#they talked about a lot of heavy shit in this episode but still managed to be joyful

[homicidalbrunette]

I'm calling this video "everything is shit but it's okay because we have each other."

[tetitous]

I wrote a lot, and not everything at the same time, but like brain got too full of Wakfu so yeah, thoughts time. I tried organizing it chonologically.

I wonder if Ruel will end up going back to Arpagone eventually, to me it seems like he decided he was done with her for good. That seems crazy but at the same time I'm pretty sure she did the most toxic thing you can do to an Enutrof. I mean, they haven't been together for a long time, I kind of wish they did talk to each other, set the records straight and left it there, but I'm okay with what happened too. Also good for Arapgone on finding something that makes her feel worthwhile by helping others.

Ruel really said the real treasure was the son we got along the way in the end, and he was so right for that.

Yugo getting the shit kicked out of him because Iops seem to have face blindness is some real comedy, the lightness in the whole scene really helped me feel that Yugo was still very much him. And given how heavy anything about the antagonists is that felt warranted, that made me feel very good. He's very chill though. Retrospectively I think it confirms what a lot of people like me may have been thinking, that Yugo was generally very tense due to body dysmorphia on top of everything else. Good for him.

I'm going to be real, Pin calling for Flopin got me so hard. I said "oh no" out loud.

Eva went full big sister mode upon seeing Yugo ;-;. I always loved their bond, it's at the center of one of, if not the best solo episode of the whole show, s2 ep 16, so the fact that it never weakens has me in a chokehold. I see the little gestures and I think "oh, they're family", with them it's all in the little gestures.

Yugo recieveing a big iop group hug and going :> was so cute. Kind of surprised Goultard also was part of it but Yugo deserves all the hugs so I absolutely am taking it.

Yugo telling Eliatrope to do something or fuck off and being the only one to manage to get her to do something has to be one of the biggest nat 20 on persuasion of all time. She's coming back to deliver the kids once things are safe though, right? And without the eye thingies right? Right?

No more Brakmar? Damn, that feels weird.

King Osamodas can take my fists, the way he just refuses to listen to Amalia and is barely willing to do the same to Armand given the nature of the invasion is really irritating.

The joy of Ad upon seeing Yugo still alive ;v;

Little interesting parallel of Yugo and Eliatrope both using the same force field technique. Not sure if it means anything, but I know it felt relevant to me.

Amalia going "are we about to kiss rn" and Yugo going "nah babe there's a war that'll leave a bad taste. Promise I'm hyping up my game for later though" was perfect. I got scared that they would kiss at that moment because it didn't feel right, but at the same time you cannot tell me they wouldn't want to soo damn bad.

Ad and Armand's eyes turning purple upon using the Eliasphere, huh...

Oh so Dathura is still there and places herself as a last defense for the Tree of Life, interesting but like, she just disappeared in the meantime? Well it's not her story I guess we didn't need to know, but still.

Joris asking Yugo if he knows what he's doing. Joris, he knows about as much as usual, he's just doing his best but thanks for making sure.

The way Eva and Tristepin react to their family being put in danger is interesting to me. Pinpin will jump to their rescue, but he's the one moving, that makes sense to him. Eva is, and has always been, the type to stay in place at the face of danger, whether out of fear or stubborness, so she asks for Pinpin to be the one to move away from the danger, but she won't move. Their dynamic is precious.

I'm curious about Pinpin's hair... burning? What's going on there?

Armand's sacrifice was powerful, he wasn’t a great prince, but he was an amazing King.

Joris! Joris! Joris! Joris! Imma hype that little man. Him and Yugo making the Team Blue Shorties (well, not so much anymore) was great. Team Demigods was also pretty damn cool.

Aurora is building a very bad rep for the Osamodas Kingdom by flying away, but I undertand the pain she must have felt at the moment. Her father still was treating their countries' alliance as something purely strategic, but she loved him. To her that meant something, and Amalia's simple movement of rejection while under intense distress and grief was enough for her to decide to listen to her father and not to fight by everyone's side.

Actually Eva IS very much the one to get people to move. She gets Amalia back up too.

Yugo turning Oropo's words against Toross is interesting. Wonder if it has any weird implications for the future. Maybe not though, maybe Yugo has been warned enough, he's not the type to enjoy the feeling that comes with being extremely powerful too much after all. The Eliacube freaked him out, the 6 Dofus made him scared the whole time and the consequences sucked, and the Eliasphere can litteraly cause his death. I think if anyone can hold that much power, that would be him (or Joris, Joris looks like he can be trusted with pretty much anything)

Big nope on Toross for trying to make Nora his bride. Nopenopenopenopenope go away. I'm surprised Yugo managed to keep a straight face, because I think I would have just gone for the throat.

Also imagine being a walking talking pan flag and people still assume you're straight.

There are definetly implications that Toross is the one being responsible for the disappearance of the gods. If he can tell the difference between the strengh of a god and that of a demi-god, that means he fought both, and won.

Nora going from forcing herself to be distrustful of Yugo to believing him fully did warm my heart. The short time they spent together doesn't mean they aren’t family.

What do you mean Pinpin never told Eva he loved her??? What??? Really?!?!

Efrim's pain and Nora's love are such a beautiful contrast I feel so much for them I'm not sure I have the words for it.

Flopin is developing his hearing, glad that in a way he didn't miss the wedding.

Btw totally unrelated but Yugo carrying Goultard bridal style during the final fight was NOT on my bingo list.

In the end, Toross' pain and loneliness are eternal, and there litteraly no saving him from his own personal hell. In a lot of ways his story is similar to Qilby's, but the one thing that separates them is the choice: Qilby could still choose to stop hurting his own in service of himself, Toross condemned everyone, including himself, and he can do nothing about it anymore.

Are Nora and Efrim stuck wherever they are together for all of eternity or are their Wakfu going back to their Dofus?

Omg. A wedding. My dude it all happened too fast, the worldwide political chaos that's going to ensue, I'm here for it.

I feel like they did originally want to show us the transition from the Era of Wakfu to Waven but they ended up focusing more on the characters, and that's a very good thing, that allows for Yugo to have a truly, undeniable win thanks not just to being overpowered, due to the main antagonist somehow being worse, but also thanks to the power of friendship and plus if affinity.

Overall those last 3 episodes I was hyped the whole way, and it's crazy because I don't think I felt a feeling that strong so regularly for an entire hour. I write that part about an hour after having watched everything and I still haven't come down, but now I'm having a bit of a feeling like I'm about to cry in the back. That means season 4 of Wakfu was even more amazing than everything I hoped for, because when I'm hoped for something there typically always is that empty feeling. Not here. I'm very, very happy.

The ending really feels like there's more, so I'm happy to know that there will be a manga.

[softcthulhuwu]

Rambling thoughts after the first two episodes:

Now this might just be because I'm autistic and always chafe against rigid boxes and definitions, but it seems to me that our first spooky tales from the OIAR don't really fit neatly into Smirke's categories that we're all so used to from the Archives.

Granted one of them is fairly classic cut and dry Eye shit, but the other two seem to purposely skirt the boundaries between things like the Flesh and the Stranger etc.

Now of course in the Archives we have a fair few episodes that get funky with the boundaries especially later on like in the apocalypse, the chief example that comes to mind being the big ocean Jon had to row across seeming to be a fun mix of the horror the incomprehensibly huge of the Vast, and the crushing all consuming pressure you'd associate more with the Buried

But my point being that in season one in particular, aside from a few teething issues as a result of still figuring things out *badum tish*, most statements¹ fit fairly nicely into clear cut examples of the major fears. Makes sense, first season, gotta lay down the rules before you can get funky with them.

But here in Protocol we've got the benefits of it being a sequel series with a lot of the heavy lifting world-building-wise already done, most of the audience going in has preestablished expectations, so by starting with the old lines between the fears blurrier, this is an opportunity to hint that A) hey, maybe things are working not quite the same here, which IIRC was something they talked about on one of the livestreams after things were announced last year don't quote me on that I do not have a citation to hand (forgive me Hbomberguy for I have sinned),

And B) sure Smirke's system was one way of trying to understand the fears, but as we well learned last show, it's limited and imperfect, it's more of a spectrum than discreet categories. Smirke's was just one way of trying to break it down into more understandable chunks, but it's not the be-all end-all of it, and clearly far from the only way to do it. The OIAR has a whole massive handbook of its own categories to catalogue these things in a manageable way, one which is seemingly less concerned with philosophical ideas about "What kind of fear did you experience? That of prey hunted by predator, that of violent war-like carnage, livestock chopped up for parts?", and more of a nitty-gritty details oriented one, like a "okay but what actually happened to you, like, specifically? Was it 'reanimation - partial', or more an 'amalgamative', subsection 'semi' kinda deal? Yes this is important why do you ask" type system.

I dunno I just think it's cool and interesting, these are my late night thoughts I can't help it I'm in essay mode literally working on an essay about The Magnus Archives for uni. Getting a good grade in my autism interest it turns out is a thing that is both normal to want and possible to achieve.

¹ not including Hilltop Road in this, Hilltop Road gonna Hilltop Road, that's a surprise tool to scare you later.

[mdhwrites]

Going back through TOH's episodes, it strikes me how boring they are. Part of the problem seems to be how criminally unfunny the show is, generally speaking. I can count how many times I've laughed on one hand. In fact I can list them:

There was the "It's been my dream since I was a boy" guy pushing kids off cliffs (Moving Hassle), Luz's "He'll be fine" after throwing Hunter overboard - and then his subsequent re-entry (Hunting Palismen) - and lastly Luz tumbling offscreen in front of Amity after a spider crawls on her face (Grom). That's 3 scenes, 4 jokes if we're being charitable. And sure, maybe my sense of humour is just incompatible with TOH's and I'm being harsh.

But I can't deny that I just feel like there's no rewatch value in TOH? Like it's just... the jokes are so bad to the point it's not fun, it's not entertaining, it's a slog, I see no value in retreading the same ground. And I am a SERIAL rewatcher! This is coming from someone who spends maybe 85% of their time experiencing the same stories! I love seeing well-done media all over again, because even if I know what's going to happen or what they will say, a well-structured joke or a skillfully delivered line is still gonna engage me.

I can't even recommend the show to anyone because I HAVE in the past... and what ends up happening is they watch the first couple episodes, get bored, go "I recognize that you like this, but it's not my thing" and drop it. And I CAN'T BLAME THAT! Because that's how I reacted too when I got into the show! I only stuck with it because it seemed like it was going really interesting places. And it tried to, I think, and failed.

I'm also a very fandom-heavy person so TOH's boring episodes have made it increasingly harder for me to stay within it. Because I'm not rewatching anything, I can see myself in real time as I forget more and more of the plotlines, and even a lot of the characters. It's just... kind of disappointing. It's like I just had a gradual fizzling out of interest. I don't even hate the show, which might be better in some ways - instead I just can't muster enough shits to feel any type of way towards it.

I rambled a bit but I guess my ultimate ask here was: what are your thoughts on whether or not TOH manages to entertain new/old viewers?

So I like S1. I think the characters are what carry it and that they are at their most interesting, EASILY, in S1.

The vast majority of S1, in terms of concepts and executions for plots, is OKAY AT BEST.

This actually just comes down to a simple tonal decision of TOH and also just the fact that a boring world with boring magic creates little to do with bog standard plots and TOH actually has a LOT of bog standard plotting. It is a pretty classic story structurally and takes genuinely very few risks in the structure... Which is okay in theory.

There is nothing wrong with not reinventing the wheel and TOH talks a big game about subverting tropes but no. As a fantasy fan, I can tell you this is EXCEPTIONALLY normal. Like... Insultingly from how much it talks a big game. Especially because if you're going to do classic, you have three options: Shoot the moon, lean into the unique elements of your concept or do it VERY. VERY. WELL.

And remember: They did a body swap episode and it is one of the most hated episodes of the entire show. That's not a good sign.

But this touches on the second problem I brought up: This is a boring world with boring magic. Because TOH's fantasy world is so basic, has little magic and little flair with its magic, it inherently limits what it can do. Now, it doesn't have to be this way but the show made it this way with how little we see of it, how limited it is (like how plant magic is 99% vines), and how often it just blatantly makes one to one comparisons between it and our world with effectively NOTHING altered like how the covens are just jobs, right down to them being introduced through a job fair and a boring one at that.

So when we look at a classic episode concept like the body swap episode, the three plots are... Easily replicated elsewhere. One person gets in trouble in the swap's job because they don't know what they're doing (with the most unique twist of this actually landing them in prison), a classic animal plot where they're taken in by a place that seems cozy and then isn't with literally no changes, and finally... Teenager pisses off bullies and agrees to jump DEAD MAN'S GORGE! But instead of skateboards and people really building it up, its rat beasts.

None of these plots are actually bad, they're go tos for a reason, but... No one is bringing anything special to this. Luz is entirely ignored so her character may as well not matter, Eda is doing NOTHING to add to her plot and King... King is fun for about two minutes leading the bullies and otherwise is just any other character in this situation. It's not bad, I personally enjoy parts of the episode... But it's nothing special. From the second the thing that X character is going to do is revealed, you can guess every step of the plot and they don't even really throw in good jokes in the process. A couple jokes but nothing memorable because everything is weirdly subdued compared to how other shows would be, even in an episode that is definitely trying to be more over the top.

And this runs into the inherent tonal issue of TOH: It doesn't want to be an adventure comedy. Those are genres that are commonly really over the top. They hear jump the shark and go "How about a shark jumping ten other sharks in order to finish making a can of tuna for their fire giant overlord?" And the face of this fact, in that the genres it pitches itself as for the first two episodes!

TOH flatly refuses to be silly and over the top. It's characters are very... 'realistic'. I don't mean real, just that they're meant to feel more mature by being more in control. They don't let them interrupt each other for a joke, they don't let a character be potentially OOC for a one off gag like Hop Pop screaming "EAT THE RICH!" or Sprig asking "Have you ever killed a a man, Hop Pop," and I can only think of one time Luz got mad for the sake of a joke and honestly, yelling about the Rusty Smidge barely comes across as a joke because of how genuine the anger feels after a point. Otherwise, stuff that would normally get exaggerated frustration or the like to at least let you laugh at the reaction just... doesn't get one, like how Luz yells about Luzura being killed off but then... Just walks off and is passive aggressive mostly instead of even exasperated. For a drama or romance, this is not a bad approach but for even just an adventure kid's show... It's not great to put it mildly because people meet odd situations with weird levels of nonchalance. Not quite irony poisoned levels but getting there.

It's why TOH is mostly remembered for the romance and drama episodes. Not only do they allow some of the romance scenes to actually include melodrama, they also just fit how the characters act better. It's why Amity has some of the biggest emotions of the series and why Lumity have such great lines between each other because they're actually willing to lean into the sort of genre fiction that they're doing. This is also why S2 works better than S1 because a lot of the pretense of being a comedy adventure gets dropped but like... There's still plenty of boring in S2 with stuff like how Elsewhere Elsewhen takes time travel and includes a couple jokes at the beginning and then is just... horribly bland and barely qualifies as an adventure.

This lack of allowing people to be emotional and jokey also leads to the reliance on comic relief characters. People like Gus, King or Hooty, or S2 Lilith, who the characters can mock in someway, including the writers. Characters who can be the punchline even if it means a lot of people come off a lot meaner than they should, i.e. Luz absolutely rejecting Hooty for the vast majority of the series despite supposedly liking the weird and rejected. That also means that most of the time they're not on screen, either the scene starts getting pretty dry or you have a character suddenly warp to be comic relief, like how Eda gets in some S2 episodes like Elsewhere Elsewhen or Eclipse Lake where suddenly she's MUCH more of a joke than she normally is and also REALLY bad at it too and seeming potentially brain dead for it. Thanks to Them even does this to Amity even though she is probably the last person in the cast to make sense as a sudden clutz.

All of this stuff makes it so that if you go in wanting a kid's show, a fantasy show, ANYTHING that is pitched in the first episode... S1 is going to be just okay to you. I enjoyed it... But I also fell off when I first watched it. I thought the characters were good but none of it stuck with me as actually memorable and I watched until I think Adventure in the Elements. I never was never compelled to come back until Lumity animations (literally THE Little Miss Perfect animatic that is nowadays probably hard to find actually) made me go "I remember this show being neat." And Lumity was what kept me, not because I was generally laughing or calling these episodes something special. In fact, that sense of unsatisfaction is probably why I watched through it faster than Amphibia. No one episode of TOH is really great to watch on its own because... It's just kind of boring, or like half of it is boring because the B plots across the board are SO BLAND. S1 or 2 for that matter since Lumity starts getting boring B plots like with the archives or finding out the author of Azura. Both concepts btw that could have been really interesting setups and instead... If you're not into blushing Amity, get FUUUUUCKED.

That's without getting into REPETITION. Repetition kills comedy so King having one joke for S1 and also taking up like half of the B plots for the first ten episodes means you are going to be in agony eventually anytime someone talks to him because you know where it's going and you have DEFINITELY heard this joke before. And you know, he also gets three repetitive B plots which just hurts the joke even more, even as they try to make twists on it, and hurts the feeling that the show is doing... Anything..

It's just not good. Which is probably why once the characters and the 'subversive/unique' elements of the show both weakened, more and more people left because... Why would you keep watching this then? Those elements are what made up for boring plots with boring execution in a world that didn't allow for more interesting storytelling because it had few ideas and expanded on NONE OF THEM. So of course people pitch it using the elements that say "this isn't like other kids shows/fantasy shows" because if you pitch it to people who like those... They'll just be disappointed eventually and bored quickly. Like i think a lot of people did to be quite honest.

And a lack of creativity, and a lack of genre understanding, isn't something time could have ever fixed.

======+++++======

The short version of proving this point btw is going "Compare Bumi's introductory episode, which is a character giving three trials to prove another's worth, versus when the Bat Queen challenges Luz. One is exceptionally funny, interesting and has genuinely interesting twists while the other is... There. So very there. Painfully just... there. Not even bad, just... There.

Also, yes, comedy is extremely subjective which is why I tried to talk more about how a lot of these premises are boring because that can be a bit more objective.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

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I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead.

If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

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And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[splatcat64]

i had a really long convo with my friends about this but it really seriously feels like ppl get rhys and fionas characterization switched up HARD. this is bc of the u choose the path thing but also a heavy hand in the misogyny and racism (and general way ppl tend to approach pandorans due to being effected by how jack talked about them . LOL) fiona is such a sweetheart whos working her hardest to protect the people she loves + imo shes the one who helped vaughn grow into someone who adores pandora as well. it makes me blow up. i have a few songs that have been making me go nuts about her . hai i got excited sorry

NOOO DON’T APOLOGIZE FOR GETTING EXCITED I totally get it my god,,, this blog is becoming so tales centric I’m sorry not sorry here we go. If you haven’t seen tales and want to be mindful of light spoilers. ⚠️

This has been talked about on my side a bit but I tooootally agree, Both of their characterization gets switched up BAD and it’s absolutely insane, both Fiona and Rhys are good people, but flawed. Flawed, but good people, and it gets constantly jumbled around in the fandom. I feel like a lot of people have a really hard time grasping that “choose ur own adventure” protags still have a core personality set, especially telltale. I always use Lee TWGD as an example, because sure you can portray him as either very very confrontational, or more soft spoken and sweet, but in the end of th edgy he still killed someone. In the end of the day he still ALWAYS cares about Clem. It’s not any different for those two idiots, they still have their respective arcs and the such.

I feel like Fiona gets a lot of shit specifically BECAUSE she’s snarky and she. speaks her mind. And god forbid a POC/Black coded woman do ANYTHING. Jack really messed up ppls views on Pandorans but the look into Sasha and Fi’s life is literally just more, HEY, they’re people!! Maybe don’t listen to the GENOCIDAAAAL [big arrows pointing to the word] MANIAC. It’s thrown right at your face. People take wtv the fuck Jack says way to seriously when he lies. So much. All the time. And I don’t get why no one takes it with a pile of salt constantly. When really she does just have a heart of gold, most of her being mean is literally just playful banter like hello. Sasha’s meaner than her by a mile but Fi still gets slaaandered for it. And even tho Sasha does have her really mean moments I will defend her to the grave with strangers bcus “hating her” without a valid reason gets veeerry racy really quick and as a black person it really does rub me the wrong way sometimes. So much mischaracterization everywhere. It’s a weird mix of a patriarchal, misogynistic, racist deal with EVERY character in The Group and I’m just… how do you manage to mischaracterize everybody from a game that’s all story.

And the point I made in a post somewhere about how Rhys is written differently than a LOT of men in borderlands and ppl have ran with it and decided hey this guy actually sucks. Or hey haha this guy can’t do anything. He’s completely out of his element on Pandora, of course he’s stumbling somewhat but bro is brave as hell for that shit. He’s a completely capable dude, yes he cares about Fiona and Sasha and Vaughn. Yes they care about him. I feel like people also get it twisted because of Fiona and Rhys in the intros, but people gotta remember that they’re acting like that because the game was episodic and we weren’t rlly allowed to know that they’re super buddy buddy. That’s one gripe I have w the game is that they made Fiona seem like she HATED his ass in some of the future settings in the beginning of episodes and people took it way too literally. Please I beg they’re besties,,, you’ve never boxed with a bestie before??? Either way it’s obvious that it’s blown out of proportion especially after Rhys’ whole arc concludes. You’re supposed to be like oooh he’s like that cause we couldn’t know. You look at Fi and you’re supposed to like daaamn she really cares about him/them they were all just split apart after extremely traumatic events. [I’m gonna stop here with this point cause it’s starting to be a run on but people do not talk enough about how traumatic both Helios’ crash, the wreck, and Gortys’ first fight was for all of them.]

I’ve talked extensively with a friend about this too but Tales had a looot of budget issues during its making cause of Telltale nuking itself, and the game was meant to have more time. ALL of them were!!! I always think about maybe if they all got more time they’d be treated this way less. But yknow,, whatever I guess.

AND THE VAUGHN THING UR SO CORRECT GOD. I think she really help him crawl out of his shell for a lack of a better term, both the sisters tbh I feel like they’re a very rare and cute friendship pairing and I need to see more of Sasha daring him to do shit like in the Chimera dome. They all care sooo deeply for each other and people even manage to miss that like god. One of Rhys’ core traits if you don’t make him abysmally evil is loyalty. LOYALTY. Fiona hasn’t had many, hell if any friends since tales started, She is SUCH a caring person of course she’s gonna ride or die for her friends. Like that one scene on Helios where Rhys can ask her not to leave, And she’s like “If I wanted to leave, I would’ve done it a looong time ago.” There’s so many points in the game I could,d bring up that show how great all of them are, Fiona, after knowing him for not too long at all, tries to convince Vaughn to be brave, and that he can survive Bossanova’s race. Yes, she had to do that so they wouldn’t die, but she went out of her way to say it in a way that was reassuring enough. That’s sweet. If she didn’t care about them she wouldn’t have played cards on the roof with Rhys, or play bunkers and badasses with the boys, or I don’t know, let them LIVE IN WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY HER HOUSE FOR A YEAR. /ref ep.3 of tales. I’m being dramatic, of course there are factors that didn’t let her kick them out. But, my point stands.

That wasn’t meaaan that was playful reassurance, she’s telling him she’s THERE FOR HIM. They all care sooosososo much. If none of the, cared about each other, any “betrayal” wouldn’t mean that much. People get hurt like that because of their bonds and yes, YES I’m being opinionated but they’re like the found family ever, god. Fiona is fucking amazing and she wouldn’t put up with anyone if she didn’t either have to, or care, and after a certain point it’s very obvious that it’s not the first one.

TLDR; Tales is great, stan Fiona, stan Rhys, Stan Sasha and Vaughn,,, my glorious queens and kings. Forgive any typos or grammar I wrote this on a passionate whim,

[andmaybegayer]

Look, I'll be honest, I got very little for you here.

Typically around this time of year I'm either still out wandering some wild place in South Africa or I have just got back home from said wandering and either one of those means I've got like, three or four books that I've just finished and a bunch of albums and probably some kind of photographic shenanigans.

These are not happening right now.

I am currently in an apartment in Prague with some visiting family I've been touring around so it is. Different. In light of this fact we're going to do our:

Last First Monday of the Year 2024-01-01

which is going to be a wrap-up of notable entries from 2023. It's true, I got some notes!

Listening (Music):

There is a clear winner for Most Important Album for me this year and that has to be Titus Andronicus putting out The WIll to Live. I picked up Titus Andronicus a few years ago on a rec from a guy on IRC and after putting The Monitor on loop for days I was so down with it. Unfortunately while the rest of their repertoire is honestly really solid punk, The Monitor is truly next level shit. The Will to Live finally closes that gap. It's so good.

There's a lot of good pull songs from this one but I do adore Baby Crazy which is just a breathless rundown of the core philosophy of the album. Part of what links The Monitor and The Will to Live is a very heavy handed metaphorical through line, The Monitor through American Civil War references and The Will to Live through the convoluted nuclear family analogue.

Truly no one is doing it like Titus Andronicus.

Listening (Podcasts):

Noted originator of the new weeklypost tradition @girlfriendsofthegalaxy was always talking about Friends at the Table and so I was like "Hey her taste is pretty good that's probably better than the median TTRPG podcast" and hey. It was. SO much more than I was expecting.

I started with Partizan which was at the time the current season, and hoo boy. F@TT does many things that handily sidestep a lot of my issues with RPG podcasts. By running tight little game systems with strong narrative focus and leaning more into the storytelling side than actual play (while still allowing rolls and player decisions to completely upend the plot) they get into the action quickly, have strong character driven scenes, and manage to hold my attention.

I will be open and say that the politics of Austin Walker's storytelling are very mixed. A lot of people act like these games are incisive political commentary but they only really hit that occasionally, which I think is good. Leaning into the weirdness of these settings is important, and trying to make them cleave too close to modern problems at all times would weaken them, compared to what they actually do well.

What If Han Solo Was Beyoncé. Remember: You Have Beaten Your Worst Days. Destroy Something Instead Of Understanding It.

Within four episodes of the start of Partizan, one half of the game has seen the death of a minor god and started a false flag operation with consequences that would persist to the end of the season. The game systems in play often outright prevent character death in all but the direst situations, but they replace that with dramatic character change. Clem becomes Obsessed, Valence becomes Righteous, Sovereign Immunity becomes Paranoid.

They are definitely playing "for the camera", if you aren't a fan of heavy allusions to other media as part of storytelling you will not like this, but they work it out well. There's a commitment to interesting storytelling that follows well into the next point, which is:

They are very good at getting into characters motivations. Clementine Kesh is despicable, she is terrible, and she's the central focal point of a huge run of Partizan. Hella Varal of the Hieron series is also a spectacularly character-driven entity, frequently a major driving force of the plot, doing things none of the players would really want to have happen. This also applies to Lem King, to an extent.

After catching up with Partizan I went back and I've been running through the backlog. I am almost caught up to Twilight Mirage, I might step out to listen to the current season since it follows directly from Partizan. I'll see.

Reading:

Without a doubt the big one this year was Terra Ignota. Absolutely lodged in my brain forever.

Terra Ignota is like the flipside of the Culture. The Culture assumes that its members are so far gone from their humanity that their utopian issues are almost incomparable to ours. The Hives are instead a utopian society built on a hard break from modernity that has left them very, very vulnerable to our modern problems. The approach Terra Ignota takes to gender, nationality, and family is set up to argue a very interesting case, not that those things cannot be changed, but that you can't just go cold turkey on them.

(The Gender is particularly forceful. Mycroft's haphazard attempts to reverse-engineer gender for his imagined Reader are so good, they perfectly replicate the internal experience of going to a very very queer environment with a brain that was still ultimately wired by the recent past.)

The actual plot of Terra Ignota is kind of secondary to the spectacle of all these Types Of Guys interacting and exposing their internal processes in a way that is so satisfying. The Hives are unusual in part because there's so few that probably appeal to the readers. I don't think pretty much any of Terra Ignota's expected audience have much interest in the Europeans, Masons, or the Mitsubishi, and while some of them might agree with the Brillists they are given so little screen time that it's hard to say. Really it ends up being the Humanist/Utopian debate at its core, with the Cousins there to balance it. As a result it's impressive that by the end I think most people I've talked to are less sure whether they agree more with the Humanists or the Utopians.

Watching:

Arcane, a one that I don't think I talk about too much, in part because it's so tidy. A perfectly wrapped gift of tragedy! Any story where at almost any point a few characters could just talk it out and resolve all their problems but they don't is *chef's kiss* to me. If you like Othello you will love Arcane is what I'm getting at here.

Arcane is such a gorgeous show, dripping with character, every single scene is so carefully considered. There's an extremely long (in time) close shot of Jayce throwing up over a bridge that I think of all the time.

Arcane is so clear and uncompromising in its presentation of its characters. I've said before that there's actually very little character development among any of the main cast, instead the show builds on bringing very strongly defined characters into conflict and exploring what they do next. This works wonderfully.

And the music! I have probably listened to the Arcane soundtrack a little too much. Basically the only time I went on spotify this year was to look at the Radio channels for songs from the soundtrack.

Playing:

Given that I spent so long playing Breath of the WIld this year you'd think it would be that and you'd be dead wrong. Not that great! It's fine! I like an immersive sim open world game but do you know what I actually do when I feel like I want to play a game just for the pure thrill of it. I go open TItanfall 2.

Titanfall 2 is the ideal first person shooter campaign. It is short and sweet and interesting and manages to keep you sufficiently overpowered without making you feel like it's easy. I played the campaign on Hard at the start of the year and it is the shooter I remember shooters I don't actually like as being.

The reason I play first person shooters is for the fast reaction twitch play. I do not care for long kill times, I do not care for gradually plinking enemies down, I do not want to think about a target for more than 5 seconds. Titanfall is absurdly fast if you play it right, you never stop, you optimize for shooting on the run, and you bounce around the field like a pinball. Delightful.

Titan Combat in the campaign is meh, it's so often just a slog against artificially toughened bosses, or figuring out how to deal with those little AI bots. It's fine. I like being a big robot. Titans are probably better in multiplayer. At some point I will install Northstar so I can try multiplayer lobbies.

Tools and Equipment:

The 3D printer! I have been in the orbit of 3D printing types for ages but now that I have one I can see why its an essential tool for so many electronics types. The ability to just Make The Thing You Need is so powerful. Printed items have their limitations but they all pale in relation to "I hit a button and the exact thing I need appears in 2-12 hours".

So many projects stall out because you need a bracket or an adapter or a flange or a box that you know all the specifications for but that will take two weeks to arrive or has to be ordered in batches of 200 or costs 10× as much as you're willing to pay.

My printer is cheap as shit, the Anycubic Neo cuts as many costs as possible without being actively bad, and it's still a great printer. It can do anything I need well enough that I can carry on with the rest of my life. It has the precision to do slip fit parts and even basic materials have the strength for fairly crucial components.

Like, sure, you can make a lot of these things quickly by hand if you have the parts available, but like, even if somehow all your problems can be solved by cutting a PVC pipe to the right size and shape, do you keep all possible dimensions of PVC pipe in a drawer somewhere? No, you run into a problem that needs 60mm pipe and you only have 50mm pipe and now you gotta go to the hardware store and buy 2m of pipe for a project that needs 0.2m of pipe. It is such a problem-solver to be able to fabricate arbitrary complex shapes from plastic stock.

Making:

The big one. The Penrose Quilt.

This took months for me and my mother to put together, and it came out exactly like we hoped. It's so good, it looks incredible, we put it together by hand with needles and thread and time, I sleep under it every night, it is the ideal item. Few things to build your handsewing confidence like backstitching probably over a hundred meters of seams.

This was a really ambitious project and yet we pulled it off. Absolutely ridiculous.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s4 ep5: Revulsion

This one is quite the hodge-podge of totally disjointed stories. There's a horror story about a murdery hologram, an awkward comedy about Harry getting a crush on Seven, and little subplots about the Doctor wanting to go on more away missions, Tom having to fill in in sickbay, and Tom and B'Elanna deciding to get serious with their relationship. It's a lot, and tonally, none of them really fit together well.

From the first shot of the teaser, which is of a dead body being dragged across a ship by a hologram who's clearly just murdered the guy, it doesn't set a good tone. While it takes our crew the rest of the episode to figure out that the hologram who supposedly lost his crew to disease and requests their help is actually a psycho who murdered them all, the audience knows it from the beginning, which makes the whole episode feel slow, and makes the characters look kinda stupid for not being able to see it right away too. Especially since the actor who plays the hologram is so creepy and unpleasant to watch, and all the scenes on his ship are shot like a horror movie, with him looming ominously behind people in the shadows, while ominous music plays, it just feels way too obvious and heavy handed. (And I never like to see my girl B'Elanna getting put through crap- everyone needs to leave her alone, she puts up with so much!!) Knowing the whole episode that this creepy hologram is going to try to kill her at some point just feels so schlocky exploitation film-ish, it's not fun or interesting to watch in any capacity. I also don't buy that a hologram that's meant to do menial ship maintenance would have a sophistocated enough program that it could pass through some matter, and not others, at the same time, at will. That was just too convenient to be realistic given what we've already established about holographic technology. But luckily B'Elanna is such a badass that even with her injuries, she still managed to destruct his program like a boss. Queen shit, as always. I love her so much!!

And then there's poor Harry, who gets basically a teenage crush storyline over Seven of Nine. It's supposed to be funny, but mostly it's just a heap of secondhand embarrassment. Idk why they have Harry acting like a dumb kid whenever they try to give him a romantic subplot now- he's in his mid-twenties, he's not a kid, and he used to have a hot girlfriend back home, who he used to go to concerts with in his slutty mesh top, which nobody who was shy and awkward would ever wear. He couldn't be that clueless and inept about dating. (Also, I guess he finally gave up on Libby for good at this point! Sorry girl, you're no match for the hottest lady of all- the USS Voyager!) The worst part is that Harry and Seven are actually kind of cute together, and it would have been nice to see them form a normal friendship, but that possibilty was stifled by giving him the stupid crush plot. Tom at least tries to talk him out of going for a romance with someone who's only been human for basically a few weeks, but Harry doesn't listen, and it just gets more awkward. Ugh. why.

Why on earth they expect us to believe that Tom is the most qualified person to fill in as a medic, I have no idea- there's gotta be some science officer who has more medical training than a pilot, but at least they were giving one of the regular characters more screentime, I guess. And I do love to see Tom taking care of people, it's a nice counter to the weird mean version of him from Day of Honor that I still need brain bleach to recover from. (Why would they do that to my sunshine boy??)

One of my favorite scenes in the episode is Tuvok's absolutely lovely and sweet banquet celebrating his promotion. I love when the crew have sit down meals together, it's always the most heartwarming, adorable stuff. Tom and Harry telling a story about a time they pranked him, Janeway presenting him with his pip, and Tuvok's thank you speech are just so perfectly lovely. Everyone is so happy and having so much fun, including Tuvok, and I love to see it. Whenever I see gifs or screenshots of this scene, it's always of Tuvok saying 'in three years I've grown to respect many of you, others, I've learned to tolerate' like he's being bitchy or throwing shade, but in context, he's actually being affectionate- there's a lightness in his voice and a twinkle in his eye, and Tom and Harry smile at him when he says it. This is Tuvok being happy, and expressing his love for his crewmates with his dry Vulcan humor. It's so good!!! Tim Russ does so much with so little- he always manages to convey the full range of Tuvok's thoughts and feelings in the extremely narrow confines of acceptable Vulcan behavior. With the subtlest of intonations and expressions, he shows us his whole personality and his whole heart, it's really exceptional acting. Tuvok has been and will always be my favorite Vulcan character in Star Trek.

Tom and B'Elanna get a small scene at the end of the banquet, where we finally get to see them talk about what happened in Day of Honor. Once again, Tom is the one to break the silence after three days and say they have to talk about it- they give each other a chance to wriggle out of the whole 'I love you' thing, but B'Elanna admits that she really did mean what she said. Tom responds by kissing her, which is adorable, but still missing the crucial words- all they had to do was tack an 'I love you too' on the end of that 'shut up and kiss me'- would that have been so hard??? Tom is always the one who wants to actually talk about stuff, he would not be reluctant to say it! Certainly not more than she was! What gives??? Idk, but they agree to meet up in her quarters at the end of the episode, so I guess we just get to infer that they talked about it later. (But judging from their earlier kiss, they probably just made out the whole time and never came up for air lol)

Tl;dr: The main plots in this one were both pretty poorly executed, but the little character moments sprinkled in were wonderful and made it worth watching.

[sserpente]

LOKI EPISODES 4 and 5, HOLY SHIT!

Let me tell you, this past week was insane! I did manage to watch Episode 4 last week but pretty much fell asleep straight after so I completely missed writing about Episode 4!

So let's talk about that one first before I lose my absolute shit at Episode 5!

As always, HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!

So then... it is finally revealed that Ravonna had something to do with Kang before. I can't say I'm too surprised. And of course she would just kill a bunch of people to get her way.

Quite interesting how she pretended Loki was the villain this whole time when it's actually her. And don't even get me started on Brad!

I have a feeling we're gonna have a big confrontation in the final episode... but I'm getting ahead of myself--I am way too hyped now after Episode 5.

Now, I have to say, Episode 4 didn't have an awful lot of Loki in it, haha! But hells, did Episode 5 make up for that... DAMN!

The cliffhanger was something else. Obviously, the suspense wasn't one of "oh no, they're doomed and everyone's dead now" but rather "oh shit, how are they going to fix THAT?!"

Good thing it wasn't Loki who went out there... so much for spaghettification. So with that... let's move on to Episode 5 so I can lose my absolute shit!

The very moment O.B. mentioned that Loki might be able to control time slipping I was like 👀. I had a feeling where this was going but... patience, patience, patience.

I swear my poor heartbroken God of Mischief... the fact the timelines were all just evaporating was honestly scary. I mean, imagine your reality is falling apart and there is NOTHING left. NOTHING. And there's nowhere for you to go.

I thought it was convenient that Loki would show up in his friends' timelines until I realised there was a reason for that. Speaking of which... B15 was a doctor, aw! And Mobius finally has his Jetskis! And two sons?! GODS! I hope that they'll be able to combine their TVA life and their timeline life. There's gotta be a way, right?

But to be fair... Casey didn't wanna go back to prison (did you hear him say "they're gonna gut us like fish" I was cackling), Mobius loves jetskis but doesn't seem to be 100% fulfilled with this job... O.B. is a writer who's trying to make it (I felt that) and I guess... you could say B15 has great purpose as a doctor but still! So... I'm still with Loki, they did have a purpose at the TVA and it should be their choice.

I totally love the conversation between Loki and Sylvie here and the fact that she admitted that she's selfish. Is Loki selfish too? Yes and no. Yes, he wants his friends back. But why? Because he CARES about them. And because he knows that most of them aren't actually as happy as they should be in their timelines. Also, naturally, if he doesn't fix this, then all of reality will evaporate so his argument is quite valid.

I swear when he said "where do I belong then"... I was SO DAMN CLOSE TO TEARS. I just wanted to HUG him so bad! Because it's true, isn't it? Loki has no timeline to go back to. He can't just show up in Asgard and pretend like nothing ever happened. But a life like the one Sylvie thinks she's happy with, working at McDonald's? That's not it for Loki, we all know that! I swear... by the end of Season 2 it will be official that he found his glorious purpose!

I mean... just the fact that he was willing to give it all up alone... to let Mobius and everyone else go back to their timelines... NO ONE DARE SAY HE IS A VILLAIN EVER AGAIN, OUR PRECIOUS BABY!

I know I said we don't need Loki to be a self-righteous hero and we don't but the character development in this episode, the reflection of what's been going on with him... SO DAMN GOOD! It's proof that Loki has a good heart, honestly! I mean... we knew that already, it's not the first time we saw it on display but still... awww!

So what's next? Loki, the lord of time... I mean, I'm sorry... did he just become the most powerful being in the MCU?! JUSTICE FOR LOKI AT LAST! I WAS SCREAMING LET ME TELL YOU!

I was hoping for something like that so bad and now here we are! With how things are working out right now, I have a feeling it won't be long until Loki is back in the main MCU timeline and the ultimate force in the final battle against Kang!

[kendrixtermina]

Giving Doctor Who a New Chance, Part 2: Wild Blue Yonder

While the idea of Donna not being able to restrain herself from making a pun is great, I kinda don't like the cheap pun in the prologue, its just making everything too light & silly

It just doesn't work if you know the historic Newton was pretty cranky, not cheerful & like other things about him that could've been better used, also this ignores the whole latin roots of the word gravity

i dunno was the show always this un-serious and it's just a while since I've seen it? like there was some silly-ass shit but not in this immersion-breaking manner

I do appreciate Donna's concern for the poor, poor TARDIS

haha they're snapping right back into doing the investigation routine

I think with "I say things like that now" the Doctor means he's more open & honest but Donna of course took it as meaning that he also likes dudes.

David Tennant can still communicate a whole lot with his expressions

It's a nice scene of them panicking together but still comforting each other in their panic

and of course Donna wants to speak to the manager

hm, liking this one so far. it has a couple of mysteries & nice creepy ambiance

it's a nice parallel in the differently lit room, Donna wondering what will happen to her family & the Doctor wondering what will happen to the TARDIS, this low-level fear of the world going on without them - the Doctor saying how much he likes Wilfred & lamenting that the TARDIS is all he's got left etc. It's an eerie little dialogue I like it.

The shapeshifters are having an "AI can't draw hands" problem. Worry not, humans too struggle to draw hands. In this we are alike

I wonder if they are repeating stuff or talking to ach other. Is it two entitites or just one?

It was bound to happen and just ignoring it would be wonky in its own way but just having some of Chibnall's decisions mentioned reminds me of how he was SUCh. a BAD. WRITER like making big destruction happen without weight or stakes. With the past writers when something major went poof you "heard" it the next few seasons, but Chibnall torched the whole backstory, Galligrey AND a big chunk of the universe without any real narrative weight

Like it just happened and there wasn't really - like, the characters didn't react to it, it wasn't given meaning. It's not just that he made changes I disagreed with but that the execution was So! Bad!

Still, I have often been fond of saying "there are no shitty ideas, only shitty executions" or " a competent writer can make any idea work" - so, like, no matter how shitty the idea, a better execution can salvage something. in this short time RTD managed to make this character express some actual feelings & attach a personal meaning to the event- so the backstory reveal means Gallifrey "got complicated", the widespread destruction of the flux is another thing to feel guilty of... see, see? It isn't so hard! Character! Having! Emotions! I don't envy RTD for having to try his best to salvage this mess while being respectful /professional/ non-petty.

The average 15 year old fanfiction writer is a better writer than Chibnall! Ok. enough ranting now.

I like these quiet episodes that just let the characters marinate in their feelings a bit in a closed loop environment. another thing I've messed: atmosphere! the bland, nondescript settings for so long

The Doctor's response here is probably a mix of caring alot about Donna specifocally & just general done-ness

I like the creepy atmo of this thing & the concept of the creatures not quite understanding how existing works & gradually figuring it out

Pouring one out for the long-dead spaceship captain

it was an interesting twist how the actual Donna couldn't actually make sense of the information from the metacrisis, but still gets a sense that a lot of heavy stuff has happened from the way he's asking. I think he kinda wish she knew so he could get a hug from somebody who knows.

that was a good one, overall, pretty creepy.

They're really going with this idea of the world being in constant wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey flux, hm... like it was always there as a sort of excuse but they're kinda making it a more explicit part of things.

I love how the Doctor & Wilfred are SO glad to see each other & it rly calls back that bond they had at what, for the Doctor, was a pretty difficult time. I got feelsy.

OK that was a good one. I always like the creepy, abstract ones.

And of COURSE the earth has been hit by some misfortune while they were away. OF COURSE.

[roydeezed]

Some Thoughts about - Poker Face

So like I know I'm late to the party but hot damn! is this show so much of what I love.

First of all I need to gush over Natasha Lyonne. Not only does she play Charlie as a snoopy little gremlin incredibly well, but when she's not snooping, her everywoman acting is so sincere and heartfelt. And beyond her acting, her directing in episode 8, The Orpheus Syndrome is jaw-dropping. It's a surrealist thriller masterpiece along the lines of fucking Suspiria and Vertigo. Throughout the whole episode I was captivated and entranced and it wasn't until I checked the credits that I realised why it was so impactful. I haven't watched much of her directorial efforts outside episode 8 of Russian Doll, but it seems like her style has always been surrealist. I gotta check it out.

And speaking of Vertigo and Hitchcock, I think after the longest time, we finally have a director that rivals his sensibilities in Rian Johnson. Hitchcock was a piece of shit but it's undeniable that his thrillers were tense masterpieces. If you don't believe me, check out my personal favourite in Rear Window. But not only does Rian Johnson remind me of Hitchcock at his best, with mysteries such as Brick and the Glass Onion movies and now Poker Face, his penchant for creating affable Detectives with kind hearts reminds me of Agatha Christie's characters in Miss Marple and Poirot.

But that's all surface level talk so below the cut I'm gonna get into some deeper thoughts and what I think the overarching themes are. Heavy spoilers below!

And speaking of themes, I wanna go over what they are, and how Episode 7, 8, and 9 helped me figure it out. At least one of the central ones. And that being Guilt.

After praising it so much, I do think I need to offer up some criticism, as I do have some. While a lot of comparisons have been made to Columbo, I think one of the key differences is that the culprits aren't always from high society, to the shows detriment. And as Charlie isn't a cop and instead fleeing across the country, it makes sense and leaves room for interesting stories. But every once in a while, like Episode 7, The Future of the Sport, starring Charles Melton and Tim Blake Nelson, both of whom I adore, you get a emotionally and socially dissonant story. As somehow the blue collar worker who's fighting against nepotism in an industry still has to be the bad guy. While it supported the themes, it still left a bad taste.

Now, you might be saying, it's a show about murders, of course it's about guilt. But it's not in the way you're thinking. Unless you are, in which case, welcome to smart people town. Population you, cause outside of this I'm still pretty much a dumbass.

Moving on, let's go over it. Poker Face talks of an unwarranted guilt. I'm sure Rian Johnson and co had a pithier phrase to represent it but what it means is that it represents a kind of survivors guilt. In Charlie's conversation with David Castaneda's character Jimmy in where she admits how much Natalie's death has weighed on her. And with the reveal that he wasn't directly responsible for her death through selling her bad coke, and the previous episodes where Tim Blake Nelson's and Nick Nolte's character's both realise they weren't the culprits, it shines a light on the constant theme of wholly unwarranted guilt.

And across the rest of the episodes, barring episode 2 for a reason I can't yet figure out, it deals with Charlie thinking she either led them to their death's, having something to do with the deaths even for the smallest moments, or helping someone that thinks they're guilty such as the stage manager in Episode 6, Exit Stage Death.

But unwarranted guilt alone provides for a pretty flimsy theme if left alone. So how's it expanded upon? The last episode makes it clear through dialogue, revelations into Charlie's past and actions themselves that this unwarranted guilt breaks you down in such a specific way. In the last episode we get what seems to be a pointless return to Charlie's past. But learning about how she moves through life, another unwarranted piece of guilt and this metaphor of swimming, brought up again at the boat, we see how the guilt puts you in a situation where either you drown from it or you swim. And the direction you swim in, the way you move through life, is inherently affected by the guilt that's drowning you, and ultimately can lead you to make bad decisions, as the first thing that comes along that can stop you from drowning, be it a boat, a life preserver, or as Cliff mentions multiple times throughout the show, The Hook. The Hook is a distraction, something deadlier than the sea that you're drowning in, and fortunately for a detective show, and unfortunately for her, Charlie's hook is trouble.

[suolakissa-old]

My thoughts about a particular scene in Heartstopper season 2

Content warning: This post discusses elements of sexual assault and abuse both in Heartstopper and my personal experiences. There are also light spoilers from season 2.

So I may or may not have immediately binged the entirely of Heartstopper's season 2 today as it came out. (Pun intended.) I fact I may have binged it 1,5 times, since a friend of mine was only halfway when I finished the last episode and I went back to the start of episode 5 and watched the second half again as we furiously texted each other back and forth.

Overall I adored this season. There were a lot of things that were in my opinion handled a lot better in the TV series than in the original comics – the most poignant being how they handled the fact that Tao was the one responsible for Charlie getting outed before the events of season 1 – and there were some things that I found lacking (mostly how they handled Isaac's character).

But one scene really stuck to me, and that was the scene between Ben and Charlie in episode 7, "Sorry".

Ben has been texting Charlie non-stop asking to talk with him, and he finally tracks him down outside the art exhibition in Lambert Art School. Ben wants to apologise for the way he was treating Charlie when they were in a "relationship" (HEAVY quotation marks there), claiming he is a messed up person and his parents wouldn't accept him being gay and he knows he treated Charlie like shit, but he still liked him and thought he was a good thing in his life.

Charlie's reply is what really hit me way harder than I was expecting to.

"Do you remember the first time you kissed me? You didn't even ask. You didn't pause to wonder whether it was what I wanted, and I went along with it because I had a crush, and I didn't know any better. I didn't realise that you had all the control. When I eventually did realise, I thought, 'this must be what I deserve'. Someone taking whatever he wants from me whenever he wants. Treating me like I'm nothing for the rest of the time. And now whenever anything good happens in my life, there's a little voice in the back of my head telling me I'm worthless and that I don't deserve it. And now you want me to forgive you so you can feel better about yourself? I'm glad you realise what you did was wrong, but you don't get to ambush me into forgiving you. 'Sorry' doesn't make up for everything you did to me. I really hope you become a better person so you don't hurt anyone else. But I don't want to be there to see it happen. I don't want to see you ever again."

I just want to say thank you to Alice Oseman for writing this scene, because it gave me words for something that happened to me when I was a teenager.

I was sexually taken advantage of by a person who I had a burning crush for and who basically used me as a tool for his own pleasure. Someone who knew exactly how I felt about him and who could pull my strings to do exactly what he wanted. He could have asked me anything and I would have said yes because I felt I didn't have anything else. He didn't technically do anything against my will and sometimes I even initiated things, but he certainly didn't seem to have any qualms about going through with them despite him being perfectly aware of just how messed up the power balance between us was. And after I managed to end things with him, almost immediately after that there was someone who I thought I was starting to form a connection with and who eventually confessed he just wanted something physical with me.

I felt exactly the way that Charlie did in that moment. That I am just something that people can take their pleasure from and to hell with my feelings. Not even a human being, just some tool to be used and discarded.

It's been ten years and I have had one relationship since it happened. One. And I am definitely not aromantic since I have definitely had intense crushes on people, nor am I entirely asexual since there's definitely been times I've wanted to do stuff – though I am pretty sure I do exist somewhere on the asexual spectrum since it's definitely not as strong or frequent as I understand allos experience. That is how much those experiences fucked me up, and (as messed up as that is) I still consider myself "lucky" since technically nothing happened against my will or anything. I just didn't realise that I had a true choice back then, or that I shouldn't even have been responsible for making that choice. There is still that little voice in my head telling me that I don't deserve a happy relationship. (Though I have also since realised that there is a lot more to happiness that romance, but that's a topic for entirely another post.)

Anyway... As much as seeing that scene in episode 7 hurt, it was also strangely cathartic in a way. And it was just a beautiful scene in general. So I guess the point of this ramble was to just say thank you, Alice Oseman. Thank you once again for giving the queers something beautiful and painfully relatable.

[batsarebetterthanpeople]



i'd prefer no izzy redemption, but i am in the same boat as you. ngl it could be done in plenty of ways i would hate, but the writers of ofmd have earned a lot of faith from me to handle it in an interesting and funny way. i agree that not a single action izzy takes in season 1 points in a hopeful direction in that regard. like i'll be fine if izzy manages to change and grow and finds a place in the goofy found family that is this crew. (again! it would take Some Doing to get there for me, and i can't imagine how, but i'm not as smart or funny as the writers.) i just hope some folks out there manage to deal with it if izzy just continues to fulfill his narrative purpose as a rom-com villain and/or ends up as checkov's unrecognizable blackbeard corpse.

ding ding ding you've just hit on what I think's gonna happen to Izzy. End of season 3 Ed needs a body for one last fuckery and Izzy's... convenient. Like if anything has been hinted at in season 1 its that. Like, who was he talking to in the scene where he plans to kill Stede? who was trying to hold him to completing that plan? It's Izzy all the way down baby. They've already teased who's gonna be captain when Ed retires, Oluwande. And they've foreshadowed Olu replacing Izzy by having him mutiny. This show loves parallels and it loves foreshadowing. It is so heavy handed with literary metaphors. Stede's faked his death already. The British Navy is after Ed. The puzzle pieces are all there, they just need a corpse. Izzy is shorter than him and like 4 times his cup size but the show has been known to hand wave those sorts of details.

Literally the biggest reason I think that Izzy's not making it is because of how much this show loves foreshadowing and parallels and shit like that. Izzy's redemption has not been teased once. Izzy becoming Blackbeard in the most destructive way for him in a way that frees Ed from both Blackbeard and Izzy would frankly be poetic. Totally in this show's wheel house. I only have season 1 and I already know how this bitch ends that's how much they love giving us little bread crumbs.

Idk where it comes from man but I feel like a lot of the gunning for an Izzy redemption is born out of this weird desire to maintain the status quo of whatever the imagined state of the ship was like between episodes 5 and 6. Like between those two episodes there's like a two week period that is like this liminal space where everyone that most fans care about is aboard the revenge and Ed and Stede are having a great time but that ultimately reveals itself to not be a stable state at all when Izzy decides Stede's gotta go. Keep in mind it only lasted that long because Ed was telling Izzy the whole time "yeah I'm gonna kill him" For some reason I see a lot of fic that seems to take that state for granted and is like "after the reunion they're just gonna go back to whatever that was" But they're not and they can't. Because Ed still wants to be anything other than Blackbeard, and Izzy still want's Ed to embody what he thinks Blackbeard is.

[mean-and-rwde]

Volume 9 thoughts

[Spoilers, possibly]

[Rambling ahead]

I don't want to throw out all hope that V9 won't be absolute ""filler"", but it clashes too hard with the high emotions of the V8 finale.

If V8 was trying to be V3 (it failed), then I guess one could say V9 is like V4.

Except V4, while personally being one of my lesser-favorite volumes, does a nice bridge between the absolute chaos of the V3 finale to the V5 chaos. It's slower, a lot more dialogue heavy, and yet manages to remain somewhat true to canon without breaking it too much.

V9, however, looks to be a V1 - V2 ish theme but definitely not nearly as light hearted. I mean, they look to be in fucking wonderland (I heard it's called the Ever After, which is not much better, in my opinion). We've got talking mice among possibly other wild scenarios.

Meanwhile in Remnant (? I don't think Ever After is part of Remnant, I don't know tho):

- Atlas has become Atlantis (to quote my brother, who I guess heard it from a review somewhere?)

- Everyone who didn't fall into The Void / died when Atlas fell is now in Vacuo, the last standing kingdom.

- Vacuo is already very much struggling with what the citizens have. Now what's left of an entire kingdom has been dumped in as well.

- Salem has 2 / 4 relics needed to end the world and is on her way to Vacuo, where the last relic is being held.

- Cinder is still here. Like a damn cockroach

Side rant: I'm sorry, I just don't care for her anymore. I miss V1 - V3 Cinder, who was a legitimate threat and actually scary. Now she's an villain who is funniest when she fails. When I see her now, the sense of dread is more like "ugh this bitch again" instead of before where I was like "oh shit she's back what is she gonna do now?".

Adding her backstory in V7 (or was it V8? I literally can't remember) did nothing for me. It was way too on the nose, there was nothing subtle about it. And the song playing was basically beating the audience over the head with what was happening. It's too late to give her backstory, now it's completely unnecessary. It means nothing. And she has resorted to relying on the maiden powers in fights, makimg her fights boring and monotonous.

Also in Remnant:

- A shit ton of people fell into the void

- Penny is dead. Again. But permanently.

Meanwhile:

Our mains are in some weird wonderland like world where I'm guessing Neo somehow already has what looks like some sort of gang (in the intro, she's seen drinking tea with a bunch of shadowy people behind her).

There's also the mystery girl, who may have something to do with Ruby.

The intro hints that Ruby has become far more depressed and not nearly as hopeful as she once was. In the beginning, we see her as she transitions between her outfits over the volumes, while her emblem slowly fades.

While her team is running through various scenes, Ruby is dragging her feet, noticeably falling behind everyone else.

I hope this actually goes somewhere and makes Ruby + WBY + Jaune realize that they (especially Ruby) haven't made the best decisions as of late.

I haven't seen Episode 1, but I've heard some bits and pieces of it and I'm generally not thrilled. I know it's only the first episode, but I'm really not down for this whole wonderland shenanigans thing when the real world of Remnant is in danger of literally ending.

I don't know, it really feels like how when the White Fang arc was abruptly cut short and dropped (rip most of Blake's character). Things have gotten too heavy and too much, so the writers cut to something else entirely.

In this case, something comedic (or at least trying to be)

A / N 1: Apparently there's a con-man raccoon called Jinxy who is very... Stereotyped and racist. I have not seen this character, but from what I've heard... I don't think I want to know.

[zaraevee]

Zara Watches Trek: TOS Episode 5 The Enemy Within

I know this is the epiosde kirk spilts into two halves, and the “bad” half is scary, notorious for being overacted and heavy on the eyeliner

I don’t know much beside that and that they eventually get him back together

Also this is the first episode i’m watching on my TV instead of my phone, I managed to get the season one DVD box set from the library

Here we go:

Starting on a planet!

Oh wow they’ve set up a mini camp that’s a very bright tent

What the fuck is Sulu holding? Oh its a dog creature.. That dog’s costume 😂

This is nice to watch on the big screen

Kirks eyes really are gorgeous

Uh oh transporter trouble!

Kirk #2!!

The lighting & shot 😂 so dramatic

“Have my engines looked to” lol

Kirk seems so tired and out of it

Straight to Bones for alcohol 😂

Yeah drunk evil Kirk sounds like a really bad idea

Oh noooo yeoman Rand watch out

Haha its this shirtless scene

Kirk tiddies

And the fact that this is regular Kirk he’s just like that😂

He doesn’t even consider that Bones might not just be fucking with Spock, and by extension, him

They find out something’s up this early??

Poor Janice doesn’t deserve this!

He’s just flirting but he’s gonna be going creepy any second

Annnd Yepp there we go

Ooh the camera following them is a good touch

Kick his ass Janice

Get fucked feral Kirk you deserve those bloody knuckles

Ugh that scene with Janice talking about it was rough, especially knowing what the actress went through behind the scenes

Mouthing “imposter” was good acting! I like the emphasis it adds, as well as the realism of it sinking in for Kirk

I love that they’re all just taking every opportunity to hold this dog

Poor Kirk worried about his landing party

Kirk’s really spacing out a lot is he ok?

Ooh Spock speaking hard truths

These last two episodes are putting a focus on the tough lonely parts of command in certain scenes

I’m loving Spock’s chair touches that are so close to Jim’s back & arm

Ooh evil/feral Kirk is smart too, using makeup is a good idea

And getting a phaser!!

He’s the action half? Like he’s the one that makes decisions and throws himself into danger?

Ok you two! be careful! (me @ Kirk & Spock hunting him alone in the engine room)

Again loving how close they walk together

“I don’t want anyone else to see me” “except you” is implied and that’s so !! That he trusts only Spock to see the darker parts of himself

Oh wow he’s watching them like a monkey in a tree

Nice slide! That was cool gotta give him credit

Why’d you split up watch out Spock!

Oh well guess its Kirk who’s in danger

Feral Kirk is totally hunting Kirk

Standoff!!

Spock just being a total nerd analyzing the sides of Kirk

He’s completely right tho about everything as usual

“Its the way I am” Spock has very expressive soft eyes, easier to see on a big screen

ok and those were very soft eyes from Kirk @ Spock for a second after he said that

Well shit Feral Kirk broke it worse

Ooh poor Sulu & the landing party 🥺

Lol the idea of hot coffee lowered down on a rope... oh Sulu I love you

Oh noo! would take a week?? that’s a death sentence for the landing party!!

So many Captain’s logs in this episode! Are there always this many?

He’s speaking much slower than he was before that’s a really good detail, I feel like it happened gradually over the episode now that i’m thinking about it

Jesus how they are still alive - is 75 below zero even possible to survive?

(My science-inclined brother walks past at this point and goes “are they using Fahrenheit or Celsius?” and we live in the U.S. and this was made in the 60’s so I go “Fahrenheit probably?” And he goes “WHY would they be using Fahrenheit?!” And I don’t know the answer)

Using phasers to heat the rocks is brilliant tho

Ooh poor Kirk he feels so bad

Oh geez screaming evil Kirk sure is something

Welp he’s dying which means regular Kirk probably is too

Aw comforting yourself, holding his hand!that’s a facinating scene, really shows how tactile of a person Kirk is

I can really understand that as someone who is as well, all i’d want in this situation is someone to hold my hand and give me a hug

Damn this episode is so deep

Interesting that one half has the courage and the other has the other rest of the will

That smile can’t be good what’s Feral Kirk up to?

Can’t believe they fixed the transporter! Good ol Scotty!

He’s not even listening! Come on buddy, focus!

The dog barks synthesized that’s cool

Oh nooo “he’s dead, Jim” about a doggg noooo 😢

They doesn’t seem good for Jim and he looks so freaked out

Captain’s log by Spock!

Jim’s voice is so softtt

Spock trying to reassure Kirk that he’ll be ok 😭

Alright you two you’re stressing him out! Stop arguing and presenting opposing sides and opinions!!

Yes! Mention of Human half Spock again

Jim looks so distraught 😢

“Help me, somebody, make the decision” wow I feel that so deep

Yes Jim cling to that force of will!

Yes good job buddy you did good

Aw I wanna give him a hug

He seems physically weak

Oooh nooo Suluuuu

This would be so hard hearing a good friend and crewmember drift toward death

Literally talking to yourself lol

Huh feral Kirk seems very subdued now

Hmm they’re both weak!

Oh shit it was a fakeout!! He’s so sneaky!!

I was like why is Kirk struggling to hold him up so much then I realized he was fighting him

Ooh confrontation on the bridge!

Spock is totally able to tell!

Kirk’s fear of loosing command is really on display this episode

Wow that close up shot with dramatic lighting doesn’t even look like Kirk (this is one of the shots that’s infamous from this episode) just looks like a feral creature- how did he twist up his face like that

there’s a lot of Feral Kirk shouting in this episode glad i’m not watching this @ my best friend’s house, her neighbors would want to kill us 😂

Trusting Spock to take care of things no matter what happens 🥺

Spock doing the transporting himself!

He’s back!!

I know Sulu’s ok (because he’s in the rest of the show) but all I can think is “get better soon Sulu, glad you’re alive!”

“Thank you Mr Spock, From both of us” oh my god they’re too much 🥺

Spock smile!! He’s so happy to have Jim back!

Oh dear.. Kirk just dismissing Rand

I know she isn’t in the rest of it and I just feel bad for her…

Also Kirk’s just totally suppressing any feelings whatsoever and Naked Time plus this episode right after are really driving home for him that its the right thing to do. And he’s probably right, it is. But him having to bury parts of himself to be a “perfect” Captain like Spock said in this episode hurts me 🥺

Is Spock teasing her?? It took me a second to realize that was the word for what he was doing.. There’s another Spock smirk what is happening!

Of course, he could have another intention, I just don’t see it

I feel like he just hasn’t stopped smiling since he spoke with Jim

The end~

After-episode thoughts:

Boy was that an episode! I can see why its a bit infamous, some of it was hard to watch but its a fascinating look into what makes humans, humans and I always like when Trek does that. I realized quickly watching this show that stressful stuff always happens to Kirk, the writers really just won’t let him be happy! And I know it only gets worse. Poor lil meow meow

Anyway, I actually kind of liked it. Especially the scenes with the two Kirks in med-bay. I wouldn’t rewatch it much, but I think it was better than some people give it credit for and tbh I was really impressed with Shatner’s acting opposite himself. I wonder how they did those scenes because I forgot in the moment they didn’t have the technology we do today and it was seamless which is so impressive!

I may not do this for every episode, maybe just the ones I have on the condensed list I made of famous episodes to watch before I decided to just watch them all. For the rest I may do a short impressions & review post

[bmpmp3]

I FINALLY got a chance the other night to watch the new season of love live superstar and I LIKED these first five episodes a lot so i wanna talk about it :)

sorry to say i am one of the many fans who thought the 2nd season was kind of floundering so i was a bit worried but they have gotten right back into it and im so glad. the first season was really fantastic in my opinion although there were a few odd character arc turns here and there (i still wish kanon's stagefright wasnt cured so permanently and it is wild that chisato is just like not in the music program anymore LOL) but then the second season - while i really liked the new girls they added, the pacing was all off for me and instead of like one or two weird character arc decisions it was like 99% that. also where is kinako. whats kinakos deal. why doesnt she get like a proper backstory emotional arc like everyone else. whats going on here.

BUT this third season has been going great, the first episode i wasnt sure about the pacing quite yet but by the end i got into the groove. also i like that wien is like trying so hard to be little cartoon skeletor type villain. its awesome i love her. also her moving towards remembering her love of singing for what it is was sweet, and during bubble rise, her feeling remorse for what she did to her image was really interesting for love live. they hadnt really brought up much in the way of online haters before i dont think....

bubble rise was right up my alley, love this type of love live song (big sort of dramatic ballad-esque pop tunes) and the theme was super fun. although how the hell did they put up those stage decorations. where did they get that hologram whale. awesome. the outfits were so good too, and of course the singing sounded great

i also like that tomari is a complete weirdo. somewhere between like a company manager and a sassy android. awesome

SPEAKING OF WHICH her and natsumis arc. so in the second season i really REALLY loved natsumi but i was disappointed with how her arc went because high key i thought it was going in a totally different direction. straight up i thought they were gonna go into like financial insecurity and shit, like maybe her family had some hard times or something growing up and maybe theyre much more stable now (since yknow. shes going to yuigaoka and as we find out in s3 its like an hour or 2 away from where she lives...) its hard to grapple with those feelings. which is Really Heavy for love live but honestly that first season was low key kind of going there? kanons stage fright rens dead mom kekes family sumires former child actor feelings of inadequacy chisato getting bullied etc like they were going in more heightened and intense places than i was used to for the main animes. but then it was a little vague, natsumis deal.

i dunno i still really love her (shes still probably in my top 3, although its really hard to choose) but trying a bunch of stuff as a kid, failing, and then giving up on everything was a bit bizarre? it felt a little out of nowhere i dunno. i also wonder if even an arc about falling too deep into seeking online validation and then finding self worth and satisfaction through the love of the game (singing and dancing on stage) instead could have been stronger rather than what we got. also i do think sumire should have been the one to talk to her instead of kanon because i think their parallels are super interesting

ALL THAT TO SAY even though i thought natsumis arc was weak in the 2nd season i do think the extension of it in this season and tomaris arc were pretty solid. it was kind of a shaky base but the structure they built on top wasnt half bad! still feels a little vague.. like it still feels like the other shoe hasnt dropped, maybe there will be something else later with their family? theres still plenty of episodes to go plus theyll probably come out with movies or something later <3

now shiki and meis arc was very awesome and very homosexual the whole way. i was worried with them as well at the beginning of the 2nd season yknow LOL i get worried too much.. but like okay. love live always has these near-canon couples and if you like them its awesome the whole way but if you feel indifferent towards them it is. suffering. i am the only kananchika truther on this whole earth.

sorry thats irrelevant (and dw i dont dislike kananmari or anything i think its interesting, although i like kanandiamari a biiiiit more and of course im too deep into kananchika) and its not suffering thats a joke but it always makes you feel crazy when theyve made a couple that they push in all the promo and songs and shows and you dont really feel it that much.

LUCKILY mei shiki is not that. i was worried that theyd focus to much on making them childhood friends with a dependency thing and ignore their personalities for the sake of it BUT luckily their personalities were enhanced with their strong feelings towards eachother... it was awesome. also helps that i really like both characters. i still wish mei got more of an arc about her giving people a scarier impression but thats neither here nor there. shiki helping mei join liella in s2 and mei helping shiki be center in s3... awesome. like it was romantic while still keeping their arcs their own, built up together, so so cute.

also very happy they did give shiki a center song like this. okay honestly i was a little surprised s2 kept pushing a narrative that kanon was the strongest singer of the group which. well. i really love kanons voice in s1 and i think she mightve been then. but unfortunately it seems her seiyuu was strained or overworked because while she still had most of her power, she was sounding a lot less expressive and rich. sumire, chisato, and keke's seiyuu were improving rapidly on their already strong bases, and then they added shiki who's seiyuu's voice is like dripping in charisma. her high notes sound a little strained sometimes but theyre also rapidly getting better and she had so much depth and subtle expression that i was like BLOWN AWAY immediately. since s2 kanon's seiyuu i think had more rest if i remember correctly? and she's sounding pretty good again (although it seems shes leaning more into a character voice with less soft or rich dimensions compared to s1 which i'll miss but its not bad. as long as shes healthy its fine, in the end the real voice actress is more important than a character song) but i did think it was like a difficult suspension of disbelief to deal with when they talked about shiki (and the other 1st years) being behind in skill when her singing skill was through the ROOF like that hskjhjkfdlsdfds i mean theyre all talented from the get-go thats a recquirement to be a love live seiyuu but i was like hello? shiki's voice? why is no one talking about shiki's gorgeous singing? hello??????

then again i value expressiveness over anything else, which is why i consider chisato's voice to be so SO good even though no one talks about it enough. a soft breathy note makes a powerful note sound even stronger, yknow? need some salt in your brownies to make the sugar taste better. but i do have this bias so take my vocal opinions with a lot of salt. too much salt for brownies. but enough for discussion (?)

anyway what im saying is all the singers are sounding pretty great this season but i especially was happy to hear shiki who already had a gorgeous voice have a center like this!! such a fun song too, more modern pop with a light tone rather than the heavier big ballad pop like bubble rise which i tend to prefer, but super catchy and sweet nonetheless

and speaking of songs the most reason episode.... keke's chinese ver of stardust cruising was a bit life changing. god her seiyuus singing is beautiful. i like held my breath. watching a cartoon character sing a tune. you know how it is <3 im so excited for the clean ver of it tho, i imagine it'll be on the soundtrack so we'll have to wait until the finale airs but im so excited. so so so so excited

i also love that keke's sister is insane. i like that shes a weirdo like tomari but like in the opposite direction. this season is the season of weirdo sisters <3 excited for ep6, im assuming we'll probably get a new song that episode or the next? since they gotta perform... in shanghai to save keke!!!!! hell yes

OH and the opening and ending songs, really enjoying them too. the ending had to grow on me but it has the same forward marching towards a hopeful future momentum that all love live ending songs are wont to have so its very nice, although neither the s3 or s2 ending have been able to top how fantastic mirai wa kaze no you ni was <3

although on that note, i think the opening is my favourite of superstar LOL s1's start true dreams was the weakest to me, it wasnt bad and i like it but ive noticed i dont like the openings in love live that start too intense as much orz like aozora jumping heart is iconic yes but i do like mirai no bokura wa shitteru yo waaaay more. sometimes start true dreams aozora jumping heart and other songs of its ilk do make me feel like im being blasted. they are blasting me with the horns first thing. but its fine start true dreams is still cute and i really like most of the song even if the intro is a bit intense for me

WE WILL WAS so so so good though i really loved it, even though i thought s2 was a bit messy that song was so like. inspiring to me? listen it was one of those love live songs that made me wanna run really fast and accomplish hopes and dreams you know what i mean. you know what im saying.

we will was so good already, but lets be one.... it might surpass it. im not totally sure yet but the softer parts and the build up in the verses, the glittery and piano-y beginning, RIGHT up my alley. right up my alley. we will see how it grows on me as the show goes, i dont skip love live openings or endings because i need to stockholm myself into liking every love live song. im normal. im normal.

anyway i think my ending song ranking is

1. s1 2. s3 3. s2

and the opening ranking...... right nowwwwww

s2

s3

s1

BUT those top two miiight switch. we shall see

anyway. its been really good man. now i need to finally watch the nijigasaki ova and finish the yohane isekai.......

[zoe-oneesama]

I wanna know your opinion on the new episodes that dropped (if you’ve watched them yet)

I personally feel Penalteam was way too rushed and Qilin was convoluted to hell and back

Let's start with things I liked:

Qilin:

Sabine is just amazing? Everywhere? It's so cool to see that Marinette inherited her quick thinking from Sabine, and it's nice to see the life of someone else for once.

Ladybug should've let Qilin maim a few cops. As a treat. Especially that meter maid on a power trip. I was nervous that Qilin would be a lesser version of Stormy Weather (just having wind powers) but it's cool that she can split the earth and levitate things as heavy as police vans without even moving from her spot.

Chat Noir really shined in his scenes, I'm proud of him.

The contrast of Qilin shaking off her akuma because Ladybug fulfilled a promise to Penalteam shaking off her akuma because they managed to make her hate soccer and her clone team is really funny to me (and again proves how cool Sabine is)

Penal Team:

The Pre-akuma soccer game was fun, and so was the banter. Cracks me up that Alix wanted a girl vs boy duel and Kim was like "but then we'll LOSE!" XD. And finding out Sabrina and Marc are soccer nerds, like, whoda thunk? (And Nathaniel dragging his feet is such a mood, like, no I DON'T want to kick a ball I want to DRAW plz)

Adrien doesn't know how to play soccer? Uhhhh (Furious Fu Flashbacks) guess he's just good at improv.

Bustier I-always-have-Chloe's-back got red carded first, yessss.

The sheer scale of doing a city wide soccer game with super heroes is just awesome to watch, like, yes, launch the ball half way across Paris to Ladybug.

I'm glad to know the remaining powers, they're pretty cool and I can see them being very useful in multiple situations.

The ability "Fetch" was cute, especially the way Miss Tracker played off her touching the ball with her...dog whistle? Guys this episode was recorded on a potato so I might've missed some details visually.

Again, it's very funny that after Roi Singe uses Uproar on Penalteam, they get so annoyed with each other that Chloe basically hands over the akuma object to make them all go away.

I like that being a hero makes Nathaniel want to join the team to play soccer and I like that Sabrina stands her ground when Chloe wants her to stop playing and join her on the bench.

Aaaand now the things that annoy me:

Qilin -

How you gonna have Sabine show off her being so rooted in her heritage but pretend she didn't teach Marinette even basic phrases in her language?

You put Lila in her art class WHY? She's not even DOING anything, you could've put ANYONE there! It's like the Adrien Rule where they shove her into places she's not needed and doesn't do anything so that we don't forget she exists!

Roger, dude, you KNOW she's not making up a daughter, you could at LEAST back her up on THAT. And thanks a lot Bus Driver Dude who SAW HER USE HER TICKETS, you don't want to say ANYTHING in her defense after she gave you free food? You're all trash.

Marinette shouldn't have taken responsibility for a up-himself meter maid on a power trip harassing her mom and shouldn't have offered to pay, that was the most shoved in, forced, last second "let's make this about Marinette's failings" thing and it wasn't NECESSARY. This episode really said ACAB but still made the victim of injustice apologize to the Cop.

Seeing the Charms now just makes me depressed, congrats Sabine, that'll be useless one episode from now.

PenalTeam -

Bustier really put together this team building exercise for the class that acts like a Hive Mind, like, this class is nearly always in sync because otherwise they'd be individuls

I know Chloe hates Ladybug now or whatever but no one around her is freaked out that she's openly talking about waiting for Shadowmoth to help her get her "revenge" now?? No one else hears this shit???? Hell, THAT could've been Sabrina's wake up call, cuz, wut?!

I hate Mega Akumas. They could've at least made it that Shadowmoth needed to sacrifice a protective Charm to make a Mega Akuma. With Chloe actively on his side, she could've just handed hers over at some point, that even would've solidified her ACTUALLY working with him.

Penalty (the akuma is named Penalty and her team is PenalTeam and it took me too long to put that together) casts this giant yellow net over the city as like "boundaries" and it puts a gross yellow filter over the episode which is why all the screenshots and leaks up to this point have looked like shit.

While it was meta smart to get Alix and Alya out of the way early to justify not giving Alix a miraculous in The Team episode and also not give away that Alya still has the Fox, it is sad that they also used this method to get rid of Viperion and Ryuko (who would've been OP against this akuma) and Pigella (who is pretty useless powerwise...but so was Polymouse, so, wut?). Just kinda thought if they were gonna summon the whole team, they'd USE the whole team.

I'm sad that the remaining heroes didn't get a debut episode to prove themselves as heroic. I said the same for Party Crasher back with Kim's debut, but at least he exchanged SOME DIALOGUE with Fu. Here, it comes across like they weren't chosen because they're good people who deserve it. Hell, half of them were all but told "I chose you cuz you're good at soccer lol."

Also sad we didn't get transformation sequences or kwami intros that played up their individual personalities. I was looking forward to learning a little about Orikko who even in MOB episodes doesn't get many lines.

Also to give all 4 new heroes the same "Oh I can't be a hero because of [x] reason" speech to make Ladybug give them a "pep talk" to speed run justify them getting Miraculouses instead of, idk, BUILDING THEM UP AS HEROES was ughhhhh.

It's just extra frustrating because "Simpleman" exists instead of valid hero episode.

Though I liked the powers, it felt very contrived the way they tried to justify Caprikid's because it barely played into defeating PenalTeam. They made a big deal of it, but they could've just lied or skipped to Roi Singe's uproar. Caprikid probably could've used a different episode to showcase his ability (Genesis) to create anything he wanted.

They had Ladybug decide not to pass the ball ONE TIME and tried to make the episode about calling her out for not being a TEAM PLAYER alkdjfakldfj WUT?! She's been using her fellow team mates ALL SEASON, it's the BACKBONE of her and Chat Noir's beef, and now you wanna pull an "Antibug" and just PRETEND the rest of the season doesn't exist?! She even coordinated perfectly with Alya at the bEGINNING OF THE EPISODE, JUST LIKE WHEN LADYBUG LISTENED PATIENTLY TO THE BULTER IN "ANTIBUG" YET WAS CHASTISED FOR NOT LISTENING TO OTHERS LAKJFLAF!

Minotaurox's ability (Resistance) repels PenalTeam away from him like opposing magnets when they get too close, but the commentator says that his power makes him "impervious to all other powers"? But that's not what happened? If they wanted to show THAT then PenalTeam should've been shown red carding or touching him with her cleats but nothing happens. That's just a niggle since the commentator has no way in universe to know what the fuck he's talking about. It's just weird the writers gave him lines that are straight up lies.

Rooster Bold's ability (Supplemation) is so OP and a literal game changer if used right. He can choose any power he wants (I initially thought that meant he could "borrow" powers from his teammates or the akuma) but no! He just SAYS "I choose the power to score a goal every time I shoot the ball". So if he just said "I choose the power to teleport misused Miraculouses with the snap of my fingers..."

I cannot believe they gave Lila her first lines of the season to TEAM UP WITH CHLOE with 10 SECONDS OF THE EPISODE LEFT LKAJFLADFJ!

I can’t believe I forgot to mention that Rooster Bold DOESN’T USE HIS KNIFE!