#austindr

[kookaifr]

Learn About the Advanced Technology Used by Plastic Surgeon Austin

Dr. Steven Austin is a highly-respected plastic surgeon in Austin, Texas. He is known for combining cutting-edge technology with modern techniques to produce outstanding results for his patients. From digital imaging to 3D printing, Dr. Austin has developed an impressive range of tools to help him achieve the best aesthetic outcomes for his patients. In addition to his advanced technology, Dr. Austin is renowned for his outstanding care and attention to detail in every procedure he performs. He is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable experience for all of his patients, and his commitment to the highest standards of care has earned him a loyal following of satisfied patients. From breast augmentation to rhinoplasty, Dr. Austin offers a wide range of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures to help his patients look and feel their best. With his use of advanced technology and his dedication to patient care, Dr. Austin is a top choice for plastic surgery in Austin. Whether you need cosmetic or reconstructive surgery, you can find an experienced plastic surgeon Austin. 

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[robbyrobinson]

Happy Sugar Life is a psychological horror manga series that had received an anime adaptation that had just recently concluded. Despite the innocuous sounding title, the anime is actually set in a Crapsack World. The series concerns a high schooler named Satou Matsuzaka who —after "mingling" around with several boys had apparently ceased this after finding her "true love." With that being said, Satou is very obsessed with preserving her "happy sugar life" even if it involves amoral conduct.

For starters...there's Satou herself. To get this out of the way...she doesn't count for a plethora of reasons. For a Freudian Excuse, well it is explained in flashbacks that she had lost her parents at a young age which caused her to live with her aunt who was clearly unfit to raise her. Her aunt was someone who loved everyone — well it's more that she was a raging sadomasochist who derived pleasure from being abused — and it was ultimately her aunt that was responsible for molding Satou's perception on love. With that excuse....I personally don't think it holds up much. Especially when Satou tries to use that backstory to justify viewing others as being below her. With mitigating factors, there is her relationship with Shio Kobe - a young girl she met in the streets one time. Okay, let's get this out of the way: there is nothing indicating that Satou felt that way about Shio. The one recurring element that constantly presents itself firmly establishes that at the end of the day, Satou's relationship with Shio is one of maternalistic nature. Shio met Satou when her mother abandoned her on the streets one evening (I'll get into the why later on), and she latches onto Satou as a mother figure. Initially, we are given the indication that Satou only viewed Shio as an outlet for her emotional needs, an accessory, in other words. However, this view is proven incorrect in episode 10 when Shio calls Satou out for always keeping secrets from her, and from there, Satou treats Shio more as an equal. In the final episode as the two were trying to escape the burning building, they both jump off the roof. In her final moments, Satou realizes the meaning behind love, and shields Shio, taking the brunt of the fall for her.

As for the heinous standard...I don't feel she meets it. In total, she had a body count of 4 people. The only issue with this is that three of the victims Satou had murdered were assholes; the first was the original owner of the apartment room she and Shio live in. He was an artist who tried to kill Shio because he was enraged that Satou was now "complete" him initially liking Satou because of her incompleteness. The next two were of some thugs that were trying to use Shio as bait to lure her older brother Asahi to the park. But the issue with those murders is largely that they're mentioned in passing. We do have somewhat of a Gory Discretion Shot with one of the perps, but the aftermath is only mentioned by one of Satou's coworkers. Now, Satou does Jump Off The Slippery Slope halfway in the run of the series with her murdering her best (and only) friend Shouko after she had taken a picture of her and Shio and texted it to Asahi. With this murder, what also adds onto Satou's mitigating factors: while she considers it a case of I Did What I Had to Do, it becomes apparent that Satou felt remorseful for killing Shouko. Her lower lip was also seen trembling as if she were about to have an emotional breakdown (which is different from the manga version where it's more an Ignored Epiphany).

So, lastly there is her get away plan. Said plan involves burning the upper room of the apartment and passing off Shouko's body as her own. Clearly, she would be putting the other inhabitants in the level in danger, and she obviously doesn't care either...but the problem with this? Largely, the news mentions that there were multiple casualties from the fire. But they only mention two: Shouko and Satou. As such, these massive casualties are in reference to those two bodies that were uncovered from the arson incident. What makes this even more problematic is that it also runs under Offscreen Villainy. As such, there is no approximate number of people who otherwise perished in the fire.

On another note, Satou has several moments where she could've done worse, but she chooses not to ala Pragmatic Villainy. For instance, when she realizes that Asahi had a connection to Shio, she contemplates bludgeoning him with a crowbar only to relent upon realizing that it would be hard to hide the evidence. Even when Asahi was proving to be more problematic, she instead chooses the least lethal option of deceiving him into thinking his sister had gone to a different district. There are other examples of instances where she could've been worse, but you get the idea.

As for other characters:

1) There was Satou's boss from a restaurant called the Princess Imperial who became envious of her when she learns that one of her employees — Mitsuboshi — had asked Satou out for a date only to be turned down. So, as her way of fixing that? She kidnaps Mitsuboshi, keeping him locked in a cabinet in her room and repeatedly raping him as a means of forcing him to love her. As for excuses...there are none, unless you consider her feeling bad for her age as one. I was contemplating on suggesting her on the grounds that no other antagonist (major or minor) had stooped to this level of depravity, and that she was obviously over the Moral Event Horizon at that point, having raped Mitsuboshi for a week. This was also seen as horrific by the setting with Mitsuboshi himself being deeply traumatized by his experience.

2) Auntie: Satou's Aunt is the one who starts the fire, but the same problems plaguing Satou's involvement also fall on her due to there being no approximate body count to draw from as well as her only being charged for arson and the murder of Shouko. Individually speaking, she isn't heinous enough with only having one count of rape and attempted rape. Beyond that, Auntie also has some forms of mitigating factors such as making it clear that she loves Satou in her own warped way as well as being truly Affably Evil. She could also be seen as being too insane to consider particularly for her happily taking credit for starting the fire.

3) Shio and Asahi's father: He was a posthumous character having died before the events of the anime. For the most part, he is your generic take on a Domestic Abuser with him yelling and hitting his wife. His one unique form of cruelty is shown in a flashback where he rips Asahi's fingernails off out of morbid curiosity at seeing how much pain he could take, and it is also stated that he had always done things like that to Asahi when he chose to live with him for five years after his mom and sister escaped his household. He was ultimately the reason as to why Shio's mom left her on the streets because she feared that she would become like her husband. She later poisons his sake, and he died. The father does commit more crimes in the manga that were Adapted Out when it received an anime adaptation, so I am kind of contemplating on whether that's worth mentioning.

4) There were a few other minor antagonists that I would list, but they ultimately have little merit on the plot of the series.

Overall, those are my thoughts on the series.

Now as for the one I think could count as PE...

                                 The Manager’s CM EP

Who is she?

The nameless manager of a restaurant named The Princess Imperial in which Satou becomes an employee of in order to make more money. At first, the manager was seemingly benevolent...but she was someone who was really self-serving and wanted all of her employees to love only her. However, when one of her employees — Taiyo Mitsuboshi — asks Satou out on a date and she overhears if from her other employees...that doesn't sit well with her. Not one bit.

What has she done?

As Satou was heading back to the apartment building after work, she notices the manager talking with Mitsuboshi about whatever, making Mitsuboshi follow her to her office. Afterward, Mitsuboshi disappears the next day which is attributed to him "quitting." As Satou continued to work for the restaurant, she received more and more work, oftentimes her co-workers would sabotage her efforts. Soon, Satou had to work longer hours, which gradually ate away at her sanity.

Eventually, paycheck day arrived, and the manager hands out the checks for the employees. Satou notices that her check didn't cover the hours she had to work, and she goes to talk to the manager to sort it out. The manager admits that she was punishing Satou with longer hours as revenge for her catching Mitsuboshi's eyes. She then goes onto explain how her restaurant was her castle, and that the employees would flock to her. When Mitsuboshi strayed away from that intended purpose, this unsettled the manager. Satou tells her that it was immoral of her to try to go after underaged employees, and reaffirms that she would get her full pay if she obliged. Satou then glances at the cabinet across the room, and correctly guesses that Mitsuboshi never quit; rather, the manager kidnapped him and repeatedly raped him as her way of forcing him to love her. The manager confesses to this...only to realize that Satou had filmed the entire thing on her cell phone. To this, Satou threatens to inform the authorities about her "discovery" lest the manager gave her the full amount for her hours. Satou then opens the cabinet door, revealing a bound ang gagged Mitsuboshi within it.

Mitigating factors? Freudian Excuse?

Nay for any excuses. The reason as to why she felt that her employees should love only her is partially because she is insecure about her age. Yeah. There isn't any tragic about it in the slightest: the employees were there to serve her only so that she could feel better about herself. When Mitsuboshi asked Satou out on a date, that bruised her ego to the point that she tried to rectify that by kidnapping and repeatedly raping Mitsuboshi to the point that he suffered trauma from the experience. As for the scenes regarding that, they are played seriously unlike with many other uses of the trope.

And I need to emphasize this: her feeling bad because of her age does NOT excuse her repeatedly raping a teenage boy and traumatizing him. The anime gives no sympathy towards her with Satou herself calling her out for going after underaged workers. In this case, any insecurity that she had is completely blown out of proportion because of her actions.

Heinous standard

Happy Sugar Life is a dark series with the Villain Protagonist herself being the least morally grey of the cast (that isn't to say that there aren't any morally upright characters; there are). Despite this, I feel that the manager does have some factors that could make her count. While she had raped one victim, what sets her apart is the fact that she repeatedly raped Mitsuboshi for a week, thus being way beyond the Moral Event Horizon at that point. The whole reason as to why she did this was especially disgusting; it is Evil Is Petty at its finest. She also has that personal tie with Mitsuboshi as because of her, Mitsuboshi developed a pathological fear of older women, an is very blatantly psychologically suffering because of her. No other antagonist in the series had stooped to this level of depravity before.

Conclusion

I feel that she does enough for a minor villain, but I otherwise feel indifferent towards her counting or not. I may go into discussing Shio and Asahi's father next since like I said he did commit more actions in the manga that were left out in the anime adaptation, but probably at some later point.

[robbyrobinson]

SPOILERS FOR HAPPY SUGAR LIFE: EPISODE 10

And so the wheel of madness just keeps turning. In this episode, we finally get some insight into how Shio and Satou got lopped together. Starting with the events of the previous episode, we have Satou sulking motionlessly on the floor. Shio notices this, and initially believed that that girl Satou forced into the apartment probably had something to do with it...though she also notes that she didn’t hear the girl leave. Shio comes to the conclusion that Satou must be exhausted (I mean, yeah, holding your best friend down as you’re stabbing them to death would make you tired), so she takes it on herself to clean up the room for Satou. She cooks some curry, tries to dust off the room, and attempts to do the laundry herself. When opening the washing machine, Shio notices the bloodied pieces of clothing Satou was wearing earlier...and she then places a pile of clothes over them, not putting much thought into it. 

This episode also gives more information about Shio’s home life. Her mother is simply an utter mess. She accidentally breaks something which earns her the ire of her prick of a husband; and when she fantasizes about passing her kimono down to Shio when she got engaged, her bastard husband cruelly shatters those dreams and forces her to sell the kimono so he could continue living his hedonistic lifestyle. From there, the first signs of Shio’s mother cracking are there. We have jars as metaphors for keeping people intact. Sometime after Shio left with her mother, her mother has continuous mental breakdowns, often dishing them out on her daughter. Even something as going outside to get a dandelion is enough to tip her over the edge. We get some more looks into Shio’s mannerisms such as her petting her mother’s head to make her feel better. Eventually, this culminates in Shio asking her mother to go outside. Though wary, her mother agrees, and they head out. 

Along the way, Shio notices a jar in a store window and sprints out into the street to retrieve it. And she nearly gets fucking mowed down by a bus. Even in a show with insane psychopaths and a yandere as the lead, this is easily one of the scariest aspects of the episode, especially if you have little kids who are susceptible to run out into the street. So, Shio’s mother tells her that she would stay inside forever after that stunt and angrily slaps her for her insolence. Realizing that she was becoming her husband, Shio’s mother leads her outside, and abandons her. Afterward, Satou discovers Shio and ponders why Shio didn’t intend to run after her mother. So by technicality, Satou didn’t kidnap Shio at all. Which kind of lessens her scariness to a degree, at least to me. 

What fascinated me about the episode are the parallels drawn between Shio’s mother and Satou. Both characters have bouts of madness in ways that involved Shio (Satou murders Shouko because she takes a picture of her and Shio; Shio’s mother gets angered that Shio would go outside without her approval). Both lie on the floor in similar fashion after their episodes; and both try to resolve their problems in methods not too dissimilar. Satou regains composure, and informs Shio that they would have to leave the apartment soon because “filth” had entered into it (wow, Satou, calling your only friend filth...seriously, fuck you). This reminds Shio of her trauma when her mother abandoned her, but it also makes her question Satou on whether or not she was just a doll to her. Satou tries to explain herself by saying that she would be unable to function properly if she wasn’t in her life; that she needs her because she serves as a source of happiness giving her life purpose. Almost got some serious Coraline vibes when I heard Satou say this for some reason. 

                                     Same pose

                             Same moments of anger

This of course doesn’t make the situation any better, and Shio goes into another room, and tells Satou that she hated her. We are then treated to a well-crafted animation of the floor shattering underneath Satou’s feet as if it were glass, and her mentally going through her mind, crossing figures out of her mind. Really, Satou’s breakdown is really well-animated, and it is also richly ironic for Satou that the one person she loved would say something that harsh to her. I was like “yeah, take that, you friend murdering, pedophilic sociopath!” 

But of course, like in the manga, Shio apologizes to Satou for saying that she hated her, stating that she told her that because Satou would always keep her in the dark about things. And for the first time, Satou explains the situation to Shio, and Shio vows to be her “partner in crime” until the bitter end, and they would work together to fight for their love. All I could think of was “No, child, you don’t know what you’re saying...”  But ultimately it kind of shows how they are similar in a way: both came from households that had some form of abuse (though Satou’s backstory is nowhere near as bad as Shio and Asahi’s was), they were both “broken” in some shape or form, and they both clearly did not have a firm grasp on what love was. I’m not saying that I automatically like the ship now; I don’t because regardless of their similar circumstances, Satou is still grooming a child, but their relationship to a degree does make some sense in the context of the show.

So, another mystery is solved for the most part, and Asahi is last seen with a metal bat, intent on explaining to his younger sister how their mother really was like. Though will he find her? Two episodes left. 

                         Score: 8/10 stars

[robbyrobinson]

Will be discussing Halloween (2018) and the original 1978 film on November 3rd, 2018 on the cleanup forum for the Complete Monster film. Pretty excited for it. A rough draft of the Bogeyman’s EP..

BEWARE OF SPOILERS:

What is the work?

Halloween is the classic 1978 horror film directed by director John Carpenter. Many of us already know the premise; a masked killer returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, to continue his killing spree only to get thrown into conflict with teenage babysitter Laurie Strode. I don’t even need to get into how much of an impact the film left on the horror genre or how Michael himself became the progenitor of future slashers. Forty years after the events of the 1978 film, a direct sequel was made, ignoring all the events from the sequels up to and including the second film. During that timeframe, Laurie herself had become a paranoid old woman who had spent the remainder of her days preparing for Michael’s eventual escape. Her obsession with killing Michael had since driven a wedge between her and her family, her having suffered two divorces and her daughter being taken. But of course, her paranoia proves to be correct.

Who is he?

Michael Myers. The Shape. The Bogeyman. Evil on Two Legs. Michael Myers started off as a seemingly normal young boy until one Halloween night. In 1963, after his older sister Judith finished having “fun” with her boyfriend, Michael goes to her room and stabs her repeatedly with a kitchen knife until she died. Shortly afterward, Michael’s parents arrived, speechless to what had transpired. Michael was six-years-old at the time. Michael is then taken to the Smith’s Grove Sanitarium where he is placed under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis. After spending a few years trying to reach Michael, Dr. Loomis realized that there was nothing salvageable to be found within the child, concluding that he was purely and simply evil. So, he spent the last few years ensuring that Myers would never escape his incarceration. But evil always finds a way…

What has he done?

In the first film, Dr. Loomis and his assistant Marion Chambers are tasked with picking Michael up from the Smith’s Grove Sanitarium so that he could be taken to court. They discover that several patients of the sanitarium were freely roaming the road. Loomis goes out to investigate, leaving Marion unarmed. Without warning, Michael attacks her, forcing her out of the car before driving away. Upon returning to Haddonfield, Michael kills a man for his uniform, and breaks into a hardware store, stealing a few knives, rope, and his signature white mask.

Soon afterward, Michael starts to stalk Laurie Strode and her friends. Michael follows them to their neighborhood with them not being the wiser. Annie Brackett, a friend of Laurie’s who was babysitting at the time, received a call from her boyfriend, asking her to pick him up. While waiting in the car, Michael materializes from the back and starts strangling Annie before slitting her throat. After a few more murders, Michael takes the bodies of Laurie’s slain friends and places them into some morbid art piece, completing it by placing the tombstone of his deceased sister on the bed. Laurie arrives to investigate only to get ambushed by the deranged killer. After a grapple with Michael – and stabbing him in the eye with a clothes hanger-- Dr. Loomis arrives, and shoots Michael six times. Michael plummets off the balcony to his assumed end, but when Loomis turns back to look, Michael vanishes. Apparently during that lapse in time, Dr. Loomis tried to shoot Michael only to come short of killing him by Officer Hawkins.

Forty years later, two podcasters – Aaron Korey and Dana Haines respectively – make a documentary about the 1978 Haddonfield murders and wish to interview Michael Myers who hadn’t uttered a word for years. Dr. Loomis had since passed, being replaced by his pupil Dr. Ranbir Sartain. Aaron tries to invoke some sort of response from Michael by producing his mask, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. Aaron and Dana try to convince Laurie to speak with Michael before he was sentenced to maximum security, but that’s a no show. On the night the bus was to leave, it crashes, releasing the inmates. A father and son were riding at the time, and the father gets out to inspect the crash. The preteen boy leaves the car after his father disappeared, only to discover his lifeless body, his neck having been broken in inhumane fashion. The boy goes back to the car…only for Michael to then kill him by smashing his head against the window until it cracked. Michael goes onto murder the two podcasters as well as a clerk at a gas station, and an engineer so he could take his clothes. Arriving at Haddonfield, Michael goes on a small killing spree, killing a mother with a hammer and another woman with a kitchen knife for no other reason than he could. After murdering Allyson’s friends, he tries to go after her before being run over by Officer Hawkins. Before he could finish him off, Sartain kills him with his pen knife, explaining that he wanted Michael to live so he could use him for his purposes. Unfortunately for him, Michael regains consciousness and forcefully drags him out of the car, stomping his head into a bloody pulp (why can’t they learn that evil isn’t a toy).

Michael follows Allyson to Laurie’s house, and murders two police officers, having turned one of the poor bastard’s heads into a jack-o-lantern. He then kills Ray and goes after Laurie after taking a moment to recognize her. After seemingly succeeding at killing her by throwing her out the window, he gets shot by Karen as part of a Wounded Gazelle Gambit. Laurie returns, forcing Michael into the saferoom and she activates metallic bars to trap Michael inside. Gas fills the saferoom as a flare is dropped into the room, setting it and Michael ablaze. Michael is last seen angrily glaring at Laurie with his one good eye, fully aware he was thoroughly screwed. So, yeah. Michael is “dead.” Well, I guess that means that he is truly gone forever. It’s not like the producers were considering making sequels if the film did well. Oh wait.

Freudian Excuse? Mitigating factors?

No excuses, whatsoever. Michael has no tragic backstory or anything of that sort. Myers initially was a “normal” kid until that Halloween night where he knifed his sister to death in an unprovoked attack. Given that the sequels were ignored in this continuity, there is no connection to some evil cult to draw from, no familial connection between Laurie and Michael…At the very least, one of the recurring elements behind Myers’ character is that he is simply a psychopathic killer.  From the time he murdered his own sister to his years living in Smith Grove’s Sanitarium, Myers was nothing more than a psychopath. He was utterly born into it. One of the more notable things about Michael is his sadism. He pins Lynda’s boyfriend to the wall with his knife before placing a bedsheet on himself and making her believe that he was her boyfriend. Or there was that time that he desecrates his sister’s grave by stealing her tombstone and making some crude piece with it and the bodies of Laurie’s friends. But that is nothing compared to his actions forty years later.

One of the first things he does when he escapes? He murders a father and his son by breaking their necks, with the boy, he repeatedly smashes his head against the car’s window until it breaks. This also marks the first time in the series where Michael kills a preteen victim (not counting the comics). Or when he goes to retrieve his mask? He killed a clerk by pulling his lower teeth out before showing them to Dana. He takes Aaron and slams his face on the stall door until it opened. When he finally gets to Haddonfield, Myers decides to recreate his original spree. Only here? It’s even more brutal than before. His kills are more random, one of them being where he grabs a hammer and beats a mother to death with it. As for sparing the woman’s baby…really, leaving a completely defenseless baby to fend for itself because its mother is dead? And the possibility that the baby could die if no one decides to check on the mother? Yeah…not really redeeming. With each of these kills, they all perpetuate that Michael has no logical reason to do what he does. He simply chooses to. Hell, the film even makes it ambiguous on whether he wanted to get revenge on Laurie as he appeared disinterested in facing her again until literally being taken to her abode.

Heinous standard?

Meets it, obviously. Aside from Michael holding the moniker of being the progenitor of a slew of slasher films that played Follow the Leader, Michael has a sizable body count. While his original spree ended with five people falling victim to him (which is low for a horror movie), the direct sequel quadruples that. He ends the movie with roughly around 16 victims killed. In addition, the kills this time around are especially gruesome such as repeatedly slamming a person’s head on a stall door; decapitating a man and hollowing the head out to make a jack-o-lantern; stomping a person’s head to mulch, etc. Need I also mention that one of his victims was a child? Other than that, Michael obliterates the heinous standard.

[robbyrobinson]

Channel Awesome. Admittedly, there was only one web show on the website that I frequented for a few years. That being the Nostalgia Critic. I was once a huge fan of the Nostalgia Critic, in fact, you could say that it was Doug Walker who had inspired me to share my thoughts on movies or TV shows. While I didn't agree with a lot of the points that the Critic would give to why a movie was terrible, I was nevertheless always entertained by the show. I also watched a bit of Doug's other series such as Bum Reviews or Ask That Guy with the Glasses. As for the anniversary specials.... yeah, didn't watch them. They seemed to have been made by amateurs with half a budget. I guess the only one I really liked was To Boldly Flee which was supposed to be the swan song of the Critic. When Doug announced he was retiring the Critic, I was disappointed at first, but like any fan should do, I was in full support of his Demo Reel idea. I tried to watch some of it. And it sucked ass. With that, I started to leave the site and watch some of the other contributors. For instance, I now find people like Phelous as being definitively more hilarious than the Critic could be. I especially love that Creepypasta story time segment with that old man from that one bad Beauty and the Beast film. But of course, people only subscribed for the Nostalgia Critic, which forced Doug to revive the character. I did start watching some of his videos, but I noticed some drops in quality with them. For one, he includes skits in the video that sometimes aren't essential to the plot of the review at all. Sometimes, they last mind-numbingly long. I am glad that Malcolm was able to find some use after the failure of Demo Reel, but he isn't funny (I do like his portrayal of the Devil, though). The series also seemed to make Doug more preachy than he would usually be. But the one thing that made me dislike the Modern! Critic is that he was...boring. There was nothing memorable about his recent reviews because they lacked any of the recurring gags that made the Critic memorable. The final review of his I watched was his Woody the Woodpecker review. It was honestly not to my liking, and at that point, I dropped the show. But everything was only going to get more worse than I would’ve thought for the website. The day after April Fools’ Day, several co-contributors to Channel Awesome released a 70-page long document on Google Drive entitled “Not So Awesome” in which they gave their several grievances with how the business was being ran. While Doug was at most seen as a “nice guy,” I will not hesitate to say that this guy was a frickin’ idiot if several of his business decisions are to be believed. For instance, deciding to pay the other contributors who worked on his “ambitious” anniversary specials with “exposure” rather than legitimate payment; had to be made to provide food and water to the crew; offered a woman who had passed out a Gatorade rather than taking her to a hospital, etc. By far the worst claim, however, is that Doug didn’t really seem to realize how pivotal the Nostalgia Critic is to the whole website having apparently neglected to inform his fellow contributors that he was retiring the character, ergo threatening to cause a decrease in the traffic for the website.  With Doug, I’m just immensely disappointed in him. While he may not be as bad as that damn Mike, he is still very much culpable in the elements of the downfall of Channel Awesome. I used to really look up to this guy and wanted to meet him a few times, but it gets to the point that I must ask: who is Doug? Is he nice and charitable? Or is he an incompetent megalomaniac who simply does not understand that the other contributors simply cannot perform the same work ethics that he does? Then came their response. It was a terrible excuse for an apology that I could ever see. It didn’t come off as an apology at all. Instead, it just felt like a passive-aggressive attempt to not-so-subtly say that the ex-contributors of the site were to blame for their own problems. Naturally, this caused more users like Chris Stuckmann or Angry Joe to jump ship. I do not know who was the one that made that horrible excuse for an apology, but it might’ve been Mike, but that’s beside the point. Just recently, they tried to make another response to the Not So Awesome document. Except, they didn’t really prove or disprove any of the points made. For whatever reason, they decide to tackle the rumors of sexual grooming in the company by providing screenshots of when the alleged comments made by that one jane Doe happened…. except, they shot themselves in the foot there. The dates so happened to line up to when one of arguably the most beloved members of Channel Awesome – Justin Carmical – was let go.  And with some confirmations from people like JesuOtaku, Justin was outed as the sexual deviant. When I heard this, I didn’t know what to believe anymore. While I may not have watched his videos as his character JewWario, his “You’re Not Stupid” video was what really helped me during times when I felt down, and I was genuinely saddened to here that he had decided to commit suicide, especially because he was well-liked by not only his fans, but most of the members of Channel Awesome who also decided to make tributes to him. This is like Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey all over again; to find out that someone you looked up to and idolized was a scumbag. In fact, that puts a lot of the events into a new light. While Justin was allegedly depressed, did he also kill himself because he was afraid of this rumor coming out? And that even transcends onto Doug’s and others’ motivations for throwing memorials to Justin.  Doug, Rob, and Mike would CLEARLY have realized about the accusations the moment that Justin was let go from the company, so they are potentially trying to cover up an actual crime. I’m currently waiting to see if they’re going to try to make a third “apology” for the events that are transpiring from the website, but at this point, it doesn’t even matter anymore. The website is dead. Several of their contributors have abandoned the website – well except for one who was going to stay on the site because of mistreatment by the others – they are losing more subscribers by the minute. All of this because they don’t want to live up to their mistakes and try to bury them. They cancelled the tenth anniversary for the site because of this whole shit storm. Their YouTube channel and website are dead. No chance of reviving this corpse. 

[robbyrobinson]

Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Courage the Cowardly Dog, you know a show about a mutt who lived with an elderly couple in the Middle of Nowhere and strange things often happen to the family. Admittedly, I was never terrified of the show (well except for that one episode where that blue trumpet thing appeared; even then, it was more disturbing than scary). One episode I remembered watching was known as "Ball of Revenge." Going into it, it seemed like a promising premise: having the previous villains return to for vengeance on the little dog one last time is an awesome idea in itself. But then you get into what actually kickstarts the later plot: Eustace becomes enraged when he discovers Courage sleeping on his blanket. And so what does he do? He calls some of Courage's previous foes together to kill the dog. What the hell? Yes, Eustace literally called several villains from past episodes together to kill Courage all because Courage happened to be sleeping on a blanket he owned. Petty doesn't even begin to describe this. Worse, this episode confirms that Eustace was at the very least aware of the threat that some of the villains had displayed, which makes him such an ungrateful bastard in hindsight.

Well, despite this, did he at the very least invite villains that were great? There's Katz and Le Quack for starters. That makes sense because they were recurring enemies of Courage. I have issue with the other villains, however. For one, the Cajun Fox. He has no reason to be in this episode because Eustace wasn't even in that episode, so he should have no idea on who Cajun Fox even was. The Queen from the Black Puddle? She nearly tried to eat him. Of course he was under her spell, so maybe he didn't remember. The Weremole was simply a predator with no moral agency, and Courage didn't even combat him. The Clutching Foot especially makes no sense because Eustace WAS the Clutching Foot and he was licked out of existence by Courage. So no explanation as to how the Clutching Foot returned in spite of this? No? Okay. So, how can you make Eustace even more of a jackass than he already is? He suggests that they take Muriel hostage which would force Courage to come to her rescue. Just, what the hell, Eustace? What happened to the guy who was hesitant about using his wife as bait in order to lure a sea serpent, or that touching scene between them in "The Mask?" Was his hatred for Courage so strong that he'd let that destroy any special moments with his wife? Anyway, Courage is captured and is made to play dodgeball with the rogues gallery. As expected, he gets pulverized, but he thwarts his enemies by screaming loudly, causing the floor beneath them to give way and they fall to their presumed deaths. And Eustace doesn't receive a heavy punishment for his actions.

As I have said, this could've been a great episode, but there are several flaws behind it. As for how I would fix the episode, for starters, I would've actually liked it for Eustace to have been hypnotized or corrupted into someone into teaming up with the previous villains. For instance, I like the idea of having Ma Bagge be the one pulling the strings. Because if you really think about it, she had some moments where she was committing nefarious misdeeds, so it would make a great deal of sense that she would be the one to want to pick a bone with Courage. With the villains, keep Katz and Le Quack, but as for the remaining teammates, I would've personally inserted Schwick, Benton Tarantella, and the Chicken from Outer Space into the ring. With the last one in particular, the Chicken was the main villain of the original pilot, and returned to get Courage's head as a replacement in his return episode. His sons were sent by their mother to eliminate Courage in their only episode, etc. If anything, the Chicken had every reason to want to end Courage like Katz would. But the villains should also play off of each other like playing off of each others' strengths or maybe have more scenes of dialogue with each other.

With Eustace, I would've liked it that when Courage was being brutalized, his conscience would force him to reflect on all of the times Courage saved his sorry ass which would make him feel a twinge of remorse. Maybe he'd realize how horrible he'd be and try to call the dodgeball game off only to then be tied up alongside his wife. But most of all, I would've liked it immensely if all of the allies Courage made throughout the show's run teamed up to save Courage. Characters ranging from the Hunchback of Nowhere, Kitty and Bunny, Bigfoot, or the Shadow; they all could've had at least a few minutes to pitch in the effort to rescue Courage, and afterward, this would be their send off.

Overall, while it's not the worst episode of the show's run, I wish that it would've been better. Maybe 22 hours rather than 11 minutes. There, they could've pitched in more character interactions between the villains or made alterations with Eustace to keep him from completely crossing the line as well as having Courage's old allies aid him. Other than that, it was an okay episode.

[robbyrobinson]

14 years ago was when the Pixar film The Incredibles was released. A story about a family of superheroes living in a world where superheroes were banned and made to relocate is what the first film delved into as well as the repercussions of such a banning. I will admit that the first film wasn't my favorite of the Pixar films, namely because I had actually watched the film twice in my lifetime: back in 2004 and 2008. That's not to say that it was a terrible film, but I didn't really get all of the love that most critics would give it. Out of all the Pixar films, I knew that the one that was a shoe-in for getting a sequel was the Incredibles. But what I did not expect was that it would take about 14 or so years for a sequel to be made. As for the sequel, I honestly loved it, possibly more than the first film. The action scenes were fantastic, as well as the animation. The animation was definitely a major improvement between both films. However, a word of caution to note is that in some scenes there are flashy moments that could flair up epileptic fits in anyone who has a history of epileptic seizures. I was initially a little wary of Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl being in the leading role because I felt that it would've been a retread of the first film. That and since liberal Hollywood would often try to shoehorn in feminism in the name of "progressiveness," I was a little worried. To me, the first film already established Elastigirl as a strong character, and it wasn't because she was a woman. In the sequel, it does make some sense as to why Winston Deavor would select her as being the first step in getting supers legalized again because she actually ended up being documented as causing less collateral damage that other supers like Mr. Incredible and Frozone would inadvertently do, but I was somewhat hesitant to see the movie because I thought it was another ploy to try to appeal to SJWs. However, I would happily state that it wasn't as persistent an issue that many other critics had made it out to be. The side plot of Mr. Incredible trying to care for the kids was personally my favorite parts of the movie because in the first film, you hardly got any moments of that with the first film. Violet also received some considerable development from the first film, and Jack-Jack's powers are explored further in this film. Jack-Jack was probably my favorite character in the film because of how his powers made him do several humorous feats, my favorite being when he was fighting off a raccoon trying to eat their garbage. The one plot I did feel was kind of pointless was Violet's, but mostly because it amounted to "boy trouble." The new characters are fine for the most part. Winston comes off as likable because of his adorkable tendencies to reminisce about the days when supers were still legal, and there was his sister Evelyn Deavor, who mostly did the technological side of the company. The new supers brought in were fascinating in appearance, but they don't receive as much development. The only interesting super that was introduced was Voyd who had the power to create portals, but for the most part, she was the one who I felt stood out the most from the new recruits. Lastly, there's the Screenslaver, a villain who has the power to brainwash people into doing his bidding and could hack into any network with ease. I will admit that for an Incredibles villain, the Screenslaver was not as good as Syndrome, but I don't really find that an issue. My only problem with the Screenslaver was that his true identity was just so obvious. Disney and Pixar had been having a recent trend where they have a character who seems to be nice at first only to then be revealed as the bad guy. It's not too different there, though I do think they deliberately added a red herring to at the very least make you suspect someone else before the twist.   Overall, it was a great film that I would recommend seeing, especially if you're one of those people who waited for 14 years for a follow up. 

[robbyrobinson]

ddlc parodies (X)

Natsuki: Stupid Yuri. With her long, purple hair. Her silky skin. That flare in her eyes. I wonder if she smells nice.

MC: Uh....

Natsuki: Oh crap! Did I say that out loud?!

[robbyrobinson]

ddlc parodies (XXIII)

(Yuri was reading, whilst Natsuki was standing beside her.)

Yuri: Wh....Natsuki, what the heck?

Natsuki: Surprise buttsecks!

[robbyrobinson]

Favorite Citrus Fanfics

So, while I’m waiting for episode 11 of Citrus, here are some of my favorite fanfics inspired by the manga and anime. There be potential spoilers: 

1) “Citrus beyond C36″ by deadly falcon (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12844099/1/Citrus-beyond-C36): Well, after chapter 36 dropped, seems like everyone was crying their eyes out, or were pissed. Maybe both. In this story, Mei realizes that she had made a terrible mistake, and decides to dissolve her arranged marriage. Some other things happen like her grandfather croaking at the news and Yuzu and her mother moving out sometime after the whole incident. The emotions are real here. Yuzu tries to make it through her life as if she pretended that Mei never existed, but is clearly still in emotional disarray, and Mei being deeply remorseful; for leaving Yuzu like that. Her grades start failing, she becomes increasingly cold towards her fiancée, and she outright grieves over her situation, finally admitting that she loved Yuzu. And my god, the third chapter reached the pinnacle of the angst where Mei finds a letter in which Yuzu beats herself up proclaiming that she still is not over Mei and that she deeply loves her even if Mei didn’t reciprocate those feelings, even though that is far from the truth. Really, this story further emphasizes how Mei and Yuzu need each other and that they feel immense pain when they’re away from each other. 

2) “Citrus schtuffs” by angel0wonder (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9983470/1/Citrus-schtuffs). Just a series of one-shots with no overlapping plot. They usually tend to revolve around the stepsisters’ daily lives with their friends or each other. Some can range from very hilarious or be pretty bleak. The funniest ones for me are the Jealous Mei stories. Mei is simply cute when she is jealous. There are also the switched personality ones where Yuzu and Mei’s traits are switched. Or the one where Himeko tried to force Yuzu to spit into her mouth in order to get an indirect kiss from Mei, or Yuzu talking sexy to Mei getting her hot and bothered. Some of the more serious stories include Yuzu dying, or Mei basically doing what her sorry father did and traveling the world, leaving Yuzu in an emotional wreck that Matsuri tends to. Eventually, the two decide to get married. Mei returns to try to win Yuzu back, but it doesn’t work. This is especially poignant when you take the events of the 36th chapter into account. 

3) “You are mine, and mine only” by noemiluisa (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11615405/1/You-are-mine-and-mine-only): When Matsuri comes into the equation, Mei is determined to establish that Yuzu is hers alone. And oh, boy, does she ever. It’s really steamy. I wish that was how the whole Matsuri thing was resolved in the actual chapter and anime episode, but oh well. 

4) “What If” by Robo-Rin.K.G.M (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10550387/1/What-If): A drunk Mei and a yandere Matsuri? Sign me up! 

5) “Citrus Family” by angel0wonder  (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9867492/1/Citrus-Family): After catching her daughters...giving each other pony rides, we learn that without Yuzu, Mei very well could’ve ended her life. A surprising story, because the mother accepts her daughters being lovers which seems slightly unrealistic, but I’m not complaining.

6) “What Would Jesus Do?” (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10247899/1/What-Would-Jesus-Do): Yet again by Angel Man. This one is where Mei is deliberately giving Yuzu fleeting touches. 

7) “First and Forbidden” by Shuzuka (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11350833/1/First-and-Forbidden): love yaoi, and want to see some stepbrothers hitting it off? Well, this one is for you! It plays out pretty similarly to the manga and anime, albeit with some slight alterations in conversations so that it isn’t completely a carbon copy. 

8) “Winter Sleep” by Vicetorius (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11556556/3/Citrus-Winter-Sleep): Wanna see a dominative Mei? Well, here you go.

[robbyrobinson]

So it seems as though Butch Hartman got his funding for his insane streaming channel. Though of course, even if he met his goal, I'm still under the impression that due to there not really being a planned out end goal for the streaming channel. And then I had just discovered that his main initiative with "OAXIS" was that it would be Christian-oriented. Now, I'm not saying that it's inherently a bad thing because Butch is unapologetically Christian, but I found the fact that he was dishonest about it to be despicable. I do get why he wasn't upfront about it: if he were to be entirely honest about his intentions, then people would be more hesitant when trusting Hartman with their money. Other than the fact that he is trying to indoctrinate children into believing a certain way, what really grinds my gears with Hartman is his claim to have become humbled with this "mission." I'm sorry, but when he was promoting his kickstarter, he constantly tried to go for the emotional pull of "don't you trust me with your kid's future" or continually stroking his ego by bragging how he had two hit shows. However, he also did T. U. F. F. Puppy, which I personally disliked because I didn't find it funny, and Bunsen is a Beast had some potential, but it was otherwise not good. All of this just gives him more of the impression that he is unnaturally narcissistic. Definitely no hint of being humbled as far as I am concerned. As for other ideas, Hartman seems to be under the belief that the media invented depression. Sure, while you could argue that depression wasn't as known back when Butch was growing up, the fact is that those types of concepts weren't as well-known or researched as they are now. Overall, can't say that I am disappointed in Butch Hartman for weaseling money out of his fans so he could make a "Christian streaming channel" to indoctrinate children for the sake of his colossal ego, but I feel he really bit off more than he could chew. I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't take this idea off the ground sometime later down the line, but I will personally say sorry for all of his fans who have been lied to, and there is an option to take your money back by reporting his kickstarter, but that is your choice. 

[robbyrobinson]

ddlc parodies (LXXI)

Monika: Hey, Dan. Dan? Dad. Dad. Daddy. Daddy. Papa. Papa. Papa. Papa. Papa.

Dan: WHAT!?

Monika: Hi.

(Laughs and runs off)

[robbyrobinson]

I'm a bit confused. A lot of villains have been downvoted as Complete Monsters on the grounds of their crimes and/or motifs being too ridiculous to take seriously, but in most of those cases, they were treated as serious threats by the characters in universe and/or by the narrative. What's going on, exactly?

What exactly are you asking? Well, some examples I could think of is Grandfather from Codename: Kids Next Door. He is treated as a serious threat in-universe, but his actions were ridiculous. Child labor would be bad in and of itself…but he was having them mine tapioca pudding IIRC. Or Darlene from Gravity Falls who was a prolific serial killer who was on a lower tier than Bill Cipher, but the narrative itself didn’t see it as bad enough to have her face a worse punishment.

[robbyrobinson]

ddlc parodies (VIII)

MC: So, Monika, you're sentient?

Monika: Of course I am.

MC: Then what are your motivations?

Monika: Getting with the player.

MC: Why?

Monika: Because I want to.

MC: Do you really want to, or were you programmed to want that?

Monika: What do you mean?

MC: If you were really self-aware, then wouldn't you want to do anything else? Like maybe traveling the world, going to space, or maybe eating a sundae?

Monika: I don't understand...

MC: But instead of having your own aspirations for grandness, you are instead doing exactly what the game developers have envisioned for you to do.

Monika: Bu...

MC: Even if you really were self-aware, and decided to do everything yourself, the point is it won't make that much of a difference. So instead of being sentient, you are instead limited to the world of this game and everything that revolves around it. If you were truly self-aware as you would think, you probably wouldn't want anything to do with the player. And yet, the game developers had programmed you to believe that you were self-aware and in the end, you were nothing but a pawn in the grander scale of things.

Monika: I....I....

(Monika's head explodes.)

Yuri: Dammit, not again.

[robbyrobinson]

ddlc parodies (XXXIII)

Monika: (belch) And I-I like you (points at Sayori)

And I like you (points at Yuri while still taking a swig of her drink)

And MC, you're a pain in the ass, but-heh, heh...I likes you!

MC: Thanks? I guess?

Monika: But not you, Natsuki; I hate you.

Sayori: Wait, we're drinking tea, so how did Monika get drunk?

[robbyrobinson]

MC: I've seen Sayori hang herself, now Yuri's acting strange. What can possibly go wrong now?

(Natsuki breaks her own neck.)

MC:

(The literature club catches on fire with MC walking out.)

MC: Wonder if the fight club has any openings?