#Ooc: it’s clearly stated on my intro about it

[karnakthefortunetellingmachine]

What do you think of the anons who say weird stuff?

It is human nature to do so, to see the limits of others while also fulfilling what curiosity lies within as well.

[carewyncromwell]

[...Whoops. It seems someone’s fallen asleep on top of the Askbox. But who the heck is still asleep at quarter-to-twelve in the morning? 

Answer: a lanky, dark-haired, long-nosed young man, whose suit is in disarray and whose eyes blink blearily as he starts to wake up. The faint sunlight peeping in through his window makes him shudder.]

Eli: “Ugh...”

[Yup. Definitely a hangover. He flops over, not really wanting to move at all, but just wanting to get away from the light. It hurts to think. What time is it? Once he sees the clock, he gives another moan.]

Shit. That late already? ...Well, I guess last night was pretty fun. Guess this is proper justice, for going on such a toot. 

[The blurry memory of an austere boy with dark hair and a gaunt face dressed in a Ravenclaw tie @sirfluffig​ gave him a very tired, reproachful look, and Eli smiles a bit despite himself.]

Hey, the fun was good while it lasted. 

[With a sigh, he lurches out of bed.]

Eli: “(mumbling) ...I need some fucking pear juice...”

[And a shower. A nice cold shower. It wouldn’t metabolize the alcohol any faster, but at least it might help him wake up.

Wasn’t there something his mundane was telling him she wanted him to do...? 

Eli blinks tiredly, trying to focus, when his eyes find the Askbox he’d fallen asleep on.]

Oh right -- that thing.

[Eli puts on his best, bright smile and removes his askew tie as he tries to ignore the throbbing in his head.]

Eli: “Hey there, sheiks and shebas! The name’s Eli Fawcett.”

Fuck, my head hurts. 

Eli: “(without skipping a beat) Don’t know if you’d know my work -- I’ve been in a small handful of moving pictures. ...Or maybe not so small. My hands might just be bigger than the average man.”

[Eli waggles his eyebrows playfully. He’s clearly just having a laugh.]

Eli: “But enough about my assets. My ‘mundane,’ as she calls herself, is a bit tied up with work -- (dryly) a dreadful thing, certainly glad I don’t have that problem...so she thought it would be good to ‘give me some vocal warm-ups,’ as it were, until she can work on her most recent art project more this upcoming Sunday and Monday. And far be it from me to not take advantage of some proper rehearsal time. So that’s why Tory love has opened her ‘Askbox’ for me to use. She says I fit into what she calls the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ timeline, which encompasses the 20′s, 30′s, and 40′s...and she encourages both you, her followers, and your characters from that timeline to interact. Apparently she thinks a famous Hollywood actor needs some friends.”

[Cheeky grin. He holds his hands up with the fingers spread in mock defensiveness.]

Eli: “But hey, I’m not opposed! So go ahead and send in some questions, if you’d like, and I’ll answer them over a nice breakfast of carbs. After I get out of my shower, that is. Reckon I shouldn’t be lolling about in these glad rags all day, however glitzy they might’ve been last night....”

((OOC: Yes! Work is crazy, so I figured it’d be a good time to do a voice test for my newest MC! If your kid is in the Fantastic Beasts timeline, or if you just want to say hi, send in an ask, if you’d like! You can learn more about Eli with this intro post and this playlist, if you’d like -- tl;dr, this is a sunny, anti-nihilistic British FtM wizard who was the resident academically slacking class clown at Hogwarts, before he ran off to the United States and eventually became his universe’s equivalent of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. His interests include acting, stuntwork, comedy, singing, music (especially the piano), movies, traveling, Muggle technology, wizard dueling, and stage combat, as well as -- oddly enough -- philosophy, sociology, and psychology. So yeah, feel free to say “hi!”)) 

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 2

(Top 5 Dislikes)

I’m gonna be honest, I think that V2 is a pretty good volume. Sure, it doesn’t have much in terms of story and that’s its biggest weakness as well as having no true accomplishments. But what it makes up for is it’s character writing and development. V1 was our intro, and V2 begins to flesh out many of them. If someone like say… Weiss didn’t appeal to you in V1 cause of her being mean, this one puts her in a much more positive light, for example. I was worried that I would dislike the volume more upon rewatch… but my opinion is pretty much the same as when I watched it in 2014: I really enjoy it.

I had to stretch hard for the Dislikes post. I did not, however, have to stretch at all for this post. So let’s waste no time and go over the Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 2~

#5. Improved Pacing/Runtime

One of the biggest problems with V1 was it’s pacing. It could feel all over the place, and the reason why was due to chapter runtimes. With a few exceptions, the majority were under ten minutes. This could cause storylines that in the current standard could have been done in one or two episodes, like Jaune’s Arc. But since it got stretched out for four weeks with short runtimes… yeah, it annoyed people, to say the least. CRWBY got the hint since I remember before the volume began, they mentioned how the extended the runtimes. It came at the cost of fewer episodes, but honestly? That was for the best?

Volume 2’s runtimes range from 12-15 minutes on average, with the longest being 17 minutes. This has essentially been the standard ever since for the most part, and it was a very good change. It also helps that instead of going for a more episodic approach as they did in V1, they told one continuous story. It can be divided into three sections with the first four episodes, the Dance Arc covering 5-7, and Mountain Glenn covering 8-12. But they all connect with each other and flow together much more naturally. As such since unlike V1 I watched V2 episode by episode, I never felt like it dragged or anything overstayed it’s welcome. It’s one of the best-paced volumes, to be honest. 

I’m pleasantly surprised that it flowed so well. Pacing in recent volumes have been an issue, mainly with 4 and 5, but that’s due to the split storylines. Something that I think that Miles and Kerry have learned was maybe a little too ambitious afterward and have gone back to this kind of formula. They pretty much use this three-act structure in V6, and it worked amazingly there. T seems to be what works best for RWBY, and this volume is what kicked it off. So yeah, good work CRWBY~

#4. Jaune and Pyrrha Relationship

I love these two. They have always been my favorite ship in RWBY, and still is despite… certain events. While I was kinda harsh on Jaune in the last post due to how cringey he was regarding Weiss, his relationship with Pyrrha is what saved him. He’s gotten a lot of flack in the past for not noticing Pyrrha’s feelings, but… I don’t really blame him. Pyrrha never tried to tell him herself or really let on that she had romantic feelings for him. Jaune isn’t a mind-reader, he can’t just magically know if Pyrrha won’t say anything. Nora practically points it out when Pyrrha advises Jaune to just go and ask Weiss out without any stupid gimmicks and just speak from the heart. “Practice what you preach.” indeed. That’s not to be harsh on Pyrrha because it’s clear why she doesn’t. She knows that Jaune likes Weiss and wants him to be happy, so she tries to be content with just supporting him with his pursuits and his training. She’s just that nice of a person.

It’s not like Jaune is careless regarding Pyrrha either. We see in Chapter 5 that he appreciates Pyrrha helping him train and in Chapter 7, he is shocked that no one asked her out. I mean, is everyone blind? Pyrrha is an amazing person? How could no one ask her out? Well… it’s because she’s Pyrrha. She’s a world-class fighter. Too many, she’s out of their league. Remember in Chapter 5 when Mercury calls off the fight, saying that Pyrrha’s out of his league? We all know that was a lie, it was because he got the info that he wanted about her Semblance, but you can see how much that hurt her. It reminded her how she can’t really be normal or form real relationships because of her fame and status. The only person to treat her like a real person? Jaune. He didn’t even know her name when they first met. And it’s after that when Jaune pretty much throws his own needs out the window, puts on that dress with no shame, and dances the night away with Pyrrha.

These two have such a beautiful relationship. Pyrrha helped Jaune find value in himself and grow not just as a fighter, but as this volume shows as a person. Pyrrha got to find happiness and a sense of normalcy through Jaune, which let her form friendships and find love. Even if she still can’t say it out loud, she got to be with Jaune, and that was enough for her even right to the end. Jaune still doesn’t know that Pyrrha has feelings for him and IDT he fully realized his own feelings, but he was still willing to be humiliated just to give that girl a good time at the dance. Because she earned it more than anyone else in that moment. It makes their relationship that much greater, and their ultimate end that much more tragic. But this volume really demonstrates them at their best. It shows Jaune mature and recognizes his friend’s feelings, hence why I can forgive his cringe. It’s painful to see, but he got over it. I just love it so much, and it’s still a bright spot of this volume.

#3. Blake Development

I love Blake. She’s gotten so much hate in recent years because of utterly stupid reasons. While I had issues with her in V4, I’ve always loved her and her story. V1 got me interested in her story after the final two episodes, and this one made me love her even more. You can tell that the White Fang is getting to her, and it makes sense why. We don’t know the whole story, but we do know that the WF was a peaceful group when she was younger, and when it became a terrorist group she broke away. So seeing them act with a human, something that she knows that they would never due, would understandably catch her attention and make her obsess over it as well as reawaken any negative feelings.

In V1 while she was reserved, she clearly was capable of opening up and clearly did want to be friends with these three girls. Some say that she was OOC in The Badge and the Burden, but I disagree. She was trying to form a new life and tried to adjust to her new teammates, so yeah her being a little light-hearted and silly makes sense to me. But with the WF back in her life, it puts her back in a bad place. It makes her obsess over what they’re panning because it can’t be anything good. She tries to close herself off until Weiss reminds her that she promised to open up to them. She does, and her friends are on board with her pursuits.

Then we get the Dance Arc, where the WF obsession is actually affecting her health and performance. Her grades are slipping. Her attitude is at it’s lowest. She doesn’t care about the dance because she’s worried about the WF doing who knows what with them all utterly unprepared. Her harsh dismissal of Sun and her rejecting her team’s help despite them assuring her that they’re going to make sure that everything is fine demonstrates this. Blake feels guilty for her involvement int he WF and doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. To her, she feels like she has to stop them and like it’s her weight to bear. And this is before we know anything about Adam, which she starts to open up about him as well as why she left the WF to her team in Mountian Glenn. But we’ll get to that later.

It’s why Yang’s interference is so important. Yang understands that Blake is getting obsessed to an unhealthy point because she went down the same road. She and RUby almost got killed because she made a dumb decision and went out on her own when she found out about Raven. When talking to her one-on-one doesn’t work, she makes Blake realize that her unhealthy state means that she can’t fight before finally hugging her and essnetially asking her to stop and to trust her and the others. It’s a really beautiful scene that really does make Blake see reason. While I myself don’t see anything romantic in this scene, at least no more than Blake and Sun’s scenes in this arc, there’s a reason why so many care about the Bumblebee ship. Yang genuinely tried to reach out to Blake because she understood where she was coming from, and wanted to help her when no one else could. She didn’t have to, but she did because he wanted to. They’re teammates. Partners. That’s what they’re supposed to do.

This was when Blake truly began to trust Yang. To trust her team. She goes to the dance and has a fun time. It makes you wonder how long it had been since Blak ever relaxed. How long it had been since she laughed. She got to have one night where she could just have fun,  makes  By the end of the volume, she’s in a better place and is clearly happy with her friends. Even though they don’t stop the WF or uncover their overall plans, she’s okay with what they did manage to do and isn’t obsessing or driving herself to exhaustion anymore. Without that progress, then who knows if she’d have been able to bounce back after what happened in V3. Blake here is great, and I loved seeing it again… despite how much it hurt due to what happened next. But that’s a tale for another day.

#2. Mountain Glenn Arc

This arc was fantastic. By far, the best part of Volume 2. First, it has Doctor Oobleck. We saw him once in V1, but all we learned is that he talks and moves fast. This volume gives him much more character. She’s certainly quirky and not the image of a badass Huntsman, but he’s freakin’ great. One, he’s funny and really adds to the RWBY dynamic to the arc. He’s intelligent and knowledgable on history and tracking. But most of all, he’s insightful. He’s clearly a good teacher as he subtly gives guidance to these girls and gets them to question their motivation and dedication to the paths that they’re on. He may not be teaching them cool fighting skills, but he is teaching them about life essentially and prepping them for the harsh life of being Huntresses. With what happens later down the road, that was a good thing. He’s just great. Also his coffee urn weapon? Best.

But speaking of motivations and dedication, that is what makes this arc so great. It answers an important question and was one that I was surprised by when this arc started, why did the RWBY girls decide to be Huntresses? And we find out here. Yang did it for the thrill, Weiss did it as she felt it was her duty, Blake did it to do good in the world, and Ruby… well… she actually doesn’t get questioned. Why? I’ll go into that in a bit. But having their motivations questioned really shakes up WBY quite a bit, making them reflect on their reasonings on choosing the paths that they took. Which is good, because it allows us to learn more about them and their characters.

We see WBY talk about their motivations deeper. Weiss chose to be a Huntress because she recognizes how much her father has ruined her family name and the company and she wanted to change things, but not in Atlas. She decided to do it as a Huntress. Blake opens up about Adam and how she felt that the WF fell, so she became a Huntress to do good. But she hadn’t thought past that and is afraid of not being able to make up for her mistakes and end up running away again. Yang doesn’t really have anything driving her, she just wanted to have the adventurous lifestyle that being a Huntress would give her and didn’t really think anything else of it. Safe to say, none of them I think really expected Huntress life to be the way that they experienced it here.

But where does Ruby factor into this? Well as I said, Oobleck never questions her motives. We do hear about his though. He became a Huntsman because when he looked at history, he saw lives that could have been saved. He wants to pass that history and knowledge onto his students so that more lives can be saved and not end the way that Mountian Glenn did. As for Ruby herself, she’s always wanted to be a Huntress, Even as a child, this was what she wanted. She didn’t do it for thrills. She didn’t do it to redeem her family name. She didn’t do it to make up for any past sins. She did it for one simple reason: to make the world a better place. Her dedication has always been clear and later volumes have shown this. Even after V3, she got up and pushed on anyway. During V6, even after all the secrets and The Apathy messing with her mind, she remained dedicated to the cause. Why? Because her dedication has never wavered. He chose that life, the other three needed to understand what they had chosen as well.

The arc offers really good character insights and makes the girls more three-dimensional. It is what made me love all four of them. It showed that they were just more than their anime stereotype. They felt like real people who were trying to figure their lives out and what it is that they truly wanted. Ruby may have known what she wanted, but the other three weren’t 100% sure. This is when they began to understand. V6 would more solidly solidify it when it became even more than anyone bargained for, but this was still a very good step. It was such a joy to rewatch, and it is still a highlight for me.

There were me other great things too. First, Zwei! Zwei is best~! We got some good info on the Grimm and how they aren’t just brainless monsters. The Goliaths especially are fascinating with how Oobleck describes them, but also terrifying because the waiting just for the right moment to strike. We get word building in how Mountain Glenn was a disaster but shows how people tried to make lives within the world of Remnant and deal with Grimm. There were fantastic fight scenes and the train battle was especially super fun. Especially with how we got our first taste fo Raven in it. The finale is... well, not the best-received thing in the world, but was still fun to watch. Just an overall super enjoyable arc with plenty of comedy, badassery, and most of all heart.

But speaking of Team RWBY!

#1. Team RWBY Becoming a Team

V1 is when Team RWBY formed, but it’s V2 is when they actually felt like a team. It might be because while half the volume was on the forming the team and the other half on school hijinks, this one keeps the four center stage. There’s a real sense of friendship and sisterhood that comes off them in this volume, and I love it. There’s the food fight, the card game in CHapter 2, them all devoting themselves to investigating the White Fang, them trying to get Blake help, the Mountain Glennmision, a lot of things. Even just their interactions show off their comradery so well. They all play off each other very well and are honestly at their best when together.

It was just so much fun to see the girls working together, laughing together, supporting each other, etc. From the team attack names to just silly banter, you get the feeling that these girls are friends. That they’re a team. After how long they were separated in recent volumes until V6, it was so much fun to focus on just them. As I said, this volume is what got me to love these four as their own characters. It’s also true int hat it got me to love them as a team. After how much RUby and Weiss bickered in V1, they feel like genuine friends here. Weiss kept her word about improving herself as a teammate and not caring about Blake’s Faunus status. Blake started to open up more and trust int hem. Yang acted motherly and comforting to everyone. Ruby pretty much acted like the little sister of the group, but also acted as the leader when it was necessary like coordinating the previously mentioned team attacks.

It just works so well. The chemistry between the four is fantastic. I think it really was something that we missed in V4 and 5, and I’m so glad that we got it back in V. I expect that V7 won’t be lacking in that area either. Seeing Team RWBY again during the simpler times was really nostalgic and got me to appreciate them so much. For that, this will always be my favorite thing about V2~!

Okay, so… I’m supposed to do Likes/Dislikes for V3 next. But… well… check back tomorrow cause lets just say that it’s gonna be slightly different with that one.

[kattriabhach]

What the heck is Twitter RP and how do I get started?

DISCLAIMER! This is not to be the end all and be all of what Twitter RP is about, especially in the FFXIV RP world. This is just a guide using my own experiences and how I feel is the best way to get started. Take what you will and leave the rest.

Alright buckle up people, I’m gonna give a quick and dirty explanation of Twitter RP (geared mostly towards FFXIV RP) and how YOU might get started in joining the fun.

Why Twitter RP?

With Twitter, you’re limited with how many characters you can fit in a single tweet. While this might turn some people off, the short form makes it so you can have more conversational RPs and, depending, at a faster pace. For FFXIV folks, I find this a happy medium between in-game RP and Tumblr/Dreamwith RP. Faster paced, but without the pressure of someone staring you down in game, or the pressure to turn out a paragraph of text.

But doesn’t this mean less plots / less quality writing?

Absolutely not! You can most definitely have great plots with Twitter RP! As I’ll explain later, it’s not uncommon to chain together tweets in order to have longer replies if needed. I’ve met some GREAT writers in Twitter RP, but the format may take a while to get used to! 

That being said, Twitter RP isn’t for everyone! Don’t feel bad if you try it out for a bit and find that it’s just not your jam.

Quick intro to Twitter accounts.

First things first, signing up for a twitter account is relatively easy and self explanatory, so I won’t go into much about how to actually make it. For usernames, it’s up to you how to go about it. FFXIV RP twitter usually puts a _txt at the end of a name. For example, my accounts are @Katt_txt and @thisData_txt. Profile pages

Here’s an example of my profile page for Aulus

So like tumblr, you pick out an icon and banner, and have a quick little blurb in the profile section. You can also link a caard or your tumblr account. This can give you a chance to give more character background and info.

You notice I have a pinned tweet at the top of the page. Twitter allows you to pin a tweet to your profile page, so use that pin to give a brief overview of your character! Common things to put are if you are multiverse/multiship, a parody (or shitpost) account, a serious RP (very IC, mostly plots) or a mix of both. More common than not, people tend to have mix of both. I’ll go into more what parody means later.

Pinned tweets are a great way to have a promo as well, as they are able to be retweeted! 

Your timeline

Once you start following people, your homepage will look something like this.

This is your timeline, and it’ll be in reverse chronological order. If not, click those little stars in the upper right of that picture. That will give you the option to see latest tweets first.

Now, this might be confusing at first for some. As you can see here, there’s a mix of base tweets, and replies to others. Base tweets are not part of any thread and often can be a jumping off point for people to interact! Now, this is what it looks like when you click on one of the tweets that is part of a reply. We’ll look at what Emet said to Katt.

Here is what a thread looks like! If you scroll up, you can find the start of it, then follow it down. Twitter will thread together replies like this, so if you want to read back into a thread, all you have to do is select a tweet in that thread and scroll up. However! Sometimes these can get quite lengthy! 

Notifications

This is how to keep track of your replies!

If you notice, the “all” tab will show both replies, likes, and RTs. If you JUST want to see replies and mentions, click the “mentions” tab. This’ll clean up your notifications a bit and help you keep track of threads.

Messages

These are your DMs. It’s pretty self explanatory. You can message mutuals without requesting to open up a DM. If you are not following each other, the other person will have to accept your message request.

How to start interacting

Twitter RP can vary in the sort of “starters” that can occur. Some will post a straight up starter where their character is in a location and has left it open for people to interact. Other times, it can be silly posts that are not unlike what you might find on a non-RP account. Here’s an example of a starter I put up for Aulus.

Now, I used two screenshots for this, but it can be used as a jumping off point! It establishes that Aulus is in a location, is dressed VERY strangely, and could be creeping on your character.

Now here’s an example of a little bit more silly post, but can also be used as a starter!

This is a bit more on the vague side of things. It doesn’t establish a location per se, which is fine! That can be worked out later if needed. But this is where you can interact on more of the banter level. It can stay silly, or evolve further from there! The important thing is to stay open and go with the flow of it.

General format and etiquette

There are a variety of ways that people format their posts. They can, as I do, do the traditional *actions within asterisks*. Some use [brackets],  (parentheses) or other symbols to denote actions. OOC comments can be ((doubles)) or //slashes. It’s usually easy to tell what people’s styles will be. Short paragraph with “quotes for speech” is also used. 

The usual RP rules go here as well. No godmodding, no jumping into other people’s threads without invitation (unless it’s clearly a sort of shitpost or you’re tagged in), and COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE! I can’t drive this point in enough! People usually have their DMs open, so please shoot them DMs with questions!

Generally accepted things in FFXIV RP

I must reiterate again that this is based on my own experiences and your mileage may vary. If you’re ever in doubt about anything, DM! 

Warriors of Light - Yes, Warrior(s). It’s generally accepted that there are many different WoLs around and not just the definitive one. People vary how how they want to approach this with NPC accounts, so it’s important to ask about that! Generally, this means that all WoLs have had the same MSQ experience (unless stated otherwise).

Canon, what canon? - There are many accounts of NPCs that are quite canonically dead. Either this is addressed someway or just flat out ignored. For example, with my Aulus, I have in my caard info an explanation on how he can be alive. Other NPCs may choose different methods to address this, so again, when in doubt, ask! 

Tomephones - Well, this is a thing. Ever since we got /tomephone, it’s been a sort of alternative to a linkpearl. 

Multiples - This can very well vary from person to person! But it’s not all that uncommon to have more than one account with the same NPC muse. This is okay! Some of them will interact with hilarious results!

That’s all I have for now! If anyone has questions, it’s best to either reach out to me on one of my RP twitters or on discord. I don’t use this tumblr much at all, so I won’t be checking messages here.

[wolfenm-marveling]

There are three big reasons I have not and don’t want to see Endgame ....

For one, I wrote a lengthy article about that will run in June at Sequential Tart (I'll update this post with the link when it goes live *EDIT* Here it is: The Subject of Character Death, Revisited - http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=3362 ). The other two, I'll talk about here; they involve Steve and Bucky.

I know what you’re thinking: Wolfie, how can you form an opinion on a movie you haven't seen? Well, I do have mental health issues (undiagnosed and untreated because I have no insurance or job, yay), so when the film was released in China, I found someone to spoil me so that I might make an informed decision as to whether or not I could *handle* seeing it, given some worries I had (and especially since 3 hours without a bathroom break was not going to work for me or my companion). I determined from that convo that it would be a Very Bad Idea for me to see the film.

Even seeing the constant posts about it  -- especially ones that called it a  “beautiful” or “perfect” end, etc. -- was triggering anxiety and mental anguish / circular thoughts (admittedly in part because there were similarly “bad” things happening in other fandoms of mine -- it was too much at once). And I'm STILL having massive issues with circular thoughts about it.

This essay isn't meant to tell anyone they’re wrong about how they perceive / feel about the film, BUT, while I know I shouldn't care what other people think, the sitch still makes me feel how I feel: frankly, a bit disturbed that people are loving things that are making me so awful. I feel like I've stepped into some sort of Bizarro world -- like I'm somehow in the wrong universe. It’s very distressing. (I mean ... they call it mental *illness* for as reason, right?)

In this franchise where I once found such great joy, I now find little more than anguish. It’s actually been making me physically ill to see the posts -- or to look on my massive Marvel collection; I've had to box much of it away for now. Hopefully some day I can enjoy it again. (I can't exactly stop using my $60 Captain America backpack I begged for, for my birthday, though. :/)

I find that when my thoughts get like this (like I'm on a runaway train that keeps revisiting the same stations), the only thing that helps even a little is to sort out my thoughts on the page -- even if I’ve done it before, as I have with this in the comments section of friends posts. (You may have seen other people express similar thoughts, too.)  And really, I don't want to rain on my friend’s parades, so I figure I’ll post it in my own space, and then if people ask me my thoughts, I can just point them here. And hopefully this post will help others who are similarly struggling (I know there are at least a few).

As for the old chestnut “It’s just a story/ a fictional character”, well, for one thing, let me repeat: mentally ill here. If I could control how I feel, I wouldn’t BE mentally ill. But also, I'm a writer who feels writing is a sacred calling, so when I feel a story is badly told, I tend to take it personally. Yes, I know my opinion is not the be-all, end all -- if you think it’s a good story, yay for you. Me, I feel betrayed by this story in a way I have rarely felt before (the other biggest instance having happened the week before the film's release, so double-whammy, yay).

Warning: if you read any further, I assume you either saw Endgame or don’t care about Spoilers.

(*edited to add* If you need some solace too, check out @antiendgame to find other people who are upset.)

The first upsetting points for me were the Noble Deaths (and, in Loki’s case, lack of resurrection) -- I hate that trope with the fire of a thousand suns. But that’s what I wrote the article on (including how 2012 Loki’s escape doesn't make me feel any better), so no more on that here.

Now, let me preface the rest of this by saying no, I wasn’t expecting a romantic presentation of Stucky. And as hard as I ship them fanon-wise, I don’t actually hate Steggy -- I adore Peggy in her own right (and like the idea of them  being a threesome with Bucky).

What I DO hate is that Steve abandoned Bucky for her.

Aside from Steve’s moral compass, Bucky was the impetus behind pretty much *everything* Steve did in his trilogy. He found the missing soldiers because Bucky was amongst them. Bucky’s death broke him -- and finding him again in Winter Soldier seemed to give Steve, who was clearly depressed, new life. Despite Sam insisting Bucky was Gone, Steve wouldn't kill Bucky to save the world. And in Civil War, Steve fought other dear friends, and was willing to throw away his own freedom, to protect his best friend. So how the FUCK is them being *separated pretty much forevermore* a satisfactory end to that story???????

TL;DR, the Captain America movies were about the repeated separation and reunion of Steve and Bucky … and yet we barely got to SEE them together before Steve said sayonara to the man he’d been best friends with for over a for over a decade, to go be with a woman he’d known for about a year. 

A woman who’d already had a family without him.

Yeah, we can say her family still exists in the original timeline -- but I have seen soooo many different explanations of how the time sitch works out, it’s not even funny.

Really, that’s the third reason I don't want to see the movie: I HATE time paradox, and this movie sounds riddled with it. Also, as I understand it, the writers and the Russos are saying different things, with the Russos saying it’s a different timeline (which apparently Steve would be going *back* to after the shield pass, for some reason, and yeah, that bothered me, that he didnl't even give his best friend that momento, and sent their last onscreen moments together talking to SAM), and the writers saying no, the alternate timelines were only a thing when the Stones were in play. So yeah, Steve could spend the rest of his life with Bucky then ... but that means he also would have erased Peggy’s family (and maybe her work). Unless he was the man she married all along.

Either way, it would mean that Steve let Bucky suffer, and let HYDRA infiltrate SHIELD, neither being things I could see him doing.

And if it IS a branched-off timeline, I LOATHE that time theory, because it means NOTHING WE DO MATTERS. There’s always a version of us that’s our worst selves, and people who suffer because of it. That’s hella depressing. (Even if it would explain why I feel like I'm in the wrong world.)

At any rate, the ONLY end I really wanted was to see Steve and Bucky get to be together, no matter how -- “just friends” would have been fine. It was literally the thing I wanted most in the whole damn MCU franchise (aside from seeing Loki be redeemed and then fight alongside the Avengers. *sigh* At least I didn't have high hopes there ...). I would rather Steve had taken Bucky back in time WITH him, even if Steve still married Peggy; time paradox issues aside, I could have lived with that -- yes, even if it meant we didn’t get The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. (And honestly, how much am I supposed to look forward to that anyway, when Sam has been such an *inexplicably* uncompassionate asshole to Bucky in WS and CW? A guy who runs meetings for people with PTSD holds a grudge against a guy who was brutally mind-raped? It's like they made him OOC for the lolz!)

As for “Oh, but Bucky knew and he was okay with it!”

Uh, if he was okay with it, it's just because the writers *wrote* him that way for their own convenience, so they could do this ending. I have been besties with someone most of our lives. We broke up a few times, but we managed to keep finding our way back to each other. We don't live in the same state, so we rarely see each other, but at least we DO sometimes, and we write each other. If this person said they were going to go live somewhere with no way to communicate with me ever again, so they could be with someone they loved, of course I wouldn't want to say don't leave, because I'd want them to be happy, and wouldn't want to stand in the way … but that doesn't mean I'd be “okay”. in the slightest. And I wouldn't WANT other people I care about to go through such pain, much less think it beautiful to watch.

Plus, as I always say, this is fiction -- I don't need *that much* “reality” in my escapism. Temporary angst is my bread-and-butter -- it’s cathartic -- but I need a happy ending to be the payoff. To me, A TRULY happy ending for Steve -- and the one that would have been the best payoff for the narrative we’ve spent a decade watching -- would have been for him to not have to choose between the two people he loved most.

Edited 5/11/19 to add: For all those who are all “Oh, they’re just friends, they aren't gay”, I am more or less fine with sexual Stucky staying fanon; they still love each other platonically, are SOULMATES, ACCORDING TO THE SCREENWRITERS THEMSELVES (Christopher Markus and Steve McFeely), who wrote this as part of the intro to the graphic novel Captain America: White - “…Of course, this is still a rollicking adventure tale, and no adventure is complete without a love story. And yes, these books have one – the longest, most tortured one in Marvel history, in fact. We’re talking about Steve and Bucky, without smirking or innuendo or raised eyebrows. Platonic though the relationship may be, from the meet cute to the tragic separation, their bond has all the elements of a classic romance.  These two men love each other – as any pair of friends who faced exclusion, combat, inhumanity, and death would. Their bond stretches across half the twentieth century. The loss of it gnaws at Steve throughout the modern day, and it slices his heart in half when the Winter Soldier rears his tormented, homicidal head. Just as Jeph and Tim’s earlier Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue, and Hulk: Gray all dealt with the major love interests in the heroes’ lives, so too does Captain America: White. Steve and Bucky are each others’ soulmate, if you will, because no one on Earth understands what either of them has been through as well as the other does. The book deals deftly with the strengths and weaknesses that relationship engenders. As the Red Skull himself says to Bucky, “The captain has a … ‘soft spot’ for you. A spot I intend to put a bullet through this very evening.” Soldiers fight for their country. They fight for themselves. They fight for each other. And sometimes they die for these things, too.  The ones who don’t carry the memory of the ones who did for the rest of their days. Steve Rogers is no different.”

So he's gonna leave his soulmate (no matter the nature of their love) behind forever? FUCK THAT NOISE. I am completely baffled ow two writers who see Steve and Bucky that way would go on to give them that ending.

And retouching the whole for Bucky “knows and is okay” thing, the Russos also said that Bucky is too damaged still to be Captain America. Uh, THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE THEY REALLY THINK HE’S OKAY.

[ryuuguu-rena]

→ R ・U ・L・ E ・S

Rules { last UPDATE - 05/30/2019 }

x- I will not rp with everyone, I’m currently indie but very selective.

please note that my blog here is highly selective. I will only interact and rp with people I feel comfortable with. With other words I can be picky when it comes to whom I follow. If we aren’t mutuals it doesn’t mean you can’t send me asks or memes but please know that it’s very unlikely that I will start a rp with you. I will however, always try to answer everything as much as I can ic; and eventually ooc;

x- posts&&;threads

I can write starters but not particularly fond of doing so. I think I’m not skilled enough to come up with an interesting intro. Sometimes I’ll post starters however…

Each day, there is a chance I reblog at maximal 5 memes. Exceptions can happen but it will never go beyond 7 memes per day. I don’t want to spam your dash.

If you want to reply to an ask or meme , then please post a new thread tagging me in it. I don’t like reblogging asks.

When I reblog memes, feel free to send me some it can be either ic, on anon or off. I will definitely try my best to reply to each ask

my writing style differs via mode. Sometimes I write a lot, sometimes not. My preferences are para-semi and novella. There is absolutely no need for you to do the same in return. But if we have chosen a semi para rp I ask kindly that you refrain from sending a single line as reply. I always allow this for asks and crack rps tho. I’m not a professional writer so please expect me to have writing flaws. English is not my native language after all. But I do my best.

roleplay

Planning to kill my character? Notify me first and we’ll discuss it. mentally or physically tormenting my character is okay but refrain from anything lewd.

When we start a roleplay, I try always strictly to stay in character, Rena will not just appear in your timeline/world without a proper plot.

I approve of M!A’s but I have a right to refuse them when I don’t like them, or think of them as too ooc;

If you are part of a MMOFRPG group and would like to rp with me, don’t be afraid to approach me. I used to rp at MMOFRPG for an entire year and I don’t mind roleplaying with you just because you’re part of a group.

I do have mains, And I don’t intent to replace them. Chances are very high I will reply to my mains first before anyone else. but that does not mean I ignore you, I will get to your reply too. If you however think I missed it, hit me up pls.

I try my best to make each roleplay enjoyable for my roleplay partner, chances are , I’m trying even to meet your way of writing, to please you.]

I can be very slow with replies, please be patient.

Threads come and go. Don’t take it badly when I drop our thread, we can always start a new one. or maybe our preferences of writing just doesn’t match, in that case I’m still willing to interact ic; via asks and similar but long threads are out of question.

If I drop a rp it can have many different reasons but certainly not because I didn’t enjoy to rp with you. The same goes vice versa.

Mun is over 18 years old

Personally, when it comes to smut, I prefer noncon themes, Unless you rp Keiichi. because Rena loves Keiichi and out of her own will she wouldn’t even consider to sleep with anyone else. However, she often deals with people that clearly cross the line. Making her more insane.

IMPORTANT: I will not rp any lewd here with anyone.

The only one I sometimes rp this with is my husbando but we do not rp it here on tumblr.

Rena was almost raped in the past in Ibaraki. By the only male friends she made, 3 classmates- one of them ( Kouhai ) was related to her best friend Ozaki Nagisa. During the rape attempt , she injured the boys with a baseball bat, and smashed all the windows of the school. After that happening and after Nagisa’s death*  who was actually murdered ) she was left with a major trauma. Increasing her to believe more strongly into Oyashiro-sama’s curse. This is not made up or a headcanon, but it’s actually canon from Higurashi Sui - Tokihogushi-hen. You can look it up , if you wish to do so. The reason I mention this, is because not everyone knows about Tokihogushi-hen arc. I approve of that kind of rp because I absolutely love angsty-themed rps,

another aspect of this might be my husbando, since he roleplays mainly edgy Battler, it’s more ic; for our muses; rena loves Keiichi, and even if she falls for Battler during an rp, there is no way she’d fall for the edgy Battler too. Since he’s literally a nightmare of the original Battler.

mun&IMPORTANT details!

Please note that what I write has nothing to with the real me. Though, I won’t lie that my muse and me are very similar, I’m in no way supporting everything that my muse does.

Furthermore, I know that RP is just for fun indeed, However. Rena is REALLY important to me. I rp  Rena since a long long time and never got bored of it and never will.  Rena is not just a muse/character for me, it’s basically part of my life and very strong influence on me. Not to mention we share lots of things in common. Rena helps me to keep my cool. This character means all to me. It’s literally a part of myself, very important to my soul. So much that I changed my real name to Rena long ago.

This is also why , I’m trying absolutely always my best to be absolutely ic; and that’s not difficult to do for me because I know all the higurashi games and even study japanese. You may will realize this whenever I talk/rp with someone of my rp partners in kanji.  

Due to learning japanese, I keep using lots of japanese catch phases that Rena says during rp’s. However, I never use anything that may seems too hard to be understood. So please do not let this be of a disturbance to you , If you ever want to know what I’m saying however, please just mention it in your tags.

Now as for myself, there isn’t much to say. I told you already my real name is Rena and I’m a hardcore 07thExpansion fan. I’m actually mysterious and not very open hearted. Some may even see me as arrogant for being an INTJ. but that’s not true at all, I’m just a picky person in general. I have a sideblog that I use mainly to reblog and post all kind of 07thExpansion stuff and moe culture. @maid-rena​

Discord/SKYPE/TWITTER: is eventually available upon request

this blog will have trigger warning contents.

RP’s can get quite dark, angsty, psychotic and bloody. Trigger warning content such as gore, homicide, torture, self-harm, can or will happen, but will be tagged accordingly.

IMPORTANT: Again, I will never approve of a smut rp here on tumblr.

formating

Edits, Icons and Layout are made by myself unless otherwise stated. Most of my icons are edited and cleaned by me, please don’t use them.

I made over 1k icons before but unfortunately. I lost many, likely I will make new icons again.

the mun faceclaim here for myself is roon from azur lane

I’m not the best editor however and I really suck making themes so chances are low that I will update my theme often. However if you’re skilled and talented in editing and making themes, then you’re absolutely free to help me out, Like, totally  ~

I sometimes use scripting and sometimes not, it’s always up to my laziness and mood and it often depends on me being mobile or using my laptop.

about rena

Rena has been through a lot of shit. She is bad-ass insane at times. However, Rena isn’t a killer-loli, She’s much more than that. Despite her usual cheerful and childish behavior, she’s actually one of the most matured characters in Higurashi with a really deep personality. And I will roleplay her accurate to the games not the anime.

You may consider Rena as a Yangire which isn’t just wrong, but please keep in mind that her deceiving treats come from her delusions most of the time and such come again by 80% from the hinamizawa syndrom.

Rena has the highest number of murders of the club members because in Yoigoshi-hen (the alternate version of Tsumihoroboshi-hen) she successfully blew up the whole school which killed 15 children (including herself, Mion, Satoko, Rika and Keiichi), likewise, she murdered Houjou Teppei and Mamiya Rina.

Rena is not mentally labile, tho she may seems evil at times, she is neither good or bad. One could most likely say she’s very ‘sick’ at times. Absolutely delusional.  If I had to categorize her, I’d say she’s “chaotic good”.

For further information about her mental disorders, please follow this LINK