#this drama is an entirely separate storyline

[my-otp-list]

I know only a few people remember Psych Hunter and no one remembers the original novel that Psych Hunter is adapted from (btw it’s called Xiongzhai Biji — or Haunted Houses Handbook). Personally, I even thought that the franchise went dead.

But voila, today, out of freakin’ nowhere, another drama based on Xiongzhai Biji just got aired on Tencent. And this drama even gets to keep the same name as the novel!

Also apparently this time, they promise they will stick more closely to the novel and not anyhow insert a just-for-the-sake-of-cheap-romance female lead *shoot a deadly glare at Psych Hunter*.

Bromance fans, horror fans, supernatural fans, I have no idea if this drama will be good or bad (to be safe, I’d say let’s just keep our expectations not too high), but I really need to shout to y’all about it:

(For anyone keen to know a bit more about Xiongzhai Biji: About the novel | Artist illustrations of the characters)

[thatfeelinwhenyou]

KINDRED — yang jungwon

It’s your final year of highschool, and your only goal is to graduate top of your cohort, as usual. Except as student council president, your advisor can’t seem to leave you alone. What happens when you take Decelis Academy’s top student, their star taekwondo athlete and put them in front of a camera?

“Kindred” a student documentary. Pilot episode airing tonight on TVN 7PM KST.

PAIRING: athlete!jungwon x stucopres!fem!reader

FEATURING: enhypen, yunjin from lesserafim, ryujin and chaeryeong from itzy, chanelle from runext, beomgyu and taehyun from txt, wonyoung from ive, gunwook and gyuvin from zb1 etc.

GENRE: high school au, enemies to lovers, nerd x athlete, forced proximity, slice of life, coming of age, he fell first and harder, fluff, ANGST, teen drama, slow burn ish?

WARNINGS: contains profanities, horrible attempt at humour, urban lingo, probably cringy, kys/kms jokes, depression jokes, sexual innuendos (nothing too inappropriate), depiction of violence, reader can be a little bit annoying at first, family drama, incorrect timestamps/information, no fixed faceclaims, not proofread etc.

STATUS: completed! (01/09/2023 – 18/03/2024)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: please read! story concept is heavily inspired by the kdrama ‘our beloved summer’ other than that the storyline is completely original (or so i assume since i manifested this out from the crevices of my pea brain). i’ll try to keep this one to ard 30 chapters (who am i kidding). chapters with ‘(hw)’ next to them indicates that they are half-written, in case y’all skip over it! as always, the content and depiction of the characters in this smau do not in anyway represent them in real life. also i know how twitter has been rebranded to x, but we’re just gonna continue calling it twitter. lastly, if you do end up enjoying, please do like, comment (love reading your comments btw), and reblog so this can reach!! without further ado, enjoy!

TAGS: #tfwy kindred #tfwy smau

TEASER

profile. one | two | three

episode 1 - ratatouille and the underdogs

episode 2 - one way ticket to university

episode 3 - do you take constructive criticism?

episode 4 - unsolicited but appreciated

episode 5 - the art of benevolence

episode 6 - taekwondo-anti

episode 7 - beating the mentally ill allegations

episode 8 - can’t help it, i’m a libra

episode 9 - operation we-don’t-really-hate-each-other (hw)

episode 10 - she’s an oscar award winning actress

episode 11 - someone like me (hw)

episode 12 - ‘female-lead-realising-the-bad-boy-isnt-actually-that-bad’ arc

episode 13 - 5 foot 9 garfield meets avatar

episode 14 - yn the heterosexual

episode 15 - the ynwon getting closer montage :p

episode 16 - to the moon and back

episode 17 - eat 2 left toes

episode 18 - you are approved! (hw)

episode 19 - asking for a friend

episode 20 - rediscovering won’s ability to love

episode 21 - beomgyu’s 99999 eq

episode 22 - ynwon get together or else >:(

episode 23 - “hate”

episode 24 - not all problems can be solved with a formula

episode 25 - H.O.M.E.W.R.E.C.K.E.R

episode 26 - collecting facebook milfs like pokémons

episode 27 - you were brighter than the moon (hw)

episode 28 - no matter shrimp or whale, you deserve to flap your tail

episode 29 - the garden is full of surprises (hw)

episode 30 - weapon of mass destruction

episode 31 - the name above me (hw)

episode 32 - no offense but she’s a cockblocker

episode 33 - the bane of my existence (hw)

episode 34 - risky risky wiggy wigi this is an emergency

episode 35 - live my life on my terms (hw)

episode 36 - separation anxiety goes crazy

episode 37 - paparizzki

episode 38 - is it too late now to say Sorry?

episode 39 - everything will work out just the way you want it to (hw)

episode 40 (finale) - her entire being is loveable (written)

epilogue - kindred, signing off part 1 | part 2

bonus chapters!

yunjin x heeseung

i can fight

Copyright© 2023 thatfeelinwhenyou All Rights Reserved

[folklauerate]

I’ll say something else while I’m here-one of my biggest issues with Bridgerton s2 was the lack of cohesiveness. Jesus Christ no one is upset with characters making unlikable decisions and if you want a wedding for the sake of drama, Shondaland, have a fucking wedding, but make it earned! And on top of that, the wedding episode had the fucking audacity to be boring as shit! Just all trodding on and operating off of the assumption the viewer would be aghast and would sit through nearly an hour of boring yawn snooze because there were “stakes” and it seemed like the main pair might not get together. Like for fuck’s sake have as much drama as you like but at least make it well written! Instead the wedding episode is a dirge and not because it’s a reflection of some character’s mental state or any seemingly deep reason, no; it’s like they decided there would be a wedding and shrugged when it came to getting the character’s there. It doesn’t count as good writing if you’ve spent the past months/years trying to wrap your head around or write fic around the reasons why x decision by y characters make sense to fill in gaps that shouldn’t be there in the first place and that’s all this fandom has done.

People’s issue with side plots taking up too much time isn’t really that they take up too much time-it’s that none of them follow a set of overarching themes of the season and feed into them or a main storyline in a significant way, giving the illusion to the viewer that they’re completely separate from the romance at the core and therefore taking away from it, as opposed to everything being harmonious.

On top of that, the characterizations are so fucking varied and there’s a large tonal shift between s1 and s2 in terms of the way the Bridgersibs interact with one another. Siblings can fight and be rude and whatever to one another but for them to turn into completely different people out of nowhere is so ??

And on the topic of characterizations-WHERE WAS KATE’S??? Anthony gets 28363938 motivations for why he is the way he is and then is honestly left floundering with all of them, until you’re honestly a bit ?? as to why he can’t marry for love, and then you get Kate who is just… There. Why can’t she marry for love? Why is she hellbent against marrying? Why is she prioritizing her family’s finances and Mary/Edwina above herself? What conversations did she have with her father before he died to make her this way or was she always like this? What were their lives like in India? I could keep going! At least in the book you get some half hearted “I’m too ugly and old to get a match” reason but in the show no one is going to fucking believe Simone Ashley is too ugly or old to get whatever lord she wants 😭✋ and THEN???? To top it all off-Kate and Anthony don’t have a single meaningful discussion around an entire eight episodes!!!!! Not one!!!!!!!!! What fucking growth happens between them fucking and the coma and then their fucking dance to have them propose? If the actors themselves had to invent all these so called secret conversations their characters had in between everything to make things make sense, I really don’t think that’s a hallmark of good writing. They rush that happy ending in there at the end and it feels like they forgot they had to end the fucking show with these two characters together and they just said “fuck it let them kiss” and that’s what we got. WHAT CONVERSATION OF SUBSTANCE DID THEY HAVE. And what fucking argument can you make that it’s okay that it didn’t happen on screen??) NONE!!! It’s TV! It’s a VISUAL FORMAT??? Oh my god.

I told myself I wouldn’t rant about this, just redirect people to walle’s thoughts on this, which is (in her own words) how she sat shiva for the fucking wreck of what Bridgerton s2 is. Walle if you don’t know wrote a thousand cuts and s2 was the nail in the coffin for her. It was so so so bad. It went against such basic principles of storytelling. The writing was so abhorrent. It was insane. And to defend it feels more insane it feels like you’ve been taken hostage by this damn show and you’re writing thinkpieces on tumblr and twitter to make it make sense!

What grates me is that it really could’ve been good. The juice was there. The actors are amazing. The production team is clearly so so dedicated and hard working. IT WAS ALL THERE. Honestly the way the show was marketed in the trailer feels completely different from how it came out and I have to think there was some fuckshit going on behind the scenes given the large tonal shift during/after ep 4 and CVD’s hasty and odd departure.

[what-gs-watching]

"You guys are like a dead married couple on acid."

Y’ALL, I watched Dead Boy Detectives. Which really, should come as no surprise. Because of the whole Neil Gamain thing. But also because that kind of weird is right up my alley.

I have to say, I’m absolutely loving this trend of teen-shows-with-absolutely-wild-shit-happening. This was not a thing when I was younger, and I thoroughly appreciate it. Why did I only have Dawson’s Creek and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and fucking Boy Meets World? Don’t get me wrong, I love all of those but what I really would have benefited from was teen drama with fucked up situations. Gen Z is kind of lucky I guess? (LOL jk except for the entire state of the world, but at least they get good shows…)

Wherein two teenaged ghosts form a detective agency to help solve cases for other ghosts that would otherwise go ignored, while running from death lest they be forced into the afterlife and separated, making friends with a psychic and other humans along the way. 

The thing is, you gotta let go with this show. It gets INCREDIBLY weird and you have to roll with it. Edwin’s death by accidental satanic sacrifice? Sure. Crystal the psychic purposely letting a demon possess her? Okay yeah. A supernatural entity that controls all cats in a small town, ridiculously named the Cat King? Harder to swallow, but I guess. A literal crow that gets turned into a boy who loves astrology? Confusing but, go on.  Incredibly aggressive and vulgar sprites eventually locked up in a jar? Actually, that’s hilarious I’m good with that. 

Truly, it’s absurd. And surprisingly violent. But also, and again no surprise, I was all about the underlying subtext between Edwin, who died in 1916, and his relationship with Charles, who died in 1989. I will always get behind a decades long ‘will they won’t they’ even if it’s between ghosts. Because I’m a fucking sucker for boys maybe being in love. And the entire trope in general. I love love, gang, even if it’s surrounded by horrible things happening. Maybe even more, if it is? I’m not sure what that says about me, but I’m WITH it. 

Also there is a TON going on in this show, they cover an incredible amount in 8 episodes. I always appreciate shows that can carry an overall storyline and smaller ones in a good balance. Monster of the week slash lore smushed together is always so satisfying. 

I’ve seen some reviews talking about the acting being less than stellar but like, they’re supposed to be kids. Everything is dramatic to kids. Who cares? They carried it as best as they could, and there isn’t anything really that stuck out to me as absolutely cringe worthy. Yeah they look older than they’re meant to but again, who cares. Let go, people. 

AND how excited was I to see the actress that played Rowena in Supernatural as the Night Nurse? Absolutely perfect choice. If they get another season I can’t wait to see her relationship with the boys grow. 

Thinking about it, maybe I like teen dramas that are absolutely not grounded in reality because it’s easier to stomach the allegories they want you to, that way. Edwin learns to confront his feelings, both about Charles and with the kid that inadvertently caused his death. Crystal struggles with her memory and the person she used to be versus the person she wants to be. Niko has to figure out how to have friends again after becoming a shut-in. Charles struggles with memories from his life and feeling powerless, choosing to paper a happy face over it instead. Jenny has to confront her distrust of literally everyone and her fear of love (even if that went  horribly wrong). 

I don’t want to be beaten over the head with life lessons (I still haven’t finished Dawson’s Creek, it’s just too much to take sometimes) but I WILL absorb them while characters fight off horrible witches and try to defeat sea monsters. Ya girl clearly needs to be tricked into learning things. Don’t we all? Isn’t it better that way?  

I mean, you’re still getting force fed those slightly saccharine sentiments, for sure, but it’s easier  to swallow.  Gimme a little bit of spice with that sweet, please. 

The point is: this show is adorable. Can a show that’s about ghosts and witches and general supernatural fuckery be adorable? I don’t care, it totally is. And it slightly quenched my unending Good Omens thirst for like, a minute, and that’s obviously incredibly hard to do. 

So, I’m here for it. Gimme more Dead Boys.

[producedbyhan]

The movie club storyline so far (In honor of the SKZFLIX teaser)

So firstly, if you aren't already aware, the Mixtape: On Track, B Me, Mixtape: OH, and The View music videos are all set in an "AU" of sorts, where SKZ are part of a filmmaking club. SKZFLIX, while not being an MV and instead set to be a music drama, appears to also be in this universe. So let's talk about the story so far.

Mixtape: On Track is kind of a film-within-a-film. We know this as there is a scene in B Me of Jisung burning the script for On Track, the film the club made. If we zoom in to the script and flip it so we can read it better, there is also this extra detail:

Meaning that in On Track, Jeongin played the role of a character crushing on/in love with Hyunjin for the film (shown above in the cover art for the song as well). This implies that the whole plot of On Track was part of the film they were making. So rather than club member Hyunjin falling for the female lead actress, being jealous of Minho, and helping the club film footage, it's actually that the character he was playing was doing these things.

Next is B Me, which is kind of told in medias res, where it's shown being recorded by the club at the same time that they are watching a screening of it. Some of the action scenes in this, such as Minho getting hurt in a car accident (and the resulting cast he has in OH, as well as the club's separation) makes me think that these happened before OH, and them watching the screening is after OH (after they potentially reunite).

From this point on it starts getting more ambiguous regarding which scenes are the movie club's real life versus. the characters they're playing in their movies, so I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this.

In Mixtape: OH, we see the movie club post-graduation, and they've all distanced from each other. Jisung passes a graduation certificate to Minho, who snatches it from him - possibly a lingering rift between them due to their car accident part in B Me. Hyunjin is painting now, Jeongin attempts to call him on the phone but is ignored. Minho finds a box of Hyunjin's unclaimed belongings in the club. Jeongin goes to a store to buy the same drink he took from Hyunjin in On Track, indicating him/his character pining/missing Hyunjin. Felix (or rather, Jeongin imagining Felix) intervenes and tries to stop him, but we see Jeongin walking out with it despite that. Changbin is seen in a bus looking through photos and reminisces about when Minho and Jisung were still close. The lyrics in this part kind of tie into this as well. Jisung gets on the bus and misses Changbin getting off it, and starts to have memories of the bus from when they were all still together. We see Chan listening to The View, and a bus stop with "Dreams come true to those who truly want them" (also appears The View) on it, which is our next video. Felix also reads a book about dreams with the same quote. Minho goes to Hyunjin's art room to return his belongings, and writes a note for him while he's there. Felix lights a candle and makes a wish, and then we see his dream/wish of Changbin, Chan, Jisung and himself being friends again. However, the candle in the dream starts being rained on. Hyunjin finds and reads the note, and then we leave on kind of a cliffhanger.

Next, we have The View. There's not too much to get into with this one, but we know from their comments in the making film that it's about the film club making up.

They mention that this is heaven. Could be meant figuratively, or maybe something terrible happened to the club members that we don't know about? Felix is seen making a wish on a candle again, so one other possible interpretation is that this whole MV is a dream/heaven and he's wishing for it to be reality.

Finally, SKZFLIX. I wonder if it's going to be filling in some of the blanks of the story (as we see Minho with wounds again) or something else entirely? They say in the teaser that the film they're making is about a parallel world, and that Felix has to "go back", which is interesting given his role in the previous videos, especially with how he's the only one moving in this shot (0m36s). Minho and Jisung are seen leaning on each other, as well as Hyunjin and Jeongin (again, interesting with what we know so far). Let's look forward to its release on November 3rd!

[gffa]

Oh. Oh no. For the first time in my life pretty much ever I think I'm vaguely interested in a Batman vs Joker comic. This is a humiliating turn of events for me. It's never a good idea to get pre-invested in the potential of a DC comics storyline, that way only ever lies disappointment and "I don't know what I expected" because I should know better. But I can't help it! I took ten years off and came back to a DC that's better than when I left it! I have hope in my heart! And, for all that Gotham War ended with a whimper rather than a bang, I still can see so much potential. Imagine what a real shakeup of the dynamics in the Batfam would look like! I don't believe for a second that they'd do it, but imagine if they actually had Dick in the role of being the family leader, except as Nightwing this time instead of stepping into Batman's boots. He wouldn't want to be the patriarch in the same way Bruce was, but he's about the same age as Bruce was when Bruce adopted him, so imagine the tasty tasty parallels they could do with Dick suddenly in charge of a feral gremlin charge of his own (Damian), some actual support both emotionally and on the streets (Tim and Barbara), a team he actually would be able to call on for help when he needed it (Jason, Steph, Cass, Duke), that in some ways he has it easier than Bruce did, he's not as wrapped up in his own pain in the same way, but in other ways it's harder, he doesn't have Alfred, he has so many moving pieces that are all clashing and aren't necessarily going to listen to him (Steph and Cass and Duke aren't loyal to him the way he was loyal to Bruce)(and then there would be Jason's *waves hands* everything) and it would be out of his control that he'd feel responsible for and it would be a conflict between setting himself up in Bludhaven versus how Gotham still needs the team, not just Bruce being an asshole out there on his own--and god, running into Bruce, always wondering if he approves of Dick's style of leadership versus "You don't get a vote on whether to approve or not." There is SO MUCH that could be done with it! I can't help kind of being fond of the Gotham War set-up, because I like drama and I like Bruce's up and down character arc, and I like a complicated, sharp-edged Bruce who does inexcusable things because his brain is fucked up and lying to him, even when I know it'll disappoint me. But also. I was reading Batman #139 and oh, oh no, oh noooo, I'm interested in "Mindbomb" as a story--as a Joker story!--because it really is the perfect time for it, isn't it? Bruce has been overwhelmed for months now, he's in such a bad place mentally and emotionally that he's letting his fears of loss win and pushing his entire family away, he's doing horrible things to them because he can't handle loving them like he does, so he's separated himself from them, all while he thinks he's in control, but he's not, his brain is absolutely lying to him, and it's hissing in his ear to strip everything that Bruce loves away from himself and so that only Batman is left. Zur-En-Arrh is right there. "I'm in control!" Bruce screams in his own mind, all while Zur just rips through him and so easily takes over. Bruce has no control, he is so, so wrong about all of this, and oh boy the Joker is getting exactly what he wants, isn't he? No more annoying riff raff to get in the way or for Batman to care more about than him. No more Selina, no more kids, no more friends, no more loved ones--just Zur-En-Arrh, the most "pure" Batman in the Joker's eyes, now it's just the two of them. And that's everything Joker has ever wanted. And I don't want to find that to be an interesting extension of everything that led up to and during Gotham War, but crap yeah okay that's kind of a well-timed story when I look at it through that lens. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, I'm going to be disappointed in wherever this goes, but dammit. The story kind of got me.

[zacki0gaming]

The PCC Comic + HOPE Series Are Masterpieces? (Absolutely Not!)

Before I Start

This is going to contain Major Spoilers, Disturbing Topics, Etc (You have been warned).

Greetings everyone! I am continuously providing reviews of both continuations of the episodes and ranting. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thoughts on the comic titled "Pink Corruption Continued" or PCC for short (which is canon btw) and the HOPE series. If I must briefly describe these two, I must say that it felt more like it was "another waste of my fucking time".

The content, more often than not, felt like I was listening to a fanfiction OC fetish that I could typically find on websites, such as Wattpad or Archive Of Our Own.

This is generally insulting in this franchise that it does an incredible successful endeavor to make me feel miserable. The HOPE series felt very empty and the PCC comic NEVER tries to make it feel "canon" and I wasn't even satisfied to the "slightest" on how this entire current 23 page comic went.

In advance of offering my critique, I would like to acknowledge a noteworthy statement that was shared by a YouTuber named "Upper Echelon," which I wholeheartedly concur with: "Human beings can be manipulated through cheap and shallow tricks." Within storytelling, whether it be in a game, novel, or other media format, individuals can be emotionally manipulated and misled by poorly-written narratives. Regrettably, creators may intentionally introduce characters who are supposed to be perceived by the audience as cool and instantly likable. Yet... Objectively speaking, this approach offers characters that are often somewhat forced into the storyline without adequate development or proper characterization. This can be interpreted as an "act of manipulation" towards the audience to forcefully evoke sympathy for these characters. Remember this because this almost happened twice for me with one of ArtofSoup's OC characters when I initially read the PCC comic for the first time that I'm going to talk about later on.

Here is what I'm going to do here before starting reviewing the entire comic:

Firstly, I'm going to explain the drama, controversaries, and the old cancellations to the best of my ability from what I can remember.

Next, about the comic, I'm going to be explaining all of the characters I've seen having ages changed, the canon ships, etc.

Thirdly, I'll be discussing additional screenshots of potential ideas that were supposedly going to be incorporated into the comic that were from discord.

Fourthly, I will be starting reviewing the entire comic by dividing the pages into 4 separate categories: Pages 1 -5 (First), Page 6-9 (Second), Page 10 - 15 (Third), and Page 16-23 (Final).,

Fifthly, I'm going to be actually discussing the "HOPE" series too because why not.

And finally, I'm going to give off my final conclusion for all of this.

Drama, Controversaries, & Old Cancellations

I can confidently say that this entire franchise's downfall is well-deserved in my opinion.

For the sake of brevity, I will succinctly address the Pink Corruption Drama because this will go down in my opinion, the most stupidest and hypocritical drawn-out drama I have ever seen in my life... All of this started because of disgusting pornographic fanart from Brittany's sister, Brea...

It is repulsive, nonsensical, and ironically hypocritical. If you want even further context on this, I will be providing links to videos, etc about the drama and allegations itself. I'm not joking, some of you people don't realize how DEEP this rabbit hole goes...

To clarify, the Pink Corruption Series used to reach its peak back in 2019 to early 2020, specifically talking about the amount of views Season 1, Episode 3 has on Brea's channel. 3.1 million views... (Probably only because the JSAB game was very popular back at this time). However, Brittany's sister, Brea, uploaded several videos discussing canceling the series but, I couldn't remember the main reason why.

This action here was the beginning of "the downfall of the entire fanchise of the Pink Corruption Series". This also most likely caused the drastic decline in viewership for the series, going from receiving millions of views to approximately 10,000 or more views in the subsequent months.

In early 2020, with insights from Bubby Aurora's "Telling My Tale" google document, the "drama," or "great schism" as some call it, began in early 2020. Brittany's sister, Brea, had been writing pornographic fanfiction for the series and constantly showed it to Brittany. This made Brittany so uncomfortable that she felt compelled to cancel the series.

In early 2020, the infamous drama, or "great schism" as some call it, began. The catalyst for this event can be traced back to insights gained from Bubby Aurora's Google document titled "Telling My Tale." At the heart of the conflict was Brittany's sister, Brea, who had been making pornographic fanfiction for the series and continuously showed it to Brittany. This caused significant discomfort for Brittany, leading her to make the difficult decision to cancel the series. (Keep this in open mind later on).

At the time, ArtofSoup and Brittany used to be friends at this time period, but I didn't fully understand what was happening behind the scenes. Because of this friendship, Brittany Robinson gave her permission and consent for ArtofSoup to continue the series in the form of a web-comic. Ecstatically, ArtofSoup began writing their comic, "Pink Corruption Continued." (I'll explain the events surrounding this in more detail after discussing the current topic.)

However, things started to fall apart when Brittany supposedly cut off contact, shit talked ArtofSoup behind their back, and continued to create episodes (that were non-canon, NOT CANON)... Without their consent... This eventually led Brittany Robinson to intentionally create the "Non-Canon Continuation of the Pink Corruption Series" on youtube, "Season 1, Episode 6 to recent". Due to this happening, Brittany Robinson started to blatantly steal ideas from ArtofSoup's work into the non-canon continuation, which infuriated ArtofSoup.

The most important links I can possibly provide for this:

Telling My Tale - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VcQcbdEQwRxJPiWgI8BZFwj8d0GtmjzC0R3ASOSzrls/edit "Telling My Tale" is a document drafted by a user named "Bubby Aurora / Mzoyagon." It recounts both her personal experiences within the fandom and people who she used to be friends with such as the current creator of the series, “ArtOfSoup” (formerly known as (Quadragon, ItzFriday). It also deals with other disturbing and horrible topics she encounters such as grooming, stalking, spying, doxxing, etc. ArtofSoup also traumatized her since she was 12 years old at that time because of it.

Lucas' Lies - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ci_EhXiI6pndj1g-T3Kfy-YgwBd0UVgD was a Google Drive that was established by "ArtOfSoup," formerly known as "Quadragon" and "ItzFriday," the current creator of "The Pink Corruption Series." The contents of the account included inadvertent conversations between Brittany's sister, Brea and ArtOfSoup, and allegedly stole ideas derived from both Brittany and Brea without their consent. Moreover, tons of screenshots and proof about it, showing Brittany Robinson lying behind ArtOfSoup’s back. 

Reasons why LucasTheDubber shouldn't upload on BreaBear Jone's channel - https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sr33b0 This was one I found from a website I've never seen before on the Internet called, "TwitLonger". It was created by a user named, "RPG_Animator_Mi" for reasons of Brittany's sister, Brea just trying to suck in all of the attention and money they can, and using Brittany herself as a vacuum. The list that he created has 7 here, some are possible evidence that Breabear is directing Lucas and some are things that are definitely wrong. However, all of these links in the list aren't going to be accessible to you all.

Pink Corruption Youtube is in DANGER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXP-EGwa63A This Youtube video revolves about two things, Identity impersonation and copyright infringement related issues. This was because of Brittany's sister, Brea, "who is alleged to have posed as her sister, Brittany in order to issue copyright strikes against fan videos of The Pink Corruption series from other Youtubers, whom are in the fanbase". The issue happened with the removal of translated versions, including "Russian", of content from the series. From the video itself, the situation escalated when a favored Youtuber within the community, known as "Heck Island" (whoever remembers this person), faced the termination of their YouTube channel due to repeated copyright strikes. Notably, these strikes were attributed to her sister, Brea alleged to be impersonating Brittany Robinson. The videos that were listed on Heck Island's channel were taken down because, "they were just regular memes videos".

Furthermore, remember what I said on why this is also comes off hypocritical too? Well... I would consider Brittany Robinson, a fucking hypocrite herself because of this. According to the "My Channel Intro 2022!" Video on Brittany Robinson's channel, toward the end of the video, this is where I initially see Brittany comes to "her sister's defense against long-term bullying because of the people harassing her online". Moreoever, she expresses a zero-tolerance policy toward negative commentary regarding her sister, which she will go to lengths of blocking you "if you say something bad about her sister", possibly for the ones about her being a groomer.

Brittany coming to her sister's defense over this shit is absolutely unacceptable. However, the gravity of the situation cannot be understated because IT'S... STILL... FUCKED... UP!!!

I could talk even further about Brittany's hypocrisy. Remember what I said about how the drama originally started back in early 2020 because of Brea shoehorning her Pink Corruption pornographic work into Brittany's face? Well... I have a screenshot of Brittany Robinson, "calling her sister's disgusting Pink Corruption work, "Cute" with a heart emote".

I can prove this further when "Pipythecat205" says in this response on the Pink Corruption discord that "Lucas just doesn't seem to care". Yet, Pipy... Is right... Brittany Robinson doesn't give a shit ALL THIS TIME and still supports her sister from this.

The Drama's Central Query So let me tell you yall something... If Brittany Robinson does actually love and care about sister, actively defends her over online harassment from other people, and has recently developed a tolerance for her sister's contentious disgusting contributions to the "Pink Corruption" series—the catalyst for the drama. What the fuck... was the legitmate point of this all happening in the first place then...???

Final Verdict On The Drama, Controversaries, & The Old Cancellations

Overall, perspectively speaking, Brittany Robinson is a straight-up hypocrite, a fake friend, and perhaps a disgusting individual. She went from being ham-fisting crude pornographic depictions of the Pink Corruption Series by Brea. Into terrible lengths to allegedly steal ideas without that person's consent for her non-canon continuation, false relationships, block people on Youtube (probably the ones, who know about the drama), and for some unknown reason, "likes Brea's content now"...

Her sister wanted to shove porn art of fanfiction TPC crap up to Brittany's face, abusing the copyright system to take down TPC Fan videos from other Youtubers who watched this series, etc.

This entire drama is remarkably atrocious in a tumultuous and regrettable manner. Brittany Robinson and her sister, Brea wanted to deliberately cause their downfall of the entire series in the most disingenuous, hypocritical, and ridiculous way. And they succeeded at it...

I'm finally done talking about this shit... I know there's more to discuss, but I've decided to focus on the most important points here in the entire drama. There were more videos about the drama itself, but unfortunately, the ones I used to watch have been already removed from YouTube.

Character Ages

After finally discussing what I know about the Drama, now we discuss the age changes made by ArtofSoup themselves. In one of the current creator's posts on the canon wiki, I had to scroll down to find the canon ages post. According to the post, it is quite clear that ArtofSoup changed the caretakers' ages.

The Caretakers' ages before being changed: (Pretty much confirmed from Brittany Robinson's old twitter account)

Pyrare - 1000+

Pentellow - 24

Iris - 25

Cube - 19

The Caretakers' ages after being changed from the current creator, ArtofSoup:

Pyrare - 45

Pentellow - 20

Iris - 21

Cube - 16-17

Please keep this in mind, because I’ll bring this up again later to provide more context by combining this with the canon ships, including the other characters as well. Now, here are the other characters whose ages have been changed:

Dub - ? (I don't know why he's age has a question mark because Brittany Robinson confirmed that all monster shapes have longevity for being 1000+ years old)

Ajaceare - 19

George - 22

Challenge - 19 (soon 20)

Teroblast - 22

Sitbnite - 15

It is likely that ArtofSoup knew about the previous ages for the Caretakers and then changed their ages for the continuation. Also, an issue with this is that the is is clear that there is a minor lore change I noticed ArtofSoup made... It was to the species' lore. They removed the monster shapes' ability for longevity, giving them instead a normal lifespan like normal shapes.

The Ships

Now we're gonna talk about the canon ships. According to the canon wiki's posts, I found a screenshot of at some point on Youtube, ArtofSoup (Formerly known as QuadragonX on their channel's name), confirmed at least 6 ships. Let me briefly state my thoughts about these ships.

Dub x Cuda (Barracuda) - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship, also I don't have anything to say about this.

Cintagon x Circumsphere - One of those type of ships that I generally feel so confused on why people shipped these two in the first place because clearly there hasn't been any potential romantic tension between these two.

Cube x Lythorus - I don't ship these two because I see their relationship perfectly working as "childhood best friends".

Ajaceare x George - George has a fucking wife and children since Season 1, Episode 1...

Pentellow x Iris - I'm not going to explain this insufferably generic lovey-dovey couple ship...

Squadril x Marcle - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship but, I ship it nonetheless.

I'm starting to feel like I don't have a huge taste in romance anymore. It's still fine. :/

Anyway, if we combine the age changing and the ships together, ArtofSoup made it feel disconcerting and perhaps disgusting because of two ships on the list. The ones I'm talking about on this list is, Ajaceare x Geroge and Cube x Lythrous ship. Before you all start talking shit, none of this has to do with me being a homophobe or anything, let me please explain why...

Ajaceare x George Ship

Let's first talk about Ajaceare x George ship. Considering that this ship isn't even close to being decently popular, since Season 1, Episode 1, it has been pretty much confirmed that Lythorus was talking with George himself before he turned into a corrupt. He had a "martial family with a wife, son, and a daughter".

We don't know how old Geroge was before the comic came out besides being confirmed 22 by only the current creator, not Brittany herself. In light of this, it seems that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted George to "secretly divorced his family, thereby opting to pursue a romantic relationship with an unattractive cyclops female monster cube". Crazy, right?

Cube x Lythorus Ship

Now we'll talk about Cube x Lythorus ship. I generally feel like they wanted Cube to be shipped with a character like I said about Lythorus's entire characterization in my Season 1, Episode 2 rant "who is so incredibly forgettable in the series that was left in a coffin for about 6 years by now, and a cardboard cutout leader who shows a level of incompetency for not having any reinforcements". But wait... Here's what I found out...

I could pretty much say that Brittany Robinson confirmed the caretakers' ages, including Cube being 19 years on her old twitter account before it was taken down. In all 31 states, a minor is referred to as someone under the age of 18. So basically, I thankfully got a screenshot of Brittany Robinson confirming that Lythrous is actually 20 years old from a QnA on her channel before it was taken down because of the recent short cancellation of her non-canon continuation of the series. We can pretty much agree that Lythorus was this old before the comic and the drama came out.

So theoretically, what I'm trying to say here: ArtofSoup never confirmed Lythrous's age being changed on their canon age post on the wiki. So, if I'm possibly correct on this and ArtofSoup likely knowing about the caretakers' previous ages, they would be changing Cube's age from being 19 to a minor (a 16-17 year old) just for him to be shipped with a fully grown adult (a 20 year old flower) in the canon continuation. If that's the case, then we have a damn problem here guys because it is a 5-4 age gap... Might as well have to give Cube a different main love interest than in the comic...

Sexualities

Also, I found a screenshot of the characters' sexualities for the canon. I don't have a lot to say about this. :/

Final Verdict for the canon ships & sexualities, and characters' ages being changed

None of this has to do with the characters' sexual orientations or anything like that. Overall, what I'm saying about this is that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted characters like George, who has been canonically married with a loving family since Season 1, Episode 1, to be in love with Ajaceare, and changing up the lore for the monster shapes just for them to be get rid of the ability of longevity. Furthermore, ArtofSoup could also potentially involve changing characters' ages into minors so that they can be shipped with fully grown adult characters like I said for Cube and Lythorus. I can't say for sure whether this is the case, because I don't have much evidence to support it. But it's possible based on what I've covered up.

Potential Lore Changes

Despite my previous discussion about Monster Shapes losing their ability to have longevity, I found another screenshot that has happened since 2022. These were possibly future ideas for the canon continuation itself for the current creator to use if that's the case.

So technically, they are 9 here and let me tell you something. Some of these feel uninteresting or pretty weird. Although I do find some that are potentially good for the comic.

The idea of granting the Tree of Life the power to send prophetic dreams to shapes, offering glimpses into their future, is an intriguing concept that adds supernatural abilities to the trees themselves. However, on the other hand, I find this other idea for the Tree of Life to be quite ridiculous. Having the Tree of Life become bored and cause all sorts of mischief for its own entertainment feels completely out of character. I generally don't like the idea of the Tree of Life having potentially negative motives, as it doesn't make sense to me.

Making LGBTQ+ jokes that confuse some other shapes like I don't care about this...

Also, having Heroes such as Cyan, who is canonically a 0 years powerful childlike being start cussing, especially saying the world "fuck" while improperly maturing is just pretty uncomfortable... Imagine seeing Cube hear his hero start cussing while in his sudden mature state... Like, these heroes are so precious to be starting to swear tbh...

Let's FINALLY Discuss This Comic Now!

Front Cover

First off, we get a simple, yet terrible front cover. Just look at this shit...

I can already tell that the current creator is a "straight-up Iris simp" who made Iris "the pretend main lead of him being the only one to fight Dub in this front cover" instead of including the other caretakers and heroes with him. I'm getting sick of tired of these people having this sort of "Iris Simp Fetish", trying to make Iris act as if he's the coolest character and should've been the main protagonist of the series because very clearly he's definitely not in my opinion...

Second, it seemed like the current creator, ArtofSoup implemented some kind of dumb Iris vs. Dub fanart that they found somewhere on the internet for the front cover instead. (I know it's the creator's digital artwork but, come on...)

Anyway, now let's talk about the pages. (I'm not going to be discussing a lot here due to it feeling short because of the length of these pages).

Pages 1-5

On the first page, the story continues after the opening scene of Season 1, Episode 6 left off, as it originally shows Cube losing his grip from his grabbing claw while trying to stop Cyan from searching Ajaceare while he was in his sudden mature form once again.

On page 2, as the trio (Cube, Cintagon, and Iris) continues to plummet to the ground, Iris says that he can't teleport while falling, and even if he could, it likely wouldn't help save him and the others. (Well, I don't understand this part about why Iris can't teleport while falling. Perhaps ArtofSoup was trying to establish a "weakness" here for Iris's teleportation ability, but it feels very vague to me).

While this part was still ongoing, I'm not fucking joking, this was so unexpected that this happened in "THE SECOND PAGE"!! One of ArtofSoup's OC characters named, "Challenge" came out of nowhere alongside Orange because he randomly found this dude?!

On page 3, Orange screamed out Iris's name as he noticed him with Cube and Cintagon still plummeting toward the ground. Challenge quickly came up with a plan with Orange to split up so they could catch more of them. Challenge and Orange then starts zooming down toward the trio to save them.

On page 4, when Challenge grabs Cube's hands, (He does the 200 pound joke like how Lythorus did in Season 1, Episode 2 toward Cube. This reference right now for me is cheap, amateurish, and not funny at all and it's only there to be this perhaps stupid exaggeration for Cube to be called FAT) due to Challenge carrying Cube from his hands. Wow ArtofSoup, I don't think it's the best time to be doing this right about now.

On page 5, this is where the entire pacing goes all over the place... It abruptly skips ahead to Squadril, who is suddenly captured by Dub and Flower Corrupts.(In a confusing turn of events, I was... Being showcased a fucking completely new and seemingly OC character - a random inverted triangle—whom Orange somehow met at some point in page 2. And now, this story then abruptly shifts to Squadril's perspective, where we find him being held captive at Dub's base with no explanation... What...?)

Dub, who was satisfied by Cyan being out of the way for his future plans. (I swear to fucking god... I hate this plot device that this series gave Cyan. Cyan's sudden mature form "ISN'T DOING ANYTHING FOR CYAN'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! IT'S ONLY THERE TO BE A "FRUSTRATING NUISANCE" TOWARD THE OTHER CHARACTERS, ESPECIALLY HIS CARETAKER, CUBE THAT'S IT!!") Oh my god...

BTW, CYAN WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN FOR THE REST OF THE COMIC...

Behind Dub, two corrupted flowers called him by "Boss" show Squadril being held captive all of a sudden. Squadril then tells them to back off as he won't surrender to them. This won't help Squadril as Dub then corrupts him in the process.

Alright, so... not off to a good start for me. The first five pages already have pacing issues, with OC characters randomly appearing and a touch of overused comedic references from the canon episodes that aren't funny at all for the dish. What a disgusting meal...

Pages 6 - 9

On page 6, we see Dub still processing on fixing Squadril while turning him into a corrupt. While fixing him, Dub screamed out George's name, wanting to know where George was. George was seen presumably hiding and (starts to be the only mouthless flower corrupt showing emotion...) Answer me anyone... WHERE THE HELL did this development come from???

On page 7, Cube and Iris were safely landed back down to the ground with the help of Challenge and Orange while Cintagon completely landed onto a tree branch from impact (Hey Orange, why can't you use your telekinesis on Cintagon too???). Iris then says nice work to his hero, Orange. (Lets pause here...)

Major Issue: Iris's Entire Characterization Being Changed

From a post I found out about Page 7 from the current creator, one of the information about this page is that ("Iris has more emotion than just "smug").

I actually have more evidence to go along with this which is from the Halloween Comic, ArtofSoup created on DeviantArt.

From the Halloween comic itself, Iris does a prank on Cube by using pink paint to disguise himself to make Cube think that he got infected. After Cube found out that Iris was pranking him, he didn't find this funny (Iris... Your sense of humor will always fucking suck bro to this day... Get a life dude...). Iris even "actually apologizes to Cube from the prank", which is so weird for me because of his sudden change of character.

You really think that Iris was this kind and friendly enough from the way Brittany portrayed it, who has fucked up demeanors? THINK AGAIN FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP!!!

Overall, this also implies that ArtofSoup also made Iris's personality more apologetic and nicer now. So... takes a sip of cold coke You're telling me that your making Iris's whole characterization and personality more mellow and likable now all of a sudden without even giving him any sort of meaningful character development for him to be acting this way...??? Bruh...

THIS WAS NOT EARNED!!!

Btw, that Halloween short comic just basically shows just like I said, how fucking pathetic Iris's sense of humor is toward the other characters.

Back To The Comic

Back to Page 7, Challenge, Iris, and Orange notice Poly Village unknowingly being destroyed that being up with pink flames coming out of the burned houses from some unknown corrupt. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS COMIC?!?! DID AN FUCKING DRAGON BURN THE ENTIRE VILLAGE DOWN????

On page 8, we get to introduce another OC character.... (where the hell are these characters even coming from, bro...) that comes out of nowhere. He's name is, "Teroblast", an old friend of Challenge and this MF looks like a self-insert of the current creator, ArtofSoup's QuadragonX's profile picture on the wiki into this bitch.

Am I wrong?

Anyway, while Purpex is never to be seen (like we care where she is at this point), Marcle was crying on the ground because of Squadril getting kidnapped. Teroblast was about to comfort her until he noticed Challenge with the others. With an awkward gesture, Challenge acknowledged Teroblast's presence by placing a hand on the back of his head.

On page 9, Teroblast asserts that he has not seen him since his brother's death. This statement concludes with Challenge exclaiming "ENOUGH!", which shocks Teroblast. Ok first off, let's talk about what happened here...

Question Time Imagine this scenario: You unexpectedly run into an old friend you haven't seen in ages. They are delighted to see you, but out of the blue, they start sharing very personal information immediately that you'd rather not discuss in your current situation. I want to generally hear your thoughts about this in the comment section...

I would've punched Teroblast in the face for that...

From what I'm seeing him pages 6-9, Poly Village gets burned and destroyed with no explanation to just let it happen for the sake of the plot's progression, more OC characters coming out of no where that looks like an almost self-insert of the current creator.

Page 10 - 15

On page 10, Challenge believes Teroblast doesn't understand. He explains that he and his unknown brother were very close until Dub abducted him. Judging by the appearance of the unknown shape next to Challenge, it is implied that his brother is Barracuda himself. But, who knows if that's the case...

On page 11, Teroblast expresses sympathy for Challenge, who is grieving the loss of his brother. Challenge weeps, and Teroblast speaks his name.

Here's the main issue with this: remember what I said earlier on, before I started explaining the comic, about how creators may intentionally introduce characters who make the audience instantly love and find them cool, but who are objectively blinded by them not being well-written characters? Reflecting on this comic, I nearly felt sympathy for Challenge and his predicament. However, I just... Still don't care about him because he was very unexpectedly introduced into the story in a very non-linear approach.

Secondly, Teroblast... Why the hell are you bringing up something so personal out of your fucking mouth to piss Challenge off and make him cry afterward, despite already knowing about his brother's death then...? Let's have Teroblast be aware of Challenge's brother's passing without making it a big issue, and then immediately use it as a cheap trick to try and sympathize with Challenge's situation.

On page 12, this is where I die in laughter... After Dub finishes corrupting Squadril, he turns into this very clever and calculated henchman (Hedrilateral, his name)😂😂, as he comes up with this plan for Dub to disguise as a flower. (Lets pause here).

So you're telling me that Squadril's character gets immediately thrown out of the window because I barely fucking know anything about this magician's life, just for him to become a "henchman corrupt for Dub" for god knows how long?! 😂😂

On page 13, Dub showcases a new ability for him to shapeshift into a gray flower, like the one from the video game itself.

On page 14, Dub senses victory drawing closer. He envisions a restored Cubic and a corrupted Iris, believing that Paradise will be his. (Just to keep you guys the heads up, Iris's corrupted counterpart's name is just "Corrupted Iris"...)

On page 15, Iris notices Stibnite and alerts Teroblast, Challenge, and Citren that they have a problem. Teroblast shouts to Stibnite that he has five seconds to leave, or he will take action. However, someone intervenes and advises Teroblast not to do that.

Overall for pages 10-15, the portrayal of Challenge's emotional turmoil as a result of his brother's demise, coupled with Teroblast's subsequent apology, was so poorly-done and was clearly contrived, seemingly inserted from the current creator, ArtofSoup with the intent to elect sympathy for the Challenge's character. Additionally, Squadril's entire characterization gets his ass cheeks smacked out of the window, just for him to become a "fucking henchman corrupt" for Dub...

Pages 16 - 23

On page 16, Stibnite displays his hatred for Sabrepulse and the four caretakers. Before seeing a shield, he immediately senses that something is wrong. He notices the purple dome that was created by Iris and Orange that contains Lycanthropy inside the seal from the Lycanthropy fight since Season 1, Episode 4. Wait...

So basically what's going on here is that, ArtofSoup wanted to insert another OC character coming out of the blue. Furthermore, I thought Dub was going to send "a group of corrupts to save Lycanthropy from what he said in Season 1, Episode 5", not some bat-like creature that randomly finds it out in Poly Forest. Another minor plot change that nobody notices...

On page 17, Stibnite approaches the seal. Inside is Lycanthropy, who appears to be undergoing a purification process within the seal, which is transforming him back into his pure counterpart, Lythorus. Lycanthropy and Lythorus begged anyone to save them until Stibnite saved Lycanthropy's life from purification inside the seal by summoning a bomb attack to explode the seal. (Lets pause here).

About this page, the seal that Iris and Orange created here for Lycanthropy since Season 1, Episode 4 was another way to purify corrupts. It is shown that Lycanthropy is being weakened by the seal's power, proceedingly turning him back into Lythorus, but at a slow rate. However, at the same time, looking back at Lycanthropy's entire character, you could barely give a fuck about him because he has little to nothing to do in this series...

On page 18, Challenge uses some sort of new ability or something (possibly a clairvoyance power, I don't fucking know). Meanwhile, Lycanthropy thanks an embarrassed for Sitbnite for stopping the purification and destroying the shield, though the former thinks the latter overdid it. FINALLY, Pentellow shows up and accidentally snaps a branch, Lythorus notices her, and the situation gets ugly for Pentellow.

WHERE THE FUCK WAS SHE AT???

On page 19, Pentellow gets worried about how she can't win against Lycanthropy. Challenge runs off-screen to search for Sibinite as Cube chases after him, while Tsavorite, who pops out of no where and somehow, starts to use some new ability to sense or call Cube (I don't know). Tsavorite starts saving Pentellow's life from Lycanthropy, as Tsavorite tells Pentellow and Cube to rush off, while Tsavorite and presumably Challenge stop Lythorus.

On page 20, Pentellow tells Cube that they need to go without a second thought, with Cube being clueless about what's going on (how about explaining to him while still running). Lycanthropy was about to launch a spiked ball at Pentellow and Cube when Challenge stopped the attack by using a weapon by using his prismatic ears, then threatening Lycanthropy to stop. (Let's pause here).

What follows here everyone is going to be the most blatant heroic sacrifice I've ever seen...

On page 21, Cube realizes that Challenge got infected by The Pink Corruption via his prismatic ears. Cube informs him, but Challenge already knows, and he says that although "pyramid monster shapes are resistant to The Pink Corruption Virus" Slams hand so hard on computer desk in disbelief WHAAAAAT?!

I THOUGHT THE CARETAKERS WERE THE ONLY ONES THAT WERE GIVEN THIS ABILITY!!! THIS FURRY PYRARE WANNABE MOTHERFUCKER IS NOT A "CARETAKER"!!! GTFO WITH THIS SHIT!!!

With tears in his eyes, Challenge warns Cube that he has been too cautious. He asks Cube to convey his farewell to his father (how the fuck will Cube know anything about your father if you never told him his name to him...) before succumbing to corruption. His final words to Cube were a single, urgent command: "Run!"

On page 22, while Cube, Tsavorite, and Pentellow are running away (and we never learn what happened to Orange, Iris, Gold, and Pyrare), Challenge confronts Lycanthropy, declaring that he won't allow him to harm our virus-stopping team. Lycanthropy responds by saying that he has already achieved victory, but Challenge is confused and asks what he means.

On my gosh, we are at the final stretch of the comic everyone!

On page 23, Teroblast shows up and is forced to watch Challenge being corrupted. Teroblast and Challenge are both shedding tears, with Challenge trying to say he loves him (Don't tell Teroblast that you love him after he bursts out very sudden personal information about your brother's death), before the virus fully controls him. Challenge suddenly becomes infuriated, as he screams in agony turning him into a corrupt.

You know what, I wanna talk about this dude, Challenge...

Challenge's Entire Characterization

Undoubtedly, even though it's been 23 pages, Challenge is the most forced OC character I have encountered over my years in web-based content. He was so forced here in such a highly incongruous manner, that Challenge wants to be incorporated into the comic to play a pseudo-protagonistic role, which is absolute shit. Furthermore, the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted so hard to manipulate my emotions by invoking sympathy towards Challenge situation - specifically about his brother's loss, as it is clearly shown from pages 9-11.

ArtofSoup wanted her OC fanfic fantasy to have Challenge to be the most broken character in the entire fucking series. I will explain why:

It is implied that Challenge has the ability to "see into the future".

Every Pyramid Monster Pyramid like Challenge are resistant to the Pink Corruption (even though, the caretakers only possess this power).

He can fly.

If Challenge had been introduced much later in the story, in a more linear approach, it would have been a lot better.

In all honesty, this wouldn't help right now, because I couldn't care less towards Challenge's selfless heroic act, leading to him becoming a corrupted shape since Page 23. Overall, he is poorly-written, who has been seemingly shoehorned so hard into the story with very little consideration for contextual fluidity or compelling characterization, is contrived, distracting, and is too overpowered.

Other OC Characterers

This also goes along with ArtofSoup's other OC characters such as Teroblast and Sibtinite...

Final Verdict On For The PCC Comic

Cons

Narratively, ArtofSoup wanted to ham-fist shit such as different story's direction, changing characterization without proper development, minor lore & plot changes, etc to make it feel so unappreciated, miserable, and unsatisfying to me. It happened because to make the entire comic feel like it has "OC Fanfiction Fetish Fantasy Syndrome" from the current creator, ArtofSoup. They tried to deceive me by deliberately using "forced sympathy tricks" to desperately make me care about their OC characters in the cheapest way as possible, particularly Challenge and Teroblast (mostly for Challenge) cause IT DEFINITELY SHOWS. The pacing is already all over the place in the story's progression over the span of the preceding 23 pages. The Caretakers and Heroes should've been in a different area in Paradise by now searching for more groups besides wasting their time tagging along with these fucking OC characters (that almost look like self-inserts) for the PAST 23 PAGES!!!

Pros

Despite the amount of issues in comic, story and writing-wise, I would like to acknowledge some commendable elements. For starters, the story's tone achieves a more serious tenor (from the look of the direction), while not trying to be cheesily lighthearted, like from the earlier episodes of the series. Furthermore, character designs such as Teroblast's are aesthetically pleasing, knowing that it is assuming that the canon continuation was going to add more characters with improved designs.

Score

In summarizing my evaluation of the PCC Comic, I assign it a score of 4 out of 10 (Below-average). Starting with your sister shoving that disgusting pornographic fan-art cake in your face for dessert, and ending with the transfer of ownership of your project—with your full consent—to another individual, whom you badmouthed behind their back all this time, all of this led to a lackluster fanmade series derived from the "Pink Corruption Series," specifically the "Hope" series (that I'm going to be talking about next). Finally, giving me an actual pretty bad continuation in the form of a web-comic that "never tried to make it feel canon to begin with", to shove even more cake ONTO MY FUCKING FACE NEXT with OC fanfiction fetish toppings on it.

Hope Series

Now we can finally talk about the "Hope" series... The Hope Series is a discontinued fanmade series, based on the web-series, "The Pink Corruption Series" after Brittany Robinson gave her consent and permission for the Pink Corruption series to ArtofSoup.

Most of all, just like the pilot episode from The Pink Corruption Series, this pilot episode is not good...

So Let's Discuss This Episode

Beginning Part

In this episode, the scene opens on a stormy night, with Cube singing as he sits on a rock. He receives a call from his triangle chest from his brother, "Cubical". (Lets Pause Here).

Do you want to know the main reason why Cube has a brother? It's probably because we feel so bad that Cube doesn't know anything about his biological family. I don't mind Brittany taking away the generic childhood best friend trope, but this doesn't help the fact that I wasn't even invested into Cubical's character.

In a conversation between Cubical and Cube, Cubical asks Cube about his whereabouts and mentions that he has been searching for him. Cube responds by telling Cubical not to look for him and explains that he "needed some fresh air anyway". (It is evident here that Cube has a bit of an attitude here toward his brother).

After hanging up his brother, Cube continued walking until he heard a baby crying. He found Cyan, whose wing was caught on a tree branch. Cube rescued him and decided to take him home.

For some unknown reason, I don't know why Cyan is out here this windy and rainy at this late at night, while getting stuck in a tree...

While Cube was singing to Cyan, Cubical, who had been searching for him, spotted his umbrella on the ground and picked it up, looking worried. He then found Cube and hugged him. Cube stated that Cubical didn't need to search for him. Cubical was startled when he heard Cyan and quickly moved back. Cube explained how he had found Cyan, and Cubical agreed to let Cube take Cyan home. (Cube and Cubical's relationship kind of fucking sucks tbh).

Overall, the beginning part of HOPE episode 1 was pretty boring, with nothing interesting happening. Notwithstanding, the interactions between Cube and Cyan were moderately charming, though not particularly noteworthy, Cube and Cubical's relationship is already somewhat bad and cliched. Moreover, having Cyan randomly come out of no where just to get the rest of the plot going was never explained...

Back To The Episode

Middle Part

Later, while they are eating, Cyan shoots a beam from his chest, acting like a projector, showing Pyrahedron (we fucking "replace" Pyrare with this guy now...), who explains that Cube is now the fourth caretaker of the Tree or Life and that he has one day to reach the tree and seal the monster. (Lets Pause Because I Think I Can Talk About This Right Here).

Major Issue: Cube's Entire Characterization Being Changed

I think it's a good idea to make a comparison from the pilot episode from TPC with the HOPE series.

You can clearly tell from Cube's character and personality in the HOPE series that it's "completely changed" and I find it very disagreeable. From Season 1, Episode 1, Cube was fairly apathetic about his role as one of the Caretakers and his position as the hero, Cyan. This was evident from Cube's dereliction of his duties as a caretaker, which occurred twice in the pilot episode.

The first was forgetting to assist his hero Cyan in sealing away Dub, seeing Cube questions Cyan on why he has to come along as well.

The second one was forgetting to give Cyan his name (most likely by accident).

In a metaphorical sense, Cube's pronounced apathy towards his caretaker responsibilities, evident since the first episode of Season 1, serves as a reflection of his demeanor characterized by timidity and nervousness. Seeing him throughout the series occasionally questions Cyan or the companions, the other caretakers and heroes about why he has to perform these challenging or significant tasks. Nonetheless, despite his reservations, Cube still greatly assumes his role and together with his hero, Cyan, unintentionally semi-completes their mission on sealing Dub (even though it ended in chaos toward the conclusion of that episode).

(This image right here perfectly explains what I'm saying.)

In contrast, in the HOPE series, Cube's persona went from being a shy and somewhat introverted shape, which clearly shows signs of self-doubt and uncertainty about his role as a caretaker at times throughout the TPC series. And turned him into a much more easygoing and composed personality, who has a bit of an attitude toward his brother's overprotective tendencies and doesn't seem to be bothered or anything in the slightest about being chosen in his caretaker's role. Although recognizably simpler, this marked shift in character causes me severe dissatisfaction, as I perceive Cube's character in TPC to be superior...

About the way Cube gets chosen as the 4th Caretaker of the Tree of Life here, he was chosen so damn unexpectedly, after receiving a call from Pyrahedron (I don't know how the fuck did Pyrahedron get Cyan's phone number), without giving any indication as to why he was chosen for this role. Cube never expressed any concerns or questions about this, like how his TPC counterpart legitimately did toward TPC Cyan in the pilot episode. All of this happened because "he fucking "randomly" found Cyan, who inexplicably showed up out of no where to initially be stuck in a tree and gets taken care of by Cube just to get the rest of HOPE's main plot going".

Overall, I already dislike Cube's character here. This fucking disrespects how Cube's entire characterization was established in the TPC series.

Back To The Episode

Gold pops up and interrupts the call, while being happy (Gold's character gets ruined here too...). After Pyrahedron hangs up, Cube says he will go to the Tree of Life. Cubical asks how he is okay with all of this. Cube replies that he wasn't until he saw Gold on the call and realized that he looked similar to Cyan (Are you only giving out the main reason why you were chosen was just because of your fucking appearance looked identical to Cyan here...) He thinks Pyrahedron was serious and decides to head out in the morning.

The next morning, as Cube gets ready to head out, Cubical asks if he's really ready to do this. (OH MY FUCKING GO... You know what, I might as well talk about Cubical here...)

Cubical's Entire Characterization

I don't have a lot to say here so, I will keep it brief. If I have to describe him here, Cubical serves as a "clear replacement for Cube's childhood best friend, Lythorus". Despite being a caring brother to Cube, objectively, his character comes across as goddamn irksome due to his overprotective nature, constantly fretting over Cube's safety throughout the entire pilot episode, like shut up, bro...

Back To The Episode

Btw, despite giving Cube a brother, STILL DON'T HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOW PARENTS!!! WTF!!!

Cubical reminds Cube about his previous encounter with Dub. Cube gets a flashback of Dub shooting a laser beam, presumably toward one of his eyes. Cube reminds his brother that he survived the incident and that he will survive.

So you're telling me that before Cube was chosen, he encountered Dub before and was attacked by him, which we can all agree that Cube gotten "infected", right? So how come CUBE HASN'T TURNED INTO A CORRUPT LET?!

Subsequently, Cube requests that Cubical cease his concerns. While initially agreeing, Cubical persuades him to at least consume a meal before departing with Cyan, which Cube acquiesces to.

An hour later, Cube traverses the terrain clutching Cyan who slumbers soundly. Suddenly, a hazy figure zips past him. He glances back but discerns nothing. Progressing towards a huge pink lake, looking shocked. Unable to wade through the water, he ponders over how to circumvent his predicament.

Ketches approached Cube and asked if he needed help crossing the water to reach the Tree of Life. Cube gratefully accepted and thanked him. Ketches introduced himself and explained that he had helped all the caretakers before Cube as well. He invited Cube to hop aboard.

During their voyage, Cube acquaints himself with Ketches and inquires about the other Caretakers. Ketches identifies them as Iris, Pentellow, and Pyrahedron and clarifies that Iris and Pentellow have been unaccounted for since Cyan's birth. (You know what, looking back on Pyrahedron, I wouldn't mind having different caretaker characters because I could care less about Iris and Pentellow returning here...). However, Cube expresses his hope that their disappearance is unrelated to Dub. Ketches concurs, and they eventually arrive at the Tree of Life.

End Part

After dropping Cube off at the Tree of Life, Ketches expresses his gratitude, while cautioning Cube. He says that it looks like a clear path, but there could be someone clandestinely lurking about. Cube acknowledges Ketches' advice and proceeds towards the Tree of Life.

Before I talk about what happens next, I'm not joking, the rest of this conclusion is more "hilariously bad" than the TPC pilot episode's conclusion. 😂😂😂

Issue: Laughably Bad Conclusion That Ended On The Most Biggest Discontinued Cliffhangers I've Ever Seen In This Entire TPC Universe

Suddenly, a group a flower children showed up (they are fucking corrupts btw, who popped out of fucking no where). One of them "viciously assaults Cube by uppercutting him physically as a corrupt that caused him to disembody his body from his dead flying upward into the air". 😂😂😂 I burst out laughing because of this... How come Cube hasn't even turned into Cubic yet after getting blasted by Dub from his previous encounter with him and now an uppercut (that was so strong by the way) from an infected flower child?!

Cube firmly declares his refusal to engage in combat with children, even those tainted by corruption. (ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THEY ARE CORRUPTS CUBE, DEFEND YOURSELF?! 😂😂😂) However, one of the children warns that, despite their own unwillingness to fight, Cube will still face dire consequences from the flower group. (WHAT?! THEN WHY DID ONE OF YOU LITTLE BRATS START ATTACKING CUBE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT HIM THEN?!)

Following this, one of the child corrupt flowers, pulls out a damn gong out of her ass that causes the sky and the Tree of Life to adopt a pink and black hue. Heli's fleeting appearance is observed, before taking flight. In the ensuing commotion, Dub emerges, and the episode concludes. (JESUS WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?! 😂😂😂)

Final Verdict For HOPE Series

Cons

After laughing so hard after HOPE's pilot episode conclusion, it's time to give my final verdict on this. It is so unappealing and boring than its predecessor, TPC (despite my unfavorable opinion about the latter).

From a narrative standpoint, Episode 1 presents a poorly-written script, replete with subpar pacing, characters such as Cube, who has his personality and characterization disrespectfully changed, minor inconsistencies, and an utterly hilariously bad conclusion that is more worse than the TPC's pilot episode.

Not to mention, upon me discovering a restored video of the Hope series's intro, HOPE's worldbuilding looks like in a nutshell, if The Pink Corruption Series's worldbuilding was overly simplistic and generic that will make you go...

Me: Bro...

And, take all of the elements out of what a JSAB world looks like...

Pros

Episode 1 doesn't have a lot of pros besides character designs being improved (also, Cube's hat looks ugly as shit btw).

Score

My appraisal for the show, taking into account its single episode, would be like the PCC comic, 4 out of 10 (Below-average). The HOPE series, in my perspective, appears to be an unproductive utilization of my time. Going from giving your consent and permission to someone else just to make another typical underwhelming web-series on Youtube that failed to impress me.

Right after, when Brittany Robinson - the show's former creator - discontinued HOPE and instead embarked on the Non-Canon Continuation of the TPC series, this is where her writing skills showed their "true colors" due to how unbelievably bad it was in my opinion. It was because I knew something was up with the writing since the pilot episode that was going to eventually decline later on.

Final conclusion for ALL OF THIS!

So... What's the problem here between these two works? The biggiest main issues between them were the "amount of changes" that felt so insulting to me. It includes narrative shortcomings and quality, poor characterization that were disrespectfully changed or without proper development, ineffective worldbuilding that takes away what a JSAB world actually looks like, and try to perceived manipulative tactics emotionally toward me that were employed from the PCC comic for Challenge and Teroblast haphazardly, that was distracting and unnecessary, etc.

The Entire Pink Corruption Drama is the most pointlessly disingenuous drama I have ever seen in my life from what I've analyzed to the best of my ability. All of this because from the distasteful and objectionable pornographic artwork associated with the TPC series from Brittany's sister, Brea.

If I were to amalgamate both the PCC comic and the HOPE series, my rating would be a modest 3.5 out of 10 (slightly below average). My perception is that ArtofSoup and Brittany Robinson have lost their touch for me regarding the series as a whole. While there is much to criticize, I will refrain from doing so at present. However, I cannot help but feel melancholy because the PCC comic and the HOPE series does "an incredible job to make me feel straight up miserable in my gaming chair" and it shows, it ABSOULTELY SHOWS FOR ME!

Thank you to everyone who read this...

[thestrangestthing89]

I like that the main couples have followed a similar trajectory.

Jopper works well together from the beginning and they have some conflict in the middle. In S2 it was that Joyce was dating Bob and Hopper is clearly jealous. In S3 they aren't on the same page because Hopper is ready to have a normal life and Joyce is grieving. But they are on the same page now at the end of S4 and together. It's implied they will be working together again like they were in the earlier seasons while being a couple. It also seems to be a foregone conclusion that they will be a family and raise their kids together.

Lumax works well together once Lucas tells Max what's been going on in Hawkins with the lab in S2. They have some conflict in S3 with juvenile breakups. They are broken up in season 4 for more serious reasons - because Max is depressed and isolated herself. But they are now on the same page again and it seems like they will be working well together again once Max is awake.

Jancy always worked well together for the the first two seasons. They have some minor conflict in S2 similar to Jopper - Nancy is with Steve and Jonathan doesn't like it. But they are a couple by the end of the season. They have some conflict in S3 and S4 where they aren't on the same page. In S3 it's because they aren't understanding each others perspectives about how to handle their hostile workplace. In S4 it's because Jonathan is holding back about why he didn't apply to college. But the college thing isn't solely about Nancy, it's about him feeling obligated to his family. And Jonathan and Nancy have always worked well together so them working through this too makes sense. I think it's possible they may breakup for a bit and go to separate colleges but I think they will still talk to each other about their families and Hawkins during this time. Once the drama starts building up at the end of the season it makes sense that they would work well together again like always. Continuing to follow the same trajectory as the other couples.

Byler is separated in the beginning because of Will's disappearance but Mike's entire storyline revolves around him and it's clear he cares about Will. They work well together throughout S2. There is conflict in S3 and Will calls Mike out for not acting like himself. In S4 Mike acknowledges Will was right and they spend the whole season problem solving their situation about how to get back to El and Hawkins together. It seems very likely that with the drama early on in the season that they will be working well together again since they always do. It makes sense that Mike would be protective of Will again since we have seen this established in S1 and S2. And also a bit in S3 - Mike notices something is wrong with Will at the movie theater and by the end of the season when they know something is wrong Mike listens to Will and helps to create a plan.

So the endgame couples follow a pattern. Work as a team -> conflict -> reunite/resolve conflict -> work as a team.

Then there is Mileven and Stancy.

Mileven meets and fights a lot through S1. They are also separated twice through the season - once when Mike leaves her on the side of the road when Will's fake body is found, and once when El runs off after she hurts Lucas and Mike yells at her. They also end up separated at the end of S1 and only reunite at the end of S2. They don't work well together in S1. There is a lot of fighting and their teamwork isn't as a couple (they aren't a couple at this point, but they also aren't a duo). It involves Lucas and Dustin too. They don't interact much in season one and even though El comes back at the end to help, it's not her and Mike teaming up to save Will. They both help Will separately. In fact, Mike is supposed to wait at the Byers house while El goes off to close the gate. But Mike goes off to help Will in a way that he saw earlier in the season - he knows the fire in the tunnels will help draw out the MF from Will because he watched it happen. It had nothing to do with something El told him. They didn't discuss this. S3 we see more conflict. They are together in the beginning and it causes conflict with the rest of the group - their friends and Hopper are not happy about this relationship. They breakup and are apart for a lot of the season. When they reunite to problem solve it's again, not as a duo but with the whole group. They are sort of a couple at the end? I guess. El decides they are back together so... In S4 we see more conflict. Their relationship isn't doing great. They breakup again (yes, the From El letter was her dumping his ass) and she runs off back to the lab. They are separated most of the season while Mike spends his season working as A TEAM (a thing that was stated directly) with Will. They reunite and still aren't discussing their problems but aren't even speaking at the end of the season.

They aren't following the pattern.

Stancy doesn't either. They are together in S1 but it's clear Nancy has reservations about it. They aren't on the same page. It results in her neglecting Barb and Barb disappearing. Steve doesn't care about this which results in Nancy finding someone who does - Jonathan. Steve and Nancy are a couple at the end of the season but it feels forced and random considering everything that happened this season. They are together in S2 but are still having problems and breakup (yes, the alley conversation was a breakup). Nancy spends all season with Jonathan and her and Steve are officially over at the end. They don't interact one-on-one in S3 and the teamwork here has to do with the whole group.

S4 has them working together, but again it's with the whole group. Nancy and Steve don't exactly work well together. Nancy holds back from him at first about her suspicious about the Creels because he's dismissed her before. Nancy works better with Robin and pairs herself off with her a couple times. When the group comes up with the plan at the end it's a bad plan. Max dies, the town is destroyed and multiple people die, Vecna isn't killed. They aren't a great team.

They don't followed the pattern either.

Mike/El and Nancy/Steve don't ever work one-on-one together the way the other couples do. Jopper, Jancy, Lumax, and Byler are always paired off together. Even though we haven't seen Lumax and Byler alone exactly, this is more because of their ages. They still manage to have moments where they are clearly communicating and working together though. In S2, Byler had their crazy together conversation and Mike is able to find a way to help Will with his possession because he listened to Will. So he's able to communicate to Joyce and Hopper what's wrong and help him. Lucas talks to Max about her depression and helps come up with a plan to help her with Kate Bush.

Both Byler and Lumax have scenes where they are talking through their problems. Since they are older now, I think we may see scenes next season where they are off together without a group around. I think Mike is tied into the story with Henry and he will be helping Will like he always has since the start of the series. And Lucas is very supportive and protective of Max and will want to keep helping her through everything. It makes sense narratively for Mike to be with Will next season and for Lucas to be with Max.

But I cannot think of any reason why Mike would need to suddenly out of nowhere learn to work as a team with El. Are they supposed to magically learn to communicate overnight? Will they suddenly be on the same page, again out of nowhere? They have never been a team. They have always worked separately and this benefits the group. They don't support each other the way they need to be supported.

Same with Steve and Nancy. They get people killed whenever they are together because they aren't on the same page. Mike and El killed Max too, in the same way Steve and Nancy killed Barb. Nancy and Mike weren't being honest and it resulted in the loss of a friend. Steve was not ok with the plan at the end of the season and tried to stop it at first. He gave in pretty quickly. He doesn't challenge her when she is wrong and he dismisses her feelings often (with regard to Barb and when she is upset about the Vecna vision). They are not a team and never have been.

Mileven and Stancy don't follow any clear path. They are a mess. Whereas all the other couples have a trajectory that from a writing standpoint, makes a lot of sense. You can understand the formula they are following and it doesn't feel like it's a roller coaster ride that is all over the place. Which is why I'm always exhausted by both of those relationships. The constant back and forth and breaking up and getting back together and endless conflict is so tiring to watch. If they wanted them to be endgame they would have written them to be a team. But instead they stress how they don't work as a team. And it stands out in comparison to the couples that do work well together.

[tobi-smp]

are the gorillaz those guys with the animated music videos that have lore n stuff ??

context: [Link]

yeah they are !! I've been aware of them basically since I've had an internet connection, even if I wasn't always are of it, though I've been putting off getting Into them for basically as long specifically because I Did know there was a story but didn't know how to get into it

I watched a video essay on it the other day, and Specifically on the fact that their most ambitious story telling venture nearly killed the entire band. or more accurately Did kill it until the band reformed with sort of a soft reboot. the video is Really good, you can watch it here uwu [Link]

everything about it scratched the Sorting part of my brain, the nearly lost media the websites preserved through 15 year old youtube videos and walk throughs, the ambitious plotline left hanging by canon and yet never forgotten, the Everything

so ! I've started a project, that ended up turning into Two In One

first I wanted to collect All gorillaz media and put it roughly in order. all the music, all of the shorts, all of the commercials, specials, live appearances, books, interviews, podcasts, radio dramas, Etc Etc Etc that I could physically find on youtube into One Playlist. so if someone asks "how do find out more about gorillaz" it's all there baby

my Second task, which came to me as I was sorting and came across some True masterpieces from the fandom (such as three and half hours of a fandub audio book with in character voice acting, or finishing the animation for scrapped music videos that existed in the form of canon animatics).

and that's seeing how far I could get into crafting a cohesive and satisfying narrative for "plastic beach" (the aforementioned storyline that almost killed the series but fucked big time), Including An Ending, while still keeping it roughly in line with canon. and it turns out the answer to that is Pretty Damn Far.

I'm still working on that Huge Massive playlist, which is understandable since I started three days ago. (though it can be found here for anyone that wants to poke through it while it's under renovations [Link])

But I decided to make Another playlist that's Just all of the songs and all of the shorts for phases 1-3 in one place. Because it's less intimidating for new fans (that don't hyperfix instantly like me jfkladsjklfads), for Binging Purposes (which you wanna just let all the videos autoplay without having to skip around a 5 episode pirate drama), And because it's Finished jklfdasjklfads

so ! If you wanna watch all of the first half of gorillas, including a Finished Plastic Beach, Click here [Link]

I'll probably make another playlist like that for phase 4-present once I finish the main playlist ! I like the idea of keeping them separate both because it just feels right with the sort of soft reboot that happened between them, And so that I can justify shoving the recent songs that Do reference the plastic beach story line into phase 1-3 playlist without having to break the continuity of the 4-7 playlist, Like This

I'm Almost Certainly gonna make another, Shorter, announcement once all of the playlists are Done. but ! I'm happy to get the chance to do it now too fjksldaljkfsad

@sunlitmcgee

[literali1110]

Let's talk Rookie season finales

So The Rookie has done two types of finales. Seasons 1, 4, and 5 have finales where the plots are completely new and are not connected to anything else that happened in the season. While the season 2 and 3 finales concluded storylines that hadn't been introduced from the beginning of the season. Regardless of whether it's a new plot or not, the storylines generally all interconnect and have the whole team working on the same overall case.

In general, I prefer the finales that are connected to the rest of the season because it really feels like a satisfying conclusion to something that was being built towards the entire year.

Season 1 is kind of an exception because there wasn't really a big bad or anything that season. So I'm okay with that finale having a separate plot, and of course the Chenford content in that episode was amazing.

The Season 2 finale did not really have Chenford so it's not my favorite finale, but it's probably the best-done finale, since they were building to it literally from the first episode of season 2.

The season 3 finale was really well done imo. Even with Lucy's UC plot separate, everything ended up connecting in the end and of course we got some good chenford moments.

I feel like season 4 was the outlier where we not only had a completely separate storyline but we also had an A plot and a B plot that did not actually intersect. And the way it was edited together was so weird in my opinion. It's probably my favorite Chenford content in a finale, but definitely not my favorite finale overall.

The season 5 finale was good in the sense that there was really one cohesive storyline, but for me I feel like it could have been more powerful if they had built up to this storyline throughout the season. The first almost 10 minutes were just on Celina and Aaron and were very gory. At times I felt like I was watching a medical drama. The concept was cool and of course the Chenford fight scene (and high/forehead kiss!) was amazing but it was very action-driven and not so character driven.

Also - I'm not saying I wanted someone to die but the whole episode felt very high stakes and intense with no payoff. I think it would be super bad if Aaron died similarly to Jackson. They could have killed Grey which would have had a huge impact, especially after he said "I can't lose another one..." Again, I'm glad that they didn't, but the whole episode just didn't really lead to anything...

I am excited, however, for the new big bad because I know the actor from Orphan Black. And I thought it was cool that they did connect the case all the way back to S1. I sincerely hope we are done with Elijah and they do a better job with this guy and perhaps set something up in S6 similar to S2!

[talkingnerd]

Highlights from Aka Akasaka interview with ANN

What inspired the original idea of “reincarnated as your favorite idol's child”?

Aka Akasaka: During my debate with my assistant about ways to create manga, we were discussing ways to create a story based on “strong desire.” At that time, one of the assistants and I talked about wanting to be reincarnated as an idol's child. That is a famous joke in Japan, often tweeted as a set piece when news of an idol's marriage breaks. I wrote the idea down in my book of story ideas. A while later, I started to hear more and more grumbles and complaints about the entertainment industry through the live-action version of Kaguya-sama and new streamer friends of mine. I thought this was the right time to create a story about the entertainment industry, and I realized that I could utilize the idea I had back then.

How much of the story's overall plot did you have in mind when you started drawing the first chapter?

Aka Akasaka: For me, the plots of the first act and the final act were a set. Then I pondered what kind of events I wanted to add in between. I had the impression that Japanese entertainment manga in Japan often used dramas, movies, plays, variety shows, etc. as themes. Today, however, the entertainment industry has changed dramatically. Talents [entertainers who frequently appear on TV in Japan] can no longer ignore the internet, YouTube has become super popular, movies are watched with subtitles, plays are increasingly based on anime and manga, and there has been an instance of a suicide stemming from a reality show. Considering all those facts, I then decided to take a contemporary subject, something that is happening in the real world of Japanese entertainment today. That was the first concept.

To what extent do you (Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari) exchange ideas when developing the manga's plot?

Aka Akasaka: Mengo-sensei has made a hit with Scum's Wish, which isn't based on an existing story or a separate writer's script. She is capable of writing interesting manga without me. When I am stuck on a story, I often consult with Mengo-sensei. I go out to dinner with the editor and Mengo-sensei. We call these “prep meetings,” but we mainly just shoot the breeze. Basically, think of it as me having the flow of the story in my mind, and whenever I get stuck, I consult with someone.

How does working on Oshi no Ko compare to your previous manga?

Aka Akasaka: Fundamentally, I believe myself to be a writer in the vein of Oshi no Ko. The comedy style in Kaguya-sama is just a particular formula that originated from the editorial department's request. So, for me, that series is something made from that particular formula. However, I have also included Kaguya-sama-style comedy in the Oshi no Ko series to make it easier to read.

What is your process for designing new characters? Were there ever any disagreements on how a character should look?

Aka Akasaka: For the main characters, I draw a rough sketch and send it to a lady in charge of storyboards. However, at times Mengo-sensei draws an entire character even without me providing the finer details in writing. Sometimes, the process is more interactive, like I became fond of the character and increase the frequency with which they appear. I like that style of character creation. If there is a problem with the character design, we discuss it and change it. However, it was only once that we actually made a change. That was when I modeled a character off a real person, and the design looked too much like the person in question. Oshi no Ko uses pieces of real-life stories in its plots, but it is not a documentary, and it definitely does not intend to attack real people. I adapt events that could happen with the trends and rules of the current entertainment industry in the storylines. This work is fiction.

What kind of research did you do on the entertainment industries depicted in this manga?

Aka Akasaka: The lines of coverage of research for Oshi no Ko are very extensive. We go around hearing real stories and personal estimations from top talents, underground idols, people who work at TV stations, real producers, managers, editors of gossip magazines, YouTubers, scriptwriters, and many others. What is revealed in this process is a great deal about power balance and logic, and there are quite a few instances of dissatisfaction, like “A is taking B lightly, B is taking C lightly, and C is taking A lightly,” that are chalked up to specific circumstances and rules. Sometimes, I think that if they work with this understanding, the talents and the people around them can work without stress. I have heard that the entertainment industry in the U.S. and Japan are completely different. In the Japanese entertainment industry today, there is no union for talent and writers, there are no guarantees, auditions are disregarded in casting, opportunities are given based on the balance of power between companies, and basically, you can't go against the office manager…those sorts of things. And they continue to happen. If you, American readers, can enjoy reading Oshi no Ko with the knowledge of this unique Japanese situation, you may deepen your understanding of this story.

What inspired you to portray the idol world in such a dark and dramatic way for a fictional work?

Aka Akasaka: There was an instance of a cast member being attacked by a fan who saw a picture of the first news of a movie release. When that happened, the person came across as very tough, but after we became friends, they confessed that they were badly hurt emotionally. When I found that out, I realized that talents hide their true colors for the sake of their works and for their fans who are supporting them. With the spread of the internet, we live in a society where fans' voices are heard directly. I want people to know how young talents are being hurt, exploited, and suffering. I think that this work also asks the question of how people should deal with and treat those talents. I guess it is correct to say that when I wrote about reality, it naturally became darker.

full interview: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2023-05-10/how-accurate-is-oshi-no-ko-about-the-japanese-entertainment-industry-an-interview-with-aka-akasaka/.197795

[juneviews]

axelle judges non bl shows > The Jungle

summary: The Jungle are a group of good-looking men that meet regularly in the secret bar Rendezvous owned by the mysterious bartender Hunter. When certain special women approach them, their whole self-built image shatters.

where to watch: youtube

grade: 7/10

pros:

the cast is awesome!

the acting was good from everyone, though the ones who impressed me the most were my already faves off, pat, nanon, mild & lookjun, who especially slayed considering it was her first main role! they didn't have to go that hard for this show lol

the aesthetics of this show are beautiful, be it the lighting, locations and especially the outfits! each girl's wardrobe was incredibly gorgeous!

cons:

GIRLLLLLLLLLLL. the writing!!! this is one of the worst writings from gmmtv, like... ever bruh! let's analyse everything that's wrong with it:

this show is some of the worst marketing failure ever. they really done advertised a silly 6-stories romcom like a dark, mysterious murder drama bruh!!! so when the viewers started watching the show, obviously we were not gonna like it & feel like it's super surface-level & dumb, bc they had built up our expectations for a completely different show. if this show has been advertised to be in the same vain as the three gentlebros for example, we would've have accepted its three gentlebros writing. but the issue is that we expected something on the level of ps: I hate you & we didn't get anything near that.

focusing on each story one after the other impacted everything badly in this show. first of all, it makes it so every ship (except pineaugust bc they got the most screentime) looks rushed AS HELL, especially the earlier ones like lee & mook, so the romance that we were supposed to feel? isn't here babes. secondly, bc each story is so separated, the link between them feels close to non-existent and the friendship between the jungle guys feel stick thin. MOREOVER!!! since each story is so separate, once a ship get together we barely ever see them on the show again, and the later characters like nathee, hack & pine, whose stories only start by ep 8 feel non-existent during the first part of the show! you literally cannot win with this way of doing the show lol. ALSO!!! bc each story is separate, every viewer had their favorite and the one they don't care about, which means that some entire eps were super boring & people got mad some ships got better development & screentime than others.

they made their female characters look so fucking dumb & useless, oh my lord. honestly it's even more insulting considering the same team created some of the most interesting & complex female characters ever in ps: I hate you, like... makes me wonder what they were on for this. only august is written with layers & an interesting storyline, and florence is alright since she flips the usual conventions of the male lead pursuing the female lead relentlessly on its head.

the male characters aren't much better, there's so many cringy parts where they try to look cool & be defenders of women but it doesn't work at all when they've been established as players who don't respect women. btw they look pathetic bc we are TOLD that they are players but never SHOWN so they have no credibility, also I love the boys & they're all good looking or whatever but idk they weren't emanating this cool, badass energy the showrunners wanted us to feel lol.

leemook's story gave me nothing. it was the most disappointing bc it was the first so that's when I realized my expectations of a gritty series wouldn't happen, but even then not only is their story basic but there's nothing to it, it's so basic & forgettable.

the nanonpunpun story was alright, imo naanfah was probably the most interesting male character in the show (he's black from not me but in a different font lmao), but their story was rushed & didn't have a satisfying conclusion at all. also they didn't really have much chemistry compared to nanonmild imo. lastly, bc their story is so early in the show but contains what was set up as the center of the show, kaewta's murder... once it's done & we know the truth we're just left like... alright there's 8 eps left, what's even the point lol. their story should've been done differently & solved at the end imo.

the plot twist of nanon playing twins... could've been good if it was actually a plot twist??? bc the viewer is aware there's two nanon characters it just fell so flat, the reveal to punpun's character seems so ridiculous & straight out of a low-tier lakorn from 50 years ago bc the viewer is not surprised one bit bruh.

hack's character is so icky & terrible. not only is he INTRODUCED into the show using his power imbalance to fuck a student's mother, but then he has sex with irin while she's blackout drunk & thinks he's pine, which is... r*pe obviously. but then he keeps playing these games & he's just fucking terrible & icky and made me feel so gross while watching this, which is such wasted potential since he actually had really great chemistry with lookjun. but yeah throw his whole character in the trash!

nathee & florence's story is so rushed & underdeveloped, which is kinda sad bc they had good chemistry & also were very fun together. but also tbh florence's insistance on having sex with nathee when he said no 500 times is literally coercion babes, if florence was a man doing this to a girl we wouldn't find it cute.

also please for the love of god luke I'm rooting for you, but why did you have to growl like a werewolf everything you wanted to look hot & angry 😭 this man is so unserious as an actor, wishing him luck in getting better lmao

as for the augustpine storyline, imo it should've started and ended the show. the "past" should've been at the beginning of the show so that 1) we immediately get context of what brought the jungle guys together and 2) we actually FEEL the 10 years wait that pine had to feel on the show for august to come back. it would've given so much more weight to the show imo.

would I rewatch it: only the offpat parts

This was in my top 5 shows I was the most looking forward to watch this year, and goddamn did it disappoint all of my expectations except for offpat being one of the best ships ever. I would not recommend this show except for the pineaugust storyline, honestly don't bother.

[namjhyun]

DRAMA REVIEW | MOVING (2023)

In a time when we are suffering from an over-saturation of content and less than mediocre stories, particularly related to people with superpowers, South Korea has released MOVING and proved there's still hope for the genre.

Like its tittle the story is in constant move, not only pushing forward but going back to different timelines to give us context o our main characters and how the things happening in present time are a direct consequence to the past. Technically, MOVING is perfect. One of the strongest points is definitely the editing and this can be seen in the way the story jumps from one year to another but you never lose track of what's happening nor leaves you confused. There are gaps to fill but with other episodes that will give you answers. The score complements the actions and emotions of the characters to perfection.

The performances are top notch and it's not surprise considering this drama is stacked. If you have been watching korean dramas or films for a while, you will recognize even the most random character or one-episode-cameo it's performed by an award winning actor or actress. These people have a reputation for a reason and they deliver in every scene, with a look, a touch, a smile or a punch that will push you through a wall. For some characters in the drama literally speaking.

Zo In Sung hasn't starred in a drama since Dear My Friends (2016) and I am so glad this is his return to the tv format. In MOVING he delivered a nuance, charming and badass performance that in the hands of another would have fell flat. His character's entire existence it's what pushes most of the story forward: a person used as a weapon to kill but all he ever wanted was to live. The big mystery of the drama it's to find out what was his fate after he got separated from those he loves.

Ryoo Seung Ryong remains one of the most compelling actors of his generation, giving us the incredible story of a good man lost in life until he found his purpose and redemption. His storyline, full of gore and violence, was actually a tender love story about how far a man will go to protect his family. Marvelous.

Han Hyo Joo's character could have easily fallen into the Smurfette principle but no. She's an equal to the men who love her and those that want to kill her, with a very strong motivation to keep herself on the top of the game. This character's loneliness comes through every scene she's in, bottling everything up in order to be strong for her family but you can tell she's waiting for a chance to be free and, most importantly, for her son to be able to live freely.

Ko Yoon Jung, Lee Jeong Ha and Kim Do Hoon are really promising actors, particularly considering they hold their own while performance with so many household names. I think Kim Do Hoon and Kim Sun Kyun probably gave one of the most heartbreaking yet beautiful stories in the drama.

Like I mentioned before every single actor in this drama brought their A+ game face but I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention Kim Hee Won, Cha Tae Hyun, Ryoo Seung Bum, Park Hee Soon, Yang Dong Geun, Jo Bok Rae, Park Kwang Jae, Kim Joong He and, of course, Kwak Sun Young. She in particular was SPECTACULAR.

None of these characters are one-dimensional, they are not defined by the label society wants to put on them. They are all joined together by the experiences, hardships, love, motivations and ambitions they share. At the end of the day, related or not by blood, they are a family. Even the so-called enemies.

MOVING it's absolutely worthy of the hype that surrounds it through all social media and news outlets putting in the category of one of 2023 best tv shows. I only regret I didn't have the time to watch it sooner so I could have add it to mine.

[negrowhat]

What did you think of GAP overall? I am planning to watch to lend it viewing numbers if nothing else, but from what I’ve followed a lot of the plot seems likely to irritate me. Curious what you liked and didn’t like about it.

Hey Shan! Thanks for asking for my thoughts! GAP is definitely raking in the numbers so don't feel obligated to watch it if you think you won't like it! I'll put a "keep reading" because this post got long.

Overall I really liked GAP but more so for the characters than the plot. I liked BeckyFreen's chemistry as Sam and Mon. I loved that Sam's friend group became Mon's support group. I love that Sam's friends didn't like automatically flock to Sam's side in everything, especially when they knew their friend was wrong. I love how hard Sam's friends fought for their friends happiness. I loved the hotel wives, they were super refreshing and I wanted more of them. I also loved Sam's big sister, she was a true hero for Sam.

I love how devoted Mon was to Sam. One interaction with Sam shaped Mon's whole future. She went to the same Uni as Sam and worked hard to land a job at her company. I love that despite Mon idolizing Sam she was clearly a free thinker and didn't have troubles speaking her mind. Mon is a fiery and bright character. I love how tough Sam seemed to be to protect herself. I love how she turned into complete putty and a babbling mess when it came to Mon. For the most part I really enjoyed both characters separately and together.

For the most part, their relationship was sweet and loving despite Sam literally having a fiance the entire series. She did make it clear that she was NOT in love with Kirk to Mon from the beginning and even found the strength to break up with him when she and Mon got really serious. I think their love scenes were really well done too. They were sexy and tasteful. Also their non-sexual intimacy was lovely to watch too. They were so sweet.

I don't like that Sam was so quick to always jump to conclusions and lash out at Mon. She did that A LOT. She made Mon cry a lot with her unnecessarily harsh words and overreactions. But I did like that Sam always came groveling back. She was not to proud to literally beg for forgiveness.

I think my biggest issue with the series is the actual plot and the pacing and what we were denied. I think they had too much going on. Like there was the whole thing with Sam's company struggling to do well and Mon working towards her goal which we were getting a lot of in the first half of the series and then was just totally erased in the second half. I get that she got fired and then quit but damn what happened to her company? Also the whole part with Kirk being in cahoots with Ms. Nita. I feel like that was so anti-climactic. Never saw her again after they met and I felt like she could've been such a fun antagonist.

I also hate that there was this whole conflict with granny at the beginning of the series and at the end but nowhere in between. Granny was gone from the plot for like 6 eps and then they piled all the drama with her on at the end. It felt so messy and rushed. I hate that we were given this mean, bitchy, manipulative, and hateful granny for the entire series until the very last ep where she miraculously had a change of heart and suddenly wanted Sam to be happy with Mon after forcing this arranged marriage with Kirk the whole series. It felt fake. I don't like when series do that.

ALSO WE WERE ABSOLUTELY PLAYED ON TEEYUKI. If they would've focused on one issue to drive the plot then they wouldn't have had to sacrifice the side couples. I think one side couple completely dropped out and TeeYuki's entire storyline was cut. I really liked the tidbits we got to see but we got played and I'm mad. I think TeeYuki could've been epic.

They were trying to fit too much into the series. The company drama, Kirk's collusion with someone Sam doesn't like, Mon struggling with being good enough for Mon, the arranged marriage, and the manipulative granny. It was too much.

GAP was my first GL and I really liked more of it than hated but if it was focused on just one thing that was fleshed out completely then it would've been better.

[mcl38]

f1 drivers as thai curry ingredients

charles: the meat. the protagonist. the meat gets the storyline, the character arc, and you choose the type of meat you get - i feel like charles is what you make of him, with him you get to pick your own meal

carlos: honestly i could go for some metaphor but i can't, i have to make the joke, i'm forced to make the joke. i'll be predictable - he's chili. providing excitement despite mostly operating in the background, his career is a slow buildup of spice from yellow to orange to red on the hot scale. does best with gallons of water

max: ginger. i feel like this is obvious. the ginger gives a lot of spice to the curry, and you can say it’s integral to the dish, but once in a while you find a piece of ginger and mistake it for a potato and it’s OH GOD; terrible - you have to learn how to approach max before you can like him. manage your expectations and you start appreciating his presence

checo: potatoes. expecting every race to be good without checo is like expecting a curry to fill you up without carbs. sometimes when the front of the pack is lacklustre you just gotta rely on a sexy checo perez recovery race

lewis: the curry (powder). duh. it’s a strong flavour and some people find it overpowering, as if it dominates the sauce too much, but it literally defines the dish. the goat of curry is curry. what else is there to say

george: ok stay with me on this one but george is rice. why? because the merit and importance of the rice in the narrative of the curry doesn't actually have anything to do with what rice contributes to the taste of the sauce - it's more about the way rice interacts with the curry instead. likewise, george's significance in f1 has little to do with his presence on track (hard to find casual watchers who can name more than 10 results of his in his entire f1 career), but the conversation around him has made him one of f1s big players for years now, a centerpiece of f1 talk

lando: cinnamon! fun, sweet, spicy, you wouldn’t think it fits in a curry but it actually goes so well. it’s not necessarily that important to the story of the curry, and some people don’t really like cinnamon, but i can’t understand them. cinnamon’s great

daniel: onion! savoury, flavourful, slightly abrasive but unique - goes great in basically any curry, always a fun time. bit of a mouthful on its own but the soft flavour of the cooked curry onion is nearly unrecognisable from the taste of the real, raw onion, so despite its attempts to steal the show it actually doesn’t stick out too much

fernando: fish sauce. fish sauce is a controversial flavour - many people don't get along with it, and it definitely has the potential to be overpowering if in too big of a quantity. that said, it's absolutely integral to the very essence of the sauce. it adds enough drama to counteract the sweetness of some of the other ingredients

esteban: long beans, baby. not only because he is tall (obvious joke there), but because the long bean is a bit of a chameleon - also known as the asparagus bean, the pea bean, or snake bean, the way it is perceived varies wildly depending on the context it is placed in. also, by nature, a bean pole conceals and protects its own insides; not only is esteban reserved in his temperament, but often his driving requires a push (a heap of pressure or an impossible task) in order for him to shine

valtteri: the coconut milk. a balancing force. understated, sweet, collaborative. gets shaken up by the people wanting to use him (gotta remember to shake the can otherwise the milk separates), but he still pulls through calm and uniform

guanyu: kale. newcomer and slightly american vibes, but it actually blends in quite seamlessly with the rest of the curry. you don't immediately associate it with this particular dish or, vice versa, associate the dish with it, but nothing about it indicates that it might be an unfiting addition

pierre: bamboo shoots. plain in appearance but with a funky crispness to them, if in the right place at the right time they're the perfect little texture kick to make a race interesting. don't expect it to flavour the curry in a major way, but sometimes u just need to add some white shit (pierre in the AT overalls) from a can (the red bull driver academy) so you can chomp chomp chomp.

yuki: peanuts! small and fun, they pack both flavour and crunch in a peanut-sized punch. an odd choice in some curries but a perfect fit in others, yuki isn't the most consistent but he sure shines bright in his occasional moments of glory

magnussen: kaffir lime leaf. kaffir leaves are inedible so by default you can't expect them to be the bulk of the meal, but they sure can add to the flavour, and when you see a kaffir leaf you just know that curry's done right. you know you're not getting any of this pay driver insipid tasteless bullshit, you're getting good old fashioned proper thai curry f1 racing. bitter and unpredictable if bitten but does its job splendidly when left alone

mick: lemongrass. often confused or conflated with hugely more popular similarly named lemon - if you go into it expecting the taste of lemon then lemongrass will disappoint you, but that's not to say that it has no merits. light and fresh-tasting, lemongrass may not do the heavylifting in the curry but it's just the right condiment to counteract the weight of the other ingredients

seb: bell peppers. a classic. a staple. not the main character of the show but can't imagine a curry without them. available in red and green:)

lance: i’m giving lance cumin for two reasons - one, it’s a spice that doesn’t draw attention to itself and is basically invisible but the curry sauce very much owes its taste to it, very “i do all my talk on track”. but also, i feel like lance would laugh at the word “cumin” so i’m assigning it to him for his own enjoyment

alex: baby corn. full disclosure here i’m being extremely biased because i just love baby corn. baby corn goes off tbh it’s SO good every time i find it in curry and it’s so underrated. too many curries forego it and it’s actually a crime - i don’t want to have to switch to stir fry just to get the baby corn, but for a year i had to, because christian horner decided no baby corn for us:/ fuck you christian

nicholas: palm sugar - sweet and inoffensive. not only is this a very literal choice because i'm convinced nicholas's blood is 50% nutella, but palm sugar usually acts as a buffer (read: backmarker) in curries to balance out the more powerful or stringent taste of the other spices. a little goes a long way, because it absorbs the oils of some of the spicier ingredients and thickens the sauce, but if it's actually noticeable in the curry then that means something's probably gone wrong. likewise, latifi's name tends to appear in the commentators' mouths only in the most insane of races

[legion1227]

72 Shows Watched in 2023: Ranked!

72. Titans (Season 4)- 2/5.

As someone who genuinely enjoyed the first two seasons, the fall-off was immensely disappointing. Season 3 was disappointing, but I'm more infuriated with season 4. I did not like the setup or payoff with Trigon, Brother Blood, and any other antagonists this season, or Superboy's character arc. A disappointing, dull slog the entire way through.

71. The Witcher (Season 3)- 2.5/5

I thought the third season started fine. Henry Cavill as Geralt will always be iconic. The rest of the cast, characters like Yennefer, Ciri, and Jaskier are compelling when onscreen but the others feel unmemorable. Episode 5, which focused on Geralt and Yen in the ballroom, was possibly the best episode of the season. But the last three episodes were forgettable enough to bring down my overall enjoyment. I shudder at how Liam Hemsworth will be next season or just how the next season will be. Period.

70. Bupkis- 2.5/5.

Bupkis is a comedy on Peacock, starring Pete Davidson as himself in a slightly more extreme version of his life. It also stars Edie Falco, notable for playing Carmella in The Sopranos and Jackie in Nurse Jackie, as his mother, and Joe Pesci, of Goodfellas and Home Alone fame, as his grandfather. The star power is grand but the jokes are light. There are some engaging stories told from episode to episode, but as a comedy, it could strive to be better. Reel back on your celebrity guests and write stronger jokes for the second season please, Pete.

69. Bel-Air- (Season 2) 3/5

Also on Peacock, the dramatized version of the classic, beloved sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In comparison to season 1, I think it's a bit of a step-down. The actors chosen to portray the iconic characters and add a new spin on them are finely picked and perform solid performances. But the storylines for each character are...eh. Like, Carlton struggles with an addiction to coke for the season and it doesn't feel the most engaging. The character dynamics are enough to elevate it slightly, but it's still just an okay season.

68. Kaleidoscope- 3/5

Kaleidoscope is a Netflix show that spans over 24 years, where a crew of bandits try to steal billions. Part of the appeal of the show is that you can watch the show in any order you want. It's a neat gimmick to tell a linear story, but the story being told could be better. Giancarlo Esposito, known as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, does well in a role that separates him from the villainous roles he's taken over the past decade. Every other actor and character could stand to be better. I'd like to see another show try this gimmick again, but...in a more intriguing manner.

67. Secret Invasion- 3/5

Personally, I don't find the show to be as horrendous as others attest, but it is easily the weakest MCU show to grace the small screen. Wondering which character may or may not be human or a Skrull was fun, the fight scenes are okay, and Samuel L Jackson is always a delight as Nick Fury. But the political drama they strived for here is uninspired. And the show downright looks ugly at times in comparison to far prettier shows like WandaVision or Loki. Rest in Peace to Maria Hill and Talos for having to die in such a mid show.

66. Bookie- 3/5

Bookie is an HBO Max original starring stand up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco as a veteran sports bookie trying to live his life and keep track of the various clients he has that make sports bets in Los Angeles. The premise itself holds some promise, and the characters are mostly likable. Its comedy is similar to Maniscalco's stand-up but still feels light on the laughter. Maniscalco and Omar Dorsey's characters carry the show enough to cross a threshold into becoming okay. It reminds me a little of Bupkis, but better.

65. Willow- 3/5

Willow is a continuation of the movie of the same name released back in 1988. The actor who played the titular Willow over 30+ years ago reprised his role once more as a powerful sorcerer who encounters a young group of heroes who embark on a dangerous quest. While the movie reminded me of The Neverending Story with its tone, the show does the same, more or less. The action scenes and cast were perfectly okay, sorta carrying itself on a cheesy, endearing vibe that you either rock with or don't. What's most egregious is how the show was wiped away Disney+ canceled and wiped from their platform, making it impossible to view via legal means.

64. Camp Lazlo- 3/5

Camp Lazlo was a show that used to air on Cartoon Network from 2005 to 2008. I used to watch it as a child then and rewatched it in its entirety for the first time in years. The series follows anthropomorphic spider monkey Lazlo and his bunkmates albino rhino Clam and elephant Raj as they look for fun times at Camp Kidney. It's a goofy, fine TV show that I think kids nowadays would get a kick out of, but there are better shows from that time to indulge in. The characters teeter from being likable to annoying from episode to episode, the character design is fine, and the comedy is lowbrow. It's not offensive in any way, but I'm a little disappointed since I liked this show a lot more as a kid than now. For me, it doesn't hold up too much.

63. The Last Kingdom (Seasons 3-5) 3/5

For 5 seasons, The Last Kingdom followed Uhtred of Bamburgh in the Medieval Age fighting mighty European armies and leading armies himself as a powerful warrior who's grown into his own. The first two seasons, viewed in the tail-end of 2022, were possibly the best seasons. Alexander Dreymon's performance as Uhtred was fine throughout, but not as gripping as I would hope. The same principle applies to every character introduced in the past three seasons after season two. A fine story is told throughout, but the best aspect has to be the action scenes. As disinterest took over towards the final season, I take solace that the movie that followed, Seven Kings Must Die, was really good and a great sendoff to Uhtred.

62. Dave (Season 3)- 3/5

Maybe Dave is the slightly better version of Bupkis than Bookie was. Dave stars David Burd, also known as Lil Dicky, as an extreme version of himself looking to boost his rap career. The latest season was a slight step down from season 2. It's always relied on gross-out humor, but it was too much this season. This season was a huge mixed bag with some good episodes and some that were average. Certain characters could use more fleshing out, like his friends, Elz, or Mike. More of that instead of flexing the cameos like Drake or Rick Ross would bring the show up a bit more. Though, to be fair, Brad Pitt in his episode was pretty entertaining.

61. Ahsoka- 3/5

Former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano seeks to prevent the return of the Empire as she investigates and traverses the galaxy. I wanted to like this more than I did. I loved Ahsoka in the Clone Wars show and enjoyed Rosario's performance in the handful of episodes she appeared in Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett. And while Rosario is decent as Ahsoka here, the rest of the cast fails to thrill me. Ahsoka seems like the kind of show that someone would enjoy if you watched the animated show Star Wars: Rebels because it would help make you care more about the characters. Unfortunately, I did not do that so it doesn't help. All I will really remember from this show is the appearances of Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker.

60. Black Mirror (Season 6)- 3/5

The anthology show pushed out 5 episodes this season, and about 3 of them were good. Loch Henry was an uninteresting episode until the final ten minutes, and Mazey Day was the worst episode of the bunch easily. However, the performances and premises of the other three episodes were enough to bring the show as high as it did for me. If you're looking for a random standalone episode that's either entertainingly perplexing, pleasantly thought-provoking, or thrillingly cataclysmic, check out the episodes Joan is Awful, Demon 79, and Beyond the Sea.

59. Doom Patrol (Season 4)- 3/5

Originally a DC Universe Original before becoming an HBO Max original, Doom Patrol was a spinoff of the Titans show about an unlikely group of superheroes with depressing backstories saving the world. This final season really cemented itself that this particular brand of bizarreness, while engaging, was not necessarily for me. The first season was always my favorite, with Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody being an excellent foil to the group, but the proceeding seasons never met the same level of love for me as the first. The characters are likable, their arcs are well written, and there's a beautiful sendoff to the cast, but it has a unique sense of weirdness that, while I do admire it, doesn't resonate with me as much as it might for others.

58. AEW All Acess- 3.5/5

The second biggest professional wrestling promotion in America, AEW, showcased a reality show that gave viewers a glimpse into the backstage antics and lives of wrestlers. I'm not big on reality shows, but I love AEW and the wrestlers who work for the company as well. It was an intriguing peak behind the curtain but to an extent for a reality show such as this. Certain elements of drama feel corny as it's somewhat scripted for a "reality" show, there's only so much you can show. And with AEW battling real dramatic bits, like CM Punk fighting people backstage, it feels underwhelming what they show instead. Though, it's understandable they can't show or talk about those instances due to legal issues. Regardless, AEW All Access if a fine product for AEW and reality tv show fans, if there's a correlation.

57. Righteous Gemstones (Season 3)- 3.5/5

The HBO Max show follows the Gemstone family, a bunch of Christian televangelists running their church in the wake of the patriarch Eli's wife's death. The third and latest season is as consistent as the first two seasons. The performances and chemistry of the children, Judy, Kelvin, and Jesse, are a joy to watch. The entire cast is fun with their obscene humor leading to chuckle-inducing jokes. The Gemstones have heart that makes them so endearing.

56. Dexter (Seasons 5-7)

In a long-lasting endeavor to enjoy the original seasons before finally getting around to New Blood, the misadventures of blood-splatter analyst Dexter Morgan bled into 2023. The best seasons, 1-4, were watched in 2022, and this year, 5-7 were enjoyed. The fifth season was a step down from the first four, but the introduction of the character Lumen and Dexter's handling of his grief after losing someone dear to him made for still compelling television. The seventh season was on par with the fifth thanks to a compelling character in Isaak and Maria Laguerta's role. The sixth season is what brings the show down, as the antagonists are underwhelming against the many that came before.

55. Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide 3.5/5

Ned's Declassified was another kid's show I watched growing up that aired three seasons from 2004 to 2007. The show followed middle schooler Ned Bigby and his best friends Moze and Cookie as they tried navigating through middle school, looking to survive. I'm unsure what most kids are like these days, but I'd like to think that this would be something that kids approaching middle school would enjoy. The show became more interesting as seasons went on, the romance aspects were somewhat intriguing, and the wacky supporting characters were mostly likable. The tips and lessons could still apply to kids looking for a guide today. Kids might get a kick out of this today, but should probably stay away from the weird podcast about the show. They really don't need to hear stories about Moze's actor blowing all the other guys on set or whatever.

54. Star Wars: Visions (Season 2)- 3.5/5

The animated anthology series provided a new season with new stories to tell. The animation across the board is gorgeous. Story-wise, the most engaging episodes involve a former Sith and the one where a bunch of people are stuck in a pit they built for the empire. Not every episode is as interesting as those two, but there are neat ideas explored in each episode that one might not see in a star wars show or movie anytime soon.

53. Only Murders In The Building (Seasons 1-2)- 3.5/5

As season three of the acclaimed murder mystery dramedy released this year, I found the time to check out the first two seasons before the year ended. Watching Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin work off one another and try to figure out back to back murders is highly entertaining as their chemistry is off the charts. The special guest stars like Tina Fey or Nathan Lane have helped bring the show as high as it is and it should be commended.

52. Narcos (Seasons 1-2)- 3.5/5

The first two seasons that detail the rise and fall of notorious crime lord Pablo Escobar are as good as they are due in part to the powerful performance by Wagner Moura as the drug kingpin. There were some solid performances throughout the show, but no one gripped me as much as him. (Bit of a spoiler coming here...) When Pablo died at the end of season two, there was little incentive to watch season 3 for me. Others may find this more enjoyable than me, but I recognize that this is a solid, well-made show.

51. Ted Lasso (Seasons 1-3)- 3.5/5

Ted Lasso was a great show for the first two seasons before the quality of season 3 brought it down. Some character arcs with characters like Keely didn't satisfy me. The show's decision to make the episodes an hour long brought the quality down immensely. If season three didn't make such boneheaded choices in its last season, the feel-good comedy would rank higher for me.

50. South Park (Season 26)- 3.5/5

the raunchy, foul-mouthed sitcom still can push out gems, but I miss the old seasons when they were much longer. The latest season pushed out 6 episodes, and while none were bad, if there were at least a few more episodes, the latest season would've been almost great. Two standout episodes for me involve the conspiracy around Japanese toilets, and the episode written by AI like Chat GPT. Nothing as hilarious as previous iconic episodes, but the topics and creativity was sublime still.

49. Disenchantment (Season 5)- 3.5/5

Created by Matt Groening, the same genius mind behind the Simpsons and Futurama, Disenchantment is an animated fantasy series that takes place in a medieval land, following the main characters of Princess Tiabeanie, her elf companion Elfo, and demon buddy Luci. The fifth season was its last, bidding farewell to the zany cast and its colorful multitude of a supporting cast. An underrated show that deserves viewing.

48. Scrubs (Seasons 5-8)- 3.5/5

The classic sitcom about medical students turned doctors peaked with its first 5 seasons. The stories, premises, and character development would not reach the same heights in seasons 6 to 8. Some jokes are funny but don't land as hard for me as they did upon my first viewing as a preteen. Rest in Peace to Sam Lloyd, who played possibly the funniest character on the show and my favorite, Ted. He encapsulated a depressing lawyer swimmingly.

47. Bobobo-bobo-bobo- 3.5/5

Bobobo-bobo-bobo was like a fever dream that I never stopped thinking about as a kid. The bizarre anime about the man Bobobo-bobo-bobo fighting enemies with his nose hairs used to air on Cartoon Network during its Toonami block back in the 2000s. After obtaining a blu-ray disc some time ago, I finally got to watching. It's rapid pace with jokes, insane characters, and wild visual gags wormed it's way into my heart. If I were to let bias get in the way, this would be in my top ten. But not every joke in this comedy lands. I still love this show to pieces tho and wish they'd bring it back.

46. Twisted Metal- 3.5/5

This adaptation of the racing game was the most fun show Peacock produced this year that I watched. The cast is enjoyable with Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz anchoring the show for its duration, but it's AEW wrestler Samoa Joe as Sweet Tooth, while Will Arnett provides the voice of the same character, that capture a special magic. The action scenes could stand to be more thrilling, but the stories and character interactions help elevate the show to be a blast.

45. Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (Seasons 2-3)- 3.5/5

This Netflix series about the dragon warrior Po was well-made. Jack Black reprising his role as the titular panda was incredibly welcome as he's the best part of the show. Joining Po are an interesting cast of characters that accompany him on a grand journey. Everything from the action scenes and set pieces to somber character moments were perfectly solid. Another fine show for kids or fans of the Kung Fu Panda series to hold you down while waiting for Kung Fu Panda 4.

44. The Mandalorian (Season 3)- 3.5/5

The latest escapades of Din Djarin and Grogu this season were entertaining, but not as much as previous endeavors in seasons 1 or 2 clearly. The decision to have Din and Grogu separate in the season 2 finale and reunite in another show was a poor choice, robbing this show of a gripping emotional return way too soon. But, the action scenes were still decent, the cameos of the likes of Jack Black and Lizzo were cute and harmless, and Bo Katan's arc helped to make the season at least somewhat compelling.

43. I Am Groot (Season 2)- 3.5/5

Baby Groot is adorable. Five short episodes show baby Groot getting into little shenanigans. My personal favorite involves the one where The Watcher gets stressed watching Groot dick around and get into danger. If you're looking for something really cute and wholesome, I Am Groot would make for a fine 20 minute burst.

42. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Seasons 8-10)- 3.5/5

It doesn't matter how much time passes or how old improv legends Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles or Wayne Brady get, they have not missed any beats. The CW version of the show is not as good as the original, due to its over reliance on repeated games or unfunny special guests, but the performers themselves are comedic geniuses that I love wholeheartedly. The latest seasons on HBO Max have had them trying different games and breaking from tradition and its for the best. One of my favorite comfort viewings.

41. Wrestlers- 3.5/5

Wrestlers is a documentary that follows former WWE wrestler Al Snow trying to keep his wrestling promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling alive. The series focuses on Al, the various wrestlers and workers that he employ as he books his shows week to week, and outside forces looking to work with OVW. Getting to know the wrestlers behind their over-the-top personal and see the struggles of a wrestling promotion nowhere near as big as WWE or AEW was fascinating.

40. Vikings: Valhalla (Season 2)- 3.5/5

Based in the Viking age, the main characters of Leif Erikson, Freydis and Harald remain the most compelling characters in their show. I wish I could say as much for other aspects. The season was a step-down from season 1, but the emotional story beats and cinematography are decent enough aspects to rate it as high as it is for me.

39. Demon Slayer (Season 3)- 3.5/5

The latest season of the hit anime Demon Slayer was fun, but like many other shows on this list, the season to come beforehand...I simply enjoyed more. Mitsuri was an intriguing Hashira to know, and Villains this season were solid. But the lack of presence of other characters like Inosuke are felt and the emotional beats don't work as well as the previous season. But the season finale was stellar enough to bring the season up quite a bit at least.

38. Insecure (Seasons 4-5)- 3.5/5

Insecure remained consistently good throughout its 5 season run. Issa Rae was a great lead for the show as she and her character were extremely likable. The humorous series had a fine cast, but her friend Kelli had to be my favorite as she was seemingly the funniest of the bunch.

37. Food Wars (Season 5)- 3.5/5

The final season to this over-the-top nontraditional battle Shonen anime was a serviceable sendoff to the endearing cast of zany teens. The cooking show anime aired on Toonami this year and as it wrapped up, I felt sad to see it go as I've enjoyed the wackiness many characters provided. But the last episode was a decent sendoff as well. Though not as good as seasons beforehand, Food Wars fifth season is still a treat.

36. Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Season 2)- 3.5/5

The sophomore season of this animated star wars show was as entertaining as its first. Shoutout to Dee Bradley Baker for voicing five different clones and bringing nuance to each character. A ragtag group of clone troopers on their adventures was exciting at times and the season finale was perhaps the best episode of the batch.

35. Total Drama- 3.5/5

Another show from my childhood thats sometimes a gem and sometimes infuriating. Its first three seasons harbored a good sense of humor and a truly sublime cast of animated characters. It was peak. Unfortunately, the following seasons failed to live up to the standards in character work and pacing, among many other issues. However, the season titled The Ridonculous Race, was great enough to bring the show back up. I haven't seen the latest season yet, but the best seasons of this show are worth checking out.

34. Harley Quinn (Season 4)- 4/5

A great season for the books even if it didn't live up the spectacle of its third season. The animation remains solid and the first half of the show was strong. With Bane still hilarious and Harley and Poison Ivy's respective character arcs that focus on their individuality being as entertaining as they were, there's still a lot to like from this season. Even if it lacks in other departments, like, not enough Clayface.

33. Big Nate (Season 2)- 4/5

Huge bias here, but I used to read the Big Nate Books as a kid and I have a huge soft spot for them which applies to this show. The animation is solid, there's a good sense of humor, and the core cast of kids are incredibly likable. If you're looking for 6th grade kid shenanigans that's bound to.make you chuckle, pleas support the show on Paramount Plus so it gets dozens of seasons.

32. My Hero Academia (Season 6)- 4/5

The latest season of teenage superheroes in training focused on two arcs for 20+ episodes. The first arc saw an all out war between numerous heroes and Villains while the second arc saw our main character, Deku, enter an Era of self-doubt and edginess after the events of the first arc. The second arc would've been better if it had more time dedicated to it, but the turns, twists, action scenes, and revelations of the first arc are enough to elevate this season to greatness.

31. Gen V- 4/5

This spinoff of The Boys was a slightly better series that focused on school kids with superpowers than My Hero. It's still got The Boys charm with its signature violence and gore with characters intriguing enough to keep you hooked. Gen V is a great addition to The Boys universe that warrants attention.

30. Avenue 5 (Season 2)- 4/5

An underrated sitcom following a space captain, his employees and crew, and hundreds of passengers on a space cruise trying to.make their way back home. The cast was stellar, the jokes were hilarious, the premise was engaging, and yet it STILL got canceled and I'll forever be mad about that.

29. Blackish (Seasons 1-3)- 4/5

The family sitcom about the Johnson family has picked up for me lately on my first viewing. The first episode and some to follow in season 1 were a bit rocky as the show was finding its footing. But with Seasons 2 and 3 so far, it's proven to be especially funny with a talented cast and thoughtful messaging.

28. Codename: Kids Next Door (Seasons 1-3)- 4/5

Yet another show from my childhood I've been in the midst of rewatching! The Kids Next Door follows children acting as secret agents that fight against teenagers and adults of all sorts. This classic cartoon would fit so well with an audience today, I'd like to think. With an endearing core cast and a truly fun rogues gallery they face off with in episode to episode, I've started realizing how much influence something like this had on me growing up, I love this show.

27. Six Feet Under (Season 1)- 4/5

One of HBO's classic shows has recently come under my radar for the first time, and while it's a bit slow at times to my liking, it's proving to be a unique watch. It's takes on the passings of every day people coupled with a talented cast and stunning cinematography are leaving me to wonder how this show will fare upon progressing into the next few seasons.

26. Wu Tang: An American Saga (Season 3)

For three seasons, Wu Tang followed the rise of Hip Hops most decorated rap group. It's final season was a superb and contemplative sendoff to some of the greatest MCs to grab a mic. Some episodes and storybits were a bit rushed or dramatized needlessly, but the allegorical episodes were incredibly creative sometimes balances out. An underrated gem of a show, in my opinion.

25. One Piece (Live Action)- 4/5

One of the most faithful adaptations of the source material I've seen and I couldn't be happier. The outrageous characters from the anime and Manga look as wild as they do in live action, the set pieces are mesmerizing, and the performances of the Strawhat crew are special. I'm eagerly awaiting season 2 to see how they adapt what comes next.

24. Archer (Season 14)- 4/5

Despite the addition of a new character to the long running sitcoms final season, they didn't stray focus from its core cast of operatives we've gotten to know and love since 2009. Despite wavering in seasons prior, the writing here was on point, the performances did not miss a beat, and the final season was a wonderful send-off to these ragtag of oddballs.

23. Eric Andre Show (Season 6)- 4/5

Hannibal Burress' lack of presence is felt, but the chaotic nature of the show never left and I love that for it. Whether insane bits on the street or at the studio, Eric Andre has still found ways to psychologically confuse and torture strangers and celebrities alike in a manner that still makes my stomach hurt from laughter and absurdities.

22. My Adventures With Superman- 4/5

This take on the beginnings of Clark Kent's journey as Superman was a fun time. Its animation is pleasing to the eye, Clark and Lois Lane's relationship is incredibly endearing and wholesome at times, and the villains introduced are decent foils to Superman.

21. Futurama (season 11)- 4/5

After being canceled and brought back for the umpteenth time, seeing the Futurama cast return again after about a decade (not including that one Simpsons crossover episode from a few years ago) was so welcome. The show tackled more modern topics like Bitcoin and the COVID pandemic to varying degrees of success. Bringing back the entire original cast and still being able to provide solid entertainment is comforting.

20. Superstore- 4/5

Indulging in the entirety of Superstore, the sitcom about employees working in a giant Walmart-esque retail building, for the first time was intriguing. The first season felt too reminiscent of The Office in characters, but as the seasons progressed it slowly started to morph into its own thing. As characters found their own personalities, the show increasingly became more and more hilarious, even with its final season filmed during peak pandemic lockdown.

19. Loki (Season 2)- 4/5

An improvement upon the first season by a margin. Adding Key Huy Quan and Rafael Casal to the cast this season was an excellent choice. The rest of the cast was equally superb, but it's Tom Hiddleston as Loki completing his transformation from a god of mischief to a selfless god was perfect. The finale to the season was bittersweet but also perhaps the best episode of a Disney MCU show so far.

18. Atlanta (Season 4)- 4/5

Donald Glover's experimental series starring himself, Zazie Beets, Brian Tyree Henry, and LaKeith Stanfield, provided possibly the best season of the show. I feel there could've been an opportunity to bring back people from the previous seasons at some point this season, but the episodes this season were pretty remarkable. The final episode leaves one to wonder about the status of our characters but not in a doom-and-gloom manner which I can rock with.

17. Baki Hanma (Season 2)- 4/5

Not since Jojo's Bizarre Adventure have I seen an action anime so ridiculous thrill me almost entirely from start to end. Baki Hanma is a well-crafted, better-written show than its previous series simply titled 'Baki.' Two arcs focus on a prehistoric caveman thawing out of the ice and the world's greatest fighters try to defeat it. While the second arc has our main character try and combat his ultra-powerful dad in a fight that's been built up for years. Both arcs were over-the-top peak that warrant viewing if you live for that nature.

16. Blindspotting (Season 2)- 4/5

The sequel series to the film of the same name is just as great as the film itself. Jasmine Cephas Jones as Ashley, who initially harbored a small role in the film, is good as the lead for the show. Her various family members and friends either helped her or overwhelmed her in ways that made for intriguing television. Combined with fun usage of cameos from rappers and riveting musical sequences, you have another show that gets canceled way to soon and pisses me OFF.

15. Rick and Morty (Season 7)- 4/5

Upon giving co-creator and creep Justin Roiland the boot, the team behind Rick and Morty managed to deliver a quality season up there with some of their best. The new voices for Rick and Morty that replaced Roiland have nestled nicely into the role, and after delivering one of the greatest episodes in the series in 'Unmortricken' any anxieties about the quality of Rick and Morty have been quelled for the future of the show.

14. Jujitsu Kaisen (Season 2)- 4/5

The first few episodes focused on the backstory of a few crucial characters years ago, and while they were sufficient, the meat of the season lies within the Shibuya Incident. As good and evil fight across the city of Shibuya and the bodies pile sky high, JJK has crafted an unforgettable second season with stakes high and memorable moments galore.

13. One Piece (Wano Arc)- 4/5

As the One Piece anime wraps up its longest story arc to date, looking back it's clear to see that the legendary scenes will pang throughout the echoes of time. Despite shit pacing, as One Piece is known to have, it gave us moments of Luffy attaining the Gear 5 form, his jaw-dropping fight with Kaido, and entertaining fights between the Strawhats and the rest of Kaido's crew. Thank god it's over though, and we can finally prepare for the next island Luffy and the Strawhats head toward.

12. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off- 4/5

I think I like this more than the movie, even though it's been years since I last saw the film. But Scott Pilgrim Takes Off took Scott's friends, Ramona's exes, and plenty of other characters with varying degrees of screen time in the movie, amplified it in the show, and made everyone INCREDIBLY likable. With awesome fight scenes and delightful characters, the show has become a must-see for animation fans.

11. The Bear (Seasons 1-2)- 4/5

Who knew how anxiety-inducing a show about a young chef running a restaurant with a hectic kitchen staff could be. The groundwork laid in season 1 elevated season 2 to excellency. The cast is fascinating, and the episodes that involve characters running around frantically, desperately trying to tie shit together have lead to the best episodes on television this year. If you watch one episode from this show, please watch the episode titled 'Fishes.'

10. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake- 4/5

The spinoff and continuation from yet another Cartoon Network classic is at least on par with the original Adventure Time. Taking the fictional characters of Fionna and Cake and expounding upon them to make them their own fleshed-out characters is amazing. The blossoming relationship of Gary and Marshall was sweet and Simon's existential crisis was heart-wrenching. Eagerly awaiting it's next season.

9. Orange Is The New Black (Seasons 1-3)- 4/5

As I'm currently on my first viewing of this show, as of this writing, I can see how this show about women in prison put Netflix on the map for their original programming. Our leads slow descent into morally questionable behavior is as compelling as every surrounding story with her fellow inmates. The final minutes of the season three finale were powerful imagery for the inmates. And as the depressing dramedy continues forward, I cannot wait to see how the rest of the show shapes.

8. Succession (Seasons 1-4)- 4/5

After binging all four seasons this year, Succession is the closest show I've seen to poetry in motion. The inner dynamics of these deeply disturbed members of the Roy family as they backstab, connive, and try to destroy one another just to reach a comfortable seat of power made for devastating television. I only wish there was one more season to spend more time with the cast.

7. Dragon Ball Z- 4/5

This is the last show on this list that was something I watched as a kid, I promise. The iconic Shonen action show is my favorite anime of all time, but I tried not to let some of personal bias cloud some of my judgment. It's the grandfather of all action anime for a reason, and what prevents it from being my number one is that I believe some of the following shows are just a liiiiiiittle bit more tightly written.

6. The Last Of Us- 4.5/5

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey managed to put on performances as stellar as the voice actors in the game, it's wild. I thought the adaptation was amazing, with sublime performances across the board, a decent pace, and an exploration of character depth unseen in the game with characters like Bill and Frank. It might've been a little light on zombies this season which I hope they rectify in the future.

5. Castlevania Nocturne- 4.5/5

As someone who adored the previous Castlevania anime series, this season had some big shoes to fill. For the first season, they knocked it out of the park. The animation is more gorgeous than ever, the new characters introduced in this spinoff are intriguing, and they laid superb groundwork for the following season.

4. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Season 16)- 4.5/5

Clearly, the best season that this gang of scumbags has put out in years. The entire season saw the gang at their dumbest which lead to hilarious setups and instant classics in its legacy. While all 5 characters were at their best this season, I want to highlight Danny Devito in Frank Vs Russia and Glenn Howerton in The Gang Goes Bowling and Dennis Takes a Mental Health Day as some of the best comedic chops they've almost ever had. I died laughing so much this season.

3. Primal (Seasons 1-2)- 4.5/5

The story about a caveman and a dinosaur going on adventures and was surprisingly...peak. The storytelling despite minimal to no words being spoken is immaculate, and when the first words were dropped I almost lost my shit. The first season was great, but the second season helped elevate the entirety of the show. It's cliff hangers are jaw-dropping, the arcs in season 2 were grand in scale, and the Primal Theory was perhaps the best episode of the whole show. I wish I watched this sooner.

2. What We Do In The Shadows (Season 5)- 4.5/5

The only show to make me laugh just as much, possibly just a little bit more, than It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is the show about Vampires in Staten Island of course. Guillermo's season long arc of vampirism came to a satisfying conclusion and the rest of the cast were on point, especially my personal favorite character: Lazlo. The cast were on point, and the comedic chops were strong, I just hope it's final season is at least as strong as this season was.

Barry (Season 4)- 5/5.

The 4th season of Barry was excellent. Barry the character and Barry the show has been immortalized with the events that transpire over this 8-episode season. The fate of the characters followed over the past few seasons has been befitting and heartbreaking but understandable in some circumstances. The way the show transitioned into something darker over the past two seasons as this hitman who tried to become an actor influenced the people around him and brought them down into the deepest trenches with him. There is no doubt in my mind that Barry was my personal favorite show viewed in 2023. Thank you for reading my list if you did.