#everyone's gif promos have me inspired

[felixandresims]

Hello Everyone:),

As the Chateau Set ended, I want to take you to a new destination. I have been thinking about the following subject for quite some time and my recent trip to the US made my decision final, we are going to New York City, precisely to SOHO.

It was an unusual beginning for me to start with the bathroom, but I wanted to have enough research time for a future exterior set. Seeing SOHO in real life was such a great experience and I feel very inspired :). After working on a traditional collection for quite some time it's refreshing to dive back into a modern aesthetic.

The bathroom consists of 23 items, you will get various sink options, double, single, monolithic, and basin-only versions, that either rest on a vanity or can have a shelf for 'Clutteration' underneath. I love a good bathtub, so you will get one of those. This Set includes a rainfall shower, plenty of mirror options, a sideboard, a stool, two rugs, and a lid-up Japanese toilet with a remote control. I also created Travertine/ stone walls and floors. 

Harrie has started working on her new Minimalist Set called KLEAN and I couldn't resist using her new windows and doors in My Promo shot. If you would like to know more about what she created you can check it out HERE 

SOHO Part 1 is on Early Access and you can find it here

In the coming months I will focus on the cast iron buildings and by the end of the SOHO I hope that you will be able to create the New York Loft of your dreams ;)

I hope you will like this collection, once again thank you so much for everything!!!

Lots of Love,

Felix xxx

[httpknjoon]

masters of handling break ups | ksj

plot | After the tabloids released news of you and Jin ending your unconfirmed relationship, the world watches how you two will handle it.

words | 1210

genres | humor/crack, barely fluff, actors!au

pairing | actor!jin x famous!reader

warning | language

disclaimer | usernames used in the fic are all fictional.

note | i was inspired to finish this after jin's the astronaut. it's wonderful. y'all better stream 🤨 this scenario is inspired by a real-life Hollywood couple haha have fun reading!

main masterlist | drabble series

Sometime in 2018, a year after the release of your first film with Jin, another rumor went around. It was a hundred percent different than the usual news about you two. It was a split-up rumor. Of course, it caused a disastrous stir both in the media and on the Internet. 

@/y/nfan: what do you mean YN-JIN broke up????????

@/purplejin: NOOOO WE BARELY EVEN GOT ANY CONFIRMATION ABT THEIR RELATIONSHIP

@/Y/NJINUpdates: [closed]

replying to @/YNJINUPDATES

– @/Y/NJINUpdates: No, I’m kidding. I’m not closing this account since neither Y/N nor Jin shared any statement about this issue.

@/itsworldwidejin: y’all didn’t believe me when i told u that relationship is just pr 🤣

replying to @/itsworldwidejin

– @/y/nism: please 😭😭 neither of them needed pr

@/glossylips: My mom is wondering why my sister is crying in her room for hours now. How am I going to explain this to her????

replying to @/glossylips

– @/Andrei101: Just tell ur mom two celebrities broke up.

— @/glossylips: No, can’t do. I’m crying too 😭💔

“Oh my god. She was a mess.”

A source shared with some news outlets. Tabloids and magazines had your pictures on their front page. The images were all unflattering, honestly. It was taken during your regular routine when you don’t have work. You were seen getting coffee with a messy hairdo with dark sunglasses on. 

“She always wears those to hide her tired eyes. She has been crying all the time since Jin broke up with her due to her extreme jealousy. There was a time she was even sobbing while ordering her usual cup.”

Almost four weeks after that news, all eyes were still on both of you. You flew to Atlanta for the production of your new Apple+ movie. Still, the paparazzi are taking every chance they can to have snaps of you in your worst times. One of them is you walking to your trailer while tearing up. There was even a video of you being hugged by Florence Pugh, one of your co-stars, while you sobbed.

“It was heard that she and Jin tried to fix everything. But it was useless. Their busy schedules didn’t help. Her co-stars were all kind and considerate of her when she ask for a quick break.”

Jin was seen in the same somber mood too. Although the media didn’t get many shots of him like yours, who’s always teary,  they still got many contents to feast on. Especially since Jin is doing promo and interviews for his film with a friend, Hoyeon Jung.

During press junket, everyone always pointed out how quiet Jin is. He didn’t really talk much unless needed. He wore a plain expression on his face, looking more serious than those times he was doing press with you. Yes, he would laugh with Hoyeon but he doesn’t joke much. His fans defended him, saying that the actor is probably tired. 

“Jin is totally heartbroken by the split up. He is a loner type. He would separate himself from his castmates after promos. After the premiere of Stardust in New York, Jin didn’t attend the afterparty and flew home to California instead. He and Hoyeon are just friends. It was Y/N’s jealousy and later, their limited time, that pushed them to break up.

They are also reports where a source shared that Jin was heard talking to someone through a phone call. They suspected it was you as the actor can be heard being “soft” with his choice of words and tone.

Fans and the media waited for any statement from you or Jin. But you two remained quiet on social media, only posting ads for your sponsors. Jin, who is a very private person, always has his manager look out for any possible intimate questions that the newspeople will ask. Donny was even asked about you two during his Instagram Live but he simply dodged it. Your manager, Hailey, was the one who handled your phone since you rarely used it during production.

It was safe to say that both of your and Jin’s separate fanbases were in a drought.

Almost eight weeks after the news circulated the world, Jin was the first one who broke the social media silence between you two. He uploaded a two-minute-long clip. It was an instant viral video as you were also in it. 

“So…I have some news to break to you, Y/N.”

It seems like you two were just out for your usual tennis game. You wore a white v-neck tennis dress with a matching Nike visor. A couple of tennis rackets can be seen in the backseat of the car. You looked absolutely better than the anguish paparazzi photos of you going around for the last two months. 

“Wait.” you took a sip from your water bottle. “Okay, what’s the news, Jinnie?”

“They said, we broke up because of jealousy… “ Jin reads the magazine in his hand.

You gasped dramatically, “We did?!”

Jin bit his lower lip, trying not to laugh at your exaggerated reaction. But you continued, “I bet it’s because of Francheskat.”

He nodded, “Yeah if there’s a fire right now, I’m taking Francheskat with me.” 

“Brave of you to assume that. Of course, my lovely daughter and I already got out of the fire by the time you went in.” you rolled your eyes. Your eyes landed on the magazine he was holding. You took it and read it yourself. “Oh, wait. It’s not because of Francheskat. This one says, Y/N is jealous of Jin spending more time with his co-actor, Hoyeon Jung. Please, Hoyeon likes me more than this old man right here.”

“That’s–” Jin was about to object but he paused. “That’s true– not the old guy part– but Hoyeon does like Y/N more.”

“That’s why I’m asking her to marry me next time I see her,” you added. Then, you turned to Jin with a wide-eyed expression. “Wait, are we even dating?”

Jin mirrored your expression, gaping, “Oh my god. Are we?”

The video ended in that scene. Jin simply captioned it with four exclamation marks. Everyone found it hilarious. Hoyeon even commented:

@/hoooooyeony: @/urfavecatlady darling, i’m waiting for the ring 😪

Other celebrities commented too, laughing at how you two reacted to such news from a gossip magazine. At the same time, your fans were all jumping to Twitter. Rejoicing like rain finally came to stop the drought.

@/seokiejinnie0613: 그들은 정말 짜증나 ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ  (Translated: They are so annoying hahahaha)

@/YNJINUpdates: Finally, it’s official! This account remains open! Kala niyo mapapabagsak niyo ko, mga tanga HAHAHA (Translated: You thought you can drag me down, idiots! HAHAHA)

@/missy/n: y/n looks so good in that video

@/alpacaarejins: YNJIN remains strong. Love is still alive, people!

@/sunnyy/njin: the fact that we cannot tell if they are really together or what 😭 i’m confused af

On Florence Pugh’s birthday, you posted the same paparazzi photos that were taken earlier. The one where you were crying in her arms. You captioned it: 

@/urfavecatlady: Happy birthday to my beloved, @/florencepugh. Thank you for giving me the warmest hugs during my worst times (FUCKING MENSTRUAL CRAMPS 🤬😤😡). Know that I love you so much. Sending you love from LA. 🤍

taglist rules

THE A-LISTERS TAGLIST

@seolaquotes @fatimaaaaa129 @bangtannieshope @jub-jub @yoontaethings @kissme-ornot @sleepy-daydreams @veronawrites @cuteipat @ratherbefangirling @babystarcandy-gcf @akirawhore @alpacaparkaseok @rjsmochii @prlan @lovesickbangtan @zealouslightcookiebasketball @rapmonie2047 @potate-oh

PERMANENT TAGLIST

@dunixxd​ @cixrosie​ @moonchild1 ​ @jksjx​ @embrace-themagic ​ @buttvi​  @starbtslove​  @missseoulite @vanntaesworld @barbiekatz

[gearfr3ak]

I thought it would take forever to reach 100 followers after I accidentally deleted my first account at 60 followers. But I've gotten a lot of support and I'm so thankful ^_^ !! And u all chose an editing event to celebrate :3 rules below!!!

This event is inspired by @/oddsel and @/essthereal! ^_^ The event will span from 12/09 to 12/16 with each prompt having a corressponding day.

Prompts must NOT be posted ahead of its designated day, but they can be posted afterwards if a day or two is missed.

What's different about my event is how the prompts are chosen; send in an ask (off anon) stating you'd like to participate and I will flip a coin to decide whether you get a TRICK (a little goofy. a little silly) prompt list or a TREAT (average editing event) prompt list and dm you with the result! You can reroll prompts once but you cannot change getting trick/treat.

TAG ME IN ALL EDITS POSTED!! I WILL NOT SEE THEM OTHERWISE

Prizes will be chosen by giving everyone who completes every prompt a random number and picking 2 people from each category (trick and treat). 2 extra prizes will be given out to whoever has the most creative edits (one for both trick and treat)!! Goodluck everyone!

Promo tags; @blessedfangs @oddsel @endingun @essthereal @twindrillies

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 9 "A Place of Particular Concern"

Happy start of a new Volume, everyone! 🎉

Shaving off a little more than a month, it’s been two years since I was writing a RWBY Recap. Is that long enough to count as nostalgic? Definitely long enough to inspire a minor existential crisis on the passage of time, so how about we just collectively pretend it’s still 2013, yeah?

Of course, that would mean we were watching RWBY on YouTube and RT’s website, not... Crunchyroll. Listen, I’ll be real with you all and admit I know incredibly little about the site’s sketchy history which, from what I’ve gleaned lately, has led to a number of RWBY fans boycotting its use. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. However, I noted the two week free trial and decided to give that a go first, if only to make my life a little easier for the premiere. I’d planned to either shell out the 24-ish dollars necessary to watch the other eight episodes - which, honestly, isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, especially if we factor in my Starbucks addiction... - or don my parrot and eye-patch once I hit that two week mark.

So there was a plan!

This plan was a mistake.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that writing, “Wow, Crunchyroll’s website doesn’t work very well, does it?” maybe isn’t news to anyone else? I read that the new episode was supposed to drop at 9:30am. I then tried unsuccessfully to get it to load through 4:00pm. During this, while trying various avenues in the hopes of getting this video started, I noticed a Google link with a four hour timestamp, which would have put the release at around 11:00 my time, closer to what we’re used to.

Regardless of when it actually dropped, I was finally able to start watching at around 4:00pm. By which I mean I watched the first 17 seconds of the episode. Then it froze. I made it to the minute mark using a different browser. Then it froze again. I let things sit for a while and finally restarted my original vid, completing the episode without any additional problems, but by then I was more than a little frustrated.

Was it my internet? Crunchyroll? The will of the RWBY gods who don’t want me critiquing the hell out of this episode? Who can say, but I think I’ll be hoisting the flag sooner than intended.

“This is the story of a girl who had a lot of problems.”

If you’re thinking that this line sounds at all familiar, it’s because we’ve heard it before. Actually, the entirety of the first seven minutes is made up of our promo clips which, in a fourteen minute episode without opening and credits, is a lot. RWBY has been gone (in its canon state, anyway) for two years. I can’t speak for anyone else, but my impression of the Ruby PoV clip was that it was purely promotional material, not the start of our far-off Volume. So it was more than a little disappointing to finally get my hands on new content only to realize that half of it wasn’t new at all. We’d already seen it, discussed it, dissected it weeks, or even months ago. Combined with how much of our starter material was in our trailer (two emotional shots of Ruby I’ll be unpacking later) and how much the fandom was able to easily infer (Weiss and Blake are captured while trying to retrieve her weapon) it almost didn’t feel like a RWBY premiere at all. There is, almost literally, nothing new for the fandom to sink their teeth into. We knew they were in this Ever After place, we knew the basic plot of the first couple of episodes, we’ve seen glimpses of all the side characters... I’d actually argue that there’s more to analyze in the opening than the totality of our first episode.

Not that that's going to stop me from writing a shit ton about it, you know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

None of which bodes well and, frankly, this episode is enough of a mess that I can’t even take solace in RT executing the repetition well. Thus, I’m going to move fairly quickly (for me lol) through the first half of the episode, if only because I’ve already given my thoughts on it in other posts. So to recap within the recap:

Yang’s fall into the void and the ways in which this moment differs from the original animation is still a sore spot for me, especially given how the characters react (or rather, don’t) to finding her alive. While I commend RT for trying something different by giving us Ruby’s PoV, Lindsay’s acting grates here and the constant whimpers/gasps just highlight how much Ruby didn’t emote in the original version of the scene. Likewise, the halo of white around Ruby’s vision prior to falling proves that the writers were very aware of her silver eyes in that moment, yet inexplicably decided not to use them. As we’re seeing more and more lately, characters loose all their powers and strategic thinking the moment something needs to happen for the plot. Why craft a legitimate failure for the heroes when you could simply have them forget that their longest-running villain is in the city with them, or have Yang repeat a major mistake she’s supposedly outgrown, or have Ruby not use the one, unique ability that would save her from certain death?

As said, we know this old tune.

A detail I don't think I picked up on the first time around though is that Ruby is reaching desperately for Blake when they fall... and Blake just isn’t paying her any mind lol.

I mean I get it. Of course she’d be looking towards the villains/the bridges that represent safety, but given the non-relationship between Ruby and Blake, it struck me as funny that even when they’re “dying” together Blake barely seems to register Ruby’s presence. ‘I really look up to you!’ Yeah. Sure you do.

Ruby floats through the orange orbs of the void and, given that they show up in our opening, I hope we receive an explanation for what they are exactly. Perhaps the souls of other people who have fallen? Idk, I'm reaching. Neo shows up and fights in various disguises, blah blah blah. Ruby wakes on the beach to someone calling her name.

I feel like I asked this the first time around, but is anyone confident on whose voice that is? It almost sounds like Ruby’s own to me - perhaps heralding the split we saw in the trailer - but it could also be a repeat of Yang’s when she saved her? Honestly though, that second option feels too emotionally nuanced for what we got in the rest of this episode.

Right now, I’m inclined to ignore the voice until something actually comes of it. RWBY history has taught me that such minor mysteries may not last past the twenty minute mark.

As we saw in the released clip, we're immediately given some details of this strange land, including giant flora and twin suns. That’s... pretty tame. I’m of the opinion that if you’re going to do an Alice in Wonderland-inspired story, you’ve got two routes you can follow. The first (and for more satisfying option, I think) is to study the ways in which the original story functioned as a metaphor for the life of a child navigating an adult world and, similarly, use the weirdness of this land to impart some message. The second option (far easier, but still entertaining) is to really lean into the oddities, captivating your audience through the sheer WTF-ness of what you’ve put on screen, even if the strangeness isn’t actually representative of anything other than a "Well damn, that was weird" reaction.

Sadly, RWBY’s “A Place of Particular Concern” doesn’t seem to be achieving either. I mentioned when the trailer dropped that I don’t trust the story to say anything meaningful via its environments, but nor are the environments spectacular enough to engage us through novelty alone. Don’t get me wrong, I think the animators have achieved an impressive feat here, especially given the constraints and terrible working conditions we know they’ve faced before, but the oddness of the Ever After is mediocre at best. Oh look, small things like shells are now big. Real birds like the Dodo now come in flashier colors. A mouse talks!

...in a story where a main character is a cat girl.

Just like RWBY failed to distinguish how magic was different - and, ultimately, more shocking - than semblances, it’s now failing to inspire that sense of awe when our characters already hail from a pretty odd world. Sure, this is a different kind of odd, but the switch lacks any real punch. Compare RWBY’s Remnant/Ever After to Alice’s Normal World/Wonderland. She doesn’t have things like faunus and grimm, so something as relatively simple as a cat smiling unnerves her (and the reader). She doesn’t just see a slightly off bird, she finds out you now use them to play croquet. And she’s at the center of every oddity, experiencing these changes first-hand. Ruby sees a giant shell for a single shot. Alice becomes a giant and deals with the social horror of filling up someone’s house. I knew this was going to be a problem back when our clip dropped because despite being a separate realm supposedly governed by its own rules, we’ve still got a mouse terrified of cats. There’s this implication that the Ever After is oh so strange and horrifyingly unfamiliar... but then we immediately turn around and learn, no wait, most of what Ruby is encountering is familiar. At least enough to get by.

Ruby: “I should have known! I’ve seen plenty of cartoons!”

Volume 9 is playing it super safe with the Wonderland references and it’s really disheartening. If RWBY doesn’t have anything to say via this weirdness, I would have at least liked to see something truly weird.

To get back to the plot, Ruby immediately starts walking into the jungle and I - true story - groaned at the screen. Despite knowing it was coming! Because how can you have a character go through everything Ruby just did and not provide some reflection on it? This girl wakes up in a fantasy world after The Most Traumatic Fight Ever and waltzes off like an automaton following a coded directive. Where’s the shocked examination of her surroundings? Where’s the horrified, “Where am I? Did I die?” questioning? Where’s the post-fight panic where she desperately shouts for her teammates, begging someone to answer her? I literally can’t think of another instance in which a character goes through that much and then, literally, walks it off.

Later in the episode Ruby will inform Weiss and Blake that she spotted an overhang on the cliff and decided to try and get up there so she could survey her surroundings. It sure would have been nice to know about that while she was wandering. During the actual act of her travel I had no idea what Ruby was trying to accomplish other than, in true RWBY fashion, what I assumed was her most logical goal(s) - like finding her teammates. The kicker is that there are a ton of easy ways to keep the viewer informed despite lacking voice-overs. Let Ruby talk to herself as a way to self-sooth. Or use Little as a sounding board (why else is this mouse even here...) Show us a shot of Ruby spotting her target, taking a deep, fortifying breath, and going, “Okay... you can do this. Just make it to the cliff. One step at a time," a goal that’s ruined once her steps start going in circles. You can add a bit of character work by having Ruby remember Tai and Qrow’s training: always get a sense of your surroundings first. You can setup Ruby’s (presumably) Volume-long depression by having her just lie in the sand for a while, the suns passing overhead, staring at them listlessly, only moving when the surf starts hitting her mouth. Hell, is anyone even carrying their scrolls anymore? I don’t care how unlikely it is that it’ll work here, the first thing Ruby should do is whip that out and try to call her teammates.

Watching this moment in the context of the whole episode made it that much worse for me. It’s just so glaring how rushed this entire premiere was, with every logical reaction - to say nothing of the emotional beats necessary after that finale - getting brushed aside so that the team can get back together in under fifteen minutes. We’ve only got ten episodes, Ruby, so hurry it up. Go on, girl, give us nothing!

So we know the rest of this silliness, yeah? There’s the implication that a small amount of time has passed, an annoying dodo bird that must have been animated in later because Ruby doesn’t react to that either, a circular path of the jungle, and the soon to be named Little watching all this from a rock.

I want to emphasize that our first tonal emphasis here is humor. Having Ruby continually ending up in the same place, growing frustrated with cutsey voice acting, and the quick cuts of Little in various poses all function as lighthearted amusement for the audience... which is really fucking weird in a Volume following up on the trauma of last season. This is going to be an ongoing problem for the entirety of the episode and severely undermines the reveal that Penny has died (again). This is the exact thing RWDE folks have been worried about for literal years now, from the moment we realized we were getting a Wonderland-type world. I have little doubt that the fandom is right in saying that the rest of the Volume will likely get much darker than this (it almost always does nowadays), but that doesn’t matter because the damage has already been done. RWBY cannot continually flip-flop like this and expect its viewers to still buy into the serious moments. So many of us have lost faith in the writers’ abilities to treat these subjects respectfully and segueing from the (supposedly) fascist storyline that ends in horrific tragedy straight into, “What a whacky world, am I right? 🤪” is a damn good way to continually alienate viewers who want an emotional connection with this show.

Every time this criticism comes up there are other RWBY fans pushing back with the claim that a show - especially one that began so lighthearted and silly - simply can’t just be doom and gloom all the time. And you know what? They’re absolutely right. However, there are numerous ways to infuse comedy into your story without outright undermining the primary tone. Given that I’m reading it at the moment, I’d like to briefly use Kim Carnby’s Sweet Home as an example.

For those who are unaware, Sweet Home is a webtoon turned Netflix series that follows 18 year old Cha Hyun-soo after both his parents and sister die in a car accident. Given that he’s technically an adult, but without much financial support and already grappling with a deep depression, he moves into a rundown apartment complex and schedules his own suicide. Before he can go through with it though, a virus sweeps through the world, turning people into various kinds of monsters. These monsters - entertainingly creative - are modeled after whatever the infected person’s greatest desire is at the time of their turning, resulting in some benign beings... but much more hungry, violent, terrifying beasts. Thus, the story is centered around Cha Hyun-soo’s attempts to survive, the horrors found in his apartment complex, and the question of why he’s trying so hard to live when he’d already planned to die.

It’s dark, is what I’m getting at.

It also has moments like this:

And just a little while later:

Here, a generational divide infuses some much needed comedy into the story without detracting from the world’s overall tone (note too that Cha Hyun-soo remains looking stressed and anxious the whole time). It would be a problem if our depressed, terrified teenage suddenly started jumping like he’s having the time of his life (Weiss). It would be a problem if the entire first volume, which is meant to highlight the horror of this situation, was constantly peppered with lame jokes involving cutesy animals (the mice). If you’re going to add comedy, keep it subtle, relatable, and in this case bound to the characters’ internal monologue. By having them each compliment the other with age-appropriate comparisons that cause confusion, but without verbally acknowledging that confusion, the humor exists purely for the audience’s sake. The characters aren’t supposed to be laughing it up right now... so they don’t. The humor is for the reader alone, recognizing the miscommunication and enjoying it as an element separate from the dark tone of the characters’ world. Because this is the vibe of the scene directly before:

RWBY fails at this division. A lot. Like, that failure makes up the majority of this episode.

You know what? It’s easier to just keep a count going.

Little’s introduction is Ill-suited Comedy Example #1.

All of which means that when Ruby starts crying - and by that I mean a few sniffles and a single tear track - I have no investment in the moment. Even if the animation were close to what I’d expect after such a tragedy, its impact is obliterated by the, “Look! Cute mouse!” immediately proceeding and following it.

Also, love how Little has never seen a human before, is watching Ruby intently during this entire process... yet makes no effort to engage with her. I suppose I get it given the emphasis on how scared the mice are of predators, but from a character perspective it leaves something to be desired. In regards to Ruby not (yet) utilizing Little as a means of expressing her thoughts to the audience, our first Ever After character is just kinda... there. Ruby stumbles across them. (BTW, is they/them what the fandom is using for our first non-binary rep?) They only speak because they feel obligated to help Ruby after she retrieves the cheese. They come on this adventure because, by their own admission, they simply have nothing better to do. What’s the point of Little again? How are they serving the story? They don’t even lead Ruby to Blake and Weiss - she stumbles across them on her own while Little sleeps. In fact, it’s already a running gag that Little naps instead of doing anything useful. I wouldn’t care so much if RWBY weren’t already a show suffering from character bloat and an inability to manage that (because the former isn’t necessarily a problem on its own). Now that we’ve finally got the girls alone(-ish) and primed for some character development, I don’t want to squander it on stupid mouse jokes.

Given which: Little’s ‘Gimme The Cheese’ dance + accompanying sounds effects is Ill-Suited Comedy Example #2.

I mentioned the first time around that I am weak for a cute, animal companion. That remains true. Unfortunately, Little’s cuteness is only carrying them so far with me. Their negative impact on the narrative as a whole is, thus far, simply too much to fix with grabby motions and snot bubbles.

They ask the thematic, “What are you?” question and introduce a number of other theoretical ideas that, frankly, I doubt the Volume will capitalize on. Is your name your purpose? (Like Huntress Ruby Rose.) How does one "Little"? The team is “similar, but different.” Until the Volume actually does something with these questions, I’m inclined to read them as simple ‘nonsense’ language included to try and emulate Carroll’s style.

With Little planning to show Ruby her village (but doesn't actually succeed in that), we cut to Weiss and Blake traversing the jungle together. How did they find one another? No idea. Why did they find one another when Blake fell with Ruby? No idea. The story tries to bypass this by, as expected, leaning into the illogical nature of the world. If they somehow found each other, then they might be able to likewise find Blake’s weapon, despite the fact that it fell long after her. Honestly, this feels more like a very convenient plot device than an interesting characteristic of this world. Things happen so randomly here! Funny how that randomness seems to solely benefit the heroes.

Sidenote: I really like that Weiss says “Gambol Shroud” because the weapon names have felt only semi-canon for a very long time. Other than Ruby referring to Crescent Rose back in the first couple episodes, have we heard the names at all? I can’t recall off the top of my head, but regardless this makes for a nice moment between Weiss and Blake. It’s a small thing, but it helps sell the idea that they do actually know one another well.

The rest of the scene is... passable. Weiss has a “Blake... I’m really glad you’re okay” line and gets a “I’m really glad you are too” in response. This is one of those cases where I think fiction needs to deviate sharply from reality. Irl that’s probably exactly the kind of awkward, rushed line I’d give a close friend because I myself am awkward and struggle to verbalize my care for others (gift giving ftw!). But in fiction an exchange like that just comes across as wooden. “I’m really glad you’re okay,” says the girl who thought this friend had died and for real saw another friend get killed by a third like, an hour ago. Wow, what a reaction! This is also a case of RWBY’s animation acting as a constraint. As said earlier, I think the animators are doing the best they can under the circumstances, but better writing, time, and funds would likely lend itself to a more expressive reunion for all the girls. It also highlights how convenient the time-skip is. You can easily argue that these two cried and hugged and went through their Face Journeys when they first found one another. No need to rehash that though because it already happened off screen!

All of this is made worse for me by the fact that Blake says that if they’re fine, the others “might” be okay too. Might! That’s a loaded word choice with absolutely no follow up. Remember, this is the girl who was beside herself with anger and grief when Yang “died.” So glad to see that emotion carried over into the next Volume. I mean hell, give me a Blake who’s screaming at Weiss to just ditch her weapon. Why are they bothering with that when Yang is still missing?? Screw vines and mice, I’m going to go find my partner!

If only.

Everything in this episode just rings so hollow to me. I mean, I expected that given RWBY’s track record, but this is a severe failure to me given the intensity of Volume 8. From Penny's death to destroying a Kingdom, the fate of their friends to lost Relics, we needed a stellar start to this emotional journey and we simply didn’t get it.

That includes Weiss dodging the question of what happened after Blake fell. I really enjoyed this on the surface, just not - as is so often the case - in the context of RWBY as a whole. Because what is Weiss doing here except keeping another secret? In her defense, it doesn’t last long and there’s a case to be made about how difficult it is to discuss such things, especially after they just happened, so as said, I think that’s a compelling situation to put her in. It’s just one that also happens to poke at a RWDE sore spot because we had such a strong anti-secret rhetoric for three Volumes. Thanks to that arc, my initial reaction is not, “Poor Weiss. Grappling with this traumatic event.” It’s “See, Weiss? See how hard it is to discuss something horrific that you went through? But oh, you and the others had no sympathy for Ozpin in that regard, so just get over it and spill the crucial information already. Snap, snap, keeping Blake informed is more important than your mental health.”

All of which isn’t even touching on how she explains the situation... but we’ll get to that.

So they have this exchange that’s passable in many regards and fails largely due to the problems RWBY has carried with it for years now. They stumble across Gambol Shroud and proceed to spend a while trying to cut the vines/reach it from a nearby tree. This is how Weiss cheers Blake on.

Weiss: “Yah! Woo!”

Example #3, folks.

Weiss’ completely inappropriate cheer-leading aside, the entire time I’m going, “How is this in any way a problem?” I know Blake has become the useless fighter who can’t take out a single grimm without Ruby’s help, and Weiss has forgotten everything except her summoning, but has the audience forgotten how these girls used to fight? Anyone recall this moment from their very first battle?

Oh no, a giant pile of vines! However will we get past this obstacle?😱

I don’t know, maybe just... jump? Or you could get a little more creative by summoning a clone and doing a cool person-tower move to reach the top? That’s definitely not me pulling from my love of Yu Yu Hakusho or anything.

TEAMWORK, BABY!

My point is that moments like this fall flat precisely because RWBY has spent so much time showing us the group’s extreme abilities. Remember that scenes like the Ace Ops fight hinge on their presumed excellence. This is a group that beat the best team in Atlas! But now they can’t even bypass a pile of vines? The downside of giving your characters great power is that you then have to continually come up with ways for them to still face challenging conflict. Some shows handle this rather badly (like Castiel not just blowing up every demon/mortal that opposes them) and some shows handle it rather well (we establish early on that despite technically having the power to get the crew out of sticky situations, Star Trek’s transporter is prone to glitches and interference from the weather). Basically, you can’t go, “These girls are brimming with power because that looks awesome in a fight! But oh, now they can’t use that power because... uh... because that would interfere with our lame gag?” There has to be a reason. And this is far from the first time RWBY has conveniently forgotten the characters’ abilities. I still cringe at Ruby hanging off the cliff during the Cordovin battle. It’s meant to be a dramatic moment wherein she faces great danger from a fall, but they tried to give that to the girl who can fly.

So this is just incredibly stupid to me. Bad enough that we have gags following the intensity of Volume 8, but RWBY hasn’t even put in the effort to make them good gags. This episode honestly feels like RWBY satire to me, more akin to a Chibi episode, or a YouTuber poking fun, than the content fans waited two years for.

Right as Blake reaches her weapon they learn that the vines were a trap and they move, ensnaring both girls. We knew that was going to occur from the trailer and I thought that this was just another aspect of the Ever After. The vegetation (a bit like Alice’s flowers) is alive, sentient, capable of helping or hurting you. That’s pretty cool and, as I mentioned in regards to the environment responding to Ruby’s emotions, could be utilized in fantastic ways for combat.

However, this isn’t actually the case. Apparently the mice have sprung this trap because... Blake is a cat?

Wait.

So let me get this straight. This village of mice - who have never seen a human before, but have definitely seen cats - assume that Blake is exactly the same because she has cat ears. Then they found her weapon before her, somehow realize it is her weapon (even though Blake has yet to even stand next to it within the Ever After), and set an elaborate trap so that they can be the “hunters” for once, instead of the prey. Blake happens to come along with another human, but who cares? Capture her too! What are they going to do with them then?

Uh... the only thing we know about these mice is that they spend the majority of their time foraging for food and they struggle greatly to get the cheese out of the ground, and this would certainly be a way to both feed the village and eliminate a presumed enemy, so...

You know what? Never mind. I’m not going there lol.

This is stupid and illogical, but not in a wacky Wonderland way. Also, anyone else a little uncomfortable with the mice calling her a cat and Blake just going with it? Is that the stance we’re going with after eight seasons of a civil rights movement? That a faunus girl and an animal are fundamentally interchangeable?😬

They could have used this moment to let Blake explain her identity to someone coming from a place of well-meaning ignorance but noooo, why would we have an interesting conversation with the mice when they can just cheer about cheese instead? “She pulled the cheese out of the ground ON HER OWN!” Little cries, causing another mouse to faint in shock.

Example #4

While all this is going on Ruby shows up because remember, the premiere is trying to get the group back together as quickly as humanly possible. Or magically possible, in this case. We get Ruby asking if Little is drooling on her - “Yuck” - before spotting the village of mice about to do presumably unspeakable things to her teammates. Remember the shot from the trailer where Ruby looks properly horrified and I wondered what could possibly be causing that reaction? Yeah. It’s just this.

Example #5. Sigh.

If you were hoping for a proper reunion between these three, keep hoping. We segue immediately into a practical explanation where Ruby explains, about five minutes too late, what she was trying to accomplish while wandering around the jungle. Little has her freak-out about Blake, explains Ruby’s magic cheese gathering skills to the others, and then decides to tag along to find Yang because, and I quote, “I don’t have anything to do yet.” For a hot second I thought this was going to lead into more information about mouse culture. You know, how Little has already admitted that they don’t have a name, how they equate names with a purpose, and therefore if they have nothing to do in their village yet because they’re so young, they’ll find a purpose by traveling with these humans. We might have even put off Little’s naming to this moment, having them or one of the girls come up with something appropriate to the task ahead: something like Guide, or even Friend (of Humans).

But no, apparently Little is tagging along just because they literally have nothing better to do? In the sense that they’re bored and why the hell not? It’s not exactly a compelling reason and, given that they’ve yet to provide any actual assistance to the girls, I’m continually questioning their place in the story. This is what critics mean when they say that time is wasted with Volume-specific side characters when we could be doing more, better work with the core team.

Case in point: Little says that they’ll be “your trusty guide!” and then the joke is that they’re immediately asleep again once the girls set out.

#6!

I do like the following scene though. As the trio follows a path that they’ve found, Weiss walks ahead with her back (obviously) facing Blake and Ruby. When Ruby likewise questions what happened after they fell, there’s this long pause where Weiss considers how to respond, not turning around. It’s a powerful little detail, refusing to show us, or the girls, her face. It leaves her expression up to interpretation while maintaining the impression that she’s hiding from her teammates, due to not knowing how to address their failure. Her insistence on finding Yang first just highlights that avoidance. Really, I think this moment works quite well and I wish the whole episode had been treated this seriously.

Just as Ruby is about to press the issue they hear a roar from nearby. Following it, they discover a creature that fans have already dubbed RWBY’s version of the Jabberwocky.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Bewared the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!"

Kudos to RWBY for trying here. It’s no secret that I think one of the best grimm lately have been The Apathy, so having another horror-leaning creature was a good decision in my opinion. Unfortunately, I like the idea more than the execution. The twitching motion of the Jabberwocky could have been creepy, but it doesn’t quite capture that feeling of unnatural otherness that makes your skin crawl. A problem with the animation, or something the engine itself just isn’t equipped to create? I’m not sure. Its voice is also a nice touch, with the exception that it’s really hard to understand once it starts yelling. At first I thought RWBY was leaning into the Jabberwocky’s origins. That is, using nonsense words like those from Carroll’s poem whose meaning is understood only in context. Now though, I think it’s just a badly voiced character? I’m not sure because Crunchyroll’s subtitles wouldn’t work for me (of course) and all I got was the “Searching. Stalking. Detecting.” in the beginning.

Which, you know, is an interesting bit of dialogue. RWBY has always straddled the line between fantasy and Sci-Fi, so I’m pleased to see some of the latter worming its way into the distinctly fantasy setting of the Ever After. The Jabberwocky sounds like an AI creation following a coded command. Out of everything this episode, I’m most eager to learn more about it.

Of course, we can’t learn anything now. Despite the fact that Yang stumbles out of the jungle, arm gone, throwing a rock at the Jabberwocky, and looking like she’s been through hell and back. Would you like to know what Yang experienced while on her own here? Or how she came across the Jabberwocky? What she might already know about it?

Would you like to see an actual battle in the combat show’s premiere?

Too bad.

The Jabberwocky just runs off and we get an... interesting reunion for the whole team. First off, Weiss just isn’t a part of this. Given that she’s not Yang’s sister or the Schrodinger girlfriend, she’s shuffled off to the side. Second, Ruby is greeted with a, “Dammit! You weren’t supposed to be here” which I really like. Rather than going the pure fluff route, the writing seems to consider the fact that Yang (as we’ll learn soon) thinks she may have died, so of course she’s horrified to see her little sister here too. This isn’t a joyful reunion for her, it's evidence that her (stupid) sacrifice was in vain. As always, I wish we could have explored that a little more - specifically this idea that Yang thought she was dead and was still trying to defend herself against hostile creatures - but a single line is all we’re given.

Ruby gets that soft smile of hers, kneels down, and says, “If you thought we wouldn’t have come for you then you must have forgotten who raised me.” Aww.

...wait.

Hold up.

The fuck??

First of all, that is NOT what happened. Ruby didn’t come looking for Yang, she lost to Cinder - DESPITE HAVING A UNIQUE ABILITY TO BEAT HER, I WILL CONTINUALLY ADD - and failed to rose-petal her way to safety. Wow, way to imply a heroic rescue that doesn’t exist, Ruby. Also, this simultaneously implies that if they had won the fight Ruby would have dove into the void afterwards to try and find Yang which... you know... I highly doubt. Just given her non-reaction to her sister “dying.” If there was going to be any rescue attempts, give me a Ruby who jumps after Yang as she’s falling and they both go in together.

So that’s a huge misrepresentation of events and then Ruby follows that up with, “you must have forgotten who raised me"? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Because a lot of people raised Ruby. Is it Tai, Summer, Qrow... or Yang herself? This almost feels bait-y to me, in the sense that the writers must know that mom!Yang has been a huge debate in the fandom for years, so they toss in this ambiguous line that could go either way. Is Ruby referring to her many capable, loving, adult guardians? Or her older sister that maybe, sorta “raised her” while their dad was recovering from the death of his wife? I don’t know, why don’t you all fight about it ;)

But no, let’s talk about the actual bait: bumblebee.

Now, for a long time I’ve refrained from calling Blake/Yang queerbaiting for the simple reason that I’ve expected the show to follow through with the romance in a way I don’t expect that from “real” queerbaiting. Remember, the word originates from a hard “No” on the queer front, that’s why it’s baiting and not a slow-burn towards representation. However, we’ve now entered an age of television where, yes, many couples do become canon, but only in the final hour when the writers don’t have to actually write a queer romance. That’s the modern from of queerbaiting and goddamn, is bumblebee fitting it to a T.

I know the fandom has some memory problems, but everyone recalls the surety that Yang and Blake’s romance would kickstart after Yang “died” right? That having Blake mourn her and then discover her alive would finally push her to go in for a kiss? We pictured a plot where the girls were separated for the first couple of episodes, still believing the others were gone, Blake stumbling across Yang in the Ever After, the confusion and shock and relief at finding her again, the kiss that would finally bring RWBY into 2023--

Yeah. There’s none of that.

I myself said that THIS was the time to do it. If you ever needed an excuse to get the queer couple together (which you don’t) then the reunion after one thinks the other has died is 100% the time to do it. Emotions will never be stronger! Inhibitions will never be lower! Don’t pass up such a golden opportunity!

They totally passed it up.

This reunion is just as generically ambiguous as all the others, right down to Yang hugging Blake with a tenderness that’s equal to what she’s given other characters:

Friends. This is all the same hug. There is nothing coded romantic in this reunion, not unless we want to claim that Yang is also romantically attracted to Ren, Weiss, and her sister.

I’ve already seen some fans talking about the importance of Blake initiating contact when before she always held back and yeah, sure, that can be read as character growth, but that’s the kind of minuscule step forward we needed years ago. Not now. Now we’re firmly in bait territory and need confirmation.

“But, Clyde, it’s just the start of the Volume. They could still kiss!”

I don’t care. RT had an opportunity and they squandered it. If there's a kiss, a confession, or whatever comes later in the Volume, it’s still more time that the show has spent in a will-they-won’t-they dance. I’m so sick of it. RWBY’s queer rep is atrocious and I find that to be particularly insulting in a show that’s praised for and celebrates its own diversity. I watch plenty of television with no queer rep at all, but I don’t give them the same kind of shit because they’re not pretending to be the Pinnacle of Queer Representation. If you’re going to claim that you have a queer main couple, then actually give us a queer main couple.

God I was actually so hopeful I’d be writing a, “We’ve finally confirmed it!” recap. It’s beyond frustrating at this point and I’m continually shocked at the fans who are celebrating that hug like they’ve been given a feast and not crumbs. If I were more emotionally invested in bumblebee as a ship - meaning, if I cared more about the relationship itself rather than how it functions as representation for RWBY - I’d be pissed as hell. Yang “died,” Blake lost her mind over it, we waited two years, and then you give us... that? If I were a hardcore bumblebee shipper I’d be writing about my extreme disappointment in RT, not my happiness that Yang touched Blake’s hair.

Actually no, I grew up in the age of no rep/the original queerbaiting, so really I’d be rolling my eyes at anyone who expected a canonical relationship and instead going off to write it myself as fic. I still believe very strongly that ships don’t need a canonical basis and in some ways fandom has limited itself by only writing about what’s canon, or “realistically” canon ([waves old man cane] “In my day we shipped characters who were never even on screen together!”), but I acknowledge that we’ve entered a new age of television. Viewers expect more. They should expect more and they should get it.

With the disappointing hug behind us, Yang observers that if they’re all here then things must have gone really badly up top. This finally pushes Weiss over the edge and she starts the not-crying that all the RWBY girls do, where she has wet eyes and a single tear track. “Penny,” she says. “Jaune tried to help... but she scarified herself...”

And by that you mean Jaune killed her? Weiss’ recounting of events makes it sound like her own stabbing by Cinder: Penny was hurt and Jaune tried to heal her, only this time it wasn’t enough. When in reality we’ve got Jaune giving up because his “I’ve had a human body for twenty minutes” patient says there’s no hope and then slitting her throat because Penny mistakenly believes all she can do with her life is give it up.

Again: what happened to telling your team everything? Where did the importance of context and the complete picture go? For a team that’s so furious when others provide incomplete or misleading information, they sure do that themselves a lot. We can add, “Weiss horribly mischaracterizes Penny’s death” to the “Yang is keeping the Spring Maiden a secret, twists all their failures into victories to win a fight with Ren, and Ruby straight up lied to Ironwood” list.

In another show I’d have more faith that this would come back to bite Weiss; that the girls will later learn the truth and express some actual emotion at her inability to keep them informed... but who am I kidding. This is RWBY. It’ll be forgotten - or retconned - by next episode.

Ruby faints at hearing that Penny has died (again) and man, I really want to like this moment because it’s definitely more of a reaction than I was expecting based on our post-Volume 3 writing. However, this is primarily used as a way to avoid Ruby’s reaction, wherein she wakes up some undetermined time later and is allowed to pretend to be fine, thereby jumping over any conversation/crying/actual emotion we might have seen from her. I know that Ruby will be grappling with this for the entire Volume - our intro proves as much - but it’s still disappointing that we don’t get to see Ruby grapple with her initial feelings because she was too busy being unconscious.

Also, anyone else frustrated that the same action used to depict horror and grief is used for a gag just a few minutes earlier? A mouse faints at the thought of someone being able to pull up cheese with a single tug! Ruby faints at the thought of her dear friend dying for a second time! This is why all that earlier humor messes with the more serious moments.

Our final scene once again fails to convince me that any of these characters love each other outside of the Grand Gestures delivered post-tragedy. No one is holding Ruby while she’s unconscious. No one has made her a makeshift pillow or blanket. Yang asks once if she’s alright - when she’s clearly not - and then just drops the subject when Ruby says yeah, she’s fine. None of them waited until she’d woken up to have this important conversation. After Weiss’ tears and Ruby’s faint, there are no reactions to Penny’s death. Do Blake and Yang care? Presumably not considering they never had a real relationship with her, but RWBY likely wants us to assume that their reactions exist off screen. Remember, given that we’re primarily following Ruby as our protagonist, her being unconscious means that we also skip over how everyone else reacts too. The viewer only gets to continue seeing the story when Ruby wakes up.

I had low expectations for the Volume 8 follow up, but overall this is pretty bad even by my nonexistent standards. It’s not that the premiere doesn’t give us any worthwhile moments, it’s that none of them are capitalized on. They just sit, unexplored, or outright undermined by what the rest of the episode has produced.

It’s disappointing, to say the least. As are our final lines. Yang admits that she thought she was dead, but there’s no time to let her or the others explore that. We hear a throwaway line that her arm was stolen - which relies a lot on the viewer having seen the trailer to understand how and why that happened, at least until next episode. And then Blake follows a bit of light shining through to them, parting some of the vines to look out across the entirety of Ever After.

“I know how this sounds, but... I think we’re in a fairy tale.”

Our final line, folks! Is there anyone else that would have preferred ending on Ruby’s faint? Feels more dramatic and would have let the fandom theorize a bunch before she wakes up next episode (even if then, inevitably, there would have been disappointment that nothing was done with it). Really, I get why they want to end on the shot of Ever After, but all I could think was, how in the world did you come to that conclusion, Blake? Given that this is a world based off of a real fairy tale and not the fairy tales that exist in Remnant. I would 100% buy a character from our world recognizing that they’re in a place similar to Wonderland, but nothing we’ve seen here reflects the tales of Remnant.

Well no, there is one thing, but it exists in the opening. Blake’s been reading the script again.

So let’s unpack that, shall we?

(Sorry, I need to slam all the important opening screenshots together because tumblr won't let me upload any more images boooo).

Our first shot is of Jaune! 🤦‍♀️

Really? That’s the beginning of every episode’s opening? Jaune crying with his broken, bloody sword? Hmm, I wonder if the character imposing on the girls’ team journey will be important this Volume. We also get another shot of him with a clock motif, making me wonder if the theories about him having (somehow) spent longer in the Ever After will prove to be true.

This initial shot is paired with Neo looking sad, presumably over Roman’s death and her continued failure to avenge him. She appears in the trailer a fair bit which, alongside the Jabberwocky, is the thing I’m most excited for. I’m glad that, at least based on this, it doesn’t look like they’re going to squander her role as a villain here. We see Neo drinking her tea with a fantastic smirk, surrounded by a group of shadowy antagonists.

A huge list of one-off baddies, or the various looks she’ll be adopting to mess with the characters? I’m hoping for the latter, especially since some fans think that one of the silhouettes looks like Jacques. However, I do question whether she can actually pull something like that off. I love the idea of Neo manipulating the group, especially in a Volume hosting a grief arc, especially in a place that, as far as they know, might contain their dead loved ones. For a brief moment I even questioned if that other Ruby we see in the trailer was Neo. The problem is I’m pretty sure she speaks and, thus, it’s very difficult for a villain to pretend to be an ally for more than a few seconds when she’s mute. Combine that with the fact that Ruby knows Neo is here and that all just kinda... falls apart. Which is unfortunate because I would have loved to see a Neo using the Ever After’s impossibilities and her own semblance to mess with the heroes. Still, a final shot at the end appears to show everything stemming from Neo, which makes me think she’s going to be the major antagonistic force this Volume and/or gains control of the Ever After somehow. Fitting, for a woman with control over illusions.

Whether Neo makes much use of her semblance or not, I hope we don’t have another 8+ characters to introduce because there’s already Little, the other mice, the cat, racoon, the forge lady, the knight (same person?), the Red Queen, the creature hiding in the leaves, the caterpillar, the Jabberwocky, and this new girl. People get why that’s a lot to manage, right? Especially in a story with four main protagonists, with two others thrown into the void with them. I get that they don’t want the Ever After to be a wasteland, but RWBY continually has a problem with side characters eating up the time and focus. Then they’re left behind and that work feels wasted. Why spend a Volume developing Little (or Ilia, Sun, Neptune, etc.) just to drop them? This bloated cast means it’s a bit of a relief that Volume 9 doesn’t seem to be trying to jump between here and Vacuo, but damn. Three years to find out what’s happening with the others? The growing chance that there will be a time skip and that the girls will come back to find all these ongoing problems resolved off screen: We somehow rescued all the people from the desert! Ren and Nora are officially together! Winter has long gotten used to her powers! Oscar merged while you were gone and now we don’t have to worry about Ozpin anymore!

Not looking forward to it.

Out of all these new characters, the most important is the young girl. My current theory is that she’s the girl from “The Girl Who Fell Through the World,” with perhaps our opening line - “This is the story of a girl who had a lot of problems” - being the first line of her tale. We know due to Ozpin that many of Remnant’s fairy tales are based on true events, so it would make sense if that one came about after a young woman literally fell into a different world. We see her arrive on the beach before Crescent Rose shows up, implying that she’s been there a long time, and there are some implications that she’s a rather powerful figure now: she leads the group through the various environments (with Ruby lagging farther and farther behind. Perhaps the introduction of a new team leader will increase her feelings of inferiority and failure?), she appears right before an evil copy of Ruby turns around (love that grin), and she's in a painting with another, shadowed figure behind her. Despite the fact that we already have this reference (short of) it gives me Ozma/Tip vibes, wherein the original Wizard of Oz books Ozma is turned into a boy named Tip in an effort to keep her hidden.

Regardless of her role, I have the feeling this girl will end up being more of an antagonist than an ally; a representation of the ways Ever After can twist a long-term resident and likely a foil to Ruby (the true leader) and Jaune (someone who will overcome the world’s allure and return with the girls).

There are a number of other thematically significant shots throughout the opening. All the girls are shown in their various outfits, smiling or smirking, but Ruby grows sadder and her most recent counterpart hides in her cloak, facing away from the viewer.

Her tears - more than we’ve seen her actually cry in the show, I'd like to point out - transforms into Crescent Rose.

The girls try to navigate an impossible maze where the Ruby copy shows up, they run up the tree before being blown back (falling remains relevant then), the girls are once again gloriously saturated in their colors (even if Weiss is still more blue than white), and I really like the shot of Ruby falling past the rabbit. Actually, I like the painted style of that fall far more than I like the look of the rest of the Volume.

However, what interests me the most about this intro is a series of images that may well be connected: two streaks of blue falling through the sky, a massive explosion that engulfs the life tree, and the burning of a book of fairy tales.

Look, I don’t care how awful the gods actually are, especially when RWBY has done nothing to explore that. I don’t care if this is one of their realms and the heroes need to take drastic measures to escape it.

You are NOT going to have the girls destroy a whole-ass world after they destroyed a Kingdom, right?

Right?

On that thoroughly optimistic note, let’s end with a miscellaneous section because we are nearly 10k in and this poor recap needs to be put to bed. (As do I.)

Thanks for reading! :)

Misc. Observations

I enjoyed the little detail of Ruby wringing out her cloak as she surveyed the jungle. Nice job remembering she just came out of the water.

I didn’t enjoy the actual shot of the landscape though. I totally get that there’s wonky perspective stuff going on given how far back the ‘camera’ is, but am I the only one who thinks the jungle looks WAY too small in that opening scene?

I definitely mentioned this the first time I examined our promo clip (and briefly above), but I wonder if the weather here is influenced by emotion, given that the rain appears to start and stop when Ruby cries. I want to say “No” now just because this already isn’t consistent - there’s no rain when Weiss cries, you’d think we’d see some kind of weather influence when Ruby faints - but a part of me is hopeful just because it’s such a cool concept. Especially for a combat show where terrain can make-or-break a battle. As we’ve seen, each little bit of Ever After seems to function differently - Ruby doesn’t hit another patch of repeating jungle, for example - so maybe this is something that will return sporadically?

This is definitely me being nitpicky and petty, but you’ve gotta love that, other than the repeat dialogue of Volume 8 and the faint shouts of “Ruby!” our first words of the Volume are, “Now if only you could help me.” I don’t begrudge anyone help, certainly not the protagonist of a story that wants to be centered around unification, but Ruby has struggled with agency so much I can’t help but roll my eyes a little. Yes, why would we write our protagonist figuring out how to help herself when the random mouse she stumbles across can do it instead? And then, you know, not actually do anything, allowing the protagonist to instead just stumble on what she wants, rather than actively retrieving it.

So you know how Little not-so-subtly mentions that an easy way to get on their village’s good side is to bring more of that cheese? Surely then when we next see Ruby she’ll be animated carrying a couple of those cheeses as a bribe? Spoiler: she's not.

Anyone else feeling iffy about Blake’s description of Yang? The one where she refers to Yang as the scary looking one? As someone who has been frustrated with Yang’s lack of anger management the last couple of Volumes, I’m not a big fan of her “scariness” being played as a cute character quirk.

Ruby remembers right before the non-battle starts that she’s without Crescent Rose. Funny how she didn’t appear to notice its absence before, or go looking for her precious weapon like Blake did. (Seriously, I know I’ve said this a hundred times by now, but the girls’ reactions to landing here and everything they’ve lost are nonexistent.) This also highlights how useless most of the girls are without a weapon in hand. Didn’t we have a mini-arc back in Volume 5 about them learning hand-to-hand? Wasn’t that specifically labeled as Ruby’s flaw? Now it crops back up and she just hangs back, scared? Once again I'm asking what the point of any of that was if we're not going to see the development. Something something only the most recent Volume is canon.

[kingsofeverything]

Thank you to anyone out there who’s read anything I’ve written, left kudos, commented, or messaged me to chat about anything I’ve written. I appreciate you so much 💛

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🟩Uh oh, it’s Magic (when I’m with you) ~7K .E. Everyone Dreams eventually, and everyone’s Dream is different, but all Dreams have one thing in common: They send the Dreamer on a Quest to find their Magic. It’s been months since Louis started his Quest to live as a hermit in a cave in the middle of the woods and he’s not about to let some new guy disturb his hermitage. Written for @1dastroficfest​

⬜️Just Pretend ~90k .E. Louis Tomlinson is a divorced dad who doesn’t date. What free time he has, he likes to spend with his teenage daughter, and if he wants to take someone home, he does it when she’s spending the weekend with her mom. Then he meets Harry Styles, another divorced dad with a teenage daughter, who convinces him it’s a good idea to pretend they’re dating to keep their kids happy. Written for @1dsilverfoxfest​

🟧honey, honey 100 words .NR. a villanelle style poem and drabble inspired by the song “Daylight” and written for @harryshouseficfest​

🟨Late Night Talking ~50k .E. Louis Tomlinson has a new album coming out and a second world tour on the horizon. Promo season gets underway with a stop at Late Night Talking, the late night show hosted by Harry Styles, and Harry Styles just happens to be the man who blew a chance to date Louis a decade ago. Written for the @1dreversebang based on the prompt and gorgeous gifs by @deludedandlostcause

🟦Midnight ~10k .E. “Alphas are for fucking and pheromones,” Louis said during their first conversation, when he was moving into the building and Harry offered to help haul boxes up the stairs. “I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own groceries.” Louis relented when his Omega friend Zayn intervened and asked if he was also capable of moving his couch by himself. All Harry’d wanted to do was be a good neighbor. Now, here he is, half a year later, balls deep and four months into a no strings attached, sex only situation with the Omega of his dreams. He’s still not sure how it happened.

The rest of my Annual* Writing Self-Evaluation is under the cut:

It's been a weird year for me w/r/t fic writing! I wrote my longest fic so far by very much a lot. It was a labor of love and for most of the 8ish months I was writing it, I was feeling very down about my skills and writing in general, but I was having fun with turning New Girl into a larry fic, so I carried on, and I came out the other side ok I guess?

I modded our yearly @wankersday fest and the @harryshouseficfest despite promising myself I'd only do wankfest, and the stress of it solidified that decision lol. No more modding for me (except wankfest).

I wrote 9 fics this year, the lowest number of fics per year since my first year writing, and I posted my first ever fic in October and still wrote 5 fics that year. 6 of my 9 fics this year were for fests. That's more pressure than I usually like to put on myself, but I survived, and here's what my year looked like:

Number of stories posted this year: 9

Word count posted this year: 490,127

Stories with the most:

Kudos: Remember Me Before You (713)

Comment threads: RMBY (656)

Bookmarks: RMBY (605)

Work you are most proud of (and why):

Remember Me Before You my New Girl AU, more than twice as long as the next longest thing I've written, it's really just a love letter to the show. Posting it as a WIP while I finished the last bit was daunting because it's the first time I've done a WIP that wasn't complete before I started posting, but it was so fun! The comments fueled me and I loved chatting with you guys as it was going. Some of you were already New Girl fans, some hadn't seen the show, some starting watching it because of my fic??? it was an experience!

Work you are least proud of (and why):

Uh oh, it’s Magic (when I’m with you) for the @1dastroficfest. It was tough to get started and I think I tried like 4 different ideas for that prompt (The Hermit tarot card), but then Megan @homosociallyyours was like 'what if you took it very literally' and thankfully that worked! This was the first time I've ever been legitimately worried about meeting a deadline.

A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I'm never any good at picking snippets. I usually ask Nic @louandhazaf to assist, but this is part of a snippet I posted earlier this year, so... this is from Just Pretend, my older, divorced larry meet and decide to fake a relationship for their kids fic for @1dsilverfoxfest

According to his mom, he started flirting at two days old, and he’s only gotten better over the last forty-five years. Harry's had about that long to earn a doctorate in dimples. He wields them as he moves closer, pressing his chest against Louis’ palm and lifting his left hand to cradle Louis’ jaw. Cool despite the heat they’ve borrowed from his body, the touch of Harry's rings sends a shiver down Louis’ spine. His heart beats harder as he leans in. 

Louis’s never been a fan of tequila, but the sweet, peppery liquor is hardly perceptible under the taste of lime on Harry's tongue and the swirling, spicy scent of his sweat, deodorant and cologne. Three in the morning is only marginally cooler than midday and after working all night, Louis is damp with sweat and beer and he smells like it. Thankfully, Harry doesn’t seem to mind. He cups the side of Louis’ neck, fingertips toying with the ends of Louis’ silver hair, tickling and sending a thrill through him as he inches closer.

Grabbing hold of Harry's hips, Louis shifts his stance, stepping one foot between Harry's and sliding a hand around to splay across his lower back under the blousy hem of his half-buttoned shirt. Tilting his head, their noses bump, and Harry pulls back, wet lips parted, panting. Louis hardly has time to breathe before Harry guides him into another kiss, holding him so tightly that his forearm presses between Louis’ shoulder blades while his hand cups Louis’ neck. 

Hunching over Louis, his other hand tight on his hip, Harry bends him backwards—dipping him as if they were dancing—and Louis gasps into Harry's mouth. Hungrily, Harry sucks kisses over Louis’ jaw, down his neck to the hollow of his throat, dragging plush lips over the rough two-day beard Louis hasn’t bothered to shave before setting Louis back on his feet. 

Share or describe a favorite review you received:

i can't pick one. i'm terrible at picking favorites! but i will say that every person who read rmby as a wip and commented as they went, you guys are the real mvps of my 2022 fic experience.

A time when writing was really, really hard:

all year. no joke. and i know it seems stupid to say because i've posted almost half a million words this year, but i struggled to enjoy writing for much of this year. deadlines really fuck with my head, so i'm hoping to avoid those next year

A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

my entire fic for @wankersday in may. it's my first ever time writing girl!direction so i was very nervous and the whole thing surprised me while i was writing it and it continues to surprise me whenever i remember it exists

How did you grow as a writer this year:

idk man. i wrote a kid fic! and i wrote girl!direction. so that's 2 never before things in 2022

How do you hope to grow next year:

tbh i hope to grow in my ability to experience fomo and live with it. i hope to continue to strengthen my ability to say no lol. i'm only planning on writing for wankfest this year, so who knows what'll happen

Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

nic @louandhazaf is always in this spot. she's my #1, my best friend, the other half of my brain, and the only reason i write

Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

doesn't it always? though tbh nothing specific i can think of at the moment

Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

just write. and listen to @roseanddaggerpodcast :D

Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

i am going back to school in january, so fic writing is being bumped way down the list of my priorities for 2023. like i said above, i only plan to write for @wankersday in may, but tbh idk if i'll be able to. Other than that, I’m looking forward to recording @roseanddaggerpodcast

Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read. ;)

well, i drafted this post weeks ago lol and since then i've been tagged by @larryyouknow @jacaranda-bloom @louistomlionson @allwaswell16 @haztobegood @louandhazaf @chai-hat-tea @larrysballetslippers and i'll also tag

@londonfoginacup @bananaheathen @disgruntledkittenface @fallinglikethis @sadaveniren @jaerie @lululawrence @absoloutenonsense @alwaysxlarrie @uhoh-but-yeah-alright @cyantific @littleroverlouis @onlythebravest and if i tagged you in an answer above, consider yourself tagged here as well

*All answers should be about works published in 2022

[tomemyxxmen]

Welcome   to   my   blog   for   a   study   in   mutant   shenanigans.   This   blog   will   deal   with   themes   that   include   ---   narcissism,   racism,   alcohol   addiction,   sexual   and   physical   abuse,   anxiety,   poor   mental   health,   loyalty   among   friends,   healthy   relationships   versus   toxic   ones,   sacrifice,   the   greater   good,   betrayal,   inspiring   hope,   found   family,   love   after   loss   and   mental   peace.   ---   🛑   READ   THIS   POST   IN   FULL   BEFORE   APPROACHING   ME.

STATUS:  OPEN FOR SHIPPING ( LIMITED ) CURRENT MAINS/AFFILIATES: tba CURRENT EXCLUSIVES:

CURRENT  ACTIVITY  STATUS:  HIATUS W/ LIMITED ACTIVITY  || I work full time meaning I work at least 40 hours a week / 5 days a week. I have kids which means I never get a day off. I’m also dealing with mental health issues. Please understand that while I try not to leave people hanging, my real life will always come first. My activity is sporadic and 'as i feel like it'. I won't apologize for it.

MOST WANTED CONNECTIONS:   Jean Grey, Hank McCoy, Wolverine / Logan, Namor, T'Challa, Okoye, Steve Rogers, Bruce Wayne, Emma Frost, Apocalypse, Dr. Strange, and many more...

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

Please understand before you follow me that I don’t always follow back right away or at all. I love a small dash with barely anyone on it except for me and my replies. If this is a deal breaker for you then I am sorry.

I  AM  NOT  MUTUALS  ONLY.  Non-mutuals may interact but I reserve the right to ignore anyone I don’t want to interact with or I feel I won’t vibe with at all.

I  DON’T  FILL  OUT  INTEREST  CHECKERS  OR  PERMANENT  STARTERS.  Unless you’re a terrible writer, a smut blog or your canons contradict my vision for my muses, then odds are I may be willing to interact eventually.

I  am over the age of  21  (  30+  TO  BE  EXACT  ) which means I will only play with adults. No age on your blog, no interactions. No exceptions.

COVID IS NEVER A TOPIC TO BE USED IN INTERACTIONS. Terminal illnesses are my hard no forever and always.

SMUT CAN HAPPEN. Smut will happen but that doesn't mean I'm interested in indie PWP blogs.

I drop threads ALL THE TIME. This is a hobby. Not a paid gig. Although... you're more than welcome to pay me for your time. Otherwise never hound me for anything. That's a great way to get blocked.

If you blog politics / political shit unrelated to RP, I will block you. I am an American and trust me. I'm well aware of all the sad stuff going on around the world. I don't want to see constant posts telling ME how I should feel.

LASTLY,  I am not perfect and much like everyone else around here, mistakes have been made. However,  i’ve never  tolerated any kind of common problematic behavior.  PLEASE  COME  TO  ME  POLITELY  IF  YOU  SEE  SOMETHING  THAT  MAKES  YOU  UNCOMFORTABLE.   I will not tag every trigger ever but if there’s something that you feel I should genuinely know or change, I am willing to listen IF you approach me politely and not aggressively or in a condescending manner. Tone matters.

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

[ ALL PROMOS, MOBILE HEADERS, DASH ICONS, RP ICONS, BANNERS & THEME WERE CODED BY THE LOVELY  cerberuscommissions​. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Please do not steal. I give her full credit for all main graphics used on this blog, even if i sometimes forget to mention it in posts. IN ADDITION,  ALL of my gif icons were commissioned and paid for by me. DO NOT STEAL MY THINGS. ]

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

ASK MEMES || PSA || HCs

[p-receh]

Care to share some thoughts on the newest episode :3? Personally had an absolute blast, my poor irl tho she was petrified when she saw reramos

Tapi beneran nih, suka BANGET reramos menjadi laba² jadi lebih greget gituh

I've been enjoying this arc a lot more than most have, tapi itu mungkin gara² nonton bareng temen jadi lebih sronok gituh. Tambah lagi kita berdua lebih melihat bbb sebagai comfort show jadi santuy baek

And this is me watching this series alone.

Personally, that episode was a blast! There are soooo many ideas interpreted way more interesting than I thought!

At first, I wanna wait till the final episode aired cuz hey, Monsta directly released a trailer titled "Kemuncak Windara" for their final two episodes before the TV promo for the newest episode launched.

But since next week will be stacked with this and Shadow Gens prologue, I decided to give my thoughts on this episode first so I will do more analysis later.

In my humble opinion, I thought that trailer was for this week's episode. Inner me literally jumped on a bed when I saw that yellow disc showcasing all elements and Oboi(in Taufan's mode) wearing his Windara armor.

Did it turn out to be a disappointment later on?

Huuhh, that was an interesting question.

The whole episode was truly entertaining and it made me almost forget that important part of Windara's comic arc...until the end of the episode.

Now that I think of it, I actually don't mind with just two elementals in action. Sure I was a bit sad not to see all of them on screen :'(. But if this is a chance to give everyone more screen time, then so be it.

And Honestly? Monsta nailed it beyond my expectations!

Right off the bat, I was immediately impressed with how well they animated the airship battle from start to finish smoothly without any frame drops or adding unnecessary effects for animation efficiency. They could do that, but they choose to not do it. It's full of big moving objects from a TV stand point and it left me an awe.

They maximize their limit to the top with the choreographic fight and still find a new way to use Kokotiam's new armor.

One of their surprising elements is the way to utilize Yaya's shield. Instead being treated more less like Cap's shield, Monsta creatively expand her details as more or less inspired by Ironman.

Now I can see why Yaya as a Lady Bug. Her back can be split apart as a shield or her thruster arms. Pretty effective without losing a touch from the comic book.

Oh, speaking of which, Boboiboy's suit up really reminds me of Tony's suit up transformation in Ironman 3!

I kinda didn't recognize Ying's resemblance. Is it Hornet or Dragon fly? Either way, those are perfect for Ying as she essentially zip around the castle with her speed to fight enemies.

Rhino Beetle was an interesting choice for both Fang and Gopal. Sure some people might upset, and I can see why. But at the same time I also understand Monsta's vision with this replacement.

One control the hands, the other controls the feet(oh wait, Gopal have both hands and feet. Only Fang use hands) . And as expected, their big and solid armor could turn into a giant ball and perform a bullseye slingshot to General Karumbang.

I highly appreciate Reramos new entrance. They went bold to not holding back with all that spider look(look at that details!) . I genuinely get some goosebumps with some scenes. The sound design was perfectly encapsulates the ambience.

His voice? Oh, *chef's kiss* 😎👍

Honestly I am really excited but I'm also have to lower my expectations for the final episode. This need to be proceed with caution cause the tide will turn from here.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ps: by the time I posted this, surprisingly, these two episodes were not getting more views than I expected.

Different from previous episodes.

Then again, those previous ones were already aired more than two weeks so I shouldn't be surprised if those gained higher than the recent ones :/

[lockedtowers]

# l o c k e d t o w e r s cheshire cat with original lore, with inspiration from alice madness returns and alice (2009) | headcanon based william afton of five night's at freddy's [ sabrina. she/they. 27. minors do not interact. ]

𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈

a study of the fragility of mind, how pain reacts, how suffering engraves. the sudden sharp turns in reality when pain takes flight. when the driving fragments of your life can twist you into unrecognizable symphonies. the shattered realities when one twists the knife so much the image becomes deluded, and the true alignments get misunderstood.

𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾'𝒹 𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈

links. carrd. memes. promo. ship list. affiliated. @perfecteddeception @writtentragedies @orangeshinigami blogs. @cautionsissued @bulletgrazed

𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑒

hello, i'm brina/sabrina, mentally unwell and obsessed with faeries. i overthink everything and am more afraid of you than you could possibly be of me. i wont put my entire guidelines in here because, honestly, i just kept blabbering. but general important things;

william afton is a villain. he's a horrible despicable person. but he also has his moments. even the most unforgivable people do. but, i do NOT agree with the fandoms desire to turn him into a p*do. that's even worse than what he already is. and what he already is is terrible. that's why he's headcanon based. i've worked on his canon for ages at this point. i dont actually care what scott produces now, i'm doing what i want with him, but i will take inspiration from the series. i do tend to follow along with what my partners write in fandom though, for ease.

cassandra is my character now, but her past iterations have been on this blog for over 10 years now. since september 2013, in fact. she used to be b.urton's dormouse, and named mallymkun, but she's not anymore. she's my own (sort of) girl. she's my character now, and a cheshire cat now. she's evolved well beyond any past 'canons' i may have had. her most progressed and written out verses are the 'canon' verse, and my o.nce u.pon a t.ime verse. but i do have verses in multiple other fandoms for her.

there's a level of reflection i put into these characters. william is often considered a great man by those around him. tragedy follows him, and people are unaware that he is the cause of that tragedy. he uses his charm and prestige to his advantage. he takes full advantage of others innocence to make himself look better, and is an excellent liar. he's still a serial killer, and oft twists herrings into his words.

cassandra, on the other hand, is often twisted into a villain by those around her in her home. when in truth, she's monstrously loyal, but holds care she doesn't know what to do with. she's painted a villain by the monarchy to ensure she can't gain traction, and she's in hiding for most of her life to avoid imprisonment. she's not necessarily a hero, and even her species consider her existence a threat, but she's not entirely a villain either unless she's pushed to the point. she does holds reigns with the image of a sacrificial lamb, but she can very very easily turn into a monster herself if the charge arises.

(if you recognize me from the past and don't want to follow me, that's fine. i remember some people but not everyone. i know some of my old friends have new guidelines that i wouldn't fall under, and that's chill. your comfort first babes.)

mini guide, full guide is in carrd;

1: no godmodding without asking first. general things are fine, but don't go completely ignoring everything i write and writing the whole scene yourself without giving me a notice. 2: no instashipping for the most part, i will make exceptions for william's wife(wives), only to a point. we have to talk first friends. but we can insta have our muses know each other. 3: don't follow me if you write or reblog romantic b*tj*kes. 4: tag any hate OR criticism relating to; t.aylor s.wift, s.tardew v.alley, z.ack s.nyder's films. i dont care if you dont like it, i just dont want to see complaints about it lol. just tag it anti (thing) i have those blocked. 5. tag animal abuse/death. 6. don't involve me in any drama. 7. don't ask me what my disabilities/disorders are, that's rude. 8. be nice!!! 9. have fun!!! 10. please no photoshop replies i'm blind thx

credits

psd is by ariapsds, mixed with vendettapsds, venuscommissions (color correction, used occasionally). icon border by lavenderph (Cassie), paletterph (william) divider by lavenderrph (cassie) paletterph (william) me (pinned) pinned by me. stock photos from unsplash graphics/icons by me (unless otherwise stated) amourare has some pre-put together tag symbol things and i thank them for it pngs by cavalierfou textures by ravenorlov or siriusxds

[destinyc1020]

no offense I find that a little disingenous, like timothee named dropped zendaya during wonka I dont think b/c he was using her name to get people to watch wonka but just expressing his friendship with her like many actors have expressed how z influenced them it doesnt mean there riding on her name. Wonka was a success b/c its a kids movie, and was a perfect holiday film.

Z and timothee are stars like there are multiple "it boys" and "it girls" we gotta stop thinking anytime someone name drops it means there doing it for promo and regular novie goerd dont factor in that stuff when watching movie.

That is true... I've been hearing Timmy talk an lot A LOT of his Dune costars throughout his other press tours for other films...

I think he was just asked about Zendaya or Dune in general, and maybe he mentioned her. He might have even been asked who is one of his inspirations and mentioned her name.

It's not a big deal to me? 🤷🏾‍♀️

Austin was asked about Timmy and Dune during Bikeriders filming, and he gushed over Timmy. Like, it's not name-dropping for clout, it's just how you naturally speak when you really like your costar and you're friends?

And yea, most movie goers aren't even paying attention to press tours so closely like this tbh. Most just know a film is coming out, might see a few late night show interviews with the cast, and might even see some pics of the premiere on people.com or Twitter and keep it moving. They'll watch the movie because everyone is talking about it and they like the actors and the storyline.

MOST movie goers are NOT following a press tour as closely as we are lol....I guarantee you lol 😆

[carewyncromwell]

Two nations at war. From one, the illegitimate granddaughter of a wealthy family, who’s determined to bring her beloved brother home from war even while being forced into indentured servitude. From the other, a bastard peasant abruptly thrown into the role of crown prince, who’s gone undercover in his enemy nation in an attempt to broker peace. What happens when these two collide, completely unaware of the other’s true history and identity, and -- despite all odds -- actually fall in love? A Cinderella story, for certain, but with a few unforeseen twists. 

Read the Cinderella AU! 👑

x~x~x~x

Happy early Valentine’s Day, everyone! Since I have non-romantic-but-still-really-fun plans for the day itself, I don’t know if I’ll have time to finish anything else special for it...but honestly, I’d say this works quite well, considering the romantic bent of this particular AU of mine. The beginning of March will also mark the two-year anniversary of me starting this project! (Seriously, I look back on the art for it and I sometimes cringe, because damn, do I almost want to redo all of them!! 😅) 

My musical inspiration while working on this wasn’t just the song of the same name by Robert Miles, which is featured in trailers for my second favorite Cinderella adaptation Ever After, but also the opening theme of the anime Romeo x Juliet. A promo picture for that same anime partially inspired the image of the flags behind Orion and Carewyn, representing the nations of Florence and Royaume, respectively. Royaume’s royal colors are red and blue, while Florence’s are gold and yellow -- I thought it would be fun for all of them combined to evoke the Hogwarts houses, even if there are canon Slytherins aligned with Royaume and canon Gryffindors and Ravenclaws aligned with Florence. Florence’s flag also features a white lily, while Royaume’s has a crown, as references to their names -- “Florence” can mean “blossoming,” while “Royaume” is French for “kingdom.” The symbols in the background are a diamond (for Florence) and a Morningstar (for Royaume) -- shape-wise, diamonds can mean purity, clarity, and the pursuit of enlightenment, while the Morningstar represents hope, change, protection, and the dawn. Orion’s outfit (which I’ve depicted in the AU) was originally inspired by a costume Joseph Fiennes wore in Shakespeare in Love -- Carewyn’s (likewise depicted in the AU) was based off one of Drew Barrymore’s more iconic dresses in Ever After. 

Hope you’re all well! Have a lovely night, everybody! 💚

[krys-loves-otome]

Oh! Treat this like a mash-up for all your blogs I follow.

One reason is that I enjoy seeing your reblogs, otome or not. They're overall a rather interesting collection.

Another is that I enjoy seeing your OCs. I don't follow them very closely, but I sometimes take a time to go back and search for them, and they're delightful. I especially like your art with them.

And one other reason is that, hm. Whenever ask games roll by, I like to ask you questions, especially in regards to writing. The way I see it, you tend to offer a very grounded perspective, rooted profoundly in experiences that connect both online and offline world (what I mean by that is that you don't seem to lean too strongly into either direction; equilibrium?), so it's often very refreshing.

Anon or not, tell me why you follow me

Kinda sorry that that this turned into Self-Promo the Ask, but not really

For a short ref of my blogs (in case anyone else was curious):

@krys-loves-otome You Are Here! The main blog where I reblog otome content, both from others as well as my own. Asks and likes come from this blog.

@not-krys is my writing blog where I post all my writing content, be it fanfic or original. I post a lot of wips there, usually at least once a month for WIP Wednesdays. Hope you like OCs, bc I love OCs and I love writing with and about them. Matter of fact, just posted with my IkeSen girls Houki and Ophelia and my ikevamp girl Abby this morning!

@krys-reblogs is my reblogs channel where I post stuff not related to otome. Mostly filled with cats, anime, meta, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. And Howl's Moving Castle, both the book and the Ghibli movie inspired by it.

I have an art blog, but I had wanted to make into an archive, which meant uploading a lot of content and whatnot, so it's just sitting currently. Might or might not do anything with it. I've got an insta tho /krysimeteri for more art stuff. And a twitter where I do art stuff and wips of the art stuff and talk about ocs. That one is /krys_does_stuff

And for OC related stuff, I also have a masterlist for them, both for Fandom OCs and original originals. It has links for fics and art I've posted on tumblr about them, in case anyone wants a quick link to my oc content!

Now that the shelling is out of the way (lol)...

I like to reblog things as a promotion for friends and cool people, to show everyone what things I think are cool or lookit what my friend has done! It's what tumblr is for! (Just kinda embarrassed that I prefer using the queue system rather than a string of reblogs. It helps me to stay organized and so that I can find things if I need to. But it is slow in posting stuff, thus the embarrassment).

I've been debating some of my study work for my OCs on this blog (like my real sketchy stuff with figuring out different body types and proportions, color studies, and inking practice.) Just unsure as it's OC stuff and studies at that, which might be interesting from an artist perspective, but not so much for the average layperson seeing my stuff.

And I like getting questions and asks! About writing, art, my ocs, or just random things, questions and asks are fun for me! Glad that I can give good advice and such, especially with a grounded perspective. Probably comes from being around for a while, both in actuality and being in online spaces since I was like 12 (y'know, back when dinosaurs wore powdered wigs with backwards caps and said outdated things things like 'radical', 'bodacious', and 'eat my shorts'.)

Thanks for the ask!

[abcd-em]

I posted 7,739 times in 2022

That's 7,737 more posts than 2021!

326 posts created (4%)

7,413 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@seek--rest

@karinaisloud

@spideymichelle

@justaleapoffaith

@rejectofsociety

I tagged 2,364 of my posts in 2022

#petermj - 219 posts

#spideychelle - 197 posts

#ask me anything - 195 posts

#peter parker - 184 posts

#my fics - 184 posts

#michelle jones - 133 posts

#fic recs - 92 posts

#spiderman - 85 posts

#nwh - 72 posts

#michelle x peter - 59 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i cant wait for the next time i disappear from fandom and then get reminded of a fic that changed me and have to undergo this process again

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Peter Isn't Dead

Peter Parker died in battle six months ago. There was no body, but they all knew. So, why has MJ seen him in the backgrounds of newspaper clippings halfway across the country?

MJ embarks on a road trip of a lifetime to hunt down her pressumed-dead husband and bring him back to where he belongs. She starts to realise there are much bigger forces at play.

Based on Alice Isn't Dead

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55 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

#4

Mover Awayer

“I like you.” MJ tells him.

“I know.” Peter nods.

“And we won’t stay friends if we go to college as a couple.”

“You’ve said.”

“So we don’t go to college as a couple.” Peter opens his mouth to speak, but MJ cuts him off, squeezing his hand and being the one to step into his space this time. “We break-up mutually, let each other go the night before I move. We date and then have one big celebration of it all so we can go back to being friends afterwards.”

Chapter 1

55 notes - Posted November 7, 2022

#3

NWH Fic Round Up

Since NWH is back on everyone's minds... I'm gonna do some shameless self-promo and share my NWH compliant fics. (Also my attempt at starting to sort a more organised masterlist)

Enjoy!

Passed down like folksongs, our love lasts so long - Series

One of us has gotta keep a promise - completed

This series covers Peter, Michelle and Ned’s perspective of things as they regain their memories and try to come back together.

These can be read as standalones, but personally, I think they're better together

MJ has to deal with the aftermath of regaining her memories and finding out that Peter has already moved on.

There is no answer - one shot

While moving MJ finds a note she wrote to herself during NWH

In darkness or in daylight - one shot

Kraven's Last Hunt inspired. Peter is buried alive and has to dig himself out.

We could be the way forward (and I know I'll pay for it) - one shot

Socialite MJ meets Spider-Man again after years apart when she attends a function with one Harry Osborn

It's nice to have a friend - one shot

MJ's perspective on her friendship with Ned and Peter from Pre-Hoco through to Post NWH.

You can hear it in the silence - one shot

Little moments of love between Peter and MJ

You and I walk a fragile line - one shot

Peter's the last of the Parker Line. He didn't think it'd go like this - it's about THAT scene

He's gonna burn this house to the ground - WIP

Dream sharing... or rather, nightmare sharing. Peter really can't catch a break when it comes to magic.

64 notes - Posted March 16, 2022

#2

Everybody Talks

Collab with @seek--rest

For the darling, beloved @spideymichelle

"I've seen what you can do. I want you to take point on this."

She knows better than to celebrate before she's gotten all the information, seen huge campaigns pulled before they can ever be launched - from both sides, planning and participating.

MJ knows it all feels too good for the moment. There has to be something that balances the scale.

There’s always a catch.

"Who’s the client?"

"The Avengers."

Her brain stops for a moment. The sound of the office cutting out behind her as she takes in what has just been said. She wonders if Ned had actually switched her with one of his AI - like she's stuttering to reboot.

At the thought of Ned, a face and a mask flashes into her mind. Empty spaces at lunch tables and a missing name on registers. Forlorn expressions and the early days of a tentative new friendship spent checking silent phones.

“No.”

Chapter 1

64 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Behind Glass Doors

“They think we hate each other!”

“But we don’t.” She says. Her words are slow and drawn out like she’s struggling to follow. Peter knows he can get in his own head sometimes, but he feels like this isn’t one of those instances.

“Exactly!”

“So why does it matter?” She asks. Her words cut straight to the point. There’s not anything they can do. Coming out and saying ‘well, no. Actually. Spider-Man does not hate MJ Watson, in fact, he thinks about her quite regularly and has been living with her for the past eighteen months’ wasn’t a possibility.

For @spideychelleweek Day 3 & 6: Established Relationship & Secret Relationship/Fake-Dating (or hating in this instance)

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80 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[kschmidts-a]

❝ and, um, do not eat these. these will make your little hearts stop and you'll choke to death on your own vomit and everyone will be so, so, super sad. ❞

kate schmidt, the prettiest dealer from the murder capital of the country. always reaching for the stars. determined to claim her place among them. a deep dive into the mind of the loveable former academic alpha bitch & ex high school hustler who survived and finally made it out. what happens next and why can't she move on?

independent & selective blog for kate schmidt from netflix's fear street series. heavily headcanon based, crossover friendly. affiliated with @prettydead & @mysharxna & @ha1fm00n / @spellmaens & @sunxsin & @redemptioninterlude & @chrissycunningham. penned by FIO, she / her, 29.

carrd. memes. ziggy. multi. guidelines below the cut.

001. for the sake of my sanity, i’m remaining mutuals only! i’m very open to interacting with all kindsa muses, but i can't follow everyone back. i just wanna avoid forgetting & getting overwhelmed.

002. no minors please!! this is a 21+ blog, please respect that!

003. this is a safe space. i will not tolerate any bigotry and toxicity. i want to reiterate that homophobia, colorism, racism, islamaphobia, antisemitism, transphobia, and hatred of any sorts will earn an immediate hard block, no exceptions. we are way too grown to be misbehaving.

004. while the nature of the fandom does have darker themes such as: death, violence, drugs, alcohol, i will not write the following: inc*st, s*xual assault, extreme violence, explicit sexual content.

005. in terms of SHIPPING, i'm all about chemistry. i'm always willing to try stuff out with mutuals, so just hit me up and we'll figure something out!

006. my work schedule is kind of crazy, but i do my best to keep everyone in the loop when i’m going to be off the grid. that being said, please be patient with me!! i have adhd so chances are i forgot and i’m not avoiding you, so feel free to nudge me with a message! 007. when it comes to MUTUALS, if i break it, i will be soft blocking. i ask that you please do the same!! if i soft block you, please do not refollow, multiple refollows will result in a hard block and i really don't want to resort to that.

008. CREDIT! header made by @ha1fm00n & dash icon, post banners & promo by @villainsrph & icon border by @ferriscommissions! and i didn't think i had to say this, but all headcanons, character work, replies, etc. were written by me. i have worked hard at developing my muses, so please respect that and don't steal. inspiration is always good, it's always the one, but straight plagiarism & theft isn't it. so please, act grown. if i see any theft / plagiarism, i will immediately hard block.

009. my hi everyone! my name is fiorella, but i go by fio. i'm 29 and i've been on and off the rpc for way too long. i'm super duper stoked to write with you!! if you wanna reach out and talk or plot or just yell at me ab fs/anything you can hit me up for my discord!!

[mcuamerica]

a request here!

chris being all shy and lovely dovely when he’s hears you talking about him in an interview. (for example: your both of yous are at the promo of your movie together). you two had to split up quickly to do your own promo/interviews with the press. then he hears you talk about him and is in complete shock (in a good way) and everyone around him are teasing him about him being a simp! <333

A/N: I can already tell I'm going to love this one to. Thanks for requesting again! (Lucky I have this week off and I'm feeling inspired haha... Also look at him!!! I can't with this man) also, if you could fill out this poll quickly before/after reading, I’m planning a new Chris Evans AU and need some more ideas.

Of Course, Baby

Pairings: Actor!Chris x Actor/GN!Reader

------------------------------------------------

Earlier Today

"Oh, yeah, Chris is amazing. And when he gets into character it's like you're transformed into the world with him. I mean, I think I can act - but boy can he act too." You said happily, smiling at the interviewer who had just asked what it was like working with the Chris Evans.

"And has there been any... romance... on set at all?" The interviewer asked, smiling over at you. "We've seen how the two of you act together, there is some pretty amazing chemistry between the two of you." She said.

"Oh, I don't know about that. We're really good friends." You said, glancing over to your manager. You and Chris didn't want to speak about your relationship to the public yet, but both of your teams and a few of your fellow co-stars/friends knew about the two of you. "But he really is amazing. And incredibly handsome too, especially with the beard. He's even got longer hair for part of the movie - which is in the trailer so I'm not spoiling anything - and he looked really good when filming that. But yeah... just friends." You nodded as you rambled, pursing your lips.

Present

"And that was was your co-star (Y/N) (L/N) had to say about filming with you. Anything to say back?" The same interviewer asked, watching as a soft blush crossed over Chris's cheeks.

"Oh, (Y/N) is a sweetheart. I loved acting with them, truly." He said and smiled happily. "(Y/N) flatters me way too much, too. I try telling them that they are an incredible actor, and person, but they never fully believe me. Plus, they are so passionate about their work, which makes it even better. I really wouldn't expect them to compliment me that much though." He said and smiled, thanking the interviewer when she got up then left.

"Wow, Chris, you really do like (Y/N). I know you two are dating, but it's cute to see you physically blushing. Twitter is going to have a field day." His manager said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Oh come on, I wasn't blushing." He said and ran a hand down his beard, as if to wipe the smile off his face. It didn't work. Thinking of you and the compliments you gave him make his heart melt and all he wanted to do was go two rooms down so he could see you to return the favor.

"You were, and I think you might want to go see (Y/N) before your face turns completely red." He said and smiled when Chris got up.

"I've got time?" Chris asked and his manager nodded.

"You're so whipped." He added, hearing a loud chuckle from Chris as he walked out of the room.

"Fine by me!" He called back to him, smiling when he knocked on the door to your interview room. "Hey, baby," He said when he saw the room only had you, your manager, and your makeup stylist in it. "Figured I would stop by while we're on a break." He said and smiled.

You lit up at his voice, turning over to him. "Hey! Yeah, come on over." You said and stood up, wrapping your arms around his neck. "I've been asked a lot about you today. Hard keeping all my feelings in, especially when you aren't here to mess with all day." You teased.

He chuckled and gave you a gentle smile. "Hard to keep in? We could always give someone an exclusive, tell them about us." He said, wiggling his eyebrows as he squeezed your waist. "I would like to compliment my amazing co-star... and partner... too." He said quietly and looked into your eyes.

"You mean it?" You asked, almost bouncing on your heels in anticipation.

"Of course, baby. I don't want you keeping those feelings in." He teased, rubbing your waist.

You leaned up, kissing him gently as you smiled against his lips. "Let's tell that one interviewer... works for the BBC." You said and thought for a moment.

"Ahh.. You're talking about Ali Plumb? Yeah, I like his interviews. We'll give him the exclusive. And not tell our managers. It'll be fun." He said and winked at you, pecking your lips.

"Would you mind grabbing the producer and combining the rest of our interviews today?" You asked your manager, who nodded then left to grab them. "You sure about this?" You asked Chris, looking back up at him.

"Yes. I'm sure. I love you, and I would like for the whole world to know." He said, placing another kiss on your lips while he held you close.

Part 2: Such a Softie

[marvelous-harry]

anything older bother H and little sister! maybe a flashback or something? loved the coming out blurb so much

It's Not a Duck! Older brother Harry - Mute!Fem!Reader Words: 1.5k Summary: Harry's doing promo for his first solo album and Nick is gathering questions for him. You decide to ask him one.

-

"Sweetheart, dinner is ready!" Looking up from my laptop, I paused the film I was watching before coming out of my room. Mum smiled from the bottom of the stairs as I looked down at her. It smelled really good and I eagerly hurried down the stairs.

Taking my usual seat next to mum, I grinned at Robin as I saw it was my favorite - spaghetti and meatballs. #Smells good# I signed at mum as she took her seat as well.

"Thank you, let's hope it taste just as good," she replied.

"I'm sure it will, love," Robin spoke up as poured everyone some water. I grabbed the thongs and started serving myself before handing them off to mum.

"I got a very lovely message from Nick Grimshaw today, he says hi," Mum said, smiling as she reached for her fork.

I looked at her curious as I took a big bite.

"Harry's doing an interview with him in a week or so and he is collecting video messages of people asking him questions. Wondered if maybe we'd like to send in one," she explained.

#Cool! You should# I signed. #What you asking?#

Mum shrugged and took a sip of her water. "Not sure yet, you could do one if you want. Send it in with mine," she suggested.

I blushed and shook my head. #No# I signed and quickly went back to eating.

"Well, I'd thought I'd suggest it. We're going to the shops a bit after dinner, do you want to come with us?" Mum asked as she took a bite.

#No, thank you. Finish my movie# I signed.

After dinner was finished and I'd cleaned up and put the dishwasher on, I headed back upstairs to my room and got on the bed. I couldn't get the idea of sending in a video out of my head. I mean, I could just sign the whole thing and edit in my text to talk audio after.

Chewing on my lip as I grabbed the notepad and pen on my nightstand and flipped it over to a blank page. Sighing, I stared at it before throwing it at the end of the bed. It was a stupid idea and it was never going to work.

An hour later I had several scrunched-up pieces of paper all over my bed as I groaned and tried to think of something remotely good and halfway smart to ask him. I was not having much luck.

Sighing, I pulled my laptop over and grabbed the little USB pen Harry had made me promise to protect with my life. Connecting it, I put on my headphones and turned the volume up - sitting back I closed my eyes as I just listened.

Grinning as Woman came on, I listened for the funny noise that was in the intro bit. Sitting up, I bit on my lip as I quickly grabbed the notepad again and started writing my question.

Now all I needed was to film myself asking it. Groaning, I fell back on the bed. I had a few days. I could do this for Harry.

-

"My god, your mum thinks she's on Jools Holland," Nick joked as the video of Anne asking her question wrapped up.

"She was putting on like a bit of a posh accent," Harry grinned as he looked at Nick amused. "Emmm excuse me, emm. What do you think has inspired your style of music?" Harry said as he pitched his voice up and giggle. "Like you don't talk like that," he said in his normal voice while Nick laughed.

"What does she talk like? Harray! Tea's on the table!" Nick asked before they both burst out laughing.

"I don't even remember what the question was. I was too distracted," Harry said as he smiled.

"She wanted to ask something technical cause she thought it would throw you," Nick explained as he glanced over at his computers.

"I think I like the writing part the most and what inspired it, I think I don't, I think it's hard to not have influences from what you grew up listening to. I think that's kind of, I think everyone reacts differently to like different types of music, and then really I think I just. I don't know. I was with like the guys I was writing with and we just wanted to make like what we wanted to listen to and I think that's been the most fun part for me about making the whole album is, it's like a, in the least weird way possible it's my favourite album to listen to at the moment. Like I love listening to it,"

"I think that's how it should be," Nick chimed in.

"Yeah, I think so. If you put out an album that you don't like stand behind and really love then it doesn't go well then you could regret not doing what you wanted to do whereas if nothing happens to it then at least I love it so I think that's kind of what you should do. I think that's been my overall favourite thing is kind of listening to the album and making all the changes. It's been fun to kind of like watch over it all," Harry said as he nodded slightly.

"I think the thing is like you have to, I think a lot of people especially at labels and stuff do separate it and they think because they work in music it's like a broader understanding of music than people who listen but I think we're all just fans music I think,"

"Yeah, exactly," Nick nodded and agreed. "And I think you can tell in if people who write the albums are a fan themselves. Like I feel like Rihanna listens to Rihanna music, you know?"

Harry nodded and hummed. "Yep,"

"Okay. We have one more very special question, so if you would," Nick grinned as he gestured towards the laptop again.

"Alright," Harry said as he swiveled in his chair and tapped the space bar once more. "Another one of my big musical icons," Harry grinned as he saw y/n on the screen.

"Hello Harry," Y/N said seriously before the clip ended and another started, y/n trying her best to look into the camera. "You advocate for treating all living things with kindness so my question is" The clip ended and another shot started, y/n picking at her nails. "Why did you force a duck to be on your album?" y/n cracked and did a smile before the shot ended. She reappeared looking serious again. "How did you even get the duck in the recording booth?" y/n giggled and the shot ended before the video ended with her holding up a piece of paper that said #LabourRightsForDucks.

Harry giggled as he looked back at Nick, bursting out laughing as Nick also held up a piece of paper with the same slogan written on it.

"Well. What do you have to say for yourself?" Nick asked as he wriggled his sign.

"It's not a duck!! It's me!" Harry protested as he grinned. "I promise, it's me. There's just a filter on my voice. There were no ducks in the studio and she knows it," Harry looked over at the camera and wriggled his finger back and forth. "I'm calling you as soon as this is over," he said.

"mmm sure. We'll be right back and joining us is the duck from Harry Styles' debut album," Nick grinned as he pressed for a song to play.

"It's not a duck!" Harry laughed before shaking his head. Taking off the headphones he walked over to where his team was and asked for his phone.

"Thanks for your question. It was really funny. 🦆" he texted before taking a sip of his coffee while his stylist went over his hair and clothes, making sure everything looked perfect.

"Did you really think so? I'm sorry it was a little choppy, I kept having to stop filming 🙈 I tried to get it all in one take but.." Harry smiled as he read the reply.

"Can you send me the video? I want it on my phone. And I didn't even notice. It was perfect," Harry texted back before looking up as Nick called him. "I got to go so we can wrap up. Call you when I'm done. Tell mum and Robin I said hi. Love you," he quickly texted back before handing back his phone and taking his seat.

Looking up from my phone, I smiled as I put my phone down. #He liked it# I signed at mum, feeling quite proud of myself for having managed to record myself speaking and then sending it off.

"Of course he did! I'm so proud of you, sweetheart!" Mum said as she gave me a cuddle before turning back up the sound on the laptop as the song finished playing. I still couldn't believe I'd done it. I couldn't wait till it was over and I could watch it back.

[alyblacklist]

When you first land on this page, it appears you’re obsessed with Ressler, Diego Klattenhoff to the point of being one of those stalker fans. Used to be that you had a little of everyone. Maybe you should change it to AlyRessler.

First of all, if you don't like the content on my page, no one is forcing you to read it. I also made it abundantly clear after that dumpster fire of a S8 finale that my continued involvement with this show is really only because I'm still invested in Ressler.

Second, I am co-administering a month-long Ressler appreciation event (Febressuary) AND the show is on hiatus so naturally the content is more Ressler-heavy at the moment. I'm grateful to all those who have participated to make the month such a success for those of us who love the character.

Third, there hasn't exactly been a lot of new general Blacklist content to post lately. I've been posting the promo pics and ep descriptions. Beyond that, there's been little of interest for weeks. Behind the scenes have been more scarce than usual all season. So I'm not sure exactly what you think you're missing.

Finally, bitchy anons do not inspire me to change my content AT ALL. I don't get paid to run this blog. I will continue to post what interests me on my personal page.

Have a nice day.