2021 Was A Good Year In Spite of COVID-19
Jay’s List of Some of the Best Things to Happen in 2021
When 2020 finally came to an end, people had more reasons to celebrate than normal; after all, 2020 was the year from Hell. However, if people were expecting 2021 to be when things reached a state of normality, it didn’t. First there were the people storming the US Capitol, the struggle to get everyone vaccinated, and now even more COVID variants setting us back. It feels like we’ve barely made any progress.
Despite COVID-19 being a major pain, though, 2021 felt somewhat better than 2020; at least entertainment wise. Don’t believe me? Here’s a look back on 2021 through the eyes of this blog, which shows that there was a lot of good to come out of this year.
WandaVision Started Off a New Year of Marvel Content
After more than a year in exile thanks to COVID-19, the MCU returned with a vengeance with WandaVision. This fusion of Marvel with sitcoms spanning from the 1950s all the way up to the present day, combined with the overarching mystery, kept fans guessing from start to finish. It was one of the best ways I could’ve started 2021, even if it did drag at some points.
In addition, it also set us up for the eventual debut of the Young Avengers.
South ParQ Vaccination Special Gave us a Laugh When We Needed It
Last year, South Park gave us a very bleak look at the world, even for them, with their Pandemic Special. The fact that the show was outright begging its fans to vote Trump out of office was an indicator of how bad things had gotten. Thankfully, they rallied with the South ParQ Vaccination Special, giving us some genuine laughs when we needed them most.
Besides poking fun at Q-Anon and storming the Capitol Building, the Vaccination Special also saw Mr. Garrison return to South Park to be a teacher once more, which also meant that the woman who was meant to be temporary got killed off by COVID; no one in South Park cared, though, as the entire cast celebrated getting vaxxed to “Down by the Lazy River.” Sadly, it looked like the four boys broship was over, despite my optimism about their future. I was wrong…before being right again.
DuckTales! Reboot Series Finale
I fell in love with the 2017 reboot of DuckTales! from the moment I saw it. I watched every episode, enjoyed all the adventures and drama, and just ate it up. This is the gold standard that anyone rebooting a beloved cartoon should aspire to measure up to. So, you can guess that when the series finale came around, it was a big deal for me. I honestly hope that Disney keeps these versions of the cast around for future projects, as I absolutely adored them. And that ending to the finale was just the icing on the cake!
The Owl House, Season 2
If you’ve read my blog, then you know that I’m a big fan of The Owl House. Thus, seeing the show return for its second season was a major highlight of the year for me. Having established its setting and characters, The Owl House hit the ground running in its second season. The stakes got higher, plot threads building since the start got connected, and did I mention that Lumity broke the Internet? Because it did!
The one downside to all of this is the fact that Disney refused to give the show a fourth season. They’re not even giving it a full third season; just three hour long specials. That’s not a lot to work with, but fans have come out to show their support for the show on social media, so maybe Disney will change its mind.
Speaking of showing support…
Amphibia Season 2 Finale & Season 3
Just like The Owl House, I was hyped for the return of Amphibia as it got set for the second half of its second season. To my joy, the show managed to largely meet my expectations, or even exceed them. Then…came the moment where Disney screwed up. Thanks to their monumental incompetence, they delayed the season finale hours before its release, and then let it leak onto ITunes. If that doesn’t get someone fired, then I don’t know what will.
The one pro to this injustice is that fans and people working in the animation industry spoke out in solidarity with Matt Braly and his team. It was truly touching to see people come together to support the team behind Amphibia when they were wronged like this, and when the finale finally aired on TV, it was everything fans wanted, and more. Just look at this!
And then, we got the first half of season 3…
Amphibia, you are one of the best cartoons out there, and you deserve all the awards.
South Park: Post COVID Specials Continued the Story
Earlier this year, Matt Stone and Trey Parker made a deal with Paramount+ to make a boatload of specials for the streaming service. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, we got the first special…and it gave us a dystopian look into the future.
Seriously, you have no idea how confused and bummed out I was when I saw how awful South Park was 40 years in the future. Everyone except for Cartman got a bad future!
Thankfully, this dystopian future got erased in the follow up special, much to my joy.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
I don’t need to say anything about this. It was the absolute best way for Marvel to end the year of their triumphant return, and it gave us one of their best films ever.
All right, everyone! Happy New Year, and I hope that this is the year where we kick COVID-19 to the curb. Or at least render it no more harmful than the Flu.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
New Year, New Plans
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s me, Jay, from RJ-Writing Ink ringing in the new year. I know I’ve been quiet for the past few days, but I wanted to take some downtime after the holidays. That, and I wanted to make my New Year’s resolutions.
Speaking of which, I decided one of my top resolutions growing this blog. I came a long way in 2019, and I want to keep that trend going in 2020. So, in the spirit of the New Year, I decided to share some of the plans I have in store for RJ-Writing Ink in 2020.
More Star Wars
Even with Star Wars on vacation from movie-making, I feel like’s there plenty I can do with it. After all, some of the best stories and characters in the franchise aren’t in the films. Thus, I want to spend this year talking more about Star Wars and reminding people that it’s amazing. And I’ve got a few ideas in mind.
First, I have this idea called Star Wars Stories Abridged. I take some of the best stories and characters from the Expanded Universe and summarize them. This way, I can get more people interested in what Disney shunted aside and explain why they should add them back. Or if they’re already back, why Disney should add their EU content back.
Next, I plan on doing more with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. That show’s one of the best things in the franchise, and the final season comes out next month. So, in the spirit of nostalgia, I’ll be revisiting some of my favorite arcs, characters, and moments from that show.
Other than that, I’ll be trying to do more misc — articles about cool characters, stories, and events from the franchise. I’ve got a whole galaxy to go through, so I’ll have plenty of material. May the Force be with me!
Other than that, I’ll be trying to do more misc — articles about cool characters, stories, and events from the franchise. I’ve got a whole galaxy to go through, so I’ll have plenty of material. May the Force be with me!
FanFic Corner
At one point, I had little interest in the concept of fan fiction. However, as you may recall, I started reading it after one of my favorite cartoons came to an end. After that, I kept getting more and more into it. Then I started writing about what I read. At this point, I’ve pretty much fallen down the rabbit hole with no hope of getting out anytime soon.
In the spirit of fandom, I’ve decided to embrace this newfound interest. Thus, I’m dedicating an entire page of my blog to fan fiction. This FanFic Corner will be an outlet for me to talk about the things I’m reading, as well as give shoutouts to the authors. Several of whom I’ve actually befriended online.
And no, this won’t just be Star vs. There are others that I’ve read.
More Anime and Manga
Last year, there were a lot of anime I wanted to write about, but never had the chance. The Rising of the Shield Hero remains a big regret, even if I did that one episode that felt so cathartic. In addition, I never got to do Dr. Stone, and that was one of the best anime of the year; not to mention, it had one of the best waifus of the year. I even wanted to celebrate 2019 with a list of best waifus, only to realize I didn’t see enough anime to justify it. In other words, I want to do more with anime.
As a result of my regrets, I’ve decided to try and incorporate more anime into my work. I will be continuing with ongoing series like My Hero Academia, SAO: Alicization when it starts up again, and the manga I cover. However, I’ll try and keep up with other anime that I want to write about. If you guys have any suggestions, let me know.
Cartoons Are A Must
I’m not ashamed to say that I’m an adult who loves cartoons. Thus, cartoons have been a big part of what I write about. There are going to be a lot of cartoons I want to write about this year. There’s shows that I already cover like South Park, Rick and Morty, Steven Universe Future, and more. In addition, there are new shows that I plan to take a crack at, such The Owl House, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Close Enough, and the Animaniacs reboot on Hulu. In other words, expect a lot of new cartoons to be covered.
That’s All Folks
Well, that’s everything I can think of off the top of my head. I hope you all had a happy New Year! I would also like to give a shout-out to the people who have started following my blog in the past year. Thanks for all your support. As for those who haven’t shown up in a while, I look forward to seeing you guys again.
Putting the “Pop” in Pop Culture!
