#honestly that episode is such a good character study for her she’s in control she’s proper she’s bossy but she’s also so empathetic

[justaboot]

Reminds me of that split-second moment in "The Last Crash of the Sunchaser" where Scrooge says 'Nothing will happen to her!" and Beakley responds 'Her? Her who?' Launchpad then gets really sad and hesitates to follow Scrooge's orders which shocks Beakley.

Later, in the finale, when Beakley retells the story of what happened to Scrooge after Della disappeared to the boys, Webby, and Donald during the reunion party, the camera focuses on Launchpad and he starts to freak out. Once she's finished telling the story, Launchpad angrily shouts "A lot! This lady knows a lot!"

It makes me wonder what the relationship of Scrooge & LP was like before the boys came to visit and how LP came to learn the story of what happened to Della, seeing as he didn't know her and had no involvement with the Spear of Selene.

Ahh I don’t know how I missed this in my ask box, but everything about Beakley in Last Crash is such good storytelling as to the years they spent living together before the boys showed up. She’s got his number she was THERE to watch everything after it fell apart.

“I havent felt this energized since…”

She KNOWS

She KNOWS

LOOK AT HER FACE SHE WAS THERE FOR THE STORY HES ABOUT TO TELL THIS LADY KNOWS A LOT

Realizing now my reading comprehension is garbage at the moment anyway LP

I always took that moment with LP as a moment of clarity for him, like there is CLEARLY a conversation happening here that The Grown Ups are having that he doesn’t understand, and he looks around and realizes he’s one of The Grown Ups, and is put in a decision making position.

Like ^ love LP but Scrooge just made a HUGE slip up, and that boy is head. empty.

I do think it would have been interesting to have seen his take on it, but I’m realizing now in present day, his whole perspective on What Happened was completely based on what he can see. I’m not sure he ever considered what happened before, or why things are the way they are, just that This Is How It Is, you know? And the boys are here now, and so the most important thing is what’s in front of him, which is keeping them in the house. And then when Beakley lays out her “Hey, Scrooge is a person who went through something, have you considered he is still hurting, too?” it’s an awakening for him as well. I don’t think thought about it, either.

[yams-here]

So I like thinking about franchises that disappointed me in some way

and after watching too many reviews I redesigned the High guardian spice characters (and thought of how the plot could work way too much)

Rose in this version isn't a complete idiot, and may not be so book smart, but she is very good in combat because she's kind of a fangirl. Like, "she studies attacks and can probably name pretty much every guardian" fangirling. While she is still kind of a dumbass, she's the one that always brings Sage down to earth whenever she gets too stressed. Although she is mostly the source of that stress. Her mom was taken by the rot, but she isn't really sure what it is, so when Thyme mentions it devastating her home she's like "!" so they can actually have something that might bring them together. She decides to take on forging and weapon enchantments so she can have a moment where she steps out of her mom's shadow to do her own thing teehee Sage here is still kind of an ass (her sexist discourse to snap was NOT a Girlboss Moment) but here I think it would be interesting if it was something that other characters think its weird too. Like its a belief ingrained into her together with the more traditional upbringing by her family (thus her only knowing old magic) so it can be part of her character development learning how those thoughts should be changed and that not everyone thinks like that, But she still tries her best to be respectful and kind. (also, her parents sent her to the academy because new magic is VERY new, so the fact that it was being implemented in the curriculum was not widespread, specially in a small town like where she was raised in.) she's an overthinker to the core, so sometimes she needs her friends to calm her down, although sometimes that anxiety is what prepares them for something they weren't even expecting.

Parsley is honestly well written enough in the original show, so the only things I would change is that the progress with the conflict with her parents is stretched a little through episodes, and the conflict is that while her parents want her to be a blacksmith and take on the family business (and help take care of her three thousand simblings) she wishes to go out and do something for herself as a warrior, because she wanting to go to school to become a blacksmith and her parents fighting her on it because they want her to become a blacksmith is kinda dumb. also her short ass hammer feels so weird to watch in the series, so I think that a longer handle would make it a little better. also tiny irony of her weapon being taller than her. Thyme feels like she should be written better because shes the only one that actually has any correlation to the plot, but she kind of... isn't?? I like her backstory of being ran out of the woods she lived in because the rot was devastating it and her dad staying behind to try to solve it, but I think it would be more dramatic if her dad was killed in the conflict but she doesn't know so dramatic moment when she finds something that belonged to him (maybe a little charm she made? for protection? in the way children do that stuff for their parents) and she connects the dots. Also the rot here is because the overuse of the power new magic is able to draw out without the control of old magic is taking too much energy from the earth, and woodsy areas thrive on it, thus the root like structures of the rot. The trees are basically oysters for the magic energy of the world. When its bad, they turn bad too. Also make her more of a "expresses affection through favors and actions, not words" person. She, Rose and Sage took wayy too long to become friends. Amaryllis stays the same because she is perfect and I love her and if you disagree to talk to the wall I personally think Snapdragon is good too but I would make him genderfluid instead. I think that the idea of Caraway THINKING he might be a trans girl but that ending up not the correct answer would reinforce his "there's always more options than you think" speech. And someone needs to point out how he's drawn to women that scream at him. Also we need a better arc with his dad instead of the raw carrot that was the canonical "his dad reinforces toxic masculinity hurr durr" thing we got (that wasn't even well made btw) NOW TO THE SIDIES

Slime boy is now named Slime boy because of an accident he had in potions class the previous year (he's one year older than the main cast) which caused him to continuously produce a slime like substance instead of stuff like spit and sweat. It doesn't inconvenience him a lot other than him making bubbles when he speaks every now and then. He's just an assistant in the terrasphere shop, and the owners are Alloe and Anise (wow they actually do something else in the story!!) but he's mainly just a more experienced student that sometimes knows things the main cast doesn't like secret entrances and cool rooms and stuff. He's a full on bard because that was barely explored in canon and music based attacks are cool. He has the tiniest little crush on parnelle cuz I thought that would be fun Parnelle is ENBY because I SAID SO (and cuz cal is stablished as transphobic and I like payoffs) and since whatever they're doing at the academy is never really clarified, I made them kind of an animal whisperer, like they call on animals to assist them in battle and other stuff. (Maybe then we actually get to see the trixies again after their prolongued mating dance that lead to literally nothing in episode 1) being an animal whisperer is a very rare "old magic" hability thus why they entered the academy one year earlier than expected. They sew their own clothes and are still the generally weird little guy they are in canon, except this time its explained as them preferring to communicate with animals ever since they were a child. They are still very polite and friendly tho, always happy to help. Cal is (his full name is calamagrostis and like if I was named that I'd be an asshole too) still parnelle's cousin, but he doesn't outright bullies them. in fact, he isn't an outright bully, he just tends to look down on other people that don't follow what he believes in, which is a more traditional view on the world, kind of like sage, so I thought of him maybe being a catalyst to her being like "wow I can see why my way of thinking may be bad now, I don't want to be like him" which pushes her to grow and stuff. And I want him to grow as well, so I thought, maybe he and Snapdragon used to be friends, but recently they drifted apart and he started to kind of resent him after he came out as genderfluid, but deep down he still misses his friend, so maybe that pushes his character development. And other people saying that hes kind of a prick. idk I just really hate the trope of a bully character just being there to be the mc's punching bag instead of getting development.

In general, the lore would be (I think, I'm not the best at lore) that Guardians are generally like soldiers, but in a more captain america type of way. they're more like beacons of hope and symbols or power and peace than soldiers are, (thus rosemary knowing a bunch of them as they're usually famous) but they are still required to know combat. High Guardian Academy is known as a guarantee to become a good soldier, and a high chance to become a guardian. They VERY recently implemented new magic in the curriculum, but are experimenting with mixing its high power output with old magic's control of it, (thus why caraway knows how but why none of the students are being thaught it. It's a fairly new tecnique they'd rather get a good grasp on before teaching a bunch of children how to use it) because since they're expertly trained guardians they can tell that a terrasphere takes too much energy above what would be considered okay. They just aren't aware of how much tho, the extent of the rot is a secret held close to their chests by witch country, which is where the terraspheres come from, which has brought them tons of profit and advancements. So when someone knows about the extent, or tries to stop it, they are eliminated, (thus why thyme's dad died. People that stayed in the fairy woods and knew how bad new magic could be were all "silenced" so they could keep profiting out of it.) (Any letters or research about the rot, or from the people that knew, were burned and interfered with, thats why no one else knew about it.) idk what else to talk about cuz this show had such little things to explore but there's so much filler that almost none of it got explored but I think it had potential, even if I prefer to focus on character interactions and how they change eachother. Again, I'm not very good with lore. and plot.

[strideofpride]

Season 3 of Gossip Girl was so aggressively mediocre tbh, like people bitch a lot about season 5, but at least that had some interesting drama interspersed into the poorly written storylines! The Serenate romance arc and the Dan/Blair popular kid/loser role reversal plots were fun, and the parts of Jenny’s arc that didn’t feel like character assassination were compelling, but outside of that…

Honestly I think the biggest issue was shifting things from being a Serena-centered school drama to a Chuck-centered business drama. The Bass Industries plot ended up dominating the season, and it wasn’t even conceptually interesting. Like the writers were trying to do their own pseudo-pre-Succession thing with Chuck, but they just slapped it right in the middle of a CW teen drama without any of the scaffolding to support it. “Will Chuck live up to his dead father’s expectations? Can he build his own empire, or will he squander his legacy?? Who’s his real mom, and what does she want?!” I don’t care, I really don’t care, and I wish she had wanted an abortion so I didn’t have to sit through 22 episodes of this. What the fuck is going on with Serena and why is Nate dating a republican???

(Okay also, if I’m being completely fair, the S3 Thanksgiving episode really did deliver. And I genuinely enjoyed the Dan/Nate friendship moments sprinkled throughout, as well as the periodic Dan/Blair and Dan/Georgina hijinks whenever they popped up. But those parts of the season got way less screen time than the Chuck/Chair angst, Serena’s suddenly urgent and all-consuming daddy issues, the weirdly bad Dan/Vanessa plot, or all of the nothing they were doing with Nate. The writers consistently prioritized the least interesting storylines that season.)

Yes, exactly! S3 had pockets of interesting stuff, like S5, but it was largely so dull and yeah, it *is* cause of all the “Chuck the teenage businessman stuff” (technically his only business is The Empire in s3, he doesn’t actually take over Bass Industries until Lily tries to sell it in s4). Plus, I always find Chuck boring when he’s in romantic hero mode, so the one-two of that is soooo. Ugh.

Also like…do c/hair fans actually like where they took that relationship in season 3? Cause I feel like the whole season was just a good case study of why they’re a horrible couple. Like they start off the season already doing sex games to spice things up after three months, then Chuck gets all mad at Blair for meddling with The Empire (they even say at one point they only make a good team when they have an enemy to scheme against like??? That sounds unhealthy bro). Then there’s all of Chuck’s mommy & Uncle Jack drama, where he basically shuts Blair out. Then he trades her for a hotel and then he tries to control her dating life after they break up and then he can’t even wait an hour and has dubious consent sex with Jenny like. Their dating season is so Bad for them actually.

And I don’t even get some schadenfreude from it cause once again: it’s all so fucking boring.

[popculturebuffet]

I thought I'd try an interesting idea. Looking at how Community is, I thought it'd be cool to bring this question up: Favorite episode for Jeff, Britta, Abed, Annie, Shirley, Troy, and Pierce (I'll do the non-Study Group main cast members in a second ask to make it easier) on where they shine the best individually and why?

Okay finally getting to this one since I have a spare ten minutes: Jeff: Advanced Criminal Law. He has plenty of great moments but I think his bullshitting yet also genuine defneses as Britta's lawyer get to the heart of this guy. Jeff shines best when his heart has to show, that he's full of bullshit and axe body spray, but he's also a good man deep down despite himself and will do the right thing when pressed. He shines best comedically when just given a good withering put down or spinning out over his vanity.

Britta: Lawnmower Matinence and Postnatal Care. This episode is already one of my faviorites: it brings keith david into the series who damn well better be in the movie even just for a cameo, who shows his immense comedic chops as elroy, and has my faviorite line in the entire series

But while the a plot is one of community's best, the b plot is no slouch. While jeff stayed largely the same comedicaly, the bill murray type for everyone to rally around, Britta's evolution is intresting going from a bland as hell love intrest for Jeff who mostly just scowled at the others.. to deconstructing that as a hilariously pathetic hipster trying badly to be the moral center she was originally creeated to be and becoming a human train wreck the group sometimes fairly, sometimes not picks on. This late stage episode showcases that the best with the reveal her parents have secretly been subsiding her friends paying for her nonsense. Yet it's also a good character piece: While Britta is being performatively petty with her parents, even riding off on a trike while telling her parents not to infantalize her in what I consider THE britta scene and why this is here... it also gets as to WHY she's like this: her parents were strict, controlling and led her to being the conrarian mess she is, and she's understandably upset they both changed this late AND her friends can't accept she has valid frustrations. But I like them settling things: britta accepts their help and they geninely apologize for how they were. As you can see Britta works best as a mess.. someone who SEES herself as this big sister type, but is really just as flawed as the rest of her group.

Abed: This is a fucking hard one but thankfully like the rest of this my brain filled in the blank for me. Abed has a LOT of good episodes: as the series meta guy, he's the best vehicle for high concept nonsense the crew had. There's a lot of great stuff from his early breakout with his film for his dad, to his time as jesus, to "I'm a cat i'm a sexy cat". But honestly the best abed episode is abed's uncontrollable christmas. It gets to the real heart of him and Danny Pudi's splended performance: Abed's schitck goes way too far as he gets stuck in christmas and his friends have to help him out. It shows why he flees to tv: with a disapproving dad and a mom who left him, it's a source of comfort.. and finding out his mom no longer wnated him makes him shut down. It takes his friends geninely supporting him to make him see he dosen't need to escape.. that tv is nice.. but he can share it with his new family. It also has a lot of great weird shit. Abed is at his best in a LOT of circumstances: palling around with troy, when you tear him apart just a bit, and honestly feels like a better picutre of a neurotypical person than most. It's still a BIT tv autisim, but they lean off that early in favor of having him be a person: he hyperfixates on a ton of shit from inspector spacetime to the cape, has trouble with other people's emotins and get slost in his own world. It's exagerated because community is a live action cartoon at times, but they never stop making Abed feel like a person as much as a gimmick.

Annie: Virtual Systems Analysis. While this is a good abed episode, showing his mind in pieces and getting a good dig in at grey's anatomy, again a show i've watched all of up to the current episodes, it also gets to annie: her need to help people, her crush on jeff and why at the time it wouldn't work, and who she is. Annie like Abed is a good multitool character. Like Danny Pudi (And the whole cast really), Allison Brie is super talented, so Annie got to evolve from a vaugely defined character who was breaking down to a chill yet still type a person. She also plays off abed VERY well and Ig et why the shipping for these two was thick and frothy: Annie makes a good straight man while still being zany enough to kick off her own plots and she plays perfectly off Pudi and Glover. Giving the two a whole episode together was genius. You could see this dynamic as early as the psycological study which again, feels like an accurate depcition of autisim compared to a lot of what i've seen: Annie asked Abed to do something, so he did it. She's a strong character as the show goes on and this shows it off well.

Shirley: Comparitve Religion. It's one of only two shirley episodes I relaly like, the other being urban matriomony and the sandwitch arts. I love Yvette Nicole Brown, she's talented and does the roll well... but Shirely is easily my least faviorite of the greendale 7. It's not even close. Yvette Nicole Brown does a good job playing her.. but it's very hard to like her as 8 times out of ten, their focusing on her being a self righteous asshole who can't understand that being religoius dosen't make you a moral authority.

Comparative Religion uses this well, as her sermonizing is a problem: None of the gang is Christian like her and her passive agressive shit towards there religions grates and causes Jeff to lash out. While he DOES mend the fence by agreeing not to fight, Shirley realizes she needs to get the stick out of he rass ant takes a candy cane to a mans face. "It's december 10th!" Yvette Nicole Brown is, and I stress this, talented. I like her as a person. She just didn't get nearly as much to do as the others and as a result they tended to fall back on her sandwitch shop or her religion. Shirley works best when called on her shit or serving as the voice of reason.

Troy: Troy was hard to think of an episode for which is weird. Troy is one of the shows best character going from typical jock to loveable weirdo, with Glover having top notch comedic timing: a lot of the shows most memeable and memorable lines come from him: "HOw about I pound you like a boy", the that's racist exchange, the cookie crisp breakdown, the masturbation breakdown.. Donald Glover is REALLY good at having a hilarous breakdown, and of course TROY AND ABED DOING ANNNYTHING as pairing them up was genius.

Thankfully I did remember the one plot where Troy's not only mostly on his own but gets to shine, and partly because as a change of place he's a straight man. His time at Air Conditioner Repair. I mean the whole subplot is great from the good will hunting parody, to John Goodman as hte manical dean of the air conditionir repair school, but the climax is fantastic: with the dean dead Troy is thrown into a weird labyrinth of rituals, attempted murder and a contest to the death. It also leads to his best line,

It works thanks to Glover's great acting.. and the simple fact that TROY, who in this same season had a blanket fort war with his best friend rather than just talk things out, is the sane one.

Pierece: This one is easy. Intermmediate Documentary Filmaking. While it has a lot of good gags to it on it's own, patucally troy's freakout over lavar burton (Who also hopefully shows up for the movie). At it's core though it's a character piece for Pierece: It shows how fucked up he is as a person, putting everyone thorugh elabroate mind games to fuck with them, while also showing how he sees some of them giving annie a genuine gift and abed a neutral gift as he's neutral to him and vice versa. Piece has a valid reason to be pissed at everyone, how they treat him, ignore him and generally dispise him.. yet his going to such elaborate lengths to fuck with him kinda proves WHY: he's a bitter old man who rather than just call everyone out, decided to fuck with their heads and pretend to be jeff's dad and he's only not beaten to death ofr his actions, which he was warned about, because everyone else stops jeff.

Pierce can be hit and miss: his offensive grandpa jokes don't always land and he works best being weird as shit, like desnging the greendale human being or the college's theme song, getting high on paint thinners, making streets ahead a thing or other wacky nonsense. I"ll also say this: Chevy Chas eis talented. He's funny, he adds something to the show and it was nice to have him.. but unlike the rest of the cast who far as I can tell are wonderful human beings and talented, Chevy Chase is a giant combative prick, always has been always will be and while I like him as an actor, as a person he can go fuck himself and I want that on record.

[capnsaveahoe]

Thoughts on TO S1/EP1

So, I finally went down the rabbit hole and decided to watch The Originals. Pray for me. 😂

Here are my thoughts:

Magical Baby Plot:

This is literally a forced loophole—thanks, but no thanks. 🙅🏻‍♀️ Klaus being lured back to NOLA with the news that Hayley is pregnant with his magical baby. Is just not the biz. While the baby plot is obviously a significant driving force for the narrative, it seems implausible that Klaus, a vampire for over 1000 years, could father a child. Fuck outta here with that shit.

Klaus:

Will forever be my baby. There's no if's, and's or but's. He's still his little villainous self, and I'm here for it. This will NEVER change.

Elijah:

This man will obviously go through hell and highwater for his brother, but he needs to know when to give up. Elijah searching for his 1000+ year old baby brother will never not be funny to me. He’s the Steve Harrington of the TVDU (fight me on it). We all know that his ass will be daggered in the next episode without fail. He obviously can't seem to comprehend that while Klaus loves his family he also sees them as a weakness, and he would rather put his bro to sleep than lose him to a dumb baby plot twist.

Rebekah:

My girl Beks is currently angry at Klaus and refuses to help Elijah find him, which in all honesty, her ire is well deserved. She's been treated like shit for ages. It was about time she stood up for herself. 👏👏👏

Marcel:

I love that they gave Klaus a long lost adopted son! Now THIS is a plot twist. He was believed to be dead and rotting somewhere, but my man is now the king of NOLA and rules the city with an iron fist who has total control over every supernatural creature within it. He’s shaping up to be my favorite out of all the new characters introduced so far.  He’s also fineeeeee as fuck! 😋

Quarter Witches:

They’re okay so far, but honestly, they could have gotten pretty far if they had just let Klaus and Elijah kill Marcel/Hayley right off the bat. Instead of following a bunch of idiotic rules. It was smart of them to link Sophie and Hayley, though. It gave them leverage with The Originals, which is what they wanted. Still deciding if I like them or not.

Camille:

I’m trying to give her a chance, but it’s a feat let me tell you. I didn’t think she would break out the psychology card so quickly, tbh. I’ll look past it, for now. I can say that she does have a teeny bit of chemistry with Elijah…I really liked their 1st scene together. It looks like they'd be a good match.

Quick question: I thought Camille was still studying to become a psychologist? But, she mentions that she already has a grad degree in this episode. Can someone clear this up for me?

Davina: 

Seems pretty cool. I want to learn more about her and what she can do. Let's see where they take her character. Since we all know that having strong female characters on these shows is not something that the writers really like. 

Overall, given Klaus' brutal and decisive nature, it's surprising that he didn't eliminate all threats immediately to take control of the city. But, I can also see why he wouldn't as he sees the potential the city he once lived in still has. Moreover, I'm a little annoyed at Elijah during this episode. In all honesty, it's Elijah's fault that they ended up in the mess that follows. Elijah sees the baby as a way to redeem Klaus, but it feels unrealistic to force Klaus into a role he’s never desired. Klaus has always craved power, loyalty, and family, but not necessarily a baby. This dream seems more in line with Elijah’s personality, who has always exhibited gentlemanly and family-oriented behavior. Though I still love Elijah, he really irked my nerves in this first episode. I will say that I'm loving the more in-depth look into the complex sibling relationships that we didn’t get enough of on TVD. On another note, I think it would have been a good plot twist to try and lure Klaus to NOLA by using Marcel as a pawn somehow instead of a baby. You can clearly see that he still cares for him in his own twisted way. I hope we get to see more of their dynamic as the show goes on.

[nazmazh]

Finally started watching The Acolyte this evening - First episode did a good job hooking me in.

Joking with my dad about how Carrie-Anne Moss was well-suited to play a Jedi due to her role in The Matrix - Familar with both sci-fi technobabble and wire-work fight scene choreography.

This led to a half-joke that at this point it does kind of feel it's sort of inevitable that *every* celebrity is going to make an appearance in the Star Wars universe.

Dad quipped - "Except Shatner"

Which, yeah, that's accurate.

And while I wouldn't necessarily want Shatner himself, given the turn towards being a real asshole these past few years (far beyond just the pompous egotist he kind of always was), I think honestly, in another world, it would actually kind of be a great bit to have a chair turn and reveal him as a Jedi Master.

And the thought occurs - Having any of the Star Trek cast members s appear as Jedi (or any other role) would be pretty great for a chuckle. Like, give Brent Spiner or Robert Picardo voice roles as droids. Marina Sirtis already knows the schtick for playing an empath, it'd translate completely well to being a Jedi.

Then, the thought occurred to me - Star Trek characters with their basic personalities, but in Star Wars (And I'm sure there's plenty of fanfic already written of this, out there).

Kirk as a hotshot young Jedi, on the frontlines with Anakin. Sisko and Janeway (I mean, assuming she's not a Sith...) running the strategy of The Clone Wars alongside Mace Windu, and proving absolutely ruthless in battle.

Archer doing his "Ah, Sucks" diplomatic routine alongside Obi-Wan, convincing the galaxy that the Jedi are toothless and will try to talk everyone into their way of seeing things, while Kira, Worf, and Seven are busy coordinating and organizing resistances alongside Saw Gererra, and Garak and Bashir work with Cassian Andor and/or The crew of The Ghost to steal all the Empire's secrets (I realize I'm heavily intermixing timelines here, I don't care).

Chewie and B'Elanna Torres either are best friends or bitter rivals.

Picard would rather be happily exploring and studying ancient Jedi ruins, but he keeps being called on by the council as one of their more effective generals. He's somehow found a way to avoid ever taking a Padawan.

Q and Yoda frequently debate all manner of things. It's often unclear how serious either of them is with *literally* anything they say. Mostly, it seems to be a game of who can frustrate the other most quickly/thoroughly. Nobody's quite sure how Q fits into things with the Force. He refuses to elaborate.

Quark is tending bar in Mos Eisley or somewhere similar. Or maybe still DS9/the equivalent of it - Which, either way, of course, ends up being in the outer rim near enough to Tatooine. He thinks he's a bigger deal in the Hutt syndicate than he actually is. He of course still is fundamentally not ruthless or craven enough to fully be an outright gangster/mobster. Nog bucks the trend of Ferengi generally not being Force Sensitive and is a Padawan (Perhaps to Obi-Wan).

[It still feels like a huge wasted opportunity that they never gave him another one on Clone Wars. Also makes the "a pupil of mine until he turned to evil" line in New Hope retroactively weird - "A" pupil, Obi? He was your *only* pupil!]

Anyway, like Toydarians, Ferengi are resistant to Force mind powers [I guess that's just something you get if you're a race of hyper-capitalists that have some unfortunate design implications?]. You would think they were likely to be members of the Trade Federation, and therefore part of the Confederacy - And many are - But, by and large, they're too individualistic to have their whole culture join any one side.

Vulcans, naturally, make for powerful Jedi - But, I'm sure to some people's surprise, so do Klingons. And their concern with honour means they have a shockingly low rate of turning to the Dark Side [Klingon Jedis are much more like Worf, having that formal, controlled environment they're raised in]. Of course, those without force powers get along swimmingly with Mandalorians. There's probably more than a few Klingon foundlings under those Mandalorian helmets.

[mtdthoughts]

Good Guy Akiyama (Migi & Dali Thought)

As we all know, Akiyama is a nice guy that really values his friend Hitori, the one who saved him from isolation and despair. He's also known to be a bit clingy, but I suppose that's just his way of expressing joy and affection. Here's all the times that bird boy hugged the twins in the anime.

It could be argued that Akiyama may be in love with Hitori, but that's not really important nor is it the point of this post. In fact, this post is a bit more about Dali than it is about Akiyama.

I wanted to talk about Chapter 16, which was one of the chapters that was cut by the anime. It actually contains quite a bit of important subtext (particularly about Dali) that I really wish the anime could have kept.

Here's a summary of what happened:

The twins stay home from school, apparently because they can't get any learning done in their rowdy 1-5 classroom in which their teacher has no control.

The twins hatch a plan to get their teacher to discipline the class, and get the Sonoyamas to invite her over because Hitori is being bullied. It turns out that Hitori really was being bullied, except by Akiyama who stood up for him. Because of this, Akiyama was bullied too.

The twins mock their teacher in order to anger her, but fail (*Note: Dali even does his special laugh here)

Hitori (Migi) lies to his parents and his teacher that Akiyama is bullying him, and Youko is so outraged that she spanks him. Migi runs away, and Dali gets caught up and spanked as well. Honestly, good on Youko for teaching her son not to lie about his good friend!

The twins return to school thinking their plan has failed, but in a funny twist, it turns out that the teacher actually learned Youko's secret technique, and the whole class quiets down. Happy end?

I initially thought this chapter was one of the least important, since it was one of the chapters that was cut, but I think back upon it, and I think there's a little more to be said.

I think the real reason the twins stayed home from school was because of the bullying, rather than difficulty learning. In fact, it was Dali who couldn't stand the bullying, and it is very likely that he may have felt guilty that Akiyama was being bullied too.

At first, I thought it really was because of the learning, since this is what the twins stated, and their goal was to become gifted students so they could get close to Eiji. However, I think this was just a pretext, which would make sense since Dali, the twins' leader and planner, is an excellent liar who tends to hide his feelings and intentions from the characters and even the viewer/reader. Here's my thought process:

If it really was about the studying, couldn't the twins just study at home? Or maybe asked their mother for a tutor?

As was seen in Episode 4, the twins could have just taken care all of their learning in the library, where they can't be bothered.

Because of this, the idea that they stayed home from school due to the learning problem didn't sit right with me. And then, I reread the chapter and came across these panels:

Sure, Dali may be disappointed that his plan probably failed, but I think he was sad that he had to return to being bullied, which becomes apparent once when he and Akiyama get bullied again. But more importantly, Dali seemed genuinely touched that despite the overwhelming hostility towards him, Akiyama was the only one to show him any sort of warmness and companionship, even after being bullied too. He definitely appreciated Akiyama, and at the very end he was glad to know that he wouldn't be bullied anymore once the teacher intervened with her "discipline". This was truly a display of Dali's hidden soft side.

Now, it all makes sense to me. Dali can't just admit to Migi that he hates being bullied, and insists on toughing it out because he can't show any weakness as the (parentified) big brother. That's why he came up with this roundabout strategy that would just so happen to take care of the bullying problem.

Furthermore, Dali's appreciation of Akiyama make these scenes make more sense:

In the first, Dali angrily states that Migi just suddenly opened up to Akiyama after abandoning him, and in the second, Dali hides in Akiyama's closet looking conflicted. At first, one might think that Dali's just being insecure about losing Migi, but I think that additionally, Dali wanted to open up to Akiyama too, but he just couldn't due to his anger, his lust for revenge, or because he had to maintain himself as the "strong older brother". Once the twins visited Akiyama's house in Episode 10, Dali likely felt guilty about previously deceiving Akiyama (remember the slap?) and viewing him in a negative way (remember "insolent bird beast"?) that he hid himself, until Migi convinced him that Akiyama would be sure to accept him.

From what I've seen, it seems like common opinion that Akiyama gets along better with Migi, but after reviewing this, I definitely think that Dali gets along with him just as well. After all, a common motif is that although the twins think differently, they feel the same way, so it wouldn't be surprising if they valued Akiyama to the same degree.

Man, Migi & Dali really is a treasure trove of lies and hidden messages, huh? That's one of the big reasons why I love this series so much.

[wordsandrobots]

IBO:Urdr Hunt part 17 has been fansubbed over on Youtube by @trafalgarlog (who you’ll note is now on Tumblr).

Oh, I misspoke on my post about the Soup Party side-story -- I believe we’re due one more side-story from the game, featuring McGillis and Almiria. Though given events in this episode, there is an outside chance that’ll actually be in the Urdr Hunt.

Speaking of those events, it’s only a flipping beach episode. Sort of. IN SPACE! Sadly we are not treated to Montag [swimsuit edition] but he does stick his oar in properly this time, as Katya’s past definitively catches up to her, the Afam gang do some pool-side market research, and serious questions are raised about how exactly the Seven Star family lineages work.

Hajiroboshi  (Part 1, Part 2)

Departure (Part 1, Part 2)

598 (Part 1, Part 2)

Corridor of Betrayal (Part 1, Part 2)

Holder of the Ring (Part 1, Part 2)  

Unexpected Encounter (Part 1, Part 2)

Venus’ Worth (Part 1, Part 2)

Brothers’ Ship (Part 1, Part 2)

Horn and Flower's Shadow (Part 1, Part 2)

As we are wont to do, we open on the bridge of the Erda II where the crew are remarking on the lack of instruction regarding the next stage of the Hunt. The ring has been dormant for a month and a half, leaving everyone at a loss for how to proceed. While Korunaru believes she would have been told if everything had been called off, they are talking about someone who can casually hand out a hundred million meria as a deposit. Dexter and Sinister point out this is chump-change next to the hundred billion prize. Perhaps it has just been written off?

On the plus side, the free time enables what is presumably a great opportunity to spend some of Wistario’s deposit: visiting a near-Earth resort colony to look into what it has to offer with a view to replicating that on Radonitsa in the future.

Or at least this is what Katya and Korunaru claim they’re doing as they have a whale of a time testing out the colony’s water-park. Range chides them on treating this as playtime when there is serious work to be done -- while seated on an inflatable, sipping a cold drink through a straw, and wearing his swimming trunks.

And yes: Range is absolutely ripped and yes, his swimming trunks match his poncho. What a guy.

Wistario is fine with everyone having a good time: they’re here to study the facilities after all. And Range is in fact fully committed to doing so, having checked out the A-plus service from the staff and established there’s a cinema and casino in easy reach, not to mention the large-scale docking port to accommodate passenger liners.

I do wonder - only partly because I love the manga - if this is meant to be one of the Avalanche colonies from IBO:Gekko. Avalanche 5 at least is indicated to be a resort and the position close to the Moon would make it an easy destination from Earth. That would also place this in Arianrhod Fleet territory, which might have a bearing on later events.

Anyway, no way is Venus able to copy a place like this given its current circumstances. Katya is amused by how much Range is throwing himself into this -- he’s even been getting details on the permit system that Gjallarhorn uses to control travel to Venus (since it’s used as a penal colony), in the hopes of finding a way to bargain for greater access. It’s kind of endearing, honestly. Range is, as ever, jumping both feet first into the challenge before him.

But enough fun: Demner has spotted some suspicious characters watching the party. It appears intrigue is afoot!

Seeing as they need to know what’s up -- it could be another Urdr Hunt rivalry in the offing -- Wistario, Korunaru and a reluctant Katya draw the spies into the open at the back of the pool buildings.

To everyone’s surprise -- through perhaps not the audience and definitely not the girl herself -- the two men are here for Katya. But with Range causing a distraction, Demner is able to sneak up behind the men and overpower them (have I mentioned that the old chap is a scarily dab hand at beating people up? It bears repeating).

Unfortunately, it turns out these two were carrying genuine Gjallarhorn IDs -- and a fully-uniformed officer arrives to raise the alarm.

Everybody Scooby-Doos it out of the water park, running into the requisite nearby alleyway. But just as Range is thinking they might be in the clear, an impressively large blonde-haired gentleman judo-throws him clean across the alley. This is Captain Londo Bron and he is here for Lady Katya.

That’s right -- Lady Katya, who a tearful Londo remarks is the spitting image of Lady Carta when she was young.

Katya, of course, point-blank refuses to leave with him. Unfortunately, with Londo’s men blocking the way back, things are looking sadly inevitable. Demner offers to handle Londo while the others escape, but Wistario won’t leave him behind.

Which is when a familiar voice speaks from a nearby hatch: down here!

The gang scramble through the open door, finding themselves in an emergency escape tunnel designed for evacuations in the event the colony is damaged. Shutters close after them, allowing them to evade Londo and the other soldiers. But who is it that came to their aid in such dire straits?

I mean, no prizes for this one. ‘Humble businessman’ Montag steps from the shadows with his best insufferable smirk, congratulating himself on the success of his spur-of-the-moment decision to help.

Range is surprised anybody would go against Gjallarhorn like this, only for McGillis to smoothly move the subject to the fact that Londo’s next move will probably be to blockade the ports. So maybe they’d all better be running along, hmm?

Katya and McGillis exchange a last look as the group hurries away from him, and he notes that she really does look like Carta . . .

(I remain delighted by the fact that Mackie’s masked stranger act continues flies purely by virtue of him never giving anyone time or space to call him out on it.)

Remarkably, the Erda II is able to safely undock and leave. Wistario speculates that Londo’s unit might fall under a separate jurisdiction and therefore not have been able to halt a departing ship. However, they’re not in the clear yet, as a Gjallarhorn Halfbeak cruiser sends out a stop signal and is promptly dwarfed by the gigantic Skipjack-class battleship emerging from behind the colony. (Err . . . small note here, I’m not actually sure what the correct equivalent for Gjallarhorn’s ships would be in modern naval terminology. I tend to default to ‘cruiser’ to describe the Halfbeaks and the Skipjacks as ‘command ships’ though I think ‘battleship’ would be correct? These things are all part-aircraft carrier anyway, so there might not be a direct analog.)

I’m pretty certain the Halfbeak is in ‘default’ colours rather than those used by the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet (oh lord, I can type that from memory now) under Carta Issue’s command, but the Skipjack has the Issue Family crest proudly displayed on the side, so there’s no question of who it is has come after Katya (she herself calls them out by name). Incidentally, this is I think the first time an animated IBO thing has really conveyed just how bloody massive the Skipjack is. It’s twice as long as a Halfbeak and about thrice as tall, so it’s little wonder Wistario and the others are struck dumb at the sight of it.

With more mobile suits than Dexter can count approaching, Katya takes imminent capture as well as you might expect and flees to the mobile suit bay with a half-formed idea of taking Hajiroboshi.

Wistario intercepts her as she’s flailing in the zero gravity and she tells him she’d rather die than be captured. He says that must mean they’re some fairly horrible people. So she’d better leave this to him. And Range, who he orders into battle: they’re going to break through Gjallarhorn’s line so the ship can escape.

Katya looks up to find Demner and Korunaru there as well, readying themselves for a fight. In the middle of everything, it’s good to have friends.

We get the stock-footage of Hajiroboshi and Asmoday launching, which is cut in a bit inelegantly since we go from Wistario and Ranger entering the ‘suit bay to them entering it again in their flight gear. Could have been finessed, I feel. But anyway, it’s fight time!

The two Gundams manage to make a dent in the force of Grazes sent after them (which are tan-coloured, something previously only seen with the Dáinsleif archer variants in Season 2; not sure if that’s significant) and thus create the required opening for the Erda II. Regrettably, that’s when Captain Londo joins the fight.

His Graze Ritter (commander’s variant) instantly obliterates Wistario’s rifle with a Giant Fuck-Off Axe. He is, it turns out, a crack pilot and not a bad tactician either, as he is able to hold the pair’s attention long enough for his troops to encircle them.

Aboard the Erda II, Demner and Katya can only watch helplessly, since turning back to assist would undo everything they’re trying to achieve. Luckily, a certain red mobile suit zips past in the opposite direction, announcing that it’s there to help . . .

Londo is suitably thrown by seeing the Grimgerde bearing down on him, swords drawn, and McGillis joins the fray, confidently taking charge and ordering Wistario and Range to regroup then divide Londo’s forces. With the masked man’s help, they’re able to disable everyone except the captain himself. McGillis tells the others to go on without him -- he’ll see them soon -- and engages the Ritter directly.

It’s a fierce duel but McGillis is quickly able to get the upper hand, disarming his opponent, headbutting him, and then dropping a quick bit of psychological warfare on him before peacing out: is Londo aware of Okina Uroka’s ambitions?

(Incidentally, I think this is the first time we’ve seen the Grimgerde’s visor open to expose the monocular eye inside - this feature wasn’t ever shown in IBO proper but McGillis does it here for . . . some reason. Possibly just to show-off.)

As he leaves the battlefield, Mackie reflects that Londo’s loyalty will be of use to him. He’s also intrigued to see a couple of extra Gundams knocking around (because he is a nerrrrd).

Aboard the Skipjack, the sensor operator reports the loss of the Erda II’s signal to an elderly gent with familiar eyebrows: Lord Uroka. He is not pleased with Londo’s blundering, who does not make excuses for failing to ‘protect’ Katya. But Katya herself refused to come with him . . .

Uroka is unphased. She’s too young to appreciate her position. Londo remarks that she nonetheless seems smart, to which Uroka responds by saying that while Carta was special, Katya might come close, if she learns from the right people. This will be his final duty as Issue Family patriarch.

To this end, he sends Londo out with a Halfbeak and a platoon of mobile suits. But he doesn’t seem all that impressed with the good captain, remarking in his absence that he’s more loyal dog than loyal subject.

Back on the Erda II, the subject of conversation is most assuredly: what the fuck? While nobody blames Katya for the actions of others, she has run out of room to squirm around the question of what she’s running away from. The Issue Family is currently without a heir, owing to a slight Mikazuki-induced curtailment of the bloodline. Carta Issue was going to replace the head of the family due to his being on his sickbed -- but if that sick patriarch happened to have another, illegitimate child . . . well.

Yes, Katya confirms dourly: she is the final Issue heir.

Which if nothing else raises a massive question-mark over who exactly Lord Uroka is. Up to now, all the heads of the Gjallarhorn noble houses have borne the name of their Family. Does this mean Uroka is only an Issue by marriage? But if so, how does that square with keeping the bloodline going? If Katya has a claim, it’s surely got to be via the Issue Family line. Or are the rules flexible in that regard? We’ve had no hint previously that Carta’s dad was anything less than the outright head of her house prior to his illness. His illness was severe enough to have required her to be placed under Iznario Fareed’s guardianship, sure, but you’d think a more complicated family situation would have come up before now. Or is that situation *why* Fareed could get his hooks into the matter?

Actually, while I assume this is a blind-alley for speculation to follow, we’ve no confirmation as yet that this *is* Carta’s father. Uroka looks old and sickly but he’s up and about. Could it be that this is in fact another relative who has stepped into the void left by both father and daughter?

Well, hopefully we’ll find out next time. I’m not wholly convinced how beneficial it will be to Urdr Hunt as a story to have McGillis’ political maneuvering thrown into the mix. But I am certainly intrigued by what’s going to happen here. While the obvious conclusion is that Uroka intends to use Katya to perpetuate the Issue Family, Mackie’s parting line to Londo suggests something more is going on. And we do know for certain that whatever Uroka is planning, the Issues are a spent force by the time of Season 2. We have a foregone conclusion without a clear picture on what the middle part is yet.

As for Londo Bron himself . . . well, he’s obviously a survivor of Carta’s, um, what is the masculine equivalent of an Amazon Brigade? Whatever, he’s a blonde hunk fanatically loyal to House Issue and honestly, I like where this is going. Carta’s Mackie-clone squad beautifully walks the line between joke and heartbreaking detail, so exploring what became of a remainder of them after the fact is an intriguing line to follow. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he ends up pitted against his boss before this is done.

Katya’s opinions on all this have been clear from the start: she does not want anything to do with the Issues, with her affections being squarely for her mother. This ramps that up, with her being willing to effectively leap into space rather than be dragged into her father’s schemes. Obviously we get the note of everyone rallying round to protect her, which is fine if rote. I really hope wherever this goes, she’s able to settle it on her own terms and isn’t reduced to a damsel in distress . . .

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Dungeon Meshi is one of those series where I saw enough memes and gif sets that I knew who my favorite character would be before ever watching the series. Cranky middle-aged divorced dad who is very professional and good at his job and whose crankiness is often related to worrying about his coworkers that seem determined to get themselves killed? "Support" character who usually doesn't engage in fighting but whose skills are essential to the group?

Sounds an awful lot like another favorite of mine!

Honestly, though, I like all the characters. It's one of the rare manga where I love the entire group rather than getting annoyed with the "main" character and latching onto a minor side character.

I love Laios and his monster obsession and his inability to read or understand people to the point that one of his former "friends" could barely stand him, but at the same time he can notice details and analyze well enough to guess everyone correctly in the changeling episode. He comes across as a standard hero at first but he's really kind of a misfit weirdo and also a hero.

I love Senshi and how well he has fit into the group despite being a relative stranger to them and how he tries to take care of everyone, and how he is so knowledgeable and resourceful and cares about the dungeon as a ecosystem to be maintained. Plus the man can cook! And we finally get into his backstory, and damn, I can understand why he so desperately wants to look after everyone and cares about proper nutrition and why he constantly treats Chilchuck like a child even after Chilchuck gives his age (especially since Senshi was apparently a very young dwarf at "only" 36).

I love Marcille and her angry little fits, girl, I get it, I wouldn't want to eat any of that either, and how she is willing to endure ALL of it, and basically break both actual laws and the laws of nature to get Falin back. She seems like the cute elf girl, but she will just blow a monster's head off and she has been studying all sorts illegal magic. Marcille is like the physics student at the top of her class who has been building a nuclear reactor in her basement. I have a lot of love for old fantasy anime like Record of Lodoss War (still one of my favorites), but I'm still relieved that the blond elf girl does not spend the entire series pining after the swordsman hero, if anything she seems more interested in Falin.

I love Chilchuck constantly pretending not to care and obviously caring very deeply. He claims that he is all business and that personal relationships will ruin a party, but he has stuck with the group far longer than it would be practical or even sensible, even if he got paid up front. He cares very much about being useful to the group and doing his job properly, and he will stick his neck out in a fight if he has to, he's mostly just smart enough to get out of the way. Also, after apparently years of refusing to even give his age, Chilchuck just sits down and spills that he has a (divorced) wife and kids in order to get Senshi to feel comfortable enough to talk about his own trauma.

I love how Falin, despite being killed in the first five minutes and basically spending most of the series as the "damsel in distress" needing to be rescued, gets fleshed out through flashbacks so that we can care about her as a character. She is sweet and self-sacrificing but also not a push-over, and seems just as interested in the world around her as Laios.

Izutsumi only just joined the group, but I love her, too. At least she isn't an overly "sexy" fetishized catgirl, even in a scene where she takes most of her clothing off. Actually, this series is pretty good about not relying heavily on fan service, aside from all those sexy panty shows of Senshi.

A fantasy cooking manga/anime is already a unique idea, but it also has a legitimately good overarching story, with the history of the dungeon and the mysteries behind it, and the politics of who controls the dungeon. Paying close attention to the monsters, either to eat them or because of Laios' obsessions, helps the characters understand how to fight them and stay alive, and they often solve problems in creative ways rather than just "sword fight good." It's been awhile since I enjoyed an anime this much.

[captainjimothy]

recently finished the first season of voyager i have thoughts about it. will continue to update with more thoughts as i get through the show. but so far, i think

Voyager and DS9 are both trying to make statements about heavy topics like racism, war, etc. But DS9 has the advantage of not taking place on a starship. Voyager's points fall flat (so far) because Starfleet HAS to win every argument because the ship HAS to function as close to standard as possible, because they cannot risk jeopardizing their chance of getting home. Whereas on DS9, there was room for starfleet to be wrong about things, and there was room for main cast members to exist totally outside of starfleet protocol. Part of the reason the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict was able to play such a compelling and longstanding role in the series is because Starfleet was only involved as a mediator--both groups were narratively permitted to have their own, non-starfleet feelings, arcs, etc about it. When the Dominion War started, Starfleet was on the front lines, but they still were not in control, they were allied with their peers. One of the best episodes (In the Pale Moonlight) is about the moral dilemma Sisko faces in attempting to manipulate the playing field. I'd also point out that DS9 had the advantage of Avery Brooks, who was not only a brilliant actor and director, but also played a non-alien black man. in contrast, Voyager's non-alien POC are Chakotay (whose racial writing has been VERY weak so far) and Harry Kim (whose background has not yet been explored at all--this is a neutral fact, but relevant).

honestly atp i think B'Elanna's position is the strongest, since she's a latina klingon and serves to facilitate conversations about racism as it affects latina women specifically, but i feel it's diluted by the fact that the text focuses exclusively on the fantasy racism instead of the real racism--and heavily plays into biological essentialism with their fantasy racism, which. is like. that's the opposite of the point you could be making here?. idk man

tangent to my original point, but genuinely to me the central tragedy of B'Elanna's life so far is that she has little/no connection to klingon community or peers. she's trying so hard to form a relationship with herself that isn't destructive and she's doing the best she possibly can in the circumstances but that pain of complete isolation is so, so loud to me. i love her so much i need her to be okay

anyway, i think they're really trying to do something with the integration of the Maquis crew, and I think the episode that focused on Tuvok's training was good in that regard--it did concede that starfleet needs the flexibility to be wrong sometimes--but i'd like to be seeing way, way more of that. I'd like to see more conversations about how militarized starfleet is (this was alluded to in Tuvok's training episode, but not addressed specifically), and how that is a weakness. i'd like to have seen some god damn nuance in the scene where janeway yells at b'elanna for stealing/using the space-folding transporter technology--they were capable of nuance, they gave tuvok nuance in that scene!

speaking of Tuvok. my man. i am dying to see some real character-study type episodes for him, he's clearly a very complex person with an interesting history. i loved the murder mystery episode where he played detective (<- me when i have a special interest in detective fiction), and the training episode was your classic "vulcans need to be told when it's okay to bend the rules" which may be overdone but it's not bad! also. let me just say for the record i think Tim Russ is doing a fucking incredible job with the role, vulcans are very difficult to play with depth and clarity, and he's knocking it out of the park.

another side note, but one of the many little things that bothers me SO much: in Tuvok's training episode, he tells the bajoran kid that his earring cannot be worn on duty, which (a) literally goes against starfleet protocol as it pertains to personal cultural items, and (b) contradicts everything we've seen so far about both bajorans and Tuvok himself. it may have been included as part of the "vulcan follows the rules to a fault" thing, but it just doesn't make sense. Tuvok would know exactly what the earrings mean, he would know that you don't just take that away from someone! it's another moment where starfleet HAS to be right about EVERYTHING or else the world will explode or whatever. very irritating.

[archer3-13]

"people i've noticed have a tendency to overcomplicate things, which outside of looking for hidden meaning where they dont actually exist [thereby 'missing the forest through the trees'], also tends to result in fans seeing shadows that dont actually exist. so instead of just taking the explanation for what it is and running from their in their analysis and deconstruction of the narrative and characters, they're working backwards from an assumption and filling in the blanks. and everyone's guilty of this to some extent, fandoms just happen to be good breeding grounds for these kinda assumptions to spin wildly out of control. hence they bring in complications in the form of knowledge on different styles of multiverse and diverging timelines despite what the text is actually saying and implying."

Honestly, it's not a fandom thing, it's common to literaly everything. As a literary student, I can tell you I face this every time. It's called the "danger of interpretation". When despite what the text say and don't say, people try to make it say what it doesn' without respecting the habitual method : 1) semantic sense 2) literal sense 3) comprehension 4) interpretation (regulated by the 3 first reading). This creates a lot of screen and complications in the studying of a book or a text of any kind as guiding the interpretation rewrite the reality of what the text says in the mind of the reader. Hence why so many high schoolers believe what their books edition of some of Baudelaire's poetry says about the story behind a poem when it actually has 0 factual evidences from the text itself and loosely relies on a certain interpretation that is made to coincide with said or said episode in the life of the writers. Or even Rousseau reading Molière's Misanthrope to be a tragedy when it's a comedy making fun of the character Rousseau thought was a tragic hero. That kind of reading maintains a fake impression that becomes the reading grind of a vast majority that nevers questions what the editorial notes might say, which is a problem as it varies between the editorial houses for the more the reader is expected to be mature, the less the editorial notes will affirms those interpretations it has, and will try to be more nuanced about this. It's the small elements that create the sense of said text and therfore guiding the interpretation in a certain way changes the sense of the original media. For example, when Hamlet says " you are a fishmonger" to Polonius in Shakespeare play, a reader anware of the double meaning will only understand the literal sense. Only if someone explain the double meaning will the reader understand that Hamlet implied something darker throught this metaphor/comparision. However, and i keep up with Hamlet, if the editor leaves notes where he assure as if it was the case that Ophelia did killed herself, than it creates a screen and changes the sense : from the ambuiguity of Ophelia having ended her life or not, the reader will become convinced she did it, despite the text trying to be ambiguous about it. It can be said the same about any editor trying to prouve that in Hamlet, there is no ambiguity on his feelings for Ophelia, some claimming it's obvious he lover her while other claimming it's obvious he wasn't, despite it being left rather ambiguous. And that's not even a literary field phenomenon. Historians have the same problem as they need to understand how to read properly the data they discovered in order to understanf what happened in the past. This recently happen again with the Netflix show " Cleopatra" where people argue whether or not was Cleopatra was black since she was a descendant of Ptolémeus, hence greek bloodline, arguing that she might have been black due to her mother being a slave. (the only moment where I would accuse them of rewriting history if they make Cleopatra boring when the woman drink a pearl diluted in vinegar) Not even the domain of science are save from this "danger of interpretation", but really nothing really is unless you rely on a literal interpretation of things.

(Sorry for this whole essay and dragging things off topic, but it surely is more interesting than let's say ? people arguing over the fictional relationship of 2 characters in a video game, which is probably a low standard version of academicians writing their own commentary of a classical and arguing over it except they do it to understand the meaning of the work, not to know if they have the permission to click on the "will you give Nel/Rafal the pact ring" button. All I can say to those who don't get it is that the sole fact they belong to this special category of S support we have since Awakening should be enough to get that in canon they aren't or at least are not supposed to if this really matters that is, but considering that Engage's main theme is supposed to be "who you are and blood relation doesn't matter to be a family", I am sure it's not just the xenologue logic that they missed but also one of the game's main theme. )

Admittedly I get enough of the deeper philosophy/textual analysis and argumentations at family dinners and get togethers, so i do tend to turn my brain off a bit when im just relaxin. But that all said, thank you for the academic response to bring this all back a bit more into perspective, I dont have much to add outside of a limp 'it happens in the visual arts as well'.

[foxwell]

Let's just continue this fun game, A8E8! This time: I am unspoiled. Completely unspoiled. The episode dropped today while I was in an oral exam and I have not listened to the VC, I have not looked at anything in the Discord. I might cry. Who knows. Let's go.

Finally! Assassinate the Pinn! (I'm just a little bit sad that John won't be part of this I think that would have been fun)

Terrible thunderstorm? Quinn joins the angry commoners and goes to save Sybilla confirmed?

I want to draw a Penny Lovejoy tracksuit now, shit

Is Sir Up trying to switch his patron because it sure sounds like that

Hang on Sybilla! Hang on Sybilla!!! Queen of my heart!!!

Hang on Nephila!!!

Everything is so far away from everything in this castle, oh noooo

There comes the thunderstorm from my darling Isadora!!

Annie has murder in her heart and I am here for it

Pinn is going to take control, 100%

SYBILLA MY LOVE YOU CAN DO IT PLEASEEEEE

Yes Penny you are saying he's doing a great job but all your compliments are backhanded

Annie has other priorities than murdering a Lovejoy for the moment

"Yes Miss Wintersummer" I am so here for everyone respecting the shit out of Annie it's what she deserves!!! My darling girl!!

"She is two-armed. Also, quite small."

"I just want to ask a question. Sir Up Ton, do you have more than 150 hitpoints?" The shocked silence after that, SAME. SAME.

She appears right there and Annie has... no healing, does she? That's horrible. That's honestly horrifying.

IN THIS HOUSE WE LOVE AND SUPPORT ANNIE FUCKING WINTERSUMMER

Nephila!!! Nephila my love!!! You got this hell yeah!!!

Gus saying "Helga Hatebad" the same way Sam always does, adorable

HEAL HER!! HELGA MY LOVE YOU CAN HEAL HER!!!

SHE IS SAVED!!!

SYBILLA IS SAVED!!!!

HOLY SHIT!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

SYBILLA I HAD ALL THE HOPE AND SO LITTLE BELIEF AND HERE YOU ARE!!!!

MY LOVE MY QUEEN MY DEAREST!!! YOU ARE ALIVE AND BREATHING AND CONSCIOUS!!!

Helga you had the best turn ever I love you

I still cannot believe that Sybilla is breathing

I mean there is still so much pod left to cast for this episode but oh my god

"It's my duty as a dungeon master to let you know that's possible" translates to "please kick Penny fucking Lovejoy" to me

Nephila you gay sweetheart

Yondo runs! You are running so good!

It may be stupid but honestly I respect Isadora for wanting to do the honourable thing. And I respect her even more for knowing that it's stupid and trying to find a balance.

I don't know why but the fact that Penny turned away feels like an important character moment, just like it felt important that Isadora did not, in Arc 3. Very different scenes, but still, both feel important in a similar way.

Sybilla do not touch that sword. Do not get within six inches of that sword I beg you.

NO DO NOT TOUCH THAT SWORD AHHH

I am not sure if it's better or worse that Annie has the sword. I guess her saves are better. But oh my god I have seen the Evil!Annie fanart and I am so scared

RUN BOY RUN!!

Annie my life my love my light my dearest (how many characters am I allowed to adore per arc)

KILL THE GUARD! SAVE OUR QUEEN! HELL YES!

It makes me very scared that there is still an hour left. How is there still an hour left. Please let it be just therapy or something.

Isa just knocked her father figure unconscious 🙂 this is fine

YONDO YOU CAN DO THIS I AM ROOTING FOR YOU!

Penny is helping Helga???? A Hatebad and a Lovejoy working together???? "I hope my mother forgives me for this" is this the point where I mark the Bingo field for Hatebad and Lovejoy at least friends at the end??

How do these Nat 20s come at such convenient moments I cannot. Fucking. Believe it.

There he is, the man of the hour!

PENNY FUCKING LOVEJOY

DID YOU JUST

PENNY

DID YOU JUST AGREE TO THIS MAN'S PROPOSAL WHILE HE IS OUT OF BREATH, BATHED IN SWEAT, STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCENE™

Penny I adore you. I want to study you.

Yondo is adorable oh dear, I am pretty sure he deserves better but I'm glad he got what he wanted

Amazing sibling energy, as always

A better tomorrow 😭😭 I am not sure if this is meant as a reference to what Helga said but it sure feels like it and I love it

Laz and Nephila 😭😭 they are adorable. Also. Great way to not just ignore what happened between them before. I am very glad.

WHAT IS HE DOING THERE

LEAVE, EVIL WIZARD

YOU ARE NOT WANTED HERE

The coronation while bodies are still lying around the castle. What a glorious metaphor for the mess Sybilla inherits from her father.

This kingdom needs to take some time to heal from a great many things I feel like

Yes my love, un-ban charity!

Mixed reaction is probably the best that could happen after that

Roadtrip with Penny, I am sure Isa could not think of anything more fun

AHAHAHAHAHA OH SHIT

Hnghhh three new recurring villains established in a single arc? Pinn, Loroy, Up Ton?

LOROY GO AWAY

GO AWAY

Where is Annie, someone get Annie, please

Sybillaaaaaa please do not let yourself be pushed into a corner by the evil wizard

NO

NO NO NO

JESUS FUCK

NO

OH MY GOD

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

NO NO NO NO NO NO

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

YOU CAN'T JUST FUCKING DO THIS

INCLUDING THE SOUL

I AM: IN FUCKING SHOCK

I FEEL LIKE I HAVE BEEN STABBED

IN THE CHEST

I AM GOING TO SCREAM

What the fuck is happening

I am going to cry

How dare he

How fucking dare he

Prime Lich Wizard I am going to personally hunt you down

If there is one thing I cannot imagine then it's Gem Lovejoy in a standard prison uniform

Where are the Hatebads

Is this the summon Hatebad dice roll?

This feels like the summon Hatebad dice roll

WHELP THERE IT IS

BERYL HATEBAD HER-FUCKING-SELF

I am so happy for Beryl, and at the same point I am honestly sorry for Penny and her siblings

Jesus fucking Christ

I am feeling so many emotions

Maevir darling you did your best, but oh dear

We were right, a fucking lich

Sybilla. My love. My darling.

THE CONTRACT COUNTS? IT'S FAIR AND TRUE???

THE NATION OF GLACERIA?

EXCUSE ME???

Oh my god

This arc

My heart

I am a changed woman

I am a broken and changed woman

Phil and Helga are very much not fine I think

Gus. Gus. I forgive you for Arc 8 just as I forgave you for Arc 6. But oh my fucking god.

I knew things were going far too well far too early into the episode.

Wiki will get updated end of next week when my last exam is finally over, promise.

Also, I am excited for a guest DM, and so much love to Gus! Take your well-deserved break!

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

This may be a minor gripe but something that has kind of bothered me about discussions and depictions of Dan is how often people seem to forget that Dan isn't just an older evil Danny, he's a combination of Danny and Vlad's ghost sides. Like people always talk about him like Danny threw away his humanity and turned evil but that's not even true. Sure, we can say that Dan is the result of Danny's action but that's a little unfair. (1/2)

(2/2) Him cheating on a test, coincidentally putting his loved one's in a position where they could be killed, is absolutely not his fault. Letting Vlad take away his ghost powers with a strange contraption might not have been the smartest move, but we are talking about a grieving CHILD here, of course he isn't going to make the best decisions. If anything Vlad's the one to blame here, and even then, it's not like he could predict what happened

---

you aren't wrong, my friend. it really isn't entirely danny's fault and the whole 'if you cheat on a test, you'll loose everything you love' moral is confused at best. i think as fandom we find it more interesting to look at danny's potential evil and moral struggle with himself. so simplifying it to be dan is a worse case scenario of danny makes the conflict less abstract.

particularly because when it comes to self blame danny isn't going to go easy on himself just because it was excusable mistakes.

i think another talking point should be how danny is the target of the time assassination more than vlad is, even though vlad is part of the evil whole. you could argue that danny is the catalyst of his friends death and vlad inventing the claw things. but vlad invented the claw things. maybe because his human side survived and acted relatively harmless from then on? or maybe it's because the observants based on the available evidence recognized danny as more of a threat. i think that fits actually, for all vlad tried to be an evil mastermind, his achievements outside of terrorizing a teenager and theft isn't particularly impressive. danny was the one who got shit done. all his fights he finished one way or another and i could see how that would bleed into dan defeating everyone.

the real question is how to we fix this. ideally we could shape this idea so it's less confused, though i do honestly find the dynamic of half danny, half vlad interesting. if for not other reason. than two half ghosts make a whole. actually that's something else to be said about dan. his self-loathing is what led him to killing his human half, another negative aspect coming from danny.

i wonder if we could frame it like fusion, from su. obviously dan isn't stable or healthy, or based on love. he's most comparable to malichite. but with less internal debate. dan took the best and worst of both of them. danny's determination, danny's fighting ability, danny's anger, danny's sarcasm, vlad's anger, vlads lack of morals, vlads schemes, vlad's control. heck, vlads desire to rule the world. i don't think we ever got that from danny.

maybe if vlad was more involved in the fight with dan it could have been used as an opportunity to compare and contrast their characters. to go we're not so different you and i. danny gets to recognize that he has that dark potential. vlad gets to be humbled by the fact that what he wants isn't good for anyone, especially himself. and to be fair, we do see some of that humbling with future vlad, but none of that character growth is given to present vlad, so, really it's just another vehicle for danny angst. it also depends on what you want to do with vlad though. he's a fascinating character and could be given redemption under the right circumstances or be a character who has the opportunity for redemption but chooses not to be redeemed every time.

that fits him and makes him both a more pathetic and despicable villain. it's hard to pity someone who ignores the opportunities to heal and grow.

as for danny, he becomes far more aware of the consequences his actions, especially his selfish and cruel ones can have. because that potential was always there. he has a history of abusing his powers. perhaps for this specific incident him abusing his powers can be something less understandable than almost cheating on a test that he couldn't study for through no fault of his own. (maybe i just have flexible morals?). maybe it could be something more character relevant, like he did something particularly vlad like, maybe he set up a prank at the nasty burger to get dash but it set off the explosion that killed his family. or maybe he did something particularly cruel and manipulative. there are better catalysts than a test. either way he recognized that he should never go that far again and strive to avoid being actively cruel.

he also has the opportunity to recognize that vlad does have a human half, even the one he's fighting everyday. he can face some conflict in it's not entirely clear what trait belongs to vlad and what trait belongs to him. he can empathize with vlad and he can recognize that situations aren't always in black in white. those who fly the highest, fall the hardest, after all.

it can be a growing experience. and while making it solely a danny goes bad and learns not to do evil kind of story. maybe we could cut vlad from the equation and just have danny face himself, full evil refection. i think exploring both vlad and danny through this fusion is far more interesting. especially because we can build on what's revealed about vlad in these episodes, in later ones. danny sees a future where vlad chills and that maybe his vlad could get their. later he see vlads past and what he lost to become who he is.

and then there's vlads turning point episodes. i don't know when motherly instinct took place but maddie fully recognizing he's a bastard and rejection him, was a turning point for his sanity, and danny helped it along. then we have danny rejecting him repeatedly, then we the clone episode, which we can all agree was a desperate move on his part, that danny once again thwarted. and we can all agree that this was the cannon turning point for his character where he stopped fighting for a family and started trying to be danny's villain. in that episode, i think danny could potentially pity vlad enough to try and reach out. he's not going to justify what vlad did and he's not going to apologize for stopping him. he went too far. he hurt danny and dani, he crossed a moral line that can't be justified even with his desperation. but if he changes...

he lost this time but if he changes, maybe they'll reach the point where they're ready to accept him.

i think the same thing could be said about his relationship with jack and maddie. if he changes, if he reaches out. if acts like less of a crazy fruitloop, his friends would be there for him. jack is still trying to be there for him, even if he's being oblivious about vlad's faults. vlads the one driving wedges into his relationships and pushing everyone away.

and that's so freaking human and understandable.it would be such a cool thing to explore with his character.

i could also see a potential arc where after valerie finds out vlad and masters are the same person she tries to get close to him, both to sus out how evil he is and to understand him as a halfa. afterall danny got her to acknowledge dani as human enough, the same would apply to vlad/plasmius, right? only he's a bad person and the more she uncovers about vlad masters the man, the more she realizes it's not the ghost half that's evil. but this is a double edged sword because, vlad is getting attached to her and encouraging her to be more evil. he's encouraging her to go darker and darker in her fight against ghosts and her fight specifically against phantom. to the point where she finally draws the line and says, i'm not doing that! boom exploring the moral ambiguity of her character and getting her to take a hard stance on her morals, because there's a line too far for her.

and boom a further breakdown of vlads character because he finally had someone outside the fentons to redeem him. she could have helped pull him out of the hole he'd been digging himself into. she wanted to help him. he got attached to her, but he and his bad decisions decided to dig himself deeper instead. so once again he's 'abandoned and betrayed'.

from that point, i think it'd be time for him to finally face jack head on. not through manipulative schemes. not through veiled threats and insults. but the full confrontation of 'i always hated you. you ruined my life. you're the reason i lost everything'. which is really just his own self loathing speaking. and jack... empathetic jack can see that vlad desperately wants help. and jack would offer it to him. jack would try to hug it out and apologize and give vlad the love and friendship vlad's been fighting to steal this whole time.

and vlad would reject it.

he'd probably lash out a jack and go into a full breakdown/world destroying attack. could finally put the stolen crown to use and try declaring himself king and embracing his megalomaniac thing and actually be a threat this time. and THAT would be our series finally. everyone teaming up to fight 'king vlad'. danny probably finding out that he's technically king because he beat pariah dark but the matter being a bit confused because he had help. val and danny trying to find the ring of rage or at least find someone who can make one. secrets are out. i imagine vlad, upon revealing himself to jack would out danny to make danny as sad and alone as him. except nope, his family still loves him and val has had the character development to come around to him. (she's still gonna punch danny for lying for so long.) the ghosts will come and help because no one wants another tyrannical kind and vlads obviously off his rocker.

ah, the could have beens

anyway, i didn't mean for this to become a full vlad character analysis and rewrite when we were supposed to be talking about dan, but hey, i'm a simple creature. i like good writing, and i have to rewrite things myself, so be it. - Hestia

[dekalko-mania]

Adding onto this post right here, I have some additions, mainly in terms of how this mindset affected how Danny first interacted with Jazz. To reiterate that whole post, I theorize that Danny’s parents raised him to equate good grades to intelligence, and due to his recent plummet since the accident, he thinks he’s not smart. 

How That Affected His Relationship With Jazz

In the beginning of the series, we see that him and his sister have a greater rift. They obviously do care for each other, but he views her more as obnoxious or a know-it-all. On her part, she kind of sees him as a naive little brother who obviously needs her more informed guidance. 

There’s honestly some grade A character development that takes place with both of them, but let’s start with Jazz. She initially cannot handle being wrong, and although she cares for Danny, she shows this more through means that make her come off as arrogant. Which like honestly, can’t even blame her for. It wouldn’t surprise me if she got hit with a case of gifted child syndrome later. 

When Danny really starts to hit a tough spot is when she finally realizes this is something completely out of her control. She doesn’t know what’s wrong, just that it’s bad. Once she does find out what it is, she still has no clue what to do. This is new territory for her, but the previous episodes already taught her to deal with not knowing everything, so she’s at least better equipped now. 

The entire reason I think she even struggled with that in the first place is because, well, coming from the same household as her brother, she was affected by this mentality too. It’s expected of her to always be intellectually ahead.

Then on Danny’s behalf, I think he may have developed some resentment towards his sister because she’s more academically inclined, and he always takes the brunt of the sibling comparisons. He’s pretty often sarcastic towards her in S01, and while it’s common for siblings to be little shits to each other, his quips are usually along the same lines of him poking fun at her for being a know-it-all. Simultaneously, he also places a lot of importance in how his sister views him. So while he may feel that slight resentment, a bigger part of him honestly does look up to and respect her. When Spectra lied to him claiming Jazz said he was a loser, it hurt him more than anything else up to that point. Because here’s the pride of their family, someone he views as the best, saying he won’t amount to anything. 

Here’s just some quotes/scenes from canon to show a bit of this earlier (and sometimes still occurring) tension:

Jazz: “C’mon, we used to talk all the time!” Danny: “Yeah, when I was eight and you weren’t a fink!” (So around here maybe was when the distance started)

Jazz: “Still mad?” Danny: “Wow, you are the smart one!”

Danny’s despondent expression when Jazz is announced as the student who got the highest score in the history of the C.A.T. 

Danny at Jazz: “Okay, I get it! You’re brilliant and I’m stupid, and I’ll never be able to get as high a score as you.” 

Jazz often talks down to him without intending to. Such as when he really was making an effort to study in the ultimate enemy, and she was kind of calling him out on every wrong answer. It’s done with good intentions but y’know.

There’s definitely a lot of growth that happens and makes this issue appear less often. Besides her finding out his secret, giving him more space, and backing him up, there’s one major difference that changes the game later on. That is, after she officially joins Team Phantom, there’s finally something he feels confident about. 

In terms of ghost hunting, this is his territory now. His existence as a half-ghost already ensures he has an advantage, and as mentioned before, he’s extremely good at handling the mental gymnastics he has to pull in this profession. He also makes an effort to talk to the ghosts, map out the GZ, and store information. So it’s something he learned with a lot of personal experience and research. While Jazz is the know-all on academics, he’s the go-to for anything ghost. 

She has the leverage at home and school, but on the battlefield, he really is a pro. He finally has something that he can feel proud of and confident about. The problem isn’t automatically solved, and we do still see the occasional inferiority complex show up, but it’s getting there. Wish we could’ve had an actual sit down where they both discussed their respective experiences.

Jazz and Danny’s relationship is honestly one of the best in the show. Like they really do prove in the end that they will protect each other, and he even starts to feel safer around his sister than his own parents. But honestly, really taking a step back and seeing the progression of it, they had lot’s of ups and downs. It’s complex in its own right. 

This is a long ass post, but I’m really having fun elaborating on this topic. Will have one more to wrap up this little trilogy lmao.

[helenofsimblr]

She-Hulk on D+

been watching this... oh my lord, its so bad! And not even so bad its good kind of bad, just plain bad. Fucking awful.

The protagonist - Jen Walters - is just completely unlikable. She's irreverent, condescending, and a bit of a know it all. The writing is weak, and lazy and her little rant in episode 1 about how she is better at controlling her anger than Bruce is....

"Here's the thing Bruce I'm great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time. When I'm catcalled in the street. When incompetent MEN explain my own area of expertise to me. I do it, pretty much every day because if I don't, I will get called emotional or difficult or I might just literally get murdered. So I'm an expert at controlling my anger because I do it infintely more than you. So all of this feels like projecting a lot of shit onto me!" (Starts turning into She-Hulk and then changes back)

Bitch please! You're complaining about being cat called?! Your cousin was hunted like a fucking animal for over a decade of his life, with death squads coming to kill him. And you're worried about cat calling? Fuck right off and keep going till you reach the ocean!

Oh no incompetent men explain your area of expertise... well at least you have an area, your cousin, the Hulk, a world renowned and decorated physicist literally lost his career. And if men are explaining shit to you, and this happens frequently with various men doing it, then are you really that expertise in your field and are the men incompetent after all? And you think incompetent men don't explain areas of expertise to other men too? That never happens... and if it does it doesn't matter right? Only matters when it happens to a woman.

And you might get murdered?! Fucking hell that escalated quick... were the writers on drugs when they wrote this!? I hope they were, because if this is the dialogue a sober mind came up with then... oh I have no idea... She is saying about being killed to a guy that has literally been target number 1 for the US military for over a decade! And statistically far more men get murdered annually than women do. At nearly a 10 to 2 difference.

This is just unbelievable! Knowing everything the Hulk has gone through, and she says this to him!?

But she's right about one thing, and this rant is not aimed at him, its aimed at men generally, about how terrible they all are and how put upon women are, this is the writers' directors' projecting their shitty fantasises and insecurities and axes to grind onto the screen using Jen as their mouthpiece and her character is suffering for it in these first two episodes.

But yeah there are some shreds of truth to that for sure, there are some pretty awful men out there, but I think a lot of these blinkered bitter feminists forget that awful men are awful to other men and to women. Honestly though, I digress... Phase 4 (Phase Bore) is in big trouble if Marvel don't up their game and ditch all this "me too" girl power, M-She-U, general woke shit, then its fucked to put it bluntly... So far the only decent phase 4 film was Spider-Man No Way Home and they can't ride those coat tails forever...

Some of these hacks need to, and I mean this is ESSENTIAL, go and sit watch such great films as: Aliens, Supergirl (1978), Star Wars (4,5, and 6 to study princess Leia), Terminator 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and The Bionic Woman to grasp how to write a likable but flawed in some way female hero / lead. Because the current crop haven't got a fucking clue and its getting cringeworthy!

The only thing that will even remotely convince me now to tune into episode 3 is Tim Roth reprising his role as Emil Blonsky / Abomination.

"Hi! I'm Emil Blonsky, you may remember me from such films as; The Incredible Hulk, and my cameo in Shang Chi" - Said in a Troy McClure voice

[utilitycaster]

You mentioned your opinion of jester changed a lot throughout campaign 2. Do you mind explaining how and why that happened?

Not at all!

I think I put this thought about Jester in my tags on my post about Orym being the “wet blanket” archetype. It’s my opinion that every D&D party needs if not a wet blanket per se, a pragmatic person who is willing to bring up the difficult or dull perspective; and they need a doer, a person who drives the story forward in a believable way. I love doers, and Jester’s story is that of becoming one.

I’m not a big fan of chaos. It doesn’t mean I dislike chaotically aligned characters or that I dislike wacky shenanigans but sometimes they can feel really artificial and forced, in a “uh don’t you have shit to do?” kind of way, especially in a not-explicitly-comedy show like CR; a lot of memes online about D&D leave me, a DM and a die-hard “doer” both in D&D and IRL, absolutely cold because it’s like no actually I don’t want to court chaos, I want to let the dice lay out the chaos for me. I want a good plan that goes awry because of weird rolls, not a plan that was always designed to be ridiculous.

So, unsurprisingly, early Jester, who was very much about chaos for its own sake (even if her reasons for that were valid), who was very sheltered and pampered, very innocently inconsiderate of people around her, and who had a fairly vague goal in mind, was less interesting to me than the more pragmatic Caleb, Fjord, and Beau, or the more clearly goal-oriented Nott, even though everyone in the party engaged in some degree of chaos. By the end, though, Jester was one of the people pushing the party forward and that was a huge factor (as was the incredibly well-acted portrayal of how she got there).

I think the first step towards me liking her more was the first job the group did for the Gentleman in Siff Duthar’s study; that was the point where I feel the Nein truly gelled as a party such that even if there were members I wasn’t as invested in, I still cared about them in the context of the group. For Jester, specifically, after that, it was also her facade slowly crumbling over time. I think her actions caring for the drunk group in Hupperdook and her relationship with Kiri were a strong start, and then obviously the aftermath of the Iron Shepherds affected her - and for that matter Fjord - very deeply. Both of their slow, weird, messy breakdowns over the entire pirates arc, in Jester’s case punctuated by The Gentleman’s dismissal of her, culminating in the aftermath of the dragon fight, pushed her a little more to the forefront in my mind.

I don’t have strong thoughts on the Xhorhas arc (an arc I honestly need to revisit) but Jester’s response to Yasha being taken and her quiet internal growth, her tentative forays into letting the mask slip and expressing negative emotions, and her deliberate attempts to act more mature all made me like her much more throughout the entire Angel of Irons arc, even though one could argue she still was pretty chaotic (see: the downtime in Rexxentrum episode).

The post-hiatus arcs, though, are what made her one of my favorites by the end. I loved her during the entire Artagan reveal/Rumblecusp arc, in which she had to grapple with leadership and immense responsibility. Jester was defined throughout the campaign by a deep love for and loyalty towards her friends, but as a result even her starring moments were often as support (something something utility casters); the cupcake moment was ultimately for Veth. With Rumblecusp she had to deal with betrayal (she never saw Yasha’s departure in that light, even though it was a valid reading) and external expectations far harsher than those of the Nein or her mother, and even the much smaller but still very real experience of having someone just dislike her for no good reason. I know some people dislike the Rumblecusp arc but in many ways I see it as one of the strongest arcs of the show, particularly in terms of character moments and even more particularly for Jester’s character development.

Then comes the final part of the story - Eiselcross, the interlude back in the Empire/Nicodranas/The Plane of Fire, and Aeor. That whole experience is something of a meat grinder for everyone, and the clerics in particular are the ones who I think have the strongest sense of the stakes (Aeor is one of my favorite Caduceus arcs as well for that reason). Jester moves into that role of the doer that she first explored in Rumblecusp - but this time it’s not for the god she has been friends with her entire life, it’s for the fate of the world.

There’s a reason why there’s a throughline in Jester and Fjord’s conversations from very early on about just going away somewhere quiet, as the stakes grow higher and the story gets darker (starting with the conversation on the Mistake shortly after their kidnapping and Molly’s death, continuing through their conversation at the Kiln just after Yasha falls under control, and then in Eiselcross after Jester enters the circle and a little more in the Blooming Grove before their final return to Aeor). Jester always wanted to see the world, but she learns it’s much harsher than she expected, and I loved seeing her come to terms with that and trying to change it rather than trying to avoid it. In the lead-up to the final fight with Lucien, she’s dealing with something she does not expect to survive it but she not only does it anyway but is one of the people pushing the others forward. While the idea of self-sacrifice isn’t a particularly original one in D&D, for Jester specifically to go from where she started to that position is an incredible yet wholly believable journey.