Rewatching Nightmare Time And Listing Things That Aren't Appreciated Enough (2)

Rewatching Nightmare Time and listing things that aren't appreciated enough (2)

Forever and Always

The fact that at least this version of Hidgens can legal officiate weddings.

Sylvia, seriously, we need to talk about this character more.

The shitty fan metaphor.

Paul refuses to live a life without cheese.

"It's the cheapest place in town without bed bugs, it wasn't rocket science, Ema."

"She doesn't love you!" "WHO KNOWS I JUST MET HIM, HE SEEMS ALRIGHT!"

Corey, on mute, dabbing his eye with a hankie at the ending like he did at the beginning.

Time Bastard

Hidgens is in some way utensiphilic and has somehow had relations with Siri, also, this was enough to make TED uncomfortable.

Jeff being the best Tinky (fight me)

The fact that the future CCRP never considered the fact that people would want to screw a perfectly obedient artificial humanoid that could look like anyone (This might actually be the most unrealistic Hatchetfield thing ever)

Joey's overall extra hammy performance this episode.

Nick's unique ending narration that almost gives the vibe that Tinky is the one telling the story.

Helluva Short 3 review and taking a firm stance

So, I haven't really been involved in the discourse around the helluva shorts, predictably, antis have taken aim at them for using the initially pitched premise more than the main series, what they don't realize is that they exist to further explore that premise in the first place, but more on that later, let's talk about the most recent short which shows this best.

So, Weaboo-boo might be the best HB content since the mid-season special, dead serious. It has a simple premise executed to perfection that explores: A- a unique premise B- worldbuilding and C-character development It's funny, visually great and easily my favorite short so far.

The reason I'm finally taking a stance on this is, frankly, I have zero patience for antis/haters/whatever anymore. I kept my head down when Mission: Antarctica dropped, but I'm not staying quiet anymore.

What's the main argument they make against these shorts? They use the premise that was focused on in the pilot more than the main series, right? Now let's look at why that is. The genesis of HB was a cut premise for an episode of HH where Blitz and Moxxie would've been a bumbling pair of hitmen acting as the episode's villains. Viv decided she wanted to explore the hellaverse beyond HH and used them to do it, but early into developing HB after the pilot realized she'd rather focus on the cast and the worldbuilding of the rings, so she toned the assassinations down and focused more stories in hell. The shorts are a way of exploring premises that she still wants to explore but that would fit or otherwise work as full episodes for one reason or another, whether that be series pacing or general simplicity for the sake of avoiding padded stories.

Vivian found the literal best possible solution to the "identity crisis" of the series, and the people who complained about it the most are practically spitting in her face over it. THAT'S why this blog now has a Vivziepop anti/hater dni rule.

In summary, I loved the short both for what it is and for letting my look past the veil of civility and acknowledge how pointless engaging with the haters is. As for us fans, let's keep eating good on this quality content.

It happens when Bill wins the plushie in the strength test game, Blinky (as the barker) says he's proud, kisses him on the cheek and says he loves Bill

Rewatching Nightmare Time and listing things that aren't appreciated enough (1)

The Hatchetfield Ape-Man

the British accents

Joey staying in character as Konk while muted pre-twist

Hidgens hating the British (seriously, this feels like something we need to talk about more)

"It's hopeless, Ted. You never learned how to yes-and!"

Jeff portraying Chumby as an actual ape-man by putting on a fuzzy vest that matches his hair color

Watcher World

Watcher World has a snack literally called eye candy, I want it.

All of Blinky's park characters, just, they're all so good.

Blinky's sniggles living in pure agony even compared to other sniggles.

The Papa Sniggle glasses.

Quiplash being described as a teen aphrodisiac

Madam Iris gets a distinct mention from the other park characters.

Blinky taking a moment aside from his murder plot to kiss Bill and tell him he loves him.

barker!Blinky being the objectively best Blinky voice.

"And Blinky can't stand this contrived sappy-dappy bullshit!" <- me when I'm watching something and no one's died in a while

James miming the gooey blood gushing from Blinky's wound.

Assigning Starkids to Spooky Month characters

Kevin - Jon Matteson

Dexter Erotoph - Jeff Blim

Michelle Erotoph - Jaime Lyn Beatty

Patty Azure - Mariah Rose Faith Casillas

Jack - Corey Dorris

Rick Hedony - Dylan Saunders

Jaune - Lauren Lopez

Aaron - Joey Richter

Costume Guy - James Tolbert

Ignacio - Curt Mega

Radford - Jae Hughes

Carmen - Kim Whalen

Rewatching Nightmare Time and listing things that aren't appreciated enough (3)

Jane's A Car

the opening music video, most of them are at least a little underrated, but this one is both a banger and hilarious

Jeff's literature professor character, who, as far as I'm concerned, after his treatment became the principal of Hachetfield High

All the double entendre in the first half of the story

The "Intimate" joke at the start, and also Paulkins

Call back to Santa Claus Is Goin' To High School

Tom actually gets it on with his possessed car, I know that's he joke, but we really should take a moment to process this fully.

The car puns from both Tom and Jane ("behind my back seat", "drives me crazy")

For that matter, the whole plot is a backseat driver joke

The way Jamie and Kim did that last line

The Witch In The Web

Pamela is an awful person but I commend her choice in men

The fact that the mantra of the Hachetmen is literally Sam Reimi's three laws of horror

Wiley's jacket is stolen from one of the alternate timeline Holloway's he's murdered

Willabella's monster form is likely a reference to the other mother from Coraline

The credits track is basically a distrack Webby wrote for her brothers

Why I, as a Serbian Starkid fan, DESPISE the messaging of Black Friday

So, let me get something straight right off the bat, I'm not saying Black Friday is a bad musical, it isn't, but it has a message that, as far as I'm concerned, is outright factually wrong and delivers it an a maddeningly heavy handed way.

The Serbian part comes from the fact that my cultural background also means that I love Capitalism more than life itself, to the point where I starting to non-ironically consider it my religion.

So, the whole idea of Black Friday is what you have doesn't truly impact what makes you happy and ultimately isn't worth nearly as much as society says. The classic "money can't buy happiness" horse shit I'm sick to death of.

No, money doesn't buy you happiness, it's a symbol of the choice that you, as a participant of a Capitalistic system by the way, have in what you own and for what reason. In other words, money is how you get things, which enable you to have a broader range of experiences for both yourself and the people you care about.

Ironically, a plush toy might actually be the best example of why CAN in effect buy happiness. A plushie is something harmless and pleasant that can provide a physical sense of comfort for a child, help them develop when used in play, help build a parent-child bond, and as time passes, it becomes a monument to all the positive experiences had with it.

The second message is a slight undercurrent of "if you don't go out of your way to do good, you're doing bad", sure the show doesn't say it, but the way they handle Linda and Sherman makes this stance clear. This is another example where my upbringing in Serbian culture exposes how wrong the message is, ultimately, your money, time and possessions are yours (so long as you live in a Capitalist system and actually own your property and ability to work) and so long as your staying in the confines of the law, you are doing no wrong and no one has the authority to justify making you feel guilty about it.

That one scene where Becky complains about Linda buying a spot in line makes my blood boil, if I could, I'd jump into Hachetfield and puree the sanctimonious nurse bitch's sanctimonious nurse bitch skull with by bear hands.

The common thread with both these issues is that it assume that the warm tingly feeling ideas are the right ones, but what's nice isn't necessarily good or smart. And as a result of this the characters it uses to represent the stances it disagrees with end up being the ones with more texture to their characters and the ones I get more interested in.

This is why the message of Black Friday amounts to a polished turd, the show does a very good job of presenting it's message, but that doesn't change the fact that said message is just a bad one that doesn't hold up to the scrutiny of being applied in real life.