#and then we become no better then the cops

[spicyycarrot]

back in S1 I really gave the writers the benefit of the doubt, choosing to believe they weren't libs or centrists. that they didn't really think Vander collaborating with cops was good for Zaun, that they knew characters like Jinx aren't fundamentally broken and irredeemable but a result of trauma caused by systemic oppression.

I believed they knew about and understood real life systems of oppression but very cleverly and subtly told their story, trying not to spoon-feed the audience & shove political messages down anyone's throats.

but then season 2 being so rushed and fast-paced really showed me where their priorities lied, what they chose to focus on and it wasn't insightful social commentary or exploration of any character's psyche or whatnot (aside from ep 7 which was peak) - it felt like they were trying to elicit emotional responses out of the audience more than anything. Isha gets introduced and oh I'm sure they'll subvert expectations and keep her alive & give Jinx hope that she can change for the better and isn't a Jinx to the people she lov- oh nvm Isha's dead. oh Vi has a mental breakdown after betraying everything she once stood for, becoming an enforcer and subsequently falling into a depression & self-harming for possibly months, I'm sure they'll explore this inner conflict in more detail after this montage- nvm it's LITERALLY JUST THE ONE MONTAGE? ok this Maddie girl is sleeping with Caitlyn but she doesn't seem to have any logical reason or motivation to betray he- never fucking mind??? I guess there was just no reason?????

whenever I thought they'd subvert expectations, they just kept doing the most. fucking. obvious. thing. it felt like the writers were constantly really insecurely asking me "are you crying yet????🥺🥺🥺 isn't this sad omg🥺🥺😭💔💔 ARE YOU CRYING??? OMG THE ANGST🥺 TRAUMA🥺🥺🥺"

it felt like they were very trying way too hard and trying intentionally to replicate S1's organic feeling of loss, longing for "what could've been", palpable and relatable pain, empathy for fleshed-out and human characters.

and also, whenever something kinda obvious would've made SENSE, they didn't do it. e.g. Vi & Jinx reconciling in the end would've made for such a beautiful finale where the story comes full-circle, but they chose not to do that because framing their relationship as "doomed" is more tragic😔💔 I guess? despite the fact that we see them getting along like they used to and Jinx saying "I'm always with you, sis", they still make her (supposedly) stand between Vi and her happiness so they make Jinx, the suicidal character, fucking FAKE HER DEATH??

hey remember in S1 Act1 that one scene where Vi & Powder look at the skyline and Vi says "one day, this city's gonna respect us" and in that moment it feels hugely impactful and like it's setting up something important for later down the line and then NOTHING EVER COMES OF IT? by the end of S2, the former GOAT Vi is washed and a lapdog to her oppressors and Jinx is branded an irredeemable terrorist and as far as anyone knows, she died as such.

the creators/writers have always said they knew from the beginning how they wanted the story to end but I find it hard to believe this is the exact outcome they wanted. Arcane was always the story of two sisters in conflict, framed by a larger conflict between the Sister Cities. neither of those stories felt like they came to a satisfying resolution or natural conclusion. S2 abandoned the heart of the story in favor of the eponymous "Arcane" storyline and you can really tell that it made this season weaker.

what makes this all particularly upsetting to me is that I expected better of Arcane of all shows. I guess it's on me for having such high expectations but I wish season 2 hadn't been as disappointing as it was.

No actually I need to add on more to this. Arcane very unfortunately suffers the same issue that a lot of "progressive" shows suffer in Western media, where they go like "here are some real, systemic issues that exist and look at the consequences of these issues", and then either (1) forget to continue with the theme, and/or (2) don't do anything about it beyond slap on a half-hearted Band-Aid solution that never addresses it.

Caitlyn gassing civilians; lack of accessibility for Viktor which created barriers for him due to his disability; enforcers as oppressors, going hand in hand with Noxian imperialism; Jayce weaponzing hextech, and him already having killed a child because of it; not a single moment is really spent on any of these in S2. If anything, the enforcers are really flattened at the end of this season with little nuance, the complexity that shone in characters like Marcus and Grayson disappearing. Many Piltovan characters do not get even a single second of introspection as to how their actions actively contribute to the oppression of Zaun.

[seat-safety-switch]

People love to say government doesn't do anything. They point to little inconveniences like potholes, systemic corruption, or troops marching in the street during a violent and unprecedented junta, and tut. I can't stand this kind of Negative Nancy pessimism. There's one thing government does just fine: getting rid of bears.

Not far from where I live is a small provincial park. In case you're from a country that doesn't have provinces, just think of it as a park. No adjectives, and nobody gets confused. In this park is a lot of protected wildlife. We have the occasional problem with raccoons in our garbage bins, feral coyotes coming up to nip our kids, field mice eating holes in our wiring.

Bears are not that big of a problem usually, but we had a really cold summer and those dudes are hungry. So they wander a little further than normal. Right into my neighbourhood. Someone got really upset, possibly because a bear tried to eat their kid, and called the cops on them. I don't think this would have happened if it were a polar bear, but I'm not going to go around shaking that particular tree.

The province responded by putting up a bear trap. In case you're unfamiliar (I was,) a bear trap consists of a box that the bear goes into and then is trapped. On the side of it, just to make sure that no dumbasses get trapped in there, is the wording "DANGER BEAR TRAP" in two-foot-high red lettering (bears are considered largely illiterate.) And on the inside is a fine new steak, at a time when steak has become incredibly expensive. I'm not going to lie to you: it has been a pretty hard year, and a bit of porterhouse would go a long way to making it better for me.

I headed on down there, ready to retrieve the steak that my tax money had paid for, and found something else entirely. My neighbour, Carl. He had decided to ignore the urgent warnings of the bear trap elite and make his own decisions in life. For his effort, he was able to get a free steak. A free steak, and also to be surrounded by a group of starving, angry bears, which I scared off as I approached using my mobility scooter (a 1988 F-150 with fog lights that look suspiciously like the runway lights that went missing from the airport last month.)

Carl was lucky that the trap managed to keep bears out as well as keep him in, until I figured out the prominent "release bear" lever on the side. Even so, if I had shown up a few minutes later, he'd probably have been ursine chow – bears these days are smart.

The ride home was awkward, with me not wanting to ask explicitly for the steak I felt I deserved for saving his life (the ancient Japanese custom of isshō sutēki) and him not wanting to admit that he had in fact been defeated by the very same government he thought incompetent to shovel driveways. Bears remained uncaught, sure, but nobody was expecting a whole lot out of this initiative. Surely it was none of our faults.

[pleasereadmeok]

A Goode year? ... 2024

Time for my usual review of Matthew Goode's (public) year. I usually sit down to write these thinking - hmm - we didn’t see enough of Matthew Goode this year and then get surprised by the number of Goode things that happened. But this year - OMFG there was hardly anything to write about. WTF? I know we have had droughts in the past but it's been a very lean year for Goode fans.

Oh well - we will make the most of the crumbs that we had.

January

December 2023's promotion of 'Freud's Last Session' continued into January and the praise kept on coming for Matthew's performance as CS Lewis.

Fans never doubted that Matthew would more than hold his own playing opposite Anthony Hopkins but it was still fantastic to have critic and audience reviews confirm our views.

These are some random reviews that appeared in January ....

Matthew Goode proves himself as a reliable character performer as Lewis. Squaring off against Hopkins is no easy feat, but the actor holds his own with quiet determinedness. [Punk Drunk Critics]

“It couldn’t be better cast, with both Hopkins and Goode slipping right into the skins of their characters and creating a sparkling chemistry. When the two are together the film makes for a mesmerizing study. “ [Keith and the movies com]

“Much of what we get is truly great material and the performances from Hopkins and Goode are exceptional.[Keith and the movies com]

Matthew Goode (“The Offer,” “The Imitation Game”) as C.S. Lewis, meanwhile, is as straightforward as Hopkins is slippery, and the two make a good pair. Lewis is not intimidated by Freud, nor is Goode intimidated by Hopkins. Both Goode and Lewis regard their older interlocutor with a mix of respect, affection and skepticism, as well as with a confident willingness to let a brilliant old showoff go into his dance. [San Fanscisco Chronicle]

Hopkins and Goode give masterful performances that transcend the conversation at hand.  [National Catholic Reporter]

February

In amongst the buzz around 'Freud's Last Session' we finally got confirmation of that Netflix series Matthew said he was due to start filming. Great news coz it's a goode one - a crime drama series, 'Department Q' adapted from the books written by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen.

📷 Netflix

The showrunner is Scott Frank who Matthew previously worked with on the 2007 film, 'The Lookout'.

Here's a summary from Deadline - Goode will play DCI Carl Morck. After a violent incident turns Morck’s life upside down, the emotionally scarred detective is charged with setting up cold case unit, Department Q, upon his return to work. At first, the disillusioned cop is happy to waste his days away, but his detective instincts are ultimately reawakened and his new department becomes a magnet for a crew of misfits and mavericks.

It got better at the very end of February coz we got the first proof of life for 2024 [we need more of those please] when Matthew attended the special screening of 'Freud's Last Session' in London. He was showing off his full 'Carl Morck' beardiness for the first time in public and we loved it.

📷 Yaffa Meskell

March

The promos for FLS kept rolling and extra screenings were added.... but then HACKETT!

Matthew joined up with Jenson Button and Hackett again to give us the Spring/Summer campaign. We got to see Matthew posing with doggies, playing croquet and looking cosy in beige (yes - BEIGE!) cardigans - so just your average trip to Seville. Although sitting on that trunk looks a bit eye watering. 😬 Ouch

📷 Tom Craig for Hackett

BUT the goode stuff kept coming coz cheeky Matthew had done a whole new movie appearance and WHO KNEW???? Well - we did ... in March.

Matthew was due to appear in the vampy movie 'Abigail' and we speculated about his role. Actually we didn't have to speculate too much coz when we found out that Abigail had a big, bad DADDY - we just knew. Vampy Dad 2 was coming soon!

April

In April we got some early sightings of Matthew doing a 'Carl' around Edinburgh including some squeally fan encounters. Loved this one from Sara Maude -

📷 Sara Maude

Sara told Edinburgh Live - "I absolutely had to get a picture with him, and I believe if you don't ask you don't get! He was an absolute delight, warm, friendly and down to earth - a true gent. To me, he is a sex god, and I was delighted to share that with him."

'Abigail' opened in April and we got to see Matthew as another vampy dad but this time - WITH FANGS!

OMG how he managed to even speak with those babies in his mouth was a mystery. But he was excellent as the supremely creepy vamp Kristof Lazar and audiences loved him too. His 'dinner' line brought the house down when I saw this 😂 Frikkin' hilarious.

Meanwhile 'Freud's Last Session' was going down well in Australia and there was lots of new praise for Matthew's portrayal of CS Lewis.

May

Oh, hello - here he is again in May. We know that Matthew is a totally geeky dad but - FISHING???

📷 James Murray

All in a good cause coz Matthew joined up with James Murray, Burn Gorman and Dominic West to catch some fishies (and put them back I hope) to promote the 'Off the table' campaign against farmed salmon.

📷 James Murray, Burn Gorman and 'Off the Table'

June

'Freud's Last Session' got its cinema release in the UK (at bloody last!) so I got to see Matthew on the big screen for the second time this year. Woohoo!

July

Nothing. Seriously, I GOT NOTHING!

August

There was a tiny update on 'Tally Ho' AKA 'Spiked' [Sort the name out guys - what's it gonna be?]

Kapers Animation gave us a few more pics of the amnesiac rabbit Walter - who will be our next crush - coz he's played by Matthew. So that's a given.

📷 Kapers Animation

Later in August 'A Discovery of Witches' popped up on Netflix in the US - which was great for the 3 people in the US who hadn't seen it yet. Seriously - so many more people discovering the joy of vampy Matthew is always GOODE news.

📷 Sky

September

Yep - you guessed it. Nothing.

October

To be fair I wasn't fully conscious for most of October so I probably missed stuff. None of the usual October golf appearances - so sad for him coz he bloody loves hitting a tiny ball with a stick. But nothing doing.

I know Matthew went on holiday with the family but that he and Sophie still found time to do something beyond kind for a very grateful fan. ☺️

November

Another proof of life at last thanks to the fabulous David Max Freedman - he knows we love BTS of Matthew and he delivered this of Goodey doing his ADR for 'Tally Ho'/'Spiked' -

📷 David Max Freedman

December

A truly bleak month with nothing. Not one scrap of news except that Department Q doesn't seem to be in Q1 for Netflix so we have to wait ...

But according to the Kapers website it looks like 'Tally Ho'/ 'Spiked' will be with us in Q1 next year

So bring it on Walt!

YEEEES!

Goode things coming... Spiked/Tally Ho, Department Q and what else? Last year Matthew was in 'talks' to possibly revisit the character of Robert Evans for something. The Wine Show season 4? Another movie or 3? Who knows? Whatever it is - it will be GOODE!

[snekdood]

so many ppl online are like “hahah yeah guillotine” but i really doubt the majority of ppl saying that could actually stomach it.

[jesse-pinko]

Every fic I’ve read where Mike inevitably compares Jesse to his dead son is like they were Nothing Alike but Mike was still reminded of Matty… but consider… the only thing we actually know about Matty as a person is that he got in too deep with a fundamentally evil business because he didn’t fully understand the scope of the violence and corruption he’d be a party to bc he was so eager to impress the father figure in his life… consider… maybe they were more alike than they were different and Mike saw that every time he looked at Jesse

[comradecowplant]

y'know some shows just don't hit the same as they did when you depression spiral repeat binged it for the first time :-/

[evelynpr]

The LoV, Dabihawks, and more Hawks

Suddenly actually quite into Dabihawks (only took like, 5 more years lmao) but also their individual relationships with Twice, Himiko, and the rest of the LoV.

I really think the story should've given us more filler and time of them bonding together. Imo, that would've made their arcs and stories so much more emotionally investing, and their faith and care for each other even more apparent and genuine. Not that it isn't, but I think it wasn't given enough time and space to really grow.

Just thinking about Hawks, a brainwashed child soldier, suddenly becomes quite close to a bunch of people who genuinely like him and accept him for his past, his identity, and his mistakes, because that is just what the LoV are, a place of acceptance and change. His relationship with them initially out of necessity (as SxF Loid would put it, "For the mission"), growing into smth more genuine.

How in the war, he killed Twice, betrayed Dabi (and the whole LoV obv), and ordered Himiko to be killed to, but only upon losing his quirk and seeing Himiko's Twice clone does he realize the emptiness and foolishness of his whole life- that he accepted being stabbed by her.

This man can fit so much guilt and tragedy, and with his new position in the HSPC, I think he genuinely would try his darn best to change the system for the people who he betrayed. Honestly, a fucking tragic guy, and I wish the story made that more apparent.

[outeremissary]

Kingmaker is a cool game where eventually you have to ask yourself questions like "so how does this guard thing work" and "what is my OC's relationship with copaganda"

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

i’m just now watching the video and haven’t been on here at all bc spoilers but i gotta scream this into the void or i won’t make it through the video: DO NOT DO THIS TO DIL WE CANNOT RECOVER FROM COP DIL 😭😭😭

[loverboybrightsideghost]

alright now that i've watched all of arcane. i immensely enjoyed it because it was very pretty to look at and had a lot of badass good music to go with it. however kind of nothing at all happened except the apocalypse and some gay dudes dying together. go girl give us nothing

[genshin-projection]

i don't think i can be normal about Sunday guys

[thekimspoblog]

Demon trying to feed on my insecurities: "You're a bad driver"

Me: "Of course I am. I hate driving. Going 80 mph surrounded by tons of metal is nerve-wrecking. I try to do it as little as possible. Of course I'm bad at it"

Demon: "You're a bad writer"

Me: "Well that part's simply not true. I never claimed I was the greatest author of my generation, but when I put pen to paper I know what I want to communicate and I usually do it well. If someone isn't impressed with my work, that's unfortunate but they're entitled to their opinion"

Demon: "You're a bad leader"

Me: "Well I don't know about that! I mean there was that one time when... Ok look just because people don't see me as an authority figure doesn't mean... 😠 You know you can be a real asshole, demon!"

[bluastro-yellow]

there's only one end-of-the-day debrief :'( ?!?

[murky-tannin]

Hello did you liveblog ur binge of Fuga Impossível. Asking for a friend (<- wants entertainment)

NOO I should have. Actually I still technically have the last 35 minutes or so left- I was laughing too hard and it turned a 2 hour watch into around a 4 hour one so I had to stop before I was able to finish. I'll 100% liveblog the rest

[pyrotechnicdarts]

also in regards to the m9 series i am begging for caleb to get a better ending than he did in the og campaign

[spring-lxcked]

listen college william is absolutely doing everything he can to get his shit together and not be Visibly Violent, but i do think him going completely apeshit, like, once would be funny