youtube recommendations are very short-term sticky. If you deep-dive on a topic the algorithm logic will pin you as a certain kind of guy. But unfortunately it will then happily start showing you all the other stuff that that certain kind of guy might like. And most of the time, no. ewww. no.

So then you have to retrain it a little and head off to other mutually-exclusive topics so that you can keep the parts of the recommendations you like and stay far, far, far, away from the stuff you don't like. Freshen up the recommendations, shake out the dust and bugs

pre-hermitcraft grian (the reason he's a watcher)

WARNING: TW BULLYING MENTIONS! I haven't watched the entire YHS (how is one even capable of doing that) and I'm only in the process of wathcing the EVO series. this is a pure fanon-ish speculation about c!Grian based on some visible facts in these series/other videos. I don't mean to offence fans of other creators mentioned here! also, Grian is a grown man and (I'm sure) he is able to manage his social life as he wants. this is just a contribution to the lore that I wholeheartedly love.

tumblr is against me giving you a lot of videos with lore, so every screenshot has a link with a timecode for the essential moment.

also, grumbo ahead.

now, let me begin by saying:

I'm terrified of Yandere High School. I feel too bad for Grian.

(if you can't reach the link in the picture, it's here)

he had been a target for awful and hurtful jokes from his first YHS entry. you can sense the same dynamic in pretty much every interaction of Sam, Taurtis and Grian: 1. Sam is always in the position of the most attractive, the most the powerful, the most popular. Whoever and whatever he wants -- girls or attention -- he'll get everything, just because he's the Sam Gladiator, the protagonist, the hero. No one is allowed to steal his spotlight even for a slight second. He'll do anything to keep his throne. 2. Taurtis is pretty much Sam's silent side-kick. He's always around; as a side-kick, he always gets the girls and whatever, but only if Sam is indifferent. While Sam is leading the action, Taurtis is needed to support whatever joke/discussion is going on.

3. Grian is… a friend -- formally, but a whipping boy -- in fact. He is accepted into this trio, but never gets to be in the role of an 'equal'. I've watched several 20-30min long episodes, and there is no kind or even neutral attitude to Grian. Your appearance sucks, your jokes are stupid, you are ridiculous, you do everything wrong, you're not allowed to be with these girls because they're mine, you're not allowed to do this and that becuase only I am.

and this is. every. single. freaking. episode. of. YHS. I've. seen.

these are not silly hermitcraft jokes, this is pure shit.

I have a few ideas to speak about at this point.

-- this is where it all started. the social experience Grian got from YHS affected many situations in the future, I'll write about this below. -- Taurtis became a close friend for (c!)Grian not nesessary because he was a good friend. but he wasn't bullying him direclty. he was only ment to watch. so they got close -- because Taurtis was somewhat respective of his boundaries. and, between Sam and Taurtis, the obvious 'good' was the latter.

-- the Grian's lesson from this was: be powerful. do not let them push you down. be in charge. and -- he invented his own method for it.

the EVO series was the desired spotlight for Grian and his opportunity to be The Chosen One.

(the link for video is here)

in the first episodes, Grian mentioned several things:

as he mentioned in the e1 of EVO and e1s6 of HC, the EVO was his comfort zone since the first versions of Minecraft were truly his element (unlike for Netty or Jimmy Solidarity, who Grian said would die a lot (LMAO)).

he was actively looking for the weakest people on the server. he made a trap near the spawn (what made it unintentionally unescabaple) first -- because he wanted to see who wouldn't be able to resist the temptation.

--but it was not a YHS case from the very beginning. Grian let viewers know that rudeness and bullying others is unacceptable, and the participants are all good friends that are aware of pranks being silly jokes.

so he wanted to be in charge, from my point of view it was traumatic for him not to be -- and then he always tried to be sure he won't harm anyone.

but at this point, as watchers noticed him, becoming one was inevitable.

he was the perfect one for being a watcher. he analyzes people around him, he uses traps and tricks to find their vulnerabilities, and then he uses their vulnerablilities to his emotional needs. gently, in a human-like way; but Sam forged him the way watchers needed, and they happily accepted the broken being of Grian.

and you know who put Grian down on earth, made him stay?

Mumbo.

(once again, the link is here)

the EVO series started after the first collab of Mumbo and Grian and not long before the second (build swap). the behaviour I described in my beloved post about the first collab, the irritation and passive agression from Grian could also be the effect from YHS. Grian expects the worst from the unknown: he tries to build his social comfort zone boundaries and never cross them when it's unnecessary. he's anxious, he's learned his lesson -- do not trust, do not be weak, that's why he had to react so harshly, and yet-- mumbo managed to soften him. he treated him like not a single friend did before: he was sparkling with happiness and joy from every build Grian had, from every time they met. Mumbo adored him from the first sight of Grian's creations, and the first thing Mumbo said after seeing Grian's re-build was that he wants Grian's builds on HC. and -- as I can assume -- it was grumbo's friendship that made Grian change his decision and join Hermitcraft after all. as he mentioned in s6e1, he recieved plenty of invitations on the server but declined every time before s6. but then, he finally got a friend.

the best one.

after Grian joined, he couldn't help himself anymore, he couldn't hold back -- he needed being around Mumbo. pranks transformed from being a weapon to being the reason to... visit Mumbo's base and be around a little bit longer. in s6, after Mumbo's irl trip to Italy (sorry for breaking the 4th wall), Grian sincerely told him that he missed him very much and his favorite activity was just being around.

Grian became a watcher at the end of EVO, ~ 11 of September, 2018. at this time, he had already joined HC. so... it can be said that Mumbo saved him from turning into a cruel creature, from falling into the void of his past.

Mumbo saved him. And Grian stayed.

and the final note, to break you all completely.

do you know when did the first iteration of the watchers' deathloop, 3rd life, happened?

after Mumbo had lost the election for mayor, turned to Scar's side, and they stopped keeping in touch.

oh boy. I have much more about the further lore.

“What do you want to watch?” tatgylb. i imagine mat getting home from a game after mama bear puts ella to bed. mama bear sitting on the couch not doing much and when mat gets home they decide to watch a tv series (right after she moves in)

perfect! i loved this request (i love writing scenes for tatgylb, especially when i'm procrastinating on part 6 lol). and what a soft moment i never ever thought about! thank you for your creativity!!

here it is!

it had been a long day. ella didn't sleep well during the night, and was cranky all day until her afternoon nap (she hardly slept during her morning nap too). when she woke up, she was an angel, but by that point you were dead on your feet.

so you sat her down in her play pin while got her dinner ready. things moved pretty quickly after that, with ella eating dinner and then taking a bath before you put her down to sleep.

you immediately fell into the couch and turned on mat's game while the sound of ella's sound machine reverberated through the baby monitor on the coffee table.

truth be told, you weren't super into hockey before you met mat. you picked up a few things from just the amount of highlight videos you've watched to get a feel for what's impressive and what's not allowed.

but you were still kinda lost without mat there to explain things. you supposed you could text sydney, but she was probably at the game.

so google was your only option. you found yourself googling calls the refs were making at different points in the game.

it wasn't long before the third period ended with the isles losing 4-2.

you were scrolling on your phone when mat came home. he dropped his stuff down at the entry way and mumbled a hello to you before heading back to his room. you thought that was the end of it until he came out in basketball shorts and a seattle thunderbirds tee shirt.

"what're we watching?"

you shrugged, too exhausted to have an opinion. "what do you wanna watch?" you held the remote out towards him and he took it albeit hesitantly.

"anything but espn, i don't think i can take another highlight reel or analytics of my shitty performance tonight." he scrolled through the channels before exiting out and going to disney plus.

he stopped over the animated movies and hesitated. "what's your favorite disney movie? and don't say the lion king, i can't take more sadness."

you shrugged. "maybe you should pick tonight, after all it seems like you've had a shitty day."

"you're slouching and you look dead inside, i think it's safe to say you also didn't have a great day today either."

"we could watch mulan?" mat nodded and pressed play on the movie.

when the music of the intro started playing, you could see him look at your from the corner of your eye.

you hesitated but looked at him anyway. "are you okay?"

he nodded. "in case i don't say it enough, thanks for helping with ella. it means the world to me."

you smiled back, a genuine one that almost hurt your cheeks. "it means the world to me too, mat."

Hey, remember this video? This is how tumblr made the Undertale “Stronger than You” parody.

Hi guys! Before we start, some of you on tumblr may have been in the Undertale fandom in 2015 when this was taking place, but I wasn't. So if you were at the devil's sacrament, then reblog with what you remember! I'd love to hear primary source perspectives of events.

(EDIT, 5/6/23: SO @galxie JUST PROPOSED TO ADAPT THIS POST INTO A YOUTUBE VIDEO. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING)

(SO IF YOU'RE GOING TO SHARE YOUR STORIES THEN GET IT IN NOW)

But without further ado, let's begin, and watch as ordinary people made Internet history. (under the cut)

Part 1: gymleadercheren

It all started when @gymleadercheren drew a snippet of the Sans fight, with some Steven Universe lyrics underneath. This post caught the eye of @thepinkestpug, who had an idea.

Part 2: thepinkestpug

Later that same day—Oct 10, 2015—thepinkestpug sang a parody. Now, her Soundcloud link… how do I say it… doesn't sound very good? (He calls it "poor quality" herself.) But because he was in both the UT and SU fandoms, she was uniquely qualified to come up with these lyrics.

Upon seeing the "Stronger Than You" parody, gymleadercheren was ECSTATIC that she inspired someone with her post. The next day, she asked thepinkestpug for "permission to smoosh our lyrics together and make a comic?” If you've seen djsmell's video, you may recognize what she made next…

Part 3: The Comic

It took 3 weeks, but on Oct 29, 2015, gymleadercheren finally finished her comic. With 38 PANELS in total, the post was an instant success. She credits thepinkestpug for her lyrics, and links to an 8-bit "Stronger Than You" instrumental. Today, the post has over 20k notes.

Part 4: djsmell

Two days later, on Oct 31, 2015, @djsmell made a song cover of the comic. He NAILED the voice of Sans, and used the 8-bit song cover from gymleadercheren's post. He posted about it on his blog, while his YouTube video now has 11M views.

Part 5: alfa995

It wasn't until nearly 2 months later that on Dec 21, 2015, @alfa995 finally finished his animation. It used djsmell's audio, and filled in the gaps where the comic made you use your imagination. Today, the YouTube video has been viewed nearly 80 MILLION times.

These were alfa995's words about everything that had happened so far: "So basically someone… made lyrics for an Undertale version of [a song from Steven Universe] and a comic based off it, then someone else sung it, and now I animated it. I love the Internet."

Part 6: Reflections

And that’s the history of this video! This singular video has grown in popularity to such immense heights, it's a well-known piece of trivia that more people recognize the Undertale “Stronger Than You” parody than the actual Steven Universe song it’s based off of.

What I find interesting is how each person involved in this process had a tumblr blog. They saw each other’s posts and made more posts based off of them. By fandom standards this happened LIGHTNING FAST, the idea took 2 and a half months from conception to completion. It’s this connectivity that created the 4th most-viewed Undertale video.

The Undertale scene on tumblr spawned many more memorable fan creations, such as the “Underpants” series by SrPelo, which became the entry point for many into the wonder that is his animations.

It is this fandom that made Undertale a goliath of Internet culture. It is this fandom that made it so that Toby Fox will always have a loyal, rabid audience. Say what you want about it, whether you love it or hate it, the Undertale scene on tumblr may never happen again.

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you enjoyed!

This was my first time thinking about the Undertale fandom in a LONG time, and it was a nice trip down memory lane. Also, here’s a few things I found while researching that I couldn’t list above:

First, what's with all these "Stronger Than You" versions? I had no idea until I started researching that there were so many spinoffs of this singular video. Like, there's a CHARA response? There's a FRISK RESPONSE? THERE'S A TRIO VERSION?

And speaking of spinoffs, I want to shout out the video "Richer Than You"—absolutely phenomenal YTPMV that had a lot of effort put into it.

Finally, I want to shout out Super Eyepatch Wolf’s video, as it was my inspiration while writing this, and explains: “why did these videos get so popular?”

Video 📹 from YouTube photo shoot BTS forJuly 2018 Irish Tatler

Instagram cover and contents video 📹

Facebook Watch fun Q&A video 📹

Outlander-Online Instagram Story screenshot 📸

Screenshots: Caitríona Balfe Fan

time for more

Caitríona Balfe talks to Shauna O'Halloran about time-travel, wedding plans and why women have had enough of Hollywood's shitty behaviour (her words, not ours).

A pair of stonewashed Levi's 501s, flat white converse and a little white T-shirt are all that Caitríona Balfe needs to rock up to a day's shooting in North London, and still have a full crew comment on how beautiful she is in real life. It's never something I like to lead with in interviews - we're here to discover the person, after all - but I do feel that to not mention it would be a shame, because she is quite stunning, even when off-duty. It's not that much of a surprise of course. The Monaghan native was once one of the most sought after runway models in the world, having been spotted by a Ford Models scout in Dublin. At 18, she was opening and closing shows in Paris for Chanel, Moschino, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, to name a few. And this humble glossy is just one of many she's graced the cover of - with Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle magazines all having starred Caitriona over the years. So no wonder there was literally not one bad shot to be found in the photographer's edit.

Today however, Caitríona Balfe is known best to most of the world as Claire Beauchamp Randall - Outlander's time travelling 1950s nurse who falls for a dashing highland warrior by the name of Jamie Fraser, played by her costar Sam Heughan. The show, now on series four, is based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon and to say it has mega fandom is an understatement. Having taken up acting after her modelling career, Outlander was Caitriona's first major role and has propelled her into a stratosphere with over five million viewers per episode. How, I wonder, is that?

"It's been such a wild ride!" She tells me as we sit down to interview. She's back filming in Scotland for her fourth season and we already know that seasons five and six are a go, so Claire is going to be part of Caitriona's life for some time to come. "I was cast late into the proceedings. I got cast on the 11th of September and I was in Scotland [for fittings and filming] on the 15th of September 2013. I guess I knew about two days before they announced it!" She says of the whirlwind entry into Outlander. It didn't take long, however, for Caitríona to realise the scope her new role was going to have.

"After we filmed about four episodes Sam and I were taken to LA and we did a fan event. Nobody had seen anything and there was over two thousand people at this fan event...having not seen one minute of footage. We came out on stage and everyone was just screaming!"

The core fan base has stuck with them as the seasons have gone on and Outlander has won multiple awards. Caitríona, too, has been widely recognised for her role with 20 plus nominations and a host of Best Actress wins from institutions like the People's Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the Saturn Awards, IFTA and BAFTA.

One of the notable points of the drama series is the sparky on-screen chemistry between her and Heughan during their many steamy scenes together. So much so that people have had a hard time believing that they're not a couple in real life. No matter how much the actors insist.

"It's nice that people kind of see something in that, but you know, we've always just been friends. And I said it from the beginning but people didn't want to hear it!"

Even so, it must be hard after four years of filming sexy scenes with someone to not get embroiled in a romance of some description.

"We went for a walk," Caitríona explains on how the deal was cut early on. "Both of us had to go to London right before we had to start filming, I was getting my second perm of the week and he was getting his hair dyed, probably for the 15th time that month and we met down in Kensington and went on a big long walk in the park. I was there with my poodle perm and he was there with some kind of terrible ginger-red version of his hair and we were like, You know what, who knows what this is going to be but we're going to be in this together and we gotta have each other's backs.' And from that time on we always have." A sweet moment that has led to a lasting friendship and has probably been key to Outlander's success.

"The shows that have been successful - I think you always see that they stick together. The minute you let ego or your pride or all of that kind of stuff get in the way, I think that it can really sour things," she says with honesty. It has to be said, there is no ego about Caitríona Balfe and as the lead role in the show, it's easy to imagine that she sets the tone for all involved.

The atmosphere on set, she says is supportive and tight, although she's painfully aware that not all hit shows and Hollywood sets are so lucky.

"Our work is really tough and we're in tough conditions, like when you're out in the pissing rain or sideways snow, which happens! To have people be supportive of each other and care about each other, that makes such a huge difference.

"I know somebody who worked on a show as the lead male and he and the lead female never spoke, literally didn't speak to each other unless they were in a scene. I can't imagine ever wanting to be in a situation like that, I can't imagine waking up in the morning and feeling like I have to go to work with someone who won't even speak to me. That's horrible."

But the stories are rife; even before #MeToo broke, celebrities and bad behaviour on set seemed to go hand in hand. And it makes for great, salacious tabloid fodder. And women, notoriously, seem to get the raw end of the deal, in everything from respect standards to salaries.

"I think everybody's waking up to the fact that they can't get away with that stuff," Caitríona chips in. "I obviously came to this point of my life a bit later so I've always felt very comfortable about standing up for myself or speaking up for myself but there can be a bit of a double standard. But I don't think, I mean I will stress this, it's not always men enforcing that. We've had male directors or male producers who are so much more sensitive and supportive than sometimes the females can be. I don't necessarily think that it's a split line down the middle about sex; it's not all women supporting women because that's not my experience. I think it's really about people." And does it hurt more, when it's a woman being the unsupportive one?

"Yeah, I think you expect better. And I think sometimes they think because they're women they don't think they're being discriminatory, but if what you're asking is completely out of line..."

In the hierarchical worlds of modelling and acting, people entering the careers at the bottom rungs are more vulnerable to mistreatment.

Caitríona notes that she did experience it in particular as a young model and her first career left her with some healing to do.

"I remember one of my first ever photoshoots in Dublin. I was so young and I remember coming back from it and my sister was like 'Where have you been all day?' I was just being sent off with a strange photographer who was older and with no kind of knowledge about where I was going, what was expected, just sort of thrown out to the wolves at 18."

It was that age that she first began travelling too, to Paris and Milan, and with little to no support structure. "It's just incredible when I look back now at how I navigated all of that because you literally are just sent off on your own, traipsing around strange cities where you don't know the language. You are just expected to fend for yourself.

"It was the wild west and you were lucky if you had a job. There was a discrepancy of power - the agency was really supposed to be there protecting you, but it was almost like you needed to please them to get the jobs.

"I think that's why so many girls who have gone through that experience are as tough as nails," she adds, also referring to herself, although that toughness hasn't come without cost.

"When I left the business, I moved to LA and I am so grateful that I was able to take a year...a lot of that was just dismantling a lot of the mental issues I had taken from the business because your confidence and your self-esteem is in the toilet after you've been in that business for so long. Most models I know have terrible self-esteem which is the most crazy thing."

Thankfully, in both modelling and acting, the industries are changing.

As someone who is in the Hollywood stratosphere and has been in the company of the likes of Weinstein and more, Caitríona has first-hand experience of being with the people at the very centre of the #MeToo storm.

"A lot of my year in LA was just dismantling a lot of the mental issues I had taken from the business"

"A lot of the names that have come forward, it's strange because you kind of go 'Oh yeah, that's not surprising.' With someone like Morgan Freeman; I grew up watching him and he's been that voice that calms everyone. But I had previously heard rumours. Nobody is above the law and what I do hope is that all of these things go through a process because I think the worst thing is that we get into this situation where there is like a mob mentality and we start being judge, jury and executioner on social media because that's never the right way of doing things.

"But I think there has been a real shift and I think people aren't going to put up with shitty behaviour anymore. And they shouldn't."

The one thing that high profile and influence does afford people is the ability to shine a light on situations that deserve more attention. It's something that Caitríona’s very aware of and since her Outlander fans have always asked 'who can we support on your behalf', she went out of her way to discover a charity that she could be an ambassador for. As a result, she is now a patron of Wold Child Cancer and travelled to Ghana last year to see two of the hospitals the charity works at. "It's very humbling when you see the different kinds of care you can expect if anything ever goes wrong in your life just because of where you are born," she says of the experience but is equally quick to downplay her role as a patron versus that of the people working on the ground, despite using her own time and profile to raise awareness and funds for the charity. "I feel so grateful that I can, the people in the trenches are the people who do work day-to-day and it's super impressive because they don't get a lot of credit for it."

Check Caitríona’s Twitter and you'll see how impassioned she is about this, as well as being a big supporter of other issues: she was vocal on repeal, supports ethical fashion choices and promotes a meat and dairy-free lifestyle.

"I believe that no matter what you do you should be a responsible citizen of the world," she says, "I think a lot of my social media is promoting issues I believe in and causes that I believe in.

“As for my more private life, frankly I'm not interesting so I don't like doing selfies, my partner is super private so he isn't on any social media and doesn't want to be so nothing is said about him. So yeah, that's naturally how I am!"

It's clear as the conversation goes on how grounded Caitríona is. She's fiercely proud of her Irishness and uses it as a conversation starter worldwide (*We command goodwill - people genuinely like us!") and while she laments how badly her name gets 'butchered' she misses the fada which she dropped for ease some years ago. "I'm devastated about it!" she says, before also confessing that technology had some part to play in its demise.

"In the early days of computers I didn't know how to put it on! I just learnt a couple of months ago, like ohhh it's that button there. So I might bring the fada back."

And she hasn't ruled out an upcoming wedding in Ireland - the actress is recently engaged to intensely private music producer Tony McGill, but plans for the nuptials are still undecided. Would she consider coming back to Ireland to tie the knot?

"If you put a sun lamp over it, yeah I'd love to!" She laughs. Wedding planning is not really her thing however, and doesn't garner giddy chats and wishlists.

"I would just love to have all of my friends and family and have a great party," she clarifies when coming across as less than enthusiastic about planning her perfect day. "I think the production side of it is just too much like work!"

And finding time that suits both their schedules is also proving challenging, with Caitríona lined up to film in LA with Matt Damon and Christian Bale. It's a biopic of mechanic and driver Ken Miles (Bale) and the conflict between Ford and Ferrari during the 1960s. "I play Christian Bale's wife and James Mangold [Walk the Line, Logan, The Wolverine) is directing. It's set in the sixties, it's all about Le Mans, the 24-hour race so it's a lot of fast cars, hot men and me!" She laughs. "I've been watching loads of documentaries on Le Mans which is really cool."

And this is Caitríona: totally unfazed, seemingly, by the prospect of working with some of Hollywood's most famous actors and directors and yet, nerdily researching so she can be prepared on the day. Oh, and consciously enjoying it too. With more projects in the pipeline, that demand is only going to get higher, but of one thing I can be sure: to her own self, Caitríona Balfe will always be true.

Remember… we command goodwill - people genuinely like us! ☘️ — Caitríona Balfe

Kaiju Week in Review (October 29-November 4, 2023)

Like me, you probably haven't seen Godzilla Minus One yet, making Fest Godzilla 4: Operation Jet Jaguar last week's most spectacular new watch. Kazuhiro Nakagawa's ambitions grow with each entry in this series; this time, he was helped by veteran Rider/Sentai suit actor Kenya Saito inside the great new Jet Jaguar suit. The ending wasn't quite what I predicted, but still set up what should be a spectacular showdown last year.

I wish these shorts weren't effectively the last vestiges of tokusatsu in the Godzilla series; I wish even more that Toho would allow them to stay on YouTube. This one, along with its associated behind-the-scenes videos, will stay around until the end of the year, as an apology for the Godzilla Day VOD having such awful audio as to be unsalvageable. But that still means its discoverability will take a serious hit, and it's unclear what Toho actually gets out of this artificial scarcity. Maybe they're plotting to release all the shorts on Blu-ray in a few years. In any case, download this one post-haste.

While he didn't get a new suit, Megalon still made a triumphant return in the other short film released on Godzilla Day, Godzilla vs. Megalon. A sequel to Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex, it's also directed by Takuya Uenishi. The live-action footage in this one helps ground the over-the-top monster mayhem, and a weakened Godzilla displays some cool new tricks, although I found his finisher unsatisfying. As for Megalon, well, he finally shows the world just how terrifying he can be when he takes himself more seriously.

After a mercifully brief marketing campaign, the 37th Godzilla movie, Godzilla Minus One, is in Japanese theaters (and it's making bank). I'm trying to go in relatively unspoiled (always difficult as a Wikizilla admin), but what little I have read has been promising. The basic premise, which the early promos have largely masked, sounds like a kaiju story I wrote in college, which I couldn't be more thrilled by. If you're feeling daring, there's a second trailer out.

We'll get the first episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters even sooner than Godzilla Minus One. Accordingly, Apple has ramped up promotion, releasing a behind-the-scenes video (above), the opening title sequence, and the first scene of the series. We also have names for a couple of the new monsters (the new Skull Island beastie is a Mantleclaw and the critters hatching from eggs are Endoswarmers) and better looks at a couple others.

I joked after the Godzilla Day livestream that it was such a technical fiasco because Toho had put all its skill points into releasing Godzilla Minus One. Similar could be said for the Fathom Events release of Godzilla 2000: Millennium. The showing I caught was fine technically (one brief frame rate hiccup aside), just... uninspired. The preshow was the same brief behind-the-scenes footage of G2K included on the American DVD and Blu-ray; the film used the same translation as the Blu-ray. And now that the novelty of actually being able to watch it has worn off, I've soured considerably on the Japanese version of this movie. The languid score and sound design are especially glaring in a theater.

Godzilla Voxel Wars, available on Steam and Epic Games, probably should have been released in a week less packed with more attention-grabbing Godzilla news. Still zero reviews on Metacritic! Haven't played it myself, but fellow Wikizilla admin Les is enjoying it.

Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #5 also added to the Godzilla onslaught. Still impressed at how big a role the Giant Octopus had in this (and what a brutal ending for it and Ebirah), but the miniseries wrapped up a little too neatly.

Despite backing it on Kickstarter, I had nearly forgotten about Godzilla & Kong: The Cinematic Storyboard Art of Richard Bennett. Turns out the reason the book has taken so long to be published (the campaign ended last May) is the page count jumping from "around 200" to 424! It's off to the printer now, so the wait is nearly over.

Worth posting again: the third BOSS Coffee ad featuring the new ShodaiGoji suit. Very little original footage in this one, but some first-class editing.

And a few other happenings I'll keep to bullet points so you can finally stop scrolling:

I forgot to post about Viz publishing volume 7 of Asadora! Huge props for introducing a kyodai hero without derailing the story (I won't say how, but it's quite clever).

After its brief Japanese theatrical run, the black-and-white version of Shin Godzilla is "under consideration for further development." Home video next?

The newest Godzilla Battle Line units are Super Mechagodzilla and a second version of Godzilla '54 who strafes his atomic breath and ignores most status effects. I've had virtually no time to play since the new season started (this post was typed entirely in a Georgia hotel room, put it that way), but I hear they're both stellar.

Godzilla trading card update: disappointment and confusion! The Godzilla Minus One promo cards were only available for a very limited time as add-ons to a $75+ TCGPlayer order. Meanwhile, nobody can find the packs of Surreal Entertainment cards that were supposed to arrive at Five Below on Godzilla Day.

Naturally, lots of toys revealed on and around Godzilla Day. Highlights include a Super7 Godzilla figure with an Imperial-inspired paint job, a Super7 SpaceGodzilla repaint blatantly based on Super Godzilla which sold out instantly, an S.H. MonsterArts Jet Jaguar '73, and Movie Monster Series figures for *inhales* Godzilla '55, Anguirus '55, Flying Stage Hedorah, Godzilla '64, and Minilla '67. The Godzilla Raids Again figures are both getting variants inspired by a Toy Dreams set from 2006. Bandai also started up another Movie Monster Series fans-pick-the-figure poll, but what's the point? They'll have every single Godzilla kaiju represented before the decade's half over. (And maybe by the end of the decade I'll be able to afford all the ones I want!)

RM1506: Production Mgmt

Pairing: professor!Jooheon x student!Reader Genre: College AU, Smut Rating: M Summary: “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get you alone for weeks. You’re always with your friends, always where someone might see. But not today. Not this time.” Word Count: 2.7k Warnings: I have no shame, dirty talk (my signature at this point), spanking, pet name, unquenchable thirst, unprotected sex, creampie

This is my second entry for The Faculty, a Monsta X professor au series with @iibonniee​ who also made this gorgeous banner. If you like this series, please fill her inbox with love! I recommend Dangerous Woman for reading.

Taglist: @appachicken​ @dandelion-aj​

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Lee Jooheon was the kind of man who inspired people. Whether it was to graduate, create the best web series, or figure out a way to climb his tall ass, he was simply inspirational. You’d been trying to figure out how to do that last one for three years now. When you first saw him freshman year, you were done for. Sure, he was a teacher, and you weren’t in any of his classes. But your friends were, and you admittedly abused that. Over the years, Professor Lee came to know you as “that brat” sneaking into his lectures with her friends. The one who’d pout but was at least obedient when asked to leave. You liked to believe that since he hadn’t reported you, he somewhat tolerated your shenanigans.

He never complained about the way you often watched him walk by in the hallways or how you’d wink when you caught him watching you. You didn’t want to assume the attraction was mutual, though. It was entirely possible he was brainstorming ways to dump your body in the woods without getting caught. Didn’t mean you couldn’t keep dreaming and wishing for a miracle.

Classes for the day had long since ended. You’d just finished with a small errand for a different Professor Lee when you heard something…off. Something that you don’t usually hear in an academic setting. Muffled moans. You looked around and confirmed the hall was empty. The math building tended to empty out fast after the evening classes. Was someone ducked off somewhere watching porn? Why the fuck would someone want to watch porn in the math building? The music building was a million times better. Soundproof with more space between classrooms.

Curse you for being nosy.

You weren’t in a rush to go to your dorm room, so you figured you might as well see what was up. Channeling your best Black Widow stealth mode, you tiptoed down the hall, listening intently as the sounds got louder. Someone was about to get a heart attack.

The volume of the moans varied, but you found the door. Room 1526. You held your breath as you listened. Heavy breathing mixed with gasps and whines. Damn, someone was really getting it. Then the oddest thing happened. Screeches of metal across the floor. You heard it all the time when classes ended from people getting up from their desks. The flooring in the buildings wasn’t the best, and the heavy desks made it known. So then…this wasn’t a video. Someone was actually fucking in the Calculus classroom.

Oh, shi—

A large hand covered your mouth, and you were hauled back off your feet. You squealed and flailed, doing everything you could think of to throw the strong motherfucker off. You got in a few jabs with your elbow before you heard “Ow! Will you calm down?”

You knew that anime protagonist voice anywhere. “Professor Joo?” You asked, though your voice was muffled, and stopped swinging.

A door opened and then you were in a dimly lit closet with your back pressed up against a wall. “Ah, fuck. My ribs.” Judging by the scented powder wafting off him, you confirmed it was the Object of your Obsessive Horniness, the Production Management professor. And you’d hurt him. Well, shit.

“I’m so sorry—” You started, but he cut you off with a finger to your lips.

Somewhere nearby a door, presumably the porn room, opened followed by faint whispers. You weren’t dumb. You knew he was very close with Professor Im and it was clear as fuck he was trying to protect his friend as much as he could. Sweet, really, but you had zero interest in whoever was getting fucked in that classroom when you had him pressed up against you like this. While he focused on the hallway, you let the situation sink in. Dark small space with Professor Dimples close enough to taste. You shifted against him, maneuvering so that his thigh slotted neatly between your legs to keep his balance.

“He’s taking forever,” he hissed. Agreed, but you weren’t complaining. You settled your hands on his hips, savoring the feel of his slacks under your fingertips. He didn’t react to your touch, so you explored a little more. His shirt was tucked into his pants, but you wanted to feel his skin. The second he felt you tugging on his shirt, he stiffened and turned his head so that his cheek was against yours. “Now isn’t the time, _____.”

Your face scrunched up with a smile. “You know my name?”

“I know a lot more than just your name.” His free hand moved to your hip as he continued to whisper in your ear. “I know you’re a music major with a talent for recording. That you’d like to work with me at least once before you graduate. You’re actually an excellent student when I’m not involved. Kihyun has nothing but good things to say about you. But,” he took a deep breath and released it on a shudder when you worked the shirt free, “you’re so fucking dense.”

“Hey!” You started to protest, but he covered your mouth with his hand.

“Quiet,” he begged with a slight whine. He stopped to listen again and when the silence continued beyond your little bubble, he took his hand away. “How else do you explain being hellbent on fucking me without realizing how I feel?”

You blinked at the shadowy outline of his face. “Um, what now?”

He pressed closer, bracing himself on one arm on the wall near your head. “I’ve never had anyone so determined to get with me. And be so vocal about it, too. You don’t pay attention to your surroundings. You don’t care who hears you whine about me not dicking you down.” He chuckled. “Even the Dean’s making fun of how bad you got it for me.”

“That’s…unfortunate. If I make you uncomfortable, you know you only have to say so.” You removed your hands and held them up. “You never said anything—”

“Oh, sweetness. That’s because I love it.” He squeezed your hip and pulled you against him as he pressed his thigh up against your core. You gasped as the sudden contact sent a jolt through you that left you chest to chest with him, hands holding onto his shoulders for dear life. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get you alone for weeks. You’re always with your friends, always where someone might see. But not today. Not this time.” His fingertips brushed along your jaw, then you felt his lips graze yours. “You haven’t even figured out we go to the same club every Saturday.”

You stopped chasing his lips. “What?”

“What?” He mimicked, sounding more like a parrot than a human. “Yeah, we do. You make me watch you get drunk and practically fuck whoever dances with you right there on the floor. But I gotta know something. Why don’t you ever take anyone home?” He spoke the words against your lips as his hands traveled down your body to the back pockets of your jeans where he slipped his fingers in. “Hm? Knowing you’re so eager to get fucked and cum, why don’t you let someone give you the release you crave?”

“Because they’re not you.” No need to even hesitate. “Why would I settle for subpar sex when I can do an excellent job with my vibrator and memories of the way you bite your lip when you’re waiting for me to leave your class? I may seem desperate, but really I’m just you-sexual. Joosexual, if you will. I want more than just sex. I want the experience.”

His answer was a deep, throaty moan that bordered on a growl. “Fuck, _____. Can I have you? Can I give you what you’re dying for?”

“Please.” You moaned, pressing down on his thigh with a needy cry. He pulled his hands out of your pockets and grabbed your ass with both hands, encouraging you to rut against him while pressing kisses to your jaw.

“Do you dream about doing this? Because I do.” He caught your earlobe with his lips and nipped it. “I’ve always wanted to feel your pussy on my thigh through these ass-hugging jeans you’re so fond of. Who do you wear them for, sweetness? Who do you want fantasizing about this,” he smacked the side of your thigh, “juicy ass?”

You bit your lip. “No one but you. I like making you look at me. Makes me feel sexy.”

“Does it now. C’mere.” His lips captured yours in a kiss that made you both go up in flames, making every contact of skin leave searing heat in its wake. It was all-consuming, stealing your breath and pride, leaving you gasping for air by the time he let you go.

“Turn around,” he ordered as he backed away.

“But I want you down my throat.” You resisted his insistent hands trying to turn you around with a pout.

“Next time, sweetness. I promise. Not here though.” You gave in only because of the reassurance there’d be more to come. See? You weren’t always a brat. “Good girl.” He pulled you against his chest and got to work unbuttoning your jeans and working them down your legs, along with your panties. He grabbed your hips and gently pressed into your back with his thumbs as he angled you towards the wall. “Hands up.”

The second you were in the desired position, one of his hands disappeared for a few seconds as messy slurping filled the room. You shivered in anticipation and were rewarded with his wet fingers gliding through your lower lips. “Oh, god.”

“Mmm, no sweetness. I wanna hear my name.” He smacked your ass. “Lemme hear you say it.”

You were losing your shit. He could ask for the moon and you’d scramble to figure out a way to get it for him. “Jooheon.”

“Mm, yeah.” He rewarded you with a finger, stroking your wet walls. “Music to my ears.”

“Please, Jooheon.” You trembled, just barely able to keep standing. “Fuck me already. Fill me up.”

“Can’t say no when you look so sexy for me.” His hands left your body, followed by the clink of his belt and his pants unzipping. “Where’s the condom you keep on you?”

Your jaw dropped. “How’d you—”

“I told you already. You don’t care who hears you talk about me.” He groaned when his dick brushed against the curve of your ass. “Shit. Give it to me or I’m going in raw.”

“Ooh, fuck. Are you serious? Because I’m on the pill and I swear I’m clean—” Your mouth clamped shut when the fat head of his cock pressed against your entrance. You pushed back on him and your pussy sucked him right in, making you both moan.

He buried his face in your neck as he covered your mouth with his hand. “Oh, shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck. So tight. Ah.” He wrapped his other arm around your waist and held you steady. You still had six more inches to take. “You feel even better than I imagined.”

You heard him, but just barely. Your sanity was slipping away as he continued to push inside, moaning softly in your ear each time you clenched and made it harder for him to ease inside. You’d heard stories of people cumming just from putting it in, but always dismissed it as an exaggeration. They must have had insane sexual tension and months of celibacy because it felt like a possibility right there in Jooheon’s arms. You reached back with both hands and palmed his thighs before squeezing them. You’d waited long enough for him to ruin you.

With a steadying breath, you thrust back on him, forcing the rest of his dick in. He shivered and held you tightly as he pressed kisses to the side of your neck. “G-gimme a second, sweetness. I can feel your fucking heartbeat on my dick. That’s so fucking hot. Like a hummingbird.”

You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. Only he could still manage to be cute while stuffing you with his cock. You granted him a chance to adjust and calm down as you enjoyed the way his hands caressed you from your breasts down to your thighs and back. Up and down, over and over, as his dick gradually stopped twitching. When he wrapped his arms around you again, you decided you’d waited long enough. You reached back and held his neck with one hand as you pulled your hips away.

“No. What are you—” The words died in his throat when you tugged on his leg while pushing back on his dick, creating a single clap of skin. He didn’t protest when you immediately pulled away to do it again, determined to fuck yourself if you had to. Jooheon straightened up and grabbed your hips. “Knew you wouldn’t let me just enjoy the feel of this delicious pussy wrapped around my dick for long.” He snapped his hips, forcing you to brace yourself on the wall. “So eager and needy. Always tempting me.” His hand cupped the front of your throat but didn’t apply any pressure. “Now I can finally fuck you stupid.”

Each thrust left you speechless as he went deeper than anyone you’ve had before, stretching you as he circled his hips, searching for that spot. It was pointless to try to keep it down when he eventually brushed against it and left you crying out.

“There we go.” He moaned as you got tighter. “Come here, sweetness.” He bent over and molded his body against your back as he fucked into you harder, faster. “Touch yourself for me. Be my DJ.”

He guided your hand down to your pussy and pressed your fingers against your clit. Each swirl of your finger around your clit brought you closer to orgasm as he pounded away. “I’m, I’m almost there.”

“I can feel it.” He wrapped his arms around your shoulders as he jack hammered into you. “I am too. I am—ah, fuck—right there. So close. So close.” You held onto his arm and met his thrusts, throwing it back so hard his hips stuttered. He came first with a low whine as his strokes slowed down but were longer. Being held tightly while feeling his dick twitch deep inside you was nirvana. His lips brushed the shell of your ear and he said, “Cum for me, sweetness.”

Euphoria washed over you from your head to your toes as you fulfilled your ultimate fantasy: creaming on Professor Lee’s fat dick. Knowing it was him, that you’d finally gotten a taste of him, left you light-headed as your legs threatened to give out on you. You didn’t realize you were chanting his name in between strings of gibberish as he pressed kisses along your neck and shoulder.

“Shit, _____.” He gave you a little squeeze. “The best I’ve ever had.”

You laughed, breathless and beyond satisfied with how your body buzzed. “You don’t have to keep up the act. I’m sure Professor Im is long gone. I won’t tell anyone what I heard.”

“Hm?” He sighed blissfully, then shook his head. “What act? I couldn’t fake a nut that good even with years of drama classes.”

“You knew someone was fucking in his class, right? That’s why you pulled me into the closet.” You tried to look at him over your shoulder. “Wasn’t this just to distract me?”

Your eyes met as his widened. “I didn’t hear anything. I had Minhyuk send you on an errand after his class so I could get you away from your little friends.” His eyes darted all over your face. “I was telling you to be quiet so we wouldn’t get caught.”

Oh.

Ohhhh.

“Either way, he should be gone by now.” Jooheon smiled before planting a kiss on your lips. “You hungry? We can grab dinner on the way back to my place.”

“Really?”

“Of course. When I said next time, I meant it. Today.”

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Frame Imperfect

Regarding Kirby Fighters 2, when the game was relatively new, many YouTubers were trying to cash in on the new "kirby smash bros" hype. During this period I remember Mew2King coming into the KF2 server with interest in running a tournament for the game.

Wow! I couldn't believe this! Mew2King from funny YouTube compilations and competitive Super Smash Bros Melee (I had watched very little melee at that point, except for EmpLemon's There Will Never Be Another Melee Player Like HungryBox) was interested in our super cool Kirby game? Awesome!

At this point the game had garnered a rep as a pretty unserious competitive game, with many fake infinites being discovered and one real one as well. There was also Alpharad's video on the game that made it look...unflattering. It was unflattering for reasons other than just being a 'smash clone' but we didn't know why exactly yet. This was before 20XX, the first real KF2 tournament, for reference.

But Mew2King wanted to take a chance on us! He believed in our game and wanted to take a chance on a new, unique, exciting platform fighter! We were starstruck, plain and simple.

Which is why when M2K suggested MOBA style character bans everyone just kinda went with it????

Keep in mind this was before the first tourney, we didn't know shit about fuck, as fish would say.

They didn't go through with this.

So fast forward a couple months, and KF2's first appearance at Frame Perfect Series is upon us. As you'd expect, the community is really excited! This was one of the biggest brackets the community had ever seen, with a bunch of new faces! Mostly people we'd never see again but it was exciting at the time.

As for the commentator's bench, we were looking at M2K, who knew nothing about the game but was on comms for every game so whatever...and in the KF2 corner...Super Citrus. Who hadn't commentated an even since 20XX. Oh god. M2K was sprouting nonstop nonsense and Citrus just didn't have the game knowledge or confidence to debunk any of it. The VODs were a little painful to watch. Poor guy.

So FPS doesn't make the game look...great. It wasn't help that M2K was ridiculing the players he determined were 'lame' and I mean I don't like Ninja11 or Poyo but come the fuck on man. Commentary basics here. I could do a better job.

But what if I could actually? When FPS 4 was announced, we learned that KF2 would be making a return for it. I was more involved in the community at this point with one tournament under my belt (...which was New Generation) and did 2 major things for this FPS. Firstly, early on, KF2 wasn't looking great in the entrant count side of things. So, I got in touch with some of the folks in tourney committee and we talked about running a tourney where top 8 would get free entry to FPS4.

And this is where we talk about the unsung hero of this story, Thank You motherfucking Domo. When sponsoring Road to FPS, Domo offered to handle the free entry of anyone who we couldn't get people to pay for a gift sub for. In later Road to FPS events, he flat out offered to give any KF2 players free entry because he liked the game...and it makes for better content obviously but still. What a god damn legend. Rest in Power. (he lost his account in a phishing scam)

I realize that came off as kinda sarcastic but I was genuinely upset when his account got hacked. Shit sucks, I don't want to hear about phishing scams from Bool ever again.

OH, speaking of Domo, second major thing I did was apply for commentary! I had more tourneys and more experience under my belt at that point and I felt pretty confident all things considered! So I sent domo a few videos of my comms work, including a video where I have to make Bell look like a well designed interactive character for 30 minutes.

I didn't end up getting picked, but I thought to myself "well as long as it's not Citrus again we should be fine." lol. lmao. This time we did actually have a bit of time to give Cirtus a crash course in the current KF2 environment but it still wasn't great. In fact, it was maybe the worst video game commentary I'd ever seen.

For a long time, P47 had been seemingly untouchable. He was a KF2 expert, his Magolor inspired me to pick up the character fully, he was a lorehead, and a great guy to be around. The clip of him using Ultra Sword to push Nuggetz off a platform into an apple explosion is absolutely as iconic as it deserves to be. This was P47's last big tournament.

Now, remember how I said Mew2King was an asshole to anyone who he deemed lame. M2K was a Marth player in Melee by the way, I don't know if that's considered a lame character but I hope he is. P47 received the full force of this with constant hate from M2K's live chat, not to mention that Citrus also wasn't a Magolor fan. I'm not quite sure how bad it was exactly, but it was bad enough to lead to him quitting the game. Looking back on it, the whole situation is infuriating to me.

That was Citrus' last time commentating FPS, when FPS5 rolled around we had gotten Winters on comms, who was easily the most consistent commentator we had and also the person...you know...keeping the game alive. She was able to debunk a lot of M2K's bullshit and also was able to tell him that P47 quit because of M2K being an asshole last FPS. I don't think I ever told her how much I appreciated that.

Good time to mention that Mew2King also used he/him for EVERYONE. It led to me making this stupid fucking image.

But it gets worse. Of course it always gets worse. In top 8, Ninja11, one of my least favourite top players, was up against SoothingRuby, one of my favourite top players. Ninja11 kinda hates everyone in the community and Ruby hates people who are Like That so as you can expect these 2 get along great. This was reflected in the set between them.

It was a lot of this. Ruby would throw Kunai and Ninja would just crouch them. This matchup isn't even that bad for Magolor, I thinkj Mag wins it, Ninja's just an asshole. He ended up winning the set, of course he did. Great time was had by all, especially the twitch chat and M2K, who both already hated the game. Yikes.

So this brings us to FPS6, the final Frame Perfect event. Messages from M2K implied that Metafy, the main reason the tournament was being run, was on it's way out, but not before M2K was doing sketchy things in his own time.

Turns out Metafy still exists. Not sure what he was talking about with the whole final sale thing. Maybe it's an MLM thing. (Multi Level Marketing) Was I not supposed to think the platform was closing?

So the tourney rolls around on, of all days, the 4th of July. As a Canadian I don't give a shit, but as you can imagine, most people were not available. Zet ended up winning the whole thing. However there is one potentially sketchy set in there.

Somehow, before bracket, Qwertz had performed a coup d'etat and became TO of the bracket despite being on the other side of the globe. The actual TO didn't wake up in time, and all Qwertz used his power to do was changing the timeslot without communicating.

Then, when Zet "applied a taco to his router" (thank you Justin for giving my posts the rawest fucking quotes) Qwertz just said to play it out, though everyone knew this was mostly just because Qwertz didn't like Justin. Why do we let this man near any administrative privileges.

The stream also ended with Winters having to tell chat to have a happy 4th of july. She is a trans lesbian.

And that was the last FPS event. By the time the 3rd KF2 tournament had rolled around, we already knew M2K was doing more harm than good, but no one had the guts to tell him off. I think we were worried that he'd just run the game like a dumbass if we didn't stick around. To be fair, it happened with Kloudchasers.

So what's the moral of the story? Never meet your heroes? No, that's what we learned from Chuggaaconroy. Is Mew2King even my hero? Never meet a competitive Smash player is what we learned here. Though hopefully you all already knew that.

5 Songs Tag - QL Shows Edition

Created by @troubled-mind (see the original chart-like list and the first 5 QL Song Tag entry). The rules:

When you get this, list 5 songs from Asian QL shows that you actually listen to. 🎶They do not have to be custom-made for the series. 🎶Non-western tracks only. Let's support Asian music and languages! 🎶Feel free to tag anyone who may be interested in participating. 🎶Add #5qls tag to your post for others to find the new favourites!

Note: I'm going to play by the original rules that the show had to introduce you to the song, because otherwise I would not be able to narrow this down. Also, to everyone who already went so that I could narrow down my list, you're all doing God's work and have great taste (esp. to @lurkingshan, all five of her songs were on my shortlist; @bengiyo for his selections from About Youth, Like in the Movies, and Gameboys 2 (all five were excellent songs but those three were on my shortlist; and @absolutebl's top 10 OSTs listing songs from Wish You and To My Star which helped me let go of including them too!). I went with one song per country to help me choose, and it was a very fun agony. Here we go!

Silly Fools - วัดใจ [wad jai / measure your willingness (i.e. test your heart)] (Theory of Love; Thailand, YouTube)

I debated on the Thai song for so long but this is the song that started my obsession with Thai rock; Khai and Third rock out to this in the car as a moment of nostalgia for them and I sat up and took notice because it reminded me of 90s alt rock from my own youth; that scene is such a perfect encapsulation of what that felt like and it tied that feeling to this song for me. And the lyrics are also great as a hype song; they're all about how the singer isn't going to give up in the face of any obstacle or hate. Every time I hear it I think about sitting in the car yelling with my friends (even though we did that to Alanis Morisette and not Thai rock music, the feeling is universal). Even though I'd been watching Thai shows for a couple of years by that point, and had some OSTs on my playlist, this song inspired me to branch out into finding more Thai music and it's now been the genre I listen to the most for the past few years.

Đỗ Hoàng Dương, Cody - Không Yêu Cũng Chẳng Cô Đơn [Neither Love Nor Loneliness] (You Are Ma Boy, Vietnam, YouTube)

These two are musicians first and actors second, which is probably why the OST is so good. Cody is part of Uni5, and Đỗ Hoàng Dương is a solo artist. Large reason why this is on here is because I like Cody's rap so much. The lyrics are translated in this video so I don't need to paraphrase, but essentially they're about how love in youth is a lot of feelings, so let's just be together and love one another.

Shania Ann Bajen - Once You're Mine (Filippines, Win Jaime's Heart, YouTube)

Taking advantage of the change in rules from the original post to post a song in English because it's my favourite by this artist. Shania Ann's voice is mesmerizing, when this song appeared in the show I went searching for it and was so happy when they finally posted it to Spotify. This is what she said about her song:

This song is my original composition. 💕 It's about our loved ones, whether it'd be family, friends, or significant other, that we lost in our journey but never failed in making us feel loved and accepted despite our imperfections 🥺 Hope you all like it!

周予天 / Alex Chou - 分手放手 [Fengshou fangshou / Hard to Let Go] (We Best Love: No. 1 for You, Taiwan, WeTV)

The lyrics to this one are so painful in the context of the end of season 1 and the time-skip. They're translated in the video above, but essentially it's about breaking up and letting go when you don't actually want to. I really went back and forth with this one and Ray / 黃霆睿 - 我們 [Wo men / Us] from the Miracle book trailer, hilariously both for Lin Pei You vehicles, but finally decided that this song just hits harder (you didn't notice me sneaking a second rec in there nope).

センチミリメンタル / Centimillimental - 冬のはなし [Fuyu no Hanashi / Winter Story] (Given (anime), Japan, WeTV / CrunchyRoll)

This is either a really obvious answer or a polarizing answer depending on how you felt about the Given adapatation, but IDC it's on my list because I love Centimillimental and can't listen to it without getting shivers. I saw this anime and burst into tears the first time I heard the bridge. I used the official version for each of these links so that creators get views, but I have to also shout out my favourite version of this song, with Centimillimental (the guy who wrote the whole soundtrack for the anime and the movie) and Shogo Yano (who voiced Mafuyu in the anime) performing together. If you haven't seen the show, the lyrics are about having a love one torn away from you and struggling to let yourself move on. I had a hard time between this and the main song from the movie (僕らだけの主題歌 [bokura dake no shudaika / Our Theme Song]) but this is the one that hits me hardest.

BONUS(es) (don't judge me):

樹林座 [Shulinzuo / Grove ] - 水火 [Shui Huo / Fire and Water] (The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, China, YouTube)

This song was as far as I can tell written for the series and it punches me in the gut every time. I don't know what it is about this song? It has me in a chokehold. It's basically about fighting for justice against an unjust world and how it's possible even if it seems to not be. It's also just a banger. Something about the irony of them using a very modern-sounding song for a historical drama tickles me (electronic rhythm sounds? electric guitar? For 15th century China? Love it). Put in the bonus round because the show is censored bromance.

Spencer Geronimo - Magkaibang Mundo [Different worlds] (Lakan, Filippines, YouTube)

Rest in Peace to the actor Kennedy Nakar who costarred in Lakan and who just died (on July 25, 2023) of Leukemia; He was 24. Kennedy and his partner Paul Cervantes were an out gay couple and starred in this series together, and were supposed to also star in Turbulence. This song is all about fighting for a love that people think is wrong, against the odds, and wondering how long you'll have to fight and wait to be together. In that context, it becomes even more heartbreaking. Since this song was in my favourites, I could not skip the chance to give their work some love.

Tagging @callipigio @pandasmagorica @formayhem @dribs-and-drabbles @redxblueihateloveyou no pressure but if y'all feel like it!

It’s Been a Long Road: Two decades after “Star Trek: Enterprise” I still have Faith of the Heart.

After the click, there are 2300 words of me doing a deep dive on my love for "Star Trek: Enterprise." You have been warned.

When I was in elementary school, I was a year younger than my peers. My mom had decided I didn’t need to go to Kindergarten as I was already reading ahead of my level, so she insisted I be placed at age 5 directly into 1st Grade. In ways she was right; I completed the reading and phonics program in my little Arizona school for the entire first grade before Christmas. To this day though, I am clumsy with scissors, paste, and all the “kindergarten skills” and I spent the rest of my school career smaller, weaker, and less coordinated than everyone in my class. 

This probably all worked out in the end; sure, I couldn’t play sports, but to avoid bullies and getting picked on, I got funny, and that’s worked out pretty well for me. But in those days when I would play a sport such as baseball, the opposing team would step a little closer, the coaches would advise me to take the walk; I was not as good as my peers, so allowances were made for my performance.

That is exactly how I looked at “Star Trek: Enterprise” for years. It was only four seasons, while its powerhouse predecessors all had seven. It wasn’t set in a utopian far future, but rather not too far from now meaning more modern and vernacular language. The science seemed a little spurious, with writers seeming to think the term “Rigel” was just some made-up word from older Trek series rather than older Trek series using actual star names for locations. The knowledge of Trek seemed a little lacking as well, with the first episode citing “Klingon Warbirds” and basing the hero ship on a design introduced in a then recent movie…that was set 200 years later. 

I watched though, as we were coming off of there being CONSTANT Trek on television for the previous 15 years, and this was what we had.

I groused then, a lot. The lack of continuity, the trivia gaffes, the over-sexualization of women characters (ok, that WAS more than a bit overdone, and I still grouse that point).

The theme song. Oh my lord, the theme song.

But eventually, this show won me over, almost in spite of itself. Then there was a major shift in tone for the third season, and it got to be pretty solid, and the FOURTH season was…STAR TREK! Like its predecessors, the show had taken some time to find its footing (c’mon, admit how uneven the first couple of seasons of TNG were), but had pulled itself together, and the show’s future looked bright in 2005!

And then there was a truly terrible last episode and ENT was cancelled and gone. 

Twenty years later, here I am, and though the absence of new Trek only lasted about four years—until JJ Abrams 2009 movie—I felt that absence keenly then. I am glad to report there has been Trek I really enjoy since then…and some marginal entries, but that’s not new either honestly. But with all this new material, I still find myself going back to revisit Archer and his crew. I’ve rewatched maybe two TNG episodes in the last 15 years. Maybe two or three Voyager episodes. But TOS, DS9, and ENT I hit regularly. Why does ENT keep forcing itself to the front of my Trek consciousness?

From the beginning, ENT suffered from some external pressures that weren’t helpful to its development. There was a tension between doing more of the same, successful formula Trek had been delivering since “Encounter at Farpoint” (the TNG pilot episode from 1987) and doing something experimental and new. Viewer fatigue was setting in a bit, but fans were vociferous in what THEY thought Trek meant. Anything that strayed too far would take a beating on the internet message boards. 

DS9 had just finished off their wartime storyline, and though there were adamant Niners, it was only just beginning to truly find its audience with the advent of home video allowing one to actually watch the whole thing. Meanwhile, the less arc-oriented VOY had added the character Seven. There had been a ratings increase, which the producers took to mean any new show needed an attractive woman in a catsuit. Remember also, we were in the midst of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy, so going BACK to a time when the story could be a little looser was floating in the zeitgeist. 

But it was also 2001, and though the visual continuity of the then modern Treks had maintained a history inclusive and accepting of TOS, putting a starship on screen that would look like a century’s LESS development than Matt Jefferies’ design from the mid-1960s was going to be problematic. 

I don’t know this is true, but I also suspect that since the previous shows had a British man, a Black man, and a Woman as captains, someone in Production wanted to make sure there was a white, American man back in the center seat. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s my gut.

So all of this goes into the show, and honestly it kicks off as a bit of a hot mess. So much seems to be playing it safe. Some fairly cliched storylines that occasionally try something a little new. A few things it does try new are not quite there: That aforementioned over-sexualization of the women in the crew*. Cringy comments about relations with aliens. Archer watching water polo.

There are a lot of forgettable episodes, contradictions. And yet, I kept watching. Yeah, I was on message boards complaining about the tech looking too advanced. I’d gripe about how un-Vulcan the Vulcans seemed. I’d gripe about every violation of what I accepted as canon, that was often really just things the fandom had settled on in the 70s and had no basis on the show. And I was just a complete tool online when the first cloaking device showed up. 

And the theme song, oh my lord, the theme song.

But I kept watching. And before I knew it, I started to appreciate something about this show. I had to make a choice between griping that this modern show that I was actually enjoying didn’t adhere to a single line of dialog written (then) 40 years before for a show that wasn’t expected to last a year. I, a staunch Trek gatekeeper, was having an awakening about continuity and canon, and I had to figure out why. Finally it hit me. 

These characters, these performers, they were more than they should be. These characters were making me love them, even when the stories were mediocre or cliche or counter to what I believed was canon. 

Take Jonathan Archer, played with almost megaton-levels of earnestness by Scott Bakula. Archer’s earnest, do-gooder nature is so extreme…you know how a show like “Family Guy,” does a joke, and it’s ok, and then it keeps going way too long, and you get sick of it. And then it keeps going still, and somehow, this only kinda-funny joke goes so long or so far that it actually manages to somehow loop back around to being not just funny, but hilarious. That’s Archer’s earnestness, his naiveté.  His “oh gosh” nature is interesting and fun compared to Kirk’s bravado. Then, after he oh goshes his way into losing ANOTHER fight, he’s simply grating. THEN you start to think he’s just devastatingly boring. But if you keep watching, then it comes around to this unironic serving of safe-guy that doesn’t blink in how GOLLY he is as a hero and you smile when he all but winks at the camera. And then, in later seasons when he’s faced with some pretty devastating moral dilemmas, you FEEL it!

T’Pol, played by Jolene Blalock: she’s so attractive it almost hurts to look at her, but you realize soon after that while she somehow seems to keep ending up getting rubbed down in decon Jolene is BRINGING the performance. That her delivery, her tone; the micro-expressions which betray her stoic facade for the Vulcan emotions at a full boil underneath…you buy it. You realize her performance is wonderful, and she’s one of the best Vulcans in the entire franchise.

Connor Trinneer as the character I recently described as “Florida Man in Space,” Trip Tucker. He’s a walking cliche, his accent making “warp-field plasma conduits” sound like something you’d serve up with sweet tea and grits. He’s got Himbo energy that rivals the output of his anti-matter reactor, and still it works. His “I don’t really know much about anything, but I’m willing to learn…oh God I’m pregnant” (actual episode) speaks so beautifully to humans DISCOVERING things for the first time, screwing it up, but learning from their mistakes and going back for more! 

I could easily go on about Travis Mayweather, the kid who grew up in space and is both completely knowledgeable and blissfully ignorant of anything that goes on out there. Malcolm Reed, the British tactical officer who if his upper lip was any stiffer, he could use it as a weapon. Hoshi Sato who starts out completely out of her depth, and ends up loving it all. Dr. Phlox, your over-friendly, polyamorous uncle who brandishes optimism like a flame thrower and plays with eels. 

They are all just…TOO. Too this, too that, and in doing so, somehow all circle back to being absolutely perfect. Because as flawed as ENT is in its storytelling at times, and how mired it is in attitudes before #metoo, the IDEA of the show is a great one: How does humanity get from the mess we are now to the icons of TOS or TNG? Enterprise shows us it wasn’t a switch, but a road.  A long road, getting from there to here.

Yes, even the damn theme song, hokey and way too on the nose is EXACTLY RIGHT for what this show means.  

Somewhere along the line, we all knew we had to move in a little closer when ENT comes up to bat, but we all started wishing, hoping, that maybe it would get a home run.

And sometimes, just sometimes, these characters that are great in spite of themselves, and this design, that’s too good for what it should be**, and this show that’s just not on the level of its predecessors does exactly that and knocks one into the stands. Suddenly it’s season four, and Enterprise manages to sum up the humanity Star Trek has been serving up since 1966 better than any show before or since:

Vulcan Ambassador Soval: We don't know what to do about Humans. Of all the species we've made contact with, yours is the only one we can't define. You have the arrogance of Andorians, the stubborn pride of Tellarites. One moment, you're as driven by your emotions as Klingons, and the next, you confound us by suddenly embracing logic.

Admiral Maxwell Forrest: I'm sure those qualities are found in every species.

Vulcan Ambassador Soval: Not in such confusing abundance.

We’re not perfect, we’re not utopian, but we are AMAZING when we give ourselves the chance, and for me, Enterprise takes that idea and runs with it. It often swings and misses, but when it connects, we can smile and clap and let it take its run around the bases, because it makes us feel good. And if it weren’t for Enterprise teaching me how these lessons, these characters are more important that visual continuity or strict adherence to arcane canon, I wouldn’t have accepted the Kelvin timeline. The DISCO Klingons. The Strange New Worlds uniforms, sets, and character interpretations. Because as much as I love what Star Trek means, all of that deeper meaning is nothing if it isn’t entertaining. And Enterprise taught me how important that was. 

I could go on about how much better the show got when Berman and Braga took a back seat to Manny Coto, though there are certainly strong arguments that he got a little too fan-servicey. But in the end, the point is CBS took over and closed down Enterprise just as it found its footing. I hope the wave of nostalgia we’re seeing applied (perhaps TOO applied in shows like “Picard”) to modern Trek means we get more than a passing Lower Decks reference to the show. And if not, well, I’ve got my copies, and my fan fic, and my Tumblr memes. 

Most importantly though, I’ve got (I’ve got, I’ve got) Faith of the Heart.

*I will give the show credit at least that it was pretty willing to flaunt shirtless men as well, and biceps-a-plenty. 

**In regard to things looking more advanced, I will give credit to Brannon Braga for dropping a hint in an interview at the end of season 1 that the Enterprise-E coming back in “First Contact” had subtly altered the timeline, making things a little more advanced. Fans—and I regret to include myself—railed against that online, and it wasn’t really mentioned again. Recently, Strange New Worlds has revisited and canonized the idea that the timeline, even though it is the Prime timeline, DOES go through shifts and changes due to temporal incursions, evidenced wonderfully in the episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” when a Romulan time traveler admits to altering time so the rise of Khan happens not at the 1992 date that Spock gave us in the original series “Space Seed” to now to him still being a child 30 years later. It’s in-story shorthand for the fact that when a show goes for six decades some continuity has to change and THAT IS OK. I wasn’t ready to accept it then, but am glad it’s now part of Trek. 

What your favourite Xeno series game says about you

Xenogears: The elder statespeople of the fandom, you’ve been around since the franchise’s inception. You first played Xenogears as an impressionable teen in the 90′s and thought it was the greatest story you’d ever experienced despite not knowing what in god’s name was going on for most of the runtime (I’ll bet Evangelion is favourite anime too, huh?). Now that you’re an adult with the frame of reference and critical analysis skills to find the substance behind all the weirdness, you love it even more. Disc Two was really not that bad, guys. Part of you wants a remake, but you’re also terrified of how it could get screwed up. You have a visceral hatred of modern day Square-Enix.

Xenosaga Episode One: As far as you’re concerned, the writing took a step down since Soraya Saga stopped being involved in the series. You’ve dug deep into the behind the scenes history of the franchise and so you know that this was the entry in the trilogy that Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga had the most input on. As such, this game represents to you more than anything what Xenosaga could have been. You have likely read Perfect Works cover to cover multiple times and have written novel length fanfics in your head about what sort of things would have happened in the full six-part story. You’re always very meticulous about checking your email.  Xenosaga Episode Two: You tend to avoid internet discourse because you’re so tired of people in the fandom dunking on your fave. You like the battle system more than Episode One because at least the attack animations aren’t thirty seconds long this time. You never fail to remind Xenoblade players that this game did the break system first. THE SECOND MILTIA THEME SLAPS, YOU TROGLODYTES! Jr. is probably your favourite party member and you loved watching him take centre stage and digging into his backstory. You maintain that Albedo is the greatest villain in this entire franchise and you’re probably right. Xenosaga Episode Three: You know this trilogy was cut short, but you were still super impressed with how well this game wrapped it up. You maintain that Yuki Kajiura deserves to be brought up more when discussing the franchise’s music. Godsibb is straight up a better version of Zanza the Divine and you will die on that hill. You either love Shion or absolutely despise her, there’s no middle ground here. But those of you split on Shion can put your differences aside to give a much deserved ‘screw you’ to Kevin Winnicott. You will probably keel over in joy if KOS-MOS gets into Smash, so you make do with sobbbing into your copy of Project X Zone. Xenoblade Chronicles: The zoomer equivalent to the Xenogears fans. Whether you were around for Operation Rainfall, or hopped on later, this was your first Xeno game, and while you certainly like or even love the rest of the series, none of them quite hit for you like this does. The sense of scope never fails to impress you, even on replays and you can’t help but spin the camera all around as you play. You appreciate the ways the sequels have built on this game, but think this entry’s gameplay is still a blast. You still find using the vision system to turn the tables on a tough fight super satisfying. You love the world and story of this game and frequently watch streams or reactions because you can’t get enough of people losing their minds over the plot twists. People assume that you think Melia is best girl but you laugh because you know the greatness of the Heropon transcends all petty waifu or husbando wars. You’re also probably the most meme-y sector on the fandom and have binge watched Theaggyu’s videos god knows how many times.  Xenoblade Chronicles X: switchportswitchportswitchportswitchport.... You are one of the poor saps who still owns a Wii U in 2022, and given how the Switch has pretty much lifted its library whole sale, this game is probably the sole reason why at this point. Well that and the eShop. It kills you that this game so rarely comes up alongside the likes of Breath of the Wild or Witcher 3 in discussions of the best open worlds in video games. You’re something of a power gamer and you love to push the class system to its absolute limit to decimate bosses. You watch 1 minute solo videos of Telethia the Endbringer and have to resist the urge to drool. Truthfully, you don’t really try to defend the story from its criticism by the rest of the fans, because the writing in the side quests is where it’s at! You have an instant violent reaction to potatoes. You feel for the Xenosaga fans but you also kind of resent them because at least they got two sequels to their unfinished story. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The Xeno series has ALWAYS BEEN ANIME so SHUT UP! Unlike the X fans who have just been kind of doing their thing in the corner, you’ve been caught in the crossfire of the 1 vs 2 wars for a while now and you’re frankly sick of it. This is your favourite combat of the series by far, and you have put a shedload of time into the DLC challenges. You adore the characters and wish people didn’t get so hung up on some of the goofier designs. When one of your friends tries the game for the first tile, you always send them Chuggaaconroy’s guide video. Still, for all the fandom debacle, one thing you share with the Xenoblade 1 fans is your love of memes. You might even say you...don’t forget them. When Pyra and Mythra came to Smash, you were there in the battlegrounds of Twitter to maintain that they were a great addition. You can never watch the ending without crying. The most likely fans to read/write fanfiction.  Torna the Golden Country: You may not have entirely loved Xenoblade 2, or at least had some major gripes with it. But this prequel fixed pretty much any issue  you have with that game while retaining what you liked. You’ve always felt the past Xeno games were kind of bloated and love that this can give you a substantial experience in 20 hours, instead of having to wait 20 hours for the game to fully open up for you. When people say X or 2 have the best combat, you laugh in Vanguard Switching. Lora is a treasure and did nothing wrong in her whole life. Jin and Mythra are some of the best characters in the series and so help you, you will call down Siren on whoever says otherwise. Whenever you hear the word ‘community’, you freeze up on the spot. I said that 2 fans always cry at the ending, but honestly this ending reduces you fits of sobbing that put them to shame. Xenoblade Chronicles 3: You need to let me into your house and use your time machine RIGHT NOW.  

Hey Fox! I'm currently working on a Venture Bros. Iceberg video that's inspired by your iceberg chart but includes several new entries. I'm reaching out because I'm quite curious about a few of the entries you've listed and would appreciate it if you could explain them or point me to some sources. I'd be more than happy to give you credit in the video. I just want to make sure I've got everything right. The entries that I'm curious about are:

-The Monarch Was Meant To Be A One Time Villain -Phantom Limb Fixed Brock's Chest -Almost Going To Be CGI -Almost Ended In Season 4 -Master Shake Cameo In Guild Council I believe I know the answer to some of these, but I just wanted to double check with you first. Hope to hear back soon!

Hey man! 👋

@zeroomens

That’s actually cool and it’s been such an honor and I’m actually subscribed to you BTW and I watch some of your videos.

I hardly get mail often LOL XD

The show itself was pretty niche and I tried scrounging what I can on some info on The Venture Bros Art Book, rewatching bits of the show for details and stuff, the Fandom Wiki Page, 107 Facts Videos by Channel Frederator. Lots of facts on VBros can be pretty scarce as hell so I had to dig deep on research and tried using what I have.

I’ll try my best to explain some of the entries that were on the list:

During development, I remembered Baron Ünderbheit was going to be set up as a major villain until they pushed him aside in the later seasons. As for The Monarch wasn’t going to be in the first episode. In the pilot, he was actually going to be a throwaway character, until they were planning which villain to add in Dia de los Dangerous:

I’ve sorta confused it with another event where Phantom Limb treated Brock’s wounds during an attack in the mall in Hate Floats S2E2, where the contents removed were: 4 bullets, a blowgun dart, two shark’s teeth, the tip of a mayonet, a twisted paperclip, and a meager handful of buckshot.

Back when Venture Bros was in the draft phases and pitching it to Comedy Central it was planned to be rendered in CGI but wouldn’t work, Jackson Publick wanted to make it 2D to give the cartoon a comic book vibe.

Production stuff going on behind the scenes during the episode, Operation PROM, according to the wiki it said it was the last episode to be animated in World Leaders entertainment. And it was one of the show’s biggest episodes. Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer during production of the final episode in season 4 thought about the show ending there but as just a turning point and not intended to be the finale but they both were taking a break from it. (It takes a long while to make the seasons and episodes of the series)

I thought I saw an Easter Egg of Master Shake somewhere and was a false memory I had and couldn’t find anything about it, but actually found better cameos of Venture Bros in other media to make up for my goof that were real such as Invincible #58 where we see characters that look like Brock and Dr. Venture which is somehow a bit cooler.

And you see Brock Samson in an episode of Henry Danger… no I’m ain’t joking, it was in S5E33, Rumblr and you even see a bootleg version of Molotov in the background somewhere.

So far The Venture Bros fandom is pretty strong on Tumblr and Reddit, some are willing help you out with some information about some of the stuff I mentioned in the iceberg too and some might actually explain things better than I can and might correct my mistakes. *cri* ToT

That was my first iceberg and there’s a ton of flaws with the chart, in the future I’m planning on making a remake at some point it’s outdated AF and was made before the movie came out, also I’m glad you are also adding some new entries in your video too and I can’t wait to see your new video and I hope it succeeds dude!💚🌟

Every UMich Monday question 2021-22, ranked

God bless umich social for giving us every single one of these gems of pure distilled characterization. To celebrate, I watched all of them in order. The most interesting season-long trends were Eddy’s suggestibility (consistently willing to agree with whatever anybody else tells him), GVW’s obvious belief that every single one of his answers is supremely clever (when in fact they are just as dumb if not dumber than everyone else’s), and the way that Truss always cherubically looks at the ceiling instead of the camera.

20. What’s your favorite Coach Pearson saying? (January 26, 2022)

Charming question but provided minimal character information.

Best answer: Whoever says “Breathe, Truss!” in the background. Worst answer: Everybody who says “Nothing more, nothing less” but fails to use the appropriate hand gesture as demonstrated by GVW, Beech, and Jimmy.

19. Who’s going to win the Superbowl? (February 13, 2022)

It would have been cooler if they’d skipped this question and just posted more pics from their Joe Burrow cosplay party.

Best answer: Loyal Michigan boys the Nicks (“Detroit Rams.”) Worst answer: Eh, there’s only two options, can’t ding anybody here.

18. Who has the weirdest and the best pregame rituals? (January 20, 2022)

All of the other questions that encouraged chirping scored high in these rankings, but the guys really whiffed on this one. They mostly just made up lies about each other, and they weren’t even funny lies.

Best answer: Bords. (“Matty Beniers. We leave for the rink, me and Truss, and he’s going to take his nap. I think that’s pretty weird.”) Thanks, Thom, for the reminder that you live in throuple bliss, as if any of us forgot for even one second. Worst answer: Everyone who roasts Dylan. Leave Dylan alone!

17. If you could play one other sport besides hockey, what would it be? (February 16, 2022)

Honestly, Monday question content went through a dim era while the Olympians were gone.

Best answer: Noah (Chess) Worst answer: Jimmy (Quidditch)

16. What is your guilty pleasure song? (November 24, 2021)

A strong early entry in the series, but it falls down the ranking due to the absence of chirping.

Best answer: Mackie singing California Gurls. Worst answer: Eddy (“Supermarket Flowers, by Ed Sheeran.”)

15. Who would play you in a movie? (November 2, 2021)

At the time, this appeared to be a strong start to the series. But the content trended sharply uphill over the course of the season, and when reviewed in context, this one has too many boring repeat answers. Sorry, but this is not a team full of Bradley Coopers, Brad Pitts, Will Ferrells, and the cast of Happy Gilmore.

Best answer: Mackie (Zac Efron) Worst answer: The first of Brendan’s three increasingly terrible answers is Jack Sparrow, which, while an apt comparison, is not an actor.

14. Who will have the most points at World Juniors? (December 17, 2021)

The questions with the most potential are the ones where they’re asked about their teammates, but this one suffers from its breakdown along predictable USA/Canada lines.

Best answer: GVW. (“I plead the Fifth.” [exits frame] [remembers where he’s from] [runs back into frame] “Just joking, I think it’s gonna be Matt Beniers. Go Seattle Kraken!”) Worst answer: Owen. (“Kent Johnson.”) Owen we KNOW, okay. We know you’re obsessed with him.

13. Wheels or doors? (March 16, 2022)

The blank canvas of this query ends up shedding a surprising amount of light on their idiotic thought processes. “I started with doors, but I think wheels now,” Truss says, looking aimlessly upwards. “I’ve had a lot of good cases brought to me.”

Best answer: Nick. (Coach: “How many mullets are in this building?” Nick: “How many mullets? Not enough.”) Worst answer: Matty, guessing that there are probably a lot of wheels in a hotel only to later prove himself wrong.

12. Who has the best/weirdest tape job? (February 1, 2022)

I am very intrigued by the deep respect that everyone has for Owen’s tape jobs. This is also the video in which we learned that Mark’s nickname was Stahp Sign.

Best answer: Bords, because his accent’s unusually prominent. Worst answer: Steve Holtz, who cannot figure out how to explain his two sticks.

11. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? (January 11, 2022)

A classic question. Too many Spidermen on this team, but I remain very curious about why Owen’s desired superpower is to read minds.

Best answer: Truss. (“A power that makes you big, like Owen.”) Worst answer: Brendan. Sweetie, Tobey McGuire is the worst possible Spiderman to be.

10. Is a hot dog a sandwich? (November 30, 2021)

There are so many varieties of idiocy on display as these guys vehemently defend their answers without making a single coherent argument. Loses a point due to everyone eventually reaching consensus.

Best answer: Jimmy (“I mean, the world isn’t going to change if a hot dog’s a sandwich.”) Worst answer: Owen (“It’s gotta have sandwich meat.”)

9. What’s your favorite holiday tradition? (December 17, 2021)

This one scores high for the background heckling, especially the howls of “Going back to Saskatoon!”

Best answer: Brendan. (“Going up north and hunting with Morgs and Jay.”) Worst answer: Nick Granowicz. (“Spending time with family.”) Give us something better, Grano.

8. Who on the team would you call in case of emergency? (April 6, 2022)

Thanks to this video for finally giving us a Nick Granowicz characterization! It also features Truss sweetly disarmed by Owen and Kent telling him they would obviously pick him, quickly followed by Thom’s indignation at Matty picking Truss too. However: why would not a single member of this team call their captain in case of emergency?

Best answer: Jimmy. (“Definitely not Briss.”) Worst answer: Dylan choosing the teammate who was ready to cook and eat him.

7. What is your favorite memory or the funniest moment from this season so far? (March 25, 2022)

It is extremely tempting to rank this video higher due to Thom looking like a figure skater in his tank top and warmup jacket while gazing adoringly at Brendan. However, too many guys had boring-ass answers like “Winning the B1G championship” instead of expanding on the time Moyle pantsed Phil at BD’s Mongolian Grill.

Best answer: Thom, sweetly noting Jack Leavy's first game. Worst answer: All the other serious ones.

6. What’s your ideal date? (February 9, 2022)

This video ranks high on the strength of Mackie’s answer alone. (“It’d be Duker if he looked like a girl.”) Just serve me up a ship on a silver platter and sauce it with gender feelings, thanks.

Best answer: Dylan. (“Swipe into the dining hall. South Quad.”) Worst answer: Luke. (“It would definitely be, like, taking me to a Lakers game. Or like a Knicks game.”) Luke Hughes does not woo you, you woo him.

5. What New Year’s resolution would you make for your teammates? (January 6, 2022)

This is a perfect question, since it not only asks them about their teammates, it encourages roasting them. This is the video that revealed Matty’s gummy bear habit, and foreshadowed more fascinating/horrifying content about the state of the seniors’ house. 

Best answer: Dylan. (“Luke Hughes. Wear headphones when he watches Harry Potter.”) Worst answer: Jay. (“My New Year’s solution… My New Year’s revolution… I am going to revolutionize 2022.”)

4. What breed of dog would you be? (March 10, 2022)

Quality content from top to bottom, from ever-suggestible Eddy affirming TikTok’s opinion of him as a golden retriever to the brutal roasting of hairless cat Luke Hughes.

Best answer: Owen. (Beniers Mountain Dog.) Worst answer: Brendan. (Brissbese Mountain Dog.)

3. What’s your hidden talent? (February 23, 2022)

10/10. 100/10. Infinity/10. There is no score high enough for the casually entitled way Brendan tugs up Matty’s jersey, Brendan’s indignation when confronted with the possibility that there is something he does not know about Matty’s body, or Brendan’s delight at Matty’s dumb talent as compared to his indifference to Phil’s objectively much more impressive talent.

Best answer: Luke. (“You can ask Truscott for my hidden talent.”) Worst answer: GVW failing to wiggle his ears.

2. If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be? (April 1, 2022)

This question delivers personal insight while also offering broad opportunities for chirping. The resulting video captures so many themes of the whole season: Luke’s inability to run with a joke, Thom being cool as hell, Dylan “Panface” Duke, minifridge Kent embracing his identity as a tiny little guy, Brendan seizing the spotlight and running his mouth. I considered awarding one million bonus points for the sound of Brendan smacking his chest, but I recognize that is important only to me.

Best answer: Noah, pretending to crank a pasta machine with his blocker. Worst answer: Luke’s fragile masculinity.

1. If you were stranded on an island with one teammate, who would you want it to be? (November 17, 2021)

The top of the list has to be the video that launched so many important characterizations for this crew. Terrifying cannibal Morgs! Helpful Truss! Poor crestfallen Dylan!

Best answer: Owen (“Jacob Truscott. He knows why.”) Worst answer: None. Every single moment of this video is golden.

* Unranked (November 9, 2021)

Unranked due to cultural insensitivity, which is a shame, because if this video was accurately titled “What Animal Would You Be?” Bordy’s announcement that he would be a unicorn would vault this into the top tier. (Also showing excellent self-awareness: Dylan as a panda.)

I started watching TW season one again (the only one I actually watched so far 😂) and once again I'm just amused by the plotholes and discrepancies and things they show or say once and never refer to or use again, as well as the technical side of camera shots and cgi - and I'm only in episode 5 so that's a record if you ask me. (Nevermind that me picking at threads already started with eposiode 1 😂)

Disclaimer: As I said I've never watched that much of the actual series even if I steal the characters to write! Also I'm definitely biased due to the fandom, wiki entries I read and so on. So take all this with a grain of salt! It's mostly stuff I was amused by so if I have it wrong - well. I have it wrong, I guess.

Anyway. On to my observations: (this got long, so I hid them under the readmore)

Sorry to all the people who like scott, but... he's so boring <.< WHY is that guy the main character? EVERYONE else would be more interesting just from a storytelling point of view! Give me Finnstock, Danny, the Sherrif, or any of the other main cast and just get rid of Scott as main POV <.< please.

It's so funny that they tried to make it some kind of horror tv show. I actually recognize classical horror movie scenes, camera shots that should invoke a certain fear or surprise but they somehow manage to put it in such a context that I laugh because I recognize what they want to do and it just doesn't work. Might be a me-problem because I like watching horror films, but... it's still very sad.

Stiles says he once had a boa. I asked the internet and it told me boas in zoos can get about 28 years old... Stiles is 16. Stiles... Stiles, what did you do with your boa?... STILES....

The scene where Stiles and Scott talk through video chat (and is that AOL? Those were AOL-icons... was AOL still alive in 2011? <.<) and Derek stands behind Scott... it's just... why did Scott stare at the screen instead of turning around? Nevermind that he read what Stiles was writing out loud and that Stiles's message was written in such large letters that probably anybody standing 5 miles away could have read it - nevermind the guy Stiles thought was standing behind Scott. Also: why did Derek just... stand there. Especially once he was sure he'd been seen...? I know that's also one of the Horror-esque scenes I mentioned but the timing of it all was so bad! (also also: Scott is just stupid <.<)

They use this weird alternative 'sight' for werewolves in the beginning (the scenes colored in red) and it feels like they use that in the first few episodes and never again after that <.<

Another weird scene: The game where Scott wolfs out and Jackson stays back and finds Scott's glove with holes where Scotts claws came out. I just... have so many questions... 1) Why did Jackson stay back after not only his own WINNING team but also the audience, the enemy team, coach finnstock and ANYONE ELSE who was probably assigned to clean up the field? He even was still in his own lacrosse gear so he stood back to take up a glove a person who'd cleaned up the field should have taken with them?... 2) Why the fuck was Derek staring at him? <.<... or rather, why was he staring at him for so long so Jackson even looked at him? Did Derek even see the whole game? Why did he let Jackson see him? It's not like he tried to scare him into staying silent, for that his staring wasn't nearly scary enough <.<... it's just... another weird composition. Especially since Jackson and Derek have nothing to do with each other <.<...

Scotts dream where he killed Allison in the bus that mimicked how Peter/the Alpha killed the bus driver. Even though later it comes out that he was there and tried to keep the Alpha from killing the guy, this dream is just one instance where they try to 'show' Scott's 'connection' with the Alpha. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the connection he has with Peter is the one and only time we see such a connection between an Alpha and a Beta, I think. I mean the whole "I dream of things the Alpha did" and the whole not remembering/blacking out due to instincts and Alpha?

Also, Scott was apparently was hurt/slashed by the Alpha's claws. How come that wound was healed the next morning? I thought wounds caused by an Alpha heal slower? <.< or is that a fandom thing? <.<

I want to hug Derek. Hard. Poor boy drives to a town he got traumatized in to help his sister/Alpha where she ALSO gets killed and all those stupid teenies do is blame him for her death, for their problems and for anything else the new Alpha did - especially the other killings - so he gets locked up by the Sherrif and when he gets out that stupid pup has the gall to search him out just to - again - blame him for all of his problems and even for the death of his sister and the bus driver <.<...

On that note: I think Derek said he came to find his sister/meet his sister. To me it sounded in that moment as if he hadn't known she was dead when he arrived and that confuses me...

Also: shouldn't he also have a connection/pack bond with the Alpha if he wants to or not? Or does a pack just fall apart when the old Alpha dies until they've submitted to the new one? <.< And doesn't that mean that Derek's currently a packless Omega? <.<...

Aaand there's another horror film track shot classic that sends the camera from Derek and Scott to the outside of the Hale house where the Alpha is waiting/his eyes are glowing in the dark. ... So why didn't the Alpha go to them? Or did he just... sit there and stare at the house until Scott leaves? If the Alpha runs on instinct why didn't he try to get to Scott or Derek - especially after Scott left - when he is trying to get Scott and Derek to accept being part of his pack? <.<...

Kate drives into town without stopping and the Alpha attacks here somewhere in town. Close enough to Scotts home that he sees her shortly after she shoots her shotgun twice when the shots were what woke him up. 1) did the Alpha smell her through her car and the fumes? <.< 2) did he just stumble over her car while running through the town?? <.<... 3) if not, did he follow her from the outside into town? why didn't he attack her there instead of somewhere quieter? <.<...

I'm still confused by the whole Derek clawed Jackson in the neck and it did something to Jackson-stuff. Especially because Derek's not an Alpha yet <.<...

And finally just a quote from Derek that amused me for potential fanfic reasons when Scott asks why Derek can't just track the Alpha as a human: "Beause his human scent could be entirely different" <.<

FNAF Movie Thoughts

(relatively non-spoilers?)

Some people have been expecting some sort of revolutionary horror development. Now I seriously don't understand that. I feel like fandom expectations (especially after such a long wait) have made too much room for the collective mind to run wild with possibilities, and ignore the basics of the series.

Critics saying that it's 'too lore heavy' - it's really not. This could just be me thinking that it's straightforward and not properly being able to view the movie from a non-fan perspective, but I just can't agree with those claims entirely.

It's the bare bones of plot from the games, with more than enough nods to the games for fans to be pleased with. 'Bare bones' is not at all a negative statement, the simplicity of the plot was enjoyable, and I feel like everything was explained in a way that would make it easy for people who aren't aware of the depth of the franchise to watch, understand and enjoy the movie.

This movie doesn't try to be anything that it isn't. This isn't a revolutionary horror film that pushes the bounds of modern cinema, or try to be a decade defining horror - it doesn't need to be. It simply has to tell it's story, one which succeeds in being clearly conveyed throughout it's runtime.

It's a solid story, with the typical 'protagonist learns a heartfelt lesson' and 'villain receives his comeuppance'. It is satisfying, and not at all too convoluted, despite what others might say.

Some have shown disappointment at the film's PG-13 (M for Aussie folk) rating, which I personally have found bizarre. This goes back to the fandom expectations I mentioned earlier, wherein a large proportion are expecting a bloodbath (or the more scary possibility, the people who only think that horror movies are worth their fanfare if people are constantly being torn to shreds), but the games are not that gory in and of themselves. The story that is revealed throughout the series run, yes, may conjure horrific images in the mind's eye of utterly deplorable circumstances, but a large majority of the games gore and violence is implied, or shown through the lens of 8-bit videogame scenes. I understand that with this movie being a live action, people may have expected the filmmakers to push the envelope and go all out with realistic depictions of a character's gruesome demise, but I personally find that to go a little against the atmosphere that is established within the original media.

Also, one must consider that a lot of children would want to see this movie, and how that must have affected the rating. I know that a large majority of people who grew up with the games are now adults (myself included), but this series has had such longevity within horror and gaming communities, that it has continued to make an impression on audiences - and yes, that includes children/tweens. This is a good starting horror for that age group too, not too graphic, but scary enough. For some, I'm sure this is their equivalent of (for lack of a better equal) the Goosebumps series.

That being said, I found that the implied nature of the gore to be great. In one particular scene, it is conveyed wonderfully due to fantastic sound design and acting, which really sold the scene.

There is one other scene, which without spoiling, was incredibly surprising, and is probably the closest to the expected gore as the movie ever gets. Still, this is only one scene, and doesn't necessarily speak for the rest of the movie.

Overall, it's a movie made for the fans, and also serves as a good entry level bit of media for people who aren't into the game series, but are curious about the lore.

There are plenty of easter eggs to be found throughout the film, which I'm sure will become the subject of a YouTube video which points out every single one with eagle eyed precision. I found the animation during the opening credits to be a nice little nod to the 8-bit style parts of the games, and an interesting way to imply, if not outright state, backstory.

top 5 books for you too! also, top 5 video games and top 5 movies, if you would like :3c

heeell yeah! top 5 books:

Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward - an incredibly lyrical and deeply sad story of a family in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. i read it for the first time at a very shitty time in my life and the sibling relationships especially punched me directly in the heart. a tough read on many fronts (definitely look up/mind the content warnings if you have any "hard no" topics in your books) but the power and beauty of jesmyn ward's writing is something else.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - one of those rare high school assigned books that actually made an incredibly lasting impression. i'm glad 17-year-old me got all those reality checks about *checks notes* the horrors of war, the hollow uselessness of nationalism and being convinced to die for it, the absurdly circular reasoning that props up systems of power and the incompetence of the people at the top of them, the ability of bureaucracy to drive you to sheer sobbing madness, financial systems being wildly arbitrary at best and a fucking scam at worst, *takes breath*,

The Long Walk by Stephen King - look, I find most of Stephen King's work deeply annoying, but this one fucking hits. A Hunger Games-esque premise that's about self-destructive urges and toxic masculinity as much as it as about the actual, you know, ritualized dystopian death march. also the camaraderie that forms between these teenagers even in the most hideous of circumstances is so charming and funny and sweet. also also it's just, like, really gay (peter mcvries you mad bisexual disaster).

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Sorry.

Anything by Octavia Butler really, but Dawn has a special place in my heart. The detail Butler put into all the different ways an alien species would be, well, alien to us--biological, linguistic, the makeup of family units, understandings of gender and sex, etc--and her description of humans as intelligent but highly hierarchical, and how these conflicting qualities could very well lead to our destruction...the hugely messy power dynamics not only between aliens and humans but among humans themselves...there's just so much to sink your teeth into, and it's only the first fucking book in the trilogy!

much more briefly because i'm giving myself eye strain, top 5 video games:

this is another one of those things that seems to shift every time i'm asked it but there are two (2) that will very likely never be budged from the list and those would be: have i mentioned this game called dishonored 2012 dev. arkane studios maybe one or eighteen hundred times over the last ten years; and bloodborne babey!!!

feeling like i need a zelda entry on here rn but i can't decide between majora's mask or twilight princess

fire emblem: awakening set me on the terrible path of anime chess obsession and i'm much less mad about it than i should be

also need a sengoku jidai media entry on here but i can't decide (x2) between sengoku basara or nioh which is hilarious because they are WILDLY different in tone. the duality of man

oh shit that's at least five? ask me again in a week and i'll have at least three different substitutions lmao

favorite movies:

the handmaiden. adapting fingersmith to 1930s korea is galaxy brain levels of genius and hideko and sook-hee are peak romance

saw pan's labyrinth for the first time at like. age 14? and it chemically altered my brain and introduced me to guillermo del toro's work and made me feel a lot of horrifying things. 10/10

need a ghibli entry on here but can't decide (x3) between princess mononoke and howl's moving castle, vote now on your phones

lord of the rings: the two towers. saw it six times in theaters when it originally came out and it's still my favorite of the series. can pretty much watch it by just closing my eyes at this point.

favorite disney/pixar is tangled. "i see the light" is also peak romance. wait what if hideko and sook-hee sang i see the light to each other