#whole conflict and all so like fine i get that--but like?????
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like i dont think mavuika having no personality is the main natlan aq problem, but i think it contributes a lot bc shes often focus of the story and she's just so bland. like a lot of ppl say, she feels like a mary sue oc, like oh shes so brave and cool and hot, she has tragic backstory but it doesnt affect her at all except that she makes sad face sometimes, shes so well adjusted and always knows whats the right thing to do and everyone loves her. like its just boring bc it gets rid of any tension or conflict, you know everything is going to go fine and its not even interesting to watch. its insane how even in her own story quest she got ZERO characterization and instead xbalanque somehow got all the focus and personality. and in the end we had to listen to him just say out loud how she's so great and brighter sun blah blah while shes standing there the whole time like 😐
like one personality trait i can actually think was mentioned for her is that she likes learning to do new stuff and getting better at it to relax. but like she says shes not good at painting, but then draws perfect picture of her family. like??? give it some energy! what if this means she has like 100 hobbies at the same time and she's shit at all of them and shes juggling 35 projects at the same time. shes doing shitty drawing of her family and baking a shitty cake at the same time and then switches to doing like ice sculptures bc its a challenge bc it keeps melting and she's also trying photography and bonsai bc she met someone from inazuma last week. give her crazy high GOGOGO energy with insane drive that pyro archon should have instead of just calmly and serenely standing there, painting a perfect picture
also like she had to abandon her entire life and family and go to completely different time and it didnt fuck her up even a lil bit?? and she has no trouble adjusting???? like??? what if she was retro-styled, like harley instead of just generic modern bike, and it first its just a cool aesthetic, but with time u realise its bc she's from the past, shes a bit out of sync, she doesnt get all modern shit and she still likes thinks she liked in her prev life. and shes pyro, not cryo or hydro, so shes not mopping and brooding about it, shes making it everyone elses problem. shes fighting xilonen for ausx cord to play metallica instead of EDM, shes making "correct" versions of dishes that no one else knows how to make, etc. it can be a fun gimmick or an actual internal conflict of her having to eventually let or. or not! or choosing what of it is clinging to the past and what are just things she loves and wants to have this way. there is a lot to explore!
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Syril is so convoluted in such a simple way and I love it! I could talk for hours and hours about just how much I think about this man and the implications of everything he does so here's my little analysis. (Okay so the analysis isn't really an analysis and more just me talking about Syril, I really didn't intend to spiral this far >_< but given my username is Syrilism, I'm sure you didn't expect otherwise)
Eps 1-3:
From the first few moments of Syril being on screen we know that he is different. Unlike Hyne, he's sharp, clean and tailored. From a show with such a high percentage of British cast members, he immediately stands out being one of the few characters with an American accent (at this point in the show). His opening scene gets across his personality perfectly, I mean I think this line is a perfect example:
"if that's not worth staying up for then I'm not worthy of the uniform"
it's a low profile case, Syril.. one that not even your chief cares the slightest about. Yet he's so attached and devoted to every little detail of it and I love it.
The perfect posture, low angle shot and high key lighting give a sense of authority but the fact Syril's character is an 'antagonist' isn't conventionally obvious. His uniform is a bright shade of blue, which is usually representative of a hero. His introductory shot is in high-key lighting which we associate with light and good, more importantly justice. The low angle shot is unexpected as it's clear Syril is slightly awkward and not someone to be feared. Everything about his introduction is so intentional and meticulous and it shows immediately that Syril isn't cut out for this but he really believes he is!
In his second scene he attempts to reign control and have dominance, yet the awkward little:
"fine.. thank you.."
lets us into his world. His whole demeanour to his colleagues seems artificial, his constant effort to act like his superiors is not something he can do, yet he still attempts it. Despite delivering everything he says from his inner passion for his job and the security of the empire, he is somehow terrible at it.
"this is the MURDER of two PRE-MOR EMPLOYEES!"
His devotion makes him naïve, it gives him a false sense of confidence that leads him down the path to his demise. I'd often like to think of Syril's experience of pre-mor being titled 'Surrounded by Idiots' except Syril doesn't realise that he's not exempt from the idiots, that he himself is included.
Of course we have his little speech in episode 2 that with greater confidence could have been moving for his colleagues, yet his lack of confidence and desperate urge to be unique leaves him outcast from all of the other men. Pre-mor is not where he belongs despite his desperate attempt to convince himself that it is.
On Ferrix he acts like a toy soldier, breaking in entry to a pensioner's house and playing at being an officer in the field for once. There's not much to say here, though it's clear he's very inexperienced but damn he looks good doing it. He acts like a jerk because his authority allows him to, he's just mimicking his colleagues.
Ep 4-5:
*slaps*
When Syril returns home it all is made very clear where this conflicted personality comes from and the unrelenting desire to be different and unique. He grew up in an apartment block where every building was a replica of the other, a low income home with no father figure and unrealistic expectations for what he could achieve in life. He grew up constantly being patronised by his mother, being told he was set up to fail. His motivations are to prove her wrong, to impress her. Yet he returns home having failed, no job, no money and one man to blame for it all
Cassian Andor.
With no job to pour his passion into, no uniform to tailor, Syril is left to blame Cassian for everything that has happened to him and his obsessive nature allows him to get aggressively attached to this idea. This low he faces is exaggerated through the extensive use of high angle shots of Syril to show just how far from his prospects he has fallen and the costume seen in The Axe Forgets reflects this to be a dark shade of blue, much more mundane and brooding than the bright colours of his pre-mor uniform.
Eps 7-12:
I love episode 7, it highlights Syril's outcast-ness (is that even a phrase?) amazingly! His mother immediately berates him for his choice of clothing and yet again he has tailored it show his passion for the rules through a small act of rebellion.
"What makes you think the Bureau of Standards is in the market for individualism?"
Syril looks around the BOS in such a horrified and timid way, his facial expression is very different from that of when he was at Pre-mor because he is surrounded by endless rows of the same things. The same cubicles, the same walkways, the same uniforms and the same shade of gray. He hates it but he forces himself to suffer. The high angle shots are further imposed on him as he is dwarfed by the scale of the office's mundanity and proceeds to being (almost) ran over by a mouse droid. A MOUSE DROID! He knows exactly how low he has fallen but his sense of self knows this is his only shot, that in order to regain himself, to find andor, he must lose his sense of individualism. He replaces his tailored suit for a uniform that endless floors of people wear, he sacrifices his unique and creative side to become a faceless drone who turns a knob on a little computer. Oh Syril - how could you stoop so low!
What's really interesting about this episode is the fact it parallels with Cassian's arrest and the fact that Syril has fundamentally trapped himself, that the BOS is a prison for the innocent imperials doing work because they're cheaper than droids and easier to replace. The fuel purity theme song actually follows the exact same melody as six year sentence! (Six year sentence also features Syril's theme at the end)
shaking leg nervously
When Syril meets Dedra~ I can already hear the church bells ringing!
What's great about this scene is the fact that Syril really believes that he still holds some sort of authority and has the right to question an ISB supervisor.
"what happened to lieutenant Blevin?"
"I'll ask the questions."
Mise en Scène wise the scene is composed of all gray, white and black other than Dedra's rank slide. In a quick google search, the results for the meanings of these colours in film were:
tension
lurking evil
amorality
I think that perfectly describes their whole dynamic and that's just the colours involved in the scene! Everything the crew did for Andor was so intentional and it shows, especially here. Referencing amorality it is a great example of how Syril is unaware of the true delves of the empire and the implications of what Dedra actually does for a living, he lives in the grey.
Of course Syril jumps from one obsession to another within one episode (much like me). By the time a month has passed he is already lurking outside of her office waiting for a chance just to be in her presence. The colours in this scene reflect realism, it's meant to be uncomfortable and realistic (well as realistic as it gets with cages on the outer rim). Oh and what's that? Syril has his low angle back! In this scene Dedra is made vulnerable and uncomfortable with the situation and while she doesn't directly express it, the camera does. Despite Syril's extremely awkward and anxious speech to Dedra, he gets given a (slightly) low angled shot to establish a dynamic between the two of them. There's tension..
It's getting late and I would keep going on about this but I've been typing this up for way longer than I thought so here it is. An arc by arc analysis of Syril (missing eps 11 and 12) but i might write that tomorrow.
Character Appreciation Friday - Syril Karn
Name: Syril Karn Played by: Kyle Soller Appearances: Kassa, That Would Be Me, Reckoning, Aldhani, The Axe Forgets, Announcement, Narkina 5, Nobody's Listening!, Daughter of Ferrix, Rix Road
Happy Friday, fam! We're really getting to the meat of it for Appreciation Friday from here on out, starting with our number one sad cereal boy, Syril Karn.
Love him or hate him, there's so much to appreciate about this little weasel of a character. So let me know what you think in a reblog, comment, or ask! (and remember, do not be an asshole if you don't like him. learn to say it in a respectful way or don't say it at all)
Next week: Kleya Marki
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do you ever think about like. how its implied immediately post s1 everyone scatters. and like with the kids this is part of the story, but it happens with the adults, too! and like i know it's no one's fault but like. number two and rhonda are off to the airshows and the lumberjacking competitions roadtrip (???) for some bonding time, milligan presumably moves onto to the wetherall farm with kate, and mr benedict is just like. in the house. now a single dad. with a child who (and i say this lovingly and entirely without blame) only acknowledges him as a "roommate/adequate chess partner". oh, and, you know, the insane emotional spiral of s1 what with the many revelations and his brother's escape. like. Mr. Benedict Is Having A Time. but what drives me insane is like??? milligan is also Having A Time. man is LITERALLY ALSO going through some heavy revelations and is newly a single dad. why are you separated
#the wetherall farm: i love it but also im shaking it#WHY WOULD YOU ALL IMMEDIATELY SPLIT UP#i mean i guess i get no2 and rhonda--and no this isn't bc of shipping but bc of their whole like. bonding thing they just got over their#whole conflict and all so like fine i get that--but like?????#AAAAAA?????#anyway. dying.#mbs disney#the mysterious benedict society#nicholas benedict#milligan wetherall
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some stories are written precisely to elicit strong emotions from the reader INCLUDING negative ones. some stories and characters are meant to be upsetting, they are meant to challenge you and make you uncomfortable!! when a story makes you feel Big Feelings sometimes you are meant to sit in those feelings and ask yourself why! fiction is a great space to explore these emotions in a safe environment. you, as the reader, are meant to think critically about the art you are enjoying and that includes asking yourself questions like why has the author presented their art in this way and what are they trying to tell me. and then you get to have fun picking it apart and figuring it out and deciding what, exactly, the art means to you.
#this post has been in my drafts since SEPTEMBER and it just gets more and more relevant lately#and sure sometimes we decide in the end that the art is bad and that we don't like it. that's fine. i'm not arguing anyone's right#to dislike certain things. it's fine!!! but why are you acting like it's a personal offense??? what's going on??#like idk what is in the water these days that people have become so averse to Storytelling#the whole POINT is to make you FEEL SOMETHING!!!#why are you getting mad at artists for making you feel something!!!!#between some of the asks i and other authors get to the recent stuff with mouthwashing and epic saga and fucking nosferatu#NOSFERATU. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SCARY???#i really feel like i am losing my mind. i keep thinking of that 'disco elysium but its a little girl looking for her lost cat in the alps'#tweet. like this is really where we're at. people would rather feel Nothing. no one wants to be challenged#no one wants to explore Themes or read social commentary anymore it's so dire#let's all just go read our bland cozy fantasy story with found family and No conflict & nothing interesting to say at all#i'm sure we'll all be safe there#fuck!!!#also this isnt aimed at that anon i got a few days ago this is just like. a general trend i have noticed that is happening Everywhere rn
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in his and davrin's banters, lucanis exhibits a certain little shit energy I don't think we see him have with anyone else other than illario and honestly I am living for this
#dragon age#dragon age: the veilguard#dragon age: the veilguard spoilers#dragon age spoilers#lucanis dellamorte#davrin#also that's really interesting. with illario it's clearly not ever meant to wound but it serves a similar function of 'hey fuck off'#they have that friendly insult game going that veils some real resentments and conflicts that perhaps. should have been dealt with#considering that you could hardly find two people less alike in fundamental character than davrin and illario... fascinating#I suppose both of them push past lines of comfort and don't really let up at subtler signals to back off#(illario to needle and davrin mostly because he's that straightforward I think haha)#but the sheer viciousness with which lucanis responds makes me think there could mayhaps be some resentment with that dynamic#that he won't let out with illario himself b/c he has so few interpersonal relationships and wouldn't risk disrupting one#even when illario is getting up to some Shit even outside of the whole betrayal thing#and davrin is sooo uninterested in doing anything but call 'em as he sees 'em and it's glorious haha#it also means that I think lucanis is more honest in those banters than he is with anyone else I've seen#including the fact that he's mad and that the ossuary really did suck that bad actually#with bellara he's like 'don't worry about me I'm fine *thousand yard stare*' and with davrin he goes 'yeah I'm haunted forever by it.#does that satisfy your curiosity' lmao. and then they're just trading barely veiled death threats for a while#davrin is confrontational but he's also a safe person to be angry with b/c I think at the end of the day he is also fair#many thoughts. all the time. all veilguard up in my neurons 24/7
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So, @secriden I promised I would come home and give my thoughts on your thoughts, so here we go.
Style not knowing would have changed how quickly his emotions changed for him, because him knowing and feeling bad about tricking him and him running out of time with Fadel definitely contributed to him being in a hurry and trying to get Fadel to tell him the truth, but I still think the emotional vulnerability would have still happened, because he did see him at that grief support group, and then the subsequent confrontation with Fadel told him that Fadel is closed off for a reason and that Style has beaten down his walls and he hates it, but he can't stop missing him. I think Style, even not knowing he is a hitman, would have respected him a little bit more after that and would have tried to get to know him because he was happy about him being his boyfriend. it wasn't about the car anymore at that point. It may have taken longer, but he would have opened up about his mom and Fadel would have opened up about his parents and Style would have whiddled him down trying to figure out why he was so closed off at first. He probably would have pushed more about the ever been in love conversation because he wouldn't have been worried about pushing his buttons.
You were also right about how Style not knowing would have affected him during the week time skip, because Fadel shut off his phone, so Style would have spent that whole time wondering where the hell he was and if he has been ghosted or left. Like he would be legit upset, unless he believed Fadel when he said he had to help out a friend, but seeing as how Style is apparently a bit jealous, he would probably assume he was being dumped. Now, if he went to Kant about this, Kant could either come clean, or he could just continue his with the BS lie, and tell Style that it's fine or if they left them, then good riddance.
So, Fadel coming back would make him both happy and angry and then if Fadel starts acting suspicious of him, he'll be like..whoa whoa whoa, sir. you're the one that left me high and dry and worried, not me. Shouldn't I be the one angry here??? Because he has no idea Fadel thinks his a snitch or that he's even a hitman. I can also see Fadel becoming more and more conflicted because Style just....isn't acting like he knows Fadel is a hitman lmao He'd even do scary shit and Style would just get turned on by it and they'd end up fucking and Fadel would go back to Bison like...are you sure he knows??? Because I held a knife to his throat and instead of acting scared he asked if I would use it in the bedroom??? How did you determine that he was a snitch???
And Bison has to admit that he doesn't actually know? Sorry, bro, I just assumed that because Kant chose him to help us trick you that he had to involved in the whole thing...and then they will fight because what the fuck do you mean you and Kant got him to trick me into dating him!!!???
so then he goes and confronts Style later about that little tidbit, which Style immediately admits too, but insists that his feelings were real so Fadel decides to just bite the bullet and ask him if he's working for the police...and Style is like ????the police???? why the hell would I be working for the police??? and he's like...so you and Kant aren't spying on us? and again Style is like ???why would I be spying on you??? I just wanted to help my friend get in your brothers pants, which i guess is kind of fucked up and all, but like....why would I spy on you guys??? And then Fadel has to come to terms with the fact that Style didn't know and that Kant sent him into this completely blind and he's grateful that he didn't kill him right off the bat.
Have you thought about how it would go if Kant didn't tell Style that Fadel was a hitman? Style would still be hiding something from Fadel and maybe he's thrown off how forward Fadel is now that they're dating but he'd regroup and lean into it and would totally be down for a double date with his BFF and if Kant is making a special night for Bison why can't Style do the same for Fadel and then Fadel disappears for a week and Kant is a sad moo who isn't helpful and then Fadel is back and Style is so happy but Fadel gets that call from Bison but Style has no idea.
So I have actually thought about this scenario a lot. It would have been even more fucked up for Style, because he would be even more oblivious and innocent than he is in canon. Because yeah, he started to follow Fadel around for a car (and then for the principle because he got intrigued by the chase) but that is nothing compared to knowing the truth of them being hitmen.
Now, him still being unaware would have changed things a bit. He wouldn't have acted weird or suspicious immediately after Fadel agreed to date him. He would have fully embraced it. Did you see the way he was grabbing Fadel's face at the end of episode 4 when he agreed to be his boyfriend??? Style was so fucking happy about winning him over. That was genuine joy. And if Style has anything going for him, it's that he can't hide his feelings for shit. When he is happy, he lights up and bounces around.
So he would have never acted strangely and Fadel wouldn't have had that moment of WTF is going on here? I think he still would have been hesitant to trust Style, but I don't think any red flags would have been raised like they were in canon. Fadel really took a second to try to figure out why his newly acquired boyfriend would suddenly not want to be touched by him or why he was running away. Without that interaction, Fadel wouldn't have had that thought.
Style still would have gone on the double date because he is still actively talking to Kant. Kant just isn't telling him the truth. Style would have noticed Kant being a little off, but he would be way too obsessed with Fadel and seeing him and getting laid to wonder too much about what is going on with Kant. He'd just go a long with Kant asking him to take Fadel back home because at that point it wouldn't be a strange thing to ask. He'd probably just assume he wanted to do something with Bison, even after the fake out with Babe. He probably would have been like..ok Kant has it handled. You still wanna bang? And of course Fadel would be like...yes. because those two are compatible and kinky AF and would be fucking like rabbits, (i mean honestly. I don't know how Fadel gets anything done anymore with Style trying to touch his titties every five minutes lol)
Now, him not knowing may change some of their conversations, but probably not as much as you'd think. Before he knew the truth, he was already wondering about what Fadel was hiding. He's seen him kick three men's asses without breaking a sweat and has seen that he goes to grief support group regularly, so Style is aware that Fadel is hiding a lot of things and Style is a curious person. He would have 100% still tried to figure him out and find out what his deal was. I think they'd still talk about their parents and have the trust conversation. It just might not have as much layered meaning because Style actually doesn't know, but he WANTS to. He wants to know Fadel.
What would that mean for Fadel thinking he is a snitch later? Well, it would hurt a lot more. Because if Fadel reacts the same way as he did at the end of episode 6...and then slowly tries to find out what he's been lying about, he's not going to come up with a lot because Style wouldn't be lying. he would have no clue that he was being suspected of anything. He'd be totally clueless as to why his boyfriend is acting strange.
Fadel would also probably get frustrated at that because Style wouldn't act like a snitch would act. (He acts strange a few times in canon and Fadel would definitely be looking back on those moments with suspicion after the fact) So, if a confrontation happens, whether violent or not, Style would end up feeling more betrayed than Fadel. and Fadel would come face to face with the fact that Style literally didn't know a damn thing and he's spent all this time treating him with suspicion and anger and maybe even trying to punish him for hurting Fadel, when his feelings were genuine. I think Fadel would then redirect all the anger and frustration he feels at Kant for NOT telling Style who he was and tricking him into this whole thing because Fadel could have killed Style and it would have been the wrong thing to do because he was oblivious the whole time.
It would have definitely been interesting to see that all play out. I think it would have shown even more true concern from Style towards Fadel, and more confusion for Fadel when he'd try to catch him in lies and come up empty.
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OKAY! Chatot rant in tags below! Read at your own discretion.
#okay starting from the beginning of where ppl usually dislike him. apple woods chapter.#he doesn’t give hero/partner the CHANCE to explain themselves despite them being relatively good recruits up until that point.#and that legit might be my only gripe with that chapter bc!!! stories need conflict! I LIKE the conflict in apple woods!!!#hero and partner being punished so something they didn’t do!#the misunderstanding! how team skull (Skuntank) actually outplays the main duo with a clever yet rotten trick. I LOVE that it segways into-#one of the more sweeter scenes of guild members looking out for eachother. I LIKE APPLE WOODS CONFLICT.#but chatot just. not giving them a chance. is so dumb.#I’d personally fix this by having a lil montage of hero/partner fucking up on jobs. A LOT. and chatot giving them a pass every time.#and let the perfect apple incident BE the one where he puts his foot down and doesn’t listen to them. bc he’d given them loads of chances.#and doesn’t want to hear any excuse.#but yeah. I legit dont mind him during that chapter except for that really stupid and frustrating moment.#NOW. CHAPTER 17.#UGGGGHHH WHERE DO I BEGIN#Him not believing hero and Partner about Grovyle and the future being in ruin? FINE. ACTUALLY GOOD. BC CHATOT WOULD BE SKEPTIC.#IT FITS HIS CHARACTER!!#BUT WHAT DOES SUCK. IS HIM GOING ‘Dusknoir isn’t the bad guy. he didn’t do anything wrong’#WHEN HE LITERALLY KIDNAPPED HERO AND PARTNER RIGHT I N F R O N T OF HIM.#(NO LITERALLY. HIS CHARACTER IS IN THE FRONT ROW WHEN IT HAPPENED.)#and him. having the GALL to tell hero and partner they must’ve been ‘seeing things’ and downplaying the HELL they went through.#despite them being missing for hours/days. his own guild recruits. and his angry sprite showing up.#like. I think that’s when I genuinely despised him.#that and him going ‘OH I BELIEVED YOU THE WHOLE TIME HEEHOO :)’ shit was so fucking annoying.#just playing it off as a joke the second the guild started to believe hero and partner.#IMAGINE IF HE W A S ACTUALLY TESTING THE GUILD’S TRUST. SHOWCASING HIM AS THE MORE RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL RIGHT HAND OF THE GUILD.#and yes. Brine cave he saves hero and partner. but at that point I just didn’t care anymore.#he fucked those two over so much. that I didn’t care what ‘valiant’ sacrifice he had.#and he grills Team Skull for what they did OFF SCREEN. they couldn’t even give us THAT.#<<< THAT or him outright saying sorry would’ve been nice. IKIK his ‘actions’ or whatever but.#eughh again this is all imo. I’m not trying to make people hate him or change their mind.#I’ll get into positives in the second post cause I’m running out of tags
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actually it's kind of funny how people will say Alex's fatal flaw is that he 'doesn't ask for help' and that it's his determination to handle things on his own that leads to his deterioration and eventual death when his whole introduction to the present-day timeline was a very literal cry for help that simply went ignored
#N posts stuff#like even if you think alex was lying throughout the entirety of season 2 and he was waiting from the Moment jay showed up#JUST to kill him (Which again i don't think makes much sense when he could have killed Tim & Jay immediately instead of#breaking Tim's leg. anyway) EVEN IF alex spent that whole time lying it doesn't actually change the fact that he would have at least#been Pretending to Ask For Help and if he wasn't lying then he was Literally Asking For Help and it doesn't Actually matter#what intention Alex had because the text is Ambiguous about Alex's honesty during season two; what isn't ambiguous is the way#other characters (specifically Jay) respond to him; like yeah - S2 Brian/Tim were never in one million years going to help Alex with shit#so sort of any argument that brings up Tim as someone who asks for/offers help is borderline meaningless in this era of the series#Jay had the 'opportunity' to help Alex (and i'll get back to that in a sec) but DIDN'T - Jay wasn't Interested in actually offering Alex#'help' bc Jay is ultimately curious about Answers and 'Offering Help' and 'Getting Answers' are two Wildly conflicting goals#Jay thinks Alex has answers and when Alex doesn't Offer these 'Answers' to Jay on a silver platter Jay gets pissed off and paranoid#and starts Stalking Alex bc he thinks it's 'Suspicious' that Alex won't give him the Answers (that Alex probably doesn't Actually have)#ANYWAY. ultimately this post is about how it's absurd when people argue#that individual character choices could have made a difference in the way this series played out - specifically wrt Alex#because EVERYONE in this WHOLE series are being affected by influences outside of their control ; including Brian Tim and Jay#so it's silly when people are like 'if ALEX had just made a different choice For Himself this could have all been avoided' WRONG.#bc Ultimately there's not really a way to 'help' someone else out of this situation - Tim tried and failed Repeatedly#the comics proved he even failed with Jessica - like MH isn't a horror situation where you can kill the big bad#'getting help' is a meaningless argument - what would successfully helping or getting help even look like? anyway.#the sub argument of this post is that Alex's biggest 'sin' is that he doesn't perform emotions the way other people want him to#like Alex is a character with a kind of flat affect - instead of LOOKING scared or grieved he LOOKS bored or angry#and everyone judges him based on that - so Alex is 'Suspicious' he's 'Lying' he's 'Guilty' but all of these deductions are predicated#on the belief that Alex isn't reacting to his circumstances the way a 'Normal' person would - so it MUST all be an act and so he's guilty#so everyone treats him like he's guilty until the end of season two when he's like 'Fuck it FINE i'll be guilty then' and so it goes#not a self-fulfilled prophecy but being Cornered Into a prophecy and then Blamed for it - SAD. anyway
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Building off of what I wrote in my fic "Sparks," I'm really compelled by the idea of Ford genuinely no longer being interested in sailing around in a boat with Stan by the time they were seniors in high school.
I like the idea of it not being just a symptom of the resentment that had been building between them, nor it being a dream of Ford's that only paled in comparison to west coast tech, but it being a genuine loss of interest on Ford's end. I think it complicates things even further in some really juicy ways.
Like, imagine going through high school slowly losing more and more interest in the dream you've shared with your twin and only friend ever since you were little kids. How do you break it to him? How do you explain it to him without making it sound like a rejection of him? Without it making him hate you?
How do you explain it without it feeling like a spit in the face to all the hard work he's put into a plan that started out as a way of him comforting you by telling you "it doesn't matter what people say about you, you're going to be an adventurer who sails away into the sunset and never has to hear their mockery ever again, and there will be babes and treasure and heroism, and then they'll all see how cool you really are!"
And all through high school you think to yourself, "he's going to move on to more realistic dreams any day now, and then I won't have to say anything about it!" But no matter how many times you mention something else he could do with his life that he seems interested in, or bring up the challenging logistics of traveling around long-term in a boat, he sounds just as committed to the childhood dream as ever, and completely oblivious to how apprehensive you sound.
So resentment grows, little by little. Because that's easier than confronting the soul-crushing levels of guilt that are building up inside of you, every time you don't take an opportunity to tell him you don't want to do the plan anymore. You don't have a single person in your life who modeled how to have difficult conversations for you. As far as you know, having this conversation with Stan would crush him into tiny little pieces and then he would hate you forever, and you can't stand the idea of losing the only friend you've ever had.
So tensions grow. A lack of interest turns into a bitter resentment that, if you were really being honest with yourself, is directed more at yourself than it is at Stan.
And then the falling-out happens, and it seems like you were proven right. Stan hates you now, and he's never going to forgive you for giving up on his dream. But two can play that game, so you try to hate him too. Because if you hate him too, then maybe it won't hurt as much that he never came back. That he never even turned up at school, or by the boat, or in through your bedroom window in the middle of the night. He knows what dad's like, and how he says impulsive exaggerated things when he's angry, and haven't you both dealt with his harsh words countless times before and been able to dust yourselves off and joke about it later? So why isn't he back at home, joking with you about how absurd your dad acted that night, being impossible and belligerent about ruining your dream, but at least now you're even, because you've ruined his dream too.
-
And now imagine you find out he risked the lives of everyone in existence to bring you back, right after you had accepted your fate was to die killing Bill. It would be terrifying and confusing and infuriating. If he cared so much, why didn't he do something to reconnect with you sooner? Why did he ignore you in favor of trying to make it big without you? Why didn't he take the infinitely safer and simpler action of reaching out to you without you having to track down his address and send a desperate plea for help? You were convinced that he didn't care enough to bother with you unless you had an important enough reason for him to come. But even then, he thought your plans were stupid. He didn't want anything to do with you, not even with the world at stake.
Did he save your life out of guilt? Does he pity you that much? It doesn't add up with what he did in the decade leading up to shoving you into the portal. And the dissonance between the version of him in your head that hates you, and the man who held out his arms to welcome you back to your home dimension, is so strong that you feel like you're being lied to again, like you're back in the depths of gaslighting and manipulation that Bill put you through, even though there's no way that's what Stan is trying to do... right? You can't figure it out, so you run away from it. You don't want to know the answer to whether or not Stan hates you, because you don't know which answer would hurt more, so you try to make him hate you more than ever, because at least then you would know for sure how he feels.
And in the end, after he sacrifices his memories for you, and for the world, things seem clearer. The layers upon layers of confusion and anger and hurt seem to have washed away like drawings in the sand, leaving behind the simple truth: that you two had an argument, and didn't move past it for forty years, and despite everything you put each other through, you both still want to re-connect.
So you sail away in a boat together.
And at first, it's wonderful. It's exactly what you want. It feels like an apology to Stan, and a thank-you for saving the world, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to heal the rift between you two, and it's good to be back on earth, and you wonder why you ever doubted the dream you two once had.
But then, after the first long journey you spend on the sea together, when you get back home to dry land, Stan is already talking about planning your next adventure out on the open sea. He recaps every adventure you had on the first trip, over and over again, and he wants to chat with you all through the morning and long into the night, and you don't have the words to explain to yourself that you don't have enough social battery for this, and suddenly you're slipping back into the horrifyingly familiar feeling of Stan being overbearing and needing space from him and how could you think that? How could you think that about him after everything he's done for you and everything he's forgiven you for? But the longer this goes on, the more you realize that you still don't want to spend the rest of your life sailing around with Stan. It's great fun in moderation, but the idea of your whole life revolving around Stan and going on adventures with Stan and being in a boat with Stan with no time to be by yourself thinking about your own things and figuring out your own dreams makes your skin crawl with a claustrophobic kind of panic that you still don't know how to put into words forty years after the first time this feeling grabbed you by the throat and ruined your friendship with Stanley.
But the first time this happened, it nearly ruined his life forever. You can't let yourself feel this. You don't feel this. You're happy to spend the rest of your life fulfilling Stan's lifelong dream, and making up for the time you crushed his dream, and sure, maybe he crushed your dream once too, and maybe it would be nice for him to support your dreams like you're now doing for him, but you can't say that. He saved the universe, and it would be horrible and ungrateful and cruel for you to try to voice these feelings, especially when you don't know how to voice your feelings without it making other people feel like you twisted a knife into their gut. So you try to pretend the feeling isn't there.
You go out on a boat with Stan again. You planned out another incredible journey together, and this should be fun, and you should be happy about this, but the unspoken feeling you shoved as far down in yourself as it could possibly go is eating you alive. The worst part? Stan is starting to notice. You have never been good at hiding your emotions. The trick to it has always been to convince yourself you don't feel it at all, and not think about it, and that has always worked like a charm. But whenever the emotion claws its way back up to the forefront of your mind, you can tell Stan knows something is wrong. So you can't even give him the happy ending he deserves. You can't even convince him that you want to be here on the open seas forever with him, like he deserves. And you keep trying and trying to hide it, but Stan keeps asking in roundabout ways, like "You're being awfully quiet, sixer," and "whats that look on your face?" and eventually it comes exploding out of you like a shaken-up soda bottle dropped on its cap.
And then it's like you're back at home in New Jersey again, standing in the living room while dad grabs Stanley by the shirt. It all comes pouring out of you, in the worst possible way, with the worst possible phrasing, like a pandora's box of monstrousness, and Stan tries to fight back against the sting of your words, but you're made out of acid and you're burning through him and you can see it on his face, and there's never any coming back from this, not this time, you'll just have to either jump into the ocean or become a monster forever, so Stan can hate you more easily again, and-
-and at the end of the outburst, you're still on a boat in the middle of nowhere in the ocean with your brother, in dangerous waters, and you have things to do to keep the boat running smoothly.
You can't run away from him. He can't run away from you. You're stuck here for at least a couple more weeks, even if you turned around and sailed back towards shore right away.
-
And the thing that compels me so much here, despite how unbelievably angsty it all is, is that it sets up a situation wherein the Stans might end up forced to actually address the decades of resentment and confusion and wanting-to-reconnect-throughout-it-all that they thought they could gloss over and heal with enough time spent adventuring together on a boat. They might end up forced to actually address the crux of the issue that drove them apart in the first place: Ford wanting a little more space to feel like his own person, and to feel like he's able to have his own dreams, too.
It wouldn't happen easily, nor right away, but if they were stuck together on a little boat in the middle of nowhere surrounded by magical creatures they have to protect each other from in order to make it back home alive, then after they had one fight where they brought up all the things they silently agreed to never bring up again, it would probably happen many more times, and each time it would leave them both angrier at each other than ever, until eventually something honest slipped through amidst all the saying-anything-except-what-they-mean bickering. And once enough of these honest moments slipped through, then they would have a thread to tug on to start to unravel the gargantuan knot of their decades of unresolved conflicts.
And then, eventually, maybe Stan could learn that he can have a good friendship with his brother without needing to be glued to him at the hip, and Ford needing a certain amount of alone time doesn't mean he dislikes him or wants to abandon him, and Ford could learn that he can be honest and have a meaningful connection with someone without it driving them away and making them hate him.
#succumbed to the stan twins angst visions and wrote 2000 words about this#ford pines#ford meta#this turned into a character analysis that almost reads like a fic#godswriting#<- i need to change my writing tag to this#something bothers me a little bit about the solution to their conflict being 'ford appreciates stan more now so he is now fine with-#-boat adventures with stan'. to me it leaves the initial conflict of 'he doesnt want to do that anymore' unresolved#obviously you could easily argue that ford never stopped wanting to go on boat adventures with stan and he just couldnt justify it to-#-himself when compared to the opportunity at west coast tech. but that has one less layer of conflict#compared to the possibility that he truly was not interested in boat adventures anymore. ESPECIALLY if its a manifestation of him#feeling suffocated by the whole dynamic-twins-duo thing#its normal to start wanting a little bit more space especially at that age. to want to have space to figure out who you are#the healthy thing would have been them talking about it and figuring out a compromise. like 'when ford needs space he can spend a few hours#-alone without stan being worried the whole time that it means ford hates him' and 'we still spend x amount of time working on the boat and#-we still chat on the way to and from school every day and hang out at the beach on weekends'#like of fucking course it was never about hating stan or about wanting to get away from him because of who he is as a person!#he literally just wanted to have a little bit of breathing room to be his own separate person. he just didn't know how to put it into words#I really think the crux of it all was them not knowing how to navigate that balance between independence and identity while staying close#so ford misattributing/reducing that feeling to 'I dont have the exact same dream as stan anymore. why does he still have that dream. oh no#feels like a good way of giving that conflict a tangible aspect to it thats easy for the stans to point at and talk about as a way of-#-alluding to the REAL core of the conflict between them.#and of course the show never says 'they sail around the world for the rest of their lives 24/7' so it's not like it Actually Conflicts with#-my interpretation of the conflict and how it should be resolved. but since its the last thing we see happen between them when theyre given#their happy ending. I feel compelled to say 'hey I know them living in the shack together and traveling in a boat every single year sounds-#-really fun and like a satisfying ending but I think they should have a Little Bit more space from eachother than that. Hanging out almost-#-daily but not literally being in the same house and same boat for the rest of their lives. bc if stan was ok with ford asking for that-#-little bit of space and if ford didnt panic and isolate himself from everyone whenever he needs like one hour of alone time? that would-#-feel like a big piece of the puzzle fitting into place for their conflict resolution and growth as characters. to me#and I think they deserve to have all the tied-up-loose-ends and resolved-conflicts and character-growth in the world.
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Me and friend watched Rise of Red and have uh, two reviews: *It was a movie. *Descendants 3 actually looks more appealing as a movie then this...movie.
#we watched it as soon as we got back to his place#just to get it over with#and god it was bad lmao#like not even a bad you might find it funny#just bad#the plot was all over the place#theres zero room to breath for the characters unlike D1-3#some of the fashion is bad#alot of the song lyrics are bad or just the frozen issue off conversations in song format#and the whole conflict is so stupid its basically 'your all fucking idiots'#also i am not huge on red#chloe is fine to me a ltitle but the film really does not seem to like her or princesses#and the time travel...dont get me started#just dont#let alone how themes like parental abuse are handled#and the fucking beginning DONT TEST ME-
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i wanted to make a post about a thing but the more i think about it the more i want to say and it's just going to end up being a big ramble essay, so instead i'll just give the thesis statement, thusly:
as the #1 Ratgrinders Apologist (self-appointed), of course they're the final boss fight to the death. i expected nothing less and the people trying to make discourse about it are ignoring the entire context of this being a Dungeons and Dragons game
#they're not playing 'discuss our traumas and and try to help strangers grow: the game'#they're playing 'murder people for getting in our way: the game'#which i know is now me being snubbing about D&D as a game but like. siobhan said it: theyve committed SO much murder#did the lunch lady in episode 2 deserve to be murdered? did the skater dwarves deserved to be murdered?#did the monsters the school sicced on the kids in their Last Stand deserve to be slaughtered like that??#its literally the name of the game!#the two things that are turning this into a bigger essay are 1) me being actually very disappointed in Burrow's End with how the players#just did not want at all to engage with the moral greyness aabria was trying to bring into the story#it was clear that was a direction she wanted to explore and i wanted to see it explored#but even OUT of characters the cast just would NOT engage or acknowledge the validity of that direction#and there was only so much aabria could do without being labeled a killjoy... because D&D often ISN'T a game for reckoning with#the justification of your character's actions! its a game for killing giant bears and saving the town from cultists!!#baked into the foundation of the game conceit is 'you are the hero and you are saving the day ergo your actions are Right and Just'#thing 2) i just listened to that WWW fireside the other day where brennan goes on about how combat does not get in the way#of story in dnd. that whole stove metaphor? and it rankled me so much lol because like aabria finally says after that:#yeah you bring your own food to the stove but when what you've got is a stove. the food you make is GOING to get cooked#combat and fighting and killing is baked into the system from its foundation. acting like D&D or even just d20 (the system)#is a resolution engine that also allows fighting and not a fighting engine that also allows other skills is. wishful thinking i think#and to bring this back to the POINT: of COURSE they're going to kill the rat grinders! because it's fun!#because thats how you resolve conflict in a combat game! straight up i honestly believe a lengthy conversation trying to win the kids over#would have been a weird energy to end the season on! it would have been a let down!#it would have been a huge tonal shift. because the tone you bring to a D&D game is 'killing this is fine actually'#and if you dont like that you /dont/ play D&D. its not a value judgment#i LOVE getting into moral implications and justifications and ive gotta tone it down when i run D&D games because it can kill the vibe#anyway. i said i wasnt going to write the whole essay and im not. but i did write most of the rant oops
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A.J Pollard’s biography on Edward IV was so cringe lol (generic; minor but frustrating inaccuracies; intensely judgmental at times and oddly dismissive at others while never considering the broader context; entirely diminished and trivialized Elizabeth Woodville as both queen and wife of his main subject in the name of "defending" her; created a false dichotomy between Edward and Henry VII’s styles of ruling and lauded the latter at the former’s expense even though Henry literally followed Edward’s example for the very things Pollard was criticizing Edward for; had a downright nonsensical and thoroughly misleading conclusion about Edward’s legacy & Richard’s usurpation that was based entirely on hindsight, Pollard's own assumptions, and the complete downplaying Richard’s agency and actions to emphasize what Pollard wrongly and misleadingly claimed were Edward's so-called 'failings', etc, etc)
I wanted to buy his book on Henry V but after reading this shitshow and the synopsis of that book, im guessing it's going to be 10x worse, so...no thanks
#history media#this was written months ago im posting it to get it out of my drafts#it wasn't necessarily BAD. it was generic and readable. but it was very disappointing and misleading and its conclusion was just nonsense#listen I have no patience for the dumbfuck idea that edward somehow had the ultimate responsibility for his own son's deposition because#of his 'policies' during his reign. like I said it's based fully on hindsight and entirely devoid of actual context. it's bafflingly stupid#literally everyone expected Edward V to succeed his father and 'both hoped for and expected' (Croyland's own words) a successful reign#Edward V's deposition was richard and solely Richard's fault lol this should not be difficult to understand#the reason Richard's usurpation was possible in the first place was bcause everyone expected E5 to succeed and didn't expect Richard#do to what he did. nothing would have happened without his initiative and decisions. it had nothing to do with Edward's 'policies'#Edward's policies were fine. henry vii - who pollard vaunts to no end - literally *followed* them#and claiming that he failed to unite England under the Yorkist dynasty is just plain stupid#buddy if he truly failed at that then neither Richard III nor Henry VII would have thrones lol. both emphasized continuity with#him when aiming for the throne. like the whole point of 1483-85 was that it was a conflict WITHIN the 'Yorkist' dynasty#it was not an external threat against it.#'his legacy failed' his legacy didn't fail his brother destroyed it (while also presenting himself as his heir because logic what's logic?)#henry's victory was very much the triumph of his legacy (a claimant chosen by his supporters as the husband of his daughter)#like this is really not my interpretation it is literally what happened#i'm not trying to glorify e4 but his son did inherit the throne in a more advantageous circumstances than any other minor king of england#and frankly than most other adult kings. dumping blame on Edward's literal corpse rather than acknowledge Richard's agency is so tasteless#the problem isn't that edward made a mistake in trusting his brother. many other kings including Henry V also trusted theirs.#the problem is that his brother was willing to break that trust in a way that was unprecedented and broke all political norms of that age#ie: Richard's usurpation occurred because of Richard who re-ignited conflict to make himself king. please drill this into your head#also btw this illogical 'interpretation' is based entirely on Charles Ross' hatred and derision towards Elizabeth Woodville and her family#if you agree with this inteterpretation you agree with his vilification of them 🤷🏻♀️#anyway if you want a better interpretation that's actually analytical and looks a relevant rather than a flawed retrospective perspective#i would recommend rosemary horrox's 'richard iii: a study of service' and david horspool's 'richard iii: a ruler and his reputation'#anyway one last time: STOP downplaying Richard's agency and actions. historians who do this are stupid and embarrassing. bye.#(i should really post horspool's glorious takedown of ross and Pollard huh? it was very entertaining to read)
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Recent game related things .. hrmm...
#I do like the inconsistency of the first map. that is actually something older but that I re-found and added to my Game Reference stuff#so that when characters reference where they're from I can be accurate. I like that the whole map is kind of shifted up that way. Where the#actual south part doesnt even count as the south since its Too Far and Scary lol. and if you say you're from 'the north' thats basically#like.. one single continent. Though some people do make distinctions like 'north midlands' or etc. still. I like the ways that common#language isn't always precisely accurate like that. and thinking about why a culture would classify things a certain way or etc. etc.#The inventory page is so funny to me because it's literally just the BASe like.. sample layout just to make sure it works properly with 0#actual design into it. just colored rectangles thrown together in MS paint. but what if I like... left it like that.. what if all the other#art in the game and UI is like stylized and fully matching BUT the inventory/journal/etc. screens I just left as plain colored blocks#with random misalignments and black spots and etc gjhbhjj... It looks unfinished in a Funny Contrast way to me.#the wordcounts are just like... my past few days of writing.. I am still not getting 2200 words a day done or whatever I needed. I'm lucky#if it's even half of that .... tee hee.. :3c I do also keep having appointments and other things going on but..grrr...#The full map of the area is probably not necessary but I thought it would be more realisitc if people were able to reference things. Like i#you have people all living in a city area probably at some point someone might mention a neighboring city or some landmark nearby#or etc. so I thought having at least the basic names of what's around for reference would be sensible. A side character mentioning#'oh yeah I don't live here full time I just travel from Marisene sometimes' or whatever makes it seem more like a Real#Fleshed Out Place than people just making vague references like 'the river' or 'i come from a city nearby' or 'i went to a place somewhere#around here' or 'the other city' or etc. lol.. Especially since global cities/global areas are weird as they operate almost like an#independent country within their walls. so it's like a micro country inside of another country usually. just plopped down in some agreed#upon plot of land that won't be too disruptive to the main country around it. That could get very complex depending on the cultural and#political backdrop of where they're placed (though obviously they try to choose the 'easiest' areas possible for it). Asen is a very mild#country without much history of conflict or anything so it's fine. But still interesting that Sifeh and the entire branched out global area#border three other districts of Asen. Which means like 3 times the local representitives you'l have to negotiate with for some major change#or anything. I think one of the 'random characters you can find around the world and have short discussions with just to make the area#feel more populated and real even though theyre not actual important npcs' is going to be a guy who actually serves on the council that#handles running the global areas and he's like.. some perpetually exhausted middle aged elf running around with a clipboard or whatever#ANYWAY...... hrgh... still trying to write when I can....#I WISH so badly that I had the scope for a simple character creation menu and all character interactions would allot for the background#of your player character. And also to have a simple day night cycle where places in the world you explore/people you talk to during the day#have new options or dialogue at night.. BUT alas... I already am so behind on everything as is lol.. aughhh... T o T#As the worlds number one Needless Detail And Complexity Enjoyer i must dilligently prevent myself from adding additional complexity
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Uh oh im thinking about the word for world is forest again immm gonna throw up
#are there like essays and commentary about le guins writing#wait of course there are#well i need to read those#i need to see other peoples takes on the whole thing with the gods i dont have my own take but im obsessed#IM SICK IM UNWELL#WHEN REVOLUTION IS NECESSARY BUT ROBS YOU OF SOMETHING YOU CAN NEVER GET BACK#SELVER!!!!!!!!! SOBBING SOBBING#THEYRE GODS!!!#and fuckinggg i forgot his name but yhe guy his terran friend and then he went to see selver and they couldnt talk#and all the innocent people - ultimately colonists but innocent - who died so they could be free#and the worst of the invaders fucking DAVIDSON getting away alive#and the conflict between the terrans some like hey lets not murder people and the others like haha theyre not people lol#umm throwinf up. selvers wife. what the fuck#im unwell im unwell#little green monkey people who dream and their word for world is forest!!!!!!#uhhh. yeah im fine 👍#the word for world is forest
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When all of your pirate mutuals succumb to the Gaimen angels derangement and you can't join in the fun because you just do not give a fuck about them 😔
#dont read the tags im being a hater if you like good omens keep scrolling im not trying to yuck your yum or whatever im just venting#its not just the christianity thing either they're literally so not compelling to me#like this is why i get offended when people compare them to Ed and Stede Ed and Stede aren't boring like that#Azeriphael and Crowley need to loosen up and commit murder or something#anyway Pepper was my favorite character in the first season i think she should be allowed to commit arson#if season 2 had been about her going to college and being annoying in sociology class and coming up with a plan to overthrow the government#i would have already watched season 2#but its about that angel and that demon who queerbaited yall for 2 and a half decades? yawn#its like oh boo hoo you're on different sides you dont want to break the rules#theyre fuckin rules sickos Crowley way less so than Azeriphael but still#but i also like Crowley more than Azeriphael#I think Crowley would be a mediocre blorbo with a good aesthetic if his whole arc didn't revolve around an angel with religious trauma#Like the characters I enjoyed were Anathema and Pepper and Madame Tracy and Shadwell were funny if not necessarily compelling#Crowley was fine if he wasn't attached to Azeriphale but Azeriphale fell incredibly flat#he has no fucking teeth#no shade to the actor#like I wouldn't mind Azeriphale as a character if the narritive didn't constantly keep trying to get me to care about his internal conflict#because the internal conflict of not wanting to dissapoint sky daddy is not a vibe#all of that on top of my distaste for chritian aesthetics and it's just....#it's not the show for me#anyway incredibly unsurprising to me that Zira asked Crowley to become an angel again he would be like that#yassss king try to change your boyfriend into what you want him to be. jfc I can't with his heavenly ass#I just can't care about that kind of a rules sicko the way I can't care about Izzy unless he's a problem to be overcome
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Okay guys I saw the thumbnail and there is no "Season Finale" or "Part One" anywhere in the title do I need to start killing?
#ts critical#ts crit#I swear to GOD Sanders i am going to FUCKING GET YOU#the wort part is I'll probable love this fucking video#bc i miss these characters so much and i love them and i just want to know what they're up to#but this is inherently hurtful to the main plot#bc showing so much in-universe time passing with no real acknowledgement makes everything seems so awkwarrrrrd#if you wanna makemore old school little slice of life videos that's totally fine!!#i think those are fun i like just seeing the characters interact#and chat casually and be funny and such. it's cute it's entertaining it's more character building y'know#but this is like the worst possible time#resolve the major pending plot conflicts before going silly mode please#you either put these BEFORE the cliffhanger episodes or AFTER the conclusion episodes#if not it just messes up the whole pacing of the series and the tone goes all strange#man#I'm salty sorry i haven't even seen the video maybe it's fine maybe it places itself nicely in the plot idk idk
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