#theres so much good shit in this sequence its amazing

[a-caterpillars-world]

moonsetter!!!! moonsetter from my tunes!!!!!!

[softness-and-shattering]

About the Mean Girls musical movie

I know Ive had conversations before about the cultural context stuff, that it seems like the message was not as effective as the first movie when the stuff its talking about, how girls are wrong whatever they do and everything is up for criticism and filming, and you have to pretend to be sweet and kind fairy princesses instead of being allowed to be human. And Id have to go back and find those posts to see what I do and dont agree with now. Because I just saw the movie. And honestly, I liked it. A lot of the visuals were really fun and interesting, which I think is impressive in a movie that mostly takes place inside of a high school. Regina more than once looks like she's in a music video, and that works because shes so hyped, its like she lives in a reality where not only do people break into song, but she's always in a music video. She really sells the character, self-assured and in charge and perfectly manipulative, and even when she's being vulnerable you're like, but is this another deception? She's more villainous in this version, and by the end maybe more human as well. (also the costuming is phenomenal, that Halloween angel dress?? The entire Halloween Someone Get Hurts sequence might be my favourite. )

Also Renee Rapp, who plays Regina, is just incredibly hot. She also played Regina on Broadway so it makes sense she has the character down. Thats not film critique thats my personal admiration. Its almost a little silly with the "oh no Regina is gaining weight she cant fit her clothes" because she looks amazing. [Edit: She's also obviously - I was gonna say she seems older than the other "teens" but actually she's 24, so Im having a moment of feeling old. And she's actually the same age as Auli'i Cravalho who is a lot younger in my mind because holy shit Moana came out EIGHT years ago?? Angourie Rice/Cady is 23, Jaquel Spivy/Damian is 26, Avantika/Karen is 19, thats more the age I thought they were but not the cast seems to be mostly 23-26. Its so weird when times moves the same for people while your image of them in your head stays the same. So Rapp isn't older she's just a bit bigger (neutral/positive). And she's been playing the role for a long time. And Im allowed to find her hot because she's a goddamn adult and so am I. This paragraph is not critique it is me blogging on my blog. Now Im annoyed at myself for Caveats of Fear but Im gonna stop dwelling on that now.]

On that note, though I originally liked the musical quite a lot, the significant fatphobia in it soured it for me. And Im happy to say in the musical movie, they changed or omitted those lines. I was waiting to cringe and they just sang something else. So that was great. I think the only fat character was Damian (why does that suddenly look like a vampire name?) - Jaquel Spivy - and he seemed comfy and cool, no self deprecating fat jokes or anything. Generally the lines/jokes that were uncomfortable or a bit bigoted have been changed. Though there isnt any disability rep, and theres a random character the burn book claims puts alcohol in her inhaler, like a 3 second joke.

And the big thing is that a lot of the meanness is shown in montages of vertical video and comments - no-brand tiktok obviously - and I think thats pretty realistic, and also in the original theme of not being mean to peoples faces but talking all kinds of shit behind their backs. And I think the montage format is effective in mimicking that endless scroll eyes glazing over stuck in the doom scroll/stuck in the spectacle. The music was good. I really liked how they overlaid the Spring Fling/thematic music with the math competition. If anything, Cady is not as good of a character, her Plastic switch is basically overnight, the scene with Aaron at the party is still kinda of awkward, she doesnt get as much room to breathe, while almost everyone else comes off really well. Heck even the candy cane/glen coco guy did well, I was actually suprised at how differently and yet excellently the actors acted their lines, compared both to the previous movie and the musical. Auli'i is fantastic, scary Janis is *scary*. And I simultaneously want to be her best friend. (It certainly helps that her art is augmented with embroidery and she's carrying embroidery hoops in multiple scenes. Fiber arts my loves.)

When I first saw a trailer my thoughts were "ugh we dont need another movie of this," but I think Ive changed my mind. Its similar enough and different enough that for me its a good adaptation. Also - I almost forgot to say - Janis gets a girlfriend for Spring Fling. Its not a plot point, we're just montaging getting ready and Janis goes to pick her up (in the lavender suit), and Damian is taking photos with two other sapphic couples. And he gets a crush/admirer who again, is just there to be there and doesnt interfere with the main story. I might change my mind again once its had time to settle in my thoughts, but initial impression is that its a fun movie I would watch again. Maybe we want the social commentary to be more incisive than it is, and in the end it is entertainment that needs to not be too boring to hold peoples shortening attention spans. (also neutral). Maybe thats wishing for it to be a movie that its not trying to be, and thats always a recipe for disappointment and also not great or fair analysis. What a fantastic line to end on*.

[pesterloglog]

Calliope, Jake English

Act 6, page 4181

uranianUmbra [UU] began cheering golgothasTerror [GT] at 5:45

UU: hello there, darling. ~3u

GT: Ahoy madame!

UU: i dont relish troUbling yoU with more arm twisting.

UU: im sUre for all ive done so far yoUve had a jolly good workoUt already :u

UU: bUt yoU will be ready to deliver the package today, yes?

GT: Im determined as ever to see this through. But as usual events have conspired to make a boondoggle of the prospect.

GT: I think i might be fucked.

UU: :U

UU: how so???

GT: Terry needs fuel and i dont have any left. I think im at striders dubious mercy for a solution YET AGAIN.

GT: I will have to ask him for help. And soon.

UU: well there yoU go, love! better hop to it.

GT: Yes i will.

GT: But also...

GT: Theres the matter of the rabbits armaments.

GT: I dont imagine hell do a lot of friggin good in helping grandfather crocker from kicking the old bucket without them.

GT: Did you not say youd supply these?

UU: i did indeed say so!

UU: and have already done.

GT: You did??

GT: When?

UU: in yoUr fUtUre.

UU: i relayed the information enabling yoU to create the powerfUl weaponry yoUrself.

UU: and yoU did!

UU: yoU then sent them back in time. yoU may recover them in the rUins, which conveniently is where yoU mUst go to ship the package once and for all.

UU: bangUp plan we hatched, dont yoU fancy? ^u^

GT: I see...

GT: Yes it sure is if that is the case.

GT: Then all thats left to do is find power for it...

GT: Oh and also enough power for the stupid transmateriabob. Augh!

GT: So much to do before shuttling this goddamn thing into the past.

GT: I mean...

GT: That is what im doing right? Giving it to my grandma when she was a kid growing up on the same island i did?

UU: that is somewhat close to the trUth, and i can see how yoU woUld draw that conclUsion.

UU: bUt theres more to it yoU dont Understand yet! yoU will sort it all oUt in time.

GT: These are among the dadblasted causal spoilers you refuse to dish out?

UU: somewhat.

UU: it woUldnt hUrt yoU mUch to know the trUth, i imagine.

UU: its jUst the trUth is a wee bit complicated.

UU: perhaps a draft of the cascading seqUence from which yoUr reality has arisen will pUt yoUr mind at ease.

UU: imagine two Universes, A and B.

UU: now imagine there are two instances of each Universe, A1 and A2 and B1 and B2.

UU: the first instance of each is like a test rUn, that does not qUite sUcceed.

UU: the second instance thoUgh will meet all of its pUrposes!

UU: now consider that A1 begets A2.

UU: A2 begets B1.

UU: and B1 begets B2.

UU: and the participants of B2 are the ones who will make an effort to exit all this tUrbUlence and falderal.

UU: yoU are one of them! :U

UU: and yoUr yoUng ancestor is another, thoUgh she is "presently" stationed in B1.

UU: and yes she is in the past.

UU: thoUgh not qUite as far as yoU believe!

UU: nor does she occUpy the same stream of continUity.

GT: Im not sure i completely followed that but ok.

UU: thats the best i can do for now. u_u

UU: primarily becaUse i will not risk wasting mUch more of yoUr time!

GT: So you are still in contention that i will meet our elders as youths?

UU: oh yes! ^u^

GT: Ah ha! Then i WILL be traveling through time. I knew it.

GT: Or... they will be. Whichever it is.

GT: Which is it, btw?

UU: caUsal spoilers, sir english!

GT: Fffff.

UU: given the natUre of the qUest waiting for yoU, it woUldnt be shrewd of me to rUle oUt the employment of time travel by any individUal.

UU: bUt i will say that yoUre probably prey to a basic misapprehension aboUt the natUre of this rendezvoUs.

UU: it will not take place on earth.

UU: it will happen inside the game yoUre aboUt to play!

GT: Oh.

GT: Well shit!

UU: indeed. :u

GT: This is frightfully exciting. I would love to meet them.

GT: I never got to know my grandma very well and it always seemed like she led an amazing and adventurous life.

GT: Then this seemed to be proven true in my correspondence with her. So im really looking forward to it.

UU: so trUe. id pay a hefty ransom to get to know my forebears.

GT: I remember you mentioned your race doesnt really jive with ours familially speaking?

UU: correct. i never knew those who one woUld identify as my parental eqUivalents. U_U

UU: it is in the way my race propagates. oUr ancestors precede Us by millenia.

GT: Well yes ours do too. But generally we have all these other people in between them and the most recent ones are called parents.

GT: so i guess you do not have those? Like systemically?

UU: nope! never did.

GT: well neither did i!!!

UU: ^u^

GT: Miss alien i think we are like birds of a feather you and i.

GT: When do i get to learn your name by the way?

UU: hm trUthfUlly?

UU: it may be for the best that yoU never know it.

UU: it coUld stir Up some things best left in their present eqUilibriUm.

UU: and now i think i shoUld bollocks off and leave yoU to it!

GT: But...

GT: Wait!

GT: There are still some things id like to know!

GT: About today! About this game!

UU: no more procrastinating!

UU: contact yoUr friend, darling.

GT: Yes fine fine ok i will but...

GT: Just please tell me in the least causally spoilery way possible...

GT: What are we even trying to accomplish here? What is even the rootin tootin POINT of this game?

UU: i think yoU will have more fUn than yoU can imagine finding oUt.

UU: bUt stated concisely, and short of spoilerly as yoU so charmingly pUt it,

UU: yoUr objective today is to pave the way for the arrival of gods.

UU: <kisses!>

uranianUmbra [UU] ceased cheering golgothasTerror [GT]

[onepunchmiss]

OPM s2e10 Live Blog

“Justice Under Siege”

ALRIGHT so despite the fact that it is the 1 week anniversary of my death, OPM has forcefully wrenched me from the underworld to come continue with the season. So here I am and I’ve already posted my guess for what this episode will entail so lets see how well I handle it! (see: how much I scream) As always, I’m watching as someone who is up to date on both the Manga and webcomic

ASDFGHJKL I OPENED OPM ON HULU AND IT IMMEDIATELY PICKED UP WHERE I LEFT OFF AT REWATCHING THE ZOMBIEMAN BIT HOW DARE I WAS NOT READY

lets try that again ok

AHA YES OMG we’re starting with this!! I was totally expecting to pick up exactly where we left off, with Destrochloridium at the HA but OK throw me for a loop! Mix it up! “ORA ORA ORA ORA” I love Saitamas VA, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I laffff oh my god it keeps going in the background as Kind talks I can’t

This is the scariest Saitama face I have ever witnessed wtf??? Why does it look so creepy?? Also, they added quite a bit to this scene huh? I guess They have to amp up the jokes since shit is getting pretty serious otherwise at this point in the series. OH SHIT THE DING ‘NO OTHER WORDS CAME TO MIND” OK Excellently done that got me I cackled fffffffffffffffff

OH MY GOD KING THAT SICK BURN?!?! I dont remember that I guess they’re really making it a point to be like ‘HEY LOOK THIS IS GONNA BE USED!!! IT EXISTS!!!’ but like I dont care cause it was worth it for the joke hhhhhhhhhhhJUST

Yanno, I just realised I think I know where every sing scene in the whole opening comes from down to the omake. Also just realised we are definitely getting Genos/Bang/Bomb vs Centipede cause that joint attack Bang and Bomb use is in the opening. Huh why did that only just now click anD OH MY GOD BB GENOS IM DYING NO

Ok now we’re where we left off and oh dear god I HATE that squish noise please stop no OK Gyoro’s weird Eye twitch was a cool touch. Oh wait Narinki is the highest ranking executive now? I thought he was just the top donor of funds or something? eh anyway- lol wow Gyoro puts on a convincing sob story voice this is so funny?? Cause its Complete BS and I wonder what my reaction would be if I didn’t already know that AHH OK BUT THAT ‘HEHIHIHIHIHI’ LAUGH THO OMG SO GOOD

WHEW ok but seriously just the MENTION of assembling all the heroes is raising my blood pressure asdfghjkl if I may have one thing in life PLEASE LET IT BE A THIRD SEASON PLEASE IM BE G G IN G

AHH YESSS!!!! YYYEEESSSS!!!!! DARKSHINE MY DUDE MAN BRO GUY YESSSS!!!!!!! I LOVE!!!!!!! I JUST!!!!!! HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR THE OTHERWISE NORMAL GUYS WITH OBSCENE MUSCLES LIKE DARKSHINE AND TTM!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!

ASDFGHHJKL Did Destrochloridium just shout Itadakimasu?? HULU y u no translate that??? DOI as he gets smooshed pfffffftttttttttttt omg the sound pls ohmigod everyone knows steel is no match for a hardened body i just fukken HEKK I love this show so much pls he sounds so concerned that destro DIDNT know that

“Better step up” OH MY GOD YES DO THE THING

OK WAIT This is actually badass and not just a joke?? Darkshine, er, Blackluster(??) stop u r 2 good I cant handle it rn

oooohhhhHH OH OH OH OH PLS SHOW EVERYONE I WANT PLS THE MONSTER ASSOCIATION!!! PLS!! SHOW ME WIFE?? CADRES?? PLZ?? yo total side note but I LOVE Murata’s monster designs?? Every time I reread opm I just oogle at a new one I never noticed before they’re all so unique and good. Also At least 3 of them in this sequence look like pokemon i swear- lol the silence no applause, if that was a joke in the manga i totally missed it uuuuwaAAAAAAAAAAA SCREAMING SCREAMING I AM SCREAM CADRE YES YES ASDFGHJKL ARE YALL READY TO SEE T H  A T FACE FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES THUS FAR???? HUH????

ew oh wait I actually feel bad for Awakened Cockroach, and he twitches after getting eaten oh noooooonono ew oh no dude im sorry no AAAAAAAAA WIFE HELLO oh their voices are so sad when they’re terrified for their lives I dont like it :[ ITS OK UR SAFE 4 NOW ILY PLZ BE CAREFUL AND STAY AWAY FROM PRETTY MEN 

YES THIS EPISODE IS GIVING ME EVERYTHING IVE  WANTED SO FAR THANK YOU SO MUCH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LOOOOOOOK AAT THEMMMMMM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMY TRASH SON I HAVE MISSED YOU OH NO MY EYES THERES WATER IN MY EYES HELP ILY

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMYCYBORG SON MY HEART I WEAK GENOS BB PLS BE CAREFUL ILY TOO hey heres a WACKY  and TOTALLY LoOnEy IdEa, what if,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WHAT-IFF,,,,,,,,,,, everyone was HAPPY???? Crazy I knowww I just want the best for my sons and babies and children boys wives daughters loves and husband, is it so much to ask???

Oh my god he looks so Sad here please no Genos everything will be ok please don’t be reckless do not be reckless listen to Dr. Kuseno you fool 

[SCREAMING] ASDFGGHJKL LOOKIT HIM EATING OH MY GOD MY BOY MY DELINQUENT SON GET BETTER SOON oh my god i started out fine this episode but its KILLING ME there are TOO MANY PEOPLE AT ONCE i CANNOT BREATH

CHILD EMPEROR MY SON I LOVE YOU TOO BOFOI UR AN ASS oh my god please can you even TRY to be a good mentor for the kid???? Thats it Zombieman adopt him pls remove shitty Bofoi influence replace with Best dad man influence. ANYWAY ok that was a tangent huh oops sorry. Ok but look at him. Child Emperor is genuinely adorable and a sweetheart poor kid don’t lose your faith in adults.

Uh, the episode is running late still not to Garou yet either?? hmmmmmmmmm again I’m getting nervous are they gonna rush it?? lol the saitama throwaway OH OH FINALLY OMG MY HEART ISNT READY MY FAVORITE GAROU IN THE WHOLE SERIES OH MY GOD

im… im screaming… i love these two so much it hurts it does really. I was not prepared for how adorable it was possible to make Tareo either can I hug?? I must hugg?? And Garou’s voice is so calming and he’s being so sweet? I was really expecting to sound more… i dont know, whiney? Every time he shows up on the screen I love him more and more ffs

This is such a good shot. Desktop wallpaper material right here.

Oh my god, this moment. And the music is just yanking my heart strings stop.

Oh yeah, they interrupt right. I like these heroes and all, but none of them are particular faves the fact that I think SO MANY OTHER FAVES were are RIGHT before them this ep just kinda overshadows their existence for me. I think this is the ONLY time in the series where Garou goes up against heroes and i cheer for him 110%, don’t even feel a little bad about who he’s beating the shit out of, and that’s kinda messed up of me but thats how impartial I am towards all these guys?

Back to Garou and I love him. hhhhh.

He smak the table

He laughs. Oh no his laugh. OPM forcefully dislocated me from the underworld to watch this episode and has thusly YEETED ME TO HEAVEN THAT LAUGH. I really need Garou to be happy.

Do you see this man? Do you see him? I do and I’m crying thank you

Omg I got really caught up it watching them talk but the sparkles around death gatling whe Tareo was looking at them snapped me out of it. oi I cant handle this. Garou I want you to know that you have successfully turned the bad guy into the one everyone wants to win. You did it boy you did

WOAHMYGOD THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

OH MY GOD AND THE MUSIC IM SCREAMING

GAROU

YOU

ARE  

AMAZING SON

like I know how this goes but I’m so anxious anyway the hhhhhhhhhhhhh the fight choreography is a little clunky but I don’t care OH ok cool Glasses actually kept his little spotlight nice but Garou GAROU PLS B CAREFUL OK except WHAT THE FUCK IS HIS MOUTH DOING THAT LOOKS SO STUPID WHAT THE HELL?? HOLY SHIT IM GETTING DIZZY STOP wh- wh- wait no. NO IM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET COME BACK PLEASE I NEED MORE WAIT NO UHG this is my reaction at the end of every episode when will I learn?????????????? never. The answer is never.

NO POST CREDITS STINGER and AS MUCH AS I LOVE GENOS’S FACE I already knew he would be in the episode next week. Yall I am so lost as to where the final episode will land. WTF.

This ep was a roller coaster oh my god. Non stop plot not that the tournament is done, and we saw like EVERY CHARACTER my feeble heart could not keep up. The ONLY thing that bothered me was part of the fight sequence at the end, like it was half drawn beautifully half animated so stiff and blocky ??? Threw me for a loop. But next week is only gonna get more intense??? I’m gonna guess we’ll get through the Elder Centipede fight??? But then what does that mean for the last episode??? I am full of SO MANY QUESTIONS??? I really don’t want the season to end yet, 12 eps is not enough. There’s only 2 more. Just. I’m not ready to let go of my bbs it feels like I only JUST got them… Well! Before I devolve into more of a blubbering mess, thanks yall so much for reading!!! As always, see yall next week!

[dauntless-dragayn]

nobody asked for it, but i liveblogged my She ra s3 reactions

[ part one ┊ part two ]

spoilers, obviously (under cut bc it’s rather long)

episode one

DAMN THEY DID NOT HESITATE TO DIVE RIGHT INTO SHIT

(oh yeah this is a split season so that makes sense..)

FUCK SHADOWEAVER FUCK SHADOWWEAVER

Angela loses points for not having a proper prison but gains them right back for not letting Adora in to interrogate Shadowbitch

Glimmer: we shouldn’t let her manipulate you

Adora, immediately: //decides to manipulate / trick her friends

Side note, interesting episode title..

Adora’s friends: //arent fooled at all THANKFULLY

adora honey youre a terrible liar. and your friends are too smart

Catra bby..

SCORPIA BBY

Catra: i cant handle this emotionally vulnerable shit

GOOD THEYRE WATCHING ADORA

Aaand theyre asleep

Oh this is great

Glimmer’s target practice cjdhjdnf

Oh Adora wants to change Shadowbitch.. honey.

GLIMMER IS WITH HER GOOD

ANGRY GLIMMER !!!!!! PROTECTIVE GLIMMER !!!!!!!!!

God Adora calling out Shadowbitch is everything

LET HER DIE

DONT HEAL HER

GDI

YOU CANT TRUST HER

Fuck this is cool

Shadowbitch’s two reasons for (SUPPOSEDLY) turning is to get revenge on 1) Hordak and 2) Catra While im sure Adora is all behind the first one, she certainly wont let the second happen.

Okay but who SENT Adora through that portal??

“Don’t I get a say in what happens to me? Don’t I get a choice?!”

:’0

The worst thing about this is that LightHope is basically telling Adora the same thing the Horde did: you dont have a choice over your life, your ambitions, your responsibilities. Fuck LightHope.

“It is happening again.” HM

“Are you okay?” “I’m not sure yet.” baby.. i felt that

episode two

What a COOL shot of Adora

Fjejhd of coUrse Glimmer didnt tell her mom

Poor fucking Angela

Ive never related to Bow more in this moment ⁃ bird ⁃ Trying to navigate whEN FUCKIG GOOGLE MAPS ISNT WORKING- coughs i mean, the navigator machine

Oh shit Hordak cares about Entrapta

ADORA PUTS HANDS AROUND HER EYES IN PLACE OF BINOCULARS SKFBFJFNMC

“Just act tough” oh yall are so bad at this

its Her time

I just watched this clip of Huntara last night

Adora is gay

Huntara is also gay she was just FLIRTING with a WOMAN at the BAR

 The ‘purposefully gets names wrong’ gag will always be my favorite

ADORA’S ~TRYING TO BE SMOOTH~ VOICE IS HILARIOUS BUT ALSO.. 👀

 anybody got a map? oh wrong show sorry

listen i cant blame Adora how could you NOT be in love with her

OH SHIT WE CAN SEE HORDAK WITHOUT HIS ARMOR

Ugly ass twink bitch

Adora getting an outside perspective on the war and how it effects Etheria should be interesting

Wait where are Glimmer and Bow ?

Adora being called “blondie” 👌👌

ADORA WANTING TO IMPRESS HUNTARA ️‍👌🏳️‍🌈✨

Oh theyre there they just fell behind

Huntara led them into a trap didnt she

Gdi

Oh she took Adora’s sword fuck I mean ofc she did but mm That would be her only chance of escaping

HORDAK HISSING AT ENTRAPTA DKDJF

Okay Entrapta is a top

Hordak is a clone?? Bitch what

//falsely sympathetic voice/ aww hordak just wants to impress his higher up with planetary conquest..

they even called this expedition a roadtrip awe

Wow theyre really playing up this Hordak + Entrapta friendship and bonding huh

Oh Glimmer is such a badass

ADORA JUST FUCKING TACKLED THIS WOMEN WHOS TWICE HER SIZE TO THE GROUND

Bow: awkward HAH of victory

Glimmer: sticks her tongue out at the enemy

God i love this battle sequence so much

THE MUSIC!!!!!

Im watching it again

Adora’s laugh before she says “I AM She ra”  😍

Theyre both ex Horde soldiers oh shit!! One so trusting and one so fearful, so closed off to anyone

“I’m not gonna run anymore. I face my problems head on.” fuck yeah!!!

Netflix referring to Bow Glimmer and Adora as the “squad” omg

-rewatching the fight scene from 18:30-

diD HUNTARA JUST ROAR LIKE A LION?!

I love the repeating of lines to each other thats such a good trope too

“Thats mine!” ”Then come and take it.”

Also I like seeing Adora fight and pull off really cool moves but not like, flawlessly. Like her backflip- she almost falls. Or when she swings Huntara’s sword and it doesn whip out at first.

HUNTARA JUST ROARED AGAIN

ANOTHEr EXAMPLE OF THEIR MIRRORING IS WHEN HUNTARA HOLDS ADORA’S HEAD UP WITH HER SWORD AND THEN SHE RA DOES THE SAME

Thats totally foreshadowing the connection of their backgrounds with the Horde huh

The “‘You know about She ra?’ Heheh, I AM She ra” moment is so good okay I need to call it out again. The way she flashes her sword in front of her face? Amazing. Spectacular. Im gay-

The end of this episode be like: //women supporting women

Mara’s ship!! Dun dun dunnn 

episode three

Edgy Catra in the Crimson Waste shot: ✔️

“Nothing matters anymore!” :(

Hey that place looks familiar!

Isnt Scorpia FROM here?? How does she not know anything about it??

“Maybe I should have skipped force captain orientation eh?” THIS RUNNING JOKE DKFNFK

Catra bitching about Hordak is a whole mood

CATRA HISSING AT THat FROG THING SHE PUSHED FROM THE COUNTER IM-

Wait satyr lady never said the second rule Prettyyy sure the second rule is that no one annoys Huntara, but shes not here! So what the hell are YOU gonna claim it is?

Catra’s monologue in the bar is everything

Catra stealing the jacket is such a ME move i see a leather jacket i go feral

Bow you’re such a nerd ily

Well duh the ship is empty its been looted for years

Do your She ra thing i bet thatll uncover something //wiggles eyebrows

Yeehaw! Look at that i was right

Its not haunted theres a repeated message echoing ..

Scorpia you’re gay

Also IM gay Catra in a jacket is 👌😩

HER ORDERING PPL AROUND AT KNIFEPOINT IS 👌👌👌😩

 Aw look at Scorpia in her element

“Im gonna call you Kyle” KDHFKDJFJFK

Catra’s little smirk.. ️ ❤️️ Scorpia’s reaction is a whole mood

THEY DO MAKE A GOOD TEAM! ITS A GOOD THING SCORPIA FOLLOWED YOU HERE INTO EXILE H U H CATRA

That giant skull tho

OH ITS TIME IVE SEEN THIS CLIP

announcer voice: ITSSSSSS TONGUELASHOR

listen i know he’s an idiot with a dumb name and catra kicks his ass but i love me a buff lizard person,,

a broadcast.. oH ITS MARA HERSELF

“And I am gone.” sounds like.. something someone would say in a message if they didnt want to be looked for and found

Adora ... :(

Your frustration is so warranted

I wish i could give her answers

OH SHIT ITS MARA BUT NOT SHE RA-ED THIS TIME

“I was supposed to be the last.” wh..

Even Tongue Lashor’s insults are dumb

SCORPIA INTERRUPTING TONGUE LASHOR IS PRICELESS

HE EVEN SAYS “WHIP” KDHFJ

Catra mimicking his evil laugh..

Listen imma say it again (my scalie is showing) Tongue Lashor’s design is great

Catra just winked at Scorpia, yoURE GAAY

 @ Mara’s dialogue.. that was uh. A Lot The biggest thing that jumps out to me is the fact that theyre in an empty dimension?? And the fact that Mar BROUGHT A WHOLE PLANET there. Thats some real power. Oh yeah, and LightHope is lying / working against the She ras / wants to bring destruction to the planet. But thats not surprising

Oh hey darts! Now who took the dart gun..

oh thats right!

Catra and Adora time baby

 HEY ADORA

Adora is uh,, alone captured by Catra

This should be interesting

SCORPIA IN THE JACKET THOOOOO

“A toast to Scorpia” //clutches chest

Hey yall this is cute but reminder that cattadora is endgame

“When we go back” nahhh

Also fuck Catra heard that hologram??

CATRA BLUSHIG

“We could rule the Crimson Waste together!” Scorpia you are SO gay

“I have to go check on the prisoner” her ex

“Shadow Weaver left me for you..?” Uh fuck

She has tears in her eyes oh bby

I cant believe im already halfway through the season jfc fuck split seasons

(part two is up now!)

[cinnamonrollstark]

Thoughts on Endgame

Sorry guys, again, in case you dont realise, THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

If you havent seen the movie, scroll on. If you dont scroll, and dont have your tags blacklisted, dont come at me my bros.

This post will be very chaotic, wont lie.

Who puts mayo on a hotdog?

How about ketchup?

The dust in the wind, man, gave me chills

Tony and Nebula friendship! Yes motherfuckers!

Tony so looked on the verge of tears holy shit

First qualm: captain marvel saved them awful fast. Nothing to show how she knew they were there, maybe it was in some scene of captain marvel or something but ??? Like that was quick

I LOST THE KID OHMYFUCKING GOD

Tony looked so thin holyshit

YES MY MAN IN A CAN TELL THAT MOTHERFUCKER OFF

YOU FUCKING WARNED THEM

"You said we'd do that together, and YOU WERENT THERE."

Yes Tony jesus let all that anger out

Handing his metaphorical heart to Steve got me choked up

"Went for the head" fuck yeah you did

FIVE YEARS WTF

Okay Ant Man bringing Joy, as always. So glad to see you, my little buggy friend

Also thank you to that rat?

TONYS A DAD

MORGAN IS PRECIOUS

Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3000

And so do we bud, and we always will

TONY FIGURING OUT THE TIME LOOP

"Shit!"

Okay I'm glad yall made up but it couldve gone better idk

I get that it was played for laughs, but there was a little too much emphasis on Thor's weight

The taco though

I get it was showing how much his character had changed

However, it felt body shamy idk

But he was still funny as hell

And with everything he was such a mood

Thor crying fucked me up though

Same for hawkeye

Like man, Thor and Hawkeye, and a little bit of Steve cry a whole lot in this movie

FRIGGA

LOKI

LOKI AND FRIGGA

"IM TOTALLY FROM THE FUTURE"

"Are you crying?" "What? No, absolutely not." *thor cries.* "okay yes fine I'm crying.

"Hail Hydra" okay but why was that hot, Steve, how did you make that hot

"I could do this all day." "Agh, yeah, I know."

I'm going inside you

Also this is reflecting back but I dont think I'll ever get the image if hulk dabbing out of my head

Loki disappearing with the tesseract was a mood

HE HAD A HIPPY BEARD

TONY AND HOWARD

Still doesnt make Howard good in my eyes, but I'm glad Tony got some closure

STEVE AND PEGGY

TONY oh my God that awkward hug was everything

Act 2

NEBULA I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD

Clint and Nat being jokey in the jet

They have no idea

Red skull again!

"I want to kill myself!" "No me!"

"Let me go"

"No."

"Its okay."

The score jesus christ so many chills.

Clint waking up and sobbing with the soul stone okay fine just rip my heart out, then

Aaand Cap is crying

Hulk come on, stop acting so angry at Clint

He was there and you werent

He really tried

OH COME ON THANOS YOU PURPLE DICK FACE BASTARD WHY YOU GOTTA DO THAT

Making the infinity gauntlet holy shiiit

Tony's is so much sleeker than Thaddys

THE SNAP

THE PHONE CALL

CLINTS FACE

THE SHOT OF ANT MAN LOOKING UP AND SEEING THE SHIP BEFORE IT ALL GOES TO SHIT

Act 3

Oh wow I forgot for a hot minute that Rhodey doesnt walk the same

Awww Rocket you can get out of there I promise you little buddy!!

Where did that lead you... back to me

That whole sequence was just CINEMATICALLY brilliant

Also can we just talk about how Thor's hair styled itself with lightning?

Also if you dont still think thicc thor is hot you're a fake fan

But I get it if yourr not in it for the alcoholism

LIGHTNINNNG

OH MY FUCJING GOD

THE FUCKING HAMMER

HES WORTHY

"I KNEW IT"

Yes the fuck you did

And so did we

On your left!!!!

Oh my God the look on their faces was just amazing

WHEN ALL THE PORTALS OPENED UP

I LITERALLY STARTED TEARING UP

SPIIIIDEY

HES WORTH ANOTHER THOUGHT

PETER MOTHERFUCKING PARKER, JUST SWINGING ALONG

"You're never gonna believe- remember when we were in space? And we got all dusty?" "That yellow sparky thing he does a lot"

Irondad hug oh my FUCK

"Well this is nice."

GAUNTLET FOOTBALL

CAPTAIN MARVEL

SPIDEY IN INSTANT KILL MODE YESSS

PETER CLUTCHING YHE GAUNTLET WAS UNBEARABLY ADORABLE

"Hi Peter Parker."

"If I tell you it wont happen."

Tell him, Stephen, please, we cant lose him. But we will, and theres no way around that.

Strange holding up the '1' with his finger

After that I was a mess for the rest of the film

You sneaky amazing cinnimon roll, snatching up those stones

"I am Iron Man."

YES THE FUCK YOU ARE

DUSTY ASS THANOS

BYE BYE MOTHER FUCKER

I was sobbing at this point because I knew.

"Mr Stark? Mr. Stark, we won! You did it."

Oh lord I've never seen Peter cry like that and it ripped out my soul

"We'll be okay. You can rest now."

I was actually audibly weeping, and didnt give a shit.

Hawkeye family reunion!

Tony's goodbye message

I love you 3000 (pt. 2, the weepy remix)

The funeral.

The arc reactor at the lake

"Proof that Tony stark has a heart"

Peter baby I'm so sorry!

Harley!! Hey bud, it's been a while!

NED AND PETER REUNION I REPEAT

HANDSHAKE HANDSHAKE

DONT CRY NED YOU SWEET PRECIOUS BOY

We know where you're going, Steve. Dont be so dramatic (but we still love you)

Old! Steve!

Sir you do not age how I believe you would age but okay

Raisin Clint Eastwood hands Sam the sheild

Nothing against Sam, I just figured since he knew Bucky longer, it would go to him

But comic accurate, and it was still beautiful

The peggy dance and kiss

*EXCEPT TONY SHOULDNT HAVE DIED YOU HEARTLESS BASTARDS*

[adhdusagi]

Princess Tutu episodes 14-end

I watched the entire second half of the series in one day because I make good life choices

Previously on Princess Tutu Watch:

Okay I can get back to Tokyo Mew Mew now

+++++++++++++++++++

It was a lie, I could NOT

EPISODE, UH, FUCK……… 14! - The Raven

asdklsdhflhdl (google docs stop capitalizing my keysmashes) they’re bringing back “once upon a time there was a man who died”!!!!!! Honestly that might be one of my favorite lines in this whole show

Gotta love the sarcasm in “and they lived happily ever after”

The theme song…… it’s so good

Oh nooooooooooooooo

This scene is literally just the “I’ve got a headache that comes and goes” meme

Fakir you complete dork. You’re all dorks

“Princess Tutu and a crocodile are totally different” you tell ‘im, Mytho

Duck speaks so much more regularly than the other main characters? I mean, there’s Fakir over there like “Shall we go?” and Duck saying things like “I’m gonna be late!” and using “like” and “stuff”... I mean, I know this is the dub, but

Duck why are you using Fakir’s dumb excuses omg

Lilie is just the personification of my negative thoughts

BUT WHAT DID MYTHO TELL FAKIR

Awwwwwwww Duck, no

They’re in a terrifying Raven Dimension with like, ominous music and people wailing in the background and meanwhile Kraehe and the Raven are just having like, a normal conversation

Also, are the white feathers supposed to be like, what’s trapping the Raven there?

Duck please

Wait, Princess Tutu transformed on her own!

Episode 15 - Coppelia

Also, watching Fakir try and fail to stop Mytho from jumping out the window is Pain

Lilie you are a Strange Child

STEALTH DUCK RETURNS!

Oh no?? Fakir doesn’t want to get Mytho in trouble???

alsdfksfh the entire student population is Here For The Drama

Duck don’t yell in the library

Fakir just doesn’t make good decisions

Oooh that doesn’t look good

Sad Kraehe Theme Alert

You “just happened” to do a lot of things, Lilie

Omg Lilie “Want to just happen to go see?”

Rue just shows up to trash talk Fakir for a minute and then leaves

I say as if I’m not in So Much Pain

Yeah! Every single time Princess Tutu transformed in the first season, it was because Drosselmeyer said something, but now she’s transforming on her own!

Oh no Mytho

Also I like how Tutu doesn’t just flat-out say “you don’t actually love him” and instead is just like “how about you try doing things you enjoy with the guy you like instead of giving him Your Actual Heart”

Episode 16 - The Maiden’s Prayer

Wait is Angry Narrator back or did the other narrator just regain the heart shard of Withering Scorn?

Lilie isn’t even interested in the love triangle, she just wants Duck and Pike to fight

Is that Goatette

“So pretty…. What? Oh yeah I meant the flowers of course haha” Duck

Such a serious child

“Love only me, hate everyone else”/“The prince who loves me and me alone”

This child is amazing

It was such a good decision to give Fakir a little sister. A good decision for everyone involved

aslfsdjhklgdlghdjghfdklkdkalh Kraehe told him that Duck would suffer if she knew what was happening with Mytho so Fakir isn’t going to tell herrrrrrrrrr Fakir please don’t internalize that!! You are breaking my heart sir

Oh my god it wasn’t Goatette it was the sloth

*The Can Can plays loudly over a sloth just kinda hangin out*

Episode 17 - Crime and Punishment

This may or may not have been the last episode I watched the first time I watched this show?

“Eyes of truth” huh?

This dumbass child

Femio, from the other side of the school grounds: “DID SOMEBODY SAY ‘PRINCE’????”

What the Fuck are you doing with your hands, kid

Why are you a cow

Honestly as over-the-top as Femio is he is also simultaneously the most realistic middle-schooler in this entire show

Oh my god he’s on probation

I’m sorry I’m just talking about Femio but he’s hilarious

Truly a Grade A Idiot

What is he even doing with his life

I’ve become Lilie

These characters have emotional crises over people saying the stupidest things and tbh I relate to that

Oh dear!

The thing is, Femio would be really annoying in real life, but in a tv show he’s just amusing

Rue’s FACE, she’s so done

I like how Duck can tell which building Rue’s in just by the amount of crows around it

Tbh all the students probably have noticed what’s going on, they just think it’s some kind of weird performance art thing. Wouldn’t be out of character for this school

Fakir and Uzura really are siblings, I love this

The best part about this episode is it’s this completely ridiculous person unintentionally getting in the middle of everybody’s emotional issues

“I feel kinda like something happened, and kinda like it didn’t” Duck you are absolutely correct

And of course the Aquarium is good once again

Episode 18 - The Wandering Knight

Incidentally, how old are these kiddos? We know Mytho is older than Duck, so Fakir and Rue probably are too?? But like, probably only by a year? Who even knows what their actual ages are

I mean, Duck is a duck so

It’s! The trees from the opening!

I don’t know if I’ve asked this before, but why does Fakir have a horse?

Oh my god Lilie

Can everybody STOP picking on Fakir for being afraid to die? He is 14, leave him alone

Ahiru is trying so hard to be helpful, give her a chance Fakir

Once again Rue shows up to get in a burn on Fakir and then leave

I swear every time the Aquarium plays in this show

Oh noooooooo Ruuuuueeeeeeee

Literally Protect All Of These Characters

Save These Children From Their Own Emotional Issues

FAKIR PLEASE

Pride is absolutely the worst feeling Mytho could get back right now?

“There’s something sinister going on that I’m not a part of!” And that really gets to you doesn’t it Dross. I bet it’s really… grinding your gears!!!

(why do I feel so proud of insulting a fictional character)

Episode 19 - A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Wow we really are starting this one off on a sinister note (it’s Drosselmeyer’s revenge on me for that pun)

Of course he can’t tell you, he doesn’t fuckin know what’s going on

Fakir please stop basing your entire identity around being a knight

Oh no, Mytho’s regained the heart shard of Basing Your Entire Identity Around Upholding A Role

I wonder if Hermia being tall is like, a meta Shakespeare joke, cause in the play Helena’s really tall and Hermia’s really short, but in every production I’ve seen it was the other way around

Rue stop projecting your insecurities onto your boyfriend

Ohhhhhhhh dear

Finally someone tells all the crows hanging around to shut up

Oh my god she really is super tall

Or Ahiru’s just super short

I am learning so much about ballet mimes

Cool bird shadows

Whoa, different raven background. And the Raven isn’t speaking with him this time? What does it mean

On no, Tutu

Hahaha oh no

Aaahaha they’re the same

THEY EVEN DO THE SAME ARM-FLAILY THING

Episode 20 - The Forgotten Story

ALRIGHT, TIME FOR THE FAKIR’S SAD BACKSTORY EPISODE

Raetzel: *walks in*

Uzura: And where do you fit in the shipping chart, ma’am

THIS is a High Quality Directatorial Decision

Oh no Duck. oh no she’s so earnest nooooo

It is just Extremely Wrong to see Mytho dancing to something besides Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Mr. Cat can hear the word “wedding” from three floors up

Oh my GOD they put broken heart stickers on the window

I mean, I say they but we all know it was Lilie

Again, Duck knows exactly where shit’s going down just because that’s where all the crows are

Oh no!

Everybody needs to stop giving Fakir shit Right Now. Everybody needs to stop thinking it’s a bad thing that Fakir didn’t fucking Die, and that includes Fakir OKAY????

I’ve been thinking… Raven Mytho keeps saying things like “people only want love because they want to be loved” and I wonder… if that was sort of his experience as a prince. Or maybe I’m just getting this mixed up with Utena lol. But it does seem like a genuine issue he has as opposed to just something he says to manipulate people. Hm.

Episode 21 - The Spinners

Every time the narrator says “once upon a time there was a man who died” I Will Flip

Duck tries to lean nonchalantly against a door, it goes about how you’d expect

Duck that’s not how writing works (ughgfjdghskjkgf my pain)

AW NO

Oh no Duck is too relatable

UUAAAAAA TREE GHOST TREE GHOST

“Follow my every order and be prepared to die if you should fail” it’s almost like you WANT me to hate you. FAKIR DOESN’T NEED THIS

See Duck agrees with me

PETITION FOR PEOPLE TO LEAVE FAKIR THE FUCK ALONE THAT MEANS YOU TREE GHOST

Ohshit it’s that old guy from the bookshop???

Uzura is NOT “unrelated”, obviously she is Fakir’s baby sister

“I’m just watching again” oh no Duck

Autor what the Fresh Heck are you doing to Fakir

YOU ARE NOT FINE?????????

Honestly Fakir needs to get in touch with his emotions, not get sleep deprived and hallucinate in a field

This tree is saying things Edel said??? Was Edel made from the wood of this tree?????? Oh my god???????????

Anyway that was Intense

Listen, Raven Mytho has real issues and you can fight me on this

Ah, I see Dross is practicing the time-honored authorial tradition of “If the Story Isn’t Working, Hit It With a Wrench”

Episode 22 - Crown of Stone

But who’s going to protect Fakir huh? Answer me that, Duck

One big-ish happy familyyyyyyyyy

I needed this life advice tbh

Aaaaaah Uzura’s talking to Rue!

“Are you the Rue we’re worried about?” I love how she just included herself in that

Autor, I’m……. not sure you want the tree ghost cult to acknowledge you

Uhm, I’m pretty sure Autor doesn’t fit into the shipping chart and I think Uzura would agree with me

Ah fuck!!! Fakir turn around

Wait it’s an owl on a grandfather clock?? Is that actually a thing? These watchnotes are coming full circle

“I want people to love me, but is it okay to just be loved?” yep, the prince is having issues

Autor, I’m pretty sure Ahiru is figuring all that out right now

And like, the Book Men totally know it too, so

HOLY CRAP THIS SEQUENCE

AND THE MUSIC THE MUSIC IS PERFECT

SKLAFDJKVHFJK;JKLSdf;DSLKJFAKSDAKFJHFKLJJFGKLHGJFHSDLJ

I love this show

EPISODE 23 - Marionette

OH! OH! IT’S THE MUSIC EDEL ALWAYS PLAYED BUT SPED UP! That’s actually kinda creepy!

Anyway now I know why I’m so protective of Fakir, we’re both writers who can’t write anything

Oh noooooooooooo Rue

Oooooooooooh don’t like that

Ruuueeeeeeeeee please don’t stab your boyfriend we’ve been over this

Incidentally, hulu needs to quit it with these bogus commercial placements

Drosselmeyer: How dare you try to resolve your emotional problems!

Dross that’s called character development

Hahahaha joke’s on you Dross!

aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I! LOVE! THEM!

No of course your heart is lovey-dovey Uzura! Your heart is the lovey-dovey-est!!!

Incidentally, Autor is That Guy who says just because you haven’t finished/published anything you’re not a Real Writer. And he is Wrong

Episode 24 - The Prince and the Raven

Okay, just from this title I know I won’t be able to handle this

THIS ISN’T EVEN THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE

YOU ARE HITTING ME WITH ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A MAN WHO DIED RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE I CANNOT BELIEVE

Okay but and then this story explains all of Raven Mytho’s emotional issues as well???

*sigh* Autor……. Fakir literally just told you his motivation is to protect people and you’re still going on about controlling the fates of all mankind… are you sure you’re not Drosselmeyer’s direct descendent?

Rue don’t go into the crow building

Honestly I’m still dying over the fact that you can tell where things are happening purely based on which building all the crows are at today

Tiny Rue is breaking my heart

UUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TINY RUE IS DOING BALLET

Omg Rue in the beginner’s class!

Oh noooo Uzura’s saaaaad

I KNOW I’ve heard this songgggggggg

THAT WAS A BIT OF THE FOSSILS FROM CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS???

Okayokayokay so it’s not Carnival of the Animals but DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS it’s another piece by Saint-Saens and DO YOU KNOW what that piece is called????? fuckin Danse Macabre!!!!! I am immediately filled with a sense of foreboding!!!

The music choices in this show are going to destroy me one day

HOLY CRAP????

I can’t believe so goddamn much happened in this episode???

Episode 25 - The Dying Swan

I’m not rrrrrrrrreadyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Not even the narrator’s obvious disappointment in Drosselmeyer can give me solace

Oh my god so is the Drosselmeyer we know just a character in Dead Drosselmeyer’s story?

I think it’s a testament to this story’s power that I’m having so many emotions about it even though I know what’s going to happen? Like, some stories, reading the summary is pretty much the same as hearing the story, but Princess Tutu is not one of those stories

Like I just overcame my social anxiety to ask my roommate to be quieter, that’s how good this story is

Aaaaaagh Rue’s change from saying “you love me” to saying “I love you” my HEART

Oh shoot! Mytho’s angry! I thought one of the gate heart shards might be anger

Oh my god Autor literally no one cares what TEA Drosselmeyer drank look at Fakir he’s so done

Aaaaaaaa ohno

EVISCERATE HIM FAKIR

Holyshitholyshitholyshit

Okay but see the lake is outside the city so Dross just took some random normal duck and plunked her down in his fairytale town and that’s why like, a cat teacher seems weird to her because she’s not from inside the story

OH NO THEY’RE PLAYING THE SWAN BUT THIS TIME IT’S RUE

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr fuck OFFFFFF

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh it’s the sword birds

excUSE you Dross, the knight has NOT “long been useless”

Episode 26 - Finale

I can’t believe after 9 years I’m finally going to finish watching this show

Okay it’s happening

It begins and ends with “once upon a time, there was a man who died”, the absolute most perfect first line in the history of first lines and you can fight me on this

Okay I’m already almost crying just from the theme song, like the Tchaikovsky fits perfectly into it? I’m gonna sing it

I’m just screaming???? They’re all in distress

BUT DUCK IS NOT GOING TO GIVE IN TO DISTRESS

RUE IS THE SWAN

DUCK DECIDES TO WRITE HER OWN STORY AND THE MUSIC FROM THE END OF THE THEME SONG STARTS PLAYING MY HEART

I’M ACTUALLY CRYING

IT’S ALL THE PEOPLE SHE HELPED

THEY ARE PLAYING THE THEME THAT PLAYS WHEN DUCK IS HAPPY

FUCKING -- AND YOU HIT ME WITH ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A MAN WHO DIED NOW

LOOK! LOOK THE SCENERY OUTSIDE THE TOWN FADES IN

I watched it.

[saints-row-2]

film watch day 26: House of Wax (2005)

House of Wax sucks, which i think is common knowledge, but its a kind of a shame that it does. there’s a really cool movie somewhere in it that got completely destroyed by the insufferable style of mainstream studio horror of the early 2000s. 

House of Wax is about a bunch of like... people who end up in a house of waxworks ... and then they die... cus theres a pair of twin brothers who are killing people and making them into waxworks. thats like, pretty much it for plot and yet they manage to fucking stretch this shit out for two fucking hours. the entire first hour of this movie is almost wholly unnecessary padding and every character other than the two leads is also wildly unneeded. 

its the fucking... tacked-on shit that just makes this film so dull. theres no additional story -- all the interesting story beats appear in the last hour -- its just an hour of characters talking and talking and talking about shit that just doesnt matter and doesnt add anything. will our lead character’s boyfriend agree to go  with her to new york??? we never find out because he dies but im really glad they spent a fucking hour arguing about it.  we never even find out if she goes to new york. 

heres the actual interesting bits of this movie. the main characters are twin brother and sister. the brother, a habitual criminal, feels insignificant next to his successful sister and its ruined their old friendship. the villains are also twins; twin brothers who have repopulated their entirely abandoned town with wax figurines. theres already a pretty good potential for reflection there, but its kind of ruined by the fact the protagonists are barely characters and the villains had no real relationship to speak of to examine. theyre all extremely one-note and deeply uninteresting.

the coolest idea by far is the fact that the entire town is filled with wax figures and the titular house of wax itself is made of literal wax, leading to an amazing ending sequence where the house is melting down around the heroes. thats such a great fucking concept. those two ideas together could make for an incredibly weird spooky movie. 

shit that sucks but has good ideas is fascinating to me and House of Wax definitely sucks. but man theres a better movie somewhere in there, a film that actually focuses on the dichotomy between the villains and the heroes, the idea of being the good or bad twin, that develops any of the characters and focuses more on the unnerving, surreal horror of a town where everyone is dolled-up corpses. but it mostly just wanted to waste our fucking time. 

[mechaniz89reviews]

well here we are folks. the 2nd week of retro horror. 

The Thing. Directed by John Carpenter and released in 1982

Creature from the Black Lagoon. Directed by Jack Arnold and relased in 1954

Both of these films help bring life to the sci-fi/horror genre in my opinion. Sci-fi films have been going strong for years, but when it mixes with horror, it can be either amazing or shit. Again, just my opinion. The thing came out in 1982 years after Alien(1979) and before Aliens(1986). That time was mostly being dominated by straight forward sci fi, horror or action films. We had jason and michael killing folks left and right. Then Arnold and company blowing them away. and then theres star wars and star trek. 

Point is, the thing is one of those films that was bigger and better then most originally thought. The fact that i got to see it on the big screen was like amazing. It still holds up to this day. From its story, acting, camera work and by far the best part, the practical effects. The effects in that film will always blow away anything CGI can do. The fact that we know it’s there and can be touched. 

Honestly not much to say. I love this film as much as the time i first saw it. It helped both sci fi and horror genre films and it didn’t really need anything else.  John Carpenters, The Thing, still gets a 10/10 with me. 

Now for the creature. It has been who knows how many years it’s been since i’ve seen this all the way through if at all. As usual i have a soft spot for the older horror films that paved the way for the future. Yea there is alot of cheeze with this film but most films from back that day are. Just the aging process. The story was good. Explorers putting their noses in the wrong places. Camera work and editing, solid.The underwater sequences were amazing and done so well.   Alot of the acting was hilarious but not terrible. i’d rather watch it then some stuff these days. 

OF course my favorite part was the creature itself well, from the neck down. Sorry but that head makes him too damn funny. Looks like he’s stuck in his O and surprised face. Then constantly having his mouth open took a bit of the scary aspect away.  but the body was well made and looked awesome. 

My biggest complaint, aside from what’s been said already, would be lack of gore. I feel like it could have been even better with the addition of some more blood but oh well. Overall, i really like this film and would watch it again. (with the volume turned down) they loved their loud suspenseful music back then.

Creature from the Black Lagoon, get’s a 7/10 with me. 

[queen-of-hearts92]

Revue Starlight 7: Living in the state of dreaming.

Her life is a play, is a play, is a play....

For the previous episode go here!

To go to the start of these posts, go to the Prelude!

WELL. THAT ESCULATED QUICKLY.

The tipping point is here my dudes. And it’s fucking, amazing! Absolutely incredible! Blew me out of the water! The storyboarding is amazing, the fucking music the lighting like everything is so well done I can’t believe it! I’m telling you guys, masterpiece right here!

Theres a lot to talk about regarding this episode so be prepared for a very very long post.

If you haven’t seen Revue Starlight or episode 7, TURN BACK NOW. I’m spoiling everything and you REALLY don’t want to be spoiled for this! 

If you haven’t seen this show yet, please PLEASE do so! Seriously, I can’t empathis enough! Don’t ignore this holy shit! Really! Seriously! I’m screaming this from the rooftops for a good reason, this is extremely good! It’s not yuri bait, it’s not an idol anime just, for the love of god don’t ignore this series! Don’t let this slide under the radar Western anime fandom! It deserves so much better than that!

Ok now that the PSA is done, here we go! 

The title and caption of this post is from the song “The State of Dreaming” by Marina and the Diamonds. It’s, pretty fitting for here for sure.

>*Daft Punk voice* One more time!

*deep breath* Alright, here we go.

We open the episode in the past, this is mostly a flashback episode. It’s March 3rd, 2018, the Starlight play is being performed and we get to see more than we ever have of the play. Claire and Flora ascend up a fuck ton of stairs to get the star together, they have to pass through seven other goddesses as they climb upwards. The seven goddesses all seemed to have tried reaching the star itself in the past but failed, and they tell Claire and Flora why they failed and to not seek the star themselves. Nana’s character refers to it as a cycle of despair. Claire and Flora make it to the top and it goes how we know it does, Flora is zapped down and Claire ascends without her. As the play ends sand (or maybe it’s supposed to be stardust) rains down from the ceiling, the audience applauds as the girls take their bows. We focus on a very happy Nana who says its bright.

Wow it looks like she just put them in a...gilded cage. *Foreshadowing intensifies*

We now go to March 5th, 2018, the play’s run is over and the girls are having an after party. We get several shots of the Venus De Milo here and throughout the episode. Junna and Sanai (head play writer in case you don’t recall) walk in front of a Venus and a small scale version of the star tower and make a speech, congratulating everybody on the play’s success. The party continues with the girls talking, taking pictures, eating, etc. We go to Nana who has her phone camera in front of her eyes, she’s taking pictures of her own.

She first takes one of Junna telling her good work, Junna gets flustered and says that this play was only the first year and they gotta prepare for next year soon. Nana then walks to Karen and Mahiru and takes their picture, Nana tells Karen she did a good job and Karen says Nana was really good too. Nana asks if Mahiru was nervous, she says she wasn’t thanks to Karen. Nana walks to Maya and Claudine congratulating them on a good job, Maya thanks her and Claudine says she did NOT lose to Maya thank you very much. Maya is like “ok let’s face off again at the next audition”. Maya then looks directly at Nana and tells her essentially that she would like to face off against her too. Nana seems confused, but no matter. Nana goes to Futaba and Kaoruko next. Futaba is like idk how to play a goddess but it worked out somehow, Kaoruko starts to tease her when they both notice Nana. The two run up to her and Futaba gives her a hug, she thanks her for helping her out during this whole play. Kaoruko also thanks her for the same reason. Mahiru and a few rando girls also thank Nana for helping them during the play production.

Karen picks up a banana muffin and comes up with Nana’s legendary nickname while Nana, Kaoruko, and Futaba are doing a message train. Karen reasons that Nana is like a banana because she’s sweet and good for everyone. Junna, who had just joined the group to get food, is confused. But Mahiru thinks the nickname is cute, Kaoruko and Futaba like it too. Kaoruko says its because Nana is tall like a banana, Futaba says its because Nana smells nice. Wow Futaba. Nana laughs, she also likes the nickname. But her laughter soon goes into crying, much to the alarm of her friends. Futaba and Kaoruko ask her what's wrong and Nana smiles and says she’s crying because she’s happy. It turns out Nana’s crying caused literally everyone at the party to notice. Nana says she’s glad she came to the school and says she’ll never forget this play. Internally Nana says she found her forever friends and her destined stage. On this day, Nana was reborn as a Stage Girl. Then we get the opening.

Ah yes, the message train. A theater kid tradition!

We jump to spring break, March 26th, 2018. All the girls but Nana and Junna leave the dorms to go home for break. They say bye to Nana, who has her camera phone in front of her eyes again, and watches everyone leave. We get a few shots in the empty dorm with Nana in the same pose, she comments that it’s very quiet with everyone gone. Nana goes back to her room, Junna is reading. Upon seeing Nana holding up her camera she’s like you’re taking pictures in our room why?? Nana responds saying that she needs to take photos of all the important moments for the next school festival. Junna asks if Nana was fine not going home, Nana is surprised by this question. Junna says she isn’t going back home until she graduates (reminder note: Junna’s parents don’t approve of her being at this school) so if Nana was just staying to look after her she probs shouldn’t. Nana smiles and, after offering udon, says she’s here because she wants to be here. Junna smiles and says yes to the udon.

Fellas is it gay if you take multiple pictures of your room mate everyday?

Now it’s a new school term, they’re second years. It’s April 9th, 2018. Nana is recording Junna finishing tying her school bow on, she’s like hey Junna got a speech for the new year? Junna is like hold on I’m the class rep I gotta not do anything embarrassing! She puts on a new pair of glasses and Nana says they are the same glasses but look like new ones. Nana and Junna go to school into their new classroom, Nana goes to the front of the room to record everyone. The girls in the class wave to her, Nana shifts to the back of the classroom.

Then, Nana realizes something is off. Mysterious creepy music plays as we see our girls and the girls in the class, Nana is doing a headcount. As the number 99 zooms slowly towards the camera Nana says two of her classmates are missing. The music cuts out, Junna tells Nana that the two girls had dropped out of school. Later Nana and Junna are in the locker room, Junna is removing the dropped out girl’s name tags from the locker. She laments that it’s sad this is the first task she got as class rep, but it’s time to move forward. Nana pauses before simply saying, yeah.

It’s now May 16th, 2018, the (regular as far as we can tell) auditions for the play have started. Nana stands in the back of the practice room with the camera in front of her eyes, through the camera screen we see Claudine declaring she’ll have a perfect victory over Tendou Maya. A picture is taken, Karen pops in declaring she’ll be Flora. Another picture is taken, Mahiru pops in saying if Karen is Flora then she’ll be Claire. The next photo adds Junna, Kaoruko, and Futaba to the mix, Kaoruko is like I’ll be in the main cast this time bitch! We go back to Nana, Maya appears next to her. Maya asks if Nana had a moment to talk after class and Nana says sure, Junna notices this exchange.

Kuro is best wingman pass it on!

And now...Now is when things start taking a turn.

Maya and Nana walk outside, Nana reminisces about the starlight play as they walk. The girls pass by several buildings, some girls are there and Nana waves to them briefly. Nana wonders if they could make the exact same play as they did last time. The music changes, Maya says that even if they have the same components as the previous play it won’t be the same. While Maya is speaking we see several other girls around the area. She continues saying that the girls (the ones who dropped out) chose their own path, with their own hardships. That sometimes there are people who can’t make it even when they try their hardest, so they leave the stage. Maya says she will challenge Nana for the main character in the play this time around. Maya tells Nana that she’s very talented so she wonders why she doesn’t step it up more. And then, after we zoom in on an empty locker, the music suddenly drops out and ALL the girls we saw earlier snap their heads up and look in the direction of the screen.

After that haunting sequence, which legit startled the fuck outta me, we go to Futaba and Kaoruko standing between two vending machines. Kaoruko is taking her time deciding something and Futaba tells her to just pick already. We go back to Nana and Maya, Maya says to Nana that if she doesn’t try to give her all and refuses to change. She will never forgive her. Nana is shocked.

Later nightmare fuel aside, the framing of this shot is so good oh man!

It’s now the evening, the sky is purple. Nana sits on a bench looking through her photos from the after party. Junna, Karen, and Mahiru come on in, they look at the photos and reminisce about the party and the play. Nana says how much she loved doing the play and the three other girls also say they loved it too. Nana wonders again if they can put on the same play, she looks at her photos fondly. Karen then is like, well I hope I can be on the stage again. She says the stage is alive and always changing, therefore it can’t be the same play at all. Junna points out they also are missing classmates hence it really isn’t possible to make the same exact play. Karen stands up on a bench, ripping open a bag of dried banana chips, and is like we’ll make a WAYY better play this year! Junna is like, you dumbass don’t stand on the bench! Karen says this is her stage now and it’s fine since she took her shoes off. Junna is exasperated. Nana tunes out of the conversation, staring at the sky.

Now Nana is in the changing room at the dorms, she’s lying down staring up at the ceiling. She wonders if they’ll be successful in creating a better play. She thinks the play they did in the past was perfect as is. And then, her phone rings with a VERY familiar ringtone. Giraffe has texted Nana for the first time, Nana thinks the giraffe is cute.

We go to Nana on a stage, a very bright stage of yellow light. Behind her is a piece of the prop star tower hanging out. Giraffe is standing in front of the real one, he greets Nana with a good evening. Giraffe asks if it was too radiant, Nana doesn’t really give an answer instead she’s like giraffe?? As Giraffe explains what a revue is, we get shots of the underground stage. It’s in ruins, the chairs are messed up, there's rust on the machines, everything is cracked and ruined to hell and back, and the whole thing is partly flooded. Or really it’s sinking. We also get a shot of the props from audition duels we’ve seen already. 

Nana is confused by what Giraffe means by radiance, he explains whoever shows the most radiance will get to be Top Star. After we hear a bizarre sound we get a shot of the tiara, Giraffe says that she will stand on in the Stage of Destiny if she gets Top Star and will radiant forever as an eternal star. Nana says she isn’t interested in that. Giraffe understands, so he offers her something else. What wish she did she have then? What kind of stage would she like to stand on? He says Nana has a radiant stage inside her, one so bright that she might not even be able to reach it. Nana asks if she could choose any stage she wanted, and Giraffe is like sure just join the auditions. Nana accepts joining them.

Hm, seems legit. Nothing bad will happen here.

It then cuts to, Nana winning against Maya. Nana stands in the light looking spacey and she speaks in a robotic dead sounding tone, Maya is shocked and said “so this is your true self?” she asks what made Nana change. Nana responds by asking if it’s too bright, because it’s too bright for her. As the curtain comes down, Maya asks why she’s doing this but all Nana says is she can’t reach it. Maya tries to ask what drove her to go to this extreme but she’s cut off by the curtain falling down on her. Nana claims position zero but, she doesn’t announce her name. Instead she says again she can’t reach it because it’s too bright. We see a shot of the rankings board, Nana is at the top at number one.

In the next scene Giraffe congratulates Nana on becoming Top Star. He asks if it’s too bright. Nana says yes. Giraffe asks what stage she desired, Nana says she wants to perform the Starlight play from the previous year again. Giraffe is like, alrighty then. The tiara drops at Nana’s feet on position zero, there are bright pink lights and a buzzing sound. The script with the frog on it we’ve seen Nana with before falls from the sky and we go to black.

Never underestimate the power of fruit.

The next thing Nana knows, she’s in class. The teacher announces that they will be doing the Starlight play for their three years, the class is excited. Futaba and Kaoruko don’t know what it is. Nana is like ??? what, she turns to Junna and is like hey wtf is going on. Junna is shocked and flustered at Nana using her first name, she calls Nana by her last name. Nana stares at her shocked. She realized what just happened.

She went back in time. It went from May 25th, 2018 to April 17th, 2017. We see the Starlight play being prepared and practice while Nana reveals something else. Nana going back to the past like this, isn’t a one time thing. No, it’s been done many times before by her. Nana….has trapped everyone in a time loop.

Holy shit.

Anyways, Nana has convinced herself that being in a time loop is a good thing. She has nothing to fear, no one has to grow up and feel the pain of being alive and growing. Nana says she’ll protect everyone, she’s doing this for everyone's sake. It’s fine. Nana smiles, whole holding the script close, in the bright yellow stage under the tower prop. There's a giant box with the number 99 painted on its side behind her. We learn that every loop she fights Maya, every loop she beats her. She makes the same wish. It all starts over again. But she still can’t reach the light, it’s still too bright.

And then, one day. Something different happens.

After winning again, Nana tells the Giraffe it’s still too bright. Giraffe (standing by a sudden random tree) says he has lost count in the number of times these loops have happened but he will grant her the same wish anyways. Nana asks him, why does he do this for her. Giraffe says when a Stage Girl becomes Top Star she releases a powerful radiance, a shining stage. He wants to see that, he wants to see shining stages. But, it seems like Giraffe has gotten bored of Nana’s same stage so. Something is gonna change it, or really someone. A knife is thrown down smack in the middle of position zero at Nana’s feet. It’s Hikari’s knife. Nana is shocked, she looks up and sees Hikari’s blue cape in the tree. Hikari herself stands under the tree, staring. The scene goes to black, Nana is back at the start of her loop wondering who the fuck that was.

COME TO THIS WEIRD STAGE TREE IN 5 MINUTES FOR AN ASSWHOOPIN.

Nana’s loop continues as normal, until. Until May 14th, 2018. Nana wakes up and knows something is off right away. We see the scene from episode 1 where Karen falls off her chair, Hikari is in the hallway with her suitcase. The teacher tells the class that they are getting a new transfer student, Nana is shocked.

Nana is like holy shit this is new. We then see a bunch of lines go by, they are time loops that have happened. When I slowed it down, I counted 60 lines total. So there have been 60 time loops, each one is a year and 5 months….Nana has been doing this for 60 years.

Jesus fucking christ Nana.

We then jump back to the present, the sun is going down while the girls walk home. Haunting music plays while Nana stares out a window at Hikari. She wonders how this change even happened at all, she wonders if doing the same play for 60 years really gets boring. Geez Nana, ya think? 

However, Nana says her world will never change. She says Hikari’s name, and turns creepily to the camera staring directly at it. She’ll put that girl in her play. No matter what. The episode ends.

The ending theme has no vocals.

Nana...what have you done...

>We never saw it cominnnng!

-Holy mother of fucking god. I. This. Was incredible. My mind is still blown! What an excellent twist! I love this show so fucking much! I told y’all this was something special! I fucking told you! Episode 7 proved it! They could fuck it up at the end but my gut feeling is still good! Fucking anime of the year!

--Also there were AMAZING shots in this! So much good storyboarding holy shit!

-In my episode one and five write ups I took note of the dates but at the time I said they “probably aren’t relevant”. WELL GUESS WHAT PAST ME. THEY VERY MUCH ARE RELEVANT! I picked up that the show was showing us dates but not why. Gdi.

-With time nonsense happening, I made timelines (here and here) so we can keep track of what’s going on. Will update as needed and put in future write ups as needed.

-I wanna address something real quick, a lot of people are quick to make comparisons to Madoka Magica and Homura’s time travel powers. I can see why people make that comparison but the time travel here isn’t really the same at all. Homura can start the time travel whenever she likes, sure it’s limited to going to a certain day but if say she was three days into the timeline and Homura decides to go back again she can. Nana can’t do such a thing. If Nana was three days into hers and she wanted to go back she can’t, she has to become Top Star to go back in time at all. Higurashi is a closer comparison but even that isn’t too close to Nana’s time looping either, without spoiling anything in Higurashi the length of the time loops vary and aren’t the same. It can go for many years or not. Funny I think this kind of time travel in the show is closer to the movie Groundhog's Day but instead of just one day it goes for a year lol. Another comparison I’ve seen is Steins Gate but I’ve only seen one episode of that anime so I can’t comment too much on it. 

Point being here is, not all time travel is the same and often isn’t compatible to each other. Nana’s time loops continuing lies solely on being Top Star, if she didn’t become Top Star no time loop will happen. It’s not superpowered base like Homura’s is nor is it like Higurashi’s which is….uh. Let’s say why the loops are happening are much more complicated than either of these shows. So, let’s stop saying Nana is pulling a Homura cause she isn’t (Homura also isn’t the first time traveler in fiction you guys, you can use other comparisons). Don’t mislead people into thinking it works like Madoka Magica’s ok? Ok.

-I feel silly now that I worked out the possible ranks in episode 5 cause as it turns out the ranking board is a lie and doesn’t matter as much as we thought it did! Maya isn’t really in first, she’s in second. Nana is first, Nana is the strongest of all of them. This means that poor Kuro is actually in third place, ouch. If she finds that out she’ll be very unhappy about that.

-Funny, I thought how this show was gonna go was Karen blasting through everyone and then they fight the evil tiara bullshit together but now that this time loop is involved, everything has fucking change. Everything! Nice!

-Interestingly, it appears there is no visual uniform difference between the years. As in first, second, and third years all have the exact same uniform. That’s not super common in high school anime I find, it’s nifty!

-There were some differences in the ending credits this time. In the past several episodes we’ve had a character sing the ending theme Fly Me to the Star. But not here, Nana doesn’t sing fly me to the stars. It’s only the instrumentals and Nana is with Giraffe instead of either by herself or with someone. Another difference was with Hikari’s hair clip, it’s usually a hand (probs Hikari’s) reaching down and touching it. But this episode, Nana is stepping on Hikari’s hair pin. I’m sure that implies nothing bad, oh wait yes it does. Hahaha she’s gonna fucking try and kill her isn’t she? Hikari is fucking screwed. ono

Another difference lies in the background, in the previous credits there’s always items that are related to whoever is singing the song slowly falling in the background. It always includes the Starlight play script but with Nana’s it’s JUST the Starlight play script and nothing else. Yikes. The last difference is at the very end, normally it has the girl(s) who sang the song standing in the spotlight. This time it’s just the frog Starlight script in the spotlight. Both of these things show how obsessed Nana is with this play, it’s consumed her entire life and her spotlight for that matter.

-After Nana wins the duels she doesn’t declare her name when claiming position zero. That’s very very odd considering everyone who’s declared position zero says their name right afterwards. Loss of identity maybe?

-At the end of the Starlight play it rained sand on the stage just like it rained water in episode two on kuromaya stage after they fight. Not sure what this means yet, instead it brings something else to mind.

-This series uses and brings up water a lot! There is several bodies of water on the campus, it’s raining after Karen’s duel with Maya and this reflection happens, it’s raining at the end of the kuromaya fight, the whole damn stage is surrounded by water, Hikari goes to aquariums in episode 4, swans are aquatic birds, we see the stage flooded in the past, and of course there is the goddess Aphrodite’s connection with water. She was born out of the ocean, you could even say she was reborn since she came from a nutsack (myths are fucking weird man). Water has a TON of symbolism behind it, it’s been used symbolically for centuries. It often symbolises birth or rebirth, cleansing yourself, purity, and there's a ton of mythos involving water and many religions practices that involve it. What’s not super known is that water as a symbol was used a lot in early sapphic literature, as were birds.

What this all means is hard to say but I think it does tie into the being reborn theme this show has. It’s a metaphorical rebirthing as we’ve seen it. Karen is reborn when she became a Stage Girl, Junna describes falling in love with theater as a child as being reborn, and Nana also refers to herself being reborn after the Starlight play after party. What being reborn really means in this show is being drastically changed by a life experience. I’m really excited to see this theme continued.

-The Venus de Milo statue makes a frequent appearance again (5 times!) and while I do think it still ties strongly to Maya there is something weird here, it seems like the statue is involved with the play somehow? It’s present at the after party, even being in front of the star tower so one would think it’s involved in the play somehow. But what? What does this statue have to do with this play? Is it cause Venus is also a star? Maybe? It’s hard to say.

-When Nana goes to the underground stage for the first time, it’s old and shitty. And flooded/sinking. Meaning this point is ground zero of when and where the duels started, it supports my idea of the stage being alive. I’ll elaborate on that point in speculation but I’ll say that the stage looking so fucked tells me it’s been a very long time since it’s been used.

--Also during these flashbacks, the Tokyo Tower isn’t in the underground stage at all. So, does this mean Hikari’s presences brought the tower there? It’s an important place for Hikari and Karen so that would make sense, the stage would have no reason to have it unless they are involved. But why? Since episode 8 looks like a focus episode on Hikari maybe we will have a better idea after that.

-Junna notices Nana and Maya talking in the practice room. I think that’s an important thing to note here cause I think Junna will be very important in getting Nana to stop the madness.

-Is the star in the tiara or the tower? Both? Or maybe the star just uses the tiara as a medium of sorts? This shit is mysterious man.

-The frog script Nana has, is it a soul gem/horcrux like thing? A timer? Can it affect reality? Looks pretty worn, I mean it has been through lots of loops. This script makes me go hmmm.

-I’m still shook by the fact Nana has kept all her friends in this gilded cage for 60 years! Nana what the fuck. Now you are probs wondering how anyone outside of the school would not notice that? I think, because Hikari and Karen went into the city, this time loop doesn’t just effect the campus it effects the city. Hell it might even effect more than the city. The whole country? The world? Like literally everywhere being time looped would match up to the lack of freaking out from outsiders. Like Nana, Nana the fuck did you do? Holy shit.

-Something I noticed right away, and got really excited, about is the fact Claire and Flora have to pass through seven gates/goddesses to get to the star. That’s just like Inanna’s myth! She had to pass through seven gates each with a gatekeeper to get into the underworld. Like holy shit that’s really cool that an Inanna has a reference again! Also the stairs were going up right? You could say, it’s a stairway to heaven? Eh? ;D

-The part when Maya and Nana are talking, we pass by all these girls. When it gets to the height of the conversation, suddenly the music stops and all the girls heads snap up and look the same direction. That scared the piss out of me! What the fuck was that?! I can’t figure it out? The best answer I got maybe is it’s something to do with the school or the stage and it didn’t like what Maya was saying? Maybe? Is this like the fighty Greek Chorus in the stage musical? Is that what happens when you get booted out from the auditions? Why did only Nana acknowledge the girls were there via waving? I?? I don’t know but that scene makes me very nervous.

--The part with Nana turning towards the camera at the end was creepy too. The shadows, the red, and the too fluid animation of her turning was all off putting but the real kicker I think is the fact she’s staring directly at the camera. Like is she talking to someone we can’t see or, is she addressing us the audience? Please no Monika I don’t wanna see anyone getting deleted.

-Right after the creepy scene with the girls all fucking pulling an Exorcist, we go to Futaba and Kaoruko talking about something seemingly unrelated. Cutting from something so intense to something so mundane seems like an odd choice right? I was stumped too at first but I figured it out! Futaba and Kaoruko are between two vending machines, one is red and one is blue. At this point in the story we’ve learned that Maya and Nana are foils to each other, I’ll elaborate on the ways they are foils later but the super short version is Maya and Nana have a conflicting way of how to see the future. Maya prefers going forward, not dwelling on the past, and so she sees the future as a good thing. Nana on the other hand is afraid of it and sees the future as something bad taking what she loves away from her. The vending machines represent that split.

When you have a scene set up to be a clear split like this then it usually indicates opposite paths or choices or in this case opposite viewpoints. Also red and blue are very often used to show opposites. This is a crossroads, do we hang on to the past or let the future come? Which direction, or vending machine, should we chose? Or will be chosen really, whoever won that first audition duel would decide what path to take. Unfortunately Nana won, and she chose the past. Now everyone is fucked.

As for why Futaba and Kaoruko were the ones in the center, it has to do with the yin and yang parallel around them we saw in episode six. While those two are in sync despite being different, Maya and Nana's views of the future cannot be in sync or coexist together. A conflict will always come. In the scene after Maya and Nana talk, the sky is purple. A combo of red and blue, or in this case a collide. This foreshadows the duel that takes place on May 25th, it’s a clashing of view points.

-It’s obvious by this point that Giraffe is not a benevolent figure, all his actions are for him and/or anyone he is working with so he can gather starlight and see shiny revues. He doesn't care about stopping Nana, he's just bored and wanted to see what would happen if everything was thrown off balance. Giraffe is the Kyubey of the situation here, the devil in dealing with the devil. All for starlight and seeing brighter revues. This isn't a revolution, it's an experiment. Seeing Giraffe as a benevolent figure is the mistake Nana made, so we the audience shouldn't trust him either. I never trusted this fucking giraffe in the first place so it doesn’t surprise me that he is pulling this shit. But, if he is a Kirin then why? What makes a Kirin turn bad like this? Hm.

-In the Starlight play gears pop up again! Mmm love the gear motif. Also wow this fucking stage is impressive, how much fucking money does this school have?! Lol.

-So the Top Star position grants wishes it seems like? Can you wish for anything or just things related to the theater? If it can cause time travel on a possible world wide scale, then what else can it fucking do? I don’t trust this Top Star wishing, nope.

-The way Giraffe was talking about starlight makes me think that yeah the system does indeed gather and/or feed off of starlight. So, is Giraffe the Starlight Gatherer? The stage itself? The mystery continues.

-During the flashback while the stage is in ruins, we see props backstage that are from previous revues. The stars from Hikari and Junna’s stage, the cat in a baseball outfit from Mahiru’s stage, a lantern from Futaba and Kaoruko’s stage, one of the glasses buildings from Junna’s stage, and Maya’s stairs and pillar and chandelier and big ass bird from her stage (geez Maya, hogging space much?). Claudine’s is there too but its not grouped with the others, it’s right over here! It’s likely not with the other ones cause IT’S A FUCKING HUGE BUILDING. Kuro goes big or goes home. But the odd thing is, the duels haven’t even started yet. So what are these doing here? Have they been, preprepared?

-So we’ve been told that if you get booted from the duels then you lose the most important thing to a Stage Girl, knowing what we know now I really wonder what the fuck that could possibly be? The other girls had to have lost in the other loops for Nana to keep winning Top Star and we don’t see what happens to them at all. Is it a thing? Is it the starlight draining theory I’ve talked about before? I don’t know like, man these loops made everything more complicated lol.

-In the credits, Nana leaning towards Hikari and she’s also right over position zero! Fuckin, that foreshadowing man! I love it!

>So, about Nana, Maya, and Hikari.

There’s so much to talk about regarding these three that they need their own section. They are very deeply involved with this time clusterfuck. And, wow who knew that Nana and Maya would end up as foils to each other? That’s fucking wild.

-Nana

Let’s start with the one who kicked all this shit off. Oh poor Nana, I really do feel for this girl. For starters I don’t think Nana is evil at all, no she’s just a scared lonely girl who’s been preyed upon by the stage. She’s made a huge mistake, making a Faustian deal with forces that she doesn’t understand, and everyone pays the price for it including her. Nana’s backstory must be really fucked up, I mean I don’t think it will go too fucked up but it will be sad as hell I bet. She probably didn’t have any friends before coming to the school and I’m betting she either has dead parents or stage parents.

If she has stage parents then they likely pushed her into being the most perfect Stage Girl, being controlling and overbearing as hell. And they treated her like crap the entire way. Maybe Nana didn’t want to come to this school at first but when she did, oh look she has freedom for the very first time in her life. Nana having these kind of parents would also parallel Maya’s who are famous stage actors, and the two of them reacted differently to the pressure placed on them during their lives. I’ll talk more about their similarities later.

So after Nana came to the school she made friends for the first time, what she did was considered good enough and she got praise and loved by others. Positive attention is something Nana likely never had before so she ended up associating love and happiness with that specific point in her life, and this caused her to grow very attached to that point in time. Nana being so love starved made her crave going back to that time, in her mind that’s the time where she’s loved and appreciated and she can’t even imagine that she can get love and appreciation outside of that specific chunk of time. Hence she clings to it hardcore, and becomes upset when being told she can’t ever go back to that time. So when offered a way to go back she jumped at the chance, not considering the consequences this will bring. After Nana said she didn’t want the power Top Star gives you, Giraffe changes his tactics and says she can choose any stage she wants. Any stage at all. And so, we ended up here.

I totally understand Nana is coming from, it’s hard to leave happy past experiences behind. To never have the same ones ever again. It’s hard to grow up and be thrown into a cold adult world. Life changing is hard, and when you grow up sad and miserable you want to cling to any happiness you can get. I very much understand why Nana keeps this time loop going. That being said however, what she’s done is a horrible thing to do to her friends and it is so incredibly selfish of her to keep it going like this.

Nana has rationalized her time looping as she’s doing it for everyone's sake, to spare them any future pain. But, just cause she thinks that doesn’t mean it’s true. Her friends never asked her to do this and I’m pretty positive they wouldn’t want to be stuck in this time loop, but Nana never asks them or considers that hey just cause you’re afraid of the future doesn’t mean you should take away other people’s choices and make the choices for them! Nana resetting any character development is also a very fucked thing to do, like for example if she did reset it like normal now that means that Mahiru never detached her self worth from Karen. Futaba and Kaoruko’s relationship issues never got resolved. Karen and Junna would never become friends. Any development Maya and Kuro would’ve gotten would be tossed out the window. Nana is taking all growth away from them every time she resets, just cause she doesn’t want anything to change.

It’s cruel, keeping them in this gilded cage and never letting anyone move forward with their life or get over their hang ups. I have a feeling the other girls are going to find out about this, the fallout will be bad. Very bad. However at this point Nana is pretty overpowered with starlight and 60 years of experience, she won’t be easy to beat. The starlight itself I think, while very useful, is a corruptive dangerous thing especially when someone is overloaded with it. Maybe it’s even addictive. Nana and Giraffe appear to both be obsessed with it and this overload of starlight is likely making Nana’s mental state even worse. This is gonna turn messy.

I think Nana can still be saved, redeemed even! I’m pretty positive Junna will be a huge factor in that. Nana obviously has a crush on her, just look at all the pictures she takes of Junna alone. We haven’t seen these two a ton together but enough to know they are close friends with each other. There will be more in future episodes I think, it’s gonna be wild. Help us Jun-Jun! Go go save Banana! We need ya!

Nana is someone who represents the past, she can’t let go and she can’t/doesn’t want to move forward. She’s dragged everyone else into this bullshit because she is so afraid of the future. The future is unknown and scary. The past is easy and comforting, as well as predictable. But it’s stifling, no one can grow and change. It’s a gilded cage, and Nana has trapped everyone including herself in it. She has to let go of the past and move forward understanding the future isn’t hopeless and that she can still get positive attention and love going forward.

-Maya

Oh Maya, oh dear. Amists all this time looping is Maya, it’s unknown if Maya has any memories of previous time loops but regardless if she does or doesn’t it’s fucked for her either way. If she does remember all the loops then she’s been failing to stop this and reliving the same block of time for 60 years, it’s amazing she hasn’t lost her mind! If she only remembers some loops or bits and parts then there's probably this endless feeling of dread and paranoia plus the fact she keeps failing over and over. If she doesn’t recall anything at all then she’s been doing the same fruitless quest for years without realizing that it’s all pointless. Another possible idea is her memory slowly returns during the year then she loses AGAIN and it fades away no matter what she does. Jesus christ how horrifying. 8(

Nana always fights Maya for the Top Star and Maya always loses, mostly cause the cards are stacked against her. Not only does Nana have all that starlight power but she's been fighting for 60 years and remembers doing it. So Maya can’t ever beat her, she’s extremely outmatched. I can only imagine how stressful that would be if she recalls anything, remembering endless failure to break her and her friends out of this hellscape. If Maya does indeed remember, then she is likely aiming for Top Star not to really use it for herself but to stop the madness. If she wins she can break everyone outta the loop, but she keeps losing over and over and she keeps tackling the problem alone. We gonna need everyones for this task Maya!

Maya is someone who always looks to the future, always restless and never fully satisfied where she is in life. As someone who also rarely feels fully satisfied, this feeling is both a blessing and a curse. It gives you a drive for sure but it’s also painful in that nothing you do will ever be good enough. I can tell ya for sure that this feeling 100% comes from having anxiety. Wooo. This kind of drive however, ended up keeping her from making any sort of deal with Giraffe. I think Maya and Nana were the first people contacted and offered the deal, show off starlight and get your stage with whatever you desire. The system aimed to take advantage of the most fucked up of the Stage Girls, but the thing is. Maya has nothing to really gain from a Top Star wish. Any stage the Top Star could grant would not be good enough for her to want to make that wish.

So Kuro was right in episode four, it’s VERY weird that Maya is in these auditions at all. She wouldn’t go back to the past like Nana has, not for any reason. Maya wants to move forward, and she wants everyone else to move forward too. That’s why she pulled Nana aside to talk to her, Maya feels Nana is wasting all her talent and potential. That bothers Maya, a lot. She’s probably even offended by it. Maya greatly respects things like passion, growth, and determination so Nana damping her own growth when she can do so much more just pisses her off and that’s why Maya is so worked up during their conversation. She talks to Nana, and is very blunt about her point, because she isn’t going to stand by and let someone so talented do that to themselves. Hence I think it’s possible Maya first entered the audition duels to stop Nana from doing something foolish. It’s also possible she did it to give others a challenge, someone to defeat, but that still begs the question of what the hell will she do if she gets Top Star? We don’t really have an answer right now cause we are still missing info about Maya, but it’s a question to keep in mind.

Maya’s monologue this episode is about the beauty of choice basically, people choosing a path and doing their damndest to follow it. And even if they can’t get to their original goal and drop away from it, that’s fine because it’s their choice and they are still moving forward with their life. I think Maya really respects people who choose to rise to a challenge and face it head on. That’s one of the reasons why she fell for and respects Claudine, she’s willinging to confront and challenge Maya who is believed to be untouchable and Maya loves that there’s someone who can not only match her like that but keeps pushing to be even better than she was before. She loves a woman who can kick her ass (or tries to). Anyways, Maya’s monologue ties in well with her character. Also the Venus De Milo statues are back again because Maya plays quite a big role in this episode and in general. She’s the one Nana has to beat every time after all.

Y’all might be wondering why I referred to Maya as one of the most fucked up out of the girls, well I did say she likely had a similar childhood to Nana’s so. I can tell you from experience that you don’t get someone like Maya out of a happy childhood. Maya’s parents are famous stage actors so from the moment she was born she had expectations placed on her. Lots of pressure to be as good as they are, a very stressful thing to put on a child. I talked about her possible past in episode five’s write up so I’ll try not to repeat myself too much here. Like Nana she probably didn’t grow up with many, if any, friends and always had the expectations from others hanging over her head all the time. I think it’s possible what made Maya and Nana’s paths split is because there was someone in Maya’s life that positively influenced her and Nana never got that. I dunno who in Maya’s life did that and it could’ve been an event in her life instead, either way this would be the moment she was “reborn” as a true Stage Girl. This is a guess from what I know about Maya and Nana but I think it’s possible.

What Maya and Nana strongly have in common is loneliness. Maya is used to living her life alone at the top, she believes this is the cost of being at the top and that’s that. She’ll accept it and move on, but people are social animals. We need interactions with someone or we go mad from the isolation, so really Maya hasn’t moved on from that. But since Maya always moves forward to the future, she probably hasn’t reflected on that aspect at all so she just tries to keep going. However ignoring your emotional hang ups doesn’t work forever, but Maya isn’t going to ask for any sort of help or talk to someone about it. Maya probably never learned how to do that. Nana doesn’t do it either, she probably doesn’t think it’s important enough to bother anyone by it. Both of these girls got a lot to sort out and the stage can be turned around and used to help instead of harm! That’s what I’m expecting anyways.

Another comparison is their roles they have for the stage and system itself. Maya is a symbol of what the system wants, she’s talented and full of radiance. And while this gives her power, she’s still only a symbol. She can easily be taken down by the system. Nana’s role is an enforcer, she’s the true guard dog of the system. She enforces the status quo and literally prevents change coming into the system. Nana has a ton of power hence she can take down Maya, but Nana is still just a cog in the machine. The system uses her, she isn’t very free from it either.

Maya represents the future, she’s always looking forward and always aiming for progress. But you can’t look away from any ghosts of the past forever. Looking at the past can be painful, while looking at the future is hopeful. It’s going to be hard to watch Maya having to confront herself so to speak but she needs to do that or the past will weight her down and prevent her from moving forward like she wants to.

Quick note: If Maya isn’t aware of the time loops and finds out about them, she’ll be beyond fucking pissed. Like jesus christ heaven help you if a livid Tendou Maya is coming for ya!

-Hikari

Well, Hikari is full of surprises isn’t she? There’s still a lot we don’t know about this girl, but we did learn something huge about her. Hikari being here changes everything, like she fucks the entire loop up! The auditions started two days earlier than they normally do for starters. Hikari being here caused Karen to join the duels which causes more chaos. And at this point, as you can see on the timeline I made, we’ve passed the normal reset date! No wonder Nana is like fuck fuck what the fuck is happening.

We still don’t know why Hikari came here in the first place but my best guess is she was either told or found out that Karen is in danger so she came to save her. It’s likely Giraffe is the one who let her know, he was getting bored after all. He likely chose Hikari because she’d have a motivation to come and stay, the motive would be of course Karen. There’s a theory that Hikari comes from a timeline where Karen died thanks to the auditions so she wished to go to one where she never joined the auditions, and that caused her to crossover and crash Nana’s time loop. Why Hikari is so desperate is because unless she wins Top Star, this is her only shot to save Karen. It’s a pretty plausible theory! Regardless of why, Hikari is here and she’s causing change.

Hikari is the present, she changes both the past by crashing the time loop and therefore changes the future. She’s very much the wild card around here, who knows what else she will change?

Now here we are with these three girls all involved in this time fuckery, Hikari and Maya already conflict with Nana due to her desire to keep everything the same. But what about Hikari and Maya? Would they get along at all? That I find to be quite a mystery. The most interaction we have had is Maya’s reaction to her in episode one, which is this and this if you don’t recall. Knowing what we know now I have a guess actually. It’s a bit out there but, it’s what I got for now. When Maya loses her duel with Nana the curtain falls on her right? We’ve seen at the end of two and six’s audition duels that the curtain doesn’t automatically teleport you outta there, so. Maya could still be behind that curtain, how long she’d be there I dunno but it’s very possible she’s still there just off stage. If that’s the case then Maya could have seen Hikari backstage, maybe even spoke with her. There's enough time for a brief meeting since Giraffe rambles about starlight for a bit before Hikari throws her knife.

So, maybe her expression from Hikari looking at her is surprised and confused because Maya recognizes her. But because of time travel shit, Maya doesn’t know how or why she recognizes her. I imagine that would be very confusing hence why she looks like she’s thinking deeply in the shower, wondering why she recognizes this girl she’s never met before. The comment about Hikari’s heart later I think is just Maya being Maya and answering Kuro wondering if Hikari was rival material. I don’t think she’d tell anyone that she recognizes this stranger for pretty much no reason at all, Maya probably doesn’t want to sound nuts. Like I said, I know this theory is out there but at this point who knows what could happen?

I’m eager to see how this plays out, Karen is actually a wild card too since she’s never joined the auditions until now. But unlike the other three, the lack of awareness of how fucked this situation is prevents her from being too involved at the moment. I hope everyone can make it out of this ok, they deserve happiness!

>Speculation! Here we go! Here we go again! Now here we go again!

-Hikari maybe has fought before has already had something taken from her, that’s why she hasn’t been super successful during her duels. I dunno, throwing it out there cause at this point I’m very ??? a lot about Hikari.

-I think the stage is alive. It’s an eldritch location kind of deal, hence it can bend reality within its domain and shoot Hikari outside in episode three. Giraffe is it’s avatar of sorts, a means of communication. It lives deep under the school, and it’s probably been there a long time. Sleeping or maybe waiting? I think the stage is activated by something, the something I’m thinking of is the Starlight play. It plays songs from the play and has the same exact grey tower with the star inside so it must be closely related to it. When the play is assigned to a class is the time where it awakens. Judging by the state of the stage when Nana first goes there, it’s been a very long time since a class got this play. 

After it awakens, it decides on what girls will be chosen as Stage Girls. It chooses the girls with the most possible release of a lot of starlight, which it feeds off of, and then its studies the chosen girls. It can probably do shit like reading minds and such, hence it creates props for the stage girls. All ready to go. Then the time comes, the play is performed and in May the girls are summoned. And the revue commences! It feeds, it’s pleased. Guess we will find out what happens when it’s not please. O_o

-OK SO, there might be another goddess involved here. This one has less evidence so take it with a grain of salt. I’m thinking Hikari has a goddess association too, Ariadne. How I got to this is from reading about the circle of stars again. So Hikari’s hair decoration on her stage outfit is a circle of stars, Ariadne is strongly associated with these stars. The star crown either was put in the sky when she died or she wears it to make her immortal hence a goddess. Ariadne is known for leading Theseus out of the labyrinth/maze, in a way Hikari is doing something similar. Trying to lead Karen away from danger. Ariadne is the goddess of labyrinths, mazes, paths, fertility, snakes, and passion. Yup, another goddess associated with passion! Speaking of passion, there was an ancient cult that worshiped both Aphrodite and Ariadne, they had a sacred grove. Not a ton of info has been found about this cult but I do think it's interesting that we got the goddess Maya is associated with here. And if two major players have goddesses associated with them, then Nana must have one too.

Hers is harder to pin down right now, but underworld goddesses seem to suit her. Like Persephone, besides being an underworld goddess she is also the goddess of flowers, vegetation and springtime. She’s also associated with a fruit, the pomegranate. Another is Ereshkigal, queen of the underworld and sister to Inanna. She kept Inanna and her husband trapped in her realm until they were bailed out by Inanna’s sister in law. Now these connections are very loose and I might be reaching here so take both Hikari’s and Nana’s with a grain of salt. I’m gonna keep it in mind for the time being.

>Things I picked up on a series rewatch.

-Nana suddenly having an interest in Hikari in episode two became much creepier. Hikari glaring at her in the elevator also makes more sense. Nana cornering her to give her pudding was quite a power move lol. But I also think Nana was trying to befriend Hikari, remember Nana wants positive attention more than anything hence she tries the peaceful way first. I wonder if they talked to each other while dancing? I also still wonder if they dueled like I thought they did in my episode two write up.

-Several of Nana’s lines saying shit like “I’ve never done this before!” look so different now man.

-You can see Nana’s surprised reaction in episode one!

-Nana might be able to teleport? She pops up by Hikari twice so fast in episode two. I don’t know though??

-I get why Giraffe sat with Junna, Nana probably wants her crush to be as comfortable as she can be so she’s like “hey Giraffe pls sit with her”. Or that’s my guess anyways.

-Nana’s and Maya’s brief convo in episode three is quite different now. It can be taken two ways. If Maya doesn’t remember the loops then she’s probably happy Nana is finally doing something with her talent. If she does remember the loops at all she’s probably thinking “Oh this is new. Maybe she won’t pull that time travel shit this time.” *later* “I was wrong.”

-Her talking about the past Starlight play is so much more off putting now. Like dude, isn’t 60 FUCKING TIMES ENOUGH FOR YOU?! JESUS.

There’s a lot more than this most likely, but I forgot to write them down and I don’t have time to go through the episodes any more so this is what I got!

>THIS SHIT IS BANANAS, B-A-N-N-A-N-A-S!

Holy banana nuts, this show is soooo fucking good! Like holy shit it’s better than I even imagined! I’m very much looking forward to episode 8! I fucking, I’m so happy I chose to watch this series. This is fucking amazing holy shit! Spread this show like wildfire! Please! I’m ascending. Yes, oh my god! Bless! Bless this show! \^w^/

See you on the stage for episode 8!

[nnicolee]

i scream

random thoughts about infinity war under the cut

major spoilers

lmao im depressed

i do think everything is gonna be ok in the end tho

i trust that dr strange knew what hes doing and is playing the long game

i think stark is the key, he’ll play a major part in reversing the snap™

i cannot fucking believe thanos did THAT™ im 

buckys last word i cry

rocket aint getting that fucking arm lmao

and i might just be in denial, but if they manage to reverse this shitstorm i think loki is gonna be fine as well :)

hes in a flashback scene in avengers4, and if you know about theage of ultron debacle you cant just put him in a flashback/dream sequence bcus the audience will expect more loki

so either theyll cut him from the scene like they did in aou, or he’ll be back

and i dont think they put in all that effort just to cut him from the scene

but like fucking rip loki tho damn

thanos fucking WRECKED him like OWIE

how do you choke a bitch that hard like his nose started bleeding n shit

BRUTAL :(

also rip every guardian except rocket, feels bad my dude

are hawkeye n antman ok? the movie mentioned they took a plea deal n are under house arrest but we dont know if they made it after the snap™

thors new axe is fucking dope

everything about the axe forging was dope,the location, the visuals,BIGASS DINKLAGE

they tried really hard to make me give a shit about wanda and vision but alas i did not

kinda wished they would have prolonged her reaction to thanos rezzing him

like she went thru all that hurt for nothing,and they barley show her reaction

they showed like 2398 reaction shots of her killing him and then theres almost nothing afterwards even tho that must’ve hurt even more

T’challa telling okoye that this isnt the day to die and then he dies 

mood

that fucking catfight that broke out in that random hole

cap actually lived, im hella suprised i thought he was a goner for sure

i feel so fucking bad for thor like can he get a break,everyone is dead :(

they actually made thanos kinda interesting, did not expect them to bother

like he has a clear motive, he thinks hes doing the right thing and they let him show emotions

its like the villians come out good when you give them some depth,wow who would have guessed

banner and hulk arguing w/ eachother lmao

banner being banner the entire movie and being useful even when he cant hulk out <3 yes b show them

i fucking loved ebony maw what a fucking class act

i loved how unphased n classy he acted

zooping thru new york on a floating piece of rubble w/ his hands behing his back like its no big deal

unit

i feel so bad for tony fucking hell

n poor peter parker why did he have to suffer for so long

i mean his death scene was amazing both tom and robert fucking crushed it but like damn

poor kid put him out of his misery

fucking love how well thanos read loki at the begininning

like he “raised” nebula n gamora he knows that sibling dynamic like the back of his hand and it shows

he knew loki wouldnt let thor die bcus he knows his girls and gamore didnt let nebula die either

read™

that fucking red skull cameo tho hoo boy

and the visuals before they showed him

it was like this blue light underwater n it reminded me of the tesseract falling into the sea

so i was like redskull??? but then i was like nah why would he be here

AND THEN HE WAS THERE

theres too much to process so one last thing

gamoras “you promised” hurt me good, she sounded so heartbroken zoe fucking KILLED it the entire movie

thats all for now brb going to therapy fuck you russo n russo why did you do this

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

alright mothers an fuckers lets get down to some PL vs AA

-

alright so the last person who owned this game has 2 save files, one in the first and one in the third slot, both named chucky. one’s just past the tutorial, the other’s hanging around at some place called ‘knights garrison”

unnerving

i feel like I'm running into a creepy pasta

-

a work of fiction eh

-

oh fuck

accent guy no

-

wee woo wee woo, here come the doll people of Layton Land

-

oh shit

it’s fully voice acted. i wasn’t expecting this...

aw. i guess i cant do my voices... that stinks.

-

“fuck you let me sleep forever”

i love him he's so grouchy

true wet blankie

voice wise i like Nick’s but I’m not as much a fan of Maya’s

-

oh its not fully voiced! great. this is actually kinda nice– i get to do voices, and the dramatic moments have their own dialogue track

-

ok now that I'm done laughing about the Puzzle memes being very accurate, it’s time to see if i can solve a fucking puzzle

-

ok. im. already totally mystified. welp.

I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN

-

once again my inability to parse things renders logic puzzles a bitch

it isn't helpful that they didnt detail the way the witches interact with the paths before submission but

(sigh) i knew the Layton sections would suck

not objectively, just for me because i’m ass at logic puzzles

my expertise lie in point and click adventures

-

his name is CAR ACCIDENT

-

carmine: I'm probably fucking dead pls help

layton: well i never!!

-

layton: it is my belief that you are in quite considerable danger :)

-

OH GENTLEMAN

WE GOT ONE FOLKS

-

do towns have districts? i thought that was more of a city thing

-

THE BOOK

YOU FOOLS

-

now, once again, i do know some details about how this game concludes, and i must say I'm really curious about how the fuck this all works if its not actually magic

-

EVIL BOOK ADDED TO INVENTORY

ok so this stained-glass window place is kind of like the logic interface? it stores all the things we’re wondering about at present..?

-

very howls moving castle-y

also i appreciate the fuck out of these cutscenes

-

Layton: ,,,yes, that was careless of us

boy this guy has cucumber coolness out the wazoo

-

the Trunk eh

-

hint coins are so satisfying to find

-

aww moving is so cute

-

holy fuck

that was one helluvan accident

-

...i really hope they dont count how many tries you do the puzzles

BUT I DID IT

EAT SHIT

-

OH OK

JUST SOME FUCKIN CTHULU SHIT

THATS FINE

-

boy people sure like hiding money in lamps

-

luke!! dont fall into diagon alley!

-

Luke: this is bad professor!! theyre getting closer and closer!!

Layton: ...hmm................

-

thats a magic cloak right there

-

“Isn't this us, Professor?”

“Surely not– my ass is not that flat!”

-

BADGERS

OMENS OF DEATH

-

oh here we go

prologue to the AA part

ooh haven't heard that theme in a while

-

camera: [pans up violently enough to physically ruffle espella’s very short skirt]

-

oh thems drugged eyes

its in all the animes

-

hmmm. so is this like a dual world thing where we exist both in our world and the world of Laborynthia at the same time or

-

ooh english court is pretty

-

dghfgsh i love nick’s voice so much

much better than Reigel

he’s just got the general feel of Phoenix down better, i think

-

a cargo of badgers huh

-

calling it now the badgers are full of jewels

this is straight up The Chipmunk Adventure territory

also i dont blame her for wanting something to cuddle after the shit she’s been through

-

eee he’s doing his pick-up-quirks-from-other-people thing

-

oh hey the save sound is the exact same sound as the original.

also thats interesting– there’s a hint system in place in the court sections as well

-

whoa i wasnt expecting that epic an objection for the first contradiction

also im not sure if i like this remix of nick’s theme. it’s orchestrated but its not quite as crisp as i’d like...

-

your chocolate bar sounds like a mouthful of chips mr smiley

-

johnny just has a pile of bars behind him with one bite taken out of them

-

i love this game but the decision to make the text roll off in this weird, halting way is making it really annoying to read out loud

-

OW

MAYA WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FUCKING PIPE

-

“I kind of like living, thanks”

its ok baby nothing can kill you

-

“in my long, six month career

im crying so many good jokes in this game

-

whoa phoenix’s shock animation is a lot more violent this game XD

-

“This is my work outfit. It gets very hot in the kitchen, you know”

it’ll be hotter when you spill soup all over your exposed midriff and arms, babe.

...also is it really ok for you to be toting a meat cleaver around in court

-

“I may be short, but I’m well-proportioned! And that’s what matters!”

oh maya

-

“What does it matter which way she held it?” well for starters it would be impossible for her to hit you with it if she held it the way she did

“So the defendant attacked the witness holding the pipe backhanded...”

no, that just doesn’t work out, especially with her being so short. she’d have to be above Aldente to strike her that way, and even so it’s still an extremely cumbersome way to do that. You can only really hold a knife backhandedly

-

wait a minute

they’re 

they’re pointing it out 

they’re saying it IS bullshit, they’re-–

s-something that makes no fucking sense, ACTUALLY makes no fucking sense!

its not a plothole! they’re calling it out!

i... i think I'm in love 

-

that poor eel

also phoenix is a sea urchin again teehee

-

fuckin’ knew it 

chipmunk adventure. 

-

ok so wow. this is really amazing. maybe im being extra-complementary cause i just finished SOJ but... wow. everything from the soft colours and gorgeous lighting to the excellent cinematography to the fluid, interesting character sprites, to the pretty orchestral remixes to the fun and engaging writing, to the spectacular cutscenes... its all just so excellent it feels like a friggin gale of fresh air compared to SOJ

and this game came out in 2012. thats four years before SOJ, and just one before DD, and yet the difference is staggering. i don’t know if its a budget thing, or if its the director’s fault, but theres just something about the animation and camera angles thats so much better. everything is so smooth– no character ever jumps from animation to animation– they slide into it naturally 

and the slow pan-up on Aldente as she got cornered was pretty good at conveying a real sense of anxiety 

plus, the fact that we don’t find out who tried to kill her is genuinely unsettling. PLvAA doesn’t need to be bloody or gorey to convey a sense of uneasiness or fear– just that lingering mystery of a fourth person– and where they disappeared to– is enough to give me the shivers. ...although it is 1 am and I'm prone to being nervey

i have only 2 tiny nitpicks, these being the sequencing of the music (cuts off very abruptly rather than fading away) and the odd way the dialogue halts all over the place for no reason

otherwise, sublime first case

ps- still love nick’s new voice. dreamy, if a little stiff 

pps- espella you cant just leave evil books lying around. 

[rattatatouie]

Heres a Thread of Anime Recommendations Because Friends Always Ask:

To start with, these are just my opinions and I haven’t watched every anime in the world. So if you have other recommendations, add them!

BEGINNER ANIMES: Most beginner animes I particularly like are pretty long (100-300 episodes) but I have a few that are not. I genuinely don't remember the first anime I watched, but these are my recommendations

Naruto/ Naruto Shippuden: Naruto and Naruto Shippuden pretty much go together for me. Naruto doesn’t start out the best, a lot of the characters turn you off because they are either really whiny or just all broody which isn’t particularly my cup of tea, but by around episode 20 (the start of the Konoha Crush arc) you are HOOKED. Naruto Shippuden, on the other hand, is good from the start and is (in my opinion) why I still love the series as a whole to this day. Naruto was one of my first anime, so I will always have a special place in my heart for it.

PROS:

Great characters

Excellent character development

Awesome plot 

Lots of action (once you get into it)

Fight/background music is great

Comes in dubbed and subbed 

CONS

Not the best theme songs (not a problem for me in particular but I didn’t want to leave that out)

Fight scenes are pretty long 

Long series in general

Tons of filler episodes

Inconsistencies

Helpful Hint: Look up the filler episodes if you watch this series. It makes the series a lot shorter and saves you from bullshit plots plots that don’t particularly add to the story

Hunter x Hunter (2011): I haven’t finished this series yet and haven’t gotten that far into it, but I really like it so far. The whole plot is interesting and easy to follow and just a wholesome show in general. 

PROS

(as I mentioned earlier) Easy to follow

Great characters

Shorter fight scenes 

Interesting plot 

Currently releasing dubbed and the voice actors aren’t Shit are perfect for the characters

Good background music *cues spanish guitar*

Good fight scenes

CONS

A Relatively long series (not a bad thing but you just have to invest a lot of time into it)

Hard to get hooked (the first arc is slow) 

Constant hiatus 

Chimera Ant arc dragged on for too long

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is genuinely one of the best animes I ever watched. Everything about this show is great and I cant give it enough love. 

Pros

Fights were perfect length

Characters are likeable (even a lot of the villains to be honest)

Good character development

Not an obscene amount of romance (I’m looking at you, Sword Art Online)

Plot is great

Perfect show length

Subbed and dubbed

CONS

The First Episode is Slightly Confusing 

Pokemon: I watched this show when I was a kid, either Naruto or this show was probably my first anime but I’m not sure. It’s a pretty good show but isn’t my favorite of all time. I still think it’s a good start into the anime world, though

PROS

Genuinely funny characters

The pokemon weren’t “boring”– They had personalities of their own and made the show a lot more entertaining at times

Great movies

Antagonists are charismatic

Dubbed and subbed

Nostalgic 

CONS

Plot is pretty basic

Boring at times 

The newer seasons aren’t that good

Fights aren’t that great

Characters weren’t that complex

Overrun (in my personal opinion) 

Quite long

Attack on Titan: I genuinely liked Attack on Titan for a long time before cancerous fans started polluting my feed. I still watch it (I haven’t watched all of season 2 yet, though, oops) and I do really like the show. I just some of the toxic fans.

PROS:

Good plot

Fights aren’t drawn out usually

Great plot

Dubbed and subbed

Still coming out 

Amazing art

Good opening

CONS

Eren (the main character) comes off as an Asshole is angry 90% of the time (which is understandable, but annoying)

Mikasa (the main characters friend) is very whiny 

A lot of the character’s you see all the time are really underdeveloped  

Many fans are toxic

Takes a long time for new Seasons to come out

HONORABLE MENTIONS IN THIS CATEGORY (aka stuff I haven’t watched/ watched a lot of but everyone “raves” about

Dragon Ball Z

One Punch Man 

Assasination Classroom 

One Piece

Madoka Magica

SCI-FI/PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR: I personally haven’t watched a lot of psychological horror/sci-fi even though I want to. This is probably because my life has been consumed with rewatching animes I have been watching other stuff instead. Anyhow, here are my favorites:

Death Note: I love this anime a lot. The plot, the characters, the everything. I haven’t watched it in a couple of years, but is for sure on my top 10 list even still today.

PROS

Great character development

Great plot

Makes the watcher think

Intense

Dubbed and subbed

CONS

Normal Length (about 40 episodes)

Some of the characters are annoying (by some I mean one in particular)

Complex plot (not a con for me but a lot of people prefer easy-to-follow anime)

Dubbed voice actors don’t really go with the characters (also not a problem for me because I usually prefer subbed over dubbed)

First episode doesn’t “hook” you in 

Parasyte: I haven’t watched a lot of this show so I cant particularly criticize it as much as the others just because I haven’t watched the whole thing. But from what I’ve watched, it seems like a decent show. 

Pros: 

Decent length 

Interesting plot

Pretty easy to follow

Good character development

Subbed and dubbed

“Hooks” you in quite easily

Opening is a bop

Cons

I don’t have any huge cons about it so far, all I could really say is that its “gruesome” but then again I haven’t watched a sci-fi/psychological horror one that isn’t like that 

Tokyo Ghoul: Another anime I haven’t finished, but I have read a lot of the manga and do genuinely enjoy the show. It has all of the elements I like in a show and more. I just haven’t watched enough of it because I am already watching 2 anime’s and don’t want to completely flunk out of college.

PROS

Great plot 

Characters are interesting

Easy to follow 

Subbed and dubbed 

Decent length

CONS

Dubbed isn’t the best

First episode was pretty fast paced

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Cowboy Bebop

Steins;Gate

Psycho-Pass

Code Geass

ROMANCE/SLICE OF LIFE ANIME: I feel like these go hand and hand. A lot of these could go under a “fantasy” tab but I honestly haven’t watched a lot of fantasy that weren’t also “romance” or “sci-fi”. This tab is going to show how hopelessly romantic I am, oh my God.

Also, keep in mind most of these will be relatively short (12-24 episodes) just because 

Nijiiro Days: This genuinely is such a funny and great slice-of-life anime. The friendship and the different personalities of the guys in this show is so great. I watched it earlier this year, and it has become one of my favorite slice-of-lifes of all time.

PROS

Funny

Decent length 

Characters are interesting 

Easy to follow

Not the typical “romance” anime (theres not a bunch of unnecessary drama, no unreasonable jealousy, etc)

Wholesome

 CONS

Can feel a bit repetitive at times

There isn’t a lot of “character development”: most of the characters stay the same 

Hanasaku Iroha: I haven’t watched all of this show, but I love it so far. It’s unlike any slice- of life I’ve seen before. Theres not a huge amount of romance in it, it’s mostly about the the relationships the main character develops throughout the show. 

PROS

Funny

Decent characters

Interesting plot

Not a stereotypical “slice of life anime”

Decent length

Great art 

Wholesome

CONS

Subbed only

Isn’t an anime you can binge

Some of the characters are assholes rude to the main character for genuinely no reason other than jealousy

Nana: A great romance anime that leaves you in shambles. It has some great bops in it. It takes everything you thought you knew about romance anime and completely turns it around and makes you wonder “why?”

PROS

Interesting

A lot more realistic than most romance animes

Dubbed and subbed 

Good music

Decent characters and character development

CONS

Can feel repetitive at the beginning

First few episodes aren’t that great

Makes Rethink Everything you Once Thought About Love

A lot of jealousy

Durarara!: I watched this anime early last year and really liked it. I have to admit that I didn’t like the second season as much as the first, but it was all really interesting to me. I didn’t know if this was considered sci-fi or romance, but I decided to put it under this category anyways. 

PROS

 Hooks you in easily

Funny

Action-packed

Characters are interesting 

Has some character development 

CONS

Some episodes are quite boring/uneventful

Second season isn’t that great

Ao Haru Ride: Not my favorite anime of all time, but still deserves to be on the list. It’s genuinely the typical School Romance Anime. I bet a lot of people would like this series, I think I didn’t like it because I went through a breakup right before watching this series. 

PROS

Characters have decent backstories

Art is pretty

Average length

Funny

Cons

Characters can be quite annoying and are pretty “typical” people

So much unnecessary jealousy

Feels drawn out 

Kaichou wa Maid Sama: I walked into this anime expecting not to really like it, and was pleasantly surprised.  I honestly thought it was going to be lolita trash but it was so much more. I love the manga and wished that they made the whole manga into an anime, but, alas, you cant always get what you want.

PROS

Wholesome

Makes you scream because of how cute it is  

Great plot 

Enjoyable

Hilarious

Dubbed and subbed

Not the stereotypical “romantic comedy”

CONS

Not the whole series

Dubbed isn’t great

The main Character can come off as annoying 

Yona of the Dawn: I loved Yona of the Dawn, other than the fact Pierrot didn’t do the whole manga. Because of this, I recommend reading the manga after you finish the 24 episode series, because so much more happens.

PROS

Decent length

Subbed and dubbed 

Great plot 

So much action

 Action sequences don’t take up an entire episode 

Easy to get hooked on

Adorable as a whole 

Great art

CONS

Not all of the dubbed actors fit the characters

Not the whole manga (by “whole” I mean all thats been currently released)

Antagonist has a stupid reason for going after the protagonist (in my opinion)

Ended the series without a great conclusion

Kamisama Kiss: I also wasn’t expecting great things from this, I thought looking at it that it was kind of strange because it’s literally a fox human, but my friend made me watch it, and I was blown away. This series made me cry more times than I care to admit. The whole series as a whole is just magnificent. 

PROS

Great plot

Really sweet

Unique

Warms your heart

Funny

Dubbed and Subbed

Dubbed actors are perfect for the characters

Easy to binge

Although it’s not the whole series, it concludes at a good spot

CONS

First episode doesn’t hook you in

Not the whole series

Snow White with the Red Hair: I watched this series earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I only had a few issues with it as a whole, and they are just minor things. If you are interested in fantasy and romance, you should start with this or Kamisama Kiss.

PROS

Relatively short

Great characters

Excellent art

Warms your heart 

Easy to binge

Dubbed and subbed 

Dubbed voice actors fit the characters perfectly

Easy to binge

CONS

Some of the Episodes aren’t Interesting 

Not the whole series (I recommend reading the manga)

Ends without any real conclusion

Lovely Complex: Lovely Complex has a special place in my heart as the first romantic comedy I watched at age 12. I’ve rewatched it once when I was 14, and let me tell you, if you romantic comedy, this is it. I don’t think I’d like it as much if I rewatched it now, but it still deserves to be on the list because it has a special place in my heart.

PROS

Funny

Really sweet (when you get farther in to the series)

Easy to binge

Relatively short

CONS

Characters can come off as whiny

So much unnecessary drama

Doesn’t “hook” you in per se 

Characters are pretty bland

Toradora!: I wasn’t amazed with Toradora!, I did like it though. Toradora! is just a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy I’d probably watch in middle school. Although it didn’t stand out in my life, I think a lot of people would still like it, and I have to give it credit where credits due.

PROS

Short in length

Easy to binge

Hilarious

Sweet

Dubbed and subbed

CONS

Typical romantic comedy story

Characters aren’t that interesting to me

So much unnecessary drama 

Unreasonable Jealousy 

Your Lie in April: Such a great show. Like genuinely I am amazed how unique and bittersweet this whole show was. I watched this last year on a whim and by the ending I was shocked and crying. 

PROS

Excellent art

Excellent music

Great plot 

Realistic 

Some interesting characters

Hooks you in

CONS

Some characters personalities are kind of bland

Isn’t good to binge (please, trust me, take it slow, or else you’ll contemplate the show for too long)

There are some episodes that are kind of meh if you don’t particularly like music  if you don’t like music, this show is not for you

Kimi ni Todoke: Really a pretty sweet show. I liked that the minor characters and main character a lot more than the main characters love interest. The show, all in all, is pretty good if you’re looking for something basic to watch.

PROS

Easy to follow 

Decent length

Funny

Decent plot

CONS

A few of the characters are bland

Pretty generic

Second season is just a bunch of drama

Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun: I think I watched this pretty soon after Lovely Complex. Decent show, all in all, just a few issues with it. It reminds me a lot of Toradora!. 

PROS

Easy to follow

Average length

Funny

Some interesting characters

CONS

Generic plot 

A lot of unnecessary jealousy 

A lot of drama 

Main character and love interest get annoying at times

Say “I love you”:  This was a decent show. I really liked it when I first watched it, but didn’t really like it the second time. I feel like most romantic animes you can only watch once, then it kind of loses its charm. 

PROS

Easy to follow

Gets straight to the point

Wholesome 

Warms your heart

Most of the girls in the show are really realistic

CONS

Relationship is unrealistic (but we can dream, right?)

Guys in the show are pretty bland

A lot of unnecessary drama

Generic Plot

Silver Spoon: Silver Spoon is a slice-of life anime that I went into with no real expectations. I honestly just chose to watch it because it was the only thing I found interesting on netflix at the time and decided to watch it on a whim. Let me tell you, this is genuinely one of my favorite slice-of-life animes of all time. The characters are great, the plot is great, and I honestly can’t believe it doesn’t get more attention.

PROS

Not that long

Unique

Great plot

Funny

Interesting characters

CONS

Hard to get in to

Takes a while to get hooked

Ouran Highschool Host Club: I didn’t know if I should put this under the romantic comedy section, but it for sure has comedy. This show sounds extremely weird when you read the summary, I know, but trust me, it’s hilarious. I genuinely love this show and it’s characters with all my heart and wish they made more of it.

PROS

Average length

Hilarious

Great characters 

Great plot

Can honestly watch any episode of the series in any order and get the same result (minus the 1st and last 3)

Theme song is a bop

Hooks you in easily

CONS

Not the whole series

Can feel a bit repetitive at times

Not the best conclusion

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Princess Jellyfish

Spice and Wolf

Orange

Fruits Basket

Clannad

Kokoro Connect

Sorry this is so long! I didn’t realize how many animes I thought were decent. I’ll make a separate thread for movies sometime soon so I dont make this any longer. I hope this helped a lot of you guys out!

[dinoblip]

i found guardians of the galaxy vol 2 a bit shit

I saw it a little less than a week ago and I’m still disappointed.

I prefer to think of this post more of an “analysis” than a rant but itll probably be more the latter.

also these are all just opinions, if you liked it thats fine.

(spoilers ahead)

1. the writing

i mean i wasnt expecting it to be a masterpiece, hardly any sequels are, but the humour of the first film was 100% tied to the clever screen writing. 

and here it felt like the writer was hamfistedly trying SO GODDAMN HARD to be funny and it never really seemed to land except in 1 or 2 scenes (the groot button scene and the scene where groot is explaining why he doesnt like hats).

This might just be my dumb sense of humour here, i know plenty of people who did find it funny but so many lines just left me cold or rolling my eyes.

An example is this fruit gag and the set-up is okay. 

One of the first things nebula says in the film that she wants a piece of fruit which she is then denied because it isn’t ripe yet. This is fine, its humorous because of the casual tone of the question and the somewhat overly stern and ridiculous answer, the outright denial perhaps being because gamora doesnt want to be charitable to her sister at all. It works. 

Then it gets reestablished: theyre now fighting people and the fruit is on the ground in the fray and nebula is still a prisoner. Now she asks Drax for the fruit and Drax yells over his gun “no its still not ripe”. This doesnt work quite as well cause it doesnt make quite as much logical sense and its basically the same conversation as before. So its not funny here.

Then the pay-off doesnt work because its too hamfisted. There is a reveal that nebula has managed to escape and now has a gun in one hand and the fruit in the other. That alone would have been a good pay-off because theres a sense of misplaced priorities, maybe simply because she kept getting denied it she went out of her way to bring it with her. I chuckled at that.

But then the script makes her triumphantly take a bite out of it, spit it out dramatically as if its disgusting and then explain “it wasnt ripe”. And they film it as if thats the punchline. It was too hammy to be funny, it seemed like such a waste of an opportunity. 

Like they could have made it more understated like they could have stretched it out a little. Here’s an idea for what they could have done instead. Shes quite a proud character so her taking a bite in triumph fits her character fine but once she takes a bite, she smiles for a bit that sorta slowly turns into a bit of a grimace but continues chewing determinedly, her face a picture of disgust. that could be the end of the scene or it could continue by then having a ravager break the silence to ask if shes alright. she sorta manages to swallow it down but when she next talks her voice could be a bit claggy and constantly sounding like shes on the verge of coughing which would undermine her authority over the situation. 

This is one of the few times they attempt a recurring joke and it doesnt work at all (off the top of my head i cant even remember one other one and the first film had so many). Other examples of failed jokes include pretty much all lines said by Drax who only seems to laugh manically and insult Mantis and nothing else including one which doesnt even work within his character (this one: mantis is watching all the raider funeral fireworks and she says that theyre beautiful and drax is staring at her and says “yes, beautiful” pause “on the inside” ITS ESTABLISHED OVER AND OVER THAT HE IS LITERAL MINDED SO WHY IS HE SAYING THAT). And I would also say that alot of the jokes with Groot aren’t very good either and neither is his character in this film but dont worry I’m gonna justify that in a second. I plan on giving him an entire fucking section.

So not only did the jokes not work but even the normal conversations felt stilted. And so often it almost looked like the actors werent sure of how they were meant to say lines in a way that would sound natural. Peter Quill wasn’t sounding like Peter Quill all of a sudden, Gamora didnt feel like Gamora.

It made for a confusing experience. I kept having to question myself for not laughing at a joke or feeling emotionally invested in what was happening. i ended up asking myself alot “this is a guardians of the galaxy film, why arent i having fun?”

2. the story

I freaking loved where they went with the character development of yandu and nebula (she and gamora are my favs) but it made me realise how mindless the main story is. The only thing i found exciting about the main storyline was yandu’s backstory and then his redemption AND THEN THEY KILLED HIM. SO WHATEVER. NEVERMIND. Just so they could have a tearjerker ending.

anyway back on track, the main storyline, starlord’s was pretty standard and you could see the fact that starlord’s dad is evil from the beginning, mainly cause he’s shown to be too cool and flawless at first which is a big warning sign. It was more just boring than anything else. Though the cg for Ego rematerialising in really disgusting ways was amazing. But thats hardly a substitute really.

It’s just: chris pratt goes to find father -> turns out his dads a planet therefore chris pratt is Special™ -> oh no his dads bad what a shocker and he’s wanting galactic domination -> now they gotta fight and they do.

Everything else (which is alot by the way, there is so much “everything else”) is basically unrelated except yandu’s story but even then he has this mutiny happening on his ship for a bunch of the film which has nothing to do with most things. And then after a bloodbath he ends up flying his own ship again so none of that mattered and any consequences of killing an entire crew (that you would guess would be around for some reason like, i don’t know, maintaining the ship so it can fly places) simply do not exist. And then after that up til the Big Fight, yandu, yandu’s right-hand man (cant remember his name) and rocket scream into the camera for a while while they warp through apparently too many warp points or something. cause it seems like they had to fill up 3 minutes.

Meanwhile Chris Pratt and gamora have romantic tension or something while he tries to come onto her and stuff and she isn’t into it and then her development is her coming round to him? She doesnt have any other story except being attacked by nebula sometimes and not doing anything in the Big Fight for some reason????? She and nebula fall off a ledge which they cling to for most of the fight while mantis does her mind-fuckery til she gets knocked out and then the dudes take care of it.

Rocket’s character development is mainly yandu telling him not to push people away and that he knows what its like to be in rocket’s shoes yadda yadda. so that gives rocket some time to be angsty cause they need to fill there angst quota somewhere.

like i said i did like nebula’s character development and her backstory but it wasnt really relevant either. it did flesh her out as a character tho.

my main issue with the story was there was an emphasis on these character subplots which ususally I’m all for. But if there was a main plotline which actually tied it all together then it would have worked. It was all well themeatically of having all these characters choosing their families over their bloodties. But having all these subplots almost occur in a vaccum away from all the other subplots AND the main storyline, makes for a really slowww film. in which once a scene ends, more often than not, you have to ask yourself “and what was the point of that”.

And also once you start giving fleshed out character development for the sake of fleshed out character development and not for the overall plot, it makes the fact that some character’s weren’t given this treatment all the more apparent.

Like Drax, in the first film he was a very well developed character. But as i said earlier, literally all he does in GotG2 is laugh alot and tell mantis she’s ugly.

and then there’s groot’s character develop- HA NO

3. GROOT

there is no character development for groot because groot has no character.

groot has ceased to exist and a vacuous void has been been put in his place. that is the only explanation i can come up with for the way he is depicted: he died at the end of the last film, his consciousness vacated his body and then when he was being regrown, no consciousness was left to get put into it.

look

i really dont like being pandered to and here marvel was clearly pandering to anyone who thought little stick groot dancing at the end of the first film was adorable. and i did, obviously. who didnt? but when you try to replace character and motivation with cute, it wont work.

he is dancing and when he’s not dancing he’s misunderstanding information or being near useless in battles. All while he has that creepy vacant smile is on his face.

the camera freaking loves this idiot. to the point that the title sequence just has him dancing to mr blue sky while looking straight into the fucking camera, WHILE A WHOLE FIGHT IS HAPPENING AROUND HIM THAT I WOULD MUCH RATHER SEE.

for one thing, its an injustice to mr blue sky. that shits my jam.

for another thing, there is no music playing within the scene, its non-diegetic. so why’s he dancing?????

in the first film it makes sense cause not only cause the music matters to starlord but also cause it is happening in the scene, he’s listening to it on his headphones and it goes away when he takes them off. it also serves for conveying his character. and also the cinematography is great:the sweeping camera moves and visual gags really make you excited for the film to come.

Here, not only does it not make sense for him to be dancing as there’s no music, it also doesnt make sense for him to be dancing in the middle of a battle or dancing for a camera that he knows the presence off (this aint no 4th wall breaker or it shouldnt be). also the cinematography sucks cause hes too fucking small now so if you go for a wide shot you cant see the fucker. and also youd get distracted from his dancing because of all the action thats happening and WE CANT HAVE THAT. And the animation is good (i mean of course its good its fucking marvel) but they went so out of their way to kid-ify him that his arms and legs are really quite small compared to his head. Which would be fine, but with a dance-number, big arm and leg movements feel very small and don’t match the big music. I really felt a disconnect between what i was seeing and the music i was hearing. it didnt fit (while in the first film it so totally did).

the biggest issue i have with it is that it prioritises the wrong character. it prioritises groot when groot doesnt even have a semblence of a story. he does 2 things in the whole film: unlock a cage and carry a bomb for a little bit (because they realised that he wasnt doing anything so they threw him a bone).

then youve got the other characters getting introduced by telling him off for dancing. which is fair enough but it introduces them as sticks in the mud which is a weird way to introduce the main characters of a Fun Quirky Comedy film. 

like i watched this opening and not only got annoyed at how long it felt but i also genuinely thought “oh i guess this is a groot film”. 

I cannot even begin to explain how much could have gone wrong for me to think that.

I kinda hope the 3rd film (which you can bet your ass Marvel is making right now) is better or at least maybe not as rushed cause i did love the first film and it would be a shame for it to get chewed up in the haste to make make as much money off it as possible before it becomes irrelevant.

C’mon James Gunn. you’re better than this. Sometimes.

P.S. the gold people lol

[eli-reviewsthings]

10 Ten movies of 2016

Hey everybody. That hellish year is over, and now we can spend some time looking back at all the shit things were made that we were forced to sit through, and appreciate the great ones!

10. The Lobster: Not gonna lie, I was tempted to not put this and number 9 even on this list, but god. So many bad movies came out I kinda didnt have much else to put on here. Not saying the Lobster is a bad movie, it is not, just. Difficult. This movie was difficult to watch, and probably the second most uncomfortable movie I saw this year. There were a plethora of scenes that were made me squirm in my very uncomfortable seat. The most notable of which is a woman viying for the affection of the main character botches a suicide attempt and sits, dying slowly on the ground screaming while the main character attempts to flirt with a hot sociopath. And thats kinda a lot of the movie; violent and awkward. Much to my surprise, the movie ended up being an amazing look at love and relationships, and actually had some scenes that were genuinely touching, partly because of how cold, sterile, and viscous the rest of the movie was. The biggest problem that I have with this movie however, comes from my frustration with the ending. It goes in line with movies like Birdman, that just dont seem to know how to end. Note to future directors and writers: Ambiguity is a fine tool, but understand that not having a satisfying ending is not always a good thing. 

9. The Neon Demon: Whatever about the actual movie, its NWR (as he’s calling himself nowadays, groan) and I liked it, but. But. I must tell you all about the most stressful day I’ve ever had, and how it made this movie the most nerve racking experience of my life. I was staying at a hotel for anime expo with four other friends, when we were woken up at 4am by three things all happening at once: 1, the fire alarm went off, prompting 2, one of the guys woke up screaming from a nightmare while 3, one of the other guys decided to start screaming FIRE and both took off running down the hall. Later we learned it was a false alarm but I thought we were being murdered. After that I couldn’t sleep so I watched Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared which was disturbing and then the fire alarm went off 4 more times prompting one of the guys to scream every time. The I saw the Neon Demon. And honestly, it was such a stressful experience I have a hard time actually thinking about the movie because all I remember is being on my very last nerve and on the brink of a panic attack.

8. 10 Cloverfield Lane: You spend a lot of time looking at Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s ass and she is the most resourceful protagonist I’ve ever seen. It’s also a Cloverfield sequel which I love and John Goodman is a villain. Literally what more could you want. 

7. Rouge One: One of the best Star Wars films by far, I actually really enjoyed Rouge One, much more than I thought I would. It did a good job developing it’s character over the course of the movie, something Star Wars has literally never done without being either extremely cliched or just plain bad. My only complaints were that a, its still way too easy to just beat Stormtroopers with sticks, though I did appreciate the breaking glass, and b, the final fight was almost impossible to follow who was where and where the enemies were coming from. Besides that, fun action movie with some really solid performances and Alan Turdyk which is all you could want from a sci fi film.

6. The Nice Guys: Listening to Ryan Gosling scream after getting his ass kicked by Russel Crowe was one of the funniest things I got to see this year. Honestly though, this was a wonderful little gem of a movie and I really enjoyed every second of it. Not the best plot, and some kinda lame character development but hey, it was the best example of slapstick humor done well I’ve seen in years. Really, just such a fun film to watch.

5. Sing: I’m really surprised myself to see this movie so high on my list but the more I thought about the movie the more I enjoyed it. I’m a theater guy, I have a degree in theater and I’ve been doing musicals since 5th grade, so a movie about the magic of theater was really lovely to sit through. It did an amazing job of taking an incredibly broad array of music and bringing it together, and then making a white kid basically be a British Weekend, but hey besides that I loved the film. Sure it had tons and tons and tons of flaws but, I’m willing to forgive a lot because films are about enjoyment and sometimes you just have to find a film, acknowledge its not the best, and love it all the same.

4. Magnificent 7: Speaking of films that aren’t the best but I loved, this is easily the best action movie to come out in years. Also, one of the few movies to do a large ensemble cast, give all the characters equal development and, almost, equal screen time and have them all feel unique. Top it off with a diverse cast, some amazing shoot outs and you the perfect recipe for a great western.

3. Deadpool: Just go and watch the title sequence. Thats why I love this movie. Deadpool as a character has a tendency to annoy me but damn Ryan Reynolds did a great job walking that thin line and delivered the best iteration of Deadpool I’ve ever seen. The movie is was the only superhero movie to come out this year, that I saw, that wasn’t the exact same garbage nonsense we’ve seen what feels like a thousand times by now. Yeah, I’m looking at you, you piece of utter shit Civil War. Or, as it should be called: We didn’t have a good fight choreographer and uh Bucky can block a shotgun blast with his hand and somehow Caps team which is basically just a bunch of normal dudes and scarlet witch, and somehow they beat iron mans team cause the writers are lazy and just churning out these pieces of shit at this point, no I’m not just angry about Cap making out with that blonde bitch after Peggy died, fuck you that movie was a complete mess and you know it. That felt good, glad I got that off my chest, lets get back to Deadpool, because it has the camera guy from Cloverfield in it and I love him and this movie was a beautiful breath of fresh air and left me very excited about the next guardians of the galaxy because hopefully it wont fall into the same traps the rest of marvel has.

2. Your Name/ Kimi no na Wa: Mokoto Shinkai could animate himself taking a shit and I’d probably love every second of it. Seriously though, I love his work, and this film was the best he’s done since Voices From a Distant Star. It has heart, gorgeous animation, great characters, and a nice dose of humor that is usually absent in his films. It’s an amazing film and if it doesn’t win best animated film at the oscar’s then they’re racist and they have no taste.

1. Arrival: When me and my mom got into the car after seeing this she started bawling. Just sobbing uncontrollably. Normally when my mom gets emotional its over things I consider dumb or just not worth crying over but this time I understood it. This movie might be one of the more moving things I’ve seen in awhile. Way back in the day, I read a book called My Name is Asher Lev, and the book starts with a quote from Kafka: “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.” This has always been something of my compass for what separates a good thing from a great one. And by god this movie was great. Sure, it is a little cheesy, I’ll be the first to admit that, but I just don’t care. Cheesy or not this film spoke to me in ways a movie hasn’t in too long. I choking back tears so many times during the film and Amy Adams performance was masterful. This is easily the best film I’ve seen this year, and will make my list of best films of all times. I’ve seen almost all of Dennis Villenvue’s films up to Arrival, and his films have a tendency of being very dispassionate and emotionally sterile and it was truly wonderful to see him make a movie that was bursting at the seems with feeling. I could sing the praises of this film forever so I’ll end it there.

So there we have it, 10 films I saw this year and left the theater going, “Man that wasn’t as shitty as some of the other films I saw this year that was nice!” Now theres some films that just didn’t make the cut so heres some honorable mentions:

Finding Dory, Train to Busan, Kubo and the Two Strings, Star Trek Beyond and Girl on the Train.

And now some of the Shittiest movies I had the complete displeasure sitting through: Civil War (huge surprise), Don’t Breathe, Ghostbusters, Jason Bourne, and I’m sure theyre some I’m forgetting cause I don’t want to remember them.

Allin in all there were a lot of films I wanted to see that I didn’t get to, but hopefully this year I can make a list of 10 films that I enjoyed seeing! Let me know what y’all thought and I’ll see you all later with some other list in the coming days!

[modernfablepersonalshowcase]

story structure

So before starting my storyboard again, I really wanted to understand what the structure of my story will be and how stories are structured in general so I can apply this to my story and enhance my moral message more. 

Story is made out of series of events. The sequence of all the events is called a Plot.

Event is a meaningful change in character’s life, the thing that happens during a story that transforms the world from one state into another.

During a story, the main character(protagonist) goes through a series of events, each of them taking him closer to, or farther away from his Goal.

This series of events culminates in Climax — the major, most important event of a story, the moment when protagonist achieves his goal(or, less often, fails to achieve it).

The first act is about protagonist’s normal, regular life being disrupted by some event. This event is called Inciting Incident(IInc).  

Second act is about the series of escalating events(successes and failures) that happen as protagonist struggles to achieve his goal.

The third act is about the final battle and it’s outcome.

I feel overall that the structure so far for a story may be to complicated for the story I want to tell in a minute. This works for a long length story where you can add detail to certain events such as a character having disruption in their life (the incident) to then set out and face events that are successful and failure. I wouldn’t say my character has a goal either (or an end goal anyway) its more just the character exploring Ipswich and walking past buildings, events etc that represent Ipswich the best. Perhaps this could be said to be the goal? Showing Ipswich and its best and worst (success and failure). I wouldn’t say my story has an incident that makes them go on a journey or has a climax where their goal is achieved. They face many challenges on the journey, but then it is met by a positive, a ‘goal’. 

However the character definitely sets out on a journey, taking them on a series of events and buildings in Ipswich that will help the viewer visualise Ipswich how I saw Ipswich when living there. I would definitely say I have a plot though, it has a definite start of the journey (the train station) and a definite conclusion (hippie hill) though it seems like a unconventional plot that doesn't necessarily follow the normal and more detailed story structure this article suggests. 

Story Essence

What is a story? Why is it told? What lies at it’s core?

When the world undergoes change from one state to another we call this process an “Event”.

The point of storytelling is to relay an experience of an event. People listen to stories to gain an experience of a (big and important) event, understand it’s reasons, and learn from it.

Story is a description of an Event (change of value) and the underlying reasons of that change.

So the essence and plot of my animation will be very familiar I think. as mentioned before, it will follow my character as they set out on a ‘journey’ through Ipswich, showing buildings and events of the town, its being told to co-inside with the moral message I want to express which is ‘theres no place like home’ or in my own words ‘Ipswich is a shit hole... but its my shit hole’ I want the moral of everyone thinks their home town is a shit hole, but you always feel at home whenever you go back. 

Climax

Story consists of series of smaller events, leading up to and culminating at Climax — the big and important event, the reason for telling a story. Climax is the moment such Event happens.

When the climax is described in this way, I can definitely see my story having this. Going through Ipswich and facing the good and bad and finally reaching the conclusion of peacefully reaching a hill and looking out at their journey. So whilst this is also just the conclusion, what I understood from this text is that a conclusion has to be more then a blunt ‘the end’ conclusion, it has to be relevant to the text and to bring the viewer understanding, ease and peace of mind when they have finished viewing the animation. 

Protagonist

We experience the story through the eyes of protagonist, he is our avatar into the story world.

Climax is a direct result of a deliberate action by protagonist. Protagonist is a person who had a goal and made a chose to pursue it. Climax is the moment when protagonist achieves(or fails to achieve) his goal.

Climax is a moment where the story’s main Event happens, that makes it the most crucial scene. Story is written about the Event, thus Story = Event = Climax.

Climax is a moment when the protagonist achieves his Goal. That means that if you know the climax — you know the protagonist’s goal, and vice versa. Climax = Goal.

Inciting Incident (IInc) is, by definition, the moment when the character acquires his goal. Usually, it is a problem created by the antagonist, that character will struggle to solve during the whole story, and will finally solve by defeating antagonist at climax. That means that if you know IInc = you know the goal, and you know the goal = you know the climax.

There are 4 crucial elements you need to know about your story:

Setting — the world of a story.

Characters — protagonist, antagonist, others.

Event — what happens, event the story is about.

Contrilling Idea (CI) — the “moral” of a story, philosophy you want to express.

I feel that my story does relate to these 4 elements, but perhaps not in the amount of detail they are suggesting such as my story has a very clear setting and has a clear ‘protagonist/hero’ and the main event of what the story is about is also very obvious as is the contrilling idea with the moral of the story as this is what all fables have to have, The ultimate purpose of a fable is to teach the reader a lesson or moral.  Fables often use satire to get across or point out flaws in man or human experiences.

Researching this definitely felt very familiar to research I had already researched earlier on this blog, which was about Voglers character archetypes and looking through the pdf of his book ‘the writers journey, I also realised this post was very reminiscent of  Voglers ‘the heroes journey’. If we look at the chart at the top of this post vs the one just below, the structures and wording is almost uncanny. 

I think an amazing example of this story structure and voglers hero journey is isle of dogs. I’ve only seen it recently, but I found the whole film very blunt and straight to the point and yet clearly showing what the story was about, the conflict and resolution in an entertaining and gripping way. For example the beginning shows what the story is about and that its set in the future, that all dogs have been banished because of snout fever and that there is no persuading the country to think differently. 

As the story progresses we clearly see each part of voglers journey. The call to adventure, meeting with the mentor, returning with the elixir etc. Even with just the short clip above we can see the events and voglers journey, story structure unfold before our eyes. In particular I chose these isle of dogs clips to show this is because as said before, Wes Anderson is brilliant at directing and you can clearly see part by part of the movie these steps of the journey unfolding as Wes Anderson’s style of directing, I believe, is a lot more direct and blunt compared to a film thats animated the same way EG Kubo and the two strings where the opening is purposely a lot more poetic and ‘beautiful’ in the opening to convey emotion within the viewer because the director has a different style to Wes Anderson. I’m not saying the isle of dogs isn’t a beautifully animated film, but the emotional message and the hero’s journey is conveyed in a much more ‘blunt’ way. 

I believe that the isle of dogs is closely tied to the way a fable is made, in that its got Simple, direct language, which is what I’m wanting to do with my film. Creating a story that is simply understood but is entertaining and keeps the viewers attention whilst teaching them a moral lesson towards the end.