#its just. they'll literally be arguing and telling you its a waste of time and like. so you hate whimsy and fun?

[grimbeak]

i normally don't care ab routes in video games that much but if you say that the joja route is better in stardew and you think the community center is a waste of time i think im legally allowed to kill you

[itsclydebitches]

Am I the only RWBY hater legitimately happy they're addressing Ruby's trauma and her constant shoving it under the 'i'm a happy dappy shounen protag! you can lean on me!' rug. If it fucks it up I don't think I'll even be too mad - The Owl House fucked theirs up and that's one of the best new shows out. The fact they actually had Ruby faint as her literally shutting down to the new information was neat to me. So tbh despite the rest of the episode being, lmao, bad, I kind of want to be happy and expectant based off that alone. If the focus of the volume really is zeroing in on Ruby's mental health (which it definitely is squaring up to be) I'm kind of interested what they'll do.

You're far from the only one, anon! I'm cautiously hopeful, based primarily on that opening. The fact that we've got Ruby lagging behind the group alongside, our trailer with her past doppelganger seemingly judging her, tells me that yeah, we are squaring up to tackle this. Which is great!

It's also, honestly, kinda frustrating. I was saying years ago that if RWBY finally gets its act together it'll be too little too late in many respects and now we're bumping up against that very problem. I have trouble taking Ruby's trauma seriously when it was nearly nonexistent post-Penny's first death and actually nonexistent after her resurrection. I especially have a hard time taking it seriously when it's book-ended by cutsey mice and vine gags. I'd argue that on one level RWBY already has fucked up Ruby's mental health arc, simply by letting it languish for eight years and introducing the core of it in that mess of a premiere... but that's not to say that there won't still be worthwhile aspects this season, even if the arc isn't all that it could have been.

I'm also just so, so wary after Volume 8. Because Volume 7 had so much going for it. We had the same basic setup of, "This is nowhere near perfect because we had too many problems going into the season, but damn if what they're doing with Ironwood and the team isn't interesting!" And then that crashed and burned so very hard. Obviously that's not to say RWBY will fail again to follow up on what they've introduced, but history hasn't made me particularly optimistic.

Tomorrow is going to be pretty crucial imo. Because Ruby's faint - while yes, emphasizing her shock and tendency to, in this case, literally shut down - is also an easy way to dodge her having a more complex, nuanced reaction. The premiere dodged that further by going, "Ruby says she's fine and conveniently the girls aren't gonna push her about that. Oh look! The episode needs to end now." So tomorrow's 15-20 minute chunk is when the story has to start actually doing something with this revelation - whatever that looks like. If Ruby begins to deal with his somehow (because remember, we only have 9 episodes left), fantastic, we're on our way through a potentially satisfying arc. But if we continue to waste time on silly jokes while Ruby just remains perpetually in this state of, "I'm fine, no need to grapple with what I'm dealing with" - which, notably, has basically been her default state since Volume 3 - then I'm worried we'll get another one-episode "fix it" towards the end of the season, rather than an emotionally fulfilling arc. There's a big difference between actually taking Ruby through this journey of coming to terms with her grief and (fingers crossed) her mistakes vs. introducing us to the fact that She Is Sad and then giving us a scene later in the Volume when she inexplicably, completely Overcomes It. Think Oscar accepting his role as Ozpin's host off screen. Qrow suddenly deciding he's done with drink and look, there are no problems with quitting. Or Ruby's lie never amounting to anything, Ren deciding he's just a bad teammate somewhere out in the snow, even leaving half our characters for a Volume with a potential time-skip on the horizon.

RWBY is very good at saying, "Here's a big problem" and also "It's fixed now," but it's grown terrible at providing the in between; how we got from the staggeringly difficult problem to its resolution. I'm really hoping Ruby's arc doesn't go the same route.

[presskmewleroux]

I'm just gonna rant because the ACOTAR fandom annoys the shit out of me and nothing is gonna change until SJM releases the next book and they stop being bored (although I bet they'll still be annoying because what they want to happen, won't ever happen)

I genuinely don't know if anti-cassian/nesta/nessian people didn't actually read the book or they went into it having seen other anti posts before so they went into it already having preconceived negative thoughts. Or they lack reading comprehension skills and can't understand the tone in which things are being said/done. Or they're just simply overly critical for no real reason other than the fact they had thoughts on how these books were supposed to go and are upset with SJM's direction, in which case I would say: ok then stop reading this story.

I genuinely don't think anything Cassian did or said was bad, especially in the way some people make it out to be. He said some hurtful things? Yes, sure. He also IMMEDIATELY apologized. Is that not healthy? He said things in anger, Nesta said things in anger. It is literally stated in these books how much she used words to hurt him, though it was to protect herself and push him away.

It's not like he punched her in the face and called her a waste of space, that everything would be better if she had died (bringing up Rowan and Aelin from TOG because I literally never see anyone hate on him after he did that the way I see people hate on Cassian for saying two (T W O) mean things to Nesta throughout the entire series.

"Oh but he didn't say or think that he loved her." This is how I KNOW they're not reading or are just being stupid on purpose. It is literally a literary technique to SHOW NOT TELL. I've said this before: it is better to end a scene with a kiss after one party's love confession rather than end it with the 2nd party verbally reciprocating. If you read all these ACOTAR books, you should know Cassian loves Nesta.

And don't bring that BS of "he only wants a mate." They all want mates! It's a blessing in their culture. He had suspected they were mates when they met while she was still human. Did he push it on her? No! It had been 2 years of them knowing/meeting each other before the events of ACOSF.

Don't even get me started on the people saying he's abusive lmao like WHAT!? Also saw someone say this and used Azriel as "proof" when he asked if someone pushed Nesta down the stairs, which was LITERALLY said with "amusement." Meaning Azriel was joking, he wasn't serious. This is why I don't think these people understand tonality and lack media literacy. This is 1 of the many examples of you not understanding the text, whether that be on purpose or just through not paying attention.

You can dislike the events of ACOSF, you can dislike how Nesta's problems were handled but that's just a matter of opinion because anybody who has dealt with a loved one's substance abuse will tell you one of two things: either you cut them out completely and let them destroy themselves because they need to want to help themselves; or you give them tough love and do whatever you can to get them through it because the alternative is letting them waste away and die. You can argue the logistics with Nesta's fae anatomy blah blah blah, everything she was doing was a way of self-harm. She wasn't drinking or screwing around because she was a party girl having fun. She was punishing herself and they all let it go on for almost a year, thinking she would snap out of it if they let nature take its course. So when that didn't happen, it was time for another plan.

I understand that there will be different interpretations to literature, but at this point it's beyond that. People are ignoring what is actually happening in these books and making unsupported claims that are just based on their own fantasies.

I've read everything SJM has written and there's not one character in ACOTAR (aside from the actual villains) that I dislike. Rhys, Feyre, Amren, Mor - I like them all. I couldn't care less that not everyone gets along all the time or sometimes someone was mean to someone else. Literally do not care that the Archeron sister's had beef. I am the youngest of 4 kids, I have 2 older sisters and an older brother. My older sisters H A T E D each other growing up. I don't know why some readers act like it doesn't happen or that their relationships with one another shouldn't be depicted the way they are. It's one of the most real things SJM has ever written lol. If you associate a character with someone in your personal life that has treated you poorly, well I'm sorry but that's exclusive to you and not something you can or should force on other readers. By the time the story ends, all the characters who were mean or nasty to each other are gonna be the best of friends. I would bet money on that. Watch Mor and Nesta become as close as Aelin and Lysandra did.

Now for Eris. Y'all can like him I guess, but there is literally no reason to support any of the headcannons being made for him. "He belongs with Nesta, he would treat her better." WHERE? Where did you come to that conclusion? Where was their chemistry I'm somehow missing??? Nesta was very clearly playing him the entire ball. It literally says she forces herself to swallow, to shiver. She's putting on a show for him like she was asked. Like the OP says, "Had he [Cassian] really believed what he’d seen on this dance floor?" Meaning her reactions/interactions with him were not R E A L. And the amount of people who think SJM will do ANOTHER Tamlin/Feyre/Rhys type of romance is crazy lol that would be BEYOND lazy writing and just plain boring. Also - have we just not been paying attention to Nesta's character at all? Eris was interested in her from a political/social standpoint...something Nesta has been groomed for her whole life. She doesn't want that! And lets talk about Beron abusing the lady of autumn. Helion says it continues but Beron knows to abuse her in places that are easily hid. Does Eris stop that? I've seen someone say he does defend his mother, but literally all signs point to NO since again, Helion acknowledges that the abuse has been ongoing. Does this seem familiar? Like how Thomas Mandray didn't defend his mother from his father's abuse? No necessarily saying Eris and Thomas are on the same level, especially since it's hinted Eris may not be as bad as he seems. But again, saying he's anything other than what we've been shown so far is literally just fanfiction headcannons you WANT to happen.

Also there's kind of a pattern with SJM books/character relationships: if there's like long drawn on explicit scenes between characters, that is usually the endgame. Celaena/Chaol had their one moment, barely anything explicit in that. Aelin/Rowan there's more spice. Tamlin/Feyre have a couple of scenes, again it's barely explicit and it's barely a paragraph. Can you imagine SJM disregarding everything in ACOSF and trying to convince people that relationship was a fluke and we must all become attached to a new ship? Never would happen lol.

Also may be isolating a lot of fans on either side with this take but the way people are so quick to believe him over Mor or believe he didn't do anything wrong and she's lying or fabricating the story seems really homophobic and misogynistic to me. I can understand SJM may have dropped the ball acknowledging Mor's sexuality/queerness and didn't do it in the best way but idk the hatred for her is so weird and forced to me. Also forcing the potential betrayal storyline on her. Like if I'm wrong in the future feel free to call me out on here but I don't see any of the IC or MAIN characters betraying anyone. If a betrayal is gonna happen it's gonna be with a secondary character. It may very well be Eris betraying Beron or him betraying the Night Court. Like I think y'all are giving SJM way too much credit with these plot twisty storylines lol.

Speaking of SJM's writing and y'all giving her too much credit: there's no way this series is killing off any main character, especially the ones that have been the focus of the series. Rhys, Feyre, Nesta, Cassian are safe and you can't convince me otherwise. Because unlike some, I've read TOG and I know the core characters are getting their happy endings. Also think the rest of the IC, Elain, Emerie, Gwyn and Azriel are safe because again: they're gonna get their happy endings. SJM is a happy ending writer. The TOG characters that were killed off were secondary and although they may have had big impacts on the overall story, they were just never main characters and you knew that. If any "main" character is gonna die it'll be Tamlin if he doesn't get a redemption (which I don't think he will because the story is just not about him anymore. It's more likely for him to die than get a redemption storyline, although you can argue that his redemption will be in his death.)

Speaking of Tamlin idk where the sudden surge of defenders of him came from. The way people hate on Cassian who didn't do anything wrong aside from say two somewhat hurtful sentences, but go to the mat for Tamlin is insane to me. You can like morally grey characters, you can like characters who have done bad things but it's the hypocrisy that gets me.

OK rant over. Agree or disagree, who cares lol this is literally just a rant if you're looking to pick a fight and argue back and forth over which one of us is right please look elsewhere

Anti Cassian focusing on sentences like "everyone hates you" or the damn "shackled" or the dance scene with Eris.

As if there was no after...

Yes Cassian said "everyone hates you" but the next day he said

“I didn’t mean what I said last night—about everyone hating you.” She halted, her blue-gray eyes frosting. “It’s true.”

“It’s not.” He dared one step closer. “You’re here because we don’t hate you.” He cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. “I wanted you to know that. That we don’t—that I don’t hate you.”

Shackled. But then this happens.

“No. I was angry—it’s not true.”

“You are my mate, Cassian,” she said against his lips, and kissed him softly. “And you’re mine,” he said, kissing her in turn.

She smiled, and damn if it wasn’t the loveliest thing he’d ever seen. “You.” “You’ve had me from the moment you met me.”

Nesta even admitted that she faked everything with Eris, the man that wasn't even able to be this interesting to distract her from the music.

Eris being interested in Nesta just for her power is red flag.

Nesta was more focused on the music than Eris. That's a fact.

Had he [Cassian] really believed what he’d seen on this dance floor?

Antis always the first to say "read between the lines" and they're blinded when it comes to Nessian.

Nesta with Cassian is just...

It softened some crucial piece of her...

His eyes did not, would not, leave her face.

Cassian smiled at her, and the world faded away. The music was no longer the most beautiful thing in existence. He was.

Antis "forgetting" those scenes, Nesta's own words, Nesta's own reaction -even if they claim her to be their favourite- and Nesta's feelings, just because they don't like Cassian.

It's poor.

It also means that being unable to take pieces without manipulating or decontextualizing them.

[t0t411y-n0t-hum4n]

AND THIS IS WHY I LOVE STARDEW VALLEY

people are missing the point smh

i normally don't care ab routes in video games that much but if you say that the joja route is better in stardew and you think the community center is a waste of time i think im legally allowed to kill you