Serious talk about meta under the cut.

I don't know who might need to hear it, but fwiw mental flexibility is a huge part of analysis (and interacting with other humans lol). You need to be able to account for multiple possibilities when examining a work, or understanding a social exchange. You need to be able to separate what is objective fact from your own subjective interpretation and judgment. The most negative interpretation is not automatically the most worthwhile or true. Someone throwing accusations around in-line with their own worst interpretations does not guarantee those accusations are warranted. You are not a bad or stupid person for disagreeing. Shit needs to withstand scrutiny. I don't always strike the right balance myself. I do the best I can but I'm definitely not perfect. Tbh I'm not beyond pettiness either--although I try to keep that out of actual analysis lol. There have been times I've griped to friends privately or blogged about how I felt (sans tags, with spoiler blocks so people can opt out). I've griped recently. I'm bound to gripe again in the future. Some level of griping is inevitable imo and I figure no one is 100% immune.

All that said, even if someone’s take isn't canon AND even if it's something I really dislike--I'd personally rather people follow their passions anyway. Hands down. I could be in the middle of a rant and my answer would still be that the subject of my frustration gets to exist. I'm not the boss and odds are we're going with different versions in our own heads. Discouraging another fan from creating due to my preferences or narrative approach would horrify me. I've seen fandoms where gatekeeping like that killed the creative community and it was fucking awful.

Not everyone is confident in their own judgment. Not everyone faced with a pissed off person trying to use lore and accusations like clubs will feel okay continuing with their own vision. Elitism and manipulation (especially through rhetoric) can be present within analysis. People are not being taught how to recognize those things properly. Analysts aren't always aware or invested enough to even be careful. It’s legit easy to get caught up in ideas or feelings to the point of forgetting about other people’s, and adjusting to account for alternate approaches takes some work. For me at least, I think having a 'no insults' policy and being super careful when it comes to absolute claims (assertions not qualified by 'I think' or 'it could be argued') helps.

Anyway. Just because a person calls something ‘meaningless’ doesn't make it meaningless. Someone pooh-poohing an observation you made doesn't make your observation less true or important. Employing a literary term doesn't mean that individual actually understands the term, how it works, or how to apply it. Which is to say nothing of romantic chemistry or whatever. I encourage readers to extrapolate on this. ‘Shallow’ could apply as much as ‘meaningless’. Denying parallels exist by itself doesn’t actually negate those parallels. Your version of a character may not be the same as the fan next to you’s and that difference doesn't have to detract. There's more I could say on the subject (I've edited out a lot) but basically--just because another fan isn't into what you're doing doesn't automatically make what you're doing wrong, immoral, shoddy, or otherwise less.

Seriously, vet shit. Question the entire premise an analyst tries to establish then decide for yourself if it holds water. Turn over word choices and assertions in your head before deciding if they're appropriate. Do it to me too. I don't care if someone is the holy goddamn emperor of analysts. Just because a person says something is good or bad, true or false, whatever the hell doesn't make it so. Just because a person uses a technical term doesn't mean they're discussing it effectively. Quality of argument matters beyond the packaging it’s wrapped in. It's important to protect yourself from people whose priority is enforcing their own preferences, including dismissing things they aren't partial to.

I just don't want anyone shamed silent man. Not even people whose takes drive me up the fucking wall. Neither I nor any other analyst is an authority here. And there are people who are absolutely ready to take advantage of other people’s insecurities to assert themselves. Might not even be malicious, just indifferent.

For me, analysis feels kind of like uncovering a dinosaur skeleton. I want to share the cool and exciting things I find with other people. Sometimes I might be sorting out what my own thoughts and feelings are. It's also possible to examine why you're uncomfortable with something, or why you love something another person hates, while making very clear what is YOUR READING and not THE READING. Offering a variety of possibilities is very different from presenting yourself as the only correct one. One note at the end when everything else was insulting and intolerant is like a band-aid over a wound.

EDIT: As a last point, that I'm throwing in just-in-case. If anyone reading this thinks they may have overreached and done stuff I've mentioned + feels shitty about it… that's still not the end of the world. It’s okay. This is hard stuff to learn and I really don't think anyone's perfect at it. Worth the effort though. Just gotta take a deep breath, acknowledge you're a fallible human same as everyone else, and do the best you can going forward. Life goes on.

angel dust :3

Send me a character and I’ll list:

Favourite thing about them: "Thing", singular? I can't put just one thing! There are too many things! The humour in his dialogue. The songs he sings. The fact that he's both an ex-mafia member and a femme gay man. The fact that he's got a twin sister in Heaven. The changes we see in his character over the course of Season 1. The bond he forms with Husk. The dynamic he has with Charlie (and the others in the hotel). The angst of his relationship with Valentino. The voice. The hair. The eyes. The arms. The chest fluff. The outfits. The dance moves. I just love him so much.

Least favourite thing about them: Well, the way he acted towards Husk initially was, let's face it, sexual harassment. Just because it was a response to trauma doesn't make it okay. I appreciate that Angel doesn't bother Husk like that after "Masquerade" - he still makes sex jokes, but now they're less about targeting people and making them feel uncomfortable - but I still think it would have been good for Angel to explicitly acknowledge that his behaviour wasn't acceptable and apologise to Husk.

Favourite line: (porn voice) "I've been a bad boy, and I need a big strong daddy to put me in my place..." (regular voice) "...on the path to redemption!"

brOTP: I like the friendship he develops with Charlie. The prequel comic "Dirty Healings" shows that she sees potential in him that he doesn't see at first. He initially only joins the hotel for the free rent and to get away from Valentino, but then he comes to genuinely care about Charlie, as she does for him. That's nice to see.

Also, Angel and Emily haven't interacted yet, but I think they would have a cute friendship if they did!

OTP: Huskerdust! I've seen so much cute fanart and read so many hurt/comfort fics of the two together that I can't help but love this ship. I enjoy thinking about them being together and how they could change each other for the better. Having Husk around to take care of Angel would definitely be good for him.

But Angel's trauma isn't going to go away overnight, so that'll be a lot to deal with. And Husk is also pretty judgemental, so if Angel ever has a relapse and Husk treats him too harshly for it, that could put a rift between them. Angst potential!

Everyone talks about how Husk is changing Angel, helping him to be more honest, but I do think Angel is changing Husk too. Husk certainly seems to drink less after "Masquerade". And if Husk was somehow able to help Angel out of his contract, that would be redemption for his own participation in the cruel Overlord system.

Angel and Husk are not perfect people, but they could be perfect for each other.

nOTP: Any ship that involves pairing Angel with a woman. He's gay. He wouldn't be interested.

As for Valangel ... look, I am interested in exploring the backstory - I want to find out how Angel met Valentino and what led to him signing his soul away. But I definitely do not want Angel to stay with that moth. That pairing is way too toxic.

Random headcanon: Both Anthony and Molly had albinism when they were alive, and that's why they're so pale in the afterlife. Anthony also had a visual impairment, so his demon form overcompensated by giving him extra eyes.

Unpopular opinion: Some fans love seeing Angel with all six arms out and six guns blazing, but I'm not so keen on it. That's a personal thing, really - I just don't like guns and don't think they have any reason to exist. All they do is kill people, and killing people is wrong. If Angel's got all six arms out, he should be using them to give Husk a back massage instead.

Song I associate with them: Besides "Poison"? Then "All You Wanna Do" from SIX: The Musical. They're both super-catchy pop songs about the dark topic of sexual abuse sung by characters associated with the colour pink. I watched the Hazbin Hotel pilot for the first time on the same weekend I went to see SIX: The Musical, so that's a neat coincidence!

Favourite picture of them:

How many responses have you gotten so far, if I may ask?

Hello, thank you for your question. I open the Q&A if you guys want updates on the survey or any problems I'm facing.

Currently, there's 380 responses in total. [It was actually 362 last night, don’t know where I got the boost overnight, perhaps that Kurapika post] 

tThere's actually 84 questions in total, but I coded it in such a way that certain questions don't appear when you indicated an option. For example, if you indicated that you are not up to date with the manga (indicating that you have read the post-Election arc AND read till Chapter 390), the questions regarding the Succession arc theories and predictions will not appear. This is why the manga readers' survey is actually longer.

Currently, 149 respondents indicated that they had read up to date, and therefore, they indicated

Another example is the shippings part. For example, if you indicated you don't ship anything, you won't see the list of ships. If you only indicated that you ship, let's say, het ships, you will only see the het ships. This is to make it easier for people to do the survey. The key is for others to not answer unnecessary questions.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about certain issues/explanations that I need to address.

The reason why I'm always emphasising the goal of 385 responses and above (400 is a good number) because based on calculations. I checked on MAL and that there are over 1.2 million who have watched HxH. The "population" in this case is the total number of people who have watched/read the series. Since some people do not have MAL, the actual population number is higher (currently, we do not know what is this exact number).

At 5% margin of error and 95% confidence level*, the ideal sample size is 385 in populations above 100K, and it doesn't change after 100K.

*I do not really know how to explain this, but don't worry too much about it.

Alright, so I'm at 380, do I still need more than 5 people?

Yes, I need more people. Why? I have three concerns:

1) I said this before, but I need more men/boys to do the survey.

As mentioned, I did not put demographic questions because my country is strict with asking people for personal data. While this survey is casual, I do not want to encounter future complications. However, I can roughly guess the gender composition of respondents because of certain questions and the way the survey was distributed. 

Firstly, this survey blew up mostly on Tumblr and there’s a lot of mixed statistics. This says that 47% are female in 2021 and this other article says 72% of women use Tumblr in 2014. Anyway, most of my online (majority from Tumblr) are women and they had actively helped me sent it out to other women who likes the show as well. This same thing happened to my friends in real life. 

Actually, this is one of the biggest limitations of this survey - convenient sampling, which is giving the survey to only people that we know. Our friends who may have similar views/interest will get to do the survey, but people that we are not friends with who may have a different view/interest does not get to do the survey. Their thoughts/opinions are not recorded. 

Secondly, there are certain questions that makes it easy to guess for me if the respondent is a woman/man. 

For example, the “which character do you simp for” question. 

“nil” means they don’t simp for anyone by the way. Also, note that this is just the word cloud diagram. I will chart them manually in bar charts later on. 

Usually, when someone indicates a lot of male characters, they are normally women/girls. The ones who indicated Killua Zoldyck and Gon are usually young girls. Of course, I’m not saying men won’t indicate they simp for a male character or something, but yea know, common sense a bit here. The likelihood of someone placing Chrollo being a woman/girl is higher than the respondent being a man. That also same goes for the shipping questions. 

The survey is posted on Reddit that consisted of 83.1% males in the HxH area, according to the 1K survey that they had. This helped me boost more people (and possibly guys who do survey). However, I think only about 20 to 30 people did it (based on the boost I got after the Reddit thread was posted). I also had help from a large hxh IG account that had slightly more guy followers to give me a shoutout. I also went to reach out to some accounts whom I know the admin are guys. 

I still need a bit more help though, because currently the survey results... I’m sensing that there are more women/girls who did it from the way the results are turning out. 

Why is this important? 

It’s simple. I cannot just release the results that had an uneven ratio of the gender of the respondents and claim that this is the hxh fandom. It won’t be representative of the hxh fandom population as a whole when there are many cis-men who actually had watched/read the show, and absolutely loved it. I think it’s important to hear people’s opinions, be it men, women, young, old. 

Currently, I’m trying to attract more men to do the survey by designing my hxh analyses posts from Tumblr and transporting them to IG, because I realise they like these kind of posts and they get to see my bio profile (with the survey link) + post about the hxh survey. I also get to befriend some of them in the process (and also because I have long been wanting to post my hxh analyses on IG, but it’s just a hassle to make it into pretty poster designs). So win-win. 

Of course, anyone is welcomed to do the survey. I just need help with “balancing” it out, so please help me by sending it to your bros, guy friends, boyfriends, fathers etc. Or if you know any social media platforms where most guys dominate, then yeah please send them. Or if you’re a guy, then yea go ahead and try the survey. 

2) While the responses are 380 in total, the number of people who have read up to date is 149. 

Okay, I’m not saying I need to get people who had read up to date to be 385 as well. Realistically, not sure if I can do it. However, most of the questions pertaining the Succession arc are the most interesting ones and it takes a large chunk of them. 

So yes, it will be great to have more people to do the survey especially if they had read the manga so that we can have more respondents in those questions. 

3) The 385 response calculation is only assuming 5% confidence level and 5% margin of error. 

I don’t exactly know how to explain this, but I will try to quote for the margin of error: 

“Company X surveys customers and finds that 50 percent of the respondents say its customer service is “very good.” The confidence level is cited as 95 percent plus or minus 3 percent margin of error. This information means that if the survey were conducted 100 times, the percentage who say service is “very good” will range between 47 and 53 percent most (95 percent) of the time.”

So if you put it in HxH context, with 95% confidence level, and 5% margin of error, it goes like this: 

50% of respondents indicated that Bisky is their favourite HxH girl (this one is only one option). If this survey was conducted 100 times, the % of people who indicated Bisky as their favourite girl would be from 45% to 55%. 

But if I actually key in 3% margin of error, the sample size goes up to 1056. 

I’m willing to open the survey for 1.5 more weeks. Three reasons: 

A) I will wait for more responses of course!

B) I am currently busy with my part-time student research assistant job during summer break till this week, and they are rushing to finish up the research paper. Therefore, it’ll be nice to just wait while I do my work. 

C) I am planning to write up the theories that I had included in the survey. This means having a lot of time finding the links/threads to the theories and reading them, making sense of it. I plan to post it and also merge that in my report. 

I’m closing the survey in 1.5 weeks because I need time to do up the charts and report by mid-August because I’m afraid I might be busy once the semester starts and I won’t have anytime to do this mini fun project. 

Another thing I want to address: 

Most of the time, certain options I created is based on technical reasons. The other reason is by mistake. 

For mistakes, I went to fix them if someone highlights a mistake.

Now, for the technical reason. I did not appreciate this response in the NOTP section that says: 

The reason why I listed out almost all ships in Hunterpedia, including the ones with a large age gap and the incest ones is simple - because it helps me chart easier when I put them into options. It also decreases the chances of nonsense answers like this one. It also places less fatigue on people doing the survey.  Text boxes are only meant if the options aren’t clear or “others, please state” so that I can include people’s opinons. 

The reason why I didn’t do that for the NOTP section is that I was unable to do a certain specific coding. That’s why it ended up as a text box. It’s also based on the assumption that if something is really your NOTP, you’d know and remember it. 

Why do people online goes straight to trying to prove they are morally superior and whatnot, assuming that I listed the options because of my morality. You do not know me personally. It is based solely on technical reasons.

This is why I used this disclaimer: 

Which part of this is not clear. You can leave, just like what I said in the beginning. Another thing is not following instructions and being rude about it. 

I had also instructed clearly to list out the NOTP combinations. I even noted it clearly. Some people put “any incest/pedo ships”, which happened more than five times. What’s more, one response contained “don’t tell me what to do”. 

Yes, I get it, you don’t like these type. But what you’re doing is making me guess everything, which is unproductive. If you don’t like certain ships that are common but a “taboo” like “HisoGon”, “Killumi”, then say that. If you say it generally, I’m just going to assume the ones on the Hunterpedia list. 

Another thing is the “any toxic ships”. This is very vague. Often, some so-called “wholesome” common ships in hxh are toxic. Mind you, Killugon is also a toxic ship (let’s not be blind to the CA arc please, this pairing is unbalanced), yet almost everyone perceives it as wholesome. Most characters in hxh are toxic in their own ways, and for sure their canon dynamics if they are in a relationship are likely more toxic than what is often portrayed in the headcanon way. I am wondering what to do with this, I might put it as invalid or “no”. 

This is why my instructions are to list them. I had already edited the question twice to make it even clearer yet there’s people who defy them. I’m not just doing the instructions out of fun or make people’s life harder. Those are instructions. 

I do not understand why certain people have to feel offended/be rude at an anonymous survey. 

I can understand if people don’t follow instructions because you might missed it out and I can help to chart it for you. It’s totally okay, everyone makes mistakes, but I do not appreciate the extra unsolicited comments about me because it implies that you have read them, you just chose not to follow it. 

If you think there’s a better way to do it, then DM me. I will explain to you why I had done it so, or I might even change it based on your suggestion. For example, someone actually told me to add certain options and I did it. Another person suggested to add the non-romantic dynamics and I love that, though I think it’s a little too late to add that. Maybe in the next survey.  

If you do not like the instructions, kindly exit the survey. Nobody is forcing you to do it. It won’t record your response if the survey is incomplete for one hour. 

How not to debate Ships and Shipping

I am writing this from personal experience, and from noticing bad cases of Ship Policing going on in the Hazbin Hotel and Star Wars fandom as of late. I figured a bunch of kids got too much computer time from their parents and are in need of education, because this is a more extreme throwback to the shipping wars that occurred in the Twilight and iCarly fanbase from way back when. 

Since 2010, I have found myself a little immersed into the practice of shipping. At the start of this decade, I was Team Edward/Team Jacob levels of ship crazy, and here I am now with a new perspective on things. 

I've even devolved into multi shipping, but I apply that when it comes to compartmentalizing fanfiction and canon. I have my share of OTP's and NOTP's (although Jemma of Every Witch Way is personally my top NOTP for multiple reasons).

Anyways, welcome to my TedTalk where I will educate you ten to fifteen year old's about how not to debate ships. Take it from an old geezer with ten years of experience, I was there in the middle of ship wars at the start of the decade.

I said in previous posts that ships are a funny thing. They should be small in the grand scheme of things, and fans put them on this great and grand pedestals. Some to the extent where people become downright psychotic bullies about the ships they like or don't like, going as far as to police ships to other fans, and sometimes creators. I think we can agree Ship Policing should be seen as toxic behaviour, right ? Well, no. I'll admit that is a complex issue, even for a multi shipper like me. I brought this up in two Facebook groups I'm in, and the basic consensus is that Ship Policing is toxic behaviour -  except when they romanticize domestic violence, rape, pedophilia, etc.

But what is Ship Policing ?  Simply put, telling people who they are or are not allowed to ship; bullying and shaming others over their ships; and in the biggest extreme, sending death threats and rape threats to other fans over these pairings. The Jemma fans of Every Witch Way for example, are probably the biggest example of Ship Policing, seeing as they literally got the showrunners to rewrite the show to fit their ships fanfiction AU image. But that's neither here nor there, but the point is, AU's are best left to fanfiction or It's A Wonderful Life plots.

Similarly, the Hazbin Hotel fandom had this (hopefully/mercifully one) really bad apple coming the Chalastor fandom, who went on homophobic speeches and demanding that the showrunners make Chalastor canon over Chaggie because and RadioDust- in their own words - "Gays are gross" and went as far as to send death threats to the creators. Because that will certainly make your ship canon, and not make you and yours look like the Jemma fandom.

A less malicious and more hilariously petty example comes from The Loud House fandom, where Luanny fans tend to get butthurt over fans, fics and art of the Luaggie ship, despite the Luanny already being canon and Luaggie only ever existing in fanworks. It was such a one sided non-issue, that it was the Spec Ops the Line of ship wars.

Also within the Loud House fandom there is an artist who made OC's based off of his ships AU. I'm not into the ship or AU, but I saw him getting death threats not just to himself, but his OC's as well. I may not be fully aware of the situation (like I just said, I don't follow the ship or AU), but even I can call this a toxic and illogical way of thinking.

To make a primary and personal example for this lecture, I am going to bring up the most outlandish ship discussion I was part of the past year. Some time ago, I ended up in a debate regarding Kim Possible ships in a Facebook group I posted on. In it I said I wasn't into non canon but popular ship called Kigo. When I re-watched the series, the Drakgo and Kim x Ron (the latter of which I just realized didn't have a ship name) just kind of grew on, and I felt that there were some problems with Kigo as a romantic relationship.

Now I want to make sure to point out that if you like Kigo, that is 100% okay, it is just in my opinion that it would be problematic. It's my personal opinion that if you apply their canon characterization, you'll run into the same problems Anti Reylos have with Rey and Ben. Anyways, when I said my peace, most of the Kigo's didn't make a big deal about it; they took it in stride; calmly disagreed with me and stated their stance. This is what a proper ship discussion should be. It would have been one of the most stable, non toxic discussions I was a part of. Nothing memorable was supposed to happen.

Then she came along.

Since she isn't internet famous on this site or others as far as I know, I am not going to use real names because I don't want this person to be doxxed, stalked or cyberbullied, but I will us LP as a substitute. She will be our example of what a toxic anti will look like, and our example of how not to debate or discuss a ship. Simply put, if she had the fame, she would be the TrueLoveHeart94 of the Kigo fandom (look up Dumbsville's videos on him YouTube, and you'll get a good idea of what I'm talking about).

One of the first things to use is a simple explanation for your stance. When I was explaining my stance, I explained how I came to my conclusions simply by watching the show, putting some thought into it, and making my own opinion based on what I observed. Like I said these were my opinions, observations, and at no point do I claim it to be some objective fact. At no point to attack Kigo's, at no point did I call them toxic. The most I did was explain why I find it problematic. Like I said, if you like Kigo that is 100% fine and dandy, you'll get not hate or bullying from me.

LP on the other hand, well she just couldn't accept that someone didn't like Kigo. How dare I prefer two canonically heterosexual characters in a canon het ship. How dare I commit the crime of having an unpopular, differing opinion. Even worse how dare I try to explain my reasoning. 

It was one of those fan discussions. Now when I thought this was going to be a civil discussion, I asked her just why I was wrong not to ship Kigo. Why is Kim x Ron or Drakgo so toxic ? She didn't really give me a real answer; the closest she got to a coherent response was a borderline Darwinist rant about how "strong women shouldn't date weakling men".

That was what should have made me think "is this discussion worth having ?" (For the record, some of my favourite ship dynamics is with a tough or strong woman with a meek, even nerdish man so the whole "the strong shouldn't be paired up with weaklings" is a non argument to me).

Pretty soon she began breaking the following steps one should take in a debate

. Don't use double standards or Non Sequiturs - First thing you should be aware of in any debate is to actually listen too and answer you're opponents points. The talking points of dodging questions, or ignoring answers - a well as using those same answer to support your points - is an inherently dishonest tactic. If you have a point or counterpoint, it'll do you good not to use dishonest tactics to try to "win" your debates.

One of the things I had issues with regarding Kigo was one of the same points (if not the main) LP raised for the ship. As I said above one of my problems was some of the same talking points Anti-Reylo's raise. I pointed out how Kim and Shego have tried to kill each other a few times in the series, something LP both acknowledges and ignores in the exact same sentence. LP's own talking points for their relationship was their romantic/sexual chemistry could be seen in their fight scenes. This is an example of a Double Standard.

When I pointed out the abusive implications of this thought process, rather than directly answer this, LP went on to equate my point as accusing professional wrestlers of being abusive to their wives. This is an example of a Non Sequitur. She doesn't answer or address my points, and my points don't count unless they support her argument.

Double standards and Non Sequiturs in general should be avoided in any kind of debate. If a talking point is raised against you, it has to be addressed. Not doing so is a less dignified admission that you don't really have an answer.

Another example of this can be seen in the Team Edward vs Team Jacob noise; a Team Jacob fan could say that Edward was a stalker towards Bella, ignoring and dodging a counter argument of Jacob's "Nice Guy" attitude towards Bella and how he forcibly kissed her (also there's Charlie's non reaction to this, but that's beside the point). The same goes vice versa; both are problematic.

Use canon evidence to make your point - Admittedly this one can only really apply if you are making a case for a non canon ship, or pointing out problems with a canon one.

Now the reason LP was so impassioned about her arguments was her insistence that Kigo had to be canon. As she said, it wasn't enough that it was popular enough as a fanfic ship; it wasn't enough that I had to ship it; but she was trying to make the case that Kigo had to be the canon ship of the show, and she was trying to make the case for it.

TrueLoveHeart94 thought process aside, if  you want to make a canon case for your ship, it'll do you good in ship debates is use canon evidence. What I am saying is there are some ships that work in canon, others in fanfiction. If you were to make a point to prove your ship would work in canon, use canon examples.

For example, I mentioned above someone in the Hazbin Hotel fandom tried to make the canon case for Chalastor....by citing their personal homophobia and making death threats towards Ashley and Vivziepop.

In the debate, I used the show to explain why I wasn't into Kigo (as well as my above mentioned reasons) and I mentioned how I didn't see much in canon to see a romantic relationship. Now I want to be clear, I saw Kigo as a fanfic based ship and I am aware that Drakken and Shego seemingly reform at the end of the series, but with canon at best I see Kim and Shego as having a sisterly relationship. I also want to be clear I am not a canon purist. There are many non canon couples I like, I am a multi-shipper after all and I can compartmentalize fanfic couples with my canon OTP's. And I am a supporter of AU's. Hell, there's even Hero x Villain ships I am into...it's just Kigo isn't one of them. I am not an anti; I don't hate the Kigo relationship or it's fan; I just wasn't into it and the canon ships just grew on me when I revisited the series.

When I asked for canon examples that Kigo could work as a romantic pairing, LP's response was to cite fanfiction and fan art as proof.

Let me repeat; I asked for canon examples to prove her point, and why my stance was wrong....and she used fanworks.

I don't think I need to explain the problem here.

To my knowledge, not even TrueLoveHeart94 uses fanfiction/art to make a canon case for Sonamy. This is the kind of straw grasping I can see Chris Weston Chandler making. I don't even know what else to say about this. I still get slacked thinking about it.

Anyway, when I said the fanfiction isn't considered canon, LP responded thusly...

Avoid Ad Hominems and slander

Okay, this one should be a no brainer; when you are in a debate of any kind, there is one thing you can do that means you immediately loose your debate. Your points no longer become valid, you surrender any argument you may have, and you prove that you are not worth debating.

Ad Hominems, personal insults, death/rape threats, racist/homophobic ranting, slander, etc.

Let's just say the nicer things LP said was calling me retarded. I am not sure if that was a coincidence since I mentioned that I was autistic earlier in the discussion.

Keep in mind, all I did throughout the discussion was answer LP's questions, and explain my stance. I even said that it was just my opinion and at no point did I claim it to be objective fact.  At no point did I accuse LP of being racist; a nazi; biphobe; rape/abuse apologist; self-misogynist or misandrist; I never called her abelist (despite some of what she said above).

As for what she said to me ? Like I said, being called a retard was one of the more tame things she said of me. She kept sending me notifications that included angry, barely coherent rants, TrIgGeReD tExT, the whole nine yards.

See, this isn't how you win debates, this is how you rage quit these debates. To give you an idea of the way she was saying, I refer you to Dumbsville's videos on TrueLoveHeart94; the resemblance between LP and TrueLoveHearts comments are rather uncanny. Now for context, the discussion started approx. 6:00 to 7:00 PM...these notifications have been ongoing well into 1:30 AM.

And all this because I said I wasn't into a ship she liked.

That is when I put a stop to the discussion. I blocked LP and deleted the discussion just to be safe.

Conclusion

So as we start the new decade, I look back at how much I've seen making mountains out of molehills (shipping wars). I have seen, heard, even been part of these ship wars and discussions since  2010. My disastrous "debate" with LP is a recent example.

I do believe there is nothing wrong with discussing ships, but it has ben ten years and ship wars are just as bad as they were when Twilight hit the scene. I have heard stories of people getting threats of rape, doxing, threats to people families; people pushing others to self harm for liking "the wrong ship".

I wrote this to educate the young and impressionable in the 2020's not to repeat the same mistakes both I and others made in 2010. The fact the LP incidents is from 2019 and the incident with the Hazbin Hotel fandom are from December 2019 alone, shows that you good folks need some learning to do. Something that should be considered fun shouldn't be something worth hurting yourself or others over.

If you ever find yourself in such a debate, always remember to actually address points raised against you; don't dodge questions; if asked to provide canon reasons for why something should be a canonical OTP or NOTP, please remember that fanfiction are not considered canon examples; if you ever find yourself throwing nasty accusations, insults or threats to people's safety in a debate, then that means you lost the debate.

Hopefully you can follow this advise, and help make shipping fun again, and not something to start World War III over.

This had been my Ted Talk.

Sir Nighteye

Ok, I watched the anime and felt like doing another character meme!

Spoilers for Overhaul arc/season four of the anime.

Favorite thing about him:

I like that Nighteye didn’t allow his admiration of All Might to turn him into a pushover. Such adulation could have blinded him to All Might’s flaws, something Midoriya struggles with, but Nighteye stood firm, spoke his mind, and took action in accordance with what he believed. The way Nighteye willingly, gladly admits to being wrong (about Midoriya and All Might’s decision to fight fate) makes it clear that it wasn’t pride that drove Nighteye away from All Might, but actually principles and genuine concern/panic. Nighteye was happy to be wrong, even though it meant that his failures to change the future were true failures and not simply something out of his control. Knowing this enabled Nighteye to let go of his underlying fear that his quirk didn’t just see the future, it set the future in stone, and he’s able to die peacefully after giving All Might and Midoriya his full, unconditional approval, and after internally apologizing to Mirio for seeing him as a vessel before realizing the error of his ways.

Nighteye presumably awakened his quirk when was four or five, and he was thirty-eight when he died. That’s thirty-four years—he could have used his quirk easily thousands of times, maybe more than ten-thousand—and never once has the future significantly deviated from what he saw. Essentially, his quirk’s been the daily Word Of God since he was five years old. It’s easy for Midoriya or Rock Lock to say, bring it on, I can smash fate; for Nighteye, who has actually tried, it’s a completely different ballgame. He knows what it MEANS to try to change to fate, but he’s determined to try anyways.

I like the balance Nighteye strikes between fierce idealism and calculated realism. Yeah, the narrative often criticizes realism for not being plus ultra, but it’s a quality I like. Nighteye wanted to carefully plan Eri’s rescue and Overhaul’s arrest, but his caution didn’t make him any less committed or passionate, or any less admirable than anyone who would have (tried to) saved her immediately (it’s not like Overhaul would let anyone walk away with her).

I like his hero name. The Sir invokes the honor of a knight, All Might’s vassal, the “eye” is obvious, and “night” because he can see in the “dark”: the future is clear to him. Plus, I like the night/knight pun.

I also like just how gangly, angular, and weird he looks. He has some quality body language with the angle of his head.

Least favorite thing about him:

His stamps…his abs…come on. He doesn’t need to a fantastic fighter. His stamps are a funny weapon to be sure, but it irritates me that they’re as strong as they are. It’s ridiculous that Nighteye could cartoonishly hurl Rappa the way he did, and it was stupid to tear his shirt to show off how ripped he was. I felt like Horikoshi was trying to show us that Nighteye meets the standards of a conventional hero, when he could be just as much of a hero using his brain. At the most, someone like Nighteye, who emphasizes logic and excels at predicting opponents’ next moves, should be carrying a gun like the police.

The tickle machine. Eughh. I could barf at how much I hate it.

It’s also frustrating that Nighteye completely wrote Midoriya off as a “quirkless middle-schooler” who could never become the Symbol of Peace and actively undermined All Might even now that he was finally raising a successor. I can at least respect how upfront he is about it: Midoriya knows what he’s getting into by the time he submits his work study application to UA. But even without that, Nighteye doesn’t trouble me as much as he did the first time I read the manga because 1) I figure Nighteye saw Midoriya when he foresaw All Might’s doomed future, because Midoriya is such a big part of his life that of course Nighteye saw him, 2) Nighteye is aware that they’re working on an extremely tight timeline: All Might is due to die within the next year or two, so picking a baby successor who’s going to need tons of hands-on guidance is a bad move, and 3) Nighteye paid the price for his “quirkless” comment when Mirio lost his quirk, and, despite what he said, it was clear that he didn’t love Mirio less, or respect him less as a hero, because of it.

I like that Nighteye appreciates humor, but his final speech about laughter and smiling, combined with Mirio’s determinedly positive reaction, makes me think that he may not have taught Mirio that it’s okay to be sad, that you don’t need to always smile. That would be a disappointing failure on Nighteye’s part, since the overwhelming pressure All Might feels to be positive+proactive is part of what made him unable to accept Nighteye’s criticism. It also fits with how Nighteye’s inner monologues tend to be more sympathetic than his actual dialogue, so maybe Nighteye should have tried to be less didactic and tell Mirio that he has been Nighteye’s pride and joy, instead of thinking that and giving Mirio a last speech on the importance of smiles and humor. I think he would have been a better teacher if he’d allowed himself to be more sentimental.

Favorite line:

My absolute favorite is in ch137, as he observes Mirio’s guilt from letting Overhaul retrieve Eri and bring her back to his headquarters. Nighteye thinks:

I can’t say whether or not the future can be changed. But we can change the past. How we view the past and interpret it. That much is possible.

It’s an important life lesson, and I like how he inverts the typical, “the past can’t be changed, but you can control the future so that’s what matters” perspective.

I also like it in ch130, when Nighteye berates-slash-comforts Midoriya, who regrets allowing Overhaul take Eri back: “Enough of that arrogant thinking! Haste makes waste. Go after him haphazardly, and he’ll slip through our fingers. You’re not quite so special as to save whom you want, when you want.” Then he elaborates on their plan and finishes with a bang: “The world is not so accommodating that you can act the hero because you feel like it. The cleverest villains out there lurk in the shadows. There will be times when every precaution must be taken.”

One more, in ch161. When he’s on his deathbed, Nighteye looks at Mirio and thinks, In the beginning…I only brought you in as a potential vessel, but you stuck by me, believed in me, and at some point…you became my pride and joy.

BROTP:

Him and Mirio. I love how Nighteye took Mirio under his wing in a half-logical way, viewing him as All Might’s proper successor, only to accidentally raise Mirio as his own successor.

I wish we got to see Nighteye and Aizawa interact more. They’re both the rational mentors who get attached to their kids. It would have been nice to see Aizawa talk to Nighteye about his problem child or about Mirio, or to help Midoriya navigate his relationship with Nighteye, but since Aizawa doesn’t know about OfA and Nighteye was on his way out anyways…oh well.

I’d also love to have seen Nighteye and Hawks interact. They’re connected on a meta level, as the unofficial righthand men of the #1 heroes, and also by the idea of fate. Nighteye’s arc centered on the fact he could see the future, and the future he saw could not be changed. Hawks may or may not know it, but the imagery surrounding him is unmistakeable, and we the readers know that some sort of doom is waiting for the man who goes too fast. Whether Hawks can defy fate or if he’ll be crushed by it remains to be seen (and, like Nighteye, he’s not looking promising).

Hawks takes one look at Nighteye—perfectly pressed suit, pinched, no-nonsense expression and all—and is like oh this guy looks like he’s gonna be fun. Nighteye looks even more tightly wound than Endeavor. But actually, Nighteye actually respects and appreciates Hawks’s cavalier attitude! And though they rarely see each other, since they live far apart, they become friends who mainly swap information and keep each other up to date on villain things. Occasionally Hawks will see something ridiculous, like a meme or something, and send it to Nighteye, and Nighteye follows Hawks on social media and sometimes likes his stuff.

It’d be especially interesting to see them disagree about All Might. Nighteye is such a hardcore fanboy, Hawks professes to not be a fan, the Symbol of Peace is such an important part of how Nighteye envisions the future, and it’d be interesting to hear Hawks’s perspective on the Symbol of Peace and where it fits into his vision of the future.

I also appreciate Nighteye and All Might’s relationship, but like…idk, they got so little time together in canon, I kinda prefer to think of it as a dead brotp. Even if Nighteye had survived, I would kinda want his relationship with All Might not to be very close, because even though they weren’t angry anymore didn’t mean they could pick up where they left off.

OTP:

Hmm…not really anyone. I haven’t read much Nighteye fic. There is this one touching soulmate AU where he and All Might both bear the black symbol of someone who has been rejected by their soulmate…here.

NOTP:

No, not really.

Random headcanon:

One of the reasons he reacted so harshly to Midoriya as All Might’s successor is that when he foresaw All Might’s death, he also saw Midoriya. Midoriya’s failure to protect All Might from his gruesome death revealed him as an unfit successor, and he believes if he can remove Midoriya from the equation, then he will have changed the future.

Nighteye helped All Might track down AfO to avenge Nana, and he felt partially responsible for All Might’s injury in addition to fearing that his quirk set All Might’s future in stone.

Nighteye used his quirk on All Might between surgeries, because he couldn’t stand not knowing whether All Might would survive his wounds from AfO or not. He should have stopped when he saw All Might survived, but—he’s such a fanboy, and he saw that future!him was terrified and arguing with All Might about something, and he knew immediately just from the expression on his own face that he’d foreseen All Might’s death. He couldn’t resist looking ahead to find it and learn how much time All Might had left.

…part of me thinks that the reason Nighteye’s foresight was wrong about Midoriya’s death was because Eri also has a time-related quirk, and there was nothing Midoriya really did to change fate. Which would be sad, but. Yeah.

I’d like to think that Nighteye had a really wacky, judgmental cat with a questionably funny name. It sat on top of the fridge and looked down on him when he came home late. After his death, it becomes his agency’s cat and harbors a dangerous grudge against Bubble Girl’s aromatic bubbles.

Unpopular opinion:

It seems like plenty of people dislike him, so…I like him? He’s not even close to one of my favorites, but still.

Even though I like him, I was surprised to discover he was dead—I forgot he died, so I guess his death scene didn’t leave an impression on me. Looking back on it, I think it’s a nice enough scene, but at the time I was probably too exasperated by the overhaul arc as a whole to care much.

idk, I don’t see people talk about him much.

Song I associate with him:

uh…um…well……there isn’t really any music I associate with him. Here are a few songs that are very loose associations, I guess.

Darkside of the Sun by Tokio Hotel reminds me of how All Might’s public persona has taken over his identity, and Nighteye is seeking to save his life by retiring his persona.

Carry Me Down by Demon Hunter has the line “I know the pain inside my heart / can’t break the fear inside of yours,” which reminds me of Nighteye’s grief can’t persuade All Might to confront the reality of his imminent death, plus other stuff in the song about unspoken regrets and death.

And last, Turns to Dust by Sound Surfer and Nilka reminds me of Shigaraki (for obvious reasons), but I think it also speaks to Nighteye’s fear of his quirk.

Favorite picture of him:

Ch126 – Nighteye’s glare when Midoriya mimics All Might’s smile! He sure is intimidating 😂

Episode 75 – This moment did nothing for me in the manga, but it was genuinely moving in the anime. The voice acting and music <3 

I’ve also done Todoroki, Bakugo, Uraraka, Endeavor, Amajiki, and Shinsou!

Reflections on EnGou - Ultimate BROTP and Otherwise

So, I’ve been rewatching bits and pieces of the old series and reflecting on a lot, but… can we just talk about Gouenji and Endou for a second?

(Warning, long ass post ahead. Read if you dare)

GouEn is the first ship I ever shipped in Inazuma Eleven, and whether or not you see them as an OTP, more of a BROTP, or even a NOTP (that would be real hard but to each his own), you can’t really deny how important they are to each other and Endou’s role in Gouenji’s character arc.

I’m no master analyst and I really can’t form coherent thoughts worth a damn, but I just really wanted to write this and get my feelings out about them so here we go!

In the beginning of the series, Endou’s primary reason for interacting with new people is recruiting people for the soccer club. Raimon’s future looks bleak and Endou won’t let it just fall to pieces, so he’s aggressively recruiting anyone he can to fill their roster. Soccer is something that Endou loves, and ultimately he’s trying to find people he can play and enjoy soccer with, but there’s some desperation to his recruitment too. He really doesn’t care how interested someone is, or how much they’ve actually played soccer, they just need to be there as a warm body and he’ll make them like soccer and things will work out somehow.

Then, Gouenji comes in.

Forewarning, I’m trying to only put observations of canon in to this, but I have some headcanons about Gouenji and his mental state so bear with me.

Gouenji, I’d say, is a loner by nature. It’s not that he doesn’t like having friends or doesn’t want to make them, he just doesn’t actively push for it. He’s a man of few words and only speaks when he feels necessary. However, on his introduction, he seems pretty closed off from interacting with Endou, and pretty much everybody. It’s mostly Endou’s mention of soccer that tips Gouenji off, but I think context is important here. Gouenji’s a teenage boy who’s experienced the passing of his mother, believes that he’s guilty of putting his sister in an indefinite coma, and gets little emotional support from his increasingly distant father. He has very little in terms of a support system (thank God for Fuku-san), and has just abandoned his team in one of the biggest matches of the season, while moving to a new town where he knows no one. On top of all this, most of these events happen within what has to be a few months of each other, and Gouenji’s made to deal with it pretty much all by himself.

Soccer should be an emotional outlet and a way to have fun, but for Gouenji in the first part of season 1, it’s something that causes him to feel guilt. It’s his fault that Yuuka’s in a coma. He left Kidokawa for no good reason without telling anyone, so it’s his fault they lost. So, Gouenji decides to punish himself, and stop playing soccer. Why should he be able to have fun and play soccer while Yuuka suffers?

Gouenji’s depressed, and he internalizes a lot of negative emotions. He’s prickly, not willing to open up to people or make friends, and isolates himself on purpose. He has a thing for punishing himself, and as we see later, he doesn’t have the wherewithal to come to his own defense, not necessarily because he doesn’t care what people say, but because he doesn’t think they’re wrong.

Okay, so back to Endou. Endou meets Gouenji, and while Endou is a friendly person and genuinely cares about people, I daresay he doesn’t really act very empathetic towards Gouenji, at least initially. This is definitely not on purpose, more of a result of Endou’s one-track mind and general tactlessness in the beginning of season 1. Endou goes on and on trying to bring Gouenji back in to playing soccer, because if he can kick a ball like that, of course he should be playing, despite Gouenji being standoffish and uncomfortable. He doesn’t know anything about him, and ends up treating Gouenji like a phenomenon, some dude who’s going to come in and help solve the soccer team’s problems. This is quickly subverted when Endou and Gouenji start to see each other differently.

Gouenji see’s Endou as less of a nuisance and more a guy with a lot of passion and a good heart. He sees what he loves about soccer, and someone who enjoys it to the fullest, and it’s hard to keep denying himself. Endou accepts that Gouenji has his reasons for not playing and starts to see that Gouenji is a good guy that deserves to be left alone when he says he wants to be, but he wants to understand Gouenji and help him where he can. The key here is that Endou knows Gouenji isn’t happy not playing soccer, so while he doesn’t try to recruit him, he still tries to nudge Gouenji back towards it.

And that’s the beautiful thing. Because of Endou bringing soccer back in to Gouenji’s life, and giving Gouenji someone to lean on, Gouenji finally begins to lift a lot of those burdens off his being. He makes friends in Raimon, smiles a lot more, and opens up to others a lot more. Gouenji starts to feel happy again, and it’s because Endou is willing and ready to care about him.

(I almost damn cried when I saw this opening again and caught this, because it’s Gouenji and Endou and it’s Endou’s casual kindness that pulls Gouenji up and starts all this waaaahhhhhhh)

It’s this emotional investment in each other that grows in to a deep friendship built on trust and care. Later on in the series, Gouenji gets confronted with being pulled away from soccer again and again, and each time we see that it tears him up inside. He doesn’t let anyone know what’s really bothering him, except for one person: Endou. During Aliea, Gouenji can’t tell Endou what’s up, but he feels bad enough that he’s leaving again that he says sorry, and even tears up. None the less, Endou hides his sadness and tries to cheer Gouenji up, because he trusts that he’ll come back no matter what. Gouenji trusts the others to carry on and keep winning until he comes back, and he trusts he’ll have a place to come back to.

The real kicker is in season 3, when things get so much sweeter. Gouenji’s almost ripped away from soccer one more time, and we see how much this means to Endou. Gouenji hides his emotions because he doesn’t want to make anyone worry, but Endou’s so in tune by now that he notices something’s up, and Gouenji almost leaves without telling him anything, but he just can’t lie, not to Endou.

Now, we see Endou emotionally distraught, for a lot of reasons, and I kind of want to compare this to when Kazemaru left in season 2. During Aliea, Endou gets monumentally depressed because not only does Kazemaru leave, but Kazemaru leaves of his own accord, and Endou’s questioning his ability as a friend and as a captain. This, a long with the pressure, breaks him down and leaves him without direction. Here, instead we see that it’s clear Gouenji doesn’t want to leave, and that he’s trying to convince himself and everyone else that this is okay, but it’s not, not to Gouenji and not to Endou. Here, Endou is sad, but he’s frustrated on his and Gouenji’s behalf, and this has less to do with leaving Inazuma Japan, but more the fact he’s leaving Endou and soccer behind while trying to act like it’s not hurting him.

Endou goes as far as trying to appeal to Gouenji’s father, and it’s heartbreaking to hear Endou’s voice crack while he struggles not to cry, and this is the only time something like this happens in the series. What’s important is that while he’s talking, Endou doesn’t bring up how much Inazuma Japan needs him, but how happy soccer makes Gouenji and how he can’t take him away from the thing he literally lives for. Endou wants Gouenji to be happy, and he wants him there when they take on the world. So, it’s not a one-way street, and you can see that they appreciate and rely on each other through the rest of the season.

Gouenji goes through a journey from season 1 to season 3 of opening himself back up to people and soccer, and Endou is the catalyst for it. You can see how Gouenji becomes more talkative and expressive as the series goes on, and we have Endou to thank for it. This isn’t to deprive Gouenji of agency in his own mental affairs, but to emphasize how important Endou was in helping Gouenji start this process of healing.

It’s also why I think we see Gouenji play such a big role in helping others solve their problems. Gouenji by himself is really observant and cares about others, but he notes that it’s because of Endou that he makes it a point to look in to others issues. With Fubuki in season 2, his and Gouenji’s talk really says a lot. Gouenji flat out says he’s scared and imperfect; he lives with the fear of not being enough and hurting others along the way, and even though it’s something he can’t get over super quickly, he knows Endou and the team will have a place for him, no matter how many times he’s abandoned them or not been enough. And in season 3 when Gouenji gets all prickly again and starts not being himself, falling back down in to the Gouenji rabbit hole? It’s Endou who notices what’s up and decides to confront him. Gouenji learns from Endou’s habits, and he becomes someone who speaks up to help his team.

“You’re the one who taught me that.” - Gouenji being sweet as hell

Just in general, GouEn moments in season 3 are really sweet. The fist bumps get real emotional, and Gouenji starts initiating emotional GouEn moments a lot more as the episodes go by, which just rips me apart internally. In season 3 especially you see a lot of Inazuma Japan trying to help Endou block the goal and carry some of that burden, and Gouenji, more than once, tells Endou he’ll score goals to do just that. It’s not just to help them win, it’s to make sure he helps Endou carry that responsibility. He could have just not said anything, as we know Gouenji’s a man of few words, and could’ve just let the goals speak for themselves, but he chose to say it out loud and reassure Endou, so you know to Gouenji it means something more.

I think it’s easy here to say Endou is Gouenji’s rock, but I think Gouenji is more Endou’s rock. Gouenji is someone who brings Endou back to earth (the irony) when Endou starts thinking too deep and not being himself, and is the constant Endou relies on to keep going in a lot of aspects.  I’d rather call Endou Gouenji’s buoy. Throughout the series, Gouenji threatens to and does slip off the edge back in to deep water, his guilt, his shame, and his tendency for self-punishment, but Endou is always there to pull him back up and keep him afloat and let him breathe new air.

Anyway, I think I’ve done enough rambling about things everyone already knows. I won’t go in to Go but long story short, it’s another situation of Gouenji punishing himself to set things right his own way, but trusting Endou (and the others) enough to hold down the fort, and no matter how guilty Gouenji feels after all is said and done, Endou welcomes him back immediately with open arms.

This was really messy and dumb but I had to get my thoughts down somewhere. We don’t have a whole bunch of GouEn moments in Ares/Orion as of yet, but I have hope and I’ll keep waiting for them. It’s almost impossible to keep these two apart for too long, so it’s only a matter of time.

Gavin, John, Bradley, Siobahn, Clayton, Mary

GAVIN.

1: sexuality head canon: Gavin doesn’t have a sexuality. I mean, he does have a sexuality, but there is no real identifier that I’d go for. I mean, there’s the joking way of looking at it, which is to say that his sexuality is “yes.” Except I don’t even want to say that, because he very much is someone who will say no. NOT THAT OTHER PEOPLE DON’T THAT WE LABEL AS “YES” AS A JOKE. I don’t know, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Maybe I just enjoy the idea of him having a labelless sexuality? 2: otp: - Gavin/Dean- Gavin/Tom- Gavin/Tracy (non-romantically) - Gavin/EphThere’s a part of me that actively ships Ryan with Gavin, for numerous reasons. I’m not as vocal about my interests there, mostly because so many of my characters are intertwined with him - but now, with Erin taking over as him, it’s easier to delve into that “obsession.” Ryan, for me, has quite the crush on Gavin. This guy, this young guy, was just there for his siblings, without asking for anything in return. He was there. In a way that Ryan couldn’t trust anyone else to be. There’s so much faith there, so much understanding, so much respect. Gavin has just been so damn good to Ryan, so it’s easy to see where that “crush” comes into play. Would I actually want it to come into play & something to happen? Absolutely not. It’s still fun to think about, though, because Gavin would definitely be Ryan’s type to some extent. 3: brotp: - Dean- Eph- Tracy- Gavin/Anger4: notp: - literally anyone not mentioned above- especially Gavin/Neil- Gavin/Talking During Sex5: first head canon that pops into my head: Because of how John was with him, and because of seeing John as a father figure when he couldn’t count on Crowley (because he’s never been able to count on him), he had days where he often just wished that John was his father, and it was a bit difficult for him to have that thought when, you know, he was thinking about Dean sexually [when it happened]. There was just a large part of him that wished he could have been more related to that family, even though he knew how broken & fucked up they were. There was always a sense of belonging that came with the Winchesters that he didn’t get with his own family, despite having that closeness with his sister. He felt guilty for that feeling, for wishing he could be “belong” to another family. So, he actively kept those thoughts to himself (much like he would anything, really). 6: one way in which I relate to this character: I, too, have an unspeakable rage that dwells inside me & I will one day snap!I, too, will kill anyone who dares to harm Dean.7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character:Um, please revisit the third thing listed in my NOTPs!!!!!

JOHN.

1: sexuality head canon: John is, very much so, polysexual. Except, much like Tom, he doesn’t actually know that word exists, so he doesn’t really put a label to himself. Not to mention, he’s John fucking Winchester & he can do whatever the hell he wants in terms of his interests. Fuck the world. Also, let’s be real, the guy is AnnaSexual, AlcoholSexual, and low-key GavinSexual but he can’t admit to any of this - well, maybe the alcohol. 2: otp: - John/Alcohol - John/Gavin- John/AnnaSomeone explain to me why I’m a disgusting trash can who ships John with no one his own fucking age what the fuck is wrong with me, I feel like a horrible god damned person holy shit. This is horrible. 3: brotp: - Victor- Eleanor [low-key]- Gavin4: notp: - John/Interacting With Dean- John/Anna- John/Gavin5: first head canon that pops into my head: John has actual feelings for Anna, and it’s weird, and he knows he shouldn’t have them. He knows that he can’t have them, because that’s Anna fucking Milton. She’s an infant in comparison to him. He knows there’s a power imbalance there, he knows that it isn’t okay, and it’s why he actively tries to avoid her. There’s nothing about this, about that, that he would wish to impose on her. He’s a screwed up individual, and he doesn’t see himself as a good person in the slightest (which, technically, he’s really not). He doesn’t want Anna to ever see what’s underneath the shell that she’s seen him wear. He wishes, to be honest, that Anna could be somehow looped into things with Gavin & Dean.... which is weird. That’s a weird thought for him to have. This whole response has been weird, bye.6: one way in which I relate to this character: I, too, have alcohol abuse/reliance problems & it’s actually why I rarely drink now.7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: Every single time he thinks about Anna in a cheer leading uniform.What the fuck, John?

BRADLEY.

1: sexuality head canon: Bradley is 100% gay, but because of compulsory heterosexuality placed upon by Thierry, and by the town in general, he still sleeps with women sometimes. He does get off on it, and there are times when he legitimately enjoys it - but in the end, it’s not something he actually wants to do. He’d rather be face down on a bed with a dick in his ass, but you know! I also feel the need to mention that while he is starved for romantic attention & validation, and while he experiences romantic attraction, he does not actively want those feelings & he does not actively want them returned (mostly because he doesn’t trust them and/or believe them). Bradley, without a doubt, falls along the aro spectrum, it just has yet to be decided where on that spectrum he lies. And like, even with his homosexuality, it’s hard for him to sit there and say, flat out, “Yeah, I’m a gay man.” Like, he can say it, but it’s a whole other thing for him to mean it? Thanks, Thierry! You’ve been a real pal!2: otp: - Bradley/Fabien- Bradley/Ryan- Bradley/Junkie AestheticI’m always going to  be a fan of Bradley & Ryan, because I know their entire history up inside my head, and it rips me to shreds. Ryan is the only person who has ever shown Bradley what love really looks like, has made Bradley feel like he’s deserving of that love. He makes Bradley feel in ways the guy didn’t even know he could. Those feelings terrify him though, and it’s part of the reason I also don’t ship them - because that fear manifests itself in such a negative light, that it causes Bradley to lash out at Ryan. It makes Bradley abusive to Ryan - and Bradley’s history doesn’t absolve him of that responsibility. Then there’s Fabien. That’s an entirely different story because of them being brothers & then their weird codependent dynamic that’s also not codependent. I don’t know, it’s so weird, but Bradley’s so addicted when it comes to him. Fabien knows him so well, can read him like a book. Bradley knows it, too, and he welcomes it. It’s why it’s so hard for him to accept this Stepford version of his brother, a version of this guy who sees what Bradley looks like right now, and says nothing. It breaks him in a way that has yet to be touched on. Bradley never thought he’d see a day where he wished he was dealing with the addiction in Fabien, not the cult. In another light, I also don’t ship Bradley romantically with people. He’s just so starved for that acceptance, and it’s unhealthy. I want to say that he needs to be able to learn to accept himself before he can begin to love another, but I don’t think he will ever be able to love himself, because everything that he sees is just a lie - something that shouldn’t be able to exist. Not to mention that Bradley is on the aro spectrum. God, he’s borderline akoiromantic, if not actually so. Which is interesting for me because so is Chet. Anyway.3: brotp: - Fabien- Ryan- SageI am, honestly, interested in the progression of his friendships with Anna & Adina as things go on, especially when Adina finds out. It’s going to be so fun! Because Adina’s going to love having someone new in the family, and she’ll be so weirdly amused to know it’s Bradley of all people, haha. Bradley doesn’t really know how to process being the town witch’s sibling, but he doesn’t really mind because he knows Adina is super chill. He’s a little weirded out by it all though, and there’s just so much possibility there! With him becoming close with Anna, and them relating to one another on some fronts. They’re great! They’ll be even greater! I mention Anna a little less only because I’m still forcing myself out of the mindset that is, “If he wasn’t related to Anna, they would bone because she would be able to dom that boy & he’d adore it, regardless of her being a woman.” Bradley doesn’t discriminate from good sex! 4: notp: - Bradley/Prestyn- Bradley/Drugs- Bradley/Balthazar- Bradley/Clayton- Bradley/Depression5: first head canon that pops into my head: Bradley has absolutely been involved with prostitution. The extent of that is unknown, but it was definitely something he was involved in. I also firmly believe that Bradley (while with Balthazar) would participate in “sharing.” I forget what the actual name is for this noise, but basically it’s Bradley being shared to other people for sexual purposes - and like, he wouldn’t have been opposed to this. See, I know that Balthazar was possessive as fuck when it came to Bradley, which is why I can see this having happened even more. Because it falls under the territory of Bradley only truly being pleased by him, that Balthazar could only truly give Bradley what he wanted (sexually). 6: one way in which I relate to this character: There are a number of ways in which I can relate to him, and I’d rather not cry, so no.7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: That boy is the biggest, hardest, most subbiest sub I have ever role played as.

SIOBAHN.

1: sexuality head canon: I picture Siobahn have a pretty fluid sexuality, but also just being insanely bisexual. I also feel like her sexuality, sometimes, might be confusing for her? I don’t know if I’m equating that with her profession, or what. It’s just something that’s kind of inside my head. So, I could be way off base there. She absolutely owns herself, though, and her sexuality. Siobahn is her own person, with her own body, and she owns that knowledge. It’s her super power.2: otp: - Siobahn/Mel- Siobahn/David- Siobahn/Hael3: brotp: - David- MelThere hasn’t been much done with them, but I’d like to think Brady should be on this list.4: notp:- Siobahn/CastielI only actively do not want Castiel involved with Siobahn in any way, shape, or form because he’s so [unintentionally (unless it’s Hael)] horrible to people. He’s selfish, inconsiderate, and self-serving. I don’t want her to get mixed up in that shitty behaviour because the girl deserves so much more in her life. Let her live under the same roof as David, or Hael (not both, for obvious reasons), so she can be loved, appreciated, and get a good lay in whenever she wants. The girl deserves it!!! Let her live!!!!  5: first head canon that pops into my head: Her & Mel have definitely worked on a client together.6: one way in which I relate to this character: I don’t. She’s too powerful. I can’t relate to a fucking Goddess. 7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: Her interest in Castiel. YOU DESERVE BETTER, HONEY! LOVE YOURSELF!!

CLAYTON.

1: sexuality head canon: Honestly, I really don’t know. I mean, he’s certainly BradleySexual.2: otp: - Clayton/Bradley3: brotp: - Bradley4: notp: - Clayton/Bradley- anyone that isn’t Bradley5: first head canon that pops into my head: Anything I could think of has pretty much been talked about, so instead, I’m going to talk about how much I love that he went out of his way to sleep with Balthazar so he could prove to Bradley that he was a sack of crap, but then it kind of worked out in the end anyway even though Clayton had done that. Honestly, I fucking love that because it’s so dark, and it’s twisted. And if Bradley had found out, it would have hilarious for Clayton to realize he’d done it all for nothing because Bradley would have shrugged off that “newfound” knowledge and told him, “So? Not like he hasn’t done it before. Not like I haven’t done it before.” Which, by the way, Bradley never actively cheated on Balthazar, but he definitely alluded to having done so. ANYWAY, so yeah, poor Clayton in a way, to be honest.6: one way in which I relate to this character: I, too, am a little fucking weird. (shut up)7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: ………………………………………..the things he says…………………during sex………..

MARY.

1: sexuality head canon: I don’t like saying straight, but I feel like in the case of Mary, she’s straight.And a little EphSexual, but in a confusing way that’s not real.2: otp: - Mary/Eph3: brotp: - Mary/EphThere has not been much interaction outside of them to warrant anyone else making this list, except for minor moments involving Kirsten - but that was literally for live tweeting purposes, so who knows if they’re really friends, but I think the consensus there is that they’re supposed to be. We should work on that.4: notp: - Mary/Eph, respectively 5: first head canon that pops into my head: She really wanted to reach out & talk more to Ephraim when the stuff with Neil came out, when his “accusations” were made against him, and the town seemed to [again] turn against Eph because Neil was just the “stand up guy.” She didn’t think he was lying, because how could Ephraim, of all people, lie about something like that? It didn’t really add up, so she knew there was validity to it, and she was concerned about him. This feeling came about again when his parents were murdered - but really, what could she have said in those moments? I feel like there was a powerless emotion that’s been there ever since these moments. 6: one way in which I relate to this character: I DON’T. But this will probably change.7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character:When she was asking Eph if he thought about before, if things had been different.Yeah….

9, 13, 16, 8, 10 !

10. which muse is the most fun to write for?

already answered here !!

16. which muse is most willing to fight another muse?

depends on what they do tbh but like if this is ‘fighting for no reason’ than definitely makaria, and if it’s bc they’re an isle kid or like half-animal then it’s otto

and ofc makaria and otto would just 100% fight each other

~*~*~*~*~*~ okay so somehow i got all the long ones kjhbfevkhe so READMORE for otps/notps and How I Met My Muse (also since this got so long i’ll answer 13 on another ask!!

8. what is each of your muses otps? notps?

so this is gonna be like ‘i once shipped them’ and ‘so many crushes’ (I’LL USE THE SLASH)and it could have been for like five minutes or five weeks so pls welcome to my mind

betty otps: betty/ranon, betty/happiness, betty/feeling-protected, betty/melissabetty notps: like romantically every other guardian kid bc she is literally their mother/sister

veronika otps: VERONIKA/NOELLE, also veronika/a-good-loving-familyveronika notps: veronika/not-good-loving-families

makaria otps: MAK/BAIN, mak/talon JHBCVKDJHFEBJ A MESSmak notps: mak/stress

hershey otps: hershey/ophelia, hershey/self-care, hershey/self-confidence omfghershey notps: hershey/self-destructive tendencies

cestrum otps: cestrum/misty, cestrum/relaxationcestrum notps: cestrum/lola (i stg this was a crackship idea once and lord almighty)

aiwei otps: aiwei/juniper, aiwei/happiness, aiwei/finding-out-more-about-his-family, aiwei/BECOMING-A-REAL-BOY-BC-HE-WAS-ONLY-A-BABY-WHEN-HE-DIEDaiwei notps: aiwei/confrontation :(

otto otps: otto/common-sense, otto/open-mindednessotto notps: otto/any-of-his-dreams-coming-true, otto/winning

illyria otps: ROLLY POLLY OLLY (illyria/ronan), illyria/the-sea, illyria/comfortillyria notp: illyria/not-being-near-the-sea (this is happening rn jfc), illyria/discomfort

kirsa otps: uM KIRSA/SHEN (SHIRSA???? SHIH TZU???), kirsa/talking-about-her-emotions-instead-of-passive-aggresively-making-them-into-playskirsa notps: kirsa/not-being-honest its an issue

dignan otps: dignan/being-himself, dignan/darcy CAN I LET THE POOR BOY LIVE ? NO ?, dignan/FUTURE BOYFRIEND WHERE ART THOU, dignan/baseball the real otp thodignan notps: dignan/closeted

helen otps: helen/swords, helen/coranza, helen/angel, helen/shae, I GOT SO MANY, helen/being-herself, helen/no-responsibilitieshelen notps: helen/keeping-things-to-herself :(

penelope otps: penelope/money, penelope/being-soft, penelope/coming-to-terms-with-her-horrible-upbringingpenelope notps: penelope/being-selfish jcvnfklrfjvbwr

9. why were you drawn to each one of your characters?

( BETTY ): i knew tasha and rhi from a previous rp we were all in, and they’d played guardian characters too and i aLWAYS wanted to play a guardian character but i didn’t have any ideas back then, but then they were like “hey you should join us” and i was like “BOY OH BOY”. sandy was always my favourite guardian, and i had just finished rping a daughter-of-morpheus character so dream powers were like my thing and boom, betty mansnoozie was born aka the sweetest, most good character i’ve ever written. ALSO i’ve always had sibling-ish relationships with rhi so like the betty/jake relationship goes back a LOOONG way

( VERONIKA ): after betty i knew i wanted a darker character, and i was like “okay so who is like completely unforgivable” and i immediately thought of rasputin. there was also another rasputin child around at the time, and they had gotten rasputin’s powers so i was like!! what if i made a kid that wanted those powers, who wanted to be a villain and to be like their parent?? veronika’s gone a long way since then and really like i’m so proud of her and i love her so much, she’s just gone through a lot i lOVE HER

( MAKARIA ): SO OKAY LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT ME AND HADES BECAUSE HONESTLY, THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS. i first played a character based on panic (hades’ sidekick) like aaaaages ago, and then i played actual disney hades in another rp. needless to say i really fucking love hades as a character. and betty was too nice, and veronika was too cynical and kept to herself, and i really wanted another mean-spirited CHATTERBOX (because i myself am such a chatterbox i mean look at this). i lowkey had a child of hades in a closed rp sort of situation, his name was macario (because i’d wanted a son) but the original is makaria, and i love my girls sO makaria was born. i also love zendaya, and previously hades had always been white but so much art on tumblr depicts persephone as this beautiful black woman so !! BOOM. i also wanted to try a different villain-kid-parent dynamic, because veronika ends up hating her dad but mak like 100% defends hades still like even to this day

( HERSHEY ): I WANTED A BOY LMAO and i was really into bts at the time so i’m like okay hmm where would yoongi fit in?? i re-watched wreck-it-ralph randomly and i remembered that i always wanted to try a sugar rush child so i was like heeeeeeeeeyyyy :)))). and it kinda just all fell into place because i’d also been interested in making a character that loved cars and racing (fast and the furious got me so bad). and i liked the idea of having another character with some sort of ability, and it was so interesting figuring out how hershey was going to fit into the auradon world bc he was originally virtual sO YEAH. and also the name came like in a second. FUN FACT, hershey von schweetz’s fc (in a different time before BTS took over my life) was going to be hailee steinfeld and now look at wHO USES HAILEE STEINFELD

( CESTRUM ): so after the craziness and Extra-ness of makaria and hershey i know i wanted someone more chill. i had always loved alice in wonderland i knew i wanted a son of the caterpillar because 1) alan rickman’s voice is God and 2) i always wanted to rp the caterpillar in like so many disney rps but i never got the chance lmao. so the idea for cestrum actually came even before i found the perfect fc (kibum), and it took me ages to find the perfect fc. i knew he was going to be weird and quiet but also talkative but also nOT? and just a different moral compass and way of thinking from everyone else. i was so sure about applying for cestrum and it was only after that i was like “ok but am i going to be smart enough to play this like 5000 IQ person wtf did i get into” and yEAH. also i always like making new characters with types that (during that time of the rp) aren’t so common yet, so having this stoic character was like yEAAAAAHHHH

( AIWEI ): so hershey and cestrum are my first boys and this is basically the start of my “one boy after another” streak and then i got AIWEI. the real babe. everyone’s been pretty mature so far, or like dealing with a lot of responsibility etc. and now i wanted someone who would be like a real teenager (more or less) and just have that childlike wonder and be rly innocent tbh. so aiwei is all of this, and he’s young and inexperienced but the twist was that he’s actually this boy who died in a fire when he was a baby and his father, in the underworld, resurrected him and performed some magic frankenstein stuff to make him grow older. and he’s the oldest out of all the kids but he’s been a baby 60% of this life until elder gutknecht finally got all the tools necessary to make him old and i jUST !! also i really loved that tin-man song from the wizard of oz. my actual baby, aiwei gutknecht i love him and will die for him

( OTTO ): AND AFTER ALL THE NICE, SEMI-NICE PEOPLE i was like “so what’s happening with the isle thing right now do ppl not like them like is there active resentment or what” and then i was like “what if i had a character that did the active resentment!!” and otto white was born. i knew he was going to be a jackass. i knew he was going to be anti-isle. and i knew he had to be a prince and a kid of one of the ‘original’ disney princesses. and i ended up choosing snow white because she’s technically the ‘oldest’ and there was evie and vera and i was like aayyyyy conflict. but yeah so otto was going to be the personification of fear and bias against isle kids, and i thought it’d be fun to play with that politics and society thing that i’ve never really done before. otto’s my first character that is actually irredeemably an asshole. i wanted to see how far i could go and where i could go with a character that was actively trying to not change. i was super nervous about applying for him tho bc like i knew he was going to insult a lot of people and i didn’t want to be like hated rip bUT it turned out well so YEH

( ILLYRIA ): i’ll be honest i watched pirates of the carribean and like calypso/davy jones is still the otp of otps for me. and i once had my fortune-telling phase and i saw valentine was there anD ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY TO USE A FILIPINO FC !! HECK YEAH !! and at this point i wanted to like branch out from my usual characters and try something different, to add new things about characters so i thought about illyria’s aversion to touch. and i knew she was going to be stoic and weird like cestrum, but she was also going to be charming and i wanted to see how that would go and it’s hard getting into illyria’s head sometimes but she’s like a Fave

( KIRSA ): so i watched this movie called “the darjeeling limited” and it’s basically about this dysfunctional set of siblings – one of them feels super responsible for the other two but is a big mess, the other sort is more put together but has problems he actively avoids, and then the last is this playwright who’s been in love with the same girl for like 10 years and falls in love easily. and i was like “who does that remind me of???” SO TBH the idea for kirsa first started out as a brother for the stahlbaums but then i realised there were no more spaces and i was like “tHE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!!” and the rest is history. so kirsa is the dramatic playwright who falls in love too easily but also doesn’t know how to love properly, and she drinks and smokes and has all these vices and she’s still 17 so like what a hot mess. she’s as talkative as mak and as flirty as hershey but kirsa is less put-together and although she thinks she knows herself, she really doesn’t. she needs guidance pls

( DIGNAN ): so this really just began as a “i wanna get in on this waters family drama” business LMAO. and i love sarah’s misty so i wanted to see how it would go if she had a little brother. it also made a bit of a change because most of my characters are like the ‘older’ siblings or friends and i wanted more young people so i thought of dignan!! i also wanted a character that would be more pro-authority than other characters i’ve had before (dig’s always going to think highly of the auradon royalty bc he understands them and knows they don’t rly have much choice sometimes and that they try their best). and i chose joe keery (aka steve harrington, love of my life) as an fc bc i JUST FINISHED WATCHING STRANGER THINGS and charlie heaton was darcy, and natalia dyer was being used too and i was like hEYYY FC CONNECTIONS. 

               FUN FACT: dignan’s two defining things right now (baseball and being gay) weren’t even in the cards at the start, he was literally supposed to be more john watson, i’m-gonna-be-a-serious-doctor and like be fun but a guy who loved to study. but now he’s sporty and he’s figuring out this new part of himself and he’s literally my actual favourite character right now i love dig so much. also i needed a character that would 100% share my love for the 80s (hershey loves 80s music but only sings to annoy ppl so its not the sAME). and now dig has the hair and the fashion sense and he loves 80s music too man.

( HELEN ): the idea for helen really began with like this ‘bodyguard’ idea. i wanted a character that was like 100% protective. they were going to be this warrior, trained-as-a-child kind of person, and they were gonna be connected to royalty. i first tried this with kirsa but that didn’t work out, and then i tried it with dignan but he was too soft and easily persuaded tbh he can never be mad at his royals. and then i thought of tangled (and the mess the hoods and the greenes were in at the time LMAO). 

helen was first gonna be max’s child (for the full guard effect) but then i saw a space opening for rapunzel and eugene’s child and !! and then she became princess warrior, who wanted to protect her people rather than rule them and LIKE WHO DOES THAT REMIND ME OF??? PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA THAT’S WHO so seriously fun fact, a lot of the inspriation for helen is leia. and i chose the name ‘helen’ because of helen of sparta, a beautiful woman who started the longest war, and together with the fact that helen is very much a fighter of wars rather than the starter (and she has low self-esteem rip) its so fun i love helen, my sword princess child

( PENELOPE ): so i have an asshole auradonian, and mak is like simmering down, i knew i wanted an asshole isle person. and mak/blythe have such an awesome friendship and i loved blythe’s character and all the people in the cinderella family and world and i knew i wanted to get some of that action ;)))) so i rewatched the 2015 movie (I LOVE CATE BLANCHETT SO MUCH) and then i rewatched ‘ever after’ which is this 90s cinderella movie with drew barrymore. after watching ever after, i knew exactly how i wanted this daughter of drizella to be like. she’s going to be the worst parts of mak and kirsa (they’re bitches but like nice ones) and just be this snooty sugar baby gold-digger. she knows exactly what she wants, she knows she’s going to get it. she’s part daisy buchanan, jordan baker, very much this hedonistic character who understands life as being good if you have money and status. such an old idea but it’s what she learned from her fAMILY. 

a lot of penelope’s character came from me wanting to explore what i’d found with otto, the unapologetic asshole, but now she had reasons to be. otto’s rich and gets ltierally everything he wants so he sucks even more because he’s still mean-spirited – but now we have penny, who grew up with nothing but wanted everything, and her grandmother and mother put all their hopes and dreams on her, told her not to associate with her nicer aunt and cousin and even her little sister – and she’s an asshole. literally guys penelope is going to change and become better i just dunno how yet but shE WILL

13. what’s a weird headcanon you have for each of your muses?

THIS ASK GOT WAY TOO LONG ALREADY, BUT I GOT THIS NUMBER IN ANOTHER QUESTION SO I’LL ANSWER IT THEEEEERE

Episode Notes | S1E1, Pilot pt. 1

Here we are, at the beginning of these proper episode notes! It’s worth- well, noting, if you’ll pardon the redundancy, that in these early season one episodes… I believe it’s the first eight or so- things are a bit rocky. We’re going to talk about that a fair bit, as we come to these situations, but the important thing is to note that a lot of the character notes I make in these early episodes are merely going to be speculative, because the characters change a lot in these early bits. Also worth noting, is that this early section of season one is not an ensemble show. It’s starring Gordon Jump and Gary Sandy, and everyone else isn’t even in every episode. They also feature the long revered but admittedly lengthy opening credits, which you can watch here, if you don’t happen to have the DVDs on hand as some of us do.

I will also try to mention what music is playing when, if I know it, but even though I listen to a LOT of classic rock, I’m afraid I’m not the greatest at recognizing it when I don’t already know it and the great “identify the song that’s playing” feature of my phone can’t help me when there’s dialogue over the music. SO. I will do my best but no promises.

OKAY. SO. Pilot episode, part one.

This would be an opportune time to discuss the history of the creation of WKRP, but I kinda wanna save that post for another day. It isn’t really something that’s part of the episode notes anyway, so we’ll skip that bit for now. Instead, we’ll talk about just the episode itself and the introductions of the characters and the overall plot.

The plot here is that the worst radio station in Cinci has hired (yet another) program director, who is Andy Travis. He is coming in for the first time today. And of course, he is the straight man to all the nuts at the station, the normal guy from the outside, and the original plan was to have him be our eyes to the station, to tell the stories from his point of view- which is of course, a mistake, and why the show later became officially an ensemble situation.

This is a typical sitcom plot where we have a new person, and they go around and meet everyone in the new place- an overused but very useful (and I feel still very useable) trope for meeting the characters of a new location or show or what have you.

We open on this one, on Jennifer tending to the plants in the lobby. While I believe there are always at least some plants in the lobby (I guess if I’m wrong we’ll find out in the future now won’t we), I don’t think Jennifer is so into them in later episodes. I don’t even think there are any plants in Jennifer’s apartment. But in these early season episodes, she is very protective of the plants and she spends a lot of time…..with them, if I may word it like that, and I honestly think that the writers not quite knowing what to do with Jennifer begins here on day one.

Also, the music the show opens with (not the theme, I’m talking when Jennifer is tending the flora and fauna), is perhaps the least WKRP sounding music I’ve ever heard in my life and it’s honestly sort of amusing. But also weird.

Herb is introduced second, in all his sexist glory, and I must say how clear it is that he developed a lot in this first season. He is played very stereotypically sleazy in this episode, especially, and his clothes- while still in bad taste, are actually pretty classy. For Herb.

For a man that wears a giant blue and white checkerboard suit with a matching tie later in the series.

(Click the read more to view the full notes for this episode!)

They also establish that he’s married here, and it almost feels like they did it just for the laughs- once again, he’s played sleazy here, not totally but definitely more so than later in the series, and it seems apparent to me that they didn’t plan on analyzing why this married man can’t bring himself to cheat on his wife, as they (sort of) do in later episodes.

Also, “would you like to meet Bert Convy in person”. Herb's concept of impressing women is by introducing them to game show hosts. Need I say more?

Next up, in walks our temporary star, Andy. His stereotype is also immediately enforced, as is everyone’s on this show. He’s a cowboy, from Santa Fe, and the Big Guy hired him on the phone.

Speaking of the Big Guy, another bit of odd characterization is Jennifer’s last descriptor- “the jerk who runs this place.” Now, we all know Mr. Carlson and we all know that is a very unfitting description of the man. Regardless, I think it is a simple joke. I don’t think the plan was ever for it to describe Carlson, because for all the off character traits of the early episodes, that is not one of them.

Les is also immediately established, with a character trait that sticks with him forever- “award winning farm reports”. I think this is a joke about Cincinnati, but it will of course very quickly become a joke about Les and his obsession with hogs.

We also learn a crucial bit of information- “the last program director lasted 30 minutes before the Big Guy fired him.” Yet another strangely harsh precursor to the Big Guy’s entrance, because regardless of what people say about him, he is never played like a jerk.

Jennifer sets up the idea that Herb is “dying for some steamy one night stand”, which I think is interesting because as we will learn later… he isn’t, not really, but perhaps she just uses him as something to bounce the idea off of to test Andy.

I still don’t get the setup from the other characters, who surely know better, but it seems like Mr. Carlson is perhaps putting on airs to try and seem like “the jerk who runs this place” so that if he has to fire Andy, maybe it’ll help him have the guts to. But I wouldn’t think Jennifer, Herb or Les would be fooled, and I also don’t think Les would be capable of doing a proper job of acting to convince Andy. So. Not sure about that stuff, but as for the Big Guy himself, you can see his act fall away when he says, “Ooh! Do you think that’s wise?” in response to Andy telling him he quit his job in Santa Fe.

The introduction of Mama being verbal, but not having her in the first half of the pilot, is an interesting choice that allows the imagination to run rampant, and I like it.

Then of course, comes the immortal introduction of Johnny Caravella- Johnny Midnight, Johnny Duke, Johnny Cool, Johnny Style, and Johnny Sunshine- But not yet Johnny Fever. The coffee keeps in sharp as a tack.

I do find Johnny’s failure to realize who and where he is and to stay awake, is an odd thing, because it goes away in the second episode. Perhaps we are to believe that he’s cured of that with the format change- but he does it one more time at the end of this episode, so perhaps not. Either way, that’s another character trait they didn’t keep.

And now the farm thing with Les quickly becomes a hog thing, as he shows up fresh off the air with the hog futures. (“hogs have futures, I don’t”) and in comes another trait for Les that I don’t remember him as having, and which I honestly don’t think he keeps after the pilot: Being a suck up. Of course, Herb is always a suck up, because he’s Herb, and we see that in this scene too, but the reason is, they were both up for Andy’s job.

Speaking of Andy’s job, what better poster could he unroll that would make the audience release a collective gasp, than a KISS poster? It’s no secret what he’s planning to do.

The next character we meet is Bailey, in the booth with Johnny, where we get to see Johnny Caravella in action- and then the format change.

Johnny thinks he’s a little too old for this rock n roll stuff. He wants andy to find someone “about fifteen years younger.” He sees himself as past his prime, and he seems to have accepted it. But being convinced of the idea, and doing it, elicts an incredible change in Johnny- it’s like watching him come to life. And, of course, the moniker of Dr. Johnny Fever is born.

We’ll probably discuss this more in later episode notes, but Johnny was a breakout character, and MTM had to do some damage control to keep him from taking it over, because by then they had decided the show would do best as an ensemble piece and that’s how it would stay.

Another interesting thing I want to note before we get to the action packed wrap up of this half of the pilot, is the ships. We know right away that the NoTP of the show is Jennifer and Herb, but possible OTPs include Johnny and Bailey. However, it does seem that they’re lowkey pushing an Andy and Bailey thing here too. Kinda like they were thinking of some kind of triangle situation. Which, obviously that is never realized, but I do find it interesting (and it is worth mentioning that it’s not hard to find Andy/Bailey fic around lol).

SO. The wrap up. In bursts Mr. Carlson, ready to promote Herb (Herb and Les bail on Andy right away to support the Big Guy, back to that I-knew-Herb-was-professional-butt-kisser-but-why-is-Les-behaving-this-way thing) and fire Andy because Mama Carlson heard the station three days in and she is upset.

Mrs. Carlson is played by Sylvia Sydney here, but for some reason after the pilot she is always played by Carol Bruce. Now, I love Carol Bruce, but of course she is a less believable age if Arthur is indeed over 40, as he proclaims in a later episode.

Regardless, Mama comes in, demanding to to know what is going on, and the Big Guy is generating all sorts of stories for her. But the sway of money and the first sign of a backbone she’s ever seen in her son, convince her to allow the hijinks to continue- “for a while.”

The final introduction- Venus Flytrap comes in just in time to elict one of the biggest eyerolls I’ve ever seen from Mama Carlson. He’s presented as, and pardon my use of the possibly inappropriate term, a bit of a jive turkey in early episodes like this one, and it’s played straight. But when Hugh Wilson, creator of the show, sat down with Tim Reid (who plays Venus) to work on this stuff, it is later revealed that it’s mostly an act from Venus, who is far from that stereotype.

We close on a beautiful shot of Mr. Carlson not understanding kids these days as he and his briefcase wander somewhat forlornly down the hall, past the booth, and Venus does his inaugural nighttime show.

All in all, I say this is a good pilot, and if I just….. Saw it and nothing else I think I would be interested to see more. I’m not sure if this is the pilot for the same show we all know and love, as I said, because so many small details are going to change very rapidly, but such is the way with pilots.

I’d rate this, keeping in mind that it’s a pilot, a solid 7/10.

Stay tuned for more (hopefully shorter) episode notes as we get farther into the world of WKRP!