LifezVictory

Yes, that scene that Noelle and Susie had was definitely romantic coded especially on Noelle's end, but the way Susie acted, to me, was just ambiguous enough that it still leaves me thinking.

I think it was the way she responded to the confession itself. The 'in whatever way you like me' part. Because that's not returning her feelings, exactly. It's like she's open to whatever the relationship might look like, and in my experience (but don't quote me since I'm aro myself) most allos aren't like that. They want their relationships to be explicitly romantic most of the time.

Not to mention the amount of thought she puts into making Noelle happy. Like she thinks about it constantly. No doubt she cares, obviously, but it also felt a lot like someone who doesn't know they are aro desperately trying to figure out how to romance.

Like oh well, I guess all my literal years of love and hope and dissection of this character were all for nothing though because they were never their own individual and are just going to disappear with no fanfair or acknowledgment which is even worse than a normal character death. It feels genuinely devastating to me.

I'll start with the good. First, I loved Ribbit and Caufmo's voices. I didn't expect either of them to sound like that, but I love them both. Like why are both their voices smooth as butter?

I'm also someone who, after watching the episode fully subscribes to transfem Jax, especially considering who Gooseworx is, but I believe it was intentionally vague and people who don't see it the same way should not be treated cruelly in any way.

Now for the things I thought could have done better. Like other people, while I don't mind the direction I feel like things were really rushed. Ragatha and Pomni's scene together, while super cute, felt unearned because we really didn't see them hanging out together much. Same with Cain, though I think his arc was believable it happened far too late in the episode and could have done with a lot more screentime.

These last two are specific to me, I wish the Gangle/Zooble thing wasn't in the credits. I hold no ill will towards anyone who ships them or the ship itself, I just preferred when all the ships were ambiguous. Lastly, I think the glitch sounds that were used in the Jax memory segments were way too loud, and they kept jumpscaring me and made me try to anticipate the next one rather than following along with the story. A quieter one would have been much more suitable.

Overall I think I'd give the finale a solid 8/10.

But for me, the end of a canon show is just the beginning. On with the fanfics!My thoughts on the Amazing Digial Circus episode 9 (possible spoilers below the cut so don't click until you've watched it)

Having watched the episode fully for myself now, I have some thoughts on it. Firstly I don't think it was a horrible finale like some people say, but I also don't think it was a perfect finale. But I think that with a fandom like this, it would be impossible to please everyone. I have no complaints about the general story beats but there are some things I'd like to say.

I'll start with the good. First, I loved Ribbit and Caufmo's voices. I didn't expect either of them to sound like that, but I love them both. Like why are both their voices smooth as butter?

I'm also someone who, after watching the episode fully subscribes to transfem Jax, especially considering who Gooseworx is, but I believe it was intentionally vague and people who don't see it the same way should not be treated cruelly in any way.

Now for the things I thought could have done better. Like other people, while I don't mind the direction I feel like things were really rushed. Ragatha and Pomni's scene together, while super cute, felt unearned because we really didn't see them hanging out together much. Same with Cain, though I think his arc was believable it happened far too late in the episode and could have done with a lot more screentime.

These last two are specific to me, I wish the Gangle/Zooble thing wasn't in the credits. I hold no ill will towards anyone who ships them or the ship itself, I just preferred when all the ships were ambiguous. Lastly, I think the glitch sounds that were used in the Jax memory segments were way too loud, and they kept jumpscaring me and made me try to anticipate the next one rather than following along with the story. A quieter one would have been much more suitable.

Overall I think I'd give the finale a solid 8/10.

She is entirely oblivious to Noelle's crush.

Her response to being told to flirt is a blunt "No."

Everyone else clicks on poppup ads about dating, while Susie gets ads about food.

While she's had some cute interactions with Noelle, the most influentual relationships on her character so far have been with Kris, Ralsei, Lancer, and Gerson. All platonic/familial.

She isn't just fast, she's wreckless. She not only refuses to wear a saddle, but also any tack or safety of any kind. While doing crazy flips in the air. Sofia meanwhile is being presented as fully in the wrong for missing Minimus and being afraid of falling off. Which she did. Several times.

But did Wildfyre care? No. She spent the whole episode sulking about how Sofia wasn't as enthusiastic about flying with her as she was with Minimus, despite having just met and not being empathetic for her concerns. Sofia is in serious danger of potentially falling to her death, and this horse could not give less of a crap about it. Not until Sofia completely gave into her crazy ideas, that is. At that point, her "Are you okay back there?" and "Do you need me to slow down?" Came across more like she was fishing for validation rather than genuine concern.

Minimus was also entirely out of character and the points he made really sucked. He was anxious about flying sure, but he was never in any danger and he flew fast without any hesitation and won several races, so he isn't at all as slow and boring as this show is trying to convince people. God, what's with this Minimus slander?

Had he been in character, Minimus would have instead said something like "Oh my gosh, that mare is a maniac, a spot on the team is not worth your life being in danger!" That would have been a far better moral: sometimes you just shouldn't do something you love because the circumstances are genuinely unsafe.

In real life puppies do behave similarly, but we can forgive them because they don't know that they're doing anything wrong. But in Disney land, animals are more sapient and aware than in real life. Sofia's ability to speak to them makes that abundantly clear. So Pepper is a lot more aware of his actions than real dogs.

A part that really annoyed me was when Sofia asked him nicely if she and her friends could get past, and Pepper was just like, "No! Play!" And I understand he was probably told to keep the students from getting past, but they were meant to get past with magic, Sofia used magic to speak to him, so he should have let her pass. Then they still allow Pepper to accompany him, and he continues to cause problems by tearing up their map. Even his one moment of redemption, his peptalk to Sofia was all about him. "You got past me, so you can do anything."

And he ends up being chosen as their castle pet. I knew this was going to happen since I'd seen the meet Pepper short before this, but it felt entirely unearned. Sofia was the only one he'd interacted with, and not even that positively, and none of the other kids had a chance to get to know him. They just agreed right away despite having no way of knowing what the unicorn was like, after having wanted the unicorn for so long.

ddlc actually shows, quite clearly, the dangers of amatonormativity and what happens when you value romance above absolutely everything else in your life all of the time.

Sayori has a crush on MC, but it does not do jack to fix her depression even if her feelings are reciprocated.

Yuri's crush on the protagonist drives her to madness in act 2, and since this is a dating sim and all you can do is pick a girl to woo, there is no real way to help her.

Natsuki probably has the least bad things happen to her related to romance alone, and she honestly approaches it the healthiest out of all the girls. Even if it brings her a little happiness, she's still being mistreated by her dad, still has the club as the only place she feels safe, and even then she is judged for her love of manga.

Then there's Monika. Oh boy, I've made a post about her before. Monika is the most on the nose.

Monika mistakes her love of the real world as love for someone she has never met, does not know anything about, and she pushes every other person in her life aside, destroying all her friendships in persuit of this unattainable goal. In the end, it is not her love for us that causes her to develop positively as a character. It is the realization that she loved her friends, loved the literature club, and that is real love that is not inherently less valuable or meaningful than romance.

Monika becomes obsessed with the "real" player behind the screen, ie "real" love in the form of romantic love, and starts devoting all her time and energy into getting their attention and having them all to herself. In doing so, she destroys everyone else in her life, her friends and clubmates, and causes the club to collapse.

Eventually she ends up cutting off every other connection she has, ie deleting them, so it's only her and the player. But when the player breaks up with her, deletes her, she realizes that she now has no support system to lean back on, and she only has herself to blame.

She talks constantly about how hot boys are, but when it comes to actual sex scenes, it's just "He put his thingy in my you know what." Like she doesn't write like she's into it at all. Just, compulsory sex scene here. And I don't think it's a purity thing because she has a Voldemort literally called Satan.

Not to mention almost everyone being called bi, but aside from Harry and Draco's off-screen past relationship no same-gender couples are ever shown. With this interpretation it reads like she feels the same attraction to all genders, ie not much at all, and concludes she must be bi. But write about straight relationships because that is what media is 'supposed' to do.

How exactly was Kinger even planning to 'fix' his code, anyway? To me, that feels like he was essentially planning to lobotomize him. Making him fundamentally different than he was before against his will. I mean, would you like it if someone were able to modify your brain and personality so fundamentally?

Caine's deletion was, by the looks of it, completely painless. He only had a second to realize what was happening before it was over. Don't get me wrong, I'm not celebrating his death or anything of the sort, I recognize it for the tragedy that it is. But Caine wasn't in the place to listen to criticism without taking it as a personal attack, and the rest of the gang weren't in the place to understand and empathize with him because they could never get away from him and have the time to process. So this was probably the best that things could have gone at this point.