#he’s also favorite mc yt in general

[sing-me-under]

So the funny thing about what I post is that I tend to be more vocal about things I have to actually wrap my head around because it’s just me voicing my thought process. I’m shouting into a void and recording it for future reference.

But like… By my very nature as an internet user, I’m a lurker. I tend to just vibe and appreciate things and ignore what I don’t like.

My analyses on the DSMP (especially c!Dream) are me trying to comprehend his character because he’s such a weird character. He’s a type of character that doesn’t really exist in other forms of media? Like, yes his archetype/trope exists, but his very essence is so damn strange in comparison to the other characters. Really, all DSMP characters are strange in a way that’s only possible through live streaming Minecraft, but c!Dream is one that doesn’t translate to even a modicum of his potential in any other medium.

He’s not my favorite character, far from, but he’s such an interesting character to think about.

[helloiamadrawer]

Class 1A Boys + music they listen to (PART 2)

There's always that ONE person who is like a parent when it comes to his whole class and music making sure it's "school appropriate" and that would be no other than the class rep, Iida.

Has a playlist for literally his life routine lol (study, relaxing, outings, running in the rain in his retro raincoat 😂,etc.). I feel like he would listen to like 90's music, classic rock (his fav artist is Foo Fighters for sure) he doesn't mind playing his stuff every now and then but he's busy most of the time preparing for class. nerd lol.

May sound shocking but he likes SOME rap but it's all old school rap/hip-hop like Biggie, Ice T, Usher, MC Hammer but he only listens to it outside of U.A though because he doesn't want "taint his image of class rep". He tried trying new school rap and..let's say he'll just stay where he is (he almost got hurt BUT that's for another story!)

The only classmate that is so chill with almost every genre of music is Sero. Even songs in different languages and more exotic genres like nudisco, jazzfunk, and french house (which are his favorites, cause it's a rarity he cherishes). He would play japanese funk while he drives down the road JUST for the ✨aesthetic✨ (future au idea). Dua Lipa, Kali Uchis, Doja Cat, Rosalia, JIAFEI just any other artist that sings in another language other than english he'll know. And he sings it so well but has no idea what a lick of it means well except for japanese.

Is not scared of talking about it to any of his classmates and actually persuading them to give it a try or if he plays it on his bluetooth speaker before class starts and then one of his classmates asks him the next day for ex: Tokoyami asks him "Hey Sero, what was that techo like song were you playing yesterday, for some reason it's in my head." and then the tape boi will go through his recently played songs from yesterday (he's a yt music kinda guy tbh). Then basically almost everybody is interested in what he has in store next

In other words he's the one who always brings his speaker to class but is respectful and plays it before class even starts, he's an early bird.

Denki, is the twin of Sero cool with any kind of music but leans more into the weebcore/rap category. He most likely will play weeb music in his dorm room, the usual anime openings and ending theme songs with a dorky smile on his face humming along while reading manga.

Is the aux cord GOD, will never disappoint the Bakusquad with any music he plays in the car he'll play some Marshmello and everyone would get littt🔥🔥🔥 or some nostalgic jpop to sing awfully off tune to to piss off Bakugo ofc.

Fun Fact: The whole Bakusquad got kicked out of his car at least five times singing terribly lmaooooo

(!!I'M WRITING THIS HEADCANON BEFORE THE TRAITOR ERA HE HAD!!)⬇️

💅Voguing king✨ that's the title Yuga Aoyama gives himself when his headphones are filled with the sounds of VOGUE EDITS IM SORRY HE SERVES CUNT ISTG GO LOOK AT HIS HERO COSTUME UGHHHH 😫 he even putson fashion shows with the Class A Girls 🥺🥺 *imagines him voguing to this 1 hour playlist of just phonk/runway music cause I can*

He is also very bold at expressing his love for future funk obsession, his peers don't mind it at all..well, ONE person *cough cough bakugo*. ⬇️

Totally applies his makeup (generally eyeliner cause he has the ✨prettiest✨ eyes, fight me 🤪)to either one of those two categories imo (he gives me when i suddenly want to try runway eyeliner makeup😭 -cries in non fem queen-)

BEST FOR LAST MOTHAFUCKIN' BAKUGO AND KIRISHIMA aka BakuKiri or KiriBaku (shoutout to the shippers for that pair✌️) 💥🤟

Heavy Metal/Death Metal for Bakugo

NEFFEX, Rock and workout tunes for Kirishima

Five Finger Death Punchis literally Boom Boom Boi's fav and Kiri is in the car just vibing and just not minding it at all knowing it's his way of relieving stress from work plus it's manly sounding anyway to him as well so whatever makes him happy ❤️

Psst..come here..*whispers in your ear* Bakugo gets with Tokoyami for secret thrashing sessions sometimes 🤫

YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT THEY DON'T! THE DARK OVERLORD AND THE ANGRY POMERANIAN THRASHING TOGETHER LMAOO AND THEN KIRI JOINS IN LATER AND THEN THE WHOLE BAKUSQUAD LMAOAOAO

Now Kiri goes to the gym pumping iron to some Neffex is a must for him that's his whole workout niche but anywhere his workout playlist goes who knows?

Has a whole thrash playlist as well go figs

Disco on the treadmill? yes please

Dubstep while throwing around that heavy ass rope? yessir yessir

At the end of the day he's chillin' to some chillstep while laying on his bed after a shower, resting to recharge for the next day

MIneta...yeahhhh dont give him the aux cord..just don't trust him

Imma just say one word that he would blare on someone speaker

Cupcakke

That is all..so hide yo aux cords or don't bring it at all and just stick to the radio

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

Finished piofiore, and since I’m partially to blame for your interest I will be giving a non-spoiler review, imho a lot of the routes can be very boring and uneventful especially since the sub-plot for why the MC is caught up in between the three mafia families is the thing I hate the most, for the most part I enjoyed 2 routes out of 5 only because I really like the love interests and think the MC was the most active in those two routes.

My faves are like this: Yang>>Orlok>Gilbert=Dante>Nicola

I’m not a huge fan of fluff and overly romantic stuff which is why those two are my favorite. Funnily enough they’re on the complete opposite sides of the spectrum lol. And Nicola was the most boring which is a bit of a downer since he’s recommended to be played first.

I’ve only played the best endings of each route so far, but I will commend that the gaming mechanic was difficult and each love interest value different character aspects such as yang’s affinity for wisdom in contrast to orlok’s affinity for kindness. I have a feeling you’ll also really enjoy yang since he basically upped my expectations in otome now lmao. What can I say, I guess I have a thing for trashy love interests (and because I relate to his cynicism on some level and love how he’s unapologetic about how horrible of a person he is in comparison to the others who try to act nice from the get-go, and maybe bc I was getting tired of the Italian mafia that the Chinese mafia was wholly welcomed to me XD)

the order in which you should play if you DO end up buying the game would be: Nicola, Yang (only available after finishing Dante or Nicola), Orlok(only available after finishing Dante or Nicola), Dante, Gilbert(available after finishing all four) and finally the mystery route (which I haven’t played yet). The best endings save you from most of the dark/worst things that can happen. But from what I’ve watched on yt some of the LI’s can be very shitty to the MC esp in other LI routes or if you get their bad endings. Though it’s not ‘Quieta’ level of dark and twisted since the r//ape scenes aren’t written as vividly or in-detail as your stories at least (phew but still 😬) despite that, I do enjoy the game though ended up only caring for less than half of it. I think Amazon is selling this game for around $30+ which is better than GameStop’s price of $50 btw!! Save money lol

Sorry for the huge wall of text 😭😭

Thank you so much for submitting this and so generously spoiler-free, and I'm tagging it #piofiore so more people can see it.

Reading this was very illuminating and I totally get what you're saying--from your descriptions so far I am ABSOLUTELY in love with Yang so far cause I love my trashy men (though I'm also angling towards Orlok ). I'll definitely take your words for the character routes in sequence! I adore when MC gets to kick ass so I totally agree with you there, I'll be sure to aim towards those routes!

Let me know what you think about the bad ends too!! I'll definitely be consulting this when I get and start Piofiore. Thank you ever so much anon!! I'm twice as excited to start it now.

[mc-critical]

What’s your opinion/analysis on Mustafa (Mahidevran’s son)? I noticed his character had a bit more of an ambiguous reception from the fans of the franchise than I initially anticipated. I’ve personally always found Mustafa to be likeable, the only critique of his character I’ve been able to somewhat get behind is that we don’t really get much of his personality aside from the typical “nice guy” persona or that the show’s writing seems a little biased towards him at times but even then I’m not sure.

I pretty much covered what I think Mustafa as a character is built on and his personality traits (and additionally what I think on the personality criticism) in the latter part of this ask. While I agree he may be idealized, he isn't just some perfect prince without any flaws or mistakes whatsoever, and his character and all the factors that sealed his ultimate fate are always interesting to analyze.

I think more detractors of Mustafa's have been popping up more recently than before, at least as far as YT, Instagram and Twitter are concerned, but this currently more ambiguous reception than expected is not surprising for me in the slightest. It's precisely the writers supposedly idealizing Mustafa and their favoritism over him what they view as the problem, mostly because they think the historical Mustafa is not like that. (and some even claim with confidence that he actually, 100% betrayed his father historically) I love MC Mustafa a lot, he's my favourite prince and I consider him the one best suited for the throne, but these sentiments are possible to get behind - not so much with his idealizing, because we see that he has a shadier side of himself he simply chooses not to show that often and his strenght is also his flaw in every way, but more with the favoritism of the writers. I've always viewed this favoritism as a double-edged sword: the big amount of screentime and arcs that, while usually pretty good, actually do damage by overshadowing Mehmet as a character in S03 is a part where I get the fan irritation. I'm not big on Mehmet overall, but if someone actually got it bad thanks to the Mustafa favoritism, too, it's definetly him. I also could understand why someone would get annoyed in the narrative and characters worshipping him almost consistently. While yes, I know why that is and I don't have a problem with it, because it's thematically appropriate and we can't blame Mustafa for the writers putting his death as the climax of the show's themes, I get why someone else would have a problem with this when it's so frequent. I would especially get someone not being okay with nearly all stuff around Mustafa's death feeling almost conveniently tragic. And that gets even worse when it includes the build-up, which the writers made to be.... basically everywhere, so it becomes something recurring for Mustafa's character from the beggining. While that sense of tragedy is one of my favourite things about the show and I love how Mustafa was the culmination of it and the way this whole build-up everywhere got an even better pay-off, writing-wise... yes. Only if anyone actually used that argument. Additionally, this favoritism is a contrast to all of Mustafa's mistakes and how they impact SS's view on him. The favor of the narrative voice contrasts with the build-up to the character's end. And they both help Mustafa's development.

I also have seen other reasons Mustafa is disliked, which I honestly don't get and I want to ruminate on them for a bit. Yup, I haven't encountered such opinions in quite a while (probably because I don't lurk around those corners as much as I used to, since I disagree with so much stuff), but still, people claiming that Mustafa is manipulated by his mother. Which... what? I'm sorry, but have you guys even watched the show? Why do you drive a general conclusion only from a one and done scene? (E48, I mean) What's worse is that who they make Mustafa out to be is right there: if you want a person who ends up listening more and more to his mother's every word and makes mistakes because of it, MCK Bayezid is right. there. (this isn't shade on MCK Bayezid, don't get me wrong, I find him a very interesting character, especially in regards to where his flaws come from, and I'm sad I haven't encountered discourse about him that explores them, but that particular flaw they're accusing Mustafa of, is courtesy of MCK Bayezid most out of anyone.) As a contrast, Mustafa has a very out of the box mindset and independent spirit and if he actually listened to Mahidevran a bit more in S03-4, he would have been spared some of the trouble. I also don't get the claims that Bayezid and Cihangir's characterizations are centered way too much on their love on Mustafa and that's why Mustafa is worse off as a character. (I have encountered these, as well) I'm not saying that every brother minus Selim wanting Mustafa to be on the throne if they don't get that chance, isn't a narrative bias to an extent, because it clearly is. But it also is a narrative bias that is capable of being tied to Mustafa, but independent of him. It does put the princes on way too outlined narrative roles, but that's both tied to and independent of Mustafa. Besides, saying that Bayezid and Cihangir only have their love for Mustafa going for them is such a disservice to their characters. It's only a part of their characters, not the entirety of them and most of the scenes where they shine the most for me are those barely connected to Mustafa. {side note, because I have heard people say that Selim suffers from Mustafa, too, even in regards to his conflict with Bayezid. And unpopular opinion maybe?: I don't think Selim's character is butchered because of the Mustafa favoritism. He has a more outlined narrative role because his purpose was more to show the way the concept of loyalty works in SS's head and how much can that be twisted, to the point SS picks the one person who he perceives as obedient and loyal. Selim being the "black sheep" of the family actually does favors to the character, because not only does the audience have the chance to root for him more that way, but we see the much needed development of a person no one expected to go as far as he did, rendering his motives to do what he did in a pretty understandable light.}

Another argument I have heard is that the narrative should have made Mustafa more complex, not this "righteous hero almost everybody seems to love". While I would also love a Mustafa that would go through a more detailed character arc when it comes to his relation to SS and how far he's willing to go in the throne war, I don't know whether would there be such nuanced complexity with these writers. The closest Mustafa's character archetype got to a similar arc is, again, MCK Bayezid and I'm not sure would the archetype be able to evolve past that. I show bias, here, I admit, but that's probably because I haven't encountered an adaptation of Hürrem and SS's story which doesn't portray Mustafa in either of the two extremes (and MC Mustafa is the most nuanced Mustafa out of all of them) and we have kinda seen that kind of a different spin of Mustafa's archetype in the franchise, so maybe that's why I wouldn't have as much confidence in retrospect.

But again, I would love a more ambiguous Mustafa done right, even though I'm pretty satisfied with what MC gave us, despite of all. MC Mustafa has enough complexity which works with the message the writers are trying to deliver. There isn't really a reason to dislike MC Mustafa sympathy-wise, because he doesn't have too much negative traits. I do get the favoritism criticism to an extent, even though not fully, but there're also other criticisms of him which, while I understand where they're coming from, I truly can't get behind.

[comradegeorgemoved]

how did you get into the dream team, or minecraft youtubers in general? :o

under the cut because it's kinda long, but thank u for letting me ramble about this, anon :] i've never really thought about how much minecraft content i've consumed in my life until now, despite being relatively uninterested in the game.

hmmmm so i've been playing minecraft on and off since maybe around 2012-2013 on multiple platforms, with my siblings who go through phases of obsession with the game. i was never really invested, and am not good at it by any means, but i do enjoy it.

as for mcyt, at around 14-16 yrs old i used to religiously watch keralis builds, and sometimes hunger games and cops and robbers. forgot whose povs i watched back then because i didn't really care as long as they won.

for the more current gen of mcyters, one of my best friends got me to start watching wilbur around late 2019 with his skyblock series. wilbur is an incredible storyteller, and i watched all of his content that involved some sort of storytelling, but i was nowhere near, like, obsessed with his videos, so i lost interest after maybe a month. also worth noting that at this time, i didn't go on twitch because my attention span could not handle watching wilbur for more than 20 minutes, and i truly thought no one could ever hold it for that long lol.

how i got into the dream team/george in particular is kind of, unrelated to mc, i guess? it was among us that made me actually start watching twitch streamers. i became a lurker on r/livestreamfail for a while to watch clips and downvote sykkuno hate comments because i had no other hobbies, and sadly also because i felt a sort of high from making incels on reddit feel unloved.

and then! people started posting mc speedrunning clips of xqc, and while i don't like xqc, i was interested in the concept, so i went on yt. dream's 1.15 wr was the first relevant one. was supposed to end after i watched all his wrs, but the same friend that made me watch wilbur made me watch dream's manhunts, too, and i did.

consumed all of dream's videos very quickly, then all of george's videos, then all of sapnap's videos. dream was my favorite for a while mainly because he's intelligent and has a very nice voice, but i slowlyyy shifted to george. so now here i am woo

anyway, if u read up to this point... why? really appreciate it though! idk how else to phrase this, but again i really only just now realized how long i've been watching mcyters for and it's sort of unreal. a little sad, maybe a little cool, definitely more sad than cool, but what can you do.

[patricksilvrrozartistry]

Current Music Obsessions: December 1 - 16, 2018

I'm a bit late on posting this, but better late than never. I didn't listen to too much stuff this first half of December since I've been busy with life and also listening to and finishing my list of new releases (which the top 10 favorite albums post will come out either on the 23rd or 26th). But enough of that, let's see the honorable mentions.

Within the Ruins - Resurgence Sylvaine - Severance Helalyn Flowers - When it is Not Black Enough Meg Myers - Tear Me to Pieces Shattered Skies - Fall from Grace TroubleMe - Шрами Tragodia - A Temple in Time Enemy Inside - Halo Aesma Daeva - The Loon I:Scintilla - Human Conception - Into the Wild Conception - My Dark Symphony In the Woods... - Empty Streets Northward - Drifting Islands feat. Irene Jansen (Floor's sister) Northward - Northward Phuture Doom - Doom Terror Corps Circus of Fools - Smile Baby, Chelsea Smile feat. Antoine Marionette

And now for the main obsessions.

Heart of a Coward - Hollow

This song randomly got stuck in my head one day and I wound up rekindling my love for it. It's a pretty djenty death metal-ish track. I remember hearing it on Music Choice one day a few years ago and really digging it back then and I still do today. I need to check out the metal station on MC again, but I know I'll still not like majority of the stuff on there.

Enemy Inside - Falling Away

After falling in love with Lullaby, I had to check out the Phoenix album. It's such an epic album and was a close contender for my top 10 favorites of the year list. This track has such a cool flow to it that I really dig. And I love Natassja's orange eye makeup in one scene in the video. Definitely an awesome track that packs quite the punch.

Doorway to Salvation feat. Georg Neuhauser (Serenity, Phantasma)

Got another song from these guys. This and Lullaby are definitely my favorites off the album. Natassja and Georg's voices go so well together. I'm already a sucker for his voice because that lower register just makes my bussy quiver, but both of them singing together is perfection. It's such a gorgeous track and I absolutely recommend you guys check it out.

Sylvaine - Worlds Collide

This song is so pretty. It's so peaceful and lovely. A perfect song to just chill to. The vibe of it just seems like one of those songs that would be perfect to listen to on one of those days when you're just not feeling it or when it's raining outside.

Décembre Noir - Barricades

Found this song through their record label and really loved it. It's a wonderful death-doom track. The singer's cleans are absolutely gorgeous and I wished he used them more in the way he does on this track on the rest of the Autumn Kings album. That aside, I really love this track. The power and the production are absolutely wonderful.

Progenie Terrestre Pura - Toward a Distant Moon

I'm honestly surprised by how much I really dig these guys. I'm genereally not into this style of black/death metal, but I really like these guys so far. The aggressive riffs and overall vibe really contrasts against the transitions into ambient parts of their music, and that work is really present on this track and I love it. I also really dig the slight symphonic elements on this track.

Cupcakke - Dangled

This is her latest single and it's so bomb. I really love her more serious tracks like this. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE tracks like Duck Duck Goose, but homegirl really knows how to talk about life and things that really matter. It's a new dream of mine to see her live and to possibly even meet her one day. She's such an icon, especially for us queer folk.

Meg Myers - Take Me to the Disco

Just like Progenie Terrestre Pura, this is another artist I wasn't expecting to love as much as I do. This song is so different from Jelous Sea and Numb, but it still fits in with her brand. It's so chill and pretty, but there's this slight sense of melancholy to it that I really love. I'm a sucker for sad music. I keep finding myself humming the tune and singing the chorus throughout the day. It's so lovely.

The Great Discord - Army of Me (Bjork cover)

I was so excited when they started teasing a new song, but I wasn't expecting this. Army of Me is such an iconic Bjork song, so for them to cover it is such a bold choice, but that wasn't the only bold choice they made with this. They went on a full on industrial kick with this track. It suits the track so well, but I wonder how it would've sounded in their typical progressive metal sound, just simply out of curiosity. Anyways, I love this cover so much.

Starkill - Evil Inside

They did that. They fucking did that. This is a perfect single for them. Shows off every member's talents. I was beyond shocked when I heard Sarah screaming on this track. I wasn't expecting it. She keeps proving to be an epic more and more with each new track. And again, this track sounds the way Shadow Sleep should've sounded. The production is amazing.

The Hardkiss - Complicity

One of the big reasons why I absolutely adore these guys is the fact that even though they are a progressive pop/rock band, they aren't afraid to teeter alond the lines of metal, and this track definitely shows that off. I love it when they get like this. They just keep getting better and better with each album. I wonder when they're gonna drop a fullblown metal album. I'm so down for that. Anyways, go check this amazing track out.

Lighthouse in Darkness - Photography of a Ghost

They finally have a new single out and it is everything. Helen's voice is absolutely stunning here. I love how she sings in her lower register so much with this project so far. Also I'm so shocked by the operatic vocals in this track. If that's her, gurl. So much yes. I can't wait for the album to drop early next year. Flowing Tears will always be amazing to look back on, but I think this might be Helen's best work.

Kambrium - Ghost Shaman

I found this track through Unknown Power Metal on YT and I must say, I was shocked to hear something like this. You don't hear that many power metal bands that blend death metal into their music and it actually turn out great. The flow and energy in this track are epic. It's definitely a powerhouse of a track.

Within Temptation - Raise Your Banner feat. Anders Friden (In Flames)

THIS. THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. It feels like it's been so long since these guys released a track with so much raw emotion. And the music video is everything. I can't wait for Resist to drop. Even though the power and rawness of the song are the main reasons why I love this song, I also love how relevant this track is today. Stand up against the oppressors and fight for freedom.

öOoOoOoOoOo - Rules of the Show

I got to listening to Samen again recently and wound up falling in love with this track. Chenille are one of the weirdest bands out there all thanks to Asphodel being the insane lady she is. This song is definitely the epitome of avant-garde metal, but holy tits is it weird. Like I said, Asphodel is a weirdo, but that weirdness gives birth to amazing shit like this.

Kalidia - Circe's Spell

I'm not into a lot of their music since it's too much on the power metal side a lot of times, but they also have amazing tracks like this that I absolutely love. I love the oriental vibe of the track. This track shows off Nicoletta's vocal range so well. She has such a good range and a wonderful voice.

Viktoria Modesta - Prototype

I found this track while listening to Kerli one day and holy shit was I blown away. I didn't know what to expect when going into this, but I for damn sure wasn't expecting that. This song goes off in the beat department. It's one of those tracks where you absolutely need to put your headphones in and blast it. Also, the video is divine. I love visual videos so much.

The 3rd and the Mortal - Ring of Fire

I decided to listen to Kari's old band after listening to her solo stuff one day and came across this song. It's so lovely. I kinda wish she would make doom metal these days, but the shoegazey experimental folk music will suffice. This track is so lovely and haunting. So good.

Beast in Black - Sweet True Lies

The 80's cheese is real with this one, especially with the video. The video is everything. These guys are definitely one of the few heavy metal bands I like and it's all because of the cheese and Yannis' powerful voice and range. I can't get enough of it. This song is just so good and beyond cheesy.

And that's it for the first half of December. The final installment of the year is just right around the corner. I wonder what's gonna be on it.

[loki-of-war]

On the future of TWD

(EDIT: Reposting due to a formatting error)

So I’ve seen a lot of people commenting and sharing their opinions lately on how Chandler’s departure will affect the show, if it will survive this hit or not, for how many seasons more will TWD run, etc, etc. And I decided, now that I’m thinking more rationally (I hope) and I’m able to form understandable sentences, to share my honest thoughts with you lovely people on this entire mess.

Which is as follows: I give the show a minimum lifespan of ten seasons (meaning, the show will end in two more seasons) and a maximum of twelve seasons in total. This is my verdict, feel free to disagree with me.

Now onto explaining why I think this is so:

I can sort of see why old fans who left and people who have never liked Carl or feel lukewarm about him are happy this death is going to happen. But on the other side I'm thinking this kind of mentality is the reason why the show gets away with terrible decisions and why they keep making them over and over, declining in quality. I don't think it's right to condone mediocrity; this is from someone like me who has stayed on the TWD's side so far hoping they'd find the right footing at some point this season  (then, obviously, because why wouldn’t they, my patience and tolerance was rewarded with this haha). And as I mentioned in a previous comment I made on YT, no matter what the public's feelings for Carl are, they won't change the importance of his role in the plot and his fundamental connection to Rick (this latter element has an effect on the whole cast, for better or for worse).

But anyway, Carl's death is going to change the entire mood of the series from now on so it definitely will never be as it once was and I think because of that the story will slowly bleed out. I mean, Carl has been the greatest determinator for every single one of Rick's decisions the entire show, and not only that but what he symbolised as a character, the hope for a better future, is gone now. What do children, sons, daughters, symbolise in every universal story? The next generation, what comes after, that not everything is going to be screwed up forever; especially after seeing how unmerciful TWD's world has proven to be for children and having Carl be the only exception to this 'kids cannot survive this world' rule has sort of become a moot point thanks to the...current circumstances.

Rick's and Lori's speeches to Carl in seasons 2 and 3 respectively justify this way of thinking: that after everyone from their generation (the adults) dies, Carl will have to take the reins and move on. I refuse to believe any writer with common sense would write such important pieces of dialogue just because they felt like it, just because they're emotional words without any other kind of meaning behind them. That is just lazy and awful writing in my opinion. Why write these poignant moments only to have the kid killed long before the end of the series? Why write/do anything if those things are going to be ignored later down the line, nevermind that every piece in a story must connect with the others? Why bother teaching him this morality lessons if they're all going to go to waste anyway; if he will never have a character arc/storyline that is plot relevant where his morals are challenged? (Good on you, whoever made the call, for missing out on possible great storylines for Carl that would have improved viewing and the quality of the show). That doesn't make a bit of sense, unless that what they were looking for was to give the events leading up to his sudden death some twist of irony, and that'd be perfect and all, except that Carl dying was so not part of the plan (the improvisation is so obvious it hurts me in the balls I don't have) and even the way his death was set up was graceless-the bite- and not something one would expect from the same people who made/directed/wrote/produced Season 4. In other words, killing him was basically flipping off the idea of a future in the face, whether they meant to do that or not, and this is bound to turn the overall mood the series to a much grim and darker tone to an already heavy themed and toned series. Many people won't find themselves too content with that heavier tonal change, I think, if the ratings for season 7 are to be trusted.

Ignoring that the conclusion to this was having him die though,  I do have to say the actual set up in the mid season finale itself was beautiful and emotional (Chandler's acting was on point, he was the star of this episode), but the chain of actions leading up to it was lackluster. With lackluster I mean that he is a very important character that has literally been wasted for far too long; if you look at his progression throughout the seasons you'll realize he has not done much from a plot perspective despite being a main character. Therefore, his death feels unsatisfactory and empty because one can't help but feel that he hasn't nearly done as much as he should have. What he did to save his people in the mid season finale was amazing but it wasn't enough to make up for a notorious lack of screen time over full eight seasons, moreover if the motivations that drove him to that point, to that mentality, to that philosophy, don't make sense because his personality has made a one eighty from how he was the previous season with no type of prior explanation as to why that happened.

It may not seem like it but I'm actually a huge fan of angst and favorite-character-slaughter. I love when books, music, movies, videogames, series make me suffer (great examples of this are my undying love for Hannibal the tv show and that my favorite videogames are the ones directed by this one man, life destroyer actually, called Yoko Taro). Perhaps that is another reason why I'm being so critical with the choice to kill Carl (asides from the horrible decision-making and poor writing), because I love being hit in the feels in the best way possible, without holding back any punches, just go straight for the kill and make me cry like a newborn. However, I don't like tragedy when it's done for shock value, or when it's done simple-mindedly. If a favorite character of mine is going down, it has to make sense and they must have had filled out their purpose in the story, reached a state of character development we're all satisfied with so that when they die one can accept it and be happy despite the possible trauma that could ensue after (well, one can't exactly pin point when that happens, when enough is enough, but to have had the character embark on a lot of adventures even without them accomplishing their purpose, is enough to embrace their death). I guess what I'm trying to say with all this is that, while on one hand I would have preferred him outliving everybody else, if they were still so adamant on having him die at some point of the story (as if killing Carl had actually been part of a long term plan and not some last minute decision) they should have developed him first and foremost, and then assign him a proper death in later seasons, most preferably before the last season ends given that him dying before Rick is several different levels of wrong; if he wasn't such a huge part of Rick's character then fine, do it, but putting and end to him is equal to neutralizing Rick for literally years, which is time that both a comic and a tv show cannot afford, so to do it near the end of everything would be a better fit.

And, I don't know, even having Judith fill the void won't be of much help either, because we haven’t and we won't see her grow the same way we did Carl, her relationship with Rick will be vastly different, and so on. Probably this is just me but I'm not really attached to her; Judith so far is to me only a concept and not actually a person (yet). The fact that they keep changing the little baby girls who portray her doesn't really help, that gets me out of the story everytime. She just can't replace Carl, she might take his future storylines but it won't be the same. Besides, by the time she grows up, she’ll already be deep into this world, this is her normal life and probably by that time things will have changed.

So basically, not only in killing Carl they destroyed the image of a future, they have killed a foundational part of the essence that made The Walking Dead be The Walking Dead we all knew and loved, and that will never return. Also, allow me to point out that for those who think that The Walking Dead is about people dying whenever and wherever, and the cruel injustice that is life, I am not going to say that your interpretation is wrong but it is an incomplete one. The audience doesn’t watch TWD only to see tons of MC’s get murdered on a daily basis. Otherwise, why bother with investing time on a plot and just have them all killed at once. The soul of TWD is not about senseless killing and murder and tragedy and sadness. Simplifying it all to ‘this show is about the possibility of anybody dying/gore/zombies/etc’ is a great disservice to the show and the fans. Obviously, I am not neither the writer of the show or Robert Kirkman to claim to know to a T what the central theme of The Walking Dead is, and for full disclosure I have not read the comics. Nonetheless, basing my personal opinion on the tv show alone, I would like to think one of the core themes the show has explored and returns to time and time again is the topic in regards to the essence of human nature, and how in spite of apparent doom and the horrible circumstances we are forced to face, humans will always find the way to move forwards and stay strong, ergo, the message is a positive one, not a negative one, depressing, nihilistic one. And what better character to portray this versatility of human nature, this capacity for change, other than Carl Grimes, a child of transition, a child who was pulled out of his normal childhood and thrown right into the chaos of the apocalypse? A boy who has witnessed inhumane things, horrible things, has killed his mother, his second father figure, has done awful things himself, has always been toeing the line between right and wrong, cruel and kind, because of all the experiences he has had to process in a very short period of time? He was obligated to grow in a decaying world, watching his father and the ones surroundind him make mistakes, learning from them, evolving, seeing close ones die, starving, surviving insane experiences... If someone like that manages to grow in such a hostile environment and still remains true to himself and still has not lost faith in the world and humanity, and keeps close all the meaningful, important things his family and friends told him in the course of his entire life and not only that, but also applies them... What does that mean for you, to you? What does it mean for us? What does it say about human nature that hasn’t been told before or not quite in this manner?

Well, that is the point. I guess we will never get to find out in the Tv Show the answer to those questions. Regrettably.

If, and just if, the show manages to recover from this point onwards, I still have no idea how I'd feel about having the show thrive on the tails of throwing under the bus such a key character with no legitimate reasons behind the choice (don't even get me started on what they've done to poor Chandler). I'll still watch the show but I would be incredibly uncomfortable if that is how it turns out to be.

Finally, I apologize for any grammar mistakes or awkward phrasing you may find, it’s way too late to be doing such a long post and English is not my main language. Please don’t be afraid or feel awkward about replying to this post, even if it’s to hate on it. I really don’t mind having a long conversation about this topic with you all since I’ve literally been dying since Sunday night to discuss it.

Thank you so much for reading!