#strong bobby energy
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I am sorry but I am just imaging that if we keep Tommy and have Bucktommy for a while (as we should), there will inevitably be an episode where Tommy's helicopter goes down right?
Like, we all know that if Tommy stays because the fan support will presumably only grow for him, they are going to traumatize him in the typical 118 fashion?
Now, imagine Buck and Tommy have been dating for something around half a year obviously going strong and maybe Buck is at a stage where he considers the "I love you" even.
And then, there is a call.
The 118 is called to a helicopter crash somewhere and Buck feels anxiety but it's fine because he knows Tommy has his day off so it can't be him, right?
Except suddenly dispatch informs them that it is from Tommy's hanger because of a bigger call. They are already nearly at the scene so there is not turning back.
And Buck's anxiety sky rockets.
Everyone tenses up. Bobby, tentatively asks Maddie (because it has to be Maddie to make it more dramatic) if they know who is in the helicopter, how many.
There is a short silence.
And Buck knows. It hits him like a fucking train. He knows his sister even if it is only a split second, so minimal most wouldn't notice.
Maddie just says that there were a 2 pilots, a paramedic and a civilian.
And Buck has to know, he has to be sure, he needs to confirm, needs to hear it.
He tells Bobby to ask Maddie. Bobby hesitates, clearly not wanting to upset Buck but he is getting frantic, because he knows deep down that something is so wrong.
After a few arguments and silence Buck comes onto the comms and ask "What pilots? Is it Tommy?"
And there is silence.
A silence that speaks louder.
And Buck demands, he has to know if Tommy is okay, still clinging to that tiny bit of hope but then he hears Josh (who has to take over because he tells Maddie she is too close eventhough he feels himself breaking too) "Firefighter Kinard was one of the helicopter pilots."
Another short silence.
"We haven't heard anything since there mayday call."
By now they are at the scene.
And Buck acts before he can even think, before anyone can even attempt to stop him.
He is jumping, running, sprinting towards where he can see the helicopter crashed into a small valley. He is ready to run down, already preparing himself to jump to get down when he feels arms holding him back. It's Bobby.
And Buck is kicking, screaming, not even noticing because he needs to get to Tommy.
Because Tommy has to be okay.
Because Tommy is always there.
Tommy can't be gone.
He just can't.
And then Buck's scream for Tommy shatters the quietness that didn't even realise.
There is nothing, no response, no sound, no movement.
Buck just slumps. He is like a puppet whose strings were cute, all the energy drained from him.
Bobby tightens his hold, directs everyone else on what to do while he himself has to stay up here, holding Buck.
Buck isn't aware of anything.
He just slides to the ground, Bobby gently going with him, not losing his grip.
Bobby feels horrible because he knows. He knows what Buck is feeling and he prays that if nothing else, that at least Tommy somehow survives this because he doesn't know how Buck would survive without Tommy.
Tommy (which none of them saw coming Bobby admits to himself) has calmed Buck in a way he never thought possible.
Tommy has grounded this wonderful man who he is proud to see as a son.
And Bobby can't see Buck losing him because he knows that Buck would lose himself too so he holds onto Buck, praying (for the first time in a long time) that please, do not take this from him. Buck has already lost so much, has already been through so much, experienced death more than any person should and he isn't sure that Tommy's death wouldn't be worse than Buck actually dying himself for the younger man.
So Bobby holds on, tightens his grip on Buck and knows that as soon as he let's go it will only be to let his son reunite with his boyfriend.
Buck is numb.
He can't hear, feel or see anything.
The world, his world has gone still.
His world might never start again if he can't see Tommy's little nose scrunch, hear his loud laugh, feel his strong arms, smell his stupid shampoo (he will forever deny he likes the weird mixture of sweet and bitter that Tommy's hair have after a fresh showe) or feel his giggle against his mouth.
His world is Tommy and he never told him.
How could he have never told him?
Buck only starts breathing, living again, when he bears the crackle of the radio.
"We have a survivor, coming right up, needs an immediate transport to the hospital."
Bobby hopes, hopes to a power he barely believes in that someone up there heard him and granted a wish. It doesn't even need to be for him, just spare Buck this. He breathes and ask "Do we have an ID?"
"Firefighter Kinard. Tommy is alive.
#don't mind me and my angsty scenarios#a genuine relationship for Buck means the opportunity for yet more trauma which we all know the show won't resist#bucktommy#tommy kinard#evan buckley
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Astro Observations #19
• I’ve noticed a pattern with Air and Earth risings and their dads not physically being there in their lives or being away for long periods of time and staying for shorter periods of time.
• People with Gemini rising and mercury at Leo degrees (5, 17, 29) or with their 3rd house in Leo tend to be very animated, expressive storytellers and are great at mimicking others! If they’re into singing then they might be good at imitating the original singer of that song’s voice.
• They’re also good at making impressions of other people.😂 Same goes for Leo rising with mercury in Gemini degrees (3, 15, 27) or people with their 5H in Gemini!✨
• Another thing about people with Leo in their 3H is that they WILL be over the top or dramatic when they see fit!! I have this placement and I literally pretended to faint when I saw my mom about to hit me while holding the pan she was washing with her other hand when I was a kid.🤣
• Capricorn moon kids aren’t the mini adults I see a lot of people stereotyping especially when they have Air/Fire in their charts. 🧐 Yes they might become very responsible as kids but they can also be the loud charming ones with the funniest laughs!😂
• Most 70s music/dance show hosts had prominent Scorpio/Libra placements with a dash of Aquarius energy! E.g. Dick Clark a 70s/80s show host from American Bandstand was a Scorpio moon/venus/rising & his sun was at 7 (Libra) degree while his rising was at 11 (Aquarius) degree!! And Don Cornelius the creator and show host of Soul Train throughout 3 decades was a Libra sun/mercury/venus with an Aquarius moon at 20 (Scorpio) degree!!🤎
• They also had inner planets at 28 degree!✨
• I’ve noticed some people with Fire venuses don’t get along with their dads that much, some of them had more of the ‘tough love’ type fathers.
• The reason most air moons seem to be emotionally aloof especially Aquarius moons, is because at some point in their lives they might’ve been shown that the only way to get by is by intellect and logic. They might’ve also been told as kids that they’re being too emotional and to stop crying/being upset.
• Another is because they’ve adapted to bottling up their emotions all the time that they might not know a way to express them openly and might just internalize it.
• Earth mars artists from the late 70s/early 80s were your go-to, classic R&B artists!! E.g. Patrice Rushen, Bobby DeBarge from Switch & Teena Marie are all Capricorn mars. Tommy DeBarge from Switch, Rick James and Donna Summer were all Virgo mars. Bunny DeBarge from DeBarge & Wayne Cooper from Cameo are both Taurus mars. 🍂
• If you feel like some placements in your composite don’t really add up with your relationship then check your Davison chart because I promise it’ll feel more accurate!
• Gemini suns with Sagittarius moons are very talkative and seem so feisty!😭
• Saturn doms have very attractive/prominent body shapes!
• Aquarius suns with Aquarius mercuries are funny without trying. ✋🏽😂
• Pisces suns with Aquarius mercuries and Aries venuses be literally taking the words out my mouth and say some of the meanest things!🤣
• Aries mercuries will literally say mean things before laughing and then hit you with the “What? It’s true.”😭🤣
• Fire mars men are built different!😭 Their height/weight might often trick people into thinking they’re soft but they are SO strong.
• Venus doms, how does it feel to get more beautiful every day?
• Mercurial risings kill me!😭 Virgo risings have a hilarious sometimes dry or more introverted humor while Gemini risings can be all over the place cracking jokes and exaggerating things lol.
• What’s with 5H suns and having a thing for verbal expressions. They’re literally the types to imitate a sound track when they’re explaining things.😭😭😭
• Some Gemini risings tend to have a signature laugh or people might point out/compliment their laughter often.
• They might also have them crazy laughs too and you’ll notice it specifically when you get close to them.🤣
• That one Aquarius moon family member 🤝 every other family member always going to them when they have problems with their technology or doing something online.
• Aries venus is that one cousin that will be spontaneous and very funny when you’re both good but will mean mug and say hurtful things to you/about you when you’re not on good terms anymore.😭
#astroblr#astro community#astro posts#astro placements#astrology#astro blog#astro observations#libra rising#gemini rising#aquarius rising#capricorn moon#libra stellium#scorpio placements#aquarius placements#leo venus#aries venus#sagittarius venus#air moons#capricorn mars#virgo mars#taurus mars#gemini sun#aquarius sun#sagittarius moon#aquarius mercury#pisces sun#aries mercury#fire mars#virgo rising#rendezvous-fling
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7x07 Costume Meta
Well!!
Where does one even start with this episode!!!
We start with Hen - thats where! Well actually we start by saying that no Bobby or Athena in this meta - as they were only seen in uniform!
I also want to say - starting with this one, I'm going to have to pull back from the very full on costume meta's I've been putting out each week - work has got incredibly busy (I'm about to undertake a massive multi £million project) and I just don't have the capacity - mentally and physically or the time, to write meta for every single one of our main (and the regulars/guest) cast. These metas take a huge amount of effort and energy and while I love writing them, I need to have the time to pursue other things alongside them, (which I currently don't) and give myself time to rest - I don't want my AuDHD to spiral me into burnout.
So while I'm still going to be putting out a costume meta each week, I cannot guarantee which or how many characters and costumes I talk about - I may do all the characters but not all their costumes or just a few of the characters but all their costumes - it depends on my capacity that week. I will commit to doing Buck and Eddie every week (unles they're only in uniform) because they are the reason I started doing these metas in the forstplace and are my blorbos!
I hope you can understand and still enjoy what I do produce and my inbox will always be open if you have specific questions you'd like to ask! Thanks for understanding
Now on with the meta - below the cut as usual!
Hen
Hens costumes go on a bit of a journey in this episode
Not going to lie - this t-shirt - I am obsessed with it as a choice for Hen and for this scene. Loewe t-shirts start at $300 - I am clearly in the wrong job and universe!! But that aside - we have this bright cyan blue (because its a cyanotype design!) which means trust and loyalty, but it is combined with a cow parsley print and cow parsley in flower language means safety sanctuary and refuge - due to its prevelance in church yards and churches being places where one could seek sanctuary (hisotrically speaking). So this is hen offering all of those things to Mara (on behalf of the Wilson family) and that is just beautiful to see.
Hen in a bright pink hoodie when the pink = naivety and innocence theme we have for this season is going strong, it does also play into the idea of secrets and cheating a bit as well - as we see Deidra give them a way to contact Maras half brothers family, and the implication that Mara's mother cheated on Maras father is made clear as well.
Then we get this birth of love jumper with pink roses on a gold background. gold in colour theory mean optimism, enlightenment and prosperity and with pink roses meaning gratitude and new beginnings, the symbolism of the sweater is pretty clear - even without the words 'the birth of love' wrtien on it - along with mara being in yellow and back in contact with her baby brother, all things are looking pretty positive in the Wilson household right now!
Maddie
its all about the pale blues and lavenders for Maddie this week.
The pale blue we see Maddie in here plays into the same blue theming we've seen Buck wearing since the end of season 5 - this is all about Maddie getting some closure and moving on from her past - leaving Doug and the trauma he put her through in the past. The blue bookends that mini arc for Maddie in this episode - showing her still doing a bit of processing over her trauma surrounding Doug and his kidnapping of her.
We also get the tan coloured jacket with its golden wrm undetones - its within the brown spectrum of the colour wheel and therefore plays into the theme of stability and protection.
We also get this beautiful lavender colour in the middle of it all as well. Lavender is a colour of cleansing and tranquility - which ties in nicely to Maddies pale blue closure and moving on journey for the episode.
Buck
Buck decided to just play out the green and blue colour theme on his own this week - the dark bottle green shirt with a navy blue apron thats messy and stained is an interesting choice! This is the second time this season we've seen Buck in this dark green shade, and both times have been around Eddie and both scenes have related to issues with Eddies relationship with Marisol and the idea of keeping secrets of some description.
combine this with the other times we've seen Buck wearing this dark bottle green and things become even more interesting
-2x18 - Buck and Ali relationship end
-3x12 - skateboarding
-3x16 - when Buck takes Red to see Cindy
-5x13 - when he confesses to Taylor about kissing Lucy
-5x18 - when he breaks up with Taylor
the skateboarding scene is the only one that doesn't fully fit the bottle green narrative at play in the other three scenes - its also the only other scene where there is no blue present - Eddie is wearing white and buff, so it can be discounted from the pattern by virtue of the lack of blue.
All 4 of the other scenes involve a relationship crisis point of some description - Ali all but ends their relationship (side point here, Buck is also wearing blue and green in this scene as the hoodie is lined in navy blue).
- Red discovers Cindy has dementia and cannot remember him - ending any hope of that relationship being something he can pursue. This scene does however sit slightly apart from the later scenes as well - by virtue of Red being the character involved - and not someone Buck has a close personal relationship with - Red is a new friend.
Buck confessing he kissed Lucy puts his relationship with Taylor in jeopardy and it then ends in 5x18 - both of these scenes play into the theme of the lack of trust and of secrets on top of the relationship crisis points.
So to combine those scenes with the two from this season - all involve a crisis point in a close relationship along with secrets and to a greater or lesser extent a lack of trust, leading to a breakdown or termination of a relationship. So while on the surface this is all pointing towards some form of relationship termination, my feeling is that isn't the whole story. I do think it still points towards a relationship crisis point for Buck and Eddie (as well as Eddie and Marisol and Eddie and Kim) when the fact Eddie is cheating on Marisol comes to light, the fact that Buck is also the one wearing the blue and not Eddie, points me towards thinking that Buck will also be the one to ensure that any break between him and Eddie is only temporary - because ultimately Buck has been on both sides of the coin - he has been cheated on (Abby did't technically end their relationship so Buck was technically being cheated on) and been the one to do the cheating.
Chris
Chris is the only colour in this scene - we have Eddie in white and buff and Marisol in white and black - both effectively devoid of colour - meanwhile Chris is sat between them wearing green and red - and check gets thrown into the mix as well.
The fact he is placed directly between them for most of the scene is an indicator that it is this 'family' dynamic that is going to fall under the curse of the check pattern - the check is foreshadowing the entrance of Kim later in the scene, as well as the future end of the relationship between Eddie and Marisol and Chris and Marisol.
The green is also closer to Eddies army greens than we've seen Chris in before - playing into the idea of Chris and Eddie being similar in their behaviours and mannerisms - again its a form of foreshadowing Eddies cheating arc sitting in parallel to Chris's one.
Meanwhile the red is a signal of danger (it can mean passion, love etc as well, but in this instance - as its being used in check pattern - its more a symbol of danger - a warning!).
I'm also fascinated by the foreshadowing this outfit gives us as well - the red and green of Buck and later outfits - a signifier perhaps of the check also hinting at conflict ahead for Buck and Eddie over the fact Eddie is lying to Buck and to Chris - as the use of the two colours on all three of them in the episode (and only the three of them) really highlights them as a unit once again.
Then we have Chris in a white tee and a two tone denim jacket. I am sincerley hoping that the white tee is not a signifier of the same things as Buck being in white - Chris so rarely wears white, that I am hoping it is merely playing into the idea that Chris is a true innocent in the tangled web that Eddie is weaving - the web centred around his internalised idea that he needs to find another mother figure for Chris.
Marisol
Marisol in back and white stripes is paying into stripe theory rather nicely - its indicating that change is coming. We see the beginnings of that change later in the scene with the introduction of Kim. The choice to have the stripes in black and white is also telling - its a literal representation of things being black and white and plays into the theme of Eddie and Marisol's relationship lacking colour - its very telling that both her and Eddie have worn black and or white around each other far more than any other colours, I'm not saying we haven't seen them in other colours - we have - Marisol has also worn the bright pink top in 7x01 and the blue dressing gown (and the blue top from later) and Eddie has worn his army green but the fact of the matter is that black and white are the over arching colours the two of them wear in relation to one another and tied into that is the fact that none of the scenes she has been involved in have been about establishing her as a character in her own right - all of her scenes have been set up for either Chris or Eddie - the audience is being given very little to endear her to them and the black and white also plays that out - in fact we have had more establishment of Eddie and Tommy as friends in one episode than we have had of Eddie and Marisol as a couple across multiple episodes.
There is also the fact that white means purity and innocence - which as a novice nun is on theme for her - but it also plays into the idea that she is also an innocent party in the road Eddie is about to send them on.
We also get more Marisol in Blue - its a bright blue that is very reminiscent of the bright blue that the Virgin Mary is depicted wearing in Catholic art - it plays into the theme of Eddies Catholic guilt that was established in 7x05 when Eddie found out she was a novice nun - its just yet more layering of this positioning her as a representation of the Catholic faith - as a representation of purity and goodness - she is intentionally meant to seen bland and too good an pure - its her literal narrative purpose.
Kim
Ok sooo Kim the Shannon Doppelgänger! They've done a great job with costuming her to make her look very differnet to Shannon - which is a key thing. To start with all the colours we've seen her in so far sit on the opposite side of the colour wheel from Shannon - who was much more in the yellow orange and pink side of the wheel, while Kim here sits in the blue side of the wheel - interestingly the same side of the Wheel that Buck sits on. I've spoken at length about How Buck in the pale blues we've seen him wearing since the end of season five was about his journey of self discovery and figuring out who he is and what he wants - about moving forward and leaving the past in the past. The same could be said for Eddie here its just manifesting in a very differnet way - Kim is a projection of Shannon, so moving on from Shannon and leaving her ghost in the past is what Eddies journey is all about.
I am fascinated by the fact that this suit choice - with its vertical striped pattern and white shirt underneath also plays into 6x01 Buck and the lasagne of it all - especially considering we see Buck attempting a new lasagne later in the episode - there is something in the concept that Buck getting his lasagne right in that blue zip front jacket when Eddie is there to eat it, and then not getting the new lasagne he is trying out right when Eddie is not going to be eating it - things being successful and right when the three of them are together as the Buckley-Diaz family, but not being successful or right when one of them isn't present.
This as a concept places Buck along side Shannon - something we've already seen explicitly stated on screen in this season and in direct contrast to Kim - because not only is Kim a doppelgänger for Shannon, she becomes a doppelgänger for buck as well.
The blue and white striped top in the second Kim scene also mirrors Buck costumes from season 6 - the vertical stripes and the use of blue and white - it further emphasises the paralleling of the pair of them - because the implications are clear - Eddie thinking he's found this second chance with Shannon - a second chance at happiness with when the reality is that Buck has been there all along - it plays perfectly into the Vertigo arc that Tim is using as well - Buck in the place of Midge - the best friend but the actual right fit for Eddie who has been there all along.
This black sheer top and leather jacket with the knotted updo is playing into so many themes that it makes me happy! the first and most obvious one is that its a very stereotypical 'other woman' outfit - the sophisticated seductress. It also plays her into the opposite of Shannon - dark versus light - all the flashbacks of Shannon we saw in this episode were brightly lit and bathed in light - giving her an angelic and heavenly aura - a play on her status as an angel (both in terms of her being dead, but also in terms of Eddie having rose tinted glasses on in regards to their relationship and her as a person - that common trait of making saints of the dead - especially when their death was traumatic and left things unfinished - as we have with Eddie)- Kim her is lit far more darkly and the glow of the light has a much more orange and therefore darker tone to it - its a play on temptation - the updo and leather also give her a slightly serpent like air - she is Eve tempting Adam to eat the fruit - it is serpent like. This theme plays on the other religious theme we've had established around Eddie - with Marisol being placed into this Virgin Mary role - here we have Kim being placed into her opposition as the devil - I am not saying she is evil - this is about Eddie being tempted by trying to get back what he has lost - she is a physical manifestation of what is happening - of Eddies internal struggles with his catholic guilt - much in the same way Marisol is a manifestation of the opposite side of that catholic guilt coin - they are the extremes that are pulling on Eddie in physical form and Eddie needs to find the balance.
Eddie
Boy oh boy do we have a lot to talk about with Eddie this week!1
There are three key themes at play with Eddie in his costuming this week and its so so good, I'm obsessed with the choices being made.
Starting out with this white tee and buff suede jacket which ties into three separate scenes which are key in relation to Christopher and Eddies relationships with women and the the theme of Eddie looking for a mother for him.
up first - the moment Eddie lets Shannon back into Christophers life - this one is pretty obvious on the mother front - Eddie is literally letting Christophers actual mother back into his life. this jacket is closer to brown than the buff colour of the one above, but it still plays into the theme - its the point at which the theme is established.
Then we have Eddies talk with Bobby about Shannon and re proposing to her as well as the possibly of her being pregnant again. Its a key turning point in his the relationship with Shannon - it is the moment that idealisation starts to creep into Eddies perspective on her and the moment when past, present and future collide - the concept of having Shannon and not having Shannon.
Finally we have the skateboarding scene - which while being a key moment of bonding as the Buckely-Diaz dynamic continues to be established in season 3. The jacket here is the closest to the one from 7x07 and this scene comes on the back of a couple of scenes with Ana - who was wearing pale blue in one and white (with red flowers) in the second.
All of these scenes when combined with the scenes from 7x07 establish this white tee - buff/beige jacket or shirt colour way as being about Christopher and Eddies desire to give him a mother figure - that the final scene - the skateboard scene very clearly shows Buck becoming a key figure in Christophers upbringing in a far more visual and physical way - Eddie is and active participant rather than standing on the sidelines as he is in all the others - along with the choice to show buck in the dark green in the same episodes - showing Buck in a semi parental role back then to show him in an even more parental role in this one (the 'we won't wait up' was a definite choice on the script front when it had been established that Chris was staying over at Bucks and Eddie wasn't returning until the following day) - especially when you also have Chris wearing red in both episodes.
Eddie in a black shirt - one that is the same as the one from 7x06.
There is a lot at play with this black shirt, and a lot at play with black on Eddie more widely, but first up - The Christopher watch. It was so very present in this episode - the shirt cuff has been tucked underneath the watch to ensure that it is visible - because they want to ensure that we see that Christopher is still front and centre in Eddies mind through all of this - it is an indicator that Eddie is not dating any of these women for himself - they are all in one way or another for Chris.
The clincher on the watch front is that the first time we see it is when he goes on his first date with Ana - the first time he is trying to 'recapture' the magic he had with Shannon and the first time he starts dating to try and give Chris a mother figurre. The fact it is so present when he goes back to the store to see Kim the Shannon doppelgänger is proof enough that this is as much about Chris as it is Eddie - the ghost of Shannon continues to loom large in both of their lives and Eddie is very much still trying to find her again for the both of them.
The other - slightly more unhinged aspect of this is that he wears the Christopher watch out to his date with Kim later on - making it still about Christopher. The reason this is unhinged is that the one time we have seen Eddie go out on something resembling a date and not wear the Christopher watch was the poker night with Buck - I said at the time the fact that both Eddie and buck were wearing new watches was important - here we start to see its significance play out - that poker night was for Eddie (and Buck), not for Christopher in any way - if Marisol or Kim were meant to be endgame or even truly long term - then he would be wearing that watch on his dates with one of them - the fact he hasn't speaks volumes (and speaks volumes for the buddie of it all!).
the shirt itself being worn for this meeting and coming off the back of two key scenes in 7x06 tells its own story. Whilst Bucks coming out to Eddie scene is about his coming out, it is also about establishing Eddie not knowing/realising that Tommy was gay, as well as about the idea of
His wearing it to reverse his relationship with Marisol back to them not living together - to start over is obvious - the magic with her wasn't magicking, but because of his determination (subconsciously) to find a mother for Chris he rewinds rather than ending the relationship. This remains the key scene for this shirt in that episode and ties into his wearing it in this one - its all about rewinding the clock and trying again.
The thing with Eddie in black (apart from the singlets which are their own themed thing - although it still ties into the wider Eddie in black theme) is that its a colour he has worn so specifically in relation to his mental health and in connection with Christopher (and Shannon).
I'm not going to go through every instance of him wearing black - it would take way to long, but I am going to pick out a few key moments when he is wearing it - specifically shirts
2x17 - the reproposal/ divorce scene
3x12 - parent teacher night at school - mets Ana for the first time
3x15 - Christopher birth (flash back scene)
4x13 - follow your heart not Christophers scene
5x01 - Panic attack scene
5x10 - tells Carla about the hostage situation - after Chris's meltdown
5x17 - Ramons retirement party
We also have him in 6x11 in his widows weeds at Bucks bedside and in 6x17 a long sleeved waffle tee when he 're' meets Marisol at the DIY store
In regards to Marisol - he has worn black more than any other colour in relation to her (not that they've had many scenes together, but half of their scenes have been in black, and that includes their 're' meeting in the hardware store - not technically their first meeting, but Eddie was in uniform the first time they met.
The black is playing two roles with Eddie - there is the fact that it has duel meaning - it is associated with magic - specifically dark magic as well as darkness/depression, secrets and power.
I know I haven't listed all of the scenes he wears black and long sleeves above - but the fact that those scenes I've listed are so very central to Eddie, fatherhood and the various women in his life is pretty telling. The fact that both Ana and Marisol were both met in scenes where he was in black or that so many of the other scenes were connected to pivotal moments in his relationships with all three women (Shannon, Ana and Marisol) - in the same way the the dark green has been for Buck - and the fact that so many of the scenes tie into the theme of his heart and not following it plays into this idea that he is in mourning - that his grief is central to all of these relationships - and that includes this new one with Kim.
Setting his first meeting (as in actual conversation) with Kim against this backdrop of his previous relationships, grief and his 'struggle's with fatherhood (including his relationship with his own father) sets this relationship off on the wrong foot regardless of the cheating aspect or the fact she is Shannons doppelgänger.
Sorry, both the pictures from 7x07 have terrible lighting - it was basically impossible to get a good still of either shirt that showed off the colour!!!! I am however obsessed with the choice to put Eddie in maroon twice in this episode - and in long sleeves at that!
The reason for my obsession - the way it plays into yet another Christopher theme. Eddie wearing Maroon long sleeved shirts (espeically Henleys) in relation to Christopher and his choices as a parent. So in this Episode it happens twice - we have his meal in the Diaz kitchen with Marisol, and then at the end of the Episode - his date with Kim - While neither scene directly involves Chris, both play into this idea of everything Eddie does in terms of his relationships in connected to Chirs - he daydreams about bringing Shannon back into Christophers life - in a better more honest way than he actually managed to do in the real world (proof of his rose tinted glasses being firmly on when it comes to Shannon) - righting the wrongs he feels he did her, then later on he drops Chris off with Buck (the other actual parental figure in Chris's life) before going on a secret date wit ha woman who looks like Shannon and Eddie is viewing as a second chance - a second chance not just for himself, but also for Chris - because Chris is missing his mom - something the show established early on in the season and the trigger that is sending Eddie into this current spiral.
All of the scenes Eddie has worn this colour in previously (by this I mean without the presence of other colours via jackets etc) - and they're aren't that many - are deeply connected to Chris and Eddies struggles with fatherhood.
We have this scene from 2x10 when Chris confesses his Christmas wish is to have his mom back - which leads to Eddie feeling guilty about his choices as a father and ultimately leads to Shannons return to Christophers life.
then we have Fight club Eddie in the aftermath of nearly killing a man from 3x08 - This is the only other time we see him in a Henley and the fact that the conversation he has with Bobby is so heavily intertwined with the concept of Eddie needing to be in control for Christopher - he is once again at the heart of the scene, even in his physical absence from it. It is also turning out to be an even more key scene - Bobby makes the all important comment
'Eddie I just want to make sure you don't think you have to lose everything, before you can allow yourself to feel anything'
this line is very much coming into play now - Eddie did not listen to Bobbys advice and is now setting himself on a course to lose everything. That implies that he will then finally start to feel things - able to move past his continued grief and build a future for himself. The overarching implication is that Eddie has remained in fight club mode since this scene - just that the fight club is internalised and with himself - his failings as a husband and father.
Chris goes off to summer camp in 3x18 - again a scene about Chris and Eddies role as father
and finally his first date with Ana - this scene while not obviously about Chris in the moment - is in fact all about Chris - we see it borne out over the course of Eddies relationship with Ana, but the key factor is that this is the first time we see Eddie wearing a different watch to his work watch - a second watch - his Christopher watch - which I explained the significance of above.
I've also included this tee from 6x12 because although it has short sleeves rather than long ones, it is adjacent to all of the above - he is making Christophers lunch while he and Buck talk later on after Buck has enjoyed his nap on Eddies couch, but it is also the closest they have come to talking about the will. Eddie is also not wearing a watch at all at this point - in a precursor to the poker date two episodes later, this moment - about letting yourself feel things rather than boxing them up inside feels like a key counterpoint to the reality of Eddies arc for this season.
The other thing about the red shirt black jacket combination along with all the above, is that it also juxtaposes the date with Vanessa that Pepa set him up on - the idea of wanting to be on a date versus not wanting to be on a date, whilst also ensuring black is a central theme with Eddies costuming arc this season.
Thats all for this week - Sorry again that it took so long to get written and posted - but I hope you enjoyed it none the less!
Tagged people below!
@theladyyavilee @mistmarauder @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @bewilderedbuckley @spotsandsocks
@bewitchedbewilderedbisexual @rogerzsteven @wanderingwomanwondering
@oneawkwardcookie @leothil @copyninjabuckley @shammers86 @crazyfangirlallert @missmagooglie @katyobsesses
@radiation-run @gayandbifiremenofmine @bi-moonlight @crazyaboutotps @princesschez75 @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove
@sherlocking-out-loud @satashiiwrites @lover-of-mine @yramesoruniverse @extasiswings @favouritealias @pop-kam @b-dwolf @maygrcnt
#kym costume meta#911 costume meta#911 costumes#911 colour theory#911 abc#eddie diaz#evan buckley#marisol nolastname#Kim#shannon Diaz#maddie buckley#christopher diaz#hen wilson#off to lie down after the struggle that writing this one was!#I hope the tagging works - its being weird again - grrrr to the tumblr gremlins!
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Bobby's 2023 Media Wrap-Up
So! Like I said before, this past year I kept a running list of everything I watched, every game I finished, every new album I listened to, etc., and wrote one-paragraph blurbs with my thoughts on every single one. Please enjoy this journey through everything I liked, or didn't like, in 2023, with my favorites of the year listed at the bottom.
(Yes! This is long!!)
Some notes:
I mainly only included things I finished. Exceptions are marked with an asterisk.
I included some YouTube stuff as "TV shows" - mostly particularly long, high effort video essays and documentaries.
I was a bit less adventurous than I'd like to have been this year. Part of this was just that I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up with Big Releases I felt obligated to check out, and part of this was just executive dysfunction from burnout. Wait until you see how long it took me to beat Mario Wonder lmao
Yes, I need to read more books. I don't read a lot of books these days. I need to get back to Discworld.
COLOR KEY
Video Games • TV / Web Video • Movies • Comics • Music
January
1/15: Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (MSQ) - Very slow at times, the Primal shit is generally extremely lame to me outside of the boss fights themselves, but god if the quality of life improvements over WoW, the JRPG energy, and the fact that it Actually Has A Story carry it pretty hard.
1/18: Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island miniseries - One of the most creative and compelling uses of the Sonic IP… ever? Fantastic little self-contained arc about the struggles of Eggman’s abandoned creations that gracefully weaves between heartfelt optimism and moody horror with some of the best art ever seen in a Sonic comic.
1/18: Mega Man X4 - Glad I finally actually beat this after never even beating any of the Mavericks as a kid! I can see why it’s a lot of peoples’ favorites. The gameplay has very little of that X series bloat and is just fun, especially after getting X’s armor upgrades. (But the story really is a long series of missed opportunities.)
February
2/2: Donks - Felix Colgrave continues to be an exceptional artist. The sound design on this is fantastic and really sells this short as something unique. Had to go back and watch his older stuff again after this.
2/4: Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (3.0 - 3.3 MSQ) - I get it now. I get why people say this is just a proper mainline Final Fantasy game built into the framework of an MMO. That shit ruled. Not even walking back the drama in Ul’Dah from the end of ARR can sour me on it because the main storyline was so strong.
2/8: Disneyland's Forgotten Sci-Fi Rock Band - Live From the Space Stage - A nice and honest tribute to a group of artists who could have easily been forgotten. In hindsight this feels like a precursor to Kevin’s Disney Channel jingle video, a tribute to the unsung artists pouring their hearts into “lesser” art for a megacorporation, art that was designed to be transient but sticks with people nonetheless.
2/9: Metroid Prime Remastered* - Not gonna finish because I just played through the Wii version in 2021, but still. Very, very pretty remaster.
2/16: Theatrhythm Final Bar Line - It’s more Theatrhythm. What more could I want
2/17: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean (anime) - Probably the best part of the anime so far (assuming they continue on to SBR). A near perfect mix of the more structured plot of part 5 with the goofiness of parts 3 and 4 that crescendos into a fantastic, bombastic, emotional, bittersweet ending. The use of footage from the original opening and the new ending set to Roundabout in the finale were perfect, and made me intensely nostalgic for the early days of my JoJo fandom between seasons 1 and 2 of the anime.
2/22: Aggretsuko Season 5 - I don’t really know what to make of this one. Once you get past the agonizing initial arc all about Haida where Retsuko has to be his overbearing mommy GF who flips out and starts spying on him when she’s left on read and chides him when he misbehaves, it feels like an improvement over the previous seasons. But I don’t know how much of that is due to the extremely low bar set by season 4. And then the ending is extremely rushed and anticlimactic. They got legally married and the only acknowledgement was a shot of them signing the paperwork in a montage partway through the final episode?????????
2/24: Double Fine PsychOdyssey - God, what a journey the making of this game was. I already loved 2 Player’s past efforts at documenting Double Fine’s process, but this takes it to a whole new level. This feels culturally significant. The depth and honesty with which they depict not just the nitty gritty of making a game, but also the inherent struggles of working on a collaborative creative work for years at a time, is astounding. Not to mention that they were there to capture the shift from office life to remote work as COVID hit. So much of this would have been nightmarishly stressful to watch if I didn’t already know how successful the game was, but that’s just because they really didn’t sugarcoat it. And yet even after all that, it leaves me feeling optimistic about video games as an art form in a way that the constant headlines about cynical live service games don’t. There are still people out there pouring their hearts into making real art, and this is their story. Everyone who plays video games should watch this.
2/25: Cracker Island (Gorillaz) - New Gorillaz albums feel like less of an event these days, but after Humanz it feels like they’re just more chill with the project and their ambitions with it. Every couple years we get some more laid back jams from Damon along with some fun new collabs. Hard to complain. Favorite track: New Gold
2/25: Pool Kids (Pool Kids) - I discovered this band because Derek knows them and was excited when they got a song added to Fortnite through the Bandcamp collab. Always down to find more cool indie rock bands I can vibe with. The mix of dreamy vocals and energetic riffs on some of the tracks here almost fill the Crying-shaped hole in my heart. Almost… Favorite track: Conscious Uncoupling
2/25: Insane in the Rain (insaneintherainmusic) - I thought it was really funny timing when Carlos announced that his first original project would be a jazz fusion album inspired by acts like T-Square and Casiopea right as I was getting into those two specific bands. The final product does not disappoint. Favorite track: Insane in the Rain
2/26: Get Up Sequences Part Two (The Go! Team) - I’ve never been one to believe that a band’s sound has to remain exactly the same forever, but it really does hit you hard that the first two tracks here sound like classic The Go! Team. Their more recent cleaner sound is still here too, though, for a nice mix of old and new. Favorite track: Divebomb
2/28: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 1) - Oh my god. Oh my god. I got distracted around the time I was finishing SLARPG, but finally catching up now, wow. My assumption that the seemingly lighter tone of the series compared to the prologue was there to lull us into a false sense of security before twisting the knife when war finally breaks out was spot on. This is peak Gundam.
March
3/4: Pizza Tower - One of the best platformers I’ve played in a long time. It transcends its blatant Wario Land inspirations with the sheer speed at which Peppino can move and the way things like the level design, his wall running, and even the hidden ability to do a second lap around the level reward getting into a flow state where you’re just constantly moving. This is the type of game that wants to turn you into a speedrunner. My only real complaint is a few iffy enemy designs that I wish would get patched.
3/6: Bloons TD 6 * - I bought this before bed one night on a nostalgic whim and then the next morning woke up and saw the Steam receipt email on my phone in one of the most “what did I do last night” moments of my life. I like when the monkeys pop the balloons.
3/7: The Book of Boba Fett - I put off finishing this show for a very long time but finally caved upon the release of The Mandalorian season 3. This show spends four episodes failing to make me give a shit about Boba Fett trying to be “the daimyo” and drive the drug trade off of Tatooine, then just gives up and becomes season 2.5 of Mando, which in turn feels like it undercuts the main series. It fails as both its own story and as a spinoff. I know that finishing this after Andor did it no favors, but WHOOF.
3/12: Obi-Wan Kenobi - Some interesting ideas in the first half hinting at a more introspective show, but it’s mostly swept aside in the back half so it can become a generic Star Wars adventure remixing things from A New Hope and Rebels (and apparently Jedi: Fallen Order). Action scenes have zero stakes because you know nothing can happen to any of the returning characters and none of the new ones are particularly interesting. Why there’s a second climax hinging on a Luke Skywalker death fakeout eludes me. Obi-Wan throwing the rocks at Vader is one of the funniest things in Star Wars history. But it was still better than Book of Boba Fett, I guess.
3/19: The King of Braves GaoGaiGar - Wow, cool robot indeed… GaoGaiGar isn’t going to blow anyone away with its writing, but sometimes you just need a really fun monster of the week mecha show with great action and lovably goofy characters. This is a show where like 20% of every episode consists of recycled transformation, combination, and signature attack sequences and I ate it up every time because they look fucking cool as hell. I don’t care. I’d watch Final Fusion another 49 times.
3/21: The Last of Us (HBO) * - Watched the first two episodes out of curiosity, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue because I don’t give a shit about The Last of Us. It’s definitely a well done adaptation, though, even if I know it’s inevitably going to devolve into miserable torture porn with questionable politics if they adapt Part II faithfully. The ending of episode 2 also lines up perfectly with where I stopped in the game in 2013 lmao
3/27: The Future is a Dead Mall - Decentraland and the Metaverse (Folding Ideas) - Another banger from Dan Olson. This time the premise inherently gives him more time to just show off a bunch of stupid ugly bullshit made by crypto guys, which is fun. My main complaint was that I wished he would’ve brought up Second Life more as a point of comparison (a thing I basically always want out of discussion of “the metaverse”), but he at least did touch on it in the last section.
3/31: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - I can’t believe after years of begging for the supporting cast to get more and better material in a Sonic game I got my wish in the form of a freeware murder mystery VN released for April Fools. This kicked ass.
April
4/7: Berserk - Completed Miura’s run and caught up on the chapters that have been released posthumously. It’s hard to say anything that hasn’t been said about Berserk, universally agreed upon as one of the greats of manga and fantasy fiction as a whole. What begins in its first few volumes as a nihilistic and edgy action comic built to facilitate as much sex and gore as possible quickly evolves into something deeply human and vulnerable and beautiful, both figuratively and in terms of its lavish art. The world sucks and is immeasurably cruel, and you will see that cruelty illustrated in graphic, sickening detail repeatedly throughout the series. (Perhaps a little too often throughout the Golden Age, where it feels like Miura never misses an opportunity to threaten Casca with sexual assault mid-battle.) But the point isn’t to wallow in that misery. It’s the story of a victim of horrific abuse learning to slowly open up to others, having those people he cares about torn away from him in the worst night of his life, hardening himself into a cold killing machine, and then slowly learning to open back up again, even if it means leaving himself vulnerable to more hurt. Anyone who says that the series peaked with the eclipse and went downhill in the “Guts’ JRPG Party” era is missing the point. Guts needed to find new people in his life to care about, to begin to find happiness again. Because no matter what unspeakable things Guts has gone through, it’s still possible for him to heal and to be loved. It takes time, but eventually you stop and realize that life has moved on.
4/8: Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe - Skipped it upon release because I didn’t particularly care for the minigame in Triple Deluxe, and I didn’t miss much. It’s fine as a little distraction, but not as a standalone rhythm game with only seven songs. If you don’t bother with the hard modes or chase after high scores this game is 15 minutes long. Oh how I yearn for Kirby to get the Theatrhythm treatment.
4/10: The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar FINAL - Eh… It was okay. Lots of cool robot fights, but said fights are stitched together with a mediocre plot that tries too hard to be more “mature” than its unabashedly schlocky kids’ show predecessor. Not crazy about the ending, either, which tries to be a bittersweet farewell closing off the series once and for all while also teasing that maybe there’ll be ANOTHER sequel after the OVA series they literally called “FINAL.” Ah well.
4/11: The Owl House - Sad to see this one go, but it’s hard to imagine them doing a better finale than this, even if they had gotten the six seasons they deserved. I’m not as obsessed with The Owl House as I probably would’ve been had it come out when I was, like, 20, but it’s a really fantastic show for all the reasons people always say. Great characters, great world, great story. I love that this starry-eyed fantasy story about a teenager finding love and a place where she belongs is also set on the rotting corpse of a titan with Hieronymous Bosch-inspired scenery and freaky monsters everywhere. What a great mix. If anything, I just wish I would’ve watched the first season as it aired so I could’ve had more time with it.
4/29: Mega Man Battle Network 3: Blue Version - FINALLY beat this via the new collection, 20 years after playing it as my first Mega Man game. (Technically my first was White, not Blue, but whatever.) There are more annoyances than I remember - lots of really really bad forced backtracking sections where you have to revisit every previous part of the internet, low chip drop rates, some really aggravating bosses like BubbleMan and KingMan, etc. But it’s still a great time overall. It’s Battle Network. In the back half the story gets surprisingly emotional, too. I was always under the assumption that the Hub stuff never came back up much in the story after 1, so I was pleasantly surprised with how relevant it was to the emotional arc of 3.
4/30: Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun * - Yeah I’m not playing through the whole thing lmao. I just wanted to play the first couple hours for nostalgia’s sake, and as a baseline for how much better the rest are. Even before getting deep in the game and having to deal with all the shit gated between doing two new game+ playthroughs, it’s immediately obvious how much of a downgrade this one is. Tons of glaring errors and typos all over the script, blander music, a way more boring aesthetic for the internet, and a premise that mostly just recycles the tournament idea from 3.
May
5/14: The Venture Bros. - Glad I finally sat down and watched all of this with Anthony after having seen one (1) episode as a teenager and a bunch of random clips in the years since. Great show. Some jokes in the early seasons haven’t aged gracefully, but what the show grows into over time... man. Hank and Dean go from being the butt of the joke to being characters you actually sympathize with - while still also being funny little goofballs. And the journey Henchman 21 goes on throughout the show. Man. Amazing that a comedy like this could run for 20 years and maintain its level of quality. Can’t wait for the movie.
5/18: Future Me Hates Me (The Beths) - Okay yeah I’m now just discovering bands through Fortnite lmao. I can’t complain really, they pick some really great indie artists for the in-game radio stations. Anyway: It’s very easy to win me over with a combination of energetic power pop, catchy guitar riffs, and earnest lyrics like this. One of those albums where three or four tracks in I know I have to buy it. Favorite track: Not Running
5/18: Jump Rope Gazers (The Beths) - Ditto. Favorite track: Dying to Believe
5/18: Expert In A Dying Field (The Beths) - Another good album. (I’m listening to these in release order.) I’ve been a bit slower to warm up to this one, initially thinking it was a little too mellow overall, but it might be my favorite after a few listens. Some real high highs. Interestingly, the lead singer’s New Zealand accent is also coming out more in her singing? Favorite track: Your Side (or maybe Head in the Clouds)
5/19: The Super Mario Bros. Movie - As a Mario fan, I think I enjoyed it? As a movie, less so? It was decent, in spite of feeling like they came up with a list of fun action setpieces first and then wrote the absolute bare minimum possible for the story scenes tying it all together. Full thoughts here. (This is the first movie I’ve seen this year, huh? I really don’t watch a lot of movies.)
5/23: Don't Know What You're In Until You're Out (Gladie) - I feel like I don’t like Gladie as much as I should. Their style of noisy indie rock is very much in my wheelhouse, and I do enjoy listening to them, but I dunno. Maybe it’s that the particular style of vocals makes it more monotonous to me. A good album nonetheless, if not 100% my thing. Favorite track: Nothing
5/24: City Slicker (Ginger Root) - Yes I am still making my way through Bandcamp artists I heard on Fortnite don’t @ me. Any excuse to get me to listen to some cool city pop-inspired funk like this is a good excuse. Favorite track: Loretta
5/24: Rikki (Ginger Root) - Favorite track: Why Try
5/25: Spotlight People (Ginger Root) - Favorite track: The Classic
5/29: Succession - A good dramedy series that increasingly focuses more on the drama than the comedy as it progresses, but it’s hard to complain about that since the drama is so compellingly produced. I enjoyed it. That being said, I kind of rankle at the claims that it’s The Greatest TV Show Of All Time. It’s great, don’t get me wrong. Amazing performances all around. But the show LOVES to spin its wheels, to repeat itself, and to let most of its interesting dramatic developments fizzle out before anything really comes of them, almost as if the show is constantly getting bored with its own ideas. To some extent this is intentional - Logan Roy is the untouchable billionaire, his kids fail at everything (but will nonetheless remain billionaires), and in the long run none of them really give a shit about anything other than their own status. But it’s not like things tend to visibly impact anyone else, either, be they supporting characters or the world at large. Even the Big Scary Election, where the Roy siblings are directly responsible for plunging the nation into chaos, ultimately has zero impact on the finale a mere two episodes later. Certain Other Things do have an impact in the last season, though, allowing things to meaningfully change for the cast and for the show to sit with the ensuing drama, which has stopped me from souring on Succession more. There was finally a payoff for something. But it does still kind of feel like a show that goes in circles until it’s ready to call it quits, even if those circles did contain a lot of great acting and music along the way.
5/29: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts - I’d watched the first 12 episodes when they originally released, but I guess the Netflix binge release and the fact that all three “seasons” came out in one year led to me waiting until it finished… and then I just never got around to finishing it. Glad I fixed that! Really fun and stylish cartoon with an art style reminiscent of Teen Titans, a hip hop-filled soundtrack, dynamic fight scenes, and a colorful post-apocalyptic world filled with mutant (mostly anthropomorphic) animals. I’ll admit that at times I do kinda roll my eyes at Kipo’s unshakeable belief that everyone can be friends in a way that I don’t necessarily with similar shows like Steven Universe, and not every joke lands, but I dunno. It’s a kids’ show. That’s to be expected. It doesn’t detract from the overall package for me.
June
6/1: Craig of the Creek (Season 4) - It’s been years and I’m still processing the fact that kids can turn on Cartoon Network and hear Jeff Rosenstock. Anyway! Craig continues to be one of the best cartoons on TV, consistently funny and creative and way more engaging than a show about a bunch of kids LARPing in the woods has any right to be. This season turned into One Piece with the gang effectively hunting down the Poneglyphs in search of a legendary treasure. The kids think it’ll be magic. It isn't. An increasing number of cartoon logic gags aside, this show is firmly set in the real world. Does that make it any less interesting? Hell no. Season 3 turned a game of capture the flag into an all-out five episode war between the heroes and villains, filled with dramatic turnabouts and a climactic guest appearance from Del the Funky Homosapien. I’m sure however they wrap things up in the (sadly shortened) final season, it’ll be great. (Also? I would watch a whole show based on that “what if” episode that jumped forward to everyone’s 20s.)
6/6: Barry - Holy shit, what a show. I ended up binging it in less than a week in a cycle of “okay, just one more episode.” The way this show is able to swing between tones and genres while still feeling like a cohesive whole is truly masterful. It’s a layered character drama, a tragic crime thriller, a farcical comedy, an understated action series, a surrealist morality play, and a scathing satire of Hollywood, all in one. Even within the criminal underworld subplots the show ranges in tone from Breaking Bad to Paddington 2. And it works! While the show naturally gets bleaker over time as it confronts the repercussions of Barry’s murders, it never completely loses sight of its comedic roots. My favorite episode was easily season 2’s “ronny/lily,” a mostly self-contained episode that somehow manages to keep throwing the perfect curveballs to escalate its dark comedy.
6/12: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) - Y’all heard of this movie? Pretty good, it turns out. (I’d seen the theatrical cut before, but this was my first time watching the extended edition. I’ve also only seen parts of the other two movies, so it’s time I finally watch all the extended cuts. The Gollum game pushed me to this.)
6/13: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) - give it to us RAW and WRIGGLING
6/17: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Extended Edition) - I’m not crying YOU’RE crying
6/22: Clone High (Season 2) - While the first episode being about “cancel culture” (or, more accurately, a teenager from 2003 being transported to 2023 and putting his foot in his mouth a lot) put a lot of people off, I ended up enjoying the new season of Clone High. The new clones grew on me as the season went on and their roles in the web of teen romance melodrama crystalized, and it made me laugh a lot, and Cleo/Frida is galaxy brained. Also they played one of my favorite Antarctigo Vespucci songs like a minute into the first episode. I don’t think I could really ask for much more.
6/28: The Mandalorian (Season 3) - I'd been watching this weekly but put off the last episode for no real reason. Responses to this season have been all over the place, but my blistering hot take is… it was fine. Is it as good as the first season? Probably not. But Mando no longer needs to carry the whole franchise on its shoulders and set the bar for how good the live action Disney Star Wars shows can be, because Andor exists, and it’s never gonna top Andor. The Mandalorian is free to just be a pulpy space adventure show where Giancarlo Esposito plays a scenery-chewing cartoon villain and a little puppet does wire stunts. These are things Andor cannot and should not do, but that’s Star Wars, baby. It’s delightful. I could watch Grogu get underhand tossed like a sack of flour all day.
July
7/2: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (Season 2) - LOVE WINS. (More nuanced take from way later: It definitely feels like a lot of the more messy political conflicts in this show got swept aside by the big final battle where some more easily resolved family conflicts take center stage. I’m not sure the ending is the most satisfying. But also this show only got half the episode count that damn near every other Gundam show ever made got, so that might be a factor here. Idk. Still one of my favorite Gundams.)
7/4: Final Fantasy XVI (watched Anthony play) - I had to write my longest Medium article ever about this one because I was so frustrated
7/10: Home Movies - “Things I like that I’ve never seen in full” has certainly been a recurring theme this year. Home Movies remains an all-time classic of animated comedy that went out on a high note before things got stale or the characters became parodies of themselves. While it’s mostly known for its funny improvised banter, throughout the last season you can really see the arc where Brendon no longer enjoys making movies, yet he feels obligated to keep using them to escape from the real world. In that light, the ending where the nature of their dysfunctional makeshift family is cemented, Brendon’s camera suddenly breaks, and life moves on really does feel like the perfect note to end on. Truly one of the best to ever do it.
7/15: The Legend of Zelda - Tears of the Kingdom - Wow. Just… wow. I had serious doubts about TotK in the months leading up to release due to how close Nintendo was playing their cards to their chest. I didn’t want this to be a Saints Row IV, where the game is fun enough but the recycled map makes it feel like a rehash. Instead, I found a game that made me look at BotW’s map in a whole new light, brimming with so many more things to do and people to meet. Add on a better, more versatile set of tools, more varied dungeons and bosses, and a story that I felt was told somewhat better and we’ve got a real contender for my new favorite Zelda game. It was hard to tear myself away, but as this list shows, it’s been basically the only game I’ve played since it came out.
7/16: Sonic Prime (Season 2) - I liked the parts with Shadow and Chaos Sonic, but I’ve come to the sad conclusion that most of this show is just mediocre. More thoughts here.
7/18: We ♥ Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie - “I’m a dog, but I love Katamari Damacy.” Truer words have never been spoken.
7/19: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Pretty good! It didn’t blow me away, but after how bad the Bay movies got I’m just thankful to have a decently cohesive Transformers movie where the human story is okay and I like the bots (although half of them needed more screen time), even if it is just another Hollywood blockbuster about two sides fighting over a macguffin that devolves into a big CGI battle against an army of nameless monsters in the third act. This is basically a mid-tier MCU movie but with Transformers, which won’t do much for most people, but again: the bar was underground.
7/22: The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart - God DAMN. A phenomenal ending for the series. While I would have loved to see a full final season to get some more one-off episodes in there, this doesn’t feel creatively compromised in any way–either due to the time constraints, or due to a desire to make it more marketable as a movie. It really does feel like they just took their outlines for the canceled final season and gently massaged them into the shape of an 84-minute movie, and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s completely on par with the previous seasons. A hilarious and fitting sendoff for one of the greats of adult animation.
7/23: Beautiful Katamari - This was one of my first Xbox 360 games, but a frustrating temperature-based level made me put it down for 16 years. “Maybe it won’t be as bad now that I’ve beaten the first two games and am better at Katamari,” I thought. Nope! Still an absolutely dogshit level. But also, turns out the whole game is only like two hours long lmao. It’s still Katamari, so it’s still fun - the final level in particular, which seamlessly takes you from ground level all the way to space, feels like a logical endpoint for the series - but beyond that it just doesn't have the same soul without Keita Takahashi's input.
August
8/4: Doom Singer (Chris Farren) - I’ve been waiting so long for Chris and Jeff to do another Antarctigo Vespucci album, but god damn. This is the best of Chris’s solo work, and a contender for his best record, period. Every track’s a banger, with more energy than some of his previous solo work but also a good deal of variety. Favorite tracks: First Place, Cosmic Leash
8/4: Transformers Earthspark (Season 1) - This show had a bit of an uneven start, unsure if it wanted to have the emotional maturity of a more serious action cartoon or a preschool cartoon where the characters have little kid mood swings and outbursts and learn basic lessons. It also felt like it was speedrunning its Wholesome Found Family Dynamic with characters who just met, which didn’t feel earned. While these problems never completely go away (see: the cheap and corny way the otherwise very dark season finale suddenly resolves), the show improves quickly, and the positives outweigh the negatives. It’s so great to have a Transformers cartoon that feels fresh, giving us a post-war setting with a bunch of new characters and new dynamics between the Cybertronians and the humans. The returning characters are also uniformly great as the old veterans overseeing the new generation. (Reformed Megatron! Danny Pudi as Bumblebee! Steve Blum returning as Starscream! Keith David as Grimlock!!!) And those super dynamic action scenes! I can nitpick, but Earthspark’s a ton of fun, and easily the best new Transformers cartoon since Prime and Animated.
8/5: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (remaster) - Everyone who told me this game was a masterpiece was right. I had played the first chapter when it dropped as the demo for the iOS version years ago, but never went further than that until now. What a game. Absolutely incredible through and through. Great story, great twists, great characters, great puzzles, great art direction. Everything comes together so perfectly to form a totally unique, unforgettable package, a top tier video game murder mystery. Everyone should play this, preferably going in as blind as possible.
8/15: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 16) - Wow! Recent seasons of Sunny have been kind of up and down, with some interesting experiments (Mac Finds His Pride, the Ireland arc, etc.) paired with some comedic duds. Most of this latest season is standard fare for the series with fewer big creative swings, but it’s just hit after hit in terms of comedy. Not a single dud, whether we’re seeing Mac and Dennis try to start a rental business for inflatable furniture or watching the gang meet Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, believing the entire time that the latter is Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle. Even the attempts at topical comedy landed better. Easily the funniest season in years.
8/16: One Piece Film Gold - It’s easy to see why this one has kind of been forgotten in the wake of Stampede and Film Red, which revolve around established fan favorite characters, but this was still pretty fun. Perhaps a little too long, but it’s fun to see the Straw Hats fool around in a giant casino and do a heist. They definitely cranked the fanservice up even more than usual in this one, though, as I probably should have expected for a movie made alongside the anime’s adaptation of Dressrosa.
8/17: One Piece: Stampede - This one goes for a different kind of fanservice. While most One Piece movies are isolated from the ongoing plot and its expanded cast of characters, Stampede instead asks “What if we just put damn near every active character on the same island and had them fight?” The answer: a fun time! It would get old if all of the movies were like this, but after a bunch of movies that are just like “the Straw Hats are gonna land on another new island and fight some more weird guys” it’s fun to see characters like Law and Buggy and Smoker get in on the fun. It’s also nice to get a movie with the Wano era art style, and Usopp surprisingly gets some really good character moments in here.
8/18: One Piece Film Red - This really is the best of the One Piece movies, huh? (Baron Omatsuri is a close second.) It really feels like a change of pace after the last four with the most interesting and emotionally engaging story out of any of them. And even if the events of these movies are never canon, it still feels significant in my understanding of Shanks as a character as we move into the final phase of the manga.
8/21: Pikmin 4 - The opening hour of the game made me really question if they’d changed too much, with all the focus on your new dog unit over your Pikmin and the extremely dull, drawn out dialogue scenes with your new companions back at the base. But once I got into the swing of things I had a blast. This is probably my new favorite Pikmin game. There’s a great mix of activities here to keep things fresh. I also really ended up liking Oatchi’s role as basically your second captain who can also serve as your tank or a rideable mount. The Dandori stuff and nighttime missions in particular show off how useful Oatchi is for your multitasking without necessarily overshadowing the Pikmin.
8/22: Never Get Tired: The Bomb the Music Industry! Story - I literally backed this on Kickstarter eight years ago (my name is in the credits!) and then never got around to watching it for no reason. It’s on YouTube now, and Jeff’s got a new album out next week, so now feels like the perfect time to watch it. And man… what a great documentary. Obviously I’m just a fan of the band, but this also really spoke to me as an artist. Jeff wanting to stick to his principles and give out his music for free and play cheap all ages shows, his discomfort over the idea of selling merch, and the struggles that come with not playing the game like that… It's hard. They readily admit that Jeff is an idealist, that people fight him on this stuff, that he’s missed out on some big opportunities because of these stances, and that he’s had to compromise a bit on some of these things over time. But that incredible climax with their final show, including a full opening performance of the slowly building “Campaign for a Better Next Weekend” and the closing performance of “Future 86” where the whole audience is singing along as the members of the band are hugging and crying… it’s beautiful. This may have been a band where the members had to go back to their shitty day jobs after every tour because they weren’t selling out arenas, but their art meant something to people, and that makes it all worth it.
8/25: Nimona - I haven’t read the original comic (yet), so I can’t compare them too much, but it’s nonetheless pretty apparent that some things were softened and easy kids’ movie jokes were added by the studio to squeeze this graphic novel for teens into a PG animated movie. Regardless, the emotional throughline hits REALLY hard, particularly the very blatant trans allegory and the climax. (It’s no wonder Disney was afraid of this movie seeing the light of day lmao.) The animation is also very squishy and fun to watch throughout. Great movie.
8/26: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - Spider-Verse really has done so much for animation, huh? This one was as good as everyone said. Beautiful use of stylized color and lighting throughout, and every time this movie very conspicuously shifted to different framerates for a flashy fight scene it owned. Very cute and heartwarming story, too, which thankfully gave its second act plenty of time to explore the cast and let them go on their journey, unlike a certain plumber movie that came out a few months later. Also I would let Death [redacted]
8/28: Holocure: Save the Fans! - This isn't really something I can beat, but I've been addicted to Holocure lately. I don't even watch VTubers aside from maybe seeing a funny Korone animation every now and then, this is just a really, really good freeware Vampire Survivors clone with a huge roster of varied characters to pick from.
8/31: HELLMODE (Jeff Rosenstock) - A new album from Jeff is always a major event for me. If there were any worries that he was starting to go soft at 40 (because one of the three singles off this album was a gentle acoustic piece), the frantic opening of this album put those worries to rest. The first two tracks are Jeff screaming out for help as he’s pulled in a million directions by the chaotic state of the world, a theme that becomes the thesis of the album. I’d say it lags slightly in the middle, but overall this is another extremely well-rounded record full of bangers that’s unapologetically Jeff, with possibly my favorite closing track he’s ever done. Favorite tracks: I WANNA BE WRONG, 3 SUMMERS
September
9/3: One Piece (live action, Season 1) - They did it. I can’t believe it, but they did it. While I have my nitpicks (Usopp and Sanji don’t get enough big moments to shine), this is an extremely solid and faithful adaptation of the first few arcs of One Piece with a great cast. For the most part the changes feel smart and logical, and the big emotional beats of the story are all there and executed very well. I doubted it a little in episodes 2-4, where the Orange Town and Syrup Village arcs saw some major changes to shift the action indoors, and the increased focus on the drama in favor of repeating every gag and battle from the manga 1:1 took a bit of getting used to, but by the end I was having a blast. It’s a different take on One Piece, but it still feels like One Piece. Genuinely very excited for season 2.
9/4: Pseudoregalia - A great little N64-style 3D Metroidvania focused on platforming and very satisfying movement. I always love entries in the genre that are less prescriptive in what order you have to tackle areas in, a la Symphony of the Night or Hollow Knight, and this one’s great in that regard. While there are a number of new moves to find, most of the map is open to you very early in the game, and smart use of your moveset can allow you to “sequence break” without even realizing it. (You would not believe how long I went without getting the wall run.) I do wish it had a map, but that’s already being patched in.
9/6: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk * - Not a bad game at all, but I quickly remembered how bad I am at skating games, so like… eh? Not sure I have much desire to play past chapter 2. Also the soundtrack is sadly kinda hit or miss for me outside of the obvious Naganuma tunes.
9/9: The History of the Minnesota Vikings (Dorktown) - Jon Bois never misses. Even as someone who doesn’t actively follow sports, Jon Bois is a master storyteller, using graphs and statistics and funny anecdotes to explore these deeply human stories. He can convey why people care so much about these teams, these people, and sports in general, and how our popular sports reflect on American culture. He could tell the story of just about any team or player in any sport and I just know I’ll come out the other side a misty-eyed fan. And what a fascinating cast of characters we have this time, with origin stories for everything from the Hail Mary pass to a Minnesota state supreme court judge to the Griddy. Nine hours well spent.
9/10: Timespinner - A fun and highly polished Metroidvania that maybe doesn’t quite have enough of its own identity in its quest to replicate Symphony of the Night…but also, like, this was pitched as a Symphony throwback on KickStarter in a pre-Bloodstained, pre-Hollow Knight world, so I can’t really blame ‘em! Stopping time to avoid boss attacks is fun, the pixel art is gorgeous, and I liked the dark science fantasy story about warring empires and meddling with time a lot more than I thought I would - lore journal text dumps and all.
9/14: The Decay of Sam & Cat (Quinton Reviews) - All the stuff at the end with Matt Bennett (the actor who played Robbie on Victorious and Sam & Cat) in this was really good and sweet. It’s that kind of thing that makes these videos feel like they’re still worthwhile on some level. But the padding and the things Quinton chooses to spend the colossal runtime on does drive me more and more insane with each passing Nick sitcom video. I don’t know how much longer he can keep this schtick up. I hope he’s able to move on to other things before too terribly long instead of continuing to extend this “miniseries.”
9/19: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales - AKA Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 1.5. It’s fun for the same reasons Peter’s first game was fun. I had a good time swinging around New York again in preparation for the sequel, and there’s a lot of cute stuff with Miles becoming Harlem’s neighborhood hero, but WOW did the Underground v. Roxxon conflict fall flat for me.
9/20: I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson - I understand so many posts now.
9/25: Spider-Man (2002) (rewatch) - It’s you who’s out, Gobby! OUT OF YOUR MIND!
9/25: Futurama (Season 8) - I was ready to be a hater, recalling the fact that Futurama has already had three “perfect endings” with the show getting a little weaker with every revival. Then I watched the first new episode on a whim and thought it wasn’t bad, so I was like, eh, sure, I’ll watch the rest. Overall Hulurama is hit or miss. There are chuckles to be had, and it sure as hell beats modern Simpsons, but almost every episode is either a belated take on an overplayed Topical Issue (the pandemic, Amazon, cancel culture, etc.) or a direct sequel to an old episode people liked. Or both! It’s also really noticeable that certain voice actors sound way older - Billy West is struggling with the Fry voice in particular, and it hurts his comedic timing. But just when all hope seemed lost after the nigh-incomprehensible toy-themed anthology episode, possibly the worst episode of the entire series… the last episode, where the Planet Express crew explores whether or not the universe could be a simulation, was really, really solid. Great note to end on to make me not regret my time with this season as a whole.
9/26: Spider-Man 2 (2004) (rewatch) - Once the GOAT, always the GOAT.
9/27: Spider-Man 3 (rewatch) - Revisiting this movie for the first time since I saw it in theaters… it’s not bad. It’s fine! It continues to have the heart and sincerity that make the first two movies work. It’s just not as concise with three villains vying for the spotlight, but I also wouldn’t cut any of them, necessarily. I guess Eddie/Venom would be the easiest, but Peter getting the black suit and giving in to his resentment feels too central to cut. (Yes, even with Emo Peter becoming a meme.)
9/28: Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake - I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this one, especially since I was never really a fan of the genderbend episodes in the original show. (At the time they mostly just felt like an excuse to crank up the teen romance stuff to 11.) But MAN. This was a fantastic coda to the original series. It made me care about Fionna and Cake and their friends as their own characters separate from their original counterparts, it gave the Simon/Betty arc a much more satisfying (if no less bittersweet) resolution than the original finale had time to do, and it even managed to be a multiverse story that didn’t make me roll my eyes in 2023. A+ all around. Makes me wanna rewatch the original show again. [spoiler: I did]
9/29: Meanwhile (aivi & surasshu) - It’s been a whole decade–they were busy with, you know, all the music in Steven Universe, among other things–but we finally have a new aivi & surasshu album! Their chiptune/piano fusion style is familiar, but they’ve definitely grown as composers in subtle ways. Favorite track: Time Travel
October
10/1: This is Financial Advice (Folding Ideas) - A lot of the nitty gritty finance law stuff turned into white noise for me, but still, great video. I had no idea that the GameStop stock craze devolved into this bizarre cult that thinks they’re going to crash the global economy and rise from the ashes as the new kings with the value of their GME stocks. Glad this video exists to try and balance out the narrative.
10/5: Sonic Frontiers: The Final Horizon DLC - Good ideas, absurdly frustrating and tedious execution. Full thoughts here.
10/10: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (rewatch) - I didn’t plan this, but very fitting that I would end up rewatching this on 10/10.
10/12: Half-Life Alyx but the Gnome is Self-Aware (wayneradiotv) - ha he! (Seriously though, that finale was a fucking masterpiece. The RTVS crew has an incredible knack for using the framing device of video game livestreams to blur the lines between comedy and horror, or ironic anti-humor and complete sincerity. I’ve never seen anything else like this.)
10/15: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Not sure how much I can say that hasn’t already been said. The most visually creative movie I’ve ever seen, grounded by some really excellent storytelling about Miles (and now Gwen) that’s probably better than his actual comics. But it also does feel like it’s about to end and then the movie just keeps going like ten times over lmao. Can’t wait to watch this a second time on a better TV.
10/20: Sonic Superstars - A mostly really solid and fun 2D Sonic game that’s unfortunately dragged down by an extremely hodgepodge soundtrack and some overly drawn out boss fights. I spent HOURS trying to beat the final boss of the bonus scenario (which is required for the true ending in this one) before giving up. Really a shame that that’s the note I’m leaving the game on, because I otherwise enjoyed it, but ah well. More thoughts here.
10/27: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - Another good Spider-Man game from Insomniac. Liked the story more than the one in Miles Morales, but maybe not as much as the first game. Extensive thoughts here.
10/28: Venom - Was in the mood for more Venom after the game. As expected this was not a very good movie, but the dynamic between Eddie and Venom made it a fun watch. Tom Hardy is constantly about to shit his pants in this movie. It’s great.
10/28: Venom: Let There Be Carnage - I had a way better time with this one. Is this a good movie? No. But it cranks the insanity of the first movie up to 11. Goofy as fuck in an extremely watchable way.
November
11/5: Pluto - An absolutely masterful series that anyone interested in sci-fi needs to watch. The anime adaptation was great, and I immediately understand why people who’ve read the manga speak so highly of it. Really makes me want to get into Astro Boy more, and also read some of Urasawa’s other works.
11/18: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - Wow, just wow. When news of a Scott Pilgrim anime broke I was cautiously curious to see if we’d get a more direct adaptation of the comics, and instead it veered off in the exact opposite direction in the best way possible. This is almost entirely a different story, one that’s in conversation with the previous versions (sometimes in very meta ways), and I think it’s really valuable to see O’Malley revisiting these characters with new things to say about them. The major story divergence gives us a chance to examine the characters from a new angle - particularly Ramona, who’s the real protagonist of this version, and the evil exes, who completely steal the show. This was a great reminder of why I fell in love with this series as a teenager. I now genuinely hope we get more Scott Pilgrim.
11/22: Void Rivals (Issues #1 - #6) - The first arc of the new Robert Kirkman series that kicked off Skybound’s new “Energon Universe” is now complete, and I’m left thinking Void Rivals is… okay? I thought the first issue was a decent (if not particularly original) sci-fi comic with an appealing art style, which just so happens to also briefly have a Transformer in it so there can be a Big Surprise. And the series still hasn’t quite shaken that feeling to me. It’s an okay sci-fi series that arbitrarily dedicates a couple of pages of every issue to something from Transformers, but I’m not really sure what the shared universe stuff adds to Void Rivals, or what Void Rivals adds to Transformers and GI Joe. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
11/22: Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History (Defunctland) - Yeah, gotta be honest, I only got halfway through this one. It seems like Kevin just 1) really wanted to push himself creatively and 2) make a love letter to Epcot, and while I respect that, I think it suffers as a historical documentary. It’s Fantasia but for the creation of Epcot. That might be very impressive on a technical level, but it feels more like a piece of Disney propaganda than prior Defunctland videos due to a lack of context and nuance.
11/24: Aperture Desk Job - A short, sweet, and funny little tech demo for my new Steam Deck set in the Portal universe. More effort was definitely put into this than was strictly necessary.
11/26: ESCHATOS - I am not good at bullet hell games, but I enjoy them from time to time and I really love this one’s FM synth soundtrack, so I picked it up on a whim in the Steam sale. I only beat it on Easy, but still, I had a lot of fun with it! It’s straightforward but very flashy, with the camera dynamically zooming around from set piece to set piece at ridiculous speeds and each level segueing directly into the next. The lack of a powerup system on the main mode in favor of just needing to know when to use your different shot types makes it feel very approachable.
11/27: Lunistice - A great little 3D platformer with a good soundtrack that I had fun hunting down all the secrets in. This is an easy recommendation for fans of games like Kirby or Klonoa - whimsical games set in colorful dream worlds where the underlying story can get a bit more somber. (Although the story in this one is mostly told through mildly cryptic lore dumps, so your mileage there may vary.)
11/28: Spark the Electric Jester 2 - The leap from 2D to 3D here is impressive, but this is very clearly a rough draft for Spark 3. Very, very fun Sonic-style 3D platforming, but the combat is lacking and the storytelling is just kinda bad. More extensive thoughts on this and the above two games here.
December
12/2: Fortnite (Chapter 4) - This was my first full chapter of Fortnite, after having been roped into the game by the siren songs of Zero Build mode and Goku during Chapter 3. This means it’s harder for me to compare this chapter to previous ones, but still, Fortnite remains a genuinely very well made Battle Royale shooter that’s a blast with friends. If I have any complaint about this Chapter, it’s that they would regularly introduce zany ideas and then slowly reel them back in, whether it was the Augment system or the increasingly mundane movement items. It also felt like it was a little too easy to get the perfect loadout in every match, meaning the final showdown would almost always be against players with Slurp Juice and gold shotguns. And I missed the smaller mid-season map updates of Chapter 3. But overall I still had a really good time, and look forward to playing more for the foreseeable future.
12/4: Plagiarism and You(Tube) (HBomberguy) - This will get written off by many as “YouTuber drama,” but this really is an excellent video essay that feels like the kick in the pants that YouTube needs. If video essayists are gonna be a major source of information for so many, then they gotta have standards. I also think it does a good job of highlighting the people that have been plagiarized and trying to drive more attention their way in an attempt to right those wrongs.
12/6: Transformers (Skybound comic) - We only got the first three issues of this in 2023, but I just HAVE to say something about how incredible this series is here. Daniel Warren Johnson is knocking it out of the park. This is the new bar for Transformers. The hand-inked art is extremely dynamic and full of character, and the story is using the familiar beats of G1 Transformers but doing very new things with them. You can tell this from the very first page, but the emotional scene of Optimus accidentally crushing a deer in the forest and realizing how fragile life is on Earth sealed the deal for me. And yet in the very same comics Optimus can do suplexes and clotheslines and lord knows how many other wrestling moves on Decepticons, and it doesn’t feel like tonal whiplash? These comics just fucking rule, and anyone with even the slightest interest in Transformers should be reading them.
12/8: What We Do in the Shadows (Season 5) - [spoilers] WWDITS has very much settled into being a status quo show. Every season has its own little arc where one or two things change to keep things interesting, but then everything returns to normal by the end. Guillermo finally becoming a vampire, only to become a human again in the end, might just be the most egregious example of this yet. But also… the show’s still really funny? And I continue to be happy that Kristen Schaal has stuck around as a series regular as the Guide. So it’s hard to complain. I could see the show running out of steam over the next few seasons, but it’s still hitting for me right now.
12/12: Pony Island - Finally got around to this since the trailer for the sequel dropped. I feel like playing this years later in a post-Inscryption world where Pony Island is a known quantity kind of lessens its impact, but still, it’s a fun and funny puzzle game where you try to hack your way out of a possessed arcade machine. I’m not sure I found it particularly scary, but I’m not sure it’s supposed to be? The way the game messes with you during the Asmodeus “boss fight” was probably the highlight for me. I also like being able to say things like “The part where you have to not kill Jesus was so hard. I kept getting terrible butterfly patterns.”
12/16: Breaking Bad VR but the AI is Self-Aware (wayneradiotv) - As always, Wayne and co.’s commitment to the bit is unrivaled. This kind of got interpreted as just a way to troll HLVRAI fans, but so many moments in this genuinely made me laugh out loud.
12/18: Soul of Sovereignty Prelude - As someone who would list Cucumber Quest as a big creative influence, I was naturally very excited for this first chapter of GGDG’s new visual novel. Their mentality of both scaling things back in terms of labor while also going more shamelessly self-indulgent in terms of storytelling after burning out on making webcomics has really spoken to me, and WOW, the end result of that new process of theirs is shaping up to be something really special. The art and music are sparse but extremely evocative, giving you the rough sketch of the world and letting your mind fill in the rest. The story blends literary high fantasy vibes with the style of fantasy seen in ‘90s JRPGs (you can definitely tell this came from an idea for an RPG), but rather than constantly winking at the audience and making self-aware video game references it plays these storytelling ideas extremely sincerely, giving them real dramatic weight while still indulging in fun tropes to their fullest extent. While it’s a far cry from their most famous work with much more mature content, GGDG always excels at creating characters and worlds that immediately grab me. I can’t wait for the rest.
12/18: Barbie - I’m only… what, five months late for the whole Barbenheimer thing? Perfect timing. Anyway! On the one hand, I get the critiques saying that this movie is just a major corporation funding a self-aware feminist critique of their own product as a marketing ploy. And I kinda agree with that. And the movie is a little too long, and I don’t really know what to think of the way the Barbie/Ken conflict plays out. Anthony asked me to summarize what the story ended up being about, and I had no idea what to even say. But also… I did still like the movie? We don’t get a lot of cartoonish, absurdist, fourth wall breaking comedies like this anymore, and this is a good one of those. Also the whole cast is great, the set design is kind of stunning, and the cinematography is consistently appealing. I wouldn’t say it’s a revolutionary work of feminist filmmaking by any stretch, but it’s a good comedy movie.
12/21: Dr. Stone: New World - Man, Dr. Stone is great. I’ve said this many times, but I just love that this series uses all the trappings of shounen that would normally be used to hype up the protagonist learning a new move to instead hype up things like the protagonist building a loom or a hot air balloon. It’s shounen Bill Nye. I didn’t completely love everything about the Treasure Island arc this season, but it all built towards a really fun climax with a lot of satisfying turnabouts where the heroes use their ingenuity to just barely win.
12/23: The History of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out World Records (Summoning Salt) - Truly one of my favorite Summoning Salt videos ever, even with how repetitive Punch-Out can get to watch. It’s just so hard to beat “and that runner… was me.”
12/24: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - What more can be said that hasn’t already been said? It’s the best and most creative 2D Mario game since the ‘90s. The only real flaws are that it’s a little easy, the Search Party stages are annoying in singleplayer, and I wish that every boss prior to the final boss wasn’t just some form of Bowser Jr. fight. But those aren’t nearly enough to drag the whole experience down. It was a blast.
12/24: Do a Powerbomb! - Got this from Anthony as a birthday present. This is the previous series by the creative team currently doing the new Transformers comics I was gushing about a few entries ago. Even with the high bar set by those comics, Do a Powerbomb! exceeded my expectations. Holy shit. An absolutely entrancing fantasy wrestling miniseries full of dynamic, energetic action and tons of heart. These comics where a guy wrestles a giant talking orangutan almost made me cry. Twice. An instant favorite.
12/25: Adventure Time (rewatch) - We ended up finishing our rewatch of Adventure Time (the main series, anyway) on my 30th birthday, which feels appropriate. I already kinda knew this, but this rewatch has truly confirmed that Adventure Time is my favorite TV series of all time. The entire show is even better on a full series rewatch. In hindsight, even parts that annoyed me when they aired end up being important parts of the beautiful tapestry that is this series. The many low points of Finn’s adolescent love life are important stepping stones in his growth as a person, which leaves him in an extremely satisfying place by the end. Jake having kids didn’t get to be a huge status quo change because they grew up instantly, but then they did a bunch of fun episodes about Jake’s relationships with his adult children that deepened him as a character. And most of the big lore questions they kept teasing over the years (“Where’d the humans go?” “Who are Finn’s parents?” “When’s Finn gonna get a robot arm?” etc.) ended up getting satisfying and creative answers, because the show left itself the room to figure those things out later. This is a truly special, one-of-a-kind series, one that lasted nearly 300 episodes and yet still seems like it was over too soon. And yes, I did in fact cry during the final montage, like I knew I would. I will always cherish this show with all of my heart.
12/25: Olive the Other Reindeer (rewatch) - Haven’t seen this one since I was a kid! It was a favorite of mine back then, and while it might not be quite as funny as I remember it’s still very cute, with a 2D/3D hybrid art style that remains very unique and appealing. As an adult I can also appreciate the cast they got for this, with like half the cast of Futurama bolstered by guests like Michael Stipe from REM and The Sopranos’ Joe Pantoliano.
12/26: Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio - Anthony and I capped off our Christmas with the most jolly and festive stop motion movie of all! Jokes aside, man, what a beautiful movie. The animation is immaculate, and we really just don’t get children’s animated films like this anymore. Ones that overtly feature real world politics and religion and so many other dark themes in a way that doesn’t talk down to kids or sugarcoat things. This one hits hard. We need more movies like this.
12/31: Oppenheimer - This was an interesting one. Despite being three hours, the way that first hour jumps around in time makes it feel like Oppenheimer is constantly being propelled forward through life at a breakneck pace, swept up by the rising tide of nationalism in spite of his personal left wing politics, never really reflecting on what he’s doing until it’s too late. Then when he’s no longer useful to the empire, he’s chewed up and spat out, only to eventually be honored as a national hero as a symbolic gesture. It’s a compelling story. However, I’m a little torn on how certain aspects of history were framed. Does the abstraction of the bombings detract from the true weight of those events, in favor of sympathizing with the man who built the bomb? Or is it clever a way to show how the realities of the war were compartmentalized away by people who were complicit in its most heinous acts of violence? One minute a bunch of physicists are talking theory, thousands of miles away from the theaters of war, and the next they’ve killed 200,000 people. So which is it? Eh, probably somewhere in the middle, I guess. But I liked it overall.
12/31: Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe - I’ve been really surprised by how good this rerelease is. It kind of flew under the radar for me. I liked the original game, but at the time it also almost felt like the New Super Mario Bros. of Kirby. It was a straightforward throwback game where you went through a grass world, then a desert world, then a water world, etc., and also they added four player co-op. But returning to this one after the kinda mid Star Allies has made me appreciate just how solid RtDL is as a Kirby game. I really like the updated graphics, too - yes, even the new cel shaded outlines around the characters - even though I didn’t think it looked that great in screenshots. Also the two new copy abilities (Sand and Mecha) are fun, the minigame collection is shockingly fleshed out to the point that they could’ve sold it as a standalone eShop game, the collectible character masks are fun, and the new epilogue mode where you play as Magolor is one of the coolest bonus modes they’ve ever done. This is a top tier Kirby remake any fan of the series should check out.
Ongoing things I followed in 2023 that don't have a blurb:
Halo Infinite multiplayer
IDW Sonic the Hedgehog (main series + specials)
One Piece
Chainsaw Man
My Hero Academia (not caught up)
The JOJOlands (not caught up)
Things I started in 2023 that I still need to finish:
Freedom Planet 2
Hi-Fi Rush
Live A Live
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Picross 3D Round 2
Rhythm Heaven MegaMix
Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team ProtoMan
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Spark the Electric Jester 3
Sonic Dream Team
One Piece (Wano arc, anime)
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 (I’ve already read the Shibuya arc already in the manga, though)
Astro Boy (2003 anime)
Futurama (original run rewatch)
One Piece (manga reread)
The Amazing Spider-Man (Lee/Ditko era)
Scott Pilgrim series (reread)
And finally... my favorites of 2023!!!
Overall favorite game: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Favorite indie game: Pseudoregalia
Games remastered in 2023 that are now among my all-time faves: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, We Love Katamari
Most pleasant surprise in gaming: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
Favorite film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Favorite live action show: Barry
Favorite anime: Pluto
Favorite anime written by a Canadian guy and an American guy based on the Canadian guy's old graphic novel series: Scott PIlgrim Takes Off
Favorite live action adaptation of an anime that I still can't believe they didn't fuck up: One Piece
Favorite Western cartoon: Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake
Favorite older cartoon I only got around to watching in its entirety this year: The Venture Bros.
Favorite documentary: Double Fine PsychOdyssey
Favorite semi-improvised semi-scripted absurdist comedy/horror/tragedy Twitch livestream performance art thing: Half-Life Alyx but the Gnome is Self-Aware finale (wayneradiotv)
Favorite manga: Chainsaw Man
Favorite older manga that I only read this year: Berserk
Favorite Western comic book: Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers
Favorite album: HELLMODE (Jeff Rosenstock)
And that's a wrap!!!!! Happy new year, everyone! Here's to me maybe actually reading a goddamn book this year
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Transcript:
Balnor: I'll-- I'll help you. Whatever it takes so that this doesn't happen.
Murph: You see Alanis in the flashback, uh, pulls out the little glowing wish stone.
Alanis: You'll help a lot more than just this village where you're going.
Murph: Uh, Balor's got tears running down his cheeks and he goes--
Balnor: I couldn't help them. I can barely swing a sword.
Murph: Alanis reaches down and touches his cheek, and she goes--
Alanis: There's a war coming, and everyone needs to fight. Even old men who don't know how. I'll need to erase your memory. The people you're helping can't know what we're doing.
Murph: Balnor nods.
Balnor: You can try, but I don't think I'll ever forget--
Murph: She holds her hand over his forehead, white energy pulsates from it and transfers to him, and he gets this thousand yard stare.
Balnor: -- Bobby.
Alanis: It's time to go now, Balnor.
Traveler Alanis: But my time is coming to an end. And I am here to finish my life's work.
Murph: You see she reaches her hand out.
Traveler Alanis: It's time to go, Balnor.
Murph: You see Balnor looks confused.
Balnor: What do you mean?
Murph: She takes a deep breath and gestures to the world around you.
Traveler Alanis: At this place, at this time, when the hope and the inspiration of the world is a literal source of power, I believe I can cast one last powerful wish. [Caldwell sobs softly.] To bring you back to your timeline, to your village and your family, before the attack. You are strong enough to save them now.
Murph: You see Balnor gets a thousand yard stare, and he goes--
Balnor: Bobby.
Murph: And you see he looks extremely happy, um, but then he looks at you guys, and he looks sad.
Moonshine, tearfully: It's okay Balnor. Like all the most powerful things in this world, I knew I was only borrowing you.
#naddpod#balnor the brave#bahumia#alanis#naddclips#murph loves to have alanis say the same thing to balnor multiple times#it makes me insane#the wheel turns#(<- parallels tag)
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911 Spoilers Season 4: You’ve been warned. 😅 Buddie Rewatch
Episodes 1-3
Episode 1: The New Abnormal
Chimney and Maddie are having a video call. Chim is at Bucks because of Covid.
Buck mentions how Hen and Eddie have gone back to their places months ago, and that he’s the only one still freaking out.
The fact that we miss Eddie and Buck being room mates was kind of a downer. I will say the fanfiction writers really went off with this plot device. Because Eddie and Buck would share a bed, while Hen and Chim sleep on mattresses down stairs. It just makes sense.
Buck has a “covid crush,” he’s apparently been talking to a woman for hours at a time on video call. Buck denies the allegations and goes to take a shower to get ready for work.
Mini earth quake happens, Chim and Hen try to gage how strong it was, Hen guessing a 4. Eddie walking in and calling it a dud a rating it a 3. Eddie walks over to the fire truck, where Buck is leaning against the truck, looking at his phone tracking the microquakes.
Eddie leans against the truck and puts his hand on his hip and listens to Buck talk about the microquakes.
Bus in the skyscraper: As the 118 gets to the location of the incident, we get an overhead look of them looking up at the bus. Eddie and Buck stand barely a foot apart behind, Chimney, Hen and Bobby.
The 118 take the elevator. Bobby is in the middle in-between Hen and Chim. Eddie and Buck behind them. Eddie with his hands held together Infront of him. Buck looking thru his phone.
Buck researching the how much water the Hollywood reservoir holds and asking where all that water will go.
Although I truly believe Buck would have looked up that information eventually for his own knowledge, I really do believe he was looking it up at that moment because he was thinking about the tsunami. He was worried they could face similar scenarios.
Eddie looks Buck up and down as he asks the question. Hen responds with the water goes out to sea.
Elevator door opens, masks go on. Continuity error occurs as the screen pans to the accident than back on to the elevator, both Eddie and Buck are the only ones not wear the masks. As Bobby, Chim, and Hen step off the elevator.
Eddie and Buck remain in the elevator. Eddie readjusts himself and says, “At least it is not a tsunami”, Buck looks over at him with a glare. They look at each other as the elevator door closes in front of them.
Buck and Eddie are on the building’s roof. Buck clipping himself into a harness as Eddie sets up the rig. Buck prepares to descend.
Eddie advises that Buck is about to touch down and coordinating that he will send down the webbing to secure the Bus.
Buck lands on the bus, causing it to shift a little. He notes that the bus is using alternative energy. He starts to go around the bus a securing it when he finds a person under the bus.
Buck attempting to help Chim pull out the injured man, but the space being too tight for even a back board to squeeze in.
Eddie hesitating/not fully comprehending Bobby’s orders to destabilize the bus that was just stabilized.
Buck applying a second torniquet on to man with a bleeding leg.
Buck grabbing the gurney as Eddie is undoing all his previous work.
Bobby instructing Eddie to get ready to readjust the bus, Eddie asking if everyone is off the bus. Buck repeating to Bobby that he needs to get off the bus.
Buck calling out for Cap as Bobby is trying to comfort CJ.
Buck and Chimney pulling out the body.
Eddie restabilizing the bus, Eddie noticing that the bus is leaking fuel. Eddie asks Buck over the radio if everyone is off the bus.
Buck running towards the bus screaming for cap. There is an explosion on the bus that cause Buck to throw him self out into safety. Buck worryingly jumps onto the bus and finds Booby and CJ safely on the ground of the bus.
Episode 2: Alone Together
Eddie walking over and asking if they should be worried about more of the hill going down. Chim and Buck following close behind him. Buck standing about two feet away from him. Chimney is standing in between them as they look up at the Hollywood sign. Eddie with his signature hands on his hips. Buck giving seriousness with the way we only see his eyes, it’s fierce.
Bobby, Hen, and Eddie are to go up towards the Hollywood sign and Chim and Buck stay on the ground to help search and rescue.
This is the season when I noticed the writers push having Buck and Eddie being separated. It’s not too bad, at least compared to season 5 and 6. The one good thing about separating them a bit is we get to see their individual relationships with the other members of the 118. Separating Buck and Eddie, starts off very subtle, but it’ll randomly hit and I’m trying to pin point when the showrunner got sick of Buddie shippers.
Buck and Chimney patrolling calling out for survivors. They find a dead body, mark it and keep moving. They hear a baby cry and find a baby monitor, but no baby. Buck’s eyes go a little wide with concern.
Bobby, Hen, and Eddie hike up to the Hollywood sign. Eddie noting that to get to the victims they need plywood to get to them.
Chim and Buck talk about how Chimney is going to be a father. Chimney is doubting himself; Buck is telling him that he is over thinking it. While they try to figure out where the baby is, Buck comes up with the idea of following the direction the monitor starts to experience signal interference to find the baby.
Chimney going worse case scenario, but Buck trying to find reasonable explanations. Buck tells Chim he has to stop worrying and being afraid of the world and actually move in with his sister Maddie. Repeating that he’ll be a great dad as they find the house, they think the baby is in.
Eddie and a random firefighter placing down plywood as Hen assesses the man in mud.
Eddie trying to reassure the guy in the mud by telling him he’s not going to die.
Eddie looking around silently judging the three roommates as they argue. Eddie then telling Dylan he can’t drown in quicksand, but if he continues to struggle the worse it will be.
Eddie offering other solutions to get him out, but they would not work in this scenario.
Eddie cutting up the H to help get the guy unstuck. Hen being left alone to hear the love confession. Bobby and Eddie making there way back over with the ladder they cut off. As they are trying to get the ladder situated, they witness the love confession from the girl.
I think Eddie had a stand in this scene. I was hoping to see his face to gage the reaction, but we never got it. The scenes are also pieced together in way that Eddie has a lot of stand-alone shots. This could have been because of covid protocols or just scheduling conflicts.
We do see Eddie reacting the roommate threaten his friend, which was him looking over at Bobby.
Buck lowering Chim down a chimney to rescue the crying baby. Chim located a dead older woman and then an infant in a bassinet. Buck being relieved and happy at the news of the baby being alive.
Chim finding a room full of pregnant woman, one of which is in active labor, Chim calls for reinforcements.
Buck harnessing himself, preparing to go down and help Chim rescue the woman. Eddie handing him an axe and lowering him down.
Buck escorting the other pregnant woman out as Chim handles the delivery.
Eddie and Hen guiding the woman who just delivered her baby and baby down to a gurney. Eddie watching as the woman is reunited with one of the other women who was held captive. Buck in the background taking off his harness \ and helmet watching as well.
Eddie asking Chim, how was the practice run. Buck joining in and repeating that Chim will be a great dad to a baby Buckley.
Eddie laying in Christopher’s bed cuddled up to Chris as Carla reads a story over video call. Carla’s story is about people being connected by an invisible string made from love.
Eddie falling asleep in an uncomfortable position and Chris is a sleep.
Albert and Buck reveal they are now roommates. Buck goes off to speak with the mystery girl Maddie mentioned at the start of episode 1. Turns out this mystery girl is his new therapist and he’s starting to accept that he hides his true feelings from others.
Buck hiding his true feelings is nuanced in understanding Buck’s identity. He’s a people pleaser and willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Do I think Buck is hiding his true feelings for Eddie, yes yes I do. Am I sane enough to realize that that is only a small part of Buck hiding who he is and how he feels, yes, yes I am.
Episode 3: Future Tense
Smart House: Buck hopping out of the fire engine right into Eddie handing him an axe. They walk together, about 4 feet apart (they have to break covid protocols a little) with Bobby following right behind.
At the door, Bobby rings the doorbell. Buck points out that dispatch stated the victim was unconscious, Eddie is standing right behind him now.
Everyone looking up at the camera, allowing their faces to be unknowingly be scanned and Hildy opening the door for Los Angeles Fire Department.
Hen vocalizing how she’s creeped out about the situation and everyone agreeing with her as the put on their masks.
Eddie and Buck walking in the gurney. Eddie judging the victim for living in a smart home. He doesn’t understand why he would live in a home filled with cameras and microphones. Buck laughing at Eddie and letting him know that if he has a phone, computer, or a smart anything, anyone can already spy on him.
Cut to Eddie making the most adorable concerned face, I’ve ever seen on a grown man. Eddie looking up at the cameras hesitantly.
Eddie vocalizing how he shouldn’t buy that smart coffee maker he’s been seeing advertised to him. Hildy interrupting, by calling Eddie by his name and suggesting coffee makers he can purchase. Eddie looking like a scared puppy as Buck adds fuel to the fire by welcoming him into the future.
Eddie fully understanding what Buck meant by how anyone can spy on you as it is revealed that the ex-girlfriend was spying on the victim.
Buck at Maddie and Chim’s place helping baby proof the apartment, going a little overboard by baby proofing top cabinets. Him justifying that choice because they are having a Buckley who could end up being as wild as he was.
Buck finally telling Maddie and Chim that he doesn’t have a girlfriend, that he has been seeing a therapist to address personal non firefighter aspects of his life. Maddie looking at him concerned.
Buck laying in bed when he hears a knock on his door. Maddie walking in and Buck being confused because he just left her place.
Buck admitting to Maddie that he partially started therapy because of her comment about being sad and lonely.
Buck further admitting that he thought he’d be better after finding closure with Abby, but he was still sad and lonely. Buck admits to having a great life filled with a job he loves and people he loves, but he feels like he can’t trust it.
We learn that Buck feels this way mostly because his parents taught him that the world is an uncertain place and to be wary of trusting it. That’s a pretty messed up life lesson for a parent to teach.
Buck trying to reassure Maddie that he can handle this self-discovery journey alone and that he does not feel like she could help any way, because deep down he always felt like she was sad too.
Christopher and Buck playing video games at Eddie’s house. Christopher is of course winning and Buck playfully accuses him of cheating. Eddie walks over with his hands on his hips and turns off the gaming system.
Buck and Chris being confused and question why Eddie disconnected the game. Eddie explaining, hands still on his hips, that they are taking a break from the internet.
Chris asks how he’s supposed to talk to his friends causing Eddie to freak out about the realization that Chris can talk to real life people on his game. I laughed so hard at Eddie’s facial expression here.
Buck looking up at Eddie a bit concerned, explaining that he was only joking about people spying on him.
Eddie being a bit paranoid is examining a head set and explaining that Buck wasn’t really joking because ever since that smart house rescue has been getting non stop coffee maker ads. Buck chuckling and explaining that that is just targeted advertising and it’s not a big deal.
Christopher is sitting there laughing at his dad whose having an obvious crisis over technology.
Christopher vocalizing his excitement over possibly getting a Hildy, and Eddie quickly shutting that idea down.
Chris than asking Buck if they could go to his place to play video games. Buck looks like he’s considering it, until he looks up at an upset Eddie with his arms crossed. The stance Eddie has in this moment basically screams “I might be being over reacting, but don’t you dare undermine me in front of our child”
Buck apologizing to Chris and explaining that they are going to have to go with out technology for a while. Eddie relaxing and walking away satisfied with that answer. Buck suggesting they play scrabble.
Maddie is on the verge of tears. Chim asks her what is wrong and she reveals she’s concerned about being a bad parent. She states her parents where not bad people, just bad parents.
News of the Texas wild fire plays on the tv at the fire house. (I did pause my rewatch and watch the cross over episode of Lonestar, those notes will be posted with Episode 4 notes). Buck walking up as Chimney is watching the broad cast.
Chimney turns off the tv to ask Buck about his parents and why he doesn’t talk about them. Specifically making a comment about how Chim knows more about Buck’s sex life than his up brining. Buck jokes that it’s because his sex life was interesting, at least it once was, hasn’t been recently.
Chim explaining how Maddie was freaking out about being a bad parent. Buck explains that his parents were never abusive, but they were absent. Physically they where right there, but emotionally, they were a million miles away.
Chim jokingly double checking to make sure Buck isn’t hiding a deep dark family secret, Buck confirming they are just a dysfunctional family and proceeds to welcome him into the family.
Maddie is on the phone with her mom, trying to update her on her pregnancy. Maddie getting defensive over her choice to find out the sex of the baby, implying mom is being judgmental.
Maddie referring to Buck as Evan while speaking to Mom and asking if she’s spoken to him. Maddie revealing that Buck is seeing a therapist. Maddie reacting in a way that implies more judgement.
Maddie wants to admit to Buck that they have been lying to him his entire life.
Goat Yoga: Eddie standing behind Bobby and in front of Hen as they approach victim’s door.
Eddie hands Bobby the battering ram. They open the door and Eddie and Hen are examining the patient. Eddie catching something swimming in her eyes.
Eddie knowing what Goat yoga is and how the goat’s weight is beneficial to holding a plank position. Hen and Bobby look at Eddie questioningly and he explains that Buck isn’t the only one to know weird stuff.
I love how this implies Eddie and Buck hang out so much, that his mannerisms are rubbing off on Eddie and they are just more similar.
Eddie being amused by the patient processing she had worms in her eyes, up until a Hildy starts speaking. He instantly freaks out, gets up from his spot and disconnects the Hildy.
Eddie opening his door to a package, he’s confused but picks it up and brings it over to the living room, passed Chris.
Chris starts to side eye and waits in anticipation, as Eddie starts to open the package. Eddie becoming panicked and tries to process the situation. Chris calls Buck and tells him they got him. Eddie walking over angrily taking the phone from Chris and sarcastically thanking Buck. Buck is leaning on his kitchen counter, with a cocky smirk.
I love that buying your best friend an expensive coffee maker is considered a prank. I love it even more that the calm and cool veteran is the one afraid of a coffee maker.
Maddie reveals to Chim what has been bothering her. We of course do not learn the family secret yet.
Eddie and Buck are packing and getting ready to head out to go to Texas to fight a wild fire. Eddie and Buck are standing pretty much pressed together as Hen explains why she is also going.
I started watching this show in the middle of covid, but I had started watching during the Season 4 mid-season break. I wonder where I’d be now if I never became obsessed with this amazing gay firefighter show. I think right now is the best time for me to address this, but I call 911 the gay firefighter show because of Hen and Karen. I also tend to think about Michael and his relationships, David, being my favorite partner. I of course will be rooting for Buck and Eddie to add more gay representation. Madney and Bathena can remain our token straight relationships.
#buddie#911 abc#eddie diaz#evan buck buckely#buck x eddie#911 spoilers#911 show#christopher diaz#911 fandom#evan buckley#911 on abc#911#911 rewatch
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You got any Hoppy x Kickin headcannons?
YUP. MANY.
💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚
My biggest headcanon is that Kickin would be always going around, thinking he is the best of the best, the coolest of the coolest, and the most radical of all the smiling critters. But, unlike how he treats everyone with his massive ego, he is CONSTANTLY (and rather pathetically) trying to impress Hoppy. Surprisingly, she is completely oblivious to this, even though this has been going on for years now.
Alternative headcanon: literally Judy Hops and Nick Wild
Kickin would probably either try to impress her with terrible flexing or bad pickup lines. And I'm not talking about corny nor cringe pickup lines, literally PATHETIC pickup lines. Like- he would go: Kickin: "Hey Hops! My friend over there thinks you're pretty!" *points over at an empty bench before rushing over there, laying on it with a small pose.* Kickin: "Sup."
Your honour, same energy, same tastes. Soulmates ya'll.
Would definitely share each other's clothes (if they had any).
Hoppy has always been a bleeding heart, a 'people pleaser' if you will, so whenever she gets a wound after playing in a match, she tries to dismiss it as other's worry just because she feels guilty about worrying others about her. BUT KICKIN? OH NO. THAT BOY WOULD BREAK INTO HER HOUSE THE MOMENT HE HEARD THE SLIGHTEST SOUND FROM A PAPER CUT. The irony is that Hoppy would do the SAME EXACT THING for him
While Hoppy and Kickin are both equally sports and rather competitive, Hoppy prefer ball games while Kickin prefers 'skill sports' as he quotes.
HOPPY GIRLBOSS. KICKIN PATHETIC SKATER/SURFER.
PROVE ME WRONG. HOPPY IS NOT ONLY ENERGETIC BUT STRONG ASF, SHE BETTER BE CARRYING THAT MFER OR I SWEAR TO GOD-
You'll know Bobby wouldn't leave Kickin alone for months if she ever got to find out he liked Hoppy. Oh hell nah, she would do GROUP MEETINGS (except without Hoppy) JUST TO TALK ABOUT THEIR NEXT 'DATE'. She is probably the second reason why he is so in denial about it.
Even though Kickin's is the most obvious, Hoppy would have a crush on him as well. Yet wouldn't straight up notice it and thinks it's just a "regular friend to friend feelings".
They are VERY competitive. But surprisingly, in a very friendly way. They would constantly dare each other to do certain things and cheer each other up whenever they won against each other's teams.
"Who would block a bullet for the other?" BOTH OF THESE DUMB DUMBS.
If they ever got married, their honeymoon would be the fuckin moon.
Hollywood rockstar x athletic astronaut. That or BFFs to lovers
Live laugh love Craftycorn and Bobby literally making fan art and fanfiction of their friends.
💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚
(Gosh- first time I've ever done headcanons. This was surprisingly refreshing. IDK if it would be a good idea to even go on AO3 and write something about these two fellas cause I STILL gotta finish that one chapter of my TADC one)
(Actually- let me know what you guys think!)
#kickinchicken#poppy playtime#poppy playtime chapter 3#poppy playtime 3#smiling critters#kickinchicken x hoppy hopscotch#headcanon#hoppy hopscotch#poppy playtime hoppy#kickin chicken
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I have no brain for prose at the moment, because I don't think I've watched enough Cellbit to really get his mannerisms right but just a concept in my head at the moment like
Cellbit has had the urge to relapse back to what felt natural, to resort of violence, to killing. Now not in service of himself, but for the people he cares about.
His hold over those urges was admirable, but it was always bound to snap.
It started with Felps. His friend. Lost to the Federation's grasp. I'd imagine ignoring the urge was...easy then, at least with the initial idea. He had a plan, he directed his focus to infiltrating, to misleading and convincing Cucurucho that he could be trusted. It was hard. Here on the island, he had found a family, friends, people he knew and grown to care about. To push them away, and mislead them must have felt awful. Back in the war, things weren't as complicated but he wanted to do something different. He can be different.
I imagine when it failed, when he was taken back and captured, maybe there was that voice at the back of his mind. "This would have been easier if..."
But it was a constant companion for many years, and he's had practice pushing it down and refocusing his energy to other things.
Like his family, his son, the Eggs, his friends, the Order, Roier, their wedding, the campaign for the presidency. There was a lot to do, so much that needed his attention it would have been easy to just focus on the next thing and pretend that those darker thoughts wasn't there.
Then the Eggs disappeared. His son was gone, the other Eggs were gone, and no one knew what had happened. Everyone was searching for answers and they barely had the pieces to put things together. But the Federation must have been behind it, they took the Eggs last time, it was the only answer.
Then Forever was forced to take the risus potion, forced to become a twisted parody of himself that Cellbit couldn't get through to. Forced to pretend everything was okay.
And Pac...Pac whom Cellbit had seen sink to despair since Mike was lost and now pushed even further now that Richas was missing. Pac was still determined, still so willing to sacrifice himself for the smallest chance to figure out what was affecting their friend, their family and find a way to cure him.
How Cellbit must have felt the strongest urge to tear the entire Federation down to the ground, when he found himself between Forever and Pac on that bench. How difficult that must have been to ignore and push past, because he couldn't indulge in it. He had to hold strong, he had to bring them back to reality, to come back to him.
But seeing Pac whimpering, huddled and trapped and so small, so afraid in that cage...then listening to Forever's screams, directed at the memory of Cucurucho in Cellbit's place, a play by play of what led him to be drugged in the first place, how those darker urges must have reared it's head up. Did Cellbit wish he did what Forever did? Even knowing where it led? That urge to let loose, to direct his anger at something, at someone who must have knew all the answers, who were obviously playing them for fools again, who was hurting his family so deeply once more, forcing those he cared about to this state.
It must have led to sleepless nights. Frustration and anger. He must have been so tired.
An exhaustion that everyone on the island felt, but especially...Roier. His huband.
Cellbit would have never forgotten the way the Federation played with Roier and Jaiden's hopes with Bobby's life. Dashing them when they were only granted 10 minutes with their child instead of giving him back.
And now the Eggs have been ripped away again. Roier's sister was taken. Roier's son in law was gone, and for someone that already lost someone he felt responsible for, Cellbit must have seen the heavy toll it took on Roier. The dark eye bags, the way he tries to busy himself, the way that he accepted the Eggs must be dead because he can't take another heartbreak. He can't handle to have that hope they're alive dashed again. Again. Again.
Then...Bagi. That was the last straw. The one that broke the camel's back. The revelation he had a peaceful life before. He was loved, he was safe, he had a family, he had a sister...He had a past before the war, he had come from somewhere, and he was ripped away from it, those memories lost, drowned with the memory of blood and violence and survival.
Cellbit had spent so long treading water, keeping his head up, but no more. No longer. He can't afford to. He had tried playing by the bear's rules, he had tried going about it another way, but clearly it wasn't working.
It was time for a change of tactic.
...
Did killing that first worker feel like relief? Did he surprise himself with how easy it was to slip back into those old habits he had spent so long to ignore? How easy to must have been to watch, to stalk, to wait...before going for the kill?
But maybe he can tell there's a difference here now. Just a little.
These skills were ones he learned to survive. Taught by a dear, old friend. And it served him well, but now he's stepping back into the shoes of the monster, not for himself no. But for the people he loves. The people he knows have been hurt. He's doing it for them.
He will burn down the Federation even if he has to use his own body for the kindling.
#qsmp cellbit#qsmp pactw#qsmp foreverplayer#qsmp oibagi#qsmp roier#qsmp#acuteliveblogs#i have been rotating his frame of mind the entire day#it's been WILD#but it's so much fun#this isn’t really prose but i had to get these thoughts out there you know?#I'm enjoying the meal a lot#i just really like compelling characters
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WOW WOW WOW what an episode! I have thoughts and feelings.
Henren! Thank god we got their story this episode. They're so endlessly giving and kind and loving and they've really passed that on to Denny.
Denny Wilson deserves the same kind of love Christopher gets from the fandom. He's such a great kid.
BuckTommy is so awkward and delightful and really has high school crush energy in the best way. I love it.
I do think Buck's falling into his usual dating patterns just with a man this time, but I'd love to be wrong about that.
Tommy is the first of Buck's love interest that I've liked the entire time they dates. He's funny, goofy, kind, gentle, and seemingly very aware of his own feelings and other people's feelings.
Even when they break up I hope Tommy sticks around as a recurring character because he's just wonderful.
Maddie and Buck's scene!! I loved how gentle and supportive Maddie was.
Eddie and Marisol are clearly dead in the water, right? Like she still doesn't have a last name. We know like 4 things about her.
It feels like she exists as a plot device, ESPECIALLY after the nun reveal. Here's hoping we get an Eddie Catholic guilt/repression arc!
The Buddie friendship moments!!! There were so many!!
THE HUG!!!
Eddie being so accepting and kind and loving to Buck when he came out.
Buck's exhale as Eddie left felt a lot like the exhale from last episode? Like he's relieved and seen by the most important people in his life and that's important.
I can't talk enough about the Buddie friendship moments from this episode. It's a reminder that their friendship is strong. It can withstand basically anything. They're always going to have each other's backs and call each other out on their bullshit.
Bobby as the team sounding board and father figure is still my favourite thing. Bobby is such a great character and I love when he gets one-on-one time with anyone, but especially with Hen and Eddie.
Hen and Athena's friendship is always so important to me. I love them. They're wonderful.
The ending!!!! Buck and Eddie showing up late, looking a mess? Maddie looking STUNNING? Hen looking like a whole meal in her suit?
I'm not going to survive the next three weeks.
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Oh, while I think Josh and Buck would have had more chemistry and Buck is probably Josh’s type. We all know Buck’s type; tall, dark hair, charming smile, adrenaline junkie, sound familiar. I think they just needed the place holder for Eddie.
But. If Buck and Josh HAD gotten into a relationship, Josh would have totally been the golden retriever to Buck’s black cat. T and Eddie are the black cats to Buck’s golden retriever.
Ohhh, headcanon time. Buck loves being held. Once he gets with Eddie, he doesn’t mind holding him, but he thrives under the feeling being held by Eddie gives him. But when he was with Josh, holding the other man was what Buck wanted to do all the time. Reclined against the arm of his couch, Josh cuddled up against his chest while they watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Oh oh, Buck likes seeing Josh in one of his old worn LAFD hoodies, because it literally hangs off him and Josh looks so soft and cuddly.
THIS!!!!! YOU GET IT!!!!!!! YOU FUCKING GET IT!!!!
I just got up to get some water and saw this so now I'm not going back to sleep lmfaooo. Buck would ABSOLUTELY love holding Josh! And Josh would love being held by Buck's big strong arms (honestly tho who wouldn't lmao). And Josh wearing the LAFD hoodie would just lead to more hugs and cuddles and soft kisses- Oh my fucking god I need to find some Buck x Josh fanfics to help keep this feral energy rising inside of me under control 😂
CAN YOU IMAGINE?!?!?!?!?!?
Them being soft with each other, Josh giving himself days off that match up with Buck's days off cause he's his own boss and they want to spend time together, Josh getting excited with Buck whenever they reach a new milestone in their relationship (like Buck holding his hand in public and not caring who sees 🥺, or Buck being the one to initiate a kiss. YOU ALREADY KNOW JOSH WOULD TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO CELEBRATE EVERY BABY STEP BUCK TAKES😭😭😭), both of them asking Maddie for help about how to impress or surprise the other, Maddie gossiping with Linda about the two being idiots in love, Buck talking to both Linda and Bobby about new recipes to try out, Josh talking to Sue and Maddie trying to make sure something he has planned won't be too much or scare Buck off, Josh showing up at the firehouse after Buck's shift ends wearing one of the hoodies and taking him on a small date to help him relax from the day and hear stories Buck wants to share-
I need to stop. I feel like I'm either gonna spontaneously combust or chew through my fucking wall 😂😂😂
You get a sundae for reminding me of these feelings and encouraging these thoughts lmao. Enjoy! 🍨✨
#911 josh#911 buck#buck x josh#bi evan buckley#bi evan buck buckley#evan buckley#josh russo#bi buck#911 maddie#maddie buckley#maddie buckley han#911 abc#911 on abc#911 show#911#going feral#actually going feral#someone help me
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another one shot on the great smiling critters space riders au created by none other than the one and only @onyxonline
inspired by this post
...Crafty and her fear of spiders...
Everyone was peacefully enjoying their evening on board of the critters spaceship,
kicken and hoppy were sparing, bubba was analysing some data they got recently, bobby and piggy were off baking cookies, dogday was peacefully laying on the sofa while catnap was taking a nap while defying gravity by floating aimlessly,
But wait, where's crafty?,
Oh she was in her room the last time she was seen, she said that she wanted to draw something ,
Everything was going perfectly until...
a scream echoed through the spaceship, snapping every rider from their peaceful haze ,
Dogday who was laying peacefully , sprang on his feet like lightning, and catnap who was floating a couple of feets of the floor fell but landed on his feet,
Huh, guess cats do land on their feet after all ,
Bubba, alongside hoppy and kicken came dashing over, after a few seconds piggy and bobby came they had to make sure the oven was turned off, then dogday frankly asked,
" what's going on !?!, is everyone alright !?! "
He asked his crew,
" yes we're fine , are we under an attack!? "
Asked kicken,
" I don't think so , the sensors would have picked if any object was around "
Said bubba,
" we all heard a scream right ?? "
Asked piggy,
" yeah ,but who was it ?? "
Questioned hoppy,
// guys , guys, where is crafty?? //
Signed catnap, everyone immediately realised that crafty wasn't with them.., then there was another scream, and a call for help,
" HELP !!, GUYS !!, HELP ME!!! "
Yup that was crafty, they didn't think twice before making a run for crafty's room,
When they arrived they heard
" STAY AWAY !!, DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!, HELP!! "
They knew crafty was a very capable strong lady and she being in trouble was never a good sign...
' she's in danger! , we need to act quick ! ' dogday whisper yelled,
' on the count of three !, one... two... three! ' dogday again whisper yelled,
bubba quickly opened the door, dogday and catnap rushed inside energy beams on the ready in their hands, followed by kicken and hoppy,
the others stayed at door to block anyone from escaping,
Crafty was standing on her table and she was shaking, but there was no one other than the riders... Kicken then spoke lowering his defense,
" there's no one here , where's the intruder? "
He asked , looking a crafty's shaking form ,
" it's over there !! "
Crafty said as she pointed to the other side of her room,
" we don't see anyone here crafty ! "
Said hoppy her defense still up,
" careful, the intruder might be using some cama flashing device "
Dogday warned his team as they all were on high alert,
// I can't sense anyone here //
Signed catnap, feeling uneasy,
" me neither "
Said hoppy,
" crafty are you sure there's is something or someone here ? "
Asked bubba,
" yes! , it was right there ! "
Said crafty , covering her head withe her hands ,
Then catnap went to the other side of the room and checked, but there was nothing,
" what did it look like crafty ?? "
Asked piggy,
" it was hideous! "
Said crafty loudly ,
" but there's nothing in this room! "
Yelled kicken,
" THERE'S A SPIDER IN THIS ROOM !! "
Crafty finally snapped,
And it was like everything stopped,
" wait so you're telling me, that you were screaming like you're gonna get killed, because of a spider?? "
Hoppy asked trying to remain calm,
" I was in danger!, there's a spider in my room!! "
// you mean this spider //
Catnap signed before picking up a small spider that was on the floor,
" Yes!!, look how big and hideous it is!! "
Crafty screamed,
At that moment no one could hold their laughter, well bubba facepalmed , bobby and dogday were trying to stifel their laugh because they are just so nice and kind, but they did laugh,
At least not like hoppy who fell on her knees laughing..
" WHAT'S SO FUNNY!?!, I WAS DIEING HERE!! "
Yelled crafty,
" it's - it's * wheeze * , we thought you were in real danger! "
Then kicken proceeded to continue his wheezing,
" who thought that the great crafty , whom everyone fears , is afraid of a little itsy spider !? "
hoppy was dieing cuz of laughter after she said that, crafty huffed angerly
Catnap took the spider to the garden they had and came back , still chuckling softly,
" come on cut it out guys, that's not very nice "
Said dogday, they did calm down after,
" sorry crafty, we found the situation funny "
Smiled piggy,
// yeah it's fine to be afraid sometimes//
Catnap signed, while floating slightly,
" we are sorry , here let me help you down "
Said hoppy as she extended her hand for crafty as climbed down from the desk,
" it's alright, I think I did overreact by screaming like that .."
Sighed crafty,
" nah it's fine!, we al get crazy sometimes .."
Said bobby,
" come on everyone!, let's enjoy some cookies "
Said piggy,
" yes!, cookies! "
Kicken cheered,
" let's go ! "
Exclaimed dogday, the rest nodded and smiled in agreement,
They spent their evening watching some movies and just chilling in general
| The end |
Hope you enjoyed!
#my stuff#my thoughts 💭#space riders fic#my post#space riders au#dogday#catnap#craftycorn#smiling critters#onyxonline#smiling critters au#poppy playtime#picky piggy#bubba bubbaphant#bobby bearhug#hoppy hopscotch#kicken chicken#my fic#my fanfiction#fanfic#hazbin hotel vox#fanfiction
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Alright, so sam-- me and him have something in common despite me being all the way across the water and even remotely indian-- he cannot chilll. He asked a girl on a date and is the biggest mess you have ever seen. And remember the abomination that was Mr. Bobby but on dateline? Well turns out he has a side job as giving grooms lap dances then viciously murdering them, but in a baby girl way. Man is On. That. Grind! Not only does he work for the UK government but he also strips in his free time, with the added bonus of eating someone's hand. Alice was Jesus Christ apparently, who tf knows slay girl pop queen and Gwen's carrying the wet-bag-cat energy strong, and probably has eye bags all the way down to her waist.
in— in. in a babygirl way. in. a babygirl. way. expl— explain to me... explain to me WHAT about mr bonzo you think is babygirl?????
#on that grind huh? that's. disturbing. but true ig#i love everyone's assumption that this is bonzo's side job. like he comes to strip clubs regularly.#it's stress relief. it's how he gets his snacks#ALICE YES SLAY GIRL POP QUEEN!!!!#“eye bags all the way down to her waist” is in fact an accurate description of gwen#tmagp#the magnus protocol#mr bonzo#alice dyer#gwendolyn bouchard#gwen bouchard
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Sorry guys. I don't have any ideas for posts, so here's what I have at the moment "T-T
Name: Bobby Bearhug
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Pansexual
Pronouns: She/Her
~Dop Info~
♥️- A kind and caring soul showing compassion for everyone and for everything
♥️- She loves hugging and giving love to her friends
♥️- Sometimes she is nalve, because she can take care of someone who, deep down, does not have the best intentions
♥️- She loves honey, cooking, flowers and drawing hearts
♥️- Loves Valentine's Day
♥️- Autophobia
♥️- She keeps her own personal diary and sometimes writes fan fiction
♥️- Pink and red are her favorite colors
Name: DogDay
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Pansexual & Omnisexual
Pronouns: He/Him
~Dop Info~
☀️- A cheerful, strong and determined leader of our critters
☀️- He always looks on the bright side of things and encourages others in difficult times
☀️- He doesn't like it when his friends are sad, and especially when they cry, so he tries his best to comfort and calm them down
☀️- He likes jokes and laughs even if he didn't understand them
☀️- Ancraophobia
☀️- Very tickling
☀️- He likes to draw and play with the ball and his friends
Name: KickinChicken
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Pansexual & Bisexual
Pronouns: He/Him
~Dop Info~
⭐ - He likes to wear cool sunglasses even at night if he wants to, and if anyone asks him why he does it, he will say that: "I look even cooler in my cool sunglasses"
⭐- He likes surfing because he thinks it's cool. he also loves dancing and sports
⭐ - Tendencies to fear
⭐ - He knows how to skateboard and knows a little karate
⭐ - He loves to do some extreme things, jokes, pranks and so on
⭐ - Loves sports
⭐ - He can't fly, but he can swim
⭐- He has a strong sense of determination, as he will calmly come out of any tense situation that will bring him to his knees
⭐- He likes to present himself as a "cool kid" in front of others. he highly appreciates this idea of himself, so he maintains his image in everything he does
Name: Hoppy Hopscotch
Gender: Demi-girl
Sexuality: Pansexual
Pronouns: She/Her
~Dop Info~
⚡- Supports energy and enthusiasm
⚡- It happens that she can be very hyperactive, which is why she can accidentally break something or harm herself
⚡- Sometimes she is loud and impatient
⚡- ADHD
⚡- She loves sports and vegetables very much
⚡- She is not afraid to take risks and always strives for her goal
⚡- Her favorite game is volleyball and football
⚡- She can jump rope
Name: CraftyCorn
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Omnisexual
Pronouns: She/Her
~Dop Info~
🌈- A conscious observer of both color and creativity in the world
🌈- She can see beauty in everything that is imagined and shaped
🌈- She loves to draw and create
🌈- She likes rainbows, flowers and bright colors
🌈- Sky blue is her favorite color
🌈- Likes to make himself different hairstyles
🌈- She makes not only a good artist, but also a hairdresser
🌈- Too shy, but a little sensitive and touchy. Also a very hardworking and creative person
Name: Bubba Bubbaphant
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Asexual & Bisexual
Pronouns: He/Him
~Dop Info~
💡- He supports his friends and always encourages them to make smart choices
💡- Very smart in a gang with a high IQ
💡- He likes to read, learn and learn something new and mathematics
💡- Not ticklish
💡- Inquisitive and attentive. He always knows when someone is lying
💡- Sometimes he may forget to rest or sleep when he gets carried away in reading
💡- He often visits the library
Name: CatNap
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Demisexual & Bisexual
Pronouns: He/Him
~Dop Info~
🌙- Ensures that he and his friends can always get enough sleep to start the morning game
🌙- He is silent most of the day and does not like to talk too much
🌙- He likes to look at his sleeping friends. It makes him happy and relaxed
🌙- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
🌙- Frequent insomnia
🌙- Loves the night and watching the stars
🌙- A little introverted
🌙- He is a gentle and affectionate cat, but sometimes quite cunning
🌙- He always chases a laser pointer because of his feline instincts, even though it annoys him
Name: Picky Piggy
Gender: Demi-girl
Sexuality: Asexual & Bisexual
Pronouns: She/Her
~Dop Info~
🍎- She knows how to cook and loves to eat delicious food
🍎- She likes to work on the farm and grow vegetables and fruits
🍎- Gets dirty a lot
🍎- Likes to help and doesn't like too much attention
🍎- A little introverted
🍎- Pretty strong and hardworking
#smilling critters#poppy playtime smiling critters#poppy playtime#smiling critters poppy playtime#bobby bearhug#dogday#kickinchicken#hoppy hopscotch#craftycorn#bubba bubbaphant#catnap#picky piggy#pansexual#bisexual#omnisexual#demigirl#asexual#demisexual
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😩🤧👃✨💦❤️😳🕯
For Seungcheol and Jeonghan please
This was so long but so much fun to write!! Thank you for requesting so many interesting prompts!! I hope you enjoy~ 🫶💕
😩: Do they tend to sneeze just once or twice, or multiple times? Do they have fits frequently or rarely? Does how many times they sneeze depend on the cause?
🤧: What does their sneeze sound like? (Description, spelling, or both!)
👃: In general, how sensitive is their nose? Can something like a certain flower or smell make them sneeze even if they’re not allergic to it? Do they sneeze a lot on average, or not very much? Does their nose twitch a lot, or barely ever at all?
✨: What would be the best way for someone to induce them? Feathers, rolled-up tissue, or something else? How much stimulation would it take for them to start sneezing? Would inducing produce just one or two sneezes from them, or multiples?
💦: How wet are their sneezes? Do they spray barely at all, or are you gonna need an umbrella? Do they try to cover at all, or just let it go? Do they sniffle a lot when they’re sick or allergies are bugging them?
❤️: What’s your absolute favorite scenario for them? It can be anything, sickness, allergies, or something else entirely!
😳: Are they embarrassed by their sneezes, or do they just not really care? Do they apologize after sneezing? Do they say “sorry!” or “excuse me!” or anything like that? If they’re embarrassed about it, why?
����: Are they allergic to other things? Dust, animals, perfumes, certain fragrances? Anything that might be considered “out of the ordinary” to be allergic to? How bad are those allergies?
Choi Seungcheol:
😩: Seungcheol usually sneezes at least twice. This really depends on the cause, though. If he has a cold, he would have fits often of about 4-5 sneezes. This usually drains his energy completely. But if he's having an allergic reaction, he'll sneeze in fits of 2. If he's just sensitive to a scent, he'll sneeze only once but multiple times.
🤧: Seungcheol sneeze can be described as HARSH. Like, really harsh. It tears at his throat and usually brings irritated tears to his eyes. His sneeze is also really forceful and saps a lot of his energy. But if he's sick, eventually his sneezes just get weaker and progressively more wet as his energy drains after every sneeze. I would spell it something like "hh'HKtCHuHh!-"
👃: Seungcheol has rhinitis, and his nose is pretty sensitive in general. He's also photic, so going out in the sun usually causes him to sneeze. He's pretty allergic to dust as well, causing the members to pay close attention to their dorm and how clean it is. He is really likely to smeeze at least once if he's in proximity to a strong scent, regardless of his allergies.
✨️: If you wanted to induce Seungcheol, the best way to do so would probably be a feather. Or something thin like a bobby pin, maybe? Again, Seungcheol's nose is pretty sensitive, so he would sneeze after just a little bit of stimulation. Inducing him would probably be able to get a fit of at least 3 sneezes. His induced sneezes would also be very messy for sure and would make him slightly lightheaded.
💦: Seungcheol's sneezes are generally wet. Not as wet as, maybe, Chan's sneezes but wet. He is generally really good at covering when he sneezes. But if he's really sick, he tends to just give up, and the members don't really mind as they know he's suffering.
❤️: One of my favourite Seungcheol scenarios is definitely him getting emotional while having a cold. Maybe because he feels guilty for getting sick when the members are working hard, or maybe it's because he really craves his members' love. After all, the members mean the most to him in the world. Maybe Soonyoung, Jihoon, Jeonghan, or Joshua are his caretakers? It's just a really sweet headcanon I have.
😳: Seungcheol isn't embarrassed by his, per say, but he does find it slightly annoying, sneezing in front of his members. Mostly because he likes to appear strong. But he isn't exactly embarrassed by his sneeze. After he sneezes, he'll probably not say anything, and if someone blesses him, he'll probably just thank them quietly.
🕯: Seungcheol is hella allergic to dust. He's also pretty allergic to scented products such as candles, hair dyes, and sometimes some kinds of creams or soaps. This is why the members always inform him before buying something with a strong scent. He gets kinda embarrassed when he can't dye his hair a certain color or his members can't buy a certain product because of his allergies, but his members always assure him that it's fine.
Yoon Jeonghan:
😩: Jeonghan almost always sneezes just once. He isn't one of the sneezier members of the group, and he very rarely sneezes more than once. That only happens when he's sick. His allergies usually cause him to sneeze rapidly, and he might have fits of 3 sneezes at most.
🤧: Jeonghan's sneeze is kinda cough-like but wetter. His sneezes are very soft and quiet, and the members might not even notice that he sneezed, sometimes. The stronger a cold is, the wetter the sneezes. I would spell it something like "hh'IktChuhH!"
👃: Jeonghan's nose isn't really that sensitive. He is mildly photic and would probably sneeze if there's a bright enough light in front of him, but other than that, he doesn't really have any other sensitivities.
✨️: The way to induce Jeonghan would definitely be feathers. But with Jeonghan, you'll have to induce him for a longer time to finally get him to sneeze. That's because his nose gets really tickly when induced, but it takes a long time for him to actually sneeze. Once he starts sneezing, though, he'll probably have fits of about 3 sneezes every 5 mins.
💦: Jeonghan's sneezes aren't that wet. When he isn't sick, his sneezes stay generally dry, even with his allergies. But when he is sick, his sneezes definitely get wetter. He's usually pretty good at covering because he doesn't want the other members to get sick.
❤️: One of my favourite scenarios for Jeonghan is definitely him being sick during song recordings. We all know that Jeonghan is one of the members who has a hard time recording. So him being sick on top of that, getting emotional because he can't do his best and Jihoon comforting are all things I think about often.
😳: Jeonghan isn't embarrassed about his sneeze at all. He just accepts it. Even if he has allergies, he just accepts that he's gonna be sneezy and doesn't really get embarrassed often. If someone (Joshua) blesses him, he'll thank them but won't mention it.
🕯: Jeonghan doesn't have that many allergies. But he is REALLY allergic to perfumes. He doesn't really wear regular perfumes due to his allergies, but since his members wear a lot of them, they always have to make sure that Jeonghan doesn't feel too badly. This is especially true with Mingyu, who is one of the members who wears a lot of perfumes.
Hope you enjoyed!!
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WRESTLING ALL STARS: Heroes and Villains : February 1993
Ready for something really scary, boys and girls?
CACTUS JACK’S A MANAGER!
By GEORGE NAPOLITANO
The wild, weird and wacky Cactus Jack has taken up a new career. He’s now a manager in the WCW. Cactus is managing the affairs of the unpredictable Barbarian and the one-time “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas. It wasn’t that many years ago that people said Cactus Jack was unmanageable! How can a man known for his unpredictable and bizarre behavior come to manage two veterans like the Barbarian and Tony Atlas?
[Cactus says, “People say I’m nuts–but I know exactly what I’m gonna do every time I enter the wrestling arena!”]
It defies logic but it’s true. Several months ago after suffering a severe groin pull, Cactus Jack approached the Barbarian about helping his career. The Barbarian surprisingly agreed and the two have been together ever since. Cactus confided in the Barbarian that he knew how to make him a champion. Cactus Jack has been putting the Barbarian through a very rigorous training regime. The training may be unorthodox by normal standards but why would anyone think that Cactus Jack would stoop to orthodox tactics for his stable of contenders?
“No one gives me any credit at all,” Cactus moaned after putting his proteges through another strenuous routine. “I know exactly what I am going to do every time I climb through the ropes. My job is to win in any way I can and I will use anything I can to get the job done. If it means using a chair, the ring posts, the guard rails or the stairs to beat my opponent, I will use it. People say I’m unorthodox. People say I’m nuts. Some say I’m crazy–but tell me what’s wrong with using stairs if they’re there? It doesn’t matter how you win just as long as you win and the Barbarian understands this now. He’s a man after my own heart. He’s tough, strong, powerful and a little crazy too. That’s what makes him so good. Besides the Barbarian, I now have Tony Atlas in my stable too, and my new killer is the same way. He used to be soft but my good friend Tony Rumble taught him a better way. Now he’s ready to be champion in the WCW. With the Barbarian and Atlas I’ve got the next champions in my corner.”
[While wrestling for UWS a few years back, Cactus was managed by wrestling legend Maniac John Tolos.
While the Barbarian looks on, Cactus explains to WCW announcer Jim Ross just how he and the big guy are going to conquer the world!]
It’s still hard to fathom how Cactus Jack–never a champ himself–can instill enough knowledge into his men to make them champions. Although this may seem impossible in theory, there are many other managers who fall into this category. The renowned Captain Lou Albano never won a title; neither did Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. Paul E. Dangerously, Jim Cornette and Jimmy Hart never even donned a pair of tights! Using this as a barometer, Cactus Jack then certainly has the credentials to be a manager! If Cactus is even half as successful as these other great managers, the Barbarian and Tony Atlas could be championship bound.
[The maniac’s table of wrestlers is already impressive. Cactus has taken The Barbarian and Tony Atlas beneath his dement wing!
A horribly bloodied Cactus Jack screams at the crowd following a match in the Orient.]
Whether the Barbarian and Tony Atlas can achieve championship status remains to be seen, but Cactus certainly has them believing in themselves. With their new positive energy, their strength, agility and skill and unpredictable behavior of Cactus Jack at Ringside, the Barbarian and Tony Atlas could be championship bound.
[Here’s how the Barbarian looked back in the days when he was one half of the WWF tag team known as The Powers of Pain.
Cactus Jack may seem like a complete lunatic in the ring, but insiders say he isn’t as crazy as he acts. Yes, there's a method in his madness!
Cactus Jack’s new main man is Tony Atlas, shown here working over Greg “The Hammer” Valentine.]
Don’t laugh, stranger things have happened in the crazy world of professional wrestling!
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Smiling Critters In Gacha Life 2!
Okay, since my special interest is these sillies rn, I wanna show you all how I made them on Gacha Life 2!! (+ Extra info I made for that will fit into an AU for them!)
(Note, the quality isn't the greatest since I made them on an old phone. I basically took pictures of them from my old phone with my new one for them to show up here- I will soon put them at higher quality when I get the chance tho!)
CatNap
"CatNap is a calming presence for the critters and ensures he and his friends always have the right amount of sleep to jumpstart the morning's play! End of the day, there's nothing CatNap enjoys more than watching his friends sleep soundly."
Additional traits: He doesn’t really talk too much, and he is shown to be sleeping often throughout the day. He’s more active at night, making sure everyone has sweet dreams. He may occasionally wake up by his own will to give advice to his friends when they're in a pinch, then he goes straight back to sleep. He appears very calm outwardly, but in reality, he is constantly worried deep down about a dark secret of his…
DogDay
"This is DogDay, the sunny, strong, and determined leader of our critters! Each trusts him to find the bright side in any situation, and to have a friendly word of encouragement should they feel down. He'll always keep his friends going, no matter what."
Additional traits: Because of his status as leader of his group, DogDay can sometimes end up being TOO selfless. He worries about anyone ever needing a loyal friend, so he will always try to be there for everyone. No matter the occasion. DogDay also has a rather playful side to him when he's playing with his friends, especially when it involves his favorite games like Fetch and any ball game.
Bobby BearHug
"A kind, caring soul, Bobby BearHug shows compassion for everyone, and for everything. People and places and things, large or small, are all receivers of her love. Each is enriched by this attention and affection, and in turn, so is she."
Additional traits: She has a big fear of being left alone (Shown canonically). She is VERY empathetic. She usually feels the emotions that others feel, but she sometimes lets emotions get in the way of making certain choices. She is usually the least likely to fight with any of her friends, since she'd rather keep the peace and love everyone and everything. Bobby can also be very clingy, especially around her friends.
CraftyCorn
"A conscious observer of both color and creativity in the world. CraftyCorn understands the importance of art, and sharing it with others. Crayons, pencils, paint, or words on the page, CraftyCorn can see beauty in anything imagined given shape."
Additional traits: Crafty gets embarrassed rather easily and is a little shy at times (shown canonically). She often makes huge messes of her clothes, so her clothes often never stay clean for the whole day. Even so, she can act like a big sister figure for her friends. It's also worth mentioning that she has a very good singing voice. Almost like that of a fairytale princess…
(She DID manage to keep her clothes clean for this picture though, so that's nice for her =v=)
KickinChicken
"This is KickinChicken, the cool kid of the crew, and he maintains that sense of cool through anything, even in the most tense of situations. Knock him down, and he'll pick himself up, brush himself off, and ask: "What's next?""
Additional traits: Kickin can be a bit of a daredevil with a tendency to underestimate the severity of situations. He may accidentally come off as insensitive when he attempts to comfort others. He can also occasionally get too image-focused for his own good. However, he is still a steadfast friend that will try his best for his pals.
Hoppy Hopscotch
"Unafraid to hop where others might sit, Hoppy is the friend everyone needs to maintain their energy and enthusiasm. While sometimes loud or impatient, she'll always hop besides her friends, even if it means slowing up once in a while to keep their pace."
Additional traits: Hoppy is a very loyal friend. She will often side with the underdog in certain situations, especially if they're treated wrongfully. Like Kickin, she is a daredevil, and she can get very stubborn when it comes to her goals. Hoppy barely, if ever, loses her energy, but when she does, she often gets hit HARD.
Bubba Bubbaphant
"Bubba Bubbaphant is the brains of the critters. Bright and attentive, he keeps his friends steady and always steers them to make smart choices, that way they all might grow up to be bright and brilliant, each in their own right."
Additional traits: He often acts as the father of the group. Like CatNap, he is very calm. However, due to wanting to stay level-headed and logical at all times, it leaves a tendency for him to bottle up his feelings, which can come out at very large amounts when reaching his breaking point. He occasionally may shove aside others' ideas if they aren't efficient depending on the situation.
PickyPiggy
"What's more important than play and learning? PickyPiggy knows the answer. A playful body and keen mind are fueled by what's put into them, which is why she encourages her friends to eat a well-balanced diet. Secretly, PB&J's are her favorite food."
Additional traits: Picky is very easygoing and cheerful. She can be quite the social butterfly at times, especially when it comes to anything involving food. However, she often overworks herself for her friends. She likes being there to help them with any health-related matters and food. She can also get very health-conscious when stressed.
(She looks so pink here- Saturation really hit her hard lol)
This is what I have for these guys so far! I plan to discuss more AU stuff for them in the future, but for right now, this is what I'll post for them. I will at least say that nobody gets hurt in this AU version I was planning (at least not in terms of the canon PP3 events...)
"S-M-I-L-E Everyday!"
#smiling critters#catnap#dogday#bobby bearhug#craftycorn#kickin chicken#hoppy hopscotch#bubba bubbaphant#picky piggy
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