#*if vale. failure

[moonshynecybin]

“marc may sound like someone who wants to flatter the former world champion and be in his good books, but just one look at his eyes and you realise his sincerity and respect. his impression changes a bit when we ask him about jorge lorenzo.” valentino when i CATCH you…

this makes me think, do you think vale was aware marc didn’t fuck w jorge and that’s part of the reason he felt so betrayed? that marc would go so far as to collude with JORGE because he just doesn’t want vale to win that badly. or were he and uccio just doing everything to make it stick

i think he genuinely thought it was kinda funny (marc im assuming is also somewhat modeling this behavior based on being a huge childhood fan of jorge’s two main archrivals: vale and dani. like it’s not an accident he pulled that shit on jorge in THAT corner at jerez OR that he called it VALENTINO’S CORNER in 2017. like my man that is literally lorenzo corner 😭), until he needed an excuse for everything to make sense in his head and uccio in his ear and an evil spanish alliance supported by dorna (also spanish) became an attractive option to him AND to the italian media. you’ll notice how he tells the story today it’s not like well him and jorge talked and decided to lose me the championship it’s well marc decided to ram himself purposefully into the side of my motorcycle as early as argentina 2015 specifically because he hates me. like idk i think the relationship collapse at the tail end of 2015 is absurdly ego driven, and jorge is kind of incidental to the emotion of it… it’s about THEIR relationship, it’s about marc trying to fuck HIM over because he wants to beat vale in terms of titles… jorge (insanely) is a convenient little backdrop to the conflict because he happens to be the guy who is actually faster in the moment and who has beaten vale in the past, but marc is the SYMBOL of getting older and getting slower and all of those nasty feelings knotted up inside him that he’s managing by falling back on nasty old habits… and crucially to vale, he was also a FRIEND first…

[redularium]

Valerie “Vale” Lyure !!!

My beloved OC whomst i hold near and dear and love forever and ever. there is none like her to me … ouagh shes so silly and a FREAK

She has glasses but she never really wears them because she thinks it makes her look like a Mega Nerd . she needs it to read stuff that are far though. and that r too small. theyre supposed to be green but as you can tell . lazy !! and i do not like colouring… ouagh

[clonerightsagenda]

Was not expecting for the alt history dystopia podcast to take the stance "fairies are real" six seasons in. Although there *were* the mentions of monsters in the forest in season 4 so I guess it's not entirely out of left field.

[vaeolus]

one of the strongest forms of community bonding is when a sports team that is notorious for sucking ass for years finally gets good again. there's so much hope in the air. such camaraderie. i ask someone "how are you" and they say "i'm wearing a lions hat!" because that's enough. that's all we need to communicate

[syndrossi]

Rhaella and Daemon telling the twins that they are going to have a new sibling.

Of course I can't do anything fully happy, but it's still cheerful enough, I hope!

x~x~x

The way her sons’ brows furrowed in determination when preparing to argue for something they knew would meet resistance never failed to make Rhaella smile, because they were perfect mirrors of one another. She knew what would follow, of course. Jon would make his appeal to reason, and Rhaegar would neatly tailor his argument to best complement it—citing precedence, or invoking sentiment.

What made it all the more endearing was that they held the greatest of power in their hands. The mere mention of their childhood in the Vale—a childhood that wrenched her heart to glimpse in moments of great stress or vulnerability—would shatter any resistance their father might think to mount. And yet neither would ever use it.

Not for the fear of his rage, which burned the hottest for those stolen years and occasionally stirred dark memories for her of another rage, fueled by vanity and wounded pride. But rather because they knew their father’s heart and sought to guard it against such pains.

It did mean that they had to employ their arguments more creatively, which is how she found herself listening to their third attempt at persuading Daemon that they should be allowed to ride their young drakes.

Jon was adamant that it would allow them to better defend themselves, to more efficiently plan journeys by dragonflight, and that it was the safest means of travel from one point to the next. Rhaegar meanwhile cited ancient dragon texts that claimed the deepening of bond between rider and dragon was most crucial when it neared drake size. Then, ruthlessly, he pointed out that Daemon’s council business left him with less time for flights with them on Caraxes.

It took Daemon a brief pause to recover from the blow. “Does the prospect of flight on Vermithor not excite you?”

Rhaegar’s gaze shifted to Rhaella, suddenly uncertain, and her stomach fluttered. He knows.

It should not surprise her. He had been present for so many pregnancies, long and short, and all of them bitter in the end. He would know the fear that haunted her. Aerys had not been cruel, at first. But with every failure, both within her womb and without, he had come to resent her. To blame her.

To join the chorus of doubts within her own mind. Had she eaten this, or not eaten that. Had she slept more. Had she endured the maester’s examinations with more grace. Had she managed to drink his vile concoctions—or tossed them out the window.

It had been so difficult to know where the poison lay, the garden or the seed.

Or perhaps she had been cursed at Summerhall itself. Or perhaps all those lives had been spent so that her firstborn could breathe.

“I shall not be riding Vermithor for much longer,” she said gently, and the faint grimace on Daemon’s face told her that he had forgotten that approaching limitation.

Jon regarded her with confusion. “Why? Is he hurt?” His gaze swept her, then flicked to Rhaegar and back. “Are you hurt?”

“I am with child,” she said, forcing her lips into a smile. This body had not devoured its young yet. Perhaps it would be different. “I shall need to be careful for a time.”

“Oh.” Jon blinked, then he smiled at her, the radiant in his elation. “Those are happy tidings.” His hand reached out, then faltered, and his eyes went to hers in question. She nodded, and he gently touched her stomach. “Hello, little sister—or brother.”

She felt the babe within kick, as though in response. “That is the hope.”

Rhaegar’s hand clasped hers. “Whatever you need, you need only tell us.”

She squeezed his hand, and took a breath, commanding the fear away. “I shall need your help in choosing an egg for the cradle.”

Jon’s smile turned sly. “If we were allowed to ride our dragons, we could more easily attend to our mother’s needs.”

His boldness startled a laugh from her, and she felt the babe kick harder. This one is strong. She pressed a palm to the swell of her belly. Out here awaits all the love and joy your heart could desire, little one.

[abessive-art]

CARLOS, THE SCIENTIST - “Last week. Seven Days. 24 hours each day. 60 minutes in each hour. That's 10,080 minutes in a week, right?” THE VOICE OF NIGHT VALE - “Uh huh. Go on?”

CARLOS, THE SCIENTIST - “Well, I ran some figures, and during that same amount of time in Night Vale, 11,783 minutes elapsed everywhere else in the world. That's more than a full day longer. I don't know what's happening.” LOGIC [Easy: Failure] - You feel like time always slows down when you two are together. Is that what he's trying to say?

THE VOICE OF NIGHT VALE - “... Neat!”

[commission info]

[atopvisenyashill]

Im jonsa curious sometimes although i go back and forth on if it could happen or not, but if it was never a thing in grrms mind one thing that is wild to me is telling us that sansa was ‘wildly in love with waymar royce’ whose first chapter is literally to forshadow Jon like why even make that a point at all in affc when in agot sansa thinks of the royces she never mentions that crush interestingly enough

yeah so the sansa-royce connection is interesting and feels a bit purposeful to me!

For one thing, Sansa's chapter at the tourney is really focused in on how the Royces do - she recognizes and follows Robar, Yohn, and Andar as they compete in the tourney. She then brings up Loras unhorsing Robar (which is right before Loras gave her the rose). And of course the crush on Waymar.

And then Sansa gets to the Vale! She can't sneeze without running into another Royce there! Nestor, Myranda, Andor, Bronze Yohn himself....and the interesting thing about Bronze Yohn, is well-

The senior branch of House Royce was close to open revolt over her aunt's failure to aid Robb in his war, and the Waynwoods, Redforts, Belmores, and Templetons were giving them every support.

He and his branch are still pissed that Lysa kept them out of the war. You know, the war Sansa's brother fought and died in? Not to mention that the exact same Waynwoods, Templetons, and Royces that Jocelyn married into are all surrounding her as well.

"Bronze Yohn knows me," she reminded him. "He was a guest at Winterfell when his son rode north to take the black." She had fallen wildly in love with Ser Waymar, she remembered dimly, but that was a lifetime ago, when she was a stupid little girl. "And that was not the only time. Lord Royce saw . . . he saw Sansa Stark again at King's Landing, during the Hand's tourney."

And Bronze Yohn knows Sansa.

So I think the Royces are about to show up and show out for Sansa in a big way! I think she's been purposefully linked to them because they're going to be one of her biggest supporters come TWOW. I think that's why the Waymar crush, the Myranda friendship, and the Bronze Yohn connection are all included, to set Sansa up for an alliance.

What IS really funny as you say is that Waymar is really here to help foreshadow some of Jon Snow's story arc - an "extra" son that has the First Men look joining the Watch, starting off very full of himself and his privilege but being able to rise in so many rough occasions especially when it comes to the Others....and the Sansa crush. lol, lmao even!

[howlingday]

So I was wondering how you would write Jaune’s death using his allusion to Joan Of Arc. I’ve always had idea that as Salem grew more powerful especially after taking down atlas and vale, Salem supporters would start popping up

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

The Final Death of Jaune Arc

"So, this is the huntsman who's been causing you so much trouble?"

The sweet words spoken did little put Jaune at ease. The first time he fought Salem, she easily overpowered himself, Ren, and Yang, as well as Oscar, Emerald, and Hazel, the latter two shifting to their side before the latter of the latter sacrificed himself to buy the rest time to escape. Now, here he was, alone, with only the rescued Team CRDL to serve as his messenger to the rest of his friends. His scroll was destroyed along with the rest of his gear, including his armor.

"I remember you from Atlas." The Witch giggled. "You managed to block my magic with your shield, though it did little to keep you standing."

Jaune didn't have a response to that. Mostly because he was on his knees, shifting his glare between her and the woman responsible for his capture. Cinder looked at him with a bemused smirk, as though she was in Salem's place of mocking the young man. Her inhuman talons shifted between an impatient dance and an eager flex, as though she were digging through the air. It wasn't until Salem called to her that her fingers rested.

"Cinder, dear," Salem called to the woman who brought nothing but misery to Jaune, "do you recognize this one?"

"Hardly." Cinder flared her nostrils as she began. "I can't be expected to remember every failure who stood between myself and the power of the Maidens."

"Really?" The Grimm Queen voice had a lilt like she was amused by Cinder's response. "Because it looks like he remembers you." She fixed her gaze to him, impressed his eyes didn't shrink in fear as they met hers. "Do you know Cinder by any chance?"

Jaune didn't humor looking at Cinder as he spoke. "She's the worst. She'd kill anyone to get her hand on any power she can. Including you."

Flames spewed through Cinder's teeth as she took a step forward. However, her rage was easily abated as Salem held her hand, warning the Fall Maiden to not step further than she had. The monster's eyes flashed with a quiet rage as she gazed down at her subject, before they laxed and returned to looking upon Jaune once more.

"It seems he knows you as well as I do, Cinder. Are you sure you don't remember him?"

"At the end of today," Cinder growled, "it won't matter anymore."

"I see..."

Salem stood from her throne overlooking the arena. Jaune recognized a fighting pit from his years of both reading about heroes fighting villains as well as his dad's favorite pastime of yelling at the TV. This, however, wouldn't feature huntsmen and huntresses battling for the amusement of the unarmed masses. Instead, Jaune would be the main event, and every odd was stacked against him.

Atop the arena were other members of Salem's Inner Circle. Tyrian Callows had to keep catching himself from jumping in to fight Jaune himself while Mercury Black looked uneasily between the two, as if he were responsible for the madman. The other two were a pair that Jaune barely recognized from wanted posters around Shade Academy; Jax and Gillian Asturias, twins from a long-forgotten royal family.

In the distance, down every tunnel that was sealed off was a bark or a bellow or a snarl of some form or another. Behind each door was a Grimm of one kind or another, each eager to sink their teeth or claws or other lethal means into Jaune's flesh. The cocktail of negative emotions like his anger at Cinder and himself as well as the fear of being at the mercy of a room of actual killers would be enough to drive any Grimm into a frenzy.

'This is it.' Jaune thought. 'This is where I die.' New emotions awashed within him. Hope. 'Cardin, I hope you and your team save more people to make up for what you've done.' Courage. 'Oscar, good luck because you're going to need it.' Friendship. 'Team RWBY, it's been an honor and a privilege.' Love. 'Ren, Nora, take care of each other.' Joy. 'Pyrrha, I'll see you soon.'

The Grimm began to quiet, the smile on Salem's face fading with the cacophony. She'd enjoyed the fear she was spreading to this huntsman, but he was something different. Something she hadn't experienced in a huntsman or huntress in a long time. There were those few and far between who showed bravery, true bravery, in the face of the inevitable. The first who came to mind was him of all people.

"Cinder," she spoke after a far too long silence, "I believe it is best you kept your promises." A Seer floated from her side, carrying a familiar weapon in its tendrils. "And you, little huntsman, shall be given the opportunity to prove your worth."

Cautiously, Jaune freed Crocea Mors from its captor. Releasing the blade, he expanded the shield in time to catch Cinder charging in with her blades. Tyrian cackled with glee as the Fall Maiden and her greatest nuisance locked eyes before pushing each other back. Jaune thrust his blade into Cinder's guard, but she deftly avoided the attack as she countered with her own glowing blades. Jaune stepped back, keeping his shield firm and allowing the magic weapons to slide across his guard.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Tyrian cackled from his perch. "Stab her! Gut her! Show her what her own beating heart looks like~!" Mercury cast a glance at his self-imposed mentor before looking down to the fight. If Cinder killed Jaune, then that was one less good guy to come bother them. But was that really a good thing?

Cinder made a leap backwards, finishing with a fireball launching for Jaune's center. He made a low jump to the side, his feet quickly finding the ground before using his shield to keep the heated projectile from getting too close to him. He ran along the wall, keeping his rear guarded from any surprise attack before jumping away for a guarded thrust against Cinder. She escaped into the air, smirking as her feet were aflame and keeping her out of reach.

"A shame you can't fly." She taunted before pointing a finger at his head, readying to launch another fireball.

"Boo!" Tyrian jeered. "Fighting so cowardly as to use magic without the grace of our goddess!"

Cinder, high in the air as she was, spared a glance to Tyrian. Fury filled her amber eyes as smoke billowed from her maw. "Whose side are you on?!"

"His, obviously." Tyrian giggled, pointing nonchalantly at Cinder's opponent. It then suddenly flexed upwards.

Cinder turned in time to see Jaune already having launched himself into the air, swiftly closing the distance as his shield slammed into her chest and chipping against her chin, the impact disorienting her enough to make her fall. She blacked out for a moment, though she was swiftly awoken as her arm was severed at the shoulder. The Grimm inside began screaming in agony as it clawed at her from within. Ash soared from the open wound as the lopped talon and arm writhed against the blackened floor.

Jaune looked upon Cinder, who clutched her ichor bleeding wound with tears spilling from her human eye. As she glared at him, Jaune couldn't help but wonder what she was feeling as she met his eyes. Was it anger that she was bested by someone she thought was below her concern? Was it hatred that she was left so powerless once more? Was it... fear, that her life would come to an end, and that Jaune would be the one to kill her the same way she'd killed all those people before? At that moment, Jaune didn't know what she was feeling, but his next choice would be his last.

Turning his back to her, Jaune walked away from the weeping Cinder. He had chosen mercy, and she would kill him for it. There was enough dust left in Jaune's shield for one last move. One last, stupid move. He tossed it ahead of him and waved his arms at his audience.

"Who's next?!"

There was no hesitation from Tyrian, not even as Mercury reached out to stop him. The Faunus jumped from his perch, leaping down to sink his weapons into Jaune's flesh. However, he would gravely miss as the huntsman jumped forward, slamming both of his booted feet onto his shield, triggering the gravity dust repulsion and launching himself into the air one final time, charging for Salem. If this is where he died, he would die facing death itself.

Tyrian screamed in agonized shock as his goddess was stabbed. The Asturias twins were in as much shock as Mercury as Salem emotionlessly allowed the blade to pass into her chest. Ash spilled from her wound, failing to kill her as Jaune had aimed to do. She rolled her eyes at his feeble attempt.

"How disappointing." She growled before gasping. Looking down, she found another blade, this one black as a moonless and starless night, pierced alongside Jaune's sword's own failed attempt. Blue light then engulfed the room as Cinder smiled from above the blade's handle, where it hilted into Jaune's unguarded back.

"How amusing." A voice said from above, coming from a blue figure, whose face was hidden behind a golden mask. "I am Delere, the guardian who resides within the Relic of Destruction. By my power, I can unmake that which has been made, though it must not have been made by an equal or higher power than myself."

"But what if it was made by a power that was made by a power as high as yourself?" Cinder asked. "Such as if this sword struck a man born of a man and woman made by The Brothers themselves?"

"Then it can be destroyed by my power, as it was made by a power lesser than my own. Is this man whom you wish to destroy, or is it this woman? The man can be destroy, as he matches what you claim, but the woman was directly made by The Brothers." For a moment, Salem sneered in victory.

"Neither." Cinder answered. "I wish to destroy the curse of immortality placed on this woman. It was made by the pool that was made by the Brothers." At this. Salem shivered with fear.

"Very well." With a flash, Delere nodded before everything returned to as it was. Tyrian's screams echoed across the room once more, only growing in intensity as he watched blood spilled from Salem's chest and mouth. Where once was his goddess now sat a dying woman.

"Well... played..." Salem groaned before she slumped, her body going limp as both blades were removed from where her heart had been.

However, it was only the relic that was removed with force. Crocea Mors simply fell from its target, scraping along the lifeless body of Jaune's foe. Pressing her hand to Jaune's back, even going so far as to sear his flesh with her hand and making him groan in further agony, she freed her own blade and sent Jaune to the floor. By intention or luck, he fell facing his hated enemy.

Cinder looked upon Jaune, who still clung to his sword in his hand without even a single tear in his eyes as he bled. As he stared at her, Cinder became angry at what he was thinking as he met her eyes. Was it sympathy that their unknowingly shared enemy was now dead by their hands? Was it some twisted form of love that they could at least be the means of each other's ends? Or was it... joy, that his struggles were over, and that Cinder was the one who granted him this death wish, allowing him to reunite with Pyrrha Nikos? At this time, Cinder couldn't say what he was thinking, but her next choice would be her first.

Without their master to guide them, the Grimm began to go wild with bestial fury. They came in a horde, descending upon the remains of Salem's former allies. The first they attacked was Tyrian, still consumed by his grief before he too was consumed by the monsters that had once served the same masters as he. Mercury was quick to grab the Asturias twins, guiding them to a secret passage that would lead them to a bullhead to their shared escape, assuming the Grimm didn't attack there first.

Cinder simply walked above it all, leaving the battleground before any Grimm was stupid enough to think she was next. Looking back to Jaune, she could hear a distant voice in her head softly weeping. She pushed it down, choosing to continue moving forward in her dark pursuit of power.

The queen was dead. Long live the queen.

[moonshynecybin]

meee i love vale i really truly do, 2004 forever one of my fav season to rewatch, and i love giving him grace cause that’s really the only fun way to engage with the whole dynamic (his dad, sic, marc is no saint and is indeed crazy etc) but like those bikes were on marc’s shelf. and he was 22. we can spin it how we want but he did release the italian media hounds on 22 year old marc who still went to sleep under 30-40 valentino mini bikes! and i think you handle this sooo well in your posts like in any au setting i’m always like “yup they’re both flawed and yet there is a Villian here!”

(and sidenote but i like that you’re firm on sepang 2015 cause a couple weeks ago there was a weird shift here where i think people overcompensated a bit too hard and i’ve seen more than one post along the lines of “maybe vale had a point”) (i blame lorenzo for this tho)

i do try to come at with some nuance (marc wasnt racing like an angel and wasnt handling his failures like an angel etc) but then i think about the line of toy vale bikes in his childhood bedroom that he collected throughout 2013, and how the only book on marc's stupid shelf was a vale book (love conquers illiteracy <3), and how vale incited a media backlash against marc that got him death threats for literal years and caused him to lock down large facets of his personality in public at the age he shouldve been idk. graduating college if he did that sort of thing. and then im like should we KILL this guy chappell roan

[howi99]

Project ARC remake 18

Vale

Cinder: Urgh, i can't believe i have to work with the likes of you.

Tyrian: *chuckling* Well, the pleasure is all mine, it seems. Her grace wasn't too pleased with your recent... failure.

Cinder: Tsk, the thing that attacked me, it wasn't human.

Tyrian: *shrug* Human, Faunus. They all bleed the same.

Cinder: *roll her eyes* Maybe, but they also die when you plant your sword in their heart.

Tyrian: *intrigued* Oh?

Cinder: The thing only stopped when i took a part of gis aura. *Sigh* What a waste. I had her in my grasp!

Tyrian: *smiling* Well? Did he at least give you a name before you killed him?

Cinder: IF i killed him... And yes, he said Jaune.

Tyrian: *stop in his march* Jaune, eh? *Chuckle* What an... Interesting name.

Cinder: *looking at him* You know something?

Tyrian: *shaking his head* Oh nothing, i was just remembering one of my most wonderful pieces of art. His scream was... Ah, a melodious song to my ears. I sadly didn't have the time to finish my concerto before the police arrived. *Sigh* Such a waste.

Cinder: ... "I hate that guy".

_____________

Meanwhile

Jaune: *looking down at Glynda* ... Did you get shorter?

Glynda: *tears in her eyes* No! *Hug him* It's you who became taller!

Jaune: *surprised* I did?

Glynda: *smiling while still hugging him* Oh Jaune, i have so much to tell you!

[novankenn]

Jaune et Carro Veloce

Jaune was feeling miserable. His skills were so far below his peers that it was laughable... in a pathetic way. Though his academics in everything but things specifically associated with fighting grimm duties were well above the average. Wonders of the public school system.

So after another desperate failure in Professor Goodwitch's combat class, he wandered off. He heard his friends and teammates calling after him, but he just walked away without a word. Wishing to avoid any and everyone he took the stairs down into the basement of Beacon.

It was dark and damp. The overhead bulbs giving very little usable light. Reaching into his rear belt pouch he pulled out a small flashlight. Say what you would about his performance in combat... Jaune was adept at being prepared for mundane things, like basic wilderness survival.

He looked about, and wandered. His footfalls echoing about the dusty and cobweb cluttered corridors and rooms. There wasn't much of interest. Most of the rooms being either completely empty, or holding boxes of books. Jaune had opened one of the boxes finding it filled with Professor Port's Autobiography "The Heroic Age of the Indominable Sir Port of Vale."

Jaune: Must not have sold well.

Jaune tossed the book back onto the pile of boxes after flipping through it quickly, and continued his exploration. Pulling out his scroll he checked the time. He had been gone for a good three hours and his screen was filled with missed call and message notifications. Sighing he put it away, deciding he would answer a little later.

Turning a corner he saw a massive shadowed filled room. Cautiously he approached, using his flashlight to try and pierce the darkness. Having no success he turned his attention to the near walls, and quickly located a bank of light switches. Flicking them all on he flinched as blaring bright white lights came to blazing life.

Jaune: Oh... wow...

Jaune was stunned by what he found. The room was massive, and filled with artifacts from the Great War and the Faunus Revolution... specifically mobile terrestrial heavy weapon plate forms...

Jaune: Tanks... wow... Tanks on Tanks...

Jaune turned off his flashlight and stowed in away, as he wondered about, his eyes alight with excitement he hadn't felt in ages. While he wasn't specifically a weapon geek like Ruby, he did have a guilty pleasure, aside from comics... and that was tanks. In particular tankettes. While he admired the utility and power of the larger more impressive pieces, he absolutely adored the very much smaller, and faster mini-tanks.

Jaune: An Atlean Panzer IV. A Vale Sherman Firefly. A Vacoan T34, and a Mistralian Tiger I !!!

Jaune wondered, totally forgetting about contacting his friends, which further flew out of his thoughts when he saw it. With a shaking hand he reached out and touched the welded steel armor plating.

Jaune: A Valean Carro Veloce CV33 with twin 8mm machineguns... and over there is the conversion for the 20mm Anti-Material Gun!!!

Jaune was in awe and excited beyond measure as he hovered around what he would call an adorable tankette. Until that revelry was shatter by a voice from behind.

Ozpin: Are you enjoying yourself Mr. Arc?

Jaune: Ah... um...

Ozpin: You are not in trouble Mr. Arc though I was not aware you held such an affinity for... such antiques.

Jaune: Antiques!!! These are pieces of artwork! Form and function made reality! Iron and steel powered by flame and thunder, manned by bone and blood!!!

Ozpin: Please calm down. I only came to see if you are alright. You friends are worried and security alerted me to you entering this area.

Jaune: I'm sorry, I'll...

Ozpin: I already said you are not in trouble Mr. arc. Far from that in fact.

Jaune: Huh?

Ozpin: It is a shame that these icons of human and faunus ingenuity lie here moldering away. How would you like to pick one?

Jaune: Huh?

Ozpin: Pick one. Restore it. Beacon will provide the funds, and maybe you could get others interested in doing the same.

Jaune: This one!

(Imaged sourced from Girls und Panzer wiki)

A/N: Girls und Panzer is a fun Anime... and I get a real kick out of this small Italian Tankette. I want my mind to envision how it would fight against grimm..

[superiorsturgeon]

Ruby: *hugging Penny* I’m so happy we got you back, Penny! Third time’s the charm, right?

Penny: This is actually my fourth body! When we met in Vale you saw my second model!

Ruby: What was your first model like?

———————————————————

Ironwood: All right, doctor, let’s begin.

Pietro: *flicks switch*

Penny v1.0: I AM A ROBOT. I AM HERE TO TAKE AMERICAN JOBS.

Penny v1.0: *beats up a bystander*

Penny v1.0: *steals a fedora and briefcase before charging off to terrorize the populace*

Ironwood: …so this counts as a-

Pietro: A failure, yes…

Penny v1.0: I AM PROGRAMMED TO BE SCARY.

*sounds of screaming civilians*

[alkaria]

The irony of Ruby spending a volume thinking she’s a failure, that she’s made mistakes wherever she goes, that she only ever makes things worse... only to return to Vacuo and see before her eyes all the successes she’s had. The friends she fought for, who came together at Beacon. The allies she made, who saved Haven. The tower she helped raise against all odds, in Atlas. 

The world, she spoke to, who heard her ask for help and said “we’ll do whatever we can.” And they came. From Patch, from Vale, from Mistral, from Argus, from Mantle, from Atlas, from Menagerie, they came.

Salem doesn’t face a school unprepared or a kingdom divided this time. She doesn’t just face a kingdom united.

Ruby did the one thing Ozpin never could. Now, Salem faces a world unified.

Because of one simple thing. A smaller, more honest soul.

The Girl Who Spoke To The World.

[jesncin]

I’d really like to hear your thoughts on MAWS characters alongside Lois, if you want to do that of that’s entirely up to you but it would be really interesting ^_^

I've written about maws a fair bit on this blog! You can find my general thoughts on the jesncin talks maws tag and my massive maws Lois essay here for my thoughts on her. Suffice to say I'm not a fan of this show, lol. I haven't been able to stomach watching season 2 so my entire knowledge is limited to season 1. With that said, roundup of my thoughts on maws characters:

Clark Kent: boring. Vanilla. Critical lack of hero motivation and idealism outside of "people are getting hurt!" as a platitude. Just some guy who does chores because that's the nice thing to do. Not defeating the Superman Is Boring allegations- just has an uwu cute cinnamon roll himbo filter on it.

Lois Lane: xenophobic asian lois lane is the worst crime ever committed to me. A historically jaded, award winning, accomplished career woman fighting against work place misogyny is now a cutesty uwu girl-failure who needs the help of two men to get hired. Barf.

Jimmy Olsen: I get the attempt at making him a conspiracy theorist as a means of tapping into Jimmy's wacky silver age antics and to bounce off of Clark for shenanigans, but it doesn't meaningfully interrogate how that is at odds with his job as a journalist. Also he was sidelined hard in S1- more than he was in CW Supergirl.

Perry White: I was hoping that unlike STAS and if MAWS was going to pull from anime, that this meant strong relationships with Superman's cast system. But nope. Perry is just a running gag. I was hoping for a Snapper and Kara dynamic like in CW Supergirl.

Scoop troop (Cat Grant, Ronnie Troupe, Steve Lombard): Superfluous characters, easily delete-able. All of which have been reinterpreted as anime stereotypes. Yawn.

Newskid Legion: Also delete-able and a waste of my time. They should be called newsies. They make no sense as outdated characters placed in a futuristic setting. What is child labor doing this late in the game. Be more creative with modernizing outdated characters.

Pa and Ma Kent: Boring. The biggest problem you can have with the Kents is making them generic supportive parents like they're sentient Hallmark cards. Pa Kent got the bad end of the stick as the clueless parent, while Ma Kent was pushed as the heart of the family to Clark. Not that she did much.

Vicki Vale: Absolutely insane of this show to add another Asian xenophobe woman journalist. The MAWS crew love gloating about how they're not going to include Batman in MAWS, but they can't resist putting a Gothamite in their show and stealing rogues from other heroes. Could've brought Angela Chen (a canonically asian Metropolis reporter) from STAS but I guess she's not as big a name as a Gotham character, eh?

Livewire: the glowdown of a century. DCSHG continues to outperform every modern version of this character. Why make her a generic smuggler when her original job as a shock jokey is far more interesting?? Podcaster or influencer was right there. Her motives make no sense too.

Intergang crew: Why. Did they consolidate. Banshee with two random rogues (Mist & Roughouse) and call them Intergang. That's so many glowdowns at once. I've never seen someone look at a hero's diverse rogues gallery and say "let's consolidate all these characters so we have less material to work with in the future". I hate how the rogues are all tech based, and share the same origin. These baddies kickstarted the show's "villains with petty crime motivations": no ideological or thematic draw to them.

Ivo/Parasite: Another villain with nonsensical motivations. His business is going bankrupt so he sets up an investor event party to show off his Black Panther Lexo suit (which was apparently a response to Superman! A stranger that we can't trust! And somehow these expensive suits are more trustworthy) only to attack his investors and get owned by Superman. Then he just has a hateful vendetta against Superman. People who think this is a good Parasite interpretation because they projected vague Elon Musk are kidding themselves. I could clown on MAWS' Ivo all day. He is so badly written.

Heatwave: Why genderbend a Flash villain when Superman already has a Fire Woman in his rogues gallery? Volcana? Remember her? She's from the same show yall got Livewire from? Praise this show all you want for "reigniting interest in Superman", it's clear they're willing to toss away actual Superman cast characters for more popular characters from other heroes when it suits them. What's Heatwave's motivations? Petty crime.

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke: Imagine building this character up to be a big threat only to do nothing with him lol. I can't take him seriously, his voice acting is the worst and I hate his design. This show is so desperate to make attractive villains for fangirls it's frankly pathetic. How did people even mistaken him for Superman? He doesn't FLY.

Mallah and The Brain: This is what happens when you revive gay villains and put them through the HarlIvy Respectability Beam on fast forward. The gay villains aren't villains anymore! Because that would be bad representation! They're now cute cuddly domestic dads who want to raise robot children and run away together!! How TRITE. Mallah has "american faking a french accent" syndrome but bad voice acting is the norm in this show.

Mxy: The one time they include a villain that Lois and Jimmy could easily help Superman defeat (Mxy's whole deal is that you can send him to his dimension by tricking him to spell or say his name backwards) they opt to make it even dumber by just "removing his hat". Because the MAWS crew aren't smart enough to think of ways Superman and his pals can trick Mxy. For the record, CW Supergirl got this right in comparison.

Legion of Loises: It's the way this show can't write competent women even when that's the goal. All the characters act so stupid and that includes the Legion of Loises. At least MAWS!Lois learns the important lesson that even though she's not as accomplished as these career focused versions of her, at least she can keep her man. Misogyny in a cute package.

Alex/Lex Luthor: Go away. Ugly design I can't stand him. Miserable voice acting as usual.

Amanda Waller: She's pretty generic here. Playing second fiddle to Sam Lane for the most part, but this show has a problem with fleshing out Black characters in general so.

Sam Lane: We now have up to THREE asian xenophobes in MAWS season 1. The crew did not think their diversity through because at the end of the day S1 was really about a White Guy Alien getting oppressed by mostly people of color. Without a hint of irony.

Jor-El: I thought the language barrier between him and Clark was an inspired choice and clever as a means of postponing Clark learning about his heritage. But nope. Jor-El just starts magically talking in English later on. Otherwise boring and generic!

Brainy: I know he's prominent in S2 so I can't speak much for his character from the small impression I got of him in S1, but I can say that he looks mad ugly <3 truly horrible rogues designs in this show.

PHEW!! That's my roundup of MAWS character opinions! Wild how I can't even pinpoint a character I like on this show, lol. I know Kara's in S2 as well, and what I've seen of her sounds awful. Her design is bad too. I'm just not ready for the heartbreak of meeting that version of her because I love Supergirl so much :((

[i-scan-your-poems]

Hi! Do you know what type of poem/meter is used in William Vaughn Moody's "Pandora's Song"? I'm obsessed with it so not knowing is driving me nuts. Thank you!

"Of wounds and sore defeat I made my battle stay; Winged sandals for my feet I wove of my delay; Of weariness and fear I made my shouting spear; Of loss, and doubt, and dread, And swift oncoming doom I made a helmet for my head And a floating plume. From the shutting mist of death, From the failure of the breath, I made a battle-horn to blow Across the vales of overthrow. O hearken, love, the battle-horn! The triumph clear, the silver scorn! O hearken where the echoes bring, Down the grey disastrous morn, Laughter and rallying."

Scansion:

"Of wounds / and sore / defeat [3] I made / my bat/tle stay; [3] Winged san/dals for / my feet [3] I wove / of my / delay; [3] Of wea/riness / and fear [3] I made / my shou/ting spear; [3] Of loss, / and doubt, / and dread, [3] And swift / oncom/ing doom [3] I made / a hel/met for / my head [4] And / a floa/ting plume. [3 acephalous] From / the shut/ting mist / of death, [4 acephalous] From / the fail/ure of / the breath, [4 acephalous] I made / a bat/tle-horn / to blow [4] Across / the vales / of o/verthrow. [4] O hear/ken, love, / the bat/tle-horn! [4] The tri/umph clear, / the sil/ver scorn! [4] O hear/ken where / the e/choes bring, [4] Down / the grey / disas/trous morn, [4 acephalous] Laughter / and ral/lying." [3]

Metrical form: It starts out in iambic trimeter (with some trochaic inversions) and moves into mostly iambic tetrameter.

Rhyme scheme: ABAB CC DEDE FFGG HHIHI

Notes: The lines I've marked as acephalous are a bit ambiguous; the first syllable in each of them could be either stressed or unstressed depending on how you emphasize the phrase, in my opinion. So "From the shutting mist of death" could be either acephalous tetrameter, – / ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ –, or it could be trimeter, ◡ ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ –.

Now I'm a little obsessed with this poem too! What a cool piece! And what a cool sound: clearly metrical, but switching up the number of feet per line, and always rhyming but repeatedly switching up the rhyme scheme.

[bestworstcase]

thoughts cooking.

mountain glenn, grimm overwhelmed the city and the people took shelter in caves, building an entire underground city after the destruction above. an explosion later opens a breach into a grimm nest, grimm flood the city again, and vale seals off the tunnels, implicitly without attempting rescue or evacuation, sacrificing the people to protect the core city.

<- same choice ironwood made.

“i see lives that could have been saved,” and all. vale created the world’s largest tomb.

fast forward a few decades. a single transport ship approaches vacuo with the news that salem came to vale and “there’s nothing left.” the huntsmen aboard “led the civilian retreat, brought as many people as we could…”

that turn of phrase—‘led the civilian retreat’—doesn’t evoke a panicked, disorganized scramble to get away from vale. it calls to mind the orderly evacuation procedures we saw during the battle for beacon, where people were loaded efficiently into transports to move them from beacon into a safe zone established in vale. port and oobleck were in charge of that retreat too. (and it demonstrated generally that emergency evacuation is something vale has on a lock—the assault on beacon blindsided everyone but the kingdom’s crisis response plan sprang into action like a well-oiled machine.)

only one ship, though.

when cinder attacked beacon, they retreated to a safe zone in vale. when salem hit vale, the immediately obvious place to establish a safe zone is patch—it’s close by but separated by a body of water, and it’s relatively defensible (an island). unlike vale, patch probably doesn’t have the room or resources to support a large urban population indefinitely, but you can use it as a relatively secure staging area for a subsequent evacuation to somewhere else. what you probably can’t do is squeeze anything like the majority of vale’s population onto patch island. (i mean, you could if it’s as huge as it appears to be on the map, but the map is NOT to scale and i get the impression that patch is supposed to be quite small.)

mountain glenn. “i see lives that could have been saved.” vale’s greatest failure, standing abandoned as a dark reminder. and “if you can’t learn from [history], you’re destined to repeat it.” did vale learn from its failure in abandoning mountain glenn to die?

in this fractal spiral of a story. ironwood didn’t get his way, but what if he had? “we are saving who we can” -> “brought as many people with us as we could,” with the history teacher whose chosen purpose is to prevent another mountain glenn from happening hunched over, haunted, in the background. is this a fucking counterfactual.

also if there were people left behind in vale, the mountain glenn undercity is the obvious place for them to flee. it’s not safe, but you can get there from vale through the tunnels (less exposed than driving or flying above ground) and if you can barricade the points of ingress to the cavern, it’s at least a more defensible place to set up an encampment than anywhere out in the open.

and i mean it might be that salem massacred the city and let one ship escape to maximize the damage to morale and provoke as much outrage as possible for the sake of getting the sword out of that vault. but mountain glenn is such a crucial narrative cornerstone, and vale has a history of making the kind of sacrifices ironwood tried to make with mantle, and the specific phrasing used here is interesting (“nothing left” vs “no one left,” “civilian retreat” implying an orderly process a la the evacuation from beacon).

i think it’s also the more narratively interesting and dynamic choice for there to have been a judgment call to leave a large number of people behind—it’s a counterfactual vehicle for unpacking team rwby’s conflicted feelings about their decision-making in atlas through comparison to what vale’s leadership did in the same situation, and there being some ambiguity as to whether anyone else survived allows for a thin ray of hope (maybe there are some people still alive) to galvanize the coalition into a counteroffensive (if there’s even the smallest possibility of survivors, we need to help them. we have to try.) and you draw the tension in salem’s character between her extremism and her effort to chart what she believes is the minimally destructive course to the surface by putting a survivor’s encampment within her immediate reach.