The "Dumb Muscle" Myth: How Fandom Media Illiteracy Weaponized Amon’s Greatest Fear Against Korra (and Adora)
Every single day, I wake up on this blue rock and have to witness some of the absolute worst media literacy takes regarding early-season Korra, and honestly? I am tired. I am so deeply tired of people rewriting canonical history to pretend our girl was just a hot-headed, muscle-brained disaster, when the text literally hands us proof that she was a tactical savant. Let’s talk about Book 1, Episode 9, "Out of the Past," because some of y'all desperately need a refresher course.
Let’s set the scene: Korra is stripped of her freedom, locked in a literal platinum box, physically exhausted, and isolated from her support system by Tarrlok. She is facing the Equalists—a highly organized, technologically advanced anti-bending militia led by a man who can literally strip away a person's cultural and spiritual identity with a single touch.
And what does Korra do? Does she blindly smash her fists against the metal until her knuckles bleed like an "overly aggressive dumbass" would?
No. She plays possum.
She uses absolute, calculated restraint. She weaponizes her enemy’s patriarchal and anti-bender assumptions against them. She waits for the exact microscopic window of opportunity, tricks them into thinking she’s completely incapacitated, and then explodes into a masterclass of close-quarters combat. She systematically dismantles multiple Equalists, handles the Lieutenant like it's a casual Tuesday warm-up, and manages to hold off Amon himself—a man who has terrified the entire underworld of Republic City—just long enough to secure her own escape.
That isn't just "cool." It isn't just "badass." It is clever, cunning, and deeply strategic.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Let's look at the literal narrative text. After Korra escapes his grasp, Amon turns to his subordinates and says:
"I thought I told you not to underestimate her."
AMON. The most terrifyingly intelligent, cool-headed, manipulative antagonist of the entire season, explicitly reprimands his own men because they made the mistake of thinking Korra was just a mindless powerhouse. Amon respected her mind. Amon recognized her survival instincts. Amon knew that backing Avatar Korra into a corner didn't make her weak—it made her a brilliant, unpredictable threat.
So why, pray tell, does a loud portion of the fandom still reduce Book 1 and 2 Korra to a reckless, arrogant brawler?
It is the exact same exhausting, misogynistic phenomenon we see in other fandom spaces. It’s the exact same way people look at Adora from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and dismiss her as a "Dumb Blonde" or a clueless jock.
Excuse me? Adora was literally a top-of-the-class former Horde Force Captain trained from infancy in military strategy, cartography, and tactical warfare. Korra was isolated and trained by the highest-ranking elemental masters on the planet since she was a toddler. Both of these young women are physical prodigies. Because they lead with their strength and possess fierce, passionate personalities, bad-faith critics completely erase their high situational awareness, their adaptability, and their intellect.
Stop confusing a character’s youthful arrogance or emotional trauma with a lack of intelligence. Korra wasn't stupid; she was a teenager fighting a psychological and political war she was never prepared for, and she still outsmarted a cult leader in a horror-movie scenario.
Give Avatar Korra her flowers for her brain, not just her biceps. I am begging you all to turn your monitors on when you watch television.
You never know what a fictional character or a piece of fanfiction is doing for someone’s mental health. For some, these worlds are the only thing keeping the darkness at bay. I believe in addressing things head-on, and I know that makes some people uncomfortable—and that’s okay.
Because of that, I don’t "just ignore" hate or minimization. I’m going to address it. Every single time. I’m at a point in my life where I’d rather be "too controversial" than stay silent while something beautiful is being torn down.
If my energy is too much for you, feel infollow. I’m here for the people who need someone to stand up for their safe haven.
It’s never an attack on you personally. It’s just me standing up for what I believe in, especially when it comes to the stories and characters that keep us going. If that’s not your vibe, no hard feelings! But this is who I am and how I run my space.
In Defense of Tenten - the Chunin Exams' Written Test and Her Mirrors
A common joke made about Tenten is how obvious her mirror and line contraption, used to share answers with Rock Lee during the written exam, is. In this post, I'll show how her solution is perfectly reasonable and why she wasn't disqualified by the ninja proctors.
Firstly, we have to stablish what the objective of this written test is: to cheat. The written test was designed to be too difficult for ninjas of their level to be able to answer, forcing them to cheat from each other. Such is stated by Ibiki in the end of the First Phase chapters:
Next, the proctors are all higher level shinobi, better prepared and used to seeing various tricks and jutsu. It's not an stretch to suppose they're aware of EVERY cheating attempt made by those Genin, but were responsible for judging if their technique is too sloppy, obvious or ineffective.
My theory is supported by this scene, where Izumo eliminates one of the ninjas doing the test, claiming he took "five strikes".
It implies the competitors are allowed five errors before being disqualified, and one of the eliminated Genin makes it clear to the reader the "five strikes" are five times being caught cheating.
Naruto is also implied to be caught almost cheating when Hinata offers him her test answers (it can be interpreted either as Naruto being closely watched or Naruto's nerves making him think like that, half the proctors' job is to scare the Genin) and even then he is not automatically removed.
Tenten's technique may be obvious for us, as readers who have been shown by the author himself how she did it, but it's a single and successful attempt, and it's not commentated by any other characters, meaning no one caught on her besides the proctors, and they would only disqualify her if she did it more than once (which wasn't needed, she found the mole with all the answers!).
A pettier criticism i've "how isn't anyone seeing the lines?" to which the answer is very simple: manga is a visual media and the author needed the audience to understand how she was manipulating the mirror. If you take in consideration Tenten's fight with Temari in the anime - which is filler, btw, and it's up to you reading this to decide if it's a fair assessment on their abilities or not - she's shown using invisible lines to manipulate her weapons after throwing them. The lines are, conveniently, only visible when the animation needs us to understand how the weapons are moving backwards. Any other frame they're invisible.
You can see in the panel how the lines fade out towards the bottom and only show where they're attached to the mirror.
Finally: that's exactly what Ibiki expected the genin to do. There have been a few posts, specially on twitter, asking "how are you supposed to pass if you don't have a kekken genkai??". Like Tenten. That's how.
Kankuro and Tenten are the only characters which Kishimoto showed us cheating that didn't use an exclusive DNA super power. Kankuro and Tenten both use hidden threads, one uses chakra lines for puppetry and the last manipulates mirrors. They also pass their answers to their teammates, Temari and Lee.
(Sakura is the only confirmed character to do the entire test without cheating. Congrats Sakura!! You could argue Hinata used her byakuugan to cheat like Neji, but if you think she did it by herself, I will give you the pleasure of congratulating Hinata too. Congrats Hinata!)
Tenten's method was practical, and used her specific skill set: summoning and kunai work (where do you think the mirrors came from? a scroll, that's for sure). It was probably set up before the test started, during the commotion Team 7 created with their arrival. We're not shown it because Tenten is a tertiary character and Kishimoto wouldn't invest 2-3 panels of set up for a 3 panel sequence pay-off that works by itself very well. She is smart, did great and made sure her teammate was not left behind.
Tenten is not even the most absurd method used in this exam, so, as a treat, i will show you, in order, the most obvious cheats shown in the manga from least to most!
Sasuke's Sharingan
If you're a ninja from the Leaf Village, you know who Sasuke Uchiha is and what a Sharingan is capable of. Unfortunally for him, the Exam is being held at the Leaf Village and all the jounin and chuunin there are from the Village. Any proctor looking at his direction in a position in front of him could see clearly his eyes and know exactly what he was doing.
Neji's Byukuugan
Like the Sharigan, you can physhically see when it's activated, with the downgrade of being noticible by people sitting at up to 95º from him, as the veins are visible on the sides of his face too. A fair trade for the ability to see better than the Sharingan, even if you're not able to copy, in my personal opinion.
Ino's Mind Transfer Jutsu
The jutsu's hand signal is simple and can be missed, but it's still obvious for any Konoha ninja watching, it is a very recognizable ability. There's also the higher chance of Ino being caught since she needs to do it three times (once for getting Sakura's answers, twice to pass them to Chouji and Shikamaru). Besides, the "dropping dead on the table" thing can be disruptive in a mostly silent classroom.
Akamaru and Kiba's communication
Akamaru is barking all the way through the exam, and while the balloon used for the text is the one for thoughts, it's also the same used for whispered conversations up to this point in the manga. The anime makes the barks happen in the real world, and not in their thoughts, and as far as i could find, Kiba can understand dog language but there's no psychic talk between them. By the noise alone he could be caught. I think he wasn't expelled just because a full conversation between dog and human is a novel enough ability to not be considered by most ninjas unaware of the Inuzuka clan's special abilities.
The Most absurd one: Kakuro and his Puppet
He put an entire guy no one knows and has never been seen in a room where all the authorities are from the same village and have, at least, a vague knowledge of each other's existence. To increase the absurdity, somehow everyone let Kankuro use his own puppet to guide himself to the bathroom. I cannot express enough how unlikely it is that, in a real info gathering mission inside a single room where all the higher rank ninjas are exclusively from the same village, Kakuro's plan could work. Most decent sensors could also catch the chakra line's signature.
I'll give it to him, making the puppet talk helps with the disguise, but it only fools his fellow attendees, not the proctors. He's too confident that he didn't raise any alarms.
But Ibiki goes as far as insinuating he knows (and has known from the start) about the puppet's existence when Kankuro comes back from the bathroom.
If Kankuro was able to finish the test and not get disqualified, even if he had what I consider the most obvious cheating attempt from the named characters shown, it's fair game for Tenten and all the other important cheaters. Besides, it's a single attempt at cheating, even if it required an entire prep work for it, so it doesn't matter if all the high level ninja's are aware, that's not enough to kick him out.
I cannot leave out the meta reasons why these characters weren't removed from the class: they're important to varying degrees to the story and they need to advance through the first phase to keep readers engaged.
Regardless of how absurd I think Kiba's and Kankuro's methods are, they need to go all the way to the fight tournament after the Forest of Death, where they have important roles to fill: Sasuke and Naruto are main characters and are prioritized by the narrative; Ino and Sakura will have an important character developments and flashbacks during their fight; Neji has an entire arc that only concludes all the way in his fight against Naruto; Kiba is the rival for Naruto in the surprise fighting tournament and he is one of the few characters able to match Naruto's silliness so he can win in a silly way; Kankuro and Tenten are both part of the two strongest cells present in the event, the Sand Siblings and Team Gai, both introduced as real threats to Team 7, and having anyone from these cells lose would undermine the narrative created around then. All of them would get through anyway.
Tenten losing against Temari in future parts of the Chuunin Exam has narrative importance too, a fight I will cover in the next In Defense of Tenten, but in short Tenten was introduced as a threat alongside Neji and Lee, her abilities and experience surpassing Team 7's. Having her lose against one the Sand Shinobi serves to show how big their gap in power is: if someone more experienced and well trained than them can't win against them, Team 7 has no chance. It's part of the build up for the future Naruto and Gaara fight, and the suspense about their real strength (since the fight doesn't exist in the manga, only the result is shown).
Conclusion: people are overly critical of Tenten because she's seen as a "lolcow" in the Naruto fandom, in part by the bad adaptation of her fight with Temari to the anime, which poisoned any feat of hers before and after it; but also because Naruto and Boruto don't give satisfying ends to any of the original female cast besides Hinata (she marries the man she loves and becomes a housewife away from the battlefield, an honorable decision i will never shit on, she never wanted to be a ninja and is a kind mother and wife, good for her!) so all female characters are seem as weak and useless when compared to their male peers. Naruto is a work riddled with undercover misogyny, never out right stated but always preventing the girls to achieve any meaningful resolution or permanent development.
That added to the ever expanding powerscalling abilities and fights make characters with simpler and down to earth abilities and feats outdated by its own universe. Knowing how big the Naruto fights and jutsu get in the future make people look down on crafty solutions like sealing scrolls, kunai and mirrors, when that is a perfectly respectable solution within the series and matches the powerlevel presented this early in the story.
Tenten is not weak, or bad, or useless. She's misrepresented by the most popular media consumed: the anime, and further misunderstood by the fans of said work. Large fandoms can be allergic to text interpretation and infighting is stimulated to the point fans of smaller characters are bullied off social media and forums (i.e. the forum where I got the list of all chapters Tenten is in is filled to the brim with comments about how OP should move the topic to "fan works" since no one would want to read about it in the canon work page, or how the mods shouldn't allow him to have a thread). I respect Tenten's feats, as well as other small characters', and refuse to be fed the same "uselessness" narrative this fandom always had, because i actually enjoy Naruto, even if i have many problems with it, and I take it seriously.
A few days ago, I saw a post about Little Women that encouraged people to stop idealizing Jo and admit how flawed and selfish she can be. Now, of course I agree that Jo has many flaws – no one would agree more than the self-deprecating Louisa May Alcott herself, I think – and she can indeed be selfish. It's also true that fans who relate to her do tend to idealize her too much.
But this particular post didn't ring true at all. It was clearly based on the 2019 film, not the book(s). And it accused Jo of things that she's not guilty of, especially regarding her relationship with Amy.
"Jo hates Amy."
No, Jo loves Amy. True, their relationship is sometimes difficult, especially in Part 1 when they're an immature teenager and preteen, but the love is still there.
I'll admit "Jo Meets Apollyon" does disturb me a little bit. I do sometimes wonder how, if Jo really loves Amy, she can bring herself to not warn her about the thin ice, burned manuscript or no burned manuscript. But that's just because I'm an only child; I've been told that if I had a sibling, then I would understand how "sometimes genuinely murderous rage" and "unconditional soul bond" can be combined. Just look at how horrified Jo is when Amy really does fall through the ice, and how she cries and berates herself afterwards, and then hugs and kisses Amy when she wakes up!
Apart from that one chapter, their conflicts are mostly light and comically written, and they have plenty of warm and friendly interactions too. Jo calls Amy affectionate pet names like "deary," in "Amy's Valley of Humiliation" she wants Mr. Davis to be arrested for whipping Amy's hand, and in Part 2, the more they both mature, the more she praises and admires Amy's good qualities.
If you think either one of them hates the other, you clearly haven't read the book(s).
"Jo resents Amy for being in Europe during Beth's final illness and not having to deal with it."
This is only true in the 2019 film, with Jo's line "Amy has always had a talent for getting out of the hard parts of life." But that line isn't from the book. Jo never says any such thing in the book.
At worst, her private thoughts express some envy of Amy after Beth's death: "Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow. It was not fair, for she tried more than Amy to be good, but never got any reward, only disappointment, trouble and hard work." Now, if by "some people," Jo specifically means Amy (though that's debatable), then I'll admit, that thought is a little mean-spirited; Amy most certainly doesn't have "all sunshine," she's mourning Beth's death too, and unlike Jo, she never got to say goodbye. But I don't think the meaning of those two lines is "Jo is jealous that Amy didn't have to deal with Beth's illness and death."
This passage isn't about Beth's illness at all, but about the aftermath, when Jo is not only deep in grief, but trapped in an unfulfilling life. With Beth gone, and with Jo's writing career having failed in New York, Jo has lost her sense of purpose: she feels duty-bound to take Beth's place as their parents' housekeeper, and adopt the quiet, self-effacing, domestic life that Beth led, which doesn't suit her the way it suited Beth. This, just as much as Beth's death itself, is the cause of Jo's depression, and if she envies Amy at this point, it's because Amy is traveling, creating art, and having adventures, which Jo will apparently never have again. Not because she thinks Amy was "lucky" to be away from home and not know Beth was dying until after it happened – that envy is a 2019 film invention.
"Jo only comes to care about Amy after Beth dies."
This is so obviously not true. As written by Alcott, most of Jo's interactions with Amy and displays of affection for her come while Beth is still alive. Just because Jo is closest to Beth out of all her sisters doesn't mean Amy or Meg don't matter to her: that's nonsense! If adaptations fail to give her enough positive interactions with Amy before Beth dies, that's the fault of the adaptations, not the fault of Alcott's Jo.
"After Beth's death, Jo feels sorry for herself."
Now, this makes me mad! Especially because I lost my dad this year. You don't get to judge grief this way!!
Beth was Jo's closest confidante and vice-versa. They loved each other more than anyone else on earth. And it's not as if Beth dies suddenly either. Jo is traumatized by watching her slowly decline while caring for her day and night for months. Beth was also the last companion close to Jo's own age that she had left, because Meg was married, Amy and Laurie were in Europe, and since Jo rejected Laurie's proposal she doesn't know if she's lost his friendship or not. And as I mentioned above, Jo feels stifled and unfulfilled by her efforts to "take Beth's place" as the family's domestic caregiver – she feels duty-bound to a way of life that doesn't bring her joy.
Add to this the failure of her writing career in New York, her possibly already-budding feelings for Friedrich Bhaer without knowing when she'll see him again, her fear that in Laurie she threw away her only chance for romantic love, and from a modern perspective her possible hints of bipolar disorder (her manic "writing fits," her struggle with her temper, her impulsiveness, etc.), and it's no wonder that she falls into a deep depression! To call it "self-pity" is total nonsense!
Jo is far from perfect, but please, let's not accuse her of things that Alcott never wrote!
Jason Gideon didn’t owe Spencer Reid a father figure, let me explain.
Throughout the show “Criminal Minds,” the BAU not only bonds as a spectacular team, but a loving family (despite its sometimes unhinged nature.) This is sweet, and it’s warm, but it isn’t required. If anything, it’s dangerous. Incredibly so. Strauss wasn’t harsh on the team for no reason; time and time again the family dynamics of the BAU, although heart-warming, put the bureau in danger (take Emily erasing evidence whilst Reid was in prison, for example.)
Back to Gideon. As a character, Jason is very standoffish and keen on doing his job right. This makes sense, he and Rossi were literally the founders. Dare I say the guys autistic, but that’s for another time. As someone who’s trying to better the team that he’s dedicated to, and the world itself, it’s natural that he’d want the best of the best (that being 22-year-old Spencer Reid.) And that’s it. Jason sought out a good agent, and found one. That sounds cruel, but it isn’t.. not really. It’s realistic. Never once had Gideon ever given off the impression that he wanted to be a surrogate father, pretty sure he didn’t do well with his BIOLOGICAL son.
What I think? We saw their relationship through Spencer’s eyes more than anyone else, and Spencer likely wanted Gideon to play the role of his absent father— perhaps even subconsciously. It was, sadly, one-sided. That isn’t anyone’s fault. I think Spencer just saw something that wasn’t there. They’re there to do a job, not play house (that sounds harsh, I know, but I’m trying to stay objective to what the FBI ((probably??)) should be.)
The shows slice-of-life subtext, contrasted with Jason Gideons very not-paternal nature, created this misconception that Gideon is this cruel jerk that used Spencer like a toy and nothing else. I don’t think so, and I’m honestly pretty tired of people mischaracterizing him that way. Especially when it comes to Gideon leaving!! People always hyperfocus on how he left a note like William did, but how could he have known? (Assuming Reid didn’t tell him off-screen.) Frank MURDERED his partner and tried to FRAME HIM FOR IT, going against EVERYTHING Gideon stood for. This isn’t (completely) about Spencer. Gideon served his time, and it burned him for the last time. Let that man breathe. If anything, it’s pretty thoughtful that he knew how Spencer would react— and took the time to leave him something to tie up loose ends. (Again, he likely didn’t know about William Reid.)
Does he have his flaws? Yeah. And honestly it makes him likable. He felt like the most grounded and realistic character in the entire series, honestly. But I’m really tired of people saying he’s just “arrogant” or “cruel” or anything like that. PLEASE rewatch and pay closer attention to his character, he’s pretty neat 🥺✌️.
I'm probably going to lose a lot of friends for saying this, but...
I never, ever got the hate for Serena.
Okay, first thing you need to know is, this is coming from a multishipper (someone who ships multiple pairings with the same person). I like Pokeshipping, Negaishipping, Amourshipping, and Journeyshipping.
Second thing you need to know is, I have one big theory about Serena.
Serena is intended as a self-insert for female viewers.
Her relationship with Ash is hyped up more than Misty's, her goal (I do legitimately believe Showcases are her main goal, and that it wasn't just to get Ash's attention) is extremely hyperfeminine, she has almost no discernible personality whatsoever, and she has tons of alternate outfits.
Okay, so these may be stereotypical, but, as someone who was once a little girl, romance and fashion are often interests of little girls, and they were definitely interesfs of mine. Just look at the girlsgogames catalog and all their dress up and dating games!
When I was little (6-12) I watched every Pokemon season, but BW was my first and XY was my fave. I wanted more than anything to be Serena. I drew her in my sketchbooks, when I first got my hair cut I asked my friends if I looked like her (i did not), and I was a diehard Amourshipper (I also loved Misty and Iris and their respective pairings, but Serena was my favorite).
I thought Pokemon Showcases were the coolest, most adorable things ever.
Okay, this isn't just me defending Serena solely because I like her, so, i'll give you a lot of reasons why I don't understand why she's hated.
For starters, a lot of her worse actions and qualities (her throwing a tantrum over losing a showcase, the snowball thing, ash being her goal) have no excuses, but there are two interconnected explanations for them.
Serena is extremely insecure.
Serena is a child.
Serena is an insecure child who has no idea what a relationship is supposed to look like.
Also, several complaints bashers have about her are either completely unwarranted or, honestly huge stretches.
Complaint A:
Serena is a stalker.
Serena is not a stalker in my opinion, Wanting to meet your old friend again now that he's close to you...doesn't make you a stalker. Keeping something that reminds you of them doesn't make you a stalker. And accepting that old friend's invitation to travel with them definitely doesn't make you a stalker.
Complaint B:
Serena only exists for fanservice/to be sexualized.
What...uh...the fuck? If your first thought when seeing a child character dressed in perfectly normal clothes who just happens to have many alternate outfits (which are also very normal, aside from when they're literal stage outfits) is "This character is intended as a sex object"
I'm not going to throw around horrible accusations, but...I do think that's creepy.
Complaint C:
Her dream being Showcases is problematic.
Showcases are based on the Japanese music industry, which, while that industry and culture is extremely messed up and dehumanizing, being an idol is also a common dream for young Japanese girls, which goes with my theory of Serena being intended as a self insert for female viewers. I personally don't think this indicates the writer's view of women, as the other pokegirls had far more acceptable goals.
Complaint D:
Showcases were never even her goal, it was solely to get Ash's attention.
I'm just gonna say it here...I don't believe that one bit. See how crushed she was on her first loss? She wouldn't react like that if it wasn't a genuine dream for her. Her theme, Doridori, doesn't reference being in love at all, it references wanting to find her own purpose in life. And that thing she said to Ash after kissing him, about being beautiful and being with him being her goal...once again...she's a kid. She has no idea how relationships work. She thought that was what he wanted to hear. And when she returns in Journeys, she's a Coordinator. She's been pursuing her goal without him.
Complaint E:
She's immature and a crybaby.
I feel like a lot of people forget that the Pokemon protagonists are all like, 10. They act, and often look, older. Ash is the only one who actually acts his age, and even then, he acts way older in gens 4 and 6. Serena strikes me as acting like an actual child, trying and failing to be mature and serious. She's very irrational and doesn't take failure well. She reacts to things with what she thinks will work, not what will actually work, and it builds up a sense of dramatic irony when people realize that no, it won't work. Of course she's immature, she's literally 10.
So, anyway...this was me trying (and probably failing) to defend Serena.
there are a lot of people in the star wars fandom that hate on fox ( know most of them are not on this website but whatever) and i've gotta talk about it. here are the reasons all their arguments are absolute bullshit:
"he's gruff and standoff-ish towards the jedi" oMG, a clONE beiNg GrUff To A JeDI?!? call the police! . . . guys. he's most likely dealt with all the worst jedi on coruscant. the pong krell type dudes. he has never worked closely with one. his regular contact is fucking palaptine. of course he's been conditioned not to like them- especially given that, from his perspective, they stole his brothers, a nd all he gets back is notices of their deaths in his paperwork for the Chancellor. he hasn't had one good interaction with a jedi and you can't blame him for being rude. not when he sent his captain with anakin and got only an incident report back. not when he let ahsoka in to the prison and got a murder on his hands. not when anakin acted like he was the wrong one, for putting her in jail very justifiably. just- no.
Because he reports to Palpatine. Okay, what the actual fuck. He HAS ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE IN THIS WHY ARE YALL MAD ABOUT IT?!?! That’s like saying you don’t like Obi for reporting things back to the Council. It’s his kriffing job, and more than likely he has to do it on pain of death. He’s not a spy. He’s not a snitch. He’s BEING BLACKMAILED WITH THE LIVES OF HIS BROTHERS.
the temple bombing arc. Ugh, there are so many moments in these episodes that make it completely unreasonable to hate him. he had no choice in the matter. he openly sympathized with ahsoka multiple times, tried to help her and anakin out of further trouble and was ignored, gave hints to anakin as to what was going on- and yet this is one of the most used reasons for not liking him??
shooting fives. another big one. First of all---dudes. my dudes. fives was about to shoot one of the corries. fox warned him multiple times to put down the blaster, and fives felt too threatened to do so. that was an open threat to fox's men, who are, from what we know of clone culture, essentially his family. second of all, it is highly, HIGHLY likely that he was completely in his right mind. i don't believe he would kill one of his brother's men without having absolutely no other option. which brings me to:
obeying palpatine. you're telling me that a mastermind politician, sith and villain, someone who's plot to take over the galaxy and kill the jedi was centuries in the making, who has been running circles around the law and politicians and jedi, would commission a clone army for his ENEMY and then not test that the chips worked? bull. shit. there is no way he never tested the chips before O66, and Fox is the clone that makes the most sense to test it on. fox is his inside man, a clone in a position of power and most easily secluded from the eyes of the jedi considering that that Guard doesn't have a General.
for being one of vader's main attack dogs after O66. this one is just . . . stupid. all the clones were his attack dogs besides the ones that, against all odds, managed to escape. additionally, fox actually died shooting vader. so. you could argue he did a lot more than most, however unintentionally
for being "bad at his job" and letting the infiltration droids get into the capital. OH NO, CALL THE POLICE, THE INFILTRATION DROIDS INFILTRATED A PLACE- what was he supposed to do, interrogate cleaning droids he was told to expect??? how the heck was he supposed to know about the bombs??
okay. I just have a lot of feelings about the fact that there are still people misunderstanding this particular clone in the fandom. i feel like we're past this, guys.
Once my HGS animatic and OC Lore videos are complete, I have at least 3 video ideas I want to do for YouTube. I’m not entirely sure if I will do all 3 of these ideas, but there’s at least one of these ideas I REALLY want to do, and the other two are ideas I think would be fun to do regardless.
The first idea, was a Stolas character analysis (or defense) video. I mentioned Helluva Boss a couple of times in my recent Hazbin Hotel video, and I don’t know if I’ll ever do a whole video on it similar to what I did with Hazbin. But Stolas is a character I definitely want to share my thoughts on, because he is a character I feel like I am losing my mind whenever I see video essays about him, like “he is the worst character”, or how “he ruined Helluva Boss”. Both of those things I don’t agree with. Basically, I would do a rundown on his story throughout both seasons 1 and 2, and then break down his dynamics with Stella, Octavia, and finally Blitzø. I think the only problem is that I don’t think I would have said video ready before Part 1 of Season 3 drops, so that video might have to come before or after that time.
The second idea, and this is the idea I really wanna do the most, is a Nanbaka read-through/review. Let me admit something here. Years ago, I ran a blog here on Tumblr called @nanbaka-confessions where Nanbaka fans can chime in, tell me their thoughts and feelings about the series, from story arcs, characters, ships, theories, etc. But because it was harder to access the manga in English, it became harder for me to keep up, and eventually I haven’t updated the blog since late 2020. The manga, from what I have heard, has concluded back in late 2024. So I wanna redeem myself and pick the series back up, so I can continue running the blog.
The third and final idea, very similar to the Nanbaka read-through/review, would be a One Piece read-through/review! One Piece is one of my favorite series of all time, and I have been a huge fan for 13 years now. I think it would be fun to revisit the series from the start in the manga! And because the series is long and ongoing, and I am currently up on its material, I don’t have any real pressure to blitz through it as fast as possible.
