#very fun character design options don’t get me wrong. but if jason at this point has a nose that was visibly broken? so does every other

[aalghul]

Peoples reactions to the scars coving his face is what really gets to me no matter what people say they make no sense Jason has the best head protection out of all the bats he's basically wearing a motorcycle helmet constantly and before that he was healed completely by the pit but people will still make the same excuses that they make in regards to the autopsy scar just because scars cool okay then give those scars to Dick tim or Bruce it makes more sense for them to have them then it does jason

!!! I’ve talked about it before in regards to the frequency at which people mention jason with a nose that healed crooked after being broken vs bruce, dick, tim. i know people aren’t entirely sure whether the lazarus pit wipes scars but it’s supposed to be like rebirth that heals the person entirely. so if he did have scars or his nose was visibly previously broken, it shouldn’t be anymore. it’s very likely he picked up some scars in the year he spent training before UTRH, but far less likely than it is for bruce or dick or tim to have scars or noses that healed crooked. then there are the women but the idea of giving women features like crooked noses upsets people because god forbid they don’t look like the picture of conventional beauty. but that’s a different issue. the point here is that jason is less likely to have any of these but it’s so much more likely to see him have them than the others in an attempt to make him gruffer or make it clearer that he’s more likely to get into fights than the others (which isn’t even true because jason avoids fights unless he’s planned them out or is very sure he’ll win/get something out of it, and he rarely fights physically to take the edge off like bruce does).

[flvcr]

ᴡᴇꜱᴛᴍᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴀꜱᴋ ₀₀₁ : ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴜʀᴠᴇʏ

𝙬 / 𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙤𝙧

ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴇᴛɪᴇɴɴᴇ

when you think of westmere, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?  

❝ i guess it’s more of a feeling for me ? this sense of warmth. it’s just bits and pieces engrained in my mind of those in town. it’s starting to feel like home for me ? i mean, i’ve moved around a lot, and although i think back on those cities fondly, this is a new one for me. ❞

have you read rw wallace’s books?  if you have, which ones your favorite?

❝  i’ve read through them all, mainly as a result of joining a book club in town - some a couple times more than the others. if i had to choose, i think my favorite one is secret identities. although i’ve marked up corruption and creation a bunch, that one’s pretty solid. i read the first when i moved to new york, and then once i discovered it was inspired by westmere i knew i needed to come visit, and ever since it’s definitely lived up to the hype set in merelake. ❞

what spot is your favorite in town and why?  

❝ favorite ? hm, the gazebo, at night, is a bit surreal. there’s this bit of stillness for a moment that just seems to encompass the entire town, and the very next second the crickets are chirping, it’s almost like you can hear everything yet NOTHING all at the same time. ❞

if you were stranded at night, who’s the first person you’d call and why?

❝ @sebmeier​ . let’s just hope the poor sod isn’t standing beside me this time. oh, cause he’d put the pedal to the vettel. but if he’s with me, @mcttie​ - it’s a given. ❞

how often do you talk to your parents/family?

❝ we text here and there throughout the week, my parents and siblings alike. we have a family group chat, ha, um, but it’s nice. i call my mum on thursdays, we’ll facetime and have a proper meal together. if my siblings are visitng, or dad is around they’ll join too. ❞

how would your best friend describe you?  what about your worst enemy?

❝ probably in the same fashion - an ass that just won’t quit. i’m only kidding. perhaps more along the lines of me being a pain in the ass ? ❞

do you like celebrating birthdays?  what about holidays?

❝ birthdays ? hm, no, well not my own. i do enjoy gift giving though, and writing a card, so i guess i enjoy others birthdays. holidays, eh, it more so depends on the one. i enjoy halloween, that dream-like christmas bubble of time is a bit uncanny, and i’m a proper sucker for valentine’s day. all the others are a bit of a wash. no offense to the easter bunny and what not. ❞

do you believe in ghosts?  aliens?  are you a conspiracy theorist?

❝ ghosts ? definitely. growing up in montpellier, i could’ve sworn there was this girl that used to come and play with me, but a couple years back when i tried to explain her to my parents, they said they had no idea who i was describing. aliens? there’s absolutely no way we’re the highest form of life in this galaxy, if so, that’s awfully depressing. i guess you could say i’m a conspiracy theorist, i mean, i’m not sold on the ideology of lizard people quite yet, but i do often slip into the online void - some of those just ... click, y’know ? ❞

if you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d do?

❝ lately i’ve been thinking of designing some type of rec center filled with after school programs and an ice rink, of course. although, i don’t necessarily need to win the lottery to really set it in motion, i suppose. regardless, i think it’d be a bit exciting to develop a program that’d engage with the youth of westmere, it’s a bit shoddy now, but who knows ? maybe one day it’ll come together. ❞

is the glass half full or half empty?

❝ that all depends on what you’re putting into it, hm ? are you taking or giving ?  ❞

are you more at home in a room full of people or being alone?

❝ of course i enjoy spending time with others, but a room FULL of people sounds a bit nightmarish.  i read this thing about how you become the most like the five people you surround yourself with, but it makes me wonder, at what points are you ever truly yourself ? i figure you can only find out when you’re completely alone. ❞

are you someone who follows a routine every day or prefers the spontaneity of life?

❝ a mix of both ? during training and the hockey season, i think a routine is a bit easier to follow. however, knowing i’m out for the season, i’m looking forward to the spontaneity of life here in westmere. ❞

do you want kids someday?  if you already have kids, would you want more?

❝ i haven’t really thought that far ahead. someday, maybe ? i do enjoy spending time with @salingcr​ and his rugrats, so why not ? yes ? ❞

what’s your go to karaoke song?

❝ runnin’ with the devil - van halen.  ❞

what throwback movie are you crossing your fingers that drive on by will show someday?

❝ meet joe black, although i’m not sure if they ever would due to the length of the film. ❞

what’s your favorite ice cream flavor down at ice queen & king?

❝ mint chocolate chip is a classic, but lately i’ve had a hankering for their mocha almond fudge. can never go wrong there. ❞

ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴇᴛɪᴇɴɴᴇ

if your character grew up in town explain what they think of town and why they still live here. 

— n/a.

if your character moved here at one point or another, explain what they were thinking when they moved.  was it their choice?  a parents?  how did they feel about moving? 

— after being gifted the first of rw wallace’s books while living in new york, etienne knew the town depicted in the story was a place that he desired to be a part of. so, once his lease was up, he opted to move to westmere, commuting to new york during hockey and training season. he’s enjoyed it ever since, definitely no regrets.

what is your character’s earliest memory?

— his earliest memory is from halloween when he was about four years of age. still living in montpellier, his parents took him and his siblings from business to business to do a bit of trick-or-treating, popping in and out of different store fronts asking for candy. that year his parents dressed him up as jason voorhes, finding it comical for his age.

is your character’s family big or small?  what is their relationship with their family like?

— etienne has two older siblings, each of them being two years apart. he and his siblings are very close, as well as his parents - they have a family group chat.  he definitely gets along with his mother the most, the two of them having a virtual dinner on a weekly basis.

is your character the type to have a lot of good friends or a few really close ones?

— etienne has both ?! a solid amount of good friends, and yet also a tight knit group that he feels that he can be a splash more expressive and vulnerable with when the time comes. he does make a point to insert himself in others’ lives, wanting to be there for truly anyone who may need / want him, but he sometimes finds it difficult for himself to open up to that connection.

what is your character’s life philosophy?  how do they see the world?

— with a deep appreciation and love for  matthew mcconaughey this video here basically is etienne’s philosophy / way he sees the world in a six minute nut shell. BUT taking things from it, etienne is very realistic and straight to the point - will tell you what’s wrong / what the problem even if it’s a little blunt and borders on the rude end of things. he just doesn’t think living in some delusional realm is the right move for any one by any means. he may come off having a superiority complex when one is asking for his advice, but it’s just cause at the end of the day he thinks he’s being honest / right and by all means helpful, even if the other person doesn’t want to acknowledge it. aside from that, he has a deep appreciation for all forms of life, the earth included - just treating peeps with kindness and the like !!

what are some goals that your character has?

— in regards to his hockey career, he’d like to be awarded the nhl foundation award. fingers crossed he’ll be cleared to return in the following season if all goes well with his recovery, bc he really wants to go into the playoffs and win the stanley cup. he is also hoping to attend the winter olympics in beijing in 2022. 

what does a typical day in the life of your character look like?  

— a typical day, as of late, for etienne consists of him waking up a touch on the early side to a freshly made pot of coffee, then followed by taking olive on a walk/run around town. after that he will shower, make a bit of breakfast, perhaps check on seb’s chickens ( just to be safe ) and then spend the day either reading or working in his makeshift studio. he enjoys the throwback days offered down at movie magic, so he’ll drop in to watch whatever film is being shown. otherwise, he’s likely with friends - doing whatever can be done in the day. 

what does your characters house/room look like?  is it messy & cluttered or is it neat & organized?

— for a visual, click here ! his house and room altogether are rather neat and organized. if things are  messy, even in the slightest, it’s an indication that something is wrong. he lives with sebastian, and with seb also being rather tidy, the two never have any issues, nor really any conflicting design ideas throughout the home.

what does your character’s typical wardrobe consist of?

— for an overall visual, click here ! etienne enjoys dressing up, give him a lil sweater vest and he’s beaming - he likes to look sharp, and a bit on the clean cut side. he can be a bit adventurous with his wardrobe, but definitely loves a splash of color. on the other side he his more casual looks are a jeans ( flare, skinny, cord ?! the options are endless ), a fun lil graphic tee to spice things up ( he prefers the more ridiculous ones ), and a jacket ?! he’s looking sharp, def won’t be wearing the same thing twice.

what’s a quote that describes your character?

— “ It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. ” ― Theodore Roosevelt

why did you choose your character’s song?  

— etienne has wide range of music taste, having bounced around growing up, he’s had various influences and exposures when it comes to what he enjoys listening to when he’s on his own. he really took a nose dive into rock music when he was practicing and developing his hockey skills - enjoy being on the ice and listening to / mentally playing back a power guitar riff doing a game. overall, rock music is the genre that he finds the most “ fun “ and he can be caught, embarrassingly so, doing his own little variations of air guitar. but he really fell in love with eddie van halen and truly believes he’s one of the best guitarists of all time, so van halen is one of his fav karaoke songs - not only to sing, but to simply act out.

[kitesupportgroup]

Be More Chill OBCR 💛💊

So the bmc obcr has been out for a bit now, (and I love it so very much) so I decided to write down all of my favourite things it- if not for other bmc fans but for myself. Enjoy reading through everything I love!!!

****This is not finished, but I ran over the character limit so I’ll be constantly updating this on reblogs! Look out for the most recent ones!!!****

(Btw It’s not all new additions to the album but just everything)

Jeremy’s Theme:

I mean. I love the be more chill band so much.

With the universal Be More Chill sound?

How could I not love this!!!!

And the amazing theremin?

(That’s what that instrument is called)

(I looked up ‘electric stick instrument’ to figure out what it was)

It’s just terrific

100000000/10

More Than Survive:

Will Roland’s voice (and Will Roland in general)

How unenthusiastic ‘good morning, time to start the day’ is

The addition of the parts part between Jeremy and mr. heere on the recording

‘Dude!’ (Weight the options)

‘Oh god!’

Will Roland’s voice (and Will Roland in general)

When the whole cast comes in on the third ‘c-c-c-come on!’

The new hallway lines (I’ve literally never noticed him before)

The dramatic music when Rich writes on Jeremy’s backpack

‘Oh! It’s a sign up for the after school play!’ *pause* ‘It’s a sign up sheet for getting called gay’

‘End scene’

‘Christiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine’ (new harmonies+notes ahhhhh!!!!!!)

‘No need to wallow, no’

Will Roland’s voice (and Will Roland in general)

MICHAEL!!!!

Just George Salazar

Just Michael Mell

‘You look like ass, what’s wrong?’

‘My mothers would be thrilled!’

‘That’s... good?’

[I was gonna say] ‘Getting atoned in my basement’

THE CHRISTINE HARMONIES YALL HAVE MY HEART

The band is so incredible I can’t

The ooooooooooooooo harmonies when Jeremy is signing up for the play

‘Gayyyyyy!’

‘I like gay people’

THE WHOLE LEAD UP TO MORE THAN SURVIVE ITS SO SOFT AND GENUINE WILL YOU WONDERFUL HUMAN

‘Whyyyy’

‘And teach me how to thrive’

THE INSTRUMENTS COMING IN AT THAT PART THEN THE NANANANANA’S

I LITERALLY LOVE THIS SO MUCH THIS PART GIVES ME CHILLS

Will’s bits AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

‘SUR VIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIII VEEE!’

‘GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GOOOOO GO!’

I Love Play Rehearsal

Stephanie Hsu. Just. She’s a queen. No- a goddess

The way she says ‘because it is fun.’

And the pause between ‘because it is fun’ and ‘...I love play rehearsal’

‘not depressed as in like’ bit

MAD GIGANTIC FEELINGS

‘I also have a touch of ADD

where was I?

Oh, right!’

‘The way it works out in the Pla-aa-y’

‘Centre of attention’

‘That was, really one of my best roles’ THAT VOICE💛

‘Do you find that? *pause that Jeremy clearly cant respond in time* Cause I totally find that!’

‘Why-y-y-y-y’

‘I *punch* LOVE *punch* PLAY REHEARSAL!’

‘Hives’

‘Why’m’

‘There’s also a part of me that wants to do this *adorable weird noises* yasss’

‘So I did it *giggles*’

‘My brain is like bzzz, my heart is like wow’

‘And it’s starrrrrting,

starrrrrting

it’s starrrrrrting,

sooooooooooooooon’

More Than Survive (Reprise)

I’m sorry. A NEW SONG?!

I LOVE IT AND THE TONE AND TUNE AND BAND AND WILL

the fact that ‘at least I didn’t have a breakdown, and have to go to the nurse’ suggest that this has happened to Jeremy before I NEED TO PROTECT HIM

Just the whole set up- it’s what touching my hand aimed to do but shorter and wonderful

The Squip Song:

I realise I’ve added this to everything but Gerard Canonico and his voice I love him

The start instrumental

The way he sings ‘girlfriend’ (idk why i just love)

‘Gross’

‘Futile quest’

‘I would trip!’

‘Then then, Then then, Then then, Then then, Then then, Then then, I got a SQUIP!’

‘You got quick?!!’ Jeremy is so excited aw

‘Not quick. SQUIP’

That entire conversation

Just the entire: It's from Japan

It's a gray, oblong pill

Quantum nano-technology CPU

The quantum computer in the pill will travel through your blood until

It implants in your brain and it tells you what to do’ part

And of course ‘so... it’s like drugs?’

*deep breath*

‘IT’S FROM JAPAAAAAAAAAAN!’

The techno ness on Rich’s voice

The band

THE HARMONIES

‘Almost hopeless’

‘Yeah, your whole life will flip’

‘Squi-I-I-p’

ALL OF THE SQUIIIIIP BITS WOAH rich GO OFF

Two-Player Game:

Can I just say- one of the cutest songs ever

The part where the intro is all slow after Jeremy and Michael are yelling so excitedly I laugh at it every time

The whole intro sequence basically

The band is amazing

Will and George’s voice’s sound so good together 💛

Michael YOU ARE SO DAMN CUTE

‘pac-man tattoo!’

‘Guys like us!’

‘Listen, bro’

Zombie! Watch out! Ah! Aoh! Awww’

Will’s voice ahhhhHH

‘Dude, I know, I get it!’

‘But we’re not in college’

‘All the same’

‘Ahh! Ohh... ZOMBIE! BLOOD! CLAWS! Pause’

YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE NY FAVOURITE PERSON IS SO CUTE

‘I’m your favworite pwerson’

JEREMY’S CUTE LIL ‘yes! *giggle*’

‘Conquer it!’

‘Two... PLAYER GAME!!!’

THE BAND IS SO AMAZING

‘Two player gammmmmme!’

THE LAST FEW HARMONIES I LOVE

The Squip Enters:

Woah it’s so short but I have so much to say

STARTING OFF BY JUST SAYING HOW GREAT THE BAND AND SOUND DESIGN FOR THIS IS I MEAN WOW

Jason Tam’s Squip voice 💛

‘What the hell?!’

Will’s screaming and yelling and noises I love

Christine is so concerned!!!!!!!

‘Mild?!?!’

Jake. That’s all. 💛

‘Oh- wait. I’m fine. I jus-‘

‘Discomfort level may increase’ *yelling intensifies*

‘Welcome to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processer. Your SQUIP.’

Jeremy is so awestruck and cute

‘You look like Keanu Reeves!’

‘But I can see you may prefer to take instructions from Batman, Beyoncé, a sexy anime cat girl with a tail’ ‘KEANU’S FINE’

‘Can everyone see you?’ ‘I exist only in your mind. All they see is you having an animated conversation with yourself- so don’t do that.’

‘Like in X-Men?’ ‘I can see this is going to be difficult’ OH BURN OH DAMN I LOVE IT WOAHH (really tho this makes me laugh so much every time)

‘You want to be more chill?’

‘Oh, you mean cool!’

‘I do not’

Be More Chill, Pt. 1:

Okay but the Squip enters moves so smoothly into be more chill pt.1 woah

NEW INTRODUCTION ITS AMAZING

The ‘c-c-c-Come on’

THE ENTIRE KEY THAT THE BEW INTRO IS IN THO

THE WAY JASON SINGS ‘outdated’ assffhfkglsherb

‘I’ve arrived now, this is not a drill’

‘Be. More. Chill’

‘wow’ (Jeremy you’re so cute)

‘Oh but I am a masturbator’ ‘we’ll fix that’

‘I thought I was more of a... geek?’

‘Wha- stammer? N- I I I. I don’t stamme-‘

‘Non existent’

‘Buh’ ‘Uh-’ ‘Buh?’ ‘Uh!-‘ ‘No.’ ‘UH!’ ‘Stop.’ ‘DOGH!’

‘Everything about you is so terrible’ ‘Terrible?’ ‘Teribble’ ‘oh’

Jeremy sounds so dejected and sad on that ‘oh’ I need to protect him

‘....makes me wanna die’ *hyperventilating*

‘So DONT freak out’

‘It says Eminem’

‘If you’re so astute, what’d’ya need me for?’

‘I envision a future in which you wear a Eminem shirt and things turn out well’ *foreshadowing*

When the whole cast starts singing ‘everything about you sucks’ you can hear individual voices in it and at one point I swear you can hear George doing some weird voice and I love it

‘Now you try picking a shirt’ ‘That’s a girls shirt’

‘Jerry?’

‘Jerry-me’ or ‘Jerry-my’ (I always think of Jeremy being shocked about Chloe talking to him so he’s just like ‘Jerry? Me!’

‘Oh- Hi, Brooke’

‘You look sexy.’ ‘I cant say that to a hot girl- AOWWW’

‘LOOKING-PRETTY-SEXY-BROOKAHH’

‘No! Yess (????!)’

The entire round part I LOVE IT

‘Just like this HAHA’ SO ADORABLE

‘So who was this mystery girl?’

‘Oh you’ve probably never heard of (SQUIP HELP ME OUT HERE)’

‘Madeline’

‘What.’

‘She’s Fre-e-e-e-e-ench!’

‘She is not French! She just pretends to be for attention’ *radiating disdain*

Brooke is SO CUTE

‘Yeah- I mean- (????!!!!!)’

‘Because she was cheating on me-E-eeee-E-eeee-Eeeeeeh’ (YES I LOVE)

‘Hey. Hamlet. Be. More. Chill’

Leading into do you wanna ride!!!!

Do You Wanna Ride?

Okay but Lauren Marcus is literally amazing

And Brooke is amazing

The way the Squip and Jeremy day ‘Yes!’ At the sane time

‘Mich-ael’

Brooke is trying so hard to be seductive and it’s so damn cute

‘Do you wanna get inside my mothers car?’

‘Ah, hah’

‘We gotta stop for frozen yogurt first!’

When the incredible Katlyn Carson comes in GO CHLOE

Harmonies 💛💛

The band 💛💛

And, of course:

‘PII-IIINNNIN-IN-IN-IN-INK berrrrryyyyy

*giggles* ‘Au revoir’

SHE’S BEING FRENCH TO IMPRESS JEREMY

SHE’S SO CUTE

Be More Chill, Pt. 2

‘Repeat after me’

‘Everything about me is just... terrible’

‘Good.’

THE SQUIP IS SO MANIPULATIVE

‘Everything about you makes me wanna die’

‘Everything about me makes me... wanna die?’

‘Now you’ve got it.’

THE WAY THE BAND COMES IN

‘ABout you’

THE CAST

JASON TAM

‘Cool’ ‘Cool!’ ‘And powerful’ ‘wow!’ ‘And popular’ ‘*giggles* ‘incredible’ ‘woah!’

The accordion thing in the aforementioned section? Amazing

‘You wi-i-i-i-i-i-ill’

‘Be More Chilll! *giggles*’ JEREMY YOU ARE SUCH A PRECIOUS BEAN

*squip, probably face-palming* ‘be more chill’

THE CAST

Sync Up

*ahem* SCREAMING

THIS NEW SONG

IS AMAZING

I

LITERALLY

CANNOT

I have so much to say

Let’s go

First of all, the original more than survive reprise starts us off. I love it

‘C-c-c-Cmon, c-c-c-cmon go g-AHHH!’

‘I’m inside your brain’

I can’t write all of the lyrics as highlights but just know that all of the lyrics are highlights

‘Let’s sync up!’

‘Those facts are not mutually exclusive’

I LOVE HOW THIS SONG SHOWS EVERYONES FLAWS AND FEARS

‘I’m shook, I’m blah, I’m just-’ ‘there-there’ ‘Brooke!’ ‘I’m sorry’ ‘it’s not fair’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘I know’ ‘oh we so sync up’

That entire bit I just

‘But as soon as she shares it, they ignore her’ ‘that’s sad. What should I do?’ *pause* ‘you should ignore her*

‘Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-A’

‘The only controller you need is your mind!’

‘Looks like Jeremy’s killin’’

The electronic ‘lets sync up’ bits

THE BAND IS SO AMAZING THE ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND THE EVERYTHING

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to The Good Place: “Team Cockroach”

Inevitable Downfall

The Setup: Find our previous reactions to season 2 of The Good Place here. 

SPOILERS BELOW for the October 5 episode, “Team Cockroach.”

KRIS:

After last week's madness, "Team Cockroach" is largely a bottle episode -- that is, it sticks to one regularly used location to save money for the future, or, as may be the case here, to make up for previous big expenditures -- with Tahani's flashback ("one of the women or yachts to grace your cover") briefly taking us elsewhere. It also feels a lot like what in a serialized drama we'd call a table-setting, or maybe piece-moving, episode, with Eleanor and "friends" (more on that below) just arguing about whether to believe and join forces with Michael, who efficiently brings them up to speed on things we already know. One by one, Jason and Chidi and Tahani accept Michael's offer: If they help him fool Vicky, and they study ethics when she isn't looking so that they actually become better people, he won't erase their brains... and he can get them to the real Good Place. But Eleanor decides that rather than "make a deal with an actual devil," she'll return to the Medium Place, with lots of cocaine for Mindy St. Claire. 

Then Chidi makes an uncharacteristically ("You take half an hour to pick out a turtleneck") calm appeal to her better nature. Eleanor doesn't bring up what she's just learned about her soulmate-level bond with him, but it's clearly part of her motivation to ask Michael how often she's had to improve herself without Chidi's guidance. The answer? Never. Chidi always helps. That was part of Michael's original plan; Eleanor seemed like the perfect Bad Student. He just never expected Chidi to succeed as a teacher. "Pesky little nerd." 

Is it cosmically convenient soulmate-ness? Unconscious retention of the teensiest bit of growth? Chidi's innate decency? Good old Opposites Attract chemistry? Mix and match? Whatever the reason, it convinces Eleanor to stick around with what she dubs Team Cockroach (after a lighthearted Truth Hurts insult from Michael):

“Describe me next!”

It's always a joy to hear Eleanor Describing Things, but maybe you noticed that "narcissistic monster" is pretty different from how she characterized Tahani the last time we heard the list: "a selfish ass, an idiot DJ, a tortured academic, a hot rich fraud with legs for days..." And now I begin to understand the appeal of presenting us again with Dirtbag Eleanor. It's not just Tahani she's super mean to -- she barely considers Jason a person -- but the sharp contrast with last season's "legit be[ing] into Tahani" has a particular sting to it. In Version 1, Eleanor and Tahani became friends despite themselves, and even after the revelation of Eleanor's betrayal, reconciled and cemented their bond by agreeing not to fight over a man. In this version, Tahani both (briefly) retains her smug sense of superiority and yet is repeatedly cowed by a venomous Eleanor. "I'm sorry, has it been a hundred hours?" Hilarious, yet hurtful.

"Boy, you guys barely know each other," Michael said in what Ted Danson beautifully delivered as a throwaway observation. "That's gonna make this tough." It's not just going to be tough for them, logistically; it's also going to be tough for us, emotionally, knowing how these "four dumb-dumbs" truly bonded on their first go-'round. Team Schur didn't just give us a reset; they set up some great dramatic irony. I've got Janet questions and lots more lines to quote, but what were everyone else's main thoughts and takeaways this week? And I'll now formally ask what I joked about after the season premiere: Who would be your perfect special guest star(s) representing the real Good Place?

MIRI:

Kris, you’re such a tease with your “I have thoughts on x but I want your thoughts first” moments. I’m dying to hear your Janet questions now. My thoughts (other than the general state of being insanely impressed by the performance and enjoying the hell out of the character) mostly have to do with her being the most advanced Janet in the universe. If that level of improvement is possible, why not just start them all out at a high level? Is the human interaction necessary? I am super excited for Janet’s slightly more nuanced decision making processes—her loyalty being to the 4 humans, etc.—while remaining a character with no motivation of her own.

In thinking about Eleanor’s meanness this episode I started thinking about how Tahani’s sister is a way worse person than her (she’s the wooooooorst and I hope you all heard that in Jean-Ralphio Saperstein’s voice). And that leads me to the fact that none of our four are actually terrible people. Eleanor is arguably the worst and she wasn’t THAT bad. She wasn’t great and she was a total dirtbag, but there have been a lot of dramatically worse people in history. Chidi was a good person. He caused some distress, sure, but again—nothing compared to a lot of people. Tahani helped a TON of people and her bad true intentions were selfish, not cruel. Jason was mostly just very very unintelligent. So why are these four being tortured? And why are they being specially tortured? Did they need close-to-medium people to be able to sell the ruse? Does everyone who is not an extremely Good person automatically get the same level of torture, or are there degrees? I think they’re definitely going to explore how absurd that kind of binary system of morality is further and I’m looking forward to it! Does anyone buy Michael’s whole “Maybe we’ll all earn our way into the Good Place” spiel? Does anyone think HE buys it?

This is 100% influenced by the fact that I’m thinking about Star Trek: Discovery, but I would love to see Michelle Yeoh as a Good Place figure. When I say 100% I mean it—I fully admit that I haven’t seen any of her other work (I KNOW! I’m working on it! I have seen the light, I promise!) but she can clearly do wisdom and also have fun with it, which I think is an important skill for this show. Although, do we think Good Place officials will be nice people? They’re part of this fairly brutal system—are they just as ruthless as their counterparts, but more pleasant about it? What do you guys think?

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(I lie, I have seen Michelle Yeoh in SUNSHINE and MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA too.)

ADAM:

I can't remember which one of you spoke about Janet remembering anything with every reboot, but you were correct. However, I think that while she remembers everything she is still a robot that is ruled by binary thinking, (yes/no, right/wrong) and therefore does not realize that sometimes there is a grey area. Remember, she is only helping because her main directive is to help humans. I think that her memories of everything are what is going to be this team's inevitable downfall. I think the Good Place people are solely logical and see everything black and white. I don't think there is any kind of wiggle room on their point system. I imagine that the Good Place board of directors is operated by essentially a supreme court style of Vulcans. No emotion, just facts, and figures. 

Also, I wouldn't classify Eleanor and Co. as the worst. I would look at them all as selfish instead of just bad people. With Eleanor, it's always about what is the easiest thing for her or what she can gain from a situation. This show deals more about the selfish in people than just plain nastiness. I don't think anyone has mentioned that Tahani's sister is in fact actually in the real Good Place. Or did they? Need to go back and look into it. I do like they gave Tahani more time this episode. 

I doubt Michael buys his speech to the gang of flesh bags. Mainly because he so desperately wants his way to work and to stand out amongst the Bad Place HOF that he is willing to do anything that he can to survive. 

KRIS:

Honestly my “I have thoughts on x but I want your thoughts first” moments are mostly to keep myself from rambling for 500 more words. I figure I'm not the only one who has the thoughts I have, so I don't have to be the one to say them. In this case, I am also kind of confused about the design decisions behind Janet's social improvement. To Adam's point, I didn't get the impression that she's retaining information; I read it more as a Jason Bourne-type thing where she retains the skills but not any knowledge that goes with them. Or at least, that's the interpretation that makes the most sense to me. I don't know that the text supports it. Janet says that she just gets better with every reboot, not that she gets better over time because her experiences are cumulative. (Her line about not being able to lie is what I think will come back around to bite Team Cockroach.) Maybe the design idea was that the neighborhoods should sort of run on autopilot with as little active help as possible, and reboots essentially send the message that a neighborhood needs more help, so Janet is incrementally improved, like a video game suggesting that you lower the difficulty level after you've died a zillion times. This still doesn't really explain the extra-dumb, extra-strange post-reset Janet of last season, but maybe we can handwave that by saying that the neighborhood as a whole is supposed to be reset with her, and there's some indeterminate rest period between each version during which the "shut down" Janet re-"downloads" All the Knowledge in the Universe.

I think Michael is being more or less honest, but also that he has no idea if his plan will work. It's just that there are no good options. This is as good an excuse as any to trot out: "You can't, but you have to. Logically, you shouldn't, but you have no choice. I mean I wouldn't, if I were you. It's a crazy thing to do. But you gotta.”

I wonder if the answer to our questions about the absurdly harsh point system is something along the lines that the people who run the Good and Bad Places were not really cosmically appointed by a supreme moral authority, and instead it's all rooted in a bunch of elaborate afterlife political gamesmanship. In any case I've never really gotten the impression that our four were singled out for who they are; it's Michael who's an outlier, because he wanted to try his new thing. Something I thought was interesting and cool in the season 1 finale is that Chidi and Tahani are in the Bad Place for opposite reasons. Chidi had the best of intentions (deontological plus), but never did anything good in his life because of his indecision (utilitarian minus); and Tahani did an incredible amount of good (utilitarian plus), but for the wrong reasons (deontological minus). Eleanor did bad things and had bad, or at least mediocre, intentions. I guess Jason could be here because he just made a lot of people unhappy in the course of being the biggest idiot in Florida? Plus all the property damage. And I feel like at some point he said he was a drug dealer?

Adam, who would your ideal special guest star from the real Good Place be? I'd kind of love to see Alison Becker (Parks's Shauna Malwae-Tweep) or Kathryn Hahn show up. Really my first choice is Terry Crews, in a suit, singing Vanessa Carlton, but that feels particularly unlikely. Beyond the Schur-verse, I'll say... maybe Vella Lovell from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? I don't know, this is harder than I thought.

MIRI:

Yeah, the more we talk about it the more sure I am that whoever runs the Good Place is not a nice/kind/moral being. I realize this is utter folly, but do you guys think we’ll see the Good Place by the end of this season? I definitely think we’ll see someone from the Good Place, but I’m not sure about an actual journey there.

I think there’s an argument to be made that Eleanor and Jason are in a way complimentary in the reasons they’re in the Bad Place. Eleanor knew her actions were bad but didn’t actively want to hurt people, she just didn’t care enough to let that stop her. Jason didn’t understand that he was causing harm, but did without giving any thought to it. Chidi and Tahani both tried to do good (unsuccessfully and for the wrong reasons, as Kris pointed out), while Eleanor and Jason didn’t try at all. I guess as far as Team Cockroach is concerned it’s a real damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. 

ADAM:

I guess if we are applying phrases to team cockroach: The enemy of my enemy is my friend, well that's what Michael thinks at least. I doubt we will see the actual Good Place ever during the series. Maybe keep it as this mythical land that no can ever achieve to get to, or something to that extent. I think we will see GP representatives. And to answer your question Kris about who I would like to be a GP rep. There is only one right answer to that. Amy Poehler.

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