#((volume 7 was pretty awesome))

[stxrrynxghts]

Ranking the songs of Ponniyin Selvan

The sole reason for making this post is because I. AM. OBSESSED. Also, I am not a music expert, so this is just about how the songs sounded to me.

14. PS Anthem

I...I don't have anything to say. It's an okay song for me, I just don't like it as much as the other tracks, simple.

13. Devaralan Aattam

Again, same thing. It is a nice piece of music...I am not that fond of it. This album is soooo good, and this song is a nice song. Except I kind of get scared when I listen to it T-T.

12. Aazhi Mazhai Kanna

It is soooo pretty! My only complaint is that it is...what? A minute long?! I wish it were a full fledged, 2-3 minute long song...It has a such a lovely vibe, and I am in love with the music video.

11. Ilaiyor Soodar

It has a kind of nostalgic, old-ish vibe? IDK how to describe it, but it feels kind of melancholic, which I think it is meant to be? This is very small as well, no?

10. Chinnanjiru (Marumurai)

This is one of my fav songs on this album actually, but I don't listen to it that much, because it makes me cry. I think this song might actually make me depressed, it's so beautifully made and sung.

9. Chola Chola

It has a very energetic vibe, over all. Why do I feel that this would be a good gym song tho? It also seems like a strong dance song, and I love it for that. Also, I listened to the Hindi version first, and I highly recommend it.

8. Chinnanjiru Nilave

It is a very beautiful piece of music. My favorite part is how the music starts off with a very cheerful tune, and keeps it throughout the song, while slowly adding a tragic/painful tone as the song progresses. It really fits the couple it is picturized on. Who is the singer, guys? Another song whose Hindi version I loved.

7. Shivoham

I really love the fact that this song's lyrics are taken directly from Nirvana Shatakam. I am a sucker for well made religious music, especially with Sanskrit lyrics, and this is one of those songs. Someone make a 1 hour loop of this, it is toooooo short.

6. Ponni Nadhi

This was the first PS song I listened to, and it is so, so, so good!!!! Such an energetic and simultaneously peaceful song. The music video is so precious as well, and the fact that it is picturized on Vanthiyathevan is just another plus for me. Makes me want to sing along whenever I listen to it.

ANNNDDDDD NOW, TOP 5.

5. Ratchasa Maamaney

Sweetie, I am so sorry. I feel so guilty for ranking this so low. This is an awesome song. Shreya Ghoshal is a pleasure as always, and the music + music video are just precious. This song has such festive vibes, and Vanthiyathevan's parts are so hilarious. The flute in the beginning has fulfilled all my dreams.

4. Sol

Now, NGL, but I was not that big of a fan of this song initially, when I first heard it, but it grew on me. The whistling, the sound of water, everything is so cute. This is the most adorable song I have ever heard. The Tamil version was my fav.

3. Aga Naga

It is so dreamy and breath-taking for me. I am in love with this song. The instruments, and the singing, everything is top notch. IDK how people can dislike this song. It has a slow touch to it, and it is very romantic, but has subtle vibes? Like this song gives me the vibe of loving someone, but from afar?

2. Alaikadal

So dreamy and peaceful. I listened to all of it's versions, and it has a mysterious + chill vibe. Antara Nandy is such a good singer. This song just transports you to a different world.

WINNER: Veera Raja Veera

This song is just....perfection. Chef's kiss. Out of this world. ROYAL. I always blast this song on full volume, and it is EVERYTHING. This song is just....I don't have words for it. The lyrics are even more perfect. The part before the last chorus is my fav and I just-

Also the music video.

DAMN.

I am screaming, shrieking, throwing up whenever I listen to it.

What is your ranking?

[doyelikehaggis]

7 Days of Scarepairs: Blam | Blaine Anderson x Sam Evans (Glee) + “Vampire”

Requested by Anonymous

"I have to compel you. If anyone found out-"

Sam stared back at him, his eyes as big as saucers. "Who would believe me? I don't even think I believe me."

"Trust me," Blaine said gravely, "plenty of people around here would believe you, and that wouldn't end well. For anyone. It's not just me."

Sam got out of his chair. "Wait, there are others? Like, here? In Lima?"

Reluctantly, Blaine nodded. He knew shouldn't be telling him any of this. It was too much of a risk. He should compel him now, like Mr Schue told him to.

But then he caught a glimpse of Sam's face. He was grinning from ear-to-ear as he sank back into the chair and shook his head. He looked up at him.

"This is so cool."

"It's really not," Blaine tried to protest.

"Dude, you're a freaking vampire!" He glanced around them, his face taking on a more serious look as Blaine motioned for him to keep his voice down. "Sorry. It's just... I don't understand. You're this awesome, supernatural being with awesome powers. You're like a superhero."

Every disadvantage and negative side to it rolled right back down Blaine's throat. His mouth quirked and Sam's grin widened.

"I guess, in a way..." he said, his brow furrowing. "Wait, you like superheroes?"

"Are you kidding? I love them," Sam said with barely contained excitement but, to his credit, he managed to keep control of his volume. His eyes grew impossibly wider and he was out of his chair again, standing in front of him. "Could I be your human sidekick?!"

The answer to that question should, undoubtedly, be a resounding no. Letting him keep his memories was bad enough. But actually involving him in any of it? Mr Schue would never let it slide.

He opened his mouth to shoot him down, but... he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The truth was, it was a pretty lonely existence. He'd only been a vampire for two years, but he barely had anyone to talk to anymore. His parents didn't want to know him. It was better they forgot about him entirely and went on pretending he had actually died that night.

Even his brother was better off like that.

Sure, he had a few friends at Dalton, and they knew what it was like, but... he was still really lonely. They had all gotten used to in their own ways, but he never could. Mr Schue was always telling him he couldn't have human blood because of the ripper gene, so he couldn't exactly tag along with David and Jeff when would sneak out.

He never even talked to Kurt about it because he thought it might freak him out too much, with all the history between witches and vampires, and now he wasn't even there anymore anyway.

He felt completely alone, even in his own world.

But here was Sam, looking at him like he was the coolest person he had ever met. Asking to be his friend. He wasn't afraid of him or what he might do, not like everyone back at Dalton or Mr Schue.

"I'm sorry." He sighed as Sam's face fell. "It's too dangerous. I need to make you forget all of this."

Sam pressed his lips together and nodded. "Can I just ask one thing? Don't take everything away."

Blaine opened his mouth, already shaking his head, but Sam lifted his eyes to him, freezing him to the spot with his next words.

"Leave the part where we met today."

Sam took a deep breath and nodded one more time, letting him know he was ready, even if he wasn't really. And he wasn't the only one.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't make him forget.

Worse than that: he didn't want to.

[three-dee-ess]

hiiii 3DS tour!!!!

from the day i first got it, i knew to name it Happiness..... nothing deep about it i just wanted to say "my mom took my Happiness away for exam week :("

a bit of a reveal but i'm the anxious sticker placer anon haha it's still plain to this day if not for a few scratches (a lot actually but it's not that noticeable, right? qwq)

the barcode and numbers are super faded i can't read them!! plus the scratches are much more noticeable, im not sure where most of them came from but i remember one of them is when i accidentally dropped a screwdriver on it oops

the cartridge is pokemon black 2!! i've had this game before Happiness. yup i have a metallic rose DS lite that's sooo busted up, (well i had a coral pink DS lite before that but i got mugged when i was like 7 years old and it's gone which is a story for another time)

anyway, metallic rose had dead pixels that spread like some fungus, L button didnt work at all, buttons feel gross to press now, etc yknow normal 7 year old not knowing the value of things thing

i'd send a picture but it's back at my old house, pray that the spiders know how to play dig dig dug

:D i'm very normal about cyrus pokemon i swear

if you check my theme plaza account you can see i also made one (1) batch of badges which is hunter x hunter badges as you can see from the folders, i'm also very normal about hunter x hunter i swear

i wanted to lay everything out without folders and arrange everything pretty but it's so hard how do all of you do it qwq

gon folder (top left folder) are my 3DS gaammeess, i haven't played some of them bc i still got a lot of games to finish but they're there!!

frens (i didnt make the badges other than the hunter x hunter ones btw!)

killua folder (top right folder) contains DS... well used to, now it holds other games! i also haven't played most of them im so busy qwq

i deleted the shortcuts for the DS games i finished, also it took me way too long how to inject GBA and other games into 3DS

kurapika folder (bottom left folder) contains videos and movies! i figured out how to convert them but it's so hard to find download links to the movies i like now :(

also did you know the first 3 volumes of hunter x hunter are on the japanese eshop? i can't read japanese but i keep them because i like the novelty of it

leorio folder (bottom right folder) is my homebrew and miscellaneous stuffs! self-explanatory -w-

if you have any homebrew stuffs you wanna recommend, tell meee

eek, asks only allows 10 pictures apparently so i'm gonna send another one because we're not done yet!!!!

Happiness is so awesome the crows wants an encore so i shall deliver ohoo

activity log :D i love that the 3DS has this so we can all look back on memories and such

and that's the day when i first got Happiness!!!! i was pretty late to the 3DS party but i stiiiillll love it if you couldn't tell i really love pokemon and that's why i wanted a 3DS so bad lol i don't think i will ever be as excited as i was holding Happiness in my hands for the first time qwq

yknow, i still don't know how this happened

and that's all from meee if you have any questions or wanna tell me something, go to my ask box because i don't wanna clog up three-dee-ess's notifs!! thank you for having me

----

galaxy style n3DSXL

thank you so much for the tour >:3c I loved reading through all of it! In depth tours like this are super interesting to me so thank you for sharing!! it makes me really happy.

I'll need to find my red 3DS again so I can share my own stats, since my grey one I use to mostly play puzzle game titles like picross, not any like, RPGs.

[biblioflyer]

Power as Privilege

Magneto’s power gives him options that are unavailable to most Mutants. It would also make him a kingmaker if not the king, whether he wants it or not. Who could defy him in a separatist enclave aboard Asteroid M except another Omega? Since no one could, then who would dare?

Previously I discussed why X-Men as a setting is fundamentally pessimistic as a necessity according to the creative choices made. It is an essay in 5 parts:

1,2,3,4,5

This is a new series analyzing how experience and social status influences Mutant outlooks on the assimilation vs separatism/supremacy question.

A mile wide asteroid is not a very big place. Doing a bit of back of the envelope math, that works out to a volume of about 2.2 million cubic meters. Which is an impressive number to be sure.

For comparison the ISS has a pressurized volume of about 1,000 cubic meters and an inhabitable volume of 388 cubic meters. That supports 7 people usually. That works out to about 1 person per 143 cubic meters.

Following the same ratio, Asteroid M could probably support a population of 15,384. Where things get fuzzy is that the amount of personal space Asteroid M residents seem to enjoy, such as lavish reception halls complete with Sentinel scrap thrones, is much higher than your average astronaut. Asteroid M is also theoretically fully self-sustaining whereas the ISS needs periodic resupply and provision of spare parts. On the other hand, Asteroid M also was built with salvaged alien tech from the Savage Lands so that might even things out quite a bit.

Just over 15,000 people is the population of a large town trapped inside a machine that provides them with the essentials of life in an environment that would otherwise kill them within 30 seconds, absent special powers or survival gear.

We don’t have to work very hard to imagine the damage that could be wrought by just a handful of Omega tier Mutants deciding to cut loose inside Asteroid M’s walls. The boss fight with Bastion is a pretty excellent example. The damage to structural integrity and essential systems can add up very fast. I forget the specifics, but Asteroid M also had to be abandoned previously due to damage that made it at risk of becoming uninhabitable in the wake of Cortez’s coup against Magneto.

Accountability for Omegas and Protections for the Mutants Who Don’t Have Cool or Awesome Powers

This leads into a question of how an insular Mutant state could govern itself. Realistically the only answer to a Bad Omega tier Mutant is a Good Omega tier Mutant. Yeah, I don’t really like the implications of that analogy either.

The alternative is large numbers of lowertier Mutants or Humans with sufficient firepower or technological doodads but we’ve seen time and again that this winds up being a Zapp Brannigan strategy. It can work, but it costs a lot of lives and material. I wouldn’t personally be overly eager to sign up to be part of a special task force whose objective is to try to slip a power suppression collar on Magneto.

TAS/’97 never really elaborate on what sort of society Magneto was planning to create and how it would be organized, constitutionally speaking. Notably Genosha was setting up a constitutional monarchy prior to the Wild Sentinel attack. It was also notable that of the known members of the executive council, the majority were Mutants with extremely formidable powers. The presence of Moira MacTaggert in some capacity and Callisto represent at least gestures towards the idea of egalitarianism and informed decision making, but the presence of Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost, both known Mutant Supremacists and unapologetically hierarchical, does not instill confidence.

The groups directly influenced by Xavier’s teachings seem to be the only organizations that don’t have an implicit power based hierarchy. In this way Mutants seem not to have surpassed Human organization and Human concepts of justice. This is something I’d like to think Xavier recognized, especially the further down his path of separatism and domination Magneto went, which is why in theory, if not in practice, Xavier was willing to work inside of Human institutions.

Flawed as they are and unreceptive to Mutants, well designed Human institutions are designed to disaggregate power and regulate how authority is used when it is necessary for an individual to have wide latitude and vast resources at their disposal. This often does not work as well as might be desired, but history is full of examples where being unable to alter the course of an absolute ruler once they’d set their mind to something proves disastrous.

As such, the X-Men working to contain and disrupt the activities of Mutants who are too powerful for traditional Sapiens authorities to deal with practically is probably the most potent statement pro-coexistence Mutants can make about their ability to be folded into existing society and institutions and their willingness to be held to the same standards as baseline Humans. 

It's a statement that Mutants who use their powers destructively can be confronted and brought to justice by a force of Mutants willing to be bound by and enforce rules and norms of Human society. In doing so, they declare themselves to be Humans who have mutant powers, rather than something else entirely.

Next: No matter how many times we save the world, it just seems to get in jeopardy again. Also when we save it, you hate us more for some reason.

[fairygeek777]

Now that I've completed the Codename: Sailor V Manga, I think it's time I gave my honest thoughts!

Volume 1:

Volume 1 was pretty full of Mina shenanigans. It was quite the turn your brain off kind of read lol.

I like that right off the bat you are introduced to Minako in a very different way than we were to Usagi. Minako is athletic and very ambitious in both love and sports! Maybe its just me but she also looks younger compared to the Sailor Moon Mina. She is just entering middle school, so maybe Naoko intentionally drew her slightly younger?

The Dark Agency was mostly silly.

Artemis is struggling xD

And Mina had a new crush every chapter. Overall pretty fun though.

Volume 2:

Now, Volume 2! Tbh it is once again mostly Sailor V shenanigans. There's a Valentines chapter which you know she's gonna be gunghoe on professing her love to her current object of affection.

Things don't pick up until

Ace is introduced! I was thinking he'd be too similar to Tuxedo Mask, but Naoko knows what she's doing. He stands out perfectly fine. He gets his own blog 👍

Overall Series:

The story slowly leads up to Mina regaining her memories. There's little moments in each chapter sprinkled around where Mina will encounter one of her fellow senshi or suddenly have a faint image of them.

I really liked the development of Venus (both the guardian planet and character) and seeing her castle so early on.

I kinda wish Artemis and Minako got along better but what can ya do 😂

I will say that Minako owned her role as Sailor Venus. She genuinely loves it and I love that for her.

Boss is 100% Luna right? I mean she's not in the story. Only mentioned a lot by Artemis. Love sick kitty 🤭

These two are so fun! Low-key best characters lol. Wakagi with his old fashioned speech is so great.

As for an overall rating of the story. It's a solid 7. Most of it is just fun wacky Sailor Venus adventures with goofy villians. It does have really strong moments especially at the end. Like- damn that gave me goosebumps. I think it was a great solo manga for Minako and Naoko is awesome for creating it!

[sirfrogsworth]

Just got back from the movie. The theater was in the middle of this hipster village type deal. Trendy shops and a wine bar.

I walked into the Alamo Drafthouse and the people at the front just kinda looked at me as I walked by. I had my ticket ready on my phone, but no one scanned it or looked at it. I don't know if it is always like that, but maybe next time I should try not buying a ticket and see what happens.

The large format fancy theater was as far away from the entrance as possible. I should have brought my cane. But I made it okay. It was indeed large and fancy. The seats were very comfortable and had electric reclining. There was also a button to summon a waiter which felt very high tech. And he would duck down super low as he walked in front of everyone. He looked like a penguin scurrying along. I ordered a pizza and it showed up just in time for the movie. It was pretty tasty.

The video quality was fine. I honestly didn't see a huge difference with the 4K laser projector, but the large screen was nice. I might be spoiled by my fancy HDR, 2000 nit TV. Projection just can't do that.

The front audio was much better than the last theater. Very clear voices. But the bass was a little boomy. Unfortunately I think they calibrate the audio for when there are more people there. 100+ humans in a space add a lot of absorption and diffusion. But there were maybe 8 people total and there wasn't anything to suck up the bass.

The Atmos was not even noticeable except in one or two scenes. That was disappointing. Atmos was one of the main reasons I chose that theater. I don't know if they skipped getting a Dolby calibrator or something. The side speakers were audible, but the ceiling speakers never made themselves known. Not even in the thunderstorm scene.

The ceilings were extremely high, so I'm wondering if the speakers were just too far away. Inverse square law would dictate they would need a lot of power and volume to cover that distance. This is probably why Dolby officially certifies theaters and this wasn't one of them.

This is what a front speaker in a theater looks like. There are usually at least 3 of them. Bigger spaces might do an array of 6--all behind the screen.

That is 7 feet tall, 200 pounds, and takes 3000 watts of power.

And you'll usually have 3 of these dual 18" subwoofers.

These beasts require 4000 watts of power and are also 200 pounds.

A typical theater Atmos speaker is like this.

About 30 inches tall and handles 350 watts.

All of those speakers have to cover about the same distance. Meaning the ceiling speakers were at a major size and power disadvantage.

So I think the theater was too big and too tall for Atmos to work effectively. You probably have to trade off a big screen or good sound. I'm going to try an official Dolby theater next time to see the difference.

The movie itself was okay. Maybe a 6 out of 10. A few good laughs, some fun action, but the humor was very hit and miss.

Now, I'm not just saying this because they are a creep, but Ezra is just... a lot. They do their funny jokey thing and it gets old very fast. It was okay when they were a side character, but when they are leading a movie, it fizzles. And then there is a second Ezra in the movie and they do the funny jokey thing turned up to 11.

Way too much Ezra.

But then Michael Keaton enters and he's just fantastic. I got such a rush of nostalgia from the 1989 Batman. That was probably my favorite movie for a good 3 years. 8 year old me was so happy to see my first Batman again. They even forced him to do some super cringe fanservice lines--and he nailed them.

He was like, "I'm going to take this bullshit line and make it awesome. Because I'm the goddamn Batman."

And Sasha Calle as Supergirl was also excellent. Though she was very underutilized. But if they can keep her, I think she could be a fan favorite.

The big complaint about The Flash has been the CGI. And I would say 75% of the CGI was great. There was a reveal of the Batwing that looked stunning. Supergirl flying was great. The vehicles were great. All of the invisible effects like backgrounds and set extensions were flawless. There was a big car chase that looked decent. There were plenty of top notch VFX in this movie. And I think the artists should be proud of those.

The stuff that didn't work was mostly just because the situations were unrealistic or the art direction was poorly done or they just didn't spend enough time polishing the effect.

When they animated Micheal Keaton doing jumpy flippy ninja moves, it didn't sell perfectly. And the speed and power of the Kryptonions was not nearly as well done as in Man of Steel.

But I know why people said the CGI was terrible. Though I don't actually think it was the CGI that was bad. I'm pretty sure they just made a poor aesthetic choice. Flash goes into the Speedforce and they cleary wanted to make it trippy and otherworldly. I don't think they were going for photorealism. I think they intentionally wanted everything to be in the uncanny valley. Unfortunately the style they chose looked more like a video game.

They were trying to do a Dr. Strange type effect and it just didn't work. It ended up being more... Lawnmower Man.

The only truly terrible effects were CG renders of people they couldn't get to do proper cameos because they were fired or were dead. Usually you need a 3D scan to do a CG double and it's hard to do that on dead people. The best was Admiral Tarkin in Rogue One, but they spent months and months on that.

CG Henry Cavill was probably the worst effect in the entire film and I'm guessing that really pissed people off.

The Flash running also looked bad, but that was 100% because Ezra Miller runs like a goof.

I have no idea why they run like that, but it looks so dumb and ruins the speed effect. Like, if you took them out and put someone running normally into the effect, it would have looked super neat.

And the only other VFX that didn't quite work was these slow motion falling babies. They looked photorealistic, but something about animating a falling baby in slow motion did not look right. Again, I don't think this was bad CGI. I think it was just a visual that was impossible to make realistic.

I know that sounds like a lot of bad effects, but that was every bad effect out of 2000+ total. Maybe 15 shots out of those 2000 were memorably bad. But the bad shots are always the most memorable and I guess that is why you don't hear folks talking about all of the flawless ones.

If you do see this movie and you haven't heard Kevin Smith's Superman story, you definitely should watch that first. Because the best gag in the movie will go over your head otherwise.

Sooooo, yeah... that was my night at the movies. On the drive there I got to see the Arch and downtown and it was beautiful. And on the drive home, Google decided to take me through every spooky ass neighborhood in St. Louis at midnight.

FUN!

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

DJ-Kicks - The Tracks by Stacey Pullen 1996 Techno / Deep House

Allow me to make one thing very clear here before diving into this release: this is *not,* I repeat, *not* the DJ mix version of Detroit techno legend Stacey Pullen's terrific volume in !K7's super consistent DJ-Kicks series. What this is instead is the double-12-inch version of it, which is markedly different. See, sometimes when labels put out a DJ mix on CD or cassette, they also release a different edition of it on vinyl too, and those ones usually come with fuller-length, unmixed versions of tracks that appear within the DJ mix itself.

Now, I have mixed feelings about this particular release here; on one hand, there is some really great mid-90s techno and deep house on this thing, and if you loved any tracks on the DJ mix version of the album, then, with this vinyl edition, you'd have the fuller-length, unmixed versions of its songs. But on another hand, this particular vinyl release is only limited to being a double-12-inch, so you couldn't possibly fit longer versions of every single song that was used in the DJ mix itself onto two records; electronic tunes are generally way too long for you to be able to do that.

So, given that constraining factor, I really don't think that the 7 songs that were ultimately chosen for this vinyl edition are really all that fully representative of the true nature of Stacey Pullen's very excellent DJ mix. Basically, if you've never heard this dispatch from the DJ-Kicks series before, don't bother listening to this double-12-inch to get your fill of it; go listen to the actual DJ mix instead; it's spectacular.

Still though, all of this isn't to say that there aren't bangers on these two records here, because there definitely are; especially the last two tracks: Kenny Larkin's "Q" and "Funk de Fino" by Gypsy. It's just that the actual DJ mix has a whole lot more bangers on it than this release does.

Kenny Larkin's "Q" does this wonderful techno thing of laying down placid string pads and then eventually unleashing intermittently disruptive bunches of stabbing and galloping snares atop it, while also allowing a thin and fuzzy membrane of liquid acid to fester between it all too. In fact, speaking of galloping rhythms, Chicago house pioneer Marshall Jefferson uses a pretty similar formula to that one on a great techno track of his own called "The Horse" too, which was released a few years after "Q." I wonder if he drew any inspiration from Kenny Larkin for it! 🤔

And Gypsy's "Funk de Fino" is a terrifically deep hybrid of chilly ambient techno and dubby progressive trance. This tranquil and pleasing beast only gets a little over 2 minutes in Pullen's mix, but here, in its full-length state, it takes up an entire side of a record, clocking in at over 13 and a half minutes instead! Sweet, sweet, steady journey here to close out this particular release. One of the pros of this vinyl edition of the album is that you get to hear this awesome tune in its entirety 😌.

But nevertheless, trust me, folks: while this has some quality electronic music on it, the actual DJ mix of Stacey Pullen's DJ-Kicks is still leaps and bounds better.

Highlights:

Silent Phase - "Psychotic Funk" Gerd - "Arkest's Blaze" Wulf-N-Bear - "Raptures of the Deep" Kenny Larkin - "Q" Gypsy - "Funk de Fino"

[mylittleredgirl]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks @annerbhp for the tag! i really enjoyed reading her answers too!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

215

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

646,705 (average of 3k per fic, which sounds about right)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

stargate atlantis most often, followed by sg-1, various star treks, and the x-files (with other miscellaneous fandoms on demand for exchanges and gifts).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

No Sooner Met (voyager, janeway/chakotay)

Career Day (sg-1, mini!otp)

Next Chapter (the good place, chidi/eleanor)

First Date (voyager, janeway/chakotay) editor's note: man my title game was weak in my voyager era

Occupational Hazards (the good place, chidi/eleanor)

it's so funny to spend my online time in small or inactive fandoms and look at statistics because i'm like yeah... i'm kind of a big deal... people know me... i have many leather-bound volumes... and not a single one of my fics crack 300 kudos (& very few over 100). the person i reblogged from topped out over 9,000! what's it like to write long fics for popular fandoms? is it cool?

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do now! and it's awesome! for a long time i was intimidated by praise and had a hard time responding, but my brain works now and i really enjoy exchanging comments that turn into long threads of headcanon back-and-forth and sometimes new friends.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh god PLEASE let me unburden my soul about Twilight (sga, john/elizabeth). it's so uncharacteristically hopeless for me -- far future fic, complicated family dynamics, elizabeth has dementia and john is estranged from their son... really no one is having a good time. i think it's interesting and a cool departure from my usual writing style, but it's also a big sad mess.

i still feel sooooo guilty about these two thousand words of misery that i REGULARLY think about writing a sequel where john and his son fix it with time travel and mend fences. like i lie awake at night worrying about these characters because one time in 2007 i didn't give them a happy ending and suggested john might not break the bad father generational cycle. normal fic writer behavior.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Weaving Loose Ends (sg-1, sam/jack)! i love happy and hopeful endings but i think of all of them, this one is the most resolved and least complicated.

8. Do you get hate on fic?

nope. oh!!!! there was the one time when i caused Big Drama in a corner of the Dancing With The Stars fandom by turning people's headcanons into rpf, which everyone liked until one included porn. people got so heated with each other over this one smut fic (doxing! splinter factions! a fandom schism!) but somehow no one was ever actually mean to me. i didn't even get blocked or banned for my rpf transgressions, i was just standing there at the eye of the storm. so... i guess the answer is still no??

9. Do you write smut?

yes! i should probably write more, though. it has been all slow and gauzy the past few years, somebody should really get railed pretty soon.

10. Do you write crossovers?

nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don't think so. happily toiling in obscurity.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

back in the x-files days i think someone translated some of my doggett/reyes fics for a spanish archive, so those might still be out there.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no i haven't!! i am really not doing well collecting my fic writer girl scout badges here!!

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

john sheppard/elizabeth weir my beloved.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

i have 10k of an sg-1 episode-by-episode soulmate fic that started really strong and i would love to share someday, but i lack staying power so it will surely just go to seed in my dropbox forever!!

16. What are your writing strengths?

hopefully character complexity and dialogue. dialogue is interesting in fanfic, because the dialogue on many TV shows is really different than how real humans speak (it's scripted to be clearer, more concise and direct, uninterrupted, etc), so it's a fun challenge to balance that and get something that sounds both in-character and realistic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

long fics!

the big related weakness is that i find it incredibly difficult to keep writing on a fic after i show it to anyone (as a sneak peek, or because i want feedback / encouragement / brainstorming help). i lose steam on my own, but posting or inviting other people into the process is like pouring sugar in the gas tank. why is that!! how do i fix this!!!

and i don't know if this is a "writing weakness" or an "egregious personal character flaw" but i sure did finish an exchange fic this year literally forty seconds before reveals, so that's... pretty bad.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

SO SCARY aughhhh my fear of Being Wrong really nukes me here. it doesn't even have to be a real language. it's like the ghost of JRR Tolkein himself is standing over my shoulder telling me that if i don't backwards engineer an entire proto-latinate space language instead of just chucking words into google translate and calling it Ancient i'm committing unpardonable sins.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

star trek! first internet-published fics were x-files, but first limited-print-edition fics were xeroxed hand-bound voyager stories my sister and i would give as "gifts" to family friends (and then stand there staring at them while they read the first few pages and told us how clever and creative we were and promised to "read the rest later").

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

new answer! i have always answered this before with ain't no sunshine (sga, john/elizabeth) or career day (sg-1, mini!otp), but i think i really stuck the landing this year on pieces (sga, john/elizabeth). which, incidentally, is the one i finished forty seconds before reveals so i'm definitely not going to learn anything from that narrow escape.

tagging @ussjellyfish if you haven't already done this one, @coraclavia, @havocthecat, @lonesomehighways, and anyone else who made it through this long post and would like to do it!

[rukimakino-heirofheart]

ZUN's Music Collection vol. 10: Mugen Noh of Tanabatazaka ~ Taboo Japan Disentanglement.

Getting a new Hifuu CD after so long is extremely exciting, especially when the cover looks like this (Maribel's design getting ever so slightly closer to her completed Yukari appearance) and especially when one of the arranged tracks is fucking AoCF Necrofantasia. The CD was fully uploaded and translated within 24 hours of the Reitaisai release — never change, RenMerry shippers — so I immediately went to check it out.

Track 1: Dawn Breaks on Tanabatazaka (Original)

Not very much to say about this one other than that it's nice and the soft instrumentation lends it an interesting tone.

Track 2: Tinkerbell of Inequality (Original)

Surprisingly heavy percussion and bass here. Unlike the minimalist Fires of Hokkai, though, this track has a complex "mechanical"-sounding drumline that feels more like something you'd hear out of Len'en. I like this a lot.

Track 3: Does the Forbidden Door Lead to This World, or the World Beyond? (HSiFS)

A hard downgrade over the original. I get what ZUN was going for — stage-1-ifying the song makes it more of a tonal fit with the album — but making it less punchy and softening the drums in the mix makes it sound kind of generic.

Track 4: Smoking Dragon (UM)

Mostly the same as the original but with a key change and a more complicated piano harmony. Not much to write home about.

Track 5: Mugen Noh ~ Taboo Marionette (Original)

ZUN rarely writes in 3/4, so this was pretty surprising. I like this a lot; the mood is tranquil but with plenty of drive at the core, and its instrumentation gives it DiPP/PCB-era vibes while still being unmistakably modern Touhou.

Track 6: Crazy Backup Dancers (HSiFS)

Woah. I like this a lot better than the original from HSiFS, the updated arrangement does a great deal here and the new section in the second half makes the track as a whole a hell of a lot less annoying.

Track 7: Yorimashi Between Dreams and Reality ~ Necro-Fantasia (AoCF)

Opening right off the bat with an original intro (is that 12-string guitar(?) patch a new instrument???), the long-awaited AoCF cover sounds fucking awesome in the newer style! Cutting down the mix to just the ZUNpet and one or two other patches for percussion texture is a fun technique and it's cool to see it deployed so well here. My only real complaint is that it feels like it should be longer.

Track 8: The Lonely Road of Hitachi (Original)

3/4 swing melody over an unswung 3/4 beat (with occasional 4-tuplets?), neat. The heavy arpeggio delay on the piano gives the track an "asynchronized" feeling that I like a lot.

Track 9: The Lamentations Known Only by Jizo (WBaWC)

The addition of the choir layer is a good choice imo, and the tone overall is more melancholic which fits its context in this album. Feels a bit space-filler-y but it's still solid.

Track 10: The Concealed Four Seasons (HSiFS)

This sounds pretty much the same as the original. Don't get me wrong, the original was a good song (if atypical for a stage 6 boss), but it's kind of disappointing that the arrange isn't very distinctive.

Track 11: Ghosts Exist Even When It's Not Night (Original)

A slowly-building staff roll-ish track that works nicely to cap off the album. I like it.

Overall thoughts & story

Eight years since the last Hifuu CD, ZUN still has it. The worst it ever gets is "well that was disappointing" and the best it gets is fresh and exciting. The story is an interesting development while leaving plenty of room for future exploration — it explicitly connects the shared features of Okina and Yukari's abilities to Merry's use of time travel in CoSD, for one thing — and the choice to include Okina's narration stands out and has me curious what volume 11 is going to be like.

9/10 definitely worth it.

[sylvyspritii]

RWBY ramble

(EDIT: I originally wanted to make a very small post about RWBY but i accidentally kept typing because i have feelings okay) Okay listen i only have ONE really strong RWBY opinion okay? Ironwood in volume 7 was a totally different character than Ironwood in volume 8, the writers completely ruined his character, and his turn in volume 8 was totally out of character and unbelieveable They ruined the most interesting morally grey character in the series to get a clear black and white conflict, and in my opinion, it was a waste of potential, especially for the long-term story To be honest i could go on and on about how volume 8 ruined RWBY for me (EDIT: i did) I was one of those fans that came in RWBY really late, i remember it really well, it was around 2019/2020-ish, i watched the first 2 volumes as a joke because i heard how "cringe" it was, and i legitemately found the first 2 volumes to be pretty bad, aside from the fight scene animations, but i kept watching for some reason Then when i got to volume 3, well, holy fucking shit??? Like, it went from "i'm watching this ironically to see how bad it is" to "WAIT THIS IS ACTUALLY KINDA GOOD THO?!?!?!" VERY quickly, like wow, volume 3 actually really impressed me Volume 4 was a bit slower paced, but i think it's really great that they took more time to develop the lore and backstory of the world beyond Beacon Volume 5 and 6 were "alright" to me, but it's volume 7 where things REALLY started to click for me, the stakes were higher than ever, we got awesome returning characters, familiar faces in the direst of times, combined with more spotlight for characters that needed more fleshing out, and pretty decent new characters, combined with the REALLY GOOD rising tension of the looming threat, i fucking loved volume 7, and Ironwood was a HUGE part of what made volume 7 so memorable, having that kind of morally gray "i'll do what's right at all costs" kind of character with trust issues was exactly what the happy go lucky gang of the main cast of RWBY needed to balance things out, but its his genuine trust and willingness to believe the main cast that makes his downfall all the more sad, Ironwood sacrifices so much in order to help everyone, including the main cast, even promoting them to huntresses, which has been a huge goal for them since the start of the series, and yet, in volume 8, it feels like the Ironwood from volume 7 becomes a different person in the span of the gap between the two seasons, it's ridicolous, all the nuance was removed Yes, i am still disappointed about this years later, not particularly because of Ironwood specifically (altough i do admit i liked him a lot because he was such a good balance for the main cast to make things more mature and nuanced instead of black and white), but because of the downfall of my expectations when it came to the quality of the writing since volume 3 took my heart by storm (positive), it felt like my journey with RWBY was such a rollercoaster, it was like, "this is cringe let's keep going as a joke" to "I GENUINLY CARE ABOUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AND THIS WORLD AND IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER HOLY SHIT" to "...they ruined everything", i have yet to watch volume 9, but my expectations are very low because of volume 8

[fruitycatdemon]

I caught back up to Re:Zero!!!

BASICALLY, (as I will include Arc 7 and 8 since they kinda just go hand in hand- although it was reasonably split up with how long it was) ANYWAYS- Arc 7 was one the most flawwed thing I have EVER read, but I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Although there were flaws, I won't even get into then BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY GOOD MOMENTS!!!! I really liked Subaru's horrifying death loop in Chaos Flame, especially the entire Natsumi Schwarz segment in Arc 7! Also, when Subaru met back up with everyone I WAS SO EXCITED.

In regards to Arc 8, at so far only 58 chapters it's AWESOME. I loved the named chapters for Todd, not to mention the entire beginning to the arc. I was also really excited to see a bunch of the stuff from EX 5 really come into the main story!! I loved seeing Roswaal come over and fight with everyone (as it IS rare to see him fight AT ALL)

And finally, the climax that is the current state of Arc 8 has the craziest shit ever and I LOVE it. I really loved seeing these odd pairs work together, and seeing Betty and Subaru teaming up against Sphinx (also, in regards to Sphinx-- I REMEMBER THE SIDE STORIES ABOUT THIS CHARACTER AND I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THE INTRODUCTION RAHHH) I really liked the talk with Rem and Ram, as well as with Subaru and the renaming to Spica. I also found it really interesting to find out that Cecilus and Reinhard are basically cousins ???? ALSO I MIGHT BE FREAKING OUT BUT LIKE-- I absolutely HATE Heinkel. Not because he's an inherently bad person, because he isn't. I just really like Reinhard so it upsets me (knowing that he chooses to treat his own son that way) anyways, tiss a beautiful arc, especially elevated by Otsuka's illustrations for these last few volumes!!!

Finally, the entirety of chapter 58 + The Interlude were amazing. Seeing Subaru and Abel's interactions, Subaru declare that he'll beat Sphinx, especially Spica and Subaru successful breaking free of her grasp and Abel getting the Yang Sword (the illustration for this IS SO PRETTY)

Thank you for reading my rant. I really do love this series. 🧡🧡

[13eyond13]

Hi...Can I ask your top 3 favorite characters from Nana? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Thanks if you want to answer....

Hi hi!! I would LOVE to try to talk about this series for a bit, but PLEASE keep in mind I'm still only just finished volume 7 / chapter 24 (I am currently waiting in line to read volume 8 at my library! But I might get impatient and just try to find the chapters online too)... MY TOP 3 FAVE NANA CHARACTERS (SO FAR) 1. NANA KOMATSU / NANA 1 / "HACHI": OMG I love Nana 1 to death hahahaha. She literally makes me lol every single volume with her thoughts and decisions and interactions with everyone else, and it's just the most fun in the series to be inside her brain and following along with her relationships and emotional roller-coasters and little life lessons and anxieties and pains and hopes and dreams. She's an awesome character to me for being flawed and complex and selfish and immature yet still very likable and oddly tough and brave and sweet as pie at the same time. I think seeing the growth she's having as a person over the series is definitely the main draw for me, and watching her try to figure out her feelings for everybody and her place in the world and how to become the type of person that contains all the personality traits she's always admiring around her - and how to fill that void she feels of never completely erasing the loneliness inside or being perfectly synced up with the people she's trying to form a deeper connection with.

2. NANA OSAKI / NANA 2:

She's mysterious, she's proud, she's tough, she's badass, she's funny and sensible and kind! I love the more grown-up and emotionally reserved vibe she has in comparison to Nana 1, which totally makes sense considering her harder childhood and how self-reliant she always had to be. Her casual warmth with Hachi is endearing and her less obviously expressive and highly independent yet still emotionally intense personality is very relatable to me. It's the most fun to see Hachi reacting to Nana 2 to me I think, because Nana 2 is more closed off and a bit more afraid of exploring her feelings unabashedly than Nana 1. But she's by far my other fave in the series, and of course the heart of the whole thing is the very ambiguously devoted relationship between the 2 Nanas for me!

3. ???? I don't think I have a third main fave character in the story yet??

At the beginning of the manga I quite liked Shoji and Junko, but as the series is progressing it seems like they both got written out of the plot almost entirely. I liked Junko for always keeping it real with Nana and caring about her in a tough love sort of way, though she did for sure just seem a bit like the "voice of reason" character for the more ridiculous Nana to bounce off of whenever she was in a bind... I liked Shoji because he seems like a regular kid instead of some idealistic fictional love interest hunk - his reactions to Nana K. were pretty relatable to me, and their romantic interactions were cute and made me laugh and also cringe with sympathy at times (like when it was so awkward when Nana first moved to Tokyo too and they were still trying to readjust to being around each other more - I remember similar things happening to me whenever I had been long-distance in a relationship for a summer and and then suddenly near my partner again at some time). Even in the part where he starts developing feelings for Sachiko and sneakily cheating on Nana, I always felt he behaved pretty understandably and wasn't a horrible person so much as just a conflicted and young and immature one who wasn't in the right relationship when he was with Nana, maybe (though admittedly I wasn't that upset that he wasn't being featured in the story more after that, because that would probably get on my nerves). Currently I have just finished volume 7, and right now I am finding I don't feel a super strong connection to any of the other characters too much other than Nana 1 and Nana 2? The other guys in Blast are just okay to me, I don't have SUPER strong feelings about Nana getting together with Nobu (in fact I find him a little bit annoying at times - I agree with Shin that he "has some unrealistic ideas about women" and idealizes Nana too much - Yasu is chill and nice and wise, but a bit TOO chill and reserved to be super interesting to me). The members of Trapnest are also just okay to me? Ren bores me a little bit (maybe because I just would rather be reading about Nana 2 hanging out with Nana 1 than with him)... Reira is hard for me to form ANY opinions about other than eww, it's weird that she's sleeping with Shin, Takumi is a selfish yet possessive jerk and only thinking about himself, and I always forget the other one (Naoki?) even exists...

I WILL say that the little Nana 2 fangirl Misato is extremely cute and I'm always happy when she's on the page, hahaha. Her shameless devotion to Nana 2 and her politeness and extreme savviness about the music industry are just fun for me to read (as was Hachi's initial jealousy toward her, but I'm glad she managed to also eventually get over that)! --

MY TOP 5 FAVE NANA MOMENTS (SO FAR): Forgive me if these moments are completely arbitrary and sort of dumb picks, because I feel like I'm forgetting so much of the story from the previous volumes already, and I'm still only 1/3 of the way through the whole thing?? But here are ones that stood out to me whenever I was racking my brain: 5. Whenever Nana forces Shoji to let her sleep in his hotel room, then awkwardly sings him to sleep, and he's like: "YOU DON'T HAVE TO SING" hahaha...

my reaction to that was basically Junko's reaction:

4. Whenever Nana 2 starts getting jealous and confused about Hachi hooking up with Takumi I was like OHOHOH, HOW THE TURNS TABLE.... I think it's REALLY hard for Nana 2 to admit stuff like feeling vulnerable or jealous or possessive over Nana 1 at this point, and seeing her realize "heeyyyy maybe I want her attention and devotion a little more than I thought and was taking it for granted a bit"... that was a very feelsy little part! 3. Whenever Hachi is getting jealous about Nana 2's cute little fangirl and having super mean petty thoughts about her hahahah omg the most relatable thing of life! 2. When Nana 2 goes to Nobu after he first starts dating Hachi and is like: "I'M USING YOU TO KEEP NANA 1 IN MY LIFE FOREVER, SO DON'T MESS THIS UP!" OMG?? Fellas is it gay to keep your girl roomie nearby by throwing guys at her that are entrenched in your social circle and also more socially acceptable for her to date? When I say my heart skipped a beat at that moment!! And it just happened in the manga super recently, so who knows where things are going to go from here?

1. When Hachi is having so many gay thoughts about Nana 2 that she's like "AHHH THIS IS TOO GAY I NEED TO GET ANOTHER BOYFRIEND!!!!" Boy did I laugh out loud at the cognitive dissonance (and find it super relatable to younger me and my own panicking about maybe not being entirely straight thoughts? of course)...

[kudouusagi]

if i want an english copy of the whole KSB manga, is it possible to just download the whole thing from your blog?

also, how can i buy the whole japanese official version? awesome translations, tysm :> ❤️

Well... I've only translated up to volume 2 and then from 7 onward... though my old translations from 13 years ago definitely need an update. I didn't know what I was doing with cleaning back then so when I was left to do it on my own it looked pretty bad lol... the translation is a little awkward in places too. I've gotten much better since then lol

I've been slowly working my way from the beginning now and plan do redo everything up to vol 9.

I try to place all of my translations in this folder https://www.mediafire.com/folder/6nud8994cef9r/Volumes

I might forget to upload an extra or two so if anyone notices anything is missing let me know but those should be all my chapters.

Now on how to buy it in Japanese, it depends how you want it. You can buy it all digitally on Amazon.jp or you can buy it all new in physical books there too lol... but if you want it cheaper I know you can find all the books on second hand sites like https://www.suruga-ya.jp/ or https://jp.mercari.com/

[jedzeb]

"A trip down memory lane" or something

For me, there are some songs that I listen to that remind me of whatever part of my life I would often listen to that song during. This is the power of music; the same song brings different emotions and different memories to each person, and can give you the feeling of being brought back in time.

Video games can be described as an escape from reality for many. This makes the unique combination of being brought to a time where you are experiencing another world. It feels childish, but despite that, this is a big part of some people's childhood and lives. So let's go back in time real quick.

Disclaimer, I'm going to use some remixes/remasters for these songs that I think fit the song better. Also, they're almost all Pokémon ;)

Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver ~ New Bark Town

The peaceful, first town music of each Pokémon game is always a nostalgic one, as it is the sound of a new adventure. Still being a huge Pokémon fan at the age of 20, hearing the starting town music from a game I played when I was 7 years old is a feeling like no other. It makes me remember the days where I had fun even without having to try understanding everything. This is a great studying or waiting song for me.

Minecraft ~ Volume Alpha

Nowadays, it is pretty widely accepted that video games can get very addicting and consuming. My first time experiencing this was with Minecraft. A simple game with endless possibilities, where you build up your own world, at your own pace, however you want. The song might be even more nostalgic than New Bark Town's theme for me. Being one of the most popular games in the world to this day, this song probably brings nostalgic feelings for many. As it is a slow paced song like New Bark Town's theme, this could be good study music. However, I don't personally listen to this.

Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire ~ vs. Wally

Perhaps one of the most interesting things in video games is the concept of characters. While they bring lots to the table, there is one thing that isn't expressed much: the fact that you are always the main character. In Pokémon, this means all of those around you will be weaker than you in the end, because canonically, you win every battle.

In the original Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald games, Wally was a character with little impact or meaning to the games. He was just a boy who was overprotected by his uncle, and who you would help start up his adventure. In the remakes (Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire), he starts off similar, but grows into a different character in the end. He is no longer another random kid for the player to crush on their path to become champion. Now he has the resolve to win, and doesn't care for being protected by his uncle. He gives one of the best speeches in the series, then goes straight into the hardest guitar theme in the series to kick off the player's battle with him.

A discussion on GameFAQS goes over how he feels like a different character altogether. In the end he still loses of course, but his battle theme is honestly one of my favorite songs in general, and I would listen to it at any time. It would be a crime to describe it with any word other than awesome.

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum ~ The piano before Cynthia

The piano that every Pokémon player fears. It would have been criminal of me to not include this song, so here it is.

For context, this is the song that plays right before the player's battle against the champion of Sinnoh (a region), Cynthia. The battle against the champion is (usually) the climax of a Pokémon game. Whoever defeats the reigning champion is granted the title of champion for themselves, and is the end goal for the protagonist.

As you make it to the final battle, the intense piano begins to play. And before you is Cynthia, the girl who goes around studying the history of Sinnoh; little did you know that the whole time, she was destined to be your final opponent.

Looking and acting badass isn't all there is to Cynthia, though. Remember when I said every Pokémon player fears this song? She is notorious for being the most difficult "boss" in the entire series.

Overall, an epic moment to be remembered. Just chills every listen.

Kirby's Dream Land ~ Green Greens

Ah yes, Kirby. The adorable little circle that goes around eating things. Green Greens truly captures the fun of these games and the world of Kirby. That is all this song means to me, but that is okay. It's still a banger and the energy it gives is refreshing.

These songs and many others from games give a kind of feeling that I can't find in any other kind of music. I could listen to most of them in any way, but studying, walking around, and driving would be the best 3 things overall.

Below are some other songs I really like and will include in this playlist, but won't go into depth about (If you're into this kind of music, I highly recommend giving "vs. Trainer Red" and "vs. Zinnia" a try):

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ Lost Woods

Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire ~ Zinnia's Sorrow/vs. Zinnia

Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal ~ vs. Trainer Red

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon ~ Partner's Theme

[itsclydebitches]

You know something that just occurred to me about the new trailer? There’s very little combat in it.

We are shown a couple of ‘fake out’ moments. Meaning, Blake is reaching for her weapon, but we know the end result of that encounter is her and Weiss getting captured by the vines, not successfully enacting a cool plan to escape. Yang has her arm stolen, but she just takes a comedy swipe at the guard playing tug-of-war with her. Ruby is playing this game with the Queen that will presumably require her teammates to battle the other pieces, but I suspect that the rules of the game will severely limit the choreography and indeed, we see two pieces clashing via their own, wooden weapons.

The closest we get to seeing a normal RWBY fight is Yang punching the back of this creature’s skull:

And isn’t that a little weird? Sure, they could just be keeping all the Real Fights a surprise, but my point here is that RWBY is built on its combat. That’s all the story was at first: a vehicle for cool abilities and even cooler choreography. Even beyond the butt jokes and mice armies, this trailer felt off to me in a way I couldn’t articulate last night, but now I think it’s that lack of combat; the heart of RWBY. Compare this trailer to Volume 8 with Nora powering up her weapon, the group facing off against the Ace Ops, grimm cornering them in the desolate streets, the bike chase to get Oscar back, Penny powering up as a Maiden. Or even Volume 5, the We Sat in A House Until the Finale Volume, that still shows Blake hunting down White Fang members, Yang facing off against the bar goon (complete with red eyes), shots of Weiss with her fire dust, Raven looming over her captive, the group running in a panic, Sun dodging a bullet, Lionheart getting choked by Salem’s grimm, Weiss’ knight. Even in the Volumes where these moments were fleeting or misleading (the group is just running towards Lionheart’s office) the trailer kept things action focused.

Meanwhile, Volume 9′s trailer is... not really combat. Or even external conflict. It’s talking, an auction, walking, a (deadly) game, more talking, a cat, running with the cat, floating lily pads, mushrooms, Ruby on her knees, a pile of leaves, an owl, a knight looking out at something, more talking, Ruby fainting---the exact opposite of an action sequence. And though a part of me is going, “Yes! After a Volume like 8′s they need some downtime to hash all this out!” the trailer simultaneously isn’t reassuring me that the writers have used this downtime well. Instead, it feels like the Volume is more concerned with a) pretty backgrounds, b) background characters, c) comedy, and d) philosophical questions the story isn’t equipped to answer than it is in-depth character development or the action sequences RWBY is known for. As some previous Volumes have shown us, when the writing is lackluster RWBY gets by on its awesome fights. So this Volume is in trouble if there’s little ‘real’ action and the story is struggling to write a compelling ‘We walked through a cool looking fantasy land while discussing our hardships and occasionally engaging in a silly gag’ setup. I’m thinking about Crescent Rose lying alone in the sand and Jaune’s broken sword. I was already disappointed that Blake’s weapon was fixed off screen in Volume 7, but will these new losses even matter if the Volume is primarily non-combat filler?

Of course, here’s the always needed disclaimer that yeah, the Volume itself might be VERY different from how the trailer presents it. Plus, it’s not like I expect there to be no major battles. But it’s nevertheless weird to me that RWBY, of ALL shows, has given us a promotion that doesn’t seem very interested in combat.