#but Yang's sticks are also the same as my sticks lmao

[temporary-tats]

Next in my Band AU poster series... Sun Wukong, as seen in When the Stars Sing for Us! Stars available to read now on AO3 :] 🖤💛 Next Up: Neptune! Keep an eye out ;P

(My ko-fi and my links, should you wish!)

[oh-no-its-bird]

Please tell me more about force fem Minato being made the shinigami's wife

From this ask meme

I fucking knew someone would single that one out. Anyways, from my notesapp:

Force fem Minato being made the shinigami's wife as punishment for his hubris He and Kushia used to joke about Minato being the wife between the two of them, so he's eventually able to cope w his situation and dissociate by relying on the "I'm Kushina's wife" joke as a crutch to make it all feel slightly less awful The shinigami sends him on errands as his wife (collecting souls lmao) and Minato uses it as an excuse to watch Naruto and Kakashi from affar,, Umm maybe some of the errands involved Minato baiting people into making deals with and summoning his shinigami husband? He is the lure and the shinigami is the stick lmao The shinigami can't actually do things or manifest in the real world without someone first inviting them into their lives, so, like, that's part of what Minato's wife duties are. To get people to open the door to the shinigami. Among other things

+ Bonus which is kind of unrelated but was on the same notes page:

I like Minato for the take that there's something fr wrong w him and he makes a concious effort to appear normal and kind

He's like. Somewhere on the spectrum of sociopathy or has severe borderline personality or just some genuine mental illness and he works very hard, borrowing the mannerisms of those around him, to be charming and nice n stuff

I forget what fic I saw that in but like THATS the fic that made me care ab him

Hashirama 🤝 Minato

'Being friendly to the point that there's smthn genuinley wrong with them'

Minato !! I think he has a lot of untapped potential specifically in the market of fucking w shinigami. Like, what's even up with that? Let's play with that a little.

The man who would kill a thousand people in a day and return home happy to his wife,,, now turned into the wife who the shinigami who would kills thousands in a day returns home to,,, is this karma?

There's a few different directions this could go in tbh— both from the angle of like. How Minato is feeling / what he's going through but also like. Shinigami and yokai lore. What kind of shinigami / yokai lore are we playing with here.

The question isn't just what Minato is going through but also where the fuck is he. Is he in the Shinigami's personal little death dimension? Stuck inside the shinigami mask with him? Or is there some sort of broader shinigami world he's now living in? Is it only the shinigami, who Minato has to deal with? Or does he watch over any of the (no doubt countless) souls the shinigami has in its collection? Does he interact with any other yokai? Are the yokai he meets inside of whatever death dimension he's in or is it that he meets them when he leaves it to run errands? Or in some other, third place? Is Minato even human anymore or does he classify as some sort of yokai now too?

So many fun thoughts!

Anyways ummm. Thinking. Having thoughts. Specifically having abstract thoughts ab some sort of enraged Uzu fox ghost Kushina and new yokai shinigami wife Minato

Kushina's ghost is an Uzumaki one,, she grew up in Uzu where they just kind of have death god shrines n shit, apparently, she was never going to become a normal spirit. And that's not even counting the fox in her + all that weird yin/yang stuff w kurama. She is an angry, angry fox ghost with Uzumaki roots and she wants her wife back !!!

Umm Romeo and Juliet style forbidden love in the afterlife of Minato one day running back into Kushina's spirit (probably while they're both taking a moment to watch over Naruto / check in on Kakashi)

And they like. Do the spider man pointing meme bc HOLY SHIT OMG MY SPOUSE YOURE ALSO TRAPPED IN THIS AFTERLIFE LIMBO and also make out and like tell eachother what they've been doing (Kushina w her cool Uzumaki spirit lore and Minato w his much less cool "yeah so the shinigami um. Turned me into his wife. So.") but then they're forced to separate bc Minato can only leave the shinigami's domain for so long

Forbidden romance under the eye of the shinigami,,, if Minato gets caught the shinigami threatens to make him reap Kushina's soul to add to his collection

Idk but there's just a lot of potential here.

Naruto not from the POV of anyone living but instead from shinigami wife Minato trying to slip in time to see his fox ghost wife again as the plot of Naruto happens in the bg, could be fun

Then the Uchiha massacre happens and suddenly so many more angry spirits are getting added to the mess, oh boy

But yeah thank u for participating in the ask game here is a much longer than I meant for it to be tumblr post as ur payment

[youremyheaven]

Sun man dropping in for response #3

Q: "Hey Sun man, mind if I ask a question also? Are you single by any chance~ 👀? Jk jk that's not my actual question but hehe would love to know tho. Anyways my real question is this; Do you devote yourself to fulfilling a personal belief or ideal of yourself? For me as a sun dom woman, I feel like I'm pre-occupied with devoting myself to a belief and it doesn't leave much room for love. The ideal that I constantly strive for, is to be someone other people trust and can rely on. I always wanted to be a better person for myself and others. I think I would like to be a cherished person in my community, someone who brings value to others. Claire mentioned that sun dom women adhere to these moral guidelines, and fixate towards independence and self reliance. I am curious if sun dom men also share similar values and beliefs, or if it's just me."

A: Oh I definitely relate to what you’re describing. Sometimes it feels like, what ever happened to “be the change you want to see in the world”? Like is nobody living by that expression? But of course that expression is flawed when you take it too far and get a stick up your ass, even if what you're living up to is virtuous on the face of it. I have a big thing, not so much about being trustworthy in particular, but about sustainability and the idea that the things that define my life should be easily achievable by other people? Like I feel guilty if I succeed in spite of other people? If I’m being brutally honest it’s one of my worst flaws and has absolutely made it hard to, as you say, leave room for love. Because behavior like that is not conducive to like, forming camaraderie. And it's been easier to just be self-reliant than confront the blockage. Tbh I'm just waiting to get my health insurance approved so I can go to therapy and work on it lmao so I don't have any words of wisdom but I'm definitely in the same boat. It can be tough for the sun naks.

Yeah I’m single, I could start dating again I guess but I legit can’t even take a girl on a decent date right now without going broke 💀 so I should probably work on the financial situation first.

that's so interesting wow

I feel like many Jupiter people are the opposite. For them its about doing the impossible because they believe they have qualities it takes to succeed in ways others cant. I think Martians also have a similar drive and ambition. I think for Saturnians its about working your way to the top (I'm mentioning all the Yang planets basically). I'm intrigued about Sun dominance all the more now 🤔

[bl00dh0rs3]

I really need a name for this au. Anyway i nailed down their color schemes (flats and some character design-y thoughts notes below)

Aw man im really about to go in on this here, ok--ill stick to just design stuff and a bit of Their Deal^tm for now! ill explain the au in full some other day, with a more polished drawing.

Alright so. I am still doing research, its ongoing, but i think ive decided that, in this au, their relationship is something more akin to... in a past life they were the same, but for spiritual development reasons, the qi that made That person split, and went on to reincarnate as Them--narratively this is going to make them function like. Just normal Foils lmao--just with an added umph of it being somewhat literal for them, in the scope of their world, if that makes sense! I dont want to put myself in the box of calling them brothers, bc it just irritates me, but they are Not going to be romantically involved in this au either--SWK has enough trouble in his weirdly uneventful but still tumultuous love life as it is (👀 at Erlang and ZBJ), im not going to torment him by adding his evil clone to that list LMAO. Also LEMH aromantic as hell bc i said so.

Also their both trans thats very super important. Trans monkeys forever obviously

Anyway, So theyre still sort of "the same person", yet not, as they had still Never properly met (until Liu'er chapter)--their both incredibly similar and incredibly different, due to the imbalance of the energies within them and the actions they took for the majority of their lives. SWK is the yang, extroverted and bold and destructive and take-no-shit, while LEMH is the yin, (at least in this story) by being reclusive and a bit of a pushover for the longest time--the, erm.... Outburst, being the result of built up resentment and imbalance within himself spurning him to overcompensate for what he was lacking. It's kind of complicated and intricate and i like it that way if describing it is kind of rough Pfft--but anyway!

Point is, i wanted ALLLL that to be reflected in their designs by giving them plenty of Contrasting but Complimentary, and even sometimes juxtaposed details! The incorrect yin yang belt buckles/brooches are the most obvious one i think, next to the general warm vs. cold color palettes--then there's Liu'er being shirtless and with shorter hair, just to bring a sense of masculinity into his appearance, counterbalancing the fact that he's otherwise very feminine and in line with his Yin nature. Id say i made SWK's hair longer for the same kind of reason, but given that long hair isnt seen as inherently feminine, mileage can vary on that--if one reads it that way then yay, fun detail, and if not, then you still get to be looking as a SWK with long hair, and thats always a win in and of itself.

The red parts of their face are also matching--SWK's making up the over eye and LEMH's the under eye, to visually indicate the "this is the same person split in two" dealio. I also tried to make SWK appear a bit more Rounded and Soft, curving his cheek tuffs and little beard In a bit more (belying a gentler nature and other. Yknow, Round thoughts underneath his theatricality (contrasting with his yang-ish behavior), while LEMH's is sharp and feathered out (bringing to mind hostility and action and other Sharp thoughts, equally in contrast with his usually yin-ish nature).

They were initially going to both have the fillets on their heads, for reasons Like the ones above, but without a shirt Liu'er torso was feeling empty and i felt like he needed something to break up the grey of his fur--so, necklace. Hes bouta get choked tf out dont worry about it ❤

Uhhh thats all i can think of writing down right now, feel free to let me know if any of it is kind of Eh, constructive criticism and all that--if you saw any typos no you didnt, thank you for coming to my ted talk and have a groovy day

[googoojeu]

enhypen as people i know from school !

a/n: this wasn't too hard to make since i low-key know a lot of people in my school lol. hope you guys enjoy this one! :D this wasn't proofread so i think there are typos down there 😭

— :: lowercase intended !

lee heeseung !

heeseung reminds me of the boy scout leader in my school lol

he's responsible, talented, funny and friendly (low-key had a crush on him for like two months 😭)

he helped one time when i was struggling with girl scout duties (yiE)

im pretty sure if hee was a boy scout, he'd do the same

ALSO ALSO ALSO

BOTH DUDES ARE SO TALL LIKE HOW

both are also vvv attractive people so 😳

down side is, both are clumsy people rip

nevertheless, hee just reminds me so much of him 😭

jay park !

jay reminds me of my bestie lol

both are good looking people with motherly instincts and VERY FASHIONABLE OH YES

sometimes, she scolds me for being lazy and being late everytime bye 😭

jay nags a lot so yeah,,, BOTH PEOPLE NAG A LOT

both people are also,,, idk like reserved??? they know when to speak up and when to shut up

BUT

IT'S OVER WHEN THEY START SCREAMING

that one time we went to a mall at eight pm and then we realized that the bus alr left so our last option was to walk and the bich had the audacity to scream at my ear 😭💀

BUT

they're both lovable people

i can't live without her byE

i love her so much

jake sim !

OKAY

JAKE REMINDS ME OF MY OLD AUSSIE CLASSMATE NO CAP

like both reminds me of dogs lol 💀

AND BOTH ARE ICONS OF GROWTH

i remembered when he (my aussie friend) moved to our school, he couldn't speak proper bisaya??? (yes im filo and yes im cebuano) now he speaks it so fluently. also curses at me in bisaya bye 😭

ALSO VVVV GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE???

both are also very talented like???? SPARE ME SOME PLS????

ALSO THEIR VOICES IM 🕴️ BOTH HAVE HONEY VOICES I DIE

both are intellectuals, like where do you get those braincells tbh

overall sweethearts even tho my aussie friend broke my heart lol (dude left me on read when i asked if they went swimming, they did and didn't ask me if i wanted to join them😔)

park sunghoon !

hoonie reminds me of my twice obsessed friend

i've known him since freshman year and he's pretty popular in my school (low-key proud we're friends lmao😭)

like hoonie, they're both reserved people??

like,,,,,,,,,,,, both feel like they aren't introverts but at the same time they are????

like yk sunghoon, he's a loud introvert, so is my bestie,,,

both are very good looking people too 😳😳 BOTH LITERALLY HAVE GREEK GOD FEATURES I— *faints*

downside is, both are EXTREMELY SHY

i mean,,, even if they're shy they still both look good 😔

also both of them are so kind, dependable, talented, amazing people

if sunghoon has jake, my friend has his seatmate since freshman year lmao (both are inseparable it's funny)

basically, both dudes have similarities, i sob

kim sunoo !

SUNNY !!

reminds me of my bestie

FLUFFY PEOPLE WITH CHUBBY CHEEKS

TOO MUCH AEGYO !!!!!!!!!!!

literally could go on how much cute these two are

this bestie is also twice obsessed bye 😭😭 LITERALLY HEAD OVER HEELS FOR NAYEON

both have good husky voices, good with girl group dances and???? DON'T GET ME STARTED WITH THEIR HUMOR

why does it feel like sunoo uses memes to communicate

idk lol

both are talented people too i luv

good tiktokers 🏃🏻‍♀️

idk i feel like if these two met,,, THEY'D BE INSTANT FRIENDS??? IDK 😭

also this bestie knows how much i simp for sunoo lmao (hi edz ily)

yang jungwon !

okay no doubt, jungwon reminds me of my old class leader (we're not classmates anymore rip)

dude's got the leadership skills

also both are really talented people, LIKE?? SPARE ME SOME PLS

i've known our class leader since freshman year too, and dude has a low-key grudge on me for buying the wrong hairspray 💀

nevertheless, both are dependable and intelligent people

dude has helped me a lot in the four years i've known him

despite his young age, jungwon is such a kind and dependable kid (and im only a year older 💀)

their humor too 💀 jungwon likes teasing his hyungs, esp jay

THIS DUDE LIKES TO TEASE ME ABT MY CRUSHES 💀💀💀💀💀 like it's been two years, pls stop saying i like daven

anyways, both are really cool people, i wanna be like them HIGH-KEY

ni-ki !

ni-ki reminds me of this AMAZING dancer in our school

(i mean there's a lot of great dancers in my school, just this one person sticks out than the rest)

i've known her since my freshman year and recently we became classmates again woop woop!

she's also vvvvv nice !!!!!

just like ni-ki, mtf is loud asf 💀

also has the tendency to do whatever she wants to do #queentingz

ALSO DID I MENTION THEY'RE BOTH GREAT DANCERS?????

also very good looking person 😳 she looks like a bunny most of the time

both are born in 2005 to so ye

ALSO THIS PERSON IS SO DEAR TO ME 😭

also knows how much i adore enha lol

i can't live without her pt.2

i love her so much pt.2

anyways that's it! i hope you guys enjoyed this.... mess of a thing i did 😭

[onewomancitadel]

THANK YOU!!! SOMEONE ELSE WHO THINKS PORTMANTEAUS ARE FINE AND EVEN GOOD!!!!! i dont get the obsession in this fandom with the It Needs To Have A Fancy Schmancy Name!!!! ren/ora, em/ercury, schnee/kos are all super cute it isnt their fault the main girls names are un portmanteau-able for inner-team shipping 😤😤😤 (though i'm going to assume the reason no one mass used arc/fall was because thats also the name of a video game? but you run into the same issue with knight/fall LMAO)

Okay I'm glad we both share this sentiment. I legiterally do not understand... the fussy ship names... talking to somebody outside R/WBY fandom is impossible. My best mate is watching it for the first time and I mention ship names and she's like wtf are you even talking about. Yang's bike?

I would have tolerated white/rose and bumble/bee if the rest of them didn't also follow that pattern. But yeah portmanteaus are supreme in the respect of Tumblr fandom in particular (this is the context I'm really talking about). I saw an Excel spreadsheet somebody made on the R/WBY subreddit years ago which was every possible permutation of a ship in the show, with special names, and I was like... wow okay... that's how it is, that IS pretty dedicated admittedly. I always thought the anti-portmanteau crowd was because of a different shipping ecosystem? Well it's hostile to fandom life.

I shall readily admit that portmanteaus are not a big deal if you're talking about pre-Tumblr fandom and - God forbid - post-Tumblr fandom (and fuck Twitter in particular because that site is fucking useless for interaction - trying to have a conversation or share anything about a ship or character you're interested in - it's impossible. To talk interaction I have much more fun on Tumblr even with the post-December 2018 exodus, compared to Twitter where 'everybody is' I guess when I talk to nobody even with ostensibly more followers and users).

Anyway, this is sort of a fandom issue in the sense of cultivating a space where people can interact (fun, good) and share things they care about (also good) and avoid things they dislike (also necessary) and also cater specifically to me (who is being annoyed by petty things which don't matter). Well, I think it sort of matters in the sense of 'this is one of my major hobbies' lol, and also like, I enjoy interacting with other people who like the ship I like. The way to do that is have a common language.

Btw love the irony of Arcfall already being a video game. sure. fucking sure. We'll stick with Knightfall then. I don't care. It's too late. Thanks for letting me know about that lol.

[holy-guacamoly]

Hey! I stumbled upon your blog and I really love it! I don’t know if Im doin this right cause I haven’t asked anything on tumblr before 🧍 BUT I was interested in getting either the head canons or love letter from your fav character lmao- BUT here’s my info 😩

Name: Beau

Pronouns: They/Them

Fav character: I’m okay with either Erwin, Pieck, or Megumi :)

Interests/Hobbies: Im an artist, and I’m also a musician! I play violin and guitar I also like reading and writing and dancing is very enjoyable 😩😩

Personality: I’m pretty extroverted and I love hanging with my friends, I’m also pretty loud and I don’t have any shame so I’m constantly doing dumb shit left and right

I also want it to be SFW :)

I don’t mind about if it’s a love letter or head canons!

Congratulations on 200 followers!!

Hi, Beau!! <3 Thank you so much! I am so excited about your ask! P.S. You are doing everything perfectly right :) Also, I love the fact that you are loud and do dumb shit, because same?! I will do Pieck because I am so thrilled you requested something with her. And above all, I feel like the two of you would just vibe. Warnings: none Genre: Headcanons and Loveletter (I was feeling ambitious lol) Headcanons ♥ Pieck and you are the perfect Ying & Yang. While you are an extroverted badass, which can't really be tamed, she is your place of serenity. (And knows what to do with your over energetic ass.) This woman grounds you whenever she's around. On the other hand, you manage to bring Pieck out of her comfort zone. She is indeed sociable, there is no doubt about that, but our girl here needs to learn how to just enjoy the moment. Luckily she has you to show her. ♥ Pieck is your No. 1 Fangirl. I am not even kidding. She is just so obsessed with everything you create. You could just draw a freaking stick figure or pull a string on your guitar and she will go like: "Omg, love, that's amazing :(((" To your luck, Pieck has this one shirt she made, with your face on it and will wear it to every concert you give. It's super cringy and badly designed but she tries so hard to support you. ♥ Pieck loves giving you kisses on your nose and forehead. That's canon!!! Especially when you had a stressful day. She likes to pamper you with butterfly kisses, to melt all the worries away. Also praises you a lot, because you are her little baby. ♥ I feel like you would be so proud to introduce her to your friends. They are really important to you, so their opinions mean a lot. Of course, they love Pieck the second they meet her because they just see how good she is for you - Vise versa ofc. She instantly clicks with them and wraps them around her finger (no pun intended). They talk a lot about the fun moments they all shared with you and have a good laugh. When you are at your dum-dum shit again they just enjoy the view. If someone calls you "idiot" (for fun of course) Pieck will instantly respond with "Yeah, but they are my idiot." <3 ♥ Mornings with Pieck. I repeat - Mornings with Pieck. They are the best. When the rising sun is gently kissing her body, you can't help but admire her beauty. Her face is still painted by sleep and she looks so adorable. When she finally awakes, your love will greet you instantly with the cutest "Ohio, Beau!" and the most radiant smile. From time to time you can't help but catch the moment in a nice sketch or painting. ♥ The two of you are the hottest couple at the club. Pieck and you dancing together? Wow, just wow. The way your eyes are glued to one another, how you shower each other in affection is just breathtaking. Even though you both can dance pretty well, you often decide to just goof around and pull the worst dance moves. The laughs you share are just so genuine and I am almost crying while writing this. ♥ Pieck reads to you while you just lay on her stomach, all cuddled up on the couch. She strokes your hair gently and whispers the sweetest nothing against your head. You are the only thing she cares about during these moments. ♥ The two of you have the most amazing dynamics. You are best friends, soulmates and lovers - All at once. Sometimes people get a little jealous of you guys because they all want what you have. Loveletter Setting: Pieck is on vacation and is carried away by her feelings Dearest Beau, even though vacation is great, I still can't deny that I miss you. I miss how we dance together in our living room, how you wrap your arms around me in the morning. And as a matter of fact, no one did some careless shit to scare me, and it's starting to get weird. I need my daily dose of adrenaline. I really hope everything is fine at home. I can't wait to hear the new song you wrote. Is it finished already? If not, please don't be too hard on yourself. It will come out as a masterpiece anyway. I am not telling you enough how much I admire you. You make me so proud with everything you do and I am beyond happy to call you mine. I love you. I love you. I love you. Yours, Pieck

[gusu-emilu]

33: How Do You Feel About Lan Qiren, 5: Biggest WTF moment, 15: Any Ship You Like Besides WangXian, 24: _____ has a ______ kink : ) You might notice a general trend here

From this ask game

33. How do you feel about Lan Qiren?

My actual answer:

Would 100% blow in his eye. His day-to-day attire and superhero costume are both excellent. He’s a little caught up on the rules, but a nice rugged lawless man called Wen Ruohan can help him with that. He’s at his finest and most elegant when pages from Nie Huaisang’s porn book are stuck to his back

My actual actual answer:

He’s okay. I think he’s a little stressed, and he has good reason to be, given how his brother turned out and how he was probably unprepared to take on so much responsibility all of a sudden. He’s doing his best. Even though he falls over quite often. He cares a lot about his clan and his nephews, tries to keep things orderly and stable, and I respect that. A bit of a stick in the mud, but he’s fun to make fun of, and I think he’d be an interesting character to explore more pre-canon regarding his relationships with his family members.

5. Biggest WTF moment

This isn’t a very entertaining answer, but I have two very similar moments.

First of all, I’m still caught up on how Meng Yao got stabbed in the gut by Wen Zhuliu to save Nie Mingjue, and then after that he was fine. Just fine! Waltzing around and making puppy dog eyes at Da-Ge and being all sentimental with Huaisang! Like, dude! You should be dying!! I’m very bothered by this lmao

Second is in Guanyin Temple when Xichen stabs Guangyao and they’re having their cursed soulmate sobbing crisis, and then also when Guangyao pushes him out of the way when they are about to die together. Okay A-Yao. Okay, I get it. You’re a drama queen and you have some complex for getting stabbed and pushing people out of the way at the same time as you’re carrying out your evil plans. That scene was just absolute whiplash. A-Yao is wild, man

15. Any ship you like besides Wangxian

My actual answer: Wen Chao x his plumber. With some Bingchen (Lan Xichen x Liebing) on the side

My actual actual answer: Chengning 😍

24. _____ has a _____ kink

My actual answer:

Xue Yang has a vegetable kink. Daozhang is his big white radish! He loves chopping sexy vegetables (and cute fruit) in the kitchen for Daozhang.

My actual actual answer:

*throws hands on table* JIANG CHENG HAS A PRAISE KINK

(it’s funny I’m saying this because in the fic I’m currently writing this is the opposite of what happens lol. next time. in the next fic.)

Thanks for the ask!

[whattheheehaw]

Lately I've seen a lot of discourse on the Zutara fandom about the cultural mashing in the series but am I the only one who feels like it's ok? And yes there are parts of it than need to be criticized but I don't think people are focusing on the important ones. Maybe that's just me who knows?

My opinion on the cultural mashing in Avatar is somewhat mixed. On the one hand, I totally understand why some cultures had to be mashed together. I mean, Avatar takes place in a fictional universe after all, and many times fantasy worlds have certain things based on real-life cultures. But on the other hand, I don’t understand why Mike and Bryan made some specific culture combinations.

I mean, there’s some really small, minute things that kind of feel off for me. For example, I’m somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of basing the Fire Nation off of imperial Japan and imperial China and then having the geography and some cultural aspects of said nation resemble those of Southeast Asian countries. It’s easy to lump the cultures of many nations into one, especially if they’re roughly in the same geographic location. It’s not uncommon to see Japanese, Chinese, and Korean culture lumped together into one giant one, especially since Avatar is a Western cartoon, but it just... feels weird if you think about the broader historical context of this cultural mashing. I’m not saying that it’s ok for people to group different cultures under one giant umbrella, because every culture deserves to be respected on its own. But like, I’m not going to send Mike and Bryan to the electric chair for doing this. Media has a tendency to group certain cultures together, and at this point, I’m a little desensitized by it (which is quite sad if you think about it).

But then there’s the glaringly obvious cultural mashups that don’t make sense. Like, ok, I guess the Sun Warriors are based off of the ancient Maya civilization at least, I think it’s the Maya Empire. It could be Aztec. Or Inca. If someone knows, please enlighten me in Mesoamerica? And I’m just supposed to come to the conclusion that those guys started off with that kind of culture and then developed into pseudo-imperial Japan/imperial China? Yeah, I can’t really wrap my head around it.

And then there’s the Avatar lore itself. It’s just a hot mess. I mean, the basic principles of the four elements being air, water, earth, and fire is from Greek philosophy. If the showrunners really wanted to stick with traditional Chinese elements, they would have used air, water, wood, metal, and fire. So there’s that odd culture combination to think about. And then there’s the whole dragons and phoenixes being a part of the Fire Nation (I’m speculating about the phoenix part solely based on the fact that Ozai thought it was a cool idea). Now, I could see what Bryke and the other show writers were trying to go for by using dragons and phoenixes. Both mythical creatures are featured in Chinese mythology so using them in the show would be a cool nod to Chinese culture, right? WRONG. SO WRONG. IF ANYONE HAS THE AUDACITY TO SAY THAT AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER WAS DEVOID OF WHITE INFLUENCE, JUST BRING UP THE DRAGONS. 

I’m just—I get so pissed off when people say “look at the cool Chinese dragons in the show!” because they’re not Chinese dragons. Sure, the designs might be Asian inspired, but even then, that’s partially wrong because those dragons have wings. If you look at dragons from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean mythology, none of those dragons have wings and they don’t breathe fire. But you know what those Eastern dragons are closely related to? They’re usually associated with earth, sea, and sky. They’re typically seen as guardians of these realms. The concept of dragons being monsters and breathing fire developed in the West. When watching Avatar: The Last Airbender for the first time, I actually expected the first waterbenders to be dragons living at the bottom of a lake or something. But to my surprise, I found out that the moon and ocean spirits are represented as koi fish, which is...ok I guess? I mean, koi fish are typically shown as a representation of yin and yang/fire and water which works in the context of the show. And there are legends in which koi fish can become dragons, so like... it’s close? I think it would have been really cool if they included some sort of Inuit inspired mythos into the Avatar lore for the waterbenders because their whole aesthetic is based on the Inuit, but I digress. I just don’t like how they cherry-picked some design elements of an Eastern dragon and then decided to put all of these other characteristics on it that originated from the West, especially considering that there is no “West” equivalent in Avatar. Like, unless Maya mythology includes fire-breathing dragons, I don’t understand why the writers decided to make this decision.

And the concept of phoenixes in Avatar: The Last Airbender is somewhat weird too. Yes, they show up in Chinese legends, but to my knowledge, they don’t combust. Nor do they get reborn from their ashes (because they don’t combust). Chinese phoenixes are just... immortal. They’re the king of the birds. They just... live. And they symbolize peace, harmony, good fortune, etc. I think the whole concept of a bird combusting into flames and then resurrecting from their ashes comes from Egypt or Greece. So again, weird culture combo that doesn’t make much sense to me. Also the fact that phoenixes are supposed to be another representation of yin and yang with feng and huang really makes the idea of Ozai choosing the title of “Phoenix King” really amusing. Like, I guess he thinks that he’s the bringer of harmony to the four nations but that’s so funny to me. In some old Chinese legends, phoenixes were paired with dragons to represent yin and yang so in that context, phoenixes are female. So like... I guess Ozai is the leader of the feminist movement lmao. Also Ursa is definitely the dragon in this relationship; no I don’t take criticism.

Again, I want to reiterate that we shouldn’t burn people at the stake for writing their fantasy worlds based on a mix of different cultures. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be allowed to criticize when this happens. I’m grateful that there’s a piece of mainstream Western media that features parts of my Asian culture, even if it isn’t perfect or done in the most tasteful way. But I don’t like it when people just slap a “this show is good because of all this Asian rep” or finish watching the show thinking they know a lot about Asian culture, because this is, in a way, contributing to the mindset that there’s no real distinction between these cultures. They’re all just... Asian.

[coredrill]

alright here are my rwby8 thoughts now that i’ve had a few days to sit on ‘em!! spoilers for the entire volume under the cut

so if anyone happens to open this and is like “wow this is more words than i’ve seen you use ever” lol yup! it’s probably the most words i’ve written since high school lmao. feel free to read through if ya really want but this is mostly just my own way of organizing my thoughts for this kind of stuff rather than making a million different posts on random parts of it. this way if i want to look back in the future and say “haha wow can’t believe i thought THAT” it’s all in one easy location! i don’t expect anyone else to be reading all this shite lol

thoughts on the volume as a whole:

honestly i loved it!! there’s very little that i would’ve changed and most of that is nit-picking stuff. i’m very impressed that this volume was made in quarantine lmao. the animation in and of itself was STUNNING (shout out to the finale’s water animation...the aura break particle effects...the cinnamon topography of the amity scenes...all of the facial & body expressions...the whale disintegrating...)

i’d honestly say that it’s probably my second favorite volume?? volume 4 is still my beloved but v8 was so good. i’ll probably need to watch it through a few more times but god. i LOVED IT.

honorable mention cause idk where else to put it: some of the scores were breathtaking!!! i tend not to notice background music on my first watch unless it really sticks out to me and there were quite a few scenes where that happened in a good way this volume. the ones where cinder breaks into the atlas control room and the one at the end when atlas is flooding are probably my favs!!! also there was this one part where it was just screeching over ironwood and it worked really really well.

okay so now for individual characters. let’s start with ruby:

i would like to fund her therapy

very surprised that she didn’t “break” this volume! i was sort of expecting it to happen--between ironwood, the amity plan only kind of working, the hound, the virus, and the fact that she was separated from her usual support system (qrow, yang, and jaune), i was definitely expecting her to. i’m glad she didn’t though cause it’s gonna be so much harder when she actually does (probably when she finds out that cinder has the relics and penny’s dead...)

massive shout out to lindsay jones for managing to make squeaky-voiced ruby still sound like ruby even while going through a whole host of emotions we’ve never seen ruby go through before!

god. that scene where crescent rose fell into the drink and ruby scrambled after it. my heart dropped lmao.

also. this is likely because i’ve got an engineering degree (which came with a free stick up my butt when it comes to technology in media) but the line where they say “mass no longer matters” wrt her semblance??? WHAT??? bro splitting mass up into smaller chunks doesn’t change the actual mass of the material itself what is going on here 😭😭😭 (this isn’t a real criticism of any kind i just yelled WHAT after they said that line lmao)

weiss:

i have one single weiss criticism and its that, in the scene where she’s leaving whitley to go fight the hound, she says “we still need to work on your attitude” and for whatever reason, the voice track doesn’t sound like it was quite mixed right? like it sounds like she’s just standing there rolling her eyes but my girl is BOOKING it out of the room lmao

other than that: weiss you are PERFECT. she really spent this entire volume saving and taking care of the people she loves!!! and i loved every second of it!!!

i would’ve liked to see more of her and klein/whitley/willow. i think there’s a lot of great stuff in that dynamic (not me crying when klein showed up at the manor...) and especially between weiss and her mother. i hope we get one big schneeuinon in vacuo once they + winter are all in the same location (but that’s gonna be a while i think lmao)

it’s been said a million times before but weiss?? shaking and crying but using gambol shroud anyway?? even though she thinks her teammates are all dead?? giving ruby the staff and pushing her out of the line of fire and pulling blake back to safety??? fighting cinder, a fucking wholeass maiden, with no aura because she needs to protect penny?? only unable to get up and keep fighting after she watches gambol shroud (the last physical piece she has of her teammates) go over the edge??? bro. BRO. i’m legit tearing up just TYPING THAT. god she’s gonna find her team at that island resort and never let them go. gonna be like v4 jaune all over again huh??

blake/yang:

not as much here since they didn’t get a whole lot of focus this volume, but i enjoyed all their scenes! yang just fuckin going at salem was 1000/10.

i will say...i think blake’s gonna kiss yang when they meet up in tropical paradise. and good for her!! (especially if this volume’s been planned since the beginning, it makes sense that this would be the writers’ idea for where they wanted their first kiss to be)

jaune:

going from ren saying “he has no fear. he believes that we can do this” about jaune to, five chapters later, forcing jaune to deliver a killing blow to penny was just CRUEL

the fucking dissonance of jaune haha!-awkward-renora-moment-exit vomit-boy-through-the-portals hit-in-the-head-with-a-rock arc being the one that penny asks..............bro. don’t hmu.

it’s going to be such a long time until we see him smile again.

also. the moment when crocea mors snaps in half...again, my stomach dropped.

but it’s okay! he’ll be fine without a weapon! he’s the ~strategist~! *breaks the fuck down*

it hurts so much too to think about, like oscar mentioned.....even if/when he does reunite with ren and nora, he’s not gonna be the same person he was when they last saw him. he’s not gonna be their goofy, wholesome, soft, snarky, healer team leader anymore. he just got his shit sorted out, he just stopped being actively suicidal, and tbh i think this might affect him worse than what happened with pyrrha. especially since they were compounding in his brain--what he did gave penny more of a choice than pyrrha ever got, but GEEZ.

pain. just. pain.

nora:

NORA MY BELOVED

okay. OKAY. so like she was passed out for half the volume but what we did get of her was fucking amazing

nora’s mom i am going to find you and have some words. i’ve mentioned this before but this woman has the same energy as the mom from grave of the fireflies who was like “i know we’re actively being bombed right now but i’m going to abandon my children and get myself to safety.” SQUARE UP BITCH. i hope we never see nora’s mom in the show because i will become filled with rage

but nora herself??? flawless. perfection.

i really did love her journey this volume. realizing that she wants to become her own person apart from ren, and then telling him that when he says that he loves her?? nora sweetie that was heartbreaking but i am SO SO PROUD OF YOU.

nora putting herself first for once and being told that people love her WE FREAKING LOVE TO SEE IT

except NOW that’s all gonna go haywire 😭😭😭

like...the moment in the finale where you can see she’s hesitant to leave jaune to to go vacuo but she goes anyway because he’s her leader and he doesn’t like splitting up either and she loves him and she trusts him only for her to get STUCK ON THE OTHER SIDE BANGING ON THE PORTAL. that scene fucking BROKE me. you just KNOW she’s gonna be hating herself for going through and leaving jaune (even though nobody knew it was one way!!!) and when the portal dissolves and he doesn’t come through........

she really thinks that she’s lost TWO teammates now. that’s TWO teammates that she wasn’t able to save. she saved ren from the nuckelavee but pyrrha’s dead and as far as she knows jaune’s dead too

and jaune’s her fucking family!!!!!!!

and like. when we see her on the vacuo side of the portal, we see that she’s got the happy huntresses behind her. she did her job and she gathered them but now she can’t get back through and AHHHHHH. FUCK. when she drops to her knees because she realizes.........that fucking killed me. i’m tearing up now just typing this sdmndbm

and like. the worst part is that she just realized that she wants some time away from ren. but everyone else is gone and just like when they were kids he’s all she’s got and they are gonna lean on each other harder than ever because this time they both lost EVERYTHING. not just jaune, but ruby, who was their teammate for a while too. weiss, who took such great care of nora while she was injured. penny, who nora helped with blake’s advice. yang, who ren had time to bond with this volume. FUCK

it’s gonna hurt so bad to watch but i cannot WAIT to see what nora does next and how she moves forward. god. this is gonna kill her. it’s killing ME and i’m just a viewer lmao

ren:

remember that one week where neath went on twitter and was like “i love renora and i’m gonna make that everyone else’s problem”??? yeah. that was a good week lmao

speaking of neath. MASSIVE PROPS TO HIM FOR HIS WORK. he managed to give ren every single emotion in the book this volume and none of it sounded ooc despite ren being such a repressed character before. he did incredible!!!!

I LOVED REN SO MUCH THIS VOLUME GOD. i mean i love him in every volume BUT HE HAD SO MANY GOOD MOMENTS AND SUCH A GOOD ARC

i’ve already talked about it at length but the scene where his semblance evolves is one of my favorites in the whole show. he’s so fucking full of love that it’s literally tearing him apart and when he finally accepts that fact his ENTIRE SOUL levels up!!! he looks at himself and there are pink petals falling off of him because he can’t contain the love in his body anymore!!! it’s there in a literal, physical manifestation and it’s so. fucking. GOOD. FUCK.

and also my obligatory remark about how he was thinking about oscar and pyrrha and his parents in that moment. people he loved platonically and familially. rwby goes so fucking hard for platonic love and i can’t ever thank them enough. to see ren have this realization because he was thinking about oscar.....god i’m gonna cry again LMAO

and then after that the way that he just. looks at jaune in every scene with the biggest fucking heart eyes. i’m gonna fucking combust he loves his  leader SO MUCH. (which. as i mentioned in the nora section. pain now)

and the nora stuff........JUST AS GOOD

another thing i’ve talked about a lot but to see him apologize, be emotionally open, listen to what nora’s saying and what nora needs, TELL HER THAT HE LOVES HER FIRST, not holding a single thing against her, agreeing to wait for her to be ready.........literal perfection holy shit

romance is normally not one of my favorite aspects of any media but i will make an exception for whatever the fuck ren and nora got going on

basically as a ren stan / jnpr stan i was thriving this volume and then that finale hit me and i know i will be in pain until they reunite again

i have a handful of jnr gifs that i was planning to make during the hiatus but now they’re all PAIN aksjhdasjdh

oscar:

deeply worried about the quickly approaching merge. i’m really hoping that oscar and oz stay separate but i also love seeing all the animation/voice acting nuances that indicate that they’re getting closer to the merge.......AH

this volume really hammered home just how strong this kid is. he stands up to SALEM and does the right thing even despite the torture cause he’s so BRAVE and STRONG and when he trusted hazel with the password DESPITE IT ALL. ugh. so good.

i love oscar so much and i’ve loved seeing him grow!!!

penny:

serious stuff coming in the next bullet point but. GOD. her model’s head is so big and i don’t know WHY but this stuck out to me every time she was standing next to someone else. it might be because of the volume of her hair (but yang’s hair also has a lot of volume, and her head is normal sized)??? idk it just threw me off a lot. every time she was like, talking to ruby or something, all i could think about was how her head was bigger than ruby’s ENTIRE TORSO lmao. (also why didn’t they give her human body shoes skdjhaksjh)

that said.........oh, penny 😭😭😭😭😭

i’m surprised that she died but only because i thought her plot armor was pretty thick LMAO. narratively it makes a lot of sense and i’m glad her story ended the way it did.

i’ve seen a lot of people interpreting her actions in the finale as “choosing to die,” but i don’t think that’s the case?? penny’s friends all saved her every single time that she presented her own death as an option. that’s what makes this so tragic, is that they successfully saved her every time she offered that, and that in the end, she still died. she was gonna die anyway. she was impaled by cinder--jaune didn’t have enough time to heal her before cinder defeated weiss (who had no aura!!) and turned on them again. penny made her own choices when 1. she asked to die at the hands of a friend, rather than by cinder’s soul-sucking grimm arm and whatever horrible fate that includes and 2. to choose her successor. and i don’t blame her for making either of those choices! she wanted to die with as much dignity as peace as she could and to choose whose life she would be intertwined with. and while it’s very sad, i’m glad that penny finally got some sense of control over herself and her legacy.

and like...she was so happy when she met up with winter!! she was so happy to have full autonomy for once!!! that scene was both heartwarming and heartbreaking!!!

i also think that penny’s death reinforces the idea that remnant is gonna be very different by the time rwbyjnorqe is done with it. now not one but two kindhearted girls have gotten killed because they got tangled up in the maiden powers—which were originally meant to be a gift!! and i’m very interested to see what the resolution is gonna be!! (i know it’s gonna be in like. volume 52 or something alsjfndnx but still!!)

also, if nothing else, i am very glad that whole “pietro sacrifices the last of his aura to revive her” theory is gone. i hate that theory lmao

i will say, while i enjoyed penny’s role this volume, i do think that maybe some of her screentime could’ve gone elsewhere. i get that there needed to be a lot of focus on her, so that we would be attached when she died, but i think it would’ve been beneficial to spread that screentime elsewhere just a bit, especially since she wasn’t really developing at all. hitting the same point with her like seven times did start to feel a bit repetitive lol. my vote would be for extra time with the schnees, or the jn(o)r reunion at schnee manor, or maybe a scene checking in with pietro and maria!!

emerald:

EMERALD MY BELOVED

YOU DEFECTED!!!! GOOD FOR YOU GIRL!!!!

i hope we get a LOT more time with her in the future. she’s still gotta work out the cinder thing of course but i also think it’s gonna be super interesting to see how she acts now that she (alongside oscar, ren, nora, the hh, and winter) is one of the closest things their group has to a “leader”

also like........good for her for being one of the LEAST traumatized people this volume despite being THREATENED BY SALEM

somebody give emerald a nice long hug

i love her

that is all

winter:

WINTER OH MY GOD

seeing her struggle with her emotions all volume.....only to finally accept them and save marrow’s life.....and because of that choice she realizes how long overdue it was and goes all in on helping the heroes.....and is eventually chosen to become the next winter maiden by the girl who challenged her to accept her emotions in the first place......😭😭😭 chef’s kiss

“you chose nothing. this was a gift.” *demolishes ironwood but doesn’t stick around cause he’s not worth it* *fights cinder* POETIC CINEMA!!!!!

also i cannot wait to see her schneeunion with willow, whitley, and klein.......even if she does have to be the one to tell them what happened to weiss 😭

cinder:

CINDER I HATE YOU BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCH A GOOD VILLAIN

her backstory was pretty self explanatory but i think this was a good time to spell it out especially while we were in atlas. the culmination of that, her consistent failures to achieve her goals after v3, and watts dragging her really all just came together to make her so much more intimidating and efficient and i loved watching it.

like i know there’s people who don’t like her as a character but she’s always so fun to watch and her va does AMAZING and she’s just. so INTERESTING

also. i cannot wait for her to find out that ruby and neo are both alive (and especially when salem finds out they’re both alive LMAO)

also also her line to ruby about never being born feels.......awfully specific??? i wonder if it’s a hint at some other part of salem/cinder/ruby/summer lore (like her “and i refuse to starve” line from last volume)

also also also CINDER.......lying to salem is gonna backfire on you at one point or another.......HM

salem:

gosh i love salem. she’s such a good villain and i loved all her scenes (especially the fight scene...SO COOL).

very interested in whatever she does next!! since the only remaining lackey she has is cinder (who is now starting to try to manipulate her) and tyrian and mercury, who are in vacuo, i’m curious about her next steps. is she gonna keep recruiting, now that people know who she is?? is she gonna come to vacuo herself?? she could definitely do a WHOLE LOT OF DAMAGE with the refugee situation there, so i’m super excited to see how her next moves play out!!

hazel/tyrian/watts/merc/neo:

rip hazel. glad we were able to get an INSANE fight scene out of him before his death BUT ALSO WHAT’S WITH YOU BEATING THE SNOT OUT OF A 14 YEAR OLD HUH

listen. listen. i know merc-rescues-oscar was never a possibility BUT i still love that idea. it lives in my mind rent free!!!

i feel like mercury’s gonna be so insane after the worst road trip ever in a confined space with tyrian that he’s gonna be immediately redeemed by team sssnn and the power of himbofication upon landing in vacuo LMAO

real talk though, i am VERY interested in what happens when mercury sees emerald again and learns she defected. like, this is his friend, who he’s tried to keep safe the only way he knows how (by keeping his head down and not angering their abuser) and she got out but he didn’t. GOD. AND in the first fight she was in after defecting, she used the move that she learned by watching him!!!! that’s gonna be SO GOOD and i can’t wait to see it!!!

neo is a wildcard and i love watching her fight and i think it’s SO INTERESTING that she went over the side with rwby and jaune and i CAN’T WAIT to see what she does next.

WATTS MY DUDE. what a GOOD volume for him. like the stuff where he yells at cinder was SO COOL to see and it was so funny that he thought that wasn’t gonna come back to bite him LMAO. i think this was super fitting for him and while i like him as a villain, i think this was a good place for his story to end. i had a lot of fun watching his scenes this volume.

qrow/robyn:

I LOVE THEIR SIBLING ENERGY. robyn talking qrow down and them bonding over their semblances together was so great.

i also loved qrow’s semblance...evolving?? changing?? idk what exactly happened yet, but i know that if i too hung out with robyn hill for 48 hours straight my outlook on life would improve dramatically.

i do hope robyn makes it to vacuo soon because she will be invaluable at handling the refugee crisis there.

on the other hand, if qrow gets to vacuo and finds out that ruby and yang (and three more of his adopted kids) never made it........PAIN. oh my god it’s gonna be like summer all over again 😭😭

aceops:

did not expect to get teary-eyed when vine died. and yet i did. that “themes of death” cw on the finale was CERTAINLY SOMETHING HUH

hell yeah marrow!!! what a good boi!!! i loved his defection ofc and him going off on ironwood...chefs kiss

i hope marrow sticks with the main cast. he’s my favorite and he deserves to see his friends again!!!

as for elm and harriet, i’m not sure?? i think harriet still has a lot of work to do before she’s redeemed in my eyes. maybe they can be dropped off at beacon to help glynda fight the grimm/rebuild so that they can be back for the show’s ending but the cast is somewhat trimmed for vacuo lmao

also. i know they’re not aceops. but WHERE ARE FLYNT AND NEON ARE THE MEME KIDS OKAY

happy huntresses:

may marigold is literally perfect in every way

loved them! would’ve loved to see more of them lmao. maybe even just cutting back to them in the crater reacting to some of the stuff going on.

i very much hope we get to see them in the future! i know the vacuans aren’t gonna be happy with the atlas/mantle people showing up unannounced but i feel like if there’s anyone who’s gonna be able to earn their respect, it’s the organized-and-saved-the-lives-of-those-downtrodden-by-atlas-happy-huntresses.

maria & pietro:

okay. SO. my thoughts are either that they made it to vacuo (penny did see where amity would touch down, so it’s possible that a portal was placed in that location and they made it through) or qrow picks them up.

either way, i hope we get to see them again. I LOVE THESE TWO GEEZERS!!!

oh, pietro......... *cries*

ironwood:

not much to say here except that i loved it. i loved how he got more and more paranoid, i loved that he vaporized jacques schnee, i loved that he only went cartoon-villain at the last moment, i loved that he died unceremoniously surrounded by the thing he thought would save them all. i love that cinder got in one final chess reference beforehand. 10/10

the hound:

it feels like a lifetime ago that this guy died but holy shit. holy SHIT.

i want whitley to summon the hound!! it was an enemy that pushed him to grow, i think it would be neat!!

ambrosius:

LOVED THIS DUDE. i LOVE how his powers work!!! like, even though it’s magic, it’s so realistic because that’s how creation works!!! you gotta design the EXACT thing you want or else its gonna be fucked up!!!

like. okay. so (back on my engineering bs again lmao) for example. let’s say i’m writing a program where the user enters a number from 1-10 and it’s displayed on the computer screen. so i write whatever code i need that says “take user input and put on screen.” that’s what ambrosius did when he created the portals and the pathways between them!

and then let’s say i also put a warning to the user that says “only enter numbers from 1-10.” that would be ambrosius saying “do not fall.”

but...the user can still enter whatever they want. what happens if they put in the number 100? what happens if they type a letter? this program only puts numbers from 1-10 on screen, so who knows what’s gonna happen. and that’s what happens when people fall off the railings!!!

“oh, but you told them what numbers to enter” yeah but humans are unpredictable and ya gotta account for the human element when doing stuff like this!! team rwby didn’t account for people falling off--because why would people fall off if they were told not to? but the human element messed that up anyway!!!

anyways i’m a fucking nerd apparently but it was super cool to see that reflected in ambrosius!!! i’m a big fan!!!

like whenever people call him tricky or sneaky...no!!! he was just doing exactly what he was told to do!!!! so good!!!

also i wanna see him hang out with his sister jinn lmao

alright and here’s my thoughts/predictions for v9:

first off i just wanna say that this entire section (this entire post really, but especically this section) is just me spitballing lmao. we literally have ZERO clue what’s happening next or where they are, i’m just throwing out some stuff that’s crossed my mind! whatever crwby gives us is gonna be infinitely better than whatever i come up with lmao

that said, i have two ideas for what could be happening in madagascar.

option one is the one i’ve seen other people toss around, which is the whole wonderland-land-of-the-dead thing. i’m kinda torn on this because i think it could be good for penny’s storyline, but not really anyone else’s?? sure, yang and ruby could see summer, but weiss would see...jacques?? and blake would see...adam?? i’m not sure what weiss and blake would have to say to them/learn from them the same way ruby and yang would.

on that same idea, jaune could definitely see pyrrha, but again, i’m wondering what purpose that would serve? obviously jaune’s actions in the finale were guided by pyrrha (or specifically her mom, and realizing that pyrrha never had a choice either), but it’s clear that that’s the case for all of team jnpr, and it will be probably forever. their scene together at pyrrha’s memorial felt like they were closing the door--specifically--on their grief. on the other hand, those actions are super relevant right now and i will never turn down the chance to see pyrrha!!! it’s just free waterworks babey!!!

neo also has roman, but i can’t really see roman admitting to anyone that he got swallowed by a grimm 😭😭 just seems too embarrassing for him LMAO

for penny, i think this could work nicely. all she ever wanted was to not have her life controlled by others--kind of like alice in wonderland (the disney movie version because i am fairy tale illiterate lmao). if penny gets to exist after death in a land where she gets to choose everything for herself i think she would be very happy!

again, if this ends up being the case, crwby could 100% make it work! (and i am 0% opposed to maya model pyrrha.) i just personally am not as sold on this being the case as some others are.

option two imo is vacuo but in the past. which i know seems kind of weird BUT i have reasons!

so we know a few things about vacuo. one, it used to be an oasis and was considered a paradise until atlas and mistral destroyed it for the dust. two, it has giant motherfucking crabs that people like to eat. yes this is all i have to go off of BUT both of those things are in the end credits scene we got!

also, them landing in past-vacuo makes sense on ambrosius’ level. their “one way ticket” probably didn’t include all four dimensions of coordinates--so i could see them landing in the same x, y, and z as the official doorway, but at a different time. the creation would still do exactly what it was asked to do--drop them in vacuo.

there’s also a couple other things. “vacuo” means “in a vacuum” which i’ve heard v9 is supposed to be. also in before the dawn, sun saw some bigass magic tree that awakened his semblance which this one definitely could qualify as

(okay. side note. when i first saw the tree i thought of the glowy tree from james cameron blue people avatar. IDK WHY, i haven’t seen that movie in years??? i also had to google it to make sure i wasn’t making it up and apparently it’s called the “tree of souls.” which would also make sense if it helped sun awakened his semblance. i don’t think rwby based something off of blue people avatar, it’s probably more likely that blue people avatar is based off of some fairytale/mythology that i don’t know anything about LMAO)

i don’t actually think option two is gonna happen, but it was fun to think about!!

also either option opens the opportunity to time not passing 1:1 in current vacuo & rwby’s island getaway which???????? AHHHHH

alright so now to the actual characters lmao. i mentioned wby earlier. i honestly have no clue what neo’s gonna be up to, she’s such a wild card and i LOVE IT.

ruby and jaune is gonna be...........PAIN. NO MATTER WHAT. i have no idea how ruby is gonna react--she might just be so overwhelmed by everything that she snaps/yells at jaune which. PAIN. but she also might not?? which. ALSO PAIN. i feel like no matter what ruby does, jaune’s gonna blame himself anyway. god. i love their friendship SO MUCH and this is gonna HURTTTT

and on that, he doesn’t have ren and nora this time to pull him back from the ledge. this dude’s guilt complex is gonna go crazy especially since he doesn’t have his team and double especially if ruby/rwby blames him for what happened. god it’s gonna HURT TO WATCH.

on a wildly different note, i hope we do get to see vacuo/qrow throughout volume 9. if i go a whole volume without ren and nora i WILL cry lmao.

also it’s gonna be super interesting to see how their group fares!!! vacuo’s fuckin nuts and i’d love to see winter just destroying the grimm there (3 headed giraffe my beloved) and see how the atlas/mantle refugees handle the climate--and how the vacuans react to all of them LMAO

ALSO!!!! THE SULFER FISH WERE THERE!!! very glad to see that they’re in vacuo too because from the concept art it seems like they have super unique abilities and i’m excited that we may get to properly see them, instead of just cameos!!!

team cfvy pspspspspspsps theodore and rumpole pspspspspsps team sssnn pspspspspsps

and, of course, i gotta mention that any possible jnr reunion WILL tear my heart out and i will probably cry for days. i gotta start emotionally preparing now LMAO

alright and that wraps it up!! if anyone makes it down to the bottom props to you!! i don’t expect anyone to actually read this mess lmao. tldr: INCREDIBLE volume and i’m so hype for v9 already!!!

[shijiujun]

The Lost Tomb Reboot Season 2 Episodes 1-8 - Recap & Review

MAJOR SPOILERS below the cut!!! DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS!!! (I’m tagging #chongqispoilers if you wanna block it for the next three weeks heh)

But first I would like everyone to know that Xiao Bai has been sworn sibling-zoned as fourth sister to Big Brother Xiao Ge, Second Brother Pang Zi and Third Brother Wu Xie (Ep 3/4)

And also secondly, WU XIE GETS HIS OWN TEAM?!! AND THEY ALL HANDSOME MEN!!! INCLUDING THAT DOCTOR!!! So it’s apparently the antagonistic frenemy doctor from Season 1 (like actual S1, not Reunion S1), and damn he damn frickin handsome in this one okay guys?!!! Like I AM IN LOVE!!! AND HE FIRSTLY SAVES WU XIE, THEN TAKES CARE OF WU XIE SO WELL EVEN THOUGH HE KEEPS CURSING WU XIE TO DIE SOON LMAO (Ep 8)

So yes I’m telling all of you guys how much I frickin love that doctor - I am absolutely in LOVE <333 He’s so capable?! And he talks about Xiao Ge and Er Shu with so much familiarity? He totally like takes charge with a critical eye, no nonsense, just starts commanding people. Hates Wu Xie but then doesn’t wake him up when they arrive at their destination so he can sleep more because HE BE DYING SOON? AND THEN PATS WU XIE TO TELL HIM NOT TO BE RASH when Wu Xie wants to rush to help, and then offers to go in his stead without another word (EVEN THO HE HATES HIM?!!) 

A NEW SHIP HAS BEEN BORN FOR ME OKAY?!!! I’M SORRY PINGXIE RIGHT NOW I SHIP DOCTOR/XIE TOO!!!

And yes I binge-watched all eight episodes today and damn too much shit happened!!!

Eps 1-2:

OKAY THE DEATH ZONE AREA in Warehouse 11 finished up way faster than I thought it would to be honest, and it’s a little anti-climactic but that’s okay, but anyway it’s hilarious that there are two people still living in Si Dang Qu to guide Wu Xie and Xiao Bai, and okay CREEP FACTOR IS UP OKAY!!! Wow damn it so many tentacles?!!!

Anyway, Wu Xie and Xiao Bai are not supposed to go into Si Dang Qu but they do it anyway, Xiao Bai gets electrocuted and then some, and they meet two weird people in Si Dang Qu, and also the funniest thing is that there is WIFI IN THIS GOD-FORSAKEN DEEP HOLE (IT’S TWO DEEP HOLES BY THE WAY) and these two people are just like hello guys, we live here, let me point you to where there’s wifi.

And then they both seem to make it out just fine even though San Shu was stuck there for like more than three years, and boom these two make it out in less than 24 hours - Wu Xie gets fired, Xiao Bai is suspended, Jia Ke Zi (they guy with the good hearing back in Warehouse 11, also VERY HANDSOME) and Li Jia Le were also fired because they were working with the bad Supervisor Ding from Reunion Season 1, and then!!!

I think the most touching part is every single warehouse person like sending him off standing in the surveillance room in the dark, watching as he walks out? I mean, not discounting the people who are genuinely like “DAMN YES, CAN WE GO BACK TO OUR NORMAL LIVES NOW TYVM”, I just felt really touched that they all feel enough for Wu Xie and he’s actually made some impact on their lives or smth, so much so that they’re willing to watch him go off

Eps 3-6:

Okay so Xue Wu Ye, the bad guy, big brother number five, is plotting something, but that’s for later. Wu Xie heads home, and starts researching again - they decide to go back to the place where they found Yang Da Guang’s body to find more clues. In between, he meets up with Xiao Bai for dinner, they get drunk, Pang Zi turns up to pick em up but gets drunk too, then they all swear to be siblings with kebabs, like literally, in place of joss sticks. It’s all filmed by the shop owners. Xiao Bai is crying because NO DAMN SHE WANNA BE WU XIE WIFEY, NOT WU XIE FOURTH SISTER

And anw at the place, they find another map and Wu Xie gets electrocuted and faints, and then they manage to call Er Shu who’s about to head into a cave with Xiao Ge and everyone else - They do a video call, and damn it’s so cute to see Wu Xie and Pang Zi going “XIAO GE XIAO GE WE’RE HERE!!!” And then they go in, but they meet a trap, Xiao Ge and Hei Xia Zi are trapped and considered dead, and Er Shu is in trouble. Kan Jian manages to call Wu Xie and then Wu Xie gets him to tap out morse code message, and sure enough, XIAO GE AND HEI XIA ZI ARE ALIVE. But Xiao Ge says there’s a mole, and so they all pretend they’re dead, then Kan Jian and Jing Shu promise Wu Xie they’ll get Er Shu out, and Kan Jian sends Wu Xie coordinates to their location and then he goes MIA

At the same time, Xue Wu Ye has found out about Er Shu’s predicament (or was part of it) and his role is to basically snatch over the Wu family’s business. I’m not going to go into details, but anyway Wu Xie and Pang Zi are like bullied really badly by them, but good news is Piao Piao, Pang Zi’s gf, finally realizes he’s the one who helped her daughter out and then they affirm their feelings for each other. However, Piao Piao decides to still be undercover at Xue Wu Ye’s place - unfortunately, he finds out and as she’s fleeing, a truck hits her and she dies FUCK THIS SHIT.

Then Wu Xie nearly dies AGAIN, AND THAT’S WHEN THEY MEET HANDSOME FRENEMY DOCTOR!!! WHO REFUSES TO SAVE HIM FIRST, BUT THEN DOES!!!

Eps 7-8:

AT THE SAME TIME TOO, the mute girl, who’s Hei Xia Zi’s potential girlfriend, is captured by big bad Boss Jiao but she can talk now. And then he kills her too apparently!!! WHICH IS LIKE WHAT THE FUCK CAN WE PLS DON’T KILL ALL THE WOMEN IN THIS STORY?!! But her death isn’t super confirmed, because she falls but no body, no confirmed death in this show, damn it. Unfortunately, Piao Piao is legit ;-; and Pang Zi and Wu Xie only find out way later because Xue Wu Ye hid it from them that motherfucker!!!

Anyway, Xue Wu Ye’s plan is to basically take over the Wu family’s business and to prevent Wu Xie from gathering resources and a team to go and save Er Shu - so Wu Xie’s goal is to get money, defeat Xue Wu Ye and go find Er Shu.

Wu Xie schemes and then he manages to defeat Xue Wu Ye for good, and Xiao Bai goes to find Jia Ke Zi (omg who’s so sad, because while he was away, his wife cheated on him?!! and won’t let him return to his home?!!) and Li Jia Le is getting cheated out of daily salary working at a construction place, when Xiao Bai finds them for the job.

THEN THE TEAM ASSEMBLES!!!! Xiao Bai turns up with the two guys, and then FRENEMY DOCTOR TURNS UP TO MAKE SURE WU XIE DOESN’T DIE ON THE WAY!!! And he’s really fricking handy, and like I said above while Wu Xie is sleeping in the car, he makes sure no one disturbs him. The rest of the team survey the place and then he’s like, “Guys, what’s the use of hiring and bringing y’all if Wu Xie has to do everything himself? We’ll split up.”

And leaves Wu Xie sleeping in the car I WEEP!!!!

=======

Thoughts on this:

Not gonna lie, the front parts in Warehouse 11 are a bit like... illogical to me and done too quickly, but I guess it doesn’t always have to make sense. I’m still quite sad Piao Piao died?!! And that mute girl might be dead?!!! I can’t wait for the reunion which seems to be coming up soon, but I AM REALLY, SO HAPPY THAT WU XIE HAS A TEAM OF HIS OWN DAMN IT. 

Also really worried about Er Shu and the identity of the mole, HOPING IT’S NOT LIU SANG OR JING SHU OR KAN JIAN PLS!!!!

So far the Wu Xie Fainting Count is - 2 in 8 episodes.

There are 2 more eps each for Monday and Tuesday, cannot wait for FOUND FAMILY VIBES DAMN IT!!! THEY BETTER NOT BREAK UP MY FAMILY!!! 

And srsly I hope handsome doctors survives because... I really like him HAHAHA

[adhd-wifi]

MDZS Cultivational Sects & Daoist Elements (WuXing)

So I was entertaining a new AU idea (which I will share in a bit maybe), and then I realized just how prevalent the Daoist philosophies are in the story. In fact, the Five Major Cultivation Sects directly represent each of the Five Elements - WuXing (五行) - consisting of Water (水), Wood (木), Fire (火), Earth (土), and Metal (金). (Side note, the cycle actually starts from Wood, but I started with Water since that’s the Jiang Sect.)

Full disclaimer, while I am Chinese and have knowledge of this, I grew up in Singapore with primarily Buddhist beliefs (though I’ve basically been agnostic my whole life), so some of what I say here might be inaccurate, and please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. 

Also...if everyone already knew this and I didn’t notice, just take this as my usual ramblings LMAO

That aside, here are the explanations! Warning: Spoilers!

Yunmeng Jiang Sect（云梦江氏）= Water (水)

The 江 (jiāng) character uses the (氵) radical, which is derived from (水)

Their home is Lotus Pier, surrounded by waters all around

The Water Element is technically the last in the cycle and seen as the lowest due to it being more associated with the negative “Yin (阴)” than any other element, and (at least) after Lotus Pier was destroyed, it did become the weakest sect of the five, story-wise

The Water Element is seen as virtuous, with manifests as both gentle tranquility (JFM, JYL) and fierce force (JC, YZY). WWX himself is both gentle and fierce. 

Its main negative traits are fear, anxiety and indecision, and also difficulty in choosing more than one side to stick to (reflective of JC and WWX’s fight which led to WWX leaving the Jiang Sect after siding with the Wen Remnants)

Said to be the easiest element to go into a downward spiral in life, which fits the Fall of Lotus Pier, the declining relationship between the Jiang siblings (especially after JYL’s death), and WWX’s descent into demonic cultivation

Gusu Lan Sect（姑苏蓝氏）= Wood (木)

The 蓝 (lán) character uses the (艹) radical, derived from (草 - grass)

Also, 蓝 means “blue”, and blue is one of the main colours representing the Wood Element

While the Cloud Recesses primarily use sky/cloud motifs, it is located in a forested mountain away from most human influence

More in tune with nature than all the other sects, and is mostly vegetarian

The Wood Element is seen as righteous, noble, and patience, and it is seen as the first and highest in the cycle with having the most association to the positive “Yang (阳)”

It’s also the element that promotes self-growth the most, which you could say represents the Twin Jades of Lan the most out of the cast, as LWJ and LXC have had their ideals challenged the most throughout the course of the story, primarily due to WWX and JGY respectively

The primary negative trait of the Wood Element is stubborn anger, which is most evident in LWJ, but also LQR, and overall through the extremely strict (to the point of almost delusional self-righteousness) ideals of conformity and “punishment” of the Lan sect as a whole

QiShan Wen Sect（岐山温氏）= Fire (火)

The 温 (wēn) character means “warmth”, clearly associated with fire and the sun, the Wen Sect’s motif

Red is, unsurprisingly, the primary colour representing the Fire Element

I am struggling to not make SEVERAL Avatar: The Last Airbender jokes here because so much of it is literally just the Fire Nation

The Fire Element is strongly associated with prosperity, intensity, and strength, which ties in with the Wen Sect initially being the most powerful sect

Its primary negative traits are aggression and hatred, which fits the tyrannical nature of the Wen Sect as a whole in the beginning of the story, which led to the blind hatred of anyone named Wen following the Sunshot Campaign

However, it also has a much more honourable side of bravery and bringing warmth, which ties in with WQ and WN committing treason and housing the Jiang siblings during the war, then the Wen Remnants bringing warmth to the Burial Mounds while living there with WWX, giving him a family

Qinghe Nie Sect（清河聂氏）= Earth (土)

The Nie Sect is the only one out of the Five Sects without anything in its name linking it to the Earth element

However, the Unclean Realm is shown to be desolate place, almost entirely free of plants and waters, instead surrounded by stone and earth

Even their ancestral hall for putting the violent Blade Spirits to rest is simply know as the Stone Castles 

The Earth Element is considered the most “balanced” of the five, seen as equal parts “Yin (阴)” & “Yang (阳)”, and as such, is seen as the most harmonious of the elements which seeks peace

This ties into the fact that it was ultimately NHS’s secretive actions that led to the end of the main conflict of the story, out love for his brother and desire to avenge him

Expanding on NMJ and NHS, they are two complete opposites in terms of personality, NMJ taking on the more reckless & headstrong traits of the element, while NHS takes on the more cautious & quiet traits, the two of them reflecting the two extremes of the element

The Earth element is also seen as STRONGLY family oriented, which also ties into the Nie brothers' harmony, since they genuinely loved each other almost unproblematically despite their differences (compared to literally every other family in the story I’M JUST SAYING)

One of my favourite traits of the Earth Element in relation to the Nie brothers is “tolerance”, because while on the surface it seemed that NMJ was the less tolerant one of the two, he let Meng Yao get away with a lot, leading to his own death, and then NHS ends up being far more cruel and ruthless than anyone expected from him because of how much he COULDN’T tolerate his brother’s murderer’s existence, going as far as to literally destroy his reputation as much as he could before letting the man die

Honestly the Nie Sect and the Earth Element are the most interesting ones out of all of them to me I could talk about this for a long time lol

Lanling Jin Sect（兰陵金氏）= Metal (金)

It’s literally the same character. 金 (jīn), meaning gold, is also the character for “metal” in WuXing because gold is seen as the most precious metal

The Metal Element, unsurprisingly, symbolises wealth, ambition, persistence, and firm strength. Given the Jin Sect being as grand and proud as it is, it fits painfully well

Also, since all the Jin Sect members seem to have a pride problem, it ties into the Metal Element’s negative traits of judgement of others, being controlling, and arrogance

Out of all the sects, the Jin Sect takes on the most negative traits of their element, though most of it is through JGS and JGY

JGS’s constant desire for power is blatantly shown throughout his entire existence within the story, and with JGY he showed the traits of being cunning and possessing good foresight in his plans to seize power

On the more positive side, JZX displayed the most notable positive trait of the Metal Element, which is courage, such as when he defended MianMian, when he confessed to JYL at the cost of his pride, and then when he went to QiongQi Pass alone to try and stop his bitch ass cousin from killing WWX

Other Notes:

WWX, the lowest and most “Yin (阴)” of the Sects (Jiang/Water), is directly opposite of LWJ’s sect (Lan/Wood), the highest and most “Yang (阳)”, but also right next to each other in the cycle as a result

In the elemental “generating” cycle, Wood generates or feeds Fire. In the “controlling” cycle, Water douses Fire. In MDZS, the Lan Sect falling to the Wen Sect started the Wen indoctrination, and the fall of Lotus Pier led to the start of the Sunshot Campaign

The Fire Element “controls” the Metal Element, so with the Wen Sect gone, the Jin Sect had no opposition with rising to power because all the other Sects/Elements still had their “controlling” element present

The Nie Sect is the least obvious in its elemental representation, while the Jin Sect is the most obvious. I like to take this as the Jin Sect being flashy about their power while never noticing the threat of the Nie Sect right under their noses (Perish, JGY)

Welp, that’s all I have for now. Please, if I got something wrong please let me know, because as you can see, I am now quite invested in looking into the symbolism even more.

[atopearth]

Piofiore: Fated Memories Part 1 - Nicola Francesca Route

Okay, I pre-ordered this game because I loved the art and I have a secret fetish (not so secret anymore now) for mafia stuff LOL. There's just something about it that makes me love it even if it's trashy, I guess it's the setting that always amuses me. Anyway, Gilbert looks the hottest to me but it seems like you can only do his route last? It's okay, let's see how this goes~~ The lawlessness and how the different Mafia families control respective territories is what I dig~ I hope this will give me what I wanted from Ozmafia loll. Omg wow, Elena and everyone is so pretty as well. Anyway, it's kinda awkward to hear them call the heroine Lili (her name is Liliana) because my name is Lily! Lol! I'm not a good girl like her though hahaha, she seems to be a nice girl that's grateful to the church for raising her and wants to do the same for all the other children. Is Roberto not an LI? I mean, he looks pretty good too...🥺 Oooh, I was planning on doing the Nicola route first but I didn't even realise this fluffy kinda curly hair guy was him! I'll take him, he's pretty cuteee. I love how he winked at Lili and she got a bit startled and bumped into Roberto making her drop her lemons, it was gentlemanly of Nicola to come and pick it up for her. On the other hand, Roberto is such a stick in the mud lolll, like dude, it's cool to want to change things but you wanna understand the system here? Anyway, Nicola seems like a nice pushy person haha.

Ooh these meanwhile stories/reels are pretty cool! I like them since you get to see what other people are doing~ Anyway, omg I was wondering why Yang sounded familiar, it's Accelerator's (To Aru Majutsu no Index) VA!! I didn't like Yang's appearance but I might have to change my mind now because I love his voice hahaha. Okay, not good, I have a soft spot for Orlok too, not only is he hot and cute at the same time, his voice is so demure but warm, I love it!! I can't choose my favourite🤣 Lmao, I'm using a walkthrough and everyyyy answer I pick is different from what should be picked hahaha, I guess Nicola is not for me hahaha! Anyway, I was wondering why Gilbert's voice sounded familiar and it's the same VA as Okita Souji from Hakuouki! Okita wasn't my favourite though, character and voice wise so hmm, but I do love Gilbert's looks the most haha. Let's see, it's funny but it seems like everyone I was not interested in (Yang and Orlok) when I first picked up the game are now the ones I'm most interested in hahaha. Dante and Gilbert's looks are the best though~ Anyway, back to the story, Gilbert seems like a much more chill mafia boss than I thought haha. Omg when Elena got stabbed, I was like nooo, not the sweet pretty girl!! Thankfully, she didn't die because of Orlok saving them and taking Elena to the hospital. Lmao at Orlok asking Lili if she can run and then deciding that actually it's faster if he just carries her lol.

Well, I'm glad Nicola saved her before those thugs got to her, but dang, he was ruthless. Hmm, assuming that Lili and Elena were targeted for human trafficking just like all the other girls that supposedly "left" the town to go to city, why did those thugs say they'll get in trouble for doing it to nuns?🤔 Because they know that the Falzone family protect the church since they believe that they have what they possess right now because of the blessings of the land, so the Falzone family would take action if they hurt nuns? But then in that meanwhile story, they attacked the Falzone family members so...it can't be that simple? I would assume the most obvious answer is that another family or outsider is killing all these people rather than the Lao-Shu but we shall see~ How sweet of Nicola to stand guard for her to sleep peacefully! I still think there's something about Nicola that I can't trust right now, but having someone warm up some milk and honey for you, lull you to sleep and help you vent out your fears from everything that just happened is something I can't help but be touched by. It felt very comforting to see Nicola do all that for Lili.

Omg, is it just me or does Nicola look better without a hat, and Dante looks better with a hat?? Hahaha. Aww Leo sounds so cute and thoughtful, he'll be a nice bodyguard for Lili. I'm so hungry with all the descriptions of the good food lmao, all the mains and desserts sound so yummm🥺🥺 Aww, Nicola doesn't like lardo/pork lard but he still ate the broiled bream Lili made with it🥺 So, um just because the abductions stopped, the police closed the case on it? Like, don't they need to find a culprit or if there's something like a syndicate? Anyway, Roberto needs to get off his high horse, especially since he seems to think the police has no fault in anything and that the Mafia are bad because they're the Mafia more than actually finding reprehensible actions with them, but I guess the Mafia's actions make themselves seem above the law so I can't blame Roberto, but he really needs to reel in his emotions and thoughts if he wants to properly deal with them lol. Honestly though, Lili said Nicola was surprisingly harsh with how he dealt with the subordinate that let Roberto into the estate, but I don't think he was harsh at all, he didn't even punish him lol, and really, Nicola's right, Roberto had no business coming in and should not have been allowed in for no reason, especially if anything happened. Nicola is such a tease though, making Lili feed him the crostata in appreciation of him loll (btw it was nice of Lili to bake something for Dante to thank him for allowing her to stay here so comfortably).

Awww, although he kinda took her off guard, it was cute how Nicola laid on her lap to rest since he hasn't had much time to sleep lately considering all the family members that have been killed recently. Stylistically, Yang looks pretty dang cool, but omg, not sure what Lao-Shu would be in Chinese or if it's made up but it keeps making me think of mice because that's how you pronounce mice in Mandarin hahahaha; Yang the master of the mice family hahaaha🤣 I'm not sure why exactly the Lao-Shu or whatever in particular want to kill Lili but I can understand why she begged Dante and Nicola to let the guy go even though she nearly died. On the other hand, it's nice to see more of the "less nice" parts of being in the Mafia haha, I do feel sorry for the guy since he seemed to have done it for his family, but I don't at the same time because that means he chose to endanger the whole Falzone family for them, I'm sure that with them, the Mafia family should be just as important as their own little family or even more important, and technically, instead of betraying Dante and them, he should have told them what was happening. Him betraying the Falzone basically means that he was willing to potentially give up on their lives to save his own and his family's and that definitely shouldn't be tolerated. Regardless though, it must have been shocking for Lili to see Nicola so ruthless and cut the guy's fingernail and ear off. Honestly, at this point though, I wouldn't be surprised if the one that's causing all this turmoil and killing Dominico (one of the higher up members in the Falzone) is actually Roberto lol.

I can imagine Nicola betraying the family, but I don't feel like he would ever betray Dante. But that CG of him pointing the gun at Lili was very pretty I have to admit haha. Anyway, it's amusing to think that the Visconti Family are kinda branched off from the Falzone Family after disagreeing with how the Falzone prioritise blood kin for the bosses/positions, I wonder how Gilbert feels about Dante and them. I can't say that I like the Nicola and Lili pairing but I do admire Lili for doing her best to try to communicate properly with Nicola and understand him despite his harshness towards her. LMAO at the corny scenario Gilbert made up to make Nicola protect her and show he really cares for Lili. Kid Dante is so cute, I can see why Nicola would want to protect him like a big brother🥺 Anyway, I really like how Lili is the one initiating talks with Nicola to try and get any opportunity to get to know him better, like in a sense she does feel a bit weirdly desperate and too nice, but he's the only one she really knows here and she's always appreciated how kind he was back at Falzone, so for him and for her current situation, it would be beneficial to try and understand his actions better haha. Hmm, so I guess the reason Nicola wants to destroy the Falzone family is because he wants to free Dante from the Mafia since Dante always hated being forced to do all these things as a child.. Aww, did Dante bring along the traitor Falzone member to the Burlone Mafia meeting to indirectly tell Nicola that he'll forgive him if he comes back?

Honestly, I feel sorry for Marco having to deal with the shit Roberto causes all the time, sometimes I think back to when I first started the game thinking Roberto was hot and needed a route, and now I kinda regret even that thought because he's such a shit LOL. Anyway, although I feel sorry for Marco, I have to admit that it feels weird with Marco's experience and keen eye to neglect how deluded Roberto is getting. It also annoys me to think about those Rome higher ups that threw Roberto here to "learn something", like uh, I don't know what logic you went with, but for someone so hell bent on his own form of justice to go to a lawless area sounds like a crappy idea. Anyway, it was obvious that Roberto was going to shoot Nicola and Lili would shield him, it's just nice that her arm only got grazed, but that's probably already too much for Nicola lol. I have to agree with Yang that in the long term, it's much easier to just kill off Roberto now, and they're really too soft to let this crazy dog run around, I mean I doubt it's difficult for any of them to "kill him" without a trace to them. Okay, I expected the kiss but it was still nice to see, so cute lol🥺 I guess at least now Nicola can kinda understand to treasure himself and his own life more through Lili wanting to protect him with her life. OKAY, I am so sad, I expected it when Roberto appeared, but it was so sad to see him kill Marco because he protected Dante. I know Yang kinda "manipulated" him into delving deeper into his self-serving justice, but really, I'm sure he would have come to this point himself anyway because he obviously doesn't listen to others and definitely needs some counselling more than anything, but geez, poor Marco, he deserved to reach his retirement🥺

It was nice to see Nicola finally properly open up to Lili even though what he said is something we already knew. Her confession was cute~ Honestly, I find it kinda silly how easily the people have been swayed into thinking that Nicola is actually responsible for every killing and bad thing that has happened just through Roberto's lie saying Marco's last words were that Nicola did it (and rumours), since I personally feel like regardless of him being a traitor or not, it's a bit ridiculous to pin it on him other than because of your personal feelings. Anyway, Roberto's arrogance makes me want to punch him in the face every time he talks now and I hope his downfall will be satisfying loll, but yeah, as expected, Roberto was the serial killer too. I love how chill Gilbert is though, just strolling to Dante's place like they're friends haha. I also love how much both Dante and Nicola love and care for each other that they'd rather risk their own lives than the other's. I'm happy that Dante told Nicola to go and protect Lili from Roberto, since at least Dante can take care of himself and he's got the Visconti, but Lili doesn't really have anyone she can trust. Well, Roberto gets more and more insane by the second~ I feel sorry for the poor innocent people he shot... Anyway, lmao at the typo when Nicola shot Roberto, way to kill the supposedly cool scene! Hahaha. Otherwise, I'm not too sure about the publishing saying Nicola's betrayal was all done to lure out the killer and was actually a joint operation between the Falzone and Visconti, like why would the serial killer care if he's a traitor or not? Anyway, considering how the Lao-Shu are gone after this debacle, was it really smart or worth it for Yang to have used Roberto for his schemes knowing how crazy the guy was? It was so cute how Gil kept teasing Nicola about going back to face Dante and being honest with him about why he betrayed the Falzone. I'm glad he could finally tell him, and I'm happy that Dante understood his intentions pretty much immediately. As expected though, even though Dante does feel bound by his bloodline and the family, the Falzone will always be his home and it is a place and gathering of people he'll want to protect no matter what, and that includes Nicola, so rather than feeling like his freedom is being sacrificed now, I'm sure he's happy that he has so many people who believe in him and want to follow him.

Awww I thought the ending was going to give another kiss CG when he asked if he could kiss her! I'm so sad loll! Okay, all good, that best ending CG was hot hahaha. As for the good ending, I'm not sure why Nicola had to kill Roberto like that when he already saved Lili? I felt like there were many other ways to handle that situation and he just took the fastest one that was most disadvantageous to him. Regardless though, Nicola and Lili running away from Burlone and finding happiness going from place to place is pretty cute in its own way, like look at that CG!! Lili has impeccable hair and clothes even on the run, they're obviously having the time of their lives hahaha. Omggg, that tragic ending, I knew Nicola would go a bit nuts after finding out that Dante is dead, but that ungrateful guy!! He literally killed Gil (although Gil should have known better to guard against him imo since he knew how important Dante was to him), like I know it was a mutually beneficial relationship, but c'mon, Gil is like the nicest and most courteous Mafia boss and treated him so well, ugh. I won't forgive you, Nicola. Although, I do have to say, our Mafia bosses all sure died easily! I know it was for the dramatic effect but loll. Hmm, I feel like since Dante died, Nicola is crazy enough to go back to the Falzone family just to kill everyone in it to kinda take revenge on them for being the reason for Dante's death (edit: I kinda wanted this kind of tragic end XD). Honestly, Lili shouldn't enable Nicola especially considering how he's basically raping her but I guess it's not like she can escape anymore anyway since she knows that she doesn't really have a choice, and Nicola told her that too. Okay, the tragic ending was more tame than I thought because I honestly thought he was going to kill everyone hahhaha, he only held Lili in the cage of her room never allowing her to meet anyone so that he can always protect her, which although creepy is understandable since if someone like Dante could die, he's gotta protect someone super frail like her, pretty nice CG too. Bad ending 1 is kinda confusing though, like why did Nicola need to kill her when he was betraying Dante? I'm sure he could have escaped regardless lol, like umm, don't you like her?!

Overall, Nicola and his route was all right but definitely not a favourite. I guess I'm just not into him, although I do love his relationship with Dante and how much they both care for each other, it was probably the best part of the route, because it was so much more touching and heartwarming than any of the other romantic scenes with Lili haha. I guess for Nicola, Lili just had to be really accommodating with him and chase him all the time, but I feel like the story lacked showing why Lili had such conviction to believe in Nicola like that and be with him no matter how he treated her. Like, aside from being flirty, a bit pushy and nice, he really didn't do enough for me to think, yeah, he's worth all this trouble haha. His reason for betraying the Falzone was understandable and of course quite one-sided but you could see why he came to that conclusion so I liked how much he thought about Dante and how much he was willing to sacrifice for him. Oh, and I thought there was going to be some flashback to why he seems to have liked her since the beginning but I guess not LOL. Anyway, the last part was probably the weakest part plot wise imo, but it was okay. Otherwise, I'm sad that Roberto turned out to be a crazy guy hahaha. 

[itsclydebitches]

Hiii this is majorly late but I think my ask might've gotten eaten for real this time :,) just wanted to say thanks for the link in your last reply! I can never get enough of Uncle Oz, he deserves so much better canon content ;-; like, I recently came to the realization that his part in Vol.7 was more prominent than I thought it was (AKA: I thought it didn't exist for some reason lmao) and I'm happy but also mildly terrified of what they'll do to him next volume :,)

Hello! Ugh yes, it’s always possible that tumblr eats things - I’m sorry :/ 

Giving Ozpin a whole speech was A+ (even if I wasn’t crazy about some of the implications of that speech...) but yes, now the real question is how things will be moving forward. A part of me is expecting Ironwood to be the sacrifice for Ozpin’s return. Meaning, it’s pretty clear that under normal circumstances the group wants nothing to do with him: they drive him away and express no guilt for that action, Jaune was convinced that Ozpin would impersonate Oscar, they spent weeks in Atlas and no one even mentions trying to talk to him, Yang turns him saving a bunch of their teammates’ lives into an issue of “spying,” Qrow turns Summer’s death into an issue of “lying,” even Oscar isn’t interested in hearing what he has to say... that’s a lot. Despite many viewers insisting that no one actually hates him, we never see that on screen. Based on what we’ve been given the group is happy to never deal with Ozpin again and, if he does come up, they’re happy to continually use him as that emotional punching bag. A lack of frothing rage does not automatically equal “they secretly care for him but just can’t express it right now.” They can. They could - and we haven’t seen any care for him in at least two years. 

However, Ironwood has now been positioned as the worse of the two. Sure, Ozpin (supposedly) spies on us and he (supposedly) is still keeping secrets, but Ironwood ordered our arrest and shot Oscar! I have a bad feeling that, rather than truly accepting Ozpin back into the group, it’ll be a “the enemy of my enemy if my friend” sort of deal. Provided that Ozpin agrees that Ironwood is now an obstacle to surpass, they’ll tolerate him. Thematically, it’s currently all about whether those around Team RWBY agree to let them do what they want. That’s what determines your moral worth and whether they’ll help you. Cordovin is looked upon more fondly when she lets them through to Atlas. Qrow is only allowed to stick around provided he stops questioning Ruby’s decisions. Ironwood and the Ace Ops are allies up until they make a call Team RWBY doesn’t like. Then it’s not a matter of understanding that position or trying to find a compromise, but rather “Agree to our terms or we’ll take you out.” If that trend continues then presumably Ozpin will be held to the same requirements: agree to follow Ruby without question and you can assist us. Otherwise you’re out. 

Could I be proven wrong in Volume 8? Absolutely. I hope I am. In the grand scheme of things I’m thrilled to have Ozpin back... but I’m concerned with what his return might mean. I’m not particularly interested in seeing even more volumes where he’s shown zero compassion, especially after all the choices the group has done lately that align them with him. Nor am I interested in him only being tolerated because, “at least he’s not Ironwood.” So if they treat him respectfully and there are apologies on both sides? Great! If not... that’s going to be a hard thing to watch. 

[inspector-montoya-fox]

#11 - A Tangled Web

Setting: oh, boy...... where do i even start with this one? welcome to your worst nightmare, or as Sly puts it a well-fortified gothic nightmare. if you thought Jailbreak was the embodiment of fear, A Tangled Web is ten times that. i mean, it doesn’t really develop any of the previous Prague characteristics because they’re the same, but the towering buildings really hone the spookiness. developments in the story also add to the fear factor. the Contessa has been ousted from Interpol and is now facing newly-promoted Neyla’s wrath. i’m thinking about what Hitchcock said on suspense and how having a bomb go off is scary, but having the people anticipate the blast is even scarier. that’s the case here. war is about to erupt and the gang is caught right in the middle of it all. although the fighter planes are casually attacking the castle and tanks are roaming the area throughout the episode, the operation establishes that full-out war is the climax for this episode. despite all this, the gang is united again and is ready to take down the Contessa. i absolutely love how there are two areas in this hub: Neyla’s side and Contessa’s side. Neyla’s side is a charming European town, reminiscent of Jailbreak’s hub. Contessa’s side is an intricate maze, full of arches, bridges, stained glass windows, crypts, dungeons and a cottdamn cemetery. similar to The Predator Awakes, i often get lost when playing this episode. the hub’s two areas also highlight the war aspect because it shows how there’s two indefinite sides to the subject, even though both characters (Neyla and the Contessa) are villains. essentially, the gang is a tiny league of their own swept up between a boiling feud. the safehouse is placed upon stairs to show how the gang doesn’t belong on Neyla’s side. as soon as you walk down those stairs, you face the danger of ruthless tanks (one of the game’s most annoying “guards”). the gang is definitely not welcome here. the hub’s architecture comes into play a lot throughout the episode: you have to climb the highest high to get to the Re-Education Tower and crawl under sewer tunnels to get to some of the crypts. some crypts are water-based, some are medieval trap-based, some are full-on coffin-based. and the missions really emphasise this as most of them have the gang traverse through a variety of rooms. fab.

Characters: before i touch upon the Contessa, i just wanna say, Carmelita’s back, after an episode of being completely MIA. yeap, right off the bat we find out she’s being held captive by the Contessa, who wants to turn her brain into mush. things are looking dire. for Sly, this brings back memories of Clockwerk’s lair. we haven’t seen Carmelita this defeated since she was Clockwerk’s hostage. this just further proves what a force the Contessa is. i love Carmelita’s lines in this episode (e.g. Let me out of here and I'll readjust your face!). Sly calls her his violent little princess and honestly that encapsulates everything. A Tangled Web overturns everything we thought we knew about Carmelita. after missing out on an entire episode, she’s being held captive for the majority of this one, and when she’s finally freed, she’s out of control. so we see two new sides of Carmelita: first restraint and then extra-powerful. the latter is due to her taking control of the tank at the end of the episode. she blasts the Contessa’s blimp down and even gets her hands on one of the Clockwerk eyes for a bit. Carmelita’s frenzy eventually winds down when (we’re informed via cutscene) that the gang helps her make a quick escape. so, basically, she’s back. let’s talk about the Contessa. as i’ve said above, the Contessa is an absolute force. i’m so happy to see a female villain surpass the other villains and their brute force. mind over matter, baby. absolute savage Jean Bison can’t follow up the Contessa’s act because he’s just plain muscle. in A Tangled Web, the Contessa is in her prime. i don’t know if she thrives under pressure or something, but she’s reached a divine level, elevating her persona and delivering PRICELESS dialogue such as I'm above all that, above good and evil. this episode is what makes her my favorite villain. SP gave her the “psychology trait” and took that to its full extent by having her psychoanalyze every character, almost drive Carmelita mad, and then try to hypnotise Sly. similarly to Rajan, the hub’s architecture resembles its baddie by having all those arches and tunnels resemble the Contessa’s spider legs. in the end, we get to fight her, head-to-head. it’s a great bossfight, albeit simple. but i want to focus on the dialogue during the bossfight. we have a character that knows Sly. again, only Clockwerk was that familiar with the Coopers. the rest of the villains up until this point (up until Dr M, that is) have been goons and crooks. but the Contessa, having researched Sly and his psychological profile, actually knows him. i know i speak for all of y’all when i say that You're an ignorant child playing dress-up in his father's legacy is A Tangled Web’s absolute climax. because it hits so hard. oof. it all just culminates and gives this marvel of a character an awesome conclusion. so now, we naturally have to talk about Sly. it’s been a hot minute since the raccoon’s had some character development. after being double-crossed, trapped and then had some reconnecting with his friends, he’s back. and he feels kinda different. i mean, he’s still the fun-loving, sarcastic Cooper we all love, but i think he’s started considering the gravity of the situation. Sly 1 saw Sly gradually realize what he was going up against, level after level. in Sly 2, he had to be cocky enough to get betrayed and thrown into jail before coming to the realization that the stakes are high. the episode starts with Sly saying Time for a little payback in full seriousness, and ends with him saying I tried to put it all out of my mind. This Klaww business was spiraling out of control and I knew that my gang was at the center of it. yeap. this set of episodes has definitely changed Sly. and i think having the Contessa mention his dad really pushes him even further. when he says sHE’s GOT THE EYE!?!!!? you really feel it (?). and finally, Neyla. ah, we finally get to see her true colors (at least that’s what we think). the cutscenes’ animation really does a great job in outlining what a war mongrel she really is. stomping around with her Timberland boots and barking out orders, having a hoard of tanks and fighter planes follow her. she’s absent for the majority of the episode but finally makes a grand entrance at the end. and the deception is brilliant. SP presented her as an angry war leader, had her hide in her HQ for most of the episode and only showed her making offensive moves towards the Contessa. so we were all shocked when she sneaked into the Re-Education Tower at the end. it was so un-war-mongrel-like, further proving that Neyla can easily shed her skins and how versatile she is. she’s like the yin to Sly’s yang..... until she gets stuck in a web.... *sigh*

Themes: when i say war, you say theme: war theme ! hear me out, this episode is very character-driven, but the themes are heavy too. having the episode take place right in the middle of a war is a new direction for the series. in the past, every episode had a different location and different aesthetic, but it was usually the gang stealing stuff in the night. here, we’re in an active warzone. the fighting heightens tensions and adds pressure to an already tough situation. the theme also embodies the characters and the hub. if Neyla is the embodiment of war (tanks, planes, etc.) and the Contessa is personified by her gothic estate, it further highlights how the former has the latter quite literally surrounded. tanks have driven the Contessa into her estate, surrounded by water, and the planes keep attacking the buildings inside. all this might and fury places the two villains onto pedestals. the theme is present everywhere: the Prague sky is especially red in order to exhibit the wrath of war, some of the missions take on a destructive nature (Mojo Trap Action, Tank Showdown). we all know war never ends well, and that’s exactly what happens: the gang is forced to flee at the end, barely managing to obtain both Clockwerk eyes. lastly, the fear theme is still present from last episode, but ties in with the war theme. the architecture, the guards and the missions still emit fear, but fear of war overshadows everything else. so, essentially, the war preserves the fear aspect and even sharpens it. and then, there’s the theme of defiance which fits in perfectly with the war theme. we’ve reached the end of this set of great episodes and the characters are fed up. as i’ve mentioned above, after Carmelita breaks free, she wreaks havoc. she’s been warning the Contessa about breaking free and there was doubt, but she succeeds and that shows defiance against her captor. Sly defies Neyla, after she double-crossed him. this is the first encounter between the two after what went down in India and the chase is great. both are defiant in their own way and that’s why their remarks bounce back. and finally, Sly’s defiance towards the Contessa. i mean, she’s been pulling the strings and been suppressing the gang for two episodes straight so it’s only natural for Sly to beat the shit out of her. and again, the dialogue here is absolute gold. there’s even defiance towards Bentley, when Sly doesn’t stick to the plan and goes rogue (lmao). i guess the last theme, or rather motif, here ties into the theme of defiance, because it’s mischief and tricks. i mean, it’s a form of defiance, so there you have it. even though the situation is extreme and the stakes are high, the gang seems to be having as much fun as ever. in Stealing Voices, there’s that great gag with Bentley imitating Neyla. Tank Showdown sees Murray try to fit into that tiny-ass tank in a cartoony manner and then squash all the guards in his way. Ghost Capture has Sly break a coffin in order to unleash pesky ghosts and then try to capture them by taking pictures of them. and i’m sorry, but every time General Clawfoot blurts out gibberish i crack up. there’s contrast between the war’s grimness and the way the gang handles the missions, and it’s great. i guess it’s comedic relief during harsh times.

What I Like: the character development, the themes and the quotes! i mean, analyzing this episode is my favorite thing about it. it’s a reminder that Sly 2 has the best and most well-constructed narrative in the series. favorite detail would have to be the guillotine. it’s so fun cutting the rope and watching it drop. so yea.

What I Don’t Like: i’ll be honest with you - this episode’s missions weren’t the best. they felt like small tasks to build up an excellent, narrative-driven operation. i mean, abducting General Clawfoot was a brief one and Stealing Voices felt too similar to Ghost Capture and Mojo Trap Action. and, sorry SP, but having me drive the tank as Murray twice felt like punishment...

Quote: deciding what gets included here is literally the most difficult thing i’ve ever had to do. how can i pick between utterly ICONIC lines such as Weren't you listening? She was an Evil Wolf Priestess and You're an ignorant child playing dress-up in his father's legacy. the latter never fails to send shivers down my spine. i honestly can’t do it. the whole damn episode is a fucking quote.

[dragynkeep]

talk to us about the sweet miles luna discourse babey

what can i say that hasn’t already been said? miles saying that a girl who dresses in a tank top & skirt with shorts underneath looks like a prostitute (nice sexism there buddy) whilst he has a show with teen girls dressed like that & once of yang’s major inspirations was said girl is fucking laughable.

him deleting the thread only to tweet out a weak apology in a comment is pathetic & cowardly.

it’s also kind of hilarious that the same people who’re defending miles are also tumblr puritans who hate any female character who isn’t dressed like a 15th century nun. i used to wear shit like tifa did when i was in my teens, does that make me a prostitute miles, you fucking muppet. bet this is gonna go down as well as your biphobia over arryn cheating on you & sticking her tongue down another girl’s throat right in front of you.

all this does is enforce why crwby needs social media managers. because not 10 seconds after this, aa’s twitter came out validating white washing ilia by saying she could be any colour. like. don’t trust these fucking morons with social media lmao.