#r2d2 is so homophobic it's funny

[spammreviews]

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF HARLEY QUINN SEASON FOUR

I found the first two seasons of Harley Quinn to be very fun and occasionally poignant. Season Three had an underwhelming ending, in my opinion, but there were definetly many bright spots.

However, to me, Season Four has felt a bit…how should I say, unpalletable? Here’s why, put into a nice list because why not.

Sin One: Too much violence, sex, and overall edginess.

This is easily the most bloody and horny season. That’s fine. There's nothing intrisically wrong about blood and horniness. I actually think it kind of works with some episodes, like with the Vegas episode. Vegas is a crazy place, and Harley and Ivy are on vacation. The gore fits the vibe of the location and the characters trying to relax. However, the sex and violence really started to get annoying after a while. One of the most edgy moments is the end of Episode Four, the episode with the business conference on the moon, which is kind of horrific. It would be fine if this wasn’t, you know…a comedy, but ending an episode on a bunch of people horrifically dying left a very sour taste in my mouth. Then there’s Episode Six, the episode taking place after Nightwing's death, which is just a downright miserable string of blood and gore which isn’t funny. Once again, I’m fine with gore. I’m a horror fan. However, it clashes with the vibes of the show.

Also, speaking of Episode Six, what the hell was up with the Jons? This is a very progressive TV show, and then we have these weird homophobic stereotypes. Yeah, I get that the Jons are fantastical non-human beings, but they so clearly molded them from homophobic stereotypes, it’s weird.

Also, this season’s incessant horniness gets a bit too much. The jokes about Dick’s ass were fairly funny in the first episode, but by Episode Six it was just annoying. His coffin having an ass on it crossed some sort of line, but I’ll get to that later.

Two: Too many characters, ideas and plot threads.

Here are all of the characters who appear in multiple episodes in this season: Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bane, Nora, Lex Luthor, King Shark, Joker’s Wife, Joker’s Son, Nightwing, Batgirl, Alfred, Gordon, Terra, LavaGirl or whatever her name is, the other one, Dr. Psycho, Clayface, Captain Cold, Shark King’s children, that Plant Guy, Damian Wayne, Talia-Al-Gul, the Jons, Superman, Mama Nacaroni, and Potato Harley Quinn. And, I probably forgot a few. As you can see, I can not remember all of these characters names. There’s also all of the characters who just appear in one episode. The result of this is that there are a bagillion plot threads. We have the love triangle between Nora, Bane, and Captain Cold. We have Harley trying to be a member of the Batfamily. We have Poison Ivy’s business stuff. We have Poison Ivy mentoring The Natural Disasters. We have Joker becoming evil again. We have the investigation of Nightwing’s death. We have King Shark taking care of his children. Some of these plot threads are only a few episodes, but you see what I’m saying. It’s a lot, and not every episode can fit this many plots. As such, we get multi-episode long stretches without certain plots being brought up. So, when they’re reintroduced, it’s confusing.

You might notice throughout this write-up that I have forgotten the names and details of many things. This is not from lack of interest. This is because I am human, and this has been a very convoluted season of TV with so many moving parts, and it’s hard to tell what’s important or not. Also, there’s no breathing room, everything happens all at once, so you can’t soak anything in.

Three: To much “and then” story telling, and no consequences for the characters.

This is probably the biggest problem. In a good story, every event is a consequence of the last event, like dominoes falling. For example, Princess Leia is captured so she sends R2D2 and C3PO to find Obi Wan, so they end up stumbling onto Luke. Sometimes, the consequences of a character’s actions aren’t clear right away. John Mcclane takes off his shoes, and then he gets his feet cut up half an hour later. In most cases, this is how you make good and entertaining storytelling, and this season spits in the face of that.

Nightwing’s death at the end of Episode Five is maybe the worst example of this. It’s extremely random, not feeling like the consequence of previous actions. Then, we get stuff like Harley and Ivy time traveling, which comes out of nowhere and then becomes a pivotal plot point.

We also get The Joker returning to evil, not because of something our characters do, bit because…he’s bored. Sure. And then, he shoots Batgirl. Because why not. That’s another problem. In this season, bad things don’t happen to characters because of mistakes they make. They just happen. Ivy messes up the plan to depose Lex not because of her own faults, but do to a random accident she had no control over. Then, she does succeed because of some character who I guess previously showed up, but who I don’t remember. With that, the plot isn’t being driven by the decisions Ivy makes, it’s being driven by random luck.

A much smaller example that pissed me off is in Episode Eight, where there's a scene where Harley and Ivy fall from way up in the air and then they’re fine because uhhh…they just are.

In (most) good stories, characters succeed because of skills they have, and they fail due to faults they have, not because of luck.

It also leaves the plot feeling very aimless. This is especially true for all of Episode Six, which is just random event after random event. The Jon’s turn into one giant Jon because why not and then they fight Ivy for reasons.

Sin Four: The clash between episodic and serialized storytelling.

This season doesn’t know if it wants to be a set of episodic stories where every plot is self contained or a serialized story where there’s one whole arc. Now, some shows succeed at mixing these two, just look at another DC animated TV show, My Adventures With Superman. The first three seasons of Harley Quinn also did this fairly well. However, this season simply doesn’t, at least in my opinion.

Season Four feels like it keeps going back and forth between serialized and episodic. Episodes Five and Six do build on each other, setting up a pattern in our eyes, and then there is episode Seven. The main plot of this episode is Harly and Ivy time traveling to the future, which is its own self contained adventure, and then there’s Batgirl’s subplot, which does lead into other episodes…sort of. Then, there’s Episode Eight, which also has two separate plots The first is Nora protecting the Legion of Doom building from Lex, and it’s important for the series wide arc. However, the sideplot, Bane’s pastamaker adventures, is completely disconnected from the overarching story of the series. Having these two next to each other feels weird.

Also, why does Bane need a character arc? He’s a silly parody character.

In addition, lots of plot points went nowhere, like the Jons. They appeared, they were around for three episodes, and then they left, with no real impact on the story. If they were there for just one episode, it would be fine, but having them be there for multiple episodes makes us think they’re important.

It doesn’t help that this show keeps randomly introducing plot threads. At first, it seems like this season will involve Harley and Nightwing learning to get along. Then, Nightwing dies at the end of Epiaode Five. That whole character arc they were setting up with him goes nowhere. Then, it seems like there’s gonna be a mystery about his murder. Well, we get a few episodes of that, and then it’s solved.

There’s also the whole Alfred thing. He seemed like such a fun character in Episode Two, then Harley seemed kind of bummed out when he got arrested. I thought this was setup for a breakout. But, we then see him briefly in Episode Four, and he’s fine.

Also, this season can’t decide what Ivy is doing. She goes from wanting respect from her peers to wanting self gain to wanting to make things right with Harley to wanting to stop the world from ending. These plotlines don’t get enough time. None of the internal and external conflict Ivy faces are given enough time to be explored.

This season just keeps on changing the dynamics, and the conflicts, and as such, it feels extremely messy. It’s somehow more disjointed then an episodic story. At least in an episodic story, characters have fairly set dynamics which rarely change. However, this season plays willy nilly with everything about these characters. It’s constantly changing, but there’s no actual progression.

Five: They keep highlighting how little the world makes sense.

I didn’t mind how nonsensical the world-building was in the first three seasons, because it was funny. However, one of the biggest conflicts of the first couple of episodes here is all about Ivy and Harley struggling now that Harley’s a hero, and it just illustrates how little this makes sense. It becomes hard to ignore.

Six: Mean spiritedness

I think one of the reasons why I really disliked Episode Six, the episode after Nightwing dies, was because of how cruel it was, especially towards Batgirl. She goes through all of this emotional damage, and it’s just miserable. It is a very miserable episode. Sure, stories can be sad sometimes, but this is a comedy, and it felt like a lot of the misery was played for laughs.

Also, I get that Nightwing is a fictional character, but if you have such a beloved character in your show, and then you show him as a jerk, tease redemption, kill him off, and then make a bunch of butt jokes at his funeral scene, will then…it will rub people the wrong way. Yeah, he’s not real, who gives a crap, but like, lot’s of people really like Nightwing, it’s not pleasant to see him being treated like nothing but an ass. Also, butt jokes about Nightwing were already an overused joke, so seeing the show use them just feels a bit cringey.

Seven: Everything just makes no sense.

Okay, so in Episode Eight, we meet Potato Harley Quinn. She is just like Harley Quinn but overly committed to justice. Because, as we all know, potatoes are famous for their sense of justice.

Joker is evil, but not as evil as he was in Season One, because he was a huge misogynist in that season. Also, is Joker still the mayor? Shouldn’t this be a big deal?

Also, the characters just don’t act like people. During the entire plot with Nora, Captain Cold, King Shark, and Lavagirl trapped in The League of Doom Headquarters, everyone kept acting so bizarrely I just grew detached from it all. Oh, and then it ended with Lavagirl blowing up the entire place which somehow didn’t kill all of them. This would be fine if the show was all silliness, but this show also occasionally dabbles in drama. However, this drama all fails because this show just doesn’t care about reality anymore.

I’m fine with plot holes, this series has always played fast and loose with reality, as I previously stated, but this season has simply been too much. There’s only so much nonsense I can handle before my brain rejects it.

In conclusion, Season Four of Harley Quinn had some fun moments, but these seven main problems ruined the overall experience for me.

[unlikelyjedi]

Star Wars Movie Pride Headcanons

Obviously I can't do all the characters in Star Wars (movies or otherwise) so today I'll start with just the movie characters I find important or just fun!

Of course, these are just my opinions and it's totally cool if you have different ideas. Art is subjective and there are plenty of ways to engage with said art. This is just for my personal fun.

Luke Skywalker (he/him): Bisexual

I know people like Gay!Luke and that's totally fine, but... I just think of Legends!Luke and his wonderful wife Mara Jade, and I think Luke Skywalker is a man who can appreciate both Mara Jade and Ezra Bridger! Would be open to polyamory if it was like a throuple situation and everybody loved everybody.

Leia Organa (she/her): Bisexual

Now, I know the Leia book says she only likes humanoid males, but as someone who had a crush on both twins growing up, this headcanon is for me personally.

Han Solo (he/him): Bisexual

Okay, so most of these are going to be bisexual because I'm a stupid bisexual and I said so. Han Solo would flirt with anyone in the galaxy, including but not limited to Qi'ra, Lando Calrissian, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker.

Chewbacca (he/him): Ally (?)

Idk, tbh. He's got a wife and kid, and I think he thinks gay people are neat.

C-3PO and R2D2: Queer-platonic

They're droids and even though I do think droids can develop attraction like bio-species, I don't think these droids feel any attraction. Doesn't mean they don't have chemistry with each other though.

Lando Calrissian (he/they): Pansexual

He fucks. Everybody. I think Lando would be hand-wavy about gender. Most people use he/him with Lando, but they also enjoy they/them pronouns. Totally chill with polyamory.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (he/him): Graysexual

I really don't think this man knew he could have attraction until he met Satine Kryze. He just didn't think about it. It's not important. He probably scoffed at people who had issues following the Jedi Code. "What, like it's hard??"

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (he/him): Hetero-flexible

My man loves his wife (to quite an extreme degree actually). He's pretty sure he's straight? He's never thought of anybody but Padmé so it's not like he's really explored more. He wouldn't be opposed to dating men or other genders, though.

Wilhuff Tarkin (he/him): mlm

The only reason I'm including him on my list is because it's actually canon. He likes men. That's all I know on that front. I just had to include it because I was flabbergasted.

Yoda (he/him): Aro/Ace

All Yoda knows is talk funny, eat hot chip, and lie. (but actually he's a very wise master and mentor who loves his students and loves pulling a prank or two).

Padmé Naberrie/Amidala (she/her): Ally

Padmé loves her friends and family. She'd defend them with her life. I don't think homophobia exists in most areas of the SW universe, but if there was ever a time her friends felt marginalized, she'd be there to defend them. Whether that required just a simple talk, all the way to "aggressive negotiations."

Qui-Gon Jinn (he/him): Asexual

He feels like he could like somebody in a romantic sense. I don't think he'd hold on too heavily to the Jedi Code either. He just doesn't have the time. He's also never really wanted the sexual aspects of a relationship. I bet he gave all his Padawans "the talk" though.

Mace Windu(he/him): Aro/Ace

...and judgmental about it. Very sex-repulsed. He's not homophobic. He hates all PDA equally. Don't kiss in front of him. He will gag.

Rey (she/her): Pansexual

She just has a whole lotta love to give. :)

Finn (he/him): Bisexual

Rey's really hot. Poe's really hot. Why is everyone so hot???

Poe Dameron (he/him): Gay

Gay. Gay. Homosexual. Gay. (This is for Oscar Isaac. Luv u bby 😘) Poe looked at Finn like he was the first drop of water in the desert. And I think that's beautiful.

Rose Tico (she/her): Queer. Non-Binary.

Rose knows who she likes. She doesn't need a label to save what she loves. I think she still likes she/her pronouns, but doesn't necessarily like the label "woman."

That's the list! I'll be doing more Star Wars queer headcanons for people outside of the movies too! So be looking out for that, if you've read this far! Let me know if I've missed someone important from the movies and I'll add it later!