Foxy-Knight

Hello there, this is Rhys Horton typing. I've decided to share something based on an experience I had today with my mum whilst watching classic episodes of Frasier. Now my mum has paramount plus and all the episodes of the aforementioned show are on there and so we've opted to start an ongoing marathon to watch all the episodes. We've just started recently so we've gotten to Season 1 Episode 7 Call me irresponsible. Now this episode is about as old as I am of writing this post (30 years old) and so it may well be the product of it's time but this episode is what lead me to discover my new favourite trope.

To summarize the episode, Frasier Crane is answering calls on his call in therapy radio station and he gets a call from Marco whom is asking for relationship advice. Marco is stringing his girlfriend along and in his own words is only with her as he's waiting for someone better, Frasier rightly so calls him out on this and advises he break the relationship off as he's clearly not committed to it. Three days later the woman whom was dating Marco comes to berate Frasier for being responsible for the break up but relents when Frasier tells her what Marco's exact words were, this leads her to break down in tears. Frasier comforts her, they get talking and find they have quite a few things in common and in the next scene (a time skip) they are dating.

Frasier's brother Niles enters the cafe just as Catherine (Frasier's date) leaves having witnessed them kissing. On learning of the circumstances of how they got together Niles calls his older brother out for a breach in ethics, something Frasier denies. In the next scene Roz his radio coworker also has a go at him and this scene is made hilariously more complicated when Marco calls into the show again asking for advice as he's suffering sellers remorse after having seen her with another man (Frasier himself). Whilst this flusters the radio therapist he advises Marco not to try and win Catherine back and to stop any stalking behavior, Niles hearing this on his car radio reacts with shock. Later Niles when driving his brother suggests that Frasier's advice to Marco was self motivated rather than intended to help the caller and brings up that both brothers have a physical reaction to breach of ethics (Niles has nosebleeds and Frasier has stomach cramps, if you've seen Knives Out this is basically what Marta has with lying). Frasier claims he is feeling fine but in true sitcom fashion when he and Catherine are about to consummate their relationship (As the title card says the obligatory sex scene) he gets cramps and is forced to tell Catherine the ethical implications of their relationship and despite being very attracted to her both physically and emotionally he cannot pursue the relationship. She leaves, we end on a joke and the episode is over.

Now much to my mum's amusement I am watching this and repeatedly stating quite passionately that Frasier Crane has done nothing wrong. And so when I get home I look up the episode on TV Tropes, check YMMV and low and behold there is the explanation with it's own trope title: Informed Wrongness:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InformedWrongness

For clarity, here is why Frasier Crane did nothing wrong:

-He advised Marco to break up with Catherine before even knowing she existed. A dude called into his radio show (which is public, everything he says is heard by however many listeners are listening) and shows how much of a non-committal dick he is by stating very plainly he is stringing his girlfriend along. Frasier rightly calls him out on it and says he should break it off as the relationship clearly isn't meant to be.

-When Niles tells him it's a breach of ethics to date his patient's ex-girlfriend this would only be true if Frasier had Nile's job. Niles Crane is an M.D, and as such his patients are bound by doctor patient confidentiality, there are rules and regulations particularly about a conflict of interest. It would be impossible to have a confidentiality agreement when you are publicly asking for advice on a radio station accessible to the entire city of Seattle, ergo there is no doctor-patient confidentiality because the callers cannot be classed as patients.

-Frasier does get flustered when Marco calls a second time and whilst one can easily say him advising Marco against trying to pursue Catherine now that he knows she is with another man is in his own self interests (given he is the man in question) his advice given is completely sound. Marco was by his own admission only with Catherine until something better comes along and now that she has found something better herself he's now getting sellers remorse.

So why does Frasier Crane suffer the physical cramps when trying to take his relationship with Catherine to the next level? It's not because of any breach of ethics, it's because Frasier has been told what he is doing is wrong and he and the audience are meant to believe it when in actuality he's done nothing wrong and the people who have told him otherwise are incorrect.

This Trope is so prevalent in the media I follow finally having a name to put to it is incredibly vindicating, turns out I wasn't wrong to question those decisions and be annoyed the writer just had an agenda and didn't want to use those 'boring and complicated fact things'. Hell if you click the link you can see the shows Miraculous Ladybug and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic have their own pages! If you look in the Comic Books example of this tropes you will find even more vindicating nuggets of wisdom which address such hot topics such as the mutant cure in the X-Men stories and the Superhero Registration acts in the Avengers. I would encourage you to read yourself but the gist of it is we're informed both these things are wrong rather than shown the nuance.

Take the Mutant cure, given that mutation is a lottery and some powers are cool and controllable whereas others prevent you from human intimacy you would think the notion of a cure would be met with a mixed and nuanced take. Of course once the cure exists the terror cells and anti mutant bodies will weaponize it, the cure on it's own is not malicious but it is prime ammunition for those that are. The sensible thing would be to have the cure locked down, and regulated by putting it in the hands of a trustworthy body and the choice to forego mutation can be left to the individual mutant. And yes I am well aware that the cure of mutation can very much be an allegory for bodily autonomy and abortion rights, comics are and always were political especially the X-Men.

Informed Wrongness is now the name of my pain when it comes to reading/watching a lot of stories because the narrative is skewered to the bias of the storyteller and said storyteller flat out ignores all the logic that can counter it. This is why it's becoming harder for me to enjoy Batman comics for example (at least the mainstream) and also why I am getting defensive on behalf of a Kelsey Grammar character in an episode almost as old as me. Because I know what I am being told is not wrong and I can see why I am correct right in front of my eyes but the narrative doesn't care and will conclude to it's own informed judgement.

This is in part why I love writing as part of a team, when it comes to plots, gray morality, action scenes, story directions and indeed everything there is a chance for peer review. We can actively combat and test this informed wrongness and present a nuanced take that may well indeed make the audience think for themselves and come to their own conclusions. If we want the audience to think something or someone is in the wrong maybe we shouldn't be telling them but rather showing them and if they feel that yes this character has breached ethics by getting romantically involved with someone then we've done our job correctly. And if we then also show the reasons why no ethics has been breached and the audience still sticks to their initial reaction, that's on them. Informed Wrongness is now one of my favourite tropes because it gives me both vindication and awareness, I often use TV tropes as a means to alert myself of the creative pratfalls, common plot holes and which kind of moments I really want to create for myself so now I know that it's not enough to simply tell a character and the audience something is wrong, because they will be someone like me in the audience who knows damn well that Frasier Crane had nothing to feel guilty about and will be annoyed when the very guilt he shouldn't have felt stopped him from pursuing a potential positive relationship.

Thanks for reading my Trope talk.

We're pushing to reach our goal of 500$ per month by the end of the year which means it's time to pull out the stops! We're going to work hard to give you more for your support and patronage and here is what we've got planned!

(As always here is our patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scapegoatcomics )

100 USD (Where we are now):

-5+ USD 1Patrons get to vote on a black and White sketch illustration

200 USD:

-5+ Patrons get to vote on a colored sketch illustration

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a sticker to be sold at the merch store.

300 USD:

-5+ Patrons get to vote on a colored sketch illustration

- 1+ Patrons get to vote on a 3 emojis downloadable pack

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a sticker to be sold at the merch store.

400 USD:

-5+ Patrons get to vote on a wallpaper

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a 3 emojis downloadable pack

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a sticker to be sold at the merch store.

500 USD:

-5+ Patrons get to vote on a wallpaper

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a 3 emojis downloadable pack

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a sticker to be sold at the merch store.

-20 + Patrons enter an art lottery for a 50 USD commission

750 USD:

-5+ Patrons get to vote on a wallpaper

-20 + Patrons entera an art lottery for a 100 USD commission

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a 3 emojis downloadable pack

-1+ Patrons get to vote on a sticker to be sold at the merch store.

Owing to being able to fly again, trips to America for cons and personal gatherings have cut into my budget meaning the months of July, most of August, October and much of November are developmental hiatus.

To help us cut down on the hiatus you can donate to our patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scapegoatcomics?fan_landing=true

If you've been enjoying series such as Warriors of the Miraculous, Cain and Mabel and our latest original comics Old Harry's Tale and Human Angels then you will want to pay attention to this announcement. 2022 is an expensive year for all of us, I am no different what with finally being allowed to travel abroad and having pressing engagements in the states but even with my new job I do not have the finances to meet the budget of all our series all the time so if things carry on as they are it looks like June and July will be hiatus months where no pages of any series gets done. This may not be immediately noticeable as we have pages stocked in advance for some series but come July there would be no new pages at all until I've paid some bills and debt.

So what can be done about this? The answer is Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/scapegoatcomics

We're at present 25% reaching our first milestone of 500$ a month which when achieved would cover the finances for a good chunk of the production costs and make hiatus months less likely to happen. So I would urge everyone who enjoys the content we're producing to pledge or if you cannot urge people you know who can to pledge. Our tiers are as follows:

1$ Per Month-Happy Goat Food: Thank you so much for supporting us, it keeps the herd going

5$ Per Month-Happy Scapegoat: Our gratitude and names in the patreon credit list and access to all new pages before Deviantart, Tapas and Tumblr (including sketches)

10$ Per Month-Backstage Pass Scapegoat: All prior rewards, access to all bonus pages including deleted scenes from our series and OC cameos in fanverse comics

20$ Per month- VIS (Very Important Scapegoat) : Access to Patreon exclusive Fanverse series before they are dubbed and released on youtube, all prior rewards, access to Patreon Creator Discord where you can converse with the creators and alerted to Creator Streams

22.69$ per month-Sticky Scapegoat: All prior rewards and access to bonus comics which are NSFW (18+)

25$ per month: Connoisseur Scapegoat: -All prior rewards, first viewing of bonus comics which are NSFW (18+) and also able to submit requests for NSFW Comic idea (max 5 pages)

30$ per month: Golden Scapegoat (only 20 slots) : All prior rewards, early Access to all original content development, free digital issue of Scapegoat Comics original content (will be discussed in discord) and collaboration opportunities for short comics

85$ per month: Platinum Promoter Scapegoat (limited slots, will increase with production) : All prior rewards and you can choose a series we are working on and once a month place an advert for yourself or your project on the end of a page.

So there you have it, if you want to help us keep production consistent and hiatus free then please pledge to our patreon and not only will this keep our current webcomics running smoothly but we will be able to create new comics hiring new artists. Thank you so much.

SPOILER WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BOOK OF BOBA FETT AND WANT TO! PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IS PRIMARILY MY OPINIONS AND NOT TO BE TAKEN AS FACT!

Warning for spoilers for the Book of Boba Fett, also my opinions so read underneath if you understand and accept this.

I very much enjoy the character Boba Fett and his father Jango Fett. Some of my favourite star wars media for these characters is Star Wars Bounty Hunter (Ps2/Ps4), Star Wars Open Seasons, Star Wars Blood Ties and Blood Ties Boba Fett is dead (he isn’t). Also the recent star wars comic event War of the Bounty Hunters was fun, it was a larger scale event and Boba wasn’t the only focus but for what he got to do in it he was pretty good.

Now when the Book of Boba Fett was announced I was kind of hype, Tem Morrison had showed us all he’s still got it in his scenes in the Mandalorian so him getting his own show seemed not only right but also a brilliant opportunity to explore the character and with the actor from ATOC reprising the role of sorts the potential was there.

Now I’ve watched the whole season: here are my thoughts.

I will admit I enjoyed the book of Boba Fett but I am fully aware it had my bias of liking the character and loving the legends material to fall back on. Boba's return had started out promising and him taking over Tatooine with the motivation that he was tired of his kind (bounty hunters) dying because the ruling powers that hired them were idiots, greedy and by and large corrupt and evil. Couple this in with his character development with the Tuskens and it's a transition that makes sense and if executed properly it could have become something brilliant...and on reflection it wasn't executed properly.

This gentleman explains much of what didn’t work for season one of the book of boba for me and whilst I don’t agree with everything, his points do have validity:

The Book of Boba had good concepts and ideas but the execution and build up or lack thereof is what lets this first season down. If we’re watching Book of Boba it’s safe to assume we know Boba and Fennec are partners and have some good chemistry so we don’t need as much focus explaining how that came to be, like wise given the series only had seven episodes devoting two of them to the OTHER characters not wholly plot revelant feels like this series exists as filler to keep us engaged until Mando Season 3 comes out and the Ashoka show is ready.

If I had creative control over the Book of Boba here is how I would have run it.

Episodes 1/2: They can stay pretty much as they are. As far as opening set ups go it works for the larger picture I have in mind. Yes even the hutts being fake out antagonists work

Episode 3: Episode three is where we need to shift gears, the mods being taken in by Boba and Fennec? Give us a training scene or montage of him putting them through the ringer, tempers can flare and maybe Boba nearly loses his temper showing despite it all he's got much of his old hostility within him but he stays his hand. Here is what should have happened...Cad Bane kills the Tuskens, the pikes hire him to do it because it's a cheaper option and dealing with Bib Fortuna and his skeleton crew is more conducive for their drug trade. Cad could kick boba's ass in the past but decides he's not worth finishing as he's not really Boba Fett. This is the core problem with Boba through the series, Who is Boba Fett in this new star wars set up. In the OT Boba was the best bounty hunter that the Empire went to when Darth Vader didn't have the time/patience or know how to do a job, in the age of the Empire/Rebellion Boba was the best Bounty Hunter just like his father was the best during a time of the Republic's slow descent into destruction. Now that the Empire is dead and the remnants are trying to survive into something else and the Rebels are now the ruling power trying to make things sort of better but also too much like the old ways...what does this mean for Boba? Black Krssantan fight still happens, they stop him, Boba lets him go because it's not personal. He gets it and he gets a Rancor out of the bargain. Now we shift to him talking to Fennec and expressing his doubts. He's not sure he can do this but more to the point he's not sure who he is...and this leads to the build up to the next episode where Boba starts telling a story about Jango.

Episode 4: Jango episode. Jango is hunting down someone who wronged him in the past, a link to the mando civil wars (for much of this use open seasons and bounty hunter as canon) and based on intelligence he got from Dooku or Zam Wessel he's managed to track down the guy. Let's say the guy worked with Visla and was part of the plot which ultimately lead to the Jedi and Mandos fighting on Galidran and he goes through a john wick for Star Wars battle to get to the guy only when he does the dude is crippled and hugging a baby, his child. The man has very much abandoned the old death watch ways, is a shell of his former warrior self and has tried to start something new and he begs Jango not to end his life for the sake of his son. Jango however tells him to put the baby down and as soon as he does, he blasts the guy in the head. He then takes the baby off world and drops him off on another, more peaceful and much less corrupt one, puts him in an orphanage where he's assured he will find a loving family. Jango then goes home to Kamino and as he does he reflects on what he just did and if he is a worthy father figure for Boba. He wonders what it means to be who he is in this new time and era before he hides it all and has some good quality time with young 5 years old Boba. We then go to the final scene where Boba comes out of the bacta tank and Fennec tells him it's time for the sit down with the other crime families.

Episode 5: Much like how Episode 4 was done, only more time has past. The Pikes are now on Tatooine and maybe they approach one of the families only for the Mods to point them out and Boba comes in and kicks their arses, not lethally as he's sending them back with a message and it's a show of strength. They've captured the Mayor's majordomo and he's talking, maybe we have him scared when he hears the rancor yawn and we have a scene of Boba doing some rancor training and care before we have the sit down with the families. After that we then spend at least ten-fiteen minutes showing the mandalorian Din Djarin and end it with him coming to help Boba with the promise that what he went through will be explained in mando season 3 in the first episode. (Yes I know the Mando episode in Book of Boba Fett was awesome and yes I love it but that love is tainted by the knowledge that it’s in the wrong show).

Episode 6: Din and Boba both go to freetown to speak with Cobb Vanth, plenty of opportunities for friction and rapport either way and whilst Boba is gone Cad Bane comes to the palace representing the pikes and beats up the mods, before Fennec and Cad have a rematch. It's a tie and maybe Cad has to cut through the Rancor enclosure to make his escape and when Boba returns he has to calm it down further showing the bond between them. Cad now knowing Boba went to freetown does his bit to put them off the idea whilst the pykes attack Mos Espa only the mods intercept and they have a fight that prevents the total destruction of the sanctuary (this bit is important) and some of the mods die before Boba steps in and taps into his old Bounty Hunter mentality and kills the squad of pykes. The people in the sanctuary see this, as does Mos Espa. Cad Bane is told by the pykes that there is whispers in Mos Espa that Boba has inspired the people, Cad then demands more money to kill Boba and secure them Mos Espa.

Episode 7: The finale only now we have some proper build up. The Sanctuary is fortified, Mos Espa has rallied with Boba to fight the pykes and the other familes are remaining neutral because now...Boba has an army and he's showing strength so it's a clean Pykes vs Boba faction and Cad Bane is co-ordinating it (which we know he can because he was apex during the clone wars). We can maybe have some small flashbacks of Jango and Cad interacting from Cad's POV and some of Young Boba and Cad from Boba's POV before the final battle). The final battle can remain mostly intact, but the rancor should come to Boba's aide on it's own accord (obviously the trainer let's it out) because we should establish Boba can't get to Slave 1 and long range comms are down so the Rancor is his ace in the hole. Fennec still gets to kill pyke leaders only she brings the mayor back alive and the Boba vs Cad Bane fight you can keep the same except you make the author saving throw that Bane is alive revealed through the post credit scene and that Cobb is alive in the epilogue. The mayor is brought back alive and Boba shows to his surviving followers the man that sold them out to the pykes and ask them what his punishment should be, they vote death. Boba kills the mayor saying his people have spoken and thus his status as lord fett feels earned as well as maintaining his badass nature. More to come in Season two would be like dealing with the larger criminal network, black sun, hutts, crimson dawn but you've set up the foundations.

...I am not a professional writer as of now (aspiring) and yet I am fairly certain what I have written here will be considered in the comments by some as a better plot outline for the first season of Book of Boba than what we got. What we got was sort of good star wars but not good boba fett, and when you compare it to the story in star wars bounty hunter this hurts a little more. Star Wars bounty hunter is 20 years old and from an age when Star Wars was it's own thing rather than another feather in Disney's cap. Tem put so much into boba when he came back in the mando and yet when he got his own show the best episode of the season was the one where he wasn't in it...that is not right. So if they do a season two which I want, Boba needs to be the main character for all episodes, character focus needs to be key, as is rapport with his supporting cast. Cad Bane needs to have survived and fortunately they have reasonable grounds to make that happen and take the story off Tatooine, now that he's a boss he can deal with the black sun, hutts and others and maybe carve up a little mando criminal empire and also JANGO flashback episode. Tem deserves to be the star and the best thing in a show about Boba fett, he deserves to be the REAL boba fett and that doesn't mean Boba can't evolve but that evolution needs to come from a place where Boba truly was.

I did enjoy the Book of Boba but if I wasn’t a fan of Boba Fett I’d probably have enjoyed is less than I did. If he gets a second season it needs to be done right.