#I don't like rwby or one piece and those come up on my dash all the time it's so easy to ignore and move on

[angele-midnight]

Why are so many people on Tumblr/Twitter claiming Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are bad shows??? "They're not mid shows guys they're just bad" can y'all give me one concrete reason they're bad besides debunked "controversies" or things that other people told you were bad about em?

Like I'm halfway convinced all of these people claiming these are such bad shows and are annoyed about em haven't actually watched them - "I don't need to watch a show to know it's bad" pretty sure you do if you want to have an informed opinion, that goes for everything actually.

If you're annoyed by the hype and the fan culture?? That's fine we all got our things but that doesn't make the shows themselves bad I think y'all just like having someone to poke fun of without feeling like a bully and honestly?? That seems like a miserable way to live.

[itsclydebitches]

You know what I think is funny, fandom loves to throw "the animation and writing teams don't work together" as a reason we can't read into different things happening onscreen (Which regardless, that's really stupid, since acting/animation/intonation of the lines/etc can impact the way the story is perceived). But they're also the same ones talking about how the animation is showing the little love things between Blake and Yang and other small tells we see that shows the team hasn't changed much.

This is a problem with all analysis and something that everyone is inclined to do (simply because we all have our opinions and we all want to be right lol). At its most basic, it’s pointing to certain events in a story as proof of an argument while simultaneously ignoring other events that disprove it. We see this all the time when people discuss characters they like/don’t like: you’ll either get a list of all the good qualities or a list of all the bad, with the “analysis” refusing to engage with that other list. Once you move past that roadblock - once you train yourself to consider everything in the text, even when it’s frustrating - you get more complex readings. The stuff that says, “Yes, on the surface it looks like this character has all these bad qualities too but we need to take context into account as well. Like the fact that when they did this Bad Thing someone was blackmailing them into it whereas they did this Good Thing of their own accord.” Or, “Yes, this character has a mix of Good and Bad qualities so maybe we should be acknowledging a more nuanced reading of their morality rather than insisting ‘They’re the devil’ or ‘uwu they’re a baby who did no wrong’” The purpose of analysis is for the text to drive your argument, not for your argument to drive the reading of the text. When something doesn’t fit well you need to take that into account and re-evaluate your thesis. You don’t ignore/twist that wrinkle in an effort to maintain the argument you first started out with. Which is why you analyze the text first and come up with the thesis second. 

Now yes, apply all this to the animation issues. We cannot simultaneously say, “Aspects of the animation prove that Blake/Yang is becoming a thing” as well as, “It doesn’t matter if we saw Clover wink at Qrow. That’s meaningless.” Authorial intent does have some bearing on how we read this, in that we’ve gotten confirmation that some animation choices - like Oscar running down the hall before punching Neo - were mistakes, but in order for that to fully drive our reading of the show as a whole we’d need confirmation regarding every single piece of animation. Did you mean for Ren to look sad in that scene? Were Blake and Weiss supposed to exchange that glance? Is it a mistake that this character rolled their eyes or was that, unlike some other things, intentional? Unless we get a comprehensive list of every animation choice - which we will literally never have for obvious reasons - analysis must function under near absolutes: either the animation has meaning or it doesn’t. Pick one and stick to it (though preferably pick the former because, as you say, of course our visuals impact the reading of the show. They were always supposed to!) You cannot say that the animation choice is full of meaning when Ren and Nora cast loving glances because you adore them as a ship, but then claim that the animation choice to have Yang, Weiss, and Blake draw their weapons on Qrow is meaningless because you don’t like the idea of the girls doing something awful and having to grapple with that. Anything else is just the behavior of the first paragraph, emphasizing the things you like because they support the arguments you also like, while failing to either a) acknowledge these other aspects at all or b) explain how they don’t actually undermine your argument like they appear to at first glance. That’s why I acknowledge the ramifications of Ironwood shooting Oscar. It doesn’t matter how much I hate it, it exists in the text and needs to be taken into account (work a). It’s likewise why I explain in detail why arguments about the Ace Ops losing aren’t persuasive. They initially look persuasive, but poke at them a bit and you’ll see all the holes (work b). 

For the record, this stuff is really hard. There’s a reason why we take classes in analysis. There’s a reason why you study for 6+ years before you’re considered good enough to start publishing papers. These trends - particularly ignoring parts of the text or trying desperately to twist them into something that fits your original argument, rather than revising the argument to fit the evidence - are all mistakes that everyone makes when they first start analyzing things. I did! And those mistakes will seem very persuasive to others who don’t practice analysis enough to recognize when they - or others - are repeating those trends. Which is how you end up with posts arguing non-persuasive or even nonsensical things but are praised extensively. You have to learn how to spot those mistakes and learning how to avoid them is even harder. It’s not just a skill but a kind of mental fortitude. In order to produce persuasive and compelling analysis you have to be willing to potentially chuck your argument in the bin at any given moment. It’s a lot like science that way. Oh, something just disproved our theory? That sucks but we can’t ignore this new evidence just because we spent years chasing something else. We can’t allow personal desires to overcome facts. (Though that’s not to say the chase was wasted. The mere act of working through “wrong” arguments is an important part of hitting on the “right” ones.) 

For the record, this kind of difficulty with critical thought/rhetoric is the same reason why dangerous bigotry like “Getting vaccines will give your child autism” or “Accepting trans people will lead to women getting attacked in bathrooms” take off. Those are both arguments, but the people consuming them often don’t know how to work through the evidence provided to decide if that argument is persuasive - or even know to look for evidence at all. They stop after reading the statement, taking it as an automatic fact, just like a newbie writer in their Freshman high school course may write out a thesis and think that’s it. What do you mean I have to prove it? What do you mean my proof is subjective, unsubstantiated, and is ignoring other pieces of evidence? It’s not proof at all? Oh... It gets particularly difficult when you chuck in the sheer complexities of most political situations and add in a dash of learning that the mere existence of some evidence (“evidence”) doesn’t automatically outweigh all the rest. A perfect example being: 

Don’t be that woman. But all that takes time to learn and it requires the ability to admit you were wrong. Sometimes about small things (“Oh yeah, I forgot that happened!”) as well as about incredibly massive things (“Shit. I’ve been basing my identity around this inaccurate concept and using it to hurt many, many people...”) Both of which are needed to create compassionate human beings who, by default, are not born knowing All The Things Ever. Thus, this is why analyzing “stupid” shows like RWBY isn’t the useless activity that many would prefer to paint it as. If you can learn how to critically engage with what people say about your favorite show, you’re developing the same skills needed to critically engage with, say, what the president is currently tweeting about...

ANYWAY, that’s a bit more of a deep dive than the ask probably meant to produce. But here we are :D

[miss-writes-a-lot]

RWBY: TEAM HELL: Volume 1, Chapter 5: Stuck With You

Aurora felt her blood run cold as she fell through the air along with the 20 other students. It was clear to her that the others had experience with falling. Only a few other students were failing around along with her while everyone else was practically dancing on air. Even the students who were dumped out of the other plane only mere seconds after them were already familiar with the trick of falling with intent.

One girl brandishing a large axe, was knocking people out of the way, shooting a million glares as she did. More people were being dropped and she was quickly losing sight of Lucio. She felt like she couldn't breathe- as if falling was sucking every piece of air out of her lungs. She looked up and found more people just blowing past her. Flashes of gunpowder and dust fragments filled her vision.

She had to do something fast. She looked around her, trying to get an idea of what she should do. The majority of them were using their weapons to propel them forward, but there was no chance in hell that her shitty prototypes were going to have that much power to do that. The only other option was to use her semblance to somehow land safely-or, try to land safely on solid ground.

That was going to be hard.

She sighed, tightly shutting her eyes. She tucked her chin in and crossed her arms over her chest.

'okay, Aurora! You can do this! Just gotta focus! Focus! Focus! Focus!'

She clenched her jaw as she felt her body begin to shake. She was outlined in a light grey hue and she began to slow down. She wanted to shout and jump for joy for actually pulling it off, but a. She was in the air, and b. If she did, she'd break concentration and fall to her death.

She just kept her eyes closed and continued to float to the ground, hoping to find Lucio once she did.

-------------

Evelyn was having the time of her life.

She was flying through the air like a bird.

Well, not exactly like a bird.

Her gauntlets were what kept her in the air. Every loud blast was sending her higher and higher into the air like she was bouncing in a bounce house. She couldn't help but burst out laughing every time she felt herself be lifted into the air.

She looked up and found herself further and further away from the ground-where she was supposed to be with the others.

"Whoops. Guess I should start heading down, huh?" She said to herself.

She let herself fall to the ground, using her gauntlets only when she was gettimg too close to the tops of the trees and launched herself forward, passing the boy she talked to before Mr. Lionheart's boring speech. He was using his glyphs to either launch or teleport himself through the air.

"Hmph. Show off!" She shouted, flying ahead of him.

'I bet he'd make a good partner. Still, gotta keep my options open!'

She continued to fly into the air and finally fell into the forest, rolling across the forest floor and jumping up onto her feet, taking a bow.

"Thank you! Thank you! You are too kind!" She said, as if she were talking to an audience. She chuckled to herself, causally walking through the forest, taking it all in.

She had never been to this place. She wasn't familiar with this neck of the woods, and from what she could tell, it wasn't marked on the map of Mistral. What was this place?

She shrugged, leaving that question for another day. She continued to walk casual, wondering what kind of partner she would get.

One thing was for sure, she didn't want someone so dull and boring. She wanted some who she could have fun and joke around with. She didn't want someone who always had their nose stuck in a book. She wanted someone to party with!

But everyone on that plane seemed so serious and dismal, like it was just another Monday. So boring. So unamused.

She just wanted someone to-

"L-LOOK OUT!"

"Huh-?"

In a flash, a little brown haired girl dressed in grey and black slammed into Evelyn, throwing her back and launching herself further and straight into a bush.

Evelyn coughed up a leaf, hearing groaning coming from the bush that the little girl fell into. She stood up, regaining some balance and walked over to her. She was in a bit of a daze, leaves and branches stuck in her hair.

She bent down, getting right in her face. "Yo! You good? You look like you took a few hits on your way down."

The girl responded with a groan.

"Whoo boy. Well, I know you're not all there, but it looks like we're stuck with each other," she stuck out her hand, "The name's Evelyn. Evelyn Piscia. Your new team partner!"

The girl leaned forward, colliding with her shoulder, still completely out of it. Evelyn sighed, throwing her over her shoulder and walking off with her.

"I can tell we're going to be very good friends."

----------

Lucio had lost sight of Aurora on the way down. He was thrown back by a rough girl cutting through the crowd with a large axe, so he made the best out of bad situation and flew forward. He used his glyphs to propel forward and down to the forest floor with a matter of minutes. When he got to the ground, he went off in a full Sprint through the woods to find Aurora.

She was already new to the huntsmen scene and if someone found out she wasn't at the same level as everyone else, she would be absolutely screwed and chewed out for four years by her teammates and he did not want that to happen.

And if it did, he wanted to be there to make sure she was safe. He had to find her, and find her fast.

He dashed through the woods, jumping over bushes and rocks. The trees all looked the same-how annoying.

At least at home, they were marked and clawed up by Bronze and the others.

He shook his head, forgetting the memory and focusing on the task at hand.

Find Aurora Hemlock.

He ran through the woods, trying not to use his glyphs too much.

' You can't always rely on your glyphs to get you ahead of the game, kid. It drains your aura.'

Harlow always knew what to do, which is why it was hard for Lucio not to just take the easy way out and use his semblance to make it forward.

'Come on, Luci! Focus! We have to find Ro before anyone else! And we still got a long way to go before we get out of here anytime soon.' He thought, his mind going elsewhere, 'I wonder what Ro would want for her weapon. Unless, those dinky little things are her weapons...oh no, they can't be! There's no chance in heck that those are her weapons! They're so small! They wouldn't last a day! Man, when I find her, I am making her a new weapon. A better one!'

Lucio smiled at the thought, but he was so involved with his thoughts, he rammed into another student and they both fell back, Lucio into a bush and the other student against a tree. Lucio groaned, propping himself on his shoulder and stood up, dusting himself off.

"Damn, probably shouldn't have wore this suit," he looked up and his crimson eyes went wide once he finally processed what happened, "o-oh crap!"

He ran over to the bruised boy dressed in blue overalls and a blue Shepard's staff in his hands. He crouched down and moved his blonde locks out of his face. "I-I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to run into you-not that it's a bad thing that I ran into you! Now we can be partners! But I really didn't-"

The boy placed his hand on Lucio's shoulder. "P-please just...just help me up."

"Right. Sorry."

Lucio pulled the boy to his feet, steadying him and dusting him off a bit.

The boy sighed. "Right, so I guess we're partners now, huh?"

Lucio nodded. "Yeah, guess you're stuck with me."

"I....I don't mind. You seem like a nice guy. Better than the others. They were seriously sizing me up from the minute I got on the plane. Even when I was falling through the air.".

Lucio chuckled. "It's cool. After the whole Beacon thing, I can kinda understand, and-" he noticed the change in the boy's attitude. He was scared, a bit uncomfortable, "-I seemed to have touched a nerve-" he sighed, "I'm really screwing this up. Can we start over?"

The boy smiled, nodded his head, "Yeah, sure," he stuck out his hand, "My name's Sunny. Sunny Latorre. I'm...I'm from Vale."

Lucio nodded, his eyes wide with realization. "Ohhhh. You're from...f-from Vale."

"Yeah. And your name is...?"

"R-right. The name's Lucio Kin-" he took a very long pause, "Kindira."

Sunny took a moment to process the name, "Kindira...that...sounds familiar."

'Please don't say it, please, please! Do not say it.'

The blue boy shrugged. "Doesn't matter. It's nice to meet you, Lucio."

The taller boy breathed a sigh of relief, throwing his arm around Sunny's shoulders. "Yeah. Good to meet you too, Sunny. I can tell we're gonna be great friends."

---------

Leticia Tawny was a force to be reckoned with. She was the scariest girl there, with a long scar going down her right eye, her towering and broad stature, and not to mention her giant axe/submachine gun, Robur.

She had ripped through the sky, bashing students out of the way and fell down to earth like a meteor.

She wanted to find the perfect partner. Someone tough, someone with a powerful and semblance such as hers. She wanted to find someone who was up to the challenge of being her partner.

Instead, she got her.

She was a dainty little thing, with fair skin and black hair in ringlet curls. She was wearing a blue and gold Lolita dress and white stockings that were grass stained.

She was just sitting there, right in front of her, startled by her appearance and panting in fear.

This was it.

This was her team partner for the next four years.

And she was not happy.

"There is no chance in hell I am being stuck with you "