It’s just...this is such a sweet moment.  It’s the first big sign (no pun intended) that the soldiers at Anvil have really accepted the GEN:Lock team as their own and not a stand alone unit of experimental mechs and inexperienced pilots.  They’ve even given them call signs!  And, awww, Cammie’s is “Trixx”, like the rabbit.

(Side note: Apparently the breakfast cereal Trix exists in this universe and now I’m wondering if Lucky Charms does too...)

But this is also so sad, because this was Leon’s “debriefing” he was giving them shit about at the start.  The whole “you expect us to put up a banner and throw some confetti” line?  A total misdirect.  He really is proud of them.  The GL team knows that now, but they can’t show their appreciation because the base is being wrecked currently by the Union.  It’s just...ouch, right in the gut, here!

That all being said, Rooster Teeth made the correct choice by letting him go.  You may agree with it.  You may not.  But the fact of the matter is, it’s never good for a company to be mixed up in a controversy like this.  Just take a look at what happened to Channel Awesome in April of last year. 

One thing I would like to say is that it is ok for you to still be a fan of the shows Mignogna worked on.  Don’t let him or anyone else dictate to you whether or not you can still love Edward Elric or Qrow Branwen or any of the other characters Mignogna has voiced.  Don’t let him or anyone else have the power to take what makes you happy away from you.

As for RWBY specifically and RT’s announcement, am I afraid that they’ll kill of Qrow due to loosing his voice actor?  No, not really.  Neath Oum took over for Ren when Monty passed away, and Mercury switched voice actors as well.  I really have better respect for Miles and Kerry than to believe that they’d take the easy route and kill off a character just because they don’t have the voice actor anymore.  Will Qrow’s voice be exactly the same?  Probably not, but you know, as long as the character remains true, I think I’ll be satisfied.

I’ve seen a lot of suggestions about who should replace Mignogna as Qrow’s new voice.  My personal favorites are Matt Mercer (Levi from Attack on Titan and Trafalgar Law from One Piece) and Travis Willingham (Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist).  

Or perhaps Rooster Teeth will find an independent voice actor, or  someone within the fandom or community to take up the mantle of our favorite Bird Uncle.  That actually would be really kickass. 

Is anyone really surprised that Argus is under a massive grimm attack right now?  

Between the mech fight and the Lantern Relic still bouncing around attached to Ruby’s belt, they may as well have slathered Argus in ketchup and put up a “free buffet” sign.

What bothers me about this from a storytellers perspective is that not one of our protagonists saw this as a potential outcome.

I can forgive the group for not expecting a giant massive mech to appear, but did they really expect Cordo wouldn’t have done anything the moment the airship disappeared from radar?

                                        “Why can they still see us?”

Maria’s feud with Cordo was well established.  So even if Blake’s portion of the mission had gone off without a hitch, did they really expect that no one would be watching the radar?  The airship is only carrying a Schnee.  And yes, Weiss may be a wayward Schnee, but Cordo was making a big deal about how pleased she was that Weiss had decided to return home, going so far as to ask her to put in a good word with Ironwood for her.

                      “Be sure to tell General Ironwood that for me.”

So, yeah, she’d probably have eyes on that ship from Argus to Atlas (or as far as their radar goes) and the moment it “disappears”, she’s going to notice and react.  

And let’s not forget that Maria’s feud with Cordo is well established.  It’s not a stretch that Cordo would have assumed Maria (who she knows is also attempting to get into Atlas and is associated with the group she turned away) to be involved, if not the mastermind.  And no one, not even Maria, the goddamn Grimm Reaper, the Legendary Huntress herself, thought that Cordo loosing her shit and coming after them was a possibility?! Even without knowledge of the mech, the fact that they weren’t expecting some kind of fight just baffles me.

Let’s add to that that the group knows that the relic attracts grimm.  Everyone was present when Oz let that shoe drop on the Argus Limited (except for Maria, but I have a hard time accepting that no one has clued her in on that little detail by now).  They even saw it at Brunswick with the Apathy.  Though, I’m willing to forgive them not making the connection considering they were under Apathy’s influence plus running for their damn lives. One tends not to think particularly clearly under those circumstances.

But we aren’t experiencing either the Apathy or literally running for dear life here, so I’m not willing to believe that everyone in the group conveniently forgot about the relic.  One or two of them? Maybe.  A handful of them?  Sure. But all of them?

Ok, so let’s say for the sake of argument here that yeah, everyone in the party conveniently forgot about the relic’s little side effect while planning the mission to steal the ship. Why didn’t anyone think of it during the lull in the battle when Jaune mentioned that the mech was probably designed to fight large grimm?  I do not accept the fact that they simply didn’t think of it.  These are huntsmen and huntresses.  Yes, our protagonists are young and yes they are still technically students.  However, it has been stressed a lot in the last several episodes that the students – the kids – need to be listened to, need to be trusted, that they are capable to fight and survive on their own. However, this message is undermined by the poor planning that actually went into this plan.  That not one of them thought of the potential risks, of what could possibly go wrong, and as a result have left Argus utterly vulnerable.

I dated a boy on and off for 10 years.  He wasn't my first love, but he was my most intense love.  The love I'll most likely remember forever, the way it started as a simple crush between two 15 year olds from two different towns who had to ask our parents for rides to the Papa Gino's on the state line in order to see each other and maybe hold hands.  The way we lost contact through high school until college.  The way we met again when he randomly walked into the pet store I worked at one summer.  The way we became nearly inseparable after that. In my early 20's I honestly thought he was the man I'd spend the rest of my life with.

Of course, he wasn't. 

Our relationship turned toxic, co-dependant and I take as much blame for that as he should.  I wasn't in a good place when I was with him and some of that was my own doing my own depression.  He wasn't in a good place either.  His family, specifically his relationship with his mother, was dysfunctional at best, psychologically abusive at worst.  

She didn't like me.  I never knew why.  She didn't start out not liking me.  It was almost as if she had woken up one morning and decided to hate me.  I wasn't even allowed in their house, which always made holidays a trial, my ex having to chose between me and his family.  I always thought she did that on purpose, though I never had the proof.  I have to say that I was never a fan of her either.

My ex and I haven't spoken since I moved to the desert, but we have mutual friends and it was through one of those friends I learned that his mother passed away recently. The news struck me harder than I thought it would.  It surprised me foremost, but more so than that I am finding myself wondering how he is doing.  Hoping that he is doing ok. Hoping that his little brother is coping well.  But mostly and oddly of all, wanting to reach out to him and give some kind of word of condolence or sympathy. 

I know this isn't really an unusual thing.  People want to comfort each other in times of loss, but what really surprises me that after all this time, after everything we put each other through, all the pain and anger and how often I looked back at our time together and realized that he was a terrible person to me, I find that i still care.  I don't love him, but he was an important person in my life and that should be acknowledged.

Its a strange revelation for me to come to, I guess.