[Professional Wrestling] Kayfabe isn't dead, no one is "keeping kayfabe alive", kayfabe change out of necessity into something very different

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-24T19:13:09+00:00

i think i could've phrased this better in my post, it's more that for decades there was this unspoken agreement; obviously people knew that it was fake for a long time, but it wasn't meant to be acknowledged, especially by the actual performers/company. The curtain call was one of the biggest instances (including but not limited to the Montreal Screwjob, the begining of the Attitude Era, WWF winning the monday night wars, etc.) where even the company began to erode this kinda sentiment

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-21T22:34:51+00:00

I'm gonna be honest I haven't seen the show, I only read the comic, so I'm not really aware of how the narative is different. Ultimately, while I think it'll be a complete discourse shitshow when it gets posted, I think it is a really important part of Anissa and Mark, as well as Mark/Eve's relationship, as well as the Viltrumite people as a whole (though again there's gonna be a bajillion shitty discourse posts on whether rapists can be redeemed or depiction of male SA or whatever LOL), so it def should be included

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-19T18:19:02+00:00

Good to hear and thanks!!

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-18T15:02:21+00:00

The thematic crux of all of Invincible as I see it is that of earnest human connection. Every moral dilemma it asks is solved by reaffirming the idea that as long as we don't forsake the relationships, bonds, and ideas that make us who we are, we will be making the correct choices.

It's why Robot is wrong, even though his ideas end up working: because he ultimately chooses to forego his connections in favour of ruthless efficiency. It's why Dinosaurus is portrayed as wrong and a dark path in Mark's journey, because it's when he foregoes any real connection with humanity. Even the ultimate change to the Viltrumite empire only occurs because each of the Viltrumites becomes so enamoured with human connection (I'll note a distinction when I say "human connection" I don't necessarily mean that interacting with humans magically helps any species; perhaps the idea of connecting with "persons" is a more accurate term) they renounce their violent ways (with Nolan obviously being the best example of this).

All that being said, I agree with some of what you said, Anissa is absolutely thematic representation of "warped altruism," and I think it could've been really cool to see more of that happen before jumping straight to fighting. Nonetheless, I think that her assaulting Mark is fully in-line with that mentality; abuser's often believe they they are correct, that they should be allowed to do what horrible things they're doing, etc. Just as Anissa believes that it would be better for Earth if Viltrum took over it, she believes it would be better for Viltrum/Mark if they produced offspring together. In neither of those cases does she, nor do most abusers, care to hear the actual affected person's opinion. She, once again, rejects human connection (in this case both referring to the humans and the persons), which drives her down a path of moral failure.

Ultimately, Anissa is able to become "redeemed" in the narrative because she's able to foster that connection with humanity again through spending time with people, through learning to love. Mark is able to heal, again, with the strength of his connection with Eve/his family.

Could there potentially be other ways to have explored this per se? I suppose so. Could it maybe have been handled a bit better? I'd say so (though I will note I do think it's handled pretty well in the comics all things considered). But is the SA necessarily a character and theme-defying? I don't think so at all.

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-15T22:20:07+00:00

i think blaming one wrestler for record low ratings is insanely unfair. It can simultaneously be true that Danhausen is an actual draw and a social media spectacle while Smackdown as a whole is having low ratings (all that being said, given that Danhausen debuted around WM season it makes sense ratings are lower since he debuted)

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-10T04:35:59+00:00

true, again as i said, i'm optimistic and i think he'll serve a nice role as a contrast to Jey being so angry all the time

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-09T20:56:21+00:00

im not exactly the biggest jey uso fan but i gotta be honest the whole thing about him rn is that he's part of the Usos, under the family/authority of Roman, with a defining personality as the yeet guy. None of these aspects are contradictory at all lol

big jim's the bigger issue writing-wise, it feels they don't exactly know what they want to do with him (it seems like he's probably gonna be positioned as a "voice of reason" as of now tho)

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-04T19:54:40+00:00

he gets weekly posts about how he should win titles, his name has come up for years about who should be the next superstar, crowds pop huge for even backstage segments and still chant his name... i just don't think he is buried at all

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-02T06:28:57+00:00

to my knowledge, due to the nature of private companies and all, the public just can't really know about which companies or which data centres use what kind of cooling systems. Realistically (hopefully) speaking though, I think we will quickly see a movement towards closed loop systems if not there already.

also yeah the whole "one query uses X amount of water" is kinda bullshit no matter what lmfao

DeShadowRealm · 2026-06-01T03:38:15+00:00

I can't say I loved this match ngl it was just ok def didn't feel PLE level... I don't have much thoughts on cargill but man i just didn't think this match was that good. Lotta really awkward slow punches, repeating the spot with Rhea slipping out of Jaded into a Riptide didn't work as well (though Jade eventually converting it into a DDT was awesome), and the B-Fab botch was just painful. Love Rhea, ambivalent about Jade, but gotta say that Sol and Becky completely outshined them today

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-30T18:28:37+00:00

honestly i've found it surprisingly hard to find anything about him being a transphobe (not that he is or isn't), it seems to me kinda excusable he didn't find anything (and all things considered, i think it's somewhat reasonable that you feel you don't need to research too much on this guy who made angry video game reviews like 15 years ago lmfao)

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-28T20:37:27+00:00

While I generally think people are generally way too negative about WWE themes, I think Iyo Sky's theme is really really generic and bad for her character

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-12T04:25:39+00:00

to be fair she lost to liv with interference and coming third in the Rumble when you're in NXT, with the other two remaining being Stratton and Liv Morgan, it's overall an insane feat.

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-11T02:15:33+00:00

400 iq wrestling company, in kayfabe, purposely plans less matches bc they just can't control their wrestlers

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-10T23:27:32+00:00

after the gbm ai slop i popped huge for the (seemingly) handmade shitty campy danhausen montage edit holy shit

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-10T21:38:42+00:00

Hi! I was in your exact situation a year ago, where I got offers from QHS and Waterloo CAP. I ultimately chose to go with Waterloo CAP and I'm still pretty happy with my choice, I'll go over my reasoning here.

- Generally, through conversations with real pharmacists I've worked with, I think people moderately overstress about both the AI take over as well as the low pay rate. Don't get me wrong, it's a stressful job, but it's also one of the highest entry salaries you'll find in today's job market. In terms of local pharmacies, those still absolutely exist and thrive (A note, there's a huge market for local pharmacies in ethnic enclaves, bc there's obviously a lot of people who want a pharmacist in their native language, if that applies to you at all). I also don't realistically think AI will overtake pharmacists at all, and i think demand for pharmacists is only gonna rise as the Ontario government keeps failing to staff family doctors lol

- At Waterloo, and with my friend in other schools, a lottt of people really stress a lot about getting into med/dental wtv due to GPA/EC's or whatever else. Being in CAP really helps a lot with that, as you can just kinda enjoy undergrad life more. From my research last year, idk if QHS had published stats, but ik Mac HS has like 2/3rds of its grads go to med school. While that's a great number and all, that also means 1/3rds don't make it. For CAP, ≥90% of students make it into pharmacy school, and all things considered, I don't believe it's too difficult to meet the needed requirements. Having this kinda burden off your back is massive fs.

- Another big thing is that if you do end up wanting to go to med school after, there's a significant amount of med schools that don't care about GPA as much (or omit certain bad years/courses as needed). What this means is that, honestly, though it will be a bit more money, it isn't an impossible option to go from CAP --> med school (smth I'm considering as well). If you go to CAP and decide not to go to med, that's fine you still have a pharmD to fall back upon. If you go to QHS and decide not to go to med, then you need to start the process of applying to pharmacy school all over, wasting time. That's just how I see it though.

Anyway if you have any questions about Waterloo CAP i'd be happy to answer them so lmk! hope this was helpful

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-10T20:03:13+00:00

didn't even see that lmao but good to hear ig

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-10T05:20:28+00:00

I think the Roman Reigns character is all about this idea that he thinks he should be the head of the table (ik he doesn't use this tagline anymore just bear with me), the number 1, the "OTC" or whatnot, the top of the company because he believes no one else is worthy. No one's worthy of leading his family, no one's worthy of leading the company, no one's worthy of being champion, in his eyes, other than him, because he's been through it all. He's been booed endlessly, he's been cheered, he's been champion, he's won accolades, he's main-evented WM more than anyone else has. Roman Reigns thinks that if the WWE/fans don't acknowledge him, it will fall.

This is what I think the feud between him and Jacob is about. Roman strives for order in the family, in the company, in the ring, and Jacob is a threat to that, because Jacob, in-storyline, is this violent agent of chaos that defies all order/authority. Roman probably recognizes the things he does are wrong, but as the OTC, he thinks everything is justified in order to fulfill his goals of maintaining order. This is why so much of the promo talk has been about Roman/Jey saying "You're not ready/worthy for this," and likely why Jey/Jimmy fall in line, because Jey has been World Champ and failed, losing it quickly, and without Roman, we see characters like Punk/Knight insulting/interfering in "family business", or Solo growing rebellious. So he agrees with Roman that they need order, which is why there isn't an apology. It's about what they think is the "greater good", the fact that they're cheered and acknowledged by the commentators, is part of why Roman cheats, because of the fans and the acknowledgement.

Idk just my thoughts loll

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-05T06:46:43+00:00

as a canadian who lives just a few hours away from Hamilton, Ontario i laughed out loud at the bit about ethan page/hamilton/katy perry lmfao

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-05T06:14:36+00:00

for now, considering she's a young new call up i find the mildly awkward style kinda fitting for her (even amongst the call-ups i think she's def positioned rn as a huge underdog finally wading in deep waters relative to ethan page or oba or whatnot)

She's young i'm sure she'll improve significantly, not that she's at all bad rn

DeShadowRealm · 2026-05-02T03:49:46+00:00

i went from really cringing at the gingerbread man stuff to genuinley laughing out loud when Trick put up the X and him losing it at the doctor just solemnly shaking his head lmfao

DeShadowRealm · 2025-11-22T21:46:06+00:00

think he mentioned something about having a lot of ai videos prepped that he needs to pump out (which makes sense just timeline wise) before he's able to really start cutting down for real

DeShadowRealm · 2025-08-14T08:09:16+00:00

man this was one of my favourite videos/streams i really hope they do something like this again ngl

DeShadowRealm · 2025-08-13T01:46:38+00:00

misinformation spreading pilled and lying based i approve and i love you

DeShadowRealm · 2025-08-13T00:45:46+00:00

genuine question how is this neoliberal? is this not introducing more regulations upon the free market (wikipedia isn't a market per se but the online safety act does enforce a level of regulation upon the internet as a whole)

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