#ive discussed this many times on here already lol

[ink-asunder]

Having demand avoidance in a medical setting is literally hell. Like, patient autonomy is already absolute ass. It's only made worse when doctors CONSISTENTLY tell you what to do and act like you HAVE to do it instead of consulting with you first like normal fucking people.

[freak1demon69]

This is what it feels like being a hex fan sometimes, like its not even a twitter issue (and in a sense its not necessarily an issue, sometimes ppl just wanna have fun n not spout theories n discussion 24/7! I get that!) but i feel like a lot of people r quick to write off aspects of the game and characters and insist that, despite it being a mullinsverse title, it's not that deep/things are surface level

[rulanarinrush]

incredibly random, baseless, probably wrong thoughts+questions about drdt. like, there's literally no evidence behind any of these thoughts. they're dumb. open to discussion bc i like hearing thoughts. as per usual i didn't rewatch anything bc i'm lazy</3 so if something is wrong sorry and also this is not a theory and also this is not a criticism of the series, if you can somehow think of this as one. also sorry if this is incredibly obvious or has been proven by the series already too lol

Also I went searching a bit to see if there's anything I remembered that's referenced here, but the only theoryposts that I can find that use ideas from them are from @/1moreff-creator (for color theory). if anyone else recognizes ideas that r similar here I in no way mean to plagiarize you and if you want credit or brought up these ideas already just lmk (Or if you want me to take this down that's fine too)

david mv baseless thoughts: color theory+roman numerials here, thank you to 1moreoff

could the "subtract 4 due to tetraphobia" be a reference to arturo's "mind exercises 1 2 3 4?" I think I've seen some thoughts swirling around the fandom that it refers to the roman numerals like Veronika's, Whit's, Arei's, etc., as in literally taking 4 out of them like Whit's XV-IV becomes XI Mai's, but maybe considering it's colored green like in Arturo's section, it's referring to him? What does this mean? i dunno. could it mean he only lives to chapter 3? or chapter 4? either Whit or Veronika is involved with him as either his killer or victim? Or Hu or Teruko are involved(if you buy into that color theory thing, which I wouldn't doubt, there's a lot of visual symbolism in this series.) Could be anything. Everything in this MV is interpretation until the (main) story progresses. probably wrong about this being important to Arturo too! wrong thoughts everywhere.

could J's "do it like that, let's live together" be a reference to her+her family literally living together?(as in, the line is literal with them) not elaborating cuz it's just a guess. i think some of the drdt side characters have colors in this mv too, since although the same colors show up many times, they are usually in different shades of the color. i think the only colors i remember with the same shade showing up a lot is a dark red and black.

what is going on with that broken clock stuck with a fork in it having approximately the same frozen time as Xander stabbing Teruko in like... was it episode 5?(read the clock as 15:31, or some time close to that idr) i think so. considering there's a fork-like object, that might have been the weapon used to play optometry simulator with Xander's eye. it's probably a bit more symbolic than at face value something something xanruko but. more guesses. eden immediately becomes suspicious but like ehhh. funny coincidences. i don't want to think about it, plus it's such an immediate connection that it's almost suspicious in and of itself.

k i think that's it for any weird(and wrong) thoughts on the mv

why did Teruko bump into Xander? i don't mean this in a super deep philosophical way, I just mean that logically, she bumped into his eye, meaning it was a (semi) head-on collision where their faces were both facing each other. It could be that Xander bumped into her head from behind but I'm really trying to envision that and it's not working. maybe i have rocks for brains :( but yeah it sort of implies that Xander was going back to the dorm rooms which... why tho? if she turned the corner and bumped into him, he would have to be going in the direction of the dorms(i think, unless there's some secret passage shenanigans going on). so like. did he already get that note to kill teruko and just sort of went back there to check for stragglers? forget something in his room, even though teruko proved they can't go back inside? if it's the former why didn't he just bare-hand teruko to death in the infirmary?(JOKE) this is another dumb question that honestly needs no explanation i just like thinking about needless things.

I don't think the girl Eden kissed is Mai

ok before I get booed off the stage!!! Like everything else here I'm not opposed to the idea or this being wrong. I'm just thinking that in order for the motive to work, Eden would actually have to like. remember which girl it is. if it is Mai that makes Eden immediately suspicious, because I feel like with how much of an impact she had on the class they would have brought her up at least once if they can remember her, even if she is dead. I mean none of the class seems to remember any maybe past time in East(?) Hope's Peak, so. Anyone even remembering is suspicious. weak argument i know, it just boils down to "you would think Eden would remember which girl it is she kissed" when I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation to untangle that knot, but this entire post is full of weak thoughts for a fittingly weak mind 😔

(cw: description of murder but like ...this show... uh... you know) what is going on with how needlessly complicated Arei's murder method was? Like, what's the motive behind it? obviously it'll be explained in part 2, but why wouldn't the kiler just let her asphyxiate? I know i know human decency, but mercy is a luxury these days. and if the killer accidentally applied too much force her head would snap off like a funko pop and i really doubt any killer wants to deal with that mess so like. why take the risk? there are plenty of easier options that i can immediately think of like suffocation or drowning. i don't really think "quick death" works as an argument here since it probably takes longer to set everything up with the fish than wait for her to die. I have my guesses for this but they contain so many logical leaps that at this point you're better off letting a wheel randomly pick her killer and going with that.

what is with Eden's tendency to get involved in every murder? Ch2 is obvious, but in Ch1, let's assume that plot armor was on Xander's side and Teruko used up all her luck. It's still hypothetically possible for her to have pointed out Xander as the killer and defended Charles due to seeing the wound in the infirmary. from a story-writing perspective, i kind of get why she had to be in the room and be told to leave, but that's still suspicious to me. another weak thought.

what's with the eerie level of sympathy that whoever constructed the motives has for whoever has the entire family died secret Xander? (I'm just going to say this secret is Xander's just to have an easy way to refer to it, but I fully acknowledge it could be someone else's. I just think it's his due to parent(s) and sibling(s). Hypothetically, Teruko would just be kinda :/ at a more than 1 sibling reveal and Levi only brings up having a mom, though I get this is a weak argument too considering that others are unaccounted for.) All the motives are written with some level of blame in it, some being a bit hostile(like the 3 time attempter) but Xander's feels like it barely works as a motive due to how...kindly it's worded. I get why it does work, but kind of like how they say death games say more about their creators than their participants or human nature, I think it's revealing of something about either the audience, the mastermind, or the traitor that his is worded in such a way that it's like "well... okay...so?" like yes Xander absolutely wants to keep it a secret based on the infirmary talk with Teruko, but it really inspires no sense of urgency and it's not anything new to anyone; not the audience(us, I mean), not the mastermind or traitor(assuming they're not amnesiac), not to whomever owns the secret(probably), just the participants and maybe the hypothetical audience in drdt's fourth wall. And it inspires sympathy by specifically absolving the secret owner of guilt, which no other secret does. Sure it works as a gut punch but unless the character was already at a breaking point, it's a very weak motive.(imo, of course) not that weak motives are new, but...

"disowned" and "doing the laundry" are incredibly funny euphemisms Levi. No context, moving on

Lastly, I did some thinking about what Teruko's plan is in ch2 ep 7. No clue what that is! But I was thinking about Veronikas(? sorry idr) hypothetical plan where they just bore the audience out like a certain mainline dr title. Even though it's not entertained as something practical, I do think that the hidden text in the about page implies that it wouldn't work due to the fact that they can just starve to death according to timelooper. Is the hidden text even talking about this specific killing game and not one that's happened in the past or future with completely unrelated characters? who knows lol. but the pronoun "we" in it during the segment at the end of "i wish i could feel something" paragraph is kind of weird if this looper is not with the killing game participants, or at the very least watching, with different scenarios playing out each time. It's weird to just plop this on the page and have it not be relevant to the story in some way. Anyway, even if starvation is simply an entire chapter motive on its own, the fact that they all collectively starve to death without a murder means this is something that mastermind is chill with. So, despite the comforts that the mastermind/broadcasters provide the students with, there is some kind of soft time limit in this game, though I'm sure that can be artificially messed with at will. Regardless, I think it implies boring people just doesn't work.

why was this so long uh thanks for reading all of this random nonsense ig. it helps me get my thoughts out. idk what it does for you but i hope you found it. mildly ok. thanks to this fandom for always coming up with new ideas it's always interesting, and of course if i accidentally referenced an idea you had and forgot it like i said at the beginning just tell me

[aurienneirua]

trying to think about how aurien would take castor’s death since i haven’t really articulated it quite yet . .

i think ill be using how blue diamond from steven universe take’s pink’s death as a bit of an projection onto aurien and inspiration !

well, ill start on how aurien was with solei’s disappearance . since me and @billwasnot actually discussed this before, i feel like i can articulate and word this much more then i usually do . ill also limit how long this is since that’s probably for a whole nother post .

( edit after finishing : wow im a really bad liar )

to put it into simple and hopefully straightforward words, aurien did not process solei’s disappearance at first, and her feelings about it in extension .

when they finally started to bubble up, she shoved them down . they poison parts of her in response, and she’s stuck in a cage and cycle of grief, slowly shutting down mentally and emotionally . even when she and solei reunite, she still has them shoved down .

now, finally onto cas !

for him mainly, id say she feels empty after his death .

she falls into a prolonged period of time where she either feels just . . empty, or all she can feel is pain and grief .

although she openly expresses her emotions now and doesn’t shove them away, she instead wallows in them, refusing to move on because she just doesn’t want to .

the words im referring to starting at 1 : 07 and ending on 1 : 16 being :

“ im sorry . im so sorry . i should have done more . ————— says it will all be over soon . i wonder what you would think . “

also think blue’s tone matches her exactly as well lol . quiet and low .

the words “ im sorry . im so sorry . “ transferring onto aurien in the way of how she knows she failed to save him, and “ i should have done more . “ being how she wishes that she could have, and regrets greatly how in the end, she did not .

also gonna put down some lyrics from what’s the use of feeling blue as well since that can also fit auri . .

“ why would you want to be here ? / what do you ever see here ? / that doesn’t make you feel worse then you do ? / and tell me, what’s the use of feeling, ( blue ) ? /

oh, how can you stand to be here with it all ? ( here with it all ) / drowning in all this regret ? / wouldn’t you rather forget ( him ) ? /

start looking forward and stop looking back, oh “

( formatting style originally by @sotogalmo ! )

ok, first, “ why would you want to be here ? / what do you ever see here ? / that doesn’t make you feel worse then you do ? / and tell me, what’s the use of feeling, ( blue ) ? / “ would probably be about her extreme unwillingness to move on ? and maybe also how as a result, she only feels worse and worse, inflicting pain upon herself because she feels she deserves it .

secondly and lastly, “ oh, how can you stand to be here with it all ? ( here with it all ) / drowning in all this regret ? / “ this one’s a more clear one for me . . she definitely is drowning in regret . another possible thing would be that the lyrics “ how can you stand to be here with it all ? “ can maybe be her actually asking herself that . .

how can she still stand here— why is she still here with everything that’s been going on ? she’s not special . so many people matter so much more then her . why does she live ?

anyways, i wrap it up here . . partly because i don’t think i have anything else to say, this post is already getting long, and im pretty disappointed about how this came out .

i came in with a clear mindset, ( which normally helps a lot when im trying to write things like this ) but it got muddled pretty easily . although i want to take more time on this, im not really patient with myself, and ive been having a lot of trouble wording things lately .

i don’t know how long it’ll take to “ word this right “, but i know it’ll be long combined with some other factors . I think I’ll maybe come back to update or expand on this though . . anyways, any thoughts about my depressed pookie aurien ?

( castor : @bluemoonscape )

( side note : lolol id love to hear your and possibly cas’s ( if he were still alive COUGH ) on this ! also i already have a little au in my head where auri and solei save cas . . and auri shoots and shatters a screen displaying kyo that was distracting cas mizi all in style . . may i know how he would react to this and hold up if they did save him . .

[sleepymccoy]

Fuck it, Ive found myself googling topics to start a fight again cos I'm trying to write spones, so I'm creating a list for myself here. If you have suggestions please feel free to add them. You are also welcome to use this as a prompt, although I don't know if it'll really help

These are mostly nicked from other lists, so hey may need tweaking to be more star trek sci fi in vibe. But I think they suit the sort of fights they have. Entertainingly, many of the questions on these lists have already been addressed my star trek. Like, I'm not going to go into eugenics here. They have a whole arc in tos where everyone expresses their opinions on eugenics (against) (the Khan stuff). So like, those aren't included! Or questions about ubi, trek world is a successful communist, they're all pro ubi.

Anyway. I've tried to hash it down to topics where I can easily see either how they disagree, or I can see how they agree but for different reasons. And, as this is for me, I might even include some of those details too!

Is technology making us more or less connected?

Could argue either way. McCoy's only contact with his kid is via tech, so he could be in favour. Same with Spock, but I think vulcans have a lot of physical cultural stuff that form part of gathering that (American) humans don't as much. Like, incense and how the planet is a different temp to the ship. So, maybe Spock is really feeling how tech is a shadow of the real thing more.

OR

McCoy hates and is unimpresssed by tech, and just wants to be home. Spock is perfectly happy with the perfunctory contact w his parents.

Is censorship ever acceptable in art and media?

This one is fun cos you can world build a bit with the premise. What's the art and media? I think McCoy has one of those inspected opinions, he's against censorship until you start listing terrible things then he gets annoyed cos he kind of agrees with a little bit of censorship. He doesn't think dead bodies should be shown on billboards across from schools. But he says, when asked, that he's against any censorship.

I think Vulcan has censored pre reform stuff from society quite a lot. And Spock's opinion on this is a real character choice you can make, does he agree people should only find out about history in university when you're spoon fed it kindly enough? Or does he think everyone should know?

Should we prioritize space exploration or focus on fixing problems on Earth?

This one is hilarious to me, cos they both work exploring space. But I think McCoy could get worked up over the focus and energy being on new space stuff if they're leaving hungry children behind, you know. I think Spock leans bigger picture

Is traditional marriage still relevant in modern society?

Ha! Have a great time! They'll be so off topic within a minute and just discussing their personal life that their opinion doesn't bloody matter

Is privacy more important than national security?

I think Spock is more into privacy then McCoy. Can't put my finger on why, I might come back to this

How can a good diet be used to control certain diseases?

I think the groundwork of this argument is that McCoy is having a go at Spock being vegetarian. So they're discussing broadly, but McCoy keeps slipping in how great meat is lol

Is it better to live in a big city or a small town?

Spock likes cities! McCoy likes small towns! This can devolve into a squabble about feudalism if you want to go crazy

Animal zoos: are they morally acceptable?

This is good worldbuilding too, zoos would be more rehab centres now. But Spock likes to have a go at old earth practices too just to see McCoy go red

Is online learning as effective as traditional in-person learning?

I reckon Spock likes online learning. The little freak

Is online dating more effective than traditional dating?

Heheheheheheh make them fight about dating. Make them list their favourite types of dates in an aggressive way. Heheheh

[awesamforehead]

Tag at least six people (can be more than six if you want), and say at least one nice thing about or to each of them. Can be mutuals, can be people you follow, can be people you don’t know but just happen to exist in the same circle(s) with. All you gotta do is tag them and say something nice about/to them :)

Thank you @mahikamihan (the nicest and sweetest person here) for the tag! Ignore that its been a few days shhhh I was actually thinking of doing this on my priv but then this showed up so perfect opportunity :D Its a big one so everyone will be under a read more so Im not clogging the dash

@gogtopia Jules, you were the first person I followed when I was revamping my blog last year, the first person that came to mind on who I knew was safe post October. Although this was long ago, I really enjoyed the discussions we had about lore and such on discord that was a fun time. And now you're on the path of getting my into The Yard more too lol

@i-anonymous-crow Crow crow crow crow. You were the first (literally the first) people to follow me and it was all because I was crying over the Las Nevadas gift for ckarlnapity. And since then we've cried some more together. And now we're here, thank you for giving me a chance

@foolishfreckles Moss my beloved. Actually one of the chillest people I know and a really great clipper. Another person who has been here since pretty much the beginning (like when I had 20 followers) and one of my biggest supporters. If you arent already following Moss what are you doing. I also love the Foolish screenies you try to get every stream

@traidyy LUCKY!!!!!!! :D SWEETEST PERSON AND GREAT ARTIST THEIR ART IS SO CUTE. also a karl fan so thats 1000 more attractive points. But actually one of my favorite people here, wuv u Lucky <3 the dog to my cat

@sapybara INY!! Somehow you are the most rational but also the most chaos inducing person here and I love you for that. Whenever dash is all fucky and im beginning to spiral, your post are usually the ones who help pull me back up. Also your sapybara pfp is the cutest thing ever.

@vadergf REY REY! The would be drolo of my heart and the realest person when it comes to the green man. Your anons are hilarious and your art is so cute, no matter what you might say. Also thank you for supporting me like with the dteam hourly account i really appreciate it

@simplepotatofarmer Loyal! :D this is a thank you for always wanting and trying to make the fandom a better place. So many people give you the worst shit and yet you try to give second chances and show kindness. Thats something very rare to find nowadays. I love your aus like the rabbit and black dog au, and your chicken posts are some of my favorite things (all hail dream (chicken) )

@toxicsapolo Hi Salty! The og sapolo, the one who paved the way. Even though I have no idea what you and Adora are talking about with the F1 fandom, Ive admired how passionate you are when it comes to your interests. Sapnap, fashion, cooking, your boyfriend.

@tinynap JO!!! Your liveblogs never fail to make me laugh, even if half of them give you a tummy ache. I also want to say im proud of you trying your best at college, even at your roughest nights. You're gonna do great, kid

@dralbum NIICCCKKK!!! Ok not only is your art gorgeous and gives the softest feeling, you are also one of the funniest motherfuckers here. I enjoy our time on privtwt where we ask to eat each others food lmao

@faehrys ARIA MY ARIA!!! Not only an awesome editor, but also an awesome person. I appreciated how you tried to keep a positive space during the rough time, but also knowing when to stand your ground. And as always, karl enjoyer so extra cool points :>

@negativepeanuthoarder PEANUT!!! A true squirrel in which they stick around and make a home in your heart. You are always the loudest supporter in my writing and I really appreciate that, especially on the harder days

@knffuckraw ACE!!! Another funny person here and also representing the inner haikyuu fans (along with Iny). You have the greatest comebacks for anons and the funniest tags. love you ace <3

@dreamnotnapss First, a thank you for your services they’re greatly appreciated and you be missed by many. Second, a thank you for supporting everyone you could within our circle and even beyond. We’ll remember you fondly

@selvish HI TENDER!! we interact much more on twitter lol but youre one of my favorite people, big karl enjoyer and created some of my favorite fics like Y&OY, Rules, Favorite Place, and when we’re older 💜

@secretkoalasandwich EMMI MY BELOVED. ok tbh when we first started following each other I was so nervous cause you had a Wil pfp but now youre one of my favorite people lol. My brethren of punzblr, always ready to simp with me. Also an amazing artist with the most amazing blending skills youve ever seen youre telling me this is a painting??? anyways 10/10 spectacular amazing wow

@canonicallykayfabe EACHTRA!! Some of the most beautiful art here, both in a more cartoony style and one that holds slight realism. The color choices are fantastic as well. Along with that, you have some really thought provoking posts that I really appreciate like the banter discussion post awhile ago.

@sapnapstummy BLAZE THE KINDEST PERSON HERE 100%. legit i dont think ive ever seen you post a neg post about anything thats impressive. also i want to say i love how youll go back to either dreamtummy or sapnaptummy, so iconic and so true.

@dnapsnfsapnap PIGEON!! We’re semi newish mutuals but I’ll always welcome new sapnap fans into my life. On par with Salty, Jo, and Blaze, you fit right in with the sapolo ideology and i think thats amazing. You can always get the cutest screenies of Sapnap and I love your frog posts as well ^-^

@snfbabydrop Ive said this multiple times but thank you for your work on dreamnotnapss. The safe haven for multishippers in our corner. Aside from that, you are one of the nicest people Ive met here, never let your sunshine get blocked out

Also shoutout to my awesome mutuals who I dont talk to often but still love 💜

[vegantinatalist]

I’m beyond sick of reading every single NPC anti vegan argument. Thoughtless apathetic laziness, every single one of them. You must be exhausted dealing with this as much as you do. The smug retorts… as if you haven’t heard the same thought terminating, devoid of any consistent logic, bullshit a million times already. It’s like talking to a wall “well why should i care!??!!”

Youre a real one lol.

I have pretty good endurance for dealing with it because I wanted to. Everyone gives up. Everyone is apathetic or easily socially overwhelmed. I just didnt want to remain that way whether it be about womens rights or nonhuman animal rights. Pessimism and cynicism in the situation is 100 percent valid, but I encourage us all to push on regardless and to not just stay silent.

I became an animal rights activist, a womens rights activist and an antinatalist activist a long time ago and decided to keep discussing with people no matter how mindnumbingly repetitive their responses are. Its a good skill to have, to learn how to protest things and make your voice heard and not be emotionally thrown by violent ignorant people. To learn how to not be drained by it or even affected by it and get your opinions to the front and to change things for real. To be professional and organized without a boss or teacher dictating you. To self defend. (Ive had men swing objects at me and threaten to cut my tits off among other things. i was also abused by my father for being vegan and now offer advice to vegan kids being abused by their parents, especially the children of muslims who get beaten for not participating in eid.)

My peers here in my state have banned fur farming, animal testing for cosmetics, and recently finally pressured starbucks to stop upcharging for vegan options that cost less after a very very very long daily protest. I've disrupted stores with megaphones, I've posed as a bloody lab monkey outside primate testing labs, I've held stop having kids signs for hours and talked with many women questioning the expectations of marriage and kids, I've done a lot. Peoples cruelty and ignorance doesn't phase me anymore, its very old news. These days I just cherish every vegan feminist I find like rare and precious gems. (once again, any vegan radfems reading this, dm me! i have a decently active discord server for vegantinatalist radfems that i want to grow)

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 2 - Resurrect Bracket (Losers Bracket) Side B

ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to [make it to the finals]

Propaganda below ⬇️

Luis

real funny little guy I was introduced to him through seeing a shirtless mod that made several already somewhat queer scenes with him even more queer lol. also he dies so sadly and asking Leon (the protagonist) if he turned his life around which is both very catholic flavored and very depressing

Okay so i marked yes because the wiki says he was raised catholic but i can't find a source on that so here is what i for sure know: He does the sign of the cross with his gun when you play as him in the mercenaries mode and a major part of his character was that he grew up in an extremely backwater part of Spain. The head of the village when he lived there had the title of Father so thats Probably Catholic. A side novel released with the game about the village describes the village head as a priest and everyone in the village attending church on Sunday as well.

this guy drives me nuts for a variety of reasons including same age as my mom (not now but the game is set in 2004 so he would be now) he's very goofy and silly in a pretty scary kind of game, he eats floor three times in his second cutscene, and he has an extremely emotional and touching death scene (yeah he dies and im not over it). Also in the OG version of the game the protagonist literally never pronounces his name right even as he is dying (he dies in the original too yeah) so he deserves a break.

Vanessa

Despite her supernatural abilities & such that many people would label her as a sorceress, the series actually establishes that Vanessa, despite her darkness, is in fact Catholic. In fact,according to series creator John Logan in an interview with Variety Magazine discussing the ending of Penny Dreadful, he outright states that the series at its core is about Vanessa’s struggle with faith & doing the right thing, which is something that every Catholic (& even other religions as well) go through at some point before either returning to or turning away from the faith. In Logan’s own words: “This is a show about Vanessa Ives and her struggle with faith — how one woman grapples with God and the Devil.” The television show features on many occasions Vanessa & her Catholicism: her backstory with her childhood makes it very clear that her family was devoutly Catholic, an episode in Season 1 features Vanessa receiving an exorcism from Ethan with a Saint Jude pendant & Latin chanting that begs for divine intervention, Season 2 illustrates Vanessa losing her faith in God due to her guilt, & eventually *SPOILERS* Season 3 ends with Vanessa receiving redemption & her faith in God restored, as Ethan shoots her after saying the Lord’s prayer, saving her & the world from evil. John Logan discusses this redemption of Vanessa in the above mentioned interview. In his own words: “…she’s a character desperately in need of peace, & the mortal realm was not going to give it to her. The options were the realm of the Devil or the realm of God. Her way to achieve apotheosis, to achieve God, was to die and go to Heaven, and find the peace of the grave. That seems appropriate to the tone of the show. What I find remarkable about the ending is that she gets what she wants, which is to die & go to Heaven & be with God.” In other words, the creator of the show outright confirmed that despite her many struggles with faith, Vanessa found redemption & got to join God in Heaven. *SPOILERS* Long story short, it’s a story about a Catholic woman’s struggle with faith, but ultimately finding her way back & being saved.

[luxaofhesperides]

yes we shall succeed in getting people to read comics.

I actually wrote that after realizing not many people have read we are robin like so may people ignore what a great series it is and like it’s so important 😭. not just cause im obsessed with duke but like i see so many fics where bruce has amnesia and everything is falling apart and here’s a perfectly good plot line that no one ever writes about cause they don’t know about it 😭

there’s so may what if’s situations i’ve seen people obsess or talk about over here that have canonically happened in the source material. like things that used to be jokes a while ago are now things people don’t even know happened

we will get people to read comics!!! if its the last thing we do!!!

i must be honest, i also have yet to read we are robins but its been on my list for so long!! ive read batman and the signal, which kickstarted my love for duke, but i have been Booster Brained for the past few months lol. i see so many things mention time or time travel and NO booster anywhere... where is my silly guy i wanna shake him around!!!

but yeah there are so many things that have already happened in canon and can be discussed if only ppl knew about them. there are decades of multiple comics, so much has happened in them! like enjoying fanon is fine and all, but refusing to interact with canon means you miss out on so many things

[lolothesilly]

to comment about your rss feed post- i never stopped using rss feeds, when google tried to strike them down and many large websites gave up i kinda was just out of the loop because i never use corporate stuff in the first place. so remembering that there are still places that use rss feeds like tumblr is important to getting people to migrate from phone models to legacy ones, but i think at the end of the day the greatest evil is all the ui changes that came with the smart phone i have a flip phone and my daily driver is my laptop i am never off of, theres so many ui differences in endless scroll feed based websites that the people on neocities RESENT and desperately do not want to emulate so i really hope people are happy with how small and cute and sincere it is right now and use ANOTHER website maker to do more of what that post was talking about. because neocities is a spiritual successor of geocities and the traditions of webrings and guestbooks and emailing people directly and following the breadcrums of links is all apart of the learning curve and to disrupt that for the lesser endless feed scroll model is going to get us back to what corporate hell has entrapped us in. since twitter migration started on tumblr nobody makes real blog posts, people are alergic to paragraphs and intimacy and sincerity. i just appreciate neocities for having that and being too desperate for EVEN MORE USERS when we already have so many scares me, i already got to get off of tumblr for the expansion reasons that made it unusable and out right dangerous for me as a queer person. theres benefits many in being obscure and small.

im sorry i cant tell if im having a hard time processing this ask or what, im not 100% sure what youre saying here but ill try to respond as best i can, sorry if i misinterpret anything!!

so like i definitly agree with the "allergic to paragraphs and intimacy and sincerity" thing, i was thinking about it more last night and i think its a good thing that neocities doesnt really lend itself as much to the short-form posts you see on tumblr and twitter. bc like. i remember when i was a kid/teen, that kind of shortform flow-of-consciousness posting was mostly found in:

chatrooms (chatzy, IRC, guestbooks, shoutboxes, etc)

early social media status updates (like on myspace or facebook, the "had starbucks today lol 😜" kind of stuff)

and like. the niche chatrooms used to fill is now mostly filled by discord (though i know discord has Problems and i Think ive heard of alternatives to it?? havent looked into that as much) but. i think neocities being a home for longer posts about your interests is SO valuable honestly and i want more people to embrace that kind of thing!!

i feel like theres a sort of craving that sites like tumblr or twitter currently fulfill (badly) of like. throwing your thoughts into the void. not necesarily looking for a discussion but like. idk. its like if you wrote in a journal and then turned the pages into paper airplanes and threw them out your window.

(actually i remember in the 10s there was this site... i forget what it was called but it was like an anonymous "email" sort of service but your emails just went to random other users? literally shouting into the void, knowing someone will hear but can not respond because its all anonymous. idk it was neat)

but yeah. sorry. this is disjointed im really just thinking out loud. i just miss personal sites and fansites and forums and chatboxes and IRC chats..... i miss the way we used to use the internet, the way we used to share things with each other....

as far as RSS and feeds go i dont think its really all that comparable to the endless scrolling hell we have on modern social media sites, but i DO think it might scratch the same brain-itch while being less destructive. its hard to doomscroll if your "feed" is literally just "new articles posted by your friends on their personal websites" instead of like, "10000 reblogs and 1000000 random things the algorithm has decided to show you", yknow? its like. home grown organic media. idk

[gunsatthaphan]

I don’t get the entire “bromance-couple” thing directed at sarawatine when they have clearly expressed their romantic affection for each other countless of times in verbal and non-verbal ways so I really don’t understand what more people want from them? Making out? A sex scene? Like what is it that still2gether lacks that these people need to cement sarawatine’s relationship as romantic? Bc right now it looks like a bunch of straight girls just wanting to watch men makeout on screen to me 🤷‍♀️

-> /abt the still2gether ask u got earlier/ I didnt even notice that sarawatine "dont have romantic spark" or what ever,, but I'm ace so I guess that's that. I think most people are just salty that 2gether isnt like tharntype. I keep seeing ppl post stuff like "I thought there was gon be sauce in the mantype shower scene" etc,, but ? idk why would they think that when it wouldnt fit the series at all, it just wouldn't fit the flow of the story at all imho

-> For the anon who talk about sarawat & tine relationship in still2gether yes i agree i can see their relationship level up and i can feel that bright is more relax in showing affection or when he's cuddling with win and his eyes also different than in 2gether i can see all of that i think some people are dissapointed because they didn't get to see some steamy scenes like doreen said and honestly if you guys want to see some steamy scenes or 2 dudes screwing around just open p0rnhub duh

-> sarawat and tine are cute it's just that bright gives off too much of a bro vibe but i try to ignore it

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

ok so I put some asks together bc apparently we’re back on this debate now lol and I don’t wanna clog the tags.

@ anons 1&2 - Maybe “romantic” was the wrong word when I answered that ask because they do embody romance for sure. I was aiming more towards the desire-aspect if you know what I mean. Obviously it doesn’t have to be like TharnType or TorFight, that would be ooc and weird to watch like you said... also desire doesn’t equal sex lol. It also has something to do with emotional intimacy and being comfortable around each other. Which they are but just,,,,, not to an extent where it feels like they’re a realistic couple sometimes you know? if that makes sense. Bc while they’re being cute with each other etc. (which I love btw), they could easily pass as a queerbaiting bromance-situation lol. 

A counter-example was the mantype shower scene. Like anon 2 said, it was perfect the way it was; there was a lot of intimacy present but without being steamy or anything. And it’s things like these that Sarawatine are missing sometimes in my opinion. 

As I said, it always depends on the type of show and the vibe of it. Sometimes the spicy stuff fits the characters and therefore the show in general, like with TT or torfight etc. For 2Gether it would feel odd if they went to that extent. But as I said, a little more closeness and casual intimacy would... be nice and would sell them as a more realistic couple. 

xxx

[kaitlez]

i feel like subordinate (affectionate) has got to be the funniest thing ive ever read ngl

this fake grown ass man's emotional issues are not anyone else's problem but his own if he can't figure out how to act right at 30 that's on him

and i wasnt supposing a general "everyone has to feel this way" because the analysis i gave was for one specific point of contention. family is only one aspect of the situation and not the only thing i discussed. no one denies jgs is horrible. nmj wanted jgy to further his goals with the recommendation letter he writes and wouldn't hold him if he wished to leave. there are certainly many comparisons between wwx's and jgy's circumstances. jc didnt care to change wwx's position nor how people viewed him bc he didnt attempt to even when he had the power to do so. you could argue jc saw wwx as more than his births circumstances of a servant's son all you want but when it comes down to it, jc's own actions are self-serving because he doesn't want to let wwx. because wwx does explain what he's doing and what he wants to do which is protect the wens, jc just doesn't understand why

PSA for “canon jiang cheng” folks:

please stop using the “subordinate” thing as a basis for your arguments. that word does not mean what you seem to think it means.

y’all talk about jc asking wwx to be his subordinate as if it’s like some show of disrespect. some of y’all literally use it as “evidence” that jc “never cared about wwx” and that he “never viewed wwx as anything but a servant” but like.

my friends. subordinate literally just means “someone with a lower rank (than someone else).” it does not carry any connotations of subservience, servitude, lesser worth, or disrespect.

you understand how sect leadership works in mdzs, yes? there is One (1) sect leader.

Everyone who is Not the sect leader, but is affiliated with that sect, is Subordinate to the Sect Leader.

nobody ever claims that lan xichen didn’t care about lan wangji, lan qiren, or any of the juniors, even though they were all subordinate to him as the sect leader.

nobody ever claims that jin guangshan viewed madame jin, jin zixuan, or jin zixun as “just servants” or even servants at all, even though they were all subordinate to him as the sect leader.

hell, nobody even claims that nie mingjue viewed meng yao as “just a servant,” even when meng yao actually WAS a servant!

that’s just how leadership works! being subordinate isn’t a bad thing!! it’s just “a person who has a boss”

“right-hand-man” IS a subordinate position to “sect leader,” and it’s also literally the highest position jc could have given wwx without quite literally making wwx sect leader!

so like. unless you ARE legitimately arguing that jiang cheng should have forced wei wuxian to become sect leader of yunmengJiang, just…please drop it.

that word Does Not mean what you Think it means. the thing you are Mad about is Made Up. please just let it go.

[clonehub]

i mean part of the reason why arcane is as good as it is, besides the stunning visuals, is because it was in development for 6 years. they had six years to go back and forth on the look, the style, the story the story the story. 6 fucking years. that requires patience. that requires cooperation from all writers and directors. that requires seeing the culture change and responding in kind to reflect what people would like to see.

you notice how there's so many female characters, and while even though some of them are on thin ice a little (jinx/powder being that mentally unstable wide-eyed violent young woman/girl who doesn't really wear a lot) they've got beautiful stories that connect deeply with one another's without being centered on a man at all. look at vi's body shape. look at the range of body shapes for female characters, the range of faces. even how they walk (I love Vi's walk). you have a the tale of two cities, political depth and manipulation, meaning displayed in the way character's dress, stand, walk, how they're designed, what their hobbies and interests are, etc. all these things that would take time to figure out. that's partly why arcane is so good. they had time.

anyone who's been following me for a while knows where this is going. im sorry but the reason so many star wars shows falls flat for me is because these stories do not have the time to develop. i see development in the singular. one year here. one year for another show. maybe the concept existed for a while (with DF and GL, it seems they always have concepts that exist for a long time) but because they're concepts and because they basically go in the freezer until they're needed again, they don't really have the time to develop both deliberately and organically. the misbalance of the book of boba fett. whatever is happening with the mandalorian. the general mess that is the bad batch.

arcane is fundamentally a show about politics. you can't have a council, and oppressed class, the rich/poor divide, and all the ways that the class divisions have affected people (vi's incareceration, silco's manipulations, the lack of children in the undercity, viktor's disability) and not have the show be about politics. the writers understood this.

in the bad batch, a show about that takes place during the post-war rise of a fascist regime that has just speedily and aggressively replaced not only an entire republic, but also succesfully committed genocide and now spreads its terror throughout an entire galaxy, hunter, a soldier, says he and his team never cared about politics.

and indeed, theres a clunky way that the bad batch handles the inherently political existence of the clones, the empire, etc. politics should be permeating the interactions that the batch has with greater galactic society, but instead they relegate political discussion to specific episodes or scenes, and then say "okay we'll focus on that later, let's get back to X and Y". the extrajudicial execution of civilians is a political act. running from the empire is a political act. joining the empire is political. having one episode and a handful of scenes dedicated to the political side of their lives doesn't cut it.

its probably because i majored in political science that this is bugging me as much as it is. i know ive moved very far away from the thesis of this post, but bear with me lol. figuring out the political structure of a world and how it affects the characters within that world is hard. like. its not easy. it's not as simple as making a government and slapping a few laws onto it (and notice how even in the well-done political fantasies, there rarely is a government structure that hasn't already been seen in the west specifically). arcane's works as seamlessly as it does because they took the time to figure that out WHILE being aware that there would be large swaths of the audience that know nothing about league of legends (me, all my friends, etc).

people who wanted to watch the bad batch asked if they needed to have seen tcw or any other part of star wars to watch it. most bad batch fans said no. ive seen the bad batch and even i would tentatively say no. but then you watch the series, and nearly every episode has a cameo that you can tell is significant story wise, but if you've never seen tcw and have no idea who anyone is, you'd be really confused as to why everything grinds to a halt to dramatically reveal a character you've never seen before. and then they take two episodes to focus on the development of a character from another series. anyone watching can tell that they're filling in gaps and closing arcs or opening stories for people you will never see again. the bad batch wasn't written with non-star wars fans in mind, as much as people would like to insist otherwise. the main characters want to be apolitical in a politically tumultuous time, while living politicized lives. the political world is not set up very well.

(although i dont know that the "Right" amount of development would have changed much. DF and GL seemed dead set on having their little Trope Troupe, so they may have been doomed from the beginning)

so i know ive contradicted myself in some ways. if the bad batch had time they'd be better but also they've existed for a while and they're still bad and also theyve been doomed from the start. i think all of these are true. conceptually, as characters, doomed from the start--but at least an inch of thought and consideration for the current sociopolitical climate would have undoomed them at least a little. worldbuilding, not doomed from the start but the writers definitely needed more time to consider all their options and write a clear beginning, middle, and end to bridge through, if That Interview with Rau and Corbett signifies anything.

its time and its intent, and arcane takes the cake

[gayspock]

bro.... okay assorted thoughts from dna mad scientist

first of all i already said it but i am SO freaking in love with namtar's character design. the practical effects are so, so, so freaking good. the way he walked... literalllyyyy i hate 2 draw comparisons, but i think abt how nowadays so much shit is just cgi'd for the fucking HELL of it like... ough you could NOT get cgi that would be anywhere near as harmonious as this costume was with the actor's performance. that cunt was feeling themselves.

and in general i will say i just. like tbh i knowww ive said it a lot but its so good and refreshing how creative some of the character designs are. theyre freaking weirdoooo. WEIRDOOO. I LOVEEE it. the other little scientist... idid not catch names (thats one thing i will say abt farscape - the names are so hard to get a hang of omg lol..) BUT i liked that design too. smile. aeryn's transition was a bit iffy but HEY. cant win em all

anyways storywise itself ok. listen im goin somewhere with this. i think its just... tumblr saturation... that makes me so sick of "found family". like im sorrryyy. i mean- i dont hate it i DONT. but the way ppl discuss it on here is so... weird bc half the time it doesnt even apply, or it's like... yeah theyre guys who like each other but its kind of just a friendship group and idk to me found family is more of an emphasis on certain themes rather than just. guys who hang out % got feelings for each other but. ok sorry thats an aside rank bc...

but.. FREAKING WHATEVER ANYWAYSSSS like my point. is its like. maybe i sound like a cunt. i dont know. im not trying 2 be edgy, but i get it sounds like that its just- i feel like shitty behaviour is necessary sometimes to make it more realistic SORRRYYY LOL.... but its weirdly refreshing when its like... the point keeps being made that yeaahhh these guys ARE starting to take a bit of a shine to one another. BUT ultimately theyre all stuck in a horrible fucking situation, & theyre so desperately sick for their lives back that they'll do freaking ANYTHING and throw these cunts under the bus like THAT. like even just in recent episodes- a few of them have been willing to just leave them behind if they gotta.... like d'argo on that one planet, and rygel in the cell... they donttt give a fuck and why would they yknow

and so like watching them just. YNAK PILOTS FREAKING ARM OFF. CHRIST. like- like it makes sense man... ha ha fuck me.. it does. like shit man. you go through so much fucking horseshit. theyre just kind of having to put up with each other. theyre first year uni flatmates right now for realll, not even that, and theyve been put through some shittt. and i LIKE that. it makes sense. & i think it will make any deeper connections more organic later on

and spreaking OF ANOIAFKIWFK['PGJSEG OSMKGAOJISGJPISDJ I LOVE PILOT I LOVE PILOT ILLOVEEEE pilot... pilot,zhaan and crichton are my FAVOURITES. but pilot could sooo soo shoot up there- it depends on how much more we get to learn about pilot but aooah rughh aorigughgh eekk. eeek. smileee. sortyy. SORRRYYYYY. JUST GIGGLES. KICKS LEGS. CHARACTERRRR TO MEEEE SMILEEE YAAAYYYYYAAYAYAY

also i love what they did with aeryn this episode also and specifically her repertoire with pilot. they have a really good fucking dynamic, man. best friends despite everything. i am actually really glad i like her bc i WAS worried as... perhaps its a more mdern media lens, but i feel like characters of her background, or her baxkground adjacent, can be done ehrhrm. not very well. but i think.... thus far i really love the way the show does handle lots of little character moments in the episodes.

LIKE THATS!!! Thats what i like!! bc- SORRY, im going 2 use trek as an example bc its a. decent comparison. but u have tng, yah? and its not entirely fair- thats episodic, yknow. but a lot of ehrm the character are extremely static and kinda. shallow in tng. lIKE I LOVEEE them sure and theyre all charismatic but i think with many of them ... ehrm lac depth... and . mm its moreso theyre always there to service individual stories, rather than the story is there to service them. and sooo they have to be a little blank- bc they are basically functions, for individual eps, and sotheyre kinda ? at the whim to change from ep to ep bc of that . and we do get some character eps but due to the nature of the show... u dont get the slow release of development, building them like you do here.

and i loveee that here bc its well doneee it is. smile. the way each of them do get fleshed out in every episode and its at a pretty organic pace like ive been saying. and so i likeee aeryn bc i feel like- i feeeel like i was worried they might go too much, too fast with her and it wouldn't work. but the steadier pace.... again, i really love pretty much all her interactions with pilot. i freaking love pilot man . sorry

also love zhaan ive said i love zhaan i want more zhaan bc her concept is everything to me. grin. had 2 say that too BUT OH

on the topic of aeryn. one thing i kinda wish.... I MEAN THEY WOULDNT. AND IT WOULDDD BE FUCKING WEIRD FOR IT TO JUST HAPPEN IN SOME RANDOM EP. but goddd part of me kinda wishes that there was no hard reset in this ep. or at least aeryn had someee lingering issues from whatever that was bc christ was that fucked up. wha tt he hell giys

speaking of, i also liked the like... non-apology from d'argo. again going back 2 what i said. i think its again... i dont know. it feels all the more... natural 2 me... like he's like "oh i would do that again. for sure." and pilots like "i expected that." i think its again wht i appreciate from farscape... theyve done this a few times where its just... a very measured response from characters instead of just freakingggg... forcing them to grovel, trying to close the episode arc story in a narratively satisfying way...instead its just again like yeahh he isnt fuckin sorryyy man. and its fine. lets play freaking music

also final thought. i insist d'argo should have paws still . like lion paws. anyways

[wickedpact]

[waggles finger angrily in direction of computer screen] KEANE!

ok so i Started saying this in that other post but the Thing About keane is that he doesnt come off as being That Bad through the most of the movie. obviously hes not a good person; the fact that he works for merrick and that hes ex special forces alone is sus as fuck (like buddy, why arent you still in special forces?)

but in comparison to dr kozak (sadist) and merrick (also a sadist) keane doesnt seem that bad. he spends most of the movie standing around in douchebag suits and being intimidating. there are only like five scenes where we see him touch other people, ‘cause all he really does is order his goons around, and Usually when we Do see him touch people, he’s more or less Your Usual Brand of Asshole about it

long post under cut :/

like. 1.) grabbing joe after he headbutts merrick

2.) knocking out andy and booker with the sedative

3.) knocking out copley

4.) the joenicky fight scene

5.) the joe fight scene afterwards but that doesnt really count bc he never got a punch in (lol)

and in all of those, excluding the the joenicky fight scene (and the joe fight scene which i just said doesnt count) keane’s.... eh? hes not nice but he could be way meaner.

The Joe Grab: obviously not Good Boy behavior, obviously aggressive, but he doesnt hurt joe here. hes not even cutting off joe’s air, he’s just grabbing him.

i mean. in reaction to the headbutt, keane threatens joe without harming him, the goon behind joe pistol whips him, and merrick stabs him. of the three reactions we get, keane’s is the most mild. look, his finger isnt even on the trigger

andy & book; again not good boy behavior, but again he could have been way worse. when he sedates andy she struggles like fuck, and you can even see keane kind of stumble as he tries to hold her down. even so, he doesnt hit her to get her to stop, a thing his goons do fairly regularly to the others, and even when he grips her neck to hold her still, he’s holding her jaw more than her neck (look at his thumb). in the aftermath, she doesnt even have any marks. (this coming from the movie that gave merrick a red spot on his forehead for like a whole minute after joe headbutted him. lmao suck it merrick)

and when he goes for book, more of the same. he just kind of... holds him in place, despite his struggling. its professional . hes just a dude doing his job. Keane The Professional.

when he knocks out copley right after thats the only other time we see him personally harm someone, and even then that was with a specific order from merrick (you see him give keane A Look) and theres nothing sadistic there either. he hit copley, copley was out(TM), the end.

None Of This Gives Any Indication Of Keane Enjoying Causing Pain

AMND THEN: THE JOENICKY FIGHT

and Many People have discussed this fight so i wont go off too hard but. this fight. it lasts roughly thirty seconds. Thirty. and of those thirty seconds, keane spends about... eh, seventeen focused on nicky? (the kicking, the gun, etc) on joe? he spends about three. as in seconds. the other ten seconds is mostly keane getting beat on or standing ominously above the two of them.

and of the few analyses ive seen, people point out keane being homophobic as his motivation here (and he definitely is) but homophobia alone doesnt explain why keane WENT OFF on nicky specifically.

because like! the beginning of this fight! keane sends all of his goons after nile booker and andy! SIX men to fight THREE immortals, leaving KEANE ALONE to fight the other two! and then he walks into the room joe and nicky are in, sees them both lying there,

ADN HE PUTS AWAY HIS GUN

like! he already won the fight right then and there! nicky and joe were on the floor! a bullet to the head to both of them to keep them down and keane would have had them both, but no, keane puts his gun away, grabs his zipties,

AMDN then he goes straight for fucnening nicky

it would make Sense if hed gone for joe. he and joe have established beef. the headbutt. the speech in the van (which im sure keane heard at some point since those guards had bodycams and im sure keane wanted to know how he and nicky managed to kill his men and looked at the footage) --and theres the killing of the men itself, but both joe and nicky did that together. so.

either way, joe has been challenging the authority of keane and his men since he had the breath to do so. nicky’s barely glanced in keane’s direction (beyond the killing the men thing, which weve established both he and joe did)

other than that, worst thing nicky’s done to keane is nearly bump into him while he was busy making Disappointed Eye Contact with copley

but anyways: keane doesnt go for joe! he walks past joe’s body and goes for nicky, who’s just barely begun to move. it would also make sense, at this point, to put a bullet in nicky’s head here. like i said, keane’s already won. Keane The Professional wouldve already killed him.

instead, keane kicks nicky in the head, stands there and watches nicky get up, then kicks him a second time, and watches him again. he goes to do it a third time before nicky gets the drop on him.

at no point prior to this in the movie do we see keane behave like this. he doesnt cause pain for the sake of causing it. he doesnt hurt people pointlessly. here, he does. theres no reason to be kicking nicky like this. its not accomplishing anything, it’s not helping him capture them. hes just doing it ‘cause he wants to. (not to mention, each time you see him go to kick nicky, he goes to kick harder)

and actually, doing this is actively stupid! joe is waking up a foot away. there are three other immortals on the loose. merrick is unaccounted for. and keane is just wasting time. by dicking around rn, he’s actively shooting himself in the foot.

but anyways, nicky punches keane, keane kicks him off, and then joe’s awake, and This is the detail i just noticed a little earlier-- but when keane gets up here and joe grabs him: his head is turned towards nicky. his eyes are turned towards nicky. he’s moving towards nicky, not joe, who is the active threat in the moment

he doesnt even acknowledge joe until joe’s hand is physically on his head. joe had to physically Hold the dude back from going after nicky again

and then we see keane’s behavior change again when he sets his sights on joe. Keane The Professional is back again- two rapid-fire punches aimed at joe, no nonsense, no drawing it out, and then he goes for his gun

he doesnt draw it out. he doesnt sit and watch joe suffer. that gif is in real time, thats how fast keane took joe out. two punches, shoulder, neck, and then an immediate escalation to lethal force.

like the difference between: keane putting his gun away and then keeping it away for fifteenish seconds while focusing on nicky

vs

when focusing on joe, it takes him.. about two seconds & some change to pull the gun out again

keane wanted joe dead, but he wanted nicky to fucking suffer

and the you know, theres the obvious gun in mouth thing, which other people have talked about. the only thing i have to say about That is that its another fucking example of keane shooting himself in the foot. hes in a room filled with gas w/ no gas mask, and theres a very pissed off joe like two feet away from him recovering by the second. however, he doesnt do the Keane The Professional thing and put a bullet in nicky’s forehead-- he deliberately leans down, grabs nicky’s hair (and its not like he needed to, nicky sure as hell wasnt going anywhere anyway, unable to breathe and probably still sitting on a concussion after being kicked in the head) and jams the gun in nickys mouth. he’s wasting time doing that. it would have been faster and easier to just shoot nicky in the head. (like he probably was about to do to joe, considering how he doesnt step any closer to joe as he pulls out the gun)

and then he just??? bounces??

he is, again, in a position where he’d practically won. he had nicky dead. joe was on the ground. he could have gone for his mask, or shot joe and then fucked off to get a breath of Good Air. gun is still in his hand. he doesnt even try to take out joe, not even just shooting over his shoulder as he left. he doesnt give a shit about joe once nicky’s dead.

nicky was dead, so keane just left. and he double takes at the body as he goes??

like at first i thought he was confused nicky wasnt getting up, but he knows how the immortals work, he saw joe and nicky die on the body cams at the church. like sir why are fucking looking? fuck off?

but yeah theres just no explanation for this! nicky has done practically nothing to keane, but keane just zeroed tf in on nicky with no provocation! it couldnt have been just homophobia, if it were he would have targeted joe the same way he did nicky. he had to have some other motivation for acting completely differently @ nicky than he does to any other character in the film, and then just. going back to normal once nicky was dead. its weird. its creepy. and theres like 0 explanation. dont like it

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Dark”

Welcome back, everyone! Can you believe it's been six weeks already? I can't. Something something the uncomfortable passage of time during a pandemic as emphasized by a web-series.

But we're here to talk about RWBY the fictional story, not RWBY the cultural icon. At least, we will in a moment. First, I'd like to acknowledge that shaky line between the two, growing blurrier with every volume. A sort of good news, bad news situation.

The bad news — to get that out of the way — is that we cannot easily separate RWBY from its authors and those authors have, sadly, been drawing a lot of negative attention as of late. This isn't anything new, not at all, but I think the unexpectedly long hiatus gave a lot of fans (myself included) the chance to think about Rooster Teeth's failings without getting distracted by their biggest and brightest production. There's a laundry list of problems here — everything from the behavior of voice actors to the quality of their merch — but as a sort of summary issue, I'd like to highlight the reviews that continue to pop up on websites like Glassdoor, detailing the toxic, sexist, crunch-obsessed environment that RT employees are forced to work in. A lot of these websites requires a login to read more than a page of reviews, but you can check out a Twitter thread about it here. 

Now, I want to be clear: I'm not bringing this up as a way to shame anyone enjoying RWBY. This isn't a simplistic claim of, "The authors are Problematic™ and therefore you can't like the stuff they produce." Nor is this meant to be a catch-all excuse for RWBY's problems. If it were, I'd have dropped these recaps years ago. I'm of the belief that audiences maintain the right to both praise and criticize the work they're given, regardless of the context in which that work was produced. At the end of the day, RT has presented RWBY as a finished product and, more than that, presents it as an excellent product, one worth both our emotional investment and our money (whether in the form of paying for a First account, or encouraging us to buy merch, attend cons, etc.) I'll continue to critique RWBY as needed, but I a) wanted fans to be at least peripherally aware of these issues and b) clarify that my use of "RT" in statements like, "I can't believe RT is screwing up this badly" is meant to be a broad, nebulas acknowledgement that someone in the company is screwing up, either creatively (doesn't have the skill to write a good scene) or morally (hasn't created an environment in which other creators are capable of crafting a good scene). The real, inner workings of such companies are mostly a secret to their audiences and thus it's near impossible for someone like me — random fan writing these for fun as a casual side hobby — to accurately point fingers. Hence, broad "RT." I just wanted to clarify that when I use this it's as a necessary placeholder for whoever is actually responsible, not a damnation of the overworked animator breaking down in a bathroom. Heavy stuff, but I thought it was necessary (or at least worthwhile) to acknowledge this issue as we head into the second half of the volume.

Now for the good news: RWBY has reached 100 episodes! For any who may not know, 100 is a pretty significant number in the TV world because, when talking about prime time programming, it guarantees syndicated reruns. Basically, networks don't want audiences to get burned out with a show — changing the channel when it comes on because ugh, I've seen this already, recently too — and 100 episodes allows for a roughly five month run without any repeats, making it very profitable. RWBY is obviously not a television show and doesn't benefit from any of this (hell, modern television doesn't benefit from this as much as it used to, not in the age of streaming), but the 100 episode threshold is still ingrained in American culture. Beyond just being a nice, rounded number, it is historically a measure of huge success and I can't imagine that RT isn't aware of that. Regardless of what we think of RWBY's current quality, this is one hell of a milestone and should be applauded.

All that being said... RWBY's quality is definitely still lacking lol.

Our 100th episode is titled "Dark" — keeping with the one word titles, then — and I'd like to emphasize that, as a 100th episode, it definitely delivers in terms of plot. There's plenty of action, important character beats, and at least one major reveal, everything we'd expect from a milestone and a Part II premiere. The animation also continues to be noteworthy for its beauty, as I found myself admiring many of the screenshots I took for this recap. There are certainly things to praise. The only problem (one we're all familiar with by now) is that these small successes are situated within a narrative that's otherwise falling apart. It's all good stuff... provided you ignore literally everything else surrounding it.

But let's dive into some examples. We open on Qrow starting, awoken by the thunder outside. Robyn has been watching him and makes a peppy comment about how none of them will be sleeping tonight, followed by a more serious, "Sounds bad out there." Yeah, it does sound bad, especially when they all know — thanks to Ruby's message back in Volume 7 — that this is due to Salem's arrival. I think a lot of the fandom has forgotten that little detail because people often discuss Qrow as if he is entirely ignorant of what is going on outside his cell. Even if we were to assume that he's forgotten all about the pesky Salem issue (the horror of Clover's death overriding everything else, perhaps) he still knows that Tyrian is running loose in a heat-less city with a creepy storm going on and, from his perspective, the Very Evil Ironwood is still running the show. So it's bad, which begs the question of why Qrow (and Robyn, for that matter) hasn't displayed an ounce of legitimate worry for everyone he knows out there. Thus far, their interactions have centered entirely around Qrow's misplaced blame and Robyn's terrible attempts to lighten the mood, despite the fact that a war is raging right beyond that wall. It's another example of RWBY's inability to manage tone properly, to say nothing of balancing the multiple concerns any one character should be trying to juggle. Just as it rankles that Ruby and Yang don't seem to care about what has happened to their uncle, Qrow likewise doesn't seem to care about what might be happening to his nieces. When did we reach a point where these relationships are so broken that someone can be arrested/chucked into a deadly battle and the others just... ignore that?

So Robyn's otherwise innocuous comment immediately reminds me of how badly the narrative has treated these conflicts and, sadly, things don't improve much from here. We are thankfully spared more of Robyn's jokes when Qrow realizes that what he's hearing can't be thunder. A second later, Cinder blasts through the wall — called it! — and Qrow instinctively transforms. 

The only downside to this moment is that the whole ceiling falls down on Qrow and the others because APPARENTLY these cells don't have tops on them. Seriously. As far as I can recall we don't see the stone breaking through the forcefield somehow and this looks pretty open to me.

If it is... you're telling me these crazy powerful fighters who practice landing strategies and leap tall buildings in a single bound —

— can't just hop over this mildly high electric fence to get out? Qrow can't just fly away?

We're, like, two minutes in, folks.

We transfer to Nora's perspective as she wakes up, seeing Klein giving her the IV. He tells her not to worry, that "you and your friend are going to be just fine." What friend? Penny? Klein went upstairs prior to Weiss hugging Whitley or Penny crash landing outside. I had thought them bursting through the door with another unconscious friend was the first time he learned what the big bang outside was, but apparently not.

Penny is, obviously, a mess. While I now understand the choice to make her blood such an eye-catching color when that's crucial to the Hound's hunt, I still think it looks strange visually. Like someone has taken a copy of RWBY and painted over it. It doesn't look like it fits the art style. More than that, it implies some rather complicated things about Penny's humanity, especially in a volume focused around her being a "real girl." Real enough for Maiden powers, but with obviously inhuman blood that isn't even referred to as "bleeding." Penny "leaks" instead.

Toss in the fact that she's literally an android who is made up of tech — recall the running gags about her being heavy, or it hurts to fist-bump her, to say nothing of keeping things like multiple blades inside her body — yet Klein says that her "basic anatomy" is the same and he can "stitch up that wound."

I'm sorry, what? Whatever Penny looks like on the inside, it's not going to resemble a human woman's anatomy, and Klein might be able to stitch the outer layer of skin she's got, but that won't do anything to fix whatever metal bits have been broken underneath. Penny isn't a human-robot hybrid, she's a robot with an aura. Penny has knives in her back, rockets in her feet, and a super computer behind her eyes. When our clip introduced that Klein would be the one to help Penny, my initial reaction was, "Seriously? He's a butler and a doctor and an engineer?" But RWBY didn't even try to get away with a Super Klein explanation, they just waved away Penny's very obvious, inhuman anatomy. Yeah, I'm sure "stitching up" an android wound is just like giving Nora her IV. I hope the surgical sutures he used are extra strong!

In an effort to not entirely drag this episode, I do appreciate that Whitley is allowed an "ugh" moment about the non-blood covering his shirt without anyone calling him out on it. That felt like the sort of thing the show would usually try to make a character feel guilty about and I'm glad that, for once, he was just allowed to be frustrated without comment.

Then the power goes out and May calls, which raises questions about what state the CCTS is in and when scrolls are available to our protagonists vs. when they're not. But whatever. She's checking in because she just "saw another bombing run light up the Kingdom" and —

Wait. Bombing? Salem is bombing the city? I know we've seen explosions in the sky, but I'd always just attributed that to evil aesthetic. Why does this dialogue sound like it's from a World War II film and not a fantasy sci-fi show about literal monsters launching a ground attack?

May looks pretty against the sky though. I like her hair color against that purple.

I'm admittedly grasping at positives here because we finally return to her "You have to choose" ultimatum and — surprise! — May has pulled back completely. Ruby says that once they've helped Penny, "We'll...we'll do something!" which is once again her avoiding making a decision. Ruby still refuses to choose, instead falling back on generic, optimistic pep talks. They'll figure out how to stop Salem later. They'll think about the impact of telling the world later. They'll choose who to help later. Ruby keeps pushing these problems into the future where, she hopes, a perfect, magical solution will have appeared for her to latch onto. When that continues to not happen, others pressuring her to actually do something and stop waiting for perfection — Ironwood, Yang, May — she panics and continues stalling for time. Wait an episode and the narrative supports her in this.

Because initially May was forcing Ruby to decide. Now, May enables her desire to keep putting things off. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. At this point, I don't know how much is left to be done." That's the exact opposite of what May believed last episode, that there was still so much work and good to do for the people of Mantle. This is precisely what the show did with Yang and Ren's scenes too, having people call Ruby out... but then return to a message of, 'Don't worry, you're actually doing just fine' before Ruby is forced to actually change.

None of which even touches on May calling her "kid" in this moment. That continues to be a convenient way of absolving Ruby of any responsibility. When she wants to steal airships or Amity Tower, she's an adult everyone should listen to, the leader of this war. When the story wants to absolve her of previously mentioned flaws, she becomes a kid who shouldn't "beat herself up." I said years ago that RWBY couldn't continue to let the group be both children and adults simultaneously, yet here we are.

So that was a thoroughly disappointing scene. Ruby gets her moment to look sad and defeated, listing "the grimm, the crater, Nora, Penny" as problems she doesn't know how to solve. Note that 'Immortal witch attacking the city I've helped trap here' isn't included in that list. Ruby is still ignoring Salem herself and no one in the group is picking up where May left off, challenging her to do more than wring her hands over things others are already trying to take care of: Ironwood is fighting the grimm, May has gone off to help the crater, Klein is patching up Nora and Penny. Ruby, as one flawed individual, should not be expected to come up with a solution to everything, but she does need to stop acting like she can come up with a solution to everything when it matters most (office scene) and rejecting others' solutions when they ask for her help (Ironwood, May).

If it feels like I'm dragging the flawed, traumatized teenager too much, it's not in an effort to ignore those aspects of her identity. Rather, it's because she's also the licensed huntress who wrested control from a world leader and violently demanded she be put in charge of this battle. Ruby, by her own actions, is now responsible for dealing with these problems, or admitting she was wrong and letting others take the lead, without purposefully derailing their plans. She doesn't get to suddenly go, "I don't know," cry a little, and get sympathetic pats.

But of course that's precisely what happens, courtesy of Weiss.

During this whole scene I kept wondering why no one was celebrating Nora waking up, especially when Ruby outright mentions her. Have they just not noticed given all the Penny drama? Because Nora absolutely woke up.

Aaaand went back to sleep, I guess. What was the point of that POV shot? No worries though, she'll wake up again in a minute.

Willow arrives and announces that they can fix the power (and Penny) using the generator at the edge of the property. I'm convinced RT doesn't actually know what a generator is because the characters are acting like it's some super special device that only richy-rich could possibly have. Whitley says that it's the SDC executives who have their "own power supply" and that it's "extremely unfair." Now, don't get me wrong, a good generator powering large portions of your house can run you 30k+, but you can also get one that plugs into your extension cord and powers your fridge for a couple hundred. There's absolutely a class issue here, just not the one Whitley and Weiss seem to be commenting on. They make a generator sound like the sort of device that only a politician-CEO could possible have and it's weird.

Likely, it sounds weird because it's a choppy way of getting Whitley to bring up the wealth disparity so he can then go, 'That's right! We're crazy rich with a company housing tons of ships! We can use those to evacuate Mantle.' Awkwardness aside, I do like that the Schnee wealth is being used for good purposes, but... evacuate where? To the city currently under attack by a giant whale? In a RWBY that wasn't determined to demonize Ironwood, this would have been a great plot point during the office scene instead, with Weiss offering her services to Ironwood, even if the group decides that a continued evacuation still isn't possible.

Instead, we get it here from Whitley. Do I need to point out the obvious? That Whitley is the MVP of this episode? He's done more good in an HOUR than the group has managed in a year. Give this kid some training and make him a huntsmen instead.

We're given a (very pretty!) shot of the shattered moon because it wouldn't be RWBY if we weren't continually reminded that gods once wiped out humanity before destroying part of a celestial body... and absolutely no one talks about that lol.

Blake's coat might not make any sense for her color scheme, but it does make her easy to spot as she and Ruby run across the grounds. Oh my god, they're actually doing something together! It only took eight years. They even get a lovely talk where Blake admits how much she looks up to Ruby, despite her being younger, and once again I'm struck at how much more I would have loved this scene if it had appeared elsewhere in the series. It is, indeed, as sweet and emotional as all the RWBY GIF-ers are claiming... provided you overlook that this is the exact opposite of what Ruby needs to hear right now. She doesn't need to hear that she's more mature and reliable than her elders when she's functioning under a "We don't need adults" mentality. She doesn't need to hear that not knowing what to do is totally fine, not when that led to her turning on Ironwood, despite not knowing how to stop Salem. She doesn't need to hear that "doing something" — doing anything — is a strength, because Ruby keeps avoiding the big problems for smaller ones she's comfortable with, like standing by Penny's bedside instead of deciding between Mantle and Atlas. Blake's speech is heartfelt, but it's a speech that suits a Beacon days Ruby who is having some doubts about her leadership skills, not the girl whose impulsive — and now lack of — actions is having world-wide repercussions. Everyone is babying Ruby to a staggering degree. It's like if we had a med show where the doctor is standing by the bedside of a coding patient, fretting between two treatments. 'Don't worry,' their colleague says, patting their shoulder. 'I've always looked up to you. You'll do something when you're ready' and then they continue to watch the patient, you know, die.

Also: who does Ruby look up to? Everyone talks about how much they depend on and trust Ruby, but who does Ruby look to for guidance? A number of her problems stem from the fact that she has rejected the advice of everyone who has tried to help her improve: Qrow, Ozpin, Ironwood, even Yang. Ruby is presented as the pinnacle of what to strive for in a leader, rather than a leader who has only been doing this for two years and still has a great deal to learn.

Anyway, they get the generator on and the Hound shows up.

I am begging RT to just make RWBY a horror story. All their best scenes the last three years have been horror I am bEGGING —

Anyway, while Ruby waits to be eaten we cut to Willow and Klein, the former of which is reaching for her bottle, pulling back, reaching again, all while her hand shakes. This is good. This is what we should have gotten with Qrow. Which isn't to say that their (or anyone's) addiction should be identical, but rather that this is a far more engaging and complex look at addiction than what our birb got. Willow tells us that she doesn't drink in the dark despite bringing the bottle with her; tries to resist drinking when she's scared and ultimately fails. Qrow just decided to stop drinking after decades of addiction, seemingly for no reason, and that was that. Why is a side character we only met this volume written better than one of the main cast?

Blake manages to call Weiss about the Hound and she asks if Whitley can handle the airships without her. I mean, I assume so given that Weiss is looking at the bookshelves while Whitley does all the work lol. He makes a teasing comment about how he can if she can handle that grimm and she comments that they still need to work on his "attitude."

No they don't. Weiss stuck a weapon in her kid brother's face. Whitley made a joke. Even if Weiss' comment is likewise meant to be read as teasing, it's clear that we've bypassed any meaningful conversation between them. That hug was supposed to be a Fix Everything moment even though, as I've laid out elsewhere, it didn't even come close.

We cut back to Ruby getting thrown through a wall into the backyard and the Hound creepily coming after her. She's freaked out by this clearly abnormal grimm and Blake is weirdly... not? "It's just a grimm. Just focus!" Uh, it's obviously not. Have we reached the traumatized, sleep-deprived point where the group is sinking into full-blown denial? I wouldn't be surprised. They've been awake for like... 40+ hours.

Because the Hound knocks Ruby out with a single hit. Just, bam, she's down. "Focusing" is not the solution here.

Weiss calls to warn the others about the grimm, telling them to stick together. Willow (understandably) starts freaking out and flees the room (classic horror trope!). Klein is left alone when Penny wakes up with red eyes. Oh no!

Don't worry. You know nothing meaningful happens.

She shoves Klein before (somehow?) resisting the hack, her Maiden powers going wild in the process. Just when it looks as if Penny might cause some serious damage, Nora wakes up, takes her hand, and says, I kid you not:

"Hey... no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do... It's just a part of you. Don't forget about the rest."

Okay. I want to re-emphasize that I love hopeful, uplifting, victory-won-through-the-power-of-love stories. Istg I'm not dead inside, it's just that RWBY does this so badly. I mean, what is this? It has similarities to the character shouting, 'No! Resist!' to their mind-controlled ally, but this is not presented as a desperate, last-ditch effort by Nora. She just speaks like this is the most obvious truth in the world. If you don't want to have your mind taken over... just don't! It's that simple. The problem definitely isn't that Watts has changed her coding and has implemented a command she can't override, it's that Penny has forgotten about the "rest" of her personhood.

And this works. Granted, not for long, but we leave Nora having successfully calmed Penny down and until her eyes unexpectedly go red again scenes later, we're left assuming that this is a permanent solution. That, imo anyway, is taking the Power of Love too far, overriding the basic reality of Penny being hacked. It’s not a personal failing she must overcome, it’s an external attack. I would have rather had Nora react to the scars she saw on her arm, or have a moment with Klein, or get some love from the group. Not a wakes up, falls asleep, wakes up again to save Penny with a Ruby level 'Just ignore reality' pep-talk, then back to sleep again.

So Penny isn't attacking her allies, or mistakenly hurting her allies with wild Maiden powers. Not that the group doesn't have enough to deal with, but still. Weiss arrives to help with the Hound and attempts a new summon, only to fail when two minor grimm burrow up into her glyphs. I really enjoyed that moment, both for the wing visual and the knowledge that Weiss' glyphs can fail if you break them somehow (which makes sense). Also, I just like that she failed in general? Weiss is, as per usual now, about to demonstrate just how OP she is compared to the rest of the team, so it was nice to see her faltering here.

The Hound tries to make off with Ruby and Blake does an excellent job of keeping it tethered. Ruby finally wakes, only to realize that the grimm is actually after Penny since it's staring at her power up through the window, no longer trying to escape. Moments like this remind me that there's someone on RT's writing team that knows what they're doing, at least some of the time. The assumption that the Hound is after Ruby as a SEW, the surprise that it's actually Penny, realizing it holds up because Ruby is covered in Penny's blood and Blake is not... that's all nice, tight plotting. More of that please!

The Hound drops her and Ruby's aura shatters when she hits the ground. I want everyone to remember this moment as an example of how strong the Hound is. The group may be tired, but unlike YJR they've been sitting around in the Schnee manor for a number of hours, regaining strength. We saw the Hound hit Ruby twice — once through the wall and once to knock her out — and then she falls from a not very high distance for a huntress, yet her aura is toast. That's the level of power and skill the Hound possesses. Decimating YJR, knocking Oscar out, same for Ruby, avoiding Blake and Weiss' hits, soon to treat Penny like a ragdoll. Just remember all this for the episode's end.

Blake tells Weiss she'll take care of Ruby, you go help the others. Yay breaking up the duos more! Bad timing though as the new acid-spitting grimm pops out of the ground and Blake is now left alone to face it.

Weiss re-enters the mansion, knowing the Hound is somewhere nearby, but not where. Suddenly, Willow's voice sounds through her scroll with an, "Above you!" which... doesn't keep Weiss from getting hit lol. But it's the thought that counts! Willow has accessed the cameras she's set up throughout the manor, watching the Hound's movements, and I have to say, that is a WAY better use of her separation from Klein than I thought we were getting. I legit thought they'd have Willow run away in a panic, meet the Hound, die, and then Weiss could be sad about losing her mom.

It does say something about RWBY's writing that this was my knee-jerk theory, as well as my surprise when we got something way better.

The Hound runs off, uninterested in Weiss, and she asks Willow to keep tabs on it. It heads for Whitley next (also covered in Penny's blood) and very creepily stalks him in the office with a, "I know you're here." Whitley is seconds away from being Hound chow before one of Weiss' boars pin it against the wall. He runs, then runs BACK to finish deploying the airships, before finally escaping assumed death. Goddamn this boy is pulling his weight.

I assume all these ships are automated then? I hope someone takes a moment to call May. Otherwise it's going to be super weird for the Mantle citizens if a fleet of SDC ships just show up and hover there...

I don't entirely understand how Weiss saved him though. She's nowhere to be seen when Whitley leaves and he runs a fair distance before he and Willow encounter Weiss again. We know her summons don't have to keep right next to her, but are they capable of rudimentary thought, attacking an enemy — and an enemy only — despite Weiss being a couple corridors down and unable to see the current battlefield? I don't know. In another series I'd theorize that this was a deliberate hint, a way to clue us into the fact that Willow, someone who we currently know almost nothing about, had training in the past and summoned the boar herself. Weiss and Winter certainly didn't get that hereditary skill from Jacques. Hell, we might still get that, Weiss reacting with confusion next episode when Whitley thanks her for the boar, but I doubt it. That scene with Ruby and the Hound aside, the show isn't this good at laying groundwork and then following up on it.

Case in point: Weiss says, "I didn't forget you" to Whitley after he gets away from the Hound, the moment trying to harken back to her promise to Willow. Key word is "trying." Because she absolutely forgot him! Weiss threatened and ignored Whitley until he proved his usefulness. I also shouldn't need to point out that, "Don't forget your brother" does not mean, "Don't let your brother die a horrible death by abnormal grimm." Weiss acts like her saving him is a fulfillment of her promise, rather than just the most basic of human decency. And also, you know, her job.

So that part is frustrating. The entire Schnee dynamic is a mess, from Weiss making a joke of her father's arrest, to Willow (presumably) fixing their relationship by putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Okay.

Then Weiss cuts off the Hound by summoning a giant wall of ice. My brain, every time this happens:

YOU COULD HAVE FIXED THE HOLE IN MANTLE'S WALL.

Moving on, Blake's fight against the acid... thing has some great choreography, including Blake using her semblance which we haven't seen in AGES. 

I really like the fight itself, just not what Blake is shouting the whole time. "I need you, Ruby! We all need you!" This has really gotten ridiculous. Ruby is presented as everyone's sole savior despite failing time and time again. It's not that I don't think Blake as a character should have faith in her leader, it's that I don't think the writers should be crafting a story where everyone puts their unshakable hopes in an untrained, disloyal, impulsive 17 year old. I mean, Ruby is currently unconscious, yet Blake is acting like if she doesn't wake up — she, as an individual, if Ruby Rose does not re-join this fight — then all is lost. If Ruby doesn't save them, no one can. Which is, of course, absurd on numerous levels. Blake doesn't need the passed out, aura-less Ruby right now, she needs the still very healthy Weiss pulling out multiple summons and an ice wall! Use your scroll and call for backup again.

But of course, Ruby wakes up and kills the new, terrifying grimm with a single hit. It's a preview of what's to come with the Hound and it's just as ridiculous here as it will be there.

Speaking of the Hound, am I the only one who thought this was... cute?

I can't possibly be the only one. That head-tilt is exactly what my dogs do and my brain instinctively went, "Aww, puppy!"

Murderous puppy.

The Hound realizes none of the Schnees are who it's looking for and runs off. Penny, meanwhile, has been fully taken over because, well, that's just what's convenient now. She resists long enough keep Amity up, then succumbs, then resists to apologize to Ruby, then succumbs, then resists because Nora asked her to, then succumbs once it's time to knock her out. If RWBY was willing to commit to consequences, Penny would have been taken over and that was that. The characters would need to deal with whatever outcome happens as a result. Instead, the show very carefully avoids any of those pesky consequences by having Penny successfully resisting at key moments, despite no explanation of how she's managing that.

She shoves Klein again (Klein is having a Bad Time) and starts walking down the main steps. When Whitley wants to know where the hell she's going, Penny mechanically responds that she must "Open the vault, then self-destruct." I suppose the change Watts made was the self-destruct order? Ironwood obviously wants the vault open, though not necessarily Penny's death. Think what you will of his moral compass, she's a damn powerful ally — a research project, perhaps — and a Maiden to boot. At the very least, her death may give the powers to someone even worse.

God, please don't let them have brought Penny back and made her a Maiden just to kill her again.

The Hound arrives though and, as said, knocks Penny out. We're back to square one with her, then. Note though that this attack is near instantaneous. She grabs its hands one second, is hanging limply the next. Wow, the Hound sure is a terrifying antagonist!

Not for long.

"That's enough," Ruby says and one-shots it with her eyes.

Now, I want to talk for a moment about the implications of that line. "That's enough." Obviously Ruby is #done with this situation and emotionally unwilling to let the Hound kidnap Penny (congratulations, Nuts and Dolts shippers), but there's a meta reading here as well. Not intentional, but glaring to me nonetheless. Basically, the idea that the Hound has, from a plot perspective, done enough. It has served its singular purpose. It kidnapped Oscar and now it dies. Never-mind how insanely powerful we've established the Hound to be, never-mind how Ruby's eyes also work or don't work according to whether anything of actual import is on the line. From a plot perspective "that's enough" and the Hound can be disposed of instantly. It got Oscar and gave us an episode of filler creepiness. Move along now.

The idea behind Ruby's eyes isn't bad, but the execution absolutely is. RT has undermined a huge portion of the stakes by giving their protagonist an instant kill-shot that always works precisely when she needs it to. Starting with the Apathy, we have yet to get a moment where Ruby's eyes fail to save the day when she really needs them to, no matter how incredible the challenge. The Hound was very intentionally written to be a grimm outside of the group's current power level. It thinks, it talks, they literally can't touch it. This creates the expectation that the group will need to grow stronger — or at least become smarter — in order to surmount this new obstacle, yet Ruby's eyes undermine all of that. The group hasn't grown in years, the show just makes enemies weaker as needed (Ace Ops), or has Ruby pull out her eyes as a trump card. It wouldn't be that bad if we'd at least gotten a good battle out of it, one where the group gets close to defeating the Hound on their own, but needs Ruby's eyes to finish it off. Instead, she literally walks up without any aura, announces to the audience that this antagonist's time is up, and blasts it out a window.

Granted, Ruby's eyes don't completely finish it. The Hound pulls itself to its feet and we see this.

Yup, that's a guy and yup, those are silver eyes.

I would like to issue a formal apology to the "It's secretly Summer!" theorists in the fandom. I mean, I still think it would be ridiculous (and at this point highly improbable) that Ruby's dead mother has actually been a grimm mutant this whole time, just hanging out in Salem's realm while she waits for the plot to start before attacking the world, and then sends some no-name faunus dude after the group instead of their leader's mother for extra, emotional torture... but you all were definitely right about the “It's a person” part! I... don't know how I feel about this. Admittedly, it seems to be a logical continuation of the other grimm-human hybrids we've seen — namely Cinder and Salem herself — and it finally explains why Salem wants Ruby alive (even though it actually doesn't because WHY did she want more SEWs for Hound grimm when she wasn't even attacking back then? And already has all these other insanely powerful tools??), but at the same time, it feels like it's complicating a story that doesn't need further complications. The group fights monsters and has an immortal enemy. You don't need to add 'Some of those monsters are secretly human' to the mix.

It doesn't hurt that this twist is giving me Attack on Titan vibes, which, ew. A dark time in my fandom life, folks.

The Hound staggers a few steps before Whitley and Willow dump a suit of armor on it. That's all it takes to kill the most dangerous grimm we've ever seen: a single flash of silver eyes and some heavy metal. This also wreaks havoc with the implication that Salem wants SEWs alive because they create such powerful grimm. Obviously not. I mean yeah, normal huntsmen are going to have serious  problems, we’ve seen that this volume, but any other SEWs nearby will take a Hound out instantaneously. For a villain with so many other powerful abilities — immortality, magic, endless normal grimm, her nifty soup — Salem would be much better served just killing SEWs straight out. Clearly, creating Hounds isn't worth the effort.

The Hound leaves some bones behind and Ruby collapses to her knees, overcome with the knowledge that this was once a person. Again, uncomfortable Attack on Titan parallels.

We finish our premiere with Cinder clearing away rubble to reveal Watts. Honestly, I like that we ended on this because her rescue is hilarious. She just slings him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes and blasts off with her magic fire feet. Fantastic.

Note though that with this scene we've seen almost everything from the clip and the trailer. What's to come in the rest of Volume 8? No idea. Outside of Winter leading the charge with the bomb, we got it all here.

Time to update the bingo board!

I'm crossing off "Introducing new grimm that are quickly abandoned." Between the Hound and acid-dude both falling to a single blast/cut from Ruby, we've more than earned this square.

It doesn't look as if we'll get another Watts-Jacques team-up now that he's left, but you never know.

Maria's got me worried. I feel like her Yoda fight against Neo is the one thing she'll be allowed to do this volume, but given that we didn't see anyone except Ruby's group this episode, we don't yet know whether the story is now ignoring her and Pietro, or if they'll re-appear in another episode like YJR.  

Qrow is free. Will he get a drink before trying to murder Ironwood? Perhaps.

Still no bingo :(

All in all, the episode was by no means horrible. I think there were lots of horrible parts, but also some legitimately well executed moments, fun action, and scenes that I can easily imagine as squee worthy if you lean back and squint. Everything is comparative and in the growing collection of bad RWBY episodes, this one isn't securing a top slot. Which doesn't mean I think it's good, just... not as bad as it could have been and primarily only bad due to long-running problems, not things this specific episode has done. That's my bar then, so low it has officially entered the underworld.

Still, RWBY is back and a part of me is eager to see where this volume takes us, for better or for worse.

Until next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]