#also why i try to take care w discussions bc 1. my own limitations and 2. i have followers of all ages and want everyone to be comfortable

[septembersghost]

Hi, I was just wondering how old you were? You seem very young like early 20s but also your wisdom is like you could be early 30s or 40s? If you feel like sharing.

this is actually an accurate assessment and a really nice compliment, thank you for saying that. 💗

me in my cozy care bears cardigan: i'm going to give this an overly complicated answer lmao

the seeming young part definitely comes from being frozen at 19 (and a very young/relatively sheltered 19, as my mom said to me a few weeks ago, it was more like i was 14/15. i'm not ashamed of this, it was just my personality, adults around me always said i was an "old soul," but simultaneously with a quite innocent nature? duality, i guess!). when i became critically ill and never recovered and had to leave school, every major "normal" life experience that most people will have as they grow throughout their 20s didn't happen for me, so in many ways it's like being in stasis, still existing forever as that young girl and as the ghost of her. on the other hand, i've been through a lot of dark struggles and difficulties with some damaging situations, and with my health, which are the more grown-up aspect of things! it's confusing, time feels so unreal. i'm not sure how to ever define myself, i'm 8 and 18 and 80. but in the most literal sense i'm in my 30s 😭

[enderspawn]

It's alright if u don't wanna answer this cuz this argument gets people really riled up but do you think c!Techno is a tyrant or nah?

Cuz many c!techno apologists argue that he isn't just cuz he's an anarchist but I've also read a lot of essays that go against it and it'd be really interesting to see ur opinion on this

i think he, in some contexts, can most definitely be called tyrannical, yes. a tyrant? no.

to avoid spamming ppl w discourse we've all def heard before (and bc this ended up MASSIVE (like 2.3k ish), but fairly in depth bc i didnt wanna speak out of bad faith and wanted to be EXPLICTLY clear-- oops), the rest will be under readmore

so heres the thing i want to preface: i used to really LOVE c!techno. i joined beginning of s2, right when exile started, and he was arguably my favorite character. since then though i've fallen out with him a LOT, to the point i almost... actively despite him at times (though mainly in a toxic kind of way which i can acknowledge is flawed).

in short, his actions started to speak louder than his words and i lost investment in his personal character struggles because of the actions he took (doomsday was my breaking point. i get feeling angry and betrayed, as well as seeking revenge against lmanberg, but his actions went too far for me to CARE and it hurt so many more characters as well.)

so when i speak, i come from a place of disliking him but also somewhat understanding the position c!techno apologists come from: i used to be one of them myself.

NOW, do i think he's a tyrant? no. for reference in my analysis, i try to look up the definition of terms to make sure they are utilized properly. while "tyranny" and "tyrannical" can have multiple uses, tyrant itself is a more specific term. to combine the top two definitions, a tyrant is referring to "an extremely oppressive, unjust, or cruel absolute ruler (who governs without restrictions, especially one who seized power illegally.)"

techno's position as an anarchist, imo, DOES indeed make him unable to be a tyrant. tyrants are rulers with very clear power over others from a structural way. anarchists are about the lack of structure or power over others and instead viewing the people around you as equals in power.

in forming the syndicate, they very explicitly worked to not designate a leader and instead make it so that no one would have any power over the others systemically. techno may have taken a integral role, yes, but it doesn't make him suddenly "the leader", its a role that wouldve had to be filled by someone (even if it was democratic to decide who to invite, they'd need someone to hand over the invite itself yknow? like no matter WHAT there needed to be A ROLE)

one could argue that he IS a leader in the shadow hierarchy of the syndicate (which, yes, is a real and professional term used in management courses despite sounding like it comes from a 4kids yugioh dub) in that everyone CONSIDERS and looks to him a leader without him having any actual structural basis behind it, but to argue that allows him to be a tyrant is in bad faith i believe. especially because to the people he would be "ruling", he ISNT oppressive, unjust, or cruel. they are his friends and support network and critical for a lot of his personal development (since feelings of betrayal and trust issues are critical to his character and why he acts the way he does). I wish we were able to SEE this develop more, but oh well.

but like i said: tyrant is fairly specific in definition. TYRANNY, and thus TYRANNICAL are not as limited. I've discussed their definitions here. originally, i made that post because i was angry at a take i had seen that claimed that, like you said, because techno was an anarchist and not part of any government or leadership position, he couldn't be tyrannical. to which i heartily disagree.

for something to be tyrannical, they simply must have an overarching/oppressive power over someone or something. it would not be inaccurate if i were to say that something is "under the tyranny" of a concept, because what it means is that something is under the power of another thing/concept. you can frankly call anything tyranny if it is widespread/overarching and you don't like it. mask mandates? tyranny, its forcing me to act in "rigorous condition". hell, theres even such things as tyranny of the majority in which people agree too much on one thing and it gives them unfair power or tyranny of the minority where people with minority opinions have too much power (thats a very grossly oversimplified definition of both, but it covers the base idea well enough for my point)

the point im making above isnt meant to be taken as "anything can be worked to be defined as tyranny thus it is a meaningless claim", it is that tyranny (and again, thus tyrannical) are very open and nonrestrictive terms.

to make it easier to define, alongside the definitions provided i want to add an explicit clause that is (imo) implied in the original definition: tyranny is... well, bad. that is to say if someone has power over a group but literally everyone is fine with it and agrees to it, its not tyranny. thats just a group of people getting along and one happens to have power over another. a leader does NOT equal a tyrant (as discussed above), so leadership should not be equated with tyranny.

thus as an example: wilbur acting as president (before the election) may have been "unelected" with power over his citizens, but no one was upset with that power. thus, he is not a tyrant and not acting tyrannically (as well as the fact his power was, arguably, NOT rigourous or absolute but thats another topic for another time). SCHLATT however IS a tyrant, as his power was absolute (he did not consult his cabinet) and forced people to comply instead of them complying willingly, thus he was acting tyrannically.

now to finally get to the damn point of this essay: where does c!techno lie? honest answer? it depends slightly on your perspective, but it depends a LOT on the future of the syndicate.

techno is incredibly clear in his goals: no governments, no corruption. in fighting with pogtopia, he is actively working to topple a tyranny-- he isn't tyrannical for doing that.

when he strikes out on nov 16th, it is because he opposes them forming a new government. when they oppose him and disagree, he launches an attack against them. is this tyranny? maybe, but probably not. he IS trying to impose his own physical strength and power (as well as his resources) over the others to stop them from doing what HE doesn't want them to do.

however its more nuanced than that:

1. hes lashing out emotionally as well as politically. he feels betrayed by those he trusted and he believed that they would destroy the government then go (i'm ignoring any debates on if he did or did not know that they planned another government, though it is a source of debate). but typically idk about you but i dont call tyranny for someone fighting with another person.

2. he also may be acting with good intent again, in HIS EYES. if tubbo was part of manburg, whos to say he wont be just as bad? he, in his pov, is likely trying to stop another tyrant before they rise.

3. and finally, and tbh the most damning from any perspective: he gives up. he quickly leaves then RETIRES without intent to try and attack again until he is later provoked. tyranny is defined by it not just being power, but power being USED. if he doesn't use his power to try and impose any will, then he's not tyrannical.

Doomsday I am also not going to touch very in depth on for much of the same reasons. My answer is again a "maybe", depending on the weight you personally place on each issue:

1. he's lashing out as revenge for the butcher army and as revenge against tommy for "betraying" him (though this one we explicitly know he was ignoring the fact tommy did not want to go through with it, however he still did trust and respect tommy regardless so his feelings are understandable anyway)

2. he sees new lmanberg as corrupt and tyrannical (which is undeniable: house arrest for noncompliance, exile without counsel, execution without trial, etc), and thus obligated to destroy it

but also, theres the implicit understanding he's doing this to send a message: do not form a government, or else. its a display of force that also works to warn others unless they want a similar fate. phil even explicitly states that he is doing so to send that message, so one could assume techno is doing the same alongside his personal reasoning listed above.

what i just described is the use of a oppressive and harsh (physical) power in order to gain compliance from people (that compliance being 'not making a government'). does that sound familiar? exactly. it follows the definition(s) of tyranny given previously. technoblade is acting in a way that is, by very definition, tyrannical.

so the debate shifts: is he valid in doing so because he is trying to PREVENT corruption and tyranny. like i said, new lmanberg was undeniably corrupt at points. i held nothing against techno for trying to topple manburg, so does that apply to new lmanberg as well? short answer: i dont know. it depends on your specific opinion of what is acceptable. its like the paradox of tolerance: to have a truly tolerant society, you have to be intolerant of intolerance. to have a truly non-tyrannical society, do you need to have a tyranny enforcing it?

personally (and bc im a lmanberg loyalist /hj) i say it is. regardless of the corruption of new lmanberg, they are also giving a threat to EVERYONE. even those who are innocent, they are presented with the exact same threat and rule set: if you make a government, you will be destroyed.

(which, small divergence here, is part of why debating c!techno is so frustrating. so many times you end up hitting a "well it depends on your political views" situation and there ISNT a correct answer there. im here to analyze characters for fun, not debate political theory)

so: the syndicate then. this is where this debate really "took off" and i think its due to one very specific miscommunication about its goals and plans. the syndicate, upon formation, declares itself to stand against corruption and tyranny. when they are found, the syndicate would work to destroy it. so heres the golden question: what do THEY define as corruption and tyranny? if you were to go off c!techno's previous statements, seemingly "any government" is a valid answer. however, he also states he's fine with people just being in groups together hanging together.

what then DEFINES A GOVERNMENT for them? what lines do they have to sort out what does "deserve to be destroyed" and what does "deserve to exist freely"

this is a hypothetical i like to post when it comes to syndicate discourse:

i have a group of people. lets say 5 or so for example. they all live together and build together. any decisions made that would impact the entire group they make together and they must have a unanimous agreement in order to proceed, but otherwise they are free to be their own people and do their own thing. when you ask them, they tell you they are their own nation and they have a very clearly defined government: they are a direct democracy. does the syndicate have an obligation to attack?

there is absolutely no hierarchy present. there is no corruption present. but, they ARE indeed a government. is that then inherently negative? my answer is fuck no (see the whole "difference between a tyrant and a leader" thing above).

but THATS where the issue of this discourse LIES. in some people's eyes, the answer to that is YES. techno's made it clear "no government" is his personal view, but does that spread to the syndicate as a whole? do they act preemptively in case it DOES become corrupt? is it inherently corrupt because its a government, regardless of how it is ruled? the fact of the matter is because of how little we've seen the syndicate work as a SYNDICATE, we don't know that answer. so we're left to debate and speculate HOW they would act.

if the syndicate were to let that government exist, then they are not tyrannical. they are showing that they are working to stop tyranny and corruption, just like in pogtopia again.

if the syndicate were to destroy/attack that government, then they are tyrannical. simple as that. they are enforcing a rule of their own creation without any nuance or flexibility under the threat of absolute destruction.

miscommunication in debates comes, in my opinion, in the above. of course theres more points of nuance. for example:

would the syndicate allow a government like i had described with early lmanberg, where there is an established hierarchy but everyone in the country consents to said leadership? on one hand, there is no tyranny or corruption present which is what they are trying to work against. on the other hand, theres more a possibility of it occuring. perhaps they'd find a middle road between the two binary options of "leave or destroy" i am presenting, such as checking in occasionally to ensure no corruption occurs.

but if they were to destroy it without, for lack of a better word, "giving it a chance" they would be, in my opinion, tyrannical. they would be going aginst their words of opposing corruption and instead abusing their power to gain compliance.

your/others opinions may differ, again it depends on if you see it as worth it to possibly stop future tyranny or if a hierarchy is INHERENTLY a negative thing.

part of the reason so many blog gave up this debate, beyond not getting very clear answers for the syndicate, is because of the nuance present. there. is. no. right. answer. every single person will view it differently, because there is no universally agreed upon truth of right or wrong here. BUT, i hope this helps shed some light on the discussion and my thoughts on it

[kachinnate]

,,,,okay i know i just said i wasn’t going to talk about the deh movie but actually yeah imma talk about it for just a sec bc y’all actually make me legitimately distressed sajkfndsmjkgds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQ_A0H1otc i dont have the braincells to do a shot by shot analysis right now but here’s what we’re lookin at

under a readmore because ghhhhhhh

firstly, let me lead with this: yes, from what we know, there’s a lot of things wrong with this movie. 

the worst, in my humble opinion, being the bts treatment of the (very few) actors of color, and the lack altogether of any production team members of color. that’s something that should be acknowledged, talked about, and fucking dug into especially at the current fucking period of time we’re living in. it’s unsurprising, but disgusting nonetheless, and it set this movie up for failure from the very beginning. i’m a white person so by no means so i feel inclined or like i have any authority in saying what one should feel wrt all of that, however i will say if there’s to be a boycott in not watching this movie, that should 100% be the reason why. it’s fully poc’s choice whether or not to forgive the production team or give this movie a chance for the irredeemable shit it did in regards to handling the movie’s production. the movie imo definitely doesn’t deserve their forgiveness, but again, that is not for me to say. 

there’s some little things too that i can’t fully think of off the top of my head - like, the whole making larry connor’s stepdad thing fucking irks me, for example, but, like...... listen.

if you know me like at all, you know my favorite word is nuance.

so, i’m going to say it outright: the way you people are approaching this three minute trailer shows literally.... none?? no nuance ??? is it no-nuance november over here or ???? like i’m begging you i’m BEGGING YOU to put aside your pre-determined prejudices against this movie and like stop pretending to be a renowned film critic for ten seconds because it’s really not as outright fucking abysmal as you are saying!! and also it’s possible to have opinions that aren’t completely fucking polarized to one side because guess what, the deh movie? a piece of media! what is the shit y’all are constantly preaching about having the ability to consume media critically ? because you’re trying to cancel a fucking trailer based on the contents of the trailer alone !!!!! hello !!!!!!!!

media is bound to be problematic. if y’all were as quick to judge any movie as you did this one, guess what you wouldn’t be watching any movies like ever <3 

anyway lets get into the parts that are probably going to get me cancelled lmao 

ben platt - listen. LISTEN. listen i know he’s too old to be reprising evan we ALL know he’s too old to be reprising evan i’ve heard this same argument since the announcement was made we get it we all know. haha he’s a grandpa yes bestie ur so right ur so funny wow. i do agree that we should’ve maybe had a not-ben-platt evan moment but here’s some things to keep in mind: the arguments of “oooh ABF is right there !!!!!!” 1. who’s to say he was available? 2. the environment of a movie is so, SO much different than that of a musical -- as much as you wanna pretend you know everything from just a trailer, there’s no way of knowing what scenes were added that might’ve made the movie like.. idk possibly more intense story-wise not even COUNTING the fact that just inherently a movie set is different than a musical one? like yes ben platt might be just being used as a device but that’s probably not the sole and only reason. Also, if i see One (1) more comment about his FUCKING HAIR 😃 first of all it’s not that deep like... if you’re so distracted by an actor having their hair different that’s on you, but going as far as to call it bad or distracting or being like Vehemently a way about it? y’all i know it’s most likely not your intention but that is literally just ben platt’s natural fuckin ETHNICALLY JEWISH hair sajknfgkjds!!!! i’m not the first to make this point, but like dsjnfkjdsg!??! y’all are being so mean about it and for WHAT? again, maybe not intentional, but it reads as like high key Very antisemetic and you should.... maybe not 😳 be that way

connor. the thing about a trailer is that they don’t show you all the scenes because they want you to come see the movie. right? can we agree on that? all the connor scenes in the trailer had SEVERAL hard cuts, omitting a lot of the scene -- like the computer lab scene! we see the beginning of it, there’s a VERY obvious hard cut, and then he’s running out! in my opinion my first watch through of this trailer i had a very like “:// hmm all these actors feel a lil like dry”, but man oh man the comments ive seen about connor. holy shit guys. this boy gets 7 minutes of stage time in the actual musical, and the whole thing is we DON’T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT HIM. not to burst your bubble, and i by no means hate connor, i love me some good connor lives fics and stuff, but everything we write with connor being alive? that is !! speculation on our part !!!! those are headcanons and us using the little context we have!! connor doesn’t have any significant development IN THE SOURCE MATERIAL that is being adapted into a movie !!! you 1. can’t fully judge a character with already limited screentime in a 3 minute trailer, 2. can’t really call what connor has canonically in the musical as in depth character development !! what is his arc then !!!! he pushes evan, goes to the computer lab, has an outcast loner kid moment, gets upset, takes the letter, DIES. sorry stans, that’s just how it is !! and, AND, everything in between, all the idiosyncracies, that depends on the actor playing connor! speaking of, you know who the actor is playing connor in the movie? that’s right, colton ryan! so, i don’t know, maybe... have some trust in the process, in an actor who ALREADY has played connor on broadway???? and also trust that you will get more connor content then u are seeing from a 3 minute trailer!! dhgnijsdg and some of the comments on like his appearance specifically? like are you really made that he doesn’t have long hair?? they kept his nails and his rings but nahhh the hair was apparently a MUST HAVE (even though like.. not all connor actors on broadway always had/have long hair but w/e).. REGARDLESS. tldr on THAT , the movie would have to do a pretty shitty job if they want to take something from someone who doesn’t have much to begin with and i think y’all are being extremely harsh on this point 

jared. honestly i’m a bit worried too about the like... name change, because it does have the potential to be taking out some representation, but... they did change the name to fit the actor’s ethnicity? it’s a really [hmm] topic because, again, from a trailer and from what we have been told we don’t KNOW a lot of the context, but i think it’s important to remember that uh.. jewish people aren’t just? always white ?? there’s a possibility they changed the last name to fit with the [ethnicity] while keeping him jewish?? ofc there’s the possibility that they Didn’t and ... again hm that’s its own thing altogether but just reiterates the point that you can’t knock a whole movie just based on the trailer. you can’t talk about things you know nothing about. 

alana. same thing as before, you can’t.... completely bash a character based on a 3 minute trailer. there was discussion about how she seemed ‘shy’ when talking to evan, which like.. maybe she is but also that scene was them talking in a library like if u actually take notice of what’s happening in the scene jdskngsd though i do share the general consensus with many others that she won’t get a lot of screen-time but that’s neither here nor there 😔 moving on

scenes and the setting. one of the things i was most like.. tentative about in regards to a switch from a musical to a movie was how they were like... going to do certain scenes? naturally, a lot has to be different when we’re going from a minimal stage set to an entire movie with like.. settings. there are going to be new scenes because a movie lends to have like, physical places that aren’t just [evan’s bedroom] and [murphy kitchen] and [implied school]. so new scenes, new conversations, slightly different pacing.. this is all to be expected right like are y’all geneuinely surprised here or ........

there’s a lot we aren’t seeing yet because this is a TRAILER. again i already mentioned this re: connor but like... again, y’all are making some Claims that just... fucking outlandish. there are so many moments in the trailer that are very obvious Hard Cuts. you don’t have all the information yet. you are angry at a tiny fragment of something that is confusing you because you don’t have all the context. is there a chance that some of this shit is just genuinely Bad? yeah but you really cannot 100000% say it with your chest and gauge it without seeing the movie and understanding what that scene is in context. lowkey uhhh saw some jokes about the zoe scene in the car and :’))) ? jesus? christ????

concluding thoughts because my brain hurts but like. you don’t have to like the movie. you don’t have to WATCH the movie. like all media if you choose to consume the movie you should do so with some CRITICAL THOUGHT. but, just like the novel (and i do not want to have any discussions about that i don’t care if you think it’s good Or bad that’s not what this is about) you guys are going in this WANTING to believe it’s bad and completely polarizing your thoughts on what this is going to be. yeah, maybe there shouldn’t be a movie. i genuinely think we could’ve gone without. but it’s just a piece of media, it’s not a progression like all your (musical is good, novel is bad, MOVIE IS WORSE OH NO) posts are suggesting. they are all just. different pieces of media stemming from a source. at the end of the day it’s just a fucking movie. if you already hate it so much, guess what? you don’t have to watch it! you don’t have to put so much needless fucking hate into a 3 MINUTE TRAILER. you can stop being performative and dissing it for its poor treatment of POC while then going on to make fun of ben platt’s hair and just targeting a different group like! please !!!

i’m not trying to be a fuckin’ advocate for this movie because there’s so much opportunity for it to suck, i do Not have high hopes for it, and i’m not even really sure i want to watch it (i bought the novel when it came out and have yet to read it, and i’m sure the movie will like.. elicit very similar vibes from me lsdngjkdsg like im just not uhhh feeling it) but y’know what? watching the trailer did not bring forth the fucking onslaught of hatred in me that apparently has fuckin posessed all of y’all and like djnsgjksdg plagued my dashboard for this whole evening. don’t come into my inbox trying to like.. argue with me about this (preemptively im turning off anon because i like i Can’t lmao) this is just like... a rant i needed to get out of me real quick. 

SO. tldr for now: have critical thought about shit you consume, there’s no ethical consumption under [the film industry], you can’t judge a movie entirely on its trailer, and y’all need to calm the fuck down 

[canonicallyanxious]

hi. i was wondering what you thought or if you had any criticisms with the original skam? I wish the original season 3 focused more on isak's mental health and season 2 didnt act like norhelms flaws didnt exist. loved season 1.

oh boy do i!

man i’ve been trying to figure out how exactly i want to answer this question for hours now skdjfndksjfnd like just take one look at my blog and you can see i’m complete and utter SCU [skam cinematic universe] trash but i do have LOTS of complicated feelings and thoughts about og skam. in an effort to be measured and fair about this, i’m going to try to distinguish bw genuine criticism of the writing/etc. and personal nitpicks [aka stuff that personally doesn’t vibe with me but might work for other people]. and i thought about doing a season by season breakdown but i think that would end up getting WAY too long [like there are SO many specific things i wish they’d done differently in this show goddamn] so i’ll try to focus on some key overarching points here

[cut because HOO BOY did this get long i’m SORRY but also at this point you probably can’t be surprised skdfjndsfks]

First and foremost: let’s talk about race. i think it is one of skam’s biggest blind spots and i also think it’s a weakness that has affected pretty much every single remake thereafter, even [sometimes especially] the ones that have more diverse casts and so for me this is one of skam’s most significant weaknesses. i could honestly write an entire essay on skam’s issues with race [hell season 4 could be an essay in itself!] but i really think it boils down to there being pretty obviously few to no writers of color in the room. it’s not just the lack of diversity in the cast [although let’s count shall we? one main of color across the entire show, one black side character, the majority of side characters of color only appearing in one season... yeah] but it’s also that the characters of color who are on screen are simply not afforded the same care and nuance that the white characters are given. 

To be clear i think Sana is an amazing character and i think they accomplished some really important things with her, particularly as one of the few positive and nuanced portrayals of a hijabi that even exist in western media, but - she was only given nine episodes in her own season and even throughout the story the focus was often on the white characters around her [such as Noora]. not even to speak of many tired tropes [the homophobic fake out bw balloon and boy squad? THE ENTIRE BENCH SCENE???] and dropped storylines [Elias’ drinking? balloon squad’s relationship with Even??] throughout the entire thing. NOT EVEN TO SPEAK of the portrayal of characters of color BEFORE season 4 [vilde never properly apologizing for her racism! sana being the one to care for her at the end of season 1!! mahdi being given the least development/depth of the entire boy squad to the point that his most notable line in the entire show is about waffles!!!]. 

idk man it’s a complicated topic and there are probably much smarter people who have already gone into this in much better detail than i can but this really is one of my biggest issues with skam and the skamverse as a whole. maybe i should just accept that shows like this are not made for people like me, and i should look elsewhere for good representation of teens of color, but idk. i don’t think it’s too much to ask for better from a show that has a reputation for being a show FOR teens, you know what I mean? if skam is a show for teenagers [and it really is one of the better shows for teenagers i’ve ever seen, imho!] it would be nice for it to be a show for teens of color, too.

Another criticism i have of the show as a whole: lack of character continuity b/w seasons. throughout the years i’ve seen many people justify this as being due to point of view, since each main has a very limited and biased perspective. however i feel like this can only account for so much, and for me it’s not really a good excuse for a lack of cohesion in character arcs. for example, eva’s character development being pretty much dropped after the end of her season. just things like that. and honestly as well written as i think s3 is i don’t think it really did the girl squad any favors to have the show suddenly change focus from them for an entire season, to the point where only a few of them made any truly significant appearances in the season.

Another point i can think of: i remember once reading a post someone made about how julie andem + skam writers didn’t seem to know how to tell a compelling story without sex in it [for example sana’s season falling flat bc they struggled to come up with a compelling conflict or way to develop sana and yousef’s relationship bc it had to stay physically platonic], which rings true for me. not to say that teen shows can’t or shouldn’t explore sex. i think it’s really important to show healthy models of romance and sex for teenagers, actually! but i just think it would have been nice if throughout the seasons there had been more focus on other topics, and conflicts stemming from other sources. one example i can think of is that some of the more compelling threads of s2 for me such as the eating disorder subplot and noora’s anxiety in the wake of being sexually assaulted get pretty much entirely subsumed by the romantic storyline. or going back to sana, how instead of focusing on the differences bw her and yousef’s world views the conflict for at least like three episodes ended up coming from yousef making out with noora. just things like that where i wish the romance and the other plotlines could at least coexist together and be assigned equal importance.

And yeah, i agree with you that one topic i wish they had more thoroughly integrated into the show is mental health. of course we have Even and vague hints of Vilde/Noora having eating disorders/anxiety but i think we could all argue that all of the mains at one point or another are coded as mentally ill, but that coding and those symptoms never go anywhere, never lead into more nuanced discussions about mental health. like i don’t think the mental illness coding was intentional but i think that’s all the more reason to get into it, because mental illness has such a profound effect on so many teenagers and they don’t even really know it, you know what i mean? like it would be so powerful to show how pervasive of an issue it is. but that is kind of starting to get into personal nitpick territory i think, so i’ll just leave it at that.

god i still feel like i have so much more i could say skjfnskdjfs [GOD where to even START with season 2] but i’ve been working on this post for long enough so yeah, i should probably stop. i guess my point with this is not that skam is So Very Problematique, and of course i’m just one person and this is all just my personal opinion, and OF COURSE i firmly believe there is no story in this world that is flawless, but more that talking about our criticisms can hopefully lead to more nuanced conversations and stories in the future and that’s partly why i enjoy analyzing stories and what works and what doesn’t so much. thanks for this ask anon, it was [clearly lol] a very thought provoking question =]

[dr3am-t3am]

quick comment i wanted to make on the fan art issue, that i would’ve put on twitter if it weren't for its stupid character limit

i really really do understand both sides. in all honesty, im not mad at all, bc i think the issue is more with twitter itself than either dream or the artists, but tensions got rlly high last night and i feel for everyone that was affected. i do wanna say tho, the twitter algorithm really puts artists at a h u g e disadvantage. 

to everyone and anyone affected, pls feel free to talk to me? and if you have fan art, feel free to message me w/ it. im v far from anything resembling a big account both here and on twitter, but i will definitely boost ur art if u send it ! we really can't expect ccs to see or boost our art, just from the crappiness of social media algorithms alone, but when artists work together to help each other and such we can still make sure that all of our art is appreciated and loved by the community. love y'all !! <3 <3 <3

more hypothetical discussion and thoughts under the cut

again, i am a fanartist. i am also a fanfic writer, and i started on tumblr, so i know that bc of my experiences, im gonna be a lot less? affected? i guess by limited interactions from ccs. on tumblr, there’s no way you're gonna get noticed by ccs (which is a perk, sometimes) and when you’re a fanfic writer you really dont even ask for positive attention you really just want people to stop giving you negative attention haha

that being said, i understand people’s frustration with dream bc he hasn’t been interacting as much with art. i maintain that this frustration should be more directed to the twitter algorithm, tho. 

(who’s ready for some hypothetical math?)

let’s say that an artist takes 1 hour to make one piece of art. this is honestly, really really dang fast, many detailed full pieces of art take 2-3 hours at least, and many others will take 8, 10, or even more. but we’re gonna give the artist the benefit of the doubt anyways and say that they take 1 hour. 

Now how about stan accounts? Let’s say that they make 5 posts an hour. This is honestly, probably a low ball! Each post takes a few seconds to make, a lot of the time, and plenty of accounts are much more active than posting every 12 minutes. But we’re gonna, again, make this situation the best possible situation for the artist, and let’s say that the stan account only posts 5 times an hour. Even with this situation, for each post that the artist makes, assuming that they @ dream every time, he’s going to see 5 posts by a stan account.

Artists also tend to be very outnumbered on twitter, so let’s say for every artist, there are 10 stan accounts. Let’s assume that they also make 5 posts an hour. So for each artist that shows up in dream’s notifications, he’s going to see 50 posts by stan accounts.

But artists get fatigued! We’re going to go with a high estimate again with 4 fully finished pieces a day. (this is insane! keep in mind, even if we’re lowballing the time put in, this is still 4 hours a day of art. for most artists, their fully finished pieces take 2, 3, 4 hours. four pieces a day would put them at 8-16 hours of work!!). on the other hand, stan account posts take a lot less time to make, and are much less likely to make them fatigued. Therefore, we can assume that the stan accounts, posting 5 times an hour, can stay active for 8 hours a day. 

What does this put us at? For every post that an artist makes with a fully finished piece of art, dream is seeing 100 notifications from stan accounts. This doesn’t even include how dream is more likely to respond to those who interact with his tweets, which is nigh impossible for artists because they cannot make a piece of art to reply to his posts in the ~5 minutes that he will look at the replies to the post he posts. I also made this situation the best possible situation for the artist. In reality, I can only make about one fully finished piece a day, and more often will go two or three days without posting. There are also far more stan accounts than artists, stan accounts are often active for longer than 8 hours and post more than once every 12 minutes. The real ratio might be more like 1 in 200, 300, 400. Just because of the algorithm, artists are pretty dang screwed.

Dream has been making efforts to help with this, such as through the dreamfanart tag! this manages to filter out all of the stan accounts, and when fan artists use it he’s going to be much more likely to see the art. even so, the amount of artists he will actually interact with is very low. it’s just the way the website works, when his notifications are definitely constantly flooded, when artists are so easily drowned out by the literal army of stan accounts on twitter. in the end, it’s really up to artists to hype each other up and support each other. My best advice for if you want more appreciation and interaction are:

1. use the dreamfanart tag! again, this manages to filter out most of the stan account activity, and will help other people to find your art if you’re a relatively new artist

2. self advertise! retweet your own art, reply with your art under people’s posts hyping up artists, dont be afraid to put yourself out there. if you want your voice to be heard in the sound of all these other accounts, you have to be loud!

3. interact with other artists! by helping and hyping up other artists, theyre more likely to do so with you. artists are a pretty small population of dttwt, and we have to support each other to get anywhere. retweet, like, reply to people’s art. follow dttwt artists and support them! 

4. love your art for what you’ve already done. this is the hardest part, especially when you put hours into a piece and see it get like, less than 10 likes. i have been there, and it sucks. but your art is Good. you put your time, effort, and heart into that, and regardless of how other people respond, you did good and im proud of you. <3

a last note: i have to admit, i wasn't the most comfortable with all of the dttwt artists bullying and venting their frustrations at dream, specifically, for “ignoring” fan artists. could he have interacted more? definitely. but i dont think he was by any means trying to “ignore” fan artists. his notifications are swamped, his tl is swamped. twitter works in a way where a day or two after you make a piece of art, it’s pretty much buried and lost forever. last night he was just trying to do a good thing by shouting out some small accounts in the community. fan artists, i am a part of you, and i feel your pain and frustration, but please don’t speak out of a place of anger. it’s far too easy to say something, publicly, that you’ll regret. i do not condone any of the hate sent anywhere, especially to fan artists last night, but let’s all remember to be kind and build each other up, ok? We’re all in this together, ccs, stan accounts, fan artists. we’re all doing this because we love the dteam and the content they make. don’t lose sight of why we’re here in the first place <3 

again, love you guys so much. take care of yourselves! im proud of all of you, fan artists, fanfic writers, any and all creators, as well as those of you who are just here to express your love for the dteam. be kind and support one another, ok? <3 

[flying-elliska]

Hello Ellie. You seem to have an understanding of LGBTQ+ and things and you always give good advice so I wanted to ask about some things that have been going around my mind about my own sexuality. I think I may be aromantic or asexual or inside the spectrum, but I still feel a little bit lost. Like of course sometimes I want a relationship and the idea of love is not repulsive, but when it comes to reality whenever I like someone a relationship seems like too much (1/2)

I feel like I’ve never fallen for someone, even though I’ve had relationships with very strong feelings I feel like I got into them just to not lose the other person and now because it’s what I wanted. Now I have been talking to this person who makes me feel things, but I really don’t want to start a relationship because it’s not the kind of thing I want. I don’t know it’s a mess. And I’ve had so much problems exploring my sexuality because it feels like I don’t want to do it at all (2/2)

Hey dear anon ! Thank you for coming to me with this, I feel honored by your trust. 💕

So as always I'll start w the disclaimer that you are the only one that can truly know your own orientation (and my own perspective is limited). That said, yes, this sounds a lot like you are on the ace-spectrum. Like for everyone, feelings are complicated ! So I think this confusion is pretty normal - I think a lot of people don't clearly fit into specific boxes and that's why I think seeing things as a spectrum is so important.

The most important thing is for you to lead an authentic life, one that makes you happy. When you write you pushed yourself into relationships you didn't want, that doesn't sound like it. We are, from birth, bludgeoned with the idea that sex and romance are key to a happy fulfilled life. (You might want to look up 'amatonormativity'). And that if you don't want those things there has to be something wrong with you (which is untrue). So it's not a wonder that some ace ppl still keep this idea that they want love, of course, but not like that and not now, keeping it as a safe horizon but always as distant as possible. So this could be a possibility for you.

Another option is that you are on the spectrum and while there is a possibility for you to feel attraction/want romance etc the conditions for that to happen are much more specific and restricted than for other people. And that you will know when you get there, which might happen and also might not.

And finally there are other things that might make you less open to attraction/wanting a relationship. Maybe it's something mental health related ; maybe you are not at a point in your life where you are ready for a relationship ; maybe you don't like the mainstream model for relationships; etc. Maybe a combination of all those things.

Whatever the case may be, I think it's important to say that your agency, sense of self, and desires (or lack of them), are the most important thing here, before any labelling. Please don't push yourself into things you don't really want. You truly don't need a romantic and/or sexual relationship to be happy. What's more I really believe in the importance of platonic connections - friendships can be just as intense and life changing and nurturing and one thing I love are the stories of ace ppl making their own types of families w their friends (because I love anything that goes beyond the typical hetero 2.5 children nuclear family model imperative, which can be so harmful).

So I would say - maybe try to do some imagining. If you lived in an ideal world, what relationships would you want to cultivate ? What would the specific geometry of them be - how would they involve things like affection, touch, commitment, intimacy, sex, romance, exclusivity, care, raising children, sharing responsibilities, mutual inspiration, etc - or not ? Beyond that, maybe try to talk honestly abt this w people who are close to you and that you might have feelings for. You might not always get the reaction you want, people are woefully undereducated abt these issues, but I think getting some practice in discussing boundaries might do you good. After that, you might try on a label and find it evolves over time, or not. That's totally fine. But another thing - you don't need to have sex to explore yr sexuality. This can be very much a thing that you figure out w yourself. And if you don't even want to think about it, then I think it's a sign too.

In the end I think a lot of people go along w this mainstream relationship model bc it's the norm but questioning the content more could benefit a lot of people so they don't push themselves into doing things they don't want out of obligation.

I haven't discussed this much here but I also identify as on the ace-spectrum, maybe grey-ace and/or demi, because I do tend to feel attraction but not very often and I generally do need an emotional connection. What's more I haven't had a relationship in quite some time and this has been a choice because I wanted to figure out my issues first. Because of MI related stuff I have a difficult time w boundaries and I needed to grow on my own first. When I get to it in the future (if I ever do) I know that I want a relationship where intellectual/creative/emotional exchange plays a big role ; and I know that I also want my friendships to play a big role in my life. I don't want to place the romantic relationship at the center of my life.

I think one thing you can do, instead of thinking about it negatively (what you don't want) is this ; what do you want to center yr life around ? What makes you passionate ? What is important to you ? what relationships do you want to nurture ? What do you invest your life energies into ? What gives you pleasure ? What do you want to spend yr limited time on this planet focusing on ? I think starting with this will allow you to question things from a place of fullness instead of fear of missing something.

Most of all : give yourself time. You might be asexual or aromantic or both or demi or grey-ace ; you might choose a label and find it makes you happy now and won't fit later ; it's all okay. You can try things and make mistakes and change your mind, it's all okay. You can not want things now, and want them later, or never at all. There is nothing wrong with you. Try to be honest with yourself and the people around you about what you want. Do some research into alternative relationship models. Try to get a better sense of your own boundaries. And focus on what makes you happy in life. <3 The really important people will stay for the true you, anyway.

And feel free to come talk to me abt this anytime ! I wish you a safe journey in all this, pls take care 💕

[meggannn]

for that hawke companions thing: fenris and bethany!

WHOOP WHOOP sorry this is late, but as you know, fenris and bethany love is My Thing, so i wanted to be properly prepared

Fenris

Did your Hawke also hate Tevinter, like Fenris? Were they influenced by him?she didn’t hate Tevinter mostly because she never thought of it. her only knowledge of Tevinter really comes from some old knowledge maybe Malcolm mentioned when she was little, and then whatever Fenris tells her, which is obviously pretty bleak.

If his personal quest was received, did your Hawke allow him to kill his sister? Why or why not?yknow I let him kill Varania the first time, then every subsequent time after, it just…. didn’t feel right, so I always convince him to spare her now. she, like, totally and unequivocally understands why he wants to – I mean, his own family betrayed him to the man who enslaved and brutalized him for years – and she gets why Fenris feels threatened/vulnerable with Varania still out there, like maybe he believes she’d find a way to manipulate or trick him again. in the moment, Fenris is so angry and hurt, and Varania is so at a loss for where to go next after losing Danarius and desperate to make her brother pay for what she went through, that I don’t think they’re in the right place to be swayed with “don’t kill her, she’s your family!” (‘cause we all know by now that family can be shit, and tbh that always seemed almost a bit unwittingly cruel to say, since yeah… she was his family, and his family just betrayed him.) so Hawke tries to convince Fenris to let her go, bc she sees Varania as a victim too, but… also it’s his life that she threatened, so it’s his choice, but she’s relieved when he tells her to just get out.

How did your Hawke’s final decision between the mages or the templars affect their relationship with Fenris? Were they forced to kill him?well you know I always side mages haha, and Fenris always has enough approval by endgame that he joins Hawke, but the first time I played he didn’t, so I was terrified I’d have to kill him until I met up with him again and managed to convince him to join me. but anyway in my canon, yeah, I don’t think it came as a surprise to Fenris when she decided to support the mages, so he wasn’t like, vocally disappointed, and he understood why, but in his head he was kind of gathering up all these I-told-you-so’s: I told you not to trust the abomination, I told you supporting mages so openly would be trouble, I told you one day you’d get in over your head – but after the battle he doesn’t say any of it ‘cause he realizes she knows it already and that saying any of it would just rub salt in the wound. so there’s like a sort of mutual understanding on both ends that this all happened to them because of her role in the city, and it affected him because they are who they are together. and there’s definitely some guilt on her part for dragging him into it and indirectly having him flee Kirkwall with her, but after some thinking, I don’t think Fenris is the type to blame her for that.

How did your Hawke respond to the mutual resentment between Fenris and Anders? Did they intervene?act 1: there was definitely some shared shared looks with Varric at first, let’s-just-ignore-it looks, then when they kept snapping at each other, she started to hang out with them separately. also, she didn’t hang out with Fenris a lot in her first few years in Kirkwall just because she didn’t like that he called her sister a snake, and she didn’t want to expose Beth to any prejudice that made her feel MORE guilty for her magic. so her rls with Fenris is cordial, but not super close; she spends more time with Anders just out of association with the expedition and because he’s nice and they happen to see each other a bit more.act 2: after spending some time with Fenris privately I think Hawke further appreciates that his mistrust comes out of completely justified fear of power in the wrong hands, and being traumatized at the hands of mages absolutely affects how he’d interact with them. after losing her sister to the Circle, Fenris does kind of ease up out of sympathy, ‘cause while he supported the Circle, he didn’t want her to lose her family (being sensitive abt family in general is definitely a thing in their rls), and he did genuinely like Beth. Hawke still does find herself siding more with mages as things get heated up in Kirkwall, and Fenris kind of… tolerates it, and is civil in the party, but he and Anders mostly try to keep their distance.act 3: ofc when things start heating up, Fenris kinda fears that Hawke’s gonna go full-on mage rights activist like Anders, and while she does support them now more than ever (having been convinced over the past few years), it seems like she’s mostly just worried Anders isn’t in a good place right now, so he doesn’t start any fights with her. he definitely speaks his mind when he has something to say, but Fenris at this point knows Anders won’t back down; though he does see him as like, a man about to hit his breaking point, whereas Fenris trying to recover and find out who he is, so tbh he mostly just tries to ignore him. when he can’t, though, I think he and Anders can be civil enough to talk about their politics in the group, but it usually doesn’t convince either of them and someone gets irritable and it never goes anywhere, so Fenris realizes it’s not worth it. Hawke in these moments never really plays mediator, like, they are both are adults and their discussions never really get nasty. also I think by this point she’s too tired of hearing fights about it and knows too much about both of them too much to think they might ever see things the other’s way.

What motivated your Hawke to be either a friend or a rival to Fenris? Were they indifferent to him?I may’ve talked about this before but anyway act 1, Hawke responded to Fenris politely enough as you do to a mercenary you meet in Lowtown one night, took him on occasional quests and invited him to the HM and blah blah ‘cause he was funny and had a good poker face and fought well with Varric and Isabela, but again she was worried about a clash between him and Beth, and then later Merrill and Anders. so she mostly brought him as necessary for the first few months of act 1 and tried to limit his interaction w Beth. funnily enough when he did meet up with Beth again he was much politer and got on a lot better, and Beth seemed to like him too (Fenris by this point having realized that he’d offended Hawke’s sister on the first night, who Hawke had worked her entire life to protect, and wanted to make up for it). after Beth is taken, he’s genuinely sympathetic, and they’ve spent some time together one-on-one so Hawke knows his abrasiveness isn’t all that he is, and all that eventually kind of snowballs into their romance near the end of act 2.

Bethany

Did Bethany become a Grey Warden or die of the Taint or was she taken to the Circle? How did your Hawke react to what became of her?Circle. I was all set to bring Beth to the Deep Roads with me before Leandra made her plea to let her stay behind, and I think Hawke was swayed by that. she wanted Beth at her side ‘cause they’d been partners in crime for years in the city by now, but Carver’s death was still fresh and she knew her mom was really protective of her youngest kid, so it made sense for only one to go. Beth was hurt by it, but she understood. when Hawke comes back to hear she’s been taken to the Gallows, she’s like……. numb. I think she was waiting for something else to go wrong; Bartrand’s betrayal, hiking through the Deep Roads for weeks on end for an exit, fighting ancient rock wraiths just to survive, hiking through the wilderness BACK to Kirkwall with all their loot, and then she loses Beth to the one place she can’t rescue her. (like, things were shit before living with Gamlen and losing Malcolm and Carver and fleeing the Blight and searching for coin everywhere, but then when she FINALLY gets money, she loses her sister? this is the beginning of Hawke’s realizing 🎶 My Liife is a Fuuuucking Niiightmaaaare 🎶)

How did Leandra and/or Carver’s death affect your Hawke’s relationship with Bethany?Carver and Hawke were close in the way that he looked up to her, as another non-mage in the family, and they sparred together and she followed him to the military, but he and Beth had that twin bond Hawke couldn’t replace, you know? I think Beth was more shaken up by it than she let on, but Hawke definitely noticed, and she kind of simultaneously shoved her mourning aside but also dealt with it, in a way, by helping Beth cope with hers.

Due to Bethany being a mage, was your Hawke influenced by her when making the choice between mages and templars?by this point she’d seen so much shit going on in Kirkwall that she was far convinced that standing up for the mages would be the right thing, even without Beth standing right there. Beth was absolutely a factor in helping her grow up with that kind of mage-glasses thinking tho. like she grew up with questions like ‘Is this a safe thing to do? will this expose us? how many chantries are in this area? what are the templars’ regular patrols?’ and then when she was in her teenager years Hawke realized, ‘well, I’m living with it by association, but Beth actually lives it. we could split up, and I could stop, but Beth would still have to live with it for the rest of her life.’ so going into Kirkwall she also sees Beth’s safety as her protection, and after she kind of ‘fails’ that, she starts to see all the other ways the system fails mages, and it snowballs.

How close were your Hawke and Bethany before they fled to Kirkwall? Did they grow closer or drift farther apart once they were settled in Kirkwall?Beth and Carver both looked up to her but in different ways and at different capacities, really just because she was the oldest. when she wasn’t taking care of the kids or helping Leandra with house/farmwork, Hawke spent a lot of time on her own or with Malcolm, so Beth knew of her sister as a protector for most of her life. when Hawke was a teenager I think they got a little closer, but then after Carver’s death, they relied on each other for emotional and moral support a lot after moving to Kirkwall. then they became kind of partners in crime working for Anita, and formed their own little squad with Varric; that was like the prime of their relationship, and it kind of stings Hawke that they were happiest together only when things were so miserable in every other aspect of their lives.

Did your Hawke stay in contact with Bethany after the mage-templar decision in Kirkwall?after fear for Beth’s safety, no, not for a while. I haven’t thought about post-Inquisition. for a long time I imagine Hawke needs to run from the Chantry, then run from the Seekers, then the Inquisition, then deal with what’s going on with the Wardens with the Inquisition, and then Weisshaupt, and who knows how long that takes. she’s still on the run from several people that want her dead, whereas Bethany was never the traveling sort if she could help it. I think Beth might settle back in Kirkwall with Aveline and Varric if the Templar situation improved post-Tresspasser, or go somewhere else in the Marches with Merrill helping other mages. they share letters through Aveline and Varric whenever they can risk it.

dragon age 2 companion meme

[ladyloveandjustice]

The Great Ace Attorney Replay: Apollo Justice, Case 1

We’re back to chats w/my girlfriend for liveblogs! Don’t worry she claims she enjoys this. I’m Caitlin, she’s luci.  Me: Playing Apollo Justice. The most relatable thing about Apollo is he yells "I'M FINE" over and over before a trial even when he isn't, because he thinks this will make him magically become fine. He's like the living embodiment of the 'this is fine' comic.

 Luci: inspiring

 big fan of that coping mechanism myself

Me: Phoenix u know his name's not "Mr. Fine" don't be an asshole.

yeah same here

Phoenix is on trial for murder. he is extremely calm about it though he doesn't give a shit.

Luci: he probably did it

i bet he did it

Caitlin: The judge seems sad about this awww. But then when we're discussing motive he's like "maybe the victim insulted the defendant's piano playing?"

yeah i can totally see Nick killing someone bc they said he sucked at piano

luci: he can play piano??

Caitlin: he cannot. but he does anyway

Luci: i see...

Caitlin:literally the first sentence in his testimony is "I'm a pianist by trade right now but I can hardly play at all"

He's good at poker though which attracts customers to the club he works at. And apparently it's totally legal because they don't actually bet money. ok sure whatever phoenix i totally believe you.

"Lies??? AS IF. Phoenix Wright would never lie." oh Apollo. oh poor sweet summer child.

Payne is our prosecutor for this trial btw. Now that I think of it he's the first prosecutor in every game, it's ace attorney tradition.

Luci: i forgot who that was and then this came up on google and i bol http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/8/8a/Winston_Payne_Portrait.png/revision/latest?cb=20160930032639

Caitlin: yeah that's from this game actually. he grew his hair out over the timeskip

Being a hobo has allowed Phoenix time to master passive-aggression and sick burns apparently. Payne's all "it's hard for a hardworking member of society like me to imagine" Phoenix: "Yes, well your imagination always was a bit limited, Winston."

Luci: dang

Caitlin:"I plead silence on the murder, but i didn't touch the murder weapon" PHOENIX THAT IS NOT HELPFUL.

luci: also probably illegal

once youre on the stand you have to answer

unless you’re gant i guess

Caitlin: apparently not in dystopian japanifornia anymore

Luci: "did you do the murder"

"actually im gonna sit back down sorry"

Me: I can't believe Phoenix found a way to accuse some random person in the courtroom of murder even when he's just a witness/suspect. And this time it's a defense attorney (Not Apollo, his boss who is there with him).

The Judge is like "Mr. Wright why are you accusing your own defense attorney of murder" and Phoenix is like "well technically Apollo is my defense attorney" Phoenix...

Luci: how old is apollo here

Caitlin: 22. Poor thing. He is not ready for any of this.

Luci: oh i thought he wsa like 10 for some reason

Caitlin: nah, he's an adult.

Luci: for some reason i thought a 10 year old attorney would be perfectly normal and accepted in that universe

[Note from me in the future: She’s right it would be]

Caitlin: "how do I expose this guy for murder if I'm not a lawyer i've got it i'll just hire one of his subordinates as a defense attorney and make them do it for me while he's right next to them.. Let's find one that's young and impressionable"

that's basically what happened here. How did he even know who to hire. Did he just go into the office and look for whoever reminded him of himself before his innocence was shattered. probably.

luci loool

Caitlin: the judge isn't even surprised with Phoenix he's like "this is not even the most ridiculous thing I've seen you do whatever."

Luci: judge has seen some shit

Caitlin: Phoenix's cell phone is evidence here- i just examined it and the batttery's held in with tape. "why didn't he just buy a new one maybe he just doesn't care" once again, i feel you phoenix.

Luci: had a gameboy with the back held in by tape for like 9 yaers

its like $1 to replace it

Caitlin: Phoenix is in the defense's bench now. He didn't even ask Apollo or anyone he's just like "I'm here now" He seriously gives zero fucks about anything right now it's hilarious..Maya do you see what happens when someone's not watching over him. we need you here. U too Miles. Control your Nick.

awww his objection music is playing that's cute. Even if he lost his badge he's still got it.

Just finished up the case. Apollo's boss is in jail! Which means he doesn't have a job anymore,Phoenix just came in and instantly ruined his life.

Luci: happens

Caitlin: We had some super convenient evidence show up that tricked our killer into confessing and Phoenix is like "oh yeah I forged that whatevs".

"A defense attorney can't do that!" "Well, who's calling themselves an attorney?"

Edgeworth finds out he accidentally presented forged evidence: I HAVE WALKED AN UNJUST PATH HOW CAN I CARRY ON

Phoenix deliberately presents forged evidence: well i'm not a lawyer anymore so who gives a shit lol.

Apollo got mad and punched him in the face. yeah u kinda deserved that.

He doesn't even react, oh my god Phoenix. Please get some help. He is really beyond done.

Luci: somewhere on the done spectrum tho

theres a sweet spot where you dont care about anything but dont feel awful

and dont care that you dont care

ive been there a couple of times its pretty alright

Caitlin:I think he probably does feel awful though, he's just really good at hiding it. iirc correctly his inner monologue seems to indicate he's depressed.

"Next time you punch someone try yelling "take that", I find it that phrase adds "oomph". Amazing advice Phoenix what would he do without your mentorship.

Luci: and you have to make an UHHHHN sound whenever you say "!"

Me: Phoenix is like "well if u want a job u can come by my office anytime" yes you made a great first impression I'm sure he's all pumped up to work with you. (if you're confused, it's not a law office anymore iirc, it's literally a "whatever we feel like right now" office)