This is a sleeper pick when it comes to awful things Tony has done that aren't actual murder. Imagine being Vito Jr. You're going through some (perfectly reasonable) teenage angst after your gay mobster father gets beaten to death in a motel room. Then, at 3 in the morning, you're kidnapped by a bunch of burly dudes, screaming and begging for your Mom to help you while she looks on. Then you spend years getting the shit beat out of you and essentially tortured because your fat piece of shit "Uncle" blew your second chance on football betting.

The scene where the camp takes him is one of the most awful and harrowing scenes in the entire series. That kid is going to be completely mentally broken. I wonder how many human lives (off-screen and on) that Tony has crippled by the end of the series.

This could be from anything: Classic, Nuwho, Audios, Books, Comics, ect.

I just don't understand what did they expect.

The deal was they get Cintra, and fight for Nilfgaard in return. Up until that point they hate and distrust humans.

Baby is born. Now they suddenly don't want to fight. But did they think Nilgaard would be just cool with that? Oh you got baby so now your breaking the deal that's understandable, of course you can keep living here and taking our supplies? Like somehow they suddenly naively expect humans to selflessly protect them? And then they think it was Redania thats behind the killing of the baby?

Is this stuff better explained in the books, or the whole plotline is Witchflix original?

The Season 4 Finale finally left them in a good place where they each learned the benefits of each other's lessons & forgave each other.

It's getting really repetitive to see them get so close & fall apart again and again. My least favorite part of the season was the artificial drama created to split them up. I hope they can at least make this stick.

I'm not expecting them not to bicker with each other - in fact, I think that's part of the charm of their relationship. But I hope that they stay "on the same side" for the rest of the series going forward.

I know a lot of people are unhappy about the inclusion of a new/Original character, that isn't in the books (that we know of in its current state), but I wanted to share some observations I have made, and argue some points surrounding the character and the plot line, as well as a few hypotheses and theories.

Full disclosure: This was initially made as a comment in another post, however I thought other people might want to see what I see, rather than it get buried. You will also have to forgive the shit photo-of-a-screen images I have included, unfortunately Netflix blocks screen recording, so screenshots just come out blank for me. It also contains spoilers of the book, and the show. It also might be a TL;DR for a few.

Why is Voleth Meir in the show, and why is she actually a better character than we give her credit for:

There are lots of theories around what Voleth Meir is, or more importantly who she is. The show presents her as a demonic entity, that had a murderous penchant, and was impossible to kill. The history is that Witchers of Yore were able to entomb her in a magical prison. The obvious question is - how in gods name did Witchers do that? They don't have access to magic anywhere near powerful enough to do something of the sort. Who can? Sorcerers and Mages.

We first 'meet' Voleth Meir in the elven temple in Episode 2 (everyones favourite), although we have precursory insight into them when we see Ciri and Vesemir talking about her weapon in the Kaer Morhen armoury. Ill speak on the weapon later.

The elven temple scene is far more rich in very subtle detail, not only about Voleth Meir, but also the connection of the elven races to the larger picture. As Fringilla and Yennefer walk in, they admire 'runes' on the wall. It is supposed to show the history (which the elves reaffirm is longer for them) of the continent - the lead up to the conjunction of spheres, and the arrival of monsters. We see Griffin and humans fighting, What look like basilisks, an exodus by sea in longships, and vampires. It all makes sense that monsters would be present in the temple/prison of an ancient, unkillable monster, right?

Except, when Yennefer and Fringilla first look at the runes, there is an image of two elves, which Yennefer says are separated by chaos here. What it actually shows us, is two distinct people, one with an eye above them, and one surrounded by hills and leaves, separated by a *monolith with what looks li

What are some plotlines you think or hope we will see after the Light/Dark saga?My thoughts are:

-I hope we will see in some way the political fallout of Mara's action in the Distributary,because as much as I like Mara as a character and I think she is a valuable ally,I'm sure her actions tainted Distributary society,considering that as Mara's awoken left they were fired upon.I would like to see Distributary as some sort of antagonists,Mara's actions turning them into a darker path and Mara trying to deal with the consequences of her actions.

-I would like to explore the Vex take a more central role as antagonists.I believe with the conclusion of the flower game and with no paracausal powers restraining them,they will take a larger role into the universe.Together with this I would like to explore alternate realities and toy more with time manipulation.

-Tying with the above I think the theme of the next saga would be choice and consequence.

-Also I would like to see some new species.

I understand that as a satire, I shouldn't expect all side plots to be taken seriously, but I feel like every season had kind of unresolved plotlines, all the way back to Bellow & Hare in the first season. I know sometimes part of the joke is that this plots were not relevant, but larger threads that crossed over seasons like April's murder, Julian's phone still being out there even though he got paid off, Chip's family's company coverup, I feel like a lot of these just never lead anywhere but also never were never quite intentionally comedically subverted like the Jesper Society, Fat Frankie, or Charlie Reeny (presumably) dying were.

I'm really loving the series, particularly the Die Hard-esque plot in Urithiru right now, and I'm interested in how Adolin's trial goes. Navani is one of my favourite characters so I'm loving the spotlight on her in this book. But the Ghostblood plotline continues to feel more and more stretched out, and its members almost comically all-knowing and endlessly competent. It's been over 3000 pages now and I'm bemoaning out loud each time they appear; 'Just get to the point Sanderson, I'm not as invested in this as you think I am.' Which is a shame, because I like Shallan as a character (her split personality thing is a little hokey, because it comes across like a soap opera take on dissociation compared with Kaladin's quite realistically drawn depression), but her plotline is marred by endless speculation that goes nowhere.

And I believe the reason I'm not invested is because the plotline feels like watching Alias or Lost or a generic JJ Abrams fair of another stripe, with endless mysteries that go on so long that the answers cannot possibly live up to the hype. And at a certain point, reading two and a half very sizeable books that endlessly tease the Ghostblood's motives/goals/members/plan/nature etc just makes them feel like boring invincible villains - even if they get some answers or even comeuppance at the end of RoW it won't make the slog through their chapters any more worth it to me.

I sound like I'm not enjoying the book. I am. But the Ghostblood plotline genuinely feels like it's stretched out old taffy that the shopmaker insists tastes good so long as I devour the whole thing.

So I'm curious; am I alone her or does anyone else feel similarly?

>EDIT: Just finished the Jasnah chapter where Wit drops the megabomb that the Ghostbloods are an interplanetary/interplanar organisation. At least, it would be a megabomb if I hadn't guessed it over a book earlier because of the endless teasing. Again, it feels like I'm meamt to be invested in these villains but I'm not being gicen much of a reason, because they're too damn nebulous.

I saw an older post about this and wanted to see if anyone used this idea or a variants of it for themselves:

A) Alien planet is very similar to Earth (including their own Big 50 corporations!) but farther ahead in space tech - theirs is a generational or cryogenic ship and they're here as part of an advanced recon team. Runners are hired for seemingly mundane runs until the same Johnson starts making unusual requests. As shadowrunners often never knowing who their ultimate patron is, this could be discovered by accident when trying to relay information to a specific point (When did Titan/Ganymede/Ceres etc. become sites for space bases? Why is there a triple-ring space station each with a 50m diameter at a 500m radius sitting between Earth and Mars?). Maybe gold to them is gravel to us, they're here for the water and maybe certain tech items.

B) They find humans both tasty and helpful in their reproductive cycle, either as gestational sacs or biological fodder to be fleshcrafted into their own species. They're here to take over!

C) Galactic equivalent of the Corporate Court is deciding whether to destroy or merely enslave Earth and its denizens but is totally unfsmiliar with magic and its most recent intel is from the Treaty of Denver - they want the water along with genetic examples of high-level magicians. They also take an unhealthy interest in trying to cross Trolls and Ghouls to create super-soldiers while playing with a derivative of VITAS that makes Ebola look like a mild seasonal allergy.

D) Truly gullible and peace-loving aliens want to study Earth and are desperate to contain it before they begin nascent interstellar travel. Ares and Evo are much closer to capability for transluminal velocity than we think and Mars may become a battlefield. Though gullible and peace-loving, these aliens are no fools and see humanity as potential competition, especially as they bear a striking resemblance to the Centauri of Babylon 5 or the British Empire just after the death of Queen Victoria.

Remember when Dean accidentally hooked up with an Amazon and literally had a full grown daughter that Sam killed because she trying to kill Dean as was her task to become an Amazon?

I didn't until someone pointed it out on TikTok and now I can't stop thinking about how that had literally no consequences to the the story whatsoever. You could skip that episode and you wouldn't be missing out anything for the rest of the season or the show overall

Do you all think that the story can wrap up in 7 books realistically considering GRRM's overall pacing of the story? I'm not trying to sound pessimistic, or imply that I don't have faith in GRRM, but I'm not entirely sure whether this story can finish in only TWOW and ADOS. AFFC and ADWD only expanded the story, introducing and setting up a plethora of new POVs and plotlines, and while I loved these additions, I'm not sure how TWOW or ADOS could be structured to give us proper and somewhat satisfying conclusions to these new add ons to the story.

While many of these threads are going to converge, I think there are just as many that need more expansion and exploration (Eg. Rickon in Skagos, the Samwell Citadel shenanigans, fAegon, Nymeria, Sansa in the Vale, etc.)

What do you think? I personally think that GRRM should just release TWOW in two parts, not in the fashion of AFFC/ADWD, just one volume split in two. He wouldn't need to waste time cutting the story geographically, he'd just give for these plots more depth so they can reach their proper conclusion.

Endwalker was great, and I loved every moment of it, but there's a lot of unresolved or ambiguous plotlines with it. I'll list them out here, if I missed any notable ones, feel free to add!

1. The status of the last 4 remaining Ascians/Convocation Members (Halmarut, Altima, Deudalaphon, Pashtarot)
2. How Emet Selch, Lahabrea, and Elidibus dodged the Sundering (MAY be explained in Pandaemonium?)
3. Locus Amoenus being mentioned quite a few times during the Garlean portion of EW, but not actually going there during the main story.
4. Whatever that giant floating island is right above Garlemald on the map of Eitherys.

Garlemald with Mysterious Floating Island

This is by all means not an exhaustive list, so add more if you noticed more! Lets get a good discussion going!

And by "Fix" I mean retcon it so the whole thing actually makes sense. There should be no way for Chornovore to pull things from both the past and future of our timeline without causing time paradoxes. Now I am cool with the idea of Chronovore controlling time and having time-based powers it makes him an equal to Thraxs space controlling powers and really stands out from other Radiant behemoths. But it has to be implemented in a way that makes sense. We already know that some of the Eldar's Behemoths come from different timelines. So just make it that Chronovore can only pull things in from different past and future of different timelines and not the past or future of the same timeline. Boom, easy retcon that fixes the whole Paradox issue.

I'll be honest the reason I am writing this is that I hate the time travel plotline. I hate it with a fiery passion. So much so that quit the game over it for a time. Why did I hate so much? Well, it is because it changes the whole direction of the game and its story. Dauntless went for a story about reclaiming what was left of our world from monstrous creatures that humanity created. To a game about timey whiny nonsense. And it felt like the time travel stuff was becoming the main plot of the game instead of the behemoths. From Primal's and Elders being on every island at the time and new skill trees based on the past and future. To the fact, Arkan Drew was immortal apparently and the Middle Man coming from the future. It just took away from everything I liked lore-wise about the game and made it feel nonsensical. I am glad to see the devs are moving the story back in a direction about humanity's plight with the Behemoths and how Ostian is making the same mistake as humans from the past. My main fear with the new radiant escalation update is that the devs are gonna make time travel a core part of the plot again when it is both unneeded and unwanted. Dauntless is a monster hunting game. The plot should be about monsters.

I am sorry if this whole post just feels like whining. I really do care about dauntless and wanted the best for the game. I know most players don't care about the plot but I do and the whole time travel stuff just made me feel frustrated and I wanted to express how I feel about it. Thank you for reading.

So, It Takes You Away, it's a pretty good episode, in a lot of ways one of the better ones of the Chibnall/Whittaker era. But there's something about it that's always stopped me from calling it a personal favourite: I feel like it gives Ryan and Graham the wrong plotlines.

(This has been bugging me more or less ever since I first saw It Takes You Away.)

Quick recap for anyone who's not seen it in ages...

• In the episode as broadcast, Graham goes through the mirror with the Doctor and Yaz. He meets, and is tempted to stay in the parallel universe by, the Solitract in the form of Grace. Meanwhile, Ryan stays outside the mirror with Hanne.

• Graham is very emotional on seeing Grace, even though it's not the real one; when Ryan learns about this (offscreen, for some reason, but nevermind that now) he feels bad for Graham, and finally calls him Granddad.

What I'm thinking, though, is that Ryan should've met Grace, and Graham should've stayed with Hanne. Couple of reasons.

• I think it strengthens the temptation scene, where Grace tells Graham to forget about Ryan - there, it's too transparently "this is an evil temptation scene", and it doesn't even ring particularly true for the character. If it's Grace rejecting Graham, which is what Ryan always wanted, that sense of nagging temptation is founded on a little more.

• I also think if Ryan has just had to part with Grace again, the "granddad" moment - a conscious validation and appreciation of Graham - is more meaningful. (And it's more tragic if Graham never gets to see her again, especially after the Arachnids memory scene.)

• It solves a recurring issue with Series 11, actually, where it very quickly seems to forget that Grace was Ryan's gran, and really only treats her as Graham's wife first and foremost.

• What about Graham with Hanne? Well, one idea early in S11 that's quickly abandoned is that Graham, while well-meaning, never quite gets Ryan's dyspraxia, and often treats him like his disability is something he can just willpower his way through. I think there's a way to write Graham's scenes with Hanne as something of an evolution of that, and prompt some learning on Graham's part - not in a "very special episode" kind of way, more in that you'd get a sense that Graham ends the episode with a better understanding of Ryan, and he's actually going to be a better guardian figure going forward.

• Which in turn streng

I have no idea how Thanedd can happen. It either wont happen or if it does it will be extremely underhelming compare to the books. Lets go over several characters who were supposed to be there but can´t be there because of how story played out in season 2:

Yennefer - can´t be there because she is already outlaw which in the books was result of the Thanedd. So she can´be logically there. Unless of course tehy will handle it like Vilgerfortz role in Sodden and they will forgive her and Yennefer will make dumb decision to come here like nothing happened, because logic is not something characters use in this show. Can´t decide what scenario is worse.

Ciri - again can´t be there, because she was there only because of Yennefer and now everybody already wants her dead and knows who she is. So I can´t really imagine scene with Tissaia, Yennefer and Philippa like in the books without Tissaia killing Ciri on spot or when she sees her. Same for other people who are supposed to be here. Again in TV show she would either go with Yennefer after she stupidly goes there because they forgive her and she believes it or she will go on her own as part of some run from home after some disagreement. Again terrible plotline.

Geralt - he was there only because of Yennefer and Ciri. He has no logical reason to be there.

As you can Thanedd cant logically happen with our characters. Of course it can happen without them, but that it will be extremely underhelming, because only characters there will be side-characters. Like why we should care about this conflict if nobody from main characters is there. To watch who will come on top in pissing contest between Stregobor and Vilgerfortz?

Which is another problem? Will the show really have balls to killed off Tisaia in the same manner as in the books? Will they able to get rid off such name as Lars Mikkelsen? Thats what I am afraid off because this is not only question of narrative but in case of tv show how characters are popular. I am afraid that they will simply make it much cheaper to keep great stars there. I am also not sure if they not give last middlefinger to book funs and giving Vilgerfortz role to Stregobor, which after he tortured Yen in very similiar manner like Vilgerforty in books is definetly possibility. What do you think?

I mean they drove all the way to the funeral and the wake and essentially told him to piss off and stay away even after his wife was dead. Granted Hardman was a massive dick, but wouldn't it be wiser to just stay away?They could've made up a plan for if and when he comes and kept going about their business. Antagonising him made sure that he comes back and gave them less time to prepare. Harvard educated lawyers...

Edit: I get people saying that he would've come back any way. My point is that even if he would've, it would be smarter to have prepared for pushing him out when he arrived rather than playing all their cards preemptively, without fully analysing his plans. They just assumed what he would be doing and tried to thwart him. They could've rather made Louis privy to the entire scam, he would never go against Jessica. They could've pulled a million other strings to get him out, instead they played right into his hands, like he almost expected them to show up to the funeral

Basically wanted to discuss the whole situation of the HOF and how their presence in the game would have prevented the Wardens from doing the Demon summoning ritual from the very beginning.

Most people that have discussed this have only pointed out that it would be difficult to bring them in because of the voice issue and how they would behave. (Would they be exactly how they envisioned them in Origins and whatnot.) Yet everyone seems to forget the story perspective of it all.

Basicially the whole Warden storyline revolves around every Warden hearing the Calling. They look for help (not sure why they didn't look for Weissupt) and then decide to summon a demon army from this blood mage so they can die heriocly. They only do it because they assume they will turn into ghouls soon and that they will die doing their job in the end. Only one rejects the idea, they turn on them and the person runs away.

Now who this person can be one of three (Stroud, Alistair, and Logain). There was even a suggested idea that the HOF could have been that contact but was scrapped because of the issues stated before but that's not really the case. Because if the HOF was against the whole demon ritual then every non mind controlled warden would be against it as well.

Reason why is because of what the HOF went through before Inquisition. :

Stopped a Blight as a mere rookie, with only two other wardens.

Survived Logain's betrayal.

Stopped a civil war in the middle of a Blight.

Amassed an army in little over a year.

Found Caridin and the Anvil of the Void.

Found Andraste's final resting place.

Evaded hunting parties from Logain and the Archdemon.

rebuilt the wardens after the Withered's attack that killed all the Orlesian wardens. (Beginning of Awakening)

Amassed an army to defeat the Mother and her army.

Dealt with the Children and the Awakened darkspawn.

It's a big record. Now lets compare it to Clarel.

Abandons Ferelden when Logain closes the border.

Sends only one person to figure out what was going on but was captured immediately.

The forces she sent to help rebuild Ferelden are all wiped out before the Hero even arrives.

That's basically all I got.

So when the call for summoning a demon army is called for and the Hero of Fereldan is against it (if they were in the game), Every warden would have said no. No ifs, ands, or buts. Doesn't matter if they were hearing the Calling, or that they were scared.

Every warden would have agreed on the HOF

The quoted sections are my thoughts for how a TRoS post-credit ‘dlc’ could re-contextualise the trilogy as an allegory.

>Ben is awoken from a dream (that ended with his disappearance/death in TRoS) by Luke who has entered his quarters. Luke notices and they briefly discuss the dream alongside Luke saying he struggles with his own premonitions. The implication essentially being the sequel trilogy is the shared dreamlike personification of the fears and anxieties of its characters, not unlike Anakin’s dreams in the prequels.

The sequels, when viewed from the perspective of Luke, are an incarnation of his greatest fears, specifically that he will fail to live up to his father’s sacrifice and will abandon his friends and allies when they need him most. From Ben’s perspective, it may reflect an underlying anxiety that his inability to control his emotions could lead him to the Darkside. Unlike Anakin who succumbed to the fear of his premonitions in large part due to his circumstances, Luke and Ben avoid this fate due to the healthier teachings of the reformed Jedi Order and a stronger emotional support base.

>The two could spend time reminiscing before a more sombre tone sets in for a discussion about Leia’s funeral, essentially a tribute to Carrie Fisher. Have them leave the room to allow for a shot of them walking the halls of a new Jedi temple, with small details and callbacks to the saga. Conclude with a short dialogue-free scene of Leia’s funeral with the other characters gathered to pay their respects.

This is not suggesting a dismissal or de-canonisation of the sequels, rather a re-contextualisation. There were a lot of ideas I liked in the trilogy, especially from TLJ, though I feel the sloppy overall execution and their disconnected nature leave a bitter taste to the ending of the Skywalker Saga, at least in my opinion. If the sequel trilogy is viewed as an interconnected allegory for the personal anxieties of its characters then the characterisation and general events of the ST could be reconciled with the idea of a timeline in which there was no major conflict following RoTJ, outside of perhaps dealing with Empire remnant states that are collectively and allegorically portrayed as the First Order; its massively fluctuating strength throughout the trilogy representative of different individual conflicts against weaker or stronger remnants.

For a further example, the trilogy from Rey’s perspective is reflective of her identity crisis follo

The more I think about it the crazier it sounds but is undeniably true. Like his amount of character growth and development has ECLIPSED Shoto to the point that it has become an issue. Shoto has become a very stagnant character who has begun to reiterate the same things over and over again like fusing the two half’s of his body together…for the 50th time. Even Hori seems more comfortable with writing Enji’s emotions and thoughts about the whole thing more than Shoto. I just don’t get it.

I can understand after the whole High End fight, but since then I cannot say that Shoto is the main character in his supposed part of the story that revolves around him. Dabi vs Endeavor is a far more interesting fight tbh because the emotional weight will be there in a way that it will not be for his fight with Shoto.

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Okay so, first time watching this, and I really enjoyed it - the colorful, unique characters played by great actors, the Lynichian qualities, etc. etc., but the Horne/Mill plotline left me scratching my head. I mean, it looks like this guy double-crosses everyone every second (or at least you learn that he is involved with more and more people with regards to the mill aspect of the plot), and it's very hard to follow, and I'm left with a lot of questions. So, a link to an explanation or something could be nice, but really, that would only be a bonus, what I'm really wondering is if other people share my feeling.

Edit: Got some encouraging answers, thanks!

Feels like Genos defeating him wouldn't give him much else to do in the story and I could see only one arc left after that. Can anyone see any other reason to drag the story out after that besides defeating God?

I'm finishing Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb tonight, and I'm loving it!!! It's a beautiful book, Hobb is becoming one of my favorite authors, I already have the third book in the series on my nightstand ready to read... BUT, I'm really needing a happy book with minimal stress! This series has me on the edge of my seat wondering about the life or death of a kingdom, and I need a book that is a little lighter on the consequences right now.

I spent the last few months studying for CPA exams so I've been very stressed, I'm feeling kind of down, and I could use a pick-me-up. Something to curl up in a blanket and read in the cold weather. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Things that I like but are not required: animal companions, romance plot or subplot, magic is cool (both "soft or hard" magic systems are fine)

So I was watching a few critique videos (clearly I can’t get enough) and watched the two hour video by Hbomberguy and learned some things. I don’t follow videos involving conventions or interviews with the creators of any show, movie, game, etc so learning about the fact that Miles and Kerry were mostly writing the plot of the show while they were still watching anime and “learning” how to write an anime inspired series was pretty illuminating to say the least. But this also brings about a serious problem that they’ve written themselves into a corner and can’t get out: SALEM.

If Salem aka the Thanos of RWBY can’t be killed, then there’s no point at all to this show. Because when you ask yourself “what do you do with a villain who CAN’T DIE?”, you need to have SOME kind of answer. And while there are people who have come up with answers on how they’ve beaten their villains, it appears that CRWBY hasn’t come up with that answer yet. OR If they HAVE, they haven’t done a great job of getting the protagonists to that answer and wrote themselves into a corner.

But that leads to another question for me: what if the series never HAD THE SALEM PLOT IN THE FIRST PLACE? What if instead of focusing on her, the gods, the relics, and the maidens, we just stayed focused on the world building aspect of the show and actually tied up the earlier storylines in a much better way?

1. I get the revenge angle. The problem is, the conduit to enact the revenge makes no sense.
2. They need a bunch of people, very specific people to enact the plot, yet they go about wantonly killing anyone and everyone on Terminus without knowing who they are killing, putting the very people they need at risk. They even blow up the imperial ship killing EVERYONE, except the one person who they need who doesn't die in the enormous explosion.
3. They then round up all these people, and expect them to go along with the plot to kill billions, or even trillions of people.
4. Any of these people could say no, and then the ploy is ruined. What do the Anacreons do then? Just murder a bunch of innocent people and go back to being miserable? Like they have no other recourse, and as soon as the giant space planet destroyer jumps, they have no other plan to fall back on.
5. They then get to the ship before it jumps, and every character is one by one picked off by random events. There's this kinda meta-story about what happened to the previous crew, which has no bearing on anything but they keep referencing (at least to this point, does EXO mean there's some sort of alien creature that's going to appear after the jump?).
6. They lose basically every single person they need to accomplish the mission, but yet the mission still goes on, which means none of those people were essential whatsoever, and the plot point was just included for dramatic effect. They also bring Salvor, and insinuate she's an important part of the entire plan, even though she was never included in the first place, and is just a guard on Terminus and in no way an expert in any of the fields that the Anacreons initially talked about.
7. Again, Salvor lost her Dad, she could easily have just said "Ok well, this is all fucked, and I'm not going to be responsible for the deaths of billions and billions so yeah, fuck off Anacreons I'll take one for the team" and it's all over.

So yes, this entire major plot point was just manufactured drama and nonsense. My favorite part is when Salvor's love interest just anti-climatically floats off into space and we assume he's dead, only for him to just magically land on a moon with a communications buoy.

Come. On

Why does the ship need to become self-aware and especially emotional? It’s such a played out sci-fi trope from 2001 until now. We explored emotionality with Data in TNG, Disco in general is pretty heavy handed/lacks nuance with its overindulgence in “emotional intelligence”…

This is one plot line I just didn’t need and certainly didn’t ask for. If we wanted to deal with ethical issues of AI, what constitutes personhood, emotions vs duty - could we at least picked something other than the ship? I can tell this is just going to annoy me more moving forward.

With in person events becoming a regular occurrence again and the new Nintendo circuit announcement, 2022 can be a great year for Melee. What are your predictions for SSBM in 2022?

Do Zain and Mango continue to dominate the scene? Does HBox get back to his winning ways? Will Leffen retake his place in the discussion of top player? Do any of the other contenders take the next step to contend for the #1 spot? Will any missing faces reappear?

I'm excited to see where 2022 takes us.

I would have loved to see how one of the gang reacts to either severely injuring or killing a perp. I mean, they are homicide detectives. The scenario isn't that unlikely.

Not gonna lie, the menagerie arc is one of my very favorite parts of the whole series. I love the interactions between Nynaeve, Elayne, Thom, Juilin, and Birgitte. Especially the character- and relationship-building between Elayne and Nynaeve. I despair of the show being able to properly write women who are heroic, flawed, caring, bitchy, great-hearted, and petty in sequence. I just don't think the current crop of writers can pull it off, and this breaks my heart. Of course, this all presupposes they even include that plotline.

So, that's my fear going forward. What's yours?

I was scared the nurse was going to try and.... with little Joe. And that the writers would use that as a way to hammer down on Joe's warped views on love

I'm on my second watch and wow, Carmela and the whole divorce arc has become one of my favorites.

Watching AJ becoming to hate her when it was just them alone in the house was so sad. Tony did zero parenting, all he did was buy gifts for AJ, constantly rewarding him for nothing at all, undermining all of Carmela's efforts. It's a great display of how manipulative Tony was. Tony's words of "do better at school, be nice to your mother" were empty words. Someone has to be strict on AJ, of course it was Carmela's job, Tony came in to save the day with a brand new car. When Carmela had enough and shipped him off to Tony, he couldn't handle it and physically abused him. You watch Carmela struggle with her identity as a mob wife and the lifestyle that came with it. Up until this point, she was able to brush it aside but now she was forced to make a choice. Leave the money and influence that Tony provided and start from nothing or go back. Watching Carmela, feeling sympathy for her, all made it so much sadder when she went back to Tony, shaking him down for that spec house. After that, whatever love they had ever felt for each other was gone, it was a business arrangement. Simply brilliant writing and even better acting from Edie Falco.

I just had to write this while watching series 3 and it's infuriating how stupid Hope's character is. I get there has to be a certain amount if suspension of disbelief, which I could manage for series 1 and 2. It made them enjoyable, being just silly enough but still with a sense of covering real and important topics.

However, the whole plotline of Hope trying to turn the school into some authoritarian, puritanical school a la Footloose, is beyond absurd.

Maybe it's because I work in a school but in the UK, you even criticise a child wrong and you have a mob battering down the door two minutes later. Trying to enforce any kind of uniform is always a nightmare and bringing kids to the front of an assembly, even for a positive reason, could be a cause for serious complaints. You name a child in a newspaper, you've broken GDPR and are fucked.

The signs feel like the writers have just finished reading Order of the Pheonix and wanted their own Umbridge. It's like a child's version of how schools are run.

Yes, it's a TV show but there were real themes it's been trying to cover, and that's lost when you known the 'villain' couldn't exist over here like this as she would have been suspended after her first student interaction.

What do others think, am I taking it too seriously?