten bangtan songs of all time. something about the sound, the lyrics, and the emotions i can hear in their voices makes it one of the most powerful rap ballads in the bangtan repertoire. i can remember distinctly i came to this revelation around christmas of 2015 as i continued to loop HYYH pt. 2 and really feel each beat and sound within the individual tracks.

at this time i was going through a period of great change in my life - and autumn leaves is the perfect song for change. it’s a song about losing a love but also about feeling as if you are losing a piece of yourself. there are many ways to interpret the song outside of just being another sad love song -- that is something that struck me. the lyrics speak to several facets of what happens when you give pieces of yourself to others, or when you reach crossroads in your life. finding this song at this particular moment in my life was like finding energy and light at a time of extreme darkness. it was healing. soothing.

feelings: i have too many. as always. autumn leaves is special to me because when i listen to it i’m reminded of both the place i was in when the sound found me, but also more recent development in my life that continue to relate to the song. when i first heard autumn leaves, i’d recently ended a relationship i’d been far too invested in despite knowing it was going to be a dead end - for about three years. i felt like i was at a point in my life where i needed to figure out who the hell i was without the one i’d loved. it’s funny though - i was happy to be free of that relationship, to be free of him, the pressures he’d put upon me. what do dead leaves mean if not a new spring right around the corner? perhaps i was feeling lost, but in my mind it was only temporary -- the dead must fall away to bring forward the spring.

that being said, i did mourn. not in the way you might think, but in the way that one mourns for lost time, lost identity. so often we, as women, give up our identities when we are in relationships. we allow others to define us in terms of those that we are in relationships with. i’ve realized this now that i’m older -- now that i’m more at peace with my bisexuality -- the notion that our patriarchal society defines us in terms of the men within our lives rather than our own talents and identities. this particular blog isn’t a space for my feelings on that topic though -- what i will say is that autumn leaves comforted me. perhaps i felt that i was at a point where my leaves were dying -- but does that mean the tree is dead? absolutely not. spring would come. my life would be reborn with a new focus taking over.

this being said -- i’ve always been one of those people that holds onto the past. i always wanted to be solid, non-changing, someone with convictions that they carried along from life. i think this stems from experiencing the death of a close friend while i was very young. i cherished the memories associated with her to the point where i didn’t want to lose the person i was when i knew her. so that’s always complicated change for me -- made the moments where the last leaves fell from the autumn trees that much harder. sure, spring was on its way, but what did that mean? would i lose the memories and the moments when my leaves where at their brilliance the previous season? or would i still carry those with me? what if i needed to correct course and completely rewrite who i was over the past -- would that mean losing who i was when i was loved by those i valued in the past? of course not -- but for some reason the more emotional sides of me didn’t see things in such a fluid way. lost was more profound when i was younger because it was also accompanied with these fears over the loss of my identity.

as i’ve gotten older i’ve realized that identity can have staying power whilst also being something that is fluid. transmuting something doesn’t mean destroying or overwriting it. it means building upon the base and modifying it so that things are more brilliant. the me that existed before and during my long-term relationship was the same me i’d carry into the future, but with many more improvements for my own wellbeing and ability to express myself. for me, autumn leaves is just that. whilst on the surface it may convey the emotions of a breakup -- it also simply conveys the feelings that we get when we progress from one period of life to another. we leave parts of ourselves behind in order to improve. does that mean we are fundamentally changed? absolutely not. it means that we have learned from the past -- that we have made progress. in the same way that trees grow and change over the years. perhaps they look differently (taller, greener in hue? more branches?) but they still provide us with lushness and shade.

personal connection: perhaps i’ve jumped ahead... i’ve already delved into this in the feelings section. that being said... i hope that my story can bring comfort to someone else. or perhaps help you all think about the ways in which bangtan songs can promote healing in your own lives.

since my initial experience with the song i’ve had many other moments where i’ve turned to autumn leaves for comfort. i didn’t just leave it in the past -- it’s come with me as i’ve gotten older and moved into new spaces in my life. particularly i quite literally moved and started a huge new chapter in my life. and on this, autumn leaves has been a song i frequently find myself searching for. there’s a line in the song that resonates with me -- it’s in the bridge: “i hold on to these faded memories / is this greed? / i try to look back on these lost seasons / i try to turn back”

initially i’d been excited for my big move from atlanta to washington dc. i thought it’d be the moment where i finally showed people back home that i wasn’t a failure, that all the pride i’d held in myself and my intellectual accomplishments was valid... but partnered with that came the intensive homesickness, the feeling of being an alien. i wasn’t really welcome here in dc. i still don’t feel welcome, but that’s a story for another day - another song. the reality is though, i moved just as the seasons turned to fall. it felt like my old life was falling away, i was bidding adieu my old life -- the community that had raised me since i was eighteen -- it was all gone. i was scared, terrified my friends wouldn’t keep in touch, afraid i’d have to change who i was to experience success (mask my accent, dye my hair, use the language of the elites)... while it’s not a breakup in the way the autumn leaves reads, i felt like i was having to plead with myself not to let go of who i was just for the sake of being accepted here, or for the sake of making my day to day life easier. the beat of the song brought me comfort as i walked to school, where i received the fake smiles of professors and classmates... i pleaded with myself -- to never let the parts of me that had gotten me to where i was fall away... to always let those dead leaves be the fertilizer for who i was becoming, for the me that would deliver myself closer to my dreams.

even now -- i listen to autumn leaves and think about what i’m going to carry forward as the seasons change and we begin to work our way into a new normal in this pandemic. what parts of me will remain? what relationships will i keep? what *should* fall away, and what will i beg to keep around rather it’s healthy or not? i’m not sure. but closing my eyes and listening to the steady sound of autumn leaves brings me nothing but comfort.

song breakdown

musically: autumn leaves is one of the most iconic songs from the HYYH era. the beat is iconic, the mix of vocal line and rap line from verse to chorus is completely seamless, it’s almost like a ballad rap (so iconic of the HYYH era, with songs like love is not over). the asian style beats, and synth... the sounds of the song are flawless from start to finish. the underlying beat of the song is so smooth, it feels almost like constant crashing waves, the ebb and flow of the beat with a few accents to highlight the emotional pick-ups of the verses.

now -- it was controversial at the time -- many claim that autumn leaves samples beats from deadroses by blackbear. rather that’s true or not, i don’t know. but i find that listening to both songs back to back, they’re speaking to a lot of similar themes but with their own distinct sound and messages. there’s something about the genius of the back beat mixed with the emotionally charged rapping that sets autumn leaves apart -- also the use of vocal line is completely distinct and adds to the emotion in the sound.

vocally: i don’t have as much to say about the vocals in this song. they’re beautiful, with vocal providing honey belts throughout the choruses, which sound more like a repeated bridge. we also see the slower, more emotionally accented rap style from each of rapline. the integration of the vocals and rap are iconically HYYH and BTS. we see the raps pick up, and slow down providing for pre-choruses to build into the beautiful vocal ballad ranges.

autumn leaves performed live -- it’s something incredible. something i’m thankful i was able to experience. bangtan obviously never disappoint, but you can really hear the emotions in their voice with autumn leaves. the perfect adlibs, the changing rap paces, the roughness of rapline’s lower registers... it delivers the sadder themes of the song perfectly.

lyrically: time for a DEEP dive yet again. autumn leaves is about change, the loss of a love. of course meanings can be layered, it can be about change, but on the very surface its a song about loss of love because of changes over time.

jin and jungkook start out the song beautifully. the lyrics lead in directly addressing the theme: “fall like those dry leaves / just falling without strength, my love.” indicating that the song is like a letter - it’s a message to a love. the speaker is comparing their situation to a dead leaf, useless... time has run out... time to leave and fade away... something new to come a replace. falling without strength, it seems as if the speaker is saying they’ve got no more fight in them anymore, they’ve given up and realized continuing the fight is futile. it’s time to just let everything fall away, fade into black. “your heart just goes far away / i can’t catch you / i can’t catch you anymore, anymore / i can’t hold onto you, yeah” as much as the speaker would like to hold onto the moment they are in, hold onto the person they’re with... they can’t anymore. the other person is too far away. time has led to them drifting further apart, their relationship falling away like a dead leaf.

yoongi starts off the first rap, leading in with heavy emotions and continuing the story, and theme of a tree moving into fall. “those fallen leaves that look so insecure / seem like they’re looking at us.” the leaves have already fallen off the tree now, they’re dead on the ground -- peering back up at the speaker and their partner. i interpret this as the leaves are looking back at something they used to be a part of, something familiar to them, just as leaves are a part of our lives, trees spectating our lives as we live. these leaves were a part of their lives -- and now they’re gone, a piece is dead now. “if i touch your hand, even if it’s all at once / it seems like it’ll all become crumbs” -- this line illustrates again the analogy that the leaves are like the speaker’s significant other, someone that might just crumble away like it was never even there before, like a dream, it’s that distant. “i only looked / with the autumn wind” the seasons have changed, it’s that time, it’s been that time, and now the wind is a force that finally pushing the leaf off the tree, finally pushing the relationship or moment of life to end. “your words and expressions that become cold at some point / i can see that our relationship is fading / an empty relationship like the autumn sky” this line directly refers to the relationship like the seasons -- there was a spring, beautiful and blooming, love blossomed. and in summer it burned. but as time went on, the clouds went away and the rain stopped (the autumn sky doesn’t bring the spring showers to nurture the relationship anymore) and the fire consumed everything, burning it out and leaving nothing. “an ambiguous difference compared to before / today of all days, the much quieter night” there’s nothing left -- there no more crackle of the fire burning, no more love. it’s empty, and gone. but nobody knew when it became this way or why, it just did. “one lead left clinging to a branch / it’s shattering, i see the end.” there’s something hanging on -- perhaps it’s just the memory -- perhaps it’s just the part of them that is afraid of change, that wishes they could stay in the warmth. but even so, it’s beginning to crumble, it’s beginning the process to fall away. “dead leaves becoming dried / the silence inside your aloof heart / please don’t leave me / please don’t leave me, crumbling dead leaves” from dead to dried, the emphasis is made that at some point things have moved past ending or that they have been done for quite some time and for them to now also be dried. that being said they’re dried, not gone, the memories exist the emotions have left their place. someday the marks of this relationship will impact and provide the basis for another with someone else -- for better or worse.

then, we reach the bridge-like chorus. it’s simple in lyrics despite emotion packed in tone. “i want the you that meets my eyes / i want the you that wants me again” this line indicates that the partner in this situation has walked away and had decided not to even acknowledge the speaker. to pretend they don’t exist, to remove them from their life -- perhaps to not even keep them as a memory. “please don’t leave me / please don’t fall / never never fall / don’t go far away” the speaker begins to beg, holding onto the last few minutes of whatever they believe is left of the relationship. the begging of “don’t fall” is at odds with the previous verse about a leaf already fallen -- perhaps the chorus is coming from a more desperate state, or a moment before the inevitable happened (the season changed, the leaves fell).

the post chorus brings in jin and continues with the same lament - the same desperate begging. “baby you, girl i can’t let you go / baby you, girl i can’t give up on you” the speaker is determined to hold onto the moment before the final fall. they are unwilling to let it all go -- hanging on to the last moments but also to the memories it seems. “like those falling dry leaves / this love, like dry leaves / never never fall / it’s fading.” at this point the chorus has progressed to where the leaves are fading and falling -- morphing into something that is no longer a leaf anymore. what is the speaker holding onto any more? just as memories too fade -- is there anything even left?

the next verse brings in namjoon, it plays off of the themes and tones in yoongi’s verse. it begins with the leaves already having fallen. there’s no more grasping onto what was, it’s much more about moving on and the ways the memory frames our ability to go forward. “like all the dry leaves fall / like all the things i thought would last forever are leaving / you are my fifth season” the speaker couldn’t imagine this happening -- a fifth season, there is no such thing. the leaves have fallen, despite him never imagining that it would occur, he’s dumbstruck. there’s a level of naivety here -- speaking to the things they thought would last forever -- which harkens back to the entire HYYH era theme. youth. learning growth. namjoon is speaking to new steps in life happening after finding out that what was familiar and comfortable is gone, and will not return as he is stepping into a fifth season and uncharted territory. “even if i try to see you, i can’t look / you’re still green to me / even if the heart doesn’t move, it moves by itself / lingering feelings hung out piece by piece like laundry” namjoon is charging here that he’s placing more emphasis on the past and the memories he holds rather than wanting to confront the reality that the other person has changed. they’re still green - young, fresh, healthy... he can’t help but still be in love because he cannot confront the fact that the other person has in fact changed. and at the same time all of this change and loss has made him raw, he cannot conceal his feelings even when doing mundane day to day things... his emotions hung out for all to see. “only crimson memories fall / from above me / even if my branch doesn’t shake / they constantly fall” the colors have changed from green to crimson, he is forgetting the hard times -- the memories that are rotten. the other memories, even if he keeps trying to hang onto them, they’re also going - being tainted by the dark and unhappy reality of things begin done. “right, my love must fall / in order to rise” he realizes, he need to cut the baggage, cut his false belief that things are still good, so that he can start a new season and try again. embrace his youth once again and heal. “even when you’re near, my two eyes / are far away, it’s happening / i’m being thrown away like this / inside my memories, i become young again” he emphasizes again that he cannot confront the reality of loss of this other person but realizes that it’s completely out of his control - he is the one being thrown. but he knows he can retreat to whatever space he needs to in order to cope or heal, he can hide inside his youth in his mind. he can stay there until he heals and can emerge once again.

the chorus the repeats again, but this time it moves into the beautifully delivered bridge by taehyung. he begins with his low and smooth range “why can’t i give up on you yet / i hold on to these faded memories” which calls directly to namjoon’s verse. the seasons are changing, but he cannot let go of the past. things are fading but they remain his refuge. “is this greed? / i try to look back on these lost seasons / i try to turn back” he begins to realize that there’s an element to these emotions that might be toxic, that he wants but he knows he cannot have what he wants, or that he wants too much. he wishes he could retreat back to the summer, or the spring. turn back time and hide in those brighter moments.

the final verse is beautifully delivered with hoseok’s unique style. he offers an unexpected conclusion to the hopelessness of yoongi’s verse and the denial and dismissal in namjoon’s. “burn them brightly, woosh / it was all beautiful, right, our path / but they’ve all faded” hoseok remembers fondly the memories, reflects positively on the way that things had been going... but he recognizes that that path exists no more -- those leaves are dead and gone. he uses the word “burn” which is often what happens with dead leaves, they’re burning brightly those memories -- like they’re seared into his mind and heart. they’ll never leave his essence. “dry leaves come down like tears / the wind blows and everything grows apart all day” this line beautifully captures the mourning process and the confusion that follows -- the learning to unlearn and untangle your life from another person’s. to move away from something that was so permanent in your life and mind. “the rain is falling and you’re shattering / until the very last leaf, you you you” the weather references in this verse are fitting for the theme of seasons but they also take control away from the speaker - make reference to the fact that even as they speaker would like to, he cannot control his emotions just like he cannot control the situation and relationship coming to an end. the very last leaf -- he tried to hold on, he waited till the end, but finally the hope is gone.

the chorus repeats with some additional lines bracketing it by taehyung. ultimately the song leaves us with a feeling of being unsettled as things came to an ended. time passed by and things changed -- and end was inevitable. memories are what is left to hold onto. seasons change, just like we grow up or change. things in our lives will run their course, especially relationships. we learn from them, and even if we don’t want them to -- they leave scars... no matter how much we plead. but the reality is, we can retreat to whatever place in our mind or memory that we need to in order to repair ourselves to try again.

performance: the main video that is available online for autumn leaves is a performance from HYYH on tour. i cannot pinpoint the location of the filming, but it is the same as it was when i saw BTS live in 2016 in macau for HYYH the epilogue on tour. you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrM53Y9hHV0&ab_channel=lestwins1524

the performance is very much understated but beautiful. vocals and raps are delivered with more emotion than was captured in the recorded version. members do not perform any choreographed dances, but lights and graphics highlight each member as they come into focus to deliver their portion of the song. it’s beautiful and it’s just what was needed to portray the emotion and depth of the themes in autumn leaves.

in my own personal experience, seeing this song performed live was incredibly profound. the entire arena was silent. all eyes on bangtan and listening for each of the incredibly raw verses to be peformed. the crisp emotion laden in the vocal line choruses. the song is beautiful. it’s somber and mature. it exemplifies the drama of the HYYH era -- with lyrical and performance genius that is unparalleled. i’ve uploaded to this post my horrible video but i hope you enjoy ~~

tl;dr: autumn leaves might seem like another breakup song, but there’s more to it. it beautifully emphasizes the power of memory, time passage, and the desire to hold onto past versions of themselves. which for many listeners is far more profound than just a breakup -- there’s so many times when we need to leave behind moments in our lives, friends, family members... and while we want to hold onto something that is familiar, we can’t. they’re leaving, we are moving on... seasons come and go no matter how much we wish they’d just stay constant. dead leaves fall away, even when we’d wish the summer and spring would stay, they can’t. life is cyclical in nature. which harkens us back to the themes in spring day as well. the sun will always come out, the seasons will change... but we have to confront the fact that sometimes we will experience pain, loss, and change.

#bangtan #bts #lyrics #analysis #army #autumn leaves #bts army #hyyh #most beautiful part of life

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crowdvscritic · 3 years

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round up // JANUARY + FEBRUARY 22

The start of the year feels like a good time to remind you these lists aren’t ranked but my favorites from this time period in the rough order I experienced them. (The only ranked list linked here: my best of 2021, which is the piece I work hardest on each year.)

At the start of the year, I am also in the mood for silliness. My threshold for burnout is low, and some of the best medicine is laughter, thrill, and spectacle. What I read, watched, and experienced was so full of it I had to share it with you, too! Get to scrollin’ to make sure you find every bit of laughter, thrill and spectacle you’re looking for in this dreary time while we’re waiting for Spring.

January + February Crowd-Pleasers

1. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022)

I appreciate that HBO Max listened to my notes on the Friends reunion and made this just a nice sit down with people I love watching together. What a warm hug!

2. Hawkeye (2021)

Is Hawkeye the greatest entry in the MCU canon? Nope, but it sure is a fun time. As a big fan of Jeremy Renner, Christmas, and (mild spoiler alert!) Florence Pugh (spoiler done!), this was just fun, action-packed treat.

3. Beyond Van Gogh Exhibit

Going to an art exhibit with no the original art is an odd setup, but the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit (touring across the U.S.), finds new ways to make Vincent’s work come alive. It’s like walking through a painting, and it animates the movement Van Gogh’s painting implies. I still recommend you see the real stuff, but it’s pretty nifty to see his thick brushstrokes in detail.

4. Triple Feature — Early ‘90s Spoofs: Hot Shots! (1991), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), + Wayne’s World 2 (1993)

The Hot Shots! movies (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10) spoof Top Gun and Rambo to the nth degree, and Wayne’s World 2 (Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 7.5/10) spoofs everything from Double Indemnity and The Graduate to Thelma and Louise and the “YMCA” video. If that’s not your jam…are you broken?

5. Double Binge — Netflix Murder Comedy Series: The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window + Murderville (2021)

Netflix dropped two murder comedy shows in consecutive weeks, and since the seasons were so short and sweet, they were easy-peasy binges even for someone who would rather watch a movie than a show. In one, Kristen Bell spoofs every incompetent Jessica Fletcher whose substance abuse makes her an unreliable busybody. In the other, Will Arnett invites celebs like Ken Jeong and Kumail Nanjiani to help him solve murders in an improv version of Murder, She Wrote. So yes, these were specific and hilarious Venn diagrams of my interests.

youtube

6. SNL Round-Up

You know the drill: Just click and laugh! These are the skits from Studio 8H that have made me laugh most in the last few months.

“HomeGoods” (4709 with Paul Rudd)

“The Christmas Socks” (4709)

“Biden Spider-man Cold Open” (4710 with Ariana DeBose)

“Urkel Reboot” (4710)

“Weekend Update: Elmo and Rocco” (4710)

“Cinema Classics: Gaslight” (4711 with Will Forte)

“Now I’m Up” (4712 with Willem Dafoe)

“Please Don’t Destroy - Good Variant” (4713 with John Mulaney)

“Subway Churro” (4713)

7. Double Feature — Nickelodeon Reboots: Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) + iCarly (2021)

I turned on the Dora live action movie (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6.5/10) on a whim and was pleasantly surprised—who knew this would be a self-aware comedy poking fun at the ridiculousness of children’s program and paying homage to Indiana Jones? If I had children—which I realize is a weird thing to say after admitting I watched this—I suspect Dora would be a refreshing addition to the non-stop movie rewatches.

As for iCarly, is it weird to say I’ve enjoyed reruns of the original series more as an adult than I did when I was in the target demo ? Yep, that’s also weird, but I’m blaming it on my intense desire for silliness. (To its credit, most episodes aren’t more juvenile than SNL—they’re just smoothed down for children.) The reboot is just as bombastic though it’s more grown-up, and Spencer (Jerry Trainor) is still GOAT. Now someone explain to me why the Lizzie McGuire reboot can’t happen!

8. Marry Me (2022)

My current best movie of 2022 because I’ve only seen two of them. That said, I feel excellent saying that about a mash-up of Notting Hill and The Proposal that made me smile the entire time. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6/10

9. Double Feature — Unlikely POTUS Comedies: Dave (1993) + Head of State (2003)

In Dave (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10), Kevin Kline is a doppelgänger for the President, and when the Commander-in-Chief becomes incapacitated, Kline’s normie steps in to cover his responsibilities. In Head of State (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), Chris Rock is a D.C. alderman who is promoted to a Presidential candidate when the nominee dies. Plot twist in both movies: They might be better at the job than the politicians!

10. Red Eye (2005)

Is it too much to ask that more movies be 85 minutes? Wes Craven says no! He directs a taut thriller about Cillian Murphy terrorizing Rachel McAdams on an airplane, and while there are shades Scream, I appreciate the less-gore-more-mind-games approach. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

11. The Warriors (1979)

Another month, another movie that inspired Stranger Things, another affirmation the Duffer Brothers have great taste. The Warriors was an inspiration for the season 2 episode “The Lost Sister” (an episode I probably enjoyed more than many), and this movie is that punk rock gang vibe to the max. What’s a Coney Island gang to do when they’re framed for a crime and every other gang in New York is out to get them? And by every other gang, I mean a Baseball Gang, a Mime Gang, an Overalls Gang, and a gang that prowls in a trashed school bus. It’s a teen rebellion adventure but also about the challenges of growing up with less than. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

12. Wordle + Taylordle

Choo choo! I’m all aboard the Wordle train, and the Taylor Swift version is another Venn diagram of my interests.

January + February Critic Picks

1. Best of 2021

As promised at the end of December, my Best of 2021 is wrapped! After squeezing in 10 more contenders in January and February (including CODA, Cyrano, C’mon, C’mon, Passing, The Tender Bar, and Tragedy of Macbeth, all of which I recommend), I narrowed down the the year to my top 10 films for ZekeFilm.

Bonus: You can read full reviews for Belfast, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and tick, tick…BOOM! after seeing where they land in my top films of the year.

2. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)

Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, and Carol Channing make what’s retro modern in this classic musical. Read my ZekeFilm review of the new Blu-ray to see what feels dated and what still feels thoroughly modern. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

3. Double Feature — Women Going Through STUFF in ‘40s Romances: Cat People (1942) + My Reputation (1946)

In Cat People (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10) , a Serbian immigrant (Simone Simon) fears she will turn into a vicious feline if overtaken with passion. In My Reputation (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10), a new widow (Barbara Stanwyck) falls in love again and her neighbors are overtaken with gossip. Strong female leads and actresses anchor these moving stories, and they only take 73 and 94 minutes! Bonus: Stanwyck’s melodrama is example of a recurring theme of I’m noticing in ‘40s films: women just trying to live their best lives but society won’t let them. You know I had to make a Letterboxd list!

4. The Essential Directors: The Art and Impact of Cinema's Most Influential Filmmakers by Sloan De Forest (2021)

My new Christmas tradition: asking for Turner Classic Movies books and reading them over my winter break. In this year’s edition, I dug into directors I’m familiar with (Howard Hawks, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg) and ones I’ve never met before (Dorothy Arzner, Ida Lupino, Josef von Sternberg). The book recommends 440 films to understand these filmmakers, and I’ve only seen about 40% off them—as per usual, my watch list is never complete!

5. Good Reads

A miscellaneous collection of pieces on how trends that only last 4 days might not be trends, why some TV shows should be movies, the generational and political divides in the Christian faith, decision-making, Oscar nominees, and just calling it a day on your writing.

“The Year of Garbage Internet Trends,” Vox.com (2021)

“Your Bubble Is Not the Culture,” TheAtlantic.com (2022)

“Why Are Movies So Long Now?” Variety.com (2022)

“Dear TV: Stop Making Two-Hour Movie Ideas Into 10-Hour Limited Series,” TVline.com (2022)

“The Dissenters Trying to Save Evangelicalism From Itself,” NYTimes.com (2022)

“How to Figure Out What You Want,” AestheticsOfJoy.com (2022)

“Kirsten Dunst, Nicole Kidman and More React to 2022 Oscar Nominations,” Variety.com (2022) - A lot of gems in here, like Kirsten Dunst and Benedict Cumberbatch flexing they've already seen all the nominees, Jane Campion rooting for Lady Gaga, and Andrew Garfield loving "Timmy Chalamet becoming the king he’s always meant to be" in Dune.

“Revising Your Writing Again? Blame the Modernists,” BostonGlobe.com (2013)

6. The Mission (1986)

Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons are European missionaries to South America in the 1750s, but when politics get tense between Spain, Portugal, and the Catholic Church, their jobs become more than spreading the Gospel to the native tribes. Soon—yes, this historical epic is only two hours—they are the last line of defense between political rivals trying to take the people’s homes and make them slaves. The extra complication: De Niro and Irons don’t agree on the Christian response for protecting God’s people. You can find this on my Letterboxd list of essential films about the Christian faith.

7. Double Feature — ‘00s Crime Thrillers: Insomnia (2002) + Michael Clayton (2007)

In Insomnia (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Al Pacino is investigating a teen’s murder in the round-the-clock summer sun of Alaska, Hilary Swank is the local detective on the case, and Robin Williams might be the killer. In Michael Clayton (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10), George Clooney is a fixer for a Monsanto doppelgänger, Tilda Swinton is its legal counsel, and Tom Wilkinson might be the source to a major scandal for the company. Though the settings and crimes vary, the story of two films is the same: Do the ends ever justify the means?

8. Fight Club (1999)

That twist was spoiled for me years ago, but this film still left me unsettled and unsure why something so violent and unstable has become a pop phenomenon. Fight Club may not be for Taylors, but I also had to read reviews from Roger Ebert and more critics to absorb what I just watched, which is always a sign I just watched something full of crunchy ideas and effective filmmaking. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

9. Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928)

An exception to my belief that movies weren’t a thing until 1934! Buster Keaton is still a hilarious charmer almost 100 years later, and the gags are still a gas. Crowd: 7/10 // Critic: 9/10

Also this January + February…

Kyla and I kicked off season six of our podcast SO IT’S A SHOW?, all about pop culture references on Gilmore Girls.

In our first episode focused on a Michel reference, we watch the ’80s sitcom character he compares himself to, Benson

Lorelai says “they screwed up Bewitched!” The movie, that is. We investigate: did they?

Since we Millennials were wee children at the beginning of the Iraq War, we research ousted CIA agent Valerie Plame and whether Rory should use her as inspiration for her DAR espionage

Lorelai is cleaning out her VHS tapes, but first, we need to check out one of the longest-running prime time dramas in history, a family sitcom, an ‘80s show that turned into a movie franchise, a Hallmark movie that would never be made today, and some Super Bowl commercials.

These were busy months at ZekeFilm! In addition to the reviews I shared above, I wrote about inexplicable-Best Picture nominee Don’t Look Up and watched the oldest movie I’ve ever seen!

Photo credits: Beyond Van Gogh, Good Reads. Essential Directors my own. All others IMDb.com

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