Survivor 46 Sucks

This may be the worst season of Survivor I've ever seen. We've seen under-performing tribes get cut down in the beginning, but the first three Yanu to be voted out were even more pathetic than the ones in a previous season. There was an early med-evac where someone left with an idol in their pocket, and then someone else got voted out with an idol in their pocket. Then the merge happened, and I thought things would get better, but I was wrong. The two on the bottom this week were targeted because of their emulation of past players. Perhaps this show has been going on too long if Venus being compared to Parvati early on made people ostracize her and “super fan” Moriah saying her favorite past player was Aubry led to her being voted out. This is on top of Venus' being too forward with her strategy and Moriah being on the wrong side of her tribe's first vote, but they should be judged on what they do versus what past players have done that may predict their future actions. Parvati and Aubry aren't here, but Jeff's here forever! 

I also find it interesting that the word “super fan" has been used both to describe an asset to solving a puzzle as well as a threat. It hasn't amounted to anything, either, as said puzzle wasn't solved correctly. At this point, people are playing paranoid. The preview made it seem like they're about to turn on each other at the drop of a hat. I didn't have any faith in what I think of as the “plus-one" alliance, especially since Tim hadn't even told Maria that she was in it; she's keeping her options open but she didn't ask to be in it - she has the Charlie's Angels alliance or at least just her and Charlie. Tim and Maria have been the weakest links in challenges, even when their tribe still won. An all-women alliance is never going to happen either. I don't particularly think Charlie is in any immediate danger; he just happened to be the only man who could be voted for alongside five women and still hasn't had any votes cast against him. There isn't really anyone I'm rooting for right now. The boot order going forward might be interesting depending on who wins immunity and how the tribe is split up for the double elimination.

Hazbin Hotel Season 2 Predictions

-There is no way the line “Charlie told me to stab so I did” isn’t going to come back and bite them in the next season. It was too well-enunciated not to be important. Since Niffty goes catatonic when the camera is on her, it makes sense that they had to stop rolling and get that statement from her in the first place.
‭-Emily is going to want to tell Charlie right away that Sir Pentious made it to Heaven, but maybe Sera is going to prevent her from doing so. There’s also the matter of him getting settled there, and he might have a rough go of it with Lute and the remaining Exorcists around. A best-case scenario would be he befriends Angel’s sister and tells her all about him. He also pines for Cherri Bomb. Over Valentine’s season, my work was playing “Stacey’s Mom” on the radio and in my mind that became Sir Pentious singing “Cherri Bomb has got it going on, Cherri Bomb has got it going on, Cherri don’t you see you’re the only one for me?” etc. If all goes well for him in Heaven, he could gain a reputation as Saint Pentious the Penitent and maybe build more Egg Boiz (as they are constructs and didn’t manifest in Heaven with him).
‭-Depending on how involved Lucifer is with the hotel, and if Adam does indeed become a sinner and resides there, there's going to be an awkward love triangle when Lilith shows up to do whatever Lute asked her to. Charlie having to deal with reforming her mom's ex while going through some divorced parents drama is going to be very hard for her. More Rosie and Alastor would be appreciated.
‭-The V's? Apparently they’re going to be focused on in season 2. I don't know what they think is going to happen, but between Lucifer and Alastor (and the other overlords) there isn't a power vacuum in Hell. It's nice that they've clarified Angel's contract only applies to the studio since that does away with the notion that Val could use Angel to destroy the hotel.
‭-Will we see Eve? Roo was hinted at for the final season, but no talk of Eve or her three sons, let alone where they ended up. The Bible is full of people who do bad things, but some get forgiven and some don't. I doubt the show will bring up real life people who should've ended up in the lowest circle, but they should definitely stay there.
‭-New hotel residents besides Cherri and Adam, if that even happens? Will Mimzy return? She really should have had her own episode instead of having to share one with Lucifer.

Nostalgia

I didn't know there was a live action pilot for the Popples in the 80s, so I looked it up and watched it. Oh boy. The plot has the parents donate the box the Popples were living in to make more space in the attic for the play room. The Popples didn't exist before this, so I don't know what used to be in the box. The parents donated it without letting their kids know, much to their dismay. The parents' defense was that it was a surprise so they didn't have to tell them and that they were being ungrateful. They offered to take them to the zoo to make up for it but instead the kids insisted on going to every Goodwill in the area until they found the box.They find the box after closing time in the last store they go to, otherwise we wouldn't have a show. Real life doesn't work that way. In real life, you get laughed at and told to leave. Apparently that's just what adults did in the 80s and 90s - donate your stuff without your knowledge or consent and laugh at you when you try to get it back to no avail. I'm glad the whole show wasn't live action - the puppets weren't bad but the cartoon is easier to look at. The musical number was very Chuck E. Cheese-esque but in a good way.

‭I've been watching The Unlucky Tug's videos on Thomas the Tank Engine characters - Sodor's Finest. He did bring up some good points about Diesel, that in some cases he's just a clutzy guy getting into trouble when he's not actively screwing over other characters and giving all diesel engines a bad name. Yes, there ended up being other characters who were diesel engines, which makes it more ridiculous that he was just named Diesel. Then there was other imagery that justify is characterization as a villain, either surrounded by flames in the background or slithering out of a dark tunnel with an evil look on his face. There was even an episode called “Springtime for Diesel." You know who else it was springtime for? Yeah. And that was in the later series when they were trying to make him more sympathetic. The new chibi animated show makes him look cute too. I never liked him, especially since my favorite characters were Duck and Toby. Diesel gave me nightmares.

Hazbin Hotel 5-8

Five month time skip. Angel is making progress. I liked how he and Sir Pentious were trying to protect Niffty, both in episode 5 and 6. Lucifer has big divorced dad energy and in some ways reminds me of Stolas. I wonder why Lilith dumped his ass too (though he does remind me a little of Adam). Not sure why Alastor is trolling Lucifer by acting like he’s a better father figure to Charlie all of a sudden, but it might explain him smirking at their family portrait in the pilot. Alastor also does the same chain trick on Husk to keep him in line like Valentino does to Angel. I thought he’d be better than that. I didn’t much care for Vaggie’s reveal as a former Exorcist, or that Lute was responsible for what happened to her because she let one sinner go after killing thousands. The sinner in question looked pretty innocent, so Vaggie was understandably confused. It does explain why Vaggie referred to the sinners as “your people" when talking to Charlie in a previous episode. Vaggie might never have even been mortal if Exorcists are made and named by Adam. The annual extermination is even kept secret from all but Sera. The winners, as they are called, are blissfully unaware of what is happening to their loved ones in Hell - a missed opportunity for Angel’s mother and sister to see him if the trial hadn’t been private. Molly was outside, and though she might not know what he looks like, she could’ve been like “That’s my brother down there!" Emily is shaping up to be Charlie’s only ally in Heaven, as everyone else turns a blind eye to Hell and its problems. Lucifer did say no one would listen to them.

‭I didn't think with the pacing of the show thus far that Vaggie having been an Exorcist would be dwelled on for an entire episode. She obviously doesn't want to talk about what happened to her, but she did end up regrowing her wings by the end of the episode. Carmilla also reveals she knew Vaggie was an Exorcist the whole time because the missing eye and angelic weapon gave it away. She also points out that Vaggie doesn't know anything about the Exorcists' weaknesses and teaches her how to cover her own. I should've liked that sequence and accompanying song, but for some reason I didn't. Charlie rallies the cannibals with Alastor and Rosie's help, and Rosie helps Charlie accept Vaggie's mistake as actions speak louder than words or lack thereof. The finale was great. I was thinking just this morning how it would be funny if Sir Pentious got to Heaven before Angel and he did. That was one of my two big cheers of the episode, in addition to Niffty being the one to land the killing blow on Adam. Lucifer, Charlie, and Vaggie were going to let him live, but Niffty said Charlie had told her to stab so she did. So cathartic after all the shit Adam has pulled, including just deleting Pentious and his entire zeppelin. I understand that Vaggie letting Lute live was a power move, but she's going to be trouble down the line. And for some reason Lilith is on vacation or sabbatical in Heaven because Lute updates her on the situation, but it's not clear what kind of relationship the two have. Alastor was great and I can't wait to see what his deal is.

Hazbin Hotel 1-4

So it turns out the show the Blue Ranger was filming at the same time as Cosmic Fury was NCIS: Hawaii. Too bad I don't watch NCIS or its spinoffs anymore.

‭Anyway, my thoughts on Hazbin Hotel so far: At first I was disappointed, but I found things to like about it. My favorite character going into it was Vaggie, but that quickly switched to Niffty. I liked that when Vaggie was throwing everyone off the roof (except Husk who retreated down the stairs), Niffty acted like a toddler who wanted upsies. Charlie wouldn't let Vaggie throw Niffty, so Niffty had to climb over the edge and drop down herself. When Husk was going over what everyone's deal was, he said they didn't want to know what Niffty's was. I agree that the events of episode 3 (minus the team-building) came a little too soon, especially since “Whatever It Takes" sounded like it should have been placed toward the end of the season. I didn't like Velvette in “Respectless," but I liked her characterization in episode 2. My favorite episode so far has to be episode 2, especially “Stayed Gone." My expectation for Velvette was she was a Loli chick or e-girl who acted like a little kid, but that's not the case here. Had it been, her behavior during the Overlord meeting would have made more sense, her whining that she didn't want to be there and that everyone there was old and irrelevant. There are two musical numbers in each episode, which all sound like they should be performed on Broadway, hence the recast of Broadway actors. I was glad to be recommended the video of the old VAs singing “Thank You and Goodnight." I do miss the old voices, especially Husk's. I still like Keith David, whose performance so far reminds me of his other roles: the cat from Coraline except angrier and the president from Rick and Morty.
‭In regards to the question “Is Charlie making everything worse?” I’d say the answer is yes. She didn’t want Vaggie literally throwing the gang into a turf war, yet they built stronger bonds because of it (and it was funny). Charlie’s interference also made Vaggie question her judgment and worth as Charlie’s protector. She wanted to get Angel some time off of work (partial blame goes to Vaggie for persuading her to use her clout as Princess of Hell to do so), but that only resulted in Angel getting abused more than usual since Valentino couldn’t do anything to Charlie due to her position. ‭As always, we'll just have to see where it goes from here.

Kingdom Hearts Tube?

I’ve been wanting to get back into making Kingdom Hearts videos, even if it’s the kind where I’m doing the voiceover. I have some ideas I’d like to discuss. First of all, I’ve been trying to group the games into digestible chunks or eras. The originals, as I’d like to refer to them as, consist of 1, CoM, 2, and Days. That wraps the first phase of the story with a neat little bow: they set off on their adventure, they continue their adventure, and they end their adventure with some Roxas stuff on the side. The second is the bridge to KH3, which consists of Birth By Sleep, Coded (at least the version that’s just cutscenes), Dream Drop Distance, and Fragmentary Passage. BBS adds the backstory needed for the main story to keep going - they’re not done. Then there’s KH3 plus Remind and Melody of Memory in one package. This provides a little more finality even though the story still isn’t over, just the Dark Seeker saga. Can we even get Sora back? The final grouping consists of the mobile games, which take us even further back in time and provide as many questions as they do answers. This includes X/Back Cover, Unchained X, Union X, Dark Road, and Missing Link.
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This brings me to my next topic of discussion and perhaps an idea for another Xehanort-based game. I still want to know what happened in the year that Xehanort was an amnesiac apprentice, but I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of gameplay that could entail. Cards and rhythm wouldn’t make sense like Chain of Memories and Melody of Memory, but it should be something unique and have the word “Memory” or “Memories” as per the other two. Unless it takes place over a certain number of days, then something with “Days” in it. A visual novel might be too boring, but something like Doki Doki Literature Club or Ace Attorney might work. It would also have to incorporate the scenes that are scattered amongst the other games: the end of BBS, the flashback from KH2, the opening flashback of DDD, and the flashback from Melody of Memories. It would have to include everything Apprentice Xehanort did, like the experiments on Subject X and others, the experiments on himself, and basically anything from any existing reports. Subject X goes missing (if we’re playing purely from Xehanort’s perspective, it will likely still remain a mystery what Luxu did or where he sent her), Ansem is banished and it gets covered up, everyone’s hearts get stolen, Isa and Lea ask to become apprentices and lose their hearts as well, the Door to Darkness is opened and the town is overrun, and Xehanort takes Kairi off the street and sends her to Destiny Islands.
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Then there’s a nine-year gap between Kairi arriving and the beginning of KH1. Lots of downtime as the original 6-8 Organization members figure things out. One of them still needs to go through puberty and two of them have to finish puberty. We don’t need to read that far into it, but it would be nice to see Zexion restore his ability to speak if that was indeed an issue for him and not a cost-cutting measure to avoid casting a child actor for him in BBS. I would love for this theoretical game to have voice-acting, but I could see how it wouldn’t need to if it’s mostly text-based. I just get so excited imagining the visuals in my head. Just Monika? More like Just Xehanort. Or a courtroom-like scene leading up to Ansem's banishment.
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That’s all for now. Looking forward to Season 4 of Ascendance of a Bookworm.