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cower-before-power · 8 months

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Sweet Tooth

Summary: Needing a break from the absolute drag that is your bitchy cousin's wedding, you slip outside for some air. Luckily for you, a cute waiter and a stolen bottle of champagne are ready and waiting to sweeten your night considerably.

Pairing: Modern AU Connie Springer x F!Reader

Word Count: 2,684

Warnings: Swearing, alcohol consumption, drinking at work, dub-con (because Reader and Connie are tipsy), implied/referenced sexual content (including unprotected sex, outdoor sex, sex with someone you barely know, oral sex/cum eating), horrible horrible sex puns involving food, rusty writing.

A/N: HEY LOOK MA, I WROTE SOMETHING!! I started this fic ages ago, but only had the motivation to finish it recently thanks to joining The Coffee Corner discord server. This is for their Slice of Life collab, I hope you enjoy some funny Modern AU adult Connie, thank you for reading, likes and (especially) reblogs are greatly appreciated ❤️.

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You breathe a sigh of relief as you slip outside into the refreshing evening air. The thumping of music and sounds of people talking dull as the door clicks shut behind you.

It wasn’t that you didn’t like weddings. It was just that you didn’t like this wedding.

Your cousin had always been a spoiled brat, a pouty, whiney thing that threw tantrums whenever something didn’t exactly go her way. They two of you had never gotten along, and you knew your parents did not exactly like that side of the family. But they wanted to avoid being reamed out for the next 20 years, so when the invitations arrived, your dad checked off “Yes” with a what could only be described as a world-weary sigh.

You knew she didn’t actually want you there. It was a chance to show off, to show how wealthy her poor (and dumb) husband was and how lavish of a wedding she could throw. If there was one thing that stayed constant, it was her need to always be the center of attention.

“Need a light?”

You whirl around, hand clutching your chest as you come face to face with bright eyes and a toothy grin. Your heart does a strange ga-lump that has nothing to do with being startled; it’s him.

The guy you’ve had your eye on all night, one of the only bright spots in this whole wretched affair. You’ve dubbed him Cute Waiter in your mind, his boyishly charming good looks and happy-go-lucky demeanor like a beam of sunshine through the gloom. He wasn’t assigned to your table, sadly, and you’d been wondering how you would be able to strike up a conversation with him.

Seems like something good may be coming out of this night after all.

“I-I don’t smoke,” you shake your head, frantically trying to reclaim a tiny bit of composure. “Just out for some fresh air.”

“Oh, my bad,” he says cheerfully, stowing the lighter he’d been holding out back into his uniform pocket. “It is kind of stuffy in there, isn’t it?”

You sigh in agreement. “And loud. And mentally exhausting. If my cousin rubs it in my face one more time that she’s married and I’m still “hopelessly inept” at finding love, I’m not responsible for what will happen next.”

Cute Waiter laughs, loud and jolly like he’s auditioning for the role of Santa in a school play. It’s surprisingly adorable. “Yeah, because love is totally in the air tonight.”

You giggle at his words. “She claims it’s love, but trust me; their marriage came to be because of money and the fact my dear cousin does not take no for an answer.”

Cute Waiter leans against the wall of the venue, hands tucked into his pockets as he continues to flash that mega-watt grin. “Yeah, I got the vibe. Wanna make bets about how awkward their night’s gonna be later?”

You snort. “I’m certain she’s just been laying back and thinking of platinum credit cards and shopping sprees for the last two years, and that poor bastard has no idea. He’ll probably be convinced it’s a night of romance while she’s planning the layout of their new mansion in her head.”

Cute Waiter shakes his head, chuckling. “Damn, are we sure they have a chance? Maybe I’ll be serving food at their divorce party. Or his funeral after she murders him for the dough.”

Your face hurts from how much you’re smiling. “Is it bad to say I hope so? The food is very good.”

“Niccolo is quite the whiz in the kitchen,” Cute Waiter agrees genially. “You can’t get much better around here.”

Almost in slow motion, you see your opening being laid out before you. Bolstered no doubt by the two glasses of wine at dinner, and encouraged by the fact he was just so cute and funny, you make your move.

“Of course, I also hope it would mean I’d see a certain man I’ve dubbed Cute Waiter again.”

The man in front of you blinks, eyebrows raising as his face morphs into an strange expression of surprise and amusement. “Cute Waiter, you say?”

“Yes,” you nod, determined to see this through now that it’s underway. “I’ve been wondering how I could get a chance to talk with him all night, but he’s been very busy.” You feel your face warming under his hazel stare. “Imagine my delight to find he’s not only cheerful and good looking, but extremely funny and easy to talk to as well.”

Cute Waiter’s cheeks bloom a lovely shade of pink. “That’s-wow. The prettiest girl at this wedding just-do you really-I mean, thank you,” he stutters out, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m Connie.”

You duck your head shyly at his compliment, your own name murmured softly as you try to calm your thrumming heart. “Hello, Connie.” You stick out your hand out, heat now racing down your neck as you inwardly cringe at your own awkwardness.

Connie grins, taking your proffered hand in a gentle grip. You try not to think of how warm his hand is as his fingers curl around yours. “I think I liked Cute Waiter better.”

You could probably cook an egg on your face at this point. “Well, it’s still a true sentiment anyways.”

Connie chuckles. “You’re good for my ego.” His gaze drops to your still clasped hands. You stammer out an apology, attempting to snatch your misbehaving limb back, but to your surprise (and excitement), he grips your hand tighter.

“Wanna get out of here?”

Your eyes widen as your heart gives an excited thump. “What? Right now?”

Connie nods, eagerness rolling off him in waves. “I’m thinking you, me, and that massive bottle of expensive champagne I saw on the gift table deserve to get to know each other a little bit better. Preferably away from the god-awful vibes this place is giving off.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, but there’s no denying the thrum of excitement beneath your skin.

“You wanna skip out of work, steal someone else’s booze and run off with a girl you’ve known for all of 10 minutes?”

Connie grins. “If that girl is you, then hell yes.”

Laughter bubbles up from your chest like fizz in a soda can. “Then lead the way, Cute Waiter.”

And that’s how you find yourself down by the lake, sprawled out on a stolen tablecloth, tipsy giggles escaping the both of you as the champagne bottle is passed between you. Your animated chatter fills the twilight hour, talking about anything and everything. Connie is easy to talk to, open and free with what feels like a genuine interest in what you have to say. It’s nice. You don’t want it to end.

“This stuff is horrible,” Connie hiccups, shaking his head as he hands you the bottle. “Why do rich people have such garbage taste in alcohol?”

“I like it,” you grab the bottle from him, hugging it to your chest as if it was a beloved teddy bear. “It tastes like sunlight in a bottle. Maybe I’ll serve it at my wedding. If I ever get one.”

“You will,” Connie states matter-of-factly. “You’re super smart, pretty, funny, and nice. The only thing that sucks about you is your choice of drink. This shit is worse than pond water.”

You gasp in mock offense, your stomach doing somersaults at his compliments. “Okay, you are not invited to my hypothetical wedding, Mr. Meanie! How dare you insult the nectar of the gods?”

“Nectar- sweet mother of mercy,” Connie snorts, wrinkling his nose as you take another sip. “You’re too drunk to think straight, next thing you know you’ll be telling me you loved that horrible monstrosity your dear cousin calls a wedding dress.”

“I’m not drunk,” you giggle, “just a little tipsy. And no way am I ever wearing a dress like that. She looked like an over frosted cupcake-and that’s being nice.”

“Mmmmm cupcakes,” Connie sighs, rubbing a hand over his stomach. “Damn it, should’ve nicked some food, I’m hungry now.”

“Oh! I can help, one sec,” You wiggle around so you can reach your handbag, rummaging around until you find what you’re looking for. “Tada! Emergency Twinkies. I stashed some in case the food here was garbage, thankfully it wasn’t at all but you never can be too careful.” You nod sagely at the boy beside you.

“Shit, are you an angel?” Connie breaths, eyes going big and dopey as he takes the proffered treats. “Twinkies? A bunch of Twinkies in your bag. Just in case.”

“I always carry one at least,” you feel your heart going all gooey at his starry-eyed amazement. “You never know when you’re going to need a snack.”

Connie groans, low and deep in his throat, and you squirm at the sudden heat pricking at you. “You are literally the most fucking perfect girl. I am so glad I picked up this shift.”

“I’m glad I came too,” your smile is threatening to break your face in half, but you just can’t help it. There’s just something about Connie that makes you feel warm and blissful, like the first sip of perfectly prepared coffee as it bursts on your tongue.

You stare at each other, silly grins and hazy eyes and all the hope of youthful infatuation.

You don’t know who moves first.

What you do know, is that Connie kisses like he laughs; full, deep and with purpose. His mouth is warm and sweet with lingering champagne, and you whine as he cups the back of your neck to push you even closer to him.

Maybe it’s the buzz of the alcohol, or the sweet song of the crickets, or the thudding of your heart when Connie licks into your mouth like he’s going die if he doesn’t taste every inch. It could be the thrill of being desired, the delicate bloom of two young hearts connecting as if you were in some sort of sappy fairytale. You don’t really know, nor do you really care.

But you let Connie lay you down on the tablecloth, let him ruck your fancy dress up, let him touch you until you’re trembling like the leaves in the warm spring breeze.

“This ok?” He’s got one hand beside your head, the other stroking your inner thigh gently. “I uh-this wasn’t my intention, not right away anyways, but like, you’re so fucking cool and hot and I really really like you and-”

“Yes, ohmygosh yes,” you interrupt his rambling, clutching at his shoulders desperately. “I’m good. Fantastic. Wonderful. And very horny, so please hurry up.”

Connie huffs a laugh, leaning down to kiss you as you help him free himself from the confines of his pants. After that, only the soft light of the nearly set sun is the witness to your bodies meeting, your groans and sighs carried away on the gentle summer breeze as you let yourself drown in pleasure.

When you’re both spent you lay beside each other, panting and grinning as your heartbeats slowly return to normal. You feel floaty, fizzy with satisfaction, like you’ve downed that whole damn bottle of champagne in one gulp. You can’t remember the last time you felt so good at the hands of another, and you can feel yourself itching to grab the man beside you and have him do it again.

Suddenly, a thought niggles it’s way into your fuzzy brain, and you snicker loudly.

“I hope that’s not in response to my performance,” Connie reaches over to pinch your cheek affectionately.

“No,” you titter tipsily, swatting his hand away. “I was just thinking….now I’m a Twinkie.”

Connie scrunches his eyebrows. “What?”

A snort leaves you. “I’m a Twinkie….because now I’m filled with cream.”

You dissolve into fits of giggles as his mouth drops open in surprise.

“Ugh, no fair!! You can’t make jokes like that!” Connie digs his fingers into your ribs, grinning as you shriek in surprise. “Not unless you want me to fall in love with you!”

You squirm away from his questing fingers. “Slow your roll there, cowboy,” you warn, but your heart is light and your skin is tingling. “At least take me on a date first!”

“I suppose,” Connie sighs dramatically. “But you better reign in that charm! One more stashed snack or raunchy joke and you might never get rid of me.”

The thought isn’t unpleasant. “You better not come home with me and look inside my bedside drawer then.”

“Oh?” Connie waggles his brows suggestively. “Whatcha got in there, hmmm? Some Skittles and flavoured lube? Fuzzy Peaches and fuzzy handcuffs? Edible candy panties? Please say edible candy panties.”

You laugh as you sit up, feeling for your bag. “Why don’t you come over after work and see? Assuming you still have a job, that is. I don’t think you’re supposed to drink and have sex on the clock.” You shimmy in triumph as you fish out your phone. “Here, give me your number, Cute Waiter Who Is Also Pretty Good At Sex.”

Connie smirks, grabbing your phone as he sits and pulls his own out of his pocket. You take it eagerly. “Don’t worry, I’m still employed. Niccolo owes me like a million favors, considering I’m the reason he and his fiancé, aka my best friend, are even together. That’s why I even have this job.” He winks, handing your phone back. “Ah, the joys of nepotism.”

“Sexy,” you giggle as you swap phones. You smile when you see what he’s saved his contact as: Cute Waiter Who Is Also Pretty Good At Sex. Part of you feels a sense of disbelief; did you really just hook up with a hot, sweet, funny guy at your cousin’s wedding? And now you’re getting his phone number? After all the shit you got tonight for being the lonely single loser?

Take that, you frigid bitch.

Connie looks at his phone. He groans loudly as he reads what you’ve typed in. “You saved yourself as Twinkie ❤? Damn, woman! I’m never gonna be able to eat those delectable golden treats without popping a stiffy now. I’m rising to half mast right now just looking at this.”

You reach over and toss him the forgotten package, rolling your eyes playfully as it smacks him in face. “Down, boy. Eat your treat like you originally planned.”

Connie tosses the snack away, and you shiver as a hungry look flits across his genial face. “Yeah, these are not gonna cut it anymore. I wanna stuff my face with a different Twinkie now.”

Your insides twist violently, molten heat trickling down your spine at the implication of his words.

“Ohmygosh,” you groan, already whipping your phone back out to text your parents you’re heading home. “Fuck the rest of this, we’re going to my place. Now.”

Connie pumps his fist in the air as he jumps to his feet. “Hell yes! Do I have a horseshoe up my ass today or what?” He makes a show of trying to look behind himself, as if his behind might actually be sporting one.

Your face feels like it will break in two from the force of your smile. “Just order us a damn Uber, you goof.”

Connie salutes and begins typing rapidly on his phone. You stand, adjusting yourself to contain the mess that’s currently trying to drip down your legs. “Damn. Should have grabbed napkins along with that booze. I’m leaking like a broken facet over here.”

Connie’s phone is already in his pocket, and your heart thumps happily at the warmth of his hand as it slides into your own.

“I’m all the cleanup you need, babe,” he winks, tugging you gently into his chest. You look up at him, all smiles and flushed cheeks, mischief dancing in his adoring gaze. You don't know if you've ever felt so alive, so free, so ready for wherever he takes you.

“After all," he lowers his mouth to brush teasingly against yours, "the cream is the best part of a Twinkie.”

#connie springer #connie springer x reader #connie springer x you #attack on titan fic #attack on titan imagine #shingeki no kyojin fic #shingeki no kyojin imagine #slice of life collab #my writing

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izzysarchivedblogs · 4 months

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🗣️ tony and pepper thank

Send me 🗣️ for incorrect quotes of your muse and mine

TONY: *on the phone* Hey Pepper do you know my blood type?

PEPPER: Of course, it's A+

TONY: Oh, I guessed wrong. Excuse me, nurse-!

Like he won't know, but I'm back to reading Iron Man comics and Tony is flimsy with his own healthcare; then again his brain is made into a slushie a lot. So he truly might not know.

PEPPER: You're a loose cannon, Tony.

TONY: No, I'm not. I'm a cannon maybe, but a loose cannon? Is that what you think of me?

PEPPER: I think you play by your own rules.

RHODEY: No way, he thinks rules were made to be broken.

PEPPER: Those are all attributes of a loose cannon.

TONY: No, that just makes me a reckless renegade. Happy's our loose cannon.

HAPPY: *smashes a chair*

I mean, I'm not entirely wrong here. This is the Iron Family.

TONY: I just electrocuted myself.

PEPPER: How shocking.

RHODEY: How do you feel currently?

TONY: I feel kinda amped.

RHODEY: Watt? I can’t hear you.

TONY: I said it hertz a lot.

MARIA: Are they okay?

PEPPER: This is normal, they’re fine.

MARIA: But he was just-

PEPPER: He’s fine. I’d honestly be more concerned if he wasn’t making puns.

I had to sprinkle in more Iron Family as a whole as well.

TONY: *calls Pepper* Hey, are you busy right now?

PEPPER: A little bit. Why?

TONY: Oh, no worries. Nothing important. *hangs up*

*hours later*

PEPPER: You were in jail?! Why didn't you say anything?!

TONY: You were busy!

PEPPER: So NOW you respect my time!

I mean yeah. He would.

TONY: Gosh, he's just the worst.

PEPPER: Uh huh, yeah. Hey, Tony? When is Steve's birthday?

TONY: July 4, 1922, Manhattan, New York City, New York. 3:47 AM. It was on a Tuesday. His nurse's name was Susan.

PEPPER: When's MY birthday?

TONY: How the fuck should I know?

PEPPER:

PEPPER: Carry on.

I am correct on this as well.

#Look I also did the Iron Family because they are on my mind #and this is what Pepper puts up is Rhodey and Tony puns #CHEFS KISS THIS #I meant to move this to a post but its fine.

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emotionally-intuitive-engineer · 10 months

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What's your fav dad joke to tell?

Mine is how many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh? Ten. Ten tickles.

I could really use some dad jokes right now

Mah favorite dad joke? Well, I do definetly like the ones that are just a bunch of puns in a row, and you never know when it'll stop.

It's great to see the look on my kiddos' faces when they think it's over but I sneak one more in there. Electricals ones are my go to; (Watt's up, saying I'm Ohm(home), asking about the current situation, etc)

Scout huffin' and walkin' off always gets me good.

An' tha's a good one, I like it!

#tf2 #team fortress #tf2 engineer #engineer team fortress #team fortress two #engie team fortress #emotionally intuitive engineer #engie tf2 #team fortress 2 #dad engie

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callmemana · 1 year

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Arms May Be Wide Open, But The Brain Cells Aren’t There: #26

Birdie: Bam, will you go out with me?

Bob: sodium.

Birdie: what do you mean ‘NA’? I thought you’d say Potassium!

Bob: …you learnt chemistry jokes?

Birdie: and I learnt pick up lines! You’re Copper plus Tellurium!

Bob: Cu…plus…Te

Birdie: ;)

Bob: I take back my Sodium. Potassium, Bird, Potassium!

[somewhere in the distance]

Mr. Floyd: …what have I raised?

Mrs. Floyd: whatever you’ve raised, he’s a monster and an idiot.

Enemy: die, aviator!

Birdie: hold on let me ask my mom.

Enemy: no wait-

Birdie: Whiskey said no.

Enemy: that’s not how this works-

Birdie: I can ask Slider!

Enemy: NO

Birdie: he said no and he’s on his way!

Slider: what a long day. I need a drink. Something to take the edge off.

Lucky: *a Gen-Z kid w/ dark humor* bleach.

Slider:

Slider: Luck, do we need to talk?

Slider: *calls Mouse & Birdie daughter once in public*

Media: Raven Fischer & Amanda Hallett or Raven Kerner & Amanda Kerner?

Media: RON KERNER’S ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTERS?

Ice: Slider, you need to do a press conference to sort this out. Just tell them that their not your daughters.

Slider: *at the press conference* hello yes these are my daughters Raven Fischer-Kerner & Amanda Hallett-Kerner, the heirs to my and my wife, Whiskey’s legacy, fortune, and my house.

Ice: why do I even try?

Ice: alright, so this mission-

Birdie: Mr. Iceman sir I need to use the restroom.

Slider: *rolling his eyes* bird, you can just go.

Birdie: is- is there a bathroom pass?

Slider: a what?? No, bird, the bathroom is right down the hall-

Ice: what’s a bathroom pass?

Birdie: it’s like a random object you bring so everyone knows you’re allowed to be out and about.

Mav: *perking up* a random object you say? *holds up a wrench* will this work?

Birdie: I mean? I guess? *grabs and leaves* thanks Mav!

Whiskey: *who happened to be walking down the hallway and sees bird holding the wrench* wAIT!

[describing a bad pilot’s attitude]

Lucky: loner, invisible, outcast, boiling rage- *phone rings*

Lucky: *keeps getting called all day* son of a bitch! Hi this is Lieutenant Baylie Garcia. I actually can come to the phone right now, with a very special message that your mother-

Mouse: *stern mother voice* Lucky-

Lucky: I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.

Slider: Mouse, what did I tell you about lying?

Mouse: to do it more often.

Slider: exactly! I’m so proud of you!

Bob: I think all you need is a hug *hugs bird*

Birdie: what is this?

Bob: a hug.

Birdie: disgusting.

Birdie:

Birdie: do it again, i ask of you!

Mouse: *captured and strapped to a metal table* do you know the muffin man?

Omaha: *also captured* babe I swear-

Capturer: the muffin man?? What the-

Mouse: YES! THE MUFFIN MAN!

Capturer: the… one who lives on drury- wait is this a Shrek reference?

Mouse: FINALLY! You owe me five bucks Omaha. I told you a bad guy would get it one day!

Birdie: I just electrocuted myself.

Cinco: how shocking.

Mouse: how do you feel currently?

Birdie: I feel kinda amped.

Lucky: watt I can’t hear you?

Birdie: I said it hertz a lot

Spicy: are they okay?

Whiskey: this is normal, they’re fine.

Dragon: but she was jus-

Bob: she’s fine. I’d be more concerned if she wasn’t making puns.

Dragon’s Angels📻: @dragon-kazansky @mrsjaderogers @bayisdying @starlit-epiphany @gracespicybradshaw @breadsquash

🏷️ list: @luckyladycreator2

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paperlovesadness · 1 year

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Tag 9 people that you want to get to know better

Thank you so much for the tag @uhbasicallyjustmilex 🩵

most recent ship: Do I even need to say it? 👀

(oh god; the way I just fell into that gif hole and couldn't pick and just happily scrolled & scrolled & smiled & scrolled)

ship i’ve read the most of: huh! Hmm. I think it might be them at this point honestly 👀 otherwise - it could've also been Beth Harmon/Benny Watts.

Yes - Queen's Gambit fics... Was a thing in my life. I was in a deep dark hole at the time & that show just hit something in me - I grasped onto it for dear life as a form of escapism for months and it brought me back into fanfics after years & years.

wild card: figure skater ships? i don't wanna get into the specifics though 🙈 things have changed.

first ever ship: oh, we're going there are we 👀 there might've been earlier ones I can't remember. They were probably niche though. So I guess I'll say Skate (Sawyer/Kate from Lost - anyone remember that show?). But I think Suspian (Susan/Caspian from Narnia. Yep.) needs an honorary mention cause it's the first I got involved in to the point of making ship content - even if I didn't know that term yet (wasn't I such a fun kid?).

last song: I wanna be your girlfriend - Girl in Red

last movie: oh I've been bad at watching movies for a while now (shows seem... easier) - so it seems like actual movie-wise that's gonna be Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore a few weeks back (@kiray1991 👀)

currently reading: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (been on my shelf forever & was reminded of it by the trailer coming out. It seems like I've recently been unintentionally catching up on my older fandoms - with this THG prequel & the Fantastic Beasts movies). Also John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman is one I've started; stopped for a sec and will be coming back to next.

currently watching: in the middle of Get Back - the Beatles docu-series. Had a bit of a break cause I like to craft while watching that one & haven't had motivation to do so lately. But can't wait to get back (pun not intended actually, but I'm still proud of it) into that one.

currently consuming: a bunch of meds, cause I'm sick atm :c. Also coffee.

currently craving: evenings with guitar & singing - cause this cold/tonsillitis thing has made me take a break for the last couple of days 💔 (also TLSP 3 is very much the correct answer here always).

Ah goodness, I feel like a looot of people in my Tumblr circle have already been tagged? I'm going to just try - but I'm so bad with remembering the @'s off the top of my head - also sorry if you get double-tagged:

@kiray1991 @homoirrealis @haemoglobinheights @maybemoonout @mileskanex @inourownshadows @the-thing-about-life-is @the-libertines & YOU. Yes, you. If you're reading this I really wanna see you do it!

#tag #this was fun 🎉

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iman2 · 6 months

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fiddy cends

caught. reading your face and it's saying "blackmail". you were about to catch a case, i think but i feel like doodoo's in your place. you're the doctor. were you 'writing' shit for ross? laughing straight to the bank with this. no wait…lmaooo. i'm not worried. you played YOURSELF, bitch. i know mbj is not my real enemy. you 'crashed the economy'. the plane. i know it was about YOU. i said that. i said aal1yah died and then i was 50. you're a fucking clone. you're fucking MIKE but i know that too. all y'all fuck each other, why are you here? "mike's" scared. so? who cares? the jeep. how do you know about that coffin? p.vall3y. you prolly fuck everyone on set. especially that clifford nigga. "you gotta bring the water to you" they said that at my baptism. the soldier that shot himself in the car? de'andre. but that wasn't even true. that stupid show is the 50 to amm1ka pipeline. amm1ka is tha m1racle watt$ character. i know cuz it's just my life, paraphased. amd you're making me write the next season, aren't you? no, let's talk about the jeep! what of it? the military might see that shit. who cares? and your name is NOT makav3lli. echo is not makav3lli. you're 50. you're not pac, any of my sons or me. let it go and buy your land in the cemetery. hurry up, i need to pee.

niggas think that you're sel3na 'shakur', her real married name. make it make sense. y'all killed p0p sm0ke (allegedly) and then you fuck him into l1l baby and others. baby's not a bad guy (bashar said so) but it's a fact. listen to your ass on 0ffice hours. that's you? LIES. i said g-un1t eats big pun. 50 thinks he's pun but no! pun is hurricane chr1s. i said all of this SHIT last year. i said that over on buffy1994 and then y'all made alyssa drop me but i didn't die. listen who dead, dead. i don't give a fuck about NONE of you.

i see freedom in my future and a complete massacre in yours. we wait. y'all like to petition demons. what was jamira saying? alchemy.

#ft the wanksta

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myfriendthedictionary · 3 years

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a very “stable” relationship - We Are The Tigers (Pt. 1, 1636 words)

pairing: evaleigh (Eva x Annleigh)

CW: horses are the main focus! otherwise, it’s just fluff! ^^

—————

“Are you sure this is okay...?”

Eva had been asking this for the past hour or so. It wasn’t unlike her to be chatty when she was nervous, but her girlfriend found this level of uncertainty rather adorable. The horseback rider was so used to being the one who needed constant reassurance. The flier was crazy smart, super talented, and generally just so charming that you couldn’t help but love her. Some days, Annleigh felt like she was just... well... Annleigh.

So, it did feel a little bit nice to get to be the confident one. Just for a little bit.

(And not at all because she liked getting the opportunity to show off for her girlfriend. Nope.)

“It’s gonna be fine!” The taller girl gave her girlfriend’s hand a squeeze as the two of them approached the large, wooden structure. Annleigh’s boots clomped along loudly, walking the familiar path. She’d attempted to offer Eva a pair, too, but the flier’s feet were much smaller than her own. Her girlfriend had just settled on her sneakers. Well, had “settled” on them after at least a forty-five minute freak out session about whether she should buy boots for the occasion. Annleigh had assured her that it wouldn’t be necessary.

“I already called Kathy and set everything up over the phone. I used to practically live here, so she trusts me to not kill you or anything. Plus, you already signed the release waiver. All we have to do is put this under the door to her office and we’ll be good to go!” Annleigh led the climatologist through the large doors, inhaling the familiar scent as she did so. Nothing like the smell of hay and manure to send you into nostalgia.

Next to her, Eva was wide-eyed. She gazed around at all the stalls with fascination, taking in all the horses. It was unfairly cute, but Annleigh had to force herself to focus. She couldn’t be distracted by her girlfriend was right now. Not when she was the one who was supposed to know what to do for once.

As they reached the office, the taller girl retrieved Eva’s waver that she’d signed last night from her pocket and slid it under the door. It was nice Kathy still trusted her so much. It had been two years since college had started, and she only got to come back to ride over the holidays. Annleigh was grateful for how hands-off her trainer was in this respect. Not that she didn’t love the woman, of course. It was just... her instructor was practically like family, after as long as she’d ridden here. The thought of introducing her to her girlfriend was almost as scary as when she’d introduced Eva to her parents.

(Of course, Eva had never made a bad impression in her life. More than anything, it would have been another ‘how’d you land such a catch’ kind of thing. Not that Annleigh didn’t think that to herself every day already.)

Beside her, her girlfriend let out a low whistle. “It’s so much bigger than I thought it was going to be. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many horses in one place...!”

Annleigh giggled, retaking Eva’s hand to lead her through the aisle. It was pretty early in the day, but the barn wasn’t too busy. A few younger kids here and there who must have been homeschooled waved in greeting to the two of them, but the arenas were both empty. That was good. Really good, actually.

As much as she tried not to show it, the equestrian was probably just as nervous as her girlfriend was. Maybe more nervous, actually. She really, really, really wanted this to go well. Eva’s interest in horses had been what the two of them had initially bonded over, back in high school. Although she’d never gotten a chance to ride growing up like Annleigh had, she was pretty sure the flier would have loved to if there’d been the option.

“And... here we are...!” Annleigh stopped in front of a stall, releasing Eva’s hand to open the feeding latch so the horse could stick his head out. The gelding, who’d been dozing towards the back wall, perked an ear up at the sound of her voice. Blinking lazily, the animal wandered over and poked his nose out, pushing Annleigh’s hand as she reached up to pet him. “Hi, buddy!” She chuckled, allowing him to sniff her hair. His breath was warm. “Okay, okay. I missed you too!”

Eva was hanging back, gazing at the horse and her girlfriend in awe. “This is your horse?”

The brunette nodded. “Mostly mine, anyway. He’s leased out right now to a few kids since we’re at college, but otherwise. Yep! This is the one!”

The gelding snorted, kicking the stall once to indicate that he was very much not receiving the ideal amount of attention. Eva jumped a bit at the loud sound. Annleigh snorted at her horse’s antics. “Goodness! Sorryyy, Mister~!” She scratched his blaze. “Where are my manners? Pegasus, this is Eva! Eva, this is Pegasus.”

Eva looked unsure of what to do, so she did a little wave in greeting. “Uhh... nice to meet you, Pegasus?” She was still gazing at him in wonder. Annleigh had to resist the urge to smile. The two of them were going to get along just fine, she could tell. The gelding loved attention, especially from people who would talk to him. It was a match made in Heaven, really.

“Here, you can come closer, if you want.” Annleigh opened the gate a little further so Pegasus could crane his neck out. She swatted him lightly as he tried to paw at the stall again. “He’s assured me that he’s going to be on his best behavior. Right, Gus?”

Pegasus gave a snort. Annleigh decided to take that as a ‘yes, Mom, of course I’ll be perfect with your girlfriend! Why would you ever worry about this?’ sort of noise. Rather than a ‘Mom, I’m going to absolutely wreck your relationship’ snort.

Please let it be the first one. Oh Lord, please let it be the first one.

The shorter girl approached cautiously, hands tucked into the pockets of the jacket she always wore. The buttons jingled a bit, metal catching the rays of light steeping in from the roof and making them sparkle. “Uhh... hey there, boy?” Eva phrased it more as a question, glancing at Annleigh for confirmation that she was approaching him correctly. The brunette had to keep herself from giggling. The whole thing was so sweet. She really didn’t deserve to know Eva Sanchez.

Pegasus, apparently, thought that he certainly did, however. He thrust his head out further, bracing his neck against the door and turning it at a ninety degree angle. It made him look like an undercooked giraffe. Eva snorted and looked at Annleigh questioningly, with a look that clearly read ‘uhhhhh.... is he supposed to be doing that?’

The rider nodded, motioning her to continue to approach him. “He’s just being silly! Keep going, you’re doing great!” With her other hand, she was digging through her pocket for her phone. She had to get a photo of this. Pegasus had always hated her Polaroid, but she’d take iPhone evidence if it meant she could film this moment. Annleigh flashed a thumbs up to Eva as the other girl reached out to pet the horse’s head.

“Oh!” The climatologist’s grin grew even larger as she stroked his nose. “He’s super soft!” She gasped lightly as he nudged her, stepping backwards a bit while Pegasus moved his lips down to nibble at her pocket. “Uhh. Whatcha doing?”

Annleigh rolled her eyes. “Gus, that is very rude.” She stopped snapping photos long enough to push his nose more forcefully away from her girlfriend’s jacket. Please, if you rip that, I will be in so much trouble—

“He thinks you might have a cookie for him. Even though he knows,” Annleigh said the second part directly to the bay, who was blinking his brown eyes innocently at her. “That he doesn’t get any until after he goes for a ride.”

The horse snorted. Pegasus had always been a little too intelligent for his own good. Annleigh could never tell exactly how much of any conversation he could understand, but it was more than enough to be a little unnerving. She glared at him to ensure another round of ‘do not mess this up for us’ was communicated. He blinked back.

... it was hard to tell if he’d gotten the message or not. Horses were hard to read.

Her girlfriend laughed, reaching up to scratch his blaze again. “Sorry, boy. I didn’t bring any treats. Plus, your mom said no.”

This did not seem to deter the gelding. Almost as soon as Annleigh had gone back to trying to film, he’d returned to his interest in Eva’s jacket. The horse seemed enchanted by her pins. As they watched, he fumbled the rainbow heart one and attempted to pull it away from her jacket, almost sending Eva toppling forward if Annie hadn’t moved forward to catch her.

“Pegasus!” She swatted him back, the bay looking entirely too pleased with himself for his own good, and moved to relatch the door. “That’s it. Five minute time out. We do not attempt to steal pins in this family!” When she closed the door, she turned back to Eva, dusting her breeches off. “Jeez, sorry about him. You go away for a few months to school and somebody forgets all their manners. I don’t know what’s up with him... he’s not usually so naughty!”

“...”

“Uh, babe, I think your horse might be homophobic.” Eva was barely containing her smile.

They both burst out laughing.

#yes the title. is just a horse pun. look it was the best i could do-#coerces you into shipping evaleigh with my intimate knowledge of horseback riding: the fic #anyway what else was i going to do with my 13 years of horseback riding ngl #anyway shoutout to the pony my friend used to have named pegasus that we called gusgus for the name #anyway i just Think That They (end sentence)#watt #we are the tigers #paige writes #watt eva #watt annleigh #eva sanchez #annleigh o'daniel #evaleigh #watt fanfic #we are the tigers fanfic #ask to tag #horse tw

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pennylanefics · 3 years

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la vie en rose - theo raeken

a/n: so i recently have been obsessed with emily watts’ version of la vie en rose and came up with this idea and holy shit this made me so fckn soft 🥺

another a/n: this is kind of a modern au, since i’m using a 2019 song. and allison is alive and well :) also the ring photo is mine ☺️ i recently bought it at an antique mall and i’m in love with it

•••

hold me close and hold me fast

the magic spell you cast

this is la vie en rose

theo’s arms were wrapped around your waist as yours were around his neck. you two slowly swayed side to side as la vie en rose by emily watts played through the speakers. scott and allison danced together a bit of ways from the both of you, lydia and stiles doing the same as well.

it was scott and allison’s wedding night, a night that was exciting for the entire pack. this has been an day that everyone had been looking forward to, since it was clear that they are meant for each other. and ever since allison was almost killed by the oni, it was an event that was indeed to be celebrated.

when you kiss me, heaven sighs

and though i close my eyes

i see la vie en rose

theo stares down at you as you look to the side. he admires your features for a moment before reaching up to turn your head to face him. he leans forward and presses his lips to yours in a sweet and gentle kiss. he releases your chin and returns his hand back to your waist, his forehead falling against yours

as the song continues, you can’t help but look back over at the happy couple, allison in her gorgeous white dress and scott looking at her like she hung the sun in the sky. your mind started to wander when that would be you and theo.

“hey,” theo whispers in your ear, breaking you from your gaze. you look up at him and smile like nothing was wrong. “something on your mind?”

“no, nothing. just really happy for them.” theo raises his eyebrows suspiciously.

“you sure? you got that look in your eye.”

“i’m fine, theodore.” he narrows his eyes at you for using his full name, but soon drops the expression to a relaxed yet slightly worried one.

“you one hundred percent sure?”

“yes,” you confirm, kissing him sweetly so he doesn’t ask anymore. your kisses always left him speechless, so why not use that against him?

when you press me to your heart

i’m in a world apart

a world where roses bloom

and when you speak, angels sing from above

everyday words seem to turn into love songs

you rest your head against his shoulder and your eyes fall shut, the soft and romantic song filling the room. theo’s lips press against your ear as he whispers the song to you. his arms tighten around your body.

“give your heart and soul to me, and life will always be, la vie en rose,” he sings softly. your heart races as his breath tickles the shell of your ear, and the raspiness and tone of his voice gets to you.

you lift your head from his chest and gaze up into his beautiful hazel eyes.

“i heard that, by the way,” he teases.

“well how am i supposed to react when my boyfriend sings a romantic love song in my ear as softly as ever?” he chuckles and kisses your forehead.

the rest of the night is perfect. the entire pack dances with each other, the cake cutting went horribly wrong and a cake fight broke out between scott and allison, leading to stiles and lydia joining in, and theo cheekily smearing a chunk of icing against your cheek and nose.

all in all, it was a memorable time, and a happy and normal one at that. even when the pack has been split up for a few years now due to college, the bond was still there and it was like none of you ever left.

back at the hotel, you and theo change out of your fancy clothing into some pajamas, still running on adrenaline from the night.

as you remove your makeup and fix your hair in the bathroom, theo lays in bed, his mind racing as he messes with the diamond ring in his hand. a ring that he’s had for a while now, but hasn’t had the courage to give to you.

but the image of you staring at allison and scott, looking as if you were longing for what they have, gave him the strength to do so.

when he hears the bathroom door click open, he quickly shoves the ring in his pocket.

“didn’t allison look amazing in her dress?” you say. theo chuckles and nods, flipping through channels before landing on your favorite movie.

“she did. but, i think you outshined her,” he replies. you giggle and pack your bag so you don’t have to tomorrow. theo watches you in adoration, even if you’re doing the simplest thing as packing a bag, he can’t help but find you so beautiful.

“i wanna marry you,” he says casually, yet filled with love. you stop packing and your head whips up to look at him, making sure you heard correctly.

“what?”

“i want to marry you,” he repeats. “i saw the way you looked at allison and scott, and i know you want this as well. but i’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and tonight, i guess i realized how much i love you and how much i want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“theo-”

“please, just let me say this,” he begs, reaching for you to walk over to him. he holds your hands in his and stares into your eyes, still sitting on the bed. you stand in front of him, a little bit away, in shock.

“i want to see you in a beautiful white dress, i want to have a first dance with you in front of all our friends and family, i want to wake up to you every morning and wonder how i got so fucking lucky to have the most beautiful woman in the world as my wife.”

tears fill your eyes as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the lone ring, making you gasp.

“will you marry me?” he asks quietly. “and be the reason for my life being la vie en rose?” you giggle at his pun from the song you two danced to earlier.

“do you even know what it means?” you wonder. theo laughs and shakes his head, looking down, a little embarrassed.

“not really, but if it’s in a love song, i have no doubt it has to do with love.”

“yes,” you say. theo’s eyebrows furrow, confused as to which part you were answering.

“yes, as in i’m right about that it has to do with love or…”

“yes, i will marry you, theo.” his eyes widen in shock and he immediately tears up. you giggle and cup his cheeks to kiss him passionately.

you eventually push him back and straddle his body, still kissing him deeply.

“you really wanna marry me?” he wonders. you sit up, allowing him to as well, and climb off his lap to sit next to him.

“yeah,” you smile, taking the ring from him, planning on putting it on, but he stops you.

“i think that’s my job,” he teases. you chuckle and allow him to do so. he slides it on with ease and grins when it’s in place.

“it looks so beautiful on you,” he breathes out a sigh of relief. the one thing he was worried about was picking out a ring you either didn’t like, didn’t fit you, or didn’t fit your personality. now that he sees it on you. he realizes he did an amazing job.

“i love it,” you gush, staring down at it with a huge grin on your face. “it’s gorgeous.” theo smiles.

“just like you.” heat rises to your cheeks and you cuddle into his side.

“do you think allison and scott are gonna hate the fact that we got engaged on their wedding night?” you ask. theo glances over at the clock on the nightstand and shrugs.

“it’s past midnight. that means it’s not their wedding day anymore,” he says. “we also don’t have to tell anyone this happened. i can always propose to you in a bigger, more extravagant setting and announce it that way.”

you leave his side and crawl under the covers, wanting to lay down from all the excitement of the night.theo follows you and brings you into his arms.

“i kinda liked the way you proposed,” you tell him. “laid back, simple, in private, just us two. i don’t need a bigger proposal.” theo kisses your forehead and cuddles you close to him.

“that’s why i love you.” your hand lays on his chest, the ring sparkling in the light from the tv. a giggle escapes your lips and you hide your face in his shoulder.

“i can’t believe we’re engaged,” you whisper. theo laughs at your shyness and messes with the ring on your finger.

“i can’t either, mrs. raeken,” he whispers into your hair.

#theo raeken #theo raeken imagines #theo raeken imagine #theo raeken x reader #cody christian #teen wolf #teen wolf imagines #imagines #fanfiction #fanfic

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justcallmenikki7 · 4 years

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BTS Reaction To: The Times They Show Emotion

Mafia!Au

Summary: being born into the mafia world, all they know is that having emotions is weak. In the underworld they are known for being inhuman because of the lack of emotions they show. But no one knows that whenever you are with him, love is all they feel.

Warnings: mafia au, the boys are literally emotionless but not?, the boys not understanding feelings but are trying their best for you, FLUFFFF, reader doubting herself, reader just being a cutie in general

W.C.: 3k

Notes: a huge thanks to @minniepetals for the help on jungkooks, namjoons, and jimins parts along with @saturnmoon-night for helping me with the title! I love you both!

Seokjin:

“Princess…” Seokjin sighed, trying to not sound too harsh with you, but he just wants you to listen.

Waving him off, you gave him a scoff, “Jinnie, I know what I am doing, so hush.”

Not being used to the nickname still, Seokjin could not deny though how his heart makes this weird fluttering feeling whenever you call him ‘Jinni.’ “Do you though?” He asked, not meaning for his remark to come out rudely, and he cannot help but feel sad at your frown you unconsciously made.

“Yes, Jin, I do. It hurts that you have such lack of faith in me,” you teased, not knowing that your teasing made Seokjin feel bad.

“You know that I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry. I’ll buy you the new iPhone 12 when it comes out to make it up.” Seokjin bribed, knowing that in the underworld, bribery is the go-to source when it comes to taking over land, gangs. Presidents. But what he does not know is that you understand that he is not good with being sentimental and that him admitting that he is not good with words and that bribing you is not the go to when it comes to you. You do not care about his money or his power, all you care about is him and his health, happiness, wellbeing – him!

So, with a heavy sigh, you put down the spatula and made your way towards him. Wrapping your arms around his waist, you stood up on your tiptoes and pecked his lips. “I know that you did not mean for your words to come out like that, you should know that by now, Jinnie,” you cooed, confusing the mafia leader.

“But you were upset, and I just wanted to make you happy…” Seokjin replied dumbly.

“You make me happy. I don’t need anything fancy; I just want you, silly.”

For the first time in your six-month relationship, it dawned on Seokjin that you are here to stay. That he does not need money to make you happy, he just needs to be making you happy by being himself.

Yoongi:

To sum up Min Yoongi in one word would be detached. All Yoongi has known is survival. In order to survive you have to kill, lie, use, and make sure that you are bloodlust. In his dictionary there is no ‘love’ ‘trust’ ‘happiness.’ It all comes down to at the end of the day is survival. That is why he is the deadliest mafia boss in the underworld.

But somehow, in some sort of weird way you came crashing into his life, and it has left Yoongi confused because he likes you. From the start, he was attracted to you, and he wanted more of what you radiated which is happiness – something that Yoongi is unfamiliar with. And you know that. You know that Yoongi is unusual. Truthfully when he told you to “learn how to fucking walk, dumbass,” when you ran into him on the Seoul streets, there was something that made you fall for him. You find it ironic how you ran into him a second time at a grocery store, but you could not be any happier because it led you to where you are now – five months into an interesting relationship.

You know that Yoongi is detached because of his lifestyle, that he is not good with emotions, but actions speak louder.

Like now for example:

You decided to be a somewhat normal couple for once – much to Yoongi’s dismay – and go grocery shopping. You are extremely allergic to peanuts, but you love barbeque foods – especially when it has barbeque sauce all over it. What you did not know is that this certain sauce has peanuts in it, but Yoongi knew it did.

“No, not that sauce.” Yoongi stepped in, snatching the bottle of sauce out of your hand.

“What, why? I want to try it when I make ribs tonight.” You asked, trying to snatch the bottle back from his hand.

“Because it has peanuts in it and you’re allergic to them, that’s why.” Yoongi replied coldly, grabbing a sauce that you know that you have not tried that does not have peanuts in it. “Use this instead.” And at that, Yoongi ushered your love-struck form away from the sauces and to the cereal aisle, not knowing that he has now completely stolen your heart.

Hoseok:

Anyone who knows Hoseok knows that he does not like annoying people. He loathes people who are constantly asking him questions, bugging him, or just even breathing. Being a mafia leader is rough due to his short temper.

He just never thought that he would fall for someone who has a hyper personality and is constantly. You are the only person that he can stand and not shoot for being annoying. (Yes, Hoseok has shot a person because they were breathing too loud).

“Pleaseee?” You begged, plopping yourself in your boyfriend’s lap, giving him the puppy eyes while he works at his desk.

To an outsider, a person would think that Hoseok is about to blow a fuse. But to you, you can see the amusement in his eyes at your begging. “No.” Hoseok stated, voice harsh, something that he is trying to work on. Thankfully, you know that he is not meaning to be harsh with you.

“Why not? This is unfair!” You exaggerated, laying your head on his chest, finding comfort in the warmth and beat of his heart. “All I want is a puppy! That’s not much!”

“That means that another thing will be in here that will annoy me, and I already have you to deal with.” He bluntly stated, not realizing the impact of his words had on you.

“Oh, yeah…” you replied, getting up off of his lap, wanting to give him space.

Confused, “Where are you going?” Hosoek asked.

“The dishes need to be done, so I’m going to get them washed.” You lied lamely, wanting to give your boyfriend space.

“I have maids for a reason, jagi. Now, don’t lie to me and tell me what’s wrong.” Hoseok demanded, turning in his chair to face you with his interrogation look.

“I just don’t want to annoy you anymore; you’re working on work.” You spoke softly, looking down at your hands so you do not have to face him.

Not hearing Hoseok getting up from his chair, you jumped in surprise when he hugged you, his right hand softly pressing your head to his chest. “You’re my favorite annoyance, sunshine.” And by his simple, rare sentimental statement, your eyes stung with tears and your heart fluttered in your chest. You know that Jung Hoseok is bad with feelings and how bad he is at being kind, but the smallest and rarest times that he is always reminds you that he does, indeed, love you.

Namjoon:

The first time you met Kim Namjoon, your first impression was that he is strategic. Everything the tall male did was based off strategy and observation – it was like he is playing chess. Namjoon can admit that he plays life like it is a game of chess because of how every decision he makes will have a result that can either create chaos or peace. He told you that on your guys first date when you brought up your first impression of him.

The thing is, Namjoon is very serious – to serious sometimes that it makes you wonder if he knows any jokes. Sadly, he said that jokes are childish – to which you pouted and hung your head like a kick puppy. That did not mean you are going to give up on this! So, researching for other funny jokes and puns, you began this daily routine where you would ask him a joke or pull a pun on him. You could tell that each day Namjoon became even more impress with them, and that even a tiny twitch of his lips would happen, telling you that he is wanting to crack a smile or even laugh!

With this new founded joke, you could not wait until tomorrow to pull this joke. You have this feeling that this joke would give you the smile that you have forever been waiting for.

Knocking on Namjoon’s office door, you heard his deep baritone voice say ‘come in’ you carefully made your way into your boyfriend’s office, a huge grin covering your face. A knowing look made its way onto Namjoon’s face, a tell-tale sign that he knew what was about to go down.

“Hey, Joonie!” You asked excitedly.

“Yes, my love?” He replied, putting down the manila envelope, taking his glasses off and laying back in his chair, hands behind his head, ready for the joke that was about to come.

“What’s the difference between a well-dressed man on a bike and a poorly dressed man a unicycle?” You asked, trying to not start laughing.

You could see the twitch of Namjoon’s lips, giving you confidence that today will be the day. “What is it?” He asked.

“ATTIRE!” You screeched happily, slapping your knee from laughter, not being able to control your laughter. You made sure to keep an eye on your boyfriend, praying that he will give you some sort of reaction – and he did!

Dancing on his face was a small smile, his head shaking in disbelief. The joy and happiness that took over your body had you beaming a hundred-watt smile, finally being able to get a reaction out of your boyfriend. “Yes! You smiled! I made you smile, I made you smile! Ah-ha!” You cheered, dancing out of your boyfriend’s office, not noticing the fond and loving look your husband is giving you.

“You always make me smile, my love.” He muttered, not wiping the smile away from his face as he went back to work.

Jimin:

“What if I mess up?” You asked, doubting yourself for this biggest moment of your life. Looking down at your boyfriend of seven months helping tie the strings of your ballet shoes, you waited for his reply, already knowing it is going to be a scolding.

“Jagia, you are not going to mess up, so stop doubting yourself and start believing in yourself,” Jimin scolded, giving you a glare from the floor. “If you want me to, I can bribe the workers to let me stand to the side of the stage and watch you perform if that helps you feel better.” He offered, causing your heart to flutter at his offer and at how caring he is being right now. It is not that he is not caring, he is just not good with these kinds of situations.

“Yes! If you want too, I don’t want to seem like I am being a baby…” You replied, hoping that you are not acting weak to your mafia boyfriend.

“You’re not being a baby, Y/N. Now, go get in line, you are about to go on.” He said, tapping your calf in reassurance.

“You’ll be there, right?”

“Of course.”

Backstage, everyone was in shock to see the mafia leader, or the best hacker in the world, standing to the side of the stage, watching you with a mesmerized look. They all knew that you were dating the most dangerous person in the world, they just did not know that he would show up to support you. Truthfully, they all thought that Jimin was just dating you for sex, little did they know is that he is dating you because he loves you and wants to protect you.

Some of the girls could not deny how jealous they are of you due to how handsome, and in awe Jimin was of you by your performance. Even though his expression is blank, his eyes told a different story and that story is love. Once the song ended the lights went out, they heard your feet tapping against the stage floor and your excited squeal escaping you as you tackled your boyfriend in a hug.

“I didn’t mess up! I didn’t mess up!” They heard you yell, proud and happiness evident in your tone.

“I told you, jagia. I told you.” Jimin replied. “I would never lie to you.”

Taehyung:

Your face was pressed up against the window, eyes wide and mouth shaped into an ‘awe’ shape, taken away by how beautiful the outfit that was hanging up in the Maurices display area. Always have preferred Vigos jeans over a lot of higher named bran jeans, you desperately wanted to get the jeans and the flannel that was on the mannequin as display.

“Vigoss is not that good of a brand,” you heard Taehyung state from behind you, taking away the excitement you were feeling just before.

“Yeah, you’re right…” you replied, stepping away from the glass. “I just thought the outfit was cute, though.”

The emotions that passed Taehyung’s eyes were hidden from you since his glasses were on his face. Knowing that he put you down with his emotionless remark, Taehyung began to panic. “Come on,” Taehyung ushered, pulling you into the shop, confusing you with his actions. Walking up to the first worker in the store, “I’d like a dressing room for my girlfriend and every Vigoss jeans in the size 22 with the outfit that is on the mannequin closest to the door.” Your boyfriend ordered, walking you to the first dressing room that is opened.

Not even five minutes later, a worker named Ashley came to you with jeans, shorts, and capris in your size. Giving her a thankful smile and a small ‘sorry,’ she only give you smile back and reassurance.

“Let me know what else you need help with!” She said, giving you a warm smile before she turned away.

While you tried on every pair of pants that Ashley brought you, you walked out to the big mirror that gave you a good look at every angle, blushing each time that Taehyung watched you with a serious look. Finally deciding on two pair of pants, not wanting to spend too much, Taehyung sighed and walked into the dressing room that showed the pile of pants that you wanted to get but decided to not too.

“What are you doing?” You asked shocked as he picked up the pile of pants.

“You left these behind?” He stated obviously.

“Yeah, because it’ll be expensive. I’m fine with these two,” you said, shaking the two pair of pants in your hand to prove your point.

“You looked beautiful in all of these and you’re getting them.” He left no room to talk, not realizing the effect of his words that he had on you.

Jungkook:

The sound of your humming filled your boyfriend’s office as you put together a bouquet of flowers while your boyfriend read through files at his desk. You do not mind working in your boyfriends office, but you never understood why he started having you work in here with him instead of your own office beside his. Never questioning his actions, you got comfortable in your small area and worked. Little did you know that your presence brought your boyfriend comfort.

Getting stuck on an idea for a customers request, you looked up to see what your boyfriend was doing, it was as if a light bulb went off. Grabbing some flowers, you made your way towards your Jungkook, a small smile evident on your face. Making yourself comfortable behind him, you carefully put the headband over his head, earning a questioning look from your boyfriend when he turned his head to look at you. Smiling brightly at him, he shrugged his shoulders and allowed you to do as you pleased. Once the headband was situated, you began to place the small flowers around his head, tucking them securely into the headband so they would not fall out.

You continued this for the next thirty minutes, finally finishing with a triumph smile. Walking back over to your little station, you began to work on the order that had you stumped, now knowing what you wanted to do with it, happy that Jungkook allowed you to do as you pleased. Working on the request, you heard Jungkook grumble in annoyance.

“What’s going on?” You asked him, looking up from your design.

“Namjoon needs help with something, I’ll be back,” Jungkook explained, coming over to you to kiss the side of your head.

As you went to ask if he was going to take off the flower crown, he already walked out of his office. Shrugging, you went back to work.

As Jungkook walked down his hallway, he began to give his workers a weird look when they began to giggle and smile at him, confused as to why they are not bowing to him. Walking pass the mirror that was hung on the wall in the opened area, he caught a glimpse at the flowers on his head. Realizing that this is the reason why his workers smiling at him, he shook his head with a small smile of his own.

“The things I do for you, princess. They things I do for you,” he whispered, not making any move to remove the flowers from the top of his head.

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averlym · 2 years

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ASHJDSAHLKGJ WAIT I NEVER THOUGHT ABT LUMINE THAT WAY

but yes omg lumine paimon found family much beloved. (i actually can't ever bring myself to use the emergency food dialogues because paimon is just. too precious.)

also. yes i have a pair of jeans and ever since i read that pun i have been making the same pun NONSTOP my friends are sick of me now but that was pure comedic genius omg.

aiyaaa no don't say that about your writing >:(( self-deprecation is banned in this household tumblr i am sure it is amazing!!! and either way beauty is in the eye of the beholder. in this scenario i am the beholder and everything you make is amazing. tis facts.

ganqing though.... beloveds.... i am such a multishipper it is a serious problem but BELOVEDS... i have too many fic ideas and no time :c

WATT HADESTOWN AU??? IM INTERESTED ??? that would be SO cool like honestlyyyyy

that reminds me i was toying with the idea of a jeanlisa/beiguang hadestown au once upon a time but extracurriculars got in the way sob

I hope you have a wonderful day!!!!! *more hugs 'cause they make the world go 'round*

-the one and only teanon <3 (i'm on an old pc that is extremely scuffed and has no emojis sob)

as per usual, most rambles are in the tags,,, but also here are some doodles from the watt hadestown au it all fits in my head somehow so idk how clear these are

more info on the general story under the cut: but also, read the existing tags for this post first!

sign on the line 'cause you're running out of time

a/n: a scene from watt/hadestown (but i go off on too many tangents in brackets)

riley steps forward. 'she can't go. she signed a contract. she belongs to the team.'

kate stares between eva and riley, and back to eva. "is it true?"

they speak in unison.

"she does." "i do."

(kate thinks, sometimes, about eva and 'i do's and their wedding song. this is not the 'i do' she wanted. this 'i do' she dreamed of only in her nightmares, on the track to here, this hell.)

"i can't leave the team," says eva, "i signed. 90k, my scholarship, for me to be on the team. climatology, kate! any way the wind blows," she sings bitterly.

"you can't leave- please not you- not you too-" comes kate's response, words spilling, falling from her lips, the same ones she said to chess before she left and never came back and now eva is going too- there isn't even a promise to skype, to keep in touch, to let her follow- "come home with me," she begs, "we can fix it-"

(she knows they can't. riley is the richest girl in the area. the school can't afford to lose her. 90k scholarship, fancy gym- giles corey would bend over backwards for this girl.)

eva laughs sadly. "you don't know what it's like to be hungry."

(i have worked so hard for so much less, eva thinks, remembers being unable to study for college because she was always working, how the stress got to her. thinks about how annleigh said kate would make her feel alive- but she can't quite remember how it felt. being a tiger has dulled her inside. riley is rich, and she knows how to use the money and power she has- a world where all the wrong kids keep getting all the nice things, she thinks wildy for a moment, watching kate stare at her brokenly, and she loves kate but sometimes she doesn't get it, lost in her music, lost in her grief.)

from the side, cairo watches.

(the memory of seeing eva flashes through her head. up on top for spring, above and away from this basement, pouring drinks for everyone in the sunshine. kate had cried, "she will always fill our cups," a praise, a challenge, a reassurance to the girl next to her, staring at this bringer of life with skepticism. cairo had noticed, and looked directly at this girl, hungry and tired, and chimed in with "i will," watching her face grow hopeful. kate grinned, strummed her song and toasted, "and we will always raise them up!")

(growing up, despite appearances, kate never hated cairo. "i'll play my song and you and riley can kiss and make up," she told cairo as a child. cairo looked at this mortal girl, fingers red from holding guitar chords, and scoffed a disbelieving "sure.") there was a frenemy sort of passive-aggressiveness between kate and cairo, and out of all the gods, cairo was one of the rare few she trusted to help. like now.

(she thinks to annleigh turning to her, looking haunted, saying that cairo and riley were behind chess's death, and her immediate reaction being to defend cairo- "cairo never hated chess!")

kate turns her head to the side, and cairo, lost in the tumultuous thoughts of an immortal who has lost so many (her mind, right now, is thinking of farrah) looks up. "cai," kate pleads, and cairo steps forward, into the dull glow of riley's basement, so different from sunlight above. riley's voice hums, a calming technique cairo taught her long ago, and cairo can nearly hear the words with the tune. "please forgive me for doing what's best for you," echoes riley's voice in her head, sad and desperate.

"riley," she starts, and her friend looks to her. riley's hands are shaking, something cairo remembers from fourth grade. "make this easier" riley sings softly, voice trembling, and looks at her.

"eva means nothing to me!" says riley, defensive, mind whirling with 'cairo must think i have a crush on eva or something and now she hates me just like i got mad at farrah when cairo started spending so much time with her but farrah was bad for her they kept getting drunk and please forgive me for doing what's best for you i love you i love you i love you please she means nothing to me it's always been you-'

and maybe the two of them know each other too well, maybe they're too in sync, because cairo looks at riley and sees how much riley cares for her, and also thinks of farrah, and the suspicions she has, and her heart breaks because she knows how to fix this and she doesn't want to do it.

"i know," cairo says (reassuring, i care for you too, do this to please me) and then, "but she means everything to her."

riley is beset with phantoms that take cairo's voice and face and rip them off, because suddenly, even though she is looking at her best friend, all she can see are ghosts.

chess floats near her face, and riley can almost feel her nonexistent breath beside her cheek. "damned if you don't", she sings, hauntingly persuasive. let them go. the guilt claws at riley's chest. she can't breathe.

chess then glares at farrah as her double braids flop onto riley's head. with fake cheer, she somersaults through the air and grins at riley upside down. "damned if you do!" mocking, taunting. you can't win.

clark appears, broods by her side. choruses with the other two before they fade- "whole damn nation's watching you."

even as the apparitions subside, drifting in front of her instead, their song continues around riley- "what you gonna do when the chips are down, now that the chips are down?"

"here's a little tip," farrah hums, sing-song, and a bottle of belladonna wine appears in her hand.

"word to the wise," sighs chess, and suddenly her hair is filled with poppy red, flowers blooming and covering the blood from an inconspicuous stab hidden beneath her jacket.

clark, instead, seems to be spiralling, twisting the ring around his finger until it warps into a bloody knife. "here's a little snippet of advice," he sings.

three fates, always singing in the back of her mind, in front of her vision. here, they mock her. clark places the knife he is twisting before riley, and it hovers there as the spirits disappear. "men are fools, men are frail, give them the rope and they'll hang themselves."

#hehe thank you for the pun usage! paimon supremacy!!!! so so beloved #ngl i saw the 'aiyaaa' and immediately loved you a little bit more idk why it's so comforting to have reminders of culture but it Is #too many ideas and no time and focus for them what a mood! jiayou bestie #ganqing ganqing ganqing i love them so so very much #when you take the romanisation of the pinyin of ganqing it also is the same as the pinyin of 感情 even though intonations are different and #iTS LITERALLY FEELS hhHHHHh #hugs!!! *sends you hugs back* hugs hugs hugs ily #i was going to explain the watt hadestown au but it's complicated so for now: it's a mix of hadestown and watt storylines #cairo= persephone riley=hades annleigh= hermes and knows events are repeating but can't change the whole thing #chess clark and farrah = the fates after they got killed and haunt about the living #kate= orpheus and eva= eurydice #cheer squad= hadestown; mattie and reese are part of the squad #tried to get a definite timeline and also details and i would write more about the relationships for each character except i can't structure #cairo riley and annleigh are old souls bc parallel of gods and they've got history #cairo and riley are best friends and in mutual pining but along the way cairo also disagrees more and more with what riley is doing #riley however believes she's doing this for the good of the team and thinks it's the way to get cairo to love her (spoiler: no)#riley is a wallflower parallels the chant between hades and persephone after they go to hadestown #annleigh is hermes: messenger and narrator. childhood friends with kate and a bit of an older sister to her.#she knows events repeat but the story always ends the same. happy ending but with people lost. kate saves eva at the end but annleigh #annleigh never manages to save clark and farrah and as fates they haunt her. (which has layers). some shows she denies this knowledge.#and the rest is in the post because #i ran out of tags like four times bsbsjskajdj #this content is very chaotic and reads like a letter with three lift the flaps and pasted papers all over #but if you read everything good job ily and i'm sorry sksjsk #... did you know there was a ten image limit i have found that out for the first time jshdjsks #long post #watt hadestown au #we are the tigers

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Amity”

Welcome back, everyone! I hated this episode.

As in, I’m nominating “Amity” for the Most Stupid Episode of RWBY award. Was there some cool action? Yes. Good Penny development? Mm hmm. Some surprise cameos in the Maya Engine? You know it. Was all of it almost entirely undermined by the sheer number of times I went, “Wait, what?” over the course of twenty minutes?

Sadly, yes.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We get a gorgeous opening shot of Amity Tower and, aesthetics aside, my first thought was, “There’s no one around to protect it?” I mean, this was Ironwood’s super secret project. Watts just tried to sabotage it a few hours ago. Prior to the reveal that Amity wasn’t finished (cough), Team RWBY was trying to convince Ironwood to give calling others a chance, but you’re telling me after all that there’s not a single guard there? Pietro, Maria, and Penny just waltzed up without any problems? The only reason it might be abandoned—yes, even with a grimm attack looming—is if it was useless. Because remember, it was supposed to be useless. Unfinished. Not worth protecting in its current state because its current state is non-operational. That would have explained why Ironwood would leave it undefended, yet as we’ve known since the premiere, Amity was apparently finished by magic at some point, leaving the question of why it’s unguarded (or why Ironwood wouldn’t want to use it himself for something) up in the air. Pun not intended.

So these three have free rein to do whatever they want and what they want to do is, apparently, blow up the dust mine. Love that we spent an entire volume worrying about dwindling resources! I’d find the sacrifice justifiable under the circumstances if this Amity plan weren’t so foolish. Also, I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about explosives and whether providing that kind of “thrust” would actually work, but in this case I think RWBY’s sci-fi/fantasy status gives it a pass.

Penny, however, isn’t so sure. “Dad? This… does not seem like a very good idea.” Yeah. Pietro gives a short speech about good ideas not necessarily being best ideas, which would have been a great perspective to adopt for the series’ massive Ironwood arc, not a three minute solution to a problem I didn’t even know existed until now.

Pietro also weirdly teleports during this scene? He’s talking to Penny outside of the tower, tinkering with things, and then the next sentence he’s suddenly deep inside it. I mean, based on the dialogue this sentence could have come later, but it doesn’t read that way given that they were just chatting. It feels like a continuous conversation. He was outside one second, now he’s not.

During all this Maria is doing… something with a mech. That she got from who knows where. I really don’t know what the point of this was besides a very brief airship fight, but I’m just happy Maria is doing something. In fact, she’ll do far more later in the episode—we’ll get to that—so congratulations, RWBY, we can officially ignore half of your Maria square on the bingo card. Keep her alive for the next nine episodes and you’re golden.

Our trio has the message ready to go which they recorded… when? Sometime before everyone split based on the fact that Ruby is standing in the Happy Huntress’ hideout. This episode throws out a LOT of information that seems to come out of nowhere and doesn’t hold up well in terms of timing. Or, you know, general sense. Take, for example, the next exchange between Penny and Pietro. She wants to stay here in case no one is able to come help Atlas and Pietro panics about her staying with them, heavily implying that they’re leaving leaving. Once they go up they can’t come back down because otherwise… why not just send out the message, land, and then Penny goes off again to help? Later in the episode landing seems inevitable and then it seems planned for—what, are Pietro and Maria just going to hang up there forever? So what’s the conflict here?

Specifically, what’s the conflict for Penny? Amity should just be a quick side mission she completes before heading back into battle. Why does she care about doing what’s essentially an errand while Ruby nurses Nora back to health? She’s not missing anything. I’m having a hard time understanding why she’s acting like getting the message out means she’s removed from the fight indefinitely. Pietro, however, makes a little more sense if we read it simply as him not wanting Penny to be involved in the fight, period. As we see later, he fears for her safety and will do everything he can to keep her here with him, safe: “I’m your father. I’m telling you, you belong on Amity.”

Penny gives a sad “Yes, sir” and Maria chides Pietro with, “Don’t you think Penny has had enough people telling her what to do?”

Oh boy. There’s so much wrong with this line. The general demonization of ever following orders, even when those orders are sound. The comparison between Ironwood’s new villainy/his “bootlickers” (“Yes, sir”) and a father’s justifiable fear. Ignoring that Ruby has also been giving orders and no one is reminding her that Penny is an autonomous person capable of deciding things for herself. Where was this sort of chiding when she took away Penny’s scroll and spoke for her to Ironwood?

So Penny, of course, flies up and I guess provides them with the launch sequence or something? She sort of perks up and makes tech noises, then the tower is ready to go. Just like that.

Pietro makes a joke about not having time to install seatbelts.

Funny, shouldn’t there be safety measures for the people operating the tower? If the tower was finished and ready to go? 🙃

Everything is going to plan until Cinder shows up, melting a giant hole while Neo pilots the airship through it. So she came! Too bad she’s not going to achieve anything. Despite the stowaways, the bomb Penny left goes off and the dust mine explodes in a massive cloud of color, sending Amity up into the sky. This pops up on Ironwood’s feed and he gives an ominous “It’s time.”

For the first minute or so no one can move due to the pressure and Cinder takes the time to taunt Penny some, saying she expected her friends to be here and, since they’re not, she’s just “a tool to be used.” While she lashes verbally she also summons a massive number of swords. When they’re able to fight Penny is briefly overwhelmed…

…Until Maria comes to her aid!

“Get away from her, you bitch!”

That was great. If anyone other than Tyrian was going to curse, you know it had to be our snarky grandma. So I’m cheering, watching Maria make use of her (acquired off screen) tech to help, despite the fact that she’s too old to fight anymore and—

Wait.

Okay, here’s my problem with this battle. First of all, Cinder’s group should have decimated them. This is an experienced Maiden (see: Raven fight) with a grimm arm vs. a girl who only got the powers a few hours ago. I know a few weeks back I mentioned how insanely powerful Penny is in theory, but that was before she was nearly taken out by the Ace Ops. You know, the group who was all knocked unconscious by a bunch of half-trained, exhausted teenagers. So the comparisons here don’t make Penny look too good. More importantly—because Cinder doesn’t have a great track record anymore either—she’s backed by ‘I was kicking a Maiden’s ass before she whipped out her magic’ Neo and ‘I can make anyone see anything and I just mentioned last episode that I’ve been working on this semblance’ Emerald. They are a power team. Who is Penny backed by? A non-combat scientist and a woman who stopped fighting years ago.

Right?

I have no problem with Maria being powerful. In fact, after her Grimm Reaper reveal I had hoped we’d see her fight, both to give the group a power to aspire to—here’s what a fully trained huntress with experience looks like. This is what our personal inspiration and a huntress beloved by the world looks like—and to have an older fighter providing diversity. Sure, there’s Ozpin, but he reincarnates into young bodies. Maria is a Mexican coded, disabled, old as balls fighter and that’s AWESOME. Problem is… she never fought. She hobbles around with her cane, using it in a way Ozpin never used his, implying that she really needs it. She’s not spry anymore. Every time there’s a battle she’s in an airship or other tech, providing help through the use of an assistive device. She never offers to train anyone. We never see her accompanying a group—like JNOR—to provide extra protection. During the grimm attack Maria exchanges a fearful look with Pietro and then presumably hides in his shop off screen. Why has the story been ignoring Maria when she can fight like this? How can she fight like this when we haven’t seen her throw so much as a punch since we met her?

I mean, this is Neo! Neo. One of the most powerful, non-Maiden fighters we’ve seen to date. She took out Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Oscar without breaking a sweat, but a few minutes with Maria has her collapsed on the ground?

Something is very wrong with this fight. Either the writing nerfed Neo to allow Maria to win, or the writing has been pushing one of the most powerful characters off screen, relegating her to comic relief. Maria should be insanely powerful given her Grimm Reaper status. I had come to accept that she was powerful and, like people in real life, simply lost that with age. Now, the story suddenly reveals that this was never the case.

During all this Emerald helps Neo one (1) time, despite presumably standing there watching the entire fight. Before it begins Neo randomly decides to turn into Ruby, but then has dropped the illusion by the time we return. Maria is laughing like a loon for the first half of the battle. The only reason she (briefly) looses is because she gets distracted. Then Penny K.O.’s Neo’s aura with a single blast.

See, this is why I rarely enjoy the fights anymore. Beyond that fact that I thought some of it was rather lackluster compared to our Penny vs. Ace Ops fight, it just doesn’t make sense. There’s moment after moment that has me scratching my head and if you’re going, “Huh?” at the screen the whole time, it’s pretty hard to get immersed in the story.

During all this they reach the necessary altitude to broadcast, but it won’t go through because of a “stabilizer fail.” You mean the giant hole that Cinder blew in the side of the tower?

Never mind that everyone except Penny should be dead by now. How are they breathing up there? It’s like if someone blew a hole in your airplane and everyone just went about their tasks as usual.

You’ve gotta input the code, Penny.

I joke, but Pietro does start desperately typing. I guess because stabilizers might be fixed with a code or something? Anything is possible in this show.

It’s the Penny vs. Cinder fight that I’m bored with though. At least before Cinder manages to nearly the powers. I think part of it is because we already got this fight last volume, partly because they don’t do much that we haven’t seen from them both before: Penny flies around a lot, Cinder tosses variously summoned weapons, etc. Details I did appreciate though were the return of Cinder’s arrows and the fact that she didn’t let Penny lead her from Amity for long. Look at our villain making a smart decision!! Love that.

Cinder starts destroying the tower instead and Penny asks why she’d want to serve Salem. “I don’t serve anyone and you wouldn’t either if you weren’t built that way!” Penny looks sadly down at Pietro and for one horrible moment I thought the story would actually have her buy into that nonsense, but then Penny rallies and announces that she chooses when to fight because she wants to protect those she loves.

Penny has some really great moments here. What’s less great is the setup for them. I mean… why is Pietro in danger? Penny is clearly trying to keep the top portion of the tower from collapsing after Cinder’s attack, but you’re telling me the tech-obsessed scientist hasn’t put flight capabilities into his chair? That’s not how he got way up high on the outside of the tower, it was just a random hatch or something? When every piece of tech in RWBY serves triple-duty, the Atlas tech mastermind hasn’t included the one thing in his massive chair that would save him here? It’s all very… “Really?” Especially when Cinder is smart enough to realize that Penny cares about the tower, but not realize she cares more about her dad. Just grab Pietro and threaten him, demanding that Penny stand down so Cinder can grab the powers. Penny, horrified by her father’s potential death (and ambivalent about having this responsibility in the first place) lets her. Something other than this weird setup of destroying the platform itself.

Penny’s scream though is fantastic. Kudos to Taylor for that moment. So yeah, Cinder starts taking the power—did she get a bit then, like with Amber?—before Penny rallies and knocks her off. From then on Cinder doesn’t stand a chance. Emerald reappears to provide assistance in the form of an illusion, except that Penny’s tech allows her to see through it with ease. The real Cinder is marked with ‘Danger’ and Penny takes her out easily once Cinder doesn’t think she needs to dodge anymore.

I should be feeling something considering that Penny just won a battle against the woman who orchestrated her murder volumes back, in the exact same place where she died… but I’m not. Penny’s resurrection was shrugged off. Amity was used for joke license parties. I’m endlessly confused about what message RT is aiming for in regards to Penny’s autonomy (a real girl, but hackable) and this fight has been a collection of power ups, power downs, or skills just conveniently not working. What improvements has Emerald made to her semblance? This is everything we’ve seen from her before. When did we establish that Penny’s android nature makes her immune to techniques of this nature? I don’t mind that she is immune—in fact, it’s a cool skill to give her—I just wish this sort of stuff didn’t suddenly appear in the story only when the plot most needs it to. Or, to be more charitable, it would be a cool reveal if the rest of the fight held up better. I don’t mind a, “Hell yeah, Penny had the trump card she needed to win!” if the whole scene wasn’t Team Cinder being oddly weak the whole time. The most they manage to do is escape via Emerald threatening to fill the tower with holes from her gun… after the tower has had a hole blown through it, shot with flaming arrows, and had two of the beams keeping it in place melted. The most Cinder accomplishes here is unintentionally putting Penny in a position where she falls when she’s hacked. That’s it.

The villains should have won. Not just because of the team dynamics making victory a very likely outcome, but because allowing the group to successfully get their message out was one of the worst things RWBY has done to date.

Gimme just a moment to get there.

Amity is drifting back down, out of the range they need to send the broadcast, so Penny offers to “hold Amity in place” until the message is done. Pietro freaks out… why? He starts to say “Even just the temperature out there—” implying that the cold and altitude can kill Penny, except she fought Cinder outside no problem. Literally minutes ago. Hell, Cinder was fine outside and she’s not an android.

There’s that massive hole letting the atmosphere in too. I’m so confused by these conflicts that randomly appear and, as such, I can’t take the emotion attached to them seriously. How can I be invested in Pietro’s worry about this killing Penny and Penny offering to sacrifice herself when I don’t understand why it’s dangerous to begin with?

And it is treated like a sacrifice. Penny tells him that she’s trying to “live her life,” kisses Pietro as a sort of goodbye, and spends a few moments enjoying the beauty of the night sky.

She’s acting like she’s about to die and yet none of this comes across as particularly dangerous. Indeed, Penny pushes Amity for as long as Ruby’s message needs her to and then, presumably, would have come back inside, a-okay, if she hadn’t been hacked. This is like that Parks and Rec moment:

Except it’s treated seriously. Penny is doing something mundane based on what we’ve seen her do before and the fact that this cold/pressure isn’t negatively impacting anyone else who experiences it, let alone the android. So why is the story trying to convince me that this is a death sentence?

Combine this with Penny’s origins: she was built to “save the world.” That’s why Pietro created her, to fight these exact sort of battles. So why is he so resistant to her doing just that? I’m not saying he can’t change his mind and grow to love her as more than a tool—in fact, their relationship is one of the few things I’m enjoying about this volume—I just wish we’d seen how that came about. When did Pietro move from building Ironwood a weapon to having a daughter? Back in Volume 3 he was on Ironwood’s side about Penny not having friends or going out because it was too dangerous for someone like her. She has secrets to maintain and responsibilities to prep for because she was, first and foremost, created for a specific task. We get an inkling through is admission that he can’t bear to see her die again that Penny’s first destruction really changed his view of her, but all of that happened off screen. We had a whole volume with Pietro prior to this where we might have watched him struggle with his new understanding of Penny as his child, rather than dumping this on us literal seconds before she engages in this non-sacrifice. We know almost nothing about Pietro except what tiny scraps we’ve been told, so dramatic lines like, “I don’t care about the big picture, I care about my daughter!”—while wonderful—appear to come out of nowhere in regards to his development. It’s jarring. Early RWBY presented Pietro as a morally ambiguous scientist aligned with Ironwood, then he suddenly became a scientist who loved his creation in Volume 7, the scientist who betrayed Ironwood, then Volume 8 has Penny dropping “Dad” left and right and Pietro willing to throw away helping a kingdom for her sake. When did all these changes happen? Where’s the progression?

Also, I hope people understand that this is why the world needs someone like Ironwood. Is it heartwarming that Pietro wants to ditch their plan at the last second for the sake of his daughter? Hell yeah. Is that good for the millions of other people who would like their own family members to survive this war too? Nope. “I don’t care about the big picture,” while human and great characterization, is dangerous when the rest of the world depends on you. Whoever runs this show doesn’t have the luxury of saving their preferred, individual life at the expense of everyone else.

So Penny goes out and gets Amity high enough for Ruby’s recording to start, complete with her acting funny-awkward for the first few seconds.

The cameos we get throughout this? Excellent. The speech itself? Rather horrifying. So the good: we get glimpses of everyone else in this show that the story has essentially left behind. Saphron, Terra, and Whitley start things off.

(Interesting that Whitely went to his father’s office rather than his room...)

Sun and Neptune (even though that “Dude” again messes with tone).

Ilia getting a call from Ghira.

The group sitting with a recovering Nora while Ruby watches her own words with the most ridiculous expression.

Tai, desperate not to lose the one link to his daughters he’s seen in years. (Side note: I’m not interested in any of the Tai hate. He’s still at home because the writers don’t know what to do with him and because Ruby literally ran away. Are people made at Ghira and Kali for not running after their daughter too? No, because they’re minor characters that the story needed to sideline.)

Tyrian, sitting beside a very pleased looking Salem...

(Love that she’s petting him.)

Even the shop dude!

Oh yeah, and MOTHERFUCKING GLYNDA.

I’m thrilled to see her. In the sense that I love getting her in the new engine, but I’m salty that she’s unlikely to become an important part of the story again. In fact, there are so many characters at this point that she shouldn’t be re-incorporated, just because that would bloat the cast even more. That… and did they really have to give her massive cleavage? The darker glasses are fine—even if I personally found them a bit distracting compared to her original lenses—but seriously, why does a woman always reappear with even bigger breasts?

At this point everything in RWBY has a sour taste attached to it because it’s been handled so badly for so many years. It’s only now, watching them do many of the things I wanted them to do volumes ago, that I realize how badly they’ve played themselves. RT messed up so many core aspects that when they re-appear they can’t hope to provide the same sort of enjoyment we would have gotten if they’d never been dropped and/or messed up to begin with.

Case in point: Ruby’s speech. I’m not going to cover the stupidity of telling the world about Salem because I’ve already talked about that to death on my blog, but I do want to add that Ruby managed to accomplish that dubious task in the absolute worst way possible. I need a list for this one.

So, about RWBY ruining core parts of its story? We had a whole volume about how horrifying learning about Salem’s immortality was, something we never resolved because the cast randomly went from thinking they’d entered a doomed war to being #confident about how they’ll win. But at the very least they’ll be careful and considerate when they tell others that very demoralizing info, right? Ha. Ruby never even uses the term “immortal.” She mentions Salem being around for “centuries”—which, remember, was info the group also had but never put two and two together—and then says that “Just because she can’t be destroyed doesn’t mean she can’t be beaten.” What does that mean to people who have never heard of Salem before now? Ruby doesn’t even explain who she is! What’s a “force” in this context? A person? An entity? Endless grimm? She gives the people nothing here.

Alongside just casually dropping that Salem has been around for “centuries,” Ruby says that she is “a force we’ve faced before,” as if the world has ever had to deal with an outright attack from her. No, Ruby. They haven’t faced this before. That’s the point.

“I know the idea of Maidens and Relics seems crazy”—does she even mention them before this?? I don’t think she does. Ruby just name dropped two things and never bothered to explain wtf they were.

Also, great job telling the whole world, filled with bad guys not already aligned with Salem, that there are two powerful, mystery things out there that they can now start hunting down. That’s why Ozpin decided to keep the Maidens quiet in the first place. He says in Volume 3 that people were killing them when they knew they existed.

She tells everyone that Glynda and Theodore can vouch for all this information, just casually dropping that responsibility into their lap. I mean, can you even IMAGINE being Glynda right now? This kid you taught for one year heads back home after your school falls, you lose touch with the inner circle after Ozpin dies, and then said kid suddenly appears on every scroll and TV in Remnant, telling the entire world that YOU, personally, can explain to them the things you’ve helped keep hidden for a good portion of your adult life. You are one of two people they can now turn to for answers. If I were Glynda I would be furious.

She also says that Theodore and Glynda “might even be able to organize a way to fight back” RUBY. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE INNER CIRCLE WAS? A KNITTING CLUB? WHAT ELSE HAS OZPIN BEEN DOING FOR A THOUSAND YEARS EXCEPT “ORGANIZING A WAY TO FIGHT BACK”?

“But, sadly, General Ironwood can no longer be trusted.” Wow. That’s one hell of a simplified take to give to a world already working under the incorrect assumption that Atlas caused the Fall of Beacon, an assumption Ruby admitted was wrong to Cordovin. So let’s unite the world except for this one leader, right? So much for practicing what you preach.

“If she was really unstoppable she wouldn’t have acted with such caution before now.” Oh boy, that’s risking a lot on Ruby’s interpretation of Salem’s motives. After eight years even we, the audience, don’t know why Salem didn’t attack until now, so where did Ruby get the idea that it must be because she fears them? That’s not the real explanation based on how happy Salem looks while hearing the message. When did Ruby even think about this? Outside of Nora’s realization that maybe someone other than Ozpin could beat her, we haven’t seen the group discuss Salem at all, but now Ruby thinks she has everything figured out? I honestly want her to explain her thought process here. Does she think Ozpin was mistaken about the immortality business and if he’d just had the guts to unite everyone and attack her, Salem would have been defeated lifetimes ago?

(Funny how that was Ironwood’s plan...)

Ruby ends with another call to band together because “That’s how we’ll win!” complete with smiling energy.

With the exception of the cameos I hated every moment of this. The unclear reason why Ruby thinks bringing the world together is the answer in the face of how badly that’s gone each and every time others have done it, Amity magically becoming available for them to use, her dropping in random beliefs we’ve never seen her express before, turning the whole world against Ironwood, failing to actually explain any of this… I mean, imagine you’re in Remnant’s place for a second:

This child (looking entirely unprepared) suddenly hacks every device and tells you that the most powerful kingdom in the world is under attack. Who is attacking it? It’s someone you’re familiar with! But not really. It’s Salem. Who’s Salem? I won’t say, but she’s responsible for every bad thing from the White Fang to the grimm themselves. Those Relics and Maidens, those are real crazy sounding, huh? Oh, I forgot to say what they are? Nm that’s not important. Talk to my old teacher and someone I’ve never met if you’re confused. What is important is that we all come together. Except Ironwood. I don’t trust him. But I expect you all to trust everyone else, including me! Because we can totally win against this “force” I haven’t defined. You should help us. In whatever non-specific way you choose. Should you come to Atlas and save us all from the confusingly explained attack we’re under? Fight an immortal enemy somehow, with the forces you don’t have, cross who knows how many miles in under a day? I don’t know. You all can figure the preparations part out :)

If I were watching I would, at best, think this was a prank. At worst I’d be panicking over a whole lot of scary information, none of which I understand. Which in this world brings grimm.

Ruby should, in an internally consistent story, have just caused a massive number of attacks across the globe. She should be responsible for the biggest mass grimm death Remnant has ever seen. In fact, that’s my final hope for the series. I want the world to lose its mind at this confusing, terrifying announcement, from rioting in the streets to grimm swarming major cities. Ruby is left dumbfounded at the destruction she’s caused. No one can—or will—come to assist Atlas. The Kingdom falls, taking plenty of civilians with it. Ozpin escapes and is finally allowed his anger, wanting to know how the safety measures he spent lifetimes building were undone by her in one profoundly stupid move. Ironwood (if he’s still alive) coldly tells them that they could have left and saved who and what they had at the time. Ren is proven right.

I need this story to decimate our heroes, humble them, and then let them rebuild. Teach Ruby something and let her grow from it, making up for her mistakes as she goes. Because for two and a half seasons now we’ve watched this girl commit one horrible act after another—whether it’s attacking allies or unintentionally giving the world the most damaging message possible—and something needs to come out of all that.

Can’t say I’m too hopeful of seeing that though :/

The rest of the episode isn’t any better. Ironwood continues his stupidity streak by trusting Watts to do the hack himself. I really can’t believe this is what his character has been reduced to. Granted, it appears as if Watts really did do what he was asked, it’s just that none of them could have known Penny would be outside of Amity and at the height of an airplane when her systems went offline. That trust does, however, allow Watts to nab Ironwood’s crushed scroll before he’s taken back to his cell. Because, you know, at this point Ironwood is so stupid he just chucks personal tech at a villain and thinks nothing of it.

Also... all this happens before the jail scene last episode when Watts was returned, but after Ruby’s group gets to the Schnee manor. The bingo board is getting another check.

Ironwood says that “It seems Polendina’s proxy trick worked.” So Pietro deliberately built Penny with this kill switch (for lack of a better word) embedded? In this villain!Ironwood world, is the story ever going to acknowledge that Pietro is far from innocent, having helped to create and support all the things people hate about how Ironwood (supposedly) interacts with Penny?

Penny’s hack doesn’t take until Ruby’s message is complete, because of course it doesn’t.

Yang’s group is all excited—“That was the broadcast!”—despite not having a signal last episode. If they can use their scrolls at the outpost, why didn’t they call for help?

Penny then says “I love you” to Pietro before she—maybe?—falls to her second death. I don’t know. This absolutely deserves a longer rant because either Penny was resurrected for a brief, narratively meaningless existence before dying again, or we’re expected to believe that she’s falling far and fast enough to become a meteor, but will turn out just fine. Perhaps the show will forget that Pietro said he couldn’t rebuild her again. I pretty much expect it at this point.

(Either that, or Pietro will sacrifice himself for Penny. Coming at it from a father-daughter relationship, I like the idea. As a black man dying for his white daughter in a show notorious for how it has handled its race allegory... ehhhh.)

Then, we end this episode with “a river of grimm.”

????????????????????

What?

Seriously, am I the only one who laughed during that moment? It sounds ridiculous. What does that even mean, “a river of grimm”? Did Salem expand her territory somehow? Is this the same grimm soup she makes them out of? What, can she just cover the whole world with grimm making goo now? Out of everything that could have been coming out of the ice, THAT’S what we end on?

I think this episode may have broken me lol. There was so much that I knew I was meant to be invested in, so many moments trying their hardest to be emotionally compelling… and only the tinniest slivers of it worked. I want to care about Penny falling. I want to care (more) about an unexpected Glynda appearance. I want to be cheering for Ruby’s message getting out, but it’s all just so badly done. I ended this episode feeling like I had watched a RWBY parody rather than an episode. Like for funsies someone had pulled together the most ridiculous ideas they could think of, like:

The villains come and then immediately leave again, like in Fury Road except in this case that’s not the point of the story.

Super powerful fighter gets her ass kicked by laughing grandma.

Nonsensical sacrifice going on but give it just a hint of ~real~ emotion.

Huge reveal for the rest of the world but the message with be near incomprehensible.

Toss in random characters we haven’t seen in years, people love that.

End the episode with grimm soup flowing towards the kingdom.

It honestly feels like someone set out to write an absurd episode, but then gave it just enough artistry that the viewer finishing the vid goes, “Why am I actually invested in this omg lol.” Except when that’s your canon we’ve got a problem.

I don’t know. At this point RWBY is so broken I can’t even articulate everything that’s continually going wrong when we get an episode like this one. For anyone who may have missed it, we’ve got two more episodes before a six week hiatus and frankly I’m glad. Mostly because I obviously want our crew to have the time they need to keep their sanity intact during the hell that is 2020 and the likely hell that will be 2021, also because that will give them time to spruce up the second half of the volume… but there’s also a part of me that’s just glad for a break. There are still pieces in RWBY I enjoy (like the Hound, or dad!Pietro, always Ozpin) and I love writing these recaps, but it says a lot about the writing that I hear we won’t get RWBY for two solid months and I am, at best, indifferent. Can’t mess up what you don’t air, right? 😂

Man, this bingo card… it’s getting three marks today. “Two day timeline wreaks havoc on continuity,” “Needless episode cliffhanger” (grimm river??), and “The team gets Amity up and running.” Yet we somehow STILL don’t have a bingo. Amazing.

Alright, I’m done. If you enjoyed this episode, bless you. I’m really glad. Please enjoy it for the both of us. And pray for us all over the next two weeks 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

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rowanberry-stolemy-identity · 4 years

Text

sunshine & surprises

pairing: gen

fandom: Julie and the phantoms

words: 1.5k

summary: Late morning sunshine filtered through the windows of the garage, the only sounds are that of four teenagers sleeping, when Julie heard a knock on the garage door that woke her. A soft “Julie?” Came from the door “your dad said you might be out here- oh!” the garage door opened, letting in more sunlight and a surprised looking Nick holding flowers.

Note: i haven’t written anything in a VERY long time so I’m sorry if everything is ooc and bad but i blacked out and ended up writing this little blurb.

~~~~~

“We played the Orpheum!!!”

The realization of everything finally hitting her. Like a bubble bursting all that tension from early dissipated as they laughed and jumped around, the band revelling in the warm feeling of Julie's healing love and being able to touch each other. She couldn't believe this was happening; she felt breathless.

She thought she was gonna lose her boys tonight, and she almost did, her heart breaks at the thought but they're here and they aren't going anywhere for a very long time.

Then she felt a tug on her arm as she was pulled to the floor with a yelp. Reggie had tripped over the rug and had pulled Luke down with him, who pulled Alex, who pulled Julie. They laid there in a pile of limbs, a giddy facsimile of the scene Julie had seen when she turned on the lights.

All of them were breathless as they laid there, enjoying the warmth of holding onto each other.

Julie looked over at her boy finally taking in the guys’ outfits.

“Why're you guys in suits?”

“That’s thanks to Caleb,” Luke said, picking at the vest he was wearing, “he kidnapped us after you left for the Orpheum to make one last final offer.”

‘So that's why they were late’ Julie thought as she remembered the way her heart had shattered when she thought they had already died again.

“Yeah though we thought to make some alterations before we joined you” Alex said fiddling with the collar of the see-through shirt he was wearing.

“Yeah mine had WAY too much red” Reggie agreed from halfway under Luke

Julie giggled, thinking about the boys in stuffy suits, the ridiculous image that came to her head.

“Yeah I'm sure you guys looked ridiculous.”

“He put us in bow ties, Jules! Bow ties!” Luke made a face of disgust.

“The pain, the horror!” she said in an exaggerated voice.

“You'd think that man would have a better fashion sense since he’s been dead so long” reggie

“i guess some ghosts are stuck in the past.” Luke joked

“Was that a fucking ghost pun?” Alex shoved his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

Julie got up and brushed off her jeans. “I don't know about you guys but I’m beat, I'll see you guys in the morning” and as she went to open to the door:

“Julie?” Luke asked as he nervously looked from Alex to Reggie

She tilted her head curiously, curls spilling over her shoulder “Yeah?”

“Could you- could you stay? just a little longer?” Luke looked up, giving her his best puppy eyes, but she could see the hint of fear behind the facade.

“I've got an idea,” she said, and she could see all three boys deflate a little, probably preparing for a ‘boundaries talk’. she can't have that. “how ‘bout we all get changed and i'll bring in some blankets and pillows and we have a movie night.” the boys immediately perked up, making Julie smile at her idiots. Nodding her head towards the dresser under the loft she said, “the mini projector should be in the top drawer, if you guys can get it while i grab everything”

“Yeah we got it!” Luke said as he bounced over to the drawer and Alex and Reggie went to the bags of clothes to change.

In her room she changed into her smiley face sweater, the comfiest pajama pants she could find and her monster slippers. Making her smile as she remembered the first time she met the guys.

When they all got settled in the nest they made out of seemingly every pillow and blanket in the Molina household and Julie fired up A New Hope to play against the closed garage doors and her and her bandmates all cuddled together enjoying the new found ability to touch she felt love radiate off them and she felt at peace as they each slowly drifted off to sleep.

Late morning sunshine filtered through the windows of the garage, the only sounds are that of four teenagers sleeping, when Julie heard a knock on the garage door that woke her. A soft “Julie?” Came from the door “your dad said you might be out here- oh!” the garage door opened, letting in more sunlight and a surprised looking Nick holding flowers.

Julie yawned, sitting up from the pile of blankets and pillows, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Nick!” she tried to get up but Alex pulled her back down, he had ended up holding her in the night with his arm slung over her waist.

She fell back with a yelp and glared at Alex, who was still asleep.

“Nick! What ah-” Julie said, tripping slightly on the blanket nest, finally extracting herself from between Alex and Luke, who were starting to wake up. “What brings you here at- what time is it?”

“It’s uh-”

“Way too fucking early for this, lover boy” Luke grumbled while stretching.

Nick looked from Julie to the blanket pile that held her boys with a confused look on his face. Almost like he heard Luke, Julie thought. No no that's impossible sure she could touch them now but there's no way Nick could see them.

She plastered on a smile like she wasn't dealing with ghost shenanigans and tilted her head still waiting on the answer on why he was there.

“Uh sorry! I just- I came by to congratulate you! on your performance last night, that is, you were awesome! a-and uh to give you these.” Nick blushed when he handed her the flowers.

“aw thanks Nick, that’s so sweet” she smiled, and took the flowers. Going to smell them she heard Alex groan, “Julie, tell your boyfriend to come back later, I'm trying to sleep,” and promptly pulled a pillow over his head.

Julie blushed but rolled her eyes and as she was about to comment more on the flowers Nick turned towards Alex and said, “oh i'm not her boyfriend.”

Wait.

What!

The whole room froze as the realization of what just happened sunk in.

Julie looked from Nick to where he was looking which was definitely right at Alex.

Alex removed the pillow from his head to stare at Nick incredulously. Luke got up, with a distracted “sorry Reg” as he jostled Reggie who woke up with a startled grunt. Luke was looking between Alex and Nick with a thoughtful expression like he was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle.

Nick looked between all three of them with a confused expression on his face, “waaaaaas I not supposed to answer that orrrr?” he asked.

“No no, It's fine!” Julie threw a thousand-watt smile at him as Luke got right up in his face

“This is so weird” Luke said under his breath, waving his hand in front of Nick's face.

“What're you doing?” Nick looked between Julie and Luke, brows furrowed.

“Nothing,” Luke said distractedly, “just checking your eyesight.”

“Luke!”

Julie batted his arm down away from Nick's face; pleased that she can still touch him even if she has to deal with them being able to be seen now. Which she’ll freak out about and deal with later. But right now she's gotta act like everything is completely normal.

“Sorry ‘bout him” she said grinning like she wasn't freaking out internally. 100% ignoring Luke’s little scoff. “They all get a little weird and cranky when they just wake up”

“Hey!” came from Reggie who was now sitting up, “not all of us can wake up being the personification of sunshine,”

Julie proceeded to stick her tongue out at him.

“Oh yeah no, it's fine, although I don’t think I’ve ever officially met you guys, I’m Nick,” he said doing a little wave towards the guys, “and you guys are Julie’s ‘phantoms’ right?”

“Yup, This is my band!” Julie said proudly, “The one being weird is Luke, ” Julie gestured to the boy beside her with a smile, and he gave a little head nod. She then waved over to the two boys, both now sitting cross legged on the nest, “ the grumpy one is Alex and that's Reggie.”

They gave a little ‘hi’ and ‘sup’ with a peace sign respectively and both gave little smiles.

“Cool! Glad to meet you guys, you guys absolutely rocked it last night.” Nick gushed.

A happy “Thanks!” came from Reggie.

Alex just smiled shyly while a self-satisfied grin spread on Luke's face.

“Yeah, well i gotta get going! I gotta babysit my little sister this weekend but I'll see you later Julie!” Nick said as he waved his goodbye to the band.

“Yeah I'll see you! Bye!” Julie waved and immediately closed the garage door and collapsed against it, flowers forgotten in her hand for now.

“So that's new!”

“Oh ya think Reggie?!”

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #julie molina #julie jatp #luke patterson #luke jatp #charlie gillespie #madison reyes #nick jatp #reggie jatp #alex jatp #my writing #rowan speaks #julie and the phantoms fic #jatp netflix #jatp #jeremy shada #owen joyner #jatp fic

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toooldforfandom-liveblogs · 3 years

Text

RWBY V08E05 - Amity

Amity! A return to the adventures of RWB? With no Penny sadly. I doubt we'll get so many visual puns again but who knows, maybe they'll make friends with Whitley or at least have a cordial chat with him without killing each other. I have no idea, so let's do this!

Wow, great start. Poor Pietro, got copypasted there with no regard for his feelings.

I'm very glad I was wrong about no Penny.. Even if every second she's on screen increases the chances of something bad happening to her.

Why does the HUD look like someone used the wand from photoshop to extract it from a white background?

Wait, are they going to blow up the Dust to launch amity into space?

Penny is right, that doesn't seem like a good idea but it's also incredibly in-character for the show. Now even caves are a gun.

Someone at Rooster Teeth really likes the idea of little old ladies riding huge robots, and honestly? Can't disagree.

hmmmmmmmm not a big fan of pietro at the moment

oof, my heart

Maria continues to be the voice of wisdom. Sadly, I doubt Pietro is going to listen to her.

In the original tale Pinocchio ends up learning by making bad choice after bad choice. Penny doesn't seem to have that much in common with her inspiration but if she hasn't ever been able to make a choice at all, would it be surprising if the first time she makes a choice it ends up being a bad one? It wouldn't surprise me if this is setting her up to fly away from Amity (against Pietro's wishes) once she notices something went wrong with everyone else (making her vulnerable)

Welp.

look at that poor girl

Aaaa, that's the same expression she used when Ruby said Penny was still the Protector of Mantle. "my feelings don't matter, conceal, don't feel, don't let them kn— wait, never mind

but yeah, she's used to putting everyone ahead of her (because as a robot she supposedly doesn't know better, there's a reason that was her first thought when she was talking with Winter in last season)

aw poop

Cinder was moving so fast she left her shadow behind.

Great deranged expression and voice though. Did she bring both Neo and Emerald or just the latter?

Penny yes

Hey, 9 blades! For a second I thought they wouldn't remember that she lost one.

no, no, no, time for what? aaaaa

Now that we have more context, Cinder using her own experiences to know where to hurt people is * chef kiss *

Intentional reference to the PvP fight?

okay, I didn't expect badass Maria to actually fight using her robot but I blame my own lack of imagination

now I'm hyped, it also gives something the other two something to do.

I think the main problem here for the good guys is that if Pietro gets threatened there's no way Penny is not going to surrender. Although, maybe he gets kidnapped? That'd make him get "swallowed" by a whale... hm. Another possibility is that they threaten Pietro and Penny gets hacked "just in time"

you can't lie to me, subtitles, I know she was going to say bitch

lol at crashing the entire ship into maria to get her out of the way

bad mistake to hurt one of Penny's friends in front of her

Did anyone give a job to poor Emerald? I can almost see Cinder telling Neo to distract people while in the ship with Emerald sitting in the back seat trying to get noticed.

C'mon Neo, leave the old lady alone

…of course she wouldn't leave her alone, she's Neo, she likes playing with her victims

I wonder if Neo has a deeper plan than "killing this old lady while looking like her protege would be incredibly cruel and extra and therefore worth doing"

If the drifting was an accident, where did Emerald go?

waiting for the RWBY shmup

I understand why she's leaving Amity (to prevent their fight from destroying it by accident) but leaving Pietro alone feels like a bad idea.

…this HUD is a lot cleaner, I don't get it, it should be the same png overlay

anyway, took the screenshot to write "wow, Cinder is actually capable of thinking through her rage these days, good for her" but now that I think about it, I'm not sure if she's ever been fooled.

booo

I wanted more evil Ruby

Also, I'm literally loling at Maria yoda-ing Neo.

ah yes, neo, so graceful

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmm

mmm

oof, looks like that was a direct hit. And the worst part is that the second James hacks into Penny, I assume it'll will work that way. Probably her worst nightmare.

Yeah, no, this worked for spiderman because his nemesis wasn't right in front of him.

I like the idea of this shot but for some reason the execution looks weird. Maybe it's just awkward positioning, it's hard to tell the angles.

lmao

* cough *

I mean, yeah, saw that coming.

For a second I thought she was melting her face but then I remembered the one reason Cinder has that arm.

I'm going to need a diagram to know what Emerald was doing.

Yessss, no need for swords if you can make your own

I really need to know what she was doing inside because right now it feels like that was the worst excuse ever to get her out of the fight until the last possible second (and maybe make it another reference to PvP when Ruby exits the corridor?)

Did she finally see Pietro?

Emerald has so much faith in Cinder, sigh

I wonder if before the end of the show Neo will get to stab someone with her umbrella. Maybe it could even be Cinder

First time she gets knocked out?

Cinder with a long spear only means one thing. Someone is getting stabbed

Huh.

I hadn't thought about this until now but before this second I'd have said Emerald's semblance shouldn't work on Penny. Like, what part is she affecting to make Penny see the duplicates? But I guess it does work, somehow. Maybe reality gets processed through Aura.

Fire spear vs laser, who wins?

Giant laser wins

Glad that Penny is confirmed as the most powerful character in the show.

Poor Emerald, two lines this episode and they are both "CINDER"

Damn, she looks done with their crap.

And now she looks absolutely feral. Loving this.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. If she gets hacked now, Cinder still wins. She wouldn't get the maiden powers but at least she'd stop the transmission.

aaaaa

Emerald breaks my heart. So much love for someone who couldn't give a hoot about her.

At least Cinder seems to know her place with Salem, but I can't tell if she started like Emerald and got her love beaten down or if she just had different priorities after getting saved from what seemed similar circumstances.

Ah, Neo. Now to add to her resume that she beat a granny only because she got distracted.

oh, shut up, Pietro

Is this it? Is this where Penny "rebels"?

Even after all that fight, I think this is the best animation of the episode so far. It conveys so much resignation and annoyance.

I think this is the first time this season RWBY makes me teary-eyed. She finally said it!

This is too cute for this world.

Remember when I said that hug with Ruby felt like a goodbye? Well, this is much worse.

Wooo, she succeeded! (I hope, they did mention the message was a couple of minutes long)

But I'm also even more worried now because it feels like the one last thing she had to do.

They are back!

I wonder if the one character I miss the most will also get a shot.

Pensive Whitley? more likely than you think

He has a lot of potential, especially now that Salem -> Cinder -> Emerald are a thing, making cyclical abuse more of an explicit theme. Not sure if there's enough time to do him justice though, considering he's not much of a character.

"we don't want to reveal Vacuo yet, what do we do?" "put them in the desert"

Yessss, Ilia got a cameo!

Are they pulling her back from voiceless purgatory?

Holy shit, wow, really didn't expect to see her.

Literally a pet. I wonder where the hound falls in the hierarchy

...why is she so happy? She's not supposed to be happy!!

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

yeah

was expecting this

Poor guy, I wonder if this is the first news he gets from her daughters.

Taiyang made me realize they didn't show Yang's team. Huh.

Oh, fuck you rooster teeth.

Fuck oofffff (RT, not you, Pietro)

Is Winter end up doing the right thing? She's obviously affected by seeing Penny's sword there.

Also, I wonder if her new armor is just that or if it's a bracing system to help her move so soon after getting beat. But I guess that wouldn't be necessary if her aura helped her heal.

Hopefully, if Watts escapes and tries to get everyone else to help (since I doubt he can beat all the guards on his own), Qrow shows he learned his lesson about trusting the enemy.

ah, there you go

Okay, this is an amazing reveal. Is Salem transforming Mantle into another land of darkness? Because that'd definitely explain why she was so unworried about the broadcast.

What a way to end the episode. A brief moment of hope completely destroyed, twice.

Penny has been raising so many death flags that her inevitable hacking lacked some impact. I'm still sad (and annoyed at RT for poor Penny being a magnet for suffering) but Watts being Watts maybe he did a bad job just to prevent Atlas to escape? And Penny seemed able to resist? aaaah, I don't know. Now that the hacking finally happened all the foreshadowing is over, anything could happen.

The worst part of the hack is that it modified Penny's thoughts. It wasn't a complete takeover, like with Pietro, it was a lot more insidious. Literally making true what Cinder told her. Ugh.

Looking back at the screenshots, wow, a lot of the episode was just them fighting, but there were some fun moments, like Maria kicking Neo's ass.

Very curious about where it's going. Both the Penny plot (there's absolutely no way hacked Penny doesn't fight Ruby, there's probably a rule written in the universe about having mind-controlled people fight their loved ones) and the river of Grimm which was an excellent secondary gut punch. Really, loved that reveal. "You thought things were bad? lol"

I think that's all for now, until next time!

#rwby #rwby liveblog #rwby v8 #rwby v8e05

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nightswithkookmin · 3 years

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GOING ON A HIATUS

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time out to read my posts and has enjoyed it so far. It's really been fun and entertaining exchanging thoughts and having these much deeper ship discussions.

I thought this issue was gonna go away but I woke up this morning to more people messaging me about finding my last video analysis on several other platforms without appropriate credit.

But that's not disturbing. The disturbing part is the people sliding into people's DM'S on other platforms to get them to take down my video because they don't want people sharing my content on other platforms as they believe it would only make my blog popular.

For those worried about this whole credit business, thanks for showing this much concern for me? I really appreciate the love and concern if it's from a genuine place of concern. Thank you...

I think some of you already know this by now or might have figured it out, I am a law student, I am very much well aware what is and what isn't within my rights? Lol

I honestly didn't see this whole credit thingy as a big deal. It's not. Not to me. Lol. I repost people's photos without credit too all the time. Often, it's because I don't know who to credit and most time my lazy ass just forgets to. Lol. I think it's normal? It's inconsequential I mean.

The videos I use are usually often water marked by the appropriate owners so I don't go through the hustle of figuring this whole credit business out. If I should decide to come back here again I will check that habit of mine?

While this whole credit business is not a big deal to me, malicious slander and defamation to my character is and I don't take it lightly.

It has been brought to my attention that some Jikookers from Tumblr have since been sliding into people's DM's on other platforms asking them to take down my video and or remove the credit they give to my post.

They are telling people I am problematic, calling me the Taekook Lives of the Jikook community. That I have been spreading lies about Jikook, that the Jikook Tumblr community hates me or something like that and to further caricaturize me and make me appear more evil in order to get people to turn on me and hate me, they make up the most ridiculous lies about me claiming that I believe a notorious serial killer is innocent.

Now I have since deleted my YT account because I don't want my colleagues to find out I am into shipping too lol- shipping is a guilty pleasure of mine and I know how this fandom works unfortunately. I've been a silent part of it since 2014. I mean it's started already. The Doxing and shit.

The original post under which these replies are from couldn't save sadly as my account has been deleted but you can see from my notifications the general feel of what my interests outside shipping looks like.

I am interested in a myriad of topics, from literature, Aliens, writing, Harry Potter, history, activism, advocacy, philosophy, law, politics, NASA, and mystery and murder among other things.

My quora is mostly filled with notifications from my Book community and True crime community and often I do share my thoughts and answer questions with regards to the psychology of murderers, legal evidence, notorious villains in literature- well I guess now you know the kind of lawyer I want to be if and when I'm able to complete law school.

But what has my interest in these topics got to do with Jikook and shipping please?? How does this prove I hate Jikook and spread lies about them?

This Kookie Min Monsta person slipped into someone's DMS and asked the person who had put up my video analysis to take it down or discredit me because to her I am problematic. She is not the only one.

You want so bad to paint me black- no pun intended just to win an argument? You claim I am the evil malicious person here but I am not the one sliding into people's dms trying to take credit away from people for their hardwork, spreading hate and negative energy, making things up to manipulate people's perception of others and get them to hate and turn on them- and all because of A SHIP? Damn. This is pathetic.

Who died and made you the gatekeeper of the jikook shipping community? Honestly antics like these don't work on me try again.

I made a video commentary on my Booktube YT account- yes I am part of the book YouTube community as well sue me or better still slip into their inboxes and tell them I voted for Trump therefore I hate chipmunks.

The commentary I made on YT months ago was when I was in the highs of finding a new passion and it was on Ann Rule's book, The Stranger Besides Me- a true crime novel on Ted Bundy which I found so poorly written that at the end of the book it left with me wondering whether or not Ted Bundy was guilty at all!

The Author's writing style which deviates from most writing styles of True Crime novels I have read gave me trust issues as I stated in the video. It felt more as if she was writing a made up fictional novel than an actual True Crime novel but because she knew Ted Bundy in person she made it seem as if we just had to believe her account.

Then there was this whole thing about the police not being able to match the DNA samples taken from his rape victims, to his own Semen because his Semen was DNAless- in lay man's terms. I'll spare you the technicalities involved.

As I stated in that video, I do believe Ted Bundy was guilty but I do not have much faith in the Judicial system, or criminal procedures or even the Author of that book- a sentiment most people within the true crime community share as well. We just had differing views on whether the writer's style took away from the narrative and waters down on the extent of Bundy's guilt.

We had a Similar conversation about Chris Watt. If the community I was engaging in didn't have a problem with my commentary why do you? Please don't meddle in things you know nothing about. It's embarrassing.

The conversation about whether or not Ted Bundy is innocent is moot but a philosophical one. It has nothing to do with Ted Bundy's guilt but more so the criminal procedures involved in his case and the different accounts that exists surrounding his case.

He was electrocuted, he confessed to his crimes no damn person with brains would think or assume he is innocent and I never said anything of that nature drew any conclusions to that effect.

Besides, I moved on from Ted Bundy a long time ago. Now I am into the Serial Killer who writes death poems and signs it off with drawings of the size of his dick at his crime scenes- mind your own business please or don't and let's have an intellectual discourse about him? Lmho.

I am also into cat memes if you care to know and have a whole IG dedicated to cat memes. I believe human beings are the most dumbest species in all the galaxies and when the Aliens arrive I am snitching.

When my mind is at rest, I often wonder if Aliens have masculinity complex and if they do whether or not their masculinity is contingent on the size of their dicks or whether they have to engage in a battle to the death with an alien grizzly bear to determine who is the man.

I love BTS memes too- a little too much and often end up debating over the internet with random people over whether BTS memes are funnier than cat memes- I'm weird, true. But how does all of that make me a bad person?

It's crazy how these people can go on these other platforms to ask people to take down the credits to my posts as well as my posts itself but can't ask people who run to these other platforms with misinterpretations of my work to take those down.

Instead they come on here to call me out for people's interpretations of my work?? It doesn't work that way. You are the author of your own opinion and interpretation of other people's work. You don't call out the original author for someone's opinion of their work. If that were so I would be emailing Stephanie Meyer for Anna Todd and her After series. Get some education.

I have since blocked this person and others whose Tumblr I have been able to find thanks to all those that's helped me finding them on here.

My gf also tried reaching out to the persons who shared my post after we realised this was becoming an issue and had asked them to credit her or my blog- but honestly I don't care about that yet she won't give it a rest. Lol. My ride or die this one. Sigh.

However, we realized soon that this is not about 'stealing' credit- can't call someone out for not giving credit when I suck at that myself. Lol.

This is about people's malicious intentions and their attempts to silence me and take away my right to freedom of expression however way that they can. This is wrong and evil.

I honestly don't care for all these ship politics these people are engaged in. I've had enough intelligent conversations to know the distinction between arguments that flows from bruised egos and actual conversations around a subject matter.

This whole I am right, she is wrong politics... y'all get that the point of having an opinion is not to be right, right? We all cant have the same perspective and you can't call someone a liar for holding views that is different from yours. That is a bizarre mentality to have.

As I stated in my post, that content I made was a rebuttal to the Taekook theories running around on the internet alleging JK glared at Tae when he pulled on his shoulder because he was jealous Tae and Jin were having fun behind him. He wasn't. He was worried Tae was gonna expose him and JM holding hands behind Suga.

If you don't think they were holding hands then Taekookers were right and his reaction was because he was Jealous of Taejin I guess...

But thats your truth. That's not my truth. I don't believe Taekook is real. JK isn't jealous of Taejin he is not Twelve- but then again he was sneaking around behind Suga holding his boyfriend's hands so I guess he is twelve? Lol. Jikook!

Do you.

But please stop the evil malicious attacks and seek immediate help. There is such a thing as right and wrong and this is just plain wrong. Your Karma and chakra are in the negative nodes and you need to fix it. It is not funny anymore.

Thank you to everyone who has shown genuine concerns for me in the past few days and thank you so much for trying to stand up for me. There are good people on here and I have met and interacted with a lot of them and thank you so much for such a wonderful experience and insightful discussions.

I don't hate people because of our differences in thoughts, beliefs, opinions. There's always room for dissenting opinions in every sphere. At the very least, we can agree to disagree and shake on it. But You can't make up shit about people just to prove your opinion is right and their opinions and views which differ from yours are 'wrong.

I am not a victim though, and they are not bullies, psst. They are just vile pathetic human beings exposing the greens of their insides. What you do says more about who you are as a person and human being. And this is who they are.

Just be a nice decent human being. That's what this world needs. Fix whatever is broken inside of you and free your mind and spirit. Hate is never the answer.

I'm going to be away for a while because I have studies, work and other interests I want to pursue at the moment- it's just my AADD flaring up so if you see me henceforth raving about Nana at least you'd know why. Lol. She's wrecking my Jimin bias. Lmho.

Spread positivity, do the right thing, stand up for a good cause and keep supporting Jikook. Jikook is real.

Until we meet again.

Signed,

GOLDY

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real-jaune-isms · 4 years

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RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 1 Review/Rundown

This volume is off to a STRONG start if I may say so myself. No big action scenes, nothing to get the blood boiling or freezing over yet, but this is just the first chapter and we have a lot of dreadful stakes and danger ahead of us. This is a setup premiere, and it promises us pain and stress like nothing before. And we’ve all been conditioned to the point that we actually look forward to that. What we got is plenty good, so why not dig in to this succulent appetizer?~

Right off the bat, we get something we knew we wanted but never quite realized how much we needed... A young black haired woman on her knees scrubbing a wood floor. Bandages on one of her fingers and right wrist, modest clothing, and so very little soul to be seen in her amber eyes. Ladies, gentlemen, and that technicolor rainbow in between, we are getting our first look at Cinder’s troubled Cinderella-style past. It’s just this one floor washing scene for now, but we see present day Cinder’s Grimm fingers scratching into the chair in front of her with the same rhythm so we can be pretty confident it’s really her. Hopefully we will get more as the volume progresses, especially with the opening showing her seem to be having trouble controlling her powers. Neo is flying an airship directly up to the giant whale, whom I will continue to nickname Monstro. Concerned by all the other Grimm flying around it, she nevertheless flies along its side and we find there are handily carved out landing pads for ships. Guess Salem modded this beast to be her mobile base. As Neo apprehensively follows Cinder up a staircase, we see these modifications include a throne which the Grimm queen is sitting in awaiting their arrival. This is Neo’s first time actually seeing the woman behind the dark curtain, and I don’t think she was expecting this. What she may have expected even less was that the prideful psychopath Cinder would actually bow down to this woman. Yet bow she does, and Salem greets her with smug condescension, asking if she’s lived up to the responsibility expected of her as Salem’s vessel for the maidens. Has she done as asked and brought a worthy gift for her goddess? Indeed she has, she’s brought her the Relic of Knowledge... and claims she acquired it all by herself, throwing all of Neo’s hard work out the window so she can have all the glory. [Neo will remember that...] But certain poisonous arachnids are unimpressed, as Tyrian emerges from the shadows to say that taking anything from Ironwood is less of a show of Cinder’s skill and more a sign of the General’s incompetence. With a dig pointed seemingly at both Cinder and Neo, he points out that James was not the first person to be outsmarted by Team RWBY and their friends. But unlike Volume 4, Cinder has her voice and claps back at Tyrian, reminding him that according to the Atlesian military radio chatter he too was outdone by Ironwood’s allies. So was Watts, for that matter, and which of them managed to get away unscathed again? Certainly not the good Doctor, and Tyrian agrees that he was a... necessary sacrifice. Speaking of, he sees Cinder brought a fresh face that could be kindling for the fires of their crusade. Salem finally acknowledges that yes, there is someone here she didn’t recruit herself, and she demands an explanation from Cinder. The Fall Maiden of course explains that Neo has powers that will be very useful to them, but refers to her only as an asset, not even a subordinate or teammate. [Neo will remember that...]

And speaking of the “tools” Cinder has collected, in come Emerald and Mercury in fresh new outfits! I think they both look pretty good, and I especially like Merc’s new jacket with his winged boot emblem on the left side. Emerald looks quite fashionable and I like the necklace, but there’s still a lot of exposed skin for being in Atlas... Of course, some things never change and she excitedly rushes to Cinder’s side, only to be shut down with a single gruff word. Speaking of gruff, Hazel is here with a new look too. His hair’s been shortened/combed back and he has what I can really only describe as a tank top with the sleeves torn open all the way down to near the waist, that shows off the muscles and scars on his arms and up the sides of his torso. It’s a tough look, but again not very winter weather savvy, and I miss the wild man look he had before. Regardless of the new looks, Tyrian has the same old criticisms of Emerald’s loyalty to the ever so incompetent Cinder. He and Watts rained hell (and very cold snow) on Mantle and threw Atlas into chaos, while Cinder merely fixed her mistake from Haven instead of getting new Maiden powers here in Atlas. She blames Penny for that setback, and mark her words she will be going back to rend her limb from mechanical limb to get the Winter Maiden powers... except she won’t be. Salem has decreed no such action, and it seems clear she won’t be doing so for a good while. Cinder tries to object, but Salem exerts her control over Monstro merely by touching her throne and sending a glowing pulse through the entire throne room. Cinder needs to be reminded of the big picture and her very small place in it, so Salem makes a window. This is a game of chess, and Cinder should count herself lucky to even be considered above a pawn. She is still a tool for Salem to use in her own victory, and the only thoughts she should have are how to achieve what Salem tells her to do. Cinder seems to resign herself to this fate a bit, and says that she is indeed nothing without Salem’s help. In a sense, you do have to sympathize with Cinder’s situation. Clearly her childhood had her in a situation where she was forced to do as told and not given much praise or appreciation for it. She probably sided with Salem because she was promised more power than she could have ever dreamed, but now she’s back being stuck in a position of servitude and abuse. And she does what she can to feel strong and in control: pass on that abuse to her own minions. And poor Emerald does not deserve it. At least Mercury has enough self confidence to know he wants to be his own man in all this, and he seems to have the ambition to try and work his way up the ladder for more earned respect. Still, back to Cinder, she’s clearly conditioned to fear any reproach from Salem. Quieted at a raise of her hand, as if knowing that the witch could take away the maiden magic in an instant and she’d be left with nothing again, and just as easily dismissed with a passive wave. To be fair though, that was for everyone, and the others know what she can do to people who piss her off so they scram too. She ominously turns to take the lamp somewhere, but we’ll check in on that at the end.

For now, we go down down down to a shanty town in Mantle. It’s clearly the slums for Faunus mine workers in the crater, and among them we see a familiar face. Oscar!! He’s sitting by a fire staring off in deep thought, until an old man with badger hands pushes a bowl in his direction and wordlessly indicates for him to sip some. Idk if it’s a hot soup or something, from the view inside we get it looks to just be water but that could be unintended, but Oscar is thankful. No sooner does the old fella walk away than Ozpin pipes in to tell Oscar to be on guard. An airship swoops in overhead, and most of the faunus scurry away (no pun intended). Oscar stands defensively, but the door opens to reveal Ruby!! She and Weiss came to get him, though I don’t know how they found out where he was, and Maria is flying. He gets onboard and we get an aerial shot of snowfall over Mantle followed by a much less pleasant sight. Sabyrs are still getting in through the holes in the wall, and Manticores still swoop through the skies. Oscar berates himself for thinking Ironwood would listen to reason, for so many of his choices ending up being wrong ones, and he clearly blames the current situation at least partially on himself. We see that current situation as people on the streets below continue to huddle around burning trashcans and wood piles for warmth. Ironwood seriously still hasn’t done anything to try and get Mantle’s heat back? Of course he hasn’t, he’s going to abandon them, what was I thinking? Ruby reassures Oscar that he did what he thought was the right thing, they all did. What’s important is that he’s still here. It might just be how hyped up for a certain posse of do-gooders a certain Miss @kdinjenzen has been getting a lot of us over the last few months, but I was genuinely excited to see Joanna Greenleaf come out from around the corner of a building and gesture Maria to land. She rushes the group inside a building and shoots down a camera drone that was about to turn around and spot them before heading in herself. We see sooner than hear May Marigold, coordinating civilian transportation efforts over comms while leaning over a kitchen stove. She’s sending Fiona to transport some folks from one of the sectors on a map we don’t get to see... to the crater. Oh boy, that’ll be something to get into in just a minute. Our girls and boy walk past her into a restaurant dining room. Guess non-essential services really were shut down due to this crisis... okay yeah that’s too topical. The other half of Team RWBY, as well as JNR, Penny, and Pietro, are sitting around tables idly waiting until they hear the doors open and their friends return. All eyes are on the farmboi, and Nora is the first to rise from her chair with a small smile. Oscar braces himself for an energetic tackle hug, or whatever he thinks Nora would be likely to do, but she just walks over and give him a gentle embrace. The poor kid definitely needed that. Ruby and Weiss smile from the sidelines, one of the only shots the two of them share much to my aching shipper’s heart. But it’s fine, this is a time from group joy and union. Blake voices the concerns everyone had for Oscar’s fate when he had run off to confront Ironwood alone, how they feared the worst. Weiss of course is the one to ask how in the world he got all the way down to the slums, but he avoids the question by saying its a long story, and clearly not the only one based on Penny being with them. Internally, Ozpin questions him on not telling the group that he has reemerged in his mind, but Oscar says the two of them have more to discuss first. Instead, he notes the absence of a certain sobering up bird, and that puts a frown on most of the group’s faces. Ruby says they don’t know, last they heard he was with Robyn, but beyond that no news apparently reached them. Clearly they fear he’s dead, and cannot begin to imagine he’s been accused of murder. We only infer this of course, because the convo is cut short by Joanna coming into the room to talk shop. They’re all reunited, now its time to put the group to work helping the people of Mantle. No heat, no military help, just Grimm hovering over the city in a horde unlike any they’ve seen before. Those people need help, and they are huntsmen and huntresses with the skills to provide that help. Ren is the one to question “How?” Ironwood’s not letting people up into Atlas anymore, and Salem’s forces around the perimeter have made escape from the city impossible. Joanna’s solution is to look down, to the crater right under Atlas. It’s not safe, but it’ll be warm and they can better protect everyone if they’re all gathered in one place. The teens seem hesitant, I might even say incredulous, but she assures them that May will send them where they are needed and with their skilled numbers it will be that much safer for the civilians. Their priority needs to be getting everyone into the crater by nightfall, because she believes they’ll stand more of a chance in the slums. As Joanna heads out the door, Weiss gripes that they’ll never sleep again with how busy they’re going to be, but Joanna retorts that you’re either helping or you’re baggage.

I have... some thoughts about the Happy Huntresses’ plan. Yes, evacuation of the cold city seems like a great idea, and getting everyone in a single easy to defend place is sound strategy. But there’s some Atlas sized problems with their choice of location to evacuate to, and I do realize they may not even be aware of the potential genocide they’re setting up. Salem wants the staff, which is currently in use holding up Atlas. If she takes it, as she so clearly intends to do, Atlas will fall. Atlas will fall back into the crater it rose from, where thousands of people are gathered. That is a big SQUISH that I really don’t want to see happen. I get that Joanna, May, and Fiona may not know about the Relic, I doubt even Robyn knows. But we the audience do, and that dramatic irony has us all wincing prematurely at what grim future we hope will not come to pass. Hopefully it won’t come to that, so let’s go back to what conversations are actually being had.

Yang steps up and says that they need to get out there and help the people of Mantle, but Ruby objects and says they need to do what they can for the sake of everyone. Her first thought is on getting Amity launched like Ironwood had initially planned, so the whole world can be warned about Salem being on the attack. They need help, cuz as it stands Mantle and Atlas do not have this handled. Blake, somewhat surprisingly, agrees with Ruby rather than Yang. The Happy Huntresses have a plan for Mantle’s evacuation, they’ve got that under control while these folks worry about the bigger picture. But, Yang points out, Amity isn’t actually finished and ready to be launched. Ruby considers that and turns to the smartest man in the room for an estimate on what it would take to launch Amity at this point. I’m unsure if she means send it up in its incomplete state or power through the process during this crisis to get it 100% complete before then also launching it in the midst of this warzone. Pietro admits they had made some strides in terms of construction and collecting fuel, “all potentially manageable”, so maybe that means it’s close enough to the completed product they had first planned that it can get done as things are now. Or maybe it means that with what they’ve already done its just good enough that they could probably send it up and it’d be okay? Either way, the biggest problem is actually launching it. They need it to be granted clearance from Ironwood’s terminal before it can be launched, such was the nature of its design. Yang rightfully points out the General isn’t about to give that clearance willingly, so this is a fools errand. But Ruby is thinking outside the box about the specific phrasing, and realizes they don’t need the man’s approval, just access to his terminal so they can grant the clearance themselves. That too would be suicide, requiring getting back into the academy... or does it? Pietro reveals there’s another useable terminal, within the main Atlesian military compound at the base of the city. You know, the very bottom of this floating fortress city, surrounded by airships and security drones. Even once inside, there’s a lot of hoops to jump through, more than the good Doctor can wrap his head around in this moment. Oscar notes how this is very convoluted for apparently being the easier option, but Yang rebuttals that it’s straight up impossible and pointless, not to mention they can’t guarantee any help would even come upon hearing the message. This is more than Ruby can take, and she snaps back at her sister. It’s not pointless if it’s warning the rest of the world that Salem will be coming for them next. They need to send this warning.

This is when Yang gets... personal. She brings up the rest of the team’s decision to defer to Ruby’s leadership once they got to Atlas, and how things took a real nosedive soon after that. It’s clear that she’s implying Ruby’s decisions were the reason for their situation being as bad as it is, and you can see the pain on Ruby’s face as that hits her. Some upset looks on the others’ faces show they may have thought similarly but never would have actually said so. Ren steps up and says that helping the evacuation in Mantle is a feasible action they can take here and now rather than a longshot hope. We had seen a short sequence of Yang running through the daylit streets of Mantle on this mission to evacuate groups, and now Ren is in the scene at her side to signify which mission he’s going to take. Likewise, his face visibly saddens as we hear Nora take Ruby’s side about this not just being a matter of helping Atlas, it’s about warning the other three kingdoms so they can prepare for what’s coming. And with that we see her on the rooftop with Ruby where she had been looking up at the base of Atlas. Jaune is thankfully a neutral voice of reason who says they have the numbers to be able to do both, but Ruby is really worried that being divided like this is what Salem wants. Oscar has gotten wiser from his time with Oz in his head, and points out that the division Salem really wants is emotional, not always physical. Disagreements and arguments like this are what she wants, so they need to realize they can be a united group of cooperating minds while still splitting up to accomplish different goals. Penny... has a depressing third option. Let her deliver the Staff to Salem now and hope it will make her leave Atlas before things get worse. Oscar says they really can’t trust Salem to actually do that, and that as soon as she uses it to create anything else... down drops Atlas. Yang acknowledges that at the very least they can all agree turning Penny over to any other forces will not be happening.

Ruby resigns herself to leading a small squad instead of the full team, and asks if Pietro can help them get up to the terminal. He acknowledges they WILL need someone to bypass security, but Penny is the one to offer. I’d like to note that this whole time she’s been almost lifelessly facing away from the group and staring directly forward, and her voice has been bereft of any emotion or enthusiasm. For the cheerful person she normally is, this is heartbreaking to hear. Pietro tries to raise objections, saying she’s too valuable for them to risk anything happening to her, but she looks over her shoulder and firmly repeats herself, Maiden fire burning around her eyes. I get why Pietro is a bit overprotective of his daughter, she was destroyed once and emotionally scarred during Volume 7, plus she now has powers they absolutely can’t afford to lose the use of. But she is her own girl and needs to be able to make her own choices. Coddling her like this won’t help, especially now. Yang accepts this decision with a sigh and heads for the door to start getting down to business. Blake watches her go with a rather pained look, and we see a similar one on Weiss’ face as Yang passes behind her. Team RWBY is splitting up again, and they’re worried. Understandable. Pietro stops her at the door and tosses her a set of keys, which we transition to seeing in that same hand as she’s back in the daytime alleyway with Ren. We pan over to see Jaune and Oscar decided to go with them, and hear Pietro explain there’s some new tools back at his pharmacy that he had been working on for them before the crisis. From the promotional clip we got a few months ago, we know this means the hover bikes.

Heard but not seen is Ren asking Nora where she intends to go, and she affirms she’s sticking with Ruby. Of all people, she had been the one who was the most passionate about helping Mantle, so he asks her about it now, but she says that she’s absolutely saving Mantle. Because she actually believes Ruby’s plan can be done, and so we go back to seeing her on the roof, now joined by Weiss and Blake. Blake reassures Ruby that the group hasn’t been divided where it counts, but Ruby has concerns. Maria chimes in on comms to affirm that she’ll be taking Pietro up to Amity to finish what he can, but that leaves RWBNP without a way up to Atlas. Weiss starts to say she’s got that covered, but is interrupted by someone’s Scroll ringing. Blake, Ruby, and Nora all check theirs, but it turns out it’s Penny who’s getting a call... from General Ironwood. She hesitantly answers, and as soon as Ironwood’s voice comes through Nora starts scowling. Ruby seems rather neutral, but as Ironwood goes on with his very evenly toned request that Penny tell him where she is because he’s worried for her safety and wants to come pick her up, her eyes narrow. She’s been in an abusive relationship before, she recognizes gaslighting. Ironwood says that Atlas needs Penny since Salem is here. Before she can say anything, Ruby comes to her side and puts a supportive hand on her shoulder as she takes her Scroll. Penny’s not going anywhere, she says, not until Ironwood sees the error of his plans and change his mind about helping Mantle. It was a longshot, but at least she went for it. Ironwood starts losing his cool as he berates Ruby for still being hung up on saving Mantle when Atlas is the last hope Remnant has at salvation and Salem’s gathering forces are primed to destroy it. Unless Penny comes back and helps send it high into the sky. If she doesn’t, and Salem gets through their defenses, what comes next will be Penny’s fault. THIS is straight up psychological torment, he is manipulating her and dodging all blame for his actions by pinning them onto a poor girl already going through a crisis of identity. What absolute fucking garbage you are, James Ironwood. Penny retreats into Ruby’s arms, and she embraces her sympathetically.

But enough of these poor suffering kids, let’s get some poor suffering adults. In an Atlas medical facility, what’s left of the Ace Ops are looking at the corpse of their leader lying cold and pale on a mortuary slab. Marrow is the only one who seems genuinely sad, Elm and Harriet just grumpy. To be fair, that anger could be pointed inward cuz they’re mad they weren’t there to help him in his time of need. Or maybe Ironwood told them that apparently Qrow did it, and they’re pissed they can’t kill him in revenge. Across the hall, Ironwood is watching them from Winter’s hospital room. The doctors have her left arm in a high tech looking cast, maybe it can speed up the healing beyond our normal medical science? Or maybe it’ll boost her strength so she can power through the pain and keep on fighting for the General and his crusade? I was initially worried they replaced the whole arm, given Ironwood’s tendency to substitute cyborg tech for his own human flesh in the event of great damage. Case in point, his burned up hand got the Skywalker treatment. But no, I think this really is just a cast. As Ironwood inspects his new sleek black limb, and the doctors test what Winter is currently capable of with her arms in the condition they’re in, a guard arrives to tell them some prisoners have arrived and are being processed in Stockade B. As the doctors test her right wrist for any tendon pains, and indeed there are some pains, she asks if the prisoners are in fact Robyn and Qrow the soon to be jail birds. He asks the doctors to leave the room, which they do, and Winter assures him she’ll be fine, though her inability to make a fist without pain says otherwise. As someone who got tendonitis in my wrist after a bad scrape on my bicycle, I know that pain. Ironwood thanks Winter for her dedication, and confides that faced with such unprecedented Grimm numbers he wouldn’t know what to do without her. Their hard light shields will hold the Grimm off, but only temporarily. FIRST OF ALL, you have enough money and resources for Hard Light Dust, the rarest and most expensive kind, to be shielding the entire kingdom... but not enough money to give Mantle a decent heating grid that’s not dependent on the SDC????? Or literally anything else that might have helped them now???? Eat the rich and defund the police, folks. Speaking of hot-button political statements, before he can answer Winter’s question about what he plans to do his musings are interrupted by his fellow council members Sleet and Camilla barging in demanding to talk to him. Mass evacuations, declaring martial law? They have several very pressing questions for him, but Ironwood has gone into tunnel vision and says he will be doing everything he can to defend the kingdom, no matter the cost to him or those around him. And he makes that abundantly clear as he strides out of Winter’s room and wordlessly shoots Sleet for daring to call him scared. Judging from Camilla’s screech and the looks on Elm and Marrow’s watching faces, it was fatal. This man is straight up executing his critics, but we kinda already knew this was gonna happen after he shot Oscar off the cliff. Clearly, Camilla will be too scared for her own life to speak up against Ironwood ever again. As the General strolls away, Winter and Harriet share a look through the open door. Harriet seemed shocked, but almost resigns herself to this. She’s in too deep, and as long as she’s loyal she’s got nothing to fear. Winter, on the other hand, let her sister go out into the world as Ironwood’s enemy. Not only is she worried Weiss will be in her boss’s crosshairs, but if he finds out she let her get away with the Winter Maiden then she might be executed for insubordination.

Finally, we get the tearing dripping shot of a portion of Monstro opening to reveal Salem holding the Lamp. Looking into it, she muses how she has questions she wants answered, but she needs the key to how to ask them first. To that end, she holds the Relic out in front of a mystery Grimm that emerged from the fleshy cage she just opened. It gets a good smell of the Lamp, and she instructs it to bring her the man who can show her how to get what she seeks. Oscar is in serious danger...

And so that’s it for Chapter 1! A strong start that doesn’t fill me with despair just yet but is definitely setting up some ways for me to really feel the aster down the line. I won’t review the opening much, because those are usually really abstract and vague about what’s actually gonna happen. We see there may be another encounter between Weiss and Winter now that they’re on opposite sides, and Watts seems to still be up to trickery. Ren and Nora miss each other, and things look particularly bad for Team RWBY. Also we get serious “Penny getting hacked and going evil” vibes, and I really don’t want such a horrible thing to happen to that mecha cinnamon roll. Looks like Oscar really will get captured, and maybe Salem can change her form a little since she has big cool bat wings as she looms over him. The song will take some getting used to, but it slaps hard and Casey is giving it 100% so that’s good enough for me.

Thanks thanks thanks for bearing with me for this long ass post, but I hope you got some joy from it.

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