Hello! Once and still!

@@hushicho I was watching a retrospective of Megaman X and was reminding of the Captain N Network Sprite comic I grew up reading. For years I would always say “bai” instead of “bye” because of you. I was especially reminded of your tender heart touching rendition of Nada Sou Sou you recorded for Webster after his sudden and tragic passing. Your recording stayed with me, and took on deeper personal connection when my best friend and love of my life passed away in February of 2016. I am grateful for your art, your honesty, and most of all your perseverance to live pursuing your art and quality of life. I’m grateful I was able to find you and thank you for responding to me. I hope you are as well as can be.

@@CopingContinuous I'm so glad you have such happy memories of Captain N and N-Fans and Webby. I'm so sorry you've also experienced that loss. It feels like it never really has healed. I suppose we never really get over that kind of loss. Thank you so much for taking the time to send me your message. It's been a hard year, but there's hope that it will improve. Your kind words have given me strength, and I'm very appreciative of it! I maintain a site at hushicho.carrd.co and have a server on Discord if you should ever want to keep track of my work or say hello again! Please take care. I genuinely wish for your happiness and peace of mind.

Almost always! This was fun to build, too. I love a good motif!

I'm so glad. It feels like forever ago when I did these videos, as a sort of coping mechanism with the arrival of covid. I'm so, so happy you enjoyed this movie. It is one of my all-time favs.

I'm glad you think so! It was a fun adventure, and that's all it really needed to be. It excelled at that, and it had really made a successful formula out of it by that point. The movie catches far too much criticism it really doesn't deserve, and it often misses how many things it got so correct!

I think that's really what made me so fond of the Another Gay movies -- they normalize being gay, and they also don't judge about what you might enjoy while you're accepting that. It's a fun little escape that has its heart in the right place more often than not, and its charming characters and gorgeous photography really go a long way to making it enjoyable. We will just have to stick to our positions and keep pushing back, if there's anything but an ignorant but vocal minority that's conservative anymore. A good many are learning that actions have consequences. Imagine that!

Thank you so much for saying so! I was really happy to work on this series of videos, I always love to help others express themselves. And I just adore corgis! I'm a lot saltier and at times more cynical when I'm composing videos that are critiques or especially analytical to society. I like the opportunity to have fun and help people at the same time! :) I'm very glad you noticed.

I really don't know what they were trying to do, and it's weird to say that I watched the whole series and don't know if anything really meant anything, or if it was just an exercise in dadaist meaninglessness. The show would give you whiplash by going from one side to the opposite, sometimes within seconds. The whole thing was presented much like a music video: great music and compelling visuals, but little depth or breadth, and nothing but the instant you're in matters. There's no effort to resolve any part of any story. It probably would work better as a short film or even, perhaps, a music video, actually! But it really didn't work as a series, at least to me.

Goodness me, I didn't really mean to roast the show so much, but you're right -- it is a complete dumpster fire. In large part because it clearly wasn't a comedy, or failed at comedy conspicuously after the first episode or two. Araki tends to do this, though, and he's a lot like all the rest of the crop of music video directors in that he gets the sound right, and the visuals are usually pretty on point, but it doesn't make for coherent movie making, and it doesn't make anything you can watch for hours on end. Even if you were to edit the series down to just Uly's relevant main plot points, there's no way you'd have enough to even fill an hour. When you can't even be bothered to hang out with the main character enough in relation to the main plot to generate even an hour's worth of content in ten half-hour episodes, I think there's something wrong.

Well, you've got someone who agrees with you here, at least! I really liked the idea of Apocalypse, and I was very excited especially about the cast they got for it, but they really didn't use any of that cast especially well. The one that stands out as an "almost, but not quite" is Emma Roberts, who's a fantastic actress, but Madison really just gets to be abused by Cordelia and acts, more often than not, extremely out of character. She was so compelling in Coven and was easily one of the most interesting and sympathetic parts of it, but in Apocalypse, it's like it's not even the same person. But that's really a leitmotif for all of Apocalypse: the characters aren't really the same people from Coven, they're closer to fanfic distillations of characters who are similar but creatively distinct.

This is so true. The promos are always on point, and they are often far more vivid and evocative and interesting than the actual series. It's really a shame, because the promos often have little to nothing to do with the actual plot, they're just there to get you hype, and they work really well. Aesthetically, artistically speaking, the promos always excel.

I'm always glad to hear from you, and I hope everyone will enjoy a new video! I'm just sorry it's taken so long to get some things done lately, but summer is always a little oddly busy for me. I have a great love for horror films, so I'm glad you like to hear me talk about them! As much as I'm often disappointed by horror, I still tend to enjoy it more, on the whole, than other genres. I completely agree with the balance of fantasy; it's very difficult to balance the overtly fantastical with the tension and suspense of something having the plausibility of verisimilitude. I feel like Cigarette Burns didn't quite manage it, and as a result, it's less a horrifying film and more a darkly humorous, but mostly depressing and sad one! Which is, also unfortunately, a too common tendency with attempts at horror. But horror doesn't have to be depressing or necessarily sad. AHS made their worst decision as a production, when they decided to make it a concerted, single universe. They dropped references and even had a common character in common between a couple of the seasons, but they went to commit in Hotel, I suppose thinking that it would excite people and make them forget about Jessica Lange not being in the show anymore. I actually like the idea of American Horror Stories, the one-or-two-episodes-contained series, since I feel that the writers usually start strong, then lose steam and any sense of satisfying storytelling or coherency by the end of a season. But it absolutely doesn't work as a shared universe, for not only Rabbit Rabbit, but plenty of other things. I love what you've said about re-reading things, and I'm going to have to think on that even more! I'm always grateful for being prompted to contemplation, thank you so much again for commenting! Hopefully you'll enjoy Demons. It's at times a gross film, and often unsettling and tense, but I think it accomplishes well what it sets out to do. If you like horror and don't mind a little gross-out here and there, I think you'll enjoy it. It's overall a well done film that I think knows what it is and what it wants to be, which is really all I could ask of most movies.

I love all these comments coming in this week, and I'm sorry that YT ended up holding some of them -- I want to like Cordelia, because I do love Sarah Paulson, but this season gave nothing to like about the character unfortunately. Thank you so much for commenting, and thank you even more for the kind words!

A friend loves the show, which I think was written in part by Ryan Murphy but was a collaborative effort from what I understand. I really enjoyed Scream Queens, but of course since it was done well, it was dropped like a hot potato. Augh!

Yeah, except there is. Sexism is discrimination against a person for their biological sex. Thus, sexism against men does exist. Not only that, but as I've personally experienced quite a lot of it, I can tell you firsthand: it exists, and it sucks. So please, before you decide to speak out of ignorance again, educate yourself. I'll allow one ignorant comment I'll address. Any more, and that's the end of a person leaving comments on any of my videos.

It is truly telling that sequential art, in any form, seems to be the favorite target for these same malicious imbeciles, whenever they want a scapegoat. You're right about the sheer age of the medium. It could be stated that sequential art was the original storytelling medium for humanity. And probably ever since the first picture story was written, along came a band of assholes wanting to stamp it out, without considering how valuable it is to the entire species.

I'm so glad you like the little corgi! He really has turned out as such a nice project, and I hope many people will watch and enjoy creating art!

You're so welcome! I'm absolutely delighted that you got so much out of these videos. It makes them worth every second put into their creation! I'm so glad to share that tip, too. It's a really useful little thing that I've found very useful. I believe I got it from a tutorial from a Japanese artist who also used Clip Studio Paint, but as you said, you could use it in nearly any graphics program!

I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying it so much! Thanks always for commenting on my videos!

I'm so glad you think so, and I'm delighted you enjoyed my video! I hope they'll help even more budding artists, and newcomers to Clip Studio!

I'm so glad you enjoy my art videos! I mostly try to think of the things I've learned that I don't see most people talk about or think about, so I'm glad these little things are helpful! I think they're really handy to know when you're developing your style and approach.

That does make some sense. I don't believe that Kripke really had anything close to a plan as he repeatedly claimed -- it's plain to see that in season five, he really had no focus and was glad-handing all over the place -- but I would certainly buy that WB wanted to steal the show. It wasn't even Supernatural really, by the end. The closest thing it got to being Supernatural was in the Scooby-Doo crossover! Though it does make it somewhat suspect that WB or anyone else were trying to do anything with it. After a finale as crappy as the one they gave us, it'll be a miracle if they ever do anything with the series again. They've already driven away the few fans that stayed to the last. But Kripke definitely didn't care. He didn't even care when he was the show-runner. I'm sure he has no esteem for the show or its cast, and certainly not any of the fans.

Thank you so much! And that book is a genuinely good one. :)

You are very welcome! I'm so glad you like the video, and I'll be sure to do more and explain more when I do. I feel like art, any art, should leave something for the viewer to engage in. Photorealism doesn't really encourage that; it's just presenting something that anyone could generally see by looking at the world. Stylizing art invites a viewer to complete the art themselves, which helps them to participate in the process. I like that much better! I think art is always better when it's a process completed by the person who experiences the art. Subscription-based software is just so often exploitative and abused. I can see if it's an MMO or something like that, which really needs regular, reliable input of money to keep things maintained and so forth. But that's not usually the case with art suites and the like. I'll do a video on it sometime, but I especially dislike Adobe and their practices. I'm so glad you liked the video, and I hope you'll enjoy more! Thanks always for your comments and your support.

It's linked in the blurb, click SHOW MORE above.

Entirely agreed! And, as usual, you've said it much better than I could. I'm very glad and I hope that everyone will see your insightful comments -- I agree especially with the ratings systems as they exist now. They must be redone entirely, they're so utterly useless, and that's a great shame. Tagging is something that is so helpful, and people are going to have to be less lazy. There are just some things that cannot have lazy application; it has to be even and to the same standards. I think tagging would help more things be understood, as to what content is in them. Just saying "not safe for work" is a meaningless label, and it furthers that misuse of the word "safe", making people feel threatened, or like they should feel threatened, by anything that their workplace might not find acceptable. In reality, it's the people who are endangered *by their management* when that management wants to erase every part of the content they dislike.

I am so glad to hear you enjoyed them so much! I completely agree -- the relationships are handled in a very honest way, and the characters feel really believable as people. I'm glad you didn't find the gross-out stuff to be too much of a deal-breaker. Honestly, there was plenty of stuff in the first one that was "gross" humor too, it just tended to be less overt. The visuals really are great. I always admire a production that can accomplish something so striking on a small or practically non-existent budget. Another great film that accomplishes a lot with a little is First Period from 2013, and that's one of my favorite films of all time. It's another queer-oriented film that is really amazing in every way it can be, and its soundtrack excels especially well. I'm just really so glad that you enjoyed the Another Gay films! I hope we'll see some more like them in the modern day. More than ever, I think we need some light, sexy, silly entertainment with lovable characters and enjoyable plots. I especially loved Nico in both films, and I'd love to see more characters like that: outside the mainstream, quirky, unique, charming, and unashamed of being who they are, even if it means they aren't on most people's wavelength. And totally willing to wreck anybody that messes with their gaybys. Honestly, I wish more people could see and enjoy the performances. The acting is really very consistently good, I think, especially Jonah Blechman as Nico. I felt for all the characters. It goes to show, you don't have to present something as a miserable tragedy to get people to sympathize with the characters; all you have to do is be a decent writer and get capable actors with decent direction.

I'm sure there's probably a good bit out there for the searching. I remember hearing about it, back when it happened, and just being completely unsurprised. I believe the Mad Pooper was at LucasArts, but whoever it was, they would come in and just wreck the bathroom. There were several people who were mostly certain that it was in fact George, which really wouldn't be surprising, considering what he was going through at the time.

As often happens, you have put it so beautifully that I can't add anything -- it's just so exactly that! And not to worry, I moved a thousand and something miles away from that environment, and I feel much better now. But since there are so many who are surely in the same situations I was, those years ago, I think it's more important than ever to have outlets like this movie! And you're completely right, archetypes and tropes are fine, but writers shouldn't rely too much on shorthand to do a lot of heavy lifting. It shouldn't be an excuse to be lazy or not put forth any effort. They're often a good foundation to build upon, but you do have to build! Thank you as always for commenting! Your comments are always so well-written and thoughtful, and they stimulate thought too.

I think it was very important we get the insane fascist out of power, because even just in his position -- which was illegitimately gained -- he could depend on the republicans to find no fault with him, and to support him throughout, without any redress of what he did and the countless people he tortured and killed. That said, I don't have any special faith in the democratic party, especially after the debacle that was four years ago and that clusterfuck of an election, to say nothing of the previous eight years of nothing much for progress. We must start holding our representatives -- who are supposed to REPRESENT us -- more responsible and accountable, or else nothing is going to change.

I'm so glad you agree! But then I thought you would. :)

Beautifully said, and I especially like the word "craven" applied to them. It's a word I need to work back into my daily speech, and it's an especially applicable term to this same sort of nonsense that has been going on for ages now. You're entirely right -- progress, reform, and the good of the people shouldn't be turned into some "partisan" thing. Just like how mask-wearing was politicized...which absolutely killed people. Idiots.

Thanks very much for commenting, and I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

I'm so sorry this took so long, but KZbin grabbed the comment and held it for some reason. I can't really add anything, you've said it so perfectly! Cordelia was such an "also" for Coven, like she was an afterthought that they tried to play up as some sort of underdog we were supposed to have been cheering for the whole time, in the last episode. But she didn't do anything remotely sympathetic or interesting up to that point. Basically all she did was be wallpaper at best, or a completely insufferable whiner, which was most of the time. She certainly didn't deserve to be the Supreme...and if we are to believe what they told us a Supreme has to be...she didn't even manage that! She certainly didn't successfully perform the Seven Wonders. She couldn't even get Misty back! I think Madison would have been a much more interesting Supreme, because she was absolutely the most interesting and compelling among the students. Unlike Zoe, she had a personality, and unlike Queenie, it was consistent and had essentially the same motivation throughout. Which you can't unfortunately even say for her in Apocalypse, though Emma Roberts is a very good actress. And even their integration at the end...wasn't much in the way of integrating. They still didn't accept boys there, apparently, even though we know about several male witches throughout Coven, one of which distinguished himself enough to be on the council that governs all witches! It's just kind of a shitshow, unfortunately. Thanks for commenting!

@@hushicho please talk about all the other seasons . Great video

I really love the whole presentation of this game. The music is just absolutely excellent, I agree. It's a superb game in the way it was made, and I think it's just so much fun to play! Plus it's not really that expensive, and I think it's very much worth the fun you'll get out of it. I'm not even a big Stranger Things fan, but I love the game! I think it's fine to enjoy nostalgic feelings about a time, and to appreciate the creative output of a time. It's important to remember that a lot of the creative voices were very oppressed and suppressed, and there were many who were all but silenced, but that's neither atypical nor surprising. We should hold onto the creative works of any time and try to appreciate them, and value them, and preserve them for others to enjoy. Even a motif or a theme that hearkens back to that time should respect that in some way. As long as we do that, I think it's ultimately a good thing for society and culture, and a good thing to do. Thank you as always for commenting!

First, thank you for commenting! I'd be willing to concede that...if the rules had been firmly or clearly established, but like everything else in this incoherent slog, they were not. It did not make it clear, just as it failed to make many other things as clear as it probably thought it did, that she was "cheating", and in any case, the whole thing was remarkably irrelevant. It only served as a very poor attempt to set the stage for the "cheating" they clearly wanted us to believe making wishes was...even though this was presented as a matter-of-fact part of their universe, which means it wasn't cheating at all. It was using an advantage that existed, without any clear interdiction against that exact advantage. And frankly, the contest at the beginning was, as I adequately outlined, nonsensical and meaningless, as well as pointless and added nothing to the plot whatsoever. In narrative terms: no, she didn't cheat because the filmmakers did not do their job and did not present the scenario clearly to us, in order to set up something for later that they very clearly intended to do and failed at doing.

@@hushicho Possible rule #1: There's a set path you have to follow. In races, this is a fairly standard rule, but, considering the horses, it's possible that running is enough of a disadvantage that one only has to make it to the end of the race to be considered the winner. So this rule is a 'maybe'. Possible rule #2: You have to shoot all of your targets. What is gained by shooting the targets? Nothing. What is lost? Speed. You can't spur your horse on as quickly when you're having to notch a bow, take aim, and make a precise shot. So this rule is a 'yes." There is no way that isn't a rule of the game. BUT! It doesn't matter. The movie only needs to "show" us that Diana has done something different from the other women, not "tell" us. This is a standard point of movies, which engage in visual storytelling. The ability to illustrate, without spelling every little thing out, what is occurring. We saw Diana do something different from everyone else, then we heard the two mother figures tell her that she had cheated. The movie gave us everything we needed to understand that she had cheated. Any claim to the contrary is ignoring evidence that is clearly presented. All of the above out of the way, you're 100% correct that the lesson learned in this opening sequence is utterly useless to the rest of the film, including the ending. The problem I'm running into is that nobody reviewing the movie seems to be doing so from a place of honesty. You cannot call logical stuff "illogical" and people who liked it can't call trash "treasure." We have to admit where things are done well, or fine, to be taken seriously when we make complaints, or we have no credibility.