#and yeah i personally like ruby as a character but yeah she clearly was never gonna be happy in bluebell

[strideofpride]

#also lemon as a campaign manager you should have known to exploit that#they were both too blinded by ruby's beauty to see it#for real ruby is gorgeous#but she's so not a match for lavon!#she does NOT care about the town. and that town is lavon's life#lavon was more appealing to her in hs when he was the football player who could help her get out#and not as a man who came back and SETTLED#i do respect ruby for being a boss bitch but she had no business running for mayor. (via @terrainofheartfelt)

okay the real bee in my bonnet about this hart of dixie mayoral race, is that lavon had a really great argument he never used??

ruby says repeatedly that if she loses she's just gonna leave, and as a voter, I say that is some bullshit! oh, so you'll just leave? because you don't actually care about the place the office is supposed to be serving you only care about the title???? ruby! you don't deserve to be a mayor if you give fuck all about the good of the town?

lavon had a top notch rhetorical argument that would have destroyed his opponent's claim for the seat and he just? never said it? except as a romantic hindrance?

and that is why lavon is excellent at governing but horrible at politics

[lovingdabeessss]

Your STRQ-Y fanart hurts me so bad , reminds me of a headcanon of mine that probably isn't true that Raven left because she saw how much better for Yang Summer was than she was

Glad you liked(hated) my art

I TOTALLY believe that’s at LEAST part of it 100% it fits in with the narrative pattern of Yang personally suffering because others are self destructive

Like say what you want about rwbys writing but thats always consistent

There’s a whole episode where she goes “hey don’t destroy yourself on purpose it actually fucks up everyone you care about more then it does anything else” and then tells a story that references At LEAST four people who did that and fucked up her life because of it (+Bby Ruby sleeping shes the mvp)

Also it fits with Raven characterization wise and all that and her CLEARLY loving people but just being really really bad at it

So it makes sense as a narrative pattern and also in character

I personally don’t think it was the only reason she probably had lore driven reasons

But yeah ravens definitely very never love an anchor by the crane wives

I think she loves and loved Yang a lot she’s shown checking up on her a lot as a child(not that she followed through with helping her but still it shows love)

Maybe she didn’t help her when everything fell apart because of how she herself was dealing with summers death, maybe she felt responsible and she didn’t want that to touch her family, maybe she saw Yang dealing with every other failure of a caretaker and didn’t want to add another disappointment, maybe she never even popped in because she didn’t want to pop in and out whenever it was convenient and destabilize yangs life even further, maybe she thought Yang was doing perfect as she was, maybe she thinks the suffering she was going through was good and made her stronger that children should go through that and that she was doing great

Who knows

Love to hear everyone’s thoughts on raven

[rainybraindays]

I don't like making posts like this, I don't like opening my blog up for people to come and harrass me but oh my god, why does the fandom allow posts like this to get away unscathed?

You don’t have to like Marina. I'll never claim that. You can like or dislike whoever you want.

But I do wonder, if Marina was played by a white woman would we get nearly as many posts like this? Would everyone be as okay with it? Would we have been so quiet about the fact that Ruby Barker was harrassed for this role? Or would there be way more people defending her? Would she suddenly be sympathetic when now shes not?

Why are we all so okay with taking this character with a nuanced story, put in a horrible situation with almost no options and turning her into a villian?

Like did we watch the same show? Did you miss the bit where she doesn't want to find a husband at all and only starts when she thinks shes been abandoned, which she only believes because she gets a forged letter saying she was? Did you not see Portia slap her? Did you not also watch a man old enough to be her grandfather being forced on her?

Lying to Colin wasn't okay, I'm not defending that, but literally tell me what her options were?

The man she loves is dead, but she doesn't even know that she thinks he abandoned her, so she can't reasonably assume Phillip will take responsibility when his brother won't. The only people Portias interested in introducing to her are those she wouldn't introduce to her own daughters. She can't reasonably think Colin will be open to her as a wife since shes pregnant becausethats not the norm. But Colin is, he says he would have married her even knowing. And Colin also doesn't view Marina as a villian, in season two hes sad yeah, but he’s also guilty because he doesn't think she deserved what happened.

This is a nuanced messy situation but no one wants to look at that.

Like you all make it very clear you view her as a whore, because she did a very normal thing and had sex. You all view her as a manipulative snake of a person, when if she was even the Whistledown article wouldn't have been a stop for her because she would have tried to get out of it. You conveniently forget that she almost killed herself in an attempt to abort her children because of her mistreatment post Whistledown article because that takes away from the idea you've concocted that shes some villainous bitch.

But then you turn around and want Penelope to have sexual knowledge that she realistically wouldn't and canonically doesn’t. You praise her for her Whistledown work even though it keeps hurting people she loves and shes lying about doing it.

This is weird, posting about how you can't wait for a character to die, and how you hope the death is - lets be honest here- humiliating, is a bizarre thing to do.

Its even more bizarre to do that, tag the character, and then also tag two ships that really the post really isn't about.

Like why is Polin tagged? Because they're both mentioned? This isn't a polin moment. You don’t talk about them at all in the meat of the post. Why is Philoise tagged? Because she's an 'obstacle' for them? They haven't even met, they aren't mentioned at all, they have nothing to do with this.

And on top of tagging these things you say "don't try and defend her to me" which why would we you clearly wouldn't listen. You follow that with saying "If you like her you probably suck" and claim to have tagged this as anti marina when you didn't. You put this in her main tag and then added "death to marina".

Theres no respect to your peers in the fandom, and clear disrespect to people who do like this character and are actually willing to engage with the character beyond fanon portrayal. Because thats what this is its not even taking her at face value anymore.

You wonder why people dislike this fandom, specifically the polin side of it, and do things like this. We as a community need to improve because stuff like this isn't uncommon, this is just one of the most blatant I've seen.

I'm going to be entirely honest if you follow quotegirl19, or don't see the issues with Marinas portrayal and treatment by the fandom this is not the blog for you.

[aihoshiino]

I honestly liked ruby a lot before. How she was so full of hope and all, then the character development she got after finding gorou's body. Even the recent part where she says she won't be like Ai and won't give up on her friends. But I think all the incest and related part ruins her character and reduces her to a simp. At least show some depth in it tho😭 like before whenever ruby talked about gorou that felt impactful. Man i miss the old ruby.

YEAH!!! This is pretty much exactly my issue as well. I know something a lot of folks have criticized about the story pre-Mainstay is that Ruby lacks development but TBH, I never really felt like Old!Ruby was a character who needed a more active arc in the way characters like Aqua and Kana did. She definitely had some Big Overhanging Issues dangling above her head that she was going to have to address eventually but on a moment to moment basis, Ruby was doing really well. She functioned best as a sort of guiding star for the characters around her, pulling them along through the force of her own positive energy and personality.

A big part of this is simply that a lot of the things that made Sarina's life miserable are not actually issues for Ruby anymore. She's healthy, she's surrounded by family and friends who love and support her, she's getting to pursue her dream and even has a pretty healthy relationship with her memories of and grief for Ai. That's not to say her history as Sarina has no effect on her, of course: her bull-headed stubbornness and willingness to charge on into things no questions asked comes specifically and explicitly from the ways she was disempowered and lacking agency in her past life and moments like her getting upset about Aqua no longer eating dinner with them on Sundays during the LoveNow filming pretty clearly stem from her issues with abandonment and lacking familial care. But her environment and the support system she has as Ruby very clearly did a lot to help her organically heal and start moving on.

New!Ruby really feels like a retcon in that regard, like Akasaka suddenly scrabbled to go "oh actually Ruby was ALWAYS secretly fucked up!!!!" for the sake of drama and ramped everything about her up to an 11 to try and convey this but the end result ultimately just feels inconsistent. I know I link this post basically every time I talk about Ruby these days, but @all-of-her-light's Ruby and the Unplayed Role essay really is the best at breaking down all these differences and inconsistencies and why it is they feel so jarring. But one of the things that stands out to me is the ramping up of the intensity of her feelings for Gorou.

Some of this makes perfect sense within the context of the narrative; finding his DESSICATED FUCKING SKELETON jesus CHRIST and realising he'd been murdered by the very same person who killed her beloved mother absolutely makes sense as the impetus for her feelings to go into overdrive. But as of the Mainstay arc onwards, we have continually gotten backfill that implies she has always been operating on this level of intensity, elevating Gorou to a position of importance in her life that matches or even exceeds Ai to a degree that feels retconny.

Actually, now that I've articulated that, I think that key difference is the core of what makes Old and New Ruby feel so split to me. Old Ruby absolutely still adored and deeply valued Gorou and wanted to be reunited with him, but she was nowhere near as emotionally dependant on the idea of him as New Ruby seems to be. Old Ruby was characterized much more strongly in relation to Ai, both in the sense of love for her as her mother and her legacy as an idol and while this is still true to a degree for New Ruby, the manga frames Gorou as being just as if not more important than Ai as a factor in Ruby's motivations for becoming an idol, when it really hadn't been framed that way prior to a certain point in the manga.

Ultimately, it's just kind of frustrating. Like you, I really loved Old Ruby and I think New Ruby is just kind of a flanderized and flattened version of her - though the story pays some lip service to her uglier and more complicated emotions, the story's failure to genuinely and seriously interrogate them and its consistency in reducing her to a gag character just makes her feel so much less lively and interesting that Old Ruby, even if Old Ruby was (at least on paper) a much more simple character. It really feels like the last time the story genuinely took Ruby seriously was prior to 123 when we were getting teased with the idea of her meeting Marina again but that thread has since been completely dropped and I'll be shocked if it gets so much as mentioned again.

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

People finding out Ruby Marina actress is in s3 and they are overjoyed because it means she’s gonna kill herself and they are happy about her ending herself for some reason weirdo pen stans as pen girly first and for most I’m beyond disgusted but not suprised and the people who ship Eloise and Philip girlies again white nasty woman like who’s shocked because this means to them Philiose introduction or met or season is near and them interacting I’m not one bit suprised it’s ugly yt woman who gonna use Pen and Eloise as self insert to be with their desired yt man character wanting to play out their deserted tropes, to see a black female character kill herself so they can get their self insert girl to be with the yt boy they wanna fcvk over tropes yeah

they such nasty humans and that’s why they are losers who’s never getting love like I’ve seen y’all TikTok’s and trust me there’s reasons y’all ain’t desired irl and it has nothing to do with y’all lack of self esteem social skills or y’all seeing yourself as certain size or as wallflowers it has nothing to do with that y’all just huge losers and it’s clear seeing as though y’all not only want a black female character to kill herself so ur self inser ship can happen but the fact y’all are literally getting immense joy and excitement out of the idea that she’s gonna end it all just so y’all yt characters can literally interact

nasty and you keep crying to yourselves about Colin not loving Marina or Philip not Marina and that their only love is Pen and Eloise but it won’t change the fact i don’t know Philip but I know for fact Colin loved her down otherwise he wouldn’t still be going to see her in s2 just because she was Colin first love doesn’t in any way take away from Penelope being Colin true love and soulmate two things can co exist actually colin loved Marina with everything in him she was his first love eveyone has first love they can never forget even tho they love their true love more then anything same way Penelope is Colin whole heart and he just didn’t and wasn’t seeing her earlier in life same way Marina had huge fondness for Colin but George was her true love!

He didn’t love her I mean Bridgerton kids literally from birth are thought to only marry for love and Colin is definitely not the kinda guy who marries just to marry the whole motto in that family ingraved into their mind is to marry for love and Colin wanted to marry that girl bad and he loved her down whether y’all like it or not it’s not gonna change the facts in the show or is his character nor is gonna change how Penelope is his one tue paring his soulmate his true and end love guys!

First love dosent have to mean true love/soulmate or endgame as y’all can clearly see it! y’all can accept that Anthony loved that other girl and Ben that dress maker but aren’t using that to undermine them or the love for their endgame characters or the love they felt had for these woman before they meet their person so why can’t y’all do that for Colin with Marina if it? I wonder? I know why so fcvk y’all who got all excited in the idea of Marina coming back means her dead her cruel suicide

After everything she went true just know your moms a hoe and May that be your faith not S but no love ever!

Tell me exactly how y’all saying what y’all wanna see on first part is Marina ending herself and you should see it so the story can build up to philoise starting to interact with each other like cant they just met in another way since the show ain’t following the books all the way and you know it and are completely fine with it nw but y’all want them to follow the books this one time when it’s a black female character ending herself interestin indeed

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

”Fiyero...didn't need to be the Scarecrow. Fair enough to that one, since it was clearly planned and a major part of the story (though it casts a shadow over his bond with Dorothy in all honesty) but Boq as the Tin Man? Give me a break.”

so funny that you mention this bc in the original wicked book (idk if you’ve read or not), they were all separate characters. I think the musical had to combine them since it only has so much time.

I have the book at home but I have not finished it. I have however seen spoilers for it. It is a lot darker than the musical adaptation, they really toned down a lot of elements. I think one interesting change is that Nessa’s disability is different. In the book, she was always able to walk but she was born without arms and she never gains them. This was changed to her being a wheelchair, likely because there weren’t many actresses without arms.

The fascination with limbs and the absence of them is a curious motif in Oz. Maybe it's just reflective of how so many of these characters aren't based on "real people" but are instead objects - like tin woodsmen and scarecrows. But there's definitely a section in the original book where there are people who break apart where they fall over, freaking Dorothy out, but they're mostly just annoyed because it's a hassle to put themselves back together again. I remember that distinctly. I also remember the little china girl in "Oz, the Great and Powerful." Which is a decent enough movie, though Mila Kunis' role is...odd. I'm also thinking about the severed heads from Return to Oz. Maybe it's just that detaching parts from people is spooky and Oz is spooky.

On the other hand, I think the change to Nessarose was plain and simply inevitable. Like, yeah, finding an actress without arms is difficult, but also, seeing a person without arms is less common than a wheelchair user and people are much more likely to react with confusion or...less savory emotions. (Which is their problem but the point still stands.) A person without arms doesn't strike the immediate chord of "pity" that a wheelchair user does and I think pity is what they were going for with Nessa. Also, also, wearing the Ruby/Silver slippers and that enabling her to walk? That just works really well. They affect her feet cause they're on her feet. It also gives us a demonstration of their power which we mostly don't get in the original story despite what an important macguffin they are. It would be a lot more difficult for them to depict the slippers growing new arms for Nessa onstage.

I've not read the book. I had it at one point, but I can't seem to find it now. Shame, because it was on my "to read" list. But I'm not surprised it's darker than the play. Oz books are always darker lol.

[itsclydebitches]

"Weiss likewise hasn't expressed any impatience, knowing looks, or other background hints to tell the audience, "I know they like each other and am waiting for them to overcome their fear and just SAY IT already."

Was that not what was shown when she was visibly annoyed with there dancing/flirting in V7 and immediate agreement to go to the movies with the boys?

Personally, I don't think so. Blake and Yang are flirty from the beginning of the scene with Yang fondly watching Blake put on makeup and then the two of them giggling over not having to hear the "annoying" FNKI thanks to loud club music. This is Weiss' reaction to that flirting.

It's a nearly completely bland expression, edging just slightly into amused when animated. Weiss only starts getting annoyed when Ruby announces that she's also ditching her: "But a victory party? Really?"

Then we cut back to Yang and Blake doing their awkward dance-off which doesn't amuse Weiss.

But there's nothing to imply that she's unamused with the flirting. It's because they're acting dumb. Weiss is annoyed because she's just learned that the rest of the team is ditching her and she doesn't like either option presented to her: hang out with Blake and Yang as they make fools of themselves at a loud, chaotic club (remember, outside of a few gags Weiss' whole thing is playing the sophisticated, 'Why I never!' princess archetype), or go to what she considers a stupid, preemptive victory party for her father's rival. Both of those outings sound awful to her, so when Jaune pops in with a movie option, yeah, she instantly agrees. The joke-y message of the scene via Weiss' perspective is, 'Why are all my friends lame and annoying?' not 'Why can't Blake and Weiss just admit that they love each other?'

I definitely don't mean this in an accusatory way, anon, but I'd like to point out that this is precisely the kind of rewriting that RWBY thrives on. Far more overtly, I've seen the fandom spend the last two years framing this scene as a super intimate date between Yang and Blake, proof that they're in love... never-mind that we're explicitly told they're going out with four other people. Now here, it's easy to misremember the scene via the context of Volume 9. We've confirmed now that they are in love and Weiss said it was about time they admitted it... so clearly a moment when they were flirty and Weiss was annoyed was setup for this! But the reality is that they were two separate bits of characterization, with Weiss' annoyance having nothing to do with the bees' relationship - because the relationship wasn't established yet.

Even if we wanted to read this as proof of Weiss' knowledge, it's still an incredibly weak example. There are ways of writing a 'This character knows two others like each other and makes a comment to inform the audience of that knowledge' that in no way relies on that level of subtly, potential misreading, and a Volume and a half of nothing else in-between. This isn't by any means an uncommon trope. Characters frequently share Knowing Looks with one another, make sly comments about the would-be couple's obliviousness, or just outright comment on how they're clearly in love, even if they won't admit it. I'm in season 4 of Voyager at the moment, so here's an example:

B'Elanna: "Harry, you might as well wear a big sign that says 'I'M IN LOVE,' everyone sees it."

There, done, it's really that simple. At any point across four Volumes (if we're only going to go back to Volume 6) a member of the group could have confronted Blake or Yang about their feelings, allowing them to deny it until their magical confrontation in the Ever After, but confirming the romantic interest for the audience. We could have gotten a thousand scenes where someone nudged a teammate and gave a simple line like, 'So, when do you think they're finally going to admit that they like each other, hmm?' with some retort about how it'll take another century at least, giving the story that space to keep the relationship ambiguous for a while. Any random side character of RWBY's could have assumed they were a couple, causing them to blush and stammer out denials while their friends rolled their eyes. It really isn't difficult to establish a slow-burn, they're-just-not-admitting-their-feelings arc. In fact, that makes up a HUGE portion of American television, with most protagonist duos going through a seasons-long slow burn that won't come to fruition until the final hour, but that's okay because the show has already confirmed that yes, they love each other, they just won't say it out loud. But just because it's easy to pull off doesn't mean RWBY did it. If the show had, we wouldn't have spent so many years begging for confirmation or, now, side-eyeing the two characters suddenly going, 'Oh yeah. I knew it all along. I just didn't ever mention that across nine Volumes.'

[rubyneo]

so (claps my hands together) they 100% misused neo here. they shouldve shown her and what she was doing in EA more. what screen time they did give her was often underwhelming. i had a complete lack of reaction to a certain kiss (& the whole scene honestly). it literally did nothing for me. just like. Ok. finally. it was dumb as fuck that yang was more concerned about defending blake from rubys outburst than she was about her sister clearly being in SEVERE distress?!? ruby the girl who's never lashed out like this ever, the sister she raised and would do anything for. okk... i liked jaune's arc though i thought that was well done + i love that he got to keep the white hair after being younged. the wk moments were... interesting. curious to see where they go with that. i LOVED the brothers lore it literally made me jaw drop. the baby brothers were so cute... really love that they were FROM EA rather than having created it. also the implication that they can come and go from there as they pleased? not really plausible imo but it couldve been interesting to. see them. umm. the neo illusion scene i loved everything about roman ofc. his final line made me cry really hard. clover was funny as hell to me. that man did fucking NOTHING. he only did things as part of the group and then during the fight he literally just stood there holding kingfisher. presumably bc neo had no idea how he fought. he was just there to be a number in the group + to turn into qrow. lionheart at least used his weapon in the fight. neo's backstory shouldve been more explored beyond a couple paintings and a couple lines from roman. not everyone has read roman holiday. ozpin using his cane in the fight like roman (hitting and bludgeoning rather than the fencing style) was a good detail. i've seen people get all up in arms about penny and ironwood being there but like. it is not unreasonable for neo to have made an educated guess as to what happened with them. the summer scenes were fantastic i love her axe-gun. yes ruby stop putting your mom on a pedestal she was a person too! though interesting that it took her so long to be like GASP my mom LIED?!? when in v7 qrow literally tells her that summer had a lot of secrets. meaning she lied a lot. ALSO very interested in who raven portaled to. if qrow knows more than hes been telling or if theres another person we havent met that raven found important enough to have immediate access to. weiss being made into the comedy character was.. annoying to say the least. neo's ending was unsatisfying in a lot of ways. i think this volume couldve done with another couple of episodes to fully flesh out ideas. sorry this was long lmao but it think this is a decent summary of my thoughts

YEAH!!!! honestly so many of my issues with it definitely could have been fixed with just like 2 extra episodes to fit in more of the build up (especially to the ruby and neo plot). bees were fine but they were like meant to be a d-plot to me. i figured it would be like primary plot is trying to get home interspersed with the ruby and neo dramatic build up and ruby's mental state deteriorating, b plot was what was goin on with jaune, c plot is The Penny Thing, and then bees could be doing their thang in the bg.

still mad ruby and neo's Whole Deal was like an episode and 4 lines of dialogue outside of that.

summer and raven's little adventure makes me so fucking crazy. i fully expect the person raven portalled to to be the spring maiden, and lowkey i think its possible it could be gretchen. the timeline would certainly line up.

neo's ending...i was able to be okay with it until i saw that the writers were literally like well she's a fan favourite so we knew we couldnt just off her so we had to give her a more gentle send off like KILL YOURSELVES!!!!!! sniffle. they rly just dropped at the last second "neo is jealous of the love ruby gets from her friends 🥺🥺 now she's gonna kill herself" LIKE SHUT UPPPPP.

the highs for me were VERY high (ruby snapping! neo's dialogue as an echo of salem's! jaune being a crazy hermit to parallel to ozpin! the brothers bg! summer and raven! the horror elements!!!) and the lows were very low. but if theyd had like literally just 2 more episodes i think it would have flowed a lot better and not felt quite so...rushed near the end.

[acmartin]

Take Two: Scene Concept

Scene concept for my two main love interest characters in my WIP.

Context of Characters: Both characters at this point have strong feelings for one another if not in love with each other already. Character A is afraid because she has never been in a relationship before, she hasn't even ever been kissed. There is also the factor that her enemies would harm the woman she is interested in and it's a terrifying concept to put Character B in that position.

Character B has past relationship traumas and doesn't want to let herself fall for Character A, especially not in the middle of the war they are fighting. This causes her heart and brain to be in their own little war.

Scene:

Character A and B are getting ready on opposite sides of a door for a party that they have to infiltrate to get some information that will be vital to the war.

Character B: "Are you almost done getting ready for the party? We are going to be late at this point."

Character A:"Wasn't the whole point of this mission showing up late so we could capture our target off guard with our presence?"

Character B (clearly becoming irritated with Character A): We need to be late and not arrive after the party has ended.

Character A: "I- oh, sorry. I am just having some problems with my outfit. I should just be another few minutes and we can go."

Character B knows Character A better than that. It will be far longer than a few minutes if she doesn't intervene in some way.

Character B: "Do you need help with the dress?"

After some time passes without a response Character B calls out Character A's name.

Character A: "It's not that kind of problem with the dress. I'll be fine I just need to put on my heels and then I'll be ready."

Character B notices that Character A is doing a terrible job at deflecting.

Character B: "Is it alright if I come in?"

Character A: "I guess."

With the sound of the door unlocking, Character B opens the door to find something that she didn't expect. Character A was looking at herself in the mirror on the opposite side of the room, fidgeting with her golden and ruby dress. Seeing her fidgeting with the dress is not what she didn't expect, what she didn't expect to see was that with the open back design of the dress, she saw a back riddled with scars.

She knew Character A had scars on her back but she never laid eyes on them, Character A usually walked around with long-sleeved shirts or jackets and now. Now she is in a backless dress that shows off much more than just her scars. She has found Character A beautiful since the day they met, but she has never seen her like this and the only thing she can think is,

Character B: “Wow”

The second she said that she felt her body coil back in embarrassment. She didn't mean to say that, not that she didn't mean it, but that one word can be taken out of context and the last thing she wants is for that to happen.

Character A: "Yeah... I have a lot of scars. Sorry."

Just as she expected, it was taken out of context. Character B takes notice that Character A's eyes are closed as she is still facing the mirror. She knows that she has to tread lightly here, to not say the wrong thing.

She takes the last few steps to where Character A is standing. She is right beside her, close enough that the other woman can most definitely feel her presence but not so close that she is invading her personal space.

Character B: "Why are you apologizing for your scars?"

Another pause occurs before Character A responds.

Character A: "Habit, I guess? Sorry."

Character B: "Don't apologize for something that is a part of you. Your scars aren't what make you, you."

Character A: "I know that, but when I look at them that knowledge escapes me."

Character B takes a chance with something and moves in front of Character A slightly guiding her hand to her companion's face grazing the scar on her chin. She lifts Character A's head up slightly so that when her companion opens her eyes they will lock with her own.

Character B: "So don't look at them. Look at me instead."

Character A with her eyes still closed: "I don't want to."

Character B: "Why not?"

Character A: "I don't want to see the look on your face."

Character B: "And what look would that be?"

Character A: "Pity."

Character B: "Do you trust me?"

Character A: " What kind of question is that? Of course, I do."

Character B (as softly as she can): "Then open your eyes."

Character A does as she is asked and is not met with pity at all. She looks at Character B's eyes and almost gets lost in them. All she sees is adoration. Without hesitation, she takes a step forward and gives the other woman one of the biggest hugs she could.

The hug is reciprocated immediately and with just as much love and pressure behind it. They didn't know it but they both needed that hug. Once they separate, Character A takes a few steps back to properly take in what her travel companion fully looks like in her party outfit. She wishes that the look Character B was wearing would make her speechless but instead...

Character A: "You're terrifyingly beautiful."

A few moments pass before Character A realizes what she said.

Character A: "Wait, terrifying is the wrong word to use. I don't find you scary, I find you beautiful. I don't know why I said terrifying. Well actually I do, but that's not important. It is and I shouldn't undermine my emotions but, you know what. I am going to stop talking and just end this now before I keep going. Just forget I said anything, please."

Character B has known Character A for a few years now and has been rejecting the feelings she has for her for the last year. She knows Character A well enough to know just exactly what she meant by her first comment. Character A is afraid of her emotions, afraid of what may come from them. Emotions are a hard and difficult thing to wrap one's head around and in the midst of a war, it makes the difficulty tenfold. They are both lucky they have even gotten as far as they have.

Character B knows that this is a conversation neither of them are ready to have. Not yet, soon though. She begins walking to the door wondering if she should say anything or just leave in silence, but then she remembered something.

Someone once told her that when it comes to quiet moments of war where you can even look at someone the way they just finished looking at each other if something can be said, then say it. If you are in a war for the Gods' sakes and you don't know if you will be able to say anything later on because of the battles you will endure than say something. Say anything. So that's what Character B does as she walks through the doorway.

Character B: Take the time you need but I just want to say something before we move on from this. Something I think you need to hear as much as I need to say it. Is that fine?

She waits for Character A to give a small nod and look up at her.

With a sly smile, Character B says what needs to be said/heard.

"I find you terrifyingly beautiful too."

Character B turns as she states this knowing the message is well received and closes the door behind her.

[aspoonofsugar]

sorry if this has been asked before...

At the end of volume 7/8 Ozpin remarks that he was reminded by a fairytale of a young girl who ran away from her problems and went into a fairytale, he is talking about the ever after of course but what was the thing Alyx ran from?

are there any hints in V9, will it be addressed again? if we go along with the theory Lewis was Oz (which im not that into but devils ad.) then surely Ozpin knows what Alyx was running from and will tell the gang back in Vacuo?

and what if Alyx was a maiden? we know Oz always kept his girls close by, keeping track of them at all times, so was Alyx running from that reponsibilty and oz caught her and they fell into the ever after? if so then surely ozpin now hes not telling lies, will have explained this to vacuo?

Hi!

Sorry for the late reply.

I don't think Oscar and Ozpin's remarks about Alyx must be taken literally. As a matter of fact, they are clearly projecting:

Oscar:  I thought the idea of falling through Remnant into a new world was exciting. I never understood why she was so sad when she finally made it back home. But now it makes more sense.

Ozpin: She wasn’t the same girl anymore.

Ozpin: I was recently reminded of an old fairy tale. A young girl flees the consequences of a choice, to a magical place. But, having never learned from her initial failure, she only succeeds in spreading it.

On the one hand Oscar feels like Alyx in the sense he left home and has now been changed by his adventures and experiences. On the other hand Oz feels like Alyx because he has chosen to run away from the group the moment his lies were discovered. In short, here Ozpin is not really talking about Alyx, but about himself.

Notice, that these 2 ideas apply to the characters who fall in the Ever After, especially Ruby.

Ruby is growing up, so she is changing, but she initially refuses this transformation and is at a loss for who she is. Similarly, she runs away from herself and her own feelings.

Obviously, this is true for all the characters and I would say Jaune and Neo especially explore the theme of running away from their past mistakes.

So, Alyx is really a mirror for the characters and what is said about her is really important for the themes and the characters rather than for the Girl Who Fell Through The World herself. In any case, we know she isn't described as such a great person in the book:

Yang: Well, yeah. But she was kind of a mean person, right? She lied and cheated her way through most of the book.

Jaune: Like Alyx… she wasn’t just a little petulant or inconsiderate. She was selfish… cruel. Like this whole word was simply make-believe and the rules didn’t apply to her.

NeoCat: That cowardly, wretched girl whose story you’ve been foolishly following all along. The same girl that I followed too…

In the book she is said to be a coward, who lies and cheats. Moreover, Jaune describes her as even more selfish and cruel than her literary counter-part.

In short, in the fairy tale she is probably a mischievous child, who eventually changes and learns her lesson:

Blake: Yeah, but she learned her lesson in the end, right?

In reality, well:

Curious Cat: I’d certainly say so.

I love this exchange between Blake and the Cat (our 2 Cats and Beasts :P) because they mean different things and ultimately they are both right. The Cat means Alyx has learnt her lesson in a dark way, since they themselves killed her. Still, Blake's idea that Alyx changed and matured turns out to be true:

NeoCat: No, after talking to the Tree, she had a sudden crisis of conscience! Decided she wanted to fix everything that she had broken in the Ever After! Including poor Jaune!

It is just that Alyx's story is not a fairy tale, but a tragedy. And yet, even in tragedy there is beauty:

Blacksmith: When Alyx’s life ended, she chose to leave a part of herself behind. A wish to fix what she had broken.

Alyx poisons Jaune, but she fixes him in the end. Alyx dies, but her final wish grants Jaune a new life. And this duality is at the root of humanity (alchemy) itself. There is Destruction and Creation, which means death sure, but also transformation:

Blacksmith: She will have the chance to return her broken heart… And becomes something new. (flips and holds Alyx’s knife in their hand) Such is balance.

In summary, Alyx is a protagonist of a coming of age story, both in her book and in reality. As far as other ties to the plot are concerned, I don't think there will be. We might have them, of course. Still, I think the point of Alyx's fairy tale is more than anything thematic tbh.

In any case, I don't think there is any indication Lewis is Oz or that Alyx is a Maiden:

If Lewis were Oz, I would think he might have been able to protect her rather easily

Likewise, if Alyx were a Maiden, I don't think she would have needed Jaune's help that much and she might have resisted the CC more

My guess is Alyx and Lewis were two kids that by chance entered the Ever After and had an adventure there. From their names it is also possible they were born before the Great War, since they are not called after colors. Still, this is all we know really.

Finally, here comes 3 thoughts:

Alyx is the protagonist of her own story, so this is why the volume ends with her saving Jaune, rather than vice versa

All that the fairy tale says turns out to be true. The reality is simply more complex and layered, but the heart of the story is confirmed. The way home lies in the Tree and Alyx is a selfish girl, who by the end grows selfless

Alyx's fairy tale is an exploration of grief, as it is Lewis's way to deal with Alyx's death. It is how he wanted things to go. It is a way to celebrate his sister and to have her return safely home

These are my main thoughts on Alyx so far :) Sure, more twists are still possible, though.

Thank you for the ask!

[etinceelle]

You got an ask like a week ago about Penny being the P in JNPR 2.0 WHEN she comes back, and I really liked your answer so I wanted to add my two cents. Mostly I just think that Penny needs to be part of another team, away from Ruby. From day one Ruby has been her closest friend and partner, and I think if Penny is going to try and find out who she is outside of being an android she needs to do that with some other people. Of course I think her and Ruby should be together and be friends (and confess their undying love for one another), but I think they need some healthy boundaries and to learn to be ok being apart for like, a day or something. Its fair to say they both are going to have attachment issues. But also! Penny and Nora! The friendship we never knew we needed!

Finally, with all of Penny's stuff, we often forget just how tied she has been to team JNPR from the start. It was Pyrrha's semblance that dismembered Penny the first time, of course it was not on purpose and Pyrrha was manipulated by Emerald, but that still happened. And I think that it is easy to forget that what happened to Penny was clearly one of Pyrrha's final regrets, and one of the main driving forces behind her decision to become the Fall Maiden and ultimately sacrifice herself. So I think it would be very poetic for team JNR to help Penny learn who she is, and in a way bring back to life the person Pyrrha thought she killed.

I can only agree with everything you said ! I LOVE Ruby and Penny together and they are definitely meant to stick together forever (xD), but Penny actually being able to make new friends would be super nice. (like Ruby mentioned in V7 btw, but this time it would really be developped and awesome)

Actually this makes me think of the Windblume festival of this year's Genshin event (spoilers for those who haven't played) : Amber and Collei are very close friends, but Amber is Collei's only friend as well. So when she visits Mondstadt to see Amber, Collei is kinda left with other people on purpose by Amber who thinks it would help her to make new friends different from her. This would be exactly this for Penny ! Of course I'd love Ruby and Penny to be able to actually spend the time they want to spend together, but also see them overcome their fears of losing each other and allowing the other to explore, make friends for Penny, just enjoy this freedom.

And YEAH omg Arkos is involved in both of Penny's death this is insane. xD There are strong connection between all of these characters, and I truly feel like it would be a waste if Penny stayed dead and they never explored them

[cdyssey]

Hacks (1.09) Reactions:

I thought it’d be fun to do half incoherent write ups for the s1 finale episodes ☺️

Ava lying about a doctor’s appointment to catch her flight… this is not gonna end well. 😭😭

“But do me a favor. Will you stay off WebMD? It’s bad for your personality.” This is the fucking funniest show.

“Great. Love you, bye!” And Deborah looks up and stares at Ava as she runs off. Oh, my fucking godddd. The first “I love you” between them and it’s so beautifully casual, like it’s something that Ava has said to her a thousand times before.

Deb at Marty about embarrassing herself: “Oh, well, thanks for looking out for me, you condescending piece of shit.” get his ass!!!

They did a really job of casting Ruby. There’s a lot of chemistry between her and Ava. You can sense the history between them.

Deb so nervous and worked up about the new set that she hasn’t eaten. ;w;

Ruby notices that something is different about Ava, and Ava says she’s happy.

Ooough, Ava being caught by the subletter, and Marcus is on the other end of the line. Jesus, this isn’t gonna be good.

“His job is just a series of high-cholesterol lunches.” FJSKSKSSN

Now’s as good as of a time as any to mention this—this season has done a remarkable job of showing the subtle tensions between Deborah’s various employees. There was Damien and Josefina in the kitchen during DJ’s party. And slowly but surely, we’ve watched Marcus grow increasingly discomfited at possibly being edged out by Ava.

Like their ambitious boss, they’re all jostling for their positions in the hierarchy—to be number one, to be the person Deborah relies on. Jealousies emerge, and that feels so real and painful and human.

Ava walking with so much confidence to her interview is nice. Such a huge change from her pathetic loser girl status at the start of the season fjskjdmsks.

Deb wanting Ava to come over now, and Ava making up a lie about bloodwork. Girllllll.

“You’ve been through way worse than silence, Deborah.” 😭

Ava: “Trust me.” / Deborah: “Okay, okay. I do.” Sobbing. OH, GOD, and this on the heels of Marcus questioning Ava’s trustworthiness.

MARCUS TRYING TO SABOTAGE WOWWW. OH, GOD. MY GUT IS HURTING. I LOVE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS SM

“Okay, I’m getting my pussy waxed.” ALALWOQOFODKSKSOQA

Oh, jesus christ. The interviewers reveal the subject of the show, and Ava’s face immediately falls, and she’s immediately defensive because she’s gotten to KNOW Deb.

And she’s not a “crazy bitch.”

She’s someone that she loves.

And so she blows up this job to defend Deborah, even though Deborah is about to fucking find out that she was in LA in the first place. My Stomach is in Knots.

Ava tripping and her diva cup falling out of her bag after she tries to power walk away is perfect. Yeah

DON’T ANSWER THE JIMMY CALL NO

I’M SICK

FUCKING SICK

the heaviness in Deborah’s face. She trusted Ava, and trust does not come easily to her at all

“Actually, you made light of my dandruff problem and told me to fuck off, so we really don’t have to go there.” ALALAOSJSK

“And when you share a sense of humor with someone, it’s like finding someone who speaks your own, you know, private little language. And you make each other better. But his ambition got in the way, and he left me, and I was so scared because I thought I needed someone else and that I would never find anyone like him ever again.” HACKS WRITERS, GO SIT IN THE CORNER AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE.

SHE’S TALKING ABOUT HER EX-HUSBAND AND CLEARLY THINKING ABOUT AVA

Stand-up not being scary to Deb because no one can disappoint her. :((

“Isn’t that a little lonely, though?” / “It’s just true.”

FUCK ME

I’M SO???

I’M

Deborah in the kitchen, her apron bloodied, as she filets a fish… and it takes you back to earlier in the season as she fishes quietly on the pier while Ava watches her late night show. And that moment was important because it was the first time Ava really connected to Deborah’s humor, when she discovered that Deborah makes her laugh.

Goddamn.

(Also, something, something about Deb having a lot of practical skills that I really appreciate—fishing, cooking, etc. it would have been super easy to make her helpless about those sorts of things, but giving her that touch of competence helps to ground her, I think. Makes her feel more real.)

Deb pretending like everything is okay, and Ava continuing to lie—god god god—while Marcus is surprised to see Ava still by Deb’s side in the kitchen. So many unspoken dynamics and tensions here.

Deborah’s hatchet comes down SO hard, and it’s silent condemnation.

It’s a taste of what’s to come for what can only be a fraught and emotionally painful finale.

FUCK ME, this show is good

[genderqueerpond]

ok so heres a few thoughts

in reverse order. because I'm thinking backwards after finishing.

I REALLY THOUGHT THEY WERE ABOUT TO GET HIT BY A BUS RIGHT AT THE END THERE

the girl in the dance scene. in the yellow hat and lavender tights. Susan Foreman. To Me. this is based on absolutely nothing but vibes and my faceblind ass thinking they look alike, but I think it would be so fucking cool if she was. therefore since it harms nothing and there's no one to tell me otherwise, I have decided to incorporate this into my worldview forevermore <3

just when I said there was nothing dr who could do that I wouldn't forgive, they say something that could almost be taken as teasing a christianity-real worldbuilding, probably the one thing I couldn't forgive. had more than enough of that already. however we won't be entertaining this possibility any further. it was very vague, and they're clearly not doing that, I won't allow it.

I thought it would be ruby who'd get the chord right when the doctor failed. literally the song that's embedded in her subconscious probably **IS** that song? still think that would have been best but I guess I'll take the beatles

idk how I feel about doing a drag queen villain. i know I know and they're absolutely WONDERFUL but I just don't know. torn about this.

alright so like... we've skipped an entire season. the dynamic between ruby and the doctor is so much more familiar by episode 2, "you never run away"/"you always know what to do", and it's June or July but hard to keep track, meaning she's been traveling with the doctor while keeping in touch with her friends and family by phone for approximately six months now

ruby in the most 60's fit anyone from 2024 could possibly wear: "we're in the 60's, but what about my clothes?!"

I KNEW they were about to start playing the dw theme on piano and segue into the real thing and I still screamed when it happened. absolutely phenomenal

------

crying because you almost killed your monster baby..... good stuff. queer subtext

15 shaping up on track to be extremely Inconsistent and Hypocritical about killing monsters/villains or saving them. some may see this as bad characterization but really it's very The Doctor of him. always has been governed by whims on this

I really believe the entirety of Space Babies was manifested by Ruby's subconscious.

as in, none of that existed until she arrived, and then it did. because of her. it came out of her mind, beginning with the butterfly effect, to the orphan babies who never grew up. it all says a lot of compelling things about her as a person. she's secretly terrified of getting things wrong, the abandoned child part of her still feels much younger than she is.

oh boy this character is so new and I'm already writing meta for her this is great. also her limitless compassion is a great strength. top tier companion material, no wonder the doctor wanted her.

"the human race we survived." --- coming from the present day, this really is a time when that feels surprising huh. yeah

the way fifteen says "Gone!" to Ruby's question about Gallifrey. The tone of voice fucking killed me. "and I am so glad to be alive" --- yeah but its also like he's saying, meet me on this level, we are happy, we are doing happiness. do not challenge this. reminds me of eleven. by which I mean hoo boy

also I love him. easily on track to be my second favorite doctor in a few more episodes.

[oddlyhale]

I had this AU idea where Ever After is actually just a wonderful, nice and peaceful place that all the dead characters have gone to live happily and without the memories of their past selves.

Ruby gets separated from her team but is helped by a girl that looks exactly like Penny, but perhaps with a different outfit and hairstyle. Ruby noticed that the girl has a robotic body.

The girl leads Ruby to a cottage where she introduces her two dads to. One is a man that looks exactly like Ironwood, but the other is someone Ruby's never met before.

In the backyard of the cottage garden, two other people are there. One looks like Pyrrha and the other looks like Adam (although Ruby doesn't know who Adam is, so she doesn't think too much on him.)

While everybody seems very happy living together, they inform Ruby that there's someone looking for her. All they give is a name: Carmine.

Carmine is a wolf man among the Ever After, and he's hunting. He is known as the midhusband of death and he is out to take souls to Death. He has been given a list of those that need to die: "those that have avoided death."

(And maybe this is the part where I have been clearly watching too much violent magical girl animes) but Carmine will not hold back on massacring those that he finds. His power could be proven by tearing Neo apart the minute he finds her, taking her soul. He goes after the others that fell into Ever After, WBYJ.

But not only is Carmine a killing machine, but he knows why Death wants these people to be dead. He knows the truth about Jaune, how little purpose some teammates have lost, and the truth about Ruby.

I'd also like to put in that Carmine constantly baits Ruby with the undeniable truth she could get from him or Death. They know Summer Rose and they know what happened to her, but, they won't tell Ruby a single thing but torment her with the idea that she could get to know if she were to give up her soul.

Carmine never goes after the others living in the cottage. Shockingly, they're good friends with Carmine. Pyrrha knows he loves baked potatoes. Penny knows he likes fishing. Ironwood knows that Carmine has been interested in him at one point but grew out of that. Everybody thinks Carmine, a killing machine, is a good person because he is a holder of so many truths.

The truth is, why Penny in this world still has her robotic body, is because Carmine drops it on Ruby that she never saved the real Penny. He tells her that the Penny that was left to die after she thought she separated the souls with a real body was the real Penny. He laughs at Ruby, mocking her for trusting a genie.

Ruby realizes that she was the one that killed the real Penny.

"Trust is a risk. That was all you got right."

Any main characters that die? Yeah, Weiss and Jaune. He leaves Ruby with Yang as a form of torment because the two are so distant that their bond isn't strong enough to save each other. He also makes Yang choose between Blake and Ruby.

Very fun tormenting stuff lol.

[lizardthelizard]

That playlist though. Oh no. OH NO! Feelings for and about Mulan. Right through the heart. I love "Another Love" so very much, but I'm often said when you watch some fanedit and it's kinda missing this beat how, well, the previous/other/first love was so all consuming, that finding something new is hard. Now you make me think about Sleeping Warrior vs Red Warrior here, OBVIOUSLY!

Mulan hitting rock bottom, wandering around aimless after leaving Aurora, because obviously she didn't join Robin. And we see her in that tavern, given up on honor (her truest of loves, clearly). Hitting the other direction of her whole character so hard. Meeting Ruby is nice, but falling for her doesn't come easy at all. She had her hopes set up on Aurora and it destroyed her completely, now where is the energy to muster up the courage to go for a second round?

~And if somebody hurts you, I wanna fight But my hand's been broken one too many times~ HELP! I'M DYING OVER HERE WITH THE IMAGES!! Thinking back to the intensity of the first time and while wanting love not being able to go for it... yeah, very canon, very tragic.

I'm listening through the whole thing, but I saw it ends with Marina. Great. The only thing more devastating would have been a Florence song. Marina's voice alone can carry this specific kind of melancholia/sadness... ~I'm a nomad [...] no sweet home~ Yeah, a Mulan song. What a choice. Never meeting anybody from her past, not getting her own happy ending.

Also, yes to the thing you said - she is so terribly stubborn. They gave us a fullfledged 3dimensional character with flaws, who would also bring a very useful skillset to the table and with more time all those walls she clearly build could have been torn down by the right person. Damn.

(Maybe I should finally cave and get spotify, make things easier. lol)

Another Love THEE reason for this playlist! At least, when I listened to it some years ago, it was the first (and for a while the only song) I had on her playlist. Because it was so perfect for her!! and I HAD to have it on some kind of Mulan playlist.

But YEAH!! Mulan's heartbreak over Aurora is so evident in season 5 and it really changes her as a person. And she becomes so bitter and so jaded (and then canon doesn't even give her a happy ending and she has to third wheel AGAIN 😭)

But when you throw Ruby into the mix? Oh boy, I'm VERY here for this. It won't be easy for either of them (Mulan struggling to open up and put herself out there again and with Ruby viewing herself as a monster still and worrying about hurting Mulan if they're too close) but...if they were both able to work up the courage and power through any of those issues... 👀

Also, see, I think it's such a shame because I feel like Mulan IS three dimensional, yes! But sometimes fandom (very broadly speaking) treats her like she's not. And she gets watered down into this kind of 'girlboss' character. And yeah, she IS a girlboss! Sure! But she's kind of a dork-ass-loser as well sometimes and she takes things way too seriously and she's so closed off.

Anyway, the point is that, like many ouat side characters, Mulan deserved so much more from canon.

[kob131]

So yeah, on my bullshit about Taiyang again.

So I've heard a lot about how Tai had abused Yang and Ruby by shutting down and thus subjecting Yang to 'parentification' since she had to raise Ruby for a time.

My issue here is that aside from one time, Yang never shows any issues with what happened. She's cheerful, happy, able to relax- Yang is by all means a well adjusted person. Yeah she had anger issues- she's better than me and I function. Yang only ever shows any problems about that situation in V5 E8. And speaking from experience- she was likely so caught up in overwhelming emotion that she wasn't thinking clearly. Been in that situation myself. So...it doesn't really fit.

'Well, Tai doesn't have to be malicious to abuse his kids!'

... Okay, ignoring how half the people who argue this tried saying a joke was abusive-

When I think of a character who abused their kid but still loves them- I think of Raven.

Raven abused Yang. She abandoned her daughter thrice, crushed her heart by sending a message through Qrow, never talked to her even after losing her, tried using said abandonment to influence Yang to her side, tried to convince Yang the uncle and sister who loved her where brainwashed (aka gaslighting) and used her as bait.

But she still loves Yang.

Raven is a parent who abused Yang but still loves her. Tai isn't that. He's a flawed parent who made a serious fuck up but kept going.

To be fair, I'm not surprised people automatically assume people defending Tai think he's perfect. RT has a habit of making Tai cleaner than he is. But thar doesn't mean you can just default to 'abusive' in response with a begrudging 'loving' stapled on.