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riveracheron · 5 months

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hey guys have my wild magnus protocol theory that stemmed from me just overanalyzing the little bits of content we have

i think lena is a homunculus.

(spoilers for the pilot and jonny + alex’s post pilot discussion under the cut)

basically this stems from. a lot of places w small amounts of information so some of this might be stretches. But

1. a lot of marketing around protocol mentions the theme of “what does it mean to be a person?” which. leads me to believe there’s gonna be a plot around a protag being Not Human but has the heart or whatever the fuck. standard pinnochio or wizard of oz story. sure youre not human but ur a person bc of xyz free will or whatever

2. lena’s behavior in the pilot is So odd and almost inhuman in its extremely dull corporate jargon way. she literally uses things like “you can file a complaint” or “here at the oiar we….” (advertiser shit) , in genuine conversation. she doesn’t leave the building, either and has a Generic office party.

im genuinely thinking bureaucracy and the weird eldritch stuff of the oiar is Literally all she knows, not that shes being manipulative and evil in the trailer like elias; she doesn’t or maybe cannot question the whole. asking sam about the eldritch trauma thing, something something cant understand human emotions and why that might be troubling.

also “people like chocolate cake.” that sounds weird and something someone with only base knowledge of humanity would say.

she’s described as “an odd one” by jonny and that we will “get her soon”. im under the full belief that shes the non-human character of the bunch thatll yknow. have the Real Boy plot

3. homunculus specifically comes from all the alchemy shit around protocol, and homunculi are some of the most famous alchemical creations in popular culture, and i think she’s not. an entity creation. lenas too much of an important character to just be like. tied to An Entity, as a main character extremely tied to the OIAR, that entity would have to be the basis of like the entire plot of protocol; which i doubt theyd do.

the eye is so important to archives because the themes of archives was the consequences of knowledge- the entire plot was engineered around the Eye as the Main Character Entity and the Eye was written to be that in turn, sorta similarly to how Griffindor is the Main Character House (TM) of HP with its themes of bravery. i doooont think the oiar is tied to the stranger or flesh or any other simulacrum creating entities.

all that to say i think lena is a different kind of artificial human, one that’s manmade rather than entity made yknow?

we get glances of the people above her in status, theres mentions of an ephemeral “he” in the pilot, so. heres what i think

the He in question is an alchemist whose in charge of the OIAR (and maybe other branches but lets focus w the oiar). He created Lena the homunculus to be the middle manager of the branch in his stead; “programming” her to be as dull and corporate as possible to keep the employees in line or whatever. something something shes got a plot wrestling with that and her inherent lack of persondom

EDIT: totally forgot this part

adding that the first statement’s plot was about an abomination of corpses given a humanlike shape and coming back wrong which is. exactly what frankenstein’s monster is, and frankenstein’s monster is considered a homunculus.

with the anglerfish’s importance to season 3 of archives i definitely think the Arthur monster will come up again in some form, but maybe instead of Actually being In Podcast maybe its a parallel to the main characters’ story in the same way that many s4 statements were used to give us more information on how jon is working through it all. the zombie statement when he just wakes up comes to mind especially. maybe it’s a hint and echo of what a Character in podcast (lena) is

#the magnus protocol #tmagp #tmagp spoilers #lena kelley

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zebarius · 5 months

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AAAAH this series has me in a chokehold-- the angst, the drama-- I just gotta talk about Scar's final episode! I can't stop chewing on the ideas it's spawned in my head.

I mean, Scar and Bdubs' dynamic has to be addressed. They felt like proper siblings in this. From the way Scar was like an older brother praising his younger sibling's efforts, to Bdubs boasting about his success to get his older brother's approval. . .

And for Scar, I might even go as far as to say that he was protective. How he was constantly in a state of hypervigilance about their safety. How he was constantly offering resources and support.

(gosh, I can feel the possible fanfics boiling beneath my skin)

And the fact that Scar went and killed Cleo for her favoritism, rather than taking out his jealousy on Bdubs.

Not to mention that Scar was absolutely brutal this entire season (this last episode in particular) yet to Bdubs he was almost gentle in this last episode. This is the same Scar who looked at Etho, his "father", and saw nothing more than an animal he needed to put down. The same Scar who pushed Bdubs into a pit of zombies for the giggles.

Yet when it came down to their red lives, Scar was more than willing to set aside his need to bully Bdubs and instead look out for their little group. (Even if Scar never planned to really end up in any group specifically, I feel he was more than happy to side with his brother.)

And Bdubs was also more than happy to have Scar join their group-- even after being pushed into the zombie stream. (I like to think this is because, while Bdubs was angry at Scar at the time, he more easily forgave Scar because of their familial ties.)

And in the end, it just feels like a sibling relationship-- you'll fight over petty things like they're the end of the world, but when the end of the world actually arrives you stick together and are as thick as thieves.

I'm just dying to see art or read fics about this complex dynamic and their messy past. I feel like there's so much potential.

I have so many thoughts about this last episode and this is only skimming the surface.

#secret life #secret life smp #life series #trafficblr #traffic smp #gtws #goodtimeswithscar #gtwscar #bdubs #bdubbleo100 #traffic life #the life series

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wibble-wobbegong · 2 years

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Mike is Going to “Die” in S5

In season 5, we’re going to be presented with a scenario in which Mike is going to have a fake death like Hopper did, or everyone is going to believe he’s dead like they did with Will in season 1.

There are two major points to this; Mike’s seasonal death tags and his pattern of predicting future events through DND.

Seasonal Death Tags

I’m only going to cover the most obvious death tags that aren’t really up for interpretation and keep it to the point.

Season 1

Mike jumps off a cliff, prepared to die. He’s almost immediately saved by El.

Season 2

Mike is caught by the vines that almost killed Hopper. He’s saved by Steve, but only after a cut off in which we see El face the mother gate and watch the Mind Flayer turn its attention to her. definitely not a coincidence

Season 3

- Mike talks about sacrificing himself and Lucas to end Will’s campaign. His character is never saved and that’s the end of the campaign.

- Mike, in an attempt to save El, draws Billy’s attention. Billy was going to kill El, and now his intent to kill is turned on Mike. He’s saved by El.

Season 4

- In the opening DND game, Mike’s character is zeroed out. Dead. The game ends with a saving throw from Erica, but Mike’s character doesn’t come back.

- Mike is referred to, directly, as Romeo and marked with Romeo’s last name; Montague.

“Surf’s up, Romeo”

‘Montague’ is written on the oven left of Mike’s head.

Mike’s Predictions Through DND

I can’t use as many images since I’m on mobile, sorry about that.

Mike predicts an occurrence in every season through DND.

Season 1

In the first ever scene of the kids, Mike’s campaign predicts that the Demogorgon will attack Will. As far as we know, that’s what happened because that’s what Will and everyone else believe happened.

Season 2

This prediction is actually made at the end of season 1, but it doesn’t apply till season 2.

When Mike wraps up his campaign, the other party members start questioning him about unfinished plotlines, one of which is about “the cave with the weird flowers in it.” That’s something that appears in season 2; the cave tunnels with weird flowers that spit toxins into the air. It never truly gets explained what those tunnels actually are, either. They’re the only UD related thing that never gets an actual name.

Season 3

When Mike plays in Will’s campaign, he predicts one major event: Hopper’s death.

He describes killing the Juju zombies by lighting the chambers on fire and sacrificing himself to save the Khuisar. According to what everyone else hears, Hopper saved townspeople from the mall fire and died doing so. What we know is that Hopper sacrificed himself to close the gate and save all of Hawkins. Mike’s story intertwines these two versions of Hopper’s death story.

Knowing that, we can assume that whatever Mike does in the opening DND game of season 4 is a prediction for future plot events.

What happens to Mike’s character? He dies. I don’t think this is meant to imply the death of any other character for two reasons; one being the number of death tags he’s received that haven’t led anywhere and the other being the figurines shown to describe Mike’s character’s death.

We’re shown a Paladin on the left, so we know this is directly tied to Mike.

Mike’s character is the one that dies, so that would imply Mike is going to actually die. Or it would, if Eddie didn’t tip over the other figurine.

Eddie knocks over the figure which, dare I say, looks like a ‘dark sorcerer’. Mike’s Paladin doesn’t actually go down, despite his character supposedly dying. Mike, as he’s represented on the board, doesn’t die. It’s only believed by everyone else that he does.

Another thing is that we aren’t shown what Mike actually rolled. This is a direct contrast to the other dice roll scenes we get from Dustin and Erica.

Dustin’s roll, 11, predicted that El wouldn’t be enough to beat Vecna. Erica’s roll, 20, beats Vecna. What that number means will most likely be shown in season 5 when Vecna finally goes down.

If these rolls are prediction shots, then why aren’t we allowed to see what number Mike rolled?

Vecna ‘Killing’ Mike

I think the most obvious answer as to who will be the one ‘killing’ Mike is gonna be Vecna. I have a whole post about that here.

With all the evidence in that post about why Mike is an ideal target for Vecna, I also wanted to add here that Mike must have rolled a low number in order to get his character killed. The Duffers never use plot irrelevant numbers, so the only low number they could use that they would want to keep secret from the viewer is One.

Mike is so fucking dead.

#mike hostage theory #kinda?#should i give this a gate name #is it even a gate???#i actually have no clue what a gate is defined by in the byler fandom #mike wheeler #byler #my theories

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caw4brandon · 5 months

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WWDITS: Demystifying The Supernatural

It would be a crime to say < What We Do In The Shadows > is just a mockumentary about Vampires. In [Documentaries Part 1] I touched on how WWDITS both references and makes fun of the library of Vampire shows and movies. The lore about them and the secret society of the other monsters that lurks in the night.

Today, I want to cover how < What We Do In The Shadows: The Series > demystifies the idea of the world of the supernatural. But before that, let's talk vampires.

- Hope and Compassion is Gone -

When you Sold Out your Dream to the World

A crew of documentary cameramen has been granted access to a highly secretive society. They wore crucifixes and were guaranteed protection by the subjects.

In an undisclosed location in Staten Island. We follow Guillermo de la Cruz. Familiar of the vampire; Nandor The Relentless with married couple; Laszlo Cravensworth and Nadja of Antipaxos as well as Colin Robinson.

The crew documents the lives and hijinks of the Vampires. Watching as situations unfold. Revealing the many secrets of this once secretive and dark society of the supernatural.

The series is based on the world of the film. With cameos of vampires from other popular shows as well as the original trio in the movie. Viago, Deacon and Vladislav.

- This is My Hunting Ground -

Aside from showing the established world of the film. WWDITS introduces us to an ever expanding world of the universe in a natural way. The show introduces us to the Witches, Trolls, Werewolves, Zombies, Ghosts and more. Honoring their lore and tying their interactions loosely as a part of this dark community.

Such as Laszlo's cursed hat being tied to a witch, Colin dealing with an online troll being a real troll and the werewolves being in a relationship with a human who also has a vampire lover. Twilight style~ Each tie in is not just a fun cameo, but it also brings the other dark beings to life in this ever expanding world of creatures.

The world also introduces a new concept. The Energy Vampire via Colin Robinson. Without going into spoilers, Colin's breed looks human and shares a fraction of the strength found in vampires but bares no weakness as of yet. Energy Vampires feed by boring and enraging its victims. Thus, sapping the energy of the person.

What the show does brilliantly is showing the believability of this new breed. Colin feels like an actual person who existed and can actually be a threat if he wants too. His ability to selfishly make vampires and humans bored or enraged makes him a frighteningly real creature that humans have actually met in real life.

- My Tummy Feels Weird -

From a narrative perspective, WWDITS provides several different arcs for the characters respectively. One highlight that I'd like to mention is Guillermo's development as a familiar and as a person.

Over the first season, he went through this one-sided admiration and blind servitude towards his master to charting out a big twist of his real identity. The show displays the unglamorous side of his duty as a servant and the unfairness of the power dynamic.

For every familiar, their servanthood is paid with the promise of immortality and Guillermo is no different. At a young age, Guillermo dreamed of being a vampire but he is often mistreated or is ignored when he pressed the request to Nandor.

The show also displays a deeply rooted sadness through the vampires. For being creatures of immortality. All they ever do is distract themselves with killing, sex and fun. When left alone to their own devices, the vampires are hopelessly directionless.

The show also touches on the topic of how the old ways just don't fit in with everyone anymore. Such is with Nandor's problem solving skills via killing and total conquest or how the vampires as a whole have gotten soft with how they hunt.

On a progressive note, the show never openly declares the characters as queer or any of the sort. Despite being married. Laszlo and Nadja are open to being involved with other people or other vampires sexually.

The show displays the act of debauchery and cheating at its finest with shameless pride but also strengthens the idea of loyalty and love.

Nandor for example, used to own 37 wives and husbands but is actively looking for a true partner who cares for him. As the season progresses, we see that he actually cares about Guillermo as master and as a friend. Nandor's action could suggest that he wishes to not fulfill Guillermo's promise to save him from the torment of the curse.

What the show does well is, it breaks the mystique of the vampires as a bunch of incompetent idiots with no drive. Thus, becoming sloppy, outdated and all too roundabout about things that is both infuriating but charmingly hilarious.

- They have No Use for Your Song -

I gotta say though, for a show that mocks the existence of these creatures. WWDITS is a fun trip through and through. It adds to the development of this community but makes the darkness a lot more silly with how its subjects are down to their last braincell.

None of the vampires are good at keeping this world a secret and in fact, the idea that they would allow a documentary crew to follow them is a fallacy itself. Still, there's a certain charm to how they interact with each other and to the "crew".

It felt like seeing a dysfunctional and fun band of mates just taking the piss out of each other but is also being the most loyal helpers in times of crisis.

There is something for anyone who is interested in this show of the macabre in a critical but fun way and with 5 seasons strong. They don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. But be warned;

They're Dead and Out of This World~

#wwdits #what we do in the shadows #documentary #mockumentary #guillermo de la cruz #nandor the relentless #laszlo cravensworth #nadja of antipaxos #colin robinson #vampires #energy vampires #macabre #creepy #monsters #viago #deacon #Vladislav #vladislav the poker

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kittygirl255 · 1 year

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Code Lyoko is notoriously known for placing its main cast in constant danger. Many jokes have come from the fandom about certain characters being more prone to getting into danger than others. Out of curiosity, I decided to find out exactly which character nearly died the most and what attack was the deadliest. Starting from episode 1 ‘Teddygozilla’ to episode 95 ‘Echoes’ and logging each ‘death’ into a google spreadsheet. To simplify it, I’ve chosen to log the main characters, William, Sissi, and Jim. I also added two additional categories, Background Characters, and Special Mentions. Background Characters refers to characters that don’t have a prominent role in either the episode or series but are still mixed up in one of Xana’s attacks, while Special Mentions refer to characters that hold a prominent or semi-prominent role within the episode but are not important enough to get their own category.

One issue I came across right away was determining just what exactly counted as a ‘near-death.’ For example, in episode 7 ‘Image Problem’ Jeremie is thrown down a hatch connecting the scanner room to the computer’s mainframe. Depending on a combination of factors, from where he lands on the mainframe, to where on his body her lands, to the height he fell from, an argument could be made that he could possibly survive, but with severe injuries. To avoid the headache, I will be treating each case with a ‘live or die’ mindset. For Background Characters, I only counted each death as a singular entity to avoid calculating the estimated number of casualties. To calculate the exact toll would require more time and effort than I am willing to put in. With the perimeters set, allow me to showcase the results.

The season opens with ‘Teddygozilla’ with Ulrich and Aelita getting the first two deaths of the series, with Ulrich nearly being crushed to death, and Aelita almost falling into the digital sea. Jeremie, Odd, Yumi, Sissi, and Jim join the roster in episode 2 when a nuclear power plant nearly explodes. Episode 11 becomes the first episode to have a character almost die twice in the same episode, when Aelita almost falls into the digital sea and is later stabbed by a Krabe, and Odd when he almost falls into the digital sea twice in the same episode. Episode 17 ‘Amnesia’ becomes the first episode of the series to not have a single death. Each episode has an average of 3.2 deaths per episode with episode 11 ‘Plagued’ and Episode 16 ‘Claustrophobia’ tie at 8 deaths each, and episode 17 ‘Amnesia’ and episode 25 ‘Code: Earth’ tie for the least amount at 0 deaths. At the end of season one total count comes to 83 with the personal count ending in the following: Jeremie-8, Aelita-5, Ulrich-13, Yumi-9, Odd-8, Sissi-10, and Jim-10.

Yumi and Ulrich begin season 2 off as the first deaths, nearly dying of heat stroke in the season opener ‘New Order.' Episode 30 ‘A Great Day’ marks the first death at the hands of someone possessed by Xana with Ulrich nearly being bludgeoned to death via a xanafied Sissi. Aelita gets the record for most deaths in a single episode, with episode 37 ‘Common Interest’ where she almost dies three times because of the Supercomputer’s battery almost dying. Season 2 also holds another record for having the most deaths in a single episode at a count of 11 in episode 40 ‘Attack of the Zombies.’ That episode also marks the first death William experiences. Season 2 ends with an average of 1.9 deaths per episode, with episode 40 at 11, and episodes 28, 33, 36, 41, 43, and 48 all tied for least amount at 0. Season 2 has 51 deaths in total with the personal count being the following: Jeremie-4, Aelita-5, Ulrich-6, Yumi-8, Odd-7, William-1, Sissi-2, and Jim-2.

I included the 2 parter prequel ‘Xana Awakens’ as part of season 3 to make formatting easier. The first deaths of the season happen within the opening episode ‘Lyoko Minus One’ with Ulrich and Yumi nearly being electrocuted by their xanafied teachers and classmates, and Aelita and Odd nearly falling into the digital sea. Jeremie has his only near death experience of the season in the prequel ‘Xana Awakens,’ also marking the first canological near death of the series. William almost dies twice in this season, both in episode 59 ‘The Secret’ from drowning and blowing up by a bomb. Unlike the past two seasons, Xana’s focus was mostly on the Lyoko warriors this season, with collateral damage being quite low. This season ends with 27 deaths in total and has an average of 2 deaths per episode. Episode 59 ‘The Secret’ brings us the most deaths at 5, while episodes 53, 57, 60, and 65 each have 0 deaths. At the end of the season the count comes to Jeremie-1, Aelita-4, Ulrich-6, Yumi-5, Odd-5, William-2, Sissi-1, and Jim-1.

Season 4 begins with episode 66 ‘William Returns’ with Yumi nearly falling into the digital sea. Ulrich gets his first death of the series in Episode 69 ‘Wreck Room’ with Sissi from nearly falling off of a roof. Odd comes in, in episode 73 ‘Replika’ falling into the digital sea. Jeremie, Aelita, and Jim come in after a meteor crashes into the earth in episode 75 ‘Hot Shower’. Episode 81 ‘A Lack of Goodwill’ brings the first time the entire team nearly dies in a single episode. The final deaths come in episode 94 ‘Fight to the Finish’, with Yumi and Ulrich nearly killed by a Xanafied William, Franz Hopper sacrificing himself, and Xana from Jeremie’s antivirus program. There are a total of 61 deaths in Season 4, and an average of 2 deaths per episode. Episodes 75 ‘Hot Shower’, and 86 ‘Canine Conundrum’, both tie for most deaths at 9 each. Episodes 70, 71,73,74,78,79,83,85,87,89,92, and 95 all have 0 deaths, leaving all tied for the least deaths in the season. The individual death count for the season comes to the following: Jeremie- 5, Aelita- 8, Ulrich- 7, Yumi- 12, Odd- 6, William- 0, Sissi- 5, and Jim- 3.

By the end of the series, there are a total of 222 deaths in total. The episode with the highest count is episode 40 ‘Attack of the Zombies’ at 11. For the personal count, I will be starting from the lowest to the highest. William is at the bottom with a total of 3, Jim next at 16, then Jeremie and Sissi tie at 18, and Aelita at 23. Odd takes third place at 26. Yumi takes second place with 34 deaths in total. Ulrich claims first place, beating Yumi by 1 with 35 deaths at the end.

In the beginning, I set out to find which character and which episode had the highest ‘death count’. I was thoroughly surprised as the series went on, seeing Ulrich, who I had originally thought to have the lowest count, come out in first place. Discovering the total death count at the end of each season was also fascinating. For example, finding out that season 1 had 83 deaths in total. I was aware the first season was one of the most deadly, but seeing the actual number was surprising. As said, these are not the exact number, it is very possible that I have missed counted, or perhaps there was a judgment I had made that you didn’t agree with. At the end of the day, I did this out of curiosity and for fun, and I can only hope you enjoyed reading my findings as I had collected them.

If you would like to see the full graph here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jEUk5lypN37hHpK2pzbA95euYr68clNryzQFvgzbVqQ/edit?usp=sharing

#code lyoko #aelita schaeffer #aelita stones #jeremie belpois #yumi ishiyama #ulrich stern #odd della robbia #william dunbar #big data #data analytics

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hollytanaka · 5 months

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I’m mostly typing this for myself to help process and organize my thoughts but… feel free to read if you want, especially if you have been annoyed lately too.

I’m cutting my ties with Call of Duty as a fan of the games.

Prepare for my unsolicited thoughts under the cut:

This game has always had shady politics and racial discourses. This is known, lol. It has always depicted Arabs, Eastern Europeans, and Latin Americans as caricatures, even if sometimes they sometimes succeeded in portraying their countries as being the victims of European and U.S. imperialism. But in light of the rapid intensification of violence toward Palestinians with the genocide in Gaza, this tendency just leaves a worse taste in my mouth. While the gameplay and plot structure for the new BO game next year will probably be better than MWIII, I have low hopes with how they’ll portray the goddamn Gulf War. The fact they've added an Israeli operator called "Doc" to MWIII in this particular moment in history tells me all I have to know about where Activision stands as a company.

Furthermore, the last Modern Warfare campaign was so bad, it just signaled to me once and for all that Activision does not care about the future of their games or the legacy of any of their previous good games. I’ve mostly been playing Zombies, not even traditional MP / Warzone. But even then, it’s easy for me to get burnt out playing Zombies. And Zombies is not worth the 100 dollars I paid thinking the campaign would be more enjoyable. And season’s 1 battle pass that came with the 100-dollar edition of the game is awful in my opinion.

Not to mention, the voice actors of both the Modern Warfare and Black Ops series have been either totally racist or highly indifferent about the genocide in Gaza. First, Barry Sloane's tone-deaf Beatles post about "peace" he posted on October that he quickly deleted was more insensitive than I think he even realizes. Samuel Roukin liking a racist article that equates calls decolonization as a "false narrative" was despicable. Of course, that article targets Palestine specifically in its racism, but it also indirectly charges all Third World countries with its accusation of their independence and claims to sovereignty as being "a false narrative." As someone who is of both Latin American and Asian descent and whose countries of origins had to fight for independence more than twice (!!), I cannot accept that.

Then Claudia—a woman of Lebanese descent—and Elliot—a queer black man—encouraging and offering condolences to an ex-IOF soldier was downright evil. The IOF actively bombs Lebanon as part of their current genocidal campaign. It has waged brutal wars against the Lebanese people in the 1980s & 2000s [x] [x]. And it has carried out both anti-Black violence [x] and sexual violence—including against Palestinian men and women [x] [x], and it engages in its frequently-exposed pinkwashing [x]. Rather than allying with Lebanese, queer, and Black people who have been victims of Israeli/Zionist violence, Claudia & Elliot as people with major platforms instead are disappointingly choosing to legitimize Zionist propaganda.

I don't know a lot about Julian, Warren, Neil or Alain's stances on this genocide, but I never take silence in the face of genocide or war to be a good sign. Lastly, since Oct 7, María Elisa Camargo (more like caga'o) posted her support for Israel, equating Palestinian existence and resistance with "terrorism." I already did not like her for engaging in indigenista discourses and tropes and for seemingly being very nonchalant about playing the role of a narco-terrorist, trying to girl-bossify a very real source of fear & terror to contemporary Latin American and Mexican people's lives. This was not surprising for her, but it's still worth highlighting.

In terms of Black Ops actors, the former actor for Frank Woods also made incredibly shitty comments in a live stream about the genocide, talking about a so-called "Middle Eastern mentality," (essentializing all Middle Easterners, really), practically equating all Palestinians with Hamas, and roughly stating that people keep on going further back in history to justify their acts of violence—and I'm sure he was not just referring to Israelis weaponizing the Holocaust to commit atrocities against Palestinians. Like many other people, he gives the impression that he dismisses Palestinians and Arabs as incapable of producing a coherent political thought, and that they only resort to violence out of instinct or because of their religion (which is a gross idea—Islam is not a religion of violence at all!)

Again, I didn't have much expectations for Call of Duty to be anti-Zionist, let's be real. But I see these actors as creatives whose literal jobs are to empathize with other people's stories and experiences as part of their work. The fact that they're trained to put themselves in another person's shoes but are incapable of putting themselves in the shoes of Palestinian people right now, when nearly 20,000 have been recorded as killed—and many more injured or displaced—is very telling.

Anyone who knows this blog knows I have formed a lot of beef with other COD blogs for stuff like fanfic tropes, sexual politics, and about the idea of watching playthroughs vs. playing the game. For once, I'm actually relieved and oddly glad most of this fandom has rallied around the idea that Palestine is not the villain, and that we almost all understand that what Israel's doing is unacceptable, and that these actors and creative industry workers have a duty as humans to stand with victims of genocide and to call out crimes against humanity. For this, I actually have to commend this fandom. We're so trivial about shit like fanfic tropes and headcanons, but I'm glad we have our heads on straight for things that truly matter—like real life war and mass violence.

Honestly, the last straw today—although much minor in its gravity compared to genocide apologism—was Barry's childish behavior toward COD fans on twitter who expressed that they agreed with Christopher Judge's joke at The Game Awards last night that the MWIII campaign was too short. You do not get to talk down, mock, or be childish to your fans when they give you feedback on a public platform as an actor. Judge did not even attack the quality of the game or the VAs' performances—he only joked about the game's super short length. Yet, Barry chooses to act out on Twitter because of these harmless jokes. He seems to care more about protecting his ego as "Captain Price's actor" than about the quality of the game or story that fans are receiving and sometimes paying upwards of 100 dollars for.

I thought to myself, okay, this is just one actor letting his ego get to him. That's not that extraordinary. But the fact that COD devs on Twitter today also starting getting defensive about the jokes and trying to excuse the shitty game they produced? That truly showed me that the horrible launch of the campaign and of MP that happened with MWIII was not a learning opportunity for these studios or devs, but rather only made them stick their heads further up their own asses.

I have little faith in this franchise and honestly am not enjoying it, both in terms of game play and the political discourses coming from its creators. After the Season 1 BP is completed (because I fucking paid for it—sadly), I will be planning to uninstall and shelf the game. If I ever play a COD game in the future, it'll be after it goes on a sale because I won't be paying full price. But the thought of giving this company any more money turns me the fuck off right now.

I also realize I'm co-admin for @dailycallofduty and I will still be participating in running it. I'll be promoting the actors' signings less and promoting the game's new content less. Nonetheless, I'll still be reblogging posts that dailycallofduty is tagged in, like art, graphics, and gifs. On my personal blog, I'll still be reblogging COD gifs that I'm tagged in by friends & mutuals. Just don't be expecting more gifs from me. Not that there were many great scenes to make gifs from this new game anyway.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

Here are some useful ways to advocate for Palestinians:

Donate to Doctors Without Borders, where in Gaza they are providing medical and psychological assistance to people affected by the ongoing conflict.

Tell Congress: Support the Ceasefire Now Resolution (call now w/ a script)

Donate to Palestine Legal, an org dedicated to defending and advancing the civil rights and liberties of people in the US who speak out for Palestinian freedom.

Donate to National Students for Justice in Palestine, which supports over two hundred Palestine solidarity organizations on university campuses across occupied Turtle Island (U.S. and Canada).

Read DecolonizePalestine's Reading List to expand your knowledge on all things Palestine

Find a Palestine Protest near you.

Support the BDS Movement, a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality that calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

#mari.txt #cod #call of duty #cod discourse

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viky-somebody · 1 year

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pretty cool fic list

dog at the door - fluffy_papaya (absolute fave. Red King)

I still Bleed When i Fall Down - Paranoid_Pug (MCC gets attacked by watcher hunters)

And The Universe Shifts - aayaptre (fandom history)

this is about a stuffed bird - Bee_4 (apocalypse, Mumbo and EX dynamic)

fixed and dilated - iamsolarflare (Hypno & xB special hybrid powers shenanigans)

Cause We Are Whole - ooFFFF (Tango becomes a robot and finds a new friend)

Nothing But Flowers - nho (Etho & myceluim resistance +nho references, sadly unfinished)

Still the Echoes Give Us Light - doctortrekkie (VERY good watcher grian series, HC + Traffic life series events.)

Eldritch Horror Keralis - MawoftheMagnetar (exactly what it says. but also oh so much more)

prometheus and the livewire - storm_warning (Ren the king is struggling. Doc is quiet and theres no news from him)

They say that the world was built for two - GardenerGulfie (Ren and Martyn keep meeting in different lives. also aromantic Ren pog)

Torchlight - Skelew (Ren is a god of a dead city stuck in the form of a torchlight and Martyn is his only follower)

the last days of the free angel of carrows - Bee_4 (Joe Hills and Zombie Cleo run a paranormal activity agency in a modern city. Cleo is a literal undead, Joe is a renowned angel, and together they get tied with a conspiracy against the city mayor.)

Lady Cleo, King Ren, and the Trials of The Midwest - storm_warning (Cleo and King Ren get teleported to Ohio)

Against The Clock - Leopardmask (Set in season 8, Evil X got possessed and the Horse Head Farms plus Wels and Jevin decide to deal with that) (Jevin is a slime & vex hybrid)

The Sky Weighs Heavy Tonight - MaoftheMagnetar (pilot au, set in a world with genetic mutations caused by a past war. gone emotional)

Joehills' Moderately Haunted House - zombiiehorse (Modern au, Joe buys a new house for a suspiciosly low price)

Monsters Splitting Hairs - Silverskye13 (Ren, Doc and Gem live in a village, forced to disguise as humans, bc of the history of the town) (great worldbuilding)

Lonesome Dreams - doctorletmebebrave (Jimmy Solidarity gets separated after the dragon fights and accepts a deal from the Listeners)

Lend Me A Hand - SolSearchingNights (Ponk sneaks onto hermitcraft and vents to Doc about their relationship with Sam)

Redstone and Skulk - Silverskye13 (Tango's helsmit Tanguish & Helsknight, delicious hels worlduilding)

Åttiofem - MawoftheMagnetar (Iskall has a terrible day getting kidnapped and finally discovers something about his past) (slight Stresskall shipping)

there are many downsides to being a marine biologist - donnerstag (modern day au with hybrids, Doc is a scientist studying a siren!Martyn whos been newly caught for their facility) (DOCMARTYN FISH YAOI LETS GO)

Ad Nauseam - mycelium_menace (Dawndragon) (Joe Hills is stuck in a timeloop. One day, a wild Cleo appears to shake him out of his apathy)

Black skies have changed into blue - GoodTimesWithScar (Oli Orionsound finds a wild Martyn, whos been reverse isekai'ed back from the datastream)

(i'll tend to the flames you can worship the) ashes - darubyprincxx (amazing post-rapture season 1 empires work. Fwhip and Gem survived and are on the run. They find a Pixlriffs, who's been missing for 8 years.)

misc., *mostly* smaller fics

Empires & others

Ghosts in the Sky - trafficpose (space au Martyn/Docm)

Kids in empires, what will they do? - Faffodill (Hermes, Michael and Grumbot messing around)

food IS a love language and i will fight you on this - darubyprincxx (Hermes overhears a discussion between his parents)

Empires Strike Back - Leopardmask (A retelling of the Hermempires crossover)

Count fWhip Fails a Blood Test - darubyprincxx (set in empires season 1)

survivorship bias - Bee_4 (Jimmy wakes up in a city of New Pixandria, after the season 1 Rapture, with little to no memory of who he was before)

Fuck Around and Find Out - Moonstone_Kat (Sheriff Jimmy wants to finally end all the jokes about him being a toy and decides to pull off the most elaborate prank on his friends)

hermitcraft

a not so calculated catch - vexberries (Mermaid Scar and a sceptic Cub, who does not believe in mermaids but gets a crush)

Four Hearts - PieOfDeath (Jlethubs valentines day fluff)

Wind Back The Clock - guy56 (Bdubs and Etho have existed in many worlds and timelines yet they still keep meeting each other)

Hermit City Heroes series - 2point5 (Superhero AU) (actually pretty long)

What's The Letter That Starts The Alphabet (Ayy!) - Darubyprincxx (Team STAR look at Rens Very Bad presentation)

Joe Hills, Joe Hills, Joe Hills - leopardmask (the guy gets possessed)

The Rising Moon, The Setting Sun (series) - Dillbug (Watcher Grian, worshipper Xisuma, runaway s9 Pearl + Bonus Drista)

We're not that different, you and I - swemae (grian and scar talk about vex magic)

cmon mumbo dont tell me youve never heard of a stable time loop - Sixteenthdays (Mumbo gets his soul back)

bad things come in small packages - kiwinatorwaffles (Jimmy is a Watcher and vouches for Grian to become one as well)

Found - sparxwrites (Grian saves Scar from the Boatem hole)

I lost the old, guess I need something new - SkyWillSomeTimesWrite (Grian needs glasses)

What Does It Mean To Truly Live? - Wrenny_Fang_03 (an okay Watcher Grian thing where Xisuma is also an ex-Watcher. not my thing tbh but it was alright)

A Dog's Nose - dontrollthedice (Ren asks about Etho and Beefs relationship)

Guys and Dolls - Leopardmask (cool Doll Grian concept)

Sticker War - darkleweather

Name-Calling is NOT supposed to suck this badly (One chapter with a cool concept. Grian hears everyone who says his true name)

Buddy System - (Ren & Grian in the End)

Healing Is a Four Letter Word - Hypno_cat (Grian is a cryptid, joins hc in secret and hides in the woods)

an observer in a land of none - jaysflight (vague fantasy, watcher Grian (Veld) and Scar) (really loved this)

Inversing Allocation - Interjection (5+1 watcher Grian stuff)

Following in Pandoras footsteps - Paranoid_Pug (Grian gets a surprise present)

send me a wave via subspace - FangirlOfPower (Joe is stuck and communicates with Cleo via voicemail)

When This World Is No More (The Moon is All We'll See) - Silverskye13 (Season 8 moon crush, sad)

To Convey a Certain Brilliance - Bee_4 (Joe dies repeatedly while trying to find hermits after the moon fell)

An Inhuman Waltz - MawoftheMagnetar (Jev stole one of Cleo's armor stands for unknown reasons)

It Takes Two to Tango - EyelessFog (Tango realizes he might be a system)

The Guppy Geiser's Miraculous Return - simplydm (the guppy geiser returns!)

Investigative Journalism - jaz_it_up (Pix and Sloy explore ruins of the season 8 world to find if anyone survived)

Heart Storm - Duchess_Of_Dumpsters (one cool chapter of Joe and Wels shipping)

The guy who conquers death- ooFFFF (Zedeath tries to hunt down Joe)

The Orange Promise - bloop_im_a_frog_now (Cub and Scar are forced to get engaged by Cub's rich parents)

dream smp~

passerine - blujamas, thcscus

His Curse of Binding - bari_astralis (greek mythology themed au with reincarnation into modern times. the events of the early dream smp seasons are ancient history) (cried my eyes out)

Incarnate Inchoate - underoriginal (Dream is sent to hermitcraft and is forced to rethink his life choices)

Up For a Fight? (Tommy escapes the server to live a life by a fighting arena, changes in a lot of ways) (some typos in the text)

Black Bird Fly - MollyPollyKinz (everybody has wings and magic powers and tommy is a kidnapped prince)

It Feels Like Murder (Dream finds Sams body in the prison)

something you can’t bottle up - doingthewritethings (Tommy is slowly dealing with trauma)

Watch Untill The End - Noem (Dsmp fic in czech, a small reimagining of how the server was created, tied in with Evo and Tekkit lore)

#fic recs #mcyt fics #fics i enjoyed ^^

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mysteriouslybluepirate · 6 months

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Initial reaction to episode 8:

Full spoilers. Don't read if you haven't watched. But don't be afraid to comment if you agree or disagree.

Izzy got 1 week (at most) of a life where he felt like he could be himself.

That's it.

This man lost so fucking much, clearly his family, his past crews, himself. So the show said, hey. Let's spend ALL season showing him he is loved, then tell the audience this is a good ending because hey, now Ed can be himself for no loose ends.

I know we might get zombie izzy. I know buttons is probably a deus ex machina(yes, I gasped SO FUCKING HARD when the seagul landed), but I am fucking livid.

I'm sorry this is negative right off the bat. I cried yeah, but it was at Izzy apologizing for not letting Ed grow. The 1 final sin he hadn't been punished for. He apologized and lost limbs for the British thing. That was IT. The only thing Izzy haters had against him. And here we are.

Now that izzy is dead, their old Unicorn, the NEW Revenge can go live on.

Ex-fucking'scuse me?

The worst part is I knew he'd get hurt with that speech.

Congrats, izzy, you got 'woman in the fridged'-ed. Your death now ends Ed's problems without him needing to solve them. Ed doesn't need to work on rebuilding relationships because there's nothing left. Stedes is not mad at Ed, so no hard conversations there, and the crew he hurt is gone now. Izzys gone. All wrapped up in a nice little bow.

I knew. But I thought I'd be wrong. That Ed would get help. That izzy would apologize, lay their dying, and suddenly be alright via bird or someone would do SOMETHING. But no. I got to see Izzy die. In a fucking comedy show.

A comedy show about love and family and community and self acceptance. That kills of its 1 character this season who had a self realization arc outside of a romance.

Season 3 will be about either 1.) Stede and Ed being hunted and needing to fake their deaths or 2.) The crew of the 'new revenge' going on adventures. Or 3.) Zombie izzy getting the fuck out of there and finding love.

Now:I am in denial.

Con came out, mainly because of this community and this role. If he knew his character was dying, I don't think he'd have gone to cons/tied himself in with this community to the extent he has. You know? Like... if my role i got a ton of praise for was about to be offed, id smile at conventions, but already emotionally start distancing myself from the community. UNLESS-We know Jenkins would tell him the fate of his character, so...idk.

More ranting but-

I feel like we got more time watching Ed be silly than mourning his friend of potentially decades. I hate the fish plot. We already knew he had adhd and that this was a whim. 'Ed going out, catching dinner, getting kicked back' could have just been 'Ed rows out while the ship's blow up'. They didn't need Ed and stede to fight in episode 7, stede could have just gotten into a fight trying to defend Ed at the bar, maybe eds too drunk idk. Episode 7 was written like that just to have a cliffhanger resolved in the next episode. It's just...

I loved every fucking izzy scene and both love/hate that we get a flash of the shot that kills him. It's real, yeah. Izzy dies here because he was still originally in that pirate drama he made up in his head. Izzy dies a normal death. Ed asked if he needed help so many times. But izzy didn't want it.

Izzy hands wanted to die this entire time. He wanted it. That's how I'm interpreting this bullshit. He still tied himself to blackbeard, and wanted to die with him.

Maybe that's romantic, but I think it's gross and a mishandling of his character. If izzy believed that i wish we got to see it as the audience, Especially how some forms of suicidality can be expressed by 'one last hurah'.. But they didn't. All that, and the show wants us to believe he's moving on up to episode 7, until now we know izzy was jealous this whole time??? So this izzy was just izzy waiting until Ed was accepted by the crew to die. Till Ed didn't need him to be his punching bag anymore. When Ed healed he saw no point in living. 🙃 that a character who was suicidal's good ending is offing themselves when they aren't 'needed'?

Maybe izzy will come back, totally himself, ready to try to live a happy life. But I have very little fucking faith.

Getting personal: but izzy was my fucking guy. I related to his struggle to be seen/heard/taken seriously. To be liked or seen as worthy of time and attention. A character who was trying his best for the people he cared about. Who had valid concerns and was talked down to. Who craved belonging. Enough that he's desperate for scraps of friendship. A person who was feared but never understood.

To give him 'love' by a community and then have him die TWO DAYS LATER-

I hate it. I genuinely hate it. Fucking hell. Especially how quickly everyone moved on. Izzy would have been wrecked or at least shaken up if his crew died yet. WE'RE MAKING JOKES RIGHT AFTER HES BEEN BURIED. ON TOP OF HIS FRESH GRAVE. I hate that izzy got buried on the land (in general. Bro should have been buried at sea) especiallg the labd ed and stede now get to peacefully live on. I hate that con was fucking smiling, the calmest most authentic he could and ATE that fucking scene.

The thing that gets me is izzy is the cliffhanger. But at the same time, Buttons' turning into a bird represented change and acceptance. Think, we had Buttons' turning scene, the song 'seaguls', then izzy standing on deck reading the note. There's a real chance this is implying that izzy is free now.

I don't hate the show. I don't, but i fucking hate THIS. Con did Such an amazing job. But I hate that I won't know. That izzy being alive will be confirmed in a year when con accidentally posts something revealing he's on set, or Jenkins on Twitter telling us he's dead, us not believing him, then we watch all of s3 and cons not there. That I could spend the next 2 years of my life writing about a character who won't get mentioned again.

THEY COULD HAVE CONFIRMED IT IN THE END CREDITS. SOMETHING. Ground shaking, some hint early in the season about rebirth and brining back the dead or have the sword fall. Idk. SOMETHING.

I'm just.... not doing great. I'm 'excited' to watch it again :/ but fucking hell. I don't know if I want to. I still have a fic to post that I started pre season 2, but after that I might need time. I just...Izzy wasn't me, duh, but he was, you know?

Izzy didn't deserve death for being harsh, or fucking up, or living. The fact his redemption happens after they sand down izzys rough edges feels gross. Like. "Here you go audience He's 'good' now, NOW feel sad about his death!"

And I'm sorry. But fuck that. I have so many mutuals who say they didn't like how quickly izzy became soft. This fucking hurts.

Because izzy has been a dead man walking for years. Ever since Ed and he grew into whatever this is. He could have been given a chance. He wasn't. All because our protagonists are Ed and Stede. WHO I ACTUALLY LIKED THIS EPISODE. But I can't think about that because I just see Ed finally treating Izzy like an EQUAL as he's fucking dying. I was always okay with the idea of Izzy dying. But not like this.

So yeah...sorry if this is rambling, had a shit day before I watched the ep and the ep didn't fucking help! But here's to all us izzy fans hoping for a better s3 for him (my guess now is izzy is actually dead, I have absolutely 0 faith he'll come back, as izzys death was framed as a positive thing for Ed. Yes the framing is there. Izzys body is safe under Ed and Stedes watch and not drowning. But still. 0 faith. If we dont get s3, then izzy is just dead and everyone moved on the SAME DAY)

Side note- I hate the only mention of Izzys given name 'Israel' was by Ricky. Fucking...okay. add that to the pile

#izzy hands #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 ep8 #ofmd s2ep8 #i fucking. .#i hate this #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 spoilers #logging off for a bit #good luck

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gammagoop · 6 months

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here’s a kind-of-masterpost of the notes for my Last Life Fantasy AU !! i will add more to this in the future, but here’s what i’ve got now:

(its long so just click the read more)

General world notes:

Not really kingdoms since theres less than 20 people total but the various alliances do have castles/towers/homes of similar grandeur

There are fantastical creatures, but theyre not as common as normal animals, and none that the players come across are too extremely dangerous.

^ Except for the Wither! In which the Wither is a horrible decaying demonbeast that’s summoned by Grian

^ I’m thinking the typical Minecraft hostile mobs are replaced with things like kobolds and big rodents and . skeletons which ig are still the same

The Boogeyman is genuinely believed to be a curse in this world. No one quite knows where it comes from, but speculation ranges from ghosts to old magic to divine punishment

^ Those cursed by the Boogeyman become snappier, more on edge. There are no physical changes other than being visibly more tense, but it’s very hard to spot if you don’t know how to look for it

^ It’s also popularly believed that the curse will subtly enhance one’s strength and magical power, but also make them more vulnerable to attack

I haven’t decided if the members still have multiple lives, or if its more of an injury thing. I’m leaning toward the latter, in which someone is grievously injured in the place of dying (at least until the final death) because that also leaves room for life-giving to become healing magic. Perhaps one can only heal so many times before they become aggressive and combative in place of a red life? And different people are more or less vulnerable to that insanity

When I describe a person or group as ‘magical’ I mean that they can use magic at will. Any person can use magic if reading a spell that was written by a magic-user, but only some members can use magic without that. <— italics bc its important

^ The most common spells used by non-magic people are healing-related

^ Those with magical ability manifest it through instinct and will, rather than word-for-word spellcasting

Non-magic users can also use magical items, which are items enchanted by a magic user to perform a specific spell (ex. Scar’s crystals)

Fairy Fort/Shadow Alliance:

General:

Fae people. Generally humanoid-looking, if not for their pointed ears and shimmery skin. They have whimsical and nonpowerful magics

Primarily within a magically protected circle of dense trees, which is later burned down by Cleo after she’s betrayed

visually they are kind of 4 seasons coded… Lizzie being Spring, Bigb being Winter, Ren being Fall, and Cleo being Summer

Lizzie:

The strongest magic user of the group. Even so, she doesn’t use it to hurt people directly, more just for evasion and negotiation

BigB:

The boogeyman curse puts him much more on-edge than he normally is. He would have never thought he would kill a teammate, but the jitters and the pressure really got to him

Ren:

Can communicate with animals at a low level (not full conversations, just notions of instincts) due to his magical ties to dogs

Fiercely protective of Lizzie

^ Drawing on myths of fae: maybe he was once a dog himself but was transformed into a person by Lizzie?

Cleo:

Not quite a zombie but has ties to the dead. Generally just a green-skinned fae creature, but her injuries leave more prominent marks

The river over which they were betrayed is said to be cursed with Cleo’s blood

Team BEST:

General:

A team of knights who serve no crown. They serve each other and themselves, a tight but troubled group

This group has no magic users, but are the strongest in non-magical combat

They live in a castle which was once painted white, but has since faced some decay

They ride horses

Bdubs:

Doesn’t like to keep his helmet visor down because it obscures his vision. The visor gets torn off when he gets to his red life

Etho:

Wears a different style of armor from the rest of the team, both due to his own independence and his different fighting style

He prefers ranged combat to melee, meaning his armor is lighter and easier to move in

Skizz:

In the leadership role of this team, but by his own admission he’s not really their leader. He more just organizes plans and makes sure that everyone is on the same page

Highest in ‘rank’ and thus gets fancier armor. It’s not really stronger than any of his teammates’ but he gets a big feather on his helmet and a cape and some cool designs engraved in his armor :D

Tango:

Wears goggles instead of a helmet since he dabbles more in traps than combat. Pretty bad at melee anyway

Nonhuman but humanoid. Likely some infernal species? Not necessarily demonic, but he’s tied to heat and fire

Is more adept at performing spells as a non-magic user and therefore is always called on to heal Bdubs when he goes crazy (thanklessly)

Scottage/GGG:

General:

Wealthy in resources. Not magic users, but have access to various spells and magical items

More reserved than the other teams

Very skilled at less chaotic combat

Small but extravagant (artsy) castle

Pearl:

More combative than Scott

I gotta work the axolotls in somehow but I’m not quite sure how yet…

Scott:

Enjoys wearing more fancy outfits (cloak, gold accessories) but still relatively protected

Cleo:

Happily taken in my Pearl and Scott after leaving the fairy fort, wears much more armor then

Wears less extravagant accessories than Pearl or Scott

Magic Mountain:

General:

The most powerful magic users on the server (due to being wizards)

Not necessarily a team since they don’t work together much, but they have a wizard solidarity with each other

Live separately on the same mountain. Scar lives in a small-ish cobbly tower with lots of trinkets and hidden compartments. Joel lives in a cabin-like house within a small alcove in the mountain

Joel:

Visually more warlockish, but has no patron and therefore is a wizard. Uses his magic more directly and more aggressively than Scar– just replace all his traps in canon with spells (that mostly went wrong)

Not a very accurate magic user, but when he hits he hits hard

Evidence toward the theory that the Boogeyman curse makes you both more powerful and more volatile

Scar:

Rarely uses his magic directly, instead imbues his crystals with (often weak) spells for fun and profit

Is more of an accurate spellcaster than Joel is, but almost always uses his magic for selling and trading rather than attacking. He’s not great at combative spells anyway

Jellie as his familiar…………………thinkin about it

Southlands:

General:

Artisans and philosophers. Not as wealthy in resources as GGG, but they have a good amount at their disposal

^ Haughty A-HA!!!!!

Mostly unmagical, but it’s possible that Grian and Jimmy have some weak or dormant powers

Live in towers, similar to canon but more structural

Mumbo:

Artificer, proficient in small machines and automated farms

Martyn:

Philosopher who speculates on the nature of their world

Impulse:

Similar skills to Mumbo, but plays more of a diplomatic/negotiation role within the team

Builds larger farms and machines than Mumbo does

Jimmy:

Has a more peasant-ish outfit than his teammates

Proficient at building small devices like clocks and spyglasses

Grian:

More combative than his teammates

Astronomer, not as focused on that study as his teammates are on theirs

#last life fantasy au #life series #last life #masontalking #yay!#mcyt

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nangbaby · 10 months

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One of the more annoying parts about the whole sentimonster subplot taking over Miraculous Ladybug is how it resulted in the breakdown of the connection between the Peacock Miraculous and its associated concept - emotion.

With the Season 2 finale, we were given a glimpse of what the Peacock Miraculous could do, and with Season 3 we are introduced to what sentimonsters were. They were beings born out of a strong emotion and were, in many ways, the embodiment of that emotion.

Season 3 also introduced the seemingly now forgotten idea that sentimonsters, as the embodiment of emotions, can go amok just based on those emotions alone. Lollipop Boy rampaged because it was the manifestation of a baby's volatile emotional state. Feast went on a rampage even before Fu lost the staff because it was born out of Master Fu's resentment and hunger. Mayura creating a Ladybug sentimonster implied that creating sentipeople was not necessarily an easy or trivial task and required intense emotional control, possibly for the existence of the creation. While there were theories about secret sentimonsters, there were also still people who believed that Sentibug was a philosophical zombie and that she may have "run amok" even with possession of her own object. It was ambiguous for a reason and the whole point of sentimonsters were that they were emotions themselves made manifest that could potentially go haywire even without a Cataclysm.

However, with Season 4, creating sentimonster clones was as easy as pie for Shadow Moth. The idea that sentimonsters were born out of a specific emotion was replaced with the idea that this Peacock Miraculous could create replicants and it was made much more clear that these creatures were sapient. This led to Season 5 in which the ethical dilemma of creating life via feathers was finally given a few lines. That said, this has taken the Peacock Miraculous even further afield from its initial function. "Sentimonster" is a wholly unfitting name for a Peacock Miraculous creation, and not just because of the "monster" part -- they aren't even created from sentiment any more, but the will of the Miraculous holder.

To me, this makes the exposition given in Representation unsatisfying. Given the Peacock Miraculous contained the kwami of emotion, it would stand to reason that the creator's emotions would manifest in the behavior of the creations as they did with Feast. If the reason why Adrien was the "perfect" son and Felix was a troublemaker was due to Adrien being manifested out of true love while Felix was manifested out of envy and that formed their personalities, then this would still be tied to the idea of emotions creating life. (Felix could still reform, but he'd have to fight his very nature and own feelings to do so.) Instead we get "Colt Fathom was a monster and Felix had no choice." It's not necessarily a bad backstory, but the link between emotion and how it powers existence is lost.

#ml representation #ml season 5 spoilers #ml salt #ml representation spoiler #spoilers #ml spoilers #miraculous ladybug

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red-robin-yum08 · 7 months

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Because I’m not mentally okay and I haven’t sobbed for a show that hard you guys are getting my reactions to the new ahsoka episode 🤗

Ahsoka season finale spoils under cut

They have shade now :)

Woah night sisters are terrifing 😍

Oh cool Ezra is making a lightsaber

Ezra is so me for that

No no pls I can not handle a kanan reference

“I only had two your master kanan took one and I decided to keep the other” IM SOBBING. IM NOT OKAY.

Hes so happy with his lightsaber as I’m over here sobbing

Very on brand for ahsoka to just be sitting on her ship outside meditating

Her leaving the order reference

He’s so excited to show them his lightsaber- oh fun ties 😍

I love it when Star Wars is “Holding a whole ship with the force”

Yay Sabine being a badass

Oh- oh well that’s a nice landing😃

Ya don’t say Ezra just a tad bit slowed 😀

There sharing a hound cus Ezra can’t get them to like him I’m sobbing

I love the very little of sabezra we’re getting

Where’s shin? ☹️

STAR DESTROYERS CAN DO THAT???

YEAH THERE ALL USING THE FORCE

Yeah cool shot of all three🤭

They works so good together 😭🙏

Ahsoka Just telling Sabine to use her blasters was really funny idk why

Yeah they got them all💪💪

Oh shit? What the fuck! Zombies cool😍

Why aren’t they just running away there all so… slow.

Oh finally there running

Uh oh Ezra got got by a zombie stormtrooper

SABINE DONT SHOOT HIS- DONT CUT HIM IN HA- oh cool nice he’s fine nice job Sabine

“Your excuse?” “I’ve missed you.” THE HEART EYES EZRA LMAO

Oh yay Morgan with her sword!

Morgan and ahsoka fights are always cool

Holy shit that armor is tough

ITS A FUCKING ZOMBIE???

YEAHHH SABINE USING THE FORCE

YEAHHH GOOD JOB AHSOKA

OMG OMG OMG THERES GONNA DO EZRA AND KANANS FORCE JUMP

THEY DID IT

SABINE WHY ARENT YOU GOING???

Oh hell yeah ahsoka and Sabine got it

YEAHHHH HUYANG AND THE TURTLE PEOPLE DID IT

HES DOING HIS FAKING PEOPLES VOICES

HES STEALING ARMOR

GO ON FASTER GO MEET UP EITH EZRA

THRAWN FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU SO MUCH.

THERE STUCK.

The turtle guys are so happy omg :)

SHINNNNNN 🫶🫶🫶

BAYLIN🫶🫶🫶

BAYLIN IS THE FATHER???

YOOO???

NO.

I WONT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS REUNION.

NO.

CHOPPER KNEW IT WAS EZRA.

HERA 😭

WHERES JACEN??? AND NEED EZRAS REACTION TO JACEN RIGHT NOW.

THE FORCE OWL THINGY OMG I LOVE YOU

ANIKAN FORCE GHOST??

{credits role and I’m just a sobbing mess}

My mom: “Your such a nerd I love you”

Me: “HES BACK. 🥹”

Also me physically shaking throughout this entire episode and after: “I’m not okay😃”

#star wars #ahsoka show #ahsoka tano #ahsoka #ezra bridger #Ezra #Sabine #sabezra #shin hati #baylan skoll #i’m not okay #sobbing mess on the floor shaking #hera syndulla #chopper

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owtenen · 1 year

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LIMITED LIFE EPISODE 1: The Basics

Where I put all the info we know about the mechanics, team-ups, base locations, etc into one location

(below cut is spoilers to LIMITED LIFE, which is series 4 of the life series. Pls don’t get mad if you read it and don’t want spoilers)

I. Participants

No ren :( I'm sad :(

Skizz is back :D

Nothing really big about this part, just that all of the soul pairs except Box Boys are here for potential refs and angst (there has already been a lot)

NOTE: I have only fully watched 6 out of the 14 possible POVs, so info regarding people I haven't watched might be limited to what the comments tell me when I make a mistake This info comes from watching these POVs and snippets of the other ones.

POVs I watched (in this order): Joel, Tango, Jimmy, Etho, Skizz, Cleo

POVs I skimmed (in this order): Martyn, Impulse, Scar

^ I will be consistently watching these POVs + Bdubs every week, however I'll probably watch others when I'm bored or if something big happens lol.

II. Teams/Alliances (from what I can gather from Episode 1)

EDIT: I originally said that Martyn and Scott were individual teams when that was wrong, it looks like they are teamed together and are called the Coral Kids. This change has been made below

Team T.I.E.S: Tango, Impulse, Etho, Skizz

Bad Boys: Grian, Jimmy, Joel

Coral Kids LBGSeas BadBouies : Martyn and Scott

Nosy Neighbors: Pearl and BigB ( + Froggy the Jellie cat)

Cwackers Cockers Clockers: Cleo, Scar, Bdubs

NOTE: Not all of these are NOW official names WAHOO

It seems like everyone is teaming with pretty much their usual crowd (ie, Jimmy/Joel/Grian , Cleo/Bdubs , Skizz/Imp/Tango/Etho) except for the notable exception of BigB and Pearl, which I don't think have teamed up together in a series before?

I could totally see Etho and Martyn teaming up after this episode, especially later in the season when TIES eventually break up.

III. Base Locations (based off of limited info from episode 1)

Team T.I.E.S seems to be basing on the edge of the main land mass underground. I can't tell if they have cows after Martyn's TNT but they have wheat and chickens, as well as sugarcane. NOTE: Etho seems to be basing close to but not WITH Tango, Impulse, and Skizz. Idk what this means but it's interesting to see what happens

Scott and Martyn are basing right next to TIES on a floating island in the ocean. I didn't watch their episodes but from Etho's it looks like they have both sugarcane and a zombie villager in a boat.

Bad Boys are basing .... *checks notes*.... on top of the woodland mansion .... made of wood .... wait? so Jimmy "our Ranch is burning down!" Solidarity and Joel "If the ship burns everything burns!" Smallishbeans are going to base on the top of the most flammable structure known to Minecraft? Okay cool.... this won't go horribly wro- oh and Cleo’s already burned the whole thing down great that lasted about 2 seconds

Cockers Clockers are based literally just at spawn. There entire thing is going to be building a stadium so they can laugh at people when they die.... I hate them (/lie)

Pearl and BigB are based between spawn and the woodland mansion on the edge of the stone cliff. I hope they slay and thrive there

IV. Mechanics

Okay so, there seems to be a lot more rules to this one than the other ones, so here's what I've gathered.

Everyone has a timer that counts down from 24 hours, this timer started when the series started

When the clock reaches 0 for the player, they are eliminated

There seems to be 2 ways to lose time: Being killed or dying. If you are killed by the boogeyman, it subtracts two hours from your time. If you are killed by natural gameplay (ie creeper, fall damage, etc.) you only lose 1 hour of time. (NOTE: it's not said how many hours are taken away if you're killed from non-boogeyman PVP, but I'm assuming it will still be 2 hours)

There is only 1 way to ADD time to your clock: kill players. When you are the boogeyman, you can kill whoever you want, and when you do you are given 30 minutes to your timer. EDIT: thanks to a comment I now have this info: If you are the boogeyman and you fail to kill a player within the 3 hours (that's how long they record for), you are dropped down to the next color life. For example, if you are a green name boogeyman and fail to kill, your time will go down to 16 hours and you will become yellow. This is the same for the yellow to red drop. (NOTE: Some ccs have said in their videos that it's + 1 hour, however Grian's intro says + 30 minutes which is what i'm going off of. Not sure if the + 30 minutes applies to non-boogeyman PVP kills, however I suspect it does)

Everyone starts as a green name, and the players turns yellow when they have less than 16 hours left on their timer. A player turns red when they have less than 8 hour on the clock

Most of the same rules apply to PVP as before: greens cannot kill anyone, yellow names can now kill green names even if they aren't provoked , and red names can kill everyone. Boogeyman kills can happen to anyone regardless of color. I suspect these rules will not be strictly followed like they have been for every season but yaknow we'll see.

V. Episode 1 Specifically

This series seems actually super cool! Here's some of the thoughts as a writer of traffic series fics and just a general enjoyer of episode 1. I like writing my opinions and these were written in real time while I was watching each POV.

🚧 NOTE: Some (like 4) of these points talk about shipping in fics.. I'll label the bullets with the caution tape emoji but I'd just recommend skipping this entire section if you get really pissed or triggered about it. Reminder that I do not ship real people, just the characters.

the Bad Boys are literally just that one (1) 100 hours hardcore episode.

Joel and Jimmy being idiots and dying is so funny, what a couple of idiots (I love them)

🚧 Boat Boys and Ranchers broke up to be with each others soulmates

it didn’t take even 20 minutes for Team Rancher and Boat Boys to break up. A real love loses moment.

I'm convinced Tango decides his friend groups based only on if there names make good acronyms. Like for sure he didn't invite Martyn to join TIES because it would have ruined the name.

Passive boogeyman Scott has left the chat. Man’s a beast.

^ Bdubs boogey first episode once again, this man can't escape the betrayer narrative

The mechanic has so much angst potential. I’m thinking a curse that slowly eats away at your body until you die. As the timer counts down, people will become more desperate to survive and that’s where alliances will fall. This season has probably the best potential for angst out of all of them, especially when people started running out of time.

just imagine with me: Tango and Etho are in a cave, Tango realizes he only has a minute left on his clock while Etho has maybe an hour and a half. Tango can't kill Etho cause it will just kill his friend immediately, so they both have to just... sit there while Tango's timer ticks by and he eventually gets eliminated by the mechanics of the game. HOW HORRIFYING IS THAT PEOPLE !!!!! I love it >:)

BEST? nah it’s team TIES now (rip Bdubs I guess)

Jimmy might escape the narrative just because of Skizz dying so much lol

I actually hate Grian for this. The fic that could be written about it is…. so much

okay but if Clockers dynamic this season is gonna be single mom with two annoying ass twins i’m all for it. I love them for this

🚧 ETHO TURNING DOWN THE ROLL OF DAD FOR BDUBS AND SCAR THANK GOD !!!! While I would love a Clethubs teamup, a nice straight happy family is not the way I wanted it to be done

Poor Skizz man. Dude was so excited to be back just to be killed twice by boogey and then die again by creeper death. Maybe HE can't escape the narrative

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of this series, and my opinion with probably change as more episodes come out, but I feel like it will be much easier to predict who will win this season than others because of the timer. like there is already a very strong likelihood that skizz will die first, just because if every kill only gives you 30 minutes, he would have to kill 10 people to even get back to normal, where as Bdubs and Scott have already killed 1 person and hasn’t died once, which means they are ahead. Basically, I think we’ll be able to see who will die first/not win very easily, which maybe will take away some of the suspense? I hope not, but that’s my thought rn.

🚧 we were SO CLOSE to a Martyn and Etho team up…. imagine the sus activity that could have happened here. I was so prepared to start writing Martho fics

SKIZZ'S COMPLIMENT TO ETHO WAS LITERALLY SO SWEET? Like it was 100% true and props to Etho for taking it like a champ. Etho really is the most likable guy in the Minecraft space, and he shines like a diamond in these kinds of thing with his friends. I'm glad Skizz took the time to recognize it and say it to his face. He deserves all the love.

🚧 if Bdubs is (maybe canonically) related to both his team members, there is little opportunities for sus mlm activity from him, and he will have to find bitches elsewhere, which might be difficult

TIES are four grown ass men and have three of the BEST redstoners minecraft has to offer and they still can't keep cows alive for more than like 5 minutes. What a bunch of losers

Okay now that I’m thinking about it, Etho might not be completely committed to TIES as it seems. I mean why would he make a base close BUT completely seperate from them? I sense some uh….. drama in the future mayhaps

I love Martyn's editing style it's great

VI. My Bingo Card (🚧)

Uh... so I did a bingo card before the series started and it's already got some good ticks off so here it is after episode 1

🚧 this bingo card contains some shipping/romance spaces, please plan your viewing accordingly

NOTE: I could have probably argued for a lot more of these, but it's no fun to check them all of in ep 1. Also, I didn't watch all the POVS (I think I watched 6/14) so there could have been some of these that happened in the other videos but I'm not watching all the POVS today so there's no point.

Wow sure glad I didn't put any Ren stuff in here (Fr I was originally gonna put a "Ren Win" space on here but thank god I didn't)

that skizz one better happen especially after today

play along if you wish! an unmarked one of these can be found if you stalk my Tumblr page far enough

VII. Conclusion

Um.... this was a really long post.... I'm sorry? I just wanted to make it because I had all this info in my head and it was spinning around in there and it needed to get it out. And maybe someone will find the first part useful! Who knows.

In real conclusion, Etho deserves the win. I don't care what you think should happen, this is what the universe wants. Yes, this is coming from an Ethogirl, and yes, I know I'm also the self proclaimed #1 smallishbeans enjoyer, but i just feel like Etho should be this seasons champ.

Even if I'm looking at it from a completely objective POV, Etho IS one of the top candidates for this specific mechanic/season. He barely dies in these games and he's generally good at boogeykills/PVP so I could see him losing very little time in terms of deaths but gaining a lot with kills. Also, no one really dares to kill him with the boogey (if we can take anything away from last life) so that too is a bonus.

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puer-aurea · 5 months

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On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Sick/Injury for Clockers + Ethodad "If you pass out, I'm not going to catch you." How this works?

It really doesn't make any sense. For this season of the games, Etho faintly remembers a lifetime where he and Cleo really were married and adopted two children, Scar and BdoubleO. But, anytime he tries to grasp at the long lost memories for more than a second, they slip through his fingertips like sand in an hourglass. Like Scar's hourglass that he found discarded in the grass a few blocks away from his injured son. Son? Son. There's no memories to refute the statement, so son it is. Scar's barely awake as Etho forces him to his feet. "If you pass out, I'm not going to catch you." He grumbled. "Etho? Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you." Scar still spoke cheerfully despite his grave injuries. The pros of being an extrovert. Or cons, if that's what you prefer. "What even happened to you?" Etho tried to keep up the 'reluctant help' facade but his tone was laced with worry. "I came to see Grian! He's my cousin, you know." A memory flashed in Etho's head, telling him Scar and Grian were anything other than cousins. But it was gone before he could recall anything significant. "Then, I got attacked by a horde of zombies and decided to just accept my fate! It wouldn't be to bad of a loss." "What would Cleo say?" "Mom? Oh- pshh, it'd be fine. I don't even have to worry about that now since you're here!" Etho rolled his eyes but didn't say a word as he continued to help his son walk back home. It wasn't a far walk by any means, Scar just wasn't very fast when injured. When the mountain was in shooting distance, Etho sent out a message on his communicator for Bdubs to come and take Scar from him. The sun was rising and Etho had to return to TIES for a meeting. "Scar, what in void happened?" Cleo came running out towards them, taking Scar off Etho. "A horde... I'm about ready to lay down now." Scar brushed it off like it was nothing. Like he wasn't littered with injuries. "Lay down? No, Cleo and Bdubs are going to clean you up and bandage your wounds first." Etho folded his arms over his chest. "You don't intend on helping? He's your son too." Cleo glared at him.

"They want me back at the tower, I can't stay." "He's walking out on us again, mom!" Bdubs joined the rest of the family outside. "He is, isn't he?" Scar forced a smile. "Oh- you all know where I live! Just come visit if it's that big of a deal." Etho sighed and walked away without a goodbye. "Some dad he is." Scar huffed before coughing. "Don't worry about him, let's get you inside." Cleo said. Bdubs stood at Scar's other side, opposite their mom, to help them get him inside. His clothes were terribly dirty and torn up and it was obvious the horde consisted of more than just zombies. It took the duo a while to patch up their family member but soon Scar was all clean and Cleo was tucking him into bed, despite the sun breaking the horizon and him being an adult. But, a mother is a mother, and no matter the age they will always take care of their kid. <3

#traffic life series #traffic smp #life series smp #trafficblr #ethoslab #goodtimeswithscar #bdubs #zombie cleo #limited life #clockers #clockers and etho #for context #in these 12 days of christmas fics thing #the players have no memories in each season #except false ones the watchers crafted for them #but outside of the games #they get all their memories back

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thegayhimbo · 8 months

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Stranger Things Kamchatka Review (and my thoughts on the Russian arc as a whole)

Warning: The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS from the comic, as well as season 4 of Stranger Things!

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews:

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things "The Game Master" and "Erica's Quest"

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Synopsis: In dark wintry Russia, Soviet scientists and military personnel oversee a new weapon they hope to use in their Cold War against the United States: A Demogorgon. To this end, they have enlisted the help of Dr. Boris Orlov to give them a device that will allow the monster to maintain its full strength. However, when Orlov refuses them and hides the device, he is taken prisoner to Kamchatka where the Demogorgon is being held. Now, with the help of an ex-KGB agent named Mr. Frost, it's up to Orlov's children, Anna and Lenoid, to save their father and prevent the device from falling into the Kremlin's hands......

Observations:

This is going to be a different review from what I usually do. The first part of this will discuss the comic itself and its merits/flaws, whereas the second will give more details about my thoughts concerning the Russian arc from seasons 3-4 and its placement on the show.

Part 1: The Comic

There are two ways I judge this comic: As an individual story, and how it ties into the Stranger Things universe.

In regards to the former, the comic works well as a thrilling Cold War spy narrative. It's fast-paced, the fight and chase scenes are intense, and it manages to capture the paranoia of living in the Soviet Union during a time when your words and actions were monitored and there was the constant threat of the KGB coming to arrest you for being a traitor to the motherland.

The artwork is impressive. From the white and grey hues depicting the bleak endless winters of Russia, to the ominous red and orange lighting of the prison, this comic does a great job with its dark colors and use of shadows to creepy effect:

On top of that, this is arguably one of the most violent comics in the series, which is saying something given the show it's based on. They do not shy away from depicting graphic scenes here:

The way the Demogorgon attacks its prey reminds me of the viciousness the Xenomorphs from the Alien series displayed towards their victims. Given how 80s movies like Aliens served as inspiration for Stranger Things and for the design of the Demogorgon in the first place, this was likely a subtle nod to that. The comic writers and artists know how to utilize the Demogorgon for all its scariness and brutality. Considering the same people for this comic have written another story (The Voyage) featuring the Demogorgon stalking and killing the crew of a freighter ship (which sounds similar to the plot of the first Alien movie), they're planning on milking the monster for all it's worth.

There are two main antagonists besides the Demogorgon: The first is Ivan Kolochev, who comes across like Darth Vader if he was a Russian KGB agent. He's the one who hunts the kids in order to get their father's device, and it's revealed he was the former protégé of Mr. Frost during the time they both served the Kremlin. Ivan later turned on Frost for becoming soft in his eyes, which forced Frost to go into hiding and abandon his wife and daughter for their own safety:

The second antagonist is Dr. Karine. She's the one overseeing the Demogorgon at Kamchatka, and was revealed to have worked under Alexei and General Stepanov when they first tried (and failed) to open the gate to the Upside Down on June 28th, 1984. She was one of the survivors from the blast, and later discovered a pollywog that she nursed into adulthood:

Best way I know how to describe her is she's similar to Dr. Irina Spalko from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in their ruthlessness, their desire to advance the Soviet Union's cause, and their fascination with abnormal branches of science. They even look physically similar in some respects:

In terms of the main characters, Mr. Frost was the interesting one. A man who ran from the KGB for 15 years and was skilled enough to survive and help two kids who were out of their depth. The story behind him abandoning his family for their safety was sad, and his reunion with daughter later on is heartwearming:

My only criticism of Frost is I wish they'd gone more in depth about his mindset. He tells the kids at the beginning of the comic he's disillusioned with what his country has become, and flashbacks show him becoming lenient in his interrogations, which gets him in trouble with the Kremlin. However, they never elaborated on how he got to that point. They never clarify if he began developing empathy for the Americans who were being tortured by the KGB, if he became tired from years of interrogating prisoners, if he began to fear he was turning Ivan into a monster by taking him in as a pupil, or if something else happened that made him re-evaluate his beliefs.

There's also his relationship/rivalry with Ivan. From the way Frost tells it, he raised Ivan like a son when he found him on the streets and took him in, only to later be betrayed by Ivan because he would "take the Americans side" whenever Ivan tortured prisoners. At the end of the comic though, Ivan accuses Frost of caring more about the rules and the state than about him, suggesting he felt Frost personally betrayed him.

Maybe it was intentionally written to be vague and let the audience decide who was more at fault for Ivan's descent into sadism, but considering we don't get many scenes showing what Ivan and Frost's relationship was like before they fell out with one another, it comes off like an aspect of the story (and Frost's character) that wasn't properly fleshed-out.

As for the kids and Dr. Orlov, they're pretty flat as characters. Anna and Lenoid have scenes showing they care for one another, but they don't really have personalities beyond them trying to find their father. Same for Dr. Orlov: Aside from one moment where he briefly delays Dr. Karine's plans by screwing over another scientist, he's basically a Damsel in Distress (or in this case, a Dude in Distress) waiting to be rescued. There isn't a lot to these characters that's engaging.

And this brings me to the crux of the problem I have with this comic: Setting it in the Stranger Things universe.

If this was just an individual Cold War thriller taking place in Russia, that would be one thing. In fact, I argue this comic works better if it isn't tied to Stranger Things. Just tweak a few plot details, change the Demogorgon to a different monster, and you have an original and unique story. By trying to shove it into the Stranger Things narrative, it creates a whole host of issues.

For one thing, it's highly unlikely Dr. Orlov or Anna and Lenoid are going to make a canonical appearance on the show. Because of that, it's hard to get invested in them or their story, and it doesn't help that the two characters who were interesting (Frost and Ivan) die at the end of the comic. There's maybe the possibility of Dr. Karine showing up in season 5, but since she made no appearance in season 4 during the Kamchatka arc, I seriously doubt that.

I've said this before, but I'm tired of them focusing on characters who either aren't important to the main plot, or aren't canonically part of the show. I'm not opposed to them doing a comic set in Russia, but it should help enhance the ongoing story and characters from the show instead of being a pointless side detour with Easter Eggs sprinkled in.

Take Hopper for instance: He spent 8 months imprisoned at Kamchatka prior to season 4. Why not write a story that focuses on his time there and how he learned to survive the harsh conditions of the prison and his torture by the Russians? Why not give more details about how he met Enzo/Dmitri, how they came to trust each other, and how they formed their initial plan for Hopper to escape?

For that matter, why not have a comic focused on Enzo/Dmitri? They could go more into detail about his life as a prison guard at Kamchatka, his relationship with his son, and so on.

Same with Yuri. I don't particularly like his character, but he at least was relevant to the show, and has a backstory as the "Peanut Butter Smuggler" that's ripe with potential.

They did this with Will and Bob in Tomb of Ybwen, and they did this with Dustin and Suzie in Science Camp, so I don't see why they couldn't have done that for either Hopper, Enzo, or Yuri.

Then there's the plot involving the McGuffin: A device created by Dr. Orlov that amplifies telekinetic abilities which Dr. Karine wants to keep the Demogorgon alive. Long story short: The Demogorgon is slowly dying because it can't live in our world and needs to be connected to its source (the hive mind) which the device allows it to do.

Now maybe I'm remember this wrong from the show (and feel free to correct me in the comment section if that's the case), but my understanding was that Demogorgons, Demodogs, and anything infected by the Mind Flayer (which was revealed to be controlled by Vecna) would cease living if the gate closed. There was a whole deal made in season 2 about getting the Mind Flayer particles out of Will before El shut the gate at Hawkins Lab because he would die otherwise.

However, when it comes to the Soviet's Demogorgon, I was under the impression it wasn't infected by the Mind Flayer, which is why it was still alive once the Russian Gate closed in season 3.

Same thing for the Demodog on the operating table that was being vivisected: My impression was it didn't have the Mind Flayer particles in it either, which is why it was active before Hopper shot it.

All of this makes the telekinetic device used to keep the Demogorgon alive look like a major plot-hole. The Soviet Demogorgon is never seen wearing the device once on the show, even though the comic puts a major emphasis on needing to wear it to survive.

It seems like an unnecessary element to the mythology given the show didn't bother to include it, and it's one I don't care for.

(Side Note: This is a question that's bothered me for a while now, but was the Hive Mind already a part of the Upside Down before Vecna arrived there, and he simply hijacked it when he used the black particles to create the Mind Flayer? Or did Vecna create the Hive Mind by forming the Mind Flayer and using that to infect almost every living being in the Upside Down and link their minds to his?)

Overall, my feelings about this comic are mixed. Some aspects like the artwork, the tone, and the Cold War setting work well, but the characters aren't memorable and the attempts to link the story to the Stranger Things Universe is handled in a clumsy way.

Part 2: The Russian Arc

When it comes to the Russian Arc in seasons 3-4. I know the general consensus has been fans questioning the point of it, with feelings ranging from indifference to outright negativity. In many ways, I get it. Out of all the directions they could have gone with the main story, this is not one I expected them to go either, and I'm still wondering whether there's a future payoff coming that will make it all worth it.

That being said, I don't hate this arc like some people do, and I even know a few people who like it. My dad for instance, who grew up in the 50s and 60s during the height of Cold War paranoia and the fear of Russians infiltrating the United States, thought the show did a good job recapturing those feelings and memories. He also liked how the show emphasized how the danger of the Upside Down wasn't just limited to Hawkins, and that it was important to show Vecna as a threat worldwide. I can see his perspective, and it has made me reevalute some aspects of the arc again, but my feelings still remain mixed at best.

I know when Season 3 came out in 2019, there was a podcast with the Duffer Brothers and producer Shawn Levy giving details about their reasoning for introducing the Russians:

Shawn Levy: “We’ve seen the Americans and now the Soviets trying to harness the power that seems to reside in the Upside Down through that gate. We’ve seen both sides of the Cold War now try to tap into it and control it in order to weaponize it so it felt like a really compelling way to take a real-world fear, an actual authentic historical paranoia, and to mix it with a very specific sci-fi genre plot that is unique to Stranger Things.”

Matt Duffer: ��We always struggled a little bit with the U.S. government as the bad guys because there’s only so many times you can punch and/or kill U.S. government or military personal before you get locked away in America. So in a sense, they [The Russians] were an easier human villain because we could do a lot more with them.”

On paper, the writers wanting to explore themes relating to the Cold War and delve more into the paranoia surrounding the Red Scare wasn't a bad idea on its own. The way it was executed on the show, however, left a lot to be desired.

I'm not a fan of how the Russians were depicted in season 3. Not only did they come off as cartoonish buffoons and stereotypes, but they weren't threatening as antagonists. I never got the sense of menace or the intimidating presence I felt when Dr. Brenner or Colonel Sullivan's men showed up looking for El and anyone associated with her. And compared to villains like Dr. Brenner and Vecna, who evoked feelings of fear and revulsion, I felt no similar emotions for the Russians because I had a hard time taking them seriously. My suspension of disbelief breaks whenever I think too hard about how they were able to build their underground base at Starcourt Mall in less than a year. They were portrayed in such a bumbling manner that I didn't buy it.

Even Alexei is a character I'm not a fan of. There was always something irksome to me about the show portraying him in a childlike, naive manner in spite of the fact he knowingly opened a portal to a different dimension to capture monsters to use as weapons, which ended up getting a bunch of people killed in the process. The ONLY thing I liked about this arc was the formation of the Scoops Troop and the interactions between Steve, Dustin, Erica, and Robin.

Season 4 is different: Part of this may be due to a different perspective considering this season came out 3 months after the real life Russian Invasion of Ukraine, but the Russians were creepy compared to the previous season. There was a sadistic, cruel inhumanity to the way they acted that made them menacing. The vicious torture of Hopper. The pit where prisoners were fed to the Demogorgon and the whole thing being treated for sport by the guards. The lack of any basic human rights for the prisoners at Kamchatka. Even the vivisection of the still-alive demodog was horrifying. There was a brutality from the Russians that was chilling to watch, and it made them more insidious than before.

I liked the Russian arc in season 4 better than season 3. I enjoyed Enzo/Dmitri's character and loved the friendship that developed between him and Hopper. I liked seeing Hopper's character development where he became more level-headed and introspective compared to how impulsive and hot-headed he was in season 3. I enjoyed the break-in to the prison and how reminiscent it was of video games like the Resident Evil and Outlast series in tone, setting, and sense of danger. I also loved both fights between Hopper and the Demogorgon, despite how corny some people claim they were.

Just because something has flaws doesn't mean it can't have good elements to it as well. Compared to controversial arcs from other TV shows, this one had enjoyable moments, and it's not one I mind rewatching again.

I acknowledge that all of this is my personal opinion, and I don't speak for everyone in regards to how they feel about the Russian arc.

I also recognize there are still questions that need to be answered for season 5. Like how the Russians found out about the Upside Down in the first place: Was there a mole at Hawkins Lab that Dr. Brenner was unaware of, or did they discover it through other means? How did they get that piece of the Mind Flayer into the glass case without getting infected by it? Is Kamchatka the only facility that houses monsters from the Upside Down, or are there others? Do the Russians know about Vecna? What happened to Enzo and Yuri, and are they coming back? Will the Russians return to Hawkins to exact revenge for the destruction of their facility at Kamchatka, or to try and capture more monsters from the Upside Down?

In spite of these questions, I am willing to give the Duffer Brothers the benefit of the doubt in believing they will tie this together. As I've said before, I'm still looking forward to season 5! :)

#stranger things #stranger things kamchatka #stranger things comics #jim hopper #dmitri antonov #enzo #yuri ismaylov #demogorgon #demodogs #vecna #the mind flayer #tgh opinions #tgh reviews #the duffer brothers #stranger things season 3 #stranger things season 4 #dr. karine #alexei #alexei stranger things

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