#But I hate how this comic portrays him leaving as some noble action when no it’s actually kind of a dick move actually

[teamfortresstwo]

The thing that’s pissing me off the most about Than’s characterization specifically is that . Minthe didn’t even use him ?? Like sure she started getting pushy even when the plan was obviously failing, but *hes* the one who came up with the plan, who put it into motion, who got together with Thetis- who Minthe was JUST about to dump- just to get Minthe back into her toxic relationship . And he just . Gets to walk away from it scot free ? Fuck off with that man .

[kob131]

So, who wants to see me criticize a piece of RWBY media?

Because I really don’t have anything too positive to say about the RWBY comic.

Now this isn’t to say the RWBY manga is completely bad, as it does have a few nice expressions ( a lot of Blake’s from her issue are cute and the ending to the Blake one has a nice one with Taiyang out of context) and the basic idea behind the comics being an expansion on the events that couldn’t be told in Volume 4 is a good idea.

... But there are many problems with the issues. In fact, lets not mince words here: the manga has many of the same problems people like FMF and RWDE have to lie about in the original show.

First off is the canonical inconsistencies. One example of this is in the Blake issue, where a day before she leaves for her fateful train raid with Adam she confronts him on how he got several of his men killed.

... This scene has a few issues with canon.

First off, Blake CAN’T have been in Menagrie. Because in Volume 3 Episode 7, after Cinder gets rejected by Adam in Vale, Blake shows up and the second attempt takes place a couple days later with Blake having left. So this scene can’t happen.

Secondly, Blake acts shocked to hear Adam wants to kill a crapton of humans...when in the Black Trailer, she sounds shocked that Adam would blow up the traincar full of civilians even though she would have known about this beforehand. This also contradicts the Adam Character Short where Blake and Adam fight about him killing humans which HAS TO have taken place before this.

Third, Blake tries to make excuses for Adam in Volume 3, where she talks about him going off the deep end and how it was a gradual slope. But considering how this comic starts off with Blake first meeting Adam and that moment is portraying Adam as already being a psycho. So...Yeah, that’s confusing. You could argue that she is talking about Adam from that one scene in his Character Short where Adam was shocked to have killed a human...but that scene takes place when Ghira was the leader of the White Fang and considering Sienna is speaking at the beginning, that tells us she’s the leader now so Blake couldn’t have seen that. (Maybe she was told about it before but that is never indicated nor implied).

Fourth, Blake acts scared of Adam when they meet back up in Volume 3...but in this comic, she calls him out to his face:

So...yeah, another inconsistency. And this is just one part of one issue. There are other problems with canoncity like Yang’s issue takes place before getting her arm and yet she recovers by the end of the issue, still no arm.

But another big issue is how characters are portrayed. For this, I basically have five major examples to work with here.

Raven Taiyang Yang Adam Blake

With Raven, she shows up in a flashback in the Ruby issue badmouthing Summer to a young Ruby and Yang about how she couldn’t be a true mother to Yang...which doesn’t fit Raven at all. Yes, Raven is petty. Yes, Raven hates Summer. Yes, Raven cares for Yang. But these three things are NEVER portrayed as interconnecting. Raven is petty because her ego gets bruised like with how she rejects teaming up with Qrow because he badmouthed her, Raven seems to hate Summer in canon probably because of ideological reasons (since her hatred is directly connected to Ruby’s speech) and Raven does care for Yang but it is barely enough for her to regret her actions, let alone be this emotional and petty out of the blue over losing her role as Yang’s mom. This doesn’t work.

With Taiyang, while barely appears, he’s portrayed as this generic Cool Dad(Tm) who absolutely knows whats best for Yang...which he ISN’T in canon. He’s fucked up, he’s failed as a father before with shutting down on Yang and Ruby alongside telling Yang about Raven. Hell, it’s still prevalent as he can’t help Yang in her breakdown in Volume 4 Episode 3 when dropping that glass and flashing back to Adam. He doesn‘t show any hesitation or doubt or worry in his actions with Yang, he’s just generically confident.

With Yang, she thinks that an apothecary can regrow her arm despite the fact there is NOTHING in the world in Volume 4 to imply that such a thing is possible (otherwise this shit would be common knowledge) which is pretty fucking dumb for Yang. And then by the end of the issue, she’s all sunshine and rainbows...something she isn’t completely EVEN IN VOLUME 6. And this is BEFORE she gets her arm and has that talk with Oobleck, Port and Taiyang.

For Adam, he apparently cries over the idea that his underlings didn’t kill enough humans. Even ignoring how people DON’T cry over that, Adam would either be angry or pretend to be calm and noble due to how unstable he is and the lie he leads. And when Blake calls him out on his shit to his face, which would be robbing him of control in the situation, he just grabs Blake without even so much as a frown. Adam’s gone from an unstable individual grasping desperately for control to just a generic psycho.

And Blake? She barely acts like herself in the flashbacks. Blake acts like a clone of Ruby being all smilely and cute facial expressions instead of the moody, cynical, sarcastic introvert we know her as. Even if I were to give some benefit of the doubt and say her time in the WF made her more cynical, she should have SOME aspect of her current personality here instead of being Ruby.

Also the dialogue has issues on a fundamental level. In the scene that I referenced in the above, Adam gives the line ‘My only regret was that our white fang brothers could not have killed a hundred thousand more.’

First, the ‘White Fang’ part isn’t necessary, we can infer from ‘brothers’ and the context of the conversation he’d be talking about their comrades. Second, ‘could not’ is an incredibly awkward phrase to use, usually used with overly formal or robotic characters. Neither of these apply to Adam, he should have used the contradiction ‘couldn’t.’ Finally, the use of a ‘hundred thousand’ is cringy as hell. ‘Hundred’ or ‘Thousand’ alone would have sold the mental image just fine but combining the two pushes the image into the realm of absurdity with how extreme it is, becoming rather try hard. These three on their own are annoying but altogether they’re inexcusable. The sentence should have been ‘My only regret was that our brothers couldn’t have kill a thousand more’, which flows so much better,

Again, not a singular case considering the title of the next issue is ‘The Woe’s Of Weiss Schnee’...either implying ‘Woe is’ or the woe possesses Weiss.

And lastly, the art. Not only is the art so off that some characters look younger than they should (Ghira, Kali and Taiyang look more like older siblings than parents and Adam without his mask looks the same age as Blake despite being five years older) but the art actively CONTRADICTS what is being said in the comic.

Again, look at the above images with Blake calling Adam out. Does she REALLY look like she’s scolding Adam and calling him a monster? Because the image more conveys that she’s trying to kiss him unironically. And the face she makes that’s suppose to look determined and defiant? Yeah, more like she’s miffed she didn’t get to kiss him. The art is REFUSING to convey the emotions that the dialogue and narration are trying to get across. And, one last time: this is not a single time problem. Adam not looking like his age gives him a look of innocence and purity when the story is all about how much of a monster he is, conflicting with what the story is trying to say even though the show made by overworked animators and written by people with barely any writing experience outside RWBY managed to do this FAR better (same with the looks of the scars, with the comic’s scar looking like goo while the original’s looks crusty and painful.)

I could go on (like how the Yang and Blake issues are basically pointless as Volume 4 Episodes 3,4 and 9 and the Adam Character Short do their jobs but better) but I’ve made my point. The comic feels like the delusions that RWDE has been spouting out for years (the ones they need to purposefully misinterpret scenes, cut context and outright LIE to make up) but real. I still can’t fully believe that such a thing can actually exist.

Fuck, when I can fully understand what RWDE means, you know you fucked up. (Although don’t go harassing the creators, that’s not okay no matter what.)

[hadanelith]

Just got back from finally seeing TLJ... I don't think I've been this disappointed in a Star Wars movie since Phantom Menace. This movie was *awful*, both as a Star Wars movie and just as a film.

Massive, total spoilers below the cut.

The opening sequence was bad. While the whole phone call thing was a decently funny bit, it went on about 2 exchanges too long. The space battle that followed was insultingly stupid, between the idea that this Dreadnaught has no effective anti-starfighter defenses and the ludicrous design of the bombers with *gravity bombs*. This sequence was effectively a straight up WWII bombing run, and it just didn't make any sense. Rey's badgering of Luke went on too long, and while it kind of aped the kung fu movie 'seek out the master, he refuses to train you but he's actually testing you/teaching you the whole time he's refusing' thing, it didn't pan out in the end at all, so it felt completely wasted. The rebel fleet escaping to deep space was fine. The FO tracking them was fine. The idea that they would just follow along, shooting at them ineffectively for hours and hours, is just insane. I was specifically irritated that they remembered that ships have shields NOW, but they totally didn't during the opening battle or the starfighter fight that started the chase. Are they going with the idea that starfighters ignore shields for some bullshit reason? If so, why would they not send in a massive starfighter wave to end the battle? The FO had 6+ Star Destroyers plus the Super Star Destroyer - they should have had at least three or four hundred TIEs, and since TIEs blew out the bridge and space Leia, they must be capable of otherwise hurting the ships. This whole ticking clock siege setup was dumb, and the follow on effects were bad too. Spacing Leia felt like 'oh, so that's how they're gonna fix it', and then they didn't. Instead they have her explicitly use the Force, which, okay, fine, but what the hell? I guess they just wanted her out of the way for a while, and couldn't think of a better way? Finn trying to cut and run? Fine. Rose catching him? Fine. Them turning around and hatching a plan to save the fleet? No. The dialogue was bizarre during this bit, and the instant turn-around from anger to camaraderie felt very forced. Poe going with it? Eh, it fits. The casino planet was one sequence that went on exactly as long as was reasonable, without drastically overstaying its welcome. It was a bit on the ham handed side, mind you, but it didn't drag on, the action half was fun, and no part of it felt too out of left field. Getting back to the fleet, Poe's little mutiny could have been completely prevented just by telling everyone the plan. Not doing so was ludicrous. Then there's the Holdo maneuver. Why the HELL did she wait that long? If the whole plan was a noble sacrifice, why wait until half the damn shuttles got blown up to get started? Just do it straight off! It also opens a brand new can of worms. Someone finally realized that a sufficiently fast drive system is also a powerful weapon. Great. Now ramming things at FTL is a thing that you can reasonably do in Star Wars. That's...a solution that no one EVER considered for the Death Stars? Especially since according to TFA, hyperdrive bypasses shields? The Rebels could have just rammed a Mon Cal cruiser straight into Death Star II, ignored the planetary shield, and won with only materiel losses and no personnel! This is a TERRIBLE precedent to set! Finn, Rose, and the slicer on the SSD: eh? BB-8 as a trash can was cute, the evil BB-8 was just merchandising, the shot of the iron descending was actually a fun shot, cinematigraphically. Getting caught, the slicer selling them out, and almost getting executed? Eh. Finn and Phasma fighting? WHY? Why bring back Phasma after they threw her in a trash compactor, just to kill her off anyway in a fight that means nothing and goes nowhere? Not-Hoth: I really liked the visuals. I liked the salt-foxes (but that's mostly just me being a sucker for foxes). But setting up for Battle of Hoth version 2 was really goofy. Why was the big gun ('based on Death Star tech', doesn't look at all like Death Star anything...)TOWED? Why did they tow it with mono-purpose walkers (that were based on Strandbeests, which is cool, but pointless)? Why the FUCK did Rose stop Finn from making HIS heroic sacrifice? I'm sorry, her reasoning is bullshit, and then they didn't even have her die!

Rewinding to Rey: Luke is *completely* out of character. His refusing is bullshit, his lessons are bullshit, his reasoning is bullshit, and the whole thing is character assassination of the highest order. Rey, meanwhile, is stuck with a whiny emo in her head, the poor girl. Those conversations drag on for way too long, and continue to include Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron, so I'm not a fan. The library tree was some hilarious bullshit - up until this point, only Han has called the Jedi a 'religion', so having Luke suddenly talking about the 'holy texts' was way weird. Ditto the idea that they've been on this tiny island on some planet no one's heard of, and not, say, in the JEDI TEMPLE. The FUCK? The whole 'infinity mirror' well of the Dark Side thing was just weird. I liked the effect, I liked the whole bit with Rey trying to figure out what the deal was...but there was NO PAYOFF. I thought they were going to go with some kinda 'many possible futures' thing or something, but for it all to come to exactly NOTHING was really weird. The back and forth about the day Ben Solo became Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron felt like more character assassination of Luke. Also irritating - they keep mentioning other students, but they never bother to show them at all. Then Rey steals the books, and leaves. Joy. Luke's whole conversation with Ghost!Yoda was bizarre. I appreciate that they dug out the old puppet, but why? Yoda was inscrutable, Luke was inscrutable, a Force Ghost had physical effect on the world, which was new and unnecessary, and the whole thing felt way out of place. Rey ends up on the SSD with Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron, and they go talk to Mutant McGrossFace, who is a condescending dickhead, but not as good a condescending dickhead as Palps, so...meh. Special shoutout to Rey summoning the lightsaber and Mutant McGrossFace clobbering her in the head with it. The way Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron kills him was pretty sweet; the big fight sequence was kinda sweet, if gratuitous; the whole 'battle of wills staring contest while doing aggressive jazz hands at each other' thing went on for FOREVER. sigh. Rey...escapes. Off screen. Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron becomes new 'Supreme Leader'. I notice that even his subordinates don't really believe in him very much. Oh, additional shoutout to the last kill in the fight with the red guard guys - that was something people have been thinking was a good idea for a long time, so it was fun to see.

Rewinding again: Chewbacca is in this movie. His little scene with the Porgs was...two shots too long, and completely pointless. And that is basically the sum total of his involvement in this movie.

Right, big finale! Luke shows up on not-Hoth, taunts Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron into fighting him, doesn't actually fight, turns out he isn't really there. This is a major Force Illusion, and it's actually kind of neat, even if it kills him in the end. Rey and Chewie draw off the TIEs in the Falcon in a fun little flight sequence through some salt crystal caves, which is fine. Porgs show up here as comic relief, which is...acceptable, I guess? They don't get in the way, which is nice. The Resistance escapes with the help of the salt foxes, Rey does some pretty significant TK, and they all escape. Luke dies, Rose is comatose, and we end by flying away in the Falcon. Feels like the end of TFA, and not in a great way. The last shot was purely setup, and it felt like some Marvel-style foreshadowing stuff. I do not approve.

Acting:

Decent acting by most people that got to do stuff. Massively hamstrung by the script. I find it telling that Mark Hamill has said (not the exact quote, but the gist) 'I disagree with everything you're doing to Luke, but I'll go do my job as an actor'. Guess it's a good thing they killed him off. But they didn't kill Leia, even when they had an easy way to do so. How the hell are they gonna fix that come the next movie? Kill her off screen? Major shoutouts to Adam Driver and Domhnall Gleeson - they managed to be thoroughly unlikeable villains, turning in convincing performances despite the script. Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron is exactly that, which appears intentional, so that was good acting. Hux was conceptually the worst sort of elitist British Imperialist, and he was exactly that. Apparently Gleeson did a LOT of research on how to portray the role convincingly, and it shows. Boyega does a decent job as Finn, but he has to fight with characterization as someone who is way more naive than the actor. Oscar Isaac turns in a good performance as Poe, despite getting handed the idiot ball by the script. Carrie does fine as Leia, but she doesn't actually get to do much in the movie. As her last hurrah, it's pretty muted. Daisy Ridley does alright with what she has - but she has to play a girl who has Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron in her head AND Massive Dick Alternate Universe Luke Skywalker being a dick to her face. Her perseverance is kind of admirable. They didn't get Peter Mayhew as Chewie. Maybe that's why he's barely in the movie. Andy Serkis is fine as Snoke. He's not as good at being evil as Ian McDiarmid, but what can you do? Laura Dern as Admiral Holdo...she's written as a bitch, she pulls it off just fine. My complaint is her script, not the acting. Kelly Marie Tran as Rose is...fine, I guess? Again, I mostly hate the script, not the actress.

The nitpicks: Do shields work, or not? Make up your minds! Capital ships have never needed fuel before. This is a limitation that they have added for this movie. I wish they hadn't. Gravity doesn't work like that, space bomber friends. How the hell do they *hear* the Star Destroyers arriving on the planet's surface at the beginning? During Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron's big 'fight' with Luke, they couldn't figure out which way he was holding his lightsaber, shot to shot. Porgs nesting in the Falcon's wiring? And Chewie doesn't say or do *anything*? Really? Given the size of the island, what the hell is up with the 'caretaker' aliens? Also, how the hell do they not exist for apparent DAYS, and then they have just always been there? Why the hell do they show us Luke's X-Wing, and then never do the 'lift it from the sea' shot? Or do ANYTHING with it at all? Why is the Mon Cal Cruiser's hanger bay empty for like 150 meters while Irritating Manchild Kyle Ron is flying through it, with a handful of fighters right at the back end? Why in the world don't the FO use all the TIE Fighters they obviously have? Actually, why is the only real dogfight the terrible bomber escort bit at the beginning? This is Star Wars, dammit, X-Wings dogfighting with TIE Fighters is something that should happen a lot. Why are the cops on the casino planet wearing samurai helmets? Why didn't Holdo bother to just TELL Poe (and everyone else, for that matter) the plan? Why did Holdo wait until half the shuttles were gone, just watching, before her (clearly planned) suicide run? Actually, why not evac the medical frigate BEFORE it runs out of fuel, and use THAT to ram? Why does no one but evil!BB-8 question the moving, beeping trashcan? Why in the FUCK does the entire 'infinity mirror' sequence come to literally NOTHING? There's probably more, but those are the ones that came to mind.

Final thoughts: Everything that has anything to do with the Force in this movie is basically garbage (except Snoke whacking Rey with the lightsaber, that was hilarious). The characters all grab the idiot ball, nobody (except Finn and Rose) bother to tell anyone else what they're about to do, and Luke just straight up gets fucked as a character. The space battles are unsatisfying...actually, they're mostly just insulting to your intelligence. Rian Johnson just doesn't GET Star Wars. What it's about, why we watch it, what people like about it.

This film is structurally a mess and thematically a disaster. I rate it way worse than TFA, worse than Episodes II and III. I honestly can't decide if I dislike this more than the Phantom Menace. If you're a Star Wars fan, this movie doesn't want you to like it, and if you're not...then why would you start with Episode EIGHT?