#after a new release and patch lol
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made this cutie, just wish i could play the game with her lol
#my game keeps crashing after choosing a lot#woo yay#i love the sims#so much#brb#sims 4#ts4#s4#moriah#ig dont just throw in all ur cc#after a new release and patch lol
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wahoo finally “”””caught up”“““““ on fontaine leaks
#genshin spoilers#genshin leaks#first off leaks are a bitch to find if you're looking for them > 1 week after theyre released because wow dmca deleted accounts so fun#anyways hmmm they honestly look fine when lined up together i dont really care too much though#certainly a lot better than sumeru's leaked line up looked as a first impression. maybe bc theyre arranged by color palette or bc i thought#sumeru was gonna be non melanin deficient but either way its like pretty cohesive palette at least#i think ill see whether the storyline endears any of them to me#that blonde girl with the yellow/black design looks nice imo#and then there's that person with the apple?? whos like dark teal green looking? unless she got changed to the purple version of her design#like if she's still green i really want her just based on her looks but if shes purple and has fanservice thigh gaps im like ahhffhugh#i highly doubt they'll make any afab character very masc/androgynous but if she is i would love to see it#also highkey focalors or whoever the blue/white themed woman is. she is so ugly im sorry#i think its the hair that's not doing it for me#other people have also said this before but i agree it would be neat if we got a mondstadt map expansion some time. dornman port etc#we'd finally be able to see where eu.la and yan.fei met lol#anyways i'll probably be quieter until like new patch or smth smth no more thnigs to talk about until the new update haha#ramblings!
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this is a personal vent post so please let me just get it all out without trying to come at me lol:
so many ppl saying they respect larian's decision to peace out and not deal with hasbro/wotc, but i have to be honest, i don't respect them at all.
they are leaving a game behind that is unfinished and a narrative mess.
they leave a game behind where everyone paid the same amount of money for it, yet depending on which character you prefer, you get less content.
the disparity between everyone else and their writer's pet ast*rion is insane. he has a half to a third more content depending on which character you compare him to.
they leave behind a sparse act 2, which is already so barren compared to act 1 and all it had to offer. act 3 is a narrative mess and lacks structure.
they leave a game behind where they made promises a handful of weeks before release where they ought to have known that they, in fact, will not be delivering said promises: access to the upper city, consequences for playing certain races across the acts (playing a drow is going to be different in act 1 and gives you advantages vs act 3 where it would give you understandable disadvantages), etc etc etc.
they leave behind a game where content was cut from the companions to make it seem like the origins have something to offer when that system is barely able to compare what origin playthroughs offered in dos2 and it hurts the game and the experience (like tara being cut for companion gale).
they leave behind a game where they promised to much variety and proclaimed in panels from hell how they struggled to show the width and depth of the game, but really? it's about as deep as a puddle. a lot of the choices do not matter. kill ethel? nah, she's alive and well in the city. no sister hags to be angry here. give karlach no infernal iron and never talk to her at all? doesn't matter, she'll survive until the end of act 3 and will still call you her bff. dissuade gale to use the orb? we'll make sure he'll still offer 3 more times just in case. send yenna away from camp bc you don't want her there? doesn't matter, she'll stay. and yes, i'm aware these are all small things, but they are part of a larger problem. almost nothing you do truly matters to the point of where i just skip most things in act 1 and 2 now.
they leave behind a game that they promise to still patch, but some things have been broken since early access / release to the point of where i'm like i'm sorry, but your word that you will continue to patch things means about as much to me as all the other empty promises. the dialogue about morena dekarios is still broken and it's been over half a year now. the astral sea scene has low-res body textures for months. i know from mutuals who love minthara that her romance is still broken. and i could go on and on.
and what gets me the most about this is all is that they have learned nothing at all from dos2: act 3 of that game was so bugged and all over the place that i couldn't muster up the motivation to finish it the first time i played. they neglected a character to the point of where he could have been removed from the game or made a general hireling (beast).
those issues were at least attempted to be fixed in the definitive edition.
with swen saying that there will be no new content anymore and stating that both bg3 and its characters are now property of wotc/hasbro, it seems unlikely we'll even get an attempt of a fix.
so what this boils down to to me is just another game company not delivering on their promises after overselling their product and more or less abandoning it after a year to move onto the next big thing.
i don't think i can respect that ngl.
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⋆⭒˚｡⋆₊ ⊹ CHAMPAGNE CONFETTI
₊˚⊹♡ I WANNA SEE IT IN MOTION! IN 3D! gojo satotu, geto suguru, nanami kento, yuta okkotsu, megumi fushiguro˖⁺｡˚⋆˙
tags: sexting, degradation, some of them have sub/dom dynamics, semi public arousal (?), sex videos (do not practice this irl), friends with benefits, established relationships, and more idk.
A/N: such a weird combination of jjk men lol
gojo satoru
he was tired and annoyed once he got to the hotel after killing some stupid curses that easily a grade 2 sorcerer could do the work– but oh how they have been insisting on him to continue doing missions this days. he swears it’s utahime’s fault to finally take control over the tokyo students and make them move to kyoto.
but the true thing is that he was also so pent up after spending a long time without you beside him, he would call it a day after taking a shower and lay in bed– but a notification on his phone stopped him before doing so.
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i bought this new pair, it reminded me of your eyes, i miss you:(
and holy fuck- he swears if he wasn’t in just a pair of black briefs his cock would suffocate because of how fast he got hard– his hand immediately traveling trough and start working nicely to release the feeling. the pre-cum being more than enough to lubricate his cock and make it easier to jerk off– with one hand he opened up the camera and took a video before sending it to you.
sounds of whines and whimpers coming out of the video, making you immediately wet– a visible wet patch forming in your panties, he sounded so pretty– pretty enough to reply to him with another video of you coming –still with your panties on– by just rubbing yourself in the pillow.
“ah fuck it– someone else can take care of this mission”
geto suguru
he’s not a fan of it– he prefers having it in real motion in 3D– and he knows that because when you do send him some risky text or picture is just to piss him off– or maybe he likes to think you’re just a horny slut for him.
but fuck it, why he couldn’t be the horny slut just for once this time? just one time –that’s what he promised himself– the idea of you going out with your friends today, the dress you were wearing being a lil bit too much short for his liking –not wanting to be the type of boyfriend he wouldn’t let you wear whatever you want– and he knows other men will be seeing you and get hard just at the thought of you, so that’s why he needed you like right now.
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wouldn’t u be so nice to come back home and help me relieve some stress? pls baby, i need you.
and this was surprising as fuck because geto was always so dominant, making you the needy one in the relationship, so this wasn’t an opportunity to waste.
send a video of yourself to show me how much you want me.
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fuck, i’m typing with just one hand rn, all i can think of is your pretty lips around my cock.
you were in the restroom of the bar you decided to go out with your friends, core pulsing, surely there was a wetness coming out of you, trying to release some tension, you tried to find some friction by rubbing your thighs together.
i’m going back home baby, do not cum.
nanami kento
“you fucking horny needy slut.”
he exhaled, the words barely hearable– he had to re-adjust in the chair he was sitting on, pants suddenly too tight, tie not letting him breathe and time going lower this time.
“Nanami-san, are you feeling okay?”
he wouldn’t admit it outloud but he’s a fan of the risky texts you send him, edging him and make him eager to go back home as soon as possible– but right now, it would be nice if you didn’t send this in the middle of a fucking reunion he had with some clients. this time you wouldn’t be the only one playing silly games– he would take a quick photo of his growing erection in his pants, with no text, no emoji, no nothing. and the reunion was stressing him out, he was so pent up that he’s a millimeter from standing and leaving.
you knew that, you fucking knew he was in a reunion, but you still decided to desobey him and be a needy brat just to be fucked stupid. and ohh he wouldn’t fall for your silly games, he’s not angry, he’s actually pretty excited to get back home and just edge you till you fall apart in his arms begging for release.
he couldn’t wait.
yuta okkotsu
he’s BRIGHT RED. he was supposed to be focusing on whatever gojo-sensei was talking about, but the moment he opened up your message he expected everything else but this.
and he thinks this was an accident, but no way– the way your body looks, how good your tits looked, damn.
1 attachment sent.
why won’t you come and play with me instead yuta~ ;(
shit, he felt his cock throb and start growing inside his pants– it was so painful to see you like that and can’t have the real thing in 3D to touch, he swears he could just cum if you showed up in front of him like that-
“Are you okay Yuta?” Maki’s voice brought him back to reality, the sudden pain of his cock searching for release becoming a little bit too much to bear– he needed to do something right now.
He excused himself to the restroom, clear erection showing on his pants– praying to god no one saw it, a wet patch forming in it thanks to the amount of pre-cum he was leaking right now.
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lewd sounds came from the video; panting, whimpers, and moans saying your name– you never thought he would answer back, fuck- you even thought this was going to ruin your relationship with yuta, but holy fuck.
there he was, fucking his fist in the bathroom at the image of you, sudden cum painting the mirror, loud whimpers came out of him, telling you how much he needed your little pussy wrapped around his cock–
I’m going to your dorm rn, cant wait anymore
megumi fushiguro
okay. you were supposed to be only friends but god damn. he swears it was the time– suddenly the texts turned more risky and now you’re sending him a video of rubbing yourself with your pillow with his shirt.
and he was never this eager to cum, biting the lower part of his shirt so he could keep his moans back and not wake up Yuuji in the other group (plus he was way too needy to take his shirt off), phone on the other hand on a video call with you while he shows the lewd image of himself fucking at your own movements between a screen.
fuck gojo-sensei, why did he had to send him on a mission? he needs to see you like that but instead of a pillow being the thing you’re rubbing your pussy into, it needs to be his cock instead.
“Ah- ffuck…” small sounds calling out your name came from megumi’s mouth, almost audible thanks to the shirt preventing him from moaning out loud, “sshit, i just wanna be back to see you and touch you baby, i know you won’t regret this.” strips of cum coming out of him, the view making you dizzy and helping you reach your own high too.
#gojo satoru smut#geto suguru smut#nanami kento smut#yuta okkotsu smut#megumi fushiguro smut#jjk smut#jujutsu kaisen smut#jujutsu kaisen#jjk#gojo satoru#geto suguru#nanami kento#megumi fushiguro#yuta okkotsu#megumi smut
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So, train of thoughts.
Somewhere in the middle of 2010s (I forgor) Games Workshop closed Warhammer Fantasy line completely with the destruction of the Old World and started the line of Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
The goal was to draw new players and the change was like massive. Imagine if Forgotten Realms were destroyed by cataclysm and "continued" by Planescape, like that much of a difference. And it's not only about setting but about the game as well, it was not just different rules, it was whole new assumed mode of play.
So as a result, a lot of old players felt completely dissatisfied by it and decided to make their own fan version of Warhammer. There were numerous projects, but the most successful is The Ninth Age. It started as just patched version of 8th edition of Warhammer but slowly developed both somewhat different mechanics and different setting, very reminiscent of Warhammer but different (some things that I can say is that it handles non-European human cultures way better and gives more personhood to orcs and goblins). And what's more importantly, while I can't describe the exact process, all of it was collectively created by forim residents.
My initial (optimistic) thoughts were that we could together create like Collective TTRPG. "Generic Fantasy Adventure Game" is a pretty popular concept, and with the combined power of nerd minds we would be able to make a modular game that can be easily scaled to any degree of complexity you desire (or a family of related games if it's easier), and that, much more importantly, wouldn't be affected by corporate need to sell more products. Like there are already thousands of free indie games for generic fantasy, but we need to make a game like this a default somehow.
Those were my dreams, and after that I thought "lol, imagine if after the release of OneD&D 5E players will just do this"
I think a truly community made and community owned alternative to D&D 5e would be really cool! there have of course been a few 5e-based rulesets like A5E (which is actually really cool imo) that seek to do something new with the core of 5e, but A5E specifically feels like an expansion of ideas from 5e than just a "D&D 5e with fan patches implemented." Still very cool and worthy of checking out definitely.
And yeah incidentally should such a project arise WotC actually made the community's work easier last year by releasing the SRD under Creative Commons. But yeah, I think it would be cool! How likely it is to happen, I don't know.
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hi! i’m not sure if you’ve done this before but.. could i please request a vegeta x human!reader who’s heavily tattooed (legs, arms)? i have no real idea for a plot line for it but gather it’s not something he’s seen a whole lot of since coming to earth - if at all! happy for either SFW or NSFW, completely up to you if you don’t mind the idea? have a lovely day!
For Fun | Vegeta x Reader |
author's note: this idea has absolutely made my day. it just begs for a sweet little vegeta learning moment, since normally it's him explaining saiyan culture. i have chosen the sfw path here! it's also funny bc i've been contemplating tattoos lol and a vegeta tattoo has been on the brain for some time now. thank you for your request!!!! 🩷🩷🩷
pairing: vegeta x fem!reader
warnings: sfw, reader has tattoos, some nudity but no smut or anything remotely nsfw, post-namek but pre-androids and cell
You can feel Vegeta's eyes on you as you work on his suit, Bulma's lab being the only place you feel comfortable sharing space with him in— the racket of the tools at the very least would alert somebody of something nefarious happening. Your dear sister just had to have a soft heart (or rather, quite the boner) for the Saiyan, and now it's you that suffers the consequences while you patch up the blue suit with a precise needle and thread.
"I'm not going to ruin it." You snark at him, not exactly happy to be in his presence. He's a murderer! "I've fixed it for you before without an issue." Bulma's doing her best to copy whatever material this suit is made of, but she's having trouble competing with alien technology— though she'll certainly have it figured out soon. She's a petty thing on the regular, but test her intelligence with a challenge like this and she's more stubborn than acne on an asscheek.
"Mm." He never talks much, at least. But as you stretch your arm out to pull the thread taught, Vegeta moves to take your wrist in his hand. While strong and easily capable of smashing your poor bones to smithereens, his touch is on the softer side.
"What in the world are you doing?" Are aliens unaware of personal space??
Ignoring you initially, Vegeta's gloved fingers curiously glide along your forearm, eyes focused on the artwork adorning your skin. "Your tattoos make little sense. What sort of culture is this?"
"Culture?" You repeat the word dumbly, fighting the urge that lingers just under your skin, heart rate picking up as you will yourself not to shiver at his touch.
"These flowers and symbols, what do they represent? I've been on Earth long enough to know the culture here is nothing like these— furthermore, the lab rat has none at all."
The laugh that bubbles from your chest is easy. Perhaps Earth is the only planet, or one of few, with inhabitants that indulge in tattoos for pleasure rather than cultural representation. "They aren't part of any culture, Vegeta."
"Then what are they?" His brow furrows rather adorably, his lips pulling into a pout as you laugh at his ignorance.
"For fun."
"You marked yourself permanently for fun?"
"Sure did. I got tons of 'em. Some of 'em mean somethin', but for the most part they just bring me joy."
Vegeta releases you finally, shaking his head in a way that reminds you of your father when you first started inking up. "Silly Earth woman…"
"Oh come on. Tell me they aren't pretty." You smirk softly, eyes glittering with the twinkles of mischief. This is a new light on Vegeta, one that perhaps drew Bulma's generosity his way in the first place.
"Tch." A blush rises to his cheeks and he looks away, staring a hole into the wall. "They're not ugly."
A not-so-pretty snort escapes you as you resume patching the suit up, tying and clipping off the end of the thread after the hole is closed up. "I got my first tattoo when I was seventeen. I was young and dumb and in love with a guy I thought I would be with forever." You murmur softly, pulling up the leg of your sweatpants to show off the heart by your ankle. It's old and faded by now, but your lips still pull into a smile at it.
Vegeta takes the moment to examine it, brushing a curious knuckle over the tattoo. His curiosity is sweet, and this must've been on his mind for ages now— it's not like him to get handsy or remotely talkative at all. "Saiyans never took part in these."
It makes all the sense in the world; from what you've pieced together by Vegeta's quiet, rarely spoken about tales of home and with the love for fighting that gushes from both his and Goku's hearts, Saiyans aren't exactly sentimental. "Well… You're on Earth now. You could get a tattoo just for the hell of it."
"I have no need." Vegeta looks away again, and you shrug to yourself.
"They're not for everyone, I guess." You hold the repaired suit out, feeling a tad bummed out that the sight of him in a tank top and sweatpants will be gone soon, but a lilt of surprise thrums in your heart when he sets it on the table and looks at you instead.
"Do you… have more of them?"
You laugh and tug at your t-shirt, pulling it off in the face of the blushing prince and revealing several more tattoos, most of which he's never seen before. "You got time?"
"You could certainly warn a man before you start stripping." He grumbles out, forever the prude even in the face of a gorgeous woman and her body.
"So sorry." Your tease bounces off of him as his curious fingers run along the lines on your tummy, sides and just below your breast. You're bare to him almost entirely, as you've never worn a bra at home and certainly didn't intend to start just because a man moved in, though his eyes and touch are calmly curious and genuinely interested in the artwork you're laced with, rather than the perky breasts and soft skin that would have most men acting a fool by now.
It almost has you feeling ugly, though that near-permanent tint of red that dusts his cheekbones reminds you otherwise.
"Don't forget the one on my back." Your murmur is gentle, only there to invite him further into the journey without jostling his concentration too much. And he takes your advice, stepping behind you while tracing the intricate linework of the massive tattoo, pausing at the sight of the gorgeous mural on your back. You've spent quite a bit of money on this, suffered the pain of the needle piercing and permanently scarring your skin to the patterns that'll forever mark you, and the admiration Vegeta has for your commitment alone is monumental.
Even gloved, his touch warms your skin in the lab's cool conditions and that little spot on your back, the one that had you shaking and embarrassed as your tattoo artist that, bless his resilience, dealt with with more care than a fucking surgeon to properly tattoo, flutters against the accidental tickle. You shift, muffling a laugh into your palm and there's a pause before Vegeta drags his fingertips over the spot again, and then once more.
"Your laugh isn't ugly either." He mutters and steps away, the warmth of his proximity erased and goosebumps covering your body now.
Standing ten toes down and looking over your shoulder, your lips twist in gentle glee upon catching his dark eyes with your own. It's taken some time, but you've finally found what Bulma saw in Vegeta that allowed him into your shared home.
He's flustered by such intimacy and he quickly snatches his Saiyan suit up before rushing towards the door. "Put a shirt on, you vile woman, or you'll catch a cold." Vegeta grumbles out, hightailing it towards the comfort of his gravity room and far away from whatever the hell just happened.
"Must be the first time he touched a woman." You snicker, tugging your shirt on and cleaning up the mess, lest your sister properly bitch you out for it later on.
The ghost of his touch remains, and even under the duress of several times Earth's gravity, Vegeta's palms fondly remember the feeling of your skin.
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heyy so you mentioned there was three more spaces left? How about a really kinky smut shot with Marilyn T? She’s watching reader try on the lingerie that she picked out for her, but Marilyn couldn’t wait and decided to f%ck her on the spot in a tiny fitting room just because her girl looks so hot in it lol. Maybe lots of hair pulling and choking too?
Kinkmas fanfic:#3
I got what you need
Marilyn Thornhill x fem!reader
Warning: smut, spanking,hair pulling, chocking, use of strap, public sex, praise kink, degradation kink, mean marilyn, almost caught.
"Well?.... do you like it?" You asked her after giving her a full body turn of the new purple lingerie she had picked out. Marilyn hummed - you couldn't tell if it was one of approval or disappointment. She tilted her head slightly to the side as her eyes raked up your body like a hawk stocking it's prey. Her gaze flicked up to yours as she bit her lips hummed again. You had to be honest,the way she was man spreading on the tiny couch in the small dressing room made you feel things. She way her hair was messy from the way she had ran her fingers through it earlier to the way the suit was a close fit on her body making her look so masculine.
You snapped out of your trance when she snapped her fingers in front of your eyes.
" turn around again let me see your ass baby" she spoke up firmly looking quite annoyed that she had to repeat herself. You nodded as your turned around for her, looking at her facial expression through the small built in mirror on the wall. Her eyes were filled with lust and inclination as she looked at your round fleshy ass. You yelped as she grapped hold of your hips and bent your over slightly, she stood to her feet as she pinned both of your hands behind your lower back.
" God you make me so feral." She mumbled as she grabbed the flesh of your ass hard as if it was dough before proceeding to Spank you. You whimpered softly as your feet twitched threatening to throw your over as the stinging sensation burned its way through your cheek.
" mmhm, i bet you know don't you. You know how much you make mommy wanna fuck your brain out but being the slut you are you just don't care do you baby?" Her tone of voice was dark and sultry, seductive even. You moaned as she ran a finger over your clothed slit making you shiver, she smirked at herself when she felt the wet patch that was waiting there for her. She spanked you again before straightening up your body so that you could lay flat against her chest as she made eye contact with you through the mirror.
" won't you look at that. I haven't even touched the bitch yet and she's already pooling waters in her cunt like the Atlantic Ocean." She husked as her hand made its way around your neck. She chuckled as your squirmed against her hold, slightly avoiding her intense eye contact.
" m-marilyn please we can't have sex in the lingerie if we're not gonna buy it." You manged to choke out. She scoffed as she released her grip on your neck.
" who said we aren't gonna buy it,my love....... mommy just needs to make sure that this is suitable for a quick fuck for whenever she's ready" she whispered in your ear, grazing her teeth over your earlobe as her hot breath caused all the air on your neck to stand up. Without warning the marilyn pushed you down onto the tiny couch into a face down ass up position. Your feet were slight dangling off the edge as your ass was high in the air. You turned your head to the side to get a good view of her beautiful figure as she fucked you. You bit your bottom lip as you waited for her to unbuckle her pants and take out her strap.
She pulled your underwear to the side as she slowly began to slide her faux cock through your already already lubed folds. She was teasing you. Making you needy and you were absolutely enjoying it. She sandwiched her cock beautifully between your slit, gently pressing down on your clit resulting in you moaning. Marilyn chuckled as she removed her dick spitting on it before suddenly shoving it in your pussy. You let out a loud and brutal pornograpic moan as she continued to bury her cock deeper within you. She was filling you up so fucking good. You felt so full. They way she would go deep then pull back slightly before going even deeper was delicious and it was driving you insane.
With the sudden intrusion with her massive cock it was taking you every cell in your body to try not to cum on the spot. You clenched down on her cock making it harder for her to move. Her cock hits you right where you need her. your eyes rolled back as she removes her cock entirely before shoving it back into you with much more force. Your hand found her hips as your sharp nails digged into the flesh probably and most definitely leaving marks.
“Fuck, God look at that pussy, fuck yeah" she grunts as she fucks you slowly as the room filled with soft whimpers and squelcing noises of her cock going on and out of your perfect cunt. She groaned as her hands found your hips slamming them back to meet her thrust making your moan louder as your arched your back.
" shut up y/n, you don't wanna get caught and thrown out do you? You want people to hear how much of a cock slut you are for mommy? How greedy your pussy is for my cock mhm" she spoke in a low tone of voice making you shiver as you started to move back your hips to meet her thrust softly moaning every time her cock it your g-spot in the most satisfying way.
Each thrust feels deep and intentional as if you were two thrust away from being sent to heaven. “Good girl. Takin’ my cock so good.” she husked.
" pleasepleaseplease" you rambled out the word 'please' over and over again as you felt your brain get fuzzy, as you felt all your self control, respect and dignity leave you. You were becoming her bitch. Her fuck toy and slut. She's gonna buy you this lingerie and if she felt like fucking you anywhere she'll just pull it to the side and re arrange your insides. Not that there's a spot in your house left where she hasn't fucked you yet. Made you see stars, cum on her cock, not a single place or surface.
" God I wish I had a real dick, I'd fuck you over and over again all day long. Make you cream on my cock, put some babies in you. Fuck I'd never leave your sweet pussy unfilled, I'd love to feel how your squirt on my cock, squeeze me so fucking good like the cock whore you are" you'd be lying if you said you weren't feeling fireworks all over your body right now. You arched your back some more sliding off and on her cock in a desperate and concerning way. She felt so fucking good. The way her cock is seated in you feels so unbelievably deliciously good.
" ngh! M-mhmg so good g-GOD" You screamed as she dragged the faux cock against your g-spot in a brutal way. You quickly covered your mouth with your hands as you knew you moaned a little too loud for someone not to hear. Marilyn whispered a soft 'fuck' as she heard some curious foot steps coming down the hall way towards the line of dressing rooms. She grabbed a fist full of your hair and formed it into a make shift ponytail, she pushed you down so that your face was buried in the pile of other clothes on the couch making your noises muffled. She loved hearing you moan for her but she couldn't risk getting kicked out of your favorite lingerie store.
She placed her other hand on the lower part of your back as she started pounding into you like a ruthless animal. You whined against her hold as you moaned loudly- since after all there was a huge pile of clothes stopping you from being heard. You could feel your neck slightly becoming sore as Marilyn's grip on your hair was brutal and definitely not going to be loosening up anytime soon. The room was filled with skin slapping and soft grunts that can be beard from marilyn and your obvious whimpers and moans. As the foot steps got louder marilyn slowed down her pace and started giving you slow strokes.
Your eyes rolled back to the back of your head and you laid there and took it all. Like the girl girl you were.
" fuck yeah baby, shhh don't make a sound. Your pussy makes mommy so happy. I bet you'd want that person to come in and see how mommy is beating it up right? I'm treating my baby so good" she kept on rambling sweet but very bitter insults and compliments as the person outside seem to can't put there finger on where the noise were coming from.
Marilyn pulled on your hair a little more making you yelp softly before shushing you. With each thrust she rolled her hips and pushed her cock the furthest your pussy would allow it to go. She picked up her pace as her cock continuously pounded into your sweet spot. The footsteps retreated and Marilyn was quick to pick up her pace. " fucking bitch, we almost got caught because you couldn't keep your noises to yourself, your gonna fucking cum on this dick" she said in harsh manner but honestly you loved when she was mean, it turned you on more. Made you even wetter.
You could feel that coil in your tummy getting tighter and hotter as she continued to pound into you with an animalistic force. You soon saw stars as your orgasm hit you like a wrecking ball. Completely ruining you. You were pushed out of reality and into oblivion. You could feel your juices oozing out of you and onto your thighs and all over Marilyn's cock. She gently removed her cock and slapped your ass playfully loving how it recoiled as she did it again, making you groan. Your ass cheeks were slightly red and bruised as she spanked you again making you whimper as your legs shaked.
" come on slut, on your knees and clean up your mess" you found the strength to get up and kneeled infront of her as you opened your mouth and cleaned her, moaning at the taste of yourself on her cock. She moaned slightly as if she was feeling what your skilled tongue was doing but truth be told she just loved the sight of you on your knees. She chuckled as she saw the frustration and tiredness in your eyes, the way your first straighten and perfect hair was now frizzy to the way your legs were still visibly trembling.
She picked you up and held you steadily and flushed against her chest as she kissed you passionately, moaning at the left over taste of you that still remained on your tongue. She pulled away smirking as a string of sliva followed her.
" we'll take this is in all the colors available" she said before winking at you and leaving. You smirked and shaked your head as you took off the lingerie - carefully so that you won't get your juices on it. You redressed in the attire you came in and walked back out to the front to the cashdesk where marilyn was.
" I heard some noise but I checked and there was no one, was it you guys? " the lady asked, with suspicion in her eyes.
" nope you must have heard things" marilyn said in a playful but cold tone , the lady gaved her a sarcastic weak smile before handing her multiple bags with the different color lingerie.
" have a nice day and come back again" she chirped happily with a obvious fake smile.
" we will darling" marilyn said before rolling her eyes at the lady and holding your hand before proceeding to wall out. She kissed your cheek before whispering in your ear. " maybe next time we go back I can fuck you in the blue one" you playfully smacked her chest before dragging her into a near by Cafe to get lunch.
Tag list: @agathaandgwenslesbian @aemilia19 @barbarasstar @samanthasadhdlife if you want to be tagged in more Christmas kinkmas fics that are coming soon please comment below!!<3
#marilyn thornhill x reader#marilyn thornhill#marilyn thornhill fanfic#marilynthornhilllover#marilynthornhilllover fanfics#fypシ゚viral#fanfic#Christmas#kinkmas#smut fanfic
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Reverie Dev Log - November and December
Side Note: This one is quite long, if you only want an important part, there is a TL;DR summary at the bottom.
New Year Note
Happy New Year! We have now reached 2024! Reverie has begun as a little project since April 2021, before it even has its name. The more modern variant began after the demo release in August 2021, with CH1 releasing in May 2022, so it’s been a long way.
Though to admit, considering CH2.5 update came in December 2022, this means CH3 has a gap of a year now (though there are some updates and patches on 2.5 for a few months. This makes it seem like progress has been in stagnation, especially with delayed dev log recently.
This one will be shorter in technical and progress details, and more about the general gist of development plans in general, the surrounding environmental change in modding and OMORI as a whole (as that bears a great effect currently), and finally explains the slow down a bit (though a TL;DR: basically the past few months is holidays).
Also, Development post will now rather be every 2 months as well.
(And also the time is better spent on actually development than just writing, lol)
Overview
November and December for its period of time wasn’t as much done compared to previous months, though it wasn’t as bad as the worst case scenario when factoring in multiple holidays coming in that could have easily killed the motivation entirely. So all things considered, it’s relatively steady going despite the circumstances
For a quick rundown:
More NPCs implemented in maps
Writing is a bit more organized and more steady in terms of work now (And also an additional writer member!)
Portraits started to be done for most main characters
Connected up some progression from separate disjointed cutscenes
Some new plans that reduces workload*
Some enemy sprites are done as well on the side**
A few changes and re-polish on some music tracks
*for example, sunset are done on same map with filter than whole new set of maps
**Which are low priority, more of optional content in CH3 context
Updates, Changes and Needs
There are multiple factors that affect development, here it will be listed from short term factor to long term factor and potential future.
Holiday and Breaks
Let’s start with easy stuff, the short term factor. The past few months contain multiple holidays and also school breaks for some people. There isn’t much to say here, people on holidays get busy therefore less people are doing mod work, especially Christmas and New Year holiday.
(I mean, reverie is a fan mod project, not a job, lol)
Though there is still at least some minimum baseline of trying to keep interest up with some check in, so the interest doesn’t die off entirely, as mentioned in previous Dev Log before large holidays tend to be in big risk for that.
CH3 and Real World Content
One major thing to think about is the length of the real world section and the amount of content it has. The real world content has a large upfront cost due to making an entire new asset for the majority of aspects, so any new things added more will take far longer time than usual other chapters in the dream world.
There are two major aspects to consider, the mandatory story aspect, and the optional side content aspect.
Mandatory / Story Content
As of current the main story aspect of CH3 is quite short, unlike Dreamworld areas, the Real world main content mostly revolves around cutscenes and dialogues, if you speed through the dialogue and cutscenes, it could very well take only half an hour or less to go through (though that’s unlikely the way it’s played on first playthrough at least, ignoring reading time).
One conflict is that, Reverie as a mod is far more focused on Dreamworld sections and battle heavy, making real world sections a bit awkward to make, taking quite a large amount of development time compared to other dream world chapters. The question then is how much real world content should be made, factoring in development time?
Side / Optional Content
As for side content, like in base game it’s mostly NPCs giving fetch quests (which are simpler to make), or potentially jobs (which is a bit more complex).
One unique aspect of Reverie over the base game though, is some amount of gameplay battles to at least give something to do (think of Jackson poster in Hobbeez in base game, but more fleshed out).
The important question is, how much side content should there be in the real world section of reverie? While it is cool to have some side content in real world and is a common complaint on base game itself that the real world feels lackluster, making more things in real world also takes up a large amount of development time which is not ideal. It’s a balancing act between not too lackluster but also not too much content which would take too much time.
RPGMV Needs and Modding Community
And finally, the general community aspect. The OMORI fandom has aged quite a while now, and as time passes the amount of people interested is reduced as well. This project is ultimately a fan project so the amount of interest on the mod isn’t really a problem, but what does this mean is there are less people interested in OMORI and also modding in general,.
A fair amount of people who tend to do RPGMaker MV (RPGMV) works tend to now be out no longer modding, or new members who do would tend to be making own project anyways. This means there has been less people who are available with RPGMV side, which means aspects like cutscenes should be cut down smaller to avoid development hell.
What this means for development is the gears shift from previous usual development focused on efficiency (getting task as parallel as possible), to a slower but sustainable development, focusing more on sustaining interest, which is better than losing interest totally.
TL;DR
Basically, the key important points are:
Short term aspect of Holidays and New Year makes November and December slow period in general.
Real World content (and CH3 by extension) is more time consuming and harder to make than other chapters
Therefore, amount of Real World content needs to be discussed, both mandatory and optional content
There has been less people in Omori community in general meaning there is less people to go by, especially RPGMV sector
Therefore, development has switched to a more slow burn state, taking things slow but sustaining interest to avoid burn out or lost motivation
And for development posts, now will be posting every 2 months than every months instead to reduce writing.
And about Applications...
Applications are always open! RPGMV / Programmers are always appreciated!
Final Stuff
Well now that you read this far, here's some portrait of Daphne and Bowen! (and also probably the only few sprite that is showable related to CH3 now)
There isn't much detail, but when resized down it is enough as a sprite
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Back Online with Lots of Goodies!
I’m finally reconnected thanks to a new ISP!! That means I’m finally back with a site update and lots of new mods and cc stuff! Read on to see what’s new. I’ll probably have even more next week if I don’t get carried away with my new way, way faster internet. LOL
New Mods
Here are the two new mods I have for you today:
Longer Crystal Charge & More – This mod changes it so that all crystals which are fully charged will stay fully charged for a total of fourteen days! Also, it includes an additional mod to keep crystals charged after summoning Grim with a Jet crystal.
Better University Tutoring – With this mod, the time it takes to tutor is now reduced to 2 hours and the pay is over 200 simoleons depending on the level of the skill your Sim is tutoring in.
Mod Updates
The Adventurer Career – Completely recreated and renewed with new features and more! Also now includes my optional Discover University addon!
Also updated with said optional Discover University addon are the Rock Star Career and Psychology Career. Note: you only need one copy of the addon file though it is included in all three zip archives.
The first set of Don’t Do That Mods has been updated to fix a tuning error in the “Don’t Burp or Fart” mod.
Thanks to the latest patch, four of my preferences needed an update or else they will cause LE errors. They are the Coffee Preference, Fabrication Preference, Flower Arranging Preference, and the Reading Preference. The other preference mods do not need an update.
New Custom Content
I finally fixed the tails and created new matching tops for my newly re-released Jeweled MerFolk Tops & Tails.
cc: @scarlets-realm @luthsthings
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Hey! Its me again! :D
I love the fact that Reader plays a ukulele to distract themselves away from their thoughts, it's wholesome oml.
*THE TOXIC GOSSIP TRAIN FLASH BLACK*
(ALSO Your post abt Zoro and reader is so funny and gives me the giggles- I love platonic one piece ITS SO UNDERRATED)
Anyways, I have a few random memes and incorrect quotes for your reader and the Determination! Series! Hope you'll like it! :)
———————
*this takes place after Zoro just joined Luffy's pirate crew and Reader is tagging along*
Luffy : Hey Zoro! I just have one question for you
Zoro : What is it Luffy? *His arms behind his head trying to nap*
Luffy : What color is an orange?
Zoro : Luffy you bonehead, the color is just the same as its name. Just like a lemon *he is proud of himself*
Reader : *questioning their decisions*
———————
Crewmate : You're smiling. What happened?
Young!Buggy : What? Can't I smile just because I feel like it?
Reader : Shanks tripped and fell down the stairs today. *Treating shanks broken nose*
Young!Shanks : *with a broken nose* >:( jerk (to Buggy)
: You lying, cheating, piece of shit!
————————
* they're eating dinner*
Reader : Can you pass the salt?
Shanks : *throws Buggy across the table*
— 🛎️ Anon!
Hi!!!!!!
Never thought I’d be getting the honour incorrect quotes for my series from someone else : D
I shall also post some as well
Nami: Every time I hear someone talking about updog, I’m torn between not wanting to fall for it and wanting to help them complete their joke.
Luffy: Okay, but what is updog?
Sanji: Updog is a long sausage in a bun, often served with ketchup, mustard, onions, and/or relish.
Ussop: No, that’s a hot dog. An updog is when a new version or patch of an application is released.
Y/n: No, that's an update. You’re thinking of the fourth largest city in Sweden.
Zoro : Surely, that’s Uppsala, where’s updog is the giant spider in Harry Potter.
Nami: That’s Aragog. Updog is a symbol conventionally used for an arbitrarily small number in analysis proofs.
Ussop: You’re thinking of epsilon. Updog is an upward-moving air current.
Zoro: No, that’s an updraft. An updog is the modern version of a henway.
Luffy: What’s a henway??
Nami: Oh, about five pounds
===
*Squad reactions to being told ‘I love you’*
Y/n and Luffy: Thanks fam!
Ussop: Oh no.
Zoro: Sounds fake, but okay.
Sanji: *A flustered mess*
Nami : Can I get a refund?
===
Ussop: Imagine if someone handed you a box full of all the things you lost throughout your life.
Zoro: It would be nice to have my sense of purpose back...
Y/n: Oh wow, my childhood innocence and My will to live! I haven't seen these in years.
Sanji : I knew I lost that potential somewhere.
Nami: Mental stability, my old friend!
Ussop: Jesus, could you guys lighten up a little?
===
Y/n: *dies*
Luffy: Timer starts now! When are they coming back? I say two months!
Zoro: Bullshit. One month.
Ussop: Nah, half a month.
Sanji , sobbing: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Y/N JUST DIED!
Nami, scratching chin in thought: One week.
(This one is wayyy to real lol)
===
*after the Squad has been separated for a few years*
Luffy: So what have you been up to recently?
Zoro: Leading a revolution with Sanji.
Luffy: Good for you two! Me, I've joined the mob.
Zorro: *nods* Oh, how cool! That's awesome!
Luffy: I know! Anyway, have you heard from the others? Y/n ?
Zoro: Happily living as a hermit in the woods. Ussop?
Luffy: Wrongfully locked up in an asylum, which reminds me, we need to break them out later. Nami?
Zoro: Cult leader.
Luffy: Yeah, that sounds about right.
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Patch 2 Karlach got an entirely new ending huh 👀 Karlach ending vid & personal speculations for Minthara's extra content under the cut. Spoilers of course!
youtube
^Here's the video. The content of it is brand new, I literally couldn't find any of these lines in the datamine that was compiled at release (03/08/2023).
I wonder if they're going to do something similar for Minthara. There is an ending where we go back to Menzoberranzan👀
Previously, Karlach fans asked for another Karlach ending where her heart is fixed. That wasn't exactly what they asked for, but it's an ending where she lives nonetheless. So, wish fulfilled-ish? Meanwhile...
The request for Minthara's content so far is much more vague, thus making it more difficult to predict what extra content will be added in (if they were to do that)... Most were asking for Larian to patch her bugged lines and improve the overall lack of content. We never got to experience her romanced lines after Act 1 other than some crumbs and the datamine, so there was not really "the one" storyline-specific thing being asked for.
I am purposely ignoring the pregnancy plotline, it seems that the IGN article hinted that it truly is cut content from an earlier iteration of her character.
What I want & I think would be nice as extra Minthara content: More content of her being vulnerable after opening up to Tav would be super duper nice. I think I could draw somewhat of a parallel with Astarion's romance (from the little I know of it). Started off strong and physical, but more emotionally involved as it progressed, and in the end, it's the emotional connection that is the most fulfilling.
Her character is very power & control, but in the end...
even if the player didn't seize control of the elder brain, she forgives them because she's in love with them. I want to see more of that connection, more of it being built up. In the datamine right now, there's just that alurlssrin scene and that's it. Can we get a kiss from her 🥺 or a more romantic sex scene 🥺 pls Larian if you're reading this.
After all, it wasn't just the goblin afterparty altar scene that got most of us into Minthara, it was equal part that line where she promised she would take us as consort in Menzoberranzan too.
For non-romanced Minthara content, I'm actually not sure what could be added in other than an epilogue ending slide. Ending slides would benefit all companions and not just her, but yeah. I'm also curious on her lineage, but I'm not sure if that'd ever get elaborated upon.
Bottom line: I need her romance content in game & that elfsong tavern epilogue with her in game. For the extra content I hope we get new content that further her romantic connection with Tav 🥺and something more for the ending would be super nice too.
We're literally the most patient fans ever if I do say so myself lol. If Larian could pull this off not only would they please many of their longtime fans*, but it'd be incredible marketing/public relation move for them. Fixing Minthara's content might also encourage more players to replay and do an evil playthrough if they haven't done so.
*I feel like a lot of us who are fans of Minthara because we were here since Early Access and some solely played an evil playthrough for her. A few of my friends who played the game for the first time just straight up do good path, and Minthara was no more than another enemy to slaughter. Die hard, long time fans make for good evangelist marketer, word-of-mouth spreader and dedicated wiki editors. Larian's already got enough good rep, but the complaints has started to roll in, first on her & Karlach's content, then overall for Act 3, so I think a proper patching of Minthara and extra content would be golden tbh. Or maybe that's just the marketer/Minthara enjoyer in me talking. whopps.
And what do you think would make for nice additional content? Lmk!
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I am beginning the "Understanding Victoria 3" journey - I love Paradox and love Victoria 2, but I didn't vibe with 3 on release. but I didn't try too hard - after all its a Paradox game on release, they always kind of suck lol, you gotta wait for a few patches.
So I began a Japan file (weeb alert) and am taking it one step at a time. I think I have the economic fundamentals a bit down now with the "construction sector" gameplay loop - build up some construction buildings, look at sell/buy mismatches, drag peasants into the market economy, and then plan for multi-step supply chain moments and key production line switches building everything needed at once. I still get what is worth vs not worth, but that will come with time.
I do like the core system here - the "peasant" stock is a clever workaround of a Vicky 2 problem. Tons of workers start out "outside" the market economy doing subsistence farming, which is ahistorical (1836 rural economies in almost all countries were heavily commercialized) but in Vicky 2 a lot of what you did to boost things like RGO production was just "wait" - wait for techs, wait for population to grow, because everyone started fully employed. Now you can plan your economy way more effectively as there is a deep labor pool to play with.
On the down sides the UI is extremely messy. No screen really gives you "the economy", in the way you want it. Where is labor, where is infrastructure bottlenecks, what goods do my factories need to go to next production level tech, etc. Its all scattered to the winds like an artificial difficulty increase, like if I put it all in one place it would make what decision to make too obvious. But I can still tell, so its annoying as opposed to challenging.
Additionally it seems like I do *not* have to educate new people for jobs. I can just draft peasants right into universities as staff and such. This seems like a big error to me? But maybe I don't get it yet.
I haven't really touched diplo yet so no thoughts. Politics I don't really understand yet. I get the "fundamentals", you form coalition governments and based on their ideology they support different laws. But how I, as the player, actually interact with it in a positive way I haven't grokked yet. I want to both initiate change, and also be hit with challenges that I have to grapple with, and I am not sure of how to do either yet. Will be my next focus.
(The game does seem very event-bare, but ofc when it came to Vicky II I was always playing mods. One step at a time)
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What are your thoughts on OG obey me not getting anymore lessons after 80? It worries me because it kinda feels like they are trying to kill it slowly.... This is making me not enjoy nightbringer because i thought i would be a spin off new game with a new story that we could play while waiting for OG obey me to come with season 5, but now it seams like nightbringer will be their only foucus and season 5 will never happen. Sorry this kinda turned into a rant just not liking what's happening now.
Yeah, we weren't too happy when we first heard about it, which was the AMA the devs did on Reddit. It was a shitty way to release that information, and it sucks that they really only said so when people ASKED if OG was going to get season 5/more lessons. It did create backlash right away, which we guess they were...attempting to avoid in the first place lol. But they definitely should have handled that announcement a lot better than they did.
In terms of what it means for the future of OG, we don't think they are trying to kill it per se so much as they just sort of...wrote themselves into a corner, and this was their way of hitting reset, on that and other things.
(no need to apologize for ranting, ours is even longer LOL -- rest under the cut!)
We definitely have some criticisms of the writing in Season 4, particularly how they squandered much of what was narratively set up in Season 3, and they didn't really set anything up on where it goes from there. It's also unfortunate that the original game is just going to be doing the same events as Nightbringer, rather than separate ones, which just means there's really nothing to motivate people to stay. And in that way, it does also sort of feel like a waste of all the effort people have put in to strengthen up our cards and grind affection and stuff, because we can't transfer ANY of that. They probably hope to continue that both sides will make money for them, but realistically speaking, it does feel like they are effectively just pushing everyone to migrate to the new game, and that the original is being sort of abandoned to just a maintenance mode kind of thing.
One thing they did note about the decision was that Ruri Tunes was originally supposed to just be an additional mode, but they decided to split it off as part of a separate Nightbringer game/story in order to not make the original "unplayable" with all they wanted to add and change "under the hood". Part of that, at least at a guess, may be due to the difficulty curve of the original -- despite them adjusting the difficulty in a patch, plus their zero-AP lesson battle promo campaigns, they probably were seeing a lot of drop-off just for people who gave up because they couldn't make it through those earlier lessons to even finish Seasons 2, 3, and 4. In that sense, it's good and bad to shift the continuation of the story to this new game even though they don't seem to have actually learned their lesson with the difficulty curve problem... But that's another thing they get to hit reset on by making a new game.
As for a Season 5, we do know from the same AMA that the story from the original is supposed to "continue" in Nightbringer, which suggests that it might pick back up from the end of Season 4 as effectively a Season 5, like maybe MC will make it back to their own time and continue from there, just in this other game instead of the original. Which, um, is certainly a choice on their part, especially since not everyone has the time or interest in a rhythm game. It kinda feels also a bit like this sudden time travel thing in Nightbringer may almost be a way of buying them some time while they figure out what to do as a continuation to the OG plot.
All of that said, however, considering the lack of direction for the original, we've actually been really enjoying Nightbringer's story! It dives into a lot of super interesting questions and content that fans have been begging for and brings back some of the darker themes from Season 1 that we've really missed, so even though it's not quite the Season 5 we've been waiting for, we're really hyped for the new content to keep coming!
#strongly believe that this was their way of fixing what they did to the OG story#it was an easier way to bring back darker themes after they went too far the gag/comical route in most of season 4#but yes here's our rant about it lol#obey me nightbringer#obey me nb#omnb#obey me#ask and ye shall be answered#ask and ye shall receive (essays)#nightbringer discussion
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RWBY Recaps: Volume 9 "A Place of Particular Concern"
Happy start of a new Volume, everyone! 🎉
Shaving off a little more than a month, it’s been two years since I was writing a RWBY Recap. Is that long enough to count as nostalgic? Definitely long enough to inspire a minor existential crisis on the passage of time, so how about we just collectively pretend it’s still 2013, yeah?
Of course, that would mean we were watching RWBY on YouTube and RT’s website, not... Crunchyroll. Listen, I’ll be real with you all and admit I know incredibly little about the site’s sketchy history which, from what I’ve gleaned lately, has led to a number of RWBY fans boycotting its use. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. However, I noted the two week free trial and decided to give that a go first, if only to make my life a little easier for the premiere. I’d planned to either shell out the 24-ish dollars necessary to watch the other eight episodes - which, honestly, isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, especially if we factor in my Starbucks addiction... - or don my parrot and eye-patch once I hit that two week mark.
So there was a plan!
This plan was a mistake.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that writing, “Wow, Crunchyroll’s website doesn’t work very well, does it?” maybe isn’t news to anyone else? I read that the new episode was supposed to drop at 9:30am. I then tried unsuccessfully to get it to load through 4:00pm. During this, while trying various avenues in the hopes of getting this video started, I noticed a Google link with a four hour timestamp, which would have put the release at around 11:00 my time, closer to what we’re used to.
Regardless of when it actually dropped, I was finally able to start watching at around 4:00pm. By which I mean I watched the first 17 seconds of the episode. Then it froze. I made it to the minute mark using a different browser. Then it froze again. I let things sit for a while and finally restarted my original vid, completing the episode without any additional problems, but by then I was more than a little frustrated.
Was it my internet? Crunchyroll? The will of the RWBY gods who don’t want me critiquing the hell out of this episode? Who can say, but I think I’ll be hoisting the flag sooner than intended.
“This is the story of a girl who had a lot of problems.”
If you’re thinking that this line sounds at all familiar, it’s because we’ve heard it before. Actually, the entirety of the first seven minutes is made up of our promo clips which, in a fourteen minute episode without opening and credits, is a lot. RWBY has been gone (in its canon state, anyway) for two years. I can’t speak for anyone else, but my impression of the Ruby PoV clip was that it was purely promotional material, not the start of our far-off Volume. So it was more than a little disappointing to finally get my hands on new content only to realize that half of it wasn’t new at all. We’d already seen it, discussed it, dissected it weeks, or even months ago. Combined with how much of our starter material was in our trailer (two emotional shots of Ruby I’ll be unpacking later) and how much the fandom was able to easily infer (Weiss and Blake are captured while trying to retrieve her weapon) it almost didn’t feel like a RWBY premiere at all. There is, almost literally, nothing new for the fandom to sink their teeth into. We knew they were in this Ever After place, we knew the basic plot of the first couple of episodes, we’ve seen glimpses of all the side characters... I’d actually argue that there’s more to analyze in the opening than the totality of our first episode.
Not that that's going to stop me from writing a shit ton about it, you know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
None of which bodes well and, frankly, this episode is enough of a mess that I can’t even take solace in RT executing the repetition well. Thus, I’m going to move fairly quickly (for me lol) through the first half of the episode, if only because I’ve already given my thoughts on it in other posts. So to recap within the recap:
Yang’s fall into the void and the ways in which this moment differs from the original animation is still a sore spot for me, especially given how the characters react (or rather, don’t) to finding her alive. While I commend RT for trying something different by giving us Ruby’s PoV, Lindsay’s acting grates here and the constant whimpers/gasps just highlight how much Ruby didn’t emote in the original version of the scene. Likewise, the halo of white around Ruby’s vision prior to falling proves that the writers were very aware of her silver eyes in that moment, yet inexplicably decided not to use them. As we’re seeing more and more lately, characters loose all their powers and strategic thinking the moment something needs to happen for the plot. Why craft a legitimate failure for the heroes when you could simply have them forget that their longest-running villain is in the city with them, or have Yang repeat a major mistake she’s supposedly outgrown, or have Ruby not use the one, unique ability that would save her from certain death?
As said, we know this old tune.
A detail I don't think I picked up on the first time around though is that Ruby is reaching desperately for Blake when they fall... and Blake just isn’t paying her any mind lol.
I mean I get it. Of course she’d be looking towards the villains/the bridges that represent safety, but given the non-relationship between Ruby and Blake, it struck me as funny that even when they’re “dying” together Blake barely seems to register Ruby’s presence. ‘I really look up to you!’ Yeah. Sure you do.
Ruby floats through the orange orbs of the void and, given that they show up in our opening, I hope we receive an explanation for what they are exactly. Perhaps the souls of other people who have fallen? Idk, I'm reaching. Neo shows up and fights in various disguises, blah blah blah. Ruby wakes on the beach to someone calling her name.
I feel like I asked this the first time around, but is anyone confident on whose voice that is? It almost sounds like Ruby’s own to me - perhaps heralding the split we saw in the trailer - but it could also be a repeat of Yang’s when she saved her? Honestly though, that second option feels too emotionally nuanced for what we got in the rest of this episode.
Right now, I’m inclined to ignore the voice until something actually comes of it. RWBY history has taught me that such minor mysteries may not last past the twenty minute mark.
As we saw in the released clip, we're immediately given some details of this strange land, including giant flora and twin suns. That’s... pretty tame. I’m of the opinion that if you’re going to do an Alice in Wonderland-inspired story, you’ve got two routes you can follow. The first (and for more satisfying option, I think) is to study the ways in which the original story functioned as a metaphor for the life of a child navigating an adult world and, similarly, use the weirdness of this land to impart some message. The second option (far easier, but still entertaining) is to really lean into the oddities, captivating your audience through the sheer WTF-ness of what you’ve put on screen, even if the strangeness isn’t actually representative of anything other than a "Well damn, that was weird" reaction.
Sadly, RWBY’s “A Place of Particular Concern” doesn’t seem to be achieving either. I mentioned when the trailer dropped that I don’t trust the story to say anything meaningful via its environments, but nor are the environments spectacular enough to engage us through novelty alone. Don’t get me wrong, I think the animators have achieved an impressive feat here, especially given the constraints and terrible working conditions we know they’ve faced before, but the oddness of the Ever After is mediocre at best. Oh look, small things like shells are now big. Real birds like the Dodo now come in flashier colors. A mouse talks!
...in a story where a main character is a cat girl.
Just like RWBY failed to distinguish how magic was different - and, ultimately, more shocking - than semblances, it’s now failing to inspire that sense of awe when our characters already hail from a pretty odd world. Sure, this is a different kind of odd, but the switch lacks any real punch. Compare RWBY’s Remnant/Ever After to Alice’s Normal World/Wonderland. She doesn’t have things like faunus and grimm, so something as relatively simple as a cat smiling unnerves her (and the reader). She doesn’t just see a slightly off bird, she finds out you now use them to play croquet. And she’s at the center of every oddity, experiencing these changes first-hand. Ruby sees a giant shell for a single shot. Alice becomes a giant and deals with the social horror of filling up someone’s house. I knew this was going to be a problem back when our clip dropped because despite being a separate realm supposedly governed by its own rules, we’ve still got a mouse terrified of cats. There’s this implication that the Ever After is oh so strange and horrifyingly unfamiliar... but then we immediately turn around and learn, no wait, most of what Ruby is encountering is familiar. At least enough to get by.
Ruby: “I should have known! I’ve seen plenty of cartoons!”
Volume 9 is playing it super safe with the Wonderland references and it’s really disheartening. If RWBY doesn’t have anything to say via this weirdness, I would have at least liked to see something truly weird.
To get back to the plot, Ruby immediately starts walking into the jungle and I - true story - groaned at the screen. Despite knowing it was coming! Because how can you have a character go through everything Ruby just did and not provide some reflection on it? This girl wakes up in a fantasy world after The Most Traumatic Fight Ever and waltzes off like an automaton following a coded directive. Where’s the shocked examination of her surroundings? Where’s the horrified, “Where am I? Did I die?” questioning? Where’s the post-fight panic where she desperately shouts for her teammates, begging someone to answer her? I literally can’t think of another instance in which a character goes through that much and then, literally, walks it off.
Later in the episode Ruby will inform Weiss and Blake that she spotted an overhang on the cliff and decided to try and get up there so she could survey her surroundings. It sure would have been nice to know about that while she was wandering. During the actual act of her travel I had no idea what Ruby was trying to accomplish other than, in true RWBY fashion, what I assumed was her most logical goal(s) - like finding her teammates. The kicker is that there are a ton of easy ways to keep the viewer informed despite lacking voice-overs. Let Ruby talk to herself as a way to self-sooth. Or use Little as a sounding board (why else is this mouse even here...) Show us a shot of Ruby spotting her target, taking a deep, fortifying breath, and going, “Okay... you can do this. Just make it to the cliff. One step at a time," a goal that’s ruined once her steps start going in circles. You can add a bit of character work by having Ruby remember Tai and Qrow’s training: always get a sense of your surroundings first. You can setup Ruby’s (presumably) Volume-long depression by having her just lie in the sand for a while, the suns passing overhead, staring at them listlessly, only moving when the surf starts hitting her mouth. Hell, is anyone even carrying their scrolls anymore? I don’t care how unlikely it is that it’ll work here, the first thing Ruby should do is whip that out and try to call her teammates.
Watching this moment in the context of the whole episode made it that much worse for me. It’s just so glaring how rushed this entire premiere was, with every logical reaction - to say nothing of the emotional beats necessary after that finale - getting brushed aside so that the team can get back together in under fifteen minutes. We’ve only got ten episodes, Ruby, so hurry it up. Go on, girl, give us nothing!
So we know the rest of this silliness, yeah? There’s the implication that a small amount of time has passed, an annoying dodo bird that must have been animated in later because Ruby doesn’t react to that either, a circular path of the jungle, and the soon to be named Little watching all this from a rock.
I want to emphasize that our first tonal emphasis here is humor. Having Ruby continually ending up in the same place, growing frustrated with cutsey voice acting, and the quick cuts of Little in various poses all function as lighthearted amusement for the audience... which is really fucking weird in a Volume following up on the trauma of last season. This is going to be an ongoing problem for the entirety of the episode and severely undermines the reveal that Penny has died (again). This is the exact thing RWDE folks have been worried about for literal years now, from the moment we realized we were getting a Wonderland-type world. I have little doubt that the fandom is right in saying that the rest of the Volume will likely get much darker than this (it almost always does nowadays), but that doesn’t matter because the damage has already been done. RWBY cannot continually flip-flop like this and expect its viewers to still buy into the serious moments. So many of us have lost faith in the writers’ abilities to treat these subjects respectfully and segueing from the (supposedly) fascist storyline that ends in horrific tragedy straight into, “What a whacky world, am I right? 🤪” is a damn good way to continually alienate viewers who want an emotional connection with this show.
Every time this criticism comes up there are other RWBY fans pushing back with the claim that a show - especially one that began so lighthearted and silly - simply can’t just be doom and gloom all the time. And you know what? They’re absolutely right. However, there are numerous ways to infuse comedy into your story without outright undermining the primary tone. Given that I’m reading it at the moment, I’d like to briefly use Kim Carnby’s Sweet Home as an example.
For those who are unaware, Sweet Home is a webtoon turned Netflix series that follows 18 year old Cha Hyun-soo after both his parents and sister die in a car accident. Given that he’s technically an adult, but without much financial support and already grappling with a deep depression, he moves into a rundown apartment complex and schedules his own suicide. Before he can go through with it though, a virus sweeps through the world, turning people into various kinds of monsters. These monsters - entertainingly creative - are modeled after whatever the infected person’s greatest desire is at the time of their turning, resulting in some benign beings... but much more hungry, violent, terrifying beasts. Thus, the story is centered around Cha Hyun-soo’s attempts to survive, the horrors found in his apartment complex, and the question of why he’s trying so hard to live when he’d already planned to die.
It’s dark, is what I’m getting at.
It also has moments like this:
And just a little while later:
Here, a generational divide infuses some much needed comedy into the story without detracting from the world’s overall tone (note too that Cha Hyun-soo remains looking stressed and anxious the whole time). It would be a problem if our depressed, terrified teenage suddenly started jumping like he’s having the time of his life (Weiss). It would be a problem if the entire first volume, which is meant to highlight the horror of this situation, was constantly peppered with lame jokes involving cutesy animals (the mice). If you’re going to add comedy, keep it subtle, relatable, and in this case bound to the characters’ internal monologue. By having them each compliment the other with age-appropriate comparisons that cause confusion, but without verbally acknowledging that confusion, the humor exists purely for the audience’s sake. The characters aren’t supposed to be laughing it up right now... so they don’t. The humor is for the reader alone, recognizing the miscommunication and enjoying it as an element separate from the dark tone of the characters’ world. Because this is the vibe of the scene directly before:
RWBY fails at this division. A lot. Like, that failure makes up the majority of this episode.
You know what? It’s easier to just keep a count going.
Little’s introduction is Ill-suited Comedy Example #1.
All of which means that when Ruby starts crying - and by that I mean a few sniffles and a single tear track - I have no investment in the moment. Even if the animation were close to what I’d expect after such a tragedy, its impact is obliterated by the, “Look! Cute mouse!” immediately proceeding and following it.
Also, love how Little has never seen a human before, is watching Ruby intently during this entire process... yet makes no effort to engage with her. I suppose I get it given the emphasis on how scared the mice are of predators, but from a character perspective it leaves something to be desired. In regards to Ruby not (yet) utilizing Little as a means of expressing her thoughts to the audience, our first Ever After character is just kinda... there. Ruby stumbles across them. (BTW, is they/them what the fandom is using for our first non-binary rep?) They only speak because they feel obligated to help Ruby after she retrieves the cheese. They come on this adventure because, by their own admission, they simply have nothing better to do. What’s the point of Little again? How are they serving the story? They don’t even lead Ruby to Blake and Weiss - she stumbles across them on her own while Little sleeps. In fact, it’s already a running gag that Little naps instead of doing anything useful. I wouldn’t care so much if RWBY weren’t already a show suffering from character bloat and an inability to manage that (because the former isn’t necessarily a problem on its own). Now that we’ve finally got the girls alone(-ish) and primed for some character development, I don’t want to squander it on stupid mouse jokes.
Given which: Little’s ‘Gimme The Cheese’ dance + accompanying sounds effects is Ill-Suited Comedy Example #2.
I mentioned the first time around that I am weak for a cute, animal companion. That remains true. Unfortunately, Little’s cuteness is only carrying them so far with me. Their negative impact on the narrative as a whole is, thus far, simply too much to fix with grabby motions and snot bubbles.
They ask the thematic, “What are you?” question and introduce a number of other theoretical ideas that, frankly, I doubt the Volume will capitalize on. Is your name your purpose? (Like Huntress Ruby Rose.) How does one "Little"? The team is “similar, but different.” Until the Volume actually does something with these questions, I’m inclined to read them as simple ‘nonsense’ language included to try and emulate Carroll’s style.
With Little planning to show Ruby her village (but doesn't actually succeed in that), we cut to Weiss and Blake traversing the jungle together. How did they find one another? No idea. Why did they find one another when Blake fell with Ruby? No idea. The story tries to bypass this by, as expected, leaning into the illogical nature of the world. If they somehow found each other, then they might be able to likewise find Blake’s weapon, despite the fact that it fell long after her. Honestly, this feels more like a very convenient plot device than an interesting characteristic of this world. Things happen so randomly here! Funny how that randomness seems to solely benefit the heroes.
Sidenote: I really like that Weiss says “Gambol Shroud” because the weapon names have felt only semi-canon for a very long time. Other than Ruby referring to Crescent Rose back in the first couple episodes, have we heard the names at all? I can’t recall off the top of my head, but regardless this makes for a nice moment between Weiss and Blake. It’s a small thing, but it helps sell the idea that they do actually know one another well.
The rest of the scene is... passable. Weiss has a “Blake... I’m really glad you’re okay” line and gets a “I’m really glad you are too” in response. This is one of those cases where I think fiction needs to deviate sharply from reality. Irl that’s probably exactly the kind of awkward, rushed line I’d give a close friend because I myself am awkward and struggle to verbalize my care for others (gift giving ftw!). But in fiction an exchange like that just comes across as wooden. “I’m really glad you’re okay,” says the girl who thought this friend had died and for real saw another friend get killed by a third like, an hour ago. Wow, what a reaction! This is also a case of RWBY’s animation acting as a constraint. As said earlier, I think the animators are doing the best they can under the circumstances, but better writing, time, and funds would likely lend itself to a more expressive reunion for all the girls. It also highlights how convenient the time-skip is. You can easily argue that these two cried and hugged and went through their Face Journeys when they first found one another. No need to rehash that though because it already happened off screen!
All of this is made worse for me by the fact that Blake says that if they’re fine, the others “might” be okay too. Might! That’s a loaded word choice with absolutely no follow up. Remember, this is the girl who was beside herself with anger and grief when Yang “died.” So glad to see that emotion carried over into the next Volume. I mean hell, give me a Blake who’s screaming at Weiss to just ditch her weapon. Why are they bothering with that when Yang is still missing?? Screw vines and mice, I’m going to go find my partner!
If only.
Everything in this episode just rings so hollow to me. I mean, I expected that given RWBY’s track record, but this is a severe failure to me given the intensity of Volume 8. From Penny's death to destroying a Kingdom, the fate of their friends to lost Relics, we needed a stellar start to this emotional journey and we simply didn’t get it.
That includes Weiss dodging the question of what happened after Blake fell. I really enjoyed this on the surface, just not - as is so often the case - in the context of RWBY as a whole. Because what is Weiss doing here except keeping another secret? In her defense, it doesn’t last long and there’s a case to be made about how difficult it is to discuss such things, especially after they just happened, so as said, I think that’s a compelling situation to put her in. It’s just one that also happens to poke at a RWDE sore spot because we had such a strong anti-secret rhetoric for three Volumes. Thanks to that arc, my initial reaction is not, “Poor Weiss. Grappling with this traumatic event.” It’s “See, Weiss? See how hard it is to discuss something horrific that you went through? But oh, you and the others had no sympathy for Ozpin in that regard, so just get over it and spill the crucial information already. Snap, snap, keeping Blake informed is more important than your mental health.”
All of which isn’t even touching on how she explains the situation... but we’ll get to that.
So they have this exchange that’s passable in many regards and fails largely due to the problems RWBY has carried with it for years now. They stumble across Gambol Shroud and proceed to spend a while trying to cut the vines/reach it from a nearby tree. This is how Weiss cheers Blake on.
Weiss: “Yah! Woo!”
Example #3, folks.
Weiss’ completely inappropriate cheer-leading aside, the entire time I’m going, “How is this in any way a problem?” I know Blake has become the useless fighter who can’t take out a single grimm without Ruby’s help, and Weiss has forgotten everything except her summoning, but has the audience forgotten how these girls used to fight? Anyone recall this moment from their very first battle?
Oh no, a giant pile of vines! However will we get past this obstacle?😱
I don’t know, maybe just... jump? Or you could get a little more creative by summoning a clone and doing a cool person-tower move to reach the top? That’s definitely not me pulling from my love of Yu Yu Hakusho or anything.
TEAMWORK, BABY!
My point is that moments like this fall flat precisely because RWBY has spent so much time showing us the group’s extreme abilities. Remember that scenes like the Ace Ops fight hinge on their presumed excellence. This is a group that beat the best team in Atlas! But now they can’t even bypass a pile of vines? The downside of giving your characters great power is that you then have to continually come up with ways for them to still face challenging conflict. Some shows handle this rather badly (like Castiel not just blowing up every demon/mortal that opposes them) and some shows handle it rather well (we establish early on that despite technically having the power to get the crew out of sticky situations, Star Trek’s transporter is prone to glitches and interference from the weather). Basically, you can’t go, “These girls are brimming with power because that looks awesome in a fight! But oh, now they can’t use that power because... uh... because that would interfere with our lame gag?” There has to be a reason. And this is far from the first time RWBY has conveniently forgotten the characters’ abilities. I still cringe at Ruby hanging off the cliff during the Cordovin battle. It’s meant to be a dramatic moment wherein she faces great danger from a fall, but they tried to give that to the girl who can fly.
So this is just incredibly stupid to me. Bad enough that we have gags following the intensity of Volume 8, but RWBY hasn’t even put in the effort to make them good gags. This episode honestly feels like RWBY satire to me, more akin to a Chibi episode, or a YouTuber poking fun, than the content fans waited two years for.
Right as Blake reaches her weapon they learn that the vines were a trap and they move, ensnaring both girls. We knew that was going to occur from the trailer and I thought that this was just another aspect of the Ever After. The vegetation (a bit like Alice’s flowers) is alive, sentient, capable of helping or hurting you. That’s pretty cool and, as I mentioned in regards to the environment responding to Ruby’s emotions, could be utilized in fantastic ways for combat.
However, this isn’t actually the case. Apparently the mice have sprung this trap because... Blake is a cat?
Wait.
So let me get this straight. This village of mice - who have never seen a human before, but have definitely seen cats - assume that Blake is exactly the same because she has cat ears. Then they found her weapon before her, somehow realize it is her weapon (even though Blake has yet to even stand next to it within the Ever After), and set an elaborate trap so that they can be the “hunters” for once, instead of the prey. Blake happens to come along with another human, but who cares? Capture her too! What are they going to do with them then?
Uh... the only thing we know about these mice is that they spend the majority of their time foraging for food and they struggle greatly to get the cheese out of the ground, and this would certainly be a way to both feed the village and eliminate a presumed enemy, so...
You know what? Never mind. I’m not going there lol.
This is stupid and illogical, but not in a wacky Wonderland way. Also, anyone else a little uncomfortable with the mice calling her a cat and Blake just going with it? Is that the stance we’re going with after eight seasons of a civil rights movement? That a faunus girl and an animal are fundamentally interchangeable?😬
They could have used this moment to let Blake explain her identity to someone coming from a place of well-meaning ignorance but noooo, why would we have an interesting conversation with the mice when they can just cheer about cheese instead? “She pulled the cheese out of the ground ON HER OWN!” Little cries, causing another mouse to faint in shock.
Example #4
While all this is going on Ruby shows up because remember, the premiere is trying to get the group back together as quickly as humanly possible. Or magically possible, in this case. We get Ruby asking if Little is drooling on her - “Yuck” - before spotting the village of mice about to do presumably unspeakable things to her teammates. Remember the shot from the trailer where Ruby looks properly horrified and I wondered what could possibly be causing that reaction? Yeah. It’s just this.
Example #5. Sigh.
If you were hoping for a proper reunion between these three, keep hoping. We segue immediately into a practical explanation where Ruby explains, about five minutes too late, what she was trying to accomplish while wandering around the jungle. Little has her freak-out about Blake, explains Ruby’s magic cheese gathering skills to the others, and then decides to tag along to find Yang because, and I quote, “I don’t have anything to do yet.” For a hot second I thought this was going to lead into more information about mouse culture. You know, how Little has already admitted that they don’t have a name, how they equate names with a purpose, and therefore if they have nothing to do in their village yet because they’re so young, they’ll find a purpose by traveling with these humans. We might have even put off Little’s naming to this moment, having them or one of the girls come up with something appropriate to the task ahead: something like Guide, or even Friend (of Humans).
But no, apparently Little is tagging along just because they literally have nothing better to do? In the sense that they’re bored and why the hell not? It’s not exactly a compelling reason and, given that they’ve yet to provide any actual assistance to the girls, I’m continually questioning their place in the story. This is what critics mean when they say that time is wasted with Volume-specific side characters when we could be doing more, better work with the core team.
Case in point: Little says that they’ll be “your trusty guide!” and then the joke is that they’re immediately asleep again once the girls set out.
#6!
I do like the following scene though. As the trio follows a path that they’ve found, Weiss walks ahead with her back (obviously) facing Blake and Ruby. When Ruby likewise questions what happened after they fell, there’s this long pause where Weiss considers how to respond, not turning around. It’s a powerful little detail, refusing to show us, or the girls, her face. It leaves her expression up to interpretation while maintaining the impression that she’s hiding from her teammates, due to not knowing how to address their failure. Her insistence on finding Yang first just highlights that avoidance. Really, I think this moment works quite well and I wish the whole episode had been treated this seriously.
Just as Ruby is about to press the issue they hear a roar from nearby. Following it, they discover a creature that fans have already dubbed RWBY’s version of the Jabberwocky.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Bewared the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
Kudos to RWBY for trying here. It’s no secret that I think one of the best grimm lately have been The Apathy, so having another horror-leaning creature was a good decision in my opinion. Unfortunately, I like the idea more than the execution. The twitching motion of the Jabberwocky could have been creepy, but it doesn’t quite capture that feeling of unnatural otherness that makes your skin crawl. A problem with the animation, or something the engine itself just isn’t equipped to create? I’m not sure. Its voice is also a nice touch, with the exception that it’s really hard to understand once it starts yelling. At first I thought RWBY was leaning into the Jabberwocky’s origins. That is, using nonsense words like those from Carroll’s poem whose meaning is understood only in context. Now though, I think it’s just a badly voiced character? I’m not sure because Crunchyroll’s subtitles wouldn’t work for me (of course) and all I got was the “Searching. Stalking. Detecting.” in the beginning.
Which, you know, is an interesting bit of dialogue. RWBY has always straddled the line between fantasy and Sci-Fi, so I’m pleased to see some of the latter worming its way into the distinctly fantasy setting of the Ever After. The Jabberwocky sounds like an AI creation following a coded command. Out of everything this episode, I’m most eager to learn more about it.
Of course, we can’t learn anything now. Despite the fact that Yang stumbles out of the jungle, arm gone, throwing a rock at the Jabberwocky, and looking like she’s been through hell and back. Would you like to know what Yang experienced while on her own here? Or how she came across the Jabberwocky? What she might already know about it?
Would you like to see an actual battle in the combat show’s premiere?
Too bad.
The Jabberwocky just runs off and we get an... interesting reunion for the whole team. First off, Weiss just isn’t a part of this. Given that she’s not Yang’s sister or the Schrodinger girlfriend, she’s shuffled off to the side. Second, Ruby is greeted with a, “Dammit! You weren’t supposed to be here” which I really like. Rather than going the pure fluff route, the writing seems to consider the fact that Yang (as we’ll learn soon) thinks she may have died, so of course she’s horrified to see her little sister here too. This isn’t a joyful reunion for her, it's evidence that her (stupid) sacrifice was in vain. As always, I wish we could have explored that a little more - specifically this idea that Yang thought she was dead and was still trying to defend herself against hostile creatures - but a single line is all we’re given.
Ruby gets that soft smile of hers, kneels down, and says, “If you thought we wouldn’t have come for you then you must have forgotten who raised me.” Aww.
...wait.
Hold up.
The fuck??
First of all, that is NOT what happened. Ruby didn’t come looking for Yang, she lost to Cinder - DESPITE HAVING A UNIQUE ABILITY TO BEAT HER, I WILL CONTINUALLY ADD - and failed to rose-petal her way to safety. Wow, way to imply a heroic rescue that doesn’t exist, Ruby. Also, this simultaneously implies that if they had won the fight Ruby would have dove into the void afterwards to try and find Yang which... you know... I highly doubt. Just given her non-reaction to her sister “dying.” If there was going to be any rescue attempts, give me a Ruby who jumps after Yang as she’s falling and they both go in together.
So that’s a huge misrepresentation of events and then Ruby follows that up with, “you must have forgotten who raised me"? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Because a lot of people raised Ruby. Is it Tai, Summer, Qrow... or Yang herself? This almost feels bait-y to me, in the sense that the writers must know that mom!Yang has been a huge debate in the fandom for years, so they toss in this ambiguous line that could go either way. Is Ruby referring to her many capable, loving, adult guardians? Or her older sister that maybe, sorta “raised her” while their dad was recovering from the death of his wife? I don’t know, why don’t you all fight about it ;)
But no, let’s talk about the actual bait: bumblebee.
Now, for a long time I’ve refrained from calling Blake/Yang queerbaiting for the simple reason that I’ve expected the show to follow through with the romance in a way I don’t expect that from “real” queerbaiting. Remember, the word originates from a hard “No” on the queer front, that’s why it’s baiting and not a slow-burn towards representation. However, we’ve now entered an age of television where, yes, many couples do become canon, but only in the final hour when the writers don’t have to actually write a queer romance. That’s the modern from of queerbaiting and goddamn, is bumblebee fitting it to a T.
I know the fandom has some memory problems, but everyone recalls the surety that Yang and Blake’s romance would kickstart after Yang “died” right? That having Blake mourn her and then discover her alive would finally push her to go in for a kiss? We pictured a plot where the girls were separated for the first couple of episodes, still believing the others were gone, Blake stumbling across Yang in the Ever After, the confusion and shock and relief at finding her again, the kiss that would finally bring RWBY into 2023--
Yeah. There’s none of that.
I myself said that THIS was the time to do it. If you ever needed an excuse to get the queer couple together (which you don’t) then the reunion after one thinks the other has died is 100% the time to do it. Emotions will never be stronger! Inhibitions will never be lower! Don’t pass up such a golden opportunity!
They totally passed it up.
This reunion is just as generically ambiguous as all the others, right down to Yang hugging Blake with a tenderness that’s equal to what she’s given other characters:
Friends. This is all the same hug. There is nothing coded romantic in this reunion, not unless we want to claim that Yang is also romantically attracted to Ren, Weiss, and her sister.
I’ve already seen some fans talking about the importance of Blake initiating contact when before she always held back and yeah, sure, that can be read as character growth, but that’s the kind of minuscule step forward we needed years ago. Not now. Now we’re firmly in bait territory and need confirmation.
“But, Clyde, it’s just the start of the Volume. They could still kiss!”
I don’t care. RT had an opportunity and they squandered it. If there's a kiss, a confession, or whatever comes later in the Volume, it’s still more time that the show has spent in a will-they-won’t-they dance. I’m so sick of it. RWBY’s queer rep is atrocious and I find that to be particularly insulting in a show that’s praised for and celebrates its own diversity. I watch plenty of television with no queer rep at all, but I don’t give them the same kind of shit because they’re not pretending to be the Pinnacle of Queer Representation. If you’re going to claim that you have a queer main couple, then actually give us a queer main couple.
God I was actually so hopeful I’d be writing a, “We’ve finally confirmed it!” recap. It’s beyond frustrating at this point and I’m continually shocked at the fans who are celebrating that hug like they’ve been given a feast and not crumbs. If I were more emotionally invested in bumblebee as a ship - meaning, if I cared more about the relationship itself rather than how it functions as representation for RWBY - I’d be pissed as hell. Yang “died,” Blake lost her mind over it, we waited two years, and then you give us... that? If I were a hardcore bumblebee shipper I’d be writing about my extreme disappointment in RT, not my happiness that Yang touched Blake’s hair.
Actually no, I grew up in the age of no rep/the original queerbaiting, so really I’d be rolling my eyes at anyone who expected a canonical relationship and instead going off to write it myself as fic. I still believe very strongly that ships don’t need a canonical basis and in some ways fandom has limited itself by only writing about what’s canon, or “realistically” canon ([waves old man cane] “In my day we shipped characters who were never even on screen together!”), but I acknowledge that we’ve entered a new age of television. Viewers expect more. They should expect more and they should get it.
With the disappointing hug behind us, Yang observers that if they’re all here then things must have gone really badly up top. This finally pushes Weiss over the edge and she starts the not-crying that all the RWBY girls do, where she has wet eyes and a single tear track. “Penny,” she says. “Jaune tried to help... but she scarified herself...”
And by that you mean Jaune killed her? Weiss’ recounting of events makes it sound like her own stabbing by Cinder: Penny was hurt and Jaune tried to heal her, only this time it wasn’t enough. When in reality we’ve got Jaune giving up because his “I’ve had a human body for twenty minutes” patient says there’s no hope and then slitting her throat because Penny mistakenly believes all she can do with her life is give it up.
Again: what happened to telling your team everything? Where did the importance of context and the complete picture go? For a team that’s so furious when others provide incomplete or misleading information, they sure do that themselves a lot. We can add, “Weiss horribly mischaracterizes Penny’s death” to the “Yang is keeping the Spring Maiden a secret, twists all their failures into victories to win a fight with Ren, and Ruby straight up lied to Ironwood” list.
In another show I’d have more faith that this would come back to bite Weiss; that the girls will later learn the truth and express some actual emotion at her inability to keep them informed... but who am I kidding. This is RWBY. It’ll be forgotten - or retconned - by next episode.
Ruby faints at hearing that Penny has died (again) and man, I really want to like this moment because it’s definitely more of a reaction than I was expecting based on our post-Volume 3 writing. However, this is primarily used as a way to avoid Ruby’s reaction, wherein she wakes up some undetermined time later and is allowed to pretend to be fine, thereby jumping over any conversation/crying/actual emotion we might have seen from her. I know that Ruby will be grappling with this for the entire Volume - our intro proves as much - but it’s still disappointing that we don’t get to see Ruby grapple with her initial feelings because she was too busy being unconscious.
Also, anyone else frustrated that the same action used to depict horror and grief is used for a gag just a few minutes earlier? A mouse faints at the thought of someone being able to pull up cheese with a single tug! Ruby faints at the thought of her dear friend dying for a second time! This is why all that earlier humor messes with the more serious moments.
Our final scene once again fails to convince me that any of these characters love each other outside of the Grand Gestures delivered post-tragedy. No one is holding Ruby while she’s unconscious. No one has made her a makeshift pillow or blanket. Yang asks once if she’s alright - when she’s clearly not - and then just drops the subject when Ruby says yeah, she’s fine. None of them waited until she’d woken up to have this important conversation. After Weiss’ tears and Ruby’s faint, there are no reactions to Penny’s death. Do Blake and Yang care? Presumably not considering they never had a real relationship with her, but RWBY likely wants us to assume that their reactions exist off screen. Remember, given that we’re primarily following Ruby as our protagonist, her being unconscious means that we also skip over how everyone else reacts too. The viewer only gets to continue seeing the story when Ruby wakes up.
I had low expectations for the Volume 8 follow up, but overall this is pretty bad even by my nonexistent standards. It’s not that the premiere doesn’t give us any worthwhile moments, it’s that none of them are capitalized on. They just sit, unexplored, or outright undermined by what the rest of the episode has produced.
It’s disappointing, to say the least. As are our final lines. Yang admits that she thought she was dead, but there’s no time to let her or the others explore that. We hear a throwaway line that her arm was stolen - which relies a lot on the viewer having seen the trailer to understand how and why that happened, at least until next episode. And then Blake follows a bit of light shining through to them, parting some of the vines to look out across the entirety of Ever After.
“I know how this sounds, but... I think we’re in a fairy tale.”
Our final line, folks! Is there anyone else that would have preferred ending on Ruby’s faint? Feels more dramatic and would have let the fandom theorize a bunch before she wakes up next episode (even if then, inevitably, there would have been disappointment that nothing was done with it). Really, I get why they want to end on the shot of Ever After, but all I could think was, how in the world did you come to that conclusion, Blake? Given that this is a world based off of a real fairy tale and not the fairy tales that exist in Remnant. I would 100% buy a character from our world recognizing that they’re in a place similar to Wonderland, but nothing we’ve seen here reflects the tales of Remnant.
Well no, there is one thing, but it exists in the opening. Blake’s been reading the script again.
So let’s unpack that, shall we?
(Sorry, I need to slam all the important opening screenshots together because tumblr won't let me upload any more images boooo).
Our first shot is of Jaune! 🤦♀️
Really? That’s the beginning of every episode’s opening? Jaune crying with his broken, bloody sword? Hmm, I wonder if the character imposing on the girls’ team journey will be important this Volume. We also get another shot of him with a clock motif, making me wonder if the theories about him having (somehow) spent longer in the Ever After will prove to be true.
This initial shot is paired with Neo looking sad, presumably over Roman’s death and her continued failure to avenge him. She appears in the trailer a fair bit which, alongside the Jabberwocky, is the thing I’m most excited for. I’m glad that, at least based on this, it doesn’t look like they’re going to squander her role as a villain here. We see Neo drinking her tea with a fantastic smirk, surrounded by a group of shadowy antagonists.
A huge list of one-off baddies, or the various looks she’ll be adopting to mess with the characters? I’m hoping for the latter, especially since some fans think that one of the silhouettes looks like Jacques. However, I do question whether she can actually pull something like that off. I love the idea of Neo manipulating the group, especially in a Volume hosting a grief arc, especially in a place that, as far as they know, might contain their dead loved ones. For a brief moment I even questioned if that other Ruby we see in the trailer was Neo. The problem is I’m pretty sure she speaks and, thus, it’s very difficult for a villain to pretend to be an ally for more than a few seconds when she’s mute. Combine that with the fact that Ruby knows Neo is here and that all just kinda... falls apart. Which is unfortunate because I would have loved to see a Neo using the Ever After’s impossibilities and her own semblance to mess with the heroes. Still, a final shot at the end appears to show everything stemming from Neo, which makes me think she’s going to be the major antagonistic force this Volume and/or gains control of the Ever After somehow. Fitting, for a woman with control over illusions.
Whether Neo makes much use of her semblance or not, I hope we don’t have another 8+ characters to introduce because there’s already Little, the other mice, the cat, racoon, the forge lady, the knight (same person?), the Red Queen, the creature hiding in the leaves, the caterpillar, the Jabberwocky, and this new girl. People get why that’s a lot to manage, right? Especially in a story with four main protagonists, with two others thrown into the void with them. I get that they don’t want the Ever After to be a wasteland, but RWBY continually has a problem with side characters eating up the time and focus. Then they’re left behind and that work feels wasted. Why spend a Volume developing Little (or Ilia, Sun, Neptune, etc.) just to drop them? This bloated cast means it’s a bit of a relief that Volume 9 doesn’t seem to be trying to jump between here and Vacuo, but damn. Three years to find out what’s happening with the others? The growing chance that there will be a time skip and that the girls will come back to find all these ongoing problems resolved off screen: We somehow rescued all the people from the desert! Ren and Nora are officially together! Winter has long gotten used to her powers! Oscar merged while you were gone and now we don’t have to worry about Ozpin anymore!
Not looking forward to it.
Out of all these new characters, the most important is the young girl. My current theory is that she’s the girl from “The Girl Who Fell Through the World,” with perhaps our opening line - “This is the story of a girl who had a lot of problems” - being the first line of her tale. We know due to Ozpin that many of Remnant’s fairy tales are based on true events, so it would make sense if that one came about after a young woman literally fell into a different world. We see her arrive on the beach before Crescent Rose shows up, implying that she’s been there a long time, and there are some implications that she’s a rather powerful figure now: she leads the group through the various environments (with Ruby lagging farther and farther behind. Perhaps the introduction of a new team leader will increase her feelings of inferiority and failure?), she appears right before an evil copy of Ruby turns around (love that grin), and she's in a painting with another, shadowed figure behind her. Despite the fact that we already have this reference (short of) it gives me Ozma/Tip vibes, wherein the original Wizard of Oz books Ozma is turned into a boy named Tip in an effort to keep her hidden.
Regardless of her role, I have the feeling this girl will end up being more of an antagonist than an ally; a representation of the ways Ever After can twist a long-term resident and likely a foil to Ruby (the true leader) and Jaune (someone who will overcome the world’s allure and return with the girls).
There are a number of other thematically significant shots throughout the opening. All the girls are shown in their various outfits, smiling or smirking, but Ruby grows sadder and her most recent counterpart hides in her cloak, facing away from the viewer.
Her tears - more than we’ve seen her actually cry in the show, I'd like to point out - transforms into Crescent Rose.
The girls try to navigate an impossible maze where the Ruby copy shows up, they run up the tree before being blown back (falling remains relevant then), the girls are once again gloriously saturated in their colors (even if Weiss is still more blue than white), and I really like the shot of Ruby falling past the rabbit. Actually, I like the painted style of that fall far more than I like the look of the rest of the Volume.
However, what interests me the most about this intro is a series of images that may well be connected: two streaks of blue falling through the sky, a massive explosion that engulfs the life tree, and the burning of a book of fairy tales.
Look, I don’t care how awful the gods actually are, especially when RWBY has done nothing to explore that. I don’t care if this is one of their realms and the heroes need to take drastic measures to escape it.
You are NOT going to have the girls destroy a whole-ass world after they destroyed a Kingdom, right?
Right?
On that thoroughly optimistic note, let’s end with a miscellaneous section because we are nearly 10k in and this poor recap needs to be put to bed. (As do I.)
Thanks for reading! :)
Misc. Observations
I enjoyed the little detail of Ruby wringing out her cloak as she surveyed the jungle. Nice job remembering she just came out of the water.
I didn’t enjoy the actual shot of the landscape though. I totally get that there’s wonky perspective stuff going on given how far back the ‘camera’ is, but am I the only one who thinks the jungle looks WAY too small in that opening scene?
I definitely mentioned this the first time I examined our promo clip (and briefly above), but I wonder if the weather here is influenced by emotion, given that the rain appears to start and stop when Ruby cries. I want to say “No” now just because this already isn’t consistent - there’s no rain when Weiss cries, you’d think we’d see some kind of weather influence when Ruby faints - but a part of me is hopeful just because it’s such a cool concept. Especially for a combat show where terrain can make-or-break a battle. As we’ve seen, each little bit of Ever After seems to function differently - Ruby doesn’t hit another patch of repeating jungle, for example - so maybe this is something that will return sporadically?
This is definitely me being nitpicky and petty, but you’ve gotta love that, other than the repeat dialogue of Volume 8 and the faint shouts of “Ruby!” our first words of the Volume are, “Now if only you could help me.” I don’t begrudge anyone help, certainly not the protagonist of a story that wants to be centered around unification, but Ruby has struggled with agency so much I can’t help but roll my eyes a little. Yes, why would we write our protagonist figuring out how to help herself when the random mouse she stumbles across can do it instead? And then, you know, not actually do anything, allowing the protagonist to instead just stumble on what she wants, rather than actively retrieving it.
So you know how Little not-so-subtly mentions that an easy way to get on their village’s good side is to bring more of that cheese? Surely then when we next see Ruby she’ll be animated carrying a couple of those cheeses as a bribe? Spoiler: she's not.
Anyone else feeling iffy about Blake’s description of Yang? The one where she refers to Yang as the scary looking one? As someone who has been frustrated with Yang’s lack of anger management the last couple of Volumes, I’m not a big fan of her “scariness” being played as a cute character quirk.
Ruby remembers right before the non-battle starts that she’s without Crescent Rose. Funny how she didn’t appear to notice its absence before, or go looking for her precious weapon like Blake did. (Seriously, I know I’ve said this a hundred times by now, but the girls’ reactions to landing here and everything they’ve lost are nonexistent.) This also highlights how useless most of the girls are without a weapon in hand. Didn’t we have a mini-arc back in Volume 5 about them learning hand-to-hand? Wasn’t that specifically labeled as Ruby’s flaw? Now it crops back up and she just hangs back, scared? Once again I'm asking what the point of any of that was if we're not going to see the development. Something something only the most recent Volume is canon.
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Hi. Hope all is well. Was wondering what your thoughts are on TTPD double album as well as the video of the lead single. I see so many references to Matty in the video. The black dog. The black and white aesthetic. The lying down like Peanut on the patch of grass. The wedding dress imagery. The rain like when she played Question that night of the rain show. The leather jacket and silver ring Post Malone has in the last scenes. The faces like twins as well as the twin flames imagery. The writing to each other via typewriter standing in for the phones they used. The album itself is gut wrenching. And of course the past relationship of 2014 comes to light and I saw someone say that she used to party with the back then and they did date but her parents broke it up because of his drug use and no one was allowed to talk about but that it was well know by everyone around them. 31 songs is a lot to take in especially when many of them have similarities to 1975 songs so I am still processing it but was wondering what you thought. Thx
Hello again! All is well, just… my head hasn't stopped spinning for a week so I haven't posted much as I process it all! lol
I can't believe we got a double album after all that clowning. It definitely felt like a "be careful what you wish for" sort of moment, because I have been in a constant state of shock and overwhelm trying to make sense of these 31 songs!
You're right! TTPD is bursting at its seams with references to Matty and The 1975, their sound and aesthetic, etc. I'm going to be posting all of the parallels that have been found in the coming days. I'm not ready to definitively list which songs are or aren't about Matty, but there are a few smoking guns, to say the least - TTPD being one of them. The fact that this track shares a title with the album, hints that it's mostly telling a cohesive story (as I believe ALL of Taylor's albums do!)
There are a lot of people coming out of the woodwork lately claiming they know insider information about Taylor and Matty back in the day. I'm personally not impressed with any of that, not in the age of clickbait and instant gratification for lying, especially while they're a hot topic of conversation right now.
But the good news is… you don't need anything other than their discographies to piece together their story, and TTPD seems like it was about a much earlier time in their history, especially given she was working on this album prior to May 2023. Not to mention, I don't for one minute believe Matty had ANY type of relapse while on tour, either (I am incredibly, INCREDIBLY disheartened by "fans" who assumed otherwise based on his stage performance). Lastly, the fact the album exists at all, with SO many blatant references to Matty alongside references to his drug use - makes me feel pretty confident that Taylor would not release any of this without his blessing. Thanks for the ask! 🤍
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As a fellow hi3rd turned hsr player, how are we feeling about Star Rail now that some time has passed? I remember disliking it because new ppl wouldn't use Honkai Star Rail as the tag and would flood the HI3rd tag with a lot of "x reader" fics with the Star Rail men.
I dropped playing it after Seele's banner and haven't really felt a huge desire to progress past the Ice Planet. Idk, I worry that it'll go the Genshin route and become aimless and boring.
I do enjoy the designs a lot more than genshin's but still not as much as HI3rd. I like that we have an MC who doesn't feel completely unrelated to the story like how it feels in genshin, and Stelle actually talks instead of having a small flying companion speak everything for us.
Gameplay wise I think it is more fun than any of the previous games, but visually lacking a little. (Kind of biased here since I adore turn based combat) I guess I'm just waiting for the "WOW‼️" moment with this game.
Honkai Impact 3rd really won me over with the main cast of characters as well as the reveal with Sirin. I might not have loved every decision made along the journey of Part 1, but I never really felt bored or distanced from the story like I do with the other two games.
I've been playing Star Rail ever since its release, the only long breaks being between events and new patches because I didn't feel the need to grind constantly and I've been pretty burnt out for a while.
geez I surely do hate people who mess up the tags. it still happens, but on way lower frequency now I think. it's even more annoying when you wanna find one hi3 character with their very own tag but end up seeing just their HSR counterpart with messed up tags - big issue as a Murata Himeko enjoyer, smh.
the game is as if Honkai Impact and Genshin had a child. it's somewhere in-between in quality I guess, though it leans more towards HI3 (because it's a Honkai game, duh). the maps really be giving you this feeling of not-so-open open worlds from HI3. I guess the story is fine, though I've seen people saying it's rushed; ngl I was kinda surprised to see Jarilo-VI part being already concluded in just one version lol. I don't mind anything in the trailblazer, only that the trend of more and more gacha games deciding on the either full or partial self-insert with dialogue choice doesn't sit well with me.
while I'm not repulsed by the turn based combat I think I prefer the hack and slash combat of HI3, or just the types of combat that let you move freely. personally I try to have a taste of every combat type.
I love the most of HI3's part 1 too and while I lost interest in the story after HoV disappeared for good, the only thing that really bothered me besides the hov death bias was the finale which was soo damn rushed just to end before Star Rail's premiere, and other dumb things in it like the whole Ai-chan self-insert bullshit
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