#the Killing Someone Off episodes i've seen fucking slap

[weidli]

never want to come down

[on ao3]

[utilitycaster]

🔥 each member of vox machina

Vax: really the sadboy narrative for Liam has always been stupid but it's egregiously bad that it started with Vax, who is like, sad for maybe a fifth of the episodes and largely because Liam O'Brien's actual mother was dying, like, with all due respect what the actual fuck, fandom.

Vex: I am the founding and probably only member of the "Vex is my favorite character and also I am 100% cool with Colville's depiction of her." The generosity she shows even very early on in C1 is still a generosity borne of some degree of security - they have a keep by then - and I also just don't think you have to like a character to write them fairly. Granted it's been a minute since I read early VMO but nothing stood out to me as out of line with my understanding of Vex.

Pike: repeating myself once again but I like Pike a lot and wish we could have seen more, but because we didn't, people who say she's their favorite in C1 do tend to turn me off in that I feel they're looking for a relatively flat and widely praised character to project onto rather than a character who goes through more messy development.

Grog: I think he's often underestimated and I was guilty of doing so myself, to be honest, until I saw Travis play more and until I personally got better at D&D. Also I still maintain that playing INT 6 sensitively and well is infinitely harder than playing INT 16, all things considered, and this is yet another reason why people should play high INT more often.

Scanlan: Also underestimated; I do understand being turned off by the whole extremely horny playboy thing but as I've said before Bard's Lament is a major litmus test for me: if you think Scanlan is completely at fault here, you are wrong, and if you think he's not partially at fault, you are also wrong.

Tary: I genuinely love him and think he's a great character and one of Sam's best, but while his character arc is strong the Taryon Darrington Arc of the VM Campaign, through no fault of his own (and partly bc I personally think D&D Hell, especially pre-Descent Into Avernus publication, is kind of boring), is one of the weakest parts of the campaign because it's kind of a grab bag of loose ends. With that said I would happily watch more Darrington Brigade-one shots.

Percy: Percy is also generally a litmus test in that it's like. Is he a good person? Eventually I believe he becomes one, and even before that I think he's very sympathetic and deeply traumatized and like, 24, so I get it, but also, who the fuck cares. This ties into the Essek and the Ashton opinions and all kinds of other stuff but why are people so invested in fucking absolving their blorbo of all sins? I want someone who's lived enough of a life to have done some heinous shit because that's fun and interesting and it's pretend and also because then they can have a rewarding character arc by either working towards redemption or coming to terms with who they are or spiraling into tragedy.

Keyleth: I like Keyleth a lot but I am, as this post indicates, far more sympathetic to Vex, and so while I do think Keyleth is a fairly good person she is also extremely sheltered and naive and terrified of doing the wrong thing and I would have, like Vex, wanted to scream at her half the time were I just a random NPC wandering about the campaign. On the other hand C3-era Keyleth? fantastic no notes she has grown up in such an interesting way.

Tiberius: I think we, and by we I mean people capable of separating the art from the artist, can recognize that his concept actually fucking slapped and unfortunately he was played by someone who absolutely sucked in a myriad of ways. I would love to see the alternate universe in which the same general concept (prodigy sorcerer from Draconia who is full of themself) had to face not just the destruction of their civilization but the realization that they were taking advantage of the Ravenites and while they did not deserve to be killed by Vorugal, had done nothing to justify aid from those they had subjugated either. Like, the alternate world in which one of the current cast members or like, a close friend of the main cast (Ashly, Erika, Mary Elizabeth) played this is one I'd love to see.

[semi-sketchy]

Alright, since I'm at that episode, I'm gonna elaborate on my actual problem with Dark Sonic:

To be honest, I don't think there's anything really wrong with Sonic during the episode. He's angry his friends have been hurt by a villain, so he harnesses the power of the fake Emeralds (which he has a physical negative reaction to) and smashes said villain's testing robots to pieces.

I never really considered this a problem. Sonic can get angry, be antagonized, the SA2 Shadow fight in Green Forest springs to mind.

Plus, Secret Rings has Darkspine Sonic, which is about as close to Dark Sonic as it gets. Sharha just died, trading her life for his, he absorbs the Rage, Sadness and Hatred Rings and transforms.

Even after he leaves the transformation, he still seems pretty pissed at Erazor Djinn, with killing Sharha at the top of the list.

So, yeah. It's not 1:1 and I'm not claiming these are the same, X is obviously more exaggerated, but I don't really have a problem with the concept. We can talk about how Eggman comes in, tells Sonic he needs to be better and not let his emotions overwhelm him, but frankly I think that's more of an X!Eggman issue than the transformation itself.

No, my real problem is, and always has been, how the fandom interpreted it. That's it. I've read so many fics, seen so many posts about Sonic just "turning dark" when angry, as if any transformations have ever been purely emotion without an external power-source. (Super requires the Chaos Emeralds, Hyper the Super Emeralds, Darkspine was 3 of the World Rings, Werehog was Dark Gaia energy, Excalibur Sonic was the sacred swords, Wisp transformations needed the Wisps, Super Sonic 2 was Chaos Emeralds + Cyber energy....you get it.)

The way I've always saw it, is yes, Sonic is upset, but he also is being affected by the fake Emeralds.

This is the Discotek translation, I don't know enough Japanese to say how accurate it is, all I know know is "warui" means bad/sick depending on the sentence. An older translation (and the English dub) points to him feeling physically sick around them.

Far as I can tell, he's already reacting bad to these Emeralds on top of being antagonized, so he uses power that's at his disposal does what the villain wants: fuck up his shit.

If the fake Emeralds didn't exist, this transformation wouldn't have happened. Additionally, since X ended and the only fake Emerald in the games was blown up in SA2, it can't happen again. (Unless you write scenario where someone makes fake Emeralds, but that requires writing for the form instead of just slapping it in à la characters in IDW.)

Perhaps I'm being too hard on a lot of kids that never really interacted with the source material and just wanted to write Sonic fanfics. I've read so many that made it quite obvious that the author didn't know anything about Sonic besides he's fast and I'm not really out here trying to say Sonic shouldn't inspire people to create. Never said I hated reading those fics, I got a good deal of entertainment out of them. It's simply this misconception has stretched so far, it's like the original context has been entirely erased.

And that's the part of Dark Sonic that bothers me.

I've seen plenty of arguments for why the transformation was a poor choice and I don't entirely disagree with them. For me, I could take it or leave it. It was a one-off short transformation in an anime where Sonic pretends to be Star Trek for a season, it just exists to me.

Although, it's been awhile since I last saw discussion of Dark Sonic, as a whole it seemed to be a bigger thing in the early 2010s. Possibly because now we have more recent Sonic shows and movies, it's not just X being the latest thing anymore. I certainly don't read fics like I used to, so I'd be surprised if it is still as heavily used as it used to be. Maybe if I get some time, I'll look up some fics and find out.

[slycooperconfessions]

This isn't a confession, I just wanted to have a discussion about this because I'm curious to see if anyone else feels the same way. Does anyone else feel like Sly 4 sort of retroactively lowered your opinion of Sly 3? Because I've realized a lot of the poor writing decisions in Sly 4 stem directly from flaws in Sly 3's own writing. For example, I hated the villain twist with Penelope in Sly 4. But I've actually seen a few people defending it, saying that Penelope was always kind of sketchy with her whole Black Baron persona. And to be honest, they're kind of not wrong. Sly 3 never really did give us much of an explanation for why the hell Penelope acts so different as the Baron. Honestly, as the Baron she's fucking RUTHLESS. She's willing to cheat and kill to win, is capable of fist fighting Sly on the wing of a moving plane, etc. Yet afterwards she acts all sweet, helpless and innocent and gets used as a damsel in distress multiple times, despite us seeing her combat capabilities as the Baron? Begrudgingly, I can kind of see how Sanzaru (or anyone else) could get the impression that there's something "off" about her.

I also hated the Carmelita belly dancing bit in Sly 4 and thought it was fucking gross. But to be honest, Sly 3 itself sort of set a precedent for treating Carmelita this way. "Carmelargea" from the Rumble Down Under level was maybe less overtly sexual but no less gross. They literally had us climbing up her pants for that fight. You can't look at that and tell me someone on the Sly 3 dev team didn't have a giantess fetish. So them skimping on giving Rumble Down Under a proper antagonist just so that they could instead have the Mask of Dark Earth as an excuse to enlarge Carmelita is... pretty sleazy, actually.

Then there was the whole Sly faking amnesia thing. During Sly 4 I couldn't help but feel like Carmelita was being a little hypocritical for her anger at being lied to by Sly. She literally lied too. She lied to someone she thought was an amnesiac about his identity. Which just sort of highlights how bad the end of Sly 3 is. They decided to have Sly and Carmelita start off their new relationship based on lies? Ok then.

I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say that Sly 4 changed my opinion of Sly 3, but there are some valid points here.

As far as Penelope's huge personality shift from the Baron to her normal self, I think it was partly to throw people off of the reveal that the Baron IS Penelope. Hell, Penelope even helps the gang in Episode 3 by defending their hangar from goons looking to wreck their plane, whereas the Baron seems to have no issues with foul play and engages in it often. Thinking about it deeper, the Baron might have become a full-fledged alternate personality for Penelope since she was using the ruse so often and got pumped up by people treating him as a celebrity. When she gets some sense slapped into her after fighting Sly, I think it snapped her out of this pattern and she was able to let it go. As far has how strong the Baron is, there's theories that the Baron suit is actually a cybernetic situation that greatly enhances her physical abilities, which I think holds water because her natural abilities are more tailored to her technical know-how and inventions. Once she abandons the Baron suit, she abandons the raw strength and ruthlessness the Baron gave her. I've held the opinion that her turning more villainous in Sly 4 is not necessarily out of nowhere, it was just written horribly and abruptly IMO. There's nothing we see leading up to it that makes it make sense, it just happens. Had it been handled differently, I think it would have been received much better.

As far as giant Carmelita...yeah, I got nothing. Probably a case of the "writer's poorly disguised fetish" meme because I remember being 11 years old thinking "This is...odd." But by then I had also developed an attraction to both Sly and Carmelita, so I rolled with it lol.

What do y'all think?

[trans-elrond]

Nik! Did you watch Rebel Moon? How was it?

Yes hello this is my 4 star review of rebel moon on letterboxd.

But first: a professional, somewhat critical review of rebel moon that engages with the film well, especially regarding anti-colonial themes, and isn't just knee-jerk regurgitated Snyder haterism:

And now more of my thoughts: [edit: Oh No, He Went And Talked For 3 Hours About It, Thanks For Coming To My TedTalk:)

No one has a better knack at putting together a cast list SO ATTRACTIVE TO THE BISEXUALS. read it and weep, boys. (Jena Malone is there too but really just for 1 set piece)

...Jena Malone's one (1) scene set piece features her as an alien spider woman with legitimate grievances against the Empire who now wants to kill kids because all her kids were killed. Like, so valid, girl. Also, did I say Jena Malone as an alien spider-woman? And this is just one scene.

Look, if that pitch doesn't hook you, this film may not be for you, and that's okay, but by GOD my people are the people who hear "Jena Malone alien spider woman" and perk up. I love you, freaks.

The cinematography is ace and always will be under Snyder's direction. music by Tom Holkenborg SLAPS. Costuming and design overall is super super strong. (People on this hellsite are always complaining about inadequate, boring as hell sci-fi design and you get RM and you don't appreciate it for what it is. WAKE UP.)

Costume showcase! Second from the right in this photo showing off those sweet sweet sci-fi costume designs is my beloved non-binary they/them revolutionary Milius. CANONICALLY non-binary, let me add. Imagine SW doing that lmaoooooooooooo D*ve Filoni would fuckin keel over and die

Kora! Our tragic female protagonist of color who's over 40, with a dark edgy sexy background. [KIDNAPPED AS A CHILD!! DEAD FAMILY!!! DEAD LOVER!!!!!!! SHE FAILED TO PROTECT HER WARD FROM ASSASSINATION!!!!! SHE IS THE MOST WANTED WOMAN IN THE UNIVERSE!!]

Bitches on tumblr LOVE taking failmen with sad backstories from media and blorbifying them, but the second it's a woman? please. If this was a man people would be writing the filthiest x reader smut you've seen since Mandalorian S1 came out. If this was a man you'd already have seen 20,000 fan drawings of her with her muscles and tits OUT. God where's my Kora fanart.

I personally have no problems with the plot of this movie (part 1 of 2) being "we must collect warriors to fight the evil empire." That's kinda fantasy story 101 and I still love new, varied interpretations of that plot.

If there's not much interconnecting plot because Kora's just gathering fighters, it's kinda like... that's the point, babes, they'll actually get to it in part 2. We're just at the "forming the team" stage. I revel in that part of a fantasy film and I always want it to be longer, so this film is like catnip to me.

Uh, yeah, this is getting long. More under the cut.

Entertainment professional nitpick time! I've seen someone say RM would be better as a TV show to introduce a new character each episode. And I truly don't think that fixes any of the problems this person has with the film, while introducing way more problems. (Who the fuck would go in on an original concept TV show where each episode introduces a new hero. You could not sell that pitch to a studio, ever, and viewers would instantly check out if they didn't like the introduced character of the week, and the same complaints would be made: it’s just a new character intro blah blah blah. This wouldn’t fix anything! It would very much make it worse!)

Me, like every day, through gritted teeth: that's... not... how... tv... works...

Like be realistic for a hot second with me. Television is not "long movie"—it is a different medium with different rules. Yes, the past decade has blurred many lines between TV and film, but they're still different mediums, and when people blur them ("it's a 10-hour movie!") the results often suck ass, because you either lack episodic structure or you lack feature structure. Snyder is a feature filmmaker who has never worked in TV. Whenever features people jump into TV, it's a whole other learning curve! They're usually terrible at it! You want Snyder to have to learn a new medium? You want him to learn 5/6-act TV structure from scratch? You want him to (horrified gasp) lead a writers room? Those are not his strengths, baby. Let him play in his space opera sandbox.

And I'm not done! You want the casting team to have to deal with the headache of getting feature film actors to star in a TV show? (Pay cuts! Longer commitments! TV production timelines!) You want to do that to me, personally, and fuck up the TV landscape some more by going, "Oh, we can basically just make a Longer Feature Film in TV"? Fuck off with that. TV has different production realities and different basic story structures. A [long] film [with two parts] is still a film, in structure and production practicalities.

Truly, Tumblr media studies brains (derogatory) at it again.

To each their own, but again, I think RM's structure is fun because it gives me more of the goodies (badass, varied character intros) for the price of one (2-hour film.) Like... that's the good stuff, that's often the most exhilarating part of a film for me. And contrary to popular belief, it's not intro to intro without rising tension or stakes. It builds tension as it goes because new facets of resistance against the Motherworld are explored in each character's intro scene. New ways they fight back, new worlds on which they fight back. And a ticking time bomb of the King's Gaze (king's gays lol) catching up.

Here, have a trailer bc Tumblr's mad at me for too much text in one block.

...I like the RM characters. I want to spend time with them and see what other zany shenanigans Snyder will have them do. (Alien bar fights! Taming a space gryphon! Lightsaber battle!) I like the side-quest-y, exploratory, space opera sandbox playground nature. It's fun, and like, again, if you don't perk up at the concept of collecting cool characters like action figures, this film may just not be for you.

To me it's a polycule. Like, the most messed up polycule in the whole galaxy, but it's a polycule.

Speaking of: THE CHARACTERS ROCK. Yeah, we're missing some significant character development because Netflix truncated Snyder's 4-hr, R-rated film into a 2-hr PG-13 version (likely to be able to release the 4-hr cut later, drum up new press, and get more eyeballs on the movie in total in a few months.) That's... not really Snyder's fault [even though he claims he's in on the plan... some part of me thinks it was Netflix's idea and not his. Stinks of studio meddling.] And it's not indicative of the quality of the actual film, which I currently see as more of an abridged version of the R-rated film that's gonna come out and fill up some of these story holes.

If people are judging the film for not being the 4-hour version, and then decide not to see the 4-hour version, that's their call, but it's kinda shitty to act like the 2-hr version is all there is. Like it probably wasn't Snyder's call to do a 2-hr cut! He's said that the 4-hr one is a whole different movie. I betcha the common criticisms (not enough character development, just jumps from character intro to character intro without interconnection, lack of structure) will be helped, if not outright solved, by the longer cut.

I think people are also happy to take a Part 1 of a movie if it's, say, Dune, and the source material has another part, so Part 1 is allowed to be fucking boring, whereas people don't give that kind of allowance to original sci-fi movies, WHICH IS A REASON WE DON'T GET ORIGINAL SCI-FI. If you're painting with as huge and cosmic a palette as space opera Rebel Moon, the 4-8 hours total across the 2 four-hour parts is kinda bare minimum for an epic. So... patience is a virtue? Let part 1 have elements of IT'S KIND OF A PROLOGUE?

What's that saying? If you want the rewards of space opera worldbuilding with an ensemble cast, you must submit to the mortifying ordeal of 2 hours of setup. Geez. Enjoy the wacky exposition or get out of the space opera genre.

Yeah, that leads me to the point of people who don't enjoy space opera are getting mad at RM for fulfilling the promises of the genre. You might truly be happier elsewhere. The whole thing is over-the-top, huge-scale MELODRAMA and I thrive on melodrama. If it's too cheesy for you, don't come to space operas!!!!!!!

On that note, people have said RM is too tropey and too Star Wars-y. But like I said. If you don't love the tropes get out of the genre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you aren't here for bloodier/hornier Star Wars get out of RM!!!!

Another big idea I would be remiss to skip over. RM is an explicitly, deliberately anti-colonial, anti-imperial text—far, far more so than any other mainstream sci-fi currently being released. Well-intentioned liberals love to tout Star Trek/Star Wars as progressive media but they really hedge and defang all their political commentary, especially in their 21st century franchise form—think the SW sequels/shows straight up woobifying K*lo Ren in realtime and the Trek shows that (while fun!) are really often just nostalgia bait.

RM is pretty fucking radical. Its theme basically is Kill Nazis—or in expanded form, something along the lines of "The empire will eat up everything of value in the universe unless it is met with unified armed resistance built on solidarity."

And just look at RM's casting. We're not colorblind here; we're very color-conscious. (That's a rant for another day, but I've really started to despise colorblind casting for its extremely well-intentioned-liberal "we're all the same" mentality. It just winds up erasing.) Anyway: RM features the explicitly American-English-Afrikaans empire vs. the Algerian Amazigh protagonist, Black freedom fighters, Japanese revolutionary... and like. Snyder's always gonna be into Vikings so obviously we have Space Vikings too, whatever. Look at me, I can criticize Snyder too! The Poor Sad Space Vikings are not the strongest part of the film!

...Anyway of course the empire vs. revolution is absolutely kind of Star Wars-y since RM is highkey Snyder's Star Wars, but it goes so much further than SW dreamed (or, perhaps, nightmared). SW's rebels/resistance continually get defanged because they're kind of foundationally space magic/singular hero's quest deals, and modern SW with the exception of Rogue One/Andor is just politically, socially stupid. In contrast, RM is about forming a coalition, without something like the Force to help you out. I could write an essay on the ways RM starts in the same place Star Wars starts but takes its politics so much more seriously, so much further.

While I'd argue "good politics" and "artistic quality" rarely correlate, RM is explicitly and doggedly a text about the colonial empire that exploits, enslaves, abuses, and seeks to utterly control marginalized people groups in its quest for domination—and god, I would LOVE to see a resurgence in very fanged, very angry political sci-fi.

One more aside. Snyder has been rightfully criticized for his earlier works basking in fascist-adjacent, hypermasculine aesthetics; 300 is notably super duper racist in how it depicts savage/monstrous Persians vs. Beautifully Good White Spartans Defending Their Culture. (more on "300 Bad" stored up in my brain if anyone wants THAT rant.) To Snyder's credit, none of his films since 300 have really done that—parts of Batman v Superman and his cut of Justice League purposefully poke fun at it. The hypermasculinity is kinda still there, but it's subsumed in the service of melodrama and mythic-flavored cinema, and it's kinda a staple of the action genre anyway, and if you're gonna criticize Snyder without criticizing EVERY ACTION MOVIE EVER, that's just more regurgitated Snyder haterism.

No one is doing mythic action like Snyder these days. No one has the balls and the command of melodrama & operatic visuals. And it comes clearly from Snyder's background in art & art history because all his shots are jam-packed with symbolism and meaning and allusion. So criticize the film for its weaknesses if you like but geez, if I see another post railing about the lack of CRAFT in RM, I will start biting. ALMOST NO BLOCKBUSTER HAS THIS LEVEL OF CRAFT. It's okay that you don't understand visual storytelling, babygirl, but please don't accuse Snyder of lacking craft.

Sorry, you've triggered Cinema Defense Mechanisms in me, I'm gonna have to sit down for a while after this.

I have more takes. Takes hot enough to fuel the King's Gaze (king's gays lol.) But I'll end with a funny observation: I transed my gender (cheers, shouts, hoorays) just about the time I was getting ready to watch Rebel Moon, and in one shocking, epiphanic moment I turned to my partner and went "Of COURSE I'm a man. I like Zack Snyder." So........... do with that what you will.

[toomuchsmoshbrainrot]

I don't mean this rudely, and I don't mean this addressed specifically at you, but it's genuinely such a weird thought to assume Smosh is keeping Noah around for the simple reason of "well, he'll sue! Firing him is discrimination!" when the counterargument is... Noah is a pro-genocide zionist, which in itself would mean HE'S the one discriminating. For most companies, publicly posting hate speech is a fireable offense. Having a conflict of company values is also a fireable offense. Smosh could absolutely have let Noah go IF he was the monster fandom has delighted in making him out to be. You talk about nuance but you completely disregard how that can apply to Noah himself. "But he gloated about his grandfather blah blah blah," this fandom likes to point out. Yeah, in retrospect, not great, but no one (no one!!!!) batted an eye at this when it first aired. No one cared. No one questioned his ethics, no one cared about the implications. No one called him out. No one was outraged.. But now we want to condemn him for it when the context of when he spoke it was so vastly different than if he said it now??? But ALSO. Literally all Noah has ever said on the actual genocide is that he's against it. That he wants a peaceful resolution for BOTH sides. He has literally only ever said he doesn't agree with violence inflicted upon innocent lives regardless of if they're from Israel or Palestine. And I will also add that EVERYTHING he's said, he said in the immediate aftermath of the Oct 7th attack, when it was still pretty globally framed as a terrorist attack. Even THEN he has just said "killing of innocent civilians is bad" and somehow secretly he means "I love genocide" by that. Huh??? Maybe, just maybe, Noah hasn't been fired because the people who work with him KNOW him and know he isn't this evil caricature fandom sure would love for him to be. Because it's sooo much easier to double down and continuously vilify the guy than take a step back and admit, hey, maybe we got this one wrong.

just putting this out there publicly, the op is clearly on anon for a reason because they know they're gonna get read to filth by some of the more intense people in the fandom

but the UNDERLYING part of this message is kind of exactly what I'm saying. that he's never said these things in videos, only on his personal accounts. that smosh clearly still associate with him. if y'all are SO scorched earth, why aren't y'all going after, say... shayne? for still considering him a friend? this is the same fandom that assumed courtney and damien were beefing because "she looked weird at him in videos sometimes". nuance is lost on a lot of people, and i've learned as i've gotten older to just ignore the drama.

no matter where you go, people you don't like are gonna exist. drama is gonna exist. and it's no longer worth my energy.

i don't wanna be seen by the fandom as someone who "supports noah/his opinions" just because i said i liked a joke he made in a video, or enjoy his puns in word games, or whatever. i can separate art from artists and i want to freely enjoy whatever the fuck i want. its the fact that i feel like i have to explain that that's wild to me.

(and when i say "other things that annoy me about him outside of the obvious" i mean like.... charty party video when he got SO HEATED insisting that he was right. or the eat it or yeet it 50's episode with the cold cut dress when chanse asked amanda to turkey slap him, and noah leaned in to do it. and chanse was like "wtf i said AMANDA" and noah backed off but then TOSSED it at chanse anyway like what. consent, my guy. ok that ones a little less serious but its still annoying)

[zenjestrr]

finished watching the Yu Yu Hakusho live action yesterday and I have opinions

I went into this with an open mind. I knew they weren't going to be able to do everything and it's literally impossible to translate everything from an anime into live action but I disagree with some of the choices they made. Actually, let me start with the positives: Kuwabara's actor put his whole pussy into that role. He was certainly a highlight for me. I feel like all of the villains (especially Elder Toguro and Tarukane) did an excellent job. Yusuke did good, too, although he was less...aggressive in this show but my reference is the dub maybe he was more subdued in the original Japanese. the set pieces, the fight scenes, all cool. Now on to my grievances. I DO NOT LIKE how they merged season 1 and season 2 into 5 episodes. I don't like how they did Keiko in the show. Granted, it's been a very hot minute since I've seen YYH so I could be misremembering (and again, I saw the dub so maybe shit was changed in localization) but I anime Keiko was a fucking domestic abuser (even as a kid I never understood why Yusuke and Keiko got together considering how many times she'd slap the shit out of him). In the live action she gets polite angry at him ONE time in the entire show and throughout the rest of it she's a delicate flower. idk again this could be my warped memory but I expected more spice from Keiko but whatever. same with Botan. I remember....more to her but my child brain might be merging her with Bulma from Dragon Ball since they had similar character designs. I'm gonna have to rewatch YYH so I can better compare the two but I remember Botan being more than a timid cutesy girl. Kurama's wig was terrible lmao. Hiei's hair was also weird but whatever. idk I wish they didn't merge s1 and s2. that's my biggest gripe. Genkai's death had no impact because she was literally killed off mere minutes after Yusuke's first training session with her. they probably did it this way because (lbr) the best part of YYH is the Dark Tournament and they probably didn't know if they were going to be able to get a 2nd season so they chose to do a speedrun to "the good parts" of s2's Toguro story but like....the Toguro plot and the Spirit Wave Orb stuff only hit because of the build up before it. You can't cut up all the ingredience that made that impactful especially since the background around those stories (aka the ACTUAL dark tournament) helped drive the stakes up. Genkai's death in the anime was tragic, yes, and it impacted Yusuke and Kuwabara but on a more practical level it also increased the tension since she was fucking carrying them in the Tournament so with her gone they were (seemingly) screwed. Now Genkai (who is a lot less bitchy unfort) dies immediately and the show expects us to believe Yusuke would give a shit enough to unlock that "Ultra Instinct at home" power he got at the end of s2 when he barely knows her or had any attachment to her. idk. it's not a baaaad show. if you never saw YYH before I can see why someone would like it but idk man. the choices they made kind of ruined it if you know how the story is "supposed" to go.

[alirhi]

How I'd have done TFATWS pt 1

Okay, I am such a whore for positive attention that, yes, it literally only takes one person expressing interest to get me to do something lol. So, for the lovely @goblin-tea, here is how The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would have gone for Bucky if I'd been a writer on the show!

Also, shoutout to @gunshou, who popped up showing support when I was in the middle of writing this lol 😘

Episode 1: New World Order

I actually love how most of this episode was handled; it's what drew me into the show in the first place, and gave me such hope for the rest of it. Most of the changes that I'd make here are pretty minor, tbh.

I'd specify the setting in some way for Bucky's nightmare. Obviously, since he was there and knows what happened, when, and where he was, it wouldn't be like the setting changes in movies where they slap a big, bold title card over the scene. Still, I'd probably open with a brief establishing shot showing the city skyline or something; some identifying feature so that viewers can work out where this happened without needing a direct statement from Marvel (note: if you need to directly address your audience to clarify something from within your story, you're a bad storyteller). What year did this take place? I show technology from the time; perhaps a dated cell phone in someone's hand. The point is to establish where and when The Winter Soldier killed RJ Nakajima, without detracting from the emotional impact of the scene. Why does it matter? Because we should know why. Why is Bucky dreaming about this particular incident? Was it his last mission before the events of CA:TWS (a theory I see frequently repeated but with no evidence to back it up)? Was it earlier on? Is RJ only on the forefront of Bucky's mind because of his (unhealthy, but we'll get to that) friendship with Yori? How long has Yori been suffering under the weight of his grief?

I would not have had him crash through the wall, btw. As cool as that shot looked, let's try to remember that The Winter Soldier was a ghost story for 70 years. Ghosts don't leave giant gaping holes in hotel walls. I'm not saying brazen wholesale destruction is out of character for him (obviously not. I've seen CA:TWS lmao. many times. this moment lives rent-free in my brain:

found on google without credit; pls lmk if it's yours so I can credit.

but you don't become a "ghost story" if you always leave that much evidence, ijs)

I'd leave the terrible therapy session alone. That scene was beautiful. Beautifully shot; I loved how claustrophobic it felt, and it really did a wonderful job of showing how Bucky felt on the spot, scrutinized, almost put on display for this bitch woman. This scene establishes Raynor as clearly wrong, and an unprofessional mess, and Bucky calls her out on it. I fucking love that!

lmao gods, I love his painfully awkward forced smile... Guys, this episode is fkn great. (betcha weren't expecting so much praise from me, were you? 😂)

"You're free." "To do what?"

👆👆👆 In my show? That would have more of an impact on Bucky's arc. That question would be one of the underlying issues moving his whole story along. Twice in this show, he's told that he's free, but no one addresses what he's free from, much less what he's free to do next.

It's a minor thing, but when Yori tells Bucky to ask Leah out? I'd have Bucky do more than just shake his head in silent horror. Not much more, just something that matters to me as someone who's worked in the service industry for many, many years and dealt with too many creepos: Bucky would flat-out say "she's at work! that's harassment, Yori!"

Yori can still stomp right past that boundary, and Leah can still smile and agree. I just really want someone to verbally acknowledge that you don't fucking ask someone out when they're at work. Ever. Bucky cringing and apologizing puts the power of the conversation back in Leah's hands; it gives her an out to politely decline if she's not interested, and just laugh off Yori's flirting on Bucky's behalf as a senile old man being silly, so I'm actually fine with how this scene turned out. I just would personally have gone that extra inch there for the idiots in the audience who don't get Bucky's subtle "wtf" reaction and why Yori's suggestion was so bad. If someone's livelihood depends on being nice to you, keep your goddamn distance. Flirting with them or asking them out when they're at that big of a disadvantage and have virtually no power to say "no" is harassment.

Here is where I'd make one more subtle change, too. When Yori sees the mochi and is reminded of his son, and tells Bucky about his death, I'd just slip in a time frame. "x years ago, my son was..." blah. (Guys, it really bothers me not knowing when that scene took place rofl can you tell?)

One complaint I've seen a lot online about this show is how it's a bit murky on just how well known Bucky is in-universe. He can walk around Brooklyn with more or less total anonymity, but he's also recognized as "an Avenger" (when he was never actually technically in the group)... but honestly? I think it's actually pretty realistic. Just because someone's famous doesn't mean every single person on the planet knows who they are and what they look like well enough to instantly recognize them on the street. People look different in photos than in person, and pre-Blip, Bucky had the complete Jesus look - long flowing hair and a full beard. In TFATWS he's a little scruffy, but not this:

Sebastian looks like about 10 different men from one moment to the next just irl with a change in haircut, lighting, expression, whether or not he got enough sleep the night before... 😂 I don't really find it hard to believe that people not expecting to bump into an Avenger would have trouble seeing Bucky post-haircut as anything other than just another attractive white guy.

Anyway! Sorry for the segue lol. On to the date!

Earlier in this very same goddamn episode, it is established that Bucky can remotely operate a car with a tablet. This is not a technologically-inept geezer. This is a 30-something nerd who loves new technology, who, yes, is facing a brave new world and a whole lot of new technology, but has never shown any issue picking it up. The crappy flip phone he handed Raynor earlier? a burner to keep her out of what little personal life he does have (we never see it again in the real show, anyway). The "tiger photos" line? Stays, not to show Bucky's floundering ineptitude with technology, but as a little nod to his bisexuality. (don't like it? don't wanna see Bucky as bi? go watch the show and read Skogland's borderline-offensive interviews. This isn't "how I would pander to a homophobic audience" it's "how I would have written it." the "Bucky is bi" interpretation is super fucking common and has been since TFA so bite me 😁)

Tiny nitpick, but I'd also have the Battleship boards actually set up properly lmao. What even was that? Anyway...

I don't think I'd have Leah get all ranty about Yori and RJ. That's not first date talk, for one thing. For another, let's ease up on the beating Bucky and the audience over the head with that one incident in a single episode, shall we? Instead, I'd have her stick with the date questions - she asked his age, asked about his family; I'd have her follow it with questions about what he does for a living (giving us a chance to not only actually have that question answered for us - how the hell does Bucky keep himself from being homeless? lol - but also set up...)

He shuts down a little when she starts asking about his past; she's innocently curious, just trying to get to know him, but he's flinchy and deflects with questions about her. The date is awkward, but doesn't abruptly end with him running away lol. He walks Leah home, like the old-fashioned gentleman he is, goes home, himself, and end on him grimacing in his sleep, in the clutches of another nightmare: not as much detail as the RJ murder scene, we see disjointed, disorienting images of fluorescent lights glinting off of machinery, the occasional shot of Bucky writhing in the chair, a shot of that damned notebook (to remind the dumber audience members why Raynor's passive-aggressive notebook thing was so triggering for him), and we hear echoes of a couple of the trigger words, and Bucky's screams.

[ultimatetrashgoblin]

Blaire Reviews: Ezra Season 4

Disclaimer: This is all my opinion, you are allowed to disagree with me. I encourage you to read this route and form your own opinions. (It’s no secret that EAA is my favorite series, so this will probably be extremely biased)

First Impressions

The stakes are very high going into this season. Red is on the loose, and with the spell on the Ice Queen's heart broken, it's only a matter of time before she's there as well. Probably doesn't help that Ezra broke the fucking front door down because either could easily walk into the house and kill everyone.

The conflict becomes immediately apparent when Ezra and FMC go to the university and find that all of the students and faculty are in some sort of trance, lifelessly moving around the school, while barely reacting to anything going on around them (If only Bosco was in this route, he'd fit right in).

They go to the library to find Darla, only to discover that she and Omar are also under this mysterious spell, and have lost their memories of magic. We also got this glorious moment (and you're lying if you said you picked any other option).

Ezra, Mouse, and Edward go off to find Red (and restore the power of three after Ezra broke it last season by running away like the dramatic bitch he is for like the fifth time in his route) leaving FMC with Nora and Arin, who get her to confess that the spell around the Ice Queen's heart has been broken. Fortunately, FMC is also given confirmation that she was not responsible for what was happening to the student body.

Unfortunately, we find out that Red is the one responsible for this, having stolen Omar's lamp and using them essentially as an army to literally "paint the town red".

In order to find Red's book, Ezra and FMC realize they need to go to the magic world to find it. Nora goes with them in order to collect ingredients she needs to reverse Dr. Tutorea's curse. But Arin warns them that The Ice Queen would know if Ezra was in the world, so they had to be quick.

The group (minus MMC and Lucas for some reason) performs a spell that will allow the door between worlds to be slightly open. I thought that this heart scene was incredibly well done, and was 100% worth the hearts.

Once in the magic world, we're immediately introduced to Galahad. Now I know plenty of people want his route, which I can understand, (the amount of male LIs who are genuinely sweet off the bat is very low) but I found him to be boring. Granted, he wasn't introduced until halfway through Ezra's last season, and his character was barely used. If we were given more time to see his character, maybe I'd understand the hype around him more.

Ezra finds Red's book and reads it, realizing that Red was the one who killed the wolves (like with Grandma, I'd suspected it, but the reveal was still shocking nonetheless). The Ice Queen shows up (though we don't actually see her), and with Red's book, the potion for Dr. Tutorea, and our new friend who Ezra totally isn't jealous of, the group goes back through the door.

I loved the final battle (even if it was paywalled) and being able to see everyone working together to take Red down. AND MOUSE FINALLY GOT TO SLAP HER!

Good for you baby, I'm proud of you.

For someone who has been getting hyped for this entire route, the Ice Queen made an appearance for a whooping one episode. In her defense, she did make the most of her short appearance. Her turning on Red and calling her out for betraying the hunters and Grandma was an amazing moment. Also:

Yeah, it's a little on the nose, especially since we already know she's getting a route in June. Still, I thought it was a fun addition. See you then Lavinia!

The finale was similar to Nora's. The MCs get their memories back, and FMC, Ezra, Nora, Lucas, and Dr. Tutorea go to the magic world. But what I wasn't expecting was that last heart scene. In all honesty, it probably was just a cute moment between Ezra and FMC, and I'm probably overthinking things. But it seemed a lot like they were exchanging vows- So I'm allowing myself to have this headcanon that they eloped.

Then and Now

Since this was Ezra's final season, I'm going to compare the character and relationship dynamics in his first and last seasons.

When we first meet Ezra, he's clearly the mean, snarky LI that we have never seen before, especially in wlm routes. We did get a few glimpses of a softer, more gentle side of Ezra as the season progressed, and he showed himself to be very protective over FMC (especially when Edward was introduced). One thing I loved about the relationship dynamic between FMC and Ezra was the banter. Both of them have very strong personalities, and there were moments where they would clash with each other. But rather than being malicious remarks towards each other, these arguments were more playful jabs, which was refreshing.

In this season, Ezra was much more open with FMC. There was still some witty banter between the two of them, but we also got more sweet moments. There was also better communication, and there was clearly a great amount of trust there. Ezra didn't run off as much and would tell FMC his plans beforehand to make her feel more comfortable.

In my opinion, Ezra is an example of the rude LI trope done right. He admires FMC's ambition and bravery, mentioning how most people don't have the guts to stand up to him (which is the origin of the nickname "Little Star"). I've seen other LIs of this type belittling the MC, and sometimes downright insulting them Chance Valentine, but Ezra clearly respects her.

Final Thoughts

It's always sad to see such a beloved route end. This story had so much potential, and it's sad to see the potential wasted by ending a route early, especially with such a beloved LI. As someone who isn't attracted to men, it's rare for me to find a wlm route that I can avidly enjoy and look forward to seeing updates for.

Despite the ending feeling somewhat rushed, this season was incredibly well done and allowed us time to see our favorite characters one last time. Red was an amazing and ruthless villain, the dynamic between the group was wonderful. I don't think we could have asked for a better ending (just maybe a few seasons later).

Overall Rating: 8/10

Favorite CG

I was stuck between this CG and the last one, but if there's anything that I'm weak for, it's beautiful lighting and attractive women.

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 43 - watching notes

The sun is setting on this show for me and I'm not ready to say goodbye yet 😔

(As if I will! Ha. Imma blog about nothing else the next ... probably years)

Last time on Sophie watches the untamed: We're still in the restricted section. The twin love-struck idiots of lan and wwx found the Collection of turmoil and suspect Jin Guangyao of intentionally bringing about Nie Mingjue's qui deviation.

As much as I love the "hihi. Wwx is wearing his boyfriend's underrobe" aspect of this, I also like the visual incorporation of lwj's colour scheme into wwx's clothes. (Not just through the undertone, his black tone also has slight grey seam.) It's as if now that they are finally fully committed to each other, wwx is displaying it for all the world to see

Jin Guangyao tore out a page to hide the evidence. That's not how to do that!!!

My heart is breaking for Lan Xichen. He looks like a man standing on a train track and watching the light speed towards him in horror while he's unable to move away

Feels like exactly no one on this show is getting their happy ending

*thinks about yi city and cries forever*😭😭😭

"Wangji, Jin Guangyao,in my eyes, is a totally different person from how you and other people see him." And we all know that lwj knows exactly what that's like

PARALLELS! 😭

(Sorry, I have a thing for those)

And lwj looks so pained

Thinking about it, it's now the man lwj loves against the man lxc loves (in whatever way. I still ship them. Not sure if its "canonically" romantic though). They can't both be right, so ... one of them is going to get their heart broken

Great, first the Yunmeng brothers, now the lan brothers are breaking my heart 🥺

Lwj says he's visiting "Grand Master", that's Lan Qiren right? What happened to him anyway? Haven't seen him in ages

I love how, even though it is wwx's word against jgy's right now, lan Xichen is still genuinely kind towards wwx

The whipping scars! I hadn't even thought about those anymore 😳

I'm probably going to get my heart ripped out soon, but before that

"You are not qualified to talk to me."

Sickest. Burn. Ever.

Also, no disrespect to the actor, but that's a backpfeifengesicht if I've ever seen one

(Backpfeifengesicht: "German compound word for a 'face that should be slapped'. Ex:. When GWB smirks on TV, my German friend Uwe tells me that he sees a 'Backpfeifengesicht'." Urban dictionary)

He went to burial mount after wwx was killed??? 🥺🥺🥺

I've noticed something with lwj. When he's distressed, he won't look people in the eye or not even at their faces, just in their very general direction. To me it seems like he almost... can't? Any thoughts on that? Cause I'm intrigued but I can't think about it too much right now cause I'm already writing half an essay in this commentary again 😅

Oh fuck YOU Jiggy!!!

Holy shit ... holy shit

Lan Wangji 🥺🥺🥺

He fought against everyone?

This is how he showed his grieve???

He went to the place wei Wuxian had called home and ... what? Protected or ot so they wouldn't desecrate it? To search for him? To ... what?

Oh god, Wangji! 😭

That image... I'm speechless. It's so powerful

He's half-mad with grieve and kneeling in the ruins of his dead loves home, having fought himself to exhaustion and I'm... not okay 😭😭😭

He had to repent for THREE YEARS??

Oh no, you don't

Holy ...

Holy shit

How can my heart break and be so full at the same time 💔🥺

Lan Wangji ... my love

I'm ... so proud of him and yet so sad

Here he is at his lowest, finally standing up to the orthodoxy he knows to be wrong

This is inhumane 😳

The corporal punishment of the lan sect always was but THIS

Fuck them

Or Lan Qiren specifically

That's his nephew. How can he even look at himself?

"Eradicate evil. Establish laws. Than goodness will be everlasting."

IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING EASY!!!

WHAT EVEN IS "GOODNESS"? WHOSE VERSION OF GOODNESS? DEVINE EVIL! HOW FAR REACHING INTO THE PRIVATE SVERE SHOULD THUSE LAWS BE? DOES IT STOP AT "DON'T STEAL FROM PEOPLE OR AT "DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE AT DINNER"?

what I'm saying is: there are about 200 ethical question ls being raised by this rule alone!

And now lan Wangji had 3 tears to contemplate them

Wwx asking "why would he bother ...?" BECAUSE YOU ARE LOVED YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!!

Ohhh! We're getting their parents' story 😱

Oh this IS a Lan episode 💙

So another Lan falling quickly and never looking back?

I'm sensing a pattern here 🤨

Wait what?

Let me get this straight:

Their father loved a woman who DID NOT love him back and then killed one of his teachers

(And I hope we find out why. That sounds like there is a REALLY interesting story there)

Then he takes her to cloud recess and DESPIT HER NOT LOVING HIM, marries her, fathers two children with her (um... how voluntary was that????) locks her up (as punishment for the murder?) then locks HIMSELF up and then fucks of and leaves his children with their uncle

What kind of disaster human being was their dad????

Did he do the right thing WHEN HE MARRIED AND PROBABLY RAPED A WOMAN WHO DIDN'T LOVE HIM???

NO!!!

The fuck kinda question is that ??

If you have to marry her against her will and then lock her up, guess what? That's not love, that's wanting to possess someone

I hope that maybe the connotation is different in the og Chinese,but I'm not holding out much hope

That explains why Qiren is such a lovely character through 😒

But god, my heart breaks for lwj and lxc :'(

Little Lan Wangji!!! 🥺🥺🥺

Oh darling ...

Oh no ...

Look at him look at his crooked little headband😭😭😭

He went there every month!!!

Oh Wangji 💔💔

Stubborn, steadfast, loving Wangji!

That seals it. I KNEW why he was my favourite character

He isn't so passive all the time, because he feels too little! He feels entirely too much!!! 😭😭😭

And that explains why lwj was so worried about wwx's demonic cultivation harming him!!! 😭

Oh god, it was such an old hurt for him. I had no idea 🥺🥺🥺

All of these characters need a therapist

Lxc playing the flute to what ... deal with his emotions? Express his grieve? Remeber their mother? (And god, do I want to know more about her!!) Either way, It's making me tear up 😥

"It's so difficult to determine others personalities depending on our perspective." Welcome to the human condition, my friend 💙

And that's love

I ... wish I could show you my face right now

I'm smiling through tears right now

It's so utterly beautiful

He looks so vulnerable here! With his hair (almost) down

And given what we've just learned, that's remarkable!!!

He closed himself off became the immovable stone-faced second Jade of Lan and yet, somehow, wwx wormed his way into his heart and sure, both of them needed to overcome a lot, but here they are, vulnerable and open,not letting their parent's fate decide theirs

I'm... *sniff*

I can never get enough of lwj with his hair like this!!

It's so domestic, so soft

And look at his face! 😭

And mister "alcohol is prohibited" is now serving it 😭

Oh my god this scene is so beautiful

I'm speechless

Was the second flute Jin Guangyao as well?

At this point I'm just expecting more plot-twists

He looks so young! 🥺

Both of them are exhibiting so much growth in this episode!! Wwx realising that the fact that the cultivation world had always looked for a scapegoat and that he himself was just the most convenient target, that it's not to any personal failing of his, that's HUGE!

And I'm so proud of him :')

Lwj starting to play in the distance :')

This is so utterly peaceful

My heart is bursting 😭😭😭

The music, the scenery ...

Also, both thinking they have a clean conscious!!! 😭😭😭

Again, it's them holding the same morals that's important! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me!

(But wwx still cannot drink like a normal person :D)

The contrast to lxc sitting alone couldn't be starker 😔

Wait, why are there puppets at burial mounds again?

Are we going back to burial mounds? I'm weirdly excited 😅

Aaand Jin Guangyao just proved to them that he's lying. Poor Xichen

Yup, I'm pretty sure his heart just snapped in half

Little Apple!!! I've missed him 😁

Gosh, they're laying it on thick with the domestic husband bliss this episode and I'm here for it.

I love lwj's soft smile when he looks at bunnies so much!! 🥰

Bunnies, bunnies everywhere

It's the invasion of the bunnies

Who ever is the show runner *banging pots and pans together* IT'S GAY!! cab you all hear me? These two love each other! It's G - A - Y!!! Gay!!!

Probably

Lwj's shocked look when wwx says that he's not popular with little animals, as if to say "how dare they!" :D

Holy shit ... HOW MANY SCENES CAN THEY INCLUDE IN THIS EPISODE THAT MAKE THEM LOOK SO GODDAMN MARRIED???

Is wwx sitting side saddle?

Wwx plays wangxian :')

He finally remembers how lwj recognized him :')

Sneaky, show, very sneaky :D

Wwx about to casually steal some melons, lwj *wordlessly takes out money* ^^

MIANMIAN!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!

I'd given up hope that we'd see her again!!!

I'm so happy I could burst!!!

Lwj's little exasperated head-shake before he stands up from crouching behind some hay 😂

Aww, look at her family! 😍😍😍

She build her own live :')

And look at this badass woman protecting the ones she loves!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WEI WUXIAN??? You don't remember her???

You better remember my wife!!!

Aaand another freeze frame. But I'm willing to forgive it because THIS EPISODE WAS SO GODDAMN BRILLIANT!

It made me realise why I was so drawn to lan Wangji as a character. Of course he is mu favourite character! He ticks every single box

Let me explain. My favourite characters almost always share the following characteristics: seems either cold and distant or ethereal and aloof, as if they are above such puny human things like feelings™️(bonus if they're actually not human and their argument is "I'm [insert species]. We can't feel [insert emotion they are definetly feeling very strongly]"). then, over the course of the story, we (along with they themselves because they were in denial) discover that it's not that they feel too little, they feel entirely too much. They're a sea of emotions so deep that the surface is calm, but don't you dare be near them when the storm is coming because all hell will break loose. (extra bonus point if that storm involves them rebelling against the oppressive society they were born into and adhered to until then because they realise their consciousness won't allow it any longer.) afterwards they realise that making themselves vulnerable once in a while is actually a good thing and they proceed to fuck the Rebel™️ who they've secretly been in love with the entire time, a feeling they only now allow themselves to act on

The last part sadly isn't always canon, but who has ever had time for that?

You know what this episode made me realise most of all? The Lan sect are just as human as the rest of them. In fact, they seem to be especially prone to acting rashly on strong emotions. (I don't remember the exact story, but didn't the founder of the Lan sect also have some kind of tragic love story?) It should be obvious, but the impression you get is that they are so detached from their wants, so rigorous and disciplined in their righteousness, that they are almost super-human. But no. Thise 3000 and some rules? They weren't born out of some enlightened mind that had the secret of live figures out, they're a crutch. Abiding by them without question rids one of responsibility to make even the tiniest moral choice for oneself. But that won't work because a) they're bounty to contradict each other at some point and b) that's not how human beings work. They're messy and unpredictable and beautifully complicated. The way Lan Qiren choses to apply them, he completely disregards that. At that point, the rules aren't there anymore to grant a harmonious society, but simply for their own sake. (Or maybe as a wall to hide behind)

@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose

I think this liveblog has been the longest so far. I'm sorry for going on so many tangents, but lwj's backstory hit me really hard. I hope you guys weren't too bored 💚

(I also apologise for the mountains of typos that probably accumulated in this post. I'm too tired to check.)

[lailarain]

Warning: Spoilers for Danganronpa: The End of Hope's Peak High School:Despair Arc

(I'm watching for the first time)

We're back at it again, guys!

Also, yes, I've realized that I porbably should've watched Danganronpa 2.5 first, but I'll do that after Despair Arc

Episode 1:

Oh it's ponytail teacher lady🙂

NEW INTRO YEAH BABY

POTHEAD GUY I MISSED YOUUUU

FUYUHIKO, SONIA, MAHIRU, AND HIYOKO THE NOSTALGIAAAAAA

I'm only a few minutes in and I'm already dying of laughter from the dialogue😭

MIKAN I MISSED YOU

This ponytail teacher lady, istg😂😂😂😂😂

THE TEACHER HAS A BLADE WHY DOES THE TEACHER HAVE A BLADE

Okay where is Nagito he's the only reason I'm watching this🙄

"oH goD jUrAsSiC pArK"

IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS?

NEKOMARUUUU

Isn't that that one pervy chef?

Teruteru, that's pretty gay😀

AKANE HELLOOOOO

Soda the simp has arrived

GUNDHAM YES I MISS YOU SO MUCH😭😭😭😭

IBUKI MY GIRL

PEKO WHY'D YOU HAVE TO DIE I MISSED YOUUUU

NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO NAGITO YES

NAGITO'S LAUGH🥺🥺🥺

I fear this teacher😀

Wait....Mitirai...and the Ultimate Imposter......what the fuck is going on

HAJIME IS THAT YOU, MY BELOVED NON-SHAPE-KNOWING BOI

Awwwww he's hurt by what people say🥺

CHIAKI I MISSED YOU

Hajime, you DO have a talent. You're the Ultimate Nagito Magnet

Man, I'm probably not gonna get to see Hajime on screen a lot in this anime😔

Hey blonde bitch how ya doin

Okay we've officially seen the gang! Time for episode 2!

Episode 2:

"They're all good eggs" tell that to killing game nagito lol

Why the fuck are those two always fighting😭

"I'll have you know that we are training in real life combat conditions" "Oh in that case, knock yourself out"

This is why you don't take random glowing bottles from pervert chefs, kids.

NAGITOS JUST SITTING THERE SMILING LMAOOOOOOOO

Hajime looks so uncomfortable that a teacher is trying to have a casual conversation with him😂

Oh are they talking about the Kamakura project?

Gundam playing video games makes me so happy and idk why maybe because I love how dramatic he is lol

You ever like someone so much that when they do something as simple as speak you start freaking out at how awesome they are? Yea that's how I feel about Nagito.

ARE THEY PLAYING MARIO KART?!?!?!

why is the school rumbling GUNDHAM WHAT DID YOU DO

Nagito crying over the food lmaooooo

What did Akane sayyyy😀

NO ONE TOLD ME THIS WAS A HENTAI

WHAT THE FAWK IS GOING ON

Props to Fuyuhiko for being a man and stopping Kazuichi

Istg whatever they pay these voice actors clearly isn't enough

MIKAN WHAT DID YOU SAYYYYY NO ONEE TOLD ME YOU WERE A LESBIAN

I don't even know what to say about Nagito😳

CHIAKI JUST FUCKIN PUNCHED HIM

"I regret nothing"

Nagito's so wholesomely making everyone uncomfortable🥺

Chiaki and Hajime's relationship is soooo wholesome🥰

Episode 3:

Hajime has literally solved the murders of his friends 5 times, and he calls himself average🤨

Why are all the other Reserve Course students blue?

Wait isn't that blondie Fuyuhiko's sister?

Hajime being in the middle of these random girls fighting be like 👁👄👁

Okay I'm kinda scared to ship the green hair girl and Mahiru because they might be siblings

Hard to believe that this girl is my baby boi's sister. At least Fuyuhiko has the dignity to not randomly bully a girl for no reason

Okay I hope the FBI doesn't come to my door if these two are siblings but MAHIRU I SAW YOU BLUSH GIRL I SHIP IT

Thank god fuyuhiko understands that his sister is crazy

Hajime and Chiaki gaming together is so cute🥰

I hope Chiaki didn't just accidentally convince Hajime to do the Kamakura Project😀

The blonde just called her lovesick for Mahiru...I think we got non-related lesbians on our hands

Wait.....THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN TWILIGHT SYNDROME MURDER CASE WHAT THE FUCK

Okay I'm kinda starting to feel bad for the blondie

GREEN HAIRED GIRL KILLED HER HOLY FUCK THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY

Wait...if the green-haired girl didn't kill her...then who did?

Woah....why is the green-haired girl acting like that🤨

WAIT GREEN HAIR GIRL IS DEAD WHAT

Is this really how people normally treat Reserve Course Students? The discrimination is so unfair.

HOW DARE THIS BASTARD TOUCH MY PRECIOUS HAJIME😤

Oh so they're on a mission

Omfg Hajime don't you DARE think you're nothing and agree to be a lab rat I swear

FUCK NO HE AGREED

I am so close to crying rn😀

How's Chiaki gonna react to this😔

Episode 4:

Chiaki is sad aww🥺

Okay Nagito looking serious is NEVER a good sign

SHIT NAGITO FROWNED THAT'S NOT GOOD

Komaeda is so polite😌

Nagito.....what is Plan B😀

WHITE-HAIRED GIRL HOW YOU DOIN😁

Oh its other blonde boy and peach-haired bitch

WELL CLEARLY NAGITO'S LUCK AIN'T SHIT

HOLY SHIT NO😭

WAIT NAGITO SET UP FUCKIN BOMBS?!?! Man, I love my chaotic boi🥰

THEY SWITCHED BAGS TOO?!?!?

This is gonna be a huge shit show, isn't it?

POOR WHITE-HAIR GIRL SHE'S COMPLETELY INNOCENT😭😭😭

What the fawk😀

HOW IS HE SO CALM, JUST LIKE "I don't think that was a laxative😕"

NAGITO'S JUST TALKING BOUT HOW UNLUCKY HE IS WHILE ALL THIS SHIT IS GOING DOWN LMAOOO

WAIT SHE JUST SLAPPED HIM

YES TEACHER LADY YOU TELL HIM HOW FUCKIN AWESOME HE IS

Yay Komaeda won't get expelled😊

WAIT NO DON'T TRANSFER HER I LOVE HER NOOOOO

Uh yeah he did it all for yall 'cause he's fuckin nagito komaeda🤨

WAIT SHE'S GONNA COME BACK?!?!?! HOLY SHIT YES

Episode 5:

Poor Mitirai🥺

yeah, see? This is why I relate to Mitirai. ANIMATION IS FUCKIN MAGICAL.

Thank GOD. I thought we were gonna have to watch the teacher lady suffer😅

Okay I know this is pretty off topic, but where the fuck is Hajime

Of course as soon as I ask that question, they start talking about the Kamakura project😅

Expelled? Bullshit.

Wait NO I WANNA SEE MORE NAGITO🥺🥺🥺

WAIT THOSE ARE THE CHARACTERS FROM THE FIRST GAME

Awww they're so happy to see her how wholesome🥺

"You perfect cinnamon roll" MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY

SAIONGI WENT THROUGH A GROWTH SPURT HOLY FUCK

Wait Mitirai and......Mitirai? So he IS the ultimate imposter.

"People flake out and let you down, but carbs are always there" - Mitirai. Truer words have never been spoken😢

IT'S JUNKO FUCKIN ENOSHIMA BABY

Right, the killing game hasn't happened yet, so both Mukuro and Junko are alive and well

So, are the ultimate imposter and mitirai sibings?

Mitirai no don't overwork yourself🥺

Did he just....say "I need you"....pick her up.....and give no other context?😀

Poor Mitirai

WAIT MIKAN NO IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF MOVIE

MAKOTO MY BOY I MISSED YOU

HAJIME IS THAT YOU? YOU LOOK TERRIBLE

Wait...HAJIME NO

HAJIME DON'T YOU DARE

WHAT ABOUT CHIAKI?!?!?!

HAJIME'S EYES ARE RED NOOOOOOO

I'm gonna miss good old Hajime😔

Episode 6:

HAJIME NO TALENTLESS PEOPLE ARE STILL PEOPLE

WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING THIS TO AN INNOCENT HIGH SCHOOLER

It's......Izuru Kamakura😔

Hajime no🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Awww Chiaki misses him

Wait why didn't the teacher just lie and say that Hajime was expelled🤨

I am so close to crying rn😀

Ponytail teacher lady is gonna realize the heartbreaking truth about Hajime, isn't she?😔

Awwww buff guy🥺

That is the weirdest tourture I've ever seen

The sad thing is she doesn't even know that it was Hajime who was made the victim to the project.

Wait why is Kamakura there what's going on

"KAMAKURA KAMAKURA YAS Q U E E N."

CAN MUKURO STOP LETTING JUNKO MAKE FUN OF HER LIKE BITCH YOU ARE AWESOME

Ikuru literally the entire time Junko is talking is basically just: 😑

WAIT HE AGREES WITH JUNKO NO

wait....MITIRAI IS GONNA MEET JUNKO FUCK NO

FUCK NOOOOOO

Okay we're officially halfway through, and I'm super pissed that Nagito is god knows where because he's the ONLY reason I'm watching this

Episode 7:

MITIRAI STOP TALKING TO HER RUN ASAP AHHHHHHHHH

Junko does realize that she basically just triggered every single fan of Danganronpa, right🤨

"aWw lOoK aT hiM trEmBLe hE'S goNnA bUrsT a blOoD veSsEL bEcAuSe I jUsT diSseD hiS wAifUS"

WAIT JUNKO NO DON'T SMILE LIKE THAT

THEY THINK HE'S DEAD LMAOOOOO

NAGITO YES FINALLY

NAGITO WTF PUT SOME CLOTHES ON

Wait so is that the crash site of the what killed his parents🥺

Kazuchi, Teruteru, stop being pervs and shut up please🥰

GUNDHAM YES WE STAN

MITIRAI IS MISSING NO

Istg if they lay a hand on Mikan they bouta lose a hand😀

Poor buff guy🥺

SHIT NO THEY'RE GONNA BRAINWASH HER

Junko's eyes really went ⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️

Wait who tf are these people🤨

Junko what is it with you and killing games😀

Wait she's actually really good at singing😯

Can we get an f in the chat for these poor students

IZURU WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO

THEY'RE SWEEPING IT UNDER THE RUG AGAIN?!?!?!?

So that was his promise😔

It's the cool moving comic thing from the games😯

The Reserve Course students are NOT happy😀

Poor Chiaki still misses him😔

Imagine if she knew HE was the killer

Episode 8:

(So some of my notes were deleted and when I rewrote them they got deleted twice. So I'm just gonna go where I left off.)

NAGITO YES MY BOY I MISSED YOUUUUU

"Who are you" lol

At least CHIAKI is nice to Nagito

YES NAGITO YOU LIFE-SAVER😤

Talk about what🤨

WHY ARE THEY TREATING THESE STUDENTS TO "KNOW THEIR PLACE" ISTG

Okay Nagito what is it with your luck

"Oh we found a secret passage cool😶"

POOR MITIRAI

WAIT NAGITO KNEW?!?!?!?

NAGITO HAS A FUCKIN GUN I REPEAT NAGITO HAS A GUN WHY DOES HE HAVE A GUN

OKAY WHY DOES NAGITO SOUND SO THREATENING ALL OF A SUDDEN

Okay am I crazy or was that interaction between izuru and nagito just now pretty gay?

NAGITO HOLY FUCK NO

OH THANK THE LORD

NAGITO THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A SIMP FOR IZURU

Episode 9:

That....is Hinata😔

WAIT NO DON'T YOU DARE HYPNOTIZE CHIAKI

Teacher lady is gonna be hypnotized, isn't she😖😞

OKAY JUNKO THIS IS TOO FAR

Wait is Mikan pretending?

Poor Guy😢

YEAH LISTEN TO NAGITO

I mean, I don't wanna abandon the teacher but it's already too late

WAIT IS THAT WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE?!?!?

It's so sad to know that they're just running into destruction😔

NO POOR TEACHER LADY

STOP IT RIGHT NOW

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

NOOOOOOOOOOO

You're already too late😞

WAIT WHY ARE THEY BEING SO VIOLENT

Poor Mitirai, man🥺

WAIT NO JUNKO YOU WOULDN'T

Junko STOP LEAVE HIM ALONE

You're in deep shit, Junko

WAIT NO DON'T DIE MITIRAI

Oh thank god😅

Mitirai😭

Poor Nagito too

WAIT MIKAN WHY

NO THE TEACHER IS DEFINITELY HYPNOTIZED NOPE

Episode 10:

Something's wrong....

Chiaki, don't be fooled

Wait is he actually gay tho

Okay Junko please SHUT THE FUCK UP🥰

This isn't gonna go well, is it?

CHIAKI NO

JUNKO DON'T YOU LAY A HAND ON HER

Wait why are they in a trial room

WAIT NAGITO WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN THEM BEFORE

CHIAKI NO

(Won't let me type anymore. Continue post here)

[sssn-neptune-vasilias]

Finally have time to respond to my own post lmao. Gonna put everything under a readmore, but I, too, have a Bingo

"Blake's slap." I totally understand how people saw it as abusive but like, Sun's a big boy who knew he was kinda fucking up at the time. I'm not saying it's always okay to smack your friends but I'd also be lying if I'd said that my friends and I haven't smacked each other while the other was being dumb.

"Taiyang's joke" Yang literally laughed about it. I have NO idea how this became such a huge issue in the FNDM. Was it a mean joke, yeah! But if you count getting roasted by a family member as a strike against that family member then idk how your family survives the holidays.

"Adam's change" I think y'all have heard me talk about this enough. I feel strongly that Adam's characterization was changed midway through season 3. I'm not gonna get into it here. Y'all already have seen my TedTalks about it, I'll spare y'all my soapbox.

"Jaune in a dress." As a cishet dude, really didn't see that as transphobic. I understand some trans people feel differently, but in my head, Jaune isn't trans (as far as we know)- he's not even GNC- so like, yeah, seeing a cisdude who's never worn feminine clothing before in a well fitting dress on prom night is surprising. I say this as a cisdude that sometimes wears skirts and dresses. Maybe as a cisdude I'm missing context on this one, and I admit that I'm not 100% informed on the trans experience but like I said, in my head, Jaune's not trans, so they weren't laughing at him for being trans or GNC. They were laughing because they were surprised homie came to prom in a dress that actually fit him- AND SNEAKERS.

"Qrow's innkeeper story." Qrow is an old drunk man who likes women in short skirts. Ruby and Yang are teenagers, I think they can survive hearing their uncle talk about that without combusting into flames. "Oh my god it's so sexist" he said NOTHING to demean the woman for her skirt length. The story also doesn't have him bothering the woman at all, or even really interacting with her. Just that seeing it OHKO'd him. I think sometimes the FNDM confuses "male sexual attraction towards a female character" for "sexism/chauvinism."

"Racism subplot" Again, like the Adam issue, not gonna get too into this one here, I think I've been one of the most vocal people in the whole FNDM about how bootyass the racism subplot has been handled. Literally just scroll down.

"Fair Game." As someone who was literally livetweeting "Fair Game shippers are gonna POP OFF this episode" I personally didn't really see Fair Game happening at all in the first place. Clover and Qrow were both grown men who I felt would actually be flirting if there were any feelings between them instead of the quiet uwu pining that some people interpreted their interactions as. That said, I did see some of the shippy advertisement RT was doing at the time, and the shippy merch they were selling and was definitely 👀 about the whole thing, so like, I don't agree with it, but I see y'all and feel for y'all if you do.

"Snowbird is bad." The late 20's wealthy elite who's a right hand to one of the leaders of a kingdom has way more power in a potential relationship than the mid 40s drunk teacher. Winter pegs Qrow and she deserves it

"Jaune harassing Weiss." I really do NOT understand how anyone could defend Jaune for all the bullshit he was putting Weiss through v1-2. Like, I'm a cishet dude and even I was like "she don't want you bro." It got so cringey during v2 and then they kept the joke GOING during Chibi. Shit was embarrassing and I 100% empathize with people who felt triggered by what he was doing.

"Sun is a stalker" I probably SHOULD'VE highlighted this because I do kinda believe it, but like, it wouldn't get me another bingo so it doesn't matter anyway. Sun absolutely stalked Blake for like, 6 months? But Sun also thought Blake was going to get herself killed trying to take on TWF by herself. She'd RUN without saying ANYTHING after the Fall. He was genuinely worried for her and wanted to make sure she wasn't going to do anything to get herself hurt. Is Sun a stalker? Yeah. But he's also a great friend for doing that.

"Salem was right" Absolutely. I'm always a "fuck the gods" person and if I were her I'd have absolutely done what she'd done. "Ooooh but the delicate balance" ARE Y'ALL GODS ARE NOT?? IF Y'ALL CAN'T FIND A WAY TO BRING BACK ONE PERSON FOR ANOTHER 50+ YEARS WITHOUT "DISRUPTING THE BALANCE" THEN ARE Y'ALL REALLY GODS?

"Rhodes deserved it" Absolutely. Dude could've whisked Cinder away at any point in time. Dude could've called the cops on the place to have THEM rescue Cinder. Dude had options and instead chose to just "wait until you're seventeen." You really think this little girl who's STARVING nearly every day is gonna hold out for 7 years? Also why did he choose her breakdown to suddenly become a Huntsman? Dude could've said "FUCK, why did you DO that? Take this robe, we need to leave NOW" and just... left. Instead he decides "damn, my sense of honor and duty has activated. Can't let this little girl get away with killing her abusers!" Dumb dude got skewered. Get fucked

"Jaune's screentime" Dude takes the spotlight way too much during the show. He has more lines and screentime than the main 4 characters for some of the early seasons. Dude got an entire 4 episode arc dedicated to him season 1. Like bro, wasn't this show about RWBY?

"Pick a side" I get called lesbophobic all the time for shipping Sunny-B. Blake has two hands and deserves her ripped blonde lovers. Sun and Yang would be great gym bros and then come home to rail Blake over the kitchen table. I don't see why we need to fight about this.

"Waiting too long for rep." Monty said during an interview during SEASON TWO that we'd get rep. We didn't get ACTUAL LGBT rep until season 5 with Saphron and Terra. The bees still aren't official. Like, bro, it's REALLY not that hard to just have two dudes kiss on screen (not that that's the only way to show rep).

"Ren's a bait&switch." As Tumblr's #1 Renora shipper I think y'all already knew where I stood on this one. I've seen it a few times, thought it was ridiculous each time. My dude has ALWAYS been down egregious for Nora Valkyrie. He's just shy

"Amber's death." Bro 1) maybe Ozpin should've brought some more help down to the basement? What the fuck did he expect Jaune Arc to do? Also 2) if Jaune had been paying attention he'd likely have died in a SECOND and Amber still would've gotten that arrow through the chest. Him paying attention would've added nothing.

"Rosegarden is bad." I don't even like Rosegarden but this discourse is wild. Ozpin's NOT EVEN INVOLVED.

"Freezerburn tweet" If the creators aren't allowed to have a little fun with their own content then LITERALLY WHAT IS THE POINT?

"Ironwood's s8 characterization." I understand that Ironwood was always gonna be the bad guy, but the dude actually had a good plan to tell the world about Salem, protect the world from the Grimm that that announcement would bring, and then actually DO something about Salem. Ozpin didn't. Glynda didn't. No one else had ANY plan whatsoever. Why is HE suddenly the bad guy shooting ships of innocent people out the sky- people that he'd desperately wanted to save so much he flayed the flesh from his arm just a couple hours ago? Making Ironwood the tertiary bad guy was such a WEIRD fucking choice when like, Salem and Cinder were literally right fucking there!

"RWBY/JNPR destroyed Atlas" yeeeeeah that was kinda all their fault. Or at least MOSTLY their fault. They got a kingdom nuked because they were being hardheaded.

"Weiss threatening Whitley" Whitley opened the door during an apocalypse and saw his sister, someone who was so wounded she was being carried, and a couple other battle-tired folks at his door of his giant megamansion and decided to be a snippy little bitch before offering ANY kind of assistance. Weiss- as the older sister- absolutely earned the right to point a weapon at him and send him to his room. It's not like THE FIRST THING SHE DID was point a sword at him. She GAVE HIM A CHANCE to offer help. Instead his first words are "You picked a fine time to-" Like, NOTHING good or constructive was coming at the end of that sentence. Shut the fuck up, go to your room, and let the big kids try to save the world. I'm a big believer in not hitting or threatening your children, but siblings- especially siblings close in age like Whitley and Weiss- are absolutely fair game.

"Blake running away was cowardly" Yeah. She could've at least left a note explaining to watch out for Adam. She could've done SOMETHING. Instead she just runs and hopes Adam would follow her instead of doing the exact thing he said he was gonna do and hunt down the rest of RW_Y.

"Qrow is Ruby's father" I thought this for a bit. I still kinda think this but it's not like it'd get me another bingo. But the discourse surrounding this was RIDICULOUS

"Bumbleby is abusive." Don't think it's abusive, but I do think that RT put some really weird parallels of Raven into Blake- specifically the swiftness with which she abandoned Yang- and then didn't really have Yang work through those issues on screen. Like, a big piece of Yang's backstory is that she was abandoned by EVERYONE who was supposed to be there for her. Raven left. Qrow's always kept his distance because of his Semblance. Summer went MIA. Taiyang mentally and emotionally checked out after Summer's disappearance. Blake left. RUBY LEFT WHILE SHE WAS COPING WITH HAVING LOST AN ARM. Like, Yang being abandoned is such an incredibly sad and recurring part of her character. And when she reunites with Blake... none of it is addressed. It's just "we're protecting each other" and then Blake sobbing that she'll never leave Yang over Adam's dead body. There was never any conversation of "Hey, Blake. You left. You didn't just leave me, you left the team. You left and we're supposed to be partners. You left and as much as I want to forgive you, you hurt me in such a personal and terrible way that I don't think I can. But I still do want to be your friend. I still want to grow with you. But I really need time to get over how badly you hurt me." Why did Nora get a chance to say "I don't know who I am without you, Ren, so I can't get with you right now because I need to explore myself first" but Yang didn't? Again, not abusive, but they really dropped the ball on any meaningful growth between the two characters by avoiding a conversation that could've been one of the most compelling and impactful conversations in RT history had it been written correctly.

RWBY RWDE/Discourse Bingo

What's up, I know I've been basically dead for months besides RTX but I'm back to cause general chaos in the FNDM again. My first act? RWDE Bingo.

I had the idea for this last night after looking through Reddit (I know) and seeing that a lot of the FNDM still for some reason think that RWDE is a hivemind intelligence that all think the same exact things and agree with each other on everything. So I made this bingo board for everyone to have fun with! These are some of the RWDE topics and discourse I can remember from my long, long, tenure in the FNDM, and I have more, but this is round 1. If you think of any discourse or RWDE topics outside of this one, shoot me an ask or post it in the tags so I can do some more!

See which ones you agree with and talk about it if you want! Show your friends. Show your followers. Get out there and be the RWDEst bastards you can be! If- somehow- everyone in RWDE all pick the exact some discourse and don't pick the exact same ones, then I'll take back everything I ever said about RWDE not being a hivemind and give my capacity for free thinking up to the collective.

Gonna explain what each topic is under the read more considering a lot of these are old as dirt and some are a little confusing and probably could've been worded better had I not had limited space on the board. Some of them I don't agree with, but I'm still gonna do my best to explain them as unbiasedly as I can because I'm not a poopoo baby.

"Blake's slap was abusive." This one was about her slapping Sun during v4. People really didn't like that, especially considering that one of the scenes from the same episode was Jacques using physical violence against Weiss in an abusive manner. There are other conversation topics of Blake being abusive as well, but let's keep this one about the slap specifically, alright?

"Taiyang's arm joke." Remember that? Yeah a LOT of people thought Taiyang was horrible, no good, very bad father because he'd basically just made fun of Yang's brand new disability and trauma.

"Adam's change in characterization." Some people believe that Adam's characterization changed somewhere during season 3. That he went from being a ruthless freedom fighter to a genocidal maniac and jilted incel mad that his girlfriend left him.

"Qrow's Innkeeper story." People thought that story about the Innkeeper's skirt was super sexist and inappropriate for an uncle to tell his nieces.

"Jaune in a dress was a transphobic joke." This one's kinda self-explanatory. People thought that everyone laughing at Jaune wearing a dress was transphobic.

"Racism subplot is poorly handled." Again, kinda self-explanatory. Anything from Adam using his faction of TWF to join Cinder and Salem to Ghira being a bad leader to the story suddenly becoming about classism instead of racism to Robyn not being a fox Faunus, etc.

"Fair Game was queerbaiting/fridging gays." Some people thought Fair Game was the beginning of a budding romance and were sent back into The 100 CW hell when Clover got a sword through his torso.

"Snowbird is bad because Qrow is old." If you weren't around for season 3 you missed all the Snowbird shippers going feral about two attractive and of age characters finally sharing some screentime. You also missed some people being really weirded out by said Snowbird shippers because Qrow's in his mid to late 40's and Winter's in her late 20's.

"Jaune harassing Weiss s1&2." Did you think that Jaune flirting with Weiss back then was triggering? There was a ton of discourse about it and how Miles was basically using his character insert to harass one of the main characters and twist the framing of his harassment in a positive light.

"Sun is a stalker." Remember when Blake saw that robed dude following her and it was Sun? Who'd been following her for a few months? Yeah people were super squicked out about that and called him a stalker.

"Salem was right..." Basically the Gods were garbage entities anyway and deserved to get shit on. Salem was right to try, even if it got humanity 1.0 nuked.

"Rhodes deserved it." Y'all are probably like "who the hell is Rhodes?" That guy that trained Cinder! Yeah, remember that flashback scene? People think that Rhodes deserved to get skewered because he didn't actually do anything to try to save Cinder. He knew she was a slave working at the hotel and did nothing to save her and instead just told her to wait until she was 17 to join a Huntsman Academy.

"Jaune's screentime." Kinda self-explanatory. People thought Jaune took up too much screentime in the early volumes, to the point he rivaled most of team RWBY and had more lines than some of them combined. His plots also derailed the show because the bullying arc and the prom arc really had nothing to do with Salem or Ozpin or the relics or maidens, and that time could've been better spent doing more worldbuilding.

"Being forced to pick a side..." This one's almost entirely exclusive to the Tumblrsphere, but is this something you've felt pressured to do by any part of the FNDM? Have you been told you were biphobic for shipping Bumbleby/lesbophobic for shipping Black Sun? If not, count yourself lucky because you've avoided a LOT of bullshit.

"Waiting too long for LGBT rep." Do you feel that RT kept us waiting way too long for any meaningful representation? Especially considering what was promised to the FNDM early on in interviews with the CRWBY?

"Ren was an aroace bait&switch." People felt that Ren was aroace during the early volumes- especially after that "Please do nothing to the cook" apron scene- and were very frustrated when Ren did start showing romantic feelings for Nora.

"Amber's death was June's fault." Remember when Ozpin told Jaune to guard the door? And then he got distracted because his girlfriend got put in a box next to a comatose woman in another box? And then that comatose woman got an arrow through the chest because his back was turned? Do you think that was his fault?

"Rosegarden is bad because of Ozpin." Some people feel that Rosegarden is squicky because Ozpin's consciousness is in there and he's like seventy-million years old and Ruby's barely 17.

"Eddy's Freezerburn Tweet..." This one was over on Twitter. Eddy QRT'd a Tweet about "couples that would absolutely get a divorce" with "Freezerburn" and people were very angry about that and thought he was super unprofessional. Here's the link.

"Ironwood's s8 characterization..." Did you think that Ironwood's descent into a mustache twirling villain came out of nowhere? Did you think that it made no real sense to villainize Ironwood in the first place when Salem and Monstra and an army of Grimm were already outside Mantle and Cinder and her team were already inside Atlas? Did you think that that tidbit about his Semblance Mettle potentially clouding his judgement just to never be shown it was really badly handled? This one's kinda broad on purpose.

"RWBY/JNPR's stubbornness..." Some people think that Atlas being destroyed could've been prevented had our main characters just went along with Ironwood's plan.

"Weiss pointing Myrtenaster at Whitley." Did you think that Weiss doing that was totally out of line? That a soldier pointing a weapon at a civilian is totally unjustified? That siblings shouldn't ever threaten one another with violence at all?

"Blake running away was cowardly." Blake got a sword through her stomach, then was told by Adam that he'd destroy everything she ever loved. Then he dismembered Yang. Then, instead of even warning RW_Y about the threat, she just... left? Ran away? Even if you think her fear was justified, do you think it was cowardly to run without so much as a goodbye?

"Qrow is Ruby's father." Maybe you've seen this HC before, maybe you haven't. But people think that Qrow might be Ruby's real father. If you missed the discourse that his HC first brought about during v3 then I truly envy you, but if you remember the essay length dissertations people were writing about how mean and wrong and abusive that HC is, then suffer together with me.

"Bumbleby is abusive." You know all those weird parallels they keep emphasizing between Blake and Raven (how quick they are to abandon their friends, etc.), and Yang and Adam (how quick they are to lash out in anger, etc.)? You know how they're like, consistently highlighted in the show but not really addressed? But the ship is still portrayed as a positive one? Do you think Bumbleby's actually abusive?

[oumakokichi]

I've seen your ranking, and I wonder why you like Juzo so much ? I can't help but think his redemption doesn't outweight his previous actions. He helped stopping the killing game but that was him fixing something he did and saving someone he cared about, which isn't selflessness. He assaulted people for reasons that were petty or unjustified, so it felt really forced when he saved Naegi. Also, he let Junko end the world because he didn't want Munakata to know he was gay ? Please enlighten me.

Personally, I like Juzo becausehe’s not supposed to be a selfless or a sweet or softhearted character. If Juzohad stopped the killing game for any of those kinds of reasons, or if dr3 hadsuddenly tried to play Juzo off as a character who was entirely selfless foreveryone’s sake, I’d have been incredibly disappointed. But as it is, Juzo’scharacter development was one of the few things dr3 managed to do right.

Juzo scores #3 on my personalcharacter ranking because he’s an incredibly well-written and flawed characterwho is given his own autonomy and has a compelling arc of development. He’s alsopretty much the embodiment of the Undying Loyalty trope, something I like in mycharacters—and even better is that dr3 managed to emphasize that that’s hisstrength and his weakness at the same time.

In a lot of ways, Juzo remindsme of a better-done Maki. Like Maki, Juzo is a bit of a throwback to some other“killing machine” characters, like Mukuro and Peko. While SHSL Boxer is a farcry away from SHSL Soldier, Swordswoman, or Assassin, it’s still a fact thatJuzo is thought of first and foremost as hired muscle, by Munakata, Tengan,Kizakura, and pretty much everyone else in the Future Foundation. He’s meant toact as an enforcer, act first and ask questions later—and he’s perfectly finewith that.

Juzo is no strategist or ideasman by any means, but he’s aware of that. His forte is punching problems untilthey go away, so that’s what he does, the same way that Maki’s first instinctis to eliminate a target so they’re out of her life completely.

But Maki’s characterdevelopment is ultimately hampered by having to center around Momota’scharacter, and all the frustratingly misogynistic “life lessons” he gives herabout how “women should take care of children, not use weapons,” “women shouldlook cute, not work as a hired assassin” etc. Juzo, on the other hand, doesn’thave that problem, because the sad fact of the matter is that male characterswho are cold and aloof and think of themselves as weapons will receive bettertreatment from the writers than female characters with the same flaws.

Just as Maki prioritizes Momotaover everything and everyone else in the group, Juzo does exactly the samething with Munakata. But again, unlike Maki, whose coldness and recklessnessalmost never gets called out by the narrative (not even when she tried to killeveryone else in Chapter 5, for which she received a slap on the wrist atmost), dr3 pretty much spends all its time calling Juzo out. And that’s exactlywhat I like. There’s hardly a character in Future Arc who didn’t allude to Juzo’sfeelings for Munakata or lampshade the fact that Juzo would throw everyone elseunder the bus in two seconds if Munakata asked him to. Characters like Kizakurawere smart enough to realize that Juzo will get angrier on behalf of Munakatathan he will on behalf of himself, even. And this is a good way to highlightthe fact that loyalty isn’t always a good character trait necessarily.

Juzo absolutely didn’tsacrifice himself for everyone else’s sake—he only did it for Munakata’s. IfMunakata hadn’t been involved in the killing game, I have no doubt that Juzowouldn’t have given two shits about pretty much anyone else involved, exceptmaybe Chisa or Seiko, who were in their same faction. But he wouldn’t have goneto the lengths he did to stop the game just for their sake. What really madehis sacrifice powerful and memorable is the fact that he was willing to stopthe game, willing to cut off an arm, all for the person he cared most about inthe entire world.

Juzo’s loyalty is tragicbecause it’s his primary character trait, both his strongest advantage and hisgreatest weakness. It’s tragic because he was loyal to someone who ultimatelynever felt the same way about him, who doubted him and suspected him and neveronce really had those same feelings towards him. His sacrifice to end thekilling game isn’t supposed to be taken as some selfless gesture for the group—it’sa gesture meant for Munakata only, and Munakata still arrives too late, unableto really understand or appreciate the lengths Juzo went for him.

I would hesitate to say Juzowas seeking redemption with his actions. Atonement, perhaps, but redemptionimplies receiving recognition and forgiveness from everyone he ever wronged.And there’s none of that with Juzo. Juzo’s hot temper, his excessive violence,and his pettiness are never excused by the narrative or played off as somecutesy character trait. If anything, the reason he saved Naegi is because he’sstill as angry and petty as ever.

He didn’t save Naegi for anygrand, overarching ideal. He didn’t do it because he wound up agreeing withNaegi’s idea of “hope,” or anything like that. No, in the end, Juzo saved Naegionly because he was angry at him—for having defeated Junko where Juzo keptquiet about her, for reminding him constantly of the ways in which he fuckedup, of his own role in the way the world is now.

By dr3, Naegi was essentiallyrevealed as some grand savior who stopped the Big Bad Enoshima Junko and herdespair with his platitudes about hope. For him to just give up and die supereasily from the same despair-brainwashing video that killed everyone else wasthe biggest anticlimax—it was anticlimactic and pathetic enough that it pissedJuzo off, and that’s why he savedNaegi.

This is also perhaps a bitoff-topic to the subject, but I’ve always been curious as to why people actedlike Juzo was more irredeemable for being violent and reckless and punchingpeople early on in dr3 than many characters who have actually committed murderor other atrocities. DR is a series about murder and death and killing—and yetJuzo was immediately deemed a more unforgivable, awful monster than characterswho have killed without any remorse whatsoever. I suspect it has something todo with the fact that many people were mostly angry about who Juzo was punching or kicking, rather than the fact that he wasviolent and reckless in general.

After all, without knowingalmost anything about Mitarai or his character, people were very up in arms about Juzo kicking himin episode 2 of Future Arc, because he seemed cute, innocent, and everyone waspegging him for an “innocent cinnamon roll.” People then said that this wasbecause Juzo got killed Bandai killed by violating his NG code—but it’s not asif Juzo did it intentionally knowing that Bandai couldn’t witness any violence.He was just as surprised as everyone else when Bandai died. But I stilldistinctly remember people bending over backwards to say that this automaticallymeant Juzo was the worst character in the franchise, despite the fact thatthere are many DR characters who have intentionally done much worse.

As for the final part of yourask, about Juzo “letting Junko end the world”… Haha, I guess this is somethingyou could probably only understand if you can relate with Juzo on a personallevel. If you honestly blame him more for Junko’s actions than Junko herself, Idon’t really know what to tell you. What Junko did to him was blackmail. It wasinsidious, horrible, and the absolute worst-case scenario for Juzo. It was “despair.”If you can’t understand the fear of being outed, especially to the person you careabout the most, then you’re probably very lucky, anon.

As someone who is gay andsomeone who has been outed to abusive family, I can say that it goes beyondjust normal fear. Gay people aren’t afraid of being outed to their friends andcrushes and family because “oh no, someone will know that I’m gay.” We’reafraid of being outed because there is always a chance that people we loved andtrusted will immediately turn on us when they know, will look at us and call us“monsters,” “evil,” “sinful”—all of which I actually did have thrown at me whenmy family found out.

Juzo wasn’t afraid of much, buthe was afraid of Munakata finding outand recoiling from him, disowning him as a friend, wanting nothing to do withhim anymore. Not knowing how Munakata felt was preferable because it meant henever had to face the “what-if” possibility of Munakata finding out andtreating him like he was “disgusting” for it. If that had happened, that wouldtruly have been “despair” for him.

He was blackmailed andpressured and manipulated into keeping quiet about Junko the same way thatJunko either manipulated or intimidated or brainwashed everyone into keepingquiet and doing what she said. It makes absolutely no sense, in my opinion, tohold Juzo more accountable for “letting Junko end the world” when Junko is theone who did it. And to be entirely honest, if Junko hadn’t been having so muchfun holding that threat over Juzo’s head and seeing his reactions, she would’vejust killed him. The only reason she let him live was to make him sufferfurther—but if he had seemed like he would’ve told Munakata regardless (andJunko could’ve predicted if he would’ve, I have no doubt), then she wouldn’thave let him leave those school grounds alive.

This has gotten pretty long,but I hope I’ve been able to summarize my thoughts pretty well. Juzo is mythird-favorite character in the franchise for many reasons. He’s well-written,his flaws and mistakes are never downplayed by the narrative or turned into anendearing character trait, and I can relate with him on a very personal level.I was overjoyed when he was confirmed gay, even moreso when it wasn’t played asa joke or retconned in future episodes. Dr3 didn’t contribute much to thefranchise overall, but Juzo was at least one really incredible character tocome out of it. Thanks for asking, anon!