#i think i should make a compilation of some funny moments at some point i think that would be cool

[jestroer]

"There's never been a genuinely good Swedish band" - real Mumbo Jumbo quote, said before 10 thousand people in chat reminded him that ABBA exists

[midwesternvibes]

Alright people, it's time for more Villain Leo lore!!!

Today we are diving into Leo and Splinter's relationship!!!

Read under the cut because this got so LONG, these two have so many issues and there was so much to work with.

Alright, so it's no secret that Leo and Splinter have a....less than ideal relationship. You can see throughout all of TMNT history that Leo looks up to Splinter an insane amount, and Rise Leo is no different.

This boy looked up to Lou Jitsu his whole life, and we can often see him doing the same movements and catchphrases that Lou did. Granted, all the boys do, but Leo seems particularly attached to Lou

And we've all seen the smile comparisons, it's insane how similar his grandiose smile is to Lou Jistu's.

The point is, Leo really looks up to his dad, and we can see this in his actions and attitudes towards not only Lou Jitsu, but also Splinter in canon.

"Trust me pops!"

I mean, just look at how happy he is to be there with his dad, in his element. This episode is Leo at his peak, outsmarting everyone and predicting his family's moments to the letter.

Also, idk about you, but that smile seems incredibly genuine. That's not even a Lou Jitsu smile, that's a 100% Hamato Leonardo smile at his dad whom he looks up to so much.

And what does Splinter say to his son's ask for trust?

"I knew I should have brought Purple!"

....what.

That is his SON. His 14, maybe 15 year old son, who is asking for his father to trust him.

....and he responds by saying that he wishes he had brought his more intelligent twin brother instead, who he has already shown an implied favoritism towards in the past

"And I thought Purple was the funny one!"

"Told you guys I was the funniest."

This is a pretty harmless comment tbh, but Leo takes so much pride in his quips, one-liners and puns that this had to sting a little bit.

There's such a huge amount of content to sift through when it comes to these two, and that fact actually saddens me because I had SO MUCH to pick from when making this post, but here's some highlights.

One thing that I noticed while watching a Splinter and Leo compilation is that during the memory episode, Leo is the only one Splinter directly hits

NONE of the other three were directly hit like this is any point in the episode and yeah, this could totally be played off as a bit or just a case of wrong place, wrong time, but we'll get to my theory later, right now I'm just laying out the facts.

An important detail I'd like to point out here too is Leo's face after the first hit.

Guys, he looks HURT. Donnie and Raph are looking at him, checking that he's okay, but he is looking right past them at the shadow Splinter, who is dressed and looks just like his childhood idol, who just hit him specifically right in the face.

Not only his idol even. No, the most pure and unfiltered representation of his father, the man who's raised him his whole life.

And he just got hit in the face.

Ouch. For a kid as emotive as Leo (who I honestly think feels his emotions even more intensely than Mikey when he lets them out), this is a devastating blow. Literally.

Then, let's talk about this scene, you all knew it was coming.

"Can someone tell my son I am NOT TALKING TO HIM!!"

"You got this pops! I love you!"

Guys this scene hurts my heart. Like, once again, he can't be older than 15 at this point. Yeah he's being a badass stratigiser this whole episode, but you cannot convince me that he wasn't at least a little excited to see his dad, his HERO in action, and wearing a matching outfit as well, and show his dad, his idol and hero, exactly what he's capable of. Leo absolutely worships the ground Splinter walks on and what does his father have to say to his son"s encouragement??

"NO!"

GAHHHH like yes, Leo was kinda being a little shit this whole episode and could have clued his dad in on the plan a little bit, but honestly that could have ruined everything if Splinter had any holdbacks.

Not to mention, this is the only Leo and Splinter episode we get. Donnie gets the derby, Mikey gets the Hidden City bonding, even Raph gets the ending of the memory episode, and in each, they have a genuine moment of bonding with Splinter.

Splinter never ONCE apologized for his actions in this episode. Not once. RAPH is the one who tells Leo in this episode later on that he trusts Leo, something he's been begging Splinter for the entire time.

All of a sudden, this moment doesn't seem so out of place.....

"I love you soooo much!" "No, no you don't, I'm your least favorite!!"

This line could totally just be a throwaway line, but as it was pointed out to me by the wonderful @nardos-primetime, the alarms that the boys did for Google home have a REALLY upsetting one for Leo

Go to about 1:57 and listen to that one and just......cry.

NOW that line in "Rat Flu" makes a LOT more sense. Splinter LAUGHED at Leo when he asked if he was his favorite. LAUGHED at him.

But wait, you may ask. What about the ending? Splinter made Leo the leader, obviously he trusts him!

....yeah, just take a look at their faces here.

Donnie and Mikey are basically horrified beyond belief and in complete shock

Raph is.....blue screening, honestly

And Leo looks completely taken aback and shocked and scared and honestly, I don't blame him. There is absolutely NO precedence for Splinter to do this. He has proved time and time again that he does NOT trust Leo, he never ONCE tells Leo that he trusts him even though he asks for that trust during the entirety of "Unhappy Returns". NONE of them look happy about this new change.

You could see this as Splinter finally giving Leo a chance, but I see this a lot more as one of the more popular Fandom interpretations of Splinter wanting to give Raph a break. Raph had a huge breakdown during the finale and I don't think it's unreasonable for Splinter to have heard of that and decide that his beloved eldest needed a chance to recover.

Who better to pass this burden on to than his least favorite son!

We also see in the movie that this shift in power dynamics really doesn't do much other than create a lot of interpersonal conflict between Leo and Raph, something Splinter does absolutely nothing to help out with, other than telling them to quiet down.

Now that we have all of our evidence (and I put more work into getting evidence for this than for the English project I'm supposed to be doing right now can I just cite this as a source for me being capable of gathering evidence???) we can actually get into the analysis of how this all would affect him.

First of all, I mentioned that I would discuss the repercussions of the memory episode. This analysis is more for Splinter, but I feel like it's still important. We've seen time and time again that Leo is very similar to how Splinter was as a young teen in both looks and attitude. If Splinter truly resents his younger self and how he acted, it would make a lot of sense for him to also subconsciously resent his son who acts a lot like himself at that age. This would cause him to lash out at Leo in his subconscious, the one place where his true thoughts and feelings are on full display.

I just wanna point out his face again here, Leo looks so hurt. He definitely already knows that he's not anywhere near Splinter's favorites at this point, but it still hurts him to see that get confirmed.

This brings me to my next point of Leo's psyche. He is a very confident, witty, smart teenager, but he's still just that. A teenager. He's anxious, insecure, and very self-reliant. He looks to others for praise often and rarely receives it, usually having to hype himself up. His relationship with Splinter only emphasizes these qualities about him and makes Leo look so much worse in Splinter's eyes because his son is just a modern-day representation of his past self.

Now let's put this into perspective of Leo's decent into villainy.

If Leo is hurting and under the impression that his brothers are maybe starting to dislike him, even hate him, adding Splinter on to this can only make it worse.

Maybe he goes to his dad for tips on how to lead when he feels like he can't talk to Raph anymore and needs his father's advice.

Maybe he sets up a dinner for him and Splinter to just chat and bond instead of sitting at the dinner table with another one of Mikey's meals that he feels too sick with anxiety from his little brother's disappointed looks to eat.

Maybe he goes to his father crying from another nightmare after not feeling welcomed in Donnie's lab anymore after they fought for an hour the day before.

And maybe, just maybe, Splinter waves him off every time.

Forgets.

Laughs at him.

I mean, this is a kid who relys on others to build him up, to praise him and love him because after all....

Who is he without his family?

Maybe it's time to find out.

First // Previous // Next

Link to an AMAZING ficlet by the FANTASTIC @beetleviolet

[rosemarysage]

Hello everybody! I’m trying to compile all the information we got about Onyx storm so it's easier to find. So below I have written everything Rebecca has said at recent events that I think could be relevant to OS or the next books. I left out the stuff I didn’t think was relevant like the T.V. show and personal questions about Rebecca. The links are at the bottom. The first two are from an audio recording. Many thanks to Tumblr user Skyfallscotland for posting the audio. I haven’t been able to find recordings for the Perth show and some of the other dates from these so if you have any information from them please let me know and I can update the post. I intend to add the older interviews later but I wanted to get this one up because we got lots of juicy details from the panels.

Fourth wing and iron flame spoilers

Sydney panel 6/22/24 Saturday

She has deviated from the Synopsis she made for the series

She knows what the last scene of the series will be

We will see more of the world in OS and the following books. The map is representative of what Violet knows so it will expand as Violet learns more.

Jack Barlowe is around and serves a purpose. He likely won’t be a main character. Rebecca likes bad characters to have a reason for doing bad things. Jack has always wanted power.

The interviewer asked her not to do a redemption arc for Jack and Rebecca said “Noted”

Dain represents the love you thought you wanted when you were younger

When Dain says, “If you had just told me none of this would have happened” in the interrogation chamber he’s not just talking about the interrogation but also Liam’s death and everything else.

Violet is completely disconnected from her magic in the interrogation chamber. She can’t reach out to her dragons or Xaden. Rebecca said that Violet's mind summoned Liam because he was her protector.

The interrogation scene ending with Dain and Xaden was the driving point of the writing process. There is a scene in OS that elicits similar emotions and Rebecca said we aren’t going to like it

Q&A

Jack likely won’t have a romantic relationship. He’s also probably not “the real enemies to lovers arc”

Garrick's signet is in book three

A rider doesn’t necessarily have the same traits as their dragon's color, sometimes they have the opposite and need their dragon to counter them. Brennan is a tactician and needs unpredictably and Imogen is a wild card. The dragon rider bond is kind of like a marriage.

Her editor got her to add Andarna. She is there to balance Tairns' massive power.

Someone asked if we would hear more about the first six and Andarna and she said “Maybe” is a funny voice

Violet’s dad is not Malek.

Sgaeyl is pissed at Xaden and is not speaking to him at the moment. She also mentioned the bond between them.

Someone accidentally asked if Xaden dated the prince instead of Violet. After they figured that out she said, “I think you should read the third book”

Sydney panel 6/24/24 Monday

She deviated from the plan for OS concerning a character's death.

Jack is an example of the hunger for power and what happens when you aren’t selected for the power you think you deserve

She expected us to figure out the second signet. Her editor asked her if it needed another line to make it clear and she said no they would get it.

The Taylor songs that describe OS are Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me and So It Goes.

Someone asked,” Have you considered doing a prequel on the first six or how the empyrean came about or will this be revealed in further books?” and she skipped it

Melbourne 6/25/24

The interviewer asked, “Do we already have a reference to Onyx that will reveal the title's meaning to us” Rebecca passed

The interviewer asked if we would get another POV from Xaden or anyone else and Rebecca said that she has established a record of showing a little bit of what Xaden is thinking.

She that we have already learned Violet's second signet

The interview asked if Garrick would realize Imogen is into him and Rebecca asked what makes us think he doesn’t know

When asked if we would learn more about Father Sorrengails research about feathertails she said “Maybe” again in a funny voice

Onyx Storm is very Rep coded. She listened to So it Goes a lot while writing OS.

In the interrogation scene, she is cut off from her magic so her mind “pulls” someone who protected her

The interviewer asked if Xaden and Sgaeyl were still bonded and she said, “Next time on fourth wing”

She was asked if Xaden and Violet are endgame and she passed and then said “I write romances”

Her favorite thing about Violet in OS is that she has one goal and she doesn’t care what stands in her way.

Seattle March

Sgaeyl is pissed and not speaking to Xaden

Xaden won’t get more POVs until he quits keeping secrets. His problems with Sgaeyl will be explored externally. The interviewer said that Xaden keeps secrets about things other an Aretia and Rebecca said, “Naturally”. Violet is way better at keeping secrets in OS. She’s in her reputation era.

A lot of things were set up in Fourth Wing that didn’t come into effect in Iron Flame that will in the upcoming books.

We should expect about the same amount of Xaden’s POVs in future books, namely end chapters and bonus chapters.

Rebecca said, “There is a correlation between less and less dragons bonding  and more and more dragons saying what we are doing is wrong”

We will learn Violet’s father's name and more about him.

Xaden’s mom’s story will come up in later books.

The other three quadrants can drop out or change quadrants. Only the riders don’t allow this.

Miscellaneous

Rebecca said in an Instagram comment that she wrote a line referencing Xaden and the boys moving Violet’s armoire in OS.

Links

Sydney

https://www.tumblr.com/skyfallscotland/754271162361577472/it-took-me-far-too-long-to-realise-i-could-just

Melbourne 6/25

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8FrFupBTVgY&pp=ygUOcmViZWNjYSB5YXJyb3M%3D

Seattle March

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v0yTEZBtpVQ&t=6s&pp=ygUOcmViZWNjYSB5YXJyb3M%3D

[wendytestabrat]

Should Kyman be canonized or just kept the way things are with their weird relationship? XD

ok this is a rlly good question. i personally would love to see it canon bc i have absolutely no life and i ship two animated 4th graders together but i acknowledge the fact that the majority of south park fans don’t give a shit abt ships and only watch the show for the comedy LOL. so yeah i can see how them making kyman canon would piss off A LOT of people or ruin the show for them (and canonizing pretty much any ship between the four boys) so if it doesn’t happen it’s not the end of the world for me. however, i do feel like there are some things they could do to make kyman happen that would be satisfying for ALL the fans so it won’t seem like something that comes completely out of nowhere. first of all south park is a COMEDY and i’ve talked abt betore how kyman works 100x better than any other fanon ship bc it’s funny af and works with the tone of the show. so yeah they would rlly have to crank up the comedy on it to the max so it’s not something that’s taken too seriously. i mean i do feel they should give us serious moments of C&K here and there to show some character growth and development between the two characters and their bond, but yeah the primary focus of a sitcom is to be funny with only occasional serious/emotional moments here and there. BUT ALSO i feel like matt & trey would need to amp up the obviousness in the hints we’re getting. even tho the kyman shit seems rlly obvious to the testies bc we’ve overly dissected it, i feel like most people don’t notice this shit bc the hints are so damn subtle lol. even tho there are some people who have said that people they know irl who are just casual viewers notice the kyman shit but i feel like the majority of people don’t care and aren’t looking too much into it. bc yeah if matt & trey make it more clear that kyman is a thing and cartman and kyle like each other and continue giving us hints and foreshadowing, except this time they make it more noticeable among casual fans, then i feel like more people might root for it and it’ll feel earned when it does happen. i feel like it would need to be more like the gay hints abt stewie in family guy which are soooo obvious to literally everyone it’s just a known canon fact at this point that stewie is gay LOL (and there’s even compilations on youtube of it). however, the gay shit with cartman is def more debatable and more subtle so a lot of people don’t notice or care. so yeah i think if they’re rlly serious abt making kyman canon matt & trey need to stop pussying around and make it a little more clear and tackle it head on. the show def has done a good job developing their relationship throughout the years and the ship gets more and more intense each season, so yeah all they need to do is keep up the good work with that while sprinkling in a little more gayness and cranking up the obviousness and intensity of their romantic tension.

[meraki-yao]

TN Candies Part 4

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

As promised, a new candies post to get through the week! This time it’s much less shippy and a little more of a compilation of just some generally sweet moments between them, so I’ll forgo my disclaimers this time, but there are a few more deliberate points at the last section.

Nick’s Affection Towards Taylor

1, In the Cinemagna Interview that was shot during RWRB filming and released in August, a few days before the movie, Nick was asked about working with Taylor, and right as he started to comment on Taylor as a person (as opposed to just working with him), he smiles very sweetly

2, In numerous interviews and editorials when asked to comment on working with Taylor/about Taylor, Nick often brings up “funny”, which implied they talk to each other quite a lot.

3, In the Variety podcast interview, when asked about his chemistry read with Taylor, babygirl straight up giggles a bit before saying they knew immediately they were gonna mates

4, His impression of Taylor in the GQ quiz is actually spot on: “What’s Up, I’m Taylor Zakhar Perez”, spreading his arms, loves to surf, that’s really how Taylor is: Nick really does know Taylor

5, In the recent Hits Radio interview, the question was what is something about Taylor that the public doesn’t know; Nick proceeded to praise Taylor as a person, as opposed to sharing like one of Taylor’s quirks or commenting on working with Taylor: They have a personal connection.

6, Nick tends to be a little more hyper than usual when with Taylor, as seen most prominently in the UK VS US draw-off video

Book Signing War (this isn’t even necessarily candy it’s just a fun thing that’s going on)

1, During the Vogue World event last September, Taylor originally wasn’t gonna sign anything, but saw the books and signed them anyways, quite happily so.

2, Starting from his China trip, Taylor started drawing moustaches on Henry/Nick’s face, starting with the Firstprince PR photo. I don’t think he’s ever missed a chance since lmao

3, During Milan, Nick’s first public event since Taylor started this little war, he first refers to Henry and Alex as “I” and “Taylor”, then said he’s been hearing that Taylor’s been signing on his face, which implies Taylor pops up on his social media radar. Babygirl retaliates by signing over Alex’s face (not even Taylor, it’s book Alex, he really just sees firstprince as them)

4, When the book in 3 was given to Taylor and the fan explained what Nick did, he, with a ???? (like seriously I don’t know how to describe that fucking tone) voice said “Oh he noticed”, and it totally might be a lighting/angle thing but if you look closely at that video, it might seem like he started blushing a little after the fan mentioned Nick

5, During the M&G red carpet, Nick offered to sign a fan’s firstprince card before they could ask him, and immediately went “Taylor’s face is getting signed”

SAG-PGA-Spirit Award Weekend

1, (This one was exclusively observed by the Chinese fans so kind of tin hat, take it with a pinch of salt) When asked about working with Nick on the SAG carpet, Taylor’s immediate reaction is somehow exactly the same as Alex’s after “I think we should make love tonight”: “Oh”, enlarged pupils, quick successive blinks, the first sentence that follow is said with a slight frown (you get the implication, but truthfully imo it’s just that Alex and Taylor share the same shock reaction)

2, For the Spirit Awards, Taylor worn a RED suit with a WHITE undershirt to a BLUE carpet, and WORN A FUCKING PINKIE RING

3, A bit more on the Cartier Watch from part 1: Taylor wore it to the Spirit Award, and Nick wore it to the Vanity event a few days ago. Now here’s where what I read on Weibo and what I read here are in conflict, for simplicity’s sake this time I’ll just directly translate what’s on Weibo for now :

“Oh, I’m so touched. But I saw his stylist (Jason Bolden) tagged Cartier, could this be a partnership with the brand?”

“Taylor could have chosen to just wear the necklace or wear another Cartier watch from a different series, but he worn this one which matches with Nick’s, it has to be a deliberate choice”

“Nope! All the brand for his other accessories were tagged in his(Jason Bolden’s) post, he even tagged Cartier for the necklace, but not for the watch. Cartier only reposted it in their IG story, If it’s an actual collaboration with a brank, he would deliberate pose to show off the watch like he did with LV and TAG Heur, but on the red carpet he hid his Cartier watch, the two photos are from the Vogue photographer”

“Also the celebrity themselves, the brand, and the stylist, all parties would deliberately wear different pieces from the same brand, especially for relatively less pricey watches like the Cartier Tank series (the watch in question). On top of that, they know that Nick’s been wearing this watch for these past couple of months, the night of the Academy Museum Gala where Nick and Taylor stuck by each other’s side the whole night, Nick wore this Cartier watch. Also if it’s an event or partnership with the brand, Taylor wouldn’t have to hide it ”

That’s it for part 4! I think from now on I’ll try to post a candy post every Sunday night (for me). There’s a whole September timeline I need to organize (a lot happened in September but it’s very very tin hat so I’m also trying to filter through what I’m comfortable with posting and what I’m not)

Also if you sent me a candy in my inbox I read it! Thank you for it! If I haven’t posted it yet it’s because I either want to fact check some of the details or want to figure out how to respond

Tagging a couple of folks:

@lfg1986-2 @tal-vez-o-quizas @na-18dia @mylucayathoughts @androgynoustriumphclown @hopefulblizzardsublime @whattfisausername @leimons @ghostwithatophat @badhimboi88 @pippin-katz

[majorbaby]

i was going to make a video compilation but actually i think that would give MASH too much credit or make it seem like I really think this show did generally well by race and racism, plus I can't go back and edit a video if I change my mind at any point. so here's my text-based list of race moments that actually land for me, whether intentional or based on my personal interpretation.

s01e05 The Moose - which is mostly a white saviour episode but actually does do a few things right:

this moment of solidarity between Oliver and Young-Hi

in response to the Swamp Rats' indignation that anyone would sell their child into servitude, Ho-Jon explains very frankly "Well some of the locals sell their kids for money Hawkeye, they have no other means." - not to say that it's right that Young-Hi's parents did that to her, but like, they didn't sell her to get rich, they did it because they're likely living in poverty and they have other younger children to support

Young-Hi cheekily explaining in her letter to Hawkeye "heehee the nuns have no idea I'm Buddhist" she's taking them for a ride, it's great

and Young-Hi's "I am also very beautiful!"

s02e15 Officers Only

Hawkeye introducing a black enlisted man as his brother-in-law - soooo very recently, like I argued this at the mic at my last convention, we've started to rethink the use of"brother" and "sister" to refer to your union comrades has start. if your boss caught you organizing with a friend after work, you would say "oh that's just my brother/sister". arguments against this are gaining traction now because of growing awareness of non-binary people but tbh it should have never been a thing it only protects white people who can reasonably pass as siblings, if you're black or brown you're SOL (as you usually were anyway). so anyway. this is a long ass paragraph just to say that Hawkeye saying " brother-in-law" in the union episode of MASH makes me feel ways. someone was thinking about intersectionality way back then.

s02e19 The Chosen People

Sam Pak in OR at the beginning of the episode, thanking America for saving Korea "from the bottom of our bomb craters." and also just generally making jokes that actually land about the Korean language because he's the one making them, "Pish-posh? That's my mother's family name"

tbh Sam walking around like he owns the base is pretty great in general

s05e08 Dear Sigmund

Klinger: Smaha! Smaha! Potter: [to Private Habib] What'd he say? Habib: He said "Smaha! Smaha!"

If it is Arabic it's funny because Potter assumes Habib will translate and he just repeats the words in Arabic because that is what Klinger literally said. If it is gibberish it's funny because Potter assumes its Arabic and Habib gives him the gibberish. This is one of my favourite gags in the whole show and fun fact also the moment I realized Jamie Farr must be a native speaker because his accent is so natural. It's pretty cool he got to flex that.

s05e11 Hawk's Nightmare

this is just me, but I love that Hawkeye describes the people of Crabapple Cove as never changing colour, always the same "off-white" - this was a time you almost never heard white people acknowledge their whiteness, except when speaking about racism. really struck me the first time i heard it. probably my favourite thing from Hawkeye re: race and it's not intentional. I definitely prefer it to his white saviourism

s06e08 In Love and War

the exchange between Kyungsoon and Hawkeye where the extent of his naiveté is put on display, "You're being awfully practical about this" "I thought you liked that about me [list of things she had to do for survival that Hawkeye initially admired in her but is now throwing in her face]"

episode ends in Hawkeye having to accept that sometimes love is irrelevant, the circumstances are what they are (the love was there and it didn't matter, but it was there) - this imo is the only episode of MASH that even begins to touch on the realities of being a Korean civilian in the war

s08e03 Guerilla My Dreams

the gang fails to save a woman from being taken away and she will likely die, as would've probably happened irl. sometimes being on a sitcom isn't enough to save you from your fate as a prisoner of war and it was good to be reminded of that for once. it's the white saviour trope averted.

s08e08 Private Finance

I can at least appreciate that this time when someone is explaining how all sides of the war are to blame for the scourge of war, it's a young Korean girl in her own words. rest of the episode is questionable but normally such a line would go to Hawkeye.

s08e15 Yessir that's Our Baby

the Korean official biting back when Hawkeye tries to accuse him (on behalf of the country) for not recognizing mixed-race babies as Korean, stating that neither does America recognize mixed-race babies with American fathers as Americans, unlike France and the UK

s11e01 Hey Look Me Over

this episode is textually about the very specific and not uncommon experience of being desexualized as a fat, Asian-American woman - it deserves a proper episode recap/analysis with that lens and I'm planning on take a stab at it if/when I ever get around to that ep in my rewatch. these stories were not being told in mainstream media until like, five years ago. there are some the hypersexualized or fetishized Asian woman in media and usually the movie/show/comic is doing that as a selling point rather than commentary. it's unfortunate we haven't progressed much since that moment 40 years ago.

[citation needed, cannot remember the name of the episode]

while admitted a Korean doctor tells Hawkeye he wishes things were different and that he could work alongside Hawkeye and BJ and Hawkeye asks with perfect American ignorance (paraphrase), "You'd want to do that?" and he responds, "You treat the enemy, why can't I?"

And finally, Soon-Lee and Klinger in GFA, a little bit in As Time Goes By. I started writing an essay on Klinger as the romantic lead of GFA but I think I'm going to try to make it a video essay so I can include clips from the show without having to make a bunch of gifs.

But in a nutshell, Klinger gets to do stuff in GFA that the often emasculated brown man still doesn't get to do much on television. As MASH progressed we did occasionally get to see Klinger take on a more serious role, Alan Alda has spoken on trying to do that for the character rather than rehash dramatic plotlines for Hawkeye or BJ who got plenty of their own.

Having Klinger represented that way gives audiences a chance to see him more three-dimensionally. As someone who is capable of romantic love, attraction, courage and someone who might be sexually desirable to others - in a less direct way than Kellye demands of Hawkeye in Hey Look Me Over. I think the lack of subtlety in Hey Look Me Over is great because there can be no question about what that episode is supposed to do and also because it drives home that Hawkeye is so blinded by his preconceived notions of what a "desirable woman" looks and sounds like that Kellye has to scream it in his face before he realizes what he's been doing. But it's also nice to have an example that's woven into the writing and cinematography.

Normally I don't like to add these kinds of disclaimers because I value open conversation but if you're rb'ing, please be mindful of your tags. I intentionally excluded a lot of the moments where I know I'm supposed to give this show an A+ for its progressivism when it has a white person demonstrating basic human decency. That bar is just too low for me.

[romiswired]

Chris Brookes vs. Maya Yukihi (Chris Brookes Produce ~ Baka Gaijin + Friends Vol. 3)

ChocoGoth looking sick right now.

Baka Gaijin is the most unique show I can think of out there.

It's not a promotion like Gatoh Move/ChocoPro but more of a movement that in the year 2024 continues delivering consistent shows with great talents of all kinds. You may or may not like Chris Brookes, but something about his creativity can't be denied. He's the only wrestler who has understood things like wrestling merch and has made an effort to give his stuff the right aesthetic. Baka Gaijin is his most ambitious project related to the graps, and I can see why when seeing the difference in how BG's first volumes were produced compared to its newest editions.

If you can't guess by the image, this show was done in a bar, and not even in a ring. Shows like these prove the sport (and art) of wrestling can't be confined in a four-size squared circle. BG's premise not only needs an extreme amount of talent to not hit anybody watching at the front row but also the grittiness of a black mat and an almost claustrophobic space to produce a wrestling match, it's almost like its trademark at this point and the whole reason why I'm writing this.

Watching any BG show feels like you're there in Shimokitazawa because the atmosphere is unique. Wrestling companies can be "punk" all they want, but nothing screams more "punk" than doing a show for 30 people and giving your absolute best, because don't be confused, BG can be funny all you want, but it's also rough.

The role of Maya Yukihi in this one tells you all you need to know. Brookes is great, but Maya is on another level and it's insane how many strikes she hits without, you know, kicking the shit out of some girl in the front row. It's hard to get something like that, but this match has moments of silence in which Yukihi's kicks break the barrier of sound almost, making you know she's going all in.

Brookes on the other hand bumps like a motherfucker and doesn't think a second about rocking Maya if needed. One fun part about this one is when Brookes breaks a chandelier in the bar and Akki screams "You're literally going to pay for it" all while the Baka Gaijin himself tries to spike Yukihi. It's hard for wrestling to feel chaotic nowadays but BG feels like you're watching a crew of drunk people go at it because there's something inside their brains that doesn't work as well as it should, with the exception that the crew of drunk people compiles some of the best workers in the industry today.

Wrestling may be in a new golden era, but one thing that the sport should continue to look for is creativity and uniqueness, and to me, Baka Gaijin feels like the correct choice if you want to watch something different from the rest of other promotions or even other produced shows around the globe. Brookes vs. Yukihi is the perfect example of what wrestling should strive to be if given the chance, and you can bet anything you want BG will continue to be as gritty, ridiculous, and punk as it may be because, at the end of the day, art doesn't exclusively need a canvas to exist.

[metalandmagi]

I'm re-watching High School Musical the Musical The Series (again) and even though I love this silly show so much, I'm compiling a list of things I would change for my own sanity. Get ready for some of the most niche nitpicks you can imagine!

Give the poor background kid who plays Ryan in HSM during season 1 his part back. We only ever see this kid during the "Status Quo" dance. He's not even in "Bop to the Top." I love Seb, but dang it, Sharpay and Ryan are an iconic duo.😞

Figure out what to do with EJ from the beginning. He is such a good character at his core, but the writers fumbled the bag with him so many times.

Ashlyn or Seb should have gotten offered a spot at the Youth Actors Conservatory instead of Nini. You know they carried that musical, and then we could have avoided the entire YAC arc.

More Natalie Bagley (the stage manager). She's hilarious and has a good voice.

More Kaden (background guy with bleached blond hair). Idk I just like him for some reason 😅

Make Seb the Beast in season 2. Justice for Seb!!!!!

The award that they want to win in season 2 not only has a cash prize, but a scholarship too! If the wildcats won, that scholarship could have seriously changed someone's life!

Lily seems like the type of person who would let the Wildcats perform The Rose Song and let them get disqualified without telling them about the rule. Just saying...

Why are the Wildcats ordered to stop production on Beauty and the Beast for going to North High and literally not doing anything, while a North High teacher stole their property and yet doesn't get punished? Also, why do they just drop this plot point later? I don't remember seeing it get resolved.

Ditch Ashlyn's "make way for Belle" attitude at the beginning of season 3. Seriously, what's up with that? Do the writers know her at all?

WE NEVER GET TO SEE JET ACTUALLY PLAY HANS!? WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?

We never find out what Carlos was aiming to do by changing the Frozen cast list. Who did he want to play?🤔

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I didn't need Maddox and Ashlyn to get together. We could keep the arc about Ashlyn (and Big Red) discovering she's bi at camp, but I just don't feel the same chemistry as I do between her and Big Red. They're fine together; there's nothing really wrong with the ship. I just didn't like the way Ashlyn and Big Red broke up. And it felt a little like both Ashlyn and Big Red had to end up with people of the same gender to somehow "validate" the fact that they're both bi. (Yes it's a funny reveal at the end with the fake French kid revealing that he likes Big Red, but the point still stands). Again, Ashlyn and Maddox isn't a bad ship at all, I just feel like everything between these 3 could have been handled better.

Get rid of Dani is season 4. I'm sorry, but she doesn't add anything to the show (even though she gets chiller by the end). Nothing against her, she's just a nothing character.

BRING BIG RED AND SEB BACK FOR THE ENTIRE LAST SEASON! And scrap the cheating plotline. I don't have the patience for this nonsense.

I love Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara being end game (they're just like Luke and Lorelai from Gilmore Girls!!!!!), but there has to be a better reason to break up with Ricky's dad. It felt so rushed.

Where the hell were all the extras that end up in the musical when Miss Jenn needed eight people to show up to the rehearsal? The main characters ditching that important rehearsal already annoyed me, but you'd think she'd get some of the ensemble to show up. Even if they said that most of them are doing the movie, some of them could have showed up, considering how big the ensemble is in the end.

Also in season 4, they talk about Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara's first meeting, but don't we see their first meeting back in season 1? Like...isn't it completely different?

As much as I love Miss Jenn wanting to continue teaching, I feel like she should have gotten her Broadway moment, at least for a little while. She was born to play Glinda.

I need to see Emmy become Natalie Bagley's protégé. They deserve to rule the world.

We needed an Olivia cameo at the end of the series. It could have been her face-timing the Wildcats. It could have been the camera zooming out when the rest of them were singing "Born to be Brave" to have her watching the video. Something! Anything!

[leaf-kei]

Hello! Love your Time squad posts ! Canon wise: do you think Larry was in love with Tuddrussel? What about XJ5 being in love with Sheila idea ? I really love checking for canon evidences it is so fun

HI!!!! I AM SO SORRY it took me so long to answer you ;__; My bad... I wanted to wait until I could give this ask my Full attention (tbh I've had Team Fortress 2 brain worms for weeks and have been unable to focus on anything GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT).

I'm so glad you like my posts! ;w; In general, I don't think things need to be canon to be worth thinking about & exploring creatively... but buddy? Larry being in love with Tuddrussel? That is IN THE SHOW. I can't stress enough that this HAPPENS in Time Squad. I would venture to say Larry wanting a loving relationship with Tudd and Tudd not giving it to him is a reoccurring theme (along with history and slapstick comedy and. gender roles, weirdly??? tune in for THAT essay later lmao). You may have seen it already, but I compiled a bunch of my favorite TuddLarry moments in a video here! It also includes moments where Something Gay Happens On Screen no matter what characters are involved... I know it's all there for comedy, but for the most part, the gay jokes in TS don't feel like they come from a hateful place to me. Everyone gets made fun of equally in this show... it has that kind of mean-spirited early 2000s humor lol

My absolute favorite underrated TuddLarry canon moment of all time is in A Thrilla At Attila's. In Tudd's fantasy recollection of the mission, Otto and Larry look up to him as a great leader... it's VERY CUTE that Tudd's dream is to be genuinely admired by them 😭 BUT at one point, the fantasy Larry (who is inexplicably wearing a tutu) swoons over Tudd with little hearts over his head while Tudd is fighting some other guy?! THIS IS IN TUDD'S FANTASY HE WISHES THIS WOULD HAPPEN

U know what, I'm gonna take this opportunity to ramble about family commitment as a central theme of the show!!

- Otto is literally adopted by Tudd and Larry (Larry calls it adoption in Kubla Khan't), and Otto's addition to the squad forces their business-only relationship to change. Time Squad is (at least partly) about three very different characters navigating a new family dynamic formed by chance.

- They naturally fall into typical sitcom family roles: Tudd's the manchild fun dad, Larry's the homemaking strict mom, and Otto's the sweet kid who's trying to keep the peace... their personalities clash as they try to live and work and be happy together. It's significant that they're alone on the satellite they live on; with no one else from their own time period around them while they're at home, they're isolated with one another like a family unit in a suburban house. Even though they fight, they grow to love each other over time... what's that thing people say about hate and love being two sides of the same coin? I feel like Larry's love for Tudd manifests as anger a lot of the time—he gets upset whenever Tudd doesn't measure up to his ideal of a domestic partner. Is that healthy? Idk, probably not, but that's the way it is for them (at least in the two seasons that exist 👀).

- Of course, family commitments aren't always harmonious, and for these guys things are chaotic MOST of the time... but no matter what historical figures they meet or temptations they face, at the end of the day, they always come back together. They're a family, it's as simple as that. Otto doesn't need to have a logical reason to turn down George Washington's offer to adopt him in Father Figure of Our Country—no one can replace Tuddrussel, and that's it.

So tl;dr, Time Squad is about two men adopting a child and having a domestic committed relationship, and it uses that setup to tell funny stories and introduce fun conflict !?? And it's all in a cute art style AND there's HISTORY??? Cartoon Network should ABSOLUTELY bring it back and make a new season HEAR MY PLEA

—Of course, I think Tudd and Larry's relationship developing into a romantic (but still wacky) one would be a great setup for such a new season! But that's just my post-canon fantasy ;^) ... and what all my fanart and little writings are about lol

ANYWAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Edit: SHIT I forgot to mention XJ5!! I ADORE the idea they have a crush on Sheila, that's my headcanon too!! BUT instead of being a jerk like Tudd is to Larry, Sheila is only ever considerate and nice and professional and friendly to XJ5 🤲 And XJ5 is so awkward with social situations (a real Robot's Robot) that they have no idea how to approach these feelings or how to articulate them at all... they could use a few lessons in human behavior from Larry hmmm?

[faceglitchsworld]

In the 10th of July, 25 years ago, a big earthquake happened. An earthquake so strong and powerful that a mountain came out of it. Now that mountain is staring at us, only to be admired and loved.

All this huge and mighty intro to wish Happy Birthday to San! 🥳

Please, look at the collage I made for him 🥺

I know what are you asking "Teresa wtf, didn't you write birthday letters to Ateez last year wtf happened?"

Eeeeeeeh, last year, around this time, shit happened and I didn't want to write a letter for him but since I'm a completionist I wanted to remedy by writing the letter now. And also because it's been ages since I wrote a letter, I needed to practice a little 🤣

However, I suggest you to read the other letters I made for Ateez last year all in this very useful masterlist (pls don't read them, they're cringe).

Ok, did I say everything? Probably yes, so now you'll get the letter 😌

I think I should start with something very funny. Back in the day, when I was still trying to recognise Ateez's faces, San was one of the first ones that I immediately recognised. Probably his features helped a lot at the time, I don't know.

I know what you are thinking, "and? Ok, good for you but where is the funny part?". Well, the funny part is that I didn't associate his name to his face...at all.

Yes, exactly. Take some seconds to elaborate and also make fun of me for it. You're probably asking why I did this. And the answer is...I don't know? I'm a stupid fan at the end of the day. Probably at the time my mind thought that his name was not cool and I couldn't accept that someone with those recognizable and honestly cool features had such a simple name.

I wasn't used to Korean names, you can clearly see it. But don't worry, I overcame it. In fact, I call him "Sannie Sannie" now. You wonder why? Because I thought it was cuter than just saying "Sannie" once.

But anyway, apart from this funny anecdote of mine, you're probably waiting for something more. But if I tell you something more I should probably make an entire whole ass story of searching the bias in Ateez and no one wants to hear that because it's just me looking at video compilations and being unsure whether I should put two or even three people in the bias list. Those were dark times that it's better to not remember.

But jokes aside, there has been a time where I was clearly unsure about my bias list and San was a potential wrecker. It didn't help that at the time I was heavily focused on watching videos related to Wooyoung and I immediately got caught by the friendship San made with him.

Mind you, I think that his personality was also very fitting to me. I have a kind of soft spot for introverts and San was fitting a lot. The huge patient he showed towards Wooyoung was telling me a lot at the time. I love patient friends in general, they're something you don't find easily. And San surely has a lot of patience for bearing Wooyoung's chaotic nature and also Yeosang's jealousy.

I confess, I don't have the full picture because I didn't live those moments. I only heard stories about how this trio was born. I know there was some little jealousy, that probably is still there but it's just a cute rivalry right now. And I know that those three are closer than ever today. But apart from that I only heard stories. And all of these kind of confirm that San had a lot of patience dealing with a jealous friend who was afraid to lose his best friend. And not only did he bear it, he also managed to welcome him into a new, fresh circle of friends. It's something very sweet to witness.

Also, should I mention his "secret extrovert personality"? The personality that comes up in the exact moment he gets comfortable and starts bringing chaos in the room? Maybe it's not his actual personality and he should just not drink coffee at all but it's something that immediately caught my eye. After all, secret extroverts are another weakness of mine.

And last but not least, I think it's necessary to point out his caring and lovely side. The people who watched the majority of his lives will probably confirm or even use better words than mine. The way he talks with the chat, his soft voice, how he makes the entire situation comfy and lovely... it's surely something else.

Dear San, we reached the end of this letter. To be honest, I think you would have expected some praise for your dancing ability, your stage presence or how you like experimenting things. Problem is...I didn't want to. I wanted to highlight something more from you and I decided to spend all this time just to highlight your sweet personality and how caring and funny you are. It's unexpected? Yeah, but it's not a birthday letter of mine if I don't focus on unnecessary details, it's a habit of mine, hehe.

For your birthday wish, I actually have something very simple. It's actually a "recurring theme" in almost every Ateez birthday letter I made, I think that I became repetitive. But I wish you could enjoy this day resting and that your birthday will not be the only occasion to do so.

And also that you'll learn anatomy better because NO WAY you confused the hips with the butt for Sandeoki's hearts 😭 But don't worry, that's ok, no one actually learns anatomy... Unless you want to become a doctor. Or an artist.

Happy birthday, Sannie 🤍

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Cucumber Day 5 Watching Con's Filmography

(I also listened to a short story he'd been in, scroll down a bit on my page and you'll find it. For everyone who watched this and needs a refresher only on Con, someone finally posted a compilation on youtube. If you haven't seen the series, you'll probably be lost. But I'm sure its a fun out of context watch)

Summary wrote after binging the entire series in one day.

Please, Please, Please go online and check every warning for this show. Not only for the graphic hate crime but see everything they warn about. Protect yourself. This review will discuss sexual topics, nudity, and substance abuse, and age gaps.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So the show. I think it was fun, not the best tv show, and has some mixed messages, but a fun watch.

I grew up in a household/town where sex wasn't discussed. Especially queer shit. This show is very in-your-face about it and I admire the shit out of it. The friendships felt lived in. The experience of being a young queer 'hunted' by older queers was explored enough to not make Henry a complete hypocrite, sadly. But the focus was always more on Henry, even in the end, Henry still got off on the image of a 20 something during sex.

Fully noting, I did skip scenes. Some things were just a bit much for me, so I took the liberty to save peace and move on. Yet, the show does seem to balance heavy moments with joy and comedy. Hell, during a fucking funeral, some guys need to go check their dicks for hair. And you know what, I feel that if Lance were there, he wouldn't even be suprised.

I loved Freddy. Holy shit, at first, I was worried about how he'd be treated, but by the end, I was rooting for him. Obviously, the guy is just so used to being hunted for his body. This topic was brushed on with the teacher, and not really felt by the plot or the characters around him. I'm happy he felt like he could leave and just grow up as a person. I'm so happy they let the audience see a time jump where everyone turns up okay, and happy.

I'm not a queer man, but I know this shit can resonate. I've seen queer men online discuss these same points. Predatory age gaps, the pressure to be hot, aging, commitment, and communication issues in relationships...This isn't the best show for all that to be taken seriously but I'll leave that discussion to that community.

So Con's character, Cliff, was right about Henry in episode 1, and I fucking love when writers do this shit. "You always did that. Never had affairs, just obsessions." Cause in the context, yes, Henry never cheated. But he never has deep relationships; he has brief obsessions until things get too serious and he needs to move on. Hell, In episode 8, that's the conclusion Henry comes to himself. "Maybe one day I'll come to terms to it...being gay". Cause he wants intimacy but fears men and getting close to people. It's that closeness he struggles with.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The things that bugged me about the series

The entire bit about the boys playing chicken for internet attention. Again, I know this is a thing. But now a days we legitimately have children doing this stuff unknowingly for people online. Or parents unknowingly showing their children on tik tok for millions of people. I know people who were groomed, and avoided it like crazy growing up as a kid online. I cringed every time this plot point was mentioned, feeling like a kid was a second away from getting hurt. It just felt a bit much to touch on for me in this type of show. Again, they tried to have their cake and eat it too by showing Harry get a slap on the wrist, but it just didn't feel like it justified the plot line being there in the first place. Seriously, what did it add to the story besides showing Henry that maybe he should go back home? He could have done so many other things. The only funny bit is when Cliff commented how fucking weird straight people are sometimes.

Cliff says in ep 1 he had a history of going after older men when he was young, and the age gap is boggeling. Again, this could mean he only had a crush on him. But if we're going to bring up how wierd it was, then why is this and the teacher sub plot where minors brought up the only time its mentioned. Like yeah, the teacher-student situation was fucked up. How about the 30 and 40-year-olds going after people in their early 20s. "I'm horrified to discover I have standards." Fun line Cliff, yeah. But they are literally minors. Age gaps and taking advantage of younger queers is a real issue in the queer community. There should 100% be a place to talk about it. But when every 'likable' character does it without issue, then it's still a problem. Hell, this is why Freddy's plot felt so out of left field in ep 8 with Cliff and him fucking before running off. I don't know why he did it, knowing that Cliff wanted him for his body? Or maybe he just wanted comfort after that argument and knew he'd get it by having sex? I genuinely want to know other interpretations. If Freddy felt like this, it would have been more satisfying for Henry to learn his lesson and not use 20-year-old Freddy as wank material for the next 6/7 years. Also, Freddy running away from Cliff with his pants down was just funny.

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Now, wash most of that out of your head!

The fun part that we have all been waiting for-

TALKING ABOUT CLIFF COSTELLO

(Yes, Cliff is kind of a douche early on. Enjoying eyeing Freddy and praising Henry for leaving his boyfriend for a 'young boy toy'. But, as the series goes, it dies down. Cliff, pre-episode 6 was a fun jackass. Post-ep 6 is one of the best characters in the show and the best friend you could ask for.)

I have seen most gifs online for this character. The soft outfits, smoking, suits, smiling. And fucking YET. The three scenes to me that make me love this character are-

"And obviously, I could take a statement. Have a briefcase with me, files and a pen. Because solicitors get searched entering a prison just like everyone else, but I'd still have a pen. Because a pen is all I'd need, really. I think it would take me a second to lean across and insert the pen through his throat. Right here. At the base. Straight through to the spine. (I could do that.) He'd bleed out in seconds. Dead. So... that's what I'll do. With your permission." I need Izzy to do this speech. Please god. In all your infinite wisdom. In this moment, I 100% felt that this lawyer would murder the murderer of his friend in sheer rage with a fucking pen.

Cliff pulling up(no crutches *curtsies with a smile*) to save Henry's ass from saying something stupid to the cops after their place gets ransacked. Stepping in and ensuring Freddy doesn't assault someone in front of cops.

"I look forward to the tribunal because the law is magnificent in this regard. It's not up to us to prove homophobia, it's up to you to prove homophobia does not exist. Best of luck. Thank you." AHHHHHHHH Smarmy, confident, smiling Con, I love it. Maybe the hottest thing Cliff does in this series, the outfit, the glaring before hand, the confidence, and AHHH.

His stand-out moments are when he's being a loyal, caring motherfucker. Trust me, after days of seeing a sad, depressed, miserable Con, seeing him thirsting after men was fun. Seeing him make dick jokes and act like an 'Elder Gay' that protected his own did heal my soul. But there was just a fucking genuine happiness he brought to the role.

I love that, even though he's a character Henry can rely on, Henry would never stay at his flat. (Obviously, cause then the plot wouldn't happen, but I like to think they know they'd both bring out the worst in each other).

Henry uses him for his knowledge of the law when doing cagey shit. It's great. Like getting his job back or doing the whole weird shit mentioned above for extra money. Seeing Cliff doing his best to stay semi-professional and not visibly judge the shit out of Henry for essentially being a soft core pimp is so fucking funny. Also, his 'that's our song' speech, where he goes on about how people steal underground culture, was fun.

The funeral made me respect Cliff, as he knew how to handle the situation. Keeping the situation safe enough in public so that Henry could have his own time to break down.

When Cliff didn't push, let Henry grieve on his own time, it was beautiful. Many of us would have immediately pushed that boundary. Trying to let ourselves feel better by stopping someone else from having destructive emotions. But Cliff knows better. Hell, when Henry is crying we see Cliff tearing up. Showing that Cliff knows to just step back tells us so much about how these two men care for each other.

Now a tiny praise corner about writing an Elder Gay lawyer character-

The sheer joy in Cliff knowing he could use the 'law' to protect queer people. Both for Lance and for getting Henry his job back. If Cliff is as old as Con, he'd have been a lawyer starting in the 1990's. He would have in practice during queer legalization post-thatcher in the UK. There's a good reason he seemed to be the happiest when they got home after getting his job back. He would have been taught Section 28 as a queer man.

'The fight for sexual equality however, was far from over. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, introduced by the Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher, banned local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality’ or ‘pretended family relationships’, and prohibited councils from funding educational materials and projects perceived to 'promote homosexuality'. The legislation prevented the discussion of LGBT issues and stopped pupils getting the support they needed. Section 28 was repealed in 2003, and Prime Minister David Cameron apologised for the legislation in 2009.'

He went from learning about all that shit as a young lawyer(who fucking survived the AIDS crisis), plus worse, to using ANTI DISCRIMINATION LAW for LGBTQ people! (kinda) So yeah. There's a very good fucking reason why that scene made me pause and stim for the fucking life of me. He was the happiest one when they came home, belting and smiling! So much has changed over his life and AHHH-

(This just hurts knowing this defence is all still legal where I live. And rights are being stripped every day... But hope still exists...yatta yatta.)

The friendship between Cliff and Henry feel so lived in. Burrowed and nestled. Clearly, Cliff has his own sad law show going on in the background and Henry is where he can let his (glorious) hair down.

I think it's funny as shit that when Henry panics and tries to find someone in mind to keep him in the moment sometimes he accidentally imagines Cliff. In a 'I've heard way to much about my friends sex lives so I think I know what it looks like' kind of way.

I also think it's funny that in the two times we see him in time jump to the future (At the table toasting Freddy and in Bed) Cliff is still not entirely gray after 6-7 years (obviously, they didn't think/want to age him up or do makeup just for a gag). However, Icon behavior.

His outfits? I would wear most of them. He is gender and life envy. Again, I think Cliff could have been a character to show how happy some people are without relationships. We get this vibe from him with the whole 'you're not tied down' speech, and I wish that was a concept explored more on TV.

He's the least depressed lawyer character I have seen on TV. If I could be a Cliff Costello type, I would go into law.

I think a good mix of the best parts of Cliff Costello and all of Val Pearson is who I want to be as an 'elder'(again, I turn 21 in January). Confident, loyal, willing to stick up for others, funny as shit. Maybe has a more stable love life than them, and hopefully not any substance addictions, but god. They just have so much joy when you know these characters had to have lived through such shitty times for queer people.

At first, I did this just to explore Con's work. But I think this has all helped me feel some hope for the future. What people need is support and love and a place to exist.

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Overall ratings

Cinematography: 7/10. Fun edits. Fun motifs. Loved the opening, and the sound effects to suggest certain things to the audience was fun.

Story: 6/10. Would be higher but some shit just got stuck in my craw. Again, the show just got better and better as it went and by the end I just felt satisfied. Would be an 8 ish if not for my issues mentioned above.

Characters besides Con: 7/10. Everyone plays really fun parts. Everyone is shitty in their own unique way, and for the most part, they get what they deserve. Even if they haven't really learned their lesson yet (Henry, I swear to god you are on a wire). Satisfying arcs for everyone besides Henry, but that's the point. I'm happy the Collective wheedled out into a more realistic ending where these people could go on and live happy lives and not coddle the man.

Con: 8/10. He is so much fun, and he is having so much fun. I wish he was in it longer, but in every scene, he is in, he eats it up. He goes from serious lawyer to best friend in a flash and it just makes me so happy. Cliff is up there with my favorite performances, some of his actions just kill the vibe a bit for me. Again. Any series where Con smiles is a win. Also, I love that he bodied a character who uses movement aids, and it just made me more excited to see what he'd do with Izzy for S2.

OVERALL: 6-7/10.

Not an easy recommend but could be a fun rewatch when I start losing somd hope about our community, while trying to see the real issues that exist to this day...or see more people online criticize queer people for wanting to have sex.

I would love to know your opinions about Cliff, thoughts about my thoughts, and more below! Have a Lovely day/night, everyone!

Next on the docket: Kisses in the Dark. An 8 ish hour audiobook on Spotify! Seems to be a supernatural horror Staring Con O'Neill and Rhiannon Clements(hopefully not a romance, since, with the person I googled, the age gap is 28 years. It's a bit different with voice acting...but now that I know? eh). I will be listening to that on Saturday (the 17th), and will have my thoughts on that here soon. I've been warned it was recorded during the pandemic at homes. So if you want to join in, prepare yourself for that.

As always, some of you lovelies who suggested/commented on my last few posts! Thank you so much!

@ivegotnonameidea

@treesofgreen

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

Honestly the dads are right about this one. It's a great album. Dark side explores the, well, dark side of human emotion. Which is kind of cliche, kind of trite, but the blunt lyricism is carried by the delivery and instrumentals. The feeling of weariness and floatiness is a constant. Starting right out Breathe and Time Express a tiredness with the repetition of daily life. The Sisyphean nature of existence. Us And Them and Money are a little more blunt but still you gotta hand it to Pink Floyd for managing to have a charting single in 7/4 time. And then there's The Great Gig In The Sky. A filler piece made of leftover chords that, with the addition of Clare Torry's vocals, became an orgiastic cacophony conflating the moment of death with sexual release.

James Brown - Star Time

I'm a little sick of compilations. This is a pretty good one though. Especially disc one where you can really hear the evolution from soul to funk in real time. Beyond that James Brown is one of the least comprehensible artists. Like I don't know what he's talking about 90% of the time. It doesn't matter of course, but it is funny how often songs devolve into random guttural utterances punctuated by fits of mysogyny. The average James Brown song seems to go like this: [screaming] [screeching] [incomprehensible] "women exist to suck me nasty!" [more screaming] "I'm gonna count to ten!" [World's loudest noise] "One!" [grunts] "Two!" [aaaaAAAAAHHHHH!!!!] "Three!" Spoiler alert: he never makes it to ten. Anyway I've been listening to this for nearly five hours and my brain is mashed potatoes now.

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

Hendrix's third album is a huge sprawling psychedelic adventure. While there is still a hint of the heavier side of his work, Crosstown Traffic in particular, Electric Ladyland leans into a mellow spacier sound. The new emphasis on soundscapes means that not only do the other musicians get to shine a bit more but that Hendrix also stretches his creative muscles a bit, especially on the lengthy Voodoo Chile and 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be). Honestly any of Hendrix's albums could easily be a favorite. Electric Ladyland is for people who love soul, psychedelic, and space.

David Bowie - Station To Station

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say this is Bowie's best album. The strong funk and soul influence meets the start of his krautrock influenced Berlin era. Every song is great, although the album opens so strong that it winds up front loaded no matter how good the second half is. I'm in love with everything from the glittery funk of Golden Years to the cryptic art rock jam that is Station To Station to the rock n roll jam that is TVC15. I'm honestly a little disappointed that this album is gonna be rated lower than Heroes, but I get it, people do love them some Heroes.

Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight

Ok let me explain something. When making a list of greatest albums I would think that the LP format would be a focal point in determining what belongs. Sure Johnny B. Goode is an influential and important song, but it's an important single. This compilation of 28 Chuck Berry singles contains some of the best and most influential singles in the history of modern music. But this album that collects them is not what is influential. If I were making a top 500 songs of all time list then things would be different. Chuck Berry would feature heavily, the album oriented rock of the 70s would be nearly absent, yes even the artists I really like. As far as I'm concerned the only compilation that has really deserved to be on this list was Nuggets because that album is important as an album and not just a collection of important songs. This is the best album to listen to if you want Chuck Berry, but I think more consideration of the actual LP format should have been given before they shoved all these compilations on the list.

[wacklemons]

Being alt and considered cringe is fun to be. I love being in subcultures that makes me feel like I'm the coolest little guy ever. I love music and ideal based subcultures because for mostly all of my life I've been a part of them.

It hurts a little when people think these subcultures are only aesthetic and clothes when that's not even close. In these subcultures the clothes are not as important as the other parts. I'm glad more people are realizing that it's fun to dress different from the norm but it's not fun when those same people call themselves part of a subculture without listening to the music or having the ideology.

It's also not fun when people harass people for being a part of an alt group. "Wrist checks" should not be a thing. Telling someone "one wipe" isnt really funny I honestly dont understand it that much (makeup doesn't even go away that fast). Telling someone they should kill themself because they aren't "normal" isn't okay. Harassment and verbal/physical assault is not something you should have to deal with if you are not "normal."

Being a part of an alt subculture should make you feel welcome because it is (as the name suggests) a culture.

Being cringe isn't just being alt either. Being cringe is fun because the people calling you cringe are simply not having the fun you have!! :3 I think some kids in my school put me on a cringe compilation it's one of my proudest moments because I feel infinitely cooler than them.

Be as cringe as you can be as long as it makes you happy! Glomp your friends (if they let you)! Wear a tail or ears! Listen to your silly music full volume (dont damage your ears)!!!! Do silly makeup!! No one else will be as cool as you because everyone sees cool differently. Be the coolest person to yourself !!!!

this is a really sloppy post but I think it gets my point across

[thearchivistsjournal]

Day 359,

I don’t think I’ve seen Maiko pace like that before.  

She showed up at the library some time after school was out for the day.  I think she might have intentionally waited for the kids to leave.  Cass had also just left to go help Norman with some errand or another, so I was alone down in the archive compiling dates of birth and death when Maiko came down the stairs.

Lin was back at attending to Ka’eo today but had forbidden her from returning to work until she had at least a few more days of rest and recovery and had even talked Ka’ena into agreeing.  I imagine that last part wasn’t too hard given how guilty Ka’ena seemed to feel over the whole ordeal.  But this left Maiko desperately looking for something to do all day.  Her room in the lighthouse quickly felt cramped (even though the bed wound up nicer than expected now that the mattress was reupholstered).  The thought of walking around and exploring the Village more had some appeal, but as nice and seemingly accepting of her as everyone acts, they still all stare which makes her tense.  So she decided to come here since she knew Lin likes to read in the quiet of the archive for hours on end to relax and she thought she might try it for herself.

She was certainly talking more than her usual, like she does when stressed.

So, I did the obvious thing and gave her a brief rundown of the archive’s organization scheme and helped her find a couple of books to start with.  While I was going through that process I vocalized the observation that there have been plenty of days that we spent back home where she seemed content enough to lounge around the house not doing much.

She said that’s part of why she’s bothered so much.  That she feels like she should be able to relax but for some reason can’t.

I speculated that perhaps it’s the difference between choosing to do nothing and being made to do nothing.

A silence as we continued down the row of shelves.

She said it’s being in the Village.  All these streets and houses and people.  It feels like she should be doing something in a way she never felt before.  Like someone’s constantly quietly telling her to be a part of things and contribute.  It’s quieter up in the lighthouse or down in the archive, but it’s still there.

Funny, I’d always found Village life to be incredibly laid back.  But maybe that’s just in comparison to lingering impressions of what my old world was like.  True, it always feels like there’s something else to do, especially in the rainy season with children to teach almost every day, but it never feels overwhelming and it’s mostly things I put on myself.  But by comparison to the life she’d been living, I think I can see what she means.

My actual in-the-moment response to what she said was cocking my head and going “Huh, yeah…”

I think she got it.

Once she had a few books picked out to try reading I left her to where she’d sat herself down on the floor, back against a bookshelf, and returned to my desk and pet project.  

And then the pacing started.

I didn’t fully register it at first.  Then I figured she was just getting up to swap out a book.  And it probably started that way.  Then she went by my peripheral vision again.  And then again, on a shorter interval this time.  Eventually I looked up from my work and watched her go over to a shelf, pick out a book, sit down on the floor, read a few pages, stand up, put it back, and repeat the process with another shelf, seemingly at random.  Eventually she stopped bothering to sit down.

This obviously wasn’t working.

Leaning over the back of my chair, I pointed out that she could always just go outside for a while.  Outside the Village, not just the library.  It’s not like anyone’s keeping her here or that she has to stay.

Maiko stopped mid-pace and looked up at me, her cheeks shifting to a subtly different shade of red.  

She agreed that, yes, she could do that, thanked me and started walking toward the stairs.

I suppressed a smirk and asked if she wanted me to come with.

A pause at the foot of the stairs to weigh company versus solitude.

An uptick of a mouth’s corner.  Another word of thanks.  The choice of solitude.

I nodded, waved goodbye, and then thought to call up the stairs for her to not push herself too hard out there lest I never hear the end of it from Lin.

A few hours later I’d had my fill of reading about life and death in the dryest possible manner and thought to check the bracelet.  Looks like Lin and Maiko got back together for the evening.  Good for them.

*******

On a whim as I was getting ready for bed, I pulled that old yellowed notebook that was in the alcove bedroom when Lin first showed me the place.  The one uncannily noting small, personally significant events in people’s lives.  Looking up Ka’eo, I found entries for most of what he told us yesterday, including “saw a fiery nature sprite.”  He said he never told anyone about that (although I’m ninety-nine percent sure he told Maiko).  Looking further, there was “passed forge onto daughter.”

I’ve been sitting on a self-writing artifact that gathers distressingly personal information on everyone in the Village, haven’t I?

I found myself torn between finding it incredibly fascinating and potentially useful and wanting to stick it in a heavy box and drop it down the spring.

As is the curse of outsiders, curiosity got the better of me, at least initially.  I tried looking up Maiko’s mother but found nothing.  The same for the old archivist, Devi, Priscilla, Pat, and Theo.  The same for myself.  It seems outsiders (and whatever Pat and Theo are) are excluded from this thing.  That brought commingled relief and disappointment.

I considered looking for Maiko to see if she counted, but too much feared that I would accidently read the contents of whatever entry I might find.  I have my curiosity, yes, but even I have lines I refuse to let myself cross.  Alas, the dead - the one group whom I might not feel such compunctions about - go unaccounted for as well.  So, actually it’s just Pat, Theo, and whomever is currently reading that are excluded among the living?  Not enough data points to say.

I wonder, is whatever method Theo uses to track people related to this?  Could Theo literally be using this?  No, that’s absurd and doesn’t match to observed actions on several points.  Still, the image of Theo violating this private sanctum is going to keep me up all night.

<==Previous          Next==>

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

One more year-end round-up. I was going to do a top ten list with a broader remit (compilations I’ve made on various subjects), but then I realized all five of my favourite things from that list are actually related to one subject. So I'm doing that instead.

Top five compilations I made this year that are in some way related to one of my favourite fairly niche subjects, which is John Oliver’s connections to British comedy:

5. John Oliver on Donald Trump, March 2011 to March 2016

These are clips I cut out as I went through The Bugle the first time, plus that one from The Daily Show, about how John Oliver was genuinely very excited about the idea of Donald Trump running for president. Obviously he’d have changed his mind if he’d thought for a moment that Trump might actually have any support – the moment he did have any support, John Oliver did in fact change his mind.

Since then, John Oliver has repeatedly said that Trump’s election was not good for comedy, and anyone who thinks comedic satire should thrive in the Trump era has no idea what they’re talking about. He's argued that bad comedy might be easier under Trump but good comedy is much harder, Trump did not make anything easier for comedians, and even if he had, that wouldn’t be remotely worth all the damage that’s been done. I’ve seen John Oliver get annoyed and argumentative with people who say things like: “The jokes should write themselves with Trump!”

Which is why it is a bit funny – I mean, nothing about this is funny, which is John Oliver’s whole point and I agree with it – that before it was a genuine threat, John Oliver repeatedly said he desperately wanted Donald Trump to run for president, for the sake of comedy. He thought watching the car crash of Trump trying would be funniest thing in the world.

This compilation goes through several Bugle episodes and one Daily Show episode, spread out across a few years, of him saying that. It ends on a sharp turn, with the final full episode in the John Oliver era of The Bugle. This was from March 2016, and was the first episode they'd recorded in almost a year, because John been so busy with Last Week Tonight. So he hadn’t been on The Bugle since Donald Trump had announced his candidacy, and they had to discuss months worth of news. A listener email asked John Oliver to comment on his previously expressed enthusiasm for the hilarious idea of a Donald Trump presidential candidacy, and it’s a bit harrowing to hear how broken John is by the memory that this used to seem funny.

2. Nishant Kumar: The British John Oliver

This one starts in 2014, with Nish Kumar saying no one ever compares two comedians of different races, and Stuart Goldsmith pointing out that some might see some similarities between him and John Oliver, and surely he wouldn’t mind that interracial comparison, as he’s a big fan. In the years that followed, Nish Kumar (and the people in charge of how to advertise him) decided that actually, selling him as a version of that very successful white comedian might not be a bad idea. It then got a little out of hand, and this compilation goes into John Oliver laughing when Andy Zaltzman tells him there’s a guy named Nish Kumar who gets called the British John Oliver.

What follows are two Bugle clips and one Mash Report clip that are quite adorable, with Nish Kumar showing his clearly genuine reverence for his esteemed predecessor in the line of John Olivers out there. This all happened after Nish had jumped at the chance to be a new host of The Bugle when John left due to Last Week Tonight commitments, suggesting that Nish did actually just wait for John Oliver to sever his ties with British comedy and then move swiftly into the open space. That reductive and oversimplified comparison - the British John Oliver - may in some ways be fair.

3. Oliver Versus Palin: A Groundhog Day of Hatred

This one might be the weirdest thing I’ve ever made. Not just on this list, in my life. As I write this, I’ve remembered that I wrote an introduction that I quite liked when I first posted this in July, so I’ve found it again and will quote that as an explanation for what the fuck this is:

I meant for this to be just a compilation of related clips like the rest of these, but then it got out of hand, and I think I’ve made a feature film. I say this both because it’s 74 minutes long, and because it has all the elements of a great film. It tells a story with a beginning, a middle, and a merciful end. Its setting spans multiple American cities across five years. It has dramatic tension, and a character study of one man’s descent into darkness. It has some tasteful nudity (described only, because it’s tasteful). At one point a bit of the soundtrack from the movie Braveheart makes a brief appearance.

It paints a picture of a specific time in America’s political history. It explores emotions like anger, and fear, and confusion, and anger, and exhaustion, and anger. At its core, it is a love story. Well, a love/hate story. I mean, it’s actually just a hate story, but society has conditioned us to believe that connections like these are love stories in the making. This was pointed out by Andy Zaltzman, who shines throughout the film in his role as the main character’s best friend, when he made a comparison to the movie Groundhog Day. That comparison is such an apt summary that I chose to reference it in my masterpiece’s title.

As a minor spoiler, this film even ends with a very short and sudden turn to something new, in the style of both artsy movies that end with a momentary reprieve from their dark themes to symbolize the endurance of hope, and Marvel movies that spend the last few seconds setting up a sequel. Because this film embraces its nature as a serious story about political issues, but still makes room for fun.

...I mean, I was joking about that. But also, I did genuinely spent quite a few hours in the summer of 2022 putting together a 74-minute compilation of Daily Show clips, along with with Bugle clips set over pictures and videos of the subjects they were discussing, that tell the story of John Oliver having to cover Sarah Palin while losing his mind over how convinced he became that she represented everything wrong with America and the world at large.

Do you want to know the most difficulty I’ve had in finding anything for any of these or any other compilations I’ve made? This is a bit of a side track, a behind-the-scenes story about the making of this film that isn’t strictly relevant, but I want to tell it anyway.

There’s this one picture that Andy Zaltzman described in the Bugle episode from June 2011, when John Oliver had had to chase Sarah Palin’s bus all over the country to film it for The Daily Show. Zaltzman says: “There was a picture on the Daily Mail website over here, John, because I wanted to read up about Palin’s trip. And I scrolled down, and there was a picture of Sarah Palin, with the caption: ‘Attention grabber: Sarah Palin has grabbed media attention wherever her One Nation bus tour has landed.’ And the picture was Palin having a microphone thrust at her by young cub reporter John Oliver. There was a look in her eye that unmistakably said, ‘I don’t trust you.’ A look in her eye that almost suggested even, John, that she was at that Edinburgh preview gig we did at the Picture House in York.”

I was, of course, interested in this. So I Googled it, thinking it can’t be that difficult to find a picture of John Oliver and Sarah Palin. I know the source (Daily Mail), I know the approximate date (early June, 2011), I know the people involved. I even know the caption! Easy, right? Well it fucking wasn’t! It took so long! I spent so many hours searching for that one picture that I did, at some point, start to ask myself whether this might not actually be entirely worth it. But I ploughed ahead.

No combination of Googling worked (I eventually figured out that this is because John Oliver was not mentioned by name in the article that featured that picture, so searching his name would not bring up that article or any pictures in it), so eventually, I resorted to Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive. Based on the date of that Bugle episode and the date of the Daily Show episode that aired the piece John Oliver did about Sarah Palin and her bus, I narrowed it down to about four different days in early June when that picture could have been published. Then I put those dates, one at a time, into the Wayback Machine. I told that machine to tell me how Dailymail.co.uk looked on those days. And then I painstakingly clicked on every article that could be remotely related to Sarah Palin, which was fucking all of them, because it was The Daily Mail in 2011 during one of Sarah Palin’s national tours.

Even once I came up with that idea, it took a long time. A check of all the obvious dates gave me nothing, and I had no ideas for what to try if the Wayback Machine did not work, so I was resigned to the fact that I would not find it. I came to terms with the fact that this would be a fruitless search, but kept messing around a bit, not wanting to quite give up. I tried some dates that were just before and just after the obvious ones, clicking through things on the off chance but not expecting to find anything.

I was so disproportionately happy when I scrolled halfway down an article and there it was, just sitting there. I just stared at it for a moment, like Indiana Jones when he'd finally uncovered a long-lost piece of art, and took a moment to marvel at the results. Just staring into the cave, saying: "It’s beautiful."

It was exactly what I wanted. Andy Zaltzman was right; it is, in fact, Sarah Palin looking at John Oliver with eyes that say: “I don’t trust you.”

So, you know, support the Internet Archive, everyone. For many very important reasons, but also because if it weren’t for the Wayback Machine, I would not have managed to dig up an 11-year-old picture that was halfway down a Daily Mail article because I heard it described on a podcast. This absolute beauty would have been lost to history:

2. The Chocolate Milk Gang Has a Nuanced Debate About Political Centrism

It’s amazing that my 74-minute masterpiece is only number 3 on this list, but I can’t put anything above these top two. Probably either of these two could be in the top spot, but I ended up putting this one second just because it’s not as well put together. It is, however, pretty much a summary of the whole point of my blog. That’s my favourite thing about this one. The number of different sources that it combines makes it feel like everything I’ve done since March 2020 has been building toward this bullshit.

In 2007, Daniel Kitson did a show called It’s the Fireworks Talking, and not to overstate it but it’s one of the best things that’s ever been made. He mentions at one point that he has four friends: Russell Howard, Alun Cochrane, John Oliver, and Gavin Osborn. I happened to re-listen to this show right after having listened to Gavin Osborn’s discography, and not long after listening to Alun Cochrane’s BBC Radio Four stand-up special/coming out as kind of a dick (actually I think he’d been out for a while, but this was what put it on the radio): Centrist Dad? And I realize that I happen to, at some point, have heard all four of those people talk about the fairly specific subject of whether we should try for balanced centrism in our political views, whether or not it’s good to look at the views on all sides and try to place our own somewhere in the middle.

This compilation is terrible journalism. It does the thing that centrist dads accuse people like me of doing all the time, which is cherry pick soundbites and strip them of context to paint a picture of their views that suits our narrative. And my answer is… yep, I have done that here. I do genuinely believe in the importance of journalistic integrity that keeps things in context and everything, but also, I am not a journalist. And I thought it would be funny and/or interesting to set cherry picked clips of Daniel Kitson’s four friends circa 2007 expressing their differing views on this subject.

It's a subject on which I do not pretend to be neutral, because I don't believe in pretending to be neutral; full disclosure on my own bias, I’m on John Oliver and Gavin Osborn’s side here. Journalists have to navigate the complex path of presenting things ethically and honestly and finding the line between their own bias and reality, but luckily, I have to do none of that. I’m just a Tumblr blog, and I say John Oliver and Gavin Osborn are right and Alun Cochrane and Russell Howard and wrong. I am not interested in “cancelling” Russell Howard or Alun Cochrane or whatever, I just think they’re wrong about this subject. Please enjoy the above cherry-picked context-free clips to amusingly make it seem like the Chocolate Milk Gang members are arguing with each other.

1. Johnny Showbiz versus Business Daddy since 2011

This had to be number one, right? I’m genuinely proud of this one. I say I’m proud of all of them, and I say that with varying levels of irony and sometimes straight-up sarcasm. This is the only one that I think might be a genuinely good bit of video/audio cutting. It took me a long time – I can always tell how complex a compilation is by the number of sub-folders in the folder where I’m keeping all the clips. That one was full of sub-folders, and lots of clips and images that never got used.

It helps that I planned to make this before I even got to it. Before I started listening to The Bugle, I read about its history. Here’s a quick timeline:

2001-2005: John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman, two political comedians who really annoy everyone by being young and straight out of Oxbridge and a lot of other not-very-nice things that I’ve found said about them on old message board archives, perform alone and together in Britain. They do some joint stand-up shows at Edinburgh, with vaguely surreal political material. They also do a joint Edinburgh show called Political Animal, in which they act as MCs for other comedians who come on and do political material. Between sets, Zaltzman and Oliver do weird sketches where their voices go high and it makes them sound a bit like The Goon Show. Most of what I know about what that was like is because Political Animal got picked up as a BBC Radio Four show for a bit, and they released recordings of a few of their old stand-up shows as Bugle episodes.

2004-2006: BBC Radio Four airs three seasons of The Department, a satirical sitcom written and performed by John Oliver, Andy Zaltzman, and Chris Addison (Matthew Holeness and Lucy Montgomery also appeared). John Oliver has since described it as a terrible show, but John Oliver is wrong. The BBC cancelled it in spring 2006, leaving Zaltzman and Oliver both without the only comedy thing they'd so far managed to get sanctioned by a network. Both men have described their careers, as of then, as not going well.

2006: John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman plan to do another Political Animal show at that year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. John Oliver was also set to appear in Honourable Men of Art, a show Daniel Kitson set up when he got sick off all the assholes at Late ‘n’ Live, so he and the rest of the Chocolate Milk Gang took their toys went to play at The Stand with the nice weeknight crowds.

June 2006: A day occurs that is described by Andy Zaltzman as: “That day in June 2006 when [John Oliver] told me he wanted to do the Daily Show job, instead of coming with me to Edinburgh to talk to 25 people a day in a darkened room.”

No one quite knows how this happened, but there’s a rumour that Ricky Gervais, of all people, was involved. That The Daily Show was looking for someone from Britain, and Ricky Gervais told them to check out John Oliver, for some reason.

August 2006: Andy Zaltzman scrambles to adapt his Edinburgh plans so he can do them without John. John appears on a few Honourable Men of Art shows via the best live video linkup technology 2006 had to offer.

Sometime in 2007: John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman partner with TimesOnline, an online division of The Times, to create a Trans-Atlantic podcast. They’ll separately write material about the news of the week, then every Friday, they’ll go into separate studios - one in London and one in New York - and record a conversation about it.

October 2007: The first episode of The Bugle airs. The world is changed forever. They soon establish a very loyal fanbase, both in Britain and in the States. For several years, this goes just fine. There’s a bit of a glitch in March 2010, when producer Tom Wright (who interjected in the conversations often enough to be a fan favourite) moves to Australia and is replaced by Chris Skinner, and fans revolt, starting all their emails with “Fuck you Chris”. But he wins their hearts fairly quickly. They continue to write “Fuck you Chris”, but they mean it with affection.

July 2011: News International goes to trial for a lot of disgusting shit. News International and TimesOnline are both owned by The Times. TimesOnline is funding The Bugle. John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman do not let this deter them from going after News International quite aggressively in their July 2011 Bugle episodes.

August 2011: The New York Times writes an article about the above. On the next Bugle episode, John Oliver points out that that’s a nice idea, but it will draw attention to them from Times people who had probably not previously noticed what they’d been doing.

December 2011: TimesOnline drops The Bugle, for reasons that have nothing to do with the above and it's only because they weren’t bringing in enough revenue. They insist. To be fair, that's probably at least partly true. John and Andy both acknowledge that they were not, in fact, bringing in revenue. Was that the only reason they were dropped? I genuinely don't know. Maybe it was just a cold financial decision, maybe it was a bit of both.

For a while, it looks like The Bugle might not go on. John and Andy are honest with the listeners about the fact that they’re looking into alternative options, but this shit costs money and they’re not sure what to do. I listened to it in 2022, knowing it would end up working out okay, but I still got emotionally drawn into how worried they were at the time. (The mostly unspoken issue was that John Oliver would find it difficult to lose The Bugle as he loved doing it, but career-wise he’d be fine, while this was the only thing Andy Zaltzman had that was nearly this successful, and he really needed it.)

January 2012: Through a concentrated effort to #SaveTheBugle in various ways, The Bugle rises from the ashes as an independent podcast, funded by listener donations. The Bugle has nearly two more wonderful years before...

November 2013: HBO announces that they’ve given John Oliver his own show. John Oliver announces on The Bugle that he is doing that, but it won’t affect his ability to do The Bugle, he’s definitely going to keep doing the podcast (please note me sneaking one extra compilation onto this list via that link).

2014: The Bugle has more breaks than usual because of Last Week Tonight, but they basically still keep up with it pretty well.

2015: A slow, drawn-out, fucking painful departure, in which they keep doing filler episodes every few weeks, with Andy being by himself and telling us John will be back soon. Andy often gives specific dates for John Oliver's return that don’t get met (suggesting that John is telling Andy these dates and then canceling).

March 2016: John Oliver comes back for one more episode, and even then, after it had been clear for so long that he was done, he insisted that he could do both and there would be more episodes like this.

June 2016: John and Andy come back for one more episode, in which they finally acknowledge that video has killed the radio star. But they say Andy will be back in the fall with a rotating crew of co-hosts who are not hosting wildly popular American television shows every week.

Fall 2016: The Bugle rises from the ashes for a second time, beginning with episode 4000 (even though the final John Oliver-era episode had been number 295), for reasons that Andy Zaltzman thought were funny.

So that’s the story. I knew a fair bit of it before I even started listening to The Bugle, and I thought it was interesting because on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver had a long-running joke in which he talked shit about his “Business Daddy” AT&T, since they owned HBO. I found it funny to learn John Oliver actually did have a history of getting dropped by a parent company after criticizing them on the show they funded.

So when I got to the summer 2011 episodes while listening to The Bugle for the first time, I noted the timestamp every time they talked about News International. I cut out all the clips, and then put them together to tell that story, and contrasted it with the more recent version of John Oliver talking shit about his new Business Daddy. And then I dramatized the audio clips with pictures, because I thought that was funny.

Honestly, I think it’s good. I even put it on YouTube, even though I normally avoid putting things on YouTube because I don’t want anyone except the other weird people on Tumblr to be able to see anything I do.

undefined

Bonus (because this was going to be on the original list and I like it too much not to post it): Kitson and Vegas

I posted this one when I first made it last month, because I was very pleased with myself for having found new a new level of my penchant for compiling weirdy specific types of video/audio clips. In this case, I found two that fit into a category called: “Comedians who would go on to be very successful, doing their first ever television appearance, as contestants on a game show in the 90s, getting introduced by their name and the Northern town they’re from, and then getting interviewed by that gameshow’s host, whose name is Bob, and they tell Bob that they’re trying to become a comedian.”

Since then I’ve seen a documentary, and that’s given me the chance to add a bit on the end, that shows where those people both were a few years later. The answer is that physically they were in the same place (on the stage of the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 3 AM on August 27, 2001), but figuratively they were going in quite different directions.

[420pogpills]

masterpost of random epic dnf moments

i find so much comfort in these posts that just contain links to loads and loads of epic clips so i wanted to make one of my favourite george&dream moments :’)... this took me several days okay.

in no particular order whatsoever

(♥♥♥) “so...dream.” “what?” “um, hello.” “hi”

(♡♡♡) “george!” “yeah?” “HEY 😁”

(♥♥♥) “that is actually george’s fish” “oh what? i will keep it safe” (bonus: giving fish back)

(♡♡♡) “you two and your inside jokes, you guys are such good friends”

(♥♥♥) “i saw an interesting donation on your stream”

(♡♡♡) “trust me. george - i’m handling it.”

(♥♥♥) “i’m not gonna be hurt if dream is next to me”

(♡♡♡) “you’re making me laugh it’s not even fair!”

(♥♥♥) “i shot you once” “no you shot me multiple times”

(♡♡♡) “oh that’s so hot”

(♥♥♥) “what you gonna do, fight me?”

(♡♡♡) “dream has my number because dream needs me sometimes”

(♥♥♥) “stop you’re hurting me” “i’m hurting you?”

(♡♡♡) “i’m very similar to george so i probably won't like it”

(♥♥♥) “i said i’m in the hot tub right now, he said ‘prove it’”

(♡♡♡) “dream stop killing me!”

(♥♥♥) “i’ve always wanted to explore my sexuality”

(♡♡♡) “this is what happens when you fall down my trap”

(♥♥♥) “i’m so used to having your attention 24/7″

(♡♡♡) “why are you so mean dream?”

(♥♥♥) “you know who reminds me of nemo? george”

(♡♡♡) “first thing’s first-” “i’m the realest”

(♥♥♥) “come hide with me”

(♡♡♡) “he looks so handsome, look at him, look at george”

(♥♥♥) “oh george” “oh dream”

(♡♡♡) “you love me?” “yes, i do”

(♥♥♥) “be careful george”

(♡♡♡) “you’re laughing at every different word i say”

(♥♥♥) “can i have the sword dream?” “say that you love me”

(♡♡♡) “just hug me george”

(♥♥♥) “i’m the mememan, my milk is delicious”

(♡♡♡) “george i’m gonna blow up - come with me”

(♥♥♥) “you couldn’t see what dream was doing”

(♡♡♡) “george is easily a top 10 mcc player”

(♥♥♥) “what would you say my weakness is?” “me”

(♡♡♡) “we were getting this computer repair guy - oh my god”

(♥♥♥) “every time you get near me you just get all red”

(♡♡♡) “you would follow me down here”

(♥♥♥) “dream is a simp for me” “yeah”

(♡♡♡) “nice dream!”

(♥♥♥) “smile - you see him everyday”

(♡♡♡) “you deserve punishment george”

(♥♥♥) “what are you doing george?” “i’m on twitter”

(♡♡♡) “george george george you look amazing george”

(♥♥♥) “you don’t have to follow me everywhere”

(♡♡♡) “get away from dream!”

(♥♥♥) “we’re in the stars”

(♡♡♡) thirdwheelboyhalo

(♥♥♥) “dream is so delightful”

(♡♡♡) “DREAM LET’S GO!”

(♥♥♥) “follow me, i’ll follow you actually - just take me”

(♡♡♡) “dream...” “i had to george, i had to”

(♥♥♥) “i trust my dream”

(♡♡♡) “you don’t brag about your looks”

(♥♥♥) “george just tell me you love me”

(♡♡♡) “someone said ‘dream do you think george is cute’?”

(♥♥♥) “kiss george” “that’s a pretty good forfeit”

(♡♡♡) “a plane ticket to dream’s house”

(♥♥♥) “okay that was pretty pog”

(♡♡♡) “i’ve been too focused on george”

(♥♥♥) little compilation

(♡♡♡) “why’d you say it like that?”

(♥♥♥) “dream’s trying to kill me, he’s killing me!”

(♡♡♡) “if you won, what would be your first date with george?”

(♥♥♥) “we do everything together”

(♡♡♡) “answer my question!”

(♥♥♥) “oh. yeah. but george too.”

(♡♡♡) “if you win, you have to kiss dream!”

(♥♥♥) “dream... i’m messing up” “oh are you still streaming?”

(♡♡♡) “be careful”

(♥♥♥) suspicious dancing

(♡♡♡) “don’t be greedy george”

(♥♥♥) just... this whole edit

(♡♡♡) “george is mine, go away”

(♥♥♥) “dreeeaaaaam i know you wanna help”

(♡♡♡) “george you’re a genius, george kiss me!”

(♥♥♥) “he was wearing like an oversized dream smile hoodie”

(♡♡♡) george compilation 10/10

(♥♥♥) “i don’t wanna hear you laugh”

(♡♡♡) “whenever dream tries to get a new speed run record he just disappears for a month”

(♥♥♥) laughing face to face

(♡♡♡) “can i have some stuff?”

(♥♥♥) “geoorrgeeee”

(♡♡♡) “he lives in your head actually rent free”

(♥♥♥) “you know quite often we just know what we’re talking about?”

(♡♡♡) “now it backfired because george knows me”

(♥♥♥) “he’s small it’s different”

(♡♡♡) “COME HERE GEORGE!”

(♥♥♥) “you can be my valentine if you want george”

(♡♡♡) “no mom no he broke up with me” (bonus: “george denied me”)

(♥♥♥) “just explain your reasoning for denying me” “you didn't mean it”

(♡♡♡) “goodnight george, goodnight gogy”

(♥♥♥) “dream just saved something from snapchat!”

(♡♡♡) “i’m breaking you out!”

(♥♥♥) “you’ll get punished george"

(♡♡♡) “guys this is like the cutest photo of george ever”

(♥♥♥) “guys i’m opening a new business” “selling george pictures?”

(♡♡♡) “don’t attack the wolf dream i’m not there to save you”

(♥♥♥) “you were like ‘you have to praise me now for 5 minutes’”

(♡♡♡) “why don’t you think i’m here?”

(♥♥♥) “we were playing geoguessr the other day”

(♡♡♡) “i am wheezing and dying and george is dying with me”

(♥♥♥) “you used to get mad at me for placing blocks beneath myself”

(♡♡♡) “you have to clip that” “no”

(♥♥♥) “c’mere”

(♡♡♡) “i almost died, water me!”

(♥♥♥) “me and george”

(♡♡♡) “i wouldn’t want to do it unless he’s here”

(♥♥♥) “me and george were literally holding hands in the hallway”

(♡♡♡) “you should get negative points if you’re an idiot”

(♥♥♥) “kiss”

(♡♡♡) “i thought you might want to confess something”

(♥♥♥) “we’ve been talking to each other for 10 hours?”

(♡♡♡) “i’m not here to disappoint you or anything”

(♥♥♥) “mimic my yawn, that means you love me you know that right?”

(♡♡♡) “i’m not helping you this round” “i need you”

(♥♥♥) “we’re literally on a boat”

(♡♡♡) “you’re so ridiculous”

(♥♥♥) “i fell asleep in a call with george”

(♡♡♡) “wow george you’re great”

(♥♥♥) “dream just went 👉🏻👉🏻”

(♡♡♡) “yessss let’s go” “wait let me pick you up!”

(♥♥♥) “dream sort this out!” “alright wait turn around”

(♡♡♡) “you have pretty privilege”

(♥♥♥) “george i have something that will cheer you up george”

(♡♡♡) “i’ve been by your side since the beginning george”

(♥♥♥) “sitting here forced to drink water, it has absolutely no flavour”

(♡♡♡) “gives back i’ll be good” “no no you won’t”

(♥♥♥) “don’t worry. i’m here george”

(♡♡♡) “dream say hi” “hi”

(♥♥♥) “so george why are you laying in bed while you’re talking to dream?”

(♡♡♡) “where did george go, george is not found”

(♥♥♥) “come over here greg i will save the day” “francis!”

(♡♡♡) “that’s not what you told me last night”

(♥♥♥) “please just swim drive the boat drive the boat”

(♡♡♡) “before i even met you, you had this ginormous impact”

(♥♥♥) “you’re not worthless george we love you”

(♡♡♡) “george is like the biggest idiot”

(♥♥♥) “alright fine i’ll play one more”

(♡♡♡) “you see george everywhere. you see what you wanna see”

(♥♥♥) “guess united kingdom because someone you love lives there”

(♡♡♡) “george don’t leave me”

(♥♥♥) “you say bolivia george?”

(♡♡♡) “why are you so feral?”

(♥♥♥) “you’re an idiot” “you’re the one who’s screaming to do it”

(♡♡♡) “”you’re so oh my god” “you’re so annoying”

(♥♥♥) “i trust you so m-so often”

(♡♡♡) “now i have you right where i want you”

(♥♥♥) “heads” “alright it was heads”

(♡♡♡) “george you’re the hottest piece of ass in dreamhunt”

(♥♥♥) “you said ‘just woke up’ and i said ‘me too, in sync bby’”

(♡♡♡) “dnf arc? yeah maybe”

(♥♥♥) *george shooting dnf into wall on csgo*

(♡♡♡) “george and dream’s brotherly relationship is so iconic”

(♥♥♥) “you can’t 👹LEAVE👹 it’s not allowed”

(♡♡♡) “oh we’re finishing each other’s sentences right now”

(♥♥♥) “you said you were gonna what, kiss me or something like that?”

(♡♡♡) “do you have a song that makes you think of dream?”

(♥♥♥) “here george take this take this george”

(♡♡♡) “hey dream” “hey george”

(♥♥♥) “do you have a crush on dream?” “yes, go on”

(♡♡♡) “i am proud of you” “wow thank you dream”

(♥♥♥) “1 dollar every hour” “for how many hours?”

(♡♡♡) “i clicked skip whoops - wait, where are all my balls?”

(♥♥♥) “get out of here GET OUUUUTTTT”

(♡♡♡) “i’m sleeping for at least 8 hours” “but then we’re gonna be out of sync again”

(♥♥♥) “this is actually disgusting, come to me where are you”

(♡♡♡) “thank you baby... oh no” “WHAT?”

(♥♥♥) “yeah i love dream so much”

(♡♡♡) “yes that is exactly what i was thinking dream”

(♥♥♥) “dream” “hi” “hello i’m streaming” “hi”

(♡♡♡) “mm poor little george”

(♥♥♥) “do you have fifty dollars?”

(♡♡♡) “please please half a heart half a heart!”

(♥♥♥) “that’s okay you wanna be near me, that’s fine”

(♡♡♡) “you would know all about the simp handbook wouldn’t you”

(♥♥♥) “please i need you” “i do need you”

(♡♡♡) “kill him!...or her.. or it..”

(♥♥♥) “cause he’s little gogy”

(♡♡♡) “do your parents know about gream?”

(♥♥♥) just... cuteness

(♡♡♡) “wait george my minecraft’s starting my minecraft’s starting”

(♥♥♥) “te amo sueno”

(♡♡♡) “yeah that was my idea” “yeah just like last night”

(♥♥♥) “you can just say he’s a bottom”

(♡♡♡) this entire video

(♥♥♥) “why are you leaving me?” “alright fine”

(♡♡♡) “george you look good in a suit”

(♥♥♥) “i have a present for george!”

(♡♡♡) “why don’t you want to facetime me?” “i haven’t shaved”

(♥♥♥) “dream’s killing me, why are you killing me?”

(♡♡♡) “george i thought you were going to choose me”

(♥♥♥) “you wanna watch a beautiful sunset? just for you dream”

(♡♡♡) “we don’t text that much” “we text everyday”

(♥♥♥) “georgie poooo come here”

(♡♡♡) “oh beat me dream beat me”

(♥♥♥) “you are so impressive dream”

(♡♡♡) “i just ran for like a million hours”

(♥♥♥) “mydic--kslong has subscribed, thank you..”

(♡♡♡) all of these moments are too funny

(♥♥♥) “dreeaaaam! loooook!” “oh he’s cute”

(♡♡♡) “oh george~” “this is scary”

(♥♥♥) “george do that water drop sound”

(♡♡♡) “why is everyone saying ‘george explain the text?’”

(♥♥♥) “why are you saying it like that?” “that’s how you said it”

(♡♡♡) “i’m going to my secret stash”

(♥♥♥) “it said ‘name a dessert’” “you should’ve put me”

(♡♡♡) “i need to come” “you wanna come?”

(♥♥♥) “i have missed your face!”

(♡♡♡) just.. this entire video

(♥♥♥) more on george sleep talking

(♡♡♡) “that’s the same height difference between me and you george”

(♥♥♥) “you’re doing extremely well george. just calm down.”

(♡♡♡) “george~” “stOP. stop it”

(♥♥♥) “i know dream loves me a lot but unfortunately i don’t love him back”

(♡♡♡) “it’s fun to make him more afraid”

(♥♥♥) “someone said ‘dream do you think george is cute?’”

(♡♡♡) “oh we know george we know how hot you are”

(♥♥♥) “dream has friendship hacks”

(♡♡♡) “let’s watch a movie” feat. sapnap

(♥♥♥) “the only man i’m into is george”

(♡♡♡) “you broke my heart dream by....breaking my heart”

(♥♥♥) “keep lying to him george”

(♡♡♡) dream team not dnf but i love this so watch it plz

(♥♥♥) “you turn your camera off to sneeze? it’s okay we love you”

(♡♡♡) “dance with me dream”

(♥♥♥) “dweaaaam pleaseeee”

(♡♡♡) “it’s fine dream, i’ll stream another day” “waaaaaaah!”

(♥♥♥) “i just wanna talk to you”

(♡♡♡) “you’re just like interesting in general george”

(♥♥♥) “when’s my birthday dream?”

(♡♡♡) “here these are for you 🌹”

(♥♥♥) “i love you george”

(♡♡♡) “i’ll fight you in sumo when you’re in my house”

(♥♥♥) “we’re going together aaaaah”

(♡♡♡) “guess what, i had faith in you”

(♥♥♥) “or OR.. we could... kiss?”

(♡♡♡) “i haven’t had my first kiss” “that's a lie, you kissed me”

(♥♥♥) “hey dream give me an ak.... please”

AND OF COURSE THERE ARE SO MANY MORE BUT... i cannot do this any longer therefore the rest are compilations because i cannot do this any longer

(♥♥♥) every time george has said ‘i love you’ (kind of) to dream

(♡♡♡) dreamnotfound moments

(♥♥♥) gaymest moments

(♡♡♡) rare moments

(♥♥♥) wholesome

(♡♡♡) idiot compilation

(♥♥♥) love languages compilation

BONUS: this soulmate compilation...

SO ORIGINAL POST - links wouldn’t work when reblogged because it went over link limit with everyone tagged, so i will reblog with everyone who’s clips i’ve included!