Hey everyone, it’s Kern here. I’ve got some cool news, we’re now affiliates on Twitch! Yeah, pretty cool, it took a while, but we’re slowly growing.
It’s been a weird year, all things considered. Between my mother’s health problems, and taking that long several month break, we weren’t sure we’d hit that point so soon. We’re there, and it’s kind of like a breath of fresh air. It’s one of those “wow, we’re really doing this” moments where it feels… well, not so much a “milestone” but more like it’s another little step in the grand scheme….
It’s like life is really starting to look up now that my mother is doing a little bit better and we’re now affiliates on top of it. If you haven’t been checking us out over on Twitch, you really should. If you like to hang out, watch gamers, and just have an all around good time you’ll probably have a good time over there.
We’re finishing out Dream Daddy on Thursday, November 4th (today at the time of this post). Come stop by if you want to see us make a mess of that for sure. It’s a goofy little dating simulation, but we’re having fun with it.
Well, you know me, Kern, your friendly neighborhood ferret that breaks things and messes everything up so that Kresh needs to fix it. That’s the same old thing of course. I’m still breaking things, sometimes on a daily basis. I think I’ve re-written this post twice now, trying to find the right words. We’re still streaming over on twitch, of course, and I’m still writing blog posts.
YouTube stands as a weird middle ground, both as a video archive and a place where some of our reviews and other content can be found. Usually I cross embed those bits of footage here too, in the form of let’s plays and what-not, and that goes unchanged. Kresh is working on a project, but I don’t know when that’ll be finished.
It’s funny when I look back to this old image, one of Ruka’s earliest pieces of artwork, I’m a bit nostalgic. It’s been about a year since we started this whole idea. It’s been a learning experience, that’s for sure.
I was supposed to be the ferret tied up and laughing, Kresh the one looking grumpy, and Ruka’s early avatar was that skull and crossbones sitting on the television in the background. We’re all a little rough around the edges, much like that drawing itself is a rough conception of our personalities distilled down into one cartoon drawing.
We’ve come a long way since then. I’m not entirely sure what the future holds, but it seems like a bright one. One of the important things that’s so key to who we are as people is the concept of our diversity. We have an American person, a British person, and a person hailing for Puerto Rico. We’re all on the GLBTQ spectrum, or as Kern (me) would rather call it, GRSM… which is why we’re all so gender ambiguous on the streams and here on the blog. We don’t “sound” as we identify, so it’s just easier for all of us that way. That and gender isn’t everything, we’re more than that, of course.
We do believe representation is important though, and with that, don’t forget to check out Ruka’s blogs when she posts them up.
If you see this icon, that’s Ruka’s avatar over here on The Demented Ferrets. Ruka is writing blog posts now, so if you haven’s seen the first post you really should check it out. Especially if Spanish dubs are important to you.
Ruka has been our artist since the start, but the completely unique perspective on anime and gaming that Ruka brings to the table can’t be understated. The blog post above about Spanish dubs is a great example of that. I (Kern) don’t speak Spanish very well (as in I completely butcher the language when I try to speak it/read it) so having Ruka add in those two cents really matters. Usually when we think of anime dubs here in the states, Spanish speaking dubs just aren’t often discussed… or at least, I don’t often hear them discussed at length.
Fun fact, Ruka’s planning to come up for a visit here sometime in the new year, and that’ll be a lot of fun. We’ll probably have some cool footage of that eventually whenever it happens.
Well, that about does it for this post. It’s just a small update. I’ll see you around next time. Ruka’s working on her next blog post, and so am I. Hopefully, we’ll see you there.
This has been Kernook of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at it’s finest and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you next time. Until then, don’t forget to check out some other great content.
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Kern’s note: be nice everyone, it’s Ruka’s first post here and first blog post ever. Ruka is also the resident artist here at TDF. These little icons we use are her creations.
Welcome everyone, this is Ruka. Back in the 1990s on the small island of Puerto Rico, there used to be generation of kids who by all social standards were labeled as weird and a bit on the strange side.
The main reason for this was due to their love and enjoyment of the afternoon and Saturday morning “cartoons”, also known as anime. I’m part of that generation of 90’s kids.
In the early stages of the 2000s, anime became a big part of pop culture. It has woven itself from our TVs to our toys, clothes, and even in the way we socialize. The anime industry has boomed. Yet, as someone who grew up in the 90s away from the mainland, anime was a much harder thing to find.
I was but a small child learning of the world, and all I wanted to do was watch cartoons, especially on Saturday mornings. Even if I had no idea, it was anime at the time, I was enjoying shows like Ranma ½, Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin), and Slam Dunk. During the weekday after-school programming, Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) became a big part of the rotation too.
But what is so different from all other kids from the mainland you ask? Well, without getting into it so much, as a USA territory, Puerto Rico’s main language is Spanish. And for a good majority of us, we only had local channels, nothing more. Cable was something not many of us could afford. So naturally, the kid’s “cartoon” block was in Spanish.
Okay, but what does any of this has to do with anime you ask? Well, for an English territory whose main language is Spanish, it means a lot. Showing us something that many don’t get to experience in the mainland; anime with Spanish dubs. Nowadays when it comes to anime, most of us more likely than not will always go for the original, but to this day, I am unable to watch Ranma in any other language including its original form. This also holds true to DBZ and Pokémon, but I can manage their English or original form better.
Do I believe the Spanish dubs are worth it? Absolutely! Spanish is one of the most spoken languages ranking 4th worldwide and 2nd in Native-speaking countries in the world. Not only that but in the 90s most anime on television were dubbed by locals. That is the main reason that Spanish dubs became as successful as they did. Think about that for a minute…
The locals themselves took matters into their own hands, making the Spanish dubbing a demand. With this, they made sure that other Spanish-speaking countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela had access to them as well.
Also, one of the biggest achievements this move created was an overall understanding that if the industry could work on dubbing anime into different languages, then it could expand into other nations around the world. In doing so, growing the industry’s reach beyond its original concept. Again, making it accessible for the local television stations in remote areas of the world, as it did for me and many others in the Caribbean. Its movement and progress continues to this day, for as of February 3rd, 2021, Funimation started to add Spanish and Portuguese subs and dubs of their shows in English-speaking territories. This is a big step, especially here in the USA.
At the end of the day, translations of anime and manga play a big role in the industry and in my childhood memories. Without its accessibility and evolution, I would have never found my way to the world of fandom, never would of meet the people that I call friends, and probably would have never written this at all.
This has been Ruka of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at its finest, and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you around! Until then please be sure to check out our other content below.
With your contributions, you make our efforts possible. Thank you for supporting our content. Patreon supporters receive access into our official Discord server, and a few other perks depending on the tier.
There is a $1 tier, perfect for blog readers, so don’t hesitate. Join today!
Hey everyone, it’s Kern here, and today I’m bringing you more archived content from previous live streams. Over on out Twitch channel Kresh completed Call of Cthulhu, so that’s what you’ll be getting today.
Now, for those of you who don’t know, Call of Cthulhu is a fusion between a role-playing game (RPG) and the survival horror genre. Developed by Cyanide and published by Focus Home Interactive on 30 October, 2018. This game is the epitome of existential horror at it’s finest, but it isn’t particularity scary compared to other games that would be considered “horror” by nature. It’s more “creepy” or “unsettling” than scary. You might even say it is atmospheric more than anything else.
Kresh Plays Call of Cthulhu
The gameplay footage accompanied by our commentary can be found on YouTube and Twitch. If you like more content like this, please be sure to follow us on our other channels too. Kresh managed to beat the game in two parts.
The game was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2018. Roughly a year later it saw a release on the Nintendo Switch. The game boasts a decently crafted narrative, heavily inspired by the written works of H. P. Lovecraft, a man made famous for his weird and often unsettling fictional stories.
The storythat the game is heavily inspired by, also named “The Call of Cthulhu“ was first publicized in February 1928. Later the story and universe would be adapted into plenty of other forms of media, such as table top role-playing game in 1981. That’s not the only renditions and retelling of the story we’ve seen though. In 2005, a silent fort film was even made, despite the fact that many considered “The Call of Cthulhu“ an entirely unfathomable project to produce, and unable to be filmed besides… but the movie is out there if you care to look for it.
So then, other other swaths of media aside, what is “The Call of Cthulhu“ video game about and what it is like? Well, let’s take a look.
The plot is fairly standard. The year is 1924, you play as a private investigator Edward Pierce, a man that suffers greatly from bizarre nightmares that become more vivid as time goes on. He is both a war veteran and a man of many vices. Notably, he self-medicates with sleeping pills and alcohol. How you choose to handle these vices will impact your gameplay experience, by the way… more on that later.
In any case, Edward is called upon to study the mysterious case surrounding the tragic Hawkins family. Apparently they’ve all died in a fairly violent fire… or have they? Edward must find out the truth.
Your only clue to go by is a an oddity; the picture painted by the supposedly crazy mother. Even weirder, it was painted shortly before she died. Now it’s Edward’s job to go to a place called Darkwater Island, and untangle this baffling mystery. I don’t want to spoil too much here, but it has a decent story. It all depends in how you choose to play and the choices you make. As for gameplay itself, that’s a mixed bag. You’ll find elements of “investigatory type” games laced deeply within the horror setting you find yourself in. A lot of mystery games use this sort of system, particularly when horror is closely ties to it.
Of course, this means dialogue options. Now, I don’t personally care too deeply for wide range of dialogue options myself… particularly when a few options are locked behind a skill tree. Obviously there’s a market for complex dialogue wheels and the illusion of player choice, but all games have some sort of “on rails” experience to them when you really start scrutinizing the matter…
Generally, I find complicated wheels that have options hidden behind a skill tree to be a cheap argument for “replay value” at best, and flat out annoying at worst. Beyond that, though, most games that use these sorts of systems aren’t the type that I’d typically replay with any regularity anyway. That’s just a personal preference. The system isn’t too clunky, if you’ve played Mass Effect or any game like that, you know basically what you’re in for.
It’s not awful, it’s just not my preferred method of narrative progression. Speaking of the narrative though, let’s discuss the aspect of sanity. Since that is one of the most paramount features in the game when it comes to driving the narrative, it merits a discussion.
Depending on choices made throughout the game, such as your dialogue options, the way you’ve explored the areas and all of the events that affect your sanity gauge, there are four possible endings total. However some of them are more desirable than others.
The more insane you become, the more likely the “darker” endings will be. Kresh managed to land a fairly gruesome one in our footage, but there are other endings too, if you manage to make the correct choices early and often… I will say this, due to the nature of this game none of the endings are what one might call “happy”, it is a horror game after all.
Sanity management, skill trees, careful conversational choices, and stealth action all play a decent part in the greater narrative. There is some combat, but not a whole lot. You’re better off hiding than attacking things, unless of course, you’re meant to attack them. A few key encounters come to mind, but I won’t spoil them here.
The Call of Cthulhu isn’t a bad game, all thing considered. It’s not far and away amazing, but it’s not god awful. It’s a solid experience and narrative is worth the ride if you can pick it up on sale.
You’ll probably enjoy the game far more if “cosmic” type horror and further reaching and looming existential dread appeal more to you than jump scares and mindless gore. Give it try, you may like it.
This has been Kernook from The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the content and will be in search of more like it. If so check out our other content below, and don’t forget to follow is on our other platforms.
Hey everyone, it’s Kern here, and welcome to some spooky content for the month of October. How spooky you ask? Oh, nothing too terrible, just existential dread at its finest. That should do, shouldn’t it?
I like horror, if you’ve been around the blog for any length of time, you know this. Be it video games like “Resident Evil”, anime like “Perfect Blue” and movies like “The Thing“, I enjoy a good horror title every now and then. However, so much horror is filled with blood, gore, and other generalized “in-your-face” nonsense. There’s nothing wrong with that, sure enough. Good horror media shouldn’t be too stifled, and creativity is important. That being said, most horror media nowadays doesn’t normally draw upon being subtle.
Horror shouldn’t always be about grandiose shock value. We shouldn’t constantly try to see just how many ways to bring a rebirth to older media when their original format still hold up to scrutiny just fine.
The film relies heavily on its psychological drama to carry the story forward. Many scenes are purposefully unsettling, and Mima is an enigma by nature. Several questions are left unanswered and up to interpretation.
I don’t need any half-baked “Saw” or “Halloween” knock-offs either. Let those ideas stew in the cooker a little while longer and come up with something truly stunning, I’d say. Classics are classics and staples are staples for for a reason. There comes a time when beloved titles are run into the ground, thus turned into an abomination instead of a masterpiece born anew.
Do you know what we do need more of? Truly existential horror. The sort that lingers with you, as all properly crafted horror does. It should be a slowly and surely building tension, creeping and creaking within the depths of the mind.
Writers of good horror know exactly how to harness that level of unease. Works that offer a purely physiological, pin-point accurate sort of terror, woven between the confines of madness and all-consuming dread have been around a very long time. There is a common trope we see all too often here, and yet, it never becomes stale. Media such as “cosmic horror” takes entirely rationally thinking characters and gradually turns them unsound until they’re completely at wits end. We, as consumers of this media get to watch the events unfold.
I can do you no better on this October than to speak about one of the most brilliant writers of this twisting and turning, near labyrinthine media. Hisname is Howard Phillips Lovecraft and the name of his game is the cosmos itself, bringing nightmares to life.
His way of writing was a gift to literature. Combining metaphor with subtext, he could formulate and conceive the tenuous impossibilities that rest deep in the paranoid ramblings of humanity. Fear of the unknowns within the wide expanse of the universe. That sort of fear resonates within all of us to some degree or another. Lovecraft taps into those little “what if’s” in a way few other writers ever could.
He was a master at crafting fictional worlds and realities that could not possibly be fathomed by the characters residing in them… and so help the reader brave enough to crack open a tale or two penned by a man like Lovecraft. His works are not often for the faint of heart. They are incredibly intelligent pieces of media, but far from pompous.
So, why am I talking about this today? Well, I’m a fan of his written works, and that’s reason enough. Recently over on our Twitch channel, Kresh played a little video game known as Call of Cthulhu. Clearly this game is heavily inspired by Lovecraft’s work, and therefore I thought I would do a blog post about the guy.
I wanted to briefly talk about the concepts surrounding his brand of horror, mystery, and all things unsettling.
Now, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, or H. P. Lovecraft as most probably know of him, was born in the August of 1890 and passed away in March of 1937. Despite those short forty-six years, Lovecraft was a bright mind and a prolific writer. It’s just too bad he didn’t become popular and his works went underappreciated until long after his death.
February 1928 was the year that The Call of Cthulhu got published in Weird Tales, a pulp culture magazine of the time. It had a decent following too, for the era.
Now, Weird Tales had a habit of publishing a fairly large range of oddities and strange fictional stories. You know the type, the kind that wouldn’t easily find a home elsewhere. Lovecraft’s written works often fell into this category. His strange, often otherworldly style of storytelling seemed to be a good fit for readers of obscure, occult media. He found a home in the publication and others like it.
His notable works obviously include “The Call of Cthulhu” which horror fans and gamers alike will probably know him best. That’s why it’s the story I’m touching upon first in this post. This work of fiction not only has several video games as kindred spirits, there is also a table top game that saw its release in 1981. If that’s not enough for you, there’s also a short indie film as well, paying respects to this great work of fiction.
If you want to see gameplay footage of “Call of Cthulhu” a game released in 2018, Kresh just finished playing it. You can find the footage over on our Twitch channel. Don’t forget to follow us over there too if you like to watch Twitch streamers… the link will open in a new tab.
Now, back to the mastermind and my gushing as a fan. If you don’t know what cosmicism is, then you don’t know Lovecraft. Let’s start there, shall we?
The basic idea for cosmicism states that there is no divine presence, such as a “God” in the greater universe as we understand it. Rather, the human race is fairly insignificant within the greater scheme. There is other of intergalactic existence under this mindset, meaning, there is in fact life beyond our knowledge and understanding. We just can’t fathom what it is. As it applies to horror, this touches upon the concept that humans fear our own insignificance and ineptitude. That we cower in the face of a universe we just can’t understand…
Or to put it simply, the cosmos is an endless void, with countless possibilities, and that terrifies us. Looking deep into that abyss would drive us mad. Drawn to it as we are in our pursuit of answers, humanity would come to regret every moment we tried to do so… hence what makes “cosmic horror” what it is.
Now there is far more to it than all of that, but the general outline gives you an idea of how Lovecraft defined himself through his written works. Existential dread and the whims of a universe we just can’t understand build up the tension and release cycle his works of horror can provide, and Lovecraft willing provided that sort of horror in spades.
As for Howard Phillips Lovecraft himself, he was an avid reader. He admitted that his writings were heavily influenced by his readings ofPoe‘s and Lord Dunsany‘s fictional worlds and unsettling writings.
As stated above though, even though nowadays we regard H. P. Lovecraft as a very prolific writer, he wasn’t very well known in his life. Aside from the readers of pulp magazines, his works just weren’t regarded as mainstream media.
Lovecraft couldn’t support himself completely upon his writings. Frankly, it wasn’t until the 1970’s when his works began to really pick up steam for mainstream audiences. However, the birth of this newfound popularity inspired a great deal of other works we now call the “CthulhuMythos“, which draws heavily upon Lovecraft‘s characters, lore, the larger thematic entanglements that we now consider to be “otherworldly” or “cosmic” styles of horror… the sort of horror that relies entirely upon what humanity cannot completely fathom.
On a personal level, I do want to touch upon one issue with other forms of media, particularly video games. If you can beat the ever loving crap out of Cthulhu in any capacity, that’s not indicative of Lovecraft’s works. That’s a power fantasy abomination… not his brand of horror.
If you have somehow come across a piece of media in the wider Cthulhu Mythos or within the larger fandom where the characters do heroically overcome the “unfathomable” completely unscathed, and have thus found yourself thoroughly put off by the concept of cosmic horror, pick up a proper story and read it.
If you still don’t believe me when I say that Lovecraft was a master at writing great horror stories, try this one on for size.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth is by far my favorite work by H. P. Lovecraft. Also, remember when I said he wasn’t a widely popular writer?
Well, this was the only story of Lovecraft‘s that was actually published into a book during his lifetime. I think that alone speaks of its quality. I won’t spoil it, or tell you what it’s about. This one is just too good to try to explain in a short paragraph or two.
If you want to read a good classic horror story, go into this with little more than full and complete intent to be unsettled. Pick it up and just read. You will be pleasantly surprised. If you like “cosmic horror” and what it’s themes allow for, it will serve you well. Remember though, nuance is at the height of a fiction like this one. You won’t want to underestimate the slowly building pace the narrative sets. Give it a chance, and don’t rush through it.
While it’s true that gamers of all kinds are likely much more aware of “The Call of Cthulhu” I think that its popularity may in fact be a disservice to readers at this point. We know it to be a great work of fiction, and therefore perhaps place it on a pedestal too high for our own expectations.
Personally this is why I much prefer to suggest “The Shadow Over Innsmouth“, originally published in 1936.. Even though it is also a very popular written work of Lovecraft‘s, it doesn’t carry the same acclaim in gaming and other media. It is a bit lesser known to the typical horror fan, and I think it stands as a better entry into the wider Cthulhu Mythos.
Ultimately how you choose to best enjoy the horror medium is up to you, but as for me sometimes the best horror is in a good book by one of my absolute favorite authors of all time.
This has been Kernook of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you next time.
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Hey all, it’s Kern here. I’m back to writing proper blog posts, yes it’s taken me a while to get back into the swing of things, and I apologize for that profusely. In any case, let’s just dive into the topic at hand, shall we?
Today I want to talk a little bit about sitcoms. The draw they have and the appeal they carry to a wider audience shouldn’t be overlooked. For anyone that knows me and also the situation going on around the house right about now, you’ll know that sitcoms are a family affair. We’re known to crowd around the television together to watch an episode or two of our favorite ones.
Now back in the days of cable, we generally had shows we habitually flocked to. Shows like “The Nanny”, “Golden Girls” and “I Love Lucy” commonly filled the warm glow of our television screen. However, in this household only one sitcom stands out as king among the rest.
The show we watch most of all just so happens to be a show that hasn’t had any new episodes produced since May 13, 2004. This show is known as Frasier, and when it comes to sitcoms this show lasts the test of time.
Insofar as my household is concerned, we still watch the show nightly. With the advent of streaming services, we can now do so at length. Even before then, we had all of the box sets for the series, some of them we even have doubles of. Seasons one and two particularly. This is because when we first bought the box sets, it was in the early 90’s. Therefore we had them on VHS tape. When DVD’s became the foremost way to watch media, we switched over to those, and that’s why we have multiple sets of season one and season two.
Nowadays, streaming is the way of the world, and smart televisions are where it’s at. We were slow on this uptake in this house, only picking one up in early 2020, but Paramount+ was the wisest subscription we ever made because now my mother can watch Frasier to the point that she can drive me insane with it… and she often does. That was a fact I even mentioned in a previous blog post, which was very fitting at that exact moment.
As I stated at the time, even while I was writing a post about idle gaming, my mother was watching Frasier. She watches the show daily, we call it a hobby. So, when I said that we watch all eleven seasons of that sitcom over and over every week, I wasn’t joking then, and I’m not joking now. She is once again watching the show, and I am too.
For those of you that know of the show, and the sort of episodes you can find within the series, we are currently in the middle of the one where Frasier Crane (played expertly by Kelsey Grammer) looses his job as a radio talk show host and has a mid-life crisis of sorts. That particular plot line goes on for a few episodes. This episode isn’t exactly the best one in the series by far, but it is the one that happens to be playing.
All in all, it does illustrate my point.
The show stands the test of time, and even the test of my sanity. Eleven seasons isn’t very many when you watch them endlessly, much like we do around here. A reboot series in in the works apparently, spearheaded by Kelsey Grammer himself. It’s anyone’s guess if it will actuallyhold up to the old material, but I do remain hopeful.
The series won’t be the same without John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane in the series. He passed away in 2018. May he be resting in peace.
The character of Martin was my absolute favorite as a child, and even now, I enjoy his time on the screen. He’s a breath of fresh air in the series. Martin Crane is the typical “every-man” that enjoys sports and fishing just as much as a good beer and time with his family. His beloved dog named Eddie is also a key focal point for him.
As former police officer, Martin Crane was a simple guy with a worldly aware attitude. His desires and vices are also simple as a result. He wasn’t too complicated and offered a staunch juxtaposition for the pomp and circumstance that other characters, like Niles and Frasier so commonly find themselves embroiled in.
When I think of sitcoms, a great many of them come to mind, but so few qualify to stand in my list of cream of the crop “comfort shows”. Some are funny, sure enough, and many of the older ones bring with them a hefty dose of nostalgia, but those are few and far between for me.
So then, why Frasier? Why not Cheers, which was where the character of Frasier Crane first originated? Why not literally any other sitcom? That’s a good question. I’ve been thinking a lot about that too, actually. It’s the heart and soul of the series that truly makes it special for me.
Surely the series has plenty of distilled witty humor, dry retorts mingling with overly long diatribes. To be honest, most of them sound much more sophisticated than they really are, as that is the punchline of those gags. However, it comes jam packed with slapstick comedy too.
Tongue-in-cheek humor tends to creep into visual hilarity at it’s finest. The image above highlights this, I believe. You don’t need to know the character of Niles too deeply to find find his absolutely disgusted look amusing, all while his pet bird uses his head as a perch.
It really is simple little visual jokes and sideways comments thrown about offhandedly, that truly makes the series sticks out for a good laugh or two. Even after you’ve seen all the gags, they’re still funny. It doesn’t lose the charm in re-watching the scenes. Honestly, the show is best enjoyed in it’s layers of symbolism and deeper discoveries. You should watch it a second time at least.
As a series, Frasier is both full of heart and goofy psychobabble related nonsense. It unflinchingly pokes fun at the psychiatric field, but it also softens that humor with stories that are truly steeped in the flaws that make us human. The series is just as much about the family unit as it is about hair-brained schemes and mindless posturing. There are times when it questions personal identity and moments when it refuses to fit the mold at all.
One of my favorite episodes includes Sir Patrick Stewart portraying man by the name of Alistair Burke. The character only appears in one episode, and in season eleven no less. However, the character is in a successful position in the theater, and his attempts to woo FraiserCrane are the highlight of the episode. Fraiser has no idea the man is attracted to him until the matter is far too late to correct.
It is an iconic episode for me, and one that sticks out as a noteworthy piece of media because back in 2004 my inclusion in the GRSM (Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Minorites) community was lacking to say the least. I was still a teenager in high school, so characters in media were all that I had. Seeing an openly gay or trans character in the sitcoms my own mother watched was of great comfort to me. She did it without complaint, and without thinking twice about the matter, and it truly solidified my own comfort with my own identity.
Now, in a perfect world characters would be portrayed by a properly identifying individual more often than not, no matter the identity we’re discussing. Representation in media is very important, and therefore, we shouldn’t overlook that angle either. When we discuss what actor gets what role, identity should be a consideration (though not the deciding factor). However, this isn’t a perfect world, and it certainly wasn’t perfect back in 2004.
I don’t hold it against the media of the time… in fact, if anything, I think Sir Patrick Stewart did a wonderful job in the role for the single episode that he got to portray Alistair Burke.
Honestly, I’m thankful I just had the opportunity to have some level of wider exposure to the concepts that high schools refused to talk about, such as being gay. However, that’s why I believe I love this sitcom so much.
Frasier wasn’t just topical for its time, it was also down to earth and close to home. It didn’t chase down trends in a vain hope to appeal to the masses blindly… or at least it didn’t “feel” like that’s what the show was trying to do. I think that makes all the difference. It never felt like it tried to be more than it was, and what it was could often come off as pretentious and snobby to say the least. Particularly if someone wasn’t on screen to knock the Crane brothers back down a few pegs and rip off their masks of frivolity.
Someone always came along to do it too, usually Martin Crane or the character of Roz Doyle (played by Peri Gilpin).
Frasier was an intelligent series. It made statements that invited the viewer to come to their own conclusions. It was as funny as it was thoughtful, and it has aged decently well. Occasionally, it could even manage to be sad and soulful too.
That’s why I’m so drawn to it, and why my mother is too. It is rarely ever bombastic, yet it is far from mindless. The themes and the lessons are simple, and Martin Crane often tends to be the wisest character of all. If you’re looking for a decent sitcom and you haven’t seen it, give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.
This has been Kernook, of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at it’s finest and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you next time.
If you liked this content, please be sure to follow the blog so that you can see more like it. I’ll be talking about sitcoms from time to time along with other media.
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Hey everyone, it’s Kern here. This is just an introspection piece, and that’s why I’m posting it on a day that isn’t typically a blog post day. It’s just a few thought I have, nothing more.
About a year ago I was asked by an elderly relative, why gamers these days watch “let’s plays”, when we could just play the game ourselves? This older relative is an extended relative, a great aunt of mine. Unlike most of the family, she never quite understood why we played games in the first place.
Since she’s so old, I came up with the usual and easy excuses. I brought up money constraints, games can be an expensive hobby. I spoke of social interaction, internet communities can be very closely knit in some circles. Lastly I mentioned impressive feats of skill, some gamers are just the cream of the crop and the rest of us want to cheer that on.
However, those were all very impersonal answers to what I feel to be a very personal question. My aunt seemed to have forgotten she asked this question, and over the phone she asked it again just yesterday.
Cut her some slack, she’s very old. To put my family into perspective here, my mother (who used to be a gamer) is in her 70’s, my great aunt is in her nineties. The woman isn’t nearly as sharp as she used to be, she’s more forgetful about mundane conversations every single day.
Yesterday, I felt that I finally had an answer that was far more satisfying to me and far more appealing to my aunt.
I think we watch “let’s plays” because it fills some sort void. Something that is intrinsic to who we are as a greater community. It isn’t just entertainment, it becomes a balm for something greater. At least that’s what I think, and let me tell you why.
Today, my aunt is here and she’s watching my little cousin, her “great, great, niece” play a video game. She never did that when I was young, she was more ornery about games back then. More brainwashed that games were damaging to children. It took two full generations of gaming within the family to finally remove that stigma out of her.
Gamers of a certain age will recall the days of meager graphics and simple sound design. Times when we would run home from school, kick off our shoes, and grab the nearest controller. For a few perfect hours, all was right with our world. We’d take up gaming as a fun hobby before doing our homework, having dinner and going to bed.For many of us, these are memories that likely fill our heads.
Well, you would recall that if you were a little older than me at least. My recollection of the games started when I was still toddling around in diapers. Many of the early games I was exposed to came out sandwiched around the year I was born, 1989.
Games such as Mario and Mega Man titles were common household staples. A Boy and His BlobTrouble on Bloboloniawas a beloved title in this house, though that cartage NES game finally died a slow death about eight years ago. The Mega Man ones are finally dying out too, but Super Mario Bros 3 is still going strong despite the heavy use.
I’ve said it before, but I came from a family of gamers, so the sounds of eight and sixteen bit games were often what I napped to in my earliest years. My father was the only one in the household that didn’t play video games. Anyway, I was one of those diaper clad toddlers that was handed a controller. I would push the buttons mystified, even when it wasn’t plugged in.
More importantly to my little and innocent soul, came the all too coveted nap time in the summer months. That’s when my extended family came over almost daily to spend countless hours enjoying the back yard, chasing the ice cream truck that passed by at the same time almost every day, and of course playing video games.
There was an eighteen year difference between some of my older cousins and myself. The shortest distance was still a lengthy one at a seven year divide. For me, there was no better way to fall asleep than to watch my family play games. Nap time for me was all about grabbing my pillow and blanket. I’d insist on laying on my favorite mat on the floor. I’d fall asleep watching those NES, Sega Genesis, and SNES titles. I eyed the lone Game Boy in the house and often got pretty bratty when I couldn’t see what was being played.
You could say I was a fan of watching “let’s plays” before they were ever really a thing gamers did in mass. I suspect they’re a sensation at all because so many gamers likely grew up like I did. With an older sibling or a parent playing video games as a key element of entertainment in the household.
Many of us probably grew up with that comfort, so it became something more than just a mere game. For me, it became an extension of family time. It was part of my personal identity in a very intractable way.
As I grew older, my cousins and sibling married off, eventually having children of their own. This tradition lives on. The huge age gap between me and my youngest cousins is about seventeen years. I’m the baby as far as the adults in the family go. While I’m now thirty-one years old, those little cousins are just now reaching their teens.
I feel old…
I also feel validated that they are growing up in a world where gaming is far more normalized than it was in my youth.
My family played video games, but most of the people I knew at school in the early 90’s didn’t. As a person that was constantly bullied I didn’t much care for having them as friends anyway. Back then I could barely hold a pencil, let alone play sports. Gaming was my major hobby.
Nowadays that stigma among other children has been thoroughly trounced, and gamers come from all walks of life. My cousins are growing up in a much more enlightened gaming generation, and I get to watch them mature within it.
That’s pretty damn special, I’ve got to say. After all, I firmly recall their earliest days. Actually Kresh and Ruka do too, to a small degree. After all, those little cousins were on my lap more often than not during hot summer days. Back then, we used Skype as a just barely functional for VOIP to play FFXI and other such games.
When I was fresh out of high school I was the perfect babysitter. Two toddlers roaming around diaper clad, a baby on the hip, and my games were on full display amidst the warm glow of the television. These children mystified, the same as I was in my earliest years. Now, they’re young teenage and tween gamers themselves. They’re just edging into the wide and vast world of gaming. Branching out from the insular family unit they clung onto when they were young, now they’re playing games together in small circles online.
Now they’re playing MOBA‘s with friends from school, and discussing what series they like in more interconnected and diverse ways. When you play games with kids, it is a powerful tool for teaching and engagement. I’m proof of it, and now, so are my cousins.
Sometimes it is very fun to play a game yourself, and my cousins agree. Every now and then though, I find myself missing the random phone calls. A small nightmare or a bad day at school prompting them to ask “Can I watch you play?” all while sounding so full of hope over something so simple. I don’t think I ever said no, now that I think about it.
Now that those days are gone and passed, I find myself wondering about it. What drove us to do that? Why were we so fixated? Why, amidst everything else, was gaming such a core comfort to the younger family unit?
Well, I don’t have an answer to that. I wish I did, but I don’t. There are too many factors to name. Maybe it was the comfort of a momentary escape. Maybe it was the bonding that occurred because of it, or maybe that was just because we liked games.
I think, in the end, the reasons are too diverse and personal to name. They’re so personal because we gamers aren’t a monolith. So, to answer the question, why do we gamers like to watch “let’s plays” so much? I go back to what I said before.
It gives us something we need, even if that thing isn’t entirely something you can measure. I think anyone who needs to answer that question for themselves will come to find their own personal story about why its so important. A reason why they watch instead of just playing themselves.
Something beyond the usual rhetoric and above the typical reproach. Intangible perhaps, but no less valid for its existence.
Why do you watch “let’s plays” and live streams? Let me know in the comments below.
This has been Kernook of “The Demented Ferrets” where stupidity is at its finest, and level grinds are par for the course. If you liked this content, please be sure to check out some other great posts down below. I’ll see you next time.
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Kern’s Note: Sorry that this thing was so late in coming out. We were having a few difficulties and had a lot of things to do in order to fix the issues. Now that it is here we are super proud of it. Audio issues were sorted out too, so that makes it even more awesome!
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If you haven’t seen the RWBY White Trailer, yeah, you might want to go do that. It’s on the Rooster Teeth website, and it’s free. As always, please support the official release of the series.
Last week I kicked off my retrospective series with the RWBY Red Trailer. For a brief recap, I mentioned that the four character trailers that kicked off the series had three goals in mind. They were as follows:
To introduce the main four girls.
To teach the viewer how to enjoy the combat in the series.
And to give viewers a taste of the world through the eyes of these characters.
When the RWBY Red Trailer first released, I wasn’t exactly a huge fan of what I saw.
As I said last time, hindsight for the series is 20/20. Retrospection matters. My love of the RWBY series didn’t come until I saw the release of the RWBY White Trailer and the introduction of Weiss Schnee.
If Ruby’s trailer is all about sentimentality and holding the things you cherish the most close to your heart. Then, the trailer for Weiss is all about the rejection of emotional sentiment. Of leaving behind childish whimsy, and losing one’s own identity in the process.
Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look. The trailer opens slowly, a quote flashes across the screen. This quote reads like this:
Then a spotlight shows overhead, the garbled mutterings of an announcer calls her name. The audience cheers as a white haired woman takes the stage. Her face is elegant, but there’s a slender scar blemishing her skin over one eye.
She’s dressed in white, with a splash of red, and a hint of black. Her expression stays serious in front of the crowd. The soft fluttering of of a piano begins to play as the crowd cheers.
By this point in the trailer, less than 30 seconds into it, I had already found myself captivated by Weiss Schnee as a character. Where the RWBY Red Trailer failed to instantly grab my attention, the RWBY White Trailer had captured me from the very beginning.
Weiss looks out to the crowd, takes a breath and closes her eyes. Then the song begins in earnest. Unlike Ruby’s song that was merely playing as a music backdrop and only had a few lyrics, this time Weiss is performing her personal story for the world to see.
Her song, known as “Mirror Mirror” is a testament that Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams really know how to make a soundtrack shine.
This song is probably one of the saddest in the original soundtrack for the first RWBYVolume. As the song plays, Weiss is shown to be singing it, although, her actual voice actress didn’t do the vocals. The woman singing is Casey Lee Williams.
This trailer turns into a flashback as Weiss continues to sing, her eyes still closed. The camera pans lower and the stage fades to black. A reflection of Weiss glows from the dark abyss as she stands atop it, a perfect reflection.
If you haven’t noticed by now, this is a far deeper, far more introspective sort of trailer on it’s face. This make sense. Weiss is the most reserved of the main four girls. She’s cold, almost needlessly cruel in the first volume of the series. However, that’s well and truly a facade at best.
Without this trailer for character context, which I will get to in a moment, Weiss would be little more than a complete and total ass during Volume 1. Episodes like “The Stray” and notably the episode “Black and White” which is the Volume 1 finale, rely on this trailer. It explains everything about Weiss and her eventual blind acceptance of Blake.
The reason is because Weiss isn’t actually an ass, and she’s doesn’t really carry the hyperbolic thoughts and feelings that she’s expected to have. She spouts them, but they’re not real. This trailer is a looking glass into all of it, literally. It gives us all of her key struggles, and allows us to see this girl behind the Schnee family mask.
Anyway, at this point her eyes are closed. It is now implied that anything beyond this point is a flashback of a memory. When her eyes open, kneeling in front of her is a gigantic armored knight. It bows to her in reverence, as if she were its queen.
Then, it stands to its full height, grasping its sword as the tempo of the music changes.
No longer just a soft piano melody with gentle singing, string instruments and percussion are added into the mix. The soft classical music begins taking on new urgency as Weiss faces down her opponent. Swords clash as Weiss faces down this armored giant, deftly avoiding his blade.
Her combat is almost like a dancer’s grace as she continues flitting around the arena floor like a ballerina. She uses her sword with frontal swings and forward jabs just like a fencer. Weiss relies on a complicated mix of pure skill, dust, and her semblance to gain the upper hand.
As I said before, the trailers build upon each other. In Ruby’s trailer, combat was the thing breaking the fourth wall.
For Weiss it’s the lyrics of her song, breaking the forth wall instead. This is her personal story. She’s telling us who she really is as a person, and she’s not going to wait for us to figure it out.
Just like how she treats Ruby in Volume 1, she’s not going to dumb herself down for our sake. The lyrics are poetic and layered in symbolism. I will speak about that in the analysis of this trailer, which is a separate post. For now let’s just focus on the poetic storytelling at play.
Viewers need to stand on Weiss’s level emotionally, and understand what she’s telling us. We viewers, are the mirror she’s talking to. It’s not just that she’s talking to herself. She wants to be heard, she has asked us if we can hear her in the song directly. She’s asked us if she needs us, because we are that mirror.
She’s not sure if her own merits are good enough. She wants to be taken seriously. She feels that she isn’t. That she is somehow inferior.
Now, this is exactly what Ruby’s trailer referenced in regards to the color “white”.
While those lyrics were a factual assessment, Weiss attempts to explain those facts in poetic and lyrical way, using ambiguity.
Ruby’s trailer is self-assured and confidant. She knows she wants to be a huntress, and she’s ready to show off what she can accomplish.
Weiss is far less sure of herself. She wants the validation of others, but she’s afraid to ask for it. So, she’s asking us, the proverbial mirror.
Her faster and far more ruthless combat is an undertone to this as well. While Ruby shows us a fight that’s fun, Weiss shows us one that’s necessity. Weiss needs to fight this battle. It isn’t a choice. It’s an obligation, like so many other things in her life.
Unfortunately for Weiss, she’s still just a teenager trying to pretend she’s an adult. The adult world of Remnant will bring her down a few pegs, and so does the knight she’s fighting. She cannot stand on the world’s stage alone and hope to succeed that way. She needs others, she needs a place to belong.
In spite of her skill, this isn’t enough to stop the knight from countering every attack she lands on him. Finally he swats her aside like a paper doll.
She lands on the ground looking disheartened, defeated and bleeding…
Then the scene faces to black and Weiss is on stage again. Slowly she opens her eyes. Haunting operatic vocals fill the air as the moon overhead appears from behind dark clouds.
Weiss is still young, and just like Ruby, she’s a dreamer of bigger and better things. It’s just that those dreams don’t align with the world as she currently understands it. Her memories and expectations hold her down.
She’s asking us, the viewers, if she can really stand a chance to reach for her dreams. If she’s even worthy of those dreams at all.
Her eyes close again, and her memory continues. The flashback of how she got the scar in the first place is fresh in her mind.
The knight is still ready for more, and Weiss lifts herself up from the ground. There’s blood on her face, and determination in her eyes. Weiss won’t let herself be put down from a little thing like a head injury.
Instead she prepares herself for another clashing of blades. She’s smarter this time, going on the defensive and waiting for the right moment to take him down.
The song changes tempo again. This time, it’s not haunting, it’s empowering. She prepares her weapon, adjusting her stance, and strikes. A flurry of dust shimmers with every attack. A wave of ice spiking up from the ground as she returns the armored knight’s attack tenfold, effectively disarming him.
Then it’s time for her final attack. She readies her glyphs and the dust inside her sword. Trapping the the knight, she sends herself flying into the air, slicing a pinpoint attack into the knight. This turns him into a powder-like snow.
Sparkles of this now defeated knight fall onto the stage as she finishes her song. The blood on her face fades away. She opens her eyes and looks around as if trying to remember where she is. The crowd cheers for her.
When you saw this trailer for the first time, you probably cheered a little too, even if it was just to yourself quietly. I know that I did.
That’s because in the context of the series, Weiss is person worth cheering for. She’s worth her dreams and her ambitions. She wants to hear that cheering, she wants us, the mirror to tell her that she’s worth it. That’s what makes her so relatable even as early as the trailer itself.
Everyone wants to be told they’re worth something. That they’ve done a good job. Everyone wants just that one moment of satisfaction. That one thing that nobody can take away from them, because they earned that success themselves. That they are worthy of standing upon the worlds stage, accepted based on their own achievements.
In that way, Weiss resonates with that small part of humanity. We are the mirror she’s talking to, and we give her just that tiniest glimmer of hope.
Weiss looks out toward the audience and she offers her final bow. Her reflection is still there, a perfect mirror image upon the floor. Only she can see it truly clearly. The curtains close, and the trailer ends.
It’s as if through the eyes of the viewer, she’s finally seeing her true self. The person she really wants to be. The person she can become.
The RWBY White Trailer is a showcase of characterization at its finest. A lot of fans claim that Weiss is one of the most interesting characters in the series, at least, on her own merits. I wholeheartedly agree.
In this trailer we’re given far more depth to her character than we ever saw in the RWBY Red Trailer. This trailer built upon everything we were told previously, and extrapolated upon them.
The thing is, Ruby’s trailer focuses more on factual information. For Weiss, her trailer is almost entirely emotional. The fight was in her point of view, and the song lyrics reflect that as well.
The song stands in a league of it’s own, the animation is absolutely fitting, and the fight is captivating from start to finish.
All in all, this trailer is my absolute favorite one in the early volumes. I love this thing.
However objectively, I wouldn’t actually say it’s the best trailer we received. No, in my opinion, that credit goes to the RWBY Black Trailer, featuring Blake Belladonna. It is the textbook definition of what a trailer should be. Join me next time as I cover Blake’s trailer. You don’t want to miss it.
“Where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course…”
The Demented Ferrets…
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Basically, in my last post I outlined three core principles for solving writers block. Here is just a very basic outline, and it only glosses over the topics I spoke of in detail.
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#1 Respect your mental health. -This means that you should know where your mind is from a creative standpoint. Make sure you are doing your best to maintain the right kind of thinking for your writing style. If you can’t do that, maybe put your old projects aside and write something new to get the feelings out.
#2 Redefine your methods. – This means you always should look at the fulfillment you get by writing. If you feel that your writing is no longer filling your needs as a person, you might change the way you go about crafting the written word.
#3 Perfectionism is flat out stupid. – Nothing is perfect, and trying to force it to be that way isn’t something you should do when you’re still in your first or second draft. When all else fails, a good old fashioned write-and-toss may help.
As I stated in my last post, these suggestions are made for the hobbyist and creatively inclined. They’re not made for professional writers, though I suppose you may see some value in them too.
That being said, this is geared more for the fan fiction community, or someone who is just getting into writing and doesn’t know exactly what to do with an idea or a project that they want to start. If you’re one of these sorts of people, let’s move on to the meat and potatoes of this post.
#1 Drabbles!
What is a “drabble”, you might ask? Good question, and the answer is quite simple. Usually it is a very small fiction. If you’ve been around in the fan fiction world for a while, you’ve likely seen those fictions that are less than 800 or so words.
That’s a drabble. Yep, that’s it.
Now by definition, a drabble is usually about 100 words, but in the fan fiction world we take number counts very loosely. With some fan fictions easily becoming over one million words in total length, we tend to play fast and lose with the standard expected writing formula. So really, a drabble is just a really short story, and often times it’s not always fleshed out.
This is a great way to bust writer’s block. Pick one theme, one or two characters and one simple setting. Then get to it. Write that scene to its completion. That’s it. That’s a drabble, and most of them can stand on it’s own. If it can’t, that’s fine too, because now at least you have a jumping off point. Upload that sucker and get yourself some feedback. Then build off of it. Either with a few more small drabbles from the same universe to make an interconnected story, or with a longer length work.
Sometimes the best cure for writer’s block is just to get something out there in the first place, and drabbles help you do that.
#2 Find Sensory Input
Your personal experiences as a writer will shape how your work takes form. This is especially true if you don’t have much writing experience to go off of. It can be difficult to describe a particular feeling or flesh out the world that your characters live in.
If that’s the case for you, find the next best thing. All pieces of media come from a place of introspection to a degree. Learning to absorb the details around, you will help you to make your story fluid and interesting.
If you’re having trouble describing something, find a real world equivalent. For example, if you’re trying to describe a room in a house, or the way a character acts, then look around for your inspiration. Act out your scenes a little, as if you were the characters. Play them out in your head. If your character seems to shrug something off, you shrug too. Feel the way your shoulders lift. Feel the sort of breath you take within the confines of the scene as if you were the character.
Is the breath you take gentle or heavy? Do your shoulders sag a little as they fall? Do they hunch forward, or do they square back confidently? What are your lips doing? Are they placid, or frowning? Do your eyes close, or do they stay open?
Take notice of those small details, write those in. That way you can move on without lingering too long. Trust me, you don’t ever want to longer linger than you have to. It will only make the writer’s block worse in my opinion.
I cannot stress this enough, but perfection has no place in a first draft. Hell, it has no place in a second draft, either. If you’re a perfectionist, toss your idea onto the page and move on.
You will inevitably return to it later, like all writers do during the editing process. Sometimes just getting deeper into the scene you’re writing will help. Someone that really is all you need, then you’ll be able to go back and add more content later.
#3 Creative Drifting
So, you have no idea what to do. You’re just completely stuck to the point that words just aren’t going onto the page to save your soul. It’s agitating you to no end, and you’re just about flip your entire desk over in frusteration.
Don’t do that. Instead, go find yourself a voice recording app. A free one. There are so many to choose from, really. Either grab one on your cell phone, or a computer, it really doesn’t matter. Now, open that thing and talk into it. Yep, you read that write.
Just talk about your creativity. Talk about the world you want to build, the characters you want to write about, the setting. Make a mess, let the thoughts exist and mingle into something you can listen to later.
When you’re done, listen to it a few times. Occasionally that’s all you need. The talking will occasionally jump-start your innate creativity. If that didn’t work on its own, then listen to that recording and make a bullet point list of things you say that inspire you. Dig deeper into it, and focus your talents on that inspiration first and foremost. From there you should be able to write something, hopefully.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, writers block is something that everyone will struggle with creatively at one point another. That’s a demon that just falls into line when writing anything, and often times there isn’t much a person can do but struggle through it. Writers block is a fluid thing. It will come and go and that’s just the way it is.
I find that playing to your strengths really helps a lot, but sometimes it just isn’t enough. When that happens, the best thing you can do is play with the actual writing conventions themselves. Toy with them, twist them around, and throw them all over the place. The written word is a powerful tool, but don’t let that stop you from truly enjoying the freedom of expression.
So what if you happen to have too many words, or maybe just not enough? So what if you can’t nail down that perfect moment? What if you can’t get a description of a scene just right? It doesn’t matter during writers block. These are all issues that help to contribute to writers block in the first place, and these are all things that can be overlooked during the initial phases of your creative journey as a writer.
There will come a time and a place to fix all of that. If it is meant to be fixed at all, it will be. Sometimes it’s just not, and allowing your initial ideas to merely exist as they are might give you more freedom as a writer.
It’s all hit and miss. We all throw things at the wall to see what sticks. Sometimes all of it does, and sometimes none of it does. That’s the nature of the beast. Work with it, not against it.
As I always say, let yourself love the creative process. Let yourself love writing for as imperfect, bombastic and grandiose as it can sometimes be. Clutter is part of the process, messes crumpled up wads of ideas will be cast aside more times than not. Don’t be bogged down by it, just embrace it.
If you can do that, the block will pass and words will eventually flow freely once more. Love is a powerful tool too, and few things are stronger than its power. As a hobbyist writer, you are your own master. the written language is your form of magic, and the page is the vessel upon which to place it. Allow yourself the flexibility to play with the craft, and simply just love it no matter what.
This has been Kernook of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you next time.
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Video Production of This Script
This is the finished video regarding the script. It is written, edited, and read aloud by Kernook of “The Demented Ferrets”. You can watch the video on this blog and on YouTube. I hope you enjoy the content.
A world filled with unreasonable expectations, and a class of students unable to match them. For them, it’s the end of the line, What sits before them is a task they can’t hope to achieve as they are, and this world will only accept them at their best. Their job is to do what the adult world cannot. They need to take down their teacher, and do it before the planet itself ceases to exist.
Hello everyone, it’s Kernook here, and welcome to another Kern’s Collections.
Today I’ll be speaking about Assassination Classroom.
Once again. these are not full fledged review. These are merely glimpses of media, any why they may be worth your time.
So, let’s take a look at the misfit students who’ve been cast aside to the small schoolhouse on the hill, and the monster that is their teacher.
On the surface, Assassination Classroom has a school life vibe from the very start, mixed with more than a few shounen elements for good measure. The series doesn’t let you be fooled by this for long. Sure, it may seem to have all of the trappings of both genre’s crammed together, but that’s just the surface.
Instead of merely the protagonist being down on his luck, the whole class are labeled outcasts in a society that expects only the best out of them. These students are a strong ensemble cast, each of them unique, and with their own views of the world around them.
There’s an innocence that has been corrupted here, twisted by the malignancy of their own minds. Be it a poor self image, discontentment with their lots in life, or merely a failure to mold themselves into the people they wish to be, every student in this class faces adversity in one way, shape, or form.
They’re all underdogs to the world at large, even if among themselves there is clear pecking order when it comes to popularity and the friends they surround themselves with. Even from the first episode there’s a thick tension in the room, all of it made worse by their teacher.
Korosensei is not quite a monster, but he’s certainly no longer human either. His reasons for his current existence is a spoiler, so I’m not going to dig into it. What I will say instead, is that he is a reflection of his students in many ways, and therefore proves himself to be their ultimate foe.
Korosensi is in every way their superior. In fact, he is in every way superior to humanity itself. This is both because he understands human nature, and values the concept of nurturing the youths that will grab hold of the future.
If the students can beat him, they can beat anyone. If they can aspire to learn what he has to teach, they will no doubt be better for it. Ultimately the real battle is the one that takes place within themselves, however it manifests on screen in the form of combat against Korosensi purely icing on the cake.
This is a battle of wits. It all comes down to the heart and soul of the matter. How the students feel, and what they hope to gain largely influences the entire series to a point that the on screen battles never could.
Viewers will find at least one character to relate to, of that I am sure. What can be questioned are the characters themselves, and just how far they will eventually go. The ending is very fitting, but it’s laid out from the start.
This series doesn’t have a lot of plot twists, but the ones it has are darkly implied. In practice it never goes too far, the series is usually very light and easy to consume, but there are a few villains in the series that well and truly mean to do harm in ways that are not forgivable.
This brings me to the subject of morality, a key focal point in the series. Things are morally gray, both for the students aiming to take down their teacher, and the seedy underbelly they’re introduced to because of it. The students are trained by assassins, military, and their teacher directly.
The series paints two logical ideologies for the students to cling onto. Self worth can be found both in their own personal merits as people, or it can be found at the sharp end of a blade and forced victory. Neither of these ideologies are painted as wrong, or inaccurate. Therefore it’s up to the students to decide how best to go about reaching their ambitions.
Korosensei is the the vessel for all of this. Contrasting world views muddle and mix in a way that I find more interesting than the fights themselves. While it’s true you could just enjoy the anime like your typical popcorn shounen, there is a deeper narrative to be found here. All you have to do is search for those darker implications buried beneath the dialogue.
Ultimately, I really enjoy this series. Assassination Classroom is an anime that touches on the heart and soul of the matter. For these characters, victory would be biter sweet, and failure isn’t an option that they can accept. The struggle is as much personal to each character, as it is a group endeavor.
The series is not gigantically long, making it very easy to enjoy. At forty-seven episodes and an OVA, there’s enough content to dive deep into many of the characters, while keeping the plot fairly tight.
This is where I leave it for now. The rest is up to you. If you want to watch Assassination Classroom, you can do that on the Funimation and Hulu…
This has been Kernook of the Demented Ferrets…
“Where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course…”
The Demented Ferrets…
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Hey everyone, it’s Kern here. I just wanted to highlight some series I’m looking forward to in this new anime line-up. The winter season made big promises, but in some ways a few series just couldn’t live up to the hype (Promised Neverland I’m looking at you).
Then there were shows with the hype that still contained a few scheduling kerfuffles. Seriously, Cells at Work and Cells at Work: Code Black were both aired in the winter season, and that was just too much. I haven’t gotten around to Cells at Work: Code Black because I just didn’t have the time to dive into it.
A few very dishonorable mentions and profound levels of idiocy aside, there is no question that the winter season gave us some very good shows. New anime and sequel fodder alike had this season bursting at the seams with compelling content. Depending on what your tastes in anime are, you could probably find something in your wheelhouse.
The problem could be for a hard core anime fan, there was almost too much to pick from. For example, I dropped Dr. Stone entirely because it couldn’t keep my interest the way that other series did. That’s not a slight to the franchise, and I might pick it up again later. It’s just that for me there was other compelling content to watch.
That said, I’ve always known that for me spring, summer, and fall would contain the bulk of my interests this year.
Before I get into that though, I wanted to give a brief nod to the anime Wonder Egg Priority for surprising the absolute crap out of me. It was a series I went into tentatively, but I’m so glad I did. It was far deeper and more complex than I could have ever initially given it credit for.
I had an idea of what the show was going for, but I thought it might end up convoluted, or perhaps too convoluted for it’s own narrative ambition. It proved me wrong on so many levels. I had to watch the series twice, merely because the narrative it tries to tell has merit in re-watching it. I wouldn’t say that the series is perfect by far. Still, highly enjoyable though.
So, kudos to Wonder Egg Priority, for not being the mindless drivel I presumed the show would be when it first released. For me it was one of many highlights in the winter season, and honestly I can’t praise it enough.
With that said though, while the winter season was a grab bag of many anime, spring’s line-up has a narrower focus. There aren’t as many highly anticipated series, and I suspect there will be a few sleepers this time around.
So, let’s look at a few shows I’m excited for in the spring seasonal line-up.
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Brief Mentions of Sequles
I don’t want to linger too long on this, but the spring anime line-up has a bunch of sequel fodder as well. Perhaps too much, all things considered. There is only one that I am super excited for, but that said the usual expectations make their appearance.
Zombieland Saga: Revenge will be offering a second season to the pop idol zombie series. On top of that you have the obvious choices such as the final season of Fruits Basket and My Hero Academia: Season 5.
Those series, coupled with the dredges of last season’s holdovers gives us just enough to get by. That being said though, there is one sequel that I think really is worth talking about.
Nomad: Megalo Box Season 2
Megalo Box was by far one of the most enjoyable anime for me back in 2018, and for good reason. The boxing anime had a decent amount of action, but it was the characters that had me coming back for more. I can’t say I’m a fan of boxing, but to me that’s what makes this series so interesting.
Generally, with sports anime, the thing that keeps the viewer most entertained is the confines of the sport itself. Compelling characters are vastly important, sure, but the sport is generally their fixation. This means that if you can’t relate to the character, it can be incredibly hard to relate with them.
I may not be a huge boxing fan, but Megalo Box held my interest due to the struggle of the main protagonist. It was a gritty anime, rough around the edges with animation and a soundtrack to match, and this appealed to me.
The first episode of season two aired earlier this month. Aptly named Nomad: Megalo Box 2, it takes place five years after the events of season 1.
This is one of the anime I was talking about when I said it may be a bit of a sleeper. See, as much as I loved Megalo Box during it’s initial run, and still enjoy it today, that doesn’t seem the case across wider anime fandom. It fell out of discussion rather quickly, all things considered. Almost as if it had been forgotten about and tossed to the side.
I don’t know about you, but I’m actually pretty excited for this anime. The next one on my watch-list list isn’t so
Eden Zero
Every season I pick an anime that I’m incredibly dubious about, and Eden Zero is that anime for the spring line-up. See, I wasn’t a huge fan of Fairy Tail and this series is from the same manga artist. So, needless to say, it was the perfect choice.
Why am I excited about an anime that I fully admit to being skeptical about? Good question, for me it comes down to the challenge. If I complete disregard anime I assume I won’t like, I limit myself in ways I find unsatisfactory.
My dislike of Fairy Tail came from its pacing. I entered into the series late in the game, and trying to slog through the series ended up making it wholly enjoyable. Then again, taking it slow held little merit for me because I had friends heavily invested in the series, which resulted in massive spoilers. In the end, dropping Fairy Tail was a no brainier, because I missed out on what makes such long running series enjoyable for me. Talking about it with my friends are the reason I’d even enjoy such a series in the first place, and lacking that there was no reason for me to continue.
Eden Zero offers that opportunity. Now weather it will hold my attention or not is up in the air. However, the hype my personal friends and I have for the series is enough to make me excited.
There is just one little problem. Netflix has the streaming rights to this thing. Meaning that sadly it’ll be held back from viewers until the season is complete and able to be binge watched. That could be the deal breaker for me depending on how long I have to wait, but I can ride the hype train for now.
So that’s what I looking forward to in this line-up. I need some time to catch up on some holdovers from the winter season, so this is the perfect time for that.
This has been Kernook of The Demented Ferrets…
“Where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course…”
The Demented Ferrets…
To Our Supporters: Thank You!
With your contributions, you make our efforts possible. Thank you for supporting our content.
Patreon Supporters
At the time of this post there are 3 notable contributors.
Demented Minions: Francis Murphy, Josh Sayer, and Andrew Wheal.
The Demented Ferrets 