Last year I made a post about my father being diagnosed with cancer. Since then my posts on here have been very sporadic as was helping my mother help take care of my father and helping him had been my number one priority for this past year. On December 9, my father lost his fight with cancer, but we were able to give him his final wish of not dying in hospital and he left us at home surrounded by family and love.
My dad was a hard working man all his life that enjoyed the simple pleasures life had to bring. He loved his family, friends and his football team. A die hard Fremantle Dockers fan he was, a whole corner dedicated to them in his man shed out back. He enjoyed simple plain old fashioned food and it always made him smile when I made a Sunday roast for himself and me.
I want to return to blogging properly in 2020 and make a real go of it. 2019 has been one hell of a shit year for me and my family, but if there is one lesson my father instilled in me it is this. You have to take it one day at a time no matter how hard or easy life is, you have to keep moving forward and work for what you want because no one is going to hand it to you.
We all have that one show, that we adored as a child. That one show that was our go to cartoon that no matter what kind of day we had the moment you sat down and watched that show you would instantly smile and laugh. For my siblings growing up it was Rugrats but for me it was Rocko’s Modern Life.
It was the first TV show I ever said to myself this is my favourite show, and it was this show that helped shaped my sense of humor as a child. It’s also one of those brilliant cartoons that if you go back and watch it as an adult, you get all the jokes you never got as a kid and wonder ‘How the fuck did they get that past the censors?’. That being said I am disappointed that the series DVD boxsets I have sitting on my shelf have certain milking scenes removed. A scene I remember seeing as a kid I might add.
Needless to say, when it was announced that there would be a movie I was beyond ecstatic. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. I was beginning to think this movie would never get released, then it was announced that both Rocko’s Modern Life and Invader Zim Enter the Florpus were coming to Netflix and I was really happy to hear this because I don’t have access to Nickelodeon to watch anymore. Friday the 8th of August 2019 at roughly 1:30 am in the morning because I had trouble sleeping that night I watched Static Cling because it was up and I absolutely loved it!
If you loved this show back in the 90’s you owe it to yourself to go watch it now before reading the rest of this post, because from this point on there will be spoilers galore for Static Cling and it is a must watch for any 90 kids for more than it being a cartoon reboot done right.
A lot of reboots of old series could learn a lot from Rocko’s Modern Life Static Cling which grew with its audience without alienating a new audience from what makes this show so great!
The main driving theme of Rocko’s Modern Life Static Cling is one of change, acceptance and nostalgia. Rocko, Heffer, Filbert and Spunky have been away from not just O-Town but the Earth since we last saw them fly away on a rocket into space.
They have been away for twenty years and thanks to cartoon logic they have survived and not aged. Though the house does look a little dilapidated. Then they finally find a way to get home only to find, the world has moved on without them and they are not in the 90’s anymore. Heffer, Filbert and Spunky all seem to embrace the new modern world, Rocko however is hit with severe culture shock with how much everything has changed and he does not like it.
Especially when he finds out he can no longer watch his favourite TV show The Fatheads anymore. Wanting to recapture the nostalgia of his past to escape from the stresses of his new modern life, Rocko and his friends go on a journey to find the creator of the show Ralph Bighead in hopes of a reboot of their favourite show.
When they find the creator of their favourite show they learn more has changed than they could have thought. After many years of soul searching and a life changing decision Ralph is now Rachel and has finally found happiness in their life and this is a beautiful and positive lesson in change that is a brilliant move for modern audiences and it is great that we now live in a day and age where LGBTQ+ stories can be told in not just media, but children’s media.
Long running fans of the show will notice that as Rachel, she smiles and is a lot more comfortable in herself than she ever was as Ralph Bighead. There was always a frustrated sadness about Ralph and now we know why, even if this character’s growth was not originally planned for this character from the start. But one could say the same for people as well.
This is a story that the creators behind the show could have never done on a kids show back in the 90’s, this is a story that could only be made in the current decade . The creators of the special went above and beyond in making this story a reality because they not only told this story but they also sought out advice from GLAAD. To those reading this post who do not know who GLAAD are they are an LGBTQ+ positive group that through helping media creators helps shape modern media into a platform that that can tackle the hard issues within the LGBTQ+ community within media and make it a more positive experience for everyone involved while tackling the tough issues with dignity and respect. And they tackle the story of Rachel and her transition in this special exceptionally well.
It’s all well and good that Rachel get’s accepted for her change from Rocko and her friends right off the bat and you see just how grateful for that she it, but if everyone had accepted this change right away it would have made the story very unrealistic. I have friends within the trans community and though although all there stories of self acceptance and discovery are different one thing they have all had in common is that one person in there life that finds it hard to accept this change. Whether it be a family member or friend they have all spoken of that one person in their lives that does not accept and I am so happy that they incorporated this part of the trans experience into the story. I am also so very happy that though they could have easily done so they do not turn the character who does not accept Rachel’s change right away into the villain of the story.
Those who are familiar with Rocko’s Modern Life will know that Ed Bighead never had the best relationship with his only child, from not accepting his career choice and seeing him as a family embarrassment it does not come as a surprise that he does not imitatively accept Rachel’s change. Coming from an older generation this change is hard for him to accept, but spoiler alert in realizing that he has not lost his child and that changing gender has not changed the person his child is Ed in the end does learn to embrace Rachel for who she is.
A final lesson is seen after all this at the end of the special that comes from Rocko which feels like a lesson to the fans watching and is worth discussing here. When Rocko does get his show back, he is unhappy with the changes Rachel brings to the reboot. Changes that allow her as a creator chose to add to the show for new story opportunities. Rocko is not happy with this change though and becomes that demanding fan who is not happy to see ‘their’ favourite show return but not be the same.
As fans sometimes we can become too demanding of the shows we love but we need to remember at the end of the day, we are not the creators of these works and it is from the wonderful minds of these creators that we get these awesome shows we love so much.
Change is a good thing. Social norms and what is socially acceptable change over time. Does this make as bad people because we enjoyed something in the past that is not socially acceptable now? Of course not, it just means that times change and we can either learn with that change or live in nostalgia. Nostalgia can be a great escape and can help us learn from our past but we do not live in the past we live in the here and now.
Rebooting an old property for either new fans or old can be a double edged sword. Sometimes we get something brilliant and special like what we have here with Rocko’s Modern Life Static Cling and Samurai Jack the final season which reunite old fans with new. Sometimes we get shows that old fans will despise because it is so different from the previous work that we end up feeling cheated even if the newer generation end up loving the new show like with Teen Titans Go and the new Powerpuff Girls series, but having these new versions of old series we use to love does not change the version we use to love it just introduces it in a new way to a new generation and there is nothing stopping us from sharing what we loved with a new generation.
This quote from Jim Gordon in the very first episode of Gotham to Bruce Wayne, it has resonated with me throughout these last few months. These months have been some of the toughest emotionally and mentally for me in my entire life and I know moving forward things are going to get a lot more painful and a lot harder and that nothing will ever be the same again – like how things were before my father’s diagnosis – but as cold as it might sound to write, that’s life. It can give you some of the most wonderful moments but there will always be painful moments as well. If everything was good all the time then well, those happy moments would not matter as much as they do.
There are many ways people cope with a hard situation and I will admit I am not a person without my vices. When the news hit last year I bottled everything up for a long time and for a time I was drinking at night time to ‘take the edge off’ as I was telling myself. Just a couple of drinks in the evening to help me sleep, to numb me from what was going on around me.
This only lasted a week, because all this did was make me feel miserable and I needed to be strong for those around me and when I stood back and was honest with myself I came to realize I was becoming someone I did not want to be. I needed a distraction so I chose a show I knew I liked on Netflix and I binged it once again. I was already a fan of Gotham before all this stuff with my family began, but this time upon viewing the show, I latched onto something I did not before and to put it bluntly Gotham over the last few months has become an obsession that has kept me going.
I have been part of countless fandoms over the years, some good and admittedly a lot of them bad – and I mean bad to the point where I am a fan of the show, but refuse to have anything to do with the fandom side of things (Hannibal being a big one for this), but Gotham’s fandom is one of the most welcoming and friendliest fandoms I have ever been a part of. Even the shipping side of things is very civil, heck I have even made friends within the fandom that have helped me through these past couple of months.
There is something about the world of this show that dragged me and so many others in. It’s stories though fantastical still have a grounded reality in them that has kept me hooked. So I just want to say a big thank you to the creators, cast and staff behind Gotham and and even bigger thank you to the amazing fan community around this show.
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Every single year without fail, since I bought my copy of V for Vendetta on DVD on November the fifth no matter what I am going through I will put this movie on, because the message of this movie is something that still stands strong with me. The following post is not a review of the movie, at this point I do not think I could write an unbias review of the movie because of how ingrain the movie is within me at this point. Instead, I want this to be a discussion of the movie and what it means to me.
There are two comic book movies in my top ten favorite movies of all time, or at least they would be there if I ever made the list. These movies are Watchmen and V for Vendetta. Don’t get me wrong I love a good comic book action movie but these two movies stand out the most to me because they speak to me on more than an enjoyment level. They make me think. In Watchmen and spoilers ahead if you have not seen the movie we get a story asking one simple question. Who polices the police? Are those who protect really as righteous as we believe them to be? Do they deserve to be placed up high on the pedestals we put them on? And lastly, does the world really end if the bad guy wins? V for Vendetta has a similar message with its story in that it asks the question, can a villain be the hero we need?
V for Vendetta is a movie that there is in no way in hell would get made today. There is no way a comic movie would be made in the post 9/11 world that glorifies a terrorist as a visionary, a hero or a savior for the people. Especially in this world that we have created for ourselves today. We have created a world in the past decade where people do not stand up and question, without the approval of masses in some way, shape or form and we are creating a world and generation that is full of wimps and wusses who want to see change in the world around them, for the simple fact that they want a world where their little feelings do no get hurt.
The story found within the movie for V for Vendetta has a message that to me has more value today in 2018 than it ever did back in 2005. The citizens in the England depicted in V live in a world where the news lies to them (hmm sounds kinda like this fake news we keep hearing about today, does it not?) a government that the people are scared of because there is a madman in charge (you can pick from many different countries around the world to see the similarities here) and those who speak up and try to initiate change well it turns out they are not the kind of people you should idolize, in fact, they are criminals whose own moral judgment is far from perfect.
‘Artists use lies, to tell the truth’. These seven words in this very sequence speak to me on so many levels, countless times within this blog I have written review after review after review of stories with hard subject matter to swallow. Stories that deal with abuse, rape, torture and so much more of the harshness found in this world and though none of these stories to my knowledge have been ‘true stories’ and therefore could in a sense like all fiction be considered a lie for the sake of entertainment, there is a level of truth to these stories and the writers behind these ‘lies’ are sharing truths of this world with the reader. They are giving us the opportunity to talk about these otherwise taboo or unreachable subjects in everyday conversation. In fact the latest chapters of Killing Stalking has opened up a chance to talk about another form of abuse that is very rarely talked about and you can be sure I will be talking about it here soon, though I am going to wait till the end of the current season before I open that brand new floodgate as I am very curious as to where Koogi is taking the story.
You are a more complicated and fleshed out character than I ever gave you credit for Sangwoo
I had been looking forward to this event since the beginning of the year, see I live in a small country town so when we have an event the whole town comes out and we all have a lot of fun. Also a little fact you my reader might not know about me is I have a huge love for classic cars, especially hot rods and classic Fords. This event was the All Australian Car Show so I got to see some beautiful vehicles and I am going to share some of my favourite pics from the day with you guys!
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It was a really cool couple of hours out with my Dad. I do not get to spend a lot of one on one time with my Dad so I really enjoyed this day out.
It will be another week until I finish my review of Papa to Kiss in the Dark that you all voted for on twitter, but I didn’t want to go a Sunday without a post so I thought I would write about the anime series this season that has resonated with me the most. This will not be a review of Sanrio Boys as I want to write a proper one once the series comes to an end and it’s not a first impression either, but there was a theme throughout the show that has resonated so much with me that I just really wanted to write about it because in a way it is a theme I want to teach others through my posts on Yaoi Playground and that theme is ‘To Never Be Ashamed of Your Passions’!
Now I will admit after watching the trailer for Sanrio boys last year I was intrigued and a little cautious, I honestly thought this was just a cash in for sanrio to advertise there products and cash in on the recent growing popularity of anime aimed at a fujoshi audience, which has seen a large increase in the last five years from what I have seen and a part of me believes this had to do with how successful Free! was when it first came out. Since the release of Free! I have seen more anime aimed at our audience. Some of it really good and some of it is really really crap. The worse in my opinion being Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! which I have put off reviewing because that would mean I would have to finish the series and I shudder at that thought. (maybe if the blog reaches 1000 followers I might put myself through the torture and review if for you guys, but that is a big maybe)
I would rather sit through Legend of Duo than this show
But Sanrio Boys instantly got my approval by the end of it’s first episode which depicted one of the main characters being ashamed of his love for Pompompurin a golden retriever puppy character from sanrio that looks like a pudding, after all boys are not suppose to like this kind of thing, but you know what this made me think of? It made me think back to something that started in 2010 that started something quite mysterious around the internet. 2010 saw the premier of the reboot of My Little Pony with Friendship is Magic and 2011 saw the beginning of the phenomenon known as the brony. This freaked out a lot of people and fans got accused of being a lot of horrible things. From being immature and needing to grow up, not being manly because they liked something so girlie and at worse were put in the same boat as sexual predators and pedophiles because the only reason they must be interested in something like My Little Pony they must be into things with kids. That is what society thought of them because this was not a normal thing for grown men to be into. Now I can not say there was and sadly is not a small amount of the bad part in the brony fandom especially with recent news of a prominent brony being accused as a predator, but I also want to say this. You can not judge the actions of one and judge the whole group for the actions of that one person. If you want to see a really good analysation of the rise of the bronies and why it became so popular I highly recommend checking out the documentary The Brony Chronicles by Youtuber Sabrespark and not just because it is about My Little Pony but also because it explores many fascists of what it means to be a fan and part of a fandom.
You would not call DustyKatt unmanly would you? After all he is the manliest of bronies
This might come a surprise my readers, but for the longest time I was ashamed of my love for all things yaoi, or to be exact the anime fans I had interacted with offline made me feel ashamed of liking yaoi, rumors even began to spread that has interest in some very inappropriate behaviors simply because I was a yaoi fan. At the peak of all this negativity towards me from other anime fans, someone spread a rumor that I was into little boys. A thought that absolutely disgusted me. The worse part about this came years later when talking to some new friends I had made outside the original group of anime fans I use to hang out with. Those rumors about me had come from a fellow yaoi fan in the group, someone I thought was my friend. You get in fighting and bitching in a lot of fandoms not just the big ones, it happens in the smaller niche communities as well. However I was not going to let what happened between me and those people change my mind on something I loved. My outlook on the fandom might have changed, but the genre, the manga and the anime I loved had not.
As long as you are not hurting anyone or sharing inappropriate material with younger members in a group, there is no shame in loving your passions. I love all sorts of different things. From the Anita Blake book series (my favorite non yaoi related book series) to Transformers and yes of course Yaoi. Sanrio Boys shares the message of never being ashamed of what you love and it is a message I can definitely get behind!
I want to give a big thank you to Steph of Two Happy Cats for nominating me for this tag, though it does have me slightly worried for you see, you will learn more about my weird tastes in my anime men and remember I warned you it will get weird near the end of this post.
The Rules
Mention the name of the blog you were tagged by, as well as the creators of this game Realweegiemidget Reviews and Thoughts All Sorts to all blogs involved and including the picture above.
List five of your greatest hotties from TV and/or film, i.e. crushes/objects of your affection, including musicians or sports stars too.
Tell us how you were introduced to them and why you like them/what appeals.
Add some appealing pictures.
Tag seven bloggers for their Five Flaming Hotties.
Post the rules.
Mistress of Yaoi’s Yummy Harem!
Well let’s start things off on the tamer side of things before things get…. weird I suppose might be the right word for it…
Victor Nikiforov – Yuri on Ice!!!
Every single time Viktor was on screen, my fangirl heart would flutter there is a mysterious innocence to his character that just drew me in. He is a famous living legend but it does not seem that has gone to his head as he came across as very down to earth which is very appealing, there is no bigger turn off to me is someone who is up themselves though for the sake of a harem their will be some men who break that rule because this is my fantasy after all, also out of all the guys in the harem Viktor would be the one I go out with to have fun!
Katze – Ai no Kusabi
Now Katze only has a very minor role within both anime adaptations of Ai no Kusabi but in the light novels he is one cunning and amazing character and is my favorite character in the whole franchise. Plus you see if Mistress was to have her very own harem, well I would want a loyal servant that would serve as a butler and there is no character I would want more for that role than Katze.
Kotetsu T. Kaburagi – Tiger and Bunny
Kotetsu is the kind of guy that sticks by his morals, even if that is the hardest thing to do in a world when justice can come at the price of fame and fortune and is in my opinion very very easy on the eyes.
Seto Kaiba – Yugioh
My first anime crush, he had to be on this list. He has power, he has money and he has a softer side that he only seems to show to his beloved little brother. Seto had to fight the world to get where he is in the world, it wasn’t handed to him on a silver platter and that is pretty damn awesome. Also this goes without saying but this is for the Seto in the original anime and not the one in Yugioh Abridged…
Starscream – Transformers Prime
Yep… now this one is going to get a little weird but yes this is a serious choice. He has my favourite voice actor behind his voice that makes me melt. Some call him a coward I call him calculating and well I really really like those heels. This one is a very personal choice for me that delves into my connection with the yaoi side of the transformers fandom. Yes you read that right, the yaoi side of the transformers fandom. I am a fan of all iterations of this character but if I had to choose one on looks alone for a harem it would be this one.
I did say I have weird tastes, I mean Kuro-sensei almost made this list but all I would have been able to write for him was tentacles and he makes me laugh…. so let’s just leave him here as an honorable mention shall we…
Now let’s tag some bloggers shall we…… hmm it seems a lot of bloggers I know have already done or already been tagged in this challenge.
In that case I nominate anyone who has not taken part in this challenge to give this a go to share some fun with your followers. After all your choices can not be any more strange than mine right? After all I guess I can now use myself as an example of love what you love no matter what others think!
