#'it's like a fan theory but they aren't saying it happened they're saying

[kawa-goat]

General Thoughts on Buried Secrets (Hello Neighbor)

Not sure if I'd classify this as a rant post or not. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

If some of my points don't make sense, we can discuss it in the comments. It's 1AM by the time I'm writing this post, so forgive me if the text feels all slammered and not cohesive.

Took me a decade to finish it, but the secrets were unburied (like Jay would say).

And holy crap, I have pretty strong feelings about this book.

Okay, it's not that bad, but comparing to the previous two... it felt flat. I don't know how the explain it in more cohesive terms, but it didn't hit the same way the previous two did.

First, I like the ending. Though it ended on a pretty sad note, this is exactly what the Nicky trilogy (it feels surreal to actually type that) was leading up to.

The very prologue of Missing Pieces is a warning for Nicky to stop wandering, else he'd not make home some day. Nicky's character in general is centered around that: wandering.

"Oh, but what happened after he got kidnapped? What about Nicky's friends? How did he escape?"

Questions like this come from a misunderstanding. The books aren't meant to be your introduction to the lore. They're meant to be an additional piece of information, for those that were curious about the world of Hello Neighbor and wanted to know more about the past.

The true story is told in the games. Make no mistake—Hello Neighbor is a gaming franchise. The story originates from the games.

The ending of Buried Secrets is one-to-one with Act 1 for a reason. You're meant to read these books with the knowledge from the games. So that when you read the trilogy, you went: "Oh, so that's how it happened."

At least, this should be in theory. The sad reality is that games just fucking suck in storytelling and gameplay, to the point where the actual plot is shoved aside for other matters. That's why, in most cases for fans, the books act as an introduction to the story of the games, instead of how it should be in the other way around.

This is why Buried Secrets ends in this cliffhanger way. It's a prequel of the games, but it isn't meant to be an introduction. It's meant to be an additional explanation. You can blame the games' lack of quality for this.

Anyway, I liked the ending because it tied up Nicky's wandering arc in a pretty neat way.

... And that's it. That's literally the only thing that I like about this book. Everything else feels forced just to reach this specific ending.

I'm not sure if Carly was forced to make this a trilogy, but either way this definitely harmed the pacing and plot. Every character is written in a specific way that feels a little unrealistic based on the previous books.

See, Nicky is supposed to break into Peterson's house alone, without the help of his friends. Their method of justifying this is by having literally everyone in town suspecting that Nicky was the one behind the weird activities. No matter how illogical that seems.

My biggest complaint is Maritza.

Like, I won't lie that she isn't reasonable at first glance. Maritza is tired of fighting. She wants to move on. She thinks Nicky is changing for worse because of his obsession with the case. This is all understandable.

The problem is, instead of trying to convince him to move on, she would rather believe he did all of this to frame Peterson specifically? Despite knowing what Theodore's capable of, she'd rather believe that her closest friend would lie to everyone just to convince them of something they were already certain (that Theodore is fucking dangerous)?

I get they tried to apologize to Nicky by the end of the book, but it's too little and too late. Yeah, Peterson framed Nicky in an ill-timing, but would Nicky's only friends believe he'd actually do all of this ALONE?

It just doesn't feel natural.

The beginning and middle part of the book is literally Nicky getting kicked around like an abused puppy and being lonely again. The latter chapters, as well as Jay and Lu, kinda hard carries the entire book. Earthpro is not as interesting as it was in Waking Nightmare. And Buried Secrets tries really hard to get you to hate Trinity and Maritza with the "we are changing clubs" thing.

Overall, I wouldn't say It's a bad book, but definitely the weakest and most surreal among the three.

[weirdo-from-bonesborough]

10 or 11 years old. Harry Potter. 7 or 8 years in the trenches :)

so.

i guess fanfiction wasn’t a phase….

[verstappentime]

i posted about this before, but let me (as a journalist irl) elaborate what's likely going on with daniel!!

when no one asked dan about his future during press day last week, we all automatically recognized this was probably the result of an embargo (we have quite a few f1 fans in the newsroom). stranger still that christian horner was in the TP conference and didn't speak on it either. we had expected that combo to make a sort of joint announcement.

so what's an embargo/how does it work?

essentially, it's when a source gives you any information ahead of time, but requests you do not publish anything on it until a certain date and time. this can be done for a lot of reasons. embargoes usually request that you refrain from sharing information from a press release or document.

usually embargoes are put in place so essentially you keep to your time table of when the information becomes "public," but news outlets aren't left scrambling because they have already written their story and have it ready to go live as soon as it's acceptable. in the case of f1 this also applies to instagram posts and things like that. that's why you'll often see the posts go live straight away when an announcement is made; everything's pre-confirmed & pre-written, they're just waiting for the green light.

if you violate an embargo in sports journalism, you'll likely have your credentials to, say, get into the press pen revoked. you/your outlet will no longer receive any privileged information. and you'll likely be asked to take it down. not for any legal reason -- you're just burning a bridge and violating trust. so this info COULD be leaked, but under the honor system, it rarely is. (especially bc if you post embargoed info & ruin your org's reputation with the source, you're probably losing your job.)

so what's going on in DR's case?

most likely, all credible sources have either A) been given the information under an embargo, or B) been told the time they can expect an embargoed press release. (i work with law enforcement, so for me this is usually just something like "you can expect the records to be sent out before dinner time friday night but it will be embargoed till 9 a.m. when they're officially public record.")

either way, everyone has probably been warned off asking those questions, but they also likely already know the answer. whatever they received, even if it doesn't reveal all the cards, most likely said daniel would not answer questions prior to the official release time and essentially, don't bother.

what's up with all the rumors?

essentially, when every credible source has their hands tied, there's no one to counter all the randoms. we see it all the time -- people yapping trading theories when we actually know what happened and can't say. unfortunately in f1 some of the randoms have some sort of name recognition -- and for some reason there are like 500 completely not credible news outlets full of untrue shit. so right now, they are the only people 1) free to bang on with theories and 2) who dont either have the info or know when the info is coming available. so that's allowing them to take up all the space.

conclusion: this isn't necessarily good or bad, but explains why we're hearing so many irrelevant people's opinions on this and not hearing anything from VCARB, daniel or his team. it was most likely done to give preferred sources the jump on announcing the news, but also to allow daniel to focus.

i'm assuming the embargo will be lifted monday morning european time, but we may hear a vague denial this weekend as theres probably some building frustration (like daniel saying yeah you'll see me in COTA or whatever).

[chimggukchim]

But it will not and cannot be what it was before. Because these two have their separate lives now to live as well. Will they involve each other in their big moments? I have no doubt they will. And yes, they might spend time with each other's friends as well because that's how normal friendships work.

uhhh the same thing could literally be said about jikook. they've changed and that's ok, even the entire jikooker space was full of speculation about the "change" after AYS started airing because it was that obvious to everyone that they were different as a duo. Never did I think the same jungkook that planned a whole trip to tokyo and only bought jimin gifts, would in the future not be bothered to show up for jimin's solo work even when asked and that the two hanging out on tour every night together would only see each other because they filmed a travel show. I still think they're important in each other's lives, obviously they find comfort in each other's presence to enlist together which thankfully is exactly why the buddy system exists, but I do think their friendship has changed over time and I think jimin especially (like RM with team RM) leaned on other relationships when he was hurting, feeling depressed, and going through deep stuff. I'm glad jimin was able to find people who really understood him and could help him work through all that during that time. And that's fine too, friendships change over time and fill different needs.

People were really weird about the changes in AYS, making up theories about them breaking up or one being mad at the other or whatever other messy stuff, but I think it was just two friend who hadn't been on camera or seen each other in a while trying to find their footing again. Luckily I think they have the kind of friendship that can find its footing relatively easy, you know like that friend you haven't seen in years, but after a couple hours of chatting its like you're back to your old selves with each other.

I would have agreed with you had it not been for the fact that these takes are completely inaccurate. Nice try. Firstly, I don't know what jikooker space you were in (unless you're just trying to gaslight) but everyone was enjoying the content, celebrating jikook being together and being cute together. Not one jikooker I saw ever said, "Well...jikook are awkward and so clearly they're broke up".

And change? Different? Did we even watch the same content? The only thing different with AYS versus other content was that we were now getting just two members and not seven who could have played off of each other. It's also why the vibe totally changed when Tae came on...because just one more person meant 4 different dynamics to showcase as opposed to one.

Your point on JK not bothering to show up for Jimin at all? Really? Now where, when and how did we come to that conclusion?

Firstly, I don't know how new you are to the fandom but do you know that when Jimin was shooting for Serendipity and recording it, he purposely told the members he didn't want anyone there because it would be awkward for him?

The truth is when it comes to someone's art, sometimes they want to experience it by themselves even though they may have a significant other. Sometimes, it's easier for them to sound off of people not their SO.

But I personally believe that Jimin did share part of his journey with Jungkook - JK was clearly joking around in their Festa dinner when he 'accused' Jimin of sharing his song with others and not him, if the giant a$$ smirk he had on while saying it is anything to go by. He freaking also recorded Letter. Plus, if Jimin didn't reveal in the MiniMoniMusic interview that he, JK and Yoongi had met up, we wouldn't have known it happened. So clearly, these boys all meet many, many times and we just aren't privy.

Just because they don't talk about something publicly with fans does not mean it did not happen.

Jimin and Jungkook did actually see each other during their solo projects, and much more than we would be led to believe.

Next, Jimin, Jungkook, Joon and everybody else in BTS and beyond are in their right to lean on others for support and advice. And clearly they do (everyone has their own little circle of friends apart from the group after all...including jikook) but when did that ever mean they don't also lean on each other?

Here in the real world, a person's significant other isn't their be all end all for comfort, contact and conversation. But they are a big part of it, which I still firmly believe Jikook are for each other.

Because, like you said, they did CHOOSE to enlist together, because of that very same support that you tried to deny they are to each other. Because in no way would they have chosen the hardest route in the military otherwise. It's also a decision they would have made way before AYS was a thing, and during its filming as well.

Anyone who saw the Sapporo leg of their show, which was just weeks from their enlistment, could see the emotion there.

So, thank you for trying to firstly sneak your points in, you know, the 1. Jikook are friends/it's friendship, and 2. They're the same as taekook and changed.

But I'll stick to what I have personally seen, which is, yes, Jikook's relationship has changed over the years - it's just gotten stronger, more intimate, more supportive.

[lookingatacupoftea]

Hive mind, I need help. I'm sure we've talked about this before, but my brain is spinning on it tonight. As always, Occam's razor says that the face value interpretation is the most likely option. But, if we entertain something more unusual (please don't tag or ask Neil about fan theories) --

What is really happening in the lightning scene?

GIF by fuckyeahgoodomens

Here are my issues:

Crowley has big feelings, yes, and he's never very careful about hiding his otherness from humans. But this is such a flashy move to make in public!*

The writing is a bit clunky. Good Omens characters rarely tell us or each other directly how they're feeling, which is how we end up arguing over lines like "You go too fast for me" and "I forgive you." But here he straight up tells us he's angry.

The lightning only hits the coffee shop, no other buildings on the street.

During the lightning, some people on the street appear to be frozen but not everyone*, and Maggie and Nina aren't frozen. Afterward, the crowd walks on, unphased.

The sky brightens back to daytime and Crowley walks on. He does not go to the Bentley. We see the Bentley through the coffee shop window for the rest of the scene where Nina and Maggie discuss being locked in. But the next time we see Crowley, it's dark and the Bentley is parked in the mews.

What I'm suggesting here is that this scene is faked. Crowley is acting, and overacting a bit. To what end?

*These could cancel each other out. Let's say Crowley is genuinely losing his temper, but not enough so that he forgets he needs to momentarily hypnotize humans in the vicinity so they don't see this display. But it doesn't work on everyone because some people on Whickber Street are actually demonic/angelic spies on the hunt for Gabriel.

[purpledemonlilyposting]

Anyway back to Lily. She has helpfully given me another opportunity to give you a preview of what the Dragon Age stream will be like. Finish Inquisition and make your terrible 3rd video already Lily. I finished it in a month doing only 2 streams a week, including The Descent and Trespasser DLCs (and most of Hakkon, I never beat that dragon tho lol.)

[Lily's Post]

Dragon Age: Origins - Lily you played the City Elf origin. You got extra elf ghetto content. Did you miss the entire main story subplot of Loghain allowing Tevinter slavers to kidnap elves from Denerim's alienage under the guise of quarantining people due to a plague? Were you and your wife too busy talking about pointless bullshit over cutscenes to pay attention? Or did you just spacebar hammer your way through? Did you even finish the game?

Dragon Age 2 - Lily you managed to play almost the entire series without realizing the Templars are an arm of the Chantry. That they're a monastic-like order that people are typically recruited into as children. That the Chantry keeps control of them with the lyrium dust that also fuels their magic cancelling powers and will eventually addle their senses like mercury poisoning.

If you think Tranquility is "brainwashing" then... you REALLY weren't paying attention. Making mages that have passed their Harrowing into a Tranquil is actually against Chantry law. Kirkwall's Circle was doing it illegally because it's one of the worst Circles in one of the most violent cities and their Knight-Commander was going insane under the influence of red lyrium. That's not every Circle in the world. No matter what Anders says.

Speaking of Anders... you did finish the game right? You seem to be completely ignoring what was the inciting incident for the conflict boiling over at the end. Don't make me cheat and peek at your video ahead of time, I like reacting to videos blind.

Dragon Age: Inquisition - What the fuck are you even talking about? If you mean the Exalted March on Halamshiral that happened centuries ago in canon. In fact there's so many elves in Halamshiral its more like the entire city is an alienage and the humans wall themselves off.

Or else you're talking about devout Andrastians like Cassandra poking at a Dalish elf about believing in the Maker? Cause only the Dalish aren't Andrastian you know. Most City Elves are. Skill issue either way, my very fiercely Dalish Inquisitor made friends with her. My Quiz didn't even let her stupid egg boyfriend remove her vallaslin.

You haven't even finished the game yet. Of course that hasn't stopped you from writing your script as you go along. And you're clearly not paying attention to the plot if that's your only take away.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Yeah Lily every single critic and fan is complaining about the sanitization of the world in Veilguard because it was cobbled from a disastrous idea of making an MMO out of the series after they cancelled development of a fourth game twice already. It's a miracle we got fucking anything.

I won't pretend I didn't enjoy having every single one of my lore theories validated. And being surprised by a few lore reveals I didn't even see coming. I still enjoyed seeing cities in the north of Thedas we'd only ever heard of. I was very happy to see the Grand Necropolis. Also Emmrich is best girl, best new character in the entire series, 10/10 no complaints, I love Mr. Rogers Vincent Prince.

Dat combat system is still amazing though. Too bad it came at the expense of the writing this time.

[air--so--sweet]

TUA Season 4 Spoilers

I saw my friend today who, I wouldn't say she necessarily ships Lila and Five, but she said she's read them as romantic since last season since she felt they were following the archetypal enemies to lovers plot, and the cheating didn't bother her because she sees that as fitting with the whole idea of the characters being flawed (also she never like Lila and Diego together).

All that said, she is in theory one of the fans that this is written for, and she hated it. She said it's unsatisfying because there's no resolution or conclusion to it. Lila neither reconciles with Diego nor leaves him for Five, and the conflict between Five and Diego goes no where because they don't even really argue, just physically fight and then Lila breaks it up and then they all die.

And I think this brings up and important point, because, a lot of us were never going to be behind Five and Lila, but if fans who were primed to enjoy that storyline, still aren't satisfied, then you've fucked up and written it poorly.

Also, while she wanted Five and Lila to happen, she wanted it to happen because the writers were trying to tell a particular story or they though that was what the characters would do naturally. She didn't want it to happen because Steve Blackman randomly decided Five should have a romance and he's not someone who would date so the only option in the existing cast is Lila.

And I think this one of my biggest issues with this season as a whole, none of the characters have any clear motivations - Klaus relapses because he has his powers again when he doesn't want them, not because he has powers again and so it terrorised by ghosts and can't take it (I mean this would retcon last season but it at least makes sense).

Viktor keeps saying he's fighting for Ben because he's his brother but he's not his brother, they didn't grow up together and they don't really have a relationship. Elliot Page said Viktor will always be in Ben's corner because of what Brelly Ben did for him in Dallas and I love that, but we get no hint of that in the show.

Allison says to Claire she has to save Klaus because that's what she's always done - that's objectively not true. In fact we've seen her actively enable Klaus in the past.

Aidan Gallagher keeps saying Five is lost and adrift, but bar the opening scene where Five talks about this at the Keepers meeting, we see no evidence of that. Show don't tell is one of the most basic tenets of writing, but also they tell us literally once and then don't mention it again (to be clear not blaming the actors for the writing, just saying what they're saying isn't demonstrated on screen).

Ben does what he does because he's controlled by the durango attracting the marigolds, he has no agency.

[pretty-weird-ideas]

This was literally the most harrowing piece of television I have watched in YEARS because it's just a lynching with no strings attached. And then I watched how white fans twisted themselves into knots to make the clear lynching seem like the evidence presented is actually punishable and entirely factual with no agenda attached.

The agenda is "How can we quickly lynch Claudia and Louis and make it a spectacle?", that's it, the information presented is all there to push the coven's agenda. If propaganda helicoptered itself on your face, you people still wouldn't get it.

"What they said about Louis is actually correct. He's unreliable as a narrator and we're finally getting his comeuppance." What about a lynch mob seems like a reliable source of information?

Quickly now! What about a clear metaphor for a lynching gives you the vibe of "unbiased information told to the audience that we should take to heart"? I'm genuinely scared of some of y'all because I'm getting the vibes that if someone told you a dude "whistled at a white woman" you would just go with it. Any bad-faith gum flapping about a black person would just be believed on the spot by some of you. The benefit of the doubt for Black people is nonexistent around here.

Question: Do you not take Fox News, Infowars, and alt-right media's depiction of POC seriously because you PERSONALLY can tell that it's racist and that the information is wrong? Or did society have to TELL you that it's racist and you know there's a social consequence to believing it? Do you hear racist language about real Black figures and you can tell that the source isn't trustworthy, or does someone have to come down from their ivory tower and regurgitate basic sense to you?

I'm starting to realize that this fandom doesn't understand racist agitprop... at all. They're only against racism when someone tells them it's racist and there are consequences to believing racist propaganda. Someone has to hold their hand and tell them that calling someone an "uppity violent Jezebel that should put out more" is racist. Someone has to tell them that racists who have an incentive to lie about Black people aren't reliable sources on Black people. And that is a level of incompetence that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Someone could literally list 30 antiblack stereotypes and someone would be like "What is wrong with calling a black person all of these at once?". People's cultural awareness is fucked.

And there's a learned incompetence as well here, a cycle. People refuse to understand that Black people are intentionally held under a harsher light and read in bad faith ways that consciously mimic stereotypes. "I only believe something is racist when others tell me that it's racist" and "I don't seek out people discussing racism so nobody is here to tell me what is racist" is a deadly fucking combo with this show.

Read literature, read about slavery, read about lynchings, read about Black Queer liberation, read about domestic violence, read about race and Monster theory. Like read SOMETHING. MY GOD.

The show is intentionally riffing off of historical and cultural subject matter, and white fans are purposefully not learning about it so that their lives aren't upended by the reality of current and past race relations and how it affects their own lives and fiction. You guys are lobotomizing yourselves so the show's basic principles aren't visible. Just because you do not understand racism or domestic violence doesn't mean that the show isn't talking about them and it's not just going over your head. Things going over the white audience's head does not mean it is not present.

Anyways... I keep saying that the people should collectively get my laptop taken away and it still hasn't happened so this post was penned. Take away my laptop or my posts will continue.

[readingtoinfinity]

Jelloapocaylpse and One Piece

So, there's this thought I've been having about gigantic franchises: any criticism against them needs to be taken with two specific grains of salt. First, people who dislike the franchise will be more annoyed by its flaws because of overexposure, and second, reactions to these criticisms will be overblown because there's so many more fans. I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't respond to criticisms of your favorite things if they're enormously popular, meaning I'll be more silent on negative reviews of things like Critical Role, One Piece and Brandon Sanderson's works than I would be for smaller things like Wayward Children, Grimm or The Craft Sequence.

But when these two grains of salt come together? Oh, boy. OOOOOOOH boy.

I love So This is Basically..., and have since I discovered the channel. A good chunk of my humor comes from the jokes in those videos, and even for something like Kingdom Hearts where it's negative, I still enjoy both the video and the franchise, so I've elected to let it be. But in his recent video on One Piece, while it was funny he got so many things seriously wrong about the series that I've struggled with whether or not to say something about it. I think the artistry on display in the video can get drowned out by the negativity being poured into it, and while I don't have much of a platform I can yell into the void like the best of them, and it's bothering me enough that I want to lay some things out.

So, for your discretion: a time-stamped review of Jelloapocaylpse's So This is Basically One Piece. I will endeavor to only time-stamp things I found wrong about the series. I understand jokes aren't meant to be taken seriously, but I think humor is revealing, and if we can dissect the jokes of the anti-woke crowd to find the ugly truth within, we can do the same to ourselves. And if I can shout out a more complicated thought about One Piece from a joke then I will, and even point out moments where Jello is right.

I will not talk about Brendan Blaber's personal life nor his anime work. I am aware of what happened with Lovely★Complex but find it immaterial to the video on his YouTube channel. Perhaps his motivations were dishonest, and that could explain his rampant dislike of the source material; at this time, I don't think it factors in, but if I'm proven wrong I will make an edit with the proper updated information. And, per a beef I have with the video itself, I also want to stress that you should not harass nor send death threats to people you dislike, especially about a piece of media. THIS INCLUDES ASSHOLES.

With that, let's begin. Video is included so you can follow along. There will be spoilers freely discussed; be forewarned. If I am wrong, chime in and correct me; I am not above mistakes.

0:08: This is a fun callback to the 4Kids dub of One Piece, which is widely reviled but for some small moments of genius.

0:11: an out-of-context, raving explanation of the worldbuilding, which is entirely correct.

0:38: Incorrect. The Grand Line is specifically written to be hard to get into and out of unless you have the tech for it. This is a big deal in both the manga and the anime and I don't know why/how he missed this.

0:50: This is a fan theory. I was willing to accept it but googling it turned out it wasn't correct. The following jokes require this to be true, however, so creative license applies.

1:06: Arguably true, and I say that because, while each of these characters technically has a different power, they're all used to manipulate the environment and stone like it's water. That's a thing and a theme in the series; Luffy even gets to fight Charlotte Katakuri, who has a similar Devil Fruit. Call it lazy, call it creative, it's debatable, and funny.

1:11-1:38: the following explanation is also true, but insulting. The boundaries between each Devil Fruit are more fluid than the initial system lets on, true, but as in real life aggressive categorization is usually incorrect and uninteresting.

1:43: The description of the fights applies less to One Piece than Shounen as a whole. You could be uncharitable and say it describes all fights, but I will restrain myself. A lot of fights do have an element of unpredictability to them; sometimes it's the randomness that feels realistic and other times it's Deus Ex Machina. You could argue the fights are more about the philosophical difference between the two (Sanji vs Wanze comes to mind) but it makes for long, drawn-out fights. I think most of the pacing problems come from the anime but I've been annoyed by the manga as well.

1:55: It is true that Robin doesn't get many fights, which is disappointing as a Robin fan. And I won't deny that sexism pervades the writing of One Piece when it runs unchecked. But I don't think the two are related; Robin's fights tend to be brutal and fast, and she deals more with grunts than generals. The exception is Robin vs Black Maria, which was Very Good.

But her focus in the story is less on fighting and more about archeology and history, and in that case she often reshapes the way we see the world with her investigations. Fighting ain't all there is to a Shounen series, and the wise reader remembers this. (this point copied wholesale from Anthony Gramuglia)

Obligatory "Yes One Piece is very long and I hope it ends well".

2:02: The espionage episodes are quite good. But I think this conclusion draws from the dislike of the adventure and action, so you need to agree with the first to reach the second, and I do not.

2:08: I had not realized how many islands were circles in One Piece so that criticism applies even if it doesn't mean anything for the quality of the series. But Punk Hazard isn't about stopping Smiley (who barely features) and I would argue that "natural disaster" doesn't apply to some of the threats the crew faces, and it's definitely not every arc.

2:24: only Punk Hazard was (half) on fire. Fires do happen a lot as a way to push tension but the arcs were flattened to make this point.

2:30: "from the jungle" is the best joke in this episode.

2:37: "Hit 'em with the poison that doesn't work!" happens a lot as well. It is often because the characters have to figure out a way around it, like other protagonists do during Good Fights.

2:46: This is a weird take. I know Zoro is an asshole but sexism was something he hated in his childhood and that disdain forms a big part of his personality. You could also call him Minority Hunter like the fanbase does, given he fights mostly black people.

2:52: Nami's not gay in the series, not explicitly, anyways. Alas.

2:56: God, to be a Sanji fan is to suffer. He has some of the best and worst moments in the series and the live-action series made him a bajillion times better.

3:15: good follow-up on a joke with a bad setup.

3:16: I'm annoyed Franky was removed from this. He's a lot of fun. And I'm also annoyed that you talk about Sanji's perversions but don't bring up Brook who is arguably worse in every way. These as well as Chopper and Jinbe get flattened for the sake of this video, and considering Chopper is my favorite Straw Hat this very much annoys me.

But he does make a point about these characters: Robin through Franky don't get to do as much throughout the series. They're often rendered as side characters who react to things instead of having their own arcs. For all that Thriller Bark was Not Great, Chopper was given an arc that ties very directly into who he is, and I'm saddened we didn't get something like that again until Wano.

3:21: The characters have personality, it is just now shown in this video. Usopp is not given a description and Nami is summarized as "lesbian" with nothing else of their character depths.

3:26: again, the best joke is the jungle joke.

3:39: I am not certain we're supposed to like Aokiji. He does some pretty heinous things throughout the series. Garp is a more-interesting case, in that his loyalty to the World Government is treated as his greatest flaw, but he's also an asshole. It's almost like he's a very complicated character or something.

3:47: This is the part that I kept coming back to, the part that's most insulting. I am bad with names so I admit I had to google this fish-man's name, but his name is Macro, he was a member of the Sun Pirates and he didn't keep slaves. The Sun Pirates especially freed any and all slaves they came across because they were also enslaved. Arlong did keep slaves but he was not enslaved himself, and the continuing stain of racism and slavery washes out over the rest of the series itself almost as if it were good or something. Out of all the things to get wrong, this one was the most egregious.

4:00: The Marineford arc was VERY LONG. A lot of stuff happened and it affected the pace quite a bit. The dig at the author is unwarranted.

4:07: FROM THE JUNGLE BA-

4:15: I'm torn on this complaint. On the one hand, subtle foreshadowing is usually the way to go when it comes to announcing what is going to happen. On the other hand, you can easily forget a lot of things that happen in a single narrative so sometimes twists come out of nowhere.

However! This complaint is mitigated by the fact that the series will readily bring you up to speed on context whenever it's necessary. Take that as you will.

4:20: Localization is a Thing™ that happens and translation hasn't always been the best. I first learned the word "nakama" from Japanese because of a fansub of this series that insisted it wasn't just "family". I am also annoyed by newer chapters that insist on calling the swordsman "Zolo", and these issues extend to the fan wikis. This has nothing to do with the show or manga, however.

4:33: There are a LOT of characters, true. Whether or not that is too much is debatable; they are drip fed to the reader over the course of all the chapters, and even if there are twice as many characters as chapters (there are not) that's two characters per chapter to introduce. That's not a lot for an audience to read; if you've gotten through Wheel of Time you will be fine, but this ties into a latter issue I'm about to bring up.

4:47: I'm almost certain these characters were chosen at random. On a whim, I decided to return the favor and pick a character at random to defend its inclusion. That turned out to be Pekoms.

Pekoms is a character in Big Mom's crew, loyal but deathly afraid of her. He's defined both by this bond to Big Mom as well as to his Mink heritage, and he takes pride in both. It's only when he learns of the Straw Hats' defense and salvation of the Mink Tribe that his courage starts to grow to outweigh his fear, and he eventually turns on her in response to the sacrifice of a friend of his, demonstrating the themes of the Whole Cake Island arc: a family bound through fear is a temporary measure, and it will fall apart when something better comes along.

I bet you could make a defense of just about any character he removed, even characters that are bit players. That's the thing, too: complaining about "too many characters" ignores the fact that sometimes, the guy who gets one line also gets a name. A stage play should be stripped down to pure essentials, not so much with mediums you can edit.

And fuck, he cuts out Yamato?! The best guy around?!!

5:07: It's very strange that he says the Straw Hats don't have any meaningful dynamic with each other when the #1 thing people keep asking for is downtime so these characters can hang out and interact almost as if their dynamics are what carry them through the arcs. I mean, it has been a while since some characters interacted, true, but remember: there are 10 Straw Hats on the crew. That's 45 different interactions that are possible. There's, sadly, not gonna be enough time for Robin and Jinbe to sit down to tea with everything else going on.

(Also I know that in Wheel of Time (the closest approximation in length) Rand, Mat and Perrin have a wonderful dynamic and then don't talk for several books. Sometimes the plot happens, but I don't know if people hate this part of the series so this might just be me; I stopped reading during The Path of Daggers or The Winter's Heart, I'm not certain. I remember being annoyed by Tuon a lot)

5:26: I'm going to divide this between the two questions people asked on SBS. None of what happens with Fuckass Joe in this question is relevant to One Piece as a whole because it doesn't happen in the story proper. But the way the video frames Oda's relationship with his editors is weird.

5:47: I'm gonna be honest this is a really weird question to include in SBS. Whoever sent it in definitely has some things going on, and while Oda wasn't responsible for it (and he answers the question with annoyance and confusion) the fact it was included at all speaks to the priorities of the people writing it. Again, this is about SBS and not really relevant to the manga as a whole but I think you can absolutely be critical of this with Oda.

5:54: There's three complaints in here in rapid succession, so I'm going to go through each:

"Breasts grow larger": absolutely a thing that happens. It's a well-documented annoyance in the fandom at this point, and hard to miss.

"Negative space grows rarer": I'll be honest, I didn't notice this as a problem. So I went back to the manga and re-read chapter 1, chapter 1133 and chapter 566 (about halfway through). In the first chapter, there is a lot more negative space in the panels so you focus more on the characters, and there's a lot more characters and background details in the latter chapters, but it's not hard to follow even still. So I'm not certain this is an issue, but it could be an eyesore; adding detail is not always to the good.

"Oda doesn't credit his assistants" I didn't find the names of his assistants through Google. The fact it is hard to find is telling, either for Oda or search engine optimization. In either case it's nothing to do with the manga. It should definitely be easier to find these names.

6:07: The sketchy art had a purpose in a flashback, showing someone losing memories (and on a more-meta level I think Oda had a health emergency... correct me if I'm wrong). I don't think the artwork has changed overmuch from the beginning, and there's a conversation to be had about the changing amount and quality of the details, but given it is shown that they're specifically referencing that kind of art I wanted to respond to that directly.

And the pot-shot at the anime is more deserved. The fact it's weekly means quality can vary wildly and characters are often drawn off-model in a way that's meant to be sexy but doesn't look very good. (I couldn't find it, but there's a specific part where Nami gets injured and scuffed up, and the anime adapted it more sexually than the manga made it. Not that it was nonexistent, mind you. This part is a "trust me bro" more than the others so please keep that in mind).

6:17: The pacing in the anime can be quite bad. The joke with the water slowly turning yellow is also quite funny.

6:38: This is debatable. The story has happy and sad moments like most good stories and it's an adventure story, with a focus on fun. But the story is also willing to leave you with strong negative emotions and just deal with them, the backstories being the most notable examples of characters dealing with trauma.

6:46: This criticism is overblown but not incorrect. Pell should have died from that explosion and I stand by that, but no consequences to anything? There are whole chapters where the balance of the powers of the worlds are shifting and these consequences play out. Whole arcs are built from the consequences of of the death of Whitebeard alone and, as Anthony Gramuglia pointed out in his stream (I'm still watching it to conclude its accuracy) if the manga has intense foreshadowing and knows where it's going that goes against the "no consequences" criticism. (again, thank you Anthony Gramuglia for this note)

6:54: Uta is from a movie that is non-canon, even if she exists in-story. It would be unreasonable to note any criticism of the story from One Piece: Film Red because it's unreliable as a foundation.

Yasopp leaving Usopp is something the fans have complained about for some time now. At this moment we don't know if he had a good reason for leaving beyond heeding the call to adventure, but I know I, personally, think it was a dick move.

7:03: I find this next part disingenuous, for all the potshots Jello takes against Oda before and after. It's also unrelated to the story as a whole (mostly) so I'll be skipping through it.

7:26: I think this criticism stands. Oda is very weird about women in the story and tends to draw them a specific way (thin waist, large bust, tall and lithe). This doesn't stop almost all of them from being interesting characters, mind you, but it's something to keep in mind as you read the story.

Also, if you were going to criticize Oda for Ephebophilia (sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, according to le Wikipedia) in his story, that's great, but if you're going to take potshots at him why don't you also mention his friendship and defense of Nobuhiro Watsuki, writer of Rurouni Kenshin and most-known for possession of child pornography? Why drag the family into this when they have nothing to do with Oda's behavior or predilections?

And that's that. I won't be doing this too often (I am a writer and a critic, not a drama channel) but that specifically left a bad taste in my mouth I wanted to get out. Again, if there are any mistakes I will be calling them out in the edit.

One Piece means a lot to me. I've been following it since I was a tween, and it was the first series I read without my parents' permission (oddly enough, my very conservative mother also though the women were too sexualized... on episode 92, before it got so much worse) because I loved it so much. And even now as an adult I find it an old reliable that makes me happy. I try not to be blind to its flaws; I can see the sexism for female characters and character design, the way Oda writes gay people has improved but isn't perfect, and his examination of racism is hampered by not having stories to draw from about it. But it's a long, wonderful series that I can heartily recommend to anyone who enjoys adventures and themes of freedom, family and fun.

So This is Basically... is a series that always manages to make me laugh, even in episodes I dislike. I say "Sora, become a beekeeper!" to myself all the time, and the specific way Jello says "garbage" in the RWBY video sticks with me. But if you engage with the media he talks about you can see the cracks; it's the CinemaSins problem, disguising criticism as jokes and jokes as criticism, never taking a firm stand on either.

I hope both these series improve. I hope we look back on this video as a fluke rather than the standard. I'd like to continue to enjoy Jelloapocalypse in its purest form. But this whole thing has been uncomfortably revelatory to me, and I will keep my eyes open and my mind sharp.

EDIT: I finished watching Anthony Gramuglia's video on the subject. I don't 100% agree with his takes (in particular the speakers' disdain the humor, which I enjoy quite a bit) but he and his guests go into more analysis than I do, at times coming up with ideas I hadn't considered (as mentioned in my previous notes) and at times reaching a bit. I still think it's quality analysis on why Jello is a terrible reviewer in a number of key ways.

EDIT2: I did eventually get a look into what all happened with Lovely★Complex, but in the process I also found a video that more formally breaks down the flaws of Jello's arguments, even before his video was controversially-received. I'm including it here for anyone who only has 30 minutes for this kind of thing.

[a-student-out-of-time]

Thoughts on DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 12

//Hey everyone! So, it's been 17 months since the last episode, which...holy crap, right?

//Now that we've come to the continuation of our story, we have some new things to discuss, and I'm not just talking about what I've said. Instead of just repeating myself again, let's break down what's been happening in this episode and then we can continue theorizing.

I have three big things I want to address in this, which we should consider going forward:

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

The Murder Was Actually WORSE than it seemed

So Charles' point about where they fucked up was about the murder. However, it was about something I don't believe any of us quite considered: that the water from the relaxation room was taken and held for later use. We do have jugs in the trash that prove it's possible.

It's nice to see Teruko admit that she made a mistake and that the time of the murder was wrong, but to me, this meant two things: our murder could've happened at quite possibly any time and it would've been worse than it sounds.

See, death by drowning is already one of the worst ways to die, but if they obtained some jugs of water and used those in the murder, it means that our victim must've been waterboarded to death. Drowning is bad, but waterboarding is an even worse and more horrific way to die. More importantly to this case, it's pretty quick for the culprit.

Without oxygen, you'll experience brain death within 6-10 minutes. Since we now know the murder was set up in advance overnight, this means that all they really needed to do was grab their target, carry out the drowning and then hang the body to break the neck and disguise the cause of death. It could be over in less than 15 minutes.

We also now know that, as we all predicted, the murder likely took place around 7:30-8 AM, not PM, when most people were asleep and only a few were up at breakfast. This has also thrown most everyone's alibis out the window.

Essentially, whomever our victim was, she was murdered via waterboarding and then her body hung up while some people were awake. They cut is so close that the body was still swaying, as Teruko noted. That wouldn't happen just from the fans.

2. What's David Game Plan?

I've made it no secret that I'm not a fan of David, nor do I agree with the view that he's set to be DT's rival. As I've said many times before, Teruko doesn't need a rival like him, since the only challenge he offers her is being an existential threat.

That being said, I both like and dislike what happened with David this episode. It's good to see him not consistently being an annoying troll who evades questions by being a dick, and to actually have something more to say and some actual questions he raises. He's been lying about being Arei's killer, and apparently, that's part of what he considers a noble goal on par with Xander.

David's point in this episode is that he wants to be a "good person" like Xander, which echoes my points in my theory about how that's what this chapter is about: The Meaning Of A "Good Person." Teruko is, understandably, still very bitter and hurt by his betrayal, so she considers that idea laughable. David's point that "I'm sure he had a good reason" actually made me laugh, admittedly.

But what's interesting is he gave us an answer in the form of a non-answer. He claims he believes in something greater than himself and the lives of everyone else in this game, and since they're all on TV, he questions why this would be happening if the people behind it didn't want to make things entertaining. He brings up how Xander wanted to end the killing game and he's been derailing the trial because he says he wants to do the same.

What's frustrating is, as Hu says, David has essentially decided everyone's lives aren't important enough to preserve, so it's better if they all just give up and die to end the game. Xander did not want that, he wanted to end it with minimal casualties. A Total Party Kill is antithetical to everything Xander stood for, so if David is being sincere, he's really spitting in the guy's face.

I'm really curious what exactly he meant by him being the only one who "recognized" him. The thing with J early on proved that some of these people were at least aware of each other pre-game.

But does this mean David is actually a good person with noble goals? What part of "You exist to manipulate others" is not clear? I can't accept that at this point, but here's what I can accept, because it fits in so well with what we've been seeing:

Consider: why exactly did Xander try to kill Teruko? Because someone wanted her dead and somehow convinced him to give it a shot. We know that someone out there wants Teruko dead for whatever reason, and direct attempted murder has failed. What's the next best thing? Convince someone else that she needs to be dealt with.

Remember the secret David got? "How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you've done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault."

And let's be real: it's gotta be Teruko's. Between everything we've seen, it can't be anyone else. I'm sure David just said it was Xander's because it was easier to blame a dead person.

So let's consider how easy it would be for David to see that secret and then convince himself that Xander not only had the right idea, it really is better to let everyone die if it means Teruko is gone too. I can buy his admiration for Xander could drive him to do something like that if he learned something that horrible about Teruko, and then decide it was all for the greater good.

That, of course, assumes he actually means what he says. I remain convinced that Hu was the one who carried out the killing in his stead, and with the Blackened rule- it's the one who's the "most mastermind-y," not just whoever deals the fatal blow- David's alibi is irrelevant.

"But Bubbles, didn't Hu and Nico say that they have alibis for morning?"

Yes, but I'm also convinced David drove both of them to attempt murder for these very same reasons, first with Ace and then Arei. Either this was a "selfless" act based on his blind hero-worship of Xander that required everyone to be sacrificed, or this is all a selfish act to end the game and escape with his own life. Until someone can independently verify that Hu and Nico have alibis, I can't believe anything they say.

As for why they wouldn't say anything, Hu made a very impassioned speech about wanting to live and that David has no right to decide who should live and die. She is correct, and if her secret is that she was a hopeless child who tried to end it all three times, that actually adds a lot more weight to what she's saying here.

...But at the same time, under the belief that whomever killed would be executed, why would someone who wants to live just admit to being the one who did it? I don't like to consider it, bu Hu's desire to live paradoxically makes her more suspicious in my eyes. At least in being David's patsy.

Oh, and speaking of murder, here's the thing we all called.

3. Levi's Secret

Let's be real: we all probably saw this one coming. In the closing minutes of the episode, Levi admits that his secret is being a remorseless murderer.

Now, where everyone got this wrong is in assuming that, because that's his secret, it means that he must've been the one to kill Arei. That theory can be pretty definitively put to bed because, as I said with Hu, why would a murderer just admit to being a murderer after all this has happened?

Moreover, his point wasn't a confession. He didn't say he was the one who killed her, he apologized for potentially derailing the discussion again, and this was when everyone had hit a dead end in how to progress. If Levi were the Blackened, why would he do that? It would be in his best interest to stay quiet until the very end.

Instead, I think this is where an even stronger point in my favor comes in: Arei really did visit Levi, and they did discuss their secrets, but he didn't kill her. They either collaborated, talked about it or at least made peace about it, since they both came from pretty shitty families and probably found some common ground.

David brought up what it means to be a good person, but Arei and Levi are also great examples. Both have done terrible things and wanted to find redemption from them, Levi with murder and Arei with being a bully. The only reason I can see this being brought up now is because we have yet to hear his or her side of this story, and that could bring us to more important revelations down the line.

//So there you go, my breakdown of this episode. It's answered some questions, pretty definitively ended a couple theories, and raised many more points of discussion. And thankfully now we only have to wait until Friday to receive some more answers : P

[call-me-copycat]

BNHA Spoilers:

(Also this is just a complaint post, I'm not very good at explaining my thoughts so please don't try to argue :⁠-⁠( Feel free to add on thoughts but I can't argue )

I have to say I'm not too happy with the leaks, which is hard for someone like me to admit!

As an AceAro person, I was thrilled with the original ending and the fact that no ships were confirmed nor denied, because it left enough for the fans to work with while not shutting anyone down outright

I'm not really a fan of ships, I'll be honest, and I don't really like romance in anime (hard to avoid! I know!), but I never really saw anything wrong with people and their ships and whatnot, and I never minded analyzing some of them for some friends - it was all in good fun after all!

The pairs in the leaks felt like something out of character almost, it didn't feel very... Horikoshi Style I suppose

I do enjoy getting extra MHA content, I always always will, but it isn't a good feeling to me seeing these characters in this anime that focuses on motivation and inspiration and becoming Heroes eventually getting together and dating - I'm not sure, I guess it's the unfitting themes? Something about it unnerves me

I don't know, I've always been adverse to romance my whole life, I always preferred plot and writing instead of two characters getting together (if the plot and writing lead up to two characters getting together? I'm fine with that)

I've seen people saying Uraraka and Deku are canon and I have to say... I don't really feel comfortable with that

I can see it as cute, yes! But I feel that he didn't have as deep a relationship to her as he did with Bakugo (they're always themed around each other, and I found whatever relationship they have with each other very profound, as it ran very deep for a very long time)

Same goes with Toga and Uraraka - it happened over the course of the series, I got to see them learn and struggle together, I got to see them talk about their problems and desires and it felt overwhelmingly different than when it's Deku and Uraraka

I may be biased in the end, I have friends who ship Deku and Bakugo and I have friends who ship Uraraka and Toga, but I've seen some very informative takes that explain it a lot better than me why I think they're such good parallels to each other

I like that Deku and Uraraka are good motivators to each other, Uraraka inspired him in the beginning when he really needed it and he returned it to her as well - but I can't really see it as romantic? Then again, ignore that because I can't see anything in MHA as romantic

I dunno, I feel the romance really overtook the whole plot away from the ending and I'm devastated - that's all what everyone's talking about right now, no?

Deku and Uraraka

Denki and Jiro

The rumor of Bakugo being married (?)

Kinoko and Kuroiro are dating

That's not even all, there could be more that I easily missed

It feels very unsatisfactory, it makes it seem like Love was the entire meaning of the series My Hero Academia when it was not! I'm a big full-circle person, I would have adored a call-back! Something that alludes to the beginning of the series, like what they did with the cover

I want to see how Hero Society is, I want to see Deku and how he coped with the loss of OFA, I want to see Aizawa, I want to see Present Mic! How is he doing, I want to know if he's okay? Is Nezu still the principal? There are less demand for heroes since there aren't as many villains, I want to see that change and its effects! I want to hear more about Vigilante Heroes, and I want to see other Underground Heroes, I want to know more about the Quirk Doomsday Theory, and more about what the world was like when quirks first formed, and I would like to see Hisashi Midoriya! There's so much, see? I would rather talk about that and more over who's dating who ( ･᷄ὢ･᷅ )

It has its good moments, I will always love seeing the (former) class interact with each other, and I really liked seeing the new Hero Rankings, especially with some of the aged up designs for the characters - I can feel how much love Horikoshi has for these characters no matter what's going on in the series

I don't know, don't take me too seriously because I am a biased person after all - I've dropped one of my favorite book series as a kid because my favorite (the most competent) character died, and then every person in the book had gotten together with another person - it was a similar disappointment because it ignored the plot (it was a post-zombie apocalypse series) in favor of looking towards romance once more

Fairy Tail recently came out with their 100 Years Quest, and I know I dropped the anime early on as a kid (in favor of MHA ironically), but coming back to it only to see almost (if not) all characters together in a relationship, some with kids? I know, don't go near anime if you don't like the tropes, I've been told that before - I'm just complaining a little because I didn't expect to see it in MHA so I'm a little shocked

Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to seeing the rest of the epilogue, I'm always a fan of Horikoshi even if I don't like some things (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）. It's still a treat for me to get more MHA content, I love the art and I love being a part of the fandom -

I'm sure some time in the future I'll even miss the shipping wars that went on lol

[bitimdrake]

Um, I have a question regarding the Blackest Night arc. In which issue was it revealed that there was something wonky with Bruce's body (I think Hal discovered it and maybe told Dick + revealed that Hal knows Tim's on his Bruce-quest, maybe others do too)?

I'm curious and want to understand, since in certain fanfic, there's a thing about Tim being abandoned / seen as crazy by the hero community, so they didn't reach out to assist Tim (certain fans say it's likely influenced by Dick). I believe that one scene in Blackest Night has something to do with it.

The whole Tim being abandoned and seen as crazy thing is 100% made up fanon and it sucks and I have little more to say on that part. But I got plenty for you on comic recapping:

Bruce's body has a presence throughout the main Blackest Night mini, but the big one is #5 where he's "raised" from the dead.

Hal and Barry are the leading characters of this part of the event, and the ones who have the actual conversations about how Black Lantern "Bruce" was blatantly different from all the actual reanimated dead people, thus indicating that's not his real body (see BN#6 and BN#8 particularly). But the actual "reanimation" happens in a very public setting in front of a whole lot of superheroes, so it's really not a case of any one person discovering the information.

Dick and Damian and the rest of the bats aren't present at the time and I don't think we actually see who/when passes the info on, but they're aware a little later on in Batman and Robin, and start talking about Bruce returning circa B&R#10.

How this actually connects with Tim's story is...kind of awkward and not totally lined up, so I had to line it up myself for my chronological order. Tim returns to Gotham temporarily and is with Dick during the Blackest Night: Gotham tie-in, but then he returns to his brucequest in Red Robin, and later in RR#12 seems to be ready to present his findings as if he's still under the impression he needs to convince Dick--to which Dick is like well actually we have a lot to talk about there.

So I guess the implied order of events is (1) Dick and Tim fight black lanterns while, elsewhere, unknown to them, "Bruce" is "reanimated" and everyone else realizes that ain't his real body, (2) Tim peaces out immediately afterwards and so misses when, (3) someone comes to tell Dick/Damian/Alfred what they all saw with Bruce, making them start to realize things are strange here and be more open to the idea Bruce might be alive. Then (4) Tim returns, and off screen after RR#12 both sides share what they've each learned, and Tim convinces everyone of his specific theory.

A lot of the conversations and logistics and behind-the-scenes workings are missing, but after that RR arc I place B&R#10, and Dick and Damian talking about Bruce coming back. And then we have all the comics surrounding Bruce's actual return (Time Masters: Vanishing Point and Return of Bruce Wayne in particular), by which point everyone is aware of the whole situation, and a team of various heroes has come together to figure out how to get their Batguy unstuck from time.

[cartoon-buffoon]

HOLD THE HENRY HOTLINES BECAUSE I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING—hopefully no one thought of this before.

Now before I was under the pretense that perhaps the 2 brothers who found the Finding Frankie IP before they sold it off were perhaps Real and Monster Frankie. But may I suggest something else?

Okay so in finding Frankie there is implications there IS something so much bigger going on. Henry references higher-ups and potentially them being the ones to do him in (which is possible they DID do him in and were the ones to make his head pop). But the fact that there is people going beyond Real Frankie obviously means there is some unseen force pulling strings here and it's not just Real Frankie. I don't think it makes sense for Real and Monster Frankie to be the brothers considering ya know, they sold the IP and now there's higher-ups meaning they aren't in control and have like no control over the gameshow. So why would they be the mascots? Simple, PERHAPS THEY'RE NOT! (Also the 2 brothers being the 2 Frankie theory ignores the secret room where we find all the mascots on charge so like.... Pretty sure all the mascots are just robots with Monster Frankie specifically being just some sadistic killer animatronic)

ANYWAYS! One thing I don't see people notice or overlook is in the cinematic our character WANTED to be a contestant because they not only went through several boxes to get the VHS but also have a sticker on their VHS player like they're some big fan...

(also real quick HC: I think our character is diabetic because out of 769 boxes he did apparently eat an unknown amount yet it's at least enough to need MULTIPLE BOWLS. Like you can reuse bowls, he has probably eaten nothing but this lucky charms type cereal with marshmallows for who knows how long, I think he's diabetic and has dental issues y'all.)

Anyways: it's clear by the dedication to buy all these boxes, each costing 3.99 plus tax, and the little sticker detail that our player character is a fan. A big fan at that. I bring this up because in another secret room you can find a lease for an apartment with some peculiar text on it

What if our character is one of the original brothers and the one who sold the IP, after all we do live IN AN APARTMENT we see we are located on one of the upper floors in an apartment building during the end game cutscene after all. This could be a BATIM situation where our player character who seems to have some deep WANT to be a contestant is actually one of the people who made Finding Frankie and this is his big return to what the show became after he sold the IP. Maybe the red text and lease is after he sold the IP, he got enough money to buy an apartment for himself and the red text saying "everything changes" is him distancing himself from the IP.

Now that's all I can make with just the evidence given however I also have a small theory. Maybe a falling out happened between our character who is possibly one of the original IP owners and his brother, thus we live alone and the red text was our character leaving our brother and is excited that everything is set up and done and we can leave behind the IP only to inevitably come back for some unknown reason. What is that reason? Idk perhaps something with our brother, we don't know for sure though and that's all I got.

Anyways this is just a theory, A GA—.... Oh fuck that's taken already.... Uhh– A game TOON THEORY!

[darlynn-dindjarin]

Why Darius X Brooklynn Is Going To Be Endgame For Jurassic World Chaos Theory.

"Jurassic World: Chaos Theory" is an animated series that serves as a direct sequel to "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous." The show, which airs on Netflix, is set six years after the events of Camp Cretaceous and follows the adventures of "The Nublar Six," a group of characters who are navigating a world now populated by dinosaurs. The series delves into a conspiracy that threatens both dinosaur and human life, while also exploring the personal journey of the characters as they learn the truth about what happened to one of their own.

Season 1 of "Jurassic World: Chaos Theory" introduces us to something the fandom has wanted for a long time, that is the romance between Darius and Brooklynn.

Season 2 of "Jurassic World: Chaos Theory" introduces us to what actually happened, in Brooklynn's point of view, and even what made Darius not show that night. A lot of fans were disappointed when the show's sequel, "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous" failed to put these two characters together, knowing that they had more chemistry than Kenji and Brooklynn. But it seems the show writers might actually fix this wrong. Here's why: 1) Why Introduce it? A lot of people will argue that even though the series mentioned it, it doesn't mean they will build on it. But that's where they're wrong. Everything happens for a reason. The Writers will not have introduced it, unless they have some plan to build on it in the future.

2) Why Go To Darius? We know that Brooklynn went to stay with Darius, while she was going to go "Buy the Allosaurus". Now, Brooklynn could have easily stayed at a hotel, but she choose to stay with Darius, Darius of all people. 3) The Phone Code. We see in Season 1, Kenji and Darius find her phone. When Kenji Attempts to unlock the phone, he fails after a few attempts, however when Darius tries to unlock it, it immediately opens. Why Brooklynn Trusted Darius with her phone code more than Kenji, we don't know. But, why if you didn't trust/care for someone, would you give them the key to your phone, one of the most private places? And why could you not trust your Ex-Boyfriend with that password? 4) Her Response. When Darius accidently told her about his love for her, she never flat-out denied it. Now again, Many claim "It doesn't mean that she did." BUT, it also doesn't mean that she didn't. We see Darius backtrack, similar to what Kenji did in Season 4 of Camp Cretaceous, and Darius DOES NOT let her finish her sentence. Could she have felt the same way, we don't know. We really won't know until Season 3 of Chaos Theory, comes out. 5) Her Reaction To Seeing Him In The Season 2 Finale.

Notice How her eyes expand MORE with Darius rather than Kenji. This is my convincing factor that Darlynn is going to happen and that it isn't just some obsession we aren't going to get.

Further Evidence:

In Season 5 Of Camp Cretaceous, When The Two Were Alone And Darius Confided In Brooklynn, We See Her Say These Words. B: Trust me, Kenji is the one who lost his way, not you.

D: What if I'm changing? All the "life or death" situations, the choices between this bad thing or that even worse thing, it's turning me into someone I don't know. Someone I might not like.

B: You know why we all look to you? Because your light burns bright, Darius Bowman. No amount of terrible choices can put it out. And I'll follow you anywhere. This was my further convincing factor that this story isn't over. What Do You Think, Will We Get Darlynn Or Will We Be Disappointed, Yet Again? Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a great day!

[genericpuff]

maybe this is just me being cynical of webtoon readers but i need to say that some of them really are that dumb and lacking media literacy that i can in total honesty say they would have screamed in the comment section about perse being dead - not LO readers specifically actually, but the top comments i see on some other webtoons.. phew. In some webtoons it is also made very clearly and explicitly by the creator that X is happening and then i scroll to the comment section and people are all asking 'wait is it just me or might X be happening???' 'omg guys i have a theory that X is happening'. And while that's frustrating the way RS tried to pre-emptively avoid that is honestly so hilarious to me, i am just in awe of it. It immediately undercuts all the tension of how the chapter ended and yes it's condescending as hell but it's sadly a sentiment i actually understand (tho i never would have actually done it that way.. like i think if she really wanted to make that author's note, maybe write it in a comment IF seeing there really was confusion among readers) but that chapter ending is just peak comedy to me, 5 out of 5 stars, no notes.

yeeah i don't wanna be a dick to the kids who are reading these comics and just having fun in their respective fandoms, but i've also made it a general rule of thumb to stay the HELL out of the webtoon comment sections because they're a whole other level of unhinged that i don't wanna touch with a ten foot pole LMAO

an LO-specific example that was so freaking hilarious to me wasn't even in the webtoon comment section but had the same vibe - someone in the main subreddit (the one that's closed now) asking in the season 2 finale discussion thread, "wait when did persephone eat the pomegranate???" like. that was literally the cliffhanger from the week before my guy. as much as i dunk on rachel's work for being visibly rushed, it's gotta suck to put in all the effort it takes to release comic episodes on a weekly basis just for your fans to not even stop and look at the art you've created. like damn it's no wonder the fans don't notice the glaring plotholes going on in the writing, they aren't actually reading it TT-TT idk if the way these communities engage with these comics is the cause of this, but it definitely makes it feel like some of these comics are being written like buzzfeed articles whose only goal is being as 'consumable' as possible without any actual depth, just "keep people fastpassing". which they absolutely do u.u

[galactic-rhea]

I am totally here for Cars worldbuilding ramblings

THANK YOU, USER FAN OF THE SOAP

I'm glad I'm not scaring all of my audience lmao.

Now, let me talk to you about how nightmarish ableist is Cars 2.

You see, I was subjected to a very special kind of torture called "I have two nephews who were obssesed with Cars 2, not 1 or 3 or Planes, but Cars 2. And they would watch it for three times, every day, for about two months. And I had to be with them".

Which I'm sure did something bad to my brain, my standards of what's annoying in a movie are wrecked and I can still hear dialogue per dialogue on my mind.

Cars 2 got away with a special kind of ableism that I want to believe any other movie wouldn't have been able to get away with on our current era, all because is Cars.

But there's also A LOT OF violence in that movie, we see on screen characters violently exploding, being subjected to torture and also the equivalent of open-heart surgery, black market of organs, and a literal bomb being put into an individual. Because is Cars it just could do so.

The thing about Cars 2 is that all the villains are disabled cars. They're unable to function properly and constantly will be unable to turn on their engines, are called slurs and, in the case of the rich-mafia adjacent ones, literally have hired medical assistance (a tow truck). And all of this because we're told that their parts have been descontinued, which technically gives us the grim implication that they're basically left to die slowly as they can't keep changing their parts. There aren't humans, and this isn't a human-post apocalyptic universe (no matter how much people Insist, i refuse to accept that theory). Which means that the fabrication of these parts and thus, the ones in charge of the literal poblation's development, must be other vehicles, most probably Cars.

Very powerful and rich Cars like it goes beyond a comparison in real world, they aren't the ones in charge of meds or health care, they're literally in charge of the whole production/birth of Cars, and by deciding what parts to make and what parts to descontinue they're slso deciding who gets to live and who gets to die.

And this isn't possibly a "new" problem, is probably something rooted in the Cars' universe culture for thousands of years. If let's say the Wright brothers were, idk, bikes. They created the first plane (which then died in seconds), so they're basically Victors Frankesteins and this is legal, this is absolutely completely normal in this universe because otherwise there's no way for new models to exist.

So every generation of vehicles have this deep, ingrained thought of " we're building the generation that reemplaces us, in every way they're better and as soon as there's a better version, we will cease to exist and cease to be produced".

I remain of the theory that parents in Cars basically buy parts and assembly their own child and then as time passes, they change parts until we get the general "adult" model. But this also means some parents might be unable to buy parts and what not, does this stunt the child development? Probably.

In Cars 3, Lightning McQueen is unable to keep compiting because the new gen is of much better tech, so I assume it's already happening to him what I just explained: At some point, the production of their parts/ maintenance becomes obsolete. So Lightning can keep on living, for a long while, but no matter the reparations or even the modifications, apparently you can't completely modify a car otherwise you would have a Thesseus ship predicament.

In Planes, Dusty is capable to get several modifications, but they aren't extreme. However we see a little car that's able to change into a plane, and we see he apparently has a split personality , which makes me a bit icky because -gestures-, Hollywood also loves to make awful reps about DID. But, this seems to support the idea that extreme changes= basically a different person in the Cars universe. And an awful idea is to face the familiars of a vehicle that got into an accident "we can save them by almost completely rebuilding them, but might as well be a different person".

So back to Cars 2, all these villain Cars are disabled and suffering because someone, literally decided that isn't worth it, these models can't continue their existence when our engineers/doctors already created a new version.

And they must go along with it! They must accept it, because their society has been accepting it for hundreds of years by now! And so the movie decided to make them the literal mafia and a violent murderous group of terrorist and spies, what a move.

The movie tries to make Mater to be some sort of disabled character as well, he keeps being called dumb, ugly and whatever for the whole movie, he's all covered in rust and shamed for an oil leak. And nothing of this is resolved or really addressed, because not only his problems aren't even comparable to those of the villains (is implied he's rusty and all covered in bumbs just because he choses to), his character arc is basically that he's capable of solving a mystery not even the spies figured out at the time, the classic "actually i can be useful" that Hollywood loves.

And we learn the motives for the villains, and like, yeah, that's awful! All those murders and a political fraud to try to get rich by owning oil, but no one gives an ounce of sympathy for a group of characters that literally need medical assistance almost 24/7. The mafia guys can afford to hire tow truck and the big multi-millionarie villain can afford his constant surgeries, to the point of being able to disguise himself and look "normal"

And it drives me crazy that no one mentions this, but I can't blame people, most people weren't subjected to this movie three times per day for 60~ days.

If anyone read this far, you should thank to @soapysudz for fueling me (GET IT?!! FUEL?! -recorded laughs-)