#he dosen’t deserve this it’s unfair
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yoohyeon · 1 year ago
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Also I think we are starting to lose Pups, slowly but I think it started for real now
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plan-tq · 4 years ago
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please can we just give furry man some rest-
okay, so i’m not the best at these kinds of things but like- seriously, give this man a break, because he is technically 8-16ish years old (never confirmed, pls no yell at me), like, calm down you all! it’s not like you haven’t made mistakes, that you didn't push his limits until he snapped and then got angry at him for doing that. what was he suppose to do, stand there and let other people hurt him?
so, phil dislikes fundy because of the stunts he pulled on him, but also for the butcher army, but hol’up, what about tubbo? tubbo gets it off freely while fundy gets treated like unwanted garbage because “oh tubbo’s just tubbo, he’s so sweet and innocent”, fundy was toyed with and eventually killed by his own grandpa, taunted by his adopted uncle and ex-best friend, their words having the sole purpose of rubbing salt into his open scars from past traumas.
phil goes after his deranged grandson and particularly laughs at his problems, because fundy just deserved all this emotional/(physical??) abuse, because he who tried his best to be a crowd pleaser and maintain a healthy relationship is to blame for all your problems. 
listen, the other children you are taking care of aren’t perfect either, just because they are children dosen’t get them a free pass for everything they’ve done. i know you must have your reasons, but its just unfair at this point.
hypothesis:
i’d rather think that Fundy is going delusional, because of his (possibly) lack of rest/sleep and all these stupid people pushing him to the edge of insanity,  thus, made him a easy target for nightmares and such, which led up to las Nevadas, where Quackity effortlessly manipulates fundy to join his casino, a supposed “home”. this would be a good time for somebody to rise as the new leader of the dsmp while dream himself is inn jail, and i’m. suggesting that quackity might be trying to do just that.
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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago
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Ducktales: Jaw$! or How Lena Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Webby (Lena Retrospective Commissioned by WeirdKev27)
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Trigger Warning: Part of this review contains discussions of abuse which can’t be avoided but I still want to be senstive to my audience and any trauma they’ve gone through.  Welcome back weblena world to Shadow Into Light: My Lena Sabrewing Retrospective. And Jaw$ is here, long live Jaw$. Tiffany was a shark who bites the law she was in an episode i’m reviewing called Jaw$. 
And it’s the money shark before the storm as next month i’ll be going from two Ducktales reviews a week with the Lena retrospective and the last few episodes.. to three, as i’ll ALSO be covering the Della arc from season 1 in the build up to shadow war. And if your wondering if I expertly planned this to coincide with the finale, to the point the shadow war review and those leading up to it will be on the same week as the finale.... nope. I just got REALLLLY lucky as I already had all of that planned out, and the schedule for the  new episodes happened to synch up perfectly, ending just in time for me to revisit the series start and having Magica’s big in person appearance reviewed a week after we get her backstory in Life and Crimes. Though I am VERY happy it worked out this way as I get to properly celebrate the series end with more ducks than ever, and get to cover the pilot the same month as the finale, all things i’d of loved to do anyway and probably would’ve rejiggered my schedule to do. Point is lot of Ducktales content coming for this blog if you like that so stay tuned, but for now join me won’t you under the cut as we dive into a money bin of gay ducks, shadowy machinations, and Bad PR. 
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We open as Lena and Donald awkwardly sit on the couch, waiting for Scrooge and the Kids to get home. Understandably it’s just.. dead silence.Given their a cynical teenager secretly working for and forced to obey a horrifying shadow monster and a 35 year old man who dosen’t like living in this house due to painful memories of his presumed dead sister.. and painful memories of pain in general, you have a huge awkward bowl of chips and “I really don’t want to be here right now”. 
Our heroes return though, and Louie tries to take some of their haul for himself but Scrooge stops that “It goes in the bin not to next of kin. “... Man in a Hurry if you would please. 
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Thank you. Man in a Hurry everybody. He has to go now, he’s in a hurry. 
 As you can probably guess I do not like this, as it reminds me WAY too much of Scrooge’s worst “quirk” in the comics: how he’d barely pay his nephews, who are often hard up for cash mind you and one of whom is supporting three children ALONE, take them around the world and reap all the benefit for their hard work. It’s not like he did nothing, he did, but it’s way to exploitive for my tastes and can often sink a story if taken too far. It’s not AS bad... but they all went on the mission they all deserve at least something. I DO get keeping the rarest and most dangerous stuff for himself, as he is bankrolling things and does have two bins and a massive garage to safetly store them. But this just comes off as douchey for this version, who while liable to make mistakes with them, is far more nurturing towards his boys and girls. 
Thankfully this was course corrected next season. While Scrooge’s greed was properly restored.. this sort of treatment wasn’t. “Treasure of the Found Lamp” had him undergo character development and realize simply hoarding his treasures isn’t right or fair, and set up a musuem wing so both duckburg and his descendants can see them and get the stories behind them. And on not getting to take things clearly he’s eithe relaxed or stopped the policy as our heroes do have souveneers from time to time. Not a LOT mind, but little things like Dewey having a giant sword or Scrooge outright giving Louie one of his things show he did soften up. Though Della’s return and likely lack of tolerance for this stupid policy in the first place probably helped a lot, I also like to think he did change a bit and realize it was deeply unfair they didn’t get more than a few treasures of their own. So the writers did realize they kind of went overboard here.  I suspect this was more to setup for the episode’s subplot and to make Scrooge’s karma at the end feel justified. Speaking of which we get the start of said Subplot as Beakley comes in with a money cart and the news the board called. Why they called his house instead of his phone I don’t know, some things slip through the cracks when you running both a billion dollar company an da trillion dollar fiendish organization  for world larceny. I mean they clearly worked themselves so hard the other two apparently died between seasons. That or it was the diet of whiskey, orphan tears and grease in a wine glass both had. Bradford always told them it’d kill them though to his credit he only said I told you so twice at their funeral. 
For once no their not mad Scrooge is spending all the money they use to buy fowl jetskis, but because the Company’s having a bit of a PR nightmare now that Scrooge is back in the adventuring game. And we cut to the beanstalk they just adventured on having tore up a good chunk of the town and destroyed large swaths of it just to sell the point this isn’t their normal old man yells at other old man for spending all me money schitck, but a serious problem. As such they’ve booked him an interview with Roxanne Fetherly to improve his image and the companies. 
Scrooge scoffs at this, baffled why he has bad pr as his adventuring is GOOD for the city in the long run: He pays for any damages it causes, and likely at a cost no less which is a LOT coming from scrooge, and puts most of the money he makes on these adventures back into the city and his company, creating more jobs and better living conditions. He does get a wakeup call via  truly hilarous gag as Launchpad pops his head up to say “Good news mr. mcdee, it missed the orphange!” before getting ready to chainsaw the stalk for him. He quickly realizes MAYBE he needs some PR and agress to the interview. 
 This whole subplot really plays into one of the series main themes, one Frank brought up a few months back: Risk vs Reward. Adventuring is entirely about this, that adventure is dangerous, can cost you a lot as we see with Della and the aftermath of her terrible decision making, and can hurt people.. but it can also help people, bring money to those who need it, free those who are being oppressed and open new worlds to everyone. This subplot distills it down great: Scrooge is right that his adventures do bring in money, and as seen with the first episode brought in clean water and power with no drawbacks and only asked to be paid for it, which is fair given he still has to run machines and likely help relocate any workers whose jobs are now redundant to other parts of the company and retrain them. But it costs people their homes and jobs, not forever but still as long as it takes to construct, tears up roads and puts people in danger. It’s plots like this that make Bradford the perfect final boss for the series: He’s someone who blinds himself to the reward of all this and only sees the risk, and raises valid points even if he himself is deeply wrong. He’s right Scrooge causes a lot of danger and threat to the world.. but wrong in that he dosen’t see it’s all worth it for the good of everyone. 
But enough about future story arcs let’s get back to this one, as Webby excitedly greets Lena and hugs her, realizes she’s not hugging her back then gives her another squeeze anyway after claming to hate hugs when just a LOOK at Webby would tell you that’s false. The two are having a sleepover, Webby’s first ever.. and given Lena’s essentially an Emo Hobo and the closest thing she has to home is that starlight ancient amptheater that’s never properly explained. Seriously ancient ruins near Duckburg dosen’t suprise me, but at least tell me what they are and why Magica chose them. And why Louie hasn’t tried to sell tickets to Dewey boxing a gorilla in them. Or probably a possum I mean their on a budget and gorillas snap necks, but still i’d pay to see that as would we all. 
Point is it’s their first sleepover and naturally Webby’s first bit of smalltalk.. is how tucking in can be used for interogation techniques. I’d be more suprised if earlier this season it hadn’t already been shown Beakly regularly enrolls her daughter in the no murder, unless you really want to, hunger games every year. The fact Webby hasn’t become the bat is only because she hasn’t found a costume that’s the right combintion of pinks and purples to instill pantswetting terror yet. That shit takes time. 
Lena goes to the bathroom.. to talk to Magica who we properly get to meet. She did speak last time, but this ep is the one that properly establishes her personality for the reboot: she has clever plans, tons of power, if sealed currently, and is a genuine threat.. but she’s also a bit of a ham, in love with the old ultra violence and really short sighted in her plans, something we got hints of last time as her best solution to the Beakly Problem was  to just leave her to die and hope scrooge and webby, two people who love solving mysteries and unlocking puzzles, don’t investigate the horrifying death, accident or not, of their only friend and grandmother, and that neither, especially the 12 year old spiraling with grief, would suspect a former spy died. Thoguh in fairness on the spy thing it’s plausable Magica didn’t know that, but still it’s a bad plan. Magica has good ideas but is just so obessed with the brute force way of doing things she forgets the subtle approach works better.. and so far it has well for Lena.  Problem is it’s VERY clear by this point that Lena likes Webby, maybe not romantic styles JUST YET but it’s getting there. Webby on the otherhand has been in love with Lena from the freaking concept art which showed her blushing around her.. and that was in her 87 design.. which they thankfully changed. It’s not terrible but it just dosen’t fit well with this universe. Point is Lena is catching feelings and Magica realizes this and tries to gaslight her telling her she’d never acccept the truth abotu her and so on. As we all know and as we’ll see that’s bullshit but it’s an effective manipulation. We also find out Magica’s plan: she had Lena sneak a jewel into the treasure going into the bin, and it’s going to turn into a monster that will seek out the Number One Dime for them. She also vaugely hints that there’s something Lena needs from Magica. 
Once Lena returns, and Webby let’s her rabbit know the interogation isn’t over, she gives her possible future girlfirend a gift: friendship bracelets! They both put them on and it’s really fucking cute.. and will be both a tangible symbol of hteir friendship and a plot point several times, something I honestly hadn’t thoguht about till now. Lena, put off by the gesture not because she dosen’t aprpciate it because of the crushing guilt of lying to the one person who cares about her under the insucrtions of a sociopath, goes to Webby’s big old corkboard which is always fun to look at.. especially since it’s clearly the ONLY glimpse at Hortense we’re going to get all series. 
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We’re not getting Grandma Duck either. Though at least Frank actually regrets that one. But the important part is one of the posts mentoniing Scrooge hates magic, something Webby elaborates on: He hates spells, hexs curses and what not and feels them a shortcut.  From the man who has a garage full of them. 
I do kid as I did realize there’s a valid expliantion for this: Scrooge will use magical items, protection spells that sort of thing.. but he uses them like anything else as needed. He’s too pragmatic to not say, use the jewel of atlantis to give a city clean energy and water he can montizie, or the split sword against FOWL.. but more often than not he just dosen’t need them. He collects them because it’s fun, oftne profitable.. and their simply SAFER in his museum wing, garage and second bin will get to in two weeks. He’s seen time and time again how people misuse magic, forget it has a price, or just rely on it instead of actual skill. He’s also clearly been on the bad end of a LOT of evil sorcerers and soreceresses, especially magica. Magic isn’t inherently bad, which in itself is a BIG message of Lena’s arc, it’s just somethign that’s the OPPPSOITE OF everythign scrooge is: sacrifcing others for power, relying on something besides yourself, distance attacks versus up close and personal phsycial attacks.. it was never going to be for him and tons of bad experinces with it only cemented it. He’s just not so stubborn outside of the santa thing to avoid something if it’s going to net him a profit or come in a pinch. 
So naturally Scrooge has banned any magic books from his house, as he has no use for spellcasting and any he’d need to keep for saftey or history’s sake are likely at the archives, but just as naturally, Webby smuggled one in and wants to try it with Lena ducking it and asking to play some games. I”m sure Huey has a few yugioh decks in his room go bug him. But before they can decide on one, the boys attack for a PILLOW FIGHT.... which is a sweet gesture and them just wanting to hang out, but ends with them all eating the ground and questioning why they thought attacking the duck equilvent of cassandra cain was a good idea. Louie decides to salvage it with a swim.. but since their pool has a boat in it he has a diffrent location in mind: the bin.
So while they head off to get head injuries, Beakly tries to prepare Scrooge as the Media are vultures and looking for the next scandal with public figures and it’s accurate. But given Scrooge’s natural mood is grumpus, this dosen’t go well at all and even a spray bottle dosen’t exactly help.. I mean it is the best method to deal with grumpy old men but it can only do so much. 
At the bin we get a lovely bit as Dewey prepares to dive and his brothers treat it like an olympic one, with both doing commentary, Dewey’s apparently response to if he was worried about brain damage was Nerp, and we get the wonderous national anthem of dewdonia. Just nice as well as lovely to see the brothers just having a crack and enjoying each others company with their own weird injokes but without the injokes feeling as forced as they were in “Beagle Birthday Massacre”. Things take a turn though as we see just what magica created with the stone... a giant shark made of scrooges money who eats that fucker in a single bite.. in this case Dewey. Louie and Huey naturally run off panicked.
So while Huey and Louie gain another scarring memory to tell their therapist when their older, Scrooge begins his interview with Roxanne Fetherly who.. honestly just weirds me out. Not for any personality stuff but because she has green feathers. And it just.. really feels WEIRD. I mean green ducks are a thing in real life.. but it just looks off to have such a pastel color on a duck when the other colors are white or tones meant to invoke real world races, allowing ducks to be black, latino, asian and so on and so on coded. That’s fine and blends in fine.. but with that metaphor the green just really dosen’t fit well at all. It feels like an early decision they made, but decided not to retcon or go with for anyone else which makes it all the more weird. We’re 3 seasons in , almost at the end, and the only other green duck we’ve seen was like that because of magic and the offputting nature of it WORKS for magica. Here I just don’t get it and I never well. But naturally Roxanne starts in on invasive, gotcha questions with no real good answers or time to respond, so fox news level questions, and then asks what part of ireland he’s from. 
Naturally that sets him off so while that rant goes on, literally next time we see him he’s still going on about it, we cut to the girls playing truth or dare.. and given Webby’s first question is about deepest darkest secrets the boys once again save her by running in... to report on the monster she created that just ate their brother. Lena brushes it off but does get them not to go to scrooge claming he’ll throw them to the shark himself. I mean he’s not comics scrooge so he probably woudln’t but their also two scared 11-12 year olds so it works well enough. They just need a way to go after the money shark. Enter launchapd who in the second best bit of the episode, says he sensed his best friend dewey was in danger. Beck’s delivery is what sells it.. and I’m not going to question it. He’s somehow alive despite presumibly living off a diet of spaghett-o’s, barely avoiding a car accident on his best days, and as we’ll find out later believing children in costumes are monsters he summoned when he was 8. The fact he suddenly has spider sense specifically related to people he cares about is honestly less of a surprise than the fact he’s not in heaven crashing God’s Speedboat into God’s Golden Castle with God’s Golden Lion riding shotgun. 
So they do the natural thing and.. steal Donald’s houseboat while he sleeps. He has no more involvement in this episode other than noticing it’s back and not in great condition at the end. I bring this up because this is one of Donalds ONLY apperances this season, and it’s part of the larger more irritating problem that he’s hardly ever used.. despite promoting him as a major part of the series. 
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I will talk about this more during the Della arc as i’ts more relevant there, but needless to say it bothers me a lot and not knowing how to ballance it’s massive main cast was a constant struggle for the series even up to the final episodes going on right now. 
So our heroes head out on the bin late at night, where could the Jaw$ be she’s nowhere in sight. So they decide to use other treasure as a lure they either fished out of a bin or out of scrooge’s bathwater. How bathing in coins gets him clean I don’t know and frankly I dont’ think we want the answers to that and the idea of scrooge fully naked is so horrifying I forgot what I was talking about.
Ah yes our heroes are playing bait the money monster and find out it’s a shark, and Lena.. is not okay with that and goes to talk to Magica inside the boat. Magica tells us she has a name, Tiffany. Awww what a lovely name for a money shark. I would of gone with Rags to Bitches, but I may have brain damage.  Lena understandabily does not like the idea of getting eaten by a shark, asked to be informed and while Magica is mad at her for going after the thing, Lena reasonably points out that it was this or Scrooge got involved.  Up top Huey tries catching it with a bit of treasure on a rope.. after not shutting up about shark facts because “Facts comfort me when i’m nervous!” Precious angel. But Huey’s leg gets caught and he and Louie, somehow on the latter get thrown up in the air and chomped. Back bellow Webby has a suggestion: using magic. Lena naturally not wanting to blow her cover or really liking magic period is against it for now. 
Back at the interview, Roxanne brings on a special guest to prove people don’t like scrooge: GLOMGOLD!
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Glomgold may create some issues for the subplot and we’ll get to those in due time, but damn if it isn’t always a pleasure to see him. He’s also on good terms with Roxanne... are.. are we sure this is local news and not fox news? Taking the word of a conservative greedy billionare over a progressive one seems like a fox move. Though I might actually watch fox news if glomgold was a commentator.  “I propose a red new deal instead of this blasted green new deal, I throw Scrooge to a tank of sharks connected to a generator, the tank turns red with his blood and that somehow creates power! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT MCDUCK” 
So we get the best bit of the episode as Glomgold tries to complain about his building being destroyed which would be fair... if he hadn’t tried to blow up Scrooge’s bin twice this week, with Glomgold going for THREE.. for threee.. for three... it dosen’t go off but it does get scrooge to say he’s glad the building was destroyed. Which is fair but NOT super great PR.  
Back at the shark things don’t get better as Webby and Lena argue over the use of magic, I mean as much as they can argue Webby just wants to know why she’s so cagey about this while they go with plan “Launchpad crash into it”. Launchpad also gives a hell of a monologue. Good on you bud. As you can see launchpad’s gotten 100% better since his low point in our last episode. That’s because it’s clear the writers had some struggle ballancing his amped up stupidity with actual competence, making him primarily jokey comic relief in the first few episodes and I wouldn’t be shocked if Terror of The Terra Firmians was written before a lot of the later episodes despite airing around the same time. But by mid-season he’s got his much more lovable charactersation of a dangerous moron..l but one who CAN be competent and is genuinely charming due to how much he cares about his friends and his job. They also dialed down the stupid down to an acceptable homer simpson level: still a danger to himself and others but hilariously so. Point is they fixed it and while i’ll complain about mistakes the show made I will give this crew all the credit for course correcting time and time again and actually listening to fan feedback.
So Webby figures they tried the Jaws option and lost the boat and launchpad, time for plan Magic. They hold hands, EEEEEEEEE, and try a spell.. and it clearly starts working but almost works TOO well, as Lena starts glowing first purple.. then blue. Hmmmm... intresteing. Lena breaks it off and Tiffany breaks out of the bin.. just as scrooge says on the news his adventures aren’t dangerous. 
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Scrooge naturally goes to face it while Webby wonders why Lena didn’t go for it. To make it a triple Scrooge shows up in time to distract tiffany.. with the number one dime, which as lena found out earlier is on his person rather than at the bin like the public thinks. So while Scrooge puts up a good show.. seriously it’s really awesome and really neat looking, though he also gets VERY upset that people are naturally holding out buckets for the cash shark, which he’s not happy about because well.. he did EARN that money. Most bin money is stuff directly earned by him so fair enough. But while he’s you know, Scrooge Fucking McDuck, and thus puts up a good fight the monster eats him.. and gets the dime stuck in it’s tooth with Magica wanting Lena to grab for it, forgetting that minons, while mildly disposable, aren’t really replaceable when your SOUL’S ATTACHED TO THEM. That’s where Magica’s weakness is. her plans aren’t half bad but as I said, she’s far too bloodthirsty and short sighted. She has better ones than glomgold but ironcially they share the same problem of not thinkign them through. And Magica cares so little for lena she’s blinded to the fact her own personal saftey is tied up in her. 
Lena naturally dives for her future girlfrriend and heads into the belly of the beast. And it’s here her REAL moment of truth is. While the one last episode was noble.. it was also easy enough to brush off internal as pragmatisim. Letting Beakly die would’ve brought too much heat and been too easy to quickly go terrible, while saving her got her off Lena’s trail and gave her free reign of the manner. But here? Webby is about to slip into Tiffany’s stomach and whle she hasn’t digested anyone yet given who made Tiffany with it’s likely just because she hasn’t had enough mass to create chainsaws to carve them all up. It’s the Dime or Webby. Lena’s own freedom or the girl she loves. Nothing good comes from saving Webby.. other than Webby. Other than the one person whose truly loved her. I mean think about it: She was created by magica, abused for a good decade and a half. No one but Magica has had a chance to care about her and as we’ve seen Magica only sees her as a weapon to get back at scrooge and not as a person. Webby was the first person she’s ever made a genuine connection with, that’s been there for her, that loves her unconditionally and woiuld be there for her no matter what. And it’s in that moment Lena realizes she can’t sacrifice her for her own good... that after years of having to be selfish to surivive being chained to that monster... she can’t be this time. No mastter what it costs her.. Webby is priceless. So Lena recites the spell, growing bright blue and blowing up tiffany. Lena gladly hugs webby who reciorpates, awww gaybies, and Launchpad hugs dewey. Awww... what it’s still precious he’s a good surrogate uncle. The wacky kind who sleeps in a van on your lawn. 
So Scrooge is glad.. though it’s here his subplot falls flat. Him getting attacked by the media and getting a compupance by loosing tons of money from tiffany is fine. Evne if he earned it, his lack of care did bring this on him.. hte problem is they take it too far by having all his nemies show up, him unable to say anything and glomgold blatantly doing so just to steal from him. Otherwise the subplot is fine, a bit heavy on scrooge being a dick but it has to to work and puts him in an awkward situation. But this ending just feels to over the top to realy enjoy. And the series does do over the top humor well so I don’t know what happened here. But having a bunch of outright thieves steel his money instad of a bunch of citizens who didn’t know better and deserved it for the damage, feels wrong and it tastes wrong. 
Speaking of feels wrong and tastes wrong we get an INTEINTONAL dose of that as back at the amptheater, Lena and Magica argue about the situation and Magica trying to kill her. Lena tries to walk away but can’t.. phsyically. Magica won’t let her. And this is honestly a very crushing and very well crafted metaphor for how abuse victims sometimes CAN’T escape their abusers. Magica is verbally abusive, treats lena like she’s disposable and constnatly downtalks her self esteem. To Lena magica is nothing but a tool.. but like MANY children caught in horrifcally abusive situations Lena can’t get away. It’s a literal metaphor, an da good one, for how you can’t ALWAYS escape abuse easily, and this especially true for kids who have nowhere to go and hte law on their abusers side more often than not. It’s hard to escape an abusive parent and even harder when they dont’ consider you a person. I thankfully have no personal experince with this but it dosen’t make it any less of a problem nor any less noble of this show to tackle the subject in a frank, if fantastical, way, and a good chunk of Lena’s arc is overcoming this abuse and not letting her abusive past drown her. But for now.. all she can do is agree to do what Magica says till she can hopefully be rid of her. But the light at the end of the tunnel’s coming.. there’s just a whole lotta darkness first. 
Next Time: We take a break from the episodes to cover some Lena related comics for a double feature; The first Spies Like Us has everyones faviorite lesbian ducks go on a spy adventure that was never printed in the us for silly reasons we’lll get to and then the 87 ducktales comic dime after dime which features Lena’s predecessor Minima. 
Later Today: Close Enough Season 2 is here! I”m going to talk about it! Exclimation Points! 
If you liked this review feel free to follow for more. And if you have an episode of Ducktales or another animated show you’d like me to cover just hit me up via my asks or direct messages on here and comission it. And if you’d rather just support me on a monthly basis, head over to my patreon. THE LINK IS RIGHT HERE.  Even a buck a month would help and the more of you that donate the closer we get to my Duckcentric stretch goals. The current closest ones are 15, which would lead to reviews of The Goofy Movies and Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and 20 which would lead both to a review of the Super Ducktales mini series, and monthly darkwing duck reviews! So if you like me talking about ducks and want to bolt some duck reviews to the schedule, even a dollar a month would inch me closer to that goal. Eveyr bit helps. But money or not, it’s been a pleasure and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 
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darkzeruda1214 · 5 years ago
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I’m not going deny, I was heavily inspired by just a Pancake’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoIpdFLz-Ls&t=4s
The Fandom does a much better job at writing and developing these gals than game has ever done or shown. I do love these three but stuff like this still bugs the shit out of me.
I love these gals. But I’m not going to deny that Just a Pancake really makes a valid point. And to be fair after some thinking I see the argument he was trying to make.
Now I know we all have own opinions and that’s fine. I stay firm with mine as you do yourselves. And that’s what makes a fandom, we all have a right to dislike and disagree if we want to. In fact I do encourage because it allows debates and second thinking if needed.
Anyways… back on topic, I’m going to be blunt. But Kingdom Hearts just dosen’t make good female characters. (This is not including Disney girls of FF, just KH original characters)
And it’s kinda sad considering how few main original KH female characters there are. You think they’d be able to bulk up personalities, but that seems to go to all the male characters.
As amazing and fun this game is, it needs some tweaking on making their female characters, feel alive.
Now I’m not talking about the fandom perspectives of these gals, because I’m going to be real. The fans do an INSANELY better job at portraying these girls. (TAKE NOTES NOMURA DAMN IT!)  
Now there are a few exceptions a couple being Larxene and Olette. To me (and feel to disagree with me) they were the only ones that felt like had something to offer.
Larxene has more character than all the other gals. Being sarcastic, sadistic and snide (at times insufferable bitch) and to me that breaths a lot of personality and I love her for it. Even her voice actor has put a great amount of effort in bringing Larxene to life. Out of all the KH girls she is the one who brings in most of the attention. And even in the few scenes she gets the spotlight without even trying.
The second being Olette. Now I know some of you are already typing as to how she has anything to offer. She’s not even a main character! Yes, and that the thing, I think because she has no major role in it allows the writers to give her a character that comes off as simple and sweet. She’s the only one to demonstrated that she’s as normal and ordinary as a person can be in this series. Something we don’t exactly see happening in the KH franchise since every named character has a role to fulfill, and for her to be a small breath of fresh air is a nice change of pace. It shows: yes there are normal people, with normal lives. They have no scripted important task ahead of them, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of it.
And not only that, we did get to know bits and parts of her personality. And her interests thanks to small details sprinkled in KH2 and 3. Such as showing she has her priorities straight and 'actually' doing her homework/jobs before the due date. She loves going to the beach and loves spending time with her friends. Also she like to go shopping. A simple character, with a simple purpose. And to me she feels alive and just in general, a simple but easy character to relate to. She’s a perfect example of a beauty in simplicity.  
Now… as for the main girls.
Aqua is literally my favorite KH girl. However, the thing about her, is that she shared too many similar features with Sora. Now I don’t mean personality wise because Aqua is much more mature and level headed than Sora could ever be 
However, as much as I really hate to admit it. Aqua doesn’t have anything to offer other than a serious role model and as a plot device...
I think what made Aqua popular is the fact that she’s a strong independent female character who doesn’t need no man to save her. (Also, she has a really well thought out design). And for that I praise and respect her for it. Yet… throughout the game, she relatively keeps the same straight face. Her expression has shown to be sad, angry or just stoic. Nothing too bad, but as far as that, we don’t see Aqua have any interests beyond wanting to save her friends. And to me that’s all she did in the series, I’m not going to lie the first time I played Birth by Sleep, I saw absolutely no reason for her to be in the game. I mean Xehanort (he can go suck a dick) focused all of his attention on Terra to take over his body. And on Ventus to play a role in forging the X-blade.
But as for Aqua, to me it seemed like she was just walked in there to simply fill a space and create another trio. Now I’m not saying under circumstance that she is useless. After all, her role in the game is a huge catalyst for the events of KH1. It gives her a purpose and is one of the most important characters. But to me that felt more like a large plot device and changer other than being a person. Aqua suffered a lot in the series, no doubt. But being a catalyst isn’t enough to be a good character. She’s not bad by any means, as I still hold her a place in my heart. But I feel like she was put on plot pedestal in the series instead of being given a full fledged personality that makes her relatable. There are only two instances that allowed Aqua to not be a emotionless character:
One being with Zack asking her on a date and the second is when she tried to help Cinderella and Jaq in Castle of Dreams world. To see an awkward/embarrassed expression instead of the dull zombie-like one was a nice sense of relief to give her something.      
Another character that suffers from this treatment is Xion. She is one of my favorite characters from 358/2 days, but beyond the fact that she got the short end of the stick of being forgotten by her own friends (and everyone else for that matter). Her story is a tragic one, one that always gives me the feels and her theme is both beautiful and sad. But I wouldn’t say she had a character that made me connect with her as much as it could have.
She definitely has more expression and personality compared to Aqua that’s for sure. But not by much, however hers is within good reason. After all she was a puppet created by Vexen and Organization XIII don’t get me wrong. I understand that, and I would say it’s unfair for me to be saying this to her. And you’re right, it is unfair, but Xion eventually learned how to have emotions. How to cry and what happiness and laughter is and feels like.
The one thing I did get from her is that she loves sea salt ice cream and is one of the cutest and sweetest character in the game. But as far as her interests goes, there’s not much to go by. Now I know you can argue that both Roxas and Axel don’t exactly express their interest beyond their time in the clock tower. And it’s true, but Xion doesn’t add much more either… again I feel like she was only added in the game last minute. And that’s why in the story she’s forgotten so they have an explanation as to what happened to her and why she’s not recalled in KH2. Xion also gets the “plot device” treatment rather than as a character. And to me it feels like a disrespect to her character! (Her manga incarnation is MILES better).
However, I also don’t say much on her either only because she is still learning how to be her own individual. But my point still stands, though it’s prone to change, mostly because she now has the opportunity to be a character after KH3 since everyone remembers her and has her own body. And she might finally get an personality expansion in the next set of installments in the future.
Now as for Kairi…
Well this topic has been talked and reviewed over to death. In fact I even spoke about her character in this post here: https://princesszelda-heroine.tumblr.com/post/187815960646/kairi-deserved-better
But to sum it up, Kairi hasn’t been given a chance to shine as an individual compared to her friends and the others. And after what happened in KH3 I’m just more frustrated with the writers and developers that they won’t allow her to grow with sustenance! Whatever she had in KH1 and 2 was totally stripped in KH3.
My point being. Being a plot device in game or a catalyst for another one. Or having amazing/original design, does. Not. Make. A. Good. Fleshed. Out. Character.
I’m sorry to say this. But it’s true.
This is why I hate the treatment these gals go through in game. I stick solely to fan works because they give these girls the justice they deserve and makes me love them more as a whole.
I know there is a lot of things I didn’t cover, and maybe I missed a couple of points. But this is how I see this, and how I think the franchise is really missing a lot of good opportunities developing them.  
They really don't have much to offer as far as personality growth. Thank You KH Manga series.
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justeonelemoncoffee · 7 years ago
Text
part of gifted!steven au 
(not really)
“so basically steven is a snow white.”
“steven is what?” the words, it makes andrew look up from laptop. so engrossed in the work, he didn’t noticed someone walks in. the office has been uncharacteristically quite since most of them had to go out to work. taking advantage of it, andrew enjoyed the rare moment, taking off headphone even. until it isn’t. 
a host member of the try guys, keith smirk at bewildered look on his face. before he know it, the others show up too.
“basically i’m not.” and steven. who followed them as camera crew in the early morning. it was take more time than andrew expected. steven was holding a paper cup, he comes to andrew straight, put the coffee down front of him. it was still warm. almost involuntarily, he raises the cup to his lips and murmured thank you, steven smile down at him. then sit against desk which is andrew’s as if he belong to there. he did that often, maybe too often. not that andrew minded though.
“you are. you’re the princess. you should be watch out apples. someone might poison you.” zack, the other try guys member stepped into the scene.
“yeah, since you’re filming worth it…” eugene who’s standing next to zack, agrees too. he takes out his cellphone and showed something to others. ned laughed out loud as keith cackles at the same time. apparently, it seems they all had fun at wildlife rescue center. andrew wonders what happened during the filming. he notices all of them looked tired. it probably was long shoot. helping animals aren’t easy work. especially if they are wildlife. among them, steven looks drawn, a little pale even. andrew is beginning to worry him.
“very funny. and why is a princess by the way?” apparently, steven dosen’t seem  to have fun as much as the others.
“because it’s away more fun than just call you a prince.” zach says, wearing shit-eating grin on his face. steven groaned, cross his arm and obviously pouts now. he retorted something back to them. although he didn’t seem to really upset with them, apart from camera, annoyed steven isn’t something you can see everyday. andrew couldn’t help but staring the view.
“call me princess again, i’m going to…”
“…sleep and wait for prince charming.” zack interrupts him, just for completes the sentence by himself. steven huffs, he shakes his head and stare them flatly like he’s a parent who can’t deal with the immature acts of his children. which is absurd and also hilarious, because he’s steven lim. most childish adult andrew ever met. and he works in buzzfeed.
“i hate you all. except andrew. because andrew is nice unlike you guys.”
steven says and nods solemnly. andrew can’t help allows to himself admit it’s a cute sight.
“you mean, because andrew is ‘the one’?”
“you know what? i’m done here.”
steven raises himself upright from andrew’s desk, glares at them. then without a word, he walks out through office door dramatically. considering his overeacting, almost playful expression, he isn’t really upset. andrew relaxes. he can’t remember when it started exactly, but steven’s well being is important to him somehow. before steven stumped off, muttering something under his breath. something like ‘troll guys.’ well, andrew thinks they deserve it.
when steven is out of sight, andrew turned back, raise his eyebrows to them. “snow white, huh?”
“i thought it better than ‘living catnip’ because it was called already.” keith shrugs, of course, there’s no sigh of dependance. actually it doesn’t need to be. to be honest, it happens all the time, ‘teasing steven’ to put it bluntly. although they never intended to mean to him or hurt him (if someone did, the freak is gonna be buried alive under the buzzed HQ. andrew would be the first one who grabs a shovel and starts digging ground. probably adam too, he’ll be the second.) people doing that just to see his reaction. includes andrew himself. in his defense, it wasn’t their fault. his reaction is too fun and adorable when being teased. steven knows that too. people tease him because they fond of him. even though doesn’t get the reason. in other worlds, as long as there’s no harm, steven didn’t mind the teases.
(okay, maybe he sulked once or twice) this time is no different. but andrew knows better than that. something bothers steven. and it bothers him.
maybe not for everybody, but it’s obvious to his eyes. andrew wonders if even steven realize his own feeling. for a remarkably smart person, also preternaturally keen to other’s emotion, steven doesn’t have a clue about himself. sometimes it looks like, he simply forgot that he has a feeling too. to him, it’s a very interesting process to watch. sympathy too. at least he’s an open book, so andrew can take care of him. it isn’t necessary job though. andrew knows that, he doesn’t need to watch over steven, or babysit him. no. no matter how many time steven acts like a child, he’s a respectable adult and he can do things properly when he has to.
it just, it feels wrong, to seeing steven is being hurt. he hates it. don’t even want to think about it. andrew just wants to make sure that troubles keep out of his way, make sure something won’t let hurt him. keep him safe. that’s what friends do. right? standing by side watching over each others back. although to andrew that’s not enough. steven no need to know about that. so he just waited until steven left the office.
“why steven became disney princess, suddenly? did something happened in there?” adrew asks, the try guys look each others, grin spreads on their faces. like they recalled good old memory. and what is that? it’s been only few hours. before andrew lost his patience, zach smirks at him and open his mouse finally. “something happened indeed. we almost dropped out the filming because steven has new stalkers.”
“he had what.” andrew knows his voice rises, but he don’t care about that. not now.
“relax, nothing serious, i mean, just animals.” ned adds quickly, holding his hands as if trying to calm him down like andrew is about two seconds from turn to some dangerous creature while zack just waves him off.
“yeah, animals like bunny and furries or some kind of deers. isn’t it typical? it is, you know, one of essential conditions for being princess.” he says in sarcastic tone. but andrew can sense affection in there.
“we tried to making friends with them. so we had to cleaning stalls and washing them, feeding food and helping them, something more to build to gain their trust.” eugene says while eating snack. must be hungry. he shoves a handful of chips into mouth. so zach has to tell instead of him. “they did. with only steven. and that wasn’t fair. he didn’t even help the cleaning!” he exclaimed, fake indignantly.
because he had to holding a camera. or boom mic. but andrew don’t say it out loud. hold it to himself. he don’t want to showing of his favoritism. no more than he’s shown it so far.
“if it wasn’t funcking adorable. i’d stop filming and came back to the office without him. we had to wait for hours.”
“maybe we should have to sing to them.” ned added, everyone laugh again.
even they say like that, it’s obvious they were enjoying the filming. finish his snack, eugene approached to him with camera. “let me show you, here.”
first one. the view starts from entrance of the center. then scene shifted to a forest, look like almost nature thing. andrew impressed. if he don’t see fences and some facilities across divided districts, he might believe it is. and there’s some animals too. camera zoom in on them. they’re scatters here and there on an area. some deers, rabbits. maybe it’s herbivorous zone. at first, the animals didn’t recognize someone watching them. it was a calm, peaceful scene. then suddenly the video footage was shaking a bit like the camera man was ambushed by something. angle down rapidly, almost falls to ground. fortunately the crew managed to catch the camera before hitting on ground. the angle back to normal with a sigh go relief, andrew knows the voice, at the same time his eyes catch sneakers and immediately notices who’s the sneakers’s owner. soon, the sneakers covered by mottled fluffy balls. andrew finds himself melts a bit at the scene. then he heard, ‘i knew it’ somewhat resignedly, steven mumbled in camera.
move on to next one, steven appears in middle of the footage, he sat down surrounded by small animals. a bunny on his lap, others perches on his legs.  steven was busy to petting them by turn. deeply concentrated on what he is doing, steven didn’t seem to notice camera at first. he occasionally nodded, lifted his head to only speak to someone who outside of the footage. probably center staff, andrew guesses. from the way steven’s hands moving over anlmals, it looks like he asking things about the animals around him. andrew don’t understand what they’re talked, but it rather affected steven considering his expression; sad, sympathy. worry, all emotions mixed on his face and it looks almost painful. but his touch for them is so gentle and tender. andrew tries not to feel jealous of. these grass eaters. don’t be stupid, illyckyj.  after steven did comfort them for a while, finally he tried to up. but a deer nudged him to sitting position again.
the try guys are right. it’s unfair. for he can’t see this in person.
“see? snow princess.” keith says. andrew don’t agree with that, he just says nothing. just stare at the camera. “it seems like, steven has them wrapped around his finger too, huh.” he don’t disagree either.
camera zoom in on, so he can see that steven speak something to her(or him. he don’t know.) with smiling fondly. when andrew thinks their face too close, as i on cue, they brush each others nose accidently. at moment steven looked dumbfound. then he burst out laugh. it sounds happy.
“you’re smiling.” ned says with teasing tone. like he knows that what’s going on there, inside of his head.
“no, i’m not.” andrew frowns instantly, realized that he’s not alone. but it’s too late.  even though it’s not exactly secret, still embarrassing to admit to them. even himself. he don’t used to this kind of thing. feeling. of course, he’s been experience of some relationships since teen, through casual to serious term in a way. he dated before, the last one is not too long ago. but it’s different. it’s feels different. andrew never been in here before. that’ why he can’t define his feeling for steven. because steven, for an open book, he’s still an enigma to andrew. and he even don’t know that he really wants to solve this or not. maybe both. what an irony. like steven himself. it’s frustrated him no end. maybe he’s just curious. or not. curiosity never make him fluttering like this.
“i know. this is my favorite too.” ned adds, ignoring his answer. then he smirks at andrew, like he knows what’s going on inside of his head. technically it’s not possible. andrew turns his eyes to other way.
“mine is this one.” thankfully eugene, stepped in appropriate timing. he picks cell phone up again, open video polder and touch the most recent one to play,
in this video. steven tried to sneak out from herbivores zone. he looked around in nervous, tiptoed over to the borderline of forests. but in the middle of escape, he was caught by a bunny, steven’s eyes widen. he stepped backward few steps but tripped over himself to avoid step on little ones, fell over on ground miserably. as if on cue. soon his almost entire body disappeared by the animals. steven yelled ‘i can’t move!’
this time, andrew huffs out little laugh.
the truth about andrew is, he’s always stuck in middle. and he hates it.
it’s mean not only literally but metaphorically too. well, he’s just born that way. the middle child of three brothers. perhaps it wouldn’t be so surprising if there was middle child crisis as expected. he was. no matter how he wants to deny about that.  he can feel that it’s still exist somewhere inside him. although not much, just tiny presence now. but it wasn’t from being neglected or left behind though.
his parents are most amazing person he could ever have. they love each other in all sincerity. they are really love him. love he and his brothers all fairly, there’s never a hint of favoritism. treat them with patience and understanding, always supported and encouraged them with open mind. in return, andrew love them wholeheartedly as his other brothers. andrew knows very well how lucky he is. people knows. he lived in small town. when he was younger, his friends often told him it made them feel jealous how perfect, wonderful family that he has. his family may not wealthy, but there was nothing real hardship either. they are humble but confident, on good term with neighbors. a loving and caring family. truly, his family are perfect. probably too perfect, too good for him.
so, it wasn’t really their fault that he had secret inferiority complex. and if they did, at least it’s not on purpose. more likely, it’s andrews problem.
 the brothers, although they worked well as a dream team, each performed better separately. they are each two years apart. alex, the oldest one, he’s such a perfection itself. the smartest in brothers, not only he’s fulfill his duty as eldest brother by taking care of his sibling, but also basically everyone around him. as an honer roll student, he always one step ahead of his peers. there’s nothing he can’t do. everything about his brother is perfect and elegant. perfect student, perfect friend, perfect veterinarian, perfect boyfriend, perfect brother and perfect son. he’s the proud one in family. someday even if his older brother throwing his hat in the ring, to running for president, andrew wouldn’t be surprise.
on the contrary max, the youngest, he’s a rascal and rebel. not to family or innocents, but against society, to irrational system, like convention and corruption things. the trouble maker in brothers. he’s bold, daring and brave. it’s not fake or immature thing. he’s a genuine one. some people might consider him a bad boy by his acts and wild looks but not really. seemingly he’s lone wolf. the truth is, he’s such a darling to everyone. it was impossible not to love this guy. he’s the charming one in family. as social butterfly by nature, the younger one loves party and people. his irresistible smile attracts people, especially to women since he born. ladies boy to ladies man now. also he’s a journalist too. he put his heart and soul into these works. andrew is sure that his baby brother gonna surprise the world.
as if that’s not enough, both of them belonged to the football team when in high school. the linebacker and the quarterback. and andrew? people might expected that he was in there too. maybe the center. but no. although he can play if he wants ( his brothers used to practice on the others. so yeah)  he was in drama club.
andrew is well, just andrew. it wasn’t mean that he was the ugly duckling. if anything, andrew had a good time in his own way. not exactly the popular one, but close to. he has a dry sense of humor that people thinks really funny. he looks cool, calm and collected but still friendly one. he had good grade, he has good friends, he was one of main players in dram club. he was good in many things. sometimes andrew thought that he just playing a role in real life. mostly original, but still mixing copy in a character. almost perfect as much as the older one. almost charming as much as younger one. but not enough to satisfied himself. he can’t impressed people like them. middle isn’t means center anyway.
like he said. his parents love them equally, never compared them to others. andrew compared himself to them. andrew knows he shouldn’t treat himself like that. but he couldn’t stop either.
sure, the family lives in harmony but that didn’t mean they are flawless. yes. he said the word perfect maybe too many times. ‘perfect’ as humanly possible. of course they have trouble too, they fight and sulk to each others as other people do that. over ridiculous things like toothpaste flavor to some serious issue. and apologize,  back to life as if nothing had ever happened. likewise, of course andrew knows they are just mortal as much as he is. but can’t help the noticing that they all way better than him. no one wouldn’t agree with him though. no one understand his feeling ether. that’s why he thought this is his problem.
when andrew was in college, he played several roles in several plays than high school. his professor told him he’s talented one. even though andrew couldn’t sure about that, but occasionally he found himself that how easily he into the roles. it was fun to become another person which he never gonna be in reality. it felt good. like drug, he was kind of addicted to it a bit. sometimes he felt that he’s breathing easier in roles than just himself. first time andrew realized that, he immediately felt guilty, like he betrayed his family. although he did his best to hide it. god. what’s wrong with him. he used to ask this to himself. but there was no answer. it’s like poverty midst plenty, surrounding people, somewhat he felt lonely. if it’s any consolation, at least his acting is good.
he might too busy to struggling with himself.(low key self-conscious, loneliness, self-induced pressure) andrew tends to catching up with things later. for example, his confused sexuality. actually it started at his sophomore year(his best guessing) didn’t nocticed until senior year. of college. he was a mess at that time. he’s in shock, not really ashamed of that but don’t know how to deal with. he already had enough shit.
or
“what do you mean, you have known this what, whole time?”
“i’m your mom andy, what do you expect from me? and stop looking at me like that.”
“like what?”
“like i ate your whole candy!”
“were you?”
or
“dad?”
“well, son. we couldn’t sure about that. just guess, you didn’t show any particular sign about that, but you know, we’re your parents. and you was in drama club anyway.”
“i hate this family.”
“no, you’re not.”
or
“so..you can have men and women both, huh? you hit the jackpot, bro!“
“you’re not helping.”
“if you want to join community, talk me anytime. i know some people who can help.”
“you just want to use me to date with them. you jerk.”
or
“if you want to meet someone, maybe i can introduce my friends or visitors.”
“thank you, but no thank you.”
“which do you prefer, cat person or dog person?”
“stop.”
huh.
he knows that his family not gonna judging him with that. it went well as expected. too well. jesus fucking christ, his parents have known before he realized. his brothers, they accepted it like he changed his hair color. so, no surprising. no shock. no bewilderment, no fussing. and andrew, he found himself a little disappointing about that. seriously what’s wrong with him, he asked himself again as many time did. it wasn’t make any sense. he got the best response as much as he could get, from people who he care most deeply about. and upset with that? what the hell.
but he couldn’t show it, as always.
after some wandering, andrew began to working for that company called buzzfeed. it was niki, his best friend suggestion. who already had been there. he met her senior year of college. they was in class for studying filmmaking (his major. theater was minor) they really clicked immediately. they have similar personalities and dispositions andrew is comfortable around her. he knows her, she knows him. niki understand him in that way no one did before. they talked about almost everything. also she realized his sexuality faster than him.
 it was surprisedly easy for him to adjusted to life in california. there’re so many people. so many food. and sun. the sunshine is so bright it got him almost blinding. floods into everywhere, you can’t hide nothing from that. for a quite while, he hadn’t notice that he changed mood. he’s been too busy to think about anything else but  adapt new life. it was refreshing. warming him up under the sun, he thought maybe it’s time to stop hiding. he should to living his own life. now he feels more independent, more freedom than before. it reminded him first college year, but better. he living on his money now. maybe that’w why. maybe for the first time in his life, he’s simply in the right place at the right time.
steven wasn’t.
“i think you’re the right person for this show.”
when steven approached him and said like that, it takes a moment for the words sink in. and andrew realized that steven is still there, sitting in next to him. so he has no a choice but turn his body steven’s way to facing him. if others did as steven did, he may get suspicious first.(fuck candid camera.) but he’s steven lim. it’s not like andrew knows him well. aside from his name, tall, thin asian, blond, awkward but smart guy. and that’s all. nothing above average except height. he’s no problem with that. what and don’t understand is, it seems everybody in buzzfeed loves steven a lot. without any special reason. nothing wrong with the love. but something in there, or something off in there. some people acts as if they’re possessed by whatever, how andrew can know what is it? just it feels little bit unnatural. but again, he really don’r know about steven lim. but andrew also knows that; he’s not kind of backstabbing person. as an actor, andrew is sure that steven is incapable of telling a lie. well, technically he can. just he’d be a terrible liar.
he can see steven tried to look casual, but obviously it’s not works when steven wiggling in his chair like a nervous child. moreover he fidgeting his hands constantly and he’s eyes, are looking everywhere in the office but him.
stop that. andrew feels an urge to snap at him, or hold his armchair to stop him
“are you sure? don’t get me wrong. but i never expect this.” not from you.
instead, he tries answered calmly. he’s already guilty of one thing to steven. don’t have a plan for make another sin. adam’s going to kill him. who talked to him about the show steven and him are planning. “why me? i mean, we barely know each other.” andrew asks, because it’s true.
steven nods, enthusiastically. “i’m sure. and you’re right. we don’t know each other. that’s why we need you. we compare food on food. but our difference, i think it gonna inject some life there.” steven nods again, not to andrew this time. like he wants to make sure at himself too. he knits his brows like he thinks hard something.   andrew realizes that he stopped the wiggling. so he is serious. “and i heard that you’re not picky.” steven adda, in seriousness. like it’s most important problem in there. and okay. andrew has to keep a straight face.
“and?” it’s come out softly more than he thinks he would be, almost encouragingly. it works.
“and i heard you love foods. i need someone who would be really, truly professional about this show. we gotta do a lot of things just for this. we don’t need expert. we need passion, sincerity and devotion to go on the this show. i am. but when i go too far, i need someone drag me down to ground.” he explains, sincerely, while steven talked to him, steven looking at him straight in his eyes. somehow andrew impresses.
“and you think of me?” amused too. it’s not like andrew isn’t tempt by that. andrew did filming with him once. steven’s good. the concept is appearing. and adam would be there too. it’s gonna be a good shot.
“yes. i’m sure that we’ll get along fine. i don’t know you well. but i know you’re good from my experience.”now he blushes. it’s pretty. and his desperate, hopeful expression says more than words. steven’s eyes are too dark andrew almost can’t find the iris. but it’s most transparent eyes that he ever seen. vulnerable even. andrew can see through his eyes.
“i’ll think about that.” andrew finds himself says like that. how can he say no to this?
“really? wow, thank you, wow. i know it’s not easy decision. but you won’t be disappointed when you join the team!” steven beams at him. then he jumps to his feet like he’s so excited that he can’t sit still. god, how old he is, twelve? and he don’t know where is it come from but, suddenly it feels like,
“it’ll be worth it.” steven says softly.
exactly.
then steven is gone. as suddenly as he appears. andrew’s mind lost for while; mulling over the suggestion. andrew don’t know well about steven, but he seems nice and passionate. also a bit perfectionist like andrew himself. he can feel that. and even he don’t know about steven. he knows adam. adam is caution man in every respect, he’s nice to everyone, but open his heart to others is whole another story. and andrew knows that adam really, really fond of steven. after all, they are very close. he can trust adam. but andrew knows he already made his mind before this consideration. then andrew realizes, he has never been apologize to steven. about last time incident.  maybe steven forgets it already, given that he acting around d him. but still, andrew should to apologize to him regardless of the show.  that was unfair to steven. next time he see steven, he’d to do. andrew remind himself.
and you know what? it turns out, steven is right.
.
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wullu · 8 years ago
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Signal - A Review
B4 we get down to business and I vomit my feelings, to anybody who chooses to read this and check out Signal, know that the drama does not pull any punches. There’s a fair amount of violence, murder, death, blood etc.
If you are squeamish like me, proceed with caution. :)
Um also, if you are the kind to cry ( like me), every episode is going to leave you in tears. So yeah, look out for that too. And look out for spoilers as well in the review!
Tbh I checked out Signal on a whim. I think I did it because I was on episode 11 & 12 of Tunnel and was annoyed with the direction Tunnel was taking. I had read that Signal some time-travel aspects like Tunnel and since I’m a sucker for time-travel, check it out I did.
And boy oh boy was my interest rewarded.
Signal was gripping from start to finish. The pace never let up, not even once. Sometimes in dramas, a big tragedy happens, and the next few episodes after the tragedy are devoted to some rest and happiness. But that was not the case with Signal. Signal just kept moving. It’s kind of like how it is in real life. You experience hurt and pain, but the world dosen’t stop around you. It keeps going on.
I will not lie, Signal was hard to watch. Many a time, I hit pause because either I was crying too hard or because it was too painful for me to continue. And normally when a drama or show plays me like this, you can bet your butt I would have dropped it like a hot potato. But I kept going back to Signal, episode after episode and steeling myself to watch, simply because it was that good. Despite its violence and blood, nothing about Signal felt senseless or tasteless. Everything felt very matter of fact instead. Signal makes no bones about the fact that it’s a bleak world we live in. You win some, you lose some. And justice cannot be served to everyone. The world is unfair. There are no neat-bow-tied endings for everyone. For instance, I wanted Kim Bum Joo to get his grand compeuppance. But it made for him to die in a gang lynching, like an insignificant person, with no one to see it happen. That ending was satisfying in a way as well. He died as insignificantly as a person could, all his deeds having come back to bite him in the butt.
But despite all of this, it made the little moments count. Like the moment tiny Hae Young thanked Jae Han so profusely for clearing his brother’s name. Or like the time Soo Hyun and Jae Han’s father got to send him off like he deserved. Or the time when all Jae Han and Hae Young wanted was for the other to be safe and happy, screw everything else. For all the terrible things that happened, that truly shook your faith, there were plenty of heart-warming moments as well that made you believe that it would all be okay.
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Signal had such solid writing, editing and directing. Which was one good thing. The other good thing was the cast. An excellent, solid cast, the kind who can handle the heavy punches the script threw their way. And it was not just the main leads who did a great job. Even all the supporting characters did an amazing job. Heck, even the guest actors knocked it out of the park.
I feel its rare that so many good elements can combine in a drama. Something like all the stars aligning. It is rare, but it does happen.
If I had to pick one performance that moved me, it would have to be Jo Jin Woong as Jae Han. How many times have we all felt like Jae Han? Desperate to do something but bogged down by forces bigger than us. But despite everything, Jae Han preserved and there’s something so tremendously admirable about that.
Jae Han is an ordinary chap like most of us. But it was his determination and spirit more than anything else that elevate him as a hero. Jo Jin Woong made me feel every emotion along with him deeply. When he wept, wept. When he raged, I raged. When he was happy, I was happy.
As Hae Young realises, when everyone else had given up, it was Jae Han who kept going on. Jae Han never gave up. How can you not love someone like that?
I also really enjoyed Kim Hye Soo as Cha Soo Hyun. She did a brilliant job of differentiating herself between two timelines. You can see the exact circumstances that led to her going from a rookie cop to a an experienced and determined detective. And it was deeply touching to see that she too hadn’t given up on Jae Han. He’d been so instrumental in shaping her as the person she currently is, how could she give up on him?
Similarly, Lee Je Hoon as Park Hae Young was amazing. Over time, you can see that he’s no superhero. He’s just as human as all of us. But the one thing that makes him stand out is his tenacity, just like Jae Han’s. And even though he’s never met Jae Han, he comes to know enough of the person he is to deeply admire him and respect him. And from Jae Han he’s learnt one more thing, to never give up. That scene where he realises that Jae Han took care of him from a distance as a little boy broke my heart. It was so bittersweet because Hae Young thought he had been all alone. But in retrospect, there was someone who took care from a distance. So in the end, even when he’s on the verge of death, it makes complete sense all he can focus is helping the one person who looked out for him when no one else did.
Now, shoutouts to the supporting actors who I really liked. Lee Sang Yoeb was a revelation. It was a short role, but his scenes made a lot of impact on me. He did an amazing job of playing a person who’s been warped by years of abuse. You know he’s done horrendous things but when you see his backstory, you can’t help but weep for the boy who could have been.
Oh Yeon-ah was another person who absolutely blew me away. She too played a killer like Lee Sang Yoeb. But while he was a person who became a monster, she was always a monster from the start. Her acting was absolutely spine-chilling. That blank empty gaze, the completely lack of remorse, she did an amazing job of portraying a narcissistic villain. You know how sometimes actors play up villains to be hammy, right? Oh Yeon-ah didn’t have to do anything of that. Instead, she relied on mirco-expressions and a complete lack of emotion to pull it off. She did a great job of being absolutely evil without having to resort to maniacal laughter or crazy eyes. Her dead eyes did the job.
Um, also the cutie who played tiny Hae-young. He did a great job as well. His heart-rending cries for his brother made me cry so many snotty tears. Losing a dear one is never easy. But when that dear one is the sibling/parental figure and only bright spot in your world, the loss must be even worse. The child actor did a great job. Every time he cried, I just wanted to wrap him up in a hug.
This review would not be complete if I did not mention the soundtrack. I have two words for it. Fucking amazing. The soundtrack was simply perfect in every which way, a perfect companion to such an amazing drama. Each song, somber and melancholy in tone, perfectly setting the mood for the show.
In conclusion, 10/10, watch the drama. It will be hard, you will cry, but it will stick with you long after you are done with it. And that is the hallmark of a truly amazing drama.
P.S – And if it’s not your thing, don’t fret. Different strokes for different folks. :)
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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago
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Life And Times of Scrooge McDuck Retrospective: The New Laird of Castle McDuck! “And I’ll Remember It Poppa! There’s Always Another Rainbow!”
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Hello all you happy people! And welcome back to my look at the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck! And to make up for lost time im’ doing two instalments this month, and with luck and my schedule holding out I plan to finish the main series in September, doubling up again for the last two months to finish this up. 
Background wise there’s honestly not a lot this go round, as it’s less rooted in history and more Don Rosa’s need to settle an annoying flaw with continuity. Man oh man do I relate to that and having read comics for at least half my life, i’ve seen writers do this by the bucketload to fix decisions from other writers. Sometimes for the write reasons and sometimes because EVERYTHING WAS BETTER ON MY EARTH. Don Rosa, like most writers.. has done both. 
Here though it’s for the good and for understandable reasons: Barks had Scrooge’s origin as a poor shoeshine boy from Glasgow.. but also had a rather famous and awesome story, the Old Castle’s Secret, that also gave them a giant ancestral castle. Rosa fixed this by having the McDuck’s having lost it due to a combination of being driven off the land by a fake ghost dog and poor turns of fourtune meaning they coudln’t pay the taxes to live there and were behind on taxes on it, hence the Whiskervilles having taken it over in part one. 
But obviously the Whiskervilles coudln’t KEEP the castle as Scrooge owned it in present day, thus this chapter explains how he got it. It was a stroke of genius plot wise too as it allowed him to open each act in Scotland and using the castle to measure where Scrooge is in life: As a boy dreaming of getting it back, as a young man who while not a success succeeds at this, and as an older hardned man who realizes he simply doesn’t belong here anymore who has to leave his family’s legacy here behind to start a better one in America. 
The only other real story is that a sequence here was based on the film A Matter of Life and Death, and Rosa detailed in his notes his quest to get a copy as the distribution rights here were a nightmare at the time. Thankfully that’s clearly changed as a quick look on Amazon shows both a standard DVD release, mentioned by rosa in the book and a snazzier release by the Criteron Collection are both easily available. He ended up getting a copy from Canada, and while he didn’t get any insight at least got a neat addition to his collection. Admittedly this dosen’t add much to the story, I just thought it was neat. So with all of that settled, join me after the cut as Scrooge tries to buy back his family’s legacy.
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And Scrooge has already arrived in Scotland, having reunited with Downy and Matilda, who as a refresher is more responsible and straightlaced here versus the 2017 incarnation.  Part of me DOES wish they hadn’t glossed over the reunion especially since this chapter is the last time we’ll see Scrooge and his Mom together before her utterly heartbreaking passing a few chapters down the road. But I get why we opened here instead: it’s a captivating open, with Scrooge speeding to the castle, his mother and sister trying to stave the rain off and time clearly of the essence. It sucks you in as we don’t know WHY Scrooge was summoned last time, only that it was bad enough he needed to come home, and thus ratchet’s up the tension until we find out shortly. 
It turns out the back taxes on Castle McDuck are up and the castle is being sold., doing so with some glasses, foreshadowing his iconic specs wearing as the snow and brightness of the praries in various seasons mean his eyes are all done fucked up like mine.  The Whiskervilles are naturally not only the prospective buyer but already trying to take the property prematurely, with Fergus and Jake holding the line, because love isn’t always on time. But Hortense is and when the Whiskervilles mock her daddy and uncle, planning to tear down the castle out of spite, her response reminds us why donald is a ball of rage and badassery...
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Have I mentioned she’s my favorite part of this story? Because she is. Her response to scrooge being back is also just pure adorable. 
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Scrooge does get a big reunion with his dad and uncle, getting a big hug from Fergus, if squshing his cream cheese sandwitch... and yes that’s apparently a real thing. I mean I do love me some cream cheese don’t get me wrong, but it just feels weird to put it on bread as the only thing, but I guess i’m a bit spoiled with crackers and bagels in my day and age or putting it on tosat with salmon and.. saying all of this both makes me very hungry for cream cheese. So I guess i’ts not all bad it’s just weird to me, especially since I don’t think it’d keep all that well unregrigrated but I also don’t know the times that well. Or maybe when your that poor and hungry, it dosen’t matter how good it is and maybe i’m just spoiled by my upper middle class existance. I dunno. The point is i’m going to go get me some cream cheese be back in a minute. Here have some music. 
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For all two of you that didn’t clear out, Fergus naturally for the time, turns out to be sexist, insisting Jake get “The Women” home.
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Though Rosa gets a great joke out of it by having Jake wonder if he can even reign Hortense in. And I do love Hortense’s character. Whlie i’ts simple, she’s simply an angrier version of her son without the penchant for half-assed schemes, it works and makes her stand out against the more subdued rest of the McDuck family outside of Scrooge. 
Fergus explains HOW it got so bad to Scrooge: While the McDuck ancestors pooled resources to automatically pay the taxes, eventually only having two poor old men who could barely keep their family fed and a slightly less poor pulp fiction writer somewhere in America meant the taxes piled up and the Whiskervilles are within a whisker’s reach of gettng the castle, something mentioned in part 1. 
It also provides a great payoff to the first part of Scrooge’s journey: while the boy bemoans only having gotten the 10,000 dollar check from the mine sale, and that will only just about cover the castle’s taxes, he feels disheratned as it’s ALL he’s accomplished.. but in a nice moment from Fergus he points it WASN’T all for nothing: Thanks to his work they get their home back. His family can move from the cramped confines of Dismal Downs back to their ancestral homeland like they always deserved. While he may of not achieved his goal of being rich yet.. he still achieved his goal of buying the castle back, the very thing that set him on this path in the first place. It’s telling though that it takes a reminder of that, that Scrooge is loosing sight of the very human, for lack of a better term, reasons he set out: while he’s finally built a better life for his family, if just so.. all he can see is that he’s not RICH. The money is starting to cloud his judgement.. and i’tll roll over him entirely before the series is over. 
The Head of the Whiskervilles shows up with the Sheirff.. whose also a Whiskerville lest you thought unfair and crooked policing was a strictly american thing. But Fergus points out their too early.. and Scrooge flashes his check. And when the Head Whiskerville scoffs at a mcduck having money... Scrooge points out he didn’t believe in ghosts either and brags about his awesomeness in the first chapter, revealing what he did and leaving The SHierff pissed and the older whiskerville ready with a plan: he decide......
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Sadly not with children’s trading cards but with swords, and gets past the legality issue by simply challenging Scrooge’s pride and angering him into accepting. Argus, the head whiskerville whose name I just got from the comic, reveals his plan to the Shierff: While he’s dueling Scrooge Sheirff can snatch the bank statment.. though why Scrooge didn’t you know, cash it before coming and how an american banks tatment is valid in early 1900′s Scotland...
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So the Duel is on.. and like the money he’s made, the Duel is another Marker of how far Scrooge has come and how despite still not having made his fortune yet he’s rich with EXPERINCE. His experince fighting cattle rustlers and pirates means he has the reflexes to easily outfight his opponent.. though him saying he learned how to fight “Injun Style from Buffallo Bill”, i.e. learned how to fight like a native american from a white guy and beat Sitting Bull with it just makes me feel like i’m watching that episode of Saved by the Bell where Zach has to learn not to be racist but then thinks this outfit is acceptable. 
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Scrooge also tracks the guy using the tracking skills he learned from the blackfeet which again feel like the picture above , but send Argus running.. only to lure Scrooge into a fight on the castle battlemnt in the pooring rain and disarming him. Luckily the spirit of Sir Quackly gives the lad his sword back and Scrooge wins the fight.. but promptly gets hit by lighting while celebrating Caddyshack style. 
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No really Scrooge is.. or close as he got knocked into the water and is now in heaven. Sir Quackly naturally doesn’t want to see the last hope of the Clan McDuck dies and goes to talk to the tribunal of McDucks to sort it out hence the Matter of Life And Death connection. 
The Tribunal is made up of former McDucks.. it turns out Scrooge is here because of Quackly: the lighting was SUPPOSED to hit the tower, distracting Argus, and they prepare to write Scrooge off because their more concerned with golf than the fact that their whole clan’s future is on the line.. which I do not get because unless you are Tiger Woods or the Film Caddyshack, golf usually is the boring garbage water of sports and this is from someone who dosen’t like sports to begin with. I do like the Missing Links of Moorshire though so there’s that. And golf episodes of shows are usually good.. the sport itself is just incredibly boring. And I sat through Mank. I know boring. I know wanting hours of my life back. Golf is the Mank of Sports. 
What we get is a pretty tiresome sequence honestly: Quackly points out the tribuanls faults while their just dicks who only care about golf. Which again, Mank of sports. Or if you prefer the Cloud Atlas of sports but with SLIGHTLY less untetionall racisim and sadly much less Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant. The point is golf sucks and while I ilke the REST of this chapter this bit just dosen’t work for me and was clearly funnier in Rosa’s head, with the assholes not thinking much of Scrooge’s achievements and only liking him when they find out he’ll be a tight wad, the only funny joke in these draggy as hell three pages, not counting the start and finish of the sequence which arnet bad, as they send him back to earth with Quackly mentioning the dime, but not giving out WHY it’s important. That he has to figure out on his own and all that good stuff. 
So Scrooge uses his dime to unscrew the bolts and back at the castle while Argus TRIES to pawn it off as Scrooge being a coward and depart with the bank draft.... 
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Damnnnn that’s badass, he gets the bank note back (only knowing because one of his ancestors mentioned it, though with his memory of the dying dream gone he dosen’t know WHY), and has Fergus run into town to pay the taxes tonight before any other shenanigans happen while he keeps the two scheming dogmen captive long enough for Fergus to get too far for them to catch up.  Argus plans to go with plan “Do a murder on Scrooge”.. but fines Scrooge is far from unprotected and not the only badass in his family.. I mean Hortense exists but I mean that ther’es more than two... you know what jut look at the ghost heads. 
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So the two run for their lives..... also they forgot you know Hortense exists.. she’d revenge murder all of them and they both know it. 
So with the land safe and the taxes paid so the Family can implicitly move in, we end on a beautiful sunrise as Scrooge prepares to leave soon. Despite all the setbacks and hardship Scrooge is deterimend to still make it and knows he won’t fail forever. When Fergus mentions Gold at the end of a rainbow, Scrooge takes that, and the golden dawn as a sign. WHen Fergus understandably asks if he’s sure he’ll make it this time.. we get a nice nod to Bark’s best and most notable painting “always another rainbow to close us out”
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It’s a beauitful and inspiring statment.. no matter what you face.. there’s always a light at the end of it. Always another opportunity, another goal to reach, another hill to climb.. and life to live... and it’s one i’ve taken to heart and always will.. and one that will land Scrooge his fortune yet. 
Final Thoughts: This chapter is alright but like I said the two page sequence in heaven dosen’t really work for me. It’s just not funny enough and really shoudl’ve been trimmed down a page so we could get more character stuff with Scrooge and his family> Otherwise it’s a tightly paced thrilling chapter in Scrooge’s life, showing just how far he’s come and how far he has left to go. The DIsmal Downs chapter serve as a good marker of where Scrooge is and where he’s heading as I mentioned earlier, with this one showing that while he’s not hit his goal yet, he still got his family their true home back, beat his enmeis and is a legend to be. Ther’es always another rainbow.. and he just needs to find it. All in all a decent chapter outside those two pages, and a good setup for the next three glorious chapters. 
Next Month on LIfe and Times: One is Scroogey and the other is FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, as Scrooge meets his arch enemy and rides a motherfucking lion. And if “rides a motherfucking lion” doesn’t make you come back I do not know why you read this.  Next Time On This BLog: What is that, that Freaky Thing? It’s A naked Mole rat as we return to Kauai this time with Kim Possible and Co as Drakken tries to capture stitch and Jumba wonders if Rufus is one of his or not. 
See you at the next rainbow
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popculturebuffet · 5 years ago
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Animation Reviews: OK KO: Red Action to the Future
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On to part 3 of Red Action 2 days because my schedule got nuts, and this one.. I was dragging my feet on beause I didn’t remember liking it nearly as much as the rest of the red action trilogy. Now while the same held for “Your Everyone’s Sidekick” I ended up liking that one.. this one... not so much. This one is however earlier in the season than it’s sisters in red action spotlighting: “Back in Red Action” was towards the end of season 1, while “Red Action 3: Grudgement Day” is literally the last episode before the finale arc, something i’d forgotten till today. This one is pretty early into season 2 and the why.. is really easy to figure out. For Season 2 Enid actually got a pretty intensive and long spotlight arc about her time at point prep, with rad and ko only showing up in a portion of it, so late in the season wouldn’t be fair as enid not only had the halloween episode then, but also just had a 7 episode arc basically to herself with Elodie as her co-star and rad and KO out of focus or even absent at times, so they likely did it early to prevent overloading the season with her. Granted they could’ve just had Red show up at school and done one episode there that wasn’t part of it’s overarching story, and still HINTED at the glorb doping arc while she was there, but they may also have not decided which one of the two they wanted Enid to end up with, and thus didn’t want to put her and elodie in the same space. I dunno. We’ll also be covering the POINT arc here eventually, but obviously there’s a lot of episodes to get to first, including the whole gar and carol backstory arc, before we get to that one.  And with that out of the way, let’s take a look at Red Action to the Future, under the cut. 
We open with Red playfully helping KO stock the shelves with new Double Dipped Lazer chips since, as Enid points out, it’s rad’s day off. She can also fire things in her canons , which is neat. It’s also highly noticable that she and KO are now on good terms and the two seem to be friends. Which despite their last interaction really isn’t THAT weird surprisingly: K.O.’s a forgiving kid as long as your not an out and out supervillian, and even earlier this season he was worried about Lord Boxman disappearing despite hating the guy most of the time for good reason. And with her past behind her in the future, Red is likely inclined to be more the fun kind of cool instead of an edgelord asshole, and likely apologized off screen and as we’ll see next time, she genuinely regrets her actions. That being said I do feel we could’ve had an episode with red trying to be better, but I do get the show has a lot of ground to cover, so this was an easier thing to have happen off screen.  Anyways the three are palling around, with red and enid being couply while KO panics when ENid points out his newly beloved double dip lazer chips are probably a limited time thing... ko’s wimpering “no I love them” is so relatable it hurts. But before Red can figure out KO’s snack dillema Yellow Technique yells at red to come home and help, Enid is too worried abotu pressuring her to ask her to stay, and Yellow refuses to let KO and Enid come along for reasons.. and frankly I don’t get that even with possible damage to the timeline. Besides you know, the end of this episode, we also have the fact that you guys HAVE TIME TRAVEL. If they gain a year or two, they’ll still come back and fufill their places in the timeline and you can CONTROL THAT, so if they had to stay longer than a year or needed to be back for something specific, you could bring them back and have two incredibly powerful allies for your war. The x-men have had a good handful of members from the future and look how well that turned out. Some of the time I mean Bishop did turn evil for a while and the younger cable whose around stabbed the older one and rachel went into a coma and then the future but she’s back now.... okay maybe she has a point. 
Anyways Enid regrets her decision, Red comes back for a quick break, with years having now passed, Blue shows up to yell at her to come back which seems.. harsh. Like I know she’s like Killowog, a good person whose probably murder on recurits but seems nice off duty from waht we’ve seen and her happily saying hello to enid, which makes me want an episode where they actuallyv isted the hue troop instead of this SIGH. Anyways, Enid finds a stray time capsule and goes to be honest with red
So now in the post apocalypse, Enid finds Yellow, who got seperated from red as they fight a giant version of the robots they’ve been fighting, with Red showing up just in time. But as with all giant killer robot based future’s they’ve evolved so these things have shields and Enid suggests laaunching her. So red shoots her girlfriend out of her.
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And they win.. but Red refuses to let enid stay and gets huffy with her before Enid can tell her the truth and Enid leaves in a huff. Now this scene.. I really liked, from the action sequences to the fact that we see how their similarities, what attracts them to each other, is also a roadblock to them having a proper relationship. Both are stubborn, put walls up , and are reluctant to be honest with their feelings, we’ve seen that with red in the last episode and Enid in the episodes mentioned last time. They both prefer to run from their feelings and while their both growing, as you’ll see when I cover more tom lucitor stuff, it’s not that easy to just “become” a better person and sometimes old habits flair up. 
Enid regrets how things went, KO regrets not learning about chips, and we get one final red visit.. from a much older Red. i’m Dubbing her Cable!Red because A) her timeline probably still exists, it’s just not the one our red is linked to anymore nor the one the plaza future we see would create. She and enid hug and Red explains that it turns out the robots were weak to organic maatter and given they were only shooting at them, they didn’t realize it and it STILL , as shown by the fact Red is grandma age now, took years to fix and she has things to get back to with space congress, war hero stuff and all that. Also just a small note but something I only noticed this time that the episode DOES deserve credit for in my book is Kali Hawk’s voice acting as Red. Noticably with each time we see her red’s voice gets deeper and by future red she sounds entirely grown up. It’s a subtle change most probably wouldn’t of cared about aside from on old red, but it’s a nice touch that really does help theemotional part of the episode. Enid is finally honest about how she felt, and sad about it but understands.. but is also understandably still broken up when Old Woman Red Action leaves.. only for present-day.. ish time travel tenses are weird to pop up behind them has a hug with enid and flirtly says “I never left. “  Turns out Future Red decided to say Screw Destiny and told her past self to stay, what enid felt likely, or got enid to admit it or whatever, and told her to stay and enjoy her youth. She can go back and be a war hero later if she wants. And my honest guest given the Hue Troop turn up fine later is rather than callously abandon her teammates, Red’s future self simply went there for them and , to prevent a decades long war from ravaging her future, pulled a Cable and told them how to defeat the robots YEARS before they got so powerful it’d take years to beat them, as well as probably having knowledge of where they came from, how to kill them all or make peace with them or whatever, and future weapons to help even things. IT’s not an unfair assumption given that besides missing out on a future with Enid, Future Red would also not want her friends to go through untold decades of pain and death and since she changed the timeline already, there was no sense in not going all in. Also the chip thing is resolved with KO finding out they WILL be discontinued.. but replaced with triple dip instead. KO”s delighted and enid and red happily share a moment, the future is now what htey make of it. THE END.  Final Thoughts: As I made plain i’m not a fan of this one.. but in re-watch I did find things to like about it. The time travel story device was used really well,though I would’ve liked them to have old red say she was going to back instead of me having to infer it and feel, given theyd on’t show up at all next time and only show up for a cameo in the finale that the Hue Troop was vastly underulitized and coudl’ve used their own ep, and for once the cancelation dosen’t excuse this as they had the second half of season 2 to do this AND never dealt with Red, who gave up a future war for her, dealing with enid going way for what’s clearly months and was expected to be years. It’s also not very funny , which is fine if the episodes more dramatic like TKO, but for a standard ep it really didn’t quite work. It was just more dull than it should’ve been: it had an intresting hook: red slowly loosing her youth due to a future war, and Enid loosing her because of it, and Red’s cable self deciding to fix that, but it was instead a standard poor commuincation kills plot but with future robot wars. IT’s the first OK KO episode here i’ve reviewed that’s not good and honestly one of the few they had that genuinely wasn’t, and even then it had some good ideas just a flawed execution. Thankfully next time, there’sd none of that as we instead look at one of teh series very BEST episodes. IT’s grudgment day, and until then later.. today hopefully. If not tommorow. 
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