#rc9gn meta

[mrfartpowered]

you don’t hate Howard, you hate fatphobic tropes

Here at Mr Fart Powered Dot Com, I’m a long-time hater of the “fat best friend” trope and a long-time lover of jerkass characters, so I think I’m uniquely qualified to comment on this LOL

The biggest critiques I see of Howard are as follows: he’s gross, he’s stupid, he’s selfish, he’s lazy. Below the cut, I deconstruct each of these four criticisms not as faults of Howard, but faults of the writing, largely as a result of fatphobia.

These are all traits associated with the fat idiot trope, popularized by Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. Think about any other character who possess all of the above characteristics. Far more often than not, they’re a fat character. Plenty of non-fat characters possess any of those traits individually — selfishness, stupidity, laziness, and grossness are not exclusive to fat characters. Nor do they inherently make a character 'bad,' irredeemable, or otherwise unlikeable! But all too often, especially in dated media, we see this flimsy, weak writing apply to the fat villain...or the fat comic relief...or the fat best friend.

Howard falls victim to these ugly, annoying 'fat guy' tropes whenever the writing is in need of a cheap laugh, or when they need to make Randy look extra good. Howard does have unique, interesting traits, but they are painfully underutilized in exchange for role fulfillment as the comic relief.

Stupidity

Contrary to what the show wants us to believe, Howard is not a complete idiot. His intelligence may not be of the academic variety (and even this is debatable), but I would argue he is more clever than Randy. Of the two of them, Howard's got more common sense. Randy misinterprets almost every lesson the Nomicon gives him, while H quickly understands each riddle he gets the chance to know about. (See “a ninja’s choice must be chosen by his own choosing,” “don’t go in someone else’s house,” “when facing an unfamiliar foe, seek an unlikely ally.”)

You could argue against this point in Shloomp! There It Is, where he literally gets to see the lesson as it is presented in the nomicon and doesn’t get it. But I’d argue that this was  purposeful mischaracterization in order to further the plot, a point which will unfortunately recur in this essay. The writers care more about Howard as a tool than as a character, but instead of using the capabilities they build within him, they default to stereotypes.

Where conventional academics are concerned, we have one concrete example of his abilities: Howard is incredible at chess. It’s the iconic nerd game; it requires strategy, careful thinking, and the ability to predict your opponent’s moves. Who cares that he doesn't know the pieces' names? Who cares that he doesn’t abide by typical strategies? He can kick artificially-intelligent ass at the game, not to mention follow someone else's plays the way most people follow a football game.

And he's got street smarts that save Randy's ass on multiple occasions. He's more sociable, a better liar, and a quick thinker in stressful situations. Much of this particular point is pulled from @cunningweiner ‘s brain, who pointed out that Howard is really well-received by crowds (Heidi’s MeCast, the talent show, the Tummynator). Another interesting instance of this is Howard’s time as the Ninja — both the fake monster drill ninja, and the actual Ninja. He may not have accomplished his duties as a hero, but the onlookers Absolutely Ate Up his crowd work. He’s not the most physically willing guy around, but he knows how to appeal to an audience. His major flaw in remaining a well-liked public figure is that his ego gets real damn big, real damn fast. But he’s 15! If you blame a teenager for having empathy and esteem issues, I don’t know what to tell you.

Despite his emotional immaturity, Howard is wise beyond his years as a businessman. Before we move forward, I need to tell you: look at this section purely from a business standpoint. You have to forget morals, you have to forget standards, this is Disney XD meta and we are analyzing a man named Weiner, okay?

Okay. Howard embarks on a total of three business endeavors throughout this show, and each one is highly successful. Ninja Agent, weapon reseller, and McFist-o-plex manager. He embodied “work smarter, not harder” every time. Being an agent takes social skill and smooth talking, and clearly he appealed to a wide range of clients (not to mention earned their trust! What would you say if someone called you up and said “yeah, I manage Superman. Want him to appear in a commercial for you?”). Being a manager requires delegation skills and good memory. Reselling Ninja weapons is honestly just genius and I can’t believe he’s the first guy to do it.

Everyone around Howard, and Big H himself, views him as a dumbass. But time and time again, the episodes show us his mental capabilities! Imagine how much fun the writers could’ve had if they’d leaned on a lazy genius trope instead of a fat idiot.

Grossness

I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t think of a single thin character who relies on gross-out humor. Take, for example, Total Drama, a franchise with a bodily diverse cast and a heavy emphasis on gross-out humor. I mean, there’s an entire episode in the original season where every single character pukes onscreen. TD overall utilizes irreverent humor, but while grossness is a major player, it is not the only source of comedy.

And then you’ve got Owen, the only fat character in the original cast. His whole shtick is being fat, greedy, and nasty. Other characters will fart and burp and overeat — all things that Owen does frequently — but they also have other gags. Maybe they’re bitchy, or they’re geeky, or they’re a literal convict. Owen does not enjoy the luxury of character depth. He is only good for grossing out the audience. (Side tangent: Owen has notably made me laugh out loud a handful of times over the course of the four seasons he featured in. But guess what! Every single one of those laughs was begotten from a rare moment when, instead of farting or burping or eating something he shouldn’t, the writers stepped outside the ‘Owen zone’ and gave him a joke unrelated to his fatness. Fatphobic humor is truly a plague.)

I know I’m being a bit heavy-handed, but I want to emphasize how similar that is to RC9GN! Randy does schnasty shit too sometimes, but he gets to be funny in other ways. Grossness is Howard’s primary mode of comedy. During my first watch-through of the show, I remember being outraged at Howard’s tendency to eat Randy’s food, which, of course, was followed by digestion noises or farts. I was too angry to write down which episodes, but I counted four separate instances where they used that exact convention specifically to get Randy angry at Howard, thus catalyzing the episode’s storyline. (At some point I will have to go back and fact-check that, but we’re 900 words deep at this point and this has been in my drafts for over a month, so we move forward for now okay!!)

 We do get to see flashes of other humor from Howard, especially into Season 2! His cleverness and apathy make for hilarious setups. But even these instances are undercut by something foul. An example that comes to mind is Fear Factor, a perfectly fine episode — one that I love quite a lot — except for the very last gag. Really? Howard gets to be normal-funny the entire episode, until the last minute? The idea that his biggest fear is running out of food literally only works because he is fat. Had this joke been given to any other character, it probably wouldn’t have even made it to storyboards. Even worse, if Howard had not been fat, this joke would never have been conceptualized in the first place. It is almost as if the writers are trying to hit a quota of gross-out jokes for Howard. At a certain point, my anger morphed to pure disappointment. That’s how disheartening it is to see.

Selfishness

Okay, Howard Weinerman is selfish. I'll give you that. But just because he's self-centered does not make him a bad person. May I bring to mind Gumball Watterson, Marcy Wu, Louise Belcher? All are textbook examples of selfish characters, and frequently act in their own best interest, but are ultimately good people. I mention them as proof that characters can have negative defining traits without sacrificing the audience’s sympathy. 

Here's where I really get frustrated with RC9GN’s writing... They want to portray Howard as a jerk with a heart of gold — such as in Debbie Meddle — but they always undercut his few selfless moments with a gross-out gag, or a rude offhand comment, usually directed at Randy. Sometimes, Randy will reciprocate, in which case I give it a pass. There, the grossness or general assholery showcases their friendship, instead of putting Howard down for a stale laugh. 

But like I said, that’s the ‘sometimes.’ The ‘often’ is every time we see him almost embody the ‘heart of gold’ part of his attempted archetype, only to be thrown out the window for a lame gag. A specific example is in “Bro Money Bro Problems,” where Howard has cash to spare for once. He immediately opts to spend it on Randy!….until Randy shloomps into the nomicon, then comes out to find that Howard spent everything he had on the Food Hole’s dinner menu. Sure, this was used to set the rest of the episode in motion. They run out of money, but they need more, so they go out and sell ninja weapons. But here’s the thing: for the rest of the episode, Howard spends his money on both him and Randy, rather than just himself, effectively making that dinner menu joke inconsistent with his characterization.

“Well how else would they set the episode in motion?” They could spend it all on arcade games. Or they spend it all at the boardwalk both times. OR, they are just excitable teenagers who realize, hey, this shit is lucrative! Let’s go get rich! Boom. Fixed your episode, fixed your Howard, fixed your fatphobia.

Laziness

Over and over again, the show tries to tell us that Howard is a lazy piece of shit. Other characters regard him as such, and honestly, so does Howard himself. But I would argue that he is no lazier than your average teenager — not to mention, no lazier than Randy! The difference is that for Howard, the writers intertwine his laziness with his alleged stupidity. They try to convince the audience that Howard is too stupid to care what’s going on.

However, this trait is unique from the other three, because I think this one manages to give him depth. Or at least, in my heart of hearts, it has the potential to do so. This characteristic lends to Howard’s most clever jokes, I think, because ultimately:

Howard is capable, but apathetic.

From the earliest episodes, it is established that he aims for minimum effort, maximum benefit. There’s the bit where Randy asks Howard to come up with the plan for once, and they both laugh at the idea of Howard doing the heavy lifting. Or even all the way into “Mort-al Kombat,” he says people are ‘really handing him the answers today’ when Randy puts in the work to get Howard ungrounded.

But just because Howard prefers not to do any work, doesn’t mean he won’t! And when he does put in effort, the results show that he is damn good at what he does. His time as Le Beret more than proves this point: from his ability to work under the radar, to the plans he forms, to the knowledge he has about Mort’s job & McFist Industries that allows him to get all the cool equipment he uses. We also see his skills and capability in “Debbie Meddle” (the ninja dummy), “Viva El Nomicon” (learning Spanish quickly), “Secret Stache” (commitment to the bit), “The Ninja Identity/Supremacy,” and more.

He very much operates under the mindset of ‘work smarter, not harder.’ He’ll get the job done if he has to. He’ll excel at the job if it benefits him. This is a really interesting character mechanic that would have been so much fun to explore. Like I said so many times above, though, the writers most often choose to undercut his abilities in favor of comedic expense.

Conclusion

Howard, in comparison to Randy, is obviously a lot harder to root for. Overall, Randy is a more conventional character with conventional flaws. Like most duos in media, the sidekick juxtaposes the hero — I would even argue that Howard, in some ways, is Randy in reverse. Randy is highly moral, but still has a lot of learning to do skill-wise; Howard is already extremely capable, but also very amoral. Because of this, the narrative places Randy at a higher value than Howard — which, yknow, fair enough! He is the protag, and that’s a great setup for a protagonist. But simply by virtue of being fat, Howard is not treated with the same level of respect as other sidekick/best friend characters.

For all his quirks and flaws, Howard is not a supremely unique character. His basic core aligns with so many other characters. But because the writers lean on his fatness, instead of leaning into his potential and his complexities, it is much harder to root for him — and it strips him of originality. I love this show with all my heart, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t mind the way it treated Howard. He had so much potential, even as the show was airing, and I will forever be upset that the crew squandered it on fatphobic tropes.

[destiny-in-the-universe]

More RC9GN Headcanons

Fair warning! This is going to get long!

I’m flat out renaming Flute Girl because- no. Also I would not be able to take myself seriously if I had to use “Flute Girl” as a name in my writing. Her name is Claire now because I said so. Why? It just fits- it felt like her name if that makes sense

Claire is vaguely friends with Theresa, but she’s always been a little closer to Bucky and Stevens- even though they sort of get on her nerves too. (Also she doesn’t spit as much when she talks- even with the fact she has braces)

She hopes to be part of the marching band in college and considers joining a professional group someday

She used to have a small crush on Randy when she was younger, before high school- but always finds him and Howard reckless; hence why she’s almost always calling them idiots. Claire is a little perceptive, and has noticed when Randy mysteriously disappears during the attacks on the high school but hasn’t quite pieced together why (nor does she particularly care- of course there’s also the fact she gets stanked a bit)

Now comes the matter of “Plop Plop” because again, I’m not using that name in my fanfictions- absolutely not lmao

For the purpose of continuing the Japanese history that Norrisville has- (did Norrisville just sort of ‘yeet’ itself into a new location and that’s how it ended up in America of all places?), “Plop Plop” is going to be named Hinata- his surname remains undecided for the time being because, well, I need to have this make a little sense

“Finja” (I’m still deciding his name-) and Hinata met when they were adults- they sort of parallel Randy and Howard, but to make sense of how I believe they met, Hinata was either a servant to the Norisu 9 (though i’m not as sold with this idea-), or there was the other side: Finja and Hinata did meet at the Norisu clan home, only Hinata was a scribe and apprenticed to someone there. Eventually he and Finja got closer, the details of this still remain vague- trust me, I will write more- and well, a mutual friendship began from that

Hinata is literally immortal- at least that’s what got implied by the canon, if he was in present times and guarding the chaos pearl. He remembers when Finja was sealed into the Nomicon, it had pained him dearly but he continued his promise to the ancient Ninja

How Finja got sealed into the Nomicon? Well- this is spoilers, but I do think something happened in his later years where a sacrifice had to be made and that‘a all I’m saying on the matter. We'll have to see what else is there in the past for our beloved First Ninja!

I'm sure you've all realized by now I consider Hinata to be an ancestor of Howard- (also apparently yes, Howard is also a girl's name-); I like to think Hinata only had a couple women in his life, as he's vaguely implied to be a monk- he married one of them, having a daughter he did name Howard. As the years came to pass, 'Howard' became a bit of a traditional name in Hinata's family history (somewhere down the line, when Norrisville ended up in Oklahoma, tradition broke and Howard was passed down to the 'last' in Hinata's bloodline - Howard Weinerman)

So, now we get to Howard- because boy, do I have headcanons heh-

First of all, Howard is known to be somewhat of a toxic friend, but that doesn't mean he's bad. These kids are literally fourteen year olds fighting a literal sorcerer, not to mention the likes of McFist and Viceroy- but something to keep in mind: Howard does care for Randy

(If he didn't- we would have seen that)

Howard is a loyal friend at the end of the day! He's not entirely my favorite, but that might just be because the writers were cowards when it came to character development- like, he did protect Randy more than once; I forget the episode name but it was in the one where the Sorceress comes back, and Randy throws himself into the portal to the Land of the Shadows, but Howard was genuinely scared for Randy- or the episode where Randy was supposedly moving away and Howard didn't want him to leave

Or or or the episode where Randy's acting like a possessive prick over Howard, and Howard point blank states Randy is his biffer- like sure, they're a bit unhealthy to each other and painfully codependent but the duo are best friends. I'm sure they'll grow out of their nonsense toward one another

I need to reiterate this as many times as I can, but Howard does have some degree of social anxiety! (or he hates being alone for some unexplained reason as this is literally canon) I do like to think since Howard has a somewhat bigger family than Randy's- he has always been surrounded by people and the idea of having to be alone is a little nerve-wracking; there's also just the possibility that Howard and Randy don't really have anyone else-? Randy is practically Howard's only friend, and even though Howard's sister Heid does exist, she's not exactly close to him- which leaves Randy and Howard simply cant't fathom the idea of not having him around

(if it were me though, I'd genuinely expand on this more- and yes I know I did breach about this before but Howard's a genuinely interesting character)

Also yes, Howard is mean and more brash than Randy can be at times but let me say this again- he's young and stupid. Also, I feel he was just left constantly unsupervised and while yes, Mort's in the picture- I feel that Howard gets away with a lot since his mom is never seen in the show at all and that also needs to be addressed

I might honestly make an entire meta-analysis on Randy and Howard's relationship in a different post- I ship Fowlham as much as the next person, but Weinerham is an equally great ship and I swear I will talk about it you can't stop me

Circling back to Finja because this is important- I don't consider him to be the eldest child from the Norisu 9; I think he was on the younger side and was left with the mantle of successor after the final battle with the Sorcerer. I think he was forced to witness his brothers and sisters meeting their demise- (hence my other headcanon where he has survivor's guilt and ptsd because no one gets out of that unscathed-)

which speaking of- his debut episode makes me so mad and I love it at the same time like, I do understand why he gave up so quickly but honestly he should have had more time to shine when fighting against the Sorcerer. Maybe it's also my self indulgent ass wanting Finja and Randy to have more screentime together (even if the show did end- one can dream!)

I honestly would like to see something where Finja or even Randy end up in the future over the past; this could be very interesting- especially if they were forced to defeat an even bigger threat that the future timeline's Ninja couldn't deal with

I'm sure some of you are curious to see if the Nomicon could've been part of the Norisu clan, and the answer is that's for me to know and you to find out later- because I decided to be mean today hahaha, let's just leave it at that for now

This is not as much headcanon anymore- as it is me wanting something to be part of the lore, but with Nomi-Randy, I feel the Nomicon created him with the intention of showing Randy he needs balance which is canon but at the same time- it's more or less an interpretation of the type of person he could've become had he not been chosen as the Ninja. Nomi-Randy is part of the Nomicon, and was allowed out but I do think he might be able to live in the real world (provided someone watches over him-)

Headcanon time again, and this is something I will be breaching more in a certain analysis for Weinerham and their relationship overall (even without shipping) but I do think there's a reason for Randy's possessiveness. I am in no way saying the actions he took in that episode, where Howard begins befriending- was it Bucky? I can't remember, it was him and a few others, were justified but if I'm right- Randy is constantly left alone by his parents. He doesn't have a big support system, if any- apart from Howard- and his jealousy is more than likely a product of that

Although Randy does learn his lesson- and let's be so fucking for real here, he's just an idiot; like this kid is brash, impulsive, and altogether a disaster waiting to happen but he understands in the end what he did wrong. This is not a page to slander Randy or Howard because oh my god, the content we could've gotten if they were given proper character development

Randy is not an abusive little fucker who has it out for Howard, but we can't deny he still isn't great to him a lot of the time- and Howard has his faults because he also has a temper, he doesn't always seem to understand his own misdoings sometimes though that is the whole point- they're freshmen and are literally so dumb in the series (like seriously Randy did not need as much of a prick in season two, that was so unnecessary- but I digress, we'll get to that later)

I will write that meta-analysis of sorts focusing on Weinerham and just Randy and Howard overall at some point between the next couple days- I'll either queue it, or just send it in one go but honestly, they're my blorbos at the moment oops; what we got and what we should have gotten makes me want to go insane.

Anyway, that's it! That's my headcanon dump! I'll be back soon because the rot of the brain on this dumb (/aff) series does not stop apparently-

[lunathecrackhead]

Just something for now I suppose- anyways- Happy Easter y’all!

[theangrycomet-art]

I posted 461 times in 2021

188 posts created (41%)

273 posts reblogged (59%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.5 posts.

I added 1,205 tags in 2021

#theangrycomet art - 417 posts

#theangrycomet writes - 172 posts

#ben 10 - 147 posts

#cn gen 2 - 108 posts

#generator rex - 68 posts

#ok ko - 68 posts

#ok ko let's be heroes - 62 posts

#d crew au - 56 posts

#angrycomet rambles - 55 posts

#rc9gn - 52 posts

Longest Tag: 92 characters

#yeah the last time a kincaid had nothing left to lose they committed a planet wide genocide…

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Peekaboo

Jaime shot through the air, vapor clouds fading as he broke into through the cloud line. Eyes narrowed, they flicked about for any sign of movement.

“Did we lose him?” Glancing at his back, the scarab’s lights blinked up at him.

[...Uncertain.] Khaji Da admitted begrudgingly, hugging his spine a bit tighter as flurries of scans pressed at the corners of his visions.

“Uncertain?”

[The Threat has many... Unfamiliars within it.]  Khaji Da clicked  as Jaime assessed the area around them.  [Scans Indicate the Threat is Mostly Human but with the Unfamiliars’ Interference it makes the Threat-]

It was hard to tell who was more startled when their shoulder was tapped from behind, but both let out an undignified sound. Whipping around, Jaime gaped at the psycho providence agent he had left in the streets a couple hundred feet below him.

“Miss me?” The Threat smirked, somewhat crouching before he launched himself at them.

-//-

I don’t think Khaji Da would be very compatible with Rex’s nanites- especially with the Meta-Nanites, inactive or not- making him difficult to keep track of at first.

Rex, for his part, is just trying to cure the “EVO” he thinks he found. He’s been on Jaime’s tail for a lil while now.

How was he supposed to know he just found another kid with a funky alien device fused to his body? It’s not like that happens often.

90 notes • Posted 2021-11-29 23:58:33 GMT

#4

Danny Fenton/Phantom Redesign for my Rewrite

Danny Fenton: 

Personality is pretty much the same, with a few more tweaks to fit more modern school takes. 

When he’s nervous he info-dumps, generally about space- particularly stars. 

Recovering from/ occasionally relapsing to his middle school goth phase (he was the cheery goth for the most part)

He’s not bullied so much as ignored for the most part, because nobody really recognizes him out of the goth cloths.

Honestly he’s pretty much fine with this. It’s only when Ghosts start popping up that there’s a problem because everyone is suddenly looking for Freaky Fenton whose parents are ghost hunters for answers he doesn’t have/ can’t say because he can’t explain how he knows. 

He could care less about being popular

Is generally willing to use his powers if he thinks he can get away with it. Someone throws a punch at him? Face is intangible. Lancer’s looking for him? Turns invisible. Etc.

There’s a reason he’s called the Ghost kid- he supposed to look like a kid. So Danny, being the late bloomer he is, does. 

His face still has the last bits of baby fat.

He’s the shortest in his grade.

His attempt to wear bigger clothes only make him look smaller

Also- the space boi likes his space clothes. Very few pieces of his clothing don’t have SOMETHING involving space on it, whether it’s home made galaxy pants or bought online space pun shirts, etc.

His pupils disappear when his ghost sense goes off. Additionally his fangs poke out slightly, though this generally is unnoticeable. 

As Phantom:

We stan Blue Phantom in this house

Green mouth/tongue because his Ecto-Plasm is more prominent than his blood. Also fangs. As a treat. 

His hair’s wispier than normal, but still thick enough to retain most of its original shape

His jumpsuit is bulkier and he has a hood like his parents, though he rarely uses it. The logo was there from the start because Sam was making him his own custom logo and stuck a sticker she’d made on him before he went inside. Its supposed to resemble a comic

Additionally, he has a tool belt with pocket dimensions for storage and a hammer loop for the thermos

The Goggles he doesn’t use at all because (as he later discovers) it shows alternate dimensions as opposed to the reality he’s in which makes combat a pain in the ass. 

96 notes • Posted 2021-08-10 01:35:53 GMT

#3

Jaime Reyes has no right being as lovable as he is.

100 notes • Posted 2021-09-19 21:00:40 GMT

#2

“Are you going to behave for daddy?” Gwendolyn cooed, moving Devlin’s little hands up and down. 

He shook his head side to side with a small giggle. 

“Areeeee you going to be naughty for daddy?” She asked again, grinning as Devlin laughed in response.

“I’m telling you babe, he’s a tiny troublemaker.” Though his tone was dry, Kevin smiled softly. Carrying Devlin gently, he adjusted him in his grip. 

Nothing was going to happen to him under Kevin’s watch. 

108 notes • Posted 2021-06-24 01:29:35 GMT

#1

Rex deserves to chew Caesar out for what he put him through. At least a little bit.

139 notes • Posted 2021-10-18 20:41:15 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[thesoundofmadness]

“In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Dark Realm and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark ones who had wronged him. He wore the mask of the Muspelheim, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him… the Ninja Slayer.”

Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja:Reckoning is not a season 3 but a new continuation an animated limited series It serves as an finale to 2012-2015 original series with 20 episodes (now Running time are 22 minutes and be two parter Arcs), with new voice cast,new design and characters. With series focusing rather be meta-sitcom but instead being story arc with character development and Randy question his actions,quarter-life crisis, consequences, his choice being a ninja is worst (probably be worse ninja ever?) and looking back 2 years being a ninja having . Both he and Howard entire junior year in Norrisville High School (things have changed over summer like S. Ward Smith retire,Howard lose some weight and Bucky/Flute Girl (with new voice actor & actress) are dating). This year things are same to best friends (both some questions their relationships) with returning enemies like McFist and returned The Sorceress (with new foe behind the scene). With series exploring like being powers of Ninja Mask,NinjaNomicon,Tengu,Rage,Chaos Pearls,Norisu Nine and nine realms with religion protesters (with The Creep being a member of group watching over people who is ninja). The 9th Grade Ninja:Reckoning is not part of rc9gn universe, it part of universe better than you’re now is bigger than you can imagine. Randy came towards some changes and need make ultimate sacrifice to protect those he care about. Edit: I LOVE THIS

[mrfartpowered]

Hey! Just wanted to ask a question because I’m bored, lol. What is your favorite RC9GN episode(s)? I’m curious to know!

HIIIII AHAHA I have been meaning to make a post abt this for a while actuallyyy so this is perfect :33

I think Shloomp! There It Is (the body swap one) is one of the best episodes in the entire show, if not THEE best. I think its jokes are unmatched, its story is soooo strong, and the crew’s passion for the show is so so visible in Shloomp!.

my number one favorite thing about this ep is the choice to let Andrew Lewis Caldwell voice Randy!Howard. in a lot of media the body swap trope tends to swap voice actors along with physical traits, and imo, that’s kind of a copout. when your voice actors are professional voice actors, not just actors who happen to land a role in animation, they go above and beyond. Caldwell’s performance as Randy!Howard speaks not only to his skill as a VA, but to the show’s atmosphere and his relationship with Ben Schwartz. Caldwell performed an arguably-flawless Randy Cunningham, from the cadence to the mannerisms to the comedic timing.

his performance is enhanced by the love and care of the animation!! obviously the Randy hair on Howard’s model, but the facial expressions, the hand motions, AAAA it shows how well the animators know their character, how consistently their protag is animated — AND that they can confidently and smoothly translate those quirks onto other models.

obviously it’s not a perfect ep — I’m a big fan of acknowledging the flaws in things u love and I even think they’re kinda fun to talk about. so I wanna take a minute and complain about the Theresa subplot. I know a monster was important to keep the plot moving, but I do not think the audience knew enough about Theresa to care about her that much. Shloomp! feels like a pivotal episode, esp cuz it’s paired w McOne Armed and Dangerous — maybe not narratively, but definitely character development-wise. and it felt…like…unearned for Theresa to get so upset when Nomirandy made a pass at Heidi. at that point, Theresa had only had that prom moment w Randy in Sorcerer in Love, he’d saved her a couple times, and then Der Monster Klub. I just didn’t feel like we’d learnt enough about her and Randy’s relationship for me to care that she was jealous and heartbroken.

THAT BEING SAID…..the heart in Shloomp! is palpable. I’ll have to make a compilation of my favorite Shloomp! moments someday ugh I have rewatched it more than any other ep. I actually watched it while I wrote this LMAO and I also shmoked a little hdngksnfk so I am.getting bored of writing now 😭😭 BUT trust that this is not the last time I’ll wax poetic abt Shloomp! There It Is

[mrfartpowered]

THE LONG-AWAITED HOWARD ESSAY

COMING TO A DASH NEAR YOU THIS FRIDAY AT 9 AM PST

I will also be reblogging it a couple times obv because I have worked so hard on it 😭😭

[destiny-in-the-universe]

let's talk angst

i keep thinking about causing harm on my main muses- major character injury, disorientation, near-death experience, doomed by the narrative- anything and all of it

give me a muse who is on the brink of death on the battlefield (blood spills from the wound, they grit their teeth; hand pressed to their side before groaning, struggling to move-). give me the muse who attempts to stand back up, their body protesting as they can't give in now. their team needs them, they can't afford to lose the war (they have to keep going-). there is something in their eyes, screaming this can't be the end

give me the muse who is captured by the enemy- (they bare their teeth, wild and primal, as they glare defiantly at their captors; their spirit could never be broken, they won't go down without a fight). give me a muse who refuses to be seen as weak, they won't be damaged goods. they defiantly glare at their captor, declaring someone will come and they will get out of this. give me the muse who refuses to cry and beg even in the face of torture and torment, give me the muse who screams but even then they grin- blood coating their teeth- "is that the best you've got?"

give me the muse who is determined to hold strong until the very end; even a proud and strong warrior might not hold on against the feeling cracking against their back. water drips down their hair, and blood stains the pavement as they struggle (the enemy smiles, gripping them by the chin as they coo, "no one is coming to save you, my dear"-). give me a muse who wants to hold on before their will crumbles and they break (they whimper, a choked cry leaving their lips as the light finally begins to fade from their eyes-)

give me the muse who refuses to cry; give me the muse who acts like nothing has changed- they won't break over anything, they're fine (they've always been okay- they have to be or everything will fall apart; no one else can see them like this because how would they see them then? they can't even see themselves like this, it's just too much to bear). they suck it up, putting on a grimace- or school their face into neutrality, and speak- "chin up, you can get through another day" to their friends and offer the comfort when it's needed (some might just scoff, "you can't get through life wallowing in your own self misery. get up and keep going.") eventually something in them snaps- something in them severs and it's like they're falling, and the dam breaks-

give me the muses who've come back wrong, they aren't human anymore. they are something else (something other); they are the product of war, soldiers who know nothing else. give me the muses who have lost everything- give me the muses who reach their limit and are willing to let death's door claim them

give me the muses who are already walking into the flames, knowing nothing else but their own self desutrction

(is that you in the mirror? is it truly you- things were much simpler back then, weren't they? you had a dream back then, hopes and goals you thought would you were bright-eyed and then it was taken from you- who are you, really?)

give me the broken, the deserted, the quiet. the older siblings made parents too soon, too young- give me anyone who just needs to find their path again (and those who are forever bound by their actions, the factors around them-)

give me the fallen warriors

[mrfartpowered]

HOWARD I PULLED A RANDY I AM SO SORRY

I DIDNT KNOW YESTERDAY WAS HIS OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY 😭😭😭😭 otherwise yall KNOW I woulda been posting abt it aughhhhh

on the other hand tho…I did spend most of yesterday writing an essay defending him….so I’d say my dues are paid HAHAH. but anyways. LIVE LAUGH HOWARD WEINERMAN