#I am however in my 40s so I will be bitter and jaded if I want to

[three--rings]

You know what the OFMD fandom experience reminds me of?

My Hannibal fandom experience.

A show I really, deeply love, but reading other fans meta takes on it made me want to fucking throw things.

Hannibal fandom was the reason I joined tumblr in 2013, and I left six months later in a fit of rage when tumblr decided the show was homophobic for having a queer woman (not lesbian, unspecifically queer) sleep with a man once in order to get pregnant. Also when they pretended to kill a female character and people were ranting about the show's misogyny and I was like you idiots she's gonna be alive next week and then she was, cause that happens like 20 times in that show.

I spent the rest of the show's run on twitter, following only cast and crew accounts and like 2 RL friends and only using twitter to liveblog the show.

The way it shook out was all the inane discourse topics of Hannibal fandom were forgotten after the show was finished mostly because people didn't need to make up things to be angry about for a week between episodes and could just focus on fic and stuff. And the angry people moved on to some other show, probably.

And that's what ofmd fandom feels like for me. Do you know how tired I am reading about who is really to blame for Izzy's toe being cut off: him or the man who did it? How tired I am of arguments about morality that totally ignore that the characters under discussion are pirates who have killed like, a lot of people? The arguments with clear ax grinding agendas?

I'm dreading the discussions that are coming and to some extent already happening. I feel like we need a trigger warning for arguing about who is Evil Actually In This Situation. #toegate?

But I'm far too invested in tumblr to ragequit again. And fuck twitter. It's not better there, even if I don't follow anyone.

But yeah, morally complicated shows have shitty meta discussion. And that's too bad because that's what I ENJOY. I desperately wanted people to analyze Hannibal with because god there was so much to talk about, but then people would just pull out some shit like "that queer female character is homophobic because she's too pretty." Yes this is a take I read.

Hannibal is also the fandom where I learned about the curse of S2 in fandom, where fandom declares a new show PERFECTION based on S1 and then S2 comes along and doesn't live up the the perfection they've built up in their mind and then they get mad and tear it apart for everything they can possibly twist into a flaw.

If anything I have a little hope that that won't exactly happen with ofmd because of how toxic the fandom has already been in variously attacking most main characters for their Low Moral Fiber or whatever. Just gotta hope no one's unproblematic faves get complicated, though, or the hell to pay will be epic.

#ofmd #ofmd fandom #hannibal #ofmd s2 #for slight hints #this is the second and much less fighty rant I've written on the topic today #though it's possibly more BITTER #I am however in my 40s so I will be bitter and jaded if I want to #one thing I won't let fandom do #is ruin my enjoyment of a show #made that mistake too often in my 20s

[project1939]

Day 36- Film: Clash by Night 

Release date: June 16th, 1952. 

Studio: RKO 

Genre: Drama/noir 

Director: Fritz Lang 

Producer: Jerry Wald, Norman Krasna, Harriet Parsons 

Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe 

Plot Summary: Mae Doyle returns home after 10 years when an illicit romance breaks up. No young woman anymore, she is now bitter and reclusive. When she and childhood friend Jerry begin dating, Mae tries to break it off, saying she would never be a good wife to him. Eventually she gives in and marries him, hoping that she can feel secure and learn to love him. It doesn’t take long for her to tire of his simple pragmatic ways, however. Jerry’s best friend Earl, meanwhile, falls desperately in love/lust with her. Will the temptation be too great to resist? 

My Rating (out of five stars): ***½ 

Damn, until about the last 10 minutes, I was going to give this 4 stars- even though I hated almost all of the characters! The ending nearly completely ruined it, though. Until then it was an unusually cynical and bleak movie for Hollywood in the early 1950s. It seemed obvious that it was an adaptation of a play, which it was, and it seemed obvious that the original ending was changed, which it was. I really struggle to even understand why this was adapted for the screen if a “happy” ending had to be tagged on to it. It completely compromises the entire thing. 

The Good: 

Barbara Stanwyck was impressive. She is definitely of the old school acting style, before the more naturalistic style we’re used to today became prevalent. Even so, I thought her performance was very effective. And my god, she played bitter and jaded well here! She gave me chills sometimes. 

Paul Douglas was also wonderful. A Letter to Three Wives is one of my favorite films, and I fell in love with him in that. He plays earnest everyman characters so well, and he’s always so likeable. His character in this is a bit weak and gullible, but also a genuinely good person. 

The main love triangle in this is between people who are all in their 40s! That is exceedingly rare for a Hollywood film even today. I loved the way that added a different layer of maturity and complexity. 

A lot of dialogue was really good, again, so no surprise that it came from a play. I usually try to jot down interesting quotes while I watch a movie, and there were so many, I kept having to pause this to get things written down. 

The cynicism and darkness were pervasive and engulfing. There was a kind of claustrophobia in all three of the main characters' lives, and it really made you feel trapped in a kind of hell with them. 

I hated so many of the characters, but they were real and made the despair of the story intense. Earl repulsed me on a physical level- I could barely stand to watch him. Mae was not a good person either. Jerry had a mooching uncle that I could barely stand. Even Jerry himself, generally being a good guy, was a bit annoying in how much he tolerated being around these terrible people. 

The Bad: 

The ending! The ending! I don’t know if I could ever tire of ranting about how stupid the ending was. Spoiler ahead: When Mae suddenly decided out of nowhere that she should go back to Jerry, it was ridiculous and totally out of character. When Jerry takes her back, I even said out loud, “Well, this will probably last a week!” Nothing about the film made sense with this kind of ending. 

Hating so many characters was a plus and a minus. The minus was that it made the movie hard to sit though at times. I could care less what happened to Earl or Uncle Vince or even Mae. 

If I didn’t hate Earl enough, he had a whole repeating segment about doing his “Chinese impression,” where he pulled at his eyes and made strange noises that sounded nothing like Chinese. I am SO SICK of these scenes in movies, radio, and tv shows! I hope they get less frequent as the project goes on, because I’m barely more than 1/3 finished. 

#project1952 #1952 #project1952 day 36 #100 films of 1952 #barbara stanwyck

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Ep16: Rex and Weevil Do Not Understand “Rock Bottom”

Hey guys.

Hey.

So... kind of crazy out there, right?

Well, you know what they say. When life gives you lemons, you watch Netflix.

Anyway, Yugioh is racing down this canyon that should be going up alongside the 101 and through the middle of many cities. Don’t worry about it.

And then I found out the name of a card I haven’t seen yet and wow it’s a name.

I’m really glad that Rex Raptor, dinosaur enthusiast, has just no idea how to name dinosaurs and does so like a 6 year old child. Hornsaurus.

(read more under the cut)

So this episode is mostly about Rex and Weevil’s tragic backstory, and thankfully, it’s really not that tragic. We’ve had SO MANY bizarre and weird backstories under our belt, that to have a completely normal one is just...wild to me. They’re so freakin normal.

And on the way, our train just...

OK Train...anyway, I’ll do my best to show which scenes are flash back and which are not, but like bear with me because it flashes back like every other scene it feels like.

So Rex waxes long about that very short time in which he and Weevil were the best ever duelists in Japan (other than Kaiba, I guess, who they failed to mention in this flashback.)

(I used to have a very soft performance fleece sweater the exact same shade as Weevil’s jacket there, popped collar and everything, with piping outline. Don’t judge me, it was the 00′s, I’m just shocked that Weevil also shopped at Old Navy.)

(However I have no idea what’s going on with Rex’s three layers of clashing outfit styles that he has going on. A turtleneck under a thick button up jacket under an open fringe jacket is so much of a 90′s vibe.)

Up until now, bro has been PRETTY SURE every episode that Rex and Weevil are originally from America. I don’t know how I feel about being so right on the money about this one when the episode outright said that they’re from Japan. I don’t really want to out-Yugioh my brother, because at some point, I’ll accidentally let slip that in writing this blog I have accidentally gained all Yugioh knowledge, just like Noah did that one time when he was stuffed into that brain orb.

Just please don’t don’t ask me how this game works, I still have absolutely no idea.

Weevil and Rex had adoring fans in two-shaded polos exactly just like the type I used to wear in high school. But, their fans all left them the moment Weevil lost one single game against Yugi Muto.

Harsh. But granted, I feel like the people of Domino have rabbit memories and if you aren’t actively in the news every day because your blimp got abducted by sea pirates, then who the hell is EVER going to know who you are?

But youknow, Rex and Weevil are pretty sure that dodging getting murdered by Pegasus was actually their last shot at fame. It’s over forever. They’re done. Done until they beat either Joey or Yugi which...very specific, but, it would make you somewhat famous if you did that by simultaneously destroying the Caltrain.

And Weevil is like gunning for the King of Games title but...apparently no one in this episode wanted to mention to Weevil that the “King of Games” moniker actually went to Raphael?

That he needs to beat Raphael...not Yugi Muto?

Nobody?

Nobody feels like mentioning that neither Yami nor Yugi could possibly still be King of Games and that Weevil has no really good reason to be here? I mean it would save Weevil a lot of time. It would also save me a lot of time. We could just walk off this train and go back to what we were all doing before this happened, but nah, lets keep the lie going, because apparently Yami can’t bear to tell the truth, just like his host.

Waiiiit, isn’t Rebecca the King of Games because she beat Yugi in S1?

It’s the freakin Malfroy/Elder wand, it’ll be important in Ch 40 I’m sure of it. I’m sure they’re not going to just...forget...all of the people that beat Yugi before.

Man. Maybe that’s why Yugi is so hell bent on keeping tabs on Rebecca? Just to youknow...make sure she doesn’t tell anyone that she hella beat him that one time because otherwise Kaiba would have lost his freakin mind (again) that Yugi lost that title basically the same afternoon he came back from Pegasus’ island.

Also Rex and Weevil once charged for headshots and this makes them vile, terrible people for some reason.

Apparently this is a bad practice? I mean if you’re famous enough please charge for head shots, you need to make money between playing cards. Take it from this jaded artist, always sell out so you can save money for when you will absolutely get carpal tunnel.

Whatever. Back to Rex who is certain that he is not famous anymore because he lost to Joey.

S4 and still everyone is certain that Joey is bad at cards. Joey will just never be free from this.

It was beautiful anime food for like ten seconds until he did this. How dare. Literally though, how did he do that? Was that burger made out of potato chips?

Can we talk about what a freakin crime it is I can’t watch my Nick at Night retro shows on Netflix or Hulu? Like hell I’m going to get a third streaming service so I can watch and admire how bad “I Love Lucy” aged. I want to see how incredibly off-putting Fonzie is as an adult. But nah. Not even allowed. You can only watch Cheers.

Cheers. What am I? 65? Cheers wasn’t on Nick at Night. My Mom watched Cheers. Gross.

This show trying to convince me so hard that Rex and Weevils lowest point wasn’t when they were 5 seconds away from being set on fire and having their soul removed by Maxamillion Pegasus.

Like for reals, the lowest point for ANYONE (except for the Ishtars) on this show was when they were trapped on that island, without any camping supplies, surrounded by human skulls, Bakura pre-exorcism, and so many other duelists who were probably going to eat them had the tournament gone 24 more hours than it had.

The island that also had a basement that was entirely full of cultists who absolutely murdered a guy right in front of us.

Like when they finally got out of the island’s huge ass forest, their dinner included a soup filled with Pegasus’ eyes.

I would have gotten pissed on by like 70 stray dogs to get off that island, y’all.

So one of the best things about this blog is I don’t have to worry about the restraint of a.) looking professional b.) the fear of sharing my actual real deal opinion. Everywhere else I post, I can’t share anything. I’ve come to terms with this, and so I hide my hot takes deep, deep within this Yugioh blog and the only people who suspect my art rage are like...y’all in the corner of Tumblr who do not care about what I’m talking about.

++++++++++++THIS IS MY HUGE RANT ABOUT ART POLITICS AND ART BITTERNESS FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS. WE’RE QUARANTINING SO MUCH OVER HERE DUE TO THE VIRUS THAT I AM GOING A LITTLE BIT HOUSE CRAZY+++++++++++++++

But like MAN I need to mention something. Both Joey and Rex are completely off base. Both of them.

Like I’ll be real, because of the sudden extra time I have on my hands, I was originally ranting quite a bit about art culture and stuff and I will admit it was projecting somewhat onto a TV show that was written before the recession and the gig economy basically came and laid a huge dump across the creative industry.

However, I really, really, really don’t like it when people naively say “I’m successful because I did the research, I did the work, and then I got a following despite doing no marketing at all,” LIKE HELL YOU DID, DUDE. And there’s certain places I go where this is the mantra of a hell ton of ppl who don’t believe in luck, and I have to just suck it in because they succeeded at a young age. Because inversely, if anyone doesn’t succeed right away--clearly they don’t work hard enough, right?

I won’t dig into real world stuff because that’s...the real world and the real world is a bummer, but even in the universe of Yugioh there’s this crazy disparity in duelers that the people on the top refuse to acknowledge and the people on the bottom have absolutely no way to cope with so they become insanely bitter about it.

Mai has mentioned that despite all of her hard work and success--because she isn’t the top 4 duelists of Kaiba’s tourney--no one knows who she freakin is. The card industry is so toxic, that even KAIBA dropped out.

And even without Kaiba to compete against anymore, Mai still wasn’t able to get in there to fill that void. The void that also has Marik and Odion in it, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure Marik will never touch a card ever again and might be back to living underground or on a boat in the middle of no-where. And we don’t even need to mention Bakura, right? Bakura who should have also been here to fill the void of fame, but his face probably only comes out fuzzy on camera like people haunted by that girl from the Ring. So we’ll just ignore Bakura, that makes sense, I can accept that canon.

But really...it’s just Joey and Yugi at the top of the crop when there should have been room for at least 4.

So, it’s interesting that the Oricalchos in this situation is the “get me popular quick” drug that will somehow give Rex and Weevil what they need for automatic success because I see people desperately looking for this SO MUCH online. I have seen so many post “This is how I got 100000 followers in 100 days,” and it’s always the same story that isn’t so much about hard work, but more how to game a broken system until all other competitors are invisible. And then there’s the hidden factor about...luck...that really offends people although we all know that it exists.

But just remember I’m not allowed to have this opinion that luck...exists...So if anyone asks, I never said this.

And also...if Rex and Weevil had any support up until now from these kids who have been stuffing them in the trunk for over a dozen episodes, they wouldn’t have done any of this.

So talking as a jaded Millennial, I’m not gonna judge you if you take your Oricalchos, if you know what I mean. Everyone has their reasons, and no one’s too good not to ever do it, lets be real.

+++++++++++++++END OF THIS RANT, WOW, I WANT TO SAY THAT WHILE SLAPPING A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE IN A GENTLE MANNER+++++++++++++

So I realized something. This cliff face is sort of an iconic train, but it’s the wrong train.

This is the Amtrak in the middle of Nevada/Utah, pretty sure. I know that shade of orange. I’ve done the Nevada drive a lot.

And part of the reason I’m even sleuthing into this is because as an artist I like to see where art inspiration comes from. It doesn’t just come from a void--they clearly did research and I just want to find out...how it happened.

So anyway, like I said last time, the Amtrak is in charge of the Caltrain management, although the Caltrain is not part of Amtrak. And so you get similar paint jobs--it’s just that Amtrak has blue topped cars, and the Caltrain cars are typically red. Yugioh safely did red, white and blue, which both cars do, to an extent, being American trains.

It’s possible that they decided to look up scenic trains in California and were like “this one looks neat.” This one is also named the “California Zephyr” which makes it seem super Californian but in actuality it goes from Emeryville, California to Chicago. Only problem is that Emeryville is North of Oakland, and we’re supposed to be taking the train “to the airport” when the airports are in Oakland or San Mateo. This train doesn’t go to the airport. You just drove by the airport.

This train also doesn’t go to Florida. Chicago is North, way north. This train exists to be a slow, scenic train for old tourists who want to sleep in cramped spaces or jaded millennials writing their award winning novel. It has no other purpose.

So, it doesn’t at all match anything story wise...but it looks cool. They would never take this train if the world was going to end, and Rebecca wouldn’t know it exists, but, it looks cool.

But anyway, onward to the next episode. I’ll be kind of bunking in my home for a while since my entire area basically shut down, so maybe I’ll get the next updates done earlier than usual? Maybe even catch up on my backlog? hm. Possibilities.

And if you just got here, this is all the Yugioh recaps in chrono order.

#Yugioh #ygo #Yu-Gi-Oh #recap #photo recap #episode recap #yugi muto #yami #train #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #rex raptor #weevil underwood #S4 #Ep16

[tremzey]

All even numbered questions for the ask

ffffffffgg2. I’m listening to some high energy 90s electro for gym. other than that, when at home I’d likely be listening to Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

4. A french sounding lady from my mobile provider, because they accidentally overcharged me for a 100$

6. You know I don’t, lol

8. I shaved recently so technically n/a. When i’ll grow them out, they’ll be dark blonde.

10. Yeah

12. Not sure. I like almost all animals.

14. Well, that depends. I’d say maybe Hellraiser, or The Thing.

16. I have unfortunate and doubtful pleasure of being 25. With God’s mercy, not for long.

18. Strictly straight.

20. The one that I remember vividly, is when i was in preschool, i was like 6 or something, and I went to washroom to poop, and I guess I took unacceptable amounts of time, because one of caretaker broke open the doors and dragged me out, pants down, for other children to laugh at and mock, something that she engaged in as well. This was around 20 years ago, and I still remember this vividly.

22. Aggressive, impatient, fat, depressed, ugly. Other than my temper, not much changed I guess.

24. I don’t remember. I don’t laugh that often.

26. Well, that’s a difficult pick. Something that smells bad, is boiled and unseasoned... I’d say perhaps overboiled brussel sprouts are way high up there.

28. Bad personal hygiene, bad manners, inappropriate behaviour in given situation, obesity, unattractive face.

30. William Gibsons “Neuromancer”, Works of Terry Pratchett (especially “Soul Music”), Sienkiewicz’s “Trilogy”

32. Yeah

34. I was young and stupid. She played with me. I can’t even put my regret and shame into words. Sometimes, one need to learn by the mistakes.

36. I am terrified of failure. I am for whatever reason more often than not afraid of falling asleep. That’s one of the reasons why i have insomnia. Spiders kinda spook me, but its stupid spook. I’m afraid of heights (to the point of feeling uncomfortable on stairs) but I really want to get over this phobia.

38. Yeah. Buncha times, but no luck :(

40. Yeah, and I hated it. Everyone telling me how it helps me, how they see change in my behavior, but I was just bored out of my mind.

42. God forbid I’m like any of these people. I look more like my mother/ maternal grandfather though, but I have humour and certain idiosyncrasies of my dad and height of my paternal grandfather

44. I don’t

46. I don’t remember. I haven’t had one in half a decade, I don’t think I will get one anytime soon. So this no longer is relevant in my life.

48. I don’t follow, nor do I care about celebrities. I do like looks of Dominique Lenore Persi though, she seems pretty cool and cute and she have one of the best singing voices I heard in a woman.

50. Depends on situation. Generally not, but I wouldn’t like to see my significant other making out with someone, or spending significant amounts of time with someone else rather than me. 

52. It is my dream.

54. Yeah.

56. I am an introvert who can pretend to be an extrovert for extended periods of time

58. Math, or playing instruments. Or sociability.

60. I don’t. I’m rather cynical and jaded.

62. Yeah, bunch of times. Seemed fun at the time, but now I see it as a mistake.

64. Depends on the money, lol. But no, generally speaking I wouldn’t

66. People in happy relationships. People who can find joy in life. I know it’s my bitterness speaking, and I shouldn’t be jealous over other peoples happiness, I can’t help it however. I am working on it.

68. Christ, I think it was 5 or 6 years. We were together really long, especially for how old and hormonal we were. In the end, it didn’t work out.

70. Don’t know tbh. As well as I don’t know how I feel about answering such question on a public forum.

72. No.

74. In my opinion - probably yes. 

76. I sat alone at home, being really depressed, then I went to work. I spent rest of my bday at work.

78. Go to the funeral and try not to cry. Most likely, I’d cry a lot, just hopefully in private, not right above the casket.

80. I’d go to gym and play video games. Or do something that really increases adrenaline. I noticed that time passes the fastest during these activities.

82. Dunno.

84. I don’t have many positive childhood memories. I think spending time with my late grandfather in a forest picking up mushrooms and stuff. One time we went to swamps, but this memory is very blurry at this point.

86. No

88. Military -> Maybe special forces, -> Intelligence Agency -> maybe some police work

90. Conservative

92. I don’t like public displays of affection in general.

94. I’d like to live in China, but I don’t like that much their government. Russia is also a solid candidate. Kinda want to come back to Poland. Eventually, the USA.

96. Fool.

@la-fiammetta God almighty, that was a bloody long list. Screw you. You have to read all of it.

[askdacast]

Rant from an ex-fan: RWBY’s Volume 5 shorts are terrible

Quick warning: if you are a huge fan of RWBY, especially of the third volume onwards, I am going to be needlessly cruel towards the series in this post. Turn back if you don't wish to hear the ramblings of a jaded ex-fan.

So I used to love RWBY, or more specifically the first two volumes of RWBY. They were far from perfect, but I enjoyed what fun action and neat fantasy and tech ideas they had to offer.

Then Volume 3 came about, in its glut of sudden edginess and shocking twists, and I came down with a case of salt poisoning.

As you can imagine, I dropped the series harder than a slab of concrete and have been very hesitant to pick up the series again since. Then I saw in my YouTube Feed that Volume 5 of RWBY was coming out, and there were character shorts and teasers, one of which was of Weiss, being released as promotions. So I thought, "Fine, why not? I might as well see if they win me over once more."

I was not won over.

Problems that I had with the series when I dropped it were somehow encapsulated in 3.5 painfully long minutes, and after some mental testing out of my hair, I decided to do the following moment-by-moment analysis of the trailer below as follows.

Please keep in mind I have sworn entirely off Volume 4 and any details I do know about it are from my friend @randomnumbers751650 who HAS watched it. Nothing first-hand.

0:00 We begin with some abstract shots of totally-not-symbolism set to yet another generically sad Casey Williams song.

Okay look, I don’t want to hate on Casey Williams. She’s an amazing singer at the age she is, and she’s got great talent! I don’t hate her work at all. The problem is she’s in EVERYTHING RWBY RELATED. No, literally, everything. RoosterTeeth has shoved her into every single vocal song for the series and I’m getting tired of it. There’s no variety in any of the vocals unless they get Jeff Williams to do some screaming or Lamar Hall to do some okay-rapping in them. Even they seem to sound overused.

Not to mention sometimes I feel like they’re forcing Casey’s vocal chords to sing certain songs that really do not lend well to her vocals (*cough* When it Falls *cough). She’s a beautiful singer, but when you just churn out song after song with her, the songs lose their magic. I don’t even wanna get started on these lyrics, but let’s rant one thing at a time, shall we?

0:12 Hey look, the moon is still broken. We ever gonna find out what that means?

Now one compliment I guess I’ll give is that the art has definitely improved. The characters still move jankily (albeit more smoothly now), but the background art has really upgraded. The shot of the manor Weiss is fighting in, the ice fountain with the Schnee logo and the snowing effects in this are actually kinda pretty!

0:25 And now we meet best girl Weiss! Well, she originally wasn’t my best girl. It was first Ruby, but unfortunately she had no personality (despite being the main character). Then there was Penny, but she was.

You know.

Dead.

Thanks RoosterTeeth, I’m still not over that. You introduced a precious cinnamon roll and killed her off for shock value. And fan theories about her being rebuilt have not been acted on.

Uh-huh. Sure. I’m totally okay with that. Not bitter at all.

Anyway, just look at those expressions. Mouth movement still looks as awkward as ever. I think enough people have probably mocked the expressions in the Volume 4 opening so I won’t harp on it, but…yeeeeah.

0:36 Oh hey look ominous snow wind out of nowhere. That sure is whacky and wacky.

And listen closely to the lyrics of this super-duper-sad song.

“And in its place is nothing, just an endless empty hall.”

GEDDIT? BECAUSE WEISS IS LONELY! SHE’S SAD AND LONELY CUZ SHE’S GOT NO FRIENDS! WE’RE SO SUBTLE AND SYMBOLIC GUYS!

Jeff Williams, or…whoever did the lyrics for these songs, the instrumental is lovely on its own. You could’ve just let the emotions speak for themselves. You don’t have to HAMMER IN THE MESSAGE THAT WEISS IS OBVIOUSLY STILL SAD AND LONELY. I THOUGHT WE GOT THREE ENTIRE SONGS FOR THAT ALREADY. Or was Mirror Mirror just not subtle enough? >_>

0:45 Oh look. Ice Beowulves. How interesting and original.

And don’t tell me they’re a different species of Grimm or whatever, those models are clearly palette-swapped Beowulves! It’s like they’ve become the Goombas of Remnant or something.

You know last I checked, one of the bigger reasons people liked this show at all was because of the fantasy setting and how not just the heroes and their weapons, but the creatures of Grimm had all sorts of creative designs. I get that this is just a teaser trailer and the fight here doesn't have any actual plot bearing, but one on, you could've at least come up with something more interesting for an ice-based Grimm. Even better, give hints of new Grimm to be introduced later in the volume or something, I dunno! Just anything more than a freaking palette swap.

0:59 ...did...did Casey just say 'Weissolation?' I hope she didn't; that's a level of goofy I think not even RT would stoop to.

Also, still piling on that reaaaally subtle lyric-work about how lonely Weiss is! Ugh.

1:01 I dunno why but that shot of the Beowulf pouncing at her just looks so goofy. “COME AND GIVE ME A HUUUUUG!”

1:12 ...okay, I admit, the change in tempo and shift in instruments for this song and the ensuing fight made me excited.

If there's one thing Jeff Williams has always done well, it's his instrumental. I complain a lot about RWBY's vocals, but the way the songs mix hard rock and more classical music has always been amazing. It's the perfect blend of instruments to get you pumped up for a fight while still getting into the different moods and settings each fight takes place in. Even better is that they don't have to constantly rely on awkward dubstep or techno beats like most other shows nowadays do with their action scenes. All things considered, if you just changed the lyrics, I would totally replay this song in my free time.

Even this initial start of the fight isn't bad at all. The violins and Casey's vocals really match up to the angles, Weiss jumping on the glyphs, shots like the pan up to when she's standing on the ledge, and oh man, those melting icicles. That was such a neat touch!

1:31 That is an adorable Weiss happy face. Can we get more of that? Please? And not all the random depressing edgy plot points?

1:40 "Forced to conform" YES WE GET IT WEISS FEELS TRAPPED, MOVE ON CASEY

You remember how the original Mirror Mirror's lyrics were about Weiss' self-doubt and fear of what's inside her? Only 2012 remembers.

1:45 Once again, more of those awkward expressions. Her face is literally OAO in this moment. A second shot of it is passable. You hold it for longer than that though, not to mention in a close-up shot, and it just looks goofy.

This, however, is probably a good time to get to one of my major complaints of this trailer. Namely that this trailer could have been stuff like foreshadowing of plot points, a quick character insight into how Weiss has been doing since the end of the last Volume, a whole number of things. But instead, what do we get?

Fighting.

Just. Fighting.

Look I get it, RWBY is an action series, fighting is kind of what it's selling. But if you would humour me, let me take you back to 2012, when RWBY just became a thing and people were fawning over the awesome trailers. Let me remind you guys that the first two trailers shown, Ruby's and Weiss', were both consisting of nothing but -you guessed it- fighting. We didn't hear their voice actors at all, we didn't get a glimpse as to what their characters like beyond their small facial expressions and song lyrics (you know, like the incredibly deep revelation that WEISS IS LONELY), or their place in the plot.

As much as I loved the fighting choreography in those old trailers, when the show was finally released, the characters suffered for it. People were wondering why Ruby was a squeaky high-pitched now girl when she looked so stoic and badass in the trailer. People were wondering why Weiss was so snooty and insufferable when once again, the trailer painted a different picture of her. My point is the original trailers for RWBY tried pushing for its awesome action scenes at the expense of the writing of its characters.

And now it's happening again.

Let me be blunt: when I first saw this Weiss short, and after the initial few cool shots of fighting, my brained tuned out and I IMMEDIATELY skipped the whole fight scene. I knew what to expect – another flashy action scene that has no bearing on the plot or Weiss as a character or what's to come.

You know guys, most of us who are anime fans safely say that most of us who enjoy action scenes and stuff like shonen anime is NOT just because of random fighting. I need to care about what I'm watching. I need to know the fight I'm seeing matters. And failing THAT, I at least want to see something new; new fighting techniques, new ways of attacking and reversing your opponent's moves onto them, rather than just the same old.

I remember when I used to enjoy the fight scenes in RWBY. It was cool seeing the fighting techniques, the crazy weapons and having some vague idea of how Dust worked. It was all fine and dandy back then. But RWBY hasn't evolved since. As much as I like Weiss, her simple sword tactics have always struck me as rather plain compared to the rest of the team. Clearly, she's designed less as a combatant focusing on power and more as the 'Mage', what with her glyphs (which we still haven't gotten an explanation of how her Semblance works btw) and her Dust usage. I could've gone for something simple like Weiss combining Dust in her attacks or something like that.

But no.

RoosterTeeth is just doing the same old action sequences over and over again. It's to the point where the fight scenes are just white noise! Congrats, RoosterTeeth. You guys made me think of an action scene as WHITE NOISE.

Mind you, I actually went to rewatch the trailer to try to see what I missed in the fight scene just to be fair, but even then I tuned out again. Nevermind the actual choreography or some weird wide-angle shots, everything just felt so generic. I honestly can't muster up any energy to even critique the fight.

So enough of my whining I guess, let's just get back to the trailer shall we...

2:48 And somehow despite Weiss being best girl, she still continues to have the weakest of the voice actresses. The way she screams Winter's name sounds more like annoyance rather than the actual fear she might have been feeling.

Also WAIT WHAT?! THOSE WOLVES WERE WINTER'S CREATION?!

...so not satisfied with giving us a dull action scene, this trailer decides to pull the rug out under us and render our investment into Weiss surviving this fight pointless. Fantastic.

3:04 Oh hey, Winter! One of the few parts of Volume 3 I actually liked!

Great to see you and your Icy Cool Big Sis self again! Boy, it sure was a good thing you...weren't important in the last Volume...or the second half of Volume 3...oh man was your great character totally utilized and not squandered in the face of the changing plot or anything...

3:15 More stilted Weiss voice acting. The way she says "I'll get better" is just so oddly rushed and lifeless.

3:26 And so we end this trailer with a reprise of Mirror Mirror, showing how even after 4 whole Volumes, Weiss has not grown as a character despite her trials with her barely-visible team, and she's still left alone with the insecurities and loneliness plaguing her, sending her back to square one!

Yay. RWBY is such a well-written satisfying show.

3:36 But ZOMG! This whole trailer was a flashback! And Weiss is still sad remembering old sad times!

...

BULL.

What was even the point of having that entire fight be a flashback? Narrative-wise, it's a slap in the face to the hope of Weiss growing as a character. Didn't she spend the last part of Volume 4 singing an entire song about how she's going to forge her own path and break away from her family? But her face when she remembers this memory of her old self and replaying Mirror Mirror in the background seems to imply this isn't the case. That she's still stuck in the same mental chains she's been in since the show started. If there's no promise of her truly overcoming herself, why would this flashback have any meaningful bearing on her arc?

Technicality-wise, this only confuses the viewer and short-changes the animators. Believe it or not, I was actually confused as to if Weiss in the trailer was from present time; thought maybe she just put on her old clothes again or something. But it's not; we are just seeing her old self fighting some of Winter's illusions. If we aren't seeing any cool new stuff about Weiss, what is the point of making this a teaser for Volume 5?

So with all that said and done, RWBY has once more proved that it’s just going to be nothing more but a swirling pot of wasted potential and eye candy with some irresponsible writers mixing it all into one big mess, and it’s only going to get more incomprehensible from here on out.

Wonderful.

Let me clarify one last thing: I did NOT drop RWBY in Volume 3 because it was ‘too dark and depressing’. I like a good serious story myself. The purpose of this rant is to show you all my real problem with RWBY: it does not handle its writing with any care whatsoever, or the responsibility to deliver a satisfying product to its audience. Volume 3’s out of nowhere shift, as much as it angers me, I feel is symptomatic of every other writing problem in this series.

It’s lazy. It’s half-baked. It’s popcorn entertainment in the end, sure, but even popcorn needs to be cooked well. I want the tastiest popcorn ever, not some cold barely-microwaved corn kernels left out in the open!

Ugh, if you guys will excuse me, I’m gonna go write my own action-packed fantasy story. With blackjack and hookers.

#rwby #volume 5 #ragehate #rant #character #shorts #trailers #weiss schnee

[omnishamblegreg]

Hey @loveofmylonglife !!

92 truths

rules: once you have been tagged you are supposed to write 92 truths about yourself. At the end choose however many people you want to tag!

LAST …

[1] drink: water

[2] phone call: my auntie

[3] text message: my best friend

[4] song you listened to: It’s Like That by RUN DMC

[5] time you cried: maybe.. 3 weeks ago, if we’re not talking laughter-crying

HAVE YOU EVER…

[6] dated someone twice: no

[7] been cheated on: no

[8] kissed someone and regretted it: yes

[9] lost someone special: no

[10] been depressed: yes

[11] gotten drunk and thrown up: no

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS:

[12] jade green

[13] mint green

[14] lilac

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

[15] made new friends: yes

[16] fallen out of love: no

[17] laughed until you cried: hooo yes

[18] found out someone was talking about you: yes, good and bad

[19] met someone who changed you: yes

[20] found out who your true friends are: i dont know, maybe i knew that before now

[21] kissed someone on your Facebook list: heh yes

GENERAL…

[22] how many of your tumblr friends do you know in real life: 6 i think

[23] do you have any pets: yes, kitten of the name Mika

[24] do you want to change your name: noo

|25] what did you do for your last birthday: visited my dad in qatar, swam, played board games!

[26] what time did you wake up: like 10.30am

[27] what were you doing at midnight last night: probably watching narcos or being attacked by my cat

[28] name something you cannot wait for: for summer, camping and swimming, passing my driving test and driving cousins about like rebels

[29] when was the last time you saw your mother: like an hour ago 

[30] what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: my family dynamics- hooo boi i agree with you there. and how i’d handled certain situations. where i decided to do 6th form, being brave enough to confess love. having the brain capacity and energy to think thoroughly for myself about my spiritual beliefs. sometimes i think it’d be easier if i’d grown up not questioning stuff so much

[31] what are you listening to right now: the end credits of narcos. my love.

[32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: ah my old basketball coach

[33] something that is getting on your nerves: my inability to revise for shit

[34] elementary: What about it? if you mean the *cough* sherlock piracy, the actor played alongside cumberbum in frankenstein, then went off and did elementary. felt a bit like he nicked his acting pointers to go imitate him. but im not bitter! oh this means primary school: ledge. i was a loving teacher’s pet

[35] high school: same mostly girl’s schools, year 8 was peak :(, but year 9 was PEAK and best fricking thing ever. i moved a lot but made some great friends. then got stressed at alevels but v funny friends. school is stress i dont need to go back to that

[36] college: uni is TBA. i will enjoy my own space

[37] hair colour: brown

[38] long or short hair: short

[39] do you have a crush on someone: not really

[40] what do you like about yourself: that people trust me a lot, that i make my sisters laugh so much they look like gargoyles, that i have little things im good at. 

[41] piercings: Ears

[42] nickname: depending with who: karimmer/rimmer, kima, karma, gary

[43] relationship status: single and ready to spread my legs. in bed to sleep because thats the most comfy sleeping position

[44] zodiac sign: im a goat

[45] pronouns: she/her

[46] favourite tv show: this is fluid. right now i am addicted to narcos. (not like that)

[47] tattoos: none

[48] right or left handed: right

FIRST…

[49] surgery: just sewing up my chin?

[50] piercing: ears

[51] best friend: maysa my cousin, since i was 3, who i knows near everything about me (every time we meet i just catch her up on the new shit). we fuckin tight

[52] sport: this is FUNNY. but i guess swimming, in a leisurely, non-competitive floating way

[53] vacation: tunisia, like what else besides visit family every summer obv

[54] pair of trainers: MINE DIDNT LIGHT UP ! they were PINK tho

RIGHT NOW…

[55] eating: nothing

[56] drinking: nothing. sad days

[57] I’m about to: watch pedro pascal in game of thrones

[58] listening to: nada

[59] waiting for: nada

[60] want: this is a lot. want to feel energy coursing through me. want to be physically able to sleep for a day. to kiss. to have photographic memory. to actually have a spec of an imprint, a positive, a help, on the world. to meet up with all my old friends. to understand myself. to write something and make someone think with it.

[61] get married: some day. i forget im 19 and family members are suddenly going ‘hey karima wanna get me to find u someone heh?’

[62] career: during and after uni, i’d like to write stories. and do art. academia would be cool, researching and writing kickass linguistics papers about memes. but i do not want to dwell on this 

WHICH IS BETTER…

[63] hugs or kisses: both, but hugs only if they’re proper gourmet ones

[64] lips or eyes: eyes

[65] shorter or taller: taller

[66] older or younger: older

[67] romantic or spontaneous: I AGREE WITH WHAT U SAID BOTH BOTH IS GOOD. spontaneity is madly romantic 

[68] nice arms or nice stomach: oooh. stomach i think

[69] sensitive or loud: yep i agree again ^^ someone who’s both is brilliant, we just both gotta be in the same hyper mood then BAM whole house telling us to shut tf up. overall tho.. someone who’s sensitive and understanding is more important. someone who cant switch to being sensitive is so closed off

[70] hook up or relationship: relationship

[71] trouble maker or hesitant: trouble maker if they’re not like. pablo escobar level trouble maker. 

HAVE YOU EVER…

[72] kissed a stranger: yeah stupid

[73] drank hard liquor: no

[74] lost glasses/contact lenses: yes

[75] turned someone down: yes poor unfortunate souls

[76] sex on first date: no

[77] broken someone’s heart: i dont Think so

[78] had your own heart broken: yes

[79] been arrested: no

[80] cried when somebody died: yes

[81] fallen for a friend: yes rip me

DO YOU BELIEVE IN…

[82] yourself: at times. i always believe it’ll kinda be alright in the end, that i’ll get to where i want to be, but i dont always believe i have what it takes Right Now. this is hard to explain.

[83] miracles: kind of. depends. i believe it was a miracle i got As and A*s in my gcses when i barely revised. and that my sister causes rain and thunderstorms when she prays for them. some miracles. i feel like a lot more used to happen

[84] love at first sight: no, thats romanticising someone as a concept and i am all too guilty of it

[85] santa claus: no and i dont think i ever did?! i discovered who he was simultaneously with ‘he’s fiction’. but thats okay with me

[86] kiss on the first date: whatever man i know nothing

[87] angels: yes

OTHER…

[88] current best friend’s name: Kathryn, steph, maysa, rabeeya 

[89] eye colour: brown

[90] favourite movie: shaun of the dead or How I Live Now

[91] favourite flower: honeysuckle, def jasmine.

[92] favourite season: summer whosoever should like to also do this, tag me and go for it!! im a curious bastard

#ah time flies filling this in #me #ask meme #a little shy of posting this but ehh #also forgive my lack of eloquency its too late for epiphany-level opinions on things #this is a lazy ask meme