#Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast

[drawnaghht]

Samurai Rabbit with Stan Sakai & The Usagi Chronicles Creative Team (links)

Another interesting thing I remembered from re-listening the CBCC podcast interviews is the production and story reasons for why phones/screens/tvs etc don't exist in Samurai Rabbit. The showrunners (Langdales) wanted to explore how a feudal japan would look like without european and western influence (because of the alien invasion giving them tech). Basically, it gave them as a crew an interesting opportunity to try and design a feudal and modern fusion japan like an alternate universe a 1000 years in the future. But with animals.

The answer from Doug and Candie in the interview itself is a lot more nuanced and detailed than I can paraphrase here, so please have a listen to it!

Besides Candie and Doug Langdale, CBCC also interview Stan Sakai and art director Khang Le, who give a very insightful look into the show and how it was trying to bridge the world of the comic with something new.

You can listen to the interview on the Comic Book Couples Counseling website: https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/stan-sakai-samurai-rabbit-interview

Or have a listen on youtube, this version has subtitles!

[trnsocial]

WIZARDS The Podcast Guide To Comics | Bonus: X-Men Special '99

We’re joined by Brad Gullickson from the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast for a very fun discussion about the Wizard X-Men Special issue from 1999 including the outrageous creation of your favorite mutants, the 10 Best X-Men stories ever told, learning how Wolverine got his Adamantium back and so much more. You can enjoy an UNCUT version of this episode with extra conversation and a scan of…

[redsnerdden]

Exploring the Dynamics of Comic Book Relationships with Comic Book Couples Counseling

🎉Creator Spotlight is Back! 🎉 Exploring the Dynamics of Comic Book Relationships with Comic Book Couples Counseling #ComicBooks #Podcasts #CBCC #Creators

Oh my, Creator Spotlight is back from a brief hiatus! In July, I had the chance to interview Speedokaggen Creator Magnus Edlund. Today’s interview will feature a Dynamic Duo who was featured in Screen Rant’s 10 Best Comic Book Podcasts. When they aren’t taking on Galactic Threats or disguising themselves as Orcs, they are Brad, and Lisa Gullickson, the hosts of Comic Book Couples Counseling! A…

[xthenasinclxir]

Name: Athena Sinclair Age: 36 Community Job: Radio Operator Previous Job: Podcaster Reside in: Little camper by the Junkyard How long have they lived in Redwood?: 16 months Family: Older brother, Apollo Status: Single Faceclaim: Elizabeth Olsen

Athena grew up moving around a lot. Her father was in the US Army so her and her older brother, Apollo, were forced to jump from school to school. It made making friends incredibly hard, although she got used to being the “new kid” at every school. Still, she felt like she couldn’t really fit in. Her brother became her best friend and the two spent most of their days as kids playing video games, watching movies and reading comic books. By the age of twelve, Athena had built her own gaming computer so her and Apollo could play the news games with the best frame rates. It might have been weird for a girl so young to be such a gaming nerd but she didn’t care. It was fun and she loved it. It also helped for her to escape from reality when a couple years later, her father was killed in action overseas. Unable to face the fact that her father was never coming home, she delved further into her computer and video games. Better to live in an augmented reality than deal with her father’s death.

Eventually her mother put her into counseling. Athena rarely left her room except when her brother forced her to go to school. Her therapist suggested that she start keeping a diary so Athena started recording her own thoughts onto a private blog. The use of tech was more comfortable than pen and paper. Maybe surprising to her, she found herself opening up a bit more and recording her talking about video games and comics. Thus was the beginnings of her up and coming podcast, Delving In Nerd Style. She would talk about video games she played, new games coming out, discussing upcoming tech, comic and movies reviews - everything a nerd could ever want. When she wasn’t podcasting she was streaming her playing various games on Twitch. From that point on, her career took off.

Her podcast soon became a hit with millions of streams and downloads. She even won a Listener’s Choice award two years in a row. She got a studio and a whole crew to help her take off and her name was spread across the podcasting world. It was weird to be considered famous. In fact, she felt awkward when she went on tours and met people. But behind the soundboard? She was a rockstar. She would have stayed there, if she could. But fate had other plans. Athena was recording one of her podcasts when one of her crew members came in infected and started chowing down on other members of her team. She escaped out the back and ran home to her brother. The two hunkered down in her brother’s home for a few months as everything collapsed but they couldn’t stick around. Apollo knew of a place further south so they headed that direction until they arrived in Redwood.

For the past sixteen months they’ve settled there. Athena used her podcasting skills and computer expertise to help man the radio and fix any of the equipment that was lying around. She still feels weird when she has to talk to people in town and is definitely more comfortable on the radio. She’s glad that her skills are being put to good work and that she can be at least somewhat useful in helping the town survive.

Headcanons:

When she gets nervous, she tends to talk a lot. She even speaks a bit fast, although she’s trying to get more comfortable talking with people face to face. 

She likes to scavenge around the junkyard and find broken junk to try and fix. She likes taking things apart and putting them back together. 

Athena is slightly OCD. Everything in her camper has its place and she doesn’t like when things are out of order.

[aaghht]

Usagi Chronicles and reviews

I'm watching Usagi Chronicles reviews and there seems to be this general misconception around the internet that netflix somehow took the idea of a usagi TV show and muddled up the possibility of a direct adaptation? Or are people just mad that it's not their idea of a Usagi series? Like of course youtube reviews are going to be full of strange outrage and misplaced cricicisms over cartoons so I can't take those seriously, but even just fandom chatter sometimes has this idea going around that it's somehow a bad series for not adhering to the comic 100%. Or sometimes I’ll see other viewers’ comments like “it had so much potential but it could have been better”. I thought I’d collect my thoughts on this using references I’ve seen around before, such as interviews and articles with Stan Sakai and others. I don’t really agree with this view that the show has to be bad for not getting a “perfect” vision or adaptation and I don’t really believe that it squandered any “potential” either.

Like I think this show is super interesting to look at from a “how it was made” kind of perspective. The story and art are actually pretty good imo and the music really feels like it ties it all together by adding to the mood and setting + for carrying a lot of the series from an emotional POV. Yeah, it falls a bit short on some aspects but overall it’s a pretty fun series. Whatever you might personally know about animation or tv series making, it looks like a lot of care was put into this Samurai Rabbit cartoon.

EDIT(10.02.2023+27.03.2023): under a readmore bc this got way too long, but u should definitely check out these interviews if u still think the show didn’t respect Sakai’s original world and vision, or if u wanna write your own review one day but don’t know anything abt how the show was made.

Interviews/articles:

Filmschool Rejects (article), April 2022 The Popverse (interview), May 2022 Stan Sakai and the Usagi Chronicles | Comic-Con@Home 2021 Comic Book Couples Counseling (podcast interview), May 2022 Traversing the Stars (video interview), Jul 2022

Stan Sakai has said in at least 2 interviews that what got him on board was the view of Neo Edo painted by Khang Le (art director on series, check his work out on his website) - when no other idea suggested so far appealed to him. So this means he was on board with the show and approved of it. even if the concept is essentially a spinoff/alternate universe to older fans (it started off as based on or taking ideas from Sakai's Senso miniseries). What I like most about the series is that it seems to be respectful about both old and new japanese culture albeit being set in a semi-futuristic Edo-style re-imagining of the feudal japan that Sakai writes in Usagi Yojimbo. Stan Sakai was involved in the making of it so it cannot be in any other way. I've seen some american animated shows in the past which have approached this "culture inspiration" differently, sometimes even in ways where it feels weird or disrespectful. This show even has an all-asian english main cast, and japanese-american composer Aiko Fukushima has made the soundtrack for it, which I feel is a little rare to see. But hey, I'm european asian, not US asian so maybe I'm seeing all that in a different way here.

Like it kinda feels like ppl got stuck on previous animated versions and their own idea of what an adaptation/series should be. I know many were probably looking forward to a faithful animated adaptation but things are what they are and feels a bit unfair to say that what we got somehow took away from that chance. Like it is just one show.

yeah ok, it's aimed at children and it sorta pulls its punches on the tone and seriousness. but that doesn't have to be a bad thing? Having a "media tent" for younger viewers can mean that there'll be new readers introduced to the original comic series through this cartoon. It's also obvious to see that the people working on this are also fans of Sakai's work and wanted to make something fun, despite any tv animation limits, so I sorta wish people saw that more.

Or even more down the line is people saying it mucks up Sakai's vision about the comic series. Like. He is listed as "executive producer" and every design, script and decision went through him first. From interviews it sounds like he had a lot of trust in the team, to make something he would also like. It's ok to dislike the show for various reasons, as we do with all shows but at least respect that the comic author himself has approved of the series.

like im not saying people are saying all this directly, just various sentiments I've seen in reviews, boards and social media etc, but I feel like this misunderstaning is behing the reason why ppl dunk on the show and characters so easily? Of course, as someone who is still reading the comic series (have read a few comics, but not enough to know everything about it), maybe I just have a very limited view on this as someone who happens to like the tv show itself too. I love the art and storytelling in the comic but I also really like the animated series just for what it is.

Maybe it's also that we as internet-goers have become even moreso accustomed to seeing, reviewing and thinking about our media in such a superficial critical way that we can't really share honest opinions without feeling the need to add "real criticisms" to what we say. I feel like that's a bit connected to the "outrage culture" mentioned at the beginning too but honestly this has been a problem abt cartoon/media reviews for a longer time already. Like it's valid to not like stuff but at least don't make stuff up about them

man... I should try writing my own review faster but I really want to see other reviews first (they are a slog to get thru bc I have trouble watching video reviews)

anyway.... lol just some semi-collected thoughts.

at the end of the day, for me personally, I just genuinely like this series and it brings me joy to see that the crew and cast and Sakai himself seemed to really enjoy making it too. It’s nice to see both from interviews and the show itself. maybe it just makes me a bit sad that I keep finding shows where I see that there’s goodness in it and then the majority of viewers I come across online find it different.... like yeah, it had potential for “more” but also what we got was good. I’m happy the show got made.

[turtlesreborntmnt]

Thought I should share this

[redwoodwv-hq]

Name: Athena Sinclair Age: 36 Town Occupation: Radio Operator Previous Occupation: Podcaster Redwood Resident Length: 16 months Faceclaim: Elizabeth Olsen

Bullet Points:

When she gets nervous, she tends to talk a lot. She even speaks a bit fast, although she’s trying to get more comfortable talking with people face to face. 

She likes to scavenge around the junkyard and find broken junk to try and fix. She likes taking things apart and putting them back together. 

Athena is slightly OCD. Everything in her camper has its place and she doesn’t like when things are out of order.

Biography:

Athena grew up moving around a lot. Her father was in the US Army so her and her older brother, Apollo, were forced to jump from school to school. It made making friends incredibly hard, although she got used to being the “new kid” at every school. Still, she felt like she couldn’t really fit in. Her brother became her best friend and the two spent most of their days as kids playing video games, watching movies and reading comic books. By the age of twelve, Athena had built her own gaming computer so her and Apollo could play the news games with the best frame rates. It might have been weird for a girl so young to be such a gaming nerd but she didn’t care. It was fun and she loved it. It also helped for her to escape from reality when a couple years later, her father was killed in action overseas. Unable to face the fact that her father was never coming home, she delved further into her computer and video games. Better to live in an augmented reality than deal with her father’s death.

Eventually her mother put her into counseling. Athena rarely left her room except when her brother forced her to go to school. Her therapist suggested that she start keeping a diary so Athena started recording her own thoughts onto a private blog. The use of tech was more comfortable than pen and paper. Maybe surprising to her, she found herself opening up a bit more and recording her talking about video games and comics. Thus was the beginnings of her up and coming podcast, Delving In Nerd Style. She would talk about video games she played, new games coming out, discussing upcoming tech, comic and movies reviews - everything a nerd could ever want. When she wasn’t podcasting she was streaming her playing various games on Twitch. From that point on, her career took off.

Her podcast soon became a hit with millions of streams and downloads. She even won a Listener’s Choice award two years in a row. She got a studio and a whole crew to help her take off and her name was spread across the podcasting world. It was weird to be considered famous. In fact, she felt awkward when she went on tours and met people. But behind the soundboard? She was a rockstar. She would have stayed there, if she could. But fate had other plans.

Athena was recording one of her podcasts when one of her crew members came in infected and started chowing down on other members of her team. She escaped out the back and ran home to her brother. The two hunkered down in her brother’s home for a few months as everything collapsed but they couldn’t stick around. Apollo knew of a place further south so they headed that direction until they arrived in Redwood.

For the past sixteen months they’ve settled there. Athena used her podcasting skills and computer expertise to help man the radio and fix any of the equipment that was lying around. She still feels weird when she has to talk to people in town and is definitely more comfortable on the radio. She’s glad that her skills are being put to good work and that she can be at least somewhat useful in helping the town survive.

[jimmyaquino]

Comic News Insider Episode 1476 - Best of 2023!

Comic News Insider: Episode 1476 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy and Producer Joe welcome Avery Kaplan (Comics Beat Features Editor) and Lisa Gullickson (Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast) to talk about our personal Best of 2023! They are absolutely brilliant and we were lucky and thankful they took the time to join us. It's a lengthy one as we have lots to recommend and talk about in the worlds of comic books, TV, film and streaming. As usual, it's purely subjective and it's what we read/saw in 2023. And we didn't read/see everything so there may be some we missed. But we think you will enjoy our picks! What were some of your favorites? Also, get a hold of us!

Thanks for listening!

[middenway]

Always Never

If you haven’t read Jordi Lafebre’s Always Never, I absolutely recommend it. A love story told in reverse, beginning at Chapter 20 and working its way back to Chapter 1. This was among my favourite reads of 2022, and it got a very enthusiastic recommendation on Brad and Lisa’s Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast.

[karenxmenfan]

Comic Book Couples Counseling / Black Canary & Green Arrow (Commission, 2021)

[drawnaghht]

re-listening to "Samurai Rabbit with Stan Sakai & The Usagi Chronicles Creative Team"

This week I have been re-listening to one of the longer interviews with Stan Sakai, Khang Le and Candie and Doug Langdale and I found a youtube version of it with official subtitles!! I can finally understand what some of the parts actually were about compared to before x3

Should I post a link to this? or links to others? reblog or comment! you can probably find it yourself if you're curious.

Or would anyone be interested in like, a summary of those interviews?

I've posted links to that and other interviews before, but this is one of the most extensive ones imo, so I thought it would be nice to post the link that here separately.

One thing I see the collective fandom voice out is how they don't like that it's about a young rabbit and not a direct adaptation (it wasn't up to the crew, they were brought on after the decision) and this interview actually gives answer to that and many other questions I've seen fans talk about publicly both on here and on twitter. (Like why there aren't phones or screens for example.) There's a nice intro about this aspect as well, how two fans of the og comic feel about this show when about to interview the author himself and how the main creative leads are also big nerds about the Usagi Yojimbo comicbook series. Stan Sakai and Khang Le mainly talk about the art and adaptation, as well as story of the show, while Candie and Doug talk about the creative writing parts of the show. They even talk about the music a bit! Reccomended listening if you like the show! This was also recorded before the final 10 episodes aired so it's fun hearing them tease the 2nd season again.

What's nice is that the interviewers themselves (the Comicbook Couples Counseling podcast), are fans of Usagi Yojimbo as well so they are very well-versed in the comic series, so the questions they ask are also very relevant... but also respectful to both the creators and the comic and cartoon! So it's a nice interview to listen to, from a very creative and mature perspective imo.

Seeing fans from different sides of both the TMNT and Usagi fandoms voice different opinions based on assumptions of the show has been a bit frustrating to see (maybe much less so if I only look at fanart, but it's been both "older" and younger fans), so this has been refreshing to re-listen to because it really only looks at the show from creative and collaborative viewpoints vs what people seem to assume that Netflix shows are all about - money and profit and keeping up only some sort of live-wire.

I personally really think the show probably could have had a bigger "impact" with the story if it took some bigger risks, but at the same time, they did their best with what they were given in terms of budget, which I'm remembering again after listening to the creative ways they had to avoid some shots or how some storylines got cut. It's a very creative and easy-going show to me, even if it's not "the best" in terms of what people have come to expect from cartoon shows for kids now.

It's also really interesting to listen to the interview again with subtitles and getting some of the context better (like how the makkine and spaceships, there was a certain inspiration they we're looking at outside of comics - "Robot Carnival" - an animated film I was only vaguely aware of before).

I also found the artist who did the layouts and special poses for the 2D sequences, which was so cool to find! I'm so glad that the Samurai Rabbit crew and artists have been proud to post their work on the series so far as I found a few artists' portfolios/galleries and blogs last month as well. Not gonna repost those (that's obviously just rude without permission and no one wants to get in trouble for that) but it would be cool to share links to those too if people were interested x3

anyway, it's amazing this show exists at all, whatever anyone else thinks.

[maeve-on-mustafar]

I've been seeing a lot of discussion and negative reaction surrounding Mace's characterization in TOTJ, and honestly, while I understand people's frustration with the treatment of Mace, I'm kind of surprised by the amount of surprise I'm seeing across the fandom? Because to me, it seems like Mace's character getting thrown under the bus to make other characters look more sympathetic has been going on for a while now.

TBH, though I understand TV series reach a wider audience than books ever will, I do wish there was some more interest from fandom in discussing it whenever it happens, not just when Dave Filoni does it.

Like, I loved the Star Wars: Brotherhood novel by Mike Chen for its portrayal of Anakin and his relationship with Obi-Wan. But I will be the first to say that this book treated Mace terribly, characterized him as a blind pawn of Palpatine and a constant antagonist of Anakin, and didn't portray him with any redeeming qualities. I made a post about it here with various examples from the text.

But only a few people seemed upset by this characterization of Mace. Over and over, I saw his extremely unpleasant characterization dismissed as, "Well, Anakin is an unreliable narrator," even though there's a scene where Obi-Wan thinks to himself that Mace has a grudge against Anakin. The most critical discussion I ever saw of Mace's characterization was the Tapcaf Transmissions podcast.

I also want to talk again about this scene from the Obi-Wan and Anakin comic by Charles Soule:

I typically see a lot of defense of Mace for this moment, and I kind of get it, because I do think it brought about even more bad faith interpretations of his character. And I often see this moment discussion from a Watsonian perspective--that in the moment, there was nothing Mace could do to help Anakin, and he had to obey Palpatine, and therefore, he didn't do anything wrong.

But I want to talk about this moment from a Doylist perspective. I discussed it a little bit in this post, but to summarize this interaction and my problem with it, the author chose to use the only prominent black character in the Prequel trilogy (Mace) to make a white character (Anakin) look more sympathetic. There was no reason to include Mace in the Anakin-Palpatine origin story. So why would the author choose to have him there at all, much less in such a direct and aware way, when nothing in the films or TCW or previous canon media indicated Mace Windu had a role in facilitating the relationship between a 12yo Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine?

Well, because it reduces Anakin's responsibility in the matter. There's a reason Charles Soule opted to make Anakin very young when Palpatine started to sink his claws into him rather than a couple of months before AOTC. There's a reason Palpatine starts honing in on Anakin's past trauma of being a slave and using it to manipulate him. Because it reduces Anakin's eventual culpability in betraying the Jedi and makes it look like he's not a grown man making his own decisions, but a young adult who's been preyed upon and manipulated by the ultimate authority figure all his life.

And I believe that reason of making Anakin is the same reason for the addition of Mace being the person to give permission for Palpatine to meet with/counsel Anakin. Because it changes the Jedi from only being suspicious of Palpatine and his relationship with Anakin from the time of ROTS to a sudden ten years prior. Now it comes across as less like the Jedi being blindsided by the Chancellor interfering and pulling strings for Anakin to him doing so for a decade, half of which when Anakin was underage. And by extending the timeline this length of years, the narrative makes the Jedi look kind of dumb for never acting on their uneasiness about Palpatine and Anakin.

But if you're not convinced by any of my arguments so far, I want to close with this final point: let's look at the source material. Let's double check what Mace's views were on Anakin spending time with Palpatine in ROTS, and if there's anything to indicate that would lead Charles Soule to believe Mace would give the okay to Anakin hanging out with Palpatine.

And in ROTS, we have the following:

MACE WINDU: It's very dangerous putting them together. I don't think the boy can handle it. I don't trust him.

So, yeah. Charles Soule opted to change an element of Mace's character and introduce this unnecessary retcon so that Mace could be the one to allow the Anakin-Palpatine relationship to foster and therefore play an unwitting role in his own demise.

And that's my main reason for disliking Mace's part in Obi-Wan and Anakin. His role isn't about his own character, it's about making Anakin look more sympathetic and Palpatine look more predatory. And I love Anakin, but I hate that Mace was treated this way, and I hate the way he was treated in Brotherhood.

To be clear, I'm not blaming anyone for being upset about how Filoni characterized Mace, but I do want to point out that this is an issue that exists outside of just Filoni.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, February 23 – Thursday, February 24

Willow: I-I wanna be strong Willow. But then I think I may never get to be close to Oz again, and it's like all the air just goes out of the room. Buffy: I know the feeling. Xander: Right. I mean, you went through it with Angel, and you're still standing. So tell us, Wise One, how do you deal? Buffy: I have you guys.

~~The Wish~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Shine (Spike/Buffy, PG/K+) by Apache Firecat

Red As Fire (Willow, Tara, PG) by badly_knitted

A Christmas Story (Spike/Buffy, G) by Priceless

The Odd Couple (crossover with James Bond, Joyce, G) by Vidicon666

As Real As it Gets (crossover with Leverage, Faith, not rated) by Telaryn

Emerald Fire (Angel/Willow, G) by Angelbach

You Can't Make A Scene At The Ritz (Giles/Ethan, T) by InMyOwnHeadItGoesLikeThis

What if Buffy found out the system she thinks should deal with humans... (Buffy, Giles, not rated) by confusedguytoo

Heart (Buffy/Spike, not rated) by acekoomboom

Her Big Fluffy Puppy with Nice Teeth (Spike/Buffy, PG) by EllieRose101

[Chaptered Fiction]

The Arrangement, Chapter 1 (Giles/Buffy, M) by Janis70

All But One, Chapter 17 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Jws1993

Closer and Closer, Chapter 2-3 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

The Fairytale, Chapter 10 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Dusty

Milkshakes & Motorcycles, Chapter 12-13 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

Restful Souls, Chapter 5 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen

Use It or Lose It, Chapter 14 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Dynamite

Invasion USA, Chapter 10 (crossover with "Harry Potter", Buffy, FR7) by

You Can't Fight Fate - But You Can Go Around Him, Chapter 9 (crossover with Young Justice, Buffy, FR15) by

The Zod Files, Chapter 1 (crossover with X-Men, Xander, FR18) by Sithicus

Last Days of May, Chapter 4 (Spike/Buffy, T) by Myrabeth

The Ring Talks, Chapter 8 (Spike/Buffy, 18+) by Myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: BTVS “Every Outfit”: “Bad Eggs” part 2, Surprise, and Innocence (Buffy, worksafe) by whatshisfaceblogs

Artwork: Some of my Buffy major arcana cards (Jenny, Spike, Tara, Buffy, Dawn, Drusilla, Worksafe) by bramcrackerswrites

Artwork: Lorne revised (worksafe) by Josh

[Reviews & Recaps]

I have such mixed feelings about Angel season 11 by oveliagirlhaditright

Faith, Hope & Trick, Beauty and the Beasts, Homecoming, Band Candy by kimannebb

Revelations by kimannebb, girl4music

Pangs by girl4music (ft. a reaction video by riley lynn)

Season 8 comics retrospective poll (cont'd) by multiple people

BOOM! Angel #2 of 8 (spoilers) (cont'd) by BAF, Stoney

My Review of Season 5 of ANGEL by CalvinValjean

What was your favourite pre-credits intro in the series? [BtVS] by PFTETOwerewolves and others

What is your favourite pre-credit intro to the series? [AtS] by PFTETOwerewolves and others

PODCAST: Buffering the Vampire Slayer 7.08 Sleeper

Book Review: In Every Generation By Kendare Blake reviewed by Shannon Hollinger

[Recs / In Search Of]

bespangeled is looking for a copy of Wardrobe Malfunction by Muppet Loving Freak

[Fandom Discussions]

[Spike, Angel, and Buffy: parallels with Warrior Cats] by purlplebat

the only times we see faith being a soft baby is when she’s interacting with buffy by faith-thee-slayer

Darla and Angelus (I ship it and Darla's criminally under-appreciated) by ineedaplacetostay

How on Earth is Tara able to forgive Willow? by girl4music

[What happened to Darla in the Wishverse???] by sunnydalebimbo

What if cookies are the only human food Angel likes? by oveliagirlhaditright

Angel being upset about Illyria being trapped in that Hell dimension… at the end of season twelve, but not Fred by oveliagirlhaditright

Thoughts on Kendra and Mr. Pointy, part 1] and part 2 by likemuh-fashnik

The revelation that Travers was supposed to be Giles’ father figure by melonsmessymusings

Favorite Giles Quote: On Authority, I Only Have Eyes for You by ex-vengeancedemon

So here’s what I think happened after Prophecy Girl. by rachaeljurassic

Even though I think season three is actually my favorite season for Bangel... by oveliagirlhaditright

Spike: Evil? by kyliafanfiction

Buffy, Angel, and Spike should honestly be together in a polyamorous relationship by oveliagirlhaditright

Angel ships by Paulrina, burrunjor

Preferences over villains by Paulrina

20 "Buffy" Questions by multiple people

Big bads by Paulrina, Kendar

Would You Be A Scooby? by Plasma and others

For you, what is the heart of “Buffy the vampire slayer” tv show? hosted by Excellent-Durian-509

Anya in Season 7 by rednax2009

Angel, Riley, Spike. In your opinion which 1 of these 3 does Buffy trust the most? hosted by InfiniteMedhiLove

Question about Angel becoming human by cherrycranberries

If you could somehow magically get in the show and... tell one character something by chemeli888

Did anyone get the vibes that Joss wanted a Riley Spin-Off? by chelsealomez

Which character would you have liked to seen become a demon? by zanybelle

Which character's arc or journey other than Buffy's... most resonated with you personally? hosted by TigerJean

The storytelling with Riley and Xander was weird in season 5 by Skeighls and others

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[applejacks1552]

Rogue and Gambit Fans! Check out this podcast episode focusing on the 1993 Gambit and 1995 Rogue miniseries by Howard Mackie. Please share!

#Rogue #Gambit #Romy #Rambit #comics #Marvel #podcast

[maeve-on-mustafar]

Third, I'm so tired of the narrative never giving Mace some consideration. While fandom completely exaggerates the narrative being against him, it doesn't help he's often used to contrast to Anakin/Dooku's character.

I think this aspect is actually becoming a bigger problem, and I wish there was some more interest from fandom in discussing it whenever it happens, not just when Dave Filoni does it.

Like, I loved the Star Wars: Brotherhood novel by Mike Chen for its portrayal of Anakin and his relationship with Obi-Wan. But I be the first to say that this book treated Mace terribly, characterized him as a blind pawn of Palpatine and a constant antagonist of Anakin, and didn't portray him with any redeeming qualities. I made a post about it here with various examples from the text.

But only a few people seemed upset by this characterization of Mace. Over and over, I saw his extremely unpleasant characterization dismissed as, "Well, Anakin is an unreliable narrator," even though there's a scene where Obi-Wan thinks to himself that Mace has a grudge against Anakin. The most critical discussion I ever saw of Mace's characterization was the Tapcaf Transmissions podcast.

I also want to talk again about this scene from the Obi-Wan and Anakin comic by Charles Soule:

I typically see a lot of defense of Mace for this moment, and I kind of get it, because I do think it brought about even more bad faith interpretations of his character. And I often see this moment discussion from a Watsonian perspective--that in the moment, there was nothing Mace could do to help Anakin, and he had to obey Palpatine, and therefore, he didn't do anything wrong.

But I want to talk about this moment from a Doylist perspective. I discussed it a little bit in this post, but to summarize this interaction and my problem with it, the author chose to use the only prominent black character in the Prequel trilogy (Mace) to make a white character (Anakin) look more sympathetic. There was no reason to include Mace in the Anakin-Palpatine origin story. So why would the author choose to have him there at all, much less in such a direct and aware way, when nothing in the films or TCW or previous canon media indicated Mace Windu had a role in facilitating the relationship between a 12yo Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine?

Well, because it reduces Anakin's responsibility in the matter. There's a reason Charles Soule opted to make Anakin very young when Palpatine started to sink his claws into him rather than a couple of months before AOTC. There's a reason Palpatine starts honing in on Anakin's past trauma of being a slave and using it to manipulate him. Because it reduces Anakin's eventual culpability in betraying the Jedi and makes it look like he's not a grown man making his own decisions, but a young adult who's been preyed upon and manipulated by the ultimate authority figure all his life.

And I believe that reason of making Anakin is the same reason for the addition of Mace being the person to give permission for Palpatine to meet with/counsel Anakin. Because it changes the Jedi from only being suspicious of Palpatine and his relationship with Anakin from the time of ROTS to a sudden ten years prior. Now it comes across as less like the Jedi being blindsided by the Chancellor interfering and pulling strings for Anakin to him doing so for a decade, half of which when Anakin was underage. And by extending the timeline this length of years, the narrative makes the Jedi look kind of dumb for never acting on their uneasiness about Palpatine and Anakin.

But if you're not convinced by any of my arguments so far, I want to close with this final point: let's look at the source material. Let's double check what Mace's views were on Anakin spending time with Palpatine in ROTS, and if there's anything to indicate that would lead Charles Soule to believe Mace would give the okay to Anakin hanging out with Palpatine.

And in ROTS, we have the following:

MACE WINDU: It's very dangerous putting them together. I don't think the boy can handle it. I don't trust him.

So, yeah. Charles Soule opted to change an element of Mace's character and introduce this unnecessary retcon so that Mace could be the one to allow the Anakin-Palpatine relationship to foster and therefore play an unwitting role in his own demise.

And that's my main reason for disliking Mace's part in Obi-Wan and Anakin. His role isn't about his own character, it's about making Anakin look more sympathetic and Palpatine look more predatory. And I love Anakin, but I hate that Mace was treated this way, and I hate the way he was treated in Brotherhood.

I'm really sick of fandom and narrative alike moving towards treating Mace Windu's character in some bad light whenever he gets any focus as of late.

Tales of the Jedi showcases a fallout between Mace/Dooku from the latter's perspective and it's kind of stupid: Mace does his actual job but the narrative and fans don't exactly paint it in a good light; he is treated as very stoic and cold for wanting to follow protocol and the rules even though it was the right call anyway given the context of the sitation. Just because he wasn't instantly wanting to play detective and stuck to the mission doesn't make him less caring or compassionate.

First off, I'm tried of acting like Windu's willingness to stick to following the Council is seen as something bad: they have to deal with the consequences of unsanctioned actions that creates additional headaches and problems. Wanting to follow protocol and rules shouldn't be a bad thing and is a fucking courtesy to not constantly throw your colleagues in leadership under the bus to pursue your version of doing what's "right".

Secondly, fandom really plays a double standard on Windu. When he follows the rules and protocol, he's uncaring and detached. When he decides more decisive action in a manner even Anakin is on board, all of a sudden, he's terrible for not sticking to his guns and in both things, is regarded as the "embodiment of the problems of the Jedi Order" and it's stupid considering this episode shows how he got promoted. Like pick a fucking point and stick to it. Fandom will find anyway to make him look bad regardless if it isn't even that deep.

Third, I'm so tired of the narrative never giving Mace some consideration. While fandom compeltely exaggerates the narrative being against him, it doesn't help he's often used to contrast to Anakin/Dooku's character. Put him against people who he actually has no problems with. Obi-Wan. Yoda. Depa. And suddenly, you get all the content other blogs have to defend Mace's character. That's what happen when he's there to be a real character with agency, not there to prop Anakin/Dooku's idealism of doing whatever the fuck they think is "right" without any regard to who has to deal with their mess after the fact.

It's so telling Dooku gets validation for his views by even Yaddle despite the fact he is explicitly part of the "coming darkness" he "warned" the Council about even before the Phantom Menace thereby killing all his points to start with while Mace never gets treated as being RIGHT when he is right.

[travelingmocha]

Look who I finally met in, like, real life! I mean, convention life, but still. It's Brad and Lisa of Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast! #MonkeyBusiness #comiccon #comicconmonkeys #BCC #BaltimoreComicCon #comics #indiecomics @cbccpodcast https://www.instagram.com/p/CkUhhubOuFc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=