#mook Mondays

[klonopinandketamine]

Mook Mondays:

[house-of-slayterr]

Singers I Wish I Sounded Like:

As a trans Masc person, I get voice envy from other singers so often 🥺…

My friend Sushi🥺: I fucking love their voice! And them! ❤️

Teddy Hyde:

Alex Turner:

Daniel Caesar:

Chris Clavin:

Hozier:

Lewis Del Mar:

Lewis Capaldi:

Dean Lewis:

Jon Mess:

Frederick Rabe:

Stormae:

Matt Maeson:

Atlas:

Rex Orange County:

Neil Smith:

Finn Wolfhard:

Josh Kizska:

Cavetown:

Ricky Montgomery:

Paul Dano:

Chino Moreno:

Slade Echeverria:

Patrick Stump:

Vic Fuentes:

Johnny Stevens:

Parker Canon:

Matt Shultz:

[lunastars21]

Opens Twitter

THE FACT I DID A DOUBLE TAKE LIKE

WAIT A MINUTE

[pisswizzardrequiem]

Liked Playlist be like

Blue monday

Rex Tremendae Majestatis

Primal concrete sledge

Pajamazon

[theadusa]

Everything I watch in Jan 2024

I was going to post my annual everything I watched in 2023 post but I feel like I missed my opportunity, so here is my everything I watched in January 2024... (Be Warned there are some spoilers, I do try to mark them throughout the review)

My Lovely Boxer (2023, Kim Min-joo)

Main leads: Lee Sang-yeob, Kim So-hye, Park Ji-hwan, Kim Hyung-mook, Kim Jin-woo, Ha Seung-ri, Chae Won-bin

Country: S. Korea

Run: August 21 to Oct 2, 2023 (KBS2, Monday and Tuesday @21:45 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 70 min

Thoughts: Lee Kwon-sook (Kim So-hye) is a boxer who is forcibly thrown back into the world boxing that she has retired from by a sports agent Kim Tae-young (Lee Sang-yeob). I really liked how they balanced the characters. Lee Kwon-sook is a cheerful girl who is constantly haunted by her past. And she is allowed agency to do what she can do, despite the efforts of others. And the relationship between Lee Kwon-sook and Kim Tae-young, though slightly toxic, works in an odd way. I did have problems with how they reconnected her with her father.I personally wouldn’t have forgiven him. However, I loved the relationship with Han Ah-reum, and just how that story ends. I thought it was done very well. Overall I have really enjoyed this drama. Rating: 

Unlock My Boss (2022-2023, Kim Hyung-min)

Main leads: Chae Jong-hyeop, Seo Eun-soo, Park Sung-woong

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 7, 2022 to Jan 12, 2023 (ENA, Wednesday and Thursday @21:00 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 60 min

Thoughts: Oh wow, this is more enjoyable than I imagined. Chase Jong-hyeop as Park In-seong is so fun. He is adorable, down to earth but capable. Jun Se-yeon (Seo Eun-soo) was amazing and I loved her complexities as a character. And the trio of Kim Seon-joo (Park Sung-woong), Park In-seong, and Jun Se-yeon, was so fun and I loved the little family they formed. I literally cried so much during this show for no reason. Like the zoom into the phone literally made me sob each time for no reason. Rating: Who knew electronics can have that much range?

Night Has Come (2023, Kang Min-Ji)

Main leads: Lee Jae-In, Kim Woo-Seok, Choi Ye-Bin, Cha Woo-Min, Ahn Ji-Ho, Jung So-Ri

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 4,, 2023 ( U+mobiletv)

Episodes: 12, 35 to 40 min

Thoughts: This started off really good. A class gets thrust into a mafia game to the death. You along with the characters are wondering who is the mafia among the students and who is forcing this game. It is really interesting, but the episodes follow the same pattern. The end you find everything out, and it's kind of stupied. They had a classmate who committed sucide due to a badly edited image of herself on a skimply clad woman’s body. Which is yeah bad. Then her parents take revenge on the whole class. They are placed in this mafia simulator to repeat the game over and over again. It ends with Lee Yoon-seo able to remember everything, but still trapped in the simulator. Like where their parents are. People must be concerned right. Rating: Sisphyus boulder, I guess…

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract (2023-2024, Go Nam-jeong)

Main leads: Lee Se-young, Bae In-hyuk, Joo Hyun-young, Yoo Seon-ho, Jo Bok-rae

Country: S. Korea

Run: Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 6, 2024 (MBC TV Friday and Saturday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 70 min

Thoughts: This was a cute drama. It starts off with a cute romance between a progressive woman in Joseon and a sick scholar. However, it quickly becomes a tragedy and she is sent to the year 2023 with her hand maid Sa-wol (Joo Hyun-young). It quickly becomes a fish out of water for Park Yeon-woo (Lee Se-young), but luckly she meets the recacrante of her late husband Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk) and they make a deal. It is a cute drama and I loved the cast of characters. Yeon-woo is easy to root for. Sa-wol is adorable, and adapts quickly. Kang Tae-ha is prickly but has a heart of gold. It's dramatic and fun. It's nothing special, but oh is it so good. My favorite part is Yeon-woo and Sa-wol’s relationship. Literally there is a scene with those two that reflects a romantic scene in Perfect Marriage Revenage (2023) which I can’t stop thinking about. Overall I just really enjoyed my time. Rating: butterflies everytime I think about you…

Joseon Attorney: A Morality (2023,Choi Jin-young)

Main leads: Woo Do-hwan, Bona, Cha Hak-yeon

Country: S. Korea

Run: March 31 to May 5, 2023 (MBC TV Friday and Saturday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts:  This was a lot like Taxi Driver. In the way you have an episodic feel with a charismatic male lead seeking revenge and helping people. I had a lot of fun with this show, and I don’t use the comparison lightly either. I really had fun with it. The romance was okay, but I liked the different stories, and the main revenge plot was easy to follow along with. Woo Do-hwan is a great actor and meant to be a leading man. It's definitely  not my favorite and there are a few things that needed changing but it was fun overall! Rating: Who do you call?... Joseon Attorney!!!

KBS Drama Special 14 (2023, Choi Ja-won, Yun Tae-woo, Cho Il-yeon, Choi Yi-kyung, Wi Jae-hwa, Kwon Oh-joo,Park Eun-seo, Jo Soo-yeong, Kim Ik-hyun)

Main leads: Lee Jae-won, Choi Seong-won, and Kim Kang-hyeon,  Kim Won-hae, Min Ji-ah, Ahn Se-bin and Park Ji-ah, Lee Min-jae, Kim Hyun-soo, and Kang Na-eon,  Moon Woo-jin, Park Seo-kyung, Park Ha-sun, Kim Joo-heon, Kim Do-hoon, Chae Won-bin, Kim Dong-hwi, Jo A-ram, Shim Yi-young, Joo Seok-tae,  Ren, Park Sang-nam, Hong Seung-hee, Hahm Eun-jung,  Kim Kang-min, Yoon San-ha, Baek Sung-hyun

Country: S. Korea

Run: OCT 14 to Dec 16, 2023 (KBS, Saturday 21:50 to 22:50 (KST))

Episodes: 10, 60 to 80 min

Thoughts: This is a yearly anthogolgy series that follows various characters in various time periods with various goals. I thought a lot of them were really cool and interesting. “Love Attack” was by far one of my favorites, but I also really liked “The True Love of Madam” which was shocking for me.  It was also hard to find any subs for “Overlap, Knife, Knife” so I had to rely on visual cues and the small amount of Korean I know. But I thought this was a fun anthrologie series, and the stories are fun and fresh. Rating: I love getting short and quick stories like this, its the reason I love short films so much.

A Good Day to Be a Dog (2023-2024, Baek In-ah)

Main leads: Park Gyu-young, Cha Eun-woo, Lee Hyun-woo

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 11, 2023 to Jan 10, 2024 (MBC, Wednesday 21:00 (KST))

Episodes: 14, 70 min

Thoughts: Apparently it is very different from the webtoon ( which I have never read), but I found it entertaining. It is cute and lighthearted. I always like when its past lives, I think it adds a fun element to romances. Though I do think the schedule of the show hindered my enjoyment, because it would be so long between episodes. They also lost me at the end, I can not lie. Rating/Spoiler: Also I would be so angery if I found out my family curse passed down for generations was over a misunderstanding. I would want an apology, reparations, and revenge. On another note, I would also be so pissed if I killed myself to save my servant's baby; then my boyfriend finished off the dying father, then cursed the child and its offspring. I would be pissed, like my scarfice was for not. Go off mountain spirit I guess…

My 20th Twenty (2023, N/A)

Main leads: Choi Yu Ju , Jung Su Bin

Country: S. Korea

Run: April 21 to may 27, 2023 (Wavve, Friday and Saturday)

Episodes: 12, 15 min

Thoughts: This show was good for what it was. It has the vibe of a college student film with a mix of those youtube series made by middle schoolers back in 2009. And I mean that with the highest praise. The sound mixing was off, they had limited cast (background actors is what you are looking for), no interesting lighting (but very well light- i.e the student film vibes), and the actors new to the scene. I loved every motherfucking moment. It was so cheesy, the script was bad, and nothing made sense. But I knew that it was made with passion. Rating: It would be horrifying being 20 forever

Taxi Driver Season 2 (2023, Oh Sang-ho)

Main leads: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram, Shin Jae-ha

Country: S. Korea

Run: Feb 17 to April 15, 2023 (SBS, TV Friday and Saturday @22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: Back in action the second season is so much fun and entertaining. I actually like it better than the first. And I said this once and I’ll say it again Lee Je-hoon is made to be an action star. He’s as great as Kim Do-gi. I also liked that Ahn Go-eun (Pyo Ye-jin)  had a larger role this season. I also just love the friendship in the Rainbow Taxi service. Just so fun. Rating: imagine being taken down by a taxi service…

Taxi Driver Special (2023, SBS)

Main leads:  Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram, Shin Jae-ha

Country: S. Korea

Run: Feb 16 to March 4, 2023 ( KBS)

Episodes: 2, 60 -120 min

Thoughts: This was fun seeing the cast reflect on the episodes and their characters. Its also cool just seeing a reply of everything that happened. You could tell how much Lee Je-hoon loves playing Kim Do-gi. Rating: I am excited for the 3rd season…

Brain Works (2023, Park Kyung-seon)

Main leads: Jung Yong-hwa, Cha Tae-hyun, Kwak Sun-young, Ye Ji-won

Country: S. Korea

Run: Jan 2 to Fe 28, 2023 (KBS2 Monday and Tuesday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 75 min

Thoughts:This show is weird. I think most cop shows are weird but this one especially. I did like the bromance in this, between Shin Ha-ru (Jung Yong-hwa) and Geum Myung-se (Ch Tae-hyun). I did think neuroscience was weird and defies logic. The only good thing about it was when they didn’t completely vilify Pyschopaths, because it tends to be more complicated than the mainstream likes to show. It still left a lot to be desired but it was there. Also when he lowkey kidnapped and torture that kid, oh my god, like he was a little punk and deserved to go to trail but my god. Rating: This is lowkey giving Minority Report tbh…

My Cuteness is about to expire!? (2022,  Tanabe Shigenori)

Main leads: Yamada Ryosuke, Yoshine Kyoko 

Country: Japan 

Run: April 16 to June 11, 2022 (TV Asahi, Saturday 23:30)

Episodes: 9, 23 to 47 min

Thoughts: Maruya is your typical male narcissist who works in sales. He uses his cuteness to stake by in life, to make up for his average skills. One day he is visited by his future self, whom he deems ugly, tells him that his cuteness is going to expire. He decides, after relizing his crush, the only way to prevent this is to date Sanada, a robotic newbie to the sales team. It is cute and Maruya and Sanada are fun as a couple, plus if you have the time you could watch this in a day. Rating: I’m Ichinose calling every single person every 10 seconds sobbing…

My Dearest Pt 1 (2023, Hwang Jin-young)

Main leads: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Lee Da-in, Kim Yoon-woo, Lee Chung-ah

Country: S. Korea

Run: August 4 to Sept 2, 2023 (MBC TV, Friday and Saturday 21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 10, 60 to 90 min

Thoughts:  I was not expecting to like this more than I did. The angst in every episode is so insane. Episode 10 was actually unbearable. I also want to take a moment and appreciate Yoo Gil-chae (Ahn Eun-jin), she is such a complicated  character. She would do anything for her friends, she is willing to do the things that no other women (noble) are willing to do even during times of war. She will stab the man assualting her friend and cover it up. She would cut the amicable cord, she would stab the mother’s hand. She isn’t pure of heart, she neveer claimed to be. I love her so much. And her relationship with Lee Jang-hyun. The ending of episode 10. I was sobbing. Rating: I am trying to hype myself up to watch the next 11 episodes, people had to wait inbetween…

The Escape of the Seven (2023, Kim Soon-ok)

Main leads: Um Ki-joon, Hwang Jung-eum, Lee Joon, Lee Yu-bi, Shin Eun-kyung, Yoon Jong-hoon, Jo Yoon-hee, Jo Jae-yoon

Country: S. Korea

Run: Sept 15 to Nov 17, 2023 (SBS TV Friday and Saturday 22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 17, 70 to 80 min

Thoughts: This was an insane ride. Literally no one in this likeable except for a few, like I didn’t think Min Do-hyuk (Lee Joon) was as bad as the others but oh lordy. It is so melodramatic, which took me off graud for some reason. Going into it I thought it was going to be a serious thriller, but oh boy was I wrong. It was Makjang. Which is fine, and also coming back in style apparently. I’m sat for season 2, but not with much hope. Rating: I actually don’t know the timeline of any of these events, does it expand years months, idk…

My Demon (2023-2024, Choi Ah-il)

Main leads: Kim Yoo-jung, Song Kang, Lee Sang-yi, Kim Hae-sook

Country: S. Korea

Run: Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 20, 2024 (SBS TV,  Friday and Saturday @22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: I was excited for this drama. I really liked Doom at Your Service which promised to have a similar vibe. Which it did to an extent. I actually hate Song Kang in romances and only really like him in nonromance shows. However I think he did really well as Jeong Gu-won. I liked the overall Romance in the show. But I did think the revenge plot got uninteresting and confusing after a while. I do like the ending, I was pretty satisfied with where everyone ended up, which has been a long time since I’ve been this satisfied. 

Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023-2024, Kwon Hye-joo)

Main leads: Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hye-sun

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 2, 2023 ti Jan 21, 2024 (JTBC, Saturday and Sunday 22:30 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: This was cute and was far above my expectations. I am always uneasy with Ji Chang Wook, I can’t forgive him for the Melting My Heart drama a few years back, but I would do anything for Shin Hye-sun. So I gave this drama a go, and I liked it. I loved the vibes, and I didn’t mind that revenge wasn’t the main plot. It's like the one line “my enemies will take themselves out before you get a chance to swing.” It was heartwarming and I’m glad that Cho Sam-dal was able to find peace in her hometown. I loved the feel of community. I loved all the Friendships. It was very lovely. And I’m happy at the ending. I will also give my entire heart to Cho Hae-dal and Cha Ha-yul. I loved their mother-daughter relationship. I wanted more screen time for both. Rating: I’m glad there is a little piece of heaven…

 Game of Witches ( 2022-2023, Lee Do-Hyun)

Main leads: Jang Seo-Hee, Kim Kyu-Seon, Lee Hyun-Seok, Oh Chang-Suk. Han Ji-Wan, Ban Hyo-Jung

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 11, 2022 to April 14, 2023 (MBC, Monday to Friday 19:15 (KST))

Episodes: 119, 25 to 28 min

Thoughts: *Major Spoilers+ Rant ahead.* This show makes me unneccsarly angery. It is a daily drama and a Makjang to boot, so literally put any and all expectations in the gutter. Everything is nonsensical, and drawn out to reach the 119 mark. Storylines get dropped or move way too fast. It has a strange family tree and for a moment every single person was supposbly related. They have so much evidence agsaint the scheming Kang Ji-ho (Oh Chang-suk) and Joo Se-young (Han Ji-wan) but it goes nowhere. Speaking of Kang Ji-ho, he was just straight up dispicable. I would say more than Se-ypung of Ma Hyun-Deok (Ban Hyo-Jung). He was a terrible partner and father from the start. He literally tossed his entire family out the door for Se-young and eventual power. He only paid attention to his daughter Kang Han-Byeol (Kwon Dan-A) when she was able to benefit him. He was at best neglectful and at worst abusive towards her. Han-byeol was the true victim. Hye-soo (Kim Kyu-Seon) actually had a motive in the beginning. She was just pathetic and weak but once she returned they weirdly sidelined her. Also I don’t know why Kang Ji-ho never got prosecuted for trying to kill Hye-soo. Like I find that to be one of his more egregious crimes. Like that is the mother of your child. You gave your child so much trauma, for what? Power? Like when they tried to redeem him at the end I was just fed up. You can’t make hime out to be the big bad guy for 118 episodes, and then have him do one good thing. He is a bad father, and when Han Byeol grows up she will resent him. Rating: Fuck this show, like actually.

 My Dearest Part 2(2023, Hwang Jin-young)

Main leads: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Lee Da-in, Kim Yoon-woo, Lee Chung-ah

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 13 to Nov 18, 2023 (MBC TV, Friday and Saturday 21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 11, 60 to 90 min

Thoughts: More devastating than the first part. Gil-chae is probably my favorite character I have watched. Her journey in this part is absolutely devastating but she survives. I enjoyed the refutement from blame, that people who experienced the worst horrors known are somehow blamed. Gil Chae pushes back on this sentiment herself. This entire time I just wanted Jang-hyun and Gil Chea together. Which took the entire part for them to finally be happy. I do think the ending was kind of wobbly, and they only really needed 10  episodes not the 11. But who am I to say? Anyways I enjoyed the show overall. Rating: My Dear Husband… 

Kokdu: Season of Diety (2023, Kang Yi-heon, Heo Jun-woo)

Main leads: Kim Jung-hyun, Im Soo-hyang, Kim Da-som, Ahn Woo-yeon, Kim In-kwon, Cha Chung-hwa

Country: S. Korea

Run: Jan 27 to March 24, 2023 (MBC TV Fridays and Saturdays @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: You must be wondering why did you watch this? It only has bad reviews- which is a lie, it is actually a polarizing show. And I can understand. If you go into this show with the lowest expectations imaginable and it might be fun. The scenery is pretty and they make decent use of it. Main Romance is actually not good, I felt no chemistry between Kim Jung-Hyun and Im Soo-hyang. I did like the romance between Tae Jeong-won (Kim Da-som) and Han Cheol (Ahn Woo-yeon) other than that The show overall fell flat. I did like the scenery and the setting. I thought it was fun. Also episode 16 was the most enjoyable episode, which is good for an ending. Rating: I would skip…

I am currently watching:

Marry My Husband

Doctor Slump

Because of Love

Do You Like Brahms?

The Real Has Come!

If you have any kdrama recommendations, please let me know!

[olivereactsaboutgarbage]

Higurashi When They Cry - Watanagashi Chapter 12

After the tragedy of people not being dead in One Piece, I can always count on Higurashi for the refreshing palate cleanser known as "the comedy of people being dead".

(EDIT: WHAT THE HECK THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GET POSTED ALMOST A WEEK AGO!!! WHY DIDN'T THAT HAPPEN??? AN ENTIRE WEEK OF ME NOT POSTING HAPPENED INSTEAD???

this is the last time i'm trusting tumblr to do what i tell it to

anyway enjoy your monday post at 4 AM which i wrote ages ago)

Keiichi's dad wants to CANCEL SCHOOL.

Keiichi uses TIME TRAVEL to enter the Applause Dimension.

Keiichi wants to CANCEL SCHOOL.

Rena reminds Keiichi that Keiichis are now mandatory for school or you get expelled, so she needs a Keiichi. Keiichi says "Touch luck." Rena puts her face right up against the microphone and makes breathy noises.

Keiichi receives a death pamphlet from Rena.

truest shit keiichi's ever said

Rena wields her trademarked violence against Keiichi. Damn!!! I wasn't expecting that. She also calls him a spoiled little brat. Neat

Keiichi and Rena have a meet cute, except instead of meeting Rena, Keiichi meets the sentence "I'm Mion and I'm a soy sauce vendor now so you should obtain and consume all of my sauce." Rena has already met that sentence though, so this is only interesting to Keiichi.

Keiichi and Rena decide to party up and face Mion as the final boss.

A Random Ooishi Encounter slithers up to the party. "Oh good," Rena says. "We needed a paladin." It's true that they didn't really have a tank. Rena is obviously a monk and I think Keiichi must be a cleric? So they had DPS and a healer but no tank. Actually, why is this entire party so overtly religious?

They all get in a car, which I guess in this extended metaphor is a horse. Rena says "Keiichi, I think our paladin absolutely sucks shit." Why is Rena always insufferable during the good times but then dope AF when the going gets tough?

I wonder what clever ways Higurashi will use to eventually make me feel bad for asking that.

The party enters the sprawling final dungeon, but not before splitting the party so that the paladin isn't there. The dungeon is called Camera Mountain even though it very much isn't a mountain. Typical RPGs and their bullshit...

"I bet Mion is in her dark surveillance lair, watching the footage from all these cameras on her vast array of screens..." Keiichi says. "No, not really," Rena says.

The party reaches Mion right away without even needing to fight any mooks, let alone a miniboss. Unless you count their paladin as a miniboss because he sucks.

Mion invites everyone to her boss fight arena. "This boss fight arena is interesting," she says. "I want to make it boring." What the hell, Mion? Why do you like boring things? I thought you were the Chosen One, not the Boring One.

Rena tells Keiichi not to be such a scared. If only Keiichi had a perpetual Rena at all times.

Mion owns a pile. She says Keiichi should substitute it for a shoe, but this is just her awesome poop prank.

Mion reads Keiichi's blue text and takes it as a cue to talk about winter, and how much snow there is in winter. I'll stash that away as an extremely important clue.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "SHE" DID IT??? KEIICHI??? HELLO??? I think this kid needs a lesson in pronouns from his teacher with the pronouns.

Everyone stops talking. "HEY GUYS!!!" Mion says. "BREAK THE SILENCE!!!"

Ah, see, I need a friend like Keiichi who I can verbally abuse relentlessly. This is why Mion is still the best. Yes.

Mion is getting Sherlock Holmesed at, so now it's her turn to breathe directly on her microphone. She also praises Rena's Toddler 01 impression.

Mion has her obligatory Ace Attorney breakdown. Keiichi wishes it was a Kaiji breakdown instead.

Rena and Keiichi ask Mion if she was the One and Only Culprit and if Higurashi is already solved two arcs in. "Hi there," says Mion, "I'm new to this conversation."

"...Then... in that case... what does your underwear look like...?"

Wow, I'm worse than the men in Higurashi. Wait, extreme self-deprecation is bad.

"What does... your

Okay joke over

Anyway, Exposition Mion is doing her thang. It's all very interesting.

Incurable diseases, huh? Okay that's going in the evidence folder of my extreme genius.

Ah, cooties, I know about that.

Oh, Mion's grandfather stole a bunch of food from the army and used it to gain wealth and influence. It's like the mundane and boring version of Umineko.

Oh, it was cannibalism. It's like the original planned premise of Bob's Burgers. All the voice actors decide to shut up so they don't accidentally talk over the funny jokes in Bob's Burgers.

AREN'T YOU FOURTEEN??? WHAT DOCUMENTARY WERE YOU WATCHING

Mion says that Hinamizawa is mean because of the Awesome Solidarity. Keiichi asks if they've tried normalcy instead. Mion's like "Pft, if only."

Mion lets everyone know about her secret wordplay surprise, and then says "Wanna see my tattoo?" and starts taking her clothes off. "I don't," says Rena and everything stays television-appropriate.

"By the way," Mion adds, "I am the one true culprit and Higurashi is solved." Well that's good, I guess I can immediately stop reading Higurashi.

Oh, now Keiichi is saying that HE'S the one true culprit. Give your guilt complex a rest, my dude.

Wait is Mion just Keiichi-ing out right now actually? That would actually explain why there's six more Higurashis after this Higurashi. Although it would leave a lot of things much more mysterious... which would also explain it. Guess I'd better keep reading.

Um. Dumbass?

Rena tells Mion to go to jail. Mion says "You first." Rena says "Only if Keiichi wants me to."

Keiichi and Mion decide to go outside. Rena tells Keiichi that it's his responsibility to keep everything normal. RENA, NO!!! THAT'S THE ONE THING KEIICHI'S WORST AT!!! RENA WATCH OUT!!!

Now it's time for Keiichi and Mion's adorable date where they talk about Shion.

No, Keiichi is ambidextrous.

Mion says Shion's not dead. Nifty thing to say.

Niftn't thing to say, I think.

GOD, MION FUCKING GETS IT

Mion takes Keiichi to the Nice and Fresh and Modern Death House. Huh, I guess there was a Nice and Fresh and Modern Death House all along. I guess in this chapter I'm finally starting to realize why Watanagashi was said to have a lower difficulty than Onigafuchi. Which definitely DOES make me wonder what the deal is with the Onigafuchi sequence of events.

Keiichi asks to peruse a variety of dead bodies.

WHAT??? NO!!! A WATER SUPPLY IS ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE FOR BUGS!!!

Keiichi says hi to Shion. Shion ignores him and says to please stop with the elaborate murders. I'm sure that's fine.

Mion says "No, I don't want to." Keiichi loses interest in his surroundings. This also seems pretty alright to me.

Man, this voice acting is really good when it's not busy being dubious.

Is Keiichi planning on pulling some shit?

Foot licking. Phew, perversity. I'm glad When They Cry didn't forget to include perversity. Anyway Keiichi is definitely planning on pulling some shit.

Oh, Keiichi's hands are getting restrained. That'll make it harder for him to pull some shit. I wonder what kind of fucked-up shit he's gonna pull.

Ah, it's Scary Keiichi. I want to see the red glint in his eye...

I mean, not that he's as scary as these green people this time around. But that's what makes his scariness better.

Keiichi says Mion isn't Mion and Mion is like "UH WHAT NO" as if Mion hadn't been talking exactly like that fifteen minutes ago. Wow, that sentence was completely unintelligible.

Oh I misread "I wish I couldn't" as "I wish she wouldn't" and I was gonna give him shit for stating the obvious but I guess I am the one who is the fool. Carry on Keiichi. Keep lamenting.

...You know, five years ago, she sure was... 9? 10? 8? How old are these bitches again

WHAT??? THIS IS STILL THE DOLL ARC??? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN SAY ABOUT ITS PLACE IN THE LARGER ANTHOLOGY

HUH???

Oh that's true LOL. So much has happened since then, such as me spending months not thinking about Higurashi.

yeah me too girl

You drama queen.

L M A O

This really IS the comedy of people being dead! I was right, as always.

Anyway, the monk and paladin have teamed back up. This is why you never split the party I think. So Mion changes her awesome final boss plan.

Keiichi falls asleep so hard he turns into a police report.

Rena was MISSING??? Since WHEN???

Oh shit, the police report turned back into Keiichi. This didn't happen when he died!!

Keiichi's parents have the right idea. Keep holding out to eventually get THE MOST MONEY POSSIBLE.

Oh wait, Keiichi's parents tragically didn't get money, and instead got The Letter That Makes You Get A New House.

Oh this is basically the same thing which happened to me.

Rena gets sad because Higurashi would be really boring if the mascot character was the literal only character. Keiichi reminds her that the other characters aren't dead, they're just living on a farm upstate. Actually, Hinamizawa IS the farm upstate, so I don't know where they're living.

Keiichi also gets mad at the mainstream media for making light of tragedy. Wow, it's as if his feelings actually matter even though there's gonna be a time loop. This is fucked up.

Keiichi once again anticipates the obligatory Shion section of this chapter. Wait, that sounds really fake.

Oh shit I hit the image limit. Well the rest of this post is cancelled

This is fucked up though, Keiichi and Rena lingering with their regrets. This never happened in Umineko (except for that one time). Or the first arc. Or--HIS WINDOW GOT ASSAULTED BY MION???

Mion says "Hi Keiichi" and immediately breaks down

Keiichi is about to be nice to her, but then he gets stabbed. Oh thank god. Keiichi not being dead was making me feel so weird.

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK HE STILL ISN'T DEAD??? THIS IS SO FUCKED UP!!! SOMEONE PLEASE KILL KEIICHI I'M BEGGING YOU!!!

Wait the police report is saying Shion fell over at approximately the SAME time??? But Mion said she did them BOTH! Did she do a Rube Goldberg murder machine?

OooOooOooOOOoh "it sounded like two people fighting and then shion was either murdered OR committed suicide" I guess Higurashi has a mystery in it.

I don't know why I said that like that. To be honest I've spent an entire day writing this post while multitasking so that's why it's increasingly dubious.

Oh, and Ooishi is still! Bothering! Keiichi! SOMEONE JUST KILL KEIICHI ALREADY!!!

I wish I could take pictures of Keiichi's extreme sass here. I could quote it since it's literally just text, but... the magic is ruined if I do that...

Even though Keiichi doesn't want Ooishi's peace offering of pornography, he and Ooishi are still finally on the same page for once, that Mion is murder. So this is Cleric and Paladin synchronicity...

OH OOISHI FOUND THE MURDER WELL. It had all the victims and also random other guys.

Oh, Ooishi found a special Toddler 02 syringe. Just like in Onigafuchi but radically different. It all fits together... but radically different...

Oh, Ooishi noticed the same "same time" thing I did. It's obvious from his interrogation.

Oh, the witness of Shion's death was Shion's bodyguard... oh noooooo...!!! I don't want Ulki from Fire Emblem to experience grief...

Oh... the murder well had all the victims and also random other guys and also Mion.

MION DYING HAPPENED PRIOR TO SHION AND KEIICHI SIMULTANEOUSLY DYING AND KEIICHI SURVIVING IT??? WAIT, REALLY??? So Keiichi hallucinations are CANON and I was SUPER CORRECT LAST TIME. Clearly. I'm a genius!!!

What? Camera's girlfriend was also dead for an entire day before dying with multiple witnesses including not Keiichi? Wait that's actually insane. That's actually crazy. What is this stupid story about.

Oh I wish I could show you this awesome bed picture. You're just gonna have to trust me.

Keiichi has a nice conversation with a Mion hallucination about a fun prank they could play on Ooishi where Keiichi dies.

Oh, even Keiichi is sick of waiting for Keiichi to die so the arc can have an actual ending. It was a deliberate writing choice all along.

"Can this arc PLEASE just end already?!" begs Keiichi. "No" says the Mion hallucination, and the arc ends.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my barely-paying-attention coverage of a highly anticipated climax! Tune in next week for when I give me undivided attention to the goofy bonus chapter.

[boxofteethrpg-blog]

Just Another Mimic Monday

Hand-crafted by an aberrant soul, the first mimic of this breed was given to the creature's loyal bodyguard to provide both protection... and a second bodyguard as it were. The monstrosity performed exceptionally well, especially when heroes slew the fellow wearing it and the mimic kept the bottom fighting. Thus the cuirassier mimic was passed to the next right-hand-mook, and so on as its bearers passed. This lead to a legend of an immortal servant when it truth, it was just the armor all along. Eventually, its creator was killed, the mimic 'looted', and its spore spread across the realm.

[minusgangtime]

(Okay so for now doing simplifications of Paradox in most Aus[cant think of anything else].)

Minus:he's the result of someone trying to summon DD for a favor. What the Mook got was a rather grumpy spirit.

H*llside:a dude who spear tackled a man who he thought was kidnapping Skid (it was a "certian" someone) woke up to Pump sitting on him smacking him gently.

But bad:normal self but sounds like he has a fever 24/7

Trollage:he's a hulking behemoth who's usually seen as a mystery to both Trollage and humans. Hes..just awkward and nervous.

HD:a demon? Angel? Monster something hired to find BF. He turned down the job and is now just vibing.

Monday dusk:shambling around he just randomly mumbles various things in many voices. He hopes he finds a friend.

Monster:he's the guy in town. Spends half his time picking up Skid for whatever reason.

*that's all I got so far.*

(:O !)

[huongduong1412]

พราวมุก Praomook I Pon, Bua, Krating, Mint Ranchrawee

Title: พราวมุก / Praomook Also known as: Prow Mook Duration: 15 Episodes Genre: Drama/Romance Popularity: top rated/low rated/failure Air time: Monday-Tuesday Broadcast network: Channel 3 Broadcast period: May 10, 2021 — July 5, 2021 Theme song: ใจเอ๋ย by Image Suthita. Male Version by Pon Nawasch Phupantachsee ดวงตาคู่นั้น (looking in your eyes) by Marina Sadanun Balenciaga Producer: Kai…

[spiralfucker]

THE THREE OF US SLEEP NEXT TO THREE OTHERS AND IT’S HOT AND WE ROT IN THIS OVEN

[house-of-slayterr]

What if I get a Mook tattoo, but it’s a little cow on my calf (next to Georgie the goldfish) saying “mook” instead of “moo”? 🤭

[iristial]

Miscellaneous stuff from the past few days

Watched Jujutsu Kaisen 0 at theatres on Monday, in the most impulsive way ever. Usually I book my tickets a day before and take the time to dress up. Here, I booked my ticket straight after work, an hour before the movie started, and dashed around the plaza in my uniform to get snacks. What can I say, it was either this or Wednesday, aka I have to come back home and go straight to bed so my mind isn’t fried at 5.30 am the next day ^^;

*awkwardly looks at replies I decided to answer later, forgot about and now it’s been months to a year since then*

Speaking of which...I’ll get to some of them....

Currently the proud owner of a brand new Build No.2 photobook I could actually afford. It’s so pretty! Definitely joins the metsuboujinrai 2.0 mook signed by Nakagawa himself as the highlight of my toku photobook stash

The most stressful position in the workplace has to be drive thru. I’ve been working at this station for a month and I still get the urge to hurl when the rush hour starts and my manager says I’m taking too long. Well, who’s the one chatting and not packing food...food takes time to make...also this customer changed their order four times at checkout and therefore clogged the entire line, what else am I supposed to do -

[if-tomorrow-never-comes]

https://fms-mag.com/carl-barat-blood-sugar-sex-magic/

CARL BARÂT: BLOOD, SUGAR, SEX, MAGIC

Terror. Disbelief. Elation. That’s what Carl Barât felt when he found out he had a baby on the way. And then the longest nine months of his life went by in a flash. They’re feelings most of us have felt during the last decade watching The Libertines traverse from the toilet venues of north London to some of the world’s biggest stages, via the crack dens of East London and with the British tabloid media in tow. Make no mistake, Barât remains an icon to millions and is looking better than ever. He’s on the straight and narrow now and won’t be falling off the sides. He tells FMS about near-death experiences, writing a new record with Peter Doherty and why he’s been watching a lot of Come Dine With Me.

The Queen’s Golden Jubilee at the start of June 2002 saw a memorable weekend of partying across London. Paul McCartney stormed the Buckingham Palace on Bank Holiday Monday and one suspects Liz had more than a couple of gins. But down the road, something far more important to the fabric of Great Britain was happening. The Sonic Mook festival at the Institute of Contemporary Arts was showcasing the future of rock’n’roll. And most of the bands present have now returned to the obscurity from which they briefly climbed, The Libertines came of age that night. What followed was a decade of decadence, confusion, tabloid fall-outs and some magical times.

It seems like a whole lifetime ago. Guitar-based music was still hunched around the periphery of mainstream culture and apart from the maelstrom of public interest around Blur and Oasis that had begun to fade; people were quite content to leave the indie boys alone to the backstreet record stores and basement clubs littering Soho. The Libertines changed all that, despite not having a fraction of the Gallaghers’ record sales.

Yet it didn’t matter that The Libertines never troubled the Top Ten. Their sassy combination of Jam-esq storytelling, boundless energy and gritty pursuit of romanticism gave the British music magazines their new cover stars, while fashion retailers revelled in a healthy boost too. This was long before anyone could have contemplated seeing an Allsaints store smack bang in the middle of Camden Market, let’s not forget. With former Clash man Mick Jones producing their material (along with former Suede star Bernard Butler, who Doherty famously disliked); the band had their fingers literally dipped into the past.

Though never the most consistent of bands, they captured a mood. It was as much down to the band’s look as to the music, of course and Barât and his songwriting partner (and “brother”) Pete Doherty became the great unwashed pin-ups for an entire young generation. But the wider world took them seriously too. Barât recalls Hedi Slimane, one of Christian Dior’s designers coming along after a gig (“he was all Dior and French and charming”) to take photos of everything they were wearing. “I wore mostly charity shop stuff,” Barât says, “like leather jackets, skinniest jeans, and some sort of Beatle boots, like Cuban heel and zip. The next thing you know Dior have got their own range of all these clothes.”

What did they give you for this? “A shit load of free clothes. They basically gave us our own clothes but well-made and not from a charity shop. So it’s kind of a winner really. Is that then selling out? They’re going to do it anyway.”

The other key accessory for any Libertine was the customary Burberry scarf – the result of Barât and Doherty picking up five euro knock-offs in Paris. “They sold them at the tourist stands over there. Suddenly it became part of the uniform. Now you just see total chavs wearing them.” And just as Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn had ushered in a resurgence of parkas and Adidas tracksuits a decade before, so The Libertines helped fire up an industrial strength demand for battered old leather jackets and red neck ties. Topshop and co had a field day selling people the same clobber their uncles probably took to Oxfam the week before. But while they never compromised artistically, there’s little debate over the fact that last summer’s festival reunion with Doherty was a nice little earner, helping Reading sell-out quickly.

“I’d like to write some stuff again with Peter,” Barât muses, swishing around those age-old phrases like ‘it just depends on the right time’ and ‘if he’s up for it’ and that old classic ‘I just don’t have the time right now’. We’re perched discretely in a darkened bar in Camden on one of those cold, rainy, wintry nights that London does so well. Barât complains about his memory a lot. He seems a bit uneasy about being probed deeply but opens up, and gives a lot of way. With a newborn baby Barât does have other priorities. And one week on from the birth of his firstborn son Eli, Barât is positively gleaming, despite clearly being knackered. He doesn’t quite want to admit that his whole world changed, but let’s slip that he’s been watching a lot of Come Dine With Me and Four In A Bed, crossing the road more carefully and learning to be less clumsy.

“I don’t want to be drunk right now; I want to be in control of my faculties,” he says. “I feel blessed to still be here really. And from changing nappies to crossing the road more carefully, it’s like the paternal instinct just grabs hold of you. When it’s someone else’s baby you feel awkward holding it but when it’s your baby, you just pick it up and it’s just instinct. I suppose if you could explain it then it wouldn’t be such a shock when it happens.”

Barât, 32, was born in Basingstoke into a working class family and grew up with three brothers and three sisters. “My dad worked in a factory and my mum left and lived in a hippie commune and I remember the difference between the two,” he remarks, recalling how he was closest to his sister Lucie, who appeared in 2004’s Troy.

As with the majority of today’s Brit School trained pop stars, Barât’s early years were spent chasing the stage, although he says that it was more a penchant for laziness that drove him in this direction. “In my head, drama was the only thing where I didn’t have to do anything because I was so lazy. But then you just enjoy it, so it feels like a blag. It started at school but I was always too scared to audition at a proper drama school, so I’d sneak in through the back door.”

Studying drama at Brunel University, where he was “a bit quiet and a bit chubby”, Barât was a bit of a loner, describing the experience as “horrific”. He left the course after a couple of years to move in with Doherty after sharing a flat with Doherty’s older sister, Ellie. “No one I was on the course with is doing drama now,” he points out with a wry smile. “It was literally like being in big brother. It was horrific.” But the experience was to prove a positive one. “Feeling like an outcast is going to propel anyone in a certain direction – anybody.”

And the direction of his solo album has certainly taken a few people by surprise – not just for its lack of guitars, but for the sumptuous, bruising and quite fantastical arrangements. “It was a lot about catharsis. I’ve only ever written from a point of escape before, whereas with this record the floodgates were open and I was drowning in material.”

Carving his name on the livers of lovers, Barât shines most when at his darkest (such as the splendid ‘Carve My Name’). The haunting piano led numbers veer gloomily into Tim Burton territory (‘The Fall’), tangoing around relationships break-ups without any fear of embracing some rather pretentious and quite often wonderful orchestration. There are still jaunty, Morrissey-brushing guitar tours round the north London districts of Haringey and Holloway (‘Run With The Boys’).

And there’s a clutch of wonderful ballads, like the Kinks-tinged ‘So Long, My Love’. But the record opens up a whole side of Barât that no one’s seen. ‘Shadows Fall’, a song written for his son, is one of the many highlights, and it’s no wonder he’s itching to get back into the studio. “There’s only so much Come Dine with Me I can watch,” he quips. “I have a routine. I get my morning hour. That’s when I’m at my most creative. I’m more domesticated yes, but I’m back where I should be as an artist. The night world is something I’m moving away from.”

Of course, there can be no greater escapism from the darkened realms of tabloid junkies than a beautiful week-old son. “I’ve got to take my baby seriously,” he says, “and I want to take my records seriously as well. But I’m guessing, in my heart, that I will write another record with Peter. But that won’t be until the end of the year.” In the meantime he wants to go off and live ‘like a writer’: engaging with literature, being receptive and even, he says, listening to opera with the curtains closed for prolonged periods of time. “It’s a kind of madness, but at the end of it all when you’ve got reams of paper, some of them are going to be gold dust.”

It’s a world away from the madness of The Libertines’ heyday. (Rumour has it that when Doherty gave up heroin the street price massively increased in London.) “I learned that drugs, addiction and womanising were urges you can never feed to repeation. These monsters will never be satisfied and I don’t have to bother with them. It’s nice to shake hands with them every now and again but I don’t want to get into a relationship with them.”

As the evening continues, Barât trades shandies for whiskeys and stops the tape occasionally for a cigarette. As you’d expect, he talks fondly of Doherty and their “impenetrable bond” and seems focused, with most of his personal problems vanquished. While he denies ever doing crack or heroine, Barât admits being just as consumed as Doherty was at certain points. “The things I tended to do never had much of a hold on me, so I’d be able to go without,” he admits, “but I don’t have the option to have problems when I’ve got a baby, you know? Now I know why I didn’t die at 27.”

And with that, he launches into something even deeper. “Just when everything’s bleak at the end of a wilderness when you’re wondering why you’re not dead yet, when you’ve done everything you could possibly do and exhausted every possible option open to you, suddenly a door opens and there’s a ray of light, a ray of sunshine and a pastoral beautiful scene out there awaiting you. You’ve got the other world; you just start a whole other vista. It doesn’t change who I was, it just means I’m going forward. I think I was just going four or five years waiting to die.”

He wearily recalls several near-death ‘incidents’, one of which included a week without sleep around Glastonbury in 2009 when Blur reformed. “All kinds of ludicrousness happened that week. I was climbing around on the roof of a hotel in Italy despite being petrified of heights. It just all sort of became a game to me really, just asking the universe if it wanted me dead.”

Despite bemoaning the state of the music industry (“no one wants to invest in you”) and not being massively impressed by Biffy Clyro’s X-Factor sell-off (“well done lads, get it where you can”), Barât is resolutely upbeat about his life, even if he’s not into any new music personally.

“The national mood is really dour at the minute. They say normally there has to be a World Cup or a war or,” he says, pausing briefly, “a massive recession to make everyone think ‘fuck the government’, which apparently seems to be happening right now. That creates the black and the white, as opposed to just grey, which is what we’ve had for a number of years.” It’s a point people keep making, but thus far the only breakthrough act to make it out of the recession is Tinie Tempah – not exactly angsty, recession beating rock’n’roll.

“I keep using the phrase ‘bleak wasteland’, but there are a lot of bleak wastelands to talk about and nothing I’ve seen yet really captures it. You get all these bands like The XX and all that, I’m sure they’re great, but it’s not something I need in my life right now. I’m looking for someone to take the ol’ crown –someone needs to get hold of it.” He doesn’t think Kasabian are that band and doesn’t like the office worker crowds they get.

Barât is of course a romanticist at heart. He talks fondly about his old science teacher Mr Williams who gave him his first Velvet Underground tape. He loved Tokyo and gleefully shows photos of the 24 hour puppy shops. “Isn’t that mental? The concept was just beyond me. It’s four in the morning, I need a dog.” He misses buying singles and the thrill of hearing the B-sides and wants to stop losing his temper. “I just get lairy. It’s just like drones who work in big companies who care more about the company than the company does for them,” he says – a rant brewing. “I turn down Grumpy Old Men and now I’m doing it to you!”

“The thing about that world,” he points out, “is that it’s right here before us. It’s just part of English culture to shoot someone down for doing something lofty. To take the piss out of someone for being ‘wanky’ I suppose is how you put that in day to day terminology. But er, yeah you have to romanticise things. Everything that’s fantastical and romanticised in song and film and literature is right there in front of us.” He believes everyone gets stuck sometimes in a prison of their own design but that what needs to come through will come through. “That’s the nature of the universe,” Barât says, reclining. “That’s the human spirit. That’s evolution. It’s what I was talking about. That’s instinct.”

Words: Andrew Future Photos: Michael Robert Williams Art Editor: Elliott Webb

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

This feature was first published in Issue 08 of FASHION.MUSIC.STYLE, February/March 2011.

[clowngremlin]

i forgot i had dbt group this afternoon.....i completely forgot it was monday and when it was happening, i was too busy writing in my journal and listening to mook </3

[notquitewhump]

happy monday my friends. i have some rambling thoughts about beyond evil!

firstly, we still don’t know what happened to dong-sik’s partner? didn’t it say that some people thought he killed his partner? what situation were they in that he died? and that dong-sik refused to say anything to clear it up?? is he covering up for someone again? why? who?

secondly, so... min-jeong’s father. what a character to unpack. i’m so confused about him. in the scenes where he was alone in his house he walks, talks, and acts, forgive my language, normally? but in the flashback to him sitting in the church when he was young, his actions are more in line with what we’re normally shown. has he always been manipulative and has been pretending to have an intellectual disability?? if so, oh my god. if not, what?? is causing the disparity? 

okay moving on from that. when we see min-jeong’s father alone, he seems extremely manipulative and calculating. plus, min-jeong says he creeps her out. i’m assuming when he was counting how many people he sees in a day he is making sure he always has an alibi? that was my immediate thought. but he also seems deliberate in reaching out to DS and JW, this will make JW at least, not suspect him. (I think DS does suspect him though? at least in that scene) 

HOWEVER. this all went out the window when at the butcher’s shop he just froze when he got the text? i would think that the calculating side of him would be able to handle the situation and hide it but he didn’t... is this a step in his plan? does he want people to suspect him and clear him so he doesn’t have to worry? (also, this is where I don’t think DS suspects him. when he saw him out the window I still thought there was the suspicion but when he got the text, DS seemed really taken aback)

okay. i still have more to say somehow. if jin-mook really is the person who kidnapped min-jeong, why the fingers?? if he was the person who killed DS’s sister, why even do the fingers? just to get the thrill of the chase back? if he didn’t kill DS’s sister, why the fingers?????? literally if he had no connection why? or was it DS who did the fingers like it showed in like ep. 3? then what was DS’s motivation there? did he know min-jeong didn’t like her father and wanted him to go to jail? 

finally, butcher shop lady’s mom is still missing. DS’s sister was still never found. jung-je has gone off the grid and has some pretty troubling mental health issues. JW’s tutor daddy suck-up guy exists (what is his motivation?). and honestly, i wonder if JW’s mother will ever be mentioned? if she’s not relevant to the plot at all, i understand, but seeing how his father is so important to the story I just wonder about his mother. one of his reactions when speaking with butcher shop lady made me wonder if his mother was also missing but that seems like a stretch. (but honestly would be really interesting in terms of personal motivation but i doubt it)

god this show is going to kill me. looking forward to friday! sorry this is so long

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #223: of Robin Hoods and Roustabouts

September, 1982

Apparently a “roustabout” is an unskilled or casual labor.

And lets admit the obvious that if Hawkeye is either of the two things, he’s a robin hood. And its not inaccurate but be nicer to Scott Lang.

Even if he manages to be even more hapless in this issue then in modern takes that leans into him being a fuck-up.

As for the cover? Pretty striking cover. I’ve been waiting for Hawkeye to shoot Ant-Man at someone. Its apparently an Iconic Avengers moment and to think it first happens in a filler.

Because I’m pretty sure this is a filler. Its written by David Michelinie alone instead of Jim Shooter getting a plotter or co-writer credit. It doesn’t really have anything from the dangling plot threads of Hank Pym or the Masters of Evil.

Between this and and the filler with the immortal child who badly wanted to die and all of the plotter or co-writer credits, you just really get a sense that Jim Shooter did not have time to devote to Avengers anymore.

So what kind of filler will this be? Weird? Impactless? Good Actually? Let’s see!

Well, apparently Hawkeye is going to the carnival so at this point, it could go either way.

I like that Hawkeye has a H belt buckle because that’s the kind of thing that he would do and that I can make fun of him for.

I know that it’s been a while since he’s mentioned kewpie dolls but Hawkeye came from the circus. He and his brother ran away to one when they were little and the Swordsman taught Hawkeye archery. The point being, “he’s come home.”

As in, this is specifically the carnival he used to work before he became very briefly a superhero, and then for slightly longer a supervillain, and then for much much longer a superhero for real.

Point is, he’s been away for a while. But he received a flyer in the mail and decided he just had to come.

Because someone wrote HELP! on the back.

Hawkeye figures that the previous owner’s daughter and current owner Marcy Carson sent it as a goof but heck if she’s going to go to that trouble, he’ll be happy to visit.

So he breezes past the workers outside the owner’s trailer and-

Actually they beat the shit out of him for trying to breeze past them. Goes to show.

When Hawkeye threatens to beat them up for this rude treatment, they get ruder and call him a rube. Can you believe! Him, a former employee himself being called a rube! Also they pull a fancy sci-fi gun on him.

So Hawkeye does buzz off. So he can change into his hawking eye duds and buzz right back on.

Roustabouts carrying laser pistols is very suspicious. And I guess Ant-Man isn’t the roustabout of the title. He’s moving up in the world.

MEANWHILE, Perfectly Ordinary electronics technician, ex-con, and Ant-Man Scott Lang is having a night out with his daughter Cassie. And they’re having a bit of a disagreement.

See, Cassie, future superhero, wants to ride the really cool roller coaster the Spin-’n-Heave. Scott Lang, dad with dumb views on gender apparently, insists that a roller coaster just isn’t ladylike enough and she should ride something more refined like the pony ride or ring toss.

Also, Scott is carrying the Ant-Man suit with him, loose in his pocket. And the helmet just drops out of his pocket and the damn fool would have lost it if Cassie hadn’t spotted it and mistaken it for a marble.

Geez, Scott! I stood up for you!

Scott’s attempts to dad by restricting what his daughter can and can’t do based on his own views on what is ladylike get dropped when he spots Hawkeye hauling ass across the carnival and decides that This Cannot Stand!

Scott Lang Ant-Man may not be an Avenger but dangit he can’t leave a fellow hero in the lurch! He must offer unsolicited aid!

So he caves on the Spin-’n-Heave issue because its a way to keep Cassie occupied for the length of exactly this issue.

Scott gives the operator a bunch of money and tells the operator to let Cassie ride until it runs out and then takes off.

Cassie is thrilled.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye has returned to the owner’s trailer but Marcy is gone and so are the two goons that were guarding the door. But he spots them marching Marcy through the crowd.

The goons are complimenting Marcy on being so cooperative but also say that if she’s not cooperative, her star acts are gonna get fed to the lions. And that might happen anyway once everything is said and done because their boss be like that.

Anyway, that’s when the two get hit by a KRAK THUBB arrow. Punch arrow? It looks nerf-y.

Hawkeye grabs Marcy and runs off with her into a tent so she can explain it all.

But first: he has to notice that she is beautiful. He has been gone a while so, y’know. People grow up or whatever.

Hawkeye: “There, that’s better! Now maybe I can get to the bottom of -- hey! You’re beautiful!”

Marcy: “I’ve waited a long time for you to notice that, ol’ buddy.”

Hawkeye: “Yeah, well, it’s hard noticin’ anything when you’re bein’ tripped into a pile of elephant dirt -- which, as I recall, used to be your favorite pastime!”

Marcy: “People change, Clint.”

Young Marcy sounds like a really interesting person. She certainly gave Hawkeye the business.

Anyway, she explains that it was pure luck that she was able to sneak that message out to him. And that the carnival has been taken over by some freak with powers.

Marcy: “Why, if he even suspected I was in touch with you he’d kill me deader than a Monday night in Des Moines!”

Off-screen Villain: “Nicely put, dumplin’! Should make you a dandy little epitaph!”

SCENE CHANGE TO PRESERVE SUSPENSE

Scott Lang has ducked behind some circus carts to change into Ant-Man.

Except he still has the whole shrunken costume piecemeal in his pockets so the process is one of slapstick. Scott goes digging in his pockets for the suit and accidentally drops it all in the straw.

Then he has to go digging around for the incredibly teeny pieces of gear while realizing that this was a stupid plan.

Maybe he should keep the suit in a tin. Like a mint tin or something.

But he finally gets all the pieces together and uses a safety pin to trigger the enlarging gas to full-size the outfit so he can put it on.

Huh! Enlarging gas! Early days in Avengers, they were all about the logistics of the shrinking and growing for Ant-Giant and the Wasp but it hasn’t been talked about in a long while. Wasp just changes size without the how being discussed.

But if it is Pym Particles, then I guess Scott isn’t at the point yet where his body naturally produces them so he has to use the gas canisters on the belt.

Scott does get dressed in his ant duds and uses the helmet to command some ants to find Hawkeye. And this is a carnival with a lot of dropped funnel cake and cotton candy so you know that there’s plenty of ants available.

SCENE CHANGE because we can only preserve suspense so far.

The mysterious off-screen villain hits the lights in the tent that Hawkeye and Marcy were talking in. Which reveals a bunch of gym and training equipment. It’d be nice if carnivals could provide such robust gym benefits to their workers but I feel that this is actually suspicious, finding this here.

Especially the combat flight simulator.

Hawkeye: “This place looks like a training ground for World War III!”

Off-screen villain, about to be onscreen: “And what better setting for the world’s greatest trainer? Namely... the TASKMASTER!”

Heyyy its the Taskmaster!

I forgot that he was a loose thread. He got away after the THREE-PARTER that introduced him. Then again, I guess since he’s the explanation for where villains get their armies of mooks, he didn’t really need to be tied up because that would defeat the purpose.

Anyway, Hawkeye wasn’t on the team for that three-parter but thankfully, the Avengers take thorough records.

Hawkeye: “Yeah, I remember readin’ about you in the Avengers’ files! You’re some sorta goon peddler!”

Taskmaster: “Watch yer mouth, bow-bender! What I am is a teacher!”

And then he recaps his goon, mook, henchman training business for the audience. He even clarifies that his series of secret academies are going great, thanks, but he’s trying to branch out with a mobile recruiting center.

Aka, this circus. And heck, according to Taskmaster, carnies already come off unscrupulous so having a bunch of goons hanging around won’t stand out.

THE PERFECT CRIME.

Actually. I don’t know if this is a crime? It’s not illegal to do combat training or learn how to fly a plane, probably. Then again, when 100% of your alumni wind up arrested for helping steal the Statue of Liberty, a legal goon school would get a lot of unwanted scrutiny. So best keep it secret.

And of course, extorting the owner and workers of a circus is definitely a crime. Pretty sure.

Anyway, the mobile recruiting center scheme is helped by Marcy telling anyone who asks that the new people hanging around are a new act that isn’t ready to open yet.

Hawkeye is sick of Taskmaster’s smarmy smarm and tries to shoot a grabber arrow? at Taskmaster.

Who just blocks it with his shield.

And takes the opportunity to brag about his photographic reflexes, where he only needs to see a sweet move once and he can do it perfectly.

He shows off by doing some Cap moves and then doing a Spider-Man move. Which he seems to do just to do.

And by Spider-Man move I mean hanging upside down from a line. Which, yes, Spider-Man does do that but it doesn’t really seem that necessary or helpful here and you’re totally doing it just to show off but really you look a little ridiculous.

Taskmaster even shows off some Tigra moves by kicking Hawkeye in the face. Its fun to me that he shows off Tigra specifically. Its for some acrobatics like flippy kick but there’s gotta be other acrobatic heroes. Like Spider-Man.

But Tigra was on the Avengers recently and briefly and dammit, he’s gonna show off what he learned!

Anyway, Taskmaster beats up Hawkeye until he gets bored of it and then just takes Marcy hostage to get Hawkeye to surrender.

He just really wanted to show off some of his sweet moves. And as soon as he ran through five different hero movesets (Cap, Spider-Man, Tigra, Daredevil, and Iron Fist) he’s just like ‘k I’m done’.

Meanwhile, back to Ant-Man ant-again.

He’s lurking around a corner trying to be inconspicuous while children are pointing and asking if he’s a clown. Perhaps realizing that he didn’t need to put on the full costume to use the helmet and that he’s just made himself look foolish.

But some of his ants report in that they’ve found Hawkeye so Ant-Man shrinks down to ride an ant into action.

Wait. Yeah. You could have just shrunken down and perched somewhere to wait for ant reports. You’ve made yourself look a fool and you fully had the power to avoid that in so many ways.

Meanwhile back to Hawkeye yet again, Taskmaster knows that killing an Avenger would attract notice so he’s going to make it look like an accident.

So he’s locked Hawkeye in an electrified cage with a lion, a normal situation that can accidentally happen to anyone. So now when Hawkeye gets mauled to death by the lion, nobody will suspect it was anything but an accident.

Taskmaster walks away because its villain tradition that you don’t watch the heroes you lock in the death traps. That’d just be gauche.

The lion sizes up Hawkeye and decides that he’s food and leaps for the kill!

And Ant-Man grows out from under the lion and throws it into the electrified bars, knocking him out.

Pretty good timing Scott! And that poor attempted man-eater lion! That poor five hundred pound lion! WOW SCOTT, do you work out?

I also feel that Republic Serial has aged poorly for more than just lion tossing.

Ant-Man and Hawkeye get each other on the same page. As it happens, Ant-Man actually has more experience with Taskmaster since he was actually in that three-parter. That’ll give them a tiny, tiny, tiny edge.

They’re still stuck in a locked cage and Hawkeye is like ‘gee whiz shrinking hero guy how can we possibly get out?’

Would you be surprised that Ant-Man just shrinks Hawkeye? Scott does muse that he could probably have picked the lock if he had the tools for it but shrinking just saves time.

Hawkeye does not care for it though.

I don’t know what he’s complaining about. Big sleepy cat even bigger now. You could live in the mane at that size.

You could be a tiny man living in a lion’s mane. Imagine.

Anyway.

Over in Taskmaster’s private tent, he’s telling Marcy she done fucked up calling for Hawkeye and she’s going to wish she was getting mauled to death by a lion in an electrified cage like Hawkeye was.

And Hawkeye does the equivalent of clearing his throat and saying ‘hey dingus, not dead’

Taskmaster reaches for a magnesium flare like he used against the Avengers but Ant-Man’s expert knowledge of meeting Taskmaster one time lets him warn Hawkeye who shoots it out of Taskmaster’s hand.

Taskmaster just questions why they didn’t go for a killshot when they had him surprised and then calls a goon squad on the heroes.

Of course, goon squads being called on heroes is just a setup to make heroes look really cool showing their stuff on some expendable targets.

“While the Taskmaster’s troops have been well-trained for normal combat, they fare woefully poor against these super-normal foes!”

And show their stuff they do. Like Hawkeye leaping around firing net and bola arrows!

And Ant-Man... shrinking down really small to punch a guy’s earlobe.

Look. He’s trying.

Also, Marcy is braining people with a juggling pin like some manner of alien clown because she is exceptionally irate at Taskmaster and his goons.

While the three beat up this crowd of goons, Taskmaster runs off to set up his “escape insurance.”

Ant-Man and Hawkeye chase him into the big top where there’s already a crowd watching the show. And waiting for the human cannonball act.

BUT! Taskmaster is apparently a cartoon villain because he’s replaced the human cannonball with a dummy full of explosives and he’s going to shoot it and blow up the grandstand, killing a couple hundred innocent lives.

Taskmaster tells them they can capture him or they can stop his ridiculous scheme.

Taskmaster: “Have fun decidin’, chumps!”

And then presumably he runs off giggling.

Hawkeye wants to go after Taskmaster and have Ant-Man take care of the nothuman cannonball bomb.

Ant-Man: “No, Hawkeye! There are too many lives at stake! And it may take both of us to stop that cannon!”

Hawkeye: “But we can’t just let that psycho walk! We can’t -- .”

Ant-Man: “Hawkeye! Think about it! Think! Please... !”

Hawkeye: “Yeah, I guess you’re right... blast it.”

Scott Lang has his heart in the right place to be a hero even if he is a bit of a goofus about it. I like you, Scott Lang.

Hawkeye runs back into the tent and shoots the goon manning the cannon with a bola arrow. he gets the goon but the goon falls on the button.

Fortunately, its the elevation control, not the fire button.

Unfortunately, there is no firing button, so the firing cycle is automatic.

Fortunately, hitting the elevation control accidentally made the cannon point up instead of at the grandstand. So the bomb is still going to fall and blow everything up but they have time and Ant-Man has an idea.

He has Hawkeye nock his fastest arrow and jumps on it.

Hawkeye shoots the arrow and hits the explosive filled mannequin in the neck right as it reached the top of its trajectory and hung very briefly in the air.

As the bomb starts to plummet, Ant-Man crawls up the arrow onto the bomb-man and to the detonator.

All too soon the bomb hits the ring

but doesn’t detonate.

Ant-Man managed to defuse the bomb!

And he also managed to survive the fall because of course! He’s not destined to die for a long while and only then in a really dumb way.

Thanks to Scott’s experience of watching Raiders of the Lost Ark twenty-seven times he’s a real expert on jumping from one speeding object to another.

Aka, from the falling bomb to a flying ant. Sure.

The heroes see that Taskmaster has escaped while all this was going on but Hawkeye decides he’ll get him next time.

Also? The audience has thought that this was part of the show the whole time so they’ve loved every second of this.

Soon the other Avengers arrive, too late to take part in the plot but in time to help clean up the goon operation.

Also, She-Hulk is in her tattered white dress outfit again. I really think there was some miscommunication here. Like with having her dressed like that on the previous cover and having her dressed like that here in this filler issue.

She doesn’t wear that anymore but its the Iconic outfit for her so if an artist needs a ref to draw her, they’re probably looking at a picture from her Savage She-Hulk series.

And Scott Lang gets the last page because whoops, he left his daughter on a roller coaster the whole time and forgot her in the heat of the adventure. DAD OF THE YEAR!

Scott runs to find her sitting outside the Spin-’n-Heave looking down, head in hands. Scott is worried that something is wrong with her but

Cassie Lang: “I’m a little tired right now, daddy *yawn* but can we come back an’ ride the ‘Spin-’n-Heave’ again t’morrow?”

Scott Lang: “Tomorrow? Again? *sigh* Kids.”

Hah, she tuckered herself out riding the roller coast over and over again but is game to keep doing it again tomorrow. That’s the Cassie Lang that will grow up to join the Young Avengers!

So, Avengers filler but it wasn’t weird or inconsequential. It doesn’t do anything with the ongoing plots but it feels like it does since Scott Lang has come back into the books recently because of the Hank Pym plot. And it follows up on Taskmaster who has gone unaddressed since his introductory stories.

Its just a nice story and by focusing on a guest star and one of the Avengers doing an impromptu team-up it has some fun energy.

Good times.

Hey. Follow @essential-avengers​ maybe? Its better than the Spin-’n-Heave! ... I can’t actually prove that. But also like and reblog this post because I’m a cool person. ... I can’t actually prove that either...