#due to the whole... rise of normies getting into fandom without understanding fandom along with other shifts

[milfbrainrot]

i sometimes don't realize how fundamentally differently i do fandom from other people

[maneaterwithtail]

Episode Appreciation- Duck of Always

Really when you get right down to it there's a lot of positives about this episode and it also shows the series stepping up its game and promising what I think is its best qualities.

I've said before that I think fangbone being an episodic series that focuses on just being really good at action adventure means that it doesn't hit the highs of some of the animation nerd Darlings such as Adventure Time, Steven Universe, or Gravity Falls or what have you. But it also avoids a lot of their pitfalls in particular where there's this sense of nothing happening with character or normie Focus episodes. Basically this happens because you need to be able to put out General episodes were the characters just play off of each other and setting. But if you have radical changes then we want to see those changes even if that runs the risk of undermining the initial setup of the series

well the collective internet criticisms circle were scarred forever due to some long-term hiatuses such as I think it's called the three years summer I Harry Potter fandom and then there was the ridiculous filler Arc that happened in Naruto.[can skip next paragraph]

*When you get to Naruto it's not so much that the series is bad so much as it was such a radical departure for anime consumption as a whole. This was the rise of digital fansubs so we were getting the equivalent of one episode a week when before we were getting maybe two or three episodes every two months and having to pay nearly $50 for them. Add and what we thought we wanted for actual translation and it was an enormous departure. Especially because instead of getting a series completed we were following it along with no real understanding of what went on behind it. It really did change the overall perspective and how we experienced it. So when we hit the enormous filler Arc after sasuke defects... especially considering all that happened before there's a real sense of failure and disappointment for the enjoyment that the audience could get. We work constantly getting more on a developing and expanding world we were sort of stuck on a treadmill period and not a very fun one either*

Really when you get right down to it a lot of it is the sudden change from expectation. And just remember these were high-end professional Productions that had lots of money behind them with teams of people. And they built up a ridiculous amount of bad will just for not even being absent in Naruto's case but the sudden quality shift or overall flow of progression changing.

this is very important for the up-and-coming or amateur Tumblr artist. I completely understand that real life gets in the way but just a reminder in real life if your product isn't regularly available you will lose customer loyalty and just simple attention.

people will forget about you. Sometimes this is necessary many musical artists choose to take a step back behind the scenes or not pop out big billboard topping sort of work so that they can just sort of focus on the craft or just do something else.

And then they pop up again

All this rambling is leading to a point.

Here's the thing when lapis lazuli gets out of the mirror in Steven universe that hints at a large and enormous change that unfortunately the show often feels the need to walk back or not actually follow through on. Which is so frustrating. we just learned that there are now aliens and life forms in space and that there are captured gems that can eat up entire oceans and or heroes are behind and involved in it?. And now we want to go back to who's going to get the next slushy?

After those highs going back to regular can feel really out of place. To be fair this is kind of the point of the series how the day-to-day General Life and how the magical meets the mundane and the ideal perfect has to deal with regular reality and how they relate to each other has been something that Rebecca sugar has pointed out from the beginning. Hence why super goddess rose quartz Falls for what could look no more Mortal and disappointing Then Greg universe.

However that still doesn't mean that it's not a really difficult thing to deal with when effectively the results and consequences of these big events are constantly kicked down the line or ignored so that that way we can keep focusing on what feels like a completely divorced normal. I mean after jailbreak there is no reason why everything should be the same again next episode

I mean these people just experienced the equivalent of Hurricane Katrina tearing down their town in the form of an alien invasion. But don't worry the only person who cares is obviously a self-obsessed nerd so the problem is him

Getting this to actually Fangbone the series The Duck of always represents one of those changes, first two part episode, but it's not that radical one even if there's a lot of new and big stuff thrown in. First we establish the city of minkwater then we established the secret society of the Shadowsteppers then we have to establish Sid herself as well as her Mission and relationship to one-eye.

In fact what's interesting is that arguably the biggest changes are the stuff that's on the margins. When you get right down to it the duck of always it's just another new monster of the week. one that's giving a lot more character and they definitely take advantage of both the humor and strategic potential of an immortal waterfowl. But for the most part we spend a lot of it just examining the characters and what they want to do. How they do it. Why and their attitudes.

It's not an entirely radical change of the setting so much as it is a change in our perspective of the setting and characters that when we inevitably step down after the events it won't feel as if we're ignoring anything that's happened. Sure the duck of always isn't going to be a regular, but it's been established why. he's going to travel the world in order to enjoy new life with A New Perspective.

Moreover the ending and implications of this isn't much different than in the first episode or at least the first double episode that I can buy squeak of Might and lies of Truth. There it is established that bill has a spirit companion that's going to come to his rescue in a time of great need and that there is a vagabond clan of skullbanians on Earth. With the implication that there may be new connections that will appear on Earth that aren't related to drool directly and Fangbone and bill influencing each other

The result is without a necessarily intense serial ongoing story we can then go back to relatively episodic adventures and they acquire a sense of depth while at the same time not feeling like we're ignoring any of the big events.

The character growth and change in perspective is something that you can integrate and examine with the characters and story elements that are staying. And it's actually going to be followed up on. Maybe not immediately but in ways that will be established further. Fangbone suddenly takes a love of knitting? Well guess what happens a few episodes later? it turns out that Ms. Gillian sees his talent as being a very creative artist! Or even earlier than that, this helps establish more of the characters of the class 3-g and Fangbones relationship with them.

Of course they will use the character of Sid to good effect off and on as a pretty good guest star in order to spice things up. Particularly as she comes from Skullbania but comes from a different perspective on everything. Which also does a good job of fleshing out the entire fantasy world and the conflicts that are going on there. In fact it establishes a nice third faction which keeps things just a little bit more interesting. by tapping into the implications of the Shadow steppers fangbone's homeland becomes a richer world

also it feels we really get to expand the character Arc for Bill dealing with well his uncertainty about being able to keep the mission. This replaces the giant cave ape with horns and a helmet from birthday party of dread but it is a similar plot with a waterfowl but that's good because, as I established in the adaptation project, it gives us more motion and set pieces to integrate with. Since the real focus is in fact on bills changing perspective and understanding of what the hell's going on it also means it doesn't feel like we're keeping everything locked behind doors after we've had a peek inside of it. No person who can give us a non crystal gem perspective flying off into literal outer space only to be hinted at knowing things and then turn out to know nothing later. or no desperate science experiment that's on a Doomsday Clock that will create evil monsters more powerful than any that have been faced suddenly having to be interrupted because we've run out of manga to adapt so let's have I don't know let's say vampires.

We don't necessarily hit quite the same Highs but the overall average is very solid because the focus stays on the main characters and the main characters get to understand or do whatever is happening in are the main focus. also on a more appreciative note of what the show does when running through the cliche o matic. Fangbone keeps on saying Bill shouldn't fear failure and he shouldn't give up and all this stuff. But it's not just enough to say The Virtue we get to see Bill work it out and understand what it means to him personally. So it feels as if we're not just getting a moral platitude but we're getting to see someone, to a certain Journey.

@cordset pointed out that arguably Bill actually coaxes the equivalent of a world-weary war veteran out of suicide. I hadn't considered that perspective and for again a relatively simple tail that ultimately is centered around a conflict such as Monster of the week plus an additional interloper it's pretty interesting. And the shadow steppers are used to good effect as well because it actually makes us wonder if this is a good plan having the toe kept with Fang bone

This is a very complete story that feels like it goes through so much and it's just a basic 22-minute piece. And again the focus is aside from the interruption of Sid a standard monster-of-the-week sort of plot. All of which is used to give time to characterize everyone going forward. This will be how fangbone would use its big events. When things are over we will go back to normal. But that's true for even the animated Darlings which will reveal big amazing things and then after the break will be back to episodes like who wants to go on a date or something. Because it doesn't promise to do something so radically different it can actually focus on the changes that it can do or the effects that it will use

At least to me

@ericriverava @wkdart @wedgekun @cartoonemotion @sunder-the-gold @g-00lden @pame-chan-xx @chikachika6

@redlydoom

Basically like I always I want to get some discussion going what are your thoughts on the episode The Duck of always? What did you like about it who did you like about it? How do you think it compares to other series or just in general

@pirateshenani