#GAH there's so many things in this episode alone
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The Sounds of Nightmares unofficial transcript
Chapter 1 - The Workers in the Walls
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[Click]
[Shifting, Otto clears his throat]
Otto: Yesterday evening marked my first true session with the girl. Signs of significant disorder are greater than I initially thought. Her imagination is… vast. But one phrase in particular has become an earworm of sorts.
[Click, this time of a tape being inserted]
Recording of Noone: “He was right in front of me breathing hard… That’s what I remember most. The awful smell, like when sausage goes bad.”
[Click, the tape stops]
Otto: Scent while dreaming is a rarity. An indication of sensory transcendence. She may be a fine candidate for a neurological study… but her health must come first. [Sigh] There are undoubtedly other details I missed in her recount.
Otto: [Deep breath] From the top, then. [The tape begins to rewind] Sleep be damned tonight.
[Intro plays]
[Click]
Otto: This is the Counselor. Herein are my preliminary case notes for tape #54, session #1, patient #1220… [mumbling] referring to children by numbers… [deep breath, normal] Our relationship goes beyond mere ethics, so I can leave that practice to the heartless quacks on the upper floors. But to remain professional, I’ll use a moniker the girl has given herself… Noone. (A/N: pronounced like noon)
[quiet tapping as a drink is poured]
Otto: Noone has been in CPI care for a fortnight. Given her rather remarkable medical history, her mental state seems relatively unremarkable. [stirring his drink] She finds herself in my ward due to worsening, though not recurring, nightly afflictions. Parasomnia isn’t uncommon among patients; not to imply she’s unworthy of treatment, only that there are others worse off.
[Otto shifts in his seat and sips his drink before setting it down]
Otto: Noone also displays signs of mild trauma. As such, Nightmare Disorder is possible. Given her diffidence, the focus for this session is to build rapport. I’m hopeful Noone will open up and we’ll learn what lies inside that little head.
[Ceramic clicking, Otto says “Oh!” at the sound of papers being knocked over. More ceramic, the audio cuts]
[A door closes]
Otto: Take the big chair, Noone. Sit, lie, saddle it like a horse, whatever you please.
[Otto pulls out paper as Noone sits down. The chair creaks]
[quiet jazz starts to play]
Otto: How’s that?
Noone: …fine I guess.
Otto: [Walking to his chair] That look on your face says there’s more on your mind.
Noone: It’s… it’s like the music I used to hear through the walls. In our old apartment. Before we moved into the fancy house.
Otto: Would you like to talk about that? Your old apartment?
Noone: No, counselor.
Otto: Alright. An easier question to start. How are you feeling today?
Noone: …Bit sad.
Otto: For any reason in particular?
Noone: …Um… the red flower… mum and dad left. It went all wrinkled. I tried lifting a petal and… it broke off. But, then I saw why- little crawlies, everywhere underneath the dirt.
Otto: Aphids? How unpleasant. [shift] Must be hard, here all alone. That wasn’t just a flower to you, was it?
Noone: No, counselor.
Otto: Y-Your parents only want you to feel like you again. And we’ll see to that! One day at a time.
[Otto writes something]
Otto: Have you been sleeping?
Noone: Yes, counselor.
Otto: Call me Otto. Sleeping well?
Noone: …Yes.
Otto: Noone? This is a place of honesty. The truth, please.
Noone: …Fine. Middle of the night, I keep waking.
Otto: And are you perspiring?
Noone: …um…
Otto: Sweating?
Noone: Oh. Uh, yes. And, my heart beats like there’s a- pecking bird in my chest.
Otto: Did these nightmares coincide with the onset of your sickness?
Noone: No. O-only after.
Otto: And, do you remember your nightmares or do they disappear come morning?
Noone: I remember. Everything.
Otto: [pause, shifting] …Would you be alright to tell me about them? Now, or, later?
Noone: Yes. Um… The one I had last night, it’s still here. The feeling. But, may I have some juice? My head’s light, and mum says it helps.
Otto: (amused) I’m not sure that’s true. Regardless, you may.
[audio cuts]
[audio resumes. Noone is sipping a juice box.]
Otto: I see you eyeing my painting. I’ve had it since I was a boy. “The Zahir’s Gaze”, it’s titled.
Noone: Why is it so- blurry?
Otto: It’s a hidden image. The trick is to unfocus your eyes. Try it!
[short pause]
Otto: There! Can you make it out now?
Noone: …no.
Otto: I’ve got an idea. Keep your eyes on the painting- let your mind wander. Meanwhile, you can tell me your dream! If you’ve finished your juice.
Noone: [sipping] I have.
Otto: From the beginning, then.
[pause]
Noone: …It started when I woke up. Somewhere I didn’t belong.
Otto: Describe this place, please.
Noone: Everything was white. Only slowly I realized snow was falling on a field. The view was peaceful looking out from so high up. Like I was… one. With the cold.
Otto: You felt this cold?
Noone: Not like the counties in winter, but, more like watching someone who is chilled. Around me, but not… in me.
[the music quietly stops. Ambience for the dream begins]
Noone: I turned away from the window, which was only a hole in the stone wall of the curved passageway, that stretched on a long ways. This- odd feeling, told me to get up. But I couldn’t stand because the ceiling was so low. I crawled ahead and… if not for the tiniest bit of light I would have fallen. Another passageway appeared on the floor. Its edges throbbing in the dark. Suddenly I- I heard a clinking from below.
Noone: That same feeling told me I was lost inside a giant. A huge one made out of stone, and the only way out was to keep going through its veins. I climbed into the pitch dark,
[Dream!Noone gasps, the sound of sliding plays]
Noone: And immediately began sliding down the icy wetness, going and going, faster and faster. I thought the slide would never end and just- and-
[Dream!Noone grunts as she hits the ground. The sliding stops]
Noone: It shot me out.
Otto: …Did it hurt?
Noone: …Not like when you fall for real.
[footsteps]
Noone: I can see what it is now! The painting! A-a tiger, and two moons.
Otto: That’s not quite right.
[Noone walks back]
Noone: (with interest) I’ve never seen a tiger before.
Otto: Keep trying! Remember to unfocus. Continue, as you wish.
[pause]
Noone: An orange glowing came from a candle. But the light didn’t reach the room’s corners. A tiny hole had been cut out of the stone beside me. “The snow,” I thought. “How nice it would be to watch fall again.” I look through, but there was no snow. [ambience picks up] Only a room, brimming with glass jars. Light danced through them, coming from a doorway on the opposite side. Until… a figure stepped through it.
Noone: This HUGE man. Wore a long coat and fishing hat. His face kind of… dripped as he watched me. Then he was gone. W- He was an.... I-I can’t remember. It’s the only thing I can’t remember.
Otto: Could it have been someone you know, your father perhaps?
Noone: (immediately) No. This man doesn’t belong to our world.
Otto: I don’t quite follow.
Noone: That’s just the feeling he gave.
Otto: You keep mentioning this “feeling”. Can you try to explain?
Noone: You can’t understand! Not unless you were there- you just can’t!
Otto: It’s alright, Noone. We don’t have to talk about him. Relax. Breathe.
[Noone takes 3 exaggerated, slow breaths]
[ambience gets slightly louder. It’s faint, clicking machinery]
Noone: Turning from the hole, I spotted an exit on the far wall. That’s where the clinking was the loudest. I started towards it, when a shadow ran out from the corner, that of a child. I shouted “Hey!”
[Dream!Noone: Hey! Where are we?]
Noone: “Where are we?” But, quiet as a mouse, he climbed through the pulsing exit. And carelessly I followed.
[Dream!Noone grunts as she hops through the exit]
[Machinery gets louder]
Noone: The room over was bigger. And the child was gone. All over the walls and floors, were more pulsing passages. Like living ant tunnels. All kinds of springs laid about, and little oil cans and strange tools.
[Dream!Noone gasps]
Noone: Suddenly, footsteps. Approaching, matching the rhythm of the clinking. [sound of a wooden crate] Knowing I didn’t belong I hid behind a wooden box.
[a hoard of small footsteps alongside the machinery]
Noone: Peeking up, I saw other small shadows entering the room. They step by each other silently. Most passed into different doors, but two stayed behind, searching for the springs. They were not children. Not at all. Even in dim light they remain shadows. Things not quite there, as if forgotten, not wanting to be seen.
[Things clicking, cracking, and moving around]
Noone: They held nasty tools and… their empty faces showed they weren’t very bright. Both stood, looked down a passageway… and jumped.
[Dream!Noone gets up and follows them]
Noone: With nowhere to go I did the same, climbing to the platform below.
[Dream!Noone lands. The machinery is even louder now]
Noone: I finally saw what was making all that noise. Golden, spinning wheels. Fat ones, small ones, skinny ones, and they went down so deep I couldn’t see the end! I didn’t know what they were until that faraway feeling came back and told me.
Noone: They were gears. With- teeth which locked perfectly into one another, clicking on and on in a song that never stopped. There were a hundred-hundred of the dull little shadows, working to keep the mechanisms going. Felt… without their doing, the gears would surely stop. And the giant would break apart stone-by-stone... But as I leaned over the edge, distracted, my foot must’ve knocked a wrench.
[a quick clink. Dream!Noone gasps]
[the wrench falls a long way down]
Noone: All the shadows stared up. And a few begin climbing my way. They move separately, but… as one. [Dream!Noone breathing quickly] I panicked and tucked between a set of levers, in the tight space my dress got caught [Dream!Noone grunts] on the tooth of a massive gear, pulled me up and around until my dress tore [tearing fabric, Dream!Noone yelping] shooting me onto a pipe below, where I lost my grip only to hit another platform.
[Dream!Noone lands, breathing heavily]
Noone: The shadows stopped chasing me, working again as… the yank* took the piece of my dress, now stuck between two gears, causing all the others to slow.
Noone: While they were bothered, I took the chance to escape.
[Dream!Noone running, machinery fades out]
Noone: The wall in front of me went… went down and around, f-forever and ever. Along with the mechanisms. I grabbed onto a rod, sliding on, when a big creak [metal groan] groaned above, and the gears went right back to singing their song.
[machinery starts again]
Noone: The ripped fabric floated down before me, passing by a tiny crack in the stone. Painful cries came through it. [faint echoey scream] I shouldn’t have wanted to know what was on the other side, but… I did.
[more screaming]
Noone: A small room with chains covering the floor. And 3 identical nun-like dresses, freshly pressed, hanging by a bed. Then, the chains jangled [Chains jingling, man gasping], and my heart stopped. [Man groans] A frail body slumped against the wall, a chain around his neck. He was right in front of me breathing hard… That’s what I remember most. The awful smell, like when sausage goes bad.
Otto: Hold on a minute, Noone. [Noone gasps. Ambience suddenly stops] You distinctly smelt his breath?
Noone: Not his breath. Him. So rotten, it still stings my nose now.
Otto: How certain are you?
Noone: You told me to tell the truth, no? I am.
[Otto quickly writing]
Noone: Do you still want to hear the rest of my nightmare?
[Otto still writing]
Noone: Otto?
Otto: Hm? O-oh. Apologies. My mind was divided, and that’s not fair to you.
Noone: [quiet sigh] Anyways.
Noone: Looking through that crack, I realized something. (whisper) I was inside the walls. Like a rat. On the other side was an entire world. (normal) And everything got… w-worse from there.
[very quiet ticking]
Noone: Lower and lower I climbed until I had gone- down so deep, that there was nothing but steam and darkness. And louder ticking, back, and forth. Back, and forth. Wanting to give up I sat listening.
[ticking is more noticeable]
Noone: I’d nearly fallen asleep, when suddenly a small shape crawled out from inside the wall below. “Another Worker came for me,” I thought. But… when they looked up… I saw their eyes. A child. For certain, this time. And… their hair was covered in goo, which made it hard to tell if they were a boy or a girl. Still, I climbed down, full of energy.
[Dream!Noone climbing down]
Noone: Nearly the amount I used to have.
Noone: We stood in silence, a moment. Stuck in their hair was… black liquid moving like smoke.
Noone: “What’s in your-” [Dream!Noone at the same time] I started, [child shushing] but they put a hand over my mouth. Not until they pointed at the wall, did I understand why. Its another crack, led to yet another chamber.
[Dream!Noone and child walking over. Metallic hammering starts up]
Noone: It was a hideous workshop. All around were… half-made… projects? Built from wood and metal, with all kinds of straps and cranks. Their shapes made my chest tighten. A collection of… masks was- on the shelves with screws and spikes on them, positioned to fit perfectly into a mouth!
Noone: A tall woman bent over a new project, [faint humming] wearing a familiar dress. Long heavy chains coming out under its tail. [Chains scraping, more humming] She moaned, enjoying herself. I could feel she’d been at it for hours. Her presence alone told that she was the keeper of this stone giant. Of the world beyond the walls.
Noone: Turning to a pile of scraps… I saw her face. Equally… old and young, and her s-skin stretched back so tight that… only her eyes seemed human. I wanted so badly to know what she was building, and to scream all the same…
Noone: But before I could do either my new friend pulled me away. They pointed up.
Noone: From between the planks, a shadow studied us. The child pulled my arm but it was already too late. The Worker leapt down besides me, inspecting my body like a tool, reaching out with its wrench. The child pushed me away, [the sound of burning] letting a sliver of light shine out from the workshop to hit the shadow. Faster than fast, it tucked back into darkness, [sound stops] desperate to keep hidden.
[pause]
Otto: Noone, why have you stopped?
Noone: I’m thinking. …The next bit is hard to describe. The nightmare- it shifted.
[ambience picks up, earlier sound of machinery]
Noone: Steam reached around us. And we came to a place at the bottom of the gears. Between the walls.
[whoosh, tick]
[whoosh, tock]
[whoosh, tick]
Noone: In front of us, a long pendulum whooshed back and forth.
[whoosh, tick]
[whoosh, tock]
Noone: My friend grabbed hold as it swung by. I let it go past one, [tick], two, [tock], three times before finding the courage to do the same. We climbed as the pendulum rocked left and right, making my head dizzy. “Just a little more,” I repeated to myself, until my friend reached out a hand to pull me up.
[Both Dream!Noone and child grunt as she’s pulled up]
Noone: We’d made it. Finally, the center of the clock. The room was round with a spiral staircase, and a machine made of little metallic fingers, tapping a violent rhythm.
Noone: The ceiling was a white- clock face, but… all the numbers were wrong.
Noone: We immediately ran up the stairs [footsteps] and at the top, we stepped out into a courtyard.
[Dream!Noone and child breathing, stepping on grass. Machinery and ticking fades out]
Noone: My body began shaking as I heard them. [Faint screaming] Shouts and shrieks of pain. All I could do was stare up at the circular walls, which I had just been inside. This was the true building. There were a million rooms like the second one I peered into, all the way up, with- hands and limbs reaching out from between the bars that kept them locked in. My heart pounded like one of them. A Prisoner, trying to get free.
[Screaming and shrieking continues]
Noone: I shouted “Wait, please!”
[Dream!Noone: Wait! Please!]
Noone: But my friend was across the courtyard. Then, a jingling. The tall woman jumped down from above [jingling, thump] and with thumping steps, she went after my friend. A chain leapt out beneath her dress, like a snake. It caught their leg and the woman dragged the child through the snow, kicking and yelling.
[child struggling]
Noone: My friend scared to tears [child: Help!] yelled for help, and the woman spotted me. She began plodding my way and fear froze my feet. Getting closer and closer and all I could think was “Who brought me here, and why was I made to know these secrets?!” [chains jangling]
Noone: With skin so tight her mouth opened only a sliver with blackened teeth inside, hungry for something! …Something that swelled inside me.
[all ambience cuts off]
Noone: …Then I woke up.
Otto: …That’s… awful, Noone. I’m sorry. The woman in particular sounds… disturbing.
Noone: Yes. But, she didn’t scare me most. Not after I woke up. It was the Workers.
Otto: Hm… because they were mindless?
Noone: No. Because they were hidden. Nobody knew they existed… that’s how I feel sometimes. Since getting the water sickness, (increasing distress) as if things are in my body but instead of making me tick they’re killing me, like the bugs in the flower pot- Ugh, I can feel them in my head!!!
Otto: Noone. Listen to me. I’ll do everything within the limits of my command to help you, but there’s nothing bad inside you. Nothing.
Noone: …um…alright.
Otto: [pause] I have… one more question, and I think it’s enough for your first day, okay?
Noone: Okay.
Otto: Noone, have you ever heard of mutual dreaming?
Noone: Mutual dreaming?
Otto: Sharing the… experience with another person.
Noone: How could what’s in my head be in someone else’s head? And who would I share it with?
Otto: Questions that have hounded my outer colleagues for years. Your perception of temperature and smell while dreaming is sometimes thought to be an indicator of this transpersonal phenomenon. While I’m not convinced of its ontological validity, I’ve longed to study a case like yours. Unfortunately- I’ve only known one other person to exhibit this faculty, years ago-
Noone: Who? Were they like me?
Otto: …My… (quietly) beloved Cici**... uh- not quite. In any case, my ambitions fell off, I… I lost sight, of… many things. But you’ve stimulated a part of me nearly forgotten.
Noone: Oh. I think I see it now, Otto.
Otto: Yes! That’s right! We’re in this together.
Noone: No. The painting.
Otto: Oh.
Noone: It’s a map. Of stars and two circles around it.
Otto: Yes! Good! An astrolabe, in fact.
Noone: Astrolabe?
Otto: An ancient instrument, used to locate positions in time and space. Now, surely, you’re exhausted-
Noone: I don’t want to go to my room. To sleep. Will… will you walk me back?
Otto: Of course! And we can’t forget your nightly confectionary. [the sound of wrappers] Here now, take your pick.
[Wrapper crinkling]
Otto: Sweets for my sweet.
[ceramic clinking]
[click]
[Outro plays]
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*It's a little hard to tell what word she says here
**I have no idea if this is how it's spelled
#little nightmares#the sounds of nightmares#tson#ln podcast#transcript#ln otto#ln noone#otto#noone#GAH there's so many things in this episode alone#Noone choosing the name here herself and clearly being No one.....#The warden/torturer lady wearing a ''familiar'' dress#Whatever the Ferryman was up to#AAAA there's so much to see here!!!!!!!!#Anywho hopefully this transcript helps people know what happens in the episode!!!#the sounds of nightmares transcript
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Rise Future Leo is so important to me
I just. It's just.
Like on the first watch through it sticks out a lot how much he's changed. But the thing is the thing is
"Hope is a ninja's greatest weapon" and then young Leo being like "ooh new catchphrase" like I know it's a time travel joke but listen. He lost everything. His entire family, his entire city, literally even parts of his body, and ultimately his entire timeline. Do you know how much grief can change a person fundamentally? Do you realize how hard it is to hang onto the little things that used to make you happy? Sometimes you just have to find new little things, and let go of who you used to be. Sometimes that's better.
But the fact that after every one of these losses, for all the things he let go of, Leo held onto his one-liners and catchphrases--I can't I can't he's so. Like the strength that takes? The deliberate choice that had to be? And the way he's using it more maturely to lift others up instead of to mask his insecurities, but also the way it's both and has always been both. GAH
And it's just it's just like. It really emphasizes the strengths that Leo had in the show all along, because. At first when I first watched the movie, I felt like they kinda nerfed his character? Why is he acting all irresponsible, sure he presents that way but rise Leo usually is actually pretty careful and aware of himself. Like especially his family's safety. But then it makes so much sense because he's just been given all this responsibility and he's trying to figure out how to deal with that.
And it's the moments. It's. When he says something or looks at someone and infuses that hope into them, like he's literally handing them a weapon. It happens in the show too (Donnie in the basketball episode comes to mind, and of course the classic "where are my brothers"), but the movie really builds to focus on those moments. And that's so very at the core of what makes a character Leonardo. It's that reservoir of inner strength that he learns how to share.
That ability to hang onto hope when it doesn't make any sense, and then persuade others to feel it. 87's corniness and charging into all kinds of dangerous situations, 03's sappy speeches and dangerous level of trust in everyone ever, the way 12 grows from pushing and demanding to encouraging and believing. Even 07 Leo, the Worst from what we saw of him--it's the changes in Donnie and Mikey when they see him again that make me believe that guy is in there. He's been the one putting hope in their hands when they couldn't find it anywhere else and that's why they felt so betrayed and abandoned. Splinter literally says to Donnie "if you cannot learn to recognize [where your brothers are weak and how to be strong for them], all hope is lost for our family." Honestly I think Raph is the only one, including April and Casey, who actually did keep that weapon in his hand after Leo left. He's the one who still believes he can save the city, ya know? And maybe also never really gave up on Leo coming back, which is why he also couldn't let go of the anger that it took so long.
It's like this okay: hope is a sword, love is a shield. It's Leo and Raph. Hope and Love bro ❤️🩵
And the Rise turtles brought this into focus because of how they flipped around some of their superficial traits.
I don't know you guys the fact that 'you are not alone' became Raph's big moment and 'hope is a ninja's greatest weapon' became Leo's just makes me insane a little bit. I don't think my brain was designed for this many emotions.
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Hazbin Hotel Live Blog: Welcome to Heaven
Coming back I found I did enjoy the last episode far more than I did the others. It obviously suffers from who the director is, but I could still see the more competent writer underneath certain portions of the episode. This one is written by Adam Stein who was credited for six episodes of Harley Quinn, a series I admittedly do not particularly care for. I wouldn’t consider the series bad and I enjoy scenes more than the whole, but its clear that Hazbin and much of Medrano’s writing ideas are in many ways ripped off from Harley Quinn far more than Bojack Horseman. To be frank, if Medrano had stuck her comparison to Harley Quinn, I doubt she would be criticized nearly as much as she is for her writing. I know, for myself, if she had compared her shows to Harley Quinn and never once breathed in the direction of Bojack Horseman, I wouldn’t have ever been motivated to even criticize this series. I think a comparison to Harley Quinn is fair, it is an objectively worse version of Harley Quinn, but it is better suited to the style and audience of that show far and above something of high art and value like Bojack. Harley Quinn is simply not my tastes, I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but even with a gun to my head I could never in good faith consider it good. It’s better than Hazbin and Helluva Boss, but its also a fairer comparison.
Vaggie adds “gah” to her line about being a liar in the most painful way. While they obviously paid Stephanie the most, they in no way paid her enough to care. It was physically written into the script and it highlights how little the actress actively participated in the series. She didn’t even try to make it sound natural, she doesn’t care for the character she is playing and she doesn’t care whether or not we know.
It makes no sense that Angel Dust is still working for Valentino. He could just stay in the hotel and ignore Val’s calls and texts like we have actively seen him do. So it’s like he hates working for Val, does so under duress and due to a contract on his soul, but Charlie is the princess of Hell whom Valentino openly stated he was threatened by and her hotel and patrons are under the protection of Lucifer who aligned himself with Charlie and her goals…. Just don’t go? There is Vaggie, Charlie, Lucifer and even Alastor who are more than capable of handling someone like Valentino on their own, let alone as a united front. Why is this still happening?
The physical comedy falls flat. Cheri grabs Sir Pentious’ hand and it cracks and is all mangled like it is broken, but he has zero response to it. The humor requires there to be a reaction to the level of violence displayed. Having not even a minor one means the sequence may as well not have happened, and it frankly feels like an excuse to just say Alex Brightman was in the episode and have him say as many lines as possible regardless of whether or not he should. I genuinely don’t understand why this character is even in Hell. Who is he as a person? Just why?
Sera says she only green-lit the exterminations so that Hell didn’t act up, and places the blame on Adam for Lucifer getting involved. But then she just… keeps letting Adam do what he’s doing, which is what caused her to feel threatened like this in the first place. So essentially “This is all your fault because of the things you’ve done. So keep doing them.” I don’t even get why Sera or any of Heaven feels this way about Hell. I assume Sera knows Charlie’s plans about redemption, but she seems threatened by it? When in reality treating Heaven like a prize for sinners seems like a logical way of cooperating with Hell and even maintaining civil relations.
Also, can I just point out how the character designs really fail to send any sort of message. Alastor, Niffty, Velvette, Carmella and her daughters, Rosie, and Mimzy are hyper humanoid demons in a Hell where non-human designs make up a majority of the cast and the distorted, abstract and animalistic designs in Hell make sense, whereas Heaven is mostly humanoid with random demonic designs walking around. It fails to send a message as well as just makes Heaven and Hell entirely the same. It fails to really sell the idea that Heaven is in any way better than Hell. Honestly, demons should have less human designs and appear more twisted and deformed. Heaven should have prioritized humanoid figures. Especially seeing as Medrano with a heritage in Latin America and Catholicism would know that the idea of Christianity she is supposedly criticizing emphasizes that humans were made “in the image” of god and angels. It also sets up an idea of one’s soul being cleansed by having this “godly” form. Mixing in furry designs at the same rate as Hell collapses any argument for media literacy or messaging being made.
Welcome to Heaven as a song is the best song of the show thus so far. It is the One Short Day of Hazbin, a vapid superficial scene-setting song that isn’t meant to further the characters, just the plot, and it actually succeeds. I’m not amazed by it, never would i play it for enjoyment reasons, but it works for the role it plays and is the only song that does so well.
Adam is telling Vaggie her own backstory, my favorite bad writing trope.
Additionally, I thought heavenly weapons were the only thing that could harm an angel. But Lute just rips off Vaggie’s wings with her bare hands. It really confuses the world when you don’t even keep to your own rules.
In the previous episode, Charlie says the hotel isn’t “working”, this episode has Adam demanding “evidence”. The lack of understanding what Charlie is looking for when she says Progress is never defined. On one hand she says Angel Dust is making progress, but just the last episode said that the hotel wasn’t actually helping anyone. Even at the start of the episode we don’t see any change in Angel Dust, just that he’s sad. He still swears performs sex work, is rude and crude, and at no point has his situation with drug addiction been addressed in any way. I can appreciate not wishing to say someone performing sex work is committing sin. As well as the implication that how one holds themself is unimportant to Heaven. But I think everyone can agree that drug addiction and abuse is harmful to those in the addiction and those who care for them. And also, it is extremely difficult to break. Drug addiction would be an excellent analogy for sin and breaking it would work as a parallel for redemption easily. So why is it the one thing you had going for you in way of themes and a show of progress and character growth we’ve never actually even addressed. In fact, Loser Baby enables the idea that Angel Dust’s use of drugs is fine because he’s a loser anyway. Just give up on yourself. So when this episode inevitably implies that Angel has actually been making progress on that front, it’ll make no sense.
That happened a whole lot sooner than I thought it would. And it being Husk saying he thought Angel was “Better than that” really does make his whole message in Loser Baby hypocritical. Him being the one to judge others on how they cope, offloading his hypocrisy on the excuse “I’m not trying to get to heaven”, but then still performs the emotionally abusive tactic of publicly and maliciously shaming is partner into a form of compliance. And this is the romantic relationship I’m supposed to be going nuts over? Even in the case where one can argue he is doing it from a place of concern, he has never once cared about Angel’s drug use in the series. It has never been mentioned in any detail of it being harmful. It is literally placed on the same level as his hypersexuality in the song Loser Baby, which we are supposed to wave away as not being harmful because he enjoys it. The line is he “samples” every sex toy and drug. This is just the Alastor must be lying because nothing makes sense argument, except its the world that doesn’t make sense and thus nothing can be trusted and the suspension of disbelief and the act of world building is inherently gone. This isn’t even a story at this point. It is merely a bunch of drawings doing things for nearly half an hour because time is money, and Medrano likes money.
I feel the setup isn’t too bad. It’s the story of Job, which, yes, you should use the material you are criticizing if you are actually seeking to criticize it (whether or not Medrano’s is even attempting a critique on Christianity is hugely up to debate, but that’s not for this kind of post). It’s Lucifer in the Bible coming to the court of god and saying he’s been on earth observing the humans. He claims humans would never worship god if not for god incentivizing them through blessings and so god is like, “bet, do your worst”. Except, in the Bible story it shows god’s callousness. He allows Job to suffer and gives permission to Lucifer to torture this faithful man, of which when Job laments, god chastises him for doubting. This removes the negative qualities of god from the story by just watching Angel Dust make his own decisions. Which works for the idea of free will, I suppose, but the idea of free will being imagination from the last episode to now just waiting for Angel Dust to choose to conform to an idea of morals takes away any meta critique on the nature of heaven. Just saying.
Still not a fan of how infantilized the show makes Niffty.
The scene with Angel standing up to Valentino was such an attempt at an emotional reaction, and in reality it only succeeds in tiptoeing the edge of emotional catharsis. It never gets to reach that point because we don’t actually see the way that Val and Angel interact most of the time. And I’ll just say it, the Poison sequence ruins this scene. It set up this idea that Angel Dust has complicated feelings for Valentino and in many ways their relationship is just as much an addiction as the drugs. But we never see the harmful side to Angel’s drug addiction and nor do we see his complicated feelings for Val break down as he grows closer to Husk. It is unearned. And then having Charlie point blank say why that scene exists for the narrative kills any and all investment. It was there just so Angel Dust can fit Adam’s checklist. So there is no authentic emotions attached to that scene from the ground up. It is a contrivance that feels almost hateful in its existence.
Why is Adam treated as Sera? Adam was the one who made the list, but Emily contributes it to Sera. Sera didn’t even know how a soul ends up in heaven, all she says is “he was the first human soul here”, meaning she defers to him to understand. To have her be the one saying not everything is written in ink, when she openly is the first one to say she hasn’t any idea, really confuses the lack of story you are trying to tell.
So, the whole series has now confirmed it has no clue how to tell a story. “If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie”, so the idea of moving between heaven and hell is not a concept. Someone from heaven cannot fall to hell and someone from hell cannot enter heaven, except they can. Vaggie. Her entire existence is proof that heaven isn’t forever, so why would Hell be? If anything, Vaggie should be a spark of hope for Charlie. Additionally, the threshold of whether souls can be redeemed has nothing to do with if they can or not. Rather, it ends the same way it began. No one is in control and no one has any power one way or the other. But Vaggie being in hell, despite being an angel, who was never held in a court to determine if she should fall or not and was deemed unholy by humans, not the council of angels, just brought this whole house of cards down. In fact, the person on trial should have been Vaggie, and in extension Lute. Who is Lute to have the right to make such a call compared to Emily? Why does no one bring up this discrepancy? And having Vaggie on trial instead of an ignorant Angel Dust being critiqued without his knowledge would have been a better vehicle for not just exploring Vaggie’s past, but also the ideas surrounding redemption and banishment and the values/hypocrisy of heaven. As it stands, this episode was a waste of everyone’s time.
Adam Stein brought nothing to the table, all the same issues in Medrano’s writing are present and played out here. Adam may as well be a ghost writer as he didn’t even attempt to bring any of his own strengths to the script. I can’t say I’m surprised at this, however. It is just Harley Quinn after all.
2/10
#vivziepop critical#vivienne medrano#vivziepop#spindlehorse critical#vivziepop criticism#spindlehorse criticism#hazbin critique#hazbin hotel liveblog#hazbin critical#hazbin hotel criticism#hazbin hotel critique#hazbin hotel critical#hazbin hotel#hazbin criticism#adam stein#harley quinn
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I’ve been thinking about Douglas’s antagonism towards Herc despite their past friendship and, OUCH. Now I have feelings.
Herc’s everything Douglas wants to be and once fooled the world he was and carries the image of being. Smooth, charming, unflappable - which Anthony Head portrays gloriously, immediately making Douglas seem less so in comparison. Four ex-wives but he carries them so much more lightly than Douglas’s three (I somehow doubt that Herc was ever cheated on, or has a daughter that he misses painfully). No disgraces, no addiction problems. None - at least as it seems to Douglas - of Douglas’s intense vulnerability underneath all of the snark and charisma. And Herc was there for Douglas’s downfall. From almost the first moment Herc is managing to remind Douglas of that, and whether it’s deliberate or not is rather besides the point. And in Herc’s first episode he manages to make it clear that there’s no chance of Douglas ever going back to the kind of career he once had, and refuses - however gently and tactfully - to help him. Whatever friendship they once had... that’s not happening. Ouch, frankly.
And aaargh it’s just occurred to me that “Rotterdam” parallels Martin with Paramount Martin and Martin is threatened, but it does *exactly* the same with Douglas and Herc. Martin’s just a lot more open about his insecurity. Martin and Douglas are so much more alike than either would acknowledge.
And then there’s the fact that in his own way Douglas is very protective of all three of the other members of MJN, and he does not trust Herc with Carolyn’s heart, not even a tiny tiny bit. Let alone with Arthur’s, in a stepfatherly way. That bit’s genuinely selfless, I think (well, coupled perhaps with not wanting to deal with a miserable Carolyn making his life harder; he is the man with all the ulterior motives after all). It’s also sensible: I mean, no one could have seen Herc being willing to change for Carolyn, not even Herc.
And then there is (much more reprehensibly), as John Finnemore has noted, a certain dog-in-the-manger attitude that Douglas has to Carolyn: he doesn’t necessarily want to make a move on her but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be happy for anyone else to do so.
Perhaps above all: I somehow doubt that Herc ever had a Rory. Douglas became the mask, and is pretty happy with that most of the time, but Herc, I think it’s implied, was always like that.
By the end of the show it’s clear that things are thawing considerably, as Herc proves himself to be an increasingly good partner to Carolyn and (even more importantly?) stepfather to Arthur (and yet without threatening Douglas’s own paternal relationship with the latter), and as the resolution has Douglas being so much happier himself, and becoming the captain (and official Team Dad) of OJS. They can all happily fly off into the sunset together, as by that point they all deserve, which is great. :D
But just... gah. I love the fact that this apparently silly little radio sitcom just has so many hundreds of layers, and Roger Allam is incapable of not delivering a multilayered and gloriously textured performance in everything he does. Douglas is infuriating and hilarious and a delight and yet some of the time absolutely damn heartbreaking.
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Hey I’m new to Found fandom (realizing it’s in its infancy) and genuinely not sure I want to keep watching. I didn’t like Gabi’s portrayal in this last episode, or that she literally got away with going around the police and doing barely legal things and using Dhan’s trauma to get intel and so many other things…sleeping next to a kid who barely knows her after his family said stay away…for what? Weird obsessive guilt? Her obsession with giving this kid a last moment with his mom would be admirable if she wasn’t so cruel to everyone around her in her single minded hunt…and learned no lessons and gave no apologies and Trent is about to get fired and she looked like it was merely an inconvenience I……I….need a second opinion. Am I cray? Or is Gabi’s behavior really hard to tolerate even despite her trauma (bonus: telling what’s her face she needs therapy…I’m like GIRL YOU! YOU need therapy not your kidnapper chained up in your basement!) Unfortunately I am still dying to unravel this Sir mystery - what is he to her? Did he want a mentee or a daughter or…? Like I don’t get it and I need to find out. Also can this last past a season? He’s going to be out of that basement at some point, that’s just inevitable. Where on earth can they go from there? Full on Stockholm syndrome? A cat and mouse chase like Hannibal (though not written as well)? Gah!
Hi!
You're not alone at all in your feelings. Watching last nights episode made me so deeply frustrated because she was being really selfish. I want to believe it was intentional, but I'm not sure....
Long rambling under the cut (sorry anon!):
I think Gabi's behavior feels especially egregious because we know she knows about her team's traumas. If she was the ONLY one on the team who had a traumatic experience, or if she didn't know about what the others went through, I think I'd be more forgiving.
She was putting her team (and the integrity of her agency) at risk because she can't quite seem to separate her own feelings and thoughts from her work. I'm not sure how long they've been at this, but I would hope that by now, Gabi understands that you can't just bulldoze your way into things because you feel strongly about it.
We're often told that the team will follow Gabi into battle. Between Trent risking his job for her, and the rest of the team willing to risk serious prison time for her, I need to know why. It can't just be her admirable mission. There has to be more than that.
For instance, in Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, Olivia and Annalise did morally questionable things all the time. They weren't always nice, and they weren't always approachable. But they both knew how to get things done, and knew how to manipulate people using tools they already had. Olivia built her career as a fixer, had connections in NUMEROUS places, and knew how to play the game. Annalise was a fire lawyer, knew how to pick at people's vulnerabilities for personal gain, and also knew how to appeal to people using aloofness and an INCH of persuasion. And thus, people were willing to risk a LOT for them, even if they hated it.
In the case of Gabi, she relies too heavily on other people and their skills to be as flippant as she is, sometimes. What can she do that the others can't, aside from being the vocal face of the agency. Why are they so willing to overlook the way she undermines them? ?
Hopefully these questions get answered though showing and not telling. I don't want them to tell me why they are willing to risk everything for Gabi. I want to SEE it.
#found nbc#najas asks#like we know that she's very caring and protective of Dhan and Lacey and I'm sure that's part of the reason why they're so loyal to her#but idk...I want to know why they can't say 'I love you and I love what we do but I can't do this anymore it's too much now'#why are they so reluctant to speak up?
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This article was a very interesting read. Anyone else spiraling and wondering in which episodes or moments in season 1 and 2 the writers’ minds went straight to… and Tim And Lucy kiss?
To kill time, if anyone wants to participate and offer their thoughts or ideas, please feel free to comment here, reblog, or create your own posts. You can tag me it you wish.
These may require some more thought and analysis, but here are some that come to mind for me:
Season 1: This is so hard, because there are so many tension filled scenes, but Tim and Lucy were just getting to know each other, Lucy was getting over her situationship with Nolan, and Season 1 Tim would NEVER. I couldn’t really think of a moment or scene that could’ve led straight to a kiss, but maybe the episode as a whole:
1x07 (Lucy confronts Tim outside of Isabel’s). I know, definitely too soon, but that tension and angst between them in that moment… GAH 🤤. You can’t convince me there wasnt a shift.
1x11 (Lucy gets stuck with a used needle; Thank you! For What? Doing my job?). If Lucy was as bold and confident then as she was in episodes 4x22 and 5x01, she would have sought comfort from Tim by kissing him.
1x14 (Plain Clothes Day)- The banter, Tim in plain clothes 😍, Tim’s discreet protection, loyalty and trust. I wouldn’t have blamed Lucy. I probably would have skipped her in line.
1x18 (Chenford paintball date)- their first unofficial date. A trophy kiss for their Team winning.
1x20 (Tim gets infected with deadly virus)- nothing like a NDE (Near Death Experience; any OA fans out there?), and fear of death, to put things in perspective. Their mutual comfort was chef’s kiss. The closed door being a literal barrier between them. Their last looks at each other, like no one else was in the room (a callback for episodes 5x03-5x04). I could see them running to each other embracing and kissing, a la Sydney and Vaughn (Alias).
Season 2: Oh this one was definitely much more easy. There are so many. This post is getting too long, so I’ll just name 6. I can do a part 2, for second half of the season
2x01 (Lucy confronts Tim about his mistreatment of her so far along; suicide ideation) - Lucy is at her best when she is assertive and stands her ground (🔥) -I could see a Tim apology that leads to a confession and 😘
2x02-(Lucy records audiobook for Tim): the time and thought Lucy put in, on top of the 8-12hr work shifts. That alone warranted a kiss of gratitude. Bonus: Tim was breathing, sleeping, eating, showering, exercising, and working with Lucy’s voice in his head, 24hrs a day. Some say he still listens to the audiobook, you know as a refresher course to being Sergeant 👀
2x03: (betting Lucy couldn’t find a partner for Tim; Lucy’s short sleeves victory): The flirting and invasion of each other’s personal space (boundaries non existent). 📢GET A ROOM📢
2x06 (missile crisis, end of the world): they chose to spend their last moments on earth with each other. Let’s end it with a kiss.
2x08 (Tim wouldn’t have gotten that stupid plaque if Lucy didn’t have his back; Thank you! For What? Doing my job? Part 2): She saved his picture on her Lock Screen! The first thing she sees when she goes to unlock her phone. They breathe each other’s air on that bench. Tim leaned in to her, while drinking his beer. Just kiss her!
2x10 (Introduction of Rosalind Dyer; Lucy meets acolyte Caleb): if Tim had offered to take Lucy out for that drink with another human, the sequence of events that followed never would have occurred, and the night would have ended with a kiss.
2x11 (Lucy’s Rebirth/ Reawakening )- including this because technically there was a kiss. A kiss of life. I could also see their hospital scene ending with a kiss if they weren’t interrupted and talked a little more.
2x12 (Tim keeps tabs on Lucy and gives Lucy her ring back): Both scenes had so many unspoken feelings/ unresolved, good tension. I can imagine if they hugged, it would have ended with 2 kisses.
Bonus: I won’t elaborate, that is unless you are not over this post and care to know more
Season 3:
3x06 (Lucy goes undercover as Nova, the first time)
3x09 (Lucy “fake” feelings confession, and Tim, heart eyes 😍, will miss riding with Lucy)
3x14 (Lucy undercover as Nova Part 2; Tim asks Lucy to Save him a Dance)
Season 4: Before 4x22
4x01: (Their first on screen HUG)
4x07: (first undercover together (please correct me if I’m wrong); Lucy 🎤 Tim up with wandering eyes, all the way down and up)
4x09 (Tim’s day of validation/ reflection/ retribution/ and Lucy’s Hug of Life)
4x12 (Lucy and Tim’s Date with 3rd and 4th wheel, Chrispy and Ashy; Personal Space, into the VOID you go)
4x18 (The collection of a debt that was owed… THE DANCE)
Season 5: Manifesting First REAL Kiss:
5x08 (Lucy and Tim riding together again for the first time, after a long hiatus, pun intended)
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(new kinnporsche spazz - ignore if didnt watch yet) (also i need a nickname so you know which anon out of your many i am LOL) anyways I'm really soft after today's episode even if it was a bit dubious. I'm just thinking on how this must be the first time in a while that porsche has been taken care of. he full blown throws up on the guy, is loopy af, and yet kinn still is there trying to help him. and then still kisses him even though he prob tastes horrendous.
also that bit when porsche scold pete on trying to surprise him with kinn being gay!!! gah!!!?? that was such a good moment, and the fact that kinn heard him say it and smile? babyyyy
HEY omg i watched the new kinnporsche episode last night. holy shit. i hadn't thought about the whole "porsche not being used to being taken care of" thing but you're totally right. he's been on his own acting as his brother's caretaker for such a long time that i doubt he's used to being treated gently like this at all. it seems like porsche doesn't even understand that he's *being* helped. the entire time that kinn is trying to help him shower, porsche is talking about how kinn just wants to see him naked. which like. kinn does want to see him naked. but i do genuinely think kinn is actually trying to take care of him in that moment. granted porsche is horny and intoxicated but the possibility that kinn could be treating him kindly doesn't seem to even cross porsche's mind.
it also makes me think of the scene where porsche is trying to clean his bullet wound. at first when kinn starts helping him i thought porsche flinched away and acted confused because he didn't expect kinn to be helping him. now i think maybe porsche doesn't expect *anyone* to be helping him. he was tending to his own wound by himself in the med bay. he didn't even ask for a doctor's help - he was just alone. asking for or receiving help doesn't seem to be something porsche has any concept of whatsoever.
ALSO yes!!! i love the scene with porsche and big!! porsche makes it 100% clear that kinn being gay doesn't bother him. yay! no homophobic crisis! kinn looked pretty pleased!! but also - that scene is so funny to me because big, a guy who is literally in gay unrequited love with kinn, had definitely jealously assumed that porsche and kinn were already banging. he was trying to make porsche jealous by having him see kinn sleeping with other people. but all of that went straight over porsche's head because he's extremely oblivious and instead porsche's takeaway was "cool! kinn is gay! big must be homophobic." god i love porsche.
#anyway thank you for the ask i love gushing about this show ❤❤❤#i'm bad at nicknames but do you want to be kinnporsche anon for now? feel free to rename yourself haha#ask theo#kinnporsche#thai drama#lgbt drama
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The Fourfold Tap Liveblog
I just realized that I'm almost done with Season 3 already, huh.
Oh, starting with Raph having the brain damage this time? Oh he's been kidnapped. Is he in Saw? THEY'RE COOKING HIM NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OH THIS IS A SAW EPISODE ISN'T IT WHYYYYYYYYY ARE THERE SO MANY HORROR INSPIRED EPISODESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Oh god Raph still had Brain Worm Juice in his blood?
Lol everyone was waiting for it to explode
DONNIE IT'S OKAY SWEETIE IT'S OKAY DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP
Awwwww Splinter, thank you for being understanding an patient with Donnie. That was nice, "At least I have four wonderful sons." Good Parenting Moment, Splinter
UM LEO?!?!?!?! WHAT ARE YOU DO- TRY HARDER?!?!?!?!?! YES DONNIE SHOUT HIS ASS DOWN
YEAH LEO YOU'RE THE LEADER YOU FIND THE ANSWER DONNIE MAY AS WELL BE THE FUCKING LEADER WITH HOW EVERYONE'S ALWAYS LOOKING TO HIM FOR ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS ALL THE TIME
Donnie should get to run away, I think. Let Donnie quit the team for once. Let him run away and make some other friends for a bit. Engage in some teen rebellion. This is why my OC for this show befriends Donnie and he becomes second-in-command of her Mutant Rights Activist Group (they're trying to force New York to acknowledge Mutants as citizens openly, Donnie really believes in the cause but Splinter and his brothers are afraid it'll bring the heat down on them and want the whole group to stop, Donnie can't believe it and leaves to full-time help with the protests)
Aw, he calmed down for April. ... I don't trust April's call, something's wrong
HE DID RUN AWAY YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY HE DITCHED THEM
An effective team thinks as one, you mean Make One Do The Team Thinking
Oh yeah, that was a Kraang clone, wasn't it? Poor Donnie...
PFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTT SPLINTER HAS A GIANT RAT WHEEL, I WANNA BELIEVE THEY STOLE IT FROM SHREDDER
If those fuckin' magic scrolls cure her I'll be so pissed.
ICE CREAM KITTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY OH THEY'RE PLAYING POKEMON YAYYYYY AWWWWWWW SHE WONNNNNNNN NO MIKEY LEAVE HER ALONE
Oh no, whatever got Donnie is using him too! Is it mind control or cloning?
Oh god, Mikey was poisoned!!!!!!!! NO THEY GOT MURIKAMI NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOO NOT MURIKAMIIIIIIIIIIIII
Yeah exactly it's a fuckin' tra- guys maybe call Casey? Clearly Casey hasn't been targeted by whoever this is, so he's your Ace In The Hole. They won't expect him. I miss Casey.
LOL KARAI USED DONNIE'S VOICE FOR THE THING SORRY THAT'S HILARIOUS BECAUSE I IMAGINED SHE JUST FORGOT TO TURN THE VOICE MODULATOR OFF AND WENT "Gah, that ruined it" IN HER HEAD
Okay so are Donnie and Mikey Brain-Wormed, then? No, those were holograms, okay.
Yeah, I'm bored of The Foot. I want The Kraang back. They were a lot of fun.
OH SHIT SHE BROKE BEEBOP'S NOSE YES GO APRIL LOVE YOU
OH NOOOO WE'RE BACK TO RAPH BEING COOKED shit she even said it's a game, it's Saw for real- WHATTTTTT DO THEY HAVE HOOKED UP TO DONNIE'S HEAD
Pfffft "Bake my foot up your ass"
This is lame. This is a lame episode now. ... They trapped Donnie in Tetris? OH FUCK THEY STRAPPED HIM TO AN ELECTRIC CHAIR SHIT
AGAIN HIS BRAIN IS GETTING MESSED WITH FOR FUCK'S SAKE STOP MESSING WITH HSI BRAIN HE NEEDS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Mikey one doesn't work for me. A mutagen one would fit Donnie better, given his fears of being a freak. I think Mikey's trap would be better served as a threat of immobility, like he's weighed down in some way or otherwise unable to move his limbs, or maybe a threat of if he doesn't get out they'll make him unable to ever speak again. But the mutagen just feels kinda... "Oh we couldn't think of a thematic thing for him" cop out.
ROCKSTEADY I LOVE YOU
God this Karai Villain shit is stale. Ah, return of The Cheese Phone.
FUCK DONNIE GOT SHOCKED AGAIN GEEZ HE AND RAPH HAVE IT THE WORST RIGHT NOW I THINK THEY'RE BOTH ACTIVELY BEING HARMED THE MOST
FUCK 'EM UP SPLINTER WHOO
Are you... shitting me, Leonardo? Raph asks you what to do and you immediately pass it on to Donnie? Whom you can hear screaming in agony in the room next to you? Whom you just got into a fight with because you won't stop pressuring him? You pass along the buck? This is why you feel like being a Leader doesn't mean anything sometimes, Leonardo, because you aren't one.
Sorry sorry, Mikey is afraid he'll... mutate into himself but a girl? What kinda transphobic nonsense are the writers on right now? Unless he's already FTM, in which case yeah valid fear.
GET FUCKED BRADFORD
Hey finally Xever uses being a fish to his adva- SPLINTER KILLED HIM
Tigerclaw... why do you want Splinter to pay? What is your stake in this?
RAPHHHHHHHHH HE'S DYING NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OH NO BLOB OF MUTAGEN OVER MIKEY NOOOO FUCK DONNIE IS STILL BEING SHOCKED
AND ONCE A-FUCKING-AGAIN DONNIE SOLVES THE FUCKING PROBLEM AND LEO JUST GOES ALONG BECAUSE DONNIE'S THE REAL GLUE KEEPING THE TEAM TOGETHER HERE
Raph... oh he's gonna be so sick and fragile for so long after this...
GOD DONNIE'S ONE IS SO FUCKED UP
OH SHIT MIKEY TO THE RESCUE- DUDE HE ENTERED THE SIMULATION?!?!?!?!? MAGIC FUCKING MIKEY DUDES
B-TEAM FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR B-TEAM FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Sometimes Splinter makes Sonic Adventure 2 Eggman noises.
THIS MAGIC SHIT BETTER NOT FUCKING WORK OR I'LL BE SO PISSED- GOOD IT DIDN'T WORK- NOOOOOOOOOOO FUCK IT DIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Well there she goes again. down one of the giant toilets. This is getting real old, dudes. Just let her go home with them, for fuck's sake, I'm so tired of this. It's a sweet moment here but I'm tired.
Okay OH FUCK EW EW EW HER VOMITING IT UP EW
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Hetalia: World Stars Episode #4: Czecho to Slovakia: Kouhen Transcript
This episode has the second part of the Czechia and Slovakia arc.
{Caption: Year 1989}
Slovakia: HOORAH! We have escaped Russia’s pact of friendship and restored democratic rule to our nation!
{Caption: Czechoslovakia democratized}
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czechia: I can feel the democracy filling up my lungs!
(Slovakia: Ahhhhhhhh!)
Czechia: The new year is coming and I am a new person!
(Slovakia: Ahah! Haha! Ha!)
Slovakia: But I have many plans now that we are free. Like restoring the hyphen!
Czechia: The hyphen was the first thing that came to mind? You know what, fine, we’ll just write it out like this from now on!
{Caption: Czech and slovak federative republic}
Slovakia: Really?! We look so equal now I don’t even mind that you get top billing!
{Text on paper #1: This}
Slovakia: But if it’s okay with you, may I capitalize my “S” so it matches your “C”?
{Text on paper #2: Ĉeská a Slovenská Federativní Republika}
Czechia: Are you really so insecure you’re willing to change how you write your own language?
Slovakia: What if I am?!
(Czech: Euh…)
Slovakia: You can’t be capitalized while I’m not! We’re supposed to be equals!
Czechia: I was not stepping on your stupid hyphen and you’re still whining; I’ve had enough of all your hang-ups!
Slovakia: YOU ARE ONE WHO HAS HANG-UPS; I’M FINE! IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE A BUTTHEAD, I’LL MOVE OUT ON MY OWN AND SHOW YOU I DON’T NEED YOU!
Czechia: Good! If you really think you can get by without me, why don’t you go and try it, for all I care, jerkface!
Slovakia: Grr…
(Czechia: Eum!)
Bulgaria: Who wants to watch Czech and Slovakia get a divorce?
(Slovakia: Grr…)
(Czech: Eum…)
Slovakia: Ehah?
Narrator: And on January 1st, 1993, they did just that, splitting into the Czech and Slovak Republics, an event frequently called “The Velvet Divorce”. “Velvet” because it was a pretty smooth break, just a few issues to work out in court over some real estate in the boonies; no murders or anything.
Slovakia: HOORAH! Haha, ha!
{Text on building: Slovenská republika}
Slovakia: I am a whole Slovak Republic with top billing and a capital “S”! Hahaha!
{Text on building: Ĉeská republika}
Czechia: Mesta ve wordu.
(Mesta ve wordu: Cities and words → Czech)
Czechia: How men get so obsessed with minor details, I don’t know.
Slovakia: Slovakia! Slovakia! A whole house just for me! AWESOME! Not only do I have all this space, but now I don’t have Czech here, keeping me on a leash. This calls for a celebration! I think I will have a slice of toast. Dah?
{Caption #1: The usual one}
{Caption #2: You just pull down}
Slovakia: Except Czech owned the toaster and all the other appliances.
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Slovakia: Gah! This toaster doesn’t make sense! Why does it have so many buttons and which one do I push to make it make toast?! Ahnom! Geheheh…now that I think about how much Czech used to do for me, this half-toasted bread just tastes like loneliness and mold. Or maybe it sat out a few days.
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Czechia: Hm hm hm! Since Slovakia left, I can clean the house from top to bottom in no time flat! If I’d known it would be like this, I’d have walked away years ago! Hah…the bourgeois decadence of a bubble bath! Huh? Why didn’t we unpack the towels yet? Grab one and bring it for me! Hurry up already! Wait, he is gone. Duah!
Cat: Meow!
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Narrator: Things got off to a rough start, but eventually, they both settled into their new lives.
Slovakia: How have you been? Bet you miss me, right?
Czechia: I am living best life! My home is so clean and quiet now that each morning feels like waking up in a meadow full of wildflowers in bloom.
Slovakia: Goh! Well, life has been just peachy for me. Living alone is great.
Czechia: The best, yeah! No ranting about hyphens. That is my favorite part.
Slovakia: Ehh…
Czechia: Uh…though to be completely honest, there have been a few times I’ve missed having you around.
Slovakia: DO YOU MEAN IT?!
Czech: Euaha!
Slovakia: Because I feel exactly the same! There are so many things I miss from before!
Czech: This is the part I did not miss! You getting all clingy and blubbery!
(Slovakia: Weheheh! Weheheh!)
Slovakia: Hearing you belittle my emotions is making me feel whole again!
(Czechia: Euhah…)
Czechia: It’s easy when you suck so much!
(Slovakia: Weheheheh!)
Liechtenstein: Hello!
Czech: Auh?
(Slovakia: Dueh!)
Liechtenstein: Ehah, now that things are settled between you two, I was hoping you might be ready to give me back my land maybe?
Czechia, Slovakia: Eah…
Liechtenstein: Um…
Narrator: All right! Back when they were together, Czech and Slovakia might have yoinked some of Liechtenstein’s holdings in a maybe not quite legal manner, but they won’t be paying her back until Greece can pay them back, which…haha…yeah.
(Liechtenstein: Eum…ah…eh…uh…oh)
Liechtenstein: Guys?
Slovakia: Nice weather, right, Czech?
Czechia: Yes. It’s quite lovely, Slovakia.
Narrator: Still, their friends say the split was good for both of them and their relationship is the best it’s ever been. These things tend to happen ‘cause they need to.
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cleaning up | b.b
Pairing: Bucky x fem!Reader
Summary: Y/N helps Bucky get clean after a long mission and pampers him.
Word Count: 1K
Warnings: Mentions of past sexy times and honestly I think that is about it. The rest is just pure sweet fluffy fluff.
A/N: So the new episode got me feeling all kinds of ways so here we are lol. Excuse me for poor editing! 😂 Feedback is always appreciated and I hope you all enjoy!
It was half past ten when you got a text as you settled into bed.
Bucky: Finally on the way home. Meet me at the tower?
Y/N: Of course! ITA?
Bucky: About an hour.
Y/N: I’ll get dressed and head over there now! Can’t wait to see you. 💕
Bucky: Can’t wait to see you too beautiful.
You didn’t waste any time getting dressed and headed straight to the tower. It had been a long three weeks without seeing Bucky and you couldn’t wait to just be able to hold him, to kiss him.
Once you arrived you headed to Bucky’s room to begin the little ritual the two of you had since your early days of dating. After he got back from missions you would join him in taking a long hot bath together. It was a way to reconnect and to just be close. After the first time it soon became a favorite of Bucky’s. He loves how attentive you are with him, how he could feel your love from a simple touch. It helped wash away all the memories of the mission and made him focus on what was important and right in front of him, you.
“Miss Y/N, Mr. Barnes and the rest of the team have landed.”
“Thank you Friday.” You still weren’t used to the AI system and didn’t know if you ever would be.
By the time the water was done filling the tub you heard Bucky call out your name as he entered his room. Your heart fluttered and you smiled wide as he came into view.
“Hey you.” You giggled as he picked you up and spun you around as you embraced. God had you missed him. No matter how many times you were apart it never got easier but it made the reunions all the more spectacular.
“Gah I missed you doll. Missed my best girl.” He buried his face in your neck as he inhaled your perfume. That smell always reminded him that he was home and was in the arms of the woman he loved.
When you pulled away you couldn’t help but just smile up at him. Your eyes roamed that beautiful face and took in all of its features. From the little freckles that adorned his skin like stars to those grey ocean eyes you could spend forever in.
Then those lips met yours and the whole world melted away. Kissing Bucky always had that kind of affect on you and you hoped that that never changed. You missed those lips the past few weeks and you made a mental note to get as many kisses as you could before he left on his next mission.
“Come on. We don’t that water getting cold like last time do we?” You could help but tease him as you thought back to the last time you did this.
It was two months ago and in the midst of helping Bucky undress the two of you ended up making love against the bathroom counter, twice.
Bucky smirked as you started to undress him and could tell you were thinking about last time. He was tempted just to take you against the counter again. Hell, if you asked him he wouldn’t even hesitate.
“Wasn’t my fault last time I told you. You knew what you were doing with those wandering hands doll.” He chuckled and placed a gentle kiss to your temple.
You bit your lip and smiled as you let his tactical gear hit the floor. He wasn’t wrong.
“Get your cute butt in the water.”
“Yes Ma’am.” He winked and smirked before moving over to the tub.
You watched him sink down into the water as you undressed and you could tell he was relaxing all ready from the soft sigh that escaped his lips. He leaned his head back and sunk down into the warm water a little more before he closed his eyes. Seeing him like this, at peace and safe, always made your heart happy. God knows he deserved all the tranquility he could get. He was missing his favorite thing about the post mission ritual though and that was you.
“Come on Y/N don’t make me enjoy this all alone.”
He reached his hand out and you took it as you slipped down in front of him. He pulled your back into his chest and this was where the two of you just needed to be. Safe and in each other's warm embrace.
You laid your head back against his shoulder and turned your head to nuzzle your face a little into his neck as his arms wrapped around your waist.
“Missed you so much, Buck.”
He never got tired of you saying you missed him. That someone as remarkable as you could miss and love someone like him.
“Missed you too sweetheart. Missed you every single day.” He kissed your head and pulled you closer.
You eventually turned in his arms and smiled lovingly at him as you started to wash his hair. Pampering him in any and every way after missions was important to you. You told him time and time again that you just wanted to take care of him and to have him unwined as best he could.
Your eyes scanned over his body and noticed a few cuts and bruises, nothing new. He would always come back with some but this time there seemed to be fewer than usual and for that you were thankful.
“You cut your hair.”
You lifted your head as you were pulled out of your thoughts and smiled a little.
“Just a trim. Nothing too exciting.”
He just smiled and let you finish rinsing his hair. He always noticed the tiniest things about you sometimes. None of your old boyfriends ever noticed when you got a haircut or anything like that.
“Well I like it doll and you’re still the prettiest girl this old man has ever set eyes on.”
You laughed as you playfully splashed a little water at him before grabbing the wash cloth.
“Always the charmer. You’re still gonna be pulling that when you’re 150?”
“Guess we’ll just have to see won’t we?”
You laughed again and took his vibranium arm in your hands. You began washing it carefully, always sure to get every single inch of it. It never ceased to amaze you. You could say that about all of Wakand’s technology if you were being honest with yourself but this one was special because it was attached to the man you love. So you always made a goal to take good care of it when washing him, just like any other part of him.
“You seem more at ease than you have in the past when you come home. That mean everything went okay?”
You don’t tear your eyes away as you clean his arm and you feel Bucky’s free hand gently move along your thigh. The simplest of touches and it sent chills along your body.
“It was definitely one of the easier ones we’ve been on recently. Can’t complain about that except that it kept me from you for almost a month.”
His right hand moved to cup your cheek and he caressed it gently with his thumb. You leaned into his touch and sighed softly as you placed your hand over his. You hated being away from each other for weeks on end but that was part of his job and you couldn’t ask him to stop that.
“How do you feel about taking a trip? Just you and me for a week somewhere. We can go anywhere you want.”
Now that surprised you and you looked at him a little wide eyed.
“Really? Anywhere?”
You smiled wide and he nodded as he pulled you into his arms. He pressed his lips gently to yours, kissing you soft and slow. Emotion poured out of that kiss. Telling you how much he loved you and so much more.
“Anywhere.”
Your heart fluttered and you pressed your lips back to his as you smiled into the kiss. Soon the two of you would be somewhere where you could just bask in each other's presence. That’s all you wanted and he was giving you that.
“How about we discuss a location as we get ready for bed?”
“Deal.”
fin.
#bucky barnes#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes x y/n#bucky barnes fanfiction#Bucky Barnes drabble#marvel#james buchanan barnes#talley writes
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For the 911 ask game
4, 10, 18 & 23?
Thank you for asking!! (I put the original questions into () so that all my other lovely followers tuning in can enjoy too :))
4. (If you could rewrite one episode which one would it be and why?)
Season 4, episode 5, Buck Begins. I don't like the way they handled that episode at all. I see what they were going for, but the way they went about achieving it was so incredibly surface level, it was frustrating.
First things first, this episode as it is should be called Buck & Maddie Begin. The focus is distributed between the two of them--and don't get me wrong, I actually ADORED the relationship background and development we got, tbh those were some of my favorite moments from the episode. It just means that it REALLY doesn't fit in well with previous Begins episodes, where the focus is intensely on a single character.
The overall tone of the episode was really clunky and almost awkward. It felt like fanfiction that had been written by a hardcore Buck fan--and I want to clarify, there's nothing wrong with being a hardcore Buck fan, but you know when you're reading fics on AO3 and you can tell who the writer's fav is? That vibe. A lot of LOVE moments that aren't earned on the page, because they've already been earned in the writer's heart? And it made the tone of the episode feel a bit... off.
They had so many different ways and opportunities to show where Buck shines as a character, and they went with such a surface level thing--Buck The Daredevil. Why the focus on that of all things?
Another of my fav moments is the story of how he chose to be a firefighter, they chose not to overcomplicate that and that feels right, so I'd leave that part alone. I guess my main issue with it is the whole sequence with the five alarm fire.
The dialogue at the end with the firefam was heartwarming, but felt oddly unearned? I dunno, one half of me was like "awwwwwwww, this is so sweet" while the other half of me was knocking on the door of my common sense, saying "but was any of this dialogue earned? If this was any other episode, literally any, they wouldn't be filled with kind words, they'd be like WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING and rightfully so. Buck was beyond reckless and in the process, yeah he may have saved the worker's life... after almost getting him killed. Like even in later episodes, Buck chooses to be reckless and they're all eye rolls, Buck's gonna Buck and Bobby is all what the fresh hell, son?!?!... That's exactly what they should have been doing here, and there's no real rhyme or reason why they aren't except that this is the Buck Feel Good Episode. *shrugs* Because it wasn't earned by the episode's narrative it rings really empty in rewatches, which makes me sad.
Though straight up I could watch that moment where all the firefighters help him with the rope over and over and over, that moment was right. It’s the dialogue afterward that felt really OOC for everyone.
10. (A character you used to like but no longer do?) I answered this here! :)
18. (Favorite quote?) "I really thought this year was gonna be different."
KIDDING!!! Sorry, I had to do that after they dropped it in the season 5 trailers like 20 million times!! *ducks a flying chair*
Okay, my real favorite quote... GAH it's so hard, there's a lot of goodies. I'd have to say though it's at the end of the tsunami arc: "Sometimes a few choice words can be the life raft that gets you home. To be seen. To be found. Isn't that what we're all searching for?" It's something that strikes a chord for me personally, and was so beautifully put into words. It makes me feel so much love for the people like this in my life all over again when I hear this quote (and I hear it quite often, the tsunami arc is one of my favorites to rewatch!)
23. (Something you would like to see in the future episodes?) Prepare yourselves for a tacky answer here, sorry. But shamelessly, the thing I want to see is buddie coming together (I know, *sigh* so basic) but that really is my wish. But I want it to happen in a very specific way. I want it to be a progression, and more than ANYTHING I WANT IT TO BE EARNED! Tarlos was not earned, it's one of my BIGGEST griefs with LS, they just kinda jumped into bed together and then just kinda jumped into committed relationship mode with very little justification or progression. The current pace they have now with buddie is phenomenal, that progression that builds and builds and BUILDS until you can barely breathe even thinking about it, and then BOOM.
Speaking of boom, it’s equally as important that after a good build-up, they stick the landing. It’s all just gotta work. Like, have you read fanfictions before where the build was GORGEOUS and then the crescendo was just meh?
Feel free to send me more of these 9-1-1 questions, guys, I could talk about this show for DAYYYYYYSSSS!!
#9-1-1#buck begins#athena grant#bobby nash#buddie#9-1-1 ask#eddie diaz#evan buckley#sue answers#henrietta wilson#chimnay han#maddie buckley
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Book of Boba Fett Episode 6 Reaction
Here I was, getting ready for bed, wondering if any other fanfics have updated, and then I remembered—it’s Wednesday! No sleep for me haha
Spoilers (and a lot of all caps and keysmashing) under the cut
Oh no, we’re starting with the “no attachment” speech in the recap? I don’t like where that’s headed
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Eeeeey! Cob Vanth!
He looks kinda… puny without Boba’s armor haha
Still a dead shot tho—nicely done
“Think it through.” I like that catch phrase—so long as we’re not gonna hear it every other minute :D
…whatcha gonna do with that spice, Vanth?
Good. Good man.
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Artoo!
It ain’t a Star Wars show without an Artoo cameo
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I’m so excited for this :D
Wish I knew what Artoo was saying on that walk over haha—I feel like he’s either just whistling along his way or dropping galactic secrets lore about Jedi or Mandalorians in a cheerful tone like nobody’s business
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Por que? Artoo? Taking a nap there, buddy?
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“Is anyone here? Anyone alive?” pffft now we’re asking the important questions XD
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Grogu!
…I sense a lot of telepathy in this scene
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Luke: *impressive Force demonstration on a few dozen frogs*
Grogu’s face: 8D SNACKS!! XD
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“Would you like to remember?” Oofta, that’s a heavy question
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GAH ORDER 66 FLASHBACK I WAS NOT PREPARED
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Ooof
Big oof
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Hah, poor Mando XD
GYEARDFADADFADGANSTHGAEARTN SO SHE DOES KNOW LUKE
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“I’m an old friend of the family”
OUCH
That’s accurate, heartfelt, and painful all at the same time
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Gah, her short lekku still bother me.
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Oh so there is some kind of armor in that tiny little hanky? Okay XD
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“If he sees you, it’ll only make things more difficult for him.”
Oh, and not seeing him but knowing he was there won’t?
I have some thoughts on Jedi and their no attachment business
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UGH this just makes me sad
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WHAT THE HECK—YOU DON’T LET THE KID SEE MANDO BUT YOU LET HIM WATCH MANDO FLY AWAY?? Are you trying to give him abandonment issues??
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YOU SHOT THE BABY
With a training bolt, but still
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“Trust your instincts.”
LET HIM GO, LUKE! LET HIM BE A BABY MANDO!
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Gah, that better not be the last we see from them in forever.
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Pfft, nice bumper decorations you got there, Jawas
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“He’s new—still a bit jumpy—is that a Naboo star fighter?” XDDD
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Does… anyone go to this bar besides Vanth?
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“That big smile of yours lets you get away with anything.” XDDDD LOVE THAT
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What’s this on the horizon?
Sandpeople?
It’s—
IT’S C A D B A N E
IN LIVE ACTION
THIS WON’T END WELL
Wait—wait—this is after the Return of the Jedi—
NO ONE KILLED HIM YET??
HOW??!! WHY?!?!
He’s gotta be ancient
And what the CRAP is he doing here??????
AERAEAHYKSAADFGDGKFHGDUKSYHA SO MANY QUESTIONS
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AFGADGSHAekgefWR HIS VOICE IS DIFFERENT but I guess you can’t have everything
HE’S PALER THAN HE USED TO BE maybe he’s just old
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Deputy dude, you gonna die
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Eeeh, not sure how I feel about those teeth. Feel overdone to me. Like I can feel the actor struggling to talk around them... eh, guess it's whatever
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“You shoulda never given up your armor.”
GAH THIS IS BAD
That deputy’s gonna die in three… two… one…
OH CRAP HE GOT VANTH FIRST
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Little background voices: There’s something wrong with the Marshall!
NO KIDDING. I mean he was just, oh, I dunno, SHOT
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BOOM
OH SNAP
Welp. Boba’s gonna have his hands full next episode
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OH GOOD WE’RE BACK TO THE JEDI
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Chainmail! Woo!
GAH! HE KEPT YODA’S LIGHTSABER
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“But you may choose only one.”
WHHYYYYYYYY THO
Take the chainmail kid
Then come back for the saber when Luke sleeping. You’ve probably had more training than him anyway.
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You can go with your family, but you’ll be giving in to your weakness, or you can stay and I’ll teach you to become a great Jedi
Wow look at that bias!
Jerk
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“Which do you choose?”
It’s gonna be a cliffhanger.
Yup, cliffhanger
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Okay, why the heck does Ahsoka have long lekku in concept art but not in the show
Also I’m still freaking out that CAD BANE is still alive. Like, he felt like a grumpy old man in the Clone Wars, let alone after the whole original trilogy
I know there was some unfinished Clone War episodes that had a Boba Fett vs. Cad Bane showdown where they both got headshots in and yet both survived.
Maybe Bane got wind that Boba resurfaced and dragged himself out of retirement to finish off that showdown. Feels like something he would do.
Oh plus we know there’s bad blood between him and Fennec.
Maybe Boba will finally actually kill him, unlike all the Jedi and Clones and Sith and I’m assuming other bounty hunters who have tried and failed.
#the book of boba fett spoilers#the book of boba fett#star wars#tbobf#tbobf spoilers#mathmusic talks#reactions#so much happened in this episode in the way of spoilers#I'm so glad I saw it before I had it spoiled for me haha#spoilers under the cut
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5x12: Swap Meat
At a bar, a woman sits alone, enjoying her margarita, when one Sam Fucking Winchester wanders over and asks the barkeep ---NOT at all awkwardly--for a banana daiquiri. He’s either deep undercover or something is seriously hinky. There’s a lot of sugar in banana daiquiris, Sam. Crystal introduces herself and Sam introduces himself as Gary! She then propositions him, much to his cluelessness.
The poor dumb boy puts it together and “would love to have the sex with [her].” We then pan over to see Sam REALLY isn’t Sam at all.
Housatonic, Massachusetts
36 Hours Earlier
Sam and Dean visit Donna, an old babysitter --well, she was a maid at a motel they’d stay at while John went hunting. She looked out for them. It seems that her family house has a poltergeist problem. Bumps and broken items have led to the thing attacking their daughter, Katie.
Katie lifts her shirt to reveal “Murderd Chylde” carved into her abdomen. I'd get some serious vaseline on those wounds if you don’t want scarring, Katie. Yeesh. Sam and Dean tell the family to skedaddle while they take care of things.
They stop at a diner for food next. Dean picks up their order from the counter from Banana Daiquiri Gary! He’s not impressed with Sam’s salad shake, and neither is Dean (but when is he ever?)
They talk about Donna and how she’s got a good thing going. Dean asks Sam if he’d want to settle down at all and have a family, and Sam answers, “no.” Dean looks contemplative about it.
Sam finds lore on the house. A Samuel Pickett owned the house in the 1700s and hung a woman, Maggie Briggs, there for witchcraft. As the brothers talk, we watch Gary hyperfixate on Sam.
Sam goes to check out the town’s archives for where Maggie Briggs was buried. As he’s walking back to the motel, he hears a noise and then gets shot in the neck with a dart. Lights out, Sammy.
He comes to later, wearing Gary’s work uniform. He starts walking but the cops pick him up claiming his family is worried about him. “My brother called you?” Sam asks, incredulous.
No. The cops take him to a suburban house where a worried couple pops out and hugs Sam in relief. He asks who they are and in return they want to know if he’s drunk.
They keep calling him Gary. It’s then that Sam looks in the window of the cop car --and sees his reflection. He looks like Gary!
Meanwhile, Gary is checking out his hot new bod. Dean shows up and wonders where he’s been. Gary placates him with food. He also tells Dean that the maid saw all their weapons and they better get out of there. While Dean uses the restroom, Gary gets rid of all Dean’s phones.
THEN he has the NERVE to ask to drive. He doesn’t get far. And quite frankly, Dean’s spidey sense should be spiking through the ceiling at this point.
Sam keeps trying to reach his brother, with no luck. He calls the motel to learn that the two dudes in room 102 left in the middle of the night. So, Sam starts digging through Gary’s stuff and discovers items of witchcraft. Before he can dig too much further though, he’s called to the family breakfast.
His “dad” starts grilling him about getting drunk the night before. Sam’s got better things to worry about than placating some dude he doesn’t know. He also needs to learn more about Gary, so he starts interviewing the family about what they've noticed in him lately.
The dad wants to know if Sam’s “smoking drugs”. Sam then asks if they’ve ever seen him with a black book recently. His sister, Sydney, reacts to that question. The mom reacts to him eating toast --his allergy to wheat gluten!!
Sydney later reveals to Sam that there IS a book.
Gary and Dean are still working the case. Dean informs Gary that they have to search graves for Maggie’s body. Nerd of Nerd’s Gary knows exactly where Maggie Briggs is buried: Isiah Pickett’s basement. He also reveals that he murdered her and her unborn child before burying them in the basement. Dean connects the ‘murderd chylde’ clue.
Once in the car, Bob Seger starts blasting, and Gary tells Dean to turn it up.
Sam continues to leave messages for Dean. He ALSO has to navigate the tortures of high school again. Sam meets two of Gary’s friends and asks where his locker is (he’s still drunk, after all).
For This is a Look TM Science:
(And let’s pause for a moment to enjoy Sam’s striped hoodie. Definitely one of the top 5 wardrobe choices on this show.)
He finds the book in the back of Gary’s locker.
Gary and Dean find the grave in the basement of the Pickett house. Dean gets to digging while Gary aims his gun at Dean. Before he can shoot, the ghost comes out to play. It starts beating up the both of them but Gary’s able to burn the bones.
Gary’s extremely nosy friends follow Sam out of the school. While it looks like we’re gearing up for some good ol’ Ferris Bueller shenanigans, Trevor shoots Sam in the throat (GAH) with a sedative dart.
Meanwhile, at a bar, Dean orders a burger with extra bacon and a fried egg on top. Excuse me...I need to go eat an entire branchbouquet of kale in retaliation. Mysteriously, Sam orders the same thing. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?” Dean asks. But it’s just a lighthearted comment and they raise a toast to a successful hunt.
Gary’s over the moon overabout the day he just had. His joy makes Dean suspicious the way nothing else has. Oh, you sweet sad sunflowers. Gary lays out Sam Winchester’s happiness list: 1) gun 2) getting drunk 3) looks like Sam Winchester.
“You ever feel like your whole future is being decided for you?” Gary asks. OH YES, Dean tells him. I forget for a minute that I’m watching a season 5 episode as the Dean-Winchester-feels-trapped-in-the-narrative-sorrow threatens to overwhelm me. But there areis no time for FEELINGS when the narrative must go on! Cut to later in the night, when Gary gets picked up by the woman in the bar from the cold open. Dean puts his thinking face on while Gary ecstatically leaves the bar.
Back at Kid Kidnapperz clubhouse, Sam’s tied up. Trevor calls Gary and asks him if he’s killed Dean yet. “I’m working up to it,” Gary replies while sitting shirtless under a leopard print bedspread in the cougar’s lair. (Just...no on SO MANY LEVELS.) Sam listens to this with great alarm.
Sam demands to know how these rando teenagers know Dean. “Everybody knows Dean. He’s Hell’s most wanted,” Trevor retorts. Sam puts two and two together and comes up with a coupla dumb kids who took a deep dive into witchcraft and started talking to demons.
“You’re just kids,” Sam laments. Trevor and Nora fill in more blanks. They were messing around with a Moste Dark Booke of Witchcraftery, as one does, and suddenly Gary went into a trance and drew a fairly decent picture of Dean. Gary also heard a voice - it was setting a bounty on Dean’s head, and apparently broadcast through the witch trance network.
Gary heard a voice in his head - it was setting a bounty on Dean’s head, and apparently broadcast through the witch trance network. Nora now has second thoughts, so Trevor ups his stupidity game and starts to summon a demon.
That night, Gary creeps into the motel room and grabs Dean’s gun up from a nearby chair. He cocks the pistol. . He aims it at the shape under the covers...and Dean grabs him from behind and demands to know who he really is. (Silly Gary, Dean stopped sleeping under covers after he got back from Hell.)
Back in Trevor’s basement, he finishes the demon summoning. Nora looks up with black eyes.
She’s very interested to learn that they’ve got Dean Winchester in their sights. Trevor tells her where Dean is immediately. She absorbs this and swings her attention to Sam. She realizes it’s Sam “Boy King of Hell” Winchester sitting there and is suddenly VERY interested. Trevor asks her where his reward is, and when he pushes for it she first taunts, then kills him. (All the while Sam is in the background GRINDING HIS TEETH.)
Gary weeps, tied up in the motel room while Dean listens to voicemail after voicemail from Sam. Gary babbles about Sam’s whereabouts but it’s too late. Demon!Nora saunters in and lobs Dean across the room. Wherps. She offers Gary a powerful future but first he’s got to meet “the boss.” All he has to do is say “Yes” and they can have a nice chat together! Very sneaky! Dean attacks her while she’s cooking up her big plan and then Gary and Dean tag team an exorcism, freeing Nora of the demon. Later, Gary performs the incantation to swap bodies with Sam again. (I shake my head yet again that THIS is the ONLY body swap episode we got in the whole fifteen season run. What a goddamn waste of comedy potential.
With Sam restored to normal (or as normal as a Winchester can get), Dean confronts Gary. He tells him that if he were just a little older, he’d be dead right now. With those comforting parting words, they bring Gary and Nora back to their lives. Sam tells Gary to quit his whining about his life. It’s possible to rebel in a “healthy, non-satanic way.” Furthermore, he tells Gary that he wishes he had his life. Once the kids are out of earshot, Dean comments on Sam’s kind words. “Totally lied. Kid’s life sucked ass.” The apple-pie family crap is stressful, Sam decides.
Maybe they just don’t know what they’re missing, Dean rejoins, and I calmly tie an anvil around my ankle and drop it off a cliff into a dramatically large canyon.
They head out into the rainy night...to fight another day!
Doppelquöter:
You ever think that you'd want something like that? Wife, rugrats, the whole nine?
No matter how much you fight it, you can't stop the plan. The stupid, stupid plan
Um, I wouldn't exactly call praying to our dark overlord “goofing around”
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So I binged watched High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (Hsmtmts) season 1 about a month back. Now I'm watching season 2. As many, I was surprised to semi like this show. I'm impressed with how unique it is. I won't lie some things have irritated me or disappointed me, but honestly it's better than I thought. A little too much about relationship drama in season 2, but the moments about other stuff is really good. Holy heck all the kids are so talented, they all have such great voices. Can't wait to watch more. That aside I feel like season 2 is getting better, cannot wait to see the next episode. 2x09 looks really good in the promo which prompted me to think about how I feel about each character or couple. I loved that they brought back pretty much the same 6 background 'chorus dancers' in season 2. I know there's more, but actually including them like thed New years party, Improve, and the Quinceanero.
I know I may be hated for this, however I do not ship any of the four 'main' at the moment, they all have so much to work on. But my hsmtmts weird venting of feelings rant. Sorry in advance.
🚨SPOILERS AHEAD🚨
Nini & Ricky - First and for most I never shipped them after the first break up and the slow burn throughout the rehearsals for hsm. Not sure what exactly it was but they just didn't work for me. Communication was such a big problem for them right from the flashbacks, and I know it's a Disney show but a whole year to say 'I love you' felt strange when later we practically see them eating each other blah. Something did not work for me. Their chemistry died part way through season 2. Falling in love with your first love and bestfriend is really precious, but also so heartbreaking at the same time especially if things don't work. Because you never want to lose the friendship. Ricky was becoming too much and treating her terribly, which she absolutely did not deserve. Nini deserves to be independent, she is very talented I won't deny that, but I feel sad because she seems too disconnected from the group even with her bestfriend Kourt despite them placing the two together the last two episodes, something just seems off. (Now this may be just my bias of usually hating main characters when there's a larger cast trickling in) She's still amazing and I hope they can write her independent growth and connection to her friends a bit better, and give us something to look forward to for her character. She needs to learn how to communicate and not hide behind songs or running away. Also proud that she said she wasn't returning from Yac completely for Rocky, which would have been stupid. I would not want to see her give up her dream because he wanted her to. Now I will say their second break up was so mature and beautifully done though and glad she has her fans and music to help her get through. I want to see Nini lean on her mom's for support. Hope she gets an interesting storyline that can showcase how super talented Olivia is with that incredible voice, can't wait to hear more💖
Ricky, well dang this boy needs therapy. He has so many problems he needs to work through. He seriously needs the support of his parents and friends to help him through his break up and abandonment issues. He was becoming pretty scary during season 2, it was making me so uncomfortable. He doesn't like change and yes that's hard to get through but yikes he was almost becoming toxic in some ways. I also know it's very hard to break trauma engraved feelings. Ricky was so insecure that he had to delete a comment from Nini's insta, honestly felt kind of out of character(felt like it was reverting back to season 1 with Ej being jealous, and I did not like it). He's a great character and I hope they show him getting help and working on his issues. I know they showed him with his Mom, Lynn in the 2x09 promo(which is so hard because I don't like her) so I hope it works out and she can help him or that they can have a genuine heart to heart conversation about her actions and how they impacted him. Still don't forgive her for everything so put Ricky through in the first season. He looks so sad and I hope they focus on his mental health and concerns before even thinking about any other relationship drama(wishful thinking...). So happy Ricky had Big Red, those scenes in the montage were so precious and heartwrenching. Big Red just knew Ricky needed him. I want to see more of that friendship grow because it felt slightly lacked in season 2 but that could because he was too focused on Nini and that the rest of the group was growing. I hope they do not let Ricky and Lily happen, that would be such a mistake. Josh is crazy talented can't wait to hear more🧡
Gina - Gosh this girl just needs a big ass hug. I feel so sad and constantly worried about her. That would be so hard constantly moving around never feeling grounded anywhere. I really liked that Ashlyn tried to help with developing a 'home' for Gina. Gina being so independently powerful and strong-willed is a great attribute to who she is and I loved her fierceness in season 1, but I feel like I haven't seen much of that this season, still like her a lot. It just seems she's sadly always putting on a brace face, which makes me feel awful for her. Her pining of Ricky is my least favorite thing about her. I get feelings can develop and with how she fell for him in season 1 and he chose Nini in the end was really sad. But I must say I felt disheartened when she thought Ricky was the one to send her the chocolates on valentines day and was mortified they turned that miscommunication into a joke. Nope, that was not something I liked at all, it felt forced. Yes, they work/see each other in the musical, but with the confused feelings they both shared they really should have backed away from each other to figure things out until both know exactly what they want. It's not fair to each other or Nini and Ej. I don't ship Rina though. Gina in episode 2x05 had me so sad for her, she deserves the world and I was so sad she was internally saying goodbye to everyone. I hope we see her and he mom work on things that will be the best to support Gina. I 100% do not want to see Gina and Jack be a thing, I know they're actors but nope that would be too strange after watching Sofia and Asher as tweens on Andi Mack. Also they really went there with the 'I feel like I know you' seem familiar scene, why? I cringed, I know it's a nod to Andi Mack fans who most probably now watch hsmtmts. I hope we continue to see her friendships grow with everyone. Sofia is so dang talented💚
Ej - I just want to say he went from being hated, to one of the favorite characters in season 2. He became so likeable. Carlos' comment about emotion in the song Gaston was big progress from the scene in season one between the pair, it was nice honestly. I really like Ej's relationship with Mr. Mazzara and hope that he continues to support Ej. I think that can be very good. I also love Ashlyn and Ej's relationship. I hope we eventually see a apology scene or talking scene between Nini and Ej. I really do not like Portwell and I'm so sorry to the fans. But I just don't ship it. I would love them to be good friends and be supportive of each other, their conversation was nice in the 2x08. I hope we see more of his interactions with different characters and continue to see his relationships develop. Ej and Duke well that is a whole other thing. Him acknowledging his privilege and how he didn't earn it was great character progress and very interesting to see. I did feel super sad for Ej, because the boy clearly works so hard with all the clubs and teams he's on, his high gpa, as well as his many other extra curriculars. His Dad, Cash making calls was ridiculous and I'm so proud of Ej telling him he's not going to Duke. I hope we get to see Ej grow independently. However, the promo for 2x09 shows Ej either packing or unpacking boxes with Ashlyn in the room during the zoom call. So I'm worried it's either him helping Gina move out, or the more likely option. Cash Caswell kicked Ej out over him saying he did not want to go to Duke at the end of 2x08. Ej has so much pressure on him. Gah please let Matt sing more, his voice is incredible💛
Ashlyn & Big Red - Redlyn is really sweet and I hope things work out between them regarding them not going through more jealously and relationship drama. I do wish the writers would have explored Ashlyn's insecurities a bit more and with more than just Big Red. I did not like the using her insecurities as comedy in some scenes. Ashlyn being a Disney princess is amazing and such a good thing to showcase. I liked the way they went with Big Red and the career stuff. I see absolutely nothing wrong with him wanting to continue his families legacy and proud that he said that to Ash. Also was happy to see them working that out and her understanding and accepting that. When she finally agreed I was very happy. I don't hate Antoine, but I def don't want to see some weird love triangle glad they said they were working through that. I really want to see more of them together and separate as they're a really cute couple and I think could survive their relationship with independent plot lines. The valentines moments were too sweet. I want to see more scenes with Ashlyn and Ej as I feel they have lacked this season. So, I definitely want to see more of them together as besides drama club, they are part of very different circles so I was shocked to see them so close. However, the more we learned about the Caswells, it appears they grew up alone and only with each other, neither of their parents being home. With her throwing all the parties and him being at her house often and correct me if I'm wrong he sleeps in the spare room quite a bit after parties or in general at her house. Although he did just knock/ring the doorbell in 2x08 which I don't think we've seen before. And his mind else where with Duke and probably his crush nerves somehow forgot Gina was living with Ashlyn. Julia's voice is fantastic that high note in the mob song was just wow. Larry can really sing so well dang, glad he got to sing more in season 2. I cannot wait to hear more from them❤
Carlos & Seb - Seblos is absolutely adorable, that might be biased though because of Joe and Frankie! Even though they are playing characters I feel like there's a little of them that slips through sometimes and I find myself smiling. I hope this fight that keeps being spoken about can be resolved easily. I'll be really sad if not. My heart feels for Seb, as I get Miss Jen doesn't see him as a leading man but she broke barriers once with him being Sharpay which was awesome, he was amazing. So, I hope Seb gets a bigger part in the next musical, and that he and Carlos can work through their relationship dynamic and problems. Really sad to constantly see Seb be told no and disregarded. I want that to change and see him stand up for himself. I don't like that they're portraying him as 'dumb' honestly. Always hate those characters in shows. Sure they say funny things but it's weird. Carlos looks like he's overworking himself and being there for everyone that isn't Seb. Carlos does need to focus on himself a bit and find time for him. Gah I was so happy to see some of Frankie's own heritage represented in the show in 2x05. Carlos' relationship with Miss Jen definitely weirded me out initially😅 I thought the plant growing with them was adorable and the meaning behind the Climb was great, just too cute. I've saw someone mention they think Ricky is going to be going through too many personal problems and be unable to perform and that Seb would take over, which I honestly agree this will happen. Hope to see so much more with them. Definitely hope to hear more singing!!! Gah Frankie and Joe's voices are incredible. They both need to sing way more💜
Kourtney - I still cannot believe she was only meant to be a one or two episode character, she's incredible and I'm so happy they made her more than just Nini's bestfriend who the main character whines to. I loved how they incorporated her as an asset and fashion/costume designer. She's headstrong and so very talented. Really glad they added Kourtney as a cast member to the musical. I mean her step in scene as Taylor was funny, but it's nice to see her break out of her box a little. I hope her relationship does not deter her future and headstrong nature. I really really want to see her relationship grow with other characters that aren't Nini as they were starting to before she came back. Seb and Kourt were great. I'm still indifferent about Howie and Kourtney after everything that has happened with North High. The Harry Potter references were too great though. Can't wait to see where else they go with her character and even Howie. Dara and Roman have such amazing and jaw dropping voices. Dang I want to hear more singing from them both💙
So that was a long winded explanation of how I've been feeling. The show is amazing with such young and talented actors playing awesome characters can't wait to see where else they go with them. Definitely need more singing and dancing.
#hsmtsts#ricky bowen#nini salazar roberts#kourtney greene#ej caswell#ashlyn caswell#big red#carlos rodriguez#sebastian matthew smith#seblos#gina porter#redlyn#kourtney x howie
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A Ponderous Rewatch: Jockey For Position
Now that we’re done with that long cameo, it’s time for our feature presentation for tonight, and it’s a doozy!:
We open with Pinky frantically running on a spinning globe while Brain stands above him on the…globe holder? I don’t know if that part has a name or not.
“[winded gasps] Can I stop now, Brain?”
“Not until I finish my demonstration.”
Brain, that’s just… Well I was about to say it was mean, but given that Pinky understands the details of his plans better when Brain demonstrates it or draws elaborate diagrams, maybe it’s for the best? I doubt Brain could make that large globe spin just by using his hands, and Pinky’s been seen a lot of times running on the mouse wheel in their cage so he’s gotta be pretty in shape. Still, it feels like Pinky’s been running for a lot longer than he needed to…
You know what? I change my mind. It is a bit mean, Brain.
“When I build my reverse geotropic arrestor, Pinky, and throw it from the North Pole like this…”
The word “geotropic” doesn’t quite sound right. I wonder…
…Okay, yeah, Brain’s getting worse at naming things.
“…In a matter of seconds the cable will become taut, gravity will cease, and everyone will fly off the face of the Earth!”
Oh my GOD, Brain. This has got to be the stupidest plan you have come up with yet! Nothing about this will work.
Well, there goes poor Pinky.
“Leaving us alone to assume control.”
It’s still “us”, huh? Noted.
Long Pinky.
“Egad, Brain, brilliant! Haha hehe heh—!”
Pinky, sweetheart, I know praising Brain is kind of your thing but this is one time I’m going to have to call you out on your bias because this is super not brilliant and I’m actually a little worried for Brain’s mental state.
“—Oh wait, no, no. What’s going to keep us from flying off the Earth?”
That’s one flaw of many, Pinky, but I guess it’s as good a start as any.
“We will duct tape ourselves to a tree.”
Because the tree will totally stay in the ground when the Earth abruptly stops spinning. Not that it will stop spinning, because none of this makes any sense.
Brain, did this idea come from, like, a dream you had or something? Is that why the plan is working on dream logic?
I know this is a comedy cartoon and this is all a joke but sometimes Brain’s plans are so fucking out-there I just have to roast him for it.
“Unfortunately we still need to raise money to buy a one billion ton magnet. But I have a solution!”
Oh boy, can’t wait to hear the solution to this one. It’s gonna be stellar if the whole plan today is anything to go by.
Oh nice, Brain’s the one sewing for a change! Usually this is Pinky’s area of expertise, but it’s always nice to see that Brain can do some classically domestic things too.
“Tomorrow is the running of the Kentucky Derby. Do you know what that is?”
Most of my knowledge on it comes from “My Brother, My Brother, and Me” goofs, so my mind keeps autocorrecting it to “Kenfucky Derby”, but go on.
“Umm… Oh! A very large hat?”
“Promise me something, Pinky. Never breed.”
“I’ll try.”
Well, that’s going to come back to haunt them.
“The Kentucky Derby is the biggest horse race of the year. There’s a one million dollar purse going to the jockey riding the winning horse.”
“And I am going to win that purse!”
Okay, first off: Pinky, are you just going to stand there and stare at Brain as he gets changed? Like, I understand they’re naked normally and this is the exact opposite of stripping but umm…
Secondly: Brain, did you really have to get that up close to tell Pinky this? You two are making this too easy for me.
“Zort, Brain! A million dollar purse?!? Ooooh!~ You’re going to need matching pumps and earrings for that!”
Pinky’s got his priorities in order.
“Focus, Pinky, focus!”
“Now watch.”
And now Brain’s ordering Pinky to watch him dress and I just…I have no words. This is all so suspect. Why do you two even need a dressing screen if you’re usually naked anyway? And it shouldn’t matter if anyone sees you get dressed unless this is some weird reverse nudity taboo you two have developed and if that’s the case, why are you allowing Pinky to watch? And if it’s for a dramatic reveal WHY ARE YOU ORDERING HIM TO WATCH YOU CHANGE???
This episode is already so goddamn wild.
I am really not sure how I feel about that pan-up of Brain when he’s thrust his pelvis forward. At least the outfit is cute, though.
“Narf! Oh, Brain, I get it! You’re a beautiful lawn ornament!”
“Beautiful”, huh? Also noted.
“Look at me, narf, I’m a pink flamingo! Ahahaheh!”
Oh LORD, Pinky, how are you—?!?
“I’m a cement deer! Ah hah!”
PINKY, STOP, YOU’RE SCARING ME! D:
“Oh, I’m one of the seven dwarves, Brain!”
That’s more acceptable but Pinky, sweetie, warn me if you’re going to nightmarishly shapeshift again, okay?!
I guess we can add that to the list of random abilities Pinky has.
“Stop it, Pinky, or I shall have to hurt you.”
You are much calmer about this than I would be if this happened in front of me, Brain.
“Oh. Right-o, Brain. Narf.”
“Now let us make haste, for we have much to do before the race begins.”
“Poit.”
So then we cut to Churchill Downs, and I can only assume another roadtrip adventure was had off-screen.
“First, Pinky, we must visit the stables.”
“Inside, we will find the winning horse.”
“Err… How are we gonna do that, Brain?”
“The racing form, Pinky.”
My bet’s on... [squints] hLUUNO the horse.
“By analysing the velocity-based pace line, mile turf win and bayer speed figures, we’ll find a grade one stakes claimer who’ll give us a key horse situation.”
“Key Horse Situation” would be a great band name. Also, whoops, little bit of an error on the name plaques, background artists.
What do your mouse eyes see, Pinky?
“Err, can’t we just ride the pretty one?”
SHE!
So here she is, one of the few characters debuting in the Animaniacs run that will matter to PatB lore going forward aside from our main duo.
A fun fact for you all: Phar Fignewton’s name is a triple reference joke. “Phar Lap” was a champion thoroughbred race horse in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Fig Newtons are small pastries filled with fig paste. Lastly, “Fahrvergnügen” was a slogan for Volkswagon starting in 1990. Translated, it means “driving enjoyment”.
Phar Fignewton makes a whinnying noise and ends it off with a goofy laugh.
Brain is not impressed.
“Heavens, they’re multiplying…”
Pinky is instantly smitten with her.
BONK!
“This is a business trip, Pinky!”
“Oh. Right. Sorry, Brain.”
“Here is our horse.”
“’Daddy’s Little Angel’…”
I guess it’s an ironic nickname.
“Pinky… Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
“Whu… I think so, Brain, isn’t Regis Philbin already married?”
…
Now I’m wondering if Pinky is suggesting that one of them marry Regis or if he’s suggesting that Regis marries the horse. Either way, what the fuck?
Yeah, same.
“The race, Pinky. By combining the statistics and my low body weight, this horse cannot lose! The prize money will be ours!”
GAH! Brain, I’ve had enough minor heart attacks from this episode because of Pinky’s eldritch morphing ability, I don’t need another one of your bizarre close-ups to do the same!
“Now I must take the place of the real jockey.”
“Hello?”
“Is this the Jockey who’s going to ride ‘Daddy’s Little Angel’?”
“Yeah.”
“This is Ed Mcmahon from Publisher’s Smearing House. You’ve just won ten million dollars.”
Pinky delightedly and silently listening in and chuckling in the back is precious.
And honestly, Brain, I don’t know why you’re crouching here, but it’s also cute.
“I won ten million dollars… I WON TEN MILLION DOLLARS! I am outta here! Later!”
The mice are lucky that he’s so excited about winning all that money that he forgets to do basic things like ask when and how he’ll get the money.
“Louie! Louie!”
“Later!”
“Who’s gonna ride my horse? I mean, Louie is the smallest, lightest jockey in the entire world!”
Did you know that there’s a weight requirement for jockeys, but no height requirement?
“Not anymore!”
“[GASP]”
Whoops, I just noticed another error, though it’s minor: Brain’s jockey outfit throughout this scene is light tan and purple instead of the pea green and purple that it’s supposed to be.
“You’re a jockey?!”
“Actually, I am a mouse in the early stages of an elaborate scheme to take over the world.”
The more this happens, the more I’m starting to think that Brain does this shtick on purpose to emotionally and mentally disarm people who would otherwise suspect that he’s not human. The fact that it works shows you just how idiotic the human beings of this world are.
“Well, fine, we all need a hobby but…will you ride my horse?”
Oh, sir, I think it’s much more than a hobby at this point. If only you knew…
“I shall ride! And win!”
His design is a little odd here, but it’s still a good pose.
So Brain next has to be weighed to make sure he meets the requirements.
“Saddle: Seven pounds. Saddle and rider: Seven pounds 3 ounces.”
So if you can recall from the previous rewatch post, a house mouse on average weighs 19g, and a common wood mouse weighs 23g (it can be up for debate which type of mouse Brain is). Converting Brain’s 3 ounces of weight to grams would result in him weighing 85.0486g.
Brain does have a bit of a cute little potbelly thing going on, but he’s also consistently much smaller in height and width than the average adult mouse in the series. I think the incredible difference in weight is mostly coming from the heft of Brain’s, well, brain and skull…and the muscle mass packed into that tiny body to help keep him upright.
“A genetically perfect jockey! This is fantastic!”
Please don’t phrase it like that.
“…Let’s look into early retirement.”
That jockey on the left is going through some shit, man. He looks like how I feel after working an eight hour shift on the holidays.
And so we skip to the beginning of the race!
That poor, poor jockey…who changed colour schemes for some reason.
There’s Phar Fignewton with a jockey who honestly looks like he’s high.
And here’s our little mousey fella, who has somehow managed to make this aggressive horse obedient.
“Camptown race is five miles long, do-dah, do-dah.~”
He’s so happy he’s singing to himself! This is honestly so precious that I completely forgive him for not getting the lyrics correct.
Coincidentally, Daddy’s Little Angel is positioned next to Phar Fignewton.
“Ooh, isn’t this exciting, Brain?”
Uh oh.
“Pinky, what are you doing here? Your weight will disrupt my winning calculations!”
I don’t know if it’d be that off, Brain. The combined weight of two mice is still much less than that of a human jockey.
“But Brain, it’s too exciting! I—“
[TARGET LOCKED]
“Oooh! Heh. Hello.~”
I think I’m going to save my thoughts on this whole…thing until the end. Right now I will say, however, that I wasn’t quite expecting the tongue-hanging-out-of-gaping-mouth lovestruck/horny??? reaction.
“Pinky, the race is starting!”
Too late, Brain.
And we’re off!
Bye, Pinky.
“There’s baloney in our slacks…~”
Pfft.
So as the race goes on, we get to know a few more of the horses’ names: Isle of Yap (a nice callback to the first PatB short), Flamiel (which is apparently the WB writers’ favourite word?), and Leggo-my-Egoiste (a double reference to an old Eggo slogan and the name of a cologne).
The other jockeys are more than a little surprised by Brain and his steed taking the lead early in the race.
Phar Fignewton is trailing way behind.
Meanwhile, Pinky’s woken up from fainting, seeing the oncoming horses—
--and promptly freaks out and stumbles back down again.
“Victory, she waits for me! Oh, the do-dah-day!”
You really have to stop tempting fate like this, Brain.
Phar Fignewton’s very tired, but what’s this?
Is that…Pinky in harm’s way?
ThePowerOfLove.mp3
Determined and fueled by her inexplicable crush, Phar Fignewton starts gaining ground on the other horses.
Brain didn’t calculate for this!
…Oh! Hi, Warners! Looks like they’re cheering Phar on.
“Oh no! Yah! Yah! Yah!”
I didn’t think whips were allowed in races like the Kentucky Derby, but apparently they are. Their use was only restricted—not banned—in the summer of 2020, which is alarming to say the least.
On a different note, I know some of you folks are now jotting down the fact that Brain knows how to use a whip. I see you.
She makes the save!
And she also wins the race! Way to go, Phar Fignewton!
“In the words of the great Willie Shoemaker: ‘Nuts!’”
It was a good try, Brain, but honestly I’m glad you failed this time if only so that you wouldn’t embarrass yourself with your actual world domination plan’s failure later. Maybe take a couple nights off to rest up a bit and formulate plans that aren’t totally bonkers, hmm?
I might as well go ahead and talk about this now. I…am conflicted on this whole Phar Fignewton thing. It makes for a very strange one-off joke about Pinky instantly falling in love with a distaff counterpart of his that’s a horse for whatever reason…but the fact that she’s not a one-off character is baffling in and of itself. Like I’ve said before, she’s mentioned a couple of times going forward as being Pinky’s girlfriend, or as a bizarre joke at Pinky’s expense about him being in/having been in a relationship with a horse. There’s even a small running gag about Pinky’s reaction to people’s disgust about it: “People can be so intolerant!”. I don’t know if the joke is supposed to be one about racial segregation or a wink and nod to queer folks in the only way that the writers could get away with in a cartoon at the time (in a “see, Pinky’s down for a relationship with anyone, even outside of his species!” type of way).
Phar Fignewton herself is a sweetie but besides that she has no personality to speak of and we’re just meant to assume based on physical appearance that she is equivalent to Pinky. And like, she hasn’t been uplifted to human levels of intelligence and sapience like Pinky has because of Acme Labs, but she seems to be naturally sapient for some unknown reason and just simply unable to speak English.
On top of all this, the relationship is very shallow and the only reason we’re given as to why Pinky likes her is because he finds her pretty. It’s perfectly in character for Pinky to easily fall in love, as he does so with other animals a couple more times in the spin-offs, but it just feels weird that this is the one that sticks around purely to become a running gag that gets mentions that are sometimes literal years apart from one another.
And listen, I know the writers most likely made this a thing just because they thought it was a funny joke and a few of them managed to remember about Phar and would use Pinky dating her as a gag. I know this. But it doesn’t make it any less confusing and weird. I remember the jokes about Pinky and horses from way back when I first watched Animaniacs and the PatB spin-off when I was a kid and I never had any context for it because I don’t think I ever saw this specific episode. Coming back as an adult and seeing all these episodes in order and watching this one in particular and finding out the context is “Pinky thinks a horse is pretty and the horse and him are in love and long-distance dating now” is both underwhelming and leaves me with more questions than answers.
…Also, if my earlier theories on why the writers made this joke are correct, does this mean Phar Fignewton is metatextually a beard for Pinky?
I just don’t know, folks. You’re welcome to leave your thoughts on this in comments.
Let’s wrap this up.
So as we can see, Brain is, as usual, back to work on another plan that involves—
—a goddamn cannon, holy shit! What is he using the glue for? That’s a little ominous, given what’s been involved in this episode.
There’s a hammering noise in the background and we see Pinky putting up a photo of Phar Fignewton.
“Pinky, will you please stop that? I’m trying to concentrate on tomorrow night!”
Wow, you’re more irritable than usual, Brain. I didn’t think some delicate hammering would annoy you that much.
“Mwah!~”
…Despite my ramblings earlier, that’s very cute of you, Pinky. I’m sure you could’ve gotten a better photo, though.
“Why, Brain, what’re we gonna do tomorrow night?”
Try to take over the world, of course! Right, Brain?
“Guess.”
…
Umm, wow. That’s a first. You look like you’re absolutely enraged, Brain. All this over some hammering sounds?
This had me taken aback a bit when I watched it the first time, not gonna lie. We’ve seen Brain after a plan’s failure plenty of times before. He’s been frustrated, sure. Humiliated at times, or maybe he just sighs in resignation and walks off into the sunset. It always ends with him simply using these feelings to fuel the fire in him to do better tomorrow night.
This is the very first time we’ve seen him jumpy and irritated at the most minor of things and so angry that he literally refuses to participate normally in his and Pinky’s shared catchphrase. And this was for a plan that was just to fund the real plan! So why is this time any different?
Oh.
OH.
Okay, that’s… That makes a lot of sense, actually. Damn.
Hey, fanfic writers? Ya’ll ever use this as the very first time Brain experiences romantic jealousy? Let me know.
“Oh yeah, try to take over the world. Right.”
I think even Pinky’s put off by this development, if his hesitant and quiet finishing of the saying is anything to go by.
And that’s what we end off with.
All in all, this episode is a wild ride of strangeness in small moments and bizarre additions to lore and ends on the first subversion of the long-running closing gag of the series. It’s not exactly a great episode, but that ending is intriguing enough for one of the main purposes of this rewatch. In short, I’m just baffled.
Luckily the next episode is much better. Next time, the mice head on down to Tennessee to seek world domination via country music.
See you then!
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i really liked ur long post re. kingdom! and agree with ur points; when i was watching the clips, i didn’t really consider the production design and camera set up but the points you made makes a lot of sense why i felt the 4th gen groups were so awkward to watch.
(also, i read ur post once and haven’t fully digest so i’m sorry if i mix things up!)
and GAH, thank you! whenever i read ateez’s comments, they praise jongho for being the only 4th gen vocal but like... ya he sings live yay but also it sounds like he’s hurting his throat and it isn’t very pleasant. i’m not familiar with technique or any of that but as a casual listener, i’ve always been drawn to seonghwa’s vocals and think he has potential if given great training!
also, yes to bobby! he was the only one who looked happy during the stage (and the rest of ikon when they weren’t performing). maybe it’s because it’s their FOURTH competition show and they’re just over it (but hey, it’s better than not working at all). i feel like 4th gen bgs have adopted so many ‘dark’ concepts to be considered ‘good’ or whatever but it all blends for me. they keep giving me blank stares and i don’t feel anything lol i hope as the show progresses, they play with different concepts (pls i hope btob doesn’t feel pressured to mimic the same things as 4th gen to win).
ah thank you!! part of the reason why i decided to do these reviews in the first place is precisely because there are SO few people talking about the production design+staging in kpop. designers are the last rung of people in the performance hierarchy to get properly acknowledged and paid for their work (in canada for example, there is no union for theatrical designers), and this is me doing something to give credit where it’s due and to bring up an INSANELY important element of kpop that like....never gets talked about.
hanya’s vocal technique primer and breakdown does a really good job of explaining the flaws in ateez’s performance, much better and in more detail that i did, so i’d recommend reading that if you're interested in learning more about technique! seonghwa and wooyoung have some of the most promising potential because they do actually have the ability to switch between head and chest, whereas jongho is trying to force the ceiling of his middle without making the jump. i think he actually might be able to switch to head because there is a clip somewhere that i saw of him doing a semi-passable ‘parody’ queen of the night aria from magic flute, but i have only seen it once and my memory is garbage. long story short is there would be a lot more ability in all of these 4th gen boys if the companies paid for vocal lessons instead of tricking.
i often equate dance and acting because dance IS acting. yes, they are uniquely different skills, and not everyone who is good at one is good at the other, but they both have the same core motive of trying to communicate. what one is trying to communicate and its authenticity is another question altogether and i have some real weapons-grade hot takes about that, so i will leave that alone for now, but there is an overlap of skill between dance and acting that often gets overlooked, especially in commercialized hiphop dance (which kpop is).
in the case of 4th gen performance face, there’s two common causes. the first is ‘focus face,’ where the dancer is so focused on actually dancing that they just don't do anything with their face. yunho from ateez is a good example. he's very sweet and i know he has a personality somewhere but as soon as he steps on stage his face absolutely shutters. not technically a flaw, since he is a talented dancer, but that’s the difference between him and san. san knows how to work his stage charisma, and yunho doesn’t. this is super common among even professional dancers, but it can also be unlearned. the second is ‘serious face,’ which conversely, is a product of overthinking. this is extremely common within 4th gen boy groups because of the uptick of ‘dark’ concepts. there isn’t anything wrong with dark concepts as a whole, but because there has been a huge glut of them in the last couple of years and especially since rtk, they've lost some of the visual punch but also a lot of them in the first place don't have a strong underlying theme. for a dark concept to work there needs to be very clear visual intent and narrative. ‘look at me im wearing all black and looking serious’ isn't a concept, it’s a cardboard standee of gerard way. obviously there’s been a general geopolitical trend towards ‘dark and gritty’ things that's been happening over the last...since whenever man of steel came out, but within kpop specifically there’s the hole that vixx left and the new groups are scrambling to fill it, but they don't have the experience or stage presence or frankly the stones to pull off what their ADs are trying to get them to do. the only group that’s come even close to pulling off a vixx level concept is oneus with to be or not to be and i stand by my decision. more shakespearean concepts please and thank you. this got derailed from me talking about serious face but tldr of that is that because the dark concepts have become mostly aesthetic rather than emotionally or narratively fueled, it means that performers don't really have much material to work with, so it manifests especially in inexperienced performers as ‘im going to look serious because serious is sexy.’
this got way too long but unfortunately that is just how i am as a person. i agree anon i do hope that btob (and every other group tbh) doesn’t fall under the dark concept/4th gen pressure, and that we see more creative stages in future episodes. if i have to look at another royalty concept i will scream.
#kingdom#should i make a tag for kpop questions? maybe i should make a tag for kpop questions#kpop questions#i have many more things to say about all of this but i will stop for now because this is already so long#again im super happy to discuss questions and opinions so if you have any feel free to shoot me an ask#Anonymous#i can make longer posters elabourating on certain points if people want to hear more also#just lemme know#kpop analysis#text#kingdom review responses#answers#kingdom asks
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