Beware Spoilers for the Following

Larxene's real name is Elrena, it seems. We didn't get to see much of her, but Lauriam talks to her in the data world of Daybreak Town. He's asking after Strelitzia, which is weird because it looked like he was the one who'd killed her and taken her book and position as a Union leader. He also refers to Strelitzia as his little sister, but that might not mean a blood relative in Japanese, rather someone who is like a little sister or just someone younger. Why bait us with this on Thanksgiving, Nomura? I feel like this is information we should've had a long time ago since many people (including myself) are too entrenched in their fan fics and headcanons to change them now. Also, Brain being related to Ienzo might be even more likely now since he spends all his time reading. Or it could just be a massive coincidence, since we don't know how Ven, Lauriam, and now Elrena exist in present day or if anyone is actually an ancestor of anyone else.

I still like Hazel. The only thing that could make me hate him is if by "we've dealt with their kind before" he means he killed Summer Rose. Or he could mean Maria Calavera if her silver eyes were taken from her but her life was spared. That sounds like something Hazel might do. I like how he treats Emerald like a surrogate sister. Salem tells them Cinder is still alive, and they are shocked. Hazel tells her Ozpin was reincarnated already, and she asks them to leave the room so she can rage about it. Then we get the return of Neo, who blames Cinder for Roman's death. Cinder says it's Ruby's fault and that they should take revenge against her together. She says "Let's talk," but Neo indicates that she still doesn't talk, which felt like it could've been a RWBY Chibi skit minus the signs. She's supposed to be Mary Poppins, but is she also the little mermaid since she can't speak? It really wasn't anyone's fault that Roman was eaten by a Grimm, but they don't know that or care. People have been complaining that the name Malachite was repeated for the Little Miss character when it was used previously for the Malachite twins from Junior's club who look nothing like her. While I'm not sure which fable they're supposed to be from, Little Miss is a reference to Little Miss Muffet. Hopefully her two henchmen's names won't be a play on curds and whey.

Spoilers for Clear Card: there is a different twist in the manga. While originally the fifth volume was touted as the final one, there will be a sixth. If it had followed the anime, it could have ended at five as that's as far as the anime got. However, there is more to the story as we were all hoping since the anime ending was quite lacking in substance. The twist is this: Syaoran was responsible for the Sakura Cards turning clear and deactivating. Using the bear that she gave him and he traded back at the beginning of the arc, he was siphoning her power and now the cards are his. He did it to protect Sakura from becoming too powerful. If I were her I'd be pissed, but Sakura is more likely to be confused and sad when she finds out. Volume 4 ended with Sakura seeing her mother's ghost, but that was not followed up on except in her mom's old bedroom with the Record Card like in the anime. Volume 5 ends with Sakura confronting the person wearing Akiho's robe (who turns out to be Syaoran) then waking up in her room wondering if it was a dream. Maybe other plot threads will actually go somewhere now, like Toya's new power or the pendant (in this case, watch) that Sakura's great-grandpa gave her. Just gotta wait 'til June to find out. *screams into pillow*

People keep talking about the possibility of Yellow and Blue Diamond fusing into Green Diamond, but what if they fused with their own Pearls instead? They wouldn't, since they see Pearls as objects, but what would they be called if they did do it?

Throwbacks and Backstories

Halo Top pumpkin pie ice cream is exactly what it says on the carton, including bits of pie crust and pumpkin filling in it. I haven't tried Turkey Hill's version yet, but I expect it to be similar and just as good. I did pick up Friendly's pumpkin flavor, which is creamy and delicious. It reminds me of drinking pumpkin eggnog, and a little bit of the pumpkin ice cream that I had for the first time at an ice cream parlor called LJ's that no longer exists (it had Nicktoons fan art on the walls because it was around in the 90s). Randomly, I found a bag or two of Yoohoo candy at work. I have no idea where they came from - I didn't see them on the shelf during the lead-up to Halloween, and I didn't see anyone buying them. I only saw them when they were clearing out all the leftover candy before Thanksgiving. It has Palmer's on the wrapper, so I guess that's who's responsible for the revival. It doesn't look how I remember it at all, and it just tastes like one of their peanut butter candies without the peanut butter. I'd feel ripped off, but I didn't pay that much for it, and at the end of the day, it's still chocolate. It's probably better than eating a stale candy from Amazon from way back in the day.

The death Ruby was referring to in the trailer ended up being one of the two huntsmen from the preview clip. I can't remember which one was voiced by DBZ Abridged's Dr. Gero (who also voices Lavender in Super for real). The pair of them were probably meant to be the Tweedles from Alice in Wonderland, now that I think about it. More recently, we got Ozpin's and Salem's backstory, and of course they were in a relationship at one time since they're both immortal. When he originally died, she asked for him to be resurrected, but the gods said no. Well, one said no and the other said yes and then no, which caused him to be resurrected and immediately killed a couple times. Brutal. Then he was set on the path of reincarnation in order to stop Salem, but there's no real way for him to do that. At first he was like "fuck it" and the two of them got busy, but that didn't last. I'm not happy about the fake-out that their four daughters were the original maidens, but mommy and daddy had a fight, and I think they might've gotten killed. After all, the maidens from the fable only reminded the old man of his daughters and weren't actually related to him (unless the daughters did escape and the maidens were their descendants). The Salem we see now might be too far gone, especially after the death of her family, but up until she and Ozpin had their big fight, she didn't seem all that bad. She was certainly devious, and people tend to make bad decisions when they're grieving.

Rapid-fire Recaps

The best part of the Super Ninja Steel Halloween clip show was Preston dressed like a caveman (even though Koda wasn't referenced or mentioned, Preston could've just chosen that costume anyway). Also when they objected to wearing capes over their Ranger suits, which might not have been a slam of Mystic Force but I like to think that it was. Not sure why we got the preview of the season finale ahead of the anniversary crossover; it would've made more sense to pick up from the hiatus with that since most of the episodes between the mid-season finale, crossover, and the finale itself are all filler episodes that feel out-of-place even though they're in continuity. The defeat of the villains seemed underwhelming, but it worked on the level they were operating on. Is it bad I was rooting for the bad guys since the mid-season finale? Ladies doing it for themselves! I felt sad when Brax died. He and Badonna needed more time. Victor and Monty's hero status only just now felt earned, and I only saw them as real characters instead of caricatures during the magic club episode where they acted like normal people instead of their usual obnoxious, over-the-top personas. If we had a little more depth to the series as a whole, I would've felt worse when Hayley broke up with Calvin after an argument. It didn't last that long anyway, as they made up in the next episode, so the "soldiers in a war together" lecture would not have been appropriate. Just one more clip episode and then it'll be a new series.

Because there are no recaps for this season of Survivor, I have to watch it, but I don't mind. I'm enjoying it despite the two people having to pull out due to injuries and the second evacuation in Fiji because they underestimated the the severity of the cyclones. Other than that, I'm happy with the way it's going so far. That might change now that there's a merge, though. I don't like Angelina.

Kingdom Hearts 3 trailers are dropping left and right and will continue to do so for some time leading up to the release. It's almost like they're compensating for something (I'm sorry the rest of the DLCs for FFXV got canceled, but that game was mostly DLC). In the latest one, we have Demyx freaking out because he doesn't want to participate, declaring that he's a chicken. He also doesn't want to be paired up with Vexen/Even because they aren't friends. That's probably what "This wasn't my idea/it was all his idea" was in response to, as Vexen/Even's probably not thrilled about it either. Heyner attacking the Seeker of Darkness was unexpected and probably doesn't go well for him; it also looks like a Matrix reference. I didn't think they were returning to the Hundred Acre Wood, but it's there.

The second TTG origin story episode was much better than the first. It told some of what really happened with their own twist on it, and that was fine. The three episodes that followed, however, were garbage. With the news that "we've found a way back" only referred to the TT vs TTG direct-to-video special, there's going to be a riot. Airing season 6 of both series back-to-back was a generous hope of the fans, but now if TTG gets a 6th season it'll be even more rage-inducing. I choose to bury myself in my non-canon cross-franchise ship. It's getting pretty serious.