#i watch rt in general

[felixfeliccis]

have you watched RT's videos of phoenix wright, he's funny

I did yes

[blueparadis]

rewatching hq is very liberating.

I smile like a lovesick fool every time I watch this scene tho

[crescentfool]

recently, i’ve been thinking about what a 100% social link/confidant run is like from the perspective of the persona protagonists, rather than the player. i’ve always been a sucker for thinking about the type of narrative created by a person’s gameplay choices (it can be so fun and deep) so!! i wrote this analysis / musing.

some notes before we start: this was written with the lens of persona 3 being the most recent game i played- but the concepts are applicable to the p4/p5 protagonists as well! no spoilers for any of the games are mentioned; this is moreso a general discussion of ludonarrative dissonance with the game mechanics and narrative and how it makes for fun angst (ft. personal interpretation).

(more under the cut!)

the framework: game mechanics

in all of the games, the social link system’s existence coincides with the social stats mechanic. certain social links require a specific set of stats in order to initiate it, or surpass a certain rank. each game has around 20 of these- each of which represent the major arcana (+ some bonuses, e.g. aeon / jester / faith / councilor).

for any players going for a 100% social link run, this basically requires each social stat to be maxed out. anyone who’s followed a guide for a 100% run would know that the beginning of the game tends to be very “strict” with how time can be used, most of which involves getting the stats raised  as soon as possible.

outside of characterization and worldbuilding, completing social links are incentivized for a variety of gameplay reasons. so how could this completionist play style affect the protagonists?

prioritizing social stats over everything else: a general view

regardless of which protagonist you want to put under a petri dish, with a 100% run, you’re essentially asking the protagonist to form amicable bonds with 20 or so people, give or take. granted, not everyone becomes adjoined to the hip to the protagonist.

personally, i feel that forming 20 different bonds over the course of a year would be rather strenuous. during these 100% runs, the protagonists may feel that they’re spreading themselves thin trying to dedicate their resources to multiple different people as well as raising their “social stats.” i find the implications that this has on said bonds is so, utterly fascinating.

while this isn’t reflected in the game and would be better represented within a fic, i find it difficult to believe that this type of behavior doesn’t have any ramifications on the quality of the protagonist’s closer relationships (or their self-image, for that matter).

just… imagine calling one of your close friends but then they consistently give responses along the lines of “lmao sorry i’m busy doing other things,” and they rarely make the time of day for you. how would you feel? gameplay-wise, this deterioration of the relationship is best represented in persona 3 with social links reversing if you haven’t spent time with them in awhile.

part of my fascination with this concept is influenced by my own experiences. trying to maintain so many relationships can be difficult to keep up with and it quickly gets overwhelming (see dunbar’s number for more information). jumping between so many people also makes it difficult to focus on a few relationships meaningfully- meaning that relationships may be limited to being simple pleasantries. even then, ‘successfully’ keeping every relationship satisfying comes at the cost of being unable to pursue your own development and interests.

overall, i think that trying to do so many things ends up lowering the quality of the relationship(s) involved, especially when you also consider the fatigue from going to school as well as fighting shadows.

playing the therapist friend / listening role: a general view

another aspect of the 100% run that i think about is how the protagonists rarely open up to other people. a good chunk of SLs follow a storyline of the protagonist acting as a therapist friend/helping the other person through one central issue. some SLs are an exception to this and have a more casual “we’re just hanging out vibe.”

basically, SLs tend to be weighted toward the other character’s growth, moreso than the protagonist’s (which is handled by the main story). that said, the idea of mostly playing a listening role across most of your relationships and not having many that you feel comfortable to speak freely about your own stuff… feels really unbalanced and unhealthy?

i do think that part of the lack of “input” can be attributed to the silent-protagonist approach taken in the games (which is a whole ‘nother topic). but!! i find that each protagonist’s options, while limited, are fun to think about! some of the traits and interpretations i’ve seen for the differing protags, to name a few, include:

being afraid to open up / get attached and keeping people at arm’s distance as a result

needing to be around other people, even if it’s just listening them, to distract from their own struggles / pretend nothing’s wrong with them

enjoying helping others, being a good and careful listener who can provide an appropriate and helpful response

the willingness to prioritize others over themselves; a lack of self-preservation

compulsive people pleasing

at its worst, the lack of “protagonist talking” or equal reciprocation in response could be misinterpreted by the other person as disinterest (like they’re talking to a wall). alternatively- the lack of “personal tidbits” could be taken as, “you don’t trust me enough to be able to open up, huh.” and i just think that seeing this in a fic would be the biggest shitshow ever (and i would read that).

concluding thoughts:

overall, i feel that the protagonists taking a predominantly listening approach to several relationships at once can lead to compassion fatigue and general burnout. the protagonists are rarely at the receiving end of being listened to and/or having their issues worked through… and that’s kind of sad?

while the 100% social link run can provide great power to any persona fusions (and other cool battle abilities + hijinks)... i ultimately think that there’d be a lot of mental strain that would make achieving this much more difficult when you take a narrative-emphasized approach.

i do realize that it is possible to see the general vibe of this post as “100% social link is bad,” but like… there’s something i find really appealing about the messiness of attempting to manage so many relations at once- only to fall short in several of them and attempting to salvage the last bits of their sanity. when you think about the complications of the 100% SL run from the shoes of the protagonist… yeah!! that’s the good shit!

anyways! if anyone knows of any fics with this kinda vibe for the p3/4/5 protags… feel free to drop it in my askbox… i like them all VERY much :3c… and if this raised any food for thought- i’d be equally honored! let the protags go through shit i wanna see their emotions and coping mechanisms damn it! 👏

[quirinah]

SLAY THE PRINCESS (chewing on drywall)

[aamitmorthos]

... It's been years since I've watched ah. I haven't been an ah fan blog in even longer. But something about watching the two updates and hearing about all the changes that happened and the ones they addressed feels so weird to me. Like, watching them both, I was seeing an rt/ah that I didn't even recognize and now more changes are happening. Gave me a "going to a plaza you went to as a kid after so many years and seeing all but 2 shops are closed" kinda feeling. Weird.

[prodkeiji]

so like. rwby volume 9 season finale

[master-gatherer]

.

[mitsukuri]

apparently the mayday and over kurodate special forces CoC had 10 parts before the author deleted it from nicovideo?? i've only seen up to part 5 since that's all that was reuploaded to youtube what do you mean there was more

[freevoidman]

Well, I think the writing's been on the wall for a while, but it's a very odd, bittersweet feeling seeing RT getting shuttered. I've grown to hate the company due to the YEARS of exploitative actions towards employees and their racist + sexist behavior, not to mention their transphobia and other bigotry that I am bound to be forgetting. I'm glad that the corporate level of this is being most likely closed.

However, a sudden closing like this means a lot of people's lives and homes are now in jeopardy, and my heart goes out to the employees. I hope that they're able to find jobs quickly, and that their new positions will treat them better than RT ever has. RT has taken many great talents and chewed them out, but that doesn't mean their talents and skills can't be appreciated in new environments, and that doesn't mean that this is fair to anyone who was working under them. I hope the best for them going forward.

As for RWBY... well, I've had mixed feelings about the show for a long damn time. I saw immense potential in the show, otherwise I would've never watched it, which I personally have felt has been squandered with poor writing over the years. I feel like that can absolutely be linked to the general treatment of employees--writers and animators alike--and though the future of RT's IPs and continuing shows is currently murky, I do hope that, if the shows return, they come back better and brighter despite years of fumbling.

When #GreenlightVolume10 started trending, I made the general statement that this would be ineffective. While fan presence can certainly be a factor in renewing a show, the guarantee of an audience is not often not enough to get a show budgeted. I doubt this post will reach many people but, if it does, I would implore people to take the time to look up who worked on which of your favorite episodes from RWBY and see if they're looking for work. Try to support them in this time, either by RT-ing resumes or through other means. RWBY would not exist without its animators, its story boarders, its technical lighting crew, literally any part of the actual crew. Use that same energy you did tweeting that hashtag and put it into supporting employees who learned today, just like the rest of us, that they're out of a job.

This is a sad thing, but RT had a hell of a run. I can only hope things get better moving forward for everyone impacted.

[violetnerves]

Random Bully Headcanons I made up an hour ago:

- The rivalry between Derby and Johnny is one-sided. Johnny is mainly the aggressor while Derby could care less. Occasionally though, Derby would try to piss off Johnny by convincing one of the Preps to ask Lola out on a date, specifically to either watch Johnny lose it or as an attempt to get him kicked out of the Academy and leave the Greasers without a leader. Gord was an example of him doing this, but due to Jimmy's interference, he had to stop doing it out of the little concern he had for his clique members' wellbeing. (Chad genuinely tried to get with Lola without Derby convincing him into it and the Preps made fun of him relentlessly for it afterwards.) It's partly why he chooses to completely brush Jimmy off when he's tried to give evidence of the Townies being the ones who took their trophies. All because Jimmy ruined his free entertainment.

- In general, Derby doesn't seem to care about the school heriarchy. In game, he rolls his eyes at the idea of there being a "King of the school" since it obviously wasn't an actual thing, just something Gary made up. It's mentioned that the Preps would prefer Bullworth only being a rich kids school. Well, after the riot broke out at the end of the game, what do the Preps do? Haul themselves up in Harrington House, presumably as an easy way to claim that they had no real involvement in the riot or any of the bullying, unlike the "poors".

- Gary has an obsession with Real-Time-Strategy video games, particularly the Age of Empires series. He also has a secret love of TableTop RPGs since they're pretty much a looser RTS to him. Due to the reputation of them being ruined by the Nerds, though, he'd never actually admit to it. If he ever got the chance to play, he'd only choose to be a DM since he's a control freak.

On his medication, he'd be a fairly rough DM, with maybe a bit too many combat encounters, but he'd at least try and have some kind of plot until he inserts his OP DMPC into the party that looks suspiciously similar to him in his Halloween costume from the Halloween mission. But with the physique of a body builder. It's totally not him though.

Unmedicated, the first dungeon the players encounter would be similar to DnD's Tomb of Horrors, regardless of what level they were. His OP DMPC is the boss of the dungeon. He doesn't expect the PCs to survive the dungeon at all.

That last one is kind of a joke but I think it lines up with Gary's personality so...

[kdinjenzen]

Hi Kdin!

I don't want to support RT because of what they put you through and the general work culture there, but a lot of my friends love RWBY, and I did too but I've only seen the first few seasons. Do you think it's still worth watching after all the shit going on with the company that made it, or should I continue to boycott?

This isn't your fault because maybe you missed it, but this is far from the first time I've gotten this message.

So I'll say this again... you all have to stop asking me about this.

I cannot solve any moral dilemmas you may be having about it, not only is it not my place but it's not right for me to do that. You're your own person and you have to figure out where the line is for you.

As a side note... asking me about this stuff feels like that's all people have ever cared about me for... my affiliation to some company that treated me and others poorly, run by people who actively sabotaged and hurt people, and a good chunk of a fandom that attempted to undermine and erase real queer people and representation with death threats. I'm done with it. I've moved on. Please do not drag me back.

If you want an answer to your question, I sadly don't have it. You're in control of yourself and your own choices, I don't even know you or your situation, so it's not right for me to tell you what to do. I'm sorry.

[itsclydebitches]

It's weird to think Vol 10 of RWBY just straight up might never happen. much less further volumes. No matter how bad it got I would still have loved some form of ending but Barabas comments don't paint a hopeful picture. Alas fics of RWBY will go until the end of time.

It's very weird. Most shows I come across have either already concluded, or give their audience an estimate of when things will wrap up ('We're planning another two seasons and each takes us about two years to film, so...'). I have shows that unexpectedly get more content after providing an ambiguous, but still satisfying ending (Alice in Borderland), shows where each season is self-contained so it can end whenever without issue (Bake Off), shows that were cut short and had to scramble to wrap up (Sense8), and of course there are always shows that are straight up cancelled and can't do a thing to mitigate that... but RWBY feels almost, almost unique in this combination. It's a webseries rather than a traditional TV show. It's gone on for a decade with absolutely no indication of where it's heading. Each season feels threatened to the point where the fandom can no longer differentiate between a real cancellation concern and Internet exaggeration. The story has hit what's arguably its most important narrative peak - the team has traversed an alternate world, Ruby has "overcome" drinking the tea, Summer finally appears on screen - only for news of the story's future to remain frustratingly vague. Not only have we never had a sense of when RWBY's story will end, now we don't even have confirmation of whether it will end. That's such a frustrating way to approach storytelling given that your audience relies on some level of commitment to remain engaged.

I too want RWBY to finish up because I am not immune to the Sunk Cost Fallacy: I put this much time into the series and it needs to satisfy me with a conclusion, even if the conclusion itself will inevitably be unsatisfying. Outside of any normal disappointment with a story you love getting the ax, I generally don't mind embracing unfinished works. I read abandoned fics, watch cancelled shows, browse barely started comics, because getting a taste of the world is always worth it if it's compelling to me. I never regret meeting characters whose stories go untold because as a writer myself I can at least imagine that on my own terms. But RWBY? Losing it now would be a real kick in the teeth. I personally don't think the story is salvageable at this point, but at the very least fans deserve a conclusion: one that will likely please a lot of devoted viewers and allow critical fans to put a satisfying tick mark on the box in our heads labeled "RWBY."

Given its popularity I wouldn't be surprised if RWBY wound up cancelled and then concluded in a comics run, or a one-off movie. Beyond the fact that this would no doubt mess up the writing even more (now you have to iron out this mess of a plot on a time limit, in a new medium, with new authors!) it would, unfortunately, be kind of hilarious too:

[generic tour guide voice] "Hello. Welcome to RWBY. Our fandom is known for having copious side stories connected to the canon in confusing ways. Some are incidental to the main series. Some outright contradict it. Some are crucial to your understanding of the primary plot and must be engaged with in a timely manner. These texts range from comic runs to random bits of information in abandoned mobile games. Please note that this corpus did not grow naturally across decades of storytelling, as is the case with fandoms like Star Trek and Star Wars, but was rather cobbled together by RT in an attempt to 'fix' numerous, ongoing issues with the webseries. Our latest addition? The ending. Yes, if you would like to finish RWBY please refer to this index of sources that together provide a semi-cohesive conclusion to a ten year show. Now, on your left you'll see the ongoing brawl as fans attempt to determine whether this index is canonical or not. Please watch your step..."

[monarchisms]

erlande, my dear mutual i went to AH with, what is this about jeremy's achievement city? i don't really watch streams so i'm completely out of the loop, but 👀?

okay so!!

since AH, and rt by extension, died, jeremy has been trying to plan out streams where the AH crew play a game together like they did with regular edited content. the first stream they did together post-rt was in garry’s mod, and the most recent was in minecraft. with this one, jeremy used a tool called worldedit to make a hub for him and the other AH members to hang out and do challenges in. he calls it new chieve city lmfao

if time permits, he wants to do another stream in the future with whoever’s available. the general plans he has as of right now is sometimes going back to old challenges AH did, as well as making new stuff along the way 👍

[theculturedmarxist]

Being labeled a Russian propagandist all day every day for criticizing US foreign policy is really weird, but one advantage it comes with is a useful perspective on what people have really been talking about all these years when they warn of the dangers of “Russian propaganda”.

I know I’m not a Russian propagandist. I’m not paid by Russia, I have no connections to Russia, and until I started this political commentary gig in 2016 I thought very little about Russia. My opinions about the western empire sometimes turn up on Russian media because I let anyone use my work who wants to, but that was always something they did on their own without my submitting it to them and without any payment or solicitation of any kind. I’m literally just some random westerner sharing political opinions on the internet; those opinions just happen to disagree with the US empire and its stories about itself and its behavior.

Yet for years I’ve watched people pointing at me as an example of what “Russian propaganda” looks like. This has helped inform my understanding of all the panic about “Russian influence” that’s been circulating these last six years, and given me some insight into how seriously it should be taken.

That’s one reason why I wasn’t surprised by Matt Taibbi’s reporting on the Twitter Files revelations about Hamilton 68, an information op run by DC swamp monsters and backed by imperialist think tanks which generated hundreds if not thousands of completely bogus mainstream news reports about online Russian influence over the years.

Hamilton 68 purported to track Russian attempts to influence western thought on social media, but Twitter eventually figured out that the “Russians” the operation has been tracking were actually mostly real, mostly American accounts who just happened to say things that didn’t perfectly align with the official Beltway consensus. These accounts were often right-leaning, but also included people like Consortium News editor Joe Lauria, who’s about as far from a rightist as you can get.

They played a massive role in fanning the flames of public hysteria about online Russian influence, but while they did this by pretending to track the behavior of Russian influence ops, in reality they were tracking dissent.

One of the craziest things happening in the world today is the way westerners are being brainwashed by western propaganda into panicking about Russian propaganda, something that has no meaningful existence in the west. Before RT was shut down it was drawing a whopping 0.04 percent of the UK’s total TV audience. The much-touted Russian election interference campaign on Facebook was mostly unrelated to the election and affected “approximately 1 out of 23,000 pieces of content” according o Facebook. Research by New York University into Russian trolling behavior on Twitter in the lead-up to the 2016 election has found “no evidence of a meaningful relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior.” A study by the University of Adelaide found that despite all the warnings of Russian bots and trolls following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the overwhelming majority of inauthentic behavior on Twitter during that time was anti-Russian in nature.

Russia exerts essentially zero influence over what westerners think, yet we’re all meant to freak out about “Russian propaganda” while western oligarchs and government agencies continually hammer our minds with propaganda designed to manufacture our consent for the status quo which benefits them.

All this and we’re still seeing calls for more narrative management from the western empire, like the recent American Purpose article “The Long War of Ideas” being promoted by people like Bill Kristol which calls for a resurrection of CIA culture war tactics like those used during the last cold war. Every day there’s some new liberal politician sermonizing about the need to do more to fight Russian influence and protect American minds from “disinformation”, even as we are shown over and over again that what they really want is to shut down dissident voices.

That’s what we’re seeing in the continual efforts to increase online censorship, in the bogus new “fact-checking” industry, in calls to increase the output of formal US government propaganda operations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, in the way all dissent about Russia has been forcefully purged from the western media in recent years, in the way empire-amplified trolling operations have been shouting down and drowning out critics of US foreign policy online, in the way censorship via algorithm has emerged as one of the major methods of restricting dissident speech.

They claim there needs to be a massive escalation in propaganda, censorship and online psyops in order to fight “Russian influence”, while the only influence operations we’re being subjected to in any meaningful way are only ever of the western variety. They just want to do more of that.

Our rulers aren’t actually worried about “Russian influence”, they’re worried about dissent. They’re worried the public won’t consent to the “great power competition” they plan to subject us to for the foreseeable future unless they can exert massive influence over our minds, because they know that otherwise we will recognize that our interests are directly harmed by the economic warfare, exploding military spending and nuclear brinkmanship which necessarily accompanies that campaign to reign in Russia and stop the rise of China.

They’re propagandizing us about the threat of foreign propaganda in order to justify propagandizing us more. We’re being manipulated into consenting to agendas that no healthy person would ever consent to without copious amounts of manipulation.

[gallavichthings]

Gallavich Week 2023

Here we go once more with the 11th (!!!) edition of Gallavich Week!

Last year I decided to change things up a bit and give you two choices for each day, instead of just one as was usual before. Well, this year I'm taking things even further because you'll actually end up with several choices per day.

Dates and themes below, details about each theme (please read those and also follow the links when provided) and more information about Gallavich Week in general after the read more. Quick reminder that all kinds of work are welcome, as long as they are original. Please read the guidelines before posting.

18/06 - Gallavich Week 2023 playlist

19/06 - Top 20 touristic attractions in Chicago

20/06 - Disney

21/06 - Meet-cutes NYC Instagram

22/06 - Tags from popular Gallavich fics

23/06 - Shakespeare

24/06 - Free Day

Details about themes:

18/06 - Gallavich Week 2023 playlist

This was a playlist created with suggestions from some followers of songs that reminded them of Gallavich. I won't be adding any more songs to it, but there should be more than enough to inspire you!

19/06 - Top 20 touristic attractions in Chicago

Just follow the link to know what they are. As usual, prompts are meant to inspire and can be taken any way you want, not just as Ian and Mickey visiting the places.

20/06 - Disney

Anything Disney-themed. Disney movies, Disney shows, Disneyland... Mickey Mouse? :P And yes, Marvel and Star Wars can be considered Disney as well.

21/06 - Meet-cutes NYC Instagram

Follow the Instagram to find dozens of interviews with random couples about how they met! Watch them and get inspired. :)

22/06 - Tags from popular Gallavich fics

I took one "unusual" tag from each of the 10 Gallavich fics with more kudos on AO3, so here they are, to be used as inspiration:

Unresolved Sexual Tension (from Sexual Harassment in the Workplace)

Organized Crime (from The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Ian Gallagher)

Soulmate AU (from you are inked on my skin long before we begin)

Ian and Mickey talk dicks (from Nobody's Fuckin' Business)

Accidental Baby Acquisition (from Melánia)

Internalized Homophobia (from Noisy Neighbours)

Domestic!Gallavich (from a thousand and one ways to show you care)

Long-Distance Relationship (from Lost in Translation)

Ian Bottoms WHOOPS (from eighty-four)

Social Media (from Cooperative Gameplay)

23/06 - Shakespeare

Self-explanatory, I suppose? But again, to be interpreted as you want.

24/06 - Free Day

CREATING AND POSTING GUIDELINES

How do I participate?

You don’t have to subscribe to anything or announce what you’re doing, you just have to post your work on the appropriate day and tag me on the body of the post using @gallavichthings. It’s important that you tag me properly so that I can be sure to see your post and reblog it.

What types of works are accepted?

Any kind of original fan work is accepted, including but not limited to: fanart, fanfiction (no minimum words required), graphics, gifs and gifsets, videos, and fanmixes. Yes, meta and polls are also accepted (though I do request that you either try to keep them within the theme for each day or post them on the Free Day).

When can I start posting?

I’ll always make one initial post for each day, at 12am GMT (check here to see when that is in your time zone). After that, post away!

Can I still participate even if I don’t have a Tumblr account?

Absolutely! Just submit something here (http://gallavichthings.tumblr.com/submit).

Can I post on Twitter or Instagram?

You can post anywhere you want! On Twitter and IG, we encourage you to use the hashtag #GW2023and I’ll RT you. You can also mention @gallavichthings if you want. I do not have an IG account though, sorry, but you can post there and send me a link for visibility. That being said, we do encourage you to post here as well, so it can be seen by more people.

Is there an AO3 Collection?

Yes, right here. Participation is not mandatory though, and you can rest assured this Collection will not be deleted.

Can I post something that I’ve already posted before?

No, sorry. The works should have been created specifically for GW. You can, however, create a sequel or a different version of a previous work.

Can I post something that is not in English?

Of course. Just make sure that it is original, or that you have the original author’s permission (and, in that case, link to the original too).

Can I make R-rated works?

Yes, just please give any necessary warnings and tell us the rating at the very beginning of the post. If the post is visual (like a fanart or a gifset), it would be nice for you to also tag it accordingly - Tumblr now allowes you to select if a post is deemed for mature audiences or not. It’s not mandatory, but if possible put it under a Read More here on Tumblr and under a spoilers mark (so it’s not instantly visible) on Twitter.

Can I post something that’s AU?

Sure thing! Tag it accordingly though, both for those who want to avoid it and for those who’d like to find it.

Can I post supernatural works, mpreg, or genderbends?

Yes! But if it’s a fic, please include it in the warnings.

Can I post more than one work?

Definitely! The more, the merrier. You can post as many works as you want, on as many days as you want, be it one post per day or ten on the same day. Anything goes!

Can I post on more than one day? Do I have to make something for each day?

Again, the more, the merrier! You can post on only one or all days if you wish!

Can I make one work that fits two or more themes?

Sure thing. I only ask that you post it on the day of the last theme included. For example, if you are posting a work that includes the theme from Day 1 and the theme from Day 4, post it on day 4 (just make sure to tell me that it includes both).

Can I write a multi-chaptered fanfiction?

Yes, and you don’t have to post everything either. When you do, just be sure to include either a masterpost, or the links to the previous chapters in the beginning.

Can I include other characters/pairings in my work?

Yes, as long as Gallavich is still the focus.

What if I can’t finish on time?

The Gallavich fandom is ALWAYS happy to see new fan material, so just post it when you’re done and tag me, ok? The same goes for people who can’t finish a work on the assigned theme day; you can still post it on a different day during GW, just make it clear which day it was made for.

[godtier]

so i got an email from RT about the last season and i'm kinda annoyed

first there was this:

brother, just say it was because of the strike lmao c'mon now. we all know that's why you're pushing it back

tho don't get me wrong, i will always support a creative team pushing a release date back to perfect the product (whether it's a show, movie, or video game), but this was just stupidly phrased and they coulda just said it. i'm guessing WB was like "no don't mention it at all for the love of god"

then there was this:

now the way this reads to me is that only first members get to watch the season?? traditionally, first members got the release ... well, first. then, non-paying members got the release a few days/a week later. that makes sense to me and it's how it's been since forever. the last time i bought a first sub was for the shisno paradox trilogy and i didn't need to be coerced into it; i wanted to see it as it came out. doing it like this seems really fuckin stupid.

and, in case anyone missed it, rt already removed all seasons of rvb off of their youtube channel. so the only "official" way to watch rvb (aside from DVDs/blu-rays) is their site.

not only that, but just seven episodes? and yet it's gonna be released as a (presumably) feature-length film? so if we're to assume the "movie" cut is gonna be about 90 mins long (being generous here), that means each episode is gonna be about 12-13 mins long, which is fine... but just seven? idk, for the last season, i would have thought they'd have gone all-out and produced a more "standard" length season.

for reference, the average season length (not counting rvb: zero) is about 19-20 episodes. the season with the smallest number of episodes (again, not counting zero) is s17 with 12. i'd have been satisfied with 12, but 7 is just... what. how are you gonna wrap up an entire 20+ year-long series with 7 episodes?? if the episodes were 30 mins long each, then i'd be like "aight let's go son" but if my assumptions are correct, 12-13 min long episodes isn't enough

idk, i was probably gonna renew my first sub anyway, but the fact that they're locking it out entirely unless you either buy first or buy WB's movie-version... it just seems yucky

tbh, if you ask me and consider all the main cast seasons, rvb ended with s17. it had the best wrap-up imo (aside from s5, but only OGs will agree that's a good ending point, myself included), and it tied up everything neatly and left it open-ended. the boys had their biggest adventure, donut got to shine (yes i'm biased), and it ended in a place where you could feasibly imagine them living out their lives in peace, like they deserve.

it's been a long time since i was active in rvb fandom (and it was here, on this very tumblr!) but i'm wary about going forward now. i'm gonna watch it somehow, but i've gotta figure out the best way to do so. i'm hoping they either clarify that they meant that first members are getting it ... first (as it has always been) and the wording was just bad, or they roll back on that stipulation and just leave it the way it was.