Survivor 50 (Spoilers!)

‭In Survivor, they vote people out based on how likable a person is or how likely they are to get jury votes. But what does that say about those that remain? Are they less worthy or less likable? I like tight duos who want to see the other one win if they can’t. I couldn’t stand Christian this season. Mike and Angelina were supposed to be his alliance and his friends but he turned on them. He even admitted Mike was right about Emily but f*ck him anyway I guess. I hoped he wouldn’t turn on Rick next, but apparently they’re the “new age bromance.” Coach devolving back into the haiku-spewing Dragon Slayer was disappointing. The post-merge has been chaotic with so many people. It’s like Ozzy took Rizo out for ice cream and when they came back three people had been voted out and people were fighting. It’s like that Community meme. Coach and Chrissy deserved to go down together. She was basically his keeper. I miss the Coach from Ponderosa who played Rock Band. I didn’t really remember Chrissy. I can’t believe Ozzy didn’t play his idol again. He's one of the people on this season who made the same mistake twice.

‭It’s weird playing seasons back-to-back without anyone having seen them first. Russell Hantz made it to the end and lost both times, and Rizo lost at fire-making both times. “If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I’d have two nickels” and all that. I thought Jonathan was getting the main character edit, but the winner was Aubry. I suppose she’s earned it after all this time. I was rooting for Cirie if it was going to be anyone who’s played multiple times, but at least the fans voted to give her the Sia award. I was rooting for Tiff too out of the newer players who were left. Charlie and Kamilla are going to be on the next season of White Lotus, but like I thought, everyone is welcome.

‭The Late Show is over after tonight, so I would like to boycott CBS. However, season 51 is called “The Open Era” and it looks like it begins with a marooning like the original seasons. I’ll keep watching Survivor, but f*ck the network and its parent company.

Wrapping It Up

More on the topic of Daniel Tiger and Mr. Rogers, I think King Friday is the standard to which I hold Ansem the Wise. He needs to be more like that.

‭Jake’s Wayback Burgers got rid of their wraps, but McDonald’s brought back the snack wraps. It’s still good, though one of my friends thinks the style of chicken they use now is bad. Popeye’s chicken wraps were basically their sandwich as a wrap, so of course they were good. They don’t have the wraps anymore either, which is sad. Sometimes I just don’t want a whole sandwich, and the wraps went down easier.

‭Not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to keep making videos. I’ve been having audio issues lately, so I’m falling behind on production. If I have my volume set to 50% and use my ear buds, it sounds fine, but if I don’t use my ear buds, I can barely hear it even if I crank the volume to 100%. My daughter is getting older and soon won’t have nap time anymore, and that’s the only time I have to myself these days. I still have a lot of video backlog to watch as well, and I’m not going to be able to watch Campaign 4 of Critical Role because I just don’t have that kind of time. I’m still making my way through the one-shots and live shows wrapping up Campaign 3. As long as I have ideas or something to say, I’ll try to keep making videos when I can. Once a month the past year has been working out for me schedule-wise, but we’ll have to see.

‭Survivor 49 suffers from the unfortunate side-effect of season 50 being hyped up so much, and I’m sure season 51 will as well. It also suffered from having another disaster tribe, including a medevac. At the end, I wasn’t really rooting for anyone, and since I didn’t spoil myself on season 50's cast, I didn’t know Savannah and Rizo were going to advance to the next season. They were getting the main character treatment, and I rooted for them off and on, but ultimately, I treated the cast with a level of resignation after a bunch of failed moves that went nowhere. 

Right in the Feels

I was going to make a post about how Survivor 48 was a wholesome season and a breath of fresh air after the horrible showings they’ve had recently and a triumph of the human spirit as the commercials put it...but apparently I’m in the minority on that opinion. Turns out more people want the cutthroat gameplay and were actually on Thomas’s side. I’ll agree that, since I was barely paying attention during the episode Star was voted off because I was busy doing other things, but it turns out I didn’t need to because nothing happened, it could get a little boring at times. I still enjoyed it, though. It was nice to see people doing the morally right thing instead of the underhanded sneaky thing for a change. I miss the Ponderosa videos because it was all about the cast being genuine people just chilling on the island, and this season was a good substitute for that.

‭I also want to talk about my experience watching Daniel Tiger for the first time. It’s a long-running show on PBS recently discovered by my three-year old, so naturally we have to have it on all the time now until she gets tired of it and goes back to one of her other current obsessions (it’s July and she can’t get enough of Frosty the Snowman right now). It was the Thank You Day episode in which the wind blows away the thank you notes but Mr. McFeely gathers them up and returns them on his way to the party. I don’t know, something about him showing up notes in hand (or bicycle basket) and singing his jingle hit something buried deep within me and my eyes started watering like I was going to cry. I don’t even remember much about Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood or what it had even meant to me as a kid. I remember some of the puppets, and the character models look just like them...except then I remembered Lady Elaine looking different and acting like a total bitch, so this new version of her is an improvement. Another noteworthy character is Baker Aker. Again, I watch too much TV with my daughter, so it’s fresh in my mind, but Baker Aker sounds just like the Rhombus of Recipes from Elmo the Musical. I can’t find any acting credits on that segment besides Kevin Klash, so I can’t prove they’re voiced by the same person. Some Sesame Street actors do work on Donkey Hodey, and that’s another Fred Rogers spinoff, so it’s entirely possible. 

‭Other than that, I’m looking forward to the new season of Ascendance of a Bookworm next spring. I'm still waiting on volume 10 of the Part 2 manga so I can start collecting Part 3, which is running concurrently with Part 2.

Blog #500

It’s the 500th blog on this website, and I’m going to begin by talking about food. There was another seasonal Chipwich called Snow Day. It has chocolate cookies and vanilla ice cream with mint pieces. S-Tier.
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Burger King milkshakes are good now. They come in one size, which is medium, but they’re still really good. The chicken snack wraps are ass, though, which is really too bad. The Wendy’s one sucks too, but the ones from Jake’s Wayback Burgers are the clear winner. McDonald’s is supposed to be bringing the snack wraps back, though, so we’ll see about that. The Wayback chicken sandwiches are great too. It might be the one near me, but it seems like the Popeye’s chicken sandwiches have gone down in quality. The Burger King Original chicken sandwich has always been my go-to, but I wouldn’t try to put pickles on it.
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Both my grandmothers had signs up in their kitchens claiming ownership of them - Doris’s Kitchen, Helen’s Kitchen. My mom and my mother-in-law didn’t have that, nor do they now that they’re grandmothers. I sure as hell don’t. I don’t even have my own space in the house, and it if I did it wouldn’t be the kitchen.
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I haven’t had a lot of luck with ordering books online lately. I wanted to get Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card volume 16, but only the Kindle version has the correct cover. Every website shows the print version as volume 10, like it’s some kind of conspiracy. Not even ebay has a picture of the actual product, just the cover image like everyone else. I can’t even get Ascendance of a Bookworm manga when they come out because it’s Kindle only for months before the print version finally comes out, if it comes out at all. The Kindle posts a large file warning too. I can’t even get the books I want for my daughter either. I tried to pre-order a Toy Story pop-up book that was supposedly coming out on her birthday, but the other day I got an email that the release date was now TBD. There was a Finny the Shark book that was supposed to come out on her birthday too, but that got pushed to July. I tried to buy a Wiggles book from ebay, but the seller has been unresponsive, and I’ll probably have to cancel it to get my money back. I haven’t had much luck with online vendors in general. Another ebay seller canceled my order because they claimed I had a bad address. There’s also a website for a bakery in Ohio that’s still operating like it’s still in business, so I placed an order for Valentine’s Day, but they never shipped it. They didn’t answer the email or voicemail, so now my bank’s looking into it. I want to support small businesses, but I don't think I can trust many of them now.

Halloween Haul

Ghost Toast Kit Kats - orange colored chocolate with cinnamon french toast wafers.I usually don’t like the orange colored chocolate (or orange colored cream in Oreos) but the wafers are so good I don’t mind it. A-tier. 

‭Werewolf Tracks Reese’s Cups - vanilla topped Reese’s cups. I ate it upside-down and still didn’t really taste the vanilla. It’s still a Reese’s so it’s still good, but come on. And they’re thin too. B-tier.
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Waffle Cone Hershey bar - exactly what it says on the wrapper. I didn’t think it would be as good as crisp rice, but I was wrong. This is S-tier.
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Chocolate Lava Reese’s Cups - Reese’s Big Cups with chocolate syrup at the bottom. Better than the caramel version. A-tier.
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Vanilla Kit Kats - vanilla flavored Kit Kats...in America. It's a good substitute for the Japanese vanilla ice cream Kit Kats. A-tier.
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Basic Witch Chipwich - white chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin ice cream. The ice cream's really good but I wish the cookies were better. A-tier.

An aside about Vox Machina: Either revive someone right away or don't do it at all. Did Kashaw really die for this? Although to be fair, cartoon Zahra and Kashaw were akin to Sailors Uranus and Neptune from the 90s anime while actual play Zahra and Kashaw were akin to manga/reboot anime Uranus and Neptune.

Ode to Summer

Pink Lemonade Kit Kats sound like a bad idea. I didn't try the regular lemon ones, but this seems like they took those and dyed them pink. They're not bad - they taste like those lemon frosted cookies Archway makes. Pink lemonade tastes maybe a little more tart or sweet than regular lemonade, and that's sort of what I was expecting.

Chips Ahoy S'mores cookies are worth it for five dollars.
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True Blue Bakery Chipwich Tier List:
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S Tier or Perfection - Life is Shortcake: shortbread cookies and strawberry ice cream, easily the best if that’s what you’re into; What the Fudge: chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream with fudge swirl, it’s as delicious as that sounds.
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A Tier or Instesting - Cookie Monstah: chocolate chip cookies and cookie dough ice cream, double the pleasure and double the fun; Thiq Mint: chocolate chip cookies and mint ice cream coated in chocolate chips, a step above if you like mint.
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B Tier or Basic - Hot Shot: chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream coated in sprinkles, a classic; True Blue: chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate chips, good but not great.

C Tier or Boring: Black Sheep: Oreo cookies and vanilla ice cream coated in crushed Oreos, tastes like an ordinary ice cream sandwich; Gon’ Nutty: peanut butter cookies and chocolate ice cream, I appreciate the idea and the chance they took with it, but I didn't like it.

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.

The End of the Power Rangers

Over the course of two weeks, I binged season 2 of Dino Fury and Cosmic Fury. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to do it, because I mostly felt empty. Even after 30 years, it’s hard to believe it’s over for the final time. I don’t know if I’ll watch the rebooted series when it comes out.

‭Thoughts on Dino Fury Season 2: I had compared Tarrick to Mr. Freeze in season 1, but Santaura is like Nora from the Harley Quinn series cranked up a notch. It would’ve been better if the Voids showed up in the episode with the wish charms so that Amelia’s wish technically came true even if she didn’t know it. Zayto is the first and only Ranger to die, be brought back to life, and then die again (Cosmic Fury). And as I’m writing this, his catchphrase “Cool, cool, coolio” hits different once I consider that Coolio is dead.

‭Cosmic Fury: People are complaining that Amelia shouldn’t have been the Red Ranger, that it could have been Izzy or anyone else. Well, if it could have been anyone, it was still her, so deal with it. Ten episodes was not enough time to fully flesh out this story, and I’m surprised it didn’t get a full season order. I also heard the actor playing Ollie had scheduling conflicts, so that’s why he was evil for most of it. I liked the father-son dynamic between him and Zedd. I liked the look of concern on Billy’s face when he found out that not only was Ollie evil, Amelia’s parents had been evil too. If the season had been longer, we probably would have seen Amelia start to crack under the pressure. Tarrick, while not a Ranger, still had his badass dad moments. Did not like/was confused by Zedd, Robo Rita, and Billy often referring to Rangers on a last-name basis. Heckyl’s debut as Dark Ranger did not last too long and ended in defeat, which sucked, but at least we got to see him at all. Him morphing again next to Billy looked great. Did not like them taking Squillia as a hostage and then killing her, which felt like an icky thing for the heroes to do. Mucus and Slyther being good didn’t have much buildup, but I’m glad they were in it because they seemed like such fan favorites. I hope they survived the vacuum of space. I couldn’t help but notice that two of the monsters were named after Joe Exotic and Tommy Wiseau, or that Zedd kept saying “sad” like Trump; that weirded me out in ways I can’t put into words. Dino and Cosmic Fury did quote memes and reference pop culture a lot, with Izzy being the main perpetrator, but as another reviewer pointed out, this show was probably written by Millennials/Gen Z.

‭Additional thoughts about Once & Always: It also felt too short. The one-year time-skip made the emotional development uncertain. All it took for Minh to forgive Billy was for Zack to tell her that Zordon was a father figure to them. I’m also unclear on when this takes place. Does Billy try to bring back Zordon before or after finding out that Aiyon spoke to him inside the Morphin Grid? I didn’t even think that was Zordon at first - I just thought it was the personification of the Morphin Grid itself. If the special takes place before Cosmic Fury, then it’s Minh in the cockpit with Billy and the series ends on a cliffhanger with Billy renewing his search for Zordon. If takes place after, then it’s Trini in the cockpit and Billy’s looking for remnants of the Z-Wave because he has confirmation Zordon’s consciousness survived. It’s probably the former since Once & Always released first, but the renewed search for Zordon should be explored even though there most likely won’t be any more content aside from Amy Jo Johnson’s Pink Ranger comics.

‭Side note: I recently saw a couple videos explaining Jennika and Venus in the new Ninja Turtles comics. Anyone criticizing these characters or their artist (who recently left) seems to have a “no girls allowed” stance when it comes to Turtles. These characters were created by men too. I may not be a fan of this particular universe, but I understand it better now and can appreciate what they were trying to do.

Unhappy Campers (Again)

I forgot to mention another aspect of Unhappy Campers I’d thought about. Barbie Wire was only in the episode for about three minutes, and that was definitely not enough time (for the fans). Another way it could’ve gone was that Millie refused to wait and play Moxxie’s game and took the guy out immediately, which pisses Moxxie off. Then Barbie bursts in complaining she’s out of a job now, confusing M&M until she drops her human guise. They explain that it was their job to kill him, and she asks to see their boss, who is none other than her own brother. Blitz is happy to see her until she starts yelling at him about the mission, which he doesn’t even remember sending M&M on. At the same time, M&M are fighting about the mission (with their client still awkwardly in the background, and maybe their fresh kill showing up too). Everyone splits off, and in the quiet, we get a proper flashback to Blitz and Barbie’s childhood.

The 20th anniversary of Rooster Teeth ended with the series finale of Camp Camp. However, it felt like it was too little too late. The main plot revolved around the trio overhearing that the other campers found them annoying and tried to subvert their personalities or be passive-aggressive about it. Because standards and practices are different now that Time Warner Media is in charge, the swearing was mostly censored. Dolph needed to get a makeover offscreen (although they used Charlie Chaplin as a stand-in for that other guy he was modeled after). Because Michael, Barbara, and I assume Lee are white actors voicing “ambiguously brown” characters, they were replaced with actors of the appropriate ethnic backgrounds. They were fine, but to only do this for a series finale which we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten (I assume it was quietly canceled because of these issues) seems wrong. If Max was written with Michael’s personality in mind, especially as a draw due to Rage Quit, why didn’t they make him the same ethnicity so people wouldn’t complain (because clearly someone finally did)? BK was spot-on except for there being no spit in her voice. Miles came back as David like he had for Jaune, but he didn’t sound as happy in the role. He [David] didn’t have Jaune’s aging and trauma as an excuse. Too much has happened at this company, and too much time has passed. It was a nice attempt, but it was sad and should’ve been done sooner. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it - representation is important, but how you sound in animation matters more than how you look. When you act with your voice, you can be anyone - as long as it isn’t a racist caricature. On the other side of things, there’s a new ethnically-appropriate actor voicing Amy’s dad in the new Futurama, which is great. Billy West doesn’t need more roles on that show. The only problem is that the new guy doesn’t sound old enough.
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Unhappy Campers (and Others)

Survivor - While I miss the Ponderosa videos, I appreciate how recent Survivor seasons’ cast members support each other in-game. They even take time out just to enjoy the fact that they’re in Fiji. I also miss the live reunion shows, but there’s something so raw about reading the votes right away like in the old days.

‭Helluva Boss - While Unhappy Campers isn’t my favorite episode, “Regular Joe” is a banger. I was worried that people wouldn’t like Millie being good at everything at camp, that they’d call her a Mary Sue. Fortunately, that was not the case. If anything, people want more of Millie being awesome and less of Moxxie being a petty bitch. It would’ve made more sense for Millie to ask about the target since she was made the center of attention, but Moxxie was committed to the bit and possibly method acting. If it was supposed to be a mirror of what happened between Blitz and Barb, it wasn’t worth it, especially that freeze frame of Moxxie’s crazy eyes. Maybe Richard Horvitz blew out his voice doing Moxxine’s over-the-top valley girl voice, and that’s why he sounds weird in Once and Always. Not sure what the drama is surrounding Erica Lindbeck - Loona not speaking or someone making an AI clone of her voice without permission. I know there have been AI clones of other people’s voices, but I didn’t know if they’d given permission or not - Sam Riegel being one of them. The only episode it was weird she didn't talk was Western Energy, but I guess the idea was that Loona was too scared of getting the shot to back-sass Blitz about it.
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Critical Role - The group is reunited and the plot is starting to move forward again. Imogen and Laudna finally defined their relationship. How are they going to get to the moon?

Media I'm Consuming

 ‭Ascendance of a Bookworm - I’m currently collecting the manga now that Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card has finally come to an end. I figured it would be a faster read that way, since I don’t have a whole lot of time to myself, but it looks like it’ll be more volumes than the light novel series. I was interested in the angle of restarting the printing industry from scratch, but the issue of mana and political intrigue made it take off in a whole other direction. I just finished watching Trash-Tier Waifu’s videos on part 3, and this has still just been the setup. Apparently parts 4 and 5 are massive. The anime had better continue. Clear Card is already getting a reboot so it can have a proper ending as well.

‭RWBY vol 9 - I had my doubts about this season, but the ending was kinda nice. Neo took the peaceful route in the end, accepting that her conjured version of Roman wasn’t real and that she had to reinvent herself even if she has no longer has any ties to Remnant. Not only that, but the Tree told them that the Brothers aren’t gods and they had actually been kicked out of the Ever After. So despite all the terrible things Salem has done, she had been right about the Brothers and summoning them may not be the worst idea if they can confront them with this new information? I don’t understand how Alyx died and that gifting Jaune her dagger would undo the aging he’d accidentally done to himself upon his arrival. At first I thought Miles had actually quit and they had aged Jaune up to recast him, but I’m glad I was wrong. As per usual, Robbie Daymond’s character seems friendly at first but ultimately can’t be trusted. This is why I like Dorian the best out of his characters. It’s funny that both he (Akechi) and Max Mittelman (Ryuji) both voice versions of the Cheshire Cat, Max voicing him in Alice’s Wonderland Bakery (my daughter watches it).

‭Critical Role - I’m not really interested in what’s going on in Campaign 3 right now. Since I don’t have time, I’ve been reading the recaps, and I’m not impressed. I know Marisha’s doing Creator Clash 2, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s why the party had to be split so she wouldn’t have to actively play. She still shows up for opening announcements. Matt misses her, but Marisha mentioned that in a way that made it sound like Matt was being selfish, and I get it. I can't help but wonder if all this extra stuff is going to pull the group apart during this campaign, as they are a far cry from doing it for fun at this point.

‭Power Rangers Once & Always - I’m not wild about the idea that Robo Rita was Billy’s fault and Trini died protecting him (and it cost them Alpha 8 as well). He never really struck me as that much of an ego maniac or particularly inclined towards hubris, and since I’ve seen both Full Metal Alchemist anime, trying to bring Zordon back isn’t anything new. In fact, he should’ve gotten Andros in on it too, and sooner. I don’t know how I feel about Trini being a single mom, but Richie’s dead too, and I don’t know who else it would have been. ‭I still have to get caught up on Dino Fury (among other things), and I’m cautiously optimistic for Cosmic Fury.

Jason David Frank is Dead and I'm Pissed

 ‭First let me say that Billy Kametz, voice of Ferdinand von Aegir, was only a couple days older than me and died of stage 4 colon cancer. It was a tragedy. We lost Chadwick Boseman and even more recently Kevin Conroy to cancer too. Thuy Trang died back in 2001 in a car accident because she wasn't wearing a seat belt. Irresponsible, yes, but still tragic. Earlier this week, we lost Jason David Frank to suicide, and I'm angry. He was not the first celebrity to do so, and he won't be the last. Like everyone else, I couldn't believe it at first, but then it was confirmed from multiple sources within twenty-four hours. But I didn't burst out bawling like when I was 14. I was livid. “What are you doing, you stupid asshole?!" was the first thought that came to mind. “Was nothing in your life good enough for you anymore? Was there nothing here worth sticking around for?"

‭The truth is, like many others, he was fighting a mental battle that no one else could fight for him. He'd already lost his mom and brother, and he just wasn't feeling the next Power Rangers anniversary that many of his co-stars are participating in, some for the first time since splitting from the show back in the 90s due to various reasons (pay, discrimination, etc.). Fame can be hollow, but he was perhaps the most famous of all the Rangers, and he seemed to like what he did. He wasn’t a perfect man, and he didn’t get along with everyone. I certainly thought he was overrated at one time or another. He leaves behind a wife and child in real life (though as of editing this I’ve learned there was a divorce pending and he hanged himself in a hotel after an argument), and Kat and J.J. in the Ranger-verse. They already had to deal with the fact that Trini can’t be in the anniversary and cast someone to play her daughter. Now they have this to deal with as well. Which is not more important than a man’s life, but killing yourself right before Thanksgiving and after passing on a big work event is kind of a dick move.
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What all of my anger really stems from is this: I used Power Rangers as an escape from these issues, and having them flung back in my face feels like a betrayal. When I was 8 years old, my mom attempted suicide and then spent some time in rehab. The Power Rangers were my role models. Their strength of character made me want to do better, to be better, than my mom. I couldn’t trust the adults in my life to be okay, but I shouldn’t really count on these people who are just actors to be okay either. JDF left behind his wife and child to be with his mom and brother, just like my mom was going to leave me and my little brother and our dad to be with her father, and that shit hurts.
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So...yeah. My Kingdom Hearts OC Sayuri is me if my mom had succeeded. Also, here's your Thanksgiving reminder to cut ties with your toxic family members if at all possible. As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't want my daughter to have to deal with or even know about all the crap my mom and her siblings have put me and each other through. They can go to their graves hating each other, and one of them already has. I'm done with them and I'm done with my hometown.
 

‭Farewell, “Tommy." I hope things are better for you on the other side.

Let's Talk About Encanto

 Like Steven Universe, this movie convinces me that my family needs therapy. My grandfather also died tragically early, but instead of my grandmother forcing everyone to be perfect, it was my mom’s older sisters. There are more of them, and instead of magical powers contributing to the community, it’s about being successful and not a burden to the family. But that shouldn’t be the grandkids’ problem. Or great-grandkids'. I'm certainly not going to expose my daughter to it, though I would like to watch this movie with her someday.

Pepa seems like a bridezilla, and her distaste for her brother has rubbed off on her son Camilo (who reminds me of Wybie from Coraline for some reason). Felix loves his wife as much as Sigurd from Fire Emblem does. Like most people, I identify with Mirabel and also like Luisa a lot. I also like Dolores, and Isabela reminds me a little of Rapunzel. And of course the songs are good (and reminiscent of Moana) because Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote them. “I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service.” Girl, same. I did pick up on the references to Wreck-It Ralph and Maui in “Surface Pressure,” unless those were just coincidences and not reused animations. They could’ve used Herc’s character model from Kingdom Hearts (or made a new CG model themselves), but they went with an original design that has nothing to do with that IP.
 

I know the Miracle was trying to prove a point by not giving Mirabel a gift (or at least that's the going theory) as well as Luisa's gift fading as she's overworked, but that's kind of messed up. Isabela was beauty, Luisa was brawn, and Mirabel was set up to be brains. It's kind of like what the third fairy's gift would've been if she hadn't had to change Maleficent's curse. Of course, Mirabel is perfect the way she is. They all are. Luisa needs a vacation and a hug. And a pet unicorn. There's no one I really dislike, but I do like Julieta and Augustin as a couple and would like to see more of them together if they do a series like Tangled. With him being accident-prone and her being a healer, I'd be interested in seeing their meet-cute in a flashback.

One Last Time

I probably won’t make another top 10 list for Random Encounters, but Bendy and the Wolf was awesome.

When Catherine O'Hara wasn't in Oogie's Revenge, she was replaced by Kath Soucie. When she wasn't in the 2021 Halloween concert, she was replaced by Billie Eilish and Weird Al. That was a choice. It looked like they were all having fun. I especially like that Greg was wearing a fez. Seeing Ken Page on stage singing Oogie's Song reminded me of when he played the Walrus in Adventures in Wonderland. Greg even got to be Santa.

The cantina taco is hands-down the best taco I've ever had. I got the black bean version, and it was amazing! Once the Doritos Loco Taco came out, I wasn't going to eat any other hard shell taco ever again (I prefer soft tacos anyway), but this was the exception. 

Ignatz and Manuela got into Fire Emblem Heroes on the holiday banner! Yay! Seriously, though, Santa Athos when?

 I'm having a baby in May, so I'm probably not going to be doing a whole lot from now on.

Variation

I didn’t know that the Organization members in 358/2 Days came with 22 weapon variants and two joke weapons, one of which “reveals their true nature.” Vexen’s snowman shield and Saix’s rabbit claymore are cute, but the descriptions are negative (Vexen being cold-hearted and Saix being ambitious). I think it means the two of them have a soft side, as we saw in KH3. Xigbar’s trumpet is still a mystery. It says he likes to toot his own horn, but is the Master of Masters’s herald or something? Marluxia’s looks like the flowers he’s holding in the Union X art, which represents his sister. Strelitzia’s name doesn’t appear on any of his weapons, but that had to have been in the works pretty early on. It’s fun to think everyone has a weapons locker somewhere that they pull from, and Zexion has a bookshelf. The wiki guide made writing any fight scenes I write for him a lot easier. The weapons that Dilan and Aeleus have in Birth By Sleep don’t resemble any of the ones in Days, though. Braig’s weapons match the basic ones (that don’t use a gear). The fan art I’ve seen of Even’s shield doesn’t match any of Vexen’s arsenal either but does fit the aesthetic of Dilan and Aeleus’s. I found some good fan art recently, including a few fan comics. One of them is Aeleus asking if Ienzo is okay, and he says he’s fine because there are more important things to worry about as they greet Riku and Mickey. Another one is Even returning and Ienzo asking him for an explanation for his whereabouts. Even remembers when little Ienzo asked about Master Ansem’s disappearance. Ienzo says they were all supposed to stick together and makes him promise not to leave again. In another, Even tells Ansem that he’d hoped Ienzo would take after him, but instead he’s like Even. He thinks he’s cursed and projected all his problems onto the kid. Someone also drew a picture of Zexion working on his laptop with a sandwich hanging out of his mouth as a nod to his joke weapons.

The other night, I had a dream that Matt was wearing a unicorn hoodie and was telling his union of Keyblade wielders that he’d take them out for lunch if they beat Travis’s union. Travis, of course, was wearing a Trinket hoodie.

The Moxxie/Millie video is live. I have to comb through my content and make some playlists, the first being Christmas obviously.

I got it wrong. I forget who J. Michael Tatum has voiced in regards to Laura Bailey. I’m getting old.