#me watching all those horrible filler episodes

[moonlightsdream]

DETECTIVE CONAN 名探偵コナン (1996 —) ⌈ ep. 1064 | The Dreamy-Eyed Woman's Last Shot at Love ⌋

[textfromthelookout]

Super is a horribly made cash grab. Something like the Dragon BallZ multiverse would've been a lot more interesting to watch.

Especially the early chapters were we see universes with diffrent "what-if's" like Friza taking over, Planet Vegeta still around, Cell or Buu winning, Goku being raised as sayin, introducing the games etc.

I especially hate how super ignores Vegeta's already established character development and makes him regress. Either they just didn't know how to write a Vegeta like that or simply didn't care.

And god Gohan got the worst treatment ever. I understand the man doesn't fight, it's not what he does and that's a great point to his character but not keeping up with his training especially after cell and buu? Is out of character. The man is smart and knows that a bigger threat can come in at any moment.

Just wanted to leave that, drink some water

Perfectly valid opinion! Nevertheless, I disagree with you, and you’ve given me an excuse to ramble on at length about Dragon Ball, so ramble on I shall.

Super is a horribly made cash grab.

I think you’re thinking of the Z movies (which, for the record, I like). A cash grab’s supposed to be something you make quickly just because you know it’ll sell, and while I’m no economist, I do know you have to follow appreciably current trends when you’re trying to make one. While you may be right, it’s hard for me to feel that something is a cash grab when there was a ten year dry spell between GT ending and anything important that was DB-related coming out—and it wasn’t even Super, it was a little festival special that a bunch of people don’t know about because it never came overseas. Battle of Gods didn’t drop until five years after that, after the first half of DBZ Kai had already wrapped up, and Super didn’t start properly until the second half of Kai finished two years later. You don’t spend seven years feeling out if people are still receptive to something after a ten-year hiatus if you’re trying to make money quickly, is all I’m saying.

Something like the Dragon BallZ multiverse would've been a lot more interesting to watch.

I’ve never read Multiverse so I leafed through the first 400-ish pages to see if I agreed with you, and I don’t. A common complaint about the Tournament of Power is that it’s the most dragged out 48 minutes in existence, and from the looks of it, Multiverse is like if Super was nothing but the Tournament of Power. To me, one of the best things about Dragon Ball is that it doesn’t have to be all high-stakes head-to-head all the time. You get things like the Orange Star High arc, or the filler episode where Piccolo and Goku have to get their driver’s licenses, or the one where Goku doesn’t quite have control over his ki for a day or so because he essentially shorted out the wiring fighting Hit (which is a cool fucking concept that I wish they had done more with). It’s just fun. It opens the door for questions that are more entertaining—and more importantly, more varied—than arguing until you’re blue in the face about who would win in a fight between X and Y.

Especially the early chapters were we see universes with diffrent "what-if's" like Friza taking over, Planet Vegeta still around, Cell or Buu winning, Goku being raised as sayin, introducing the games etc.

Sure, I’ll give you that, Multiverse does knock that concept around a little. The problem is it doesn’t do much of anything with it. The setting is a character too, in its own way—arguably the most important one, since it’s the one that every other character has no choice but to interact with. You’re right, all of those what-ifs would be interesting—if they were set in the what-ifs.

Here, I’ll share one of my favorite what-ifs as an example to try and explain. What if, instead of being able to retreat back to his lab, Dr. Gero was destroyed along with 19 by Vegeta’s attack? There would be no reason to go check his lab out if the android threat is eliminated, so 17 and 18 would still be asleep. Cell would grow unhindered for 17 years, and when he hatches, he could simply go up the ladder and attain perfection without a fight. Goku wouldn’t have died at the end of the Cell Games. There would be no training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for anyone. Does Vegeta become an issue again, since his character arc stalls at the part where he’s reveling in his own power? If so, how does that resolve? How would the struggle against Cell play out if they had no warning at all that he even existed? What role would Gohan play in it—or Goten or Trunks, since they’d be old enough to be a factor? These questions and any number of others you could pose don’t even account for the fact that it entirely upsets the timeline—Buu arc would occur before Cell, if it occurs at all. Assuming it does, would they stand a chance in hell against Buu without the power they gained in Cell arc and the seven year gap? Could Cell somehow end up coming into conflict with Buu? In short—how does this change things?

Multiverse answers this with ‘who cares, where does it put you in the power-scaling?’ and that’s not compelling to me in the slightest.

I especially hate how super ignores Vegeta's already established character development and makes him regress. Either they just didn't know how to write a Vegeta like that or simply didn't care.

Define regress. If you’re referring to Vegeta retaining his determination to get stronger than Goku after the ‘you are number one’ speech, that’s. Pretty integral to his character, frankly. Just because he’s learned and accepted it’s not the end of the world if he isn’t stronger doesn’t mean he has to drop the competition entirely. I read it less as a set-in-stone declaration of Goku’s superiority, more like a concession of his own defeat. ‘You’re number one forever because you’re better than me’ vs ‘You win for now, but when the next fight rolls around, I’ll outdo you’, you feel what I’m getting at? He does show up to fight Goku in the tournament during the very end of Z, after all. My point is that it shows Vegeta’s worldview and perception of himself is more malleable now—and so, confines him far less.

As it turns out, that concept of ‘freedom’ is the direction Super chooses to develop him in, and I feel that it pairs very well with what he goes through in Z (spoilers incoming). In Z, Vegeta is restricted by The Way Things Are Supposed To Go. In Super, especially later on during Moro and Granolah, this has a natural continuation in how his past actions in the name of TWTASTG weigh on him in ways that hamper his growth. This has been one of his biggest stumbling blocks for forever—he thinks so goddamn much, he can’t get out of his own head.

His defense of the Namekians and Earth against Moro is motivated in part by Vegeta feeling obligated to right the balance, so to speak—and he says as much, even going so far as to ask Moori if he bears a grudge against him for his actions. He still considers himself a villain bound for hell. In effect, this idea that he has to atone for his sins via being the one to save the day (which essentially amounts to being stronger than Goku on some given day) has snuck in and made itself into the new Way Things Are Supposed To Go without him realizing it.

Beerus realizes, though. I couldn’t think of a way to eloquently get across what Beerus does for him short of copying down the dialogue wholesale, so fuck it, that’s what I’m gonna do, since not everyone has access to the official translation. (From ch 69)

BEERUS: How many planets have you Saiyans destroyed? VEGETA: ? Hard to say. Fighting was the only way of life for my people, so we had a way of racking up sin after sin. B: Sin, huh? V: However, it wasn’t until Freeza’s clan came along and began using us that the destruction and invasions became business as usual. B: You trying to lay all the blame for your wicked ways on Freeza and his people? V: Not in the least. In his pursuit for power, my father built his own kingdom atop countless deaths. Freeza’s clan taking control didn’t help, but the seeds of the Saiyans’ destruction were sown before that. B: So it was the Saiyans’ destiny to be wiped out, then? V: I’d say so. B: Hmph… Ridiculous. V: But never mind that. My people’s problems aren’t your concern. B: I’m saying it’s ridiculous! V: ! W-what? What do you mean? Weren’t you going to show me a technique used by Gods of Destruction?! What could that possibly have to do with the history of the Saiyans? B: Plenty. […] As long as doubt weighs down your soul, this power’ll never be yours to wield. V: D-doubt, you say? B: Your own crimes aside, you’re feeling guilty for the sins of all Saiyans. That’s awfully self-centered of you, mortal. Here’s a fun fact. The one who suggested that Freeza eliminate the Saiyans… was me. V: W… what? B: You still think it was destiny? You’re just gonna accept that? […] Everything those Saiyans did in the past… what’s it got to do with you now? As long as you’re trapped by the past, you’ll never manage to grow past this point. My mind’s always on destruction and nothing else. That’s why there’s no limit to my power. Listen. If you really want this power, you’re gonna have to destroy any stray thoughts and recreate yourself from scratch. Before creation comes destruction. Get it?

Yeah. He takes this and he intentionally divorces his efforts to get stronger from his tendency to dog Goku’s heels in leveling up. Ultra Instinct isn’t a power suited to him, so he gives it up instead of torturing himself over it and works on what eventually becomes Ultra Ego instead. Here’s the thing though. The biggest indicator of Vegeta’s growth to me is that he can’t tap fully into that power because he’s no longer callous and unfeeling, and he knows it. He identifies too much with Granolah to simply destroy him. And he tries to lead Granolah off the path that ruined him for so much of his life. That doesn’t sound anything like regression to me.

The way things stand with Goku and Vegeta right now, the next step seems to be adapting their Ultra forms to them personally, so I’m curious to see how Vegeta will bend that power to the person he is now.

And god Gohan got the worst treatment ever. I understand the man doesn't fight, it's not what he does and that's a great point to his character but not keeping up with his training especially after cell and buu? Is out of character. The man is smart and knows that a bigger threat can come in at any moment.

You could be right, but no amount of kvetching is going to change what the writer wrote, so you may as well stretch your critical thinking legs and ask yourself why the writer thinks this is in character. Speaking from the perspective of a person who makes a hobby of examining these pieces and spackling them together into something cohesive (fanfiction. I write fanfiction, in case that was somehow unclear), this is the more fun option for me. I’m not saying it’s really That Deep (‘don’t put more thought into something than the creators did’, yak yak yadda yadda) or that my personal interpretation is correct and canon or anything, I just know that writers rarely write something a certain way without a reason.

Because you’re right, Gohan is a smart person. I don’t think he did stop training after Buu in the way you’re thinking of, for two reasons. First, he mentions at the end of Super Hero that he’s been practicing the Makankosappo in secret, and the Makankosappo took Piccolo presumably several years nonstop (between OGDB and Z) to make from scratch. Gohan may have prior knowledge to base his experimentation off of, but he has a lot less free time too, between his family and his father’s tendency to one-track-mind the things he’s passionate about—Videl says he’s been in his room working on his ant project for several days. So how long has Gohan been practicing it?

That’s rather theoretical though so, second, Gohan was ready for the Tournament of Power with 48 hours of training, which I don’t think would be possible if he wasn’t at least keeping himself physically in shape. Indeed, when Piccolo is training him (DBS episode 88), his problem is not with Gohan’s practical technique—it’s with his attitude. Freeza notices this and mentions it earlier in Resurrection F as well, that Gohan is going out of his way to leave the people he beats alive. Piccolo describes it as a failure to ‘close the deal’, in the sense that Gohan needs to be able to win in a way that leaves no room for a rematch or a sneak attack at the last second. This doesn’t necessarily mean killing, mind, especially since the Tournament of Power has a no-kill rule. What Gohan has let go to rust is his willingness to be ruthless enough to remove an obstacle that has to be removed. That, I think, is the true meaning of the ‘training’ that everyone in universe harps on him for. Gohan’s always been softhearted, after all.

I will concede that it is very stupid that he apparently doesn’t recognize Piccolo’s ki when by all rights he’s probably the person most familiar with it. I consider that ‘out of character’, in that I have no clever explanation for it, but given that it isn’t load-bearing so the story functions, I mainly shrug and ignore it. That’s the healthy thing to do.

completely forgot to say... I *hate* how bulma is now. Nothing to the bulma we saw in Z, even at her most vexing she was never like the one we see right now. Genuinely massacred her

Personally I would be angrier about Videl in your position, because boy does she just not exist in Super. More to the point, I don’t know exactly what you mean by this. Unless I’ve misremembered/misread something, Bulma is still doing what she’s done from day one. She’s still smart. She’s still willing to try using her charm to get what she wants. She still builds things that are plot-crucial (Goku Black arc couldn’t have happened without her replicating her own time machine! Which she couldn’t have done had Future Bulma not counted on her and left her own notes!) She still wants to get a look at every would-be destroyer of Earth du jour, even though it’s really not a good idea. If you’re referring to her occasional shallowness/bitchiness/pettiness, that never went away, you know. That’s a pretty big part of Bulma.

Just wanted to leave that, drink some water

Cute, but I’ve been on the internet too long to get upset when a random stranger boos something I enjoy. Thanks for the opportunity to write way too many words about it though! 2500 of them, in fact! I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts on them.

[enduringenthusiast]

There's a lot of this going around in NATLA but Bumi is the worst character assisnation to me (Suki and katara were also very hard to watch but at least they had some things going for them). I had to go back and watch the original episode to make sure I didn't have some wild false memory of it. I don't understand why the creators hated Bumi so much to make him this neglectful venegeful person?

Knowing it's bumi right away ruins everything. Yes, it takes away the suspense, but it makes their interactions so confusing. In the original sure bumi is doing this crazy stuff but at the end, Aang isn't even mad he's just so happy to see his friend and it makes the audience give it all a pass. Combining all the problems into omashu makes Bumi horrible, which they know and have several comments that he's not fit to lead, but also ends up addressing Bumis hate and not his role in how bad the city is. In the original omashu is... kind of the perfect city? Things are going well, people seem happy, they're taking an active effort in the war, Bumi even has a line that the people are too well fed. He's a good king, which makes the craziness fun and esoteric instead of a irredeemable danger to those around him! Even if the creators thought "what kind of friend does this, lets make him evil" another thing to pay attention to is that Aang actually isnt in very much danger, it just feels like he is. The gemstone surrounding them was candy, the beast chasing him was a pet, the man fighting him was his friend. They took all of that and said but what if he was actually bloodthirsty. In NATLA, Bumi resents aang and is doing this out of anger rather than wanting to impart wisdom in his own funny way, but that change doesn't translate to the other changes. If your gonna rewrite things you at least have to make those rewrites consistent. In the original he ran away, but bumi was just happy to see him again. In the new one, he doesn't run away... but bumi resents him for running away? Most ironic of all is that I imagine they made these changes to be more dramatic or have more narrative impact but the effect is the opposite. The og is pretty silly and could definitely be labeled more on the filler side, and yet Bumis lesson to Aang to think outside the box is relevant in the finale of the whole show - he finds his own way to handle Ozai. Here with Bumi being angry and venegeful, we get Aang learning his own lesson about... friendship? Relying on people? Feel like we learned that one already. With your very limited run time, what do we earn by having Bumi act this way, more guilt on Aang? We learned that already too. When you cut out 2/3 of the episodes and only keep the ones that fit your "tight" narrative, you sure do end up repeating the same lesson 8 times in a row. I don't hate NATLA there were parts I even liked, but everything in Omashu was so rushed and confusing and ruined that I started hoping they'd include less so they didn't mess it up rather than being excited for my favorites moments. But I will say his costume was incredible.

[ambreiiigns]

Ok wait. Yes tell me what episodes are good and everything else you said in the tags, but does rick and morty have lore? I thought it was episodic?

ok first Yes there's lore. there's like. the backdrop premise of rick having just came back into his daughter's life after being absent since she was a child for undisclosed reasons but it is a big part of beth's characterization and why he gets away w all the shit he gets away with. but there's also Lore that ties w rick's crybaby backstory™ and like the universe in general is probably more. Complicated? Expanded? than you'd think? bc yea it SHOULD be episodic and self contained but the team is at war w that concept since s2 if not s1 already. it's why i'm annoyed at people complaining abt the random filler episodes in s7 like girl that's the Normal Episodes. the Lore Heavy Episodes are the little special treat for you not the standard?? it's a sitcom unfort.

so. maybe still my favorite episode is STILL from s1 ep8. rixty minutes aka interdimensional cable ONE!!! let me set the scene. a few episodes earlier morty's school was doing prom and he asked rick to make him a love potion to get the girl he has a crush on to go to prom w him. rick fucks up SEVERELY bc his nihilistic scientist brain didn't understand love (??? i mean we know he Does. but it was s1) and he accidentally turns everyone first into morty stans who wont him desperately and then into straight up Monsters. he can't figure out how to fix it so what he does instead is move morty and himself into a new dimension where the incident had also happened but that dimension's rick had fixed the problem And gotten himself and morty killed accidentally. so they swoop in and dig a grave for Themselves and take those rick and morty's place. for rick it's Nothing it's Normal he's been doing this a while he's closely aware of the many dimensions and many versions of himself etc in fact it becomes a Huge plotpoint soon. but morty's still new to this and having to? handle his dead body? and put it in the ground? and take its place like nothing happened? that's tough for him! baby's traumatized. rip

but everything's been self contained enough so far that you sort of dismiss it right. then two episodes later interdimensional cable happens. aka rick fucks around w their tv to hook it up to. interdimensional. cable. so they can watch stuff from every other reality out there (whoa!) and as they binge they bump into jerry being interviewed on some late night show and they're like HUH???? THERE'S A VERSION OF REALITY OUT THERE WHERE JERRY'S RICH AND FAMOUS???? so now beth and summer are also wondering what They're up to in other realities and rick gives them some goggles that let you see what different versions of you are doing. rick himself and morty are the only ones who don't care and just keep watching silly tv having a laff. in the meanwhile summer complains that every version of her is doing nothing cool while her parents are hitting the jackpot and beth offhandedly mentions that "if we accomplished our dreams it probably means you were never born" which is obviously HORRIBLE TO HEAR so summer being an angsty dramatic teen wants to Run Away From Home and beth and jerry start fighting abt how you ruined my life and all. morty smells blood in the water so he goes upstairs to cheer up summer and she's like. they had you on purpose as a symptom of their problems you're not the Cause of their problems you can't make me feel better. so morty points out his and rick's graves in the yard outside the window and tells her he's not even her real brother he's as much of an incident as she is rn and now that he eats breakfast a few feet away from his corpse he knows better than most how meaningless all of this is anyway. and he tells her. something that still brings tears to my eyes. he goes "nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die. come watch tv?"

ARGH! HE'S JUST A 14 YEAR OLD BOY WITH AN INSANE MAD SCIENTIST GRANDPA WHO'S BEEN DRAGGING HIM ON FUCKED UP ELDRITCH SPACE ADVENTURES THAT HAVE BEEN SHATTERING HIS INNOCENCE AND UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE! AND NOW HE JUST WANTS TO WATCH TV WITH HIS SISTER! it kills me it's so humane and childish and it was REALLY gutting to me. cause i didn't expect a callback at that point. i didn't expect the trauma to impact the characters. it was completely out of left field and it made me say oh. so this is good. so this is actually worth watching.

[inukag]

you know in ep 140, Akitoki Hojo declared his love for Kagome while they were battling Hoshiyomi, and when he did, Inu looked up in jealousy? I've read, Inu wasn't really jealous of Akitoki, he didn't see him as a particular love rival, because he was weak. Unlike Koga, who was strong, and able to protect Kagome, which Inu doesn't like. Still, Inu still dislikes Akitoki because it's kinda obvious he has something for Kagome. Is that why Inu was rude w him in those eps, he was jealous?

Well first off episode 140 is filler so maybe Sunrise didn't want to make Inuyasha too jealous because they knew Akitoki Hojo would most likely never be mentioned again? I haven't watched that episode in ages but if Inuyasha feels OOC it's probably because it's anime-only, lol.

But to be honest? I think the fandom tend to overexaggerate how "jealous" Inuyasha really is.

(warning: the rest of this post is very critical of koga so maybe don't read if you love him as a character)

Inuyasha has perfectly reasonable reasons to hate Koga and to want him away from Kagome: Koga is a mass murderer who let his wolves eat countless humans, who kidnapped Kagome, put her in danger and disrespected her.

(He calls Inuyasha "inu koro" which means "dog shit" which is pretty much a slur)

I love Kagome with all my heart but honestly defending Koga after all this is honestly one of the most incomprehensible thing she's done and I hate that she constantly stops Inuyasha from beating him up. I guess Kagome's flaw here is that she's just too nice and tries to see the good in even the worst people (I mean she did try to sympathize with Naraku of all people) but Inuyasha is completely right here, imo.

I generally hate the way Rumiko wrote Koga and all the scenes he's in because he never gets a redemption arc but all the characters act like he's an okay dude because he's straight forward about the fact that he wants to be with Kagome?? And Inuyasha is portrayed as "jealous" for being annoyed at the fact that Kagome is nice to him despite all the horrible things he's done?? It's very bizarre to me, I feel like Miroku got more flack for groping women than Koga ever did for slaughtering countless innocent humans. I mean he indirectly killed Rin and that's never even addressed.

Or maybe I should say I hate the way Rumiko wrote "jealousy" when it comes to inukag because she did the same with Kikyo. She made Kikyo a vengeful revenant who tries to kill Kagome and Inuyasha and is generally awful to everyone, then Kikyo didn't get a redemption arc, everyone started acting like she's never done anything wrong and Kagome was portrayed as being a bad person for disliking her.

Anyway sorry, you didn't ask for a whole rant about this, lol. I think with Akitoki, Inuyasha can understand why Kagome would be nice and friendly with him because he's a generally harmless person so the thought of Kagome having feelings for him doesn't really cross his mind, whereas with Koga he doubts Kagome because her having feelings for him is the only way he can explain her defending & protecting him.

[nimata-beroya]

MY THOUGHTS ON TBB 2×05 "Entombed"

Oh, how much fun I had watching this one! I loved the full-on Indiana Jones-y vibe it had! Just perfect! And even better with Hunter's tired dad™ mood 😂😂😂 I swear he and Din and competing for the Space Dad who heaves more sighs Award, and they're head-to-head.

And I like Phee here, more than I did in the premiere. She's growing on me.

But before I share more of my thoughts about Entombed, this review will begin with a rant about the fandom. I'll hide it below the cut, so anyone wanting to skip it, can do that.

I know what so many in the fandom are saying. That this was a filler episode, even more so than last week's. And I ask, what if it was??!! What's wrong with that? I don't know exactly when and why people starting disliking filler episodes. When a filler episode became such a bad thing?

Let me tell you something: filler scenes/chapters/episodes are an important part of storytelling. They allow managing the pace, the intensity, and impact of the story. The overall plot needs room to breathe, to let the subtle things told to sink in. If a story is intense 95% of the time, it loses its impact.

Fans seem to forget what's coming. We've seen the trailers. Next week, we'll probably see Gungi, which means revisiting order 66 (again), probably horrible massacres in Kashyyyk and/or slave trade, or something equally bad, so it's NOT going to be a lighthearted episode. And the next week after that, it's the 2 mid-season episodes, which means Rex, Coruscant, Palpatine, and I'm pretty sure the first run-in of the batch with Cross after Kamino. Yeah, that's going to be so much fun /sarcasm/.

I'm pretty sure that the same people that complains about fillers are who complain about rushed plots and underdeveloped characters, etc. All they want is that they tell the season's complete full-arc story in just one episode. You can't have both ways. It's impossible.

Either you have a rushed story from beginning to end, told only with the essential and ignoring great character development, and having only shallow connections, or a story that can slow down, so its characters can grow and make deeper connections with others.

Besides, those who say the episode didn't bring anything to the overall plot should pay more attention. The foreshadowing at the end of "Faster" and how the batch got to know more Phee in this episode are related.

I know, I know! Some of you might be having this meme in your heads right now

But hear me out.

Millegi warned Tech, Wrecker, and Omega about Cid, which seems to foreshadow that she will betray them in the near future. Maybe she will, maybe she won't, but if she does or dies or get arrested or get out of the picture for whatever reason, maybe Phee could become another, more fair source of jobs for the boys (like she offered to them go 50-50 in the treasure hunt). Perhaps she's the one who ends up betraying them and not Cid; or maybe Phee joins the rebellion along with them. I don't know. There are so many possible routes to go with her that's impossible to know which one will be at the end. But whatever that is, there's a reason for the boys to have worked with her directly in this episode that we don't know. We aren't supposed to know yet!

Or you know what? Maybe it was just that; a time to have fun. I think one of the themes for season 1 was survival. They did that, they escaped the Empire and are having a life on their own.

A theme for season 2 could be learning to have a life, not just survive, and sure this episode seems to show them to do something just for fun, to explore the galaxy and learn about things they've never seen before.

So for the love of everything you hold dear, have a little patience and enjoy the show. And If you don't enjoy it, stop watching! Nobody is holding you at gunpoint, so you watch it. So, just stop.

Well, with that out of my chest, let's get into the episode.

I love Wrecker and Omega continue with their amazing dynamic. I love them so much 🥰

Tech and Hunter less than impressed with Phee's embellished story is hilarious

Cute of Omega being excited to go treasure hunting. It seems she has taken the liking of it.

I like that mom and dad Hunter and Echo seems to be more in the same page right now, but Echo, my dear, it's just a tad hypocritical of you having doubts about accepting this job when it was you who kinda pushed it last time. I guess you learned your lesson 🤣

I didn't catch it in the first time I watched the episode, but (as Alex from Star Wars Explained in YT says) Omega is copying Phee (like she did with Hunter last season), and Hunter is jealous about it!! Omg!! That's so funny 😂 and so true.

Like I said before, I love the callbacks to Indiana Jones throughout the episode.

Ha! Even Tech is curious about the treasure now 🤣

I knew that creature was going to appear on ths episode

Oh no! They got separated 🫤

Hunter walking on those stone slabs made me so nervous, I was expecting something like that to happen. A booby trap was guaranteed

🤣🤣omg! Hunter is so so tired, so done

Don do it, Phre! Don't take it out! Don't! *Sighs* i knew it

What the hell!? It's the Mech?!! I didn't see that coming

Oh dank farrik!! It's what destroyed the planet before!

Dammit Phee don't fall down!!!

Phew! Thanks Hunter

Oh the poor droid! Nooooo!!! 😭😭😭

Hey! There's a continuity error there!! The window was broken, then it wasn't 🙈 Omega breaks it twice

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!! Hurry up!!! No the marauder!! Noooooooooooo!

Oh thank goodness!!!

The scene with mech falling reminded me to the one in season 1 in Bracca and the ion engine

Hunter's dad instinct at its peak there too

Tech roasting Phee the professional... The best!

Well, a fun episode to soften us, so the blows in the next 2 weeks hurt twice as much.

[gamerfreddie]

So I was originally going to rant in this video's comment section but YouTube isn't letting me and I didn't spend over an hour writing a whole essay on my comfort show for nothing so here it is: -----

Okay, no hate, but I feel like you ENTIRELY missed the point of SUF.

Little Homeschool - Set up for the season. Establishes things that will be needed for later (Jasper being on Earth, Little Homeschool's existence, etc.). Like you said, it's mostly exposition.

Guidance - Steven still feels the need to help, so he ends up thinking there are issues he needs to solve (forcing his solutions onto people,) and then creating actual problems that he ends up solving, feeling guilty for creating a problem, and those guilty feelings perpetuate the cycle.

Rose Buds - Steven still doesn't know how to feel about his mom. This is the first hint that Pink/Rose is still very much an open emotional wound for Steven, far more than it is for Garnet and Pearl. Also gave us needed closure as viewers as to whether the Rose Quartz gems that appeared during "What's the Use of Feeling (Blue)" were real or fake and what happened to them in Era 3.

Bluebird - This episode is showing us that there are still Gems out there who resent or outright opose Steven and Era 3. Bluebird probably never makes an appearance again because SUF's focus was on Steven's mental health and setting up his road to recovery from all that trauma.

A Very Special Episode - It's just filler. That's it. I watched it and felt like I had wasted my time. Literally almost turned Sunstone and Rainbow Quartz 2.0 into annoying and disliked characters for me. I do know that this was the Crewniverse trying to let us experience these fusions one more time, but I feel like it could've been better executed and actually mattered to the plot.

Snow Day - The way that the Crystal Gems treat Steven like he was still a child, despite everything he went through, makes him feel invalidated, belittled and undermined. Allows for the Crystal Gems to start getting a glimpse of how Not Okay Steven really is. However we won't see a full realization from them until later, because the Crystal Gems are too caught up in their own happy lives to notice that the kid they RAISED isn't okay.

Why So Blue - Establishing that not all Gems have a moral compass at all, and are guided by what they like doing or what they're used to doing. Basically shows us that things are binary (either fully accepting and flourishing in Era 3 or completely against it) but is instead a spectrum, and that some Gems will try to be better when shows the way and others won't see the point. This one is like Bluebird, it's for us rather than the plot itself. Also, personal opinion here: This episode in combination with Bluebird probably hurt Steven because he was forced to face the reality that not all Gems can be talked into redemption.

Little Graduation - Again, the plot doesn't come out of nowhere, but moving on. Steven's whole life was based on helping others and when he wasn't helping others, he had his friends to hangout with. Steven is VERY emotionally attached to Sadie and Lars, and the fact that both of them are leaving as a result of his actions (Sadie became a popular musician and found her partner because Steven helped her become successful and Lars is only with the Off Colors because of Steven and is only as powerful as he is because Steven revived him) must have hurt Steven really bad. So he is without a way to distract or cope with the pain and starts feeling helpless, which feeds into the desperation to help others more and more. This episode also was very obvioulsy showing that Steven has abandonment issues and that he's becoming severely depressed and that no one bothered to check up on him because everyone is so used to Steven being the therapist friend.

Prickly Pair - I honestly don't understand how your takeaway was "Nothing happens". Steven tries to find something to busy himself with, it goes horribly wrong because of his powers and his trauma and everything he's been bottling up is being exposed, so he tries to quiet down the cactus monster and repress it, but it keeps growing and growing. The cactus monster is clearly a metaphor for his trauma, and when the Crystal Gems see it, Steven is distressed, which leads to him feeling the need to close himself off even more AKA he denies everything to the Crystal Gems.

In Dreams - Mostly filler, yeah. Though you can tell in the very clips you show in the video, that Steven is VERY uncomfortable with his nightmares AKA symptoms of his PTSD are freely available to anyone AGAIN, because at this point he's dedicated to bottling things up and keeping up the facade that everything is okay.

Bismuth Casual - For plot reasons, it sets up that the only support system that Steven has left is Connie. As you said, it is VERY clear that sh*t is about to hit the fan. Everything else is just closure for fans, especially with the Bismuth/Pearl romantic implications.

Together Forever - Steven feels incomplete without Connie because being with her is the only way to deal with his trauma. Thanks to Garnet's wedding, Steven probably made the association that the way he feels about Connie is how Ruby and Sapphire feel about each other, and so his perspective on marriage is incredibly distorted and different to Connies, who did the best she could to reassure Steven. Needless to say, Steven's feelings have been trampled so much just in SUF that this soft rejection still hurt a lot.

Growing Pains - I disagree with you on SO many levels about how Steven's Gem powers acting up looks stupid and can't be takes seriously. Some of Steven's first traumatic experiences was exactly this, loosing control over his body because he couldn't control his powers (aging uncontrollably and nearly becoming a cat monster). Also, as I will explain later and have already explained, not only is Steven's PTSD evident from pretty much the start of SUF, but it's also brought up multiple times later, it's just not outright stated like "Oh no, Steven's PTSD is acting up", you're just meant to know that and piece things together on your own.

Mr. Universe - Yeah. Greg didn't know how to act and thought positive affirmations would help. Other than that, I agree, he failed miserably at comforting Steven, though he can't be ACTUALLY blamed for it because he never had the chance to REALLY mature as an adult (he dropped out of school early) and Steven's issues require actual professional help.

Fragments - I figured on my own that it wasn't actually that long of a time skip, since Steven's been known to shapeshift into different aged versions of himself. Other than that, Steven went to a last resort, someone who he knew to be stoic and strong, after feeling weak. Jasper is the prime example of a bad influence, indulging Steven's anger and influencing him to become violent. Steven then looses control and shatters Jasper. Can you guess what this means? That's right! Your favorite pacifist has just gone against one of his core moral codes. I'm sure that won't worsen his mental state nor add to his rapidly growing list of traumatic experiences :D. ALSO, your whole talk about how "There's no going back" when a Gem is shattered makes me think that you haven't been paying attention to SU at all. The Cluster is a bunch of Gem fragments, and each still hold a piece of the gem they once were. And if it's possible to revive living beings like Lion and Lars, it's not exactly unexpected that Jasper would get the revival treatment as well. And by the way "Why did he shave?" he literally didn't. In S1 Steven aged into an old man with a giant beard and once he regressed back to his normal age the beard disappeared.

Homeworld Bound - Yeah... I agree with you on everything you said.

Everything's Fine - So... The beggining is Steven spiralling down and everyone FINALLY starts to notice that something is off. This then culminates on Steven going into a vent where he keeps putting himself down, making himself responsible for everything that happened to him. This is an actual thing with PTSD, speaking from experience, both mine and from others, "How could I be so stupid? I should've known. I'm a fraud." etc etc.

I Am My Monster - Literally everyone who could feel responsible for Steven's pain starts to feel guilty because Connie's right, it IS their fault. They're faced with the, from their POV, unbelievable reality that Steven was hurting (excluding Greg and the Crystal Gems, who caught on earlier but couldn't do shit about it because Steven shut them out). Everyone is so used to Steven helping them with their feelings that they don't know how to help him. Also, about White, feeling sorry about what you've done wrong is the first step towards bettering yourself. I don't understand people's obsession with critiquing that. For White, Gems were inconsequential and emotionless robots who were to be thrown out and repurposed when faulty. Biological life was a fuel for their evolution. As soon as she realized that her worldview was wrong, she tried to change. An admission of guilt and a continous attempt and helping others and bettering herself is better redemption and growth than what I've seen from real world people. Lastly, the "group hug" isn't JUST a group hug. It's a sign of affection. It tells Steven "We all love you. We all care about you. We are here for you. You are NOT a monster.". Steven was surrounded with so much care and affection that it helped him come down from that mental state.

The Future - It is EXPLICITLY said in the episode that Steven has been seeing a therapist. I don't know what else you need as to "how he got better". It wasn't all magically resolved, he actually went and got the proper professional medical help he needed. And Steven feeling a bit upset that the Crystal Gems didn't act even a bit sad is obvioulsy because he feels like he won't be missed. Also Greg saying he's "allowed to have feelings, even petty ones" is correct and healthy. You're allowed to feel your feelings, your actions based on those feelings are what may or may now be valid. Also, the whole thing with Steven doing things to get a reaction out of the Crystal Gems and them staying strong isn't "wasting time", none of this episode was wasting time. It was about emotional closure. The Crystal Gems and Steven burting into tears at the end was a very emotional scene and very much needed and well placed and written.

In conclusion, while I mean no hate to you, I think all this hate comes down to a few possible factors, maybe one of them, all of them, or a combination of them:

- You're not very knowledgeable with mental health

- You're really not the type of person who likes emotional story telling and thinks a plot has to be driven by an antagonist or villain and anything that doesn't flow like that is wrong, boring and/or makes no sense

- You didn't really care nor pay attention to the series as a whole

- You lack a capacity to interpret media beyond was is directly upfront and in your face

These are just a few assumptions and how it looks and feels from this video. Ultimately, I'm not trying to start a debate nor offend you, but this show is my comfort show and my favorite part in all of SU, so I felt the need to spend over an hour writing this essay that you proabably won't even read but oh well, it's the thought that counts.

-----

Anyways sorry everyone for the super long post buuuuuut I worked too hard on this and it's 4:30 am so fuck it

[popculturebuffet]

Gay as A Fox: Family Guy: No Title Can Express How Much I Hate The Third Episode I”m Reviewing Today (You May Now Kiss The Uh, Guy who Receives, Family Gay and Quagmire’s Dad)

Content Warning: The third episode discussed today is EXTREMLEY Transphobic. Discretion is advised.

Welcome and welcome back to Gay as a Fox, my look at various fox shows attempts at tackling queer characters. Last week we tackled how the simpsons did it, with two great episodes and two passable ones with plenty of john waters, homer marrying a man to the bible, unecessary milhouse subplots and fashion chernobles to enjoy. All thanks to kev my friend and patron who comissioned these reviews. This week though.. he had me watch one episode from my teen years, a boring sterotypical pile of garbage... and easily the worst thing i’ve reviewed. Granted I generally steer towards good media.. but i’ve dove into my share of dumpster fires. In fact Kev is responsible for comissioning/inflicing the previous title holder ... which just so you have a gage for how BAD quagmire’s dad is if you haven’t suffered through it yourself or your memories are vauge.. THIS is what I had to put up with..

BE.. AFRAID.. 

Of course before we can get into that we have not only two otther episodes but have to get to my throughts on the show itself.  

I used to REALLY love Family Guy. The first three seasons were something I happily devoured when I found the show, I bought the dvds for them and for season 4, and I was overjoyed to watch the show every week when it came back. I geninely loved it and honestly.. I still love those first 5 seasons. Some things have aged very poorly, Quagmire on the hole, some of the jokes, and we’ll get into some of that in a moment with our first episode in this three pack. But the show was just packed with memorable gags, using the cutaways not as a crutch or filler like later seasons, but to tell some REALLY hilaroius jokes with low context

The show was good.. but eventually a combination of Seth Mcfarline barely checking in, likely being busy doing a ton of other projects, and the show loosing viewers cause dit to turn, churning out episodes. While the show would ocasoinally do sterotypical jokes, the series slowly leaned HEAVILY on jokes that are just “LOOK STEREOTYPE ABOUT GROUP”. It went from well constructed insanity to just “LOOK HOW OFFENSIVE I CAN BE AIN’T THAT FUNNY” which has worked exactly never times. 

As such while the first episode is decent if shooting itself in the foot, the second is boring and the last... is a horrible pile of shit the creator stood behind. Yes really. And we’ll get to all of tha tin a moment as I tackle Family Guy’s attempts, emphasisi on attempts, to tackle gay marriage, conversion thearpy, and transgender peoples. 

   You May Now Kiss The Uh, Guy Who Recieves (Season 4) 

Before we even get into the episode, we have the title

And that sets the tone for the episodes gay characters. Last week when covering the simpsons, I talked about how John was a fairly camp gay man, he still had some layers and a wonderful john waters performance backing him, making him feel like a real person despite being a one episode gay character there to teach Homer Simpson a lesson about tolerance. 

Family Guy.. gives us jasper...

Jasper is every possible gay sterotype packed into one character. He isn’t a NEW character, having shown up in seasons 2 and 3 in cutaways and then in a small roll in the two parter where Brian got addicted to cocaine then moved to hollywood for a while... which had a casual possibly transphobic joke in it as a throwaway.. that’s somehow LESS offensive than Quagmire’s Dad. 

Jasper entire schtick is 

Sounds tiresome? Then imagine that stretched out and magnified for an ENTIRE EPISODE. There is NOTHING added to flesh jasper out as a character. He is a walking sterotype and every word out of his mouth could be replaced with “GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY I LIKE PENISSSSSS GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY I LIKE PEEEEENNNNNISSS”, set to ode to joy and nothing would BE diffrent. The show tries to justify itself by having Stewie constnatly lampshade it.. which only makes it worse as they KNEW Jasper was a puddle thin gay sterotype and STILL used him as the episode’s center anyway. They would’ve been better off having a recurring character come out. I would’ve watched Seamus’ gay pirate wedding. Just saying it now if any Family Guy writers read this I present you that episode ENTIRELY free. I will take no credit and say nothing else as to not steer you so you end up in rights issue. Make this happen. 

Instead they brought in a camp gay sterotype and his silent boyfriend, Ricardo, and then TRY to make it an aseop episode about gay marriage. And then mostly focus on Brian instead. While Brian’s attempts to be an ally are noble, it really says something when your episode dosen’t at all seem to care abotu the emotions of the actual gay person. Simpsons already did a gay wedding episode, again covered last week.. and used Patty, having us care more and adding weight to one of the main characters not being okay with it. Here it’s just a character who will evaporate into rainbow colored either after this. Simpsons had not only done two great episodes on gay characters, but had learned it’s lesson from the first one to give us some more investment. It still made mistakes, but it actually gave a shit in making it. As such while I do WANT the ban on gay marriage to not pass, it’s because .. it’s a fucking same sex marriage ban. I could care less if Jasper gets marriage, it’s just the right thing to get behind. Any other gay characters are also just reduced to sterotypes or gay jokes like watching sex and the city.. which feels like a cheap shot given the show is not that bad. The second movie and large portions of in just like that? yeah fair enough. But the joke isn’t even that funny. And yes i’m standing up for Sex and The City. It’s not perfect, having a VERY biphobic episode itself i’ll get to one of these days to tear to shreds, and language that’s very of the time, but it is a fairly witty, enjoyable sitcom that tackled issues no other show could or would> The sequels are varying degress of ehhhhh or yikes, but it’s not half bad. It also has shirtless Kyle Mclaughn angrily playing tennis at night which is both the whitest and most glorious thing i’ve ever seen. 

That being said while it fails in giving us a queer character to give a shit about it DOES do some satire well: The three sides against it are all the varying shades of dumb that go against queer issues: We have Mayor West who dosen’t seem to have any real issue with gay people and is doing it entirely to distract from building a sold gold statue of a long forgotten cereal mascot, Dig Em the sugar smacks frog, though the Dig Them joke with Mort Goldman is hysterical, who represents politicans who only oppose queerness for their own ends or points and don’t genuinely care about the lives they ruin, with West only going against it in the end because Brian holding him hostage distracted everyone. That said we get a LOT of great late Adam West in this one from “Jingle keys” to i’m a tomato, to his bullet sized shield hidden somehwere on his body to coughing up strageo. He’s as always a delight

The next is the far right via the Young Republicans, who are portrayed as hateful idiots and suck Chris in entirley because he wants to touch boob. They have no real arguments or groundign to actually oppose this, their just hateful assholes as they should be portrayed. They also give us the best joke of the episode as they send chris on a little inititaion test to join the young republicans

This joke.. really sums up why despite their mockery, sometimes diserving, cutaway gags REALLY work for the show. This joke is random, nonsensical, really makes no statments on clinton himself such as his predatory behavior. It’s just funny nonsense that implies a former president reguarly sings a jolly song whie prancing around nude. ANd it is glorious. Family guy is rarely mature nonsense but the good stuff has such an ubanashed joy and lack of shame to it that I can’t help but love it. It’s wacky 8tth grade fun nonsense and it owns it. 

Finally we have Lois who decides she opposes marriage but is okay with them being together... and it’s portrayed as equally nonsensical. We also get the great parody education film “you’ve got a gay

Lois ends up learning her lesson not thorugh some heartfelt struggle btu through the obvious via her parents: that MANY of the straight people railing for no gay marriage are deeply unhappy yet think their form of marriage is right while people who geninely love each other shouldn’t be able to get married turnign her around> There’s no big speech at the hall or anything, Lois just relaizes she was wrong and lets Jasper have his wedding. 

So yeah the episode is not great at actually portraying gay people , has no excuse for it given the simpsons again did it better LONG before this.. but does ballance it out with some legit poitns and some great jokes. Stewie’s candbowl bit is also classic as is the payoff for the voltswagon key (”your welcome”). It’s not the best episode of the early shows nor one I could say really saved anything, especially since as we’ll get to next week it’s sister show did Gay aseops much better not long after this. But you can find most of the good gags themselves on youtube so you don’t really NEED to bother with this episode but it won’t really harm you if you watch it. IT’s just kinda there. Now if you want painful to watch.. welllll

                                          Family Gay (Season 7)

It’s remarkable how far the show had fallen in just three seasons. The pacing is so bad at this point that the first 6 minutes of plot are about Peter using bean money to buy a brain damaged horse. Yes really. They were so proud of this thorughly stupid and unfunny bit, including jokes about horse semen and licking peter’s buthole..

They stamped it on the front of the DVD for the season. This episode was a slog even before getting to the gay jokes, just an endless void where nothing funny happens to compesnate for the throughly edgelord attempts at “comedy: through shock humor instead of actually trying to write a joke or have something be nuts and random while still being funny like Naked Bill Clinton. Which is a sentence I got paid to write and it sadly isn’t enough to offse thaving to watch this thing, let alone the thing after it. This episode is just a void where comedy goes to die. It’s 22 minutes of nothing. 

And then it has the nerve to TRY and have an aseop about gay people. Peter gets injected with the gay gene and thus becomes gay. So once again instead of introducing a queer character or having someone come out.. they instead turn peter gay. For an episode. And SUPIRSE he suddenly acts camp gay because he got injected instead of you know, himself but into dudes, and outright abandons his family. Not leaves lois to have a partner.. he just abandons the kids and never visits or anything. Which is the most in character peter is once gay honestly but paints a bad picture. And then we get them trying to speka out against gay conversion therapy

Yes in THIS episode. And two of our MAIN CHARACTERS SEND PETER THERE. Brian because he feels bad for lois and Stewie because he’s an armored closet gay for the episode despite being camp gay every other episode

Yeah NONE of this is forgivable and the episode just brushes it off, lois rejects him and we get a blazing saddles refrence. Then peter turns back during an orgy. Nothing was acomplished< meg outright lampshades that and this episode just... is a void. It got one or two laughs maybe , including said blazing saddles refrnece but nothing really truly hilarious or good or worth sitting through this. It’s nothing and it shoudl be forgotten. And to the writers credit they did agree to phase out gay jokes. To their entire discredit.. it was in 2019. 3 years ago. Gah and now .. “Quagmire’s Dad”

                                Fuck This Episode (Also Season 7) 

I fucking loathe this episode. I usually try not to get angry in my reviews, like I said I normally review stuff I geninely like on some level and while I won’t hesitate to call out a shows flaws, I can find some good in most things, or at least a laugh or two. Even with The Boys comic I could make some jokes. But this? This episode.. is loathsome. Calling it garbage is an insult to trash as most trash at least was used for something one time or served a purpose. All this episode does is spew hate and double down on harmful sterotypes. Getting though Family Gay was hard.... this was damn near impossible. Kev outright APOLOGIZED for having me review this one, I got paid good money.. and it wasn’t NEARLY enough. This episode isn’t just the worst thing i’ve reviewed i’ts one of if not THE worst piece of media i’ve seen. And yes, that threshold is indeed vast but I stand by it. 

To give those of you who are lucky enough to not have seen this the bare minimum you need: This episode follows Quagmire, who just as a reminder is a rapist of VARYING kinds and has kept sex slaves in his house, so you know who exactly their trying to portray as normal, as he welcomes his Navy War Hero mother in, who at the time is biologically a man and hasn’t transitioned yet.  Due to being mildly camp, because that’s the only kind of gay people Seth and Co think exist, Peter and JOe think she’s gay.. but it turns out, as you likely knew going in even if you hadn’t seen the episode, she’s a woman, named Ida and trasnitioning. Now outsie of the usual for family guy camp gay sterotypes, this isn’t a TERRIBLE setup. The show has had two episodes about gay men at this point, as well as a subplot about Meg joining the Gay and Lesbian Alliance.  So having it revealed that this isn’t that, but talking about the underserved topic of Trans People instead.. it’s a decent start. It’s a bit botched because the person their trying to portray as confused and conflicted over this . .is a sex monster whose raped women and kept others as slaves, so I don’t give a damn what he thinks or abotu his feelings.. but the base setup is trying a little. 

The problem is every fucking thing else. Quagmire is portrayed with some naunce: he’s clearly against all of this and it’s portrayed as not right.. from trying to downplay ida being trans to lashing out at them like a 12 year old. But the fact he’s confused, dosent know what to call them besides Ida, and had a LOT to take in is portrayed sympathetically and he comes around by the end, not trhough a big speech but through having a few hours alone to process and accept that Ida is still the parent he knew and loved.. they were just hiding part of who they are and their HAPPY now. It’s not perfect, because again, sex monster, but it’s clear their trying a bit.

And that’ ALL the credit I can fucking give them because everyone else in this episode is a transphobic fucking monster, except Meg, and NEVER get called out for it. To use the simpsons again, Homer in Homer’s Enemy is a homophobic jackass to show he’s wrong. He says outrageous shit

But NO ONE is on his side but likeminded idiots who also have to learn the lesson. Here... Peter, Lois and later Brian and Stewie are portrayed as casually transphobic, blatantly dispresectful and out and out horrible.. and it’s portrayed for COMEDY. Ther’es no jokes told. .thier just awful about this trans woman and it’s taken at face value. Ther’es no commpuance, no learning, no nothing. Their just fucking awful people. 

See with peter it’s more like homer and thus I can take it a LITTLE: He’s throughly stupid, knows nothing and thus is no help to Quagmire when he needs him. That’s nothing new and he’s a bad person. We’ve established this. He abandoned his family when he didn’t REALLY need to abandon his kids. He’s garbage

But Lois is usually portrayred as a sane person by the show. .and is FAR WORSE. Like HOLY SHIT. She , like peter claims being trans means ida is gay, has meg throw a dish ida brings over “in the outside trash”, makes passive agressive comments about her and when finding out Brian slept with her, LAUGHS HER ASS OFF LIKE IT’S THE FUNNIEST THING. She’s a terrible person whose utterly awful to this woman and it’s treated like any of this shit is okay or a joke. Throwing out a trans persons hard made food because you don’t like their trans isn’t a joke.. ti’s hate. Pure, unabashed hate. This episode is hateful as shit with everyone but Quagmire treating Ida like some sort of freak.. again except meg, but they make a cheap joke about meg instead of letting her be an ally. 

Then we get to Brian who not only do lois and peter treat like crap when, this time, he hasn’t done anything, but who has sex with Ida not knowing she’s trans.. and his reactoin is utterly disgusting in both senses. He vomites for 37 seconds straight.... yes really. Like the previous ep this one is full of filler. But he VOMITS OVER IT FOR 37 SECONDS, 

then when revealing it he says “aren’t they supposed to tell everyone when they move to the neighborhood” like she was a SEX OFFENDER. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST there isn’t enough GO FUCK YOURSELF in the world to cover that line. 

Oh and we also get Quagmire beating brian up for it because he’s so likeable he assaults a man for sleeping with his parent for no good reason and brian says I fucked your dad... FUCK. all of this.

But worse is how SETH treated the reaction to this in the interview that I found thanks to the wayback machine and wikipedia.... here.. here are his quotes complete and unabriged

Details: You predicted that another episode—about a transgendered character—would make the LGBT community happy. It didn't. Seth MacFarlane: That surprised me. I don't meet a lot of stupid homosexuals. They seem to be a pretty smart bunch. But it seemed that they were not picking up on the fact that it was a very sympathetic portrayal of a transsexual character.

Okay first off, Seth... TRANS DOES NOT = GAY.  There are gay, demi, bi and pan trans people sure, but it does not mean every trans person is into the opposite sex. Second implicitly calling anyone “stupid” who dosen’t “get it”. and what part of Lois having her food thrown out, Chris asking uncomfortable questions about their privates, everyone treating her like a circus freak, and brian vomiting for 37 seconds is sympathetic? The character is seen as a good person but is also a transphobic punching bag with no character beyond “transexual” and “quagmire’s parent”. Just because the character isn’t a sterotype dosen’t mean you get a pass sethanial. 

Details: Maybe the fact that Brian barfs his guts out when he realizes he's had sex with a transsexual threw them off. Seth MacFarlane: Hey, we're still Family Guy.We're not suddenly going to become 7th Heaven. Actually, I guess on 7th Heaven they would probably burn the transsexual at the stake. Let me think of another example. We're not Mr. Belvedere. Look, Brian happens to be a heterosexual character, as I am. If I found out that I had slept with a transsexual, I might throw up in the same way that a gay guy looks at a vagina and goes, "Oh, my God, that's disgusting." It's just the way we're biologically wired. They should give that another look.

Oh my god.. so much fucking wrong here. Okay first off you don’t have to be a sitcom to treat a character with dignity in an aseop. Simpsons treated John with plenty but still had PLENTY of jokes , often at homer’s ignorant expense

So you could do the same theortically with a trans character. You don’t have to be Full House to have people except Ida. Just be a fucking adult. 

But the next part is the worst.... jesus christ. Seth. .if that’s your reaction to sleeping with a trans woman

Seth you are a rich man. You can afford to edcuate yourself even running three damn shows. You have no excuse for being a prejudiced ass, let alone positioning yourself like your not. I do concded he COULD have changed his stance and become more educated.. but he still approved and va’d and defneded this episode and said this shit. He still should be held acountable.  It is NOT normal to throw up after finding out you had sex with a trans person. It means YOUR transphobic and YOU have no ground to stand on. YOU think Trans people are less than people and YOU can go fuck yourself. 

Also the gay man going at a vagina and saying ewww.. .what? Vagina’s don’t.. magically repel gay men? They dont’ see them as insects or something. They just don’ot find them attractive. And it’s NOT how we’re biologically wired, you fucking idiot. I’ve been attracted to trans men and women. You know why? because i’m BISEXUAL. I’m into men and women. Trans Women and Trans Men.. are just women and men. The only diffrence is they weren’t born with the body they were meant for. That’s all. You throwing up about that says more about YOU and jackasses like you who claim to be progressive but then vomit at sleeping with a woman.

I hope for the sake of the Orville and other projects Seth’s grown the hell up. But this episode, even with a sequel that apparently tries to fix it.. without actually fixing anything beyond maknig the characters not monsters, is a putrid steaming monument ot hate that will never quite go away.. and will hopefully only be remembered as a cautionary tale. Fuck this, thank you for reading. 

[ratcandy]

hi MASSIVE TOH SEASON 3 EPISODE 1 SPOILERS below don't read if haven't watched I am about to go off my rocker

also abuse tw mention because 😦

first of all FLAPJACK. I proceed to punch a wall

I did not expect to actually start bawling my eyes out but hot damn what the fuck . Why is Flapjack dying what got me above everything else in this show. Like I've gotten teary and emotional over other moments but Flapjack dying and all of Hunter's dialogue that proceeded it just made me SOB ??????????????

Also hello fluid as fuck animation in that fight scene 😳 i misse d you

so anyway. Now we gotta talk about possessed!Hunter right. While that's a bombass design and I love the look of it and his body language in the fluid parts of the animation is impeccable, it's also incredibly. URGH. NO I don't LIKE it. No I HATE it, actually. There's something just . Incomprehensibly genuinely upsetting about Hunter's former abuser taking over his body and using it to kill his emotional support animal

it's SO fucked up and I'm all for horrible twisted shit but also for fuck's sake man can Hunter get a fucking break!!! Can he like!!! Be free for two minutes!!!!!

I think it just feels like such a consecutive gut punch because we're missing so much extra filler and that's what makes me all the more sad. You can TELL you can TASTE how much more they wanted to expand on this, how much more there was to elaborate on, but they just didn't have the time and so Hunter Really Going Thru It yet again just feels like . got dam he really did not get a single break my guy can't even REST!!! it feels to me like he's just constantly through the ringer because it's all we've been able to see and that SUCKS

but they make a whole point of saying he has been happier in the human realm ("you've smiled so much since we got here" from Gus, something along those lines) . They want us to know he Has been happy for the past few months, there HAS been a break. n I feel like that was their way of trying to say ,,, Look See he's been at semi-sorta-peace for a little while! He's gone without Unspeakable Horrors for like a FEW MONTHS , we promise, we swear, it's not consecutive unending pain, he's been Pretty Good for a while (ignoring identity crises that we also unfortunately can't elaborate on because of time but you saw a little glimpse of it in that intro sequence). and NOW we're just making him Worse

but still like AUUGHhghsgghh. I don't Like the further implications of Any of the possession stuff mannnnn ughurhghgrh

AND ALSO FLAPJACK i punch the wall again FUCK!!!

anyway expanding on Flapjack a little . So when Belos did his whole fucking thing, he said "goodbye Evalyn," and we see during the whole Hayride sequence that Evalyn gave Caleb Flapjack (or taught him to make Flapjack).

For a moment, though, I was mortified misunderstanding that Flapjack was Evalyn, even if that wouldn't make any sense ghsdgkJHSDG

oh also we know Evalyn's name now. Yea that's a thing. We know the name of the witch that Caleb fell in love with or whatever. And honestly. I had to stop after I heard that and go "aawww maaan" because. C'mon. looks at the camera

Evalyn? Edalyn? Not even Tryin to hide that they're related huh

Mngmrh this is a personal gripe of mine, but honestly I really hoped the theory about "the witch Caleb loved being an ancestor of the Clawthorne's" wasn't canon sdhgkh it just . Again this is personal bias. I have never liked the cliché of "you've been related this whole time!" kinda thing. Different when the antagonist and protagonist are set up as related from the start. I don't like when it's a plot twist or anything like that. it's so. m.

just not really my thing n I'm a little disappointed to get lowkey confirmation that it's probably canon sdghskjdghsdghkl because almost inevitably it'll be revealed in a whole dramatic thing and it'll be like RelATed TO BEloS THIS WHOle Time ?!? !? and i'll be like I Do Not See It

Well all that aside. Holds Camila in my hands. mom of the year award you deserve the entire world

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

Hi, I've never really watched much SPN but I saw you say in a post to look through your J*red tag, (I could've sworn people loved him but I took a long tumblr break) and I'm confused about the Destiel thing. I thought when the Destiel episode aired, that people said Jensen looked like he was holding back a slur in that episode. But also excited for it? Which is it?

let me preface this by saying that i'm not mad at YOU at all, but i really am fucking annoyed that people took one screencap with no further context and made it a meme that a whole person was homophobic because of what they interpreted as his facial expression.

first of all, here's a gifset of that part of the scene so you can see what's said and how they look while saying it. here's a gif of the specific bit that the screencap was taken from:

i can't speak for anyone else, but i'm pretty good at reading facial expressions, and i've been watching jensen/dean for years now. i can tell you that this facial expression, being shown in response to "i love you" is dean saying please don't, not like this.

because cas isn't JUST saying "i love you", he's saying it to trigger his own death, in order to save dean's life. by the time cas says it, dean knows that, he knows this is goodbye. and he can't fucking bear for what's between them to be said out loud like this, for the first, the only time, not as cas leaving him again, not as cas sacrificing himself for dean.

this is nothing remotely like "i want to say a slur", it's not pain because he doesn't feel the same; it's pain because this is basically dean's worst nightmare. cas has just told him everything he always wanted to hear, and he's saying it as a goodbye.

BUT, what's more important than my personal interpretation of these facial expressions is that in jensen's first panel after this episode, he said - as tactfully as possible - that a lot of dean's reaction in this scene had been cut.

(he also was very animated when talking about the episode and this scene in particular. he said that he had a crew member record the scene on jensen's personal phone because it was so important to him. he and misha sent fan reaction videos to each other that night. he was excited while talking to fans and asking what they thought, all smiles and delight with how much we liked it.)

you can see that, right after the previous gifs, dean looks over his shoulder at where the empty is coming for cas, and his eyes are absolutely filled with tears.

as soon as the camera angles switch back, the tears are gone.

so we know there were takes where jensen was acting his ASS off, he was full-on crying, and they just cut it all for the blandest reaction possible. because the thing is that while they filmed this episode, 15x18, just before quarantine, they finished filming the last two around six months later. however, 15x18 didn't AIR until after those six months.

long story short, it appears that they were going to make destiel canon, but that long break caused the cw execs to get nervous and hit the panic button to cut out as much gay as possible (most likely to keep the gay cooties off of padalecki to repackage him for his new show walker). i cannot emphasize enough how everything about the season (which was genuinely good) leading up to this moment absolutely screamed 'canon endgame destiel', and then something happened, and nothing about the final episode (which was horrible) or what anyone says about it makes any sense.

we know that misha was in vancouver at time of filming the finale, yet castiel never reappeared. we know that at least ten scenes were cut from the finale script, and the aired episode was suspiciously short with a lot of filler. we know that the explanations people have given for why things changed don't hold water, and we've gotten different stories from different people, some of whom are obviously under NDAs.

okay, so the reason i explained all of that is because fans more knowledgeable in filmmaking than i have analyzed this 15x18 confession scene and determined that it's not just that they used the most boring takes, but they actually butchered it. i.e. they used footage of jensen from different parts of the scene and shoehorned it into this moment so that it was as not-gay as possible.

my friend @winchestersingerautorepair has done a bunch of meta on this topic if you happen to be interested on the above mentioned analysis of the editing.

tl;dr: they butchered jensen's acting to make the scene as straight as possible.

and despite that, they couldn't edit out the fact that dean spent hours sobbing on the floor after cas was taken.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Kym thank you for your wonderful answer to anon. I think a part of fadom freaks out easily because the reporter scared everyone for a lifetime. Last year we were all here celebrating how good for buck would have been having a friend outside of the 118, and we got a terrible friend then and an horrible gf now that basically monopolized 2 entire episodes of 5a, probably she'll be gone soon but her presence is still to much compared to others So yeah I don't think lucy will be a LI but who knows

Awww Nonnie 🥺🥺🥺 tysm

Tay Kay is definitely scarring!! I'm gonna be upfront - I have never ever liked Taylor and I never saw her as a friend to Buck (idk how anyone could tbh but maybe thats just me!!), so I never joined in the celebrations of Buck having a friend outside of the 118 - I've only ever viewed her as a narrative device- her character has always been selfish and self serving and if the writers wanted me to feel differently about her they would have invested the time and effort into showing character growth - addressing all the bad choices she made previously. The fact that they didn't, and actually went the other way - showing how much of a hypocrite she is on top of everything else - spoke so loudly to me.

If, like me, you've spent years working in the industry, and studying how film and television is created and developed, I guess you spot things a mile off. I do think they wasted a lot of time and energy on giving her a back story and using it to fill time that could've been better spent elsewhere, but I'm also of the view that theres a very good chance that we'll see what we learnt coming back into play in the first part of 5b.

I think the writers have spent time creating that backstory for a reason - because it's what they've done historically and if it wasn't important they would've used the time elsewhere - showing us more of other characters and doing further world building. The entire season is planned out at the beginning - the arcs will have been decided- even beyond just the season - and they will have spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the characters from a to b - what needs to happen, what road blocks to put in their way etc.

That is why I'm sure that there are plans to make further use of what they have chosen to give us (and why ghost stories got such a drastic rewrite) and I expect it all to come into play in 5x11 and 13 with repercussions further into the season as well. Im actually looking forward to the summer hiatus so I can really look at how it all plays out in more detail - when we know where it all leads to - only then will we truly know if they short changed us and put in a load of unnecessary filler we could've done without!

For the most part the section of fandom that freaks out over this kind of thing tend to be young with little experience of the real world who will (hopefully) learn as they get older - I don't tend to see to much of it in my little corner of the internet as I curate my experience - I'm here for a good time, to have fun and for healthy debate, Im not here to stress myself out or make myself miserable. Its also easy to forget that many of these people freaking out have grown up in a world which has always had internet and so they are not used to being made to wait for things in the same way as those o us who existed before the world was at our fingertips - when binge watching was only possible if you recorded each episode every week or bought the vhs/dvd box sets!

Sorry Nonnie - i've got up on my soap box again 🤣🤣🤣 I've never bee none for brevity!!! As always great to have you appearing in my inbox!

[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched This Summer

Summer 2020 has officially come to a close. It’s fall in Animal Crossing and the trees are beginning to turn. Much like quarantine, I spent a lot of my free time watching anime when I wasn’t stressing over starting college. Now that the school year has begun, I thought it would be nice to reflect on everything I’ve watched! 

These Anime were seen between 6/14 - 8/31 (my Birthday!) and are listed in chronological order.

They will be rated on a 1-10 scale; 1 meaning complete garbage, 10 meaning masterpiece. I will offer my thoughts on what I did/didn't like about each show!

1. Bakemono no Ko - 8/10

This was such a great way to start out the summer! I love the dynamic between Kumatetsu and Ren. Overall its a little cliche, but it’s also very wholesome. It’s by the same studio that made Wolf Children (which I loved!). so I knew it was going to be good. My favorite aspect of this movie was its backgrounds and world building! 

2. Wan Sheng Jie - 9/10

Oh my gosh! I know that this is technically a donghua, but its on MAL, so it counts. This show quickly became my favorite slice of life of all time. I adore the art style and all of the characters. The comedy, plot, and design blends so well together. Everything in Wan Sheng Jie feels warm and comfy. It’s also confirmed for a second season! After seeing its cliff hanger ending, I’m so anxious for what comes next! 

3. Dororo - 7/10

I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for studio MAPPA. I really liked the historical aspects of Dororo. From the outfits to the ways characters behave, its grounded in the constraints of feudal Japan. I would have given this show a higher score if it was a little more grounded in science. I feel like more time should’ve been given to the demons and antagonists of the show. Our MC was so over powered, which made the final fights of the series more lack-luster. I think its less of the anime’s fault and more because the original source material is from the 60s. That being said, I loved this show! It was cute and action packed. Though it isn’t perfect, it holds its own.

4. Bungou Stray Dogs - 5/10

The concepts and action are misconstrued in Bungou Stary Dogs. This is one of those shows that I chose to watch because it was all over Tumblr. The powers themselves are cool, but I can’t understand why this series is so praised. At it’s core its predictable and basic. The fights seemed low stakes and low energy. None of the humor really felt like it belonged. It tried too hard to be something it isn’t. I don’t think I’ll watch beyond this first season. 

5. Kami no Tou - 4.5/10

First off, fuck Rachel, me and my homies hate Rachel. I really really had high hopes for Tower of God. It paves the way for Webtoon adaptations in the future. Its such a shame that this adaptation SUCKED. I have not read the source material, I’m going solely based on the anime. It wasn’t good? It was horrible. I hate Bam, I hate Rachel. I think all the characters expect Rak were awful. Please don’t make a season 2. Please. If you’re interesting in Tower of God, just read the webtoon. 

6. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - 7/10

Shoujo anime is my guilty pleasure. I especially liked the way Gekkan Shoujo tackled Sakura and Nozaki’s relationship. Besides just the main characters, even the side characters were enjoyable! It was a fun and creative show. My only complaint is how dense Nozaki is, but I also absolutely love that part of him.

7. Jojo no Kimyou no Bouken (Parts 1-2) - 6.5/10

Jojo is not the saving grace of shounen anime. It isn’t something super revolutionary and it certainly will never be a 10/10. Part 1 was so slow and boring. Jonathan was just mediocre at best. I definitely liked Joseph a LOT more than Jonathan. Part 2 overall was much easier to watch than part 1. The fights are good, but there’s just something about Jojo that I can’t get behind. Although I’m completely bashing this series, I’m going to keep watching it. At this point, I wanna know what a stand is. 

8. Clannad - 5.5/10

I was expecting Clannad to be sad, but instead I got a cute, slice of life, romance. It wasn’t unenjoyable, but it was also a pretty slow-burning show. I loved watching Nagisa and Okazaki slowly fall in love with each other. It was funny at times and sad at other points. I am currently watching Clannad: After Story (which I’ve heard is heartbreaking), so I’m hoping to get some catharsis out of that. 

9. Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai...  - 6/10

This show is only 12 episodes, and yet it still has filler episodes for some reason? I’m a person who doesn’t typically watch isekai because the genre is so over done. However, when it’s done in a very specific way it’s really fun to watch! This show was definitely a lot of fun, it’s also cute and has so many interesting character-character interactions. The ending is painfully cliche, but I think it adds to this shows charm. 

10. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen  - 8/10

I loved Love is War so much! I love their weird romantic dynamic. I love the characters, and I love the animation. It’s over the top and executes it humor masterfully. The entire show fills you with anticipation for the two main characters. Kaguya is my favorite character. Although I haven’t seen season two yet, I most certainly will! I’m so upset I hadn’t seen this show sooner.

11. Great Pretender - 8.5/10

This show is so colorful and bubbly. The animation is so smooth and they are able to tackle so many different kinds of things given its plot. The whole show itself just feels like summertime. It came out not to long ago, so some people may not be familiar with it. On top of the show itself, the music is great, with a Jazzy OP and and ED that features Freddie Mercury

12. Steins;Gate 0 - 8/10

 I loved the original Stein;Gate so much! So it’s no surprise how much I liked the second season. It builds significantly off the first season in a sort of “off shot” OVA kind of way. The events of Steins;Gate 0 don’t actually happen, but that doesn’t stop it from being meaningful. The big “twist” was predictable and a bit of a let down, but I still enjoyed this. Granted, I’m bias. 

13. Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai - 9.5/10

I sobbed. So much. This movie was phenomenal, it was such a trip. Having watched the original series, this tore my heart apart. It gets a high score for being able to take the characters I love and creating a wonderfully emotional experience. If you haven’t seen Bunny Girl Senpai, please watch it, and then watch this movie. You won’t regret it! 

14. Hotaru no Haka - 6/10

Grave of the Fireflies made me stop watching anime for a while. Studio Ghibli created something grim, something that leaves the viewers feeling hollow. Its a movie about WWII from Japan’s perspective. As an American, all I could feel while watching this was immense guilt. I will say though, that some of the movies main plot could have easily been prevented if the main character had swallowed his pride. His younger sister was also my least favorite character. I get that she’s a kid and that kids are fussy, but you would think that during wartime, she’d be more understanding and at least try to eat the things she dislikes. 

15. Yagate Kimi ni Naru - 9/10

This was a great way to end the summer. This is more that just GL romance, its a love story. Its about growing up and learning to understand your feelings. I related to Yuu so much, which made this more emotional than I expected. It’s really unlike another romance anime I’ve seen. I hope it gets confirmed for a second season. If not, I’ll be reading the manga. 

Seasonal Shows: (Things that are still airing as of 9/5/2020)

1. The God of High School  7.5/10

Another thing done by studio MAPPA. Are you surprised? I absolutely love the action in GoH. The plot however, is all over the place. The story seems fragmented and hard to follow. Like Tower of God, it was poorly adapted. I’m giving it such a high score, because it’s SO much more enjoyable then Tower of God. 

2. Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou - 4/10

My thoughts on season 2 are about the same as my thoughts on season 1. The only difference is that this season has more Jojo references. I’ve rated it lower because its so repetitive. I’m so sick of watching it, but I’ve got to see it through the bitter end.   

3. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - 8.5/10 

All I’m going to say about Re:Zero is that I love it. I can’t give an accurate review of it because I’ve been hyping this season since it was announced. If you’re into non-typical isekai, watch Re:Zero, its so enjoyable!

[silentfcknhill]

FAVORITE SHOWS IN POSTERS

Well, we’re back for another installment of this tagged meme, this time for TV shows! I also stole this from/was indirectly tagged by @jcmorrigan. My taste in shows also differs a bit from my taste in movies, as I tend to like a lot of comedy shows with not as many horror ones. I’m not into shows as much as movies overall, but there are some that I am very passionate about so I picked twenty again. So, here we go for part 2, in order:

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend Of Korra (2005-2014)

I'm including these as one show since they take place in the same universe and tell a continuation of the same overall plot. Altogether this is probably the best piece of media to ever exist, including movies. It has so many great characters and villains especially and some of the most epic sequences, charming humor and heartwarming moments ever. I've never met a person who didn't like these shows, even people who normally don't like cartoons. My dad, who is biased against animation? He loved it. My mother? She loved it, watched it with her multiple times. My grandmother? Loved it. My ex-boyfriend? Loved it. My best friend? Loved it. I dare anyone not to, and I'm so glad it's making a resurgence since it's on Netflix for a new generation to enjoy.

2. Black Butler (2008-2014)

I never was big into anime growing up and only really started watching anime when I was like 16 and above, but this is one of the exceptions because holy shit is it ever dark and epic. I'm not sure I'd really recommend it for kids, it's more of a teens and young adults kind of anime and that's probably why it's so good, because it isn't afraid to explore dark and mature topics and do it with all of the intensity and gravitas required to do said topics justice. It has lots of great characters, and the story of demons who make deals with children who have a dark side is fun to watch play out.

3. Seinfeld (1989-1998)

My dad was a huge fan of this show so I watched it growing up since I was a toddler and it became a classic for me. I've watched thw hole show through at least 8 times, and I'll never stop because it never gets old or boring. It's also my only comfort show when I'm having a panic attack because of one time a few years ago when I was having a drug-induced psychosis episode and watching it calmed me down, so now it's like the opposite of a trigger and whenever I'm having an episode or something I watch it to bring me back to reality. For that reason it's more than a show to me, it's a medical treatment and I'm forever grateful to it.

4. The Good Place (2016-2020)

The big four shows made my Michael Schur all made it on this post (The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office and Parks And Recreation), either in the main list of the honorable mentions, but this is my personal favorite of the four. It's so funny, quirky, relatable and basically tailor-made to suit my interests. Not only is it an entertaining and wholesome show, but I think watching it helped me come to terms with a lot of things like mortality, ethics, philosophy, religion and my relationships with other people. It gets  alot of different viewpoints across and if you're a very analytical and philosophical person like me you'll probably enjoy seeing it all play out. Not to mention, every single character is 'favorite character' material. It's rare you find a show with no filler characters in the main cast, but I genuinely can't choose who is best.

5. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-?)

Another of Michael Schur's shows, this one is just barely under The Good Place and to be honest it was tough to pick my favorite between the two because they're both equally funny. I know it's kind of controversial right now because of the whole law enforcement thing, but I actually think they do a good job of handling social issues in the show and remaining respectful of real-life systemic problems. As for the characters, this is another one of those shows where every single character is gold and I think that tends to be a trend among Schur's shows in general. He produces damn good comedy, and damn good characters. I can't wait to see what they bring next.

6. Rick And Morty (2013-?)

This is unfortunately one of those cases of 'great show, horrible fandom' and for that reason I don't get involved in the fandom even though I love the show. It's a shame because it really is a great show, so funny and, again, such good characters. I think it's a lot more accessible than the fandom likes to claim, so I'm hoping more people will give it a chance and not get put off by the intellectual elitism of the fandom because it does have some of the most entertaining and batshit crazy episodes ever, poking fun of some of the staples of science fiction in media while also poking fun of itself the whole time. Unlike the fandom, the show doesn't take itself seriously and that's enjoyable nowadays.

7. Orange Is The New Black (2013-2019)

While this show is a comedy, it is also a lot of other things and it's probably made me ugly-cry just as many times as it's made me laugh. Well, maybe not as often, but those few scenes (if you've watched the show then you know the ones I'm talking about) made me hysterically sob hard enough to be worth like fifty minor sads. But I didn't even mind because the show is just that good, and it makes you /feel/ something in a real way. Probably because of just how real it gets in terms of telling stories that happen all the time in the real world, sometimes with inevitably tragic endings. But these things do happen every day, and it's important to shine a light on that. It's not just representation for LGBTQ+ but also for POC, the neurodiverse, the poor, and many more. Give it a watch to broaden your perspective!

8. Big Mouth (2017-?)

This is probably the grossest show I've ever seen but by god is it ever funny. Maybe it's because I have an immature sense of humor or something, but I love this show. It definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea and I don't recommend you watch this show with anyone else around because it will get awkward. I think part of its appeal to me is that everyone I talk to who likes it considers it so relatable to their lives growing up but for someone like me who grew up on the autism and asexual spectrum and who was physically an early-bloomer by years, nothing about this show is relatable to me in any way so it makes it all the more crazy and bizarre watching how the people around me must have experienced things. Did y'all really have these experiences with puberty in middle school???

9. Dexter (2006-2013)

I recently heard that this show is coming back for a reboot soon and I'm so excited because this is my absolute favorite drama/thriller show, as evidenced by the fact that it's the highest one on the list so far that isn't a comedy. I love the idea of having a protagonist who is sort of a villain (or at least morally dubious), and the idea of a serial killer who only kills bad people is particularly satisfying for some reason. Maybe because he's the vigilante we all deserve and want in this unjust and evil world of modern times? Idk but the very premise of this show set it up for big things and aside from the ending I think it delivered consistently.

10. Once Upon A Time (2011-2018)

This show took us on some journeys, and you can't deny that. Sure, maybe it didn't always finish what it started and didn't always end in the most satisfying way, but part of its charm is that you didn't care because the experience was just so much fun. They took characters and stories that have been told to death and somehow managed to put a unique and unexpected twist on them, and that alone is admirable. Good twists, good villains, and pretty much every cliffhanger known to man will keep you hooked on binge-watching every episode.

11. RuPaul's Drag Race (2009-?)

A bit different than the other entries on my list in that it's not fiction but a reality competition show, but I couldn't leave Drag Race out because it's just so fucking iconic and perfect. Even when you disagree with the judges or can't stand a certain contestant you'll still be having a good time. It's got the personalities you love to love, the ones you love to hate, and the comedy that's completely meme-able. I mean just how much has this show contributed to pop culture and the internet? More than most of us, henny. I've watched every single season, even the international ones and all of the spinoffs. This show will probably be on for another thirty years when Ru is throwing shade from a hospital bed and I'll still be watching.

12. House (2004-2012)

Some people hate on this show, and I don't get it. I love House. Yes, he's an ass. That's the point. He's supposed to be unlikeable, and that's why I like him. Maybe because I always love the rude, sarcastic, misanthropic jerkass-genius characters for some reason. And I also love procedural shows, so it's a win-win. I also work in the healthcare field so it appeals to me for that reason too, because obviously the whole premise is outlandish which is what makes it funny. Of course it's not realistic for a hospital, so just enjoy the absurdity and don't get too hung up on the details of medical accuracy and professional ethics and you'll be fine.

13. The Office (2005-2013)

The third of Michael Schur's show and the last one that made the main list (sorry Parks And Rec, I love you too but there was just so many good shows to choose from and I saw you last so the nostalgia isn't as strong!) I don't think I need to hype this show up any, it's already a classic and you can't even turn around online without getting hit in the face by a dozen Office memes. You'll have to pry this show and it's relatable characters (especially Michael Scott) from my cold, dead hands.

14. All Hail King Julien/The Penguins Of Madagascar (2008-2017)

Like Avatar/Korra, I also consider this as one show for the sake of this list because it also takes place in the same universe (Madagascar, specifically) and I just couldn't choose one over the other because they're both so perfect. They're funny and I love all the characters (it cut out the weaker links of the Madagascar film series and just focuses on expanding the standout side-characters like King Julien and the penguins). It also delved into some lore, particularly the first show, and even though I didn't also agree with the directions it took (you may have seen me get salty about the ending because I cared too much), I can't deny how much I love it.

15. Bones (2005-2017)

One of the other scarce non-comedy shows on this list, it still has it's funny moments. It's also, like House, another procedural show that involves some medical stuff, but this time on a more scientific and forensic level which is even more interesting. It's nice to see a lead female with Asperger's, too. There's a lot of cop/law enforcement shows where they try to solve crimes, but this one is the best, and I'm saying that as a fan of CSI as well. Don't fight me on this, I'm right. Oh yes, it's corny, it's campy, it's cheesy, but I love every minute of it. Don't watch if you have a weak stomach though.

16. The Simpsons (1989-?)

We all grew up with this show, don't lie. It's been around longer than most people on tumblr have even been alive. Should it have ended seasons ago? Hell yes. But that doesn't take away what the first like 20 or so seasons gave us (there's a lot of argument about when the show jumped the shark, for me it wasn't until much later than the popular consensus). The characters are amazing, but the secret to the show's longevity is that they always return to status quo and there's comfort and nostalgia in that. Bart will still be in 4th grade when you're out there pushing 90. This show is persistent. This show is eternal. This show will outlive us all.

17. Ash Vs. Evil Dead (2015-2018)

Sorely underrated. This show is hilarious, gruesome and campy as hell and I love it. I don't think you necessarily have to watch the Evil Dead movies beforehand in order to get the plot of the show, although it would probably help. In my opinion this show ended way too soon and I'm hoping someday we'll get a comeback because Ash is the reluctant, self-absorbed hero we all need and it's 2020 so at this point there really might actually be a demon-zombie apocalypse and who's gonna save us then if not for the impulsive womanizer with a chainsaw for a hand?

18. Malcolm In The Middle (2000-2006)

Another show I grew up with, I don't think it gets as much credit as it deserves. It has some damn funny episodes and great characters, and it did a lot of the popular sitcom tropes before they were 'cool'. Some other great sitcoms, The Middle in particular, took a lot of influence from this show and it helped pave the way for the future of sitcoms at a time when they were about to make a comeback. If you want a good show about the real experiences of growing up, this is a much more accurate representation of the highs and lows of being an awkward tween from a dysfunctional home.

19. A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Unlike most people I actually liked the movie version from the early 2000's, and I read the books growing up so I was excited when I saw there was a live action television adaptation of it on Netflix because I felt like they cancelled the movie franchise too soon. I was interested to see how new actors would handle the roles, and I was not disappointed. I wouldn't say I liked either portrayal of the characters better or worse, they both added their own twist to it and this show is a great and loyal adaptation to the books, probably because the author was so heavily involved. He knew just when to stick to the books and when to improve upon what he had done with the benefit of hindsight. This show is basically the books, but remastered.

20. Winx Club (2004-?)

Sort of an odd one out on this list, but I really love this show even as an adult and it may surprise you to learn it is still going on and the most recent season came out last year. They take big breaks sometimes in between seasons, but it's still going strong and in multiple countries. The only thing I don't like about watching this show is all the different and inconsistent dubs since the original show is Italian and each dub only goes for a couple seasons so by the time you get used to one set of voices/names for the characters oyu have to abruptly switch to another, but it's still worth it for the beautiful animation and cool characters (especially the villains!)

Honorable Mentions: 

13 Reasons Why, America's Next Top Model, American Horror Story, Arrested Development, Bates Motel, Battlestar Galactica, Black Mirror, Care Bears, Chernobyl, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Criminal, CSI, Duck Dodgers, Goosebumps, Kenny Vs. Spenny, Kim Possible, Kingdom Hospital, Lazytown, Lost, Making A Murderer, Mayday, Mindhunter, Modern Family, Monster High, Obsession: Dark Desires, Parks And Recreation, Prison Break, Project Runway, Queer As Folk, Queer Eye, Salem, Schitt's Creek, SCTV, Spongebob Squarepants, The Emperor's New School, The Good Doctor, The Haunting Of Hill House/Bly Manor, The Middle, The Pretender, The Walking Dead, The X-Files, Through The Wormhole, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Unsolved Mysteries, Yugioh

Tagging: @bullet-farmer​ and anyone else who wants to!

[kuekyuuq]

Praise and blind spots... (6x12)

I know, I wouldn't be able to do the topic justice, so I will refrain from going in too deep into 6x12′s plot. This is not my usual format and will focus more on the series as a whole, in light of this episode...

Azie Tesfai wrote a beautiful episode on a very important topic. And managed to tie it in to what Supergirl (the show) needed to be, among other things.

Yes, it's a superhero show. But that's the thing: While movies have the luxury to keep their focus on the big picture, series should also find the time to address the micro-cosmos, the consequences, the backlash, the whole canvas.

We watch shows these days, that are more and more departing from the olden format of episodic and towards the serialized - meaning, not only villain-arcs (vaguely) span over the whole of a season, but also the main characters' developments and evolution... and more importantly the stories and characters surrounding them. This should allow for interesting stories to be told in the background, without becoming background-noise. What saddens me, is that Supergirl only really started using this narration device in an effective way in its final season. With a very important topic, that while having been touched on before, deserved a good depiction, worthy of it's depth.

In this season we had two episodes before, that made me happy on that level - both also heavily featuring Azie's character, Kelly. The story about the young black man and his little brother was a heartfelt one, a relatable and thought-provoking story, given more depth by being picked up again. Being treated not as just another plot-device.

Oh, I wished we had a time-machine, cut out so many of the unnecessary and bland filler stories (that never really went anywhere) and got to dive in deeper into the many topics CWSG checked off it's PC list during its run and actually told something worth revisiting. Like this. Like what Azie did right here in 6x12.

Now, we’ve got this little gem. In the last season. Focusing on one of the secondary main-characters. The girlfriend of the sister of the titular hero... While the titular hero herself is and has been side-lined in the past 4 episodes. (If not longer... *sigh*)

I really liked this episode. I really love its format. And the topic is so very important. On all its depicted levels (and there were many).

...why did this have to happen only now?

On one hand, I feel, this is something the series can be remembered for. The last season's arc of Kelly and the story her character has to tell, the awareness this story brings forward. In a show, that should have so much impact.

On the other, I feel it's taking up room from our main character, when there should be time spend addressing Kara's traumas, her healing, her relationships.... her story. And in better hands, we possibly could have (had) both. But, alas, this is the CW.

We should have had this episode two seasons ago!

Now we have a new hero, build up before the series' finale, when we know the new Guardian will not get to shine or tell her stories (is there even talk about a spin-off for her?).

I hope, sincerely, that the last stretch of episodes will be able to balance its stories much better. That Kelly - now that her story and origin and drive has been told - will not sink back into the shadows, while we also get more Kara (and let’s not forget wrapping up the rest of the Superfriends’ arcs).

The show hardly felt like "Supergirl" in a while now. Kara is there, yes. And I get the behind-the-scenes reasons as of why they had to have her on her own separate adventure for the first 7 episodes. But... there are so many unresolved topics around Kara, herself. (IMO, the only character that continuously got this much attention is Lena Luthor, having almost more background-story, character build-up, -arc, emotional depth and consequences, personal and surrounding her, than Kara - including the horrible over-the-top mess that was season 5.)

Gosh, the show even made a point of having Kelly say, that it wasn't Kara's job to deal with these little things. Which is right and wrong at the same time. Supergirl is an over-powered superhero. Which brings conflict in its own right. Which - in a series - should leave room to explore her as a person and dealing with the chasm between her powers and her vulnerability, her character, her emotions, her traumas, her desires, hopes and dreams and wishes, her evolution and re-evaluations...

Kara Zor-El Danvers should be the - or at least a - focus in her (last!) season.

And on top of that, we should get to see what happens when the heroes dust off their hands and leave the scene after fighting the big bad.

Consequences. The show has been horrendously bad at addressing those before. The Children of Liberty arc tried to deal with that... but in a way that lead to extremists, and for the sake of a big bad - rather than in a relatable Everyman / Everwoman / Every..person(?) way.  This episode did that. The previous Kelly episodes did that. So very well...

...addressing the little people, the normal people, the minorities, the (unintentional) victims, the over-looked, the individual sufferings, the by-standers...

...but also unintentionally showcasing the shortcomings of the show in a very unflattering way. But I guess, for an episode titled “Blind Spots”, that attempts to cast light on things that have been ignored before, that’s rather fitting...

... I don't think, I can say much else without accidentally taking away from Azie’s master piece or her intent and thoughtful execution...

I did very much appreciate the "24h earlier" bit, showing Kelly's tale paralleling the 'grand adventures' of the Superfriends.

I did not think, Diggle needed to keep telling Kelly how proud her brother would be, as Kelly should not need her brother's thumbs-up or for the show to yet again inadvertently compare a female to their male 'counterpart'. Kelly's Guardian will (hopefully) not be like James'. Just like Supergirl is her own woman and comparing her to Superman is just inadequate.

...and I love how even the mail was quicker than the jet that brought Lena back to National City.

...

I love the show for its quirkiness. Not the unintentional one, but the funny and goofy bits. For Kara being walking (or flying) sunshine incarnated, but also relatable in her day-to-day struggles. For characters with so much promise that I got so much more invested in the show, than its average writing deserves. It is a series, that had so much potential. To tell big and small stories, important and impactful stories. Fun, sad, thought-provoking, entertaining, exciting, adventurous, soothing, real, fantastic... I never asked for the show to 'pick a lane' (I'd take Lucy...) because there has always been potential to meld so many themes and motives and ...moods together - that's what an ensemble cast is perfect for.

Thank you, Azie Tesfai, for a great episode!

Fingers crossed, the last stretch of the show will be able to keep up with a bar suddenly raised so very high.

[none-of-your-biscuits]

Biscuits watching high guardian spice aka little witch wannabes ep 1: journey to *squints* idk looks like some kind of throat disease

-they definitely got the tom and jerry "this object will be used somehow" thing goin on

-why does the absolute first look we get of the characters look like it was done in crayon why are they such bright ass primary color lookin fucks

-what the fuck why is the music so loud when they're so quiet

-WHY DID ONE TALK OVER THE OTHER I fuckin hate when shows do that like she was literally talking for half a second calm the fuck down Pepto

-I'm hoping and praying this is just a bad diologue bc it's like the first episode bc that was pathetic

-speaking of voices they're not like, as bad as I was expecting

-Pepto's voice is raspier than I would have expected from a pink character and I like that actually, Blue's clues is like eh yeah that's about the voice I expected from someone who dresses like a witch as normal clothes

-what the fuck is this intro like it's not bad but it is dumb

-why would you have such a long intro showing off so many characters we haven't even seen yet like at least wait till episode two or smth Jesus you just spoiled a bunch of your own show

-YOU TOOK A BUS AND ARE GETTING ON A TRAIN WHEN U HAD A FLYING BROOM THE WHOLE TIME? disgusting

-ah stereotypical lesbians my beloved

-also STOP FUCKIN INTERRUPTING EACH OTHER I'm trying to learn lore

-also if they keep talking about new magic(?) And old magic (?) Like it's drugs or smth I'm gonna enjoy this a lot more

-flash backs in the first episode is a bold move ig

-I will forgive the teleporting sword and crayon drawing flowers bc it's a dream

-who wakes up with a surprised noise and then immediately starts shouting Jesus

-I hate the diologue, I hate it

-what in the fuck bread

-STOP INTERRUPTING, PEPTO YOU FUCK

-I'm sensing tension here besties

-"Don't get killed!"

-danger, danger is a flock of birds?

-oh it's another main character

-oh she's completely correct to be pissed if someone almost stabbed me with a sword id be much more mad so honestly she's being nice about it

-what was the fuckin point that was like 3 minutes of time I'll never get back

-those stupid fuckin squirrels better be important later or smth

-you have magic u dumb bitches ur cousin pulled two whole rooms out of thin air I think she could fix a piece of fuckin metal

-I'm not even bringing up the amount of animation errors bc it would take too long

-the "nobody sees the person behind them until they talk" joke would probably have been funnier if we didn't see blondie open the door and walk out

-she's a fuckin stereotype rpg dwarf oh my fuckin GOD please you've got happy go lucky protag with a sword and smart but quiet witch already let me fuckin guess the elf(probably an elf) girl will have a fuckin bow or throw knives and have some fuckin problem with a monarchy

-the fuckin TALKING OVER ONE ANOTHER in this scene it's not even just annoying my poor ears can't handle that many noises at once

-12 BROTHERS

-bitch I only have 5 siblings and they drive me crazy how has the cain instinct not got you yet

-rest in pieces blondie

-gay energy (?)

-LITTLE FRUITCAKES

-that probably wasn't on purpose but god it's funny

-I hate the writing and diologue but like it's not horrible, just bad

-I dont like the energy we've created here

-THIS OUTRO IS GOD AWFUL

-okay it's over first episode overview thing

-it's like, not good but it has potential, it definitely feels like a little witch academia wannabe

-but like why would you start with a filler episode? Why is it taking so long to get all the main characters around? You ended the first episode and you only have 3/4

-you are promised 12 twenty minute episodes to tell, a seasons worth of material and you spend the whole first episode having the characters walk around and do basically nothing?

-did you skip like 3rd grade and the "use the beginning of your story to hook your audience" bit?

-the voice actors aren't bad, but I have seen better diologue in a wattpad fanfic

-I feel like I'm gonna spend the whole time comparing this to little witch but honestly that's bc LWA is actually good

-try and maybe not spend half ur first episode travelling? Maybe gather the gang and use the episode to have like ur first adventure? To get the characters to like each other or at least be willing to work together?

-the meeting family right away and then the flashback almost immediately were so heavy handed the pacing is fucked

-again with the travel bit but like, you could literally have that be a flash back episode halfway through the season or like a b plot story where they literally tell the story about blues clues and pepto seeing the pokemon's ritual and them meeting blondie and tall bitch while side characters side character all over

-the stereotype lesbians are to be expected ig, I didn't expect anything good so I wasn't disappointed

-everything looks like it's in different planes of reality and then the characters are super bright and way too saturated so it just hurts to watch

Let's hope it gets better in episode two

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Ultimatum”

Welcome back, everyone! We had an unexpected break last week due to the horror going on in Texas. I'm glad we did. Not because of any salty "RWBY is bad right now yay free Saturday" feelings, but because keeping to a schedule for a fictional webseries should never take precedence over peoples' safety. I can't believe I need to type that sentence out, but it's true! Over the last seven days I've seen fans who are not merely disappointed by the mini hiatus (understandable) but outright hostile towards the crew because they... were ensuring everyone survived during an unprecedented emergency? Yeah. Given the highly critical nature of these recaps — including today's! — I want to be clear that my thoughts towards Rooster Teeth's creative choices are distinct from any thoughts about the crew itself, including the most basic forms of compassion like, “I sure hope everyone is okay over there.” In an age where it has become horrifically common to harass creators and even send them death threats over stories, it has likewise become necessary to remind people: Don't do that shit. Never do that shit. If I can teach anyone anything at all, let it be that!

Anyway, dark fandom reminders out of the way, let's dive straight into our delayed episode. It was certainly a doozy. Titled "Ultimatum," we open on a trigger warning for flashing lights. Good on Rooster Teeth for including that, though I do wonder if creators shouldn't be including time stamps as well? Or perhaps a note that you can find those time stamps in the credits, avoiding any (minor) spoilers for everyone else? I'm not photosensitive myself, so I certainly don't mean to speak for that group, but my first thought was, "So how would I watch this episode if I was? Hand on the pause button, hoping I stop fast enough as soon as the lights start?" Hard to do given the surprise nature of the scene. Really, my answer would be, "Wait for the fandom to post warnings of their own, likely including where it happens so I know when to skip" which is perhaps an indication that this information that should be included from the get-go.

But I am glad the warning exists, regardless. The episode itself begins with a shot of Ironwood looking down at the kingdom. He's used his windows as a vantage point since Volume 7, so that's nothing new, but something about this particular shot reminded me of Ozpin, looking down from his tower. I'm sure the response from many would be simply, "Ah yes, the two power hungry dictators watching over their victims," but I think there's a much more nuanced reading here about leaders being expected to fix the literally unfixable and what that responsibility does to an individual. Of course, it's a nuance that is absolutely obliterated by the episode’s end, but the implication existed for a hot second!

Two other soldiers are in the room with Ironwood, reporting that Cinder has helped Watts escape. They try to soften this with news that they still have Jacques in custody, but receive only a, "I don't give a damn about Jacques Schnee." Which, fair. He's pretty useless at this point. It's when Ironwood learns that both Qrow and Robin escaped too that he really gets mad, something his subordinates have been expecting given their scared expressions.

Now, I'm treading lightly here because I realize how this is going to sound given the end of our episode, but I still want to note that outside of that ending... this is a weird take? Just hear me out. Since Volume 7 the show has worked very hard to make Ironwood seem scary and unstable — bad setup for what we end with today — but the problem is that none of it works in context and it certainly doesn't work when compared to other characters' actions. They are literally in the midst of an unwinnable battle and thousands of his people are dying. If the audience wants a human being — who also just lost a limb and was betrayed by half his allies — o remain perfectly poised and polite during that, sorry, but that's not how human beings work. But even beyond this, what’s the message here? Ironwood raises his voice, so does Yang. Ironwood hits his desk, Qrow hits a child. If we're going to examine how Ironwood handles his stress and anger, he often handles it better than many of our heroes. Namely, by continually taking that anger out on inanimate objects. I kept waiting for him to attack his subordinates or attack Winter this episode, especially given where we end up, but it never came. Ironwood always has enough control to break the desk or punch the wall, not the person in front of him. Which, of course, would not be a good thing in the real world. I want to be clear given these sensitive subjects that if someone is breaking things in your presence that's a major problem to address. But this isn't the real world. This is a fantasy world in the middle of a war, populated by other characters who express their anger by punching people, slamming them into walls, or screaming at them until they run away. The story wants us to fear Ironwood long before he makes his objectively horrific choices and it tries to achieve that by showing us characters who are clearly terrified in his presence, by giving us a string of broken objects in his wake. But those details don't land well when we compare them to other instances of stress. In the same volume I have watched Ironwood take a deep breath to calm himself down when things have gone horribly wrong. I've also watched Weiss start a conversation by threatening her defenseless brother. So again, what’s the message here? It can’t be that acting violently towards someone = villainous behavior because, as established since Volume 6, that’s common for the heroes. Why are these subordinates terrified about Ironwood slamming his fist on a table, but Whitley has no problem hugging the woman who threatened him? Obviously there is a HUGE difference between our main group and Ironwood when it comes to other actions (cough-bomb threats-cough), but these day-to-day moments don't match up. The show wants to use violence as a way for us to easily identify the Bad Guy while ignoring all the times when our heroes do the same thing. 

All of which isn't meant to be a defense of Ironwood. As we'll see in a bit, there is no defense for what he's done. Rather, it's a way of acknowledging just how badly he's been written. Why does a man who consistently reins in his anger and takes it out on objects suddenly shoot a councilman for literally no reason? Why does a man defined by wanting to save as many people as he can suddenly threaten to bomb his city? Ironwood's characterization is all over the place, in the sense that they keep writing him as the morally gray, sometimes harsh, but ultimately compassionate man he started out as... up until they need a villain. Salem isn't here yet, so Ironwood can shoot Oscar. Salem isn't attacking yet, so Ironwood can shoot the councilman. Salem is currently reforming, so Ironwood can threaten YJR and Mantle. He's the B-plot villain whenever Salem is out of commission, which is a problem for both their characterizations. This filler doesn't make sense for Ironwood and it severely undermines the threat of Salem. You finally introduce the Magical Big Bad and our heroes are facing more of a threat from a guy with a broken army and three loyal allies left? Hmmm.

The tl;dr is that Ironwood's arc is a disaster and, frankly, it's gotten old reading simplified takes of, "It's just a realistic look at what white U.S. men will do in power sweetie :) " RWBY does not have the context capable of conveying that sort of critical take because our world is not besieged by literal monsters and an immortal witch, to say nothing of how real life good guys do not get deus ex machina canes that fix the problem instantaneously. Ironwood is not an example of anti-U.S. imperialism, he's an example of writers who don't know how to write.

Anyway, I'm getting severely off topic. Obviously Ironwood is a major part of this episode, but the problems demonstrated here are two years in the making. This is the culmination of things I've been discussing for months across hundreds of posts... so I should probably stop trying to summarize it all in a few paragraphs lol. Perhaps when RWBY is over — or Ironwood has died — I'll do a single meta on his character, try to pull everything into one, unified argument.

For now though, we have an episode to analyze.

While Ironwood is receiving this news we get flashbacks to Qrow and Robyn. Qrow attacks a soldier in his bird form, which is hilarious. Someone GIF that please. It does raise some interesting questions about this magic though: does Qrow retain his aura and strength in this form (something I thought given his choice to transform during the explosion), or was that soldier just so shocked at being attacked by a crow that he went down easy? We'll never know, because that would require establishing concrete rules for this world. The point is Qrow is going feral in his freedom, throwing punches left and right — did he kill that guard? — while Robyn watches it all from under a rock. They're apparently still somewhere in the facility since all the exits are guarded, but that's not the good thing Ironwood seems to think it is. After all, Qrow is out to murder him. He wants to be there.

We all see where this is going, right? The show is going to ignore Qrow's crazy belief that Ironwood got Clover killed in favor of a "Qrow saved Mantle by murdering Ironwood"/“Qrow got revenge for Mantle by murdering Ironwood” ending. Who cares why Qrow wanted to kill him in the first place now that Ironwood has his finger on the trigger? If RWBY is good at anything, it's writing moments that encourage you to ignore everything that came before it. We'll be seeing more of that in just a bit.

"Damn it!" Ironwood yells, because the show is leaning into its cursing. He orders that the subordinates not return until "you have Qrow Branwen in custody." Here we have another great example of the show conflating what the audience knows with what other characters know. See, we know Qrow has a vendetta against Ironwood. We know their relationship is the important one to the story and that Robyn is incidental. Ironwood doesn't know that. There's no reason for him, as a character, to specify that they only bring Qrow back, but it makes sense for the audience who has the whole, thematic picture. Our understanding of the situation is influencing Ironwood's dialogue, which is... not great.

This entire scene we've had creepy music to hammer home just how evil Ironwood is. Except, as said, he takes a breath to calm down and the music fades. Instead of flying into a rage, hurting someone, or doing anything the music suggests he might, Ironwood calmly calls in for an update — which is when the explosion hits.

It's MASSIVE, seeming to originate from a lightning strike, which is weird, since it's coming from inside the whale, but whatever. The animation is very dramatic and pretty, as we've come to expect of RWBY, but the actual plot is lackluster at best. It's funny though because I thought for a hot second, when Winter and the Ace Ops were caught in the blast, that RWBY had actually done something exciting. I mean, holy shit! There are the deaths we expect from a battle like this. My god, what is everyone going to do when they realize that Oscar's needless attack took out five characters, including Weiss' sister —

No wait, never mind. They're fine.

Let's talk about that "needless" descriptor for a moment though. Do you all remember, two weeks ago, when I went, "Hey, why isn't anyone telling Oscar that that Ace Ops are approaching with a bomb? They're on a time limit! If someone would just mention that Very Important Information then Oscar wouldn't keep standing around to fight Salem." See, at the time I was frustrated because of how the plot was needlessly allowing Oscar to put himself in danger (especially when the whole point of this mission was to rescue him). Now, I'm frustrated because that same plot needlessly wasted the most powerful weapon the group had. There was no reason for Oscar to use literal lifetimes worth of stored energy when the heroes already had a bomb to do the same job! What was the point of that? I guess he took out the other grimm too, but without the whale that still would have been a challenge with a finite end, one Ironwood's army and the remaining huntsmen should have been able to handle. It doesn't feel justified to have Oscar use a weapon kept on the bench for lifetimes when there was another option literally minutes away.

There's so much wrong with this I need another list. So:

Ozpin's cane supposedly stores kinetic energy, which may contradict what we've seen from it before. Regardless, we’ve never heard about this. The all powerful weapon comes out of nowhere

It also begs the question of why Ozpin wouldn't use that power at Beacon and why he wouldn't insist that they try to get their cane back while captured. You had an out this whole time! But we’re going to ignore that because Oscar is a little hesitant? 

Which makes YJR's presence even more useless than it originally was, which was already pretty useless. Oscar essentially rescued himself

This kinetic energy miraculously doesn't hurt any people or buildings, just grimm

So what is the point of Silver Eyes? That's been their MO since they were first introduced. Sure, Silver Eyes can be used far more often than Ozpin's cane, but it still feels like a let down to learn that the Big Secret behind this weapon is... the exact same thing Ruby has been doing for years

Like Ruby, Oscar likewise didn't need any practice or training. He just set off this massive attack perfectly and without issue

We have now eliminated the biggest threat to the cast instantaneously — the whale and the other grimm — with no effort from the rest of the heroes. Like the Hound, the stakes are obliterated with no satisfying work on the part of our protagonists 

Instead, as said, the actual plan already in place never happened. The bomb just... goes back. Kind of like how Cinder attacked and then just went back to Salem. Penny woke up and then just got knocked out again. We continue to go in circles 

This is because no one took two seconds to tell Oscar, "There's a bomb on the way"

Because this threat is gone the show needs a new one, hence Ironwood randomly threatening Mantle with said bomb

The one way we might have justified Oscar blowing up the whale instead of Winter is if he did it to save Hazel, but Hazel is implied to be dead

Maybe he's alive, but if he's not that happened off screen and we're not sure how. It couldn't have been because of the blast itself — everyone else is fine — so what, Salem somehow killed him before she was blasted to bits? While he was holding her? 

And there's no body?

Salem was torn apart multiple times during that fight and reformed instantaneously, yet now, conveniently, she's taking her time

None of the characters mention the issues above. None of them admit that there was no reason for Oscar to waste LIFETIMES worth of power when they already had a solution in the works. Fantastic

I need to take a moment to acknowledge that so far this recap feels... bad. Disjointed. Bit all over the place. Which makes a certain amount of sense because that's where my thoughts are at. There's so much going on in this episode — so much wrong with it — that I don't know how to boil it all down into a few, neat claims. This episode is a mess! We're barely a few minutes in and the combined issues of Ironwood's characterization and Oscar's choice have left me reeling. So if you're still reading this, bless your patience, I think we'll both need it for the rest of this journey.

Let's snag a neater plot-point to discuss. Amidst all the chaos Neo literally skips away with the Lamp, clearly thrilled at how her own life is going. Later in the episode she'll text Cinder with the obvious: Salem is going to be pretty pissed when she realizes this is gone. “If you want her name you know what you owe me." 

So wait... what is Neo leveraging here? Is she agreeing to give the Lamp back so Cinder doesn't get in trouble with Salem? Give Salem the password she's been looking for? Or give Cinder the password to use the Lamp for herself? What would Cinder even want the Lamp for when she's after the Maiden powers? I'm confused about what Cinder is being blackmailed with. Regardless, she needs the lamp for something and presumably what she "owes" Neo is Ruby. We get a cut to her just to hammer that home.

(Side note: both pictures of Neo are hilarious.) 

Before that though, back at the whale, everyone is taking stock of the situation when Marrow cries, "Hey, they were still in there!" I feel like this is another scene meant to make him look like the one good guy in the group — he cares about YJOR while the others can’t be bothered — but as always, that reading doesn't fit well with the situation as a whole. The others have barely had time to realize they're alive. I don't think it's a moral failing that they didn't instinctually worry about four betrayers, one of whom attacked them, while they're still checking that they have all their limbs intact. Besides, why does Marrow assume they're dead? The Ace Ops were caught in the blast as well, yet miraculously came out unharmed. They clearly didn't set their own bomb off, so it's logical to assume that YJOR did something themselves. It feels weird to have a "Marrow mourns them and Winter is the only other character who cares" moment when everyone is recovering from bomb shock and no one even knows if the others are dead. But, of course, the show is out to portray only two of these characters as good people, so ignore the logic and run with the emotion of the scene.

All of which is bolstered by Elm pulling away when Vine puts a hand on her shoulder. Why is she acting cold towards him now? Because they're not friends, remember?

While we get more ridiculous relationship dynamics, Ironwood calls in and congratulates them on the bomb working, but tells them to get back because they have another problem in the works. That would be Qrow and Robyn. Winter decides to tell him about the bomb in person.

We cut to Watts and Cinder watching the remnants of the blast from a rooftop. Cinder has tried calling, but no one answered. Unsurprising, given that Salem doesn't have any other allies left. Cinder says that the plan hasn't changed, she's still going to take the Winter Maiden's power for herself, and Watts can help her by bringing Penny here. He explains that he doesn't have full control over her. Rather, he implemented a virus that is setting her on a single path: open the vault, then self-destruct. Cinder, as one might expect, is furious.

She snags Watts by her grimm arm and threatens to toss him over the side of the building. Thus begins the best part of the episode, hands down. Despite the danger he's in, Watts throws common sense out the window in favor of dragging Cinder in the most satisfying manner possible. 

“You think you’re entitled to everything just because you suffered, but suffering isn’t enough. You can’t just be strong, you have to be smart. You can’t just be deserving, you have to be worthy! But all you have ever been is a bloody migraine!”

It's true! You know what else is true? This speech could apply to our heroes as well. Accusations of entitlement and reminders to be smart as opposed to just strong hit hard, considering those are the same flaws our protagonists are struggling with. The difference is that Cinder, miraculously, listens, pulling Watts back to safety and going to cry by herself. That moment is simultaneously more growth than Ruby has gotten and more sympathy than Ironwood has gotten. The woman who murdered Pyrrha is treated more kindly by the narrative than one of our initial heroes and our very first villain has taken more time to reconsider her choices than our title character. You know a show is falling apart when excellent choices are applied to the worst possible character.

So Cinder is crying while Watts looks guilty and we cut back to YJOR's group post-blast. Yang is finally able to answer a call from Blake who is obviously overjoyed to see her. Weiss gives them directions to the mansion and they ask what in the world they'll do with Emerald, currently on her knees, mourning Hazel.

Thus begins the third most frustrating part of this episode. See, on the way back the group continues the conversation about what to do with Emerald, with Yang and Jaune distrusting her vs. Ren and Oscar encouraging cooperation. I can't believe I'm saying this after's Ren's speech and Oscar's entire existence... but I'm team Jaune and Yang here. Look, what Oscar and Ren say — the literal words coming out of their mouth — is nonsense. Ren goes, “We can’t let all of our actions stem from fear," as if Yang and Jaune are being ridiculous for mistrusting Emerald, one of the established villains, after years worth of harm from her. It’s weird that Yang points to her arm as something Emerald is responsible for, rather than being framed or the deaths at Beacon, but the general sentiment of, “She’s done horrible things!” is true. Ren’s perspective is the same simplification that was applied to Ironwood last volume, wherein everyone acted as if he was crazy for fearing an attack on his kingdom... post an attack on another kingdom and pre an attack on his kingdom. Putting generic lines in Ren's mouth about not being afraid makes him sound willfully ignorant, as if choosing to believe that someone is good will magically make them so, to say nothing of thinking it will erase all the harm they've already done.

Oscar at least acknowledges the difficulty here, but then follows this up with, “You don’t have to forgive her… just give her a second chance."

Oscar, honey, that amounts to the same thing in this situation. Allowing Emerald a second chance means working with her, which means trust, which means emotionally reaching a point where these characters can put aside the harm she's done them in an effort to give her that chance in the first place. This actually ties into a post I saw last night, one I've come across before, that claims redemption arcs don't require any suffering on the part of the person who has done wrong. I agree in theory, that prolonged suffering doesn't help anyone, but the problem is that people tend to conflate suffering with consequences and someone who has done this level of harm should face consequences for their actions. The problem with redemption arcs is not that the bad people suffer too much —  emotionally and physically beating on them as a form of revenge  — but that the people they've harmed are put into situations like this one. If Yang and Jaune let Emerald go like she suggests, they are agreeing that she doesn't have to face any consequences for the damage she's done (which, keep in mind, involves multiple deaths, not including all the lost lives here in Atlas). If they agree to give her a second chance, they are forced to jump straight to some level of forgiveness. We might claim they don't have to forgive Emerald to work with her, but from a practical perspective how are they meant to function, especially during a warzone? Anything she provides them with — information, watching their back in a fight, undertaking missions, etc.  — requires trusting her enough to allow those things to happen: working with that info, letting her protect them, allowing her that responsibility. It's all about trust, trust she has yet to earn. In order for a redemption arc to be successful, the power has to be in the hands of the victims. They need to be able to see some justice for what was done to them, be offered some proof that the person in question has truly changed, and have the ability to walk away if they decide no, I don't forgive you, glad to hear you've improved, but please stay out of my life. Jaune and Yang have none of that. There are currently no systems in place for Emerald to face consequences for her choices, she has offered them no proof of her remorse or true motivations, and the other half of the group is pressuring them to give her that second chance without closure or reassurance. None of that makes for a good redemption arc and reducing that to, "So you want to see poor Emerald suffer, huh?" ignores the suffering she has already caused. The group are her victims and they are under no obligation to give her a second chance, particularly under these circumstances, which makes the story's choice to have Ren and Oscar act like Yang and Jaune are being stubborn or inconsiderate a problem. The conversation boils down to, "Give the woman you know to be a liar, manipulator, murder accomplice, and servant of our enemy a second chance based entirely on unfounded faith. If you don't you're letting yourself be ruled by fear."

RWBY's touchy-feely themes really don't sit well within its realistic, morally gray premise. We cannot continually have these characters go through hell one moment and then have others accuse them of being paranoid the next. The fact that all of this is wrapped up in the group trusting Robyn, Emerald, and Hazel over their established allies remains beyond frustrating.

Because yeah, you know how Oscar finishes his speech? “I’ve already gotten a lot of help today from someone I don’t exactly trust right now." Meaning Ozpin.

The story is trying to compare Emerald and Hazel to Ozpin.

"Oh hey, I kept a secret from you after lifetimes of watching that secret lead to betrayal and death. I keep apologizing for my mistakes while ignoring that I had no reason to trust a bunch of kids with such world-shattering information and also that you tore it from me in the most traumatic way possible."

"Oh hey, I willingly joined our world's version of the devil and helped her destroy your school, leading to numerous deaths including your friend and headmaster. It was his death that put Oscar in this position in the first place! I then continued to attack your group, leading to another near death of a friend, and a kidnapping, and the destruction of Amity, until I became scared enough to make a run for it."

Which one of these characters is granted an instant second chance? You'll never guess who!

And I do think the word "instant" is important here because just like Jaune and Yang have the right to have distance and justice from Emerald, they had that right with Ozpin too. The difference is they got it. They had the power in the situation, as evidenced by their use of the Lamp and physically attacking him. Ozpin heard what they needed from him — leave us alone — and did that without complaint. They were given months to come to terms with the secrets he kept. They were offered apologies and acts of service to demonstrate intent: saving them in the airship and continually saving Oscar. I don't believe Ozpin ever needed a redemption arc, but even if we think he did, he had it. After three volumes of material Oscar's perspective is still "I don't exactly trust [him] right now" but Hazel and Emerald have earned at least the same amount of trust in a matter of hours? They're really having my boy look at the guy who has tried desperately to do right by him despite unimaginable circumstances, and the guy who tortured him to get information for Salem, and went, "That first guy. He's the one we need to watch out for."

To make things even worse, Oscar tells the others that Ozpin took on all the torture so he wouldn't have to. So he did that and they still don't trust him? If you had told me back in Volume 6 that two years later the group would still be hostile towards Ozpin, while simultaneously urging one another to trust Emerald, I would have said you were lying. RWBY has its problems, but it's not that bad. Yet here we are. I suppose the one silver lining here is that Ren smiles when he realizes Ozpin is back? So at least one of them isn't prepared to draw their weapon at the mere mention of his name.

Both these moments raise more questions though. How in the world did Ozpin take on that torture when we clearly saw Oscar getting pummeled for a good portion of the kidnapping? Is that a weird merge thing the story hasn't bothered to explain? I wouldn't be surprised, considering Oscar said last episode he didn't want to use magic because it hastened the merge, he uses the biggest explosion of magic we've ever seen, and nothing has changed. Ozpin is still in the back of his head, thanking him for the tinniest shreds of decency they get. Ren, meanwhile, seems to be back to mindreading. How in the world does he know that Ozpin is back? I assume it has something to do with his semblance, but we don't know what. They could have shown us Oscar from Ren's perspective, perhaps with two distinct emotions swilling around to imply that he sees two different people now, not a useless shot of Emerald with purple flower petals, whatever purple means.

Oh, but no, we shouldn't have gotten either of these scenes. Remember that Ren's aura broke a very, very short time ago? Is it back already? Can he use this part of his semblance without it? Considering it was near impossible to see Ironwood's aura breaking in the Watts fight and we were then mistakenly told he used his semblance in the office, I'm going to go with, "The writers forgot."

Oscar explains that the cane had "lifetime after lifetime" of power in it and though there's still some left, "we have to be careful with how we use the rest." He says that Ozpin trusted his judgement and of course he did! Ozpin also didn’t know that there was a bomb on the way. Yet funnily enough, no one else mentions that, whoops, your choice made in ignorance was a waste and that's due entirely to us prioritizing hugs over basic mission information.

Also, all these explanations take place in front of Emerald. Half the group doesn't trust her, but they'll freely discuss their powers and limitations here. Remember how the group once wanted to talk about magical relics in front of the old lady they'd just met? Yeah, they've learned nothing.

Combine all this insanity with the fact that Ozpin's magic saved the day before Ironwood's bomb could do the same... while Ruby sat in a mansion drinking tea. Who's our hero again?

So things are a hot mess, to put it lightly. Their conversation finally ends when they hear voices and round the corner to find all the Atlas citizens huddled in the subway. For once the show actually writes them in a sympathetic manner, emphasizing how terrified and helpless they are. This image doesn't lead the group to any revelations though, certainly not anything that would tie back to Ren's earlier speech in the snow. No, once again the justified criticisms here are ignored as we hear that “However this fight ends, we could really use someone like you, [Emerald.]” That's it then. Discussion over. We knew as soon as it started that blindly trusting her was being presented as the "right" thing to do and now here we are, deciding that conclusively, despite Jaune and Yang's complaints. By the time the group reaches the mansion, Oscar is defending Emerald from Ruby. We're supposed to just accept that she's a part of the group now, only minimal pushback allowed.

Before that though we return to Ironwood getting news that their bomb never went off. He briefly wonders who else could have done that, but puts the currently unanswerable question aside for what he does know. They still have the bomb and it could be "useful." See, this moment — like shooting Oscar and the councilman — is when Ironwood just randomly goes off the deep end. One minute he's talking about what they've lost and cradling his new arm, 

the next he's saying that he should have tortured Qrow to get Penny to obey him! Which doesn't even make sense since I'm pretty sure Penny hasn't ever spoken to Qrow. She wouldn't want anyone to suffer, true, but it's not like Ironwood had a close friend like Ruby to use as leverage. Qrow is just Some Guy to her. Regardless, he thinks Yang, Jaune, and Ren are decent replacements, despite Penny also having no relationships with them. This is what happens when your characters only start breaking up their teams eight years into the story, the response to Ironwood wanting to torture Ren to hurt Penny is, “Does Penny know Ren exists?” But, you know, torture is torture, right? Maybe. Probably not. I mean, if they're going to turn Ironwood into a cartoon villain, they could at least keep him smart.

Because all of this is just the height of stupidity. Ironwood wants to torture people Penny barely knows to make her listen (so just grab some civilians? It would do the same job...). Ironwood wants to shoot down empty ships, even though no one, including us, knows where in the world those ships would have gone. Ironwood wants to destroy an entire city to try and save another city. He wants to use a bomb meant for a comparatively small whale and acts like that alone will take out the majority of a kingdom. None of it makes sense! And I know the easy comeback for that is, "Well yeah, Ironwood is crazy and evil" but he's not. I mean he is. Threatening torture and bombings is obviously evil, but he's never been insane, or stupid. As said before, his arc (or lack thereof) is an absolute disaster. The fandom assumes so many things about Ironwood given the opportunity — the whale is a suicide mission. He expects the Ace Ops to die on his order — and the writing hints at so many things that never happen — he's going to hurt his subordinates, attack Winter for disobeying him — and every time what we actually get is a far more compassionate, level-headed character... until he randomly does a 180 and goes, "Let's murder a whole city now!" I never wanted Ironwood to be the bad guy, but they could have at least given me a persuasive decent into this level of horror.

So... yeah. Ironwood has got to die by the end of the volume, yeah? Between Ruby warning the whole world about him and him going into full villain mode, there's no coming back from this.

Neo sends her text to Cinder and the group makes it back to the mansion. Remember Yang's criticisms of Ruby's leadership? The ones she conveniently forgot about when Ren started to agree with her? Yeah, those are entirely gone as the sisters hug it out and, presumably, forgive one another for... daring to admit that things are bad? Look, I'm not going to deny that Ironwood's scene with Winter was creepy as fuck, 

but I'm not of the opinion that the heroes are any better when it comes to the theme of obedience. They've attacked one another, screamed at one another, and any dissent from Ruby's leadership results in the questioner being left behind in the snow. We'll accept you again when you fall back in line. I used to adore the relationships in this show, but watching them now is just discomforting. The show might be 100% more obvious with Ironwood, using creepy music, a smile, and that hand on Winter's shoulder, but the concept of, "Sorry I dared to question you before! We won't ever do it again :)" isn't healthy either. The fact that the show keeps erasing theses problems with hugs — Weiss hugs Whitley now, Yang hugs Ruby, someone will probably hug Emerald soon — doesn't make the circumstances any less uncomfortable.

None of this even gets into the Blake and Yang hug. First of all, why is Blake acting like they had a fight and Yang might not want to see her? She's hiding inside rather than rushing to greet them, ears down in a devastated expression until Yang touches her. Combine this with Yang's "Do you think she's mad at me?" and it feels like the writers cut a fight in the final script and then didn't bother to remove the fallout from that. Seriously, where did any of this come from? You can't just have characters act like they've been fighting when they haven’t.

Also, can't forget this.

At this point there's nothing more I can say in regards to RWBY's almost-queer baiting. Is touching foreheads more intimate than the hugs Yang gave the others? Absolutely. Is that an appropriate stand-in for overt representation? Absolutely not. This would have been a perfect time for them to kiss. Take out Blake's nonsensical fear and replace it with them both reuniting after their first separation since Volume 5, working under the knowledge that either one could have been killed, finally admitting their feelings. Hell, they don't actually have to kiss. Not all girlfriends are interested in kissing! But they could use the terminology that makes things unequivocally canon.  Another forehead touch when we got that in Volume 6? It's not enough, especially not when our straight couples have all been allowed their rep.

Ren at least wants to know where Nora is. He's presumably told what happened off screen as Oscar tells Ruby that Emerald is their friend now.

Then an emergency call from May interrupts the reunion and the group learns that Ironwood is bombing the Schnee ships. “Those ships… they were going to save people” Weiss whispers. How? Tell me how they were going to save anyone. Where were you going to take these people where they would be safer than where they are now? RWBY continually asserts things without explaining them, meaning there is precisely zero emotional weight here. Again, Ironwood is far past the point of defense, but I'd be a whole lot more critical of this particular action if I had a better sense of why it's bad. He appears to be endangering the people given May's shout to run — falling debris? — but the further implication is that Ironwood has doomed the people of Mantle by denying them these ships. It's that part that makes no sense based on what we've been told.

Which finally comes to the ultimatum of our episode title: Penny opens the vault, or Ironwood bombs Mantle. Great! So glad this plan is wicked smart and works well for his characterization. It's definitely not a nonsensical, unfounded, overblown change that feels like it belongs in a child's cartoon, complete with dramatic spotlight. Nope. Excellent writing choices all around.

Our final line of the episode is, “I hope you live up to the title I gave you," referring to Penny's job as the Protector of Mantle, and you know what? That line could have been very cool if it was delivered by an Ironwood with a persuasive fall and a halfway decent plan in place. I love that we've twisted the concept of a protector and turned the title into a horrifying, rather than honorable responsibility... I just hate everything surrounding those details. 

So, usual RWBY fare.

(At least we get to see that Nora is awake!) 

Will things get better over the next four episodes? I doubt it. We're still expecting the rest of the Ace Ops + Winter to ditch Ironwood, someone getting the vault open, the fall of Atlas, now the potential destruction of Mantle, and none of that includes Salem who should reform at any moment. Frankly, I'm not looking forward to any of it. The final leg of a season should make its audience excited to see how everything turns out, not dreading it. I've heard from multiple people that this is the volume that finally got them to drop the show and honestly? I'm not surprised.

As a final (happier?) note: we've finally got a bingo! I completely forgot our board last time, which was a terrible oversight, but we can update it now.

Our army of grimm can't kill anyone now that it got KOed by Oscar (that is the third one hit defeat of a major enemy we've seen this volume. Yes, I'm including the Hound considering it was obviously on its last legs after Ruby's eyes.)

I'm likewise including "Ozpin apologizes for everything including his existence" because he's done nothing but apologize since he came back. The emotion is there even if the literal words are not. Oscar reminded everyone of how untrustworthy he is, but kept the group from jumping them again. And Ozpin thanked him for it.

Neo didn't literally backstab Cinder (shame), but the Relic still counts.

So a triple bingo! Is that how bingo works? Idk, I've never played. I feel like I should have thought up some sort of humorous prize, but sadly I've got nothing. If you think of anything, let me know lol

That’s all then, folks. Until next week! 💜