SABOTAGE?! And it all started out as such a nice idea… A cliche as tall as my ex-roommate’s erection live-blending Kelly Bundy Mike Kelley and Ted Bundy parafernalia wearing blondes to the sound of gekko’s mating in the Amazon. Cut the bullshit! There’s no such thing as a nice idea getting detourné by some smart art postpostsituationist pranker or right-wing gaswhitey flexfrat, no, my dear well-meaning peace dove friends, if an idea can gets turned into its opposite during its execution, it probably was flawed from the start! Sometimes people use Woodstock 99 - the limp dickshit rape and pillage slash and burn disaster edition - as an example of how a great, positive, wonderful, hell, holy idea can turn into the worst kind of evil in the hands of the wrong people. Well, dear naivopino’s, let me inform you: bull-shit! The whole idea of Woodstock, be it ’99, ’94, ’69 or 2219, is just batshit dumbwhat asking for the baddest kind of trouble right from the bat. Or, what? Do you honest-to-dogly think that during the original (I retrovulsely puke into my stomach even using that wretched word) edition of 1969 nothing was burned, stolen, no women were raped? What, just because there were no sperm dna tests, nigh to none options for women to speak up against sexual violence let alone the fact that speaking up against rape during that whole shitshebang of a weak acid trip’s campfire get-together was near to blasphemy in the hippie community means that no women were raped? Because men all of a sudden turned into meek little dickies lambs for three years from 1968 to ’71? Fuck that shit. Please. I don’t even want to spend a single move of a single digit of my old hands having to make anything about that largest circle jerk-off in history clear to you. Read your books. Do your homework. Anyway, that’s what I was thinking about when a friend told me recently about another of those so-called great ideas gone hilariously wrong in a little map smudge of a town in of all fucking places Belgium for chrissakes. Let me admit to you, right here and now, no smirk no smile on my face: I laughed so hard when I heard it I shat my new Calvins. Framed them afterwards, too, in a nice little Nielsen A2 birch. It’s sitting there, stinking the fuck out of my storage, waiting for a good stock market crash to come. Never underestimate the potential of the future art market gold rushes. My shit, my gold, bruv. So, these two clowns of artists in Belgium (are there any other there? don’t get me started on rené ma bite or marcel bread arse here!) had the ammazing idea to get themselves funded by the local government in this hamlet of three houses called Watou which apparently would be part of - ok, stop me here. Not in the history of mankind has ever ended a sentence well which tried to explain any aspect of Belgian politics, topography or whatever the call the thing there where a man rides a horse stark naked and bites the neck of living goose hanging from a tree? (See, that sentence didn’t end well either, did it, what’d I tell you? Cursed stuff!) Let’s try that again: two artists in the Belgian town of Watou had the splendid idea to organize a festive event, in the middle of summer, whereby all the people of this little village (if you’re thinking of blue skinned vikings charging Roman legionnaires in a berry-induced bad trip frenzy, well, so am I) for one day left their houses, dropped the key of their house in a transparant bowl on the town square and all went to the field adjacent to their village to well be (as in: not fornicate) together and thereby, if I had a press release I’d quote this from it: practiced a performative experiment in hospitality and neighborship where no fixed rules are applied. I’m guessing if you’re sensitive like I am to the finer things a life, you might as well start looking for your nearest Nielsen frame too by now, but hey: we haven’t even gotten to the joke yet! This was all the serious stuff. Let me summarise it even more briefly for you, just to get it out of my haemorrhoidical system: Imagine a village. Everyone leaves their house at the same time. Leaves their front door open. Drops the key to said door in a large bowl. Drifts into a field somewhere off to do fripp knows what (no rules applied, but probably: no fornication whatsoever.) Got the mental image? Good. Now get the fuck out of that dream and imagine any sad little teardrop of a town you know. Imagine who lives there. Imagine all the people you know who live in a town, or rather, fuck that, imagine all the people you know. Now imagine that some dogoodydoodydoobywah wants to “bring the people together again” and “mend the social bonds which had been broken by” yaddah yaddah yaddah. Okay? Now imagine the fucking assholes - they might even be you - who get they absolute mostest pleasure out of ruining the naive, well-intentioned ideas of others? You see what I see? The doodygoodoo is a bit all alone on his white ivory hilltowertop, right? All the others apparently prefer to start mayhem, to jinx other people’s efforts, to laugh - loud! - at their friends tripping over their own feet. No? You think in your ‘reality’ people are ‘decent’ and ‘rough diamonds’ or ‘deeper than you’d think they are’? Well, my dear, that paradisiacal odor you’re smelling all around you is the smell of your own shit cause you got your head up your ass! Listen and suffer! Because what happened in our not-just-proverbial Belgian village on that sunny morning in July… a couple of the townspeople - we’ll never know how many but I’m guessing almost everyone except for the government-funded, from-the-city hippie artists was in on the joke - had invited some acquaintances from the town next door to quietly enter the village while everyone was not-fornicating on the idyllic field, to take all the keys from the bowl, lay them on the train tracks which run along the town, flattening them to perfectly unusable little steel flabs and placing them back in the bowl. So when our supposedly resocialised townspeople entered their village that afternoon, ready to get their key, run to their house and close their door for at least the next 364 days, the immediately realised they couldn’t close their doors anymore. Total mayhem ensued. Men started chasing women, people pillaged their neighbours houses, children and adults alike pooped on all toothbrushes they could find, underwear was thrown into compost heaps, compost heaps were thrown into unlawful indoor spas, hundred thousands of untaxed euro piles were find inside old televisions and grandmas paintings. There was no stopping them. Housewifes hung themselves after their portrait, tits out and all, was found hanging above at least three beds in different houses. It was bad. Real bad. By the time news of this feast of anarchy and murder had spread to the nearest villages and the police arrived, the artists had of course long disappeared, no doubt to narrativise their failure into a story of experiment and learning and cash in a couple of fat pay checks.
And you know what the name was the artists had given their beautiful day of harmony and collective connecting: Open Doors Day. They sure got it, their open doors day, they sure got it. Serves them right. Serves them damn right.
peace - out!

Episode Description

Simba leaves Kiara in charge of the Pride Lands while he, Nala, and Zazu go to Kilio Valley to attend a funeral for an old elephant friend named Amanifu who has just died. Upon learning this from Mzingo, Janja decides to take advantage of Kiara's inexperience and comes up with a plan to take over the Pride Lands. Meanwhile, Simba is nervous about performing his eulogy in front of the elephants, including Aminifu's daughter, Ma Tembo.

Song: "Duties of the King" sung by Simba and Zazu
Pros
-First off, I like the sibling dynamic in this episode, as somebody with a similarly aged older brother. Kion and Kiara's relationship has resonated with me, the way they have off days and arguments, but, obviously love each other and make it out strong in the end. I, for one, do not hate Kiara in The Lion Guard, and Kion gives her the same attitude she gives him in early episodes. I like watching their relationship go through ups and downs throughout Season 1.
-I know the opening scene, where Kiara and Kion are fighting over a tree to sharpen their claws is quite intense, because they would've probably gotten into a scuffle if Simba hadn't showed up when he did, but, that is siblings for you sometimes. I feel like anyone who's got siblings of your own can relate, at least a little bit, to that scene.
-I like the plotline of Kiara and Kion's sibling rivalry stemming from their roles in leadership. Kiara is clearly a reflection of her father, when he was a cub, which is interesting and so, she thinks that being the Future Queen is really swell and makes her the alpha, and Kion (who is no better than her) thinks that being Leader of the Lion Guard makes him more important than her. I like this mechanic in this episode. It makes me want to know if Scar felt the same way about Mufasa. I mean, Kion was obviously not resentful of Kiara, unlike Scar, but I wonder if a similar thing happened with the two brothers except, in this case, it drove Scar to insanity and wanting to murder Mufasa.
-Now let's talk about Kiara being left in charge of the Pride Lands (I mean, I do think the main conflict of the episode was Simba's fault, but we'll get to that later). So, I like the fact that Kiara is nervous about ruling the Pride Lands, even for a brief period of time. I like this because for one thing, she's still only a cub at this time, so, she's entitled to be nervous and anxious about being responsible for an entire kingdom. There's a lot of responsibility being placed on her at such a young age, but, she still remained likable, in my opinion. I do like how, in The Lion Guard, she takes her responsibility as Future Queen very seriously. I know this is unpopular to say, but, I headcanon that, as she's grown up into an older cub, she's realised that being queen won't prevent her from being herself, a concern she had at the beginning of TLK 2.
-I do empathise with Kiara, and Kion, because they are both being put into a huge responsibility of looking after the entire kingdom on their own, while all the adults are away from Pride Rock. This is still really early on in Season 1, so Kion is inexperienced as Leader of the Lion Guard, and Kiara only just started her training with Simba, in the pilot episode. I do feel bad at the fact that they have to figure everything without their parents around and I respect them for managing to work out their differences by the end of the episode.
-I really feel bad for Kiara because she gets a lot of crap from people in the TLG community, moreso than Kion does. I feel really sorry for her because people say they hate her for her attitude and that they think she's a self-righteous bitch at the start of the series, but, I don't. Even as a kid, I knew that a lot of Kiara's behaviour in this episode was down to the stress of being left in charge of whole kingdom for a few days without her parents around, while still being a cub at this point. I do really like her and it really upsets when I see people hating on her. I don't think Kiara really means to be controlling in this episode, she's just trying to do right by her father while he's gone.
-I like the fact that Kiara is really hesitant and nervous to have a huge weight on her shoulders, a role she was previously really excited to fulfil in the pilot episode. When Simba asks this of her, she's understanding feeling a lot of pressure to make him proud. I like the fact that Simba admits to her that he was also nervous about becoming king the first time. I like this because we only saw the side of him that was cocky, overconfident and optimistic about becoming king. I like the fact that she was nervous and that he decides to be upfront about it.
-Kiara still remained a likable character to me throughout this episode. I like how she starts out as nervous and how her confidence is slowly building up nicely during the episode. But, she never came off as mean-spirited, to me. Also, it becomes clear that the reason her responsibility goes to her head is because of Tiifu and Zuri's influence on her and the Lion Guard's inexperience and, in this case, plot-convenient incompetence.
-Beshte, "I'm sure she'll be a nice queen." Well, I'm glad at least one of you believes in her. I can't tell you guys how much I love Beshte, always the sweetest soul out of the group.
-Ono, "Thank you for the opportunity, my queen. And you.... err..... my Kion." That line was funnier than it had any right to be.
-Speaking of which, I thought seeing Ono in Zazu's position, temporarily for Kiara was interesting and I think was a great use of his character, outside of being a Member of the Lion Guard. I personally would've been down for more scenes like this. I think a cool send off for Ono would've been to have him be the Royal Advisor to Queen Kiara and King Kovu, in the future. I wish Ono had stayed in the Pride Lands in the series finale and had become Zazu's apprentice or something.
-Bunga, "Your majesty." {bows at Kiara}. Kiara, "Bunga, that's really not necessary." I found that whole interaction surprisingly funny. Also, strong feeling that Bunga has a huge crush on his best friend's sister at this point, and Kiara views him as her friend, nothing more.
-Kiara's plan about the Bees and the Eelands fiasco was actually very smart, and even when I saw this as a kid, I knew that she had a better idea than Kion. Her idea about moving the eelands away from bees' nests is smarter because bees obviously sting when angered. So, Kion was too proud to admit Kiara had the better idea.
-One of the funniest parts of the whole episode for me was Kion saying, "I say we move the bees". Then, the scene cuts to Kion, Beshte, Fuli and Ono running away from a swarm of bees, in terror. I obviously don't want them hurt, but, I just had to laugh because it was so predictable.
-Bunga, "What are you guys running for? Bees taste even better when they're mad!" Accurate behaviour from a honey badger. They can raid beehives without being stung due to their very thick hide and their stink sap.
-When the Lion Guard arrived back at Pride Rock covered in bee stings, if I were Kiara, I'd be laughing in Kion's face at that moment, like "Ha, ha, you were wrong. Only an idiot would decide to move a swarm of bees to a new place." But, in fairness, Kiara was right to be mad at him, in that moment, for his little screw up.
-"It wasn't a total disaster," Kion, while talking to Kiara. Kiara, looks at Fuli and Ono scratching themselves, "Really? It looks pretty total to me." I mean, she does have a point there. In this situation, Kion had everything to gain from taking her advice.
-"Admit it. I was right about the bees and you were wrong." Kion, just admit it and save yourself the embarrassment. Kiara was not being rude to him whatsoever. She was speaking nothing but facts.
-When Kiara talks to Mzingo at Pride Rock, I like the fact that the latter is clearly higher up in the frame because he's the one dominating the conversation and is also the one who manipulates Kiara. I think it's a nice touch where he creepily approaches and blackmails her.
-*laughs "Janja wants peace?" I like the fact that Kiara is clearly sceptical and she's obviously suspicious of Janja's true intentions. I like this because it doesn't make Kiara out to be seriously wayyy too gullible and silly. The fact that was she was suspicious feels more in-line with TLK 2 and makes her decision to believe Janja, partially Kion's fault. Manipulation is also a very powerful tool, especially to done on a semi-young child, like Kiara.
-I like the fact that Mufasa appears to Kion, unprompted in this episode, for the first time in the series. I love this because it feels like Mufasa saw the argument that had just gone down and was like, "Right I need to put an end to this sibling drama before it gets out of hand. I need to make Kion see the error of his ways."
-I actually love the fact that Kiara is, at least partially willing, to give Outlanders a chance for peace. It feels like a nice bit of foreshadowing for her character arc in TLK 2, where she was able to give the Outsider lions a chance to fit in.
-Kion angrily to Tiifu and Zuri, "Ugh! Some advisors you two are!" That was more hilarious than it had any right to be. Because, let's be honest, they were pretty obnoxious in this episode.
-"Get away from the Queen!!!!" I actually love the moment where Kion comes bursting in like a superhero, to his sister's aid. I also love the fact that he calls Kiara his queen, at this point, because he clearly listened to Mufasa's advice, and also because he had felt somewhat responsible for her almost being killed by Janja.
-"Oh we can fight all right!!!" So badass. I personally would've loved to see Kiara fight alongside the Lion Guard. I think it would've been cool to see her help to fight off Janja's clan. I wanted to see what she could do.
-"Six on six..... Forget it!!!!" Yeah, you better run, Janja, you don't stand a chance against all six of these heroic friends. And one of them is a bloody hippo.
-I love Kion and Kiara's closeness at the end of the episode where they make up for their uncivil, squabbling at the start. Kion finally rightfully admits that he should've taken Kiara's advice about the bees and the elands, and Kiara admits that Kion was right about Janja being nothing but trouble.
-Kion, "And I should've listened to you about the bees." Ono, "Oh, sure {rolls his eyes}. Now he admits it." Oh, Ono, you knew all along, but, we love you.
-Kiara and Kion when Simba and Nala arrive home, are really sweet. I love the fact that Kiara wants to be honest about what happened, "Ruling the Pride Lands? It went..." I absolutely love the moment where Kion decides to cover for her and admits that she'll be a great queen, this is an incredibly sweet brother and sister moment. That moment feels like a precursor to the episode "Baboons" and even later "The Trail to Udugu."
-I love the moral of this episode about "being supportive of your loved ones efforts to help, especially when they are wrong," because it applies to both Kiara and Kion in two different situations. Kion was obviously wrong to go against Kiara's advice to move the elands, but, Kiara learned that she should've been more sensitive about that whole situation. But, Kion also learned that if hadn't been so dismissive of her acting queen for a few days and given her his utmost support when she was clearly nervous about ruling the Pride Lands. If Kion and Kiara been more sensitive to each other, then, they would've been able to be in charge of the Pride Lands together instead of arguing. Also, this episode shares another moral, "Communication is key to understanding each other and a successful team." Kiara learns this after Kion saves her and she realises she was wrong about Janja, and Kion learns this when the Lion Guard get stung by bees, and even later when he realises that he was partly to blame for Kiara going into the Outlands, and that if he had been upfront with her instead of outright yelling at her and running out on her, she wouldn't have needed to be rescued. These are two important lessons for kids going through school together, or with siblings and friends.
-Also, Janja is genuinely dangerous and scary in this episode. He traps Kiara in the Outlands to use her as a bargaining chip for Simba or else he and his would eat her. They would've gotten away with it if Kion didn't jump in at the last second. Janja threatened the freaking princess of the Pride Lands! Reason number #50 why he should never be allowed enter the Pride Lands, no matter if he is starving or not, because he clearly cannot be trusted to follow the rules.
-And now I'm finally going to talk about the B-plot of the episode. It wasn't as good the A-plot, in my opinion. I did love the worldbuilding aspect of this episode where we learn that different animals in the Pride Lands have their own customs and traditions that need to be respected. I like the idea of Simba upholding a tradition and it was interesting that he was never trained for it because obviously Mufasa died before he could complete his training.
-I like the idea of Simba, Nala and Zazu going to an elephant funeral. Elephants actually have "funerals" in real life. In real life, if a member of their herd dies, the elephants will crowd around them ceremoniously to pay tribute and they'll collect twigs and branches to cover the fallen elephant to pay tribute, out of respect for them. I love the way its portrayed as a ceremonial funeral in The Lion Guard and that Simba is upholding a tradition. I love the way he has to say it in Elephantese because the idea of the elephants' having a language barrier is a cool worldbuilding element.
-Aminifu is a cool worldbuilding character too who, we're told, played a big part in the Pride Lands' revival and bringing the circle of life into balance. I like to headcanon we was a childhood friend of Mufasa and Scar, and the rest of the Royal Family, and how he go on to be a good friend to Simba, Nala and the rest of Simba's pride. I like to think Aminifu was responsible for all the animals in the kingdom, similar to the Lion Guard, and how his daughter fills that role in Season 2.
-The Elephant Funeral scene looks cool because of how emotional and how heart-wrenching it looks from afar. I like the addition of all the elephants mourning in the background. It was a little dark this early on the series. One elephant hugs Aminifu and looks like their going to cry, another elephant and her calf are crying, while hugging each other.
-I like how you can see shades of Mufasa's death through Simba's voice in this episode, such as, "And now Aminifu has completely his part of the circle of life," and "Well, time for the tribute." I like this because I like to think Simba is obviously nervous about performing a eulogy in front of elephants, but, probably also a bit upset and mourning over his own father's death. I mean, in fairness, he never to give his father a proper send off when he died, so, this probably hit even harder for him.
-I like how this is Zazu's first main character moment in the series and how much of a hard worker and a loyal he is to Simba and Nala, his whole motivation is just to help Simba learn Elephantese properly so he can impress Ma Tembo's herd, during the tribute.
-Nala is such a sweetheart and a loving partner to Simba. I love her because she's pretty much exactly how she was in the original film. She's his loving and supportive wife, and I love the way he gives him moral support when he gets nervous. I love her snarky jab at her husband early on the episode too, by the way, "Worried about Kiara? Or are you worried about your tribute?"
-The song "Duties of the King" was decent enough, I suppose. I mean, it's not my favourite song in the series and I wouldn't be reaching for it. But, I don't hate it. I like the more cutesy, "miscellaneous" animals shown in the background, like the chimpanzees and the porcupines. Plus, it's nice to know that Simba doesn't just sit on his ass all day and that he does important jobs, like he assigns gazelles to their grazing grounds and songbirds to their trees. I love that he presides over aardvark wedding rites and then we saw Muhanga and Muhangus kissing behind some grass. So, I wonder if Simba did in fact, preside over their wedding before this episode. Overall, I like the cute scenes of this song and I like the fact that Simba actually has important stuff to do. I can see why kids would dance around to this song because it's very bouncy and energetic. The beat is fine, but, I don't like Rob Lowe's singing voice as Simba. I think they should've used Cam Clarke all along for The Lion Guard, who actually voices Mwoga the vulture. I don't mind the beat, but, I don't think Simba and Zazu are the best singers, at least in this series, that is. I'll give it a 5/10 because there are worse songs than it.
-Ma Tembo is such a sweetheart in this episode and I love her. She doesn't have a major role in the series as of yet, but, it's still clear in this episode that she has a great relationship with Simba and the Royal Family. I'm glad she had a bigger part in Season 2. I also love her voice actress, Lynette DuPree (R.I.P) and I think she's one of the best in the series. I love how she makes her sound genuinely sad during the procession and then a little bittersweet during the "poop" scene. Also, shout out to the moment where she wraps her trunk around Simba.
-Also, call me childish if you want to, but I actually love it when Simba actually says that Aminifu had "poop on him". I mean, it just gets me because that's not something you'd say at a funeral and the fact that the elephants took it really well and actually laughed hysterically is genuinely hilarious. Like, even his daughter admitted that he had always had faeces on him. It was funny because of how much Simba feels like he screwed up, but, then, the elephants had a really good sense of humour about it.
-Also, this episode makes me wish that at least someone went to the Elephant Graveyard during this series. Maybe Aminifu's funeral could've been there and Simba and Nala would've had to go the place where they almost got killed as cubs or maybe even Kion and the Lion Guard would have to go there. It's such a missed opportunity. Or if Janja went there then maybe he could've learn that Scar betrayed his ancestors long before the events of The Lion Guard. But, speaking of the Elephant Graveyard, I bet Ma Tembo's herd are going to wait for Aminifu to decompose and then carry his remains to the Graveyard because that's something that elephants do if a member of their herd dies outside of their designated area. I like to think that that's what happened after this episode. I just wish they had the funeral in the Elephant Graveyard and we got to see Simba and Nala go there as adults, but, I'm not going to fault this episode for not going in this direction.
-Zazu, "I'm not sure Sire, but, I think you just said he had.... {quietly} poop on him...." Try not to judge me too harshly, but, I just find poop jokes hilarious for some reason, as an adult.
Cons
-First off, I don't like how Kion and Kiara were both dumbed down for the sake of plot-convenience for much of this episode. I get that they're still kids, but, Kion's plans to move the bees instead of the elands was the most stupid idea I've seen in the series. The literally just had an episode where Kion calls out his best friend, Bunga, for making bad decisions and now it's Kion who made a really dumb decision. I mean, that should be bee rescue 101, don't try to move a swarm of bees, they do not like, and the fact that Kiara spells it out for them before this scene, "....if the elands step on the beehives, they'll get stung.... there could be chaos." She's speaking nothing but facts. Kion should've realised that they shouldn't have tried to aggravate the bees. I don't like the fact that he acts cocky and dismissive towards Kiara, when she was so obviously right. I hate the way Kion just randomly disobeys her out of spite, even though she gave him advice. However, Kiara was dumb to go into the Outlands alone to see Janja. I mean, I admire her willingness to give strangers a chance for peace, but the fact that she had her suspicions about him and she already knew what he was like, in accordance to the pilot episode, wouldn't she see reason to bring Tiifu and Zuri along for backup.
-I don't like how this episode seems to indicate that Simba favours his daughter over his son. Between the pilot episode and this episode, it seems like he sees Kion as a just a Child Soldier and doesn't actually love him equally. I know it's obviously not through, but, I don't like how he gives off an impression that he has favourites. Parents don't have favourites, unless you're an evil lioness named Zira and you give your youngest son everything, but then treat your eldest son like dirt. But, Simba isn't like that. I don't like how he says "I have faith in you," in such a way that gives off Parental Favouritism vibes. I'm really glad he doesn't have this in any of the later episodes.
-I hate the way the writers tried to do the Kion/Scar and Kiara/Mufasa parallels in this episode. I just don't like it being used as a plot device. The series makes a point to say that Kion is nothing like Scar and how he would never take his anger out on his family and friends. I don't mind Kiara being like her grandfather because he was a great king in his day, but, I don't like how the writers made Kion and Kiara have a similar relationship that led to Mufasa's fall. Also, one thing I loathed early on in the series is the fanart of Kion brutally murdering Kiara in rage, just like Scar murdered Mufasa. I just hate it so much because it would happen since Kiara and Kion have a caring relationship, where they do bicker like siblings tend to do, but, they would never turn on each other.
-I don't like the part where Kiara and Kion were outright malicious towards each other. All the lion cubs in this episode were quite mean-spirited at times. Kion and Kiara for obviously constantly fighting and being horrible instead of admitting to being wrong in certain situations, like the bees and the elands and the Janja situation. Kion is too cocky and overconfident about the bees, for my liking, and Kiara allows Tiifu and Zuri's influence to get her head and ends up believing she's always right. Kion only adds fuel to the fire by yelling at Kiara and then callously running out her instead of being upfront with her about Janja's true intentions. I get that siblings don't always see eye-to-eye on things, but, I don't like Kion and Kiara constantly being scumbags to each other and not giving things a second thought until the end. Mufasa had to be the one to put an end to the "sibling drama".
-Tiifu and Zuri were the worst of all, in my opinion, and I think all of you guys will agree. They were pretty annoying and obnoxious in this episode. They were very disrespectful and condescending towards Kion just because he's not a queen, and they caused Kiara to be disrespectful right back. Kiara doesn't strike me as disrespectful without these two around. I'm glad she actually stands up to them in later episodes rather than being influenced by them. Zuri is my least favourite of the two of them, she comes off as super mean-spirited and bitchy, and Tiifu comes off as domineering and rude. I don't like the way they talk down and belittle Kion and how they throw shade at anyone who believes Kiara is wrong. They act like stereotypical Mean Girls, but, the annoying kind. Plus, they weren't very good friends to Kiara for letting her go into the Outlands alone without a second thought about the fact that it might be dangerous. That doesn't sound like Tiifu. Remember how in the pilot, she was deeply concerned when Kiara was trapped by the gazelles. But, here, the stakes are much higher, and she's up against a much bigger threat and Tiifu and Zuri don't seem to give a damn. I'm glad Kion called them out on this behaviour before leaving. What I wouldn't give for Tiifu and Zuri to be captured by Janja instead, not to get eaten, but just so they can see how dangerous it is. It's episodes like this that make me wonder are they her actual best friends or are they just using her to hang out with the Royal Family. Kiara deserves better than these self-entitled bitches, in my opinion.
-I feel like Kiara should've been the main focus of this episode instead of Kion. I know this only S1 Ep4, but, I still think this should've been a Kiara focused episode, rather than a brothesister episode. I would've been interested to see Kiara take centre stage and the Lion Guard take a back seat. Then, we could've seen more of Kiara's apprehension about becoming Queen and her trying to make all the decisions without Simba around to guide her, and most importantly, see her trying to decide what sort of Queen she wants to be. I would've loved if Kion tried to be supportive of her and tries to help her watch over the entire kingdom, instead of saying "Screw you Kiara, go get herself killed if you want to and my friends hate you." I would've liked to see that explored and maybe have them be a little bit annoyed at each other, but without making them really malicious. Also, have Tiifu and Zuri be in their annoying phase and for Kiara to realise that her "so-called" friends are not being very good friends to her, and have her ditch those bitches at the end of the episode. Then, have Kiara and Kion make some big decision together that really develops their relationship, in the future.
-I don't like how Simba is portrayed for much of this episode. I know, he was mourning the loss of an old friend, but I really don't like angry Simba moments in this series. I don't like the fact that all Zazu was doing was trying to help him practice his eulogy and Simba gets frustrated and roars in his face. I hate it when he throws tantrums, as a full-grown adult lion. I hate the idea of Simba regressing more into his evil uncle as of this series. I know he's not, but, I hate it when acts like it. Zazu, bless him, was just trying to help and Simba took out his rage on him. I do not like it when Zazu has to be the butt of all the jokes. I don't like Simba being a headstrong asshole in The Lion Guard.
-I also don't want to point fingers, but, if Simba hadn't left his semi-young daughter to rule over an entire kingdom for a few days, none of the conflict would've happened if he left Kion and Kiara with a responsible adult, like Rafiki or Basi or someone, just to keep an eye on things. I wouldn't leave kids their age home alone for even a day or more than an afternoon. If they had an adult in Pride Rock with them, the arguing wouldn't have spiralled out of control the way that it did. Also, this makes no sense with Simba's character in TLK 2. This is the same guy who sheltered his daughter the whole time she was growing up and wouldn't even let her explore more than 2ft from Pride Rock or even leave Pride Rock, at another point in the film. In this episode, she's still a cub and he's okay with leaving her to look after an entire kingdom for days on end! Yes, he did show hesitation, but that was after he and Nala had already left the Pride Lands. This episode fails to show just how okay he was with leaving his preteen daughter in charge of the kingdom for a few days with no adult supervision. Also, this episode and the series fails to explain how he regressed back into his over-protective state of mind in the second half of TLK 2.
-A minor complaint I have. This is a very minor nitpick. But, the distance between Kilio Valley and the Pride Lands that was established in this episode is very confusing. This episode implies that the elephants live approximately a two or three day walk from the Pride Lands, enough for Simba to outside of the kingdom, when in other episodes it's actually a part of the Pride Lands, just barely on the outskirts of the kingdom. I also don't get why the writers made it seem like Simba, Nala and Zazu took like a day or less to arrive at the elephants' funeral. There's no indication that they were travelling at night or that they ever slept. However, I understand, the writers just wanted to show some of journey and then transition to the day of the funeral, so I won't fault it to harshly. However, I do wish that the distance between Kilio Valley and the Pride Lands was consistent. This episode makes it seem like that whenever Kion and his friends have to help the elephants, it would take them a whole day to arrive on the scene. But, that's just a small criticism I had with this episode.
Overall
So, overall, I did always thoroughly enjoy this episode. Even as a kid, I could not stand the fact that Kiara got a lot of hate in the Lion Guard Fandom and that loads of people blamed her, just her, for a lot of the drama in this episode. Kion and Kiara shared 50% of the blame each and I think that Kiara is overhated. Anyways, I did like Kion and Kiara interacting like real siblings and slowly learning how to work together, it felt a little bit like a prequel to "Baboons" and "The Trail to Udugu", in that way. I like the lesson about learning to communicate well and to listen to one another and that they were both in the right and wrong, at different points. I liked the loving sibling dynamic at the end and the friendship with all the Lion Guard. I like the sense of family between Simba, Nala, Kiara and Kion at the end. Janja poses as a genuinely threat to Kiara. I think the humour was pretty solid as well and the educational value. I liked the worldbuilding aspect and the elephants' relationship with the lions. Aminifu is a cool headcanon character. The only parts I didn't like were, Tiifu and Zuri were unbearably annoying in this episode and weren't very good friends to Kiara. I don't like them being stereotypical Middle School girls. I hate their disrespect and belittling towards Kion and their toxic influence on Kiara. I didn't like Kiara and Kion's maliciousness at the start or the fact that the writers tried to draw Mufasa/Scar parallels. I don't like angry Simba at all in this series. I hate the fact that he gives off Parental Favouritism vibes in this episode. I don't like the fact that Kion and Kiara were hit with the idiot stick in this episode. Simba and Tiifu and Zuri are kind of at fault for all the drama in this episode. The song was just decent, not the best not the worst. I really don't like arrogant Kion. However, this episode has a lot of love to it clearly. Overall, I'll give this episode a 6.75/10, it's not perfect, but I think it deserves more love.

So I've been having intermittent internet issues for about a month and consistently unusable internet for about a week.
I'll be getting my full speed down and up with low latency, then suddenly after anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour I'll start getting crazy inbound packet loss. If I'm on Discord while it's happening everyone else will sound robotic and nothing will load (or will load very slowly), but for them I sound normal. Sometimes I can get a speedtest to run and I'll have almost nothing for download but my full upload speed. The strange thing is if I restart my modem the problem will literally vanish, every time. But the issue will ALWAYS come back after some time.
I've obviously had my ISP send people out (for context, I live in an apartment with 12 units, this may be pertinent later), and they've never been able to give me a resolution to the problem or even positively isolate the issue. I had one Tech leave and call someone else in to finish the job because quote: "I'm tired of chasing ghosts in this building" (which I found hilarious more than anything). I'm assuming there's a lot going on in the networking stuff in the basement because they've been down there many times and for many hours in total trying to track down the problem.
Now fast forward to a few days ago, the last time I had someone out to look at it. This time around was different in that the tech actually seemed pretty positive on what the issue was. According to him the signal at the wall (coaxial) in my unit was clearly bad, but downstairs at the other end of that cable, the signal is good. So he was pretty certain the problem is actually the cable in the wall, which they unfortunately can't do anything with so I was referred to my landlord to resolve the issue.
Now my question is; does that sound plausible? I am by no means an expert but from what I've heard, these coaxial cables very rarely go bad and the issue usually lies in the splitters (which I assume there is a mess of down there considering the age of the building and the number units serviced). And along with that, how hard will it be for them to replace this cable? I've contacted the landlord and someone is coming to check it out in a couple days but I'm just worried they either won't replace it or that it won't even fix the issue.
Sorry if this was all over the place, I'll clarify anything needed in the comments, thanks

So, I'm an RBT, and also a school paraprofessional for a student who's aggressive and says a lot of verbally inappropriate things. School and my agency knows I'm an RBT, and is hoping I apply behavior knowledge but knowing they can't officially ask me to use RBT or CPI procedures, but they can't get a school based para to stay with him who follows their training due to extreme risk. A lot of the kid's goals are of the verbiage, "will keep hands to himself...", "will not verbally aggress..." And I see the necessity of them, but also, if you visually compare to the behavior of the other kids, it's normal. I see kids all day faking throwing each other into doors WWE style, kids calling each other the N word with a hard r, even white kids, F slur on everyone, "roast battles", where kids degrade each other in ways I struggle not to find hilariously fitting of a Comedy Central roast. Most of his physicality starts by looking indistinguishable from his peers, usually an arm around the neck, or on a kid's shoulders, then after some sort of misunderstanding of a joke, or of his scripting taken as literal statement, he ends up punching a kid. He once was told "your hairline jacked." And replied "don't make me use the chaos emerald on you." (From Sonic?). Then he did a power up stance, and jumped on the other kid. My student doesn't seem to really grasp that other kids aren't scripting, and doesn't seem to grasp that he's saying things that we shouldn't say if we we're not scripting (ex.: "I'm going to obliterate you" from Dragon Ball Z, or performing an idle animation fighting stance from a game.) He's also still playing pretend with other neurodivergent friends while going onto 13 years old, like still pretending to get frozen. How do I shape behavior to be socially relevant when it's "physical but not too physical", "insult someone, but don't attack x,y,z." I'm of the personal belief that consent is golden, fight club rules at the extreme, but if you ask school officials, all the kids are wrong technically, but they can't afford the staff or energy to stop or punish them all. It would be inequitable to go harder on my student because he has a 1:1, but outside of an environment where he's known he's going to face repercussions. I also can't model the behavior for him. I've gone so far as dropping some swears "you can't hit kids just cuz they say dumb sh*t, it's gonna happen." And it's gotten some rapport out of him, but I can't model like: "Bish yo roots be the only part of you fatter than yo hippo a$$." -a quote I swear.

Arthur - how can u hate him, he's hilarious, with classic quotes like 'Hey there mister, you have a familiar face, reminds me of when I last lifted my Horse's tail.' His Tb hit close to home for me as someone I loved died to complications to do with TB, and I thought his redemption story was so cool. 9/10
John- Wtf is his body shape, he looks like a triangle with legs and a scarred face, but he's another GOAT, he doesn't have anything that sticks out too much but he killed Javier so i'm kinda cross with him for that. 7.5/10
Dutch- I'm so dissapointed, he shoulda killed Micah right there and then when he killed Arthur, he does know spanish, he never had a plan and he wasn't always evil, In my opinion. But he is quite hilarious, even when he's insane, and his dynamics with Hosea and arthur are awesome. 7/10
Micah- He's a dick, but if he wasn't a rat I'd like him, he's quite funny and idiotic, but not in a Bill way, depends what ending u got on how much u hate him tho. 3.5/10
Sadie- What a legend, she's the member who can relate to arthur the most and her feud with the o'driscles is so deep and cool, she can be a bit annoying in some of the greet, greet, antoganises tho. 7/10
Charles- This may be controversial, but Charles is bottom 5 gang members for me, he has no personality, and although he helped arthur he's just bland and annoying, he's always the one to nock u out if u antagonise peeps in the camp too much and in any of his missions he's just so mundane and sad, like his life ain't that deep, especially compared to Lenny's, Sadie's and Uncle's. There's this one encounter in the camp where him and Lenny are sat at a table and Lenny is talking to him, and he just totally disrespects Lenny and says he needs to shush, what an emo bugga. 5/10
Javier- Love him, his sense of fasion is great, his missions are fun, he can have a laugh, unlike Charles, at times, but keeps it real when needed. Not to mention he was the only one on Dutch's side who didn't point his gun at arthur and john in the beaver hollow showdown, cuz he loves his brothers, his ending was sad, which brought John's score down a bit. I love him and Bill together, they are like true brothers. I love Javier overall. 7.5/10
Bill- What a lad, he's lost in loyalty, and alcoholism, which makes him even more interesting, the main bad thing is he is quite hostile to Arthur in some of their conversations towards the end, but that's due to his Loyalty. I think he is gay, with Phil, whoever that is, despite Hosea saying it couldn't work. 7/10
This was just the MAIN gang members, who play major roles in either the first game or first and second, I might do another, depending on whether y'all care or not, I just needed to get my opinions out somewhere.
🥸

Today marks day 6 of our Benedict emphasized rewatch, and honestly I am just so stunned at how quickly this all went. Rewatching one episode a day is something I highly recommend for y'all next season, it really helped close the gap these last two weeks. Without sounding preachy, I'll also say that it helped me gain some perspective on some things, like yesterday's rant about people always calling Benedict a rake when he really isn't. Sometimes I feel like when we binge, plots move quicker and things that feel like happened "fast," aren't happening as fast as we think they are. It's part of the reason I do miss the days when one episode of a show would come out every week, and I love that The Summer I Turned Pretty over on Amazon does this. Apple TV+ does it too, and I know Netflix won't soon be moving to that format (they seem to really like the two part splits), I would be among those who wouldn't hate that TBH. I know I'm in the minority, but it's just my opinion!
Alright, after that long preamble, "The Choice" follows the day of Anthony's wedding to Edwina, Eloise treading on dangerous waters regarding her relationship with Theo, and Penelope worrying about her friend's choices. Recalling what I remember of this episode, which like I said yesterday isn't a favorite of mine, I'm worried this may not feature a ton of the second Bridgerton son. But, all that being said, let's dive in.
We see Benedict for the first time this episode and Anthony's "bachelor party," poking fun at Anthony for many things, including but not limited to: how he rushed the wedding along, proclaiming his duties, and little Anthony's running around who also proclaim their duties. He lifts a toast to Kate, who he calls "The Gatekeeper." I wonder if Benedict had an inclination about Anthony's feelings for Kate, and was trying to prod the information out him. As I said yesterday, you can see the difference in Benedict after his acceptance to the art academy; he just seems so much lighter and happier, like nothing in the world could touch him or trouble him. While I'm sure the libations in this scene help the fact, it's important to note that Benedict "distinguishing" himself has certainly made an impact.
Next Benedict sighting is in the Bridgerton foyer as they await to leave for Anthony's wedding. He is drinking, again, this time sitting close to Eloise. When Violet asks him to "undo" whatever he has done to Colin, Benedict offers the third brother his flask so he can get drunk again to avoid his hangover. Again, Violet requests that her second son check on another sibling when she asks Ben to check in on Anthony, but he emerges before Ben can seek him out. It's obvious that Violet depends on Benedict to be the one to kind of "calm" Anthony, likely because he is the calmest and most level-headed sibling.
Serving as Best Man to Anthony, Benedict is next found brushing Anthony like a prize pony. When Daphne enters the room, expressing her doubts over whether the day would really come (notably without her husband which will never not be so obvious), Benedict watches his siblings like a tennis match or a telenovela, asking Anthony if Daphne doesn't like his bride. However, Anthony kicks him out, and we get the sassiest Benedict moment in recorded history, where he throws his head back and groans, placing the brush on the counter as he glares at Daphne, and sassily strides out of the room. Before being ejected, however, he was enjoying the drama so much it's hilarious.
Benedict stands at Anthony's side during the ceremony as his best man. If you watch his face as the archbishop is speaking, he looks like he's actually considering the words. Particularly over the bit about "satisfying men's carnal lusts," he looks like he's actually taking the words in. He looks so upset for Anthony when Edwina runs off, it's so sweet.
When Anthony convenes with the rest of the Bridgertons following Edwina's departure, Benedict is actually doing his best to hold it down, offering Anthony a drink to calm down, and insisting to his family that maybe he needs some space, which he gratefully takes. Benedict, again, shows his level-headedness, being calm in a crisis moment and knowing when his siblings need space. Also, where is Francesca meant to be this season? Last year she was off practicing piano with Aunt Winnie, but did they really give no explanation for her not being at Anthony's wedding?
This is the last time we see Benedict significantly in this episode, which I'm sorry, just drags. There is little action in "The Choice," almost entirely conversation between characters who have unresolved feelings: Colin and Pen, Violet and Lady Danbury, the Sharmas, Bridgertons, and QC, Kate, Edwina, and Mary, Edwina and Anthony, and finally, Anthony and Kate. It's just so much talking and not a lot happening, it always bores me. And plus, there's so little Benedict! The moments we do get of him are, as they always are, lovely.
Tomorrow we revisit the penultimate episode of season two, "Harmony," which is a favorite of mine! See you all then as we wind this series down to a close.
Best Benedict quote from this episode: "It's a simple remedy, if you continue to drink, there can be no after effects."

So I watched this show with my family A TON as a kid. I think I was 11 or 12 when the finale aired and we actually had a big party with a bunch of people from our church who we got into the show too, it was really fun. Between reruns and all the DVDs, I watched the early episodes (like first four seasons) over and over and over again. The later ones I rewatched too but not nearly as much just because there wasn't as much time before I stopped watching it. I always thought it was hilarious, sometimes Monk was a little cringey but I was an incrediibly introverted cringey kid who didn't have OCD like Monk but struggled to fit in, in many of the same ways.
Spoilers for everything, obviously.
So my general thoughts on it: I still like it. Not as much as back then, but I still like it. The mysteries are usually pretty good, especially early on and seeing how he solves it was always enjoyable. Very quotable show, I still say "Unless I'm wrong, which - you know, I'm not" to this day and upon rewatching it I remembered that's where it was from. It was so deep within my lexicon that I forgot it was a quote. But as an adult I find my favorite characters have kinda switched. I used to like Natalie a lot more but now I think I enjoyed the Sharona episodes and her dynamic with Monk better. Natalie is probably funnier (or at least in funnier episodes, but she was also in a lot more so that makes sense) but she's too easy on him. Sharona being tougher on him made the moments when she did baby him a bit all the more sweeter because you could tell things were especially hard for him in that moment compared to his general discomfort.
The lack of character development compared to other shows I've (re)watched in recent years (and even from my childhood) is pretty dissapointing. I know he "gradually" gets better throughout the series but aside from Stottlemeyer's love life there is no memorable charactrer continunity in the series. Speaking of Stottlemeyer and Randy - I still like Randy but not quite in the same way. He's still funny of course but sometimes his ideas just feel like the writers thinking of ridiculous ways to make him seem dumb so the other characters can kinda clown on him, but that gives me more sympathy for him so it kinda evens out. Stottlemeyer though, I really like him now. Probably my favorite character, Ted Levine is fantastic and he definitely shows the widest range of emotion of any character - from his depths of despair in Mr. Monk and the Miracle to his emotional highs and lows with killer GF and TK. Also the only one who seems to actually change throughout the show besides Monk having a little less fear and nervousness (which really didn't show up until like S8). Seems like he became more compassionate and happy.
And then there's Monk. Oh boy. Great character that had the opportunity to be so much greater if the writers didn't pull him back to square 1 literally every chance they got. Made some emotional breakthrough in an episode before Season 8? Guess what something happens at the very end of the episode that pulls him back for the sake of a joke, hahaha! The actor episode in season 5 was infuriating for this and his ending session with Dr. Kroger felt like they were playing it as a gag "oh he wants a session every day of the week! Hilarious!" I can't even remember how often it happened but I know while watching it I would constantly think "wow maybe this development will stick" and then of course it doesn't. But don't take this criticism as me hating the character or the show, it's moreso that I'm dissapointed at what could have been. I also understand that for syndicated televsion the showrunners are a little more hesitant to have significant character growth because you don't know which episodes will be played. It just felt mean to him at some points. Season 8 was great overall, that's where we saw a lot of development or at least development payoff. The second half of the whole season felt like a long finale honestly, which I enjoyed.
On the movie:
It was good, I liked the mystery. I felt dumb for not figuring it out sooner but not a bad "how he did it" at all. I liked that they made Elon Musk the bad guy lol. It was weird to see the show in HD, something about it just felt off. Same thing with the characters and that 14 year jump, it was like seeing the transition of Obama from 2008 to 2016. I liked getting to see the gang back together, but Monk being suicidal was an unexpectedly dark tone they put on it. The very end of it was nice though, it made me cry. The idea of him giving voice to those who were unable to speak for themselves was pretty powerful.
Anywho, thanks for reading all of this if you did. Guess I'll go watch Psych now since that's a show I did not see as a kid so everything but like two episodes will be fresh. Colombo first because he's the OG on TV.

(M17) After a 3 year battle with my parents saying that it's all in my head and that I am just being lazy etc I recently finally went to a professional and got diagnosed with ADHD (apparently its manageable because I have high intelligence) and dyslexia. The funny thing is that right up until the results came they were really bitchy saying it would be a waste of time and I quote "I know there is nothing wrong with you" and now that they were proven wrong they pretend as if they always knew that something was up.
Recently I finally asked if I could be medicated because I can't bear raw dogging life much longer and they got really mad at me saying that I just haven't put in the effort and that my case is not severe enough to receive medication and that they have seen more severe cases live life as normal without needing any help.
I don't know what to do! I don't feel anything when I finish most tasks, I struggle heavily to even attempt to touch my homework and even when I do I really struggle to gain and retain information, I can't form habits like making my bed, making my bag and brushing my teeth, I can't concentrate and there are like 2 movies or random crap happening in my brain at all times.
(FFS even in the middle of writing this I started procrastinating)
What can I do to convince them to take medication? Do I really have to raw dog life for 12 more months until I can legally go take it myself?

Rewatching Season 8 Episode 1. Within the episode, Fabio goes from complaining about Marcel being "arrogant" because Marcel was bothered about being poked about being hit in the head with a bottle (a very rational thing to be bothered by, if you ask me). Whether production made him ask the question or not, him being bitchy that Marcel was upset by the question is asshole behavior -- of COURSE someone is going to be upset by something traumatic. You acting like he's arrogant because of that makes you (Fabio) a jackass -- not Marcel.
...To then threatening Bourdain physically because Bourdain made fun of the disgusting looking thing he served. (And before anyone says he didn't, how else would you take "some comment you made about my food, if we weren't in this situation, we would have a different problem" (direct quote)). Bourdain was wrong -- it looked like something I once threw up after a night of Olive Garden and a fifth of Jack Daniels.
Sorry, for someone who talks so much about "demanding respect", he sure has zero issue with disrespecting others. I find him to be a hypocritical ass.
I'm sure I'm about to get downvoted to hell, because people seem to love this guy. But I think he's barely edged out of my top 10 Top Chef least favorite contestants ever (and only because luminaries like Heather and Ilan and Betty exist)

In memory of Leslie Shay
10 years ago, on May 13, 2014, Leslie Shay (played by Lauren German), the fan-favorite character of the NBC studio's series Chicago Fire, died in the finale of the second season. True, viewers only learned about this when the third season started. The death of the character was followed by an uproar from the audience, the popularity of the series (which had been on the rise until then) and the number of viewers decreased, because many people stopped watching the series due to Shay's death, including the author of this post (I reached the end of the third season). Due to the anniversary, I started researching on the Internet to better understand why Shay's character was destined for this fate, and using quite a few references and also abundant with spoilers, I will share with everyone what I came up with in this post. I will also write my own opinion.
(I apologize for any grammatical errors, I did not write the post in English and I created the English version with the help of Google Translate)
Shay's character probably doesn't need to be introduced to anyone, but if you do, this link nicely summarizes why everyone loved her so much.
https://screenrant.com/chicago-fire-leslie-shay-lauren-german-best-traits-facts-trivia/
When I started researching the topic, I read that despite the fact that Chicago Fire is already in its 13th season, Shay remains one of the most loved and most missed characters to this day. However, later, when I wrote the post, I could not find the source again, if anyone can send a link to this topic, please do so.
It is clear that if the series loses such a popular character, it will have an impact and will shake the viewers. Well, it turns out, more than anything in the show's 13 seasons. I found a lot of sources to prove this:
1)
People's Choice Awards, USA, 2015 / Favorite TV Character We Miss Most
In the above category, Shay made it to the top 5, which no one else did later.
https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000530/2015/1?ref_=nmawd_ev_1
2)
Most shocking TV deaths of all time
https://tvline.com/lists/shocking-tv-deaths/leslie-shay-chicago-fire/
Shay is also included in the top 100 list above, as well as two other characters from the entire One Chicago franchise, Elias Koteas as Alvin Olinsky and Yuri Sardarov as Otis. Thus, Shay was on a list with the likes of Teri Bauer (24), Lance Sweets (Bones), Bobby Ewing (Dallas) or Ned Stark (GoT)
3)
And this is what ChatGPT answered when it was asked which of the characters in Chicago Fire had the most heartbreaking death (short quote from the answer):
"The most heartbreaking character death was definitely Leslie Shay. Oh, it was gut-wrenching! Shay, played by the incredibly talented Lauren German, was such a beloved and integral member of Firehouse 51....."
https://onechicagocenter.com/2023/07/24/heartbreaking-chicago-fire-death-according-ai-not-otisi/
4)
If I use the Google Search service, the answer to this search will also be Shay:
Question: "chicago fire most heartbreaking death"
Answer: "Leslie Shay died in a fire"
Searching the internet, it became clear to me that it wasn't just Shay's death that shocked viewers, but also the fact that the show's creators made the decision to get rid of Shay's character. This decision raised many questions and problems, which I will go through below. There are a lot of posts and articles on the internet about why Lauren German left the series, but in fact they were all based on a single, otherwise amazingly short interview that was made with Matt Olmstead. I found this at this link:
https://tvline.com/interviews/lauren-german-leaving-chicago-fire-shay-killed-off-549958/
If anyone has seen or read other interviews or other information, please share them.
I read a lot of comments under the link above, and I would like to thank everyone for expressing their opinions there. I read a lot of things in the comments that I didn't even think of at first, but it's good that they brought them to my attention, because I completely agreed with them.

1. The creators of the series killed off the third female character in 2 seasons, who was also one of the main characters.
2. Killing a character directly just for the sake of dramatic effect is already quite a boring solution
3. Olmstead praised Lauren German's talent a lot in the interview, but then why didn't the producers try to keep the actress?
4. Olmstead stated that there will be no flashbacks involving Shay. But in the first episode there were 4 (from Severide, Dawson and Boden)
5. The LGBT community also received a slap in the face, as an openly lesbian character was killed off. This is also a solution that has been seen many times and is boring.
6. Shay and Severide's relationship was one of the prominent aspects of the series, which made it worth watching, in fact, according to many, it was such a novel and well-constructed thread that the creators of the series were praised for this. After Shay's death, without the dynamism of their relationship, the series became boring.
7. Opinions also suggested that perhaps the goal was to attract the right target audience with Shay's lesbian character, but they no longer wanted to retain this group of viewers, so it was a harsh decision made from a business point of view by the creators
8. Olmstead defended the decision by saying that they could bring more and more storylines into the series, while without Shay's character, the exact opposite was true.
9. He also claimed that all the characters were assessed on equal footing when the decision was made. In comparison, they immediately replaced Shay with a new character who looked like her, was not a lesbian like Shay, and was 10 years younger. Because Lauren German was born in 1978, Kara Killmer in 1988. The message of this change was extremely bad in the eyes of the viewers
10. There was a commenter who suggested that the change was made so that the new character could be romantically involved with one of the male characters, and this actually happened during the third season when Brett and Cruz got together
11. If the purpose of Shay's death was to show how unpredictable life is, they should have paid much more attention to the details. The first part of the third season is full of mistakes and unrealistic solutions
12. It is strange that the interview only mentions in a few sentences what Lauren said to the fact that the creators of the series essentially fired her. In connection with this, it occurred to me that something else could have been behind the decision, which was never made public, but of course this is just a hunch.
13. As far as I know, Lauren German was the only main character in the history of Chicago Fire who did not leave the series by her own decision

There were many other strange things about Shay's death that could be found by searching the internet. I will also go through these in order.
A)
Let's return briefly to the fact that the popularity of the series decreased during the third season. This can be checked here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(franchise))
Based on this, it can be definitely stated that whoever made this decision, for whatever reason, caused damage to the series.
The data:
First season, ranking 51, number of viewers 7.78M
Second season, ranking 31, number of viewers 9.70M
Third season, ranking 47, number of viewers 9.65M
The first season brought good numbers, and it can be seen from the data that its popularity increased for the next season. However, the ranking of the series dropped almost to the initial level by the third season, and although the number of viewers did not decrease so significantly, the reason for this is probably that, in addition to the viewers who left, there were still those who only joined at that time. Another interesting fact is that the third season is the only one where Dick Wolf is mentioned as showrunner. It is possible that during the third season he wanted to be more involved in the development of the story, and it was his decision to pull something unexpected in the series, so Shay's death is due to him. Here is a show-like interview with the whole team, in which I found it strange that Dick Wolf was given the central place on the stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2tCrma7t5o&t=2s
It was as if they suggested that he was the most important person. It can be imagined that he always had the final say in making decisions. As a counter-example, I saw an interview with the actors of The Avengers, where one of the directors was present, and the Russo brother remained nicely in the background, since everyone was interested in the actors, Iron Man, and Thor, etc. However, this was not the case in this interview. Obviously, I'm not a behavioral researcher, so I can't draw important conclusions from a single interview.
Of course, it is also easy to imagine that the writing team made an independent decision, but did not count on how much the omission of Shay's character would turn fans away from the series. Thus, Dick Wolf was the savior when he was forced to intervene personally in shaping the story to mitigate the damage. Of course, it is also possible that these events and what I wrote about the video above have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
B)
It's also strange how many storylines with negative outcomes were connected to Shay's character during the first 2 seasons. She was seriously injured several times (the ambulance accident in the first season, the hospital bombing in the second season), and she went through several crises in her personal life. Her first love, Clarice, left her, and months later she broke Shay's heart a second time. Devon tricked and robbed her. When Severide and Shay wanted a baby, she failed to conceive. A patient of her, Daryl, whom she sympathized with, committed suicide in front of her eyes, and Shay also fell into depression after that, while her paramedic partner and friend, Dawson, did not care about Shay's mental breakdown at all. During the two seasons, she was almost hit by a car, almost shot, stabbed with a syringe, which could have been contagious, and there must have been other cases that I left out of the list. Then came the third season, where basically the firefighters who were inside a huge explosion were not hurt at all, while Shay, who was on the ground floor of the building, died in this explosion. On the part of the writers, this amount of negativism was perhaps already excessive and quite unrealistic (like the case of Doctor Romano in ER, who was hit by the helicopter). It's like the creators didn't really like the character, or didn't want to do anything with her other than build viewers' empathy / sympathy for Shay so they could switch it to a dramatic twist when the time was right. But that's the opposite of good storytelling in my view. My opinion is that the reason for Shay's popularity is not to be found in the "grateful" storylines written for her, because we will find it only and exclusively in the fantastic performance of Lauren German
C)
It's very strange that Leslie Shay was a main character in the first 2 seasons, but if you look at the Instagram page of the series (more specifically, the entire One Chicago franchise), you can see that Shay's character received very little attention.
https://www.instagram.com/nbconechicago/
At the time of writing this post, there were 3588 posts on the site. I took the trouble to check if my hunch was right and scrolled through to the posts about the first 3 seasons.
Number of pictures where Shay is clearly visible among many people in a group picture: 15
Number of photos where Shay is with 1-2 other people: 27
Number of photos featuring only Shay: 6
Yes, I didn't write a bad number, among 3588 pictures a total of 6 individual photos were given to one of the main characters of the first 2 seasons of the series, perhaps the most popular character of the series to date. Although Lauren German is a famously reclusive actress, she even has more selfies on her Instagram than that
D)
It's also very strange that in the third season they introduced a storyline that says Shay's death was caused by arson. Unfortunately, the execution of all this was extremely clumsy and illogical for me. It was already revealed during the first 2 seasons that Shay's parents are divorced, they live in two separate cities, and that she has no sisters. You could tell this from the fact that when Severide and Shay talked about who would take care of their baby if something happened to both of them, Dawson's name immediately came up. It's illogical that Shay wouldn't have said her sister. In fact, the whole thread felt more like a readjusting to placate fans who would channel their frustration and anger over Shay's death onto the arsonist in the story - instead of the show's writers.
E)
It occurred to me that maybe Lauren's relationship with her colleagues was not good, and for the sake of peace, the creators got rid of the character. This suggestion is probably the furthest from reality, I have a lot of hits that prove that Lauren maintained a very good relationship with her co-stars even later. Here are some examples of this
Trees R fun
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-rn0w-CTv-0
Shayveride back together
https://twitter.com/TaylorKinneyARG/status/1128137229577216000
S03 E14
https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/2814818493493352/
https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/630785491553579592/
From Lauren's Insta
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlRQVXqgxqP/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWZMBislmnE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/_50dHgFijd/
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2014/10/15/18477177/chicago-fire-if-anyone-can-saveseveride-it-s-casey
In real life, Kinney is grieving the loss of his costar, too.
"I miss her like crazy," he said about Lauren German. "She was a great scene partner. Great actor. Someone to work with and someone to confide in. It was an honest relationship. We hung out off the stages, too. I didn’t take that too easy.”
F)
It's also interesting that I've been able to find almost nothing online about what Lauren thought about what happened to Leslie Shay's character. What we do know from Matt Olmstead's interview is that she joked that she wasn’t going to miss the Chicago winters (she’s a California girl). Other than that, this is the only reaction from Lauren that can still be found, it's completely professional and polite, and perhaps it's no coincidence that she thanked the fans the most for their support
https://cartermatt.com/133627/chicago-fire-season-3-lauren-german-speaks-shay-premiere-shocke
"Hello beautiful people! I want to say thank you to NBC, Dick Wolf and the entire team for letting me be a part of such an amazing experience. I have to say I've never been around a more gifted, special, heartfelt, funny and loving cast and crew as with the CF gang. The show gave me so many priceless gifts. I'm forever grateful. I mostly want to thank the fans for their support and love on this journey. You all are so beautiful. It was a great honor to portray Shay. I love her: her spirit, her flaws, her honesty. And most of all she brought me the most genuine & meaningful interactions with you all, the fans, & my heart swells with gratitude. Thank you, thank you! So much love to you all.”
F) UPDATE
I just found this article, which for some reason didn't come up amongst the search results for the past few weeks.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/1/22/18408021/chicago-fire-alum-lauren-german-having-devilishly-good-time-on-lucifer
In this article, Lauren told a sweet story that I believe happened during the filming of the pilot episode of Lucifer:
Given her time on “Chicago Fire,” guest starring on “Chicago P.D.” and now on “Lucifer,” has German changed the way she reads about or watches crime stories in the news?
“I think so, but mainly I think my experiences have made me have even more respect for first responders than I did before I went to Chicago. Sure, I always respected them and paid attention when I’d see a fire truck going by or hear about the cops getting the bad guy.
“But after the training we went through with the firemen and paramedics in Chicago — plus now having worked with homicide detectives to prepare for ‘Lucifer’ — I can’t tell you how much I respect these guys and women.”
German found herself the butt of a few jokes during the filming of a huge scene in Los Angeles near the Dolby Theatre — the site of the annual Oscars show.
“There were helicopters flying overhead, there was all this commotion, but we also had real firemen there. It wasn’t too long after I left ‘Chicago Fire,’ so they were yelling at me, ‘You went to the dark side!’ They were really kidding me about going from playing a paramedic to playing detective.
“Of course the cops on the scene were yelling just the opposite — telling me, ‘No! You’ve come to the bright side!’ I loved that, because that’s the fun friendly competition between the firemen and police officers. It’s kind of like Army vs. Navy.
“But of course, at the end of the day, everyone’s on the same team. These people are my heroes.”
In addition, she also talked about her previous work here, based on which it can be stated that the rumors that she wanted to quit are completely unfounded (I considered this suggestion so unfounded that I didn't even include it in my post). She also confirmed what was also discussed in point E).
German did admit she misses “the whole Chicago crew I worked with — and the wonderful fans in Chicago too. Everyone in your town is so great.”
The actress said she considers co-star Monica Raymund “my best girlfriend” and also keeps up with fellow “Chicago Fire” castmates Taylor Kinney and Jesse Spencer “quite a bit.”
“In fact just the other day, Monica asked me that after I wrap [the initial 13 episodes of] ‘Lucifer’ to come over [to Chicago] for a few days and hang out with those guys. So I may do that around the end of February.”
If so, it’s likely German and her “Chicago Fire” pals will make a beeline to the Palm restaurant on East Wacker Drive.
“Taylor and Jesse and I lived in the same building [on the New East Side], and we’d go to the Palm like three times a week. It was so cozy there. We even had our own regular little booth!”
End of update
In regards to the oddities above, I can even imagine that Lauren's agent or agents had a hard time agreeing on a possible contract extension, and because of this, the creators preferred to get rid of the character of Shay. If that was the case, we will never know. However, if the decision-making really took place in the way and according to the criteria as stated in the Matt Olmstead interview, then it can be seen in retrospect that this was an extremely bad decision by the studio and that the writing team made a huge mistake
I am slowly coming to the end of my research, but before that I would like to discuss the mistakes that the writers made in the first part of the third season - perhaps these mistakes could indicate that they were very hasty during the implementation, or that they did not think through at all how to put together such an episode well. When an average viewer saw this episode for the first time, the shock was guaranteed by it (believe me, it HITS HARD), in this way the creators achieved their goal, but it was enough later to think about what happened, and the shock was already replaced by completely legitimate indignation of the viewing public.
Regarding the mistakes, for the sake of fairness, I also have to say that I consider 4 things to be extremely outstanding from the first 2 seasons of the series:
1)
The visual implementation of the series was amazingly fantastic, as if you were watching a 45-minute movie, and it still stands today. I don't know if this changed after the third season, but I assume not, since the series is still active today
2)
Atli Örvarsson's music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ABsDFMJr2E&list=PLXT2pBWM8DxfN4znwe3esSqg4LtBzlQz8
3)
The actors Jesse Spencer, Taylor Kinney, Monica Raymund, Lauren German, Charlie Barnett, David Eigenberg, Eamonn Walker, Joe Minoso, Yuriy Sardarov, Christian Stolte were all fantastic in their roles
4)
The writers did something really brilliant when they built Severide and Shay's relationship. The way these two people moved mountains just out of love as a friend to help the other was simply wonderful. The relationship between the two of them was central to the show, which is why it was so painful and infuriating at the same time that the writers didn't think it was important enough to keep it going after 2 seasons. So I didn't consider the series important enough to continue watching after the third season either, or to start anything else from the One Chicago group.
Mistakes in S03 E01:
Devon's character:

• In the last 2 episodes of the second season, it was revealed that Devon might not be as a bad person as we thought. The writers hinted at the possibility that maybe Shay could finally find her happiness with her. Whether Devon had really changed, whether she was telling the truth, was never revealed after Shay's death.

Shay's death:

• Why didn't the paramedics wear helmets when they entered a potentially dangerous building? In other episodes, the characters paid attention to this, but here they generously forgot about it
• During the first flashback, we saw that they started to treat an injured person. When the explosion occurred and Shay was lying on the ground, the injured person was disappeared.
• The firefighter (played by Preston James Hillier) who ran into the building before the explosion also disappeared
• In the flashback, we saw that Dawson was thrown backwards by the shock wave of the explosion before the ceiling collapsed. Shay, on the other hand, sat still, unaffected by the shock wave
• The firefighting team was in the middle of the explosion, the only injury in comparison was a broken leg. Andy Darden died instantly in the Pilot episode, according to the script, when a house fire started in a similar way.
• Shay's CPR was interrupted to take her to the ambulance. At the same time, the one who could have taken care of her was Dawson, who was next to her, and Shay herself, maybe even Mills, who had a broken leg. So why was it important to take Shay to the ambulance, if not because it gave the scene a dramatic, albeit illogical, ending?
• Several people (e.g. Cruz, Otis) in the episode did not behave like those who recently lost a friend, and this could not be the fault of the actors, but rather of the script. The situation was similarly strange in the Pilot episode after Darden's death
• Shay said that she has a good relationship with her parents, so it's very strange that they didn't apply for Shay's things, but Casey and Severide collected them a month and a half after Shay's death. Not to mention the later invented sister
• When Severide looked at a photo of Shay before playing the video, it can be seen that the creators did not bother to take a real photo, but instead used a screenshot from the first season.
• It's quite unlikely that Dawson would pick up a diary a month and a half later that still had Shay's signature on it, and the signatures were completely different

Again, in the interest of fairness, Severide's flashbacks, Severide and Shay's video were flawless. Just like the gesture of putting Shay's name on the ambulance door in the middle of the season was a great idea from the writers
Final thoughts:
This is how far I've come in my research. Unfortunately, I didn't find any reassuring answers, only strange things. If there was something else in the background why Shay's character had to die, it will probably never be revealed. If the whole truth was told in the Matt Olmstead interview, then in my opinion the creators of Chicago Fire made the biggest mistake of their lives by firing Lauren and letting the Shayveride friendship vanish. Plus, Leslie Shay's character didn't deserve such fate. Anyway, the first 2 seasons were a fantastic experience for me.
Although Lauren couldn't have known it at the time, she was doing very well, because after being unemployed, she auditioned for the role of Chloe Decker in the series Lucifer. Here she joined the team that involved Tom Ellis, Kevin Alejandro, D.B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Rachael Harris, Scarlett Estevez, and later Aimee Garcia, Tricia Helfer, Tom Welling, Inbar Lavi, Rebecca De Mornay, Dennis Haysbert and Brianna Hildebrand. The rest, as they say, is history. Lucifer was the biggest series of 2021 by racking a whopping 18.3 billion minutes of streaming across the year making the series the most-streamed show not just on Netflix, but among the entire crop of streaming originals. Lucifer was voted the best fantasy series of 2021 also, and Lauren German became very, very worldwide-famous.
https://netflixlife.com/2022/01/26/lucifer-best-netflix-show-2021/
After Lucifer ended, Lauren retired from acting, making her last appearance in November 2023 at an event in Chicago, the Heaven and Hell Convention. Here, of course, she was hilarious again, or to put it stylistically, funny as hell, and she simply proved why she was the actress who played Leslie Shay back then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um_hcX4FkfM
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzHxlcMqM3
Here are a few links at the end
My favorite fan video commemorating the Shayveride friendship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjS1LmJgCIo
Others have written their opinions before me on the Leslie Shay topic, e.g. a great post
https://www.thetvaddict.com/2014/09/29/did-chicago-fire-kill-off-the-wrong-characte
A little fun
https://www.tiktok.com/@chicagofires/video/7255400196711107886
Still a little fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vZOsrSHql0
Thank you for reading through!
PJ
(this post is free to use and redistribute, but please at least credit the source! Thanks)
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A lot of the time when the anime movies come up, I’ll usually see people praising its incarnation of Godzilla, even those that shit on the rest of the movies. Now I can get behind hyping up Big G in all his appearances, because it’s motherfucking Godzilla. Bro’s a giant dinosaur that fucks shit up with his atomic breath, and will either be delivering the most soul-crushing terror you’ve ever felt or having you cheer on as he supplexes another giant creature. But I’ve decided I’m done toeing the line, and I’m just gonna come out and say it: Godzilla Earth isn’t a standout of the anime trilogy to me. He’s not one of the better parts of the movies, he’s not being wasted in the films (at least as he is), he’s not a cool new idea for a version of Godzilla, he’s just as much absolute garbage as the rest of his source material.
Let’s start with a basic summary: Godzilla Earth is the main version of Godzilla that features in the Netflix/Polygon Pictures anime trilogy of films. This Godzilla has a unique origin as being a plant-like organism, the “end result of natural selection on Earth” that has adapted the best traits of many other creatures on Earth through horizontal gene transfer. To put it another way: he’s like Ultimate Lifeform Kars from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but just naturally came out that way, is a kaiju instead of a human looking dude, and has no effective representation of that.
Godzilla first appeared in-universe in 2030, after humanity had been dealing with decades of kaiju attacks. Godzilla, as Godzilla is wont to do, quickly established himself as the baddest bitch around by systematically annihilating all life he came across, from humanity to the other kaiju. Nothing that anyone threw at him, even when the aliens showed up to try and fail with MechaGodzilla, did anything at all. By 2045, Godzilla had so thoroughly dominated the planet that the United Earth organization (composed of humanity and the two shitty, weirdly human alien species that showed up) could only try to launch a space colonization project and abandon Earth to Godzilla to survive. Godzilla reigned supreme, and spent the next 20,000 years terraforming Earth to become his domain, which included growing to be 300 meters tall, having a random mini-clone be created from cells of his that split off in the form of Godzilla Fillius, and then other small creatures known as Servum.
Now that we’ve covered the basic history of Godzilla Earth, let’s address the elephant in the room: from top to bottom, he’s a total fucking loser. Zilla arguably has more going for him than this guy, and I don’t mean the thundercock gigachad animated son there, I’m talking about the shitty CGI one from the movie.
First off, there’s the design. Godzilla Earth has a new origin unlike any other Godzilla, as stated above, by being an entirely natural plant-based organism that has evolved to represent the pinnacle of life on Earth. Sounds pretty cool, right? You would imagine then, that this Godzilla would have a new, creative design that reflects this origin well, while still being recognizably Godzilla, right? Nope, it’s just a crappy reskin of Monsterverse Godzilla. You could tell me that the anime’s design came from one of those achievement award skins in a video game based off the Monsterverse, and I would genuinely believe you. At best, the spines more closely resemble leaves then the irregular dorsal patterns, but man, that shit is weak. What’s worse is that the film’s concept art shows the designers played around with Godzilla’s features to represent different animals as the endpoint of Earth-based life, but decided to go with the most boring option possible. The models from the art style of the trilogy certainly didn’t do this guy any favors either…
It’s insane to me how badly this bungles what should be an easy layup. In the medium of animation, where the sky's the limit on what you can be doing, and in a story that gives care blanche to work with, Godzilla Earth somehow comes out as the most soulless and bland version of itself it can possibly be. Nothing about this design meaningfully expresses to me what this version of the G-Man is about whatsoever. Look at the other Reiwa’s: Monsterverse Godzilla looks like what it’s supposed to be, a version of Godzilla that naturally existed as a giant prehistoric animal. Shin Godzilla looks like what it’s supposed to be, a reinvention of the original’s concept of a creature terribly burned by radiation. Minus One Godzilla looks like what it’s supposed to be, a dinosaur that has been forcibly mutated by the atomic bomb and modern update to the iconic Showa/Heisei design. What’s the takeaway from Godzilla Earth? That you shouldn’t expect creativity or anything compelling from these movies?
What really gets me here is that while not the exact same, the creators of the trilogy did have a possible inspiration that was sitting right there for them to use: Biollante, one of the most popular kaiju of the franchise. On a visual level, Biollante’s two forms almost perfectly represent the origins of this creature and the themes behind it: a rose that has been mutated by Godzilla’s cells that has become a monstrous creature in its own right, a cautionary tale of what genetic engineering could lead to just as Godzilla himself was a metaphor for the atomic bomb. Obviously, it would be foolish to just try to replicate Biollante, but the point is that we’ve already seen how well a plant kaiju can potentially work out in this very franchise. Yet apparently, that’s too tall of an order for the anime trilogy, I guess.
Then there’s how Godzilla Earth actually interacts with the world around it. Again, in the medium of animation, many of the normal potential issues with making a movie or series with Godzilla go away: you don’t need to worry about the stilted or artificial nature of suit movement, nor do you need to worry about how the CGI will come out in live-action. The balls have been removed from your jaws to go to your court for you to dunk as you please. But as usual, the anime trilogy goes down the most painful route possible by having Godzilla Earth…just fucking stand there the whole time.
I’m not fucking around here, the Spongebob meme is entirely an accurate description of the range of Godzilla Earth’s movement. This bitch spends almost all of his screen time just sitting on his ass, barely moving around with the slightest waddle whenever the film decides there should be a paltry effort at action or to break up the terrible plot. I have seen newborn infants with more well-defined and fast-paced ranges of motion than this colossal tub of dirt. Godzilla Earth could never touch any version of Kong solely by how they’d be tapdancing around him like nobody’s business and take all the time they’d like climbing on him and taking potshots without fear of reprisal. It’s most blatant when the final film is insulting the collective intelligence of the audience by pretending Godzilla and Ghidorah are “fighting” when Ghidorah’s wormy little heads are biting Godzilla, and Big G is just floating in the air like he’s a stiff action figure being held up by a toddler while releasing the mild groans of discomfort of a middle-aged father on the verge of developing IBS.
I’m not saying the guy needs to have the acrobatic agility of the Showa era or the power walk of Heisei’s, but come the fuck on. Give us something to work with here. To again give comparisons: MV Godzilla’s movements are based upon how actual animals like bears fight (and as of GxK, wrestlers), reflecting its origins as a gigantic animal that’s part of the ecosystem of the world like any other. Shin Godzilla is awkwardly shuffling around and colliding with shit in its path (still more dynamic than Earth btw), because it’s a creature in a state of constant mutation and pain with no real awareness of the world around it. -1 Godzilla is deliberately seeking to cause as much damage to humans, and forced to be much more stiff from its radioactive burns compared to the natural movements we saw on Odo Island. But Godzilla Earth clearly was made on a shoestring budget by digital artists suffering under the cruel hand of Ellen Degeneres-esque directors.
It also doesn’t help that this dude has pretty much nothing going for him in terms of actual showings. Now sure, a lot of the abilities Godzilla Earth has sounds impressive on-paper: being the tallest Godzilla by far. Basically having his own A.T-Field with some electromagnetism thing. An incredibly powerful and precise Atomic Breath that can punch through the atmosphere. Charging up a roar that can generate a massive shockwave cone. Creating a plasma shockwave simply by moving his tail at MACH 3-4 speed with a 600 meter range. Even his own self-generated Burning Mode, that can go up to 3000 degrees Celsius. All of that sounds pretty cool, right?
But from the combination of how utterly immobile Godzilla Earth himself is, the lack of any compelling action sequences, and the exceptionally poor writing of the trilogy, all of that goes to waste. Godzilla Earth spends the majority of his screen time doing absolutely nothing at all, and otherwise performing what abilities he has that require him to be non-sedentary (hint: not many) at a glacial speed. It’s not like that glacial speed is one of the examples of giving the kaiju a sense of scale and weight either, the fucker is just a goddamn steamroller.
Nothing Godzilla Earth does feels like it has any real weight or power behind it, both because the story is so weak and the kaiju himself just is doing buttfuck all. Look at how Godzilla moves around Japan in the original movie, Shin or Minus, and how terrifying and awesome all of the destruction is. Because even if those are much smaller Godzillas that are constrained by the live-action medium for their time, they still feel much more powerful and dynamic because the movie actually lets them be doing shit. Or in Heisei, Millenium, and Monsterverse, where Godzilla is beating the shit out of other monsters-again, much smaller and limited by their medium, but they feel far more powerful because they’re in a movie that was made to actually give them a sense of power and might.
The closest Godzilla Earth gets to any kind of real display of power like its other incarnations is at the end of the first movie, where the humans are realizing Godzilla Fillius was just a branch off from the original. Here, we see him decimating the surviving forces as they try to escape, displaying an incredible degree of power in his destruction as the biggest Godzilla yet, with Haruo impotently screaming like the little bitch he is. Yet even that barely compares to any other action sequence in the franchise, because A.) nobody gives a single fuck about these characters to feel anything for them being attacked, B.) Godzilla Earth himself basically came out of nowhere with little to no real foreshadowing as the movie has framed Godzilla Fillius as the “true” Godzilla the whole time, C.) the setting is just a bunch of fauna that Big G is towering over which limits the ability to convey the power behind his actions compared to cities, and D.) all of the above points regarding how lame Godzilla Earth is I’ve been talking about. Then you remember this is the best showing the guy gets in this nihilistic edgepiece of a trilogy, and you realize it’s all just a deeper and deeper wellspring of shit. Doesn’t help that this scene just has some wannabe-Death Note choral music instead of the proper Godzilla theme.
So yeah, Godzilla Earth is a total loser from the perspective of being a Godzilla, or just a kaiju in general. Now let’s talk about why he sucks in the story.
In the hilariously bleak plot of the anime trilogy, Godzilla is framed as a sort of “natural punishment” for humanity, as a natural blowback to all of the shitty things humans have done to the planet and each other. It’s suggested that this happens to all civilizations one way or another, with the albino-human-aliens having Ghidorah as their version, and the dark-skinned-human-aliens having…well it’s never actually said, since the films are totally uninterested in them in any meaningful way, but MechaGodzilla seems to be their current one. The only way to survive in the face of these destroyers is to basically give up and accept it, and begin worshiping giant moth eggs.
Now, there’s a lot of pretty blatant problems with this, but let’s focus on Godzilla Earth for a moment. If we follow the thematic idea of him as a form of punishment from the Earth itself towards humanity, it stands to reason then there would be a starting point, right? That this character, who originated as a symbol of the horrors of nuclear weaponry that Japan faced, and since evolved to represent different aspects of the darkness that humanity holds, would have an equivalent origin or starting point to his rampage?
Well fuck you if your answer to the above was “yes”, because that’s not what happens. Godzilla Earth, for all intents and purposes of the anime trilogy, is just a random plant that grew up to teabag humanity and take over the world. There’s no actual origin given for how Godzilla Earth became what it did that actually connects it to being the end result of the waste and folly of humanity that emerged as part of the natural order of things. Godzilla is just a really fucking big plant in this continuity, and not, you know a terrible victim of humans destructive tendencies like say, a nuke getting dropped on him. I guess because that would be thematically coherent and fit into the lore of the franchise.
Within the trilogy itself, Godzilla serves as pretty much nothing but a plot device for the story to move on at certain points. While you could argue that this has been a common role for Godzilla in previous films if you want to use whataboutism, Earth goes the extra step of blatantly existing only for that given how little he does in the story.
The most action Godzilla Earth performs in his story-appearing amid other kaiju and slowly overwhelming them and humanity-happens in the prologue of the first movie as the setup for the trilogy. What could have been a trilogy in its own right (that almost certainly would actually have something to do) is relegated to the starting point of the series and never comes even close to doing anything comparable. The entire first movie is centered around the humans being focused on his off-spring, with no real foreshadowing of Earth himself being around until right before his reveal.
The next two movies just have him, again, passively standing around and occasionally lumbering a bit when the movies want to pretend there’s action going on. The dude literally just waits for when the plot needs him to be doing something. If the human characters actually had anything resembling a good story, or there were other monsters around for them to fight in the interim that acted as other offshoots of Godzilla Earth, this might not be such an issue. But as it is? Absolute fucking L of a Godzilla. You can point to shit like 98 and All Monsters Attack as some of the worst showings for Godzilla there is, and they’re still better than Earth by virtue of actually fucking doing stuff.
Taking it a step further, the thematic narrative around this Godzilla actively falls apart when we properly look at the story of the anime trilogy. Godzilla Earth isn’t just some neutral force like in the Monsterverse that’s just doing his own thing without giving a fuck about if the ants below him decide to start shit that ends with them accidentally getting stomped on. The literal premise of the trilogy is that this version of Godzilla already systematically eradicated all of human civilization and every other kaiju around, including benevolent ones like Mothra. He’s only chill in the movies because he succeeded in annihilating nearly all other forms of life a while back.
This is an actively malevolent force that succeeded in destroying everything around it and terraformed the planet so that it was the source of all life. Even the Mothra tribe has to just hide out, and can never actually advance or grow as a civilization beyond being a vaguely orientalist stereotype of cave dwellers whose women still are conventionally attractive waifu even after 20,000 years of evolving to be moth hybrids, without risking Godzilla Earth killing them. Yet I’m supposed to believe that the humans wanting to come back and live on Earth again are in the wrong?
Now sure, Haruo being in the wrong I can buy, because he’s a selfish douchebag obsessed with himself and completely unable to move on from anything at all. But the rest of humanity? They can’t actually want to come back to the home planet that many of them spent most of their lives on, want to get revenge and kill the creature that forced them away as it destroyed everything, or even just want to use technology instead of worshiping Moth? You can’t simultaneously have Godzilla having completely destroyed humanity and all life on the planet that’s not him and is willing to do so again, have him be taking care of planet-wiping threats as the humans reluctantly assist him, and then be this neutral force representing the Earth itself as it changes and evolves. To quote a guy I know, who basically summarized the plot of the movies:

I think the Godzilla Earth movies kind of play out like a movie deep in the texan wilderness where a fat redneck with an enormous shotgun has shot up a whole town and the survivors came back to avenge their parents, but then they have to fight sillicon valleys people looking to demolish the town to build like a big swimming pool, and then religious extremists, and they need to save the redneck so that he can do it

I can’t think of any other Godzilla movie that has actively encouraged the audience to think humanity is wrong to not want to be destroyed by a giant radioactive dinosaur or live in fear of it. Even in the films that most directly paint Godzilla as the consequences of the actions of humans, the message is always one of self-awareness and learning to be better, not just rolling over to get destroyed or giving up on all of civilization as you know it to live in caves. Why the hell should I give a shit about what’s going on here, exactly?
To sum it up, Godzilla Earth is just as much of a dumpster fire as the movies he’s in. His design sucks ass. His movement and sense of scale are as lifeless as possible. His powers are presented in the most boring way imaginable and his size is validation for people who think Godzilla should only be around 50-80 meters at max. Any thematic value or message he’s supposed to have is completely at whack with the story he’s given and placed in. This dude isn’t the bright spot or redeeming feature, he’s just as much of a disappointing piece of trash as everything around him.
TL;DR: Zilla might have lost the battle for live-action Godzilla’s, but his son won the war in the animation front of the franchise, holy shit.

The Argument

The gun crowd will often repeat the same lie over and over in an attempt to suppress the truth and the lie is simple. They will say "Guns save more lives than they take" and by all the data we have when making the comparison this is false. Some will try to muddy the waters and say things like "guns are used to defend than in crime". In all cases they will try to make the comparison that gun ownership and gun use is a net good for society because guns stop criminals.
Putting aside the feasibility of can guns stop crime (they don't) we are left to the comparison of "good" gun use vs "bad" gun use. We are not going to bother discussing the effectiveness of said Defensive Gun Use and for arguments sake here we will just assume they are all real, all good and effective in preventing harm despite the evidence of the last 20 years showing that this is not the case

Comparison of Defensive Gun Use

Defensive gun use is a nebulous term and it's important to nail down exactly what that is. This case our term will be "the use or presentation of a firearm for self-defense, defense of others. I don't consider defense of property legitimate Defensive Gun Use because the only reason you should draw a firearm is if your life is in danger. Outside of this criteria you step into vigilantism, vengeance, opportunistic murder and various state laws. Consistently a right to self defense has been consistently recognized at the federal level and should not be confused with the less historically consistent right to own a firearm for self defense (see DC vs Heller "not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose").
With that established a legitimate Defensive Gun Use does not need to be a victim killing an offender, nor does it need to even involve the shooting of the weapon. It can be as simple as the threat of, showing of etc. something that everyone can agree on. Defensive gun use does not necessitate injury or death.
With that out of the way, the same is true of a gun used in a crime: A gun can be used in or enable a crime without injury or death to the victim. It's a pretty obvious fact, one I'm sure the progun side will dance around but this behavior is ingrained in pop culture with numerous robberies, kidnappings and plays out every single day. Crime is perpetrated with gun use and can be used to enable it.

The Number of crimes committed with guns

Number of Violent Victimizations 1993-2022 (Category Firearm)
Source: https://ncvs.bjs.ojp.gov/multi-year-trends/crimeType
According to the National Crime Victimization survey over the last 10 years we have between 350,000 to 640,000 crimes being committed with firearms.

The Number of Self-protective behaviors of victims (Threatened/attacked with a firearm)

Self-protective behaviors of victims, by type of crime, 2014–18
Source: https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/tpfv9318.pdf
Over a 4 year period (2014-18) guns were used by a victim of a crime in defense of a violent crime 166,900 times. Assuming the same number of DGUs happen every year (unlikely) our rough figure is 41,500 DGUs per year

FINAL TOTAL: 41,500 DGUS VS AVERAGE OF 424,000 CRIMES COMMITED WITH A GUN A YEAR (2014-2018)

Some basic math tells us that for every single DGU we will be getting at least 10 crimes and our defensive gun use. Crime has won out against the law abiding citizen

Comparison of justified homicide

The other side of this coin is to look at the number of justified homicides vs the number of murders. This is incredibly easy and slightly more up to date. The pro gun side however will rarely if ever concede that the only legitimate DGU is a justified homicide. We will only count firearms in the name of consistency.

The Number of Justified Homicides (Firearms)

Justifiable Homicide by Weapon, Private Citizen,1 2015–2019
The number by private citizens is between 268 and 334 from 2015 to 2019 on a yearly basis

The Number of Homicides (Firearms)

Murder Victims by Weapon, 2015–2019
The number is 13,847 to 15,355 from 2015 to 2019 on a yearly basis

FINAL TOTAL: 334 HIGH OF JUSTIFIED HOMICIDES WITH FIREARM VS 15,355 HIGH OF MURDERS WITH FIREARM A YEAR (2015–2019)

Once again the crime has won out against the law abiding citizen
If that's all you're here for you can move on now. The evidence clearly rests in our favor with modern reliable sources coming straight from the stats themselves. I'll be tackling some of the attempts to distract/ dissuade and rebut this robust comparison and providing sources and easy arguments and could be added to.

Common attempts at refuting this comparison

Gary Kleck's numbers (DGUs into the millions)

Gary Kleck's DGU study can be debunked so thoroughly it would triple the size of this post. Boiled down to the most obvious and glaring flairs of this vs our more robust Defensive Gun Use numbers is this
The Kleck Survey has only ever been conducted once in 1992 and published in 1994 and our numbers come from a more recent and modern time and to make informed policy decisions we should try to use the most up to date and reliable data. This is why the NCVS will always be superior having been done since Kleck's own survey and nearly every single year since. As a last note the Kleck survey (via telephone) was done in 1 town in 1 state with 5000 people asked and only 66 respondents claiming to have a DGU. Kleck simply multiplied this rate out to the entire population at the time. I highly recommend focusing on this one.
The Kleck survey itself is not comprehensive and opens itself to blatant over recording through the social bias of gun owners who simply love to over report DGUs or even falsify them. Kleck made no controls for this, his survey's first question is not about establishing a victim of a crime, it is qualifying solely off if a gun owner would identify themselves as such. If someone is not a victim of a crime they can't be involved in a DGU. For more info about how social desirability can distort survey findings I suggest reading this one about how men report having sex more than women and straight from the 90s in Kleck's time too or you could look up how people respond to surveys about Alien abductions.
We have Kleck himself who later discredited his findings who posited that what he found were not DGUs but in fact crimes something that was actually later confirmed in a more detailed study that used the same survey questions as Kleck but took more detailed accounts of the claimed DGU and presented them to a panel of experts who would judge the legality of the act. The results were that most of them were describing themselves committing a crime
Anyone spouting DGUs into the millions should be immediately asked for a source btw. An up to date one. The CDC removed Kleck's DGU estimate from it's website a while ago thanks in part to efforts from this subs community so do watch out for anyone trying to cryptocite Kleck's DGU figure. More info on that found here

Attempts to compare Defensive Gun Use to Gun Murder etc.

This one is especially common and what prompted this take down in the first place and often they'll quote whatever DGU number is all the craze (usually Kleck) and put it next to a murder number of some kind.
The break down is important because a Defensive Gun Use is in response to a crime. A murder is a type of crime. DGUs happen in response to all kinds of crime, not just murder, attempted murder. It's therefore important to compare a reaction that can happen in a crime to all crimes that could happen to a person. Once we've established this it's now down to focusing on the relevant. Defensive Gun Use requires a crime and gun therefore we should compare to crimes committed with firearms which also require a crime and a gun and murder is a small part of that. The comparison is valid above all and focusing on gun murder is denying the existence of the full picture of what having firearms in a society does to that society.
If someone only wants to look at gun murders then they are admitting that by their standards the only legitimate DGUs are Justified homicides and thus you should provide the source accordingly.

Attempts to discredit the NCVS

This is a pretty weak tactic and can range from anything from denying the credibility of the stats to attacks on the legitimacy of the organization or survey itself.
Some important info to keep in mind is that National Crime Victimization Survey is run by the Bureau of Justice Statistics which has been going since 1979 and has run through Republican and Democrat Administrations for 44 years and the Survey itself is designed by a host of statistical experts and provides data for policy makers and academics alike.
A last note is that sometimes dumb gunnits will attempt to discredit this just because it's a survey. All DGU credible numbers come from surveys, even Gary Klecks. The important thing however is that the NCVS establishes that a crime actually happened before looking at defensive gun behavior.
It asks a lot of questions and goes into quite a bit of detailed info because this isn't just a quick survey, it's a full on interview and these sorts of things take a lot of time and produce a lot data, not just about defensive gun use, but all self defense actions, the incident itself, the number of people involved. It really goes on and on and on.

Attempts to cite alternative DGU surveys

This one is pretty sad but also hilarious but sometimes people will just cite random online DGU surveys or old magazine ones in an attempt to add more credibility to the crazy number they want to spout. These can be pretty easily dismissed as we have with the NCVS a repeated, yearly, bipartsian Federal Government Agency preforming the same survey (with minor changes) and they want to compare it some unknown one off likely coming from a organization with an agenda to grind. It's not a contest. It's the Undertaker throwing Mankind off a cage into a table and they are the table.
Some people will post DGU and go "look! All these DGUs". Honestly point and laugh at these people. That sub is lucky to get 4 posts a day even if they did that every single day for a year they'd only get 1460 of the supposed 40,000 DGUs we are supposed to get a year.

Why didn't you include property crime?

Property crime is defined as a crime where there is no physical threat to the safety of the victim. If there is a physical threat to the safety of the victim it becomes a violent crime and until that point there is justifiable cause for violence/threats of violence at a criminal. Ask any gun coach you like, they will all tell you the only time you should us a firearm is if your safety is at risk.
Besides, we can include it since it's in the source I use anyway. It's 183,300 over the same 4 years which is 45,825 per year assuming they have the exact same amount every single year. That brings our grand total up to 87,325 "DGUs" a year which is still well sort of even our lowest range of the same 4 years. Also if we really want to get judgey about what is and isn't a DGU well that means a whole can of worms because even with NCVS more robust methods it is still exceedingly likely that the NCVS numbers are over recording and capturing DGUs that didn't happen or were falsified and that DGU number can only go down.

What about bystanders/Family friends you defend?

What about them? They exist but what are the numbers? Without some robust numbers there's no argument to be made here. The vast majority of firearm crimes and DGUs do not take place in the context of mass shootings so unless you have some wild criteria combined with a reliable comparable source to the NCVS you will not be able to make a definitive claim.

The bringing up of personal anecdotes (AKA I used a gun in self defence)

Imagine that I tell you that the majority of people write with their right hands and you respond with “well I’m left handed!!”. That’s how dumb this sounds but let’s be a little nicer.
So you had a DGU? Cool, or not cool. Whatever. Where did this happen? When did this happen? Who did you tell? Did you report this to the police? Did you file a report of a crime? Do you have the proof? And even if you do all this, did it all legit, even got your face in the news and your post archived in DGU so fucking what?
This is statistics, it already happened we already measured it and even if we go back and you had the most legit DGU that ever happened on Reddit and it happened in our measured range we get 41,501 in our brand new figure. To get the impact you want you’d need to have every single DGU subscriber submitting their own DGU and even if retroactively added them to our figure you still won’t exceed our crimes total. And I sincerely doubt that even 1/4 of reddit gun owners have had a real life DGU and if you believe you’re still right that then I have a cryptocurrency to sell you. Might as well make money over how gullible you are with the upcoming DGU coin I’m making
TLDR: 41,500 Defensive Gun uses a year vs 424,000 crimes that are committed with a gun or 334 justified homicides a year vs 15,355 murders committed with a firearm a year. Make your choice. Guns are used in crimes more than they are in defense of them. Getting rid of the guns will be a net benefit for society.
I reserve the right to edit this post and add more details/ arguments/ updated sources etc.

I saw this game the other day for a Harry Potter video on YouTube, and thought it’d be a fun idea to try out with some Demon Slayer quotes (anime/manga, sub/dub, etc.).
Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started. NOTE THAT YOU WILL NEED A MOBILE DEVICE WITH PREDICTIVE TEXT ACTIVE FOR THIS TO WORK!
———

STEP 1: Start with part of a quote.

For example, if I were to take this iconic quote from Best Boi Rengoku…
“If you are feeling disheartened, that you are somehow not enough, set your heart ablaze.”
...and cut off part of it...
“If you are feeling disheartened, that you are somehow not enough, ...”
...then I’m ready for Step 2!
—

STEP 2: Use Predictive Text to fill in the rest of the quote.

For example, going back to the partial quote I mentioned earlier...
”If you are feeling disheartened, that you are somehow not enough, you may be able to help me out with this one too.”
—

STEP 3: Have fun with it!

There are plenty of great quotes from the Demon Slayer franchise for this game, and the results can range from surprisingly wholesome to mildly confusing to hilariously ridiculous! So try it out and let’s see what we can come up with!

Today’s result makes the weird PR spin about Sugarman’s involvement in the Cavan signing even more hilarious.
We got quotes from Curtin and an entire puff piece by Tannenwald highlighting how influential Sugarman was in the signings of Cavan and Vazquez, meanwhile the first team continues to regress to being a midtable team.
He put more effort into signing a 14-year old for the marketing potential than he has into reinforcing the first team for years, if they’re not careful the team is just going to turn into FC Dallas where they big up their youth setup as their first team turns into a joke. But I guess it makes sense, it’s more fun to watch the Next Pro team than it is the first team these days anyway.

Hope someone finds this helpful!
I'm making this list every week for my newsletter, but figured you guys could benefit from it too, so here it is!
Global

• Kendrick/Drake rap feud becomes a meme phenomenon.
• AI-generated deepfakes of celebrities at Met Gala flood social media.
• Social media marketers advised to focus on entertainment over engagement.
• Social media platforms struggle with international legal obligations.
• AI and social media effectively track mental health trends.

Bluesky

• Bluesky to enhance platform with DMs, video, and custom feeds.
• Jack Dorsey leaves and criticizes Bluesky for repeating Twitter's errors.

Linkedin

• LinkedIn introduces engaging daily games.
• LinkedIn shares marketing campaign optimization tips.

Meta

• Meta debuts AI tools for ad optimization on Instagram and Facebook.
• Meta Business Suite adds new message filter on iOS.
• Meta introduces expansive paid verification for businesses.
• Meta adds advanced AI tools for advertisers to enhance ads.
• Business Suite added "Review" feature for pre-publish checks.
• Business Suite now able to manage Facebook Page broadcast channels from desktop.
• Business Suite added ablity to create ready-made Reels from desktop.

Facebook

• Facebook tests new profile picture shape in Stories.
• Meta Verified tests new discovery features on Facebook.
• Facebook renames "Orders" shortcut to "Finds."
• Facebook testing new "Upload Video" button for Pages.
• Facebook adds floating button for reporting app issues.

Instagram

• Instagram introduces four new interactive stickers for Stories.
• Instagram soon to launch Broadcast Channel for business accounts.
• Instagram rebrands spam filter feature in followers tab.
• Create QR codes for Instagram broadcast channels.
• Instagram adds camera shortcut to each story.
• Instagram enables auto-tagging of collaborative accounts in posts.

Threads

• Threads lets users control quote permissions on posts.
• Threads tests new display features for better readability.
• Threads tests in-feed post creation sheet.
• Threads now shows "Post views" in EU.

Whatsapp

• WhatsApp tests new storage management feature in iOS beta.
• WhatsApp tests "Events" feature for Communities on iOS.

OpenAI

• OpenAI developing a tool for content creators to opt out of AI training.
• OpenAI aims to increase transparency in AI content generation.
• OpenAI debates allowing AI-generated adult content.
• OpenAI evasive on whether Sora was trained using YouTube videos.

Pinterest

• Pinterest launches Media Buyer certification course.
• Pinterest allows turning Instagram posts into pins for more users.

Reddit

• Reddit adds new swipe gestures for posts and comments.
• Reddit introduces new ad formats as it goes public.
• Reddit tests site-wide French translation and sub-specific features.
• Reddit exploring monetization of its search function.

Snapchat

• Snapchat introduces Instagram-like templates for videos.
• Snapchat beta tests new "Lens Invocation" app clip.
• Snapchat adds update countdown for Plus subscribers.
• Snapchat rebrands as the 'happiest place' online for users, businesses.
• Snapchat tests profile tab for switching between profiles.

Substack

• Substack recruiting TikTok stars with new 'creator studio' program.

TikTok

• Analysis of TikTok's AI algorithms and their social impact.
• 61% of TikTok users discover new brands on the platform.
• TikTok's deep ties with ByteDance challenge its independent claims.
• Livestream shopping on TikTok complicates fake merchandise detection.
• TikTok sues US government over 'unconstitutional' ban.
• TikTok offers free webinar on campaign and creative optimization.
• TikTok to label AI-generated user content globally.
• TikTok ads boost sales of obscure book amid ban rumors.
• TikTok to discontinue Video Avatar feature on May 15, 2024.
• TikTok highlights its effectiveness in brand discovery and engagement.
• Global communications head Hilary McQuaide leaves TikTok.
• TikTok adds "Collaboration" feature similar to Instagram.

X

• X modifies blocking feature to increase transparency.
• X now allows sorting of Community posts.
• X's Stories now feature AI-driven content for Premium users.
• Elon Musk limits spam by restricting replies on X.
• EU probes X for content moderation and AI risks.
• Twitter launches Grok AI in the EU and UK
• X to let advertisers create ad audiences with AI descriptions.

Youtube

• YouTube tests Gen AI Ideas Generator in Studio with selected creators.
• YouTube simplifies ad campaign creation within its platform.
• YouTube enhances EU election integrity measures.
• YouTube introduces browser extension with wiki-like citations.

I've made this list for my purposes, but figured you guys might like it too. Collected them from multiple sources, summarized and arranged them myself. If you want clickable links, as well as Week 1 news or April 2024 news, I have them in my free weekly newsletter, (you are most welcome to sub) but for most of you this list will be probably more than enough :)
Enjoy!
Global

• Kendrick/Drake rap feud becomes a meme phenomenon.
• AI-generated deepfakes of celebrities at Met Gala flood social media.
• Social media marketers advised to focus on entertainment over engagement.
• Social media platforms struggle with international legal obligations.
• AI and social media effectively track mental health trends.

Bluesky

• Bluesky to enhance platform with DMs, video, and custom feeds.
• Jack Dorsey leaves and criticizes Bluesky for repeating Twitter's errors.

Linkedin

• LinkedIn introduces engaging daily games.
• LinkedIn shares marketing campaign optimization tips.

Meta

• Meta debuts AI tools for ad optimization on Instagram and Facebook.
• Meta Business Suite adds new message filter on iOS.
• Meta introduces expansive paid verification for businesses.
• Meta adds advanced AI tools for advertisers to enhance ads.
• Business Suite added "Review" feature for pre-publish checks.
• Business Suite now able to manage Facebook Page broadcast channels from desktop.
• Business Suite added ablity to create ready-made Reels from desktop.

Facebook

• Facebook tests new profile picture shape in Stories.
• Meta Verified tests new discovery features on Facebook.
• Facebook renames "Orders" shortcut to "Finds."
• Facebook testing new "Upload Video" button for Pages.
• Facebook adds floating button for reporting app issues.

Instagram

• Instagram introduces four new interactive stickers for Stories.
• Instagram soon to launch Broadcast Channel for business accounts.
• Instagram rebrands spam filter feature in followers tab.
• Create QR codes for Instagram broadcast channels.
• Instagram adds camera shortcut to each story.
• Instagram enables auto-tagging of collaborative accounts in posts.

Threads

• Threads lets users control quote permissions on posts.
• Threads tests new display features for better readability.
• Threads tests in-feed post creation sheet.
• Threads now shows "Post views" in EU.

Whatsapp

• WhatsApp tests new storage management feature in iOS beta.
• WhatsApp tests "Events" feature for Communities on iOS.

OpenAI

• OpenAI developing a tool for content creators to opt out of AI training.
• OpenAI aims to increase transparency in AI content generation.
• OpenAI debates allowing AI-generated adult content.
• OpenAI evasive on whether Sora was trained using YouTube videos.

Pinterest

• Pinterest launches Media Buyer certification course.
• Pinterest allows turning Instagram posts into pins for more users.

Reddit

• Reddit adds new swipe gestures for posts and comments.
• Reddit introduces new ad formats as it goes public.
• Reddit tests site-wide French translation and sub-specific features.
• Reddit exploring monetization of its search function.

Snapchat

• Snapchat introduces Instagram-like templates for videos.
• Snapchat beta tests new "Lens Invocation" app clip.
• Snapchat adds update countdown for Plus subscribers.
• Snapchat rebrands as the 'happiest place' online for users, businesses.
• Snapchat tests profile tab for switching between profiles.

Substack

• Substack recruiting TikTok stars with new 'creator studio' program.

TikTok

• Analysis of TikTok's AI algorithms and their social impact.
• 61% of TikTok users discover new brands on the platform.
• TikTok's deep ties with ByteDance challenge its independent claims.
• Livestream shopping on TikTok complicates fake merchandise detection.
• TikTok sues US government over 'unconstitutional' ban.
• TikTok offers free webinar on campaign and creative optimization.
• TikTok to label AI-generated user content globally.
• TikTok ads boost sales of obscure book amid ban rumors.
• TikTok to discontinue Video Avatar feature on May 15, 2024.
• TikTok highlights its effectiveness in brand discovery and engagement.
• Global communications head Hilary McQuaide leaves TikTok.
• TikTok adds "Collaboration" feature similar to Instagram.

X

• X modifies blocking feature to increase transparency.
• X now allows sorting of Community posts.
• X's Stories now feature AI-driven content for Premium users.
• Elon Musk limits spam by restricting replies on X.
• EU probes X for content moderation and AI risks.
• Twitter launches Grok AI in the EU and UK
• X to let advertisers create ad audiences with AI descriptions.

Youtube

• YouTube tests Gen AI Ideas Generator in Studio with selected creators.
• YouTube simplifies ad campaign creation within its platform.
• YouTube enhances EU election integrity measures.
• YouTube introduces browser extension with wiki-like citations.