#im still hyperfixating

But I've been thinking. This child's father drank himself to death. And who knows what happened to Willy's mom. I don't remember her being mentioned at all. And then his uncle just disappears. What a crap hand to be dealt.

I don't think it excuses his behavior. He could very well be a born psychopath. But it certainly reinforces the idea of generational trauma. Which is amplified in Willy. Because his behavior is affecting all of these families (and the Doodler), not just his own. His desire to live forever is now impacting Scary. And I'm fully convinced that he intends for her to die so that he can live.

(Side note: Isn't the Doodler his patron? I don't think someone would have to have a great relationship with their patron for it to work, but I wouldn't think he'd be able to actively work against them either... What is his relationship to the Doodler???)

Buckle in folks, this is gonna be a long one. But I've been wanting to analyze the lyrics of both opening themes for awhile. So here we go.

The lyrics of both themes have been posted below under my thoughts. I chose to use the acoustic version of Alright because there are more verses to look at.

The first thing that stands out to me, is how hopeful both themes are, but in very different ways. "Alright" has an adult hopefulness. An understanding of the world. "On My Way", on the other hand, definitely has a teen vibe. It's a bit cynical, but still hopeful.

"Alright" feels like the ultimate optimist. Everything, no matter how bad it gets, will be alright. Admittedly, "Alright" also feels somewhat delusional. There's both this embrace of bad things happening "even if you die", but a repeat of "it'll be alright" over and over again. Not everything is alright all the time. But maybe the point is that this is the adult taking the long view. Eventually, even after my life ends, it'll be alright. I guess I appreciate the delusion. Even though I "used to read between the lines" and see the problems, "They never made me frown" because we can push forward in spite of the problems. I think it's great to have that optimism, even if it doesn't always feel true.

Another line is "all you do is try", again showing how the emphasis of the theme is pushing forward and how the hardships will eventually work themselves out. You fall down and you pick yourself up the best you can. Seeing the bad things can't and won't ruin your optimism.

"On My Way" has a different hopeful vibe. Like, yeah, things are screwed up, but I'm going to change it. I'm going to make it better. The refrain of "not today" feels like it has 2 meanings. One that things aren't going to get better today. But also a cry of "not today", like this isn't going to happen on my watch. I'm going to make this better. The previous generation fucked us, so now we're going to fix it.

The refrain of "no one knows us better than ourselves" is the line that really make me feel like this is about teens. Of course teens would feel like no one understands them. The "used to tell myself it'll be alright/Pretty lies let me sleep at night" lines call out the deluded nature of the first theme directly. It's not alright. We're living in a Doodlerized world. Our lives have been whisked away. We don't get to live the way we want. The kiddads don't get to raise children in the world they thenselves were born into.

"Beg steal and borrow/break what we can't change" is another line that I love. It's like the teens saying, "We're going to do this our way," and break away from what came before. The previous generation screwed it up and their solution sucks, so let's fix this.

"I don't need your sorrow/come back tomorrow/I"ll be on my way" is the hope of this theme. Despite a more cynical view of the world, there is still hope. We *will* fix it. Maybe not today, but eventually. Then, the second verse about loving the dark and holding their fears is interesting. They're not afraid of the things in the dark. They don't look away from them.

On the patreon, Max and Freddie talk about the evolution of the second theme. If I remember correctly, one change they talked about that I find interesting is that they went from "We'll be on our way" to "I'll be on my way". It highlights the isolation and loneliness of teens, who often feel misunderstood. Over the course of this season, we've seen these individuals make individual choices. I'm excited to see them progress as a team and start to make decision as a team. But they aren't there yet.

At the end of the day, we have 2 themes about hope and moving forward. From 2 different perspectives on life. Neither of them wrong, necessarily. Just different. I'm excited to see how this theme of hope plays out in this season. It certainly seems like the kiddads don't have that hope. I look forward to the catharsis of them finding that hope again, through their kids. Because it will be alright. Just not today.

Alright (Acoustic)

There was a time when you could read between the lines

You know they never brought you down

never brought you down.

There wasn’t a box and you weren’t thinking anyway,

So you never brought you down, you never brought you down.

And I know, I know, I know It’s gonna be alright!

Yeah, it’s gonna be alright,

It’ll be alright ‘cause that’s just life,

Even if you die It’ll be alright.

It’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be alright

It’ll be alright ‘cause that’s just life

All you do is try and It’ll be alright.

There was a time when you could read between the lines,

You know they never got you down, never got you down.

And all of the times that you fell flat upon your face

You know it never made you frown, picked it up off the ground

And I know, I know, I know it’s gonna be alright!

Yeah, it’s gonna be alright,

It’ll be alright ‘cause that’s just life,

Even if you die It’ll be alright.

It’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be alright It’ll be alright ‘cause that’s just life

All you do is try and It’ll be alright

Yeah, it’s gonna be alright, It’ll be alright ‘cause that’s just life,

Even if you die It’ll be alright.

It’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be alright It’ll be alright ‘cause that’s just life

All you do is try and It’ll be alright.

There was a time when you could read between the lines

You know they never brought you down,

they never brought you down

On My Way

All our days

Whisked away

Or is there something 

More to say

You know that no one knows us better than ourselves

Used to tell myself it'll be alright

Pretty lies let me sleep at night

I know that no one knows me better than myself

And I know I'll get this right

Just a matter of time til we

make it out alive

Alive

We gotta pick ourselves up and say

not today, no, not today,

We live for tomorrow,

beg steal and borrow

break what we can't change

We gotta pick ourselves up and say

not today, no, not today,

I don't need your sorrow

come back tomorrow

I'll be on my way

Of all the places

In our hearts

why do we so love the dark

Every minute every hour every day

Are all these fears

Mine to hold?

I can feel them in my bones

You know I wish we didn’t feel so all alone

We gotta pick ourselves up and say

not today, no, not today,

We live for tomorrow,

beg steal and borrow

break what we can't change

We gotta pick ourselves up and say

not today, no, not today,

I don't need your sorrow

come back tomorrow

I'll be on my way

I'll be on my way

We gotta pick ourselves up and say

not today, no, not today,

We live for tomorrow,

beg steal and borrow

break what we can't change

We gotta pick ourselves up and say

not today, no, not today,

I don't need your sorrow

come back tomorrow

Favorite quote: Ron: "That's such a coincidence, we just came from a city *laughter* We just came from a city where a pyramid killed hundreds and hundreds of people."

Favorite moment: Ron. Everything with Ron this episode is great.

General thoughts:

The intro for this episode is fun, with Ron writing in his journal. I wonder if Beth named the frogs Richard and Maggie after Richard Harris and Maggie Smith. I know she has made some Harry Potter references in the past, and this was the first thing I thought of. But who knows, she could have just picked the names at random.

I love the whole level up conversation. And I'm glad they did it at level 3, because lots of cool things start to happen with character classes. I wish that they would have this conversation more often. As a person who plays D&D, leveling up is a lot of fun, and it's really interesting to me to hear about how classes that I don't play experience leveling up.

The entire Birkenstock conversation is also very funny. Lots of fun stuff right at the beginning of this episode.

This episode is really interesting because it's the first one where not a whole lot happens, but a lot of interesting things get set up. I think it is really important when the characters stop for a moment and process things that happen in earlier scenes and episodes. Also, we get the birth of Odyssey-san and the introduction of the Library (and subsequently Scam Likely), which is really fun. I think the idea of a character who carries around tons of books is a great way of getting exposition out and helping out the players in a diagetic way, while still giving them agency in the types of books they choose. (And it's great that there are some moments where they get books and then don't read them - like I don't think they ever read the monster book about "dick magic".) We also fully get Cern in the party and the introduction of Lizardboy Scales McStuffins.

(Side note: Some of the sentences that I type about this show are utterly ridiculous.)

The entire interaction with the purple robed figure is interesting, because I don't think there was enough characterization for any of the granddads for this to feel like a particular person. They don't seem chill enough to be either Barry or Bill, and doesn't seem mean enough to be Willy either. It's okay that Anthony hadn't quite figured it out yet, but it is interesting going back and listening to this old stuff again when stuff hadn't quite been figured out.

Even though there's not a ton of action in this one, I think it gives us some great character moments, and helps flesh out the world. The "five- footers" are some of my favorites.

Favorite quote: The entire Henry rapping moment.

Favorite moment: The moment when Henry is trying to have a side conversation in the car, and Darryl rolls down the window and tells Glenn that Henry has something to share with him.

General thoughts:

This episode is very fun, but I have a very hard time re-listening to this first arc of the podcast. I don't know why, but it's not as fun and satisfying as the middle and end of the show with the dads trying to get their anchors.

The intro was fun to listen to, even though I don't fully get the reference on that one. But it does generally feel like a radio talk show scenario.

Everything about Henry's rap album and how that leads to Rocks Rock is wonderful, because Rocks Rock is one of my favorite things that this show has put out.

I also love how they spend so much time creating this plan for how they're going to get into the Red Brand hideout, and how it all absolutely goes to shit. Listening back on this now, it really reminds me of the whole plan to scam the mayor that we just saw in episode 32 of season 2.

I also thought the ending on this one was a little weird. I didn't remember them ending this mid- combat. It works just fine as an end, but it feels a little awkward.

Overall, this is a fine episode, and definitely some good laughs to be had, but not one of my favorites.

Each family line gives us different lessons.

The Wilsons: Lessons in Avoidance (this one was the hardest, because it doesn't quite fit, but couldn't think of a better theme)

The Oaks: Lessons in Anger (minus Hilde)

The Streep/Close/Swifts: Lessons in Hubris

Favorite quote: Ron: "I'm not saying you should be intimidated, I'm just saying that your job might not be here if you don't come back with that axe. Oh, and the Christmas party has been canceled."

Favorite moment: Everything with Harrelson. From him being charmed to then being intimidated by Darryl and Ron.

General thoughts:

I haven't listened to Hardcore History, so the intro, while funny, doesn't connect with me in the same way it might with someone else.

Then, the Dad facts. Here's the intro to Darryl's favorite day being tax day. This is just a funny running gag that I love that gets brought up. We also get the interesting, yet out of continuity, dad fact about Henry Sr. who spanked either Lark or Sparrow.

Then, the episode itself. This one, much like the episode before, is just okay for me. It's got some fun combat, and some silly goofs, but is definitely not my favorite. I think one of the most interesting things that happens with this episode is just how many times all of the players crit fail. It definitely makes for some interesting storytelling.

The Battle Axe of Hatred is a cool weapon, for sure. One of the things that I love about things related to Glenn and Nick is the metal rock and roll shit. That's some of my favorite stuff, that I don't think I fully appreciated the first time I listened through the podcast. I've always had a hard time connecting with Glenn, but I think on this round through, it's the rock and roll coolness that I'm connecting with the most.

Not a bad episode, to be sure, but another one that's not one of my favorites. I am excited to re-listen to the Battle of the Bands coming up in the next episode though.

Thoughts:

This is one of my favorite things. I've now listened to it all the way through four times and I'm sure I will listen to it more. If you are able financially to join Patreon, you can have access to all three episodes of this at the lowest level. And it is totally worth it.

I love the horror aspect of this. Horror is one of my favorite genres, and I think this does a wonderful job of being creepy and funny, and wonderfully descriptive, even though it's in an audio medium. I am amazed every time I listen to this just how much I'm able to picture in my mind.

It serves as a really wonderful prequel to the whole show as well. I won't spoil anything here, but I love how this ties in to the main show and helps explain some things.

Highly highly recommend this one if you're able to get access to it.