#I’ve absolutely adored watching her style evolve and love where it ended up

[tracingdreams]

Tiger & Bunny S2 Pt1

It’s strange to think how long it was since season 1 of T&B. Even though I didn’t watch it when it came out, it just doesn’t feel like there’s been a lapse or a major change in style between the original 2011 series and the new.

I’m going to babble, but under tags in case people either don’t care or don’t want to be spoilered. Because I love this series, the babble may be long and rambly. Read at own risk.

Tiger and Bunny What do I say about these guys. I adore their partnership. I love how Barnaby can go into a sulk over Tiger drinking his drink and yet they still perfectly coordinate to take out a villain. I love them being awkward ‘senpai’ to the others in the teaming up department. I love how Barnaby is no longer so easy to sway on Tiger’s loyalty. I love that Barnaby has filled his house with plants and that he talks to them constantly. I just love the two of them. Nuff said really. Though their partnership has clearly evolved, it’s a beautiful thing. And of course, now Kaede knows everything, it’s like Barnaby is part of her family, too. Not that I’m suggesting anything. Even though sometimes I think the animators are, when they have Tiger say things like, ‘yeah, we’re friends, but it’s not just that’...

Also, it’s absolutely not at all suspicious that Tiger has his wedding photo, his picture of him, his wife and Kaede as a baby, and then a picture of him, Barnaby and Kaede lined up on his shelf together in that order. Like, not at all.

Ryan and Blue Rose So in the movie, I wasn’t really sure what to make of Ryan. He didn’t seem like a bad guy, but he also seemed a bit full of himself. However I really like his character in season 2. Getting a bit of backstory, seeing his insecurities as he works out his partnership with Blue Rose, and also him getting on Subaru’s case over Barnaby’s reasons for becoming a hero...I feel like he really fitted into the team well now and he belongs. Karina is still hung up on Tiger but she does seem more mature this season. She still has the towel though. Nice detail linkup there from season 1, as was the stalker guy.

Origami Cyclone and Rock Bison Bison is always a bro, even if he doesn’t get the highest results. He and Kotetsu have a great friendship and it’s fun to see him in this role all the time anyway. But I love his really clunky partnership now with Origami. I loved Origami anyway, he’s really evolved since the start of season 1. 

Mr Black and He Is Thomas Who on earth decided that second name. It may win the most ridiculous hero name and it’s up against some big competition. I actually quite like both Subaru and Thomas although they need to learn to communicate, both with others and each other. I feel like at the end of the cour they may be getting there. Thomas’ past is so sad but the point where the couple take advantage of him is worse somehow. I hope he finds his sister. It’s also weird because although I’ve heard Shimozaki Nobunaga voice umpteen characters, this one sounds THE MOST like Furuya of all of them.

Magical Cat and Dragon Kid I don’t have strong feelings about Kid as a character, I think she’s fine. I think Cat needs to give her mother a stern talking to, but seriously, what is a fourteen year old girl doing out fighting bad guys anyway? And that it’s Cat that impales the warp guy at the end. Ouch. That’s a pretty big deal burden. I don’t hate Cat but she probably needs to be more useful. The cutesy magical girl thing doesn’t really work for me. I prefer Blue Rose, even if she does have adolescent attitude problems ;)

Fire Emblem and Sky High These two as a partnership amuse me. There’s a lot of Fire Emblem’s background in the movie which kind of makes me view them in a more informed light. Up to this point I might’ve said ‘she’, based on season 1, but after the movie, I now feel like ‘they’ is the correct pronoun here. Fire is really smart, Sky High is...not. But he is genuine and earnest and they do work together well. Sky High admitting his own personal failings - he hates celery! - was also cute.

Lunatic ...I kind of don’t understand the lack of Lunatic as Lunatic in this season, mind you. Especially since Yuri has been given particular responsibility overseeing the hero system in its new form. In fact, Barnaby and Tiger using him as a sounding board, and especially Barnaby telling him some pretty personal stuff about his feelings since Maverick’s downfall is a bit ironic. I was surprised he didn’t get involved in the conflict with the twins, but spent the whole of the first part of the season simply as Yuri and not as Lunatic. Lunatic did get mentioned in front of him a few times, and he did burn some notes...but that’s all. Is he giving up his vigilante side to be a proper judicial overseer instead? I don’t know how I feel about that - maybe he’s been converted to heroes as an entity after all. I thought his inclusion in the movie was basically pointless and jarred with his efforts to help Tiger escape Maverick’s web in season 1. Maybe him pulling back from his vigilanteeism is good continuity for that. I don’t know, though. I kind of missed him. Maybe in part 2, if it comes in the autumn?

Barnaby’s friend Mattia...

Who I spent the whole series being a bit suspicious of, seems to be an innocent guy caught up in bad stuff. I guess it’s good for Barnaby to have an actual friend that isn’t a superhero or a plant. So I’m fine with it. 

And the ending... Well. I can see Ryan’s going to have some more unpleasant things to deal with in the second part of this series. I really hope it genuinely is coming in the autumn. 

#Tiger & Bunny #Season 2 #Babble #spoilers #bring on second cour

[oetravia]

Every Nia Nal Outfit Ever: 6x20 [4/4]

#supergirl #supergirl spoilers #supergirledit #dctvedit #arrowverseedit #nianaledit #nia nal #brainiac 5 #I can’t believe this is the last one you guys 💔😭 #(at least it is unless we get a different outfit in the deleted scenes 👀) #and what a cute one to go out on #I’ve absolutely adored watching her style evolve and love where it ended up #and I sincerely hope we get to see her looking fabulous again #(also let me know if you’d like me to do other character’s outfits too - I’m all ears 👂👀) #mine #my gifs #niaoutfits #and finishing up writing the tags for this set has me feeling very emotional so…yeah

[peepspersonalperspective]

MY PICKS: Top 10 K-Dramas

Disclaimer: These are totally subjective choices and I've justified them as per my preferences. Consider them friendly recommendations and let me know if you disagree. Also, I've discovered the wonderful world of K-Dramas over the last couple of years and they've really evolved not just in storytelling but also production value so I personally prefer the more recent ones. So for example I haven't put a very popular pick like My Love from the Star simply because I've seen better stuff since (don't shoot me). Anyway, 가자!

MEMORIES OF ALAHAMBRA

This is my first recommendation for anyone who's just starting out watching Korean television content simply because it's so different from what new viewers expect it to be. It's so gripping and thrilling. I would expect nothing less from Song Jae Jung's writing.

So it's a sci-fi show, set in Spain, about an augmented reality game, that seems to have physical implications in the real world, sending the lead, Hyun Bin on a rollercoaster ride to find answers. Exo's Chanyeol has a recurring role as the game developer, so that's exciting too. I learnt that he was cast because of his love for PubG. Lol.

Every episode will leave you wanting more, and you'll find yourself as desperate to search for answers as Yoo Jin Woo (Hyun Bin).

Granted, mid season, it gets a little complicated, especially with newer nuances of the game unfolding, but fret not because the characters are discovering the secrets of the game with you. So they're as confused as you would be, and that's why this show is so good! More so because the graphics are excellent! You can tell they really spent money on ensuring high quality work. You will really feel like you're part of the game with Yoo Jin Woo.

Anyway, if you are an EXO-L, or you like gaming, sci-fi, thriller and Hyun Bin, this show is great!

2. W - Two Worlds

Another piece of awesome from Song Jae Jung. I would still rank this show a little below Alahambra, because I think the makers made improvements from this sci-fi drama in Alahambra, in the sense of storytelling. Still, W is just as intriguing.

Oh Yeon Joo (Han Hyo Joo) gets sucked into a comic book where she falls in love with the lead character of the comic book, Kang Chul (Lee Jeong Suk). Sounds like a typical romance drama right? Don't be fooled because there are many many twists and turns along the way.

I feel like there is metaphor in there somewhere about existentialism, the creation and destiny. But maybe that's just me reading into things.

Lee Jeong Suk is extremely desirable as Kang Chul, unsuspectingly charming and endearing, and Oh Yeon Joo is an absolutely relatable character, and how she deals as an ordinary girl thrown into extraordinary circumstances is genuine.

I would say this drama is wholesome, with sci-fi, suspense, thriller, action, romance, filial relationships, and more. And while it's usually difficult to jam pack all this into one show without screwing it up, W emerges exceptional.

3. Extraordinary You

This show is so cute! If you want just a light hearted, quirky show, this is the one for you.

It's about characters in a cartoon becoming aware of their existence in a cartoon. But don't worry this is NOTHING like W.

The best part about the show is that it's not about the main characters of the said cartoon. It's the story about the extras finding their way in that world, hence the pun intended in the title. The main characters (of the cartoon) are actually the most dull, because they are bound by the laws of stereotypical high school romance. But the real stuff is happening on the sidelines, with Kim Hye Yoon as Dan Oh and Rowoon as Haru.

Dan Oh is a hilarious character and Kim Hye Yoon does a fantastic job of switching emotions when she's in and out of a scene in the cartoon. One minute she goes into character mode, next minute she's bitching at the sorry fate of her character when she wakes up, to the astonishment of the characters surrounding her (who aren't aware of their reality yet).

Rowoon has a quiet charm about him that perfectly complements Hye Yoon. Check it out for a chuckle and a taste of something different.

4. Crash Landing on You

This show is hard not to like. Apart from the poorly picturized tornado carrying our leading lady over the border to North Korea, this show is a wonderful Netflix and Chill kind of show, I think.

The cultural disparity between the South and North is interesting to watch and also entertaining. Like when they mention buying mobile games at an App store (a literal application store in a Pyongyang market).

Ri Jung Hyuk (Hyun Bin again) and Yoon Seri (Son Yejin) are such a delight in comedic, romantic, and dramatic scenes. But the scene stealer for me was Yang Kyun Won as Pyo Chi Soo, and his unshakeable nationalism that he is ready to set aside for some shampoo and conditioner.

The interesting thing is going into the show, you have an idea of the longevity, so ofcourse, Seri's journey back to the South ain't going to be easy, also her relationship with Ri Jung Hyuk is doomed, and yet you find yourself rooting for them at each step, crying with them during their failures and crying with them even in their triumph. But the most tears were shed for the least expected character, who simply left us all heart broken.

5. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

In a world where women are expected to behave and look a certain way to be considered attractive by someone they're vying for, here's a food hogging, tomboy, weightlifting champ, with her first crush.

The premise may rope you into the show, but midway you realise that the heart of the show is in its characters, and without realising you become so invested in them that you feel their fears, insecurities, and cherish their victories with them.

This coming of age show really relishes on the quirks of each character, friendship, love and aspirations. It's not a very dramatic story which is probably why it didn't rate very high during its broadcast, but that's part of its charm, and that's why it's been able to gather a significant cult following since.

Lee Sung Kyung and Nam Joo Hyuk portray the most sincere friends and eventual couple. Their relationship blossoms in the most organic manner and it's so heartwarming. They're not cheesy or unrealistic; they even beat each other up! I don't think I've seen that level of comfort portrayed on screen so well before.

Watch out for guest appearances by Ji Soo and Lee Jeong Suk.

6. Strong Girl Do Bong Soon

I'll be honest, this recommendation is mainly for Park Hyung Sik. He's amazing in the show. And there could be no better supernaturally strong petite girl than Park Bo Young, either.

So there are actually a lot of things happening in the show, story wise, but I promise it all comes together in the end. There is quite a build up and I'm happy that it pays off adequately.

This is like a superhero show with all the spices and flavours of a Marvel movie, but K-Drama style. There's an invincible villain, some idiot gangsters for comedic value, romance (a love triangle infact), functional training, a point of lost hope for Bong Soon, and then her resurrection as a superhero.

It's all there, and more.

But Park Hyung Sik.....

7. Itaewon Class

This recommendation is simply for the refreshing change of representation on TV. I know a lot has already been spoken about it already, but I have to admit that that's what sets this revenge drama apart. That, and the music. Dayum, Start by Gaho is so catchy! And let's not forget V's Sweet Night.

This show starts off slow but give it 3 episodes before it gets to the real shit.

Park Saeroyi is almost too good to be true, and in that lies his shortcoming. His character is so strong that while watching him I forgot that Park Seo Joon was acting. And despite some unnerving moments I found myself rooting for him. He has some strong motivational lines too, like about his choice for a better life. His determination is almost unreal, as he goes on to take down his mortal enemy.

Some of the best scenes, though, are of Jo Yi Seo (Kim Dami), a sociopathic enterprising genius. She was the one who actually kept me hooked to the series. She added some much needed flair to the show, and as it appears to Park Saeroyi's establishment.

Actually, every character was strong, every character had a strong backstory and motivation for the action, and most importantly they never broke character.

Watch out for Park Bo Gum's special appearance.

8. Love In The Moonlight

Speaking of Park Bo Gum...

This show is all kinds of weird in the best way! A girl pretends to be a palace eunuch and falls in love with the crown Prince. That is so messed up!

But that's the fun part! And Park Bo Gum and Kim You Jung make it a wonderful ride. Full of quirky romance, political conflicts and hidden identity issues, this show is addictive af!

And even though this wasn't in the show and was just a promo, be sure to watch Park Bo Gum's Bombastic dance. It's adorable!

9. The Third Charm

I'm sure this is my least popular recommendation. But something about watching this show was so cathartic. I highly recommend it for those who may have gone through heartbreak ever in their lives.

This is probably one of those rare times when I was lost in the story instead of Seo Kang Jun's eyes. Hehe. This story is about an on again off again couple and their journey through life together and apart.

This was meant to be a healing drama, and it really does take you through the emotional evolution that comes with growing up. I think it's the perfect medicine for a healing heart.

10. It's Okay Not To Be Okay

This show! This is my current obsession. Kim Soo Hyun's comeback couldn't have been more perfect. Seo Yeji couldn't have been a more perfect casting. And the two leads couldn't have had a better chemistry.

This show is all kinds of whimsical and I love it. Also a healing drama, this show deals with.... Baggage....to put it simply. Some baggage may be bigger than other baggage, some even irrevocable. But seeing all the characters overcome this baggage is so fulfilling.

But the charm of this show is in Ko Moon Young's (Seo Yeji) craziness and the Tim Burton-esque setup, that really makes one perceive fairytales in a whole new way. I mean I always knew that fairytales were sanitized German folklore, but I never thought to find a very different messaging from the material. The parables are ingenious, and it really is a pleasure to watch each and every person on this show.

Special mentions: Goblin, Reply 1988, 30 but 17/ Still 17, My ID is Gangnam Beauty, Hotel Del Luna

#tvshow #kdrama #memoriesofalahambra #w two worlds #hyun bin #crash landing on you #extraordinary you #rowoon #haru #kim bok joo #weightlifting fairy kim bok joo #lee sung kyung #nam joo hyuk #ahn bo hyun #strong girl do bong soon #jisoo #itaewon class #park seo joon #love in the moonlight #park bo gum #the third charm #seo kang joon #its okay not to be okay #kim soo hyun #seo ye ji #netflix #tv #tv show

[foul-z-fowl]

Webtoons

I was inspired to write a post about my favorite webtoons and my thoughts on them, so buckle up for a hell of a ride.

Series used- Adventures of God, Small World, Brass & Sass, My Dictator Boyfriend, To Love Your Enemy, Love Me Knot, True Beauty, My Giant Nerd Boyfriend, The Four of Them, Lore Olympus, Luff, Brimstone and Roses, Miss Abbott and the Doctor, Prince & Knight, Sweet Cinnamon, Enjoy the show, Pixie and Brutus, Big Small Spoon, We are a Family, LMLY, A Matter of Life and Death.

Adventures of God-

Not for the easily offended, ESPECIALLY if you’re religious. At first I had my doubts, but this hilarious series won me over and I always look forward to the regular updates on Tuesdays and Saturdays. (Teo & Corey) 

Small World-

Sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they make cry, sometimes I’m left wondering what the hell I just read. Welcome the world of Robin and Julian, the most adorable comic couple ever. Updates Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday (Wonsun Jin)

Brass & Sass-

Absolutely a contender for my favorite webtoon, I spend every day counting down until Thursday when it updates. The characters, their dynamics and just EVERYTHING is amazing, not in the least the adorable art. One of my favorite things is how Camilla still isn’t good at the trumpet after just a few months of practice. Her struggles with learning how to play (and with her cute tutor) are so relatable! (antlerella)

My dictator boyfriend-

To be honest, I read this for the same reason the artist draws it- for the butts! I discovered this through Adventures of God, after seeing what else the artist/authors worked on. While most of it is humor and fluff, the angst and the moral moments are buried in there, and I live for it. Updates every Thursday and Sunday. (Teo & Guy)

To Love your Enemy-

I’ll be honest, I almost dropped this one in the beginning. The plot lines seemed a tad confused, almost like the authors weren’t sure what direction they wanted to go with. But then, out of nowhere I just dug my heels in and read and just like that, I was in love. Updates every Monday and Thursday. (Junyoon & Taegeon)

Love me Knot-

I’ve always loved the mythology surrounding the red string of fate, and the second this popped up on my radar, I was hooked. The characters are adorable, quirky, and relatable. It also teaches several important lessons, including one I’ve always loved- Just because your soulmate is the best person for you, doesn’t mean they have to be the ONLY person for you. You can be happy with someone else. Updates every Wednesday. (sophia)

True Beauty-

I know, I know, everyone says that that ‘the love triangle took over’ , but I think in the last episode or two, the webtoon has really started to go back to it’s original message. It’s so crazy to think how far I’ve come with these characters. They’re no longer in high school, now they’re adults, whose careers and dreams sometimes interfere with their relationships and family. As only the second webtoon I ever read, back when I swore that I would never read webtoons for fun, it holds a special place in my heart, and is one of the only webtoons I have memorized the update day for- Wednesdays. (Yaongyi)

My Giant Nerd Boyfriend-

This Slice of Life webtoon has so many episodes, I’m still trying to catch up! But it’s safe to say Fishball’s hilarious down-to-earth real life stories are awesome. And sometimes very, very, weird. Updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (Fishball)

The Four of Them-

To be honest, I’m only three episodes into this, and it’s already on my subscribe list.  Updates every Monday. (Mai Hirschfeld)

Lore Olympus-

Yes, I know it’s the top webtoon, and everyone has to be ‘not like other people’ and ‘quirky’ and ‘against the status quo’, but guys, that’s what made me miss out on One Direction when they were popular. I love Lore Olympus, and I love the character development. Persephone and Hades’ relationship is real. Also, this was the series that introduced me to webtoon. I was scrolling through youtube ignoring the recommendation’s for Helevetica Dubs dub of it, until I finally listened to it, and I was hooked. That was made me come to webtoon and without it, I would have missed out on several amazing stories. I do have one major problem though- I think Persephone is over sexualized. Updates every Sunday. (Rachel smythe)

Luff-

Oh my god. Luff. Where to begin. I loved every second of Luff. It took me on a roller coaster ride of emotion, and trust me, if the premise and the beginning seem cliche, that just makes the payoff of the ending all the more sweet. Luff was beautiful look and humanity, love, and relationships. Finished :(. (Arechan)

Brimstone and Roses-

I just started this one an hour ago, but what the hell. Brimstone and Roses seems alright so far. (Honestly, I’m kind of hoping Bea gets her ex back instead of ending up with the demon.) Finished (Mei Rothschild)

Miss Abbott and the Doctor-

Another recommend form Helevetica Dubs, this adorable, hilarious, heart-warming, amazing, beautiful series is perfect. And because the author is amazing, there are regular episodes where everyone is gender bent. Yeah! The best part about these Mr. Abbott and the Doctor episode is that things don’t always play out the same. 10/10, would recommend! Finished :(. (Maripaz Villar)

Prince & Knight-

This author has quite the talent for making EVERY all-to-short episode end in a cliffhanger, which is very frustrating for me. But, this is adorable, so it can slide. :). Updates Monday 6pm, UTC. (Tsuyonpu)

Sweet Cinnamon-

To be fair, only half of the update actually are part of the story line. But, hey the author knows how to write compelling characters who I would let be my friend in real life! Updates are fairly sporadic, but usually a week or two apart. (Glen_❤️)

Enjoy the Show-

Another one of my top contenders, this webtoon makes me cry in the spaces between updates. I found this series through a canvas creators collab, and I was HOOKED. The characters, the art, it’s all amazing. And the twist! ARRRRR, I was so mad I never considered that!! One of my favorite things about this series is anytime it looks like a character might be a love interest for out heroine, they are swiftly dealt with. Jailtbait? Self-explanatory. Gabe? He’s just a flirt. Updates are generally once a month or so, but the creator regularly participates in collabs! (Jenna A)

Pixie and Brutus-

You’ve probably seen at least one of these adorable comics somewhere besides webtoon, but there are actually a lot more than you think! Pixie and Brutus is about a tiny little kitten and an old retired military dog, and their friendship, and how protective Brutus is of Pixie, is adorable! Update are fairly random- sometimes the update are a month apart, sometimes they happen back to back. (Pet Foolery)

Big Small Spoon-

Big small spoon opened up a whole new world of webtoons for me. It introduced me to the Slice of Life genre, and the creator’s canvas collabs have brought me to so many of my favorite webtoons! This comic is adorable and drawn from the creator’s real life. Updates Tuesday ACST (a r v i e)

We are a family-

Even though this adorable webtoon only has 24 episodes, it definitely is another contender for my favorite! It’s just so precious and adorable! It’s about a young couple (Joon and Erin) who are trying to raise a baby (Edan), it’s veeeery funny (just be warned- it has an inappropriate content warning for a reason. Nothing’s graphic, just alluded to.) Updates roughly a week or two apart. (mocoso)

LMLY-

Short for Let Me Love You, this adorable series is about a boy who’s crush asks him to fake date her! The characters are adorable and I love the design for Leon (the boy) who has hectochromia (two different colored eyes). Updates used to be close together, but recently they’ve become every few months. (edbe)

A Matter of Life and Death-

Probably my favorite webtoon of all time. The characters are amazing, the idea behind the series is amazing, the art is beautiful, and watching the creator’s style evolve over time is such a treat. This series is truly amazing. Unfortunatly, the creator, the AMAZING BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL SNIPSTER, has been dealing with some issues and hasn’t updates since May, and doesn’t intend to anytime soon. Speaking of Snipster- Snipster is so awesome she posts fanfiction, fanart, and alternate universe versions of her characters. Go to her Tapas for some highly NSFW extras. Updates not forthcoming for a while (and it ended on a cliffhanger!!!) (Snipster-webtoon Snarpers-Tapas) @the-snipster

Still here? I hope you found something good to read!

#adventures of god #small world #brass and sass #my dictator boyfriend #to love your enemy #love me knot #true beauty #my giant nerd boyfriend #the four of them #lore olympus #luff #brimstone and roses #miss abbott and the doctor #helevetica dubs #prince and knight #sweet cinnamon #enjoy the show #pixie and brutus #big small spoon #we are a family #lmly #let me love you #a matter of life and death #the-snipster

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Reviews: Carrie Lite

Since we’re all under government quarantine, i mean, since we’re all social distancing, i figure this is a good opportunity to catch up on some of the things is didn’t have enough tome to see otherwise. There were a few movies coming out that i wanted to take a legit theater gander at but i think they’re hitting streaming instead. Invisible Man, i’m looking at you. In the meantime, i took in a few shows on the Netflix that caught my interest, the first of which is I Am Not Okay With This. It’s the new show from Jonathan Entwistle, the director of the excellent End of the F*cking World, and appear to be a mixture of that show and Carrie. I absolutely adore End and Carrie is one of my favorites stories ever told, so my anticipation for this adaption was palpable. After binging the entire show in a day, i must say, i have opinions.

The Good

I rather like the overall plot of this show. It feels real. Telekinetic powers aside, this feels like one of the more realistic portrayals of awkward teen development i’ve seen in some time. Everyone is so awkward. Everyone is so clumsy. It’s like watching actual high school kids living high school lives. No one knows who the f*ck they are except the weird kid, which is the truest thing about this narrative that you never see in lesser, teen oriented dramedies.

Speaking of narrative, the writing on this show is strong as f*ck. Easily one of the better written shows out right now. Seriously, this is about as tight in the writing department as End of the F*cking World and that was, easily, the best written show i had seen in probably a decade. Okay gives that masterpiece a run for it’s money.

My, goodness, is this thing beautifully shot. The frames chosen, the pans, the wipes, that use of slow motion at just the right time; All of it comes together in a feast for the eyes. This show is truly a joy to watch. It’s not super laden with effects or saturated with Bayhem or whatever but if you’re a fan of camera work, the composition of shots, or the way Wes Anderson frames his scenes, you’ll definitely appreciate the look of this show.

The direction of this show is good. I can’t say i’m enthused by it because i already saw it in The End of the F*cking World, and this show skews to hard toward that one. That’s a choice made by Jonathan Entwistle, considering he was a director and creative force behind both shows. Now, i understand that cats have a certain style, a certain flair to their craft. You know a David Fincher flick when you see it. You know a Chris Nolan flick when you see it. That said, their movies are not the same. Dunkirk does not feel like The Dark Knight. Alien 3 does not feel like Gone Girl. There are, of course, superficial similarities; Cinematography, shot composition, editing style, etc. But, the sum of the parts does not make the same whole, over and over again. Michael By has that problem. It’s why no one takes him seriously as a director anymore. You have to innovate, evolve your style, to stay relevant and Entwistle seems to be resting on his laurels with Okay. He’s good at his job, don’t misunderstand, i’m just left wanting, you know?

The casting of this show is pretty legit. I mean, there are those twenty-somethings masquerading as teenagers but the gap isn’t as bad as you’d assume. I’m pretty sure these cats are supposed to be around Junior/Senior level age and, for the most part, the main cast falls in that wheelhouse relatively adequately. That lends itself to the believability of this teenage dramadey. I mean, who the f*ck is trying to watch a show at thirty-year-teenagers? Riverdale, i’m looking at you.

Sophia Lillis is absolutely brilliant as the our heroine, Sydney Novak. An obvious Carrie White allegory, Sophia was able to inject a genuineness to her character that give Syd an independent energy. Syd’s plight is rooted in very real, very emotional, turmoil that lends itself to what a lot of real life teens nowadays, have to face. Ma was excellent as Beverly Marsh in the IT films and i hear great things about Sharp Objects so i had confidence she could carry this show. I can’t say i was surprised when she hit it out of the park but i was, one again, incredibly impressed. I mean, she’s f*cking fresh 18! There’s no way she should be this god at her craft, so early in her career!

Another standout, and easily my favorite character in this show, was that of Stan Barber. Stan is that weird kid i poke of earlier. He has his own issues at home but Wyatt Oleff’s portrayal makes that sh*t real. He embodies that high anxiety and awkward waywardness. You can tell Stan has lived a life and is just done with the nonsense superficiality of High School bullsh*t, a fact that i can identify with. Stan is delightful eccentric, lovably awkward, and refreshingly real throughout his arc, all testament to the outstanding portrayal of Wyatt Oleff. Interestingly enough, he, too, is an IT alum. That cast of kids was truly excellent. It’s dope seeing them branch off into other great roles.

Sofia Bryant’s Dina, Syd’s best friend and object of infatuation, deserves a mention as well. She was excellent in her role, mostly. There were times when i felt her portrayal a little wooden or flat but, overall, she did a great job. It was necessary for whoever was cast as Dina to have that chemistry with Syd and Bryant played well off Lillis. Without that relationship, this entire show wouldn’t work. Fortunately, Bryant and Lillis are excellent together onscreen.

The supporting cat is pretty strong as well. No one feels fake or inorganic to the world created in this show. I have to recognize Aidan Wojtak-Hissong and Richard Ellis as Liam Novak and Brad Ellis, respectively. These cats were integral, if underutilized, to the plot. I was a little disappointed with Jenny Tuffield, played by Sophia Tatum. Her generic bad-boy turned bad-girl archetype, complete with cliche leather jacket and everything, felt too manufactured. The Fonz doesn’t exist in modern day. Greasers are extinct. Still, i think she did a decent job with what she had but she ain’t have much.

The Bad

Some characters felt underutilized. For instance, Maggie Novak, Syd’s mom. There is a lot there for the character to do but it feels like her role was purposely mitigated to exposition and cameo. I wanted more of their mother/daughter relationship. I wanted a more intimate exploration of their family dynamic. They found a way to work around that absence but it felt a little cheap. Missed potential for sure.

This show feels a little too much like End of the F*cking world. That’s not a terrible thing for me as i love that show, but it kind of handicaps what I Am Not Okay With This can truly be. If you’re constantly looking at this show through End colored goggles, you’re not truly seeing this specific show for what it is. In the long run, i think this is a detriment. End is the superior show, easily, but Okay has enough originality to stand on it’s own. They’ll definitely need to pivot for season two.

It’s very obvious that this season is only a set up for future seasons of this show. Unlike End, which had a definitive end after their first season, Okay seems to want to continue some sort of narrative. That’s fine as long as it’s planned out. Netflix is good about nixing shows before they over stay their welcome but the way this season climaxed has me worried. it feels like some Riverdale nonsense or that goofy Walking Dead thing they do where it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. That does not bode well for the future. However, Netflix has succeeded more than they have failed in this avenue so i’ll keep the faith. For now.

The Verdict

This Is Not Okay With This is a great show, if a little derivative. It’s filled with beautiful cinematography, a compelling if a little familiar plot, and excellent performances. The teenage interactions feel real and organic while the overall narrative is decently executed, testament to the strong writing. Okay feels a little too much like End of the F*cking World at times and definitely wears it’s Carrie influences on it’s sleeve but that’s okay. For a first season, this show gets off to a strong start. Hopefully, it becomes more of it’s own thing going forward but, for a first attempt, they definitely stuck the landing. I’m Not Okay With This is definitely an easy recommend and worth your time. Since the world has stopped for at least a few weeks, there’s more than enough time to check this gem out.

Also, both of these shows are comic adaptions by a guy named Charles Forsman. You should check the books out, too, since we got all the time in the world. Literally.

#Smokey brand Reviews #I Am Not Okay With This

[thebrochtuarachs]

10, 35, and 37!

Liesel! Thank you​ for the questions!! :) Also, can’t wait to read what’s next in Third Times The Charm!! 

10. How would you describe your style? 

Definitely comfortable chic. I’m not too crazy with my wardrobe, just the basics and I’m good. My style leans more on the tomboyish side - dark denim pants, white blouse, with loafers are my go-to style. I wouldn’t mind, though, putting on a dress once in a while. I do wish sometimes I’m more adventurous with my clothing style but I haven’t found the right pieces that are eccentric enough but still is comfortable to wear but I’m okay with my basic style on the daily. 

35. Who is your celebrity crush? 

Oooh, this is a nice one. I do admire a lot of actors and actresses for their talent, beauty, and work but I do have a few that are my most favorite...

Actor:

Zachary Levi - Probably the guy I would say would be my first - and still my - celebrity crush. I absolutely loved him on Chuck first, then as I got to know his work even more and his personality, I just love him, love him! 

Sam Heughan - There’s a lot of criteria before an actor passes in my “crush” level but Sam just stunned me with his talent, beauty, and chivalry from the beginning and I just love him as an actor and person. 

Honestly, these are the only 2 guys I “celebrity” crushes on!

Actress:

This is a much longer list because I admire far more actresses than actors but here are some that I admire most and hope to dream on meeting

Jennifer Aniston - Probably my first “girl” crush ever. She’s just stunningly beautiful and I just love her. Growing up in the Friends sitcom era, I just naturally gravitated to her (even though I think I’m more of a Phoebe than a Rachel, but still!)

Yvonne Strahovski - She’s killing it on Handmaid’s Tale now but I loved her on Chuck first, too! Her bad-assery is top level plus her gorgeousness, ahh, winner!

Caitriona Balfe - I didn’t know her before Outlander but damn the first time I saw her on the sceen, I was just stunned by her beauty. She’s one of those women that are just naturally and stunningly beautiful and I cannot look away. Add the talent and work she puts on as Claire Fraser and I am just in love with her. 

Stana Katic - I first saw her on Castle and I just completely fell in love with how beautiful and badass she it at the same time. As the show went on, her beauty just evolved too to a point where I see a photoshoot of hers and go ‘daaaamn’ 🔥 She’s absolutely one of ultimate faves and glad her show, Absentia, is picking up! 

37. Do you read a lot? What’s your favorite book? 

Yes, I do believe I consider myself really a Bibliophile 😁 I always have a book with me wherever I go just in case (plus there’s hundreds of fanfiction, too!). I don’t have a particular genre, I really just base it if the plot is unique and interesting but I do tend to lean on more fiction and mystery. 

Some of my favorite reads include: 

Nicholas Sparks novels - The most in my collection. I haven’t read the latest ones but True Believer and At First Sight are my most favorite of his. The only time he came to my country for a book signing, I spent 12 hours on the line just to meet him for 5 seconds and it was awesome! :)

Robert Langdon Series by Dan Brown - I’m currently reading Origin - it’s the book I’ve been carrying around right now. I really don’t care much about the controversy on “The Da Vinci Code” and when I actually read it, I liked the mystery, the intricacy, the connections, I just loved it from start to finish. Ever since then, I read every book in this series and found it to be as amazing as the next. 

Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto - I absolutely adored this book to a point where I just had to send a fanmail to Samantha to share how much I love it (and to clarify some plot points, haha!) She was so sweet to reply and I can recommend this book to be a great read. 

Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling - I grew up reading this books and watching the movies and I love it. I still come back to read it from time to time. These are the books I’ll have my kids read one day too.

Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon - I knew the show before the book. I didn’t know this series has been going on for 20 years. But after watching season 1, I wanted to see how the show compared to the book so I started reading it. This is probably the first “historical” series I read and I must admit, I was adamant at first cause I know how looooog those stories go. Absolutely adored Book 1 to a point where I was highlighting all my favorite parts and lines, Book 2 is the one I come back most too, especially when I want something to crush me in the end, Book 3 and Book 4 was lovely, I was really looking forward to the reunion part. Currently reading Book 5 but I’m finding it to be very long at the moment so I’m dabbing here and here from time to time or I’ll probably just wait when Season 5 comes to condense it for me ;) 

Here are some answers from the top of my head! Thank you @lcbeauchampoftarth for the ask!

* for more qs, number questions here*

#personal #asks #thank you liesel #this was fun to do #anyone for more questions #i really do answer #hahaha #mia asks #mia answers #tb asks #tb answers #answers

[brendancorris]

Rise of the TMNT initial review

I gave my first thoughts on the visuals, creative choices, and general backlash from the community for Rise of the TMNT, the latest cartoon for the Heroes in a Half Shell back when they were first unveiled. As some may remember, I generally was positive and supportive of the new direction. There were some changes I was a bit unsure about, but generally I was fine with it. 

Now, five episodes have been released to the public, and I’ve watched a bit. So, I feel, since I’ve been a hardcore TMNT fan for about 29 years, it only makes sense that I share my thoughts for any who may care.

Before I get to my overall opinion of the show, though, I would like to go over each aspect individually. Let’s start with one of the most controversial topics - the art style and animation. I feel the need to once again highlight that they’re different things, as people always seem to forget this when talking about these topics. Animation is the movement exclusively. So, as for the art style, I like it. It’s very sharp, loud, and energetic. There is so much expression in the faces and bodies of every character. The action poses are wonderful. I especially love the expressions of Don. His eyebrows really add to his look, and his cocky, judgmental expressions add a lot of comedy to the character.

The designs are certainly different. Raph is ginormous, Leo has a fannypack, and so on. Honestly, I got over the designs very quickly. Again, the designs of the four turtles are extremely expressive, and it is nice to see so much variety between them for a change. As for other returning characters, Splinter will take some getting used to. Maybe if he didn’t look so much like a hamster I’d be fine with his design. I don’t really have a problem with his build, I just think that Splinter’s identifying long snout should have been in the design. But April, holy crap, I love this April design. She is so adorable. I was on the fence about her design originally, but once I saw her in action, it quickly became my favorite Rise design, only tied with Don’s.

As for the new characters, I have mixed feelings. A handful of the mutants have really cool designs, like Repo Mantis (my favorite), Hypnopotomus, and Meat Sweats. But then there’s other new characters like the lead villain, voiced by John Cena, who I just feel has a very generic modern cartoon villain design. He looks like a throw away villain in a comedy sketch parodying Saturday morning cartoons. I’m also not a fan of that catdog thingy April has. It looks like a Pokemon. Doesn’t belong in TMNT in my opinion.

But the animation is pretty gorgeous. It does get very choppy sometimes, which I honestly do find a bit disorienting since at other times, the animation is beautifully fluent and alive. I do wish the animation almost always stayed that fluent, but I understand how extremely time consuming animation can be, especially when working with such highly detailed characters, and considering that when the animation is fluent, it’s REALLY good, so I cut them a break. The action scenes are truly amazing to watch. The backgrounds are also very stylish, colorful, and just nice to look at.

While I do think the 2012 show was an amazing TMNT series, I did always find it a bit visually lacking. So I’m glad to see this one do the visuals so well.

Now, I guess I’ll talk about the writing, plot, and characters. As all of you likely know by now, we do not see the origin of the turtles or how they met April. While I can definitely understand why they would leave this out from a marketing standpoint (no reason to make a new TMNT show with limited episodes for preview and just go through the same story we’ve seen 100 times and give us nothing new to look forward to) I do hope we see it eventually. It is a pivotal part of the TMNT world, and is especially necessary now that this is a brand new TMNT for a whole new generation, and is reinventing the lore in many ways.

The show, obviously, is geared more towards smaller children, which I’m totally cool with. Not only did TMNT bring me a lot of happiness at that age, but I also like to see more franchises for kids. There seems to be a big push for cartoons to be more “adult” these days, but I still feel lots of them should be for kids. We live in an age where toys and cartoons are being primarily made for adults. Kids need media too, and TMNT has proved extremely popular with little kids for 30 years. The show still manages to be legitimately funny more than I expected, and, honestly, has a lot of wit and sarcasm that will likely only tickle the older audiences.

The story-telling is a bit all over the place and ultra-fast-paced, but it’s pretty good, again, with the child’s perspective in mind. It has a lot more action than I think most of us thought, and that is done really well. The characters, however, seem to be another huge point of controversy among the fans. My personal favorites so far are Don and April (yes, same two favorites as physical designs). Don’s such a smug brainiac and April’s so feisty and spunky, it’s adorable. But many things like Raph being the leader, Leo being the cool hot shot, and Splinter being seemingly a lazy couch potato, have a lot of fans in a frenzy. I will admit, Leo being a hot shot smart ass is still taking me time to warm up to, and Raph does feel odd as a leader. There doesn’t really seem to be any reason for the Turtles to have him as the leader other than the fact that he’s the biggest. 

However, it does seem obvious that they are working up to something. The turtles, quite amusingly, are terrible ninja at the start of the show. They’re clumsy, inexperienced, and just horrible at making plans. There does seem to be a running theme of Raph’s plans being awful and Leo’s working. It does in fact seem like they are starting off more fresh, then evolving towards a more familiar setup. Even the presence of Foot soldiers implies the coming of Shredder possibly. And that brings me to my only real concern.

While I know this show is not being made for 87 shellheads like myself, I do kind of wish there was more TMNT material in the show. It seems to be trying as hard as it can to stray from traditional TMNT series that it could end up straying too far to the point of it being irrelevant to the franchise. I’m all for changes, all for new art direction, all for new characters, all for character re-imaginings, and so on, but it would be nice to see some returning aspects, like Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Rat King, Casey Jones, the Technodrome or some of the Turtles’ famous vehicles. I would absolutely love to see how Rocksteady and Bebop would look in this style too.

I’m a bit iffy about the episodes. I don’t think they’re bad, but the pacing in some is a bit all over the place, and one episode in particular seemed like a tired premise. The episode I’m referring to has the Turtles in a Chuck E. Cheese’s type locale with an evil animatronic bear coming to life and battling them. If this sounds familiar, you’ve either played Five Nights at Freddy’s, or, more specifically for my argument here, have seen the episode of Gravity Falls, “Soos and the Real Girl”. It was one of the most popular and funny episodes of the Disney XD cartoon, but it seems to be a premise that is continually done in modern cartoons. Just last year, the 2017 Duck Tales (which, although pretty good, I feel pulls a little too much inspiration from Gravity Falls) did a story involving a Chuck E. Cheese setting, and now Rise is doing it as well, with pretty much the same twist Gravity Falls did. While it is a funny premise, I do wish cartoonists would avoid doing it so often as it’s already been done successfully before.

So let’s get to the bottom of this. How do I feel all around? I think it’s pretty good. Like I said, it’s not my turtles, but my turtles had the entire late 80s and early to mid 90s already. It had its time, made me and thousands of other kids happy beyond reason, and made the franchise as big as it is today. It did everything it needed to do. I’m happy to see new generations get their own new forms of TMNT. I’m just glad that my favorite franchise ever is not only still relevant, but still a quality product, too. Simply put - I support Rise of the TMNT.

Still hoping we see some more classic characters and tech show up, though.

And pretty soon, yes, I’ll address a certain Netflix reboot of a series near and dear to me that has been making A LOT of noise on the internet lately. Until then, check out the available episodes of Rise if you haven’t already and decide how you feel about it.

#tmnt #Brendan Corris #BrendanCorris #Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles #nickelodeon #review

[incorrectdanganronpaquotes]

“Ultimates Play” (a.k.a. Let’s Player AU)

Hey, Mod Snake here! So I realize that I’ve been sort of lax on my part in the 2K celebration. This has been mostly to the fact that I’ve been working on my senior thesis, and it’s been absolute hell trying to motivate myself to do anything with that nightmare hanging over my head. But now the thesis is officially over and I can finally get around to posting something I’ve been meaning to post for a while: an AU concept called “Ultimates Play!” The idea of this AU is similar to the Talent Development Plan ‘verse, except that the DR1, SDR2, and NDRV3 characters share a gaming channel on YouTube called ‘Ultimates Play’. Over the years since it started, the channel has evolved into sort of a Rooster Teeth-style project, with dozens of different series done by many different hosts. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s just jump right in! 

General Concepts:

As you can imagine, Chiaki was the one to set up the channel; in fact, the channel was originally called “Chiaki’s Gaming Corner”, and the channel URL still reflects this. Hajime quickly became involved in the editing process, since Chiaki would frequently fall asleep before uploading the videos. Chiaki then gradually began introducing her fellow classmates, who had become interested in the games during Class 77’s meet-up times (everyone involved refuses to call them “classes”), as hosts of their own series; before long, this spread to other classes entirely. And thus, Ultimates Play was born.

Junko in this AU is still technically in despair, but the passion for video games she developed after spending some time with Chiaki helps keep her Ultimate Analyst abilities occupied, preventing her from becoming bored enough to lash out at the world. She is still extremely competitive and aggressive, particularly towards Mukuro, but in general it is typically safe to be in the same building as her.

This AU uses the “Class 79” canon for the V3 kids, similar to the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, since the Tragedy doesn’t happen in this AU.

As the channel started to get big, the group decides they need a headquarters in which to stay; they end up building it a few blocks away from Hope’s Peak. Very few of them live in the building full-time, but the building is equipped with dozens of beds anyway just in case they all happen to crash there overnight at the same time. There are also multiple TVs, so that different students can record series at the same time.

The channel is one of the top 10 most subscribed channels on YouTube, due in part to the variety of content. Of the series, Chiaki’s and Ibuki’s typically have the most views, while Celeste’s and Hajime’s have the least views.

Even though Komaru isn’t technically an Ultimate, Makoto and Toko both begged Chiaki until she was allowed to join the channel.

Individual Series:

Makoto and Kyoko have “Detective Training,” in which they play mystery games together; typically these consist of point-and-click adventure games, although sometimes they’ll do other genres if there is a sufficient mystery element. Kyoko almost always figures out the entire mystery from the start, so she basically spends the whole time trying not to spoil the twists and puzzles for Makoto. Shuichi occasionally guest stars, but he’s too self-conscious around Kyoko to make regular appearances.

Sakaya and Kaede share a series where they play rhythm games like DDR, as well as general music-themed games like Rockband; they alternate off randomly between which one is the host, never appearing in the same episode.

Toko’s primary series is “Toko’s Shovelware Spectacular”, in which she plays the worst of the worst games on the iPhone and Android app stores. Komaru makes an appearance every time there’s a multiplayer game, or whenever Toko is so genuinely shocked by a game’s shittiness that she needs a second person to confirm she’s not imagining things.

Neither Togami nor the Ultimate Imposter have a consistent theme for their series (although they tend towards real-time strategy games); however, there is something of a running joke between them. Every time Togami uploads a video on a game, Twogami will then upload a video on the same game, starting off from the same place Togami left off and claiming to be the next installment. Togami is consistently infuriated by this, but he can’t figure out how to stop it. There’s a running debate in the comments about whether the ‘second Togami’ is actually a distinct entity or just Togami playing an elaborate practical joke; this, for Togami, is the worst part of the whole thing.

Ishimaru has a series called “Upholders of Justice”, in which he plays crime-themed games (GTA, Saint’s Row, etc.) while breaking as few laws as the game will allow him to. If you’ve ever seen the Saints Row the Third episode of Monster Factory, it’s sort of like that.

Hifumi and Kazuichi have a shared series called “Love Quest 3000”, in which they play dating sims together; this is ostensibly for the purpose of figuring out how to get better at real romance, but they have yet to achieve any success in this field.

Celeste has a recurring series on gambling games, such as video poker and virtual slot machines. To her eternal fury, they are by far the least-viewed videos on the entire channel; this may be because she always wins, or because her commentary consists almost entirely of A) ‘advice’ on how to win at gambling (which boils down to “be lucky and don’t panic”), and B) reiterations of how successful she is.

While Junko doesn’t actually have a standalone series, there is a playlist named “With Junko” on the channel. This is because, rather than star in her own series, Junko will occasionally crash episodes of other series and serve as a guest commentator for the episode, typically without the approval or knowledge of the players in question. HOWEVER, Junko does co-star in a regular series called “Rose and Thorns”, in which she and Mukuro play co-op games like Portal 2 and New Super Mario Bros. You can probably imagine how well their interactions go.

Hajime did an Undertale LP.

In her continuing effort to be the most meta human being in the universe, Ibuki has only a single ongoing series: “Ibuki Plays Danganronpa”. At no point in the series does she comment on the fact that her fellow Ultimates- and indeed herself- appear in the games; the closest she comes is her DR2 LP, in which she off-handedly remarks on the similarities between herself and Ibuki in the game. There is only one exception: every time game-Ibuki’s corpse is on-screen in Chapter 3, real-Ibuki goes absolutely silent until the scene changes or she turns away. None of the other Ultimates can figure out where the hell she got these games, and she refuses to provide a straight answer.

Hiyoko and Mikan, of all people, have a shared series entitled “Super Bestest Friends Play!”; it consists pretty much entirely of Hiyoko forcing Mikan to play the weird Flash games you find on various “gaming” websites (i.e. bootleg Frozen games and the like). Hiyoko uploaded the first episode without permission from the others, and promptly found herself being threatened with stabbing by Maki, who is always on watch to make sure things don’t get too upsetting for Mikan; every once in a while you’ll hear a soft click in the background of the episodes, at which point Hiyoko will immediately and urgently apologize to Mikan and suggest a tamer game. Also, every once in a while the situation gets shaken up a bit: on at least a couple of occasions Mikan very visibly starts getting aroused by the games in question, which freaks Hiyoko out more than anything else the other Ultimates have ever seen (this is the main reason they allow the series to persist).

Gundham and Sonia have an ongoing series in which they play horror games together. Gundham constantly pretends not to be freaked out by the jumpscares, even though he is. Sonia constantly pretends to be freaked out by the atmosphere, even though she’s not. They are exactly as adorable together as you can imagine.

Gundham also has a recurring Pokémon series, covering at least one game from every Generation. He makes a dedicated effort to capture one of every Pokémon, and at the end of each playthrough he hacks in any that he can’t obtain legitimately that Gen. His videos are each at least an hour long because he can’t make himself stop playing with his Pokémon. He also cites Pokémon-Amie as the single greatest innovation in the history of the franchise.

As more and more shows started appearing on the channel, Chiaki started putting out less and less content- which suits her just fine, since it gives her more chances to play games with herself and her friends, without having to worry about making entertaining commentary. Her only ongoing series at the time of the AU is a gaming news show, where she reports on announcements about games she’s interested in, as well as discussions about what she’d like out of future games. Hajime is a recurring guest star on the series.

Komaru has a series where she plays whatever games she happens to like at the time; most of these are Nintendo games, and almost all of them are on the casual end of the spectrum. Toko regularly drops in without warning.

Mitarai has an ongoing visual novel review series, which frequently devolves into tips about drawing and commentary on anime he likes or dislikes.

Himiko has a series of RPG playthroughs, many of them unfinished. The only playthroughs she will consistently finish are Final Fantasy games, since they’re Tenko’s favorites. She also did exactly three episodes of a Kingdom Hearts LP before abandoning it, citing the story being too confusing.

Maki has a recurring series in which she plays first-person shooters in order to test their accuracy. To the hastily-suppressed delight of Kokichi (and the well-disguised amusement of everyone else in the building), Maki usually turns out to be absolutely terrible at these games, being so used to real combat situations that she can’t adapt to the artistic license of most FPS’s.

Kokichi Oma has only one series, which is entitled “Kokichi Plays Minecraft”. The series is well over a hundred episodes long, and not a single damn second of that is from Minecraft. Instead, every episode is taken from a different game, with no apparent pattern; each episode has Kokichi acting as if he’s been playing this game for several episodes, as well as alluding to various incidents that happened previously in the game (which, of course, the audience doesn’t get to see).

Tsumugi’s series is literally just makeup tutorials for cosplayers. She doesn’t seem to realize that it’s otherwise pretty much exclusively a gaming channel, and no one else has bothered to tell her.

There are plenty of other series not listed here, including some that pop up without warning and only air one or two episodes before ending. In general, every character from the games has at least one recurring series, each with wildly different schedules. 

One series in particular doesn’t have a single consistent host; it’s called “Ultimate Date Night”, and the commentary role shifts between various couples within the group- Akane and Nekomaru, Himiko and Tenko, Sonia and Gundham, Kokichi and Shuichi- as they play various cooperative and competitive games together. There is also a spin-off series called “Double Date”, in which two such couples square off in team-based competitive games.

Other Headcanons:

At one point, Hifumi and Kazuichi definitely played Doki Doki Literature Club, and spent the second half of the series alternately screaming and crying. They were not ready.

For one April Fools’ Day, everyone on the channel traded series for the day; Makoto and Kyoko hosted “Love Quest 3000”, Celeste and Ishimaru hosted “Super Bestest Friends Play!”, Hiyoko and Mikan hosted the horror game series, Maki hosted “Detective Training” (with special guests Kaito and Maki), and so on. The only exception to this was Kokichi; the thumbnail for his video showed Mukuro as the host, but Kokichi introduces himself as usual at the start of the video and does his usual thing. Also, Junko cameoed on multiple series that day.

Makoto and Kyoko definitely played through Ghost Trick together, and Makoto cried multiple times throughout the game, particularly near the ending.

The only time anyone in the group has ever seen Junko legitimately cry is that one time when Mukuro beat her at Mario Kart 8. Mukuro has never let her forget that day.

Maki was banned from “Double Date” after her first and only appearance ended with extensive property damage and Fuyuhiko (who was on the other team with Peko) being rushed to the hospital with multiple broken bones.

Games Komaru has played include Super Mario Galaxy (finished, though not 100%), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (unfinished), Thomas Was Alone, and Miitopia.

Chisa regularly visits the Ultimates Play headquarters, bringing snacks and encouragement. Everyone is happy to see her, even Togami and Kokichi.

Himiko was the first non-Class 77 member of the channel; no one is quite sure how she ended up joining, least of all Himiko.

Let us know if you like this idea, and if you have other headcanons regarding this AU! Maybe you’ll get featured in a follow-up post or something; who knows? Anyway, hope you enjoyed whatever this was! 

- Mod Snake 

#not quotes #au ideas #mod snake #ultimates play #let's play au #let's player au #danganronpa au #lots and lots of characters #chiaki nanami #that's probably the main one

[fine-not-fine]

My review of ONE

Hello I’m Andy and I’m going to give my full honest opinion about the things in ONE I love. It’s giving me a lot of hope and something to look forward to. So let’s get into it. Characters: OFF was full of interesting bosses and characters. ONE has even more. Playing as a child is not a new concept, but ONE pulls it off in the best way possible. Doux is the son of Zacharie which is a character we know well if you played or watched OFF. This introduces a familiar element with a new one. This sets an tone of learning, which is vital for these types of stories. The player slides in so smoothly into the situation. Each character is introduced formally, but not completely. Every interaction feels special. These characters are much more than their roles. Doux- I can’t get enough of this child. He has the traits that make him so lovable while avoiding most classic tropes. Doux isn’t subject to being ‘perfect’, but he doesn’t fall into a narrow track of a character must be extremely flawed or extremely perfect. He mannerisms come off as endearing and sometimes encouraging to the player. I’m not even fond of children, but god I love this kid. His intentions are so pure, I can’t help but want to follow. Doux’s large eyes and overall real toddler like appreance helps. It reminds you, you are indeed watching over a child. Doux manages to have a cute overlook despite some otherwise monster-like features with don’t overtake his prime look. Doux can just as easily became frightening, with a look that makes the player startled and beckons a need of carefulness, worrying about Doux’s safety. He becomes scary while still sympathic. Buttons- While a silent character, there is something sentimental about having him on your team. A gift from Zacharie and something just makes me feel like Buttons belongs. There’s not much personality here, but he’s a great companion and I love this little plush toy just being around for Doux. The design is simple but deeply reminiscent of a childhood doll. He stands out enough from normal specters, but fits in alongside them. Blight- This character came at just the right time. He starts off as a merchant and through the game provides a sense of progress. You get to see him in the world’s you pass. He’s not overbearing and shows some honest interaction later on. He’s not exposed right away which is something that happens a lot. Instead his reasoning and expotition are slowly added. He’s the big brother type that was needed. He’s the cynical to counteract Doux’s optimism. This gives the player two views of the world they explore in. Blight also provides a center point on which the world that Doux is unaware of. His design is one of the more complex but fitting. Blight’s design is burned into a feeling of struggle and suffering. He continues on with it regardless, but its very clear. His features all show a much darker tone to the world and one could happen in it. He also manages to very much appear like a mistake when compared to what he was made to be. This becomes him, he’s not a carbon copy. He’s Blight. Which is cleverly shown in small design choices like the longer ears and differencing in face. Viola- God I love this character so much. Her interactions are delightful, like every other character in this game. She’s friendly and has a wit to her that makes her charming. She takes the place of Blight as a merchant. Her story isn’t completely known yet, but it makes her quite the yarn to unspin. She’s a smile waiting every time you go and buy from her. Her all around interactions with the world ake her feel more than just a merchant, which is something I love in this game. Her color choices are spot the fuck on and I love it. Pink and blue stand out on her well, while also having those white and gray tones. She’s so different from the other characters but somehow fits in so well. Her strangeness is captured in her design fantastically. Goutte- This lil fucker was a great starting boss. He has enough connection to start the bat off but not too much to overload the player. Having a boss like this is ideal, as overloading the player in the beginning can leave story telling fuzzy. He had enough in him to make his interaction with you one that was mostly out of anger. Though once defeated the spite is somehwat distilled. This set up a good pathway to more complex and enriching bosses. A very simple design but an enjoyable one.  Chahal- This was a great boss to fight and a wonderful zone. He was satisftying to watch, which the inner workings showing a lot about him before even facing him. His brief moments of talking had clear motive. He seems so relaxed. His possible fear or regret make him quite the character to try and understand. The green in his design is very pleasing visually. It’s very interesting where the option could clearly have been blue, but green is very pleasant. He’s lightly pissed off in a relaxed or cocky form. I enjoy it. Oculi- A very cool and calculating figure that leads into a lot deeper plot. His design mixed with gray/red/blue is very nice. Despite his design he’s not nearly as vain or high and mighty as I expected, but the change is welcomed. He’s even calmer than Chahal. He knows things and I’m all for it.  Hathath- The most plot based boss at the best time. This is were the story is needed most and he directs it perfectly. His zone and him a very much tied together. The horror and his apathy are terrifying and it fuels the plotline well. He’s the boss I want to fight the most. His relationship with existance itself seems to reflect how he believes his zone should be. His full honesty on how fucked everything is, is pretty nice. His cloaked, bandaged appreance always feels as though he’s hiding himself or his real self.  Corpse Batter- Probably the most interesting spin on The Batter I’ve seen. He’s put in a morally gray way. His past crimes aren’t hidden, but he is not empty of all kindness. His design fucks me up too this day and shows so much about what’s changed. His add-ons are literally in his spine. His outfit if very befitting of a reaper type. Laisser- I favor this boy more than I should have. This is the character that effected me most. The way he talks and the way he ends up will eat me alive everytime. He appears lonely, easy to push around, and sad. He gains my sympathy quietly. His need to have a friend made Dopple. This dependence shows up between them, Laisser needing Dopple to have company and complete his tasks. I have a hard time faulting this character. From hair to clothes, I love how he looks. He’s cute and his stitch eye and heart are my favorite things. His hoodie is something I’d want to buy. He certainly seems older than Doux, but he still feels like he’s growing and maturing.  Doppledanger- One of the most fun and confusing characters. He’s fun to meet but extremely terrifying in using truama to try and snag Doux. His whole design feels like a mimic in the best way. He feels and looks like something not quite of flesh. His relationship with Laisser feels split. He cares for Laisser, but has a very cruel way of trying to get Laisser’s goat. His shifting masks and forms are my favorite parts.  Specters/Elsens/Frog people- I just felt like adding these guys because i could. They all feel natural in their enivornments and the have small traits that make them feel live like. They’re really fun for background npcs. Pacing: The pacing in this game is so perfect. Everything is put together so fucking well. It starts with a sense of very light dread which evolves into a sense of desperate hussle. None of the story is spoiled too early and there is enough smaller details sprinkled in. It takes awhile to get to the main plot but each section is full of stepping stones to get to each boss. The stakes get a lot higher as the plot continues. Each zone is different and full of activites and extras that take away from emptiness that a lot of games have, but in a useful or enriching way. Nothing feels rushed into place like someone ran out of time and pushed a zone or event forward. Everything happens in keen order.  Design: God where to I begin? Mostly this will be level design. Adding extra elements to the zones was a welcomed changed. The ice, the park, the extra worlds, everything! Colors are used to an absolute t and it’s beautiful. This game makes usual nasty colors look fantastic. The moving backgrounds in certain places and the added effects are a nice break from the straight and narrow. People seem to want to stick too closely to the original OFF and fear breaking the lines a little. This stuns creativity. ONE expands the world far beyond the original, making it easier to invest in. Most of the puzzles and challenges come in a wide varity and it different ways than expected.

Artstyle: I could kiss ass about this style all day. It’s something very different from the standard and it works well with the themes. Everything can come off as cute or terrifying in the blink of an eye. It’s got a very memorable look and each new scene, object, or character brings out the style’s charm. I’ve always loved Fire’s art. Every character is strikingly different from each other.  Overview: ONE is one of my favorite games. It’s got a lot of OFF like mannerisms while having it’s own story, characters, and style that takes you throught the game. Even if OFF wasn’t really your thing I’m sure you could enjoy ONE.  Every inch of it is decorated in love and I am so in love with it. Explore the world and get wrapped up in a whole new story. Please give the creator lots of love! @chimakiisane has worked very hard on ONE and I completely adore it~ I know I repeated myself a lot through this review, but it’s wonderful and an expirence all on it’s own. 

#ONE (game) #ONE (Spinoff) #ONE (OFF fangame) #OFF #long post

[stuff-with-ceylar]

I’ve got a lot of thoughts about Legend of Korra (and also the original) so keep on keeping on if you’re not interested in either shows :)

Disclaimer before getting into all this, these are just my personal thoughts and opinions on Legend of Korra and if you disagree, that’s cool and good. Everyone likes/dislikes different things :)

So I’ve been trying to watch through Legend of Korra (LOK) again, having never made it past the second series before. Which is kinda odd, cause I love the animation style, I think it’s got some good story and I loved the Legend of Aang (LOA) and still do. And I think I’ve finally worked out why I can’t get past the second series of LOK. 

The biggest problem is it’s a sequel to LOA. LOA was such an amazing series for so many reasons, and watching LOK over the past few days I’ve realised why it doesn’t work for me. If the LOA didn’t exist, and it was just the LOK, I think I’d love it way more than I do. As a stand alone series and a stand alone universe, it works and brilliantly so. But the problem is it’s not, and like so many sequels it has to live up to the expectations of the original, which in this case is quite widely accepted as an absolutely amazing show. And it does live up to those expectations in so many ways, but for me it still just falls short. 

And the saddest way in which it falls short is the human element. One reason I love LOA so, so much is because of how human it is. Even the villains, who are awful terrible people, are human. You can sympathise with them, relate to certain things about them, and still accept that they are bad people. The final fight between Zuko and Azula in LOA makes me cry every single time I watch it, because it’s heartbreaking watching Azula in that state. She’s evil, manipulative, destructive, yet you know she still has feelings. “My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt.” - that line is so amazing because it solidifies that Azula is a bad person, but she’s still human. She has thoughts and feelings and emotions and you can empathise with her. And at the beginning, LOK has that. You learn about Amon’s backstory (I personally think it should have dedicated more time to that whole arc but I digress) and you end up feeling sad for both him and his brother when they eventually die. They were evil people, but still human. And they had the empathy element. Then along comes Unalaq. And for me, there’s absolutely no human element to him. There’s certainly parallels to be drawn between himself and Ozai, but to me Ozai is still more human that Unalaq. I hate both, but there’s more to Ozai imo.

And sticking with the theme of the human element, LOA does an amazing job of portraying the everyday person. The ordinary people who are just going about their lives. You get the sense and feeling that everyone in that world is human. Both good and bad. They fight, and squabble, and love and connect with one another and to me, that whole aspect is just lost in LOK. We don’t get to see the everyday person in LOK, or if we do they make no real impact on us. In LOA you get the feeling that every person has a story behind them, that the world is rich and diverse with every person having different experiences, and in the two series of LOK I’ve watched, I never got that feeling beyond the main characters.  And I think part of the reason for that is the pacing of the show, which imo feels rushed. I think both the arcs in series one and two have lots they could work with, they’ve got amazing stories to tell and good characters, but they don’t dedicate enough time to either of them. I sort of feel they’re trying to tell too many different stories with LOK. Each series has a different story to tell, which I think would work if the series were longer. LOA had one story. Defeat the Firelord and stop the war. Of course there were smaller stories within each episode, and each series had the arc of Aang learning how to control the various elements, but they all fell within the same overarching plot. And LOK doesn’t have that, at least not that I could tell within the first two series. Once Amon is defeated, we never hear of him or the Equalists again (perhaps they’re brought up in series 3 or 4, but I kind of doubt it) The events of series two have a much greater impact on the world and story, but having seen the first episode of series 3 I get the feeling that Unalaq is probably rarely mentioned or brought up again. 

Another issue, imo, is the personal character growth. To me, Tenzin is the only one who has any real character growth and development across the first two series. He has this profound moment in the spirit world in series two where he realises he isn’t and shouldn’t try to be a reflection or a continued legacy of Aang (again an element I think they should have spent more time on) and then he imparts that knowledge and wisdom to Korra. And Tenzin also realises that Aang wasn’t the great father he always thought he was, and learns to get along better with his family. Korra on the other hand, doesn’t have much character growth imo. Of course, she grows and learns air bending and connects with her past selves and even learns of Avatar Wan, but she always ends up to me, as the same stubborn girl who in some respects, refuses to learn. Don’t get me wrong, I love her character, but she just doesn’t have the personal growth Tenzin has imo. Like at the end of series two, after all her time in the spirit world and connecting with Avatar Wan, it feels like she’s had a real change in heart about the spirits, and how to deal with them. And also how to change other’s opinions on the spirits. And then at the very start of series 3 it feels like we go right back to the beginning, with her butting heads over the spirits and trying to get rid of them. And there’s the whole terror she felt about Amon in series one which is never brought up again. 

And the final problem I have with LOK is the ‘boss battles’, for want of a better word. One thing that made the final battle in LOA so good, was you could see the progress that Aang had made, and it was a battle between people. All the characters had their own personal battles, and it was their skill and knowledge that helped them get through it and eventually win. The final battle in series two of LOK was beautifully animated, and I absolutely adore the sound effects and music that accompanied it (the noise whenever Unalaq/Vaatu shot that beam of energy sends chills through me), but that’s it. After that it almost boils down to a superhero battle; two giant beings battling in a city harbour, the forces of good and evil duking it out. And I almost hate to say it, but in that fight it really feels like Korra has plot armour. Yes, she looses Raava, but then she becomes a huge spirit of herself and that’s the final showdown with Unalaq/Vaatu. Which just feels... a bit off. Yes, the Avatar is a being of great power, but even the Avatar has limits. And to me, that whole fight just seemed to ignore the limits part. Ironically, I was way more invested in the pro bending championship finals. There were limitations in that fight, but that’s what made it good. It’s the whole saying of ‘limitations breed creativity’, and even the battle between Unalaq and Tonraq when Tonraq is trying to retake control of the Southern Water Tribe to me is more gripping and amazing than the battle between the giant spirit Korra and Unalaq/Vaatu. There’s no spirits involved, no fancy powers, no one element being stronger than the other, just two master water benders desperately trying to beat the other.

At the end of all this, I’m just sad really. Because I really want to enjoy LOK, and I do enjoy parts of it. It has some really amazing elements to it, and it’s absolutely fascinating seeing how the world of avatar has evolved in the years past the 100 year war. I even really love the story of Avatar Wan, and those two episodes are probably my two favourite episodes, But it’s just not the show for me. And that just makes me sad, because I feel it could be great. And as much as I want to, I don’t think I can watch further into the series. It just isn’t the show for me.

One last disclaimer if you made it this far, these are just my personal thoughts and opinions and if you completely disagree with them, that’s fine! I just kinda needed to talk about all this and I didn’t want to flood any discord servers I’m in with this absolute wall of text :)

#Avatar The Last Airbender #legend of aang #legend of korra #pls don't get angy at me for this #as i said i just needed to kinda get these thoughts off my mind and this is a good way to do it

[deepdarkwaters]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Got back from the Kingsman double bill a bit ago and am trying to put my brain into words even though I'm very tired and a bit numb and I smuggled five hours' worth of gin into the cinema in an Evian bottle so I'm as drunk as Harry at breakfast time.

OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW

Watching them back to back like this was interesting because it highlighted so clearly how much better the first one is than this fumbly ridiculous sequel. Not saying it's not good or not worth watching or whatever because it absolutely is worth watching for several reasons I will babble after another teacup of gin, but holy god is this really the best they could come up with? REALLY? A 100% true fact that I believe with my entire heart: YOU reading this, you are a better writer than people being paid obscene money to write films. I could easily name thirty fic writers off the top of my head right now who have an infinitely better grasp on pacing and plot and characterisation and dialogue than the people responsible for this stuff. I've not read any press or fan reviews but I imagine there's going to be a hell of a lot of backlash over so much in this from every angle because it's just so incredibly lazy and sometimes ugly and absolutely cannot stand up to its own hype.

Really good things:

* SPECTACULAR, EH!

* Eggsy/Harry and Eggsy/Merlin shippers, goddamn we have a lot of new stuff to work with. Chemistry through the roof, especially Eggsy/Harry (including possibly the best clingy desperate hug I have ever seen on film in my entire life WE HAVE WAITED SO LONG AND IT'S HERE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL). That was the heart and backbone of the first film, I'm so relieved that it's not only survived but evolved into something fiercer and often messier. So so good to watch. Pretty sure I've got Harry/Merlin written down the inside of my heart like the words in a stick of rock, and though it's not romantic you get much more of a sense of their friendship here and it's all just a bit shattering and gorgeous.

* Pretty much everything to do with Harry's memory loss and Eggsy and Merlin trying to shock him into remembering was great, Y E S  P L E A S E. And Harry's matter of fact comments about his loneliness, fuckkk. Angst writers, go forth with all this new information and break my heart some more! Fluff writers, fix him!

* Lots of beautiful intricate fight choreography which is literally all I need in my action films, so even if I did think the rest was complete balls (which I don't entirely) then I'd still be happy. Nothing comes near the vivid glorious gutpunch of the church scene as a standalone set piece, BUT there's so much Harry & Eggsy teamwork and please just inject this directly into my veins, it's amazing. Prepare for several years of me writing many more elaborate fight scenes than I already do.

* Part B to the above: Whiskey is a lot of fun and his fighting style is full on hardcore pornography to me.

* Merlin in a flawless Kingsman suit, RIP me.

* One of my Bespoke WIPs is about Merlin and Eggsy getting into the habit of going to the pub together sometimes and rolling home completely drunk with a kebab in each hand then trying to get in the house really quietly because Harry's asleep but they end up waking him because they think it'll be really nice to cook him breakfast in bed and Harry comes stomping downstairs in his dressing gown like "it's four o'fucking clock, put those frying pans away and drink some water!" while Merlin and Eggsy side eye each other and try not to giggle. So maudlin singing drunk Merlin was very nice to see :P

* Eggsy and Roxy bromance. There’s such lovely chemistry between them as well, it feels so natural and real, and it’s so good (and miserably rare) to see platonic friendships that aren’t shoehorned into some shitty boring love triangle.

* Eggsy and Tilde were seriously adorable. It ended up not at all satisfying as a romance plot arc because it was like CUTE - fight - marriage, it needed so much more screen time. Like all the important stuff was there, but it was just so abrupt. Include a satisfying romance or don't include one at all, fuck your lazy bullet points. But it started so well and I hope there's a ton of fic that treats them better than the script did. I appreciate the anti-Bond-ness of it all, that Eggsy's genuinely in love and wants to settle and is figuring out how that and his job can possibly fit together, especially with the complications of marrying into royalty. Interested to see where they take that if there's another film. Until then, soo much scope for fic.

* I'm shipping Harry/Elton like burning.

* Poppy was terrifying in a vaguely Umbridge-ish way. That sort of characterisation is always freaky, Julianne was great. So glossy and cheerful but absolutely dead in the eyes. And I'm ambivalent on Charlie, but I ABSOLUTELY want lots of brutal older woman villain/pathetic younger male minion smut. Please provide asap.

* T H E   M Y T H I C A L  B R E A K F A S T   S C E N E   I S   R E A L

Really bad things: well where the merry fuck do I start haha.

* I will never ever understand why they thought it was a good idea to wipe out all the locations and almost all the existing characters at the very beginning. It's lazy shitty writing. If you feel like you need to shake up your fictional world you don't just knock it all down and start over. It's cheap and very shallow angst.

* I only have two middle fingers but I need about seventeen million to even begin to profess my disgust at them killing Roxy. I knew it was going to happen, it was the only spoiler I asked someone for ahead of time and it was not at all a surprise to find out for sure. Still utterly infuriating. The way people responded so positively to her in the first one is a real indication of how ridiculously low the bar is for female characters in action films ("good at something" and "not the hero's love interest" are literally the only two requirements), and JG/MV didn't even think enough of her to follow through on the absolute base level achievement they made before. Fuck everyarse involved in this decision.

* Absolutely revolting honeypot mission scene. Not really the fact that it exists, just the entire way it was handled and shot - so predictably male-gazey and laddishly "waheyyy!" that it kind of turned my stomach. Horrible and completely unnecessary.

* A million new characters and not enough time spent on any of them to care. Tequila was barely more than a cameo. Champ and Ginger hardly had anything to do. All the Statesmen (except Whiskey) were completely two dimensional and it's such a jarring contrast to the obvious care taken over Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry. It's not even because we already know them, I don't think? It's weird to try and explain. The Statesman characters just feel so rushed and shallow, there's no substance to any of them. Kill off Roxy and replace her with paper cut-outs, ok that makes loads of sense!!! Whiskey’s a level up from the others because he gets loads more screen time and some beautiful fight scenes, but his ~emotional plot twist fell completely flat. I don’t know what it was, the pacing or a boring cliche backstory or what. It was just dull as fuck. WE HAVE HEARD THIS EXACT STORY FIVE MILLION TIMES.

A bad thing that's somehow not really a bad thing even though I'm fucking numb and want a hug:

* I've been raving for ages to people about Roxy being killed off and trying to figure out a way to satisfactorily explain how I feel about a character dying for a reason and a character dying because a writer is a lazy bastard who wants some quick angst. Merlin's death was an A+ wonderful death along the lines of my dear fictional boyfrends Quincey Morris and Lee Scoresby and a million others. Maybe it comes from all the swashbuckly historical adventure stories I grew up loving, but I'm a desperate sucker for a good noble death. Characters brave and self-aware enough to look at the bigger picture of an impossible situation and realise that their death means a better outcome for the people they love? This is ABSOLUTE CATNIP to me. Characters who go down fighting to the very end. If a character I love with my entire soul has to die, this is how I want it to happen. Give them some agency and a proper goodbye.

I mean I fully expect him to be magically resurrected with fancy prosthetic legs if there's another film because we saw those wedding set photos of him in the nice neon green cgi stockings, so really I should be saying "death". I totally reject this one. (I reject Roxy and JB's deaths as well, but the big difference is I really can't see the filmmakers bringing them back. Eyeroll.) Maybe that's what's making it easier to deal with? A not-real noble courageous self-sacrificing death. That's about as good as it gets. All three of them get Oscars for this whole sequence.

Anyway the tl;dr of it is:

This film is a very beautiful, very patchy mess. The good stuff is absolutely gloriously perfectly incredibly wonderful. Most of said good stuff is the interaction between Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry, which is written and performed with real care and heart. Nearly everything else is relatively lacklustre filler, misogyny, and shitty nonsensical decisions. These people cannot write women.

I liked it? I will definitely see it 900 more times, mainly for wet terrified Harry and gorgeous fight scenes. But ffs, how can it possibly be this difficult to pinpoint the reasons why people loved your extremely successful creation and consider including them in future plans?

I'm feeling fairly zen about everything. I kind of trained myself ages ago to think of sequels as just another bit of fanfic, so it's going to make absolutely no difference to the cheerful fluff porn and fight scenes I like to write. What I'm annoyed about isn't so much to do with ~new canon~ limiting what we're allowed to create for ourselves now, because that's just silly. It's more about being pissed off at the shoddy state of action films, particularly women in action films, when it seems like it should be SO EASY to take these astronomical budgets and create something groundbreaking. I'm so tired of this unimaginative lazy narrow-minded bullshit.

#kingsman #kingsman 2 #kingsman spoilers #kingsman: the golden circle #kingsman: the golden circle spoilers #tgc spoilers #is this enough spoiler tags haha

[groundramon]

Do you have a list of like top 5 tv shows? (Cartoons and anime included)

!!! Yes I do, actually!

I’ve actually thought about doing a YouTube video about this in the past, and while I do want to do list-like videos (and I already have at least one in mind) in the future, I put off doing this one because it actually…depends greatly on where certain shows I currently like are headed because some currently-airing shows would be on this list if they hit their full potential, but who knows if they’ll hit their full potential. Also I always split anime and cartoons into two categories because I always had a hard time picking otherwise xD But I do have some semblance of a list, and I adore talking about this kind of stuff, sooo:

5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

This spot is kind of a three-way tie between Voltron, Bojack Horseman, and FMAB, all for extremely different reasons. So consider Voltron and Bojack my honorable mentions. But while I believe Bojack’s best is honestly some of the (if not the) best out there, and if Voltron promises through on what they’ve promised it will easily skyrocket up this list, Bojack’s worst is everything I hate about Hollywood and Voltron just has too many holes at the moment.  FMAB has the best of both worlds because it has great animation like Voltron, doesn’t have any of Bojack’s bad kind of moments, and doesn’t have many holes in it.  (Another honorable mention goes to BNHA, but like Voltron, I just don’t think it has had enough time to develop all the way. Unlike Voltron, it doesn’t really have any holes, but I do have a problem with how strictly it adheres to cheesy super heroes of the past.)

BUT onto FMAB itself. God cmon, its FMAB, do I really need to elaborate why its so great? The characters are compelling, their motivations are powerful and interesting. I could write an essay examining Ed’s character alone, because he has so many interesting motivations and morals that seemingly conflict with his angry disposition, and I don’t even like Ed that much. The story is exciting - there’s basically no filler, and it almost moves too fast at points. I do have problems with the show - as I said, it goes too fast. The only two deaths in the season happen in the first 12-15 episodes of the series, and although I think that’s because the original FMA animated those scenes already, it still fucks with the pacing of this show. Additionally, despite Lust, Gluttony, and Envy all being revealed before, the show introduces a completely new villain - Greed - to introduce the homunculi. And then they kill Lust - the presumed leader of the first three introduced homunculi?? Idk man, the show barrels in a completely different direction way too quickly. But other than that, its a great show. The only reason it isn’t higher is because I’m a biased shit towards other good shows.

4. Teen Titans

Speaking of being a biased shit, idk if it shows or not, but I have a HUGE soft spot for corny kids shows that try to give kids bad laughs and dark/relatable storylines, or rather, have a heart while doing so. Its not so much that I like a balance of comedy and darkness in my shows - although that’s a good thing, I eat pure angst up and I’m all-for pure comedy shows that have the aforementioned heart (ie we bare bears, another good show not on this list) - its just specifically corny pun-ridden teen/tweeny-feeling shows/games that actually have a decent story underneath that get me. (Also my sense of humor aligns much more with shitty teen lingo and puns than modern cartoon humor that’s considered “good”. Like I find Teen Titans 10x funnier than I’ve ever found Steven Universe. I’m a 90s kid at heart even tho I wasn’t alive in the 90s)

But the biggest impact of this show for me was the heart and the plot. The silly moments made me laugh, sometimes iromically and sometimes unironically and sometimes I wasn’t sure how, but it was the story that really gripped me. The first season’s overarching plot for Robin is honestly one of the most compelling things I’ve seen in kids cartoons…period. Its dark, its unique, its a subversion of such a simble and broad trope. Sure it had a nice cheesy ending but Robin actually saves the day through INTELLIGENCE, something he always had. No other Teen Titans ending did that, but I digress.

And god, do not even get me started on Terra’s arc. Just because Robin’s was the most well-structured arc doesn’t mean his was the most emotional. I was fucking distraught after Terra’s season. Those memes weren’t a joke, I legitimately cried right in front of my mom. IT WAS SO OBVIOUS, BUT IN MY BLIND LOVE, I MISSED ALL THE SIGNS… and god, even when she comes back, even when she’s given a happy ending, she manages to make me cry AGAIN. I never, ever thought I could cry over a character like Beast Boy, but she made me do it. I didn’t even cry when Sokka’s girlfriend died, but this really, really got to me. Once for personal attachment, and the second time because…the finale is so good. Literally its Bojack levels of deep, emotional, and realistic, and this was the ending of a fucking kids show. What the fuck. To this day I still get emotional whenever something reminds me of her arc. Which brings me to my next series…

3. Cybersix

Hi so did I mention Cybersix is really good? Because Cybersix is really good.  I’m not even done with it but yeah, I love this show.  It’s got an amazing art style, great animation, an intriguing story…I have a feeling I’m gonna be really disappointed when it ends because I’ll want to know what happens next so badly.  I like the characters, I like the aesthetic, I like the old-timey music that dates this cartoon so wonderfully, I even like the romance between Lucas and Cybersix/Adrian!  How’d you make me do that.  Oh yeah, because it’s not hard to get me to care about a mutually rewarding relationship that’s gradually built up through a friendship, then an aesthetic attraction, then presumably a relationship but idk yet, where both parties care about one another and their boundaries and have gotten along well since the start.  I forgot.  (I could nitpick that Lucas doesnt have the same buildup for the relationship as Cybersix [its complicated, basically he’s friends with Cybersix’s alternate persona Adrian but he’s in a relationship with Cybersix, and he doesnt know theyre the same person] but I’m not gonna.)  It’s just…a good show man.  @ hollywood, reboot THIS you cowards.  Stop rebooting shit nobody wanted a new version of and reboot shows that were ended to quickly.  Actually dont reboot Cybersix because the only animation studios that would be able to do it any justice are Studio Mir and anime studios, and whoever owns the current copyright to Cybersix would probably be okay using flash for it

2. Digimon Adventure (with a honorable mention to Digimon Tamers)

You can rip my love for the entire Digimon franchise from my cold, dead hands.  I’m sincerely surprised any show passed up my love for this show.  If/when the currently airing series in Japan gets brought over here, I’ll watch it, even though Digimon has kind of abandoned what made it so great in the first place.  But hell, even Fusion was enjoyable - the second arc, from what I remember, was pretty dark and interesting (im still mad they got rid of the two best characters tho) - and the only reason I disliked Data Squad so much is because of Marcus (that and it doesnt have anything else that’s absolutely stunning, in fact from a technical standpoint Marcus is the best thing about the show).

But there’s a reason I put Digimon Adventure here and not the entirety of the Digimon franchise.  Digimon Adventure is what started it all.  No Digimon season has as much heart in it as the original.  Sure the animation improves each season, sure Tamers is probably better story-wise on a technical level, but I dont think any season matches the raw charm of the original.  It was so charming, in fact, that what was supposed to be a 13-episode miniseries evolved into a massive franchise that’s still beloved to this day.  Hell, there’s still content being released for the 8 Digidestined of this season!  It’s right alongside Pokemon, Invader Zim, Hey Arnold, and all these other beloved 90s/early 2000s cartoons that are being revived in recent years, and I think that says a lot.

I wasn’t even alive when Digimon Adventure was airing, but I loved the Digimon games I had played so much that I went out of my way to watch it.  And I…loved it.  Sad as it may be, it was the greatest TV show I had seen at the time.  Growing up in the late 2000s watching only Nickelodeon and CN was not a good period to grow up in, and I never saw Avatar as a kid.  By the time the 2010s had rolled around, I had mostly given up on cartoons, and besides, they were all fugly.  I still tried to watch some, but just…the humor didn’t grip me, they seemed dumb, and they weren’t pleasant to look at.  (Okay the main shows I’m vaguing about are Adventure Time and Regular Show, as well as whatever Nickelodeon was doing but I begrudgingly put up with Nickelodeon for the most part because I preferred Nick and I never knew what else to watch)  Then Digimon came around, and hol-y-shit.  The characters were like nothing I had ever seen before, the storylines engaging and interesting.  Sure it was cheesy, but there was 95% less fart jokes than the average cartoon, a good story, and actually relatable characters that actually go through hardships and actually change for the better!

Digimon Adventure has been and always will be proof to me that no matter what you are, no matter what your show is, you can make a good show out of it.  If you get people who care, who can make relatable characters, who can come up with an interesting story, you can make a good show.  Digimon Adventure is basically a big long toy commercial, and yet its better than lots of shows that dont even have merchandise - and its also better than a lot of shows that have merchandise now, but weren’t created to sell toys in the first place.  I just.  Love it a lot.

Also, the reason I specifically chose Digimon Adventure, outside of having a personal attachment to it since it was always my favorite, is because Tamers hecking scared me as a kid and I’ve never gotten over how creepy the last arc is.  Like it’s good, but it still scared me.

Honorable mentions: Bojack Horseman, Voltron: Legendary Defender, We Bare Bears, Gravity Falls (thats a big one, it would definitely be on this list if I had 10 spots, and will gladly take the 6th spot if Voltron doesnt follow through or Bojack goes south), Over the Garden Wall,  the aforementioned Digimon Tamers ,and Infinity Train might be #2 or at least #3 if it wasnt just a single episode l m a o

1. A tie between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

HI SO YEAH if you didnt expect this then you dont know me //BRICKED

Before I explain both, I want to be very clear that I’m not counting them as a single entity.  No, I just cant pick between them.  They’re two extremely different shows, and I actually agree with people who say ATLA is overall a more-rounded show.  Problem is, I watched both during a period of my life where politics and darkness make an extremely interesting show for me (aka the current period of my life) and thus its a very biased and “nostalgic” pick, just like Digimon Adventure.  Had I watched these shows when they were airing, I dont know if LOK would even be on this list.  Heck Digimon adventure probably wouldnt be on this list since ATLA would’ve held the crown for my favorite show for all those years.

They both have amazing animation and solid writing, but that’s about all they have in common in my eyes - even though they share the same world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a kids show.  Through and through, its a kids show.  That’s not an insult in the slightest though; no, the fact that they can make something so sophisticated and enjoyable that still clearly appeals to children is really a testament to their skills.  Many kids shows that try to take on heavier/darker stories feel like completely different shows when they try to do that - shows that arent intended for kids.  Voltron and SU are the most notable examples of that, but even LOK has a little bit of that (but in LOK’s case, its the entire show, so I kinda give them a pass lol)  Other shows do it okay (Gravity Falls) but really the only show I’ve ever seen match Avatar’s perfect balance of comedy and seriousness is Bojack, which isn’t a kids show so it has an advantage over Avatar.

Avatar’s world is fanciful and larger than life.  I’m so sad that I watched Avatar and LOK after my fanfiction days; I would’ve loved to spend nights thinking about a potential Avatar story, complete with my own Avatar and original cast.  I could put it before Avatar, after LOK, who knows? but it would’ve been so much fun.  Hell I HAVE thought about Avatar stories, but I obviously dont have much thought up on any of my potential ideas.

The pacing of Avatar is golden.  How a show wish such good pacing got through Nickelodeon, I dont know, but whatever deal allowed Avatar to go on for three seasons and then end was a once-in-a-life-time deal (as evident by what happened to Korra).  Somehow this show came out almost completely perfect, with few or no flaws.

This is the pinnacle of children’s entertainment, in my opinion.  This is proof that there’s no excuse for the garbage that makes up 90% of children’s entertainment.  The standard doesn’t have to be this, since this is the best, but this show is proof that we need to raise the standard.  I wish executives actually gave a shit about quality; if they did, maybe we could get mostly good shows instead of mostly bad shows.

If most shows were half as good as Avatar, the average show would be gorgeously-animated, smartly-written, and really good, even if it had a flaw here and there.  If most shows were half as good as Avatar, Steven Universe would be the average instead of a godsend.

If I someday, somehow make a show that’s 2/3rds as good as Avatar, I’ll officially be a good writer.  I’d love to make tons of shows just as good as Avatar, but hey, I cant get TOO cocky now lol

Now for The Legend of Korra.  Korra has slightly better animation (god i love studio mir) and different but still intriguing worldbuilding.  I know a lot of people found the political bs to be annoying, but I actually found it quite intriguing.  Avatar did a little bit of exploring moral gray areas and playing with politics, but Korra just goes all-out.  I wish the first season’s morality could’ve been a little grayer, but even then, the politics were still interesting.  And god, that one scene in the first season finale, the murder-suicide…that’s still a really powerful scene.  The entire finale would’ve been super powerful were it not for everything resetting by the end of it, but hey, they basically did the same thing in season 3!

Holy shit though, season 3.  An on-screen strangling.  Someone exploding themselves to death.  And then the finale’s fight.  The finale’s fight. The finale of season 3 is one of the most intense things I’ve seen…ever.  The atmosphere in that fight is just…so good - combined with the animation and choreography, its just amazing.  You can almost feel every hit, you actually feel concern for Korra, you’re legitimately concerned for her life.  And you know what?  You should’ve been!  Because she almost dies, and she has to suffer the consequences of that.  The fourth season has a time gap in-between, but even then, she spends episodes trying to fully recover.

In my opinion, the only thing making Korra a kids show is Milo.  I’m certain they put him in there because otherwise, it wouldn’t have been allowed to be called a kids show.  It’s dark, its intelligent, its beautiful, and it’s going to go right over most kid’s heads.  As a kids show it does kind of fail; it just doesn’t really appeal enough to them.  Once you’re old enough to understand, say, Naruto or Dragon Ball you should be okay, but ATLA appeals to all ages while Korra really needs a certain maturity in its audience to be understood and to not scare its audience.

They’re just both. so good

(thanks for the ask!!!)

#stormy answers #long post #this took forever to answer but it was w o r t h #i actually have a script for this video now lmao so i could make this video now if i wanted to

[thotyssey]

On Point With: Blake McIver

Beginning his career as a child star with memorable roles in “Full House” and “The Little Rascals” reboot, this actor / writer / producer / director / singer / songwriter / ex-gogo boy has definitely sashayed his way into our hearts and minds. New Yorkers can enjoy a pair of performances from him this week at the Laurie Beechman Theatre: first covering a legend’s songbook in a solo show, then as a supporting player of a drag queen’s showcase that he’s directed. It’s the charming and talented Blake McIver Ewing!

Thotyssey: Hi Blake, thanks for talking to us! So, are you mad busy now with rehearsals and finishing touches on your two shows (Blake Sings Barbra and I Dream of Jackie), or are you comfortable with what you have down now for both of them?

Blake McIver: Well, I am admittedly a rehearsal addict, but I had to come back to LA for another show. So, we'll do a couple quick clean-ups before next weekend!

You've certainly been performing for nearly all of your life... have producing, writing and directing always been part of the equation as well? I've actually been directing for over a decade! I started a theatre company in Southern California at 19, and cut my teeth as a producing major during my time at UCLA. Writing came shortly thereafter, first with songwriting, and then it expanded from there! So are you pretty much open to a variety of projects, or do you have a pretty specific wheelhouse? I like wearing many different hats. It keeps my passion alive, and keeps me learning and constantly refining my skill set.

Are you still basically based out of California? I am still based out of LA. As much as I love my time in NYC, the West Coast is always home. I was born and raised in the heart of LA, which is very rare. I consider myself a unicorn, haha!

Unicorn indeed! You've had a long and amazing career as an actor, beginning with some choice gigs as a child star... including Derek from Full House, Michelle's adorable friend who slayed “Yankee Doodle Dandy” in his debut episode! When you're that young and that famous/successful, can you even fully understand what is going on... or is it just normal because that's all you know?

For me, it was just going into the family business at a young age. Both my parents have lifelong careers in entertainment, which meant that many of their friends were in the business as well. I went to regular school, with non-working kids in between gigs, so I was aware that my life wasn't exactly typical. But I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

Nor would your fans! I understand Derek was meant to be a one-time-only appearance, but that evolved into a beloved recurring role for several seasons.

You're right! Derek was supposed to be a one episode thing, that turned out to be three seasons of the show until it ended. It was a joy to be on that set every single time. It really was a cohesive family by the time I entered the cast, and they all made me feel right at home.

One fun part of Fuller House is seeing many of these supporting characters and their actors from the original show return as adults for cute cameos. It would be difficult without the Olsen Twins on board for this version, but would Derek stop by Fuller House if it were up to you?

YES! If it were up to me, Derek would definitely be the flamboyant show choir director at the School of the "new generation" kids! Have you noticed the show is so gay now? DJ and Stephanie are hitting on gay guys, and Kimmy's ex-husband is basically the New Trade. It's wonderful! Haha! That's awesome to hear. I have to be totally honest and tell you I haven't actually watched any of the reboot past the first episode! I know, sacrilegious! There's just only so many hours in the day, and I have so many Real Housewives franchises to keep up with! But I'm so glad people are loving it, and I hope it goes on and on.

Speaking of Housewives, you made appearances on a Bravo show a few years ago, "The People's Couch!" What was that experience like?

Well I have to say, when they pitched the show to us I thought, "Okay, we've officially reached the end of entertainment! You're making a show about people watching other shows on TV." Of course I hadn't yet seen the brilliant original British version, Gogglebox. And then when I saw the rough cut of the pilot, I was blown away with how fresh and funny it was. 

We really had the opportunity to engage in social commentary in a way I couldn't have predicted. Of course there was plenty of silliness along the way, but we did get to talk about some real issues on Bravo primetime, which I'm proud of.

Your album The Time Manipulator was such a diverse collection of songs and styles. 

Indeed! The Time Manipulator was intentionally stylistically diverse. It wasn't until I began writing music that I realized the diversity of my musical influences. Each track on that album represents a story from a moment in my life; some happy, painful, frustrating, etc. The narrative is quite dramatic, and I felt the genres really needed to serve the narrative. 

Of course, that's the last thing any record label wants to hear... which is why it was important for me to self produce / release the first one so that my un-diluted musical story is there.

That's the way to do it! Who would you consider some musical influences?

I'm inspired by everyone from The Beatles and Queen to Diana Ross, Carole King, Elton John, Antonio Carlos Jobim, to Gaga and Beyonce. I'm a real music nerd so if the melody and lyric meet a pure emotional intention, I'M IN! Do you have any plans for another recording? I do! I'm in the middle of a (much more musically cohesive) new EP that is inspired by my love of Motown, Blues, and Soul.

Right before recording The Time Manipulator, the internet-browsing public was alerted (thanks to Perez Hilton, I think) to the fact that you--a former child star!--were gogo dancing to fund its production, and the Thirst Pics were abound. You've already talked a lot about that experience with honest candor and charm, but I was wondering.. does being a stage and screen performer prepare you for gogo dancing at all, or is it a completely different animal?

The performative aspect of it definitely felt familiar to me. Performing for an audience has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. But does anything truly prepare you for shaking your moneymaker in a jock on a box? Not sure, lol! 

It was like playing a role to a degree. I had a character / persona in my head. He had a name and a personality that was admittedly bolder than my own. So I guess it kind of was like a fun acting gig. Def, and it paid! Is that also how you got to know people in nightlife, like promoters and drag queens, or did you already kinda know that crowd from just being a gay entertainer in LA? It all sort of happened simultaneously, in a beautiful way. Just as I was becoming more comfortable and free in my queer identity and expression, I was meeting wonderful queer artists and brilliant performers who challenged me artistically and mentally, which was really wonderful.

What's been your history as a stage performer in NYC?

Well, my NYC stage debut was as an honorary member of "The Broadway Kids" in the early 90s. I believe a Gavroche got sick before one of their big shows, and my friend Kathryn Zaremba (who was Lisa on Full House) was Annie Warbucks on Broadway. She said to the director, “my friend can learn this show in four days.” Before I knew it, I was singing and dancing alongside all these young Broadway vets who were very gracious to let the TV / Film brat come play with them! What's a dream role for you, as far as Broadway is concerned? Deena Jones in Dreamgirls. Which I realize is extremely problematic on every level, and will never and should NEVER, EVER happen.  

I wish that Disney could get it together and put Hunchback on Broadway. I would do just about anything to bring Quasi to the Broadway stage. Oh God that would be incredible!  

So I saw I Dream of Jackie during its initial run at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, starring NYC queen Jackie Cox, which you directed and also co-starred in. I absolutely loved it, it was cute and very funny, and even had sincere moments! How did you get involved with that show, which I’m happy to see returns to the Beechman on Sunday, August 20th?

I'm so glad you enjoyed IDOJ! It was such a joy bringing it to life. Jackie (aka Darius) has been my best friend since we met on day one of college at UCLA. We actually came up with the character of Jackie together, which is why I am referred to as her "Drag Father," hahaha! 

It worked out that my schedule opened up enough for me to be in NYC for the month of July, and I jumped at the chance to direct and choreograph the show. Can't wait to do it again next Sunday!

Amazing! Have you / would you ever try drag yourself, by the way?

I have very strong, angular features. Me in drag just looks like Idina MANzel.

Ha! Well, the night before IDOJ returns, the Beechman will see you solo on the stage for the return of your own hit cabaret revue, Blake Sings Barbra: The Concert! What role does Barbra Streisand's music play in your life, and what made you want to bring this show to the stage?

I've been captivated by Barbra since I first saw Funny Girl at 7 years old. But it wasn't until her 1994 comeback concert that I became completely obsessed. It was a crazy year for me: I was in my second season of Full House, I filmed The Little Rascals, and my parents’ house was destroyed in the Northridge earthquake. In the show, I take you through all these things via The Concert, which basically taught me everything I know about being a performer.

I've wanted to do this tribute show for many years, and finally sat down one day last year, during the tumult of election season, and wrote it all down.

Now that you mentioned The Little Rascals--where you play spoiled villain Waldo-- and the election, I have to quickly ask about how surreal it is that Donald Trump plays your Dad on the other end of a phone conversation in a brief cameo. That must be so surreal to process, nowadays.

It really is! And I tell the extended version of the story in my show. It becomes relevant at a certain point in the concert!  Intriguing! What's your favorite song to do in the show? I love the setlist from the concert so much, so it really changes with every audience. Last month I had some true 94 concert superfans in the audience, so during "The Way We Were" they were quoting her ad libs at me, then I quoted some back at them during the interlude, and we all screamed and it was a fabulous moment. I explained it all to the rest of the crowd after the song, haha!

Sounds like a remarkable experience, congratulations! Anything else coming up for you? Yes, in September I am directing and choreographing a tour for the wonderful cabaret and burlesque artist Ariana Savalas (of Postmodern Jukebox fame). I built the first version of her show last summer, and now it's expanding into a full Caburlesque extravaganza, which is so fun! And then I'll be back at the Beechman in October with two more shows! Excellent! So, lastly: what do you think The Little Rascals’ Waldo would be doing today, as an adult?

I feel like he'd be on a yacht in the South of France, spending his father's money as rapidly as humanly possible!

Sounds about right. Thanks, Blake!

Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Blake McIver’s scheduled NYC appearances. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and his own website.

On Point Archives

#onpointwith #blake mciver ewing

[filmista]

Thelma & Louise

I should credit Thelma and Louise as the film that sparked my love of vintage American cars, not love in the sense that I’m obsessed but aesthetically speaking they are one of my favorite things.

So if anyone ever sent a 66 Thunderbird my way, I’d possibly be eternally grateful…

Thelma and Louise is I think with Easy Rider one of the first road movies I ever saw, at the time of my first watch I was deeply impressed it and I absolutely adored it.

I loved the vastness of the road and what looked to me like the exhilarating freedom of having a wide open space completely to yourself, that sensation of being alone in the middle of nowhere seemed wondrous to me.

Of course, now I see that driving for miles on end and having to sleep in some disgusting, hopefully not roach filled motel has to be exhausting.

And then there is, of course, the terrifying possibility of running out of drinkable liquids and many more unpleasant scenarios I imagine.

So perhaps that side of is a little less romantic to me now, though still the wide open road and what I like to call “car freedom” are still beautiful cinematographically speaking, there are just certain parts of the United States that lend themselves most excellently for beautiful imagery.

Deep brown and reds, intense orange and red from a sunset, a deep blue sky, dust rising from the ground as a car in a bright candy like color speeds past; and Thelma and Louise captures that almost natural poetical quality of the landscape brilliantly.

But what at the time really impressed me most is that it has at It’s center two women who are best friends, in a nonchick flick like environment, complete with an evolving character arc it was something that I hadn’t seen before and that I instantly loved when I was younger and more impressionable.

Now to say that I admired Thelma and Louise would go a bit far, I have absolutely no desire to go on a revenge mission, and what they did would not be something I’d endorse as a fun road trip.

In fact, I hate violence in pretty much all of its forms and I’m afraid of guns, and It’s not even at all that likely that as a European I’d ever come face to face with one, but still the mere thought is capable of inducing a light panic sensation in me.

But I loved the film because rather than two heroes it gave us two antiheroines: Two complicated women, who are allowed to embrace their dark and violent side, without being either seen as “dangerously sexy”, or a crazy, walking danger to society that must be locked up ASAP.

Yes Thelma and Louise more than push the line of what is morally correct, knowingly so in the end but It’s precisely that, that I found so exhilarating and still do when watching it, that they were allowed to push the lines of what is morally correct and be morally apprehensive in the way that until then only men were allowed to be in film.

Thelma and Louise flirts or rather makes love with the idea that women can be just as dubious and ruthless in nature as some male characters, and why shouldn’t they, after all, both are human and human nature can simply be scary and vicious to behold.

Although at the beginning of the film, both the ladies are quite sedated in their own way and stuck in their small town lives, of which they’re tired so they’re longing for a weekend of fun away together.

But this weekend of fun did not originally include murder and robbery, it was only after the ladies are pushed to their final straw that things got out of control, it still doesn’t justify some of their acts but it does make them more comprehensible.

Thelma and Louise were both trapped in the same routinary, boring small town life, their crimes start accidentally and as small ones but the longer they are on the road, finally free from any sort of obligation for pretty much the first time in their lives it exhilarates and intoxicates them; It’s their first real sip on freedom of the mind and body and they become drunk on it…

And it does makes sense if you deny someone something their whole lives or you finally allow them to do something they might overindulge, to the point where they damage themselves and they might even realize they’re doing it, but they’re at the point they can’t even stop themselves.

My best friend loves road movies but she had never seen Thelma and Louise which is in my eyes a serious offense as both a movie lover and a woman, after all, Thelma and Louise is perhaps the ultimate chick flick!

And with chick flick, I don’t mean some silly, largely female driven, completely forgettable romantic comedy but a film that celebrates female friendship and that has no conniving, bitchy backstabbing of the “you stole my boyfriend, now you're gonna pay you bitch!” sort.

But actually has two incredibly different women, that are fully accepting of the other and that support and stand up for each other.

I also told her that It’s perhaps the only female road/crime movie ever made and that makes it unique, legendary and pretty much immortal, but I didn’t want to sound like a lecturing university professor so I just put in the film.

My best friend’s first question in a long while was: “exactly at one point does too much denim on denim become a crime?” To which I said there’s no such thing as too much denim, except maybe if you start looking like you just came back from robbing the Levi’s store, after all, you only need one pair of 5O1’s do you?

But then my friend felt it necessary to pause the film and dissect the style of the two heroines. My friend thought it was brilliantly done how the change in their style reflects the change in their personality.

At the beginning of the film both dress conservatively so as to probably not stand out too much, but near the end as they embrace their I don’t give a damn mentality, they are both in full outlawishly cool glory.

That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about the film, how It’s so stylish yet at the same time so fun loving and relaxed, while still striking serious emotional chords.

You’ve got drinks, line dancing, amazing pairs of vintage jeans, DIY denim crop tops, vintage pin-up like hair scarfs and criminally cool sunglasses, seriously is it humanly possible to look cooler while breaking the law?

You’ve got the original selfie, singing along with the windows rolled down, sun-kissed skin, Sarandon’s and Davis’s red hair that reflects the sunlight and blows in the wind as they speed past in their Thunderbird, if this film doesn’t make you want to get into a vintage car and drive in an arid, eroded landscape nothing will.

I love that the film can be gorgeous and embrace the whole beauty of the landscape the two ladies are in, have fun and still have a serious and emotional backbone.

Thelma and Louise does illustrate coherently, sometimes terrifyingly so what being female in this world, unfortunately, entails sometimes.

Our two ladies had no criminal ambitions, their turning point was a rape, Louise lost her temper at a man who was in the process of raping her best friend, and she would've let him walk with a lecture, if it hadn’t been for the words that dug his own grave: “Bitch, I should’ve gone the ahead and fucked her”, to which Louise responds What did you say? To which he responds “ I said suck my cock”, at which point Louise lost it.

If he had simply apologized and kept shut it wouldn’t have ended in his demise, but his own ego and vanity dug his grave. Farther along the road, Thelma and Louise meet more unpleasant types of men and give all of them a lesson in respecting women, but the only man they actually killed is the rapist.

Still, Thelma and Louise was seen as a male hating and viciously male-bashing film. And yes it is true that pretty much all of the men respond to unpleasant male stereotypes and cliches.

They are but there not out of hate but to merely illustrate what sort of behaviour women have to deal with at times, yes in grossly stereotyped ways but still every woman has encountered at least one of the men in this once, the obscene gesture of the truck driver is one I can sincerely say I’ve had thrown my way once too.

But like I said the two ladies technically only kill one man, while there’s plenty of films in which a man blows away one or more women at a merciless flick of his gun, and nobody makes that loud a fuss.

Thelma and Louise merely lets women to put it a sophisticated way be vindictive, violence loving, authority-defying, foul mouthing bitches for once too, that’s only fair representation.

Human nature is complex, and I believe that plenty of women if pushed past a certain could possibly become Thelma or Louise. Still, Thelma and Louise has decent and kind men too.

Like Louise’s somewhat childish, Elvis Presley resembling boyfriend, Jimmy, but who does genuinely seem to love her and helps her without question when she asks him to, she is asking him to trust her and he does so.

It shows an obvious fact, you have all kinds of men, good, respectful, kind ones or hopeless romantics and just plain mean assholes.

Only Thelma and Louise ran into the latter one too many times, and I do believe that one many time can be a breaking point in how a woman perceives men.

One insult or one single obscene gesture could be one too many and wreak irreversible damage, and I believe that’s what happened with Thelma and Louise, they were just so tired and angry at all the men in their lives, that they to some degree lost their ability to perhaps see them as human beings, but the process that let them there was no fault of theirs.

I’ve personally always loved Thelma and Louise’s ending, but my friend was disappointed. She would have wanted them to turn round and turn themselves into the police officers with a defiant attitude.

I told her that, that way they would have given in to that which they fought against and it would have been the complete opposite of their personal beliefs at that moment.

For me, the ending is pardoned my French ultimate fuckin freedom! What after all is freer than choosing how you are to go out of this world, to chose how and when you die.

They probably had an array of rather dismal possibilities, bullets or electrical chairs. The point is that all those endings would have been inflicted by someone else.

Thelma and Louise in an ultimate act of defiance didn’t even give someone else, in this case, it would have been a man, the possibility of touching them in their final hour much less of killing them.

So when it came to turning themselves in basically like saying I’m giving you permission to shoot me or the deep abyss they chose driving off into the cliff, welcoming the deep abyss like a friend.

And even if you don’t see any poetic justice in it, purely cinematography wise It’s the most aesthetically pleasing death, I don’t think you could argue that it isn’t.

I mean think about it, if wild horses, Mustangs had conscious thought and they could choose between giving into their captor and being tamed or running off a cliff, I think there’s a high chance they’d chose the latter. Anyway, before I delve into anything else, I will leave you guys with the storyline, even if I assume everyone knows it by now:

Whilst on a short weekend getaway, Louise shoots a man who had tried to rape Thelma. Due to the incriminating circumstances, they make a run for it but are soon followed closely by the authorities including a local policeman who is sympathetic to their plight.

The federal authorities, however, have less compassion and thus a cross country chase ensues for the two fugitives. Along the way, both women rediscover the strength of their friendship and surprising aspects of their personalities and self-strengths in the trying times.

Thelma and Louise despite being incredibly beautifully shot and pleasing to the eyes, and country music that isn’t unpleasant to the ears, but rather of the kind that I find that even when driving around in a car in Europe you could put on and fantasize you’re on a road trip through the US.

It’s still mostly dialogue based, Thelma and Louise spend most of the time joking, laughing talking heart to heart and emotionally confiding in one another.

So yes while you get panoramic views of astounding beauty, the real protagonist is the written word no doubt about it. The film could have still have failed without two capable actresses like Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.

I generally love the acting of both, but for me, both were in the glory moment of their onscreen badassery and daringness, especially Davis.

I was shocked a while ago when I read that Thelma and Louise were initially not going to be made with Sarandon and Davis. I simply can’t imagine any other actresses in the roles.

Sarandon and Davis embody Louise and Thelma for me from the very first scenes they give you a clear picture of who both of these women are and what kind of lives they have.

And they conduct themselves accordingly and slowly and realistically evolve according to that, the woman may act out of character at first glance, but then as you consider their progression it is totally in character.

And these two women and are so fun and entertaining to watch because Sarandon and Davis capture them in a way that’s fully defined without a hint of doubt and hesitation whatsoever.

In a way that lets, you know that these women fully know and are passionate about the characters they’re portraying. It doesn’t feel like either Sarandon or Davis had to force themselves and pull great mental effort to get into the skin of these ladies (while that was probably required).

Both come across not as scripted but as real, precisely because Sarandon and Davis come across as so unforced, effortless, natural and confident in what they are doing, they simply seem to have been completely in their element. For me, they are two of the best written and best acted female characters in cinema ever!

Thelma and Louise were maybe not surprisingly written by a woman Callie Khourie, but directed by someone who you maybe wouldn’t immediately expect, British Ridley Scott, a mostly good director but not really one known for really emotional and highly sensitive films.

So you wouldn’t immediately expect him that when given the chance to direct a film about two female friends, he’d go: Pick me, me, I want to direct it! He probably to some degree was lured by the adrenaline in the film too.

And then there’s of course also the fact that he’s a Brit and that it doesn’t really get much more American than this, yet Thelma and Louise breathe with naturalness so I can only conclude he was, in fact, the right man for the job.

The film has the elements of the coolest action and road movies and big moments, but Scott knew when to slow down and how to handle his camera in the emotional scenes without making them seem unimportant.

But rather shedding more sensitivity on them, really bringing the emotion in them to the front and into the spotlight, and offering a humane insight into female troubles and psychology, you simply see that Scott had respect for his two leading ladies.

Although there’s perhaps a shot of Thelma in a bikini where you could question if it had to be that long, but in his defense, It’s a gorgeous bikini and Davis looked exceptionally lovely in it…

And for me Thelma and Louise is truly a film with impeccable timing and pacing, always sufficiently slow or just fast enough. Perhaps the for me only weak point is those photos after the big, grand finale.

When it comes to the cinematography, Thelma and Louise is one of my all-time favorite films. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I’m still impressed and in awe each time.

It’s absolutely gorgeously shot and one of those films that you could freeze plenty of times at pretty much any given moment and you could get something worth putting up in a frame.

As I said already in some of my posts I love travel guides and traveling in general. I have three travel guides on the United States alone, why you might wonder since It’s essentially always the same country with the same landscape. Well, each travel guide has different photos of the same landscape and a different style in approaching and introducing you to the country.

I have to at least name Thelma and Louise as one of the films that made me want to go out and buy them, it simply does the landscape the utmost justice and brings it in all It’s natural beauty.

Usually as a European, well at least in my case when watching whatever American road movie, the remark so much space! Is bound to fall at least once.

And Thelma and Louise captures that wide open space, being completely alone on the road feeling to perfection; It’s palpable you feel as though you are in the car.

The film is an ode to the rich, intense colors of the desert and the harsh, blinding light of its sunny and gritty scapes.

But still there’s a perfect balance between the landscape and our two leading ladies neither is given more importance, throughout the ladies are shown on screen in a way that you feel close and connected to them, while at the same highlighting the grandness and drama of some moments.

The soundtrack is for me nothing that special or particularly memorable, sure it has some pleasant and nice to listen to songs. Although it does have some legendary musical moments, that do make it into a unique soundtrack. But when it comes to road movie soundtracks, my heart forever belongs to Easy Rider.

Thelma and Louise are not my favorite film, but it is one of my favorite films to revisit once in a while because I find that there’s always new stuff in there that I never remarked, that could possibly spark debate it is still socially relevant after all this time.

It’s a film I highly respect, It is simply unique in what it does, truly one of a kind, still one of the only really openly and unapologetically feminist films, that deals with “female issues” in a way that’s both sensitive and still an enjoyable ride for both genders.

Anyone can lose themselves in the thrill and the adrenaline of it. And It’s possibly one of the only films that can say it passes the Bechdel tests as it reaches soaring heights, literally whilst flying into an abyss, fucking legendary...

Louise: You robbed the store? You robbed the whole damn store? Thelma: Well, we needed the money. Louise: Oh, shoot! Thelma: It’s not like I killed anybody, for God’s sake! Louise: Thelma!

“I feel really awake. I don't recall ever feeling this awake. You know? Everything looks different now. You feel like that? You feel like you got something to live for now?”

#thelma & louise #thelma and louise #thelma and louise 1991 #ridley scott #callie khouri #susan sarandon #geena davis #harvey keitel #michael madsen #christopher mcdonald #stephen tobolowsky #brad pitt #hans zimmer #adrian biddle #thom noble #roadtrip #roadtrip movie #roadtrip film #road movie #roadfilm #roadmovies #badass chick flick #women in film #90's cinema #vintage cinema #iconic movies #movies #films #movie review #film review

[unbreakablejemmasimmons]

Chocolate Box 2016 Letter

Fandoms Requested:

Agents of SHIELD (Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Rebecca Bunch/Greg Serrano)

The Good Place (Eleanor Shellstrop/Trevor, Eleanor Shellstrop & Trevor)

Mad Men (Peggy Olson/Stan Rizzo)

Dear Chocolate Box Writer,

Hi, and thank you for signing up and for writing for me! This is my first time doing Chocolate Box, though I’m not new to exchanges, and I’m excited to get started! Hope you are too :-)

In this letter you’ll find:

General Likes/Kinks

General DNWs

Fandom Specifics/Prompts

Agents of SHIELD

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

The Good Place

Mad Men

I’ve tried to offer a variety of prompts for each fandom and pairing, but don’t feel beholden to what I’ve suggested! If the rest of my letter gives you an idea you’d like to write, go for it! I’m sure I’ll love it.

A little about me:

My AO3 name is SuburbanSun; you can also check out my Tumblr if you’d like, and my tags for each of my requested pairings here: Fitzsimmons, Rebecca/Greg, and Peggy/Stan (and I don’t have a tag for Eleanor/Trevor so The Good Place).

General Likes/Kinks:

I’m a big trope fan in general– faves include rivals/enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, bed-sharing, trapped in an enclosed space, mutual pining, secret dating/sneaking around, slow burn, FWBs that turns into something more. Subversions of tropes are also great, so don’t feel like you have to go the obvious route if you choose to write something tropey! I have a weird (not weird because it’s uncommon, more weird because it doesn’t fit in obviously with the rest of my likes and favored tropes) love for Secret Service/bodyguard/witness protection AU type fics, as well as Vampire Slayer AUs. I prefer to read about the getting-together parts of a relationship over established relationships, though I’m not totally opposed to the latter.   I love strong female friendships, strong-but-flawed-and-realistic female characters in general. Ladies kicking ass, preferably through cleverness and wit and competence as much if not more than through brawn, is the best, and I love it when they’re allowed to make mistakes and fuck up and dig themselves into a hole, too. Smut is cool and fun and here are some kinks that I like to read: Teasing. Phone sex. Semi-public sex (not actually getting caught though). Workplace sex. Dirty talk/sexting. Light domination (aka more like just bossing each other around than full-on D/s stuff). Oral sex. Playfulness/joking around during sex.

General DNWs:

Darkfic. Sad endings. Gore/intense violence. Miscommunication that could super easily be avoided. Babyfic/kidfic/pregnancy in general. Self-harm/abuse. Noncon/dubcon. A/B/O, mpreg, incest, bestiality, hard kink. Poly/threesomes/orgies. Members of my ships being paired romantically with other people (unless it’s just briefly, on the way to an OTP-happy ending). First person POV. To the fandoms!

Agents of SHIELD - Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons

I love Agents of SHIELD, and Fitzsimmons is my main OTP these days. I love reading about them getting together, or being together, in any capacity. I’m a big fan of the friends to lovers dynamic, and how they have always been it for each other in some way. As Elizabeth Henstridge put it, he’s deep down in her bones, and vice versa.

I’m also a big fan of AUs for this fandom, and love the idea that they’d come together in any universe.

Prompts:    

A story driven by secret messages-- they are in a situation (could be SHIELD-verse or a full-on AU) where they are forced to communicate with coded/secret messages. Epistolary or otherwise is fine!

Paranormal investigators AU where they are super skeptical of what they're hunting for, or maybe they are hunting for it to prove it DOESN'T exist

Or keeping with the AUs, maybe they are high school science teachers, or the two astronauts sent to colonize a new planet?

The first night spent in their new apartment.

---

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Rebecca Bunch/Greg Serrano

This is one of my favorite shows on TV right now, for so many reasons. It’s clever, it’s feminist, it’s funny, it’s real (even as it features elaborate musical sequences!), and the characters are so flawed but so great. I ship Rebecca and Greg so hard, in spite of their many flaws, and am so bummed that Greg’s gone, and hope they find a way to bring him back someday. I just love their chemistry-- bickery battle-of-wits style relationships are a huge favorite of mine. I also really just love Rebecca as a character. She’s such a mess and makes so many mistakes but I find her really relatable.

Feel free to write something that takes place before Greg left, or something canon-divergent as if he never left, though future fics with them are also totally great!

Prompts:

Rebecca/Greg + any number of tropes– stuck somewhere together; inconvenient bed-sharing; fake dating, the works.

What’s their dynamic like in a couple of years when he returns from Atlanta? Are they over each other or not quite so much?

At the end of Josh’s Sister Is Getting Married!, Rebecca propositions Greg in the bar and he staggers off into the store room with her in his arms. What happens next?

---

The Good Place - Eleanor Shellstrop/Trevor, Eleanor Shellstrop & Trevor

There’s not much on Earth I love more than a Mike Schur show, and I’ve always loved Kristen Bell, so I was pretty destined to dig this show. It’s just so clever and interesting and fun to watch!

That said, I wasn’t really shipping anything on the show yet. I like all the characters but nothing leapt out for me romantically. But then they introduced Trevor, and the thing is, Adam Scott is my weakness. If he exists on a show, I can’t help but ship him with somebody, and I have loved his and KBell’s chemistry together in other shows (Party Down! VMars!). I’m not proud of it, but my mind immediately went there.

Bottom line is, I know the show’s not going to go there, and I know Trevor is literally the worst, but I can’t help but want all the enemies-to-lovers, bickery fic for them.

Sidenote: Not that interested in actual AUs (as opposed to just like, canon divergence) for this fandom. The universe is so interesting on its own!

Prompts:

Eleanor ends up relocating to The Bad Place with Trevor, and to both of their surprise and disdain, they’re each other’s Bad Place soulmates.

Somehow Trevor gets stuck in The Good Place. Does its goodness rub off on him? If it does, I bet he HATES that.

Any sort of stuck together/trapped in an enclosed space tropefic would be great-- especially if they start to have feelings for each other.

Nothing wrong with a little good oldfashioned hatesex.

---

Mad Men - Peggy Olson/Stan Rizzo

I love and miss this show so much. It was so smart and made me feel so many things, and in truth, Peggy Olson is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction.

Peggy and Stan is such a great ship, to me, and one I was on board with from the very beginning. Omitting his boorish behavior early on, once they established a rapport, they were such equals, and he seemed to respect her so much, and vice versa. They got on each other’s nerves and knew how to push each other’s buttons, but that’s just because they connected so well and really got each other.

Prompts:

What are things like now that Peggy and Stan are working together and being together (and possibly living together)? It’s got to be frustrating at times but worth it in the end, right?

I absolutely adore the time period where they’re basically phone buddies. Maybe an AU where they get together earlier in the series, during that time? How their phone conversations evolve from discussing work to discussing everything to falling for each other (or realizing they already had)? Phone sex (or getting ever-so-close to it before realizing they’re in the office and it’s inappropriate) is a-okay here too.

In the same vein, epistolary fic could be really fun to play around with here. Maybe a story told through a series of interoffice memos, messages, notes in the margins of copy pitches and along the edges of spec art?

NASA/Space Race AU– Peggy’s a NASA scientist/engineer and Stan is an astronaut

Peggy the Vampire Slayer AU (maybe Don is her Watcher? Or Bert? Or Roger? So many fun and funny options.)

I hope that gives you something to work with, and that you enjoy writing something during the exchange! If you have questions for me, feel free to message me on anon! I’m happy to help if I can.  Thanks again for signing up!

#chocolate box 2016 #chocolate box exchange #chocolate box letter

[smokeybrand]

Smokey brand Reviews: Carrie Lite

Since we’re all under government quarantine, i mean, since we’re all social distancing, i figure this is a good opportunity to catch up on some of the things is didn’t have enough tome to see otherwise. There were a few movies coming out that i wanted to take a legit theater gander at but i think they’re hitting streaming instead. Invisible Man, i’m looking at you. In the meantime, i took in a few shows on the Netflix that caught my interest, the first of which is I Am Not Okay With This. It’s the new show from Jonathan Entwistle, the director of the excellent End of the F*cking World, and appear to be a mixture of that show and Carrie. I absolutely adore End and Carrie is one of my favorites stories ever told, so my anticipation for this adaption was palpable. After binging the entire show in a day, i must say, i have opinions.

The Good

I rather like the overall plot of this show. It feels real. Telekinetic powers aside, this feels like one of the more realistic portrayals of awkward teen development i’ve seen in some time. Everyone is so awkward. Everyone is so clumsy. It’s like watching actual high school kids living high school lives. No one knows who the f*ck they are except the weird kid, which is the truest thing about this narrative that you never see in lesser, teen oriented dramedies.

Speaking of narrative, the writing on this show is strong as f*ck. Easily one of the better written shows out right now. Seriously, this is about as tight in the writing department as End of the F*cking World and that was, easily, the best written show i had seen in probably a decade. Okay gives that masterpiece a run for it’s money.

My, goodness, is this thing beautifully shot. The frames chosen, the pans, the wipes, that use of slow motion at just the right time; All of it comes together in a feast for the eyes. This show is truly a joy to watch. It’s not super laden with effects or saturated with Bayhem or whatever but if you’re a fan of camera work, the composition of shots, or the way Wes Anderson frames his scenes, you’ll definitely appreciate the look of this show.

The direction of this show is good. I can’t say i’m enthused by it because i already saw it in The End of the F*cking World, and this show skews to hard toward that one. That’s a choice made by Jonathan Entwistle, considering he was a director and creative force behind both shows. Now, i understand that cats have a certain style, a certain flair to their craft. You know a David Fincher flick when you see it. You know a Chris Nolan flick when you see it. That said, their movies are not the same. Dunkirk does not feel like The Dark Knight. Alien 3 does not feel like Gone Girl. There are, of course, superficial similarities; Cinematography, shot composition, editing style, etc. But, the sum of the parts does not make the same whole, over and over again. Michael By has that problem. It’s why no one takes him seriously as a director anymore. You have to innovate, evolve your style, to stay relevant and Entwistle seems to be resting on his laurels with Okay. He’s good at his job, don’t misunderstand, i’m just left wanting, you know?

The casting of this show is pretty legit. I mean, there are those twenty-somethings masquerading as teenagers but the gap isn’t as bad as you’d assume. I’m pretty sure these cats are supposed to be around Junior/Senior level age and, for the most part, the main cast falls in that wheelhouse relatively adequately. That lends itself to the believability of this teenage dramadey. I mean, who the f*ck is trying to watch a show at thirty-year-teenagers? Riverdale, i’m looking at you.

Sophia Lillis is absolutely brilliant as the our heroine, Sydney Novak. An obvious Carrie White allegory, Sophia was able to inject a genuineness to her character that give Syd an independent energy. Syd’s plight is rooted in very real, very emotional, turmoil that lends itself to what a lot of real life teens nowadays, have to face. Ma was excellent as Beverly Marsh in the IT films and i hear great things about Sharp Objects so i had confidence she could carry this show. I can’t say i was surprised when she hit it out of the park but i was, one again, incredibly impressed. I mean, she’s f*cking fresh 18! There’s no way she should be this god at her craft, so early in her career!

Another standout, and easily my favorite character in this show, was that of Stan Barber. Stan is that weird kid i poke of earlier. He has his own issues at home but Wyatt Oleff’s portrayal makes that sh*t real. He embodies that high anxiety and awkward waywardness. You can tell Stan has lived a life and is just done with the nonsense superficiality of High School bullsh*t, a fact that i can identify with. Stan is delightful eccentric, lovably awkward, and refreshingly real throughout his arc, all testament to the outstanding portrayal of Wyatt Oleff. Interestingly enough, he, too, is an IT alum. That cast of kids was truly excellent. It’s dope seeing them branch off into other great roles.

Sofia Bryant’s Dina, Syd’s best friend and object of infatuation, deserves a mention as well. She was excellent in her role, mostly. There were times when i felt her portrayal a little wooden or flat but, overall, she did a great job. It was necessary for whoever was cast as Dina to have that chemistry with Syd and Bryant played well off Lillis. Without that relationship, this entire show wouldn’t work. Fortunately, Bryant and Lillis are excellent together onscreen.

The supporting cat is pretty strong as well. No one feels fake or inorganic to the world created in this show. I have to recognize Aidan Wojtak-Hissong and Richard Ellis as Liam Novak and Brad Ellis, respectively. These cats were integral, if underutilized, to the plot. I was a little disappointed with Jenny Tuffield, played by Sophia Tatum. Her generic bad-boy turned bad-girl archetype, complete with cliche leather jacket and everything, felt too manufactured. The Fonz doesn’t exist in modern day. Greasers are extinct. Still, i think she did a decent job with what she had but she ain’t have much.

The Bad

Some characters felt underutilized. For instance, Maggie Novak, Syd’s mom. There is a lot there for the character to do but it feels like her role was purposely mitigated to exposition and cameo. I wanted more of their mother/daughter relationship. I wanted a more intimate exploration of their family dynamic. They found a way to work around that absence but it felt a little cheap. Missed potential for sure.

This show feels a little too much like End of the F*cking world. That’s not a terrible thing for me as i love that show, but it kind of handicaps what I Am Not Okay With This can truly be. If you’re constantly looking at this show through End colored goggles, you’re not truly seeing this specific show for what it is. In the long run, i think this is a detriment. End is the superior show, easily, but Okay has enough originality to stand on it’s own. They’ll definitely need to pivot for season two.

It’s very obvious that this season is only a set up for future seasons of this show. Unlike End, which had a definitive end after their first season, Okay seems to want to continue some sort of narrative. That’s fine as long as it’s planned out. Netflix is good about nixing shows before they over stay their welcome but the way this season climaxed has me worried. it feels like some Riverdale nonsense or that goofy Walking Dead thing they do where it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. That does not bode well for the future. However, Netflix has succeeded more than they have failed in this avenue so i’ll keep the faith. For now.

The Verdict

This Is Not Okay With This is a great show, if a little derivative. It’s filled with beautiful cinematography, a compelling if a little familiar plot, and excellent performances. The teenage interactions feel real and organic while the overall narrative is decently executed, testament to the strong writing. Okay feels a little too much like End of the F*cking World at times and definitely wears it’s Carrie influences on it’s sleeve but that’s okay. For a first season, this show gets off to a strong start. Hopefully, it becomes more of it’s own thing going forward but, for a first attempt, they definitely stuck the landing. I’m Not Okay With This is definitely an easy recommend and worth your time. Since the world has stopped for at least a few weeks, there’s more than enough time to check this gem out.

Also, both of these shows are comic adaptions by a guy named Charles Forsman. You should check the books out, too, since we got all the time in the world. Literally.