#tom bennet icons | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Average visit duration of Tumblr.com is 10 mins and 25 secs.

justzawe · 2 years

Text

Zawe Ashton Is Manifesting Her Future

Thrillist has coffee with the 'Mr. Malcolm's List' actress as she heads into Marvel stardom.

When Zawe Ashton walks into La Bergamote, a small French café in Chelsea with fruit pastries gleaming in a glass case, she's bubbly and enthusiastic. "I was here in 2019," she calls to the proprietor. The British actor and writer is feeling a bit overwhelmed by nostalgia. She lived up the street when she was starring in the acclaimed revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal opposite her now-fiancé, Tom Hiddleston, and Charlie Cox which closed in December 2019, shortly before Broadway shut down due to COVID-19.

"I came here every single day, and this became part of my ritual of doing the show. The chocolate mice they do, I welled up just then when I saw them again because they felt like such an iconic part of my experience here," she says, referencing a truffle-and-cookie delicacy. "And of course, what makes it all the more emotional is the fact that this is also the Before Times for me."

Three years and a pandemic later, Ashton is back in New York, this time promoting Mr. Malcolm's List, a Regency romance where she plays the scheming Julia Thistlewaite, a daft but conniving woman who plots to take down the titular Mr. Malcolm (Sope Dirisu), an eligible bachelor, with help from her goodhearted friend (Freida Pinto). She is delicious in the film, a delightful bit of Regency escapism directed by Emma Holly Jones. Ashton is open about the fact that she was third in line to play Julia: Gemma Chan starred in the short, a test run for the feature which got the go-ahead after the success of another diversely cast Austenian spin, Bridgerton. Constance Wu was initially slated for the role before Ashton was called to step in at the last minute on the suggestion of Pinto. "We'd worked together a couple of years ago, and so she was like, 'Can we finally just try Zawe?'" she says. "The script came across my desk and I had about 24 hours to say yes or no.”

Ashton has been acting since she was a child and has fallen in and out of love with it, but she's on the precipice of even greater fame. Next year she'll appear in the Captain Marvel follow up The Marvel. She can't say who she's playing, but it's been reported she's a villain. For now, she's a different sort of baddie in the charming romantic comedy, out in theaters now. "What is right on brand for me, which I keep realizing, is she is very much the antihero of the piece," she says, digging into a shiny strawberry tart. "People are loving to hate Julia, which makes me feel really happy."

Ashton has thought critically about her work as an actor, even writing a semi-autobiographical novel called Character Breakdown, so she has been long conscious of the tradition of overbearing whiteness in British period adaptations. Even though she could read the novels and see herself as an Emma, for example—"Lizzy Bennet is not me," she says—she was never cast in the endless parade of BBC adaptations.

"There's been a lot of unpacking, having now sat down at the table," she says. I ask her to elaborate: "Well, my first costume fitting, for example. I put on a corset and a bonnet and these little silky slippers, and I felt so soft and tender and aspirational and was transported to this world that peers of mine had been transported to millions of times. And I found myself thinking, 'Why would anyone not think I was capable of this softness and sweetness?' Because this is an aspirational genre. We weren't there. We're making it up."

Coincidentally, Ashton had been seeking a break in reality. "Just before Malcolm's List came in, I'd said to my manager, 'Get me in a corset,' after seeing Bridgerton," she says. "It was a throwaway comment. And just before that, I'd had a frustrated rant about the industry and its expectations, and I was like, 'I just feel like I should only play characters that are seriously fictional. I shouldn't play real people, I think I should find a niche where I play people not from this realm.'" Then The Marvels came along.

After Betrayal, Ashton had her agent set up meetings with underrepresented directors. She was more interested in finding people to work with than projects to work on. One of those filmmakers was Nia DaCosta, whose indie Little Woods had yielded a gig directing the new Candyman. They bonded over their love of Austen's Persuasion. And then DaCosta was tapped to direct the Captain Marvel sequel and called up Ashton.

Ashton, of course, had been adjacent to the MCU in Betrayal, given that Hiddleston is best known as Loki and Cox was Netflix's Daredevil, but she wasn't really versed in the material. "It sounds so disrespectful because you should always watch your costars' work when you go to work with them," she says, but she was a fan of their theatrical performances and Hiddleston's work in The Souvenir auteur Joanna Hogg's early films. For Halloween, Cox and Hiddleston decided to swap roles and dress as their respective characters. Ashton donned a blonde wig and went as Captain Marvel, but she had never seen the movie—or any of the movies outside of Black Panther.

"We all just sat down as a cast and looked at the costumes that were going to be available in time for Halloween," she says. "I was like, 'This outfit is cool, I'm definitely going to wear this.' And obviously was a huge Brie Larson fan in her other work, but that was a random manifestation." When her part in The Marvels was announced, the Halloween photo spread across the internet. She's since gotten caught up with the MCU, but still wasn't fully aware of what she had gotten herself into. "I didn't think it through," she says. "I just knew that I wanted to serve Nia."

The clash of fantasy and reality is a theme in Ashton's life right now. The night before we speak, she attended a special screening of Malcolm's List wearing a stunning jeweled Sabina Bilenko Couture gown that gave her the aura of a goddess. Her getting ready process was featured in a Vogue story that doubled as a pregnancy announcement. Some time into our conversation, I ask her about feeling as if she had to reveal her pregnancy with the media attention around her relationship.

"Maybe me a few years ago would have said something different, but I don't feel like I have to do anything," she tells me. "And we're having really important conversations that will help us out of very, very disturbing times about women and their own power and autonomy over their own bodies. That can also be a mindset. So I feel very autonomous in myself at this point in my life." If she can make some kind of statement by appearing pregnant on a red carpet, she will.

As we wrap up, she gets a container for her fresh berries to-go and sweeps out into the Chelsea streets in the billowing dress with flowers growing out of its seam. It's something out a fairytale, just like Mr. Malcolm's List.

"We've had such a difficult, bleak couple of years, and there is just something extremely pure about [the Regency] era and peoples' intentions, and also the tropes that run through these pieces," she says. "There will be enemies becoming lovers. There will be romance, there will be someone who's desperately trying to marry for love rather than position. It's a bit like going to your favorite café every day rather than switching it up." Perhaps even a place like La Bergamote. (x)

#zawe ashton #thrillist #article #interview #mr. malcolm’s list #the marvels #mml promo

57 notes · View notes

draconaiis · 2 years

Text

----

Some important ‘need to know’ info can be found in this pinned post along with helpful links. I encourage you to check them out before approaching me.

🤚 CHARACTER BIOS tba if I feel like it || 🔥 FULL GUIDELINES HERE

💋 INBOX PROMPTS || SHIPS tba || OPENS

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

STATUS: OPEN FOR SHIPPING ( LIMITED 2 per character )

CURRENT ACTIVITY STATUS: HIATUS W/ LIMITED ACTIVITY || I am most active whenever i feel like being active. Threads are dropped often unless you’re willing to wait. I have a real life outside of this bullshit site. Don’t send me shitty messages about my activity or its an instant block.

MOST WANTED SHIPS / CONNECTIONS: namor, johnny lawrence, samantha larusso, hinata hyuuga, ichigo k, gale, peeta m, cinna, alan grant, bruce wayne ( nolan’s ), klaus m, elijah m, damon salvatore, thor, daryl dixon

CURRENT MAINS: tba CURRENT EXCLUSIVES: tba

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

THIS IS A SIDE BLOG. I will not follow back from my main hub AT ALL. Don’t ask. Exceptions will be close friends.

I AM NOT MUTUALS ONLY. Non-mutuals may interact but I reserve the right to ignore anyone / any character I don’t want to interact with or I feel I won’t vibe with at all. OCs are grouped the same as canons. I will RP with who I want when I want regardless.

I DON’T FILL OUT INTEREST CHECKERS OR PERMANENT STARTERS. Unless you’re a terrible writer or problematic in the community, I may be willing to interact eventually.

I am over the age of 21 ( 30+ TO BE EXACT ) which means I will only play with adults. No age on your blog, no interactions. No exceptions.

Terminal illnesses, genderbends, self inserts are my hard nos forever and always.

Crossovers entered at my discretion.

LASTLY, I am an adult who has no problem writing adult topics. Realize that my blog may deal with themes that make you uncomfortable. Don’t follow if you’re easily triggered because I will not dial back my writing for you.

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆ ( credits )

Most of my BASE icons were found on the old hollowart website that is now defunct but a vast majority of those bases were edited by ME. which means I did not steal these icons. The Ian Somerhalder gifs were made by @ 2400s here on tumblr. Other credits tba as needed.

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

Short List of Muses featured below the cut. Bolds are mains. Others are ‘as I feel like playing them’ characters or test muses.

THANK YOU FOR READING 🤍

Marvel / DC

Peter 2 ( Toby McGuire )

Peter 1 ( Tom Holland )

Ororo / Storm ( Halle Berry )

Mystique / Raven ( Anya Cholatra )

T’Challa ( no FC for now )

Loki ( Tom Hiddleston - Loki series / MCU only )

Jim Gordon ( Gary Oldman - Nolan Verse only )

Hancock

Ray Embrey

The Vampire Diaries Universe

Stefan Salvatore

Bonnie Bennet

Cobra Kai

Daniel Larusso

The Walking Dead Universe

Carol Peletier ( Melissa McBride )

Mission Impossible

Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise )

Anime

Neji Hyuga ( Naruto Shippuden )

Iruka Umino ( Naruto Shippuden )

Disney

Jack Sparrow

James Norrington

Video Games

Alexios of Sparta ( Assassin’s Creed )

OCs

Julien ( AoT MP )

Other / Test

Damon Salvatore ( TVD - anti-delena )

Bruce Wayne ( Christian Bale - Nolan Verse only )

3 notes · View notes

pocfiles · 4 years

Text

MASTERLIST: pocs entre 18-30 anos com disponibilidade de resources.

— abaixo do read more você vai encontrar uma lista de #100 pocs entre as idades de 18-30 anos com vasta disponibilidade de resources. a lista também vai contar com seus anos de nascimento, informação disponível sobre seu background étnico, e ao clicar em seus nomes você será redirecionado a sua tag de gif icons. ideal para players e centrais. observação: a lista não conta com fcs de kpop uma vez que os mesmos já são bastante utilizados na tag. caso lhe seja útil, não hesite em dar um like ou reblog.

— FEMININOS

RYAN DESTINY (1995): afro-americana, mãe é biracial (afro-americana e branca).

ZENDAYA COLEMAN (1996): 1/2 afro-americana, 1/2 branca

KIKO MIZUHARA (1990): 1/2 coreana, 1/2 branca. nacionalidade japonesa

MISHTI RAHMAN (1992): bengali. nacionalidade australiana

SAMANTHA LOGAN (1996): 1/2 afro-americana, 1/2 branca

GRETA ONIEOGOU (1991): descendência russa e nigeriana

NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO (1994): descendência chinesa e italiana. nacionalidade australiana

JESSICA VU (1999): vietnamita. nacionalidade americana

LAURA HARRIER (1990): 1/2 afro-americana, 1/2 branca

ALISHA BOE (1997): somaliana e norueguesa.

NORMANI KORDEI (1996): descendência afro-americana, francesa e indiana.

VANESSA MORGAN (1992): descendência tanzaniana e escocesa

TATI GABRIELLE (1996): afro-americana, coreana

HILLARY THRIN (1999): vietnamita

YARA SHAHIDI (2000): afro-americana e iraniana.

MADISON BAILEY (1999): afro-americana e italiana.

CHRISTINA NADIN (1995): 1/2 filipina, 1/2 irlandesa

AMANDLA STENBERG (1998): 1/2 afro-americana, 1/2 branca

KIANA LEDÉ (1997): descendência afro-americana, nativo americana, latina e sueca.

COURTNEY EATON (1996): descendência inglesa, chinesa, e maori.

MINA EL HAMMANI (1993): marroquina

ASLIHAN MALBORA (1995): turca

LAIS RIBEIRO (1990): brasileira, descendência negra, indígena e europeia

LANA CONDOR (1997): vietnamita

FIVEL STEWART (1996): descendência coreana-japonesa-chinesa, nativo americana e europeia

IMAAN HAMMAM (1996): marroquina e egípcia

SALEM MITCHELL (1998): afro-americana, com descendência filipina

PARIS BERELC (1998): 1/2 branca, 1/2 filipina

AJIONA ALEXUS (1996): afro-americana

DIAMOND WHITE (1999): afro-americana

BRIANNE TJU (1998): descendência chinesa e indonésia..

JUSTINE BITICON (1998): descendência filipina e mexicana

YAYA URASSAYA (1993): norueguesa e tailandesa

DAVIKA HOORNE (1992): belga e tailandesa

SARAH CHEUNG (1996): chinesa

SAWEETIE (1993): 1/2 afro-americana, 1/2 filipina e chinesa

KELSEY MERRITT (1993): filipina-americana

CINDY KIMBERLY (1998): descendência espanhola e indonésia

PARK HYEMIN (1990): sul-coreana

YOVANNA VENTURA (1995): dominicana, espanhola

CHLOE BENNET (1992): 1/2 chinesa, 1/2 branca

HAYLEY KIYOKO (1991): descendência japonesa e europeia

KAYLEE BRYANT (1997): descendência japonesa e europeia

NAOMI SCOTT (1993): descendência indiana e europeia

KIM GOEUN (1991): sul-coreana

ASHLEY MOORE (1993): afro-americana, cherokee e branca

KELSEY CHOW (1991): descendência chinesa, cherokee e inglesa

TINASHE KACHINGWE (1993): afro-americana, descendência irlandesa por parte de pai

CHINA ANNE MCCLAIN (1991): afro-americana

SYDNEY PARK (1997): 1/2 afro-americana, 1/2 coreana

PIPER CURDA (1990): descendência coreana e tcheca

JENN IM (1991): coreano-americana

MOON GAYOUNG (1996): sul-coreana

LYRICA OKANO (1994): japonesa-americana

SOFIA BRYANT (1999): afro-americana

SATO HARUMI (1995): japonesa

BYUN JUNGHA (1993): sul-coreana

— MASCULINOS

KEITH POWERS (1992): afro-americano

ROME FLYNN (1991): 3/4 afro-americano, 1/4 branco

DOMINIC FIKE (1995): afro-americano e filipino

YANG YANG (1991): chinês

KEIYNAN LONSDALE (1991): descendência nigeriana e irlandesa

JORDAN FISHER (1994): afro-americano, descendência cambojana, taitiana e branca

BOOBOO STEWART (1994): descendência coreana-japonesa-chinesa, nativo americana e europeia

JONATHAN DAVISS (1999): afro-americano

ALGEE SMITH (1994): afro-americano

CHRISTIAN YU (1990): sul-coreano

REECE KING (1994): biracial, descendência africana e branca

MICHAEL EVANS BEHLING (1996): biracial, 1/2 afro-americano e 1/2 branco

DANIEL EZRA (1991): negro; descendência não-especificada

AVAN JOGIA (1992): descendência indiana e europeia

JADEN SMITH (1998): afro-americano

ZAYN MALIK (1993): descendência paquistanesa e europeia

AJ SAUDIN (1992): descendência tanzaniana

SHAMEIK MOORE (1995): afro-americano

CAPTAIN CHONLATORN (1998): tailandês

RYAN POTTER (1995): descendência japonesa, europeia e judia

CHANCE PERDOMO (1996): afro-americano

KEVIN ABSTRACT (1996): afro-americano

TREVOR JACKSON (1996): afro-americano

JACOB ARTIST (1992): 1/2 afro-americano, 1/2 polonês

JUSTICE SMITH (1995): 1/2 afro-americano, 1/2 europeu

MENA MASSOUD (1991): egípcio-canadense

DYLAN WANG (1998): chinês

DEV PATEL (1990): descendência indiana, nacionalidade britânica

JOHN BOYEGA (1992): descendência nigeriana, nacionalidade britânica

DARREN BARNET (1991): 1/2 japonês, 1/2 branco

CHARLES MELTON (1991): 1/2 coreano, 1/4 branco, 1/4 cherokee

ROSS BUTLER (1990): 1/2 chinês, 1/2 branco

TOM MADEN (1989): branco, hispânico, nativo-americano

CODY SAINTGNUE (1993): descendência francesa e cherokee

PARK BO GUM (1993): sul-coreano

JI SOO (1993): sul-coreano

NAM JOOHYUK (1994): sul-coreano

TERADA TAKUYA (1992): japonês

— TRANS/NÃO BINÁRIO

SHAMIR BAILEY (1994): afro-americane, não-binário

INDYA MOORE (1995): porto riquenha e dominicana, mulher trans

QUINTESSA SWINDELL (1997): afro-americane, não-binário

CHELLA MAN (1998): descendência judia e chinesa, trans, genderqueer

LAITH ASHLEY (1989): descendência dominicana, homem trans

#rp br #fc masterlist #poc fc masterlist

226 notes · View notes

tcm · 3 years

Text

Celebrating the Charismatic Ann Rutherford By Kim Luperi

“I’m out in the fresh air, I’m my own boss, and at least there’s a thick pane of glass between me and the drunks.” – Patty (Ann Rutherford) in TWO O’CLOCK COURAGE (’45).

I’ve been an Ann Rutherford fan for as long as I’ve loved classic films. I credit most of the cast of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (’40) for hooking me on the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Rutherford, who plays the youngest Bennet daughter Lydia, made the most of her small role. It’s the persona she radiated in this movie – the dynamic, merry, headstrong young woman – that I’ve come to associate her with. Today, TCM celebrates the star’s birthday, and I perked up because at first I thought 2020 was her centennial… until I remembered that MGM shaved three years off Rutherford’s age, as they did with many actresses.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I ended up spending a lot of time in two places closely associated with Rutherford: I landed a job five minutes from the home she resided in for almost 70 years until her passing in 2012, and I live mere blocks from where she went to high school. Though I’ve always felt some sort of connection through that physical proximity, I still knew little about the actress. That changed after reading Phillip Done’s book The Charms of Miss O’Hara: Tales of Gone With the Wind & the Golden Age of Hollywood from Scarlett’s Little Sister. Done shared stories the star regaled him with during their friendship, presenting me with reams of new knowledge and a new regard for Rutherford as a person.

One of my favorite tales came from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE co-star Marsha Hunt. One day, Rutherford showed up on Hunt’s doorstep bearing a brand-new evening gown. Rutherford explained that she just bought the beautiful dress but didn’t find it “becoming” on her. “When I look at it, it makes me think of you,” Rutherford told Hunt, handing over the dress. That’s just one of many stories – in Rutherford’s own words and anecdotes from friends and family – in which she comes across as a generous, thoughtful woman with a positive attitude and warm, vibrant spirit.

She was a wonderful woman, but she sure lied a lot! “My motto was: Fake it till you make it,” she explained to Done. Well, that adage certainly worked throughout her career. Rutherford fibbed about her acting experience to secure her first radio gig at 15 and then pretended to be her sister Judith, a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1934, to land her first film role in STUDENT TOUR (’34). At 17, Rutherford’s mother allowed her to say she was one year older so she could legally sign a contract with Mascot Pictures/Republic, only to bring her to court to nullify it a year later when she thought her daughter was working too hard! (Ironically, when Rutherford signed with MGM the following year, 1937, they made her younger.) Rutherford left MGM in 1942, but she continued making movies throughout the 1940s until she transitioned to television in the 1950s.

Comedy, drama, Western, noir – Rutherford exemplified a willingness to try almost anything in more than 60 films. The iconic GONE WITH THE WIND (’39), in which Rutherford was honored to play Scarlett’s sister Carreen, will forever be the picture she’s best known for. Her tenure as Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney)’s All-American sweetheart Polly Benedict in 12 Hardy films from 1937-1942 also remains memorable to fans.

While I enjoy the actress’ humor and pep in comedies like THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (’47) and the Whistling series with Red Skelton, one of my favorite Rutherford pictures is TWO O’CLOCK COURAGE. Rutherford enjoyed working in film noir, “where men wear hats and start drinking at ten o’clock in the morning,” she told Done. (This B-movie, the first film Anthony Mann directed for RKO, doesn’t even make it to 10am.) Co-star Tom Conway led the studio’s Falcon series, and tonally, TWO O’CLOCK COURAGE reminds me of those pictures – it’s another light mystery led by a suave main character. In the movie, Rutherford plays Patty, a cab driver who encounters an injured amnesiac man (Conway) who may or may not be involved in a murder.

Over the course of one night, they piece together his identity to exonerate him. With a runtime of 68 minutes and a lot of ground to cover (complete with a twist ending!), the story gets convoluted at times, but Rutherford’s snappy, spirited performance always brings a smile to my face. Independent, kindhearted and open to any adventure, Patty is someone I admire, and she seemingly shared those characteristics with Rutherford, too. That’s why I adore TWO O’CLOCK COURAGE and recommend it as an excellent way to celebrate Rutherford on what would be her 103rd – or 100th, if MGM records had anything to do with it – birthday.

#Ann Rutherford #classic hollywood #old hollywood #Andy Hardy #Golden Age #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Gone with the Wind #Kim Luperi

71 notes · View notes

tabloidtoc · 3 years

Text

Entertainment Weekly, May

Cover 1 of 3: The 2021 Oscars Issue -- Viola Davis

Page 2: Contents, the other covers with Chloe Zhao and Regina King

Page 6: Cold Open -- a bunch of random jibberish I can't even begin to classify

Page 16: The Must List -- The Underground Railroad

Page 18: The Department of Truth, The Mosquito Coast

Page 19: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, Together Together

Page 20: Jakob's Wife, Frank of Ireland Q&A with Brian and Domhnall Gleeson

Page 22: Role Call -- Josh Duhamel

Page 23: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Resident Evil Village

Page 24: My Must List -- Brian Tyree Henry

Page 27: Oscars 2021

Page 28: The Race Is On

Page 29: Dick Johnson Is Dead

Page 30: The Powerhouse -- with her record-breaking best actress nod for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Viola Davis proves she's Oscar royalty

Page 33: Riz Ahmed -- the Sound of Metal star on inhabiting a demanding role, and how the film uses sound to take the audience on his character's harrowing journey

Page 34: The Revelation -- Right after winning an Academy Award for her acting, Regina King directed her debut feature film, One Night in Miami to three Oscar nominations. Is there anything this woman can't do?

Page 38: The Front-Runner -- Chloe Zhao has already made Oscars history, now the Nomadland director is poised for a triumphant finish

Page 41: Carey Mulligan -- the Promising Young Woman nominee reveals how she broke the film's tension with costar Bo Burnham by singing a rendition of Paris Hilton's Stars Are Blind

Page 43: Original Screenplay -- The Trial of the Chicago 7

Page 44: Around the Table -- Making History -- how four of this year's Oscar-nominated films radically confront and reframe Black history in America -- Judas and the Black Messiah, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, One Night in Miami and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Page 45: Maria Bakalova -- how the Bulgarian breakout unleashed her inner wild child and found her character's heart during a pivotal scene in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Page 46: 5-Minute Oral History -- West Side Story -- in honor of its 60th anniversary, stars Rita Moreno and George Chakiris look back on their 1962 Oscar wins

Page 49: Daniel Kaluuya -- the two-time Oscar nominee on the power and responsibility of taking on revolutionary icon Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah

Page 52: Fire Starter -- how Angelina Jolie blazed a trail with Taylor Sheridan for the upcoming firefighting film Those Who Wish Me Dead, her first action film in more than a decade

Page 56: Romancing the Screen -- record breaker Bridgerton proved the power that love could have on the small screen. By satisfying audiences' pent-up lust, it became a cultural phenomenon: spawning a TikTok musical, landing star Rene-Jean Page an SNL hosting gig, and catapulting Julia Quinn's 20-year-old source material to the top of the New York Times best-seller list for the very first time, but will the Bridgerton Effect make Hollywood finally fall in love with romance novels?

Page 60: Demi's New Groove -- after detailing her harrowing 2018 overdose in a recent documentary, Demi Lovato returns with a newfound sense of stability and her first album of new material in four years

Page 66: Stand Up & Step Up -- For EW's Around the Table, Chloe Bennet, Dianne Doan, Daniel Dae Kim, Hari Kondabolu, Olivia Munn and George Takei discuss the rise violence against Asians, their experience as Asian artists, and how Hollywood can help crush stereotypes and be more inclusive

Page 70: News + Reviews

Page 71: TV -- whatever happened to the Men of Tomorrow? Everywhere you look there are supermen behaving badly. Is this a bold new era in superhero storytelling or cheap cynicism on steroids?

Page 77: Movies -- Bad Romance -- Amanda Seyfried and James Norton talk about their tragically doomed marriage in Things Heard and Seen

Page 78: Women Who Kick Ass -- Jodie Turner-Smith -- she's got a juicy role opposite Michael B. Jordan in Without Remorse and will lead Netflix's upcoming The Witcher prequel. Meet Hollywood's most exciting new action star

Page 79: Childlike Wonder -- David Oyelowo goes behind the camera for his mystical directorial debut The Water Man

Page 80: Three provocative new indies explore the beauty and pain of contemporary romance -- Monday, Hope, The Killing of Two Lovers

Page 81: My Favorite Shot, Oscars edition -- Tom Hooper in The King's Speech -- the filmmaker revisits a scene on the tenth anniversary of Speech's four Oscar wins, including Best Picture and Director

Page 82: Parental Guidance -- your crib sheet on the best entertainment for kids, from toddlers to tweens -- Q&A with Danny McBride -- the Righteous Gemstone shines in The Mitchells vs. the Machines as a luddite dad trying to save the world and his family

Page 84: TV -- First Look -- Never Have I Ever -- the comedy's second season is bringing in the big guns, casting Common as Nalini's love interest

Page 85: License to Thrill -- after smashing the charts with Drivers License, Olivia Rodrigo is ready for her High School Musical: The Musical: The Series character to follow in her footsteps in season 2

Page 86: Cruel Summer

Page 87: The Transformation -- Oh, Boy! It took five years, but Nasim Pedrad's new TBS comedy Chad has finally made it to TV. Here, Pedrad details her transformation into an awkward 14-year-old boy

Page 88: The Nevers

Page 89: First Look -- Solos -- from creator David Weil, this futuristic anthology series explores the depths of human connection through the lens of eight remote characters

Page 90: First Look -- Hacks -- after four decades in showbiz, Jean Smart is living out some Hollywood dreams in her new series

* Strike a Final Pose -- FX is about to say goodbye to its her-story-making Pose. Here's why season 3 offered a proper ending

Page 91: Global Viewing -- these three series all debuting on Earth Day offer new insights into nature and science, with a little help from David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg and Sigourney Weaver: Life in Color with David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World, Secrets of Whales

Page 94: What to Watch

Page 98: Music -- Hungry Heart -- after a devastating 2018, Eric Church left Nashville and made his favorite project ever which is the three-part Heart & Soul in a restaurant

Page 100: Bebe Rexha

* My Hometown -- Saweetie by the Bay -- the My Type rapper makes hella sure to add a little bit of California into everything she makes

Page 101: Greta Van Fleet

Page 102: Jhay Cortez -- meet the 28-year-old who co-wrote Cardi B's I Like It, and whose sophomore album Timelezz drops later this year

Page 104: Books -- Seoul Food -- singer-turned-author Michelle Zauner, who goes by the moniker Japanese Breakfast, paints a vivid portrait of identity, loss, and a mother's love in her memoir Crying in H Mart

Page 106: Pop Culture of My Life -- Leslie Jordan -- the actor and Instagram star is releasing a new essay, How Y'all Doing? Here, he divulges his own Southern charm

Page 108: The Air Up There -- with Great Circle, best-selling novelist Maggie Shipstead puts a smartly feminist spin on the old-fashioned adventure tale

Page 109: A Lot Like Love -- in the short-story collection Love in Color, British-Nigerian author Bolu Babalola smashes the patriarchy of the classic folktale

Page 111: Broken Horses: A Memoir by Brandi Carlile

Page 112: The Bullseye

15 notes · View notes

morganalefays · 5 years

Text

Remember when Elizabeth Henstridge fell into a pool in front of Tom Holland at comic con and Chloe Bennet just stood there and laughed? Iconic

#forever the funniest thing i have ever been through folloeing this cast for years #aos cast

154 notes · View notes

pinelife3 · 4 years

Text

Sleepless in Seattle

I rewatched Sleepless in Seattle recently on a plane, and now I’ve crawled out of my cave to declare: this movie is not romantic!

Directed by Nora Ephron, Sleepless in Seattle, is regarded as part of the canon of great rom-coms. Ephron and Rob Reiner (who actually appears in Sleepless in Seattle with a great bit about tiramisu) are kind of the big-dogs of rom-coms in that people still talk about the films they made 20+ years ago (some together, some separately):

The Princess Bride

When Harry Met Sally

Sleepless in Seattle

You’ve Got Mail

Rom-coms are tricky to define - for example, is Shakespeare in Love a rom-com? There is romance and comedy, but the lovers are separated at the end. What about Top Gun? There are iconic romantic scenes and the lovers do end up together, but the love is really a conciliatory prize (the real prize is being the best at flying) and the romance is more of a B or C plot in the film, so Top Gun probably doesn’t qualify. People talk about rom-coms as having to posses certain tropes - for example:

A neurotic, highly mannered protagonist (ideally played by Meg Ryan or Hugh Grant)

An argument featuring dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the characters and sees their misunderstanding unfold

A grand final gesture to win a lover back after a stupid misunderstanding: a last-minute dash to the airport, a last minute dash to a new year’s eve party, a last minute dash to the Empire State Building

But for our purposes, let’s say a rom-com is anything that:

Places the romantic plot at the core of its film AND

Has a happy ending (i.e. the lovers are together at the end) AND

Features genuine attempts at humour along the way.

LOTR features a romance plot, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on (something about a ring?!), therefore it’s not a rom-com. Same deal with Bridesmaids. I would classify Superbad as a kind of rom-com because most actions taken by the protagonists are to secure love (or at least sex) from the girls they like. The English Patient? Romantic and HILARIOUS but the lovers aren’t together in the end.

So does Sleepless in Seattle qualify as a rom-com?

Yes, the whole point of the movie is to get Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together. This plot dominates the film - but is it romantic? More on this to follow.

Yes, in the world of the film, a happy ending is secured because Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are together

Yes, there are some laughs along the way. Mostly at the expense of poor Bill Pullman who is playing a man with severe allergies. There is also some precocious-child related humour

Back to point one: I contend that the ‘romantic plot’ in Sleepless in Seattle is actually anti-romantic. In fact, there are two romance plot lines (both of which fail to be romantic) because this bitch is engaged to another man throughout the ‘romance’ with Tom Hanks.

Before we get into that though I have another major gripe: at the start of the film, Meg Ryan and her fiancé (Bill Pullman) leave home together to drive to a family Christmas lunch. They leave the same location at the same time and are heading to the same location - no stops along the way. But for some reason they take separate cars. The film provides no reasoning for the separate cars. It is patently odd and really bothers me.

Let’s take a look at the script:

________________________________________________

EXT. BALTIMORE SUN BUILDING - LATE AFTERNOON - CHRISTMAS EVE

As Annie [Meg Ryan] comes out of the newspaper building with WALTER JACKSON [Bill Pullman], a tall, handsome man who wears a hat. They're carrying an armful of Christmas presents. They're walking toward the parking lot.

WALTER

The short one with black hair is your cousin Irene --

ANNIE

-- who's married to --

WALTER

Harold, who ran away with his secretary but came back --

ANNIE

-- because Irene threatened to put the dog to sleep if he didn't --

WALTER

And your brother Tom is a psychology professor and is married to...Betsy --

ANNIE

-- who is the most competitive woman in the world --

They put the presents in the backs of their two cars and pull out together.

EXT. A HOUSE IN BALTIMORE SUBURBS - NIGHT

Christmas lights twinkling as the two cars pull up in front of a comfortable upper middle-class house and park their cars. They get out assembling presents.

________________________________________________

This whole thing with the two cars was scripted - and even in the script it’s unexplained. My suspicion is that this just a device to get her in the car alone later so she can hear Tom Hanks on the radio - and thereby fall in love with him. This is LAZY writing. Why not just write that she had a premonition and saw a wonderful widow in Seattle and knew that they should be together. That would make about as much sense as the separate cars.

People criticise rom-coms for having unrealistic premises. For example: Last Christmas, in which a woman hangs out with the ghost of a man who gave her his heart - via transplant - the previous year. A ridiculous premise made unbearably kitsch because of the connection to the WHAM song. But honestly that makes about as much sense as an engaged couple taking separate cars for no reason.

Allow that gaping goatse of a plot hole to set the scene for the other major problem with this film: our romantic heroine is already engaged. Engaged to a man she finds boring. She remains engaged to this poor guy throughout her infatuation and pursuit of Tom Hanks. She lives with this guy, sleeps with him, plans her wedding with him: all while she is falling in love with Tom Hanks. She remains engaged until the final 10 minutes of the film when she finally dumps him. She keeps telling this poor guy she loves him. It’s evil. Can you imagine what /r/relationships would say about someone who behaved this way? This is an emotional affair.

As much as rom-coms celebrate the pursuit of love and marriage, they also caution against bad or inadequate love: it is not romantic to settle. A classic example of this is Charlotte Lucas in Pride & Prejudice: she marries the ridiculous Mr Collins to secure her future and avoid spinsterhood - but she doesn’t love him and won’t ever love him because she doesn’t respect him. Readers in Austen’s time may have been more sympathetic to Charlotte’s decision since the nature of marriage was quite different back then and spinsterhood was a seriously undesirable outcome, but contemporary audiences commonly interpret Charlotte settling for Mr Collins as a weakness of character. That decision and her life with Mr Collins only serve to reflect further radiance on Elizabeth Bennet: wistful, bitey, beautiful, beloved for centuries. That’s why no one writes fan fiction about Charlotte Lucas.

So, in Sleepless in Seattle, the audience sees that Meg Ryan is settling for the wrong guy. This is communicated to us primarily through the visual gags around Bill Pullman’s allergies: he uses a huge number of tissues, he’s allergic to everything from strawberries to bees, he has a special respirator machine to help him sleep. This guy can’t get the girl! He can’t even breath properly. It’s clearly isn’t meant to work out between them. No, no this won’t do at all.

What is the function of the unsuitable fiancé as a plot device? Why couldn’t this be a romance between two single people? Is it to make her cross-country pursuit seem more whimsical and fun? If it to demonstrate that she can get a guy? I actually think it’s meant to create stakes: it’s so she has something to hold her back from ‘following her heart’. This is a way of adding tension so she’s risking something (normalcy, comfort) by making the last minute dash to the Empire State Building to meet Hanks (who represents the possibility of windswept romance). Never mind that they’ve never actually spoken to each other. He’s a single parent? Um sexy! He’s a widow? Swoon. Seattle is rainy? I’m already wet.

If it’s important to the plot that she is already in a couple when she falls for Hanks, and that she casts aside an unsatisfying relationship for the mere possibility of passionate excitement, then we have had it wrong all along: the grand romantic gesture of Sleepless in Seattle is Meg Ryan dumping her fiancé. Forget the Empire State Building. It’s her telling him that she’s had an emotional affair. It’s her taking off her engagement ring. It’s her blaming him for being boring rather than working on their relationship. It’s her leaving him sat in that restaurant alone so she can go and pursue a stranger.

This movie is not romantic.

#Sleepless in Seattle #nora ephron #rob reiner #tom hanks #meg ryan #bill pullman #pride and prejudice #elizabeth bennet #charlotte lucas

4 notes · View notes

mimicofmodes · 5 years

Text

Sanditon, episode 6 part ii

“I hardly know what to think [...] about anything,” says Charlotte. “I have always felt so certain of my judgement, but now I see that I have been blinded by sentiment and naivety.”

This feels like an intended parallel to Elizabeth Bennet (and remember, a brown sleeveless gown with a white shirt was a fairly iconic costume from the 2005 adaptation) realizing that she was wrong about Mssrs Wickham and Darcy, but honestly, it doesn’t feel anywhere near as deserved. She never thought Sidney was the type to not care about his ward being abducted, and she still doesn’t think Otis is bad. How was she blinded?

Tom now tells her the story of Eliza, a young woman Sidney loved who passed him over for an older and wealthier man, which caused him to descend into drinking, gambling, etc. until Tom paid his debts and sent him to Antigua - and we know from the earlier conversation between the Parker brothers that in Antigua he was helped out by Georgiana’s father. This is definitely an allusion to Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Brandon’s sad backstory where his father made the wealthy family ward, Eliza, marry his brother; she “fell” and was divorced, which was a social death in gentry circles, and he took on the care of her daughter. Here Sidney doesn’t marry his Eliza for money reasons and also gets his own ward at the end of the deal. But it’s both less sad and less heroic than the original, and it lays his personality problems at the feet of a woman instead of giving him responsibility for his choices in response.

Sid does allow Otis and Georgiana to meet, which is better of him than I might have expected. Otis’s apology is heartfelt, but Georgiana feels that what happened is more important than his intentions. Where did her and Charlotte’s clothes come from? They didn’t appear to bring any with them. Charlotte catches Otis on his way out and finds that Sidney has paid his debts (another Pride and Prejudice parallel).

Clara ups her demand to 25% of the inheritance, which Edward doesn’t really fight her on. She then makes it clear that she knows about Edward/Esther to justify it, and he pretends not to know what she means but not very convincingly.

Babington brings Tom an invitation to a rout (Regency parties are always routs) so he can spread the word of his regatta, and asks Charlotte to come as well, but she demurs.

Edward lies to Esther, saying that he couldn’t find the will and doubts it exists. Now that she’s back on Team Denham with no apparent thoughts of Babington, she’s wearing her signature red again. She never wants to hear about Clara Brereton again, but Edward seems not so sure, looking up as he kisses her forehead.

Sidney offers the invitation to Charlotte again, and says that he paid Otis’s debts because “a good man shouldn’t be condemned for making one terrible mistake.” Wow, quite a turnaround! Charlotte offers him an apology for accusing him of “the worst sort of prejudice,” which is not exactly accurate to the period - racism was hardly considered the worst prejudice in the early nineteenth century. But in the viewers’ eyes, yes, it’s fair, so we can look at it as a metatextual apology. And Sidney apologizes for underestimating her, which is also good. (In the sense that it’s good for his character. In terms of what it does to Charlotte/Stringer, it’s obviously a catastrophe.)

Charlotte gets a proper heroine’s Walk Down The Stairs In A Gown moment, and I am dying because this gown is so wonderful! For about 1822, but we’ve already established that it’s okay for 1820s stuff to be involved because I really like it! The neckline is too low, but that’s okay too!

Tom isn’t doing well but he’s really got the spirit,

Charlotte goes to apologize for being too headstrong and opinionated, but Sidney tells her she’s fine as she is. Brb, crying over my sinking ship again. Sidney is called away by Tom and replaced by Babington, who is clearly sad about Esther, asking if it’s possible for a woman’s feelings about a man to do a 180 in a single day. She looks at Sid, realizes that that is in fact the case, and excuses herself without answering.

Look at that gown!! The decorated and stiffened hem is in particular a late 1810s-1820s thing, so you don’t tend to see it in most Regency dramas.

Charlotte comes across a motherly woman, Susan, reading in a corner and spills her guts about everything that’s been happening. “It sounds to me as if you’re in love with him,” Susan says when Charlotte explains her confusing feelings. Nooooooooooooo! (But I also don’t like the message that being angry at someone means love ... ) Sidney comes in and asks her to dance. Um, who is Susan? Why did we just meet a new character solely to explain Charlotte’s feelings?

They proceed to do the slowest dance I have ever seen in a Regency production, with the couples spaced very far apart down the line. The movements are all accurate, but done about 4x as slow as they should be, until it suddenly turns into a waltz hold, and then it’s still slow but not accurate steps either. I don’t like this at all, shipping aside. (For real!) I’ll admit that my knowledge of Regency dance is not academic and maybe I’ve been fooled by inaccurate reconstructions that I’ve been taught, but it feels Wrong.

Tom takes Charlotte’s next dance (which is relatively more accurate), and Sidney catches sight of a woman who is probably Eliza across the room. Look at those sleeves! Very Gothic. Tom seems to be dropping hints that Sidney’s in love with her, but oops! He just meant the newly widowed Eliza Campion. (I don’t think putting her in red and Charlotte in gold is accidental color-coding.) Charlotte’s left watching Sidney happily chat with Eliza as the dancers begin to whirl around her on the floor.

#sanditon #austen #jane austen #regency #19th century #1810s

7 notes · View notes

icanbehardcore · 5 years

Text

My top 10 Powerpuff Girls episodes

(PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WAS WRITTEN BACK IN NOVEMBER SO SOME OF THIS IS A LITTLE OUTDATED SO WE’RE NEARLY INTO FEBRUARY...ABOUT TIME I FINISH THIS DAMN REVIEW!) For some reason, @princess-peachie‘s love for PPG made me want to do this too haha! Can you believe that The Powerpuff Girls -one of the greatest Cartoon Network shows- has turned twenty? I know it's a little late but I get such great fond memories watching this as a little kid. The Powerpuff Girls was a spunky, energetic, entertaining, action packed, heartwarming and funny show. I indulged myself into watching this whenever I could and I always looked forward to it. It didn't matter if I saw the same episodes repeated again and again, The Powerpuff Girls would never shy away on putting a smile on my face. I LOVED this cartoon, it’s pretty special to me because it came out on the 18th November 1998 (my 10th birthday), at the time, we didn’t have access to Cartoon Network so I wasn’t aware of this show until early next year. My first glimpse of the Powerpuff Girls was a mention and a brief clip shown of the girls flying and staring at the camera during a line up of Cartoons showing at the time. I actually got curious straight away and had no idea whenever I’d get the time to finally watch it.

Finally one evening after 2 Stupid Dogs finished, The Powerpuff Girls was announced next and this finally gave me a chance to watch it in peace. I was alone in the living room and I quietly sat there like ...well a kid, waiting, I was excited, I would finally get to watch this show after trying to.

Unlike most Cartoon Network shows in which it took me a while to get into such as Ed, Edd n Eddy, I already found myself smiling to myself and even quietly laughing. If I can remember correctly, the first episodes I got to watch fully for the first time were “Fuzzy Logic” and “Tough Love”. I don’t know why but somehow I knew I was really going to enjoy this show more than I’d expect. The Powerpuff Girls isn’t JUST your average typical cutesy show starring three female leads. It has more than that, it had action, it had a great stories, it had great adventure, it had great voice acting, speed, pizzazz and most of all…IT was actually very funny! Craig McCracken had come a long way since making these characters onto a small card he drew, to his own animated shorts to then one of the most iconic and important shows Cartoon Network had ever put onto their channel.

I loved it more for what it produced, I really liked how it pulls your audience in thinking it’s a cutesy girly show with all rainbows and giggles, but really, it’s a cartoon that captivates the audience with it’s humor, voice acting, soundtrack, atmosphere and even the sneaky pop cultural references and of course: adult humor. I would constantly tape the show whenever I could and when it came to those memorable ones, I KNEW I’d enjoy them again after more than one watch. There was something about this show that really appealed to me and sometimes I couldn’t quite lay a finger on it. When I first watched this show, I was glad I had instantly become a fan because this was one of those shows that I got into and enjoyed before anyone else did in the household. I’m glad it wasn’t just a girly girl’s show. I was happy that the main heroes were unique in appearence and seemed all sweet innocent looking kids which do nothing other than fighting crime, play around and act like little kids. I think what grabbed male audience’s attention more were the villains and I can see why. They were all funny, engaging and their use of dialogue and voice acting were terrific. All well done to a tee!

When you’ve got voice talents such as Tom Kane, Jennifer Hale, Cathy Cavadini, EG Daily, Tara Strong, Roger Jackson, Jim Cummings, Tom Kenny, not forgetting the late Chuck McCann and even occasional to major and minor voice appearances from Kevin Michael Richardson, Rob Paulsen, Kath Soucie, Jeff Bennet and even Mark Hamill, WHERE can you go wrong? With a good cartoon, comes a good cast of voice artists.

Craig McCracken put his heart into this show and I am glad to have grown up with this masterpiece. The Powerpuff Girls is no doubt one of my favorite animated shows of all time and I will continue to watch them again and again and never get tired at watching the many episodes that are so dear to my heart. Craig really knew how to create a masterpiece and one that would go onto become a cultural phenomenon. He really knew how to create great characters young, old, male and female, and yet have the main lead cast all female that would appeal to both girls and boys is quite a milestone in cartoon history.

In honor of this series, I will be counting down my top ten greatest Powerpuff Girls episodes. I will however not be including the movie, the Christmas special or the Dance Pantsed Special, also I am only focusing on the original 90s show and not the 2016 reboot. WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

With that being said here are what I consider the greatest episodes.

10 - The Bare Facts This was one of the first episodes I ever got to record onto vhs, I remember so well on Christmas eve and I couldn't wait. I would constantly watch it played back again and again and you can see why.

Most episodes focus on the girls fighting crime and succeeding, but here, all the action is unseen...at first.

Sometimes when sibling characters argue in animation, it can be degrading, unpleasant and makes you want to lose interest in the characters all together, but here, it's done right, to a point where the arguing isn't degrading or stale and actually pretty funny. Also I love how clueless the Mayor is about everything, especially the scene about "the note", this scene always had me laughing as a kid.

Throughout this episode, the setting is all in the Mayor's point of view, complete with various styles of the girls versions of the story on how it all happened, done with an art style shift for each girl. This idea is hilarious and I love how they constantly jump in with different story telling patterns as follows: Blossom tells it mostly focusing on her (all about her, nobody else), complete with a light red tinted scene.

Bubbles tells it in a rather light hearted but adorably accurate way, complete with crayon drawing scenes.

And Buttercup tells it in a rather shadowy olive-green scene, mostly focusing on the action and not the details like Blossom did.

The Mayor however is oblivious to what has happened and is only wondering why the girls were laughing earlier.

I will NOT spoil the ending for this episode for those who haven't seen it, although I really could have done without the narrator's little puns to go with the moment. Again, the episode title just may give you some ideas.

Overall, this episode was great and was even nominated for an emmy with it's brother episode "Bubblevicious".

KEY MOMENT FOR ME: The "pretty clouds" scene. Seriously cracks me up!

9. Just Another Manic Mojo

I can't think of any episode focusing on Mojo Jojo to be as brilliant as this one, sure "Child Fearing" was hilarious, "Monkey See, Doggy Do" is a classic and "Mr Mojo's Rising" is one that shouldn't be ignored. But if I had to pick any of the Mojo Jojo themed episodes, it would be this one. Just imagine, a day in the life of a villain: Waking up miserable, going through so much hell each day and reading the news to such goody-goody acts.

Watching this episode back to back constantly, I never got tired of it and I knew it almost word for word at some point.

The first half of this episode focuses on Mojo getting up, regular routines such as showering, doing his teeth, ceasing the day and readying up for breakfast...until he discovers drama in the kitchen...ONE EGG LEFT! I just love the little ramble he does here, over a single egg, what follows is an ingenious rollercoaster of comedy gold. Whenever Mojo's onscreen, you can't help but laugh, with his hilariously bad Japanese accent and repetitive Speed Racer-esque sentences, you can see why he was a fan favorite.

What follows the events is the girls accidentally having their ball crash through their window and what do they do? They ask for it back (well, better than busting in through the roof and looking for it, eh?).

I would probably give it away if I were to describe what follows afterward, but if you really want a laugh, then this episode is the one for you. Of all the episodes where the girls drive Mojo insane, this has got to be the funniest.

KEY MOMENT FOR ME: Just Mojo Jojo, he's absolutely hilarious in this episode, the girls being a runner-up too for not keeping still. Also one word: "curses".

8. Supper Villain This episode is hilarious on many levels, most of the story is done for laughs and the setup is well...average...averagely brilliant. It's great to hear Kath Soucie on the Powerpuff Girls again (true fans should know that Soucie started off voicing Bubbles in the two pilots via What a Cartoon before Tara stepped in for the role).

The repetitive dialogue is great, played out for laughs and builds up for even more laughs, mixed with great voice acting.

The story? Harold Smith spends his life working at a mustard factory, bored with his life, he longs for something more, with a dark secret. But when his beloved wife Marianne invites the neighbors over for dinner, Harold is vulnerable and finally breaks free and shows his true colors.

His outfit reveal (obviously home made) is enough to make anybody laugh off of your seat. With his newly found identity, Harold reveals his first villainy. From here, we get some hilariously unforgettable gags, and one of the best scenes that eventually became an Internet meme: "Eat your pea, Professor!". No matter how many times I watch it, the dinner scene is just classic. Being a comedic show with guests at dinner, I'm pretty sure you can figure out what happens next.

Key moment for me: "Eat your pea Professor!" No doubt about it.

8. Jewel of the Aisle I'd like to point out here that this episode aired right as Kelloggs released a Powerpuff Girls themed cereal. Sadly it was limited and has since discontinued, so good luck on throwing your pennies onto ebay to grab a box. Now, this episode never really gets talked about enough, maybe because the main villain here is a nameless crook who you never really see again. The story's premise is simple, the girls fail to track down a thief who had just stolen a priceless diamond from the jewelry store. Unable to locate him, they retire for the night, swearing they will meet again. The crook however, hiding in a cereal factory accidentally drops his prize into one of the boxes, which then ends up in the local supermarket.

When the crook fails to find his precious gem, he's down to one box -which ends up in the hands of the Professor. The crook follows him home stealthily only to his horror to find out that Professor Utonium is the father of the Powerpuff Girls. Upon his spying, he notices a commercial (with terrifically shifted fluent animation that almost feels Disney or Warner Bros. esque) and comes up with a cunning plan...dressing up as "Lucky Captain Rabbit King", the cereal's mascot, I'll leave it up to you on what cereal brands they were parodying here.

While these cereals weren't so big here in Europe, heck, I only ever remember eating Lucky Charms in my own youth a lot until they went up in price later on. I still got the reference easily thanks to the internet. This still didn't stop me from getting laugh, gag after gag.

Think of this episode as a Yogi Bear cartoon, but instead of stealing a "pic-a-nic" basket or a pie cooling off on the window sill (or a plate of hog jowls if you're thinking Ren and Stimpy), you've got a box of cereal with a hidden unknown prize not included in most boxes. The comedy in this episode is hilarious, for example, how much cereal did the girls go through and not notice a diamond? Also, the classic usage of oblivion and determination is brilliant, it's like watching classic golden age cartoons of the 40s and 50s again. The crook taking on a role parodying the Trix Rabbit is just so funny to watch, no matter what he does, he is being outsmarted by three adorable kindergartners. I love how the girls just play along with the gag and constantly kick him out,. My favorite part would have to be when the crook disguises himself as a monster outside off the front window complete with a Townsville scenery. YOU know you're going to laugh out loud when an idiot pulls this gag out of his hat and fails to succeed.

On a spoiler's note, I felt a little sorry for the crook when he broke down, forgetting about the jewel and focusing on the cereal, I don't know, maybe it's when Bubbles (who is honestly the sweetest little living being on two legs in cartoons) actually gives in and offers t it to him. While most stories like these do tend to have a happy ending for the determined victim, we don't get that here, which is why this episode works. Again, while I've probably spoiled most of the plot, it's too simple anyway. With that being said, "Ridiculous Lucky Captain Rabbit King, Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets are for the youth!". Okay, I'm actually craving junky cereal now, especially imported from USA! Key moment for me: The comedy in this episode.

7. Telephonies This is another classic episode, the comedy and timing is perfect, the plot is great and gives us a look into the lives of the villains when they are chilling out and not plotting evil schemes. When something is funny, it has to have speed at exactly the right time, otherwise the joke falls flat and loses it's cool, that's if you can pinpoint that in your head and understand where I'm going with this.

When the Gang Green Gang start making crank calls throughout Townsville, they are lacking in great ways to pull them off. So, after calling the Mayor with Grubber impersonating Ms Bellum, making him leave to "cut the ribbon for the new mall, declaring it open", giving them the free run of the Powerpuff Hotline. What we get is a rather "interesting" insight of the villains at home doing their own thing as the girls burst in and constantly beat the living hell out of them, only to learn that they were NOT even committing any crimes. Here, we learn that Mojo Jojo is more sophisticated than you think (yet we see him in Manic Mojo actually buying eggs at the supermarket), he listens to classical music and reads the paper and even takes naps in an armchair. Also, what can be more funnier than the "evilest of all evil" ("Him") working out in complete aerobic equipment? That is just friggin hilarious, I also love how polite he is when the girls break in, but the one that gave me the most laughs out of the villains was Fuzzy Lumpkins. Nobody likes having their privacy invaded, especially when you're taking a relaxing bath, the delivery here from the girls was priceless, especially when Bubbles ended it. I love how the violence and beating up here is played more for laughs and not action itself.

Another thing that still cracks me up in this episode is that these villains are all pretty close friends and even keep in touch by landline, that's right, even down in the depths of hell, HIM has his own phone to make calls. When's the last time you've seen cartoon villains in conversation over a phone? Brilliant!

The ending too is pretty funny and I like how the girls don't believe the Mayor after three cock-ups in one day.

Key moment for me: As I said, Bubbles' delivery to Fuzzy was "tell it like is is funny", BUT the true comedic gem in this episode personally is Professor Utonium. The running gag with him still at the receiver on hold is fantastic. I will forgive the fact that near the end, you see him outside the girls door but I guess that adds to the comedy.

6. The Powerpuff Girls Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever. That's right, that is the actual name of the episode and by god it's a mouthful. Now THIS episode just gets better and better every single time with each watch, whose genius idea was it to create an episode where the girls play pretend? In this case, literally playing The Powerpuff Girls. This includes them playing various roles for other citizens in Townsville and as all kids do when playing together, arguing on who gets to be who?

Honestly, this episode's premise is spectacular. I love how the girls hardly even use superpowers at all, not to mention the unforgettable one liner from Buttercup while playing as a monster. Also, it was nice to actually see the girls here get more comedy than they usually do. For most of the part in the series in general, the comedy is thrown around depending on the characters, story and situation, but here, the girls really do steal the show.

I'm pretty sure a lot of us as kids can relate, with our friends or siblings role-playing as our favourite characters from cartoons, but as each other, that's unique.

PPG Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever is definitely one of the funniest episodes of season 2, so next time you're having a bad day and it's raining, not up for walking the dog, cos it's rai-, okay, enough spoilers. Go watch this one next time you want to see a lead female cast of kindergartners at their funniest.

Key moment for me: The Mayor. You'll have to watch it so not to spoil it.

5. I See A Funny Cartoon In Your Future Seasonal rot is painful, especially cartoons that were so highly well received by critics and fans alike. After the Powerpuff Girls movie, the show followed the upgraded animated style which kind of watered down the true charm of the first four seasons, as well as lacking in great ideas for stories, most of seasons five and six were...mediocre with sour pickles on top. Luckily, this one made me laugh. A hell of a lot!

The entire story is told like episodes of Jay Ward's Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, complete with cheesy but hilarious and witty puns, fourth wall breaking and running gags. We also have the main one off villain here voiced by the late June Foray (voice of Rocky and Natasha Fatale). I like how she and her goosey sidekick are drawn to mimic the style of Jay Ward's characters and the little commercial near the end of the episode spoofing the Nicotine Patch. It's such a shame this episode wasn't traditionally animated, for I would have really liked to have seen some lush fluid animation to boot up this episode more. Interestingly, I never saw the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons as a kid, since they weren't very big in England, but I got into the franchise when I watched the movie on VHS non-stop and loved it (it's a guilty pleasure haha), so you can see why this episode gave me loads of laughs.

Also note that sadly, June Foray passed away in July 2017, leaving a legacy of cartoon voices behind and fond memories. Since her passing, Mrs Strong herself went on to provide the voice of Rocky for the new Rocky and Bullwinkle series, keeping the spirit alive as always. Good one Tara! Great work. And I mean it! KEY MOMENT FOR ME: The voodoo dolls. Seriously, I quote this a lot haha! Also, just the whole episode being a tribute to Rocky and Bullwinkle.

4. Meet The Beat-Alls Okay, this is definitely getting close to what a WatchMojo list would look like, no? WELL I'm gonna jab this list and have it up before you can say "Ringo Starr's a Powerpuff Girl!", but how can I NOT make a top 10 Powerpuff eps. list and NOT include this episode, and I quote @UmbraMagna, "This episode is absolutely fantastic!", never have truer words been spoken? Telephonies made way with great laughs, but that was more focused on the Gang Green Gang, here this episode focuses on Him, Mojo, Princess Morbucks and Fuzzy in what is probably the funniest Beatles parody I've ever seen.

Craig McCracken himself has always been a huge fan of the Beatles, so when season 3 was ending soon it ended with the sister episode to Moral Decay and you know what? It saved the season finale. Every second, there's a reference to...well, the Beatles. Sure, "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" of The Simpsons was fun and had lots of references to the band and other acts, but an entire episode where it's nothing but Beatles second after second, how can you go wrong?

From the Abbey Road walk, to the musical style, to the Yoko Ono reference, to just everything about it, it's one episode that will have you laughing after a Hard Day's Night. EG Daily (voice of Buttercup) has stated during a Comic-Kaze guest panel that this was one of her favorite episodes.

Show creator Craig McCracken himself even listed this episode as one of his top ten favourite episodes of all time. There is one little nitpick, but I guess it doesn't matter, since it still makes way for great comedy and I like how a SINGLE rock actually defeats the girls (back when cartoons weren't very pc, just the way I like'em). Whether you like the Beatles or not, Meet the Beat-Alls is a great episode with the villains at their best. Key moment for me: The whole episode, brilliant!

3. See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey. NOTE: WATCH THIS EPISODE WITH CAUTION! CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGES! I LOVE THIS EPISODE! Remember what I said about seasons five and six suffering from seasonal rot and mediocre episodes? Well, here's one that I probably consider one of the best of them during the Chris Savino era. The entire episode is much longer since the intro is cut short to make way for what comes next. An unbelievable half hour of a pure masterpiece.

For many, being a great voice actor means they have to know how to sing and here, we have a lot of it. It really gave the voice actors' chance to show off their singing voices a great workout and boy, did they nail it right out the park? While it's not the most comedic, it's still epic, fun and unforgettable. This episode was like an evil apocalypse, not even fighting on who gets to defeat the girls or who gets to cause destruction or rob banks. It's a real shame they never released this as a true soundtrack, it's so beautiful.

It's got an Andrew Lloyd Webber and Pink Flloyd's "The Wall" feel to it. I really wish this was the episode's true finale, since it's been debated and rumored to, unfortunately the true finale (not counting the specials) was that of What's the Big Idea, a complete let down, since both McCracken and Savino agreed that the show had run it's course, even though Cartoon Network did ask for a seventh season. If only...sadly, we can't have everything.

The Gnome -the main villain of this episode- was quite interesting, exchanging peace to Townsville for the girls' superpowers, yet making everyone bow down to him. Sadly, this episode was banned from airing in the USA, some say it was because of the message of communism, but the true reason for the ban was for the red and white blinking lights that flashed during the Gnome's spell. It's too bad this was never edited for safety so the US audience could experience it at the time but luckily, it was included in the complete tenth AND twentieth anniversary box set, just proceed with caution, I'm saying this for your own safety. I love the Gnome's setting, in a large rose where he lives in peace, I forgot to mention that he was voiced by the legendary Jess Harnell and boy, was he a perfect choice? Have you ever heard Jess sing OUTSIDE of cartoons? Why don't voice artists get more love? Seriously.

Speaking of which, Tara Strong and EG Daily (who only just recently released a song "Impeachable" (parodying Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful") together for charity) really got to show off their vocal talents here more. Also not to leave her out since I love all three of these amazing talents, Cathy too has a remarkable singing voice! God bless these ladies! In conclusion, See Me, Feel Me Gnomey is a fantastic episode, mixed with action, drama, music and sheer brilliance from start to finish. Key moment for me: The whole episode. I can't pick one moment. I really loved the harmonizing from Strong and Daily during Cavadini's singing solo in "You Wanna Make Us Feel Real Good". Seriously, once these three sing, it just seems unreal, yet magical.

2. The Rowdyruff Boys Okay! I'm pretty sure a lot of fans saw this one coming, I mean it's one of IMDB's highest rated episodes, as well as another one of Craig McCracken's favorites. This episode not only marked the debut of the titled characters of the same name, but was the first of many half hour episodes and of all of them, this one was at it's best. While not the MOST comedic and the boys at the time didn't have as much personality as they did in their later appearances, this episode still left a huge impact on the fans, in a good way. The action in this episode is some of the best I have seen during the McCracken era (something the later episodes lacked), probably along with Stuck Up, Up and Away and Bubblevicious. Tired from constantly being defeated day after day and thrown into jail, Mojo Jojo comes up with the perfect plan to get rid of the girls by creating a trio of kids of his own. Instead of the sweet ingredients for the perfect little girls, Mojo gathers up several ingredients to create the not so perfect little boys. I love how the idea was a reference to the little rhyme "What Are Little Boys/Girls Made of?".

There's some pretty funny but questionable moments, such as...why would the prison serve escargot? I love how the caterer actually smiles in response. Also, why is the Talking Dog suddenly a prison guard? Oh what the hey? It still makes for hilarious gags such as having his tail snatched to finish the ingredients. What I don't get though is Mojo's breath as he flushed the ingredients down the toilet...then again, maybe it was because of when the girls were born causing the chemical reaction to still have an affect which in return passes on to others, in this case, the Rowdyruff Boys. Interestingly, the boys named themselves, while the Professor named his girls. What made this episode great was the voice acting, Roger L Jackson as Mojo yet again was perfect, as well as providing the voice of Butch, Buttercup's counterpart. Cathy, Elizabeth and Tara's energy in this episode were spot on and we even get to hear the legendary Rob Paulsen as Brick and Boomer.

When the two teams meet face to face, they start a huge brawl, the action as I said is amazing, some of the best in any episode, it's like the teams have lept right off the screen.

There is a little problem I have with this episode and...well...it's the whole counterpart vs counterpart thing. I mean...is it really that hard to tell the difference between a little boy and girl with the same hair color? Especially when they use the same chunks of animation for each member fighting against each other, take the cartwheel scene for example. Other than that, the animation in this episode was terrific.

This was also one of the first episodes in which the girls were defeated and nearly for good. But with the Disney-esque tears of life trope, they are revived in seconds. I can forgive this trope here but NOT in Pokemon: The First Movie. Shamed and crestfallen by their defeat, the girls decide to leave Townsville, only to be given a pep talk by Ms Bellum.

And what we get after a little subtle adult joke followed by a defeat from the girls...without the violence, in Sara Bellum's words, "try being nice". I just love how the boys are distracted by the girls as they are standing looking pretty...well, pretty. Pretty as any little girl could be, I laugh my head off every time in this scene, it's both cute and funny, especially with the flirtatious "come hither" eyelashes and sassy “Hey boys!” expressions on the girls that aren't usually seen. You'd expect this kind of thing on a more mature character, one with an hour glass shaped figure and heels. But alas, being kids, the boys can't stand the thought of ...cooties and somehow, this kills them. Literally. No, seriously, they actually die, in a rather humorous way after a long battle with the girls. What makes this scene great is that there's no dialogue, not until the boys scream at the top of their lungs.

I may have spoiled it a little but hey, visualizing it in your head isn't the same as watching it and believe me, it is a really funny scene. Think of it has a "distracted by the sexy" trope but toned down. Also, what I said earlier about the counterpart trope, I'll make this an exception since it was clearly obvious that it was going to happen.

This episode is a fan favorite, unfortunately, it did have a reputation of inspiring fanart and fan-fictions and McCracken himself actually poked fun at this scenario in The City of Clipsville. This episode was not afraid of almost killing off the main characters and three children in fact, but then again, there was so much edge in this show, there was nothing like it at the time. The mix of action, humor and drama is perfect. It's too bad the follow-ups with the boys didn't get the same impact as this one. In conclusion, The Rowdyruff Boys is incredible and really shows that girls are tougher than they look. Take Buttercup's quote "It takes more than a couple of cheap shots to make us cry!". Inspiring.

Key moment for me: The boys' defeat...by cooties. Hilarious. After nearly an entire episode of nothing but non-stop action, violence and a huge brawl in Townsville, we get a comedic flirt scene.

NOW before I finally get to number one, here are some honorable mentions.

Him Riddle Diddle - I love the suspense and how it already started with peril, it felt like some kind of action movie. HIM sets the girls up on a riddle-fest or else the Professor will -in Him's words - pay. I could have had it on this list but...the one bit that bothered me was Buttercup piloting a helicopter...umm...when did she learn to...okay, Uh-Oh Dynamo, they are controlling a large robotic being of themselves but a helicopter? I don't know, maybe it was all done for comedy but yeah, it's still a great episode. What makes this episode great is that it builds up with suspense, from one riddle after another, still filling comedy in the cracks and gaps of course. Also when you have Him as the main villain, he's always coming up with something unique, yet nasty. I won't spoil the ending but it is hilarious, I love the girls' reactions after working their butts off to save their father ONLY to...well see for yourself.

Superfriends - @KarToonComics has already kind of gone on about this episode and I have to agree with her on what she said. I have had lonely problems growing up and found it hard to make friends and socialize. Also, I've personally lost friends due to someone else cutting in the way and excluding me by taking over them and. I don't like to go into it, but we have all had that experience.

The girls meet Robin, their new next door neighbor and befriend her, it's really satisfying to actually see the girls being kids, having fun and playing together for once.

I shut this one off the list though, because...well, some of the later episodes, I can't stand the sharpness in Bubbles' accent, it's noticeable especially in her Ls. It's like she's getting a bit of a Spanish brogue in there (which probably makes sense since she can speak the language), but I just find it really distracting.

Also, while I really liked Robyn, she somewhat looks similar to one of the other kindergartners in school. Watch Stuck Up, Up And Away and see for yourself. Her friendship with the girls was cute, I really like how they all bonded together like all little kids, but of course, being superheroes, the girls didn't always get enough time to meet their new friend, their next door neighbor in fact. That's pretty sad, you can tell the girls themselves could feel it inside them that they wish the hotline would once not ring and they could do their own thing but Townsville seems to have problems every single time.

Robin and the girls walk to school together the following week when a limousine pulls up carrying Princess Morbucks as a passenger. She offers the girls a lift in the car IF they let her be a Powerpuff Girl, the girls' decline the offer (by the way, I love Blossom's expression during Princess's little bribe).

I can't really go on more without totally spoiling the episode so see for yourself what happens from here. It's a great episode, also a BONUS for Robin's hilarious one liner and of course the entire sequence set to the song Signal in the Sky by The Apples in Stereo, damn, why couldn't we have more episodes like that, that'd be just brilliant. I'd have loved to have seen a cameo appearance of Bis, or Dressy Bessy.

Helter Shelter - I don't know why but I wish this episode was longer, then again with a premise as stupid yet funny as this one, it would probably lose the comedy after a while.

Bubbles loves animals, we all know that. In fact, she loves them so much, she has a habit of bringing them in the house.

The following afternoon, Bubbles brings in a baby sperm whale into the house and the results of trying to hide it from the Professor are hilarious. I love the way the girls panic and all the hiding spots aren't very well hidden for a large mammal such as a whale calf.

The dialogue and gags are some of the stupidest yet funniest in any episode, yet they somehow add up nicely. I also love the running gag of the Professor yelling out Bubbles' name, he kind of reminds me of Dave Seville in Alvin and the Chipmunks. .

You'll have to watch the whole episode to find out what happens but I can't say if it will make you laugh or not.

Equal Fights - This was a great episode, in fact I felt it could have been longer, but then it would probably drag on and go nowhere. The girls become sexist to all males after meeting and releasing Femme Fatale, a master thief, bank robber and also bit of a hypocrite.

While Grey Delisle did a fantastic performance with her role here, I felt that Femme Fatale was one of the more forgettable minor villains.

If this were a double length episode, I would have liked to have seen more of a backstory on why she's a misandrist.

Also I felt the character was eye-candy and fan-service material, from her slender figure to her skin-tight outfit. Also, I love how precocious the girls themselves are on a brief history lesson about Susan B. Anthony.

The morals were great but personally, this along with a similar episode Members Only just didn't quite make the cut for me. I did love the references to the Justice League though.

Child Fearing - I love the Mojo Jojo themed episodes, especially where he's with the girls throughout and they make each other's lives a living hell. Unfortunately, some were a fluke and hit and miss while others like Slumbering with the Enemy and this one; Child Fearing are great.

Late for science presentation in a rather clumsy fashion, the Professor hires a babysitter to look after the girls. There's a wonderful reference to a certain N64 game here, I don't want to spoil it in case you may haven't seen it. But it's a great laugh if you know your games. I also love the little smirk the girls give each other when they know they are alone and the Professor forgot to ring for a sitter.

Anyway, the Mayor is too busy to sit for the girls because he's playing video-games, so the girls get an unexpected visit from their arch-enemy Mojo Jojo and the results are pure hilarity, one after the other.

The girls aren't stupid, without a simple huddle or plan, they immediately decide to take advantage of all this and become incredibly obnoxious, mischievous and bratty as any little kid can be. I usually hate obnoxious characters but it's played here perfectly.

It's impossible not to laugh at Mojo here, but also feel sorry for him at the same time. It's a real shame there weren't anymore episodes that had this kind of comedy, because this one is absolutely hilarious from start to finish. Also, the TV scene is absolutely brilliant, the highlight of the episode.

Buttercrush - This was one of the many episodes that immediately got me into the show. Already silently into it that is lol. Anyway, this was an episode I felt went on just too quickly, but if it was extended, it would drag on.

The Gang Green Gang reek havoc at a playground and when the girls show up, the gang's leader Ace throws drops to his knees and does a pathetic routine of guilt. Reluctant, Blossom (being the leader of the girls) agrees, but Buttercup begins developing a crush on Ace, after a tip of his shades, a soft thank you and a wink of charm, Buttercup believes she has just met Mr Right.

Interestingly, Buttercup barely has any dialogue in this episode, heck she only has one or two lines top and tail (if giggling counts). This episode was not afraid to tackle the precocious crush issues, here we have a kindergartner falling for a teenager. It's amazing what the writers got away with in this show.

Buttercup would sneak out every night to visit the gang, I don't know HOW she managed to avoid the Professor checking in on her or anything.

This is one of the few Buttercup themed episodes that was actually good, if not the best one. Although I put it in the honorable mentions because...well...Buttercup's crush didn't last long, in a way it's a good thing otherwise her sisters would have been history, but makes you wonder how much love suddenly poured out of her own heart.

Overall, it's a wonderful episode and deserved a mention.

Cat Man Do - I was SO close to putting this one in the top 10, I saw this episode a lot on Cartoon Network when I was a kid, seriously, they repeated this one again and again yet it never bothered me.

I guess I put it here because...well...the origin of the cat is unknown and who was his master? We never see or hear from him again (minus a brief cameo).

While I haven't found of thought up any theories, that doesn't stop this episode from being a classic. I did feel like the heist scene with the Professor went on a bit too long for a ten minute short. Also, if I were to pick a moment that had me roaring with laughter (not just this episode, but the entire show) every single time, it would be the "We can keep Kitty" scene. The reactions of the girls are priceless and I love how they suddenly lighten up in seconds. Comedy like this in cartoons is rare now, especially with such speed. Also a bonus for the cat himself being voiced by Mark Hamill.

Bought and Scold - Of all the Princess Morbucks themed episodes, this has to be one of the best. Here, she buys all of Townsville and makes crime legal, making the girls' and other citizens' lives miserable. This even leads to everybody's belongings becoming property of the Morbucks household and the villains get to do what they want. Most of all, the Mayor gave the key to the city to Princess, causing her to take over Townsville.

That is until the girls think up a plan to get all they had stolen from them back in a rather hilarious twist. I also love when Morbucks finally snaps and eventually agrees to make crime illegal again, the girls just go off to do what they do best. Seriously, how can you not love the dialogue free scene with the Gangreen Gang, also Blossom's little smug expression when she shows Ace the legal and illegal papers is just brilliant.

As satisfying as it is to see a happy ending again, I can't help but feel bad for Princess here, yeah she's rotten and spoiled but maybe she was raised like that. In fact, you never see or hear of her mother in this show and her father comes off as a bit abusive as seen here with the newspaper, obviously not giving his own daughter a chance to speak. That's why I left it out here.

Super Zeroes - Kids will be kids! Whether they play make believe, go on adventures with their toys or are influenced by cartoons and comics. Which is pretty much what inspires the girls to create their own alter-egos here. Well, sort of.

The girls are sad because they don't feel like "better" superheroes. They don't have an interesting backstory, nor are they dark and tormented, nor do they even have interesting costumes. So they decide create their own alter egos complete with new costumes.

Don't question where or how they got these outfits or maintained the little abilities, I guess that adds to the comedy. I love how when a monster does hit Townsville, the girls go their own way in their own fashion, very slowly and the results are hilarious! I love how Buttercup's alter-ego "Mange" only goes out at night, kind of a not to Batman. I love how Bubbles' alter-ego resembles My Melody and other Sanrio esque characters while Blossom's got a Wonderwoman vibe to it. I can't really give the episode away without spoiling the plot truthfully but I guess the moral is to be yourself and stick up for it. Which is exactly what the girls did at the end. Only a little spoiler. The moment that really makes this episode is the fact that the girls take so long to fight, you'll have to see it for yourself to get the laughs.

Mime for a Change- Season 1 of the Powerpuff Girls was terrific, there were so many memorable and great episodes and one that particularly comes to mind when you think "Craig McCracken" is this one. I used to watch this episode a lot back in the day and loved the concept of it. I'm not too keen on clowns but Rainbow is just the average friendly harmless kind of person who does his job. She he sounds pretty obnoxious and irritating but he doesn't have many speaking roles. His villain alter ego was pretty unique power-wise, but the question I'm pretty sure we're all asking is...was the bleach radioactive? Was there Chemical X in it? Guess we'll never know, but in a way, that's what adds to the charm. Either way, the bleach seeps out not only the color on Rainbow, but his cheerful personality too. His good kind heart and light sense of humor has gone sour and his love for bright colors has switched to black and white.

Upon realizing what he can do, Rainbow or in this case, Mr Mime can now takeover Townsville by draining all the color right out of it. Not only that, but also affecting those cheerful moods of the citizens of Townsville, also they can hardly speak due to the power of mime. It's really clever. We also discover in this episode that Bubbles loves to draw and colour, especially with crayons like most little girls her age. Upon discovering the black and white atmosphere, she goes on a rampage scraping wax of colour with every crayon she has. Seriously, it's like her box of crayons never ends or run out! Ah cartoon logic.

I have to admit, Tara Strong's performance for Bubbles here during her little panic is pure gold, just listen to those vocals! Keep in mind that she was only 25 at the time. Mega talent!

Her sisters soon take action and look for the suspect. When they finally find Mr Mime, they make chase until they are at a dead end and are ambushed by him. Why couldn't the girls just fly away? Bubbles meanwhile, thinking she had proudly saved the day all by herself wonders where her sisters went and when she discovers them depressed, colorless and mute, she sobs but brightens up immediately remembering she had a crayon but to no avail, it doesn't work. Realizing that her crayons aren't magical, Bubbles thinks up the next best thing...of all 90s cliches in cartoons, she and her sisters save the day...with ROCK MUSIC! Yeah, it's cheesy and all but also a beautiful message. A message of love. Love Makes the World go round is one of the few times the girls ever actually did a musical number and oh my god was this one memorable? I wish there was an extended version of it and an official release, but I guess we'd have to make do with the hidden track on the Heroes and Villains CD. Just listen to that chorus. This is the song that Cavadini, Strong and Daily all used to warm up their performances and vocals whenever they were together in the studio.

I put this episode in the honorable mentions because of the ending, it was a bit hypocritical, one minute the girls are singing and putting a smile on everyone's faces, the next thing, they send Rainbow to jail when it wasn't his fault. Of course, he may have been forgiven later on. But who knows? Overall, this was a memorable episode. KEY MOMENT: Seeing the girls hug, it was adorable!

Ice Sore - Blossom discovers that she has a power that her sisters don't have, causing her to show it off. I put it in the honorable mentions because it deserved it, I felt that Ms Keane making all her class go outside in the frying heat to be a bit irresponsible though.

A Made Up Story - Phyliss Diller's performence as the villain was great and the comedy in this one a bit slow but did have some hilarious moments, plus that ending! It feels like what would happen if Stephen King’s Carrie was turned into a comedy.

Tough Love - One of the first episodes I ever saw and caused me to fall in love with the show as so as I watched it. The concept is dark, creepy and yet unique. When I saw those girls get beat up, punched, kicked, beaten up (heck even by adults), I couldn't believe it. I knew this was the cartoon I waited for, all my life.

Bubblevicious - While not a favorite of mine, I still had to put it here in the honorable mentions list, because, well Strong's performance as Bubbles was absolutely brilliant. Hearing her growl that epic drawn out "haaardcoore" was the cherry on top of Bubbles' character and we see a more stronger side to her. Fed up with being treated like a baby, she does things her way, something even Buttercup probably wouldn't do. My problem though was the way she treated the Talking Dog, threatening to hurt him, a bit hypocritical for Bubbles' taste since she loves animals. This episode was Craig McCracken's all time favourite and you can see why it was nominated for an emmy.

Speed Demon - I gave this episode a mention for the creepy-factor and I mean real creepy. Sometimes I don't know if I'm watching a creepypasta or an episode of the Powerpuff Girls. The show is usually full of action, bit of drama but going as low as this is unusual, this was another dark episode. Everyone chanting "your fault" to the girls is like the equivalent "They're all gonna laugh at you" from Carrie. Can you just imagine travelling so fast that you went fifty years into the future? The concept of this episode is both creepy, unsettling and disturbing.

Knock It Off - Again, an episode that isn't often talked about. This double length episode is one of the darkest in my honest opinion. Dick Hardly is one of the nastiest, sadistic and cruelest one time villains I have ever seen. Cloning the girls with a full vile of Chemical X and shipping them all over the world just sounds like yet another creepy pasta.

Also, have you seen how deformed these clones looked? Enough to disturb any audience. The scene where the Professor discovers the base and suddenly freaks out at all the hideous deformed clones is probably how anyone would react if this happened in real life. Also, seeing the girls die onscreen was heart wrenching, of course, if this show ended now, it would have been one sad finale.

Did I forget to mention that Dick Hardly's monster form was just terrifying! Those tentacles on his chest just really seemed off. On the funny side, I love how it’s like the writers were trying to push it on how many times the girls say “Dick”. Also, what was that nerd doing with his PPG doll?

The Boys are Back in Town - The sequel to The Rowdyruff Boys, this half hour romp sees the girls meeting their match for the second time. The girls learn that the boys were brought back to life from HIM and had given them a cootie vaccination, so they are now strong against the girls. I left it off the top ten list because...well, again, the counterpart battle technique just got stale and I found that the boys personality resulted in some rather gross and painfully vulgar scenes. It's like they were trying to compete with Nickelodeon's 90s shows.

Also just a side note and personal opinion: I do prefer the boys' hairdos here. Also the scene where the girls discover the weakness was hilarious. A bonus for Blossom’s cheeky little one liner.

Beat Your Greens - This was a classic episode. I remember watching it a lot as a kid. The moral is simple: eat your vegetables.

This was the time when Craig McCracken was still at high stakes on the show and this was only it's second season. A time when morals weren't always the key of the show. Also Buttercup's brief pep talk/speech to one of the kids was great and really motivating. Also I love the little Star Wars reference.

Curses - I left this one out because this trope has been done before in other shows including Spongebob Squarepants and Arthur. But that doesn't stop the episode from being funny. The villain was hilarious, a literal talking potty-mouth who basically just talks gibberish as if he's swearing and every time the girls swore, it was bleeped out with various sound effects and the results are hilarious. I think the funniest moment was when the girls flipped out on the Mayor all over a pickle jar complete with swearwords and their mouths washed out with soap. Overall, this was a funny episode but sadly, when a trope has been done to death, is there really any high stakes for it to be in a top ten list?

And the number one greatest Powerpuff Girls episode is...

1. The Powerpuff Girls Rule! I am counting this one as an episode! Argument invalid! WHERE do I begin? This was all drawn and animated on Flash and released as the 10th anniversary special and you know what? It's absolutely brilliant. Everything is thrown at you in seconds, the humor, the pacing, unpredictable moments, the voice actors returned again and are just as great and the best part? Craig McCracken came back to write this masterpiece!

Not only was this special a breath of fresh air for the fans, but it felt like a new revival for the Powerpuff Girls done right! Sadly, this was Craig's last involvement with the Powerpuff Girls...when you think about it though, it’s not the same without Craig McCracken as writer and director, so you can see why there are lots more funnies here compared to seasons five and six.

Originally, this was planned to be an hour long but instead was reduced to a full length episode, which is why everyone suffers from motormouth syndrome throughout!

I love all the little callbacks to the classic episodes, including the villains and nearly every second had me laughing with tears streaming down my cheeks! THAT'S the true essence and formula of The Powerpuff Girls. Try watching this special with a straight face if you are a die hard fan of this show, seriously! It's impossible!

Ten years before, the reviews poured in calling this cartoon "gut-bustingly funny", well, this really shows! It's like the show had won back the brilliance when Craig came back and I really wish there was more!

The plot is so ridiculous yet hilarious and I quote the PPG wikia: The key to the world is sent to Townsville, and The Mayor has the responsibility of keeping watch of it. However, he misplaces it, and all the villains of Townsville break free from prison to search for the key, each one of them wanting to obtain it and rule the world, especially Mojo Jojo. The Powerpuff Girls must find the key and return it to The Mayor, before the villains get to it.

Everything about this episode is absolutely fantastic. I will forgive the little reference to a certain 2000s meme thrown in, although it wasn't really needed, but who can complain, right? It was bound to happen since every decade, cartoons tend to have that trend that will blend in with show's plots.

The moment all the motor-mouthed dialogue starts, it's impossible not to sit back with an enormous smile on your face. This was like a true love-letter to everyone who worked on the show, filled with crazy gags and some of the funniest build up on the show, complete with crazy references and everyone filling in on tickling the funny-bone.

The moment Blossom does her impression of Mojo Jojo (COMPLETE with camera angles, close ups and a shot of the entire planet earth) is hilarious! Her sass and smug attitude here just makes it!

I love how cartoony and slapstick this special was, although a little out of character, I don't care, I find it rather hilarious! There's surprise after surprise, after surprise! I've never seen The Powerpuff Girls go beyond the mark of full-on craziness!

I will admit, the motor-mouthing did feel a little forced and rushed but the plot still made up for it with all it's glory! I can't give anymore away without spoiling the entire cartoon so go watch this special when you can!

The Powerpuff Girls Rule! is -in my opinion- the greatest episode of all time. Now ten years old, it makes us all wonder what is in store for the twentieth anniversary. With the reboot having mixed reception and the merchandise still selling, we can only dream on having another special just as fresh and funny as this one.

"Key" moment for me (okay, that pun was lame): The whole episode was filled to the brim with timeless and hilarious moments but if I were to pick one, it would have to be Mojo singing a Jimmy Hart version of Part of Your World. Honestly, the funniest thing ever done on the show, period! Kudos Craig McCracken! You can’t spell slaughter without laughter and this episode did just that almost! A new meaning for the term: gut-bustingly funny!

And with that, ends my top 10 greatest PPG episode list! What are your favorite episodes of all time? Which ones make you laugh the most? I'd love to read and/or hear your opinions! :) With that being said, after twenty years, this show still holds up and I will always enjoy it again and again whenever I have a bad day. If you really want to see every classic episode again, then go buy the complete dvd set, it’s just been re-released as a twentieth anniversary box set! Thanks for reading and thank you to @crackmccraigen for this masterpiece!

#The Powerpuff Girls #top 10 list #best episodes #PPG #cartoon network #brilliant #my opinon #screw watchmojo #haha

26 notes · View notes

reconditarmonia · 5 years

Text

Dear Rule 63 Author

(It’s finally happening! Thank you so much for signing up!)

I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3 (and have been since LJ days, but my LJ is locked down and I only have a DW to see locked things). I have anon messaging off, but, er, I can answer any questions you might have about my requests in my mod capacity if you contact the exchange email ;)

Fullmetal Alchemist | History Boys | Pride and Prejudice | Robin Hood | Spinning Silver

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink! Trust, affectionate or loving use of titles, gestures of loyalty, replacing one's situational or ethical judgment with someone else's, risking oneself (physically or otherwise) for someone else, not doing so on their orders. Can be commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes; focus on unrequested canon or non-canon ships.

A note: I'm generally fine with "/" ships where the fic doesn't contain a kiss, overt declaration of love, etc. I'll trust that you wrote it with shippy intent and don't expect you to force in something that wouldn't fit the story.

About Rule 63 Exchange specifically: I have no strong preference for character names, with a slight preference for sticking with their canon names; it's up to you whether you want to justify any resulting names that would be unusual for women or just gloss over it. As far as characters' personalities and gender expression are concerned, you can tell from my requests that part of what interests me in most of the characters I requested is the question of what they and/or their relationships would be like in a world where they grew up as women, but I tend to want to see them as similar to their canon selves, just female. I'm probably fine with unrequested characters also being swapped to female, but feel free to check if you're not sure; please don't swap any female characters to male.

For this exchange, I've requested only fanfiction and only Always a 63, and with the exception of FMA, have requested non-smut (for FMA both smut and non-smut are good).

—

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Ship(s): F!Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye, F!Roy Mustang/F!Maes Hughes, F!Roy Mustang & Riza Hawkeye & F!Maes Hughes, F!Roy Mustang & F!Maes Hughes

I only recently started watching FMA:Brotherhood and I love it a lot. My fannish interests run towards military contexts, loyalty kink, idealistic/noble characters, and ambitious/pragmatic characters, so I'd love to read more about any of these combinations of people trusting one another to be the best person to do the job, or to know what to do, and risking a lot on that - whether that's on campaign in the war, when trying to get Roy up the chain of command, during the conflict with the homunculi... (I'm not yet up to the bit where Roy tells Riza he trusts her to shoot him in the back if he steps off the path, but it's been mentioned to me and it is my JAM.)

(My requests are fairly unspecific because as I write this I'm only about a quarter of the way through the anime. DO NOT worry about avoiding spoilers in the fic; I'm getting through the canon and can't wait to read whatever you want to write. Although I should specifically say, feel free to either have Hughes continue to be alive or stick to canon in this regard.)

Smut Likes: clothing, sexual tension, breasts, oral sex, grinding, informal d/s elements, intensity

Fandom-Specific DNW: please avoid canon-typical loss of body parts. If writing Roy/Maes in a period when Maes would canonically be married to Gracia, please don’t kill her off or get into either infidelity angst or poly negotiation; an AU where they never married or the assumption of an open relationship are both fine.

—

Fandom: History Boys

Ship(s): F!Stuart Dakin/F!Tom Irwin, F!Entire Class & F!Tom Irwin, F!Entire Class & F!Douglas Hector

I'm dying to know what the cultural touchstones would be if this plot were about lesbians instead of gay men. Auden, for instance, keeps coming up in the play - Hector loves him, Dakin and the other students bring him up to feel out Irwin - Housman, Bette Davis in Now Voyager...so what's acceptable and/or eccentric Culture for lesbians to cling to, or to signal (or flirt, or come-on) with? Who are the writers and the icons? During canon(/pre-, if applicable with Hector) or post-canon Oxbridge-slash-TV-historian life, it's all great. I, like most of the fandom, do like the idea that Dakin and Irwin do make it work at some point, post-canon.

Although I acknowledge that female versions of these characters feeling shut out of the historical and literary Canon is a valid place to go with the concept (I mean, that's Mrs. Lintott's speech), I'm more interested in following through on the way that the canon (little-c) characters relate historical or literary figures and events to their own lives - whether that's using more female figures, or finding things to seize on and relate to in the male figures of the Canon (in a fuck-you women-are-like-this-too way or a gay way rather than a Great-Men-are-universally-relatable way, I suppose).

—

Fandom: Pride and Prejudice

Ship(s): Elizabeth Bennet/F!Fitzwilliam Darcy, Jane Bennet/F!Charles Bingley

I would love to see how the basic narrative of P&P, or scenes from it, could play out, with period setting and some level of period attitudes, if either (or both) of the two main men are women looking for a "companion" or being pursued as a "companion," rather than as a husband. (Yes, I've been watching Gentleman Jack, but I've wanted this sort of thing for longer than that.)

To be clear, period attitudes can be "meh" rather than wall-to-wall homophobia; I'd just prefer to explore the implications of this change rather than supposing that same-sex marriage is accepted and everything about the plot is the same. If Jane, the eldest daughter to marry off, isn't interested in a heterosexual marriage? If Elizabeth turns down Collins without any expectation that a more suitable man could exist? (Having characters be bi rather than lesbian works too, I'm just throwing out some examples.) The significance of dancing, when in a formal dance context you'd encounter another woman in the dance but wouldn't be able to have her as a partner? Jane and Bingley being adorable, or Elizabeth and Darcy coming to revise their initial ill opinions of each other in this new context? Are the men a hot ticket for the women of Hertfordshire in the same way if they're women instead?

—

Fandom: Robin Hood (Traditional)

Ship(s): F!Robin Hood/F!Little John, F!Robin Hood & F!Merry Men, F!Robin Hood & Merry Men, F!Robin Hood & F!Little John, F!Robin Hood & Little John

Tell me about these people! A female outlaw commanding the loyalty of a mixed or male group -- or an all-female group of outlaws, how they live, what might have led them to choose that life. I'm also here for Robin Hood's relationship with her right-hand man/woman specifically, because I love loyalty kink -- people willing to go into danger for one another, the leader knowing how best to use her right hand's skills and strengths, what elements of formality might appear in, well, a very ad-hoc group. (And f!Little John would probably be hot.) If you're writing the Little John pairings, feel free to make the Merry Men either their canon versions or female versions.

I'd totally be into any of the f!characters crossdressing as men vis-à-vis the world at large, although if you go this route I'd rather have them not be in disguise to each other/to their own allies (so no Merry Men thinking they're being led by another man when it's crossdressing Robin, for instance - preferring masculine clothing/appearance even among friends is fine, though).

—

Fandom: Spinning Silver

Ship(s): F!Staryk Lord/Miryem Mandelstam

I love Miryem, and I'm so interested in the ways that making the Staryk Lord a woman would change Miryem's entry into the Staryk world and the romance that eventually develops between them. Maybe same-sex marriage is common among the Staryk, and that's one of the customs that are new and unfamiliar to Miryem in this new world. Would this be a Miryem who had never imagined being attracted to a woman before but comes to fall for the Staryk Lady, or one who simply couldn't have imagined being able to marry one and have that be a normal life? (For values of "normal" that include ice lands and gold magic!) How does the fact of the marriage being same-sex affect Miryem's initial understanding of it as a business arrangement, or for that matter, affect her understanding of the offer of queenship as a marriage at all? What makes them fall for each other?

Canon Miryem wonders what her role as queen is, thinking that she'd know about managing a household and having children and sewing if she were married to a human lord - is it the same if she has a fairy wife instead of a fairy husband, more so because there's not even the hope of a gendered complementarian aspect to fall back on, less so because the Staryk Lady is there as an example of what a female monarch in the Staryk lands does? Does Miryem try to be more like her, or to find her own accounting-powers-and-personal-bonds niche?

It's so important to canon Miryem to have a Jewish wedding with the Staryk Lord - what would that look like here? What happens when she comes back to the human world not only the queen of a magic country, but married to a woman (and in love with her, depending on when you set it)?

#dear author letters #fma #jane austen #spinning silver #robin hood #the history boys

2 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

moxleyreignsrollinssource

Moxley, Reigns & Rollins Source

jualtanahalambogor

multiland

ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴏʀ ᴅɪᴇ

survivalguideus

Survival Guide

ferudasosug

Untitled