So I work in a software related customer services role. My work involves picking up cases that our clients have raised and answering them/troubleshooting their issues with the HR software that we provide.
This is normally all done via case comments/emails and the occasional phone call.
Sometimes I'll also attach a link to a handy guide for the customer which I feel may be of use to them.
Me and my friend are big star wars fans and he's recently started playing Jedi survivor. For those of you who don't know, this is a dark soulsy type of game and boss fights are usually quite intense.
In this game, the devs added in a boss fight with a guy called "Rick the door technician"
He's just a basic grunt but when ya face him a whole health bar appears at the top and boss music plays too. He is just a 1 hit kill enemy though, an Easter egg referencing the SNL live skit where kylo ren becomes "matt the technician" in an undercover boss style episode.
Here comes the fuck up.
I was trying to explain this context to my friend at work who had just gotten to Rick the door technician in the game, so i sent him a link to a YouTube video of the SNL skit while i was working on a live case. I didn't think anymore on this and went straight back to my open case that I was working on.
I typed up my resolution to the the customers case and thought that I had copied a link to my clipboard for the guide I wanted to attach on a particular part of the software. I was in such a rush to get the work done and in my haste I pasted the YouTube link to the SNL skit to one of our biggest customers.
The client was confused and reached out and lodged a complaint to my manager.
I am now awaiting a disciplinary for browsing YouTube at work and not following proper customer contact procedure.
TLDR: sent this SNL skit to one of our clients instead of the guide they had request and am now in trouble at work for not working 😅

That diss track being: https://open.spotify.com/track/626jlYCUCqQZZeZ82vLveN?si=dRavyx8xTRK1kCgAv1Bf7g
(MODS THIS THAT HIGH KWALITY EFFORT POST. DON'T YOU DARE)
Disclaimer: Just before I get into this. A few things that I will clarify:

1. This is NOT a comparison of the 2 disstracks
   
2. Every accusation and incidents on the "dissed" artists that I'll put forward is just to convey what the creators of the track claimed. I'm in no position neither do I intend, to imply any of these are true since we don't have any credible evidence in favour of these apparently.
   
3. I love Young Stunners and Rap Demon (lol). But on a serious note, I don't intend to spread any hatred against them through this. Just want to use the current situations to shed some light on and break down the Intricacies of this particular track that didn't get its deserved recognition and attention at the time it was released cos of how incredibly ahead of it's time, this horrorcore diss track was.
   

About Rohani Ilaaj: Firstly decoding the name of the track itself, the term literally translates to "the healing of the soul" which pretty much explains what this track tries to achieve basically.
What makes "meet the grahams" and "Rohani Ilaaj" stand out is how both these tracks are not only very different from what a conventional rap diss track would be like but also the makers of both these tracks portray themselves as some sort of well wishers of their opponents trying to help them out from the addictions and behavorial issues they suffer from, despite of them going wayy below the belt to the point it seems just straight up evil lol.
One of them seems like a letter while the other is a skit with very detailed scenes making vivid pictures in your head through the use of the eerie disturbing production, different voice effects, skits and vocal tones.
Back to the track itself, this diss track by chen and skd can be divided into segments.
The very first segment starts with an intro skit where you hear 2-3 news headlines about serious incidents followed by a few voicenotes of some young guys speaking on how some particular diss track by YS has completely "destroyed" Chen k and how he can never make a comeback. A very interestingly subtle way of showing how the youth is distracted from the more important stuff due to the disses. A cliche yet understandable dig since chen's and skd's music for the most part has been some conscious stuff, raising awareness towards a wide range of societal issues.
Moving further in the same segment, chen starts off the song using his poetic lyrical prowess to paint the picture of a scene with him and YS being in a room of his own house consuming charas - possibly referring to the times when he was friendly with the rap duo and also used to consume drugs.
The storyline further progresses with chen's sudden realization that his current action doesn't fall in line with his set of morals and values and he chooses to go at his then partners in crime trying to make them realize the gravity and seriousness of this addiction while also the bad influence it can have on the vulnerable youth to start committing such acts in public to which a drugged up braggadocious Talha Anjum, who is being mimicked very comically over here btw, replies with stuff similar to the narratives YS came up with, after Chen K's criticism against them during his meet and greet.
Easter Egg: With this only making me realize that this made up scene painted by Chen K of him doing drugs with YS and then trying to stop them from doing it was his way of referring to the time they were friendly and then the events that unfolded after his statements during the meet and greet. Crazy. A slight glimpse of Chen's lyrical ability for you.
Anyways this segment progresses further with references to YS songs and things that they have said with Chen's reply to them. Some of them are witty you can listen to them for yourself. I won't expand on them since they don't really contribute to the point I'm trying to make here
PS: Except this one thing that Chen pointed out, Anjum flexed about making a track on the young girl, Zainab who was r@ped in Pakistan and the news being all around in Pakistan at the time, as if TA only made the track for the credit that would come with it. Chen takes a step further trying to portray TA as a hypocrite for writing lyrics sexualising women himself and then make a protest song against a r@pe case. Quite exaggerated but still counts as it's a major dig at TA's character.
Anyways after the exceptionally written and delivered, goosebumps inducing hook by SKD. We move towards his verse, being the second segment of the song which contains the major meat - the part that made me think of this track while listening to kdot's diss. It is also this time it would be revealed that this diss track is also a sequel to SKD's song "Afsana-e-Dehshat" which was a diss on a bunch of pakistani rappers for some things that happened at the time in PHH. Two of the guys who caught some strays were obviously TA and TY.
On that song, SKD had a decent bar "Gaadhun maa ke qadmo me" for one of those rappers that he was dissing (can't remember who it was) . Many fans along with YS criticized it for SKD crossing the line bringing up Yunus' dead mother misunderstanding that bar to be for Yunus. It was also this misunderstanding that made SKD discover the unfortunate early fate of Yunus' mother - KEEP THIS IN MIND.
Moving on, SKD proceeds to put forward the most serious allegation of this whole feud. A major narrative that TY came up with while going at Chen was that he's doing it to protect the dignity and respect for women - since obviously, Chen K has been called a misogynist quite some times because of his views, at that time, for his then viral song - Ladki.
SKD reveals that Yunus has a friend who is an alcoholic and habitually beats up women and Yunus is aware of it as well. Do note that this bar seems to be SKD trying to question Yunus' own conscience with this fact rather than trying to expose him in the public eye since he doesn't come up with any credible evidence to support the claim. Nevertheless, this does play on to both these guys' major narratives against YS i.e, they're being hypocritical for taking the moral high ground over here and just want an excuse to diss for publicity.
Now before we move further, let's take a moment so i can summarize the very track that brought us here in the first place - meet the grahams, so you can start connecting the similarities for yourself:
This particular track has Kendrick writing a letter to each one of Drake's family members and Drake. Blaming Drake's father since he believes drake has inherited some addictions from him, empathizing with Drake's mother, going at Drake for the wrongs that he has done. But the darkest part lies when he addresses his son and his allegedly hidden daughter. Politely teaching them values and telling them how their father isn't good enough. I mean imagine growing up and listening some random ass man tell you shit about your father and how he hasn't done enough for you. Some heavy shit there.
To tell your opponent's loved one how their flaws are too much for them to be respected, claim to be taking the responsibility that you're the one who can help your opponent "recover" and make this more about your opponent going through something serious rather than you just having a rap battle with them. Guess who else, other than kendrick, did it before him wayyy back in 2019.
Nevermind, y'all already know by now lol, I'm just yet to tie things up. It's a long 8 minute diss track, will keep it till here for now.
To be continued.

33 RS3 Videos to Watch from the Month of April

 
Hello folks, I think some of the reddit folks remember my post from last month which was a list of all the currently active RS3 YouTube Content Creators (which has already changed since some people have become active again), if you haven't here is the link. I had previously posted a similar spotlight post of some of the best RS3 videos for the Month of March and wanted to keep it to a monthly theme and have created this April centered post.
These are my opinions but I will provide the title of the video, the name of the creator, a summary of the video and the link of said video.
These videos will be listed based on the alphabetical order of the titles and is not a ranking guide since some of these videos are basically raw and unpolished. Please note a majority of these creators do not make RS3 Content as a profession and they post these videos as a passion project for the game we all enjoy and play, RuneScape 3. If you enjoy any of these videos, please like, comment and subscribe to whichever Creators you enjoyed.
 
 

100 Magister Takedowns: Is He Worth It? Runescape

Charliz4rd92

Well Protoxx, I think we finally have someone whose voice is a bit more soothing or satisfying to listen to. In this very simple video, Charliz4rd92 in his amazing voice narrates his experience with the Magister in the current bossing meta of the game. Honestly the content was normal bossing but man is his voice satisfying to listen to and the video edits and introduction makes him a Content Creator to keep an eye on.
Video Link
 
 

2:14 ab2 – the fastest floor ever done in W77

L2ggs

For a majority of people this title is an acronym that most people don’t understand and if you do, you’re a RuneScape 3 player that most likely played a decade ago. This is a Dungeoneering Speedrun record video where the 5 man finished an Abandoned 2 Floor in 2 minutes and 14 seconds. This video was posted by L2ggs who is one of the best DG’ers in the current era of the game where he and a multitude of other Dungeoneering Speedrunners are trying to break records that are still considered impossible to beat from several years ago. If you are interested in gaining an insane amount of Dungeoneering experience, a unique highscores or an insane amount of Dungeoneering Tokens in a short amount of time, this is a community you want to learn about.
Video Link
 
 

30.000% Zamorak, HALFWAY TO 60K!!! [TRIO]

Sejearian

Last month we had quite a few Bossing feats happen for the first time. Even though I am only posting one of 30,000% Zamorak Enrage feats, there were multiple that happened last month, and I recommend checking out all of them by looking them up on YouTube. So, for those who don’t know supposedly 60,000% Zamorak is the maximum enrage you can get to when fighting the Zamorak boss and no one has even gotten close to reaching this yet. Sejearian a top tier PvM’er showcases this 3 man Zamorak fight where any wrong or incorrectly mechanic response would have ended their run to get to the halfway point of this boss nearly two years later after its release.
Video Link
 
 

AFK Nightmare Creatures Necromancy Guide

Silenced

I honestly forgot that Nightmare Creatures existed since they have faded to obscurity over the last several years. In this video Silenced showcases that Nightmares are very easily Afk’able with Necromancy and how to achieve this feat. Not to mention it is a great money maker and experience gaining method. It is a very high tier expensive loadout needed to be able to utilize this method but definitely a viable method for Necromancy Experience to finish that last portion of the 200m grind.
Video Link
 
 

Araxxor Guide (Necromancy) for the casual player

Dropping Bear

This is Dropping Bear’s first boss guide and I think he did a pretty good job. In this slow but very methodical guide, he showcases how to beat Araxxor with necromancy and how to deal with every mechanic during every phase. He includes graphics, visual indications and a lot of great tips and tricks on how to deal with the Boss as a player attempting their first go for this boss. If you’re a person whose scared of bossing, this is an excellent mid-tier to beginning stage boss to learn with very good reward output.
Video Link
 
 

Blooming Burrow [FashionScape Showcase #3]

Crystal

Spotlighted by Jagex on the RuneScape Weekly Update in the first week of April, this video deserves to be on this list also due to how well Crystal explains the new Easter FashionScape items. With her video she goes into visual detail (with outfit combinations) about all the new cosmetic items and titles and how to unlock them. Unfortunately, the Easter Event has ended upon creating this post but this would be an excellent video to watch and see how the new cosmetics would look in game if you ever plan to get them in a future event.
Video Link
 
 

Eating this Obscure Food INCREASES DPS!!!

Cyruss

Mostly working on his Golden Reaper series, Cyruss showcases a unique new food tech method that can increase your damage output if you are attempting to break some PvM records. I personally have never heard of it myself but it’s a unique method that synergizes well with a few other game mechanics. I recommend this for any casual or new PvM’er to utilize this method in your new attempts at doing a boss for the first time or for a End game PvM’er who is trying to make it on the PvM Speedrun TwitteX shoutouts.
Video Link
 
 

Fashionscape: Forest Archer Outfits – Runescape (Female Outfits)

Wings of Absurdity

Wings has been just pouring out unique new content, but my personal favorite is the Fashionscape Outfit showcases. Similar to the last month, Wings has edited it really well where they match the scenery, sound effects and lighting to go with the outfit theme. I am a sucker for Range outfits and I really like the Maplewood Archer and Deepwood Beastmaster sets they showcase.
Video Link
 
 

Hidden in Runescape’s New Quest are insane Lore Revelations! Requiem for A Dragon!

Prideslayer RS

With the release of RuneScape’s newest quest, Requiem for A Dragon. Mr Prideslayer has once again released another amazing theory crafted video about the Lore of the Quest. Even if you are not a lorehound, I think you can appreciate all the crazy research this man has done. In fact, most Jmods are scared of even posting lore content since this man is like Charlie from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia who is going to dissect everything that gets posted. It’s a fun watch and you will laugh or at minimum smirk.
Video Link
 
 

How To PROPERLY Kill Rasial! – Beginner Tips

Init Yeah

Even though I might be compiling this video list, I am not the greatest PvM’er and guides like this one by Init Yeah are awesome. In the video, he does a great breakdown of some of the most common issues he sees since he often hosts Bossing masses and is constantly getting other player feedback from their Bossing attempts. Usually Init Yeah isn’t my style of videos however this video is a quality watch especially if you’re still new to Bossing still.
Video Link
 
 

INSANE LORE – Can Mod Stu Save RUNESCAPE? Beloved developer talks Lore, New Player experience!

Prideslayer RS

Probably the best video of the month. This excellent video or interview with Mod Stu is a must watch for the month. In this deep dive of an interview, Prideslayer goes into the deep end of RuneScape 3 lore. With questions pertaining to Ashdale future rework to become a Minigame hub to extreme Xau Tuk lore, many lore questions are answered and unanswered in this great interview. If you’re a lorehound or want to see how passionate people are about the lore than you need to watch this video.
Video Link
 
 

Is the new Necromancy ritual good? I did the math.

Qp RS

A short video by Qp that goes over the new Ectoplasm Ritual which is a massive update for Ironmans. In this video despite him missing the new Necklace of Alteration (20% Output Increase) which he addresses in the comments, he explains what the expected output for Ectoplasm would be achievable for both Ironman and Main Accounts. For main accounts, I would still recommend checking this video out since this is a great new money maker if you still need to train Necromancy to 120.
Video Link
 
 

KBD on F2P with no Food

Void Delphox

Void is normally a speedrunner or building unique 1 defence accounts but in this video, they showcase their skill in beating the King Black Dragon in Free to Play without any food. This video came about when someone made a comment in their previous April Fools video claiming that KBD was harder than 4K enrage of Zamorak on a 42 defence account that he attempted to do.
Video Link
 
 

Let’s Talk About Necromancy’s Visual Design Part 1 – Ft. Several RS Content Creators

A C P L

A new format that A C P L, one of RS3’s prolific lorehound’s utilizes is this question and analysis format where he gets RS3 Content Creators to give their thoughts on the new Necromancy Visual Designs. The perspectives are fresh with a variety of viewpoints that analyze the color schemes and what they represent to the highest tier of necromancy gear not being able to be dyed for the initial few months upon release and various other necromancy design elements.
Video Link
 
 

Necromancer’s Guide to Solo Kalphite King

Raph, the Boy Genius

Raph is one of the premier PvM guru’s for RuneScape 3 who you can always catch streaming. In this video, the man showcases how to deal with the Kalphite King and every various phase and how to respond in those scenarios.
Video Link
 
 

NEW RUNESCAPE SKILL – Ultimate Benchsitting 1-99 Guide

AshShley

In this pun-tastic video AshShley goes over the iconic April Fools event of this year or in my opinion the best April Fools event we’ve ever had in RuneScape 3. If you missed it, that’s really unfortunate however this video is a great watch of what you missed in regard to the best new skill that was added to the game for a singular week. AshShley is generally known for her Totally Relatable Guides which is intended for the casual player so check out her channel for more silly puns and guides similar to this one.
Video Link
 
 

NEW SKILLCAPE – RuneScape

PolarizedMoon

In the previous video located above, I recommend AshShley’s guide but this video of PolarizedMoon where he naturally discovers the new skill is a joy to watch. PolarizedMoon normally plays RuneScape in a more casual style due to the variety of games he plays and posts on his channel. However, if you want to watch a lighthearted creator who isn’t all about efficiency and is just playing for fun, he is an excellent creator in this regards.
Video Link
 
 

Rat Tales Episode 2 – Jmod Azanna

Rat Cypher

A newer RuneScape 3 player, Rat Cypher has been consistently getting some amazing guests for his new podcast and this time he is joined by Jagex Moderator Azanna. Jmod Azanna is one of the backend Jagex Community Managers who deals with a lot of the Subcommunities of RuneScape 3. In this lengthy interview, Rat has taken multiple questions from the community that have been asked to Jmod Azanna despite Rat and Azanna going off random tangents for a good portion of the interview. Nonetheless, Jmod Azanna gives some very juicy answers and even some insights about the different RuneScape communities he interacts with daily.
Video Link
 
 

RS3 Journey of Taskman Micks #71 (#runescape 3 Taskman Mode)

MickeyThaGamer

In my last month compilation, I provided an introductory video that explained the rules of Taskman and now wanted to spotlight one of the premier Taskman players in MickeyThaGamer. Aiming for Rank 1 in Taskman mode, Mickey is on Episode 71 of the series where he’s reaching ever closer to top 50 Taskman ranks. He’s currently completed all the Beginner and Easy Tasks and now is chugging through the Medium tier hoping he doesn’t roll one of the extremely long grinds in this progression video.
Video Link
 
 

RuneScape’s BEST Skilling Aura: Jack Of Trades

IronArraxor

This really well edited video by IronArraxor is a return to form video which is him coming back to video posting due to a very busy initial few months of 2024. The video goes over the once highly controversial Jack of Trades Aura that a good percentage of the Ironman community heavily disliked. Despite this viewpoint, it has become an iconic daily that Mains and Ironmans utilize frequently and IronArraxor goes into full detail of what cost/input/reward of this amazing item. If you ever have long term plans for maxing in general, I would highly recommend checking this amazing guide video out.
Video Link
 
 

RuneScape Has Horror in it Now? – OSRS Player Returns to RS3: Episode 9

Topher

If you haven’t been following along Topher’s videos of his exploration of RuneScape 3 coming from OSRS then you have been missing out. In another great video comparing his experiences between both games where he has been exploring the modern version of the game without guides, he provides excellent commentary of both the great stuff and the flaws in the current game on a new account. In this particular video he goes through numerous quests with the highlight being the iconic Broken Homes quest in RuneScape 3.
Video Link
 
 

RuneScape in a nutshell

Rong Rong

Not a RuneScape 3 Content Creator however Rong Rong clearly plays the game and created this great animation about most of the iconic skills we have in RuneScape 3. This is an excellent video for sharing if you want to recommend RuneScape and then tell the person you’ll understand all the references after you play a bit.
Video Link
 
 

Runescape’s Newest Quest Reward Packs A Punch! Soul Ring Review

The RS Guy

A much simpler video compared to the massive video he released last month; The RS Guy reviews the new Necromancy ring and where it fits in the current meta of the game. The video also does a great explanation of what abilities it synergizes with and where you should utilize the ring to its full potential. Short and simple video but the synergizing component of the video is something that I think people need to watch since that mechanic is massive for Slayer grind in my personal opinion.
Video Link
 
 

SalamnderScape Rule the World

Elej

Elej is one of the leaders of the ScreenieScape community who has also previously been nominated multiple times for the Golden Gnome Awards. In this short video, she and the ScreenieScape community have taken over RuneScape as Salamanders! If you are interested in these fun activities, they are advertised on Discord and Twitter with large turnouts and often get noticed in the Weekly posts on the RuneScape website.
Video Link
 
 

Should YOU get BiS Melee? Runescape 3

FroggieGames

A follow-up from last month’s video is this great analysis of Melee by Froggie Games. In this video he does a great job of breaking up the core aspects of Melee and where it fits in the current meta of the Game. I think if you plan to return to this iconic combat style or had fond memories of the style you should watch this video.
Video Link
 
 

Slayer time… and we got lucky!! – Runescape Progress (#33)

Crunchie

I might have repeated this from last month too but for Slice of Life casual RuneScape 3 progression videos, Crunchie is at the best in this category for the content. She edits them really well, throws in a bunch of nice scenic shots of her real life and isn’t playing efficiencyscape. I recommend checking her content out simply to see the style of videos since they are a lot more unique than most other progression style videos.
Video Link
 
 

Telos Into [Animation]

PupRS

Experimenting in a different domain, this animation which was utilized in one of TheRSGuy’s videos is Pups first animation to date. Posted on Twitter or X initially, this hyped me up for the Telos Bossing video days before it was actually released by TheRSGuy. Normally Pup is a PvM and Clue Maestro but him exploring some new content for RuneScape 3 is awesome to see and I personally can’t wait to see his next animation.
Video Link
 
 

The “best” way to play RuneScape 3

Pixel Hippie

Most people who play Old School RuneScape know of the iconic UltraHardcore Ironman Mode or simply referred to UIM. In RuneScape 3 we do not have this game mode however the concept has been attempted by a few content creators which I have listed in my Content Creator List. Well let’s turn it up a notch and do it on a Controller is what Pixel has decided in his latest series. Watch his latest journey where he is restricted to his 28 inventory spaces and no bank access while he plays Controller the whole time.
Video Link
 
 

The FINAL upgrade for Best In Slot RANGED gear! Runescape Journey EP22

ChrisMelloRS

I will say out of this whole list, Chris has the best intros to his video uncontested. Every episode for this return to RuneScape series starts with a great short skit that really just makes the video enjoyable from the start of the episode. The content of the video showcases his experience with the progression of the game as a ironman and at the given moment his exploration into bossing with the Ranged style with the massive buffs the style had of late.
Video Link
 
 

This will be HUGE for prayer RS3 Hardcore Ep.16

IronCoachH

Someone mentioned in my last March post for this topic, to add folks with personality and IronCoachH exemplifies personality. This video showcases his progress for reaching the front page of the Hardcore Ironman HiScores and he narrates his progress over the course of the video. Unfortunately, he is months behind compared to his Twitch progress but even with his highly shortened videos you can see that exuberant personality he showcases on his Livestreams. He’s a solid fun watch especially if you ever have plans for how to progress a Hardcore Ironman.
Video Link
 
 

Tick Perfect – Beastmaster Durzag (Unbeatable)

I Dps

There are multiple versions of this same kill since this was done in a team which included Papa Dor, Unge Spiller, I Dps (video creator), GodHeOwnzzz, DePose, I Call Dibs, The Dig Site, Saltea, kyroh and Praesul. This video is a bit more detailed and well edited compared to the other viewpoints where the creator showcases the ability rotations, all the involved PvM’ers and how they actually achieved the feat in the video. If you are confused for what exactly they accomplished in the video, the basic explanation is that they mechanically beat the boss in the fastest game time possible due to the new Melee changes as a result of the latest Combat Changes. If you are wanting to see different viewpoints, nearly all of these folks have posted videos on their own channel.
Video Link
 
 

Vorkath’s Fall – RuneScape 3 Music

Yann

I am unfortunately one of those people who grew up playing the game in silence because I would be sneaking onto the computer to be playing RuneScape. However, I regret it heavily because I never really valued the amazing Original Sound Tracks that Jagex has created for RuneScape until I got much older. Yann who compiles all the original sound tracks that Jagex produces posts it on his channel for anyone wanting to relisten to them independently. This particular video is the soundtrack of the most iconic part of the new Requiem For A Dragon quest and is a must listen for anyone who hasn’t listened to it yet. On their channel you can find 3 other tracks from the quest that are also worth a listen.
Video Link
 
 

What to do after getting Membership

Protoxx

A voice that most people are familiar with, Protoxx made this great video for how to utilize your membership if you have bought Membership recently. Its an excellent watch or share if you have any new friends or have started up again in a long time. One of the things that he mentions as his first big topic which I am going to repeat too, is that make sure you make a plan. The game has a lot of content and it can overwhelm you so making small goals, long goals or any particularly
Video Link
 
 

Older Videos and Special Shoutout Videos

So, I lied that I won’t be posting videos before March, I keep finding older videos that are a gem and should be watched due to the amazing content that the Content Creator has produced. If I find anything in the previous months I will post it below.
 
 

5 Biggest Nerfs in RuneScape History

LOLjerel

Hola Muchacho is how we get introduced to Mr Jerel. With great editing and funny commentary, Jerel goes into an excellent overview of some of the biggest PvM nerfs in RuneScape 3’s history. It’s a very fun short video that you can easily share the video in all the RuneScape chats to get a conversation going.
Video Link
 
 

The Dragon Mattock grind begins… Legalocked #12 – Legacy Locked Ironman RS3

Rheyo RS

I do not know how I missed Rheyo’s iconic Legacy Locked account video from last month, but it deserves to be on the list. This series focuses on utilizing the classical combat style that most people know vividly of due to Old School RuneScape or anyone who played Pre-2012. In this well edited series, the man explores some of the hardest bossing challenges which utilizes Legacy Necromancy and the other legacy styles as an Ironman. In this particular video he’s started his long grind at Big Game Hunter without the Surge or Dive abilities which is honestly fun and impressive to watch. He’s hinted in his latest social media posts that he did something crazy in the month of April for the account but he hasn’t posted the video yet, but if you know what he has hinted the next video should be amazing.
Video Link
 
 

The Pain is Almost OVER Extreme Chunk Locked Ironman Episode 17

Chunk Yony

This iconic series known as Extreme Chunk Locked Ironman in Old School RuneScape by Limpwurt has been attempted in RuneScape 3. Follow the journey of Chunk Yony who as a student is still producing this unique series in his free time in his attempt to conquer all the Chunks in RuneScape 3. What is a Chunk? Well RuneScape was designed in memory fragments which consisted of a size of 150 game tiles by 150 game tiles which is a total of 22,500 game tiles. This account restricts itself based on these chunks that the game was designed around in that you can only progress after completing all the things available in that chunk that are possible. I know he has a newer episode released but this older video better represents the content he has been producing.
Video Link
 
 

RuneScape 3, But My Combat Only is Being Followed #5

Lyfe

More notable for his Old School RuneScape series, Lyfe has still created one of the best unique account builds in RuneScape 3 with this Combat Only Ironman. In this particular video, you see some of the theorycrafting him and his buddies do to unlock very niche but big upgrades for the account. He has access to the shops for this Combat Only Ironman which is a bit different than the other RS3 Combat Only Ironman and he showcases how he utilizes the Shops to his advantage. I personally think he does an excellent job on editing, showcasing his progress compared to the last video and future goals really well and I think if you plan to watch this, you should actually start from the start of the series to understand how he built this fun account.
Video Link
 
 
If you think I missed any other videos, feel free to post them down below in the comments.

Story time:
When we get fast food, our 7yo prefers the cheeseburger kids meals/happy meals. Sometimes he wants a second burger, which leads to me going "Cheeseburger, cheeseburger." It's a reference to this classic SNL skit from 40+ years ago. I showed it to him yesterday for the first time, and the reaction was quite muted. "Is this a real restaurant? Or is it a movie?" Well... sighhhhh.
That got me thinking: are there great SNL skits that are good for kids? Obviously nothing too raunchy or explicit. Our little dude is pretty clever, but I also don't want to break any beliefs in Santa / Easter Bunny etc. (The Oscar Isaac PAW Patrol bit from a few years ago would be perfect for when his younger sisters finally stop watching that show)
Maybe I'll show him Little Chocolate Donuts next, or More Cowbell.

Source https://www.newsweek.com/kate-middleton-conspiracy-theorists-america-cancer-poll-1888299
"59 percent of U.S. adults felt public figures and famous names who made jokes about the issue before the announcement should now say sorry." After Colbert and Andy Cohen walked back their skeptical comments about Kate's disappearance, other influential people (looking at you, Jon Stewart) are now most likely wary of questioning publicly what's going on.
Also in the poll: "77 percent had heard at least something about the issue. Of those, 23 percent were very familiar, 26 percent were fairly familiar and 28 percent were slightly familiar with the details."
77 percent of the US population is 258 million people. 23 percent, those "very familiar" with the Kate saga, is 77 million people. Hopefully they'll stay interested.

Kate Middleton Conspiracy Theorists Have Lost America
by Jack Royston
Published Apr 09, 2024 at 8:08 AM EDT, Updated Apr 09, 2024 at 8:32 AM EDT
Celebrities who joked about Kate Middleton being "missing" prior to her cancer announcement should apologize, almost two thirds of Americans believe.
Stephen Colbert, Andy Cohen and Kim Kardashian were among those to join in the social media trend before Kate's shock revelation that she had been undergoing chemotherapy.
Exclusive polling for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton shows 59 percent of U.S. adults felt public figures and famous names who made jokes about the issue before the announcement should now say sorry.
This compares to 9 percent who disagreed, 24 percent who neither agreed nor disagreed and 10 percent who did not know. The data is based on a representative sample of 4,000 U.S. adults polled in April.
In a further boost to the Princess of Wales, 52 percent felt the palace should not release more information about her cancer diagnosis compared to 21 who felt they should and 28 percent who did not know.
Kate had abdominal surgery on January 16, after which Kensington Palace said she would be off work until after Easter.
However, when no pictures or videos were released, a major viral trend on X, formerly Twitter, emerged suggesting Kate was "missing."
This led to increasingly wild conspiracy theories about her absence from public life which were then turbo charged by a Mother's Day picture of the princess and her children released by the palace which showed signs of extensive editing.
Kate acknowledged editing the picture and apologized. When the conspiracy theories continued to escalate she announced that her health problem had been subsequently diagnosed as cancer.
The royals have still not revealed Kate's original diagnosis, nor the type with which she was diagnosed. Her announcement said she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
Following her emotional video message, there was a backlash against celebrities who took part in the trend, including Stephen Colbert, who had made jokes about Prince William having an affair.
The comedian used a segment on The Late Show to reference rumors that dated back to 2019 and had been denied by the palace at the time.
After Kate's announcement, he stopped short of a full apology, but acknowledged the skit had breached his own personal ethical code.
"For the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton's disappearance from public life, and two weeks ago we did some jokes about that mystery and all the attendant froo-frah in the reporting about that.
"When I made those jokes, that upset some people and, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that.
"I mean, a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past, and I'm sure some of my jokes will upset people in the future. But, there's a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else's tragedy.
"I and everyone here at The Late Show would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough," he added.
British tabloid The Sun published a video of William and Kate visiting Windsor Farm Shop, near their home, leading to conspiracy theories that the footage was faked.
Andy Cohen posted "that ain't Kate" on social media but later acknowledged his mistake during his Radio Andy show on SiriusXM 102: "I just want to say I am heartbroken by the news about Princess Kate.
"I think someone on Sky News called me a 'numpty' during that whole conversation and they were right and of course I wish I had kept my mouth shut."
Kim Kardashian had written "on my way to go find Kate" in a jokey Instagram post and then faced calls for an apology on social media and from British newspapers.
In a sign of how far the discussion of Kate's health has spread through America, 77 percent had heard at least something about the issue. Of those, 23 percent were very familiar, 26 percent were fairly familiar and 28 percent were slightly familiar with the details.
And 45 percent felt she handled the announcement well, while 8 percent felt she handled it badly and 35 percent answered neither well nor badly. Eleven percent did not know.
Meanwhile, 27 percent felt the media handled the story respectfully compared to 24 percent who felt the coverage was disrespectful. A further 26 percent felt news stories were neither respectful nor disrespectful and 24 percent did not know.
Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London.

Hey all, check out my video on Transformer 2019 Reissue Optimus Prime.
https://youtu.be/dUWymBm6XQU
Check it out on Youtube, please leave a comment for the almighty algorithm!
Had some fun making this one, some easter eggs in the opening skit. Leave some comments on the video!
Featuring Friendo and great guy u/dr_lockdown

My friends and I love VLDL. Especially the NPC Man DND stuff. I run a game of DND for my friends and might have recently put the Watcher as an Easter Egg into our campaign. In the process of doing this, I got to thinking. What would the Watcher look like as a DND character?
So I went back through the NPC man skits and came up with a workable build.
What we do know about the Watcher aside from being a legendary hero is that he spends the night sitting motionless/meditating. He is however not an elf.
Has access to some mind-control magic, that does not work very long.
We see him dual-wield longswords once.
He uses potions and oils to buff his damage. (I mean the Watcher is a spoof of the Witcher. So makes sense.)
He can defeat Hydras, Dragons, and Orc armies on his own.
So here is my idea for the Watcher:
Race: Human but with the Reborn Lineage from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. The Reborn Lineage does also not need to sleep but spends its long rest in a motionless but aware state.
The background is a Folk Hero. As part of it, you get access to one set of artisans' tools, and that includes Alchemist tools to make potions and oils.
And as for classes, I would think Ranger (Hunter) 12/Warlock 8 (Hexblade) works. Hexblade allows the Watcher to wield all his weapons with Charisma. And Hunter Ranger gets the Multiattack features Volley or Whirlwind attack at level 11. I know we don’t see the Watcher using a bow, but who says he can't? In any event between Whirlwind, Attack, and Hordebreaker from Hunter he should be able to slice through many weaker enemies in melee in one go. Especially since Hordebreaker works with Blade cantrips and we do get those from Warlock.
We can use Ranger spells like Plant Growth and Spike Growth to build obstacles for an Orc Army. Pass without a Trace can help sneak around them to pick them off.
This can be helped by Warlock Spells like Sickening Radiance or Hallucinatory Terrain.
Warlock also allows us to pick up Charm Monster to keep annoying muggers out of our way and more important Charm Monster. Ancient Dragons and Hydras are not immune to the charmed condition. All we need to do is burn the Dragon's Legendary Resistances with lower-level spells and then lead them into our trap with Charm Monster. Which can be trapping them in a cave and
Warlock Invocation like Wrathful Smite can help bring a flying dragon down into a possible trap. And Ranger Spells like Protection from Energy or Elemental Weapon can be useful to fight a dragon.
Another helpful spell against big targets might be Phantasmal Killer. Allowing us to work around the big dragon fighting against an imaginary enemy, while we set our ambush or take potshots.
Pick up the Dual Wielder feat somewhere and bump up Charisma to 20. If you have access to the Tasha’s optional Ranger features, this gets even better.
Other Warlock invocations like Sculptor of Flesh allow us to Polymorph into big creatures like Giant Apes, helping us take on what is left of a possible horde of orcs after funneling them threw our Spike Growths and Hullicinatory Terrains.
Or we can pick up Tomb of Levistus to counteract bigger hits.
I know a straight-class Hexblade could also work. But I think taking favored enemies humanoids, Orks, and humans as well as dragons to cover our bases of fighting dragons, orks and human muggers is just too damn fitting.

Greetings, Huntsmen, Huntresses, and gender neutral Hunters! Welcome to another week of writing prompts! If you are new here, this is a community-driven weekly event, and the purpose is primarily to generate creativity and have fun while doing so (whether you are a 100% real-meat person or not, we don't judge).

What will be involved Special Note for Spoilers!:

Each week, three RWBY-related topics will be posted (subject to ties and special events!). Participants can write a short piece of fiction or dialogue based on that prompt. When writing, the suggestion is to aim for 1k-3k words, however, this is not a requirement. There is no goal - this is not a popularity contest - just write and have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)
SPOILERS:
Reminder that the spoiler embargo for Volume 9 and the Justice League movie has been lifted! You are all now free to make posts about the two without needing to spoiler tag it.

Rules (gore, NSFW, spoilers etc.)

The rules are the same as the sub's posting guidelines. Nobody here wants to see your story taken down, so please refer to them before contributing! If someone chooses to ignore these rules, the post will be removed.

Additional information

Pre-writing is welcome! /rwbyprompts is a sub with writing as a focus - there you will find an archive of all the threads as well as a somewhat fleshed-out wiki with odds and ends. :) A detailed spreadsheet of WPW things is here! Keep in mind that this houses a lot of the old prompts, but it also has links and things like early participation to previous WPW threads. We're trying this whole week-to-week thing in the face of the bajillion prompts we had built up. We might do something with them, or people might cycle them back in, who knows what could happen??
Find us on Discord at The Qrow's Nest! The permanent invite has been deleted due to Discord bot shenanigans, so dm shand if you want an invite!

The Prompts!:

• Pyrrha's diary gets lost. She tears apart the campus to find it before anyone can see the love letters she wrote to Jaune.
• Adam has been inexplicably forced by Trifa to act as Martows bodyguard!
• After being attacked by the Ace-Ops, Ruby's Group gets help from an unlikely ally: General Ironwood from an alternate timeline.
• Zwei narrates his life as if he's in a film noir.

Optional prompts that must be combined with one or more of the above:

• Salem finally reveals her weapon. It's a golden fiddle. That is also a gun.
• Adam gives Jacques a piece of his mind in the afterlife.
• A faction from Warhammer 40k finds Remnant.
• A crossover based off of Batman vs TMNT, but RWBY replaces one side. (Either Batman vs RWBY or RWBY vs TMNT).
• "If no friend, why so friend-shaped?"
• Ruby is a disney princess that constantly bursts out into musical numbers, and somehow ends up being successful because of them.
• At "The House" in Mistral, RNJR, Qrow and OscaOz are constantly harassed by nosy annoying neighbors.
• The gods have returned to make Remnant whole again! Just as soon as they wipe out those things called Faunus they accidentally made.
• Sun and Ilia respond to the fact that Blake and Yang are a couple.
• RWBY, if written by Hideaki Anno.
• Tyrian is saved by Salem from a freakshow before the events of the show.
• Yang doesn't successfully block Adam's attack, and Blake sees everything!

Next Week's Poll:

The Poll!

Previously, on Writing Prompt Wednesday:

The thread
The Prompts:

• Ruby's Silver Eyes activating when fighting the Nightmare caused a slight problem when they returned to the real world. Specifically, Nega-Weiss and Nega-Blake exist in the real world and are separate entities from Weiss and Blake now.
• How did you join a terrorist group on accident?
• Everyone's weapons suddenly became sentient and gained the ability to talk. Hilarity Ensues.

Alternate-Secondary Prompts:

• The Life and Times of a Grimm Armed Yang and Hound Ruby.
• Remnant is invaded by a villainous sci fi faction (eg: the Sith, the Romulans), then later liberated by an heroic one (eg: the Jedi, the Federation).
• Ruby invites Penny to watch Star Wars… and finds out that Penny gets PTSD from the phrase “Good soldiers follow orders”
• Ruby is the big sister in her relationship with a younger Yang...
• A balance patch comes to Remnant: + Grimm become half-size or smaller & proportionally weaker. - Grimm (non-alpha variants) are more numerous.
• "No Valean can ever refuse a request on their daughter's wedding day."
• Now that Weiss has been turned into a reluctant vampire, the rest of team RWBY needs to talk her into feeding on them or else she'd starve.
• There's a new hit musical in town. Grimm is a musical where all the Jellical Grimm get together and sing about why they hate humans. Produced by Salem.
• Weiss discovers that she can't actually sing and all her life her father had simply dubbed over her performances.
• Team RWBY and JNPR are sent back in time in an accident. They find that Jaune's childhood and family were a far cry from healthy.
• A comedy skit with the different Grimm as characters with different personalities as they discuss about their life and interactions with the Human/Faunus characters of RWBY.
• Qrow and Winter secretly monitor Team RWBY by way of a secret camera over the dorm’s door. What they see one day when Ruby and Weiss stay in the dorm for a while shocks them.
• Jaune has been murdered. And everyone in RWBY and NPR is a suspect.

Upcoming Events:

New Year, new events! Easter, Spring Break, and eventually the 4th, all closer than you think!

Important Stuff and Things!

I have managed to rescue /RWBYFanfiction from an untimely demise! If you would like to share your fanfic or make recommendations, head on over there! I know that I've said something special was coming for this, but Ruby on Rails is hard and not cheap to operate. The fanfiction indexer that I was trying to set up just isn't working and probably needs someone with more experience in RoR programming/design. I haven't completely put it to bed, but it might be a while before I can circle back to it. In the meantime, the fanfic sub has actually had a decent amount of postings - head on over and say hi! :)
No matter how bad things may get, words will always have meaning. Now get out there and write something, but most importantly, have fun! :)

This could be 100% coincidental and even if it isn't, it's very specific.
So I recently fought the guy and one of his attack quotes is "I hope you get the point!" or something very much like that. Being a simple man, I thought of this immediately, because I really like the guy and his skits. It just seems like too specific a line in a context where it's not exactly natural.
I'm just asking here, not making any claims - though I do hope that if this is true then the easter egg collectors will be happier for it.

Greetings, Huntsmen, Huntresses, and gender neutral Hunters! Welcome to another week of writing prompts! If you are new here, this is a community-driven weekly event, and the purpose is primarily to generate creativity and have fun while doing so (whether you are a 100% real-meat person or not, we don't judge).

What will be involved Special Note for Spoilers!:

Each week, three RWBY-related topics will be posted (subject to ties and special events!). Participants can write a short piece of fiction or dialogue based on that prompt. When writing, the suggestion is to aim for 1k-3k words, however, this is not a requirement. There is no goal - this is not a popularity contest - just write and have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)
SPOILERS:
Reminder that the spoiler embargo for Volume 9 and the Justice League movie has been lifted! You are all now free to make posts about the two without needing to spoiler tag it.

Rules (gore, NSFW, spoilers etc.)

The rules are the same as the sub's posting guidelines. Nobody here wants to see your story taken down, so please refer to them before contributing! If someone chooses to ignore these rules, the post will be removed.

Additional information

Pre-writing is welcome! /rwbyprompts is a sub with writing as a focus - there you will find an archive of all the threads as well as a somewhat fleshed-out wiki with odds and ends. :) A detailed spreadsheet of WPW things is here! Keep in mind that this houses a lot of the old prompts, but it also has links and things like early participation to previous WPW threads. We're trying this whole week-to-week thing in the face of the bajillion prompts we had built up. We might do something with them, or people might cycle them back in, who knows what could happen??
Find us on Discord at The Qrow's Nest! The permanent invite has been deleted due to Discord bot shenanigans, so dm shand if you want an invite!

The Prompts!:

• Ruby's Silver Eyes activating when fighting the Nightmare caused a slight problem when they returned to the real world. Specifically, Nega-Weiss and Nega-Blake exist in the real world and are separate entities from Weiss and Blake now.
• How did you join a terrorist group on accident?
• Everyone's weapons suddenly became sentient and gained the ability to talk. Hilarity Ensues.

Optional prompts that must be combined with one or more of the above:

• The Life and Times of a Grimm Armed Yang and Hound Ruby.
• Remnant is invaded by a villainous sci fi faction (eg: the Sith, the Romulans), then later liberated by an heroic one (eg: the Jedi, the Federation).
• Ruby invites Penny to watch Star Wars… and finds out that Penny gets PTSD from the phrase “Good soldiers follow orders”
• Ruby is the big sister in her relationship with a younger Yang...
• A balance patch comes to Remnant: + Grimm become half-size or smaller & proportionally weaker. - Grimm (non-alpha variants) are more numerous.
• "No Valean can ever refuse a request on their daughter's wedding day."
• Now that Weiss has been turned into a reluctant vampire, the rest of team RWBY needs to talk her into feeding on them or else she'd starve.
• There's a new hit musical in town. Grimm is a musical where all the Jellical Grimm get together and sing about why they hate humans. Produced by Salem.
• Weiss discovers that she can't actually sing and all her life her father had simply dubbed over her performances.
• Team RWBY and JNPR are sent back in time in an accident. They find that Jaune's childhood and family were a far cry from healthy.
• A comedy skit with the different Grimm as characters with different personalities as they discuss about their life and interactions with the Human/Faunus characters of RWBY.
• Qrow and Winter secretly monitor Team RWBY by way of a secret camera over the dorm’s door. What they see one day when Ruby and Weiss stay in the dorm for a while shocks them.
• Jaune has been murdered. And everyone in RWBY and NPR is a suspect.

Next Week's Poll:

The Poll!

Previously, on Writing Prompt Wednesday:

The thread
The Prompts:

• It turns out Raven’s a very loving mother when she’s completely hammered. Too bad she’s doting on the wrong daughter.
• Ruby Can't stop redeeming villians, it's becoming a problem.
• Mercury's secret hobby no one ever must be allowed to find out about.

Alternate-Secondary Prompts:

• Every named character can hear the RWBY OST when they fight. They didn't pick the songs, but they still play loud and clear.
• Weiss ends up leading a coup from the comfort of her own room.
• The children of the RWBY cast shippings talk about the adventures of their parents the Salem War in the future version of Beacon Academy. (humor optional)
• Penny gets to come back, but Roman and Adam tag along Ozpin style.
• Emerald is arrested for a jewellery theft. The problem? She’s actually innocent!
• Insert this line in your prompt: "Clip it!"
• Team JNPR didn't always get along!
• "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes."
• Cinder happens to find a Scythe-Wielding Silver Eyed Warrior while looking for the fall maiden.
• How did Mercury and Emerald become friends?
• Ruby's hunt for the perfect strawberry!
• "With weapons in hand, we declare our intentions for peace."
• Weiss receives help from her distant cousin, Irisveil von Einzbern.

Upcoming Events:

New Year, new events! Valentines, Easter, Spring Break, all closer than you think!

Important Stuff and Things!

I have managed to rescue /RWBYFanfiction from an untimely demise! If you would like to share your fanfic or make recommendations, head on over there! I know that I've said something special was coming for this, but Ruby on Rails is hard and not cheap to operate. The fanfiction indexer that I was trying to set up just isn't working and probably needs someone with more experience in RoR programming/design. I haven't completely put it to bed, but it might be a while before I can circle back to it. In the meantime, the fanfic sub has actually had a decent amount of postings - head on over and say hi! :)
No matter how bad things may get, words will always have meaning. Now get out there and write something, but most importantly, have fun! :)

Yuju recently celebrated entering her third year as a soloist. And that’s a good excuse to revisit and reflect on all the great stuff she’s brought us so far. If you don't happen to know who she is, she was the main vocalist in GFRIEND. And also a prolific OST singer with roughly 17 OSTs to her name. Her most successful being Spring Is Gone By Chance, and In The Mood For Dancing. Since GFRIEND’s unfortunate disbandment however, she’s been signed as a soloist under Kang Daniel’s Konnect Entertainment.
As much as I miss GFRIEND, Yuju's music releases since going solo have been the best band-aid possible for that particular wound. And has somehow become my favorite thing in kpop. It's been shockingly good! Between awesome vocal showcases, really fun collabs, and two incredibly cohesive albums, I've been blown away by it all. It seems like Konnect was indeed the right home for her. They've let her take complete charge of her own music, and have trusted her to compose and write a lot of her own material, and the result has been .. so damn good.
So wanted to do a little mini-spotlight about her music to celebrate, going through all her major releases the past 2 years! Hope you take the time to check out some of her stuff!

Solo releases:

1st EP: REC

She came in the door like a hurricane with her debut EP. Play was a dark and sultry song, showcasing much of her impressive and unique vocal range and flavours, and weaving in traditional korean elements like gayageum instrumentals, and modernized hanboks in the MV.
The whole EP was themed around anger and hurt cooling off into acceptance. Red fading into blue. The theme was visually represented with a gradient between the two colors, and and the track list. From the fiery red, rocky Bad Blood, into the soft, somber ballad Blue Nostalgia. Also reflected in the two album versions, Take 1 and Take 2, each based around one of the colors. It's hard not to think the album is about - at least in part - the hurt from the abrupt end to GFRIEND, and the callous and cold treatment she and her groupmates received from their company. As the album progresses though, the sentiment shifts from anger and hurt to reflection about the good times.
Track List:

• 1: Bad Blood (Intro)
• 2: Play (title)
• 3: Cold Winter (ft. Mad Clown)
• 4: The Killa
• 5: Blue Nostalgia

For the album, she got to work with two different veteran producer teams. The western MZMC and his crew, and Konnect's inhouse producers Chancellor (one half of Duble Sidekick) and Purple. The MZMC team has since taken Yuju on as a lyricist, although she's only worked on one external project with them so far. She co-compose all the tracks on the album sans one, and co-wrote the lyrics for everything. Cold Winter in particular was mainly penned by Yuju, and was something she started during her time in GFRIEND - but she had good help by Chancellor with polishing it, and arranging the final song. We've seen some great footage of Chancellor guiding her to nail down her vision. She also brought in rapper Mad Clown as a feature, to represent the other character in the song's story. She had previously worked with him once in a stage performance of Mad Clown's Fire. Yuju had mentioned wanting to collab with rappers before, and it's something she's continued after. Some other notable things from this album are:

• The lethal performance video for The Killa.
• The ballad version of Play from Begin Again

1st Single: Evening (ft. BIG Naughty)

Next up was the soft and chill summertime digital single Evening, about the start of a new romance. Again with a new rapper collab. Not too much to say about this one, but it's sorta funny that the first time Yuju and Naughty met in person, was minutes before their It's Live stage. The nervous energy is palpable, and really cute.

2nd EP: O

Her second EP was a softer, more emotional look back at her years in the music field since debut, and her relationship with singing, and music in general. The album opens with the former, with the soft semi-acoustic track 9 Years, speaking about her journey since debut. The latter is mainly explored in the powerful title track ballad Without U, in an allegory of a relationship. And the album closes out with the happy, chanty sing-along song Full Circle. It's a very honest and heartfelt album on the whole, with more really impressive vocal performances. The MV also had many fun and sweet little easter-eggs to read into for GFRIEND fans.
Track List:

• 1: 9 Years
• 2: Without U (title)
• 3: Dreaming
• 4: Peach Blossom (ft. Sokodomo)
• 5: Full Circle

For her second album outing, she penned 2 of the songs on her own, co-composed 1 other, and was the sole lyricist on the album, except for Sokodomo's rap part. She did a short stint of music show promotions, with Peach Blossom as the promoted bside. Sokodomo even turned up on stage! With some light 'flirty choreo' which got Yuju scolded by GFRIEND group mate SinB. Again she worked with the MZMC crew, who composed Without U and Dreaming. Konnect seem comfortable with using them, but between her and Kang Daniel's music, they have offered a lot of variety, and it's been working wonders so far. So I certainly wouldn't mind them coming back in the future (even as someone who started out luke-warm to seeing their names in the track list). Some other things worth mentioning are:

• Her soft Asian Spotlight performance video of 9 Years, with her on guitar
• The solo version of Peach Blossom from Picnic Live
• Full Circle from Picnic Live
• The Peach Blossom Art Film

2nd Single: DALALA

Her latest solo release was a lot more light and fun, even with a charming little mid-video skit in the MV. DALALA was a song that came to her walking around Gangnam Station, based on the snippets of songs you'll hear when passing by. The song is about being more carefree, and losing yourself in the music. The song wasn't promoted much beyond it's dance challenge, but received a proper full choreo this winter (along with Peach Blossom). We even got her first official dance practice video. A bit of an unorthodox way to go about it, but it feels like Konnect is testing the waters and trying different things. She got producing help on the track by Shintaro Yasuda, who also worked on Full Circle. He actually recently turned up to her solo stage in K-PLAY! FEST in LA! Which I think is the first time in about a year we saw her hold a proper solo concert. And she killed it. A cool tidbit from this era is how much Heize loved and praised the song. Her and Yuju have since been in talks about collabing. The thought of that makes my knees weak.

Special singles, collabs, features and OSTs:

That's it for her main solo releases, but there's been other stuff too! She's stayed busy with extra-projects as well, and I feel they should be mentioned! I have less to say about these though.
She's released 2 singles as part of different music projects. First, a remake of By Your Side for CYWORLD in 2021. Then later on, the tropical EDM track Rewind for the Plus Memory Project last fall.
There's also been some collabing. First off, she released Happiness Index with singer Lee Woo. A really fun and chirpy duet, where she showcases some bright vocals, and gorgeous harmonies between the two. More recently she teamed up with producer PATEKO for the music project COMPLIT, where they held a contest to find their feature artist. In the end, singer I'MIN won, and they released the full version of the song. The two of them also met up at Dingo to perform together.
She's also had 2 features. I suppose the first one was right before she signed with connect, but I'm including it anyway. She sang the hook for Sane's So Silly. And more recently she featured with a little verse in the latter half of Babylon's Destiny.

Recent OSTs:

The majority of her OST work is from her GFRIEND time (she did 3 with the group too), but she's been really active since going solo too.

• Stay (Prod. by Jinyoung) (Police University (Police Class) OST Part.5)
• My Americano (Kiss Sixth Sense OST Part 1)
• Paradise (NEXON CLOSERS OST)
• Real Love (Love In Contract OST)
• My Whole World Is You (The Story Of Park's Marriage Contract OST)

In addition to that, she did the OST for a stage play by LOTTE, called Magic Matches & Dreaming Nights. Sadly they haven't released it online, but you can hear the audio here. But most important is her OST for My Chilling Roommate, Tell Me This Is Real which was the theme of GFRIEND leader Sowon's character in her acting debut. The showrunner originally asked Sowon to sing her own theme, but she requested Yuju do it. Which was such a precious interaction - and turned out so good.

Covers:

Lastly.. I want to mention her covers. Because the woman goes all out, and it's such a treat every time. We don't get a ton of them, but it feels like an event whenever we do. The polish on these first 3 are just crazy.

• Out Of Time (orig. The Weeknd)
• Yoru Ni Kakeru (orig. YOASOBI). She tried to stare unnervingly into the camera to match the mood of the song, and later laughed about how she overdid it a bit. The woman. Does. Not. Blink.
• Santa Tell Me (orig. Ariana Grande

She's released some 'lower effort' covers and snippets too. She sang Newjean's DITTO on instagram, and later on performed it on Picnic Live along with NOEL. They also performed AKMU's Nakka together on that show. Another great live music show she went on was Begin Again, where she performed two duets: I Don't Love You (with Tei) and The Meaning Of You (with Na Yoon Kwon). She also sang IVE's After LIKE, and the Play ballad version linked up above. Lastly, she did a short vocal challenge video to DAWN's Dear My Light. Which I can't convey in words how much I want a full cover of. I mean just.. aah. It's actually tragic.
That's about it! Just some gushing about music I love! Now this just went through the stuff she’s done since disbandment. There’s plenty more. If you’re at all intrigued, there’s a more extensive list at the Yuju wiki page, where it also links to her work with GFRIEND.
I feel like her third album isn't that far off now. And more than ever I'm excited to see what's coming. It could potentially be time for her studio album. She's gotten close to 2NE1's Minzy. And then there's the potential Heize collab. We've also only had male rapper collabs yet, so maybe it's time to get a woman on board! Who knows, maybe that's coming up too? And with Rec and O being such wildly different albums, and the two singles also being opposites, it's hard to speculate what she'll do next.
Whatever it is, man alive am I ready for it.

Warning: This includes major spoilers for everything related to the Unboxing Ring, including the Blu-Ray commentary.
After listening to the Unboxing Ring 6 commentary track, I felt that it was worth revisiting some of the stuff in the Tylerverse, and laying out my theories on the surreal/supernatural/cryptic elements in it.
For anyone unaware, there are also some videos on Youtube that are significant parts of Tyler's story, but aren't on the Blu-Ray. I think these were excluded intentionally, as part of a larger narrative, and that the Blu-Ray itself is a critical part of the Unboxing Ring canon.
Over the last four days, I've gradually rewatched key moments of the Unboxing Ring, the Blu-Ray, and the supplemental Personal Channel videos. I've tried to give this some structure, but I wrote the analysis while I watched and rewatched, so it was hard to keep everything consistent and concise.
It's longwinded, some parts of it read like fanfiction, and some parts are probably contradictory or obviously wrong, but I just wanted to get something out there. Here's hoping someone gets something out of it.

Links:

• Playlist with the most relevant videos
• Spreadsheet of relevant videos and information
• Much longer playlist providing additional context (This is meant to recreate the experience of watching the Personal Channels casually, and not knowing ahead of time when a video will tie into the Unboxing Ring saga. It includes context for some inside jokes, important Mega64 moments, subtle things referenced in Unboxing Ring videos, and some other unrelated personal channel series.)

Summary

On the surface, The Unboxing Ring is a series about a failing Youtube series, and people yelling at each other. The series finale, episode 6, gives additional context to Tyler's backstory and home life, and offers some small revelations about the character Max. In the flashback, Tyler's father mentions the series Street Meals, created by Tyler's cousin.
All the Mega64 members have personal Youtube channels where they upload vlogs and short entertaining videos. Sometimes those short videos turn into long-running series, usually iterating on a simple theme. Unboxing Ring and Street Meals are both on Rocco Botte's Youtube channel.
Shawn's channel, yosemiteland, has a series called Academy of Pronunciation. In the finale of this series, Shawn's character (I'll call him AP for short) confronts Tyler. At the end of this confrontation, Tyler somehow traps AP in the video "Street Meals #9", uploaded 4 years earlier.
Over the next 5 years, we get a followup video called "Grill" where a man confronts Tyler's parents and it's revealed that he died, a video called "Online Video Content Creator REWIND" where we see the final video uploaded on his channel, and the Unboxing Ring Blu-Ray, with bonus episode Derrick, and Tyler's commentary on UR1-6.
Starting with the end of UR6, Rocco starts introducing thematic and mysterious elements to this universe with a lot more structure. That's the main thing that elevates UR from a funny show about people yelling at each other to something with some serious artistic merit.
When analyzing this, it helps to consider the media that Rocco's praised over the years. Intentional or not, I think there are elements of Evangelion, Twin Peaks, The Matrix, Lost, The Sopranos, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory all influencing the themes and the supernatural content of those more structured videos.

Release Timeline

The gradual crossover of Academy of Pronunciation to Rocco's channel is a critical piece of this puzzle that some people probably overlook. This is where the spreadsheet above becomes important. I've included the release dates of all videos in the three main series, and the supplemental videos.
On the spreadsheet, I wanted to have some clear indication of the release window for each batch of videos, so I put a red line to separate each year. Yellow rows are critical videos to the Unboxing Ring, and grey ones are Pronunciation videos on Rocco's channel, except the finale, which I put in yellow.
Here's the breakdown:

• Unboxing Ring comes out from 2010-2013.
• Street Meals comes out in sets of 3 videos: Twice in 2010, then 2013, then 2015.
• Academy of Pronunciation starts in 2011-2012 on Shawn's channel.
• After Unboxing Ring Finale in 2013, Street Meals 7-9 air, #9 featuring AP (released on Shawn's IRL wedding anniversary).
• Academy of Pronunciation continues after this in 2013-2014, but now some of them are going up on Rocco's channel instead of Shawn's.
• Academy of Pronunciation resurfaces in 2017, once on Shawn's channel, then with the last two episodes on Rocco's.
• Grill comes out in 2018.
• Online Video Content Creator REWIND comes out in 2021.
• Unboxing Ring Blu-Ray is released in 2023.

With all that out of the way, let's start unboxing the Unboxing Ring.

"UNBOXING RING" #6: SERIES FINALE

At the end of each Unboxing Ring episode, Tyler would ask a character named Max if the camera's been on the whole time. In Unboxing Rings 2-5, Tyler is then edited into some sort of frantic nonsensical ending clip. In order, these were:

• Rocco's video "Green Screen"
• A parody of low-quality "wanna see me turn into a Super Saiyan" VFX tests
• The video "Yo my name is saad, I don't give a fuck."
• A music video cutting between clips of Tyler freaking out and a shot of Michael Moore winning the 2002 Best Documentary feature for Bowling for Columbine, edited using Harmonix's 2011 iPhone music video app "VidRhythm"

At the end of Episode 6, Tyler declares that he's done making videos. He throws out the camera, runs through a forest, and trips and passes out. He wakes up at home, cleaned up, sees Max, and tells them to go away. After a flashback of Tyler's family, he finds the camera and the tree (which had gone missing in that episode) with a note reading "I always believed you". He goes to Max's car and the two of them start to drive off, but stop to go back and get the tree.
Tyler's flashback gives a lot of insight into his self-esteem issues and motivation. It establishes the Unboxing Ring fights as a sort of passed-down trauma, something ever-present in his life that he then vents and passes to others. The camera Tyler threw out (recovered by Max) is probably the one mentioned in this flashback, an expensive gift from his uncle, which adds some extra weight to Tyler throwing away his dream.
Max (played by Barbara Dunkelman) is still a mysterious figure. The Blu-Ray case confirms that they're the cinematographer. It's interesting to me that their note reads "I always believed you" and not "believed IN you", as though it's referring to some specific accusation made against Tyler that he denies, but I'm not sure which accusation that would be. Perhaps it was stated and I've forgotten.

The Academy of Pronunciation: FINAL

Unboxing 6 primarily seems to be surface-level, self-contained, in-universe storytelling. Here is where things start getting harder to parse.
Tyler's dialogue has some clues to the nature of the Unboxing Ring universe.

• "Ever since you started popping up a few years ago..."
• "How are you here?"
• "How are you in this place right now?"

These are all references to AP being on Rocco's Youtube channel instead of Shawn's.
AP's explanation of this channel jump is cut off by a shot of the moon behind a cliff, and some cryptic text that reads:

IT LURKS IN THE DARK.
WHEN IN DAYLIGHT, THE TIDE CHANGES.
AN INFECTION REMAINS HIDDEN AND KEEPS ITS SECRET.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
IT IS ONLY FATAL.

The first two lines seem to be about the moon, per the imagery. But what about the rest of it? A fatal infection that lurks in the dark?
There are some nebulous topics related to Tyler's character that I think apply here. Self-doubt, self-loathing, secrets, hatred, lust, trauma, other things he's unable to express or manage in a healthy way. They stew inside him (lurking in the dark, remains hidden, keeps its secret) and when he lets them take control, it cascades into huge, out-of-control arguments (in daylight, changing the tide).
If he can't get it under control, this deteriorating mental state will spell his doom. Either he'll die from stress, get killed by someone he's wronged, or kill himself from the weight of it all.
As a joke, this is immediately followed by Tyler saying "Well of course that's how you did it, that makes perfect sense," but I think the editing itself is noteworthy. Irregular editing plays a big role in these videos, and has always been present in some form in the Unboxing Ring, with the erratic title cards and the zany endings.
After this, AP says, "For a second, you thought I visited him." I believe this is the first reference to a recurring character always referred to as He or Him. I'll get into my theory of who He is further down.
Tyler starts talking about eventually wanting to do something again, and AP says "You wanna know why I'm here? It's to use what you've wasted." He's talking about Tyler's presence on Rocco's channel. Rocco has twice as many subscribers as Shawn, so here AP is able to reach a wider audience that Tyler was squandering.
Tyler says, "I didn't wanna do what Max wanted me to do, I had my own plans and I told them to fuck off. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was Max, and I said bye." Max's plans for Tyler are unclear. Maybe Max was trying to help Tyler psychologically, or maybe they had goals for the Unboxing Ring. I think it ties into the supernatural powers that we see Tyler wield later on.
AP says "Do you know how long that is here?" which may suggest time works differently in this world. Tyler's earlier line, "Ever since you started popping up a few years ago, I just kinda take sleep whenever it comes," is a bit puzzling too. Maybe these characters only exist when videos are posted, and Rocco's higher posting rate means that time feels longer for AP here than on his home channel. Maybe AP's presence on the channel has made Tyler nervous and unable to sleep.
Tyler says people kept trying to take what he had away from him. Maybe he feels a sense of ownership over Rocco's channel. He says he "sent away" his cousin, the host of Street Meals. The last Street Meals video was posted 2 years before this. I looked around Rocco's channel and couldn't find any video that Tyler's cousin might've been sent to. It could be something not yet posted, or on another channel, or maybe when characters are "sent away" they aren't always put into something that the audience has access to.
AP says he got married on October 8, 2013. This is a reflection of Shawn's real-life wedding date of October 8, 2011. This may not mean much, but it at least confirms that it's supposed to be a character that Tyler's talking to, and not some IRL version of Shawn. I think they've confirmed that AP's suit is the one Shawn wore at his wedding, which is probably why AP's wedding is a plot point.
October 8, 2013 is the upload date of Street Meals 9, and this is where Tyler sends AP. Tyler says "You'll be claimed immediately, you'll try to return but it won't work." Despite playing Enter Sandman, the video's only 2 seconds long and doesn't seem to have triggered any copyright detection. I think Tyler's plan was for AP to get trapped behind Youtube's "Content has been blocked by [publishing group]" message that replaces copyrighted content.
Tyler throws up, and starts talking to Max through subtitles accompanied with an audio tone. Max responds by moving the camera. For once, Max hasn't been watching the whole time, and Tyler's next lines read, "But you knew I needed you. Thank you. / I don't let you down again."
Tyler goes back inside, as the song from AP's driving montage plays again. We see a zoom-out of the front of Tyler's (presumably Rocco's) house. I don't know if there's any deeper meaning to it, but I like the shot composition of a potted tree in front of his garage, echoing the Unboxing Ring set.
The video ends with Tyler saying "Max, are you there?" Max responds with the same telekenetic ping Tyler did earlier, but we can't see the subtitles and don't know what they say. "I think I know what we need to do now. We need to pay Him a visit. I think it's time to go home." and the video ends with the Unboxing Ring logo flipped horizontally and the usual music playing in reverse.
So, when did Max show up, and how did they help Tyler? I think that Max was training Tyler to use some sort of power, and Tyler gave up on the training. Tyler started trying to use his skills to banish AP, but even with all his power, he wasn't able to do it alone, and that's when Max stepped in to help finish the job. That's what made Tyler throw up, the strain from trying to use all his power to send away AP.
Max's powers are nebulously tied to video production. I think Max discovered this power during the first Unboxing Ring, and has been training it since then. This could be an in-universe explanation for the Unboxing Ring's chaotic titlecards and endings.
Tyler's been aware of this for less time and has less practice with it, but is still able to do simple editing actions like adding a ping and talking to Max in subtitles relatively easily. I think AP has this power too, and when he speaks in slow motion, it's a show of force to intimidate Tyler. I don't think the cutaway to the cliff/moon was AP, Tyler, or Max, but "Him" stepping in and cutting that section, to protect the channel from further interlopers.

Grill

This video starts with close-up footage of a grill, and an instrumental medley from Willy Wonka. Previous to this video, Rocco had uploaded extreme closeups of food in 4K, as a jokey way of testing his new iPhone cameras. I think this video was meant as a bait-and-switch when it came out, where the thumbnail and title were meant to look like one of those videos.
A man shows up at Tyler's parents' place and asks them questions about their last encounter with him. We don't know the details, but it's being reported in the news that he died mysteriously. At the end of this video we see a flashback of Tyler's dad outside of the Unboxing Ring door, but we don't know if he considers this to be the "last encounter" that the man is asking about.
The man brings up some mysterious stuff. He asks about an event, Tyler's future plans, Tyler searching for a door, and about "a song [Tyler] hated a long time ago." He says something is underway that has scary implications for all of them. Perhaps him "grilling" them for answers is a second meaning to the title, though I think this is a stretch.
I think they mentioned this guy's actor on a podcast once, but I forget who it is. I'm also curious what song he's talking about. Maybe it's a specific song Rocco's talked about in the past, or something brought up quickly in one of the UR episodes. Perhaps it's "The Dolphins" by Fred Neil, the song that played in APFinal, which shows up again later in this.
I think the "event" is Tyler trying to finally be done with the Unboxing Ring universe, to stop more of it from ever being made. The "scary implications" would be the risk to these characters' existence. They only exist to us as an extension of Tyler, so if he's gone, they would no longer have a reason to exist.
The man tells an anecdote about a parade, where he saw something as a kid that his parents deny happened. He ponders if Tyler was able to see the world differently, with a better understanding of how the world worked. He says Tyler had "control over us." He could be referring to Tyler's abilities, or just the way that being around Tyler caused people to act erratically and negatively.
I see the discussion of Tyler's insight as referring to the Youtube channel, editing tricks, and his strong connection to Max. I don't think Tyler's the only one who can see Max, but maybe he's the only one who can see ALL of Max, whatever that entails.
The man says, "We'll never know who killed him." This is the first time we learn of Tyler's death, and I think it's the only time it's stated that he's been killed. Other references to his fate mention that he died mysteriously. We don't know how people know that Tyler is dead, if any remnants were found, or if there's anything specific to lead people to believe that someone killed him.
"The Dolphins" starts playing again, loudly. The man asks if a door is in there. He pulls a gun, walks down the hall, and enters a bedroom. The music turns to a loud tinnitus-like tone, drowning out his next lines. I think he says, "This... wasn't it? Now what happens? Now what happens? Now what happens?" and he disappears. It's worth noting that both his first and last lines of dialogue are played in slow-motion, and we didn't see if he entered the house in a normal way.
Maybe the man represents Youtube, and he's an Agent Smith type character hunting down Tyler for abusing his powers. Maybe he only exists as part of this video, and was edited out of existence when he failed to find Tyler. Maybe Max or "He" did something, or perhaps Tyler is able to influence things from beyond the grave.
Tyler's parents walk down the hall and Tyler's dad walks into the room, presumably looking to see what happened to the man with the gun. The TV mysteriously turns on, showing he met a "tragic end" and that his death is "still a mystery". Photos of Tyler from episodes 6 and 3 are shown.
The people on the news don't seem to be talking about Tyler directly, but are discussing the nature of doxxing and internet privacy. This may be related to his death somehow, but it seems off-topic and one of the voices interrupts the other. This kind of interruption and tangent happens all the time on news networks, but perhaps here it's meant as a specific reference to the way Tyler causes things to derail.
We see Tyler's parents, then a closeup on his dad. His echoing voice says "I'm sorry" in a way that's meant to indicate an internal monologue, but it's actually a J-cut to a flashback, where he's rehearsing an apology in his car. He walks over to a large rolling warehouse door.
This video came out after Mega64 had moved to a new studio, but based on other Mega64 videos this is the exact door where the Unboxing Ring was filmed. Either they filmed this ahead of time, or they returned to the old warehouse to get this shot.
From outside, he overheard the start of Unboxing Ring 5, where Krista walks into frame and the argument starts. The audio is cut to highlight the most chaotic parts of the argument. This could be for dramatic effect, or Tyler's dad could have been standing out there listening for a long time.
As he hears this, he looks heartbroken. I think he realizes the connection between the constant yelling in Tyler's home life and Tyler having such a short temper here. He shakes his head, gets back in the car, and drives away. I don't think the head-shake is out of disappointment or disgust for Tyler, but is his own self-loathing, blaming himself for his son becoming so self-destructive, and not being able to face him.
The video ends with the "UNBOXING RING: UNBOXING VIDS FROM THE PROS" text jumbled up, without the usual soundbyte playing.

Online Video Content Creator REWIND

This starts as a cheesy "online year in review" video, combining funny video titles and author names with stock footage. Then it turns into an In Memoriam segment about creators we've lost. Black-and-white footage from The Unboxing Ring plays, followed by "We miss you, Tyler"
We're then treated to the final upload on Tyler's account, presented in its entirety. There is a loud staticky sound. We see an alley at night. It has a (different) warehouse door on the left. It cuts to trash cans at a parking lot. This footage jerks down suddenly. Most of the clips that follow are nighttime scenes of neighbourhoods, parking lots, streetlights, curbs, and drains during heavy rainfall.
I think when Twin Peaks: The Return came out, Rocco said that something in it was similar to something he'd been long planning for The Unboxing Ring, and that people were gonna accuse him of copying it. It's unclear if that original idea ever made it into a video, or what specifically it was, but this video feels the most stereotypically Lynch, so I figured I'd bring it up here.
Tyler speaks in an echoey voice. A user transcribed Tyler's monologue in this post, and the transcription seems accurate. Tyler bookends it by comparing himself to an empty bottle of shampoo. He was "squeezed out" too early, by too many people. Washing hair is the purpose of a shampoo bottle, and Tyler saw his purpose as reviewing DVDs.
His creative energy was worn down too quickly, all squeezed out through a combination of factors. His family and friends' doubt in him, his doubt in himself, the decline of physical video releases, and the changing online video industry. He was running out of material to cover, he was exhausted, and felt like nobody wanted to watch his videos or make them with him. He (shampoo bottle) produced a few videos (washing hair), and now all his energy (shampoo) was going to waste for something no one liked (squeezed out by many hands, past its intended use, left only to sting eyes).
I don't think there's any significance to the specific DVDs brought up in the video, but I think the phrase "I felt like I could see myself, a map of my own constellation" is him saying that he can see the road ahead, the slowed production of physical media, and he feels that his purpose and dream are running out. The video freezes on the word "constellation" which may be noteworthy.
While he's discussing DVDs, something can be heard in the background. It seems to be some sort of broadcast, possibly about weather. "...on Wednesday, with some clearings... ...breezier, after some chilly spells, we will... ...with some sunny spells... ...partly cloudy, in the [seventies?]"
The voice sounds British to me, though that makes it less likely that this report is about their local rainstorm. It's followed by what sounds like morse code of "S A", and another voice possibly saying something about schools being out. There may not be any intentional meaning behind any of this, other than radio clips primarily about the weather playing in the background of a particularly rainy San Diego. At least, I assume that's where the rain clips were filmed, either way it's some gorgeous footage.
The video buffers and ends, cutting off Tyler. The last word sounds like it was going to be "coming" but there could've been more after that. Less importantly, this also deprives us of the rest of the the Content Creator REWIND and the In Memoriam section.

Unboxing Ring Blu-Ray

This Blu-Ray is meant to look like a Criterion Collection release. The Criterion Collection logo is replaced with the logo for Ceiling Fan Media. I don't remember if Ceiling Fan is brought up in The Unboxing Ring, but it's definitely a part of the Voltage Vengerz meta.
The first Voltage Vengerz video mentions Mega64 and the Unboxing Ring, and from what I can tell Rocco's been consistent about the creator of that series being a fictionalized version of himself, always hosting his Voltage Vengerz Power Morphicon panels as Rocco Botte.
I believe the first mention of Ceiling Fan Media was the video "VOLTAGE VENGERZ: TRUTH", as a parody of Channel Awesome's issues that had recently come to light. I think Mega64 have had some interactions with Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs) over the years, and The Unboxing Ring was supposed to take place at a shared filming location, like a Youtube Space. This is why I think Rasta Reviews could be considered part of this canon, though that thread doesn't really have anything extra to it.
From what I can tell, most people's Blu-Rays wound up with a crease on the spine of the cardboard slip cover. The blurb on the back has a sardonic comment about the quality of Ceiling Fan Media's physical packages, and the way that they manage their talent and content.
We know that there were a lot of IRL hurdles getting this Blu-Ray produced, and it seems crazy that they would do this intentionally, but there's at least a slim chance that the slip covers were damaged intentionally, as a punchline to the box complimenting its own quality.
Anyway, I think the Blu-Ray itself is a critical in-universe piece of the puzzle. Tyler recorded the first 5 commentary tracks in an effort to create a DVD of his own. After his death, his former collaborators found the commentary tracks, filmed the bonus Derrick interview, and threw together this Blu-Ray.
The supplemental videos aren't on here because the characters who put this together didn't know about them or think they were relevant. They don't know about Tyler's brush-in with AP, they don't know about Tyler's parents meeting the mysterious man, and they probably thought the Unboxing Ring fans wouldn't want his weird shampoo video to be part of the Unboxing Ring Blu-Ray. They can't see things the way Tyler did, and they didn't see what we do that made the series so interesting.
To us, Disc 2 saying "Dick Two" is an intentional joke and reference. In-universe, I think it's supposed to be carelessness on the part of Tyler's versions of Shawn and Garrett. The commentary for Unboxing Ring 1 starts with a text-to-speech voice introducing Tyler's commentary and trying to make it sound more insightful than it was. On some level, they miss Tyler and want to pay him tribute, but for the most part, the characters threw together the Blu-Ray as a cynical cash-grab.
The Blu-Ray copy of UR5 has a problem. Around the 38-minute mark the video starts dropping in quality, reaching and staying at its lowest point around 2 minutes later. This actually lines up pretty well with Tyler's emotional breakdown on the commentary track, and I think it's reasonable to believe that it's intentional, at least more likely than the slip cover damage.
The corruption starts immediately after he starts talking about his inability to produce a DVD of his own show. He says, "Can you imagine what that would look like, if that was me getting to show my own thing?" as it starts to deteriorate further. Hell, he says "I tried fixing this, it didn't work." I think Tyler finished recording his commentary for episode 5, spiralled into self-hatred, and it got worse as he failed successfully it in high quality.
DVDs are Tyler's favourite thing, and he had a dream of one day recording an episode where he unboxes a DVD of his own show, and laments that he couldn't do it. Commentary 5 has a very dark end. He says "good night" and that's followed by extended loud rustling. The other commentary tracks have a lot of sound issues and rustling too, though, and I don't think this moment was him killing himself.
In-universe, I think this commentary was recorded shortly after Unboxing 6 was finished, after he'd driven off with Max. In the first commentary track, he's unsure which microphone to use, suggesting he's not recording this from home. He probably didn't go back to his Youtube network to record it, but maybe Max helped Tyler set up a space to record.
Tyler recorded commentary tracks for 5 episodes, but kept failing along the way, hated what he had made, and fell into a stupor. Along the way, Max tried to help Tyler understand the mysterious editing power and hone this deeper understanding of how the world works. Tyler got frustrated, told Max to go away, and stewed in despair for 4 years.
AP found a Door to Rocco's channel and took Tyler's airtime. After years of this, he confronted Tyler, announcing grander plans to take over the channel. Tyler and Max defeated AP. Tyler, finally out of his rut, said they needed to pay "Him" a visit. Next thing we know, Tyler is dead, having recorded a final message about outliving his usefulness.
Unboxing Commentary 5 is his breakdown and a cry for help, but Content Creator REWIND is his suicide note. In Commentary 5, he keeps lamenting that he couldn't redo things enough to get them right. In REWIND, Tyler seems much more planned and rehearsed than his usual content, and seems resigned to his fate. It's unclear to me if it was filmed before or after Tyler visited Him.

Who Is He? / Tyler's Fate

In Grill, the man says that Tyler was killed. I think this is partially true. I think "He" helped Tyler leave his world behind, in a way somehow connected to this mysterious power. I think this whole time, "He" has been Rocco. I think Tyler "killed himself" by having Rocco "send him away" to the Blu-Ray set. Tyler's soul now resides in one of the DVD boxes he always adored.
In AP Final, Tyler says "You don't even know where He is. Only I know where He is, and He's not as far from me as you think he might be." By this point, Max has made Tyler aware that he's a character played by Rocco, and that he's the owner of the channel, the editor and uploader. "He" is "The Creator" but AP may not know that Tyler is actually being played by this channel's version of Him.
When AP says "Well that may all change soon," he may have plans for his own Creator, Shawn, to take over Rocco's channel. Either that, or this scene coincided with Rocco moving houses in real life, so the location they're in would literally be farther from where they currently are. I think the former is more in line with AP's knowledge and motivations, though.
The layering gets a bit murky with the Voltage Vengerz connection. Is "He" our Rocco? Or VV-Rocco? VV-Rocco has claimed to be the creator of Unboxing Ring, and is the source of the Ceiling Fan Media connection, but is ultimately still just another character made by IRL Rocco.
Perhaps the lore wasn't planned out this thoroughly, but here's my read on it:

• VV-Rocco wanted to release a Blu-Ray of his series, The Unboxing Ring.
• He got his friends together to reprise their roles and film an extra skit, with the inner universe canon of Tyler's friends doing a shoddy tribute to his memory, slapping on the commentary tracks they'd found, without realizing how dark they ended.
• Tyler, the character within a character, had gained an awareness of the channel in our world. In the recent Matrix Resurrections Movie Club, Rocco brought up the idea of deeper layers of fiction within The Matrix that are still broadly a part of the baseline Matrix. The characters in Neo's game are just as "real" the ones on Neo's tier, even if they're experincing reality on a lower level.
• IRL Rocco put together this Blu-Ray as though VV-Rocco had produced it, with Ceiling Fan Media branding, but with that character's unawareness of the additional Tyler-related videos on Rocco's channel.
• Tyler, working with/through IRL Rocco, had himself sent away to the Blu-Ray set. He can observe and relive his life, the series, and his previously-recorded commentary tracks, and he can record and rerecord his thoughts onto the UR6 Commentary track for us to hear. He can try forever to get his one perfect take, never interrupted, and has achieved a sort of peace from it.

I recall at least one instnace of someone calling Tyler "Rocco" in the Unboxing Ring. It was definitely a spur-of-the-moment mistake in the middle of the chaos, but it kinda fits the VV-Rocco "series within a series" theory.

EPISODE: DERRICK

Tyler's ending to Creator REWIND, "There is one person that is coming..." is still mysterious. Perhaps by that point he had talked to Him, and known the plan to put a bonus episode on the Blu-Ray about Derrick. I think Derrick's name came up briefly in one of the Unboxing Ring episodes, which was an early hint that Derrick wasn't Max, and Derrick probably wasn't Him.
The episode has a couple nice nods to the Unboxing Ring. Derrick's sentimental picture from his interview is the one on the counter at the end of UR6, and there's a tree just barely creeping into the right side of the frame.
The in-universe Unboxing Ring lore always had a hint of "What if all the Mega64 fan rumours were true? What if they secretly hate each other and have all this backstabbing jealousy?" I think the Derrick character in this is meant to echo the worst fan sentiments and theories about Derrick, that he's resentful to Mega64 for stifling his attempts at becoming a more "legitimate" filmmaker.
In this episode, that version of him broke off from their group of friends to try and make it big. As a result, his character is an egomaniac. He's produced stuff that he brags about, but he never found real success, and he's just as miserable as everyone else in the Tylerverse.
UR Derrick is lying about his success. He brags about expensive first-class plane tickets while causing a ruckus about a Costco pack of batteries that went missing. He constantly deflects, his LaCroix heart condition thing is obvious bullshit, and he sure as shit didn't take those batteries on a plane. I think he failed in LA and moved back down to San Diego, and hasn't told anyone. The Uber he's waiting for at the end isn't driving him to the airport, it's probably driving him back to his parents' place.
Ultimately, the episode isn't too crucial to Tyler's story. I think it serves as bit of a "life goes on after death" message, similar to some themes in Lost and The Sopranos. Perhaps these characters will eventually find peace as well, but for now we only really know the fate of Tyler.

"UNBOXING RING" #6: SERIES FINALE (Commentary)

And at last, we arrive here. Tyler is in a very calm, clear, forgiving state of mind. Tyler starts off by asking if it's recording, but he still refers to himself in the past sense. I think this voice is supposed to be him after he was "killed".
He speaks about how difficult it can be to change yourself for the better, and how sometimes you need to undergo a transformative event and see the world through different eyes. He also talks about parts of yourself coming out in the things you make. I think there's some meta-commentary here coming from Rocco. Perhaps there was some catharsis in filming the Unboxing Ring, and in recording these commentary tracks, or maybe he's just speaking in general about his experiences with Mega64.
Setting aside any interpretation of Rocco's intent, this is still all presented in-character. Even if Tyler's now seen the world through Rocco's eyes, the people in his life were still as real as he was.
He talks about hearing noises outside while filming, and hoping that it would be his father, walking through the door to try and clear things up. It's pretty heartbreaking right after watching the Grill video. "He was part of... forces of my own, trying to keep me the same." This works on a psychological level, Tyler being his own undoing over and over again, but this could also be a nod to him and his dad being characters on a Youtube channel, cursed with preset actions and motivations.
Throughout the commentary there are a few lines that feel like they're references to him no longer having a body.

• Your mind affects your body like that, I know that now.
• I'm speaking clearer than I've ever been able to, and I wonder if that's just because I'm thinking clearer.
• You'll have to tell me how I sound.
• Sometimes I feel like my tongue gets in my own way.

Tyler says that this could be the last time we hear from him. I think this Blu-Ray is definitively the end of the road for Tyler's part of his own story. There could be some sort of followup with the other characters at some point, but I think Tyler's story is done, and that he's found peace. He died in his world, and his soul, his ghost, is ours to unbox.
In a fairly short timespan he says these lines:

• I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be around here
• I just don't exist in that plane of existence at all
• I hope you're not sticking up for a ghost of your past self

That last one is obviously not meant literally, but I feel like the phrasing is pretty on-the-nose for someone we know is dead.
At the end, he fucks up the title of The Unboxing Ring, and seems legitimately frustrated about it for a moment. Perhaps he's able to keep rerecording this episode's commentary in this form, and once he's satisfied with it, his spirit will move on.
Setting aside my overanalysis of the story content, there is some absolutely beautiful stuff in Tyler's commentary on this episode. He says some lovely things about the nature of empathy, and I think it's a useful thing to have tucked away in your mind if you ever need to center yourself and calm down.
He signs off by saying, "It was great being in your home, thank you again." Perhaps my analysis is completely off-base, and he could just mean us playing his commentary track, but I think this is meant as literally as possible. He's actually in our homes, on our DVD shelves.

Easter Egg

I'll end this by bringing up the most intriguing part of the Blu-Ray set, an easter egg found to the left of Episode 5 on Disc 1. Disc 2 has one too, with some uncut clips of the UR6 forest sequence, but this is something completely new, and unique to this set.
It's a 15-second clip of Tyler on a roof. He's silhouetted, so it's hard at first to tell which direction he's facing. After rewatching it over and over, I think it starts with him looking away from the camera, off into the sunset. He turns and steps closer to the edge of the roof. The camera freezes as it takes a snapshot. Then Tyler stumbles, and camera jerks down.
This, I believe, is the footage of Tyler's death. More precisely, this IS Tyler's death. He was "sent away" to this clip, existing only in a secret corner of this Blu-Ray. His soul was collected in that snapshot, placed on the other disc, and there it persists, in his commentary.
He's finally free from those who hurt him, and no longer a danger to anyone else.
His spirit now lives here, in his fulfilled dream, for fans to unbox and enjoy.

Hello first time posting here and hope this post goes through. Of course not posting on the h3h3 one bc it's probably gonna get deleted lol.
Does anyone feel like this year's worth of h3 podcast has been a weird grasping at trying to find any content possible to fill up time? I feel like half of the terrible situations that occurred were because of Ethan's desperate attempt to fill time with something, then try to make it "interesting" by being honestly a bully, then drama happens and somebody gets scapegoated.
I think the reason is they probably are dependent on memberships and super chats to fill a profit quota, especially with the lack of sponsorships enough for all 3 days vs the large crew the show funds. And the longer the show runs, the more time there is for new members and super chats. It's very evident by how the podcast always lasts over 3 hours and ends at some arbitrary time and forcing the food ordering segments any chance they can. The podcast would benefit a lot from removing Monday or Wednesday show but I think they lose too much money that way.
I don't have all of the answers but I appreciate that the h3 crew is trying to do something different from the rest of the content creating space and want them to succeed. It's a lost cause to try to get Ethan to do anything at all (there is A LOT he can do but we know this man is not going to change) so I'm trying to list problems that have more practical solutions.

1. Too eagerly taking ideas and feedback from the h3 subreddit

It honestly surprised me how I would read an idea someone posted on the subreddit and then immediately the next day, they would have an entire segment on it. Reviewing material from the subreddit isn't necessarily a problem, but the fact that it would happen every other podcast is when it gets concerning and there's clearly a lack of original ideas coming from within the crew.
Potential Solution:
Have a dedicated review segment for when the podcast reviews fan submitted creations. Doing it only on Mondays for example would encourage people to create something for the crew to see and raise the overall quality of the posts. The podcast needs to do some creative process overhaul bc nothing good has replaced the times they used to do skits. Idk what the solution to this is.

1. The drama powerpoints

I don't necessarily have a problem with powerpoints but it's a nonsensical format for very recent and ongoing drama. The reason Ian's powerpoints were good were because they were on topics where people had months to reflect on what happened and it's unlikely for a situation to change drastically. Olivia clearly had very little time to research on too recent topics that you can't just google search and I feel like she gets set up for failure every time.
Potential solution:
Powerpoints should be on more timeless topics (the petty tiktok drama between the 2 college girls vs the hot dude was a really good example). For ongoing drama it's more than enough to just do a verbal run down and watch relevant videos.

1. Too many people in the studio?

I think Love being in the studio reached the tipping point of there being WAY too many people present for a cohesive conversation. I don't think it's any particular crew not being good. It's just when you got a lot of people in the room, it's impossible to get everyone to be engaged and be present in the conversation. For example, I think what made Love work beforehand was adding creative easter eggs onto his computer screen that make it fun to pay attention to the podcast visually. Now I feel like a core dimension of the podcast has been taken away entirely.
Potential solution:
Split it up so that except for key crew members (Dan, Zach, Ian?), half are on camera on Monday, half on Wednesday, and all hands on deck on Friday. For example, I think Sam and Lena inadvertently not being present every podcast (and technically Ian too) has actually been a net positive and why they are some of the least criticized crew members. Everyone can still be working in the studio all 3 days but it's not productive to have all of them in front of the camera the entire show.

1. Polls for literally everything

I love the segments where the crew create something. But why throw it to a poll???? Also having every aspect of the sound bite contest(?) be a poll was just a massive time sink. Isn't the entire point of these segments seeing Ethan's reactions and what he ultimately decides is the best of the bunch? I hated how the Ethan's portrait and the crew uniform segment got thrown into a poll and then Ethan proceeding to point out how someone got the least number of votes. The polls for random questions are nice but it's just a low-quality effort to pad time for major segments that frankly suffer from viewer feedback.
Potential solution:
have the poll be set before the segment begins (not disclosing who made what of course) so the votes aren't influenced by Ethan or the crew. Then it can at least give an interesting perspective of Ethan's thoughts vs the viewers. It can't be difficult to set up a system where there is a poll 24 hours before the podcast begins whenever these segments arise.

1. The guests

What happened to Cman was terrible and Ethan should've known better to not do what he did. Jimmie Lee segments just suck. Both situations feel like Ethan forcing them to be segments that last over 30 minutes. I think what made Cman interesting was his occasional and spontaneous presence but it felt like podcast tried way too hard to to bring these regular guests back way more often than they should to fill up a slow drama news week.
Potential solution:
Nothing wrong with having recurring guests but bring them back for good and productive reasons.
Final thoughts:
There are more issues going on than what I got solutions for but I think it's a starting point for discussions. Sorry this is very long.

First of all, I have done some Google search regarding this and found nothing, so my assumption is that this is not known in the community and I should share it. Apologies if that's wrong, but regardless let's get into it.
In Sunbreak, there is an NPC named Pingarh the Sailor. He can be found on a small dock behind Elgado's smithy. After every quest, if the crates he stands next to are full, you can talk to him to receive one of twelve different "souvenirs". These souvenirs are trade-in items, so you can only sell them for money. Getting 20 of these (duplicates included) gives you an award called "Unbreakable Bag". Lore wise, these are items shipped in from Yukumo (P3rd village), Bherna (Gen Village), and Kamura (Rise village) respectively.
Now, all of these are fairly well know. However, one of the souvenirs stands out because its description is completely bananas, and that one is:

Spa Scene: Kimono
An image of the demise of three, with two behind appearing oddly wonton.

Huh? What is that about?
Well actually, this is an Easter Egg referencing a quest in past games. For anyone who played Gen/GU, you might be familiar with it. The quest in question is the village 6 star Advanced: Out of the Fry Pan. In that quest you must hunt a Deviljho, a Tigrex, and a Nargacuga in the arena.
But where is the reference? To see that, we must look at the quest name and the item description in Japanese instead. The quest name is:

高難度：終焉を喰らう者 (High Difficulty: Those Who Eat the End)

and the item description reads:

「名湯画・打掛」 (Famous Spa Painting: Uchikake)
終焉を喰らう3頭の画。 (A painting of the three [monsters] that eat the end.)
後ろに並んで描かれた2頭に (The two [monsters] drawn together at the back)
なぜだか理不尽さを感じる。 (for some reason feels unreasonable.)

Now the reference becomes quite clear. The first line of the item description literally includes the name of the quest. The second line refers to the fact that in the quest, both Tiggy and Narga will appear at the same time after Deviljho is defeated, which makes the quest quite difficult and unreasonable, as stated in the last line. Unfortunately the English version kind of torpedoed all of that...
But that's not all, because the quest actually originates from Portable 3rd. It is the final village quest in that game. That's why the painting comes from Yukumo village. P3rd is never localized, so maybe that's why the reference is dropped in the English localization.
It's also quite funny that the painting itself sells for more than what you get from completing the quest... (30000z vs 21000z)
And that's it. Thanks for reading. For any series veterans, especially those that started with P3rd, I hope that you enjoyed this little Easter Egg.
One more thing. Credit where it's due, I didn't discover this myself. Instead I found out about it in a video by Mハシ on Youtube (Link here: https://youtu.be/viblRH_WMro?si=rZ0G9z0mmX6ogHGv&t=144). He's a very good lance player and makes amazing short skits about MH.
Oh and a rather unrelated addition: did you know that the Japanese names for the last two event quests (before Hazard Amatsu) are the first lines of the lyrics of the Rise and Sunbreak's credit songs respectively? Now I am wondering how many references like these are lost in translation...

Did anyone notice any other potential Easter eggs of who would be cast for reindeer games now that we know them? I was thinking back and they referenced:
-Ofc Danielle, Brittany, Frankie with the skit
-Josh with the meatballs comp
-Taylor was of course brought up multiple times but idk if any would count as an Easter egg

Part 0 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Since part 1 of this series, people have been telling me they're excited for when I get to reputation. I built it up in my head. I created expectations. As we crept toward it each day, I imagined more and more what I thought it would be like. It'll be gorgeous, delicate, with flowery melodies and soaring acoustic accompaniments. And then, as suddenly and unexpectedly as a snake pulling out a handgun and demanding the contents of my wallet in perfectly constructed iambic pentameter, it arrived.
Also I reviewed Lover.
But before we get into the albums, I forgot a couple of in-betweener songs from previous parts, so I've included them here.
Non-Album Songs
I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (feat. ZAYN)
This guy has a crazy sounding voice. It's good, it's just all the way up there. Cool music video, and I'm noticing that Taylor looks older now. Not in a bad way or anything, she just doesn't look like a kid anymore. This video looks like something I would have enjoyed making. The combo of ZAYN and Taylor works well and I could've seen this being an album track.
Monologue Song (SNL)
I missed this one in the timeline, so I'm placing it here as a catch-up.
This was clever. I really enjoy humor in my music and if one of her albums was styled this way, I'd add it to the very short list of albums I revisit when I'm driving cross country. If you've gotten to know me well through this whole adventure, I hope you get how big a compliment that is.
reputation (2017)
I've been told this is a polarizing album. Let's do this.
Q: STOP RIGHT THERE. I've read your first impressions and you're under arrest for music crimes.
A: Wait! I watched the Reputation Tour Movie on Netflix and it completely changed my opinion on the music! Please, don't put me in Swiftie jail. There are Harry Styles fans in there!
Q: Explain, quickly. And use a lot of words so I know you mean it.
A: Thank you. First, let me contextualize how I ended up trashing the album on the first listen. I had built up a lot of expectations. I was charting Taylor's growth as an artist, her buildup to putting together all the pieces within her country/pop fusion work, and perfecting her nice girl persona. I thought reputation would be the apex of this mountain that she's been climbing. In a way, it was; but it wasn't the stunning, beautiful view I anticipated. It was a gut check of grit and sex and attitude that was equivalent to having a bite of ice cream, expecting vanilla bean, and tasting mustard. That mustard ice cream is actually amazing, yes really we all love it, but you're spitting it into the sink and asking why the world is punishing you. Also, don't bite your ice cream, it's upsetting everyone.
A: One of the drawbacks on missing out on the buildup to an album's release, is that I miss all the marketing and setup. I'm flying blind here, so all I have is some album art and my experience with previous releases to calibrate my expectations. If I was there when it was being hyped, I would have seen her wipe her social media accounts, all the promotional art making her look like a pariah, and ultimately the performances of the music that package up all the things the media has been attacking her for, and her counterpunch to that ridiculous situation. She flipped her haters off with both hands and served up a flaming fastball of a pop album at the same time. It's a glitch in the timeline of her career, so different, so fucked up and distorted as to be wholely unrecognizable, but undeniably Taylor Swift.
A: I could never have understood this album without the tour film. Thank God for u/medium-parsnip-4238 for catching that I was about to relisten to the album and telling me to watch the movie instead. I would have hated the album again, lost my momentum, and been torturing myself to keep this project going. Medium Parsnip, and the others who told me to check out that tour movie, kept this project on the rails.
A: It feels like Taylor wrote a stage show, and the album is just the soundtrack for it. The concepts on display here are incomplete without the visual. It's no wonder that people can't make their minds up about the album, and talk about how it clicked after they saw the tour movie. Imagine listening to the Rent soundtrack and not knowing what their block looks like. You'd get to the part about the art show and have no clue where Maureen's influences came from.
Q: Hmm, so you're saying you love the album now?
A: Nooooot exactly, no. I love the songs, and I'd skip around in here as a way to experience the tour movie the same way someone listens to a soundtrack, but I'm going to have a way harder time digesting the version of End Game where Ed Sheeran raps in his ridiculous accent, or Ready for It without Taylor's dancing because all I'll be able to picture is T Swizzle from Thug Story. Getaway Car is full of vocal rhythm changes that are jarring when not supplemented by what's happening on stage. Look What You Made Me Do can come off like a child's tantrum, because IT IS, but IT'S THEATER, and if you listen to Taylor Swift to hear how she's feeling, she's going to come off like an idiot. Dress is way too sexed up for me as a listener, and I struggled to watch it even on film. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things is another tantrum, but when you see it on stage, all the sudden it sounds like Hard Knock Life from fucking ANNIE, with the attitude of the fucking PUNISHER.
A: Also, there's something to be said that the presentation of these songs, whether on the album or on stage, chokes out the messages she baked into the writing. You have to get out a decoder ring and read the lyrics without the music playing to understand some of these stories, and that just plain isn't going to do it for some fans who are used to her presenting her narratives in a very straightforward and honest way. Simply put, this album is a beautiful lie, and if you're going to be a fan of it, you have to look for the truth.
Q: You're straining the Q&A format, Alex. Nobody even remembers that this is supposed to be a funny bit.
A: That's not a question.
Q: Ahem, is there anything else you want to tell us before we read all your heinous first impressions?
A: Yeah, read and be amazed as a 33 year old man takes it personally when a girl with a guitar writes some things he doesn't immediately comprehend. This is a case study in my own fragility as a person. On occasion I'll write a second impression (look for Broke/Woke tags), but consider this preamble my true feelings about this entry in Taylor's discography. Also, I watched the music videos for reputation right before finishing this post. They would've helped contextualize this thing a lot, too. Keep in mind that my reactions to those come from AFTER I saw the tour movie. Enjoy!
…Ready for It?
Who the fuck? Points for trying something different and taking a creative risk but I wasn't....Ready for It. T Swizzle got me spinning. The start and stop between chorus and verse is good. If this is the groove we're going to be in all album, I better get comfortable with it.
Music video: Hey, this is the bladerunner aesthetic I was looking for on the last album! This music video is so much fun. The nude Taylor robot is definitely a "the old Taylor is dead" moment. Feels like what Wrecking Ball was for Miley Cyrus or something, idk I didn't pay that close of attention. The robot looks kind of like Cortana. If I saw this music video before the tour was announced, I'd be hyped to buy tickets. OH SHIT the real Taylor was the robot! This also had some Westworld vibes, too.
End Game (feat. Ed Sheeran and Future)
IDK who Future is but I wasn't anticipating this being my future when I finished the last album. Hey, look, Ed Sheeran. Is he rapping? Do I have a fever? I feel ill. Ed Sheeran is rapping about how it's natural for both good and bad things to end up in your songs. Good point, Ed Sheeran. I wonder if I would like this if I had listened to more R&B. But I haven't listened to more R&B, because it's not what I groove with. These first two tracks have been like hot tar on my skin.
Music video: I just realized I've seen people talk in game threads that Taylor is thinking End Game with Travis Kelce and that finally makes a little more sense, lol. This music video isn't my favorite. I just don't vibe with the aesthetic they're going for, but I can recognize some hallmarks of rap and R&B music videos in here. Is she in Tokyo? Man, I just can't stand Ed Sheeran rapping.
I Did Something Bad
Broke: I'm not smart enough to know if the songs are getting less bad or if my ears are going numb. This feels really reactionary. Whoever's going r-r-r-r-r-atata in the background, your mom's a ho.
Woke: This is the most fun song on the album. It pushes and pulls the listener, then tricks them into getting comfortable so Taylor can break them again. Sorry I called your mom a ho.
Don’t Blame Me
Broke: "They say she's gone too far this time." I'll say it. I'll say it twice. She's gone too far this time. Come back Taylor. We miss you. Your parents and I are worried. Is it the love? Did the love make you crazy? It doesn't have to end like this. Get off the drug. Don't use for the rest of your life. Get Clean.
Woke: This song is bizarrely cozy. I feel like lounging in a huge, fluffy blanket and sipping something strong while I listen to it and watch a fashion show. This also has one of the more straightforward stories on the album. And she calls herself Poison Ivy! I SAID THAT YESTERDAY!
Delicate
My reputation's never been worse, so you must like me for me is an incredible lyric laid to ruin within an album which was designed to poison me, and it feels personal. I'm mad that I'm starting to like this song a little bit because that last sentence felt really good to write. The fact she's saying the situation she's in is delicate, it feels true and real. Is it chill that you're in my head? You don't have to be so concerned. Where did your confidence go? You rule the world, man.
Music video: "Dive bar on the east side" while she's walking through the nicest hotel I've ever seen, lol. The story they're telling with the music video is FANTASTIC. Her making faces to herself is so cute and actually quite impressive from a physical control and acting perspective. I wish she could have two lifetimes so she could have gone into movies and TV.
This is my favorite music video I've seen by a long shot. She's so happy that nobody can see her anymore. This is the mix of outward joy, internal sadness, and silly humor that made me fall in love with BNL in the 2000s. This makes me feel so happysad.
Look What You Made Me Do
Broke: Whoops, this chorus went too hard. Honey, I rose up from the dead I do it all the time / I've got a list of names and yours is in red underlined slaps so hard I thought it might've been my wife striking me across the face, begging me to wake up from whatever stupor I'm in to think this was Taylor Swift's next album. Look what I made you do? BRO. IT WASN'T ME. WHY ARE YOU PUNISHING ME. This song should play on a loop in the Aeropostale outlet.
Woke: This song should play on a loop in the Abercrombie outlet. And the whole place should overwhelmingly smell of $35 cologne. :P
Music video: SPOOKY TIME LET'S GO. Zombie Taylor pulling the gravestone is the visual gag I needed. She just bit the bejeweled rope, I've seen that image somewhere. She just crashed a car! For those of us following the car lore, this is basically her saying the ride's over, and she ended it violently. Please don't let dominatrix Taylor find out I'm watching. Hey, it's finally that goth taylor from the Capital One commercial! Was understanding the references in that commercial part of the reason I did this? Not remotely, but it is one of the biggest perks.
Why? Cuz she's dead! Super fast flash of zombie Taylor. The direction of her music videos has so consistently improved. This skit at the end with all the Taylors and her defaced private jet is comedy gold. I can totally believe I got 3 amazing music videos out of this album, it's perfect for it. Like I said, this album is a show.
So It Goes…
I think I finally understand what this album's sound reminds me of. There was a period of time where I played Madden, and Madden NFL 2018 had a bunch of songs that sounded like they were recorded in empty parking garages that were also under water somehow. Everyone sounded like they had wet hair while they were recording their music. Tires squealed in the distance. Someone slammed a car door and yelled an expletive. It was a confusing time. These songs make me feel like I'm reading my Madden Mail before putting in my free agent signings.
Gorgeous
Broke: "You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk." Easy, Taylor, I'm supposed to be the one writing outrageous things and getting credit for being funny and/or annoying. Whisky on ice, Sunset and Vine? Is she singing about that app with the short videos? This song does sound like something she'd listen to in a hot tub, five feet apart cuz she's not Tay. And I stand by it, she's a different person in this album outside of the occasional slick lyric.
Woke: Aww, she has cats at home. The synth that sounds like a kalimba (?) that plays the four climbing tones throughout the song are my favorite sound on the album.
Getaway Car
Broke: Please, Taylor. Write me a song about you being in the passenger's seat of a getaway car. I need a scrap. A shred of something to hold on to. Well, true to the car songs, there's an interesting relationship story in here. I just wish it wasn't wrapped in a Gran Turismo noise machine. That's not entirely fair, the R&B vibes are subsiding a little bit but we've still got someone who set their phone down on a synth and it's keeping the keys depressed through the whole song.
Woke: Honestly I don't like it. I get what she's going for and it doesn't work for me here when it might work elsewhere. She has a great dance for it, though. "This circus ain't a love story" is a cute meta reference.
King of My Heart
Broke: (entry missing)
Woke: I couldn't pay attention to the song because the dude that dances with her for this part of the show was SO GOOD. The man matched her intensity and contrasted her sharpness without ever drawing attention away from her except where it was clearly intended. Good job, dancing guy.
Dancing With Our Hands Tied
I recognize this drop! Man, it feels like forever since I heard something I recognized. It's not like I've heard much but is there not a radio hit on this album? Or was I so far gone from music by this point that I straight up missed it?
Dress
Send her straight to horny jail. This album really isn't for me. I'm almost done. It's almost over.
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Broke: Taking an axe to a mended fence is considered a FELONY in my neighborhood. For SHAME. Man, she's so mad. So mad. Once again, so reactionary. I want nice girl Taylor back.
Woke: You can have Nice Girl Taylor back later. Right now we're in our attitude era.
Call It What You Want
Broke: She doesn't sound like she's doing better than she ever was. Maybe she feels like she is, fine. But I have to take her word for it. I'll call it what I want: this whole album sounds like a car crash. This woman was a ray of sunshine and whatever the media and fame did to her is a goddamn tragedy. At least, according to her, she's happy.
Woke: Once you realize this album is a performance, it's a lot easier to understand that this is her pulling back the curtains a little bit and talking about what she's feeling during all of this. It's refreshing and easy to listen to. And when she says she's the one he's walking to, I hear that as her saying that when her guy is walking, he's listening to her music. That's a really powerful statement to me for whatever reason.
New Year’s Day
Oh my God, she's still alive in there somewhere. This song is delicate and rich with bare wood visual clarity. She hit me right in center mass when she sang please don't become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere. I've forgotten so many faces of friends from old places. Ooh, that rhymed. See how bad I needed this song, Taylor? It brought out a little song lyric of my own. I feel like I can feel the chill air blowing in from outside when she says they're carrying their shoes down to the lobby.
Final Thoughts On reputation:
This one almost broke me, and I came out the other side believing for the first time that I'd want to go to a Taylor Swift concert. I didn't want to see the Eras tour movie, but now I do, and you'll see my review of it as the epilogue to this series. Favorite song? New Year's Day, you can keep the rest. Favorite performances? Gorgeous, Delicate, Look What You Made Me Do, and This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, in no particular order. Totally loved each of them.
Lover (2019)
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
I Forgot That You Existed
SHE'S BACK, BITCH. Taylor, you would not believe what happened. Someone released an album under your name and it was So. Bad. Man, I love how bouncy and honest this song is. It's biting but warm and cute. I love this song. I love that this doesn't sound like rep. I'm so happy right now. Yes, I went straight from rep to this in desperation before going back and cleaning up those entries. I needed to know if I was going to be in music jail for the rest of the time. But she sounds fun again! Please don't be an isolated incident.
Post-wiki: This confirms for me that she's closing the book on reputation with this song. We're on to new stuff now, she's excited about it, let's keep moving.
Cruel Summer
I've heard this chorus! We're BACK! I hear some of the wubs from rep in here but it's married much more closely to her lyrical style and writing. "I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard??" The way she yells grinning like the devil is so good. This track has attitude and I love it.
Lover
Who's going to tell Taylor that leaving the Christmas lights up until January is totally normal? This is a smoky lounge song, and I want to sit on a red felt couch with a drink stain while I listen to it. She's playing way looser with her vocal rhythm, really sounding masterful when handling her voice over music.
Post-wiki: I agree with Taylor that this song sounds timeless, and if you're setting out trying to hit that target, you're in for a hell of a challenge. She delivered.
Music video: Another brilliantly directed and executed music video. Are all music videos this good these days? Or is she just killing it? I love this dollhouse perspective on her life. This isn't my favorite song on the album, but I like it a lot still. I think I just really like this album in general.
The Man
What, uh, what do you mean by this? You don't want to be like Leo. Oh, oh ok I get it. Yeah, if you were a male singesongwriter you very likely would have had a significantly smoother experience up to this point. But don't leave the quiet part unspoken. You're still white and from a wealthy background. Oops.
Post-wiki: I was a mean and defensive person in my initial reaction. I think it's cool that she explored this topic in a song. It's a poignant question, and an uncomfortable topic for people like me who have privilege and struggle to confront the reality that some people experience barriers in life that I don't have to. I like that she consciously decided to make it a catchy song so that people would have to deal with the message. Gender inequality is a trip, and while I'm on the benefit side, I feel hamstrung when I talk about it.
Music video: the caricature she's developed for this music video is funny, sure, but I feel personally attacked that I own the shirt Male Taylor was wearing on the yacht. Yes, I like expensive, outrageously loud shirts, it's a weakness. I'm a shoes, shirt, and bag kinda man. I like to wear things that don't use their inside voice. If I was a woman and dressed like that, people would say things about me that they don't say now. I get the point. LMAO the vignette at the end where she's the director telling the actor to be more likable is a great touch and I liked that they showed her prosthetic transformation into the guy.
The Archer
Here's a song that Taylor couldn't have written a decade prior. She's lived a lot of life now and she's occupied all sides of the love game. There has to be a middle ground between archer and prey before you'll know who'll stay. I feel like your persona had that figured out a few albums ago, but maybe it was me giving out free credit. Combat? Wow that song ended on a really interesting note and I think I get it. Good for you.
I Think He Knows
Oh, she's a predator. It's crazy to me that girls can say they like a boyish man. Imagine if I said that about a woman. I'd be on a list. I do like hearing aggressive sexy Taylor, and I didn't think I would. It's a fun angle and a catchy song.
Post-wiki: Oh, it's about Joe! I know of him because people say they like Travis Kelce a lot better. Is Joe the one that people said was 'hiding her away?' I feel like that's pretty small-minded considering what Taylor wrote in her song, The Lucky One.
Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince
Okay! I love that interjection, haha. I like this song a whole lot. It's such a weird, skewed retelling of her younger perspective. Approaches like this are what I want from a full-fledged, award-winning creative Taylor Swift. I'm not above getting a Go/Fight/Win tattoo. But that's for a different bet, I've already done enough off the back of this one. What's that? We're not even halfway through the album releases? Ohhh. Whose idea was it to cover the Taylor's Versions separately?! Me? Me who!
Post-wiki: I missed a little of the storytelling angle she was taking, but we're getting toward a point when the depth of her writing is going to outstrip my ability to digest a song in a single listen. I'm still considering that tattoo idea.
Paper Rings
You could convince me this was a song was on Red. Man, I like this album so much more than rep. Sorry to keep saying it. Ooh, score one for driving-with-a-boy bingo. I noticed she didn't say who was driving, maybe she finally got her license after the whole Getaway Car fiasco.
Cornelia Street
Again, her syncopated vocals are so masterful. This is something she got good at during rep and she's applying the skill over some less insane songs to great effect.
Post-wiki: I'm glad there was info on this one because I really didn't get the context. This is about the memories set around her old apartment. I really get the impact of that for her, and for a long time I've planned to write an autobiography using the same draw, but after hearing this song I'm concerned that readers would have the same reaction that I had to this song, which was to fail my attempt to connect with her memories. Maybe it's a problem of medium, and I could help make that connection by using the breadth of space I can write in, while she is confined by the restrictions of her lyrical format. Look at me, pretending I can leverage some trick to write a better product than Taylor Swift. Ha!
Death by a Thousand Cuts
She do be drinking in these albums. Yo! SLOW DOWN. Too many good lines in a row. Back it up.
I dress to kill my time / I take the long way home / I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright / they say, "I don't know"
Oh man, it keeps going. One for the ages / but if the story's over / why am I still writing pages?
It didn't keep giving, but that was the best verse of her career by my measure, and it was fitting that those lines started in a car.
Post-wiki: AAAAAaaahhhhggh. I was afraid this song was about mental health, but I didn't realize she was playing with the concept that if your life is 'settled,' you're dead creatively. Does using the turbulence of life as an energy source for your creativity doom you to powerlessness if the waters calm? It can make a creative person fear happiness and stability. The truth of the matter, and I've lived it, is that a healthy home life and the warmth that comes with it is an environment wonderfully suited to exploring creativity. Without my wife, I couldn't have explored half of the creative projects I've spent my adult life pouring time into, this project included. I'm forever grateful to her for supporting me in my desire to create and risk time and resources on things that might have no outward value, but that matter so much to me. I'm glad Taylor succeeded in writing her heartbreak song without needing the real-world equivalent to generate it. When she said her reaction to being able to do it was to think, "It's still here! Yes!," I realize that this is a lesson I got to learn much sooner in my life than she did.
London Boy
Pip pip and all that, I guess. He did not just say he would take her on a drive on his, uh, skootah. She's a shotgun seat girl, mate. Ooh, I like how it sounded like the record player had turned off and started slowing down during that transition at EXACTLY the 1 minute mark. The rest of this song is basically just naming places though. Groovy though, yeah baby yeaaahh.
Post-wiki: It makes more sense now that I know who the heck Joe is. Kick rocks, Joe, we have football games to go to and there's no skootah parking!...sorry man.
Soon You’ll Get Better (feat. The Chicks)
Oh, we religious now. Is someone sick? I hope her parents are ok. The last song she wrote about illness was Rowan and that was devastating. Oh crap, somebody is definitely ill. Please don't be her mom.
Post-wiki: FUCK.
Post-post-wiki: She's still alive! It sounds like both of her parents are okay, but have struggled with medical problems. That's a very relatable thing. When my dad had a heart attack in 5pm traffic in L.A., I thought for sure he was dead. I wrote what I would read out at his funeral so that I could find a way to deal with the emotions I felt. I hope Taylor got the catharsis she needed when she wrote this, and I think it's very cool that the choice to put it on the album was a family decision.
False God
I'm not sure where to put this song in my mind. I'm not particularly religious but a lot of my life has been shaped by religion for better and for worse. I want to unpack the themes but I feel like I'll take it in the wrong direction unless I check the wiki first. It was mercifully short.
Post-wiki: NOTHING? C'mon, I wanted to steal an opinion about the song without forming one of my own! I'm not giving it another listen, I still have like a hundred songs to do! Fingers crossed that I can find some answers in the comments here.
You Need to Calm Down
Don't hate on people drinking Patron at 7am, Ke$ha brushed her teeth with a bottle of Jack and everybody loved it. Oh hey, I know this chorus. Not like, a lot but the way she says "stressin' and obsessin' 'bout somebody else is no fun" rang a bell. This song actually feels kind of empty. I'm not sure if it's the backing track or what. I'm getting that it's a song about calling out homophobic haters on the internet but I wish it was...IDK, better.
Post-wiki: I LOVE that this song was Taylor's way of saying "touch grass."
Music video: Kitty watch! I love this pastel pink trailer and that back tattoo. She looks a little bit like Paris Hilton here, haha. This is yet another cool concept for a music video. I can understand someone having a small number of high effort music videos, but so many of these are incredibly well executed and interesting. This one isn't as high production as some, but it's almost a Wes Anderson movie of a video. Hey, is that Hannah from My Drunk Kitchen?? Oh Jesus, the way they grab the cakes. Holy shit, the burger girl and fry Taylor are in love. Ryan Reynolds?! Wait wait I saw him and his wife with Taylor at one of the Kansas City games. I bet they're friends.
Afterglow
That first verse deserves a trophy. Rhythmic, meaningful, interesting. This sound is what I think of when I think female-led pop song. I don't know if that's bad but it's such a fitting sound. I guess we are getting pretty close to contemporary. OH DAMN. I just realized this album came out like six months before COVID. I wonder how the tour was affected.
ME! (feat. Brendon Urie)
Ah, here we go. I was wondering where the radio hit would be on this album. Turns out it's buried all the way down here! I like Panic! At The Disco and I recognized that guy's voice right away. So many of these songs have lines that end with an upward inflection and it's about to run out of cool points.
Post-wiki: There's some info here about how Taylor teased the release of this single with a mural by a prominent street artist in Nashville. That's cool. I've heard some people talk about the creative ways she hints about her projects.
Music video: my wife and I also treat our pets like our children. What a strange way to start this one. I am so lost! This music video's palette is giving serious Easter vibes though. Is it the Panic! energy informing some of the strangeness of this music video? If so, I kind of like that. Oop, we're all the way up in this guy's heart box now. I think there was an episode of Adventure Time that took place in a club inside someone's chest, too. Bet you weren't expecting me to draw a parallel between a Taylor Swift music video and a cartoon by Pen Ward! This music video has great energy.
It’s Nice to Have a Friend
I like steel drums. I grew up listening to Jimmy Buffett in the car with my dad, who used to race sailboats in the Gulf of Mexico. The sound of those drums is tied to a bunch of memories. I actually had to restart the song to shake it off. This song sounds like being married and it's nice.
Daylight
I wonder what lines Taylor has crossed with people. This song makes me feel like she's coming out of the dark she was in for rep. I have no idea if that's fitting because I haven't read the rep wiki stuff to get a clear view of what the hell happened. I'm sure I'll be back here to re-assess once I finally return to it. I've done this whole review without reading or refreshing anything from my first impressions of that album. It was an experience. Sorry to keep talking about it.
Final Thoughts on Lover:
This was the album I thought I was getting when I got to reputation. It's the apotheosis of her writing style that I was after, married to the pop sound I expected. Definitely my favorite album up to this point. My top songs were: I Forgot You Existed, Lover, You Need To Calm Down, It's Nice to Have a Friend, and You'll Get Better, not necessarily in that order.
Non-Album Songs
All of the Girls You Loved Before
I'm completely oblivious to any sort of pop music meta, but does Taylor chase trends with her music, or set them, or both? I'm sure it also has to do with how the production goes, too. I bring it up because this doesn't sound like anything I've listened to before, but it's undeniably a pop sound. I don't know how to reconcile that. I really like the concept she's exploring here. All the girls you've loved before made you the one I've fallen for? I have absolutely no clue how to reconcile that either. But good for you, seriously. I got married to my wife young, and when we talked about it we agreed we wanted to keep growing together. I can't imagine meeting someone who has all these past relationships that shape them into who you're in love with. Neat idea, I love that for you.
Beautiful Ghosts
Let's goooooo CATS. I like Cats, and I haven't seen the movie so I'm unspoiled for this song. Taylor could definitely have been one of the greatest voices of Broadway if she had wanted to be, I have no doubt. She has the vocal and performance chops to crush stage music. I'd pay to hear a Broadway hits cover album.
Christmas Tree Farm
I'm a big fan of Christmas music (Charlie Brown Christmas is my JAM). But if you count that as me listening to music, you are a silly person. This song is super. It nails the mood, retains Taylor's signature storytelling style, and it even has a music video composed of home movies. 5 stars...4 mocking birds, three French hens, etc.
Only the Young
Ooh, this is from Miss Americana. I intend to watch that but I don't know if it'll be until next week once I'm done with all this. Except it might help me deal with my problems with rep, which I STILL haven't returned to. Who is this big bad man she's takling about? Is it an...orange...person? Is that why only the young can save us? Do I have terminal online brain rot?
Lover (feat. Shawn Mendes)
Is this song improved by the Shawn Mendes collab? Yes. It is. But I like the original better. The mood was so different as a solo performance, even if the duet sounds so good. 5 stars....4 mocking birds, three Fren--stop stop stop stop

Early Reviews:
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] Dylan Roth (OBSERVER.COM): "This is, unquestionably, the strongest StarTrek ensemble since DS9. Everything is working in concert, and rarely in a pandering or self-satisfied way. The comparison against the lore-stuffed, nutrient-free fan candy of the final season of Picard is night and day"
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] COLLIDER: "The Enterprise Crew Is Back and Bolder Than Ever - In Season 2, every episode feels like its own mini-movie, optimizing the show's streaming runtime and covering every genre from tense courtroom drama to romantic comedies through a brilliant Star Trek lens."
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] Alan Sepinwall (ROLLING STONE): "Strange New Worlds’ Season 2 Is Remarkably Captivating. What's most impressive is how well showrunners Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, and their team are able to keep digging deep into character and advancing various stories even within within the confines of mostly non-serialized episodes"
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] TREKMOVIE: "A varied, fun, but hardly wild batch of episodes. It feels like more of an ensemble show, with the supporting cast getting more to do. There are a couple of episodes where Pike is hardly featured, with the focus switched almost entirely to other crew members."
Episode 2x1 ("The Broken Circle") [written by Henry Alonso Myers & Akiva Goldsman]
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] GIZMODO: "The Broken Circle" kicks off Strange New Worlds season 2 with an exploration of the traumas left lingering by its sister series - [The Klingon War]. Star Trek has decided now is the time for that dwelling—and what it finds is fascinatingly imperfect."
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] TREKCORE: "The Broken Circle” is a classic, enjoyable start for Strange New World's second season. With peace in our time at risk, this episode features a classic blend of action, character exploration and (questionably) camp nonsense that we’ve come to expect from the show."
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] COLLIDER: "Breaking the Rules Is Only Logical - "The Broken Circle" serves as an excellent character study for Spock as it wraps with him explaining how logical his actions truly were and how, despite breaking about a dozen regulations, it was the right thing to do."
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] Keith R.A. DeCandido (TOR.COM): "The standout in this episode is Ethan Peck. He continues the stellar work he did in Discovery S.2 and SNW S.1, giving us a younger, less sure of himself Spock. And yet, you see so many of Leonard Nimoy’s mannerisms and speaking patterns here ..."
negative reactions:
[SNW 2x1 YouTube Reviews] STEVE SHIVES: "I thought it was a terrible episode." Jason Harding: "Not awful, but I was expecting more ST. I was like: guys, you're developing a rep in my head that everyone that works onboard the Enterprise is an androgynous, short-haired woman. It starts feeling like a joke"
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] THE ESCAPIST: "In ‘The Broken Circle,’ Strange New Worlds Is Performing Star Trek" - The Captain's catchphrase? "That sort of thing, “The Broken Circle” insists, is just Star Trek. This gets at a recurring issue with Strange New Worlds, a show that often seems more interested in performing Star Trek than in being Star Trek"
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] ENGADGET: "It returns with a confident, albeit lightweight, romp. I still can’t shake the feeling some of this stuff is better suited to the other Star franchise. Yes, Star Trek of old could be violent, but I don’t think it was ever this cynical or nihilistic, even in the DS9 days."
Bonus (Carol Kane reactions):
[Opinion] POLYGON: "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is upending canon for its new engineer. Carol Kane plays the the mysterious, hilarious chief engineer Pelia. In the season premiere, "The Broken Circle", she’s already upending everything we know about Star Trek’s alternate history of humanity. "
[SNW S.2 Interviews] Carol Kane (Chief Engineer Pelia): "I must admit — and I told the writers and producers right away ... that I really hadn't seen any Star Trek. But they kinda liked that idea! They liked the fact that I was coming to it fresh and now, and I like it too." (Inverse)
Episode 2x2 ("Ad Astra per aspera") [written by Dana Horgan]
[SNW 2x2 Reviews] GIZMODO: "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Day in Court Gets by on a Technicality: "Ad Astra per Aspera" follows in the footsteps of classic Star Trek courtoom episodes, but finds its victory constrained by existential limitations."
[SNW 2x2 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "“Ad Astra Per Aspera” certainly has its flaws, but it is the best live-action episode of Star Trek in the past five years./ Chin-Riley’s secret life is treated as a metaphor for queer identity; the character is coded as gay or even trangender, with Starfleet's prejudice towards her framed in terms that evoke homophobia or transphobia."
Episode 2x3 ("Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow") [written by David Reed]
[SNW 2x3 Reviews] SLASHFILM: This Ep. Is About Causality And Poutine: The story is hastily set up. La'an & Kirk snooping through Toronto storefronts feels just as much like a cost-cutting measure as a well-worn Trek tradition. This Kirk is still breezy, flirty, and fun. As is the whole ep., really"
[SNW 2x3 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ Is an Hour-Long Argument Over Star Trek Continuity: "It increasingly seems as though major franchises like Star Trek are made specifically with those 150 people on the internet complaining ("like Robert Meyer Burnett") as their target audience"
Episode 2x4 ("Among the Lotus Eaters") [written by Kirsten Beyer & Davy Perez]
[SNW 2x4 Reviews] GIZMODO: "Strange New Worlds' Memory Hole Mystery Can't Quite Plug All the Gaps - "Among the Lotus Eaters" gets weird in ways only the original Star Trek could, but in doing so doesn't best serve some of its most interesting characters. Pike at least gets a good deal of focus."
[SNW 2x4 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "One that has plenty to say about human nature and what makes us who we are at our core. It’s also just an all-around great hour of StarTrek, one that mixes classic sci-fi tropes with light horror elements, allowing its actors to play different versions of themselves"
[SNW 2x4 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): ‘Among the Lotus Eaters’ Is an Episode About Strange New Worlds’ Weaknesses: "It is an ep that functions as both a critique and a demonstration of the limits of the show’s episodic form. Complex and evolving interpersonal dynamics can only really be explored through serialization"
Episode 2x5 ("Charades") [written by Kathryn Lyn & Henry Alonso Myers]
[SNW 2x5 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "A fresh and deeply necessary interpretation to our understanding of who Spock is. Peck’s physical and verbal timing throughout this installment is fairly incredible, as he plays a Spock drowning under the combined weight of all the hormones, hunger, and rage"
[SNW 2x5 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "The Birdcage? 'Charades' is a full-bore, old-fashioned sitcom about the stress provided by visiting would-be in-laws. Spock now had to face his human side directly. 'Charades,' however, gives any contemplation of cultural identity a backseat to comedic shenanigans."
[SNW 2x5 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "Indeed, 'Charades' also embodies some of the worst impulses of Strange New Worlds. The episode’s preoccupation with performativity ties into the show’s tendency to spend a lot of time performing Star Trek rather than just being Star Trek."
[SNW 2x5 Reactions] Did Strange New Worlds ruin Spock? - ROBERT MEYER BURNETT: “His entire journey from The Cage to TUC is now meaningless. … Just because physiology changes, don't mean intellect does. Spock didn't start suddenly thinking differently.”
Bonus (Spock reactions):
[SNW S.2 Interviews] Showrunners H.A. Meyers & Akiva Goldsman on Spock's arc in Season 2 : "Fundamentally, it's a waveform. He’s not somebody who is logical all the time if you look through his life. His life is a struggle between emotion and logic. I would say this season is an arc about emotion"
[SNW Interviews] Ethan Peck on Spock: "I think the journey he was really set off on [was] inspired by Michael Burnham in Discovery. She really tells him, 'This is an important part of you and essential to who you are and the way you solve problems.' Which is what Spock is. A great problem-solver"
[SNW Interviews] Gia Sandhu (T’Pring): "To me, it’s very clear that T’Pring loves Spock. I think that she’s loyal and dedicated. On numerous occasions, in different ways, she has shown how badly she wants this to work. They have these virtual dates that they do to try to keep their romance alive..."
[SNW Interviews] “Charades” Director Jordan Canning on Comedy and bonus scenes: “Ethan and Rebecca had, like, worked out this thing. They were like: Ok, can we just try this where, like, I’ve got gum, and Spock wants to try the gum and doesn’t understand what gum is for? And I was like, “Ok, great"
Episode 2x6 ("Lost in Translation") [written by Onitra Johnson & David Reed]
[SNW 2x6 Reviews] Daniel Cooper (ENGADGET.com): "'Star Trek Strange New Worlds’ finds empathy in memory. ‘Lost in Translation’ is smart, effective and subtle. The episode asks if memory is tied to empathy and if we can only sympathize with others if their pain calls to our own."
[SNW 2x6 Reviews] Darren Mooney, THE ESCAPIST: "In ‘Lost in Translation,’ Strange New Worlds Is at Odds with Itself: The episode approaches compelling ideas and themes, only to pull back against them at the last minute in a way that underscores the fundamental limitations of the show’s core premise"
Episode 2x7 ("Those Old Scientists"; SNW/Lower Decks Crossover) [written by Kathryn Lyn & Bill Wolkoff]
[SNW 2x7 Reviews] GIZMODO: "Strange New Worlds' Lower Decks Crossover Is More Than a Gag: "Those Old Scientists" deftly marries two Star Trek shows together with some fascinating ideas—and the mandatory crossover fun. Boimler & Mariner realize that their heroes are just as flawed and human as they themselves are"
[SNW 2x7 Reviews] THE ESCAPIST: "A charming piece of fan service, somewhat redundant. The biggest issue with “Those Old Scientists” is that – narratively and thematically – it doesn’t feel especially novel. It’s an episode about nostalgia crossing over two shows that are obsessed with nostalgia.
[SNW 2x7 Reviews] Daniel Cooper (ENGADGET): “'Those Old Scientists' is as pure a dose of fan service as Star Trek has ever produced. The screenplay is crammed full of great gags. But the ep. is a bit like cotton candy in that once the initial hit of sugar leaves your tongue, there’s little else here"
Episode 2x8 ("Under the Cloak of War") [written by Davy Perez]
[SNW 2x8 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "'Under the Cloak of War' is the headiest, heaviest, bleakest episode of 'Strange New Worlds' yet. If anything, 'Cloak' reveals a deeper diversity of writing than the show was previously seen capable of. SNW has now proven that it can tackle more adult thematic material."
[SNW 2x8 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "'Under the Cloak of War' is a legitimately impressive episode of Star Trek, and it’s safely the most thematically and narratively ambitious episode of Strange New Worlds to date. It's a commendable hybrid of old and new styles. Like the ep. itself... it finds something new to do with an older template."
[SNW 2x8 Reviews] TREKMOVIE: “'Under the Cloak of War' uses the vernacular of war movies to set the tone with the medical angle invoking the great series M*A*S*H without the jokes, but certainly channeling Hawkeye’s nihilism. This was enhanced by good production design and effects to sell the Battle of J'Gal, but these scenes were also bogged down by predictability as the episode overindulged in war movie tropes"
[SNW 2x8 Reactions] ROBERT MEYER BURNETT on X (Twitter): “Aside from thinking CLOAK OF WAR was rather simplistic and a terrible portrayal of Klingons, it also seemed completely tone deaf in comparison to the rest of SNW. It made me HATE two decent characters …”
Episode 2x9 ("Subspace Rhapsody", The Musical episode) [written by Dana Horgan & Bill Wolkoff]
[Opinion] Ryan Britt (INVERSE): "Star Trek Is About To Put Marvel's Biggest Easter Egg to Shame: The musical episode of SNW is a geekdom game-changer. “Subspace Rhapsody” is so utterly committed to delivering a real musical, it makes the joke of Rogers: The Musical in the MCU look pretty silly"
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] COLLIDER: "The cast of 'Strange New Worlds' brings their A-game to "Subspace Rhapsody," locking it in as one of the best episodes in the franchise. With a grand range of genres, the episode moves easily between comedic moments and sweeping emotional ballads."
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "Star Trek's first musical installment is silly, heartfelt, and perhaps the most fun the show's ever been. “Subspace Rhapsody” is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of community and connection, an hour that’s not only wildly fun to watch, but that wholeheartedly embraces the format it's chosen, using the larger narrative framework of traditional musical theater to say something meaningful about its characters and their various journeys this season."
[Opinion] COLLIDER: "Why Did 'Star Trek' and 'Buffy's Musical Episodes Work, but 'Grey's Anatomy's Didn't? Buffy and Strange New Worlds succeed by incorporating original songs, acknowledging the strangeness of a musical episode, and balancing dark subject matter with humor ... the characters think it's strange too! This self-awareness is key, a necessary step to get the audience to suspend their realities and buy into one with background music, perfect harmonies, and well-rehearsed dance numbers."
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "‘Subspace Rhapsody’ Is a Fascinating and Flawed Star Trek Musical: "While “Ad Astra Per Aspera” [2x2] was confronting one of the franchise’s long-standing blind spots on civil rights, “Subspace Rhapsody” is really just doing something cute and fun."
[SNW 2x9 Reactions] COLLIDER: "This Is Why 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Musical Episode Works: "The episode successfully integrates music as a plot device, developing characters and telling the story through songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. When emotions are so heightened, words won't suffice"
negative reactions:
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] ED WHITFIELD: "The latest stream of piss to break on Gene Roddenberry’s tombstone. The episode was essentially an extended skit – the kind of format breaker usually associated with charity telethons, when the cast of your favourite shows do a comic bit for starving children."
[SNW 2x9 Reactions] ROBERT MEYER BURNETT: “Spock singing about his pain over Chapel leaving him might just be the worst bastardization of a character in pop culture history. Even when a subspace anomaly throws back song at the Enterprise, they can only sing about...THEIR FEELINGS?!?”
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "Subspace Rhapsody is the kookiest the franchise has ever been, and that's saying something. Given that Strange New Worlds is, as a whole, a lightweight, somewhat comedic, openly emotional show to begin with, the sight of seeing the crew sing and dance hardly feels novel"
Episode 2x10 ("Hegemony") [written by Henry Alonso Myers]
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] Daniel Cooper (ENGADGET): "Nine thoughts on 2x10: "Bloody hell. I’ve repeatedly said that Strange New Worlds exudes a special sort of confidence this season.“Hegemony,” is a finale that, aided by the early commission of season three, acts as one part victory lap and one part set up for what follows"
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "The ep. is still pretty outstanding television, and as a season-ender, “Hegemony” is certainly an action-packed adventure, a generally fine conclusion. Yet, despite the obvious on-paper stakes of the moment, “Hegemony” lacks the extreme tension of its predecessor."
[Opinion] POLYGON: "Strange New Worlds’ season 2 finale would make ’90s Star Trek proud. Is “Hegemony” as shocking as “[TNG] The Best of Both Worlds Part I”? Nah, you can’t put that kind of lightning in a bottle twice. But it’s still classic Trek shenanigans."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] COLLIDER: "For the most part "Hegemony" is a heart-pounding suspense thriller. However, [it] stumbles into some disappointing misogynist plot points that leave the series on a sour note. For the entirety of Season 2, Batel has almost exclusively existed as a plot device ..."
[SNW 2x10 Video Reviews] STEVE SHIVES: "More lika a second-to last ep. I generally think that the Gorn have been used effectively in this show so far. But I would like to see characters we haven't seen before. I wouldn't have introduced Scotty. But SNW is still by far my favorite of the new shows."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] GIZMODO: "A [Cliffhanger-] set up that provides as few answers as possible to the litany of questions it asks, .... "Hegemony" puts Strange New Worlds' view of the Gorn in the spotlight again—and finds friction in a story format it's yet to experiment with."
negative reactions:
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] Keith R.A. DeCandido (TOR.COM): "Strange New Worlds ends its second season with an intense high-stakes episode. Unfortunately, while the tonal shift itself is fine, the actual episode is something of a dud. Another big part of my disdain for this finale is my general lack of interest in this incredibly derivative, boring, and contradictory iteration of the Gorn."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] Ed Whitfield: "“Hegemony” is, divested of context, a perfectly decent season finale...But, as Ellen Ripley once said, a character very familiar to SNW’s writers, “god damn it, that’s not all”. It’s simply impossible to reconcile the events of this episode with “Arena" (TOS 1x18), ..."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "In a universe of warmth and diplomacy, it strikes this critic as uncreative that any aliens should be presented as mere monsters. "Hegemony" is hundreds of times better than "Into Darkness," an abysmal film, but its attitudes toward cathartic violence are the same."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] THE ESCAPIST: "SNW Doesn’t Offer the Best of Both Worlds: "There is a bloodlust running through “Hegemony,” and it is not framed with the same ambiguity that made “Under the Cloak of War” so compelling. Instead, the ep. seems to celebrate the crew’s desire to hunt and kill Gorn."
Bonus:
[Interview] SNW Showrunner Akiva Goldsman: "Compassion and empathy are the driving themes and intent for our show. But, we also wanted to say that those things don't preclude the existence of monsters. So, that’s the role the Gorn have currently on our show. I'm a believer in kindness, connection and understanding. I also believe there are monsters out there. And it's our job to show both."
[Essay] Darren Mooney (The Escapist): "What Do the Gorn Represent on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? The Gorn plant their eggs inside other species. In the Alien franchise, this is a metaphor for sexual assault. SNW doesn’t lean into that reading. It plays like an unironic take on STARSHIP TROOPERS"
[SNW S.2 Reactions] MAJOR GRIN on YouTube: "Xenomorph Aliens Similarity to Gorn in Star Trek Strange New Worlds Alien Ripoff"
Reviews covering the whole season:
[SNW S.2 Reviews] Scott Collura (IGN): Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2: "Big swings and lots of fun. As with almost every episode of this season, it’s rooted in a clever and intriguing concept. Perhaps the weakest parts of the season come in the first couple of episodes and in the finale.
[SNW S.2 Video Reviews] Jessie Gender: "Star Trek Doesn't Understand Eugenics/ Season 2 often felt like Aesthetics over depth, resulting in a show more focused on the aesthetic of having an impact rather than having a message with impact. This lack of conviction pulls the franchise back fom what Star Trek should always do - explore strange new worlds in a franchise that says: risk is our business! ...
[SNW Season 2 Video Reviews] Steve Shives on YouTube: "Season 2 of Strange New Worlds is not as good as season one, but I’m not complaining. The thing I admire most is its willingness, even eagerness, to just go for it, to throw caution to the wind, to try stuff, to risk falling on their faces."
[Opinion] Polygon: "Strange New Worlds season 2 shows how far Star Trek has come. The show better reflects 2023 than it does the roots of the sci-fi franchise. Its social commentary is very 2020s, focusing on institutionalized discrimination, civil unrest, and PTSD. “Good” doesn’t come easy on SNW"
[SNW S.2 Reactions] Darren Mooney (The Escapist): As I find myself slowly warming to "Strange New Worlds" in its second season, I remain frustrated by the show's core paradox. It's fascinated with gender and identity, and the performance of them - but is also the most aggressively heteronormative of the new Star Trek shows"

Early Reviews:
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] Dylan Roth (OBSERVER.COM): "This is, unquestionably, the strongest StarTrek ensemble since DS9. Everything is working in concert, and rarely in a pandering or self-satisfied way. The comparison against the lore-stuffed, nutrient-free fan candy of the final season of Picard is night and day"
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] COLLIDER: "The Enterprise Crew Is Back and Bolder Than Ever - In Season 2, every episode feels like its own mini-movie, optimizing the show's streaming runtime and covering every genre from tense courtroom drama to romantic comedies through a brilliant Star Trek lens."
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] Alan Sepinwall (ROLLING STONE): "Strange New Worlds’ Season 2 Is Remarkably Captivating. What's most impressive is how well showrunners Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, and their team are able to keep digging deep into character and advancing various stories even within within the confines of mostly non-serialized episodes"
[SNW S.2 Early Reviews] TREKMOVIE: "A varied, fun, but hardly wild batch of episodes. It feels like more of an ensemble show, with the supporting cast getting more to do. There are a couple of episodes where Pike is hardly featured, with the focus switched almost entirely to other crew members."
Episode 2x1 ("The Broken Circle") [written by Henry Alonso Meyers & Akiva Goldsman]
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] GIZMODO: "The Broken Circle" kicks off Strange New Worlds season 2 with an exploration of the traumas left lingering by its sister series - [The Klingon War]. Star Trek has decided now is the time for that dwelling—and what it finds is fascinatingly imperfect."
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] TREKCORE: "The Broken Circle” is a classic, enjoyable start for Strange New World's second season. With peace in our time at risk, this episode features a classic blend of action, character exploration and (questionably) camp nonsense that we’ve come to expect from the show."
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] COLLIDER: "Breaking the Rules Is Only Logical - "The Broken Circle" serves as an excellent character study for Spock as it wraps with him explaining how logical his actions truly were and how, despite breaking about a dozen regulations, it was the right thing to do."
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] Keith R.A. DeCandido (TOR.COM): "The standout in this episode is Ethan Peck. He continues the stellar work he did in Discovery S.2 and SNW S.1, giving us a younger, less sure of himself Spock. And yet, you see so many of Leonard Nimoy’s mannerisms and speaking patterns here ..."
negative reactions:
[SNW 2x1 YT Reviews] STEVE SHIVES: "I thought it was a terrible episode." Jason Harding: "Not awful, but I was expecting more ST. I was like: guys, you're developing a rep in my head that everyone that works onboard the Enterprise is an androgynous, short-haired woman. It starts feeling like a joke"
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] THE ESCAPIST: "In ‘The Broken Circle,’ Strange New Worlds Is Performing Star Trek" - The Captain's catchphrase? "That sort of thing, “The Broken Circle” insists, is just Star Trek. This gets at a recurring issue with Strange New Worlds, a show that often seems more interested in performing Star Trek than in being Star Trek"
[SNW 2x1 Reviews] ENGADGET: "It returns with a confident, albeit lightweight, romp. I still can’t shake the feeling some of this stuff is better suited to the other Star franchise. Yes, Star Trek of old could be violent, but I don’t think it was ever this cynical or nihilistic, even in the DS9 days."
Bonus (Carol Kane reactions):
[Opinion] POLYGON: "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is upending canon for its new engineer. Carol Kane plays the the mysterious, hilarious chief engineer Pelia. In the season premiere, "The Broken Circle", she’s already upending everything we know about Star Trek’s alternate history of humanity. "
[SNW S.2 Interviews] Carol Kane (Chief Engineer Pelia): "I must admit — and I told the writers and producers right away ... that I really hadn't seen any Star Trek. But they kinda liked that idea! They liked the fact that I was coming to it fresh and now, and I like it too." (Inverse)
Episode 2x2 ("Ad Astra per aspera") [written by Dana Horgan]
[SNW 2x2 Reviews] GIZMODO: "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Day in Court Gets by on a Technicality: "Ad Astra per Aspera" follows in the footsteps of classic Star Trek courtoom episodes, but finds its victory constrained by existential limitations."
[SNW 2x2 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "“Ad Astra Per Aspera” certainly has its flaws, but it is the best live-action episode of Star Trek in the past five years./ Chin-Riley’s secret life is treated as a metaphor for queer identity; the character is coded as gay or even trangender, with Starfleet's prejudice towards her framed in terms that evoke homophobia or transphobia."
Episode 2x3 ("Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow") [written by David Reed]
[SNW 2x3 Reviews] SLASHFILM: This Ep. Is About Causality And Poutine: The story is hastily set up. La'an & Kirk snooping through Toronto storefronts feels just as much like a cost-cutting measure as a well-worn Trek tradition. This Kirk is still breezy, flirty, and fun. As is the whole ep., really"
[SNW 2x3 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ Is an Hour-Long Argument Over Star Trek Continuity: "It increasingly seems as though major franchises like Star Trek are made specifically with those 150 people on the internet complaining ("like Robert Meyer Burnett") as their target audience"
Episode 2x4 ("Among the Lotus Eaters") [written by Kirsten Beyer & Davy Perez]
[SNW 2x4 Reviews] GIZMODO: "Strange New Worlds' Memory Hole Mystery Can't Quite Plug All the Gaps - "Among the Lotus Eaters" gets weird in ways only the original Star Trek could, but in doing so doesn't best serve some of its most interesting characters. Pike at least gets a good deal of focus."
[SNW 2x4 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "One that has plenty to say about human nature and what makes us who we are at our core. It’s also just an all-around great hour of StarTrek, one that mixes classic sci-fi tropes with light horror elements, allowing its actors to play different versions of themselves"
[SNW 2x4 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): ‘Among the Lotus Eaters’ Is an Episode About Strange New Worlds’ Weaknesses: "It is an ep that functions as both a critique and a demonstration of the limits of the show’s episodic form. Complex and evolving interpersonal dynamics can only really be explored through serialization"
Episode 2x5 ("Charades") [written by Kathryn Lyn & Henry Alonso Myers]
[SNW 2x5 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "A fresh and deeply necessary interpretation to our understanding of who Spock is. Peck’s physical and verbal timing throughout this installment is fairly incredible, as he plays a Spock drowning under the combined weight of all the hormones, hunger, and rage"
[SNW 2x5 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "The Birdcage? 'Charades' is a full-bore, old-fashioned sitcom about the stress provided by visiting would-be in-laws. Spock now had to face his human side directly. 'Charades,' however, gives any contemplation of cultural identity a backseat to comedic shenanigans."
[SNW 2x5 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "Indeed, 'Charades' also embodies some of the worst impulses of Strange New Worlds. The episode’s preoccupation with performativity ties into the show’s tendency to spend a lot of time performing Star Trek rather than just being Star Trek."
[SNW 2x5 Reactions] Did Strange New Worlds ruin Spock? - ROBERT MEYER BURNETT: “His entire journey from The Cage to TUC is now meaningless. … Just because physiology changes, don't mean intellect does. Spock didn't start suddenly thinking differently.”
Bonus (Spock reactions):
[SNW S.2 Interviews] Showrunners H.A. Meyer & Akiva Goldsman on Spock's arc in Season 2 : "Fundamentally, it's a waveform. He’s not somebody who is logical all the time if you look through his life. His life is a struggle between emotion and logic. I would say this season is an arc about emotion"
[SNW Interviews] Ethan Peck on Spock: "I think the journey he was really set off on [was] inspired by Michael Burnham in Discovery. She really tells him, 'This is an important part of you and essential to who you are and the way you solve problems.' Which is what Spock is. A great problem-solver"
[SNW Interviews] Gia Sandhu (T’Pring): "To me, it’s very clear that T’Pring loves Spock. I think that she’s loyal and dedicated. On numerous occasions, in different ways, she has shown how badly she wants this to work. They have these virtual dates that they do to try to keep their romance alive..."
[SNW Interviews] “Charades” Director Jordan Canning on Comedy and bonus scenes: “Ethan and Rebecca had, like, worked out this thing. They were like: Ok, can we just try this where, like, I’ve got gum, and Spock wants to try the gum and doesn’t understand what gum is for? And I was like, “Ok, great"
Episode 2x6 ("Lost in Translation") [written by Onitra Johnson & David Reed]
[SNW 2x6 Reviews] Daniel Cooper (ENGADGET.com): "'Star Trek Strange New Worlds’ finds empathy in memory. ‘Lost in Translation’ is smart, effective and subtle. The episode asks if memory is tied to empathy and if we can only sympathize with others if their pain calls to our own."
[SNW 2x6 Reviews] Darren Mooney, THE ESCAPIST: "In ‘Lost in Translation,’ Strange New Worlds Is at Odds with Itself: The episode approaches compelling ideas and themes, only to pull back against them at the last minute in a way that underscores the fundamental limitations of the show’s core premise"
Episode 2x7 ("Those Old Scientists"; SNW/Lower Decks Crossover) [written by Kathryn Lyn & Bill Wolkoff]
[SNW 2x7 Reviews] GIZMODO: "Strange New Worlds' Lower Decks Crossover Is More Than a Gag: "Those Old Scientists" deftly marries two Star Trek shows together with some fascinating ideas—and the mandatory crossover fun. Boimler & Mariner realize that their heroes are just as flawed and human as they themselves are"
[SNW 2x7 Reviews] THE ESCAPIST: "A charming piece of fan service, somewhat redundant. The biggest issue with “Those Old Scientists” is that – narratively and thematically – it doesn’t feel especially novel. It’s an episode about nostalgia crossing over two shows that are obsessed with nostalgia.
[SNW 2x7 Reviews] Daniel Cooper (ENGADGET): “'Those Old Scientists' is as pure a dose of fan service as Star Trek has ever produced. The screenplay is crammed full of great gags. But the ep. is a bit like cotton candy in that once the initial hit of sugar leaves your tongue, there’s little else here"
Episode 2x8 ("Under the Cloak of War") [written by Davy Perez]
[SNW 2x8 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "'Under the Cloak of War' is the headiest, heaviest, bleakest episode of 'Strange New Worlds' yet. If anything, 'Cloak' reveals a deeper diversity of writing than the show was previously seen capable of. SNW has now proven that it can tackle more adult thematic material."
[SNW 2x8 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "'Under the Cloak of War' is a legitimately impressive episode of Star Trek, and it’s safely the most thematically and narratively ambitious episode of Strange New Worlds to date. It's a commendable hybrid of old and new styles. Like the ep. itself... it finds something new to do with an older template."
[SNW 2x8 Reviews] TREKMOVIE: “'Under the Cloak of War' uses the vernacular of war movies to set the tone with the medical angle invoking the great series M*A*S*H without the jokes, but certainly channeling Hawkeye’s nihilism. This was enhanced by good production design and effects to sell the Battle of J'Gal, but these scenes were also bogged down by predictability as the episode overindulged in war movie tropes"
[SNW 2x8 Reactions] ROBERT MEYER BURNETT on X (Twitter): “Aside from thinking CLOAK OF WAR was rather simplistic and a terrible portrayal of Klingons, it also seemed completely tone deaf in comparison to the rest of SNW. It made me HATE two decent characters …”
Episode 2x9 ("Subspace Rhapsody", The Musical episode) [written by Dana Horgan & Bill Wolkoff]
[Opinion] Ryan Britt (INVERSE): "Star Trek Is About To Put Marvel's Biggest Easter Egg to Shame: The musical episode of SNW is a geekdom game-changer. “Subspace Rhapsody” is so utterly committed to delivering a real musical, it makes the joke of Rogers: The Musical in the MCU look pretty silly"
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] COLLIDER: "The cast of 'Strange New Worlds' brings their A-game to "Subspace Rhapsody," locking it in as one of the best episodes in the franchise. With a grand range of genres, the episode moves easily between comedic moments and sweeping emotional ballads."
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "Star Trek's first musical installment is silly, heartfelt, and perhaps the most fun the show's ever been. “Subspace Rhapsody” is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of community and connection, an hour that’s not only wildly fun to watch, but that wholeheartedly embraces the format it's chosen, using the larger narrative framework of traditional musical theater to say something meaningful about its characters and their various journeys this season."
[Opinion] COLLIDER: "Why Did 'Star Trek' and 'Buffy's Musical Episodes Work, but 'Grey's Anatomy's Didn't? Buffy and Strange New Worlds succeed by incorporating original songs, acknowledging the strangeness of a musical episode, and balancing dark subject matter with humor ... the characters think it's strange too! This self-awareness is key, a necessary step to get the audience to suspend their realities and buy into one with background music, perfect harmonies, and well-rehearsed dance numbers."
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] Darren Mooney (THE ESCAPIST): "‘Subspace Rhapsody’ Is a Fascinating and Flawed Star Trek Musical: "While “Ad Astra Per Aspera” [2x2] was confronting one of the franchise’s long-standing blind spots on civil rights, “Subspace Rhapsody” is really just doing something cute and fun."
[SNW 2x9 Reactions] COLLIDER: "This Is Why 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Musical Episode Works: "The episode successfully integrates music as a plot device, developing characters and telling the story through songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. When emotions are so heightened, words won't suffice"
negative reactions:
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] ED WHITFIELD: "The latest stream of piss to break on Gene Roddenberry’s tombstone. The episode was essentially an extended skit – the kind of format breaker usually associated with charity telethons, when the cast of your favourite shows do a comic bit for starving children."
[SNW 2x9 Reactions] ROBERT MEYER BURNETT: “Spock singing about his pain over Chapel leaving him might just be the worst bastardization of a character in pop culture history. Even when a subspace anomaly throws back song at the Enterprise, they can only sing about...THEIR FEELINGS?!?”
[SNW 2x9 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "Subspace Rhapsody is the kookiest the franchise has ever been, and that's saying something. Given that Strange New Worlds is, as a whole, a lightweight, somewhat comedic, openly emotional show to begin with, the sight of seeing the crew sing and dance hardly feels novel"
Episode 2x10 ("Hegemony") [written by Henry Alonso Myers]
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] Daniel Cooper (ENGADGET): "Nine thoughts on 2x10: "Bloody hell. I’ve repeatedly said that Strange New Worlds exudes a special sort of confidence this season.“Hegemony,” is a finale that, aided by the early commission of season three, acts as one part victory lap and one part set up for what follows"
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] DEN OF GEEK: "The ep. is still pretty outstanding television, and as a season-ender, “Hegemony” is certainly an action-packed adventure, a generally fine conclusion. Yet, despite the obvious on-paper stakes of the moment, “Hegemony” lacks the extreme tension of its predecessor."
[Opinion] POLYGON: "Strange New Worlds’ season 2 finale would make ’90s Star Trek proud. Is “Hegemony” as shocking as “[TNG] The Best of Both Worlds Part I”? Nah, you can’t put that kind of lightning in a bottle twice. But it’s still classic Trek shenanigans."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] COLLIDER: "For the most part "Hegemony" is a heart-pounding suspense thriller. However, [it] stumbles into some disappointing misogynist plot points that leave the series on a sour note. For the entirety of Season 2, Batel has almost exclusively existed as a plot device ..."
[SNW 2x10 Video Reviews] STEVE SHIVES: "More lika a second-to last ep. I generally think that the Gorn have been used effectively in this show so far. But I would like to see characters we haven't seen before. I wouldn't have introduced Scotty. But SNW is still by far my favorite of the new shows."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] GIZMODO: "A [Cliffhanger-] set up that provides as few answers as possible to the litany of questions it asks, .... "Hegemony" puts Strange New Worlds' view of the Gorn in the spotlight again—and finds friction in a story format it's yet to experiment with."
negative reactions:
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] Keith R.A. DeCandido (TOR.COM): "Strange New Worlds ends its second season with an intense high-stakes episode. Unfortunately, while the tonal shift itself is fine, the actual episode is something of a dud. Another big part of my disdain for this finale is my general lack of interest in this incredibly derivative, boring, and contradictory iteration of the Gorn."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] Ed Whitfield: "“Hegemony” is, divested of context, a perfectly decent season finale...But, as Ellen Ripley once said, a character very familiar to SNW’s writers, “god damn it, that’s not all”. It’s simply impossible to reconcile the events of this episode with “Arena" (TOS 1x18), ..."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] SLASHFILM: "In a universe of warmth and diplomacy, it strikes this critic as uncreative that any aliens should be presented as mere monsters. "Hegemony" is hundreds of times better than "Into Darkness," an abysmal film, but its attitudes toward cathartic violence are the same."
[SNW 2x10 Reviews] THE ESCAPIST: "SNW Doesn’t Offer the Best of Both Worlds: "There is a bloodlust running through “Hegemony,” and it is not framed with the same ambiguity that made “Under the Cloak of War” so compelling. Instead, the ep. seems to celebrate the crew’s desire to hunt and kill Gorn."
Bonus:
[Interview] SNW Showrunner Akiva Goldsman: "Compassion and empathy are the driving themes and intent for our show. But, we also wanted to say that those things don't preclude the existence of monsters. So, that’s the role the Gorn have currently on our show. I'm a believer in kindness, connection and understanding. I also believe there are monsters out there. And it's our job to show both."
[Essay] Darren Mooney (The Escapist): "What Do the Gorn Represent on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? The Gorn plant their eggs inside other species. In the Alien franchise, this is a metaphor for sexual assault. SNW doesn’t lean into that reading. It plays like an unironic take on STARSHIP TROOPERS"
[SNW S.2 Reactions] MAJOR GRIN on YouTube: "Xenomorph Aliens Similarity to Gorn in Star Trek Strange New Worlds Alien Ripoff"
Reviews covering the whole season:
[SNW S.2 Reviews] Scott Collura (IGN): Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2: "Big swings and lots of fun. As with almost every episode of this season, it’s rooted in a clever and intriguing concept. Perhaps the weakest parts of the season come in the first couple of episodes and in the finale.
[SNW S.2 Video Reviews] Jessie Gender: "Star Trek Doesn't Understand Eugenics/ Season 2 often felt like Aesthetics over depth, resulting in a show more focused on the aesthetic of having an impact rather than having a message with impact. This lack of conviction pulls the franchise back fom what Star Trek should always do - explore strange new worlds in a franchise that says: risk is our business! ...
[SNW Season 2 Video Reviews] Steve Shives on YouTube: "Season 2 of Strange New Worlds is not as good as season one, but I’m not complaining. The thing I admire most is its willingness, even eagerness, to just go for it, to throw caution to the wind, to try stuff, to risk falling on their faces."
[Opinion] Polygon: "Strange New Worlds season 2 shows how far Star Trek has come. The show better reflects 2023 than it does the roots of the sci-fi franchise. Its social commentary is very 2020s, focusing on institutionalized discrimination, civil unrest, and PTSD. “Good” doesn’t come easy on SNW"
[SNW S.2 Reactions] Darren Mooney (The Escapist): As I find myself slowly warming to "Strange New Worlds" in its second season, I remain frustrated by the show's core paradox. It's fascinated with gender and identity, and the performance of them - but is also the most aggressively heteronormative of the new Star Trek shows"