What Comes Next

The season 8 season finale of MLP was a little different than I thought it would be. Instead of Cozy working with the chancellor, she was working with Tirek. She trapped the mane 6 and Spike in Tartarus with him. However, just like in Over a Barrel, Pinkie annoys Tirek into submission. Twilight pretty much says, "We're not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with us!" The teaser had contained a clip of the student five saying that Sandbar had betrayed them, which would've fit in What Lies Beneath, but it was clear in the episode that he hadn't done any such thing. However, this is the first appearance of the CMC since Cozy got them in trouble, so I'm disappointed that they were underutilized and locked in a closet by Cozy. I thought Cozy might have also poisoned Starlight with mustard and tried to poison the mane 6 with cupcakes, but that wasn't the case. In the end, Cozy was locked up in Tartarus with Tirek. Celestia didn't even have the guts to send a child to Hell herself and had Luna do it. At least she didn't get banished to Equestria Girls. Sunset would've had a thing or two to say about that. After this two-parter, I'm ready for the final season next year.

Emerald did feature prominently in the RWBY volume 6 trailer, as Salem tells her that she is basically Cinder's replacement and that she should know her place. I feel so bad for her, especially when Tyrian gets in her face. We didn't even get to see his new tail (assuming he has it by now). Not sure where Mercury, Hazel, and the rest are. Since Team JNR and Oscar aren't in the clip where Ruby says "Don't let anyone else die," I'm hoping she's still referring to the people who have already died. It's another fight on a train. Hopefully this one won't have bombs on it. There also seems to be a new character silhouetted on the poster who can fly and people are bowing down to him/her. Going off flight, maybe a Peter Pan archetype? Do they have one of those already?

Maple Cheerios is the new Honey Nut Cheerios. I say that because Honey Nut tastes like regular Cheerios (bland) to me while Maple has just enough flavor to make it past that. I still think it could use brown sugar or something to really stand out. Pumpkin Spice is still up there too. Maybe they should make one called Coffee-Os. I already did it by pouring iced coffee into a bowl of plain Cheerios, but it's not quite the same thing. I poured maple syrup into milk before, but that didn't do anything other than sweeten it; the Maple Cheerios has an undeniable flavor to it.

Don't Trip at the Finish Line

After some light retooling, I could technically post my original Kingdom Hearts 3 video before it actually comes out, plus my Raven/Ienzo video. I will make another video after the game's release which will have a different tone (fingers crossed that no one dies though). I'm super happy that the Birth By Sleep light novel is coming out around my birthday (assuming it doesn't get delayed like the last one). It might not live up to the expectations I have for it, but it's something. I'm sure there will be more for us to learn from Kingdom Hearts 3, but I will at least find out from it why I should care about Vanitas. While Kingdom Hearts 3 can't possibly cover everything, I'll bet he gets his due there too if the novels are supposed to be canon and just contain extra material. It seems like everyone might get the attention they deserve in this huge game, and I'm looking forward to it.

The Persona 5 anime only made it to 26 episodes and as far as Akechi shooting the protagonist. The rest of it will be presented in a special rather than order more episodes. It doesn't have an air date yet. It's not that unusual, but the extra material in Persona 4 Golden was the bad ending (not the one from Persona 4 the animation where it goes through the other bad ends first, the one where Yu sides with Adachi). We still have two dungeons with some major plot points to cover. They could probably have made a second season out of it if they wanted to take their time (not that there weren't filler episodes already, because there were); Tales of Zestiria did (it wasn't good, but it still got two seasons).

I watched the Crossover Nexus special, and I wasn't impressed. Impressed with the number of easter eggs and references, yes, but they seemed pretty much hollow. It was only eleven minutes and seemed too quick with not a lot of time to properly build to anything other than brief flashes of characters we know. Maybe I'm just being cynical, but it just didn't seem as meaningful to me as it did to everyone else. Garnet was easily the best part. Teen Titans Go! Raven was all right, but I'm not sure if the reference to original Teen Titans at the end was supposed to be "Oops, I'm not THAT Raven" or "Pssht, that show was a mistake." Given Teen Titans Go!'s affinity for tearing its older audience a new one over their criticisms, it came across as more of a "fuck you" to me than was probably intended. At least the new PPG didn't feature. The other two episodes of TTG that aired were all right but not great. I can see why they called the block "Raven Domination."

Plans and Perplexity

I like the theory that there are more than thirteen people who have been Norted because it's part of an infiltration plan - probably what Norted Even was talking about if it also involves Demyx, who seems like a go-between as the least evil person in the Organization. As for whose plan it was, since Even says "It was all his idea," maybe this was what Braig was talking about when he told Young Xehanort that he had his own plans. Or maybe Ansem or one of the other apprentices thought of it? Nevertheless, I'm worried about Even whether he's undercover or truly Norted. We didn't see him or Dilan in any state other than out cold in Dream Drop Distance, so I have no idea how bad off the two of them were. Is he really up to the task? Otherwise, Xehanort needing backups also makes sense. We see apprentice Xehanort briefly, so I'm not sure if he's an individual member of the Organization or if he came back into existence because Sora defeats Xemnas and the Seeker of Darkness again. Time travel is weird.

I started working on this year's holiday video. I'm going to have to wait and see if there are any holiday-themed Critical Role fan art pieces for the second campaign. So far the only snowy ones are of Molly's grave, and that's not what I'm going for. I also freshened up the Kingdom Hearts video I've been working on for some time, but there will probably be more and better scenes in the game that we have yet to see in the trailers. I did find a piece of fan art recently for the scene in the trailer where Ansem puts his hand on Ienzo's shoulder, except in the fan art he asks Ienzo why he deceived him, which just about breaks my heart. I'm still hoping for a hug.

I found a video with all the voice actors who have been Frieza, including Derek Stephen Prince, and I was not impressed with his performance. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't Frieza. He sounded exactly the same as you'd expect him to sound, which is a mixture of the Digimon Emperor and Vexen depending on the tone. I'm disappointed that he didn't go for something closer to how Frieza has sounded for years. However, I was happy to see him in the Power Morphicon videos he was in for villains, voice actors, and Turbo. I'm a bit surprised that he wasn't on the In Space panel too; they could've asked him about Scrudley, too. Goldar's voice actor told his getting pulled over story again, and he kept repeating his favorite line from Power Rangers the Movie ("You think she's cute too, huh?"). He also takes issue with the portrayal of Goldar in the newer movie, which I can appreciate. Richard Steven Horvitz was probably too busy with publicity for the Invader Zim movie (Power Morphicon and Comic Con were around the same time, right?).

Extended Gifts

Well, either recording isn't over or certain people are filthy liars. How the fck did Even get Norted?! He and Dilan were supposed to be recovering! Furthermore, Xigbar says that if they destroy someone for straying from the path they've set, they'd have to find a new vessel, and he doesn't look happy about that. Norted Demyx is seen talking to Norted Even and also carrying a body wrapped in a sheet over his shoulder to Ienzo. The best part for me is Ansem coming to see Ienzo, who is either sad or bowing out of respect (maybe both if Even got Norted under his nose, and Aeleus wasn't seen so he might be dealing with a Norted Dilan too; wait, did Demyx bring him, and is he Norted as well? This better not be a trap! Don't do this to me, Nomura!). Also Vanitas is seen sitting on the back of Ven's chair, and later either Roxas or Ven in a black coat, so maybe Vanitas merged with him somehow. And Data Riku was confirmed. Not sure about building a new body for anyone else out of data. It looks like what Ienzo gave Sora was a communication device he calls them with, which the three aren't happy with because they expected it to be Riku calling them for some reason. It looks like Sora takes pictures with it too. Isa goes to see Lea on the clocktower, so I'm looking forward to the context behind that. Can't wait for the English dub.

One of the greatest aspects of shipping Zexion/Ienzo with Raven is the what-if scenario of them randomly meeting before Zexion gets shipped off to Castle Oblivion. With Raven being an empath, it REALLY throws a wrench into the "Nobodies don't have hearts and therefore no emotions" lie that he was taught to believe. Of course, if he ever confronted Xemnas with this (which he probably wouldn't because he knows that'd be suicide), Xemnas would say that Raven was the one lying or projecting her own emotions onto him. Since Zexion only trusts Lexaeus, he does have the capacity to doubt Xemnas. Add to that the conversation between Zexion and Xigbar on the stairs. In this scenario, I would imagine that Xigbar would have been spying on Zexion and Raven while they're together in the World That Never Was, but he would keep it a secret from Xemnas because it amuses him. Otherwise, the whole pairing is a writing challenge since both of them are emotionally stunted for different reasons. I can't hit all the typical story beats or dialogue an ordinary couple would have, and their interactions are more awkward and filled with a lot of exposition as they try to understand each other.

Reviews and Revelations

When my husband and I go on vacation, we get to watch Food Network in the hotel room. This time, all that was on that day was Guy Fieri's new show, but we used to watch Beat Bobby Flay. So then we streamed Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost after we got back, but we weren't that impressed by it. We felt there were some missed opportunities and bad writing overall. Instead of having original character Chef Sue (the sous chef), we felt Chef Anne would've been better (she's awesome, we love her). Maybe I'm just used to the old Scooby-Doo movies, but I felt there should've been an actual Red Ghost in addition to the scam (which wasn't super obvious but really convoluted). Giada apparently wanted to be genre-savvy and a ninja because that was her character. It also could've benefited by having more cameos besides Marcus, like Padma and Aarti.

I finished watching some of the panels from this year's Power Morphicon. Aisha, Tanya, and Katie decided they came from Wakanda. Some of the actors' kids aren't as excited that they're Power Rangers and are more engrossed in Fortnite. In fact, what happened to Tommy's kid in that episode? Did he even notice Tommy was gone? Is Kat his mom? Is he going to grow up to have two sons, the older of which also becomes a Power Ranger? Selwyn Ward is unquestionably our Obama (and said he was considering running?), and Johnny has been identified as our Harrison Ford because he keeps asking to be killed off. Some of the actors are making an original movie and prequel comic series called The Order. It's cool seeing them have fun together. If Johnny still wants to get killed off in it, that's fine.

The Big Hero 6 Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer dropped, but there was no Demyx, Norted or otherwise. Instead, we got a glimpse of what looked like a Norted Xion. If so, either Xehanort went back in time and snatched her (shoring up the numbers while dealing an added blow to the heroes), or Ienzo created a body for her out of data too but then she got Norted; if this is even Xion at all - could be Replica Riku maybe? NOTE: I didn't notice the bug blocks (didn't think anything of them not actually having seen Big Hero 6), so that points to Data Riku being the cloaked figure. But how? It's not likely that Ienzo's responsible for this one (he might be reluctant to agree to anything having to do with a Riku), but who else would know about Data Riku and pull him from the datascape? This seems to line up with my suspicion that things aren't going to go according to plan with this assignment, especially if it is indeed Data Riku attacking the Big Hero 6 team with bug blocks. NOTE: Jesse McCartney reportedly hasn't been called to voice either Ven or Roxas, so that's problematic to everyone's theories and the overall story if Ven never wakes up and Roxas doesn't come back. (If it's that late in the game, maybe there's hope for Derek Stephen Prince to be called in too?) Who knows what we'll see in the extended trailer next week? Plus we got to see Aqua's full makeover from the darkness with an outfit that puts Riku's hula skirt to shame. Even if she isn't actually a Xehanort vessel, she's clearly lashing out at anyone who has wronged her, hero and villain alike. Nothing is going to go smoothly in terms of recovery and/or reclamation. We also got snippets of other cutscenes from Monsters Inc and Tangled, including Randall and Flynn, respectively.

The people who were originally hating on the Persona 5 anime were wrong, as there will more than 24 episodes. Episode 23 aired last week, and if the style of upcoming episodes is to be believed, there will be at least 27. That's good because episode 24 will be starting Sae's palace. While I like the first theme better than the second, everything on this soundtrack is still fire.

Something to Think About

My Steven Universe playlist for Ienzo/Raven is as follows: Love Like You, Something Entirely New, That Distant Shore, Do It For Her/Him, Here Comes a Thought, For Just One Day Let's Only Think About Love, and Stronger Than You. Thinking about it, there might be a good reason Garnet didn't foresee the Diamond attack at the wedding. Ruby did ask Sapphire not to use her future vision to see her in her dress. Had she, she might have seen the Diamonds coming to Earth. At the wedding itself, Sapphire can only think about Ruby anyway.

I watched the legendary crossover episode of Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, and I found it underwhelming. I get that it was an homage to the Shattered Grid comics, which are Tommy-centric, but the episode focused a little too much on Tommy and not enough on the other captured Rangers. What were they doing when they got kidnapped? I would have liked to have seen that. Maybe if it was a two-part episode, but the previous episode was probably supposed to be part one since it featured Wes, Gemma, and Koda as robed figures. I'm also disappointed that Koda and Preston didn't get a moment. I mean no offense by this to anyone, but Gia looked like a baby next to the other Rangers. Why was Tommy the only one who cycled through his morphs, anyway? Gia, Kat, Rocky, and TJ could've done it too. They basically just woke up, said a line or two each, and then it was pretty much over. On a sadder note, a lot more people from the extended cast have died than I thought. I knew about a few of them: Trini, Ernie, one of Zordon's voices. A few of them didn't surprise me, like Phenomenus, Mr. Collins, and Bandora. Others I didn't know or expect but made me sad anyway: Richie, Tommy's brother, Udonna, Pappenbrook, others.

The princesses will have more screen time than that one scene in Wreck-It Ralph 2, after all. The pajama scene in the newest trailer threw me off, especially since I didn't recognize Tiana (girl doesn't sleep!). I think they're ripping off Dreamworks with the joke that no one can understand Merida because "she's from the other studio." That one character from How to Train Your Dragon did the same thing. I watched the two-part video MatPat did on the qualifications for being a Disney Princess, and it was kind of disturbing. Basically, it's whose movies grossed the most (no surprise there) and whose clothing is more marketable and non-controversial (that goes for the voice actors too). Also the thing Maui said about having an animal sidekick (I'm surprised he didn't also show the clip of him saying "If you sing, I'll throw up"). Speaking of, The Rock is the highest paid actor in the world right now, according to ERod's Baywatch review (the movie sucks, the review is awesome).

Finales and Fulfillment

Well, I was sort of right about the Camp Camp season finale (which was only slightly longer than the summer social episode if you don't count the credits). Cameron did try to screw everyone over, but he didn't have the heart to go through with it. He'd still rather be in jail than take orders from David and Gwen, though. "Welcome to camp, asshole," indeed. Max rounding up all the campers reminded me of the Recess movie where TJ does the same (except for the burning).

The DuckTales season finale was a mixed bag for me. I didn't like that Gearloose made Donald swallow a device that made him speak clearly, but it was nice to hear what Tony Anselmo really sounds like. I'm still confused about Lena. Magica kept saying she could have her "dark heart's desire" if she helped her, but Lena ended up just being her shadow and not a real person, and now she's Webby's shadow. Did they change her story at the last minute? She seemed to know that she was a shadow, so was her heart's desire to become real? What's dark about that (unless Magica was only talking about herself and had no intention of giving Lena anything)? I was disappointed that she got away, even without her magic. She did the unconvincing smoke bomb escape like Trixie in Rainbow Rocks. Speaking of MLP, the song in the new episode was an obvious parody of Road to Rhode Island.

The FNAF 6 Random Encounters video came out. It was a little different than what I was expecting, but it was still cool.

One good thing about the newest Power Rangers crossover is that the brothers playing this season and last season's Blue Rangers will be onscreen together. Tommy is a fucking showoff.

I found out that there are still Yoohoo candy bars for sale on Amazon. Reviews are mixed, so there's a 50/50 shot I'd get something good or I'd get something stale and terrible. I'm still going to wait until winter and see what I want to do and what's in stock. I also didn't know that strawberry Yoohoo existed until now.