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sepublic · 2 years

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Any theories on why Belos wants to go back to the demon realm?? Like MAN that part caught me off guard, I have no idea what mold man wants anymore!

Well on a surface level, there's the obvious explanation that Belos is finishing what he started; His draining spell, his Day of Unity, totally failed. He can't 'rest' until he makes up for that failure, and not only that;

But the situation is now even worse than when he first arrived, from his perspective. Because no thanks to Belos' mistakes, the Collector is free and has absolute reign over the Boiling Isles! And as a godlike being, the source of an arcane type of magic "stronger than anybody's" that Belos knows firsthand because he was taught it by the Collector... This kid is an ACTUAL, legitimate threat to humanity that Philip feared and saw in witches all along. No thanks to Philip's irrational bigotry, of course; But yeah, it tracks that Philip feels the need to fix the situation and latch onto this weirdly vindicating threat.

And to dive a little bit deeper... Honestly, I think it's because Belos is running around in circles at this point. He doesn't REALLY know what he wants, because he came back home, and exactly as feared, as Luz warned him, it changed; Changed not just superficially, but in moral values as well. They treat magic and demons as a totally neat thing, they don't hate it; They live 'godless' lives. And the Halloween festival is the worst offender; A historical reenactment in which the witches are portrayed as victims, while the heroes of Gravesfield are slandered as having mundane, petty motives (in this case, taking the land of the accused).

There's nothing left for Belos here. Even the Haunted Hayride, which seems like a brief respite from the horrors, in how it portrays Caleb as a victim, and Philip as a tragic hero, is immediately undercut by Masha's commentary, and this type of narrative framing for the brothers is mostly a holdover of tradition, the need to spook people and not an actual belief.

Belos is willing to die a martyr; He suggests it at the end of Elsewhere and Elsewhen, when he says that he only needs to live long enough to see this through. And his actions in King's Tide certainly support this, even if he couldn't have done anything to stop the draining spell, anyhow. The Portal represented hope and happiness for Philip, that maybe it didn't have to end with the death of witches; That after all was said and done, he could actually have a life after that, return from his Hero's Journey and be happy again.

But... That's obviously not possible. The past truly is out of reach and impossible now. So all Belos has left is that original mission of hatred (and gorgeous hair I guess); No more love and longing, there's just spite and bitterness in this man. And tellingly, he's lost all of his original human guise and is operating as a monster full-time. Belos is no doubt aware that death is the only peace he has left, but he doesn't want to give up and commit the sin of suicide; He needs to justify it. It has to be on his OWN triumphant terms, so he's insisting on dying as a martyr by killing all of the witches.

Maybe he plans to return to Gravesfield and boast his evidence to the disbelieving community. He talks mad shit of "saving souls" and all. And/or he plans to return to the human world after this, to 'save' his home as well from its own corruption. I wouldn't put it past Philip to not know what he has planned and what's his true end goal, so he's just distracting himself with one step at a time, what's immediately in front of him, returning to a familiar pattern, the longest-lasting one he's ever had, even more familiar for him now than a childhood with Caleb. Latching onto the threat of the Collector as some evidence that his fears were right all along, to get some sense of being right again.

I guess it's a dark parallel to Luz, again; Philip isn't sure what he wants with his future, feels like he can't belong to either realm and is always a stranger. So he's hopping back and forth, trying to distract himself with immediate goals like 'helping' people, in order to not confront himself. He's totally lost and scared because the past has now been closed off forever to him, and what is there in the future that he never had to confront until then???

#the owl house #emperor belos #philip wittebane #character analysis #ask #reply

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agentnico · 3 months

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Late Night with the Devil (2024) review

Nothing beats retro 70’s demonic haunting. It was a simpler time…

Plot: Johnny Carson rival Jack Delroy hosts a syndicated talk show ‘Night Owls’ that has long been a trusted companion to insomniacs around the country. However, ratings for the show have plummeted since the tragic death of Jack's beloved wife. Desperate to turn his fortunes around, on October 31st, 1977, Jack plans a Halloween special like no other- unaware he is about to unleash evil into the living rooms of America.

Ladies and gentlemen, please do not adjust your television sets, for there is a new found-footage horror film in town from the indy circuit, and it might just breath the right amount of fresh air into an oversaturated genre. Personally I’ve never been a major fan of found-footage. I hear folks raving about the original Blair Witch Project yet all I watched was a bunch of guys running around the woods screaming endlessly for no reason. Additionally the shaky-cam element can be so dizzying and sickly that I truly end up questioning the entertainment value of it all. There are exceptions to the rule of course. 2008’s science fiction invasion popcorn flick Cloverfield was tons of fun, as it provided a genuine experience of what it would be like if you were thrown right into the middle of monster attack in the millennial age. There are also some genuine scares and the found footage format worked really well with the film’s themes. I too enjoyed the 2020 black comedy Spree, where Joe Keery’s driver goes on a murder spree whilst constantly filming himself in hopes of becoming a viral sensation. It may not be a five-star ride, but it earns its tip for being a well crafted and inspired effort. To be fair, The Visit from M. Night Shyamalamadingdong was enjoyable piece of horror involving creepy grandparents. Okay, maybe I do enjoy found-footage flicks, but as long as they are decently made and that format style supports the narrative in a cohesive and advantageous way.

With Late Night with the Devil, ideologies of faith and the paranormal are challenged through the lens of the late-night TV format. Think how the 1976 Network analysed the corruption of the television industry, and how the camera can influence the politics and beliefs of those watching, Late Night with the Devil does the same but with the supernatural. Presented as a rediscovered master tape of a notorious Halloween late night special, it feels like we’re watching an actual talk show in real time, and the 70’s inspiration is in full display here from the grainy monitor display to the costumers to the special effects. It truly feels like we’re looking into a time capsule of the past, and that this all really happened. Again, found-footage as a filmmaking style works when it serves the purpose of the narrative, which in this case it does. It is a shame then that the movie in its finale loses the found-footage element and instead opts for the shock value by showcasing a dream-like vision of one of the characters. Granted at the time of watching the ending it did give me a “what the fuck” reaction that the movie was going for, but looking back this sequence did hinder what otherwise was a fantastic piece of creepy unique horror.

Performances across the entire cast were great and really dedicated. Wonderful to see David Dastmalchian finally get a leading role, as he’s always been a stand-out supporting performer, whether he was polka-dotting in The Suicide Squad, or stealing the comedic limelight from Paul Rudd in the Ant-Man movies, or being a haunting presence in every Denis Villeneuve epic. Dastmalchian is a true scene stealer, and at age 48 it is shocking that only now he finally gets a lead role. Regardless he is fantastic as Jack Delroy, as he balances the charming charisma of a late-night talk show host whilst also showcases the inner demons of this character, still mourning the recent death of his wife, as well as his eagerness to become relevant again after consistently losing ratings. From the quivers in his voice to the fear in his eyes, this is a really juicy showcasing role for Dastmalchian and one that is sure to be a memorable one when looking back on the actor’s rich filmography. Ingrid Torelli as Lilly the possessed survivor of a Satanic cult was truly creepy and unnerving. From her voice changes to her awkward movements, she truly felt unnatural, or dare I say supernatural, and her strangeness was at times even comical, but also really uncomfortable. Ian Bliss as Carmichael Hunt, a paranormal sceptic, too gave a powerhouse performance, delivering lines with prowess and was a truly commanding presence. Rhys Auteri rounds up the cast as Gus the announcer of Jack’s late night show, acting very befit of, say, a Higgins for Jimmy Fallon or a Guillermo for Jimmy Kimmel. He very much embraced the role as Dastmalchian’s side-kick and provided some solid light-hearted comedy to the proceedings.

Late Night with the Devil is a true delight for horror enthusiasts, with some great use of old-school practical effects evidently inspired by 1982’s The Thing, solid sound design that harkened back to that era of television, and enough unsettling moments of suspense to entertain and shock. Minus a couple of cheap electrical sparks there isn’t any CGI used which is refreshing, and overall visually the retro element was truly delightful. Again, the ending does scratch some heads, but overall this is a refreshing piece of campy horror, with a showcasing performance from Dastmalchian. In this you can truly put your faith on.

Overall score: 7/10

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moondirti · 2 years

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← chapter 1

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Pairing: Din Djarin x F!Reader Rated: Explicit Word Count: 3.5k Summary: Moving in with the Mandalorian involves way more sexual tension and boredom than you'd originally presumed. Warnings: Language, brief mentions of masturbation, just some more pining (I'm sorry) Notes: I got around to editing chapter two! My first version of this was a little rough and didn't align with the characterization I had planned. If you missed my last note, just know that this was originally posted on ao3 (you can see that here). There are a few more chapters out on there if you want to check it out. Additionally, thank you so much for all the love on chapter 1! Your likes, reblogs and comments mean so much to me

One thing about the Mandalorian is that he can not sit still.

It’s been a week since he bust your door down and tried to die tragically in your arms (though he’s insistent you’re dramatising it all, it truly did feel that way to you). Theoretically, he could have been fully healed by now - what, with all the bacta you’ve been slathering onto him - but his refusal to take it easy has had some adverse effects. For one, he almost immediately began sporting the beskar get-up again, despite your insistence on it not being a very good idea - you know fully well from your inept attempts at polishing it that it is heavy. It came as no surprise to you, then, when you found that his newly-formed scabs reopened under the strain the armour put on his back. Even he recognised his error upon witnessing the tempered rage you barely kept at bay while sanitising the area, his helmet premeditatively turned the other away to avoid your glare.

You seriously wonder how he hasn’t torn a muscle yet; your shoulders ache after slouching for too long, to carry upwards of 50 kilograms in pure metal at all times should be considered an extreme sport.

‘Probably why he’s so grouchy all the time,’ you grumble to yourself.

Because yes, Mando is grumpy and irritable and a pain in the ass. He boldly returns any painkiller he doesn’t deem necessary, can constantly be found doing manual labour around the house for all your instructions to rest, and sleeps on the other side of your very thin bedroom wall, meaning you can do little to relieve the ache between your legs that’s settled since his arrival. The thought of his toned back haunts you wherever you go; in the shower (apparently too small a space to get off), on your supply runs; hell, even when Mando is around do you catch yourself reflecting on the rest of his body, and whether it matches the portion you’re allowed to see.

Your assessment so far is as follows: living with the man is torturous. That conclusion is suddenly brought to glaring importance when you’re reminded of your promise to move onto his ship.

“Pack your things.” You’re plating freshly-grilled frog skewers for the kid when his father speaks from behind you.

“Huh?” The child grins in thanks; you pinch his cheek as you turn to Mando.

“We should leave soon. Been here too long.” When he isn’t on the verge of death, Mando’s sentences are always clipped, as if he has a limited amount of words he’s allowed to use per day. Perhaps that’s the case in his creed - speaking too much might risk revealing more than one should.

You don’t have time to shoot him the incredulous expression you’ve grown so accustomed to using in his presence before he’s walking away. “You’re not healed yet!” You vainly call after him. He resorts to his usual, handy response - nothing at all. Not like you expected him to actually acknowledge his weakness, though. He seems intent on getting off of Nevarro as soon as possible, in spite of both you and his wound.

“Wanna know a secret, stink?” You brush your thumb over the kid’s fuzzy head. He babbles back at you. “You’re my favourite.”

You discover rather quickly that you don’t have much to pack. The house you’ve decided to hold on to for practicality, meaning all of the furniture and knick-knacks you’ve collected over the years were to be kept as is. That left you with only your clothes, medical supplies and blaster to stuff into your duffel bag, alongside an old threadbare blanket you opt you can’t live without. You’re done that next morning, freshly showered and a surge of thrill circuiting through you.

When Mando leads you out towards the Razor Crest, there’s a particular lack of sorrow in saying bye to your home.

It may be that something deep within you that caused you to question if you are really cut out for a bounty hunter's life, bound to tuck your tail between your legs at the first sign of trouble and come skipping back to where it’s safe. Or maybe it’s the bitterness at those several, several, lonely nights you’ve spent here in silence, rotting on your couch while perusing through mindless holodramas, trying to get a taste of something more. There’s nothing for you here; your life has been a series of translucent meaning, stuck in a perpetual loop of charged static particles - buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. It’s misery fit only for the girl you were back on Corellia.

Nevarro’s rocky terrain and sinking black sands made it so that your group didn’t reach the Razor Crest until hours later. You briefly ponder on how Mando managed to get to you in his injured state when his ship is parked so far away, but you know better than to ask; tension radiates off him in waves today. You really don’t want to be on the receiving end of his killer cold shoulder.

“I’m going into town to collect bounty pucks from Karga. I should be back by nightfall.” Mando declares before inputting something on his left vambrace that releases the ramp. You dodge the lowering gateway, grumbling when he steals your duffle bag to throw it onto the docking port of the Crest.

“If I unpack to a broken jar and spilled salve, you’re paying to have my closet revamped.” You huff.

“Can’t be of much help there.” He begins to usher the child’s floating pram onto the Crest.

“Oh, being stingy with where you got that cuirass tailored?” You clamber up behind him. “What if I want the latest Mandalorian fashions?” There’s a second where he wavers, helmet turning to face you with a fixed look.

Snorting, you pull away to look around. A narrow cage against the wall adjacent from you captures your attention, gas canisters and a system of wires adorning the inside. A carbonite freezer, you realise with a shiver; a model very similar to the one you used in the academy to transfer specimens through space. From your disjointed memories of your time there, you recall it has a sixty-percent survival rate for carbon-based beings. Truly, it’s a heartless piece of equipment, never the best choice unless one is going for convenience.

But of course, Mando is a bounty hunter. You forget that fact far too often when it’s just the two of you. Convenience, ruthlessness, is key for him.

Suddenly, you’re very aware of just how much he lets you get away with. You even have half a mind to apologise for your joke, especially while watching him take stock of his weapons closet. He handles the artillery with skilled precision, fingers locating each switch and clasp with little difficulty, like he has practised it in his sleep.

He’s good with his hands. You jot that mental note for later.

Blinking, you shake away the tangent and carry on with your self-led tour. On your right is the docking port, an area of space crammed with crates, toolboxes and old machinery; on the left, two doorways. You assume one leads to a bunk and the other to a refresher when you notice a distinct lack of the two in your inspection of the second level. All you find up there is the cockpit and a storage room for his frozen quarries. Overall, it’s a regular ship, save for the cold store on the lower deck.

You just had one question: “Mando? Where will I be sleeping?”

Scaling down the ladder, you appraise his armed form. He was a step away from leaving the Crest.

“On the bed.” His helmet nods towards one of the two doors to the front of the ship.

“That’s yours.” You don’t mention that the thought of sleeping next to him every night makes you want to combust - partly because you know that isn’t what he meant, mostly because your tongue is stuck in your throat.

“We’ll take turns.” That’s the end of the conversation for him. He turns to exit but falters when you stammer out:

“Erm… Is that alright with you? I don’t wanna intrude. I’m okay with sleeping on the floor, you know.” You sleep like a loth-cat in hibernation - hardly anything can get you out of it. And this is his home, you’d feel terrible if he couldn’t so much as nap because you were hogging his bed.

“It’s fine. I hardly sleep anyway.” His tone softens, his helmet bowing down at you. Although it’s barely noticeable, his inflection isn’t that of a liar. Somehow, his telling the truth is worse, if not for anything but the dysfunction of what he just admits to.

You frown. “That’s not good for you.”

There’s a modulated hitch of breath, a shake of his shoulders. Was he laughing at you? For what? You aren’t the idiot, not when he is the one parading around guns slinging with few moments respite. You open your mouth to expand on your point, only for him to interrupt with a hand at your shoulder.

It’s steady - comforting, and debilitating all at once. Then, Mando dryly remarks. “Yes, doctor.”

And he trots off, leaving you with only the sarcastic retort to turn over in your head until he comes back.

No sooner than when the ramp closes shut, you practically melt, knees entirely too weak given the distance you just trekked. Stars, the way he said it - the way he tauntingly used your designation and sauntered off like it didn’t itch the unreachable part of you so desperate for validation. He can’t have known, he can’t have known of the way it renders you a pile of useless putty in his hands. Still, he was entirely too confident with the taunt, infuriatingly self-assured for someone with a deficit in social skills. It's ridiculous.

The pressure at your core returns, broiling. You need to get this situation of yours in check before he comes back, for everyone’s sake.

You almost forget to tuck the napping child into the hammock you spot above the bed, too intent on finding release up in the cockpit.

Hyperspace is a marvel to behold. It’s all the light in the galaxy passing by in blurs of blue and purple, surrounding - engulfing - you in its infinity. The cockpit of the Razor Crest is absolute metal and mismatched parts, ugly in every sense, but in hyperspace, it reflects every colour, every shape. And seated in the passenger's chair, you are smack dab in the centre of it all, fascinated - for the first hour of travel - by the kaleidoscope that overtakes you.

Now, however, it’s been three. Three hours, and the beauty has begun losing its charm.

Maybe you’re salty. Each time you readjust or shift in the slightest, you’re reminded that you never got to cum. There’s a pulse that twinges with the least bit of friction, tucked away in a spot you didn’t manage to hit, a spot that Mando can probably dig out with ease. Pathetic. It’s like all you can concentrate on is how hard he’d fuck - pressing you up against some unknown surface of the Crest - or how desperately he probably needs it. Shit, is this going to be the death of you? This sexual frustration, that multiplies and stretches and grows exponentially whenever you are in his presence? You scowl to yourself, just as well, it would be a suitable end for a woeful life.

The man in question sits diagonal to you; arms crossed and legs spread. You already mistook him for asleep, having idiotically waved your hands and pulled faces at his visor for five straight minutes before he decided enough was enough and pushed your head away. You don’t think you’ll ever live down the embarrassment of it, in all honesty; you make a point to pointedly avoid his amused glances when he turns to check if the kid is still satisfied with his metal ball.

When his back is to you, however, you can’t help but be transfixed by his lap, captivated in his pose, his thighs, his-

You really need to cut it out before you start frothing at the mouth.

“What do you usually do for fun around here?” Your voice is rough with misuse. You cough to get rid of the scratch in it.

“Man the ship.” His helmet still faces the vast nothingness outside.

“That’s not fun.”

“You asked.” A smidgen of annoyance eclipses your incessant need for him. You gorge on it, chasing the irritation. You have more of a chance at satiating that, at least.

Leaning forward, you flick his pauldron, accomplishing nothing but hurting yourself. “Forgive me for expecting you to actually entertain me for once. I thought it safe to assume, given you’re literally doing nothing, either.” The remark escapes harsher than you intend it to be. Deep in your gut, where only doughy, vexing empathy exists, there’s a twinge of guilt. All the same, you hold your ground, resting your chin on a propped arm as you lour at the back of his head.

He hums, flicking a switch on the overhead panel instead of gracing you with a response.

“Do you wanna play a game?” The suggestion is not at all light-hearted, and is solely made to introduce a scenario through which you can channel your displeasure. Mando must pick up on this, for he shuts down the possibility before you get too ahead of yourself.

“I don’t like games.”

You clench and unclench your teeth.

“I can make it worth your while.” You grit out. “How about… one of us hides something and the other has to find it, hm?” You’re hinging on desperation here; you can’t help the optimistic lilt at the end of your question.

“I’m a bounty hunter. Finding things is my specialty.”

“That’s the fun part. You can go first.” That will occupy you for sure. He’s familiar with his ship, is intimate with every crevice and cranny, and if he were to give his all into concealing an object, it’d take you years to uncover it.

“You’re going to make a mess.” He waves. That’s off the table, then.

“Okay, message received. No sabacc?” You are not good at sabacc. You briefly recall losing about 500 credits on it at the academy, actually.

“No.” Probably for the best. You’re quickly running out of ideas, though, and you desperately need something to help you ignore the effects his drawl has on you.

“So does The Way say no to having fun?”

He sighs. “I play with the kid, sometimes.” The concession throws you off guard, your face abruptly warming with a flush at the domesticity of the act. His care for the kid hasn’t escaped you - you’ve picked up on it in the way he keeps a hand on his pram at all times and washes his mouth after meal times - but playing is another thing altogether. It’s one more point towards the new portrait you’re conjuring of the man beneath the suit. A kind man, a loving one.

“I’ve tried that. He’s too preoccupied with his… toy, to pay me any attention,” You side-eye the babbling green monster, who sits slobbering over the ball. If he wasn't so cute, you’d cringe at the mess he’s made of his romper.

“Try painting yourself silver, maybe then he’d be interested in you.”

You can’t help the giggle that erupts from you. It’s irrepressible, bubbling up from nowhere, stirring your chest with an unknown feeling. "Told you; I need me some Mandalorian armour. He exclusively likes metal things.”

And then he’s chuckling along with you, and you’re able to pinpoint it as a school-girl type of giddiness. What’s best is that you’re hardly horrified at the prospect, either. You like it, this flutter that racks through you. It’s so different to the heat - of both ire and lust - you feel when you’re around him. It emboldens you to keep talking.

“What do you say about answering a few questions of mine. I know your blood and bones better than I know you.” You simper, “You can ask me whatever too.”

“Alright.” He flicks on autopilot controls before kicking back to face you. You beam at the receptiveness.

“Hmm…” Pointing to the blaster at his hip, you ask, “Your first weapon, what was it? And how old were you when you mastered it.” You’re familiar enough with Mandalorian culture to know that weapons were part of their religion; it was as good a place to start as any.

Cocking his head, he deliberates for a moment. “Must have been a spear.” If the vague gesture he makes is anything to go by, the artillery doesn’t hold much significance to him. You can’t say you know much about them either, compared to your ingrained index on blasters and rifles. “I was put in a spar with it at ten, but I haven’t really used any since.”

You process his words, searching for an acknowledgement that wouldn’t offend. “That’s… really young.”

“Mandalorians by birth start younger.” And though he nods, there’s a subtle hesitation in his statement, like he's ashamed to admit it. You can't decipher why; he’s the best damn warrior you’ve ever come across, regardless of status. Curious, you attempt to prod further.

“You’re not a mandalorian by birth?”

“I was rescued by one as a child.” You consider biting the dust and bringing up the elephant in the cockpit, but you are already breaking new ground with the guy. You don’t want to make him relive his trauma just yet. “I’m a foundling.” The kid coos.

“Takes one to know one, huh, stink?” You toss at the baby, who now reaches for his father. Mando picks him up with one swooping movement. “Where are you from, then?”

“Aq Vatina.” It’s said so quietly you almost feel bad for asking. He pauses. “Are you from Nevarro originally?”

“No, and thank goodness for that." You break off for a moment. It isn’t like you are proud of your birth planet either. "Corellia.”

The air shifts. The Mandalorian’s hand stills upon the child’s chest, his visor now solely trained on you. You can’t blame him, your home planet truly does have a reputation for being an awful place. Yet with the way your cheeks tingle, you think he might be reassessing the tell-tale arch of your nose, the dimensions of your face. More than anything, you feel the cogs in his brain turn as his perception of you settles.

“Born and raised there, went to the medical academy when the Empire was still around. Jus’ moved later in life.”

“Hm,” This hum is much more thoughtful than the dismissive ones he’s thrown your way before. You don’t like it, being perceived like this, with this past. Not to mention, the uncomfortable reminder of why you really left Corellia leaves an ache in your bones. An image of your father’s face flashes to the forefront of your mind. “Explains the mouth on you.”

Shaking it off, you mumble. “What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?”

“I’m not answering that.”

You roll your eyes. “Fine. Longshot anyway.” You reconsider, landing on a generic question that’s been clawing at you for ages now. “How old are you?

You’ve tried to guess in the past, based on a multitude of factors you’ve observed. He has the exemplary stamina of someone still in their prime. Initially, that placed him in his twenties. That is, until more of his personality made itself known and you found he acts like a senior citizen greatly dissatisfied with the view in their nursing home window. That raised him to a solid forty in your head.

“Lost track. Probably in my late thirties.” Close enough.

You chortle. “Old man.”

He shakes his head. “I’m getting there.” Something in his timbre reminds you of his back, of the skin that warms up so easily under your hands. His muscles pulse with life whenever you touch him, flourishing under the small instances of physical touch. The life of a Mandalorian must be an impoverished one, to go without all the things people needed to live - that pure, skin-on-skin contact. For almost forty years, no less.

You’re suddenly extremely honoured that he’s taken to you as his doctor.

“I’m about a decade your junior.” You try to fill the silence; he didn’t ask, and you don’t manage to catch onto his reaction, mind too addled with a snowballing jumble of emotions that you race after, trying to untangle. Yes, there is the ever present desire that seems to be a condition of being his companion, but there’s also an effervescent centre to it all, sparkling in and out of existence all too rapidly for you to place.

“Kriff…” You perk at the curse. “You’re just a kid.” His cadence has drawn to a gentle murmur, as if everything has just fallen into place for him.

Your heart twinges, frightened that his opinion of you has degraded, somehow. He likely regrets inviting yet another responsibility, another addition to his burden in trying to survive the galaxy while remaining as morally sound as possible. You’re not just a kid, no, but you are all of those other things. Useless. A liability. More trouble than you’re worth.

If Mando senses the change of tone in your next words, he doesn’t mention it. “Only in spirit.”

You need to mean more to him, you conceive.

chapter three →

#the mandalorian #din djarin #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x reader #x reader #star wars #pedro pascal #grogu #baby yoda #reader insert #fanfiction #series #The Remedy #friends to lovers #smut #angst #fluff

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alaffy · 2 years

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The Sandman, Ep.3 – Dream a Little Dream (Spoilers)

I have got to read the series this was based on. So far, this is an amazing show. Normally, binge watching for me is watching two episodes in a day before I want to do something different. I’ve watched three episodes today and don’t plan on stopping. I’ll probably get through this this weekend.

Like the last episode, this is broken up into two storylines. The B plot is pretty simple. Ethel goes to visit John. She wants him to tell her where the ruby is so that she can collect it and give it to Morpheus for their safety. However, John doesn’t believe her as she seems to be a habitual liar. During this conversation we find out that John has done something to the ruby to make it work only for him and that John killed a number of people who were trying to take the ruby away from him. Or he believes where trying….we don’t know what really happened yet. John also says he could use the ruby to protect himself and his mother by using it to get rid of Morpheus. Ethel, realizing that she’s never going to be able to convince John she truly is doing this for him, decides the only thing she can do is give him the protection stone. So long as it’s in his possession, he cannot be harmed. Of course, the minute she takes off the stone, she’s no longer under its protection. Ethel rapidly ages and dies. Of course, the guards think John did it and try to kill him. However, the stone ends up ripping them to sherds (in fairness, John did try to tell them….sort of). Anyway, John escapes to the outside where it’s snowing. A friendly passerby gives John his coat. And by passerby I mean it’s Corinthian and it’s clear that he’s waiting for John to get the ruby.

In the main story, we meet Joanna Constantine. Now, of course, this character is the gender swapped version of John Constantine. I know Constantine has been in other series recently (even had his own show), so I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to change the character in order to separate this show from the others. That being said, it seems like a number of characters are different then their original comic book counterparts, so it may not have anything to do with the DC Constantine at all. I really haven’t kept up on all the legal issues surrounding the character.

Anyway, we meet Constantine who is a person who exorcises demons…for profit. Yeah, she’s a hard nose person with a tragic past which haunts her dreams…you know the type. Still, she played very well by Jenna Coleman; so it’s fine. Also, I do appreciate they don’t drag out the tragic past for long. There is an exorcism that goes wrong and a young child, that Constantine seems to know well, dies because of it. Anyway, Constantine doesn’t remember where she put the sand but promises to look for it…in the morning (to be fair, she had just gotten off of exorcising a demon). Morpheus isn’t happy about that, but he’s also a little distracted as he has found that Lucienne has decided to send a raven after him. The Raven is named Mathew. He’s a newly deceased human, who has found himself suddenly as a bird; believes Lucienne is the boss; and has no idea who Morpheus is. However, Mathew (being a former human) knows that it’s best for Morpheus to find Constantine now; which he does through her dreams.

That’s when we see what haunts Constantine’s past. Morpheus tells Constantine that he can make the nightmare go away forever if she helps him find his sand. The two of them search their office, where Morpheus finds the picture of Constantine and a former girlfriend. Morpheus comments that Constantine looks happy in the photos and Constantine suddenly remembers what happened to the sand.

It turns out that Constantine lived with the ex for a few months, but….clearly with her line of work and commitment….basically Constantine leaves one day and doesn’t come back. That was six months ago. Constantine is strangely welcomed back by the girlfriend, or she seems a little too…calm for someone who’s significant other suddenly left them and hasn’t been in contact for half a year. Morpheus soon shows Constantine why. Apparently. the girlfriend has been using the sand to create good dreams for herself. The problem is, because she’s been using the sand; she has become addicted and she’s wasted away to the point that her body is shutting down. Constantine begs Morpheus to save the girlfriend, which he cannot do. Constantine points out that, if Morpheus wants to save humanity, that his chance is here. Or, at least, the chance to do something. Morpheus can see the guilt that Constantine has for leaving her girlfriend. Morpheus asks Constantine to leave the room and then he uses the sand to give the girlfriend one last, peaceful dream as she dies.

Outside, Morpheus tells Constantine what has happened. He also tells her that she no longer will be plagued by her constant nightmare. Constantine, before departing, tells Mathew to watch over Morpheus because he will need it. Morpheus begrudgingly allows Mathew to stay, as he might need his help fetching the next item. And so, Morpheus and Mathew depart…to Hell.

#the sandman #morpheus #mathew #joanna constantine #corinthian

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juniiperx · 2 years

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If you haven't heard, (original tweet was deleted, thread still remains)

DeviantArt created an AI generator using the database of all the art in the platform where everyone was originally opted-in by default and to opt-out you had to fill in a form that may take days to be revised and could get rejected, allowing DeviantArt essentially steal all of your artwork.

They listened to the people and made it so every art is opted-out by default in this other tweet.

Although they "fixed" it but as of now have yet to apologize to all the artists the platform has offensively dared to steal from... in my eyes, DeviantArt is dead.

I also consider twitter dead in my eyes but that's another story and irrelevant to what I wish to discuss.

Because of the horrible executive actions DeviantArt, I have removed my past presence from the platform and I want to talk about my finds.

DeviantArt, in the past, was a very influential platform for little ol' me so going back to remove my old art was a trip down memory lane.

There was a total of four accounts. I always struggled with identity online and because you needed to pay to change username, i simply made a new account instead. It was... nice. I saw four stages of my art growth that made me nostalgic.

The first account I went to was my latest account, 2019-2020.

It had my most recent artwork with little to no description. It was no cause of nostalgia because it was my latest and still had art that I consider okay. It was my most urgent to remove from the platform trying to steal it.

The second account I visited was of 2016-2019. Apparently by 2018-2019 was when I started spending most of my time on Amino since there's a couple of posts drawing OCs of people from Amino. Despite mainly spending my time on another platform, I still posted occasionally to DeviantArt.

But let's talk about the past first, 2016-2017, my second most active year on DeviantArt. I posted drawings of my OCs and characters I simply designed for the sake of it with a brief description.

This was my first drawing posted on that account:

"Vladik" nov 29, 2016

This is a fellow character of mine named Vladik (whatarelastnames) who's from a story that I may write. I'm also gonna write a better description than this later but for now satisfy with a one sentence explanation.

He's that typical shy guy at first that the more you get to know, the more annoying and flirty he'll get as well as his edgy, dark past and- oh the pain! (making fun of my own characters ftw) but even with that he keeps that little smile as his past events haunts his mind... becuz he secretly edgy

Yeah, I was young and had recently figured out how to use a drawing tablet. My biggest art inspiration that contributed to my current style was the youtuber "LeslieLu Marie" (great artist, check her out).

Looking back at it, oh how I wish I had explained more... This character, back then, was one of my main OCs I'd think about a lot and even used for roleplays with my friend. I had a very detailed and tragic backstory for him that I no longer remember since it was such a long time ago.

The vague memory I have, he was a soldier (?) and had a group of friends but one friend went against him so he had to kill his friend. Years after, his dead friend came back for revenge (?). He truly doesn't fit the design but looking back, how fun heh. It's fun to look back at what younger me was creating, elaborate plots and relationships, all the things that shape my current story.

All the other characters were in similar fashion, either being a mere design or being a very detailed OC with complex backstories. Unfortunately, it's all stories lost to time because I never wrote detailed descriptions. I can never know the stories I had planned because I was very secretive, I kept it secret from my own friend because I wanted to be mysterious and only reveal it once I have an established comic/novel. The sad reality is that, that day never came... and those stories became secret to my own self as I read back only to find nothing.

The OC story I remember the most is of Vladik and I already wrote what I remembered, it's not a lot... the fact that I may never remember what these characters were was slightly upsetting for me.

This was my last drawing posted to that account and also my first and only traditional drawing:

"Snek boi" Jan 13, 2019

Oh wow traditional art o^o

...I vaguely remember that he had a name and story but I recall no details of it. Again, his story is a mystery to myself.

The other account was 2015, the creepypasta phase.

Let's briefly talk of the backstory and mentality of 13 yr old me:

I was introduced to DeviantArt and Wattpad before that age and now I was old enough to actually use the internet and those platforms without lying about it online.

I thought "Jeff the Killer" was hot and that his story was sad and therefore excused the murders. I wanted and eventually did make my own creepypasta (lost to time) and I remember I had two creepypasta OCs, my Jeff the Killer rip-off named "Crooked Smile" and my Liu rip-off named "Cody"... obsessed with Jeff the Killer is an understatement.

I believed the only valid way for me to post art was digital art and that traditional art wasn't good enough to be post and if I did post it, it was of no use because my camera was crappy and it'd look bad either way. Therefore, I drew my creepypasta OCs but I never posted them because they were all traditional.

I pirated Paint Tool Sai... as I'm sure most artists did back then, right?

I was now involving myself more with the horror community because of creepypasta and I still interact with media involving horror movies (Mista GG) and stories involving murder and other (MrBallen).

(No, I do not and will never consider myself part of True Crime Community.)

And then I moved from being obsessed with Jeff the Killer to being obsessed with Ben Drowned and that's when I started posting on that DeviantArt account on 2015.

Backstory over, let's go over to my first drawing posted on that account:

"*Warning*" Jan 1, 2015

As it says there I'm a creepypasta-fan, soooooooooooo... I draw creepy stuff

(I draw horrible T-T)

well at least I finished the drawing and OMFG! it took me ALOT of time to draw it

first: I drew the boy in paint XP (or something like that) but I couldn't leave it like that with no background

second: sooooooo... I went to paint tool sai to do the background, but people wont understand WHY did I drew it soooooo...

third: I went to paint to put a text and FINALLY I finished and I'm so happy

I don't know who the f**k is he... maybe Ben idk do you think that he could be my OC because only the eyes are similar to Ben but nothing else right?

okay maybe its Ben in casual eating some kidneys with Jack? (nah... we all know that E.J. wont ever share his kidneys and Ben will never eat that right?Sweating a little...)

well whatever hope you enjoy it and leave a comment always helps me (please no critiques)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: hahhahahaha no (2017)

Oh my creepypasta phase... even though it's as one calls "cringe", I look back at those memories fondly. It was a weird but fun era for me, making those drawings of my "Ben Drowned" rip-off.

Myles Thorme, creepypasta name being "The Missing Thought", catchphrase: "Are you lost? Because I think you're missing." He was my most developed OC in public. He even had a comic and a completed journal with his backstory which is frankly... a hilarious read.

The best of this character is not the poorly drawn blood on his mouth or his hilarious choice of style but the fact that he was the one to help me connect to a community for the first time ever browsing the internet. You see, after making him, I looked up DeviantArt groups to join, something roleplay focuses because me and my friend would roleplay but since they moved, we haven't been able to do so. Because of that and because of my obsession with creepypasta, I found "Proxy High", a creepypasta fan group where slenderman was the director and was housing a bunch of creepypasta fan OCs that were his proxies.

This was my input to the group, and the first time I fully moved from MS paint to Paint Tool Sai:

"The Missing Thought/ Proxy High" Jan 3, 2015

For Proxy High

I only have one OC sooooooo. . . yeah nothing else[Green Link Sweat]

is the uniform okay? cause idk

and know I'm officially ready for rp I am a dummy!

(I forgot to say that in the school he's ANTI-social, but I HOPE he can finally find a friend)

Name: Myles Thorme

Proxy name: The Missing Thought

Nickname: Missing

Gender: Male

Age: 13

Class: Green

OC: yukkim.deviantart.com/art/

Back Story (how he became a proxy):

He went though the city, getting a new victim like always. He covered his face with his hoodie. When he finished his daily walk in the city he went into the woods. Lucky he found a young teenager wondering through the woods. Trying to forget what happened last he went to say hi.

"Hello", said Missing.

"Ah! you scared me, what's your name", said the girl.

"Are you lost?, Cause I think you're missing", said Missing.

"I am lost but not missing!", she said.

Immediately Missing stab her in the stomach, he kept stabbing her again and again. When she was unconscious on the floor, he got matchstick and burned her body. He ran away before the fire catch him. While he was running, he noticed that his knife was missing. He went back so there where no clue of his existents. He saw that the knife was on the girl that was now on fire. He grabbed his knife as quick as possible and went running. But then, he notice that the fire surround him. "Its the end, I'm dead", he said sitting there waiting for the fire to catch him. When the fire was inches of him, he heard a static from the distance. "Open your eyes Myles", said a mysterious voice. Missing was shocked. Nobody new his real name. "Well that doesn't makes sense", said Missing. He blinked and the fire was gone. Missing was surprised. He saw a tall man in suit but no face. "Ummmm. . . hi! thanks for saving me", he said waving his hand. He heard the static again it eventually got louder and louder, hurting Missing's ears. He fell unconscious on the floor by the static. He heard the faceless man. "You will work for a proxy", said the man.

---------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: this be were I met my friends Llama Emoji-50 (Whistling) [V3]

Well isn't that a hilarious read? I posted this to the group which they surprisingly accepted me in and for the first time I had received an influx of comments starting roleplays. It was lots of fun roleplaying with so many people even if my OC was definitely one of the hilariously bad OCs the group had.

After gaining some... notoriety, I began making a comic about Myles life in the school. It didn't last long but oh I sure had fun making it.

I'm glad I wrote as much as I did about this character, even though it's such a bad character. I know him really well, know his story which was so dramatic and funny, and his relationships with others. He (and I) had a good friend which was a rip-off of "Ticci-Toby" but essentially the only difference was that she was a girl. We'd roleplay a lot until... well I started to grow out of the creepypasta phase and sadly, I left her behind. Where ever she or they are, I hope they're okay and remember this phase as fondly as I do.

I left that account on 2016 when I got a drawing tablet and began learning how to use it which afterwards, I made the DeviantArt account I spoke of above. I did however, briefly came back to it on 2017, reading messages of old friends that had moved on from the creepypasta community. It was a bittersweet feeling to see messages but having abandoned them but in a way... it was a nice closure.

This, wasn't my last drawing posted there but I think it's the drawing that matters the most to move on from this chapter:

"Draw This Again" Apr 7, 2017

cuz y not make it a meme [Llama Emoji-66 (Orly) [V3]

The last account I visited was my first ever DeviantArt account and it was made on 2014 when I was 12 yrs old. Yes, I lied online about my age to join DeviantArt.

I was drawn in by my friend who recommended me to read a comic they found about, at the time, favorite movie "Rise of the Guardians". The was a fan comic which involved an OC called "Mori the shifter". I loved that comic and it was the first comic I read and finished.

During that time, despite reading a comic with humanoid creatures, I was more into drawing feral and anthropomorphic animals. Essentially I was (and still consider myself to be) a furry.

In the old account, I'd draw furries and most of them had no story whatsoever. I had a fursona which I named "Happy" (because it was before I was diagnosed with persistent depression... cough).

There wasn't much on that account but I did revisited on 2016 for a redraw:

"Draw this again- Happy" Dec 9, 2016

2014 vs. 2016

Sooooo I found my old account in deviantart and damn... wtf iz dis shet I've seen some things - [Emoticon ... Nino Wants To Die] I then decided to re-draw it because.. why not?

Her name is supposed to be Happy because she's an optimistic lil sh!t

I don't care what she was in the past or what you all say but she gay...HA! GAAAAAY! (Emoticon) LOLOLOLOLOL

ALL DA HOMO :rainbowfrog:

But there's something I have yet to mention about this account. I apparently had a story about a group of wolf friends? I wrote nothing related to them because I, again like my recent self, wanted to keep it a secret until I made a comic I never started. All I remember was a black wolf named Shadow who was the villain of the story.

I sadly don't remember any other details of the story...

Before all this, before my slow transition to the online media on 2013 and before that... my childhood was spent drawing traditionally a comic about wolves and their adventures in the world which I have unfortunately lost the 4-6 completed notebooks (Yes, all the pages filled) of.

And before that? 2012 I believe I was roleplaying with "Littlest Pet Shop", having complicated stories inspired by the novelas my mother and I would watch before bed.

And before, before that? I was roleplaying irl with my friend about wolves, inspired by (and yes bare with me) "Alpha and Omega", the movie about wolves and "forbidden romance".

Before, before, before all that? I was just me being a kid. I still am me but as an adult I guess. It's alright, I'm having fun roleplaying with my current boyfriend. I'm thinking about elaborate stories and plots to do with him.

I had fun then and I'm still having fun and I hope my future self also has fun whatever they're doing.

Why did I write all this?

Be cause if I could go back and change one thing about the past I'd do one thing... I'd write more. I'd tell my younger self to write down the silly little stories they have planned. Tell them that it doesn't matter if they have an audience or not because your own self is the best audience you will ever have.

You have no idea how much I wish I could know what was my younger thinking when I drew that purple wolf in 2014 or that snake character in 2019. How much I wish I could connect to my younger self like I can easily do with my 2015 creepypasta self.

So the real answer is, all this is for my future self. Hi, future self, enjoying the nostalgia trip? It's nice to look where you came from and compare to who you are now, no?

Whoever you are, whether it's myself or some random person online, wherever you are and however you are, please... look into your past fondly because your past is what shaped you into being you!

With that said, have a nice day/night :].

#deviantart #oc #nostalgia #creepypasta #to my future self #from my past self #hi :)#juniiblogs

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mnikhowozu · 2 years

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i have a shit ton of ocs and i'm not rlly sure which ones u've heard of or haven't, but i've been thinking a lot about my main lads jude and shawn, who aren't mtl ocs but.. they are both in a metal band lol. jude is a demon and shawn is his gamer (human) bf. jude gets a lot of edgy guy tragic backstory tropes and its funny bc shawn is like.. just a guy. jude think shawn wouldnt like h bc he's a demon but after jude admits it shawn is like.. 😳😳😳

anyway i love these guys and i've had them for years lol. PLEASE tell me facts abt one or more of ur ocs i truly love ur oc designs a lot i am looking at them so respectfully

oh man, they sound so fun ;; if you ever like make a comic or piece of media about them, i'd love to read/watch/etc, it sounds cool! esp since i very much admire your design abilities, truly you make such real, balanced characters that at the same time stand out.

i really feel you in the aspect of having some characters for years that you kind of just rotate around in your brain like a rotisserie chicken, hehehehe. i have a few characters i have similar sentiments about, one of my favorites is probably daisy 🥺

(i don't think i ever finished this piece of her, oops)

daisy isn't her real name, and she's often also just known as "jane doe", she was a deadhead in the 70s. she obviously traveled a lot, i think she was originally from california, but eventually ended up on the east coast while following the band. she was picked up by a trucker (his name is either pete or paul i literally can't remember and didn't write it down anywhere i feel sO BAD), who she ended up getting close to and falling in love with, despite the fact that they knew each other relatively briefly. he drove her into upstate new york and dropped her off, since they'd be diverging paths there, but planned to pick her up again on his way back around if possible. unfortunately the last time she was seen alive.

she haunts around the house where she died, as well as the river where some of her belongings were eventually found. she's still unidentified, but she's a very active spirit that is very friendly and has a pretty positive energy, despite being a little scary. she's actually quite friendly with the great nephew of the dude who killed her, ofc he's completely innocent and its certainly news to him that his great uncle was a serial killer

her trucker bf is still pretty sad about what ever happened to her and it haunts him to this day. i basically just like making really sad ghosts i guess 😭

#cw: murder mention #misc: letters #oc: daisy

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createandconstruct · 3 years

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ffix? 👀👉👈

Bless you, my friend. Bless you.

the character i least understand

Gotta be Quan, Vivi's Grandpa. He is the most puzzling character to me. There's evidence that he cared for Vivi but that he also, for a good amount of time, was planning on eating the kid. There's also the entire special scene between him, Vivi, and Quale, and like, I have gotten dizzy interpreting the dialogue. How did he die? Did he die starving? From imagining food and not actually eating? He's a chef that believes the only way to experience food is by not eating it but byimagining it?? Is this some kind of Socrates message on how deeper thinking and metacognition leads to truly being alive?? I don't know???????!!!!

interactions i enjoyed the most

There are seriously so many but if I had to choose just one it has to be Steiner and Zidane. I love them So. Much. Their development into trusted comrades is one of my favorite relationships in the entire game and one of my favorite's in fiction in general. It's my favorite thing period. I'll say it. And there is not enough content of them. People won't give me Steiner and Zidane friendship and shenanigans? Fine. I'll do it myself. I'll write for them until I'm dead. Steiner really started the game promising Garnet he'd give his life for her and that he would see to it that Zidane was HUNG for his "crimes," and then ends the game telling Zidane he'd march into HELL with him (Japanese translation). He never even said that to GARNET. Their friendship is so slept on. SO slept on and its one of the most compelling. HELL, people. He'd go to HELL for Zidane. He'd DIE for him. A THEIF HE SCORNED. STEINER would gladly go to the GALLOWS with and for Zidane. I can't... I... I gotta go. Gotta lie down.

the character who scares me the most

Does the Iifa Tree count? If I say Soul Cage maybe that will. The living tree that takes the living and replaces them with souls of the long dead is really horrifying to me. There's also the theory that Necron is the other side of the Soul Cage, the embodiment of death that is part of the Iifa Tree, a parasite that has rooted itself in every inch of Gaia. It's creepy and perfect. I just love how FFIX flips the "tree of life" troupe on its head with the Iifa Tree which is very much a purgatory or hell for souls, sentencing them to wander the earth as Mist. Terrifying! I love it!

the character who is mostly like me

I very much relate to Zidane's easy breezy attitude with high, suppressed levels of anxiety and doubt. I also very much relate to his mom friend woes.

hottest looks character

Hottest is so weird for me but if we're talking objectively I gotta say Hilda. Dead stop she's gorgeous and her design is impeccable. Cid was a fool and I am thankful he was forced to suffer as an Oglop and Frog for the entire game. Perish Cid.

one thing i dislike about my fave character

Only thing I dislike about Zidane is that he called Vivi a brat and told him to shut up, in Pandemonium. I gasped during my first playthrough. I'll never forgive him.

one thing i like about my hated character

I don't really hate anyone in FFIX. I honestly enjoy all their contributions to the story and game. But I'll pick Brahne? Just because she's a murderer and terrible mother. I really like the bit of mystery left with her character and her feelings for Dagger. Some of her finally words are "I hear my daughter's voice," but it always struck me that this is said just after the fact that we've learned that Dagger is not her true daughter. There was a Princess Garnet (the 1st let's call her) before Dagger. Yet when on death's doors - in the same way that Dagger says that Brahne is her only mother - based on her words, to Brahne, Dagger is her only daughter. Which is so extremely tragic because Garnet the 1st was completely erased and forgotten. For a parent, losing a child is often said to be one of the worst pains imaginable. Some will go on to have another child but it will never erase the one they lost. And yet here's Brahne, ridding all memory of her original Garnet. It is haunting. It really gives an insight on how this woman handled grief - which was not at all. Perhaps that is why she turned to war and power after her husband's death. The implications of Garnet the 1st is a detail I cannot stop thinking about and it makes Brahne all the more compelling to me. A bitterweet part of me likes to think that after the game ends Dagger decides to create a grave for the true princess, the little six-year-old child who died twice: once in death and twice in memory.

a quote or scene that haunts me

"The sunset makes the Eidolon Wall look like it's on fire!" There's something about this scene and the fact that a beautiful memory of the Eidolon Wall from her past is what triggers Dagger's memory of her home, burning with the Invincible's flames. Every time I play this part of the game, Dagger's flashback on the boat and the subsequent sequence between her and Eiko move me to tears .

a death that left me indifferent

Probably Mog. Only because, no matter how much I love FFIX, the Mount Gulug section overall feels a little lacking which is because of the execution of Mog's transform/sacrifice/and the events that follow. I do think it's a symptom of an overall problem in Disc 3 which may simply be the result of the opening of the game map and player freedom. The is though, that you have Eiko losing Mog, her sister, a huge emotional moment, when its extremely easy for you, the player, to forget about Mog entirely!! Of course you may likely play as Eiko in the Desert Palace but that's optional and Mog never makes an appearance!! There's no real lead up for the scene on Disc 3 that emotional prepares us. Mog's sacrifice would have been more impactful had she made an appearance in the Desert Palace or during the start of Disc 3 in Alexandria. Eiko has all this time alone for character self-reflection and Mog is technically there, hidden in her shirt, but she never appears for greater impact. There's just too much allotted game time between the events in Madain Sari and the events at Gulug Mountain.

a character i wish died but didn’t

Vivi. Must I say more?

my ship that never sailed

Blank and Ruby are forever in that "too hard headed to make anything meaningful come from their constant bickering." I both love and mourn their stagnant friends to lovers state. They'll never be canon but the post-game potential for them is excellent.

#asks #anubis-005 #ffix #final fantasy ix #final fantasy 9 #steiner #zidane tribal #garnet til alexandros #ruby #blank #eiko carol #queen brahne

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life-rewritten · 4 years

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SPOOKY/ NON SPOOKY BLS TO WATCH IN HALLOWEEN

Happy Spooky Season BL Fans! Honestly so sad that in Halloween we can't really fully enjoy it due to the pandemic out there. So why not stay at home and have a fun night in during this spooky month watching BLS with spooky/entertaining shows to get you into the spirits. Surprisingly there was a lot of shows from different countries I could add to this list. Join me and let me know what shows you plan to watch for this Halloween!

Ratings: From 1 to 5 (1 being least excited to watch, 5 being most,) how excited am I to delve into these shows/again?

Korea

1. Antique

Ratings: 4/5 Genre/Themes: Psychology, Thriller, Bakery, Bromance, Open ending/Happy ending. Country: Korea Verdict: Weirdly, this is one of my favourite BL movies, to be honest, most Korean movies just make me happy despite the sense that you can feel it's censored more than it has to be. Either way antique is so fun to watch, at first you're watching about this guy who hates cakes and sweets, but it is determined to start a bakery to find out some weird stalker who is kidnapping kids, and you're like wait what? As we delve deeper into his past, it becomes horrifying, terrifying and also just intriguing to find out what made him the way he is and how it's affected him psychologically. Add a twist of BL with someone who absolutely loves him and helps him with his bakery, and it's cute and lovely to see.

2. Method Ratings: 4/5 Genre/Themes: Psychology, Thriller, Romance, Tragedy, Acting industry, Internalised Homophobia Country: Korea Verdict: Korea is so good at producing these deep movies that really make you think and analyse whilst still having this haunting introduction to couples that are tragically affected by Internalised Homophobia in Korea. Method may seem like just an artistic story about two people who are being fake with each other, and it does seem that way at the end but when you actually look at it deeply you'd see it's a tragic love story about two people who couldn't fight society with their love for each other and decided to use facades to hide what truly happened. Anyway brilliant show, very thrilling and scary at times towards the ending especially about the psychology of Method actors and the struggle to differentiate what's real vs what's acting when it comes to love and obsession?

Taiwan

History Hero/Obsessed

Ratings: 3.8/5 Genre/Themes: Gender bender, Rebirth, Ghosts, Death, Romance, Comedy, Happy ending Country: Taiwan Verdict: History is one of the best anthologies Taiwan produced for BL. And even the first history series are just as good as recent, whilst maybe more low budget and shorter, I still enjoy them as much as the other one. Hero is one that is actually not my most loved one, but it's heartwarming and also interesting to watch. It's a supernatural gender bender, with our main charcter's body taken over by his crush's girlfriend who we watch figure out the budding relationship between her boyfriend and the dead guy. It seems it would be tragic, or end in a heterosexual way but it doesn't, it does have a bitter sweet ending since we're seeing it from her perspective but our BL character's come out unscathed. Obsessed is one of my faves, also a rebirth story, our main character comes back to life and goes back in time after being betrayed by his lover determined to avoid him as much as possible only to realise that his lover is obsessed and determined to get them back together despite not understanding why he loves him. It's so fun to watch this show, and I enjoy the chemistry between Benjamin and Teddy. But yeh Halloween, mysterious deaths, rebirths and romance great times!

Chinese

Rebirth Ratings: 4/5 Genre/Themes: Rebirth, Romance, Historical, Death, Drama, Royalty, Happy ending Country: Chinese Verdict: Absolutely so stoked with this drama, frustrated with censorship from China which prevented some scenes from being shown like the waterfall kiss, but it has a happy ending! Like what? I'm so happy because it's quite dramatic and has moments where it looks like would be tragic but I adore the romance between the King and his companion, and the way they're both loyal to each other. For Halloween this deals with death and reincarnation of our main character to return back and save the King from getting killed. Go watch it if you can find uncut link so worth it.

Untamed Ratings: 5/5 Genre/Themes: Zombies, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Happy ending, Rebirth, Death Country: China Verdict: Like I don't have to explain this one. Go watch it if you haven't. Tbh for Halloween I'm not going to be watching the show Untamed because I've seen it too many times, so I'll probably be crying over Wei Wuxian and Wang Ji's love with the audio drama (Season 3 especially) Whatever way you wanna watch Mo dao Zu shi: anime, book, tv show, audio drama, this is a masterpiece and so incredibly scary enough, supernatural enough and great enough for this Halloween. A masterpiece.

Guardian Ratings: 3.5/5 Genre/Themes: Supernatural, Romance, Rebirth, Horror, ,Bromance, Censored, Comedy, Mystery, Detectives Country: China Verdict: Guardian is so fun to watch but when I think of it's original source I get so upset with China and I just don't want to watch it especially that stupid ending. But for Halloween Guardian is the most Halloween like BL show there is, deals with demons, zombies, ghosts, etc Mysteries about aliens, humans and supernatural deities. And a painful romance that has amazing chemistry, acting and story behind it. Go watch it just for the fun cases the characters have to investigate each episode connected to the supernatural stuff. Or go read the book and see what it was meant to be like.

Thailand

Red wine in the Dark night Ratings: 3.5/5 Genre/Themes: Psychology, Thriller, Horror, R rated, Tragedy, Vampire Country: Thailand Verdict: My first movie introducing me to Fluke and his incredible acting. But like this movie messed me up, I went into it like nice vampire/cute boy romance and halfway through I was like wtf?? It's incredible and dark to see this movie and for Halloween scary enough to contemplate and analyse so yeh a great spooky watch with shady, flawed characters traumatised to make choices to be with love. Watch it for Fluke.

Blue Hour Ratings: 4/5 Genre/Themes: Psychology, Thriller, Horror, R rated, Ghosts, Mystery Country: Thailand Verdict: This is another messed up movie with an amazing cast. Both Oab and Gun are like so great in this, and they are my ghost ship. This movie starts of like a romantic with drama BL movie, about like falling in love and meeting the right person and then it just gets twisted and starts to be horrifying. Again has a lot of shady, dark characters who do things that are just so unexpected. It will scare you well and Gun's performance as a winner. But we already know this about him. Go watch Gifted and Gifted Graduation (also spooky in my opinion for Halloween)

My dream Ratings: 3/5 Genre/Themes: Supernatural, Fantasy, Romance, Drama Country: Thailand Verdict: Okay only adding this on the list because of its supernatural genre but I actually don't remember what this is about. All I can remember is the main love story is between Runway and his lover who he sees in his dreams due to a mysterious dream catcher given to him by his family to protect him. Yeh this is fantasy so good for halloween but it's actually not my favourite show, I remember disliking a lot of things about it apart from the second lead couple so yeh Meh. But for Halloween you can squeeze a watch and try and see if you like it.

Until We Meet Again

Ratings: 4.2/5 Genre/Themes: Reincarnation, Rebirth, Suicide, Drama, Death, Romance, Mystery, Happy ending Country: Thailand Verdict: Can’t believe I almost forgot about this, But this is a great thai BL series, one of the best ones actually if you’re okay with slow paced storyline but with depth, and interesting plot. I love all the couples on this show and it kept me on my toes with anxiety and worry about how it was going to end. Go watch this for Fluke again, as he is so amazing at his role of Pharm. Everyone else on this cast is also my favorite. Reasons for Halloween, this deals with the psychological trauama of death and suicde, and also deals with the consequences of reincarnation. Because of this the psychological breakdown and reveal of Pharm’s connection to Inn, is ver scary, worrying and frightful as you go deeper the story. We’re not sure where this will lead, but we know as an audience that it sure isn’t going to be a nice reunion with Inn and Korn whenever the latter finds the truth about why they’re dead. Yeh towards the last three episodes it’s almost close to being a thriller, so much angst, drama and pain and fear for our character’s lives, will make this a scary but not scary Halloween watch for sure.

Greater man academy Ratings: 5/5 Genre/Themes: Gender bender, Fantasy, Unicorns Romance, Competitive all-boys school, Happy ending, Plot twists Country: Thailand Verdict: Can I just praise how genius this series is. Because no one else doing so it's understandable it's hard to find the subs because Nadao refuses to release it on its platform. Either way seeing Nadao mentioned as the producers makes you know this is incredible. From acting, to story telling, to directing, to dynamics, to the romance. I am in awe of greater man academy and I will never stop speaking about how I wish more BLs was like this. Add she's the man (the movie or twelfth night by Shakespeare) and BL tropes to this and you get greater man academy, Except this show is different, 3 dimensional characters that will take your breath away from the amount of plot twists written for their characters, romances that will keep you on your toes with anticipation and mystery and the suprising fact that this ends up as a BL when it didn't need to is what shocks me still to this day. Go watch it I don't want to spoil anything else. Just watch it. For Halloween we have magical unicorns with wish granting abilities, ghosts and other fantasy themes in the academy for the great men.

He's coming to me Ratings: 4.5/5 Genre/Themes: Ghosts, Mystery,Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Happy ending Country: Thailand Verdict: I've already talked about this show on here as well. But again just go watch it, it's incredible a bit slow paced but it's worth it. I just want more shows like He's coming to me, the whole supernatural world building was fantastic, the mystery, the plot, the love story between our main guy who sees ghost and his ghost best friend, and him learning to embrace his identity and sexuality. Brilliant. Also again Ohm Pawat is in this so are you shocked and Singto as well who is amazing.

The Shipper Ratings: 4/5 Genre/Themes: Death, Gender bender, Mystery,, Tragedy, Comedy, Romance Country: Thailand Verdict: Didn't know if I should add this here but there is a heavy supernatural theme to it, and it does have BL despite the fact that could be questioned but I love Way and Kim, and I think the actors are great and the plot is actually good for most of it, there are some issues with the show but honestly if the ending was better It would be a favourite of mine in 2020. Sigh. Halloween there's death, and the lore surrounding death and mystery about why it and how the circumstances our main character is happened, and it keeps you on your toes. Ohm Pawat that's it another reason and First and Fluke were incredible in this. Girl actresses were also good. And it's directed and written by the writer of the girl from nowehere, so that's another positive. (Must watch for Halloween if you haven't yet not BL)

Other recommendations: Bite fight, Niyamruk, Ghost boyfriend, Ghost Roomamate, Fanatic Love.War of Highschool

That;s the list I’ve compiled. Probably missing like other spooky ones because I’m a wimp and horror aint my thing, Romance is. So here you have some shows mixing the two in a non squeamish way for me. What about you guys how’s your Halloween season and planning going? Have fun!

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ghost-in-the-stalls · 3 years

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What are ur tilda hcs?

Okay im finally gonna answer this!! Thank you so much for asking!!! I love receiving asks and I love sharing my headcanons. Sorry again it's so late ❤❤❤

This isn't gonna be nearly as well worded and eloquent as I originally planned. The first time I wrote it it basically became a drabble about her life. And then I lost that whole draft. Lmao

I just don't have it in me to recreate that whole thing again but I still wanna share my headcanons about her because I do have a lot!

I also wanna say this is in no way to like... excuse her behavior or try and redeem her. She was a terrible person. But people aren't born terrible. And I like taking 2 dimensional fictional women and making them make sense. So this isn't to excuse but instead to explain? I guess?

cw for all the shit you expect with the minyards by now, but specifically drug addiction and statutory rape. Also this is LONG so its going under a cut.

So first of all, I imagine her and Luther as being half siblings. Their father was a preacher or something- someone with a big role in their church's community and a big reputation of being a reliable, wise, holy man.

When Luther was maybe around 3 years old, there was this teenage girl in the congregation who would often come to Mr. Hemmick for advice, guidance, comfort, etc. She didn't quite fit in in school, wasn't great at academics and struggled to keep up with her siblings achievements, and was overall going through a lot of the turmoil thats unfortunately common for teenagers.

So she, like many people in the congregation, went to Mr Hemmick for guidance and ended up seeing a lot of him. She felt listened to and believed in with him. She felt like he treated her as more mature than the way her family treated her. She trusted him. He abused that.

If you asked her at the time, she would have said it was consensual between them. But she was 16. And when she became pregnant, he turned on her REAL fast lemme tell you. He made her promise not to tell anyone that he was the father, and he only told his wife. And of course, when he told his wife, he talked at length about how this 16 year old girl tempted him to sin; how he regretted it and only hoped she could learn to truly find God.

So he took the child in upon being born as a way to "attone" for what he'd done, but the whole community (not knowing he was the father) just saw it as an act of good will. And of course he'd tout off a lot in his sermons about how he'd be able to give the baby a much better, holier lifestyle than a teenager who turned her back on god by having sex.

So he and his wife end up raising Tilda from birth, but they make sure she knows from the beginning the circumstances of her birth. They drill it into her that her mother was a dirty sinner and that she herself is tainted as a result. She is raised always feeling like she needs to be twice as good to even be considered half as good as her brother in her parents eyes.

Naturally, she stops trying pretty early. In middle school, I imaging her being one of those bullies. The really nasty ones who get violent at their victims for even looking at them wrong. Idk about anyone else, but in my schools growing up the fights between the girls were always way bloodier than the ones between the guys. And I imagine those as the types of fights she got in- especially when one of her victims decides to stand up for themselves by throwing her own baggage back in her face.

By high school, she was thoroughly committed to the role of problem child. She would do everything she could to upset her family and get herself into shit. She'd do drugs, skip classes, show up to school drunk, stay out late, etc. In addition to all this, she would purposefully find whatever guy seemed like the most trouble and take him home. Whether this was the school drug dealer, a boy who got expelled for some rough shit, or college boys who caught her eye at parties.

So she's basically dug this hole for herself where she's committed to actually being the child of sin that her family has always seen her as anyway. The few people who tried to reach out to her wouldn't get far. She would push and push at them to see how far she could stretch their patience (to see how long it took them to give up on her like everyone else).

She even had one teacher who never did give up on her. But she outright told Tilda that she can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Those words would ring in Tildas ears for years to come, even if she never found it in herself to put the concept into action.

So eventually she'd graduate- just barely because she rarely put in effort in school- and she'd be left to suddenly have to find a place in the world when she previously never even thought she'd have a future. She started batting heads with her family even more (which no one thought was possible at that point) but it became less antagonistic on her end. She was still a shit stirrer, don't get me wrong. But she was getting tired. The fights were less about her being intentionally aggrevating and aggressive and more about her continuously being unable to live up to their expectations.

Luther already had a promising job as a cop at this point, meanwhile she was still living at home and bouncing between jobs that barely kept her afloat and boyfriends that barely made her feel worth something. She'd gotten into drugs in high school, and the habit only got worse now that she was out. It was the only thing that made her feel something other than misery or numbness. She could lose herself in the drugs and the boyfriends and the late nights out. She would come home to see her parents less and less and would speak to them only when absolutely necessary.

Eventually Mr. Hemmick died fairly young (heart attack or something equally as tragic. Whatever I dont care about him enough to pick the details) and his wife followed soon after by suicide. The house was left to Luther, who moved back in immediately and said there'd be changes in the household. He basically told Tilda to quit the drugs and go back to church if she wanted to stay in the house. He also had other rules like keeping a job, dumping her current boyfriend, giving her a curfew, etc.

So she left. She took her shitty beat up car an ex had fixed up for her and headed to California. A friend from high school lived out that way, so that's where she headed.

During this period in her life the drugs got a lot worse. This is also when she realized that she had become addicted. Mainly this is because, even after being away from her family and having freedom, she was still miserable. She didn't know how to get through a day sober. The constant variation between numbness and misery was too much to bare, but she wasn't ready to help herself. She wasn't ready to commit to her own healing and health.

She was in and out of therapy and rehab as quickly as she'd change jobs and partners. She wouldn't commit, and as soon as she had an out she'd take it. Had to miss an appointment for scheduling? Didn't make it back to the shelter in time to claim her bed for the night? Forgot to call back one of the few people who tried to reach out? No going back.

This is my main thing with Tilda. She was a shitty person who had a shitty life. But she never found the strength and commitment in herself to put in the work to be better. She instead let herself fall further and further down the hole because it was easier than pulling herself out. Because part of her still believed deep down that she had succeeded in living up to her birthright- that she wasn't deserving of ever healing or being better.

It was in one of these rehab facilities that she met the twins' father (and this part is absolutely inspired by Luke and Joey from the haunting of hill house). He was a guy with a similar past to hers- always sure he was meant to be bad so he committed to the role and never learned to commit to anything else. The difference between them, though, was that he was ready to get better.

They became fast friends and leaned on one another a bit while in rehab. She didn't see him as anything other than a friend, but he unfortunately became set on this idea that they would heal and move forward together. She knew he had feelings for her and enabled him (she didn't love him back but had never actually felt cared for like this before). He believed in her even when she didn't believe in herself, which was a lot. Unfortunately for him, he also ended up being more committed to her healing than she was. When she eventually started spiraling again, all other feelings for him were overshadowed by the part of her that just saw an opportunity.

She took advantage of him. She slept with him, took his money while he was sleeping, and bailed to get high and never see him again. Now I'm not gonna say she was just a devil who entered this poor man's life. He saw her more as a potential for an ideal life than a person. He was more in love with the dream he had of them getting better and starting a life together than he was actually in love with her and who she was as a person. Bad match all around.

So she never saw or heard from him again. When she found out she was pregnant, she went home to Luther and his wife and son. She didn't tell him right away that she was pregnant. Instead, she pretended she was just finally ready to commit to God and turn her life around. She played the part alright for a while, went to church with them and got sober and everything, but tried to leave and move into a women's shelter when she started showing. Luther found out and brought her home.

At first he was actually super supportive- mainly because he just genuinely thought she wanted to find God and stop "living in sin". But when she finally told him she didn't plan to keep the child, he turned on her.

We know the story from there. Personally I think the night that she stole the money and ran as her point of no return. Years down the line, when she knew she was being a terrible mother and person, she'd remember that night. And she'd think to herself how this is who she was always meant to be. How she doesnt deserve to be any better than how she is. And she'd dig the hole deeper.

-----

So yeah thats my take on Tilda Minyard. Sorry it was so long. I like the idea of giving depth and complexity to female characters- even the bad guys and the ones I don't like. I have a similar lengthy life concept for Mary Hatford as well, but it isn’t nearly as long. If anyone is curious lol

Thanks again for asking!

#aftg #aftg meta #tilda minyard #andrew minyard #aaron minyard #twinyards #tfc #give female characters depth and complexity 2k21 #my writing

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mrnerdteacher · 4 years

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4 Spoiler-Free Reasons Why “New Mutants” is So Good, It’s Actually Kinda Upsetting

In Josh Boone’s “The New Mutants”, Illyana Rasuputin is a character with the unique mutant power to access limbo: a magical realm between existence and nothingness.

And on Friday night, at the Mission Tiki Drive-In in Montclair, California, I too accessed limbo by watching this movie, which after going unreleased for over a year started to feel trapped in “development hell.” But I am both relieved and frustrated to tell you, this movie is good. It’s really, really good actually. And that’s kinda terrible. Let me explain...

1) The Pandemic Dilemma

Much has been said about this first reasoning, but a franchise movie being released in a time when it could literally be deadly to gather in large numbers is irresponsible at best. For over a decade, our nerd brains have been wired to loyally check out the newest installment of these ongoing stories and to avoid spoilers like the plague, even though there is now a literal plague to avoid. Sure, the X-Men franchise is much more disjointed than, say, the MCU, but if “The New Mutants” leads to just one reluctant fan contracting the virus, that’s one too many. Not to mention the fact that COVID has undoubtedly robbed this movie of the box office it deserved.

2) The Diversity Controversy

As a teacher “returning” to work, my plate has been plenty full as of late, and as such I went into TNM blind, knowing next to nothing about the film, the titular comics, or the “white washing” controversy surrounding Henry Zaga’s portrayal of the fiery mutant Sunspot. Apparently the origin story in the comics centered around ‘Berto’ being the target of a hate crime, and removing that aspect of the character and casting someone ‘more white’ is the exact opposite of what our country needs right now (especially for a movie released on the tragic night trailblazing actor Chadwick Boseman passed away from colon cancer). But I also can’t help but be discouraged by the fact that this blunder will undoubtedly overshadow the representation happening throughout the rest of the film. The main protagonist is Native American, and her heritage and prejudices she’s endured factor heavily into the plot. The film also takes huge strides towards LGBTQ representation in super hero movies, and even though the Sunspot character should have been presented as half-black like in the comics, I still can’t name a single other Brazilian superhero. Period. That’s gotta count for something...

3) The Upcoming Disney-fication of the X-Men Universe

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but for some reason I do not share the general public’s excitement for the inevitable day when mutants are rolled into the MCU. This movie finally made me realize why: I really LIKE the X-Men film franchise the way it is. For all its blunders, it takes chances that the MCU never has. It gives us movies like Deadpool and Logan… and The New Mutants. Without spoiling too much, this ‘spooky not scary’ horror movie gets real dark with its themes, most of them centering around the idea that adults with authority often do truly terrible things with that responsibility. At the end of the day, that gives this film more emotional gravitas and social importance than the VAST majority of super hero cinema, and I just don’t trust Disney to have that kinda guts with their bottom line. I prefer movies with something to say over movies that are mostly interested in selling plastic toys, but I digress...

4) It’s a Coming of Age Tale, but We’re All Robbed of the Pay-off

Director Josh Boone has recently gone public with his plans for a New Mutant trilogy: whereas this movie most closely resembles a haunted house story, the sequel would have been an alien invasion flick, and the closer a supernatural, apocalyptic battle against demons. But check your hype at the door, because the reason Boone is being so transparent is because he’s been told these movies will never happen. And they deserve to.

New Mutants isn’t a perfect movie by any means, but it’s a tightly crafted, creative, compelling narrative featuring complex, likable characters. It’s an “X-Men” movie that finally realized the premise of vulnerable teenagers coming into horrifyingly powerful abilities is interesting all on it’s own. Sonic the Hedgehog is no longer 2020’s best theatrical release; this is definitely a movie worth seeing (safely). FINAL GRADE: A

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nights-lament · 4 years

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RWBY Volume 8, Chapter 1 Thoughts and Opinions

HELLO, INTERWEBS!!! At long last, we are back with more RWBY, and with it, more RWBY Thoughts and Opinions! After the absolute roller coaster that was Volume 7's cliffhanger finale, I can not imagine the insanity that awaits us this Volume. So, without further ado, here are my various thoughts and opinions on Chapter 1 of RWBY Volume 8, "Divide"

SPOILERS BELOW:

Hmm, starting off with a mysterious woman scrubbing floors, and...wait, is that...no...

I really like the way they juxtapose Cinder scrubbing with her scratching the chair. Very symbolic.

Yick, something about organic architecture just gives me the willies. I mean, is the whale aware that they double as a building complex? Can they feel the diabolical ongoings of it's rib cage? Creepy stuff.

Oof, outright taking credit for grabbing the relic, Cinder? Yeah, no way that's going to bite you in the ass.

Oh my. Mercury, Emerald, AND Hazel have new looks this season. I'm sure I'll warm up to them eventually, but right now Emerald's and Hazel's aren't really doing this. For Hazel, the outfit is all right, but the hair is a bit boring compared to his originals. Mercury's is ok, but is it just me, or is he basically wearing Yang's V4-6 outfit? I mean, it works, but still.

"Without you, I am nothing." That...didn't sound like the first time she's said that. It almost sounds like something Salem's drilled into her head for years. Cinder may be irredeemable in my opinion, but I do love a good tragic backstory.

You know, I guess would make sense for the crater to be the slums area. Can't imagine living directly under a floating landmass would be considered prime real estate.

Ooh, this old man has badger paws. I don't think we've seen that kind of Faunus trait yet.

D'aaww, Nora gave Oscar a soft hug rather than her usual glomp. So cute ^-^

I'm interested in how Oscar not telling them about Oz is going to play out.

Ok, their is a lot going on in this bar-base worth talking about, but for some reason I am fascinated by the picture of (i'm assuming) the founders in the background. What interesting designs they have. I feel like they have a story, and I would like to hear it.

Penny's dejected demeanor is giving me all of the feels Q_Q

Not sure how I feel about the rift forming between RWBYJNRO, though I guess we'll have to see where it goes. At least we have people like Jaune playing mediator.

I will say, though, I look forward to seeing Ren and Nora apart. As much as I love them as a couple, I'd very much like to see them operate as individuals.

God, Ironwood trying to manipulate Penny like that.

And there it is. Ironwood has truly revealed his true feelings, and his motivation for his attempt to launch Atlas. He isn't making a tactical retreat in order to form a new plan altogether. He's abandoning the fight altogether, leaving Remnant to die so that he and Atlas can live. It's funny, he wanted to avoid becoming Lionheart, but he was a coward too.

"Everything that follows will be on your hands". That motherf-

You know, we don't see a lot of corpses on this show, do we? Penny got better, Amber's screentime ended as she died, Roman got eaten, Pyrrha got an express viking funeral, etc, and a lot of others were only corpses for seconds before we never saw them again. They did a good job selling how proper dead Clover is here.

Ok, I don't know squat about Hospital layouts. Is it normal to have the morgue right outside of an emergency room? I mean, I guess it saves some travel time should things go wrong, but still, seems like a great anxiety generator for the patient, especially with both rooms having windows. "That's where I'll be going next."

I like the new metal arm. The fact that you can see all of the internal stuff makes it feel like it was quickly put together for the sake of urgency, while still looking cool.

Man, that rendition of "Hero" in the background. Chilling.

Is Winter getting a new look already? I must say. I like the look of the braces, and the ponytail is a vast improvement over the bun.

JESUS H CHRIST IRONWOOD!!! I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING OUT THERE TO ARREST THEM!!! THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PRETTY BIG FASCIST MOVE, RIGHT!? HE JUST SHOT CHAD JAMES IN THE FACE!!!

What really interests me is everyone's reactions. Elm and Marrow are incredibly shocked, Harriet and Winter share their little look of doubt, and then there's Vine who just...doesn't react at all. Either that or it's all in his eyes, which we can't really see from here. Either way, not a huge reaction from him. Methinks the Ace-Ops and Winter might be starting to doubt the horse they bet on.

I find it interesting that Salem doesn't know how the Relic works, but then I suppose it makes sense, seeing as Oz probably placed them into the vaults almost immediately after finding them, so this is probably the first time she's even seen one in person..

Ok, OP time, and buckle up, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals, because this one is going to be a doozy.

-First off, the song sounds pretty good, but it seems like it's going to go through the same cycle as the rest where it doesn't do too much for me at first, but has me headbanging like a metalhead by the end of the volume

- Mantle glitching out between peaceful and wartorn is a wonderful effect. Definitely fills you with a sense of dread.

-The individual shots of Team RWBY are absolutely gorgeous. Conceptually, it's the standard "where we started and where we're at", but the composition is worthy of a chef's kiss. I think I've found my new wallpaper.

-The Ace-Ops appearing on Clover's pin is nice, but what I find interesting is Harriet and Qrow appearing back to back, especially with Harriet looking so angry. Is Harriet going to double down on her loyalty to Ironwood and go after Qrow?

- It seems Robyn is going to be Qrow's main source of support this season, though the bars seem to suggest they might be in custody for a while.

-Oscar seems to be in Salem's stronghold, which doesn't bode well for our farmboy, also, WHY DOES SALEM HAVE DEMON WINGS!? Emerald's Volume 5 illusion wasn't this scary looking!

-I feel like their's symbolism showing Team RWBY's weapons paired together like that, but I feel like it's too early to say what of. Looks pretty, though

-Ren and Nora standing so far apart. It hurts my soul! Interesting how, while Ren looks away, Nora actually turns towards him.

-I didn't notice Winter's change of expression/outfit before passing by Weiss. She went from looking confident and slightly condescending to full with doubt.

-Not a lot to say about the quick shots of Whitley and Willow other then the fact that they both look worried. The image of the Schnee Snowflake shattering, however, is VERY interesting.

-I'm always a sucker for some good ol' chess symbolism. I find it interesting that while Salem's pieces dissolve into creatures of Grimm, Ironwood's simply dissolve, leaving him alone. Perhaps shooting a fellow councilman in the face right in front of his inner circle doesn't play out as well for him as well as he thought it would.

- Speaking of the classics, also gotta love me some reflection artwork. Watts seems to be working behind Pietro's back while Pietro (presumably) works to get Amity running, while secretly worrying about Penny, whose reflection cracks, possibly symbolizing her resolve. I worry for her.

- The snowflake turning into a flower petal in Ren's hand, while a similar petal passes Nora by. I don't know what this means, but I'm intrigued.

- It seems Ruby and Yang won't be completely be at odds, judging by the look they give each other before going into the action shot.

- Hmm, while Cinder pulls a Za Warudo on the fight scene, you can see a dejected Emerald and a pissed off Neo, still moving, among the heroes. Interesting...

-Almost as interesting as Cinder grasping her Grimm arm before being engulfed in flames. Perhaps Salem pulled a Wormtail's Silver Hand with that arm.

-Is this the first time we've seen the Staff of Creation in it's entirety? I remember wanting to include it and the Lamp in my RWBY Vol 7 spritesheet, but couldn't find any images of it's bottom half. I like the little jewel on the bottom.

-Wow, CRWBY went full Kingdom Hearts with the heroes falling through the ice, and I absolutely LOVE IT! This op has some of the most gorgeous visuals the series has ever seen.

-HAPPY EVER AFTER HAPPY? NEVER AGAIN Daaaaaaamn, that's awesome. It kind of reminds me of a line from Red Like Roses Part II, "This bedtime story ends with Misery Ever After". It's incredibly haunting.

-Almost as haunting as the sketchy art style that flashes in between the words, particularly the part that shows Penny's eyes going red before the rest of her does. Did we predict Watts hacking Penny a volume too early?

-The final shot of Crescent Rose alone stuck in the snow. Damn. The theme of this op seems to be "foreboding as all hell"

Damn. Damn! DAMN! This was, without question, the best OP RWBY has ever had. By, like, a lot. The visuals were some of the best the show has ever had to offer, the foreboding is through the roof, and the symbolism is incredibly clever. I don't envy them when it comes time to make Volume 9's, because this will be a very tough act to beat. I am so happy to have RWBY back, and I am both excited and terrified to see what this show is going to do next.

#rwby #rwby volume 8 #rwby spoilers #rwby thoughts and opinions #rooster teeth animation

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shadows-twilight · 4 years