#are you gonna arrest people who write from a serial murderers' point of view??

[originalaccountname]

alright i gotta ask, and of course youre free to not answer (of COURSE) but what led to all the reblogs regarding shipping? did something happen, are you okay?

I've had to unfollow someone whose art I liked because of them spouting "anti" rhetoric and making a low-key callout post for someone who isn't even on tumblr and now I'm doing my part in counterbalancing any potential damage

[poledancingsquid]

Wicked Game Fanmix

Look I said I’d make this in 2018 and then life was A LOT but I finally finished it today and frankly it’s still my absolute favourite BFU fic.

If you haven’t read Wicked Game go read it ( and send your adoring praise to @mephsation ) If you’re swerving spoilers do NOT read the rest of this yet bc boy am I about the quote the shit out of my favourite fic and also I’ve written a brief summary of every chapter in case people have forgotten.

If you don’t want to read my reasoning and just want the songs here’s a Spotify playlist

So Chapter one: Shane’s just joined the precinct, when Ryan works out the scene they’re at was by a copycat rather than the Lover Shane responds by just saying “You’re Brilliant.”

We’re gonna be friends- The White Stripes, it’s the beginning of Ryan impressing Shane and they’re already conversing easily, honestly this is the chapter I struggled to find a song for the most.

Chapter two: This is where we meet Jess for the first time and find out about her and Shane’s relationship. It’s also when Ryan establishes that the copycat is shorter than the killer so the song I picked was

Looking up- Paramore, granted this is entirely down to the first lyrics being “Things are looking up oh finally” but it’s a banger anyway

Chapter three: This is when Ryan gets the first email. Ryan also nearly gets stabbed and Shane shoots a suspect, the copycat writes ‘he’s not good enough for you’ in blood.

Chic- Leadley primarily for “We could last forever she could last all week” Jess is so sure she’s better suited to Shane than Ryan is.

Chapter four: The second email arrives, explaining that the Lover has killed a man for the first time, the man looks like Ryan.

One More Murder- Better Than Ezra “One more murder in this town don’t mean a thing” which is what Ryan tries to convince himself after a lookalike is murdered.

Chapter five: This is where Ryan first realises he has a crush on Shane, it’s also the chapter with the press conference where the Lover’s sexuality is raised and when Shane admits he’s questioning is sexuality sending Ryan into a slight spiral based on his fear of being outed.

Would you be so Kind?- Dodie I’m not sure who’s POV I think this applies to more at this point.

Chapter six: This is the chapter where Ryan apologises to Shane for his reaction to him coming out, it is also the chapter where an LAPD officer who is the exact same race as Ryan and looks like him is killed, Ryan throws up.

Fear and Loathing- Marina and the Diamonds This is mostly in relation to Ryan’s fears about coming about though I suppose could also be applied to the whole serial killer killing people who are very similar to him thing.

Chapter seven: This is when Ryan and Shane go on their Not! Date that is definitely a date, it ends in their first kiss and Shane blowing him on the couch “Please don’t make me regret this”.

Brilliant Mind- Furniture throughout the fic Shane is constantly fascinated by how ‘brilliant’ Ryan is and this chapter epitomises that. “ You must be out of your brilliant mind”

Chapter eight: Ryan tells Shane about the homophobia he’s experienced in the past, Jess finds out they spent the night together “woke in an empty bed aching for a presence he has no business missing”. Shane is helping a friend clean their apartment so he goes to meet Jess at a bar and gets spiked.

Far too young to die- Panic! at the disco I went with this song because essentially it’s a recurring theme that Ryan almost dies also the obsessive nature of the verses fit in with Shane’s behaviour “ I've never so adored you, I'm twisting allegories now,I want to complicate you, Don't let me do this to myself”

Chapter nine: This is when Ryan wakes up in the hospital, Shane starts to behave oddly and just says he is working on a theory, he also invites himself over to take care of Ryan, Ryan discovers the cleaning supplies in a publi bin. The chapter ends with Shane revealing that Jess is the copycat and the bombshell of “Schmidtt thinks I’m the lover”

If I lose it- Charlie Simpson A little because of the medical stuff at the start of the Chapter a lot because Shane seems so scared for Ryan and ultimately the uncertaintly at the end of the chapter “ I can't tell you what will happen, To us as the days passed, Please just stay with me.”

Chapter ten: Shane plays the recording of Jess, Ryan plans to spend a night with Jess despite everyone telling him not to. Shane begs Ryan not to be scared of him “no more innocents” Jess texts him that she is going to kill someone if he doesn’t come to her immediately, he locked both their guns in the safe so goes unarmed.

Pressure- Paramore this is frankly one of the most stressful chapters to read because Ryan commits dumbassery after dumbassery and I think this embodies that intense STRESS feeling very well

Chapter eleven:Jess is arrested, Shane almost shoots her in full view of the bodycam, Ryan gets shot and Shane is going on trial to ensure Jess pleads guilty.

Coming Down- Halsey This is where Ryan starts to see a possible darker side to Shane  “I found the Devil, I found him in a lover, And his lips like tangerine, In his color coded speak”

Chapter twelve: This is when it’s officially revealed that Shane’s a murderer, he stands by no innocents killing Leo Tayler with an axe after he caused the deaths of his children.

Monster- Paramore “ You were my conscience, so solid, now you're like water We started drowning, not like we'd sink any further” this is the point at which Ryan’s conscience is starting to slip (even if it’s giving Shane more of one)

Chapter thirteen: With no more murders they are eventually taken of the Lover case Jess’s trial is over quickly and she pleads guilty, Shane’s trial drags on, Ryan finds out he killed a criminal in one of his first weeks on duty, he’s found not guilty, Ryan sees Shane at the firing range and says that he wants Leo to be dead, he gets home from work to find Shane in his LAPD uniform.  The head is delivered to Ryan

Crazy=Genius- Panic! at the Disco, this is a bit of a summary of Shane’s character throughout honestly but also this really feels like the turning point of no return, Shane would do anything for Ryan including murder, and it’s through his ‘genius’ he was found not guilty. 

Chapter fourteen: As they investigate Leo Taylor’s murder Ryan begins to suspect Shane, this is where he quizzes Shane, discovers a knife in his home that isn’t his, later whilst investigating the deaths of sex wokers Ryan runs into a building without back up, Shane shoots Douglas and Ryan basically asks him to kill Murray

One Little Lie- Simple Creatures because at this point Ryan basically knows Shane is a murderer he just gets very good at lying to himself “I tell myself one little lie and the pain don’t phase me”

Chapter fifteen: So basically whilst fucking Shane Ryan thanks him for killing Douglas and then he bites him until it draws blood because Shane asked him to/ They manage to book a holiday eventualy, Ryan finds out Shane has a ssecond phone and saves the number. They go literally everywhere Ryan loves: Knotts Berry Farm, A Lakers Game, Disneyland there’s a car crash and Ryan stops to save the victims. Shane admits he wouldn’t have stopped. When they’re due to return to work Shane leaves early. When Ryan gets to work there’s a rung on his desk and email from Shane. He tries to call him on both phones “ I would’ve said yes”

Already Gone- Kelly Clarkson look when I started this playlist this was the only song I was certain was fitting for this particular part of the story because in his own way Shane is trying to protect Ryan by leaving. “ And I want you to know, You couldn't have loved me better, But I want you to move on, So I'm already gone”

Chapter sixteen: Shane watched him for ten years. Ryan remarries after moving to Chicago although he still wears Shane’s ring around his neck. Another killer goes after him. Shane finds out and it culminates in his shooting Weber. Ryan instantly knows it’s Shane and makes a come hither motion.

I felt younger when we met- Waterparks Ryan has had the guilt of hiding what he knows about Shane for a decade, he still cares about him but it kills him inside “ Do you see, You're the reason I can't sleep?, Lose it where your head should be”

Chapter seventeen:Ryan and Shane meet in a bar, Shane tells him the names of everybody he killed, they go home together after Ryan tries and fails ot arrest him, Shane chokes him until he’s either unconscious or dead and turns himself in the next day

Pompeii- Bastille This chapter is straight up just dark nostalgia (which frankly you can inject into my veins) “And if you close your eyes, Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all” In the dark between my sheets

[iturbide]

@cianidix​ replied to your post:

The more you talk about this, the more I want to read it! Edgeworth-centric and also more Edgeworth-Maya interactions, ahhhhh. I’m also sooo interested in reading about how the relationship falls apart and how they (hopefully, maybe, I don’t believe Feenie is actually dead here… right??? Q_Q) eventually make better or move on and just- ahhhh I wish this fic was here already (if you get back to it)

(Trucy still exists, right? Even tho Wright wasn’t disbarred, right???)

Of course Trucy still exists I could never write her out of existence she’s too precious of a child to not be around in some way shape or form (and there’s nothing to say that Nick won’t end up with her at some point in the future, anyway -- he could always use another kid or two, and I think we all know it).  Interestingly enough, though, one of my other big works was an AA4-compliant piece, also Edgeworth-centric, that involved a lot of Edgeworth-Trucy interactions because Trucy’s a part of Phoenix’s life now, and if he wants to have any part in it himself Edgeworth has to get along with the adopted daughter.  It actually had a decent chunk of words in it, too (around 12k -- it’s the second excerpt from the link in the last post).

But in all honesty people getting excited about my stories gets me excited about those stories and since I still don’t know when I’m going to get around to writing the whole thing out, what’s the harm in dropping the summary? 

Gonna give this another shot and Tumblr’s not gonna eat it this time mark my words

A couple notes before we get into things:

OCs are fair game in Ace Attorney as far as I’m concerned, and we’re certainly going to have a host of them.  From the prosecutor on the case to all of those involved, I’ll be making a whole cast and crew to back this story up, and if I can manage it there will be absolutely terrible puns, because that just seems to be how AA games operate.

Lana Skye is hands down one of my absolute favorite characters in the series, and it’s a crime that they only put her into one bonus case and put her in prison at the end of it.  For all of my continuities, I completely write out SL-9 as a case: Joe Darke never escaped his cell, Lana got into the prosecutor’s office and became chief by virtue of her own talents, and both the prosecutor’s office and the police department have cowboys running around.

I have a fairly non-standard view of Phoenix as a person, just based on everything I remember seeing in fandom back when I was more active.  For instance: I love the fact that he was an art student, but I’ve always specifically thought he was aiming to be an actor and had a thing for Shakespeare; frankly, the ad libbing that has to go into acting when something goes wrong explains so much for me where Nick’s bluffing is concerned (when a man interrogates a parrot, you know he has a weird history).  Unrelated but still relevant to that point, I think he’s actually a decent pianist and took lessons through most of his childhood and adolescence -- but he’s a classical pianist by training and not great at playing by ear, so people just think he sucks because he botches any modern tunes.  So if you see something that seems Weird compared to fandom’s general take, just know that it probably has backstory.

So with all that in mind, let’s dive in.

In true Ace Attorney fashion, the whole thing starts with a cold open.  As he finishes up the last of the paperwork associated with the case he wrapped up that afternoon, Phoenix gets a call from a familiar number, and though he dreads the conversation to come he answers anyway, refusing an offer to meet and saying that he can’t do this anymore before someone enters the inner office.  He insists that they’re closed as he turns toward the door, and a voice replies that this won’t take long -- and then there’s gunshots.  And then nothing. 

The next morning, Maya is understandably shocked and horrified to arrive at the office and find that it’s once again a crime scene: bullet holes in the windows, blood on the floor, police everywhere...but no sign of Nick.  Gumshoe is on the scene, though, and after a lot of badgering, he reveals that there’s been no sign of Phoenix, but the police are operating under the assumption that he’s dead -- and they’ve already arrested a suspect.  Maya can’t imagine who would want to hurt Phoenix, and hearing that it’s Miles Edgeworth they’ve imprisoned just makes the whole thing feel that much more surreal.  Sure, Nick and Edgeworth have had their disagreements --- including one the day before, in the recesses of their trial, and Phoenix had seemed really upset after that -- but she didn’t think it was something worth killing over. 

But she’s still hurt, and reeling from the morning’s news.  So her first order of business is to march down to the Detention Center to confront him.  Edgeworth is...not surprised to see her, given the circumstances -- but when she demands to know why he did it, he insists that he’s innocent: he would never harm Wright, no matter the circumstances.  As much as Maya wants to believe that, though, the fact that he doesn’t seem upset by Nick’s supposed death so much as the accusation that he had a hand in it rubs her wrong, and despite herself she can’t help but wonder if he did have some role in it; regardless, she still goes everywhere she can think of in hopes that there was a mistake, that Nick is okay after all, collecting evidence with every stop...but as it gets later, when there’s still no sign of him, she and Pearl return to the Detention Center.  

With no defense counsel, Edgeworth is almost guaranteed to go to prison...but at Pearl’s urging, Maya steps up and offers to defend him, since she recently passed the bar and got her badge.  She spends the rest of the evening doing her best to cobble together a case based on what little information she has, and reports to the courthouse the next morning for her very first trial as a defense attorney. 

Her first case, and Nick isn’t even there to see it.  She didn’t think it could hurt any worse. 

Before they’re called into the courtroom, the defense gets a surprise visitor: chief prosecutor Lana Skye, come to deliver case notes and evidence files.  Maya barely gets time enough to leaf through them before they’re called into the courtroom to start the trial, where she finds herself facing the rising star from the prosecutor’s office: Gayle Huntington, a young woman who counts Chief Prosecutor Skye as her inspiration and who is excited to add another guilty verdict to her record, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that one of her fellow prosecutors stands accused. 

The prosecution declares it a crime of passion, and presents their theory of the case: following a heated confrontation outside the courtroom, Miles Edgeworth called Phoenix Wright to arrange a meeting.  While he may have intended only to put an end to the argument, tempers flared, and in a fit of rage the defendant shot the victim three times before dragging the body down to the street and driving it off to be disposed of at another location.  Their evidence includes the blood found at the scene, which matches Phoenix based on forensic testing; three bullet holes in the office window, though no slugs or casings were found at or around the office despite an extensive search with metal detectors; Edgeworth’s phone, which shows that the last call before he contacted 911 was made to Wright’s number; and a handgun found at the scene which shows evidence of recent firing, though no magazine was found in it. 

Over the first day of testimony, Maya manages to shred the prosecution’s case based on that chain of events:

The gun, as it happens, belonged to Phoenix himself.  One of the documents the chief prosecutor provided to the defense was a photocopy of a sign-in sheet for a local gun range, which not only has Nick’s signature on it, but included a copy of his firearm registration and permit, which was for the exact make, model, and serial number as the purported murder weapon.  Lana Skye herself is called to the stand, as her name also appears on the sign-in, and she testifies that after court the previous day she happened across Wright at the range and they talked a bit; he said that he needed to blow off a bit of steam before going back to his paperwork, and she clearly recalls that he did not clean his weapon before leaving, instead saying that he would do so after he went home since his cleaning kit was there.  On closer examination, it's discovered that while the weapon has mostly been wiped clean, the trigger was not, and a partial print matching Phoenix is recovered.

On calling Edgeworth himself to the stand, he admits that he did contact Phoenix late in the evening in the hopes of resolving the argument from that afternoon; however, he was across townpicking up his car from the repair shop when he made that call, and when he heard what sounded like a shot before the call cut out he immediately drove to the office where he found the blood trail leading to the curb.  Cell tower records do, in fact, confirm that he was far from the defense attorney’s office when the call was made, and based on the time of his calls to both Phoenix and 911, there was far too narrow of a window to dispose of the body. 

The next revelation comes with the filing of a new piece of evidence, courtesy of a frantic Gumshoe bursting into court and taking the stand.  The police, in their search of likely dumping grounds for a body, dredged something out of the river that seems to confirm that they have a murder on their hands: a blue suit coat with three apparent bullet holes in the back...and Phoenix’s badge still affixed to the lapel.  What little blood evidence they were able to collect matches Phoenix, as well. 

For all that this is a stunning (and devastating) revelation, it brings with it yet more to undermine the prosecution’s case: namely the bullet evidence.  When placed on a mannequin, even coupled with the knowledge that Phoenix left his suit jacket unbuttoned while working in the office, the placement of the bullet holes in the back would require that there be associated entry points in the front -- which do not exist.  Maya draws the logical conclusion, then, that the shots must have been fired from outside the office -- through the window, and the reason no slugs or casings were found was because the shots weren’t fired from inside the office, and the bullets were still in the victim. 

Despite the upset in court, the prosecution refuses to budge, and the Judge refuses to declare a Not Guilty verdict.  Court adjourns for the day instead, and Maya heads out to continue her investigation.  Making her way to the Gatewater Hotel, she manages to get information on who was staying in the room across from the office: four members of a jazz band in town for a show, who insist that they’re the only ones who have been in the room and that they were setting up for a performance on the night of the crime.  Though she doesn’t know them herself, she hears vague rumors that they have a fifth member who’s been in some ‘legal trouble.’  When Maya relates the name to Edgeworth, he remarks that it seems somehow familiar, though he can’t quite place why.  She also gets the prosecutor’s repair records and goes to check out the rental company he used while his car was in the shop, which nets her a copy of the damage and condition checklist the agent filled out when Edgeworth brought the car back.

While Maya has the case to occupy her mind, Miles has no such means of escaping his own thoughts in his prison cell.  Between the confirmation that the jacket does, in fact, belong to Phoenix (something he had tried to deny at first, hoping that the coat was a look-alike and the badge stolen, only to have that possibility dashed by the presence of Wright’s initials on the underside of the tag) and the relative isolation in the detention center, he’s had ample time to think over how things had been with Phoenix -- including how he, himself, had been with the defense attorney...and he’s forced to face some very hard truths about his behavior toward someone he cares about far more than he wanted to believe.  

With the start of the second day in court, the prosecution has changed its theory of the crime, but not its perpetrator: rather than committing the crime alone, Edgeworth had an accomplice, and his call to Wright was a ploy to get him into firing range while the shooter waited in the hotel for his chance.   Leaving his rental car in front of the defense attorney’s office, he picked up his usual vehicle and upon arriving at the crime scene helped his accomplice load the body into the getaway car for disposal while he made a call to police.  Their evidence comes from photos of the rental vehicle in question, which show damage not reported on the return checklist, as well as blood evidence taken from the trunk which matches Phoenix. 

Once again, Maya tears through the prosecution’s case piece by piece:

The damage in the evidence photos compared to the rental return form make for the first order of business.  On calling the man who signed off on Edgeworth’s car to the stand -- an amiable but nervous young Latine by the name of Novi Nada -- they swear up and down that the damage in the photos absolutely was not present when they checked the car in on the night of the crime.  (In true Ace Attorney form, this gets somewhat ridiculous, as this witness lapses into Spanish when especially nervous; when pressed, they insist “no vi nada” -- I didn’t see anything -- to which the Judge responds “yes we know your name now what did you see?”)

Sensor data from the rental lot finally confirms the agent’s version of events, where the car is registered as driving onto the lot shortly before the time marked on the inspection form; more importantly, it also recorded the car being driven off the lot and then back on much later.  Unfortunately, there is no additional inspection form, nor a record of who rented the car after Edgeworth, and therefore no record of who might have been involved. 

Edgeworth is recalled to the stand to revisit his testimony, and he adds another key detail: while it was a sound that he took to be gunfire that sent him to the defense attorney’s office, Wright had said something strange during the call, mentioning that the office was closed -- as though he was speaking to someone else that had just arrived moments before the shots sounded and the call cut out. 

Neither the defense’s office complex nor the Gatewater Hotel have video surveillance of the street; however, the Gatewater does take video of the lobby, which shows one of the four band members leaving around an hour before the crime occurred, two more leaving minutes before the shooting, and the last rushing through the lobby with a trombone case under his arm; notably, he’s the only one of the four to actually take his instrument when he left, as the others were all empty-handed.  Most importantly, though, the video proves that no one else left the hotel between the time of the shooting and the time that the police started arriving, which calls into question the notion of an accomplice helping Miles dispose of the body.

This, however, provides the prosecution with a shiny new theory: that Miles hired the band to act as hitmen while he kept his hands clean.  As it turns out, the reason the band name seemed familiar to him was because he was set to prosecute the fifth member of their group after his case against Phoenix wrapped up; the prosecutor posits that Miles promised to go easy on their incarcerated bandmate if they took out the defense attorney. 

This is a damning accusation, and Maya has no ready response.  The Judge adjourns the court for the day, and the defense scrambles to come up with a way to prove that Edgeworth had no part in what happened and place the blame on the truly guilty.  She returns to the rental company and, while interviewing Novi further, finds out that the fifth bandmate has a sibling that works at the same agency.  She also returns to the Gatewater to speak with the band, and notices that the trombone case in the room doesn’t look like the one from the lobby video.  When asked, they say that the old case got lost...which seems odd to her, since the trombone itself is still there and doesn’t appear damaged. 

While Maya looks deeper into the band, she reaches out to Miles for insight into the case he was supposed to prosecute.  The fifth band member had been taken into custody on suspicion of murder, and while he suspected that the man did not commit the crime alone, he hadn’t yet been able to prove that when all this happened.  For the first time, though, Maya starts to see real anger in the prosecutor -- not because these people dragged his good name through the mud with this set-up, but apparently because Phoenix’s blood is on their hands, and he can’t abide the thought of them getting away.  He readily gives her access to his office for the other case file (which Chief Prosecutor Skye secures for her) so that she can use it in establishing her own case.

Despite her best efforts, though, Maya simply can’t pull together enough solid evidence to prove that Miles didn’t have a hand in the crime -- and without proof of his innocence, the court intends to find him guilty.  But before the judge can hand down his verdict, the courtroom doors open, and a strident Objection! rises from the back of the room...and who should come limping up to the witness stand but Phoenix Wright himself. 

The courtroom goes absolutely wild about this. 

Understandably, the judge calls for a recess, and before the prosecution can drag him off to prep him for testimony Maya and Edgeworth at least get a minute with him.  As it turns out, Maya had forgotten her phone that morning, and Pearl grabbed it for her; just as they were called into court, though, it rang, and Pearl stayed behind to answer -- only to be shocked to hear Mister Nick’s voice on the other end, at which point she rushed off to beg Mister Scruffy Detective to take her to get the defense attorney from the hospital where he’d been for the past few days as a ‘John Doe’ (since he had no ID on him when he was brought in).  Maya is overwhelmed to see him alive, if worse for the wear, and Edgeworth…

...he can’t even find words for the feeling. 

The celebration is shortlived, though, as Phoenix is dragged off to the witness lobby in short order to prep him for testimony.  For all that the prosecution seems to believe he’ll help them, though, Nick gives them absolutely nothing, and instead confirms that he received a call from Edgeworth that evening, and while they were on the phone two strangers came into the office just before he was shot.  They dragged him down to the street and threw him in the trunk of a car, then drove to the river and threw him in; most importantly, though, he remembers one of them asking what to do with the case, and another saying they would dump it at the club where it would blend right in; police are immediately dispatched there and find a bloody trombone case (since they’d thrown it into the trunk before loading Nick in) with a rifle inside.  

The motive?  Everyone knows the Demon Prosecutor’s reputation, and they knew that they’d all go down if he tried the case on their buddy.  The enmity between prosecutors and defense attorneys is well known, though, and in particular they knew that Wright had broken Edgeworth’s old record and it had never recovered; they figured it would be easy to frame him for the murder with the right set-up.  They had a small window of opportunity while Wright and Edgeworth worked through their trial, and they used it to put all their pieces in place, expecting that Edgeworth would go down and they’d all get off when a less competent prosecutor inevitably got their friend’s case.  Clearly, though, that backfired on them: they’re all taken away, and Edgeworth is declared Not Guilty.  Cue fanfare and confetti!

...and that’s where the fallout begins. 

While Miles is taken to get things squared away with his release from detention, Phoenix is taken back to the hospital because honestly he should not have left in the first place.  The man was admitted with a collapsed lung.  It’s frankly a wonder he even managed to stand, let alone raise that objection.  His recovery takes a while, and Maya and Pearl are frequent visitors...but so is Miles, much to his surprise.  Only it’s not a good surprise for him, given what he’d been planning to say on the night he got shot.  Things feel awkward, and all the more for how Miles is acting...different.  Not like his usual self.  Phoenix doesn’t know what it is or if he likes it, but he’s too tired to complain since it’s not bothering him, and visiting hours are relatively short since the prosecutor is still working cases. 

Given what happened to him, though, the doctor recommends that Phoenix should stay with someone once he’s discharged: his condition, while improved, could deteriorate rapidly if something happens, so it’s imperative to have someone else around in case of an emergency.  Maya and Pearl are still going back and forth between the city and Kurain semi-frequently, though, and he wouldn’t want to impose on them, especially since Pearls has been thinking about attending school in the city rather than just getting her medium training...but though he doesn’t even consider Edgeworth as a possibility, the prosecutor immediately volunteers when he hears: he has more than enough vacation time accrued and the chief prosecutor hounds him regularly about needing to take some, so he can be on hand for whatever Wright might need. 

This does not, in fact, reassure Phoenix. 

It’s okay enough at first, if only because Nick is just too tired and hurts too much to think about it or care about much beyond finding a comfortable position to sleep in and figuring out how to breathe without it making his chest feel like it’s full of broken glass.  But as he starts improving, the tension slowly ratchets up, because Phoenix still doesn’t understand why Miles volunteered for this and the only possible explanations he can think of aren’t really good (most involve having him in the prosecutor’s debt, which is not what he wants).  Miles, meanwhile, isn’t aware of this tension at first...but gradually he becomes more and more aware of the silence around Phoenix.  It was understandable at first, because he was fresh out of the hospital and still recovering, but the longer it goes on the more noticeable it becomes, and he knows it means something but he doesn’t know what to do about it. 

Eventually, though, it all does come out, because Miles finally broaches the subject of his own accord by asking Phoenix what he’d been planning to say that night: he’d said he can’t do “this” anymore, but he never said what “this” is.  And even though he’s aware that nothing is likely to cme of it, Phoenix explains exactly what his problem is and has been for so long: the one-sided relationship where he’s the one doing all the work and making all the concessions and getting none of his own needs met in return.  It’s exhausting, and he can’t do it anymore.  And rather than fighting or arguing the point, Miles -- who has never had a relationship like this before -- asks what needs Phoenix has, and how can he meet them.  He concedes the point, he admits that he’s been in the wrong and needs to change, and asks for help figuring out where to start -- because he came so close this time to losing Phoenix permanently, and that realization scares him more than he can say. 

Phoenix is pretty well dumbstruck.  But he recognizes, too, that this isn’t easy for Miles.  He’s reaching out, he’s trying...and even though Nick had intended to cut his losses that night in his office before everything went so wrong, he decides to give this one last shot. 

And when Miles listens to what he says, and actively responds and adjusts...he can’t help hoping that this turnabout will end up well.

[calliecat93]

You know, every time I get ready to write these reviews I think ‘oh God, how am I gonna type all of this out?!”. There is so much to say. So much to go over. It’s like that with every review I’ve done, but for this volume? God… I am at a loss every single time. There’s so many conflicting things going on. So much where I have an opinion on practically everything. Differing views about everything. Where I can see both the right and wrong in every action that the characters take.

RWBY has grown more and more complex over the years, but this volume? It takes the cake. The last chapter has so much of… everything that watching it again still gives me chills. So… how will the follow-up go? Going off what I already said, you can probably guess: tense as Hell. So let’s get on with it.

Review

Things are at an all-time low. Ironwood has banned public gatherings in Mantle. Curfews have been put in place. Everyone is utterly terrified and despite Atlas saying that the footage was doctored, they are calling for Penny to be deactivated. With Atlas becoming even more strict and her no longer able to get on the council, Robyn and her Happy Huntresses have gone full-on vigilante and are robbing the military for everything that they’ve got. We get to see their Semblances though, wth May being able to create an invisibility dome and Fiona (THE SHEEP LIVES!) having some kind of pocket dimension ability. Kinda reminds me of Miroku’s Wind Tunnel in Inuyasha, awesome!

Needless to say, Ironwood is nooooot happy right now. With the stolen resources and Mantle no longer cooperating, Amity has been at a standstill. It is at the point that he and Winter are strongly considering enacting Martial Law on the city, much to the shock of both Ruby and Nora. Well… for Nora, shock isn’t the right word. No, no.. she is enraged. She angrily rebukes Ironwood when he says that he knows that Mantle is taking the brunt of the sacrifices, pointing out that no, they’re taking all of it. They’re suffering, scared, and being forced to fall in line all because of this waiting game, and all it’s going to do is make them easy targets for the Grimm. I don’t think we’ve ever seen Nora this enraged before, so… yeah… wow…

Ruby, much more calmly, tries to convince Ironwood that his actions are only causing the division that Salem wants. But it’s derailed as the reason that they are Ren are there is to confirm that it was indeed Tyrian there. Which we learn that he is a wanted serial killer who was caught, but escaped when his prison transport was attacked by the Grimm. Which we all know where he ended up after. Ruby wants to tell the people, but Clover says no since it’ll only cause even more panic, which is why Ironwood refuses to talk about Amity or Salem yet. His orders for now? For Robyn to be arrested in order to get Amity back on track/Mantle’s cooperation, and anyone not doing that will be assigned to finding Tyrian. He asks if he’s made himself clear, which is acknowledged by Clover, WInter… and to the shock of Ruby and Nora, Ren. 

Later in Mantle, Blake and Yang are with Ace-Ops on tracking down Robyn though in a different van. This gives them time to talk about the recent events. Yang still believes that they should have told Ironwood the truth from the start since he deserved to know, but Blake still believes that it was best to hold back especially since it’s now proven that he tends to overreact to bad news. But Blake is pretty worn down about their actions in the name of doing the right thing, and not just with Atlas. They don’t outright say it out loud, but it’s clear that she’s referring to Adam. Even when Yang reminds her that they had no choice, Blake is still worried about it coming down to that again and isn’t exactly looking forward to arresting a Huntress who is only trying to do good… at least, until Yang proposes that they don’t have to.

Meanwhile in Atlas, Pietro has Penny hooked up and is working to get the footage that she recorded to prove her innocence, though even he doubts that it’ll do any good now. Ruby and Weiss are there… as is Maria, who has been helping Pietro with his work. FINALLY SHE IS BACK! Pietro is understandably upset about his daughter being framed and viewed as a murderer, especially since Robyn would have been killed had Penny not been there. Ruby, however, suspects that Tyrian never intended to kill Robyn and that framing Penny was exactly what they wanted. They wanted to use Penny to send a message of division, just like at the Vytal Festival. Pietro has realized that the same person who caused the events then is likely the one doing it now, though with Atlas’ code updated it should be safe. Though since the SDC is one of the ones with access, Weiss isn’t so certain and even more suspicious of her father’s involvement.

But hey, if worst comes to worst, Pietro can just rebuild Penny again, right? Well… not exactly. You know how Penny said in V2 that she’s the first robot to be able to generate an Aura? Well… there’s a reason for this. Pietro reveals his Aura… and there are two noticeable chunks missing. That’s right, Pietro gave us parts of his own Aura, his own soul, to create Penny. We find out how back in his youth, he and his colleagues proposed their own projects to Ironwood, and his was selected. He wanted to create a protector with a soul, and thus The Penny Project came to be. But the more times that Pennyisi destroyed, the more that it takes from Pietro and he may not be able to do so again if Mantle gets their way. Something that very understandably has him scared and distraught. Ruby swears to find the man responsible… as Pietro puts down a photo that he has of himself and his colleagues. Including a certain disgraced scientist…

Back in Mantle, Robyn and her gang start to rob another truck.. But it’s the one with Blake and Yang. They start to try and talk to her, but Robyn and her team run for it. They give chase, eventually leading to a clash between the Bees and Robyn. It’s not exactly a spectacular fight, but a nice and short one that further shows the Bees teamwork as well as their own capabilities, and especially Robyn’s own skill as a Huntress. They do eventually convince her to listen though, revealing the purpose of Amity being reconfigured to re-establish communication. To see if it’s true, Robyn has Blake take her hand where we discover Robyn’s Semblance: Lie Detection. Wow, the theories were true. Robyn is surprised to realize that Blake is indeed being honest and confused about why Ironwood would keep that a secret. She wants to know what else is going on and who the actual villains are, but the Bees aren’t ready to reveal anything more. The Ace-Ops are nearing the area so Robyn flees, swearing that nothing is going to stop her until she knows the truth.

We cut back to Atlas Academy... and into the Vault where Ironwood has taken Oscar in hopes of jigging up some Oz memories. Behind the door is the Staff of Creation, which we learn is pretty much some kind of endless energy generator. In fact, it is the reason why Atlas is floating in the sky, an idea made by Oz, and not Gravity Dust which was the cover story, However, the Staff can only be used on one thing at a time, hence why they can’t use it on Amity since… well…that would cause some devastating issues for Atlas, to put it simply. It’s certainly strange for Oscar. To see something that a part of him helped create, even though he himself didn’t do so. But Ironwood says that he’ll get used to it and eventually won’t even be able to tell the difference anymore. Something that Oscar doesn’t exactly look happy about, though at least he takes it better than he has in the past.

But instead of pondering on his identity issues, Oscar instead tries to talk to Ironwood about the path that he’s currently heading down. How he keeps trying to be the one with all the answers. The one where he does everything to do what he feels is right, even if it means crossing several moral lines. Essentially, Ironwood is trying to be Oz, and we all know how that went for him. But Ironwood feels that there is no other choice. Allt hat matters is stopping Salem, though Oscar rebukes that preserving their humanity, the thing that Salem threw away, matters even more. But Ironwood isn’t so sure, even wondering if that’s Salem’s greatest strength. Can she feel fear? Hesitant? Helpless? The same things that Ironwood felt at Vale. When he saw his forces be taken over, with him unable to do anything. How even with all of his forces, he could do nothing. We even see him flashback to seeing the Queen Virus appear on his screen back then. It’s… pretty damning. 

Oscar tells Ironwood that it’s okay to feel these things. Even fear. You just can’t let it control you. Ironwood however only swears that he won’t end up like Lionheart did and asks Oscar if he believes in him. Oscar says yes… but not /only/ on him, encouraging him to talk to the people he’s afraid to. The two take the elevator up, only to find an anxious Penny and Winter. The latter gives Ironwood a letter… from her father. Turns out, they’ve all been invited to the Schnee Manor for dinner. One where Ironwood will be defending his seat on the council, Jaques first act as the newest Councilman. 

Review

So… not quite as evil as last week, but still a very tense ride. You can cut the tension with a butterknife at this point. Everything is building up, and I imagine that the downfall won’t be pleasant.

We’re going to talk about where RWBYJNRO stand respectively. Let’s start with JNR. SInce Jaune isn’t in the episode it’s hard to gauge where he stands currently, though going off the past few chapters I imagine that he’s in the middle of Ren and Nora, but leaning towards Nora. The Renora duo though? Ho boy… they’ve never been more divided. It’s been clear since Chapter One where Nora stands. She is completely disapproving of the treatment of Mantle, and it and the secrets have her nearing a breaking point. And she’s totally right. Mantle is bearing all of the burdens, all of the sacrifices, and they don’t even know why. They don’t deserve this. Considering how we know that she was a street urchin, having to steal food and be mercilessly bullied by others when she ended up in Kuroyuri, it makes perfect sense for Nora to be this way. But it also makes sense why Ren is how he is. I don’t approve of him siding with Ironwood… but I understand why. After all, lack of any security and protection is what caused his village and family to be slaughtered. No, I don’t view Ren as a boot-licker and IDT he’s particularly happy about any of this. But he’s so focused on the what-ifs over the now, and it’s messing with him. Tyrian’s massacre, an event that he got distracted from detecting due to kissing Nora, doesn’t help.

I just feel so horrible for both of them. I am glad to see it though. For the longest time, Ren and Nora have differed but generally, they had little conflict between them despite their varying different personalities. It’s sweet to see, but they aren’t the same person. Ren is reserved and quiet, Nora is outgoing and bubbly. Ren is the Straight Man of the group, while Nora is the Genki Girl. Ren had a family that he lost, while Nora had no one until Ren came along (that we know of anyways). Ren’s Semblance involves masking emotions, while Nora’s involves absorbing energy. They are both very different people, but they love each other and always supported each other. But now they’re at an impasse. Nora is against Mantle’s mistreatment no matter the reason, while Ren sees it as a necessary evil to protect everyone and appears fully on board with it. And Ren seems even more closed off as ever since he didn’t even talk or express anything until siding with Ironwood’s orders, while Nora made her stance and feelings very clear with Ruby backing her. IDK where this is going to lead, but it shows that the kiss didn’t just magically fix their problems. Which is good, but it makes it all the more painful as we see the division grow between them.

Then we get to the RWBY girls. So let’s discuss Blake and Yang’s decisions here. For the most part, I agree with them. Robyn is only trying to do what’s right for Mantle. Sure she’s robbed military vehicles, but so far that’s the only morally ambiguous thing that she’s done, and she has a pretty valid reason for it. Trying to talk and work with Robyn is a much better option than opposing her and furthering the divide. It’s also good to see that the two have differing opinions on Ruby’s lie, with Yang still trusting Ruby but still feeling that Ironwood should know, while Blake feels that it could have caused much worse and in that regard is still on the same page as Ruby. They discussed it maturely and while again they don’t outright say it, it’s good to see that Blake does still have lingering issues from killing Adam despite knowing that she had to. It makes sense that she doesn’t want to arrest Robyn since… well, a Huntress doing morally ambiguous things to help the oppressed. Yeah, she fully understands that. And Yang has always kinda been anti-authority and is clearly against secrets especially towards those who deserve to know it (though it further makes her hiding Ravens Maiden identity very bad on her part), so of course she’d be on board with Robyn.

But… I can’t say that this was the right thing to do. First of all, they don’t know anything about Robyn. Yes, it’s clear that she does indeed care about Mantle. We also do see here that while she’s still upset about what happened before, she isn’t unreasonable. She does listen, and once she sees that Blake was telling the truth, accepts it. But of course, we see that she’s Hellbent on knowing the full truth and finding out who actually did this. We don’t know if she’s going to give the Bees her trust. We don’t know what she’ll do with this information. Maybe she’ll be swayed, maybe she won’t. She knows that Atlas has reasons… but they’re still oppressing Mantle instead of just being open about it. And if she does find out about Salem, there’s no telling what she’ll do. Robyn isn’t a bad person, but she is certianly not afraid of breaking the law and while IDT she’d harm innocents, there’s no telling how far he’ll go to get answers. There just isn’t a lot known about Robyn and while I think it is right to reach out to her, IDK if doing so without talking to Ironwood or the rest of the team was a good idea.

This brings us to the next point, the lack of communication. It’s been pretty clear that Bake and Yang are kinda doing their own thing and have for a while now. Which is fine and helps with their development, especially after V6. There’s a lot of trust and understanding between them in a way that only they can understand. We see that in how they talk about their differing opinions, doing so maturely and understanding the other’s view while still standing by their own thoughts. It’s good to see. But the problem is they made this decision about Robyn… without talking to the others, especially Ruby and Weiss. While I do agree with them, it makes it look like... kinda iffy. Like despite Yang saying that she trusts Ruby, she doesn’t fully. How despite Blake saying that they’ll follow Ruby’s lead, they won’t. On the one hand, they aren’t following anyone blindly, and that is important. But doing do without trying to talk to the others? That is not a good thing. Sure they think they’re helping and I do think that they’ll tell Ruby when they get to Atlas. But IDK how she’ll feel. I can see her agreeing that it was right... but IDK how she’ll feel about it being done behind her back even if it was split-second. She may/say it’s fine, but is that true? It may just add more pressure to her and her worries, and that is going to lead to bad things. I agree with Yang and lake, but I feel that they should have waited until they talked to the others because if Robyn does who knows what, it could only make things worse, and in turn make Ruby’s ultimate decision even harder.

But Ruby’s also not communicating anything. So far, aside from talking to Qrow a little in Chapter 4 and expressing her uncertainty in Chapter 6, she hasn’t talked about making a decision or her own feelings. She’s on board with Amity going up, but we don’t know if she feels like she needs to tell Ironwood about Salem now or not. Aside from any questioning it in Chapter 3, no one else has tried talking to her nor has she tried talking to any of the others or their opinions. Mind you, we may see that soon since the recent events are still recent, but it needs to happen soon. Weiss has so far been uninvolved with the Robyn stuff and while shes voiced her disapproval of Ironood’s regime and suspicions of her father, none of the others have really talked with her about it. Yang dismissed Weiss’ concerns about Jaques in CHapter 6 (though tbf it was before everything went to Hell), and no one acknowledged her voicing her suspicions this chapter. She’s ceritnaly against Ironwood’s regime, but right now her focus seems to be on her father, which isn’t unfounded. But it’s hard to say where she stands regarding Ruby’s lie and working with Robyn at this point nor especially how she feels about Winter’s current stance.

Then we have Oscar. This was an interesting chapter for him. He’s been completely uninvolved in the Robyn stuff and we haven’t seen how he feels about Ruby’s choices since Chapter 3. But he was good here. We see him display a lot of maturity and hindsight. He’s pretty much seeing Ironwood trying to be like Oz, and he knows how that is a bad thing. He wants to side with Ironwood since he sees that he’s a good person… and he is. Ironwood is one of if not the most complex character in the series. He is a good person. He is caring, can be light-hearted, and ultimately does want to protect everyone and do what’s right. But he is also a very, very flawed person. He is allowing Mantle to suffer and be viewed as a dictator, which he puts off as not caring about even though it’s clearly tearing him up. He saw what happened last time when he had a huge army and usurped power for his own reasons, but here he is doing it again. He’s trying to shove away his emotions and trying to be this fearless leader who has all the answers and is doing what’s best, aka be like Ozpin. But he isn’t Oz, and no one should be. He is letting fear control him and compromising his morals to do what he views as the right thing, even if it means that innocents suffer. The Tin Man is throwing away his heart, just as the Cowardly Lion gave into his cowardice.

Oscar can see this. He gets it. Ironwood is a good man, but he’s so focused on his own goal that he’s disregarding everything else. He’s practically shoving away his humanity, the same thing that Salem lost a long time ago. The general is heading down a dark path. It’s like I said in my Opening Analysis, Ironwood’s hopes are shattered. He’s trying, but he doesn’t know what to do. He’s just lost, and he’s risking staying that way for good. IDK how much Oscar’s words actually helped, but I am glad to see him speaking his own thoughts. Not Oz’, his. We do see for a brief second that Oscar is still unhappy about being viewed as Oz and the eventual merger, which that seeming to be dropped was a big issue with him last volume. I still don’t feel like he’s getting proper development, but this is a start. He’s acting like his own person instead of needing Oz to guide him or worrying about if his thoughts are his own. This is very much what we needed from him, and I’m very happy to see it here.

Finally, let’s talk about Pietro and Penny. It’s clear that the last chapter broke Penny. Any time that we see her here, she’s either sad or anxious. She is completely quiet, a major contrast to her bubbly, energetic personality throughout the volume. Once more, the villains used her status as a root made by Atlas to turn the people against Ironwood. How she may look like this sweet little girl just trying to protect the people, but in reality, she’s just a weapon used to further oppress the people. Now people want her destroyed, even though despite being made of metal, she is human. She has a soul. She has a heart. She has genuinely good intentions and just wanted to do good. But now it’s pretty much impossible for her to be viewed as anything but a weapon. The poor girl deserves all the hugs in the world.

But it’s equally heartbreaking seeing Pietro’s reaction. He clearly loves enny. His creation. His daughter. His distraught over this is a feeling that any parent who sees their children suffering can relate to. But then the bombshell happens. We find out that Pietro gave up his own Aura, the manifestation of his soul, to bring enny to life. Twice. Something that’ clearly wearing him down, and it’s pretty likely that doing it again may very well mean his death. It’s… IDK how to express it. It’s so sad to see, but it’s so sweet that he was willing to do so to bring Penny to life, and he clearly loves her with all his heart. This might also mean that he’s the one who created the Aura Transfew tech, and he used it on himself to bring Penny to life. IDK if he extended it to jam Aura into another person, but he clearly developed the tech. Still, it’s… such a bittersweet backstory. It’s about a man who wanted to create life. To create something with a soul, and he succeeded… but it cost him his own soul. And now he has to watch his daughter suffer, helpless to do anything except hope that the one behind this is caught before she can be hurt anymore. It’s so heartbreaking, but comes across as so genuine and just makes me care about these two characters even more.

This was a very eventful chapter. The length of the Overview alone I think demonstrates that. But it was an excellent one and a perfect follow-up to last week. There’s so much tension and conflict, but you can look at all these characters and understand all of their decisions. Ironwood, Robyn, Nora, Ren, Blake, Yang, everyone. There is no clear cut good or bad choices here, just choices. Everyone is trying to do what they think is right, and no one is particularly wrong. But every choice has a consequence. Even with the best-case scenario of appealing to Robyn, there is uncertainty regarding what she’ll do or how far she’ll go. It could lead to the worst-case scenario. As Blake said, there are few if any good options left. Add in things like Penny and Pietro backstory, Tyrian stuff, and talk about the Staff of Creation, and we’ve got what may be the best chapter so far. It’s gonna be one Hell of a second half, especially with the DInner Party ahead. Speaking of…

Chapter Eight Predictions

Final chapter of the year, folks. Going off the past, this one is gonna be a doozy. We’re clearly going to the Schnee Manor, though IDK who all is gonna go aside form Ironwood and Winter. Sure WInter said ‘all’ but it’s hard to say if the main group would be tagging along. But I am for certain that Weiss is going to go. Not because she wants to, but because she feels she has to (if Jaques didn’t make it clear that she has to be included, of course). She suspects her father of rigging the vote and of his recent decisions, and she’s gonna want to know why. But the only way is to go back home, something that will be very, very difficult for her and Winter both. But if it means stopping her father and uncovering the truth, she’ll do it. Might not be the smartest thing to do, but she’d do it.

This could lead to a number of things. There’s, of course, the political drama between Jaques and Ironwood, cause that’s ALWAYS fun. But this will be the first time that we’ve seen the Schnee Manor (outside Jawues office in Chapter 4) since V4. I already worry about Klein’s fate since it was Whitley who answered Watts and not him, but he could still be there. Though I suspect that Weiss is going to find out otherwise. Whitley will most likely be there, and we’ll see if he keeps on with his facade or if it’s gonna slip. Maybe even see him and WInter interact finally. But the thing I’m most hoping for That we finally see Mama Schnee. It’s been so long, and this seems like the right time especially if Weiss is genuinely concerned for her after Jaques gaslighting. And haha… if so they’ll beat the DC Comic in showing her first by mere days. Great timing there! Whatever happens though… it’s not gonna be a pleasant night for everyone involved. Hope that the food is good, at least.

Episode Stats

Favorite Character: Nora Valkyrie, Pietro Polendina, James Ironwood, and Oscar Pine Favorite Scene: Nora telling off Ironwood and the Ironwood and Oscar talk Least Favorite Scene: The first minute or two, only cause it feels weird that we had the Grimm Attack last week that… just went nowhere. Favorite Voice Actor: David Fennoy (Pietro Polendina) Favorite Animation: Bees vs Robyn. Rating: 9/10

Final Thoughts

Dear God this is probably the longest review yet. And with where things are heading, they’re only gonna get longer. But damn… this has been by far the most complex volume and I am /loving it! SO many different conflicts between everyone, and you can understand everyone but see the problems with all of it. Good fights. Good expositions that don’t feel dragged, Good character interactions, and even more interesting choices made by characters. There are so many things that can happen form here, both good and bad. I feel more and more uncertain about things the more that it goes on, except that I love it. While IDK if it tops 3 and 6 yet in terms of enjoyment and we’ve still got six more chapters to go, this may very well be the best-written volume thus far.

[placesinmymind]

Eminem and Columbine

I am an Eminem Fan for years now and when I started to get more and more into True Crime I was surprised to find a lot of his Lyrics mentioning Columbine which I never really realised before. Of course he also mentioned other murderers or events, like Ted Bundy and the Aurora theater shooting but I wanted to start with the Columbine lyrics because there’s a lot of material. So let’s start:

The Way I Am, 2000 0:00-0:16 When a dude’s getting bullied and shoots up his school And they blame it on Marilyn and the heroin Where were the parents at? And look where it’s at! Middle America, now it’s a tragedy Now it’s so sad to see, an upper-class city Havin’ this happening Marshall states that he thinks that he thinks that not music is the reason for the shooting but bullying and the parents. But as we all know Marilyn Manson was partly blamed for Columbine by the media. Em is also making fun of the fact that Columbine was the first shooting that people cared this much about although there have been a lot of shootings but now it happened at a “nice” school. There is an alternative version of this song featuring Marilyn Manson (x) He performed it live with Manson (x and x) Manson also appeared in the official video (x)

Remember me, 2000 0:17-0:30 Came home and somebody musta broke in the back window And stole two loaded machine guns and both of my trenchcoats Sick, sick dreams of picnic scenes Two kids, sixteen, with M-16’s and ten clips each And them shits reach through six kids each

Em is making fun of the idea that musicians like him are a bad influence because he is not the one who gives these kids their weapons.

And as we all know, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold both wore a Trenchcoat when the attack started, that’s why „both of my Trenchcoats“ were stolen. And so he thinks that they were stolen to start another Columbine. And when you have these „two kids“ with guns that, when you shoot them, „reach through six kids each“ you have 12 dead kids. And as we all know, during the Columbine massacre died 12 kids (and one adult). By the way, Eminem needed two months to write his whole verse on this song while Sticky Fingaz wrote his verse in one day. 

I’m Back, 2000 0:30-0:41 I take seven [kids] from [Columbine] Stand ‘em all in line, add an AK-47, a revolver, a 9 A MAC-11 and it oughta solve the problem of mine And that’s a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time

This is probably the most well known Columbine reference made by Eminem. This album came out one year after the massacre so it was still an sensitive subject. Therefore his label censored these two words (Kids and Columbine), even on the explicit version of the album. I don’t think I have to explain what exactly this lyric means, it’s pretty clear. In his book he states this:

“ I was getting shit about the Columbine reference on “I’m Back” and the label was telling me that I wasn’t gonna be able to say it. My whole thing was, what is the big fucking deal? That shit happens all the time. Why is that topic so touchy as opposed to, say a four-year-old kid drowning? Why isn’t that considered a huge tragedy? People die in the city all the time. People get shot, people get stabbed, raped, mugged, killed and all kinds of shit. What the fuck is the big deal with Columbine that makes it separate from any other tragedy in America?”

In 2015 a 15 year-old boy was arrested. He posted these lyrics on Instagram and added “Cause I’m just like shady and just as crazy as the world was over that whole Y2K thing” The origiginal lyrics are “ ‘Cause (I'mmmm) Shady, they call me as crazy As the world was over this whole Y2K thing”

When authorities searched the boy’s home they found weaponry and eventually arrested him. He denied any knowledge of the weapons and said he didn’t post this text on Instagram.

White America, 2002 0:42-0:48 White America, I could be one of your kids White America, little Eric looks just like this

In this song it’s not only about the Lyrics but also about the music video. With “little Eric” he mentioned Eric Harris but it was also meant as an example for a typical white kid. He is from middle america because his name is in the middle of amERICa. The interesting part is, as I said, the video. Where you can see news of an school shooting during “I could be one of your kids” And during “little Eric looks just like this” you can see one of those typical yearbook pictures and the house of the school shooter. The house looks a bit like the one the Harrises had.

When these lines get repeated you can see a boy full of (probably) blood stepping out of the map of america. On his shirt is written “I am Eric”.

Rap God, 2013 0:49-0:54 I’ll take seven kids from Columbine Put ‘em all in a line, add an AK-47, a revolver and a 9

This was the first time we could hear the Columbine Line uncensored. Eminem didn’t rap all of the “I’m back” lines because he just wanted to “See if I get away with it now that I ain’t as big as I was” As you can hear, he got away with it.

Eminem is one of the few people who openly give their sympathy for the two shooters. He admitted to be interested in serial killers in this statement: “I did find myself watching a lot of documentaries on serial killers, I mean, I always had a thing for them. I’ve always been intrigued by them and I found that watching movies about killers sparked something in me.The way a serial killer’s mind works, just the psychology of them is pretty fucking crazy. I was definitely inspired by that, but most of the album’s imagery came from my own mind.”

But Marshall Mathers seems to have an very personal realationship with the whole Columbine Issue. He himself was bullied on a daily basis during his childhood, often for his race and for always being the new kid. When he was nine years old he got beaten up so bad he was in an coma for several days. I think he is one of the people who is trying to understand what Harris and Klebold were going through. But I think it is important to mention, that he is the living proof that even when your life is is shitty right now because of some people who have nothing in their life but to terrorize you, that you can still have a better life. And you beat them best when you keep on living.

“That Columbine shit is so fucking touchy. As much sympathy as we give the Columbine shootings, nobody ever looked at it from the fuckin’ point of view of the kids who were bullied—I mean, they took their own fucking life! And it was because they were pushed so far to the fucking edge that they were fucking so mad. I’ve been that mad.”

-Marshall Mathers