#i know there were production related reasons for the short seasons

[notsoftysof]

The fact that the seasons of Bones have wildly different numbers of episodes makes watching it deliciously chaotic.

"it's only episode 14, we're not even close to the season finale! Nothing major is going to happen for a long time." -> "oh shit"

Or

"okay, we are really close to the end of the season." -> "wdym there's eight more episodes??"

You don't know when the major trauma is coming. You don't know how many fluff episodes there will be.

It's fun.

[pinkeoni]

The Big AIDS Metaphor Post

In her essay "Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?" from her book The Language of the Night: Essays of Fantasy and Science Fiction, science-fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin writes—

"The use of imaginative fiction is to deepen your understanding of your world, of your fellow men, and your own feelings, and your destiny."

It would be easy for me to claim that Stranger Things is a show that utilizes its science-fiction elements as an AIDS metaphor, but that only goes so far without being able to prove that the show is in fact employing said metaphor. "The show takes place in the 80's -> AIDS was a big part of the 80's -> therefore the show is about AIDS" isn't an airtight argument in itself. I can quote famous sci-fi writers all day but that still wouldn't prove that the Duffers themselves are actually following similar trains of thought.

So here's my big long post about why the show is utilizing it's science-fiction elements as an AIDS metaphor.

Lengthy discussion of rape, violent homophobia and drug use below the cut.

A Brief History of HIV/AIDS in America

For those not in the know about HIV/AIDS, and in order to all get on the same page, here is a short recap. For my information, I will be this timeline from hiv.gov as well as this timeline created by History Channel, as well as some of the supplemental hyperlinks provided. Any other sources I use will be linked throughout.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that attacks the body's immune system, making it highly susceptible to infection and cancers. The virus can progress to a more severe version of the infection, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. The virus spreads through bodily fluids such as semen and blood. The most common ways for HIV/AIDS to spread was through unprotected sex and sharing needles while using drugs.

The initial cases of HIV were present in America in the 70's but become much more rampant starting in the early 1980s. Because cases of AIDS were most commonly seen in gay and bisexual men, there was a large misconception that AIDS was a "gay plague" or a "gay disease" as it was nicknamed. By 1984, 3,500 Americans had died from AIDS related illnesses.

The reason that AIDS epidemic got as deadly as it did is often attributed to the Reagan Administration's failure to act, something that President Reagan denied. Reagan would not publicly acknowledge AIDS until 1985, despite U.S. health officials being aware of AIDS since 1981.

Understanding just how entrenched this metaphor is in the story will include going through each season and examining in detail how each one plays into this metaphor.

Season One: Establishing Metaphor & Government Cover Up in Early Years of Epidemic

The AIDS metaphor is most closely connected with Will's storyline, although it's not exclusive to Will nor is his storyline exclusive to AIDS. Furthermore, the supernatural elements of this show are multifaceted. AIDS is but just one of the metaphors expressed in the show, but for the sake of this post it's what I will be focusing on.

The setup begins following Will's disappearance in episode 1, when Joyce introduces Will's queer coding to us.

By 1983 the terms "gay disease" and "gay cancer" had been in the public vocabulary for a couple years now. So when Joyce brings up his queerness in regards to to his disappearance in a show that takes place in the early 1980s, there is a subconscious correlation that can be made in the watchers mind. His sexuality is significant to the why he went missing, otherwise why bring it up?

We then hear through Troy exactly what the town believes happened to Will.

I think that Troy essentially being a mouthpiece for his father is significant to show that Troy's beliefs are not exclusive to him and they do not exist in a vacuum. Troy's homophobia is a product of his environment, which includes his home and by extension, Hawkins.

The specification that Will was killed by "some other queer" adds another layer under the surface of Troy's statement, one that implies that Will was raped before he was kill, otherwise, again, why bring up sexuality in the first place? This was the attitude toward gay men— they rape and kill little boys.

In early 1984, there was a study conducted by the American Journal of Medicine to trace the sexual partners of a cluster of patients with Kaposi Sarcoma, one of the common cancers that killed AIDS patients. The study identified a flight attendant as "Patient O" who was among the first to exhibit symptoms of HIV/AIDS and had a rather active sex life with a multitude of sexual partners. The study was soon misconstrued by the public to claim that there was a Patient Zero who was "a promiscuous or even malicious gay man who single-handedly and knowingly touched off the AIDS pandemic in the United States."

Another crucial factor of the metaphor is the cover-up and blame shifting from the government lab, the exact thing that allowed the problem to escalate and become as deadly as it did to begin with. In the early years of the epidemic, Reagan slashed the budget of public health agencies like the CDC, and it would be years until he ever made a speech about it let alone even mentioned AIDS publicly.

We see how adamant the lab is to cover up any supernatural involvement with Will's disappearance in an attempt to cover their own asses. Framing his death as an accident was their call, all while being acutely aware of what the actual problem was. This confrontation from Joyce to Brenner puts it pretty aptly.

Tangent About Barb

This AIDS metaphor is something that I thought of when I first watched the show back in 2016 (humble brag) but what tipped me off the most wasn't Will or the lab but it was the fact that Barb was the other victim shown.

Barb's queer coding was clear to everyone and their mother. Hell, there's even a joke about it in the Bad Lip Reading of the first season. Barb, Nancy's short haired female friend who takes issue with Nancy's new relationship and has a hard time fitting in with with all of the heterosexual antics of Steve's house party. She's singled out, and while the rest of the gang get to casually enjoy the pleasures of sex, while Barb, another member of the queer community, sadly loses her life. The show cuts between Nancy having sex with Steve with Barb being killed to emphasize this stark contrast.

Season Two: Personal Effects of HIV/AIDS & Social Stigmatization

Season one was surrounding Will while not really showing us much of his pov, but season two dives right in to his perspective.

So, remember when I talked earlier about how Troy, and by extension the town, believed that Will was raped? Well, he wasn't exactly wrong.

This moment wasn't lost on me when I originally watched the show, although I think I ignored the implications because I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. But it's pretty well spelled out— A long, tentacle-like organ used for the sake of reproduction (Will "births" D'Art as a result of this), is inserted inside of Will's mouth without consent.

It's been a year, and Will is still dealing with the trauma of what happened, along with all of these new changes to his life. Will frequently attends doctors appointments at the lab, where the lab themselves aren't completely confident what is happening with him either.

When cases of HIV/AIDS were first appearing in the U.S., health officials were unclear as to what exactly this virus was and how it worked, only that clusters of otherwise healthy gay men were suddenly developing rare and aggressive infections and cancers.

Owens refers to the spread of the Upside Down very clinically— describing it as some cancer. One of the first articles published about HIV/AIDS in America before more information was known was a New York Times article titled "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals." The cancer the headline refers to being Karposi Sarcoma, the rare skin cancer developing due to their weakened immune system.

HIV/AIDS in itself isn’t the disease that patients die from, but instead the weakened immune system allows for diseases to take over the body without much defense. After his visit to the Upside Down, Will faces a series of “True Sight” visions as Mike puts it, which allows for a destructive foreign entity to invade Will's body and slowly take it over.

HIV.gov lists the following as some of the symptoms of AIDS:

"Rapid weight loss"

"Profuse night sweats"

and "Memory loss"

To the government agents in the lab, we see just how disposable Will is to them. In their words, if it kills him, it kills him. (thank you to @emblazons for being the one to point this out to me)

Owens may have held more concern for Will, but he still continues the government cover-up started by Brenner in season one. We also see the fallout of Barb's death, with Nancy and Jonathan fighting to uncover and reveal the truth. Owens is the one who tries to put a stop to their exposé of events to Barb's mom.

Not only is Will facing trauma and his body being ravaged by this new illness, but he's also facing social stigmatization, something common among gay men with positive HIV statuses at this time. There seemed to be some sympathy from the townsfolk when Will was missing and presumed dead, yet he faces animosity almost seemingly because he came back.

The "Zombie Boy" Nickname

I once made a whole separate post about this, but Will's "Zombie Boy" nickname from season two fits in with this AIDS metaphor.

On a surface level, the nickname is in reference to the fact that Will seemed to come back to life despite having a funeral and being buried. In a literal sense, however, his peers are quite literally referring to him a walking corpse that spreads disease. Individuals suffering from AIDS often have very short life expectancies, and zombies are the re-animated dead that aim to infect and kill as many people as possible. It is a very coded nickname.

In the post that I linked, I speculate the possibility that some people in town may even believe that Will has HIV. Remember earlier when I mentioned Troy's comment "he was probably killed by some other queer" which implies a belief that Will was raped. The town don't know about any of the supernatural goings-on, but they do know that Will went missing, was found in a cabin a week later, was hospitalized shortly after and attended frequent doctor visits through the following year. I don't see a reason that malicious rumors would cease, especially considering that they already continue to be cruel and ostracizing with the Zombie Boy nickname.

Look also at this moment of Will getting weird looks as he is being pulled from school to attend his doctors appointment. Why so much stigma around simply going to the doctor?

The 1984 Reelection of Ronald Reagan

In 1984, Ronald Reagan won reelection in one of the biggest election wins in history. And— subsequently continuing his and the governments silence towards the AIDS epidemic.

Season two takes place in the week leading up to the reelection. There are small set pieces that draw attention to this, such as this election sign in front of the library.

If the date November 6th sounds familiar, it should.

Dr. Owens mentions the anniversary of Will's disappearance. The one year anniversary of Will's disappearance is the same day that Ronald Reagan was reelected. Will's trauma is being purposefully associated with that day.

I've also made a separate post before just about the Reagan/Bush '84 signs that litter the lawns of Hawkins houses. They appear most notably in the Halloween episode, building to when Will has his true sight episode that night. There is one clearly in frame just before Will is separated from the group, called a "Zombie Boy" and a "freak" (two very coded nicknames) before he falls into his vision.

We also get a clear view of the Reagan/Bush sign outside of the Wheeler house before Will describes his experience to Mike.

A Tangent About the Wheelers

And now the question on everyone's mind: Are the Wheeler's homophobic?

Ted and Karen Wheeler are not violent, homophobic bullies. That would be a massive reach. But it would also be a reach to say that they are vocal allies. And maybe that's just what the average middle class family

In the very least, the Wheelers are passively contributing to a system that enables homophobia. To be honest, they are probably just going along with what everyone else is doing. Like I said earlier, Reagan was an incredibly popular candidate for the 1984 reelection. The Wheelers have the privilege of being able to comfortably conform without having to worry about much of the consequences. (I'll talk more about the Wheelers later)

In the episode where Will is possessed by the Mind Flayer, Joyce calls the school and we get an extended shot with Reagan's portrait in the background. The shot begins with the portrait slightly obscured, then the camera dolly's in towards the receptionist with the portrait still in frame. Shortly after this Will is possessed in the field. Here is one of the camera begins the shot and where the camera ends the shot.

I also wanna note that when Joyce calls in this scene, the receptionist makes a side comment about her and rolls her eyes. There's a clear animosity towards not only Will, but the whole Byers family, including the adults of the town. Including Reagan's portrait in this shot is meant to create a subtle correlation between him and the stigma that the Byers' face.

Season Three: The Façade of Patriotism Over a Dying Nation

It's 1985, Ronald Reagan has been reelected, and this season introduces Hawkins Mayor Larry Kline.

Is Larry Kline meant to be Ronald Reagan?

I would say that Mayor Kline is probably exemplary of American politicians in a broader sense (in fact the Duffers may have been making allusions to Trump with his connection to the Russians) although the fact that he's in office the same time as Reagan is still significant.

In the beginning of the season, Mayor Kline is being met with protesters outside his house, not unlike many of the AIDS awareness protests from the 80's.

The townsfolk are angered with Kline for building the mall and running some of the small businesses into the ground. During Reagan's run, he implemented a system of economics called "Reaganomics," which aimed to cut taxes and support economic growth. Although critics of Reaganomics will point out that his policies had actually increased the wealth gap, making the rich richer and the poor, poor. I want to keep this post about the AIDS metaphor, although I wanted to point this out as it is a connection between Kline and Reagan. And as I said earlier in this post, the metaphors are multifaceted and not just about AIDS.

But continuing, later in the season Kline puts on a big 4th of July festival to celebrate the independence of his country with neon lights and flashy fireworks. Meanwhile, the people of his town are dying right under his political reign.

During season 3, the AIDS metaphor actually moves away from Will, with the focus of his story shifting slowly to romance. This was setup at the Snowball at the end of season 2, and season 3 hints at some of Will's feelings for Mike which will be carried into season 4.

But the metaphor is carried on by Will's name twin, Billy.

Billy and Will sharing the same first name, that being William, feels significant as Will basically passes the baton to him and Billy now becomes the focus for this metaphor. We learn from Max that Billy is very sexually active, and in the beginning of the season he has eyes for Karen Wheeler. It is while he is on his way to this illicit sexual affair when he is "infected" by the Mind Flayer. (this was pointed out to me in the comment of one of my posts, but have since lost it. If you are reading this— thank you.)

Billy then passes the "infection" along to a girl he was flirtatious with, before the "virus" begins spreading over town.

There is also language and rape imagery associated with being flayed. There is the repeated lines "hold still" and "it'll all be over soon." When Heather's parents are flayed, they are tied up something is forcefully inserted orally, not unlike what we saw with the tentacle inside of Will in season one and his possession in season two. (I first saw this pointed out by @kaypeace21

The flayed begin to eat chemicals, and Nancy makes the comment that Tom, one of the flayed, appears to have been on drugs. Another common way that HIV is spread is through the sharing of drug needles.

HIV/AIDS in the Press

Nancy's arc with the newspaper this season reminds me a lot of how AIDS was first being reported in the press. Nancy begins her search for a story with stolen fertilizer and diseased rats, not realizing that there was a much bigger and much more dangerous story at hand. One of the first reports HIV in the media was from a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from 1981, which cited five cases of pneumonia in previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. While still a deadly number, it was relatively small compared to the massive number of AIDS cases and deaths that would soon follow.

When Nancy brings her story to work, Bruce, one of her higher-ups, sips from this rather patriotic coffee mug before telling Nancy to drop the story.

At the end of the 1985 summer in Hawkins, the flayed have died in a "mall fire" and Larry Kline is arrested for colluding with the Russians, and their patriotic façade is shattered.

In September 1985, shortly after actor and close friend of Ronald Reagan, Rock Hudson dies, of an AIDS related illness, Reagan makes his first public acknowledgement of AIDS.

Season Four: Further Stigmatization & LGBT Witch Hunting

In season four the town is finally privy to the fact that there is something wrong going on, although they are unsure of exactly what. When things begin to escalate, instead of blaming the actual guilty party, they go on an all-out witch hunt.

Once again, Will's pretty removed from the AIDS storyline in this season with his arc focusing on his romantic feelings for Mike. With Billy dead and Will out of town, the baton passes once again for the metaphor to be carried by Eddie Munson.

In the first episode of season 4, Eddie is reading a magazine with an article about the Satanic Panic, a real case of wide-spread hysteria in the 1980's regarding the fear of rising Satanism, supposedly promoted by D&D. The article links the game to violent behavior, Satanic worship, sodomy and murder.

Tangent on Sodomy and Sodomy Laws

Merriam-Webster defines sodomy as "anal or oral copulation with another person." The definition is often expanded to include copulation with animals, although the term sodomy, according to Merriam-Webster, means "especially: anal or oral copulation with a member of the same sex."

While definitions may vary depending on states, some states have specific laws outlawing sodomy, even between consenting adults. In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld Georgia's anti-sodomy laws in Bowers v. Hardwick, after a homosexual man and his partner were arrested after being caught while having sex in his own home. Sodomy laws would eventually be challenged again in 2002 with the Lawrence v. Texas case.

While sodomy can technically can refer to both homosexual and heterosexuals, it is especially and historically has been used in regards to homosexual sex. When Eddie reads the word sodomy here, gay sex is being lumped in and made equivalent to violent behavior, Satanic worship, and murder. Quite literally in season four, Hellfire Club is seen as the evil Satanic sodomizers who bring death to their town.

While trying to find a substitute for the D&D game, one of kids Mike asks mentions 60 Minutes in his rebuttal of Mike's request. This episode takes place on March 21st, 1986. On March 16th, 1986, 60 Minutes played a segment called "Life and Death in San Fransisco," a segment about the AIDS virus on CBS. (EDIT: I originally attributed this to the wrong person, but thank you to @aemiron-main for being the one to point this out. Apologies for my memory mixing up my ST analysts in my head 😔) The archived footage can be viewed on YouTube.

When Chrissy is killed by Vecna inside of Eddie's trailer, leading the town to suspect that Eddie was the killer, she was going there to do drugs. Again, a common way for AIDS to be spread was through the sharing of drug needles. After the town and cops suspect Eddie, the town goes on an all-out witch hunt for him and other members of Hellfire, invoking Christianity as their reasoning. In Eddie's words— "Hunt the freak, right?"

Does this mean that Eddie is queer?

The black handkerchief in his back pocket and Joseph Quinn's flirtatious ad-libs with Steve are not completely lost on me. And the AIDS coding here does seem to be pointing in that direction, but here's what I think.

Eddie's actual sexual orientation, and by extension that of Hellfire, is beside the point and doesn't actually matter in the eyes of the town. Every member of Hellfire could be straight and every member of Hellfire could be gay, but what matters is that Hellfire Club is a group of outsiders that participate in recreational activity that is deemed dangerous, and that in itself is queer, regardless of who they may actually be attracted to.

Another Tangent on The Wheelers

During Jason's religious spiel in town hall which invoked the witch hunt against Eddie and Hellfire, we get this shot of Ted and Karen Wheeler upon remembering that Mike is a part of Hellfire. And boy do they look terrified.

This moment, right here, is what I believe to be the Wheeler rug pull. They may not have been signing up to witch hunt their son when they put that Reagan sign in their front lawn, but this is what it leads to. They're being confronted with the most extreme end of their forced conformity and they fear what they see. I think part of what causes this change in character is because they know Mike, had Mike not been a Hellfire member, who is to say if they would have changed their tune or join in the witch hunt. At the end of the season, when the news reports that the giant gate in town is a "doorway to Hell," both Ted and Karen scoff at the report, calling it "hysteria." The conformists are beginning to un-conform.

Concluding Thoughts & Season Five

Providing a story about HIV/AIDS through a science-fiction metaphor is both practical and ethical. The metaphor allows the show to tell the story to a wide audience without the reliance on outside knowledge. You don't have to be an expert in HIV/AIDS history to understand the story that it's trying to tell. It's ethical as well in that it doesn't force it's incredibly young actors to have to act out being raped and developing HIV/AIDS.

With Eddie Munson dead and Zombie Boy back in town, I think that the AIDS metaphor will shift it's focus back to Will. I think we may see a colliding of the AIDS plot with his romance plot. How do you pursue romance with a HIV+ status? Can you?

The way I see, season 5 has the choice to go in one of two directions:

But first, a short tangent about my uncle

In recent years, I came to learn that my uncle was HIV+, something that wasn't known to me when I was younger. Him and his partner are both in their sixties, and they currently bought a plot of land in which they plan on building their dream house together.

But anyways, the two choices are this:

Will dies by the end of the season. He becomes one of the many gay men with HIV/AIDS who lived a short life, unable to grow into adulthood and pursue his love life. His story is a tragedy.

Will lives. He becomes one of the many gay men with HIV/AIDS who survived and is able to live a long and happy life full of love. His story is an uplifting one full of hope.

Tagging: @emblazons @italiantv @gaysmindpalace @ven0moir @punkwillbyers @mikesbasementbeets @quinterobb @drangues @basiltonpitch @howtobecomeadragon

[iztarshi]

Viktor observations (S1, Act 2)

Heimerdinger says that it’s short notice when he asks Jayce to give the speech and Jayce invites him to the lab that afternoon for a demonstration. But Progress Day appears to already be in, well, progress before Heimerdinger visits the lab which makes the notice very short indeed. He seems to have informed Jayce that morning of a speech to be given in the evening.

Not entirely related to anything in a scene, but I wonder how much Mel was behind the hexgates being the focus of Jayce and Viktor’s efforts? She gets a line in season 2 where she refers to having “built this city for my family” and the hexgates are very much in line with her goals of making Piltover into a place her mother would consider worth something. No Mel hate, but the goals she started with were not altruistic.

*

Jayce and Viktor are nervous about the demonstration for Heimerdinger, but they’re also really enjoying themselves giving it. They’re so theatrical. Viktor enjoying showing off the claw makes me sad that he hates being in front of an audience so much. He’s comfortable enough with Heimerdinger that he’s having fun and he and Jayce do an equal amount of the talking.

Poor Viktor, he’s distraught at the suggestion they might not be able to get these things into production for another decade, presumably because he knows he’s dying even if he doesn’t yet know how fast. But unless he already knows it’s going to be very fast, the choices aren’t actually between rushing this into production with less than a day’s notice or not getting it done during his lifetime. Presumably they had a plan for releasing this before Progress Day was even suggested?

Jayce gesturing Viktor back to stop him arguing with Heimerdinger is also interesting, mostly because it’s a precursor to the much more peremptory gesture later in front of the council. I think it’s mostly a “you’re not going to do our cause any good by arguing right now” gesture but it does give Jayce a sort of leadership role that he gets to decide that. Which is not so much what their roles were before the timeskip.

Jayce handles the question of whether to reveal their new tech during the speech extremely badly. He goes to Mel clearly hoping she’ll tell him not to do the reveal because then it will be her fault Viktor is disappointed and not his. Which, due to how ridiculously tight this schedule is, means he runs out of time to have the talk with Viktor he should have had, where he tells Viktor he’s not comfortable announcing this without Heimerdinger’s approval. I… actually mostly think this shouldn’t be announced and I’m surprised Mel was in favour, sending giant gauntlets and laser claws to Zaun would not help anything nor would announcing they’re about to. And the stabilised gems are easy to steal, which would itself be a reason not to announce them (somehow Jinx manages to steal one even without it being announced). But Jayce should not be making this decision without Viktor’s involvement.

*

The backstage scene is a great example of efficient storytelling as it gives us an insight into Viktor’s relationship with publicity. We’ve already seen that he’s being sidelined. It’s Jayce on the posters, Jayce who’s been asked to give the speech, Jayce who is being introduced to people by Cassandra as the mind behind hextech. This gives us the other side of the story.

We see how miserably nervous Viktor is when he’s thinks he is going to have to do the address, and they linger long enough to make sure we know. Jayce suggests they could both go up and Viktor ruefully says no because he doesn’t want to be in front of the crowd. But then we end with Jayce’s “Man of Progress” coffee cup coming down and covering Viktor up, so he does feel left out. I don’t think Viktor resents Jayce for it - the only thing he’s upset with Jayce for here is for nearly not being there to take the spotlight - but he might resent his own fear.

Dammit, Viktor is excited to handle the backstage special effects and Jayce pulls the rug from under him. That he resents.

*

Jayce gesturing Viktor to stay put when he tries to stand in front of the council is interesting mostly because Viktor obeys. From Jayce it’s intended protectively, they’re in trouble and he’d like attention to remain focused on him as long as that’s the case. For Viktor it’s interesting he remains quiet while Jayce suggests suspending all hextech operations even though he looks devastated at the idea.

*

Jayce and Viktor fighting about Jayce’s new position as a councillor is so…

On the one hand they’re arguing about Jayce’s duty to protect Piltover vs Viktor’s desire to help people, and while Viktor’s easier to sympathise with Jayce isn’t entirely wrong to think they have a responsibility to clean up a mess caused by hextech.

On the other hand they’re arguing about Jayce spending his time stamping out smuggling which isn’t even related to the theft of the hexgem vs Viktor being upset they didn’t announce giant boxing gloves and laser claws, which just makes both of them look dumb.

On the third hand Viktor’s arguing about Jayce stopping their work on hextech now when he’s dying and needs all the time he has and Jayce doesn’t know this so has no idea what they’re arguing about.

Jayce ignoring Viktor to talk to Marcus is one of those moments where I don’t think Viktor is actually ignored for more than a few minutes, but considering how sick he is and that he coughs blood without Jayce noticing it certainly felt a lot worse for him.

We get the first hint of the mysticism around Viktor’s storyline as spilling blood in the hexgate causes him to have a vision. I’m presuming this is because of the wildrune. I’m not sure whether it targeted Viktor or whether he was the first person to bleed into the hexgate.

*

I forgot that not only did Viktor immediately build something he’d seen in a vision he straight up told Jayce that’s what he was doing. Jayce is somewhat baffled, and worried about it shooting explosive beams, but mostly supportive.

*

I do not know what to make of the sextech scene. It’s. In the context of the whole show the golden starry sky we’re seeing in the background appears to be the Arcane itself, or at least the version of it Viktor was interacting with as the Herald. And Mel is a mage, so she might be having magic sex? Or it might be thematically about seduction, in which case that’s not very fair to Mel, but Jayce and Viktor are headed down paths that aren’t good for them and Mel is leading Jayce down his while the hexcore/wildrune/Arcane itself seems to be leading Viktor.

*

We never learn how long the doctors said Viktor had left to live. Viktor acts like the answer is days but I’m not sure how plausible that would be especially since he doesn’t stay in the hospital. Maybe it was a case of knowing he wouldn’t survive another collapse like that but not knowing when it would happen?

*

It’s touching that Heimerdinger both knows where to find Viktor when Viktor is unhappy and cares enough to try and comfort him, but he’s also the worst person to try to comfort a dying and frightened human. I don’t think yordles are as immortal in Arcane as they are in LoL (Heimerdinger refers to not being sure Ekko would turn up even in his “extraordinarily long life” in season 2) but they’re close enough Heimerdinger doesn’t really understand this.

Viktor, though, is surprisingly open with Heimerdinger about his own fears and regrets. Maybe because Heimerdinger’s grief isn’t overwhelming, he’s used to seeing humans die before him, or because Heimerdinger has been in something of a paternal role to Viktor. But even though Heimerdinger is at least nominally in charge of both topside and undercity, Viktor never seems to resent him for anything at all. Seems to admire him, really. “What haven’t you got to show for your remarkable life?” isn’t something you’d say to someone you thought had done badly. Heimerdinger remains one of only two people (the other being Jayce) that Viktor really seems comfortable with and he’s not even this open with Jayce.

*

Viktor testing the hexcore on plants even though the first organic matter it responded to was blood is sweet. Also probably safer, considering the plants grow enormous and strange and then die, but really I think Viktor just didn’t want to hurt anything. Especially after Rio.

“It could be the key to augmenting physiology, extending life…” “Curing you.”

Aah. I note the things Viktor is talking about are things that would apply to him, things he does want to do to himself, but he also doesn’t say that until Jayce does.

Knowing that Viktor’s dying does bring Jayce back to the lab now that he knows this is urgent (it’s been less than a week since he was made councillor, I don’t think he realised Viktor needed him not to take any time away). Unfortunately other things start happening pretty soon after this.

*

Oh, I have questions about what Heimerdinger has seen. My guess is the Rune Wars and the hexcore is somehow close to being an artificial World Rune. But I’ve seen people more familiar with LoL than me theorise something to do with the Void. He’s right is the thing, but we do not get the details. Also, how is Viktor different from before? He hasn’t altered himself yet, so was the hexcore assimilating his blood or him touching it enough to change something?

Poor Viktor, I guess this is the first time in a sequence someone he loves decides he needs to be sacrificed for the sake of Piltover and/or the world. He’s so stunned by Heimerdinger wanting to destroy the hexcore.

Jayce ís immediately protective and it’s him more than Viktor that Heimerdinger is angry with.

“You do what you have to, I need to get ready.” “For what?”

I can’t get over how baffled Viktor is by Jayce saying he needs to get ready. He really doesn’t know what for. Jayce knows, Jayce knows immediately he’s going to have to overthrow the government to save Viktor’s life. Does Viktor not really believe Heimerdinger would destroy the hexcore and sentence him to death? Or is he just too distant from politics to see what this is going to require?

[waywardmillennial]

Oooh can you please go on PH crew tangent because I don't think I realized why that's the most expensive show they make. Like I believe them and I guess the lore scenes take a lot of work but other than that idk why it takes them a year to produce 6 episodes.

Hey nonnie! Thanks for the message (based on my prev ask). I've been rotating it in my head to figure out how best to respond - sorry if this is a longer tangent than you were looking for!

To clarify: PH is probably the 2nd most expensive show that Watcher produces. The most expensive would be GF, and that's because they have to cover travel expenses for a whole crew for multiple nights at each haunted location (also GF has the most related "spin-off" shows with Debrief, Road Files, & Evidence Room making it, in Lizzie's words "a big unbankable bitch" of a show)

There are several reasons why it takes so long to produce six episodes of PH. Part of it is Shane's time being spent on nearly every other Watcher show in some capacity, so he has less time to spend on PH. It's also probably why PH has added so many more crew members - to give Shane more time to work on everything, which in turn makes it more expensive to produce

Also, each season of PH the average runtime has gotten longer. Season Six was the longest so far at about 4 1/2 hours overall, with each episode being about 44 mins - putting it on par with many network and streaming runtimes when you think about it!

I checked the credits for PH 6x06 and there are 22 crew members listed. For example, the episode was Written by Garret Werner, Researched by R.J. Blake and has three people working on the graphics (Mike Fox, Mattea Guldy, & Crystal Cheng). And this count of 22 people doesn't include the guests or voice talent for the episode, the puppet makers (Madison Girifalco and DLUX Puppets), or any of the above-the-line producers or show elements that have been locked in for years now, like the logos or stock sound effects!

And Season Six barely had any Lore!

Special Watcher Crew Shout-Out: Charlie Clay, Editing Wizard! She worked on almost every episode of Season Six, and when I checked 6x06 only one other editor (Frank Parker) is listed. I don't know if you've ever tried to edit video, but there are so many elements that go into it and she makes it look so good!

I also don't know if you're on WTV but we're getting basically a short film's worth of Lore at the end of each Season Seven episode (the two episodes we've gotten have both been closer to the 50 min mark) so of course that's more filming time and editing in post

TLDR; Each season of PH has increased in quality and runtime, adding more crew, because Shane is working on many of Watcher's other shows, but they're still producing a full season with a crew of about two dozen people!

Note: I did want to shout-out this comment from Shane in Pod Watcher #055, when he pointed out that PH and GF are both more expensive to produce than TS. I was a little surprised to hear this, since PH doesn't have the travel expenses of the other two shows. But PH has the largest crew out of the three shows (mainly in post-production) so that must be where the difference goes

Good for Watcher for hiring and paying artists and creators!

[okay some PH quality talking points because I couldn't resist]

DISCLAIMER: I love PH and Shane! He's so creative and what he made with the early seasons is very entertaining, so these aren't meant to be critiques. But if you look an early episode (I picked 1x02 because I enjoy it so much) you can see how the show has increased in quality as the years have passed

For example, The Professor's glasses had to be held on with gaffer tape, the theatre didn't have the Watcher logo on top yet (maybe it hadn't been finalized yet? not sure) and the Pile of Diamonds was a literal sock puppet

I love the Diamond puppet! and I would die for him and his crush on the God puppet!

But when you compare these Season One puppets to ones that Madison Girifalco made in later seasons, like Asmodeous or the Hippo, the increase in quality is obvious - and it should be! Because they chose to hire a professional who specializes in making puppets instead of Shane making them on top of all his other jobs at Watcher

The early seasons was when Watcher was just starting out as a company so Shane had to do most of the jobs himself. He's credited as Creator, Writer, and Editor of 1x02, but we know he also built the early puppets and theater himself, was writing and recording the music (with help from Patrick Volker) and so much more! (remember how he had to trigger the question lights himself and pull the curtain up and down on the rope he built in?)

And I support all versions of the show because it's what Shane wanted to make with the resources he had at the time!

I don't think I've seen anyone point it out but in Season Seven it looks like the whole theater got a facelift. It looks scaled up a little to fit the larger Professor and the constellations light up now! And the curtain rolling up is much smoother too

I don't know if this build was done by Shane or with help from other crew members, but it demonstrates that Watcher is continually re-investing into their shows to add to the production quality and I respect that so much!

Edit: Also good to note that Season One was only four episodes

/end rant

[inkblackorchid]

What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 2)

Hope you didn't think I'd forgotten about this post yet. Lads, ladies, and other lovely people, here we go. I have more yelling about bird boy to do.

But first, a few disclaimers. For people who may have missed part one, yes, as the title implies, this post is part two of an attempt to analyse Crow's character throughout 5Ds' whole run. You can find part one here. Now, both for people who may not have the time/energy to read my first, huge post about this right now, let me explain what I'm about here before we start again: My analysis is not meant to deter people who like Crow from liking him. It's also not meant to convince Crow haters otherwise, even if I admittedly personally like Crow. All of this stuff is just my personal attempt at dissecting how his character was handled in the show and why that might have been. And because this is part two, and I covered the Fortune Cup and Dark Signers arc in the first post, I'll start with the pre-WRGP arc, then dig into the backstory Crow was given directly before the WRGP begins properly. Also, mind the length of this post. I'm physically incapable of writing short things.

I also feel the need to reiterate another thing before I really get into the meat of things again: If you were hoping to see any old rumours about 5Ds confirmed, this is the wrong post. In fact, thanks to the very thorough work of someone over on Reddit (another shoutout to @mbg159 here, who's the author of those posts), I know for a fact that literally all the big rumours surrounding Crow are one big pile of logistically impossible horseshit, and I think after so, so many years of people citing this nonsense, the fandom as a whole finally deserves to let these go:

No, Crow was not meant to be a dark signer, least of all the final boss of season one, and Blackwings were not the reason he got more screentime later.

No, Aki being sidelined was not the result of her irl voice actress' pregnancy.

Yes, I know these two posts are both a long read each, but I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of these rumours. So even if you don't have time to read the stuff above, please take away this: The big 5Ds production conspiracy theories are. all. bullshit. Because, to put it in as simple terms as possible, none of them work out logistically. The events people have pretended affected the show's production in a major way all don't line up with the actual production timeline. So just can the rumours already. Please let them die. And no pitting Aki and Crow against each other on his post or because of this post, yes? I beg you, I am so tired. Ok? Ok.

All right, now we can get to the good part. In my previous post, I left off at the end of the DS arc. So, in what position is Crow at the end of the DS arc? He helped save the world by defeating Goodwin and got his very own signer mark after Rudger/Roman Goodwin's death.

And now, where is Crow at the start of the pre-WRGP arc?

(Bam. Delivery bird boy be upon ye.)

This time, Crow wastes absolutely no time coming back on screen. We see him again within the first episode of the second half of the show, and wouldn't you know it! He moved in with Yusei and Jack and the three of them have a funny, brotherly, bickering dynamic between them. Also, as a fun little add-on that is very much in line with his deeply Satellite, down to earth characterisation from the first half, Crow now works as a delivery driver to earn money for the household. That's all very nice and good.

But what is his role in the plot from here on out? Well.

First, a small note about the pre-WRGP arc. Though this arc is fun to watch because it gives us a lot of silly character interactions the show no longer found the time for once the WRGP started, the pre-WRGP arc really can't be said to bother with actual plot much. It's the known filler arc of 5Ds, and as such, Crow is not the only character who gets pretty much nothing plot-related to do during this arc. Thus, I'll only give a quick run-down of what he does get up to, just in case any of these tidbits end up showcasing a relevant aspect of Crow's character I might come back to later.

Furthermore, another thing that's pretty much obvious to everyone who's ever watched the show in its entirety but still bears mentioning: Crow gets a lot more screentime from this point on out. Technically. Why do I say "technically"? I'll get back to that further below. For now, just keep it in mind.

So, how does Bird Boy spend his time during the arc where the plot's on the back burner? To be honest, on the sidelines, mostly. Don't get me wrong, Crow's there. Most of the time. But he gets pretty much only two episodes where he's the focus, and both of those aren't exactly known for being 5Ds' most memorable episodes (even though I still like them both tbh, but I digress): For one, in episode 68, he gets to convince Bashford to move in with Martha so the depressed old man isn't spending his entire retirement living in a scrapyard.

(This episode's comedic moments are actually fairly solid. But those are just my two cents.)

And for two, in episode 85, Crow gets to bond with the boys' somewhat cranky landlady, Zora, by duelling some sense into her son, Lyndon. (Which also introduces us to a duelling tactic only Crow uses that we will later see again: Losing on purpose.)

(And here we can see Crow showing off his skills at dealing with petulant children.)

Now, do these two episodes where he gets to be relevant actually do anything for Crow? As a character? Debatable. If nothing else, they strongly reaffirm the values Crow represents which we were introduced to in the first half of the show, though. They reintroduce us to his stubbornness, to his (in comparison to Jack and Yusei) more playful nature, to his very Yusei-ish dedication to doing the right thing, to his penchant for spite, and to his strong sense of family and community and his belief that these two things shouldn't be abandoned unless you have a damned good reason for it.

You may notice that there's a sizeable gap between these two episodes. That's because those episodes are where we get the only smidgens of plot in this arc. Among them, highlights like Sherry's introduction, the first reveal of accel synchro, Aki's turbo duelling license exam, three separate story beats hinting at the machinations of the emperors of Iliaster (Luciano's little stunt with Rua and Ruka, Placido getting started on building a killer robot army, and the Jack double being unleashed onto NDC), and Bruno's introduction. So, here's the thing: Crow is technically present during most of those episodes, too, but he doesn't actually get to meaningfully interact with the plot-relevant elements. (Which is not to say he doesn't have nice moments here and there. He does get to bounce off the other characters, and, just as one example, helps Yusei and Jack upgrade Aki's duel runner, as well as help Yusei build Rua's duel board. Crucially, he doesn't get to do anything that later becomes plot-relevant, though.) Moreover, not one, but two characters who end up becoming major players in the series' finale are introduced here, which is relevant insofar as that Bruno and Sherry both end up needing a good amount of development before they can impactfully take their later roles. Now, I say this with nothing but genuine appreciation for both these characters, because I do like them, but I feel the need to point out what this means not just for Crow, but for pretty much everyone who isn't Jack or Yusei: Every minute of screentime that was dedicated to Bruno and/or Sherry was one minute less the writers could spend on the rest of the cast. This is not to say that time shouldn't have been spent on them, they needed it, especially because they were introduced so late, but it's something I do want people to keep in mind when talking about who got how much screentime and whether or not that time was well spent. (I also have a larger gripe with the definition of "screentime" in general, but more on that later.)

So when does Crow get to be relevant to the plot again, now that he's even a signer and all? Well, not until episode 94, when the WRGP arc has already started. (Note that I'm using the 5Ds episode list on wikipedia as a general guide for which arc and which season starts where. You can find it here.)

*Deep breath*

So. Episode 94.

(Pictured: One very scruffy dragon. Bird? Dragon-bird. Bird-dragon. You figure this shit out.)

That episode. The episode where Crow, who was awarded with the status of a signer during the finale of the DS arc, finally gets a dragon to match his mark. And the episode where we finally, finally, get some actual backstory for Crow that goes beyond his involvement with the Enforcers and childhood with Jack and Yusei. A backstory that's only Crow's own. Except. How do I put this politely...

This shit doesn't make a lick of sense. Neither the events in the duel between Crow and Bolger in the present resulting in Black-Winged Dragon's appearance, nor the Pearson backstory.

Now, I'm not saying this to step on anyone's toes. From a writing standpoint, I can even make a fairly reasonable guess as to why this episode/mini-arc is here, I think: As I mentioned in part one of this analysis, Crow was not only introduced very late, but also got very little backstory of his own, which set him apart from the other signers. Don't get me wrong, he did get some backstory—we know of his strong connection to Duel Monsters because he learned to read from cards, and we know of his involvement with the Enforcers/Team Satisfaction. Crucially, though, Crow doesn't really get a backstory segment that feels as unique to him as the others. Aki gets her tragic past with her parents and her powers, Jack gets his betrayal of Yusei, which also doubles as part of Yusei's backstory, who as the protagonist understandably gets the most backstory, and even the twins, though they are as always treated as one unit, get their very own segment about the time when Ruka was essentially in a coma. Meanwhile, Crow only has that one-off tear-jerker moment about learning to read from his cards and his being a part of the boys' duel gang, which, and I cannot stress this enough, is treated as more of a Yusei and Kalin/Kiryu backstory by canon than a Crow backstory. Thus, it makes perfect sense from a writing standpoint that the Pearson/Black-Winged Dragon mini-arc would be here. Crow, up until this point, has neither a backstory segment dedicated solely to him, nor a signer dragon to call his own. So, how do we solve this? Give him both in a strategic double-whammy! The math checks out. Unfortunately, the writing of said mini-arc... doesn't.

Now, look. The juicy question of whether Crow would have worked better as a non-signer or not, which I already discussed in part one aside, I personally don't hate what this backstory is trying to do. It's just that the whole Pearson-drama has some very notable, logical holes which I'll get into below. Furthermore, this is not the first time something related to Crow has some unfortunate, logical and/or chronological issues. I already brought up the infamous fridge and Rex Goodwin's rather confusing backstory in part one, both of which raise some serious questions. However, Pearson and everything surrounding him arguably blow that clean out of the water. Let's examine this more closely, shall we.

The long-overdue backstory we get for Crow begins with a mystery: Mikage and Trudge, for a reason that is never given to us, are investigating the death of Robert Pearson (whose death would have been several years ago at this point), whom Crow knew very well, and they're doing it because they found a hint that the person who killed Pearson used an illegal card, Crimson Mefist, to do it.

(Post redemption-arc Trudge actually doing his job instead of bullying random Satellite citizens. Who would have thunk.)

Thing is, here, we already encounter our first, minor problem: Pearson has never been mentioned up until this point, not even as an aside. And this issue is compounded by the fact that not only Crow seems to know him, but Trudge claims to as well, because "Satellite used to be his jurisdiction". So, a named character who's familiar to both one of our protagonists and a notable side character, and we've never seen hide nor hair of him. If we pull our heads out of the story for a second, the irl reason for how this came to be is probably pretty obvious: Pearson was never mentioned before because the writers had nowhere near as solid of a plan for Crow as they did for the other characters, which leads to him being introduced out of nowhere here because we need a backstory and a dragon for Crow and we need those now. Moving on.

The mention of Pearson having been not simply killed in a fire, like Crow previously assumed, but having been murdered through a special, illegal card immediately makes him suspicious. So, he goes to consult Bolger/Bolton, another never-before-seen character who gets introduced in service of this backstory, and who knew Pearson well. And while this guy certainly acts amiable towards Crow at first, implying that the two have a good rapport, at least, he quickly starts acting suspicious when Pearson's murder comes up. Moreover, we as the audience at this point already know Bolger's looking for Black-Winged Dragon so he can use the card essentially as collateral to save his company. And the name "Black-Winged Dragon" already leaves very little to the imagination as to whose deck this monster is supposed to fit into. But, in a small twist, we learn from Crow that this was apparently Pearson's card, and supposedly lost in the fire where said man died, to boot. Then Bolger challenges Crow to a duel, too, offering to tell the truth about Pearson's death if he loses, but demanding Black-Winged Dragon, which he believes Crow to be in possession of, if he wins. So far, so good. We've got a mystery here, and canon is not contradicting itself just yet. Until we get to the actual backstory, which shows us the time Crow spent with Pearson, that is. Before we get into that, I'd like to highlight one theme this mini-arc introduces that actually feels like it fits Crow: Legacy. Over the course of meeting Bolger again and being reminded of his time with Pearson, Crow starts thinking about whether he's taking over his former mentor's/father figure's legacy well enough.

(Crow having some Deep Thoughts TM, featuring one of Yusei's most relaxed, easygoing smiles in the entire show, probably.)

This theme, I would argue, is one of the major things this backstory introduces that really meshes well with the Crow we already had until this point. He's a community-focussed guy and absolutely a family person, if him taking care of Satellite orphans is anything to go by, so leaving behind a good legacy for the people after him (read: the kids he took care of) would absolutely be something he cares about. We see this element of legacy again in his cards during this episode, too, which canon implies he inherited from Pearson. (I'll get to THAT can of worms below.) And on paper, with the themes he's already got going, Crow being the only one to inherit his deck rather than build it all by himself would actually make sense!

However. This is where we have to get into the meat of the backstory. I'll start by listing the barebones information Crow's backstory with Pearson gives us, then going into why several aspects of it are either logistical or chronological nonsense.

So, as canon tells us, Crow met Pearson after Kiryu/Kalin was arrested, when the Enforcers/Team Satisfaction all went their separate ways. During this period, Crow had already set up shop near the original Daedalus Bridge and started out taking care of orphans, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. He was, by his own admission, "living aimlessly". Then, during a pinch, Pearson and Bolger show up, take care of some bad guys for Crow and the kids, and Crow sees a new role model in Pearson. Pearson, who rides the Blackbird, plays a Blackwing deck and owns Black-Winged Dragon. So, he joins up with Pearson, presumably learns how to work on duel runners from him, and also befriends Bolger. Then, one day, a fire breaks out at Pearson's workshop and the man in question dies, but leaves Crow his runner and his duel disk before he does so. End flashback. Because I want to tie this together nicely, we also learn later that Pearson technically left him Black-Winged Dragon, too, by sealing it in his runner. And, of course, that dragon later becomes Crow's very own signer dragon.

Several points to be dissected here. And funnily enough, Bolger's duel with Crow isn't relevant for any of them. Let's start with the big one: The timeline. I want you to remember that as far as canon is concerned, Crow is 17 during the DS arc. Moreover, it's canonically stated that Jack stole Yusei's first duel runner two years before the show's start, at which time Crow would have been 15. And their time together as the Enforcers must have been even before that, because Kiryu/Kalin was already in prison for a while at that point and Crow and Yusei don't reunite until the DS arc is basically in full swing. So, I'll make a vague estimate here and say that during the time of the Enforcers, Crow would have probably been 13-14. (Which is hilarious when you think about the fact that this gang of angry teenagers essentially took over the entire duelling underground of Satellite, but I digress.) Now we add the idea that Crow met Pearson after the Enforcers, but that he died before canon starts into the mix. That means Crow first ran into Pearson sometime around age 15, and that he then died presumably before Crow turned 17. So far, so good, that still slots into canon, even if it makes Crow pretty damn young for some things. He's even missing the personalised Blackbird duel disk he later wears during the Enforcer days, I went back to check. What he is not missing, however, are his Blackwings. And this is where canon may or may not have made an implication that, if intentional, breaks this timeline. See, during the scene where Pearson's workshop is burning down and he's already trapped under debris and has embraced death, he tosses Crow his duel disk and leaves him his runner.

(Two important screenshots, in sequence. One, Pearson with his duel disk still strapped to his arm. His deck is very obviously still in there. Two, Crow with that same duel disk, as made obvious by its distinct shape.)

What this implies is that Pearson also left Crow his deck. Which, yeah, fair enough, if I were dying in a fire I'd probably also think "fuck it, not like I'll need my cards in the afterlife". What this (and Crow's look the first time he sees Pearson's monsters) implies, though, is that Crow didn't start playing Blackwings until Pearson left him his deck. Which is factually untrue, because there is literal evidence in the show that Crow already had Blackwings during his time as part of the duel gang, before ever meeting Pearson. (The exact episode, if you want to check for yourself, is 33, where Crow summons both Bora the Spear and Blackwing Armor Master during a flashback.) However, I will concede that the show never actually states this is the case, it's just implied by what we see on screen, so perhaps the idea here was that Crow already played Blackwings before Pearson, but grew to love them even more through his mentor/father figure, and so later happily integrated the deck he inherited into his own. Crucially, canon never states this outright, either, though, so the option remains on the table. But, to give the benefit of the doubt here, the possibility that this could still slot in with canon and that it was just handled poorly is there. The same cannot be said for the Blackbird, however.

(Uh oh. So much for canon continuity.)

The above two screenshots directly contradict each other. First we have Yusei, upon reuniting with Crow in Satellite during the DS arc, casually remarking that Crow finished his duel runner. Which means that canon at this point suggests to the audience that one, Crow built this duel runner by himself, for himself, and two, that Yusei knew about it for a while already. Then there's the second screenshot, from the Pearson backstory episode, where Crow outright claims the Blackbird was left to him when Pearson died. I don't think I need to tell anyone that these two things can't be true at the same time. And again, I think this is where Crow fell victim to the writers not having a clear outline for him. At first, he was supposed to be this scrappy guy who also built a duel runner for himself, just like Yusei. But now, he's a signer, needs a backstory and a dragon, and because a theme of legacy is introduced alongside Pearson, the runner suddenly needs to be inherited, as well as (possibly) Crow's cards. Now, a crafty fanfic writer could probably reconcile the above contradiction somehow, and I know some stories that accomplished that. But the point isn't that we, as the audience/fandom could make this work, the point is that canon didn't make it work. What canon, sadly, also didn't get to work was Black-Winged Dragon.

(We meet again, bird-dragon.)

Here comes the next elephant in the room: Everyone and their mother who has watched 5Ds knows that Black-Winged Dragon was never implied to be a signer dragon up until the duel where Crow acquires it. In fact, an entirely different dragon is teased so heavily long before BWD ever shows up that it to this day is one of many people's major gripes with the show's writing.

(Why, hello, Life Stream Dragon! Fancy seeing you here.)

And yet, Black-Winged Dragon is turned into a signer dragon before Life Stream Dragon, who was teased more than sixty (!!!) episodes before BWD was ever even mentioned. Why? Simple: Because Crow became a signer and Rua/Leo didn't, because the signers all need dragons (or else the "5Ds" part kind of doesn't work), and because Life Stream Dragon thematically doesn't fit Crow.

Now, I've seen people post theories to reconcile this weird hitch in canon, hell, I've even posted an idea for how it could be reconciled myself. But, again, that isn't the point here. The point is that as far as good old, barebones canon is concerned, it isn't reconciled. Canon at first states there are five signers, suggesting that there are also five dragons. But then, the fifth dragon never shows up, and one of the signers dies, to boot. Only for canon to then teach us, oh, no, look, the signer marks can wander from one person to the next. And to add insult to injury (at least where the show's writing and internal consistency is concerned), the signer mark that was "freed up" by Roman/Rudger's death doesn't wander to Rua/Leo, who any attentive watcher would have expected to become a signer because it was heavily teased during the DS arc, but to Crow. Frankly, I'm not surprised many people were angry about this, but in case my disclaimer didn't make it clear, I don't think it's productive to pin this on Crow by claiming his cards became super popular irl. There was definitely an out-of-left-field writing choice made here, but the only answers as to "why" were left in the 5Ds' writer's room, I believe. At a guess, if you want me to throw out a non-sugarcoated theory as to why, though? They probably thought Crow would be a more interesting character for their target audience. He's a scrappy guy who sticks it to authority, he's brave, he's funny, he plays a cool deck, and most of all, unlike Rua, he never embarrasses himself in a duel on screen. Why am I highlighting that last part? Because I feel like people sometimes forget that the target audience for this show, at the time of its creation, were about twelve year-old boys. And you can feel free to contradict me on this, but most twelve year-old boys I've known and know don't want to project themselves onto a chracter who loses and gets his butt kicked a lot, and who's a bit awkward and steps in it sometimes, which is much closer to how actual twelve year-olds are—but that's exactly why they prefer the cooler characters. And Crow is the cooler character, by average twelve year-old boy logic, regardless of what the grownups of this fandom think.

So Crow gets a dragon and the writing doesn't bother explaining the how or why of it, let alone tackles any of the implications made by Black-Winged Dragon's existence as a signer dragon. (Like what does this mean for the larger worldbuilding? Does the Crimson Dragon actually have more than five servants, but chooses to only ever bestow five marks at a time? Can any "dragon" the Crimson Dragon chooses be a signer dragon, and it just so happens that the constellation of signer dragons is nearly the same as the original one in present-time 5Ds canon? Did the Crimson Dragon specifically elevate BWD to a signer dragon because it felt like it? Was BWD always supposed to be a signer dragon? Was Pearson supposed to be a signer, but died too early before the dark signer prophecy was set into motion? Am I overthinking this? (Yes.)) He also obtains his dragon in what feels like the weirdest way possible to me, because it suddenly??? Just decides to appear in his runner????? Out of nowhere??????

(Why is that here. How did it get there. Why did Pearson even put it in there. And HOW. Is it just wedged between the machinery or what???? And how on earth did Yusei, Bruno, and/or Crow never find it before this point considering how often someone tinkered on the Blackbird on screen???)

(This scenario, of course, also raises the question how the other signers even got their dragons. But like many other, interesting questions, this episode chooses not to interact with that one whatsoever.)

In short, this backstory is a bit of a mess, to say the least. For as much good as it tries to do by contextualising Crow's character and giving him something that sets him apart from the rest of the protag group, it feels like a rough draft of an episode was given the green light to be produced without any editing, judging by the contradictions and weird implications. As such, it harms Crow's character as much as it builds it, as evidenced by how much fandom backlash he still receives years later for the things that were bungled in this backstory and also in different aspects of his character writing.

Now, you may notice this post has gotten stupidly long due to just how convoluted the specific hangups of Crow's backstory are. I originally meant to cover the WRGP and even the Ark Cradle arc for Crow in this post, too, but due to how much there was to say about canon's attempt to finally make Crow a "proper" signer, I've decided that trying to force another two whole arcs in here would be a disservice to the analysis and the character, and also make this agonisingly long, so I'll close this part out here and write a part three, perhaps even a part four depending on how much material the WRGP gives me to work with.

There's one more thing I need to get back to before I finish up this part, though: The "screentime" discussion. I mentioned far above that I take issue with how some people seem to be using the word screentime, and now I can explain why. First, I want you to take a look back at the episodes I covered here, those being 65-95, essentially. Now, as anyone who usually dislikes Crow will tell you, Crow is present in most, if not all of these episodes. He's on screen. He's getting screentime, and, according to many people, hogging it, even. Okay. Now, I want you to look back up at the analysis. How many episodes did I cover where Crow actually gets something to do? As in, where he's either the focus of the plot or gets to contribute to it in a significant way? There's the old man Bashford episode. There's the Poppo Time clock episode. There's his two backstory episodes. That's four. Four episodes. If you're generous, you might add in the episode where he gets to narrate Yusei's backstory alongside Jack and the two fake Jack episodes where he gets to have an emotional moment or two with his foster-brother. If you're less generous, you'll note that none of these episodes have Crow actually interacting with the main antagonists in a meaningful way or set up anything important that pays off later. (Hell, he doesn't even get any, and I really mean, any meaningful setup interactions with Sherry, who ends up being his final-boss-level opponent during the final episodes! Aki gets more meaningful interactions with Sherry than him, not that this ever gets a payoff.) And this is why I take an issue with people claiming Crow gets so much "screentime" post DS arc. Because to me, "screentime" should be time spent letting a character act meaningfully within the story, which most of the pre-WRGP episodes aren't for Crow. He's on screen, yes, but in many episodes, it wouldn't matter one whit whether you replaced him with a nameless side character, which isn't exactly a great look for a supposed third of a protagonist trifecta. Perhaps I'm being too strict with my definition of "screentime" here, fair enough! But the claim that Crow hogs screentime already rubs the wrong way during this comparably unimportant arc, so I can't leave it alone. It feels very decidedly malicious to claim a character who during some episodes seems to only be there to provide exposition or make whatever jokes Yusei and Jack's personalities aren't suited to is stealing screentime from other characters. As for the WRGP duels and whether he's "hogging" anyone's screentime there, I'll dig into that nonsense in the next part, please be patient with me.

...Phew. Okay.

Now, before I leave you to wonder whether I'm every finishing my Crow analysis in full again, I want to attempt to do the same thing I did in part one—propose some changes that could have been made to the writing for Crow's character in order to make things slot in better with the rest of canon. With a small disclaimer, of course: These are just my suggestions as to how Crow's character could have fit into canon more smoothly and been done less of a disservice by his own backstory.

So. First, a quick-fire thing about the pre-WRGP, to get that out of the way: Crow, alongside Aki, is the only signer who didn't get his own confrontation with either Iliaster or their minions. (Yusei had Ghost, Jack had fake Jack, Rua and Ruka had Luciano.) Instead of having him confront a cranky old man in a scrapyard or Zora's son, they could have easily given him a very short side-story where he gets to experience the threat of Iliaster up close and personal, too. Hell, they could have very nicely cut the recap episode where Crow and Jack lie in the mess of Jack's terribly built coffee table and philosophise about Yusei's backstory for this, too. (As funny as their interaction about the coffee table and Jack lying on the floor with a perfectly intact coffee cup are.)

(Pictured: Two idiots (affectionate) contemplating life among the scraps of a shitty, broken coffee table.)

Then, there's the Pearson backstory, of course. So, here's the thing, I think two very different kinds of "fixes" could have worked here. Crucially, they both depend on Crow's status as a signer. I argued in part one that Crow might have worked better as a character if he hadn't actually become a signer, so I'll give both versions here. Let's go.

Option A: We try not to touch canon too much and Crow stays a signer.

How to do this? Frankly, I think what Crow's mark and Black-Winged Dragon were majorly missing was setup. The mark is the smaller offence here, since, fair enough, the idea that signer marks can wander from person to person isn't too out there for 5Ds canon. However, the lack of a dragon despite the alleged 5Ds stands out, and Life Stream Dragon's wasted setup only makes it worse. Thus, making Black-Winged Dragon make sense would have required giving him the same amount of foreshadowing as Life Stream Dragon, at the very least. And you know who could have been great for that? Sweet, ever-forgotten-by-canon Ruka. She was already shown having flashback dreams to the signer dragons' first battle against the dark signers, so who's to say she couldn't have gotten dreams about a shadowy, new dragon she's never seen before? Perhaps even dreams where she's not sure if the dragon is good or bad at first! It could have provided intrigue, it could have made the audience curious. To strengthen that, canon could have also bothered taking the question "hey why are there only four dragons now" seriously. No character in canon ever questions why there are five marks, but only four dragons. Even Rua, who was previously hopeful that he might secretly be a signer, never brings it up. If canon had bothered to actually point this mystery out, they could have used it not only to foreshadow Black-Winged Dragon, but to aid Life Stream Dragon's setup, too. What the fuck am I talking about, I hear you ask. Hear me out: Life Stream Dragon is shown way, way later down the line, long after the audience probably already accepted that it was simply never going to show up, literally bursting out of Power Tool Dragon's armour. We are not provided with an explanation as to why. Imagine if they had sprinkled in another dream Ruka could have had about the ancient past here. Imagine if they had used the opportunity to show something like, oh, during the battle, Life Stream Dragon got injured so badly they had to protect its wounded body with a suit of armour, in the hopes that it would heal. And with one original signer dragon out of commission, the Crimson Dragon sadly had to choose a replacement in between, because the Earthbound Immortals were sure to return. Bam. Black-Winged Dragon. Two signer dragons, set up simultaneously, without forcing the canon lore to do somersaults. Furthermore, to actually explain why Pearson had the dragon but wasn't a signer, they could have easily sprinkled in a flashback between him and Crow. Maybe Pearson could have mentioned how the dragon always feels like it's never really his, as a joking aside. It would have been enough for me to suspend my disbelief, you know? And then the rest of canon could have played out exactly as we know it. Crow could have confronted Bolger, could have obtained Black-Winged Dragon because maybe the dragon finally decided he was worth throwing its weight behind. The mystery behind the missing fifth dragon could have been solved, and it would have made for satisfying payoff without kneecapping Life Stream Dragon's setup or conjuring an extra dragon out of thin air. And really, stuff like the runner thing could have so easily been solved by simply picking one version (did he build it himself or inherit it?) and sticking with it. All it took was a little more care.

Option B: We assume Crow didn't actually become a signer, but try to keep his backstory intact.

Okay, this version works under the assumption that Crow, despite partaking in the final battle against Goodwin during the DS arc, didn't receive a signer mark. To make this work, I would, bluntly put, simply make it so that Black-Winged Dragon doesn't exist. Pearson can still play a powerful Blackwing monster during his flashback that Bolger wants to find and sell later, but it simply isn't that dragon. Really, Blackwings have enough to choose from there. If the backstory episodes had been placed a little later, say, during the pause in the middle of the WRGP, he could have even received something like Blackwing Full Armor Master here. (Yes, I know that card didn't exist at the time, but my point is that he could have simply received a powerup like Yusei and Jack did, instead of a completely new monster.) With this setup, they could have still added the intrigue of taking the question why there are only four signers now seriously. They could have still set up a mystery about why no one ever saw the fifth dragon outside of dreams. And it could have made Rua becoming a signer later, and in this version getting the tail mark instead of a completely new one, that much more satisfying. And Crow could have kept his "fuck destiny, I'm trying to save the world here"-attitude from the DS arc, providing a nice, amusing counterweight to our heroes chosen by an ancient Incan dragon deity. All it would have taken would have been not giving him a mark and switching out Black-Winged Dragon for something else.

So, take your pick, I guess. In the meantime, I'll try my best to work on part three faster than I did part two, lmao.

See you next time!

[ya-rr-ow]

After combing through the anime I have compiled undeniable evidence that tbhk season two will feature the clock keepers.

I’ll put a list that elaborates more under the cut for those who don’t get the video:

The opening features Teru with Akane in the backround which seems obvious to manga readers but for the anime it seems out of place. To me this suggests that they were planning to include the clock keeper arc but for some reason had to cut it out (probably because it would have taken too many episodes and they couldn’t fit it in.)

In a short clip between two scenes we see two girls spreading rumors about a haunted clock on campus, an obvious reference to the clock keepers. The fact that this was included is interesting because it is so random (in the video I only show the clip but it is between two scenes not related to rumors at all.)

At the end of the last episode we see Tsukasa drawing some weird shit on the wall which probably seems very familiar to manga readers. The most prominent drawing is of three cloaked figures that are most likely the clock keepers. We also see a tree house reminiscent of the tree house from the picture perfect arc, so that arc might also be in season two which makes sense because it is a very big arc for many of the main tbhk cast.

Basically, I’m confident that the second season of tbhk will include the clock keeper arc (and probably the picture perfect arc too.)

All we know now is that it’s in production but I’d guess it will release 2025 or if we’re unlucky 2026. After School Hanako-Kun is getting more episodes fall 2024 and the second season of the main anime will come some time after that, so we have those episodes to look forward to aswell.

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

Any thoughts on the casting for The Last of Us season 2?

Oh god. So many.

So, I actually have all of TLOU show related tags blocked - because just seeing mentions of the show gets me kind of ticked. I miss the strike era when production of the show was delayed indefinitely.

But as far as the casting - I think Dina's casting is alright. I was one of those people who was naively hoping that Cascina would actually get to play Dina in the show, but I knew realistically that was never actually gonna happen.

Abby's casting however - I genuinely think that Kaitlyn Denver is a horrible choice. Like they looked up all the people who absolutely cannot play Abby and then they picked her.

Someone said that she looks like young Ellie - and I think for a long time, she was a popular fancast for Ellie. And to me, she looks like she can maybe only play young Abby in flashbacks. So unless they're gonna completely surprise people and only have her playing young Abby and then have someone else playing the real main timeline version of Abby - it won't work.

If you guys know me, then you know that I am incredibly protective of Abby's character. And based on the complete bastardization that they did of Season 1/TLOU 1, I already knew that they were going to royally fuck up Abby's character in some way.

And yes, I am basing most of my opinions on the fact that she is small and thin and Abby is supposed to be muscled, but people don't understand how pivotal that aesthetic is as a part of Abby's characterization.

(And they were never going to find someone perfect unless they used 2 different actors - one for flashbacks and one for the main timeline - because Abby gets ripped over years but it is shown in one short story, and her model was made with 2 different people - one for the face and one for the body, so they could keep her face on a younger, thinner body in flashbacks.)

Abby being muscled is actually a pivotal thing - it means she is feared and respected among the WLF, it means that Lev and Yara immediately fall in and trust to follow her through the woods because they view her as a protector when they are vulnerable and alone. Her body is a tool that is useful to her - it makes her completely immune to Isaac's violence right up until the moment she looks him in the eyes and asks him not to shoot Lev, and even then, he is asking her to step away from Lev so that he doesn't have to kill his best solider.

Isaac was more willing to kill Owen - thinking of Owen as disposable - than he was willing to kill Abby. And I think that breach of our society's typical sexism (where a man is always a better fighter, Abby supersedes that) in their post apocalyptic world, is really, truly shown by Abby's large stature.

Not only that, but it makes her physical malnutrition and how much she has wasted away because of the Rattlers that much more shocking. (Which, if they were going to depict that, it would be easy to do so with a heavily muscled actor and then make them look shockingly thin with CGI and makeup - but that scene is one of the reasons why video games are sometimes a better format. It being 100% computer generated means no actors had to be harmed during those scenes.)

Also (I wish I had screenshots of the specific lines) - but Abby and Owen's breakup at the Aquarium is about her training (her urge to gain muscle in order to aid of her long term revenge mission toward Joel) - Owen is surprised when Abby says she can bench press 140 pounds, and therefore, she can easily lift him. And Owen is insulted that Abby wants to spend more time training than she does with him - he is upset that her trauma and her revenge has overtaken her life to the point where she doesn't want to goof off watching spotted seals, and instead - just wants to train more.

And this leads more into the dynamic of - Owen is a disposable pawn (who pretends to take a pacifist stance when he's really a coward) and Abby has to vouch for his life with Isaac because she is infinitely more valued in the organization.

There is just a lot of layers to it - and they're already fucking it up.

I am trying my hardest to ignore the fact that she show exists, but it's actively lowering the IQ of the fandom every single day, and now I am gonna have to take braindead Abby takes from people who have only seen the show, and I genuinely wish it had never been made in the first place.

[hyenahunt]

Rouge & Ruby: Warmth and Compassion - 3

Writer: Umeda Chitose

Season: Winter

Characters: Ibara, Nagisa

Proofreading: royalquintet (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Mirei

Nagisa: (… Lately, Ibara has always been like this. Every time I try to talk to him, he responds with "I'm currently occupied!"

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Ibara: …

Nagisa: … Ibara.

Ibara: …

Nagisa: … Hey, Ibara.

Ibara: … Yes, what do you need me for, Your Excellency!? I'm currently occupied, so if you need anything, please keep it short!

Nagisa: …You’ve been working in your school uniform since you’ve returned. You don't want to change?

Ibara: My apologies for looking so unsightly! Unfortunately, I am too busy to waste time in doing so!

Besides, I'll have to go to the site after this and change outfits again. Let's just say that I went there right after school!

Nagisa: … I see. I’m just worried that it may wrinkle your uniform.

Ibara: … Ah. There is something I need to make sure of before going to the site. My apologies, Your Excellency. I shall excuse myself for a minute…

Let's see, what was the number for that contact—

Nagisa: …

Ibara: Hello, Ibara Saegusa from Cosmic Production speaking…

Yes, Thank you so much for helping us. I'm calling in regards to what we discussed the other day. May I have a few minutes of your time?

Nagisa: (… Lately, Ibara has always been like this. Every time I try to talk to him, he responds with "I'm currently occupied!"

(… Based on his PC screen and what I can hear from his call, I can guess why he’s really busy.)

(… That’s why I don’t want to force Ibara to talk to me when he’s working hard and doing his best.)

(… Hm? There is a box on top of the table. Is it okay if I open it?)

Time: A little while later

Ibara: Yes. Thank you so much for your time ♪⁠

Looking forward to our continued cooperation! Now, please excuse me.

Nagisa: … Ibara.

Ibara: Your Excellency. I apologise for repeating myself, but I’m currently occupied…

Nagisa: … I know, but just turn this way for a moment.

Ibara: Yes?

Ibara: — Mughmph!?

Nagisa: … You brought that chocolate on the table, didn't you, Ibara?

Ibara: Umh.. chomp chomp... mhm — [ he is eating the chocolate that Nagisa popped into his mouth ]

What on earth did you just do!? I almost swallowed the chocolate whole because of you!

Nagisa: … I was asking you, if you were the one who brought that chocolate.

Ibara: Ugh. My complaints are powerless in the face of His Excellency's curiosity!

Yes, that’s correct. This chocolate is something I brought this in — or rather, it's the sample that was delivered to me.

Nagisa: …I took a piece as well. It was delicious.

… Speaking of which, perhaps you could say that the reason I fed you one is because you have been so busy with work. You need to replenish your sugars, too.

Ibara: Well then, don't answer if your reasoning is just an afterthought—

— Uhm, I mean, to think that you are so proactive about my wellbeing! I greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness, Your Excellency!

Nagisa: … You must be very busy to mix up your front and true feelings.

Ibara: Precisely. I am extremely busy right now!

… Now that my focus has been interrupted, I'll rest my hands for a bit, though.

Nagisa: … Yes, resting is important ♪⁠

Ibara: Oh? You are still eating the chocolate, Your Excellency?

Nagisa: … It tastes good. Can’t I?

Ibara: You may, so long as it's only up to one box. There are several flavours inside, after all..

However, if you want to open a second box, calculating your diet will become difficult, so please ask me first!

Nagisa: …Fufu. That means it’s fine for me to eat this whole box.

…It really makes me happy to be able to appreciate various flavours.

Ibara: Hm, you seem to have taken a liking to it. If Your Excellency is satisfied, it’s fair to say that it has passed the taste test ♪⁠

Nagisa: … Right. You mentioned that this is a sample? Does that mean this chocolate is related to our Chocolat Fes?

Ibara: Yes. I have been directly taking part in the planning process, for the sake of Eden and this year’s Chocolat Fes… ☆

Nagisa: … It's a pleasure for the eyes as well—like a jewel.

Ibara: Fufun, of course isn't it just! ♪⁠ It might still be in the prototyping stages, but I've been quite particular about making the design look as luxurious as a real gemstone.

We are working to be precise in every step of the process, without compromising on anything. Your Excellency, please look forward to the final product♪⁠

Nagisa: … If you're so confident, then it must be great. You’re putting a lot of care into Eden’s chocolate, aren’t you?

Ibara: Absolutely. Our plan is to put our own original products into our fans' hands, instead of using what ES has prepared for us.

Even if their motivation to buy the chocolate is to support Eden, there won't be any point if the look or taste of the chocolate they bought is disappointing.

If the chocolate itself can make them feel happy about their purchase, it may also cause them to feel happy about being a fan of Eden.

Also, there are also those who might be interested in buying it simply because it's an original product.

Or, there are people who are buying simply because they are interested in the chocolate box design itself…

Using these methods, we must generate interest in the product even among those who aren't interested in Eden.

If we can’t satisfy that market as much as we satisfy our fans, there is no point in going out of our way to create and develop our own product.

That’s why we’re paying a lot of attention to detail, even beyond appearance and taste.

Nagisa: (... Ibara’s talking excitedly…)

Ibara: So, they would first be introduced to the concept of four chocolates in one box, which represent each member of Eden...

Then, even with Adam and Eve having separate stages, they'll see motifs in the stage design that link back to the chocolates—

[ ☆ ]

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[megaboy335]

WSJ Serialization Round - September 2023

It's Jump serialization season so I decided to write short reviews of each new title and give final thoughts on the series ending. I'll update the post with my thoughts on the other two new series and whatever ends next week. Discussion about Fabricant 100, Tenmaku Cinema, and the new series MamaYuyu below Edit: Added thoughts for Do Retry and Kagurabachi Edit 2: Added thoughts for Two on Ice and Ayakashi Triangle

Ending Series 1. Fabricant 100 - 37 chapters (Score 4/10) The Golden Future Cup winner curse strikes again. Fabricant 100 was the 2021 winner and it comes from an assistant of Yusei Matsui. I saw red flags right away with the concept. Why is the most powerful fabricant paired with the most valuable human? They're basically invincible when combined together. Sure enough the early opponents didn't put up much of a challenge (the later opponents weren't much better either). The main character Ashibi and #100 join an organization and the series is forever locked into the battle manga angle. Shortly afterwards, Fabricant 100 pivots into exploring the meaning of life and questioning how to become the ideal human. These can be deep questions that perhaps could have been explored if the series wasn't so dead set on being a battle manga. These two sides of the series were always at odds with itself. Some of the Fabricants showed they could coexist with humans... until they couldn't due to internal instincts to steal body parts. The powers steadily had to become edgier to make the life commentary look smart. The art was rarely anything worth mentioning. I would say it peaked early and the story meandered around for a majority of its run. Instead of having 100 Fabricants, there should have been 10-20 who each lived with humans under unique circumstances. That could have shaken Ashibi's morale resolve at every turn. In the end, the series gave reasons for how Fabricants came into existence and #100 made a selfish yet selfless choice for the first time ever. I hope the author has a more straightforward vision for their work next time. If only we lived in a timeline where Red Hood survived 36 weeks. 2. Tenmaku Cinema - 21 chapters (Score 7/10) At the end of last year, the duo behind Shokugeki no Souma returned with a new series about film making. It focused on the process, tools, and management of creating an amateur film. The story begins with the main character Shinichi finding himself possessed by the ghost of a screenwriter named Tenmaku. The ghost character sees the talented young actress Hinaki and immediately becomes inspired to draft a film based on his perception of her life titled "The Shore". Hinaki reads the script and wants to help as much as possible. Her decision comes from 1) the relatability of the story to her own life (without ever knowing its technically based on her) and 2) the desire to have fun with her school peers for once. From this point the series remains squarely focused on bringing this film to life. We see the ups and downs to film production such as sound, prop setting, music, and location scouting. I wished the series devoted a chapter to simply showing The Shore, but I also think it ultimately didn't matter because Hinaki is the film's protagonist in the literally sense. Between walking home, going to the beach, school, or accepting her mom, those are all moments she can bring out organically from her own experiences and desires. The art was amazing and well detailed as you would expect from Tosh. I thought giving Shinichi a spirit partner was kind of an old school throwback since that's a common troupe of the late 90s/2000s era. Its shame Tenmaku and Shinichi got very little time to interact outside of film making. The biggest weakness is while the manga comes off fairly complete, its also shallow. They only made a single movie, so not a lot actually happened over the 21 chapter run. I think the reason it failed is simple: Oshi no Ko, Chainsaw Man, and Sakamoto Days easily fill the void of movie inspired series. Unfortunately there was no place for a series like Tenmaku Cinama to explore the creation process at a ground level in the current manga climate. At least Tosh and Tsukada will be back with a one shot next spring. We haven't seen the last of them. 3. Do Retry - 19 Chapters (Score 4/10)

I've had my eye on Jun Kirarazaka since Bone Collection. That was a bad series with the art in particular being its weakest point, but I thought the characters had some charm. It was like a modern day Urusei Yatsura with an exorcist series skin. Afterwards they did assistant work under the famous Yusei Matsui and here they are again with an historical boxing series.

Right away its obvious his artwork had improved substantially. There is more detail, better composition, and it had a good handle on portraying the setting. I was very impressed with the first chapter. However, problems quickly began to crop up. As the popularity tanked and art deteriorated, it looked more and more like a Yusei series. Kirarazaka doesn't have the imagination to make it compliment what he's drawing to convey. This could be seen most in the opponents our main character faced. There was a guy with a big arm and another with super slates eyes. Its exactly like the exaggerated features you would expect in a Matsui series, who is able to normalize those features with unique panel compositions. The designs in Do Retry came off ugly and out of place for this setting.

The story itself was fine with enough runtime to have 3 main opponents. As a cancelled title, Kirarazaka had to rush through the final arc scenario. Its not hard to imagine how a long term plot of slowly piecing together a mystery about the missing father would have unfolded. I liked the overarching theme of pushing forward despite adversity. The final chapter time skipped to present and we got to see the main character through the pov of his grandson. That is one of the more clever cancelled final chapters I've seen in awhile.

Honestly, the final chapter saved the series somewhat for me. Kirarazaka dropped the Matsui-ness and got to be himself again. It was like the return to form that I wanted since the beginning. I still think this mangaka can land a hit someday. He needs to figure out how to balance his character writing with his newly developed art skills. Do Retry is a respectable attempt, but this wasn't it. I hope he can keep improving and find a style that works for him. 4. Ayakashi Triangle (AyaTri) - 144 Chapters (Score 8/10) Kentaro Yabuki is a prolific manga artist whose career dates back to the late 90s with his debut series Yamato Gensouki at age 19. Since then he's become known for pushing the boundaries of shonen ecchi series to their upper extreme limited. In 2020, Yabuki returned to the weekly magazine with a new ecchi battle series titled Ayakashi Triangle. The most apparent thing right away was that it had a heavier emphasis on the characters and less on making ecchi scenes. It eventually became even clearer how this series was a soft reboot/continuation of Yamato Gensouki which was cancelled in 2 volumes. While the original has very little lore impact on Ayatri, the biggest connection is original Ayakashi Medium is the previous protagonist Iyo. In retrospect, when Male Matsuri split off I should have considered that it might kick off the end game scenario. At the time I thought it was just another subplot to mess with Suzu. The series was more daily life centric in the WSJ days, and more plot focused after it transferred to Jump+. The publication didn't come with any substantial change in content. Though Ayatri was already too spicy for Viz. It was a miracle they kept it as long as they did. I think the series landed in a good place. In fact Shirogane and Suzu acknowledged my long held idea that she might be able to control Matsuri's gender at will. The daily lives of the characters will continue onwards with hijinks always happening. Yet, I also feel unsatisfied because the final boss battle was against a remote controlled puppet. It makes sense within the series for the Goyosen to be the manifestation grudges from Iyo's time, but its underwhelming as an action climax sequence. However for completing a few ideas from Yamato Gensouki, I think it worked in that area. Yabuki has always been a creative artist. He specializes in minimal panel layouts with dynamic action that is easy to follow. It's a style he perfected over the years and still be seen all over Ayatri. As a weekly series, I would say his art and color pages weren't as good compared to the monthly Darkness years. The weekly color pages on Jump+ weren't particularly memorable for the most part, but his compositions are still way ahead of his peers. Regardless, its been a treat to experience a Yabuki series on a weekly schedule. I think Ayatri will be remembered as the series that didn't introduce anything ground breaking, and yet connects Yabuki's carrer from the start to present. He's an artist you read because the content is sweet comfort food. Yabuki often doesn't often stay gone for long, so I'm sure he'll back before we know it. I look forward to whatever he cooks up next.

New Series #1 - MamaYuyu Weekly Shonen Jump has been a save heaven from the plague of fantasy isekai that has consumed the industry, so I was worried when the preview material talked about heroes and the demon lord. Thankfully that doesn't appear to be the case. We're introduced to a hero from a different world where the demon lord is far from defeated. The main character Corleo gets to learn what it means to be a hero through watching his actions. However, the hero sacrifices his life to save this town from the demon lord of his world. Chapter 1 was a long winded prologue to our hero's origin story. I think it could have been streamlined to get the point without beating readers over the head with the conflicted thoughts of Corleo. It also went overboard on defining a Hero. The paneling was unusual, but not necessarily off putting. I hope the author can handle it better with shorter chapters. I would say this is a middle of the road chapter 1. It's hard to pinpoint the exact direction of the story at this stage. My guess is what it will become a battle manga and the mom demon and hero will have to travel together. We already know there are other worlds so the framework is there for a long journey. Time will tell how receptive readers are to this concept.

New Series #2 - Kagurabachi I feel like I don't have much to say about this new series. Its a sword themed with sorcery like you would see in Demon Slayer/Jujutsu Kaisen. The first chapter played out a little differently than the usual Ch.1 template. It was a prologue in the first half and then the real chapter in the back half. You can feel the dad's passion for his craft and the child's desire to match that someday. The dialogue was a little dry, but I thought it worked well with the art style. In the back half, the art got shaper to convey the change in tone. Usually a chapter 1 would show a character like the dad getting killed and then the incident would create a lifelong motivation for the protagonist. Choosing to pause that story and leave it a mystery is an interesting approach. Overall, I think the minimal exposition gives it a stronger than usual first chapter. It gives room for the characters to be the center of attention. The time skip leaves you wondering what exactly happened and how far the main character will go in enacting revenge. The strongest point of the debut is easily the art. I'll be going forward to seeing how the story unfolds in the coming weeks. New Series #3 - Two on Ice Two on Ice isn't a bad series, in fact I would say it has some solid potential. The first chapter is a prologue story about how the protagonist meet the main heroine and became inspired to take figure skating seriously. Several years later, they meet up once again and he's given the chance to be her partner on the ice rink. It's a solid start for character writing with clear motivations and paths for the story to take. The weaker aspect is the art work. There are places were I thought its not good enough to convey what the manga artist hopes. I think these are pretty minor nitpicks in the grand scheme because the love for Figure Skating can clearly be felt. I'm not sure if this kind of topic can succeed in Jump, but I wish them the best of luck.

[kpopper]

hi!!! mouse anon here

sorry it's been so long :3

how are you? I hope you've been doing good!

I've been pretty busy with work and I didn't have a lot of energy to watch the kdramas I had on my list but I've been reading a lot on my commutes lol im past my goal of 50 books for this year!

I did watch good detective season 2 which was honestly pretty good!! I didn't remember too much of the 1st season but they gave enough flashbacks that it seemed familiar idk if you watched it but every character except for the dad character was good. I kept getting reality checks of this is just the problems of the top 1% in society so I couldn't relate or care at times -_-

I had save me on my list for so long but I'm so hesitant to start cause I heard it's kind of a lot 😭 I just know the religious schtick of the cult would make me pissed like you said. I've been wanting some lighter shows lately but I'm not taking it off my list!

I still haven't gotten past the 1st ep of 2521 because of the finale!! how can I sit through a cute relationship only to get that ending 😭😭😭 you're so right, we're over relationships in kdramas! I need a good plot and found family and I'll be satisfied (extraordinary attorney woo had such a good couple even if we'll never know taeoh's backstory 😌)

omg I'm glad you liked the killer's shopping list! it's such a weird mix of genres but I think they handled it very well! (cafe minamdang is also on my list! ooh I'm glad it's similar!)

I've had to skip through many scenes of itaewon class :| the writing was just so weird but ahn bo hyun was done dirty by that show! that dye job/color was just so bad 😭

I'll start big mouth ASAP then! I kept seeing super cute gifsets but then people would comment and say the show's actually dark and emotional lol but I like a good mix of happy and sad (just not too sad)

I still haven't resumed dark too 😭 I haven't been productive at all 😭

my mom watched little woman I think and she liked it and I love the cast! it's also really short for a kdrama so it could be another short and good show!

from the new releases, I've heard cheer up was not what people were expecting and i saw mixed reviews so idk if I want it on my list. I do want to watch rookie cops and I heard glitch on netflix is very lesbian coded so it'll be up my alley! I'm also planning on starting law school soon even though it's been so long since you recommended it! I also heard somebody on netflix was good but I didn't hear as any people talking about it so I'm just basing that off of the 2 reviews I've seen lol

sorry I couldn't give you as any recs as I wanted to but I hope all the good recs find you anyway!!! <333

Mouse anon my beloved!!!! Didn’t think I’d hear from you again after changing the url on this blog actually, hi I hope you’ve been well!!!!

Honestly we’re IN SYNC cause I haven’t had the energy to watch a lot of things lately. And I think it started cause I, too, went on a reading binge since September / October of last year that completely shut off my brain for television. What types of books do you read? Is it the same investigation detective streak as your personal taste in tv? I’d love to talk about it

I haven’t watched good detective 2 yet for the reasons mentioned above…… I’ll def have to read about the plot of season 1 first because even with flashbacks I need to know I’m keeping up with the story as it is. It’s on my list for a unforeseeable future.

Yes save me is a lot honestly. I have an overbearing catholic mother so it was. A difficult series to swallow but for some reason I couldn’t stop watching it. It def awakes some raging feelings in you though, I believe even if you don’t have a strong feeling regarding Christianity in the first place like I do.

Bahahahaahahahha about2521 I FEEL YOU. But it’s also so incredibly in touch with the human experience of love and loss and life. It’s more brilliant because it’s over honestly, it sets the show apart from usual romantic dramas. But it’s still a heavy weight in the chest and something lodged on your throat so I get it if you can’t finish it

I never finished big mouth actually T-T I dropped it off by the few last episodes I believe…. It did got a bit dark by the end but the medical improbabilities of it kind of threw me off. It coincided with me dropping television altogether basically so there’s that

(Honestly it’s been so hard for me to enjoy a tv show lately. I kind of fell down the Thai tv rabbit hole and have occupied my mind with that. Some of their shows are really good. From kdrama I think the last one I truly enjoyed was weak hero class 1. The characters are layered in a way that they feel like book characters, it’s something I don’t usually feel when I’m watching television. It was honestly very very good. I’m trying to distract myself with reborn rich now. It’s better than most things in the sense that I can watch perhaps two entire episodes without exhausting the reels feed on my instagram)

Little woman was good!!! I kept up with it as it came out so I think that’s why I managed to get thru the entire thing. That and my love for Kim goeun. Wi hajoon was his usual extremely charming self also.

I didn’t know glitch was lesbian coded but I can assure you from the 2 and a half episodes I watched of somebody, that one Is heavily lesbian. I’ve also started a few episodes of awaken (Netflix) and it sounds like the type of show you’d like. Not even midway thru tho so I can’t promise it’s gonna be good to the end.

I hope you had a good end of the year and that your job treats you kindly. I also hope that you see this <3 and that maybe I can hear from you again <3

[gallusrostromegalus]

So, I have to ask, what is the SITUATION with Yugi's parents?

(Also, can you impart more knowledge about Duke Devlin? I feel as thiugh there's something downright hilarious coming up with him.)

Ok the reason I haven't talked about Yugi's parents is that I uh. Can't make up my mind about what is going on with them. The short vesrion is that they're unable to care for Yugi so Solomon is his Legal guardian, and will not be appearing in the fic unless I settle on something by the time I get to season 4 or so. I was originally going with one flavor of Angst, then my brain supplied an entirely different flavor of angst and now I'm not sure which I like better. Option 1 would kick Marik (and everyone else but mostly Marik) in the guts while he's down, Option 2 would rip out Seto Kaiba's Heart. But probably neither will come up.

DUKE on the other hand has a fantastic part to play yet. He has a passing mention in the next chapter because he (indirectly) knows Sergei and Misha, and this connection will cause ABSOLUTE BEDLAM during Battle City. Some Duke Fun Facts:

Whatever the Opposite of a Vegan is, that's Duke. Man lives on caffeine and pork products, which has done something WEIRD to his metabolism so he's still a scarecrow.

"Duke Devlin" is a name he picked out for himself because it slaps that's why.

Like in the Manga, Duke's "Dad" lost a card game to Solomon Moto and has been wearing a fucked up clown mask since. Unlike the Manga, these two events aren't actually related. What happened was that Solomon beat Duke's Dad in a card game, had a GREAT time at the wedding they were both attending, and had sex with SOMEONE in Duke's family, while Duke's Dad got that clown mask stuck on his head in an Improv Theater Accident and then... never did anything about it. Duke travelled to Domino City in part to kick Yugi's ass for fucking up the international distribution of his game and also to see if they were Related.

Post-Fic, Duke and Bakura team up to release a new module of Monster World, "Catacomb of Abominations" which is generally met with rave reviews like "Even with fudging my rolls and eliminating half the encounters, this module killed all my players in 20 Minutes. 10/10" "I didn't have a debilitating fear of rabbits before this game, but I sure do now! 10/10" "I'm a quantum physicist and certified forensic accountant, and the math made me cry. 11/10"

Actually, since they're both huge TTRPG Nerds, Duke and Bakura become rather close. It still takes YEARS for Duke to realize that the reason Joey rolls Bakura's Dice for him whenever they play is not because of his Hand Injury but because Bakura is a master of stage magic and sleight-of-hand and could roll whatever results he wanted entirely subconciously. It takes Bakura years to realize that when Duke was complaining about "Having To Learn Python" he meant the coding language and not How To Talk To Large Snakes.

Duke speaks the greatest number of languages of the cast, but only if you count computer programming languages.

[eleteo125]

Even More Model Baji

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Some manga spoilers here

I'm imagining a scenario where a Baji fan came to the pet store trying their luck that maybe he's working on the front that specific day. Then they caught sight of the long hair and they get so excited and started to ramble how much they love Baji and the guy turns around and it's Kazutora 😂😂😂

Chifuyu and Baji definitely had a good laugh at that. Of course being the good best friends they are they told the story to the others and it's become a running joke.

Baji even invites Kazutora to model with him jokingly nah he kinda serious he wants him and Chifuyu be models with him even just for pet related stuff hehe

Every single one of his friends, yes every member in toman will have healthy hair. Doesn't matter if they got a head full of hair or a buzz cut they will have healthy hair.

And the reason for that is because he models for a bunch of hair products that he gets a lot of free stuff from them. He appreciates it but yea it can get too much so he gives the extra ones to his squad.

Hecc they don't even worry about hair care products they know Baji's got their back hahaha. In fact it's gotten to the point where they'd rely on him for hair care products 😂

You know how Mikey always wants his hair different? He always consults Baji for it hahaha. Baji makes sure that Mikey doesn't end up with crusty dead hair cause he changes it so much.

From wanting it long like Baji's, to cutting it short like Shinichiro to wanting it to looks like Izana and many more.

Izana almost wanted to beat Baji for encouraging his brother 😂😂😂

Sometimes Baji gets tired of Mikey and just sends him to his trusted hair dresser...WHICH IS AKKUN LET'S GOOOO!!!!

I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT AKKUN AND BAJI WILL GET ALONG JUST BECAUSE OF THIS COMMON INTEREST.

Takemichi might be Akkun's first client, but Baji is definitely his most frequent client. Takemichi probably used this fact back when they were in toman to convince Baji to let them in the gang.

Akkun wants to start a hair care brand and you know Baji will model for it free of charge.

OMG now I'm just thinking how Baji and Akkun's friendship will be like hahaha.

I feel like whenever they have a get together they would have a little roast session with their bad bleached and dyed hair. Takemichi might be the butt of the joke most of the time.

Ok we know Baji has made a name for himself as a model so fans are definitely a thing. So bodyguards must be a thing too for him. Except most of the time unless it's a public or formal event, his bodyguards are his friends haha. Like they know he can handle himself (I mean come on 1 vs 50 that's insane haha) but these are fans and not rough delinquents out for blood.

So we know Baji and Emma are childhood friends right. Watch her be the most efficient bodyguard of his😂. She knows what these fans want and knows exactly how to shut them down. And also she would be low-key judging their taste because in her mind it'll be like 'Baji, really???😒' in the most loving way hahaha. They behave like siblings you cannot change my mind.

Watch Emma's face contort in disgust when rumors about her and Baji start spreading haha. She would use Yuzuha's help to track down the person who wrote that article and gave them a lesson.

A public picture of her and Draken kissing? Hell yeah. And Baji will be promoting Draken's bike shop😂

So you know how Hakkai used to have long hair in high school? Yea he's also the reason Baji has modelling as a side gig. The company said they needed another model and the first person to come to mind was Baji.

They were about to meet up and talk about it but coincidentally said company scouted him the same day hahaha. Can't resist that long flowy luscious dark locks of his haha.

I like to think that Baji learned to care for his hair because of his mom so he definitely spoils her. Not just in hair products but in everything. Being a model gives you extra spending money and why not spend it to your loved ones. Also in his mind it's his way of saying thanks you for caring for him and as an apology for always making her worry.

Once again Model Baji won't leave my mind. My brain can't stop. I'm not really complaining I love all this fluff haha.

✨Model Baji Brainrot✨

I think the reason why I can't stop thinking of stuff like this is because the last few episodes this season is gonna be...y'know haha

Pssst @manilaruins even more Baji model here haha

[inawickedlittletown]

Queerbaiting and Buddie

(word count: 1,900)

I keep saying that I don’t want to spend any more time on 9-1-1 meta or fic, but the events of this weekend made me open up a document where I had some unfinished meta and in light of the S4 finale airing tonight, I thought I might at least write this: 

“Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation. They do so to attract a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while at the same time attempting to avoid alienating other consumers.” 

That is how Wikipedia defines queerbaiting. And I really feel like everyone needs to read that and then read it again and realize that what is happening on 9-1-1 with Buddie is NOT queerbaiting. 

I don’t want to go into the long history of queerbaiting because we would be here all day and anyone that wants to do some research should go and do so. There are a lot of resources out there. Use them. 

But the short of it is this: queerbaiting has a lot more to do with the way a show is promoted, with the way that anyone involved in the show talks about a queer ship, and with the show deliberately scripting scenes that hint at a relationship without any intention of following through. Expectations and wanting a queer ship to go canon and those expectations not being met do not alone equate to it being queerbaiting. 

For any of us that have been around a long time there are a lot of perfect examples and if you compare Buddie to any of them, they are very different. I’ll name a few:

Merlin/Arthur

John Watson/Sherlock

Emma Swan/Regina

Derek/Stiles

Castiel/Dean Winchester (though they did go canon...barely)

Lena/Kara

Buck and Eddie do not fit into that list. Which isn’t to say that someday they could belong there, but I just do not believe that they will even if Buddie never becomes canon. And this all lies in how Buddie as a ship has been treated both on screen and off. I’ll break it down by season. 

S2: 

Eddie is very clearly introduced as a new character, a straight Army veteran with a disabled kid and family drama. He and Buck have immediate chemistry. We can’t deny that, or deny that from that first episode there are immediate sparks. Unintended sparks, but sparks nevertheless. And it is easy to tell that no one on the production team expected that and the story reflects that. 

Yes a foundation for their friendship is formed and yet the season long story focuses on Eddie’s relationship with his estranged wife and Buck is dealing with his own growth after being left by Abby. Their friendship shines and their scenes are great but none of them suggest romance and there are actually a lot of episodes where Buck and Eddie barely interact in S2 aside from in the background or for small work related moments (this mostly happens after Shannon returns). 

S2 does give us the first acknowledgement from the powers that be aka Tim Minear that they know what the fans have seen. This is why the elf scene exists, but it exists in a space where it’s a nod to the fans and not meant to do much more than that. The other moment is during the call with the livestreamer. But S2, places them completely and without question on a strong friendship. 

S3: 

We see a lot more conflict for Buck and Eddie in this season and we see how close and important they are to each other. Those are the two main things. That can be read as friendship easily and it’s a season where both Buck and Eddie deal with their pasts and in one way or another start to get closure while their friendship remains intact. 

Yes there are some scenes that make us squint and go huh, wtf? (I’m looking at you kitchen scene), but narratively we also know that neither of these boys is ready for a real relationship with anyone, let alone each other. But we can bask in how close they are as well as how Christopher fits in into all of it. 

But in S3 we are also introduced to Ana and we see the return of Abby. We also get to see that Buck and Eddie have become closer than ever and that the lawsuit only serves to highlight the importance that they both feel about having the other available to them. I’ll also quickly mention that Eddie Begins worked hard to highlight Buck’s devotion to Eddie. 

S4: 

Without considering the events of the finale (I am avoiding spoilers and know nothing about it or the speculation), we’ve seen Buck and Eddie both grow and get further closure on their past. This season has paralleled them well and their friendship has not faltered, they’re as close as ever. 

The beginning of the season was heavily focused on Buck and we saw him grow as a person and begin to work on himself in a healthy way and we’ve seen Eddie be supportive of that. 

We also have Ana to consider and her relationship with Eddie as well as the return of Taylor and yet the appearance of these women has not changed the Buck and Eddie dynamic. And I find it fascinating that Eddie beginning to date Ana, is the thing that prompted Buck to start dating. The parallels are all over the place but it is the strength of the friendship and the way they care so deeply about each other that remains whether that becomes romantic is still to be seen, but it could still go either way.  

Off-screen by the end of S2, Tim Minear had already addressed Buddie by throwing in that elf scene in a wink/nudge fashion that said “I see you” and in the scene with the girl with the livestream with the comments. During S3 he tweeted about being frustrated by the fans demanding and being hostile and thinking that that would make him more likely to do what they want (I’m paraphrasing what I remember seeing). Tim has never once said that Buddie will happen or shut the door on the ship entirely, but he did say he did not want to engage in conversation about it because he doesn’t want to get into arguments with fans. 

Oliver has always been enthusiastic about Buddie and has even said that he would be perfectly fine with it happening both a while ago and more recently in promo for S4. Conscious of queerbaiting and not wanting to give fans false hope, he has specifically said that he does not know if it will or won’t happen and that he wouldn’t speak on that as he’s not the one making that decision. His support for it happening does not mean he has any sway one way or the other. He’s said this a few times and even wrote a letter to the effect to make it clear to fans that the last thing he wants is to disappoint someone due to something he’s said. 

All in all, it just isn’t a constructive environment for anyone working on the show to interact with fans on this topic because any time that they do, they get attacked by overly enthusiastic buddie shippers that in many ways are making everything worse. 

In all of the interviews from Tim that I’ve seen, he has always been very quick to hint at what was coming up on the show in a way that at times has been misleading on purpose. The number one thing that comes to mind is early in S4 where Buck was said to get a new woman in his life. Tim absolutely made it out to seem like it was a girlfriend while knowing fully well that it was a therapist. This is an excellent example of what promoting and hinting is actually like. No one from this show has done that in regards to Buddie. 

No one has gone out of their way to hint that it may happen in a way that excites the fans. And this is one of my main reasons for knowing that Buddie is not a queerbait. At no point in the life of the show so far has anyone used Buddie in a promotional way to bring in viewers. Because THAT was the whole point of queerbaiting in the past. 

It was a way that some showrunners found to bring in a lot of viewers when they needed to up their numbers in order to show networks they were worth keeping around. Someone figured out that LGBTQ people wanted to see themselves represented so much so that they would tune in to anything that promised an LGBTQ character in some fashion. It was a tactic that worked well in the landscape of tv where there was so little LGBTQ content on mainstream media that anyone wanting it would latch onto anything. And then they just wouldn’t deliver on those relationships or characters. In 2021, that is not the world we live in any longer. 

In today’s tv landscape there is so much to watch and so much to pick from and diversity has grown, it is celebrated. Queer characters are well represented as are queer relationships and queer stories. The times are different. A while back I was listening to a podcast (Bait: a queerbaiting podcast) and something I found interesting was how the hosts both agreed that in today’s tv landscape there is no more real queerbait and that we won’t easily find anything like the ships I mentioned above. I think I agree more with this than I expected to, because I do think that it exists in some spaces, but it definitely isn’t what it used to be. This is a good thing. 

Specific to 9-1-1, this is a show that has that diversity and that isn’t afraid of tackling that diversity and giving us interesting and nuanced perspectives and stories embracing that. We have characters of color, women in positions of power, a F/F relationship, two multi-racial relationships, a disabled character, other queer characters including a M/M relationship. There is so much in this show that embraces diversity and that embraces the reality of what the world looks like. To call it queerbait is to disrespect everything else that this show is and has done and the hard storylines that have been tackled that we would not have seen on tv ten years ago. 

And I get that Buddie would be another breakthrough. It would be a novel way to tell a queer story, and it would be amazing if it were to happen. The set up is there, but it isn’t fully realized, and Buck and Eddie can still be read as just friends if we take off the shipping goggles. But it also isn’t queerbait or likely to become queerbait and people have to stop calling it that. 

What Buddie resembles is one of the many unintended slow burn ships that have frustrated viewers in many forms across fandoms and we just have to go along for the ride and maybe it will happen. Or maybe it won’t. But if we know anything about relationships on tv, it is that a lot of the fun comes from the journey, even if the destination is good too. 

[astudyinfreewill]

sigh. hello supernatural fandom, i see a new s16 episode has dropped.

i just. want to make it very clear that despite whatever endearing cas-related details may be found in the 15x19 and 15x20 scripts, like... the scripts are still shite? not that the episodes themselves are not complete and utter shite, but the scripts simply aren’t any better. i’m sorry, they’re just not.

just going in order of the things of note i’ve seen:

15x19

dean and michael’s short conversation about fathers is kinda neat, but ultimately pointless - it was to death (and better) in s5, and it adds nothing to an episode where michael comes back just to betray the boys, get called a cuck, and die

jack suddenly, randomly being able to ~absorb God Energy™️~ is still dumb as fuck, even if we were shown a clip of it happening before the biG rEvEaL 

...okay, okay, i’ll concede: i DID get emo about it being explicit in the script that it was cas who changed dean’s mind about himself with his speech in 15x18. and on one hand, i cannot fucking believe bucklemming randomly gave us one (1) right. but on the other hand it’s like... literally nothing. we pieced it together because it made implicit narrative sense, but cas’s impact is never acknowledged in words. literally if we didn’t have a degree in “reading the jackles microexpressions” it might have never landed.

jack hugging dean and sam before leaving would’ve been cute but it doesn’t make his sudden decision to leave any less frustrating. they spent seasons complaining about an absent god that wasn’t close to humans... and then they ended with the kid they supposedly raised losing his human part and removing himself from the narrative. how’s that different? riddle me that while you’re hanging out in every blade of grass (and maybe i’d care more about jack if he wasn’t literally constantly written as a plot device and schrödinger’s family)

cannot EXPRESS enough how bafflingly infuriating and tragic i find it that the boys’ “happy ending” included LITERALLY every one of their friends dying or being removed from their lives???? are ya winning, sons???

15x20

THAT CAST LIST THOUGH. how are you gonna plan on bringing back jody and rowena and eileen in the finale and NOT CAS? i love all those ladies to death, but none of them were the show’s third lead for a decade. literally HOW. and don’t get me started on how JENNY NOLASTNAME is billed higher than any of them

“WHAM! Sam SHOVES the pie into Dean’s face!” actually go eat a dick andrew

dean worrying over miracle: again, cute, but pointless, given the ending dean gets

“if cas(s) was here-” “he’s not”. what is this?? why the insistence on sam bringing cas up and dean shutting it down?? i swear the only two ways of reading this are “dean randomly stopped giving a shit about cas after cas came out to him” and “dean is actively suicidal over cas dying and can’t bring himself to talk about it” and they BOTH suck. also “if cas was here” HEADASS... AMBULANCES ARE STILL A THING FUCKING CALL 911

i’m sorry listen i don’t mean to be a cold-hearted bitch but. are we supposed to... be emotionally distraught about sam calling jody/rowena/au!charlie/eileen, and telling them about dean’s death? first of all, as long as you’re bringing the actresses on set, WHY not have them at the funeral. but also like. jody, sure, i get it. rowena... she definitely had more of a bond with sam, but sure, i’ll take it. au!charlie barely even knew them. would she really be distraught??? 

and don’t get me started on how spectacularly STUPID it is to show sam calling eileen, and having eileen break down over losing one of her family - evidently someone she considered close to a brother-in-law due to her relationship with sam - and then just NEVER SHOW HER AGAIN. and that was a WRITING CHOICE - she was not simply erased in post production, the script straight up SAYS we don’t know who sam ends up with at the end. why bring her back at all then??? why write her into the story?? are we supposed to infer sam broke up with her on that same phone call???

sam’s kid “joined the family business too”... oh so sam didn’t get a white picket fence ending? oh so dean’s ~sacrifice~ wasn’t so sam could have a normal life? oh so sam didn’t forget about eileen because he wanted to get away from hunting bEcAuSe iT’s wHaT dEaN wOuLd wAnT? so there was literally no reason for ANY of it to go that way???

god, what a shitshow. anyway, this leaves me with two certainties: one, that yeah, choices were absolutely made in filming/editing/post-production to remove any and all reference to cas. and two, that even BEFORE that, the scripts erased cas and eileen all on their own. now, i know there was talk of the last two scripts being rewritten several times, and i don’t know what pressures (if any) were made on the writers. but the fact is it was written that way. they CHOSE to write jody/rowena/eileen/au!charlie into the final episode and not cas. they CHOSE to remind us of eileen only to make it clear she would not end up with sam. they CHOSE to write that dean would get no emotional resolution with cas, and would die a pointless death only for sam to keep hunting while also living an unremarkable, miserable, fast-forward-montage life. sure, i blame the network and producers, but don’t talk to me about how good the dabb era writing is. just don’t. 

[yilinglaozou]

I was tagged by @isvisomewhere thank you so much for tagging me. 1. Your all-time favourite bl and why: Cherry Magic probably takes the crown even though there are some others that I really love. It was just honestly one of the most wholesome shows I’ve ever watched, bl or otherwise. With wonderful and most kind characters. Also, I really relate to Adachi, so there’s that too. And acting, god the acting. 

2. That one bl that scarred you for life: I wouldn’t say scarred but a lot of them have given me trust issues. One that comes to my mind is probably HIStory:MODC. Still haven’t watched that last episode and I am not planning to. 

3. Is there any bl that made you feel very single: Like all of them. But most recently Bad Buddy. Where’s my rival who’s secretly in love with me. And who I am going to be secretly pinning over as well.

4. If you could change one thing from a bl, which one would it be?: THE Avoiding of using the actual words like gay or lesbian or bisexual. Or any other labels like that. Those labels exist for a reason, you are making a show about queer characters. Like come on. Also the use of female characters only as crazy fangirls or crazy jealous exes. Women are real, they are actual human beings, it would be nice to actually show that. (Bad Buddy was such a breath of fresh air with actual female characters existing outside of those two categories). One more thing, which I saw other people mentioned as well, the whole fanservice and shipping real people thing. It’s just weird and kinda disturbing when you really think about it.

5. That one bl you detest (don’t hold back): Detest is a strong word but probably TharnType, I am sure ya’ll understand why(don’t really want to get into it). And Fish upon the sky. God that show was a disappointment. It made my blood boil. 

6. Your top 5: Agh, this is so hard. I can’t choose only five. 

    1. The Untamed ( some don’t consider it full bl but we know it is, and its one of the best ones) and Word of honor (they are a tie here, sorry can’t choose)     2. Cherry Magic (obviously)      3. ITSAY (It was just beautiful)     4. Bad Buddy (this show gave me life)     5. We best love (first season was just amazing)

(also i am sorry but i have to mention some others cause 5 is not enough: Gaya Sa Pelikula made me cry my eyes out, it will forever hold a special place in my heart. HIStory:Crossing the line, its such an underrated show but it’s a gem. HIStory3:Trapped, Life:Love on the line, Kieta hatsukoi, My beautiful man, Where your eyes linger (korea came in with a bang and they still haven’t topped that). Okay, I am done. Sorry I got carried away.  7. That trashy bl that you lowkey like: Why R U? like it was a mess, a disaster but heart wants what it wants. (also aren’t most bls a bit trashy).

8. Your favourite Korean bl (it’s important we know): Where your eyes linger, it was just so good. The fact that they made it work so well is probably what stayed with me the most. The episodes were short but they didn’t feel like it. 9. But also your top 3 for kbls: Aside for where your eyes linger, Light on me, Mr Heart, To my star. (And anything by strongberry really, they are an absolutely wonderful lgbtq production company, they make amazing short films. Some of them are even on youtube for free so if you haven’t seen them please do go check them out). 10. Season 2? Which one?: I wanted Colour Rush but now that we are getting it I am not so sure I actually want it. It was such an interesting concept and they could have explored it so much but oh well... 

11. A bunch of dramas will air soon. Which ones are you most excited about?: Cherry Magic the movie(I can’t wait), Kinnporche, to my star 2, Between us. 

12. Tag them! @gracethegriffin  @leenasfavs  @somebodycallixii  @hoepran @heretherebedork And anyone else who might want to do it. You obviously don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. <3

[nealcassatiel]

Supernatural and Russia and the mess of Television Legal Contracts

One of the most important aspects of a television series’ life cycle is its distribution. It is in the stage of distribution when the production companies/studio recoup the largest amount of costs.

By looking at who distributes the show, as well as which companies stand to gain the most from distribution profits, we can gain greater understanding of the various complex agreements and finances at play.

Viewing Statistics in the USA, Russia, and other International Territories

Let’s take a look at where Supernatural is distributed, and it’s popularity in the countries in which it airs. 

After the US, in the past 30 days, Supernatural’s next biggest market is in Russia. The next is in Brazil. 

This got long - more under the cut (I’ll be talking about cuts shortly)

In Russia, Supernatural has been in the top 0.2% watched shows in Russia (link) . This is also the case in Brazil. 

In 2019, a modest survey was done on urban and rural Russians asking them what foreign television they watch. Supernatural was the 6th most mentioned foreign television show (link).

In 2017, Supernatural was three times more popular in Russia than it was in the US (link - this article has just a whole other host of information about it being popular amongst urban and rural US residents, as well as popular amongst both Republics and Democrats, however i haven’t looked further into that data so not going to discuss it much here)

So selling Supernatural to Russia and airing it in Russia is going to bring in a lot of revenue for The C*W and the production companies. That is a lucrative distribution territory and of a huge amount of importance to the network. Russia will air both new episodes, and reruns. Of course, if Supernatural made a queer love story a central premise, then execs are going to get scared that not only will the finale may not be aired in one of their biggest, if not their biggest market: Russia, but that the broadcasters who distribute the show in Russia might also pull the rest of the show and stop broadcasting reruns too. That’s a shit tonne fo distribution profits gone for The C*W, and who knows, maybe their relationship with Russian broadcasters who air their other shows will be on the rocks. After all, trying to sell gay tv to Russians right now is, sadly, never going to happen. This is not an indictment on the Russian viewers, but me saying that the show won’t be sellable to Russian broadcasters if it is too queer.

A huge huge majority of US Supernatural fans are progressive and wanted the more queer focused and found family ending. But the C*W and Warner believes that there are still enough US fans who don’t want something that progressive to be shown. They also know that one of their biggest markets is Russia, and Dean being shown to be bi will not go down well there. I’m just speculating, but The C*W may have looked at those chunks of audience who give them money and decide that they only care about those profits. 

The frustrating thing however, is that no matter the power of Russian Supernatural audiences, looking at the other progressive countries and the popularity of Supernatural there - these numbers as a collective outshine those of Russia. So maybe Russia isn’t that important. Or maybe all The C*W needed to think was ‘we don’t want to stop profits from our biggest international viewership’ and so they never even went further and thought about the collective viewership of the audiences from progressive countries. As I said at the start, distribution is where the companies who invested into making a show recoup the most costs. All the money that comes from distribution is incredibly important.

DISTRIBUTION AND CO-PRODUCTION AGREEMENTS

The writers, the crew, the actors, don’t really get the distribution profits. They may get small cuts of things or bonuses here and there, but they’re all essentially employed by the production company. It is the production company and studio who has sunken money into making the show who will get a cut of the distribution profits. So the production companies and co-production companies, the creator (maybe still if they had a good agent when they first sold the pitch), the network are all going to be the ones to care about how much a finale will matter to profits from showing reruns in less progressive countries. Dabb is an employee - he personally will be paid a fixed sum which is given to him by the production company. He does not care if SPN can’t be aired in Russia - that has no personal affect on him. He was paid to showrun the series and he’ll get nothing more even if it becomes the most watched anti-gay homophobic celebrated show in Moscow. He has no financial reason to cater to anyone. He’s just an employee. 

But if information like this, the knowledge that for multiple years TPTB have wanted Supernatural to cater to a non-progressive international and national audience for the sake of distribution profits, then the show should have never have taken the narrative to a place whose ending could not be green-lit.

If for the sake of these pofits and other secondary rights, for the sake of appeasing rural/southern USA viewers, and trying to keep an audience for Walker, The C*W derailed the final two episodes, then I still don’t fully understand why the ending was heading towards destiel when all of this distribution finance information has been known for many many years. 

It makes sense why such a terrible finale would happen, but it doesn’t make sense why up until episode 18, the entire narrative of the show was leading somewhere completely different? Why were the writers of SPN heading straight towards one thing, if they knew they always knew that they’d have to have a completely different ending? 

The Right of Final Cut / Final Cut Privilege

The answer may lie in the fact that The C*W wasn’t really paying that much attention to SPN, they couldn’t really see all the subtext, but suddenly the subtext all was going to become text and they were all twiddling their thumbs and looking for something to do during COVID when the industry shut down, so they suddenly got way more involved. 

Let’s quickly clear up who The C*W is and how they relate to SPN as a company. Supernatural lists The C*W as one of it’s distributers, but lists Warner Bros Television as a production company. When SPN started it was made by The WB (which is now The C*W). It’s all under Warner Media anyway, but we can basically say that Warner Bros Television (listed as a co-producer of SPN) is the sam as The C*W who is listed as a distributer of SPN. They’re essentially the same so The C*W is both producing and distributing SPN, as well as owning the format rights to the show - sorry that’s all complicated anyway The C*W are the big dogs who own Supernatural and have done from the beginning back when they were called The WB)

Essentially, The C*W have a co-production and distribution agreement for SPN. The power they have from that first agreement when they bought the show off Kripke is almost certainly still MASSIVE today. They are not only the ultimate distributers, but the ultimate producers with all the agreements and all the rights. 

Anyway, back to that first agreement: This was Kripke’s first big deal, and he almost certainly gave Warner Bros/The C*W a whole host of creative control in exchange for them sinking a shit tonne of money into making the show. Which makes me wonder if The C*W has something in entertainment law called “the right of final cut/final cut privilege”. If a studio or distributer has sunken a heck tonne of costs into making the series and are the ones who most need to recoup the distribution costs, then in their contract they may try to give themselves the ‘final cut privilege’ - essentially, this is the final edit. There’s the Director’s Cut, but then after that there is the Final Cut. The Final Cut is what is broadcast. Nowadays, most series and films don’t allow the directors to have final cut privilege anyway - it’s fairly rare from my understanding (one of my hats is a television legal contracts assistant, and all of these contracts still confuse me even though it’s an element of my job - I’m not trained in this outside of work so i apologise if this isn’t clear). The studio or distributer doesn’t even need to clear their final cut with the writer/director/producer. They can just do it. Cut it up and broadcast it, because they’re allowed to in their contract.

So with the finale episode being so short, a mess of montages, Carry on My Wayward Son versions back to back, a narrative mess, the pacing completely off, some scenes way too short and others way too long - this really could insinuate that the stupid clause of ‘the right of final cut’ was utilised by The C*W and without the need to get the permission or allowance of Dabb or even the other production companies, they edited everything they didn’t like out of the finale, citing their contract and the fact that they’re the ones who need to recoup distribution costs, and they don’t want to piss off large swathes of their national and international audience.

In Conclusion

So positives? Well, now that SPN is done and dusted, if there is a spin-off then this shouldn't affect distribution deals in Russia or Brazil. If whoever buys the format rights for Supernatural, allows The C*W to still sell the old series distribution rights, then market the new season of SPN not as a new season but a spin-off, then this will give them more freedom to not cater to the conservative international and national audiences SPN was beholden to due to distribution profits. What I’m saying is - a spin-off could free itself from catering to anyone who isn’t progressive. The old audiences can carry on showing reruns of SPN and completely ignore the new ‘fake’ gay spin-off. They can say that it’s a different production company, a different network - and therefore not the legitimate show. Great. Free SPN. 

A new format agreement could also mean that the new producers could ensure that not the distributer, but the director, or the new trusted production company themselves gets the Right of Final Cut. If another agreement is made, please please please take that right away from The C*W/Warner. 

The difficulty in getting the SPN rights would be caused by the mess of a Format Agreement to even get those rights... Supernatural is co-produced by Kripke Enterprises, Warner Bros. Television, Supernatural Films, and Wonderland Sound and Vision. I’m assuming Kripke Enterprises and Supernatural Films may be under Warner Media (as Warner Bros and The C*W itself is). If Jensen wanted to produce the new spin-off then his new production company is under WB/Warner Media too... so. Disentangling meddling and shitty Warner Media execs from a spin-off would be difficult because they own everyone. 

All in all, it’s easy to see now with that mess of a finale that this was caused with whoever has “The Right Of Final Cut/Final Cut Privilege’. And I HIGHLY doubt Singer or Dabb or any mere employee on the show has it. It’s more and more obvious to me that this power lies in the hands of The C*W/Warner and they didn’t even try to loop Dabb or the main cast in when making the final edits. I’m sure the C*W started to get involved at episode 19 and in the development stage of episode 20, but i’m certain they had a hand in the disastrous final cut. 

I hope we’re able to pry our beloved show out of the hands of those who don’t care about its narratives, but have more power than anyone to change the show’s narratives. Thanks for coming with me on this essay/me working out this complicated mess. It’s 00:50 and I'm super tired so I hope all this makes sense. Television contracts confuse me and I work with them so i dunno how clear any of this is. 

Anyway - I hope it was totally boring.