#truly an underrated banger

[gulliesforever]

HES SO EXPRESSIVE I LOVE HIMMMMM AAAHGGHG

[misstrashchan]

2, 3, 7, 20, 27, 28, 29, for the rwby ask game? If you don't mind!

2. Rank the soundtracks

From favourite to least:

V1

Not a single track I don't love. Forever iconic, each and every one.

V5

Ignite is my favorite Yang song, as is Path to Isolation for Weiss. Smile is such a tragic song of showing Ilia's parents telling her to cope by smiling, by hiding, to the present where it's twisted into an angry mantra and she's still hiding who she is in a different way. The Triumph feels like such a comeback song with how high energy it is, all our girls heading back to each other, jumping back into the fray. All that Matters is PEAK bumbleby pining angst song. All Things Must Die is glorious, and tbh I think even This Time is pretty underrated as a song for Blake/the White Fang.

V7

I find myself relistening to this one a lot. Trust Love is my favorite OP (and yes that is in part the refrences to the Little Prince I can draw). I also like Touch the Sky and Brand New Day as these kind of recovery songs for all the characters that had been at their lowest or feeling lost finding their hope and confidence, happy in themselves. Let's get Real is a song that DID get me into Renora a little, it's a bop. Was over the moon to have an Oscar song in Fear that encapsulated the theme of the volume and complimented Ozpin's fear speech. Hero makes my brain go AAAAHHHH at how it captures the hubris of Ironwood. Such a great tragic downfall song for his character. Until the End is a great listen and such a lovely surprise to have a Ruby song after so long. War is a certified banger and a great song for the RWBY vs Ace Ops fight.

V9

In fairness I don't think I've listened to this one enough, but the more I do it definitely grows on me. Inside feels like the most unique OP, Checkmate is catchy as hell, Trapdoor makes me INSANE as a Ruby spiralling song. Pleasantly surprised to have a Jaune song in Quiet that's very moving. Worthy is beautiful as a Bumbleby confession/kiss song, truly magical. As a whole I feel the songs lean into being more gentle and introspective as to the usual hardcore rock ballads we know RWBY for, even Checkmate with it's jazziness feels fresh and new. I haven't actually listened to the Edge or Guide my Way enough to have an opinion on them, but I remember liking them, Guide my Way is a nice continuation and evolution of the Red like Roses song trilogy.

V3

When it Falls is SO HARDCORE. Bleeding edge and tragedy for the death and destruction to come. I'm the One is fantastic at laying out Emerald and Mercury's trauma's and subsequently coping mechanisms. Neon is one I like to listen to a lot, it's so fun and upbeat. Divide is brutal and chilling as the song to introduce us to our main villain after seeing her for the first time in all her dark glory at the end of V3. Not Fall in Love with You is... eh. It's my Turn is a good Weiss song, but it's not one if my favorites.

V6

I really like Rising as an OP, it feels the most... magical? fantastical? idk. I like the vibes. Indomitable is what I feel like singing all the time in wake of the recent RWBY news! We really are indomitable! Nevermore as a true triumph over Blake and Yang's trauma at Adam's hands, while acknowledging the tragedy of Adam's own situation. And Big Metal Shoe is a certified banger, love all the fairytale references crammed in there. Miracle is... fine. One Thing is a great song for Neo's return and revenge quest, but I never bought into the Neo hype so I'm kinda mid on it too.

V2. SACRIFICE I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER PLEASE REPRISE IN THE SHOW LATER WITH CINDER PRETTY PLEASE. Now it's Time to Say Goodbye is an incredible banger of an OP, but it felt a little misleading considering it's a song all about losing innocence and leaving behind childhood, which feels more appropriate for V3 and the FoB than V2. Shine, Dream Come True and Boop are all fun and cute but I'm not hugely into Arkos or Renora so I'm kinda neutral on them. I'm also kind of mid on Time to Die as a song.

V8. Honestly this is just the soundtrack I find myself listening to or remembering the least, even though I really like Friend as the perfect Penny song that had me tearing up, and Truth, while short was a great bittersweet song for Cinder. And it was nice to get a Nora song too. The opening for this volume never really grew on me like all the others did (aside from the "some ROSES WILL NEVER BLOOM, SOME HEROES CHOOSE THE WRONG SIDE"). I also just associate this soundtrack with fandom arguing a lot about what song applied to who and it felt exhausting.

3. Favorite Ruby ship?

ROSEGARDEN ALL THE WAY BABY!

7. Favorite lines I already answered for @hoepunkausta

20. What are you looking forward to seeing in Vacuo?

*vibrating at a frequency unknown to man* idk I think a reunion hug between Ruby and Oscar would be neat maybe. Like @aspoonofsugar has pointed out all the set up at the end of the extended epilogue points to these two having a second alchemical wedding and so their relationship having a certain amount of focus/development in Vacuo seems apparent. After so long of not seeing them onscreen together I'm excited for any interactions honestly. I miss my kids.

Wanting to see WBY all trying to support Ruby more and her actively trying but still struggling to open about how she's feeling. More of what see saw with Ruby/Yang in the Boba episode. I'd especially like Ruby and Weiss to have a heart to heart.

Very curious about what Theodore is gonna be like and whoever the hell the Summer maiden. With the Dorothy allusions and those who've lost their homes trying to make one in Vacuo, I'm expecting an exploration of "there's no place like home" to be leant into.

RAVEN. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT MISSION WITH YOU AND SUMMER. RUBY AND YANG DESERVE TO KNOW. For real though I'm hoping we see what lead Raven to rejoin the fray too, and how she'll interact with Yang and Qrow and even Ruby, what tension might be there. Delicious family drama....

Speaking of delicious family drama, the Schnees! all reunited! I want Winter and Whitley to tackle hug Weiss to the ground! Also the Schnees appear to be being confronted with all the harm their family and company has done in a kingdom like Vacuo, so I'm curious to see how Weiss handles that. Also Winter is clearly Not Doing Good, so something I'd really like is if Weiss (as her sister) and Ruby (as a friend of Penny and someone she also offered the maiden powers too) and maybe Jaune (who was there with Penny in her final moments) offer comfort to her and they all grieve together.

Emerald. Honestly suprised we didn't get much of a sense of how she was doing in the extended epilogue, not even briefly like Mercury. But I'm super excited for what her arc holds. Seeing her integrate with the group, if Ren, Nora and Oscar are already on friendly terms with her but RWBY are all still a bit wary of her because they've spent less time together. Seeing more of her friendship with Oscar develop (gimme that Little Prince/Fox allusion with their friendship in taming each other pretty please) and like. Mercury. Emerald KNEW Mercury and Tyrian were being sent to Vacuo, she saw him off in the ship, but Ren seems suprised to see him and Tyrian on the cameras in the epilogue. Did Emerald... not tell them? Even though that's incredibly important information that could help her new allies? Because... she wanted to protect Mercury? Because she still feels conflicted? It's incredibly juicy and I can't wait to see how Emerald and Mercury's relationship comes into conflict during the Vacuo arc. Gimme that Emercury angst pretty please.

Vacuo in general. By virtue of the books I think they have the most interesting world building, the food, the culture, the different words for weather phenomenon, the fauna, the nomadic tribes, the history of being a once incredibly beautiful oasis full of everything they needed, then exploited time and again and left with nothing and yet still surviving and carving a home and life for themselves. The world building of Vacuo is one that is inevitably tied to the story because of their fraught history leading to tensions between them and all the refugees from Atlas, Mantle and Vale seeking their aid and shelter in their kingdom, not to mention the Crown seeking to restore the monarchy, it'd be easy for them to be divided and conquered by Salem, and so our heroes have to find a way to overcome that and bring everyone together. So just getting to see the kingdom animated and learn more about its history and culture would be cool. I also like desert punk aesthetic, so I'm hoping whatever new outfits our girls get will have a little of that. (part of me hopes for maybe some Trigun inspiration... we've had Gurren Laggan inspiration in Yang's outfits before!)

I would also say I'm looking forward to seeing my darling cringefail wife Cinder but I don't know if she'll be in Vacuo or with Salem in Vale wrecking shit.

27. Favorite voice performance?

AARON DISMUKE AS OSCAR HANDS DOWN. Him being the VA for Oscar meant I was destined to like him, I usually do with characters he voices. The fact he has to also voice Oscar when controlled by Ozpin, and sometimes Oscar pretending to be Ozpin, and completely nails the subtle differences in all of them is phenomenal. And as the merge progresses he's literally having to mix and merge their voices together too!!! It's crazy!!! The awkward and shy intonation becoming a more sincere and quiet confident voice as Oscar develops, and gaining Oz's mannerisms in speech with a deeper and more serious tone. That is some crazy talent this man has.

Always impressed with how well Linsay Jones and Miles Luna hold up in earlier volumes, they've consistently been the best voice performances from start to present. Also Cherami Leigh as Ilia is absolutely fantastic, it's rare I've heard her get to flex her emotional range like that in her voice work for such a complex character.

28. Fairytale character you'd want to see RWBYfied?

With how character songs are a big thing in the show and semblances that can hypnotize and mind control exist, and instruments sometimes being weapons (gestures to Flynt), I'd love an allusion to The Pied Piper or the Lorelai Siren as a villain of some kind. Bonus if you had a Little Mermaid/Lorelai Siren allusion for that victim/monster/hero duality RWBY likes to play with.

Not technically a traditional fairytale but also very much one, the Last Unicorn, one of my alltime favorite books would be beyond amazing to be alluded to, even a tiny bit. Amalthea the unicorn being the last of her kind, the rest hunted down by a wicked beast at the order of a tyrant. She is associated with silver, the moon, hope and purity constantly. A story that is both a love letter and deconstruction of fairytales, an exploration of the nature of humanity and mortality. Tell me that wouldn't be perfect as an allusion to a Silver Eyed Warrior (also thought to be a myth) trying to find out what happened to the rest of her kind.

29. Favorite opening to sing along too?

TRUST LOOOOOVVVVVEEEE AND OPEN UP YOUR EYESEESSSSS TRUST LOOOOVVVVVEEEE THE TRUTH IS THERE BUT SOMETIMES IN DISGUISE

[atragicallycrispydude]

I haven't listened to anything but Guilty Gear soundtracks for like a month (since Symphony released) and for a while I didn't really appreciate how fucking good the songs were but they're SO GOOD

A super underrated part of their composition that I don't really see people talk about is the level of complexity that the instrumentals get into without being overwhelmingly loud. It adds such beautiful relistenability, because you can seemingly always hear something new in a lot of the songs. ON TOP OF THAT, they help to capture the vibes of a character supremely well

For example, Sol's Xrd theme, Give Me a Break, starts with a thick, grindy, intense guitar riff. Then slow, crashing drums and cymbals come in, adding to the sense of weight the song already has, along with subtle clacking (i don't know what the instrument is but clacking is the best descriptor, it might be a cowbell?) to help keep the pace and fill out the song. A bass is there too, adding a nice smooth underlying layer of deep notes to the song. Finally, a lead guitar comes in and the grindy rhythm guitar moves to the background of the song, exchanged for a more melodic guitar in a higher pitch, but still with the longer, more intense notes. This is in the first 10 seconds.

It all blends into a rich and dense layered cake of a song, allowing for freedom of expression from the lead guitar, while not relying on it too heavily to carry the song. (It absolutely is the best part of the song, but the background instrumentals are just as important)

Drift (Happy Chaos' theme) does this so fucking well, so fucking fucking beautifully well. When the outro starts, you hear Naoki's vocals, over a piano and some sparse strings, before cymbals crash in with trumpets and a choir and booming drums to accentuate the climax of the song, cutting out as Naoki says "Please don't stop the flow!" It then goes back to the very fast heavy-metal-esque drums and guitar and bass, but WITH the strings and choir backing up Naoki's singing and holy fucking shit it's amazing amazing oh my goooood

Symphony (A.B.A.'s Strive theme) was what really got me hooked onto it, though. The last two minutes of that song are fucking PEAK music. It starts with light drums, an organ, and a bass backing up a piano, cutting the formerly intense tone of the song for a nice break from the intensity. Naoki comes in, shortly followed by that classic grindy Guilty Gear guitar, as the piano and drums speed up to match a slowly rising intensity, before breaking into the final verse and chorus, with Naoki vocalizing over intense drums and guitar (as well as a bass but i do struggle to pick it out,) with the piano providing the main melody. Choral "la la la la" chants accompany the cries of "Break out, break out," filling it out perfectly for the tone of the song

It's honestly extremely difficult to properly articulate how it all comes together in the end for the songs. It ends up being a complex, emotional, BANGER. Go listen to the music from these soundtracks and when you do, pay attention to the main melody, then listen to them again and again and again and again and pick out the little extras in the background to truly understand WHY Guilty Gear music is so good.

[lazerv4]

Thoughts on Game Changer (Seasons 1 to 5)

Just my raw thoughts not a review or anything

A.K.A. a small love letter to dropout.

One day you are a simple person scrolling through shorts/reels/tiktoks, just mindlessly looking for something entertaining to watch for like a minute at a time, suddenly you stumble upon a weird game show with ridiculous stipulations and incredibly funny rants in the middle of it, you think to yourself wow I really wanna watch the full show but then you find out it’s exclusive to a streaming network called Dropout and you don’t really want to spend money on it, but you keep stumbling upon the shorts and suddenly you start getting other shows like Um, Actually, Dirty Laundry and Dimension20, your curiosity gets the better of you and you subscribe on either the main page or become a member on their youtube channel and boom, your world has been turned completely upside down by a new hyperfixation that might be some of the best and highest quality streaming every made, a community of people that truly care for each other and feel like they are creating things they really love, this is about one of those, the darling of CEO and host Sam Reich, the always entertaining Game Changer the only game show where the game changes every show, my favorite show on Dropout and just one of my favorite shows of all time. But as we know the only way to learn is by playing, the only way to win is by learning and the only way to begin is by beginning.

Season 1 is short but a swat and beautiful little beginning, it starts with the iconic Lie Detector episode where a lot of the popular clips come from, a brilliant idea by Sam to bamboozle his players with the twist that the robot indicating if they are lying is really their partners in the next room just pressing a button, a very ingenious and funny concept that would be fully perfected in season 6 but for now it starts the show with the right leg with both concept and contestants as this is also the debut of all time favorite Brenan Lee Mulligan, one of the most fun to watch comedians in general be it improv or not. The episode is followed by a 3 time game samer that would eventually turn into its own show making some noise which I will probably explain further if I cover the full show. Being two for two is fantastic but the show still hit us with some other great episodes such as a Game of Prizes which sees the contestants guessing what prizes are real and which are just made up words put together to sound appealing, Whodunnit which is a who would have thought a whodunnit and finally Nom Nom Nom a flavor guessing game with a big disembodied mouth approving or disapproving their choices. The selection of Season 1 was small but a strong start for the show and setting what we would come to know as the game changer formula plus it gave us a lot of the shorts that we still see promoting it to this day even 4 years and 6 seasons later.

Season 2 begins with a game samer that being the previously mentioned second part of the segment that would turn into Make Some Noise which is a little strange of a start but the waters where still being tested and Dropout was still CollegeHumor which was owned and operated by IAC, a company that expected ridiculous profits from the young streamer that even with its high quality programming was nearly impossible. Episode 2 in a way is revenge against IAC as Sam very clearly is just giving away money for making the contestants do ridiculous challenges testing the good old phrase, how much money would you do that for to it’s full extend, this is follow by Sleeper Agents, one of my favorite underrated episodes where the contestants must go outside and talk to random people trying to trigger a response from a set of questions to see if they are hired actors playing the titular sleeper agents or just normal people walking down the street. Another banger and progenitor of some of the other popular clips is A Sponsored Episode were in a fun twist the contestants must become infomercial hosts and sell Sam on some ridiculous and stupid products like the iconic only p keyboard or flavored toilet paper for eating ass it’s just hit after hit and even with all that it’s not the best episode this season. Next we get another underrated episode with The Everything Factory where contestant most essentially become workers with an assembly line and construct different contraptions all to the glee of Sam and his wicked imagination but as fun as it is being sandwiched between the sponsor and the finale is a tough spot as the grand ending to season 2 brings us possibly the most iconic Brendan moment and by extension the greatest rant in the history of game changer with the episode Yes or No which I implore you to watch before I spoil the twist. The episode is simple, Sam will keep asking continuously yes or no and awarding points with seemingly no rhyme or reason with the objective of figuring out the rules of the game and why he awards points, at first it seems completely random until something weird starts to come to our attention, Brenan isn’t scoring points, which in game about 50/50 you would think would be impossible and you would be right as it is slowly figured out by everyone and finally by Brenan himself that the rule is simply that he cannot win anything which trigger the mother of all monologues as he compares himself to Icarus flying too close to the sun as a competitor and a statistical wonder before delivering the punchline at the end and wrapping this season with one of the greatest moments in the show’s history as the ending theme kicks in and Sam says goodbye until season 3 arrives.

Season 3 was heavily affected by the covid19 pandemic as episodes had to be filmed remotely via zoom or an equivalent, a lot of is a little forgettable as the struggle to make the show work was front and center but still a few gems came out of it like the premier Tell Us About Yourself in which they have to figure out the identity of a secret masked individual (who turns out to be Tony Hawk), the game samer Sell Outs which is a repeat of the sponsored episode, the always fun Secret Samta duology in which well they do a secret santa spin on a competitive game to a really hilarious extend, a personal favorite in Make It Fashion which is about well making outfits out of nothing, Tome of Terror follows as a horror story maker and the finale Next Slide Please which weaponizes random ted talk slides to create funny presentations in a very Jackbox way that is still very entertaining regardless. Overall Season 3 struggled but it did the best it could with the hand that it was dealt and Sam should be commended for his handling of the situation and the way he still made the show work and be fun while people needed it most, it hits a little different now that it’s all over but it is by no means a skip and has the same classic laughs even if they are from different points in the map.

Season 4, one of my favorite preview graphics of all time that I really really want as poster Sam please I need this. S4 gives us many many iconic episodes, possibly the highest number of them to date and some really special episodes so this section might be a little long as I want to talk extensively about this season. First off it starts with Sam Says that while pretty tame this time around grows into possibly the single best series of game samers in the entire show with the ways it twists such a simple game as simon says into pure chaos and fun which is then followed up by another progenitor for a game samer with Like My Coffee which birthed some incredibly iconic clips like the green virginal one from Grant and was just incredibly funny the first time around and also when it came back again, now we just need a third one to wrap up the samer. Noise Boys follows which at this point I’ve explained enough and you should know what it is and then another game samer (are you getting tired of reading game samer yet) with the last and possibly greatest Secret Samta which just ups the ante by making it happen in the actual studio this time and works wonders on giving this samer a proper closure. Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience is one of the most interesting and experimental episodes yet with essentially a clap and boo track slowly leading the contestants into a sort of sketch action by action and thrive on their bewilderment at the situation they are in. Then comes one of my favorite episodes with The Official Cast Recording and this one is special, the sheer amount of talent being shown by improvising an entire musical even with it’s wonky story is fantastical, the numbers are all so incredibly good and the ongoing jokes make me laugh every time, it is truly a wonder that it was even possible to create this entire game which also spun off into it’s own series with Play It By Ear. The episode is just a marvel to behold and while not a recommendation to introduce people to Game Changer it is an incredible showcase on what makes this show unique and interesting so enjoy your temporary stay on Mounport. We then reach one of the most beautiful displays of love you can ever see with Don’t Cry, the episode starts of as a seemingly normal challenge about not crying with some games but as it goes on it starts to get really emotional and lovely till it reveals itself to be a tribute to Jess Ross their friend who had a really rough pandemic that canceled her wedding. This episode is so special, it never fails to make me cry and just makes me feel like so incredibly happy. I won’t spoil much more because it really is an experience you should have but I do wanna say that if there is anything I can ever ask for in life it is to be loved by the people around me at least a little like how everyone at dropout loves Jessica Ross.

Resuming the normalcy in this random collection of words I’ve been rambling on for a while now we have Race to the Bottom which also turned into a game samer, can you tell this season is good? it’s basically a reverse bidding war with the twist that the contestants have to unionize to win the game, which is kind of a really cool and interesting message  that was somehow given through a game show. It’s a great episode and will hopefully turn into a great trilogy when the third one drops. Then we have the final two parter, another progenitor of game samer and of technically it’s own mini season during season 5 Survivor which puts the contestants in a game of well Survivor, a simple but really fun idea since Survivor the actual show is an incredibly entertaining reality but with the unhinged cast of dropout anything can go so further beyond, particularly because Brenan is in this episode and it turns out he really loves Survivor so he will do anything to win and the twists and turns this creates are so mesmerizing and shocking you won’t know what to expect until the season ends and you are watching the extra episode on the things this season Cut For Time which is a new addition that has Sam talking you through everything that happened during the episodes and what they couldn’t show, think of it as extra features on a DVD/Bluray. It is quite short but it wraps an incredible season just reminding you of how great of a run it was as you see small parts of all previous episodes and at this point you can just smile as Game Changer has been fully realized and shown that it is one of the greatest pieces of TV to ever exist.

Now it’s a little awkward to go into Season 5 after how I ended the last segment but rest assured the momentum didn’t stop and it will never stop as we kick off the new season with Sam Says 2 a game samer from last season that is as funny as it was previously with new running jokes and some incredibly smart and weird prompts from Sam to keep the contestants on their toes even in a game as simple as simon says. If you are watching this in a playlist you’ll immediately see this season’s new feature in the BTS videos which are short 6 to 10 minute episodes about well the making of the episode with Sam explaining the origin of the game and the why of the selected contestants which in general is just very interesting ad a cool extra feature that we got along the Cut For Time at the end so it’s a general gain plus it’s pretty good. A game samer into a game changer it’s Karaoke Night a kind of spiritual successor to my beloved The Official Cast Recording but with pop music instead of musicals and there is no structure it’s more about impersonating styles of several musician correctly and well this is another incredible display of raw talent and a very fun episode that while it starts a little slow it wraps up magnificently into a crescendo of it’s own making which drops us off into the next episode, another game samer with Like My Coffee 2 a funnier and stupider evolution to a very simple concept that somehow keeps finding ways to entertain and just bring me joy whenever I click on the video on dropout. So far we’ve had two samers and one changer which means that we need a changer and what a game changer we got with an absolute top 5 Name A Number which comes with an all time cast rivaled by few in Becca Scott, Izzy Roland and Erika Ishii bringing in pure chaos to a game that at first seemed simple with just prompts that they had to name how many times they could perform until midway through the game the prompts become unknown until the number has been named, the absolute diabolical connivingless of Sam has been fully realized and deliver some of the absolute funniest of laughs and some incredibly hard to watch cringe. I hope Becca got her money for the feet stuff. A Game Most Changed seems to be a somewhat divisive episode that people either really like or don’t seem to care for at all, it’s an improvised shakespearian play with random prompts throw in about the topic and things that need to be mentioned which just in the raw concept you should know if that appeals to you or not so moving on to the next episode which is another instantly iconic one As A Cucumber which in case you can’t tell it’s an episode about remaining calm but with Katie, Brennan and Carolyn onboard you know shit is about to go down. The way this episode works is by attaching heart rate monitors to the players and by maintaining their resting heart rate below 20 above they can score points and hence win the game. The approach taken by each one of them was varied with Katie’s not so good attempt at just remaining cheerful and normal, Brenan’s competitive enlightenment and Carolyn’s laid bad chill switch we see all kinds of reactions and ways people can be driven to madness, particularly in what might be the peak of all Game Changer clips is the name that bird segment in which Brennan completely loses his temporarily acquired enlightenment in a sort of calm rage as he gets more and more upset as the segment continues before it’s revealed to be roose to upset Brennan and break his streak. This episode is just great, I hope it become as samer with season 7 later this year and so we move to the next episode which happens to be a double parter, the first non finale one which is The Bi Bachelor a show that does well The Bachelor with Grant O’Brien being the contestant and having to choose from a pool of candidates to go on a trip to Cabo San Lucas.

The game has so many twists and turns that covering it would just be a retelling of the entire thing and you don’t need that, you need to sit down and watch this great parody of trashy tv with an ending you are just not ready for. The finale not finale is Escape The Green Room, why finale not finale well because the true end of Season 5 is an extended semi season that will get it’s own spot after this but now Escape the Green Room, Game Changer’s take on the escape room. The episode begins with the contestants on a room that is not the normal show floor awaiting the order to go proceed downstairs and begin the episode, Sam is there with them until he is called downstairs mid magic trick and then the door locks and the screen turns on, the game begins. Secretly the entire room has been customized and modified around the classic escape room concept that if you’ve ever been to one you know how the episode will go with the exception that Siobhan, Brenna and Lou just really don’t give a shit and will tear through everything to get out in another banger of an episode that had my laughing the whole way through, this one also has one of the most interesting BTS videos as it goes into the making and design of what was basically making a escape room from scratch. I would love for this to be made into an actual place I can visit but at least I got to see it happen and it was wonderful. This sort of ends the season as the next few episodes are kind of it’s own thing but the Cut For Time episode is after them in the playlist but it also has its own playlist so I’ll just handle it like a limited series sort of event that will be talked about as a single episode instead of the 5 episodes it is.

Game Changer Battle Royale a 3 hour plus spectacular semi samer to the original survivor episode that takes all that made that episode great and dials it up to 11, as the show is longer, the totems are harder to find, the challenges are harder and there is more on the line than ever before. Everything about this mini series is gold with it being incredibly funny and sometimes even impressive in what it’s capable of doing and a very funny surprise guest that showed up out of nowhere, the one and only fault I can think of that is not even a fault is that Ana Garcia who was making her debut in Game Changer got injured on episode one and we missed out on her antics since she has proven to be an incredibly funny comedian in every other show she has show up on dropout. Battle Royale was just so much fun and reached the apex of the reality idea for Game Changer which I’m not sure if it can be topped but it can for sure be iterated upon and I do hope we come back to see it again every few years.

Now to wrap up this massive massive post I just wanna say that I love dropout, they are a wonderful set of people that truly do care and deserve all the support they get, a lot of entertainers and comedians have been recently trying to leave youtube and copy the dropout system without getting what made dropout great to begin with, it is the charm, the effort and pure love they put into everything they make that makes it so great, not the production values or how much money they spend on it, it’s about the people it gives a home to and what they are able to accomplish when you give a genius free reign to make whatever they think is best, dropout is a special place and Game Changer is a great signature show to lead the brand, I will always love it and be here to support it, it is as Brennan once said to Sam “You’ve made a home where my favorite people get to show the world how brilliant and amazing they are.”

[ppeonppeonhan]

Songs That Remind Me of BL Characters & Couples

@zimmbzon kindly tagged me in their post, prompting me to share the first ten songs in my On Repeat playlist. Highly recommend checking theirs out, because mine is...rather basic. And becauuuuse it's basic, I'm gonna add another layer to this and tell you which BL character or couple perfectly matches the vibe of each song.

1 | "imperfect for you" by Ariana Grande: This one's off her new "please feel sad for me because even though I'm messy when it comes to love I still have feelings" album. I may have listened to this one "on repeat," because it's just cathartic to two-step to these lyrics: "I'm fucked up / anxious / too much / but I'll love you / like you need me to / imperfect for you." What's that? Self-awareness? Respect. I just know Ming from My Stand-In would have the audacity to sing this to body-swapped Joe.

2 | "Acid Dreams" by MAX and Felly: Could not tell you who either of these people are but this song is a snap-worthy bop that got me feeling myself every time it comes on -- probably because it opens with: "You look so good in a night gown girl / freckles on your face / lemme kiss each one." This was clearly meant for my generation, because there is not a single human under 30 in possession of a night gown. But Khem from Deep Night would 1,000% use this song to charm the pants off of someone.

3 | "Toco Toco To" by Dixson Waz: I'm Dominican. And even though I understand Spanish, I cannot for the life of me tell you what this man is saying, but I can assure you it is inappropriate. Rated NC-17 without a doubt. And for that reason, I'd pair this song with the entire cast of Playboyy -- just casually playing this in the background of one of their random, impromptu, midday sex parties.

4 | "Lie to Me" by Meghan Trainor: Obsessed. Not with her. With her music. She has so many non-butt-related songs that are worth a listen. I truly feel like she's underrated -- on par with Ed Sheeran -- and she doesn't get enough credit for it. In this track, she sings: "I don't want the truth / I want you." That sounds exactly like our lovesick boy Nick in Only Friends, thirsting after anti-monogamy Boston like he didn't know better.

5 | "Jealous" by Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, & Big Sean: While it is true that every single person on this track is problematic, including producer DJ Khaled, the swagger is immaculate. Every time it comes on, I, sincerely, close my eyes and just picture BTS's rap line to cleanse the beat. Not gonna miss out on a banger because men are the worst. Anywayyyy, the most jealous character I can think of is Way from Pit Babe, who tried to r-word his "bestie" because he chose a random nerd over him. He fits in well with these clowns.

6 | "Bounce Back" by Little Mix: The only British pop girl group I've ever intentionally streamed is Spice Girls, but the algorithm clearly thought it meant I'd like this group, and the track that hooked me was one that sampled the iconic Soul II Soul's "Back to Life." Instant replay. Someone I think lives and breathes the mantra "You can have me however you want me / however you need me" is the Sultan of Simp, Karan from Cherry Magic (Thailand). Achi could've asked for a kidney, and he would've delivered. But coming in a close second is obviously Rain from Love in the Air. Payu had to practically beat him off with a stick -- no pun intended.

7 | "Body" by Loud Luxury and Brando: It's the buildup to the chorus for me -- come to find out many listens later that it's about a guy who is begging a girl to sleep with him because he's been "waiting too long." 🙄 This one very obviously goes to Yuan from Unknown, who damn near disintegrated Qian's clothes the minute he saw even the glimmer of a green light. Talk about a slow build.

8 | "Into You" by Fabolous feat. Tamia: Back in 2003, rappers used to drop an R&B hit every now and then to remind women that they were romantics. The gaslight kings of the aughts. So in this track, this duo talks about an inexplicable-but-undeniable connection, which only makes me think of Vegas and Pete from KinnPorsche. Those two needed a PowerPoint presentation to explain to their friends and family how they went from hostage situation to star-crossed lovers. But we got nothing -- just good vibes and patricide.

9 | "i wonder..." by j-hope feat. Jung Kook: Do I miss them? Yes. Will I listen to any BTS track that's easy to Namjoon to? Yes. Now that we got that out of the way: This song is about enjoying the moment and not wasting the good times by dreading the future. And that just screams Be My Favorite to me. Kawi just kept trying to time-travel his way to a hetero fantasy, not realizing his queer happily ever after was standing right in front of him the whole time in the gorgeous form of the eternally patient Pisaeng.

10 | "MY HOUSE" by Beyoncé: Not to bring up BTS again, but 👀...j-hope would body any choreography set to this song. Without breaking a sweat. And mother would be proud. On this track, the Queen B speaks of once dreaming of the wealth, fame, and stability she has now, and making sure to only keep positive people around her, because love heals. Sailom from Dangerous Romance would certainly relate to having similar dreams and beliefs, and effortlessly exudes equally feisty bad bitch energy. I still can't get over how he disarmed his bully (and future love interest), Kanghan, by basically saying, "You clearly like me. Shut up." And saying it with tongue.

That was fun. 🤸🏿‍♂️

[skeeverboy]

hi i love making lists and rankings. this is my ranking of all tfb albums from worst to best.

yes i've ranked tfb albums before im trying to go more in depth on this one and also my opinions may or may not have changed

Going Grey

It's experimental. It's stylistically different from the albums leading up to it. It's branching in a new direction, their first step into a slightly more pop sound. And it is boring.

A couple tracks sound the same to me. There's no pull factor for me, it's all around just kind of dull when compared to other TFB albums.

That is to say, though, I do love this album. Peace Sign goes hard, love the connection to Tie Dye Dragon. You Used to Say is a pretty solid opener. Vacation Town is a classic (though it is overplayed ngl)

8.4/10

In Sickness & In Flames

I love this album, I really do. Stylistically I think it's really significant to the TFB timeline, marking their journey into the more pop side that they're exploring recently. There are some absolute BANGERS also - love bus beat, love montgomery forever, love Fairbanks, Alaska. This was also the most recent album when I started listening to TFB.

With that, I think a lot of the album is kind of forgettable. I mean, come on- new song d, the hard way, make way, love at first sight. I forget they exist. Also, for some reason, I just cannot stand everyone blooms and it's the opener to the album. It puts a bad taste in my mouth for the entire thing.

8.9/10

You Are Who You Hang Out With

I reviewed this album on my other blog and gave it an 8.6 but that's changing today because my opinions are subjective and change every hour. This album is great, I don't care what anyone says. Most of the time I genuinely think the autotune and heavy editing works.

It did take some time for me to get used to it, not going to lie. I loved Outlook when it came out, but Emotional was... rough at first. It's absolutely warmed up to me, though. It can feel kind of repetitive sometimes, but I really like how they experimented with style and put out something truly unique.

9.0/10

My Grandma Vs. Pneumonia

I am such a sucker for 2000s/early 2010s TFB. I love the raw sound, and this shit is the DEFINITION of raw and unfiltered. I love this album with all my heart, I love the vocals (controversial, I know), I love the style, I love the simplicity and the lyrical style.

Some of this album is a little forgettable, and there are a few in here that were remade to just be so much better. The Theresa version of Supply of Power and the Rose version of Flying Model Rockets absolutely desimate and are just incredible. Though, I will say, the original I Think Your Nose Is Bleeding is better.

Definitely a hit or miss depending on who you are, but I am the type of person to EAT THIS SHIT UP.

9.3/10

The Front Bottoms

This album is an absolute classic. Really similar in style to IHMF and MGVP but sounding just a little more polished. This album has some of the gayest songs ever.

The lyrics speak to the heart. Every track is memorable and incredible. The use of trumpet in certain tracks is really nice, though it's incorporated better in later albums.

9.5/10

Talon of the Hawk

Just an incredible album all around. It's super energetic in an absolute delightful way. It's the perfect blend of their older kind of rough folk-y style while remaining polished and sounding complete. Older albums often sound like they're unfinished demos. Not TotH.

The use of trumpet and other instruments is strong. Some of TFB's most iconic songs are in this album. The knife is iconic. It is the Front Bottoms album.

9.7/10

Back on Top

I love this album so fucking much. Every song is incredible. The style, with the heavy use of electric guitar, is wonderful. It feels very light, very summery.

While it's less iconic than TotH, I'd say some of the most underrated songs are in Back on Top. 2YL, Ginger, The Plan, HELP, all absolutely breathtaking songs.

God I love this album.

9.9/10

I Hate My Friends

This is the most biased top pick ever. But yeah, this is one of my favorite albums of all time, maybe even my favorite of all time. I love the old TFB sound, I love the lyrics, I love the subject matter, I love the immature angst, I just overall love it so much.

I'm getting a fucking tattoo of this album, I have to put it at the top.

10/10

[wickjump]

block texter and ‘texts one sentence at a time’, truly a dynamic for the ages….

anyway everyone follow @alyimoss rn!! they don’t post much… which is fair tbh... but when they do… it is an absolute banger… i have talked so much to it and it has like literally the best and most in depth thoughts of so many characters and dynamics pls pay attention to him. like genuinely best mind out there when it comes to any characters ever (especially xtale… and all of the xtale characters… which im so thankful for)… he is painfully underrated i am literally begging right now follow them. do it. you know you wanna

[thenightwinggraveyard]

how i find banger fics on AO3

tips and tricks by yours truly

are you an avid ao3 reader like myself? do you ever find yourself at a loss for what to read next and unable to find anything worth your time? well worry no longer (hopefully!), because i'd like to share some ways i filter through the endless amount of fics to find ones i like;

SORT BY KUDOS

while doing this isn't foolproof and it leaves underrated fics out of the equation, it is generally a good starting point. most fics that have a lot of kudos, do so for a reason after all.

2. EXCLUDE WHAT YOU DONT LIKE

this is a feature i wasn't really utilizing until recently, but it has saved me so much effort. when your on a fandom, tag, or pairing, you can exclude whatever ticks you off and make finding a good fic easier. for example, sometimes i go on my favourite tags, like time travel, and find that it is mostlyyyy clogged up with harry potter or mha and im just not feeling it that day; well i simply exclude it.

3. MAKE NOTE OF/JOT DOWN WHAT YOU'D LIKE

what i mean by this, is whenever you think about a specific character or pairing/dynamic, fandom, etc.. during the day or when doing something else and find yourself craving that content, a good idea would be to write that down for later on your notes app or something, and specifically search for it later on. otherwise, sometimes when faced with the damning ao3 search bar you forget everything you like and your entire personality. ive certainly been there.

4. MARK FOR LATER

whenever you see a fic that you don't really feel like reading at the moment, but know you could like, you can hit the mark for later button. i find it much easier then having endless numbers of open tabs that you cant sort through.

5. SEARCH COLLECTIONS

i like to go to my favourite fics i previously read and look through the collections that have that fic saved to them and browse. i have a collection of my own where i save my fav fics if you feel like checking that out!

6. SEARCH THROUGH OTHER MEDIA

going on tiktok or tumblr and searching the #fanfiction or #fanficrec tags can be a lifesaver. better yet, when you find tumblr masterlists of recs.

7. CHECK OUT AUTHORS OTHER WORKS

this ones self explanatory; if you really like a fic, try checking out the authors other works in the case that you find them just as good.

8. ASK FRIENDS!!!

you dont no HOW much i bombard my friends by asking them for recs, and ive found some really good ones through them. you can even ask mutuals, anyone on discord if you have it, etc...

LASTLY,

9. BE PICKY

this one is a bit redundant but its something i often find myself wishing i had done earlier. if your reading a fic and something about it just isnt right for you, be that the writing style, the chracetrization, etc... don't feel like you need to continue. theres nothing wrong with just dropping shit when it gets too boring or when its not tickling your fancy, otherwise you may end up putting so much time into a work that leaves you upset/frustrated, and thats no fun. seriously, i have spent hundreds of thousands of words on fics that left me hating my life and not because of how good it was written ill tell you that.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I’ve started watching The Artful Dodger and loving it, it’s far better than Bridgerton at actually capturing the essence of a romance novel (my first thought upon seeing Jack and Belle interact was that it could’ve been ripped straight from a romance novel). Do you have any recs for tv shows or movies that have the vibes of a romance novel?

Ooh yes!

Oldie but a goodie and if anyone hasn't seen it they should (and really, the whole trilogy--the second movie gets a bad rap, but I personally so enjoy it, and I love the third movie for a lot of reasons but the "REIGNITE. OUR. LOVE." sequence is absolutely one of them, the "we are gonna FUCK THIS SHIT OUT" vibes are sooo romance novel for me). Bridget Jones's Diary. Mark Darcy is just an amazing hero. Bridget is a legend. Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver is PEAK Hugh Grant, and his introduction in that film is one of the greatest character intros I have ever. Seen in cinema. I see some people knock on it because of things that have aged--Bridget worrying over her weight because it's the early 2000s and super skinny was the trend, the workplace harassment. I don't give a fuck. If you haven't seen Bridget Jones's Diary, you are doing yourself a disservice.

(It is based on a book, but that book is not a romance novel. The movies are.)

Ummm speaking of Hugh Grant, Music & Lyrics is an underrated BANGER and absolutely fucking reads as a romance novel. A washed up has-been pop star begins a creative partnership with the messy neurotic woman who waters his plants? He does a flop attempt at defending her honor to do the guy who did her wrong. There's a grand gesture/grovel moment ffs. It's GREAT. The music is AMAZING. POP! Goes My Heart!

This one is borderline because it is more of a girls trip comedy, but the romance is truly centered so well and is a swoony romance and it features peak Richard Madden and it is again, so underrated. Netflix's Ibiza, dude. Buttoned up marketing girl goes on a business trip to Spain, her two best friends (who are both much wilder than her) accompany her and they go to the club one night and see DJ Richard Madden (LEOOOOO WESSSSST) and he and the main girl have this amazing meet cute that involves someone drawing a dick on her face in glow in the dark marker and him coming to the rescue, but then he has to go to a gig in Ibiza and she and her friends decide to track him down because some people are destined to go to the moon, but her destiny is to FUCK. THAT. DJ. But Harper and Leo's connection is more like love at first sight than pure horniness? I just miss movies that like, unabashedly capture zany happiness and the flutters of first love (and the sex scene is so good???). This movie is amazing and I adore it.

Bros. Look dude. I know Billy Eichner fucked up the marketing for this one. I know he's annoying as hell. Bros is objectively a romance novel movie lol. It's not as inclusive as it could/should be, I will agree with that always--but the romance arc is so good, and it is legit funny, and it has a FAILED GROVEL which we all know is one of my favorite things. And I do think it has a deeply true heart and soul and is really amazing.

Brown Sugar. PEAK Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan. It's a slow burn friends to lovers movie in which there is sooooo much sexual tension and so much angst and so much follow the fuck through. Also, Taye Diggs has one of the most magnificent line deliveries of all time with "riCHARD LAWson".

Imagine Me and You. The sapphic romcom we deserve. A bride falls in love at first sight with hot florist Lena Headey while walking down the aisle to marry her groom, as you do. What follows is a woman desperately trying not to cheat on her husband while experiencing extreme sexual tension with Lena Headey. Surprisingly soft and super romantic.

Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022). Required viewing for historical romance novel fans. Obviously based on a book, but again, that book is not a romance lol. The movie is. And it's one of the hottest movies in recent memory. Jack and Emma did the WORK. The kiss right before he goes down on her is maybe my favorite movie kiss of all time.

Obviously. Pride and Prejudice (2005). I shouldn't have to include this, but to be fucking clear lol. I will always maintain that while P&P (the novel) is a predecessor and a shaper of romance novels, it is not a romance novel. It is a contemporary novel with a lot of social commentary and a good love story. This movie? Makes it a full, sweeping romance with some of the best tension ever committed to screen.

Faraway. Omg, an amazing slept-on movie that is a rare romcom featuring a middle-aged woman! Basically, right when her mom dies she finds out her husband is having at min an emotional affair with his younger employee, and she also discovers her mom had a secret property on a Croatian island. She goes there, and is immediately courted by this younger real estate developer guy, but why is she constantly butting heads with the gruff guy who's been living in her mom's house????

Far and Away. Hate to recommend a Tom Cruise film, BUT it is is very romance novel, and it does star Nicole Kidman as well, and I hate to say it but those two did have bomb chemistry when they were married. The Irish accents are rough, but the plot is delightful because he's a poor guy who ends up getting roped into her scheme to leave for America (after his harebrained revenge scheme against her dad fails lol) and they live in a boarding house together pretending to be brother and sister... But like, everyone can tell they aren't because of their extremely obvious sexual tension lol.

When Harry Met Sally. Cliche, but it is a classic every romance lover should see. I'm not a big Billy Crystal fan, but his chemistry with Meg Ryan is MAGIC in this, and you really do get the sense of two people slooowly falling in love without even realizing it until suddenly they do all at once.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 10/02/2024

Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source

Season 5 Featured on: Bloodstained Bounties ~ The SiIvaGunner All​-​Star Summer Festival 2021 Collection [Event Side]

Ripped by minindo

Way early into the blog's life, on the 20th of July 2023, I covered the rip Everything Circus - a Season 2 rip featuring one of my all-time favorite channel memes, hhgregg. I didn't cover all too much on the guy back then beyond the basics: The source was sparingly used in Season 1, then gradually received an uptick in popularity until finally earning himself a full-on channel event in Season 5. Last, we covered a rip from before this uptick - now, I think its only fair we tackle one that shows the fruits of that initiative.

The hhgregg meme was one of many that I only discovered through SiIvaGunner, yet it was far from the first to actually popularize it: HydroDalek's "doin" YTPMV was uploaded a year prior to SiIvaGunner's premiere, and sits at a 1.5 million views as of writing, and is of course paired with the excellent remix "ReDoin" by JerryTerry, made two years later, sitting at 2.4 million. hhgregg's infamous attempt at creating a memorable mascot for their brand seemed to at first be met with nothing more than annoyance, only for a subset of internet users to slowly mutate feelings into feelings of...affection, I suppose. Either way, as someone entirely out of the loop on all things relating to American retailers, that affection definitely rubbed off on me - after just being exposed to a small handful of rips, and then later being led to the rabbithole of YTPMVs dating back to 2014, I was hooked on the guy.

And its not something I believe I can put quite so easily into words, either, beyond pointing you to a rip like Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source for a direct demonstration. Wally Wingert is an excellent actor and performer in perhaps everything BUT his role as singing for hhgregg's Christmas sales of the summer season - yet YTPMVers throughout the last decade have been able to put those vocals, and vocals from the hhgregg mascot's entire television career, to incredible use. It's almost comparable to PSY in what I wrote about him in Korean Idiot - manipulation of hhgregg's distinctively nasally, yet self-assured voice has effectively become an instrument all of its own.

Pair that with the hyperactive yet constantly rhythmic and engaging flow of much of Touhou's music, Nostalgic Blood of the East ~ Old World not excluded, and you get something truly special. Yet the crazy thing is, Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source was but one of several other incredible rips utilizing the source during Season 5. It was, after all, his long-overdue event - the long-awaited Christmas in July - and the amount of rips that went completely above and beyond just as Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source did was absolutely remarkable. Speaking as someone who used to get hyped up back during the early days of seeing...what, the fourth or fifth ever hhgregg rip be uploaded? It did genuinely bring me so much excitement to finally see the most underrated SiIvaGunner source get the spotlight all to himself. hhgregg is, in all honesty, an oft-overlooked titan of recent YTPMV culture, a shining example of just how far some crazy cool people are able to take a series of voice clips that only initially spread online out of distaste.

Though I lack much knowledge on Touhou, and I wasn't really able to live through any prior attachment to the hhgregg character as a European myself - the sheer power of good ass YTPMV and minindo's undeniable talent in what he does carries Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source through. It's an absolute banger using one of my all-time favorite SiIvaGunner sources, and I'm so happy it got to be part of the guy's big event. In a Season already defined by its various side events, hhgregg's long-awaited time in the spotlight is still one of the things I cherish most about Season 5, and the rips that came in tow with that day were absolutely worth the wait.

[kloppool]

quick analysis-

- BEST PERFORMANCE IN AGES OMLLL

- genuinely tho, this week is szn defining and after that shitshow on sunday we needed something big and we BAGGED 5

- where to start w curtis…his season hasn’t been easy w injuries and suspensions and then he turns up with that ?? immense, all around

- to add more regarding curtis, i think he’s one of the reasons domi played so well. he has more freedom this game and looked a lot more stable and confident, which is exemplified in his absolute banger of a goal

- kostas fucking tsimikas has just gotten better and better. he has truly stepped up in robbo’s absence. think he’s having a bit of underrated szn rn, due in part to how many amazing players we have and how trent’s been scoring lately, but nevertheless he has been phenomenal

- jarell quansah is phenomenal, one of the best young center backs in the world

- great performance from the front line, even with some missed opportunities. darwin’s movement was great, cody was electric and mo was mo

- all in all great game and suddenly, i am not so miserable about saturday. nervous, yes. but if we play like this….

- bonus: cody giving curt the motm award was too adorable, they’re both such cutie patooties (incredibly big cutie patooties)

[apoptoses]

i gotta know, what order do you rank the VCs

oh man I cannot number order them, to do that would be like picking a favorite cat and they change depending on my mood so like I gotta go with the tier system.

ALSO I never promised anyone here that I had taste, these are my own personal feelings etc etc Mostly I have ranked them based on how much I skim when (or if) I re-read lol

The Vampire Armand- Anne put her whole entire vampirussy into this one like this is the book that has everything!!! There's angst, there's smut, there's cults and kidnapping, there's the beauty and high drama of the Venetian renaissance, what more could you want!! And honestly I think her Armand voice is one of her strongest, right up there with Lestat. You could take an Armand quote out of context and know he's the one speaking. Even my least favorite parts of TVA are still more enjoyable than the best parts of the VC books I don't love.

The Devil's Minion Chapter of QotD specifically - absolute insanity, just banger after banger, not a single word wasted. I could have read an entire novel of this, and again, a unique voice and style! I think this part of the book slaps so hard because it's the first truly modern part of the VC, told from a modern perspective and like. It's so good because every VC reader has probably thought 'wow how exciting would it be to be a vampire's companion/lover' and then Anne actually went and wrote what that would be like. Incredible!

The Vampire Lestat - Getting the back story of the characters introduced in interview is incredible and I feel like Anne finally cut loose and let herself start to be a weirdo with all the world building and entangled relationships. Also just worth the re-read for Armand drop kicking Lestat out of Notre Dame and Marius's insane house of taxidermy and baboons.

Interview with the Vampire- a classic, no other details needed.

Tale of the Body Thief- a polarizing choice I know, but it's such a wild diversion from the typical VC books. Lestat described himself as the James Bond of Vampires and this is the one book that's truly like a tightly written action movie. And Lestat is just so monstrous in it, and in a really complex way- like he's partly reacting to the trauma he went through with Akasha, he's at a low point with self esteem, but then also some of this behavior begs the question of whether being a vampire made him the way he is or whether it's just inherent in him. An underrated VC book tbh.

Blood and Gold- I just love that Anne took on the challenge of writing the life story of a vampire that is thousands of years old. Reading it gives me the same feeling of growing up and realizing that the people you considered 'adults' are just as lost and mentally immature and messed up as you, and never really had any idea what they were doing when child-you thought they had it all together. Also I just love anything that gives me more of the events of Armand's life from another pov.

Queen of the Damned- a great story but I get bogged down by the number of characters and plot lines introduced every time I re-read it, and I end up skimming some of the POVs (or skipping them entirely like baby jenks) I know Anne finally put her foot down and told her editors to fuck off with this one but I wish she'd listened to them just a tiiiiny bit and cut some stuff/expanded other more interesting stuff.

Pandora - Such tight writing!! I wish Pandora hadn't been sidelined in the other books because Anne built such a strong character with her, she deserved better tbh!!

Prince Lestat - it's okay, I just like the sections with my favorite characters and seeing some secondary characters return like Bianca and Allessandra and Antoine. Getting some resolution on what happened with them and where they are closer to the modern day was nice. Also the stuff with Fareed giving Lestat hormones so he could fuck and then get Maury Povich'd eighteen years later was hilarious nonsense, 10/10 Anne insanity. This book just feels like fun trashy vampire stuff (affectionate) in the same way watching True Blood feels like fun trashy vampire stuff, so even if it's not Anne's best work it's still alright imo.

Memnoch the Devil - I simply do not care about God or the Devil or Dora or Rembrandt enough to care about this book, and it only gets ranked below Prince Lestat because I think it drags where PL has a faster pace that allows my brain to skim over the least tasty parts. Really it only makes it to D because of Armand in his dusty jean jacket and Lestat using Dora's uterus as his personal capri sun. Overall though just a slog to get through.

Blood Communion - I just personally do not care for the whole vampire court concept and wish Anne had dropped it after the replimoids. Like I tolerate it in Prince Lestat but ending the series on 'united vampire community' feels off to me when the whole concept of vampires is that they're outsiders struggling with immortality. Also, another kidnapping plot? Anne pls you're better than this.

Merrick - I have erased everything but the Louis bits of this book from my mind. We simply did not need Claudia's vengeful spirit or Louis getting force upgraded and the humanity of him erased by Lestat's ultra-powerful blood but we got it anyways I guess. Very atmospheric though, I do like the return to New Orleans as a setting.

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis - Cruel of Anne to put Atlantis in the title and give us aliens instead of mermaids. The most cracked out VC book in existence, would only re-read if paid to. I have no words for how much I do not care for this book, especially after reading Anne's notes at Tulane and knowing what could have existed instead.

The Vampire Vittorio - such a flop of a vampire he never even gets mentioned in the other VC books. I do not know this man. This book does not exist to me.

[idsb]

I feel like today was for you specifically because not only Mary’s song but you’re one of the few people I’ve seen on here who appreciates what a banger of a lyric dust off your highest hopes is

oh my god and you know I was so caught up in the Mary's Song of it all I forgot to even be EXCITED about that?!?!?!? brb gotta go listen to it a hundred thousand more times and cry!

truly THE most underrated lyric in Taylor's entire discography. it's the most concisely perfect she's ever captured a feeling I think!!!!! and the way she sings it is just!!!

[partywithponies]

Top Ten Pride Flags Ranked Purely On Aesthetics (spoiler: I like bright colours)

10. Disability pride flag: newer version

It reminds me of the BBC home video ident from the late 90s and early 00s. This one:

Makes me feel like we're about to sit down and watch The Three Doctors.

9. Rubber flag

It's funky and exciting in a very 90s kind of way!

8. Nonbinary flag

I truly do like it a lot, but I can't ignore the fact that it combines the colour schemes of both Grange Hill logos. Look at me, I'm GrangeHillgender. Embarrassing for me.

7. Sapphic/inclusive lesbian flag

Underrated banger. Reminds me of pick n mix.

6. Abrosexual flag

This flag only ranks sl high for me because the colour pallet reminds me of Minty from My Little Pony. That's all I'm willing to say about this and I think we should move on.

5. The leather flag

It's classic. It's classy. It has a heart on it. What more do you want.

4. Disability pride flag: older version

Listen. I understand why it was changed, I truly do, but I like this one more. I can't help it. It makes me think of the 80s. It's giving Pacman. It's giving Ribik's Cube. It's giving Wham music video. It's giving Ceefax.

3. Classic polyamory flag

If the classic polyamory flag has 1000 fans I'm one if them. If the classic polyamory flag has 10 fans I'm one of them. If the classic polyamory flag has 1 fan that's me. If the classic polyamory flag has 0 fans I'm dead. If the world is against the classic polyamory flag then I'm against the world.

2. Bi flag

There's a reason "bisexual lighting" is such a common stylistic choice in TV and film. There's a reason so many cartoon characters have bisexual colour schemes. It's because everyone with any sense knows this colour scheme fucks severely.

1. Rainbow flag

I just really really like rainbows you guys. If rainbows are an option I'm always picking rainbows.

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

Hey! I'm sooooo happy to finally find another person that ships Scarecrow and Batman! This is ship is so underrated and it deserves MUCH more recognition 👏☺️ Also, I love your art and analysis of these characters!

I don't know if you've answered this before, but what do you think about the Arkhamverse version of them? I would prefer Arkham Knight, but if you feel uncomfortable with it, Arkham Asylum is fine (I love both). I don't know what to think of it at the moment and I'm trying to form an opinion!

I hope you have an amazing day!! ❤️❤️

Can I be 🐓 anon if you allow anons?

hello there!! i’m also happy to meet another fellow-minded scarebat believer out there! scarebat is just such a fascinating ship. i’m honestly go uwu when i see other people enjoying it too! this pair indeed deserve more recognition an’ love! an’ aw, heck, thank you! it makes me blush knowing that someone can have fun with those lil, whimsical things i do! 

an’ oh, nope. i didn’t answer this one! arkhamverse’s content is smth that i see circulating around a lot, but i didn’t see much content for that version of scarebat. i guess, the constant choking, an’ ‘get on your knees now, crane’ wasn’t enough to awaken smth in anyone *besides me an’ 2-3 other fine wine enjoyers*. which is once again too bad, bc even design wise, they’re kinda a banger in their own right. whichever version we take, it’s just a good contrast between batman’s heavy armour an’ jon’s typical rags *with some cyber-punk touch later on*. like, while i’m a simple gal who tends to simp for ‘classic’ outlooks, i do appreciate what the game did. gotta love crane’s freddy krueger syringe glove, an’ how he got it embedded into bruce’s neck an’ chest, an’ then got stabbed with it himself lol. there is a lot of homoerotic stuff, which can be done with it! esp bc it’s such a close range weapon, an’ each version of akrham’s crane used it differently. in arkham asylum, he injected the poison into bruce’s arm. the desperate, angry action kinda reminded me of a pissy, bristling animal, that would bite your hand, when if you try to grab it. in the next game, jon was way more vicious, less of a thrashing opossum that you find in your garage an’ more of a snake, that you accidentally step on, while you climbing down your porch. the vast difference between his mental states then an’ later on is an interesting theme for speculations. esp bc bruce is also worse to wear in the next game. in fact, i’d say that arkham knight sorta depicts them at their subjective ‘worst’ almost. an’ it says smth, bc i don’t think that either of them are ever in good mental place. 

i kinda find it interesting how some people would assume, that if person acts cold an’ detached, it means that they’re ‘in control’, when sometimes, it’s the opposite. in bruce’s case for sure. but i’d like this for some versions of crane as well, bc it suits his psychotype as well. not to mention, that jon’s hygiene in arkham knight is at its lowest too, which says a few things about his mental state right off the bat. or how he didn’t seem to properly treat his own wounds, just instantly throwing himself into his biggest scheme. a man truly possessed by revenge. 

but welp, if we go into specifics of each separate version of arkhamverse, i guess, i will start with arkham asylum! my memories about those games are a bit rusty, but i’ll go with what i remember. providing more emphasis on arkham knight, since they do have more going on an’ you seem more interested in that specific version too! 

still, first things first, i love how jonathan was half-naked during the first game lol. it’s just so funny to me, bc he is usually covered from head to toe, but in there, he was shirtless, wearing pants that held for dear life on those skinny hips an’ i’ll bet dude had nothing underneath them either. he’s never was the most proper person, admittingly, but idk, running around the dirty asylum an’ hunting your enemy while showing off your nips an’ stomach is…smth else. esp for a prude like crane. but i guess, at that point of time, he seemed to be so deranged, that his usual body issues no longer worried him. besides, poison ivy walked around in her underwear an’ blouse that was held together by one durable button, why can’t he do the same? it’s not like batman would comment on it, even if he wanted to. but like, honestly, all the hints of possible spooky + sexy times were there, so it’s a shocker, that no one has done anything about it yet. i mean, you literally have jonathan, who was flashing the bat for 20 minutes straight, an’ it’s not smth that the majority of cranes would ever have the guts to do in any other set-up. btas an’ comicverse ones would downright combust, before they’d be walking around batman shirtless. but not that gremlin. he was all about it. even if i do think, that he wasn't fully aware about what it means, an’ that it’s kinda embarrassing to do smth like that, while you are trying to be intimidating. he’s not bane. it’s not like he has some crazy muscular mass to show off. but it is very stimulating to think about the ways it all can be used in. the cold bat’s armour to exposed skin of a spooky toothpick. batman grips scarecrow’s clothes, when they fight. in there, it’ll be almost all naked skin. that’s a sexy imagery to have! 

as for the substance of the arkham asylum on itself, i don’t think that scarecrow was in there a lot. but then again, maybe i just remember it this way. it is however curious how fast crane goes from campy looney to more serious, jarred person, we see in the next game. an’ his whole motivation shifts from ‘you’re just like us and have fears’ to ‘there is no saviour. no hope’. almost like he was very, very let down, when batman failed to save him that one time lol. but considering that arkhamverse kept jonathan’s comic origin, it’s safe to assume that yeah, he took that very-very personally. he isn’t the joker, who kinda never brings up how many times, batman casually let him ‘die’. the btas alone has like 3 occasions like that lmao. meanwhile, jon went into a scornful cold rage, after just one epic fail, which, at the end of the day, is very him lol. the drugged up bat didn’t save him, that’s it. no one’s supremacy, fuck gotham. an’ i’m only partly jeering here. 

which leads us straight to to arkham knight version, an’ to bruce instantly going up there an’ choking the living hell out of jon, the second he sees him. what a reunion! esp with that whole head hitting an’ throwing crane onto floor, like a ragdoll. batman just had to assert his dominance, even when jonathan barely opened his mouth. *bc yeah, you stay down, bottom*. i like how crane tried his hardest to be serious an’ imposing during that whole deal, but the bat just wasn't super amused. yet, like usual, he did give the scarecrow room to speak later on. allowing him to walk around him. an’ boy, gotta appreciate that ‘bad guy's sly hips play’ as scarecrow circled the bat. it was quite a vision. even with fucked up leg, he managed to pull that off. i wish there were more moments like this. they had a lot of potential for more brutal scarebat interactions, than some other versions of them. all the cues for it were there. batman was hallucinating a ghost of a dead clown, who wouldn’t shut up about whatever, an’ jonathan was all about his ‘end goal’, not caring what he had to do to get to it. what an explosive combo. i was low-key surprised, that bruce didn’t wipe the floor with crane just out of pure frustration, an’ then some. an’ considering how fucked up they both are in that version, it wouldn’t put it past the ghost!joker to suggest they’d do smth else with crane, if batman is unwilling to kill him. there is actually a lot of leeway, with bruce blaming some stuff on his personal brain damage, while joker just keeps on pouring gasoline into the fire. i even had this one idea about the joker playing a horrible matchmaker just to make everyone even more miserable, but mostly just bruce. all while not expecting crane to be able to return the sentiment in his own messed up manner. 

an’ speaking of sentiment, i do think that it can be here as well. it’ll be buried under layers an’ layers of pseudo-resentment, but that’s like typical scarebat. no one ever talk about their real emotions in that ship lol. well, not in a normal way. in arkham knight, i suppose the joker can be a narrator of bruce an’ crane’s relationships. not missing a beat to tell them *well, bruce* how much they suck. an’ he won’t even be wrong, batman abandoning some of his duties, bc well, this. an’ crane as per usual getting confused by feelings, that isn’t hatred or fear. they can enter those intense relationships with the worst kind of miscommunication. bc they awful at it, when they’re not super unstable *or at least one of them isn’t*, an’ now they can be godawful at it, bc batman is close to breaking point, an’ jonathan is at his bitterests an’ pettiest. crane also can assume, that he can ‘unmade’ the bat this way, all while messing up his own scheme in the process. with god’s help, they might even survive this. idk about gotham tho lol. the joker being a third wheel an’ technically a cuck in that situation just adds how messed up it all is. but maybe with jon’s ‘help’, they can deal with that problem too. i don’t think, crane would like to share in any way. i mean, he would have been pissed off, if he learned that batman had a mini-devil on his shoulder the whole time. in a way, it kinda defeats the purpose of it all. it would almost like taking all the credit from him, an’ he won’t stand for it. crane combating bruce’s personal ghosts for his own selfish, possessive needs is smth, i would have liked to see for them. jonathan accidently being a good psychiatrist to bruce is my peak scarebat dark comedy. similar to how in ‘kings of fear’, it was basically ‘i can fix him, but bitch, you’re worse’ kind of deal too. in return, bruce can try an’ help crane actually put some proper garnet for his leg on, an’ look a bit less like a sickly *even if scary-spooky-cool* animal. they can find some middle ground, even if for questionable reasons, or they can have that slow-burn from enemies to lovers thing too. heck, i mean, it’s a wonder how come that scarecrow didn’t kidnap bruce first to try an’ break him a tad more, before making gotham see ‘that they had no hope’ an’ all that. 

on less game plot related notes, i do like to play around with what can be done about jon’s state in arkham knight. like his face being all messed up, half of his body moving way more stiffly, there are a lot of things that can be done with it. an’ the parallel of batman being crippled on the inside an’ crane being pretty much this an’ then also damaged outside of it….mmm, that’s just good. also we all know that nolanverse crane moaned ‘batman’ like a whore while his hair were pulled, but what about arkham knight’s scarecrow lil gay gasps an’ whimpers, when bruce held him by the throat an’ injected him with his own toxin? if gordon an’ jason weren’t there, i wonder what might have happened lol. love scarecrow’s scared expressions in that game btw, somehow they still manage to make him look cute. 

an’ now for a bit of nitpicky bit. when i look back at arkham knight, like some other folks, i do wish there was less…joker in it. he did add some fun elements there or here, but he should have been a background segment tbh. i really wanted to see more of mindbending stuff similar to level in arkham asylum. batman ‘given into’ hallucination joker’s cheers to kill crane, even if it was all a mindfuck bit was tasteless for me. if they wanna make bruce kinda walk that route, i’d rather see him doing it by his own misgivings an’ rage. tho, i do give credit where it’s duo, crane saying ‘you’ve changed’ an’ not sounding esp thrilled about it was curious smth. 

but omg, that’s got long, haha. hope, it’s not too troublesome. i’m kinda chatty an’ rambly kind of person, esp when i talk about things i love. can’t talk short in most cases. 

thank you for the ask btw! i do enjoy talking about scarebat a lot, no matter what version. an’ i hope, that your day is going great as well! i do apologise for how late some of my responses are coming through. i tend to pick at questions for a couple of days or so, just to make sure that i kinda give it my utmost thoughts, haha. hopefully, my answer helped you to form your own vision on the matter better or gave you an idea how different / similar you see smth, when it comes to those two. 

an’ sure thing! that’s a cute symbole btw!

[neon-green-reagent]

50 Underrated Horror Films: Part 4

What in absolute hell. We made it to part 4? Well, here we go then! Oh, also, links to the other parts: One : Two : Three

Undead : Starting off with an absolute banger. This is an Australian zombie apocalypse film. If you're familiar with Ozploitation cinema, then you know how nutso it can get, and this is a perfect example of just that. The action sequences are wild crowd pleasers, and the plot twists until it nearly breaks off.

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory : I realize that sounds like porn. Just stay with me. It's a giallo! With a werewolf! For me, this was like finding the holy grail. Best of both worlds, truly. With... not the best looking werewolf, but this is an older movie, so cut it a little slack. It turns into a fun mystery with that special Italian flavor to it.

The Outwaters : Everyone was talking about Skinamarink. No one was talking about this. It has a similar conceit. To make a horror film that defies the idea of plot. It starts like your average found footage, then becomes a drug trip straight to the depths. It really does feel like witnessing a cosmic horror story where the horrors are, indeed, impossible to describe.

Tomie : This is the first of me cheating and actually recommending way more than one film. The Tomie film franchise is a series of loose adaptations of Junji Ito's manga of the same name, and there are nine at the moment. They get wild and weird, and they explore parts of Tomie that even the manga doesn't cover. Female monster! You need these in your life.

Murdercise : Low budget silliness trying to be throwback 80s and mostly just being hilarious and noticeably cheap. I love that. It's stupid and seems like the kind of movie that was a blast to make. I definitely felt like I was laughing with them and not at them, which made it feel really charming. A great one for a dumb movie night.

Zombie Death House : Zombies in jail! Directed by John Saxon who strangely didn't case himself in the lead like some vanity project. Rather he plays a character I have dubbed "Colonel Herbert West" if that sounds at all appealing. I mean, it clearly was to me.

Dead Birds : There aren't a ton of horror films that crossover with westerns, so this is a rare gem. A bunch of outlaws take refuge in a deeply disturbed location, and things get super dark.

Satan's Princess : A neo-noir detective story with supernatural evil at its core. Imagine if Angel Heart was dumber and way cheaper looking. With Robert Forster giving a really fun performance and an ending that had me laughing out loud.

Werewolf Bitches from Outer Space : Do you love Troma movies? Do you wish they were worse? Do I have the film for you! With scenes that were clearly filmed without permits. Random bystanders interfering with the production. Terrible werewolf masks. And pizza sex? It's a laugh riot.

Butterfly Kisses : A genuinely upsetting found footage movie that understands exactly how to use the urban legend format. There's a beastie out there that, if you stare at it, it will imprint on you like a baby duck. Then if you blink, it gets a little closer. Try to imagine how long you can go without blinking.

To Die For : Wanna watch a really shitty, late 80s Dracula? Here you go! It's dumber than a box of rocks. No one's motivations make any sense. Dracula seems like kind of a jerk despite being a romantic figure. But most of the actors are hotties and know the silly movie they're in, so it comes out fun in the end. Oh, and no one can agree when it came out. But rest assured I don't mean the one with Nicole Kidman.

Home for the Holidays : Made for TV Christmas slasher! Starring Sally Field. With a whole lot of family drama, which makes it feel authentically connected to the holiday. Merry Christmas! It's March. Ahem.

Welcome to Hell : Heavy metal horror strikes again. This time, a black metal band impregnates and kidnaps a groupie for their dark ritual. She escapes, but they're hot on her trail. The ending is nothing short of a religious experience. WINK.

Isolation : If Alien took place on a farm. With mutant cow fetuses. I swear, there is science that makes some sense of that. And it's not a comedy, I swear! It's actually very nasty with some wonderful body horror.

Dr. Crippen : Based on a real crime of passion and clearly cashing in on the Psycho craze. It's a strange one to recommend, because it's based on a true event, and the movie leans pretty hard in the bad doctor's favor. But it's worth it if you're a fan of Donald Pleasence. He gets to be his strange, little self and also be the star for once.

Tamara : What a mid-2000s romp this is. A good girl gets treated like garbage and goes bad in a witchy-demon-spell kinda way. Jenna Dewan as Tamara is perfect in every way. Gives me the gay.

Dark Harvest : Don't be like "oh, I've heard of that, didn't that just come out last year?" Yep, and everyone ignored it. When it was pretty fucking great. Set in a cursed town that openly sacrifices their kids to a fantastic monster by the name of Sawtooth Jack. His head is full of candy. Like. Go watch it.

Night Screams : Regional 80s slasher where a guy dies getting his face grilled. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't have killed him. And there are like three killers by the end? Did it before Scream, just saying. Enjoy the vibes on this one.

The Third Saturday in October Part Five and Part One : Speaking of slashers. These low budget gems came out last year, and there was a cute, little gimmick to it. You're supposed to watch five, then one. It simulates growing up pre-internet. You walk into the video store, and all they have is part five. You decide to rent it, even though you've never seen the first one. Then a week later, you find one. This really worked for me. Gave me nostalgic feelings. Please, if you watch them, try it this way.

The Vampire Doll : What if Japan made a Hammer film? Well, here it is. With one of my favorite tropes: a super cute couple investigates the horrors!

Night Feeder : Genuinely the best shot-on-video horror film I've ever seen. It actually fooled me. I thought I was watching a bad VHS rip, but no, this was not shot on film. It's stylish, clearly better than you'd expect, weird, dark, and has a really bad rock band in it.

Older Gods : Low budget and full of heart and also Lovecraftian horrors. If you're reading this and care, to me it felt as if someone wrote an original story around Azathoth. Which is cool, because no one ever uses him in anything. Also, if you're like, "so what does that mean?" It means that reality is up for debate in this one.

Cheerleader Camp : One of those that people clamor for when you talk about movies that still need a proper physical media release. I see why. It's extremely fun with its tongue lodged in its cheek. It uses every slasher trope and laughs hysterically while doing so.

Below : I love my underwater horror, and this delivers wonderfully. Haunted submarine, dude. But honestly, that wasn't the scariest part. The plot was cool, and I enjoyed the mystery, yeah yeah. But more to the point, everything that can go wrong... does. Imagine being trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a giant, metal coffin. BRR!

The Werewolf and the Yeti : How many werewolf movies are on this list? Uh, shut up. As I was saying, this is great. Paul Naschy brings a massively enjoyable werewolf flick our way again. With all his swashbuckling charm. By the time the yeti shows up, so much awesome shit had happened that I forgot he was supposed to fight a yeti. I mean...

Subspecies : And how many vampire movies are on this list? SHUT UP I SAID. Anyway. Another where I mean the whole series. All of them. Radu, the main villain, is a joy. Michelle's story arc is super dramatic and full of that Interview with the Vampire angst. Special mention to the second film, which goes all out with the gore effects.

The Hills Run Red : A horror movie about horror movies. A lost film has gained a cult following, and a bunch of dumb college kids decide to track it down. You can guess how that goes. William Sadler steals the entire movie when he shows up. Babyface also has iconic slasher energy.

Abby : This one's underrated because the filmmakers got sued by the guys that made The Exorcist and lost. This is essentially the black version of The Exorcist, and it's so good that I'm depressed we'll never get a great release of it. Carol Speed is amazing as Abby. William Marshall, Blacula himself, is in it. Track this down and get mad about it with me.

The Appointment : What the hell is this. Even I'm not sure. Edward Woodward crashes his car. I mean, I don't know what else to say about it. The film ramps up the tension and dread until a ridiculously Rube Goldberg thing happens, and you have to experience it.

Frostbiter : Another of those movies made with ten cents and a lot of gumption. A bunch of people wanted to make Evil Dead II, and so they did that. They even put an Evil Dead II poster in the cabin they filmed in, so that you wouldn't even wonder about what inspired it. Also, special mention to the chili song.

Hell's Highway : Have you ever seen a movie that was really cheap and goofy, but you could see EXACTLY how it would've looked if they'd just had the money? This is that movie. Every special effect fails. Everything's so awkward and odd. But you can tell what they MEANT for it to be. So bad it's good and then some.

Dance of the Damned : Vampire. Sorry. So this one is about a vampire who wishes he could stop living eternally, because it sucks to live that long and be so alone. He finds a sex worker who is also feeling like she wishes things would just end, and they share their pain with each other. Way better than it has any right to be, mullet and all.

The Werewolf of Washington : Werewolf. I really am sorry. Dean Stockwell plays a truly adorable werewolf. And nothing about it is meant to be taken seriously at all. Gives An American Werewolf in London a run for its money in the goober department.

The Curse of Kazuo Umezu : From the man who brought you The Drifting Classroom comes... this! It's a pair of strange tales. One about a vampire, fuck, I'm sorry. And one about a haunted house that even the narrator can't figure out what's going on. Horror anime!

Lo : A young man has recently lost his love. She was dragged to hell. That old chestnut. So he summons a demon named Lo to try to get her back. With a twist that'll make you go, wait, I thought this was a comedy?

The Spider Labyrinth : This one recently got a really nice release, and I'm so glad, because it's bonkers. A young fella is sent to Budapest to find a lost professor. Instead he finds a cult. Uh oh.

End of the Line : Apocalypse horror that turns your brain inside out just a bit. A religious cult has decided it's the end of the world, and they start executing innocents so they'll "go to heaven." Are they brainwashed or is the world actually ending? You decide!

Off Balance AKA Phantom of Death : Just barely a Phantom of the Opera riff. A pianist discovers he has a rare genetic disorder that threatens to cut his career short. Also, he's kinda losing it. Starring Michael York, Donald Pleasence, Edwige Fenech, directed by Ruggero Deodato, oh my GOD!

The Lure : Killer mermaids. Well, sirens. Kind of a mix. It's also a musical. And about how awful the entertainment industry is for young women. It's also super gory, and they eat people. Truly little else out there is like this.

Redneck Zombies : What do you want me to say? It's a Troma film. It's called... that. I'm pointing. I'm pointing at the title. That's the movie. Just... Right? Yeah?

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats : Another of those gialli that is really just And Then There Were None. But the nice part is that Italy likes to get more sexual, violent, and fucking awful than Agatha Christie ever dreamed. This one also takes place in an old theater, so the vibes are choice.

Mary Reilly : I always include at least one entry in these lists that begs the question, "how did this become underrated?" And obscure, that too. When it's a Jekyll and Hyde retelling with an emphasis on the gothic and lush, starring Julia Roberts and John Malkovich? By the way, I heard people hated it because of Roberts' terrible Irish accent. Damn, dude, I've heard way worse, fake accents than that. Anyway, this is fantastic. Watch it.

The Forest : One of those slashers where I thought I understood what I was getting into, but I did not. There's a man living in the woods who went postal on his cheating wife one day. The ghosts of his family are also haunting the woods. And he's a cannibal who feeds a guy his own girlfriend. I need other people to watch this so that I can be assured it was real.

Autopsy (2008) : I put a year, because there are around 800 horror films with that title. To further narrow it down, it's the one where Robert Patrick plays basically Herbert West fused with Mr. Freeze, and Jenette Goldstein is his nurse, and they chase a bunch of college kids around for science. Kind of a pitch black comedy with torture porn aspects, and I loved it.

Glorious : A guy gets trapped in a public restroom, which is horrifying enough. Then a cosmic horror god starts talking to him from a bathroom stall. He gives him the assignment of helping to stop the end of the world. The god is J.K. Simmons, and the whole thing is a delightful bottle movie.

Nightmare Detective : From the director that brought you Tetsuo: The Iron Man... Do I have your attention? Comes the Japanese Nightmare on Elm Street! That's oversimplifying, but that is my elevator pitch. It involves all sorts of dream powers and psychic battles that will blow your socks off.

House of Lost Souls : Directed by Umberto Lenzi, which means it feels as doobery as Ghosthouse. It's about a hotel desperate to decapitate you, and it has the silliest dialogue and acting known to man. Special mention to psychic powers being cited as a "rational explanation."

The Cleansing Hour : A priest who livestreams fake exorcisms has to rumble with a real demon. Super fun character piece where a conman has to look his sins dead in the eye. Truly obsessed with this one. Also, super fun demon effects. With Kyle Gallner, everyone's favorite scream king.

Deathrow Gameshow : What if Airplane was super violent? Or The Running Man was a dumb comedy? This hits the sweetest spot, where the humor is idiotic and the violence is cartoonishly nasty. This will speak to the sort of person, like myself, who wants their comedy to be indigestible for most audience goers.

Double Blind : This is a very recent release. A diverse group take part in a double blind drug test. Things go so extremely bad. I won't give anything away, because part of the fun is the unfolding chaos.

I can't believe I managed to do that again. Enjoy! I hope you find some new favorites from this list.