I taught at a strict vocational college that forced students to wear uniforms and bow to elders. As someone who let students call him by his first name and played Valo with them, I was not surprised when my boss called me into his office. I was ready to defend myself, but I was hit with: “Are you aware that your students are descendants of a cannibal?”
Truthfully? Sort of. I knew that in 1600, colonists invaded the island and enslaved the natives. A pirate named Sur-Linyao slaughtered the colonists and became the island’s folk hero.
Murals and statues of Sur-Linyao were all over the island. His signature look was his very long tongue sticking out of his mouth. The symbol on his pirate flag was a six-dot triangle. Technically, Sur-Linyao didn't eat ALL of the colonists, just one organ. First, he tied each colonist to a tree. Sur-Linyao then cut out each man’s liver and ate it raw with chili paste while staring into the person’s eyes. Sur-Linyao then threw that bleeding and squirming colonist into a dirty shallow pond, where Komodo dragons, attracted to the blood, devoured the victim alive.
The school rector handed me a photograph. It showed a male Westerner smiling while kicking a statue of Sur-Linyao while two women cheered him on. The three in the photo were humanitarian workers. Traces of candle wax at the base of Sur-Linyao’s statue showed that the islanders worshipped the liver-eating pirate, and for some reason, the workers felt they needed to do something about that. The three thought that their 6 months long relationship-building with natives on the island earned them enough goodwill for them to get away with that kind of stunt. Just a few hours after the photo was taken, the hacked body parts of all three were found scattered all over the beach. Their livers were missing.
The rector then stared right at me, preparing me for his next sentence. “Before you think that I’m a racist who is prejudging the modern-day natives as liver-eating savages based on what their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, you should know that the killings happened in 2017. To put things in perspective, the Nintendo Switch was already out.”
The rector then revealed that he called me into his office to ask me about an incident a day before.
There was a report that a White man with a goatee whistled at a native girl inside a convenience store on the south side of the island. He asked if that was me.
I was shocked. That was the reason he called me in here? I told him no. Apparently, there were only about 30 Caucasians on this island of 20,000 people, and only a few had a goatee. The rector then told me that a cop and the girl’s father and an older brother went to my dorm to look for me but I wasn’t there.
After seeing the look of horror on my face, wondering what would have happened if I was at the dorm, the rector told me not to panic and that he will talk to the cop and the girl’s family on my behalf. The rector ended our meeting with, “Just be careful AJ. We are the minority here. I hope to god you know what that means.”
For the past few classes, I started letting my students analyze Western media and culture. Thanks to globalization, these island kids watched and played the same media content as others their age around the world: Stranger Things, MCU, Fortnite, etc. As their teacher, I was often asked to comment on controversial topics like: “AJ, what do you think about a Neo-Nazi being punched before he does anything?” “AJ, what do you think about Black Lives Matter?” “AJ, what do you think about Go Woke Go Broke?” “AJ, what do you think about Don’t-Say-Gay-Bill?”
My answer was always to not ask me what I think, but for them to gather information from various sources and come to their own conclusion. Since more than ⅔ of the class were teenage males, their views were… not very much aligned with mine. But even though I disagreed with them, I felt like we had a healthy discussion.
I then noticed a student, Stephanie, seemed very unhappy as she shoved her notebook into her bag at the end of class. “You know I used to love your class. But I think these past few classes were shits.”
I was confused. Stephanie was one of my best students. She always sat in front and answered all questions correctly last semester. I asked her right away what was wrong.
“Is it going to kill you to just outright say that racism is wrong, misogyny is wrong, homophobia is wrong, and Naziism is wrong? Why does it have to always have to be a healthy debate?” I was shocked by her response. I told her that I don’t think a teacher should just outright tell students what to think, especially when it comes to social issues.
I mean, of course, I think racism, misogyny, Naziism, and homophobia are wrong. But I guess I would feel like I was brainwashing the students if I just tell them: this is what you must believe.
Stephanie scoffed. “Well, now Benny and his gang think that you approved of their homophobia and misogyny. You didn’t want to correct them not because you are this free-thinker, but in reality you just want them to think that you are a “too cool to care” edge lord just like them, right? Do you think the disenfranchised people enjoy watching others debate whether or not they should have the right to exist and feel safe? How would you feel if one day the island natives have a healthy debate about whether you should live or die?” Stephanie then stormed out.
Needless to say, I was not in a good mood that evening. I took it out on the students playing survivors while I was playing as a killer on Dead by Daylight. After getting slaughtered the students were not happy. “AJ, why were you tunneling me?”
A student named Benny asked after I sacrificed him within fifteen minutes. I thought that was rich coming from Benny, who, as a killer, only played Leatherface and Facecamp-ed all his victims the entire match. My response was snarky. “Benny, why don’t you try hiding like the other survivors instead of running around the map like a decapitated chicken?” The other students laughed. Benny didn’t respond right away, which made me feel kind of bad. Benny eventually responded after about two minutes. “I can’t wait to eat your liver, AJ.” My heart dropped to the floor. Did Benny just threaten me? I was waiting for the other students to call him out on that comment, but they were silent. After about thirty seconds, Benny continued, “I bet your liver tastes delicious, AJ. I bet it is so sweet and juicy I won’t even need a chili sauce.” The day after, I tried to spin that whole experience as a teachable moment. I decided the next class lecture was going to be about influential people and why people are so divided over them.
I listed some controversial ‘a hero to some, a villain to others’ figures for them.
Che Guevara Napoleon Edward Snowden
Hoping to have some more healthy debates. But the students do not have strong enough opinions about the figures that were so distant in relevance to them.
So, I did something that was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I asked them about the island's liver-eating hero, Sur-Linyao. Benny said that there’s nothing controversial about Sur-Linyao unless some douchebag wants to sympathize with the genocidal colonists he slaughtered.
I reminded Benny that if someone were to hear his comments in the previous class, they could accuse him of sympathizing with sexist racist homophobic Nazis too. Like an arrogant idiot, instead of leaving it at that, I decided it was healthy to hit them with some truth about Sur-Linyao.
Sur-Linyao was a horrifying villain to the islanders before the colonists arrived. He was a pirate after all. Sur-Linyao would regularly pillage several villages on the island, killing several innocent people in the process. Seeing the six-dots triangle jolly-roger from the distance must have been a nightmare for the islanders at the time.
And Sur-Linyao didn’t kill the colonists out of the goodness of his heart. There were pieces of evidence that showed Sur-Linyao worked with the colonists for years, and in the end, betrayed the colonists just because he wanted to rob them. Benny shook his head. He told me that several people in this class were direct descendants of Sur-Linyao, including him. I chuckled, thinking that he just WISHED he was a descendant of Sur-Linyao. But Benny said he could prove it.
More than half of the male students in the class stood up. They slightly tilted their head down but their eyes kept on looking forward, staring at me. Suddenly, their tongue started to slither out of their mouth. The tongues were too long, longer than a foot, but it was not the length that unsettled me, but the way it wiggled out of each of their mouth as if they were separate creatures. I was horrified looking at the dozen students standing in front of me, staring at me with their long tongues dangling out.
Benny then said, “Do you know what the six-dots triangle means, AJ? It means that the man seeing it was about to lose his liver.” I always parked my car a bit further away from the school because I didn’t want to fight with other faculty members over the parking space underneath the building. Besides, I didn’t mind walking a bit since there was a nice view of the ocean. As I was getting out of the car, I saw that someone painted the six-dots triangle on an abandoned water tank in the middle of the field. It was new, I didn’t see it the day before. And I was more than certain it was meant for me to see. No one parked where I parked and the surrounding area was abandoned.
I went and told the school administrator about this. They said that the six-dot triangle symbol was a symbol of Sur-Linyao who has pictures all over the island, including that symbol on his forehead.
It was not an intimidation symbol like a swastika and that I should relax.
Frustrated, I went back to my dorm. The view from my balcony was almost great, but there was a weird Ferris wheel-like structure blocking part of it. I didn’t even know what the circular structure was, but there seemed to be a bunch of neon light bulbs attached to it. I hoped it never got turned on or else I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
As I went into my closet, I found a T-shirt that was not mine. On it was a phrase, ‘I’m the Other White Meat’ on it. Why was this in my closet? Did the dry cleaner mix in someone else’s clothes with mine? Who would dry clean a T-shirt? I realized then that my room may have been broken into.
I was nervous and scared out of my mind. Am I being targeted or am I just overreacting? Is the entire island gaslighting me, or was it just Benny and his friends? Heck, it could have been Stephanie doing this, trying to teach me a lesson.
I opened Discord to see if some of my students want to play some games, but none of them were online, at least not in the group chat I set up. Some of them changed their profile picture to a six-dot triangle, including Benny.
That evening, I went to a gas station to fill up my car. As I was just about finished, I saw a truck coming down a steep hill, heading straight into the station. It was an old truck, but an intimidatingly large one, and loud. Then, I saw the six-dot triangle symbol painted on the side of the truck.
Logically, I shouldn’t have panicked. The symbol was a symbol of the island’s folk hero and the gas station is brightly lit and full of people. But out of nowhere, this feeling of dread overwhelmed me. The hair on my arm just rose straight up. I felt chills as if something was telling me to get out of the gas station now. I trusted my instinct and quickly started my bike and bolted out of there.
The next day, I walked past a hallway where a colleague named Beth was putting up a poster made by her students. The poster was showcasing English words that came from French. For some reason, there were also photos of faculty members floating alongside words like “Garage”, “à la carte”, and “Cache”.
I stopped in my track when I saw my photo with the word, ‘Foie Gras’ underneath it.
That word and my picture seemed so out of place being in its own little corner on the poster. I almost had a panic attack right there. Another threat? Are you kidding me? I thought. Beth asked me what was wrong. I decided to tell her.
That evening, I went to have dinner with Beth and her husband Jan on the beach. Just three White expats talking. I told them about what I had been experiencing in the past few days. The three dotted symbols painted where I parked, the comment from the student made on the game chat, the mysterious T-shirt, the racial profiling, all of it. “You are being very racist,” Beth said right at the very second I had just realized that I never really liked her.
She continued, “Don’t you get it, AJ? The students are threatening to eat your liver because they know you are a racist white man who thinks they were going to eat your liver. Kids will always try to exploit what they think the adults are afraid of. It’s your fault for showing them your cards.
Have you ever been outside of the States before? Do you not know how to be a minority? You came to an island paradise with so much special privilege but you suddenly have a male Karen racist nervous breakdown moment because you think that your teenage students are going to eat your liver? Quite frankly, I am very disappointed in you."
Her husband Jan tried to save the mood of the dinner. “So AJ, what are your plans for when the island shut off the power on July 7th?”
For one day every year, the island shut off all electricity for maintenance. Nothing electronic will work on that day, most importantly the ATM and the Internet. People, even the island natives, would go to the mainland for one day. There’s a problem with that idea. The ferry itself takes 3 hours to reach the mainland. And, with so many people thinking of doing the same thing, the line at the dock will be extremely long, both to the mainland in the morning, and back from the mainland in the evening.
For the last two years, I rode out the annual power outage by just chillaxing on the island. But this year, a Facebook post by Benny made me reconsider.

“I just want to say, my favorite teacher is AJ. He surely delivered. And soon I will de-liver him.”

Jan said that he and Beth will drive their speedboat to the mainland, which is 5 times faster than the ferry. They are also taking the rector with them. Judging from the way Beth glared at me, I don’t think she will say yes if I asked her if I could come too.
On the day of the power outage, I waited almost five hours in line to get my car onto the ferry. The ticket machine no longer works so everything was written on a notecard with pen and paper, which I found amusing. When the ticket man came to my car. He said to me that I have to wait for the next one. I looked at the ferry and it was not even half full. I asked him why and he pretended to suddenly not understand English.
I looked in my rearview mirror and then saw it, the truck with the six-dot triangle painted on its side only three cars behind me. How did it get there? I didn’t see it behind me before. I realized then that the truck wanted to get on the next ferry with me. I told the ticket holder that I will leave my car there and I will get on the leaving ferry with just me. Before he could say anything, I quickly maneuvered out of the line and parked in front of a cafe. The ticket boy said I couldn’t park there. I asked him if he owned the cafe, then quickly ran and jumped onto the suddenly departing Ferry.
After riding the ferry many times, I figured out that the top deck gave me the least motion sickness. I climbed up there and found a surprising person. Stephanie. She smiled at me, which made me so glad. I didn’t think what I did was something so bad that she would be holding a long grudge anyway. We made small talk, I asked her about what she was planning on doing for the day, etc. After a bit, I couldn’t help myself and showed her Benny’s Facebook post. I always thought she didn’t like Benny. I told her I was disappointed in him and was so shocked that he would threaten me like that.
I looked up at Stephanie and was shocked to see her eyes bulged out and her foot-long tongue dangling from her mouth. “Just like Voltaire, I may disagree with what Benny says, but I will defend to the death his right to say it." I was so scared, I backed away automatically. But, the teacher in me still corrected her and said that Voltaire didn’t say that. She laughed, “Good. Voltaire was a smart person. Only an idiot would say something like that.”
I moved down to the lowest level where the cars and the smoking passengers were. I tried not to fall asleep as I could feel the eyes of the other passengers staring at me.
The sound of people barfing almost made me want to barf myself. I went and sat on the edge of the front of the ferry. The wind blowing into my face did calm me a little. I was scared and frustrated. I wondered if I should just never go back to the island after reaching the mainland.
After looking at my watch and realizing that it had been three hours, I looked out the window and saw what made my soul leave my body. We were heading to the island? I didn’t even realize we had turned around.
I asked the ferry driver what was going on. He said there was a storm coming and he has to head back. Besides, it was already close to 5 PM, and the power should be coming back on soon.
I was extremely angry that I was about to be back on the island. Stephanie was nowhere to be found on the ferry also. Since I was farsighted, I could see the tires of my car were slashed.
There were also a couple of men standing there doing nothing, blocking my path toward my car. There was no longer any doubt in my mind that the natives were planning to do something to me. I was targeted and was about to be beaten or killed for whatever reason.
I surprised them all by jumping from the ferry before it was properly docked and sprinting in the opposite direction of where my car was. I climbed up the steep hills next to the road leading to the dock and disappeared into the woods The light was not coming back on and it was getting dark.
I was shaking in fear but I had to calm myself so I could think of the next move with a clear head. I wondered if Beth and Jan came back from the mainland yet. I could ask them to use their boat or at least hide me, and if they say no, at this point, I was at a level of desperation where I was willing to just cause chaos until they let me. On my way to their house, I had to pass my dorm. I considered going to gather some of my things until I saw something moving in the dark.
I almost peed my pants from fright when I saw a floating pair of eyeballs approaching my dorm. Despite everything else being in complete darkness, the eyes of a person and his dangling red tongue were glowing in the dark. I had never seen anything like this. Several more pairs of eyeballs and long red tongues emerged from the dark woods.
I couldn’t tell if the floating eyeballs and tongue belonged to Benny or any of my students, but they were right outside my dorm. As my eyes started to get used to the darkness and started to see shapes, I could see that they were each holding a machete. I quietly made my way to Beth and Jan’s house. When I got to their boathouse, there were flies everywhere. I tried to brush them away, but I could feel the thickness of the swarm. I felt like I was touching a bunch of floating chunks of meat.
I saw their boat at the dock. So did they come back? But why wouldn’t they turn on their boat’s light? I finally decided to use my phone flashlight to help me search for the boat key inside the boat house. I didn’t use my phone earlier because I was trying to conserve battery and also I didn’t want to draw attention to where I was. As soon as I shined the phone’s flashlight inside the boathouse, I was shocked to find the hacked-up heads of Beth, Jan, and the school’s rector covered in flies. Suddenly, I heard a wood creaking sound coming from outside. I quickly grabbed the boat key and jumped into the couple’s speed boat.
I hurriedly start the boat and just drove off, not caring about anything else. I used my phone’s compass to find the direction towards the mainland and I just kept going.
Suddenly, lights came back on the island. It shined brightly behind me as a nuclear bomb had just been detonated. I couldn’t help but look back, and then I saw it: a giant face formed by the neon lights, making the entire island look like it had a demonic face. The circular Ferris-wheel-like structure that was outside my dorm’s balcony was part of one of the giant face’s eyes.
I told myself to just ignore it and kept on driving. It was their world and they didn’t want me in it. I could do nothing but kept on going into the darkness.

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I'm looking for some tips on how to harmonise things because mixing systems seems essential (sticking to the recommendations of only one has results that feel very awkward) but there's a lot of contradictory stuff going on.
I am 99% sure I'm a Cool Winter, I've been typed by professionals in a wide variety of seasons and every answer is either that or as close to it as the system allows. I got a diploma in personal styling myself and concluded that all of them were right, though I have struggled with it because while the colours themselves work very well, I feel like my body is unable to support the kind of high-contrast outfits that are typically recommended... I look good, but not right. Much better to wear a single colour head to toe or something like small-scale floral prints in appropriate colours.
I've been getting into Kitchener Essences lately, Ingenue is undoubtedly my dominant essence and I figure this probably explains why I've had a hard time applying colour analysis even though I feel very confident that (some of) the colours themselves work for me, and maybe even why I feel really awful and agitated in come colours I look great in (looking at you, navy blue).
I'm think that I must have a decent amount of Classic essence as well -- tbh I cannot wear many of the clothing recommendations because in terms of my actual body shape I am all Yin, unambiguous Kibbe Romantic. But, I do well in outfits that are basically black from head to toe, and in very simple outfits (basically: a simple dress (sometimes with a floral print), simple shoes (sometimes with a bow on the ballet flats), maybe a headband, plus whatever accoutrements are necessary for the weather). If you're at all familiar with point-based systems for putting outfits together, I am chronically "underdressed" according to all of them. I have genuinely tried to go by the recommendations but I'm just so uncomfortable, so I wear my borderline-minimalist outfits and somehow end up looking like I must be going somewhere special if I so much as wear earrings. I don't even know.
I believe myself to have a notable amount of Ethereal essence too -- apparently my overall vibe is basically "fairy" or "fairy-tale princess". But I have no idea how to properly honour this, primarily because of my colour season and the fact that I am 5'2" and have no elongation of which to speak below the neck.
Right now I have a perfectly functional wardrobe of things that make me reasonably happy. It vibes mostly Ingenue-Classic. Exclusively dresses, lots of black, some pinks and purples, small-scale florals and heart prints. I like scarves and headbands as accessories. I am not unhappy with it, but it feels like something is missing, I'm pretty sure it's the Ethereal essence, but I don't know how to incorporate it into the constraints of everything else. I've thought of maybe expanding my earrings, but it gives me pause because last time I showed up to my Bible study wearing pretty earrings I had someone ask me if I was going on a date later or something (I was otherwise wearing an outfit she'd seen me in several times before, a very modest ensemble, the earrings were the only difference), and I felt like I must be doing something wrong.
Additionally, if anyone has any advice for this, I am struggling a little with modesty, in the sense that I feel borderline overdressed much of the time by the accident of existing, but I'm literally just wearing a black dress and black shoes most days. Maybe it's just a consequence of only wearing dresses, idk. I don't want to feel like I'm showing off by dressing better than other people but I also don't feel physically or emotionally comfortable in separates or what most people consider "casual clothing". It makes me a little bit afraid to wear some accessories that I love but feel like the occasion isn't "special" enough. Most people in my area basically live in jeans or leggings and t-shirts. Part of me worries about immodesty, part of me insists that this is unfair because I am putting in only enough effort to be presentable (no makeup or anything, just wearing clothes and brushing my hair), and part me wants to just wear whatever I want because even if I get some comments like "are you going on a date or something?" I also get women who tell me they're excited to come visit me because they have an excuse to "be girly". I don't know how to process this?
If anyone has advice on any of those specifics, or even just general advice or inspiration on how to tie together these somewhat-contradictory aspects, I would be greatly appreciative. :)

Venue - Poet's Corner
Dress Code - Black Tie
Food and drink - Cheese cobs with Madri
Ladies and Gentlemen it is my pleasure to announce the /NFFC end of season award winners as chosen by you (or at least those who bothered to vote and submit the form)!
Player of the Season
Very strong decision here with around 75% of votes going to none other than Morgan Gibbs-White!
Signing of the Season
Another win for MGW here but less overwhelming. Honourable mentions go to Felipe and Danilo who came 2nd and 3rd respectively with a good number of votes apiece.
Most Improved Player
None other than the blonde shithouse straight out of Hucknall, as you voted for Joe Worrall for most improved.
The Sir Kenneth Burns Memorial Award for Pashun
As voted for by a committee of yer da and a selection of Nottingham Post commentators, Ryan Yates wins the pashun and dersiah award.
Flop of the Season
Incredibly close voting, we have taken the decision to commission two wooden spoons to hand out here. Take a bow Jonjo Shelvey and Jesse Lingard, you really were shit. I wonder if that lad who got a Lingard tattoo is going to the laser clinic anytime soon.
Goal of the Season
This one probably kept the scorer off the Flop of the Season shortlist. Chris Wood, you might have been a dire signing but we'll always remember your goal against Manchester City to give us the 1-1 moral victory.
Away Day of the Season
Quite close voting, but you voted for the sole away win as being the away day of the season. Fair enough, not like Southampton has owt better to do.
Home Game of the Season
You voted for the win against Arsenal at home which secured Premier League survival. Fair enough, gutted I couldn't make it.
Brice Samba Memorial Plate for Shithouse of the Season
Yateseh wins this one again with a very honourable mention to Serge Aurier for services to on-pitch antics.
Chant of the Season
Again very close so we have decided to give two awards. Thirty signings who gives a fuck, Nottingham Forest are staying up and the Danilo chant.
Team of the Season
Quite strong voting choices here, with only the goalkeeper being a relatively close vote. Your team of the season is as follows
Henderson
Niakhate
Felipe
Aurier
Renan Lodi
Mangala Yates
Danilo
Awoniyi
Gibbs-White
Johnson
Substitute bench
Navas
Worrall
Boly
Williams
Kouyate
Scarpa
Lingard
Worst Pundit
Chris Sutton. You boring cunt.
Most Rattled Fanbase
Good job Wolves won this one, we're rapidly running out of spicy matches after the sheer amount of Leicester and Leeds Ls.
Shitpost of the Season
The Madri psyop/campaign/prank won this as a collective effort. For best individual post, please take a bow question-guru for ordering the subreddit flag.
Shitposter of the Season
Again we're going to award two owing to a relatively tight vote. The winners are me and userunknowne who has really come into his own this season as an elite shitposter, well done all.
footage of my acceptance speech
Grass of the Year Award for Worst Lineup Predictions
You all voted for 'that fella down the pub' or some variant thereof. Proving that perhaps the Thurland isn't the best place to get Real News.
Non-Shitpost Contributor of the Season
Congratulations coolica, and thank you for keeping the match threads pristine for us with only the relevant statistics shown.
Best pub for prematch drinks
You all voted the Trent Navigation as the best pre-match pub with an honourable mention to the official /nffc Politburo pub, the Poet's Corner.
Favourite prematch pint
Nothing like a refreshing Madri^tm.
Most pointless football statistic
In hindsight I should have put possession as an option, but xG remains utterly pointless.
Above all, like in a school assembly give yourselves a round of applause for making this sub such a pleasure to post on. Obviously it gets a bit lighter over the summer but we'll be hopefully coming into the new season with ideas on how to make things even more based.

Link download: https://bit.ly/3oto6st

Here’s what you’ll get in The Chad Salesman Course

Part 1: Frames – The Art (and Science) of Communication

• Find out what frames are.
• Common Frames AND Techniques for Breaking Them
• Learn how to play the Frame Game and what Status is.

Part 2: Using Psychology to Improve Sales

• How to sway public opinion
• Learn to draw drawings for potential customers.
• learn how to convince the prospect to buy from you

Part 3: The Chad Salesman

• The three qualities you MUST have
• Discover all the errors beginners make and how to avoid them.

Part 4: Beating the Sales Game

• Selling through comparing value and status
• You and the prospect are in a frame battle.
• A description of the ideal B2B sales process
• Discover how to nail it
• How to Make Your Demos Rock
• Become adept in handling objections
• How to prospect effectively
• attracting focus on Follow Up
• tips for body language

After scanning to tonight's posts I thought I'd just share a few random thoughts I might be in the minority about: (in no particular order}

• I'm a huge fan of Shakespeare's tragedies and this has been set up to be a tragedy from day one. So I'm not at all surprised that everyone essentially lost. Tom may have the title and a nice salary, but Mattison made it clear his job is to handle all the ugly and bring nothing creative to the table or wield any real power except in a petty way over people like Greg. In some ways I think people's discomfort with the ending has a lot to do with what we expect of fiiction. We expect neat ends and tied up bows and clear winners and losers and protagonists we can root for - Even if their anti-heroes. And what this show has showed us time and time again is It wants to reflect a reality that is much messier and uglier. It wanted to reflect the messiest, ugliest parts of human nature and capitalism.
  
• I'm struck by how much language here in the subreddit is tacitly forgiving or understanding of Roman and Ken and even Logan and their human frailty and messiness and brutality and cruelty and narcissism and ego and pride and violence and their objectification and using of everybody around them. And yet when it comes to Shiv, there is so much uncomprehension of her motives and dismissal of her as just a bitch. It's hard not to feel that there is a strong undercurrent of unexamined misogyny in all of our responses to her. She was selfish of course. Driven by pride and ego and pettiness and anger? Yes of course. Was she cruel to her husband? Of course. Were her liberal ideas ultimately no match for her ego and her woundedness and reality and her greed? Of course. But she did not kill anybody. She was not physically violent with anyone. She did not sexually abuse or harass anyone. She did not rip up a million dollar check in the face of a working class 10-year-old. Her crimes barely register against the violence and abuse Ken and Roman and her father are responsible for. (Even that milksop Tom was legally guilty of a crime for the cruises coverup). And yet she's the one everyone seems to really loathe; she's the one that nobody can seem to understand or empathize with. I don't think that's a coincidence.
  

-. I don't think Shiv's "decision" at the end was thought out. I don't think it was an intellectual decision on her part. I think it was an emotional reaction. It was acting out her own woundedness and her own pain. I don't think she thought she was doing what was best for anyone in particular, not even herself. I simply don't think she could live with crowning Ken. Even if she thought it was the right decision, I just don't think she could bring herself to do it. I think she would rather live in subjugation to Tom than her brother is what it came down to in her heart. I think she really needed to think and that's why she walked away. And Ken's desperation, his inability to give her the space to think about it for even a second, how quickly he escalated in that desperation to complete lying and violence... That's sealed everyone's fate.

• finally and this is kind of minor but I don't think Ken was doing violence to Roman during that hug in the office when Roman's wound reopened. I think the intensity of that hug came from Roman pulling himself into his brothers shoulder. Roman needed the physical pain and wanted the wound to reopen. We'd seen time and time again that Roman self soothes with needs pain and degradation, unfortunately it's how he experiences love. I really saw that is a beautiful moment where Kendall was really trying to comfort him and Roman was really letting himself be comforted in the way that he could be.

Maybe there will be more of us rare conheads (the 1%, if you will) who felt the ending made sense dramatilurgically but the writing and dialogue were not as sharp as they could have been, and as good and as good as they have been in this very show.
Some thoughts in no particular order: - If you told me there was another season after this, I might believe you. I’m not saying every thread had to be tied up with a bow, but more could have been

• The ending obviously sought to surprise. Many are explaining it was telegraphed so clearly, but let’s be honest: how many had Tom as CEO?
  
• The writing was not particularly punchy or as good as that of S3’s finale. He RATES you!
  
• As always, the performances were excellent and the tension was real. 10/10 on maintaining suspense
  
• perhaps there were a few too many shortcuts to get us to the end AND to surprise us. It’s funny Lawrence came up, because that would make more sense than Tom, even if Matson was clearly enamored with how pliant he could be. It seemed to be something that materialized in minutes compared to some earlier story threads.
  

Again, great ending but I contend it can’t stand toe to toe with The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Wire and not even against its earlier lofty highs. But… neither are comparisons to Season 8 game of thrones fair either.
Maybe I need longer to let it digest, because it’s too raw, but my initial take is “that was great; good ending,” but not that it was sublime. I’m grateful we got the show, nonetheless.

Michelangelo

"The wise guy is Michelangelo"

Michelangelo is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, mutant turtles taught the way of the ninja by their rat sensei, Hamato Splinter. Mikey is laid-back and impetuous, bringing a sense of levity to his family's fights against their enemies, including the ninja crime lord the Shredder.
Feats will be marked with the season and episode number (i.e. S3E5). Feats from Turtles Forever will be marked with F.

Physicals

Strength

Nunchucks

• Knocks back a large monster that ran headfirst through concrete walls and pillars^S6E22
• Breaks apart Mousers^S1E1
  • 2^S1E2
  • 3^S1E2
• Hits a Mouser into a concrete pillar hard enough to break it^S1E1
• Breaks stone tendrils^S1E15
• Breaks a turret^S3E9
• Breaks chain^S1E9
• Destroys a Foot robot^F
• Embeds a nunchuck into an arena floor^S2E26
• Launches a large gladiator back^S2E24

Striking

• Knocks a foe through a thick wall^S1E15
• Kicks Mephos through a thick wall^S4E7
• Kicks Mr. Go into a wall hard enough to make a hole^S3E8
• Dents and then breaks down large metal doors by beating an alien into them^S4E9
• Kicks a large stone monster into a pillar hard enough to damage it^S4E12
• Kicks a Foot ninja into a computer terminal hard enough to smash it^S1E21
• Kicks Mr. Touch across a room, knocking him, Hun, and Mr. Go through a window^S3E8
• Kicks through the shaft of a large weapon and sends Kluh sliding back^S4E6
• Kicks the large supervillain Sliver across a room^S3E19
• Sends a large pterodactyl flying^S6E16
• Kicks a Foot Elite into a display hard enough to break it^S1E18
• KOs a Triceraton^S2E4
• Kicks Triceratons hard enough to knock over stacks of supply crates^S6E18
• KOs a Purple Dragon^S1E1
• With Donatello, kicks Hun hard enough to warp a steel cage^S1E8
• With Donatello, kicks open locked armored car doors^S1E20

Lifting/Throwing

• Throws his nunchucks hard enough to penetrate Utrom Shredder's armor^S2E8
• Throws a log hard enough to smash a drone^S1E20
• Moves a large piece of rubble off of himself^S7E5
• Lifts a large prehistoric fish^S4E21

Other

• Breaks off a robot's head using two pipes^S2E12
• Rips off a robot's arm^S6E3
• Breaks shackles holding his feet^S4E5
• Snaps off a rooftop antenna^S2E15
• With Donatello, pushes over a large piece of machinery^S1E26

Durability

Blunt

• Gets kicked by Utrom Shredder^S1E11
• Hit with a charge from Silver Sentry that launches him hard enough to crater the wall^S1E12
  • Silver Sentry flew straight through a concrete roof,^S1E12 flew through a Triceraton asteroid ship,^S3E3 and destroyed spaceships^S3E3
• Takes a hit from Nano^S1E5
  • In a weaker body, Nano punched through several prison walls^S2E11
• Thrown through large metal doors hard enough to warp them^S6E7
• Takes hits from tentacles that smash through stone^S3E14
• Takes a hit from Stockman's mech^S1E23
  • Stockman's mech hit Shredder hard enough to make a hole in the wall and slammed him through a pillar^S1E23
• Hit with a mace blow from Stockman's cyborg body, which used the mace to make shockwaves that knocked over semi trucks^S7E5
• Hit by Dr. Dome's mech, which busted a large hole in stone^S2E22
• Takes a hit from Hun^S1E10
  • 2^S3E25
    • Hun hit Raphael hard enough to warp steel bars^S1E8 and swung a mace straight through solid metal^S3E25
• Gets hit by Hun collapsing a steel cage on him^S1E8
• Takes hits from Foot Tech ninja^S1E21
  • A Foot Tech launches another hard enough to warp a large metal beam^S1E7
• Takes blows from a Foot Mech disguised as Splinter^S2E19
  • The Mech warped thick metal with strikes^S2E19
• Thrown and punched and tail slapped by Leatherhead^S2E12
  • Leatherhead rips a large metal gate out of the wall and throws it,^S3E9 punches a metal door out of its frame and warps it,^S3E25 and sends Mutated Donatello flying through a concrete wall with a tail slap^S4E24
• Takes a hit from Mutated Donatello, who broke through a concrete floor^S4E23
• Punched by Triple Threat, who smashed through concrete and fractured the floor of a museum with a punch^S6E8
• Thrown by Rat King into a concrete wall hard enough to damage it^S4E5
• Kicked by Turtlebot, which kicked Donatello into concrete rubble hard enough to break it^S2E12
• Takes hits from Mr. Touch^S3E8
• Kicked by Mr. Go hard enough to crack a sewer wall^S3E8
• Launched a fair distance by a dinosaur^S7E1
• Crashes to the ground hard enough to make a crater^S7E12
• Gets kicked by a Foot ninja into other Foot ninja hard enough to knock them out^S1E11
• Takes a hit from a Foot ninja^S1E1
• Jumps off of a building into a garbage truck^S2E1

Energy

• Hit by a blast from the Sword of Tengu^S1E6
  • Again^S1E23
    • A cannon powered by the Sword destroyed a dock and heavily fractured the concrete ground^S1E6
• Fine after being caught in Tengu Shredder's energy tornado, which destroyed the top of his fortress and flung the turtles away^S5E11
• Blasted by the Foot Mystics hard enough to break a stone pillar^S1E22
• Hit with a laser from Nano, which sliced through a large statue^S5E6

Explosives

• Hit by Stockman's missiles, which blew a hole in the floor^S1E23
• Hit by missiles from Stockman's cyborg body^S7E5
• Hit by bombs that damage the roof he's on^S4E13
• Ok after a missile destroys the warehouse he's in^S3E18
• Ok after a bomb collapses bleachers on him^S2E18

Other

• Kluh's blade, which sliced through a log, breaks on his shell^S4E6
• Electrocuted by a Foot Mech^S2E20
• Hikes up a mountain with a large pack on his back^S5E1

Speed/Agility

Against Projectiles

• Dodges lasers^S1E3
• Dodges shots from Federation Soldier's laser rifles^S2E1
  • Dodges more laser guns^S2E18
  • Dodges EPF laser guns^S3E24
• Dodges some gunfire^S3E1
• Dodges a missile fired from a Foot tank^S1E21
• Dodges a missile from a missile launcher^S3E10
• Dodges a blast of electricity^S3E19
• Dodges energy blasts from some Utrom^S1E26
• Deflects energy blasts from turrets^S3E9
• Dodges energy blasts from Stockman^S2E8
• Dodges flamethrowers^S1E9
• Dodges Stockman's flamethrower^S1E23

Against Melee

• Dodges a sword swing from Utrom Shredder^S1E23
• Dodges strikes form Leonardo and Raphel in a training match^S6E7
• Dodges strikes from Raphael^S1E4
  • Dodges more attacks from Raph^S2E25
• Dodges a strike from Silver Sentry^S1E12
  • Silver Sentry moved much faster than Michelangelo's grappling hook^S1E12
• Dodges strikes from Karai^S4E25
  • Karai (disguised as Shredder) deflects gunfire^S2E16
• Dodges strikes from a Foot Elite^S1E18
  • Again^S2E8
    • Elites deflect gunfire^S2E16
• Dodges attacks from Kluh^S4E6
• Dodges an attack from the Shiva Shredder clone^S1E22
• Dodges several strikes from Leatherhead^S2E12
• Dodges a punch from a giant robot^S2E11
• Dodges giant swinging blades^S1E22
• Dodges an attack from the Garbageman's arm^S1E9
• Dodges a strike from a Purple Dragon^S1E4
• Easily dodges attacks from karate students^S7E2

Movement/Agility

• Fights while balancing on bamboo poles in the dark as part of his training^S1E7
• Jumps off of a wall to avoid a large monster^S2E4
• Leaps around a large lava monster to avoid its strikes^S3E16
• Slips out of police grasp^S6E5
• Leaps through a laser trap^S3E9
• Leaps across rooftops^S1E1
• Jumps onto stampeding dinosaurs and then off to safety^S4E20
• Jumps onto a train as it passes^S1E2
• Jumps up onto a mech^S2E22
• Jumps off of the heads of Foot ninja^S4E15
• Flips up the ruins of a city^S2E13
• Scales a building^S1E1
• Wall jumps to scale a building^S5E10
• Runs up a pillar^S7E2
• Backflips up onto a fire escape^S2E15
• Flips over the Garbageman while starting from a hanging position^S1E9
• Catches onto a bar to recover after being flung by Silver Sentry^S1E12
• Swings on a grappling hook to nab a purse snatcher^S1E12
• Swings on a clothesline to catch a truck^S3E1
• Walks across a tightrope^S1E25
• Runs on top of cars to gain on a truck^S3E1
• Outruns a rolling boulder^S1E13
• Flips up the line of the other turtles hanging from a ledge^S3E26
• With the other turtles, flings himself up to the top of a ledge while hanging from a rope^S1E13

Skill

Combat

• Redirects Raphael to send him flying into a table^S1E4
• Disarms Raphael and flings him^S1E10
• Defeats a group of Foot ninja^S1E10
  • Foot ninja dodge^S2E14 and deflect gunfire^S2E16
• Disarms a Foot ninja^S2E14
• Disarms a gladiator^S2E26
• Takes down Foot ninja with a skateboard^S1E6
• Defeats Shredder's Foot Elite with the other turtles^S1E23
• Defeats a group of Triceraton soldiers with the other turtles^S2E3
• Defeats a group of Foot Ninja with the other turtles^S2E14
• Trashes the Purple Dragons, the toughest gang in New York, with the other turtles^S1E1
• With the other turtles, defeats a group of Avian warriors while wearing a flight pack^S4E7
• Blocks strikes from Splinter in a blindfighting exercise^S2E9
• Trained in every weapon form^S2E12
• Takes down Kluh while standing on one hand^S4E6

Stealth

• Sneaks away from a group of soldiers^S2E1
• Sneaks up on a Triceraton^S3E5
• Sneaks up on and disarms a monster hunter^S1E20
• Beats a stronger foe by using stealth and fog from a fire extinguisher to wear him down^S3E8
• Pulls a Batman on April^S1E3
  • Again^S1E16

Accuracy

• Hits off a man's belt with his nunchuck^S3E10
• Throws a trash can lid to ricochet off of one Foot ninja into another^S2E15
• Kicks a spear at a foe to knock the amulet off of his neck^S1E15
• Shoots an apple off of Donatello's head with a bow^S3E10
• Fires a grappling hook to pull a lever from a fair distance away^S6E8

Mechanical/Metalworking Skill

• Tricks out an armored car with the other turtles^S1E4
• Makes weapons and a windsurfer out of jungle supplies^S2E21
• Forges new armor and weapons^S7E14

General

• Blinds Leonardo with his own spotlights, allowing him to take his nunchuck without being seen^S6E15
• Tricks robots into beating each other up instead of him^S6E15
• Uses a technique to slow his breathing and heart rate in order to survive without atmosphere^S2E3
• With the other turtles, defeats the Foot Mystics on the Astral Plane^S4E8
• The turtles were naturally resistant to a magic spell that made a demon invisible^S5E9

Gear

Nunchucks

• His trademark nunchucks^S1E1
  • Blocks a sword swing from a Foot ninja^S1E18
  • Blocks a swing from an Amazonian Blade Bot, which sliced through stone^S3E12

Misc

• Explosive shuriken^S7E11

Fast Forward

When the turtles and Splinter are brought into the year 2105, they are given special gear that provides them with a personal atmosphere, gravity regulators, and a universal translation device as well as futuristic versions of their traditional weapons

• Extends and retracts his nunchuck^S6E9
• Shreds a Triceraton's weapon^S6E18
• Blocks blasts from Cody's Turtle X mech, which blew a hole in a wall and destroyed a truck^S6E20
• Blocks acid from a monster that melted cars^S6E22

Cyberspace

When the turtles enter cyberspace, they use special armor and vehicles

• The vehicles can track energy signatures like Splinter's data bits or the Cyber Shredder^S7E3
  • The vehicles drive up falling rubble^S7E10
• Flings a blast of energy and creates a cyber shield to defeat some virtual Foot ninja^S7E8
• Spins around to create a tornado that tears concrete^S7E10
• His nunchucks destroy Cyber Shredder's arms^S7E10

Chi

After training under the Ninja Tribunal, the turtles gain the ability to tap into their chi to enhance themselves

Enhancing Physicality

Michelangelo received the same training as the other turtles, and therefore should be capable of replicating their feats

Self

• Performs Hisomi's speed technique to reach a guarded cask unseen^S5E2
  • Hisomi used this technique to cross a 200 yard bridge so fast that nobody watching him saw him move^S5E2
• Matches Hisomi's speed^S5E4
• Saves Karai from a snake strike^S5E8

Other Turtles

• Raphael grabs a large stone golem and swings it into another, shattering both^S5E4
• Donatello punches through a large stone golem, shattering it^S5E4

Dragon Form

By focusing his chi, Michelangelo is able to manifest and embody his spirit animal, the dragon, on the physical plane

Fire Breath

• With the other turtle-dragons, matches a blast from Tengu Shredder with his fire breath^S5E8
• With the other turtle-dragons, blasts Tengu Shredder through the roof of a skyscraper with his fire breath^S5E8

Physicals

• Gets smacked by dragon Tengu Shredder^S5E12
• Gets blasted into a building by dragon Tengu Shredder^S5E12
• Tackles dragon Tengu Shredder hard enough to make a crater in the ground^S5E12
• Breaks Tengu Shredder's gauntlet in his jaws then charges him through a wall^S5E12

Inazuma

Inazuma is a mystical three-section staff and is the weapon that Michelangelo received from the Dragon Forge

• Frees himself from the kappa surrounding him in water form^S5E2
• Takes down nezumi tengu with lightning blasts^S5E4
• Knocks away the Heralds with lightning blasts^S5E5
  • Blasts back the Wind Herald^S5E8
• Blows off a giant robot's arm with a lightning blast^S5E10

I think the seal with the yellow bow tie might be the one I released to the sea after giving it the taste for mammal blood.

I had grandiose plans of finishing this volume in three days, but life got in the way. Anyways, here are my thoughts:

• Claire Stanfield is my favorite character in this series, hands down. One of my favorites of all time.
• He's confidence incarnate
• And he wont die because HE CANT IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE HE DIES
• On a longer note, he's right. We all have thought like him a little bit, that we are all the main character and nobody else really matters. Do we truly disappear when we die? Claire has such a cool philosophy.
• "The only thing in this world i can't do anything about is this idiot called 'me'"- this line by Claire hit hard.
• Czes being immortal gave me whiplash for an entire day.
• I feel so bad for Czes. I'm sure he didn't ask to be made immortal, and he did not deserve to be abused in the way he was, only to escape, and to be tortured far worse than that by Claire.
• His final scene, with Maiza, made me cry "the immortal in the body of a child cried into the arms of his old friend. On and on"
• Ladd sacrificing himself to save Lua was amazing.
• So was Claire saving Isaac and Mirai because they are passengers and he is first and foremost a conductor.
• Ok, but the proposal? It was so cute, and how Claire took the roof of that car off simply because it was his first love letter? I can't wait to see them as a couple.

Overall, I liked this volume a lot. It tied all of the loose ends into such a neat bow, as to be expected by this author, but still. I can't help but think Narita has the best spacial awareness and notes to keep track of all his characters...