#but also yeah they're all bad guys who do bad things. i have interesting theories about amber because i feel like there's more of her

[keefechambers]

NOPE (2022) + Evil Counterpart

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Fútbot

Debut: Mario Strikers: Battle League

Today we will be talking about famous bad game Mario Strikers: Battle League! I do not care about sports games even if they do contain Shy Guy, but geez, I'm sorry to those of you who do. You just can't catch a break.

But maybe there's hope? Maybe a brand new character, unique to this game, could spark some intrigue? Surely a one-off robot in a Mario game would at least appeal to ME, right? RIGHT?

Wrong! I think Fútbot is stupendously mid. Note that I called it a "robot". Not even a "funny robot". That's how you know I'm serious! As a design, Fútbot has some interesting things going on, I suppose. A propeller for a lower body, a puppety mouth, and a glowing sphere of a "tongue". But it just doesn't do it for me! My favorite part of this character is the cute name.

Fútbot simply feels like a mascot and nothing else. This could be the mascot for anything. An antivirus software. A local TV channel that shows both football and The Big Bang Theory reruns. A week-long STEM summer camp for 8-12 year olds. Fútbot could be anything, and so it feels like nothing.

Fútbot is here to help you and give advice, and I suppose I do like that they made a new character for the role! I have been hard on Fútbot, but I would have NOTHING to say about this game without its presence. I would rather it be here! I also think it's neat that Fútbot is a representative of the Galactic Strikers Federation, implying a bit of new Outer Lore to Mario's universe. I COULD say that it makes sense it wouldn't look like a Mario character, since it's from a galactic organization, not limited to Mario's planet... but we know very well that there are Mario enemies all throughout Mario's galaxy and beyond! No excuse!

There is one great thing about Fútbot. Something I've been saving for the very end. Let's look closely.

These eyes. Bright, glowing cyan, with concentric rings within. They're not an exact match, but they absolutely bring to mind...

URBAN STINGBY LARVA! My beloved! Yeah! Woohoo! Who cares about foot bort or whatever its name is! This has become an Urban Stingby Larva post now!

Wiggle wiggle squirm and squiggle

Funny larva makes me giggle

Instantaneous pupation

Urban Stingby Larva Nation!

[walliedarling]

Warning! Talk of Human Biology and how it functions!

I personally love the idea of Human!Reader. I keep finding myself daydreaming about being in that position, stuck surronded by puppets who so with nothing better to do info dumping and explaining how the body functions.

"Blood isn't paint, it-"

"--Is the stuff in your mouth, right?!"

"Well, you are partially right. The clear stuff in my mouth, is diluted blood but it's called saliva. Saliva breaks down food, repairs the teeth, keeps the mouth and throat moist. Blood's main purpose is to carry oxygen and nutrients all over the body. "

"...huh?"

"The nutrients are gathered from the digestion track, the start of which is the mouth, the, throat, the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and end is the anus. It's why us humans have to be aware of what we eat, because if we eat too much of one thing it can make us very sick. Oh yeah, an example would be humans have the possibility to combust into fire randomly if too much alcohol is consumed, althought not a lot of research has been done on how the process functions as it is a rare event, but multiple occurrences have been recorded so it can happen."

"What's Alcoh--"

"--YOU CAN RANDOMLY CATCH ON FIRE?!"

Also, I personally think the puppets wouldn't really have an understanding of biological sex. Cause ya know. They are puppets. Not much up for debate there! They understand gender, but I don't think they would be able to wrap their heads around biological sex, maybe except for Frank since he is an avid butterfly enjoyer. Maybe butterflies work differently in that world, who knows?

So i would feel awful for a biologically female human!Reader, oh lord. Dealing with periods, not only withour any tampons, Pads, or pain relievers, (Maybe a heating pack though! I could see that existing.) But also being surronded by a bunch of cartoon characters who have no idea what exactly the problem is, or how to help? Sounds like hell.

And THEN there is the reasonable question of HOW does the Reader know all this?

I wouldn't wanna be the one explaining humanity's curiosity and it's history of fuck ups to these guys, I would feel so bad.😭

I just find how the body functions to be really interesting and would love absolutely talking the ears off the gang, going in detail about how different our bodies are. It's just a very fascinating topic in such a fun scenario.

Sorry about the rant!!!

You don't have to respond or anything if it's too uncomfortable subject matter, I just had to get this out before it rotted my brain. Just really like your idea/concept! :)

Noooo don't worry! I love receiving long asks and talking about stuff like this!

The vast majority of 'human body knowledge' flies right over their head, because they're just subjects they're unfamiliar with! As you said, Frank might have the best understanding of certain things, like plants need nutrients as well to survive, and he might use that as a comparison to explain to the others how your body works. He totally has a mini theory that you are somehow related to plant life. (Especially if you mention sometime how humans get certain vitamins from sunlight, and might get depressed during times with less sunlight... It's just like photosynthesis!)

Periods would truly be hell in this kind of setting, you're right, let's be honest HAHAHAHA

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

I’ve been out of the loop for batim/batdr for so long how did it change the lore?

none of the ink creatures are sacrificed staff members forced into a fate worse than death anymore. they're just ink creatures in a parallel dimension that joey drew made bc he was feeling pissy

in addition, it's not the real henry in there. joey was mad at henry so he made a fake henry just to torture him over and over

then allison was his Friend and so he decided to add her to the torture labyrinth to make things easier on fake henry. didnt stop the torture labyrinth tho

then he made himself a daughter out of ink and he wasn't the big evil corporate boss at all he was the Awesome Dad who encourages audrey to use her imagination and hope and shit. entire second game just forgot that he was supposed to be the villain

also in a very fanservicey way, bendy now can turn into his cute lil demon form and be audrey's little brother

a lot of people like it but it really really felt like fanservice above story to me. mascot horror isn't always like, good horror, but the first bendy really WAS. it had a great aesthetic, great designs, and was really effective in the implications of being sacrificed to an "and i must scream" demonic existence by one man's pride and lack of care (ie: capitalism) and the second game was just like "actually joey drew was a good guy the whole time and the real bad guy is this Random Obviously Evil Employee over in the corner and audrey's fixing the torture labyrinth so there's a little less torture <3"

i did like the idea of color animation being an anti-bendy threat but they literally did fuckall with that, just had the new bad guy like... mention it?? and then do nothing with it.

i feel like part of it also might have been that "trying to outsmart the fandom" thing. a popular theory, at least in my circles, was that henry was a bendy creature– the sacrificed staff had to be "perfect" for the role (IE: the two alice angels) and the first bendy was made without souls and that's why it was fucked up, and then joey realized the perfect bendy was his creator so he yeeted henry in, and that's why we never see our own hands or reflection + respawn in ink + sammy lawrence tries to sacrifice us immediately. god how fucking cool would it have been to, like, hear henry over loudspeakers trying to help us, and then we walk into the room he's in and just see BENDY.

but yeah no bendy's just a cute lil guy in the corner who can sometimes hulk into the ink monster bc... that was a thing in fanfics? joey drew is a good guy and good dad and the real enemy is the exploited worker. FUCK the original game's really good horror and atmosphere amiright

anyway i get why people like it i guess but hhh it really doesn't land for me. honestly im just pretending the first game is the only canon it was way more interesting

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

A THEORY ABOUT OZAI-

Why was Ozai so cruel?

Fire Lord Ozai is the absolutely malicious and tyrannical main antagonist of the Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the series, he comes across as a cruel, ruthless, and a megalomaniac dictator. Which is why he is often considered as a 2 dimensional cartoon villian with no rich background compared to the other villains like Azula, Zuko (formerly), Hama; Amon, Zaheer...

We never really see his inner struggles or anything complex about his character at all. His only motivation is like "Evil for sake of being evil". That's why some fans complain about his character being too shallow and too cartoonishly evil. And this really stands out when we compare him to rest of the characters, and arguably, they're all more complex characters than Ozai.

But... is this really true?

Could there be something more interesting and tragic about Fire Lord Ozai's character? Do we only see the only a small part of the iceberg? Well, let's find out!

There's literally nothing we know about his childhood or his early ages. All we know is that he was married Ursa when he was 30 and Ursa was 21, Ursa was specifically chosen because she happens to be the granddaughter of Avatar Roku. So, they could have powerful heirs for the Fire Nation. And it actually happened because Zuko and Azula really are exceptionally powerful firebenders.

Another thing we know about him is this panel,

They actually look like a normal, ordinary family here and it hurts. They're on a vocation; Ozai and Ursa just sitting calmly, baby Azula playing with sand, little Zuko running to save a turtle-crab... And when when the wave washed over Zuko, Ozai ran to save him.

Could the whole thing be true or Ozai was lying? I personally don't think it was a lie, because Zuko seems to remember some rare memories of his family being happy once and coming to Ember Island all together. Yes, you can say that Zuko could be an unreliable narrator here since he kinda romanticized those memories... But again, it's what happens with memories. Don't we all remember our childhood as purely innocent and happy? Because we like to remember those happy times and often forget about the bad ones. But the bad times don't erase the good memories! Also, in the "Beach", when Azula came to comfort Zuko, she also seemed a bit depressed. It means she was also missing those happy and innocent times of their life. So no, Zuko's memory was correct and Ozai probably wasn't lying either. Their family had some good times once.

Could it possibly be a redeeming quality for Ozai? Perhaps. However, we all know that it didn't last long. And we also know that Ozai was always sort of like that and Iroh comfirms it in "The Legacy of The Fire Nation" novel

And something interesting here... Iroh admits he sort of blames himself for not being a better guide for his brother. Which makes me think... Did Ozai really ever have a positive influence on his life?

You can arguably say Iroh, but i'd disagree. First of all, there's a huge age gap between Iroh and Ozai. And Iroh was a general who was busy with fighting in battle, such as the siege of Ba Sing Se. So I imagine they didn't really have a chance to spend time together and bond as brothers.

Also, Iroh wasn't exactly a positive influence before the death of Lu Ten. He used to be more ruthless and hungry for glory. Yes, he still was a caring guy towards his family, but he only realized the terrible side of violence and terror after losing his dear son... This is when he finally developed empathy towards everyone, not only for his family. So I don't think he would be able to be a better influence for Ozai when they were younger...

And if not Iroh, who could possibly be a good guidance for Ozai? Azulon? Pfft, yeah right! He definitely favored Iroh over Ozai, and was seen to be cold and harsh towards his son. So nope, he was an abusive father and far from being a good guidance.

But... What about his mother? What happened to her?

The only thing we know about Iroh and Ozai's mother is her name, Ilah. And she was married to Fire Lord Azulon. There's literally nothing else we know about her. So, we don't know what kind of a relationship she had with Ozai either.

And that's why I have this theory in my mind! Could it be that Ilah died when she was giving birth to Ozai? And maybe that's why Azulon was cold and cruel to Ozai?

The death on childbirth was a common incident during middle age and in the earlier ages too. Unfortunately, it still can happen in modern world too... But thankfully, it's a rare incident now due the modern advantages.

So yes, it's very possible that Lady Ilah to die on the childbirth. Because we never see her in the series nor in the comics. If she was alive at the moment, she would totally show up on Ozai and Ursa's wedding. But she didn't, which means she was long gone, at least for like 20 years. But since neither Iroh or Ozai mentions her for once, we can assume that she died very long ago.

Could this be why Iroh turned out to be a caring and compassionate person towards his own family? Because he had maternal love and support? Well, he obviously didn't get that from Azulon (even though Azulon seemed to care for Iroh and Lu Ten in a certain level). And that might be why Ozai became a cold and cruel jerk, because he never had this kind of love and support in his life.

And it also explains Azulon's bad treatment towards Ozai, reminds me of how Tywin Lannister despised his son Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. Tywin hated his son Tyrion because he was a dwarf and also because he "killed" his mother in childbirth

So maybe Azulon was going full Tywin on Ozai and blamed him for "killing" his own mother.

If that's the case, it makes a ton of sense for Ozai's character! Because he never really had a chance to redeem himself and grow up in a healthy environment. He was being told that he was a killer since he was born and accused with killing his own mother. I can totally imagine Azulon telling him that he is "An ill-made, spiteful creature. Full of lust and low cunning" (Quote from Tywin Lannister), or maybe even calling him a "monster"?

If this theory is true, then it makes sense for Ozai's character and why he became a brutal, ruthless and narcissistic person.

And let's not forget, narcissism isn't only a personality disorder but also a coping mechanism. Narcissists actually have fragile egos and low self-esteems. That's why they fake confidence and a false sense of grandiosity as a self-defense mechanism. The exact reasons of narcissism is not known, but researchers show that both genetic and environmental factors are in it. And it's very possible to occur because of a trauma or abuse too.

So maybe Ozai was crushed under the abuse and pressure of being "guilty" for killing his mother in childbirth, and he found comfort in creating a false sense of superiority.

And this also might be why Iroh and Ozai became distant towards each other. Ozai was probably jealous of Azulon's nicer treatment towards Iroh. So he didn't want to be around him and see how their father treats him better, because it would remind him of the fact that he was the unfavorite child. And from Iroh's aspect, maybe he was devastated after the death of his mother and wanted to distance himself from Ozai for it? Yes, it doesn't really sound like something that the Iroh we know would do. But again, we really don't know the Iroh before Lu Ten's death, but he surely cared about his family so much. And maybe that's why he distanced himself from Ozai because he took away a part of his family? And because of Azulon, Iroh probably didn't have a chance to accept Ozai a part of his family at this point. And when he did, it was probably too late. The damage was done. Ozai already became a narcissistic jerk and a potential tyrant.

So, that's my headcanon about Ozai's evilness. You can agree or disagree with it. If you have different thoughts, please feel free to share them with me

[andbrokenmemories]

So it's weird how like. The Kennet girls are good at everything, aren't they? [pale spoilers ahead]

Like that's obvious, it's textual -- it's very textual, other characters being in something like awe over it over and over and over across the story. The girls are very good at this, and they have a deep well of power. This comes up continuously.

what's weird is thaaat a lot of the fanbase seem to like, enjoy that. Enjoy having protagonists who can play around with magic in a way Blake never ever could have. I kind of get that, I won't like shit-talk it too hard. (I do like Verona, y'know?)

But it's an interesting fact. Because Wildbow's the underdog protagonist guy! At least in action scenes, that's his whole thing! Taylor and Blake have to eat shit and die to claw their way to victory, and often those scenes work for me. And it's one of the things I think WB gets the most praise for? Like, from his established base. It's a conscious choice to not do that for Pale. He like, introduced the idea that this kind of wild practitioner would be especially powerful. He made that up for this book.

I wonder what that decision looks like -- after Ward, and Ward's issues, especially, since that seemed to be the first break from this. Underdog protagonists seem to be the default, for him; the thing he has most experience with. I've seen posts from him describing his process -- put characters against the wall without having a pre-planned out for them, so WB himself has to puzzle out exactly what they can use to make it out alive -- and he seemed to derive like... An actual enjoyment, out of it?

Yeah, there are fights in Pale where they're up against the wall... even one where, with Dire Consequences for us all, Wildbow had them lose because he couldn't see a way for them to win!

But it's not the same. I'd honestly say they usually lose because of their like, lack of full maturity -- their child soldier-y emotional rawness and uncertainty -- their lack of cohesion, as the book usually plays it. Lucy cannot stop John from joining the Contest because she can't hold her nerve against him. The girls cannot stop the murder plot from coming to fruition because they lack unity, aren't working together as a team. Emotional stuff. The girls have more tools in their box than any Wildbow protagonist before them, by far, but they can't always use them properly to get the W, for emotional reasons, for character reasons.

In theory, that's an interesting direction (maybe, possibly), and I should be relieved that Wildbow is trying something fresh. In practice... I've said I don't like Pale's fight scenes. I think Wildbow is plainly worse at this than the content of his previous works.

Part of this is seen in the Contest. Or, at least, how Wildbow Posts about it. If you can't tell, a specific WoG lives in my brain: Wildbow said once that he kept the story going past Break because he genuinely did not believe the trio could beat Maricica. I can imagine him doing his typical calculus for this, and what led him to that conclusion, maybe. For example, we've heard a lot about the ability of the Fae to manipulate stuff, aaaand to have the girls come along and undo all of that with minimal information to begin with wouuld sort of. Damage our belief in Faerie significance. Still, though -- cards on the table, here -- I think this was a Dumb and Bad choice. (It's a sidenote to this post, but I think it's very strange that, in-story the straw that breaks the camel's back is shown to be the Alabaster allowing shit to go on rather than throwing in with John, effectively a betrayer revealed moment -- a thing that, even if sorta his intention from the start, he could simply say 'aw beans i never really planned this out far enough' and just drop. for the sake of wrapping up a better story. and naturally i believe this would have been better also because it means we never would have fucking gotten White Woman Animus!! i digress. i digress.)

Maricica had weaknesses the story gave us to nibble on, and those weaknesses... are just kind of dangling threads, now? As of where I hopped off? like, guess she can't be that inexperienced with people if she became a goddess and started a cult and helped with all that red heron shit lol

So it's that thing I said, about fight scenes being more character driven. But then also, he's clearly thinking about this the same way as ever! As shown by his weird logic with framing the story going past Break as a thing he Had To Do, for Logical Reasons, or at least that weighing on the decision. a thing that is silly and i disagree with on it's face. right?

And then this shows in the sheer quantity of fight scenes -- if the girl's main limiter is internal emotional context and stuff........... uh... why are there so many fights? Why wouldnt the story naturally curve towards. having fewer fight scenes when theres no other way to square things away. that progress character arcs. whyyy do i care about fight scene 129 when i know how strong these girls are. whyyy are we fighting so many random others, and dedicating genuinely long segments of story to them, rather than montaging that shit? Getting it over with? If it has to be there at all? (for reference -- I just tried to think of a Random Pale Fight i fully don't think mattered. i selected the random like. angel summoner guy? with the fortnite constructor angel. that's a part of the musser invasion or whatever. this is a character with literally no substance, just a musser-side goon. From him entering the ongoing! fight to Lucy getting out of dodge is 4.6k words. Plague 12.7, the Mannequin fight, up to Mannequin leaving -- that's almost the entire chapter -- is 6.9k words. on the worm wiki, i saw there's a brief 'major events' summary of that chapter. i couldnt tell you the major events of the Pale chapter, of which that section of fight is like a third, maybe. lucy gets a bit more upset. lucy gets in a few quips against musser-side characters that actually matter but actually dont matter much to how that broader conflict is resolved. i guess.)

Wildbow writes any random fight the girls get into as being worth as many words as his fights in the past! the scrappy, pay-offy ones. bleh. My point in all this: you cannot simply set your protags up in the way I'm positing, here, and then continue to use the same vocabulary of every other serial anyway. it straight up doesn't work. it's exhausting. The Future is An Eternal Slaughterhouse 9000 Arc. Look, thats a criticism that boils down to 'web serials are too long'. And I'm not sure I care too much about web serials being too long! I have read longer web serials with longer fight scenes! I have written fiction with a longer average word count per chapter than Wildbow, at least during Worm! its a real criticism, but its not one im amazingly interested in personally. But the Kennet three could've had weaknesses to play around -- or at least, more weaknesses. We are in a Post-Pact world, and in this Post-Pact world, the magic in Pale really barely feels like it, uh, relies on discourse and presentation. like at all. And that seems like an option to give these characters obstacles! An option Wildbow gestures at during the Musser meta-arc!

but what struck me getting that word count comparison earlier, skimming that fight? The girls just aren't operating in that world. There's never a thought for presentation -- maybe sometimes, for a slight edge. But it never really matters, certainly not after the blue heron. They're using glamour as a workhorse tool, covering goblins in it for brief misdirects to get an edge in a fight; they're calling on the same shrine spirits over and over. They don't build up tools over a portion of story then cash them out for a satisfying win, they're just... strong. They have more items in their bags than Wildbow probably knows what to do with. Strong enough for just Lucy to dunk on any random set of practitioners, but not strong enough for the story to just skip that part, and not strong enough to just solve the plot until it's time to go fuck up Charles and end the story.

I know you could argue that I'm making this up, or that it's what some people prefer to what Pact was doing. But I just think it's not even what wildbow is good at! (and i always theorize that when wildbow is writing kind of bad, it's probably because he's not actually engaged or happy with what he's putting himself through. did he read a specific thing that made him personally excited to make the girls so versatile? I don't really know, but I don't get that vibe.)

And I have a couple of specific things I want to point out to try and prove this is like. a thing at all, to wrap up on: First, Glamour is used as this very, uh, soft magic thing, this very basic narrative tool. A pure mechanic of, like, mental states. If you're shaken, if you're uncertain, your glamour gives out on you -- if you shake your opponents, make them skittish, your glamour is better at misdirecting them. This is fiiine? But too vague for what Glamour is. Wildbow simply failed to properly present tradeoffs to one of his character's main action verbs, one that literally had those tradeoffs in Pact. And one last example to try and prove this: they dont even wear the hats and cloaks anymore duuude. Like, in my eyes: there was a very simple to read gambit being made, with the hats and masks and cloaks? You are awakening early, you will always have awoken early: You accepted an early shield against what that meant. A constructed image in place of the image of a fully-fledged adult, masking that youth; Whimsical and inherently magical, inherently wild. It's a very basic tradeoff, and one the story promises you it knows: even if they really would rather not have to go through the whole song and dance of suiting up, if it's tactically suboptimal or else they mature out of it and realise it's not for them, they will never be able to escape it -- not without giving up power. A mark accepted that cannot be given up. A mechanical restriction on their powersets to make up for some of their advantages, that also has some character relevancy. The Good Stuff.

except yeah it can. be taken off. it doesn't super matter. not really. they do plenty of magic without all the stuff on or even any of the stuff on -- it's rarely presented as an obstacle. it doesnt really matter. Because then, you see, they couldnt mature out of it and do cool stuff! it'd be. annoying. frustrating. they'd have to like. deal with changing past the natures they made for themselves. they'd have to. be characters. with character issues. that present themselves in fight scenes. you know?? what are we doing.

[hoperays-song]

Sing 1 Commentary and Review Pt. 2

Welcome back to the madness loves!!! Also, I tried to tone down the commentary so I get further in the movie this time (I say while making at ton of random comments at the restaurant. Is this an elaborate plan to distract me from my fic being with my beta reader? Yes! Am I using it for content? Also yes! Enjoy!

---------------------------

Eddie is just like me in the last months of school fr fr.

Mood, chicken. Mood.

✨Deja Vu.✨

We get to see Buster's expenses list! He's bought two sandwiches and cookies, but I'm way more interested in where in the world he found printer ink for only $15!!!

Actually, I am a 100% sure that is not how prosthetic eyes work.

Top ten anime moments before disaster (could apply to like 99% of this movie tbh).

(Don't have a screen shot but update: The Lance puntable moments counter is now at 6.)

Ok, Johnny having to jump to reach the door handle is adorable. He's so small. Like it's obvious one of his family members opened it so they can clearly reach that, and yet Johnny's over here channeling his inner bouncy ball to reach.

Friendly reminder that at this point, we have no proof of Johnny's dad disapproving of a music career besides Johnny hiding the flyer. So I'm sticking with my theory that he has no problem with it and never has, Johnny's just terrified of disappointing him (starting strong with the queer allegory here aren't we?) and how his dad sees him changing.

RIP Rosita's house phone. You will be missed.

(PS: If anyone makes or has made a gif of Buster poking his head out of his drawer like a meerkat right before the auditions start, please send it to me, it just is so cute and yet so so goofy.)

His first reaction was to succeeding call Eddie, that's bloody adorable.

ICON. THE ICON HAS LANDED. EVERYONE BOW DOWN TO THE ICON, GUNTER.

OK OK OK, ADORABLE HEADCANON. Some of Rosita's kids have skateboards guys. Like after they meet Johnny, they beg him to teach them tricks and how to skate better and he does. They follow him around the skatepark like duckings.

They are the mother-son duo of the series, just look at them, so cute!

The lesbians are back + a rare sighting of a 13 year old who says "bro" all day.

The face of "I'm gonna become a father figure to a scary teenager wether she agrees to this or not".

Lance puntable moments counter: 8

Writer 1: Hey, which kid should we call the rebel?

Writer 2: I was thinking Johnny.

Writer 1: Oh! You mean the kid who actively told his dad when he was leaving to singing auditions and came back within a reasonable amount of time?

Writer 2: Yeah, that's the one!

But seriously, he doesn't even sneak out. He legit tells his dad when he leaves that he's leaving. He doesn't say the location of where he's going but still, worst rebel of the century. He doesn't even have to sneak out!

Also, Marcus and him are clearly close enough and Marcus trusts Johnny enough for him to leave to go who knows where for hours at a time. They're nice to each other and (besides the singing instead of robbing bit) they seem to communicate with each other really well. Father-son duo of the year everyone.

I completely forgot Rosita was stuck in line behind Mike. The poor thing. Rosita, you have my sympathies.

Who is this and what have the done with the evil mouse man???

Also... Mike puntable moments counter: 9

This is giving me Toddlers & Tiaras flashbacks. 😬

The bestest boy. So awkward, so sweet, such wet cat stumbling over it's own feet energy.

Mike, this is what NOT to do when a teenager is having a panic attack. I feel so bad for Meena here, really, She did not deserve Mike being an absolute tosser in the slightest.

Also... Mike puntable moments counter: 17 (I don't like bullies)

Hat Man!!!

I completely forget that four whole members of the troupe were not first round picks. Johnny, Rosita, Gunter, and Meena all were either picked second, afterwards, or fell into the role eventually. Buster did not originally plan on having Johnny and Meena in the singing competition at all even.

Number 1 supportive boyfriend right there, love him.

Ok, this moment. This is the exact moment where Eddie suggests that Buster and him do something together instead of the theatre. His exact words are "i don't know, maybe we could do something together."

... Look at that face. There is no heterosexual explanation for saying that with that face.

Eddie coming in with the best "my boyfriend's gonna be in jail by the end of this" expression of all time.

Yeah... Marcus, Stan, and Barry definitely know that Johnny wants to be a singer. They definitely know he was going to the theatre. Why you ask? BECAUSE IT WAS ON THE BLOODY NEWS!!!

Lance... what to say here? Oh yeah!

Lance puntable moments counter: 14

Street saxophone players, attention please. DO NOT DO THIS. This is how you get pepper sprayed! 😊

Look at my boys!!! Planning a robbery as a family! Bonding! I'm so proud of them. <3

Also, in the plan they deliberately state they're avoiding the guards entirely. So no, they were never canonically violent until the second movie and that was in self defense. They don't hurt the people they're stealing from. They are genuinely good people and absolutely were non violent offenders.

---------------------------

Ok ok, more self restraint with the screenshots next time, I know. Be right back! - <3 Gooseless

[wooltoesocks]

things i want to get answers to in the remaining episodes of four leaf: a very comprehensive list that must be missing some things i just cant remember at the moment (also soilers for up until ep 139):

just in general evrything about the bells, and more especiall like how is lina giving lupe her bells (because that is 100% gonna happen i think) gonna affect them, for example if they'll get lina's bell as like their own, and if that bell being kinda broken is gonna be any problem

will that be a permanent change, is lupe gonna give the bell back to lina after they deal with the wolf

what's gonna happen to cricket if they really do deal with the wolf? or how will tehy come to some wsolution that doesnt harm anyone

CARLA!!! is she gonna be okay? that wound looks very nasty. i hope they'll be able to cure it somehow, and if not, then chopchop there goes a leg :/

talking about carla, is she gonna give er bells to someone like she mentioned in 138? that is only in case she wont be able to continue, but it loks very bad rn, so my question is, is it gonnna be mercy? or in general, who is it gonna be?

also about the bells, i really wanna know how many bells each witch has!! it''s just something i think would be interesting to analyse. (i looked through all the episodes where a witch has their bells out buut i still now only know for certain the number of bels like 7 witches have (before 137 and emma giving up her bells): Erica 1, Emma 2, Socks 2 (most likely, unless she got mor after the prison break, that's when she at least shows only 2), Alishba 3, Linda 3 (both of whose bells were shown during the prison break), Carla 20, Lina 21.

also also (i use that word so much), the names of the witches! we now know there are 17 witches in the red hoods (+lupe +lina so maybe 19 but oh well) and of those 17 we know the names of 12 (episode 133)

what i wanna know too is like which bell belongs to which witch? we've seen some, for example in the flashback of when they first appeared, and also in the festival of roses we see some, but like i wnna knowww (ye sit's very trivial but that's what makes it fun i think)

the mom. what happened with her in the 8 months that have passed since lupe was last in their original world? did she just continue on like normal, or did she actually regret some of the things she's done? will lupe go see her again?

the inevitable. the thing i've been waiting for for like 2 years. the KISS! alvar mentioned the witch loking very mad and the also saying he's the kinda guy to ask twice before a first kiss and what i think will happen is that he is gonna ask. like he's just the kinda guy. but the thing lupe (most likely) will be "mad" about is just that al didnt tell about it (even tho he was gonna tell you lupe, you just didnt want him to). or they arent mad, but just like very confused/fristrated and Al just interpreted it wrong? i dont know. we'll see (hopefully tomorrow in 140 but at the evry least in 141?? like i dont think it will take so long that it would be 142? (i am delusional). also looking at the future chapter thumbnails (not a fast pass reader), it looks like someone is using some kind of reddish/pinkish magic / teleporting right next to him)

okay this isnt a theory or anything, i just know lupe's dad is gonna be so smug learning about lupe and al's relationship when they do get into one like judging from ep 116 and the "crush" i jut know

okay wow this is a long post but i need to get these out of my head and scream into the void and wait if it screams back

back to the bells, they'r gonna give everyone their own one back right? if they deal wit hthe wolf, there shouldnt be any need to hoard all the power, and i dont think it would be very fair to let 72 people just go on about life without really even knowing what's going no just because you wanna levitate. i know it's probably more complicated than that but yeah

also (fuck, this word again) what's gonna happen to the witchs' craving of gloom? is it gonna go away if there is no wolf (okay this is assuming that it's dealt with and they wont come to a peaceful comclusion but if that happens i just really hope cricket will be okay)

are other witches gonna wanna get rid of their bells and become human like emma?

i would like some more information about the different worlds, although i think it's unlikely tha will come up in the chapters themselves, but maybe as some bonus content somewhere?

okay so i already wrote about like if Lina's bell being broken is gonna have any effect on lupe, but will it affect Lina herself? i would assume not, but you never know

just in general, i cant wait to see how everything comes to a conclusion and how the ending is gonna be (even tho i would love for it to go on for longer). are we gonnna see another time skip?

man i just remembered there are alaso civilians in Garua at the moment too like the redhoods are gonna get the to safety right? maybe that will also help a little with the public's fear of the witches, the news that hey maybe they're not bad through and through (even tho that was never the case but most people still thought that so)

fuck this is long how many words even is this... 1005???? man that's like 2/3 of the essays we had to write in high school. yea it's easier to just put stuff from your mind into bullet points but this has taken me like maybe 45 minutes where as those essays took at least 5 hours. i bet i could make one from one of my interests in like 2 hours and i would be much better than any of those monstrocities i wrote

anyway back on track

actually those are the main ones i remember now, maybe i'll update this once more come to mind, but for now this is enough for today

pictured above is me falling for this series

wait one more thing: is it stated anywhere how much the bells weigh? i would assume they're more like incorporeal so they wouldn't hve any mass, and i fell like should know this i've read this series 5 or 6 times. but if they do infact hve mass, do the witches have to actively levitate them or are they jsut funky like that

[thefirstknife]

I have a question regarding the Witness' motivations and emotions, particularly in response to Byf's interpretation of them (not to be derisive of Byf, I enjoy his content.)

In two of his videos regarding the Witness and its goals, Byf discusses the idea that the Witness is obsessed with control, with dominating both its enemies and its own forces, imposing its will on the universe. However, I feel like this has ignored some of the points that have been raised by other lore analysts, mainly the idea that the Witness seems to view suffering itself as a cruel fate, and that through exercising its will to conquer and either destroy/subjugate species, it is leading to the endgoal of either reducing existence to lifelessness, or escaping the universal cycle of life entirely.

What is your opinions on this? I lean more towards the idea of the Witness being disgusted with the 'cruelty of living,' which has some basis in the rage that Mara felt in the Inspiral entry dealing with her encounter, and it is trying to impose its own 'Final Shape' of universal simplicity in order to try reduce all living things, thereby in its own view reducing suffering. The idea that the Witness simply seeks to control everything seems somewhat reductive.

Apologies if this question appears vague or fragmented.

Yeah, I agree that it's probably more complex than just control. Control is definitely a part of it and a very big part, but I also feel there's more to it. The single-minded focus on achieving the Final Shape, to me, seems like more than just the Witness trying to simply be in control. I feel like it genuinely believes into what it's trying to do. The kind of a bad guy who think they're correct and that they are making things better sort of thing.

Especially with how it talked to the Traveler, or rather the Gardener. Saying "be free." That's the opposite of control. As you said, the bit about the cruelty of living seems to be a huge point for it. It said something about it in WQ and it said it again to the Traveler in Lightfall. A bit post-Lightfall, I believed that the Witness' Final Shape is to revert or remove the rules of the game placed into the universe by the Gardener. Return to how things were before the universe existed, possibly start anew. It's still an interesting theory to me! It would mean that the Witness genuinely just wants to start over and thinks everything and everyone would be better for it. More than just wanting to be in control of the universe. Again, control plays a part 100% but I feel there's more to it than that. Especially given the whole "rage" thing.

Hopefully we'll get to learn more about the Witness soon!

[adobe-outdesign]

So how we feeling about that fake Diglett aka Wiglett?

I feel like everyone's gonna disagree with me on this one, but I honestly don't care much for Wiglett here.

Before anyone tries to tell me, yes, I know what convergent evolution is, I knew about it long before Wiglett. As a biology nerd, I feel like this should appeal to me more. It makes sense mechanically—you couldn't have a Paldean Diglett outside of Paldea, but because Wiglett is convergent it can appear in any game, which is nice. It's really just the design part of it just does absolutely nothing for me.

My big problem with it is that the design is just too plain, and way too similar to Diglett. Anyone who's been reading these reviews knows that I like my Pokemon designs to be unique. My favorite regionals, for example, are the ones that are new takes on old Pokemon that actually feel like a refreshing and interesting twist on the design. Ones that stray too close to the original design (for example, Alolan Meowth) feel unnecessary and uninteresting to me.

So with Wiglett here, it's regular Diglett... but longer and white. Sorry, but that's not enough for me. It's actually based off of a garden eel, which is a perfect inspiration, as they stick out of the ground in much the same way as Diglett do:

But look how pretty they are! All those spots and speckles make for a striking look, and little things like them having fins help remind you that this is an aquatic creature. I would've loved to see a bit of speckling and a small back fin on Wiglett here; especially because it feels very "naked" as is. Right now you'd be forgiven for not realizing it was an eel with a connection to the water in the first place.

Diglett got away with few details because it was a dark color and much shorter; elongate it like this and make it a light color and it ends up feeling empty. I know they're supposed to look similar, but something like that would still keep them looking similar enough to justify the concept. I like the brighter red nose, but otherwise it's just a Long Diglett to me. (Though it's also worth noting that Wiglett might evolve into something different than a Dugtrio-ish thing, which would help justify it being more similar at this stage.)

I will say, however, that we know of one other convergent evolution Pokemon through leaks. I can't go into detail here out of fear of spoiling people, but the second one might be much more interesting and have a more interesting design if they're going the direction I think they'll go with it. So the idea of convergent Pokemon might not be inherently bad; it might just be this design specifically that doesn't do it for me.

Side note: Man, the ground effects on these guys look terrible. In Gen 1 they weren't considering things like 3D environments, but having a mismatched clump of sediment that rotates around with the Pokemon is Not Great. I feel like they could've at least dropped the ground from Wiglett and just had it coming straight out without a pile or something. Or at least make the base sediment stay still while the Pokemon looks around.

So yeah, good idea in theory that could lead to some interesting concepts in the future... but if they all just look like recolors with one single element changed like Wiglett does here, I think I'll stick to loving regionals instead. Sorry Wiglett. You're still cute.

[eleemosynecdoche]

ngl you're vastly overexaggerating the racist aspects of prax if you think they're as bad as korerala. even the faux native thing isn't as shitty as...literally nearly everything about the later.

I didn't say that the reason Prax sucks was solely because it was racist. (Although Prax is pretty racist when you step back and evaluate that it's a part of Glorantha where the primary population is faux-Amerindian *and* Mad Max postapocalyptic raiders, where the basic modalities are of the American Old West, where the imagery and worldview of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories also come into play, and then there's, as a tiny part of that, Argrath and the whole White Bull thing.) I mean, I played a game with lengthy sections in Caladraland, the presence of overt racism in the source content isn't the root problem I mean when I say a place "doesn't exist" as a joke.

Prax and Kralorela, to me, suck because they don't have playable content that I'm interested in. Prax has playable content that is entirely focused on Pavis and the places downriver of Pavis, and none of that really interests me. (In fact, Sun County/Mo Baustra as presented textually could be just about anywhere, because there's not that much about how its people interact with the Animal Nomads. This, too, is unfortunately downstream of the racism in the content there.) But stepping outside of that zone and wading directly into the Animal Nomads, the conflicts are over... what? Which of the big five is on top for the next little while? There's microscale content for, idk, fantasy life-sim stuff, but unfortunately the whole "strong and hard barbarian savages" element becomes really damaging there, because you're playing people who exist in an environment where cooperation across ethnic boundaries is downplayed and submerged.

I'm also, steelmanning the position of the hypothetical Prax defenders out there, straightforwardly ignoring the nu-Chaosium intent, which is that the Lunars conducted a genocide against the Bison and Impala People after First Moonbroth and then Argrath conducted a more thorough genocide against the Sables after Second Moonbroth, killing 40% of the adult population. I am ignoring this because it is content that goes so far out of tone for Prax that it's functionally gibberish. Metaplot metastasizing. But I'm also not that interested in playing with that kind of content either.

So that's Prax- I think Prax sucks because playing there with the content provided doesn't do anything which interests me, and it's also reveling in brutality in a way I find distasteful.

Turning to Kralorela, yeah, it's cartoonishly racist. I don't know if there's a clear way to quantify these things even in theory, but Kralorela is down there with Fonrit and Teleos and the Vadeli and Teshnos and, frankly, Pent as far as wanton racism baked into the content goes.

And Kralorela also does have a kind of proto-playable content thing going on, which is utterly fucking rancid because it's centered around a drug called "black lotus" and a guy named "Can Shu" who's positioned about where Manchuria would be and who's scheming to invade and overthrow Kralorela and ha ha ha, if you count the Kralori emperors they roughly match up with Chinese dynasties/Chinese states- and that's when I start screaming internally.

And yeah. Both of us could go on at length at how much racism is embedded in the content, and one area Kralorerla exceeds anywhere else in is that you really have to take a fire axe to almost all the names because of how they're pseudo-Mandarin (written in Wade-Giles or sub-Wade-Giles) rather than vague fantasy bullshit or recognizable words.

Setting that parade of misery aside, Kralorela is also fundamentally disconnected from the entire rest of the setting because it's built on the trope of Chinese isolationism, and that extends to the "East Isles"/Vithela which are ostensibly part of the same "zone", but which have significantly more interesting content on their surface. The Guide included a stream of racist vomit that attempted to lay out the desired metaplot for the whole area east of the Zola Fel, but it's metaplot and doesn't have more than the faintest hit of actual tensions or conflict you could play.

Also, Godunya is one of Greg Stafford's many self-inserts.

With that being said, I am now going to, out of sheer perversity, talk about the content in Kralorela that I think you could get to without too many swings of the fireaxe and which I think is interesting.

Kralorela has a pretty decent amount of pure fantasy content- chocobos! Bridges big enough to be entire cities stretched out across their length! Magical injection-molded fortifications!- that you could pick up and play with. Kralorela also has the advantage that there's a lot of external media you can use as a source for content once you've chopped away the vast majority of it. Cultivator novels aren't high art, but they're perfect to inject into Glorantha.

There's also- There's a way in which Kralorela having thus far avoided the nu-Chaosium reduction of Glorantha to working in a single way and via a single metaphysics opens up Kralorela as a place that is potentially valuable for wide-scope play with the Lunars, or the Holy Country. Again, a hard job with the fire axe, but once you're done, there's something interesting about the Kralori as "Lunars who sold out" and accepted their cosmic revision would only go so far and no further, and as a "Holy Country that escaped Belintar" and went on to develop a system that continued on without the deaths and annihilations of ruling demigods actually destroying it. That's, uh, really wide-scope play, the point at which the Altinelans and Luatha become polities interacting with other polities, and it's fairly limited in examples... but there's something there.

And you could very easily use Godunya the self-insert and Genertela being a horizontally flipped United States and just make Kralorela California or the whole American West Coast. Chen Durel is Idaho, Fethlon... okay, bad idea.

None of this makes Kralorela "good" or playable, just something that has more nascent content that interests me than Fonrit.

[acourtofthought]

You seem like a fair and kind person to me, plus you do a lot for this fandom; we're lucky to have you, and you deserve the compliments! Also I wanted to add that the az-luc theory was nice to hear bc it made the whole situation b/w them less “teen drama” I feel like a lot of the times the explanations given for the tension among the 3 of them are oversimplified. And although it’s not bad thing when guys fighting over a girl, it seems out of place in this series. Idk how to explain it exactly, but yeah it just seems so random snd doesn't make sense for this situation?

Thank you again!! 😊

I agree (with the rest of your message, I wasn't saying I agree with be deserving compliments though I greatly appreciate them 😂)

I think some treat the Az / Lucien setup as if it's really not a big thing but it's so out of character for two of the good guys in the series and the animosity Az has for Lucien has been mentioned enough times that it doesn't feel like they're simply going to shake hands in the next book and walk away without further explanation. SJM has made Az's dislike of Lucien a pretty big plot-point.

It's hotly debated but I honestly don't think Az was romantically interested in Elain until Solstice of MAF. I think he was protective before that because to him she seemed to be someone in need of protecting but he was relieved not to have to get her a gift and while she was in the room with him at Solstice, he stared at Mor with heat and yearning. You just don't do that if you're interested in another female at that moment.

But he was pissy about Lucien before Solstice:

"Send Lucien then. As our human emissary." (Az said this line)

After saying it, Rhys takes note of: "I studied the tenseness in Azriel's shoulders, the shadows veiling half of him from the sunlight."

He also says: "I don't make a point of looking after his movements" and: Azriel's Siphons guttered, the stones turning as dark and foreboding as the deepest sea. "Where did Lucien go"

After that last line Rhys is a bit taken back Az's tone and the way he basically demands an answer.

When Rhys asks Az if he thinks Lucien can handle being around Graysen, Az adopts an expressionless face and says "Why should I be the judge of that?".

And Rhys thinks again on how Az is giving absolutely no emotion away.

This can't be about Elain, he's still lusting after Mor. He's either mad about the fact that Lucien was "worthy" of a bond (regardless of who it was with) or mad that Rhys is looking to Lucien for information where Az used to be the go to person.

And of course after Solstice Az gets fixated on how Elain gave him and gift (which he opened after blushing, lusting over Mor) but didn't give one to Lucien and suddenly Az is caught up in his thoughts of Elain and his anger towards Lucien has progressed to him really not giving shit about Lucien at all, to the point that he's annoyed to have to ask him for help in Spring, thinks he's not good enough and doesn't care that he's casually talking about killing him.

I mean....what?!?

There's deeper emotions going on when it comes to how Az feels about Lucien that I don't think has anything to do with Elain and I kind of like the idea of it echoing whatever fallout may have existed between Fionn and his best friend, maybe some sort of jealousy that drove (Pelias?) to kill him.

That whole "history repeating itself but we'll do better than our ancestors" is always a good trope in books. And I think it was the TOG series that said something along these lines but maybe I'm thinking of something else entirely, "all the original players have returned". Which adds up to there being key people thousands of years ago that made mistakes which led to bad things happening and now, all those that were once connected to the originals have come together to succeed where they failed.

I don't know, it would make this whole setup a big more grand and purposeful and would be something more exciting to sort out instead of having a fan favorite MMC go down a path where he's being a dick to Lucien all on his own for absolutely no reason that's important to the story aside from being mad that he's not getting what others are getting. Having their setup be an echo of history somewhat takes the focus off Az's childish behavior and puts the focus on the bigger story.

[georgegraphys]

@grbambi63's theory really made me peek into Daimler's 2018, 2019, and 2023 annual report to see the difference between Zetsche's management to Kallenius' management.

Zetsche's objective:

Kallenius had a similar objective on that too but I won't include it for today because we're not talking about the similarity but... the one thing Kallenius had that Zetsche didn't.

2019 & 2023's Kallenius-term annual report objectives:

Lower cost base. Reduction of (...) costs.

This isn't just some move that Kallenius added just because he loved saving some pennies but it might be due to the chaos that happens in his first year as a CEO. I am going to highlight two major events here.

1) Diesel Emission Scandal

In the beginning of 2018 (Zetsche's term), Daimler was accused of having shit devices on their control software for their US products but they denied this allegations. Then it was reported that the US authorities were investigating them for diesel emission cheating scandals.

In June 2019, Daimler had to recall 60,000 Mercedes diesel powered cars in Germany, the model affected is the Mercedes-Benz GLK 220 SUV produced between 2012 and 2015, the car is fitted with software aimed at distorting emissions tests. And during the same year, Daimler was fined 870 million euros in Germany for "negligent violation of supervisory duties" in relation to not fully complying with emissions regulations. In 2020, they had to pay $2.2B in settlement.

The scandal got serious actually as "The Daimler boss is also putting the german federal government in trouble. It has its back against the wall internationally because of the fraud committed by its flagship industry. US President Donald Trump has targeted Daimler in the trade dispute and threatened that he no longer wants to see Mercedes cars on Fifth Avenue in New York" source

This crisis ironically started at Zetsche's management but the peak of the case was handled during Kallenius' early stage of leadership 💀💀💀 (I FELT BAD FOR HIM NGL LMAOOO)

2) COVID 19

Do you think Kallenius' trials decrease after his first year? No. COVID-19 happens. They still profit as they are THEE Mercedes but sales were slow at one point. Kallenius and other executives had to take pay cuts due to COVID and even before, COVID he also had to struggle with Daimler's stocks dropping drastically while having to deal with the lawsuit and satisfying the investors. He also said this: (source)

Looking at how they have interesting differences as CEO. Kallenius is definitely all about cost efficient and maybe this was due to the crisis he felt in 2021 and as a preparation for Daimler's future ventures in focusing more about EQs

Update: Yeah this confirms that he had a pretty rough start to his management year in 2019 due to diesel scandal (source)

And bold of you to think that Zetsche retired from Mercedes with a bang. No he didn't. (source)

AND THE BEEF THICKENS as some board member reportedly are against his rise to be the chairman of the supervisory board (source)

Just a personal thought from me, but what if the reason Kallenius was pissed at LH in 2021 is caused by all these financial wrecks Mercedes are in during these years? They were hit again and again. To add that, Kallenius is very adamant on his cost efficient and cost reduction objectives after these hardships. And at that time, just after 2020, LH demands a raise. A raise from a company who is literally in the trenches fighting for a surplus and good result from all the legal battles they're in and COVID that caused the board members and employees to get paid cuts. Maybe this was what pissed Kallenius off? Because at that time, Mercedes wasn't doing so well and suddenly, LH asked for pay raise to a guy who is very set and clear about saving every pennies 😭😭 That must've pissed the hell out of him. I'm not saying Lewis is wrong but kinda 💀💀 to think that the butterfly effect from that moment of their contract negotiation in 2021 to what is happening rn in 2024 💀💀.

If that is true then Zetsche is the catalyst for the butterfly effect happening rn:

Zetsche diesel scandal>Him retiring>Kallenius' rise to position>Mercedes financial flopification due to dieselgate and covid>LH demanding more salary>Cost efficient and suffering Kallenius, with his hands full on Zetsche's mess, getting pissed at LH>LH and Mercedes fallout>Kallenius using George as a piece in the contract negotiation>Toto Wolff power decrease in Kallenius' era>George to Mercedes>Another contract negotiation problems>Ambassadorial promise getting yeetus deletus-ed>LH pissed>Ferrari move early>George steps forward as team leader

If this is real. If the butterfly effect is real, then it's crazy.

[richardsphere]

Leverage Log: The (Very) Big Bird Job

Ok time to start S5. Ok the courts just filed in favour of an airplane company. (im dissapointed, i really wanted this to be a Sesame Street crossover, but "plane" will have to do) --- Lesson of the day: Interpol makes good pretzels. Sophie is really pissed they dont get to go back to Nate's place. (I agree with Hardison, and with Elliot if you're gonna use a restaurant as cover do it well) In Sophie's defense, maybe tell her a bit earlier. But Hardison is 100% right to move places. (im assuming real life-wise, its a tax incentive thing, Portland probably gave incentives to TV crews that their previous place didnt) Also Parker and Hardison have officially said the word "dating", which implies that either they were trying to keep it on the down-low last season (did not fool Elliot or Sophie) or that they weren't "official" last season (does not fool me) --- Car-baddy scared me for a sec. Thought Hardison (and the showrunners) went through all this trouble justifying the switch to Portland, only for them to get their covers blown before any scams, cons or heists even happened. But the "they're on the move" is probably about the woman and child who just left Leverage Inc, rather then being about Leverage Inc. --- The Spruce Goose. Well yeah that most certainly is a verry big bird. Im gonna be honest, until he said "what a great man can do when the little people get out of his way", i actually sort of liked the mark. He seemed like a man genuinely passionate on the industry he works in. --- Ooh we get an actual scene of Parker doing burglary stuff. (by which i mean more then just pickpocketing) I get those scenes are probably hard to write/shoot but seeing as literally everyone in the show picks pockets and lifts ID badges every episode it was starting to seem like Parker was getting a bit redundant. --- Are they seriously going to con the guy into thinking he's flying this plane? Like yeah, i know Hardison apparently has an interest in flight simulators (IE: The cross my heart job) but that seems a bit extreme. Also i dont like that this season starts with a 9/11 reference. Like that is a bad sign for media from America that its about to get really Pro-Big Government, Anti-Islam and or generally extremely racistly patriotic. --- Yep they're gonna sell him the bridge, as well as the plane it connects to. --- Sophie sees a theatre for lease. (i assume knowing her and the teams money, she's gonna buy it outright). --- "company kills a guy, pays a fine. You kill a guy you go to jail". Nice work Nate. --- I mean yeah obviously it was in the bear... I suspected it from the start. (i just didnt write it down because, well the other option was they cast a child actor a few years too old for the character and were attempting to smooth over the gaps by giving them a cute little bear. And i felt that was a rude thing to comment on) --- Ah, Nate took a sec to compliment Hardisons' fake blueprints. --- Elliot has finally found a word he can't make sound badass. "i'm only gonna say this once; Give me the... teddy bear." Ok Parker, you just pickpocketed the magazine out of a loaded gun, Without removing the gun. Why do you feel the need to flex like this? You could've just stolen the whole gun. --- Ok Nate. You officially do not get to complain about Hardisons' goldheist. Like, nothing has gone against your plans in this con, you designed the con around Hardisons' ability to turn a plane into a flight sim, and then had him stage a crash-site. --- Well that was a verry well engineered confession. Congrats. --- Ok so our season-arc begins with an ominous shot of Hardison and Nate going behind the teams back on something. No theories yet but "all good things come to an end" is an ominous line for a shows final season to end at.

[nobodysdaydreams]

The Mysterious Benedict Society Reaction Season 2 Episode 5 Blank Expression

Hello everyone. As you can see, instead of trying to cram this in after work I have decided to get my sleep schedule back on track by motivating myself with an early morning reaction (highly recommend if you would like to get to bed at a decent hour). It has come to my attention that there are promotional photos with Garrison, Martina, and Constance, which fuels my theory that they are behind the water polo team and kidnapped Constance. I wonder who Blank Expression is referring to. I hope it's Marlon. Also, the episode description. "Constance faces an old enemy" I wonder who that could be (let's go Garrison/Martina return!!)and "the kids enlist an ally"???. Anyway I'm not wasting anymore time, let's get into it.

YES GARRISON IN THE RECAP!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳

1:00- Oh Sticky don't blame yourself. You tried. Yeah don't tell the cops they're are all on Curtain's team. I hate the man, but he works fast I'll give him that.

2:00- huh no official stops, very interesting. ha, "kilometers, you gotten think like Europeans when tracking them". OH MARTINA IS THE ALLY? She's not with Garrison? She's not brainwashed? I love that for her. Yes, I love that they are still using landlines. All that tech all those geniuses. And they only have one weakness. No cell phones.

3:30- oh boy here we go!!!!! I'm so pumped for this.

5:00- Yes Milligan grab those Whisper memories! But who is rebuilding it? Garrison or Curtain? Looks like we got 2 bad guys now?

6:00- PFT- "research to create attachment feelings", Garrison you're trying. (Side note: the doll thing is funny, but the way Curtain and Garrison robotically try to connect with kids is so funny). Awe my girl stuck to her morals and didn't want to use her device on people. Yes, Constance, she does need better friends maybe she joins the society? My former enemy now the enemy of my enemy could be a necessary friend?. Wait, Garrison, your ideas live in your book? Then he could totally steal that. Even if it was written in code, he's smart he could crack it. Heck, Curtain kept his ideas in a book, and the kids stole that by hiding in trees. Oh gosh Garrison is unraveling. Garrison what happened to your moral principles? She really turns them on and off at a whim. Now she's ready to brain-sweep a child. She is really compartmentalizing. Or will she even be able to bring herself to do it.

8:24- oh shut up Marlon. No one cares. And shut up Curtain. Oh every time he has to have food. I guess that's his thing now. He missed his true passion in the culinary arts trying to take over the world.

9:00- Curtain seems so underwhelmed. I so want number 2 to destroy him during the finale. DO NOT EAT HIS FOOD. DON'T SIT DOWN. Oh does Curtain know about her family not talking to her? Yeah, you changed your name to a stupid pun Nathaniel, it's hardly a flex.

11:00- That's true: no narcolepsy. It's not real joy. Just like... this might not be real vulnerability for Nathaniel when he says he loves his brother and has moved on. He's not admitting that he was hurt, or that he wants a relationship. Hahaha, she takes the food. I hope she doesn't go to the demonstration. "Terrible roommate, good friend": a thing every college student learns about a friend at some point.

12:00- YES MARTINA

12:13- Yeah, he really can't stop kidnapping. And yeah, if Martina's transcripts are worthless, HOW IS SQ GONNA GET INTO ART SCHOOL? CURTAIN YOU ARE THE WORST! She stole their gear? That's fantastic. Also are Reynie and Martina gonna fight over being leader?

14:00- Oh hello creepy kid. I don't like this joy-spreading business. Yeah thank you Jackson and Jillson, at least someone is on top of this crisis.

15:00- Nicholas is in such denial. "more than happiness it's wholeness we're FINALLY TOGETHER AND I'M NOT GIVING IT UP'? No no no no no NO. Curtain you monster. That's clearly why he went under so fast. It's not that he "wanted to be happy" or "felt unfulfilled" it's the guilt. And Nicholas, it's not wholeness, you just feel like you're on drugs.

16:20- "sheer terror" "or a void. Nothingness" Jackson and Jillson looked like they were contemplating all their life choices when they said that. "Allergies" oh my gosh Marlon does this look like an allergic reaction? Huh. "Stiff necks". Good observation Jackson and Jillson, maybe you should be in charge. And yes, everyone needs to be told. Oh now Marlon's threatening the doctor? OH MARLON'S RUBBING HIS NECK! Looks like someone is about to get his karma.

17:00- Pft- "underfunded". Oh my gosh Garrison is literally fitting the underappreciated and underfunded post-doc vibe. I feel for her a bit. She might actually be the only one who can stop HER invention that Curtain stole. This could be the beginning of an unlikely alliance.

18:00- Yes Sticky. Stick up for your boy. If Reynie and Martina could cooperate, they would actually make go co-leadership. Hopefully a better team than Curtain and Garrison.

20:00- Finally we get to see Rhonda in her disguises. "Just had a baby he's distracted" ma'am are you trying to compete with Curtain for "worst boss ever".

21:00- "Magenta" Lol, Constance giving in. HAHA this is so funny to watch her go the opposite way and actually give in to the Whisperer for a second just to defy Garrison. And she's literally showing you how she destroyed it Garrison. She's just destroying you not the whisperer this time. She's breaking your will. OH NOW SHE IS PHYSICALLY DESTROYING THE WHISPERER. Um... what is the old-fashioned way? Is Garrison about to beat up a child?

23:00- yeah, cars with mud would be coming to town from the same place, and likely be entering near each other. "The depression of middle age" I love Constance. Garrison had no idea what she was getting into. I love that by "old-fashion way" Garrison didn't mean beating her up, she meant early psychology old-timey flashcards. " I see a broken angry person". "As a child is this how you pictured your feature self? Life could be better, right?" "Professionally disgraced". Oh my gosh, Garrison went from Curtain to Constance that is a rough transition and she had no idea Constance was like that.

25:00- Yes Kate, secret layer! Yeah locks never stopped Kate. Martina, you don't need to tell her.

26:00- Dipika? Yes we're getting her first name. Uh oh looks like Curtain caught wind of the audience's disapproval of this adult romance (honestly I don't really care either way) and decided to do something about it. The kids might be greeted by all the adults brainwashed by the time they reach the compound.

27:00- oh great now he's dressing like a cult member. HE'S COMING WITH US? Yes, they are kidnapping him! That's wonderful. I hope she has a net. "We'll be together? Well that part I like" he really just wants to be with his brother. YES MARLON FINALLY YOU UNDERSTAND. Now it's Jackson and Jillson's turn to shine.

28:30- NOT GARRISON IN TEARS. THIS IS AMAZING. Constance giving her the tough love she needs to get through this mid-life crisis. Oh no Garrison, calm down you're not brain-sweeping anyone. Actually, now that I think about it, what would happen if Constance is in the brain-sweeper? Could she see the memories of everyone who has been in there? Possibly Milligan? Or even Garrison? Reynie, it might be time to bust out your "You don't really want to do this Dr. Garrison 🥺" speech you used on Curtain in season 1.

Anyway it looks like the kids found someone who knows how Curtain's happiness works and might be able to reverse it! Sadly, it looks like she's going through something at the moment, but hopefully, she can pull it together. Would love to see #2 kidnap Curtain, but he'd probably convince Nicholas to let him go. Wish SQ was in this, but I feel like he might be the actor they couldn't get back. I suppose you never know. It looks like we got Jackson, Jillson, Garrison, AND Martina becoming disillusioned by Curtain this season, so maybe they are saving his son turning against him for the big finale. We'll see, but VERY HAPPY the blank expression actually was Marlon, he will not be missed. Until next time!

[fizzingwizard]

Unexpectedly had a chance to catch up on Lupin zero! spoilers!

For fairness I watched episode one again. Overall my opinion didn't change. It's still a lot of fun, good characterization, so-so animation, and too fast-paced. I did enjoy it more this time though, having a better idea of what to expect. The lowest point for me is definitely the sudden bout of openness and emotion between Lupin and Jigen in the gun fight. It's not that I don't like their conversation, it just doesn't feel justified yet. But it's there to frame the short series.

Episode two was also fun and not quite as fast-moving. It put a bit of distance between Lupin and Jigen which I definitely think was needed. Then, when they had become better friends by the end of the episode, it felt earned. And it was just quite a fun train episode. Nothing earth-shaking, but Lupin-like fun. Like episode one, when it came to the climax a lot of things just kind of happened or were explained rather too easily, but hey, now I'm just nitpicking.

Episode three was my favorite so far. Which is a surprise because through it I kept thinking "this reminds me of Other Anime which did the same thing but better." XD But the reason is just that I was really, REALLY happy to see "how did lupin iii become lupin iii?" come into play. Everything in this show is hinging on how they handle that question. This was great because we got to see a little bit of how Lupin thinks of his grandpa (sleazeball), and we got a better idea of how skilled Lupin himself currently is. I admit, when he's walking backwards up the stairs monologuing to trick the other contestants, I initially was happy when one of the others seemed to get the drop on him - I thought, finally, we're getting a reason for making Lupin so young! He's not as skilled yet! But then, of course, he did actually anticipate that and came out on top anyway. Sooo nevermind :P But it didn't actually bug me at all because the whole episode gave us such a great view of Lupin and his grandfather's relationship. Lupin being able to beat his challenge was a part of that. As was his dad showing up - I'm sure Lupin's feelings about him are even more complicated so I'm looking forward to that. Right now I think he's going to be a complex character, but not a bad guy... We'll see.

(Can't not mention the weirdness of looking up your own dad's skirt when he's in disguise as a woman and you don't know it's him... x'D)

So yeah, episode three finally gave me some things I really needed to see more solidly, and I'm so happy about that. Also the appearance of what appears to be Albert?? was so unexpected! I didn't think this show was connected to any other Lupin canon (a term I use very loosely lol). So that's kind of cool? I can only assume we'll see Albert again, but I won't share any theories since I'm too likely to be wrong haha.

I still don't reeeeeally know why Lupin and Jigen needed to be THAT young to do this series. I expected it would mean 1) they're less experienced, and/or 2) they goof off more. But I think it's gotta be difficult when you're de-aging an adult character who is also a genius. They don't want to commit to making him too child-like, but in the end, he does just feel more or less the same as adult Lupin. Jigen too obvs. But, once again, nitpicking. They look adorable. That's the important part inn'it? lol

One more thing: I was curious in episode two when Jigen says he can't quite understand what's going on in Lupin's head. Because that's what I think too. It's hard to tell when he's genuine and when he's acting. Which is pretty in character, so that's cool. I wonder if it's something which will come up again though. Right now we've got a Lupin who really hasn't done all the much thief-like... he's much more the superhero. But if he's too good, it makes what's going on in his head less interesting, so I'm wondering/hoping they'll do something to make him more chaotic neutral, I guess. Well, that's up to people's taste, I like him that way but I'm sure others prefer chaotic good. He's often written that way as well. The point is he can do anything he wants, he doesn't have to be a thief all the time if he'd rather rescue a damsel in distress. But let's just see him being a thief as well as rescuing damsels, you know, for balance ^^ It seems like maybe next episode might show us his more conniving side...