Hey so I went to google the “mom holy fuck” meme and how come no one acknowledges how iconic the actual comic is
please can we do inbox trick-or-treating this year. can we make that a thing on tumblr. please please please please please
A MAN CANNOT BE "EEPY."
HE CAN BE FATIGUED.
HE CAN BE SLUMBEROUS.
HE CAN BE BATTLEWORN FROM THE DAY'S ORDEALS.
BUT NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER, MUST YOU EVER UTTER THAT WORD.
AND THE BED AND PILLOW WHICH YOU REST YOUR BODY ON?
MUST NEVER BE SO LARGE AS TO MAKE YOUR OWN FORM SEEM DIMINUTIVE IN COMPARISON. IT MUST BE ONLY LARGE ENOUGH TO FIT YOUR OWN BODY, LIKE A COFFIN.
AND YOU ARE ALLOWED BUT 1 PLUSH UPON IT.
AND IT HAS TO BE OF YOUR GREATEST ENEMY.
we justifiably give Biden a lot of shit but I think "at least 3" is the funniest possible response to some right wing dipshit asking you how many genders there are
Scott Pilgrim is, I think, the best example I can think of for establishing a setting's Nonsense Limit. The setting's Nonsense Limit isn't quite "How high-fantasy is this". It's mostly a question of presentation, to what degree does the audience feel that they know the rules the world operates by, such that they are primed to accept a random new element being introduced. A setting with a Nonsense Limit of 0 is, like, an everyday story. Something larger than life, but theoretically taking place in our world, like your standard spy thriller action movie has a limit of 1. Some sort of hidden world urban fantasy with wizards and stuff operating in secret has a nonsense limit around 3 or 4. A Superhero setting, presenting an alternate version of our world, is a 5 or 6. High fantasy comes in around a 7 or so, "Oh yeah, Wizards exist and they can do crazy stuff" is pretty commonly accepted. Scott Pilgrim comes in at a 10. If you read the Scott Pilgrim book, it starts off looking like a purely mundane slice of life. The first hint at the fantastical is Ramona appearing repeatedly in Scott's Dreams, and then later showing up in real life. When we finally get an explanation, it's this:
Apparently Subspace Highways are a thing? And they go through people's heads? And Ramona treats this like it's obscure, but not secret knowledge. Ramona doesn't think she's doing anything weird here. At this point, it's not clear if Scott is accepting Ramona's explanation or not, things kind of move on as mundane as ever until their Date, when Ramona takes Scott through subspace, and he doesn't act like his world was just blown open or anything, although I guess that could have been a metaphor. there's a couple other moments, but everything with Ramona could be a metaphor, or Scott not recognizing what's going on. Maybe Ramona is uniquely fantastical in this otherwise normal world. And then, this happens
Suddenly, a fantastical element (A shitty local indie band finishing their set with a song that knocks out most of the audience) is introduced unrelated to Ramona, and undeniably literal. We see the crowd knocked out by Crash and The Boys. but the story doesn't linger on the implications of that, the whole point of that sequence is to raise the Nonsense Level, such that you accept it when This happens
Matthew Patel comes flying down onto the stage, Scott, who until this point is presented as a terrible person and a loser, but otherwise is extremely ordinary, proceeds to flawlessly block and counter him before doing a 64-hit air juggle combo. Scott's friends treat this like Scott is showing off a mildly interesting party trick, like being really good at darts. The establish that Scott is the "Best Fighter in the Province", not only are street-fighter battles a thing, Scott is Very Good at it, but they're so unimportant that being the best fighter in the province doesn't make Scott NOT a loser. So when Matthew Patel shows off his magic powers and then explodes into a pile of coins, we've established "Oh, this is how silly the setting gets". It's not about establishing the RULES of the setting so much as it is about establishing a lack of rules. Scott's skill at street-fighter battles doesn't translate to any sort of social prestige. Ramona can access Subspace Highways and she uses it to do a basic delivery job. It doesn't make sense and it's clear that it's not supposed to. So later on, when Todd Ingram starts throwing around telekinesis, and the explanation we're given is "He's a Vegan" , you're already so primed by the mixture of weirdness and mundanity that rather than trying to incorporate this new knowledge into any sort of coherent setting ruleset, you just go "Ah, yeah, Vegans".
i'm just curious bc i'm watching How to Train Your Dragon and i always forget how happy and calm it makes me feel. i mean, i did name my cat after Toothless the dragon. but i also love Lion King, that's my Disney comfort movie. and my Ghibli comfort movie is Spirited Away. watching any of these when i'm in a foul mood or my anxiety is high always helps 🥰 but i watch them just for fun too, not only when i'm in a mood. what about you?
ok but if bruce wayne somehow came upon zuko fresh out of banishment he would lose his mind.
black hair? check. bad parent(s)? check. trauma? double check.
bruce: how’d you get your scar?
zuko: my dad got mad at me for saying that killing people is wrong so he lit my face on fire and banished me.
bruce, vibrating with excitement, already pulling adoption papers from his utilility: that’s terrible. how do you feel about capes.
big fan of when youtubers break out the corkboard and string. thats when you know youre in for an insanely pointless breakdown of a media you're only tangentially familiar with.
Well damn, if I had known all that, I would’ve watched the show sooner
Victim: please mr. Leverage. They bought my orphanage and they’re going to sell all the orphans I need you to stop them
Nate “Leverage” Leverage: I think we can get you some… leverage
Sophie: I’m going to start a bullshit argument now
Nate: please dont
Sophie: it’s going to last the whole episode
Nate: 🙄women amiright (laughtrack)
Hardison: alright this is our mark Mr. Monopoly. He owns 16 weapons companies and took in 100000 billion million dollars last year. He just got into the orphan business and on the weekends he plays puppy golf.
Parker: whats puppy golf
Hardison: it’s like golf but you use puppies
Elliot: I’ve seen it. (snifffs deeply) not fun
Hardison: this guys ruthless. we’re going to be exploiting his one weakness. He really likes having a lot of money
Sophie: how?
Nate: we go steal an abstract concept
*they steal an abstract concept*
The mark: hello. I was impressed by your ownership of an abstract concept
Sophie: we’ll give you 50 trillion dollars for the orphanage
Mark: Zamn!!!
Sophie: 😏 we got him
*1 day later*
Sophie: here’s the 50 trillion dollars (holds up briefcase full of crimes)
The mark: I don’t want your money any more. I have a new plan. I’m goijng to dress all the orphans in hot dog costumes and start a theme park
Sophie: 😦
Elliot: we’re blown
Nate: Sophie throw the briefcase 💼 in the lake
Mark: whoa!! Thats wet money
Sophie: I can give you 5000 more orphans. Meet me at this unmarked warehouse in 6 hours
Mark: awooga
Hardison: Nate do you have a plan?
Nate: not yet
*Fade to black*
Nate: alright the marks on his way. Hardison what’s your 20
Hardison: I need at least 30 minutes to finish this Lego Taj Mahal
Nate: ok I’ll stall
Nate (playing bit character): I cooka da pizza!! Ohhhh (drops full pan of sauce on the marks head instantly killing him) mamma Mia (walks into the sea)
Parker: guys we have a problem
*6 Bad Men materialize out of thin air*
Elliot: 😒I got this 👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊🤛🤜🤛🤜✊🩼✊🦶🦵✊🤛🚪🦶✊🦵🤌✊🦶👊🦵✊✊👊🎷👊👊👊
*the Bad Men disintegrate*
Elliot: shit hes here (dives into a trash can)
*the mark reaches the building. There are orphans waving at him from the windows*
Mark: ok I’m here to take the orphans
The police: SIR YOURE COMING WITH US
Mark: what?? This is a completely legal orphan deal
Police: theres no orphans here
*police man grabs an orphan. Hes flat. Flashback to Hardison setting up 5000 cardboard orphan cutouts*
Mark: but what are you arresting me for??
Police man: sir you filled all of city hall with gravy
*flashback to Nate filling city hall with gravy while wearing a T-shirt that says “Im bad businessman”*
Mark: noooooooo
Police: (arrests him)
Nate: heh. You could say he got. Leveraged
Parker: i have autism
Everyone: oh my god Parker shut up
ok so hear me out
On the podcast today, you mentioned getting lab-grown gems somewhere. I thought you said “Gems Gems Gems”, but I tried to look it up and didn’t find anything. Where did you get them?!? I want the shiny rocks!
for your inner goblin