#except I’m a maiden in the something 100’s

[onstar9]

“Having a crush is fun” I rescind that. I was wrong. I cannot deal with this longing that has long since infected my blood. It pulses through me at such a rate that even if I wanted to stop it I would’ve been incapable since the day it had taken root.

I long for his hands around my waist in a way I haven’t even thought about for myself before. My mind brands touch as an unwanted scourge upon my body and yet I feel a bone deep need for his skin along mine.

It remains within the back of my mind that he will never be an option for me. No matter my beauty or ability or rarely given care, I will be left to rot with this devotion nestled between my bones and seeping through me with every breath I take.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

the unseen one - 16

Pairing: Hades!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: none

A/N: i rewrote this 100 times. hope you guys enjoy it xx

Next Chapter >>

Her head felt heavy as her senses returned to her. The first thing that returned to her was sound, although all she could hear were mumbles and murmurs. She opened her eyes to the feeling of a moist cloth being dabbed onto her forehead. As her view got sharper and clearer she was able to make out various female faces looking down at her, one holding the moist cloth that was being constantly dabbed on her forehead, care and curiosity on their faces. She immediately raised her torso from where she was laying, recognising she did not know any of these women and as she turned her head to look at where she was staying, she also did not know where she was. 

She pushed away from their grasp, her feet hitting what felt like hot stone as she rushed from where she was. Y/N did not know where she was or who those people were but if there was something she knew it was that she needed to rush away from them. She ran further into wherever she was standing until she hit someone, making her fall back into the same hot stone. 

      - I’m so sorry, my lady. - she raised her head to see a clothed figure reaching his hand to help her get up which she declined. Y/N kept scanning her surroundings. It was dark and hot but not hot in a way a holiday felt, hot in a way that felt like her breathe was about to be constantly taken away. Her eyes returned to the clothed figure, examining it until she realised the figure had no face. She let out a shriek, crawling away from the figure, wondering if she hit her head a bit to hard. The figure followed her which scared her even more causing her to crawl away, praying that she woke up from his nightmare. The faceless man stopped, bowing ceremoniously which confused her. - Your Highness. 

      - I got this. - she recognised that voice. Finally something she recognised in this god forsaken place, whatever that place was. She turned her head ever so slightly, seeing James standing behind her. His expression softened, softly taking her hands in his helping her to her feet. Y/N wrapped her arms around him, the only single thing she knew was real right now. He carefully brushed her hair with his fingers, kissing the top of her head. - It’s alright, sweetness. You’re alright.

     - What the fuck? - she finally softly murmured, still looking around her surroundings. Everything seemed to be carved out of rock, black stone which shimered whenever the river which seemed to cut the land in half where some translucent figures seemed to be travelling in it. James cuddled her closer to him, not entirely sure how to break it to him. He didn’t even know how she’d gotten the pomegranate in the first place. - James, you need to take me home. I have to speak with Anne, she’s acting weird and I have to work tomorrow. 

     - Sweetness ... - he sighed, cupping her jaw in his hands, not entirely sure how to explain it to her. She’d think he’d gone insane if he told her who he really was and what her eating the pomegranate had cursed her to. She gave him a confused look yet relished into his touch. - I need you to come with me. 

Y/N noticed his tense features, lips pulled tight and eyes avoiding to look into hers as he regularly did. Her hand cupped his cheek, ring finger caressing it in a soothing manner. He leaned onto her touch, he was sure he could find a way to get her off the underworld. She hadn’t eaten the pomegranate knowing what it was and therefore, he was sure he could argue it at the council of Gods but he still had to explain it to her anyway. He took her hand in his, taking her into his office. She found it way more calming than the dark outside with grey yet illuminated walls but what she found more lovely was her sunflower on his desk. He took a seat on top of his mahogany desk, thinking about how to tell her, how to explain it to her. Her parents had been historians so she probably knew how a bit of this worked but the hard bit was to try and convince her. 

He opened his mouth, trying to find the words to say to her but finding none. Thankfully, Hecate intervened, walking into his office in such fashion that suggested she was the ruler of the Underworld and not the other way around.  

      - She’s alive. - Hecate placed her hand over her face, sighing deeply. Last time they had a mortal in the underworld, things didn’t end up exactly swell. Between Orpheus, Theseus, and Pirithous, she knew exactly how things went downhill whenever one was near. The only exception was that this particular mortal had eaten the fruit of the dead and thus now belonged to the Underworld. - Mortals are incredibly resilient these days if you ask me.

       - Excuse me? - Y/N spoke up, mostly to herself than to the woman. She had to admit she looked intimidating with her red fiery hair and thin matching red dress which went beautifully with her pale complexion. Her eyes moved between her and James as her mind started to make up the wildest of assumptions. 

       - I wanted you to know .. - the redhead turned to face the man sat on the desk, finger pointed towards him. - That this maiden plan is a terrible plan. If you wanna coddle her so much, then do it yourself. 

      - Hecate, that’s quite enough. - he threatened, his patience for her sarcastic and sassy remarks growing smaller and smaller. Y/N’s head immediately moved back to Hecate. She knew that name, it was an odd one and one she had definitely read before.

      - Hecate? As in the Greek goddess of witchcraft? 

      - I am the Goddess of Witchcraft. - she snapped her head towards the mortal, innervated the mortal did not bow down ready to worship her. She did miss the good old Greek days where people feared her name. She was about to berate her once she realised why she did not know. Her head turned to face James who had the most annoyed look on his face. - You haven’t told her yet, have you?

      - Told me what? - her eyes settled onto James’ face, mind going haywire.

      - That you’re in the Underworld. Most specifically the Asphodel Meadows. Do you seriously don’t know? - she scoffed at Y/N who was looking at both James and her like a scolded child. - Oh dear Zeus, you don’t know. 

     - Yes, Hecate, she does not know. She did not steal the pomegranate because as I fucking told you, she was with me all of last night. 

     - Wait ... the underworld does not exist. - she raised her hands in exasperation. - It’s just the ancient way of dealing with death and since the Greeks were afraid of dying and stop existing, they created the Underworld. 

     - For someone who’s fucking the God of the Underworld, you sure are clueless. - she narrowed her gaze at the both of them before deciding that dealing with both him and her as something she did not want to waste her immortality time on. She closed the door behind her, the sound of the door banging being the only one as Y/N stared at him.

     - James, you better explain yourself, right now. - she stomped her foot against the floor, not entirely sure if she was dreaming or not. Underworld, God of the Underworld, Hecate? Between that and Anne’s weird behaviour, she wondered if insanity had finally hit her. 

Bucky sighed, hand rushing through the back of his neck. He wanted to tell her, he really did and when he thought about telling her, he always considered taking her out something nice and ease her onto it. However, the current circumstances did not allow him to slowly and sweetly introduce her to what had been his environment for years. 

He took a few steps forwards, placing his hands on her shoulders to try and pull her into him but she pushed him back, hands in front of her and pushing onto his chest.

     - You lied to me, James. - he couldn’t see her face as she was staring at the ground, but he could hear the disappointment in her voice.

     - C’mon, Y/N ... - his fingers grabbed her chin, softly pulling it up so he could look at her face. - Wouldn’t you have thought I was crazy if my opening line was I’m the God of the Underworld?

     - Why am I here? - she lowered her arms, hand coming to hold the opposite elbow. 

     - Last night someone stole a pomegranate from her and it somehow ended up with you. You at ...

     - I know the fruit of the dead myth. - she let herself slide onto one of the chairs of his office. - Am I here forever?

     - No. - he rushed to her side, crutching to her level, taking her hands into his and mindlessly started to rub circles on her skin. - I’m gonna figure this out, I promise. You didn’t eat it knowing what it was and I didn’t give it to you, the rules shouldn’t apply. 

     - So ... are you Hades? Is that your name? - Y/N wondered if he had lied about his name too.

     - It is my name, it’s complicated, sweetness. I think that’s something to explain to you later.

     - Can I still call you Bucky?

     - You can call me whatever you want, sweetness.

tag list: @philogrobizedvee​​​​  @keithseabrook27​​​ @inlovewith3​​​19

[wingsofninewheels]

Diamond Farming Guide

After several months of stam hoarding, I cannot recall which Nikki tuber(s) have suggested Debbie-format as the cornerstone of dia farming, but I can tell you that day 1 of skipping the Debbie-format suit in favor of the NPC’s sweet sweet diamonds yielded me about 550 diamonds--and I haven’t even cracked into my comp box stockpile yet. (This stuff is probably a fusion of wisdom from both Effie and Viv in the past year, but I follow at least four Nikkis on YT, and they all have great gameplay input and tons of experience.) I’m just so impressed with the efficiency of it, that I wanted to do a write-up for it!

Hoard stam and Competition vote boxes. (Optional, but also helpful for accumulating even more stam and dia: Lots of Corridor voting, too.) Anytime you participate in a Hell event that drops stam, keeping it for later is a great base for hoarding, ‘cause it typically works out to several hundred per suit.

Skip a Debbie-format suit that you’re not 100% in love with. Thus far, they always return for crafting/store. Instead of accumulating the currency to exchange for the suit, give it all to the NPC. (Optional: Hunt easter eggs. I don’t do it, so I don’t have a breakdown on how to. Many players swear by it, though, and there’s lots of tutorials out there.) If you don’t have things to farm crafting materials for--though I can’t imagine many are lacking for things to craft right now, ‘cause V2:Ch6 is so huge--Maiden V1:7-7 is ideal for decomp purposes, as it can drop a ♥♥♥ and a ♥♥♥♥, often both: and you’ll always need more Earrings & Necklaces.

(Alternately, of course, you can always finish a Debbie-format suit, then continue this farming guide as normal. Depending on your V-level and how much stam you tend to hoard, you’ll usually get at least a day and a half to two days of dia-farming on top of acquiring the suit, if you so desire.)

Use the extra gold from the NPC and stam usage to buy pull 100s in the Pavilion of Mystery. Now couldn’t be a better time to do all the extra pull 100s you can, because 95% of the crafting materials for Starsea can come from the Mystery House, and we’ll likely (hopefully?) be getting the Starsea recolor on LN server sometime this year? I usually keep around 500k-1mil on hand for crafting purposes and spend the rest.

Decomp everything extra. (If you were farming V1:7-7 that’s Lampwick Brown hair and Silent Rose coat.) Revel in dozens of decomp chests, which can yield Tarot pieces, dia, dyes, star coins, and gold--and doing so doubles as Reconstruction suit farming, so you’re likely to get massive progress on any you’re working on.

If you want to be extra thorough, you can weed out all the Mystery House recolors that you’ve already finished. The ones I find easiest at a glance are from Tower of Zen: the “lucky red” pieces and the gold ♥♥♥♥♥ pieces. (I compiled a full list below, for if you’re ever feeling like cleaning up your wardrobe dupes.)

There’s a hyper-intensive third degree of decomp where you assess whether you’ve crafted every single thing an item might be used for, then decomp them from that point on--but it takes hours upon hours of cross-referencing on Nikki’s Info, and I’ve never in the three years I’ve played completed a full inventory purge. It’s not necessary, but it’s a major extra push for decomp chests if you’re so inclined. (I once saw Viv decomp over a thousand items this way.)

If you’ve got a surplus of Mystery House currency, you can always spend it on pieces you can buy, then turn around and decomp those too. I see lots of people cash in their Cinderella Shoes for decomp material, for example, if there’s not any Lifetime suits they’re saving up for. I personally always aim to complete all Lifetime suits (and eventually, all their recolors... except Grice, that restored Yoke can stay in the bin RIP) so I keep my Cinderella Shoes, where I prefer to buy extras with my 150-dia pav currencies, if I’m doing this.

I’ve also seen people during pick-and-choose Debbie-format events spend any surplus currency last day on whatever item(s) they can afford, for extra decomps. Ideally, though, you’ll never have that much leftover on the last day, following this strategy.

Following this strategy during a Debbie-format event, you essentially get dia from your dailies, from voting in the Competition and Corridor, from the NPC, from decomp chests, and from completing suits. It all racks up very very fast!

If you’ve found this useful, I'd super appreciate a like and reblog. Share it with your fellow Nikkis. You’re free to link to this list elsewhere! Just make sure to credit me, please, as this write-up took several hours. I don’t have a Reddit account, so it��s totally cool if anybody wants to cross-post!

♥♥♥♥♥♥ Enjoy swimming in dia, lovely Nikkis. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

(If I’ve made any errors or missed items, totally let me know so I can edit this!)

Below the cut is a breakdown of the Mystery House items that have recolors, sorted by rarity and tab. Anything you have finished all the recolors of is prime decomp fodder--you are almost guaranteed Recomp jewelry drops from them. (The way I usually go is, skim through Customize with a list like this one, and write down anything that has a “Get” on it. Anything you still need to color something of will show at the very top of the list, without a “Get” on it. Then, I take the list I compiled, and apply that to the Decomp menu.)

Hair

Autumn • Gold ♥♥♥

Traditional Bride • Brown ♥♥♥

Evergreen Flower • Black ♥♥♥

Resonance ♥♥♥

Cresent ♥♥♥♥

Countryside Girl • Brown ♥♥♥♥

Dynamic Summer • Silver ♥♥♥♥

Cute Animal ♥♥♥♥

Dark Tomb ♥♥♥♥♥

Messy Cute ♥♥♥♥♥

Fine Creation ♥♥♥♥♥

Holy World ♥♥♥♥♥

Bond in Distance ♥♥♥♥♥

Emmy ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Young Warbler • Verdant ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Light Tone ♥♥♥♥♥

Pinky-white Curls ♥♥♥♥♥

Dress

First Encounter ♥♥♥ 

Kapok ♥♥♥

Elegant Dress • Beige ♥♥♥ 

Bright Future ♥♥♥

Star Shadow ♥♥♥

Pink Gauze Dress ♥♥♥

Teddy Bear • Brown ♥♥♥

Sentimental Regret ♥♥♥♥ 

Jade Yard ♥♥♥♥ 

Cloud Dance • Red ♥♥♥♥ 

Pastoral Pearl • Red ♥♥♥♥ 

Light Feather • Gray ♥♥♥♥

Flower of Sin • White  ♥♥♥♥

Docile Alpaca ♥♥♥♥

Snow White Kitty ♥♥♥♥

Stygian Death ♥♥♥♥♥

Auspicious Clouds ♥♥♥♥♥

Phoenix of Genesis ♥♥♥♥♥  GOLD

Dragon of Apocalypse ♥♥♥♥♥  GOLD

Pearl Girl ♥♥♥♥♥

Fairytale Stars ♥♥♥♥♥

Chocolate Teddy ♥♥♥♥♥

Coat

Duo Moon ♥♥♥

Silk Coat • White ♥♥♥

Lace Coat • White ♥♥♥♥

Iron Rose ♥♥♥♥

Cloud Flower ♥♥♥♥

Nice Pistil ♥♥♥♥♥

Gentle Care ♥♥♥♥♥

Flourish Peach ♥♥♥♥♥

Revival Sound ♥♥♥♥♥

Top

Fortunate Flowers ♥♥♥

Cloud Blouse • Blue ♥♥♥♥♥

Sweet Dream ♥♥♥♥♥

Bottom

Lucky Star ♥♥♥ 

Star Shatters ♥♥♥

Sandal Branch • Red ♥♥

Elegant Rendering ♥♥♥♥

Cloud Pants • Blue ♥♥♥♥♥

Fantasy Sleep ♥♥♥♥♥

Hosiery

Radiant Joy ♥♥♥

Teddy Footprint • Brown ♥♥♥

The Rivulet ♥♥♥♥ 

Soft Socks ♥♥♥♥

White Kitten Tale ♥♥♥♥

Sweet Garter ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Snowy Night ♥♥♥♥♥

Honey Star ♥♥♥♥♥

Shoes

Peep-toe Heels • Gray ♥♥ 

Running Shoes • White ♥♥ 

Cradle of Snow • Blue ♥♥

Smooth Career ♥♥♥

Bloch’s Labyrinth • Brown ♥♥♥ 

Rubber Boots • Pink ♥♥♥ 

Kimi’s Rose • Black ♥♥♥ 

Black Patent Leather ♥♥♥ 

Obedience ♥♥♥

Pastoral • Brown ♥♥♥♥

Blue Porcelain • Shoes ♥♥♥♥

Pale High Heels ♥♥♥♥

Cute High Heels ♥♥♥♥

Glamour - Brown ♥♥♥♥

Oceans Conquer • Blue ♥♥♥♥

Dream Envoy ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Propitious Buckle ♥♥♥♥♥

Phoenix World ♥♥♥♥♥

Emperor of Universe ♥♥♥♥♥

Stars • Pink ♥♥♥♥♥

Sweet Teddy • Black ♥♥♥♥♥

Accessories

Scorching Sun ♥♥♥

Auspiciousness ♥♥♥

Gold and Jade ♥♥♥

Goodbye to Nian ♥♥♥

Joyful ♥♥♥

Embrace ♥♥♥ 

Shining ♥♥♥ 

Lonely Star ♥♥♥ 

Fireflies ♥♥♥

Red Riding Hood’s Bracelet ♥♥♥♥ (after crafting Tender Charm)

Beach Wristband ♥♥♥♥ (after crafting Rose)

Rose Necklet • Brown ♥♥♥♥ 

Garden Headband • Brown ♥♥♥♥

Goofy Face ♥♥♥♥

Warm Companion ♥♥♥♥ 

White Kitten Earrings ♥♥♥♥ 

White Kitten Gloves ♥♥♥♥ 

White Kitten Tail ♥♥♥♥

Blue Porcelain • Bag ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Rosy Dream ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Sweet Choker ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Bow Ribbon ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Auspicious Knot ♥♥♥♥♥

Bird Pilgrimage ♥♥♥♥♥  GOLD

Dragon in Heaven ♥♥♥♥♥  GOLD

Phoenix Crown ♥♥♥♥♥  GOLD

Great Heaven Crown ♥♥♥♥♥

Soft Pink Choker ♥♥♥♥♥

Flowers in Summer ♥♥♥♥♥

Star Hunt • Red ♥♥♥♥♥ 

Prince Teddy • Brown ♥♥♥♥♥

Makeup

Queen Saint Phoenix ♥♥♥♥♥

King Saint Cloud ♥♥♥♥♥

[calliecat93]

The time has come at last everyone. After a very rough year and a very tense end to Volume 7, Volume 8 has arrived. I have no idea what to expect this time around except that it’s going to be all out war. I’m scared. You’re scared. We’re all scared. But this is still RWBY, so it can’t get too dark and depressing... can it? Well only one way to find out. I’ve done my post for the opening, but now it’s time to get to the meat. So for the first time this volume, let us begin by reviewing Chapter 1, appropriately titled ‘Divide’.

Overview

We begin with an image of a young woman. A woman who seems to be down on her luck, wearing tattered clothes and scrubbing at the floor by hand. It then cuts to Cinder, clawing at Neo’s chair in the same manor as she directs Neo towards the Whale Grimm. The two enter, revealing the Whale to essentially be a large battleship and waiting in her throne is Salem. Cinder presents the Relic of Knowledge, though she claims the credit for herself which does not amuse Neo. Tyrian is also there, who mocks her for getting outwitted by a bunch of kids to begin with. Salem asks about Neo, who Cinder merely calls a ‘useful asset’.

Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel are also there and with some new duds! Emerald is elated to see Cinder alive, but the Fall Maiden simply silences her. When Tyrian again mocks her for spending her time fixing past mistakes, Cinder is determined to track down Penny and get the Winter Maiden powers. Salem, however, makes it clear that she is not to do s. After all while Cinder is no pawn, she is NOT a player. She is playing Salem’s game, not her own. Cinder concedes, saying that without Salem, she is nothing.

We cut to the slums, where Oscar has taken refuse. But he isn’t alone for long as he is picked up by Ruby, Weiss, and Maria. Oscar feels guilty for trying to talk to Ironwood and how he made all the wrong choices, but Ruby comforts him, saying that all tried to do what was best. The heroes have taken refuge wit the Happy Huntresses, who are running their own operations from within an abandoned bar. The others are relieved that Oscar is okay, but they sadly still don’t know about Qrow. When asked how he got to the slums, Oscar simply says it was a long story, opting to not reveal Ozpin’s return until he has finished talking to him.

Joanna goes to the group, now fully expecting them to work to help Mantle. The plan? Due to the Grimm numbers and the heat being gone, the plan is to take the refuges into the crater below Atlas. It’s dangerous, but it is warm and will allow a singular location where everyone can be watched over safely. Weiss makes a remark about not ever being able to sleep again, a clear humorous quip, but Joanna makes it clear that it’s either work, or be branded as baggage. Yang agrees, saying that they need to help with Mantle. Ruby, however, argues that they need to warn the other kingdoms. Pietro confirms that while not finished, Amity did have significant process made to it. However it needs the green-light from a terminal and aside from the one in Ironwood’s office, the only other one is in the military compound.

Yang, seeing Amity as a lost cause and that not being guaranteed to get help, sticks to her plan. Ruby argues however that Salem is going to attack the other kingdoms once she’s done with Atlas and thus, all fo Remnant is in danger. At this point, Yang addresses that despite following her lead at the start, she feels that Ruby’s lead has... well, gone badly. In other words, she feels that Ruby has failed in her duty. Ruby is clearly hurt by this and Yang starts to explain further, but Ren interrupts, saying that helping Mantle is something that they can do now. Nora however sides with Ruby regarding the larger picture.

With the tension up, Jaune steps in. He suggests that they can simply divide up and do both. Yang and her group assist Mantle, Ruby and her group go and get Amity. Ruby disagrees as this is causing the divide that Salem wants, but Oscar says that working separately doesn’t mean that they are against each other. Penny, who has been quiet and to herself to this point, suggests that she simply give Salem the Relic. But no one believes that Salem will keep her word about backing down and all agree against this.

Thus, the heroes split up. Ruby has Weiss and Blake of course, but to Jaune and Ren’s surprise, Nora decides to also go with them. Penny also goes despite the risk to help the group bypass security. Yang agrees to it, but she makes to leave to do, as she says, what she can. A comment that clearly strikes Blake. Before she goes though, Pietro gives her the keys to the pharmacy so that they can get some of the equipment he had been developing for them. Thus we have Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Oscar in Mantle, while Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Penny, and Nora plan to get up to Atlas.

Ruby is still upset by the split up, but Blake tries to assure her that they are still united. Maria can bring bring Pietro to Amity once it’s retrieved and Weiss has an idea on how they can get to the kingdom. Before she can reveal it however, Penny’s scroll goes off. It’s Ironwood. he asks Penny to come back, claiming that he’s worried for her safety and he needs her for Atlas’ sake. Ruby takes the Scroll, refusing any cooperation unless Ironwood changes his mind and helps Mantle. Ironwood blasts at her for still caring about Mantle when Salem is outside Atlas’ doorstep and a threat to all of Remnant. Whatever happens, he says it will be on Ruby’s hands. Ruby hugs a clearly shaken Penny, but her expression conveys that the general’s words hurt her as well.

Back in Atlas, the remaining Ace-Ops are in a room with Clover’s corpse. Ironwood is watching form another as Winter is receiving treatment for her injuries. She’s given what looks like cybernetic armor pieces, and Ironwood himself has replaced his singed arm with a new cybernetic. He is informed of the prisoners being interrogated and thanks Winter for all she did, but is still tense due to the Grimm horde. When Winter asks what he’s going to do, Councilman Sleet and Councilwoman Camilla enter, demanding to know what Ironwood is doing with his recent actions. Ironwood says that he’s going to do what he has to... no matter the cost. As such, eh steps out and coldly shoots Sleet to death, horrifying not only Camilla, but the Ace-Ops and Winter. Harriet steps out and looks at Winter, but despite their shock, both more or less resign to the fact of this being necessary.

Back at the Whale, Salem has some kind of pod that she opens up. She has questions for the Relic, but first she needs the one who can reveal to her how it works. She holds the Lamp before some kind of slobbering, eyeless Grimm. Her orders? For it to find and bring Ozpin to her, bringing the first chapter of the volume to a close.

Review

Holy crap people... I was expecting tension, but.... damn guys...

Okay, we’ll start with the villains. So... that first scene, huh? Well after years of waiting for it, it looks like we may finally be getting some Cinder focus/backstory. We’ve been waiting a long time, huh? Her scene here really shows a lot. Cinder downplays Neo’s contributions, taking the credit for herself. She cruelly tells Emerald to be quiet, despite having not seen the girl in who knows how long. She still wants the Maiden powers, despite how she has continuously failed not counting the Fall Maiden. The usual smugness and power-hunger that we expect from Cinder is in full force here.

Yet we also have Salem’s words to her. Salem makes it clear that Cinder is a mere chess piece. Which isn’t what Cinder wants. She wants to the the chessmaster. She wants to do what she wants. She is constantly baffled by Salem’s choices. Yet, she continues to submit to the wicked witch. Considering she’s evil Cinderella, it really speaks a lot about Cinder’s mindset. She wants power. She wants control. But she continues to obey someone else in hopes that it gets her what she wants. These two mindsets can’t co-exist forever. I’m not convinced at all of Cinder being redeemed, she’s done far too many cruel things imo. But I do think that by this end of this volume, she’s going to decide what she wants for herself, and whatever it is the path to it likely won’t be pretty especially with how Neo is clearly getting fed up.

So now let’s do Oscar. I... do not like how they did him reuniting with the group. It’s another ‘Oscar is in trouble... oops! No he isn’t!’ psyche out and it’s getting real old. Especially since there’s zero build-up to it. Ruby and the others just... find him. Maybe he called them? I don’t know, there’s no clear indication. But after how dramatic the end of Volume 7 was, having him just reunite with the gang again feels very anti-climactic. I can only assume that they realized that with so much going on, they needed to get it out of the way and do it early, especially with him begin Salem’s target. But I don’t think it was handled the best it could have been.

But we do have Oscar deciding to keep Open’s return a secret. The reason being that he hasn’t finished talking to him yet. Yeah, Oscar’s clearly not 100% okay with what happened prior and wants everything set straight first before he reveals anything. But at the same time... this is Oscar keeping a secret back form the others. And secret keeping is not only what got everyone angry at Oz, but contributed to the current situation. It just... doesn’t come off as the best move to make in this situation. Then again, we don’t know if the heroes are in a forgiving mood, so... it’s hard for me to not understand his reasonings, at least. But it’s gonna have to come out sooner or later, especially since Oscar is short on time.

Then we have the conflict between the heroes. The theme of the volume seems to be division, at least so far. We have Ren and Nora still in conflict. Ren wants to be able to help now, Nora wants to save everyone in Mantle. Volume 7 set it up, and it seems that this one is going to push it even mroe. But then we have Ruby and Yang. While they don’t start yelling, ti is very clear that they are at odds. Same deal, Yang wants to do what can be done now as mantle is in danger. Ruby is concerned about Remnant and the lives of the world and wants to warn the kingdoms. Bit then we have Yang bringing up how things have gone downhill under Ruby’s lead. To be fair, she seems guilty for it and she does try to further explain before Ren interrupts her. But, in essence, it is her saying that she doesn’t trust Ruby’s lead. After putting her faith in her sister fully in V5, the recent events has Yang doubtful.

Not gonna lie... I have been wanting this for a long time. V7 had a lot of hints that Yang in particular was not on the same page as Ruby. She was the one who questioned her lying to Ironwood. It was her who proposed the plan to Blake about revealing Amity to Robyn, also expressing her doubts about Ruby’s choices there. But despite it, she still followed her. But now, with Ironwood’s descent, Yang’s faith is shaken. IDT it’s gone, but it is rocky. I’ve been critical of Yang and have had issues with her decisions, the Amity reveal to Robyn especially. However... I can’t fault her either. She has the right intentions, and her logic about Mantle isn’t wrong. There are people in danger right now. They have the ability to help those people. Saving the lives in immediate danger is important and is their job as Huntresses. I don’t blame Yang at all in her decision and her sticking to it despite Ruby disagreeing.

But I don’t think that Ruby is wrong either. She is right about how Salem will go against the rest of the world as soon as Atlas has fallen. Countless lives are in danger on a global scale. Vacuo, Mistral, Vale, Menagerie, Patch, every character that we have ever known will be at risk unless they are warned. Amity is the best ticket to doing so. Ruby’s drive has always been to save everyone. The Happy Huntresses have the situation under control, so why not focus on the larger picture? It’s the most stressed I think we’ve ever seen Ruby and it’s certainly the first time we’ve seen her upset at Yang like this.  There’s just... no good options really. Either way, someone suffers. War is Hell.

There’s also the fact that as the leader, whether it was directly her fault or not, the heroes failure does rest on her shoulders. She is the leader, that is her burden. it is the burden that she accepted. She was the one who made the call to hide Salem’s immortality to Ironwood. It was her who alerted everyone about the martial law, officially marking the heroes as enemies of Atlas. Now is it her fault? Not fully. Ironwood’s choices are not her fault, but one can argue that had she just told Ironwood the truth upfront, it may not have happened. Ironwood guilts her over this, claiming that whatever happens will be her fault. Now we all know that's bullshit and Ironwood is even more to blame... but the question is if Ruby knows that. Judging her expressions... I’m thinking it’s gonna haunt her.

Then we have Penny. Oh gosh Penny. The poor girl just seems so utterly broken. She’s quiet, to herself, and whenever she does talk it’s in a pained whisper. The girl got framed for murder, and then watched an old woman die and be given her powers. She clearly is at a loss of what to do. She’s ready to sacrifice herself to Salem to save everyone, that is how much n despair this girl is. Then we have Ironwood try88ing to manipulate her into returning to his side. He needs her for Atlas’ safety. he’s concerned for her. It’s all lies, but Penny is concerned about Atlas. She doesn’t want to fight like this. She’s conflicted onw hat to do with this divide. The poor girl just... needs a hug. A lot of them.

Then we have Ironwood. Oh God... Ironwood. I know that he had snapped, but for him to shoot Sleet like he did? With no emotion. In just one motion, he killed a man dead. Someone whose only crime was wanting answers for Ironwood’s actions. The council is in no position of power, they were no threat. Ironwood did it simply because he doesn’t want to deal with them anymore as he said at the end of V7. He’s going to do whatever he deems appropriate to protect Atlas. When all he’s doing is letting fear control him and further seal Atlas’ fate as dead. Like I said in the V7 reviews, Ironwood is at his point of no return. So far, he’s only cementing that position further. His fall was tragic, but now all that remains is a heartless soldier.

We also see the aftermath of Clover’s death and Winter’s injuries. It’s not much, but it tells us a lot. The Ace-Ops leader is dead. No one is happy about it, but especially not Marrow and Harriet. Marrow by far expresses the most sadness in his expression. God I am still hoping that he comes ot his senses. But then there’s Harriet. She is angry. She briefly growls even. She already feels betrayed by RWBY, now in her mind her leader was killed by Qrow. It’s only going to add fuel to the fire with her wanting to take them down. Then we have Winter. She’s in bad shape. She seems to be benched for now, but IDK if that’s gonna last. But to say I’m worried is an understatement. Especially with her noticeable horror at Ironwood killing Sleet. She internalizes it as she has been, but can she continue to do so as Ironwood continues to descent into madness? I’m really hoping not...

Finally, the end scene. So yeah... Salem is targeting Oscar. So it looks like Salem knows what the Relics can do, but she doesn’t know how to make them work. Makes sense, only Ozpin knew. Remember, Oscar found out through the mind-link and told the heroes. Plus of course Salem would want Oscar. After all, she hasn’t seen her former husband in quiet a long time, has she? And we know fully well that she’s going to rub his demise in his face. Oscar is not in for a fun time this volume... then again, is anyone?

There’s a clear seriousness here. Moreso than any volume. Weiss’ quit about sleeping is very quickly shot down. The stakes are at the highest they’ve ever been. It is outright war now. The heroes are on their own. Mantle is in a desperate situation. Ironwood is barley holding out against Salem’s invasion. People who should be allies are divided to the point of no return. While we know from some sneak peaks that the volume won’t be devoid of humor/levity, it’s clearly not going to be the light-hearted fun that we’ve had in the past. Not even Ruby and Penny, two of the most pure-hearted characters in the show, display any of those usual traits. This might as well be the equivalent of Order of the Phoenix, where the kids can only rely on themselves and where everting has gone to Hell. That ended on a bittersweet note and only got darker from there. RWBY works in a  similar ‘grow up with the audience’ approach as Harry Potter, so... yeah... prepare yourselves folks. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Chapter Two Predictions

I think we’ll be checking in on Qrow and Robyn. Thus we’ll be seeing the interrogations go down (which we saw footage of in the trailer). We’ll also likely see Jaques and Watts. IDK i Ironwood will go to Qrow directly or any of the other Ace-Ops, but it won’t be pretty. Qrow is likely still feeling guilty for what happened, but I absolutely believe that if Ironwood confronts him, he’s going to give him the verbal lashing that he deserves. I’m not when they'll plot a prison break, but I assume it’ll happen sooner or later.

As for the heroes... it’s hard to say. My guess is we’ll be following mainly Team JYRO as they get the equipment from Pietro’s lab. So we might see that clip they showed at SDCC as well as the secret clip of them leading civilians tot he crater from a few weeks back. Which would also mean first fight scene of the volume, yay! We might see RWBNP as well, but I’m not sure. Maybe some villain stuff as well, like maybe we’ll get more hints about Cinder or something minor. Either way, the tension I think will continue forward.

Chapter Stats

Favorite Character: Cinder Fall Favorite Moment: The opening villain scene Least Favorite Moment: Oscar retrieval due to the anti-climax after V7 Favorite Voice Actor: Jen Taylor (Salem) Favorite Animation: The Blind Grimm Rating: 9/10

Final Thoughts

This was an excellent volume opener. The stakes are established right off the bat, along with the tension and character conflicts. This was so good that I didn’t even realize that there wasn’t a fight scene, the first time since Volume 5. Which honestly, we didn’t need one. They had more than enough to kick this volume off. This promises to be a very dark, very intense volume. I am terrified for whatever is coming, but like Hell am I missing it. An excellent start~!

[travllingbunny]

The 100: 7x04 Hesperides

The first quarter of season 7 is kind of like the first quarter of season 2 on steroids - everyone separated in several groups in different locations, looking for each other and having no idea where the others really are, while the show is doing world-building and introducing information about the main threat, setting up the main story that will really kick into gear later.

The main difference is, of course, that in season 2 we saw all of the characters, pretty much in every episode. But now, Bellamy has been missing since his disappearance early in 7x01 (which, of course, is mostly due to external reasons), and we have been in the dark about Octavia’s fate since she was pulled back to Bardo in 6x13, and have only seen her in flashbacks. Clarke, Octavia and Raven have had episodes centered on them (the first, second and third one, respectively), but there has been no or very little of Octavia in the other three episodes, and even Clarke has taken somewhat of a back seat in the last 3 episodes. 

In the meantime, the B-list characters from the main cast - Echo, Gabriel and Hope - have taken center stage and gotten their own great stories. Hope, in particular, has been the character with the most focus in these early episodes - which isn’t that surprising as the show has to quickly give her all the fleshing out, backstory and development that other characters have had seasons to build. And we’ve gotten new characters - guest stars developed over just one episode or one scene - who have been given enough characterization and sympathetic qualities to make their deaths feel tragic and emotional (Hatch, Dev, Orlando).

No, I don’t think that this is a sign of the show focusing more on supporting characters and sidelining its protagonists in the final season, as some fans have been complaining and freaking out about. I’m sure that the mains will soon take center stage again, which is why their storylines this season are just starting or have been set up - while other characters have been given this early stage of season 7 to shine and get a lot of the story now. Another way those smaller stories feel relevant is that they are full of parallels and callbacks to the bigger stories from previous seasons.

I’m still not sure what relevance the title exactly has for this episode, and I’m not convinced that it is just supposed to be about 7x04. Yes, Hesperides were three maidens in a garden - like Octavia, Diyoza and Hope, and it was the topic of a cute exchange between Octavia and Hope (another Blake sibling teaching kids about the Greco-Roman mythology), but what are the “golden apples” that Hesperides were guarding and that Heracles/Hercules had to steal as one of his tasks? The only really valuable object on Skyring is the Anomaly Stone. But if that it what it’s about, that’s not something that has happened yet. Or do golden apples stand for something less tangible, like family, love, trust? Were Gabriel, Echo and Hope a new Hesperides trio (even though calling Gabriel a maiden in any sense of the word is a bit of a stretch), with Orlando as the dragon guarding the garden, or they thieves? I have no idea. I’m going to wait for the rest of the season to maybe give an answer. Maybe we’ll come back to the story of Hercules stealing the apples. That story also includes Atlas (who literally carries the weight of the world), and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is referenced, too.

Worldbuilding

The biggest takeaway from this episode for me were the really strong hints supporting the theory - which I’ve firmly believed in - that the Disciples are an off-shoot of Second Dawn and that their leader, the mysterious Shepherd, is Bill Cadogan. We learn that Disciples have different levels and that the highest one (?) appears to be “Level 12″ - which is reminiscent of the Second Dawn’s “12th seal”. Orlando prays to the “Shepherd, who delivered us from the fire that consumed the Earth”.

One of the most interesting parts of this episode was learning about the planets connected to the Anomaly (which we have a bit more info on than the characters do, thanks to the opening titles!) - which I’ve covered here. (Yes, the planet which was offline is Earth.) 

There are thousands of Disciples, highly trained soldiers, guarding the “fortress”, as Orlando called it. They are highly trained and dangerous - better fighters than pretty much anyone we’ve met. However, they have apparently never been in a battle - at least not the current generations.  They are preparing for something they call “the last war that mankind will ever wage”/”the war to end all wars” (?). Now, who could this war possibly be with, and why do they think they need Clarke as a weapon to win it? It sure can’t be anyone on Sanctum - Wonkru has dwindled to about 400 people, and everyone from Sanctum (from Prime guards to CoG) are pretty incompetent and terrible at fighting. Unless the war is just metaphorical, there must be some other people on one of the planets... Maybe the Eligius people and the Second Dawn are two different factions after all?

The Disciples are incredibly technologically advanced (which may not be so surprising, considering the fact that - if Bardo time is faster than Sanctum, and I think it must be, their society has existed for much, much longer than 230 years - and they have an amazing SciFi technique called memory capture. Which explains how they knew about Bellamy, Echo and Gabriel in 7x01.

The layout of Bardo - drawn by Orlando - provides a lot of info about the life there: there are living quarters, a galley/mess hall (it’s interesting that they use the word “galley” - which is normally used for the kitchen on a ship, train or aircraft), cell blocks, training quarters, arboretum, and so on; we see the first mention of “conductors” - presumably people who manage the travel via the Anomaly Stone - and the most interesting part: there are cryo labs, and “Shepherd” is mentioned in relation to them. Like everyone else, I immediately thought about it being a way for Cadogan to be still alive. 

Because of that, I’m starting to revise my earlier theory about Cadogan being on Etherea (which I speculate to be the planet closest to the black hole, with the ‘slowest’ time) - but now I think that maybe some other people are there, who may be seen as enemies of the Disciples? 

The Skyring trio and Orlando

The first 3 episodes have had the “Previously on” spoken by different cast members (Eliza, Marie and Luisa), which I feel is going to happen throughout the season. But this is the first episode of season 7 with no “Previously on”.

Instead, the episode opened on Hope’s 7 minute backstory scene. If this was an earlier season and some of the main characters we’ve known from the start were involved, it would take at least an entire episode. But this scene was a really well done montage, with little dialogue and done through visuals and a well chosen song (”Hymn” by Joel Porter), representing 10 years that Hope spent on Sanctum, her budding relationship with a Disciple/prisoner Dev - the first male and only the third person she’s ever met in her life, who became something of a father figure for her, and the one who trained her to fight and taught her about Bardo. We have met Dev before - as a corpse, and it was easy to guess from the state he was in that he was killed by Disciples while letting Hope escape. We don’t know anything about his life before he was sent to Skyring for a 10 years sentence - such as, what he was punished for. Maybe Dev (who was Level 7) was never such a true believer as Orlando. And in that case, it would have been easier for him to decide to devote his life to helping this child find her family. Of course, family bonds forged that way - as the only two people, an adult taking care of a child who’s been left alone - must be incredibly strong. 

One of the reasons why this scene worked so well and created so much sympathy for a character we see for only a few minutes, is that it told a story similar to stories we have seen before with the main characters. It was a lot like Madi and Clarke, especially the part where the child was initially hostile and the adult had to break the ice (Clarke did it with a drawing of Madi, Dev ate the paint berries that aren’t good to eat - probably intentionally, since I think he must have heard Hope yelling he shouldn’t eat them - so Hope would take care of him). And Clarke’s relationship with Madi was, in itself, something that paralleled Bellamy’s pseudo-paternal relationship with his younger sister. Octavia’s relationship with Hope was also something that made her understand her brother better. And Dev was reminiscent of Bellamy, especially with the knife throwing scene, which is reminiscent of Bellamy and Charlotte. Except for the fact that Hope was not murderous - unlike Charlotte, who was already incredibly damaged. In fact, Hope not being able to kill, freezing and not joining the battle (unlike Madi, who was able to kill to save Clarke - but Madi had been taught to fight and defend herself against Flamekeepers as enemies) that she had been preparing for, was the reason why Dev got killed. 

We still need to see one final part of Hope’s backstory - what happened when she got to Bardo, how she found a “friend on the inside”, how she made a deal with Anders, why the Disciples have orders to kill her on sight. Until then, we don’t know if killing a Disciple to save Echo was the first time Hope has killed someone. But I think it probably was, because it was an important moment for her - a replay of her old trauma, with her not hesitating this time and being able to protect a friend she’s spent years with. Hope has been trying to be tough, but we already saw in 7x02 that there was a lot of vulnerability, insecurity and lack of experience behind that. Echo called her out on not being able to be a killer in 7x02. Based on her experience, Hope would probably agree with Echo’s mantra that “Hesitation is death” (which it was, for the original Echo and not for AshEcho). Her mother probably wouldn’t be too happy for her, since she wanted - pretty unrealistically, unless Hope was to live away from the human race - to keep her away from the kind of life she used to have. Diyoza even kept her past a secret from Hope - before Gabriel put a foot in his mouth in more ways than one and mentioned Diyoza’s past as a Navy SEAL and terrorist (or “freedom fighter”. PoTAto- poTAYto).

As it turns out, the main plot of the episode was a replay and ironic contrast to the opening scene. It was a bit weird that Hope suggested getting close to Orlando, saying “Trust me, I’ve done this before” - as if she had deliberately manipulated Dev to become close to her, which I really don’t think was the case. (I’d also say that it’s weird that Echo - a spy - was not the one thinking along these lines, but had to be convinced by Hope and Gabriel. But the show has always portrayed Echo as a fighter/assassin rather than an actual spy, who gets close to people and gathers intel.) Hope. Echo, Gabriel and Orlando spent 5 years together, and must have gotten at least somewhat close to each other and to him. He trained them, like Dev trained Hope. But they started to get close to him on purpose, as a part of their plan, pretending to be a happy family and hoping he would want to join in. Which proved right. Orlando also felt protective of Hope, like Dev, which they also used as bait. However, he realized he was being played - proving smarter and less gullible than they had assumed - but agreed to everything anyway, somewhat out of loneliness and desire for human contact and relationships (maybe the same kind he had on Bardo with the people he trained). Maybe he was hoping that he could influence them enough, just like they were hoping - or at least Gabriel was - to be able to change his mind and make him less devoted to his faith. Gabriel’s points about false gods and blind faith seemed to strike a chord, but he still stuck to his faith - maybe because this was all he had ever known.

But after 5 years together, at least some of the bonds must have been real. However, everyone kept their own agenda, and the prior bonds remained the strongest - including Orlando’s attachments to the Disciples he had trained. Echo’s main allegiance remains Bellamy, Hope hopes to save her mother and Aunty O, and Echo thinks that they are still not “his (Orlando’s) people”*.   It’s interesting that we saw these people spend time together on screen and get closer, with funny and warm moments, the kind we don’t often get in this show, but they do not seem to be a real family at the end - in contrast to Spacekru: with them, we were told multiple times hat they had become a close family unit, although we never saw that process on screen. So it would seem that bonding worked better during the 6 years of peace and boredom in space, than during the 5 years of peace and boredom on Skyring. (Or did it? I would argue that Spacekru being “close family” was never quite convincing and was only used as a plot device to create conflict between Bellamy and Clarke or Bellamy and Octavia, but that it’s the relationships that pre-dated the Ring that proved to be the strongest.)

* Out of the 4 people on Skyring, Gabriel is the only one doesn’t really seem to have any strong emotional attachments at the moment, after Josephine’s death, and is there apparently mostly for his scientific curiosity about the Anomaly. We only see Gabriel react emotionally when loses his temper, to the point of becoming physically violent to Orlando. (Which is in character - remember that he killed Eduardo in anger?)

Let’s talk a bit more about Echo.

One of the things that struck me about Echo’s interactions with Hope and Gabriel this season is that she has more chemistry with them than we have seen her have with anyone before, especially a lot more than she’s ever had with Bellamy, and that she’s also showing a lot more personality: we see her joking, showing some sass (I would think it’s the new writer - Niylah has also suddenly became sassy and made snarky remarks in this episode - but she’s also had those moments in 7x02), she is perceptive of Hope’s emotional states. Now to be fair, though she never really glued so well on screen with the Spacekru, we did see her joke around with Monty and banter with Murphy or Raven. But, since they have become an item, always becomes incredibly bland around Bellamy - as it his presence turns her into her role as a follower/soldier/servant. It’s not something that Bellamy does on purpose, it’s just the fact that Echo has picked him as her King and gravitates towards him that way. 

In 7x01, her own subconscious was telling her (just as it did in 6x02 during the red sun eclipse) that she needs Bellamy because she wouldn’t have anyone to follow without him, and questioned if her devotion to him is really about love, or about her need to have a purpose (reminding her that she was so loyal to Queen Nia that she betrayed “the man she now claims to love”). In that context, her single-minded focus on saving Bellamy (”I wouldn’t know what to do without him”) sounds less romantic and more unhealthy, something she needs to learn to grow out of. This is the second season in which she has a lot of interaction with a character whose main trait is blind faith and devotion to a master - in season 6 it was Jade, now it’s Orlando. Echo’s words to Orlando - “It must be hard to dedicate your whole life to something that may never come" sounds ominously like something that may apply to herself.

A comparison between Echo and Finn in season 2 has crossed my mind, but to make things clear - I don’t think their actions are similar. Finn became deranged and killed a lot of unarmed people for no reason; Echo is just being herself, once again, repeating old patterns. But the similarity is in the fact that they are obsessed - in a way that may not be too healthy - with saving a love interest, who may end up being not too happy about it. I don’t know if Echo’s actions at the end of this episode will be brought up between her and Bellamy and if he will learn about them - but the facts are that a) he has consistently shown he cares, loves, needs Clarke more and values her take on morality (or her at her best - because Clarke has not always stuck to it in the past, but has started off that way and has been trying to live by it since the end of season 5) as something he tries to live by, and b) he has been committed to “doing better” and not repeating old mistakes since season 4, while Echo is usually suggesting solutions based on killing and violence, which Bellamy almost always rejects, and Echo falls in line, because Bellamy is the leader.

But left to her own devices, even after spending 11 years in peace, whenever trouble arises, Echo tends to fall back to her upbringing by Azgeda and Queen Nia: “Hesitation is death”. While her circumstances have changed so much since season 4, she has remained fundamentally the same in many ways. It’s not that she doesn’t feel compassion (when she has to hurt someone she has some connection to - she looked sad when she was leaving Orlando. Just as she looked sad when she thought Octavia was dead and had to bring the news to Bellamy in S4), but that doesn’t change her fundamental belief in what should be done. Did she need to kill the four unconscious Disciples? That’s debatable. (It depends on whether you think they could have used the Anomaly Stone to jump back to Bardo - even if they had taken or destroyed all their suits - in time to catch Echo, Hope and Gabriel. But this possibility wasn’t even mentioned by Echo and the others.) What’s certain is that she thought she had to: she knew she had to leave Orlando, because he was too upset by the death of someone he had trained (even though, to be fair, Echo had told him something like that might happen); he could have told the Disciples about them; when there is a threat that can stop you, you must eliminate it. She only left Orlando alive because of their bond, but what she did was even worse as it made him commit suicide. 

Again, I don’t know if Orlando could have used the Anomaly Stone to jump to Bardo, or if he really would have had to spend years alone, again, as Gabriel assumed. But I think the main reason for his suicide was the fact that, because he had let himself trust these people - maybe out of loneliness - he had indirectly caused deaths of Disciples he had trained and cared about. In any case, the show managed to make this character sympathetic in such a short amount of screentime, and make his fate really tragic, in a dark twist after an episode that often felt lighthearted. (I felt really sorry for the guy - kudos to the actor, Darren Moore.) Echo, Gabriel and Hope did not anticipate this, so they will probably feel terrible when they find out. And Hope and Gabriel are responsible, too, because, in spite of their objections, they went along with it.

If Hope killing to save Echo was a replay of her trauma with a different outcome, Echo has replayed her own trauma with the same outcome: she had to kill her friend to save herself. And all she has learned from it is that she has to do the same, every time. Only, we can’t blame her for what she was forced to do to save her own life as an abused child. This time, however, she did not kill in self-defense or battle, but afterwards, when the Disciples were already unconscious. Her betrayal of Orlando also recalled her betrayal of Bellamy in season 3. She had not spent more than a tiny amount of time around Bellamy then, but he considered her a friend he could trust, and she used his trust and got people he cared about and people he felt responsible for killed, causing him to feel enormous guilt. 

Now, I’ve seen the argument that Echo doesn’t need redemption, because her story is about finding independence instead of being a follower. But it can be about both. Her story may not have so far been about “doing better” - although she has heard Monty’s message together with everyone else, and repeated the words “I guess it’s time to do better” during the battle in 6x13 (only after Bellamy has made his decision what to do). But that makes her stick like a sore thumb in a show where the last two seasons have been based on that idea - doing better, not repeating old mistakes. It means that she needs not just to find her independence, but to rethink her methods and world view. I don’t subscribe to the idea that being a follower absolves one of every responsibility for carrying out their master’s orders. The Nuremberg defense, “I was following orders”,is not considered a good defense in court. It’s even less so in terms of morality and personal responsibility. Now, it’s true that a lot of fans hate Echo and tend to judge her more harshly than the other characters - but at least a part of the reason for that is the fact that the show has done very little to have her face the consequences of her actions, as opposed to most of the other characters. Characters who held a similar view of “kill or be killed” have been reviled and killed off (Charles Pike says Hi). In the show, Bellamy has been called out on, physically punished, felt enormously guilty and had a long redemption arc for participating in the killing of an armed, experienced and dangerous army (who may not have been a threat, but it’s understandable why he and Pike considered them a threat), which was considered incredibly evil just because said warriors were killed while sleeping (which makes no sense, but OK) - even though he also was not in charge, Pike was. And Bellamy never used the “following orders” defense and instead felt responsible and did his best to change and do better. In season 5, he was the one who opposed to idea of killing Eligius prisoners who were in cryo sleep (while Echo, like Murphy, supported the idea). Echo has now killed Disciples while they were unconscious. Back in season 3, Echo facilitated and supported a mass murder of civilians done not because of any threat or misguided wish to protect her people, but as a part of a scheme to give her clan more political power. 

Now, it may be argued that Echo didn’t have a choice to disobey - but we later saw, throughout season 4, when Nia was dead and Echo did not have to answer to her, that Echo was still constantly opting for violence and killing as the first option, often as a preemptive strike: killing a leader from another clan for just opposing her plan in public, egging on Roan to kill Clarke and the rest of the Sky people, when they haven't done anything to her or Azgeda and they weren't threatening her or them, telling Roan they betrayed him, kidnapping Bellamy and killing another Arker who was captured with Bellamy - for no reason. She didn’t even need to kill Ryker in season 6, either, regardless of whether we think he deserved it or not. And we have never seen Echo renounce Queen Nia’s legacy (which, lest we forget, is the legacy of someone who practiced genocide - including killing children - and slavery.) In season 4, she was always telling Roan he should be more ruthless, more like his mother, and she was still repeating things learned from her in season 6.

There was a character on Agents of SHIELD that Echo reminds me of (I won’t say his name for spoilers, for AoS fans should easily guess who I mean). This character also had a very tragic backstory - traumatic childhood, abuse, an evil mentor who was emotionally abusive to them but conditioned them to be blindly loyal and commit all sorts of crimes out of that loyalty, career as a spy/assassin who gets close to people and betrays and kills, pathological need for a leader to give them orders, or for some sort of a purpose, a tendency to resolve problems with violence. This character had a passionate fanbase who argued that, as a victim of abuse, he deserved a second chance, but the writers and most of the fandom was adamant that it was not enough to absolve him of responsibility for his crimes as an adult. The 100 is a show that is much more likely to give characters second chances and redeem them. But it’s also a show that normally makes characters work for it. To make Echo the one exception to the rule and give her a get-out-of-jail free card, declaring she doesn’t need to be held personally responsible for her actions, and that she doesn’t need to work to change and do better, would be both inconsistent with the overall themes of the show. and a huge disservice to Echo as a character.

Clarke & co. at Sanctum

It’s kind of funny that, before this season of t100 started, people thought/were worried Bellamy would recklessly jump into the Anomaly after Octavia - but instead, he was taken, and everyone else is recklessly jumping into the Anomaly without knowing where exactly they'll end up. Immediately planet hopping without any supplies or suits with oxygen wasn’t the wisest decision! I was wondering, like many people, why they did not at least take the suits from the dead Disciples. But someone on Twitter has pointed out that the suits probably got damaged by the blast from the energy weapon Raven took from the dead Disciple, which makes it all make more sense. For the rest, I can explain it by the urgency of the situation - they knew that more Disciples would be coming soon. (And the urgency turned out to be very justified - as a Disciple turned off the Anomaly Stone shortly after.) And I have no problem believing that Clarke is that desperate to find Bellamy “her people”. 

..Who are we kidding? If it was just Octavia, Echo and Gabriel, she’d still want to save them, but I don’t think she’d be immediately hopping to another planet without knowing for sure if it’s even survivable, and without saying goodbye to Madi. Some people were bothered that Clarke’s choice wasn’t played more emotionally and that she didn’t specifically mention Bellamy - but I disagree, because this is nothing new. For so many seasons, we’ve seen Clarke talking only in terms of saving “her people” or “her friends” even when everyone knew that Bellamy was the one she’s most emotionally attached to by far. (Going back to season 2 and “You care about him” - “I care about all of them” - “But you worry about him more.) I don’t need this spelled out right now. Maybe the show could have immediately delved a bit deeper into everyone’s reasons for planet hopping, but maybe they didn’t need to because we hopefully will see more of their emotions in the upcoming episodes, especially when they get stuck on the ice planet with a really nice name that kind of means “Hell” or “Purgatory”.

I didn’t take their cavalier remarks like “why not” and “this planet sucks anyway” seriously. What makes a lot more sense is if Niylah mostly wants to save Octavia - since we know how devoted she is to her. Miller may in particular feel he owes Bellamy to save him now, since he did not in season 5, which he felt guilty for and apologized about. And maybe that argument he had with Jackson in the previous episode (aka a few hours earlier) opened some wounds from Blodreina days, since Miller reacted by saying he isn’t just a follower. For Jordan, I suppose it may be a chance to participate in the heroic adventures of the group he’s only heard stories about. Raven has all sorts of reasons,  from saving her friends, to her scientific curiosity and love of space-faring adventures, to the fact that a part of her would probably want to be as far away from Sanctum and ‘the scene of the crime’ right now. 

I certainly hope that we delve more into everyone’s emotions and psychology in upcoming episodes, especially Clarke’s. She tends to try to keep her emotions inside, until they explode (and she beats up Russell and burns down the palace), and this has especially been the case this season. The Bellamy-shaped hole In the show has affected her - she isn’t able to be fully vulnerable with anyone the way she was with him (as recently as their hug in the season 6 finale). In this episode, it felt like she was mostly seen from the outside - we can take a good guess how she feels because of her actions, but it feels like she is seen from other people’s POV - whether her friends’ or the Disciples. From Niylah (who knows her well) saying “of course she is” when people were surprised she would go and risk her safety and freedom and maybe life when she was told they have her people, to Captain Meredith saying their intel on her is “smart, brave, willing to risk her life, not willing to risk the lives of her friends” (that must have come from Bellamy’s and Octavia’s memories), to Jordan announcing “Ladies and gentlemen, Clarke Griffin has left the planet”. (She is, after all, a legend for him especially, he was raised on stories about her. Raven is another legend for him, so he announced her the same way “Ladies and gentlemen, Raven Reyes”.)

But let’s go back to the beginning. I’ve seen people criticize the episode for “not showing the moment they realized Bellamy and others were missing”. I don't know why anyone thinks they would have realized they were missing before. This episode takes place very soon after the end of the previous one. (Clarke even hadn’t seen Raven after she had been beaten up by Nikki.) Bellamy, Octavia, Echo and Gabriel have been gone for about a day and a half at this point. Maybe they would have wondered “when are they coming back?”, but I don’t think they would have seen a reason to be worried - before a foraging party found a dead body of an unknown person with a mysterious suit and helmet. Which was followed by the mysterious people showing up and asking to talk to Clarke.

Raven is haunted by guilt throughout this episode (which makes perfect sense to me, as she has never really had to deal with being directly responsible for deaths in this way, let alone of people she knows), including a hallucination of irradiated Hatch, and Lindsey’s acting was really good.I loved her conversation with Clarke, where Clarke gave her a simple advice, from her own experience, which says a lot about how she has been able to go on: you will not forget the faces of those you’ve killed (we’ve seen Clarke be haunted by hallucinations of Finn and see dead, irradiated Maya in her mindspace), but think of the faces of all the people you have saved. I’m looking forward to more of Clarke/Raven bonding in S7.

I know I sound like a broken record, but one character whose characterization I don’t know how to feel about is Jordan, because of the way the show has been skirting around the issue of whether he has been brainwashed or not. But that may just be me being influenced by the fact that so many people are arguing he is not brainwashed, just because he doesn’t believe in the divinity of the Primes. But 1) he has undergone the process, 2) become weirdly attached and close to his brainwasher Trey and the other ‘Devout’, 3) formed a strange attachment to Priya’s mind drive and started blaming people for her death - seemingly forgetting about his actual dead girlfriend Delilah and her death, 4) is hanging out with people who worship his girlfriend’s murderers, while seemingly paying no attention to her grieving parents, and 5) did a 180 from despising the Primes as murderers to defending their society as “peaceful” and “happy” and spouting similar Prime propaganda BS (which we had previously heard from Josephine), blaming Earthkru for destroying that fake paradise. He does it again here, in an off-hand comment (“before we screwed up”), which sounds like he blames his friends for... what? Not being OK with Clarke being murdered and bodysnatched and trying to save her? Apart from Madi - who was under Sheidheda’s influence - all the others did was try to save Clarke and try to save themselves from getting burned at the stake, while also trying not to kill people. And now, we see Jordan happily plan to save Clarke from getting captured and having her memory extracted, or Miller, Niylah and Gaia killed, by having Raven kill 8 people, which bothered her a lot (especially with her recent experience getting Hatch and 3 other people killed), but didn’t seem to bother Jordan. Now, I’m not saying it should - it’s defending your friends - but how can he do that and at the same time blame his friends for trying to save Clarke from a much worse situation? He’s like two completely different people when he is with the Devout or says anything about them or the Primes, and when he is away from them (when he suddenly stops being annoying and saying absurd things). Either he is showing consequences of brainwashing by the Devout, or he is a terribly written, inconsistent character.

I wish we had seen a scene between Jackson and Miller (which must have been deleted, going by the promo pictures), before Miller abruptly left. He probably didn’t know he would be going to another planet, but he knew he would be risking his life, so some sort of a goodbye could have taken place. At least, with the fact that Jackson was present when they discovered the body of the Disciple, at least someone in Sanctum has some idea what happened, now that Gaia got kidnapped and would not be able to go and tell Madi, Jackson and everyone what happened to Clarke, Miller, Raven, Jordan and Niylah, in addition to Bellamy, Echo, Octavia and Gabriel. But the people in Sanctum are still going to be wondering what happened to all those people (now including Gaia) who are just gone. 

Did Clarke get to take the note? It wasn’t clear in the episode itself. If she had it, I wonder what Orlando wrote in it and if this would give her more info or just be more confusing. If he just said something like, there were three of them, two women and one man, she could assume those were Bellamy, Octavia and Echo - but she was already finding Meredith’s info hard to believe and thought he was lying. Everyone thought Bellamy shoot the Disciple they found, because he was the only one with a gun - which Echo actually took in 7x01, before losing it in the trip to Skyring - but all that happened doesn’t sound like something he’d do.

As I expected since the trailer came out, Gaia offered to be the one to stay behind take care of Madi and warn the others. (The show had to build a friendship and trust between Clarke and her to make it believable that Clarke would feel Madi would be safe with her, and so people wouldn’t criticize Clarke too much for leaving. Not that this is helping much, since she’s already getting some criticism thrown at her in the Facebook group.) But her getting kidnapped by a Disciple means that 1) Madi would have to face Sheidheda without the help of her former Flamekeeper, 2) people in Sanctum would have far less idea of what’s going on, and 3) Clarke and co. had no idea about it when they left, thinking that their people are relatively safe in Sanctum. At least Gaia didn’t need to warn them about the Disciples coming for them - since the Disciple has deactivated the Anomaly Stone. So, now Sanctum is offline, too.

Where is everyone now?

Octavia was pulled back to Bardo at the end of 6x13 and we still haven’t seen her in the present

Bellamy was kidnapped and taken to Bardo in 7x01 and we haven’t seen him since

Diyoza was already on Bardo as a captive

Echo, Hope and Gabriel jumped to Bardo from Skyring

Gaia has been kidnapped by a Disciple and taken to another planet - maybe Bardo, but maybe not (and I’m not sure how the Disciple even could have taken her to Bardo, when the Anomaly Stone had been set to Nakara, and the Disciple just turned if off, as far as I could see?)

Clarke, Raven, Jordan, Miller and Niylah jumped to a random planet and ended up on Nakara, the ice planet

Murphy, Emori, Madi, Indra and Jackson remained on Sanctum, together with Russell!Sheidheda, broken Wonkru, about 400 of them (including the Sangedakru - who worship Sheidheda), angry and hurt Nikki and 31 other Eligius prisoners, the Devout who still worship Russell and the Primes, and the Children of Gabriel, who want him dead.

Timeline: The 100 writers are indeed bad at math, or aren’t too bothered about making the timeline fit, and this is also clear in this episode.

Meredith, during his first meeting with Clarke, only told her "Your people killed 3 of mine" and told her to hurry "Where your friends are, time runs much faster. Every second counts". Which sounded like he only knew what they did on Sanctum,  and made it sound like they were still on Skyring (I'm sure time runs faster on Bardo than on Sanctum, too, but the time differential is not as extreme, so "every second counts" is a bit too dramatic. They'd only be a few hours older if they were on Bardo.)  

Which only makes sense from the Doylist perspective - the writers didn't want the audience to be spoiled on what happens in the Skyring storyline. But it makes no sense from the Watsonian perspective - Meredith should already know that they killed 5 more of his people and jumped.  Because those 5 years were about 2 minutes on Sanctum - so, it all happened a day earlier, in the timeline of 7x01. Logically, Meredith and his team must have known everything and then have been sent to Sanctum.

Body count: The Disciples are really dying a lot this season: 3 in 7x01, and in this episode, 5 more killed on Skyring (1 by Hope, 4 by Echo), 8 including Meredith killed on Sanctum by Raven, Orlando (reportedly) committed suicide. 17 dead Disciples since the start of the season.

In the flashback - 4 Disciple dieds: Dev killed 2, was mortally wounded by a third, but managed to detonate a grenade and kill his killer.

Rating: 8.5

[spacesuitsforemergency]

The Rise Of Iron Maiden

Chapter 6: Whatever It Takes

Word Count: 3.1k

Originally Requested by: @amateurwriterbigdreamer

Previous Chapter: The Return Of Iron Maiden

Next Chapter: The Time Heist

A/N: this chapter was so fun to write, hope you enjoy! This is probably my favorite chapter so far

“Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating.” Dr. Banner pushes a plate forward. “Try some of that. Have some eggs.”

“I am so confused.” Scott stared in awe.

“Yeah...” you blink.

“These are confusing times.” Banner says seriously.

“Right. No, no, that's not what I meant.” Scott shook his head.

“What exactly is going on here?” Tye gestured to Banner...or...Hulk...Dr. Hulk...

“No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now.” Bruce says happily. You stare at his current form, somehow part Banner and part Hulk.

“Yeah! Wh...How? Why?” Scott stuttered.

“Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.” Bruce explained.

“No one blamed you, Bruce.” Natasha reassured him.

“I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds...” he motioned to himself.

“What is this Hannah Montana bullshit...?” You whisper to Tye as three children walk up behind Bruce...or Hulk.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?” The girl asks shyly.

“Yes?” Banner turned to face them.

“Can we get a photo?”

“100%, little person. Come on, step up.” He took off his glasses and held his phone out to Scott. “You mind?”

Scott nods and takes the picture, leaning over to give the phone back. “Don't you wanna grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man.” He offered. “They're Hulk fans, they don't know Ant-Man. Nobody does.”

“Wait, no, no, he feels bad. No, he wants you to...he wants to...” he turns to the kids, the boy shakes his head. “You want to take a picture with him, right?”

“Stranger Danger.” The other boy adds.

“He's even saying no he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it either.” Scott tried to shrug it off.

You and Tye cringed in second hand embarrassment as the scene unfolded in front of you, Natasha rolling her eyes and continuing to eat her breakfast.

“Anyways...” Tye muttered when the kids finally walk away.

“About what we were saying...” Steve added.

“Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise.” He shook his head as he turned back to face you guys.

“Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too.” Natasha smiled.

•

“Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the uhhh... the van thing.”

You stand with Banner and perfect the controls, Tye, Steve and Nat standing aside to let you two work.

“Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby.” You alert him.

“Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's.” Banner snickered. Everyone looks at him with concern.

“Excuse me?” Scott asked, panicked.

“He’s kidding!” Tye said, only half sure.

“You can’t say things like that.” Natasha laughs nervously.

“Yeah uh...just a bad joke. Scientist humor.” You reassure Scott, and he seems satisfied with your answer.

“You were kidding, right?” Natasha whispered to you two.

“I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is.” You shrug.

“We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?” Bruce sends a thumbs up to Scott.

“Perfectly not confusing.” Scott nodded sarcastically.

“Good luck, Scott. You’ve got this.” Steve called over to him.

“You're right. I do, Captain America.” Scott smiles proudly. Bruce presses a button, and Scott is sucked into the Quantum Realm. “On the count of three. 3...2...1!”

The Ant Man suit comes back, but inside of it is a teenager.

“Uh, guys? This...this doesn't feel right.” What you presumed was teenage Scott Lang, said worriedly.

“What is this?” Steve asked.

“Oh hell no.” Tye shook his head.

“What’s going on?” You ask Bruce as he fiddles with the controls.

“That...who is that?” Natasha asked.

“Hold on.” Bruce said, panicking.

“Is that Scott?” Natasha asked, lookingback and forth between the teenager and the scientists.

“Yes, it’s Scott!” Teenage Scott shouted.

He’s sucked in again, and when he reappears there’s an old man.

“Ow! My back!” Old Man Scott Lang groaned.

“What is this?” Steve repeated.

“Can I get a little space here?” Bruce shooed at them.

“Yeah yeah. Can you bring him back?” Steve persisted.

“I’m working on it!” Bruce nudged you aside, now taking full control of the panel. You step down, standing between Steve and Tye.

“For the love of the lord...” Tye pinched the bridge of his nose. “Obviously we’re working with a couple of geniuses.”

“Hey, this isn’t me.” You raise your hands in surrender, as another form of Scott appears.

“It’s a baby.” Steve blinked.

“It’s Scott!”

“As a baby!”

“He’ll grow.”

“Bring Scott back!”

“When I say kill the power, kill the power.” Bruce motioned for you to go to the generator.

“Oh god. Oh my god.” You mutter nervously, walking to the generator.

“And...kill it!”

You pull the lever, and everything shuts down. You sigh in relief when you finally see the normal Scott Lang.

“Oh thank god.” Natasha took a breath.

“Somebody peed my pants.” Scott blinked. “But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me...Or just "me" me.”

“Time travel!” Bruce cheered. You and Steve don’t say anything, Tye and Natasha give him an identical look of displeasure. “What? I see this as an absolute win!”

•

“Hey there, Iron Maiden.”

You turn to see your dad standing in the doorway of your old room, where you were currently searching for said Iron Maiden suit. You swear you left it in your closet before you left.

“What are you doing here?” You glare at your father.

“Thought you might want this.” Tony hands you a briefcase. You take it and slowly open it, seeing a polished up version of your suit.

“You...?”

“I’ve been doing some thinking and...you’re right.” Your dad admits. “This chance...it’s worth it.”

“So you’re going to help?” You ask hopefully.

“You seem desperate for it. Let me guess: he turned into a baby.”

“Yeah how did you...?”

“That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it.”

“You did.” You chuckle lightly.

“Oh, I did?” He winked playfully at you. “Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it. A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.”

“Like father like daughter.” You chuckle.

“We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And... maybe not die trying will be nice.” He negotiates.

“...sounds like a deal.” You agree. He reaches out to shake your hand, you grab it and pull him into a hug. He hugs for a moment before straightening up.

“Oh, and don’t parade that around. Pretend like you had it the whole time, I don’t have one for the whole team. We are getting the whole team, right?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You bet your ass we are.”

•

“Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and whatnot.” Rocket mutters as the truck arrives at New Asgard, which was in a small fishing town in Norway. You hop out, following them along the docks.

“Hey, have a little compassion, pal. First they've lost Asgard, then half the people. They're probably just happy to have a home.” Bruce tells him.

You were on your way to try to convince Thor to rejoin the team, so that you would have a better shot at succeeding. Tye was with Natasha to go get Clint, Rhodey was back preparing with Nebula, Tony, Natasha, Scott, and Steve.

A girl called Valkyrie points you in the direction of Thors residence, and you follow the raccoon and the Hulk into a house.

“What the...Woo! Something died in here.” Rocket grimaced at the smell, and you scrunched your nose up in disgust.

“Hello? Thor?” Bruce calls through the house.

“Are you here about the cable?” Thor calls from somewhere. Your jaw drops when you see him. He’s definitely...put on a few pounds.

“The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports were all kind of fuzzy.” Thor rambled on as he grabbed a beer.

“Thor?” You ask, and he turns to look at you.

“Boys! Y/N!” He cheered happily. “Oh my God! Its so to see you!” He then pulled Rocket into a hug. “Come here, you little rascal!”

“No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary.” Rocket pried himself away from Thor, dodging and standing on the other side of you.

“Hulk, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?” He gestured to a rock guy and some alien, playing...ew, Fortnite. Thank god Tye and Jaime weren’t here to witness this (they would probably physically fight them).

“Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously.” Korg then goes back to his game. “Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again.”

“NoobMaster.” Thor growled, as of spewing the name of his greatest enemy and grabbing the headset. “Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I am gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR BUTT!!! Oh, that's right. Yes, go cry to your father, you little weasel!”

“What is going on?” You whisper to the guys.

“We’re witnessing the human embodiment of the word ‘loser’.” Rocket muttered, Bruce lightly nudging him. “What?”

“Buddy, you alright?” Bruce ignores the non raccoon.

“Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?” Thor asked.

“You look like melted ice cream.” Rocket crossed his arms.

“So, what’s up?” Thor chuckled.

“We need your help. There might be a chance we could fix everything.” You explain.

“What, like the cable? Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks.”

“Like Thanos.” Bruce says softly.

Thor’s smile slowly fades, and he grabs Bruce’s shoulder. You watch as Thor goes through about a million emotions as Bruce reasons with him, explaining in proper detail why he should come.

“There’s beer on the ship.” Rocket finally adds, and that perks Thor’s attention.

“...what kind?”

•

“Drifting left. On the side there, Lebowski.” Tony says to Thor as he passes him, going up to Rocket, where Tye’s assisting him with building the glass platform. “Ratchet, how's it going?”

“It's Rocket. Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal.” Rocket points a wrench at him, before turning to Tye. “Alright kid, where’s that drill?”

Tony continued to strut down the hallway, finding you in a side room with Natasha, Rhodey, Scott, Bruce and Steve.

“Time travel suit? Not bad.” Rhodey admires your work.

“Scott, I made it close to your Ant Man suit so you don’t get confused.” You say slowly, as if he were a child.

“Yeah, Thanks.” Scott scoffed, before shrieking. “Hey, hey, hey! Easy, easy!”

“I’m being very careful!” Bruce insisted.

“No, you’re being very Hulky.” Scott sighs. “These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more.”

“Scott, calm down.” Rhodey said.

“You’ve got to chillax, man.” You nod.

“Sorry. We've got enough for one round trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus two test runs.” He waves around, and accidentally pressed a button. “One test run.”

You walk with him to the test chamber helping him prepare with Rocket, the others watching from a control panel.

“All right. I’m not ready for this.” Scott said shakily from his nerves.

“I’m game. I’ll do it.” Clint piped up. You and Rocket groan, since you just finished setting everything up for Scott.

You help Clint with the suit, telling him the controls while Rocket adjusts everything. Then, you step back to the control panel with the others.

“Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about it.” Bruce instructed.

“Wai-Wait a second, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know, and...” Rhodey made a hand gesture, suggesting that you strangle baby Thanos with a rope.

“Ooh, I like that plan.” Tye grinned, Rhodey also smiling and patting him on the shoulder proudly.

“First of all, that’s horrible...” Bruce said, disgusted at their joy from the idea of killing a child. “...And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future.”

“Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them... Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved.” Scott shrugged.

“Exactly!” Tye nodded.

“Bingo.” Clint piped up.

“That’s not how it works.” Nebula rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Well, that’s what I heard.” Clint shrugged.

“What? By who? Who told you that?” Bruce asked.

“Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time-“ Rhodey began to list.

“Star Trek, Donnie Darko, Men in Black III.” You added.

“Quantum Leap and Meet the Robinsons.” Scott said.

“A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time-“ Rhodey nodded.

“Hot Tub Time Machine. Butterfly Effect. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel.” Tye said, as if everyone was stupid for not knowing.

“Die Hard? No that’s not one...” Scott mumbled.

“This is known.” You say.

“I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future...” Bruce explained to everyone.

“Exactly.” Nebula nodded.

“So...Back To The Future's a bunch of bullshit?” Scott asked, horrified.

“So my childhoods been ruined.” Tye mumbled, to which you and Rhodey nodded in agreement.

“Alright, Clint. We're going in 3... 2... 1!” Bruce presses the button. You all watch in anticipation, then Bruce hits the button again.

Clint appears again, breathing heavily. Natasha rushes over to him, the rest of you circling him.

“Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, it worked. It worked.” Clint held up a baseball glove.

•

“You ready for this?” You ask Tye, playing with your food, too nervous to eat.

“No.” He laughed bitterly.

“At least we don’t have to help them track down the Stones.” You sigh. The Avengers were all racking their brains, trying to track them all down. Since you and Tye knew nothing about the Stones, you were excused from the meeting.

“Yeah. God forbid we use a couple brain cells.” He chuckled.

“What if we screw it up?” You ask after a few moments of silence.

“That’s what I’m worried about. We only have one shot to bring everyone back.” He sighed.

“Hopefully the one we’re assigned won’t be hard to get.” You kick your feet up and drape your legs across his lap.

“Please, as if anything with this job is easy.” Tye scoffed, shoving your legs off of him.

“I’m just happy to see everybody again. Did you notice Clint’s fresh cut?” You grinned.

“And the tattoos.” Tye nodded. “And Thor kinda...bulked up.”

“He plays Fortnite now.” You nod.

“Excuse me?” Tye raised an eyebrow, before pretending to gag.

“It’s...disturbing.” You giggle.

“Guys!” Scott ran into the room, a panicked look on his face. You and Tye stand, waiting for him to continue. “We got it.”

You both rush out to the room they’d been planning in, seeing the plans on the holographic screen. After they thoroughly explain the plan, everyone headed to bed for a good nights rest. Tye stays behind, eyes scanning the screens.

Jaime is counting on him, his best friend is counting on him to bring him back to life. You’re counting on him to bring back Eduardo and Peter. Scott and Clint’s counting on him to bring their families back. Steve is counting on him to bring Bucky back. Everyone’s counting on him to bring everyone back, and it terrifies him.

“What are you doing, kid?”

He looks over to see Natasha in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.

“Just...triple checking.” He mumbled, trying to slow his breathing and calm his nerves.

“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Natasha walked over to comfort her son. “You’ll be with Y/N, you know how she is. Nothing ever goes wrong with her around.”

“It went wrong on Titan.” He muttered, then shook his head. “It’s just...Jaime, he’s like my brother. I need to bring him back.”

“We will bring him back. We’re going to bring everyone back.” She reassured him.

“Thanks...mom.”

•

“All right. We have a plan. Six Stones, three teams. One shot.” Steve says as everyone suits up. “Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends...We lost family...We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes.” You all repeat, forming a circle and putting your fists in the middle. You look at everyone, each person has determination in their eyes.

“He's pretty good at that.” Rocket looked up at you.

“Right?” Scott said excitedly.

“All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green.” Tony told Bruce, who would be staying behind to make sure everything went smoothly on this end.

“Tractors engaged.” Bruce nodded.

“You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?” Rocket asks about his shrunken ship in Clint’s hand.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll do my best.” Clint nodded along.

“As promises go, that was pretty lame.” Rocket mumbled.

“See you in a minute.” Natasha smiles brightly at Clint and Tye.

“Good luck, mom.” Tye nodded.

And with that, you enter the Quantum Realm.

[itsclydebitches]

Something that really bugged me with E11, in regards to the revelation "oh holy shit Salem's coming in person with an army of Grimm to fucking obliterate Atlas and Mantle" and Ruby's naïve little speech about how "you can't be killed but you can still fail and be stopped." Like, does Ruby realize that in both instances where Salem "failed" – the incomplete destruction of Vale, and the defeat at Mistral – it wasn't Salem who was personally defeated? It was her subordinates. [1/10]

Yeah ranting! And such organized ranting too (I appreciate the numbering for me to get screenshots in order lol). Response below the cut!

Literally all of this though. 

Very glad the group is realizing that “defeating” Salem doesn’t necessarily mean killing her but, as said in my recap, wouldn’t it have been great if we could have seen that major revelation happening on screen? 

Meanwhile, the problem with chucking that revelation into this particular conversation is that (I’m a broken record here) these are two VERY DIFFERENT contexts. Ozpin’s “Holding her off is how we win” is in reference to the entirety of humanity across generations of time. RWBY’s “Holding you off is how we win” is in reference to one specific battle... which, as you say, presumably has Salem herself joining in. The reason why Ozpin’s stance has worked up until now is because all of Salem’s tools are defeatable even if she herself is not. You can capture/kill her subordinates. You can take the Maiden powers. You can hide a relic. You cannot, however, kill or capture or stop Salem herself. Not yet anyway. Because no one besides Ironwood has bothered to try and think up a way how. So Ruby is taking a broadly fantastic perspective and applying it to the ONE scenario where it doesn’t work. The second she heard Salem herself is (again, presumably) coming she should have seen the wisdom in at least considering Ironwood’s stance. Because you can’t win this battle. Based on the current information that is not a debatable claim, it’s straight up fact. Even if you capture Cinder and manage to kill every single one of Salem’s grimm---which is a hugely big “if”---you straight up cannot defeat Salem herself. She reminded them right in the office: time is on my side. She can stride into Mantle and just take out everyone at her leisure. You manage to obliterate her somehow? Give her five seconds and she’ll reform. Manage to hold her off for hours, days, even weeks? What does that matter to her? She is, as of right now, literally an unstoppable force so until the characters get any evidence that she’s bluffing about showing up the stance of, “We have to try!” is just straight up stupidity. You will die. Everyone else will die too. That’s just a given at this point in the series. 

Sorry I’m just really hung up on this lol. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE an underdog story, but this is so much more than that. This is the group looking at a literal immortal sorceress with a giant grimm army, coming to attack while they’re all exhausted and Ruby hasn’t managed to get her eyes to work twice now in as many hours. How exactly do they expect to achieve any outcome except for death? Which, to be clear, can also be a compelling setup. That’s 300′s story: death is inevitable so we’ll face it head on and go down fighting. But RWBY’s story isn’t complete yet. This isn’t the final hour where Salem wins, but we at least get to see the heroes give as good as they get before she does. So having your characters insist that there’s another way out of this---and then inevitably writing a horrendously convenient plot that illogically caters to that---is beyond frustrating. If they wanted a story where Ironwood truly abandons Mantle and is criticized for not doing everything he could, then they needed to not tell the characters that Salem herself is coming. Because that changes things from, “Ironwood isn’t willing to fight the hard fight to save others” to “Ironwood is the only one admitting that they are undeniably screwed, so get whoever you can out of dodge.” 

Willfully ignorant is really the right way to put it. Not just on Ruby’s part but the story’s too. RT ignores their own setups and then expects the audience to take that illogical change at face value. If you give me a villain who is that over powered, make her literally immortal, have an entire volume of the group freaking out over how impossible beating her is... don’t be surprised when that carries over just a few episodes later. You don’t get to build Salem up as an unbeatable threat and then turn around and have the heroes insist that she’s not actually unbeatable. You just have to try hard and never back down! Which, again, good mindset for this whole war, horrific mindset for a single battle where you’re risking an entire kingdom in the process. Yeah, they could have compromised. They could have immediately left to evacuate as much of Mantle as possible while Ironwood prepared (and then the story could do something to ensure that ultimately no one was actually abandoned if they want). But digging in their heels like this? I get that it’s the “right” thing to do, but as Pyrrha showed without a doubt, sometimes the “right” thing leads only to death. Which is fine when it’s just your own life on the line, but Team RWBY isn’t offering themselves up as sacrifices. They’re demanding that Ironwood offer everyone up as that sacrifice. They’re asking for an act of faith that is not only 100% illogical based on their knowledge of the situation, but something they haven’t even begun to earn from him yet. “Trust us to keep your kingdom safe from the literal immortal even though you couldn’t even trust us to share her immortality in the first place. Or keep one of your secrets. Or tell you about those choices until you’d backed us into a corner.” RWBYJNR hasn’t done a single thing this volume to earn Ironwood’s trust, so slamming in here with a, “Trust us to do the impossible” is wholly unearned. Which is sad because in a better written show I might have been able to get behind something like that. There are some heroes you have so much faith in that logic doesn’t even come into play. I know it’s “impossible” but I just have that level of trust that they’ll actually find a way. 

Team RWBY hasn’t earned that level of trust yet. Not from the viewer and definitely not from Ironwood. 

(As for the Salem question... literally just because it’s a story. If they had her act on her desires with her full power there would be zero hope for the heroes and then the story ends. But you’re right, rather than just announcing that Salem randomly prefers to stay on the sidelines, we should have gotten some reason for why that is. What’s our villain’s motivation? Why bother hanging back in a castle? Give us a reason for this very convenient setup and tell us more about Salem at the same time. Remember, her own actions don’t have to be entirely logical, they just have to be known by the audience. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, it’s a preferred headcanon of mine that Salem doesn’t attack because she doesn’t truly want to win. She doesn’t want to revert to a destroyed Remnant where she’s the only living thing again. But that’s still just a headcanon. The story itself hasn’t done any work to explain that glaring issue of, “If Salem is so powerful... why in the world hasn’t she just kicked everyone’s ass yet?”) 

[blackkudos]

Chaka Khan

Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer and songwriter. Her career has spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Khan received public attention for her vocals and image. Known as the "Queen of Funk", Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with "I Feel for You" in 1984. Khan has won ten Grammy Awards and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.

In the course of her solo career, Khan has achieved three gold singles, three gold albums and one platinum album with I Feel for You. With Rufus, she achieved four gold singles, four gold albums, and two platinum albums. She has collaborated with Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Guru, Chicago, De la Soul, Mary J. Blige, among others. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 65th most successful dance artist of all time. She was ranked at number 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. She has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; she was first nominated as member of Rufus in 2011.

Early life

Chaka Khan was born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23, 1953 into an artistic, bohemian household in Chicago, Illinois. The eldest of five children born to Charles Stevens and Sandra Coleman, she has described her father as a beatnik and her mother as "able to do anything." She was raised in the Hyde Park area, "an island in the middle of the madness" of Chicago's rough South Side housing projects. Her sister Yvonne later became a successful musician in her own right under the name Taka Boom. Her only brother, Mark, who formed the funk group Aurra, also became a successful musician. She has two other sisters, Zaheva Stevens and Tammy McCrary.

Khan was raised as a Catholic. She attended the elementary school of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park. She attributed her love of music to her grandmother, who introduced her to jazz as a child. Khan became a fan of rhythm and blues music as a preteen and at eleven formed a girl group, the Crystalettes, which included her sister Taka. In the late 1960s, Khan attended several civil rights rallies with her father's second wife, Connie, a strong supporter of the movement and joined the Black Panther Party after befriending a fellow member, activist and Chicago native Fred Hampton in 1967. Though many think that she was given the name Chaka while in the Panthers, she has made it clear that her name Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi was given to her at age 13 by a Yoruba Baba. In 1969, she left the Panthers and dropped out of high school, having attended Calumet High School and Kenwood High School (now Kenwood Academy). She began to perform in small groups around the Chicago area, first performing with Cash McCall's group Lyfe, which included her then-boyfriend Hassan Khan. Chaka and Hassan married in 1970.

She was asked to replace Baby Huey of Baby Huey & the Babysitters after Huey's death in 1970. The group disbanded a year later. While performing in local bands in 1972, Khan was spotted by two members of a new group called Rufus and soon won her position in the group (replacing rock n roll singer Paulette McWilliams). The group caught the attention of musician Ike Turner who flew them out to Los Angeles to record at his studio Bolic Sound in Inglewood, California. Turner wanted Khan to become an Ikette; she declined stating she was "really happy with Rufus. But Ike's attention was certainly a boost."

Career

1973–1978: Early career with Rufus

In 1973, Rufus signed with ABC Records and released their eponymous debut album. Despite their fiery rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Maybe Your Baby" from Wonder's acclaimed Talking Book and the modest success of the Chaka-led ballad "Whoever's Thrilling You (Is Killing Me)", the album failed to gain attention. That changed when Wonder himself collaborated with the group on a song he had written for Khan. That song, "Tell Me Something Good", became the group's breakthrough hit, reaching number-three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, later winning the group their first Grammy Award. The single's success and the subsequent follow-up, "You Got the Love", which peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, helped their second parent album, Rags to Rufus, go platinum, selling over a million copies. From 1974 to 1979, Rufus released six platinum-selling albums including Rufusized, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Ask Rufus, Street Player and Masterjam. Hits the group scored during this time included "Once You Get Started," "Sweet Thing," "Hollywood," "At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up)," and "Do You Love What You Feel."

The band gained a reputation as a live performing act, with Khan becoming the star attraction, thanks to her powerful vocals and stage attire—which sometimes included Native American garb and showing her midriff. Most of the band's material was written and produced by the band itself with few exceptions. Khan has also been noted for being an instrumentalist playing drums and bass; she also provided percussion during her tenure with Rufus. Most of her compositions were collaborations with guitarist Tony Maiden. Relations between Khan and the group, particularly between her and Andre Fischer, became stormy. Several members left with nearly every release. While Khan remained in the group, she signed a solo contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1978. While Khan was busy at work on solo material, Rufus released three albums without her participation including 1979's Numbers, 1980's Party 'Til You're Broke, and 1983's Seal in Red.

1978–1983: Early solo career and final years with Rufus

In 1978, Warner Bros. Records released Khan's solo debut album, which featured the crossover disco hit, "I'm Every Woman", written for her by singers-songwriters Ashford & Simpson. The success of the single helped the album go platinum, selling over a million copies. Khan also featured on Quincy Jones's hit, "Stuff Like That", also released in 1978, which also featured Ashford & Simpson as co-writers, along with Jones and several others. Ashford & Simpson performed with Khan on the song.

In 1979, Khan reunited with Rufus to collaborate on the Jones-produced Masterjam, which featured their hit "Do You Love What You Feel", which Khan sang with Tony Maiden. Despite her sometimes-acrimonious relationship with some of her bandmates, Khan and Maiden have maintained a friendship over the years. In 1979 she also dueted with Ry Cooder on his album Bop Till You Drop. In 1980, while Rufus released Party 'Til You're Broke, again without Khan, she released her second solo album, Naughty, which featured her on the cover with her six-year-old daughter Milini. The album yielded the disco hit "Clouds" and the R&B ballad "Papillon".

Also in 1980, Khan had a cameo appearance as a church choir soloist in The Blues Brothers starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Khan released two albums in 1981, the Rufus release, Camouflage and the solo album What Cha' Gonna Do for Me. The latter album went gold. The same year, Khan appeared on three tracks on Rick Wakeman's concept album 1984. In 1982, Khan issued two more solo albums, the jazz-oriented Echoes of an Era and a more funk/pop-oriented self-titled album Chaka Khan. The latter album's track, the jazz-inflected "Be Bop Medley", won Khan a Grammy and earned praise from jazz singer Betty Carter who loved Khan's vocal scatting in the song.

In 1983, following the release of Rufus's final studio album, Seal in Red, which did not feature Khan, the singer returned with Rufus on a live album, Stompin' at the Savoy - Live, which featured the studio single, "Ain't Nobody", which became the group's final charting success reaching number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B chart, while also reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom. Following this release, Rufus separated for good.

1984–1996: Solo success

In 1984, Khan released her sixth studio album, I Feel for You. The title track, the first single released, was originally written and recorded by Prince in 1979 and had also been recorded by The Pointer Sisters and Rebbie Jackson. Khan's version featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder and an introductory rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel. It became a million-selling smash in the U.S. and United Kingdom and helped to relaunch Khan's career. "I Feel for You" topped not only the U.S. R&B and dance charts, but achieved great success on the U.S. pop chart and reached No. 1 in the U.K. The song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1984 and remained on that chart for 26 weeks, well into 1985. Additionally, it hit No. 1 on the Cash Box chart. It was listed as Billboard′s No. 5 song for 1985 and netted Prince the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. In addition to the song's successful radio airplay and sales, a music video of Khan with breakdancers in an inner-city setting enjoyed heavy rotation on television and helped to solidify Khan's notoriety in popular culture.

Other singles that helped the I Feel For You album go platinum included "This is My Night" and the ballad "Through the Fire", the latter of which was also successful on the adult contemporary chart. Khan was featured in Steve Winwood's 1986 number-one hit, "Higher Love". That same year, a duet was planned with Robert Palmer for the song "Addicted To Love". However, her manager declined to release the duet, citing the desire to not have too much product from her in the marketplace at one time. She was still credited for the vocal arrangements in the album's liner notes, and the song became an international hit. Khan followed up the success of the I Feel For You album with 1986's Destiny and 1988's CK. Khan found more success in the late 1980s with a remix album, Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project, which reached the top ten on the British albums chart. As a result, she performed regularly in the U.K., where she maintained a strong fan base.

In 1990, she was a featured performer on another major hit when she collaborated with Ray Charles and Quincy Jones on a new jack swing cover of The Brothers Johnson's "I'll Be Good to You", which was featured on Jones's Back on the Block. The song reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart, later winning her and Ray Charles a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group. Khan returned with her first studio album in four years in 1992 with the release of The Woman I Am, which was a success due to the R&B songs "Love You All My Lifetime" and "You Can Make the Story Right".

Khan also contributed to soundtracks and worked on a follow-up to The Woman I Am she titled Dare You to Love Me, which was eventually shelved. In 1995, she and rapper Guru had a hit with the duet "Watch What You Say", in the U.K. That same year, she provided a contemporary R&B cover of the classic standard, "My Funny Valentine", for the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. In 1996, following the release of her greatest-hits album, Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1, Khan abruptly left Warner Bros. after stating the label had neglected her and failed to release Dare You to Love Me.

1998–2016

In 1998, Khan signed a contract with Prince's NPG Records label and issued Come 2 My House, followed by the single "Don't Talk 2 Strangers", a cover of a 1996 Prince song. She later went on a tour with Prince as a co-headlining act. In 2000, Khan departed NPG and she released her autobiography Chaka! Through The Fire in 2003. The following year she released her first jazz covers album in twenty-two years with 2004's ClassiKhan. She also covered "Little Wing" with Kenny Olson on the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Three years later, after signing with Burgundy Records, Khan released what many critics called a "comeback album" with Funk This, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & Big Jim Wright. The album featured the hit, "Angel", and the Mary J. Blige duet, "Disrespectful". The latter track went to number one on the U.S. dance singles chart, winning the singers a Grammy Award, while Funk This also won a Grammy for Best R&B Album. The album was also notable for Khan's covers of Dee Dee Warwick's "Foolish Fool" and Prince's "Sign o' the Times". In 2008, Khan participated in the Broadway adaptation of The Color Purple playing Ms. Sofia to Fantasia Barrino's Celie.

In December 2004, Chaka Khan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music during the inauguration of its president, Roger H. Brown.

In a 2008 interview Khan said that she, unlike other artists, felt very optimistic about the current changes in the recording industry, including music downloading. "I'm glad things are shifting and artists – not labels – are having more control over their art. My previous big record company (Warner Bros.) has vaults of my recordings that haven't seen the light of day that people need to hear. This includes Robert Palmer's original recording of 'Addicted to Love' – which they took my vocals off of! We are working on getting it (and other tracks) all back now." In 2009, Khan hit the road with singers Anastacia and Lulu for Here Come the Girls.

In 2009, Chaka was guest singer with the song "Alive" on jazz drummer Billy Cobham's album Drum ' n voice 3. In 2010, she contributed to vocals for Beverley Knight's "Soul Survivor", collaborated with Clay Aiken on a song for the kids show Phineas and Ferb, and performed two songs with Japanese singer Ai on Ai's latest album The Last Ai. Khan continues to perform to packed audiences both in her native United States and overseas.

On May 19, 2011, Khan was given the 2,440th Hollywood Walk of Fame star plaque on a section of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Her family was present when the singer accepted the honor, as was Stevie Wonder, who had written her breakout hit "Tell Me Something Good". On September 27, 2011, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame committee announced that Khan and her former band Rufus were jointly nominated for induction to the hall. It was the collective's first nomination 13 years after they were first eligible. The group were nominated partly due to Khan's own storied reputation, including her own solo career in conjunction with her years with Rufus. Recently, Khan rerecorded her song, "Super Life", under the title "Super Life: Fear Kills, Love Heals" with Eric Benet, Kelly Price, and Luke James in tribute to Trayvon Martin, a teenager who was killed on February 26. A number of celebrities also joined in the recording including Loretta Devine, Terry Crews, Eva Pigford, and reporter Kevin Frazier.

On December 6, 2012, Chaka Khan made a controversial decision to perform at a benefit for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The IDF originally invited Stevie Wonder, however after a successful lobbying campaign by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Wonder withdrew and was replaced by Khan who was able to raise $14 million for the IDF. This support contrasted with her earlier support for the Black Panther Party that publicly supported a Free Palestine.

On July 27, 2013, Khan was honored 40 years after signing her first recording contract with a ceremonial renaming of Blackstone Avenue between 50th and 51st street (where her former high school, Kenwood Academy, sits) as Chaka Khan Way and on July 28 the city declared the day Chaka Khan Day. She performed at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion on the 28th. In August 2014, Khan served as grand marshal at the 85th annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic in her hometown of Chicago.

On August 27, 2015, Khan was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 21 of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Keo Motsepe. Khan and Motsepe were the first couple eliminated from the competition on September 21, 2015.In July 2016, she canceled concert performances and entered rehab.

2018-present:

Hello Happiness

In June 2018 she released a new single called "Like Sugar", a collaboration with Major Lazer member Switch. She later went on to promote the single on the Ellen show. "Like Sugar" is included on her 2019 album Hello Happiness. The album was released on February 15, 2019 and is her first album in twelve years.

Khan served as Grand Marshal in the 2019 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 2019 in Pasadena, California.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Chaka Khan among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

In October 2019, Khan was an honoree at Variety's "Power of Women" luncheon for supporting Little Kids Rock. Other honorees were Mariah Carey, Jennifer Aniston, Brie Larson, Awkwafina, and Dana Walden.In November 2019, Khan collaborated with Ariana Grande on the song "Nobody" from the soundtrack Charlie's Angels.

In 2020, Khan competed in season 3 of The Masked Singer as Miss Monster. She was eliminated and unmasked in the third episode.

Khan was invited to sing the National Anthem at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. Her rendition has been heavily criticized on Twitter, comparing it to Fergie's rendition in 2018.

Personal life

Khan has been married twice and is the mother of two, daughter Indira Milini and son Damien Holland. Her first marriage was to Hassan Khan, in 1970, when she was 17, which ended in divorce a short time later. Milini's birth was the result of a relationship between Khan and Rahsaan Morris. Khan married her second husband, Richard Holland, in 1976. The marriage reportedly caused a rift between Khan and several members of Rufus, in particular, Andre Fischer. Holland wanted her to tone down her sexy stage image, but she refused. He filed for divorce in 1980, citing "irreconcilable differences." Khan dated a Chicago-area schoolteacher in the mid-1980s in the middle of her solo stardom. Following their separation, Khan moved to Europe, first settling in London, later buying a residence in Germany. She lived in Germany for a while "in a little village in the Rhine Valley" and also in Mannheim.

Khan is vegan, saying she adopted the diet to lose weight and combat high blood pressure and Type-2 diabetes. In the past, Khan struggled with drug abuse and alcoholism. Her drug use, which at times included cocaine and heroin, ended in the early 1990s. Khan had an on-and-off struggle with alcoholism until 2005, declaring herself sober. In 2006, her son Damien Holland was accused of murder after 17-year-old Christopher Bailey was shot to death. Khan testified on her son's behalf. Holland claimed the shooting was an accident. He was acquitted in the criminal trial and found liable in the civil suit. Though she sang at both the 2000 Democratic and Republican conventions, Khan says that she is more of a "Democratic-minded person".

Khan was featured in a 2013 episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories where she told the story of a shadow man who followed her on tour for years, until she met a guardian angel who admonished her to change her life or die.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

To date, Khan has won ten Grammy Awards, including two as a member of Rufus. She has received 22 Grammy Award nominations, including three as a member of Rufus.

Soul Train Awards

1998 Lena Horne Award (Career Achievement) (Recipient)

2009 Legends Award (Career Achievement) (Recipient)

United Negro College Fund Award

2011 UNCF: Award of Excellence (Recipient)

American Music Award nominations

To date, she has had four American Music Award nominations.

1985 Favorite Female Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Tina Turner)

1982 Favorite Female Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Stephanie Mills)

1981 Favorite Female Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Diana Ross)

SoulMusic Hall of Fame at SoulMusic.com

Inducted: Female Artist (December 2012)

UK Music Video Awards

2018 Best Color Grading in a Video: Like Sugar (won)

2018 Best Editing: Like Sugar (won)

Discography

Solo

Chaka (1978)

Naughty (1980)

What Cha' Gonna Do for Me (1981)

Chaka Khan (1982)

Echoes of an Era (1982)

I Feel for You (1984)

Destiny (1986)

ck (1988)

The Woman I Am (1992)

Come 2 My House (1998)

ClassiKhan (2004)

Funk This (2007)

Hello Happiness (2019)

With Rufus

Rufus (1973)

Rags to Rufus (1974)

Rufusized (1974)

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (1975)

Ask Rufus (1977)

Street Player (1978)

Masterjam (1979)

Camouflage (1981)

Stompin' at the Savoy – Live (1983)

As guest

All My Friends Are Here, So Blue - Arif Mardin feat. Chaka Khan & David Sanborn

[gaasaku-fanfests]

Monster Maiden

Title: Monster Maiden Author: scarletpom [pinch hitter]  Rating: T for adult themes Word Count: 7776 Summary: Sakura had recurrent nightmares that haunted her and now she would learn why. Who is this man and why does he remind me of the boy. Am I really his prey? Who is mother? Warnings: possessive behavior, mental illness, ptsd, trauma, gore, possible adult situations. Author's Note(s): My first public fiction so please be gentle. This is written mostly from Sakura's point of view. I chose the Chunin prompt, but I went a little on my own with it. My stories lead me where they want so I hope you will still enjoy! I worked really hard on this and I will probably write a sequel in the future! Also as reference I made the characters older in this story!

Prompt chosen: Chunnin exams [There’s more to it than that, but author-chan has taken some liberties, so it’s not 100% the same. Sorry.]

Partner: the-raging-demons

It was like most days, except today was the day of the chunin exams. I was really hoping for today to be that day I could take things a little easier. After all the sun was shining brightly and the birds were chirping away. It was a day where nothing in the world could go wrong, unless you’re me. Today would be the day I met my nightmare and remembered my past. I will start from the beginning. My name is Sakura Haruno here is my side of the story.

Kakashi Sensei only told us about the exams two days ago and expected an immediate answer. I couldn't help wondering what would be involved in these exams, I heard that ninja were coming from all over. Naruto and I were headed back from some last minute training, the written exams would start at 7pm tonight. They wanted to give any last minute travelers time to get into town. Of course Sasuke didn’t train with us, we were too behind in his eyes. I used to really like Sasuke, but he managed to wake up something in me long forgotten. I noticed Naruto was no longer following me as closely. Some kids were trying to get his attention.

“Naruto, you promised to play with us today!” Konohamaru fussed.

“I’m Sorry Konohamaru, but we have to take the exams now. I’ll hang with you later!”

“Naruto come on we need to go, I’m hungry.” I rolled my eyes.

The kids turned towards me.

“OH! You must be the boss’s girlfriend he was telling us about!”

Naruto twiddled his thumbs nervously. “Yea…..”

“Absolutely not his girlfriend!” I growled.

The kids glared at me now. “That’s ok she’s ugly anyway, boss!”

That’s when I snapped, I was so sick of stress today. We had been training for hours this morning and I didn’t need some kids reminding me of how awful I look after training all day. I chased both Naruto and the kids down the dirt road. My shoes kicked up the loose dirt behind me as I ran. The kids of course were laughing, I would show them. I wasn't really even sure what I was going to do when I finally caught up with them. I was mainly focused on telling off Naruto for giving children the wrong impression and possibly bad influence. Naruto was a troublemaker and Konohamaru was related to the Hokage, if he became trouble it would reflect on Naruto.

Suddenly I heard Konohamaru let out a yelp as I turned the corner to catch up. Some guy in all black with a cat like hood held him up by the collar. This guy was obviously from another village, he was accompanied by a girl in a purple two piece. They looked a few years older than our team.

“That hurt punk…” The hooded boy said.

“Kankuro… Don’t. Gaara will be here soon. You don't want to agitate him.” The girl looked nervous.

“I’ll finish with these kids before Gaara gets here, don’t worry so much Temari.”

“Hey I’m really sorry! This was my fault I was chasing them. We should have been more careful.” I was hoping to reason with this guy.

This Kankuro guy looked at me and smirked, “Sorry? Ok I will go easy on the kid I guess, but he still needs to respect his elders!”

He raised Konohamaru up and raised his other hand to smack him. Suddenly a voice came from nowhere.

“Kankuro… Don’t play with children… You are a disgrace to our village… I should really kill you…”

Kankuro looked like someone was holding a knife to his throat. I started to wonder if it was an overly strict Sensei, but I didn’t have long to wonder. A whirl of what appeared to be sand formed and then he was there. He was younger than the other two, wearing mostly all black with white and brown accents by sashes. On his back some sort of vase or gourd it looked very heavy but he didn’t seem affected. His presence carried something ominous and I noticed his black rimmed eyes. Does he not sleep I wondered. I must have been staring because he snapped towards me with a grin. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him, he was captivating. At the same time I didn't want him to come any closer to me. Like a memory… He reminded me of something I didn’t really understand at the time. Did he feel this way as well or is it just me. He caught my gaze for what seemed like forever. His eyes were teal blue and ice cold, was there even a soul behind those eyes?

Finally Gaara broke the gaze and stared at his company. “What are you two doing? We are supposed to be getting intel before the exams….”

“Gaara…. I had nothing to do with this foolishness” Temari was also just as nervous around this guy as Kankuro was.

“Just because you two are my siblings doesn't mean I won’t kill you without a second thought…. Don’t lose track of your instructions again”

“Siblings…” I didn't realize I actually spoke, it was only a thought.

The two older siblings looked even more panicked, someone was questioning Gaara’s logic. Gaara simply contorted his face in what he probably considered a smile. He took a step…. Wait… He’s walking towards me… I started to take a step back looking over to Naruto for support, but he was just as frozen as the others. Gaara was mere inches from me now and his aura was so cold and hateful. I was afraid he was going to reach out to touch me.

“Yes…. We are siblings…. From Suna village hidden in the Sand…. Here for the exams… A girl like you should count your blessings that I am too busy right now. For future reference when you show fear you represent prey. Unless you want to be prey to a man like me… or am I a predator?.... I will surely see you later I’m sure. Your adorable pink hair would be easy to spot in any crowd…. Heh heh..”

“I…. um sorry….”

“SO you do want to be my prey then…. I’ll give you time to rethink this again… For now…. KANKURO TEMARI we need to go….”

Just like that he seemed to disintegrate into sand, but it was obvious he was not far away. I could still feel his gaze. The other two accompanying him looked at me with concern and then peeled out of there. I suddenly felt like I had somehow entered into some unescapable hell. My heart was in my throat and I could barely breathe. It was reminding me of my nightmares I tried to forget. Trying to ground myself back to reality I began to take in my surroundings. The wind had picked up slightly bringing a cool breeze. I softly toed at the dirt under my feet.

Naruto reached out to steady me. “Sakura-Chan, Its ok. That guy was way out of line. As future Hokage…. I promise to beat the snot out of anyone that threatens my team. Especially someone as beautiful as you Sakura-Chan.”

I thanked Naruto and playfully pushed him away, but he still seemed concerned. That's when our raven haired teammate finally showed up. He looked agitated and slightly nervous.

“Really Sakura! I know you don’t like me anymore, but don’t go falling for the first brooding man you see! Is that your next love? I guess prey is a pet name? Some sort of behind closed doors thing?”

He’s still mad about our falling out, it was really hard on his ego. It was a year ago on my birthday when it happened. Sasuke had brought me a gift, but when I opened it I had a flashback. It was only a teddy bear, but all I could see was those beady eyes. I felt those cold lifeless doll eyes suck me in, When I looked up Sasuke was gone and there was a blurry boy figure maybe about six years old. His features I could not make out, but he was taller than me. The bear was now covered in blood, dripping crimson hate. I looked around desperately We were in a room filled with plush toys and the door was blocked off. I didn't want to play with him anymore. I wanted to go home, he thought his toys would console me. The boy was pushing this blood soaked bear towards me. This bear was so worn from being carried at all times, maybe he thought it would console me as it did him.

I suddenly pushed the bear and boy away, but it was only Sasuke. I was screaming for help, someone come save me. It was the first time the nightmares followed me in the day. I had run home crying that day and I never looked at Sasuke the same way again. Of course we were still teammates there was no changing that. I think it was a shock to him that day I snapped.

The boy in my hallucination was somewhat of my boogie man. I had nightmares of him ever since I can remember. The first night it happened was after I woke from surgery. I had to have reconstructive surgery on my wrist. The doctor and my parents told me I fell playing…. No it was  something else they were hiding. The x-ray showed my wrist was completely shattered. I can’t imagine a five year old playing in a way that would cause that. I gave up asking about it through the years, as my parents always chalked my nightmare up to an imaginary friend or a night terror.

Looking at the anger in Sasuke’s eyes now I realized how it must have felt. He was used to having everyone fawn all over him, but I was not going to be embarrassed by him either.

“Sasuke…. I have never seen that guy before…”

“That’s funny because I was watching… and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Just like how you used to look at me… You know what. Forget it. I should have figured you would meet someone as messed up as you.”

“SASUKE QUIT, Sakura is scared! Do you even care? If you were watching why didn’t you step in!” Naruto was fuming now.

“Naruto, you wouldn’t understand. Sakura likes them like that. She prefers someone dark and brooding and now apparently from a strange land…. I’m out. I’ll see you guys at the written exams…”

……..

Gaara POV

Sasuke stomped off growling obscenities under his breath, but the danger wasn’t too far away. Gaara was collecting his intel and had watched the whole scene. Sitting up in a tree hidden from view Gaara has been watching from behind Sakura. He was trying to get information on Sasuke, that raven boy was a threat. However now something distracted him… That word love… Could it be true? She had a familiarity to her. Gaara had heard stories of people believing in past lives or fate but he never really considered it himself. Who was this girl. I really could have easily ended her and her friends just now, but something else is there. I think that’s the closest I have gotten to anyone physically without them trying to run. People in this village don’t know what I am and I could easily interact. Yes she seemed nervous, but it wasn’t like the others. Yes…. I think I will definitely see that girl again whether she's ready or not.

Gaara slinked off his perch watching Sakura and Naruto walk off.

“We could follow the prey….. We can play… You are a growing boy… you should get at least three victims a day…. Or Mama can show you a new game we can play with her…. But for now Mama needs blood….”

Gaara gripped his forehead nodding to the voice echoing in his head. “Yes mother…. I’ll kill for you now. I want to play later though, lets spare the girl for now…”

“Of course Baby whatever you need to keep mama happy. This is a mutual benefit we share…”

Gaara quickly jumped from shadow to shadow looking for a victim, mother would give him what he wants if he kills. She would help bring everything he wanted and reward him for his offerings. It wasn’t long before Gaara spotted a target, it was another foreigner. He clasped his hands together and sand poured out of his gourd. The ninja looked just in time to see a wall of sand slam into him. Gaara raised his hand and with a flick of his wrist it was done. The sand absorbed the blood quickly and the remains were grinded into the ground.

“Is that enough for now Mother?...”

“Thank you baby…. I’ll tell you everything you need to get what you want. But Mommy needs to know…. Do you want to keep this one or will I taste her blood as well?....”

“I’m not sure mother…. I would like company but I feel she will run like the others…. Can you help me….”

“Mommy will tell you all you need….”

“That Sasuke sounded like he wanted her…. He said she wanted me though… I don’t understand…. But that boy Sasuke he is a threat to me in more ways than one. His blood will be especially sweet for you mother I promise.”

“Such a good son I have…. Mommy loves you….”

Gaara listened to the voice as he dissipated into the shadows once again, It spoke of ways to catch interest. Girls like to be rescued, to be protected, to be wanted. This girl would maybe like flowers or someone to hold her always. It sounded like a lot of work to Gaara who only ever cared for himself up till this point. However this was a chance in a lifetime to have interaction with someone else. If mother was right, he could easily lure her in. If he could get her alone no one could stop him, not even that bastard father of his. Gaara wasn’t really sure what he would do when he snatched her, but mother would give him instructions. For now it was time to get back to the inn his team was staying at. The first part of the test would be in a few hours and they had much to discuss.

…….

Back to Sakura

It would be another few hours before the exams so I decided to go home to rest. I was still feeling uneasy with everything that happened earlier. After getting cleaned up I collapsed on my bed and snuggled into the plush bedding. My room was on the second floor with a large window in which I always loved to watch the night sky. The walls were currently a rose color with the sun trying to hide behind the clouds. It was darker in my room then usual as if it was a warning…. I watched shadows cast from the trees dance along my walls from the wind. Was it going to storm tonight? I closed my eyes telling myself it was just for a moment, but then I was out.

……

I awoke in my bed, but I was so much smaller now. It was another nightmare…. He would come. I pulled the covers over my head as most children do to hide from monsters. I scooted back further into the covers until I bumped into something…. Small arms enclosed around my chest longingly.

“Are you really too tired to play? Maybe I can stay here and keep you company….”

This is the first time I ever recall hearing the boy speak to me, and the sensation of his grasp felt so real. I shut my eyes tight hoping he would leave, but he only pulled me closer.

“Sakura…. I’m not a bad guy…. It was an accident. Please play with me…. I promise I won’t do it again.” His grip started to become unbearably tight, and his nails dug into my flesh. I looked down but his small arms were replace by large claws. The claws were gripping from my chest to my sides tightly. The claws could probably easily close around my whole body completely.

I started to struggle in its grasp, but he kept pulling me closer. This boy started to cry out that if I kept up I would be punished. He warned me I had to be good and be his friend or Mama would be angry. All this information was flooding my senses at once, it felt like my body would be crushed any minute. Suddenly he let go and looked at me.

“Sakura…. You have to wake up now…. I’m sorry our memories haunt you. But the monster is coming now… The real monster… I hope you can forgive us…. Please wake up now….”

His voice was fading quickly. I wanted to reach out for him as tears ran down my cheek.

He was still there, but he became blurry once again. No voice only gurlges of what could have been growls. Suddenly I felt so alone and vulnerable. He told me I had to wake up? Something is coming I could hear a pounding in the distance…

“SAKURRA SAKURA!” BANG BANG

“You’re going to be late!!”

I jolted up from the sudden banging on the door, I was drenched in sweat. I had to go now.

……..

It was 6:30 pm and Naruto and Sasuke were waiting at the front door. Naruto was rather eager to start the test while Sasuke was as cool headed as ever. I quickly brushed my long pink hair and wiped the sweat off my face. Grabbing my ninja pouch I quickly dashed out of my room and met them downstairs. The first exam was being held at the ninja academy which was a few blocks down the road. I hadn’t been there since graduation and meeting Kakashi Sensei. Honestly it wasn’t all that long ago, but it felt almost like a school reunion.

As the three of us walked down the street I felt the cool wind blow past us. It was blowing towards us bringing crinkled leaves and loose soil with it. The moon was almost full at this point, but I think a blood moon was coming soon. Some say blood moons bring new chapters in your life. Others say they bring love, but I honestly felt a discomfort under the blood moon. I always felt like someone was watching me with it. I let out a sigh as we continued our pace for the academy. Both Naruto and Sasuke were quiet.

Finally the building came into view and we quickened our pace. I wanted to get inside and into the light as soon as possible. I was still uneasy with those words. The real monster is coming…. What does that even mean? Who is that boy? He seemed to know me when he spoke. His voice had a soothing nature unlike the growls I usually heard when I saw him.

The inside of the building seemed to be just as unsettling, but it was night time. A lot of the corridors were unlit. We finally made our way to the exam room, and it was packed wall to wall. My eyes quickly scanned around looking for any sign of trouble. Naruto and Sasuke started talking with some older looking ninja, I wasn’t interested so I hung back still scanning the room. Then I saw them, the three sand ninja were standing in the back of the room. It didn’t take long before Gaara noticed me looking his way. I quickly turned away when I saw him shift as if ready to walk my way. He didn’t seem as threatening at the moment, but rather more curious. His eyes were softer and he tried to smile? All I saw was his lips curl into some kind of creepy grin. I pushed past a few ninja to better conceal myself in the crowd, but I knew he could still see me.

……

The test itself was really only a stress test it turned out, they didn’t even grade it. Which was fine for me, because Naruto would have never been able to pass. Naruto even managed to prevent others from giving up with one of his speeches, he was really something else. The next proctor told us the next test would take place in another two days. The forest of death in which we would be running a survival and retrieval test. This proctor was more tough then she looked and when she snapped her orders it demanded attention.

Everybody filed out of the room quickly after we got new instructions. It must have been midnight now the sky was pitch black. The air had chilled and the cold nipped at my bare elbows. Sasuke and Naruto had quickly parted ways with me, they were both tired I was sure. It was only a few blocks back home anyway and there were alot of people outside. I raised my head and stiffened my shoulders. My pace was quick to get home and out of this darkness. Then to my excitement I ran into Ino.

“INO!!!”

“Pinky?”

Ino lived a few houses down from me, we had grown up together. She was somewhat of my role model as a child, but we had drifted apart over a stupid crush. Recently we became best friends again. She swears we never did drift, but I knew it was because she liked Sasuke. I was no longer competition for him.

Ino walked with me the rest of the way and it seemed like all the anxiety I had lifted. She was constantly talking whether it was gossip or her snip its of advice. She had probed me about why I had been more anxious recently. Then she dropped a bombshell on me.

“You know Sakura, Your probably just nervous because of that new guy. I heard Sasuke talk about it with some other guys. I think it’s awesome and I approve! I managed to get a look at him and you guys would look great together. I mean you are total opposites in almost every way, but I’m happy for you. So are you guys going to go steady? Maybe we could double date.”

I simply gaped at Ino, of all people she would know not to press this. I tried to explain it was an misunderstanding, but her desperation for gossip and possible double dates to hook in Sasuke kept her going. She was already planning the first date and I had no idea how to stop her. I tried to fuss again describing my irritation for being the focus of her plans. I wasn’t going to be pushed into something so suddenly. After all the exams would end and I would never see that Gaara guy again, but she continued.

“Sakura dont worry!! I have a friend who has a long distance relationship! They are doing great!”

There was no getting through to her right now, She was just as stubborn as I was.

“Hey!!!! Isn’t that him there?!” Ino gasped and stopped dead in her tracks.

Of course it was him standing in the shadows watching us walk by. I wanted to run and never look back. This was too much. Ino ran up to Gaara, who flinched at the sudden woman tumbling towards him. His face showed pure shock and I assumed that his village was probably more conservative. I know some places you are expected to keep to yourself and have strict mannerisms. Ino stopped mere inches from him and waved me over winking.

“You are Gaara right?! Sakura told me about you! She’s constantly talking about you!”

“WHAT? No Ino, No. I… I have to go… I have a lot to do.”

“Sakura wait!” Ino shouted.

I couldn’t believe her! How could she do that? I was almost home now and as far as I cared everyone could go screw themselves.

I finally reached my house and quickly entered slamming the door shut. My parents were asleep, but I didn’t care I was angry. I threw my ninja pouch on the floor watching it slide and pop open. It was late and time for sleep I thought. I’ll clear up the confusion tomorrow right? I walked to my room quickly, but my door…. It was already open. I always kept my door shut, I didn’t like people seeing inside. I stepped in the door and looked around as if waiting for the boy. No he wasn’t real. I turned on the light and immediately noticed on my nightstand…. A bouquet of roses, but they look like they had been manhandled. The flowers were missing several petals, were covered in bruises and tears. There was also a note on my pillow, but I really didn’t want to know who invaded my space. I felt sick to my stomach as it started churning as I started towards the bed. Shuffling my feet I felt it…. There was sand on my floor…. He had been here in my room…. He knew where I lived…. I quickly fell to my knees, this is worse than I feared. I had to talk to an adult and get help. This wasn’t like when Lee followed me, no this was serious. This guy was obviously overpowered and I managed to catch his attention. Am I really like prey? I wondered hoping the answer was no.

That night it was impossible to fall asleep as I kept feeling watched. I finally stopped tossing and turning and instead listened out for any sounds. I laid for what seems like hours when suddenly there it was. Someone was at the window, I could see a large figure behind the closed curtains illuminated by the moonlight. The window started to squeal with protest, Their trying to come in! I quietly crept off the bed and slid myself underneath scooting all the way against the wall.

The window finally gave to whatever was coming as I heard the thump of heavy feet. I held my breath as I heard the intruder grunt and move towards the center of the room. His walking made such a weird sound…. What is that? Scraping against the floor…. I managed to peek from the bed skirt and I saw it. He was a monster with a large sand claw enveloping the right side of his body. A large tail dragging behind him as well. I couldn’t see his face from the angle, but I could tell it was probably just as bad. His breathing was labored and he was pacing around like he was looking for something. He would let out a few grunts before finally sitting on the edge of the bed. I covered my mouth praying he wouldn’t hear me. His claw gripped the edge of the bed ripping into the underside of the mattress as if it was butter.

“She did not like the flowers…. But the blonde said she liked me…. Why isn’t she here MOTHER? You promised me!”

Mother? I thought who is he talking too?

Gaara continued his one sided conversation as he shifted his weight on the bed. The sand covering him was so heavy that the bed threatened to give out. I couldn’t imagine him finding me like this. Tears started to spill down my cheek as I muffled my cries. Suddenly I heard him jump up. Did he hear me? I began to panic.

“I can smell her tears MOTHER! I need to protect her yes? That’s what you said!” He was now quickly pacing again and sniffing the air.

Gaara slammed his claw knocking the closet door off the wall. He’s going to find me! I thought. He began knocking things over desperately as he looked for where the smell was originating. He turned back towards the bed and his claw reached to flip to bed…. No I can’t… Please…

“Sakura! It’s late what are you doing!” Her father was quickly running down the hall.

Gaara froze and quickly retreated out of the window. “I’ll be back Sakura…..”

My parents flipped when they saw the state of my room not sure what to think. Until I mentioned His name. Both of my parents froze with faces full of fear.

“No…. He couldn’t have come here…. He should have forgotten! It was so long ago!” My mother started to sob.

That night my parents finally told me everything. We had traveled to meet some friends of my dad’s in suna. I was so little and trusting, I wanted to be friends with everyone. My parents thought my new friend in suna was innocent enough, until the night I disappeared.

…..

Gaara was not a patient child and now that he found a friend he didn’t want to be apart.

It was easy enough to get to her as his sand could break any lock. This wasn’t the first time he snuck another kid home, but usually they never left alive. Sakura was different though, she wouldn’t try to leave him. She would stay and play with him forever. It was never his intention to scare his new friend when he whisked her off.

In his room they were safe he promised. No one could separate them, but she continued to cry. Sakura had been unconsolable at this point screaming for help. Gaara did the only thing he could think of. Grabbing his most prized possession, and handing it to her. It was the bear Yashamaru said his mother picked for him, but She only screamed louder ripping away from him. Now he was angry! The sand whipped out grabbing her wrist and twisted it till it shattered.

“I’m sorry! If you won’t stay with me then I can’t let you live!” Gaara had growled.

Sakura looked up at him finally hushing her wails to only quiet sobs. Gaara knew if she was afraid she would stay and listen to him. That night Gaara coddled her and held her close as if she would disappear reminding her she belonged to him. When morning came Yashamaru found the two and seemed calmer then what Sakura thought normal. What she didn’t realize was Yashamaru had saved her life by remaining calm, reacting negatively would have made Gaara dangerous.

Yashamaru had made them both breakfast and then sent Sakura go home to freshen up. As soon as Sakura had gotten home the phone rang, Yashamaru alerted her parents. They had to leave immediately.

…...

My parents admitted to convincing a Doctor to make me forget, they said the nightmares wouldn’t stop before hand. It was for my own sanity. Hearing all this information I wasn’t really sure what to think. All these years I was lied to about everything and now he was back. This time though I wasn’t sure He would be so gentle. My parents offered to send me to another village for the rest of the exams, but I couldn’t think now. I told them I needed some space and went back to my trashed room.

The next day came quickly and I was surprised to hear the doorbell at the crack of dawn. It was Kakashi Sensei, He was now aware of the situation. The next part of the exam was tomorrow, but Kakashi said I was exempted for the time being. Then he said something I didn’t care for.

“Sakura.. You know our village and Suna is in a very strained relationship. I’m not saying you have to go along with anything, but you need to realize that if the Hokage finds out he may suggest an arrangement…”

“At her age! She’s only 17!” My father snarled.

“She’s also a ninja and a tool for the village, meaning if necessary…..”

I cut him off. “I understand Sensei…. But I…. still want to be in the exams.”

“You can be in the one on one battles, but I don’t want you in this particular test. Especially since you are probably in emotional distress. It’s the most dangerous part of the test and I have already found a replacement for you.”

“Ok”

……..

I stayed away from not only my home, but also the other ninja over the next week. My parents had me stay with a relative until the actual battle exam. I spent most of the week mulling over my thoughts and looking over my shoulder. Then my aunt told me something that finally snapped me out of this mouse I became.

“Sakura…. You know being scared is ok, but You can’t change the future doing nothing. I could easily die tomorrow yes, but I can’t constantly worry. You need to make yourself happy and if that means running away. Do it…. I won’t turn you in.”

“I won’t leave…. You are right though…. I can’t change what happens tomorrow. Only how I live today.”

After that I finally started feeling more relaxed and started to go out again. I even tried to keep up with the results of the exams, there were bets so it was easy to get stats.

After a few days of quiet, a messenger knocked on the door.

“Is there a Sakura here? I have a letter for you.”

My Aunt didn’t seem to care for the messenger boy. “You aren’t my usual messenger….”

“I am here…” I said nervously.

“Ah… ok…. Here we go:

Dear Sakura,

I overheard your parents tell you about what happened. I knew you seemed familiar to me. Mother did not mean to scare you, She was over excited about my happiness. She wanted to help me, get you. When I heard your parents coming up I realized I probably scared you. I can’t exactly protect you from Myself or Mother, so I took a step back to analyze the situation. I’m sorry if I frightened you, but I’ve made my decision now.

Also I’m planning on killing that Sasuke guy, he said things about you I can’t forgive. Anyone who dares insult what I care for is doomed to a slow painful death. I am protective girls like that right?....

Signed Gaara

Wow, interesting guy…. Um ok here’s the letter…. I gotta go….” The messenger looked visibly ill after reading.

Wait Sasuke! I thought he’s still a friend and I can’t let Gaara kill him! I raced out the door before my Aunt could even react. I had to be sure to warn my friends about the letter.

Before I could make it very far though I tripped and fell but someone caught me. I started to apologize when I realized the person pulling me up was Gaara. He tried to smile again, but it was still coming across as a creepy grin.

“Girls like getting letters right?....”

“Wait…. What’s wrong with you? That’s it I don’t understand, but I’m getting angry.”

Gaara recoiled as if I had stabbed him. “I’m trying very hard why are you making this harder?..... I am following all the rules…. You should love me now…..”

“Love?.... I thought you wanted to…. Uh kill me….? You told me I was your prey and you have been stalking me like some kind of killer….”

“I am a killer…. I’m the monster my village fears, but I’m trying very hard. I have never worked so hard….”

“Please don’t kill my teammate…. Please don’t hurt anyone I know….”

“I can’t promise that….. I don’t make those decisions…”

Gaara reached out his hand as if it was some kind of compromise we were agreeing too.

“No…. I won’t let you in…. Unless you promise not to hurt my friends…. This is non negotiable. If you promise me I will maybe spend time with you… As a friend.”

“Only a friend?....”

“A friend…”

“Alright…... “ Gaara looked defeated.

“Hey, just friends isn’t bad…. I mean who knows in the future…” What am I saying I felt guilty inside. If his village did fear him I would imagine him being very lonely. I couldn’t lead him on either though. Too late the wheels were already turning in his head as he reached for my hand. He laced his fingers with mine, they were rough textured like sand?...

“Ok… I would like to have the future sooner though….” He ran his thumb over my palm.

I’m so screwed….

As promised I spent some time with him, we ended up going to the training grounds. We didn’t really talk much all he seemed to want was to be able to be close. He finally reminded me that the battles were coming soon and there was something I needed to know. He couldn’t tell me now, but it had to do with the villages treaty. I froze remembering what Kakashi had said. Have the Kages started bargaining already, but when Gaara saw my panic he caved.

“An invasion….”

I looked at him in shock as he continued. It was going to be started during his fight as he was the weapon of mass destruction. We are going to destroy your whole village, He said. I started to stand but he snagged my hand.

“I can not let you alert anyone now…. Even as… just friends.. You have to come with me now…” Everything started spinning as he was teleporting us somewhere.

…...

The next few days I had spent locked in that small rented hotel room. Gaara’s siblings would occasionally come to see us out of curiosity. Temari had brought things back for me sometimes during my captivity, like sweets or newspapers. They were afraid of their own younger brother, I couldn’t imagine being so feared even by family. The time I spent with Gaara I learned a lot I didn’t care for, his whole village sounded wretched. He killed many people, but it sounded like it started as self defense. I felt sad for him, all he wanted was someone to be there and maybe he could change…. I am going to be a healer… Maybe… I can help him. Gaara seemed to want to know everything about me, but he didn’t share as much of his life. The only pieces I got were that he was considered a monster and everyone was afraid. His own father tried to murder him several times. There was one thing I really should never have asked though.

“Gaara?.... I was wondering…. I heard you talk to someone before… You called them mother?”

“Yes…. Mother…. What about her?”

“Well… Um…. Does she talk to you often? Where is She? You must be very close…”

Shukaku chuckled in the back of Gaara’s mind.

“She’s always with me… She’s part of me and what people are afraid of… Mother promises not to hurt you though! I’m a good son and she wants me to be happy too.” Gaara began to fidget in place looking at me for a reaction.

“What do you mean? If she’s your mother she can’t be part of you? Why are people scared of your mother?”

“Do you want to meet her?..... I can show you, but not now…. The full moon will be coming soon on the day of the fights, I may not be able to hold her back then…. If she comes out you can not run away or you will make yourself look like prey… When I was at your home looking for you…. The monster part…. If you happened to see it…. That is her…. She promises not to hurt you, but she is also sometimes unpredictable. Promise me you won’t run away….”

“The claw I saw you with…. You are saying that is her?...”

“Mommy can explain if you let me out now sweetie….”

“Not now Mom! It’s not safe to let you take control here…”

“Is… She talking now….” I asked nervously.

“She says Hello…. Sakura….” Gaara responded nervously.

“Um… Hi, Gaara’s mom….” I wasn’t sure how to respond to this, but apparently this thing wanted to meet me now.

I was able to change the subject easily enough by asking him more about life in suna. Honestly though I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said. What was this thing that made him a monster, there was no way it was his mother.

At night while staying with him I came to realize he really did never sleep. Gaara might close his eyes and meditate, but he was never truly asleep. That is very bad for mental stability I thought, but it was reassuring knowing someone was there. The nightmares seemed to stop for the most part while I was with him. On the first night with him I woke to him bringing me in his arms, he said I had started to cry in my sleep. So here I am Sakura Haruno, feeling myself falling for a man who is not only dangerous and unstable, but possibly possessed. I wanted to know more about him as time went on, but the exams had finally come up again. Gaara told me they were the next morning, which meant things were about to change drastically.

……

I arrived to the stadium with Gaara and his team. I was instructed not to talk to anyone else and to stay with one of them at all times. Gaara held my hand tightly as we weaved through the crowded halls. There were so many people here that I didn’t even see what was coming.

Suddenly a hand snatched my shoulder. “Sakura where the HELL have you been! Why are you hanging out with him again? What happened to the team?” It was Sasuke and he was furiously pulling at me arm.

This did not sit well with Gaara and He went ballistic…..

“LET US KILL HIM…. He’s trying to take what is ours!!”

“......Don’t you touch…..” Gaara pulled me back and I noticed his right eye had changed!

His left eye had turned black with a gold iris and star patterns. Sasuke didn’t notice and tried to push Gaara out of the way, but he dodged and grabbed me. Gaara was pulling me now at full speed away from the crowds. I could hear Sasuke yelling as he was trying to keep up and behind him Gaara’s siblings followed suit. I couldn’t even focus my vision to see where we were headed. All I know is suddenly we were in the forest and finally stopped on a huge branch.

Gaara gripped his head as if in agony. “Mom please… Be careful around Sakura when you come out!”

“Gaara are you ok?....” I reached for him, but he pushed me away quickly as if hurt.

“Sakura…. She’s coming… Don’t run”

“Who is coming! You stupid prick!” Sasuke had managed to catch up to us now.

“You…… You screwed with the wrong person today….. You are my prey now Sasuke…. Ughhhhh!!!!”

Suddenly Gaara’s gourd started to reform around his body. I watched as the sand covered the right half of his body and face. A tail also sprouted from the bottom of the gourd to give him better balance. Gaara’s face was half gone replaced by this beast as sharp long fangs jutted over his lip dripping saliva. I couldn’t look away… This was not a mother… This was a… a… demon. I heard the stories before since I knew someone in our village had one, but I had never seen anything like this before.

Gaara took a leap towards Sasuke and slammed his large claw into him knocking him against a tree. I saw Temari and Kankuro finally catch up, but when they saw Gaara they froze. They would not come to help I thought, They are afraid of what he is becoming. I could hear his growls as Gaara waited for Sasuke to retaliate.

“What’s the Matter SASUKE! Aren’t you going to fight!?”

Sasuke finally appeared behind Gaara and used his fire style jutsu, but Gaara used the sand to block it and barreled towards him. Gaara had Sasuke pinned now and he was transforming more and more. Nothing was left of his face now, but the love kanji above his right eye. His body was also bulked up by the sand with only his lower legs showing through. This was not Gaara anymore this was Mother….. It was going to kill Sasuke and  I had to stop it. I watched as it held out it’s large claw and lept again…. I jumped in front of it. It was the most painful thing I ever felt in my life. I don’t really remember anything but the pain and his screaming. As soon as he realized he had hit me half of the sand fell away. He grabbed me in his one right claw and dashed away. I felt myself fade in and out of consciousness.

When I woke up he was there cradling me in his arm and claw. I had been bandaged with his white sashes. I looked up at him as he rocked us back and forth mumbling nonsense. I gripped at his chest tighter hoping he would relax, but he wasn’t ok now. I felt his tears drop on my head as well as what I could only imagine was saliva.

“Gaara….”

“No...no.. I’m sorry”

“I’m ok…. I’m not going anywhere… It hasn’t bled through the bandages, it’s not that severe.” I tried to sooth him.

“Why…. why did you get in the way….”

“You promised. Not to hurt my friends. I was making sure you could keep that promise.”

“Do you hate me….”

“No… Gaara you have been alone for so long. This isn’t your fault. Maybe I can help you.”

“The only thing that can fix my pain is Love Sakura….”

“I can try my best to love you Gaara….” I looked up at him nervously as he was still in this possessed mode.

Suddenly Gaara reached for my chin and brought his lips too mine, it was my first kiss ever. I thought I would be terrified as he kissed me, but he was so gentle. That was it, I was his now and there was no going back, but I’m not sure I would ever want to. The rest of the night Gaara held me protectively just like he had once held his prized teddy bear. After a few hours the sand finally fell away from his body and it was just us. We would be together forever now I thought as he kissed me again.

[merlinthoughts]

Season 1 Episode 4 - The Poisoned Chalice

- god fucking dammit here we go again, i'm bloody done with my life and do not, at all, want to see merlin die bc i don't remember anything except that, yeah, he dies and someone has to get off their ass and save the motherfucking day and kiss him

- i realise how much i swear in these posts bc 1. when do i not? 2. i'm emotionally invested 3. i have no other excuse i just like swearing

- AAAND NIMUEHS IN CAMELOT SHE THINKS SHE'S SO SLY WITH HER HEAD THING

- id recognise her in a split second tbfh, she aint subtle

- *heterosexual tension*

- merlins skin be looking so smooth this episode, this boy be wearing lots of Dove

- he looked so excited to be in the banquet, then arthur just fucking slashes him with “not quite” and his hopes and dreams are destroyed

- “wanna see what you’ll be wearing tonight?” arthur says as he's behind the fucking changing curtains, about to get undressed and show merlin his birthday suit

- i honest to god thought that was where he was going, but no, he was just getting something from behind it

- “tonight you’ll be wearing the official ceremonial robes of the servants of camelot” IT'S A FUCKING DRESS ISN'T IT

- aw damn id have preferred a dress

- that smile shared between them was the most adorable scene

- god

- i

- fucking

- love

- their

- smiles 

- sm

- best thing ive ever seen

- i mean… hunty look at that piece of glistening butter beauty

- wow ok back to the episode:

- bros being bros and giving each other a handshake to destroy the mortal enemy pack and put together a family, we stan.

- as if a servant who has only had eye sex with another servant ONCE would trust them enough to say that one of the chalices were poisoned. like??? “ur the only one i could tell” LMAO NO?

- she's a sly fucking dog tfbh

- “if he kills arthur, uthers soul will be broken and camelot will fall” at this rate uther prob wouldn't care if his son dies or not, look at him, he's already mentally broken. he has anxiety and paranoia over magic. child services where u at in the medieval ages?

- i wouldn't believe a word she said, or well, id have believed it was poisoned but id say yeah no damn way you aren't in on it if you know which one it is. bayard wouldn't tell a fucking servant.

- HE'S GONNA SNAP ISN'T HE

- MERLIN FUCKING SNAPPED

- yknow what we say here folks? U DO U MERLIN

- okay i was fine if uther made bayard drink it but like the moment uther said “mmmh… no.” and slowly turned to merlin i think my arteries just crunched together and died so

- “if it is poisoned, he’ll die” HE'S FUCKING SCARED MERLIN WILL PASS AWAY ISN'T HE?

- “it's fine” he says, then starts to fucking choke

- ah fuck he's down

- my boy is down

- FUCK ME SIDEWAYS WITH A CHAINSAW

- ARTHUR CROUCHES NEXT TO HIM LIKE “BB NO”

- lmfao bayard looks so shocked, his face is in disbelief and confusion, he's like who tf done me bad

- arthurs carrying merlin fireman style this is what i live for folks

- did like nobody notice the flower stuck on the inside of the cup? like honestly if you take a sip you’d kinda spot it or perhaps even the person pouring the drinks would have been “is this chamomile tea? no? then what the fuckery-doo is this leaf in here for?” yknow. it's like that scene in Matilda when the angry buff lady completely missed a fucking salamander in her cup when it was the size of her bloody hand. it brings out the same mood honestly

- does gaius have an index for these books or does he just have every page memorised and know exactly what page to go bc I FUCKING NEED THAT it would make bio so much easier if i knew what page it was on instead of looking back and forth from the homework sheet to my textbook, then closing it by accident and having to find the index again for that specific page i need

- arthur wants to fucking go on a life-or-death journey to save merlin i've never been so happy

- this is honestly my favourite episode, like it may be really fucking angsty but i love it so much

- arthur betrays his dad and leaves his room even after being told not to just so he can save a servants life is literally my new moto

- NO IT WON'T LOAD MY NETFLIX IS STUCK ON 99%

- okay so while i'm waiting for my shit to load, i just discovered the new fucking tumblr rule starting dec 17 and i'm like 0.2 inches away from just spamming NSFW pics on here just for laughs

- like hunty, that won't stop people from posting elsewhere or for thinking about sex bc like??? whatchu gonna do tumblr?? get the fbi to erase it from our minds

- i think nOT thot

- watch me get flagged for just using the fucking term “NSFW”

- i'm gonna end up asterisking everything (is asterisking a word? wow it has red under it so like probably not but i just added it to my dictionary so uhh it is now)

- by asterisking i dont mean furry kin shit ew no

- i mean like N*FW, s*x, t*mblr, m*rthur

- god it took me like 20 minutes to calibrate my fucking wifi and fix the connection problem

- wow the stage for the poison increased by 75% in 30 mins, damn

- merlins like like having a conniption on his bed lmao, chanting arthurs name and sweating lot

- do we ever find out how uther gets that scar bc i'm like 100% positive arthur was a little child and swayed his fucking sword too hard just as uther rounded the corner. the sword then collided into his fucking brain and destroyed a good part of his intelligence, targeting especially his morals on how to accept people and how to be a good father

- that’s my theory

- merlin starts talking enchantments in his sleep while gwens watching, and gaius is just there like wtf merlin ur blowing ur cover “oh! gwen!! uhhh sorry. he’s just... in a latin study group in his pastime and has an oral presentation in minutes”

- omg, nimueh, stfu

- i didn't know dinosaurs existed back then, this reptile be whack

- y’know what's funny? ppl thinking dinosaurs didn’t exist. i find creationism very very very intriguing bc how fucking stupid could you be

- that sword throw was faker than my moms tits

- arthur could have done better

- k but like what if merlin’s hand wasn’t under the covers? like he was just throwing that blue ball around right in front of gwen

- can arthur like not hear her? nimuehs literally enchanting the rocks right behind his ear lobes and arthur acts nothing of it until those said rocks collapse and he gasps and suddenly he realises shes evil

- also his fucking hair in this scene looks glorious. perhaps bc it's pushed back rather than his bowl cut, but its doing things to my abdomen

- i thought for a second she was pulling off her mask to say “nimueh” and arthur was gasping bc he only recognised her after her hair was shown, just like in that scene with joker and harvey in the hospital

- OH RIGHT THE SPIDERS I LIKE COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THOSE SONS OF A GUNS

- i’d be dead if those spiders came crawling up to eat me lmfao

- k so nimueh went from :) to >:D in half a second

- i'm smelling up those symbolisms, boys

- watch out pals cause here are some of them:

- merlin is the LIGHT of arthur’s life

- he LIGHTS up the party

- he gives arthur a BRIGHTER future

- he's the GUIDE for his path

- hahhahahaha

- i'm serious when i say i have a huge fear of insects (spiders count in that too, no discrimination) so i'm just putting that there, saying to yall id be fucking terrified

- gaius would be so confused, like we don't see his face here but merlins close-up sweaty concentrated frown, but he’s literally just screaming “ARTHUR!!” “FASTERRR!!” “YESS!!” “CLIMB!!!” gaius would be looking like he walked into something he wasn't supposed to. prob thinking he should just let the kid die so he doesn’t have to deal with this shit anymore

- UTHER LOCKED HIS SON AWAY I'M FUCKING QUESTIONING HIS PARENTING SKILLS

- that's grounding???? throwing ur child in prison???

- yes 999 can i have child services on his ass

- gwens so smart honestly i love her

- pretending to be a maiden for the food, god what a queen

- arthur buying it and saying “yuck you say this is food?! disgustang!”

- the fact that i misspelled disgusting but it autocorrected to disgustang (which is originally what i wanted but autocorrect shouldn’t have known) makes me consider if i should really check my dictionary…. who knows what words are on there

- they’re so smart

- and then this fucker ruins it all while eating his food, checking her out and saying yeah arthurs a prick, hyuck hyuck, realising only that wait fuck u aint the maiden

- how’d they know GWEN was the one not supposed to have delivered the food, what if it was that chick right there???

- welll….. maybe it's because gwen took her sweet time up those steps, staring as if she couldn’t blink at the guards below

- i forget what happens at the end of this episode besides the kiss, and there's like 9 minutes left my fingers may rot at this point

- wake him up! wake him up!

- OH WAIT HE DOESN'T FUCKING WAKE UP DOES HE AND EVERYONE PANICS

- YEAH OKAY I'M SEEING THAT NOW

- MERLIN STOPPED BREATHING

- LMAO GWEN IS IN TEARS

- “HE'S DEAD” SHE SAYS

- ARTHUR BB COME IN HERE TO KISS UR HUBBY ALIVE

- OH WAIT UR IN FUCKING PRISON

- WAIT UP, HE'S ALIVE AND SHE KISSES HIM AFTERWARDS????

- FUCK ME I THOUGHT FOR THE WHOLE EPISODE THE KISS HAPPENED BC HE COULDN'T WAKE UP THAT'S FUCKING WITH ME I DIDN'T KNOW

- i keep forgetting to switch up the cap locks, sorry if it seems im screaming im legit using my inside voice for most of the time just emphasizing my words a little more

- goddamn, everytime they say mercia i just think of “murica”, like those americans on the 7th of july or whatever date the “we love our country” day is, chanting it as they throw around beers and fireworks as people gather round in jerseys or crop tops

- it's not that hard to spot the european on here

- the most celebrated holiday here which contains a lot of beers and big pub gatherings (besides every fucking night honestly) is either new years, lowkey stereotypically correct saint patricks, and ig easter monday but that's more for the kiddos

- i mean ofc christmas and all that shit but im not the most devoted christian, i just like presents and small gatherings among good friends

- wow okay it wasn't the 7th of july

- i mean at first i looked up “USA day” (i couldn’t remember the name) and it popped up today’s date, and i was like no thats not it at all. dec?? its in like july i think. and i was close! it was july 4th.

- uther damn knows it's nimueh!!!

- i mean, he just overheard morgana and arthur talk about it, and initiated himself into a convo about it once morgana left, as his sneaky ass just slithered up like “hey man, u know that woman? yeah uhh, what she say? anything about me? no? k i know who it is tho”

- i thought he was going to apologize or like explain to arthur what's the sitch, but he just waits for five whole seconds before saying. “those who practice magic know only evil. they despise and seek to destroy goodness wherever they find it.”

- arthur, confused: sounds as if you know her

- uther, walking away: i do

- arthur:

- wow k lots of fucking quotes here cause it's the merthur reunion

- get ready babs

- arthur: still alive then?

- merlin: oh yes, just about… i understand i have you to thank for that

- arthur, leaning on the chair merlin is sitting in, stifling a smile: ah it's nothing, a half-decent servant is hard to come by. i was only dropping by to make sure you’re alright… i.... expect you to be back to work tomorrow

- merlin, watching arthur as he slightly walks away having embarrassed himself: arthur... thank you

- arthur, slowly: you too

- they stare for like 5 whole seconds

- arthur, uncomfortable: well… get some rest

- there we go folks: my eulogy.

- hope someone reads it at my funeral

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: A Week's Worth Of Pokémon Episodes That Are Perfect For Halloween

  I love Halloween and I love Pokémon, and they're both things that I somehow manage to enjoy more every year. I don't know how that's possible. Nine-year-old Daniel, watching the Pokémon anime at, like, 6:30 AM on UPN Channel 14, going to school, and then coming home to dress up as the Frankenstein monster and go trick-or-treating should've been the pinnacle of these combined interests. But they're not. Think you're a fan of Pokémon, fourth grade Daniel? Name 152. 

  So to celebrate both of them, I tried to find some especially spooky anime episodes, a quest that took me roughly six seconds. Because shortly after Ash Ketchum and pals escape the wrecked SS Anne and run into an island of giant robot monsters (a three-episode arc that's actually really, really good)  they go through a stretch of seven straight episodes that are either horror-themed, sad, or include some kind of really thrilling, Halloween-appropriate element. So if you find yourself with some spare time in the days before Halloween, bask in the horrific glory of ...

  "Tentacool & Tentacruel"

    It's pretty clear why this is the start of the list — it's the closest thing the series has gotten to a giant monster movie. They've flirted with tropes of the genre before. The "Mystery at the Lighthouse" episode with the giant Dragonite was based on Ray Bradbury's short story "The Fog Horn," which was adapted into 1952's The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. The success of Beast helped spur Toho Studio's decision to make 1954's Godzilla. Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri was partially inspired by Godzilla. It's all connected! But in this episode, the threat of environmental destruction leads to a giant Tentacruel wrecking a city. It's basically Mothra, except with a PokeRap at the end.

  "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak"

    An ancient mystery surrounding a tragic young lover? A spirit that haunts and bewitches in equal measure? A monstrous ghost no one can seem to stop? "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak" is one of my favorite episodes ever because it takes the "What's this week's new Pokémon?" format and does something really interesting with it. Also, it has Venustoise, the combined form of Blastoise and Venusaur. I told all my friends in elementary school that if they raised up Blastoise and Venusaur to level 100 in Red/Blue and put them at the front of their party and traveled to the top of Pokémon Tower, they'd get a Venustoise. One believed me, and afterward, he never talked to me again. 

  "Bye Bye Butterfree"

    Not a horror-themed episode, but a horribly sad episode. I wrote a whole article about this one, just in case you need 800 words based around feeling really bad about large friendship bugs. 

  "Abra and the Psychic Showdown"

    The lead-up to Sabrina in the original games is full of creepy and frustrating moments. You go through the Team Rocket Hideout under Celadon Game Corner and are treated to so, so many spinning tiles. Then you go to Pokémon Tower, where you find hundreds of graves and Channelers shriek at you about ghosts and curses. You go to Silph Co. and deal with dozens of teleportation squares which, if I didn't have the strategy guide back then, I'd still be trying to navigate. Then you find Sabrina through even more teleportation squares. Luckily, she has a team of Psychic Pokémon ... which were only weak to Bug-Type moves and nearly every Bug Type move in Generation 1 was terrible. 

  Well, the anime saw this and decided to go further. In that universe, Sabrina is a deadly Psychic who also has amazingly powerful monsters, holds a living doll of her former self, and has turned her mother into a doll. She traps Ash, Misty, and Brock in a giant fake town and tries to murder them. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, this show is great. 

  "The Tower of Terror"

    In this episode, Ash gets knocked unconscious and his spirit is pulled from his body by ghosts and it's still somehow far more lighthearted than the Sabrina episode that just happened. 

  "Haunter vs Kadabra"

    In this episode, Misty and Brock are transformed into dolls and it's revealed that Sabrina turned her mom into a doll too. Also, the conflict between her and her parents (the one that led to the mom getting transformed and her dad basically fleeing from her) caused her to manifest another personality — that of the creepy little girl doll she carries around. It's a pretty cool three-episode arc, especially if you've been watching the Insidious or Conjuring films and think they'd be better with Pikachu in them.

  "Primeape Goes Bananas"

    Yes, this is the episode with Brock's infamous donuts. And yes, this episode isn't really as horror-themed as most of the others on this list. But Primeape beating his way through everyone's Pokémon as both Ash's group and Team Rocket try to stop it is pretty rad. It reminds me of whenever X-Men cartoons would base an episode around Juggernaut, which meant that 90 percent of the show would consist of good guys trying in vain to punch a giant in red armor, only to be slammed into the pavement. Anyway, I really like it and I'm sad that Ash gave his Primeape away about four episodes later. 

  There you have it — seven straight episodes of Pokémon that are perfect for Halloween or, well, any time. Watch 'em in October or November or next February. Who cares? It's always Pokémon o'clock around here. 

  I wanna know what your favorite Ghost Type Pokémon is! Let me know in the comments!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[thisaintascenereviews]

The End Of The Year 2017 Part III: Top 20 Metal Albums Of 2017As I promised, the next list that I wanted to focus on is my top twenty favorite metal albums of the year. Metal is a genre that I’ve only been into for the last few years now, but the year has been so great for metal, I wanted to dedicate a separate list to it, so these are a ton of metal albums that I’ve been into all year.

20. Unleash The Archers – Apex 19. Iced Earth – Incorruptible 18. Kublai Khan – Nomad 17. Origin – Unparalleled Universe 16. ABHORRENT DECIMATION – The Pardoner 15. Suffocation - …Of The Darkest Light 14. Accept – The Rise Of Chaos 13. Thy Art Is Murder – Dear Desolation 12. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic 11. Aethere – Adrift

10.  Through The Eyes Of The Dead – Disomus

Okay, I’m going to be honest, a lot of my favorite metal albums of this year, at least in the top ten, are death metal albums. I got a few exceptions, but death metal has my heart. If you looked, though, I’ve got power metal, hardcore, deathcore, metalcore, and stuff like that in the back half, but the top half has mainly death metal, because that’s what I love most. That’s what this album is, but it’s an interesting one. This is the comeback album from deathcore band Through The Eyes Of The Dead. I wonder if they got their name from Cannibal Corpse’s “Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead,” off 1994’s The Bleeding, because that would make sense, and it’s a kickass album. Anyway, this is their first album, entitled Disomus, in about seven years. This LP took me slightly by surprise, because they went more into a melodic death metal sound here. From what I’ve heard, one of their albums went more into a melo-death sound, but the album I’ve heard, which is the one before this, 2010’s Skepsis, was a back to basics deathcore album, so it’s interesting that they’d throw more of a melo-death sound into the mix, but it works. The only issue I have with this record is that they do throw in some breakdowns here and there, and I don’t think it works 100% well, just because they could have easily just made the leap to a melo-death band again, but it’s only a nitpick, since this LP still kicks a lot of ass.

9. Arkaik – Nemethia

See what I mean? We got another death metal album here, and there’s not a whole lot that I have to say about this one, because Arkaik’s Nemethia, is merely a generic tech-death album that’s just pretty damn good. I picked this up after hearing about them, and I definitely am a fan of tech-death (I love these death metal bands that take things to the extreme even further than what was already perceived as the extreme; I feel like someone like Chuck Schuldiner from Death would be pleased at how technical and complex death metal has become over the years. Arkaik is another one of those bands, and while they’re not a super unique band, they do what they do well, and that’s why I put it here. If you’re expecting some insane and deep meaning as to why I love this album, you won’t get it, because this album just kicks a lot of ass.

8. Incendiary – Thousand Mile Stare

I mentioned that I have some other types of albums here, too, not just death metal, and metallic hardcore band Incendiary’s new album, Thousand Mile Stare is here. Yeah, I’m sure I’ll get some, “Well, this isn’t real metal” comments, but I didn’t feel right putting this, a metallic hardcore album, with the non-metal albums, because it’s heavy, brutal, and a pummeling assault of hardcore with metal riffage. This LP is great, regardless, because it’s the kind of metallic hardcore that I love. It’s energetic, pummeling, bone-crushing, and interesting, as well as poignant and relevant with its lyricism. This LP is more on the angry side of political lyricism, but with the music itself, I don’t mind that, because it works. This thing isn’t a unique album, either, but I’ll be damned if it’s not an album that’s executed perfectly. I absolutely love this thing, and if you want to get into metallic hardcore, this is a great album to start with, because you’ll be able to get the gist of what the genre has to offer. I can’t say this album is super amazing, or that it’s like the most unique or revolutionary on this list, but that’s not something I really, really look for anymore. A lot of those albums can definitely make the cut, but for me, it’s what I’ve been coming back to most. If an album kicks a lot of ass, and is awesome, no matter how unique the sound is, I’ll talk about it, and this is one of those albums. I loved when I first heard it, back in June, and I love it now.

7. GUTSLIT – Amputheatre

Talk about an album that just kicks ass. I came across GUTSLIT while looking on Facebook, because another band that I’m really into, deathgrind band Logistic Slaughter, talked about them, and their new LP, Amputheatre, so I had to check it out. Goddamn, I’m glad I did, because this is some top notch deathgrind. I got into deathgrind last year, thanks to the band Aborted, and how much I freaking loved their last LP, Retrogore, so I’ve definitely been more open to listening to some deathgrind, and this band really hits the spot for me. I absolutely love this record. It’s 28 minutes of blistering deathgrind of the highest caliber. Like I’ve said with a lot of these albums, it’s nothing unique. I’m not going to pretend this band does anything differently, but if you’re a fan of deathgrind, or you want to get into it, this is a perfect album to listen to, because fans of the genre will be insanely pleased by this thing, and newcomers will get a perfect idea as to what the album is all about. I’m absolutely in love with this album, and for good reason, because it’s a fantastic deathgrind album that does what it does insanely well.

6.  Lady Beast – Vicious Breed

Okay, here’s something a bit different, at least something that’s not as brutal or heavy as death metal, tech-death, or death grind – traditional metal! Well, more so in the vein of the NWOBHM, because that’s where PA metal band Lady Beast falls into. I talked about this band last year, before they released 2016’s Metal Immortal EP, and they’re a great “throwback”-ish band to the days of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Dio, just to name a few. I always love hearing stuff from this band, because they’re also a female-fronted band. Vocalist Deborah Levine is a great vocalist, and she’s got some killer pipes that work with this kind of music. Unsurprisingly, yeah, their new album, Vicious Breed, kicks a ton of ass. It’s a great traditional / NWOBHM album that captures that spirit perfectly. Now they didn’t do anything that other bands haven’t done before, and this album is really nothing different for them, either, but at the same time, I really like this album. They’re one of those bands that I could never get sick of hearing. They just have this sound that I can’t get enough of. If you enjoy 80s power metal, traditional heavy metal, speed metal, or the NWOBHM, definitely check out Lady Beast’s Vicious Breed. It’s easily one of the best metal albums of the year, as well as just one of the best albums of the year period.

5. Bind The Sacrifice – The Desecration Of Existence

Deathcore’s had a pretty good year. Albums from Thy Art Is Murder, Lorna Shore, Enterprise Earth, Shadow Of Intent, and tons more bands out there have been putting out some pretty good albums, but one album really struck me by surprise. That would be Bind The Sacrifice’s debut LP, The Desecration Of Existence. This band is awesome, because they remind me one of my favorite (former) deathcore bands, Veil Of Maya. Their new album, False Idol, is pretty good, but it doesn’t quite hold a candle to their first couple of albums. My favorite album from them is 2008’s The Common Man’s Collapse. I can’t believe that turns ten next year, because I first listened to that maybe a year after it came out. Yeah, I’m kind of old, but whatever. I’ve liked the direction that they’ve been going in, but I’m not super huge into djent-y kind of stuff, so I personally prefer their first couple of albums, where they were more of a tech-death band. Well, what if I told you that there’s a band that has that kind of sound. That would be Bind The Sacrifice, and their new LP, The Desecration Of Existence, which has a prog-deathcore sound that sounds like if The Common Man’s Collapse era Veil Of Maya combined itself with their current stuff. Well, their djent-y material, anyway, not necessarily adding clean vocals. Yeah, if you took Veil Of Maya’s classic tech-death sound and you combined it with prog-metal, you’d get this. This is some sick stuff, folks. This band, and this record, are some of the best deathcore you’ll hear all year. Personally, it’s my favorite deathcore album all year, because nothing has really been able top this.

4. Archspire – Relentless Mutation

If I had to pick a favorite tech-death album, well, that would go to Archspire’s Relentless Mutation. I decided to pick this LP up, just because I’ve been seeing their name around, but I had no idea what I was in for. This thing is amazing. It’s an album that really took me by surprise in the best ways. Relentless Mutation is what it says it is – relentless. This album manages to go above and beyond a lot of tech-death bands and albums that I’ve heard, because this album has a lot going for it. For starters, I was really surprised at how the vocals of this record were more percussive, versus going with the guitarwork. The vocals actually sync with the drums and percussion of the album, making for an even more intense listen. It’s not all the time they do that, but it’s still really cool. The instrumentation on this thing is absolutely nuts, too, and I love that there are a lot of slower moments on this album, because instead of annoying and pointless interlude songs, they use slower breaks in the same song to transition to another one. Not to mention, and the thing that I like most about this LP, is that it’s only half an hour long. This is one of those albums that I want to listen to again the moment I’m done, and what’s great about that is how intense, brutal, and technical this album is. It’s clear that these guys care a lot about the math behind the music, but they also deliver a technically brutal album. The album never becomes pretentious, exhausting, or starts to drag, because of how short it is. That also helps with the slower and breathing moments, as I call them, on the record, so you get a break here and there, but this is an album that I can’t get enough of. It’s absolutely awesome, and it’s an essential for every death metal fan, or tech-death fan.

3. Warbringer – Woe To The Vanquished

It’s kind of funny how things work, because I was in the process of getting my list almost finalized when I decided to pick up Warbringer’s newest LP, Woe To The Vanquished, which was released earlier this year. I heard about this LP, and it seemed like a thrash album that I might be into. Now that I’m getting more into thrash metal, I wanted to give some modern bands a go. Warbringer is a band that I’ve wanted to listen to for awhile, and holy shit, this album is awesome. This is thrash metal that is right up my alley, especially now that I know what I like. This band reminds me a lot of Exodus, Slayer, and Kreator. Those bands have a heavier, brutal, and more death metal-ly sound to their brand of thrash. Warbringer not only has a heavier, and more brutal sound, but they have some insane and intense guitarwork on this LP. The soloing, the riffs, and the overall speed and energy of this record is top notch. Not to mention, they make longer songs work, too, because the 11-minute closing track is a banger, too. This LP isn’t anything new, or really, really unique, but if anything, they’re similar to Power Trip (if you recall, I actually didn’t like Power Trip’s new album, Nightmare Logic, but I’ve been re-listening to that, too, and as you can see, it’s on my list now; it’s a really great album, but not quite great enough to be in the top, unfortunately), because they harken back to the classic days of thrash metal. Power Trip pay homage to bands that utilized more hardcore punk into their sound, whereas Warbringer brings to mind bands like Kreator and Slayer. In other words, bands that were heavier, more extreme, and that could easily be mistaken for a death metal band. Regardless, Woe To The Vanquished really took me by surprised, because goddamn, this album is awesome.

2. Cannibal Corpse – Red Before Black

This album might cause a bit of “controversy,” but not because it’s a bad album, just more so because Cannibal Corpse isn’t the most unique, revolutionary, or mindblowing band. I would say they weren’t influential, either, but mainly in terms of their music. They were influential, just how death metal could be kind of mainstream, and how insane a fanbase could be. I mean, okay, you had a band like Slayer with a devout fanbase, but Cannibal Corpse had a cult following behind them, and I think it was because death metal was beginning to really blossom around the time they formed. Red Before Black, their fourteenth album, is an impressive one for a couple of reasons. It’s impressive, because they’re almost 30 years in, and they’re still delivering great material, even though it’s essentially what we’ve already heard before, but they do bring some new ideas to the table. For starters, this thing is a bit catchy. I mean, listen to some of the guitar riffs, and tell me that it’s not catchy in the slightest, and it almost feels like frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher is at the top of his game, because his vocals on this thing are nasty, but in the best ways. The reason I say this LP might be controversial to put at a high place in this list is because they’re a band that’s not known for diversity or even variation, and yeah, I can admit that. This sounds pretty similar to 2014’s A Skeletal Domain, which is the album that got me into them, but at the same time, I don’t mind it. Cannibal Corpse is meat and potatoes death metal, but that’s okay, because sometimes you need something like that. You’re not looking for fancy tech-death, which I would equate to a five-star restaurant, and in that case, Cannibal Corpse, and bands like them, give you exactly what you want. I’ve been coming back to this album a lot, and it’s because Cannibal Corpse is perfect for what I like. They’re just solid, awesome, gory, bloody, and brutal death metal.

1. The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers

Like I said for my favorite non-metal album yesterday, this one shouldn’t be a shock to some people that have known my tastes for the last few years, as well as the last few months, because The Black Dahlia Murder’s Nightbringers, well, it’s my favorite metal album of the year. The Black Dahlia Murder was one of the first death metal bands I got introduced to, but when I picked up 2013’s Everblack, I knew I had to listen to more of their stuff, so I picked up everything they put out up to that point. I bought all of their music, and I was really excited for 2015’s Abysmal, and I really liked that album, too, but there’s just something about Nightbringers that makes me place this LP at the top of their discography. Well, among the top, I should say. This LP seems to bridge a lot of ideas together from their past work. You’ve got their classic melo-death sound, a lot of tech-death influence, some black metal influence, and even a lot of hardcore / thrash influence. The latter of all of those is something the band used to make themselves stand out, and it makes sense, because they’re awesome. According to Metal Blade CEO, Brian Slagel, he signed the band after hearing a song they put up on MySpace. How awesome is that? He must not be regretting that whatsoever, because The Black Dahlia Murder is one of the most important and revered metal bands in the death metal landscape today. This LP merely continues that, and it’s not like they’re rehashing themselves totally here. They kind of are, as a lot of death metal bands do, but they’re adding some new ideas here, all within the span of about a half hour. That’s the best part, because this album is only around a half hour, so it’s not very long whatsoever, and it’s an album that I’ve just wanted to keep coming back to over and over again.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5. Necessary Sacrifice

This is a re-posting from Nov. 11th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

This week’s lunch special is pure angst with a side of bittersweet hope. Though “Unforeseen Consequences” might have been an unexpectedly funny episode, things are really heading south when you’ve got a title like “Necessary Sacrifice.”

The fandom said that things would start getting darker by Episode 5 and here we are.

We begin with Blake, continuing the strategy of cycling through a main character each week while still leaving time for Ruby. She and Sun are attempting to recruit people to help defend Haven and it’s going about as well as you’d expect. From mothers pulling their sons back indoors to faunus straight up telling them to get lost, by the end of a long afternoon neither of them have anything to show for their efforts. Despite the faunus-specific situation here, I wonder if Qrow will encounter similar problems as he tries to recruit other huntsmen and huntresses. The residents of Menagerie can’t be the only ones who want to ignore this war (or straight up believe it doesn't exist) and it would be a convenient way of ensuring that the battles continue to rest on the shoulders of the kids. Similar to The Legend of Korra, RWBY raises questions as to why children continue to do the work of adults. Like Harry Potter, the show will need to keep coming up with decent excuses.

Blake raises an important consideration though: “Not everyone is like you and me.” We’ve been given a series focused on the soldiers of this world and thus it’s easy to forget that everyone else surrounding them isn’t going to happily charge into a fight like Team RWBY is. Most people—the faunus in particular—will do everything they can do avoid getting involved. The fact that it's Blake leading this charge, "cowardly" Blake with a semblance that literally lets her run away, does a lot to show her own character growth. More than that though, we’re reminded that RWBY/RNJR aren’t even like other huntsmen and huntresses. The Fall of Beacon changed them and taught an incredibly difficult lesson: that Salem doesn’t care if you think you’re a part of this war or not. Blake says that the people of Menagerie will be affected no matter what their decision is. Later Ruby reiterates that even innocents like Penny will be killed in this battle. You’re in danger whether you fight or whether you stay on the sidelines… so you might as well take up arms and do what you can.

Sun and Blake’s conversation was, at its core, another callback to the early volumes, notably their first café conversation. It’s a mellow scene with the talk broken up with slice-of-life looks around Menagerie, highlighting the diversity among the faunus race. I would have appreciated the aesthetics and mood of this scene a whole lot more if Sun hadn’t devolved into someone I’ve come to actively dislike. Blake expresses how appreciative she is that Sun was there for her even when she didn’t want him to be and says that she wants to help her friends, “The way you helped me.”

God no. I ranted about this briefly in my last recap, but Sun’s actions should not be romanticized like this. Being there for someone means remaining open and supportive, available (to the best of your ability) for when they decide they want your help. Granted, the exception to this is situations wherein someone needs intervention for their own or another's safety, but Blake is absolutely not in that position. Part of being supportive is providing someone with the space they ask for and Sun 100% did not do this. He stalked Blake without her permission. Did not leave when she told him to. Horned in on her private family life despite numerous signs—both overt and subtle—that he was not welcome there. The fact that Blake now does want him around doesn’t excuse his earlier, pushy arrogance. And the fact that she’s thanking him for it puts a real sour taste in my mouth. It’s far too reminiscent of all the men who continually demand a woman’s attention because they know “what’s best” for her, or they’re convinced she “secretly wants it.” Sun has had no respect for Blake’s boundaries these past few months and he does not deserve to be rewarded for that egotism now.

Regardless, that’s just one uncomfortable moment in an otherwise nice scene. I laughed at Blake's speech about personification, given that I’d just taught Citizen Kane to a bunch of intro film students. Can you sum up a person’s life and personality with just one word? Blake thinks you can. Ruby is purity, Weiss is defiance, Yang is strength…and Adam, after long consideration, is spite. It’s an assessment I think most can agree with. As Blake lays out, Adam has no desire for equality or justice. He’s out to hurt humanity as much as possible, regardless of how much of that vengeance they actually deserve.

Continuing Blake and Ruby’s parallels this episode, Ruby showcases her purity by having a candid (and long overdue) conversation with Oscar. Like Jaune, Oscar seems to be doing a lot of training on his own (numerous parallels between them too—I hope they interact more) and he admits that even though it’s only been a few weeks, he feels as if he’s been working with Ozpin's cane for a lifetime, maybe more. Beyond reminding us that Oscar and Ozpin are continuing to merge, this helps situate the viewer in Volume 5’s stupidly complex timeline. In all honesty I could continue to do without this non-linearity. It’s jarring to start an episode as if only a day or two has passed (first training last episode), only to learn through offhand comments that it’s been weeks instead. RWBY isn’t the sort of show that benefits from feelings of displacement and it would be better served using something like a more traditional training montage.

Then things get heavy. The conversation is mostly small talk until Ruby exclaims that Oscar will be combat ready soon. I’m so glad people have already GIFed this moment because Ruby’s expressions here are heart-wrenching.

Ruby: “Penny...” 

No one—viewers and characters alike—were expecting that punch to the gut. To say nothing of the fact that Ruby loved and listened to Penny enough to pick up on her favorite catchphrase. This moment starts a much more intimate conversation wherein Oscar expresses, through anger and fear, what most people have been thinking for four volumes now: how the hell can Ruby be so optimistic? People have tried to kill this girl, succeeded in murdering her friends, forced her out of her home, separated her from family, and dumped her in the middle of a war. Isn’t she scared?

Well of course she is. I’ve argued from the start the Ruby is wiser than most give her credit for and we get an excellent demonstration of this here. Beyond reiterating Blake’s views from earlier—that they’re in danger whether they keep moving forward or crawl into a panicky ball—she drops the bombshell that being recklessly brave isn’t going to save anyone. In fact, it actively got Pyrrha killed. I love that the show finally acknowledged this because as brave as Pyrrha was for standing up to Cinder, that bravery was stupid. She knew she couldn’t defeat a Maiden and fighting her achieved nothing overall. The only reason Pyrrha went up to that tower was because it was the “right” thing to do… but in fact, the better thing to do would have been to hold back, to survive and live to fight another day. 

Ruby gets that. For all her niceties and optimism, she understands Pyrrha’s fatal flaw: there’s a difference between playing the hero and being a strategic member of a team. It flies in the face of everyone who claims she hasn’t grown (remember the girl who tried to take on the deathstalker alone during initiation?) and it just solidifies my feelings regarding her decision to enter Qrow’s fight with Tyrian. That was also a stupid decision based on what we know now, but the point is Ruby didn’t have all that information--she was making a strategic choice on what she thought she knew. Ruby isn’t out to sacrifice herself for the sake of sacrifice. Does she make mistakes? Of course, but she’s a lot more self-aware than most would assume at first glance. She's out to win, not just turn herself into a martyr.

Ozpin says it himself, “She really is remarkable, isn’t she?” yet when Oscar agrees in this sort of awed voice, commenting that she must have been one of the best huntresses at Beacon, Ozpin is quick to clarify that Ruby has faults just like anyone else. What makes her special is that “spark,” her ability to inspire others even in the face of extraordinary odds. It's her optimism and leadership (among other traits) that make her great--but they certainly don't make her perfect.  

This comment of Ozpin’s was so reassuring. Yes, I’m also frustrated that no one is talking about Ruby’s silver eyes (I’d have demanded an explanation months ago??) but at least we have even more confirmation that Ozpin doesn’t just view Ruby as his secret weapon. This conversation could have easily ended with him making vague references to how powerful and important Ruby is. Instead Ozpin teaches Oscar that no one can be put up on a pedestal. Say what you want about Ozpin’s archetype and supposed manipulation. I firmly believe he was telling the truth when he told James ages back that he didn’t want his kids fighting a war. It’s just too bad that they have to.

Our last scene is the one everyone was waiting for. News has reached the fox brothers of Sienna’s assassination and when they refer to her as a “necessary sacrifice” everyone breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until the Belladonnas are also labeled a “necessary sacrifice” and everyone panicked. Our new winged faunus guy might have intercepted the messenger with news of Sienna’s death, but they can’t keep it a secret from Menagerie forever. When this gets out the tide might just turn in Ghira’s favor… so the whole family, with the exception of Blake, is to be killed. And Ilia is the perfect person to carry this out.

Frankly, I don’t think she’ll do it. The show has spent too much time framing her as a sympathetic character, someone really on the fence about her loyalties, and you can see the pure shock and hesitation on Illia’s face when she hears the news. The real question though is, if she does turn to Blake’s side, will her double-status be enough to save the Belladonnas? We dodged Qrow's death last Volume. Is it time then for another casualty?

The only real silver lining here is that if they do die it’ll probably happen off screen where we can ignore it. After all, it’s only the red-haired, green-eyed characters who get the gruesome deaths lol. Still waiting to see if that's just some morbid inside joke or if we'll ever get an in-universe explanation...

One final note regarding this episode: is anyone else highly suspicious of Oscar’s backpack? It’s not as if he’s wandered far to train—Ruby comes right downstairs to grab him for dinner. Yet here he is with his stuff all packed up. Oscar leans his cane with the other weapons, cries, and then packs it up as well, donning the backpack with his most precious possession inside, something that is entirely unnecessary if you’re just walking upstairs to dinner. The fact that this scene takes place with an open wall that leads outside, the fact that we cut with Oscar still standing in the middle of the room… it makes me nervous. Maybe Ozpin has a special mission for them. Maybe Oscar (despite Ruby’s comment that he’s braver than he thinks) is planning to leave….

…or maybe they just needed something for him to do while they had a long, intimate conversation. That’s always possible too.

Until next week!

Other Details of Note

Mermaid faunus confirmed.

Winged faunus CONFIRMED.

Oscar says that the only fighting he’s done is against small Grimm that, presumably, try and attack the farm. This raises a lot of questions regarding how strong a Remnant civilian is. Can everyone fight off one or two regular Grimm? Does Oscar’s farm work give him the kind of strength he needs to, I don’t know, stab something evil with a pitchfork? I remain supremely curious about what the average, non-fighter is capable of in this world.

Both Ruby and Oscar got to cry a bit during their conversation. Kudos. Keep letting the kids cry.

I also appreciate that it was a conversation between Oscar and Ruby. Ozpin may not literally be able to get away, but at least he has the tact to hang back and pretend that the conversation is private.

Adam is... definitely "unwell." Nice choice in language though. The fox brothers want to "silence" the Belladonnas whereas Adam straight up says to "slaughter" them. He's becoming more unhinged with each passing episode.

[blackkudos]

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens; March 23, 1953) is an American recording artist whose career has spanned five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Widely known as the Queen of Funk, Khan has won ten Grammys and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Khan was ranked at number 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. In 2015, she was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time; she was previously nominated as member of Rufus in 2011. Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with "I Feel for You" in 1984. In the course of her solo career, Khan has achieved three gold singles, three gold albums and one platinum album with I Feel for You. With Rufus, she achieved four gold singles, four gold albums, and two platinum albums. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 65th most successful dance artist of all-time.

1953–1972: Early life

Chaka Khan was born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23, 1953 into an artistic, bohemian household in Chicago, Illinois. She is the eldest of five children born to Charles Stevens and Sandra Coleman, and has described her father as a beatnik and her mother as 'able to do anything.' She was raised in the Hyde Park area, 'an island in the middle of the madness' of Chicago's rough South Side housing projects. Her sister Yvonne later became a successful musician in her own right under the name Taka Boom. Her only brother, Mark, who formed the funk group Aurra, also became a successful musician. She has two other sisters, Zaheva Stevens and Tammy McCrary .

Chaka Khan was raised as a Catholic. She attributed her love of music to her grandmother, who introduced her to jazz as a child. Khan became a fan of rhythm and blues music as a pre-teen and at eleven formed a girl group, the Crystalettes, which included her sister Taka. In the late 1960s, Khan attended several civil rights rallies with her father's second wife, Connie, a strong supporter of the movement, and joined the Black Panther Party after befriending fellow member, activist, and Chicago native Fred Hampton in 1967. Though many think that she was given the name Chaka while in the Panthers she has made it clear that her name Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi was given to her at age 13 by a Yoruba Baba. In 1969, she left the Panthers and dropped out of high school, having attended Calumet High School and Kenwood High School (now Kenwood Academy). She began to perform in small groups around the Chicago area, first performing with Cash McCall's group Lyfe, which included her then boyfriend Hassan Khan, whom she would later marry.

She was asked to replace Baby Huey of Baby Huey & the Babysitters after Huey's death in 1970. The group disbanded a year later. While performing in local bands in 1972, she was spotted by two members of a new group called Rufus and soon won her position in the group (replacing rock and roll singer Paulette McWilliams). They later signed with ABC Records in 1973. Prior to signing with the label, she married on-and-off boyfriend Hassan Khan, changing her stage name to Chaka Khan.

Career

1973–1978: Early career with Rufus

In 1973, Rufus released their eponymous debut album. Despite their fiery rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Maybe Your Baby" from Wonder's acclaimed Talking Book and the modest success of the Chaka-led ballad "Whoever's Thrilling You (Is Killing Me)", the album failed to garner attention. That changed when Wonder himself collaborated with the group on a song he had written for Khan. That song, "Tell Me Something Good", became the group's breakthrough hit, reaching number-three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, later winning the group their first Grammy Award. The single's success and the subsequent follow-up, "You Got the Love", which peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, helped their second parent album, Rags to Rufus, go platinum, selling over a million copies. From 1974 to 1979, Rufus released six platinum-selling albums including Rufusized, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Ask Rufus, Street Player and Masterjam. Hits the group scored during this time included "Once You Get Started," "Sweet Thing," "Hollywood," "At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up)," and "Do You Love What You Feel."

The band gained a reputation as a live performing act with Khan becoming the star attraction, thanks to her powerful vocals and stage attire which sometimes included Native American garb and showing her midriff. Most of the band's material was written and produced by the band itself with few exceptions. Khan has also been noted for being an instrumentalist playing drums and bass; she also provided percussion during her tenure with Rufus. Most of her compositions were collaborations with guitarist Tony Maiden. Relations between Khan and the group, particularly between her and Andre Fischer, became stormy. Several members left with nearly every release. While Khan remained a member of the group, she signed a solo contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1978. While Khan was busy at work on solo material, Rufus released three albums without her participation including 1979's Numbers, 1980's Party 'Til You're Broke, and 1983's Seal in Red.

1978–1983: Early solo career and final years with Rufus

In 1978, Warner Bros. Records released Khan's solo debut album, which featured the crossover disco hit, "I'm Every Woman", written for her by songwriters Ashford & Simpson. The success of the single helped the album go gold, selling over a million copies. Khan also was a featured performer on Quincy Jones's hit, "Stuff Like That", also released in 1978.

In 1979, Khan reunited with Rufus to collaborate on the Jones-produced Masterjam, which featured their hit "Do You Love What You Feel", which Khan sang with Tony Maiden. Despite her sometimes-acrimonious relationship with some of her bandmates, Khan and Maiden have maintained a friendship over the years. In 1979 she also duetted with Ry Cooder on his album Bop Till You Drop. In 1980, while Rufus released Party 'Til You're Broke, again without Khan, she released her second solo album, Naughty, which featured her on the cover with her six-year-old daughter Milini. The album yielded the disco hit "Clouds" and the R&B ballad "Papillon".

Also in 1980, she had a cameo appearance as a church choir soloist in The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Khan released two albums in 1981, the Rufus release, Camouflage and the solo album What Cha' Gonna Do for Me. The latter album went gold. The same year, Khan appeared on three tracks on Rick Wakeman's concept album 1984. In 1982, Khan issued two more solo albums, the jazz-oriented Echoes of an Era and a more funk/pop-oriented self-titled album Chaka Khan. The latter album's track, the jazz-inflected "Be Bop Medley", won Khan a Grammy and earned praise from jazz singer Betty Carter who loved Khan's vocal scatting in the song.

In 1983, following the release of Rufus's final studio album, Seal in Red, which did not feature Khan, the singer returned with Rufus on a live album, Stompin' at the Savoy - Live, which featured the studio single, "Ain't Nobody", which became the group's final charting success reaching number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B chart, while also reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom. Following this release, Rufus separated for good.

1984–1996: Solo success

In 1984, Khan released her sixth studio album, I Feel for You. The title track was the first single released. Originally written and recorded by Prince in 1979, it had also been recorded by The Pointer Sisters and Mary Wells. Khan's version featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder and an introductory rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel. It became a million-selling smash in the U.S. and United Kingdom and helped to relaunch Khan's career. "I Feel for You" topped not only the U.S. R&B and dance charts, but achieved great success on the U.S. pop chart and reached #1 in the United Kingdom. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1984 and remained on that chart for 26 weeks, well into 1985. Additionally, it hit #1 on the Cash Box chart. It was listed as Billboard′s #5 song for 1985 and netted Prince the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. In addition to the song's successful radio airplay and sales, a music video of Khan with break dancers in an inner-city setting enjoyed heavy rotation on television and helped to solidify Khan's notoriety in popular culture.

Other singles which helped the I Feel For You album to go platinum included "This is My Night" and the ballad "Through the Fire", the latter of which was also very successful on the adult contemporary chart. Khan was featured in Steve Winwood's 1986 number one hit, "Higher Love". That same year, a duet was planned with Robert Palmer for the song "Addicted To Love". However, her manager declined to allow the duet to be released, citing the desire to not have too much product from her in the marketplace at one time; she was still credited for the vocal arrangements in the album's liner notes, and the song became an international hit. Khan followed up her successful I Feel For You album with 1986's Destiny and 1988's CK. Khan found more success in the late 1980s with a remix album, Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project, which reached the top ten on the British albums chart. As a result, she performed regularly in the United Kingdom, where she maintained a strong fan base.

In 1990, she was a featured performer on another major hit when she collaborated with Ray Charles and Quincy Jones on a new jack swing cover of The Brothers Johnson's "I'll Be Good to You", which was featured on Jones's Back on the Block. The song reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart, later winning her and Ray Charles a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group. Khan returned with her first studio album in four years in 1992 with the release of The Woman I Am, which was a success thanks to the R&B songs "Love You All My Lifetime" and "You Can Make the Story Right".

Khan also contributed to soundtracks and worked on a follow-up to The Woman I Am which she titled Dare You to Love Me, which was eventually shelved. In 1995, she and rapper Guru had a hit with the duet "Watch What You Say", in the United Kingdom. That same year, she provided a contemporary R&B cover of the classic standard, "My Funny Valentine", for the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. In 1996, following the release of her greatest-hits album, Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1, Khan abruptly left Warner Bros. after stating the label had neglected her and failed to release Dare You to Love Me.

1998–present

In 1998, Khan signed a contract with Prince's NPG Records label and issued Come 2 My House, followed by the single "Don't Talk 2 Strangers", a cover of a 1996 Prince song. Khan later went on a tour with Prince as a co-headlining act. In 2000, Khan departed from NPG and in 2004 released her first jazz covers album in twenty-two years with 2004's ClassiKhan. She also covered "Little Wing" with Kenny Olson on the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Three years later, after signing with Burgundy Records, Khan released what many critics called a "comeback album" with Funk This, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & Big Jim Wright The album featured the hit, "Angel", and the Mary J. Blige duet, "Disrespectful". The latter track went to number one on the U.S. dance singles chart, winning the singers a Grammy Award, while Funk This also won a Grammy for Best R&B Album. The album was notable for Khan's covers of Dee Dee Warwick's "Foolish Fool" and Prince's "Sign o' the Times". In 2008, Khan participated in the Broadway adaptation of The Color Purple playing Ms. Sofia to Fantasia Barrino's Celie.

In a 2008 interview Khan said that she, unlike other artists, felt very optimistic about the current changes in the recording industry, including music downloading. "I'm glad things are shifting and artists – not labels – are having more control over their art. My previous big record company (Warner Bros.) has vaults of my recordings that haven't seen the light of day that people need to hear. This includes Robert Palmer's original recording of 'Addicted to Love' – which they took my vocals off of! We are working on getting it (and other tracks) all back now." In 2009, Khan hit the road with singers Anastacia and Lulu for Here Come the Girls.

In 2009, Chaka was guest singer with the song "Alive" on jazz drummer Billy Cobham's album Drum ' n voice 3. In 2010, she contributed to vocals for Beverley Knight's "Soul Survivor", collaborated with Clay Aiken on a song for the kids show Phineas and Ferb, and performed two songs with Japanese singer Ai on Ai's latest album The Last Ai. Khan continues to perform to packed audiences both in her native United States and overseas.

On May 19, 2011, Khan was given the 2,440th Hollywood Walk of Fame star plaque on a section of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Her family was present when the singer accepted the honor, as was Stevie Wonder, who had written her breakout hit "Tell Me Something Good". On September 27, 2011, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame committee announced that Khan and her former band Rufus were jointly nominated for induction to the hall. It was the collective's first nomination 13 years after they were first eligible. The group were nominated partly due to Khan's own storied reputation, including her own solo career in conjunction with her years with Rufus. Recently, Khan rerecorded her song, "Super Life", under the title "Super Life: Fear Kills, Love Heals" with Eric Benet, Kelly Price, and Luke James in tribute to Trayvon Martin, a teenager who was killed on February 26. A number of celebrities also joined in the recording including Loretta Devine, Terry Crews, Eva Pigford, and reporter Kevin Frazier.

On December 6, 2012, Chaka Khan made a controversial decision to perform at a benefit for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The IDF originally invited Stevie Wonder, however after a successful lobbying campaign by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Wonder withdrew and was replaced by Khan who was able to raise $14 million for the IDF. This support contravened her earlier support for the Black Panther Party that publicly supported a Free Palestine.

On July 27, 2013, Khan was honored 40 years after signing her first recording contract with a ceremonial renaming of Blackstone Avenue between 50th and 51st street (where her former high school, Kenwood Academy, sits) as Chaka Khan Way and on July 28 the city declared the day Chaka Khan Day. She performed at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion on the 28th. In August 2014, Khan served as grand marshal at the 85th annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic in her hometown of Chicago.

On August 27, 2015, Khan was announced as one of the celebrities who will compete on season 21 of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Keo Motsepe. Khan and Motsepe were the first couple eliminated from the competition on September 21, 2015.

In July 2016, she canceled concert performances and entered rehab.

Personal life

Khan has been married twice and is the mother of two children, daughter Indira Milini and son Damien Holland. Her first marriage was to Hassan Khan, in 1970, when she was 17. They divorced a short time later. Milini's birth was the result of a relationship between Khan and Rahsaan Morris. Khan married her second husband, Richard Holland, in 1976. The marriage reportedly caused a rift between Khan and several members of Rufus, in particular, Andre Fischer. Khan dated a Chicago-area schoolteacher in the mid-1980s in the middle of her solo stardom. Following their separation, Khan moved to Europe, first settling in London, later buying a residence in Germany. She lived in Germany for a while "in a little village in the Rhine Valley" and also in Mannheim.

Khan is vegan, saying she adopted the diet to lose weight and combat high blood pressure and Type-2 diabetes. In the past, Khan struggled with drug abuse and alcoholism. Her drug use, which at times included cocaine and heroin, ended in the early 1990s. Khan had an on-and-off struggle with alcoholism until 2005 declaring herself sober. In 2006, her son Damien Holland was accused of murder after 17-year-old Christopher Bailey was shot to death. Khan testified on her son's behalf defending her son's innocence. Holland claimed the shooting was an accident and was found not guilty. Though she sang at both the 2000 Democratic and Republican conventions, Khan says that she is more of a "Democratic-minded person".

In December 2011, Khan won permanent custody of her granddaughter, Daija Jade Holland, after reporting that Daija's mother, the girlfriend of Khan's son Damien Holland, was unable to raise her due to her drug addiction. The media reported that Khan's son was also addicted to drugs.

Khan was featured in a 2013 episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories where she told the story of a shadow man who followed her on tour for years, until she met a guardian angel who admonished her to change her life or die.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

To date, Khan has won 10 Grammy Awards, including two as a member of Rufus. She has received 22 Grammy Award nominations, including three as a member of Rufus.

Soul Train Awards

1998 Lena Horne Award (Career Achievement) (Recipient)

2009 Legends Award (Career Achievement) (Recipient)

United Negro College Fund Award

2011 UNCF: Award of Excellence (Recipient)

American Music Award nominations

To date, she has had four American Music Award nominations.

1985 Favorite Female Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Tina Turner)

1985 Favorite Female Video Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Tina Turner)

1982 Favorite Female Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Stephanie Mills)

1981 Favorite Female Artist – Soul/Rhythm & Blues (Nominee only. Award recipient was Diana Ross)

SoulMusic Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com

Inducted: Female Artist (December 2012)

Discography

Chaka (1978)

Naughty (1980)

What Cha' Gonna Do for Me (1981)

Chaka Khan (1982)

Echoes of an Era (1982)

I Feel for You (1984)

Destiny (1986)

ck (1988)

The Woman I Am (1992)

Come 2 My House (1999)

ClassiKhan (2004)

Funk This (2007)

Wikipedia

[the-perfect-film-blog]

How To Fix RWBY Volume 4

With the existence of trains and steampunk airships, there's really no reason for team RNJR to have to walk all the way to Haven.

Rather than have an entire season of our heroes in transit to do something interesting, I propose that Volume 4 could be condensed into 6 or 7 episodes without losing anything of value. 

Spoilers below the cut.

Before I begin I just want to say that I could have done without Blake's storyline for much of this season, as it hasn't tied into the main plot or directed Blake towards the rest of the cast yet. I would have instead ended Volume 3 with Sun running off after Blake and come back to her when she is likely to become relevant. (None of this Blake didn't even notice Sun following her nonsense.)

So with that in mind, let's cut fix Volume 4's pacing.

Episode 1. The Next Step

We can still open on WTCH I guess. But instead of Tyrian laughing for no goddamn reason just have him quietly suggest, "Hey Cinder u want me to cut that girl's eye out for u since you're indisposed? ;)"

Instead of the Geist fight, cut between the grimm being born in the opening and show RRNJ pushing a group of grimm into a pit or funneling them through a something that would actually display strategy. for a nearby village to fund the next leg of their journey.

Either Jaune has already upgraded his weapon or he uses his share to have his upgrades done after the fight, not before it like a tool. No need for this scene to last 8 minutes either, just have him see the armory and be like "can you modify this?" then cut to his new weapon.

Team RWBY moves on to the next village where they can board a ferry to Haven. It's destroyed and everyone is dead. Ruby and suggests waiting for an incoming ferry so RRNJ can explain what happen but Ren and Nora object. Eventually they get going. As they move on, we zoom out to Qrow cutting down some Grimm and watching them progress.

No Oscar for now.

Episode 2. Rememberance

Ruby wakes up from a nightmare and walks in on Jaune either practicing with his new sword while watching Pyrrha's tape or trying to figure out his semblance. Pyrrha's tape is also just actually training drills and any "btw love u babe <3" is condensed to one sentence. Ruby comforts Jaune and says, "I know. I miss my partner too." Bonus points if Jaune's training has nothing to do with Pyrrha's instructions and he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice.

And then we cut to Weiss and Jaque after Ironwood storms out. Can reduce the altercation to Ironwood vaguely saying he needs to secure Atlas and Jaques objecting because his monopoly-man mustache needs as much Dust money as it can make.

Weiss reluctantly agrees to sing a song that would be likely to be sung at a banquet for rich people. Maybe Whitley walks in on Weiss being all buddy-buddy with Klein and kind of casually noses in like "lol whatcha doing sis?" breaking up the conversation. Maybe Weiss buys it but Klein doesn't.

Yang can get her arm but neglect to actually try it on for a while, or she tries it on and can't move it the way she wants, gets frustrated and takes it off. (Because irritability is a symptom of PTSD! Why not use it!)

We can have Port and Oobleck drop in, reminding everyone of Ozpin and asking when Tai is going to come help and be useful, since he's an actual huntsman, and he rejects because Yang. Instead of the OMG SHOCKING "callout" from Taiyang about Yang losing a few brain cells with her arm, maybe Yang gets frustrated that Taiyang is never around to help and decides to push herself. Either way she tries the arm again and challenges her dad for not being any more willing to help than he was the past three seasons.

Episode 3. Runaways and Stowaways Family

Salem and Cinder have their little "Is Ozpin really dead?" moment.

Cut to Oscar doing a little bit of his farm work and then going to wash up for the night only to hear, "Hello! I'm professor Ozpin!"

RRNJ reaches Higanbana where they hope to wait for an airship. Except there is not an airship to catch; they're currently in use by some huntsman searching for bandits. RRNJ shrug their shoulders and stay in an inn.

Raven and Qrow have their little, "Hey you asshole you gonna go help your kid?" spat and ask each other about the relics and spring maiden.

Taiyang and Yang spar, during which at some point Taiyang literally disarms Yang (frustrating her) but instead of all the vaguetalk about Raven Taiyang offers an anecdote that reveals more about Raven's character and demonstrates a parallel between Yang and Raven. Instead of his problem with Yang's overuse of her semblance being "it will make you weaker" (which it obviously does not), it should be that a semblance wherin she has to damage herself to use is not viable in every situation. (Also she shouldn't have been 100% powered up vs Adam in Volume 3).

Tyrian does his "Have you seen a girl with Silver Eyes" schtick but instead of laughing maniacally his eyes flash purple.

Episode 4 - Tipping Pont

Not really all that different from Actual! Tipping point. Start off with Weiss at the concert singing some sick Atlas Opera about Grimm and a Princess instead of "Let me live my life, DAD!"

Gala. Weiss has her meltdown. Instead of accidentally summoning a boar maybe she does something innocuous like knock a glass out of a lady's hand out of spite and all these hoidy-toity rich people are aghast and ready to call security. Ironwood intervenes and walks Weiss out, complete with his, "She's the only one around here making sense" line. We see Whitley whispering to Jaques and Jaques ruffling his mustache.

Instead of having both Oniyuri and Kuroyuri we could instead have them come across a sign with the name crossed off, where Ren explains why Kuroyuri was to be built and explains there's no point in going, it's already destroyed.

"But Ren how do you know that--"

And oh shit it's Tyrian!

Maybe Tyrian confronts them in an open space initially - team RRNJ clearly has the advantage because of course they do, it's four on one. Maybe Jaune says as much.

"Hey, it's four against one! We're not looking for a fight, just walk away!"

And then Tyrian, who doesn't really give a crap, goes for Ruby and RRNJ uses powered-up Nora to push Tyrian back. With some distance between them we get the dialogue exchange minus the "the rose has thorns!" line because Ruby’s comeback was weaksauce. Any laughter is going to be used strictly when Team RRNJ thinks they can scare Tyrian off. Tyrian proceeds to wipe the floor with RRNJ until we see a Qrow flying in overhead. We watch from Qrow's perspective as Ruby's aura breaks and Tyrian goes in for the kill incapacitation. At the last moment Qrow blocks Tyrian and pushes him back.

Episode 5 - Punished

Tyrian fights Qrow. Ruby attempts to help despite Qrow warning her numerous times not to get involved. RRNJ attempts to offer fire support, but Qrow warns them to stop.

Tyrian chases Qrow into the forest and Ruby pursues despite Qrow's protests. When she and RRNJ catch up their auras are broken and she rushes in in an attempt to help. Qrow's semblance causes her to trip, drop things on herself, and almost get stabbed. In his rush to stop Ruby from getting hurt, Qrow gets stabbed by Tyrian's tail, which Ruby then cuts off.

Tyrian flees and either Ren or Nora starts to chase him, until Qrow nearly collapses and his injuries are made apparent. He promises to explain everything.

Weiss gets told she's not the heiress anymore, Whitley is, and she resolves to pack her things and hit the road. She asks Klein for help in getting out and he agrees - and he brings her weapon so she can train. Whitley mocks Weiss because “you’re grounded what are you gonna do with that” and she slams the door in his face with zero fucks given.

Oscar and Ozpin have a brief moment in which Ozpin explains what he wants Oscar to do, and it's for the greater good so you gotta, and Oscar kind of vaguely says, "I gotta talk to my aunt."

Qrow gives some exposition to RRNJ and starts to lose feeling in his limbs. This is a slow-acting poison, not a wake up and keel over poison. RRNJ argue about what they should do next and against Ren and Nora's wishes they go to Kuroyuri, because it's the closest place they can actually get to.

Nucklavee tease.

Episode 6 - Kuroyuri

Not too much is different but this time it is clear from Ren's behavior that he is certain of some danger in the village and he warns the team that they need to get what they're looking for and get out fast.

Ren's flashback (condensed into just the part about meeting Nora and finding her once the village has been destroyed) is played as a way of him explaining the danger to Ruby and Jaune, and though they hurry up the Grimm blocks them as they're preparing to leave.

Qrow collapses and there's no choice but to fight.

RRNJ fights the Nucklavee but this time instead of "Run in a circle, team who are already running in a circle!" we see the team overwhelmed at first, trying to charge for perceived weak points like its knees and firing at the head only to be brushed aside.

With the pressure put on, maybe the beast disarms Nora, Ren loses his cool and tries to go for the head. Big mistake. It screams/spews some sort of sludge and Ren is injured. His Aura breaks. Nora is injured getting him out of there.

It is at this point that Nora runs to yell at him for losing his cool and Jaune and Ruby realize that the only way they're taking this thing down is by turning the whole thing sideways (it's a horse, horses are really bad with taking a fall). When Ren and Nora return, Jaune uses Ruby and Nora to use their respective powers to flip the horse over so Ren can slip in and stab it.

Jaune acts as a distraction and tanks a few hits for the rest of the team to do this. As they're fighting we see the first sign of the airships over the horizon, it's almost over. They just need to hold out.

Once the grimm is killed the team goes. Ruby writes a letter to Yang and sends it by drone. Taiyang warns Yang that she isn't ready, but says it's ultimately her choice and he won't stop her. Maybe Yang calls him out on not going to help and tries to rush off on her own again, leaving Taiyang concerned.

Meanwhile we see Weiss sneaking out with Klein to board an airship. Weiss overhears just "Based on information your daughter gave me, I'm closing the border!" and Weiss gasps and hurries the fuck out of there.

Blake arrives at Menagerie where she and Sun are aghast to see Adam Tauras's White Fang flag flying, not the White Fang flag one would typically see in Menagerie.

Tyrian returns to Salem while Cinder is doing whatever it is that Cinder does these days, admits he couldn't take Ruby and says he poisoned Qrow so they're very likely dead.

Salem says, "Yeah whatever you useless turd" and Tyrian has his little meltdown.

Episode (7???) - (Anything to do with Blake)

Rather than Blake and Sun being surprised by the White Fang presence, this trip is about Blake returning to her family for closure, because she knows she did the wrong thing.

And rather than a drawn out sequence in which Blake and her father talk it out we need only a long scene of Blake not wanting to enter.

Maybe she explains to Sun that she left home to be part of Adam's White Fang, that she thought her father's leadership was weak, and that she has done terrible things.

With some consolation and encouragement from Sun, she knocks on the door and her parents accept her. She has her cry with her family, and from there I really don't know where Blake's story is supposed to go yet so I can't go into much more detail about how to rework it.

Oscar meeting Hazel and getting on the train can go here too; it would be easier to make it clear he's not traveling a huge distance but maybe only about 100 km or so if we can easily recognize Haven just on the horizon.

I hope I've more or less demonstrated the ways that the pacing in this season could have been adjusted. Since there are fewer unnecessary fight scenes, this leg of the season should be overall easier to animate, and the finale can instead head towards the team getting back together.

[jellybi]

Let’s Rate the Ayakashi Sisters!

I’ll be rating the Ayakashi Sisters as a unit because I’m not their biggest fan and it took me so darn long to get through their arc that the ones who stand out to me less have almost entirely faded from my memories. I know they come back near the end of the series, but I’m going to rate them now before I completely forget the things I still have in mind!

Personality:  ★ ★     I could probably only tell you the personalities of Berthier and Petz -- not to say the other two had nothing going on, but their personalities didn’t resonate with me enough to stick. I liked Berthier and Petz for opposite reasons -- Berthier has a pretty common personality archetype: sweet and delicate about things as a thin veneer of cuteness over blatant ruthlessness and cynicism. It’s overdone, perhaps, but I really enjoy it! With Petz, I liked her hard edges. She’s played as the older, bitter, angrier one, and there’s an enjoyable lack of delicacy to her. For Koan, I felt like her personality shift was way too extreme and uninspired. She went from Generic Wicked Witch we mainly see menacing a child to a saccharine-sweet victim -- the tragic innocent maiden whose pure love was used against her. If there was connective tissue between the two, I missed it in the length between episodes in my rewatch. Calavaras -- I honestly don’t even remember what Moments she might have had that showed character, except that I enjoyed her reaction to two of her sisters changing sides -- sort of a fearful curiosity and doubt while trying to pay lip service to unquestioning loyalty.

In the early episodes, maybe as a placeholder before anything more specific got thought up, all the sisters except Petz seem to have a shared personality trait--obsession with beauty and makeup with a lot of infighting about it. This was kind of... boring and unfortunate and not enjoyable to me, but I did appreciate that they got to keep the beauty obsession when they were made ‘good’ -- since they otherwise became pretty bland and it would have made kind of a sexist statement if goodness had “cured” them of their love of makeup.

Style:  The sisters all have very different styles and I’m going to rate them independently. The ratings are complicated because I have complicated feelings. Koan:  -★  I have invented a negative star for Koan because I hate her style so much that I am pretty sure it has unfairly impacted my impression of her as a character. The full-body feathery tutu with thin vertical stripes and high heels. The incongruous, absurd cat-ears that make no physical sense! I just want someone to go in and fix it all! I even find her attack animations to be awkward and weird-looking. Whatever they were trying to do with her didn’t work with me at all, unless they were trying to make her absurd and off-putting. I think the cat ears were actually a 90′s anime mistake of sorts based on manga image ambiguity and that the cat ears are supposed to be triangular odangos. Triangular odangos would be 100% legit and totally suited to the show. But the idea that she had whipped her hair into peaks like a meringue and then wandered around lecturing strangers about the importance of taking care of your appearance just caused my brain to reject her and all the weird aesthetic sensibility she stands for.  Berthier:  ★ ★ ★ This outfit is fine. It’s basically a monochrome swimsuit with boots and gloves, so it’s on the boring side, but given that Koan is so over-the-top, understated is probably a good direction to go in for other members of the group. She does a good job adhering to her ice theme in dress, personality and manner, while also being asymmetrical from the others in doing this (I couldn’t tell you the others’ elemental themes offhand), which is satisfying and makes her feel unique. Calavaras:  ★ ★ There’s nothing strictly wrong with Calavaras’s outfit. It seems to be inspired by a roman soldier uniform, except with a little skirt and what may be an armored bow. But why? Galaxia’s outfit is similar, but is in harmony with Galaxia’s personality, which is cold, commanding, and militant. Calavaras’s personality is cutesy and feminine, but her aesthetic is severe... with a bow on it. It winds up giving her an Ugly Stepsister vibe like Koan -- someone vain and looks-obsessed who is nonetheless Doing it Wrong by taking her look to weird extremes for the audience to side-eye. Petz:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / ★ ★ If you just took the fricking eyeballs off her boobs this would be one of my favorite female villain costumes in the series. But... but.... the eyeball boobs. They break my heart. They remind me of the weird gimmicky sexual stuff going on with the youma. Does anyone ever talk about the youma and their weird boob cannons and such?  If we pretend for a moment that she doesn’t have eyeball boobs, I love the  shoulder feathers, the short hair/updo thing she has going on, the sleekness, and the dark color scheme. She has kind of an ominous, mysterious, regal style that seems to bolster her forbidding personality.  I don’t even think the colored boob highlights looks bad in themselves, just don’t literally put eyes on them, what is wrong with you guys. Civilian Costumes:  ★ ★ ★ ★ When they turn into good guys or are in disguise, the sisters all look great and the costumes do a much better job of selling them as image-obsessed! I feel like the fact that they were designed to die so swiftly in the original manga led to some goofy costume experimentation that the anime showrunners felt compelled to be faithful to (although they were faithful to nothing else). When allowed to improvise, they made decisions that seemed to fit better with the personalities the Sisters had been given. Backstory: ★ ★ What even is their backstory? They used to be regular women until Rubeus recruited them... maybe? Or maybe not. Did they grow up brainwashed by Wiseman’s magic? Is everyone on their planet/moon whatever brainwashed? Some of these questions might be answered later in the season. Petz has a history with Sapphir that is probably the best-foreshadowed thing in the series -- they throw it in so many episodes in advance of the reveal that I can’t help wondering if it was an accident or coincidence. If nothing else, maybe the reference to an ex spurred the pairing idea, not the other way around. But knowing about it in advance doesn’t seem to add anything to it (it’s not like she gives early hints about Sapphir, or even the relationship’s specifics), so I still feel like this is a low-star situation. Hero Relationships: ★ ★ ★ I love villain heel-turns. This is a weird case where they gave me all I might have dreamed of and I didn’t appreciate it. The writing in the Rei/Koan episode was just so inconsistent and confusing. What were they even talking about? What lesson were they teaching one another? Why did Koan’s situation move Rei’s heart in particular, besides the fact that it was a Rei feature episode and Rei happened to be there?  Ami and Berthier going head-to-head as rivals was less emotionally driven, but more narratively satisfying. Their extremely brief connection made me contemplate What Could Have Been -- imagine if Ami had gotten to have a smart, sweet, yet competitive and slightly conniving friend.  Villain Relationships: ★ ★ ★ While overall I didn’t find their relationships that compelling or memorable, they did have some nice moments. I loved that the show broke its symmetry to have Koan reach out to Berthier rather than having the inner senshi line up and each convert a sister to goodness. It was also interesting to see the show cop to and address the toxic infighting of the group as something that was actually kind of tragic for all of them and should be fixed. No one had to really learn any lessons of course, because it was treated as something caused by an invisible evil force, but it was nice to have the show step back and be like “actually it’s kind of super sad that the only people this lady has in the world are snarking about how she might fail at her mission and die.” That’s a level of self-awareness I always yearned for in the DK arc and ended up having to inject into it via fanfic. Likeable/Love to Hate:  ★ ★ ★ There were variable levels for each of the sisters, so I’ll round them out to a “satisfactory.” As I mentioned above, I found Berthier and Petz to be the most likeable, and disliked Koan in a non-fun way. Although I maintain a regretful curiosity about her because I feel like the show LOVED her and treated her emotions with a lot of reverence toward the end of her arc and sometimes I wish I “got” it so I could appreciate something that obvious love and effort was put into.   Resolution: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ If I am willing to take the Sisters as they are, I couldn’t have asked for much more from the show than to redeem them, keep them around and participating in the senshi’s lives and storyline for multiple episodes, and even bring them back for an encore episode long after the audience thinks they’ve been discarded, for a surprise tie-in with another character’s tragic death. Well -- okay, actually, I could. Make the redemption deeper (don’t just turn them into generic Nice Sweet Girls in a flash of light) and commit to keeping them around long term to deepen their connections to the senshi. But to really dig into that, I think they’d have needed to focus on just ONE character to do it with (Berthier would have been my choice).  But I give it five stars because it’s probably the most ambitious villain redemption the show ever attempts and I think it exceeded anyone’s expectations for continuity in a monster-of-the-day, villain-of-the-week show. Overall: ★ ★   Eh... fairly or not, these guys were one of my least favorite villain groups. I always spend their arc kind of waiting for the show to get on with it. Their aesthetic seems deliberately unsettling, and mixes poorly with their group identity as beauty experts. The twists some of them take from scary to sweet seem a little cheap, and I wind up wishing that their redemption arc had gone to other characters. On the other hand, NOT dying tragically means they never had a chance to wring the kind of audience pity that makes one wish for second chances and alternate plotlines. Maybe if they had died I’d be in here writing about how I have this brilliant idea, wouldn’t it have been great if they’d gotten to live and peacefully sell makeup as offscreen BFFs to the senshi, maybe even cameo at the end of the season... I guess you never know how you’d feel about a plot if it had gone differently.