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bigskydreaming · 3 years

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“I was human once. Where were you then?” I pretty thoroughly abandoned Teen Wolf after season 4, and even before then, I didn’t engage with the fandom much, but the voice that you give Scott is enough to keep me with one toe dipped in the pond. He’s funny and clever and kind. Even years since I’ve read anything else in TW, WTWTA continues to be a favourite. Do you feel like talking about where you were planning to go with it? I’ve seen you talk about Lightning Crashes plenty, but not WTWTA.

Thank you so much for this ask! Not gonna lie, Lightning Crashes consumes most of my remaining Teen Wolf attention just because its so freaking big and I've got so much written for it over the years that like, I will riot against myself if I don't finish it because like ugh I didn't write all that just to have it sit unread in my own damn files forever, y'know? So like, while I would love to return to Where Wild Things Are someday I'm not trying to make any claims about that one until LC is off my back. Tbh, I'm trying not to make any claims about fanfic or deadlines until I'm fully recovered from my surgery and whatnot because like......my day to day life is just not reliable and I hate not being able to keep my word on stuff.

BUT. That all said, I do still have a lot of fondness for WWTA and plenty of thoughts about it and willingness to talk about where it was headed for anyone who prefers to just hear about that on the assumption it won't ever really get returned to, cuz like, you are Valid.

And I actually have a lot of fondness for that part you quoted in particular, like, I've heard a lot of good things from people about that whole interaction being a standout for them, and its a personal fave because it pretty succintly got to the heart of some of my biggest issues with Teen Wolf's portrayal of hunters and specifically their ideology and self-justifications.

Anyway, some basics about where that fic was going below the cut, and I'm happy to go into more detail or provide snippets or excerpts from future parts as well.

So the very next chapter after what was posted is actually another Scott POV, and it has Peter showing up to his house at night while his mom's at work, Cora with her uncle as well, and 'summoning' Scott to be by his side as well while Peter goes to meet with another Alpha in a rival pack's territory. (Said Alpha being Ennis, in this case).

This chapter's actually a pretty interesting one IMO because I used it to play around with a personal headcanon I have for chemo-signals. There's actually been a fair amount of theorizing in the scientific (and pseudo scientific, lol) communities about what it might be like if humans could pick up on and interpret chemo-signals, because the science suggests that actually we DO.....just at such a tiny magnification so as to make it impossible to get any like, usable data from what little our noses do pick up.

But a popular theory is that picking up on chemo-signals would produce a physiological like, 'mirroring' of what's being picked up on, like....okay, so there's this thing in a lot of evolutionary traits that are linked to survival mechanisms. Where like, the body in the act of receiving various signals from another being about something being dangerous or threatening or to be avoided, it'll essentially mimic the very signs of distress or warning in the person or creature its picking up those signals from. Its kinda part of an automatic feedback loop, like going through a version of the same reaction a person is seeing in others is part of the body and brain's interpretative process, taking in certain stimuli and then processing it in ways that end up with the brain consciously cluing in that what its seeing is that it should be wary of danger.

I'm explaining it badly, but the basic idea is like.....you know that almost instinctive flinch of horror or fear you get almost in like....sympathy, when you see someone else in obvious distress or terror....even before or without seeing or experiencing whatever it is that's making them so distressed/afraid yourself? That's an example of what I'm talking about here. One creature or person transmits various signals - be they visual by way of stance or expression, or scent, or auditory like screams - and surrounding 'pack creatures' or basically any nearby beings likely to be part of that initial being's pack or herd or community.....they pick up these signals and the message of warning or whatever being conveyed via those signals....and in the process of translating that into some kind of actionable instinct, they ALREADY replicate and thus partially pass on those very same signals themselves.

So the thing about scents that we give off even as humans, is that there's actually a LOT of data and signals encoded into these scents or the various things our bodies produce in association with these scents, like sweat. Even though we can't discern these scents to any degree that allows us to meaningfully interpret the data encoded in them, because we didn't ever end up evolving down the evolutionary path that might have resulted in us being able to smell to that degree....like, the information is still THERE, packed into those scents and odor-producing body by-products.

And that has a lot to do with why we react the way we often do to smelling someone's sweat even to the degree that we DO pick it up.....because think of what bodily reactions tend to produce sweat. Its not just physical exertions, its also in a response to nervousness or discomfort or disgust or outright danger, etc.....and our instinctive responses to scenting the sweat someone produces is often to like....mirror those very same emotions. Just to a much more minor degree than if we were able to smell to the same degree that like, we can see.....and thus pick apart single scents and interpret the various distinct elements and emotions packed INTO those, much like how our eyes are evolved to pick apart visuals and interpret specific details about shapes we see in front of us and give a lot more nuance and specificity to what our eyes are picking up on.

So the theory is that if we WERE able to smell to this keen degree....we would be able to tell a LOT about people's emotional state just from the physiological byproducts they produce in various emotional states.....BUT there'd be a trade-off. We would also be prone to the same tendency to unconsciously mimic the signals we were picking up on.....so our own scent glands, our own expressions, would be likely to 'pass on' the indications of fear or arousal or anxiety that we're smelling.

What intrigued me about this idea, in terms of werewolves who are stated to be able to pick up and interpret chemo-signals......is that it carries with it the implication that actually, most werewolves - at least those in packs - would have EXCELLENT self-control, in contrast to what most hunters believe about werewolves and their lack thereof.

Because think about it......if werewolves are constantly being bombarded with the chemo-signals of those around them, and interpreting these smells and the signals contained within them with the same matter of fact ease most of us translate the visual signals our eyes convey to us......in actuality, werewolves would need to have exceptional control over their own reactions to external stimuli.......or else they'd constantly stand out by having facial expressions and stance cues that seem to change radically with seemingly very little reason for them to do so as far as normal humans around them can tell. And at the same time, the facial reactions they might instinctively flash to in response to picking up say, stark terror from someone who was trying their best to hide that VISUALLY due to the presence of someone they were afraid of like an abuser....the fact that werewolves seemed to often be reacting to things they were picking up on in ways that seemed completely contrary to what visual or auditory cues were evident to everyone else....this would also make them stand out even in a crowd.

So to my mind, the extent to which werewolves were shown deciphering information via chemo-signals on the show suggests that actually, werewolf packs would place a huge focus on teaching their children and their new bitten members both the importance of having firm self-control over their own reactions and emotional state - in order to counter their own instinctive tendencies upon smelling things like strong fear or arousal or anxiety in others - as well as the HOW of doing just that.

Which in turn would lead to the idea that its the LACK of a pack - and the grounding knowledge and presence of other experienced werewolves - which most often results in the existence of the 'out of control' omega werewolves that hunters use to justify the necessity of their existence.

Think how bewildering it would be to constantly be bombarded with signals and cues that suggest that the people around you are at any given moment in heightened states of panic and distress and discomfort. How much that would shred your own self-control if you weren't extremely practiced - and aided - in keeping a clear awareness of your OWN emotional state and feelings at all times, so you don't get swept away by the tide of emotional information you're picking up on all sides. I imagine it wouldn't be that much different walking down the hall of a school picking up the scent chemo-signals of a hundred teenagers in the throes of puberty, hormonal changes, and constant stress and intense feelings.....than say, if you or I were to walk down that same hall and instead of just seeing and hearing a hundred teenagers laughing and talking and going about their day, we saw and heard every one of those teenagers acting out visual and auditory cues of extreme intensity on all sides, from some of them screaming for dozens of different reasons to others being clear images of someone in pain or outright terror, etc.

Its a lot. Its easy to imagine that omega werewolves would not actually be any less 'capable' than any other werewolf, they're not wild or feral because they're lesser or whatever.....its simply for whatever reason, they never were taught the lesson of just how important it is to learn how to not just interpret scent cues, but block them out when necessary or at the very least maintain a conscious awareness of how to keep your own sense of self prioritized in your brain over just....instinctively reacting to everything being flung at you information wise.

Anyway. So a big component of what's to come there is how this might impact the world of Teen Wolf if explored in depth.....

Because on the one hand, this information would be the EXACT thing needed to really put things into clarity re: hunters and werewolves. The reality that actually, most werewolves are exceptional at self-control....that when they're a danger to others, its usually because they're that way with INTENT like Deucalion or Ennis. That most werewolves aren't the inches-from-being-mindless timebombs that hunters stress are the real reason for why they exist. The omegas are actually the odd ones out, and their lack of self-control is something that can actually be mitigated by integration into existing packs or just more avenues for educating themselves on what they are now and what differences that makes in their lives and just their very approaches to life.

But on the other hand, this information is exactly what werewolves like Scott CAN'T inform hunters of en masse.....because of the existence of hunters like Gerard and Kate who actually don't CARE about the code and the idea of just existing to protect humanity from the out of control dangerous 'monsters'....but rather just want to kill werewolves for other reasons. Because hunters who were fully in the know as to how much control the average werewolf has over their emotional state....as well as WHY its so important for them to learn and practice such exceptional self-control......because of how VULNERABLE to reacting to the emotional states of others werewolves are......they would no doubt be able to weaponize this against werewolves. After all, even exceptional self control is bound to waver if say, in the presence of large numbers of humans who are being deliberately influenced to give off certain scent cues in mass quantities......just so hunters can pick out at a distance who seems to be reacting to things none of the humans present seem to be aware of, etc.

So things like this are meant to become central to Scott and Allison's burgeoning relationship and the everpresent question they each have for how much they can really trust the other - and trust the other WITH - no matter how much they want to. Even as Scott starts to fall for Allison and believe the best of her, he's very aware of her still existant ties to her family, her own 'pack' - and despite being in possession of so much knowledge about werewolves that could most likely open Allison's eyes even further to how inaccurate most of the information she and others like her father are working off of is......Scott's equally keenly aware that giving her that information COULD still backfire and put his own pack in danger if it for whatever reason doesn't end up being enough to fully bring her over to his side.

Basically the big theme of the story has always been about who can you trust, even when you really WANT to trust them, because even people with similar moralities can have conflicting priorities and its not always enough to just be on the same page in one of those respects.

Anyway, the next chapter is big on introducing the importance of chemo-signals as Peter drives to his meeting with Ennis and tells Cora and Scott to settle between themselves who will accompany him inside (a clear position of prominence relevant to the ongoing power struggle between Cora and Scott for influence among their packmates). And most of that happens by way of the two of them 'scent-talking' to each other in the backseat. Because a side-effect of the idea that smelling chemo-signals prompts certain facial cues in response, as well as exceptional control over their own emotions and thus accompanying physiological cues, means that its possible for werewolves to have very involved silent discussions just by deliberately invoking various scents for the other, etc.

Cora of course wins that mini-battle between them, by way of the leverage she has over Scott now that she knows he's able to lie to Peter without betraying it with his scent or his heartbeat. Peter would never risk having someone capable of lying to him with no sign, so that's as good of a death sentence if he finds out. But at the same time, its something Cora knows she can't milk for too long, because the longer SHE has the information that Scott is capable of that, the less effective it becomes as leverage.....since hiding that from Peter could massively backfire and put her at risk too, meaning there's only so long she can use it as leverage against Scott before it becomes a case of mutually assured destruction and he says 'go ahead, tell Peter, and once he finds out how long you've kept that from him see what position that leaves you in.'

So Cora knows this information is best used sooner rather than later, so she leverages it off the bat, to get Scott to cave on this one and so she's the one to accompany Peter to his top secret meeting with Ennis and learn whatever they're talking about and what the basis of this alliance they seem to have formed is. Also, Peter comes out of the meeting carrying a mysterious box he got from Ennis, that seems to have been his goal all along, and has Cora troubled, but unwilling to divulge any information about what it might be.

Scott however gets something out of the meeting too, because even while left outside, he discovers some key information.....Ennis' pack includes Jiang and Tierney, two members of Brett's old pack that he thought were dead. Ennis had 'taken them in' though they really didn't have a ton of choice in the matter and were less than thrilled about it....which gives Scott the start of an actual plan. Which thickens once he learns Brett's sister Lorilee is alive as well, and a member of Kali's pack, along with refugees from another wiped out pack, the Primals.

Essentially, where this is all building towards is over time, Scott starts reaching out to the exploited and miserable teens stuck at the bottom of abusive packs they never asked to be a part of but are afraid to leave....and begins building an alliance of teens across multiple local packs. None of them are strong enough to overthrow their own Alphas on their own, but together, they could be strong enough to overthrow a single Alpha, and then consolidate as a pack of their own behind a single teen Alpha.

Of course, problem is Cora figures this out eventually as well, and begins building her own rival alliance among teens from Kali's pack and others, and it essentially becomes a race to get an alliance strong enough to topple Peter built first, before the other can make their move.

On Allison's side of things, she begins mentoring the younger teens that Scott picked out as being eyed by his Alpha as potential recruits. This involves teaching them archery at her house one weekend, only to then discover from Gerard's conversation with her parents that hunters recovered the arrow Allison had shot through Isaac's shoulder way back in the first chapter. They found blood on it, and are planning to use it to see if the person that blood belongs to is in the system at all. Which Isaac is, due to being in the foster care system, even if only nominally.

Feeling complicit and not ready to trust the werewolves yet but not willing to feel personally responsible for the death of someone she goes to school with, Allison alerts Scott to the danger. Which in turn leads to the pack under Peter's orders, like, breaking into the facility where the arrow and blood are being analyzed and destroy the sample before it can trace back to Isaac and from there, the rest of them by association.

Problem is, its Matt's first official 'outing' on a werewolf mission and he decides to revel in his newfound power by killing a guard. Welcome to Team Blue Eyes, Mattie. That didn't take long. Not that anyone is surprised, but Scott is a bit screwed by it. Because now Allison is furious and retreating from their slowly building alliance/relationship because she feels guilty that her information led to someone getting killed by a werewolf and thinks she never should have shared her intel even though Scott tries to stress that he had no control over Matt and could do nothing to stop it.

So that kinda puts a roadblock in the Scallison that takes time to work past, though it will of course get worked past.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Peter's plans for turning more freshmen are delayed when Cora and Scott both feel pressed to alert him of a surprising development at Beacon Hills High before the other tells Peter first. Suddenly there are two new werewolves at school - albeit very nervous, scared and confused werewolves - and they aren't transfer students. Someone turned two of their classmates, Tracy and Josh, and that someone was NOT Peter. So now Peter is outraged because someone is turning people in his territory which is a clear challenge from another Alpha, and he wants to know who. Which leads to Erica and Boyd being assigned to tail the new wolves and see who they lead back to.....as well as both Scott and Cora, by now accelerating their efforts to build up support for their positions both inside and outside of the pack, like both of them now make plays to get Erica and Boyd from the No Man's Land they've been residing in, and get them to finally pick a side between the two rivals for Peter's Alpha crown. With the information they glean from following the two new surprise werewolves being vital to both Scott and Cora's plans.

The Alpha in question turns out to be Deucalion, who is back in the area after years away where he seemed uninterested in werewolf politics, but now seems to be intent on building up a new pack for himself across multiple Alphas' territories in earnest.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Scott has started to worry about where Theo's loyalties actually lie, as Boyd informs him that part of what's kept him from throwing in with Scott is Boyd keeps his nose to the ground to stay very informed on what's what and keep abreast of what everyone else is doing at all times - Boyd is very big on the idea that knowledge and thus information is power - so Boyd has been paying more attention to Theo than even Scott has lately, given how much Scott's got going on at the moment. And Theo's been making some moves of his own that have Boyd distrustful of just how much Scott ACTUALLY has his loyalty, and thus Boyd is wary of hitching his wagon to the prospective Alpha who is perhaps not as well or thoroughly supported as he thinks he is, or is counting on being.

So Theo being Theo will complicate matters considerably. Note that I don't go with unnecessarily evil Theo ever, as that's boring, but I always fuck with absolutely and necessarily self-interested and amoral Theo because that's anti-boring. So Theo's not out to screw Scott just to screw him (well not THAT way at least), but Theo is big on covering his bases and he's contemplating making his own bid for power because he's not sure he trusts that Scott can pull this off and Cora's not an option given that he HAS until now been Team Scott in all visible ways, so he's seeking....other options. Just so he can have the most possible options and vet them thoroughly before deciding on a course of action, naturally.

The big tipping point to all of this will come when someone betrays Scott to some hunters and leads to him being captured and identified as a werewolf by some hunters loosely affiliated with Allison's family.....and Allison makes her choice here for good and risks everything to rescue Scott which might involve someone dying. Not a main character. But uh, there definitely is some dying and it makes Allison and Scott both feel things like guilt, regret, self-recrimination and also "I did what I did and that's that about that" with only like 60% of that being bravado to cover up omg I have no idea what I'm even doing anymore.

In order to find somewhere for Scott to recuperate that is not her house, because lol duh, and is not Scott's house, because Peter lol duh, a desperate Allison ends up looping in Lydia, Danny, Jackson and Stiles, and enlisting their help in hiding Scott at Lydia's lakehouse until he recovers. This leads to them all finally being in the know and uncomfortably allying with Isaac and some other werewolf members of Team Scott, who are of course furious at the betrayal of any werewolf giving up one of their own to hunters, let alone Scott.....which leads to the twins making a surprise shift in allegiance, because they think Cora was behind the hunters finding out and that's too far for them. It was NOT in fact Cora, but it might have been someone ON Team Cora who thought they were doing what Cora would have wanted them to do. And by might have I mean definitely and also they were Not Correct in their assumptions about what Cora would want. She and Scott are rivals and she's an antagonist here but she's not evil or even as bloodthirsty as she pretends to be for appearances, but she like Theo is looking out for number one and what she believes is best for what remains of a Hale pack, any Hale pack.

Other stuff happens, Liam does get turned, Mason gets his druidic knowledge on because that's a Trope that no Kalen story will ever be without, and the ultimate showdown between teens and asshole adult werewolves will end with Scott True Alpha level-upping but Peter definitely will still die as will several other Alphas and Scott is not the only teen who ends up an Alpha at the end of things though each teen Alpha will for now go their own way with their own pack made up of kids from the two teen wolf alliances. There will be confrontations with the hunters before the end too, beyond just rescuing Scott from the NPC hunters who are destined for Demiseville, population them, but the hunters will not be 'totally defeated' in as much as that's even a possibility, and the story was always meant to end with the McCall pack and some human allies taking to the road to find somewhere else to establish a territory and build their strength (and graduate high school) before making a full stand against hunters.

Backstory is meant to be filled in all the way through, with a focus on Scott and Derek's not-at-all-like-canon relationship as for the first year or so after Scott was turned, Derek was still around and did his best to help guide and teach Scott while acting as a buffer against his uncle which Scott greatly appreciated and his thoughts of 'fuck you Derek' should be taken as unreliable narration and mostly just cynical humor cuz he misses him. With said backstory reveals culminating in the eventual shocker of how Derek died (surprise, it was Peter in the parlor with the backstabbing and also candlestick), Cora finding out, cue Cora Not Being Very Pleased With Uncle Peter At The Moment, Actually, and like....other shenanigans are had.

Also also there may be a road trip involved at the veeeeeery end, that involves the mysterious box Peter traded something to Ennis for, which may or may not be magic and resurrection-oriented, but also definitely is both those things and aimed at a grand finale of teen Derek rising from mystical waters being like "who the fuck are you" at Scott who smiles and says "we're brothers."

And that's what you missed on Glee.

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aylinaliens · 3 years

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I am officially caught up on Oxygen and I started it yesterday, so that’s a new record. I’m so freaking obsessed! And, I’d love some recs because I need more to watch. My first step into the world of Bls came from My Engineer which was brilliant and frustrating, but I loved it. Now, I’m just looking for more and more and more, and this started in July 😂. I’d love some recs and to pop in randomly to chat about the bls if you’d be up for it because they all kill me ~♉️

Sorry for the delayed response but I wanted to take some time to compile a list of recs for you. I tried to mainly rec ones that are mainly available on YouTube, Viki, Line TV, and Netflix but if you need help finding links to watch them let me know!

I highly recommend these (based on the previous ones you’ve seen or ones that I personally loved):

Cherry Magic: This is a Japanese BL that’s currently airing but it’s so good and easily my favorite of the year. It has a wacky premise but it’s very heartwarming, realistic, and soft.

Like In The Movies (aka Gaya Sa Pelikula): This recently ended like a week ago but it was a masterpiece. GSP accurately depicts the struggle of being the LGBTQ+ community and is just generally really well made in terms of the script, cinematography, and OST. There were quite a few BL’s from Philippines released this year but IMO this was the best.

He’s Coming to Me: Incredibly underrated which sucks because it’s really good. The premise is very unique and it’s another accurate depiction of the struggles that LGBTQ+ individuals have to go through. This is pretty angsty but hilarious/heartwarming/adorable at the same time.

Theory of Love: People either absolutely adore TOL or absolutely despise TOL. I personally adored it because I’m a big fan of angst, flawed characters (oh boy were they flawed), and OffGun so it’s one of my favorites. But fair warning the characters are frustrating. So frustrating that you’ll probably want to reach through the screen to smack them but if you hang on till the end it’s worth it. Plus they just released a special episode like a month ago and it really improved any issues I had with TOL.

The Untamed: this is technically labeled as being a ‘bromance’ because of China’s censorship laws but like...it’s extremely obvious that the two ML’s are more than just platonic bros. In the book it’s based on they were together romantically and the drama does a good job of expressing the love they share with subtle (and not so subtle) looks, dialogue, cinematography, touches, and music. The Untamed is very long and at times confusing but 100% worth it.

History 3 Trapped: This was my first introduction to BL and it spoiled all other ones for me. It’s about a gangster and a police officer who go from enemies to lovers. The plot is messy but the chemistry between the leads + second leads makes up for that.

Where Your Eyes Linger: This is a Korean BL and almost everyone I talked to ended up loving this. Sadly this is really short (only 8 episodes that are 10 minutes long) but it’s worth it. It’s about two childhood friends—one of them is the son of a wealthy family and the other is his bodyguard. It handles the friends to lovers excellently and plus the leads have a ton of chemistry.

Mr. Heart: Another Korean BL that was produced by the same company that did WYEL. It’s also short but it’s fluffy and adorable which is a big shift tone from WYEL but I loved both equally.

Life Love On The Line: Another Japanese BL! It came out this year and I feel like it’s really underrated. It’s based on a short manga so the length of the series isn’t that long (4 ep that are 20-30 min long) but it still manages to effectively tell a beautiful love story.

Kinou Nani Tabeta? (What Did You Eat Yesterday): I’m only on episode 1 but...woah. People need to stop sleeping on this. It’s a slice of life drama centered around two men in their forties who are already together. It’s wholesome, soft, and makes me feel all warm inside. Please give this a chance okay?

I Told Sunset About You: I haven’t finished this yet but it’s honestly a masterpiece. The cinematography...the OST...the acting...the script...I’m in complete awe of the whole thing.

Gameboys: Another wonderful PINOY BL! It’s set during this year when the pandemic is going on and it was really good—so good that it got a GL spin off (Pearl Next Door, I highly rec this too even if it’s not BL) and a season 2 which comes out next year.

Hello Stranger: Honestly the Philippines are thriving this year because this was another stellar BL! It’s kind of like Gameboys in how almost the whole drama is filmed over video chat/social media but it was very cute. I believe Hello Stranger is also releasing a movie next year.

Ingredients: This is literally just a very long supermarket ad that’s been going on for 8 months now but it’s adorable. It’s a very low stakes fluffy BL where nothing happens plot wise yet you can’t put it down. Plus...they were roommates ;)

Sotus/Sotus S: not one of my favorites but it’s one of the OG bl’s for a reason. So many people loved the first season but didn’t care for the second (but it was the complete opposite for me). This is kind of the one of the most quintessential Thai BLs out there so feel free to give it a try.

History 2 Right or Wrong: Bls rarely center around mature individuals let alone parents so when I found out the premise of this I was sold. Its only 4 episodes so it’s not the most fleshed out thing ever made but it was incredibly adorable, fluffy, and as honest as they can to address LGBTQ+ parenting. Basically it’s about this college student who ends up as a babysitter for his professor (yeah okay that premise is not for everyone so just be aware if you don’t like that kind of thing) and they fall in love. The whole thing is so fluffy and heartwarming!

Ossan’s Love: This is a Japanese BL about this thirty year old office worker who finds himself in a weird love triangle between his married boss and roommate. I know it sounds like a mess and trust me it definitely is but it’s hilarious. It was a wild ride start to finish but I loved (and hated) every second of it.

Diary of Tootsies: Okay this isn’t a typical BL I guess but it’s about three gay men + their lesbian best friend so you know what? I’m including it on this list. It’s hilariously dumb yet also addresses serious topics like homophobia/sexually transmitted diseases. It’s underrated and I’m so sad about it because it’s genuinely a delight to watch.

YYY the Series: do you know those crack videos on YouTube full of memes and references? Yeah. That’s basically YYY summed up. The whole thing makes zero sense because of how chaotic it is but despite how it’s constantly makes everyone ???? it also has a TON of heart. It’s so dumb but it had me reflecting on my life all the time. I really rec this not just because of how hilarious it is but also because it breaks the mold of other BLs! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t have a comedic show and talk about consent and how important healthy communication is in relationships because YYY does it perfectly and so much more.

Dark Blue Kiss: I didn’t love this but you might. It’s a sequel/spin off to like two other series (Kiss Me & Kiss Me Again) but you don’t have to watch the others to understand this. Just know that the leads have been dating awhile before the start of the series.

Great Men Academy: People debate if this is a real BL because the main character is a girl who can transform into a boy but I think it still counts. I really enjoyed this and thought the whole cast had a ton of chemistry between them—it was sweet, funny, and had the right amount of angst.

HIS: this is a Japanese movie (I know you said dramas but I enjoyed this so I figured I would include it too). It’s beautiful, angsty, and sweet. There’s a prequel series this is based on but you don’t have to watch it to understand what’s going on.

I have way more recommendations but I figured I would stop there. Hopefully if you give these a go you enjoy this and my asks are always open if you ever want to talk about BL :)

#♉️ anon #kay answers #bl recs #i left out so many because i didn’t want to make this really long + i wanted provide explanation as to why they were worth the watch #I also didn’t include dramas that just had bl side stories/characters

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galaxyshine24-7 · 3 years

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Things I didn't like about Stranger Things Season 3

Now don't get me wrong I love Stranger Things. Its been such a fun ride and inspired me with its 80's feel and DnD vibe. I adored it and still do, I'm so excited for season 4 and can't wait to see the gang again. However when season 3 came out and I watched it certain things didn't sit well with me. So I guess I'm just getting them off my chest. Now reminder these are my opinions if you think something different that is completely fine. I'm just venting at this point and might view things differently from others. So read on if you want.

Spoilers Ahead

Relationships

My biggest struggle watching this season was how they handled relationships. Either how they where handled, or how they weren't handled, or things I see people overlook when it comes to them that should be addressed. So I shall go down the line on what I didn't like and analyze them.

Nancy and Johnathan

Over the seasons I have fallen in love with Nancy's character. I like how the show played into stereotypical 80's tropes. Nancy was the mean older sister, but soon turned into a badass sharp shooter. In this season her character wavered for me a bit. I still love her don't get me wrong, but I was upset a bit how she handled her and Johnathan's situation at the job.

I felt like neither Nancy or Johnathan really talked about how the other made them feel or really get that they understood anyone's plight with the dialogue we where given.

With Nancy is wanting to get on the case and find out what is happening. She wanted to shut up those rude assholes in her office and I applaud her for that. However during that time I don't think she was truly listening to Johnathan's concerns. Now say what you want about Johnathan, I do feel like at the end of the day that he loves and cares for Nancy and will back her up when he can, but in this case we the audience see him become frustrated when he gets fired from a job he really needs to support his family. Now mind you Johnathan had a bad time at the job too, but him being made fun of is something he has grown a thick skin too has seen in previous seasons. He explains to Nancy that his family doesn't come from much money. Honestly him and Will have the lowest income in the friend group compared to the other kids and to me watching them struggle through the seasons compared to the other kids homes. With Nancy she was going off to college and wouldn't need this job for long with how accomplished she is between the high schoolers we know she is probably the only one with plans on going to college. I was a bit upset she didn't consider Johnathan's emotions and situation beforehand discovering what was going one with the rats.

Now Johnathan isn't innocent either he should have been more compassionate with her problems since this was something she wasn't used too getting in a work place. He should have talked to her more and communicated, heck maybe try to find a different job together. With Nancy she admits to her mom how she was unfair to Johnathan. When she then meets him again they didn't have that dialogue with each other at all, instead a few quick lines that left me in a weird place. It felt unfinished and I was not convinced either really talked through it. It felt unfinished and left a weird taste in my mouth in regards with the two. All and all I just wish it was handled better, but I can say that about most things on this list.

Max and Eleven

Now when these two started hanging out I was excited I think their cute and I'm glade El got a friend who is a girl. Its fun to see them talk to each other and bond going on adventures, however I started to raise a brow at Max's behavior and advice. Now side note I know they are children and they are not going to be right about things like relationships all the time. I get that I really do, however I'm still pissed she gave El terrible advice, and I don't think she was fully held accountable for her and El spying on people which is not okay powers or not. I'm glade they started to find about about Billy, but they weren't looking for that and stumbled upon it from spying on others. Its just something they shouldn't do in general to be honest.

Max supports and cares about El I just believe she wasn't the greatest of friends in terms of relationship advice and how she acted towards Mike and the others. Max was projecting her experience with relationships onto El's and Mike's and it did not end well at all. It was up to El at the end of the day to make her own decisions and speak to Mike to fully understand the situation and talk to each other. I understand why people praise and love the relationship, but also don't see its faults or the problems it had. When I found out Max and Lucas break up every other week I was like "are you serious, and you went around giving El advice, and didn't see anything wrong with that?!" I don't think Max ever talked to El about it or El talk to Max more about it, and then there's the whole thing with Mike that I can talk about later.

I just feel like Max wasn't solely positive in her and El's relationship, and I wished El tried to find answers on her own instead of listening to everyone.

(P.S. When Max showed El Wonder Women which is nice. Max makes a comment when El points out Wonder Women and she said. "This is why you can't hang out with Mike all the time." I first I was like okay, showing El a female superhero is cool. However I got to thinking Wonder Women and El don't have much in common besides being women. Mike gave her Grand Master Yoda and he has more in common with El then Wonder Women does. In terms of powers and such Yoda fits more with El, and El is the wisest and level headed out of most of the kids in my opinion. I'm upset at the writers when they seem to forgot Mike gave her a hero more like her in what she can do and who she is. They should've chose someone like Jean Grey who uses her mind and is a red head like Max, it would've made more sense. She appeared in 1963 so Jean would have fit. Also maybe Mike showed her Yoda and thought more about what he does and says that reminds him of El then thinking about what gender she was. Just a thought I guess.)

The Friends Group

Now with age I understand relationships change and mature esxpecliy through friends. This is shown with Lucas and Mike wanting to hang out girlfriends and Dustin having his own thing with Steve. I can see why the writers did this to have different storylines going on but it was weird. You would think after all they been through, they wouldn't get has distanced as they did. It didn't feel like the group was whole and then at the end of the day Will moves. Mike and Lucas where distracted by their own relationships which I can understand, but the whole argument with Mike and Will was strange. You have these kids who fought tooth and nail to get Will back and they can barely give him the time of day?! I get you have girlfriends and such, but come on. It seemed out of character for this group after so much they went through together and to get Will back. The argument with Will and Mike was heartfelt and you could feel Will's plight and Mike's, I guess I was just upset out how distant it was, and how the kids just brushed each other off for their own drama when we've seen many times that they don't do that to this degree.

Characters

There where many characters I either had problems with how they where written or felt like there could've been more.

Mike

Mike's character I feel like was shit on a lot in this season from characters and some of the fanbase. Now I will say upfront that I like Mike, heck I like most of the characters in this show. They got faults and positives that I can see and understand. This season with Mike I feel like his character didn't get the understanding from the other seasons. He's either the bad guy, or the grumpy kid who brushes off all his friends for El. Mike is shown growing his relationship with El and trying his best to be a good boyfriend and protect her. It upsets me when people don't look at the all aspects of a character and see their flaws and good traits. With Mike we have seen this kid put his fucking life on the line for his friends and become distraught when he loses El someone he loves dearly. Its understandable why he is a grumpy mess during the last season, he sat and tried to reach out to El for 353 days when she left. He lost her for a whole year and never stopped trying to see if she was out there, just like for Will he never gave up.

It doesn't surprise me that Mike wanted to do all he can to protect El no matter what so he doesn't loose her again. However when Max starts accusing him of wanting to control her, basically saying he is trying to treat El like property it made my blood boil. We has the audience saw him fight for El and protect El, and never stop looking for El. Then getting this whole "women are a different species," narrative between him and Lucas. How the writers went about that was weird to me seemed a bit forced. For two guys we know fought along along side El and saw her has equal and feel for her, too oh women are a different species we can't understand them at all didn't make the much sense by how hard they where pushing it.

It kind of sucks to hear people hate Mike. Like if you do that's fine, its all good. I just feel like his character doesn't get a fair review at times. Will gets brought up a lot from what I seen. I agree that Mike was being insensitive and like I said before doesn't make sense to brush off Will like that after all they went through. People like to talk about the whole "Its not my fault you don't like girls." Side note I don't believe Will is gay. If you do go for it, I just see the situation a bit different. Will just came out of a very traumatic event and just wants to go back to normal just like the old times with his friends and the hurt he experiences with them all moving on and being not what he remembered. They where not what they used to be. With Mike he is growing up and moving on and in a fit of anger he tells Will its not his fault he doesn't like the relationships him and the others are forming. Like he saying its not his fault Will isn't growing up, and moving on. insensitive yes, but I can understand where both are coming from and dealing with different problems.

Mike isn't a prefect character, and he makes mistakes. I just felt like towards the beginning of the season till some of the end he wasn't treated the best writing wise.

Max

When I first met Max she was such a fun character I love them bringing her into the group. She is fiery and compassionate and I think she brings something new to the group of kids. I think she still does. In the third season I just had a lot of problems with her and her attitudes.

I have already explained her part in El and her relationship. I guess her attitudes towards Mike and Lucas I was upset about.

Lucas and Max didn't get lots of screen time to showcase there relationship more, but by the whole they break up every week detail and attitudes towards each other I don't think its that solely positive to be honest with the scenes we got.

Her attitudes towards Mike made me pissed off a bit. Yes, Mike should not have lied and Max is right to call it out, but to go to say he is controlling El and these other terrible things. To the audience we know that is not true seeing Mike goes to the ends of the Earth for El and Max knows how deeply her disappearance effected him. Mike stood in front of her and his friends from Max's abusive brother Billy. However in the third season she gets a whiff of him lying its like she has nothing to give him the benefit of the doubt on. When in fact she does. She reduces him to a controlling and lying boyfriend, and yes pushes that idea onto El and it just rubs me in the wrong way. I was very upset with Max and how the writers where treating some moments like something to praise. El dumping Mike was sad and upsetting I didn't find it very funny, but hey that's just me. She had El spy on people esxpecliy the boys and I feel she really doesn't get many consequences for it. However Mike is treated like a monster after getting threatened by Hooper and lying about it. He should not have lied of course, I just don't feel like they got equal treatment for their actions, and yes I know there kids they are stupid at times. I can still call out bad behavior and warning flags.

Billy Hargrove

Billy was wasted potential on the writers part. His character is a very known presence in the last two seasons. When you find out about his past and El reaching out to him, I feel like him sacrificing himself for the group and living could have been such a good example of character growth and getting better, and I feel like his story was cut to short for how much time and effort was put into his character. He was bad yes very bad, but with this latest season you got to see little sparks of his character come out more, his good sides. Billy Hargrove was wasted potential and I really hope they hold the dad accountable for his abuse in the next season, and also the mom. She was a victim yes, but she should not have left her son with to be emotionally and I believe physically damaged by his dad. His death should have consequences that all parties need to hear and see. If they really brush him under the rug I'll be pretty upset.

Alexi

I love his character and I just miss him is all.

That is just some of my thoughts on the third season I hear people say is one of the poorly written seasons of Stranger Things. Has much as I love the things in it. It has some writing issues and characterization where I would have to agree.

Welp those are just some of my thoughts. Love them or hate them its is what it is at the end of the day. I hope whoever is reading this has a nice day. Peace

#stranger things #my thoughts #opinons

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apathycarestostudy · 4 years

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Things Every 20+ y/o Should Start Doing (if you haven't) - unedited and unfiltered.

Twenty is a magical age. I don't know why it's not said as often as it should be, but truly, I feel like it's as just a turning point as 30 or 40 is. This is when you struggle the most to come to terms with yourself, or deliberately say you have. This is when you're becoming "conscious" as I like to think to the world — whatever the world means to you.

So, in lieu of hitting 21 a couple of months ago, I've decided to compile a list of things I believe every twenty and more year old should try. If they haven't already, of course.

1. Journaling

I've always been apprehensive of keeping a record of all my thoughts and woes as I thought that would be (a) used against me if found and/or (b) be an admission that I feel some type of way about something. Both of these concerns are damn childish and I'm glad I kinda got over it now that I'm journaling regularly, but I still hold back a little unfortunately. Well. The point of this is that 20 is an awakening that's worth journaling about, even if you have nothing going on. Write letters to your future self, to your families and friends and that one asshole you hate and the shoes you're wearing and —

Also, I always thought I didn't feel any type of way about things until I started journaling and realized I do. Yikes. You might want to make like me and face them now.

2. Learn something new everyday

Did you know that the heart of a shrimp is located in its head?

Life is unfair. There’ll be times when you feel this in all its potency. But just know this - everything can be taken from you, sans your knowledge. Overrated, a little debatable (because, mental illnesses), but it’s a neat standard to have. Plus, if you’re not well adverse in maintaining conversation, or you’re in a tight spot, spouting a random fact would help lighten the mood.

3. Pause your indignation

We’re in the age of getting mad, triggered, attacked, whatever else and that’s sad and unhealthy as all hell. What happened to being cool? To giving people the benefit of the doubt? Are we so fragile now that anything could throw us into our feelings regardless of whether it’s valid or not?

Okay, you were wronged. You are absolutely entitled to how you feel about it too. But you know what you can control? Your reaction. Your response. How you carry yourself and the way you go about it is what matters. It won’t feel as good in the beginning when you can’t bust someone up (or yourself), but you’ll be proud of yourself. You successfully refused to relinquish a piece of yourself.

4. Decide what standards you won’t breach

This goes hand-in-hand with the last point, but isn’t entirely the same. If your standard is to always respect everyone, you can’t be late when you gotta meet them because that constitutes disrespect. You don’t tolerate something, don’t engage in it. Draw the fine lines and stay within them. Whatever your code of honor is, you have to stay true to them no matter the situation you’re put in.

P.s. let it be something righteous, self and community loving, positive. This is not a plea for unreasonable stubbornness.

5. Watch something you wouldn’t normally watch

This is an interesting one. I remember as a teenager, I’d proudly declare what genres I’d never cross over to and what was beneath me, with absolutely no sound reasoning behind it. It was a baseless generalization of what’s cool and what wasn’t in my eyes. Let me tell you, some of the things I claimed wasn’t my cup of tea became my bottle of water (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

Hah.

Well, I didn’t come upon this epiphany by myself. My siblings put on a show I’d never be caught dead watching and by the end of it, then I got the epiphany. Now, whatever random video I run into on YT, any show that someone suggests that isn’t what I’m into, a documentary about something outside of my faith I’ll watch. It not only polishes your tastes, it broadens your horizons.

6. Learn to let go

7. Pick your role models wisely

This is insanely important at this age. You don’t want to realize too late that your aspirations didn’t become anything meaningful because of the people around you. Who do you look up to? What traits of theirs do you want to integrate into your being? What do they do that you’d like to do some day? If the people you look up to do not fall into any of these things, I strongly suggest you don’t invest any more time into them. I don’t mean cut off your toxic parents or anything life altering like that, I mean ignore the things that don’t fuel your goals. I’m not saying you pick someone and mimic everything they do, I mean critically choose what lessons you’ll take from them.

Be weary of the people you follow. Don’t follow blindly.

8. Rekindle an old hobby

I used to read a whole book in a day. At the most, I’d stretch it out to a week, but nothing more. It was a glorious time in my life where I just got into anime, steam rolling through seasons, then writing fanficition, wasting sleeping time to write more and post several times in one night, not to mention playing flash games but now I barely do any of that anymore. I keep buying more books and not much of it are getting read. I keep typing drafts that I never publish. I scroll through anime lists before closing the tab, fruitless.

You must have had a fun hobby when you were younger. Why not slot in a time to try it again? You may be lucky enough to reignite that passion. It’s worth a shot in the race to feeling good the right way.

9. Follow the world news

At this point, there’s no avoiding it because of the current climate. But anyways, it’s important to know what’s going on over yonder because it not only feeds your intellect, it keeps you cultured and it humbles you in a way I can’t describe. It also opens a new conversation topic for you, and as someone who wasn’t into dipping into ANY type of news, it reduces the amount of side eyes you get from people who do. It didn’t bother me before, but again, when one of my siblings kept announcing the news to us everyday, I woke up early and skimmed through google news and just waited until he rolled in the room. His face fell when I started reciting the recent headlines and I’ve never looked back since.

P.p.s I do not mean entertainment news. Indulge in that if you like it of course, but please, cast your lovely gaze on world news as well.

10. Try and make more friends

I know. I practically hiss at people who approach me. I wasn’t always like this, but circumstance and people’s audacity brutally murdered me every time I reached out. It’s not like I’m antisocial - I’m always kind and accommodating to anyone who comes my way, but I stopped putting myself out there completely.

I can’t tell you to change and start talking to people, I’m saying to give the newcomers a chance. Don’t treat everyone the same way because that’s not fair and you might lose the opportunity to have another friend. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m stilling hissing at the assholes who forgot how to act right.

P.p.p.s Real life friends. Online friends are just as precious, but it’s healthy to have joy close by as well.

And that’s about as much as I can think of at the top of my head. There are many life lessons I’ve had the privilege to learn, and many more that have yet to come, and so have you. Here’s to our collective success and happiness, our failures and sadness, and all the pointless shit in between. 20s is a ride that doesn’t have to just be full of holes and mistakes and regrets. I really wish people would stop saying it will be and decide for me.

#study motivation #life advice #studyblr #motivation #life is good #journal #life tips #what am i saying #how am i supposed to tag this #adulting #college adventures #college advice #life in your 20s #apathycarestostudy

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anadvanceddegreeinquiet · 3 years

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What, Me Pandemic? A Boho Crowd Stakes Its Claim (and Claims Its $48 Steaks)

Fricasse Dubois, 21, lamented the decision to pull her latest concrete poem from The Codswalloped Pisspot as she passed one of the whimsical “Maine-ducks-in-flight” mailboxes that serve as newspaper bins for the red-hot downtown rag. But her friend and intern, Banshee Fitzgerald, 33, had made a good point: The Pisspot had been flirting with questionable taste for months now.

First there was the ironic opera libretto by Steve Bannon, which cast Leo “KIDS” Fitzpatrick as a Muslim refugee in a Copenhagen no-go zone. Then there was the edgy faux-memoir from Terry Richardson, modeled on O.J. Simpson’s unpublished “If I Did It,” and accompanied by a portfolio of Juergen Teller ass-Xeroxes.

But now, the Pisspot hype was growing, and Dubois realized that she might miss the proverbial boat. Interest in the nascent publishing venture was at fever pitch; a SPAC had been formed by laid-off Gagosian and Perrotin directors eager to stage a hostile takeover of the irregularly published ‘zine.

And a dash of infamy certainly helped—the paper’s co-editor, Stizzy Fugger, had just launched a Tumblr in which she tallied the number of people she had inadvertently infected with Covid-19, updated in real-time (12,617 at press time, if you’re keeping score, more than the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally).

Anyone who has witnessed a “Pisspot drop” in the Dimes Square neighborhood of Manhattan knows to expect pandemonium. But nothing could have prepared this reporter for the foamy-mouthed jubilee and ecstatic violence of the occasion.

It was 11am on a Tuesday, and the editors appeared at the corner of Seward Park, bearing several cardboard boxes of the paper. They were trailed by the usual suspects: Pimple-necked sadcore rappers, sex-positive Zoom therapists, former Artforum critic’s pickers who now run content for Chipotle, and middle-aged men who really shouldn’t skateboard.

It’s a truism that an issue of Pisspot isn’t really read so much as it is imbibed, absorbed via the osmosis of social media’s orgiastic frenzy. In fact, the Times had a great deal of difficulty locating anyone who had physically held a copy of the paper in their smooth, unlined hands; many preferred to experience it as a series of fuzzy, thumbnail-sized images posted ironically on MySpace.

“People used to say they read Playboy for the ads,” said Kit Murano, a fish-eyed, forty-something member of a downtown-based Adderall (™) street team. “Pisspot doesn’t have ads. And no one who knows anything would be caught, like, just sitting there and flipping through the thing. It’s an attitude. It’s an essence. It’s a lifestyle.”

Okay, sure—but what about the actual content actually published in each issue? Imagine an early iteration of Vice cross-pollinated with Tiger Beat, and then add a splash of sexual-harassment-era Paris Review. It’s a bit silly, and a bit loose. Bret Easton Ellis contributes a crossword puzzle in which every answer is just another reason why millennials suck. A party report—‘Reamed & Furred’—diligently transcribes the coke-addled bon mots of the same group of six people all eating at the same restaurant every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening.

If there’s an ethos gluing all of this together, it’s a passing-of-the-torch from an older bohemian guard to a younger demographic, with their laissez-faire attitudes about sex, drugs, and global pandemics. “It’s, like, we can all still party together, and age isn’t really ‘a thing’,” explains Murano, leaning out the window of a Mini Cooper wrapped in shiny SunGen Pharma adverts.

The entire scene revolves around the lopsided triangle known as “Dimes Square,” which borrows its moniker from the culinary hotspot Dimes. (The name derives from Cockney rhyming slang for ‘elongated pinky nail.’). Every New York story is also, of course, a story about real estate. In this case, that means the Connecticut country houses that this cohort has Airbnbed out while remaining to weather the storm in lower Manhattan.

Parts of this scene are “white, but probably ambisexual-adjacent; they’re members of the creative class, but they possess enough self-hatred to seem authentic,” says Dash Johnson, a Dimes Square hanger-on who many suspect of running the Steak-Umms social media accounts. “Most of them used to work for galleries, or websites, or Garage magazine, but when those jobs dried up, they woke up one morning and said: Fuck it. Let’s stop pretending. Let’s just tweet.”

One essential element of any good scene is a gossip column to keep track—and to keep score. ArtWet’s “Wet Ass Pigment” plays that role for the Dimes Square cognoscenti. It’s a bleeding-edge social diary written by an anonymous, Gossip Girl-style correspondent who communicates solely via Signal, using a vocal transformer.

“I was sick of trying to break into this world,” they said. “I was sick of meeting Anthony Haden-Guest at a dinner, for the 387th time, and having him introduce himself all over again, like we hadn’t both thrown up in the same toilet less than three days before. Fuck gatekeepers. I built my own gate, and then I started keeping it.”

It was a Wet Ass Pigment column, in fact, which broke the season’s buzziest news: semi-disgraced first son Hunter Biden had bought an octoplex apartment directly above Dimes, where he’ll be staying as he prepares for a September solo exhibition that will open concurrently across Andrew Kreps, 56 Henry, Shoot the Lobster, and a pop-up space for Recess CBD seltzer. Unlike the gentle, “meditative” paintings that Biden had been making in recovery, the new work is brash and rudely vulgar—the product of an unexpected friendship Biden had struck up with Bjarne Melgaard and Jordan Wolfson.

Meanwhile, the group’s literary face remains 29-year-old Katarina Klaus, whose razor-sharp prose skewers her surroundings with the acidic wit of a young Evelyn Waugh. “I’ll be honest, I fucking hate writing,” Klaus admitted, blowing her nose into a Telfar bag. “I’m both super motivated and super lazy. Sometimes I’ll just copy-paste random chunks of Speedboat into a column and no one will even notice.”

So what’s next for this ragtag crew? “Dimes Square will probably be over by the time this fucking article comes out,” Klaus laments. “You’re going to have, like, some TikTok influencer house on the corner of Canal and Essex, and all the coke will have fentanyl in it again because idiots from New Jersey just have no nose. You know what? I’m regretting this already. This is all off the record.”

Meanwhile, Klaus is already rethinking her involvement in Pisspot. With a current print run of 250 copies, the instantly iconic newspaper suddenly seems a bit too exposed. She’s in discussions with a new, unnamed venture that would distribute articles and essays in a serialized format, via fortunes randomly inserted into cookies at various Chinese restaurants within a three-block radius of the Square. “It’s all about ephemerality,” she says, sucking on a DMT vape she brought back from Mexico City. “It’s all about staying relevant.”

This article was lovingly rewritten from the original by Scott Indrisek.

CORRECTION: The above edition of this story mistakenly cites Kit Murano’s age as “forty-something,” based on our reporter’s visual guesstimation. She is actually 19.

CORRECTION: ‘Dimes’ is in fact Cockney prison rhyming slang for the expression, “a bent knob is straight twice a day.”

CORRECTION: An earlier online version of this story mistakenly identified The Codswalloped Pisspot as The Duct-Taped Shitberg.

CORRECTION: An earlier, subscribers-only post of this story mislabeled the gossip blog Wet Ass Pigment as being a Spotify podcast called Wank ‘n Pose.

CORRECTION: Jordan Wolfson died in 2014.

CORRECTION: An earlier Google Doc of this story referenced a non-existent ‘hardcore maternity diary’ by Chloe Sevigny, which most likely did not appear in issue 4 of the Codtaped Shitpot.

CORRECTION: A version of this story that was sent to hapless print subscribers in Texas and Connecticut wrongly identified the geographic boundaries of “Dimes Square” as being East 45th Street, Central Park West, Freeman’s Alley, and Bedford Avenue.

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dappercritter · 4 years

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Random She-Ra Season 4 Thoughts:

After much thinking and suffering, here are some random thoughts I had about season 4 inbetween feel episodes.

Going into S4 be like.

Coming out of S4 be like.

Grief and failure to communicate. This season is off to a great start!

You know, I still like Swift Wind but I’m starting to see why most people, uh… don’t.

If you told me before I started the show that I would hate a sexy catgirl and feel sorry for a creepy-looking cyborg conqueror, I would have called you a liar, paused, then said, “No, wait. Yeah, that sounds like me.”

Queen Glimmer looks nice, but I’m definitely going miss her old Cutie Honey-esque hairstyle.

Shame that Huntara didn’t join the Rebellion full-time but it’s for the best. Not just so she can liberate the Crimson Wastes, but let’s face it, nobody in the Rebellion would be able to think straight with a butch Amazonian warrior goddess hanging around.

I really can’t give Double Trouble enough praise: they have so much personality, a fantastic design combining reptilian and theatre-kid traits (two of my favourite kind of characters!), are morally ambiguous but likeable, and help alleviate all the dramatic stress that this season is packed with.

Flutterina and her village has thoroughly convinced me we need more moth people in fantasy.

Why? Simple. THEY’RE SO FLUFFY

I have some minor issues with the Flutterina controversy: yes, Adora and the Rebellion recruited a young girl to fight in a war and took her from her home and all that, which is a valid concern to have and indeed just a little hypocritical given that was how she was forced to grow up, but I feel like the fact that Flutterina is actually Double Trouble, a young adult spy with what I assume is a fair amount of combat and espionage training, makes it ring hollow for me.

Also, do we know if there’s a real Flutterine that Double Trouble impersonated or is she just a persona they made up?

Either way, it’s funny to imagine the Elberon locals trying to make sense of this little girl that just showed up out of nowhere, went off to war, and then the real one shows up right after and everyone just has to go along with it otherwise people will think they can’t keep track of their own kids.

Okay, so I’m not happy about Shadow Weaver slowly being treated as just another member of the cast, but I’m also sort of glad that it’s being implied that we’re still not supposed to trust her either.

That said, leave it to Shadow Weaver to go and potentially destroy Glimmadora on us.

Rogelio confirmed for best boyfriend.

Watching Kyle’s near sacrifice gave me some Chaos Vortex PTSD. (Pit-Truama Stress Disorder)

(If you understood that reference, you have earned my respect for life.)

Light Hope, you’re scaring the adults now, too.

Emily has a holographic projector and was at one point wanted by a ruthless conqueror of worlds. So I guess she qualifies as an astromech droid now?

Speaking of holograms, seeing Catra, Scorpia, and Entrapta when they were all friends was the worst kind of bittersweet.

(After watching Scorpia leave her toxic friendship to embark with Emily on an adventure to save Entrapta) *on the verse of tears* Fricking superb you funky little lesbian! *sniff* Fricking superb…

That’s right, Catra. You reflect on the consequences of your actions like a good kitty-cat.

Sea Hawk surprisingly looks the part for a good noir protagonist.

In his own head, of course.

Is it just me, or is Frosta acting mature again? Hyperactive Little Sister Frosta is fun, but The Only Sane Person in the Room is a Literal Child Frosta would be a missed opportunity.

Oh no, Adora and Glimmer are fighting!

Yay, they were just pretending to catch Double Trouble!

Oh no…

“Boy’s Night Out” or, “How to Delight and Emotionally Destroy Your Audience At The Same Time”

Believe it or not, Sea Hawk possesses special abilities like the Princesses. Those being:

Great singing

Superhuman positivity

Nigh-invulnerability

I’m not sure if Madame Razz is a time-traveller, a Doctor, or just has some sort of Alzheimer’s, but regardless, I’m proud of how the crew handled it.

Swift Wind might be annoying at times but if showing concern for the elderly doesn’t make him a likeable character, I don’t what does.

Looks like I can add “Hero” to the list of She-Ra episodes that deserve an Emmy or Annie.

Words cannot describe how happy I was to see Scorpia pop-up in Bright Moon amid all the drama.

Glimmer is tip-toing the line between “pure-hearted character forced into morally grey responsibilities” and “grey-area wet wipe” and I am not loving it.

So between She-Ra, Huntara, and Scorpia, we all agree Perfuma has a type now, right?

I know it’s just Double Trouble making fun of her (and my love of Elvis Presley, Johnny Bravo, and Kishidan showing) but I think Adora looks pretty dang cool with a pompadour.

Beast Island: It’s Annihilation for Kids!

Yay, King Micha really is alive!

However, he still doesn’t have a wife to come back to and his daughter is making some poor life choices. Bummer.

Nice to see Bow’s still on the Hates Shadow Weaver bandwagon.

Entrapta’s got a Kamen Rider mask now and no one call me otherwise.

And she’s got a mecha that used Godzilla’s roar.

Well, even if my She-Ra-fan-heart is dying, my tokusatsu-geek-brain is happy.

How Entrapta adjusted to life on Beast Island is both nothing and everything I expected from her at the same time.

Well what do you know, Glimmadora saves lives!

BREAKING NEWS: Non-binary reptilian theatre-kid makes breakthrough with angry lesbian cat!

Light Hope, you’re breaking our hearts…

I’m glad that the show is hopping on the anti-power-up bandwagon as well. As someone who grew up with shows like Power Rangers where everything was immediately solved by new merchandise or powers, I get a sort of twisted satisfaction seeing that the shiny merchandisable new toy is more trouble than its worth.

Oh, and of course, it makes a for a good lesson on the danger of absolute power.

Before I started S4, I hated Horde Prime because he wasn’t a giant eldritch cyborg monster anymore, but I’ve actually gotten quite accustomed to his new design. Now I hate him for being a callous perfectionist world conqueror with no sense of personal space that may or may not be into selfcest.

(*praying intensely*) Please let Adora turn into She-ra through sheer-will power next season, please let Adora turn into She-ra through sheer-will power next season, please let

Yup, I was right! This season didn’t fix damn thing the last one broke!

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yeet-me-into-oblivion-please · 5 years

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Well, Supernatural is actually ending and I don't know what I'll do

[ Brevity is not a strong suit of mine since I've included personal details but there's stuff I feel everyone in the SPN family needs to read]

You might be expecting another post about how Supernatural saved someone's life and how devastated they will be when it ends because they've watched it for so long as well as how the actors have impacted their lives. This is probably one of those but please hear me out.

Supernatural premiered in 2005 and I was in preparatory class (aged 5 years and was before I began 1st grade). I heard of it because my aunt would watch it time to time so I'd also tried to get some peeks myself but I wasn't allowed to because it was "too scary".

Then our local cable began to show seasons 1-5 and that was when everyone in class started watching and quoting it. This was in 6th grade and I was frustrated because I knew about it before most of them yet they acted like it was a new show. I had a fair idea about the story but once I began watching it, I fell in love with it and loved it like a part of my soul.

Yes, Jensen Ackles was my first crush but I still thought (and do think) that both he and Jared are super hot. So I was sucked into this vortex, this Neverland which I never thought I would end.

I joined Tumblr for this show in 2013 because I saw the jokes about there being a Supernatural gif everywhere and wanted to be a part of the fandom/community. This was also the year I actually became interested what other fans felt though I never used this site properly until 2016 I would read the IMDb discussion boards because I hated scurrying through Destiel-infested posts.

(Fun fact:I wasn't using any social media of my own but on my mother's Facebook I liked a Supernatural fan page asking people's opinions on Destiel. This is was around the time season 8 was just finishing or had already finished so I read the comments--- people talked about Dean and Castiel being gay and didn't approve of it as there was this one girl who was conservative and didn't believe in homosexuality while others went on how Dean was always a ladies man which I agreed with. Not that I commented but I thought there was something I missed and I thought Castiel used Dean as a vessel, thus Destiel.)

But I digress. I was in deep by the time season 9 premiered and majority of the people I knew stopped watching the show except for this girl who bullied me throughout preschool who put up this update that Dean had become a demon. I doubt she watches the show now but it was hard seeing her put pictures of "I heart Dean Winchester" and pictures of Jensen when my mom asked me why I don't do the same.

Supernatural, I feel, has become that embarrassing thing you are into in middle school but suddenly drop when you're older, looking back and thinking, "Yeesh, I can't believe I used to watch this show."

I'll be a grown woman at 30 or 40 and probably eventually in my 70s and 80s but I will still look back fondly, the good, the bad and the ugly because I have like many teenagers have undergone many changes (friends, family, emotions, hobbies etc) but Supernatural has always been this constant in my life.

Because let me tell you, I'm seeing these posts saying stuff like how people are glad that it's finally over with its "bullshit" and that's it's dying. That is extremely disrespectful and insensitive to those people who literally live for it, who have invested time and money into it: gif makers, artists, meta writers (I may not agree with you guys but even you count). They don't know what to do once the show ends because it has helped them in ways others will never ever be able to fathom.

I saw the video put up by the guys. I saw and I could tell that Jared, Jensen and Misha had probably cried their guts out before the announcement because their eyes were red and puffy. Jared was controlling himself by talking less as Jensen was clearly on the verge as well but yes they said that they should save the angst for next year.

I love the guys; I love Jared being a goofball and Jensen being equally goofy as well and I'll say this too, I used to enjoy some of Misha's crass jokes (not the highlight ) as well which was why I looked forward to the gag reel every summer (because of J2) because it was cathartic after a traumatic season finale. I love the witty banter and the pranks the cast would do and I will miss it tremendously.

I have some issues with my aunt but everything would be okay when we would fawn over the guys and bingewatch the entire season the summer after it finished airing. We'd quote quotes back and forth and even spiritually killed ourselves watching short clips of "Sammy, close your eyes", "I'm proud of us" etc. Hell, she even promised me that when we go visit my uncle in the States we'd attend a con together.

If, and whenever we do go, it'll be different because the show won't be on air anymore and I know for a fact that I won't feel the anticipation of an episode.

So don't say disrespectful and callous things like "fucking finally". You can dislike the cast/plotline/show but don't ridicule and mock those who invested in the show,some of you are most probably speculating and have barely seen it.

I'm not some dumb, blind fan. I can see some stupid mistakes and don't always eat up what the writers show. For example, everyone must have figured that I dislike Destiel because it's based on groundless assumptions. I thought the Bloodlines was a crap idea that had nothing to do with the main plot and knew it was destined to fail.

As for Wayward Daughters/Sisters or whatever the fuck it was supposed to be called, I was not looking forward to it at all because it was one of those "forced diversity" shows, y'know gender bent stuff.

I felt that they were bastardising everything that Supernatural has and will (always) stand for because some people had a hair up their backsides. Yeah, I loathed Claire and that Kaia mourning thing was bullshit. Thank goodness I was sick that day and couldn't keep my eyes open for that episode.

If we were told that there would be a Men of Letters(with Henry Winchester) or even a Bobby-Rufus spinoff I would be okay with that but for now since the show will finish next year let's the wounds heal first, shall we?

I hope that Jared and Jensen get some offers once the show is done and I will pay good money to see movies, TV shows of them etc but for now I will keep quiet since I hope we get an ending we (and the boys) deserve.

Yes, the writer situation scares me and I think they should call Eric Kripke for a last hurrah. I mean, it is his baby and he should get to have a say in the series finale as well as J2.

Will one of the brothers die and the other will live (I'm worried we'll get a reverse Swan Song)? Will they both die leaving Cas behind and Jack as some sort legacy who trains future hunters? That would be a possibility since the sheriff in 14.16 asked the Winchesters why they don't tell people about monsters. What happens to Baby?

I seriously doubt the ending will be happy(maybe not 100%) but the best thing would be if they go driving with Baby into the sunset...

Dean at the steering wheel with Sam riding shotgun, where they should be ---- where they will always be, home. Dean plays his "mullet rock" as Sam would playfully mock his brother's musical choices. No chick flick moments. Just the Winchesters.

The boys need to lay their weary heads to rest, so they can cry no more. Because they are the legendary Winchesters, the hunters who saved the world countless times unbeknownst to many. I don't think their work will ever be done but there will be peace when they are done and how they will reach that point we'll never know till 2020.

Everyone will hear "Carry on wayward son" for the last time ever in Supernatural over a painful montage of "Dad's gone on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days" and "Saving people, hunting things, the family business". Now who in this fandom wouldn't be wracked with pain?

This is the show we all joked about that made a deal with the devil to never go off air but I did expect this a long time ago. Only thing was that I didn't know how I'd treat the news. I was that person who would go, "pfft, of course Supernatural would get renewed". Then again, this was the show that an ending was imminent and the whole season 4 debacle about Misha and the angel storyline saving the show blah blah blah.

So next year, everyone will flock to see the finale and epic conclusion to the Winchester saga whether they stopped at season 5,6,7 or 10,12. Diss it all you want for the shit show it may have become but wherever you left off, you may still want to know what happens to Sam and Dean Winchester in the end.

Once Supernatural ends, I'll turn 20 next summer and I would like to think of it being poetic that I end my adolescence with a show I have loved when I brave the cold, ruthless world of adulthood. I'm a picky person and can't say what's my favorite xyz is but you know what I'll say about my favorite TV show.

We will have completed 327 episodes which is the highest for a scifi TV show so I do hope the boys get some sort of recognition. It was us crazy bitches and jerks that gave the show the mileage and it was us that gave Jared and Jensen faith that they could carry on so for the remainder of season 14 and for 15,support these guys. Support these annoyingly sexy and ridiculously hilarious dudes for this show. I'm sure Jared and Jensen love the show like it's their kid practically but I wish everyone would just shut up, tinhatters, bronlies, stans, destihellers because we are all fans of the one show so let's ease the time we have left.

But seriously imagine Sam and Dean on a desert highway, the orange and yellow rays of the setting sun make Baby shine in all her splendor which makes Dean swell with pride. He starts the engine with a low rumble and they're off. They might to California to feel the sand beneath their feet or to Disneyland. They're living the "apple pie life" and this is their personal heaven : with each other.

I wouldn't mind this playing in the background if the ending is the inevitable and unspeakable you know what :

It's wishful thinking, since I wish they'd actually play some Zeppelin instead of song titles being used as episode titles but I wish they could use some Queen or Guns n Roses and stuff before 1979 because everything sucked ass afterwards according to Dean.

I want the classic rock resurgence in the show as well but I know they'll end up using the cash elsewhere. I wouldn't mind a body swap episode but if wishes were horses, right?

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allykat4416 · 5 years

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Meme Trip 2k19, Pt. 2

Date: May 18th

Park(s): Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, KY//Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN

I’ve always loved an underdog story. In a world like today, where most parks of note are owned by Six Flags or Cedar Fair, it’s harder for the “Little Guys” to get their foot in the door. I think that’s actually pretty sad, as some of my favorite parks are these smaller, family-owned establishments like Knoebels’ and Waldameer. I also really like the neglected parks in the big chains like Michigan’s Adventure. I think I’m just weird and salty.

But what about a park with humble roots, snatched up by a large corporation and falling victim to an antagonistic fair board and an economic downturn, only to rise from the ashes better than ever? I don’t know about you guys, but that’s the exact kind of place I stan.

I’ve always high-key wanted to visit Kentucky Kingdom since its 2014 reopening. Ed Hart has fought so hard and poured so much of his heart into reviving this park that it makes me want to cheer for them just because I respect the man so much. Plus, it didn’t hurt that I’ve heard KK has more ejector in two rides than Ohio has in two parks. {Having been, I can confirm that’s true.}

I watched them build Lightning Run. I watched them build Storm Chaser. I watched them troll heavily with everyone before announcing Kentucky Flyer. I watched them do all these things, and I yearned and yearned to go. And now, I’ve finally been.

Going into this trip, I’d always been pulling for Lightning Run. It’s the only ride of its kind in the world, and people tend to overlook that because there’s an RMC in the park. I don’t hate RMC as much as I used to after this trip, but I still incredibly hate how the community treats RMC. I anticipated that I would prefer LR over SC, and that did end up being true. I don’t know if I’m soft on this ride because it’s an underdog in a park that’s already full of underdog energy, if it’s because I love the things we’ve done with her character in our story, or what.

Like me, LRun isn’t a morning person. It wasn’t quite what I had expected it to be on our first ride, and I was honestly a bit sad. Not Steve levels of “wow lmao that sucked” because it was still indeed a great ride, but it wasn’t quite as intense as I thought it was going to be. It got more like what I thought it would be after we’d gone through the park, and we ended up riding it three more times after that initial excursion. I don’t like the term “flojector” but if there’s any two rides that I think have it, it’s LRun and Fury. That makes me feel things I’m not sure I want to feel.

It’s short, sweet, and to the point, never wasting your time and a blast from start to finish. The twists and three hills at the end are a choice finale. S-curves, thick ass, give ‘em whiplash indeed. I believe LRun has my favorite first drop of all time too. (If anything is close, it’s actually on an RMC weirdly enough. But I’ll get to that later.) Good on you, Chance. Build a Hyper GT-X in my backyard, please. I love it.

Kentucky Flyer was a fantastic addition to the park’s lineup. It’s got me even more unironically excited for Oscar’s Wacky Taxi. Something about this ride reminded me greatly of Mystic Timbers, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly. I think the best word to describe this ride is “cute”, but not in a patronizing manner. Fetus Mystic or not, it’s a really fun ride and I can’t wait to see a bunch of new coaster geeks in the area come to the hobby from this being their first coaster. Four for you, Gravity Group. You go, Gravity Group.

T3 wasn’t as awful as I was anticipating it to be. The lap bars are what sucks, if anything, and the ride does shuffle very noticeably in a few spots. However, the layout isn’t bad and I see why it was cloned so much; if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. I like the cherry red paintjob as well. Just…please do something about the lap bars. I don’t even mind STR or SkyRush’s! But this, this is terrible.

Thunder Run surprised me. I’d gone in expecting something like Hurler at Carowinds, since it’s just a clone of that ride. I left kind of pissed off that Carowinds doesn’t maintain theirs like that. I do believe there might have been some modifications to the layout because of structural damage when the park was essentially left to rot after 2010. If that’s the case, I understand. But damn, this thing was actually surprisingly good! I’d need a couple of more rides to really say what I think and we had bigger, angrier fish to fry, but that’s all the more reason for a revisit.

Obligatory comment that Storm Chaser kicks the shit out of Steel Vengeance, not that it’s that hard to do. I’d heard it was running a bit sluggish that day, and I can get that. It wasn’t as violent as I’d anticipated it to be, but it was still typical RMC ejector like what I’d had on WiCy or TwiTim. It’s not Lightning Rod, but if you compare any RMC to LRod, you’re going to be disappointed. At least Stormy, you know, fucking had ejector. The trick-track double-up was really neat, but I think the first drop is every bit as good. It’s like Timbers’ drop only better. It’s weird in that it’s better in the front. That seems to be a recurring thing here. Like sister, like sister I guess. We ended up riding this three times since we liked it so much.

Roller Skater was also a really cute family credit, and it’s in a beautiful setting. There isn’t a lot else to say about it. It’s just kind of there for the fetus thrill seekers who aren’t quite ready to take flight on KyFly yet.

The park still has some sense of Six Flags, like a stain you can’t really ever scrub out. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, though. It gives the park more character, and it pays tribute to what its past life used to hold. It’s an interesting park that I’m eager to see grow and hopefully prosper in the years to come. Ed Hart cares so deeply for the place, and it shows.

There were a couple of other enthusiasts at the park that day, and both Roller Skater and Storm Chaser broke down for them after we had left. I don’t know if coasters have souls, but if they do, I tip my hat to those two for being real pals.

Keeping with the theme of family-owned fun, we split the day between Kentucky and Indiana. In another sense, Holiday World was kind of an underdog in this trip with regards to me. I had visited once in October and utterly hated it. I’d overestimated how much progress I’d made in my path to recovery from a prior relationship, and HW had associations with that ex all over the place [being in Indiana, passing road signs from their hometown, them visiting the park multiple times, yadda-yadda.] I’d also had a tough time because of a member of our party who had invited himself to our excursion. I almost fucking killed him on Voyage’s lift hill. But fuck him, he’s a Steve fanboy.

None of that was the park’s fault. Rude people, jealousy, and awful exes aren’t the Koch family’s doing. But it made Holiday World leave a very, very unpleasant taste in my mouth. There were multiple times during the off-season that I didn’t want to particularly come back to this park. I didn’t think I was ready. While yeah, I did have to avoid looking at some of the interstate signs, I know it’s okay to know your limits. We also kept this park very quiet so no one would be a massive cockgoblin and invite themselves at the last minute.

Raven is, as always has been, a pretty solid ride. Not a lot of good coasters opened in my birth year of 1995, but I think Raven is my favorite of that class. I tried to pay more attention to the ride this visit after hearing about the death on it in 2003 and see where that woman lost her life. I definitely understand why it happened where it did, and it makes me feel awful to say that that’s always been my favorite drop on the ride. I feel like I keep saying it, but Raven is in such a beautiful setting by Lake Rudolph and that adds to an already-fun experience to me.

Legend was slated to be down for the day. It was posted on the sign at the front, we’d heard from multiple enthusiasts that he was a sleepy boy, and even the worker at Taco Bell in Corydon told us it was down when she’d visited the other day. However, during our marathon of another ride, we heard talk of them opening Legend for the last couple of hours. Sure enough, we saw a testing train a few minutes later.

We only got one ride and it hadn’t warmed up, so it wasn’t quite as good as I remembered, but I don’t hold that against him. It still feels like a hybrid between Beast and Mystic. We stan Helixes of Death. Legend was really the only ride I remembered a lot from in October, so maybe he just didn’t have as much to say to me as the others did. I’d blocked a lot more from HW out than I think I anticipated myself to.

Thunderbird is easily the best wing in NA (and I’ve done all 4 now, so I can say that. Checkmate, IG twats.) The launch is always a bunch of fun, and I still adore that slow roll at the end. It’s a lot like Banshee’s with ample hangtime. Can KD get one of these to replace what we lost with Volcano? Pretty please? And the little touches like the flickering lights through the queue as well as the launch barn really make the ride a bit more special. We love a dude.

We also rode Crow’s Nest, because God is dead and Starflyers killed him. Since it was so hot out, the breeze was pretty nice. It was also a fun way to relax, unlike the heart attack I’d had earlier on KK’s Ferris Wheel.

Voyage was better this time. I can understand the hype for this ride a bit more now, even though Casie is the only Voyage fan I actually tolerate. Tell me how it stops in the middle of the ride but still doesn’t fuck over its pacing. Tell me how I believe it’s got 24 seconds of airtime. I remember thinking that the night ride was really good, but I had blocked out nearly everything about this ride. I think my favorite part is the twisted section out in the woods with the 90-degree banking. I also was a fan of the tunnels due to the heat! I’m really glad we slipped to the overflow queue to watch it go through one of the final tunnels. Super neat, and I can definitely agree that it deserved to win those Tickets. Even if the Tickets are a scam.

But my favorite part of Voyage wasn’t even a part of the ride itself. It was standing in the queue, realizing I was in Indiana and it was very, very close to the day it all ended. And then I realized… I was perfectly okay. I was with someone I love doing something I love, and everything was just fine. She didn’t have that power over me anymore. She’s gone in every sense. I’m not too proud to say I started to cry in the station. I don’t know why it happened at Voyage, but that ride had been a sore spot and a point of contention for the past 7 months. If there was anywhere to get to that final stage of healing, I’m glad it was at that park and that ride.

I still don’t like it more than some of the other parks I’ve visited [Knoebels, Dollywood, BGW, etc.] but I do appreciate Holiday World a lot more now. Who could hate a place that offers as much free stuff as they do? And how on earth could I hate a place where I was able to finally let go of this pain? I’m glad we had such a positive experience, and letting go of the leftover hurt from that person and period of my life was a recurring theme the next couple of days. If nothing else, this trip helped me put some of those demons to bed. And maybe that’s my own underdog story.

#trip reports

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weightlessribbons · 5 years

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The politics of RWBY and its faunus subplot

I love RWBY but every time I think about its politics it gives me a goddamn migraine

disgustingly long post below

So the main conflict of the story is the mostly apolitical struggle against the Grimm, and the largest subplot is the WF arc and the theme of anti-faunus racism

But the show has nearly nothing to say on the subject. Its message is almost utterly vacant.

We have Blake at the start of the show disillusioned with the only civil rights organization in existence, which is also a genocidal terrorist operation (🤔🤔🤔), and is left directionless and without a real idea of what to do.[1] Oobleck asks her how her being a huntress will solve the racism thing and she can't answer him. Okay, that's something: we could have a character arc about her finding direction and deciding to Do Something to Solve Racism.

But when she gives her speech at the end of the WF arc, in Menagerie like four volumes later, she still doesn't know what to do about racism! She scarcely mentions racism at all; all she says with any conviction is that the faunus population in general fails to denounce Adam’s WF. It reminds me of similar rhetoric with regard to Muslims in the US: if you're not loud enough in your denunciations, it's your own fault if people lump you in with the terrorists. Never mind that such demands are never made in good faith and minorities are lumped in with the terrorists anyway. If you're being discriminated against, it's your fault for not being a good enough citizen, and if you were just of better moral character you wouldn't be marginalized. That's all in the way of a plan Blake offers: just be a good person, and the humans will give you your rights!

So that's the message: racism is bad. Also, murdering innocent civilians is bad. Be a good person.

So what does "being a good person" mean?

Well, we can guess. A theme prominent here is forgiveness: Blake forgives Ilia. Implicit: the faunus should forgive the humans.[2]

That's it: forgiveness. Not, you know, any sort of political organization, or any sort of demands for justice, or any overthrow or even reform of corrupt institutions. Just keep playing the game and things will get better. Also, be willing to risk your life for others, and for the unity of the Society, even if they hate you. It’s not fair, but it’s the only way things get better.[3][4]

But is it, really?

We see a similar theme earlier, in V3. At the end of the volume we have narration by Salem to the effect of "unity" and "trust" being the greatest strengths of humanity. The obvious reading is, then, that unity and trust are Good. The Best, in fact. But what does that mean, exactly?

Cinder's monologue gives us an idea. According to her, the people have placed too much faith in their public institutions. Their "guardians" are authoritarian, secretive, and fallible.

There it is, then. The text is clear: distrust of powerful public institutions only helps the forces of evil.[5] (Also, the only people expressing such distrust are foreign chaos agents bent on destroying our freedoms.)

If "you should trust the authorities” seems to contradict the racism theme mentioned earlier, it actually doesn't. Racism in RWBY is never portrayed as an institutional or systemic issue; it's usually called "hatred". This allows for the text to acknowledge racism as an important issue that is a problem of character, rather than of power[6], and therefore attempts to address it should not destabilize existing power structures.

It’s no surprise, then, that racism, an ostensibly major theme, receives such scant attention. There's Weiss being racist, and Cardin being racist, the two things that receive more than a couple of lines on the topic. There's Blake's WF exposition that actually says very little about racism at all. There's a blink-and-you-miss-it "No Faunus" sign in a Mistral bar. There's Menagerie, some kind of faunus reservation, the nature of which is so vague it’s hard to say anything at all about it[7]. We get little attention to of (say) hiring or housing discrimination, or any other systemic racism; these are issues entirely foreign to the elite paramilitary children with whom the narrative is most concerned[8]. Again, racism presented as a character flaw, rather than a systemic issue of unjust power dynamics.

You can tell what a narrative cares about by what it emphasizes. The racism theme in the Vale arc is chiefly flavor for the hordes of faceless WF goons; the text doesn’t say anything worthwhile about racism itself. In the Mistral/Menagerie arc, the narrative is not about overcoming racism but about the recuperation of marginalized communities into the existing power structure in the name of unity and forgiveness.

What is lacking, I think, is any substantive or satisfying notion of justice. The text doesn’t give us any answer as to what should be done about racism, other than Be a Good Person, and that’s because racial justice simply isn’t that important to the narrative. Before solving a problem you must name it, and the text doesn’t. We have an entire racism/terrorism arc that manages to say nearly nothing on racism at all, because, as Blake says, the answer to the question of justice is complicated, and the text just doesn’t have the time.

[1]One funny thing to look at is Blake’s expository monologue to Sun in V1 about how the WF “turned dark”. The WF performed “organized attacks” by vandalizing discriminatory businesses and expropriating goods from corporations using “faunus labor”(does this mean slavery? or employees? that would be weird). It’s strange that these would be the things that forced her to leave; property crimes aren’t really a big deal compared to the killing of civilians depicted in the black trailer, which she for some reason doesn’t bring up. She says that it was working, and that human fear brought equality, but that such equality was bad since it wasn’t out of respect (and therefore would be fleeting). This is incredible in two ways. First: a government and populace that actually feared the WF would not bring equality, but rapid extermination (of the WF, that is). Fear doesn’t actually help unless you have power, and the WF seem to have no base of material or popular support and no praxis except insurrectionist violence[A]. Second: if it were somehow actually working, then why did Blake leave? What was the purpose of all this action, if not to attain power by making yourself a credible threat? Did you become a liberal out of nowhere? That she talks about property crime and “fear” instead of the killing of civilians is baffling.

[2]Yes, I know that Blake wants them to specifically go to Haven and physically stop the WF. Yes, stopping a terrorist attack is good, even if these civilians aren't at all fit for purpose. But this doesn't itself help to stop racism, which is why I didn't mention it specifically above.

[3]This mirrors the confrontation between Yang and Raven wrt Salem and the relic.

[4]We do learn later that Blake wants a “new” WF. This means, presumably, that the WF will go back to peaceful protest. But that doesn’t come up in her speech, and no mention, of course, of how it would help them in achieving their goals, or even what those goals are, specifically, other than ending “hatred” in general. March to End Racism. What a visionary.

[5]Also, distrust, anger, and other “negative emotions” attract the Grimm. That’s like metaphysical tone policing right there.

[6]There’s backstory of faunus having been enslaved which would count as systemic racism, but it doesn’t come up later or really affect anything on-screen, and the text doesn’t portray it at enough length or depth to characterize it as such.

[7]Menagerie being crappy must be understood within a wider context: why live in Menagerie, if it sucks, instead of where everyone else lives? Not much attention given to why this happens (other than perhaps “individuals are racist”). And does Menagerie being crappy actually have any consequences? Like economically, or socially? We don’t see them.

[8]The times where it seems the text might make a systemic critique are Adam’s backstory and Atlas in general. Adam’s trauma isn’t really remarked upon; he’s not a sympathetic figure. We don’t know much about Atlas since that’s for next season, but limiting your systemic critique to the one racist place seems a bad way to do things. We’ll have to see how it goes.

[A] Also, it’s not clear when the WF moved from “property crime” to “kill all humans”(which is comically over-the-top), and no one remarks on it. It gives one the sense that the narrative sees property crime and genocide as equally objectionable.

[ADDENDUM] Some might object by way of noting that RWBY hasn’t taken us to Atlas yet, where the racism lives, and that the WF arc wasn’t primarily about racism, but terrorism, so one shouldn’t expect the theme of racism to be addressed before Atlas. The problem is, though, that the WF was ostensibly founded as a civil rights organization; you cannot meaningfully conclude an arc on the WF without addressing racism. For example, at the end of V5 says that she wants to build a “new” WF. What does this mean? We never find out, because it’s not that important.

#rwby #if you enjoyed this content consider subscribing to my Patreon #which you can find on my linkedin page

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khalifaalsuwaid1 · 6 years

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Drag Race Winners Ranked

I should start out by stating two things:

1) This is not a “least favorite to favorite” list. If it were, these would be in a completely different order. I’m ranking the queens based on their runs on the seasons they won in, the queens they were up against, and their overall C.U.N.T.

2) These are my opinions, and mine only. If you disagree, fantastic! People have different opinions, it’s what makes us human.

Edit: Updated with our Season 10 winner, Aquaria!

13) Trixie Mattel

Trixie isn’t a bad or mediocre queen by any means, despite undoubtedly being the most undeserving Drag Race winner as of yet. If it weren’t for All Stars 3′s (one of the most disappointing, soulless Drag Race seasons, but that’s another post entirely) ridiculously flawed jury twist, where previously eliminated queens decide the top two All Stars, and BenDeLaCreme eliminating herself, she wouldn’t have won. Her performance on All Stars 3 was mediocre in the first half of the season, but she turned it out in the second half. There were, however, other queens that did much better than her throughout the season, and were solid all the way through. I think Trixie’s great, but her win felt extremely anticlimactic, and it wasn’t really her fault.

12) Sasha Velour

“Four challenge wins, four challenge wins..

Then the finale comes and the crowned queen is?…”

Sasha is a great queen. She’s intellectual, artsy, unique, annoyingly endearing with her history lessons that pop out of seemingly nowhere, and her run on Season 9 was relatively great, landing in the bottom once and never having to lip sync for her life. She’s winner material through and through. Why is she this low on the list, you might ask? Two words: Shea Couleé.

Let’s be honest, Season 9 was Shea’s season. She won four challenges, a record which she shared with two queens at the time, Sharon Needles and Alaska Thunderfuck (AS2), both of whom won their respective seasons. Even the editors weren’t expecting Sasha to win, since Shea was very clearly getting the winner’s edit. Season 9 felt like Season 8 most of the way through in terms of how obvious the winner was. “There’s no way in hell Shea isn’t winning this” the majority of people thought. Then it happened. In one of the most iconic moments in the show’s history, rose petals came flooding out of Sasha’s wig during her lip sync against Shea, and it all came crashing down.

“It’s not right but it’s okay” was the perfect final lip sync song, indeed.

11) Violet Chachki

This is where things get tough, because from here on out, I genuinely believe every single winner deserved the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar.”

Oh, Season 7. Such a great cast wasted on a stupid amount of acting challenges. It’s a shame Violet never got the chance to REALLY shine during the non-runway parts of the season, because she’s a fantastic queen. Interestingly, her best moment came from an episode of Season 8, not 7. At the end of Season 8′s crowning episode, she came out wearing what is, in my humble opinion, the best thing to walk down a runway in the entirety of the series, stealing the three finalists of Season 8′s thunder.

She might not have always been at the top during the challenges in her season, and she can come off a bit rude, but when it came to the runway, she never under-delivered. Being up against, in the words of Trixie Mattel, “a partially sedated twink from Brooklyn” might have helped her win the crown, though. Ginger Minj was stiff competition, but in the end, Violet prevailed. Thank God she did, because she gave us one of the most iconic moments of Season 8, one which I’m obviously still not over.

10) Tyra Sanchez

Let’s get this out of the way: No, Raven was not robbed.

Look, Tyra can be mean-spirited, hateful and rude. Tyra on Season 2 was, in all honesty, a bitch. But you know what? She fucking deserved the crown. Her reasoning behind being a bitch was that she was focused on winning the season, and while I’m not sure if that’s true or not, she definitely slayed the game. Tyra delivered in almost every single episode of her season, and has her fair share of iconic moments (”DIS GROOB IS FOR MAH GIRLS” remains one of my favorite Drag Race moments ever!) She unfortunately gets a lot of unwarranted hate from “fans” of the show for “robbing” Raven of her crown and being a bitch.

Being nice is great and all, but Tyra showed us that you don’t have to be Miss Congeniality to be America’s Next Drag Superstar.

Unfortunately, Tyra has lost her way recently. It’s extremely unfortunate, because she’s extremely beautiful and talented.

9) Chad Michaels

I’m going to try my best not to reference The Hunger Games during this section.

If there’s one thing the Drag Race fanbase can universally agree on, it’s that All Stars 1 is objectively the worst season of Drag Race ever, because of its oh-my-god-this-is-so-stupid-who-thought-this-was-a-good-idea teams twist. This is why Chad’s win is usually swept under the rug in the community, but in all honesty, I’m just glad Chad won something.

During Chad’s run on Season 4, he showed us how a professional drag queen acts, dresses and talks. If it weren’t for Sharon Needles, Chad would have probably won the season. There’s really not much else to say other than Chad was a really polished queen that deserved to win something, even it was the worst season of a great show.

8) Bebe Zahara Benet

Dubbed “The Lost Season,” Season 1 of Drag Race is kind of a mess. The best kind, of course. The budget was paper thin, they had that awful vaseline filter throughout the whole thing, and nobody knew what they were doing. Not Ru, not the producers and definitely not the contestants. In a way, Season 2 was actually the first season of Drag Race, whereas Season 1 felt like an elaborate pitch. There was no “Snatch Game,” a challenge that would become a staple in the series, for example.

However, Season 1 has something later seasons lack in a major way: genuineness. The contestants of Season 1 didn’t really come in with catchphrases prepared, or cared how “fans” would harass them on social media. They were a bunch of men in wigs having fun. One of those contestants, Bebe, really stood out. Born in Cameroon, as she likes to remind us (she really, really likes to remind us) she had and still has a sense of presence none of the other contestants on the show have. When she walks on stage, you really feel like a Queen is walking down the runway. To this day, she is the sole queen that gives off those vibes.

She is sadly always forgotten, despite having a stellar run on Season 1 and being the OG winner. Thankfully, All Star 3, where she had another great run, put her back on the radar. May she never be forgotten again. Cameroooon!

7) Aquaria

In all of my years watching Drag Race, I’ve never done a complete 180 on a Ru Girl as hard and fast as I did on Aquaria. Rewatching her “Meet the Queens” video, I still have no idea why she presented herself the way she did. Going into the Season, I saw Aquaria as a bratty look Queen that was extremely full of herself, and to be quite honest, the first few episodes didn’t change my viewpoint.

As the season went on, however, she started to show her true self. Aquaria went from a brat to a sweet, awkwardly endearing dork, and I loved every single microsecond of it.

I’ve failed to mention her runway looks, which were nothing short of excellent. Every time she walked out on the runway, all you saw was polish from head to toe. Her Mermaid, Hats Incredible and Evil Twin looks are absolutely breathtaking. Her performance in the challenges was just as good. If you had told me Aquaria would win Snatch Game at the beginning of the Season, I would have laughed in your face. But she did. Week after week, she defied expectations and was always full of surprises.

She didn’t deserve the crown, the crown was deserved by her. It truly is the dawning of the Age of Aquaria.

6) Bob the Drag Queen

I’m paraphrasing, but Thorgy Thor, a contestant on Season 8 of Drag Race, said something along the lines of knowing she wasn’t going to win when she saw Bob walk into the werkroom for the first time in an interview.

Season 8, perhaps more than any season of Drag Race, had the most predictable winner, and yet, nobody was really mad about it. The reason being is that Bob deserved every single fake jewel on that crown. Season 8 had a fantastic cast, but Bob was so much better than the rest of them, it bordered on being unfair. You could sense that the moment he walked into the werkroom.

Fashion and Makeup is where Bob usually faltered, but more than made up for it by being absolutely hilarious in acting challenges, killing Snatch Game, and all around just being a good sport.

There’s this thing about Bob that other winners lack but I can’t quite put my finger on it. He feels…”Real,” I guess? I don’t really know how to put it into words, but whenever Bob talks, he exudes friendliness, whereas most of the other winners have an “aura” around them. It makes him very, very special.

5) Jinkx Monsoon

Everyone loves a good underdog story!

For the first half of her season, Jinkx mostly flew under the radar, despite constantly doing great in challenges. The other queens started realizing that she was a threat around halfway point of the season, when it was a little too late to be able to do something about it.

Because of this, Rolaskatox, a clique created by Roxxxy Andrews, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Detox Icunt, started going ham on Jinkx, bullying and hating on her every time she did as much as draw a breath. It felt very similar to Season 3′s “Heathers vs. Boogers,” except this time, “Boogers” was made up of one person. Seeing Jinkx take them down one by one felt fantastic and oh, so satisfying.

Jinkx, out of all the winners, is probably the nicest and most innocent one. She’s kind and completely unbothered by any kind of drama whatsoever. She marches to the sound of her own drum, and it’s honestly so refreshing.

4) Raja Gemini

Raja gets major props for winning hands-down, the most difficult season of Drag Race yet. Queens frequently say that Drag Race is the “Olympics of Drag,” and rightfully so (Yara Sofia wouldn’t have broken down during a lip sync if it weren’t. Season 3 in particular was pretty bad.) But other than that, Raja served some of the most creative and iconic looks to ever grace the runway. Her Marie Antoinette and Native American looks, I imagine, are engraved in everyone’s minds because of how beautiful they were. Her drag is extremely different than everyone else, especially than the ones that were on her season.

She also gets props for beating Manila Luzon, who is undoubtedly the most talented runner-up in the show’s herstory.

To this day, Raja still delivers some of the most gag-worthy looks to come out of Ru girls, and managed to stay relevant by being the co-host of “Fashion Photo Ruview,” a show where she and Season 2′s Raven Toot and Boot looks from episodes of Drag Race.

3) Sharon Needles

When Sharon walked down the post-apocalypse runway dressed up as a half zombie, half mummy thing, with blood pouring out of her mouth, she made an impact on the entirety of drag. Up until that point, drag, especially on Drag Race, hadn’t gone there.

This is why Sharon is celebrated, because she showed everyone that drag wasn’t just about looking fishy, pretty or anything of the sort. Drag can be spooky, disgusting and horrifying. I don’t believe Sharon invented this kind of drag, but she certainly brought it to the forefront. I honestly believe that Dragula, another drag competition, would not exist had Sharon not won Season 4.

She was also a part of one of the best Drag Race storylines, if not the best: Sharon vs Phi Phi. No matter how hard the show tries, it just can’t replicate the legendary rivalry between those two girls. Sharon obviously prevailed at the end, but it was a story for the ages.

2) Alaska Thunderfuck 5000

I’m going to say something a bit controversial here: Alaska isn’t really one of my favorite queens. She comes off as a bit of a perfectionist, something I personally despise. Why is she this high on the list, then?

As I stated at the beginning, this isn’t a “least favorite to favorite” list. It’s a list based on queens’ strength, and I struggle to find someone as unapologetically talented as Alaska.

She is, in my opinion, the most well-rounded queen in the show’s herstory. She can act, sing, lipsync, serve looks, read…I could go on. She’s the epitome of “Jack-of-all-trades, master of all.” She absolutely swept the floor during All Stars 2. Yes, it might’ve been rigged for her, but even if it weren’t, she’d still easily sweep the floor and win.

She’s also a Drag Race superfan, and will probably get any sort of reference you throw at her.

1) Bianca Del Rio

Pretendstobeshocked.gif

I mean, was there really any other choice? We’ve reached a point where I personally believe we’re never getting a winner as good as Bianca, and a season as good as Season 6 of Drag Race, and I’m at peace with that.

Bianca is the living embodiment of C.U.N.T. She’s charismatic as all hell, unique and unlike any other queen, can and will read a bitch whenever she gets the chance to, and she’s out-of-this-world talented.

She sailed through her season, never landing in the bottom 3. Just like Bob, everyone knew Bianca was going to win the moment she walked in, but nobody cared because it just felt right.

It felt right.

#rupaul's drag race #rupauls all stars #trixie mattel #sasha velour #violet chachki #tyra sanchez #bebe #chad micheals #bob the drag queen #jinkx monsoon #Raja #sharon needles #alaska thvnderfvck #bianca del rio #Aquaria #Drag Race #Season 10 #Rupaul

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moonstarphoenix · 6 years

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Skate Canada Pt. 4

So I missed the men’s free yesterday because hey, it’s Saturday afternoon, but I’m a completionist and I wanted to see Jason’s and Alexander’s long programs so here’s my thoughts on the competition even though I know most of you already know the results. Enjoy!

Jason Brown is in the unimaginable position of second to last in the standings and he skates first. Let’s see if he does better tonight. It’s weird seeing him without Kori but I’m interested to see how the new coaching situation will work for him. An oldie medley. I miss his more fun programs. Hamilton was supposed to be it last year but he chose the wrong song, it was badly cut and not well choreographed. I think that was supposed to be a triple. There he is. God he has better extensions than most of the women. He’s solid today mostly on his jumps. I like the program for him though. The most frustrating thing about Jason is he could be a top man in the world if he had quads. He’s got the skills, the choreography, the presentation. Just not quite the jumps yet. A nice program overall. He’s happy with the scores and so is Brian Orser.

Kevin Aymoz, the Frenchman is next. I liked him in the short, so I’m intrigued. Oh, to much spped out of the axel. I love when they switch up the music between the long and the sort. It showcases different versions of yourself. He seems pretty on tonight though it looked like he winced there at the end of one jump. Ooooh, interesting move though. He could use a little more passion but a fabulous performance. I really liked it! Side note, I love seeing former elite skaters become coaches. Brian Orser, John Zimmerman. They’ve been there, they know what its like. And how cute is it seeing John Zimmerman coaching with his wife Sylvia?! And hearing the French accent speak English? Wow, did he get downgraded a lot? I’m surprised he’s in second but it must be close to Jason.

Roman Sadovsky is next from Canada, skating to Schlinder’s List. So we re going to dark now. And I just realized how fitting this program is given what happened yesterday in Pittsburgh.

A sanctuary of worship! What is wrong with people? All because some racist, white supremacist hates other people and a different religion? I don’t understand. I’ll never understand. My heart breaks for the Jewish community worldwide. I want to help in anyway I can so if anybody wants to talk, my inbox is always open.

Back to skating. Very haunting music and a very beautiful program to go with it. Roman missed a few jumps but that is one of those programs where I said if done right, the soft music can be as impactful as an upbeat one and it was indeed. Wow, he’s third behind Kevin and Jason.

Nam Nguyen continues his season with La La Land. I liked this program last week and he’s doing much better jumpwise tonight. The men are bringing it tonight. Good for him! An excellent program overall. He’s happy with it. The crowd loved it. Him and Keegan are looking to replace Patrick Chan as the top Canadian man very easily. And he’s rightfully in first. He was cleaner and had a better short.

How fun is it to hear what they say in the kiss and cry? The NBC Gold Pass was the best thing I ever got, especially when you get to see it with absolutely no commentary!

Kazuki Tomono is next and oh my God! Riverdance! That explains the brillant green. Jason’s Riverdance will always be the ultimate for me, so let’s see how this compares. Oh, he is not doing well on his jumps. Two falls on the first two. He skates with a lot of speed which is perfect for this program and he actually just did some Irish step dancing! I like this program! He’s using music from the whole show it seems (and yes, I’ve seen it. Twice. Don’t judge me.) Clean, this will be a killer, crowdpleasing program. I like it. It’s different than Jason’s but just as good. Nice hat, dude. Kid’s got personality. I like it. Ouch, but fair score.

Brendan Kerry will close this first group, skating to Grease is a leather jacket and fingerless gloves. Dude, I might love you. What Grease song is this? Oh, there is one a know. Hey look, some personality. I like the footwork sequence. It’s intricate and complicated. I like him but dude, smile a little. He has potential though. Haha, his coach is encouraging him to remember the camera. Aw, he’ll finish second from the bottom. I like him though. Another to keep an eye on.

Alexander Majorov is wearing quite an interesting shirt and tie. Interesing music but I’m kind of bored. He’s skating very slow and not doing well on his jumps. I will always see Ricky and Lucy every time I hear Cuban PPete. Eh, okay.

I was told Alexander Samarin is actually skating to The Greatest Showman and he even has the coat! I’m excited. He needs to smile though, have some fun. The into in the warmup was stone cold. He’s like no personality on the ice. A program like this needs someone like Jason or Kazuki. I’m disappointed. It’s not well choreographed and the wrong skater is skating to it. There’s...nothing there. The audience should be eating out of the palm of his hand and they’re just sitting there. Oh well, hopefully, there’s another Greatest Showman program out there somewhere.

Daniel Samohin is next. He’s skating to Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I like this music. The guitar solo at the beginning is awesome leading into the more latin flavored music. He’s not doing well on his jumps. Okay, I lied. That was nice. Okay, that’s another one that could be better and should have the audience entranced. He’s not happy with that performance. Lots of missed jumps.

I just realized that Jason will do no worse than 6th. That’s not bad for someone who is second to last.

Now for the top three. Junhwan Cha is kating to the Leonardo Dicaprio version on Romeo and Juliet. Yay for originality! I’m surprised it’s not used more. Lovely purple by the way. Oh bad fall. Very dramatic intro. Oh, I love it. He’s using the dance music from the party scene. I like this program. Using the spoken words during the song, the instrumental of Kissing You. It’s a nice change from the countless classic ballet Romeo and Juliet. Very nice. I enjoyed that performance.

Shoma Uno is not here to play. Damn. That’s a focused face. Moonlight Sonata. That’s popular this season. He’s intense in this performance. Wow. Not clean, but an excellent performance. Sometimes, you don’t need a story to entrance the audience. In first, rightfully so.

Keegan Messing is our final competitor tonight. I liked his short and he is very popular in Canada. Let’s see how he does in the long in a full suit nonetheless. He’s got a lot of speed. It’s less cheesy than I though a Charlie Chapin program would be. Aw, I like Keegan. He’s a great skater. This isn’t on par with Shoma’s but still great, despite the fall. I wonder where if he holds onto to first. And he does not.

Shoma will get the gold.

Jason moves up to six.

And that’s it for Skate Canada. Next weekend, I’m going to my brothers (blah!) but I’ll try to cover Finland I think it is, mostly because I hate going there and skating will distract me. Until next time, my loves!

#figure skating #jason brown #kevin aymoz #roman sadovsky #nam nguyen #kazuki tomono #brendan kerry #alexander majorov #alexander samarin #daniel samohin #junhwan cha #shoma uno #keegan messing

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dlamp-dictator · 6 years

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Allen Rambles about Cross Tag Battle

So I already did an Under Night In-Birth Rambling a few months, and I don’t feel like retreading that game again for the sake of another half-baked Rambling like the Persona 4 Arena one. No, I’ll talk a bit more about Under Night In-Birth and it’s Light Novel elements another day when I actually have the drive to do so. Instead, I’ll jump straight into talking about about Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, namely, expanding on my initial thoughts of it.

I had a chance to play the beta of the game when it was available, had a lot of fun playing it, and left it feeling confident this game could sell well, but a bit uneasy as well.

But first before I get to explaining that...

The DLC Issue

It wouldn’t be my Rambling unless I got out of the elephants in the room straight away, now would it?

So... that DLC, huh?

I’m not gonna’ bother defending this, but I’ll say this much in its defense. The season pass and the game is about 70 US dollars all together. That’s 50 bucks for the game 1 dollar for every extra character. That’s not a bad deal on paper. Let’s be real here, Dragon Ball FighterZ has more expensive DLC than this and much more expensive season pass combo pack, Blazblue Central Fiction had more expensive DLC than this, and several other fighting games have done worse practices. Dead of Alive has cosmetics that total up to hundred of dollars. From what I’ve seen and played Street Fighter 5 has a handful of costumes can only be purchased with cash rather than the in game fight money, among a few other practices I’m not cool with. And we can probably go on and on about EA’s DLC practices. Worse has been done, and if an extra 20 buck for 20 more characters on an already decent rooster seems bad to you, then... well I think you haven’t been playing fighting games that long to not see this coming.

However, that’s on paper. In context, this is just flat out shady and I’d even say exploitative.

I’m not going to pretend that what Arc System Works is doing is okay. Let’s be real here, a lot of the assets we’re seeing are being ripped and reused from each character’s respective game save for some new animations, the gameplay itself is very simplified, and the fact that they announced such a large amount of DLC before the game was even released is already shady business. I hate it when companies do that, and Arc System Works shouldn’t get a pass for it either.

Not to mention the fact that a portion of their EVO line up is DLC characters. That just kills me a little. I’ll admit that I have a negative opinion of the FGC and competitive fighting game community as a whole, and I’ve already talked about my opinion of EVO in the past, but I really don’t think this game deserves to be in the EVO line up when it only has a little over half its full cast in the game for competitive play, with about a fifth of that cast being DLC. That means you need to shell out at least 6 extra dollars just to have an idea of certain match ups and playstyles, or worse, play your main. That’s no where near fair on a competitive level, that’s a scam and I hope someone more familiar with the competitive side of the fighting game community calls Arc System Works out on it. If your main is locked behind a paywall then you have a right to be angry and even go as far as to boycott this game for this kind of practice.

I’m not happy with the idea of paying to just to play as Orie and Naoto, but as I’ve said, worse has been done in the gaming world. If you aren’t buying this game for the reasons I mentioned, then I respect you’re opinion. However, I’ll also ask you to at least try and get this game on sale otherwise, as there is a good fighting game here, just one that needs to shake off a bad first impression.

Ah, and speaking of the game...

This Game is Simple

Like I said, I took some time to play the Beta, and I have to say this game is a little too simple for my liking. Not that I’m some genius fighting game player that could tell you all the frame data and hitbox nonsense, but I feel like I’m grasping this game’s controls a little too fast for someone of my skill level.

Let me explain.

In the majority of fighting games I play I usually maintain a 10%-20% win rate, so I usually win 1 out of 10 matches. For a casual fighting game player that’s not bad considering I’m usually fighting competitive players, but with Cross Tag Battle I left the beta with a 50% win rate. That’s... quite a jump, but I don’t think that’s due to my skill, but how simple it is for someone that’s familiar with fighting game mechanics to understand the system. Now I’m also keeping in mind that everyone was learning the ins and outs of this game along with me during the beta, but this still.

This simplicity isn’t a bad thing. It works in the game’s favor and makes it much easier to grasp how all these characters works, which is needed for a tag-team style game, but it is something that makes me wonder how long this game will be popular. This game has two auto combos, for every character, and all the characters that aren’t from RWBY have a diluted moveset of their original game. It feels like you know everything about a character in about an hour of practice.

I had similar feelings about Dragonball FighterZ, all the character felt too similar to each other outside of some special moves. Cross Tag isn’t as simple and not all characters feel the same, but one of the big appeals of a fighting game is being about to learn a character for months and still find new techniques and strategies with them. Cross Tag Battle doesn’t feel like a game I’ll be able to do that in.

Again, that’s not a bad thing, but it’s just something that has me wondering about the direction fighting games are taking... or maybe this is just a product of team-based fighters. That simplicity might be needed for the sake of everything meshing well. I mean, if Ragna could do all his rushdown stuff and have an assist to reset combos he’d be a nightmare to fight against. And Nu... don’t get me started on Nu.

But then again, Skullgirls has a good balance of complexity, and the potential for 3-on-3 combat. All their characters feel and play in very unique ways too, so maybe my worries are founded in some ways...

But speaking of...

How Characters Play/Feel

Like I said, this game is very simple. These characters only play slightly like their original games. I've only played with a few people, namely my mains, but Yosuke doesn’t feel like the Yosuke P4A with his 48 mix-up tools, Linne and Hyde feel like themselves, but with less combo options than in their original game. Sadly, none of my Blazblue mains are in the current roster, so I can’t say much about them, but Ragna feels like a watered down version of himself at the very least. I think that goes for most of the cast. They all feel very watered down. This isn’t bad, it’s just different, and I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.

I’m excited to know I’ll have Orie and eventually Izayoi in the game to play with, but I’ve seen gameplay of Orie, and she doesn’t play the way I play her in UNIEST. I get the feeling a lot of people are going to be playing around with the cast for the wrong reasons.

That said though...

The RWBY Characters

The RWBY characters play the best too me, but that should be obvious. They were made with this game in mind from the ground up. As such their combo animations are smoother than the rest of the cast, their sprites are a little nicer, and I can really see a lot of love went into make them feel and play like how they are in the show. The references and callbacks are great as someone that’s a fan of show, and I honestly think their voice acting improved a little in this game... then again, I’ve been hearing their voices for a few years now so I might just be a bit numb to how they’re directed in their series, but I’m surprised how well they mesh with the overall cast. I can see the shipping possibilities and fanfics already. I’m definitely going to have Blake in one of my presets when the game comes out, probably pair her up with Linne or Hyde.

Speaking of voice acting...

The English Dub

Thank God we have a dub again. It’s great to hear Patrick Seitz as Ragna again, and the rest of the cast as well. The Under Night In-Birh cast sounds great too, my favorites being Linne and Gordeau. Seriously, the UNIEST cast sounds great and their voice actors really capture their character well from what I’ve heard so far. It really makes me wish we got a dub for that game so those overlong light novel portions didn’t feel as long.

I did little blurbs about voice actors when Elsword and Persona 5 voice actors were announced, and I’ll definitely do the same kind of blurb for Under Night In-Birth once all the voice actors are known. This game gives me hope that the next Guilty Gear will have a dub and then I can finally care about the story again.

But moving on...

The Roster (AKA Allen Gloats About Being Right)

So we know the full rooster of the game thanks to data miners (the buzzkills), and it looks like I can safely, confidently, and haughtily state that I was right with a few of my calls when I made my speculations. For the sake of maximum gloating I’ll give you all the breakdown from my Rambling on the matter.

Charge Characters

Mitsuru

Kagura

Vatista

Puppet Characters

Carl

Relius

Chaos

Ken

Required By Popularity

Tsubaki

Adachi

Yuzuriha

Required by Tier List

Izanami

Margret/Elizabeth

Seth/Merkava

ArcSys’s Persona OCs

Labrys

Sho

Looking back, I wish I stated Nine instead of Izanami, but Izanamis were kicking my ass by the time I wrote up my speculation and I was very salty about that. I also wish I added Mika into my curve ball list instead of my wishlist, but... well, I can’t predict everything. Speaking of that wishlist, a few people made it like Izayoi, Hakumen, and Akihiko, but that was my personal wishlist and not a speculation, so I won’t count those.

Anyway, I got 5/14 right. I’d consider that pretty good for pure speculation.

My Hopes

I’m just gonna’ list these down, as now we’re getting into my unorganized thoughts.

A simple, fanservice-y story mode. Like I originally said, this game is Arc System Works fanservice incarnate. Frankly, trying to tell a serious story with all these properties, while possible, will just be a giant mess, especially trying to deal with all the quantum mechanical, timeline jumping, dimension hopping nonsense of Blazblue, so I really hope this story will be more like Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Subspace Emissary where the story is simple and more fanservice for fans of all these series and just see everyone interacting with some fights in between. From what we’ve seen of certain cutscenes CGs being released this just might be the case.

Free DLC. I already bought the Season Pass because I’m a degenerate, but I really hope this game does what Skullgirls did and have all their character packs free on at least the first day of their releases. I have major issues with this kind of business practice and completely understand if you guys don’t buy this game because of it. I’m hoping Arc System Works will realize this and make all the packs be free for at least their day-one release to try and dowse the flames a little. And hey, the first pack and the rest of the RWBY team is free for the first while, so I think that’s exactly what their doing.

...

I’m gonna’ feel like a chump for waste twenty buck if that’s the case, but hey, I do like the series.

A Good Single Player Experience. I know it’s a fighting game and all, but I hope it’ll have something that’ll make this game fun three years from now when the online community is dead. Something BBCP’s Abyss Mode (because CF’s is garbage) or Persona 4 Arena Ultimax’s Golden Arena Mode. Something like that. I doubt that’ll happen, but it’s a hope for a reason.

Overall, despite my mixed feelings, I hope the best for this game. And as we count down to the final days before release, I hope you all enjoy this game as much as I will.

Unless you roll out with Team UNGA. If you do, then fuck you, fuck your family, fuck your house cat, and everything you stand for.

#blazblue #blazblue cross tag battle #your dictator is speaking

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shaldreth · 6 years

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I fell in love with Lotor and then realized he's a fucking idiot

AKA: a (bad) dissertation on Lotor's potential as a character and how his motivations basically undermined all of it.

Spoilers through the end of season 6; written pre-season 7.

Let's just get my credentials out of the way first: I recently watched Seasons 1-6 of Voltron in the span of about 2 months. I am vaguely aware of some fandom discourse. I know very little about the original Voltron show or its plot except what I've gathered from a single day browsing the wiki. And finally, I love manipulative trash cans. Doesn't matter if they've got gray morality, complete amorality, or if they're just plain evil: I unironically enjoy their existence (the only exception is Ni Jianyi who terrifies me, but, well, I attribute that to good writing).

So imagine my delight when in his very first episode, Lotor demonstrated that he'd been very competently keeping tabs on the political status of the central Galran Command even while exiled by: rooting out his main opponents, publically humiliating them, and positioning his Generals strategically in the audience to ensure that the crowd's response was positive and enthusiastic, all within probably a quintant or two of getting back. ....And then he blatantly admitted to manipulating public opinion not five minutes later. ....While looking unfairly gorgeous.

As character introductions go, it set a really fucking high bar, and I think a lot of people were immediately invested in learning what his endgame was. Regardless of whether his ultimate goals were ‘good’ or ‘evil’, people expected them to be competent and..... worthy. Worthy of all the time and effort that was put into this character, and the show in general. And then S6 happened. So buckle up friends because we’re gonna take an in-depth look at his journey from potential political mastermind to... merely obsessed, like his father.

Immediately after being appointed Emperor Pro Tem, Lotor goes out and retakes a recently liberated planet to bait out Voltron. Which is.... something that we never actually saw his father do. Ever. Zarkon seemed content to let rebel planets stay lost, which is really silly and not at all a sustainable method of ruling an empire (suggesting that Zarkon probably would have lost control of a large portion of the Empire sooner or later anyway even if Voltron hadn't managed to destroy him in Blackout). Anyway, it showed that Lotor is a competent tactician, since he gets exactly the information he needs and does way more damage to Voltron than he probably expected to. He even follows up properly by calling in reinforcements to save his ass fortify the newly retaken planet, which may have given him a nice boost in popularity back home.

(It also set up a number of obvious parallels between Lotor’s Generals and the Paladins of Voltron. Excellent teamwork and loyalty? Check. Cheerful personality? Check. Big strong type? Check. Brooding, dark-haired second in command? Check. ...Wait, that makes Narti Pidge’s parallel. Or maybe Shiro’s, since she’s sometimes mind controlled....? ANYWAY. )

We start to see a couple cracks in episodes 4 and 6, because it becomes clear that Lotor is actually not spending that much time managing the Empire. He's way more interested in getting the materials to build the Sincline ships. At this point in the series he's still doing a great job of evading detection and throwing misdirection everywhere to keep Haggar from guessing what he's up to, so it starts to look like he's trying to undermine the Empire from within. I mean, think about it: he set himself up publically as a celebrity to strengthen the Empire, and then he disappeared and did none of that. He even exiled Throk, one of his biggest political enemies to Buttfuck, Space - Population: Ice Worms after his public humiliation. Which is a really bad idea if you want to keep a guy out of trouble, but a really good idea if you want to give a guy the time and space he needs to get angry, start another rebellion, and further destabilize the Empire.

Lotor has lived in exile for years; he himself is the perfect example for how people rebel when sent to some corner of the universe with minimal supervision. He should know better than anyone that exile is a bad way to actually get rid of someone, yet he does it anyway.

Season 4 pretty much cements the idea that Lotor never actually wanted to rule the current Galra Empire, and was only using its resources for his own gain. He's removed from the position of Emperor Pro Tem with minimal fuss, and probably would have been quite happy to lay low for a while afterwards.... except that his dad then tries to kill him and he does the really dumb thing. I think almost everyone agrees that killing Narti was one of the dumbest things Lotor could have done. He could knock her out? Kill the cat?? Anything other than ruin his own party???

But nah. He stabs Narti and immediately the parallels between his group of Generals and Voltron shatter, because they betray him and try to turn him in to Haggar. Or, rather, he betrayed them.... .....actually maybe the parallels still apply, because I'm pretty sure that if Kuron had actually stabbed any of the Paladins at any point, the rest would have flipped out as well, so really the entire arc may be more of a statement on Galra culture as a whole.....

ANYWAY, the whole Narti thing might look like the place where everything starts to go south, but it actually doesn't ruin any of Lotor's potential. Killing Narti could either be the callous act of someone who's bad at communication and doesn't actually care about his team (which is his team's interpretation, and a fair one), or it could be taken as a really stupid moment of panic, which I’d argue is a little more interesting, since Lotor never panics. But either way, the outcome was the same: as soon as he had control taken away from him, he turned desperate and all his flaws started to come out. Narti's death was one of the dumbest things Lotor ever did, but I also want to argue that it's the one act that opened up his narrative potential the most, because it could have sparked some interesting discussion about whether all of his actions are due to being arrogant, maladjusted, and self-absorbed... or if any can be attributed to fear.

Unfortunately, while fanfiction capitalized on that potential immediately, the show never really did. I was hoping for a season of self-reflection as Lotor used his intelligence and manipulative skills to sway Voltron to his side and overthrow Zarkon and Haggar in retaliation for his one miscalculation of the series. I wouldn't even have been mad if he had betrayed Voltron again at the end, because it would have been in keeping with his suggested characterization so far, and I like competent opponents with actual realistic goals.

Season 5 looked like it was on track! Lotor was clearly still doing his best to manipulate Voltron as much as he could from a prison cell, furthering his goals despite his enormous setback. It's not really clear how many of his accomplishments during this season are due to careful planning and how many are due to luck; did he know Zarkon would offer the prisoner exchange? Did he know Sendak was going to be at the Kral Zera? Did he know Shiro was Kuron and would secretly hand over the Black Bayard so he actually had a fighting chance against Zarkon? ....Probably no to the last one, since it hinged on Honerva remembering her son, but who knows.

Regardless, Lotor takes a lot of risks and makes a lot of progress. He actually becomes Emperor. Dude, holy shit, congrats. Take a breather and regroup!! That big of an milestone should have been enough for anyone, but instead he pushed his luck searching for Oriande, becoming completely dependent on Allura for her guidance and her protection, and then he failed the White Lion's trial. Like, completely whiffed it. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. The S6 finale makes it clear that Lotor's morals and goals are almost completely opposite Allura's, and that should have been the perfect place to start developing him further as.... you know, an actual emperor and moral counterpoint?

Instead, we got Season 6, where Lotor turned his fakeness meter up to 11 to seduce Allura. ...Badly. Like... really badly. ... Okay, listen the nanny thing was weird, there’s no denying that. She showed up for one episode out of completely nowhere and was never mentioned again. But Lotor felt more natural during that first episode of S6 than he did the entire rest of the season while romancing Allura, and I think that was probably on purpose. His voice and his face and his smile when he spoke with Allura were all the same ones he used during his first scene in the gladiator ring, when manipulating public opinion. I don’t think we were ever really meant to believe in Lotor’s feelings for Allura when his very character was introduced with the same sort of deception.

And all of that would still have been fine if he hadn’t had such a stupid final motivation. I suppose Season 6 makes sense when you consider that his ultimate goals actually had nothing to do with the Galra Empire, but it doesn’t feel like a good culmination of his character arc. So, knowing that his ultimate goal was the creation of a new Altean Empire, Let’s briefly review:

- Lotor spent three seasons manipulating the public to gather support and popularity. The conclusion of this was Kral Zera, where he actually became Emperor. But none of this matters. “Emperor of the Galra” is actually unrelated to “Emperor of the New Alteans”, or whatever. Unless his plan was to marry Allura and spend the next 10,000 years carefully integrating his Alteans into the Galran Empire while giving them every advantage possible, becoming the Galran Emperor didn’t actually have much to do with his Altean goals. His Alteans aren’t Galra citizens. So why spend that much time making himself popular with a race he hated? Narcissism???

- Lotor may have also spent three seasons subtly supporting rebellion across the Galran Empire, because he made a couple conspicuously bad decisions when it came to handling his political opponents/rebellion planets. Conspicuously bad enough to be deliberate, given what we know of him as a competent tactician. But supporting rebellion would only have helped him if he had planned to use rebellion to take over, and we just established that being the Galra Emperor doesn’t actually help his main goals. So does that make all the seasons of subtle rebel support.... a side-effect? Carelessness? Supporting the Voltron Coalition didn’t really matter if he intended to replace Voltron with his own shiny robot.

- Lotor’s generals are all half-galra. Originally, it seemed like he had chosen to align himself with societal outcasts because he could inspire loyalty and comraderie in them, and because after a lifetime of discrimination at the hands of Central Command, they’d probably be willing to support his rebellion. That’s, like, a huge fanfic canon. But instead, his final, power-driven speech suggests that he chose half-galra Generals simply because he couldn’t stand to work with full-blooded Galra. Which makes his close-knit team and all their beautiful parallels with Voltron... accidental??

- Lotor spent let’s say... a season and a half? trying to seduce Allura. This makes the most sense out of all of his goals, because marrying into the last remaining full-blooded Altean royalty totally fits with the New Altean Empire. What’s stupid here is how he handled it. Instead of coming clean about his Altean colony and, I don’t know, properly hiding his tracks as soon as he realized he could marry royalty?? He left the quintessence farm up and running. We know Lotor can get into and out of the rift way faster than Keith and Krolia, so there was really nothing stopping him from going to hide a couple skeletons in his closet sooner than never. He could probably have won Allura’s loyalty forever if he had presented her with an Altean colony and pretended to need her help restoring Altean culture; instead, he did dumb.

I’m just... I’m sad, okay? I’m not sad because he was evil; I’m sad because he didn’t want to be his father, and he absolutely turned into his father, and there were almost no signs of that until the very end. He could have been evil and still competent! While there are parts of Lotor that are really well written, it seems like they were all pushed to the side to make way for his obsession - an obsession he wasn’t even that obsessed about previously!!! - in the final couple episodes of Season 6, and he just... does so many stupid things.

So really, in conclusion, either Lotor got quintessence sickness, Haggar made a Lotor clone while he was visiting her that one time, or we should all be more sympathetic of Zarkon's stupidity in Seasons 1 and 2 because clearly Galra politics are infuriating enough that being Emperor for a couple pheobs was enough to make Lotor lose his McFreaking Mind. Zarkon had been Emperor for 10,000 years; it's understandable that he was a little quirky.

Also, I saw a post a few weeks ago that basically said “the worst thing that can happen to Lotor is that he comes back from the void and gets obsessed with Allura like in the original show”, and I wish I could find it again, so if you know that post, pls link me. And I agree, that would really really suck, I don’t want that. But I’m hopeful that the writers just decided to adapt his character a little, so that instead of being obsessed with the Altean Princess, he was instead obsessed with Altea, and therefore that arc is already over. But I guess we’ll find out soon! Fingers crossed.

Feel free to comment with alternate interpretations of everything here!

#voltron #voltron the legendary defender #lotor #vld lotor #long post #this is a very bad dissertation #the final message is I'm sad #that's it that's the point of this post #not lotor hate though #more like #I wish you were better #this is my first post in the voltron fandom #and possibly the last #I just #lotor y #six more days my dudes #six more days

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marshmallowgoop · 6 years

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Goop Watches: DARLING in the FRANXX, Episode 4: Flap Flap

[Listen: Part 1, Part 2]

[Episode 1] [Episode 2] [Episode 3] [Episode 5]

You know, I think I understand DARLING in the FRANXX.

The show’s absolutely filled to the brim with blatant symbolism that thinks it’s smarter than it is, and at this point, you could easily describe the whole series as “fake deep” and “pretentious.”

Me too, DARLING in the FRANXX!

But after episode 4, DARLING proves itself to be far more capable of something that I myself struggle a lot with: being fun.

Episode 4 is, quite simply, a joy to watch.

Well, for the most part, anyway.

The Bad

Mitsuru: That girl tried to devour everything I have. My blood, my flesh, and my soul… All of it! Everything was normal at first, but after a point, sh-she was out to kill me. What’s worse, she had a smile on her face! She was smiling the entire time!

There’s a lot of non-fun around the fun of “Flap Flap,” and the episode kicks right off with it. Still recovering from his horrible piloting experience with Zero Two in “Fighting Puppet,” Mitsuru opens the story by revealing what had happened in Strelizia, and his account is exactly my greatest concern for this anime: as Mitsuru tells it, Zero Two was purposely out to hurt him, and not only that, she enjoyed his suffering.

Last episode, I wrote that I am not at all comfortable with the idea of Zero Two gleefully and intentionally killing her partners; in fact, that kind of direction for her character might ruin the entire series for me just as the gratuitous fanservice and cockpit set-up did for others. As much as I love stories about becoming better people, there are some things that are just too heinous, and finding joy in murdering others is one of them. Since “Flap Flap” makes the possibility of Zero Two being a purposeful partner killer the most plausible it’s ever been, and since it does so in the first few minutes, I came into the episode with a sinking feeling. Are we really going down this route? An irredeemable lead who we’re supposed to feel for, given that her story is so focused on alienation and isolation?

Zero Two: And the rest are sure to die soon, anyway.

Things only seem to get worse as the episode progresses. When Nana and Hachi reprimand Zero Two for how she had treated Mitsuru—and even point out that she could have very well killed him with her actions—she is completely unperturbed. If it wasn’t already clear before, it’s made crystal clear here that Hiro is the only parasite from the squad whom Zero Two cares about, and she goes so far as to smile when she says that all the rest of them are doomed to die before long.

Even more, it’s debatable how much Zero Two truly shows she cares about Hiro in this scene at all. She doesn’t have to like Hiro’s friends (in fairness, the feelings do appear to be mutual), but if she cares for Hiro, she should care that his friends are important to him. To smile at the untimely deaths of your self-proclaimed darling’s lifelong companions is plain awful, no matter what reasoning Zero Two may have for being this way.

Zero Two also shows herself to be cruel in smaller ways in the episode as well, such as when she gloatingly smirks at Ichigo when she and Hiro go to deliver the final blow against the klaxosaur. I know others found this bit amusing, but this kind of behavior I can only see in a negative light. Ichigo hasn’t been unfairly nasty to Zero Two, so there’s no reason for Zero Two to be unfairly nasty towards her. We get it, Zero Two: you have what Ichigo wants. There’s no need to rub it in the poor girl’s face. Cruelty as comedy is simply not something I like to see.

On top of all this, episode 4 has some of the most uncomfortable boundary issues thus far. I’ve noted all throughout my reviews that I severely dislike Zero Two’s abuse of Hiro (and others), and “Flap Flap” only exacerbates these problems. Licking people out of the blue, getting up in their space, making them feel uneasy to be around you, and so on are not good things, and the bath scene here had me sighing hard. If the genders were reversed, and a man had walked in on a woman bathing, pushed her against the wall, and seductively touched her chest, the moment would not be gif’ed into oblivion with tags like “best guy of the season.” That man would be thought of as one of the worst men of anime and would be utterly hated.

I don’t think Zero Two has done anything unforgivable as of yet in regards to this issue, and I stress that I still like her a lot, but it’s incredibly concerning that the show plays these moments up as cute and weird and quirky rather than the disgusting violations of respect that they are, and it’s maybe even more concerning that I haven’t heard much more than a peep from fans on the matter. Just because Zero Two is a woman doesn’t make this kind of behavior okay or acceptable, and it really needs to stop being treated that way. I can only hope that the series does indeed acknowledge and discuss this problem in future episodes.

“Flap Flap” also continues eye-rolling fanservice trends for the series (there is an unreasonable amount of focus on Zero Two’s butt), and there are some concerns with repetition and redundancy as well. Hiro and Ichigo have already argued about his piloting with Zero Two, for example, just as the kids are already well aware of how bad off Mitsuru is, but more time is devoted to reiterating these ideas and information anyway. The first half of the episode thereby drags a bit, making me feel impatient and longing for the story to continue forward.

But then, perhaps the fast-paced, exciting ending feels that much sweeter as a result: I’ve been waiting for it so long that it feels so good when it finally happens.

The Good

Zero Two: Now that’s my darling!

As much as I found DARLING’s fourth episode to be concerning, and as much as I might argue it dragged and felt slow, the latter portion is a delightful whirlwind of action and emotion. I’ve said before that I could not stop smiling during the second half, and it’s true: there’s just so much charm and heart here that not even the obvious problems of the series could keep me from having a good time. This is probably the most fun I’ve had watching an anime since Kill la Kill.

And here I was thinking I’d never have that experience again!

In any case, I haven’t spoken much about music in these reviews, but I feel music deserves a special mention in episode 4, where this sense of fun is absolutely boosted by the OST. Particularly, the music after Hiro’s confession makes a huge impression. The song is so bright and bubbly, with this big band sound to it, and maybe it’s just the old marching band girl in me, but I feel that marching band excitement when I hear it. This track is a triumphant fanfare, and I know DARLING’s music has been criticized as generic, but when I got to this point in the episode, I could not stop thinking, “Dang! How often do soundtracks have sounds like these?” It was like I was back in my marching band uniform again, and I’m not sure I’ve ever had that sensation with an anime OST before. As much as the antics of the moment got me grinning, the music amplified everything. It’s just so irresistibly fun.

Similarly, the upbeat instrumental of “Torikago,” the show’s ending theme, when Hiro and Zero Two destroy the klaxosaur, is a wonderful use of music as well. There’s a sense of finality to the song because it is used in the end credits, and the spirited instrumental serves to make the moment seem epic. The music doesn’t just convey that this is a final attack—it’s also an awesome final attack. DARLING’s music choice here is a great touch and definitely had me pumped up.

Hiro: I feel myself going deeper inside you. I can’t tell where I end and where you begin anymore. But I love it!

Zero Two: I’m feeling it, too. We’re a perfect fit, huh?

I even find the euphemisms of the episode sweet!

Everybody can’t stop laughing at the, uh, unsubtlety of these kinds of statements, but I genuinely find that they add to the charm. As I once wrote about similar statements in Kill la Kill concerning its leads Ryuko and Senketsu:

…when you think about it, they could have made the little jokes and innuendo so bad. Senketsu could have been so incredibly awful to Ryuko. Being worn by her nearly all the time, we could have had scene after scene of him groping or otherwise harassing her. We could have had to endure long, nasty monologues where he’s just completely objectifying her.

But we don’t. On the whole, Senketsu is completely respectful and loving of Ryuko the whole way through, and when we do get these little moments in the show, they’re just… so sweet? They love being together! There’s none of the usual, awful, “haha, a boob got touched and she’s flustered about it” sort of situations, but rather, “I’m really glad to be with you and I feel comfortable trusting you.” And this is just… so, so, so great.

A point I wanted to make in my earlier DARLING reviews but never quite did was that I wasn’t holding my breath for DARLING in the FRANXX to be as sweet as Kill la Kill, but episode 4 proved me wrong. These lines are suggestive, yes, but not in a negative, completely distasteful way. Hiro and Zero Two are really communicating about what they feel, and just like Ryuko and Senketsu, they love being together!

Zero Two: Of course you can do this. We can do this.

Of all the ridiculously sexual things that so many teenagers are inevitably going to be watching, I would hope that they’re watching something along these lines, where there’s communication, understanding, support, and love among partners.

Kerli: Don’t know where you end and I begin

That said, I had to have a bit of a chuckle, because Hiro’s line is just about exactly quoted from Kerli’s “Chemical,” which I toootally didn’t use in a fanmix for Ryuko and Senketsu once.

youtube

And speaking of Ryuko and Senketsu, how come we can have all of this…

Ryuko: I finally get it now. I need to get naked. Putting on a Kamui means becoming one with you! It means you becoming my skin! I feel it! This is the real you, Senketsu!

Mako: The only person in the whole world a girl should reveal herself to is the one she loves the most! That’s why you [Ryuko] wear Senketsu all the time! ‘Cause you love him the most! A girl only flashes her bits to her one true love! And no one else!

Senketsu: Right now, you and I are one!

Ryuko: I know! Doesn’t this feel awesome?!

…which is only slightly less suggestive than Hiro and Zero Two’s situation, and people act like I’m nuts for not thinking of Senketsu as Ryuko’s father figure? And basically no one talks about this like, at all?

Like, c’mon, what’s going on with Hiro and Zero Two is hardly new from a work with Trigger’s name on it.

But I digress.

DARLING’s fourth episode is also a good, engaging watch because of the series’ characters. I understand that a good chunk of this post is pure criticism directed at Zero Two, but while I do have my concerns, I simultaneously think that her story has a lot of potential and could wind up being very powerful, which “Flap Flap” definitely touches on.

In the past, I’ve expressed that you could get me to pick up anything so long as it involves a “non-human character (who is a Cinnamon RollTM) who has a meaningful, positive relationship with a human.” As of episode 4, DARLING in the FRANXX almost could be said to fit into my Formula, but there’s a big drawback to DARLING’s scenario (so far as my personal tastes are concerned): Zero Two, regardless of her diet, is not a super sweet kind of character.

However, this is, of course, not necessarily a bad thing at all. While a non-human character like Senketsu is probably the kindest person from Kill la Kill and just about perfectly fits that “Cinnamon Roll” description, he’s also young, with limited life experience. Senketsu is hated and mocked and discriminated against, but at the same time, he receives—almost immediately—great amounts of love and support from Ryuko. Given that Ryuko is the only one who can understand him (or even acknowledges his sapience and sentience) for the majority of the show, it makes sense for him to value her opinion over anybody else’s. He’s not going to let what other people have to say get him down, because he knows that the person he cares about most doesn’t feel that way.

And, given that he only lives about a year, he hasn’t experienced anywhere near a lifetime of abuse, either.

In contrast, Zero Two seemingly doesn’t have any kind of support whatsoever, and given her behavior (and her sentiment about being alone her entire life), it’s unlikely that she ever has. She’s lived years and years and years being thought of as a monster, and when she’s killed so many (hopefully inadvertently), she probably has come to believe that she’s a monster herself… and she acts the part. So many people have died in front of Zero Two that she’s hardened herself. If she let every death greatly affect her, and if she let everyone’s harsh judgment deter her, she wouldn’t be able to carry on and fight. It’s reasonable at this point to hypothesize that her cold attitude and cruel smiles are something of a defense mechanism: if she acts like she doesn’t care, then she won’t get hurt.

Episode 4 strikes me as a big episode for Zero Two in this way, because this is the episode wherein viewers see her at her most vulnerable. She seems to come close to crying on more than one occasion, and she also blushes for the first time (which I had hoped would be a blue blush, considering how she’s highly implied to be the blue-blooded and red-skinned girl from the show’s opening moments, but hey). There’s also a huge emphasis placed on how being thought of as a monster affects her in the episode, as there’s the implication that a lot of Zero Two’s attraction towards Hiro is that he doesn’t see her in such a light. When presented with the idea that Hiro does think of her that way after all, Zero Two is seemingly devastated. There’s the sense of, “He wasn’t frightened by my horns, and I thought he was different, but in the end, he’s just the same as everyone else.”

A part of me couldn’t help but wonder throughout episode 4 if Zero Two weren’t simply using Hiro for some goal that I can’t yet understand, but there’s just too much that’s genuine about Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship so far for me to truly believe that this is the case. Zero Two’s cruelty comes off as an act that falls apart around Hiro; while she’ll smile coolly and act mean towards anyone else, with him, she has real moments of tenderness, such as their escape to overlook the city last episode and her heartfelt goodbye to him this episode. I was especially taken by her insistence that Hiro tell her that he wants to ride in Strelizia again in “Flap Flap,” because this communicates to me that nobody has ever wanted to ride with her a second time so much. Zero Two absolutely cherishes Hiro’s sentiment, and she asks him to repeat himself almost as a way of cementing his wishes as something that’s truly real. Finally, after being alone so long, Zero Two has someone who cares for her.

If you were to ask me, I would say that this is Zero Two’s goal and motivation. I had to wonder what she was fighting for in the beginning; everyone seems to detest her and think her terrible, so why in the world would she keep getting into Strelizia to help anyone, especially at the potential cost of her own life? While Hiro states time and time again that he feels life isn’t worth living if he can’t be a parasite, Zero Two doesn’t seem to share this mindset. As she says in the opening narration, she finds the way of life of the Jian to be beautiful, and—as I see it—she wants something just like that. She wants a partner and someone who loves her more than she wants anything else. The reason she keeps fighting is because she keeps hoping that someday, she will find a person who can work with her and who won’t see her as a monster.

And in all actuality, Hiro changes his tune this episode, too. He’s not really interested in piloting a FRANXX; he just wants a connection himself. This line likely resonates so much with Zero Two (and convinces her to break the rules and run back to Hiro) because she herself feels the same way. As she said in episode 1, she and Hiro are the same.

Hiro: I even dragged my partner down with me.

On this vein, it’s interesting to note that Zero Two only asserts that she and Hiro are “just like” one another in the first episode after Hiro describes what happened with Naomi. Hiro put a terrible fate upon his partner—and Naomi even cries as she despairs at being his partner of all people she could have been partnered with—and Zero Two knows this feeling all too well. Though she doesn’t particularly show it, I feel she has the same concerns that Hiro expresses in episode 4: she’s scared and doesn’t want to be the death of yet another partner. Like Hiro, she wants something to finally work out.

Zero Two: Don’t touch me!

As one last character note for Zero Two this episode, I was struck by her intense reaction to being touched by one of her “escorts” without her permission. The “camera” focuses on the escort’s hand curling around Zero Two’s shoulder, there’s a close-up on her eye, and then he’s thrown across the room as she tells him, “Don’t touch me!”

Hiro: You can’t! You’re hurt!

Zero Two: Out of my way!

The moment is very reminiscent to another from episode 1. When Hiro tries to convince Zero Two not to pilot alone, he grabs her arm—and she reacts so strongly that she slaps his face hard enough to wound him for the remainder of the episode. In the English dub, she even says, “Get off me!”

These kinds of reactions, combined with how Zero Two has a complete lack of respect for other peoples’ boundaries, leads me to believe that something has happened to her in her past. I might be expecting too much from the show, but I could see it that Zero Two does what she does because it’s her way of asserting control in a life where she hasn’t had much of any. While any potential bad experiences she might have had don’t excuse her repeating the behavior onto others, the issue could very well be explored thoughtfully and respectfully by the series. Just because Zero Two has a hard past doesn’t make it okay to treat other people in ways that she herself detests, and to see her grapple with this would be a powerful way of addressing the issue of her abuse in a medium where that kind of abuse is all too often laughed off and brushed aside.

In regards to Zero Two, episode 4 is probably the most multi-faceted look at her character that viewers have seen thus far. Something about her doesn’t make sense; she can come off as heartless and villainous in one moment, but in the next, she’s vulnerable and, as Hiro puts it, just like anyone else. The way that Hiro seems so torn between Zero Two’s monstrous and sweet sides this episode strikes me as compelling and engaging. He doesn’t know the truth, but he leans the same way I do: the real Zero Two is that girl who longs for the same love that everyone longs for, and he’s determined to be with that girl. Even if he’s scared, and even if he fears he’ll drag Zero Two down as he did Naomi, Hiro truly steps up this episode to get what he wants. His confession is both endearing and sweet in its honesty, and the fact that Zero Two thinks the same makes the whole scene—and this couple—just a joy to watch all throughout the latter portion of the episode. To see a big rule-follower like Hiro break the rules because he’s coming to love and respect himself enough to fight for what he desires is fantastic. What a sweet sentiment and message!

Other characters also easily keep my interest this episode as well. Ichigo comes off as particularly likable; she readily admits her shortcomings to the team, she gives a great pep talk, and she hears Hiro out, understands his perspective, and allows him to do what he thinks will make him happy.

Even better, it makes her happy, too. The fact that Ichigo is so pleased to see Hiro piloting Strelizia is such a good moment for her, because it truly shows that she sincerely cares about Hiro. This isn’t just a jealous, petty girl, and that makes her (yes, tired) story all the more tolerable. She’s not an unbearably terrible third corner in a love triangle—she’s much more than that.

On another side of the spectrum, Mitsuru continues to catch my interest. He’s a bit of an awful person and not likeable in the way that Ichigo is, but his awfulness is compelling in its own way. I noted last episode that I see him as the kind of person who would give up the moment something isn’t going as he pleases, since he seems to view nothing as more pathetic than continuing with a fruitless endeavor.

However, this episode, it’s made clear that while Mitsuru would probably look upon himself from an outsider perspective and think that he ought to stop trying, he’s unable to see himself in such a way. Probably to justify his continued efforts to pilot, he insists that his obvious and apparent suffering is nothing, refuses anyone’s help, and appears to be completely unable to see himself as the problem. Everyone else is at fault, not him. I said last time that I suspect he thinks himself pathetic for waiting on his parents who would never come for him, but with this episode, it’s more likely that he sees his parents as the pathetic ones.

[Flower image from Jwchew1 here.]

Mitsuru also continues to treat Ikuno horribly, and when she leads him to their FRANXX, there’s a shot of flowers in a vase that are given too much focus to be there for no reason. Given that the flowers look as though they might be flowers from a plant of the chlorophyum genus, of which Mitsuru and Ikuno’s FRANXX takes its name, and given that the flowers are situated in darkness, I take this as a not-so-subtle representation of how Ikuno and Mitsuru cannot bloom as partners. Just as flowers can’t thrive in darkness, neither can Mitsuru and Ikuno, who don’t communicate well with each other and don’t seem to match.

Ikuno herself also stands out more in this episode, because it could be argued that the series hints she has feelings for Ichigo here. I got this impression when Ikuno blushes at Ichigo’s support early in the episode, but PhenomSage’s episode 4 review pointed out something I hadn’t considered: Ikuno is only able to pilot with Mitsuru when she touches her shoulder where Ichigo had. Mitsuru might not care for her, but the thought that Ichigo does is enough to allow Ikuno to connect.

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From my episode 1 review, it’s probably clear that the idea of Ikuno having feelings for Ichigo is something I am very much in support of, and this development also interests me because it has such potential to further the themes of the series in a wonderful way. Last time, I spoke an awful lot about rebellion, noting that Hiro is rewarded when he rebels and punished when he follows the rules, which of course points to the idea that the system is flawed and it is breaking away from this system that brings happiness. “Flap Flap” follows the trend; Hiro defies authority and is able to follow his dream of riding Strelizia with Zero Two again.

What makes Hiro’s dream so notable in regards to Ikuno and Ichigo, though, is that this dream is one based purely out of choice. Nobody paired Hiro and Zero Two together—in fact, there’s a constant effort to keep them apart—and the two find joy and contentment in their personal choice to be partners. In the same way, I wonder if Ikuno and Ichigo can find happiness in being together. Ikuno was paired with Mitsuru by people other than her, just as Ichigo was paired with Goro, and both are seemingly unsatisfied in their pairings. Perhaps by breaking the rules and piloting a FRANXX their own way, both Ikuno and Ichigo can find the same kind of satisfaction that Hiro and Zero Two do in “Flap Flap.”

More on rebellion, I am still anticipating a “main plot” wherein Hiro and Zero Two escape from the Plantation and make their own way, which makes all the “team” talk in this episode more affecting. If Hiro and Zero Two deflect, and they have to battle Hiro’s old squad as a result, it will sting a lot more after Hiro’s declaration that he’s part of the team and the squad’s similar sentiments that they need to rely on one another.

In terms of visuals, DARLING continues to impress. The letterboxing makes another appearance, and for the first time since episode 1, the effect happens twice: when Zero Two says her goodbyes to Hiro, and when the two pilot Strelizia together. At this point, every letterboxed sequence seems to feature Hiro and Zero Two in some way—even the first one detailing the Jian, as the parasite beside Zero Two is presumably Hiro—which emphasizes the series’ sense of focus. Just as Kill la Kill purposely saves its best animation for the moments that truly matter, DARLING in the FRANXX utilizes different and stylish compositions for the times it wants you to remember. It’s hard to forget Hiro and Zero Two meeting at the lake or overlooking the city or saying goodbye, and that’s because the show doesn’t want you to forget.

Something else that caught my eye this episode is Hiro’s flashbacks. In episode 2, I noted that his flashbacks surrounding Zero Two’s dying partner are fragmented, and in episode 3, I said that this likely represents how Hiro doesn’t want to accept the partner-killing rumor as true. However, when Hiro thinks on the man again in episode 4, the scene is in full. Hiro accepts what he saw and accepts the possibility of Zero Two’s nefarious nature, and he grapples with these concerns for the first time in the series so far. No matter how much Hiro wants to believe in the good he sees in Zero Two, he can’t deny the stories about her any longer. The depiction of his flashbacks without any fragmentation helps convey this idea effectively, without any telling or words needed.

Similarly, while I criticized Ichigo and Hiro’s conversation near the start of the episode as redundant, it is visually quite nice. The space between them, complete with a barrier, does well in communicating how these two do not see eye to eye.

However, when Ichigo accepts Hiro’s perspective, she crosses the space between them, which I take as a representation of how she’s truly making an effort to understand and respect him and his wishes (something he perhaps does not reciprocate for her). Given that this conversation could have been composed of simple shot reverse shots, effort like this is much appreciated to give these otherwise bland scenes some real life.

The moment is even more interesting when taken in the context of Zero Two’s conversation with Nana and Hachi in the elevator, a scene that occurs immediately after. Like Hiro and Ichigo, Zero Two is also situated far away from her supervisors, but unlike Ichigo, neither Nana nor Hachi make any effort to try to understand Zero Two or her perspective. There is no movement to get closer and no effort to break barriers.

Zero Two: I feel like I’m gonna suffocate in here.

Zero Two: I wanna leave. I feel like I’m gonna suffocate in here.

The elevator scene also is of note because of its connection to a similar scene in episode 2. Both times, Zero Two is shown going down, and both times, she notes that she feels as though she’s suffocating in the Plantation. Given that I’m highly convinced that Zero Two is not going to live through the series, I wonder if this is an ominous foreshadowing of how she is going to “get out”… but in the form of her own death.

On a happier note, one of my favorite images from the episode is when Hiro and Zero Two run together to Strelizia. Hiro has been shown running alone every episode since 2, and Zero Two is shown running alone in the ending sequence, so to see them run together, with their movements perfectly matched, is incredibly sweet. The message is clear: they don’t have to be alone anymore, and together, they can fly.

Another great image from this moment is that of Hiro and Zero Two’s hands held together. Hiro has a habit of clenching his fist (and mind you that these are only some examples)…

…and right before Hiro and Zero Two run to Strelizia, there’s a moment where it looks like another dramatic fist clenching...

…but Zero Two takes his hand.

And the two of them continue to hold on to each other’s hands even when there’s really no reason to, which comes off as both humorous and endearing—and extremely cute.

The small details of the episode are nice as always, too. It’s a good touch for the bath water in the Plantation to be a murky yellow color---unlike the blue of the sky and the ocean, and more like the city Zero Two describes as “lifeless.”

Similarly, the shot of the ball against the sky ceiling is a small but powerful moment that also represents the trapped nature of the Plantation and the children’s lives.

There are images here that I don’t quite understand as well; when Zero Two confronts Hiro in the bath, there’s a shot of her horns that matches with a shot in the opening sequence. The significance of this is yet to be stated, but it certainly catches my eye, just as the repeated image of blood raining down on Strelizia does. I’m not sure if this blood is supposed to be cleansing or ominous, but it’s definitely an evocative bit of imagery that I’m curious to see furthered.

Ichigo: And he isn’t the only one staring death in the face.

On a (bit of a) lighter note, something I found amusing is that after Ichigo says Hiro “isn’t the only one staring death in the face” during her pep talk, Futoshi effectively stares death in the face himself, gazing down at the corpse of his ice cream, as all that remains of it is the stick.

Symbolism-wise, and more related to this death imagery, the episode ends ominously. With the description of “double-edged wings that will someday destroy [Hiro],” and with Hiro’s exhausted state after riding with Zero Two, and with Hiro’s mention that he can only ride one more time with her, there’s the implication that Zero Two hurts even him. Perhaps the message is that the two need even more freedom than Strelizia provides to be truly happy together, as this “flight” is still under the orders of people who don’t have their best interests at heart. If Zero Two is harming Hiro—and hopefully inadvertently, of course—I wonder what her reaction will be to his injuries, especially since she gives off the impression that she’ll protect Hiro while the rest of his squad is doomed to die. What if she can’t protect Hiro from herself? Will she show more of her vulnerable side?

[Check out this chapter of the official 4koma, DARLING in the FRANKISS!, here.]

DARLING in the FRANXX continues to be a bit of a baffling experience, because even four episodes in, I’m not sure which direction it’s going. However, episode 4 is largely a fun ride, and the series definitely still has my interest.

#darling in the franxx #meta #analysis #darling in the franxx meta #goop watches darling in the franxx #spoilers #darlifra spoilers #kill la kill spoilers #ramblings #long post #gifs i made #blood #death #eye strain #abuse mention #kill la kill #ish #the discourse #serious talk #skip to about the 5:30 mark on the audio or go to 'the good' to avoid that (mostly)#sigh another week late one but #here it is ^^;#if you don't see one of these from me past sunday night/monday morning #expect it on the following saturday #(it's still saturday here!)#i just don't have time to finish these during the week #anyway i realize my last analysis was rather sloppy #(tfw your two sentences about something gets more attention than the thing you spent 10+ hours putting together amirite lol)#but i hope this one is better!#this doesn't take episode 5 into account btw

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