#correcting guy as a nerd autistic guy is (though he is me) played out in fiction though

[july-19th-club]

guy came into the library today looking for the religion section, and when i pointed him toward the 200s he first had to stop and show us his dog (and a painting his daughter did of his dog, which was really quite good) because the dog, he said, had a perfect image of the 'cross of christ' on her chest and 'the holy spirit at her neck'. these were blotches. like that dog did not even halfway look like she had a cross on her chest she had a blotch . black lab with white blotches . cute as all get-out and apparently a very good dog, but there was not one single religious icon to be found and i had for a second there the kind of searing autism moment that got me in trouble in grade school because i simply couldn't let other people's enthusiasm about obvious inaccuracies go to the point of yelling arguments with classmates and teachers. like it is was simply blatantly incorrect that this dog had a cross on it and i had to turn away from the conversation for a second so i wouldn't say that to him to his face. but later driving home i had the thought that this man, this deeply religious fellow, maybe he didn't know that his dog didn't have a cross on it, maybe he looks for religious things everywhere so he sees them, he was so enthusiastic and so intense that he clearly believed what he was saying despite it being such a stretch - but maybe that (and this was the really revolutionary thought for me) maybe that was how he showed his love for this dog. that she is such a good and loveable dog that he gives her the greatest compliment he can think of, which is that she has been blessed by god to carry the signs of the faith that is so important to this man. and while i am absolutely certain that the man and i could not have a full conversation about, like, any topic without getting Into It in a bad way, i'm charmed now by the fact that he looked at his cute blotchy dog and said oh my god that's the crucifix. jesus is on my dog because she's so phenomenal. god wants to tell me how great this dog is. like there's no cross there. it's just a blotch. but i bet the dog really is that good

[davidmann95]

RWBY V8E12?

* God that fight was so many different kinds of perfect. The satisfying THWACK on the first kick (after two seasons of bootlicking: the boot comes around on him), Ironwood’s first blow resulting in his unrelenting force being turned against himself, at least 3 or 4 times his tunnel vision brutally costs him, that someone finally did “passes through someone with a sword swipe but actually hit them fifty dozen times faster than the eye can perceive and it takes a few moments for them to react”, the cross-cuts, that it’s overlaid with the Nora song that’s I think at last the first JNPR solo(-ish, bits also apply to Emerald) track, that half of Ironwood’s downfall was that he traded his pistols representing justice for a big dumb Liefeld canon as the ultimate articulation of his mindset...beautiful. Only way it could have been better is if Harriet’s super-speed burst took her within an inch of Robyn and Qrow before she was stopped.

* (Ironwood still did better than I would’ve expected though; with how much trouble a single nerd gave him before I’d assumed he was a so-so combatant whose real value was his military mind, but I guess he’s simply a tank who does better in a brawl than a chase.)

* Last week’s movements for Jaune as he left the room, now Emerald’s afterimages/Winter’s finishing move/Marrow’s eyeline/the gleam in Penny’s eye; it’s really going all-out anime at the last minute in a way that’s usually reserved for the premieres.

* Speaking of Emerald, I’m really curious where things are going with her. She found a breaking point in not wanting the extinction of all life on the planet - including her - and her need for attachment seems to be breaking in a healthier direction now, but while she’s clearly made at least some moral realizations given her line here I don’t think given her priorities and how quickly everything went down she’d reasonably have made a total 180. She was onboard with the idea of a global revolution undoing kingdoms and huntsman academies even if she was mainly there for Cinder, and given “undo the monarchy/borders and stop training kids to be war machines” aren’t exactly unreasonable takes I really hope her arc at least somewhat involves reconciling all that with the rest of the team alongside the rest of her issues, especially since the founder of half those social systems is riding shotgun with the kid who vouched for her.

* I don’t think we’ll get Ironwood suddenly becoming sensible because of his aura being broken and his semblance being deactivated, but if this series felt like making a sudden pivot into pure comedy you could do worse than “I’m gonna be a good guy again, you just have to beat the absolute shit out of me every morning!”. The vibe I’m getting is he’ll die in the next two episodes after some kind of emotional wrap-up, while Jacques lives but is essentially off the table - Ironwood being convicted for war crimes while the kingdom drops on the shitty dad would be more satisfying for my money, but the former seems more narratively appropriate.

* In volume 7 I was adamantly “we’re not gonna see redemption for the Ace-Ops and specifically Marrow’s gonna stay on their side to illustrate the point”, but I think this did his shift really well by not making it a cutesy “well, he was the good one all along!” thing, but rather making clear all of them while complicit had self-doubts and regrets about the whole thing...but once the situation had no remaining arguable justifications, he was the only one who wouldn’t brush them aside anymore. It works for me because it’s done in a way that highlights their guilt as much as his turnaround.

* Ambrosius said himbo rights. God, him vs. Jinn is like a “well, male superheroes are oversexualized too!” meme come to life except he actually is - true equality folks, glad they made this course-correction. And after how happy I was when Nora pointed out a loophole with the vague wording Jinn had used in the past, my autistic ass was delighted that half this episode was about the team being so precise with making sure their genie wishes couldn’t go ironically awry they were using literal schematics.

* I’m seeing speculation that when RWBY and any others inevitably fall they’re going to find themselves in the afterlife, and not only will that be the focus of the briefer volume 9 but it’s how Pyrrha will temporarily come back into play. I can definitely see that broad setup happening, but I think the afterlife journey would mostly be confined to the finale, simply because I don’t see them doing another ‘split the party’ season right after this one. If I’m wrong though and it’s a long-term proposition, even if I’d be very happy if 90% of her role would have nothing to do with him there is the question of Pyrrha comes back for more than a brief vision in the series finale or something but doesn’t STAY back how Jaune would deal with that. He’s already found at least some degree of closure, having him be sad about losing her again would be redundant, and after a season of buildup with RWBY in the afterlife and JNR waiting you couldn’t really get away with “Hey, we ran into your lost Lenore, she says hi!” “Well that’s nice!” Very curious how they’ll thread that needle if this ends up what happens after all.