#i know this is randomly generated but. it is far funnier to imagine that my love of regency romance novels has led to this.

[tortoisesshells]

this is, hands down, the funniest possible spambot follower.

[an-eldritch-peredhel]

crack headcanon: Cirdan is Ulmo. Evidence: idk they seem pretty similar personality-wise? They're both usually depicted with beards? They like the ocean a lot? Also Nówë can be translated as idea/imagined person which is a cool name but also one that's very apt to blurt out when you really hadn't thought this far ahead and "Oh, elves usually have more than one name? Of course of course I'm just kidding around (thank Eru) call me Cirdan. Please."

Where could you go with this? Well personally I think it would be very funny if it's like an open secret in the Falas- yep that's our Lord Cirdan, try not to make him mad if you plan to go sailing tomorrow- no reason in particular. Yeah he gets a lot of messages from Lord Ulmo to pass on- he's very close to him. Yes he's chatting with some fish- he just does that sometimes. Even funnier is if the Valar have no idea that one of the Aratar is chilling in Middle Earth building ships and making sure all the sailing elves stay as safe as possible. Also: Celebrimbor sends him Narya and he's immediately like "Mmm Nope I literally Cannot Ethically Keep This also it's the fire ring??" and passes it off to Gandalf as soon as possible.

On the other hand you could make it more angsty- with Ulmo never abandoning the elves who didn't go to Valinor, doing even more than in canon as he creates the persona of Cirdan and just. Does His Best, loophole-ing through the non-interference mandate. Specifically painful in the Sirion era- when Turgon sends his ships and even if Ulmo was allowed to let them cross the sea they still wouldn't make it past the Pelori. I do think he snatches all the sailors (save Voronwe) up and puts them in stasis until Earendil makes it through and he's like "Thank Eru" and spits them all up in Valinor to general disarray.

Another benefit- the sheer juicy potential of Tuor (and Voronwe)-Ulmo/Cirdan interactions post tFoG, the pure vibes of Earendil's (sea-lover/friend) friendly mentor-student relationship with Cirdan and his favor from Ulmo being secretly one and the same, Elwing growing up learning from the Vala who would help save her life (I feel like she'd know. She might not know but she'd Know.)

...Honestly this has a lot more potential than I expected when my brain randomly spit this at me. Anyone else have ideas to add to this?

[dramavixen]

watch this! – dear diary

This might be the first time that the lack of recognition for a TV show has made me sad. And there isn’t enough time in the world to be sad over this. Hence, this one time, I will surrender my wise principle of reserving judgment until a drama ends so that I may recommend this gem – Dear Diary (我的巴比伦恋人). Treat it as a midterm review!

If this drama betrays me with a drop in writing quality during the second half, then...well, I’ll be even more sad, but I’ll also return to this post and let you know riiiiiight here: it’s a winner, fam. Uh. Wish we didn’t have censorship laws, though...

As per usual, no spoilers are included in this post!

What is it?

A jaded career woman suddenly meets a stranger—key point: dressed as an ancient Babylonian—at her 24th birthday party, who abruptly professes his undying love for her. Turns out that this stranger is a prince, a character that she created in a story twelve years ago. Yes: think of those tales that you wove as an adolescent, and imagine meeting someone who emerged from those pages and spits out all that elementary dialogue like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Oh. Please. No.

Dear Diary initially comes off as a silly romcom with bizarre humor. Also, it’s native title translates to “My Babylonian Lover.” Yeah, we’ve heard a lot of generic, cheesy names like that before, haven’t we? Don’t be fooled, though. This drama is not only hysterically funny, but also a refreshingly creative and down-to-earth experience. To encapsulate: it’s quality.

Why watch?

Build abs with your laughter – there’s not really a way for a show with such a setup to be boring. It’s somewhat of a cross between Enchanted and The Romance of Tiger and Rose, in which the clash between a cliche storybook world and mundane reality produces a humorous culture shock effect. Yet, it somehow manages to be even funnier than you’d expect; because it’s not just any story come to life. It’s a story written by a twelve-year-old. One without any class or consideration of reason, but sufficiently imaginative and cringeworthy to generate a real impact on you. None of the jokes are cheap or low-effort, and their deliveries are also spot-on. And even better if you have an understanding of certain aspects of Chinese culture: some of these gags are sure to hit you like a truck and send you flying. Sometimes, during my work day, I’ll be minding my own business when my brain will randomly conjure up a segment from this show and I’ll start snickering. Right there, in front of the printer; in front of all my coworkers. So it’s probably responsible of me to warn you that the humor may have lasting side effects.

Let’s get real – for a show that appears so far departed from reality, it does an amazing job at portraying the struggle of young people in discovering their own self-worth. So much so that I feel a poignant, personal connection to the story. The basis is wild, but it ties back to the main character’s childhood, and how the story she wrote was a source of both comfort and trauma. While the fantasy elements give us entertainment, they’re also utilized as metaphors for this cruel world of ours. At certain points, you’ll realize that the exchanges between characters incorporate a scary amount of meaning. It’s not every day that you encounter a drama that will heal you to this extent: it will make you laugh until you’re out of breath, and then empathize with your exhaustion.

Character inception – the characters of the female lead’s story? Umm...let’s just leave it at “cheesy.” But they quickly grow to be just as human as their 3D companions, and are equally—if not more—endearing. None of this drama’s characters fit into standard archetypes, and each one of them is the main subject of their own story. There isn’t a single character that’s “just a side character,” nor is there a single pairing that’s “just a side couple.” The individuality of each, paired with actors that have impeccable understanding of their roles, makes it so easy to marathon this show because nothing is filler content. You’ll inhale episode after episode, deeply invested in what will happen to every single person on the screen before you even realize that you care.

“Fantasy” does not mean there are no rules – sorry to the writers, but I wasn’t expecting this show to be intelligent in any capacity. In my defense, is it my fault for having low expectations when so many TV shows are just...really dumb? But it doesn’t take long for you to discover that this show is a thoughtful one: imagine, the writers decide to use logic to develop the story. That’s not to say that the story is perfect. Given the short length of each episode (30 minutes a pop), the progression sometimes feels inelegant and clunky. However, the drama still provides explanations for phenomena that could have easily been passed off as “fantastical things happening however they feel like happening, because none of it is real to begin with anyway.” Ugh...I’m so touched right now. Both as a whole and in its parts, you can tell how much love went into this show’s every moment.

The final conclusion is: watchable. Better than watchable. It’s put me under a spell, I tell you. Maybe a prince will come and awaken me from it. Wait, no. Uh. No, I take that back. I’ll just watch the drama.

[book-o-scams]

'Sorry Wrong Ed' Alternate Ending Storyboard Sequence

Check out Al Kang's Ed, Edd n Eddy portfolio!

Al Kang worked on the show during seasons 3-4 and had roles on the storyboard and prop teams apparently. (IMDb says he was credited as Al Choi at the time, but it also says he worked on season 1 episodes, which doesn't line up with the timeline he mentioned.. anyway.)

I discovered his portfolio a few months ago after seeing fandom discussion of the alternate 'Sorry Wrong Ed' ending. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few other treats as well! But yes, I even sorta liked what I learned about 'Sorry Wrong Ed' in the process... (I threw in a little analysis comparing the two endings at the bottom)

I noticed Al seemed to mix up the order on these, so I thought I'd try my best to figure out the right order. This was the most confusing one for me to try and figure out the order of since almost all 8 pages were out of order. I think I finally figured out what's going on in the original ending.

So this alternate ending starts at an unknown point with Eddy flat on the ground, presumably injured, picking himself back up. At this point in the final cut of the episode, Eddy has just been squashed by a tree, but this seems more like a different injury, and he's not even retaining his injuries from the truck scene... The scenes with Jonny and Plank from the final cut of the episode seem to not exist at all here, Jonny and Plank don't appear in this sequence.

Anyway, Eddy picks himself up in the middle of an on-going scene, sees Jimmy drop a coin in a jar for Ed, who has inexplicably turned the cursed phone into a scam on his own. Edd is glaring at the off-screen kids, who have somehow learned about this phone and are excited to kill Eddy with it.

Eddy: "Jimmy! No!"

Jimmy answers the phone: "Hello?"

Ed: "HA HA HA"

Edd: "You people don't seriously believe--"

Then we sync up with gags that did happen in the ending of Sorry Wrong Ed, with context that makes its tone a little more sadistic than random. Jimmy's paid phonecall drops the sandbox on Eddy.

This page has the most skeletal dialogue...

Kev: "Yes." (I think he's meant to be fist pumping because Eddy got hurt, more of a "Yes!")

Jimmy: "BAD LUCK EDDY PHONE." (this dialogue must have been a placeholder)

Edd: "HA HA" (sarcastic ha-ha or did Al mean to write "Ed" for this?)

Jimmy seems to offer the phone to Edd.

We sync up again with Edd's denial from the final cut of this episode, except now it actually makes sense that he's so one-track-minded, because there are people actively arguing with him and keeping him disengaged from the victim.

Edd: "There must be a cargo plane overfilled with playground supplies..."

Sarah interrupts him.

RING RING

Sarah: "Oh, that's for me."

Eddy at this point holds Ed responsible, as he should, and starts running to stop Ed or Sarah. Ed offers no explanation for his betrayal.

Eddy: "Ed! What are you doing!?"

Sarah: "Hello?"

Sarah's paid phonecall summons the hippos, the most random moment in the final cut of the episode. Note how both of these slapstick gags were storyboarded on the same generic background, seems like the lane or an empty lot, but clearly a different location than Eddy's front yard from the aired ending.

And that's all we have to go off of!

I'll put my updated opinions below the cut, but suffice it to say, I like the episode a little better now! Knowing what the ending was going to be and trying to figure out the choices that led to the ending we got, I feel more appreciative that it didn't end up a lost episode or something and less annoyed that it was 11 minutes of one joke.

I know I have a reputation for not finding slapstick funny and disliking this episode, but violence was never my only issue. Lots of episodes have lackluster slapstick that I just let wash over me. My point that never gets as much focus is that this episode never felt FINISHED to begin with. It's just a slapstick vacuum with no ending and no point, and it used to be frustrating to me not knowing for sure if my hunch was right or not that it felt like the episode just wasn't working and they had to cobble it together from the scenes that almost worked.

I am surprised to say I like the episode more now that I know that is pretty close to the truth. Judging from this peek into the episode's development, this episode seems to have reached Danny Antonucci's and/or Wootie's (the episode's lead board artist) limit for being mean-spirited with the characters without a reason. I'll still probably avoid rewatching it, but knowing the episode has no ending specifically because it's been trimmed to bare bones is somehow reassuring.

The most obvious flaw to this original ending is the lack of motivation for Ed's or the kids' actions. The kids presumably still weren't in the rest of the episode, so there's really no reason for them to be here other than reiterating the same idea from 'Your Ed Here' and 'The Good Ole Ed' that the neighborhood kids are always looking for a reason to gang up on Eddy, something that isn't really true of those characters in earlier seasons.

I think I can imagine how, on paper (in the writers' outline), this episode sounded funnier. Trying to imagine this ending as part of the whole episode, I think the script's idea of the final joke is that Ed is not satisfied with ending the tests at the point where they tried to return the phone to Rolf. I think Ed converts the curse-testing process to a scam at that point, building off of how Ed already wasn't processing Eddy's safety in anything so far, and is probably more focused on proving to Edd that curses are real (as Ed was previously in league with Evil Tim). The addition of Ed running his own tests and the kids arguing Eddy's point against Edd's while Eddy's busy, does sound more like a complete manic cartoon boiling point than the way the finished episode just petered out with Edd as the sole antagonist. But unfortunately, in visual execution, suddenly piling in so many aggressive characters and so much random violence at once, would only really result in it petering out at a higher volume.

Meanwhile Edd's characterization is made much more structurally sound in the original ending. He's annoyed FOR Eddy's sake, and the only reason he's not actively helping Eddy is because like 3 other characters were supposed to be arguing with him while this was happening. It seems extremely apparent to me that the cuts made to this ending were for the sake of mitigating Ed's reputation in the fandom, as well as the kids', and I think it's really unfortunate that Edd's characterization was the cost for salvaging everyone else's. I'm glad I already considered his behavior in 'Sorry Wrong Ed' non-canon, because now it feels like the reason the aired ending is so out-of-character is just because Edd is basically arguing with the ghost of the original scene. I formally forgive 'Sorry Wrong Ed'. Production turnarounds are tough and AKA did their best to not turn this into another forgotten 'Special Ed' episode that simply wasn't working.

I think ditching the original ending was ultimately the right call. It was not an exemplary episode, but I can admit it's less out of place to have a pure "vacuum of violence" story than it would've been to essentially give the kids a supernatural revenge plot like this. That would've been really weird to have to accept-- Eddy definitely wouldn't want to be friends with anyone at the end of the movie if THIS was their past. Changing it to an unaware Jonny and a questionably aware Plank being responsible, indeed, was a vibe that landed much more like standard EEnE fare. It was weird enough that the kids all saw Santa in JJJ, can you imagine if they all knew curses were real AND participated in attacking a neighbor with one??

If there was a silver lining for me the first time I saw this episode, it was that none of the kids were directly involved in Eddy's suffering. It made the questionable reality of the cursed device slightly more acceptable that only the Eds and Rolf know about the curse. If this ending had happened, I would've reacted the same, but I would've rejected its continuity even more than I do now, because it would just feel like they animated one of the DC Comics (where the kids can blow the Eds up with fireworks at the end or the Eds can randomly be crushed under an avalanche of anvils)-- the art could end up gorgeous but the characterizations don't exactly land as real human beings, the balance this show strives for typically.

And I think that's all I wanted to say! In the end, I found myself liking 'Sorry Wrong Ed' slightly more than I used to, all thanks to this glimpse into how the animation production system morphs the outcome of a cartoon. Thanks so much to Al Kang, for sharing your art and this insight into the industry! I don't know whether he did both the gesture drawings and the revised art, but judging from his other boards I think the cleaned up art is his, and I liked seeing the poses that almost were!

[asianhappinesss]

Dear diary

Summary

24-year-old Chen Mei Ru is a member of the internet police force whose personality is withdrawn and eccentric. On her birthday, her only good friend Jiang Hui Zhen plans an extravagant party for her. That night, a man with the appearance of a Babylonian approaches her – he calls himself a prince, one who is born for her. Chen Mei Ru believes it to be a joke, until this “prince” utters his name… Chen Mei Ru suddenly recalls the unbearable memories of her childhood: the handsome and remarkable prince; the gorgeous love rival, a princess with the power to control wind and rain; the prince’s best friend, an astronomically wealthy man. All of them were characters in a diary that she wrote when she was 12 years old. The diary’s plot was childish and cliched. Now that this group of three people has suddenly appeared in her life, could it be…these “diary characters” have come to life?

Review

This might be the first time that the lack of recognition for a TV show has made me sad. And there isn’t enough time in the world to be sad over this. Hence, this one time, I will surrender my wise principle of reserving judgment until a drama ends so that I may recommend this gem – Dear Diary (我的巴比伦恋人). Treat it as a midterm review!

If this drama betrays me with a drop in writing quality during the second half, then…well, I’ll be even more sad, but I’ll also return to this post and let you know riiiiiight here: it’s a winner, fam. Uh. Wish we didn’t have censorship laws, though…

As per usual, no spoilers are included in this post!

What is it?

A jaded career woman suddenly meets a stranger—key point: dressed as an ancient Babylonian—at her 24th birthday party, who abruptly professes his undying love for her. Turns out that this stranger is a prince, a character that she created in a story twelve years ago. Yes: think of those tales that you wove as an adolescent, and imagine meeting someone who emerged from those pages and spits out all that elementary dialogue like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Oh. Please. No.

Dear Diary initially comes off as a silly romcom with bizarre humor. Also, it’s native title translates to “My Babylonian Lover.” Yeah, we’ve heard a lot of generic, cheesy names like that before, haven’t we? Don’t be fooled, though. This drama is not only hysterically funny, but also a refreshingly creative and down-to-earth experience. To encapsulate: it’s quality.

Why watch?

Build abs with your laughter - there’s not really a way for a show with such a setup to be boring. It’s somewhat of a cross between Enchanted and The Romance of Tiger and Rose, in which the clash between a cliche storybook world and mundane reality produces a humorous culture shock effect. Yet, it somehow manages to be even funnier than you’d expect; because it’s not just any story come to life.

It’s a story written by a twelve-year-old. One without any class or consideration of reason, but sufficiently imaginative and cringeworthy to generate a real impact on you. None of the jokes are cheap or low-effort, and their deliveries are also spot-on. And even better if you have an understanding of certain aspects of Chinese culture: some of these gags are sure to hit you like a truck and send you flying.

Sometimes, during my work day, I’ll be minding my own business when my brain will randomly conjure up a segment from this show and I’ll start snickering. Right there, in front of the printer; in front of all my coworkers. So it’s probably responsible of me to warn you that the humor may have lasting side effects.

Let’s get real – for a show that appears so far departed from reality, it does an amazing job at portraying the struggle of young people in discovering their own self-worth. So much so that I feel a poignant, personal connection to the story. The basis is wild, but it ties back to the main character’s childhood, and how the story she wrote was a source of both comfort and trauma.

While the fantasy elements give us entertainment, they’re also utilized as metaphors for this cruel world of ours. At certain points, you’ll realize that the exchanges between characters incorporate a scary amount of meaning. It’s not every day that you encounter a drama that will heal you to this extent: it will make you laugh until you’re out of breath, and then empathize with your exhaustion.

Character inception – the characters of the female lead’s story? Umm…let’s just leave it at “cheesy.” But they quickly grow to be just as human as their 3D companions, and are equally—if not more—endearing. None of this drama’s characters fit into standard archetypes, and each one of them is the main subject of their own story. There isn’t a single character that’s “just a side character,” nor is there a single pairing that’s “just a side couple.”

The individuality of each, paired with actors that have impeccable understanding of their roles, makes it so easy to marathon this show because nothing is filler content. You’ll inhale episode after episode, deeply invested in what will happen to every single person on the screen before you even realize that you care.

“Fantasy” does not mean there are no rules – sorry to the writers, but I wasn’t expecting this show to be intelligent in any capacity. In my defense, is it my fault for having low expectations when so many TV shows are just…really dumb? But it doesn’t take long for you to discover that this show is a thoughtful one: imagine, the writers decide to use logic to develop the story. That’s not to say that the story is perfect. Given the short length of each episode (30 minutes a pop), the progression sometimes feels inelegant and clunky.

However, the drama still provides explanations for phenomena that could have easily been passed off as “fantastical things happening however they feel like happening, because none of it is real to begin with anyway.” Ugh…I’m so touched right now. Both as a whole and in its parts, you can tell how much love went into this show’s every moment.

The final conclusion is: watchable. Better than watchable. It’s put me under a spell, I tell you. Maybe a prince will come and awaken me from it. Wait, no. Uh. No, I take that back. I’ll just watch the drama.