Line #19 YMMV/SarahZ


1	* CrossesTheLineTwice: In the TJLC video, Sarah compares the controversial final season of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' and the fallout and ensuing conspiracy theories to that following the deaths of Archduke Ferdinand and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. She says it with such a straight face that it's impossible not to laugh.
2	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sarah's co-writer Lady Emily, who's shown up in voice form on the channel several times, and now also runs her own fairly successful channel with a similar analytical style.
3	* FandomRivalry: With Creator/LilyOrchard, after Sarah's "Bad Media Criticism" video which was in part aimed at Lily's criticisms of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. It got more severe after Lily released a response video to Sarah.
4	* FriendlyFandoms:
5	** With those of Creator/LindsayEllis, thanks to Sarah speaking about being a fan of Lindsay too and expressing a desire to collaborate in the future.
6	** With fellow video essayist WebVideo/{{Izzzyzzz}}, who does similar deep dives into internet scandals and fandom history. The two have referenced each other's channels before, encouraging their viewers to check the other out, so naturally, there's a pretty big overlap between the two audiences.
7	** With WebVideo/LadyEmily, another video essayist who is also Sarah's co-writer and close friend.
8	** With the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' podcast ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'', as Sarah is one of the players and she introduced it to many of her viewers.
9	* GrowingTheBeard: Once she stopped making nitpicky complaining videos about the likes of ''Series/Heathers2018'', ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'', ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' etc - though those did contain some thoughtful critiques - her content became much more thorough, not to mention the better filming quality! WebVideo/LadyEmily joining her as co-writer also added a welcome (and still witty) second point of view to future videos.
10	* HarsherInHindsight:
11	** Her video "JK Rowling and Authorial Intent" was neutral towards JK Rowling's behavior at the time of recording. Fast forward to 2020, and Sarah made the follow-up video "Does JK Rowling's Transphobia Ruin Harry Potter?" She even says she wishes she hadn't been as charitable to her in the previous video.
12	** In her Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} video, when discussing ''VideoGame/{{Hiveswap}}''[='=]s Kickstarter controversy and DevelopmentHell, she remarks that she's going to stay as neutral as possible because she doesn't want to get sued. Shortly after she published the video, What Pumpkin [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsM9bQvpt_c threatened her with legal action]] for talking about the controversy.
13	* HilariousInHindsight:
14	** After she ''specifically'' used Destiel as an example of a queer-baited ship that will never happen in her Johnlock video, that week's episode of ''Supernatural'' confirmed it, at least on Castiel's end[[note]]She commented about this in the comments to the Johnlock video and noted that while the episode ''did'' confirm that Castiel had feelings for Dean, it is ambiguous in the episode itself if Dean actually feels the same way and she will only rescind her comments about Destiel if Dean confesses his own love for Cas in the finale, which he didn't[[/note]].
15	** In her video about her legal battle with What Pumpkin and Andrew Hussie over her ''Homestuck'' video, during a section where Andrew Hussie sends her a particularly waffling email that repeatedly uses the word "know", she overlays the section with a video of UsefulNotes/DonaldRumsfeld (who notoriously orchestrated the invasion of Iraq during UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror) making his infamous "There are known knowns" speech. Donald Rumsfeld's death happened to be announced on the ''exact same day'' the video was released (although he had actually died the day prior). Sarah responded appropriately:
16	--->'''Sarah:''' People are informing me that this video may have killed Rumsfeld by means of psychic energy. I can confirm this to be true.
17	** In "The Rise and Fall of Teen Dystopias", Sarah mentions she'll refrain from discussing her opinions on ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale'' because she doesn't want to invoke legal threats from the Church of Scientology after the ''Homestuck'' debacle. Colleague WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows picked up the joke when he ended up making a video on Edgar Winter and L. Ron Hubbard's ''Mission Earth'' album, saying he has to tread carefully about the record so he doesn't have to make a video called "Scientology Sued Me, and Then it Got Worse" (mirroring the title of Sarah's second ''Homestuck'' video).
18	** In "I Was Wrong About Queerbaiting", Sarah posits that a cis man expressing himself in a gender nonconforming way (including crossdressing) can still be argued as doing something queer and uses well-known WholesomeCrossdresser Twitch streamer [=F1NN5TER=] as an example. Later, in 2024, [=F1NN5TER=] came out as not being cis, though as of this writing has admitted he's not sure if he'd put a label on his gender just yet beyond still preferring he/him pronouns (arguing that the closest he could think of is genderfluid).
19	* MemeticMutation: Fans took the image of her with a [[INeedAFreakingDrink glass of wine]] instead of her usual mug of tea for "Does JK Rowling's Transphobia Ruin Harry Potter?" to be a sign [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness of the apocalypse]].
20	* {{Misblamed}}: A lot of Homestuck fans (and writers!) went after Sarah for the comments on trans representation in the franchise, despite the video pointing out multiple times that the segment was written entirely by Emily (herself a trans woman). Bizarrely, several of them accused Sarah of "hiding behind" Emily when this was pointed out to them and still held her and ONLY her responsible for Emily's opinion, as if Emily had no agency whatsoever. Both women were understandably insulted by this, and inserted a [[https://youtu.be/005YAcpPxsw?t=3553 direct comment]] about it in a later video.
21	* MisaimedFandom: After Sarah's video on "pro-shippers" and "anti-shippers" came out, people from both sides began claiming that Sarah to be a member of one or the other and that the video clearly supports a side. The video is actually meant to be a neutral look at the general controversy, and Sarah makes a point to not identify as "pro" or "anti" -- instead referring to herself as a "tax-paying adult woman" and dismissing the fandom labels as meaningless.
22	* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn:
23	** As Sarah stated in her "Homestuck Sent Me a Legal Threat" video, when they announced the ''Homestuck'' video, a writer affiliated with ''Homestuck'' told Sarah and Emily to "die" because they planned to speak about the franchise's trans representation. While Sarah is cis, Emily is a trans woman, and Sarah repeats frequently in her ''Homestuck'' video that the section on trans representation was entirely written by Emily.
24	** Her video on "pro-shippers and anti-shippers" received backlash claiming that she was contributing to hatred towards queer fans. Sarah is openly bisexual and her cowriter is a trans woman.
25	* TearJerker: While rather amusing in the sheer, bizarre complexity of it all, ''FanFic/ThePrayerWarriors''[='=] sock puppet pileup can also be interpreted as an act of "digital SelfHarm," a phenomenon where a person creates alternate, anonymous internet identities to say abusive things about themselves. While it's not confirmed that the author is struggling with psychological issues, Sarah notes in her video on the subject that it would have been less painful for him to sincerely process his feelings through writing instead of manufacturing drama surrounding his own {{troll fic}}.

Context YMMV / SarahZ