#IT ONLY FURTHER CEMENTS THEM AS A DYNAMIC DUO FOR ME

[feroluce]

Had the cutest realization last night- so there's a saying we have in English meaning to get something done by any means necessary. It specifically includes dishonest methods, such as violence or lying. So when you're willing to resort to that kind of thing to achieve your goals, you say you're going to do something

"by hook or by crook"

[themattress]

When did _____ jump the shark?

Because I'm a masochist, I looked through release-order cutscene compilations on Youtube to remind myself of the exact point in which Kingdom Hearts characters jumped the shark.

Sora: KH-COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

The idea of Ventus' heart becoming a part of Sora's was not a bad one, but not only is it botched by having it set up at the start by Sora's newborn heart communicating with Ventus' heart and healing it by connecting with it, this event sets the stage for "Blank Points" and its depiction of Sora as this Messianic hero who is so pure hearted that he can heal everyone's hurt, nay, is obligated to heal their hurt. Yes, it was 3D that first botched his personality, but even before that it was hard to enjoy him on the same level as before because of this.

Riku: KH-COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

Once again, a chance meeting between Terra and Riku was a good idea, but the execution proved devastating for Riku's character, as the scene completely reframes his character as this wise-beyond-his-years kid with the noble dream of venturing to other worlds to find "the strength to protect the things that matter" (protect them from what!?) This will continue to inform Riku's character going forward, and it does not work because it is at complete odds with his character beforehand, the one we saw back in the first KH who was immature and his yearning for other words - sparked only by Kairi's arrival on Destiny Islands, btw - was fundamentally rooted in selfishness. It's an overidealization that just makes Riku a bore.

Kairi: KH-COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

While Kairi's encounter with Aqua was also botched, it actually wasn't bad enough to damage her like Sora and Riku's similar encounters with members of the Wayfinder Trio were. Oh, but don't worry - "Blank Points" more than made up for that with the damage it did to her. She's only on screen for less than a minute, but what happens in that time is devastating: she smiles vacantly as Sora repeats the bullshit from the King's letter as a reason he has to leave, and in response she gives him her lucky charm again and simply says "See you soon". Um, NO. That's not Kairi; not how she was depicted and set up in KH2 anyway! Kairi had a Keyblade, she merged with Namine, she insisted on not waiting behind anymore....she even said "from now on wherever one of us goes, the other follows!" But now Nomura just pretends it never happened and rewrites her whole character into a bland love interest who won't be proactive or developed any further. No more Destiny Trio, it's just the Sora/Riku duo now.

Donald Duck: KH-COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

Goofy: KH-COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

Coded's 6th chapter was the point that game took a hard downturn in quality, which was already mixed to start with, and one of its biggest casualties was Donald and Goofy. It's difficult to explain, but something about their role in the Datascape's Hollow Bastion alongside Data Sora while actively calling back to the original KH's Hollow Bastion level really pisses me off. The game acts like it's being profound, but all its really doing is disrespecting the memory of that level's unparalleled awesomeness and cheapening Donald and Goofy's friendship with Sora by having it be so easily transferrable to a data copy who the game nonetheless insists is his own individual. While I loved seeing Sora, Donald and Goofy reunite in KH3, them and their dynamic wasn't quite the same; nowhere near as strong.

Mickey Mouse: KH-COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

King Mickey always had a serious edge to him which made him a cool character, but he was also still Mickey. That balance of whimsy and seriousness is what made him so great. But starting in 3D, the Mickey-ness gets sucked out of him and he's now a bland, serious, short-statured hero who is more or less just Yen Sid's flunky. I think the moment best cementing it is his confrontation with Master Xehanort, a guy he never interacted or even heard about in BBS but now 3D is acting like they're old rivals and Mickey is kicking himself for not realizing that of course Master Xehanort was behind everything as part of some omnipotent master plan, because it was so obvious in retrospect! And he only just got worse from there (Re:Mind excluded), with Bret Iwan painfully struggling more and more with the material he's given.

Terra: KH2-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3

In 3D, there are two scenes not too far apart from each other. One is Riku facing Ansem and out of nowhere bringing up Terra and how he still remembers him as the reason he can wield the Keyblade, the reason he wanted to go to other worlds so badly (fuck Kairi, then) and the driving inspiration behind "obtaining strength to protect what matters". And the other is the big confrontation in Organization XIII's throne room, where Master Xehanort confirms that Terra is still under his control. Together, these two scenes paint a clear picture: Terra isn't really a character anymore. He's an accessory. He's something that matters to actual characters such as his friends and Riku and Xehanort, but otherwise he's got nothing going on for himself.

Ventus: Days-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3

Ventus was a pretty iffy character to begin with, but nothing was flat-out ruining him until Union Xross came along and said "Surprise! He's actually a Keyblade wielder from the ancient past!" And as far as the mainline games go, KH3 is the one that brought that garbage into things, so it gets the nod. Ven, go play with your Chirithy and never bother us again, OK?

Aqua: BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3

Aqua was a cool character in BBS, but she didn't really have much depth or even an arc. 0.2 gave her those things, so now she's all set for greatness in KH3, right? Hahahaha, wrong! Aqua's whole shtick in KH3 is making badass declarations and then immediately getting bodied in the most humiliating ways possible. Even that depth and character arc she got in 0.2 is rendered meaningless. It's so bad that Willa Holland's already subpar vocal delivery plummets to new levels of lifelessness. So much respect for a female Keyblade Master!

Jiminy Cricket: KH-COM-KH2-Coded-3D-KH3

Jiminy discovers technology in Coded. As later seen in KH3, it was a huge mistake.

Pluto: KH-COM-KH2-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

He's just there, doing nothing. Get used to it, 'cause that's his new normal!

Yen Sid: KH2-BBS-Coded-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

In KH2, Yen Sid was just a guy giving exposition and useful items to Sora, Donald and Goofy at the beginning of their quest in Mickey's place as a favor to him since Mickey was his pupil. In BBS, we get to see Mickey being his pupil and it's said Yen Sid was once a Keyblade Master, which is a cool detail and fits in perfectly with why Sora got a second Keyblade at his tower in KH2. But starting with the secret ending of Coded, Yen Sid suddenly becomes the Big Good, the leader of the guardians of light whom Mickey actively reports to and obeys even when he isn't studying under him anymore. Worse still, he is awful at his job; foolish, arrogant and hypocritical in the most frustrating ways. He gets one cool moment in KH3, but it's not enough to redeem him, especially when MOM puts him right back in his old ways.

Maleficent: KH-COM-KH2-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

Pete: KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

The other duo that Coded's 6th chapter ruined! In just the previous chapter things had been looking fine! Pete was great, and Maleficent had an awesome entrance at the very end where she destroys Data Sora's Keyblade! But then Maleficent, following a painful joke about her not understanding the word Datascape, reveals this is part of a plan to take over Disney Castle because...she didn't get Organization XIII's castle as was implied she would in KH2, which makes her arc in that game feel pointless just like Kairi's. And then we see Pete infiltrated the actual Disney Castle, which should be impossible due to the Cornerstone of Light, which has apparently just been forgotten about. Then she and Pete initiate that awful recreation of Hollow Bastion's events, insultingly merging Riku and Kairi's roles in the process. Three strikes, they're out. And ever since their last scene added in the cutscene movie version, they've been on the same fruitless quest for the Book of Prophecies, which is doomed to failure since the new OC Big Bad is even more omnipotent than Master Xehanort!

Namine: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

OK, so on it's own, Namine's showing in Days might not have ruined her. It would just be a frustrating bit of character regression in a messily written game. But this always soft-spoken, sad and guilty-feeling, head-down and hands-clasped depiction of Namine ended up directly allowing the Data Namine we see in Coded to happen, which in turn opened up the bullshit "Thank Namine" retcon that has hounded her ever since. The poor girl deserved better.

DiZ: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-3D-KH3-MOM

"Blank Points" shows that he didn't die in the explosion that clearly killed him in KH2. It just somehow warped him to the Realm of Darkness...which is treated as the Realm of Nothingness he was banished to before even when those are different things...and he now has a black coat for some reason....and he reveals to Aqua that he put data inside of Sora that can help him heal everyone even though that makes no sense for him to have done so....and he speaks of Sora at length as if they were personally acquainted even when they never spoke to each other once....and gaaaaah, it's so stupid! If he had just remained dead, he'd have stayed a strong character and Christopher Lee's passing wouldn't have affected anything (nor would Genzo Wakayama's should the series continue with the character).

Ansem: KH-COM-KH2-Days-Coded-3D-KH3-MOM

So, let me get this straight...Ansem regained all his Master Xehanort memories (which should include that Kingdom Hearts is light, so what the fuck?) and discarded his body to travel back in time despite writing that he was doing it for the sake of knowledge. He travels back to Young Xehanort on Destiny Islands and gives him the power to travel into the future, then just stays hidden on Destiny Islands for years until it's destroyed in KH, where he also afflicts a time-traveling future Sora with some kind of curse because it was "etched" that he do so. Then later after possessing Riku and going through the Final Keyhole, Young Xehanort shows up, extracts his heart and takes it into the future where it's put into a replica body, and from this body Ansem time travels into the future so that he can attend the gathering of the "true" Organization XIII. Then after returning to the replica body, KH3 happens and he's defeated and thus returns with no memories of the future to beyond the Final Keyhole to be defeated again, still somehow not knowing that Kingdom Hearts is light....and GAAAAAAH, it's so FUCKING stupid!!! Ansem was such a great villain the way he was, why ruin that!?

Xemnas: KH-COM-KH2-Days-3D-KH3-MOM

3D strikes again in ruining an awesome villain in service of a lamer one, this time saying that Xemnas wasn't trying to claim a heart for himself and power over all hearts by becoming the supreme existence; he and the other Nobodies had hearts all along and he just lied to the others that they didn't so that they would feel empty enough to be filled with copypastas of Master Xehanort's heart when they completed Kingdom Hearts. No more tragedy and depth; Xemnas is just a bad guy working on behalf of a worse guy just like Ansem. KH3 did an admirable salvage job by suggesting that Xemnas hated being a disposable pawn to someone else and had deep self-worth issues because of it and as a result was honestly trying to become the supreme existence through harnessing the Keyblade's power (unlike Ansem, whose betrayal plan was just about surviving Master Xehanort's reset of the universe alongside a girl he supposedly cared for in his own way), but it's still not as compelling as when him being a Nobody truly meant something and when he wasn't anyone's minion.

Xigbar / Braig: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

"I'm already half-Xehanort! Except as if, I'm actually Luxu! I'm also Brain and Bragi in a certain way, both names which coincidentally sound like Braig! What's in the box, you ask? Wouldn't you like to know!" Sigh....a once interesting character, now just an irritating one.

Xaldin / Dilan: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

Lexaeus / Elaeus: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

In the newly added ending to Coded's cutscene movie version, we see Dilan and Eleaus sprawled out on the floor. They might has well have stayed that way, for what little they say and do afterward. In hindsight, it's honestly sort of a miracle Eleaus had some lines in 3D!

Vexen / Even: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3-MOM

Zexion / Ienzo: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3-MOM

I'm impressed that these two hung on for as long as they did! I guess only being major villains in COM, a game early into the series' run, before their major supporting hero role in KH3 helped with that, since their brief appearances in between never did enough to tarnish them. But unfortunately, their roles in KH3 were also very conclusive ones, so seeing them again, alongside their should-be-dead master, in MOM immediately afterwards sours me on them.

Saix / Isa: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

Axel / Lea: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

The decision to put young Isa and Lea in Radiant Garden in BBS in place of young Squall and Cloud was a horrible one which somewhat negatively impacted Saix and Axel in Days and absolutely negatively impacted them in all other games. For reference, in Days it is subtly implied Saix and Axel are in the Organization for the sake of a girl they knew in Radiant Garden (a vague idea that would later be fleshed out into something worse, like with Xion), which lessens both of them. Worse still is the bullshit redemptions they go through once restored from their KH2 deaths, which is especially bad for Axel. As Lea, everything that made Axel a great character is thrown into the garbage, turning him into an unfunny comic relief who is only part of the main cast and a Keyblade wielder because of his past popularity (something he obnoxiously lampshades in KH3), with his vices either swept under the rug or dishonestly reframed as virtues. It's sad. These two excellent villains make two lousy heroes.

Demyx: COM-KH2-Days-KH3

Luxord: COM-KH2-Days-3D-KH3

Marluxia: COM-KH2-Days-3D-KH3

Larxene: COM-KH2-Days-3D-KH3

Just like with Ventus, Union Xross bullshit popping up in KH3 ruins these characters. They're still entertaining if you just ignore it, but after all is said and done you just know that the series is going to continue on with it and it's not a pleasant prospect at all, especially for Luxord.

Roxas: COM-KH2-Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

Like with Namine, the disappointing depiction of Roxas in Days would not have single-handedly ruined him. It's how it carried over into subsequent games that did the real damage, as for some reason the game and its depiction of Roxas really caught on in Japan and thus there was high fan demand for Roxas' tragedy to be reversed and for he and his friends to have a happy ending. That's why the next few games all included Roxas in his stupid black coat and referenced the pain of losing his stupid friends whom he stupidly eats ice cream with all the damn time, and culminated in his nonsensical resurrection in KH3 that Nomura has personally confessed was done out of fan pandering. Oh, but he wasn't alone on that....

Xion: Days-BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

And we're three-for-three with a character whom was problematic in Days but wouldn't have jumped the shark if that had been it for them; in this case the biggest character in that game. If the series had just stuck to how Xion's fate was described in Days, which was being as dead and gone as is humanly possible to be, then she'd still be looked upon as an effective tragic character. Instead, we just kept on seeing her in game after game against all logic, almost always with some sad look on her face to the point her tragedy became a comedy, culminating in her nonsensical resurrection for fan pandering alongside Roxas in KH3.

Master Xehanort: BBS-3D-KH3-MOM

No further comment. We all know this one.

Young Xehanort: BBS-Coded-3D-KH3

Yes, this character actually jumped the shark in his debut. Why? Because he fundamentally made no sense. Not only did him coming from Destiny Islands and wanting more than just his small world lazily rehash Riku from the original KH which in turn negatively affects both Terra and Riku's characters, but he also makes both Master Xehanort and Terra-Xehanort feel superfluous. Why not just have this character be the villain who ends up with amnesia and becomes Ansem's apprentice? Why have him at all if you're just going to age him up only to possess a younger character's body? And if you're going to do that, then why still include this character in the plot as a time-traveling minion of his older self!? And if you're going to do that, then why then give us an even younger version who got off Destiny Islands earlier only to pointlessly return and completely retcon all the other Xehanorts' fundamental motivations!?

Terra-Xehanort: KH2-BBS-3D-0.2-KH3-MOM

Same deal as with Terra and Ansem. 3D turned Terra-Xehanort into just an accessory; a minion to Master Xehanort even though that defeats the whole purpose of his existence.

Vanitas: BBS-3D-KH3

Vanitas came SO CLOSE to never jumping the shark. But then Re:Mind just had to throw in a new scene where he references the Union Xross bullshit retcon of him being an "ancient being of darkness" who wasn't born from Ventus' heart at all! Thanks, Nomura, I hate it.

Riku Replica / Dark Riku: COM-3D-KH3

Riku Replica was good as just a character in COM. The idea 3D foreshadowed of an evil version of him being a part of the "true" Organization XIII made a lot of sense, and I would have been fine with it. But KH3 wrecked it by also including the original version of the Riku Replica, even though he, much like DiZ and Xion, should have been irrevocably dead. And it was for no other purpose but a deus ex machina to grant Namine a body she didn't need! His evil counterpart on Xehanort's side ending up being a bland let-down didn't help matters.

Master Eraqus: BBS-KH3

Young Eraqus has way too big of a disconnect from Master Eraqus. How am I supposed to believe that this upbeat kid who is also a clever chessmaster (supposedly clever; he really just cheats) is the same person as the stern zealot whose idiotic blunders did much of the heavy lifting for Master Xehanort's evil plan in BBS? And how am I supposed to believe he and Xehanort had this super close bond when Xehanort so casually murdered him in BBS?

Hayner, Pence and Olette: COM-KH2-Days-KH3

.......................Never. They never jumped the shark at all. Who would have ever guessed: out of all characters in the series, it's these three mundane civilians who stayed consistent!

[flowerbloom-arts]

thoughts on the joxter x moominpappa ship?

I'll start off bluntly and say that I don't like the ship.

Not to say that it's invalid, it just feels ill-fitting for the 2 characters at least with the way I've seen it presented.

(BIG ramble down below)

I think it mostly hinges on Snufmin's existence and thus it being a funny situation. But I don't think Moominpappa and the Joxter would ever be interested in each other in that way.

Moominpappa explicitly does not care for Joxter, he views him as incompetent yet mysterious, but rewarding to impress. Moominpappa doesn't think of him very highly, but not in an active rivalry sort of way, he just doesn't capture his interest with bright starry eyes like Hodgkins does.

I blame the 90s series with its bare-bones characterization (and mischaracterization/misrepresentation) of the characters, making them and their dynamics so boring that it leaves it all to the imagination of the audience, which gives way to the most stereotypical fandom archetypes for the characters you can dream of. Most of the ship hinges on these fanon characterizations; characterizing Moominpappa and the Joxter's relationship as a rivalry with romantic tension or as Joxter being the annoying one of the duo while Moominpappa is the Regularly Annoyed Guy.

The only people the Joxter has expressed interest in is the Mymble (romantically) and the Muddler (which he seems to have a close bond with, to the point where he stands up for him and shares food with him), I always imagined the Joxter saw Moominpappa as an annoying enigma who is far too easy to mess with and only cares for Hodgkins so they don't interact much, much of the same goes for how the Muddler views Moominpappa aswell.

I also don't understand the romanticization of the main ship's fathers having dated in the past beyond how funny the situation is. It makes me very uncomfortable to think about and I wouldn't feel so inclined if I was either Snufkin or Moomintroll. If someone would go for a "the Joxter and Moominpappa fell out so it's so romantic how Snufkin and Moomintroll got together" and uses that as some cosmic fate angle I just don't.... Know how to feel about that. It just further cements Joxpappa as purely an extension of Snufmin and Snufmin is already a ship I'm getting tired of.

We also know too much about Moominpappa, I think. The only people who occupy his mind in a very positive way are Hodgkins and Moominmamma, he sure does have friends but they're just friends to him, Hodgkins and Moominmamma were very formative people for him and isn't the type to give that honor to anyone he liked. When it comes to the Joxter and the Muddler there's plenty of wiggle room and room for speculation, Moominpappa is established as an unreliable narrator (which is an issue I'm afraid I've been having to ignore because it extremely complicates things) but what he felt at the time was real to him, we get to see inside his head throughout the books, while the Muddler and the Joxter and Hodgkins get none of that privilege. Thus it feels wrong to me to force a ship that never had a hint, especially with Moominpappa in the picture.

I also don't see the narrative benefit of Joxpappa, it doesn't fit neatly into Moominpappa's arc or themes. The dynamic of high-strung attention-seeker vs wants-to-live-life and lazy cat is a fun dynamic to think about to be sure, but I can't imagine a romantic aspect to it because they haven't actively butt heads except for the time Moominpappa was being the worst when it came to the Island Ghost debacle.

I ship the Muddler and the Joxter because the nervous wreck and aforementioned cat dynamic is both fun and gives way to many interesting themes that are backed with the pre-established dynamic of the book. I see them as two completely different people brought together by the commonality of being considered strange and having a need to care for each other.

I ship Moominmamma and Moominpappa (although relatively recently) because I see these two different people who love each other in different intensities and would do anything for each other as we see in many adaptations. I see them as opposites holding paws because their opposing traits are what keep the other from falling into extremes and they just want to make each other happy (even if Moominpappa is more than selfish and both of them rely heavily of gender norms).

The Joxter and Moominpappa I can see potential in but the fandom has soured the appeal to me in more ways than one. The intensity isn't there, there is no strong feelings for each other or even opinions, they're incredibly lukewarm and often get on each other's nerves but they don't interact enough for it to be a big pattern.

A better parallel to Snufmin would quite literally be Moominpappa and Hodgkins. Because much like Moomintroll does for Snufkin, Moominpappa has a great and obvious admiration for the man and has more than a few rambles talking about him, he payed attention to his body language, he enjoyed him immensely despite the lack of social skills, he got legitimately depressed when he left for work for a long time, he was part of his special thanks in the preface next to his wife and the Hattifatteners who gave him the adventure he craved for a long time. Hodgkins is Moominpappa's true Snufkin - albeit I don't think it can be read romantically like Snufmin, more in a fatherly manner, but it's far, far more than he could ever have with the Joxter.

And as a Moominpappa kinnie I do say most of this should be accurate.

Anyway how's about we focus on real dyanmics instead of fake ones for a bit? I'm craving Moominpappa and Hodgkins father-son bonding.

[hologramcowboy]

I wonder why Danneel doesn’t post on social media. With Chaos Machine Productions trying to get off the ground, you would think she would be trying to keep fans interested in her and as an extension her company. Yet she’s been almost radio silent. No family posting despite that being 90% of her feed for years, no behind the scenes at the Ackles business ventures. She’s even cut down on stealing posts from others and passing them off as her own in the name of activism. I know a lot of people think that Jensen has her under a gag order that prevents her from posting, but he’s the one pushing the ‘husband and wife dynamic producing duo’ so I don’t think that’s the case. If she was taking a break from social media for mental health or the privacy of her children, we surely would have heard about it by now. She would have brought it up when she whined about being bullied on her livestream with Bri, or had Clif make post about how online bullies have driven her and the children into hiding.

And it goes beyond social media. At the New Orleans SPN convention she interacted with no one. She’s currently trying to produce a SPN spin off, you would think she would want to interact with fans and cement herself further into the brand and get them hyped for the prequel. Yet she spoke to zero fans, the only picture is a candid taken from far away and she slunk in and out of the one panel she attended. She’s never seen out and about whether it’s in Austin or Telluride, neither is Jensen for that matter. We get semi-regular Jared sightings but it’s like the Ackles are hiding. For a long time I chalked it up to plastic surgery, needing to give it time to settle or hiding a botched job. But we see Danneel semi-regularly enough that I don’t think it’s the case anymore. Her absence is no great loss, but I’m nosy lol. Do you or your followers have any thoughts or insights?

From my perspective, it seems a lot like she's waiting to announce the big thing and suck it to people so she's playing it safe until then. Also, marriage on the rocks is still very much among my theories. You explained the points of that beautifully. Let's see what other anons have to share regarding this. I agree, by the way, the world is better off without her fake activism and entitled posts. I think she's starting to realize her virtue signaling only makes her look like a cooky entitled white woman trying to show off her privilege so it achieves the inverse effect of what she states she wants to do but never actually actualizes. So far she's just all bla bla bla and woe is me, people get tired of that pretty fast. She thought she was going to shift her image but without doing authentic inner work all she did was reveal her sad real self even more. lol #karma

[what-the--curtains]

Not a Piece of Art

Part 1/4 - A Grudge Like No Other

(Javier Peña x f!reader)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summary: You’re tasked with an impossible mission and an even more impossible partner to complete it with.

Authors note: I have never not once seen narcos all I know if based on other fics I’ve read so pls be kind but let me know if anything’s wildly out of character! Also I’m aware forensics wasn’t a solid discipline (especially DNA fingerprinting) but we’re gonna pretend it is. Lemme know if you’d like to be tagged (or untagged) 😊

Tw: Mentions of fake parental death, swearing, mentions of sex

Word count: 4.1k

Tagged list: @agingerindenial @diogodxlot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning sun radiates down on your shoulders as you lock the door to your apartment complex behind you. Despite the early hour it was already far too hot, but at least the humidity wouldn’t kick in until the afternoon. You’d been working in Colombia for a few months now, but the heat wasn’t something you’d ever get used to. You weren’t complaining, most days you preferred it to the frigid temperatures that painted your childhood. The frost bitten noses, wool socks and thick snow falls coating tree branches seemed all but a distant memory now. You’d settled on Columbia after your long time best friend Connie convinced you to take the universities offer. She had recently made the move down south and was eager to have you there with her.

She’d told you about the job and honestly, you wouldn’t be surprised if she had marched down to the university herself and dropped off your resume. She’d flown up to Brown and helped you pack up your life and then unpack it after your arrival to the terraced apartment Connie had picked out for you both to live in. It was a decent size and the balcony was south facing which gave you all day access to the sun. When you weren't working you spent your time out there soaking up the sun and watering the small garden you had been tending to since your arrival. Your days were primarily spent at the university working out the finer details of the forensics lab you were hired to set up. Your PhD in forensic anthropology has left you with various laboratory based skills, including DNA analysis, making you a coveted asset to the campus. Whilst in school you had also completed an art certificate which came in handy when facial reconstructions were needed.

After everything was in place you began running samples, processing unidentified remains by working on dental ID’s and facial reconstructions, as well as testing for drug residue. Despite being run by the University your job wasn’t as research based as you would have hoped with your work often falling under the DEA’s jurisdiction. You weren't involved in their day to day protocols. You mainly just ran the tests, or identified bodies recovered from the crime scene only conversing with them when it was absolutely necessary. Police work wasn’t in your wheelhouse, and it wasn’t a profession you supported or believed in.

Many faces passed through your workspace all demanding your utmost attention claiming their projects to be the most important. One frequent flyer through the lab was Steve Murphy, who Connie had met down in Miami a few years back. His relationship to your friend was the only reason you had bothered to make an effort with him. A friendship was established between the two of you faster than you had expected, due in part to his easy southern charm, but mainly because he and Connie evidently had feelings for eachother. You always found it easier to get along with men who weren't trying to get into your pants which was, unfortunately, a frequent occurrence in the male dominated discipline you worked in. There was only one flaw you could attribute to Steve, his work wife, the other half of the DEAs “dynamic duo”, agent Javier Peña. You’d never been formally introduced to the man, but his reputation preceded him. His was a face that also made frequent appearances in your lab but you'd never spoken more than three words to each other which was, probably for the best. You had what some might deem a confrontational personality and from what you understood Peña was, to put it nicely, an asshole.

He always came in sporting a more casual look and sunglasses which he kept on despite being indoors, a habit that drove you up the wall. He’d tap the file on the glass to get your attention always making you walk the five extra steps to get to him. You didn’t bother to look up when he passed the beige folders to you just grabbed the file from his hands and added it to the pile on your desk. He’d started attaching yellow sticky notes with “put a rush on” scrawled across them in impatient handwriting, as if his case was more important than the remains you were currently working on identifying. Not talking was a strategic move on your part, you’d heard he was quite the charmer when he needed something done, and you weren't going to let him get away with that. You ran this lab, not Javier Peña. Was your dismissal of him warranted? Maybe not, but your gut instinct was usually right and the rumour mill had painted Peña in a very specific manner. You weren't about to let yet another hot headed alpha male who took “too much male energy” to an entirely new level into your life.

Unfortunately, your knack for avoiding him became nearly impossible when you were called out to work on a crime scene. Despite your refusal to work in the field, the remains couldn’t be moved so you had to go to them. The site was just far enough away that a daily commute would have been tedious so you, along with the dynamic duo and your forensic team were booked into a nearby hotel. You weren't sure what you'd done in your past life to piss off the gods but somehow you’d ended up sandwiched between Steve and Peña. Steve wasn’t the issue, apart from the TV which you’d hear blare spanish dubbed reruns of Miami Vice between 4 and 8 PM, he was a quiet, considerate neighbour. Peña, on the other hand, was neither considerate or quiet particularly during the late hours of the night while you were trying to sleep. Sharing a wall with the agent proved to be an issue, so much so that by the third day just looking at him filled you with such intense rage that you'd given yourself lockjaw.

Every night without fail you laid awake as the exaggerated, bordering on ridiculous, moans coming from whoever he'd enticed into bed that night reverberated through your shared wall. You'd tried it all, earplugs, pillows so forcefully wrapped around your head you were essentially smothering yourself, but the sounds still permeated through the plaster and into your head. On the fourth night when you heard the talking start you knew what you had to do. You furiously wriggle free from your sheets and make your way out into the hallway. You walk one door over and inhale deeply before aggressively pounding your fist on the door.

“Hey” you say, through gritted teeth.

“Hey?” a slightly disheveled Steve murmurs eyes squirting into the hallway’s bright lights as his arms cross clumsily over his bare chest.

“Look I hate to ask but can I sleep on your couch, the walls are thin and...”

“And Peña has a thing for loud women '' he finishes for you, shoulders relaxing as he opens the door up for you “surprised you lasted this long, come in i'll grab you some pillows”

“Thanks for letting me sleep here, I think I may have killed him in the field tomorrow if I didn't get at least an hour of sleep. Also this isn’t some tactic to get you to bed so you can stop trying to cover your modesty” You say wiping your eyes, as Steve drops his arms to his side laughing.

“I know, believe me, besides i'm sure you're aware I’m only interested in one person.” So he did have a thing for Connie.

“You should go for it, I think she'd say yes” you offer, even in your sleep deprived state you were still a pretty solid wingwoman.

“You think?” His eyes light up, further cementing your belief that Steve, despite being friends with Peña, was a good guy.

“Thanks” you murmur as he hands you some pillows and a light sheet. It's not long before the AC’s quiet hum draws you into a deep sleep.

The alarm blaring out from Steve’s room pulls you from your dreaming state, groaning as you squeeze a pillow over your head. Why was it that you always felt worse after getting a good night's sleep? You briefly doze off again only waking as the smell of burnt toast convinces your brain that either a fire has started, or you were having a stroke.

“Tryna burn this place down?” you mumble, relaxing back into the couch cushions as you watch Steve scrape the burnt bits off into the garbage before buttering it and taking a bite.

“You think you got enough sleep to not kill my partner this morning?” he asks between mouthfuls.

“No, but I did get enough to realize if I killed him in the field there'd be witnesses” you remark pouring coffee into a cracked mug. “Thank you for letting me sleep here “

“Anytime, though Javi should be the one thanking me considering I basically saved his life. Lucky were leaving today or I’d have to put him into protective custody.”

“And I'll never have to hear him ever again” you say suddenly feeling a bit better. You were glad for Steve being so accommodating to your needs, especially considering he didn't really know you that well. “Well I should go get ready for the day ahead what it's supposed to be out?”

“A balmy 40” Steve offers, as he washes your cup up in the sink.

“Wow I should have packed my snow pants when I moved down here.” you dead pan, the delivery causing Steve to snort as you exit the room. As you exit, Javier opens his door kissing the woman he’d spent the night with one last time watching as she strides off down the hallway. You don’t see him, but he sees you. Specifically, he sees you leaving his partner's room, and in nothing more than an oversized t-shirt, he raised his eyebrows. Good for Steve from what he’d heard half the department had been trying to get your attention to no avail. Your head was always buried in paperwork and your ears were always donning headphones blocking out small talk, maybe he should take a page from your book. He didn’t say anything to Steve in the field, but he did watch you interact with one another. Paying specific attention to how you'd made Steve laugh while photographing the murder weapon. Javi watched as you meticulously gathered up a few finger bones that he'd overheard you saying would be used for DNA fingerprinting. He'd tried to talk to you a few times this trip, but the second he'd stepped in your direction he noticed your jaw clench and your body tense up, not wanting to upset you he decided it was best to back off. After getting what you need you packed up your things and headed back home, with no intentions of ever having to interact with Peña for more than 5 minutes ever again.

Several months later

Your lab was now contracted out full time by the DEA which meant you still got to do research but you didn’t have to teach any teenagers which was quite frankly a dream. Unfortunately, the contract meant you'd now be spending time in two male-dominated fields. The boys club offered little that would qualify as genuine friendship. Turns out the ones brave enough to approach you were only nice to you because they wanted to sleep with you. Something you’d found out after overhearing a less than true story about you from one of the guy’s you’d hooked up with. After that you’d stopped sleeping where you work and started looking elsewhere. Your few short lived romances were mainly found in dive bars only going home with people that had been thoroughly vetted (and vaguely threatened) by yourself, Connie and Steve. Who was now a relatively permanent fixture in your life after finally asking Connie out, and you really didn’t mind it. He was good to Connie and he never minded being excluded when you needed a girls' night without him. You also assumed the decrease in misogynistic talk amongst the agents was Steves doing, you made a mental note to thank him later, as you took another swig of the beer you’d been nursing for the past hour.

Steve was still inseparable from Peña and where he went Javi was sure to follow. Your inability to not become enraged by him meant you often found yourself leaving the room as soon as he showed up, subsequently cutting your Connie time in half. Devastating both you and her.

“You know he’s not really as insufferable as he acts” Connie states, Javi was due to show up any minute which meant it was just about time for you to leave.

“ You're not gonna sell me on this” you say, chewing on a stale nacho chip from food you’d ordered hours ago.

“Seriously, he's almost nice sometimes” your pointed look tells her to drop it. Connie was nothing if not resilient and you were constantly amazed by her. You don’t know how she worked as a nurse. You had a hard enough time with the dead, how she also dealt with the living as well was beyond you. She was a quantifiable saint which was probably why she saw the good in Peña.

“Remind me to never make you mad” Steve says.

“No one holds a grudge quite like her” Connie exclaims

“Awe you say the sweetest things about me” you retort after finishing the last of your beer.

“Alright well I’ve got an early morning shift so we should be heading out, tell Javi I say hi” Connie says kissing Steve before the two of you exit the bar.

“Are you really going to keep up this affront against Javi?” Connie asks, interlinking your arms together as you exit the bar.

“Yes, now please and can we stop talking about Peña even thinking about him gets me riled up”

“I thought you said you hated him” she teases causing you to roll your eyes.

“Please don't make me gag” you say pulling a face that causes you both to break into a giggle fit.

“What up her ass? Seriously, am I infectious or something?” Javi asks, slumping down across from Steve who's filling out paperwork at his desk.

“Well considering your history, probability is pretty high” Steve quips back earning him a thwack to the head with a folder you’d dropped on Peña’s desk earlier that morning.

“You know her, what's her deal, why does she hate me?”

“Everyone hates you Javi, it’s a fundamental part of your personality” Steve laughs.

Javier usually wasn’t one to concern himself with how others perceived him, but his work frequently overligned with yours and he figured his life would be made infinitely easier if he could get into your good books. Sure, at first his intrigue in getting to know you was purely physical. He knew looks aren't everything, but for what he wanted, they played a fundamental part. He wasn’t the only person to have noticed you the day you showed up, all eyes were on you as you walked through the DEA embassy for the first time. Your arrival had sparked a competitive energy amongst the men with the agents often vying over who got the honour of dropping off case files to you. A few were apparently even so lucky to have actually spent the night, at least that's what he’d overheard some agents proclaiming loudly, making him doubt their validity.

He’d cracked down on what some would call “locker room talk” when he thought you and Steve were sleeping together, after seeing you leave his room early that one morning. Though if Steve had been spending nights with you he’d never brought it up to Javi, and after he started dating Connie there never seemed a right time to ask about you, so he let it go. He’d gotten more proactive with stopping it once you’d been hired on full time. He’d upped his guard when he’d caught one trying to cop a feel of your ass the day you had been called in on your day off. You’d come in wearing a skirt shorter than what would be considered workplace appropriate gaining you more attention than usual. He noticed the guys hand drop down low, but any contact was stopped when Javi smashed the guys arm back into the wall behind him. In most cases a move like that would have earned him a swift punch to the face but a simple raise of his eyebrows was enough to get the pervert to sit back down.

Despite the scene playing out a few feet from you, you never noticed carrying on about your day as if nothing had happened, headphones on, paperwork in your arms and various scrawlings across your hand, reminders of meetings he knew you'd be late to anyways. He assumes your chronic lateness was a tactic to spend as little time around him as possible. Your hatred for him was palpable, he wondered if it was as obvious to everyone else as it was to him. He'd noticed how you would stand in meetings when the only seat available was next to him. It was starting to get to his ego. He wanted to know what he possibly could have done to be treated like the scum of the earth by you. He’d heard from Connie that you didn’t like cops, but you got on fine with Steve. Your lives continued on with minimal interaction until the day you were called into the head of the DEA’s office.

“Office now!” your boss shouts from the door. Fuck. What have you done now?

“Hey you need something?” you ask, lips parted and forehead wrinkled, feeling like a child who’d just been called to the principal's office. Your head snaps to the left when you feel eyes boring into you, eyes belonging to Peña. He shifts around in the chair to escape your violent gaze. You turn to Steve who's gazing up at the ceiling.

“I have the dental results here for the missing persons from the case last week, it’s a match, I know it's late but...”

“It's not that,” he gestures his hand to the chair beside Peña and you sit, placing the documents down on the table. Javi cranes his neck slightly, eyes darting over the various statistics strewn across the page surprised you were able to piece it all together.

“You have an art degree right?”

“I have an art certificate” you correct

“and you paint”

“A bit”

“She was featured in local galleries back in the States” Steve pipes up.

“ Good, we need you to go undercover” you snort before laughing aloud. Your amusement quickly fades when you realize no one else was laughing with you.

“Wait you're serious? You want me... to go undercover? I'm not an agent, I can’t use a gun, I don’t think I've even held one before” you say, tearing through all the excuses you could think of.

“You can shoot a bow and arrow,” Steve pipes up.

“Ya very different instrument Steve, also does Connie tell you everything about me” he shrugs his shoulders.

“You won’t need a gun anyways, you'll have a trained agent with you at all times.” Your boss reassures.

“No. No way! Im sorry but this… this is beyond the scope of my work and my skill set” you assert, not budging.

“You’ve been to crime scenes before, you’ve been in dangerous scenarios, excavated mass graves, we need you you’re the only one who can help with this”

“Why? You have multiple agents out there who would kill to go undercover, why me?” you push

“ Your background, and relative anonymity. There's been an increase in art dealing amongst the sicarios.”

“So what? Maybe they just really like art.” you offer

“Does anyone really like art” Peña pipes up

“ Yes, the whole world actually” you shoot back, successfully shutting him up.

“We think they're using convincing fakes to smuggle drugs without suspicion” Steve offered, helping to clear up the situation.

“Okay... then hire an art expert to go in and see if the paintings are real”

“We need you to test for residue on the paintings, and to recreate one in time for the next move”

“Okay im good, but I am not good enough to recreate a painting worth thousands of dollars.”

“From what I’ve seen you are,” Steve says further cementing your fate.

“What if I say no?” you ask, exhaling deeply.

“Then you're fired” Javier pipes up, once again causing your head to turn to him.

“And who, pray tell, made you judge, jury and executioner” you spit “last time I check Javier Peña wasn’t the one signing my paychecks”

“No, but I am, and you will do this” Your boss's backing of Peñas statement makes the smirk on his face even more aggravating.

“Fine, but just know I will be personally mentioning you all in my will so everyone knows exactly who got me killed, and I'm gonna want a raise, more vacation time and a new piece of lab equipment if I make it out alive. ”

“Fine” you smile feeling slightly vindicated.

“So what's my story? Who am I to have a million dollar painting in my possession?” you ask, as your boss pulls up a document on his computer.

“You’ll go by Melanie Alverez nee Smith, you were born in London England to parents Maria and Calvin who passed in a car accident four weeks after your nineteenth birthday”

“Shit” you mutter, thinking about your own parents who were very much alive.

“You dropped out of Oxford where you were undertaking a degree in chemistry and moved to New York where you began painting. You were a struggling artist for the first two years but received funding to attend Julliard. After graduation your first major piece was accepted by a local gallery and put up for auction. It sold for 10,000$. The buyer wanted to meet you after seeing your photo. He’d sent thousands of flowers to your gallery before showing up and asking you on a date.

“Must be nice” you murmur

“After a whirlwind romance you eloped and moved down to Columbia where you continue to work as an artist.”

“Alright easy enough, short live romance is a good call that can be used to explain why we don’t know certain information about each other.”

“You'll be staying here” A huge spanish style house appears on the screen. Its prestige was only overshadowed by the mansion looming over it from across the private beach. Must be the target's house, you think.

“It was built by the target, he lives there with his fourth wife. He’s rich, sources claims from drug smuggling, they think he may even have direct links to Escobar

“Like, as in Pablo?” you ask, eyes widening.

“Apparently he’s his art dealer. We need you to go in and see what he knows, if it's not enough then test the paintings in their homes”

“And if they trace?”

“You'll give them the fake implemented with a tracking device so we can target its route.”

“Okay well I'd say easy enough but the threat of being murdered isn’t lost on me. Who's my husband anyways? Obviously he’s rich but did he tragically fall down the stairs and die, did I kill him?” you ask, smiling as Steve laughs.

“What?” you say looking up

“What...” you say as Steve refuses to meet your eyes as he chokes on his laugh.

“Well you haven’t killed him yet but I give it a week.” He responds.

“Who's my husband” you ask, again suddenly afraid and very aware that there were two men in this room, and one was currently laughing at you.

“Your lucky day sweetheart.” Your head turns comically slow to face Javi, the effect only causes Steve to snicker more.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” you whisper.

“This mission is anything, but a joke.” your boss interjects “If we can trace the arts movement it brings us one step closer to catching Escobar. I don’t know why there's animosity between you two and frankly I do not care. You two must work together. If you are to succeed you have to be believable. Study up on each others aliases the target hasn’t made it this far without being killed by being stupid. We’ve tried to get to him before with no success, he will be on high alert. You two will have to convince him, and his wife, that you’re sincere.”

[littlemisssquiggles]

What do you think of the idea of Emerald/Oscar? They have some soft moments together.

Hello Sweet o/ Well this squiggle meister is definitely on-board with the Green Team/Emerald City pair as a FRIEND-ship with Emerald being yet another proxy big sister figure to “adopt” Oscar as their close companion whereas the little prince in turn could finally provide Emerald with the strong and devoted family type of bond that Emerald truly wants and failed to garner from the villain side especially with Cinder Fall who she saw as a “mother” or close guardian figure who saved her from her former life of poverty.

Another reason why I like the Emerald City duo is because I’d like to think that part of Oscar’s willingness to believe in Emerald and desire to look out for her stems from him and Oz essentially fulfilling Hazel’s role of continuing to watch over her in his absence.

After all, it wasn’t just Oscar to be saved from Monstra. Emerald was too. Hazel Rainart gave his life to ensure that both Oscar and Emerald were finally free of Salem and since Hazel is gone, Oscar probably sees it as his right to stand by Em in his place; especially since he also owes her for his salivation.

Plus, a second reason why I think the showrunners may be pushing the Emerald City bond is because, ultimately, Emerald will become the next Fall Maiden; replacing Cinder Fall. 

Think about it. Professor Ozpin was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Beacon Academy is the fortress secretly housing the Vault of the Fall Maiden which contains the Crown of Choice---the only relic that Salem couldn’t acquire on her own since the true path to claiming it still rests in Ozma’s memories. Memories that will soon be passed onto Oscar Pine who is Ozma’s current incarnate officially succeeding Professor Ozpin.

Even if Oscar gains the knowledge to locate the Relic of Choice; he and the heroes would still need the hand of the Fall Maiden to open the vault. And as it stands, the Fall Maiden powers still rest with Cinder Fall who Emerald Sustrai was a former affiliate of and whom she shares a bond with; whether Cinder dares to admit it or not.

You see where I’m going with this?

 Emerald becoming the Fall Maiden after Cinder has been a headcanon for her that I’ve been rooting for since the conclusion of V5. Based on how things are shaping up and what is required to move forward, I think Cinder’s final curtain call may be drawing near and what would actually be most fitting is if Emerald is the one to deal the killing blow to Cinder.

As a matter of fact, it would almost be symbolic if Emerald is the one of all characters to be the one to put a stop to Cinder---not only saving the others from her but also ironically saving Cinder from herself. Emerald killing Cinder would be an act of mercy from someone who genuinely loved Cinder and wanted nothing but the best for her. And why I love this idea is because it would be a fantastic parallel to the end of Cinder’s backstory in the Midnight episode.

In RWBY V8CH6, Cinder’s path and descent in her megalomaniac madness was forged the instant she killed Rhodes. Say what you will about him as a character; Rhodes cared deeply for Cinder…even up until the moment she cut him down with the very same weapon he gifted her. 

So with that in mind, imagine how fitting of an ending it would be if Cinder died the very same way she was ‘born’, essentially.

You can pretty much say that the person we know Cinder Fall to be was born when she killed her former mentor and the one person in her life that actually genuinely cared about her at the time. 

 So…imagine the poetic irony that would be for Cinder Fall to now die---killed by the hands of her own former apprentice and the one person in her life who genuinely cared about her at the time---Emerald Sustrai.

Imagine if…Emerald kills Cinder and Cinder gets a strange sense of déjà vu because not only did her surprised expression at being killed by Emerald reflect the one Rhodes made to her the night he died but through Emerald, Cinder sees her former young self---the side of her she discarded when she chose her path that night. 

Cinder began her path with the bloody end of a blade through the chest of someone close to her. So for Emerald to kill Cinder the same way---even better if it’s done with her very own weapon---then that would be…downright perfect as ending to Cinder’s arc.

Apologies to all the Cinder Fall fans reading this post. The CRWBY showrunners have had Cinder dance with death one too many times. I myself have honestly been curious about how Cinder’s story was going to end in the canon. While I still like my Red Queen headcanon for her, I would be okay with Cinder dying if Emerald was the one to kill her.

NOT Ruby. NOT Jaune. But Emerald. If there is one character who would be most fitting to be the one to put an end to Cinder Fall, it would be Emerald.

Killing Cinder, especially if it was done in protection and/or aid of the heroes, would be the final nail in Emerald’s own arc of “switching sides”.

As stated back between V6 and V8, Cinder was technically the one thing still tying Em to the side of evil as she once remarked that she was only on Salem’s side out of her loyalty to Cinder. Emerald already left Salem but Cinder still lives as an anchor to possibly tempt Em back to the side of evil. But if Em were to be the one to stop Cinder, then that cord would finally be cut thus cementing Emerald as being on the side of good---officially in respect to her story.

Emerald helping to save Oscar and return him to his allies on Monstra doesn’t make her a “good guy”. Emerald helping our heroes take down Ironwood, help Penny and save the refugees of Atlas and Mantle doesn’t even make her a “good guy” either.

But stopping Cinder Fall for good---to be the one to put her down and essentially save everyone from the monster she knew Cinder would ultimately become if not stopped--- that, to me, would be the move to officiate Emerald Sustrai as a “good guy”.

Even better if Cinder were to plant the tough choice right in Em’s face. Imagine if…Cinder puts Oscar’s life in danger and orders Em to be the one to kill Oscar for her; like the devoted pawn she always treats her as. Imagine if…Em is placed in a position where she is made to choose between her old loyalty to Cinder as a villain or her newfound loyalty to Oscar as a hero.

Just as how Cinder was Emerald’s anchor to the villains on Salem’s side, Oscar is technically now Emerald’s anchor to the heroes on Ozpin’s side. So if Cinder forces Em to kill Oscar but Em ends up killing Cinder instead to save Oscar for a second time----this would be it. This would be the deed that cements Emerald as formally giving up on Cinder and fighting for the side of good; at least in my humble opinion.

And the cherry on top would be that killing Cinder causes the Fall Maiden powers to go directly to Emerald and if Emerald becomes the Fall Maiden---the maiden tied to the vault and relic housed in the school that is tied to Professor Ozpin whose very successor is her closest ally on the hero team---I’d like to think this would be a perfect conclusion to Emerald’s “arc”. I think that could work epically.

This is why I’m rooting for Em to become the next Fall Maiden. This happening would definitely further cement the Emerald City dynamic since Oscar’s new “big sister” or rather “cousin” would be the maiden tied to “his” relic needed to open “his” vault hidden in “his” school.

(I think I’d rather refer to Emerald as Oscar’s adopted cousin since I low-key like the concept of Oscar taking Emerald back home with him to Mistral only for her to be adopted immediately by his family since Emerald was an orphan who grew up on the streets and never truly had a family of her own but ultimately finds one with the Pines who willingly take her in. It FITS; dagnabbit.)

My one gripe with Emerald City duo though is that I wished it had better build-up throughout the series run. I’d be lying if the fact that Emerald and Oscar barely had any interactions prior to V8 definitely hurts the believability of them suddenly being close now with Oscar willing to vouch for the good in Emerald…even though he literally just met her like yesterday according to the timeline.

I know it helps the meme of Emerald “only knowing Oscar for 24 hours and would be willing to kill anyone who dares to hurt him” but from a storytelling perspective, I really wish the development of this dynamic had been delivered better. I mean I’m happy that we finally got the payoff of Emerald and Oscar becoming friends and seeing Em joining the heroes thanks to her friendship with Oscar…but it’s like eating a delicious cheese burger without the cheese.

You get to see the beginning of it and the joyful payoff of the end but the middle part that was needed to make it fully work is non-existent and ends up hurting it in respect to consistency. 

While I understand that Emerald helped to save Oscar’s life---that’s not really enough to sell his sudden faith in her. At least for me. Can’t speak for everyone else. Since, like I said, we barely got any scenes of Oscar and Em interacting before she showed up to help get him out of Monstra.

The ONLY thing that’s canonically helping sell Emerald City to me is the fact that Hazel was shown to care for and look out for Emerald’s wellbeing in the past and since Oscar spent more time with Hazel; by extension; custody of Em was transferred to Oscar/Oz the minute Hazel died…especially since, he was technically the one forced to kill him when he sacrificed himself to stop Salem.

I guess I just personally would’ve liked to have seen these two interact more over the seasons, particularly for V8 while Oscar was imprisoned. 

Perhaps that chance will come now that Em is on the team working with ALPN. And it would probably work even better if Em becomes the Fall Maiden. But for now that’s mostly just speculation.

All in all, bottom line---as I’ll say again, this squiggle meister really likes Emerald City as another close friendship dynamic for Oscar and Em respectively and I’m looking forward to seeing how this dynamic develops over the next season. 

I’m curious to see how much more Em and Oscar can help each other as friends especially since Oscar still has own inner demons with the Merge to deal with emotionally and I’m especially curious to see how Em would react to reuniting with Mercury in Vacuo now that she’s joined the heroes---even better if she’s now the Fall Maiden after killing Cinder. 

That should be a fun development but we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, hope this lengthy response answers your question, Sweet XD

~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

[thequeenb]

Poppy x MC

I know what you are all thinking..How the hell did us two even start dating? Well i never said i dont like her she is just always irritating damn it. It all changed one starry night when we had our first kiss, at first everything was confusing but then everything made sense

Our little fights, our intense make-out sessions, our unexplainable anger, our big confession. That's how things were since day one and how could i complain? But everything have been so secretive that it made me question if this is even real anymore.

"Now you should leave darling, Chloe will be here at any minute" Poppy waves a hand dressing up and i frown trying to show no emotion. Maybe i thought we were something, who wouldn't to be honest? When i told her that i liked her i thought it was mutual but boy oh boy was i wrong?

I sigh as i pick up my stuff exiting the room. I don't dare to say any word because i know my sensitive side will take over. What's wrong with me? I shouldn't have said anything in the first place but for once i said yes to taking risks

I plug my airpods in playing Apocalypse by CAS, surprisingly it's her favourite song and you know me, how could i not melt for Queen Bee? I walk around the campus remembering all the times i pinned her against these walls kissing her until she couldn't breathe.

What's the point anyways? I don't want to be anyone's secret, does she feel ashamed to be with me? Who cares what this university says if you truly have feelings for someone? I sigh walking further into the campus, its past midnight and it seems that i am all alone lost in my thoughts

I open my phone clicking on Instagram and of course they uploaded a story. Poppy, Veronica and Chloe enjoying a bottle of Rosé what a blust, except you had steamy sex an hour ago on these sheets.

It was just a hookup wasn't it? This question takes over my mind that i dont notice Zoe walking towards me

"Girl i was worried! You didn't respond to my texts" she says wrapping her hands around me. I squeeze her tight needing comfort and she strokes my hair whispering "It is Poppy isn't it?"

I sigh pulling back, sitting on a nearby bench. Of course it's Poppy, her and her manipulative ways. Great in the sheets but strangers on the streets, how charming

"She kicked me out because the girls were coming over, she doesn't want anyone to know about us"

Zoe's eyes widen "Are you kidding who would keep this a secret?" She gestures at me and i chuckle, A+ for the effort Zo. And she is right, i shouldn't settle for less than i deserve

"You are right--"

"I can sense a but and i don't like it. If she wanted you truly why is she being so secretive? And don't start with the reputation bullshit" she places both of her hands on my cheeks wiping away the tears i didn't know i had

Aaaand there goes a bright light making me go blind "What the hell?" I cover my eyes and Zoe does the same

"Gosh these people have miserable lives" she rolls her eyes standing up "Get your cute butt up and let's go get some drinks shall we?"

I nod smiling thanking god i have my best friend by my side. Without her none of these situations would be handled right and oh well i find her veeeeery pretty if you ask me

___

I walk towards my class when a sudden buzz makes me stop my tracks. At first i thought its my ranking update but oh no its an update from The T

Hello loves,

I want to thank my amazing sources for blessing me with something interesting. Newbee has been trying to steal the crown months now and along the way everyone started to look at her like that heart eyes emoji. Yesterday our Queen to be was spotted getting closer to our one and only Zoe Wade. I am not surprised are you? They have been a dynamic duo since day one. #couplegoals

Here is an image of them last night, don't forget to 'awwww' everytime you see them

My congratulations to the cutest couple of Belvoire. Kisses, The T

Oh no, no no no this isn't good. If Poppy sees this she will.. actually she has no right to say anything. Despite that my heart starts racing at the thought of her reading this clearly false update. Aaaand there she is, across from me glaring at me with murderous eyes. Everyone looks at me whispering and its honestly very frustrating, trying to avoid the crowd all i focus on is getting on my class that until my phone buzz again

"Meet me behind the field" I froze reading what Poppy just sent me and my mind is drowning with all the possibilities. Did i just fuck up even this little something that we share? God damn this blog and fuck all these people that all they care about is juicy gossip.

Do i even have a choice? Poppy will try to confront me no matter what so i might as well skip class, i am sure Miss Kingsley will understand, right?

I see her standing against the wall as i approach closer. She is tapping her heel on the cement and honestly? I am a little scared

"Hello, fancy meeting you here" i say smiling trying not to look nervous

She doesn't answer instead she makes the most angry face i have ever seen shoving her phone in my face. I swear if that red angry emoji was an actual person that would be her right now.

"What is this bullshit?"

"Oh wow calm down is that why i am skipping class? To explain to you something I don't even have to?" I fold my arms looking at her dead in the eyes. I am not usually the person who will let her anger get the best of her but Poppy's behaviour hurt me so this time i just let it slide

For just a second she looks confused but then she regain her composure "Zoe? Are you serious? This girl is a wannabe, just because her mother has money she thinks--"

"Wow wow pause there. Not another word about Zoe" i place one finger against her lips and her breath catches. Jeez can't you not be horny for a second? I think to myself

"Why? Did i offend your girlfriend?" Her tone is ironic yet jealous and you know what? Jealous Poppy might be dangerous but she is also very sweet

"I am not in a relationship with her dumbass" i roll my eyes pulling slightly away from her

"But the photo--"

"Oh boo-hoo someone took a picture so what? Do you believe everything you see? She was fixing your mess because if you were clear towards me i wouldn't sit alone crying" these words escape my mouth without my consent and oh did i just admit how i feel?

Poppy looks stunned and actually speechless. Her eyes soften and i look away embarrassed "What do you mean?"

Yes what do i mean? I ask that question to myself all day and night. I have been trying to get her out of my mind but how could i? The way her perfume makes me dizzy, her soft kisses after each session, the way she looked at me like i am the only one in this world

"I don't know where we stand. You are so secretive that I start to believe this means nothing" i shrug trying not to let any form of vulnerability slip out

"Bea i- i thought i was clear. I mean i left you several hickeys on your neck--"

"Oh hold up! Do you really think hickeys mean we are dating?"

She nods and thats when i laugh. Oh wow this girl is really unique i swear "That still doesn't explain why you have been secretive"

Poppy sighs heavily, clearly uncomfortable by my question. At this point I don't care, all i want is to know if i waste my energy and emotions on someone who doesn't feel the same

"I am not good with words okay? I just didn't knew what to say or do to show you that i want us to be official"

Surprised i smile taking her hand in mine "You are cute when you are jealous"

"Oh shut up, you aren't that special" she smiles back and it makes my heart melt

That's Poppy. She isn't good with words nor know how to handle emotions. She was taught to be heartless and competitive and i can see why she is being that way. Her way of words are insults and in this relationship that's how we communicate

"Come here" she says pulling out her phone

Without another word she leans against me planting a kiss on my cheek. She snaps a photo and for a minute i think she will upload it, a girl can dream right? Oh wait a minute..is she actually doing it??

"What are you doing?" I ask looking over at her phone

"Uploading a picture. I want everyone to know that you belong to me" she is typing so fast i cant read what the caption says but then i get a notification

"Mine" it says with three heart emojis, thats so adorable i can't help but actually say awww out loud

"Well i didn't expect that but i like being yours" i say winking at her

We kiss and this time its different. The minute our lips touch i can feel my knees go weak. We kissed many times and you way ask, whats different now? Well now i am hers and only and my mind can rest now knowing i have a powerful amazing woman by my side.

Tag list: @lolimugly @origmansello @greatestflirt-hero @mvalentine @otakufangirl-12 @sugarplumpnhoneybun @princessstellaris @coldbatfriendroad @indecisive-choices @i-loveeveryone @kiara-36 @ognenniyvolk @somewillwin @it-lives-in-braidwood-manor @ghalind @sergeant-pepper-loves-choices @dibberdipper @justastranger-passing @nydeiri @simpforpoppy

[retronator]

The last 10 years of pixel art

Retronator the blog is exactly 10 years old right now (+ an hour or so more since I can’t seem to stop editing this post)!

I want to take this opportunity to look back at the teenage years of the 21st century and reflect on how the pixel art scene has grown over the years. I only promise a personal perspective, pieced together from my faulty memory and a bit more reliable archive of 1,700 posts on this blog.

2010

Social media sites emerged already in the late 2000s (Facebook launched in 2004, Twitter in 2006, Tumblr in 2007), but it took quite some time before they caught on, especially outside the US. I joined Tumblr in July 2010 and there were relatively few pixel artists active on the site. @jinndevil​ and @unomoralez​ go the farthest of those that I followed. The first post I reblogged was a Back to the Future piece from @megapont​ (via some blogpost share, since Megapont duo didn't join till 2013).

What was huge on the network however was sharing retro-gaming artworks by blogs like @it8bit​ and @gameandgraphics​. This included many pixel art pieces and it helped grow a community of fans that adored both old games and pixels.

2011

I'd put 2011 down as the start of the hi-bit era of pixel art games, championed by the release of the iconic adventure game Sword & Sworcery. Pixel purism of the initial pixel art movement was left behind by mixing pixels with high-res special effects like soft shadows and vignetting. Also, spaghetti legs started their fad period.

Artists such as @probertson​, @drewpixel​, and @merrigo​ started their days on Tumblr, gathering huge audiences over the years. Meanwhile, Retronator grew to a whooping 100 followers by the end of the year.

2012

Tumblr's fan spirits were going stronger and stronger, to which I threw my own logs on the fire by releasing Tribute, my biggest and most popular piece of fan art I created so far.

The highly anticipated FEZ got released (to critical acclaim and other more controversial consequences), further bringing pixel art in front of the mainstream gaming audience.

From newly-followed artists, @johanvinet​ was damn inspiring with his smooth animations. Anything GIF did immensely good on the Tumblr dashboard.

2013

This was THE year for Tumblr. So many new artists joined, it was hard to keep track. Anyone from established names like Mojang's art director @jnkboy​ and @konjakonjak​ of Noitu Love 2 fame (later Iconoclasts) to pixel art beginners such as @waneella​, now one of the most well-known illustrators in the scene.

The push for modern art direction with pixel art games wasn't stopping either. Not that amazing, more traditionally styled titles (with fresh color palettes) weren't present, as Chasm's debut on Kickstarter showed, but it was Hyper Light Drifter that really stole everyone's heart (machine) on the same crowdfunding platform. Gradients and smooth dynamic shading became unapologetically part of the pixel art (gaming) vocabulary from then on.

When Papers, Please got released at the end of the year to universal appraisal, a new example was set for showing that pixel visuals don't necessarily need to be the most polished, technically-impressive pieces of artistic expression, they can also be simple—the majority of detail-filling can be offloaded to the player's imagination.

2014

Pixel purist ideology was a highly debated topic. Dan Fessler, the background artist on Chasm, did a strong push against the tighter set of constraints which said you should only use 'clean' tools such as the pencil and color fill to complete your artworks. Dan instead only cared about clean results, pioneering in the process the technique of HD Index Painting that used the depths of Photoshop layer magic to get otherwise identical results. And there were plenty of others right around the corner that wouldn't even care about keeping the results married to traditional pixel art ideals.

Still, the majority of pixel art at this point was very orthodox. I started the Artist Feature series that showcased my favorite artists and none of them did anything controversial (nor they needed to). The biggest break from the old days was mainly highly increased color counts that allowed for subtle transitions without dithering, and free color picking without creating predefined color palettes. Octavi Navarro started his highly iconic @pixelshuh​ scenes, and the completely unknown @8pxl​ started her journey towards experimentation with pink sky gradients.

Even more importantly, Pixel Dailies were born on Twitter, following Ben Porter's 365 days of doing pixel art daily.

2015

I called 2015 The Year of Pixel Dailies in the end-of-the-year article in my newly started Retronator Magazine. The Twitter community really exploded this year, bringing in many new artists to the medium, with Pixel Dailies serving as a platform to raise visibility to everyone, old and new. I found out about @weilarddrake​ and @orange-magik​ this way, Slynyrd, @iceztiqarts​, @igorsandman​ … Other freshly-discovered people on tumblr were @kirokazepixel​ (one of the most prolific artists on the scene), @faxdoc​ (his learning journey was inspiring enough for its own article), and Talecrafter with @deathtrashgame​ (starting a whole new style of aliased, low-res painting without caring about individual pixels).

The discussion whether pixel art could survive past its nostalgic roots was still in the air, stirred by opinions such as A Pixel Artist Renounces Pixel Art. History is proving them wrong however, with pixel art stronger than ever in 2020. It's not a visual language people born after the 80s couldn't understand.

New-school voxel art pieces started trending with the advent of Magicavoxel, pioneering the development of pixel art's sibling in 3D. The first pixel art convention Pixel Art Park was held in Tokyo. And (important for me personally), I came up with Pixel Art Academy, an adventure game that would take my ambitions in pixel art education into the future.

2016

After 9 years in development, Owlboy released! Also Hyper Light Drifter! And Stardew Valley! And Kingdom! Pixel art games were not dying, they were on the rise.

Edge (the popular British video game magazine) published a special 200+ page issue called Art of the Pixel. It featured contemporary artists outside the gaming context, championing the aesthetic's transition from its video game roots into its own art form.

Pedro Medeiros of @studiominiboss​ started his famous series of GIF tutorials, subsequently encouraging many others to share their knowledge in the popular square format. Tumblr still saw new artists joining the platform, such as @motocross-arts​ and @apolism​ (two thirds of the Japanese trio The Ultimate Pixel Crew), while others like @6vcr​ started their first pixel explorations that year. @brunopixels​, an old-schooler on the platform like me, sparked the Octobit movement, a pixel art alternative to Inktober.

2017

Further new names on Tumblr included @guttykreum​ (outdoorsy perspective pieces) and @scrixels​ (one of the most consistent daily posters with over 1,000 artworks by now).

The annual Shibuya Pixel Art Contest joined Pixel Art Park at promoting the art form in Tokyo, Japan (and worldwide really). Lospec became the new go-to resource site for pixel art, picking up the mantle from PixelJoint and Pixelation that—while still active—stagnated technologically and feature-wise.

More than anything, pixel art games were everywhere. Maybe it only seemed to me this way since I was able to go to the Game Developer's Conference as press and had the chance to interview many many people in the scene, leading to over half a year of daily content on this blog. Indie games felt stronger than ever with so many of us full-on realizing our dreams of creating our own games professionally. The one that left the biggest splash on the scenes was no doubt The Last Night, announced front and center in-between AAA titles during Microsoft's E3 conference. The brothers Soret pushed the art direction even beyond the hi-bit era moniker, fusing 3D, shaders, and modern cinematography with pixels in an iconic combination that, like Sword & Sworcery's spaghetti legs, was so atmospheric that it couldn't be resisted by future imitators.

2018

Another game that pushed technological boundaries was Pathway, finally stepping into full light in 2018 and releasing one year later. I still think it has the most advanced pixel art graphics engine to date, using voxels and other tricks under the hood to deliver a completely dynamically lit environment while retaining the pixel-perfect 3/4 view aesthetic. Pixel art games were firmly part of mainstream gaming by now, with Celeste winning many awards alongisde pixelish Return of the Obra Dinn, further cementing the presence of pixels as an ever-evolving medium capable of expressing very different art styles.

I decided to focus solely on developing Pixel Art Academy in 2018, putting this blog on relative hiatus with very sporadic updates towards the end of the year. But I never let it die. I thoroughly enjoy writing about the scene and my interest in the art form only grows with time.

2019–2020

Ironically, the closer the years are to the present, the less I remember what things stood out most. Maybe it's because my brain hasn't had the chance to automatically prune my memories yet from the overload of information that is the interwebs these days. Pixel art seems so out there, so much of my everyday life, encompassing me on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, DeviantArt … Even on TikTok you see kids zooming out of their freshly pixelized Minecraft photographs they call pixel art. The medium is alive, and more than ever.

As for the Retronator blog, from its zero followers exactly 10 years ago, it grew to 100 after a year and a half, 1000 the year after, 10k when it was 5 years old, and 30k just last month. Tumblr is still the platform where most of you follow my pixel art reports and I don't intend to stop anytime soon.

Here's to the next decade! Thank you all for reading. <3

[theonceoverthinker]

Why Clover Isn’t Going to be a Traitor

So, @fairgame-is-endgame made a great post this last night debunking some of the more ludicrous pieces of evidence as to why Clover’s is not a traitor. It’s an awesome post and if you’re a Clover or Fair Game fan, you’re gonna want to check it out.

This is a continuation of sorts because as opposed to taking down the minute details being honed in on as evidence of why Clover might be a traitor, I want to compile the evidence presented by the show and secondary material (Ex. Amity Arena) that show strong signs that whatever Clover’s character direction will ultimately be, it won’t be as a traitor to the larger group fighting against Salem (And possibly not even against Ironwood).

So, what is my goal here? To reassure my fellow Fair Game friends that we’re not headed straight for a pitfall? To give the haters a piece of my mind? To speak into the bottomless chasm that is the Internet as a means of dealing with my fandom-based RWBY loneliness? ...A little bit of all of that, if I’m being honest. In any event, I don’t post a ton of analysis pieces, but this is something I feel strongly enough about to give voice to, so let’s see how it goes!

Everything’s under the cut because this is fairly long!

1. The Clover/Robyn scene from 7X5

If Clover was ever going to be set up as a surprise antagonist, it was going to start to show itself in this scene -- a scene that pits Clover against a character he views in an antagonistic light that didn’t end up being a misunderstanding -- more than any place else. 

And it did the exact opposite.

I mean...it did a little, even with the context of Clover and Ironwood’s true goals. Clover is pretty cold to her under his veneer of carefreeness and stops Ruby as she even tries to relate to Robyn (Perhaps that’s out of a fear of Ruby telling her too much, or perhaps it’s just a sense of distrust, but that will probably be revealed soon enough). I’ll walk with you that far and admit to some slight shadiness. But I’m going to argue that that only goes to a certain point, and a small point at that by highlighting the biggest takeaways of that scene. 

The scene between Clover and Robyn tells us a few things.

-Clover and Robyn’s opening dialogue, tone, and animation make it very clear that they’ve met before, but are not on good terms with each other. This is further communicated by Clover’s adamant refusal to disclose information to Robyn about the supplies. Now, I’m going to argue that in Clover’s defense, it just makes sense that when faced with a frenemy (That’s being kind) who is looking for information he has no desire or order to give to her (As we’ll learn later, Clover is a by-the-book guy), that he be in no hurry to tell her what’s going on. Additionally, while he lies to her face about his intentions, he’s very clearly speaking in a way that communicates that something IS going on that he cant speak of (His vocal inflections show that he clearly doesn’t expect Robyn to believe that the tower is getting a checkup, but hopes that it will be enough to shut her down for a bit), giving her that much information to work with at least until she gets elected. 

-Clover’s not especially excited about the prospect of Robyn being elected onto the council, but he still wishes Robyn good luck in the election. Not only that, but the facial expressions he gives her, the tone in which his words are said, and the fact that he delayed his return to the van just to do so heavily imply that it’s a genuine wish. Granted, we later learn that this may only be for reasons amounting to the fact that she’s not Jacques Schnee, but still, he knows she wants to help, and while they don’t get along, he’s receptive to that desire.

-Robyn trusts Clover enough that she reasons that asking for him to disclose information is a worthy pursuit (She does so twice) before attempting to attack the group. Otherwise, she’d have gone after them the moment they stepped out of the van. Since Robyn’s a character we’re supposed to end the scene having trust in, the fact that she does have lingering trust in Clover leaves the impression that we should as well.

All in all, while we don’t know a lot of tangible information pertaining to what they are to each other at this point in the story, we do get a surprisingly large emotional understanding here of their complicated dynamic. We know Robyn is correct in how the people of Mantle deserve to be informed of these goings on, but also why Clover is right to keep his mouth shut until the time comes to reveal all, and I think the attention to this dynamic paid here shows that both of these characters have their hearts in the right place.

2. Amity Arena Card (And Its Follow Up Twitter Post/Introductory Loot Drop)

There are two things I want to point out about this description that I want to touch upon here.

First, “there’s nothing subtle about what the Ace Ops leader Clover is about.” Now, that’s not to say he has no hidden depths to his character (It would really suck if there wasn’t any more to him), but I feel like these few words communicate a lack of secrecy as to his values, personality, and alignments. Can having all three of these things be positive still amount to a villain? Sure -- you can kind of say that makes him like Hazel in that regard -- but I think my next point will solidify that’s not the case.

Second, I’m gonna make this one short and sweet. There is no way to basically say that ‘this new character (Clover) is going to kick a beloved protagonist’s butt (Qrow’s butt) and that will be a good thing for said protagonist,’ and then have that new character end up being a baddie. While my knowledge of the game is a limited since I don’t actually play it, I did do some research today, looking at various cards for both protagonists and antagonists, and they overwhelmingly geared the framing of these card descriptions towards a more hero-focused outlook on the characters. Basically, this game is not about to cheer for a hero like Qrow to be defeated by someone who will turn out to be a villain, if for no other reason than it’s a poor choice for the game’s long term posterity.

But just in case that card’s second-to-last line left anyone with lingering doubts about its intentions, the RWBY Amity Arena Twitter page was kind enough to elaborate on it!

 I feel like that wink emoji should be doing my work for me here. If there was ever a doubt as to the intention of the wording, this tweet should clear it up. Clover is so clearly being shown by the Amity Arena card as a positive influence on Qrow’s life, and in a way that implies that that’s not about to change anytime soon. 

Like, if they wanted to convey ambiguity as to Clover’s moral alignment, they could’ve just said something along the lines of “Who knows,” or “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” In the world of Remnant, ambiguity is a force more powerful than the Light and Dark Gods combined, and one that knows no shortage of uses! But no, they literally spelled out that line’s intended meaning, with inflections and a winky face to boot!

I’m not going to try to go into detail about all of the little intricacies of this reward card, because someone already did it for me! I direct you to this AMAZING analysis by @scathing-eyes​ where she highlights both what this single message has to say about Clover and Fair Game at large.

3. Introductory Card on Twitter

Thank you so much to @homokinetic for linking me to this card!

If you’re trying to depict a shady character or even one who you have twisted intentions for, this is not the description you use for them. Here, we’re not given soft and vague allusions to Clover’s allegiances that could imply sinister motives. We’re told flat out that Clover acts in the best interests of Atlas and does things by the book. I mean honestly, that second point should de-trigger any alarm bells because Salem...doesn’t really have a book. I mean, she has goals, but as to how they get done? She doesn’t care! But Clover and Ironwood care about doing things by the book because they feel like those rules, for as flawed as they are, are what will keep the world from succumbing to chaos (Whether they’re right or wrong...look, I love these two, but they are flawed -- not evil, but flawed). Salem, on the other hand, worships the idea of chaos since it makes her goals that much easier to fulfill.

I think the line “tries to bring out the best in people” is also important. Salem’s forces gain strength by exploiting the worst qualities in people, and Clover stands in stark contrast to that philosophy by focusing on nurturing their best qualities. This is well communicated in the series with his actions towards Qrow and the introduction to the routines and options that the new Huntsmen now have access to. Not only that, but those means of nurturing come down to themes of unity and order (Showing Qrow the benefits of working with others and taking pride in his accomplishments, showing the new Huntsmen the positive ways they can impact Atlas, encouraging them to take a night to refresh their spirits), literally the very outlooks on life that Salem seeks to obliterate in order to ensure that humanity will be destroyed again. Just in terms of philosophies, Salem’s team and Clover are so fundamentally different in ways that just aren’t compatible. It’s not like Clover and Qrow where their differences complement each other and can mutually benefit the other. There is no way that Salem can benefit from posing a figure that inspires the endurance of the better qualities of the human spirit in a position of power.

4. The Overall Lack of Narrative Sense in Making Clover a Baddie

Clover is a character meant to foil and relate to Qrow. That’s not even an opinion. Everything from their contrasting semblances to their scenes together cement that as an absolute fact, and whether you ship it or not, their connection just can’t be ignored. 

All that said, while Clover is an important part of this duo (Duh), it’s Qrow who is the focal point. Qrow is the character we’ve spent four seasons with and watched him struggle and develop through his journeys. So it’s fair to say that the impact of Clover and Fair Game on his character (Again, whether romantic or platonic) will be something that will significantly impact the direction of Qrow’s character going forward.

The next logical question, of course, is as follows: What’s the narrative point of Clover being a baddie for Qrow’s character? @skybird13​ wrote a fantastic post about the overwhelming benefits of a genuine Clover as opposed to the redundancy of a Hans-esque traitor Clover storyline. You should absolutely read this post, but I’m going to quote the segment that spoke to me the most.

“I think the most surprising thing RT could do with Clover’s character at this point is to let him be exactly who he seems to be. Should he have his backstory and his secrets and his own demons to deal with? Absolutely. I would love to see that. But when it comes to Qrow’s trust in others, I think that has been pulverized enough throughout the series. Putting him through it again serves no narrative purpose except to send him right back into the tailspin that he’s currently digging himself out of which, in all honesty, isn’t great writing.“

And yeah, I have to ask: What point would another stab at Qrow’s trust do? If Qrow was meant to be a character who would face a tragic end, then why didn’t he back in Volume 6, when it would’ve been infinitely more appropriate? He literally lost faith in the person he dedicated his very life to. Why show Qrow recovering from his low point and building him up in Volume 7 just to tear him down? Unlike a character like Ruby, someone young and idealistic who watches the conventions of trust and goodness in her life crumble before her eyes over and over again and grows from it as she discovers new things about herself and others, Qrow has already had a lifetime’s worth of those ideals crashing and burning, and we’ve already seen the results of that growth, both on the high and low ends of his viewpoints on life, but especially the low points. What is the point of returning him there that couldn’t have been more naturally done but one volume earlier?  

The Conclusion

...I’m bad at ending things. But I know I’ve made my case, and I’ve made it about as well as a case like this can be made.

Rooster Teeth, through both its primary and secondary means of storytelling, have made a strong case for a Clover who will remain loyal to the betterment of Remnant, regardless of the path he personally chooses to get there (Joining Robyn vs. Staying with Ironwood). For them to change gears after all this setup and make Clover an ally of Salem would be frankly nonsensical after all of this careful buildup.

Could it turn out that I’m wrong? Of course, but despite the suspense in my heart, I can’t help but trust RT here. Maybe that’t the result of that bop of an intro. Maybe it’s the prospect of my new ship becoming canon. But I don’t think that trust -- while based in emotion -- is baseless, and if RWBY has a theme, isn’t it to have a perspective like that?

So here’s hoping the Clover is just another instance of the payoff of trusting love! 

[bookoftheironfist]

Iron Fist Week: Day 4

A Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship: Danny and Luke

  �� Of course, I’ve talked about them a lot on both this and my other blog, but I don’t think I’ve written a post specifically focused on Danny and Luke’s Netflix-verse relationship-- which is a relationship that means a lot to me and is, of course, extremely significant in the comics. I also wanted to be sure to highlight Luke because his show was cancelled too. The loss of both Luke Cage and Iron Fist is heartbreaking, but in some ways, it almost feels right that they would go out together. Ideally, Netflix will now take the same action that Marvel editorial did in the 70s, and rescue the two franchises by combining them into one series. But no matter what happens, I will forever cherish the fact that we got to see this dynamic duo on-screen at all. 

    There is a long and noble tradition of superhero relationships being forged in conflict. In the comics, Luke and Danny’s first interaction is a knock-down, drag-out, building-wrecking brawl that cements a mutual respect and understanding between them. The Neflix shows’ budget restraints prevented an exact replication of this, but MCU Luke and Danny still meet in the midst of emotional turmoil and misunderstanding. Danny is suffering from all-encompassing trauma and self-loathing following the apparent destruction of K’un-Lun. Luke has just been released from prison, and is processing the pain of being unable to help Candace Miller’s rapidly dwindling family. And both bring out the other’s worst fears. When they meet in back of the Chaste hideout, filled with bodies of the recently-dead, Danny likely assumes Luke is the Hand warrior who did the deed. The difficulty Danny has in subduing him is merely a reminder of his weakness, his perceived failure as the Iron Fist. Luke sees Danny as a privileged aggressor attacking a boy he’s trying to protect-- a symbol of an unjust system that ruined his life and is now threatening his neighborhood. 

    Both are on edge and in pain, and are unable, initially, to understand each other through that pain. Even after Claire vouches for them and brings them together, Luke in particular is unable to see Danny’s side of the equation. Danny and Luke’s differences have always been a key part of their relationship, and as painful as their initial disagreements are in this universe, they work to cement their surface-level differences in order to lend further power to the similarities they discover later. 

    But of course, first they need a bonding team-up! This fight is awesome. They’re not friends yet, but neither can deny that they work well together, and they even manage some banter. Having each other’s backs in this way prompts them to trust each other, even if they don’t necessarily like each other yet. And trust is a big deal, especially for Danny, who was betrayed by nearly everyone he met in Iron Fist Season 1. That experience has made him more wary of forging personal connections, but he is still desperately in need of companionship. Thus, he latches onto his new superhero friends-- and Luke in particular. 

    And then they get another chance to talk. While Luke is still wary, Danny is eager to get to know him better, and the little reflexive grins they throw at each other throughout this conversation are very funny. In the midst of all of the chaos, they start to at least grow comfortable in their disagreements with each other, clearly enjoying themselves in spite of everything. Luke, the more cynical of the pair, insists that their connection will end when the mission does. But there are nice little indications throughout this conversation that this is a beginning rather than an ending.

    They continue to grow closer through little hints and gestures. There’s a great moment later in this scene when Alexandra tells Danny to submit to her or she will kill the others. Danny hesitates, not wanting to put his new friends’ lives in jeopardy... and then Luke gives him a little supportive nod, communicating to him that he should reject her anyway. And the writers make a point of having Luke and Danny show noted concern for each other throughout the rest of the show. 

    And then it all goes to pieces when Luke agrees to tie Danny up. This is a horrible, frankly traumatic experience for Danny, since it digs into all of his recent pain. He is being prevented from doing his job as the Iron Fist, risking failing New York the way he feels he failed K’un-Lun. He is being prevented from having his revenge on the Hand, which is the only way he will be able to achieve closure for what happened to his home. And he has been betrayed, yet again, by people he was foolish enough to trust-- Luke in particular, with whom he thought he was actually becoming friends. He’s alone again, helpless, furious. But Luke makes a small gesture of friendship in this scene that, I feel, is one of the most important moments in their developing relationship. 

    Luke listens to Danny. He doesn’t at first, and he is unfairly mean to Danny throughout this show-- but it’s not just him. The degree to which everyone is skeptical of Danny’s story makes sense, but after a while it shifts from being funny to cruel. Danny has just lost his home, and to have that home scoffed at endlessly by his supposed allies is painful to watch. It is evident how this affects Danny-- in Iron Fist Season 2 he even starts pre-empting it. There’s a moment when he’s discussing Shou-Lao with Ward, and he immediately follows it up with an offhand “I know, dragons, right?” because he’s so used to being laughed at. He desperately needs to talk about K’un-Lun in The Defenders as a way of processing his grief, and instead he’s met with scorn. And Luke too, in this scene, initially makes fun of him. But-- and this is important-- he then sees that Danny has been hurt, and he changes his behavior. He reaches out. He allows Danny to talk, and sincerely engages in conversation with him. It’s a small gesture, but in the context of the show, hugely significant.  

    With a shaky foundation having been laid in The Defenders, we then jump ahead to the magical tenth episode of Luke Cage Season 2. This time, Danny is here to help Luke, offering him life advice that has been directly informed by his own journey. 

    (Iron Fist Season 1, anyone?)

    This episode is a pure joy, partly because it does not pick up where The Defenders left off. As much fun as it would have been to see every second of this developing relationship, it’s even more fun to skip over all of the hurdles and dive right into the Power Man and Iron Fist dynamic we all know and love. These guys have been hanging out off-screen, and it shows. They are fully comfortable with each other, hugging and fist-bumping and bantering without any indication of early-relationship awkwardness. They have a special handshake. They comment on each other’s mannerisms. They have pre-rehearsed fight moves. 

    Finally, they have found mutual strength in their own differing life experiences, their distinctions enhancing their bond and allowing them to help and learn from each other. And of course, they kick epic amounts of butt together. Both are opposed to making money off their superheroing in this universe, so Heroes for Hire feels out of the question, but some kind of permanent team-up seems all but inevitable in this episode. 

    I’m in grief over the possibility that we may never see them together in this way again, or that it will be a small cameo in another show and nothing more. There are so many cool Power Man and Iron Fist stories waiting to be brought to live action (yes, including Danny taking Luke to K’un-Lun). But again-- I’m tremendously grateful for what we have. A huge thank you to Finn and Mike for being the perfect Danny and Luke and making my geeky dreams come true.    

[gar-trek]

Kiss Me: A Jiles Tribute Origins Explained

In 1998 Christian rock group Sixpence None the Richer released their titular hit “Kiss Me”, a saccharine sweet ballad about the wonders of love. The song found wide success, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the sixth-best-selling single of 1999. The success of the song was partly owed to the fact that it was featured in the 1999 movie She’s All That. She’s All That came at the tail end of the Chick Flick golden age, when all the typical romance tropes associated with these movies had started to stale. Being popularized by schlocky highschool romance movie, Kiss Me was only further cemented as the paramount of pop love songs. Flashforward to 2021, Netflix releases He’s All That, a reimagining and attempted modernizing of it’s late 90s counterpart. This movie creates quite a buzz, not because of it’s quality or content, but because it was the debut acting performance for Addison Rae, famous TikTok star. Many watched the film who would have otherwise ignored it, curious by the novelty of a USELESS tiktok celebrity trying to act. The movie featured reprise of “Kiss Me” in the final scene, a harken back to the film's origins. He’s All That was able to bring Kiss Me back into the public consciousness during 2021, with its relation to the newest film cementing it in infamy.

During the same year that Kiss Me was reaching it’s peak in popularity, Sci-fi show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was coming to a close. The show had spanned 7 season and was the third iteration in the cultural juggernaut that was the Star Trek Franchise. Unlike previous series that this universe had seen, Deep Space Nine gave a more grittier perspective on the utopian future, dealing with the trauma and hardships that come with war. Also, unlike previous Star Trek shows, deep space nine was a lot less episodic and able to focus on a wider story arc. With this more story driven narrative, relationships between characters were allowed to develop and change. One notable relationship in the show was that between the bright eyed young Doctor Julian Bashir and the experienced and skilled engineer Miles O’Brien. During the early seasons of the show, O’Brien and Bashir’s relationship mostly consisted of the engineer being annoyed an weary of the doctor. However, over the run first 4 seasons the tides slowly turned as the two were shown facing hardships together and spending quality time with one another. By the end of the series, they were fast friends, with a running bit about their many holosuit adventures and time spent at Quarks Bar playing darts. O’Brien and Bashir were not the first dynamic duo of the Star Trek franchise, the first and much more popular pair of inseparable friends were Kirk and Spock.

The relationship between Kirk and Spock was something that was speculated about even by the early fans. Many site Kirk and Spock as the first mainstream instance of shipping in fan culture. Shipping is when one desires two characters to be in a romantic relationship, often times looking for subtext in the original media which they can work off of. Through textual poaching, fans fabricate romantic relationships which may have never been the intent of the original creators. Shipping content often takes the form of fanfiction, fanart, and even video edits. These video edits are often referred to on online spaces as AMVs, standing for Anime Music Video, the genera that popularized them. Creating a AMV is achieved by contextualizing by putting clips from a tv show or movie to a song of the creator's choosing. AMVs created for the Kirk and Spock ship were very popular since the internet and video editing tools had become easily accessible to the general public, as they were for most popular ships.

Kiss Me: A Jiles Tribute was created as a sort of parody or perversion of the mainstream and earnest Kirk and Spock videos, using a ship that is a lot less popular and to many a lot more reprehensible. Also drawing inspiration from these Kirk and Spock AMVs, the video is edited in a style that is associated with free low-quality video editing programs, as many early AMV creators did not have the knowledge or the access to edit in more professional programs. The video juxtaposes the schlocky saccharine nature of the song with subtle flashes of scary imagery. The skull, which appears many times throughout the video, was an image that was featured in a meme that momentarily gained popularity, poking fun at the quality of android emojis. At one point towards the end of the video, the skull appears on screen for three seconds, accompanied by a loud amounous sound. This sound comes from Sirenhead, a creepypasta that gained some notoriety around 2019 among children, a figure that was similar to other childrens horror characters, such as freddy fasbear or huggy wuggy. Other sound effects used in the video are a cartoonish gulping noise and a running sound. The high-pitched and cheeky laugh is a particular effect that is, for reasons unknown, used in many comedic children's TikTok and Instagram videos created in China. The Video ends with the viewer getting “Bareiled”. This unexpected cut to music video in order to “troll�� the viewer is a clear reference to the Rick Roll meme, the practice of tricking an unwilling viewer into watching the music video for Rick Astley never gonna give you up. The Bareil Rap, formally known as Vedek Bareil (They Call Me!) - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a song posted to Youtube on in 2015 Subspace Transmissions, who mostly created podcasts. The video is, as stated in the description, "An ode to one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's most beloved recurring characters."

Kiss Me: A Jiles Tribute

[the-awkward-writer]

Beauty and the Beast: Prologue I

Pairings: Dean x Reader (eventually), Sam, John, Marry

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Mentions of drugs, alcohol, gambling, swearing

A/N: I’m fucking terrified for this. Here is the first installment of the most voted series Beauty and the Beast! This is gonna be a bumpy ride kiddos, so buckle up! There will be a new part every Saturday from here on out until this series is finished (there may be some deviations, we’ll see). Enjoy, my friends!

Part Summary: Brothers Sam and Dean Winchester attend their father’s party and some of their family dynamics are revealed.

x   x

Once upon a time, in the hidden heart of France, a handsome young prince lived in a beautiful castle.​

Dean Winchester sat on the thin mattress in yet another dingy motel room. He could feel every lump and spring, but he didn’t exactly mind; he was focused on the bills passing between his hands, “Four hundred, four-twenty, four-forty,” he mumbled.

A relentless pounding rattled the door in it’s frame, “Dean, let’s go!” His baby brother, Sam Winchester said from the other side.

Dean sighed and stuffed the money in his pocket. He would have to count it later. The sound of his work boots was muffled as he made his way across the, undoubtedly, flea infested carpet. “Calm your tits, Sammy,” he addressed his brother coldly as he opened the door.

The lanky young man rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, “It’s Sam, Dean. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

Dean tilted his head back, making eye contact with his brother, “I don’t care how many times you say it, it ain’t happenin’,” Dean said. “Sammy.”

Sam rolled his eyes again, “Dad’s gonna kick our asses if we’re not there within ten minutes,” Sam said.

It was Dean’s turn to roll his eyes as he brushed past his brother. “I know, Sammy.”

Dean slammed the door shut to the motel room and walked down the dimly lit cement pathway towards the black 1967 Chevy Impala, “Hop in, apparently we’re running late.”

To an outsider, the warehouse looked like any other abandoned warehouse in the heart of New York City. The windows were busted in various places, grime coating the fragments still in the panes. All four brick walls were covered in various types of graffiti. The metal chain link fence surrounding the area was so rusted that it would fall off in your palm. A few homeless men and women were milling about around a fire, trying to keep warm in the frosty New York air.

But Sam and Dean Winchester were no outsiders.

Dean cut the headlights to his car right before the entrance, trying to fly under the radar the best he could.

Once parked in the gravel parking lot that was that was littered with broken glass and cigarette butts, Dean made sure he had his gun in his waistband and the money in his pocket. This part of town was not a good place to be at 1:37 a.m..

The few homeless people in front of the warehouse kept their heads down, their pointless mumbling coming to a cease as Sam and Dean neared. The boys kept their heads held high, emitting an aura of power and authority, that made the homeless people feel inferior.

The homeless people knew who the boys were. You could be blind and deaf and you would still know who they were.

Sam and Dean Winchester were the only children of John and Mary Winchester. The creators of The Hunters. the most well known and feared gang in all of New York.

Dean Winchester was the heir. He was going to inherit The Hunters when John Winchester eventually died.

“You good, Sammy?” Dean asked as he yanked a rusted side door open.

Sam nodded his head, “I’m fine, Dean. You don’t need to ask me this every single time.”

Dean only wanted to look after his brother; he knew how the young man could sometimes get nervous around larger crowds.

Their footsteps echoed through the empty warehouse as they made their way to the opposite end of the building. “I know how you get sometimes,” Dean voiced his thoughts.

Sam stuffed his hands deep into his pockets, “I’m okay, Dean.”

Dean gave his brother a strained smile, “Just doing my job.”

Sam scoffed, taking a few long strides to pull ahead of Dean. Sam yanked open another door at the opposite end of the building. Once the door was open, the thumping beat of music could be heard. Three descending flights of stairs, and the strobe lights could be seen, the music even louder.

At the bottom of the third flight of stairs Sam stopped. Dean could see Sam roll his shoulders back in preparation for the dense crowd.

Dean laid his hand on Sam’s shoulder, guiding him through the final door. The music was immensely louder now. Dean could feel the beat throbbing through his body.

“Welcome to the home of The Hunters.”

Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was selfish and unkind.​

“Please,” the man was shorter than Dean, at least six inches shorter. His face was sunken in, his eyes red and bloodshot, his clothes were stained and baggy. The man was the most distraught human being Dean had ever seen. “I just need a few more days. My baby girl is sick. She’s in the hospital.”

Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes. He looked around the crowded room. People were stumbling around, trying to dance but failing miserably, probably because of the amount of alcohol and drugs available. You name it, Dean had it in that building. Moonshine, liquor, ecstasy, heroin, cocaine.

Everyone was oblivious to the encounter happening right in front of their eyes. Dean dropped his hands to his sides, squared his shoulders and took a step closer to the man. “I don’t care that your kid is sick,” Dean’s voice was a growl, barely audible over the music and people. “I want my money tomorrow. That’s $30,000 in my account by tomorrow,” Dean took hold of the man’s collar, shoving him up against the wall, “Do you understand?”

The man’s eyes held nothing but complete and utter fear as he nodded his head vigorously, “Understood,” the man croaked.

“Good,” Dean snarled, grinning sinisterly. He dropped the man; he fell unceremoniously on his ass. Dean had to fight the urge to kick him in the stomach for good measure.

Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Pathetic.” He spat on the ground by the man’s face before walking away.

“Master, it’s time!” He taxed the village to fill his castle with most beautiful objects— “Oui, maître.” —and his parties with the most beautiful people.​

“You ready, Dean?” John Winchester’s voice sounded from Dean’s left.

Dean looked at his father, the tall man looked at his son expectantly, running his hand through his salt and pepper beard. “You bet your ass,” Dean said with a smirk.

“Let’s go kick some drunken ass,” John patted his son harshly on the shoulder.

John kept his hand on Dean’s shoulder, leading him to a nearby pool table where three drunk guys were horsing around, “Hello boys,” John greeted them.

The drunk men stumbled over each other as they spun around to face the Winchesters. Almost immediately, the three drunks sobered up, “Boss,” they addressed John.

“What do you guys say to a game of pool?” John asked. In these instances, Dean kept his mouth shut, knowing that he could do nothing but worsen the situation.

The five men grabbed a pool cue, ready to place bets. Dean and John worked seamlessly. John bought the three guys more alcohol, intoxicating them further and setting their judgement of balance off even more. Dean did most of the physical work, hitting trick shots and subtly trying to tamper with the opponent’s shots.

Needless to say, Dean and John Winchester played those guys until they were broke and being dragged out by the bouncers as they screamed obscenities at the duo. “Sore losers,” Dean muttered as he pocketed the money and slipped away from his father before he could ask for his half.

Dean weaved his way in and out of the sweaty, high, and drunk bodies dancing around him. He passed the DJ that was successfully managing the music and keeping everyone entertained. He passed the full bar that took at least four people to manage.

Dean may have been in a rush, but other people didn’t exactly gather that. As he took long and purposeful strides, many people tried to stop him, “Where are you going, sugar?” A woman stumbled over her words as she grasped Dean’s bicep. Her fake nails dug into his skin sharply as he shook his arm free. “Hey, the boss’ son is in the house!” A man loudly called. Everyone was too out of it to notice or care. “Wanna dance?” Another woman called out to him.

Dean paid no mind to those people; he was a man on a mission. He didn’t have to look for long; in the farthest corner of the warehouse sat Mary and Sam. “Sammy, can I talk to you?”

Sam looked at his mother briefly, “Go ahead Sammy, we can finish this up later. I have to talk to your father anyway,” Mary patted Sam’s shoulder softly, doing the same to Dean when she walked by.

Dean stepped forward, taking Mary’s seat. “So I managed $1,300 tonight. What’ll that do?” Dean took the money out of his pocket.

Sam looked at the money in his brother’s hands, then to his face, and back, “D-Dean, I can’t take this,” Sam said, shoving Dean’s hand away.

“No, Sammy. You need this. This is your out. You need this,” Dean spoke in fragments, hoping to get his point across.

“No, Dean. I want to get there on my own. I can’t take money that you stole,” Sam spat. “I am going to go to Stanford on my own.”

Dean looked at his hands, “I don’t know where you got this… this modesty from,” Dean chuckled. “Stay that way, Sammy. Stay that way.”

Sam looked at his hands and smiled, “I thought we didn’t do chick flick moments?”

“Shut up, bitch,” Dean ruffled his younger brother’s hair affectionately.

“Whatever, jerk,”  Sam rolled his eyes. There was a moment of silence as Sam mulled over his next words. “Do you ever think you’ll get out?”

Dean looked to his brother in surprise, “You are getting out. You can get out.”

“Not me, Dean. You. Do you ever think you will get out?” Sam clarified.

Dean cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, “I-I don’t know, Sammy.”

“Don’t spend the rest of your life in this mob. Please,” Sam said, trying to catch Dean’s eye.

“You sound like you’re dying.”

“I’m not, but I think you are,” Sam said, raising an eyebrow.

Dean chuckled again, stuffing the cash in Sam’s coat pocket without him noticing.

what did you think?

tags: want to be added or removed? shoot me an ask!

Forevers:

@evyiione, @iputthesininbuisness, @mogaruke, @thatshellfiredean, @jannalionheart, @thing-you-do-with-that-thing, @whit85-blog, @allofmyimagination, @ria132love, @stressedbisexualwinchester, @infinity-dreamchaser, @not-impala

Dean Tags:

@iamabeautifulperson18​, @akshi8278​, @pretty-fortune

Beauty and the Beast Tags:

@stressedbisexualwinchester, @sammysgirl1997, @jannalionheart, @hillywooddestiel, @phonegalhelp

[reversalsun]

So what are all your jojo ships from each parts?

This is one of my favorite asks I’ve ever gotten!

As some might know, I’m not the biggest shipper. I have a few ships here and there, but even then I’m generally hanging out in the rarepair wastelands, shouting out into the barren fields about how these characters are cute together. 

Without further ado, here we go.

Phantom Blood

I don’t really have any ships from part one, though I can enjoy some Dio/Johnathan stuff on a good day. 

That’s not to say I don’t like Erina/Johnathan, cause they canonically make each other happy and that’s important.

Battle Tendency

Light on ships again here. I like the idea of both Caeser/Joseph as well as Lisa Lisa/Suzie Q, plus I think the final relationship that Joseph and Suzie Q end up with is hilarious and very fitting for one of my favorite Jojo’s

Stardust Crusaders

Part 3 is my least favorite part overall, and as such I have no ships for it. 

Diamond is Unbreakable

I actually do have something I’d consider myself a shipper of here. I like Rohan/Reimi in the context of this loser mangaka has a crush on this ghost girl and will never admit it to himself or anyone else

Vento Aureo

VA Hell is where I spend my life so all my ships are here. I’m gonna go by character cause I have multiple ships for some of them.

Giorno - My favorite ship for Giorno is probably FuGio. The ending of Purple Haze Feedback is what cements me on this, but other interactions build my love for this ship two. These boys just work well together, and Fugo will always be in Awe of GioGio.

I also kind of ship Giorno and Trish. This is one that spawned from my own writing admittedly. I’ve put thought into their relationship for SoA, and what they symbolize to each other comebined with genuine care for each other’s fate ended up growing into a ship. (For any readers out there, thats not to say I plan on writing in the ship or even portraying their feelings that way, it’s just something that ended up finding its way into my mind one day)

Fugo - I mentioned FuGio already, but boy do I love my boy Fugo and his ships.

I love Fugo and Trish, which I have picked upped the affectionate ship name “Strawberry Shortcake” for. If you want to see my conspiracy-esque reasoning for why I believe they were meant to be ship teased in canon prior to Araki changing his plans for the story, go here. If you want to just see me talking about cute stuff head here. I love these two due to their positions in the universe and the sheer amount of potential they have post PHF. I plan on writing some fics about this pairing after I get some of my current projects done.

I also ship Fugo with Sheila E, one of his team mates from PHF. I think the two have a fair amount of chemistry, though it would take quite awhile for them to actually get together. After the events of the light novel, I think they’ll always be close, whether they’re romantically involved or not. 

Trish - Aside from the other two ships, I somehow ended up shipping Trish with Sheila E as well. This stems from me being intrested in their potential for interaction as the only two main gals in Vento Aureo. I really didn’t want to see them fight… and ended up being able to see a bit of a romance between them. I’ve started writing a fic for them, the premise being Sheila becomes Trish’s bodyguard post-vento after Trish is targeted by a rival gang. 

Probably the closest to a crack ship on this list and another one that stems from my own writing, Trish and Ghiaccio. I do want to emphasize that I see Ghiaccio as being teen-aged. The two have a lot in common, right down to their strong willed personalities. Trish is a lot more pointed with her stubborness though, so she always wins arguments against Ghiaccio’s chaotic anger. (Again, this isn’t any indication of what I intend to write in SoA).

So this all ended up with me creating the joke ship TriSheiGoGio, a ship consisting of Trish, Sheila E, Fugo, and Giorno since I ship most of them with each other.

BruAbba ia also a really good ship. I don’t even need to explain it we all know BruAbba is good.

Sometimes I ship Formaggio and Illuso, though my feelings on the pairing change with the weather.

And of couse I ship my best friend with Buccellati because she deserves a man who will love her and treat her well (NOT Kira, who she adored). I slowly but surely convinced her to fall in love with Bruno, resulting in a few fun threads on twitter.

Stone Ocean

I ship Jolyne and Hermes cause they’re such a good duo. I read a really good fic of them (and FuGio!) recently, you can find that here. 

I also ship Jolyne and Anasui. Currently I have a female Anasui cosplay planned, and my aforementioned best friend cosplays Jolyne so I’m very excited to hit cons as a power couple.

Steel Ball Run

So y’all know me and my love of Hot Pants and the local lizard Diego Brando, so of course I ship dinopants. They just have such a fun dynamic. Dio is usually such a playboy but HP is an expert at shutting him down and crushing his pride and you know what? He respects that. He likes her drive and her style, how powerful she is, but worries that she might have a problem with tunnel vision. 

I’m currently writing something featuring them as well. Ferdinand will also be there, as it’s very inspired by Mansions of Madness with a hint of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

(Sometimes I like Ferdinand and Diego too….)

Jojolion

Dude I’m like 8 chapters in and I already ship Jo2uke and Yasuho 

So if it wasn’t apperant before, I’m sure you can guess what my favorite part is. I hope this lived up to your expectations! Thank you!

[justgotham]

Edward Nygma, aka Gotham City's puzzle-prone supervillain The Riddler, has always had the potential to be one of Batman’s most intriguing, multi-layered foes, though it took comic books several decades to elevate the man from a one-note gimmick to a complex, three-dimensional character.

It was a transition of the most glacial pace, not exactly aided by largely goofy on-screen portrayals in the mid and late 20th century, with two prior live-action TV iterations (Frank Gorshin and his successor, John Astin) and a feature-film appearance by Jim Carrey cementing The Riddler's status as little more than a hyperactive nuisance with a Lycra fetish and an inexplicable need to tell his opponent — albeit cryptically — exactly what nefarious plans he had up his sleeve.

But, even with early animated appearances in the 1960s-80s reinforcing the campy, unitard-clad interpretation of the character, change eventually took hold: the 1990s' Batman: The Animated Series gave Nygma a new look — actually first worn by Gorshin in 1966's Batman: The Movie, and since adopted as his primary outfit in the comics — as a suit-and-bowler-hat-wearing genius initially out for vengeance against an employer who had scorned him, consequently driven forward by his obsessive desire to outsmart his nemesis and anyone else who would oppose him. (Granted, the series' successor, The New Batman Adventures, reverted to the unitard, and mid-2000s series The Batman went full weirdo-goth — but the less said about that, the better.)

Along with that reinterpretation and a few consequent re-imaginings in the comic books, his mythos has found further substance elsewhere: he was a persistent presence throughout the Arkham games of the past decade, and — although not canon — writer/artist Alex Ross even suggested in his 2005-2007 series Justice that Nygma's penchant for riddles was the result of an abusive father who used to beat the truth out of his son when he suspected the latter was lying, the villain's clues a manifestation of his ensuing psychological inability to be untruthful about his intentions.

All of which is to say: The Riddler has come a long, long way since his first appearance almost 70 years ago.

In the case of popular Fox TV show Gotham, a similar degree of depth has been achieved for the character, though it's done so in a much shorter time frame, across its three seasons to date, gradually coaxing Nygma's inner evil out from underneath a shell of naivety and social awkwardness. Even so, for actor Cory Michael Smith — presently in Australia ahead of his impending appearance at Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming Expo — reaching the point where he has finally stepped into the shoes of one of Batman's greatest supervillains still felt like an eternity.

"I actually said to the producers ... ‘When does this change? When does my life change? When do things start happening?'"

"It started so slow for me; season one really tested my patience," he laughs. "I was just some dopey, gawky, chipper dude walking around the GCPD, trying to make some friends and make people laugh and test people, and I just kept pissing people off and upsetting them, but it was this long period for him — it felt very much like his life.

“I kept coming in and kept making effort to impress these people, as Edward, and make people laugh, and was just getting shutdown after shutdown, and I actually said to the producers ... ‘When does this change? When does my life change? When do things start happening?’ and they were like, ‘Yeah; yeah, that’s Edward’s experience, isn’t it?’ But, once the ball started rolling, I started having a blast, and I’m having more fun than ever. And, now that we’ve finished season three, I can officially call myself The Riddler, and that feels pretty darn fantastic."

Describing Nygma's shift from maligned and misunderstood coworker, to accidental murderer, to aspiring criminal mastermind as "one of the most extreme and cared-for evolutions on the show", Smith says that his character's journey represents "a very smart transition" for Gotham over the course of its existing arc, one that has served both show and character in very good stead by establishing Nygma's underlying humanity before tearing him down and rebirthing him as The Riddler, ensuring a genuine connection was established with the series' viewers.

"I certainly try to connect everything to a piece of humanity, and not just be evil for evil’s sake; that’s not that interesting."

"I think the audience got to sit with Edward as a genuinely well-intentioned young man, and to see him kind of suffer, and then the unfortunate events that befell him," he muses, reflecting on Nygma's journey. "At a certain point, when you’re in your late 20s and you just can’t catch a break, and when you finally do have the first taste of normalcy in your life ever — that being a relationship with a beautiful woman who loves you back — and you’ve lost your virginity and you’re going on dates, and all of a sudden this guy at your work, Gordon [Ben McKenzie], likes you, and is on a double-date with you, and that’s taken away from you by you accidentally killing your second person... at a certain point, it’s like, you know, this guy looks at his life and he goes, ‘You know, I’m not making these decisions; this is the world taking over my life. This is fate.’

"I’ve always found that to be a really interesting way to kick Edward into villainy, by him forfeiting his attempts at being a good guy, at being kind, and trying to make friends with people, just trying to love someone. It’s like, the world’s just not going to let him do it, and he can’t do it any more. He has to kind of forfeit that, and accept the role that he thinks the world has given him. And I think there’s a tragedy to that, that a viewer, as they watch that, can have some sort of compassion and sympathy for him, so that as he goes forward, it’s almost… you feel so bad and sad when you see this person doing all this stuff. So, I don’t know, maybe that’s what people are attached to. I certainly try to connect everything to a piece of humanity, and not just be evil for evil’s sake; that’s not that interesting."

While Nygma's slide into villainy appears, at face value, to be something of an inevitability — it was a foregone conclusion at the outset that we'd eventually see the man take on the persona of The Riddler, though there was no telling when that change would take place — Smith says that he enjoys the idea "that there is a way that he could not have been this evil, evil person".

"I like to think that there’s a way that most people who cause harm and destruction wouldn’t be that way, for whatever reason, whether it’s ideological, or abuse or neglect, or mental illness," he reflects. "I think his turn into villainy is an amalgamation of a few of those things, so, yeah, I think he’s more interesting if he’s someone who possibly could have had a life where he wasn’t harming people or choosing to wreak havoc. Perhaps still contentious, and liked challenging other people, but I like that there was another life and another path for him that was a bit brighter."

It's nice to think about whatever alternative universe exists in which Nygma ultimately got his happiest ending, but in Gotham's reality, it was not to be — especially not once the character started rubbing shoulders with the city's ascendant crime lord, Oswald "The Penguin" Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor). Since their very first scene together back in season one, the pairing of Nygma and Cobblepot has been one of the series' most compelling relationships, and it has only grown in both complexity and entertainment value — through the duo's blossoming camaraderie, underlying antagonism and genuine love alike — as the show has progressed.

"Oswald is really one of the only people who can sometimes outsmart Edward, for now, because he’s understanding what Edward’s intentions are, what his habits are, what his neuroses are."

Echoing Taylor's sentiments about the innate chemistry that exists between both actors and their characters, Smith says that their fruitful onscreen compatibility is the product of several factors.

"Well, I think they work together for a couple of reasons: one, because Robin and I are dear friends now, and we get along very well, and that dynamic transfers very well to the screen," he explains. "Even when we are at odds with each other, Robin and I are very… it feels very safe, working with each other, and we’re able to do things with each other and mess with each other and be quite competitive on screen with each other, trying to get the upper hand, and when we finish … we just, like, hang out. It’s just easy. It’s a really great environment.

"But I also think that Edward admires Oswald so much, and Edward is able to use his skills and intelligence and ability to… he kind of understands Oswald better than Oswald sometimes, and knows what he wants and what motivates him, and he’s able to guide Oswald to getting what he wants, and vice-versa. Despite Edward not wanting to hear it, Oswald knows him just as well, and it creates this really interesting dynamic where Oswald is really one of the only people who can sometimes outsmart Edward, for now, because he’s understanding what Edward’s intentions are, what his habits are, what his neuroses are, because he’s spent so much time with him, and so he’s able to predict some things that Edward is going to do, which is dangerous for Edward, because he thinks he can outsmart everybody.

"It’s just a really interesting relationship; I think it’s one of the richest relationships on the show, because they’ve allowed us to have so much history together and so many shared events. It’s been really, really fun; it’s been really fun to spend so much time with him at work."

The on-set fun of Gotham also translates to the finished onscreen product of the show itself. In fact, it's pretty broadly accepted by fans of the show that, in its second season, Gotham underwent a fundamental shift in tone that saw it distance itself somewhat from its straighter crime-procedural origins to more fully embrace its comic-book roots and get a little looser, a little more ambitious, a little more exciting in what it was bringing to the table in terms of charting the rise of several of Gotham City's best-known and best-loved villains. According to Smith, it was a transformation that was "absolutely" felt among the cast and crew as the show reimagined itself anew following its (still generally successful) maiden season.

"We were all very, very aware of the transition of style and format at work, and we were all very excited as each episode kind of came out," he says of the series' structural changes. "We always get together as a cast with our producers and the writer and director, and read each episode together. It’s just a nice little family bonding time for us, because, you know, we don’t all get to work together. So we get to reconnect and read each episode together. As we were reading them, it just… each one just felt like, ‘Yes! Yes! This is heading in the right direction.’ We have rerouted ourselves, and it felt way more exciting. It felt right. So we all were very aware of it, we were cheering on the writers and the showrunner, and were really celebrating the redirection of the show."

"It’s pretty exciting to now have this moment where he is donning the name and donning the hat and is wearing the green suit, but that doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t know what his objective is."

Although the Gotham crew have finished filming season three, the final eight episodes are yet to air, and Nygma’s ultimate acceptance of his destiny as one of the city's foremost supervillains will only be seen when the show returns this week in the US, with an episode titled — fittingly enough — How The Riddler Got His Name. For his part, Smith is positively jubilant about the prospects of what that means for the character after so long a journey.

“I finally get to call myself The Riddler on-screen for the first time,” he enthuses. “And I feel like it’s just a very cool thing, because up until that point, it’s like, I wasn’t really The Riddler, so I wasn’t really the third live-action Riddler; I was the third live-action Edward Nygma on my way to becoming The Riddler. But now, as it stands, I am truly the third live-action Riddler, and that’s just a pretty cool thing.

"But, in terms of the narrative, it’s pretty exciting to now have this moment where he is donning the name and donning the hat and is wearing the green suit, but that doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t know what his objective is, or what he wants from this, or how best to be this person, and so there’s still so much — and really this is going to go well into season four — how does he become the best version of that? So, at the start, I had him kind of experimenting with how to deliver a riddle, how to interact with an audience that is captive, how to present yourself, and initially I have him doing things that are a bit brusque and tight and forced — he’s trying to figure it out — but I want him to kind of move to a very different version of The Riddler; his expressions are perhaps a bit more elegant and with grace."

"It would be very interesting to see how The Joker would handle puzzles and problems set up by The Riddler where he is in danger, and the only way to solve them is to be analytical."

It’s not just his own character about which Smith is excited, but Gotham’s direction in general. With The Riddler set to make a proper return to the comic books in the near future — facing off against the Dark Knight's arch-nemesis, The Joker, in a kind of supervillainous civil war, with Batman's rogues gallery taking sides in a skirmish sure to be one for the ages — Smith says that he would be keen to see his Nygma go toe-to-toe with the series' own take on The Joker, a young madman by the name of Jerome (Cameron Monaghan), because, despite their similar names, their modi operandi couldn't be more diametrically opposed.

"I think that it’s an interesting pairing-off, and I think I’ve said this at a comic con recently; somebody had asked me who I wanted to work with on the show, and I said Jerome, you know, our pre-version of the Joker," he elaborates. "I think it’s an interesting pairing, because The Joker is really about anarchy and destruction for destruction’s sake, and when you have someone that likes questions and answers and analysis and puzzles — things that have to be solved, not crushed — I think it’s very interesting. It would be very interesting to see how The Joker would handle puzzles and problems set up by The Riddler where he is in danger, and the only way to solve them is to be analytical. I think that’s a pretty exciting dilemma for The Joker character."

Hypotheticals aside, Smith teases that Gotham is set to delve even deeper into the comics’ mythological well as the show stares down the barrel of season four, with surprises and delights in store for long-time fans of Batman and his crime-riddled city, and new devotees alike.

"Our team of producers, they’ve kind of taken on a new way of going about this, now, and it starts, really, with… towards the end of season three, they decided to go less obvious with most of their choices," he allows. "We're going to see some transitions happening at the end of season three, and some identities unveiled that I think are going to be really surprising, and people aren’t deep into the mythology probably won’t — may not — recognise. But, like, the people that love Batman and the mythology are really gonna get excited by some of this stuff that we’re doing. So I’m excited to see who else in season four they’re going to pull out from the deeper end of the well in terms of the villains.

"There are some very, very cool ones. I think that they make a few choices towards the end — and Ra's al Ghul is coming in at the end of the season, which isn’t as, like, obscure by any means — but there are a couple of revelations at the very end that are so good. So good!"

[vftawpf]

Letter of Intention

violefellay@gmail.com

(+34) 658 17 61 95    

************************************************************

To whom it may concern,

My name is Violeta Fellay, I am 26 years old, and this is my second attempt at applying for admission to your Character Animation program. Last year I made it to the interview, and I hope to have improved my portfolio enough for this year's class! You can find it at http://vftaw.tumblr.com/

Ever since I was a kid I always had a pencil in my hand. I spent all my free time doodling and creating stories in my mind. Despite this, I could never envision myself living from my art, so when the time came to choose a career I pursued my other passion: languages. I moved to Buenos Aires and enrolled in English Translation at Universidad del Salvador, and started studying Japanese with a private teacher. The first three years were very positive, but during my fourth year, when graduation became apparent, I realized that translation was not what I wanted to live off of and my academic year went downhill. However, at the same time I became more enthusiastic about art. I started making friends online who helped me grow as an artist and become more involved in the community. I was no longer doodling; I was making art with a purpose.

By then I was already 22, and after finishing my degree in Translation, I found out Animation was available as a career in Argentina, and I saw it could be a way to channel my passion for art. I enrolled in the Animation Program at Universidad del Cine. Unfortunately, since it’s a relatively new bachelor, it is really lackluster. Even though I learnt a lot about live action films and developed my understanding of film theory, I was very disappointed both by the lack of focus on animation itself, and by the unqualified art teachers there, from whom I received almost no feedback and no real instruction.

During that time, I also took a course at the Academia de Animación. In their three-month stop motion workshop, I learnt animation and how to make a puppet. Before we knew it we were knee-deep in the preproduction of our short film, “Experimotion”. We had two weeks to prepare the sets and characters, and only five days to animate all the shots. It was crazy but it made me see how a professional environment works and I knew right then that that was what I wanted to do for a living.

After finishing that course, I talked to my friends from university, and we decided to make another short film, following the Academia’s model of production, with me acting as Animation Director. This time it took us four months, because we could only work during the weekend, but it cemented the fact that this is what I wanted: to work with other people to make our stories come true through animation.

After seeing no improvements in my university, I decided to drop out and started saving money to study abroad. I dove headfirst into my own projects and portfolio, and got involved with a couple of stop motion projects where I was Animation Director pro bono, as well as helping with the art department in the creation of sets and puppets. You can see the shorts I worked on in my showreel and in the 'optional' tab.

After getting your rejection letter last year, I did not get discouraged. I had my mind set into furthering my education. I found a small but renowned school, Daniel Martinez Lara's PSL, a 3D animation school based in Barcelona, where I've been living for the last seven months. It's been a great and challenging experience. The curriculum is tight and really demanding, for a 10 month course. I've been enjoying it immensely and look forward to continue growing these last few months. It is a course focused on character animation, but it also emphasizes the need of the independent animator to know how to model and rig, so that our showreels can be more unique, instead of having the same character rigs over and over again, and using our own props as the animations call for them.

I am a proficient user of ClipStudio, Paint Tool Sai, and Dragonframe. I'm learning animation in Maya and Blender, and can also make polygonal models and rigs in Blender. I have a working knowledge of TVPaint, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Premiere, and Corel Painter. I speak fluent Spanish and English, I have a moderate command of Japanese, and I am learning Danish.

As for my future, I see myself completing my education, and working mainly as a character animator, or generalist if needs must, but I could also see myself working in production. I do not have aspirations to work for big-name studios, I would much rather work for small studios or indie productions, preferably with projects that I resonate with and that drive my creativity. I would love to work in a 2D feature in Europe, but I am open to traveling for work wherever it presents itself, as I love seeing knew places and meeting new people.

Sadly, animation has been pigeonholed as a children’s ‘genre’ by the general population, I wish to see that changed and for animation to be seen for what it is, a tool for telling stories, any kind of stories. Other than a few indie features, and sitcoms, it is usually short films that touch more mature themes. It is great to see how enthusiastic young people are about shows and movies, and I wish for the industry to continue growing out of its box.

I want to tell stories for the people that do not get to see themselves in media. I want to tell stories where the characters are not a stereotype, where their lives are not plot devices or mean jokes. Growing up without a positive reinforcement in the media I consumed was harsh, even if I did not realize it at the time. I am now critical and no longer a passive consumer. I am vocal and open minded, and I wish to be part of the change of the industry with my work.

My biggest influences are comics and cartoons. I love the sprawling world Eiichiro Oda has created in One Piece, and the myriad of characters that populate it. I enjoy getting lost in Mignola’s inks in Hellboy; when I read it I always get an untamable urge to draw. At the moment I am most drawn to Vaughan’s Saga, for its incredibly human sci-fi fantasy in space, as well as Staple’s amazing art and colour schemes. I love all kinds of animations, but the ones that influenced me the most are those by Disney and Pixar, not only for how important they were to me during my formative years, but also for the beauty and care they put into their breathtaking productions, although I do wish they were not so traditional with the themes they portray. One of my biggest influences at the moment is Rebecca Sugar. Steven Universe is the kind of story I wish to tell, with characters that are alive and a story that is driven by emotions, and where the characters are developed through the quiet moments in the episodes. I love how she takes the time to show us the characters instead of using faster cheap tactics to further the plot.

When speaking of my influences, I cannot not mention my online friends, without whose great encouraging and handholding, I would have never taken my art seriously.

Choosing my three favourite works was hard, I am an avid fiction reader and I love watching movies and series, but if I had to choose it would be The Fall, by Tarsem, for its stunning photography and use of real locations, as well as the depression story subtly told through a children’s tale. Lilo and Stitch, for its beautiful animation and design, as well as how it portrays family issues and the importance of human connections. Lastly, I spent most of the last two years raving about Mad Max: Fury Road to anybody who would listen, I was thoroughly impressed by its photography and stunts, but I especially loved the feminist themes that are central to the film and how George Miller chose to empower women without relying on the shock factor of showing the abuse they suffered.

Choosing my least favourite works was even harder, for I usually consume media through recommendations from people who know me. I was specially let down by Laika’s Boxtrolls, I was very excited to watch it given I had loved Paranorman, but the script was disastrous and even insulting at points, which goes to show that even with the most advanced stop motion techniques, the neat 3D-looking animation, and the huge budget, there is nothing to it without a story to sustain it. All-Star Batman and Robin is possibly the worst comic I have read, it is a downright insult to the Batman franchise, and I dislike it especially for showcasing such a skewed view of the dynamic duo as well as Batman’s beyond ridiculous grimdarkness.

I have had the luck to travel extensively thanks to my parents. I have been to a lot of Latin American countries, and have been lucky to visit Europe too. One of my most memorable experiences was last year. When I moved to Barcelona, my 60 years old mom tagged along and we trekked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage before class started. It was a 170km trek uphill and downhill in rocky terrain through Galicia's valleys, carrying our 10kg rucksacks. It was very tiring but so endlessly rewarding that we're already planning when and how we're going to walk the whole 800km way from France.

In 2015, I went on a trip to Europe for two months by myself, and visited Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and England. This was possible mostly thanks to my online friends who graciously offered a place for me to stay so I did not have to spend much money in lodging. These were people I had never met, but that I had been chatting with for more than five years. I had a fantastic time with them, getting to know them face to face was very exciting. I was hell-bent in meeting as many friends as possible, and it was that what took me up north to Viborg, where I visited one of your alumni and one of my oldest online friends, and she took me on a tour to TAW. I was ecstatic, and I knew I wanted to attend there.

Your program is perfect for me because your intensive curriculum and project-based education is the kind of environment I thrive in. Such a hands-on program will help nurture my skills and I know I have what it takes to make the most of it. Most of my experience comes from stop motion and 3D animation, but my dream is to be a 2D character animator. Nevertheless, I know now that I love all types of animation, and I would be happy working in whatever branch. I am eager to be surrounded by passionate and dedicated students and teachers, and to hone my skills to take my art to the next level. I love working with people and I am always excited to learn from them. I am very inquisitive and a very fast learner.

As far as how I am planning to finance my education, I have savings and a flat that I lease in Argentina, and I am applying to a scholarship through VIA University College. Where I not to get it, my parents are willing to help me with the tuition fees.

Being accepted to your school would be a game changer for me, not only because of your top-notch education, but also for the future possibilities it would open for me. Thank you for your time and consideration.

 Yours sincerely, Violeta Fellay