#welp.... this appears to be the end? of the arc? but its not? BECAUSE WHY IS SHE ON THE FLOOR | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-redeemed-anon · 3 years

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Welp, since we got Wilbur back, let’s take a look at Eight

As a disclaimer, I’ll talk about the character, and if I mention the CC, I will label his name accordingly.

Okay, since the pog thing that happened on the 29th of April, and a couple of bad takes have already started to pop up Jesus Christ guys why do you want the dude that just got back to life after being trapped in limbo for over a decade to get beaten up violently- I think it’s appropriate to bring attention to the thing that gave me my pseudonym and my belief that we may get a redemption/healing arc for Wilbur: the song Eight, by Sleeping at Last.

Why this song matters, you may wonder. Well, it’s a song that we have confirmation to have been CC!Wilbur’s personal inspiration for his character, as said by CC!Wilbur himself. Not only does that give us insight into how and why Wilbur acted in certain ways in Season 1, but it also gives us the opportunity to see the inner turmoil he went through and still will.

Now keep in mind that this is just my interpretation of the song, other people may see the song differently, but overall looking at this song and looking for meaning into it I think is very useful if you plan to analyse Wilbur or even write about him. It truly gives you a lot of insight and context for how he was. Here is a link to it for you to listen to it, before I dive into the analysis.

First, let’s see what Eight is about, as a song. The song is about Type Eight of the Enneagram of Personality, which is basically a system that defines 9 different personality types. Sleeping at Last made a song for each Enneagram, actually, but we’re here to talk about Type 8 (also bear in mind I am not an expert in psychology, so I am not here to comment on the validity of this system. I’m here just to analyze a song lol).

What is Type 8 (aka a bit of analysis on Wilbur outside of the song)

Type 8 is often called the Challenger or the Protector. This type is characterized by a want to not show vulnerability, to have power. Their deepest fear is to not be in control of themselves, to be harmed, to be vulnerable, and their desire is to be in control of themselves, their life/destiny. They want respect over status, value loyalty and they want to make an impact on the world. You can start to see some core characteristics of Wilbur in this description.

We also have levels, from healthy to unhealthy, with which we can see what a Type 8 person can behave like.

Healthy Type 8 people act like a protector for others, they are the strong leaders, the challengers of oppression, the people who don’t stand for injustice in their communities. You can say they are the natural leader type, and I think you can start to see inklings of Wilbur’s personality from early Season 1 here. He started L’Manberg to challenge what he saw as tyranny. When Wilbur described the reasons he cared about L’Manberg, we can also notice that the values he lists align with the core desires of a Type 8: the desire to have control over their life, and not allow others to control them. By making L’Manberg to “stick it to the man“, Wilbur is very stereotypically a Type 8.

Average Type 8 people aren’t as open as someone on the healthy level is. Showing weakness is unacceptable. They may see relationships as the next challenge they need to surpass, and can come easily off as intimidating and ambitious to peers. To me, this sounds a bit like Wilbur after the War, before the announcement of the Festival. He was more closed off around that time, and you could argue that the Elections were a part of his ambition to prove that people respect him, that he can do this, rule a country. The new revelation that Wilbur was lying in his letters to Phil, about the Elections and the formation of Pogtopia also shows that he didn’t want to show weakness, to disappoint or worry his father.

Unhealthy Type 8 people become so closed off that they are intimidating and can appear tyrannical from the outside, often disregarding the feelings of others. They pursue power, and when someone stands in their way, they are cold and become quite antagonistic. They may issue empty threats in their pursuit for power, and their already existing relationships are turned into tests, where the only option is to pass or to fail, with no in-between. This can result in them being abandoned, and them accepting this as being better this way, to be alone. They can force themselves into loneliness.

If this sounds terribly familiar and recent, well... Wilbur, ever since the “Then let’s be the bad guys“ speech, has exhibited the traits of an unhealthy Type 8. Even now, post-resurrection, while he is trying to improve on himself, a lot of his traits remain or have worsened, due to staying in limbo for 13 years. He still has a persona under which he hides his issues, and as I have said in another post, he’s the emotional equivalent of a snail, you poke him gently and he completely retreats in his shell. Wilbur has actively driven people away from him for being so confrontational, and this can be seen again with Ranboo. All in all, Wilbur is definitely cozy in that section of the Type for now.

I also want to talk separately about three things:

1. The Pit

I won’t lie, the Pit is probably the most extreme thing Wilbur did to this date. It’s Wilbur at his lowest point morally and mentally, reveling in his brother figure fighting a much tougher opponent and losing. I won’t sit here and say he was right, nor am I gonna condemn you for your opinion on the Pit, but, when you look at Wilbur’s enneagram, the Pit and why it happened makes sense. What happened right before? The Festival. The Festival was meant to be the time Wilbur either blew up Manberg or left it be, based on Tubbo’s call. Wilbur prepared for those two scenarios, and felt in control of the situation... then it all went horribly wrong. The situation spiraled wildly out of Wilbur’s grasp and it ended with the death of Tubbo and the possibility of Techno being on Schlatt’s side.

This started a breakdown fueled by paranoia that led to the Pit, to Wilbur goading Techno and Tommy to fight. The question is, why? Why do that?

To regain control. Wilbur, in my opinion, did that in an attempt to regain control, after the Festival slipped so hard from his grasp, no matter his effort to keep control of it. That was his urge, that was his need in the moment, no matter how messed up it was, he may have felt like this was necessary. Remember, the core fear of Eights is to not be in control of their own life and destiny, to be puppeteered by someone else. This is why the Pit happened, when you acknowledge the fact that Wilbur was unstable mentally, and he is the type of person to want control.

2. The want to protect others

This is a quality of healthy Eights that still shines through with Wilbur, but it’s sadly overshadowed by his more antagonistic or morally darker actions and quotes.

Wilbur was naturally a protective person. Because Eights challenge authority, this makes them see the world as being inhabited by those who are strong and those who are weak, and not in a bad way. Eights consider themselves part of the strong ones, because they stand up for themselves, but because they see the world also inhabited by the weak, they have the urge to protect them. They also stand up for whom they think can’t stand up for themselves on their own, they think they are responsible for the protection of others.

And when you look at Wilbur, this shines through. He made himself President, and while no one protested, he did it because he felt he was the one fit for the role. Even at the time this scene happened, you can see why Wilbur would have perceived Tommy, Tubbo and Fundy as weaker than him: Fundy was his son, and Tommy and Tubbo, no matter the age intended at the time, were always viewed as younger than him, not to say, Tommy had just lost 2 lives back-to-back. Therefore, Wilbur put himself in charge and with the duty to protect the nation and its people, as the President.

Wilbur even says this in the flashback from Quackity’s stream:

[“What has made you do everything you’ve done up to this point?” (Quackity)

“That’s a- That’s a big question. Um. I guess it’s just protection for my people. I mean, I- I- I just want to see them thrive, and I want to see them safe.” (Alivebur) - (Quackity’s Killing My Enemies: 1:03:02, 12th Apr)]

It’s clear, Wilbur has a desire to protect his nation, and, by extension, his people, his friends, especially with the following quote once Quackity replies: [“Your aspirations of optimism are not going to be subject to my nation’s security I’m afraid. I- I completely disagree with everything you’ve said.” - (Quackity’s Killing My Enemies: 1:05:18, 12th Apr)] He keeps hammering in the idea that he did what he did to protect and offer safety to his friends. That’s why he needed power: [“If you want to really help people, you’re gonna need power, Quackity.” - (Quackity’s Killing My Enemies: 1:05:42, 12th Apr)]

And again, this happens even after the “Then let’s be the bad guys“ speech. Even though he initially says he wants to kill everyone at the Festival, when confronted with this on the day of the event, he second-guesses himself. He doesn’t want to hurt his friends, he doesn’t want to hurt people weaker than him. He distrusts Tubbo, but the moment Techno fires the first rocket, he’s shocked, appalled and moves to go to the button, while urging Tommy to act. When Schlatt wants to kill Niki, he steps out and offers himself to be killed and no one else be harmed.

Even the act of pushing the button himself, there are Wilbur analysts who have pointed out that Wilbur may have wanted to be stopped. And even then, the explosion created no casualties, thanks to all of them wearing armor.

In the Void, Wilbur talks about how he’s evil, how the server is better off without him. He recognizes himself as a hazard, and while that is a part of his self-loathing and hatred, you can also see his care for others shine through: he didn’t want to come back at the time, because he thought he would bring back conflict, suffering [“Here’s the thing, I genuinely think, if it weren’t for me and you dying right, the server would be in shambles. I know for a fact that if I come back, or if I’m brought back to life in some way it’s definitely gonna just go [shit again]” “I know what I’m like, that’s the issue.” - (Tommy’s am i dead?: 10:29, 4th March)]. By staying dead, at this point, he was continuing to prevent weaker people from being harmed.

Even now, post-resurrection, we can see this, but, well...

3. Opinion on Dream

I have looked at this before, from the angle of Wilbur’s mentality. We all know his opinion on Dream so far, that he would have killed him on the spot for what happened to Tommy in the Exile, but Wilbur still considers him his hero. While I said at the time that it may be a subtle way for Wilbur to cloak his self-loathing and self-hatred, but now I want to look at the first part again, from the perspective of Type 8:

Wilbur, by having the urge to kill Dream on the spot, for what he did to Tommy in Exile (and, keep in mind, Ghostbur wasn’t there for all of it, so Wilbur did not see the destruction of Logsted and why it happened, or how Tommy was completely isolated from everyone after the party, and Tommy referred to Dream as his owner to Mexican Dream), no matter what he says after about Dream, proves that he still has the quality to want to protect the weak.

Dream, as always, is one of the strong people of the server. He’s the owner, he has a lot of items and good gear, and in general, everyone recognizes him with a level of danger he presents, and power. Tommy, on the other hand, is one of the weaker ones.

While Tommy has valuable traits, like his loyalty, his fierce determination and the will to keep moving despite how low life kicks him at times, one can’t deny that, in general, Tommy is viewed as one of the weak. He doesn’t have that many powerful items, he isn’t physically that strong, people constantly pick on him, and he is one of the minors of the server, the youngest of them, in fact. Add to that the humiliation of Exile and the treatment he was put through, Tommy was not only at his weakest then, but also at his most vulnerable.

Why would it be a surprise then for Wilbur to want to gut Dream, considering the above? Tommy and Wilbur were very close. As Wilbur acknowledged in the latest stream: [“We were a family, Tommy. We were…” - (Wilbur’s resurrected gentleman of L'manburg: 27:26, 5th May)], they were once so close they could have been brothers. Tommy stuck with Wilbur as a right hand man, he was the only one who didn’t give up on him in Pogtopia, no matter if he thought his choices were right or wrong, and Wilbur confided in Tommy a lot. Now take this little brother figure he had in Tommy, and put him through Exile.

Of course Wilbur would want to gut Dream, Tommy may as well be part of his family, and Wilbur doesn’t strike me as the kind to want his loved ones in pain, genuinely. He may dismiss the feelings Tommy has sometimes, but his reaction to Exile shows that he isn’t blind to suffering. He saw it and recognized as harmful and damaging to Tommy, unprompted by anyone else.

He even makes a comment that I think may be important in the future: [“Tommy, I’m not, I’m not- I wasn’t blind, I saw what he was doing to you, Tommy. I saw. I saw what he was doing to Tubbo. I saw what he did to me.” - (Wilbur’s resurrected gentleman of L'manburg: 21:08, 5th May)]. Remember, Wilbur right now is deeply conflicted, I don’t think he’s properly sorted his feelings on Dream yet. He, in this quote, recognizes he saw how Dream treated Tommy, Tubbo and himself. While Eights want to protect the weak, their core fear is being controlled or harmed by others. I am very curious what will happen if, or, when, Wilbur will decide that Dream is also a hazard to himself, or if Dream will try to use Wilbur for his own plans. But, this is starting to deviate from the purpose of this post so, with that out of the way...

The lyrics:

I remember the minute It was like a switch was flipped I was just a kid who grew up strong enough To pick this armor up And suddenly it fit

Here, Wilbur’s arc and story begins. The lyric recount the moment Wilbur’s spiral began: the Final Control Room. He remembers that betrayal up to his death, still calling Eret a traitor and quoting him, with the same quote he used: “It was never meant to be”. This moment is what will define and shape Wilbur throughout Season 1, and even now. The switch mentioned is the button pressed, the moment everything changed. “I was just a kid” is Wilbur recognizing that he was not ready for the role of President, sentiment reflected by the rest of the lyrics: “who grew up strong enough/To pick this armor up”. Wilbur forced himself to bear the title of president, like a suit of armor, something that protects you, and helps you to fight for others, until “suddenly it fit”.

God, that was so long ago, long ago, long ago I was little, I was weak and perfectly naive And I grew up too quick

Here Wilbur internally recognizes that time passed, his ideology changed, as evident the quotes from Quackity’s stream: [“You say, you say everyone has a good side, Quackity. And you’re right, you’re right, everyone has a good side, but that good side is only there to help themselves. If you want to really help people, you’re gonna need power, Quackity. You can make a movement, you can make a resistance, right, you can go out and you can come back, and they’ll give you a ticker tape parade. They’ll cheer for you in the streets, but you will change nothing. If you have a revolution, everyone will hate you, you will sacrifice everything, and you will lose everything you’ve ever had, but you’ll come back and everything will be changed. And Quackity, if you want to change things, you’re gonna need power. That’s what you want, really, isn’t it? Look at me. And power isn’t gaining from diplomacy, and bureaucracy, and giant courthouses suspended in the sky, blah blah blah. It’s gained from swords, Quackity. It’s gained from blades, it’s gained from steel, iron. Even if everyone has this good side that you’re talking about, then anyone who wants to prove it, has to show their dark side first. You’re going to have to kill, you’re going to have to torture, you’re going to have to maim.” - (Quackity’s Killing My Enemies: 1:06:34, 12th Apr)]. Yet, even if this happened so “long ago, long ago, long ago”, he “grew up too quick”, because the change was too sudden, and it didn’t occur naturally.

Now you won't see all that I have to lose And all I've lost in the fight to protect it I won't let you in, I swore never again I can't afford, no, I refuse to be rejected

I think this verse refers to the Election and its fallout. He quite literally loses a lot on that day, not only his country and his second life, but seemingly, his son, because Fundy takes down the walls. Wilbur also lost a lot in the Independence War, as he lost his first life in there, his son and allies lost their lives too, and this created the perfect environment for paranoia around trust to form. Wilbur, at this point, swears to not let himself be vulnerable with anyone again, or to fully trust people, because of what happened in the Final Control Room and at the Elections. The last line is Wilbur deciding to go ahead and start Pogtopia, to reclaim his nation. As you may remember, the Election was held so that Wilbur could legitimize his presidency, because he felt people started to not listen to him anymore, and an election, in his mind, would have fixed that. Due to his paranoia, and depression, Wilbur couldn’t afford to lose, because the presidency was one of the things that gave him happiness and helped him function. Once he lost and was banished, he decided to strike back and take back the country, or, as the lyrics say, “I refuse to be rejected”.

I want to break these bones 'til they're better I want to break them right and feel alive You were wrong, you were wrong, you were wrong My healing needed more than time

People who’ve broken a bone before may be familiar with this, but there is a possibility for a broken bone to heal incorrectly, so, when that happens, the bone is broken again and you try again. What that lyric means is that Wilbur was not healing properly, and he was constantly damaging himself again, to restart the process, to make his bones stronger, to make himself better. The “feel alive“ part, in my opinion, goes hand in hand with the fact that Wilbur was... not in the best place mentally in that time. We all know how he died, and, to be honest, a lot of the morally bad things Wilbur did could be argued to have been done to give him something to live, be it thrill or satisfaction. The last two lyrics, I feel, are directed to Tommy; Wilbur needed more than just time to “come back around“, and we know how Season 1 ended.

Now, this may be a controversial take, but... This is the end of Wilbur’s Season 1 arc. I think this is as far as Wilbur’s parallel to Eight went in Season 1, it’s the Pogtopia Era, up to November 16th. You may say that it’s his unfinished son- *gunshots*

Okay, okay, but what does that mean for the rest of the song? Well... It could be that either CC!Wilbur will stop with the Eight parallels here, or, the version I like, it means that the rest of the song is a hint for insight into how Wilbur feels and how his character will change in the future.

When I see fragile things, helpless things, broken things I see the familiar I was little, I was weak, I was perfect, too Now I'm a broken mirror

This is Wilbur recognizing that he is not okay, internally, which we know is a thing in canon, because of this quote from the Resurrection stream: [”Are you trying to- Are you trying to make me- Tommy, are you trying to make me- You remember that time in the cave? Are you trying- Are you trying do- Are you trying to make me feel like I did back then, in Pogtopia? Are you trying to- Are you trying to make me feel as bad as I did back then? ‘Cause it’s not gonna work!” - (Tommy’s Breaking Into Prison To Kill Dream: 59:06, 29th Apr)] It’s a great step for Wilbur, afterall, healing starts when you recognize you have a problem, so you can begin fixing it, but, as we know...

But I can't let you see all that I have to lose All I've lost in the fight to protect it I can't let you in, I swore never again I can't afford to let myself be blindsided

Wilbur is the emotional equivalent of a snail. Here we see “Snailbur” doing a reprise of the third paragraph, which I linked to him in the Election Era and its fallout. From the way the lyrics are worded, we can see the how similar they are, but there is a difference: reluctance. Wilbur knows he’s not okay, but he can’t reach out for help, because then, he’ll be showing weakness, but he wants to open up. “Now” becomes “but”, “I won’t let you in” becomes “I can’t let you in”. Now he’s not afraid of rejection, he doesn’t want to be blindsided, which I didn’t know at first what it meant, because my native language is not English, but when I looked it up I came across this definition: “to surprise someone, usually with harmful results”. This shows us something important: Wilbur is hiding his true feelings because he’s afraid to not be hurt again. He doesn’t want another Final Control Room or Election to happen to him.

I'm standing guard, I'm falling apart And all I want is to trust you Show me how to lay my sword down For long enough to let you through

This set confirms it, Wilbur is on the defense now, he’s defending from potential hurt, and the second part of the first lyric is hinting at what a lot of Wilbur analysts have pointed out and we are prepping for: Wilbur having a big crash from the high he’s experiencing from getting resurrected, he’ll be “falling apart“, he’ll be vulnerable, and open to hurt, or... Redemption. This is it. This is the section that made me insist and theorize about a redemption/healing arc: that second lyric, continuing with the rest: Wilbur is reaching out to someone or some people, that he can put his trust to. Wilbur doesn’t just need someone willing to redeem him, because we had that in Pogtopia, with Tommy, no, Wilbur also needs himself to open up, trust people and ask for help. And that is exactly what happens in the last two lyrics: Wilbur is asking for help to open up and let people help him.

Here I am, pry me open What do you want to know? I'm just a kid who grew up scared enough To hold the door shut And bury my innocence But here's a map, here's a shovel Here's my Achilles' heel

And here we have it. Wilbur opening up. Wilbur finally letting someone in, admitting he’s scared, he’s scared of hurting again, comparing himself to a kid. This one I find very symbolic, because if he, at the beginning, was a kid, then by admitting he is a kid at this stage, he’s the same person he was at the beginning, with the good he had, with the flaws he had, what he did and the trauma he gained will never erase that. The innocence in this part of the song, I think is Ghostbur. People forget, but while Ghostbur seems to be a separate entity, he’s still very much a version of Wilbur. He has a lot of his memories, his happy ones. Wilbur and Ghostbur are the two sides of the same coin, different, yet so much alike. You need both to understand the other. Wilbur has the capacity to be innocent, to be kind, good, he just... buried these qualities, and someone has to help him dig them up, when he is ready to open up. I don’t think I need to explain the meaning of someone showing you their Achilles’ heel, beside the fact that it means they trust you with their life. Wilbur needs to find someone to trust.

I'm all in, palms out I'm at your mercy now and I'm ready to begin I am strong, I am strong, I am strong enough to let you in

Here, I think we see Wilbur accepting the consequences of his actions, of the hurt he caused, because, while he’s not irredeemable, he did hurt people, and he needs to be open to them not forgiving them, but, as the song says, just then he’ll be “ready to begin” his healing and redemption. And right at the end there, “I am strong” is repeated thrice, he’s ready to heal, to be vulnerable with someone. It’s the redemption in full swing from here to the end.

I'ma shake the ground with all my might And I will pull my whole heart up to the surface For the innocent, for the vulnerable And I'll show up on the front lines with a purpose

Remember what I said, about healthy Eights? Champions of the people, natural leaders, challengers of oppression and protectors of the weak? This is what Wilbur should become at the end of the redemption, if we are to follow the song. He’s gonna put all of his strength into fighting for what’s right, and he’ll open up, he will heal. We’ll be back to fighting for “the innocent, for the vulnerable”, he’ll have a purpose to fulfill. L’Manberg was deeply tied to both Wilbur and Ghostbur, and Wilbur himself admitted to caring about L’Manberg because what it stood for. Now, L’Manberg is gone, but those ideals aren’t. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll fight in the future to protect those ideals.

And, finally:

And I'll give all I have, I'll give my blood, give my sweat An ocean of tears will spill for what is broken I'm shattered porcelain, glued back together again Invincible like I've never been

I really like the end here. Because, it’s not only reinforcing the idea that Wilbur will be redeemed, but that penultimate lyric always stood out for me: “I'm shattered porcelain, glued back together again”. Porcelain is, while very fragile, a beautiful material. When I think of the word, I think of beautiful vases, handcrafted with skill and care. It’s a shame when a porcelain vase breaks. But, just because something is broken, it doesn’t mean it can’t be repaired. And when I think of repaired porcelain, I think of the Japanese art of kintsugi - a technique with which broken pottery is glued in such a way that the cracks aren’t hidden, but celebrated as a part of the object’s history, by filling them in with gold. I like to think that at the end of his healing arc, Wilbur will be similar, he was broken, he healed, but the scars are still there, and, even then, he’ll be thriving again. It’ll be an experience that, overall, helped him become better. And the final lyric: “Invincible like I've never been“, I like to think that this will be him at his peak: healed, happy, ready to take life by the horns, like he wasn’t before. It’s a hopeful, happy note to finish the song and his story on.

And that is my analysis on the song and the enneagram, I guess (Jesus this got waaay longer than I expected). I really hope Wilbur will get a redemption arc, it’s already wonderful that we have him back AND he wants to live (it’s honestly the first time I see, in any media, a suicide victim that not only is brought back to life, but they are happy to be back). Hopefully this is useful to people, and, as always, thanks to @kateis-cakeis for compiling Wilbur’s/Ghostbur’s quotes in a masterlist with timestamps and anything you’d want to know about them. It’s a goldmine of analyzing Wilbur and I highly encourage you to check it out.

#dream smp #dsmp #wilbur soot #dsmp wilbur #dream smp analysis #dmp analysis #dream smp character analysis #dsmp character analysis #finally... after 3000 years... the Eight analysis is complete #this took so long I am sorry lmao #now I can go focus on schoolwork #and before someone says it I'll say it #snailbur effervescent

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glassesandkim · 3 years

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ok so anon sent me a rant that i asked for and I want to answer it but under a cut so we don’t have to spam the dash.

Click under the read more if you want to read me and anon’s rant on grey’s anatomy s17 finale

anon said: “Magston... what the hell lmao. They literally had a whole plot in 1716 about postponing their wedding so they could do it right (with family) and then winston was getting all mad about it and thought maggie was backing out (even though its a pandemic and theyve only been engaged for like what? 3 months tops). Then they flew their older parent/grandparent out (in the middle of a pandemic and severely affects old people), only to have them object to the wedding at the ceremony and then they postpone anyways???? What???? They couldnt have done that over the phone lmao like I liked the idea of magston a lot in s16 but their arc this season made me hate them so much lol. Sometimes I think theyre less developed than schmico (like which writer decided to marry them this season ????? Fireable offence imo considering they have no previous relationship history Im pretty sure and Im pretty sure they were only dating/engaged for like a year???? Even if the show was ending a moving in together/dating/engagment endgame would have worked for them? Anyways).”

First of all: what the fuck is grey’s obsession with marriage?????

It might just be me, but take it from someone who worked in the wedding industry for 3 years, and lemme tell you: weddings are fun, beautiful, amazing, but they’re also hella for the privileged. YOU KNOW IT CAN COST UP TO $700 CAD TO HIRE AN OFFICIANT??? So the job Richard had? He could’ve made an easy few hundies.

I really hate how fucking fake and badly acted that scene was when Maggie’s dad and Winston’s grandma objected to the marriage. Why did they wait until then and EMBARRASS both of them???? Like you said, what the hell was the point of last episode’s whole debacle???? They could’ve just not done that plot in ep 16 and had them get married anyway in ep 17 and had someone object to their marriage.

Can’t believe Maggie flew two old people around the country during a goddamn pandemic. How irresponsible is it???? Again, I don’t know if it’s because they’re just way more relaxed in the states than where I’m from but wth....

anon said: Okay and then amelink. I LOVED how amelia was written this episode, but in the context of the time jump it was kind of weird? Like amelia was feeling this way about marriage/more kids for 8-9 months and never even hinted to link that she wasnt interested? And I like to think link respects amelia a lot, so why didnt he bring up marriage again before proposing? Or ask mer/maggie what they thought about him proposing? I can understand her not talking to link about her concerns but I find it hard to believe she didnt bring it up with mer/maggie once in that time frame? Idk it was just rushed and weird. And amelia clearly wasnt okay with the fostering thing and he still went with it anyways lol.

I can’t remember and I don’t care enough to go watch the ep, but did Amelia and Link move out of Mer’s house?

The only good thing about this episode was Amelia, especially her conversation with Richard (in that not very Seattle courtyard rofl HONESTLY GREY’S PUT SOME EFFORT IN YOUR SETS. YOU KNOW YOUR ENTIRE SHOW IS SET IN SEATTLE RIGHT/???? LIKE MAKE IT RAIN IN THAT COURTYARD TO REFLECT HOW AMELIA FEELS IDK GAWD)

I also can’t believe Amelia would just be like, welp! I guess I’m a double mom now of my own child and this random crotch child that my baby daddy promised to his best friend. And oh ya, I don’t want anymore children but shhh its a secert.

I mean, I know Amelia technically fostered before but ............. (i’ll continue this in the next segment)

anon said: And the fostering thing... Jo’s plot was weird this ep too lmao. Like maybe Im just dumb but they never explained why she failed her background check? Idk this plot would have been a much better season long arc than a one episode arc lol. Although I think the single parent thing might be fun next season (the weird jo/levi friendship will be worth it if we get schmico babysitting)

They didn’t really explain why she failed her bg check. I also don’t know how money can fix her failed background check.

Also how fucking shady is it that Link and Amelia fostered a child? Wouldn’t the foster people want to give a child to a stable family who, let’s think, ARE MARRIED and HAVE A HOME OF THEIR OWN?

Who’s the dumbass in the writer’s room that thought of this ludicrous convenient solution for Jo? Only people with that much money and power can steal children.

I really thought Jo’s fight for Luna should’ve started earlier and when it didn’t start, I thought it would bleed into next season. It’s not easy to adopt a child.

anon said: Also is our last jackson appearance on this show really a random facetime with jo? Would have much rather had a face maggie to congratulate her on her marriage (why wasnt he there???)

Maggie’s kind of his step sister or whatever the f they are. Jackson could’ve taken a break from solving racism to attend his family member’s wedding, right?

anon said: Okay and then the interns... we never actually saw mer teaching them? Im hoping that theres a bigger intern/resident focus next season because of mers new job but now Im not optimistic haha. And why are the residents and interns grouped together? And why was levi so involved with mer’s patient that he wasnt pulled from the wedding to help???????? Its a double lung transplant get the upper year resident in there PLEASE!!! Or at least let him take over the surgery when mer passed out. Cristina would have been doing this shit in her intern year. I assure you he would much rather be at the surgery than the wedding of someone he has never interacted with. And Surely that surgery would have been better if more than 2 surgeons were working on it?????? my ONLY hope is that the time jump means we’re getting helm and levi aged up to 5th years and we get some chief resident/specialization/boards plots for them next year.

i hate grey’s and their ridiculous time jumps and blatant disregard to HOW THIS WILL AFFECT THE CAREERS OF THEIR RESIDENTS.

I bet, like Teddy’s child, Levi and Helm are gonna be residents for 10 years and never choose a speciality. I want to revoke grey’s rights to call themselves a medical drama. There’s nothing medical about this show.

JUST WATCH MER TOUCH A DIRTY ASS BASIN AND THEN TOUCH A WHOLE HUMAN LUNG WITH THE SAME HANDS

YOU KNOW HOW DIRTY THAT BASIN IS SITTING ON WHATEVER THE FUCK IT WAS SITTING ON??? GET A NURSE TO HOLD THE BASIN. YOUR HANDS ARE STERILE

(Okay, I’m also sure the basin would be sterile but I can’t. I can’t believe in real life, they’d have the same hands hold a basin and a human organ. Someone who’s a doctor or works in the OR, tell me if I’m right. I need to know. )

Also, Bailey taking off her mask when she’s hugging Mer after the surgery. Right TO JAIL!

anon said: And finally... not half of maggies wedding guests ditching the wedding to go stand in a hallway and clap for mer LMAO like they couldnt have done that the next day??? Like I said before, most of this episode was comedy lol.

it’s COVID. Why are people going into the hospital unnecessarily??????

Yes, but you’re right. I gotta watch these eps like it’s a comedy or I’ll LOSE MY FACKING MIND

anon said: Redeeming parts of this episode: merhayes still has potential, need them to stop having the same scene over and over again though. Nico ily and alex get that cheque for sitting there, dancing, and clapping for ellen. Jo selling her shares to koracick... lmao. Bokhee and the other nurse getting their vaccines :’)

LOL @ merhayes having the same interaction. I was telling some people that I’d love for Hayes and Owen to have some scenes and for Hayes to kick Owen’s ass. Because like @schmico-ing said, Owen is a child collector and Hayes would absolutely fucking hate him.

YES ALEX LANDI GETTIN’ THAT DOUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH. What an amazing job. I hope he gets paid in the 6 figures for his time at grey’s.

I don’t know how I feel about Koracick. I love caring Koracick. I hate asshole Koracick. I feel like they’re two different people.

BOHKEE <3

Anyways, love your rants. I look forward to them when s18 starts or even whenever you have the odd urge to rant!

#i would go more in depth but it's been almost a week and the process of purging my mind of grey's has already begun #grey's anatomy #gk asks

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polarb2709 · 4 years

Text

Romanogers

The post is a long time coming. On May 12, 2019, I said my romanogers post was on its way. It is now August 18th, 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, that I’ve decided to actually write. I don’t know what has taken me so long. I guess between raising a toddler, holding down a job, and trying to advance my writing career, I’ve neglected some of the more, how do I say, fantastical sides of my life, my love for romanogers included.

And I suppose it’s for the best. It’s been over a year since Endgame. We’ve had everyone from the writers to the directors to Scarlett Johansson herself comment on the appropriateness of her character’s ending, which is such shit, to be honest, but whatever. The point is: I’ve had time to think about why my love for Romanogers is so strong and why I felt like there was such a disservice to both characters, and for that, I think my post will be more substantive than if I had fired off right after Endgame. Welp, here it goes…

DO I REALLY NEED TO SAY SPOILERS?

Okay spoiler alert for reading further ahead.

...

Okay.

It’s all about conflict.

What any good script writer will tell you is that conflict is the main road to which plot and character development can be done. It’s the foundation of everything. And the conflict can’t be something minor, either. As any screenwriting book will tell you, it has to be huge: DEATH, FAMILY, LOVE. These major conflicts allow for the greatest growth. There can be external conflicts such as LOTR where most of the character growth is pushed forward by external forces – HELMS DEEP, THE RING, SAURON or internal forces – GUILT, GRIEF, ANGER -- such as the case with Natasha, where much of the conflict is her “Red in her Ledger” that everyone keeps talking about.

This isn’t to say that there are not multiple internal and external forces acting on a character at the same time, but in the case of LOTR much of the character development comes from circumstances they are placed in, and for Natasha – despite all the external forces (Ultron, Thanos) – it was not as significant as her past “RED IN HER LEDGER.” I guess Thanos’s destruction was the only external conflict that propelled her to take “care of her family” but as I’ve noted in previous posts, I disagree strongly with this sentiment.

Conflict also comes from relationships, when two people differ on such fundamental levels that it makes for compelling drama on screen. HOUSE MD is a great example of that. House was ALWAYS in a moral or value conflict with the person he was trying to help, and thus, led to nuanced messages at the end of each episode.

Which brings us to Romanogers. What is immediately apparent and what engages us as viewers is that Cap and Black Widow in Winter Soldier are FUNDAMENTALLY different human beings that are forced to work together. They see in the world in completely different ways, and just because it is cliché (the soldier and the spy mentality) doesn’t make it any less compelling to watch, especially when Chris and Scarlett have such fantastic chemistry on screen. By the end of WS, Cap and Widow have learned and GROWN from one another – Cap can no longer see the world as black and white as he thought it was and BW has to begin trusting and standing for something. The chemistry between them makes it easy for us to want to see more of these two together moving forward. It’s the foundation of not only a good friendship but also romantic relationship. This reflects real life. We want partners not exactly like this, but that build us up, force us to change.

Now compare this to Age of Ultron where out of the blue we are TOLD not SHOWN that BW and Hulk are together. This is fatal flaw numero uno in the romantic relationship – we NEVER got to see it develop on screen, as compared to the two hours we saw Cap and BW share, playing off one another. Joss simply tells us that “hey these two are an item now deal with it.” I would have been amenable to the relationship if we actually watched it play out on screen where the characters differ fundamentally but they don’t: both Hulk and Widow view themselves as monsters, which is sad, but doesn’t make anything compelling. We never get to see how Banner views things like truth, black and white worlds, and choices – all of which were raised by Winter Soldier.

I always thought it would have been fun for Joss to push forward the relationship with Cap and Widow – either romantically or not – in the sense of Steve saying something like: “you’re not a monster, Nat. You’re one of us.” I think that would have cemented the “I would now” comment in WS. Their bond would have deepened. The problem with marvel movies is that there is a different director and a different vision for each movie instead of having a streamlined idea written out that everyone has to adhere to. It’s nearly impossible to adhere to that over ten years, I get it, but once Feige saw Scarlett and Chris’s chemistry on screen they should have stuck with it – not just because it would have been a great romantic pairing but because of their differences become one of the most compelling interactions on screen. Tony and Cap is another example. How compelling are those two when they are in the room together? They differ on so many levels.

By Civil War, Cap and Widow are comfortable with one another, and it’s beautiful when they are put on opposite sides and they check on one another. I thought Civil War was a great set up for the eventual romance between the two. Anyone else think that?

RETCON TIME

I think the saddest thing, above and beyond the fact that we didn’t get much Nat and Steve screen time in Infinity War or Endgame, is that Endgame did a whole retcon of the major character arcs, foregoing the last few movies. That was particularly salient with BW, Hawkeye, Cap, and Thor.

Besides the blatant sexism throughout BWs character arc, Endgame was caught in the trap of trying to tie to many threads together, and instead of staying the course of the character’s current behavior, they reverted back to how everyone was in their original movies. Cap was back like he was in the first avenger despite living much of his life in the modern world and CHANGING in the process. BW was back to her ledger. Hawkeye appears out of nowhere after being COMPLETELY absent in IW.

Why is this important? Because Cap and BW relationship got retconned too. What would have been more interesting and more in line with the last few movies is if Cap and BW went to Vormir together and the two were forced confront their feelings for one another. You see how this relationship now is constantly evolving, as compared to stopping, stalling, restarting again. BW didn’t have any scenes with Hawkeye from Civil War until Endgame. Made no sense. And talk about conflict. You have these mixed feelings toward one another and now one of you has to die in order to save the universe. Putting Steve and Nat in Vormir together would have been such a gut wrenching thing.

This would have also propelled Cap or Nat – but most likely Cap – into another quest/character arc of getting Nat back at all costs.

Why?

Why? Why am I saying this? I really don’t know. I guess I’m constantly disappointed by Marvel failing to capitalize on the potential in front of them. There are so many opportunities that they fall short on. They destroy character arcs, retcon relationships, fail to hold to consistent threads of their stories, and all the while their movies get praised by critics. I think it’s one of the reasons that Martin Scorcese made the comments that he did: in the end, there is no growth, and the growth that is apparent gets ripped from us because some director or some writer has a different take on it.

Bottom line: Romanogers was the biggest relationship ball dropped by Marvel. And it sucks. It just fucking sucks.

#romanogers #capwidow #captasha

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blodreina-noumou · 3 years

Note

what would the show have had to have done to be considered good for you? I thoroughly enjoyed my time watching the show, so I look back at it fondly.

Oh god, where do I even begin?

For starters - if you’re one of the people who enjoyed The 100 in its entirety, good for you! That’s awesome! I don’t want to diminish that. These are just my feelings and my opinions, and I don’t intend for them to make anyone else feel bad for what they like. The ending could’ve been much worse, I’ll give it that. And there were obviously moments I enjoyed throughout the final season, and the series as a whole will still stand (unfortunately) as one of my favorites.

HOWEVER.

I found the ending thoroughly disappointing. It robbed our characters of any of the development they made in the final season, for the sake of propping up Clarke (canonically, that is why they stayed.)

The final season provided us with some really fascinating journeys for our characters. Without recapping the whole season, I can say that I really liked where Octavia, Emori, Murphy, and Echo ended up in their respective arcs. They all had to overcome their past tragedies to fulfill new roles. It was interesting and engaging.

The show itself provided us with so many interesting conflicts, with so many different groups who had competing goals and ideals. On some level, it promised us that peace was not possible until these folks all learned to work together and stop killing each other. That was the goal, all along.

Survival of the human race was the first goal of the show, and survival of the human race is only possible if they (a) stay human and (b) survive.

Neither of those things happened by the end. The goal of our protagonists - the thing they allegedly existed for, in their stories - to save the human race and survive and thrive and all of that, did not happen for the vast majority of people.

Transcendence and the final scene on the beach erases all of the hard work they did in showing us those character journeys, and in making us invest time and energy into different groups that would only continue to suffer assimilation and homogenization by the end.

What was interesting to me about our main characters - Clarke, Bellamy, Monty, Raven, Murphy, Octavia, Emori, and Echo - was that they appeared to be the ones best suited (according to the storytellers) to save the human race.

The moment the show introduced the Grounders, I wanted a political thriller that I was probably never going to get. I accept that.

What I cannot accept is that they erased all of their conflicts with a convenient deus ex machina, and everything that our characters learned is more or less pointless because of it. I’ll focus on their s7 arcs, but I think it applies to their entire storylines.

Octavia learns about her brother’s way of raising her and comes to forgive him for it. She becomes a parent herself. She manages to bridge the gap between two cultures yet again (Bardo and...everyone else, I guess) by falling in love with Levitt.

She will never utilize any of those skills again. Hope no longer needs a parent. There will never be another culture different from them again. She and Levitt will never have children.

Murphy learns to put value in the group, and to recognize his own abilities as a leader and as a man. He saves multiple people in Sanctum, becoming their protector and their shield.

Emori learns to put value in herself, and to recognize her abilities to empathize with outcasts and those deemed “less worthy” by society. She becomes a queen in her own right, a protector and a diplomat.

No one will ever need them to fulfill these roles, ever again. There was no point in them leading those people.

Echo had to go back to a deeply painful role, one which has cost her dearly in life - a spy among her enemy. When she’s brought to her lowest, to the brink of committing genocide, it’s her love for her family that keeps her from going over the edge. She reemerges as herself, recognizing that her painful past does not define her, and she can find love despite it.

Too bad the love of her life was murdered by Clarke!

I wanted our heroes to save the human race, not be the only humans that ended up saved. Does that make sense?

Clarke gets the closest thing to a happy ending of anyone, since she was the one who insisted for seven seasons that “[her] people” were the most important thing in the world, and that she would stop at nothing to protect them. Welp, now there’s nothing to protect them from. Her genocidal rages get a little slap on the wrist and then she gets to spend an endless beach day bossing everyone around and pouting.

It just sucked.

I hate the magic hand-wave of all of the conflicts. You can try to tell me that transcendence was a choice all you want. Plenty of people chose the City of Light, too. That didn’t make the way it erased their individuality and personal goals okay. Frankly, the ending to me feels like everyone just decided to go into the City of Light anyway. And sure, they keep their bad memories and some semblance of individuality, but what do those things even mean when you just one blip of a species that works, moves, lives, and decides things as one?

They didn’t overcome their tribalism. All of the other tribes just got assimilated into the borg. And sure, they maintain some semblance of personality once they transcend - we know that because of Madi’s message to Clarke. But what kind of lives are they going to have as part of that big glowy shit? Madi never gets to grow up, or fall in love, or pet dogs again. (Picasso is always going to wonder where her new best friend went.)

And who were those alien assholes anyway? Who are they to say that their way is better, that they have the right to judge entire species based on one representative? That they can just exterminate anyone whose way of life doesn’t match up with theirs?

Our heroes didn’t save the human race. The human race turned into something else entirely, and its last survivors get to watch each other die knowing that that’s it, that’s the end of them all.

No societies. No cultures. No new art, or music, or fashion.

No children, no future. No hope.

It’s very disappointing and scary to me. I don’t like the messaging and I don’t like the implications for the surviving characters.

There was a brief, brief moment when I saw a glimpse of an ending that I could’ve liked. When Raven says, “just give us another chance,” I was really expecting the aliens to swoop off and leave humanity to their own devices. No crystallization. No transcendence. All of the remaining groups have to come together and figure out how to thrive together. Discuss and establish a system of government that doesn’t rely on state-sanctioned child battle royales, or body snatching, or extreme restrictions on how many children people can have. Obviously, in this ending, nobody gets shot and nobody almost dies. Madi retains control of her body, somehow. Fill in the details yourself, but my ending would include just about everybody surviving.

Build a society that will grow. Let our characters take the lessons they’ve learned and apply them in a meaningful way, a lasting way. Show us that humanity will survive and will rebuild, on the planet of our birth. Let them rest, but let that rest and that peace mean something more than, “Good job! You made it to episode 100!”

Not to mention, the fact that Earth did eventually heal made everything that Monty and Harper did at the end of s5 completely pointless. Monty thought he was delivering the human race to a new hope. He was just steering them towards assimilation to the borg. I don’t think that’s the “do better” that he wanted, you know?

I could go on, but this is long enough. I’ll just end by saying this - if someone had told me, back in 2015 when I started watching, that this is how the show would end, I never would’ve started it. Not for Lexa, not for Octavia, not for anything.

The ending made everything they went through so painfully pointless.

#asks #anon #forgot I had anon on lol #should turn it off again #saltblogging #stephspeaks #long post

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danurso · 5 years

Text

White Knight Christmas

*a few days before christmas*

Nora/Ruby/Pyrrha: *preparing the christmas tree*

Blake/Yang/Ren: *decorating the rest of the room*

Jaune: *gets in carrying a box full of christmas stuff* here's the rest of the stuff we have.

Weiss: why do we need all of this? what we have is already more than enough.

Jaune: well, a bit more of decoration can't really hurt anyone snow angel.

Weiss: i already told you to stop calling me like that!

Jaune: s-sorry *sheepishly* i guess i got carried away.

Weiss: *with crossed arms and an annoyed expression* then don't get carried away again you annoying dolt.

Jaune: *upset* right, sorry. . .

Yang: geez ice queen, can't you leave poor vomit boy alone at least on christmas?

Weiss: as far as i know, we're still a week away from christmas, and why would i need to change my attitude towards arc just because of it?

Ruby: cause if you keep being a bad girl santa won't visit you.

Weiss: *deadpans* do i look like a five year old who still believes in the santa claus?

Ruby: he's real! And will only give dust to someone like you!

Weiss: *rolls her eyes* anything you say ruby. So, is that everything?

Pyrrha: we still need some more lights and decorations for the tree.

Weiss: more? Do we even have more?

Nora: there are a few boxes with decorations on the closet.

Weiss: okay, come help me arc. *walks to the closet*

Jaune: s-sure. *follows*

Ruby: *pouting* why does weiss always treats jaune like that, he's such a nice guy.

Yang: no idea sis, but one day justice will find its way towards weiss.

Weiss: *opens the closet*

Yang: *grins* and apparently, the day is today

Weiss: are these all the lights and decorations we need?

Yang: yup, they are. And weiss. . .

Weiss: what?

Yang: could you look up for a moment please?

Weiss: *looks up, staring at a mistletoe* what is this?

Jaune: *also looking up* is this. . . *blushes* a-a mistletoe!?

Nora: *grinning* it looks like one.

Yang: and you know what happens when two people get under a mistletoe, right?

Jaune: *blushes deeper*

Weiss: what even is a mistletoe?

Yang: ohh, you don't know? Then let me tell you. *goes to her ear and starts whispering*

Weiss: . . . *red* w-what!? I-im not kissing arc! Not in a million years!!!

Yang: you need to, its the tradition.

Weiss: i don't care about tradition!! I'm not kissing arc of all people!!

Nora: aww look at her, she's all red and embarrassed.

Weiss: i-i'm not embarrassed!!

Yang: yeah, ice queen is always acting all high and mighty, boasting about how mature she is, but at the end of the day she's just a awkward teenager like us.

Weiss: don't start comparing me to you!

Yang: then kiss him, if you're so mature as you play out to be you won't have a problem right? After all, it's just a kiss, why make such a fuss about it?

Weiss: *clenching her jaw, still very red* . . .

Yang: so? What will it be? are you gonna kiss him or are you going to admit how you're not different from us?

Weiss: i hate you, i swear i do. . .

Nora: that still not an answer.

Weiss: . . .f-fine!

Jaune: what!?

Weiss: *turning to him but avoiding eye contact, her cheeks still very red* i-it's just a single meaningless kiss, i have no qualms with it.

Jaune: *gulps, his face hot like fire* r-right.

Weiss: but if you tell anyone i'll kill you a hundred times, got it!?

Jaune: y-yeah, i did.

Weiss: okay. . .so. . .

*jaune leans down while weiss tiptoes to try and reach him, their faces burning hot like fire as they get closer and eventually meet lips, it was a very awkward exchange for both parties, and as soon as it started it ended*

Jaune: *face burning*

Weiss: *looking away, face red like a tomato* done, are you satisfied?

Yang: only two seconds, could be better but still good.

Weiss: if that's all, i'll go and wash my mouth now. *walks into the bathroom, locking the door behind her*

Yang: welp, that happened.

Ruby: jaune? You okay?

Jaune: *face still burning while muttering* i kissed weiss. . .i kissed weiss. . .i kissed weiss. . .

Yang: aaand we lost him, ice queen fried poor vomit boy's brain. still, how did that mistletoe ended up there?

Nora: *grinning* nooo idea. Who would be capable of doing such a thing? *winks*

Yang: you sneaky bastard.

Nora: *shrugs* she wasn't being nice to our fearless leader, so i thought this could be an nice way to apologise.

Yang: you're a genius.

Nora: hehe, thank you~

*a week later on christmas*

Ruby: PRESENTS!!!!

Yang: whoa, chill out sis, lets take it a bit slowly okay?

Ruby: *pouts* okay. . .

Pyrrha: so? Who's going to start?

Nora: fearless leader got a lot of presents from his sisters, why don't we let him start?

Jaune: *nervously* o-oh uhh, i-i'll pass, i can open them later.

Ruby: ooookaay. . .then i think i'll have to start things off! *picks her first present and starts obliterating the box*

Blake: so, what's wrong with jaune? *staring at jaune who's visibly red and fidgeting on weiss' side*

Yang: you don't know?

Blake: about what?

Yang: about how jaune and weiss kissed under a mistletoe.

Blake: that happened a week ago, why is he still so nervous about it.

Yang: oh, so you don't know.

Blake: i don't know about what?

Yang: after they kissed for the first time a week ago they came across several more mistletoes, they must've found at least fourteen of them just on the last six days, and you know what happens when two people get under a mistletoe right?

Blake: i do. Now it makes more sense on why he's so nervous.

Yang: poor vomit boy must've got a brain damage after kissing ice queen so many times.

Blake: still, how did they managed to get across mistletoes so often like that?

Yang: that you'll have to ask nora.

Blake: nora did that?

Yang: yup.

Blake: and how did she knew exactly when and where would jaune and weiss be together?

Yang: i have no idea. but don't worry about vomit boy, i told nora earlier to not play with the mistletoes anymore since ruby was whining about how jaune would end up broken sooner or later because of the constant kisses.

Blake: still, something seems off about it.

Yang: who cares? It's christmas! We have more urgent matters called 'presents'

*knock-knock*

Yang: *groans* who is it!?

*silence*

Yang: aww come on. . .who's getting the door?

Weiss: why don't you make yourself useful and get the door arc?

Ruby: weiss!

Weiss: what?

Jaune: i-its fine ruby, i'll get the door. *gets up and walks to the door, opening it* hello? *stares at the empty corridor before looking down and noticing a small light blue box* there's a present here.

Ruby: *with stars in her eyes* did santa left something for me!?

Jaune: i don't think so. . . *picks up the box* here says its for weiss schnee.

Weiss: are you serious? *gets up and walks to him, picking the box and opening it*

Yang: so? What is it?

Weiss: its a letter.

Ruby: it's from santa?

Weiss: *rolls her eyes and picks up the small letter* it says 'look up' why do i need to- *looks up, blushing instantly*

Jaune: what? *also looks up, blushing instantly at the sight of yet another mistletoe* h-how did that ended up here!?

Weiss: w-why are you asking me!? I don't know who's been doing this but this trick is already getting old!

Nora: so what!? You know the rules!

Weiss: Yeah we do! Shut up about it!

Jaune: *very red* d-do we really need to do this?

Weiss: *red* i don't want to! But it's not like i have another choice you idiot!

Jaune: *even redder* s-so. . .w-we're kissing a-again?

Weiss: d-don't make a big deal out of this! I-it's not like i want to do this or something like that, let's just end this as quickly as possible, okay?

Jaune: *nods nervously*

Weiss: good.

Ruby: *sighs* didn't you to tell nora to stop with the mistletoes?

Yang: i did, and i thought she was going to stop with them. *looking at nora*

Nora: what?

Yang: weren't you gonna stop with the mistletoes?

Nora: and i did.

Yang: then who put that mistletoe up there?

Nora: *shrugs* no idea.

Yang: so you've been spreading mistletoes all around them on the last few days but this one in specific wasn't you?

Nora: *raises eyebrow* what are you talking about?

Yang: the mistletoes you've been placing around for a week! That's what i'm talking about!

Nora: i have no idea what you're talking about.

Yang: don't play dumb nora, you told me that you were the one who placed the mistletoe on the closet a week ago.

Nora: yeah, i did but that was it, i didn't placed any other besides that.

Yang: wait, so if you didn't put those around, then who did? *looks at ruby*

Ruby: don't look to me, i don't want my best friend to lose his mind.

Yang: blake?

Blake: *raises eyebrow* do i look like i would do this?

Yang: no, you don't. ren?

Ren: *shrugs*

Yang: pyr-

Pyrrha: *glaring mortal daggers at the mistletoe*

Yang: *terrified* y-yeah, it probably wasn't you either.

Ruby: so if it wasn't any of us, then who did?

Blake: i don't know, but to be able to get them so often like that it would need to be someone close to us.

Yang: that knows where and when jaune and weiss are going to be together. . .

Ruby: someone that can have as many mistletoes as the person wants. . .

Blake: and that has access to all the places we've seen so far. . .

Nora: someone very smart and that could do all of this without raising any suspicions. . .

Yang: and that would benefit from jaune and weiss kissing all the time. . .

R_BY/Nora: someone like. . . *looks directly at weiss*

Weiss: what are you all mumbling about? A-and why are you all giving me this creepy look!?

R_BY/Nora: *smirking*

Nora: soo, is there something you wanna share with us weiss?

Weiss: *nervously* w-what are you talking about?

Yang: come to think of it, you and jaune had to kiss under a mistletoe that suddenly appeared on the doorway of our room after we left to the library a few days ago, right?

Weiss: right.

Yang: and you were the last one to leave the room on that day, right?

Weiss: so what?

Yang: so you had the perfect change to place the mistletoe on the room without we noticing.

Weiss: *red* t-that's ridiculous! Why would i do that!?

Blake: because you knew that jaune would try to apologise to you, so you took the opportunity to lure him into your trap and get another kiss from him.

Ruby: you have access to all places we've seen mistletoes so far.

Nora: and you have more than enough money to buy these mistletoes.

Weiss: *very red* t-that d-d-doesn't make a-any sense! W-why would i d-do t-t-that!?

Jaune: yeah, i-i mean, she doesn't even like me. Why would she do that?

Yang: yeah ice queen, why are you doing that? Don't tell me you developed a crush on jaune?

Weiss: N-NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!!!

Yang: really? *grins* then you won't mind if i take your place right?

RWB_/JNPR: WHAT!?

Yang: what? *gets up and walks to them* you said you don't like him, right?

Weiss: r-right.

Yang: so i'll do you a favor and kiss him for you, you already kissed him more than enough and since you hate him so much i think i can do that for you.

Weiss: what!? You can do that!?

Yang: yeah, it's on the rules. so don't worry about it ice queen, i'll take this one for you.

Weiss: . . .

Yang: who knows? If his kiss feel good enough i might take him out for a test drive and maybe buy the whole package.

Weiss: wha- are you serious!?

Yang: i sure am! So? Ready for some action ladykiller?

Jaune: *very red* i-i- uhmm. . .well. . .

Weiss: *visibly shaking* . . .

Yang: *licks her lips* well, here i go. *holds jaune's shoulder and leans closer and closer, until-*

Weiss: STOP!!!

Yang: *halts and looks back at her with a grin* stop? Why?

Weiss: BECAUSE I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN KISS HIM!!! *flinches and covers her mouth, her face burning red*

Yang: *grin gets wider* you are?~ and why?

Weiss: *looking away* . . .

Yang: not gonna tell me? Fine, then i think i'll have to kiss him. *leans on jaune again*

Weiss: BECAUSE I LIKE HIM!!!

Yang: you do?

Jaune: *dark red* you do!?

Weiss: *very red and looking away* i-i do. . . *sighs* at the beginning i thought you were only after me because of my name and wealth. . .but. . .after the ball, i realized that you genuinely cared for me, and that realization made me open my eyes to see how you really are *fidgeting* i was trying to avoid it but there more i learned about you. . . *blushing more* the more i fell for you.

Jaune: *speechless*

Weiss: i wanted to just be able to open up about what i felt but every time you came around i started to get nervous and got mean to you as a reflex. . .and when we got under that mistletoe and. . .*blushing even more* k-kissed. . .it was amazing to me.

Jaune: . . .

Weiss: . . .and i wanted to try it again, so i bought as many mistletoes as i could and hired some people to help me place them in key spots around the academy where i knew i would be with you. . .i-im sorry for not being more direct about my feelings, it's just that i've never felt like this before, and had no idea on how to act, specially after being so mean to you during most of the year. . .i'll understand if you don't want anything to do with me.

Jaune: w-what!? It's not like that!

Weiss: *staring at him*

Jaune: *blushes* i-i mean. . .yeah, i felt bad after kissing you these last few days but it was because i thought you were being forced to it, and i thought that you hated me because of that. . .i felt guilty because while i thought you hated, i really really liked kissing you.

Weiss: *even redder*

Jaune: they weren't long, b-but i really enjoyed them.

Weiss: m-me too. . .i just hope i can make up for what i did one day.

Yang: why wait? I don't know if you realized ice queen, but you two are still under that mistletoe, and you haven't kissed yet.

Jaune/Weiss: *dark red*

Yang: *grins* so why don't you give him a real kiss this time? Y'know, to make up for the previous ones.

Weiss: well. . .i-if you don't mind. . .

Jaune: i don't! I-i mean, i don't. . .

Weiss: so, can i?

Jaune: s-sure. . . *leans down nervously*

Weiss: *gulps holding his face* . . . *tiptoes, slowly placing her lips on top of his, this time they both seem to melt into the kiss and enjoy it while it lasted*

Jaune: *breaking for oxygen* t-that. . .was. . .

Weiss: . . .wow.

Jaune: yeah. . .wow.

Yang: that's good, finally a decent kiss.

Weiss: . . . . *pulls him down into another kiss*

Yang: wow, that one is good too, but you two didn't needed to kiss again.

Jaune: *wraps arms around her waist and lifts her without breaking the kiss*

Blake: wow, they're really going for it.

Weiss: *digging her fingers into his golden locks as their kiss evolves into a heated make out*

Ruby: aren't they getting a bit too much into it.

Jaune: *carries weiss to his bed, laying her on it and getting on top of her, their making out getting more and more heated*

Blake: should we stop them?

Weiss: *inserts her hands on his hoodie to feel his toned chest*

Nora: why? *starts recording with her scroll* this is getting really good.

Jaune: *starts getting down, kissing and nibbling her neck*

Weiss: *moan* j-jaune~!

Ren: i think we should give them some privacy. *throws nora over his shoulder and walks away*

Nora: *whines*

Blake: agreed *walks away*

Yang: you two are coming as well. *throws pyrrha and ruby over her shoulder*

Ruby: *crying* b-but my presents!

Pyrrha: *in a state of comatose*

Yang: have fun you two! *leaves*

Jaune: *stops working on her neck* oh, and by the way, merry christmas snow angel.

Weiss: *breathless* right. . .merry christmas for you too. . .now please keep going.

Jaune: no need to ask twice snow angel. . .i can call you snow angel now right? *gets back to attacking her neck*

Weiss: *loud moan* anything you want just don't stop now!

(Wow, this is probably the longest story i've ever written here, it was so long that i had to delete a fourth of it to fit in here, so if you're curious about how the full version is i'll leave a link down here)

#rwby #jaune arc #weiss schnee #jaune x weiss #jaune arc x weiss schnee #weiss schnee x jaune arc #rwby white knight #rwby whiteknight #whiteknight #white knight #ruby rose #yang xiao long #blake belladona #nora valkyrie #pyrrha nikos #lie ren

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laserdog10 · 4 years

Text

Legacy Epilogue, part 2: Recovery

*It had been three days since Blossom’s incident with her Silver Eyes. Ruby and Jaune, with the rest of their kids, Garnet and Citrus, took her to the nearest hospital in hopes of helping get rid of the after-affects of using them for the first time. It didn’t particularly surprise Ruby that her daughter would suffer some repercussions of using her Grimm slaying power, but something was...different this time around. Their wait didn’t have to be prolonged further when the nurse came into the lobby.*

Nurse: Ummm, Mr. and Mrs. Rose-Arc?

Jaune: That’s us.

Nurse: Good! Right this way please.

*The family stood up and followed her down the hall to Blossom’s room, the nurse detailing on her condition*

Nurse: She-

Garnet: Give it to us straight doc, is our sister gonna live?

Citrus: Is she dying?!

Nurse: What!? Oh heavens no, dears! Blossom’s fine, she’s just temporarily blind is all.

Garnet/Citrus: Whew...

Ruby: Blind...?

Nurse: Unfortunately, we’ve tried everything that would’ve normally worked. We did take note that eye-drops helped clear up some dried blood behind her eyes. Other than that, they are still bloodshot and her pupils are still constricted.

Jaune: Is surgery going to be an option?

Nurse: It’s a low possibility, but given that Blossom is a Silver Eyed Warrior like you Mrs. Rose, I don’t assume you have a, how you say, solution of a “magical persuasion?

*The couple shared a nervous laugh.*

Jaune: Uuuhhh, heh, we do know one, in the form of a...wizard professor.

Nurse: OH! You mean Ozpin?

Ruby: He may be our only solution right now.

Nurse: Right...*writes on her clipboard*...give us a minute, we’ll get a wheelchair for your daughter on her way out! I’ll give you some time to talk with her until then. *turns to leave, but stops and turns after a few steps* By the way Garnet, do you mind if I ask why you’re only wearing one glove?

*Garnet instinctively grabbed his right arm. Underneath the baggy sweater he wore was an intricate assortment of a glove, straps, and bindings over the charred surface of his arm, keeping an other-worldly being at bay*

Garnet: I-it’s...a long story, ma’am...

Nurse: Ah, my mistake, sweetie. Well, I best go get that wheelchair, goodbye!

Rose-Arcs: Bye!

-Inside Blossom’s room-

*Being blind wasn’t so bad, even if it was only temporary...maybe. Okay, it was honestly scary, and while her other senses were enhanced, Blossom hated not seeing her surroundings. She knew she was in a bed, she knew the T.V. was on playing cartoons, she knew as alone in her room with gauze over her eyes waiting for her family or the nurse. But, this did give her time to be with her thoughts, “Welp, first time using my powers and look where I end up. Bet you’re pretty proud of me, o’ God of Light, eh? Did...mom ever have to go through this, did she get knocked out after her eyes activated, and what caused them to activate? Was Aunt Maria as inexperienced as me, or another prodigy? What about grandma Summer, did she struggle as much as I am right now? Heh, I should know the answer by now.....I’m just a weak link in a line of strong warriors. I’m a failu-”*

*A click is heard as her door opens*

Jaune/Ruby: Heeeeeyyy!

Blossom, snapping out of her trance: Ah! Hi mom, hi dad!

Garnet: You feeling okay?

Blossom: Aside from not being able to see and my self-esteem being at a pretty big low, I’d say I’m pretty okay.

Citrus: So is that a no...?

Blossom: *sigh* I don’t even know anymore.....

Jaune: Listen, the doctor said you’re going to be fine, and you’re not in pain right?

Blossom: I guess, but what about surgery?

Ruby: We won’t have to, we’re taking you to Ozpin.

The kids: Uncle Oz?!

Blossom: What’s he gonna do to help me?

Ruby: If I’m playing my cards right, most likely heal your eyes with whatever magic he has left.

Garnet: Which is basically limitless???

Ruby: Yup!

Everyone: Awesome.

Garnet: BUT, before the nurse gets back...I wanna try something.

Blossom: Garnet, I swear to the gods, I will shove my boot up your ass when I see again...

Jaune: Language!

Blossom: But dad!?

Citrus: Do it!

Blossom: Ughhh, fine..... *lifts the gauze off one eye, cracked lines of red on the silver surface of her pupil, still constricted*

Garnet: How many fingers am I holding up?

Blossom: Uuuuuhhhh...ssssssssix?????

Citrus: Nope! Three!

Blossom, red: You both suck...

Garnet/Citrus: *snickering*

-Beacon Courtyard-

Jaune: Ahhh, good to be back.

Ruby: It feels so surreal coming back here. To think we met here for the first time...

Jaune: But hey, look where we are right now. *takes her hand in his*

Ruby, leaning her head on his shoulder: Would we want it for anything else?

Jaune: No way, Crater Face. *kisses her forehead*

Garnet: *fake wretches* There is a time and place and this is not one of them!

Citrus: *hiding behind her hands but peeking through one*

Blossom: Y’know, this is the one perk of being blind, but hearing it is so much worse somehow.

Jaune: Oh hush, we’re just loving each other.

Blossom: Can we go see Uncle Oz now?

Ruby: Hahaha, yes.

---

Front Desk: Sir, the Rose-Arcs are on their way to see you.

Ozpin: Thank you.

*The now mortal Wizard of Remnant took a sip from his trusted and beloved mug, filled with his favorite brew of coffee. Letting out a content sigh, he adjusted the picture on his table of him, his wife Glynda Goodwitch, and his daughter Olivia. His gaze returned to the opening doors of his office, his two former students walking in*

Oz: Ah, Ruby and Jaune! Pleasure to see you two agai-...oh dear. *he exclaimed when he saw Blossom*

Blossom: Eheh, hey, Uncle Oz...

Oz: Ummm, may I ask what happened to you dear?

Ruby: Guess who used her Silver Eyes for the first time.

Oz: Oh! Pardon me...er, how did this happen?

Jaune: Training, but from the looks of it, she blinded herself.

Oz: ... *stands from his chair, concern on his face*

Ruby: Professor...?

Oz: First, tell me how this all happened.

*And so Ruby did; the test dummy Beowolf, the tip she gave to Blossom to properly use her eyes, the six wings of light that appeared from her daughter’s eyes, Blossom getting knocked unconscious because of her own eyes. Throughout it all, Ozpin’s concern seemed to dampen, and more to understanding*

Oz: Forgive me, but...this is quite unheard off, even to me.

Blossom: ...

Jaune: So what you’re saying is...?

Oz: We could be looking at the most powerful Silver Eyed Warrior in the history of Remnant.

Ruby/Jaune: !!!

Blossom: Pffffft hahaha! Alright, good joke Uncle Oz, but I seriously couldn’t be “the strongest S.E.W. in all of Remnant!” Right, haha?

Ruby/Jaune/Oz: ............

Blossom: Why is no one else laughing?

Oz, walking from his desk: Allow to me elaborate, dear. *he began as green electricity surrounded his index finger, to which he then poked Blossom on her forehead with it*

Blossom: OW! What the heck?!

*Just as she said that, her eyes felt an odd buzz as the magic took effect. The strain on her pupils lessened, the stinging of the veins around her eyes dissipated, and the stuck feeling of the dried blood behind them went away completely*

Oz, smiling: Now take off your bandages.

Blossom: *hands slightly shaking, she undoes the gauze around her head* I...*as she opens her eyes, Blossom is greeted by the sight of her uncle’s office, looking to her sides she saw her mother and father, tears of joy welling in her silver orbs* ...I can see!

Oz: Such as my magic, consider your power a miracle, something amazingly so one of a kind. But what you’re doing right now, is trying to be someone you are not, fearing that you won’t be a great Silver Eyed Warrior. You may not think it now, but trust me, your ability to slay Grimm is going to become something wonderfu-

Blossom: But what if it doesn’t, what if I don’t live up to this greatness of the people that came before me? What if I can’t become like my mom and grandma Summer!?

Ruby: ...

Jaune: Blossom...

*Everything made sense now. Blossom’s training, her pushing herself and forcing her Silver Eyes to work, why she didn’t tell Ruby or Jaune sooner. Ozpin chuckled and walked back to his desk chair*

Oz: That is because you won’t, you can’t, you can only be yourself. You can’t push yourself to master your abilities at the same pace as your mother or grandmother. You have to let your power come at its own time, for not only will it lead to less harm, no one will fault you for it.

Blossom, tears falling down her cheeks: I...*sniff*...I...

Jaune: No one’s perfect, sweetie, how did you think we fared when we became Huntsmen?

Blossom: *sniff* Probably poorly?

Ruby: Huge understatement, why do you think we call each other “Crater Face” and “Vomit Boy?” *she laughed, hugging her then kissing Blossom on the head* Thank you so much, Ozpin.

Oz: You are very welcome, Mrs. Rose. *as they got up to leave, Oz took on more swig of his coffee, but not before one last thing he had to say to the young reaper* And Blossom?

Blossom: Huh?

Oz: I hope no more stunts like this will occur in the future? Glynda and I already had to deal with that when your parents enrolled here.

Blossom, nervous: W-welll...! I’ll try not to? Haha.

Jaune: We’ll keep eye on her, sir!

Blossom: Was that intentional?

Jaune: Oh...my bad.

*The family laughed their way to the elevator, meanwhile Oz adjusted his glasses, having a laugh himself*

Oz: Hm, the youth is like a bonfire, bright and full of potential, but in need of a little guidance.

---

Ruby: Do you promise to come to me when you have trouble using your eyes?

Blossom: Pinky promise.

Jaune: And next time use a test weapon on the dummy, can’t have you dull Aureum Mortem’s edge, now can we?

Blossom: I can sharpen it again! *she said defensively but cracking a smile*

Jaune: I’m sure you can. *smiles, pats her on the head*

Ruby: Now where are your brother and sister?

“Wooooooohoooooo!!!”

*As if on cue the duo of reaper siblings peeled around the hall, Garnet utilizing his Spring Maiden magic to propel himself forward, Citrus riding piggyback on her older brother. As they reached the lobby Garnet’s flight came to a halt*

Garnet: Found your team’s old rooms!

Ruby: How did you know which was which?

Garnet: *pulls out his scroll to show a room with four holes in its ceiling* Aunt Weiss told us about your “bunk beds.”

Citrus: And I think I found one of Aunt Nora’s old shirts in the opposite room. *pulls out a wrinkly black shirt with the word “boop” on its front* Found it in the closet.

Jaune: So that’s where that went! Tell you what, you can keep, just your size too.

Citrus: *smiles, then puts the shirt on over her current one* Thank you!!!

Ruby: Be prepared if she wants it back though. *exhales* Right, been a long day for us, who’s ready to go take nap back home?

Everyone: Me!

Ruby: Roger that. Rose-Arcs, move out!

*Trekking to the car, Blossom once again had time to collect her thoughts. “I had hurt myself from thinking I could recreate what my mom could do, try to be like her...be the perfect warrior, exactly like the S.E.W’s that lived before me. But I’m not, I’m not perfect, but my power is mine, and I WILL make it so that power will be able to help others and rid Remnant of the Grimm once and for all. Yeah, I can do this!”*

Legacy -fin-

#rwby #ruby rose #jaune arc #ozpin #rwby lancaster #lancaster kids #garnet rose-arc #blossom rose-arc #citrus rose-arc #AND IT IS FINISHED!!!#small shout out to carlottastudios for helping me on what to write what ozpin would say to blossom! you were a monumental help!

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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230. Sonic the Hedgehog #162

The Darkest Storm (Part One): Gathering the Tempest

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: James Fry Colors: Jason Jensen

This three-part arc is a great example of how Ian is using his early time with the comic to sort of clean up and consolidate a lot of loose ends into something a little more coherent. For example, it's about time we learned a little more about Anonymous. Apparently, whoever it is has decided that the time has come to eliminate several key players in Mobius' eternal struggle for power, in pursuit of some unknown ultimate goal. Strangely enough, whoever it is seems to be interested in destroying Sonic as well - perhaps due to Sonic's tendency to stop any attempts to take over the world - but doesn't seem to want to undermine Eggman. After all, remember that the very first thing Anonymous ever did was send Eggman a "gift" of re-roboticized Mobians. Anonymous has decided to use Knothole as a staging ground for whatever they're planning next, and begins the process of setting their plan in motion…

In Knothole, King Elias attempts to restore Sonic's knighthood as thanks for everything he's done for the kingdom. However, Sonic refuses, saying he's not too concerned with titles and that there's already a knight in the family, in the form of Uncle Chuck. However, Elias says that as a new king, he's trying to restore the Court of Acorn to advise him, including calling on some old members… two of which have just showed up to visit Tails.

Oh man, remember Sir Connery from StH#45? The incredibly forgettable and random horse knight guy who works for the Ancient Walkers and hates "dark magicks" and whatnot? Yeah, I guess nowadays he just follows Merlin around to protect him from anything bad that comes at him. In New Megaopolis, Eggman is thrilled that the "biofield deletion" has nearly completed on all his Mobian captives in the Egg Grapes. Apparently, once they're drained of all their life energy, he can use the husks of their bodies to kind of "filter" the energy from the Zone of Silence into something stable and usable, which just once again reminds us of how utterly terrifying this iteration of Eggman is compared to his counterpart in the games and anime. Like, Jesus Christ, dude, at least games Eggman doesn't casually torture thousands of people just because he can! He even admits to M that there's probably a more efficient way to accomplish his goals, but it just wouldn't be as fun. He asks A.D.A.M. if there's been any luck identifying Anonymous yet, but A.D.A.M. replies that he still hasn't found anything, which frustrates Eggman even more. Weirdly enough, he seems to think that Anonymous is the one who released his nanites several issues ago, even though we know that it was just A.D.A.M. interpreting his orders a little too liberally.

Also, it's time to resurrect a dropped plot thread from some time ago. Remember how the Ancient Walkers were supposed to be dying and all? Well despite the fact that we haven't heard anything on that in some time, apparently they are totally still dying, and despite Athair and Aurora in the afterlife trying to reassure them that they'll find a way to save them with Merlin's help, they seem to have accepted their impending death, naming Aurora, Athair, and Merlin as their successors who must keep the world in balance once they're gone. Wow, Aurora may already be a deity in her own right, but the other two are about to get an exciting upgrade on life! And they're gonna need to start using it too, because back in Knothole, right as Merlin, Sir Connery, and Tails are heading to the castle to meet with the king, they're set upon by some familiar faces.

Ah, so these guys have picked a new name, huh? It's just as well, the "Fearsome Foursome" would hardly work anymore with there being six of… wait… hang on a second. Weren't these guys supposed to be roboticized by Anonymous? Not only that, but Sonic and the fake Tommy destroyed those roboticized forms a while back… so how are they still here, alive and well? Sonic doesn't even appear to notice the discrepancy once he rushes in to help along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters (including Sally!), merely mocking their new name before he and his friends knock them all out. Knuckles and his team stay behind to make sure they don't get away, while the Freedom Fighters lead the guests to the castle. Sir Connery explains that his sword is the Sword of Light, given to him by the Ancient Walkers, which has the power to purge evil magic, and he's been guarding Merlin for the express purpose of making sure that Mammoth Mogul, stuck in his Chaos Emerald, can't ever escape again. Interestingly enough, thousands of years ago the Ancient Walkers actually saw what Mogul would become in the future, and decided that while they weren't gonna bother actually stopping him, they would at least put a curse on his emerald so that his plans would always eventually fail. Of course, however, things can't just be that easy.

Oh lord, not the Sword of Acorns again. Sally recaps how she got rid of the thing because it was getting entirely too possessive of her (literally), giving it to Uma Arachnis' children for safekeeping. However, this turns out to have been a terrifically bad idea, as while Sonic confidently assures everyone that they can get it back and save the Ancient Walkers, said children of Arachnis are all busy swarming into Eggman's base. Just as the biofield deletion completes on the captured Mobians, killing them all for good, the ninjas strike, at the same time that the Egg Grapes suddenly and mysteriously power back on. M carries her father to safety, and the ninjas hold up the sword, which tears a hole between dimensions, causing a number of effects. For one, the void fuses permanently with the Zone of Silence, stabilizing it and increasing its raw power. For another, all Eggman's soulless Mobian husks are sucked into the void to facilitate this process, meaning he just lost all his precious work. And finally…

Welp! Goodbye, Ancient Walkers! I honestly can't say I'll miss you, you weird plot devices you. Back in Knothole, in the middle of a short speech about working together to create a better future, the emerald in Merlin's hand suddenly shatters, and when the light fades everyone is horrified to see Mogul standing in front of them, ready to go about conquering the world once more…

Ties That Bind

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: J&A Ray

This story actually isn't separate from the one above, but takes place concurrently - presumably either right before what we saw above, or directly during, after M evacuated Eggman from the Egg Grape Chamber. Snively is working in one of Knothole's labs, but it's with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, feeling like he doesn't really know why he's here, as he's always been aligned with villains, never heroes. He finds himself comparing himself to his half-sister Hope, who has easily settled into life amongst Mobians despite her species. However, his ruminations don't last long, as someone has decided to come and visit him personally.

Man, Eggman, when did you gain the ability to just teleport into Knothole whenever you want? Seems like you'd be using that a lot more to sabotage stuff behind everyone's backs. Snively asks for a moment to himself before going back, which Eggman surprisingly grants him, and he rushes outside to find Hope. He tries making some awkward small talk with her, complimenting her on the plane she's building and casually mentioning that it could take her very far away from here, which only makes her wonder what the heck he's getting at.

I really love this. Snively was already an interesting character, and under Ian's writing he's quickly becoming a truly complex and fascinating one. Despite hating his uncle, he's always held some amount of loyalty to him, and now we see that he seems to truly care about Hope's wellbeing, recognizing that she's an innocent in all this and not wanting her to die in Eggman's planned attack on the village. That said, he's still selfish, and ultimately betrays the Mobians once again to go back to his uncle's side, even thinking to himself, standing inside one of Eggman's Egg Fleet ships, how ironic it is given how much betraying he's already done of both sides, in both wars. He asks Eggman why he's even bothering to trust him, knowing of his traitorous nature, and Eggman says that he fully knows Snively intends to try to betray him again in the future, and will be happily awaiting his attempt so he can thwart it, prompting Snively to remark it's "just like old times." What an interesting and strange relationship these two have. And what an interesting outlook Eggman has, not being particularly concerned with his minions wishing to betray him and even seeing it as all some kind of twisted game. Honestly, if there's any character that I think was universally improved by Ian with no drawbacks whatsoever, it's Snively, and we'll get to see even more of that improvement and depth in the future.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 162 #writer: ian flynn #pencils: james fry #pencils: tracy yardley #colors: jason jensen #colors: joshua d ray #colors: aimee r ray

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qqueenofhades · 5 years

Note

I know you dont watch GoT anymore. And that Braime and Sansa are your favorites. But I know you've read the books and are obviously really interested in the story. And I was just wondering what your thoughts are on the whole Jon killing Dany thing? Is that something you can see happening in the books? And if it is do you think it'd be in the same context as the show did it?

Ahaha, welp. Just jumping right in there.

(Also, you never have to apologise for asking GOT/ASOIAF questions. I obviously have been a fan for 16 years and wrote fuckin’ TNR with its half-million-plus words, so I clearly do have Thoughts on the story/characters, especially with the bag of lukewarm cat vomit that was s8 of the show.)

I already answered this ask discussing how much I hated the Mad Queen Dany thing, both because a) it was horrifically badly handled and b) these mediocre misogynist douchegobblers have managed to outdo themselves in terms of the gross messages they’ve sent about women, after 8 seasons of that. (These are the same people who made Sansa say that she was grateful for her rapes and who claimed that Dany’s turn into madness was foreshadowed by her having a “chilly” reaction to the death of her abuser, Viserys, in s1, so…. make of that what you will.) I’m not saying that it was narratively impossible, especially since GRRM has been toying with the same thing in the books and has more than his own share of Male Author Syndrome. But at the start of 8x04, Dany is in Winterfell, perfectly sane, toasting Arya as hero of the battle. By the end of 8x06, she’s crazy, a war criminal, and dead, murdered by her boyfriend, because… well, something something plot reasons. Even if you didn’t like Dany or were rooting for her to go mad or whatever, that was wildly badly handled.

I personally think it would be pretty gross for GRRM to also go down the Mad Queen route, though at least if he does, we will have had Dany’s POV chapters beforehand and presumably something resembling a justification and a building narrative momentum toward it. But she also got stuck in Meereen for so long because by his own admission he didn’t know what to do with her there or how to get her out of the situation and moved onto Westeros, which remains, theoretically, her outstanding goal in the books. It would obviously not be outside the realm of possibility for this to happen, given GRRM’s focus on “grittiness” that the show took to max factor 5000. I would still find it reductive and trying to make a Clever Postmodern Point and etc if it happened in the books, because literally why invest us in a character this long, especially one who has tried so hard to overcome the circumstances of her past/to not be her father, and then just do exactly that? Obviously there would be elements of Shakespearean tragedy to it, and if done well it could be compelling, but I personally just have a different approach to fiction and what people want out of a story (especially one now as famous as GOT/ASOIAF and how universally betrayed everyone seems to feel by the ending). I’m not saying Dany’s ultimate ending needs to be sunshine and roses and getting what she wants, because often character arcs and resolutions become all the more powerful for being subverted and thwarted (think the “I said I wanted [x] but [y] was there instead” sort of endings). But whatever it is, it needs to be…. not that.

Also, Jon in both books and especially show has been the epitome of Mediocre White Man. I stopped watching in s4, but Kit Harington’s acting was so wooden and the writing for him was very much Standard Misunderstood Brooding Fantasy Hero that I could barely pay attention to his scenes. I find him somewhat more interesting in the books, though ADWD dragged for everyone and it was obvious GRRM was writing in circles. But everyone has noticed that especially in the show, Jon does absolutely bupkis. His ass is constantly saved by the women in his life, he makes an absolute hash of any power that he is given and doesn’t want it anyway, and his ultimate ending was…. going back to the Night’s Watch (as their idea of satisfying narrative storytelling is to literally put everyone back where they were in the very first episode, apparently). Never mind the fact that there’s no need for the Night’s Watch, but the point is, even the fact that Jon is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son ended up being relevant for like half an episode. That has been one of the major plot points/secrets of the books (although not so much anymore) and it just…. fizzled out like a damp squib. Dany actually TRIED for multiple seasons to be a good ruler and to learn how to handle power and become a queen, so for her to have to be the one to die for Jon to once again do diddlysquat is… well, as I have said before, the misogyny leaps out. They ended up wasting so much potential and so many other things that were also foreshadowed (and far more convincingly than “wah wah she was gonna go evil!”). For this? So Jon can just go brood in the snow again? Cool.

Not to mention, I find it gross on principle that Dany’s boyfriend had to be the one to kill her, especially after rape/sexual violence/loss of agency was such a big part of her early-season storylines (and how horrifyingly and grossly that has been handled on the show overall). We’re obviously supposed to sympathize with Jon in this scenario and to feel that it is justified to “stop a tyrant” or whatever. Also, if the episode was going to be called “Queenslayer,” why the fuck wasn’t it Jaime fulfilling the valonqar prophecy, another thing they forgot about, and killing Cersei, at great personal grief/cost, to once more stop an insane monarch from burning down King’s Landing? But that, of course, would be actual character development/overall arc, and they preferred to also trash that by having Jaime “killed Aerys Targaryen literally to save half a million innocent people and lived with his reputation being destroyed ever after” Lannister unironically claim that he never cared about the lives of the innocent and only wanted Cersei. After she again tried to kill him and Tyrion like three days ago, not even to mention what they did to Brienne and with that whole arc, but I will have a ragestroke if I think about it too much.

Basically, the ending wasn’t “bittersweet.” It was tragic, reductionist, ham-handed, hugely disappointing for everyone who put years of investment into these characters, and ended up in the amusing position of making Bran Stark the younger and more beautiful queen who comes to cast Cersei down. He became king because… reasons? Whatever? And he knows literally everything about everyone thanks to being the Three-Eyed Raven, so there’s no way that can go horribly wrong. He has basically done nothing except sit in a wheelchair and look creepy for several years now, his arc has never been remotely about being king, and Isaac Hempstead-Wright himself is apparently on record as saying he genuinely thought it was a joke script when he read it. This after both Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington broke down over learning what happened to their characters/Kit apparently realized it for the first time at the read-through and was horrified. Emilia already talked about wandering for five hours and having a crisis and calling her mom and asking to be talked off the ledge like….. fictional choices/characters completely aside, that’s a gross thing to do to your actors. I know they’re all proud of their work and they have apparently and understandably been defensive about the existence of the petition to rewrite s8, but they’ve all been pretty clear, while still being professional and supportive, that there is stuff that they’re just as much WTF about as we are.

Basically, as everyone keeps saying, the acting, cinematography, visual effects, music, etc was clearly up to as high a standard as ever, but was betrayed fundamentally and comprehensively by this god-awfully shit writing by a couple of hacks who clearly rushed the final season to get on to ruining working on Star Wars. They have also been on record about saying “you can’t do what the audience expects or it’ll get boring blah blah blah,” which is a profoundly flawed storytelling strategy if you’re paranoid and trying to outsmart your audience and do something that nobody has ever thought of because you’re an Intellectual Postmodern Commentator On Our Violent Society. If your audience can guess where a story is going, but are still surprised by major twists along the way that then make sense in hindsight, you’ve done your job. If you’re relying on grimdark and cramming in gimmicky plot twists and deus ex machinas and Shocking Moments rather than authentically developing your story, it’s going to bite you in the ass in a big way, as was just proven.

Nobody expected a completely happy ending from GoT. But the fact that they went to such lengths, especially in s8, to build up characters/ships (Jonerys, Braime, Gendrya were all torched after major canon moments completely unexpected by fans, especially the latter two – why even include it unless to just be more Tragique, and Gendrya is the only one that has even a chance in the future since half of it didn’t end up idiotically dead) and then just wrecked all of it…. as I’ve said, good endings don’t need to be rainbows and unicorns and kittens. But if you’ve asked eight years of audience investment, there has to be something that makes it worth it and that doesn’t make everyone feel like they were duped and stupid to get involved in the first place. They have been beating the “it’s a hard world and bad things happen to the characters” drum for all they’re worth, but… it’s just bad. You can analyse and ask why the hell they did things and so forth, but it’s bad. At this rate, the show should have either ended after 8x03, or they should have taken the money HBO offered and done the proper 10 episodes and let Bryan Cogman write all of them. He was the only one who appeared to remotely give a shit about the characters, and since D&D wrote the last four episodes themselves, yeah, this disaster is on them.

Fortunately, I left the show years ago and have TNR and am used to ignoring their version of things. And I knew all along that they never really got the characters or the story. But I feel really bad for everyone who has had this thrown back in their face, and it seems like a communal disenchantment with this ending is going to enter the pop-culture consciousness on a possibly unprecedented level. So if GRRM does do the Mad Queen Dany killed by Jon in the books (though he has apparently called the show’s ending “traumatic”), I’ll probably still not like it. He has a chance to sell me it on/justify it to me narratively, which the show categorically failed to do. I don’t think I will, just because as I said, I don’t like anything about it, but yes.

Anyway. This is a long post already, and I probably have more to say still, but it’s pretty obvious I think it’s just really, really bad, and that’s about the essence of it.

#got #got spoilers #got critical #anonymous #ask

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afriendlyirin · 6 years

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So, there’s something I have to get off my chest about the recent Steven Universe episodes (5x17-5x24). I’m really... not pleased with the reveal and the way the following episodes handled it. I honestly feel really... “betrayed” sounds overdramatic, so let’s go with “let down”.

tl;dr I feel that the twist ironically loops back around to not being a twist in a way that reinforces some sexist tropes, and Heart of the Crystal Gems feels like it’s paring down the nuance I loved so much about the way the show handled previous issues.

Spoilery details below the cut.

So, I theorized Rose shattered Pink Diamond long before we were told. The more we learned about Rose and Pink Diamond, the more I thought the theory they were the same person was absurd -- but the logistical details of just how implausible this scenario is are tangential here.

More than anything, the Rose-is-Pink-Diamond theory did not make sense to me thematically. Steven Universe is a story about caste rebellion: about breaking out of the boxes people make for you, and fighting for that independence against those who would try to put you back in the box. A common soldier becoming a general who struck down an untouchable queen is the perfect apotheosis of that. In the story we were told, Rose Quartz is a nobody who becomes somebody, a commoner who becomes a princess because the caste system is a lie and anyone can be what they want. I found that a very powerful, important, and relateable message. I want to believe that my life will not determined by the circumstances of my birth. I want to believe that anyone, even a nobody like me, can make a difference in the world. I want the kids watching this show to grow up believing that too. I really appreciated that Steven Universe gave me that message, and rejected the endless litany of royalty and genetics and bloodlines that so inundates our media.

But “A Single Pale Rose” flipped that on its head. Now Rose is just the age-old trope of the royal masquerading as a commoner. Now Rose did not break the caste system, she upheld it. It was never in question that diamonds could be whatever they wanted: they were the only ones who could be and that was why the gem caste system was wrong.

What message does this send to us? That sure, commoners can rise up, but we still need to rely on royalty. It ironically reinforces the legitimacy of the caste system to learn that no, none of the gems would have rebelled if someone with privilege didn’t teach them how to.

And, yeah, there’s now also the subtext that if Rose really had shattered Pink Diamond, that would have been wrong. God, I used to insist the SU critical crowd was totally misreading the show when they said it was teaching people that resistance was wrong, but WELP GUESS THEY WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG. I used to think the show was so brave and nuanced for saying that Rose didn’t want to kill someone, but sometimes that’s really the only option and you have to hold the needs of the many over your own desire for ideological purity. Now PSYCHE, everything is sunshine and rainbows forever and what’s really important is that we remember genocidal tyrants have feelings too!

(God, I saw red when Blue told the people whose friends she murdered that they “couldn’t understand the grief she’s endured”. The diamonds got the smallest taste of the way they treat other gems on a regular basis, and they act like it is the greatest injustice in all history. Yeah, they deserve sympathy, but not more than their victims.)

Just... I know I said I didn’t want to get into the logistics, but like, the war apparently lasted a thousand years. If Pink’s “shattering” alone was enough to end the war, she could have done that right at the start and spared all those lives. Or she could have just, I don’t know, told her soldiers to stop making Kindergartens? Pink got untold numbers of gems shattered because... why? Because she didn’t want to sacrifice her privilege and power as Pink Diamond until she was in too deep? That’s not “selfish”, that’s monstrous. Yet the show just... doesn’t acknowledge this at all?

But the thing that upsets me the most about this is that it means all the Rose haters are right now.

I could not stand how awful this fandom was to Rose. I hated how disgustingly, brazenly misogynistic it was, aggressively misreading every single thing she did as “proof” for their day 1 assumption that she must be evil incarnate. I thought I loved that, FOR ONCE, the fat, nice, extroverted older woman was exactly as she appeared. What a good message, I thought, to teach kids they shouldn’t assume women are all lying vixens whose kindness exists only for ulterior motives! But no. The uppity fat woman is evil. Why should I have expected anything different.

I’m also bothered by what this means for Pearlrose... I was never bothered by their relationship before; it was flawed but they were believable and reasonable flaws, especially given that we know gems have trouble with empathy. But no, now Pearl is literally Rose’s property and PROGRAMMED TO OBEY ROSE’S ORDERS. The fact that Rose magnanimously chose not to abuse her terrifying, absolute power over her partner does not make that power dynamic go away. That setup is incredibly disturbing and I really, really wish media would stop romanticizing it.

And I really just... do not agree with the apparent fandom consensus that Pearl “started the rebellion” now? I really don’t understand how one can come to that conclusion. It looks to me that Pearl only facilitated what Rose wanted the whole time. I really liked the idea that Pearl and Rose were equal partners in forming the rebellion, that Pearl really was a renegade with her own ideas and agency. But now she was just going along with what Rose wanted the whole time.

It’s just... sad. I feel like I’ve lost something wonderful. I loved Rose Quartz and her terrifying renegade Pearl. (Remember how “my” was supposed to be something you said to someone above you, like the diamonds, and not about ownership?) But now everything I loved about them was a lie.

This all feels like a case of subverting tropes so much you end up in a circle. Rose actually being nice and actually being a Rose Quartz was the twist, to me. It subverted longstanding narrative conceits about gender and class archetypes. By subverting the subversion, we’ve just gone back to “only nobles are allowed to matter” and “women are liars”.

Everything after that has just been so... weird. It honestly feels like the show is parodying itself? It’s just been this sudden whirlwind tour where everyone dumps their feelings on Steven and gets their entire character arcs resolved in a single episode. On the one hand I do like how cheerful it is and how it’s giving us everything we want... but Steven Universe has never been that kind of show. It’s a show where things frequently could not be resolved in 11 minutes with a hug and a pep talk, because it’s a show that tackles heavy and real issues where the hard truth is that there is no easy solution. Like hey, remember when Lapis couldn’t just get over her PTSD when it was convenient for Steven? I loved that episode for how brave it was and what a good message it sent. Now what am I supposed to think?

I just don’t understand what’s going on anymore. Did the writers just burn out? Was the original plan that Rose really did shatter Pink and the executives forced them to change it at the last minute, because murder is unacceptable but a child stepping over a battlefield littered with corpses is peachy keen? What even.

(Discussion continued here. Logistics of the twist discussed here. Other media that engages with these themes discussed here and here.)

#steven universe #steven universe meta #rose quartz #pink diamond #pink diamond theory #su critical #su spoilers #su spoiler #steven universe spoilers #meta #feminism #classism #media #my posts

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hashtagkairideservedbetter · 5 years

Text

My main issue(s) with KH3

Spoilers abound, so please don’t read if you haven’t beaten the game or don’t want any negative opinions influencing how you see the ending/ the game. I did enjoy several parts of KH3, but this post is focused on things I had issues with, and if you don’t want to see criticism of your media please look elsewhere.

This is how I interpreted the game as someone coming into KH3 with KH2 being the last game I played, and a playlist of youtube videos spanning lets plays, summaries, and humorous deconstructions as a codex.

Here’s the thing. I’ve seen several people already break down how KH3′s story and pacing could have been handled better. Specifically, to more comprehensively tie in the 10,000 plot points that needed to be covered in a way that actually helps connect the main characters. I’m not going to get into all of that, because frankly I can’t fake knowing enough about the background lore of Kingdom Hearts to know how to better juggle all of the intermediary games into KH3.

Most of my grievances honestly lie with the handling of the Destiny Trio and the Disney Worlds.

I’m going to do a read more on this because it’s gonna be a long one. (Also very much a train of thought, so disorganized, sorry).

So. Sora. Protagonist of the game (mostly. kind of?).

A cheerful ray of sunshine.

A Keyblade wielder who has overcome traumatizing ordeals that tore him away from all he loved and knew at least twice now for over three years.

A continuity disaster stuck being pinballed back and forth between happy goofs and hollow tragedies every thirty minutes in between busywork battles and off-scene disney films for 85% of KH3.

I understand that Sora’s greatest power is supposed to be his optimism, as it’s sort of the prerequisite for going through disney worlds where people sing about their problems. I get it.

However, there’s a difference between, “I’m naive and happy and oblivious and that’s why I’m a guardian of the light,” and “I have battled true darkness and felt true loss and decided that choosing to be kind, choosing to embrace joy in new experiences and relationships, is a bigger middle finger to the darkness than anything else.” Guess which one I prefer. Guess which one I was thinking would finally be Sora’s character arc. Instead he’s happy, happy, happy, happy... and then suddenly in the eleventh hour having a mental breakdown.

Sora is written into a loop every game of kind, naive, but unchanging (”Don’t ever change, Sora”). That was endearing when we were both 14, but after almost twenty years it gets tiring to watch Sora get hit with a reset button every time you meet up with him again. There’s a scene in the gummi ship early on in the games where Donald asks Sora to “take this seriously,” and Goofy remarks that they seem to be stuck in a rut as Donald and Sora have the same conversation over and over again before entering the first series of Disney worlds. Sora knows he needs the power of waking in order to help his friends and free those trapped in his heart, but seems content to just drop into various worlds and wing it, and hope that it all sort of works out.

And then when it does work out, and Sora uses the power to save everyone, he’s immediately told he’s doomed now? Like, what was the point of him being able to use this to connect with people if he’s doomed. Why did they want him to have this. What’s the point then of Sora having these strong connections.

Each world makes a big scene about the friendships and connections that Sora makes so easily, but in KH3 there never seems to be enough time for Sora to actually pay them any attention unless the person is right in front of him. Sora seems to make connections for the sake of making connections in KH3, and the ones he has, he does very little to advance or reconnect with.

Like, the whole point of 100 Acre Wood this time was apparently that Sora’s connection to Pooh was weaker for some reason. I honestly didn’t understand the reason or how it was magically resolved just from Sora showing up and saying hi? But whatever.

My two least favorite worlds were Corona and Arendelle, for the same reason. There was no believable connection between Sora and the characters there. For fuck’s sake, the combat ally you get in Arendelle is the snow monster, not even a main character.

Sora is like the living embodiment of the B99 clip of Rosa with her dog. He just met Elsa and spoke a whopping five sentences to her, but damn if he won’t climb a mountain five times just for her to save herself without ever talking to him again. Like, literally that is the only interaction Sora has with Elsa. Same thing with Anna, and in her case I literally had to mute my tv so I could track what she was actually saying since they decided to shove two songs from the movie into this game.

You spend the majority of your time in these worlds trying to play catch up to the leads as they have their movie play out around the bend in the road in front of you, out of your sight. Props to Disney’s ego that they think I remember the beat by beat plots of their films when they came out 9 years ago (Tangled) and 6 years ago (Frozen). I actually had the thought of going and watching Tangled just to remember what Flynn and Rapunzel got up to while Sora wandered around a marsh and had a pointless conversation with Marluxia.

(Also, getting real tired of the “Good to see you Sora” “Who the fuck are you?” “Oh that’s right you don’t remember that game haha it’s fine it was a gameboy game nobody even knows what those are anymore.” That shit was getting old midway through KH2.)

To be fair, the PoTC world suffers from the same problem as the other two. Sora shows up, sees everyone for thirty seconds, gets separated, and while we’re dicking around trying to find white crabs on the islands there’s a whole movie going on that we don’t see or participate in. I feel really bad for anyone who did not keep up with that franchise because I only watched the third movie the once and I was confused as hell. Also, the whole time I was finding the crabs in Port Royal all I could think about was this ProZD video.

I just. I’m 26 years old. These movies hold no nostalgia for me, and maybe that’s the problem. I already had a connection to Aladdin, Peter Pan, etc, so I was maybe more willing to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy the interactions. But those Disney worlds also felt more tied in to the plot. You can make the argument of Marluxia and Larxene putting pressure on Sora to find the Wayfinders so that six princesses of heart aren’t used as backup... but where are the other three? Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, and Kairi make four. Where’s Merida, Tiana, Moana? Mulan or Pocahontas even, since Moana was probably too recent. (But probs not, as it was probably starting development in 2014). If that’s going to be yet another subplot, shouldn’t you at least see it through?

My point is, I can distinctly recall prior games mostly keeping to the established script in the disney worlds, but still letting Sora really get in there and interact with the characters. The heartless, nobodies, etc were a real wrench in the works for the plots, and had an actual effect on how the story was told and the order of events. Sora felt more involved in cutscenes and was an active participant in the world’s events instead of just a bystander.

In KH1 and KH2 there was a dialogue happening between the villain of each world and a greater evil. Hell, in KH1 they were a unified council! In KH3 they’re puppets who don’t even talk to the bigger bad like Randall or Mother Gothel, or are there for a whopping thirty seconds like Hans. It makes it more and more obvious that the Disney worlds are just being shoehorned in as a contractual obligation than for any real purpose anymore.

The only world that’s appeared in all three games, Olympus, was especially jarring. Like, you could tell there was a lot of corners cut on what VAs they could get for this game, as Phil does not speak once. Meg spends more time making eyes at Hercules and nodding than showing any of the sass she has from the film. (This was a thing in KH2 as well tho so I can’t complain about them continuing to drop the ball on even background women characters-- Oh wait, I can, because they’ve had T H I R T E E N YEARS to get it right.)

Which I guess is as good a segue as any into Kairi Time.

Listen. Did I mention I’m 26? Yeah. I started reading fanfic on livejournal. I was there when AO3 first got its start. I’ve seen the shipping wars. I know the dark past of Soriku vs Sokai.

I couldn’t give less of a fuck.

These characters are still 16 and I am now 26. I’m fine with them trading noogies and maybe being able to kick back and play some Mario Kart. Kairi would wipe the floor with both of them because she had time to get good enough to beat Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie combined between KH1 and KH2.

The point is, I don't care one way or the other about shipping. If my 15 year old self were here, they would be horrified I wasn't over the moon when Kairi and Sora finally shared the paopu fruit. As it is, I kind of stared blankly at my screen and went 'huh, there's gonna be a lot of fanfic fixing this moment.' From both sides, I think, because even if you're into Sokai you gotta admit that moment did not feel romantic. It felt forced. Like "Oh hey, we've been putting this off, huh. Welp, here we go!"

It doesn't help that I really, truly, don't like whoever Kairi's VA is in this game. Like, she sounds so ditzy and soft. Get that shit out of here. The dialogue and voice acting in this series has never been its strength, but honestly, I cringed my way through every interaction between Kairi and Axel because of how stilted and bad their conversations were! I’m definitely not saying that Kairi’s voice was stellar in 1 and 2, but at least her voice was clear, and had personality, and by the end of 2 was actually fairly strong. She sounded strong, and determined to be fighting with Sora and Riku, green as she was then, in the World That Never Was.

Whenever she talked in the third one I just sort of grit my teeth and wondered why someone on the production team wanted Kairi to sound so weak.

Then they killed her at the labyrinth and I said, ‘Ah, that tracks.’

I played FFXV, so I guess shame on me for not seeing the signs when the girl love interest is about to be capable and not needing the hero to save her. She gets taken! And killed. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I actually saw people excited about that Verum Rex thing and after seeing the Noctis ripoff reaching for the Luna ripoff covered in purple light I laughed, and laughed. And then sighed and reached for a stiff drink.

All this to say that while I’m angry but not truly surprised that Kairi was once again shafted, I’m all the more pissed that they did it in the laziest, most insulting way possible by hinging it all on Sora needing a reason to fight Xehanort. Like, really???? Really. That’s your angle. The man-pain trope is so painfully overdone. Please. It’s 2019. Come into the future with us, Nomura.

And I feel bad that all of the stuff I just wrote mostly revolves around Kairi being Sora’s romantic interest. But that’s because that’s all this game allowed her to be! Princess of light what? Bequeathed Keyblade wielder in her own right who??? Every battle she and Axel share with Sora they get their asses kicked in 30 seconds flat, so maybe Merlin should have left them suspended in time a little longer. Maybe long enough to convince someone out there in the universe that these two deserved to be competent.

Hell, not just competent. Amazing. Kairi deserved to be able to stand on her own two feet and hold her own. To be running alongside her boys and not just be an object for them to tussle over or save. As Aqua’s somewhat successor, she deserved to be a terrifying wielder of battle magicks and flurries of light magic.

To be replaced by Xion was just insult to injury. Like, I’m very happy that Xion got her heart back and was reunited with Roxas and Axel, but she didn’t need to be brought back at Kairi’s expense. The world won’t implode if the replica and actual person inhabit the same space.

Which is leads us to our third member.

Riku. To be fair. Riku got the most growth as a person out of the three of these kids, easy. We finally see a Riku who is confident in himself and his journey, and willing to take everything he learned along the way to help Mickey, Aqua, and even his own replica. However....

He doesn’t seem to give two shits about Kairi anymore? Did they even talk, like, once during the whole game? I can’t recall a single instance where Sora, Kairi, and Riku were in the same place together where it was just them, and they held an actual conversation. Hell, where they even said “Hi, how’s it going? What have you learned, had any good food lately?”

God, even when Kairi was taken, and then when she was killed, Riku had one moment of anger, and then was completely, like, chill again, and back to talking Sora down. Like, what? I don’t want any love triangle bullshit, but Riku and Kairi were friends as much as Sora and Kairi and Sora and Riku are friends.

And that’s what bothered me the most about the disappearance of Kairi introducing this bullshit narrative of Sora abusing his power of waking. He spent two games trying to get him, Riku, and Kairi together. But he doesn’t want Riku to help him get Kairi back? And Riku’s just going to let him go?! After all Riku has done and learned about falling to darkness and clawing yourself back to light and peace, he’s just going to let Sora do the same?

I call bullshit.

And this is why when Sora suddenly faded out of view on the beach next to Kairi I slowly leaned back in my chair, dropped my controller into my lap, and flipped off my tv screen with both hands.

#vent #kh3 spoilers #kh3 #writing criticism #give these kids the happy ending they deserve #they can be paired in any combo you want #but let them be happy

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anntar-radix · 5 years

Text

Chapter 1 (cause I’m bad at naming conventions)

“You complete and utter jackass”

“Yea, I know, I know.”

It doesn’t help that a 15.7 gigawatt arc of electric energy moving towards us at an increasing rate.

I really need to stop attracting attention from these assholes. Oh well.

“… hope this works…”

Engage defensive protocols.

Engaged.

Caster plates in position.

WARNING : SUPPLIER ARMS IN COMPROMISED STATE.

Great. Just great. The one time I can’t fix them.

“You sure this will work?!”

“Probably.”

“WHAT DO YO-”

Cast Nullify(type : Electric)

Supplying myst to caster plates.

Casting.

The plates started to dissipate the myst. Not even a tenth of a second later, the arc hit the electrical barrier that I cast up.

I smirked “Make that a yes.”

“Not. Funny. You jackass.”

“Oh get a new insulting name would ya?”

The barrier started to strain. That can’t be good.

“Once you make sure that wall of yours won’t fail on us.”

“Fair ‘nough.”

Return MystReservoir

5020326

Return MystConsumptionRate

-53.6

Not bad for a few gigawatts hitting this.

Override Nullify.Usage(100)

Overriding.

The bluish barrier solidified.

“That should hold.”

Quidel glared at me.

“What do you mean ‘should’?!”

“Oh, lay off it. You know I never deal in definitives.”

He just pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

“You jackass.”

“I know. That’s the third time you called me that in the past thirty seconds.”

And for good reason on his part. I keep dragging him into this shit that I find myself in. And yes, I know that I’m a bad friend. I’ve heard that comment too many damn times. Half of them from Quidel. Yet here he is.

“Do you know the quickest way to the top?” I asked, mainly cause the last time I tried to lead us anywhere, we ended up halfway across the continental U.P.. That was an interesting ride home to say the least.

“I’m trying to get my bearings, but it’s quite hard when you have several billion watts being thrown at your head.”

“Welp. Could ya hurry up?”

“Not helping, jackass.”

“Four times now.”

“Still not helping.” Quidel sprinted towards the rocky wall behind us. One dull thud later, the wall fell to reveal a small, steep tunnel going up towards the surface.

“Going up?” he said with a smirk on his face.

“About time”

And we both took a mad dash up the tunnel.

“You going to disable that barrier?”

“Let it run for a few minutes. It’ll slow ‘em down.”

“I’d still love to know why the hell they’re after you.”

“Do you want that in a list form or an MLA format essay?”

“When can I get that essay?”

“How good is your internet speed?”

He shook his head. “Really?”

“You think I’m joking.”

“And you wonder why I worry whenever you attempt to do anything.”

“First of all-”

“Don’t even start that spiel and look ahead.”

Light. That’s a good sign. Or a very bad sign.

The tunnel let out to a grassy field. Another good sign.

And then I saw ten humanoid figures marching towards us. Okay.

With weapons. Less okay

Pointed straight at us. Well shit.

-----

Well now that I got your damned attention, hello, bonjour, hola, guten tag, jambo, any number of other greetings.

If you found this, I probably destroyed the world at some point in the past. Probably. I make no guarantees or promises as you could recall. This transcript was made in an attempt to preserve some amount of the history of this place. Earth, the rock orbiting the star we call Sol, the stone we call home, was in quite the strange situation. You see, this planet, inhabited with all sorts of wildlife and the such, had a sentient type of animal called Humans that discovered – or rediscovered, one of several times, if you want to get into semantics – magic. Magic lead them to great things. Great things that improved life as a whole, or destroyed it all the same. Depended if the human was an asshole or not. Oh, and just to clarify, I’m one of these. I guess I just called myself an asshole, but, to be fair, I probably deserve all of the horrible names you could throw at me. Though the name that most called me by is Amadeus, meaning “love of god” – yes, I know its translation is ironic to what I probably did to the world.

-----

“Deus, what shit-pile did you drag me into?” It sounded surprisingly calm and low-voiced.

“All of them, knowing this damned organization.”

“I still would enjoy knowing what the damned organization is called.”

50 meters away currently.

“Ask ‘em then.” I said, pointing towards the merry band coming at us. Their weapons aren’t drawn at least. Maybe I could’ve had them wear ugly Christmas sweaters, then they could’ve be considered merrier.

“Something tells me they aren’t very sociable.”

“You have a better idea then smashing them to base elements?”

“Redirecting that pestering tank’s firepower.”

“I doubt we’d be able to trick them with that.”

A sharp crack of gunfire hit my ears and a sharp pain erupted from my leg. Well at least I know they have some people with good aim.

Pain Siphon Activated.

Still hurts like hell. Upgrade from bloody hell, but nonetheless.

“You good?”

“What do you think?!” My voice basically dripping with venom. I hate when Quidel starts this crap.

He just smirked “Well then it’s time for some fun.”

And just as quick as the smirk appeared, a blade, about 15 centimeters in length, came into his right hand. He raised the blade with a deathly glint in his eye.

“Step any closer and you’ll all be dead before the foot hits the grass.” His voice echoed around the field.

And of course a single soldier decided to take him up on his offer. Quidel’s blade sliced over his own arm quicker than the blink of an eye. The bodies that remained dropped to the ground with a nice thud.

“Did you really have to do that? You could’ve tried to talk to them.”

“Talking doesn’t require weapons and I also gave them a warning that they just straight up ignored!”

Before I could protest, he put a finger over my lips.

“No. You know that line is a straight up lie you like to tell yourself.” We both heard a gunshot in the distance. “Come on,” he said lifting me up “let’s get you home before you complain more about me killing people.”

-----

Ah, Quidel. My one longest lasting friend. I still don’t know how we came to be in the same group of friends, but life seems to baffle me in every single aspect of it. Including the fact that it needs to end. I suppose I should tell you what I know about him, though I think he does a better job at explaining himself. If not, I’ll try to tell you about it.

-----

Well… It isn’t home but at least he tried to get me in someplace that isn’t on an unending cycle of attempts on my life. The poor girl at the desk must have been terrified when she saw two random idiots walk in, one of which has a bullet in the leg, the other with a slice across the arm. As Quidel walked towards the rooms, I gave her a bit of a tip for the inconvenience of dealing with Quidel. And to a lesser extent, me and my bloodied leg. Hopefully the bleeding will stop before I have to sleep.

*****

“Son of a -”

A spark cut me off. It seems the universe is having fun cutting me off from talking today.

What sparked this time.

“Oh… great. Just great.”

That’s going to be at least a couple hundred to repair.

“What broke this time?” Quidel asked while watching the TV. Something along the lines of a house-building show by the looks of it.

“The bloody supplier arms.” With a side of incoherent muttering.

“Aren’t they made of some custom forged osmium-iridium alloy that you bragged about?”

“It’s a carbon-titanium alloy and because it’s a custom blend, it’s gonna cost a ton to repair. And it just fucking shattered.”

He glanced over. “Doesn’t look shattered to me.”

“The joint is, asshole.”

“How much?”

I took one of my several magnifiers to get a closer look at the damage.

Cracks everywhere along the spherical joint. Structural damage to the internal supply system. Large chunk of the joint is flat out missing.

“5, maybe 6 hundred.”

Quidel nearly choked on his cup of coffee. “Holy fuck. Do they want your liver to go with that?”

“Knowing my suppliers, they’d rather have more cash.”

“Don’t you think you could use something else less pricey? It seems like a chance to get a new and improved material out there.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I’d rather have my gauntlet made from my current alloy.”

“Still. You don’t have unlimited funds”

“I know, but you aren’t the one footing the bill. I know how to be thrifty, you know!”

“If only you would be willing to protect yourself then you wouldn’t have to repair the gauntlet as often.”

“I am.” I grumbled

“You really aren’t. You try to be but your refusal to let any blood be on your hands is preventing it.”

I glared at him and he just glared straight back. I knew he was right. The fact I refused to allow anyone to die at my hands was a hindrance to any attempt at self-defense I made. I just can’t bring myself to kill someone. To take someone’s life, it’s just… not mine to take.

“Says the one with a healing focus.” I finally managed to speak up.

“And I’ve taken my Hippocratic Oath and lived by it.”

“Then why do you kill the innocent?!”

“Those people aren’t innocent!”

“How would you know?!”

He just got up and huffed out the room, slamming the door behind him.

The silence in the air just reminded me of how different we could be. Me, the pacifist. Him, the military supportive healer. Both valid stances on the topic. One day, one of us will be proven wrong. But today was not that day.

#Amadeus #Quidel #nanowrimo 2018 #writing #creative writing #My writing #original writing #amwriting #yay writing #Project Æternus

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cyancees · 6 years

Text

salty ask meme answers

ok im awake now hehe so here’s all my answers for that ask meme

WARNING FOR SPOILERS IN, LIKE, EVERY DANGAN GAME PROBABLY

@adoggodude asks: 5, 7, 14, 16, 20

5: Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

yes. none i can think of for danganronpa, but .... mch/anzo....... but tbh, it was also partially me realizing it’s such a boring ship and they’re only paired because they’re both hot

7: Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

see above - nah i’m kidding i don’t hate it that much. a lot of animes i used to like have lost my favor because of things i’ve realized as i got older, mostly pedophilia. namely kill la kill i used to adore until i realized how many characters were underage. i used to really like attack on titan too but the creator is fucking bonkers. i also liked koma/eda during the first chapter of dangan (as im sure most people did lmao) but i then hated him when he went nuts

14: Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

[deep breath] KOMA/EDA AND OU/MA BOTH SUCK, THEIR SHIPS WITH THE PROTAGONIST SUCK, AND NEITHER OF THEM ARE GAY

16: If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

a lotta things, but if i had to choose one, i’d either let juuzou live :( (or maybe i’d make asano from drg end up with the sleepy chick because her ending up with hijirihara pissed me off sooooooooooo bad you have no idea)

20: What is the purest ship in the fandom?

naegiri uwu

Anonymous asks: 6, 16, 19?

6: Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

hmmmmmmmmmmm..... i can’t really think of anything for danganronpa. i’m a huge multishipper after all! well, when i was back into one piece, i hated zoro x sanji. but now i like it - however that wasn’t because of the fandom, i’m long gone out of that hahaha. more just me being nostalgic and watching clips of the show and realizing the sexual tension that little me didn’t 😔

19: What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

people will call you out for liking the good guys because of one or two “problematic” things then kin sociopaths and serial killers

@sparklygems asks: eyoo this is for the salty asks list and I was curious about if you could change anything in the DR games what would you change? (You have some Good opinions, i like hearin your thoughts~)

hehe thank you! i already answered this one, but, i guess i’ll give a different answer this time.

less weird borderline pedophilic things coming out of yumeno’s mouth :) (borderline because she’s technically of age but she’s total lo/li bait) and i guess just a bunch of other things regarding the weird unnecessary sexual shit lmao

@oxonicrab asks: 22 and 23! for dangan ofc

22: Popular character you hate?

pretty sure it’s very well known that i hate koma/eda and ou/ma by now, soooo.... fucking MON/ODAM! he’s by far the most popular cub, i cannot stand him and i never could

23: Unpopular character you love?

HAGAKURE!!!!!!!

@chainedintimacy asks: If you could change anything in the show, what would you change? Also purest character? Popular character you hate? Unpopular character you love?

welp, almost every one of these has been answered, im gonna have to get creative!

16: If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

mukuro-junko incest. totally ruined a perfectly good character for me (mukuro)

Purest character?

fucking usami.... nanami and naegi also are perfect and pure!!!

22: Popular character you hate?

hmmmm... shing/uuji

23: Unpopular character you love?

i adore angie but it seems like a lot of the fandom hates her so;;;

@fly-fool asks: Unpopular fan opinions 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 14, 17, 24, 25, 26, and 27 please

[rubs hands] here i fucking go

2: Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

toukomaru :x not that i hate the ship or anything! it can be pretty cute! just.... one is a minor and one is an adult haha

EDIT: i now know that komaru is only a year younger than fukawa, but, this ship still counts for the question!

4: Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

fucking. KOM/AHINA. OUM/ASAI. wayyyyy too popular for my liking. also oum/ota

5: Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

fuck i really gotta think of something for dangan huh? cus the pairings that i hate, i already hated... if it counts for anything, i only disliked oum/asai at first but the fandom made me loathe it so incredibly?

8: Have you received anon hate? What about?

nothing too serious that i can recall. a couple funny little things about my CONTROVERSIAL SHIP/CHARACTER OPINIONS but nothing else really! oh, and some of that wasn’t even anon, so...

9: Most disliked character(s)? Why?

here’s ma top 3:

3. koma/aeda. it feels dumb to have to explain why, but we’re in a fandom where he’s one of the most popular characters, so... just remember every bad thing he’s ever done, and that’s most of it. but i also hate the edginess surrounding him, the weird wheezy laugh, the self-deprecation done in such a weird creepy way, the appearance, the fact that he has the voice of my love, the fact that he’s the sans of the fandom... the sans before sans, if you will...

2: hai/ji. i shouldn’t have to justify this one since almost no one likes him, but. pedophile. even if you take away that totally unnecessary character aspect, he’s just... so fucking annoying. huge dickhead. ugly ratty hair. pissy pissy man. I HATE HIM

1. k*k*ch* **ma!!!! :)))))))))) again, just like kom/aeda, think of every bad thing he’s done. think of how the fandom treats him, amplifying my already-existent hate. think of his mortal enemy in the game who happens to my my favourite v3 (momota) and there ya go! his lying is only entertaining for so long, his stupid fucking shota face, the way people call him hot when he looks 12 and the fandom overlooks it because he’s a boy, the way people treat him like some canonically gay icon, some dickhead i saw who called him autistic once which offended me and my autistic brother deeply since the evidence they used was clearly a lack of understanding of autism... it’s a combination of the fandom’s obsession and his actual canonical character.

14: Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

it’s fucking shite and everyone is a sheep - not to sound like some “intellectual” atheist who watches rick and morty but.... yall really do just latch onto what others say without looking into things yourself

17: Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... instead of gonta getting iruma killed and being punished for it, i’d rather iruma have succeeded with her plan and taken one for the team :)

24: Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?

i’ve gotten ummm... at least 6 people to play so far hehe

even back in 2013-2014 when i was first into dangan, i got a couple friends to watch the anime. so that’s a yes! :)

i recommend it because, primarily, i need friends to talk about my hyperfixation to - but also because it’s genuinely a great series in my opinion. it has its flaws, but overall i really love danganronpa !

25: How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX?

i mean...................... they could’ve thrown a naegiri wedding in there at the end of dr3 i’m just saying

26: Most shippable character?

souda hehe. no bias xd (but for real i don’t think there’s bias considering none of my other top faves have nearly as many cute ships as he does. i can ship him with sonia, gundam, nidai, hinata, kuzuryuu, ibuki, iruma, kiibo....)

27: Least shippable character?

ou/ma because he deserves nothing. i mean at least i can ship kom/aeda with himself (amami) and himself (sans) :///

@holy-shit-dangan-ronpa asks: salty ask #17

17: Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

shit lemme think of something else. uhhhh instead of... monaka going to space i want her redeemed too :( she may be totally evil and a bitch but they’re all kids!!!! i can’t wait for despair girls 2 i want the monokuma kids to be saved from their helmets and i want the warriors of hope to be adopted by good parents :((((

Anonymous asks: 10

10: Most disliked arc? Why?

i’ll probably have to choose ruruka’s whole character arc, what a bitch haha. she caused her own demise by trying to cheat in her exam, blamed her ‘friend’ for it who she only used, then killed her boyfriend because she didn’t wanna be ‘betrayed’ again. fucking christ woman get your shit together lol

Anonymous asks: 1

1: What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

besides the notps i’ve already mentioned earlier... i guess oum/eno? like... the whole thing seems either based on the fact they’re both pedo bait... or because in the 5th trial ou/ma says he likes her (WHICH ISN’T EVEN OU/MA SAYING IT? AND IF MOMOTA IS GETTING THAT FROM HIS SCRIPT THEN DON’T THEY KNOW YOU CAN’T TAKE ANYTHING OU/MA SAYS SERIOUSLY BECAUSE HE’S THE BOY WHO CRIED USO DAYO?)

thanks for those guys it was fun :D xx

#reply #adoggodude #sparklygems #oxonicrab #chainedintimacy #fly-fool #holy-shit-dangan-ronpa #anonymous

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calliecat93 · 3 years

Text

ST: TNG S4 Finale/S5 Premiere Watchthrough

Redemption: Okay, same as with The Best of Both Worlds. We talk about both parts, rank them individually, then give a final opinion and ranking on the story as a whole. Alright, lets do this~!

Part One: It’s time folks. After all the build-up in Sins of the Father, Reunion, and The Mind’s Eye, it’s time for the big event. Gowron from Reunion is to be named Chancellor of the Klingon High Council and with it comes the chance for Worf’s name to be cleared. But there’s a problem: the Klingon Homeworld is on the verge of civil war, and Gowron has come to the Enterprise to seek their help. Needless to say, a lot is going on here. It turns out that Duras still has a following and not only has two sisters seeking power, but he also had a son and thus, his heir who challenges Gowron’s placement. Picard has to make the choice and either way, it’s gonna lead to bloodshed. Meanwhile, Worf has decided that he wants to have his family’s home restored but Gowron refuses. He also seeks his brother Kurn who isn’t on board with Gowron... But is convinced to help drum up support. Needless to say, it’s an utter mess in this political web. Now the good news is that Worf’s efforts succeed in at least getting his discomendation lifted, yay! The bad news? The Federation can’t interfere and because of it... Word resigns. And worst? The Romulans are of course involved... and led by a woman named Sela, played by Denise Crosby. The actress of Tasha Yar. WELP. So the episode was good. It continues the Klingon storyline and the tension was as strong as ever. This I what we were building up to, and so far it seems to be paying off. And Word’s resignation? I’ll go more into it in the Overall section… but the best scene of the episode by far. As a season finale, it’s a strong one. So P1 did its job and did it well. Will it continue in Part 2? 4/5.

Part Two: It is war. A war that Worf’s side is losing. Fortunateley due to the Romulans, Picard is able to convince the Federation to allow him to assemble a Fleet to set-up a blockade. Worf is now among his fellow Klingons… but he’s really not fitting in. Alright so… let’s adress Sela. So… she’s the alternate Tasha’s daughter. How is that posisble? he Enterprise-C was captured/imprisoned… and Tasa was essentially forced to be a consort for the rest of her life until she was killed. Wow…. you did it ST. you made me GREATLY prefer the main Tasha’s senseless death in Skin of Evil because the end fate for the alternate one is MUCH more horrid and even MORE disrespectful to the character. What in the ever loving Hell TNG?! Why did it have to be like that? Why not a clone? Or the actual alternate Tasha who was experimented on to keep her appearance/brainwashed and make a storyline out of it that allows her to regain herself? Anything that isn’t Tasha essentially being r**** for the rest of her life and dying and even worst death. Wasn’t Yesterday’s Enterprise done to give her a better send-off? So why… UUUGGGHHHH! Sorry, had to vent that out. We’ll see what happens with Sela later I guess. So… gonna be honest, this was just okay. Not just because of the whole Tasha and Sela thing either. Worf is given pretty much nothing to do when this should have been his strory, sticking mainly to Picard’s side of things and on the Romulans. Data recieves some xenophobia for being an android gven command of. Starship and it’s done well enough… but it doesn’t really add to anything either. It feels like… well, they wrote P1 not knowing how to end it. That worked with The Best of Both Worlds, but it feels pretty tacked on here. It does still end the plot, Data was awesome, Worf decides on his own path and returns to where he belongs, and does arigh as a premiere. But as a second part? It’s only okay. 3/5.

Overall: Redemption is fine, but not at all as good as The Best of Both Worlds. Mainly because of the seocnd half. They had so much going in P1, but they couldn’t really keep it rolling in P2. P1 perfectly continued the Klingon plot and maintained it’s tense, complicated atmosphere. When Worf fesigned, despite clearly being conflicted, I was so sad. Then when it came time for him to go… and we saw the line of officers sstanding to see him off with our main crew already int he Transporter Room to see him off. That was a strong scene. it showed how much that Worf was respected by the crew. By the Enterprise. Even after his discomendation, even after killing Duras got an ugly mark on his record, no one on that ship doubted him and very much respected him. Worf, by the time it was all over, decided to do things his way. Not the human way. Not the Klingon way. His. IDK if that means his character arc is completed especialy since I know he joins DS9. But him not only restoring his family’s honor, but making that deciison for himself and returning tot he Enterprise where the belongs? I was just so happy! I just wish that P2 did a better job at building up to him having that revelation. But ah well. It was a perfectly fine two-parter, but could have been better. 4/5.

And with that, Season 4 is over and Season 5 has begun. Gotta say, S4 may be my favorite season thus far~! It got bumpy there at the end, but I still enjoyed myself overall. So later today will be the Best/Worst of S4 list, then we continue on with Season 5. Can’t wait~!

#st watchthrough

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xiaolongpunch · 6 years

Text

Rwby’s redemption

I’ve started watching rwby ever since the summer that volume 2 was released. My friends made me watch the four trailers and I was immediately captivated by the breath of fresh air the show promise from its beginning. Four badass girls with unique weapons and abilities? I was already hooked from that point. I binge watch volume after that day, and I immediately got harry potter vibe with the school aspect of the show. I also understood from the get go the the 8 characters we were introduced to in the beginning would be the main cast, that being team RWBY and team JNPR.

This is where my first critique comes in, and it won’t be directed at rooster teeth or miles-kerry or even monty, but rather at the fandom. Volume 1 wasn't shy at showing us who the important characters were, how? The were coloured in and we got to know their names in the first few episodes. The rest was either shadowed in, appeared a couple of times, or simply never be seen again. We knew the main cast was the two teams, and other subsequent characters were more side characters, exemple: Cardin and team CRDL, Velvet, Ozpin, Glynda, Roman, and the other professors and Sun. And one of the major complaints that volume 1 gets is that it was focused on Jaune to much. Statistically speaking, his arc lasted 25% of volume 1, lasting from episode 11 to 14. Other arcs from this volume included Blake’s, Weiss’s conflict with Ruby and probably other minor ones I won’t speak about. Blake’s arc lasted from episode 15 to 16, buut continued into the subsequent volume. Making for 12.5% of the first volume, and about, well the entire volume. Volume 2 was dedicated into busting the white fang and Roman, which directly tied into Blake’s arc from Volume 1, making it the longest arc up to this date since it is still continuing into volume 5. The third arc was the conflict between Ruby and Weiss, although somewhat minor, this arc still lasted for a couple of episodes spread apart from one another. The point being, Jaune’s arc is minor compared to other arcs happening in the show, since his only lasted 4 episodes in volume 1 alone. Sure he had speaking times in other volumes, but none revolved around him, and yet the fandom is still bitching and moaning that jaune is taking too much space. As mentioned before, Jaune IS one of the main 8, not liking him as a character is totally fine, but saying he is taking too much space is somewhat overreacting since he is one of the main characters.

Let’s go on, from V1 came V2, and to this date, it is probably one of my least favourite volumes. I feel like they focused a bit too much on the characters motivation during the mountain glenn arc. What was the point of Oobleck asking everyone why they wanted to be huntresses? It was a bit awkward and I feel like they could've gotten the same result, if not more, if they made the team sit down around a campfire and make them ask each other their motivation. They would’ve shared some exposition through, shown team rwby bonding, something the fandom has been asking for a while now (Something I will touch later on) aaand they would’ve been able to touch a lot more on Blake’s ongoing arc that way. Btw, this is how critiquing something is done, by talking about what felt wrong and give an example on how they could of improved themselves. I’ve seen way to many people complain and complain and never even explain how they could've improve on what they complained on, and then call what they did ‘critiquing’, but im digressing. Overall, they did what they wanted, expose us to more backstory and motivation, show us a bit more of who the characters are by telling us where they come from. This volume honestly showed me why Ruby is more childish in nature, and it also help set up what they wanted for her next volume. It showed me why Weiss is so cold and distant sometimes, it showed us why Blake acts the way she does..you get the point. It also helped setting up the next volume, which was a real plus.

Next comes V3, and I feel like, like the show, this was where the fandom started to really fall and divide. A reason why people started to become more toxic might have been because of Monty’s death. People started to think that because he died, Miles and Kerry started to ruin the show from his original idea. Especially after a controversial letter came out, you can read it here if you’d like. From that point, it was a shitstorm of fighting, between people who believed shane and people who didn’t. I have read the letter, and personally, I feel like they were some things right and some wrong. Shane seemed to have this idea that Monty was the only one planning the show, but it was with Miles and Kerry, Monty provided the ideas, MK wrote them out. Gray even addressed what the future of RWBY would be, and he mentioned this.

“For those wondering, Monty was heavily involved in shaping the future of the world of Remnant. His story ideas will live on, and you will also be able to see some of the animation he'd begun working on for Volume 3. For some time, the team has known the direction in which the next volumes will be headed, and Rooster Teeth is committed to bringing these tales to you.”

Like I said, you decide if you want to believe shane or not, but I think its clear that Monty planned his show with MK years ahead. And some of the ‘Critiques’ the show got addressed the wrong issues. That volume also sparked the lgbtq representaion controversy, ship wars begun, like I said, a shitshow began. It was also the volume that rwby turned dark and characters died off. And for some reason people got angry at MK for killing them off, because they thought it wasn't Monty’s idea. Except it was, and here is some other complaint. Roman was a major villain, you can't kill him! Actually he was said to be unimportant to the main story plot, and unfortunately I can't find the panel, but I remember that someone in the crwby mentioned that roman was kept alive longer than intended because he was like, but was eventually going to get killed off. Next was Penny’s death, not much complain on that side other then people saying they were sad she died, so nothing to say on that part. But the major character death that got lots of complaint was Pyrrha’s. People had two complaint about, it went too far, and that she was only meant to further Jaune’s character.

To address the first point, I will actually let Gray explain.

“Have we said thanks lately? Thanks again for sharing the story with our youngest audience members out there, it means a lot to us and we take the responsibility to heart. In return, we wanted to take a sec to reiterate some things. We've said from the very beginning that the story of RWBY is actually a pretty long journey, with all sorts of complex changes and themes over time. Because we can only put out so many episodes per year, and the story has been focused the way it has the first couple years, some viewers might assume that this is all there is to the show. Nnnnope. Much like other multi-year narratives such as the Harry Potters, Avatars (the airbending kind. well, the animated, not the live... look, the good one) and Star Wars...Warses... Warii? Forget it -- like other continuity-heavy sagas out there, RWBY will grow up over time. Our characters will be put to the test as the stakes get greater and the full scope of the story is revealed. The tone and imagery of the show will occasionally go darker and more mature. ...You did happen to notice the opening sequence that has been in front of the show all year, right?”

This comes from a blog post surrounding how dark rwby has turned. And I want to emphasize one particular point, because this will counter EVERY complaint on how the show is progressing in terms of change. RWBY was never meant to stay light hearted and happy, it was meant to grow and change, just like many other series out there, and the fact that people complain about it, is in my opinion, kinda ridiculous. When V3 came out, I understood this because it was new, but now? Really? You want change and character development, but complain once the plot thickens and the nature of the show changes? What kind of hypocritical shit is that? I also believe that Monty said that he got inspired by Games of Thrones in some aspect, and that was early on in the show, so death was going to be a thing, I guess the fandom just wants to ignore that though.

The second point is actually a bit more founded. But because of two sides. MK poorly handled team bonding, we barely got any bonding from any teams so we didnt know what they meant to each other other then a few things here and there. And the second side is the fandom’s collective hatred towards Jaune. The fandom complains that Pyrrha’s death was solely to further Jaune’s character, so im guessing they totally ignored her arc in v3 that actually explained why she decided to fight Cinder or why she died, or just simply decided to ignore, knowing the fandom, I wouldn’t be surprised with either reason. The fandom sometimes forgets to piece things together, to read between the lines. It was clear that Pyrrha had an internal conflict about becoming the maiden, and Jaune, being her combat partner, decided he wanted to be there for her, which only fueled the fandom’s belief that this arc was somehow around Jaune. I feel like fandom is honestly just pulling reasons out of their ass to hate on Jaune at this point, yes he did wrong things, but did anyone ever sat down to think that this was actually kinda the most natural portrayal of a teenage boy? Im digressing here, but Pyrrha’s was far more then Jaune, it was a sign, the show basically told us “Hey, things are getting serious, how serious? Welp a main character died trying to accomplish her goal” And her death couldnt of been more brilliant. It was extremely well executed, the symbolism behind it is incredible because it shows that the show isnt a fairy tail, not everything ends happily ever after, and most of all, it furthered Ruby’s character.

A lot of people dont realize that one of the premise of the show was loss of childhood and innocence. Ruby’s character is the very essence of that. And they broke her to pieces in V3, they killed her best friend, and then a close friend. She unlocked her powers and loss her innocence she had for the world. She grew so much as a character it that volume and its sad to see people not looking further then their noses to see how much has been happening in the show to focus on jaune and other minor things like ships.

To go back on Jaune’s portrayal, he is literally a fuckboi in v1/v2 and a bit of v3. Like, thats what his character is, you can hate it, hell I did, but screaming and shouting that his character needs to change because of that is fucking ridiculous, not everyone is meant to be liked, sometimes best portrayals are the ones that actually make you feel something strong about them, and the typical mary sue.

Lets move on, V4 in my opinion was the most poorly handled volume, for many things.They took to long to show how certain character grief and they didnt handle character development extremely well. Nora and Ren’s arc was...short, too short. I felt like they could of really digged into their childhood and their relationship since they grew up together, but they missed out on it. They tanked to show Ruby’s grief, or as the fandom would say, complete lack of. And the plot exposition from Qrow was too fast and really poorly handled in terms of delivery. I feel like they could’ve taken more time to explain some things like magic and the maidens, because the way it was delivered was more like it was speaking to the audience. The filled in gaps on what the audience didn’t know rather then explaining to the character what the hell was going on in their lives.

And I have a major problem with how the fandom ‘critiqued’ this volume. Again, the major complaints were not story, or plot related, they decided to complain on ships and portrayal, which btw is a valid thing if there is an actual problem. For exemple, they non-stopped complained on how Ruby seemingly didnt show any grief, but let me explain to you. People are different, whereas one person might cry their hearts out to someones death, another will feel sad for a bit and move on. We saw Ruby react to Pyrrha’s death, she unlocked her powers because of it. And there is many reason why she might have been shown grieving. Think about how much shit she went through, she saw her school get destroyed, three people she knew died in front of her in one night, she unlocked some weird magical power which she knows nothing about, her sister seems to hate life now, and her friends are mostly gone. Do you seriously think her mind has the time and effort to grief about ONE person dying? No, nobody would in fact, she probably is still in shock of everything that happened. Another reason, which was actually proven in V5, is that she doesn’t grief, she moves on. And they also foreshadowed it a bit, but I will talk about it in the V5 review of this.

The next thing people complained about was black sun, and how ooc blake felt during those moments. Again, I want to remind you that character development is a thing, and traumatic events may several affect someone’s view in life. The reason why Blake seemed ooc is because of her fears becoming a reality. Her friends got hurt because of Adam, she became paranoid, to the point of almost drawing out her sword to the captain when she was confronted. Sun on the other hand didnt experience all of that, and he thought he was doing the right thing by following her because he wanted to help her. And I saw sooooo many people saw he is a predator because she flinches when he touches her, but also completely forgets or ignore she acted the same way when her own mother hugged her. She is scared shitless of everything, this was probably one of the better handled character development in the volume, and the fandom seemingly ignored all of it to let their hatred go through.

The most blatant problem with V4 however was the animation, and I will let the youtuber Cake in his series “Animation analysis”. He really nails the head of what is wrong with the animation, and I highly recommend you watch this small serie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxP3lBW7wm4&list=PL-wKaeXzYOmbnc0cRXxGD0TEY5wgCUipw

I wont speak about Yang, because honestly, this was the one time the fandom is right, her ptsd arc was poorly handled and not well executed at all.

Then came V5, or as I like to call it, Rooster teeth’s redemption arc. This volume, imo, was so heavily touched upon to appease the angry mobs of the rwde tags its honestly kind of funny. Ship wars? Heres more character development surrounding all the characters involved in those ship and their view about each other. Poor character development? Heres ruby actual griefing and explaining how she moved and sooo much more character for the main cast. LGBT representation? Here's the first confirmed lgbt character! They did so many things right and so many things to fix past problems, and yet, the rwde tag is still greedy…

Volume 5 has done a lot of things right, and a lot of those things were things the fandom was asking since the beginning of the show. I believe it was partially RT testing out that if listening to us would actually change anything, and Im afraid the rwde side of this fandom is proving to them that nothing that they will do will change anything, and thats saying something about the rwde tag and the fandom in general.

Lets hit a few things that happened that rt did right. First being, Ruby’s grief. In V4, most of the fandom outcried for Ruby to show how she grieves the death of Pyrrha and Penny, and we got it. And just like I had thought, she moves on. The writers pulled our heart strings by using Monty’s signature quote “Keep moving forward”. This probably wasn't a last minute decision, since we did get a hint of it when Qrow mentioned the same thing to Yang in V3. And we all know how close Ruby is to Qrow, and he probably taught her to move on rather the grief when death hits someone close to you. The fandom, of course, was blind to all of it, and it dishearten me to see that. Because the fandom keeps asking for better writing, and when the are shown that MK can foreshadow things and give hints of two people’s relationship and that the fandom ignores it, it shows that they dont really care, and are probably finding reasons to hate rather then actually seeing their wishes come true.

Yang’s ptsd. V4 poorly handled this, they showed some sign of her illness but it was rushed and it felt unnatural. But rt did try to change this in V5. The random jerks of her hand and arm is a genius idea, it shows that she still suffers from her trauma even though she is trying to be strong for her own sake. This might be hinting at an actual ptsd episode later on when she fights. This is one thing rt did right and are showing they are listening.

First Lgbt character. Spoiler warning, if you havent watched V5EP8 then skip to the next point to not spoil yourself. So in the latest episode, Ilia was revealed to be first lgbt character, she is a lesbian/Bisexual character who is in love with Blake. And not surprisingly, the fandom find reasons to hate this decision rather than rejoice that rt is actually listening to them. This next part is a message straight for anyone who is criticizing ilia as the “villain lesbian” and say its problematic. Do you understand how hypocrite you are? You headcanon characters like Cinder, Salem, and Neo as lgbt, people who are actually show to be pure evil but hate and try to villainize the only villain who’s reason to be villain is due to her past? We have been shown why she chose this path, we have been shown why she sides with Adam at this moment. It hurts her to do so, we could see it when she ordered to kill Blake’s family, we have seen how conflicted she was to have captured Blake for adam, the only character who’s villainy is actual ambiguous and actually is a complex character because of it and you downgrade her to a “Bitter/Jealous murderous lesbian”? FUCK OUTTA HERE, that is completely hypocritical of everything you ever said, she is everything you ever wanted in a character and you still manage to be angry at rt for it?! Do you even hear yourselves sometimes? You wanna complain about something that is lgbt related? How about the lack of it, we have one, they have shown us they are listening so keep on insisting on that representation. You want to complain how the lack of complex character? Criticize MK for the lack of backstory for a lot of the main character, and a lack of personality shown. You want to complain about villains? HOW ABOUT THE ACTUAL BITTER AND MURDEROUS ONE ADAM FUCKING TAURUS. Stop being so blind jfc, there is so many other obvious things wrong about the points you are complaining about and yet you chose to bash Ilia, fucking incredible.

Rwby has a lot of issue, im not denying that, but its time for the fandom to stop complaining about ships and minor problems that have been fixed. Start critiquing instead of complaining and demanding. RT wont listen to you if you only demand things from them, start showing them explicitly what is wrong with the show and offer them solutions in a calm manner. Showing no evidence and not showing solutions is not critiquing on your part, its pure and simple entitlement. My final point is this. We dont own the show, some of us pay for a subscription, but that doesn't make them any more entitled to demand things from rt about their show. You can absolutely critique them for errors, but do it right. Show them what went wrong, explain why its wrong, and show and explain a possible solution. Complaining and whining isnt critiquing, its entitlement of something we dont own. Im probably missing some things I have thought of pointing out in this, and this is highly opinionated in some parts. But I hope my points do make some sense, and I hope anyone who reads this actual give a thought about the points I made. If you disagree with me, by all means, point out what was wrong with what I said and offer your counter-argument, like I said, some of it is facts and some of it is opinions, so let’s debate.

#rwby #rwby5 #rwde

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gruby88 · 3 years

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The story clerks is kind of amazing. A lower-middle class kid from suburban New Jersey starts working at a video store, where he mets a guy heavily into movie. He broadens his horizons enough with some Independent Film Fair hangouts, a place where future classics like Linklater’s „Clacker” would appear. The kid, known as Kevin SMith, get so into it he ges to cheap canadian film school to make his own movies.

He drops out mid-semester, because school is boring and boring things are just not interesting. But he assembles a rudimentary crew of rpoducer Scott Mosier and cinematographer Klark, makes some credit card fraud for 30k dollars and starts making his debut movie - Clerks.

Shot over a month at a store Smith worked at - the movie is basically two dudes just having a weird day at work. They talk in a very verbose style, giving this sophistication to the most inane of topics while serving wacky customers and slowly bulding up to a broader lesson the love subplot signifies.

In spite of it’s blue collar setting of a convinience store, the movie appears to be ideologyless. IThe characters, or rather maybe SMith himself, seem to have no real thoughts about politics. There’s no big boss acting as villain. there’s no goals. A guy who sells chewing gum starts a riot in the store but that never gets any commentary, it’s just a gag. There’s just empty void of depression. And 90s kinda were like that. Reagan and Tatcher turned the world into a capitalist hellhole, everything seemed meaningless beyond monetary value, with no real way out of the system.

It still does btw.

And thus, the valued commodity of early 90s was realness. The was a market for what we believe to be real. Swearing, being drunk in public, greasy haired rockers were not the world finally manning up to some sick guitar riffs, it was an open craving for somethig real. Something raw. Or at least as raw as we can stomach, there’s a reason why pretty boy Eddie Vedder got famous, and shit-slinging rockers like GG Allin just remained too hot for tv.

And realness wasn’t just to be consumed, it gave us hope that we can too become recognizable for just being ourselves. And it times before reality tv, vlogs, instagram stories and facebook posts - to scratch that itch we had to look for people like us on the big screen. For validation that our averageness is significant in some way.

And Clerks was the perfect movie for the generation of directionless stoners, loners, geeks, nerds, outcasts, mclovins of their time. It was just two dudes being smartasses for 90 minutes.

So how does CLerks hold up in 2020?

Welp.

The movie itself is kinda good. Very funny still. It encapsulates early 90s attitude of not giving a fuck pretty flawlessy with worst attitued played up to maximum. There’s no stakes, characters hardly have an arc to follow, it just kind of is. It meanders with no purpose and that kind of is the point. It’s lack of effort seems to be intentional to signify the lack of effort in the characters. It’s as dull as your life, but also has all the things that make it bearable. The funny friend. The fact that low-paying jobs have the best stories because you mostly deal with other low-income people wh are usually insane from all the stress.

C A P I T A L I S M

One thing that caught my eye was contempt for store customers. You’d think Smith would find compassion for fellow low-classians, but no. I wroked commerce so I know, the best stories are the ones about people you don’t hold too dear to your heart and called names to their face because they just put you past the tipping point. But politics of clerks is basically - look at this dumb motherfuckers interrupting me doing fuck all at my job. There’s no hint of irony or self-awareness. Like, at some point the cool guy, Randall fucking GRAVES, just spits water at a guy point blank for being kinda stupid about tabloids. And is presented as the guy we want to be, the cold calculated friend with instant funny comment about anything.

I guess this is a display of Kev-dawgs immaturity. He is not aware, that what he perceives as cool carries a broader social commentary and a lesson that’s beyond a joke about customers being weird. Which is kinda part of the charm. That Smith doesn’t know, or simply doesn’t care that he shows us the worst people ever, which is why it’s so authentic. It’s brutal when put like that, but it is the voice of the part of america that gets the worst jobs. And this is what they think of you. That you’re assholes for making them work. ANd that speaks to countless generations of kids who would never have a voice in cinema. There was never a cool representation for chubsters with affection for superheroes. They want to believe that their lack of sex skills will result in a girl mistakenly fukcing a corpse in pursuit of them and not just straight rejection.

And it works like that because the movie is pretty consequenceless for our main characters. Randall has no stakes in anything and just spits onelines. He throws some food around which I guess is pretty dramatic, but that’s about his impact on the story.

The story centers around the main character of Dante. A guy who has unexplanedly two women fight for his affection even thouth his bed skills seem to be comparable to rigor mortis. And is just an asshole to both off them. He scolds his girlfriend for having broad sexual past, and then gets mad when he learns that his ex moved on. Lots of room for improvement as a person.

Anyways, his lesson? Ditch the ex who will most likely never recorver and is now useless as you can’t fuck, and go back to your main chick. This is actually the whole arc of the movie. Dante learns that his options are limited, and he should bank on girls that actually can stand him. And it’s not even my interpretation, the movie ends with the director, playing the iconic SIlnet Bob, explaining the movie to us via a monologue to the main character.

But all of this makes the movie work. Becuase it perfectly captures tht moment in life when you’re kinda too naive to figue out that having good taste in movies does not a good person make, but also old enough to not be dismissed or get in trouble for challanging the status quo.

Even after dogma, where peoles good will towards smith reached its peak and for a second he was about to enter the mainstream legit, not just as an indie wonder funny guy. He was not treated as seriously as after Clerks. And smith ate it up. He played into it. 90s Kevin is way more full of himself than his later laid back slacker persona of the public speaking era. Kevin loves the implication that he is this working class genious, the smartass philosopher of the gen x, taking popular culture and treating it like art. Big words. And he is not wrong, lthout his takes.. usually are.

Kevin is prominently featured as an intro interviewer for Josh petersen, indie distributor that wrote book about how he performs the most boring aspect of the movie making - selling the thing.

But seeing this movie now, being 10 years older than kevin when he made it. I can feel the excitement of voice emerging, and „that’s beautiful, man”.

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