#there is no way to facilitate that with you HERE. there is no fucking version of reality where you get someone else to come in

[killbaned]

i WANT to do something else with myself and my time but i'm too fucking tired and too fucking depressed to fucking do anything and yes i know it's just a reaction to the current situation and yes i know it's not my fault but that doesn't make me less fucking pissed off about it.

[mothmans-side-ho]

Armand called Lestat a clown in the most round about way

s2e3 hot wired the two passions in my brain into this info dump, however seeing as a central theme of this episode (and the season) is power, status, and their subversions, it seems relevant. for context, I have 2 degrees in theatre, specifically theatre history and how trends effect form. (I am in no way an expert though, and this is very simplified). long story short, I'm relishing in being a big ol nerd about this entire season

FINALLY, we got to see Lestat (a version of) strutting his stuff on stage in a scene with peak commedia dell'arte shenanigans. Commedia dell'arte is/was an originally Italian form of theatre which was defined by lazzi (comedic bits), improv, and stock characters. these stock characters have been around from Roman times and are still super familiar to us today - the young lovers, the pervy old rich man, the soldier with bravado, etc. It's been seen as a somewhat formulaic form of theatre which relied on quickly identifiable characters and situations so audiences can sit back and enjoy the butt jokes and servant beatings.

In the book - specifically The Vampire Lestat - our beloved Lestat RELISHES in playing a character called Lelio, one of the young lovers. It is in playing Lelio that he "found a tongue for verses and wit [he]'d never had in life" (TVL pg 31). It is in playing Lelio that Lestat first gets a taste of the person he can become, and it is in Lelio that we see the first glimpses of the Lestat which so fully seduces Louis. In short, Lestat casts himself as the suave and handsome romantic protagonist, here to sweep people off their feet. The young lovers are also notably some of the only roles portrayed without masks, to emphasize their youth and natural beauty.

SO IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN LESTAT SHOWS UP IN S2E3 DRESSED LIKE THIS:

He has a half mask! He's wearing all sorts of colors! He's clearly acting as a go between between two other characters who seem to be of a higher status than him! As I said before, commedia dell'arte can be very formulaic (especially by the late 1700s when it is being codified away from being improv focused to being cemented into scripts). From all of these visual and characterization clues, Lestat is not playing Lelio the young lover, he's playing a Harlequin! And his costume seems to be heavily based off of this Harlequin (Arlecchino, Arlecino, etc.) which is literally the wikipedia image of a Harlequin.

(note, if you give a fuck, this image is depicting an Arlechino from 1671, roughly 125 years before Lestat on stage. in my mind, this accounts for the changes in silhouette, styling, why Lestat doesn't wear the mask for the entirety of the performance, etc. Also, just while we're talking about costuming, I believe the late 18th Century was still a time in which actors would have been expected to provide their own costumes, which would explain why Lestat's version is made with expensive fabrics and includes cunty little details like the bow in his hair. At the very least, I can see him making looking good a priority as the owner of the theater and as...well...Lestat.)

Okay, okay, okay. Why does this matter?

Harlequins are not characters of any social status. They're servants who are quick witted enough to get into antics but stupid enough to be commanded by animalistic instincts (lust, food, you name it). The Harlequin being beaten by their master was ENORMOUSLY funny, and is the origin of the term "slapstick comedy". They a memorable iteration of clown.

In this scene, which I'm willing to bet was inspired by (if not outright) Carlo Goldoni's A Servant of Two Masters, Lestat plays a servant who interacts with two characters. One appears to be a young woman in a breeches part - another common trope of commedia performance. The other appears to be the young male lover! We see Lestat prancing between the two, seemingly facilitating some romance plot, being paid for his compliance, and doing a good ol fashioned butt lazzi. (Could he be presenting his ass for beating? Maybe.)

So why is Lestat not the young valiant lover, but instead A LITERAL CLOWN? Three potential, not conflicting, reasons. By the time Lestat is performing (mid to late 1790s, based off Armand's earlier comment about Robespierre's 1794 execution), the Harlequin characters were the most sought after roles! At this time, we are seeing the emergence of "Celebrity Culture" where audiences sought out actors for their off-stage personalities as much as their on-stage ones. This is an extremely fitting position for Lestat to fall into. Yay a semblance of historical accuracy!

Secondly, Lestat's ENTIRE ROLE in season two is to come between this season's new pair of young(ish) lovers: Louis & Armand. Lestat's function is to repeatedly detract and distract from their relationship through Dreamstat's antics (appearing at the piano calling Louis a whore, having Louis re-kill him, etc.). Additionally, simply put, Lestat (and Sam Reid as Lestat) is a lot of fun to watch. He is absolutely a stand out (if not THE stand out) of the show! His constant ability to serve cunt is often what your eye is drawn to, he pulls focus to himself, and often undercuts the more subdued, philosophical, and morose nature of others. Both on-stage and on-screen, Lestat continuously upstages his screen partners. He does kinda function as a Harlequin. But in the end, the Harlequin's antics are also what ultimately drive the young lovers together. If not for Lestat's actions, Louis and Armand would have never met nor bonded over knowing this fucked up brat prince.

But we also have to remember! This portion of the episode is presented by Armand the mind fuckery master. It is absolutely in his best interests to paint Lestat as some sort of ridiculous, lesser being driven by animalistic nature. Especially if - by extension of the metaphor - this frames he and Louis as the virtuous and optimistic young lovers, striving to cling to each other in a world of chaos. I would be EXTREMELY interested to see if, when recollected by someone else, Lestat appears in a different role or characterized differently.

Again, given the celebrity culture of the time and Lestat being himself, it is entirely believable that he would appear in the Harlequin role (Truffaldino, if this is Goldoni's Servant). However, I think it's extremely telling that in Armand's iteration of the story Lestat is not the dignified, refined, and sympathetic young romantic. He is instead a literal fucking clown.

[brainwashed-babe]

What do you do to be better ?

Have you tried change your behaviour in embracing stuff like a be a healslut in some games, or overly switch to a submissive mode in a social event ?

How can you be better, sweet babe ?

(This is a slightly abridged version on a question I got on bdsmlr; thought people here would be interested too!)

I don't play many games, certainly not much in the way of like, multiplayer shooters, which is what I associate the 'healslut' thing with. But that absolutely appeals to me - having a role on the team focused on backing up the others. 

I don't play currently but I did a bit of D&D for a while, and I played a support caster. That was pretty great. I didn't think of it as a kink thing at the time, but looking back now? Watching the Barbarian use the magically enhanced weapon I gave him, killing stuff faster because I cast Haste on him, getting all the glory while I hung back and helped? Yeah that pushed a few buttons I wasn't fully aware of at the time, lol

I wouldn't say I go into a submissive mode in social situations, but I am certainly a people-pleaser. More than that, I think of myself as kind of a facilitator. I want everybody to be happy, I want everybody to have what they need, I want everybody to enjoy themselves. And I want to help make that happen. It doesn't feel submissive exactly because my subspace tends to be pretty passive and quiet, and that facilitator energy is much more proactive and even a bit commanding. Like, running the show so that everything goes well and people have a good time. 

It's a different form of submission, I guess. I have talked here before about the idea of being useful, which is more what this is about. I guess there's a distinction in my head between being 'submissive' (a mental state that I get to from following orders, very passive and docile and not very verbal, definitely a very inherently sexual experience) and being 'of service' (much more active, can actually be very take-charge or even domineering when the situation calls for it, still centered in that same place of prioritizing the needs & pleasure of others, not sexual at all in the moment but often a little erotic to think about later).

...I think I went on a tangent different than your question but fuck it, let's send lol

[allwormdiet]

Extermination 8.8

Oh thank god this absolutely ass day can reach a conclusion

This is one of the more grimly realistic parts of the worldbuilding in this story tbh. People gonna people, every disaster that comes along someone sees the whole things the chance to springboard into something bigger

Five bucks says these memorials are mass produced or something, they have a guy who cranks out however many of them are projected to be needed a year in advance and they put the names in once the tally's made

Even with Leviathan driven off, it still left the city utterly fucked. Whole place is cooked, status quo obliterated.

I don't know if we caught the notification that Gallant bit it in the story, might have been in the same crush that took out Tattletale or might have been after Skitter's armband got fried

Shame, though. Seemed nice, for a rich boy training to be a supercop.

Taylor, honey, that guy took massive damage to a limb that probably included fucking up a major artery or vein, never mind shock or infection. Not everybody is as ludicrously resistant to damage as you are

Yeah, that's eight dogs dead. Two of Rachel's best, too. Almost half of her family slaughtered to bring down Leviathan even temporarily. Also, seeing that Rachel knows her letters but not spelling is. Sad.

Feel like that comes up a lot when talking to Taylor. "Hey are you cool?" "I'm meeting the absolute basics of survival" "That's not what I asked"

And here we are: Lisa's reveal

Brief pause to be thankful that the damage to the loft didn't kill anyone, and that the Hebert house is still intact. I hope Taylor at least left a note telling Danny she's alive though, like fuck

I like how Coil explained his power as the manipulation of destinies when it's literally just getting a one-time reset when choosing between A or B. Dramatic ass.

Is this a nod to the retconned Empire fight? I'd heard about that somewhere, that the first version of the chapter or chapters got scrubbed in favor of revisions.

So Taylor straight up got them all taken down in the B version of the Lung fight. Goddamn.

...Also, this means that Tattletale straight up saved Skitter from the ABB. "Bug girl" would've been found out as the one who took down Lung no matter what, but if she hadn't joined the Undersiders then Bakuda would've had people hunting for a solo target, and she'd be fucking dead. They barely survived Bakuda's attack with their total strength, God only knows how bad it'd be otherwise.

It's interesting that Lisa considers all the struggle her own fault, and that Taylor is immediately like "nah I'd do it again, mostly"

Oh I hadn't even thought about that part, the Undersiders know where she lives and they could've been fully willing to jump her for the offense. Fucking thanks, Colin

And we're back again

I wonder if Lisa thinks she can actually get Taylor to budge on the Dinah issue. I wonder if she even wants Taylor to budge on the Dinah issue. Knowing her circumstances I can only imagine that her loyalty to Coil will only last for as long as he's got a hand around her throat, the second she's clear there's no way she doesn't burn him.

And it'd probably be a lot easier to burn him if he's deprived of his pet precog.

I think circumstances aligned to make Taylor a lot more down on heroes in general and the Protectorate/Wards in particular than is necessarily accurate. We know that Shadow Stalker is considered a problem child internally, she's hardly a ringing endorsement of how they run things but she's not supposed to be.

Armsmaster... I think the thing with Armsmaster is that the system straight up facilitated his worst impulses. He's ambitious, he's hungry, he's focused, and those aren't negative qualities to have, but they're not qualities you want for the leader of a team. He clearly struggles with big-picture thinking and gets wrapped up in his own head and his own projects; that's not someone you can just give a leadership position to. The fact that being the Big Hero of a city means you're also in charge of the Hero Team in that city is a massive oversight, it means he's put in a position where nobody can check him on his bullshit and force him to come up for air. Nobody could tell Armsmaster "no" when he came up with a plan to secure his legacy, at the small small price of threatening the entire goddamn Endbringer truce in the event his plan ever sees the light of day, and that's a failure of the system as well.

But these are the examples that Taylor has been forced to work with, and it's not like her other encounters have made her feel any better. Looking at you, Panacea. The culture of heroes seems to be borderline radioactive with everything that Taylor hates and fears and suffers under; cruelty, petty politics, arrogance, self-righteousness, jockeying for attention.

Is it any wonder she's drawn towards the opposition of that culture? Aligning herself with the opposing force and against everything that makes her suffer, still fighting the bad guys but not taking shit from the good guys? How is the conclusion anything other than foregone?

Cliffhanger, though an obvious one imo, considering the fact we've got 20+ arcs left

Current Thoughts

Honestly this chapter was so welcome just for giving a reprieve from all the tension during and after the Leviathan battle. What a fucking ride. Kudos to Lisa for being the only person who has managed to even kind of figure out how to talk to Taylor, even if it involves manipulating her I maintain that this has been way way healthier than if she was allowed to rock on as an independent hero. Because she'd be fucking dead.

But of course even this reprieve has to be interrupted by fucking Coil. I hope they kick his teeth in.

[needle-noggins]

My book club reading this morning started with me goofing on Legato and etc., but then I got hit with the cafe scene. Let's talk about it, because I've been ready to bring up the body autonomy/exploitation/rape stuff for a while. This is going to get heavy, so fair warning.

Spoilers for Trigun Stampede, which I'll compare this to, in case anyone here is coming into the book club completely blind to Trigun (I assume most fans at this point have seen Stampede).

So. Damn. This is where the very heavy theme of bodily autonomy and exploitation really comes into the story. Obviously we have the conflict between the slavers and Legato. These girls are going to be sold for organ harvesting, but first... yeah, those slavers are fucking awful. Legato kills them by forcing them to kill themselves/each other, and Legato frees the girls. I think this is the first time we see what Legato's powers are - he makes people's bodies to move against their will. He later muses on this scene, wondering why he felt sympathy for the girls and spared them. If you've read Trigun Maximum before, you know why.

I want to compare this to Stampede, because it's the easiest way for me to talk about this theme without spoiling more of Trimax. When I watched Stampede for the first time, I remember being floored by the tank scene with Vash and Knives. Vash floating helplessly, paralyzed by Knives, his roots extending to the plants in the tank, and the reveal of those plants being pregnant. Knives boasting about making new Independents. It was so heavy that I had to pause the show and walk around for a bit. I still can't totally watch it.

Then, when I read Trimax, I saw just how much of a recurring theme this is in the story on a whole. OK, Nightow, that's fucking painful and kind of triggering for a lot of folks - so why does the story have to include this?

Well. It highlights just how horrible Knives, Legato, and other people can be, but more importantly, it's central to the entire plot and its resolution. We have to look at the other side of the conflict and zoom out a bit. In all versions of Trigun, there is exploitation - of the plants, of innocent people, of Vash's power. And, in all versions of Trigun, there's the struggle to find freedom and autonomy against it, specifically. Knives struggles to give the plants freedom (or his version of it). Vash struggles to free humanity from Knives (who not only kills indiscriminately, but also exploits people to kill for him. Hello, Wolfwood). Vash also struggles to find freedom from Knives, who uses Vash's powers against his will. That's a really boiled-down version of the central conflict.

So, what happens in this conflict?

Vash heals plants who have been damaged by humans' exploits. Vash helps people in any way he can, no matter who they are - because he wants what's best for humanity - all of it. And, at least in Tristamp, who saves Vash when Knives is using him? Fucking Meryl. Meryl, who jumps head-first into danger to save Vash. I could write an essay on Tristamp Meryl's character development in alone, but I won't (yet).

There's exploitation and rape and terrible abuse, but there's help. There's healing facilitated by others, sometimes others who have experienced something similar. I'm sure someone else can say this much more eloquently than me, but I wanted to get the conversation started.

[sainteddie]

cass, your only personality is being jess’s wife. she sits on tumblr and causes drama, and facilitates a terrible environment to the point most 911blr can’t stand her, and then when she’s called out for her attention-seeking tendencies, you kiss her ass. her ability to make everything about herself when others are also suffering is shameful and strange. i don’t believe she’s a bad person, but her attitude on tumblr is turning her into somebody unrecognizable that i used to call a friend.

1. being known as jess’ wife isn’t an insult to me? so this isn’t the dig i imagine you thought it was.

2. literally nobody cares if you dislike jess. if you don’t like the way she behaves on her blog the unfollow button is free. the block button is also free

3. what is sending hateful anons doing for the environment exactly?? and bringing a dying/deceased woman and her greiving daughter into it to justify doing it? do you hear yourself?

4. if you want to call me calling out blatant lies on her particularly when it comes to the care she showed me and my family while my mother was on hospice “kissing her ass” then call me guilty.

5. nothing she said on tumblr whilst my mom was at end of life was “making something about herself”. everything that was happening to her was also happening to me. i too fucked my back up on that hell couch. and fussed about it every day. my bags were also lost and i was livid. the only reason i wasn’t just as loud about it on here is because jess dealt with it so i didn’t have to.

she had every right to express herself in those moments, and caroline has expressed how jess is allowed to express herself in this moment because we are calling out the wider normalization of the vitriol YOU ALL are sending real people.

the very people you’re accusing her of casting aside to make things about herself are telling you that’s not what’s happening so what’s the point?

6. there is no world in which you were ever her friend if you think any of this is okay.

at the end of the day… it comes down to this…

there are people in this fandom i have bone deep beef with. people that were my friends. and you know what i did when they showed me a version of themselves i couldn’t get behind? i walked away. you would never catch me sending them anonymous hate or justifying anyone else doing so.

because it’s wrong. period.

and the level you all are willing to take it… is proof to me you ARE bad people.

have the day you deserve.

[etherealspacejelly]

Hey dad,

Are you out to your parents? I can never come out to mine, which creates a lot of questioning for my future.

If you are, how did you do it (I’m presuming you have parents)?

Thanks from a closeted new follower of your brilliant posts :)

I am out to my parents! I came out about 5 years ago now, it was my anniversary recently actually!

i came out to my dad first. i was going to his house for a different reason, but i decided to do it then because. idk. i just felt ready i guess. i sat down with him and he could tell something was up, so he asked me if there was anything i wanted to talk about and i said yes. and i told him i was nonbinary and aroace, and that i wanted to use they/them pronouns and go by a shortened version of my birth name (this was before i had decided on robin and he/they). he asked me what those things meant, with genuine curiosity because he hadnt heard of them before, so i explained it to him and he said ok! thats fine. and he said he loved me and supported me no matter what, and that it would be a bit hypocritical for him not to since he is queer himself (which i was not aware of at the time! he just assumed i knew??? hes pansexual lmao)

he did a bunch of research in his own time, watching videos by nonbinary youtubers and stuff like that. he learned how important it is for parents to facilitate social transition, so he took me to get my first gender affirming haircut a few weeks later. he also bought me my first binder, and took me shopping in the mens section for the first time. he also took me to my first pride that year! he has remained super supportive, calling me his son at work, greeting me with "hey my boy!" every time he sees me or calls me on the phone, has barely ever slipped up on my pronouns. basically, my dads a fucking legend lmao

i think a few weeks to a couple months after i told my dad, i came out to my mum. that went. not great. she was like. ok. and immediately went back to her phone. my heart just sank. she still gets my pronouns wrong 5 years later, she says often that i will always be her daughter. she even said that trans people are just mentally ill. she loves jkr and often uses terf talking points. but, she Says she supports me and isnt transphobic, and she Tries to use my pronouns so. yk. that makes everything ok /s

she also thinks that ill change my mind about being aroace when i find 'the right person'. i never told her about the queer platonic relationship i was in because i knew she would just use that against me. i had an entire year long relationship, and to this day she has no idea.

the thing is, my mum had always been a self professed supporter of the lgbtq. when i was a kid it was always "when you grow up and get a boyfriend or girlfriend" or "when you get married to your husband or wife", so i thought it would be a slam dunk. i thought, theres no way she wont accept me. but here we are. meanwhile, i had been quite nervous about telling my dad! i didnt know how he was going to react.

so, you never really know how these things will go. this isnt me telling you to come out, by the way! if you feel unsafe or unready then please dont. do whats right for you first and foremost. but, sometimes people will surprise you i guess, and not always for the better.

you will find your people. family is about unconditional love and acceptance, and if your parents arent providing that for you then they're not doing their damn jobs properly.

im always here if you need a dad, it would be my honour.

I love you, and I'm proud of you, kiddo :)

[lunar-years]

Sorry, another anon jumping in here- while I'd love to think that Roy would take Jamie's feelings in an R/K wedding into account, I think canonically hes still a bit inept at reading Jamie sometimes (ie: the bar date/ stay away from Keeley scene) so I can see him asking Jamie to be best man without considering the further implications. Which of course leads to the Richmond boys deciding to be an emotional support bubble for him through the whole thing and its only later in the evening when Roy steps outside for some air and sees Jamie with eyes shining, gritting his jaw determinedly trying not to cry while Sam tries to wordlessly comfort him, that Roy realises hes fucked up a bit there. Isaac coming up to him like "we know you didn't mean it like that, but bit cruel that bruv"

yeah 😭

I think it all very much depends on the timeline this is theoretically happening in, too. The thread I read about the alternative s3 roy-keeley wedding was kind of funny because they were using s3 dynamics with everyone else but those two. So when they said "Jamie would obviously be best man!" I found myself thinking...like...idk man, I don't even think Roy would even want or ask Jamie to be his best man in that scenario, because they would not actually be best friends the same way they are in the actual s3.

This might be very cynical...but in a s3 where the Roy & Keeley we see on the verge of breakup in the s2 finale are suddenly getting MARRIED... i do not think Roy and Jamie would become nearly as close in that timeframe as what we see play out in canon. Because so much of their dynamic in s3 is built upon Roy being in a very bad place post-breakup, then volunteering to train Jamie (imo, at least in part as a distraction/way to bury himself in work to stop thinking about how miserable he is in the personal aspects of his life) and then ending up genuinely loving spending time with Jamie and spending ALL of his time with Jamie, slowly pulling him further out from his slump because Jamie's given him something and (someone) to care about again.

Whereas, if Roy is busy and stressed out over wedding planning all the time, whilst also consumed by the same unaddressed insecurities that plagued his relationships with both Keeley and Jamie in the s2 finale (which he only would've pushed further down after a successful proposal) I 1) think it's quite possible he wouldn't have even volunteered to do extra training with Jamie in the first place and 2) even if he did, wouldn't have had the same time to spend with or focus on him, resulting in them...not becoming close! certainly not best man close. Also, Keeley has ALWAYS been a point of strife between them. it's why Roy's head butting Jamie in the s2 finale, it's one layer of why the bar date goes so poorly, etc.

Roy "when I look at her I only think about Jamie fucking Tartt" Kent who has not gone through the breakup nor any of the growth said breakup facilitated is a man deeply insecure in his own relationship (and in this case, engagement) who sees Jamie on some level as still a threat to his peace. I do not think he'd want Jamie to be involved in the wedding at all, tbh, even if their relationship was getting slowly better and they were at the place of tentative friendship we see in the s2 finale.

Now, of course all that changes if we're talking about a scenario where roy-keeley have gotten back together post-series and are then getting married somewhere down the line. That's the version of events where I think 1) Jamie would do anything Roy asked him to, up to and including being his best man, even if it hurt him in the process and 2) Roy would be perceptive enough and care enough about Jamie not to ask. You're totally right that Roy struggles to read Jamie sometimes, but I also think there were sooo many factors at play in the bar date and so many of them would be eliminated in a scenario where Roy and Keeley are getting married post-series. Like, so much of Roy's obliviousness there stemmed (imo) from jealousy and insecurity and his own desire to win Keeley back regardless of Jamie's feelings, so part of it was him being inept on purpose as a form of avoidance, lol.

Whereas, if he's proposed to Keeley and said yes and they're both in a significantly more secure place in their relationship, Jamie isn't really any "threat", so I would like to think Roy would at least pick up on his discomfort surrounding the wedding before hitting him with "will you be my best man" (or like, Keeley would say something when Roy brought up the idea, because it really is deeply ludicrous).

[communistkenobi]

Could you elaborate on the different ways that Qui Gon, Obi Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Luke defined Jedi or what it means to be a Jedi? I love to read your thoughts on stuff like this!

Yeah of course! I’m a bit rusty on Star Wars canon so this will be a bit more vague, but my general opinion is basically some version of the following:

imo Qui-Gon is billed in the canon as being a skeptic of the Jedi Order. He questions rules and determinations made by the Council, seems to dabble in conspiratorial or esoteric interpretations of Jedi theology or rules (iirc this is from Master & Apprentice), and seems to generally hold himself out as a contrarian. I don’t know if this manifests as a comprehensive critique of the Order, or if he just believes that pushback against institutional orthodoxy is inherently good. And you can probably critique his skepticism (he’s still an agent of the Order and by extension, the Republic), but like from what I remember in canon he is a guy who likes debating and questions his orders from the Council. My instinct is that he’s one of those anti-institution libertarian types, it’s not like a comprehensive critique of the Order but a more surface level desire to question authority (which, hey, no complaints in that regard lol). Now this is a separate question from how he views being a Jedi, but clearly some element of that is a moral obligation to “find a better way” to be a good person as a Jedi, to pushback on norms. He wants to be the minority opinion in the room, keeping the Council honest and all that jazz.

Which Obi-Wan fucking hated lol. Again pulling from M&A (mostly because it’s the most recent SW novel I’ve read with them in it), but Obi-Wan seems to be like this beleaguered bright-eyed student who has to put up with his Master’s bullshit antics. My personal view of Obi-Wan is a guy who fully buys into the Jedi Order as an institution that facilitates justice - he may critique the methods the Order uses or bend rules to get a better outcome (thinking of the 2016 Obi-Wan & Anakin comic here), but I think at the end of the day Obi-Wan believes the Order is a net-good for the world, believes in the mission of the Jedi to engage in diplomacy on the Republic’s behalf (I believe this is in conflict with his Legends characterisation, but iirc in the new canon he’s much more of a keener and I tend to like that interpretation more), and in his pursuit to be an ideal archetype of Jedi, he craves the legitimacy and prestige the Order confers onto his status as a Jedi Knight, especially as a Knight training The Chosen One. I think this is also why his death is integral to Luke’s story, as Luke had very different ideas about what a Jedi Order would look like and had Obi-Wan survived ANH, they likely would have fought bitterly about it.

Anakin I haven’t thought as much about, I think in general he was becoming a Jedi because that’s what everyone wanted him to be, and maybe he did have that dream at some point, but I think Anakin is mostly resigned to training and being knighted because that’s just how his life is going. He doesn’t seem to have a great deal of respect for the Order or Jedi customs (this informs a lot of his conflict with Obi-Wan), and he seems disinterested in furthering the Order’s political and social role in the Republic. He was actively hostile to taking Ahsoka on as a student, and I think his eventual fall from grace and turn towards the Sith marked this like, ultimate form of indulgence for him - a total rejection of his destiny, of all the expectations put on him, and a way to perform the perceived inadequacy that he was burdened with as a child. Like look dad, I’m the bad guy asshole everyone was so afraid I’d become! I’m not a Jedi and never could be! Fuck you!

Ahsoka I think has a much more developed version of the skepticism that we see from Qui-Gon, because she was confronted with the entire might of the Order and was cast out for a crime she didn’t commit. For her, being a Jedi is synonymous with institutional acceptance, and so if the Council doesn’t consider her to be a Jedi, then fuck that noise she’s not a Jedi. I think in terms of outlook you could say she’s still very Jedi-like, in the same vein as Luke, idealistic and self-sacrificing, but with Ahsoka it’s tinged with more cynicism and pragmatism than I think we see with Luke (at least in terms of the OT - I’m not familiar with the ST at all and don’t have a desire to engage with it so maybe later in life that’s a different story for him, idk). I think the loss of Anakin in particular also affects her a lot, and probably informs her non-attachment to a lot of people. She’s a drifter for personal safety reasons, but I also think she wouldn’t do well in a group long term (compared to someone like Kanan, who very much eschews the attachment rule and finds community with the Ghost crew). In that sense I think you could argue she’s a Jedi in practice but not in writing.

And Luke like. Idk where to even begin lol. He’s the only one of this group who was not brought up in the Order and has no formal training. Even Yoda and Obi-Wan’s training can’t substitute for growing up around other Jedi and being taught that kind of discipline and culture from a young age. He doesn’t have access to Jedi written teachings or Jedi history, he doesn’t place them in the same political context as the rest of his lineage does, experiencing the Jedi only as a bygone era, mysterious and ultimately fundamentally unknowable. Which means that his vision of Jedi-hood is probably “heretical” but also sort of a necessary new way forward, responding to what he perceives to be the failures of old Jedi teachings and ways of life. So for him Jedi-hood is a much more provisional affair, it is what he makes of it because he’s the guy who is literally making it. Which is ironic given that he’s literally THE original Jedi in the canon, like he’s how audiences are introduced to Jedi, but so much of that lore has been built up around him that he kind of becomes the odd one out. Which makes Filoni’s comment that he’s not really a Jedi sort of correct? Almost? Like I don’t actually really agree with it and his reasoning is idiotic, but Luke is not the traditional Jedi, he’s the origin point for an entirely new tradition. So he is a Jedi, very much so, but there is a break in tradition that can’t really be squared with the previous historical circumstances that created the Order. He has to forge a new way forward and reshape how Jedi exist and practice in a totally new context. Which is very cool!

[roobylavender]

i’m not sure if you’ve talked about it before but i’m soso curious about your opinions on how the interactions/relationship between leslie & post-res jason would go/be

i like to think it wouldn't be all that different from her interactions with bruce actually because i tend to be of the opinion that jason is the most like bruce of bruce's children. the quintessential "illogical" reaction to, reclamation of, and extrapolation of trauma; the slow suicide of the civilian self; the overwhelming despair over personal inadequacy in the face of crime; the consistent urge to project onto others. it's a lot. and obv jason is a somewhat more.. volatile character than bruce once he comes back from the dead. but i think most people would agree that had the red hood characterization not gone so haywire after under the hood that that volatility would mostly be an internalized thing. jason is a delusional person to an extent but he's not incapable of human interaction or parlance. whatever he does as the red hood—while powered by a warped sense of self and the world; while indicative of several social wrongs; while externally easy to perceive as an "extreme" reaction rather than as the natural conclusion to vigilantism in and of itself—is for the most part practical. he's not a loose cannon by any means. he can be talked to and reasoned with. bruce simply happens to be the worst person to even attempt to do that because he does not have the answers that jason, let alone he himself, would want. bruce is a very emotionally confused person and he's at a stage in his life by this point where all he knows how to do is say sorry. he's no longer the guy everyone goes to for solutions. people have started to lose faith in him as to that and he himself has started to lose faith in his own ability to do so. this is honestly where my strongest criticism of bruce would lay. he's not someone unaware of his various issues and transgressions. he thinks about them all the time. but he doesn't do much to solve those issues and transgressions. instead what he has a tendency to do is isolate and wallow and beat himself up meanwhile the people upset with him are stood in a corner like well.. ok.. what the fuck are we supposed to do with that.. and that is ultimately helpful to no one lol!

which brings me back to leslie. i've never been a fan of the later, rare iterations of leslie that take her into the realm of judge, jury, and executioner. although i haven't read war games myself (nor do i ever intend to) i can't ever imagine that leslie's means of expressing her aversion to and exasperation with bruce's lifestyle would culminate in her deliberately facilitating a child's death—or faking that child's death. whichever version of canon you want to go with is fine for the sake of argument—to teach bruce a lesson. for every horrible thing about the world or gotham or bruce specifically that leslie is privy to she nonetheless keeps faith in the latter's desire to do good. she doesn't agree with his methods nor lifestyle by a long mile but she's not loath to the batman in a way that would preclude her from recognizing bruce wants to do better and ultimately reach a point at which vigilantism is no longer the answer. leslie is the harsh and necessary critic of vigilantism, and purportedly a cynic with respect to the rest of the world, but in practice she is a far less unforgiving person than she portrays herself to be and her commitment to remaining in crime alley is a testament to that. it would probably take a good word (from talia, imo!) and some mulling over for her to come around to the idea of taking jason under her wing. but i don't think it would be something for her to put her foot down over. at best she would hold him to a higher standard of future behavior because she wants to know that when he says he is going to get better he means it. the stray lighthearted threat would be lobbed at him here and there but she wouldn't really mean the words. there would be the external impression of cut and dry dialogue between a begrudged employer and the random kid she decides to give a job because she knows he would end up a mess otherwise. but there would be a latent affection there too (if not immediately ascertainable by jason because he would still be too burrowed in his anger and grief and confusion to recognize it) because she knew him when he was a child and she suspects the part of him that existed before death is still hidden somewhere for people like her to find

[sburbian-sage]

Uh ok so not at all sure where to start this but

Well ok so look you know how people make stuff from games and movies all the time? Well i made the master sword from the zelda games (couldn't use it, it kept burning my hands if i tried) but that got me thinking so i tried making the tri-force (huge pain in the ass btw, so much testing) and well i succeeded

But shit has gotten fucking weird now cause it instantly let out a giant flash of light bright enough that my coplayers messaged me asking wtf i was doing

And now skaia is hyrule

I uh

Yea not sure what to do about that, from what i can tell its a way scaled up version of the ocarina of time hyrule and no-where near as polygonal

Doesn't seem to have broken much other then prospit now being called the sacred realm and derse the corrupted realm but like the whispers keep talking about needing to fulfill the duty of hylia and im just like

Bro what the fuck do i even do here?

Why were you trying to alchemize the Triforce.

I understand the Master Sword, that's a tool or a weapon. It is funny that it burned you by the way. But I can't imagine a scenario where the Triforce would be useful. It's a video game MacGuffin. What were you expecting it to do. I'm pretty sure it's in-universe considered to be holy, which would make it a radioactive bomb of angelic corruption. You don't even need the Triforce to be able to use the sword. Why.

Either way, the Battlefield is weird now. A tragic outcome, considering how notably not-weird it normally is, of course. As for what you do? Alchemize a noodle hat, say "HYAH", break some pots, and do the duck walk. If all is well, the Battlefield should work as normal, and it is your destiny to defeat Ganondorf it's probably still going to be the Black King. If all isn't well, Skaia is unable to facilitate your normal game functions like incubation of the Genesis Frog or creation of the ending door, and that Triforce just screwed you over. It's probably the former, but have fun anyways, and consider investing in a Ringship.

[zeico]

Long post request: how do you feel about BG3?

I didn't realize a new patch came out on final fantasy for about a week because Baldur Gate o Baldur Gate

currently in act 3 and trying to stock up on shit since I recently cleared out the bank. I'm TRYING to hold myself to not starting a new character until I finish this one but I see so many monk items and i want themmmmm (I have a half elf monk open in character creator right now)

Since I played a lotttt of dragon age origins, parts of the structure of bg3 felt very familiar to me like the camp itself and like how u interact with the companions. Like coming home in a way.

I'm also playing 5e a lot so that part of the structure of it was very easy to adapt to. I do still have trouble with like certain interface things like oh man gotta select the version of the spells BEFORE TARGETTING NO GALE WHY ARE YOU RUNNING TO THEM GET BACK HERE WHY ARE YOU HITTING THEM WITH YOUR 8 STRENGTH BACKED STICK

But its great and I do like the changes made to better facilitate it being a VIDEO GAME. Like I'm a Divination Wizard. My main Thing is portent dice. (There's also detect thoughtsing my way through all social encounters which is SO GREAT honestly scratches an itch I've always wanted to do but it would be such a pain in the ass for tabletop. Like first first ever dnd character I cooked up was an illiterate mind reading sorcerer that like got by through just that. But that would be so annoying to do with like.... PEOPLE AT THE TABLE of like 'so im just constantly getting ur surface thoughts...... i can't entirely control this... i'm sorry....' )

ANYWAY portent dice!!!!! in bg3 they have it at level 6 you fulfill little prophecies to get ur dice back to make the big boss miss their BIG attack or make SURE you hit (or my favorite, make the rogue crit on a sneak attack) instead of having it that when u cast a divination spell u get a spell slot back. since theres so few divination spells especially like using IN COMBAT so I understand the change.

I also like the variety of shit you can do. like my partner is one to summon 9 creatures btw the whole party so theres a small army of creatures following their main party. (also several buffed with mage armor and everyone has a higher level aid cast on them so they also have a decent amount of health its really funni to watch) I like wrote off the summon guys moves because I just dont like to have extra guys usually.

Something I wish I did on my first playthrough tho was simply long resting more I think I fucked myself out of a lot of social link scenes in act 1 bc I straight up didn't rest enough. The game is like 'oh no time is ticking' but things aren't REALLY like that (cept for like... 2 instances I can think of) bc its a videogame and thats fine.

It WANTS you to use all your abilities and not be dum like me and just cantrip my way through most the first act 'just in case i need my slots later' why am i like this. both short and lone rest more and just use all your moves its FINE

speaking of social links and companions theyre all great. I love them all. I DO wish some things weren't like... romance locked it feels??? well more like you HAVE to reject them???? idk I had a scene with gale when he's like 'but we're not THAT close tho' and i felt bad bc like... I want to be wizard friends with you. I'm SORRY I'm so weak to both vampires and elves.

heard some shit about astarion having like so much content compared to all the other companions and man imma feel so spoiled on my playthroughs where i dont smooch the vampire. I do wish everyone else had more scenes too its a shame.

something about bg3 thats HILARIOUS to me personally is that its all like 'recruit allies against the cult' and in another irl campaign im in thats been in hiatus for years but I still hope to come back its REALLY similiar. Oh no a huge looming death cult threat to the city. oh no the city has its own fuckmess of bullshit to deal with. OH NO a shapeshifting killer. Anytime theres strong parallels to that campaign it sparks joy.

A few technical problems I've had tho were around switching characters in and out of the party. like in a building and I wanna run back to camp to tag in someone. Wait why are they on the roof????

Or I tag in someone and WHY ARE YOU CLIPPING THROUGH THE FLOOR? Tbh the game is so enjoyable I just sigh and say "Video. Game." out loud and load a save. Like the last time that was REALLY frustrating is when it just would NOT let me out of a restricted area like please I persuaded u 3 times let me go I was on my way OUT.

Also why do all these 8 strength men have abs. This is Wrong. I'm bad with figuring out the technical shit of modding but holy shit I need them to not have abs.

Anyway I had this and the character creator open for like 2 hours now so Imma start that now.

[thegeminisage]

ok, tng update time. i'm quite behind! monday we did "deja q," tuesday we did "a matter of perspective," and then wednesday was "yesterday's enterprise."

deja q: NOT as bad as i feared but still not great. turning q into a human was a fantastic idea because in general it helps facilitate empathy when you see a character suffer, which worked a little on me, and then also i greatly enjoyed seeing him suffer because he was so annoying before, lol. guinan and worf kicking him when he was down were the best <3

another smart choice was to have data be the only one who had any sympathy for him - precisely because data's "feelings" ""can't"" be hurt and he's less likely to hold grudges. also, because data is wonderful and it's easy to get behind his cause of reforming q into some kind of functional being

AND it was good that the first time q felt shame it was because data almost died for his ungrateful fucking ass...correct response

unfortunately i still have many problems. during that section right before data's sacrifice move, all of the goodwill q generated by being fun to laugh at kind of evaporated because he was being annoying

SECONDLY, i have realized the reason i dislike q is because his main two personality traits have aged horribly. firstly is the "randumb~ XD" humor (the mariachi band at the end of this ep, the random napoleon soldiers from the other ep, his various costumes...). i think the only person who could ever do that kind of humor well was robin williams and they didn't cast him as q and also he's dead now, so knock it off. his second personality trait is that he's smarter and more powerful than anybody else in the room which he (and the people writing him) seems to think is a license to be an asshole to them, as long as it is charming assholery. think t*ony st*rk, house, bbc sh*rlock. this of course is a deeply flawed premise to begin with, but he doesn't even do it WELL. nothing about his assholery is charming. specifically i am thinking of all the "worf is dumb because he's a big brutish klingon" jokes, which are for sure fantasy racism and border on ACTUAL racism, because they're derivative of horrible antiblack stereotypes. not that q is the only source of this kind of stuff aimed at worf, but it's really damning that it's ALWAYS the first thing out of his mouth and played for laughs and made his "but worf i'm a klingon at heart too!" bit extra unfunny

anyway, bringing in a SECOND q to praise him for his "selfless" act is eeehh considering one q is already one too many and the act wasn't even that selfless. it would've been better if he said the only reason he was doing it was for data, specifically, so he could stop feeling shame - that's more genuine than trying to get me to believe he'd give himself up for that ship of people even if really what he was mostly doing was committing suicide.

nonetheless i DID really enjoy getting to see data laugh at the end. GOOD for him <3 also lmao, the moon is falling, so true. JUST like majoras mask

a matter of perspective: the one thing i don't understand here is the bit where picard is a horrible painter and then data insults his art. like yes it was funny but i thought it would have something to do with the main plot. riker sees events this way and that lady sees them this way. not unlike in the art room where everyone interpreted the nude model in a different manner!

ALSO, WHY IS THERE A NUDE MODEL. does that woman not live and work on this starship. does she not have to command respect from her coworkers the rest of the time. they didn't even do this in the holodeck where that sort of thing would have made sense!! the one time you WANT the holodeck around...

anyway, i thought this episode veered dangerously close to dud territory. trial drama is fine, even though it begs the question of why no lie detector in tng. holodeck recreation also fine in this instance, as was the murder mystery

but why ON EARTH did they feel the need to show a fake version of riker attempting to rape this lady and then have deanna go well that's the way she remembers it because i sense no dishonesty from her :) this is just the true way each of you remembers it :)

LIKE THERE IS A CANYON OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIKER'S VERSION AND THAT LADY'S VERSION. it's not like they can both partially be true. in one instance she flung herself at him despite his clearly being uncomfortable and in the other he forced her despite her asking him to stop!!! like in this case what you do is believe the woman except because riker's our protagonist we know he didn't do it except they never CLARIFY that he didn't do it??? obviously i don't think for a minute that he did, but of all the fucking things to leave open...

anyway i hated it. i actually hated it more than catherine did which may be a first for tng

yesterday's enterprise: TASHA YAR?????????????????????????????

ok, the premise of this was kinda confusing at first, but i don't give a single fuck. TASHA YAR!!!!!!

i was so happy and confused to see her but the more scenes she had...man. like, ok, they did not HAVE to have her make out with this guy. even in death they will not stop doing this to her. but the whole thing where guinan was like your death was meaningless and empty in this timeline so she decides to go back and die in the past instead...GOOD for her

also, i'm a little confused on my canon - i think the battle that other enterprise went back to die in was the one that worf's parents were killed in? which is why he wasn't on the bridge because he fuckin DIED at age 6 or whatever? i guess they must have done enough good to save at least some people??

anyway, ABSOLUTELY adored this one. tasha yar redemption arc. that was the LAST thing i EVER expected to see on tng but here we are. they even made that other captain a woman although lmao in the end they refridged tasha nd this other captain. STILL. if shes gotta die let it be better than the death she got in canon. i'll miss you queen

my one gripe, aside from her boyfriend, is that she and data had a lil scene in the elevator and im mad we could not infer from it whether or not they had fucked in this timeline. rip :(

NEXT TIME: "the offspring" and "sins of the father," which is a normal title that does not at all match the title of a merlin episode i wrote a 130k coda about

[etrosgate]

when i initially read the manga (+watched the anime), it was something i liked, but felt like there was just something lacking that prevented me from truly loving it. then i started reading the novel and it filled in all those lacking spots as well as fixing some issues i had and now it's easily my favorite version (even without having read all of it) and i really really love shiki in general.

EDIT: i forgot to link to the fantranslation!! it's incomplete, but they've gotten a good way into the book. (~78%) start reading from here, and make sure to read the cultural/translation notes between chapters! they're pretty important for this particular narrative

for shiki fans who don't know anything about the novel, here's some interesting differences.

most of them stem largely from the shift in target demographic. the original novel is pretty obviously for an adult audience, while the shiki manga was published in a shonen magazine. to facilitate that, they upgraded natsuno's role from a side character to protagonist.

while also being for age reasons, i'm pretty sure it was a decision also made to narrow the scope (for at least the beginning of the story). the novel is Very much an ensemble piece, with the first chapter alone having 8 different pov characters. it's to the point where singling out a protagonist is more of a matter of figuring out"who has the most pov chapters" and "who is most central to the narrative" than an obvious answer. i'd be most confident in saying that seishin is the protagonist (with toshio as the next closest to it).

it's a lot easier to get teens hooked on the smaller but more active natsuno+other kids drama plot, as opposed to in-his-30's seishin and 1 million various other normal people who live in the town gossiping about how so-and-so saw a car coming towards sotoba suddenly stop and turn back around before it got there lmao.

if you couldn't tell already, the novel is extremely slow-paced and mundane. up until page 545 (out of 1,271) when toshio has that conversation with natsuno and first begins to consider the possibilities of vampires, there is no overt signal to the reader that anything supernatural is occurring. it's largely a medical mystery, with some overall ominous feeling and the occasional character feeling like someone's watching them, natsuno realizing someone picked up some of the fragments of the letter he shredded.

for context, that same scene where the doctor realizes its vampires occurs about 43% into the book, while in the anime it's 20%. people who found the anime/manga too slow paced would NOT be able to handle the novel haha

and let me be clear, i fucking love that about it. the extremely grounded tone (and lack of those crazy character designs) suits the story sooooo well, and it benefits from taking all that time getting to know the village (even if it was really difficult to keep track of who was who). everyone feels very... real. people you can easily see being your neighbors irl, in the best ways and the worst. while still being clearly sympathetic, it also establishes how the cruelty that ensues from the humans in the ending came from flaws they had long before the shiki ever came.

i ended up just talking about shiki so i forgot the fun facts lmao

natsuno never becomes a shiki, he just dies.

akira also dies, as there is no natsuno to save him.

the novel opens with a prologue showing the ending, the pov of a fire fighter driving to deal with the fire consuming sotoba, who sees a man (seishin) driving away from the town with a coffin in his car's truck bed

tohru's a bit older, more firmly an adult and cool older brother kind of best friend

the kirishiki mansion itself has more of a presence (makes sense, considering the novel is intended to be a play on stephen king's salem's lot)

i don't htink this bit has been translated yet, but i do know the lore explanation for werewolves: if you have parents who are both genetically predisposed to rising as shiki, their child would be genetically predisposed to rising as a werewolf

when seishin arrives at the hospital and finds out about toshio's experimentation+killing of kyoko, he doesn't immediately leave. he initially helps him clean up, and only starts objecting once the conversation uncovers the fact that toshio doesn't view what he did as murder. in fact, it didn't even occur to him. they have an argument about it, with seishin unable to accept toshio's desire to kill the shiki when it is done with the intent of exterminating an existence because it's "unnatural", and toshio unable to accept seishin's inaction, as his refusal to fight the shiki means condemning the village to its death. and so they part, unable to deny the truth in the others' accusations.

[moconut]

Whatever It Takes: A Degrassi Season 10 Retrospective (You Don't Know My Name, Pt. 2)

Remember that HBO Degrassi reboot that was supposed to happen? It's cancelled, just like my interest in this episode. Let's get this out of the way so I can talk about things that actually facilitate entertaining commentary beyond making fun of the word "hoedown" (who am I kidding, I'm not getting any wittier than that).

Back at Degrassi, Drew struggles to write his own essay. His brother Adam snarks that maybe Drew should've turned in the paper Alli wrote for him after all. Drew is offended at the memory of Alli's betrayal, saying he doesn't appreciate being called stupid. What he's really saying here is he hates honesty.

KC runs through the list of different cliques Drew should consider picking a new girl from. Are cliques a real thing? In Catholic school, we just had a) popular girls b) semi-popular girls and c) girls like me, who didn't even make the senior year class montage slideshow. Drew likes the sound of a cheerleader and hits on Marisol, which is hilarious when you remember how he ends up hating her guts just one season later.

Meanwhile, Fiona attempts to give Holly J an intervention in the hallway after Sav calls her "hot stuff." Holly J denies she has any feelings for him. Fiona reminds Holly J that she needs to marry Declan so they can become sisters--fitting, as Degrassi Takes Manhattan taught us that Fiona is rather fond of incest.

Sav has a very different version of what's going on between the two. Peter, holding a rather negative view of Holly J (which isn't altogether unwarranted), grills him as to whether their kiss was "tight," "hot," and involved slapping. I think he's getting a little ahead of himself there.

Love is also blooming amongst our Three Tenners (for one of them, at least). Connor defends his online girlfriend, saying she's just as good as a real life one. Dave needles him into trying to move the relationship offline, which Connor eventually agrees to--just so that Dave can find out what a real date is like. Haha, fuck you Dave.

Drew and Marisol's date isn't going so well. Drew quickly realizes Marisol is just copying everything he does, including liking the band Hot Chip. I don't think that's a real band even in the context of Degrassi. He further tests this theory by ordering a tuna wrap with strawberry ice cream and garlic salt, which she also orders. Peter walks away in disgust, probably thinking these two were made for each other. Marisol tops it all off by literally saying "It's easier if I don't have to think for myself!" You know, maybe these two are made for each other.

The Three Tenners arrive at the steakhouse for Connor's date with LoveQueen16, looking for a girl in a Realm of Doom shirt. In walks what appears to be a woman who looks more like a LoveQueen46. Connor wants to talk to her, but Wesley and Dave quickly drag him out.

Speaking of romantic failures, Drew immediately runs back to Alli after realizing Marisol has the depth of a sheet of paper. He tries to win her back, but she's rightfully unmoved by such charming lines as "You win. I'll go to the dance with you" and "Does 'ugh' mean 'yes' in Hindi?" Alli's face says it all.

Things are going a little better for Sav and Holly J. She arrives at the Dot to check out how Hoedown (.......ha) decor is going, and is so wooed by the wagon wheels and cowboy print tablecloths that she forgets everything she said about not liking Sav. This Hoe is Down bad.

Later, she gazes wistfully at photos of the two of them posted publicly on her FaceRange. Fiona warns Holly J that's she's probably just rebounding from Declan, which she denies. She then gazes wistfully at a photo of Declan.

Drew, meanwhile, has devised the perfect plan to woo Alli: have guys on the football team enact a skit in the hallway about how great he is. No one but Drew is impressed, and he is left to forlornly fondle his football.

Having come Down from her Hoeing high, Holly J realizes what she needs to do. She returns to the Dot where Sav has been decorating by himself for hours instead of going to class. She tells him she’s not over Declan. He’s sad but unsurprised, but at least he has Jones Soda to comfort him.

Later that evening, it’s finally times for the Hoes to go Down to the Dot to party. Drew is staring at Alli dancing with an NPC when Marisol pops in to flirt with him. He asks if it would be weird to request girl advice from her. Yes, yes it would be.

Sav publicly thanks Holly J for making the dance possible, which is weird to me because it seems like he’s done 99% of the work. Holly J mostly just showed up to either kiss or dump him. Either way, she’s impressed by Sav’s farmer hat and flattery. They decide to have a casual thing for the six months to graduation. What’s really optimistic here is to assume a Degrassi relationship will even last six episodes.

Meanwhile, Adam lures Alli to the photobooth. She’s annoyed to find Drew in there, which is the natural reaction. He finally tells her what he actually likes about her, which is basically that she’s smart in every way he isn’t (and that’s a lot of ways). Alli tries to say he’s people-smart, but I’m not sure about that after the whole self-aggrandizing football fiasco earlier. But whatever, they’re back together now. Woo.

Things wrap up the next day with Sav and Holly J in the student council room. They’re stunned when Fiona and Anya walk in, even though they weren’t doing anything particularly scandalous. They all stand around awkwardly with coffees until Sav asks if Fiona and Anya will help them count change from the dance. Fiona refuses because she doesn’t like touching Coynes. Not after last summer.

And that’s it. You know what? Fuck the long-winded analysis this time. I can’t pretend to care about this episode enough to act like there’s anything warranting me acting like I remotely know what the fuck I’m talking about. Drew and Alli are a bad couple. Holly J and Sav will—by their own admission—end their relationship by graduation at the latest. The only plot that comes close to being interesting is Connor’s middle aged cyber gf, and it barely gets any screentime here.

Enough. It’s taken me nearly a year to scrounge up the motivation to do this, and it’s solely so that I can move on to the rest of the season.

[yusuke-of-valla]

I'm really sorry but frankly th is post has been nothing but like a week of people seeing me say "I like waffles" and going "so you hate pancakes?"

This doesn't SAY i don't care about gameplay it doesn't SAY I think gameplay and narrative are separate, I care about gameplay as it is used to facilitate the narrative in the way you and so many other people are describing! Generally speaking I care more about narrative so I don't care if the gameplay is bad! I don't care if the gameplay is a genre I don't normally play if the narrative is really compelling! Gameplay is not the predominant reason I play games, narrative is, but that's not the same as saying I don't care about gameplay? That's specifically why I used the phrase "narrative experience," not that I though through all the nuance on this stupid fucking joke post I wish I had never made.

I'm sorry this isn't about you specifically I just have had like every day since this post went up tags frustratedly explaining what I already said and idk I but my limit the very least I'd love it if people could reblog the version I made where I specified this?

Sorry if I'm the fucking idiot here and this doesn't come across well but yeah

T shirt that says "I play video games for the plot" on the front and then "No seriously I really care more about them as narrative experiences over gameplay please talk about the narrative themes with me and the use of the structure to tell specific stories I'm begging" on the back