By the way, for the record - I’m not going on about this NFT thing because I hate Colin now or have some kind of agenda. I don’t. He’s doing a thing I don’t like and won’t support. He’s also been in movies that I didn’t like (or watch). It’s nothing personal. I can dislike someone’s actions or choices or behaviour without disliking the person.

Myonlyinterest here is helping to make sure that people know what exactly this is, to do my bit so that hopefully any decision they make is an informeddecision. (Personally, I know just enough about crypto and NFTs to know that I’m a target for being tricked, because I don’t know as much as the people who do the tricking, so I’m staying the hell away from it all.) I just don’t want anyone to get taken advantage of, or involved in something they don’t really understand. I’ve seen it happen to people with MLMs and it’s just never good so, yeah, that’s my intention here.

I’m also honestly super proud of the way the fandom, at least from what I’ve seen, has been about this. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, but not to the point of blindly going along with it once it was clear that it’s dodgy. Looking into it and listening and being open to information, even if the results weren’t what you want to find when it comes to your fave. That’s not easy and I hope everyone’s giving themselves credit for it.

Also hey, I know the opinions about Colin himself might differ a bit at this point but just, maybe we can remember that everyone reacts differently to upsetting revelations and people are allowed to grieve or be angry or insist that he’s still a good person and one mistake doesn’t undo all the good he’s done. People are allowed to unfollow or rant or tell him what they think or distract themselves with lots of pictures or revisit their favourite memories or joke or obsessively research the issue or whatever else they need to do to handle this, as long as they aren’t bothering anyone else.

It’s a money-making scheme, lads. The podcast, the so-called “TV show”, they aren’t the actual product. They exist to promote and sell the actual product: their “metaverse” with all its contents, including NFTs.

They’re being vague about this on their social media - you’ve probably seen the mentions of “Xavatars” and “metaverse”, but no specific explanations of what that actually means. So here’s a quote from their LinkedIn, geared towards investors and business partners rather than social media followers and potential customers:

“… we are creating an animated show, The Sync Report, populated by XAVATAR avatars as a marketing tool and revenue generator. With the creation of the animated show we are expanding the development of the metaverse which our XAVATAR avatars will be able to populate, explore and utilize which allows for promotion of the space and sales of components of the ecosystem.”

What does all that mean? I’m not a business partner, I haven’t heard the full sales pitch, I don’t know all the details. This is what I do know, as far as I understand it:

A metaverse is a digital universe, a combination of the internet and virtual reality, where you can interact with people virtually. Like an online video game, except there’s no game. Note that the metaverse doesn’t actually exist yet, it’s a thing that the Facebook folks are working on.

The idea with “metaverse” and NFTs and all of that is that ideally, everythingwill be monetised. An online world where everything is for sale and everything costs money.

TSR are building their own metaverse called the Xataverse. The “TV show” will take place in this ‘verse, which basically means that if you want to watch it, you will need to enterit. You do that by getting a Xavatar, which is an NFT. Presumably, you will need to buythis Xavatar, since NFTs cost money. The NFTs of Colin that they’re selling will function as Xavatars.

Again, quoting from the LinkedIn, these Xavatars will  “enable users to access various opportunities within our platform” and “participate in “metaverse” content shows, such as video podcasts, news, entertainment, and any kind of broadcast, and create virtual objects, all of which can easily be converted into NFTs”. Again, similar to a video game really, except there’s no game and you’re using real money to take part. Everything is monetised.

By the way: the wallet they want you to use is MetaMask. Which only works with Ethereum, so you’re locked into using Ethereum, one of the currencies that use a ridiculous amount of electricity and is contributing to climate change and the energy crisis. It’s also been falling in value lately, so if you buy, say, $100 worth of Ethereum today, it might be worth $70 in a week’s time.

Oh, and in order to set up a digital wallet and use it, you need to hand over your credit card details and personal ID information.

The “show” is a marketing tool and revenue generator. It exists to make money and promote this digital universe, just like NFTs exist to get people to invest in cryptocurrency. In my opinion, they got Colin on board in hopes of dangling him before his fans to draw them into this Xataverse thing. You want to “see” him on this “TV show”? Buy cryptocurrency, buy a Xavatar, and come right on in! You want more exclusive content? Buy tokens for that! Help drive up the value of the ‘verse and its associated NFTs, so that investors will think this is a valuable thing to invest in.

I also have, shall we say, some doubts that a little company in Kerry is going to manage to create something that Facebookis still working on. Again, the metaverse is still a hypothetical thing, it doesn’t actually exist yet. I think there’s a very real possibility here that once these NFTs drop and they’ve either sold enough or convinced some investors to give them money, the whole thing will just… fade quietly away. It wouldn’t be the first time that happens. But even if it doesn’t, again, the whole thing is a money-making scheme, it’s not about the podcast or the show at all, it’s not about Colin, it’s about using those things to create value, to get people to get involved in and commit to this “Xataverse” and spend money on it.

The best part about today is that we’re kicking off the NHL playoffs. Yeeeee hoooo! Of course I want the Predators or Penguins to win but I am aware of the Panthers. They could win it all.

Greetings Miraculous fandom,

Season four has come and gone. We have confirmation of season five coming out this summer. I decided to start a small series analyzing the show and all the little bits and pieces that make it so unique.

In today’s breakdown, we will discuss the trope of the “rich kids that have problems” and apply them to the children of miraculous who fall under this umbrella. We’ll go over the personalities, motivations, characterization, and how I feel they are included in the show and their overall impact.  

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Adrien Agreste:

Here’s the secondary protagonist of the show and one whom everyone seems to worship the ground he walks upon. Adrien has shown himself to be a very compassionate boy with values and motives around pleasing people, making them feel good, and making allies and friends in order to not feel lonely. He follows every order his father or other parental like figures in his life tells him. When in his superhero alter-ego, he shows off his true feelings and isn’t afraid to flaunt his skills, flirt with his partner, and feel inferior whenever she includes other heroes. With the power of destruction, he is easily one of the most powerful miraculous users in the show.

So why does he feel so one-dimensional?

True, as a fandom, we speak so highly of Adrien and never want to place any blame on him. If Ladybug rejects him, we want to pet him and make him feel better. If he feels replaceable, then we point out how Ladybug made him feel this way. Any ill actions that Adrien has committed get swept under the rug in favor of blaming our true main character. Have we all been blinded by this so called “sunshine child” that we forget that we are supposed to see the faults in both of our mains? Now that we learn that Adrien is a sentibeing, we are more inclined to place our sympathy upon him since he was created to be perfect. 

Therein lies the problem; when you give so much to a character who never has to suffer, why should I, as the viewer, feel bad for him? Things are going to work out in the end, he’ll get the girl, he’ll save the day, and maybe the show will revive his mother or whatever. In another show, people would call Adrien a brat for some of the ways he’s acted around Ladybug/Marinette. Instead of fantasizing about what he could be, we need to take off those rose tinted glasses and face his flaws. 

Chloe Bourgeois:

Well…let me get this out of the way first; I didn’t want a Chloe redemption arc. I felt like every show needs a mean girl character type to bring balance with our main female lead. Chloe came from a household that is pro “spare the rod, spoil the child” method of parenting. It’s the constant coddling, constant praise, and constant attention seeking behavior that we’ve come to know with those kinds of characters. So when season two was building up for her to be a “good” girl, I merely rolled my eyes. I know Chloes in the real world and when you give them exactly what they want, they tend to either be better or get worse. A lot of people had issues when she became laughably evil in season four and then teamed up with Lila. 

Well what did you expect from a girl who’s never been told no for her own life?

I’m surprised to find how many people defend her toxic behavior and abhorrent relationship with others. Did they want Chloe to be a hero because it would “fix her attitude” or did they just want her to a hero cause of this new trend of redeemable characters? I dislike Chloe and her elitist views make for good commentary on behavioral development. Had she received the proper discipline and attention as a child, would Chloe be a vastly different character? Her bad traits outweigh her good ones though, making it hard for someone to feel bad for her. Sure, she can be self-less…when she wants to. She can think about others…when it benefits her. She’ll work on a team…if she doesn’t have to do work. How can I like someone who has the capability to show me she can do good, but continues to relapse into her old habits?

Kagami Tsuguri:

Kagami is an example of sheltered parenting and placing high expectations on children. However, unlike with Adrien where it feels like the usual, the show surprises me by adding her motivation to develop friendships and meaningful relationships. At first, Kagami came off as a rude individual with blunt remarks and gave everyone the cold shoulder. Then she started becoming an Adrien love interest and started a friendship with Marinette. I believe the relationship she had with Marinette to be better than the one she attempted with Adrien. There was no chemistry between the two. Her good traits, however, outweigh her bad ones. We’ve seen her get jealous, be opposed to lying, and hesitate to bond due to social differences. Going back to her home life, we only know about her mother and their family reputation for being swordspeople. Her superhero side is shown to be quite headstrong, but loyal to a fault and trustworthy. Even with little to no knowledge about her, Kagami comes off as one of the more likable rich kids.

How is it that a female who comes from the same background as Adrien be a more fleshed out character in civilian form? Is it her heritage? Is it her true friendship with Marienette? The way she puts herself out there to help others and improve her skills? Her impact, while just a splash in a larger puddle, made huge waves despite the hate she seems to get from the fandom.

Felix Graham de Vanily:

Here we reach the climax of the anti-hero. Felix was introduced to be the twin cousin of Adrien and shown to be somewhat of a sneaky person. He impersonates Adrien, figures out the secret identity of Hawkmoth, tricks Ladybug into trusting him, and beats all the heroes at their own game. Sure he’s snide, conniving, and tricky, but there’s some good underneath the layers. He adores his mother, does care about Adrien, and is even shown sympathizing when his fellow sentibeings are being destroyed.

I’m actually quite neutral to his character. I haven’t seen what he could do when he really lets loose and his motives are still foggy. Do I get angry at him for causing the end of the world without knowing? Do I cry for him because he’s a character under stress and circumstances that he’s trying to control? Felix is vague, not much to him and kinda underwhelming until something pops up later. Knowing him, there will be a lot of changes in the next season should he return in style. 

Please note that this is my critique on the characters and take it with a grain of salt. I love Miraculous and want to continue to look at some of the smaller details within the show. 

Little poem

I wrote this poem after students demonstrated in my country (the Czech Republic), because our president invaded public media.

Politicians running in the circles,

This is a new kind of circus.

Pointless actions for their greater good,

They say “We are just misunderstood.”

Who wins, who loses, who says not again.

If we win, there is time for champagne.

Do they know what’s our deepest desire?

To be free and sit by campfire.

Are we young to know the truth?

We are bright, so is the youth.

scarlet vision fans would never confess that wanda actually have strong feelings for simon williams whatever those feelings are emotional or sexual. Thats the main reason she got attracted to vision in the first place. She would have to get simon back from death again and they’ll say she lost her mind or whatever.

There a lot of things that hasn’t been discussed after Jean’s returned. Her family’s murdered, her marriage, her job In the white hot room, her relationship with Rachel and cable. It’s like she has been reduced to be Scott side-kick and Logans love interest. Can’t stand Logan near jean. He always been a creep.

Basically i liked . LIKED everything thing except for allurance and allura’s death caz man that sucked both of them deserved better the season had horrible writering i am still depressed but ya ……it was also cute in it’s own way though i will not say i loved it caz i really didn’t caz both Lance’s and allura’s arcs were incredible injustice to both of them so ya…..i liked it but it hurt me caz it hurted lance and allura so ya….I’m still hurt but i will admit all allurance scenes were quite cute and the animation in this season was fantastic but the writting sucked so ya that’s that sorry if I’m acting insensitive or if i hurt anyone this is entirely my opinion of the season