#Short Xiphos

[kultofathena]

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This #Greek Xiphos possesses a tempered and sharpened #blade of 420 stainless steel. The grip of carved and polished hardwood is dual-pinned to the thick blade tang. The pommel is also #wood and is capped on its end with a steel disc. The sword comes with a stitched leather scabbard with an integrated riveted belt loop.

This blade is on sale right now! Order here today!

[wonder-vixen]

[thepleasuregoblin]

Its insane how in old d&d they kind of designed it to be playable from bronze age to late medieval so the weapon and armor options cover the whole swath, right? So the naming got a bit weird in places, such as using "short sword" as a catch-all for stuff like the gladius, the xiphos, and even the cinqueda. Perhaps the most damage done by this is the "longsword," which is a term that doesn't have a specific definition in most eras, and after the Iron Age was typically used to refer to a two-hander. The "viking longsword" was a longer but still mostly one-handed sword in the iron age, and the "longsword" in d&d was meant to represent both this and the arming sword or knightly sword which saw wide use in the medieval era.

So anyway because this funny new type of wargame consolidated some terminology and ended up become a massive cultural phenomenon, entire generations use the word "longsword" completely incorrectly in like every piece of media

[beansprean]

Some of my fav enablers @vampireshmampire and @phasmama and pejnt and Lu been talking about a Hercules au...

(ID in alt and under cut)

1. Full body of Jan as Hades in a long black dress with puffed sleeves and a long slit up the side over a darker black bodysuit with cutouts up the legs. She is wearing high top high heel sneakers and her hair is a blaze of blue fire. She sits on a throne made of bones, all the skulls of which are missing their incisors, and grins at the viewer with rows of sharp teeth. Behind her, the souls of the damned are wailing. She says, "Nandy, Nandy, Nandy... What do we do here in the Underworld?"

2. Reverse shot of Nandor as Meg, hair half up in a looping bun and wearing a short purple peplos clasped over both shoulders with brass brooches. He twiddles his fingers together and looks up at her nervously, responding, "We sweat?" Offscreen, Jan answers, "That's right!"

3. Wide profile shot as Jan gets up from her throne to stand in front of Nandor. One hand on her hip and the other pointing vaguely left, she says, "So go out there and work up a sweat to get that sweet little Van Helsing over here! And who knows - you may just earn back your humanity." Her grin is wide and confident, but her eyes are hard. Nandor perks up with a small smile at the mention of a reward.

4a. Knees up of Guillermo as Hercules, dressed in a short leather chiton and blue cape, hair styled in a little side swoop. He is grinning excitedly, holding up both fists as he says, awed, “I’m gonna be a vampire…” Nadja and Laszlo, dressed in pale red and pale green respectively, lean out from behind him. Nadja folds her hands on top of her husband’s head and rests her chin there with a sly grin, replying, “Yess, absolutely.” Laszlo wears a matching expression, posing his hands innocently under his chin. He adds, “You just have to do a few…” Nadja pipes up, “Quests!” Laszlo continues, “Yes, a few heroic quests for us, first!” 4b. In the background, Guillermo has his back to the viewer and is chopping madly at a vaguely yonic hedge with his xiphos sword, letting out a “ha!” of effort with each swing. In the foreground, Nadja and Laszlo are lounging and sipping from cups of blood. Laszlo calls over sternly, “No cutting corners, boy! I want a perfect likeness!” Nadja sits back lazily with her knees up and spread to provide a reference. /end ID

[cutecuttlefish]

The sword of the day is the xiphos.

The xiphos is a short sword utilized by ancient Greek infantry as a backup weapon. A hoplite’s main weapon was their spear, so the xiphos was mainly used when the spear was lost or broken. Hoplites fought in phalanx formation, standing shoulder to shoulder with each soldier protected by their neighbor’s shield. A spear made it easy to attack from this formation, though the swords generally came out once the phalanx broke. The xiphos was mainly used for thrusting, though its leaf shaped blade made it a capable cutter as well.

[thoughtfulrobot]

How to play Engineer TF2 but in Warframe

Vauban is a good choice of warframe for this, both because he already follows a combat engineer theme and because his physical build is short and stocky like Engie. Make sure you color him to match your preferred tf2 team.

For your primary weapon, equip any shotgun.

For your secondary, equip any single-handed pistol or revolver.

For your melee, grab your favorite hammer and equip it with the Motherwrench skin. Alternatively, if you want to be a Gunslinger Engineer, there are a few different fist weapons to choose from.

Subsume Protea and inject her Dispensary ability into Vauban.

Get the Xiphos landing craft and equip its turret gun air support. (Remember to stock up on air support charges!)

Alternatively, robotic companions can be equipped with guns and will follow you around. I would probably use a moa for this.

You could also have a friend "cosplay" as a turret by equipping a rocket launcher and a weapon with a high fire rate, and coloring their warframe like a tf2 turret. I recommend Mesa, since she gets a buff for going without melee weapons. Make sure you stock up on squad restores for them– a good engineer takes good care of his buildings!

Say nothing in the chat except "engineer gaming"

Follow me for more gamer tutorials (which I will probably never make, idk, we'll see)

[themissingnumbers]

Hi, Starry! Remember that observation I said I wanted to do of that "A Boy Named Red" art piece? I finally got around to that. I don't mean to clutter your inbox or blog, but I don't know where else to put it, so I'll just put it here- This probably won't have any sort of theory in it, but I dunno yet. We'll see-

1. Where do I start- Uhhh, did anybody else see that one half of Fire's face is just... missing? Like, it's decomposed or something. You have to change the brightness of the image to see it, but you can see his bones—the mandible/jaw, the zygomatic bone, and the maxilla. Looks like his eye is missing, too, or is just empty/milky white. Freaky. (Also, those gold dots are looking right at us you cannot convince me otherwise.)

2. Might be grasping at straws here, but for whatever reason my brain focused on the fact that there are no words near Fire's head when it's perfectly fine overlapping everything and everyone else. The inner circle of the halo closest to his head is empty. Is that symbolism? Like, showing that he has no ability to think for himself? That the only words he's influenced by are the words of "God" (In air quotes because fuck Arceus, that thing is no god to me-) and nobody else's input matters so long as he does what he's told?

3. The Strings. Those strings bug me in a way I can't really explain. It's not just the stitches that are holding him together, but it's that fact that they're like... pretty. They're wrapped around him in such an intricate manner, like a work of art or the bow on an expensive present. They feel possessive. Evil. They're restrictive. One is connected to his eye, the other to the corner of his mouth, the others are wrapped around his arms and legs, and there are more wrapped around each individual finger. They're not quite chains, but they may as well be. They give me the vibes of "Oh, your pet finally learned to behave, so it deserves a nicer collar." It looks nicer, and it's more comfortable, but the core meaning behind it is still the same. Someone else owns you and you have no freedom. It gives me an oddly icky feeling.

4. Can I focus in on the sword for a second? Okay, thanks- That thing is so cool. Younger me was a bit of a weapon nut and that came out a little bit the more I looked at it, so enjoy this little ramble. The sword itself, as in the blade, at first glance reminded me of a Xiphos but looked like more of a Gladius upon closer inspection due to the shape of the blade. Xiphos swords have a Leaf-shaped blade that sort of gets wider in the middle and a reinforced mid-rib, while Gladius blades are completely straight with a uniform width and a pointed top, along with a diamond cross-section. (It's probably not a short sword, but from the angle I'm looking at, it looks like a short sword.) [Hold up: I went back and refreshed my knowledge, and I swear this blade looks like a Cinquedea, at least in shape.] Now, I can't really see what specifics the blade has got, but based on the blood spatter I'm gonna assume it's got a diamond cross-section. (But this is also fantasy so who really cares?) I also can't really see the hilt of the blade either, but with the angle we're looking at it seems like it's curved, which is freaking awesome. A curved hilt gives you more leverage for cutting and is good for thrusting attacks due to its more pistol-like grip, so it's effective. It's a powerful weapon when placed in the right hands. What I'm really focused on though is that based on the blade's appearance, it looks like a double-edged sword... which would be bad for a blade with a curved hilt because now you can't use it in the opposite direction, but there's also an extra meaning in a more figurative sense—like the power is a burden. Take that as you will :)

5. The Bodies. There are SO many bodies, some of which I spent too long trying to identify with no clues, but I'll just point out who I see. You've got (shirtless!) Red on the left with his ribs exposed and his guts spilling out, still smiling. You've got Blue not too far away from him with a knife in his neck. And then a little bit behind Blue but closer to fire there's just a pile of bones hidden by the darkness. I don't know who those belong to, but they're there. Over to the right, we can see who I'm pretty sure is Leaf going off of the dress, the shackles and the bloody hands. You can see Miki's head right by Fire's foot all wrapped up in red string. A little bit behind who I'm assuming is Leaf, I'm assuming is another Blue with bleeding ears or an injured face? They've got the FRLG high-collared shirt that Blue seems to wear, but the shoes don't really match up so I'm not really sure. I also don't know who's in the chest or who's facing Suicune, but all the way in the bottom right corner is Gold (ouch-) I couldn't tell at first, but after brightening up the image, you can see his hood, the detail of his pockets, and that little band on the sleeve of the arm laying nearby. (Poor Gold, but also Poor Fire-)

6. Other items. There are a lot of little things just lying around in this picture that I'm not really sure about, but I'll give them my best guesses here. There's something to the right of Fire, just below the hand holding the sword, that kinda looks like... coins? A flower? I'm not really sure, but it looks like it's on top of something else, which I unfortunately cannot see. There's a classic brick Game Boy off to the right as well. Don't know why it's there along with the box that person was shoved in. There's also like... some fuzz?- or some shit right up by Fire's wrist, which I also don't know why it's there or who it belongs to. I'm just assuming it's fluff/fur based on how I've seen Starry draw fur and Eevee. There are some crystals on the left, which kinda look like those crazy crystals jutting out of Dark Mewtwo. And there's also this weird ball thing in the bottom left that I genuinely cannot identify. It looks like it's being held together by green string, but I'm not sure. (Almost forgot to mention the Pomeg Berry at Fire's feet-)

7. The Others. I don't have too much to say about them, but there are two other characters in the background. A Suicune who's wearing a muzzle, and a Hisuain Zoroark with a golden collar around its neck. I'm assuming that the Zoroark is the character that got teased a while back, the one that was "Collared by the Narrative" I believe. Now, I'm also not sure why Suicune is wearing a muzzle, but I'm going to take it at face value and assume it's a form of control because the idea of Arceus having other gods in its back pocket just makes sense to me.

Okay, I think that's all I got for now. Sorry if it's too long. I just wanted to write this stuff down while I had the energy. Hope you like it though :)

Death comes in many forms; Slaughtered, Poisoned, Enshrined. Not every body is how it was, scraps and fragments left behind.

Remember the thirds, all that went wrong. The Youngest is the Eldest, strange beasts who don't belong.

Copies are valuable, for the imperfections they hold. Truth lies in scripture, held together with gold.

[minecraftbookshelf]

Weapons of Choice

@justanaveragelizardperson has spoken! (Thank you so much, not being able to decide was driving me up the wall)

We'll hit this in alphabetical order, my headcanons for these are a combination of canon inspiration and pure, world-building results. Also this is not 100% accurate to how swords especially work in real life, this is a fantasy genre story and we embrace the "But It Looks Cool" here.

-

Fwip: His preferred weapons are potions and explosions, he always has a fireworks crossbow to hand. As far as bladed weapons go he has a long dagger that doubles for chopping potions ingredients when he doesn't have his actual tools to hand.

Gem: Primarily uses her staff in combat, but if the occasion calls for it will just haul back and punch her opponent in the face. Is scrappy and level-headed, which is a dangerous combination.

Joey: Primarily fights with a smallsword when he has to fight but is the least martially minded of the rulers. Keeps totems of undying on him at all times.

Katherine: Her sword is a light-weight saber, her fighting style relies on her being light and quick on both her feet and her wings. She can also call the Overgrown to defend her and itself if the occasion calls for it.

LDShadowLady: Fights with a trident. She has a sword but doesn't really use it. The trident is the traditional weapon of the Oceanic royalty, thus both hers and Jimmy's. Will also sic axolotls on her enemies without hesitation.

Mythical J. Sausage: The Blood Sword is a zweihänder. He also carries a short sword to wield with a shield. His grip is half-open, giving a bit less flexibility but greater power to his blows. He acquires his sorcerers staff at one point and then favors that about equal with the Blood Sword.

PearlescentMoon: Equally proficient with her sword, axe, and scythe, as well as hand to hand. Is also skilled with the bow but prefers close combat methods. Her sword is a longsword that she wields both two handed and with a shield. She has a very rooted fighting style, her footwork is minimal, but when she does go more mobile she is very well balanced. She relies somewhat on her ability to tank hits, which serves her well, as her endurance is incredibly high, as demonstrated by her ability to go toe-to-toe with semi-immortal beings on a regular basis and hold her own. Shes very adept at using her elytra in combat, to the point that multiple rulers with natural wings have commented on her flight proficiency.

Pixlriffs: His preferred weapon is a Channeling Trident, his second choice is his basket-hilted sword (a schiavona) or recurve bow.

Shrub Berry: Joey gifted them a smallsword which for her functions as a broadsword. She's relatively new to combat but is proficient with a hatchet and a recurve bow. Their greatest weapon is the wolf pack.

Smajor: (There is no war rune blade in Ba Sing Se.) We're sticking with the LotR aesthetic for weapons as well, so that is what his sword looks like (A long-sword after the style of those used by the Lorien forces at Helm's Deep in the films) Also proficient with a longbow. At the time of the story beginning is not even close to considering using his ice magic in combat.

SmallishBeans: Equally favors a Mezalean shortsword (based off a xiphos) and a battle axe. He does have a trident and is fairly proficient with it but prefers to use it for travel rather than combat.

Solidarity: The Codfather Sword is a two-handed sword, closest to a claymore, he wields it with an open grip. (Which allows for more flexibility and control of the blade but the strikes are less powerful) When he's in Fish Mode it is more of a bastard/hand-and-a-half sword. He also uses a trident, mostly for aquatic combat.

Xornoth: Two swords. Has never willingly used a shield in their life and isn't about to start now. Is either dual wielding elvish-style short swords or has a full-size battle axe. Will sometimes throw fire and lava but tends to be cautious with it.

-

AU Masterpost

[surgepricing]

That RWBY retrospective was a great read. Would you be willing to share the rest of your deep dive? I would love to read it

Thought long and hard about what I wanted to show off next; very rarely did I get into discussing RWBY in later volumes without stepping on some toes. I decided I'd post one of the more tame chapters from the Volume 2 recap, just to see what people have to say. I hope you enjoy it.

I won't be able to do this with every recap while preserving the images and gifs I used, since there's a limit of 30 and sometimes my posts went well beyond that, but I can always try other options.

Title: RWBY 09 – Volume 2, Second Arc (Part I) Original Posting Date: Dec 19, 2020 Episodes Covered: Volume 2, Episodes 5 & 6

Alright. So far, Volume 2 is not taking me to happy places. But why stop now?

We ended on a gigantic fight between four girls and a robotic mech.

V2E5, “Extracurricular”

The first thing I get to recap to you is a fight scene, right out of the gate. We open on Pyrrha, seeing her gear up for combat, spliced inbetween flashes of the fight itself. Now, for once, since this fight is neither the focus of the episode, nor that important overall, I’m not going to slavishly transcribe it, but rather give you the rundown:

It’s Pyrrha versus the entirety of Team CRDL (Cardin, Russel, Dove, and Lark, in case you forgot). Cardin’s packing his big giant mace, Russel’s armed with dual knives with what look like dust rotors, Lark is swinging around a halberd that looks completely unaltered, and Dove is armed with a slim double-edged blade that can fold into a pistol. If you want to see the fight that badly, I have good news: it’s easy to gif, since it’s brutally short, a mere minute and a half (1:40 to 3:14). So here, my treat:

As you can see, Pyrrha is completely untouchable here, even four-on-one. She sends CRDL’s members flying with precise strikes and sweeps, and deflects Dove’s and Russel’s blades with only the shield braced on her one arm without even going off-balance. Sky and Cardin hit a bit harder, and Cardin gets points for being the only one to take more than three seconds to demolish, but she trounces him, too, the minute she sees an opening. All in all, she was in complete control of the battle and it showed.

You might be wondering how Pyrrha could so skillfully dismantle four attackers, some of whom have clear advantages on her in size and weight and who were attacking together. Don’t worry—you’ll see.

The lights come on in the arena, and Glynda’s voice again announces the end of the match, complimenting Pyrrha and mentioning she’ll have no trouble qualifying for the Vytal Tournament. She turns to the stands, asking any of the attending students if they’d like to fill one last match. RWBY, who are in the stands, appear uninterested, but we can see two familiar faces sitting just behind them. Glynda zeroes in on Blake, who hurriedly snaps some book shut, accusing her of being rather ‘docile’ in recent classes, but before she can volunteer her, a hand is raised and Mercury’s voice pipes up.

Glynda makes to select an opponent for him, but he stops her—he wants to go a round with Pyrrha. Glynda, clearly a tad peeved at having been interrupted twice, tries to tell him that she’s already finished a match, but Pyrrha welcomes another fight, very happy to take him up on it.

Mercury, legs greaved in black metal and showing off glinting silver bullets loading the chambers, slowly struts onto the field to meet his opponent, and in the background, Emerald glances at the back of Ruby’s head, then at the match, with a pointed focus on her eyes. Mercury takes a kickboxing stance, while Pyrrha stands with shield and xiphos at the ready. The two of them rush to meet each other, and Mercury throws a kick that meets Pyrrha’s shield before she sweeps his other leg out from under him. He makes distance with many an unnecessary backflip.

The two fighters clearly appraise one another, before Pyrrha runs forward and presses him. Mercury goes on a fantastic defense, deflecting her strikes and trying to get around her shield, but this enables Pyrrha to just butt him in the chest and send him skidding back.

Mercury nods, as if to say ‘eh, pretty good’, and in the stands, Ruby turns to compliment Emerald on how well her ‘friend’ is doing, who smiles and then rolls her eyes as soon as Ruby turns back towards the match. The two in the arena continue:

Mercury launches a fast and furious series of strikes with the goal of bringing a heavy boot down on something that gives, and Pyrrha performs the sickest move ever, throwing her sword into the air behind her and then just catching Mercury’s next kick with the back of her arm. Mercury undercuts the coolness of this just a bit by answering her next series of slashes with the re-equipped sword and knocking the xiphos out of her hand and some distance away. Pyrrha doesn’t look too concerned about this.

When Mercury makes to pounce on this advantage, she raises her free hand as if to catch his boot, but it doesn’t make contact. We the viewer see a very faint black outline around her hand and his boot as she does it. Mercury is sent off-balance, and takes a moment to absorb what just happened. Pyrrha rushes him, and he gets back up in time to meet her shield with both legs and fire his greave-guns, sending him shooting off of it and a good distance away, just in time to say the magic words before she can press her assault.

M: I forfeit.

Pyrrha is thrown off, and skids to a halt, surprised and rather annoyed at this turn of events. Mercury dismisses her—she’s a world-class fighter, and they’re obviously leagues apart. Glynda understandably shares her irritation, given that Mercury chose to fight her in the first place. Mercury and Emerald are both grinning.

Glynda reminds everyone that “the dance is this weekend” and their first mission is on Monday. RWBY file out of the arena, Blake’s nose buried in a notebook and Emerald watching them as they go. Mercury dryly remarks, as he comes up to Emerald, that learning is “so much fun”.

Now before I pounce on the words that I just bolded, which the next scene that we cut to would like to elaborate on, let me draw your attention to something:

Do you see this overhead shot of Beacon’s courtyard? To the right of RWBY, heading out, you will see Sun’s team, SSSN (pronounced “Sun”)—himself and Neptune, plus Scarlet and Sage.

That is their—Sage’s and Scarlet’s—only appearance this volume.

No, they do not actually interact with anyone nor are they involved in this scene whatsoever, they’re literally in the background and stay there. I don’t feel bad about spoiling that. Better we got it out of the way now. Do any of you remember something I highlighted in my Volume 1 Final Thoughts?

I said that slow pacing wasn’t something we could afford when this show only runs for 25% of the year and is on hiatus the other 75%. It’s not like live-action dramas, either, able to make up for that by running for 50 episodes at a time or packing 30-45 minutes into each episode. It seemed, at the time, an astounding feat of juggling to introduce so many new characters in the very last episode and then even more in the Volume 2 trailer and opening—but now we can see that it evens out, because they don’t intend on using any of them.

By this point in time, RWBY fans had been sitting on the knowledge that Sun had his own team, salivating in the aftermath of his glorious first impression, and hungering for some details on his crew for quite a while, and have at this point gone five weeks with nothing but scraps. They will go the rest of the volume—ten more weeks, what with the World of Remnant introduction—and then the rest of the Volume 2-3 hiatus with yet more nothing to go on.

Release date of Volume 2 Trailer: July 4th, 2014 Release date of Volume 3 Episode 2: October 31st, 2015.

Fifteen, almost sixteen months. Over a year. Not a year in which consistent content was coming—a year in which an official entry to the series’ collective body came and went. If you were actually interested in these characters as a team, any sparse involvement of the remaining two, or anything deeper than a petri dish from Sun and Neptune, you were absolutely not going to get it. Sucks to be you.

Love to Be a Part of It Someday: 10

*idly twirling a foil scraper* That’s not good. That is, in fact, pretty fuckin’ bad. Dickish, even. A point each for Sage and Scarlet, plus a point for the lack of unit behavior with Sun and Neptune—plus another for the conspicuous amount of time spent ignoring these dudes whose names haven’t even been said in-show. Fairest arrangement I can think of.

But that’s all I can say now. I will be bringing this back up later, near or at the end of the Volume. The same goes for the hair-ripping Exit Stage Left from last post that had me so bald.

So let’s move on to the issue actually comprising this scene.

Blake is lagging behind her team, head still buried in her notebook. Sun breaks off from his own team to catch up with her.

S: Hey, Blake! You, uh, doin’ okay?

B: I’m fine.

S: *clearing his throat* So I hear there’s this dance goin’ on this weekend… Agh, sounds...pretty lame, but you an’ me, I’m thinkin’, not as lame? Huh?

B: ...What?

S: The dance, this weekend! You wanna go, or what?

B: ...I don’t have time for a stupid dance. *turning and walking away* I thought you, of all people, would get that.

In case the tone of this conversation is not clear to you, here’s a gif, so you can see their body language like I can.

Sun is being his usual chill and somewhat dorky self, if a little nervous, not pushy or rude. Blake, who has suddenly developed noticeable circles under her eyes since leaving the school arena, responds in a much rougher tone than we might have expected given her previous characterizations. Sun is visibly deflated and her teammates eye her as she walks off. Ruby spares sad boi Sun a glance before we cut to the next scene.

B: You what?

Ruby answers that they want her to go to the dance. When Blake calls that ridiculous, Yang mentions that they’re worried about her. This investigation, she says, is starting to mess with her head.

Ohhh, the investigation! Yeah, that was a thing that happened last episode, wasn’t it?

Wiess mentions that Blake can’t sleep, hardly eats, and her grades are tanking. Blake wants to know why she should care about grades when lives are at stake! Yang responds that they know, and they’re still trying to find out what Torchwick is up to.

Ruby mentions that thanks to Blake and Sun, they know that he and the White Fang are operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale, and Weiss follows up that Schnee records indicated that Vale was clearly the primary target of dust robberies over the last month.

Not to interrupt yet more blossoming angst from Blake, but yeah, this is our reward for following that three-episode ‘arc’ that culminated in the Paladin fight. Weiss lists that last bit off as if it’s useful information—it isn’t, because the characters live in Vale, among the robberies, and the viewers have so far only been shown Vale, and robberies happening there. It gives them nothing to go on besides “hey, at least the plot isn’t operating outside of our reach, like in other countries!” and that is why I remain firm in my decision to award it the Road to Nowhere point.

But seriously, think about what’s going on here. Blake’s grievance about lives is that they’re at stake, not that any have been lost, just in case you don’t believe that all those massacred people on the interstate really last episode didn’t matter. They don’t even register here. As if to underscore the fact that we just hit the reset button—on everything, including Blake’s inner turmoil over Torchwick that seemingly got resolved in Episode 2—they’re even back in their standard outfits, with the cool, unique, badass outfits that they wore for an episode and a half completely ditched, forgotten, and never brought up again.

None of that mattered. We went nowhere.

Alright, now that I’m good and mad, let’s continue with the scene.

Y: Don’t forget about their missing military tech, too.

I’m fine! I’m cool, I’m calm, I’m fine!

(for reference here, the recap before, I had gone into an extended rant about how Torchwick just having a gigantic military mech made no sense, since it's not feasible for him to steal it undetected with his level of resources, and how barreling down a public interstate in it with the White Fang emblem stamped on it pretty much broadcasted his location and claimed the carnage so that it couldn't even be used to sow distrust against Ironwood).

When Blake protests that there’s still unanswered questions, Ruby responds that she won’t find any answers if she can’t even stay awake. Yang reiterates that they want her to relax a bit for one day, and Weiss insists it’ll be fun—because after all, Weiss and Yang are going to make sure of it! You see, they’re planning the whole event!

Yes, Yang said that verbatim. They—two girls—are planning a school event comprising not just the hundreds of students living at their campus, but hundreds more students coming in from three other countries! Sorry, I’m not letting you get away with that.

Ill Logic: 16

It isn’t alleviated by the fact that the event was originally being managed by four students instead of a mere two. Weiss mentions that upperclassmen team CFVY (pronounced “coffee”) aren’t back from their mission yet, so she and Yang were asked to pick up where they left off. Weiss promises that after the dance, they can return to their regularly scheduled business, nose in Torchwick’s business and all.

B: I think this is a colossal waste of time.

She gets up and strides out, mentioning that she’ll be in the library, with her team bemoaning that she can’t keep going like this.

But enough about that! There’s a knock on the door, and Weiss answers it. Guess who it is!

What he’s here for is obvious before he even says it. Weiss shuts the door in his face, and he knocks again, begging that she open it, and promising not to sing.

J: I lied!

W: [facepalming]

J: Weiss Sch-nee! ♪ Will you accompany me? ♪ To the daaaaance on! ♪ Sunday? ♪

W: Are you done?

J: ...Yes?

W: No. [she shuts the door in his face, then turns to her teammates] ...What?

Y: And that, is why they call you the ice queen.

W: All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name. [crossing her arms and turning away] Besides, I already have a date in mind.

R: Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can’t get Blake to go.

The scene here ends on a zoom-in towards the sky outside the open window. But first…You didn’t think we were going to escape this shit without a little commentary on boundaries, did you?

Mkay. We’re not quite done with this issue, but we may as well do this—you may be flashing back to the first interaction Weiss actually had with Jaune, and his very pushy and rude flirting in the same scene. I mentioned there that it translated worse when written than watched, and could easily be brushed off as harmless even though it wasn’t. There is no such allowance here.

We’ve already established, through that scene and through the recent cold shoulder she gave him in class, that Weiss has no interest in Jaune’s time. Trying to ask her out to a dance, therefore, is a bad idea, but not necessarily a full-stop no-bad-wrong. Once she made it clear via door slam that she still wasn’t interested, that was the official cutoff, and any further pursuit should’ve been given up. He continues to pester her, and then she still gives him the official “No”.

If, like me, you mis-remembered this as Jaune asking her out like four or five times past a clear “No”, don’t worry, there’s still more to talk about. Because while Jaune is still over the line—

Jaune: 8

—what the real issue here is, is the framing of Weiss’ answer. See, it’s not because Jaune has qualities that turn Weiss off, or that his behavior is bad, or even that she simply doesn’t want to go to the dance—it’s that she assumes that Jaune only wants her because she’s the illustrious Schnee heiress. It is framed as though Weiss’ ‘no’ to Jaune is simply one of caution rather than actual disinterest in him—as though he ‘deserves a chance’, and the only reason he isn’t getting one is because a) Weiss made the wrong assumption and b) she already has the spot filled.

The problem is that Weiss doesn’t need a reason. She may hate Jaune’s guts, or may be head-over-heels with him. She may simply find him unattractive, or may simply not enjoy his company. She may not enjoy dances on principle. She may already have a date, or may not. She may have no reason whatsoever to say no to Jaune.

And she can still say no to him, and deserves to have that respected. Because a girl doesn’t need a ‘good’ reason to reject a guy. The ‘no’ is the beginning, middle, and end. She says no, and that’s that.

Fauxminism: 6

There’s shades of this with Blake, too, mind, what with her team trying to push her to go to a dance she has no interest in. Blake may, like myself, simply not find dances enjoyable and want to skip it, regardless of whatever turmoil is causing her to lose sleep, but this passes just a tad more easily because her physical health and mindset are clearly not their best.

Back to the next scene. We are shown Jaune training with Pyrrha. Both of them are wielding their swords with both hands and have gone shieldless, so Pyrrha seems to be teaching him the basics. He presses her into a couple of sword locks, before she sweeps his legs out from under him with her own. She laughs, and compliments how much his swordplay has improved, extending a hand to help him up (while a very creepy but un-commented-on green glow emanates from the headmaster’s tower in the background).

She asks if he wants to go ahead with Aura training, and Jaune hesitantly wonders about skipping that for tonight. She recommends he keep at it, and that she’s sure they’ll discover his Semblance in no time (hinting for the audience that one is attached to the other). Jaune dismisses this as the problem, saying “It’s dumb”. Pyrrha presses him when he clams up, and he admits he wants time to lament about Weiss.

What about her, Pyrrha asks, and he confesses he asked her to the dance and she promptly shut him down. Pyrrha, quite stiffly, mentions that there’s plenty of fish, as the saying goes. Easy for her to say, he says, since she probably has guys falling over themselves in line to hit that up. She subtly hints that this isn’t the case, only to be blown off. If she doesn’t get a date to the dance, he says, he’ll wear a dress.

Wait for it. I’ll comment on it in time.

Pyrrha gives Jaune’s retreating back the solemn gaze of the unrequited crush, and all I can do is question her taste, which I will do in detail soon enough.

The next scene we cut to is the dorm room where Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury are staying. They’re commenting on ‘the invincible girl’, Pyrrha Nikos, who Mercury appears to have figured out. He and Emerald explain that her semblance is ‘polarity’, but she hides it well, using it to manipulate combat in her favor in subtle ways that won’t be noticed if you aren’t looking. In this way, she creates the impression that she really is untouchable in combat on skill alone, rather than because most fighters would realistically be helpless against her.

We will ask a question now: if Pyrrha’s so good at being subtle about her abilities, why did she magically wave Mercury’s foot away from her face rather than simply catching it? She proved she was capable of doing just that. One looks significantly less suspect than the other, and likely wouldn’t have actually been caught by Mercury’s oh-so-clever analysis!

Ill Logic: 17

Your Fight Scene Sucks: 10

C: People assume she’s fated for victory, when she’s taken fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list.

How very ominous. Mercury mentions that Cinder should be able to take her easily, and she adopts a more serious demeanor as she declares that it’s not about overpowering the enemy, but taking away what power they have. How different those two things really are, in this context or any, is something I’ll leave up to readers.

When Mercury bemoans more waiting around, Cinder mentions a ‘fun weekend’ in store for them, while holding up a needle she’s using to sew something. The episode ends.

Before I move on to the next episode, I need to air an issue I’ve been saving since the beginning of this one, and I will preface it with an apology, because one last time, I’m about to use the j-word: juvenile.

It took me a while to find that word, you know, when I was first outlining a spork of this animation, and when I was searching for and finally settled on it, I was thinking of this plot point right here, and nothing else. It didn’t occur to me until I was actually writing the recaps for the preceding episodes just how many times I could, and would, apply that word.

And it does occasionally hit me that I may come off as snobbish or elitist for that, and I apologize if so. I promise that’s not my intention. I’m not some fun-hating asshat that takes issue with a show being accessible to kids and not being filled with blood and gore and sex and f-bombs. I’m not trying to put RWBY ‘beneath’ me.

But there is nonetheless a problem with how this show is treading its water. There are certain things the audience is expecting, was expecting, and some they most certainly weren’t—and probably didn’t welcome. And as for me, I would call this one of them. Let’s lay our cards on the table here: we now have a dance arc to sit through. Dance arcs are restricted, generally speaking, to a few different settings, and it’s rather difficult to make most of them cross over with the dramatic, monster-slaying world of Remnant. And failing the one, rather more flexible type of dance arc—the whole ‘regal, fancy high-society ball’ type—we instead are being handed the other type. Say it with me now, what we’ve really got is a prom arc.

I cannot fucking stand the prom arc.

Suppose for a minute that I did enjoy high-school shows, of which the prom arc is the most standard, inseparable staple. Regardless of the fact that I detest them in general, there are interesting things you can do in a high school setting, especially if there are fantasy elements involved. If binging Supernatural doesn’t scar me deeply enough by the time I’m done, hell, the one I’ll probably move on to is Teen Wolf, in which I understand this problem to have reared its ugly head. The prom arc is emblematic of both high school shows and what ends up being wrong with most of them, in that it’s the least interesting thing you can possibly show me.

Absent any monster-slaying or teens with superpowers, maybe on occasion I can still get invested in a plot about how some chick is trying to hide her pregnancy, about how a bully gets his due (one we had in this show, as it happens!), or how some kid getting in with the wrong crowd tries to get out before it destroys his life. To say nothing of the oft-ignored or mishandled potential of trying to watch teens struggle through things like sexuality or gender, which more and more of us could relate to and want to see. And yes, even that is relevant to what I will say later on.

The fact of the matter is, ‘who is taking who to prom? Tee-hee! Ooooh!’ is the plot point that is both the least interesting and the one that often takes up way too much time and attention. It’s tired, annoying, endlessly-retreaded, boring…and now we have one right here.

Coming right off the heels of Torchwick chasing gun-and-sword-wielding teens down a crowded freeway and the large-scale implications Blake keeps babbling about, why should we disagree with her assessment of this? Why on earth would we care about some freaking prom? Do we not have a million more interesting things to look at?!

And don’t think that it ends with me calling this farce for what it is. There’s also the fact that it doesn’t make sense. This prom is happening on the heels of a bazillion exchange students arriving to stay on campus.

Really? You want to ask hundreds of people who are unfamiliar with the city and have never been here before to try and find dates, ostensibly with people from other countries that they hardly know, when they barely know their way around? That makes sense to you? Someone should bitch slap Ozpin upside the head for thinking that’s a good idea.

Ill Logic: 18

It’s not getting Reliable Leader points because I can’t prove it was him that organized it, but it’s still a terrible idea nonetheless. Whatever, let’s move along.

V2E6, “Burning the Candle”

We open on Ruby sitting at a table when set upon by Weiss, asking her opinion: which tablecloth should she go with? But they’re both the same, and Weiss leaves in a huff when this is pointed out. Yang is carrying a huge amp and sets it down with a colossal thud. She asks if Ruby has picked out her dress yet, and Ruby, incredibly down in the dumps, asks what the point is if Blake isn’t going.

You have a weird fixation on Blake attending a very pointless event, you know that? Do you have some terminal inability to enjoy anything if it isn’t being done with your whole teeeeaaam? I’m gonna start calling you Esme.

Yang waves this off: don’t worry, Ruby, Blake’s going! Said with a confident smirk, which given Yang’s track record with coercion so far, does not make me think the things I imagine Rooster Teeth wanted me to think, so great work there. She then snaps at Weiss that she doesn’t want doilies everywhere. No doilies, no fog machines, Weiss answers.

This leads to a comment from Neptune, who walks in with Sun. Lovely to see you two again, did you ever find your missing two team members? No? Sorry to hear that, keep at it! Neptune thinks this might be pretty cool, and Sun asks if the ladies are all ready for ‘dress-up’. Ruby is not as enthused as Yang and Weiss are at the idea of getting all dolled up to turn heads. So what are they going to be wearing, the latter asks?

S: Pfft, uhhh, this?

Before I can point out that this is yet another detail implying that Sun is poor, Neptune tries to wave him off, but Sun will not be ignored. He mentions that, despite having moved to Mistral, he grew up in Vacuo, which viewers will by now understand to be a desert nation and rather dangerous.

S: It’s not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place.

Y: Yeah, we’ve noticed.

Holding my tongue here.

Sun, visibly uncomfortable, asks what Blake thinks of all this, and if she’s still in her ill mood, and they confirm that she is. Yang, again all a-smirking, says to just trust her, because Blake will definitely be at the dance tomorrow. Whatever could she mean?

She means racism, of course! See, in the next scene, she’s got a laser pointer, and interrupts Blake’s time poring over a library computer by bothering her with it until she gives in and tries to follow it to the source. It is an extended sequence and very uncomfortable. Remember: this would not matter if Blake was just a cat person, and cat people and humans coexisted with nothing else said about it. But the faunus in this show are explicit stand-ins for people of color! So this joke is unfunny and offensive by default. Imagine if some black kid was hanging out on the computer and some rudeass white kid started trying to dangle fried chicken or watermelon in front of them, ‘cause black people love that stuff, right? Ha. Ha. Ha. So very funny.

RSVP: 22

When Blake finally finds Yang holding the laser pointer, the latter drags her off by the arm, claiming they ‘need to talk’ and no, it’s not funny. Cut to the next scene!

Lie Ren walks out of the JNPR dorm’s bathroom wearing only a towel. In the exact same manner, Jaune comes out of nowhere and grabs him by the arm, claiming they need to talk. Ha, funny, hee.

J: Ren…I’m just gonna come out and say it. You…are one of my best friends. These past few months, I feel like we’ve really bonded! Even though...you don’t say much. I mean, you’re really quiet. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know that much about you personally...but darn it, I consider you to be the brother I never had!

R: [still in a towel and visibly uncomfortable] ...And I you.

J: Which is why I wanted to get your advice on...girls!

I love when racism is followed by good old-fashioned homophobia! Because yes, that’s what this is. The fact that Ren’s in a towel and Jaune starts by using language like “you’re one of my best friends” and the ever-suspect “come out and say it” make it clear that this is obviously a funny joke meant to make the audience laugh because oh, he sounds like he’s about to confess his love to another man! Isn’t that funny?!

*icily* Miles Luna, you see this big fat dick? Eat me. It’s fucking scary as hell for gay people trying to approach love and you don’t get to make us the butt of your jokes.

And for the record, no, I don’t think that was a one-off. See, people watching RWBY had, before Volume 2 even aired, asked about the topic of sexuality within this show. They wanted to know...well, mostly whether their favorite ships were gonna happen, but beyond that, they wanted to know whether Rooster Teeth intended to display non-heterosexual identities and how they felt about doing so. Monty went on record and assured them the characters would figure that sort of thing out under their own power and on their own time, and that it would not be brushed aside but also wouldn’t be a huge part of the story. So by this point, Rooster Teeth are already aware they had an LGBT audience...and this little scene still got greenlit.

Malevolent? Malicious? No and no. But abso-fucking-lutely in poor taste? Definitely so.

Jaune eventually says that he wants to know how Ren and Nora got together, only for them both to uncomfortably clarify that they’re not a couple. He urges her to put her headphones back on, since obviously he wanted Ren’s opinion on this and not hers. Dick. Ren asks him what this is about.

J: It’s Weiss. I’m completely head-over-heels for her, and she won’t even give me a chance. She’s cold, but…she’s also incredible. She’s smart, graceful, and talented...I mean, have you heard her sing? I just wish she’d take me seriously, you know? I wish I could tell her how I feel, without messing it all up.

Yes, we are still not done with this tiresome matter.

First, this was clearly an attempt to back up what I said above: it’s all a misunderstanding! Jaune doesn’t want her because she’s a Schnee, (or just because she’s hot), he’ll have you know! It has nothing to do with superficial qualities like her money (or her hotness). It’s all about those other not-at-all-superficial qualities like how graceful she is, what a beautiful voice she has, and uhh, what was that last one? Oh yeah, how smart she is! Notice that Jaune said nothing that actually indicated he knows her. Is she a kind person? Does she have passion or drive? Does she care about others? Does she put forth effort to be the best she can be and make every day great? What are her interests and hobbies? The best you could say is that ‘smart’ technically isn’t superficial, but it’s one short step away from ‘aw yeah, she’s got a brain to go with those hot titties!’

This was clearly a transparent attempt to smooth over burgeoning distaste for Jaune and his interactions with women, so it’s getting two points, and one of them is our very first!

Jaune: 9

Band-Aid Brigade: 1

Moving on. Pyrrha cuts in, telling Jaune that if he really feels that way about Weiss, he should just tell her. No schemes, no pick-up lines, just honesty.

P: Jaune. You can’t get it wrong if it’s the truth!

I beg to differ! He can get it very wrong! He’s gonna show us that much very soon!

But Jaune likes this advice and hurries out, leaving Nora to sadly advise Pyrrha to practice what she preaches.

Now we cut back to Blake and Yang. They are occupying some unused theater classroom, with Yang sitting cross-legged on the teacher’s desk and Blake pacing back and forth with her arms crossed. Blake insists that they can’t afford to slow down, while Yang says that taking a break isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. At Yang’s invitation, Blake reluctantly sits down to listen to her story.

Cuz it’s story time!

Y: Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island just off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal, and our mom would take on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose. And she was like...Super-Mom. Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then...one day she left for a mission and never came back. It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but…I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, you know? And my dad just kinda...shut down. It wasn’t long before I learnt why. Summer wasn’t the first love he’d lost. She was the second. The first was my mom. He wouldn’t tell me everything. But I learnt that they had been on a team together with Summer and Qrow. And that she’d left me with him just after I was born. No one had seen her since.

Yes, this is belated Yang Time. Pay careful attention to what she said here. I’ll be talking about it in just a minute.

Blake asks why Yang’s birth mother left. Yang answers that it’s that exact question that ate at her as a kid and drove her to find out why. We transfer to art deco as Yang delves deeper into her backstory. She found a clue, she describes, while the art deco shows us a picture in a broken picture frame, that she thought would lead her to her mother or answers thereabouts.

Y: I waited for Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must’ve walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, was totally exhausted…but I wasn’t gonna let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand. But I didn’t care. I had made it. And then I saw them. Those burning red eyes. There we were. A toddler asleep in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it...our uncle showed up just in time. My stubbornness should’ve gotten us killed that night.

The bolded material, this time, is for me. First, I know a lot of you will expect me to comment on Yang’s parents and what they’re like, and on this matter, one in particular. But please wait. Give it time—there is an appropriate moment to talk about this, and you need the full effect. For now, let’s just focus on the first one: Ruby.

In addition to Yang Time, we now have our very first details about Ruby’s mother, Summer Rose! Fans had been itching to hear about this ever since that extremely loaded song, Red Like Roses Part II, debuted in Volume 1. A dark past, trauma, a desire to know why her protectorate left her...and then we find out Ruby was too young to understand Summer dying. That handily puts a stopper in any of that juicy development we were kind of relying on for Ruby, not to mention any development of it in the future, too. It’s not as though it doesn’t make sense for Yang to angst about a missing mother as much as Ruby, but this kind of locks it onto Yang and away from Ruby. And with Yang focusing on her birth mother over Summer, that means Summer will continue to be unexplored. And Rooster Teeth will continue to fumble this going ahead.

At the end of this story, Blake makes a very good point: these situations are not the same, and she is not a child with no sense of scope. Yang, gripping the desk rather hard, reiterates that she isn’t telling Blake to stop. After all, she herself hasn’t—she’s still looking for details about her birth mother. The difference is, she doesn’t let the search control her, which is what she wants for Blake. Blake insists that she doesn’t understand. That she’s the only one who can fight this. Why…? I’m not sure. Perhaps you guys need to see how this goes down:

Y: No, you don’t understand! If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?

B: I’d fight him!

Y: You’d lose!

B: I’d stop him!

Y: You can’t even stop me!

I’m not of the opinion that Yang shoving Blake necessarily constitutes abuse, or even just an unhealthy scenario. Certainly I wouldn’t do it, but Yang is supposed to personify ‘tough love’, and she’s right: Blake is literally running on fumes and would suck ass if the time came for her to get what she wants. That said, this is another one of those Yang ThingsTM that looks way worse when considering prior missteps surrounding her. Fortunately, I think this is one Rooster Teeth actually caught onto in time—but that’s for later.

Yang gives Blake a hug, reiterating one more time that even though she supports what Blake wants, the way she’s going about it is self-destructive. And that’s why they want her to get some rest, for both her and the people she cares about. And...maybe try and head to the big event tomorrow, if she feels up to it? Yang’ll save her a dance, she says. They both leave, allowing us to get a good look at the winged gear emblem Yang was drawing on the chalk board.

(I will, even with what I said earlier, condemn anyone that, like Certain People Back in the Day, has the audacity to say this would’ve been a perfect time for them to kiss or for Yang to ask Blake to the dance. That turns what is framed as a gentle suggestion into the sort of thing that you do not do to an emotionally unstable and hurting person. You wait ‘til a person is stable and in good health to put the moves on them or you face my fiery wrath.)

That was pretty okay. A bit belated, and a bit of a forced fit for Blake’s problem, but we did indeed get two things I said we needed in my Volume 1 Final Thoughts—in-depth Yang characterization and one-on-one interaction with her team members. Here, have a cookie.

We cut to Jaune strolling down the sidewalk with a big ol’ smile on his face, holding a white flower and yes, he is doing exactly what he shouldn’t be doing—!

Jaune: 10

Pyrrha, I gotta pin this one on you. You were in the room when Jaune said he got turned down, why did you encourage this?

Yes, he’s off to go announce his feelings for Weiss! On...the night before the dance. And unless I’m just dumb, hoping to get a date with her. But his attempt is, as we already know, doomed. Jaune passes an alleyway, only to hear Weiss’ voice...calling Neptune’s name. Peeking around a corner, he (and we) watch Weiss catch up with the man himself, who asks what’s up.

W: I know this is a little...unorthodox, but…I wanted to ask you something. Would you...like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?

Neptune’s hand is behind his head in apparent recognition of how ‘unorthodox’ this is. Jaune, crushed, backs away from the alley and goes back to his dorm, the flower discarded, and since he didn’t stick around to see Neptune’s answer, neither do we.

We cut to the very next night, where the dance is happening indoors. Yang, in a very untypical plain white dress and heels, is hosting, and yes, before you ask, every single one of the couples in view behind her is visibly a man/woman pairing. The latest visitor Yang welcomes is her very own sister Ruby, who she gushes over for having gotten all prettied up, including heels. Ruby would like to complain about those in particular, lampshading Weiss’ uncanny ability to fight in them. We then cut to Sun.

Sun is wearing…black? His tail is swinging behind him and we see that he’s swapped out his white jacket and lack of shirt for an identical jacket in black, this time buttoned up just high enough to let him display his necklace, and that he’s also wearing a white tie, which he is very unfamiliar with and struggling in. Behind him, a quiet voice reaches him:

B: I knew you’d look better with a tie.

Awwww!

She takes his arm, and he asks if this means they’re going, yanno, together. Technically yes, Blake says, though her first dance is spoken for.

Cutting back to the dance, we get a lovely view of all of those cookie-cutter heterosexual couples dancing, before...

…Blake finishes one dance, and starts another.

*tapping a foil scraper on the desk* Yes, I know I was a tad snide about the background characters, but we got the important bits here with the main characters. Via Blake dancing with Yang, we are being shown that it’s not a stigma for people of the same sex to dance together, even if they’re not there as a date, so to speak. I’m not going to call that an accident, because that was the purpose of the scene and that’s what it did. I am going to call this dangerous, because even if the intent was clean and hit the mark for once, this also adds potential energy to a burgeoning fandom war.

See, what they aimed for was “Same-sex couples can go to the prom dance!” And they got that. They did. Laud them for it. What they also got was “Blake and Yang went to the prom dance—right before she got together with Sun!”

Yang bows out, Sun steps in. I’ve already commented on the...particular energies of certain shippers in this fandom. I also mentioned that, with the somewhat-too-close relationship Rooster Teeth have with their fans, and the way they like to eat away at what gap there is between them, they can invite bad things. A lot of people were not happy with how Sun, the resident love interest, was still ‘getting the girl’. And yeah, that’s entirely on them—shippers take things too seriously and get very up in arms over shit that doesn’t matter. We know that, that’s what they do. But things like this stoke the eventual fires that break out. I, personally, would’ve had Blake dance with a woman that wasn’t the other half of the biggest ship in fandom at the time—Pyrrha or Weiss, perhaps—but I’m not going to berate RT for not thinking to do that.

Enough about that, though. Sun and Blake are very cute dancing together, as commented on by the others, who are very happy that Blake is happy and is going so far as to laugh, apparently having gotten some rest and improved.

When Ruby asks what they do now, Yang just tells her to have fun before walking off, as does Weiss. She’s left alone to complain about her dumb stilt heels she can barely walk in. The music takes on a twinkling tone as Ozpin shows up, asking if she’s not enjoying herself.

They talk about nothing. No, I’m serious, nothing of any importance is being said here. Ozpin and Ruby bemoan that life is more than just fighting, Ozpin says fighting and dancing aren’t that different, and then muses on bonds becoming stronger. I think he showed up just to give this closing line:

Oz: Nights like these are ones we’ll never forget.

Yang then welcomes in two more guests—Emerald and Mercury.

The episode ends. And so does this post—unfortunately, this arc has to be split in two as well. Like the last one, it’s a bunch of little annoying fails leading up to a huge fail-fest that will get me absolutely furious and chatty about it. Then we’ll do the World of Remnants, and then the last arc, which will take...three posts? Maybe four?

Counts:

Jaune: 10 It Was Right There: 3 Fauxminism: 6 Hypocrisy: 1 Ice Cream Queens: 0 Reliable Leaders: 4 Prowling Wolf Fallacy: 0 Threatening Enemies: 2 Love to Be a Part of It Someday: 10 Your Fight Scene Sucks: 10 + 2 Evisceration Evasion: 2 Ill Logic: 18 Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Veil: 4 + 1 Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge: 0 Band-Aid Brigade: 1 RSVP: 22 Road to Nowhere: 6 Y.A.S. Queen: 3

[mer-acle]

hiii you said you wanted to draw alisha yesterday (OH MY GOD AAAAAAAAAAAAAA) and I thought I should describe her a little to make it easier i guess. (Also I was gonna do this yesterday but I got sick :( ) (also you absolutely dont have to draw her if you changed your mind)

Okay let me start with 16 year old alisha. She has blond shoulder length hair that is wavy. Usually puts it in a ponytail. Gray eyes. (She is so good at doing the puppy eyes btw) Very full of life smile. She wears the camp tshirt but it has embroidery of little animals mushrooms swords etc over it (more towards the bottom) There is definitely an owl there hehe. They are not perfect but she loves doing them and they still look pretty good. She has brown shorts, probably to her knees and also filled with embroidery. (Most of her clothes are filled with embroidery like this. kinda like doodles) Very cute small earings. An owl necklace. Ohh and she has this belt thing to carry her sword (a xiphos so around 50-60 centimeters I think) and extra pockets. (There is also 16 year old alisha after her quest. Aside from a really nasty wound on her left shoulder -claw marks going in deep- , some necessary bandages for said wound and a smile that doesnt reach her eyes anymore there isnt much difference. Her clothes are bit torn so she probably changed them ig) ooh lastly 3 beads at her camp necklace (every kid has one & the amount of beads accounts to the summers they've spent in camp)

Jumping to 20 year old alisha -> dark brown hair with the roots undone for a while (she's been neglecting it). Hair very messy and short, a bit past her chin, more wavy since its shorter. The fronts of it are tied into a little bun so it doesnt obscure her vision. Very tired, has eyebags for ages. Doesnt wear the camp tshirt but instead a dark brown shirt that covers up most of her chest and shoulders with long flowy sleeves. Earthy colours, lots of green and browns. Kinda witchy clothing. Loves capes. They are her favourite. Also all of her clothes now have a thousand handmade hidden pockets in them. A light brown flowy skirt past her knees with flower embroidery at the hem. A belt for her sword ofc. (She keeps a lot of knives hidden in her clothes too) No owl necklace :< Seven beads at her camp necklace. Also she has this golden cuffs at her wrists, its colour almost looking toxic and painful to the eye, that kinda travels under her skin like bones made of sharp glass or like how tree roots go under the earth ig. (Yes it is the lightning. Yes it is excrutiatingly painful. Yes it has been on her for over a year. Yes it is slowly making its way up her skin.) Its probably 10 centimeters up her wrists rn. Though we mostly cant see it bc she covers it up with her sleeves. Just glimpses of it really.

Anyway this was it I cant wait to see what you do if you do end up drawing her. Its such an honour like aaaaaaaaaaaa

*munching on the sweet delicious lore* nom nom

Also I hope you're feeling better

I literally love all of this I am very excited to draw her I have a pose idea already fbejdbdj (I was hoping she had a sword so it would work lol)

Some notes for now:

The embroidery??? How cute is that????

"loves capes" my girl has good taste

"no owl necklace" soul shattered

The lightning dhdbufbk. OBVIOUSLY it's traveling Jesus fucking Christ Eve 😭 (I love it)

[kultofathena]

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[reddragoncatsblog]

Drawn by an artist named ZZTheDark

These are not men in suits, they're actually mechs. These machines are called Spartans. These are machines founded by a military scientist. They're based on mecha from various anime, especially an anime called Armored Trooper Votoms for their maneuverable rollers. These machines use a variety of different weapons, from autocannons, to blast cannons, to ballistas (giant crossbow sniper rifles), to flamethrowers, to spears. They also have a side arm called the Xiphos, a magitech conductive short sword with a shape that's based on the real sword that Spartans in Greek history used.

[targon-comic]

About Rakkor; I

There are a number of Rakkor villages, which differentiate themselves by colours: red, blue, green, orange... They wear this colour in their capes, clothes and sometimes even the crests of their helmets. Oftentimes adults decide to transfer to a different village and leave their birthplace behind. They always stay above the "red line", a band of reddish, dried out old trees at a specific elevation of Targon. Their warriors cross the border and go below only during conflict with enemy tribes.

Most Rakkor have one, or a pair of Relic Weapons - weapons of their ancestors imbued with magic, which let them match opponents who are using sorcery. It is unheard of that a Rakkor is magically gifted. Each teen picks from the available Relic Weapons which one they want to use after (and if) they pass their Rite of Kor, a couple of weeks before that rite of passage. Once a Rakkor dies, the Relic Weapon they used is returned to the pool of available ones. Enemy tribes look to steal these weapons whenever they can, which is still a rare occurrence; both to use them, and to study them to try and find a way around them with magic.

Rakkor do not use bow and arrows; but their high religious class, the solari, do have archers in their guard. The most common weapons are a large aspis shield and a spear, gladius and xiphos swords, small buckler shields, hooked axes and short spears.

[tea-dragonz]

Korina’s Origin Headcannons Part 3

Mors and Keres are able to see in the dark. Their eyes glow in dark spaces due to a combination of reflecting light and magic shenanigans.

Korina and Asteria have a very faint glow to their bodies, and Stella has a stronger glow. They are also warm to the touch, but normally not hot to a painful degree.

Luchnos is a spirit and has no need for food, however he still eats and drinks because he wants to. Any food or drink he consumes while in his puppet body just gets converted into fuel for the candle flame on his head. (Its brightness/intensity can be used as an indicator of his energy levels)

Longer lists of headcannons below:

Wing headcannons

Korina and Asteria have Quail wings - Quails are associated with Asteria in Greek mythology (she turned into one to escape Zeus’ advances) and throughout many cultures they are often symbols of harmony, prosperity, family, and love, which are traits that fit well with their characters and stories. These are elliptical wings that have shorter, rounder feathers and are built for short bursts of flying rather than long flights.

Morpheus has Halcyon Wings - Ovid’s Metamorphoses is the only major mention of Morpheus (technically Roman mythology and not Greek, but again it’s the only major mention of Morpheus in classical literature). The story of Ceyx and Alcyone, which he was heavily involved in, ended with them being transformed into halcyon/kingfisher birds. I went for the Common Kingfisher since they're in Greece, and I think they have elliptical wings? (Idk Google didnt tell me anything so I made an educated guess)

Keres and Mors have Vulture Wings - Vultures were associated with death, decay and war in Greek culture. They were also used in the punishment of the giant Tityos in a similar fashion to Prometheus (who, in some versions was also tortured by a vulture rather than an eagle). (Also irl vultures are chill I'm just going with the mythology symbolism on this one) They have passive soaring wings, which are broader and have longer primary feathers with gaps between them.

Thanatos has Screech Owl Wings - Screech owls specifically are associated with Hades, but I thought their connection with death and the Underworld was fitting enough. Most owls have elliptical wings, though they are also known for near-silent flying (other birds’s feathers usually make a lot of noise)

Xiphos has Crow Wings - Crows in Greek mythology are associated with bad luck and death, though they are also depicted as servants of certain gods such as Athena and Apollo. Not a direct fit for Xiphos’ story, though I do think it’s close enough. Crow wings are elliptical like those of the quail, which I explained above.

Last Name Headcannons:

Okay I don't think anybody has any actual last names aside from son/daughter of *insert god here*. Plus also last names weren’t really a thing in Ancient Greece so there’s not really any point to this. This is just a fun little "what would their last names be if they had them?" sort of thing, mainly for the demigods

Mors Grivas Athanasiou & Luchnos Athanasiou

The last name Athanasiou means “immortal” and is derived from Athanasios, which in of itself is derived from Thanatos. I can imagine both Mors and Luchnos having the last name Athanasiou because of their connection to Thanatos, though I imagine Mors would have Grivas tacked onto his name at Keres’ request, with Grivas meaning vulture and presumably the type of last name a Keres child would have.

Korina Galanis

Galanis mean “pale blue eyes”, and both Morpheus and Korina have blue eyes, so I thought it was fitting. (Also there weren’t any cool last name related to the stars of heavens that I could find, so…)

Keion Vasilios & Zenobia Vasilios

Vasilios means “royal, kingly”, but it can also be translated as basil lol. I was also considering Aetos as a last name since it’s derived from Zeus’ eagle companion, but I thought Vasilios sounded cooler.

Nefeli Apostolos

Apostolos means “messenger” and also has some Abrahamic connotations because of the apostles. Couldn’t find any other surnames that really fit, so Apostolos it is.

Marit Kazantzis

Kazantzis is actually derived from the Turkish language and refers to a cauldron maker, such as with the type of cauldrons used to make alcohol. Child of Dionysus, alcohol making, what more do I have to say?

Tryphon Onassis

Onassis means “lover, favored one” which is fitting for an Aphrodite child for obvious reasons (this could also apply to the other Aphrodite kids, but I was mainly focusing on Korina’s Origin)

Sophist Anagnostis

Anagnostis means “reader or scholar”, like Apostolos, this name also has an Abrahamic connection.

Masika Anubis Fouad

So I looked up Egyptian naming conventions, and usually the name includes the names of your forebears (father, grandfather, etc.) Thankfully Masika only has 1 ancestor that we know of so I didn’t have to make the name too long. Fouad is an Egyptian/Arabic last name that means “heart-soul”, and Anubis’ job is to judge people’s hearts so I thought it fit.

[npcemi]

The Ascension of Danny Fenton

Danny didn't expect to become king. He didn't expect it to hurt. Oh, look the GIW:

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were all enjoying their time at the nasty burger. In the middle of their conversation Danny when Danny hears a voice behind him say “You might want to transform Phantom.” The halfa doesn’t have time to respond. He was thrown at high speed into a building, shifting into his ghostly form just in time. He takes a look at his adversary. She is a very short Greek ghost girl with pale skin, black hair, and blue eyes in a white soft cloth dress with blue accents and a veil that was pulled back to reveal her face. It looked far too young and kind for someone who just threw him into a building. Her left hand held an Xiphos that looked like it was going to crumble apart. It was black with red cracks that radiated heat. He moved to attack, flying into the girl with his fists, but she grabbed him and redirected him into another building. She followed it up with a slash of her sword which released a massive wave of ectoplasmic fire. When Danny managed to block it with a wall of ice that melted instantly. The girl smirked at him. He flew at her again but duplicated himself. The girl took out the duplicate with her sword and punched Danny. She followed up with a decisive front kick that caused him to fly into a statue. Danny groaned and looked at the girl. She looked at him, and fired another wave of that ectoplasmic fire from her sword, this time his ice wall melted too fast and the fire overwhelmed him. Danny was sure his ice core was the only reason he wasn’t burnt out of existence because of the flame. “This is the power that defeated the Tyrant Pariah Dark, I expected a bit more, to be honest.” The girl taunted. Danny pulled himself out of the molten stone around him. He knew this enemy was more powerful than even his evil future self, more powerful than Pariah. Danny didn’t want to use his ghostly wail. Danny hated his ghostly wail; it was far too destructive to use, it tired him out too quickly, and it was the same scream he unleashed when he died, but he had no choice. Danny sucked in a breath and unleashed his ghostly wail. It shook the earth, shattered windows, and caused the nearby buildings to begin to collapse. The girl smiled, impressed at the wail’s destructive capability before letting out a small short whistle. It didn’t last even a fraction of a second, but the sonic force that came from her not only neutralized Danny's ghostly wail but threw him into a building that collapsed on him. The Greek ghost walked towards Danny, “Yes, you shall do nicely.” She said with a grin before a voice called behind her. “Who are you and what are you doing in Amity Park?” The voice belonged to Vlad Plasmius. The vampire-looking ghost floated in the sky not too far from the girl. Vlad was not a fan of Daniel, in fact, it was kind of funny watching the boy get so thoroughly beat. However he was the mayor, and even if others didn’t know about his ghost form, he wasn’t going to let an unknown ghost this powerful destroy or try to take his town. “You're not needed,” the girl waved her hand and Plasmius fell to the ground and the black transformation rings washed over his body. Vlad was shocked, he didn’t mean to transform back into a human, he tried to transform again but to no avail. He tried over and over again. Sam and Tucker watched the Greek girl turn back to face the unconscious boy who transformed back into Danny Fenton, and pulled him out of the rubble. The Greek girl then summoned something circular Sam, Tucker, nor Vlad could make out and shoved it inside Danny's chest. Sam went up to confront the woman. “Who are you and what do you want with Danny!?” The woman dragged Danny’s body to the street in front of Sam and Tucker. “All in due time Samantha Manson.” The woman waved her hand and like magic, all the destruction from the battle was undone. Everything was pristine like nothing happened. The girl turned to leave, but not before telling Sam and Tucker, “Tell the boy to get some damn singing lessons!” Before seemingly fading out of existence. “Who was that?” Sam and Tucker said at the same time. “I don’t know, and I almost don’t want to know.” Plasmius’s voice from behind the duo sounded. The elder halfa transformed once again now that the mysterious visitor was gone. In the depths of Longnow, Clockwork gazed at the Greek ghost girl known as Hestia with a mix of amusement and exasperation. Her mischievous and impulsive nature never failed to test his patience. "Was that really necessary, Hestia?" Clockwork questioned. Hestia, the spirit of the hearth and family, lounged lazily on a nearby bench, her eyes glimmering with mischief. "Come on, Clocky, you know I can't resist, besides, he put up quite a fight, didn't he? Even better than Pariah," she responded with a mischievous grin. Clockwork let out a resigned sigh. He had come to expect these antics from Hestia. Despite her childlike demeanor, she held immense power and influence, especially when it came to shaping the destinies of those she deemed worthy. And, much to Clockwork's chagrin, she seemed to have taken a liking to Daniel. "And did you give it to him?" Clockwork asked, Hestia's eyes sparkled with excitement as she nodded. "Of course, Clocky! He's the best thing to happen to the realms in a long time. He needed a push, a nudge in the right direction, and I provided it. It's all part of the grand plan." Clockwork couldn't help but feel a mix of admiration and annoyance towards Hestia. Her unpredictable nature often led to unforeseen consequences, but her role in guiding individuals toward their destinies was unquestionable. "Remember, Hestia, we are bound to observe and guide, not manipulate outright," Clockwork reminded her, his voice filled with a gentle authority. Hestia waved off his concern with a nonchalant flick of her hand. "Oh, come on, Clocky. You know I always play within the rules. I just like to spice things up a bit. And besides, this is for the greater good." Clockwork couldn't help but crack a small smile. Despite their differences, Hestia's enthusiasm and dedication to her role were undeniable. In her own way, she brought balance to the realms, even if her methods were unorthodox. Danny and Jazz head down to grab breakfast, Danny munches on some cereal not caring anymore that the milk was half ectoplasm, while Jazz has a glass with her oatmeal not realizing how much ectoplasm was in the milk. “Hey Danny how've you been since I whooped your butt yesterday? '' A childish voice calls out, Danny and Jazz turn. Danny sees the ghost girl from yesterday and jumps back pulling Jazz behind him. “She's the ghost from yesterday!” Danny shouts. Hearing the word ghost Jack and Maddie burst through the door. However, upon seeing the normal-looking new girl in the room, Jack asks, “Who are you?” The girl smiles brightly and says “I'm Hestia and I'm a ghost. Specifically the spirit of the hearth, family, and most importantly connection. Well, this form is Hestia, it's my favorite.” Jack and Maddie stand there stunned, “Oh, and I’ll be working with Danny here now. Yes, we will work together very intimately.” Hestia struggled to find the proper words, “Yes, he will be inside of me, no wait that didn’t sound right,...” Hestia thought some more as the faces of those around her started to change from shock to different kinds of worry. “I will be inside of Danny, yep that’s the words I’m looking for, yes Danny and I must work closely.” She nods and Danny interjects “That doesn’t sound any better!” as Jazz nods her head furiously in agreement. Maddie and Jack finally come back to reality and shoot their weapons at Hestia. Who reappears on the other side of the room. “That wasn’t very nice. I’m a good ghost!” Hestia shakes her head, “No wonder Danny and Jazz no longer have a familial bond with you two.” Hestia says before fading out of existence. Jack and Maddie immediately shout how Danny must now be ecto contaminated and must run some tests. Jazz panics and says “Oh we’re running late for school, gotta run!” and yanks Danny out the door. Later that day at Pandora's lair Tucker gets a notification on his PDA. The GIW announces that they will use the Fenton portal to launch an ecto-nuke made of ectoranium and powered by the ectoplasm of a few blob ghosts to destroy the ghost zone. Everyone is shocked not knowing what to do. The infinite realms connected an infinite number of universes. To destroy the realms is to destroy all of those worlds The group stands in stunned silence, their hearts sinking at the devastating news. The implications of the GIW's plan are dire, as the destruction of the Ghost Zone would mean the obliteration of countless interconnected realms and universes. Sam, her eyes burning with fury, clenches her fists tightly. "They can't possibly be serious. They would risk destroying everything, just to eliminate ghosts?" she exclaims, her voice filled with a mixture of anger and disbelief. Jazz tries to compose herself despite the overwhelming sense of urgency. "We have to find a way to stop them. If the Ghost Zone is destroyed, it will have catastrophic consequences on the entire fabric of existence," Danny, his eyes glowing with an intense green light, steps forward. "We can't let them carry out their plan. We have to find a way to disable the ecto-nuke." Tucker, his mind racing, looks at his PDA and starts typing furiously. "I'll hack into their systems and see if there's any way to disable the launch sequence. We need a plan, and we need it fast," he says, his fingers dancing across the screen. "We must gather all the allies we can. The Ghost Zone will unite against this threat. We must rally the spirits, the guardians, and anyone who stands against the destruction of the realms," Pandora advises. Sam nods in agreement, "We'll fight together. No matter the odds, we won't let them succeed. " "We must gather everyone we can, but where do we meet?" Pandora wonders out loud. Danny calmly says, "Pariah's keep, everyone will meet us at Pariah's Keep." Unbenounced to Danny, jazz, Tucker, and Sam. Danny's words echoed throughout the ghost zone and all ghosts, even clockwork, and the observants feel the compulsion to go to Pariah's keep, not knowing where the compulsion came from. Freakshow, a master of manipulating ghosts, eagerly accepts an offer from the GIW to take control of Vlad Plasmius. Using his enchanted scepter, Freakshow delves into the depths of Vlad's mind, seeking to harness the former billionaire's ghostly powers for the GIW's malevolent agenda. As the energy of the scepter intertwines with Vlad's essence, his mind becomes clouded, and his actions fall under Freakshow's control. As the echoes of Danny's words reverberate through the Ghost Zone, Clockwork, the Observants, and countless other spectral beings find themselves inexplicably compelled to join the gathering at Pariah's Keep. Despite their confusion over the source of the compulsion, they know that their presence is necessary. One by one, the ghosts arrive at Pariah's Keep, the atmosphere crackles with anticipation as familiar faces and ancient spirits stand side by side. As the gathering reaches its apex, Danny steps forward about to speak up with the grave news but Vlad appears out of nowhere still under the control of Freakshow, and blasts Danny with a massive ecto blast leaving a volleyball size hole in Danny's chest and exposing his core. As the aftermath of Vlad's attack settles, the ghosts around Danny maintain their hold on the defeated antagonist. Everyone's attention becomes fixated on the mysterious sight before them--Danny’s core, it looked like a translucent black crystal with stars on the inside. The crystal was encased in ice. But even weirder was that Danny's core was surrounded by a spinning silver metal crown that emanated blue fire. Hestia appears out of nowhere and looks at Danny, "Probably not the coronation you expected huh, my King." she whistles. "King, I can't be king!" Danny's voice whimpers. "Too late, you already got the crown" Hestia points to the crown circling around Danny's core. "How, the crown of fire is locked away!" Pandora exasperates. "Nope, That 'crown' was a trinket just so Pariah could feed his ego." Hestia laughs, "My truest self is the spirit of connection, I am all that connects every possible thing. Right down to the quarks.” Hestia gives a dramatic pause. Hestia declares, "I am the crown of fire." Hestia Smiles at Pandora "As long as there is connection between anything, anywhere, at any time I shall exist. The crown will exist." Hestia returns to look at Danny, "The crown has always surrounded the core of the current King, we can get you a trinket for your head if you want, I didn't think you were that vain." Danny shook his head still in shock, "I'm not" "Good" Hestia replied. She sends him off on his own to attack the GIW saying he should be enough and that unleashing the armies wasn't necessary at this point. As Danny single-handedly launched a war on the GIW facilities, chaos erupted across the human world. His destructive power was unparalleled, leaving a wake of devastation that surpassed anything in human history. Buildings crumbled, streets were torn apart, and the nearby abandoned cities were shattered. Yet it was only a fraction of what Danny knew he was capable of, Danny didn’t have the time to learn how to hold his powers back properly. The news spread like wildfire, showing the world the magnitude of the conflict. People watched in awe and terror as Phantom's rage crumbled buildings, witnessing the extraordinary powers of the ghost and the sheer scale of the destruction he caused. The GIW's weapons and defenses proved ineffective against the King of the infinite realms, and their facilities fell one by one. However, amidst the devastation, there were some innocent lives caught in the crossfire. The widespread destruction and loss of human lives became an unbearable weight on Danny's conscience. He had fought for the safety of every realm in existence but he never intended for such destruction to befall the human world. The casualties and suffering weighed heavily on him, and guilt began to gnaw at his heart. He didn’t want to become Dan, he couldn’t become Dan. He sought to end the conflict and mitigate the damage caused. Together, Danny and Pandora traveled to the US Capitol Building. They stand before Congress, "Members of Congress, we come before you today to shed light on the atrocities committed by the GIW." Danny begins, his voice steady yet filled with emotion. "In the name of justice, in the name of protecting our realm, every realm in existence, your loved ones, and our loved ones, we urge you to reconsider your support for these actions." Pandora's words resonate with eloquence. She shares stories of the ghosts' suffering, how ghosts have societies, how they have families that are being torn apart, of the need for empathy and understanding. Congress listens intently, their expressions shifting from skepticism to concern. The evidence presented by Danny and Pandora paints a vivid picture of the horrors inflicted upon the ghostly inhabitants of the Infinite Realms. The atmosphere in Congress is tense as the debate over the ghost situation escalates. Representatives from both sides passionately argue their points, their voices echoing through the chambers. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raises her voice above the commotion. "Did that seem non-sentient to you? Did the suffering, the emotions, and the pleas for justice of these ghostly beings not resonate within your hearts?" Republicans quickly counter her statement, dismissing the ghosts as mere threats to national security. "These so-called 'ghosts' are dangerous entities that need to be neutralized for the safety of our citizens. This isn't about sentience; it's about protecting the American people," one representative asserts. The debate rages on, with members of Congress divided along party lines. Some empathize with the ghosts, recognizing the need for a more nuanced approach. Others cling to fear and prejudice, using terms like "unfeeling evil post-human consciousness" and "ectoplasmic scum." As the discussions continue, the anti-ecto acts are brought up--a set of legislation aimed at classifying ghosts as non-sentient and mandating their destruction. The proposed acts spark outrage among those who advocate for the rights and recognition of the ghostly inhabitants of the Infinite Realms. "Are we not a nation that prides itself on justice and equality?" Ocasio-Cortez challenges her fellow representatives. "To deny these beings their sentience is to deny their basic rights. We cannot turn a blind eye to their suffering and dismiss them!" The debate becomes heated, with voices rising and tensions mounting. Supporters of the anti-ecto acts label Ocasio-Cortez and her allies as bleeding-heart liberals, accusing them of being out of touch with the concerns of the American people. Yet, within the chaos, other representatives step forward, their voices joining Ocasio-Cortez's in defense of the ghosts Following an intense voting process and deliberations, Congress reached a decision on whether to continue the war against the ghosts. The votes were counted, and the outcome was announced to the awaiting nation and the world. With a slim margin, Congress decided not to continue the war against the ghosts. However, the GIW and the Anti-Ecto acts remained intact. It was a decision that carried significant weight, marking a turning point in the conflict and the nation's approach to resolving the crisis. The voices of reason, diplomacy, and compassion prevailed, guiding the country towards a different path. This decision to halt the war against the ghosts was met with mixed reactions across the country and the infinite realms. Supporters of the GIW and the Acts expressed their disappointment, arguing that the ghosts posed an ongoing threat that required immediate and decisive action. Meanwhile, those in favor of peace and diplomacy welcomed the decision.

I didn't have room in 'The long road of how starting a fight with Superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom Becoming God' to show how Danny becomes the Ghost King. So I made this little one-shot showing how it happened. Also, note the Ghost King is not equal to God with a capital G at this time.

[m-r-levine]

Find The Word / Last Line Tag

A belated answer to @late-to-the-fandom ‘s tag. Thank you!! 🖤 Even though it took a minute to hunt because Life but also mobile os. (The times i use a Real Computer™️ anymore outside of the Boring Job are vanishingly slender.)

Rules Guidelines: To either share their last four lines or find the words desk, done, double, dead in their WIP and post the excerpts.

Gently tagging in with neither pressure nor deadline @avrablake @winterandwords @schepper-wubs-wips @spookyceph (it won’t let me tag @ceph-the-ghost-writer and I don’t know what I’m doing wring I’m so sorry) and as always, an open tag for anyone who would like to play.

These excerpts are from Unspoken, as mi hijo maldito is in time-out for continuing to resist my efforts to get him and Vishan into the actual plot point we’ve been writing towards for 75k already.

Desk

“As you were,” said Keris briskly, even though they all knew it wouldn’t happen. She crossed to the desk at the head of the room in taut silence. Several fidgeted as she drew a copy of the third volume of the current Lists from the shelf under the wall slate and dropped it on the desk. They all knew what it held, as they knew the reassignments she’d authorized that morning would be transcribed into their proper place in the master volumes soon enough, which in turn would update the spellbound copies. They all knew she knew the Lists even more intimately than they. It was a running joke among the cadets that the Praetor was miserly with her magic because she used the better half of it to carry the Writ and all the Archives in her head. Yet not one soul dared a breath of question as she turned pages in the third volume of the Lists, skimming notations they all half-believed she didn’t need to read.

Done

Every voice on the Council served for their mind as much as their valor even from the Founding — and all of them lost shieldmates in the campaign for Xiphos. Cir understood them and their secret hearts, just as he understood Keris would need to learn how to understand the same before she could carry the mantle. They needed to purge the emptiness where their secret heart said they hadn’t done enough, that if they only fought harder, the Fallen would still be there, and no one would ever need to think of carving their shield-names in stone. They needed to strive and bleed in defense of their beloved’s honor once more, and prove to themselves that surviving the Fallen hadn’t diminished their love. And — they needed to prove to each other that they loved one another too much to keep fighting when Death joined the little battle.

Double

This one i had to stretch a little since it only occurs twice and the other instance was in a fragment

The last region in the set was not a physical place at all. Few comandanti folios stayed there long - if they were on leave to heal and did not, their folio moved either among the retired or the Fallen. Those on regular leave rotated back out with the season. Personal leave rarely stretched much longer, unless they took a quatrain for formal education in one of the powerful cities and for whatever reason couldn’t attach themselves to a local cohort.

Except for one.

Comandanti Hastatus

Davrush mej Nakun

Rated master:

Pilum, double-edge short sword, thrown hammer, thrown shortblade, short backsword, sling, dagger, buckler, lance.

Rated expert:

spear, long hammer, single edged saber, shortbow, corseque, halberd, tower shield, unarmed.

Rated distinguished expert:

longsword, arming sword, bardiche, long backsword, longbow, crossbow, round shield.

Last campaign:

Mor’chagh, see West campaign, see also Ragestorm cult mission folios.

Dead

“Discipline only tempers mortal fallibility. It's not a cure. Beware the excesses of virtue attributed to the dead."