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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Refuge”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Welcome to week two of… fourteen? Is that how many episodes we’ve got this Volume? Man, we’re going to be here for a while.

There’s a ton to unpack in “Refuge,” but as promised I want to delve into the opening first. Given the scattered, symbolic nature of our intro I think it’s easiest to just chuck out observations in list form. I’ll segue back into cohesive recapping in a moment.

So, what have we got?

The glitching between a happy, whole Atlas and the burning wreckage we’re now dealing with. That works well given both Atlas’ tech-focus culture and the ways that tech has led to some of our biggest tragedies (hijacked army, framing Penny, etc.)

Ruby looks scared and is standing behind the rest of her team, separated from them by the title. I’m not really feeling that theme so far though, given Yang’s incredibly weak challenge, Ruby’s immediate forgiveness (during her talk with Penny), and the fact that she’s still working with half the team who vocally support her, particularly Nora. Unless something drastic changes, the idea of Ruby being the outsider here is silly.

We get shots of the girls with their past selves superimposed over their bodies and weapons. I like the message here—they carry those versions of themselves with them—just not how it’s contrasted with Ironwood’s image of an earlier Atlas now burning. So that’s all he is now? Everyone gets to embody their growth except for him? His past is erased to focus solely on our current predicament? I’m not picking up any redemption flags here…

Robyn’s hand reaches down towards Clover’s badge, which then circles to show off the Ace Ops. The final image contrasts an angry Harriet with a defeated Qrow. At least, I hope they’re contrasts. It’s going to read as absurd if they somehow end up working together after Qrow helped get her leader killed.

This morphs into Qrow alone who sits, devastated, until Robyn offers him a hand up and they both smile. I’m not a fan of this symbolism after the prison scene we got this episode. It’s like Qrow might have thought about his choices until Robyn’s anger reminded him that, oh yeah, he can be angry at Ironwood instead. These two teaming up, when their last team-up led to a death, is worrisome to say the least.

We get our horrifying image of Salem looming over Oscar as he clutches his head. The group’s weapons fall. This makes sense given this episode’s kidnapping and the team’s sheer inability to do anything to stop it.

Jaune stands determined—also makes sense with his trend of giving “pep talks”—while Ren and Nora stand apart, facing opposite directions. Nora looks back though.

Paralleling them are Winter and Weiss who also face opposite directions. This is becoming a common visual theme: Harriet and Qrow, Nora and Ren, Winter and Weiss. Here though, Weiss looks determinedly ahead while Winter stares down at her feet, unsure. Ugh, I just know they’re going to have her betray Ironwood too.

We get a brief glimpse of Whitley and Willow, not a whole lot to go on. Then we see Salem turning her chess pieces into grimm—literally changing the game—while Ironwood’s white pieces are turned to dust. I could make a quip about how white is supposed to go first, but the initial move was made thousands of years before Ironwood existed and thus he never stood a chance, certainly not when his own allies are actively working against him… but I won’t lol

Watts is smiling at a terminal while at his back Pietro works at his. More opposites. Pietro’s reflection looks to Penny even as his body continues to work, his heart contrasting his head. Penny, in turn, looks upset as her reflection flinches at something off screen and the glass cracks. Watts hacking her, perhaps?

We see the new teams as a cherry blossom (I think?) floats across the screen. It melts in Ren’s hand while escaping Nora’s. Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of that just yet.

Ruby and Yang share a look—undermining their supposed conflict this volume. Couldn’t we have gotten sister unity over the last three years instead?—and a fight against grimm starts up. It freezes as Cinder walks through it, hopefully implying that the group’s attention is on the wrong threat. While they concern themselves with low-level grimm, Salem and her allies are walking free and wreaking havoc.

Then Cinder screams and clutches her grimm arm as things go up in flames. I hope that’s not a death flag given that we’ve teased her death twice already and we only just got a glimpse at her backstory. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning here that there’s a “Summer is the Hound” theory gaining traction which, frankly, I think is 100% unsubstantiated. It’s a fun crack theory, but not something I’m inclined to take seriously until we get some actual evidence behind it. There is, however, potential evidence for people becoming grimm in general: Salem falling into the pool and Cinder receiving that arm. That’s not much though. So while I’m far from convinced that the Hound was once human—let alone that it was Summer—there is something to the theory that Salem may be able to control Cinder via her arm like she controls other grimm. After all, she knew Cinder was alive despite everyone else thinking she’d perished. They seem to have some sort of connection that hasn’t been explained yet and now that Cinder has willingly walked back into Salem’s clutches, she may not be able to walk out.

There are shots of all our other villains, the Lamp and the Staff reflected in Salem’s eyes, and Jinn’s blue smoke, perhaps suggesting that we’ll see her again, or the entity residing in the Staff (if they exist).

Atlas glitches back to normal—a false victory?—before the ice breaks and Team RWBY falls into the darkness below. Volume 3 vibes all around. There’s light above them emanating from the Staff, but as Ruby reaches for it grimm arms circle and pull her deeper. I hope this means that the group will suffer the defeat we need to keep Salem as a legitimate threat, but we had very similar imagery back in Volume 6 and they made it out of that situation just fine, so.

“Happy Ever After” glitches into “Happy? Never Again.” Which isn’t ominous or anything. We finally end on the classic RWBY image of Crescent Rose buried in the snow underneath the shattered moon.

On the whole I think the opening is strong and I like a lot of the symbolism in it, though I do question how much will actually end up being relevant to the story. My only gripes are that there are too many different styles going on—it feels like three or four different Volume openings slammed together—and the fact that it also feels overly long. I don’t think it’s actually any longer than our Volume 7 opening, but it seems that way to me, perhaps because of those varying styles breaking things up.

So that’s what we’ll be watching for the next twelve weeks! Let’s move onto the actual episode.

We open on the image of Clover’s bloody badge in Qrow hand, the same one we got in the trailer. I theorized last recap that we’d be getting the rest of our trailer/promo material this week and I was almost entirely correct in that. This moment, retrieving the bikes, fighting off the grimm, Watts getting hit, Oscar carried away… all we’re missing are some eye closeups and Nora powering up her hammer. As said, it makes me nervous for what the rest of the Volume holds. I can’t decide whether the footage wasn’t ready to be included in promo materials that early, or if RT is just determined not to give us any information past the first two episodes…

Regardless, this is supposed to be a moment of grief and all I could focus on was Qrow’s hand. Specifically, the lack of detail in it. On the whole, I’ve been very happy with the engine upgrade and I quite like RWBY’s animation now, but a closeup here draws too much attention to how, sometimes, they’re just not animating their characters in a way that looks natural. Where is Qrow’s wrist? Why is his palm perfectly smooth? Stylistically that’s usually fine, but when given the chance to stare at it you realize how odd it looks.

Says the woman whose own drawing skills suck but, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But we’re talking about the important bits in this episode! Out of frame Robyn is heard yelling, “This is your fault. You realize that, don’t you?” We’re meant to think that she’s telling Qrow this, especially with how he’s bent guiltily over the badge, until we cut to reveal Jacques right next to them.

I wish Robyn was saying all that to Qrow. It would mean that she was ignoring her own responsibility in Clover’s death, but at least it would have started an arc where Qrow has to grapple with what he did. Not the awful moment that’s coming up.

Before that though, Jacques claims that he’s the “victim” here who was “duped.” His hands may not be clean, but “at least I’m not a murderer.” Look, I’m not here to absolve Jacques of anything. The guy is an absolute shit stain on the Remnant world. However, he’s right in his overall point even if his words are BS. Meaning, Jacques is not a victim and he is a murderer, but he is not the one responsible for Clover’s death. Robyn has plenty of things to be furious at him for, but this is not one of them. Ironically, here we have Jacques functioning as the kind of villain the show wants Ironwood to be. He is a murderer because the company he runs exploits faunus and forces them to work in dangerous conditions (see: the death of Ilia’s parents). He is culpable because he a) had control over these conditions and b) has full knowledge of their flaws. He’s a racist who cares more about money than lives. His informed choices then led directly to deaths. Ironwood? Not anywhere near the same thing. Overlooking the “Omg Salem is here and I have to do something about it” context, he did not try to arrest Robyn. He did not force Qrow to resist arrest, or Robyn to get involved, or Qrow to break Clover’s aura, or Tyrian to stab him in the chest. Ironwood had no control or knowledge of these events, so he is not responsible for Clover’s death in the way that Jacques is responsible for the faunus’. RWBY is giving the right arc to the wrong character.

Robyn then insists that Qrow didn’t kill anyone. He didn’t strike the blow, but he certainly helped! Look, Qrow is one of my favorites, but I’m not about to claim that he didn’t have a hand in getting his friend killed. I seriously can’t believe the show is ignoring this.

We then segue into some, uh, questionable dialogue choices. Jacques is a “snake with a mustache”? Sorry, I can’t take Robyn seriously at the best of times, but definitely not when she’s tossing out laugh worthy insults like that. Nevertheless, this “snake with a mustache” is guilty because he “helped that man tear us all apart.” That man being Watts.

…why are they all in what amounts to the same cell with barriers dividing them? I suppose we could make the argument that they’re being held in some secret facility, given that they’re in this dark, garage-esque space with no lights and no other prisoners. Some sort of maximum security setup that... doesn’t have any other inmates and no additional security? Hmm. Then again, the power is supposed to be out and I don’t really trust RWBY’s ability to craft consistent backgrounds. I feel like they’re packed together merely because that’s plot convenient, not because it makes any sense in world.

Watts looks pretty comfortable in there though and Jacques is likewise full of confidence. He says that by now Whitley will have already called their lawyers to get him out. Now, non-imprisoned people know that the apocalypse is currently underway, as Joanna will later put it. No one is lawyer-ing at the moment, but it will be crucial to see whether Whitley is trying to get Jacques out despite the chaos. How faithful is he to his abuser? Can Willow start undermining Jacques’ influence now that they’re alone?

Jacque’s confidence thoroughly pisses Robyn off and she screams, punching the barrier between them. Keep this in mind for a second.

A moment later two guards show up to take Watts somewhere and… oh no. Please don’t tell me Ironwood is going to team up with him now that Penny has written him off? I know the guy has (presumably) already killed someone, and he must assume he’s killed Oscar, so we’re definitely in full villain territory despite the stupidity of it… but please don’t start working with Salem’s henchmen too. You know what? I’m not going to assume the worst until I actually see it. RWBY gives me enough nonsense as it is lol.

What I really want to talk about is that hit.

I’m somewhat concerned by a lot of the fandom’s reaction to this moment in comparison to another. Who remembers Volume 6? That scene when Qrow punched Ozpin directly into a tree? Now, I’m not keeping track of who says what when—this is a generalized reaction—but I saw a lot of posts defending that action. There were numerous justifications for the punch, but the three big ones were: 1. These characters are fighters and they’re used to it, 2. These characters have aura so it’s not that bad, and 3. Ozpin totally deserved it. Now, the problems here are that 1a. I don’t think punching someone when they’re crying on their knees is justified, whether they’re a fighter or not, 1b. Qrow was likewise punching Oscar, a totally innocent kid, 2. We had established earlier that Oscar was having trouble remembering to activate his aura and didn’t seem to have it active then (no ripple effect, he’s rubbing his jaw afterwards), and 3. Ozpin’s crimes are, as explored on this blog, not nearly the horrific actions that the story and fandom would like to paint them as. The point is that despite all this, lots and lots of fans said it was totally okay to punch Ozpin&Oscar. What’s the big deal? they asked. Now, lots and lots of fans—mostly when the trailer first dropped—say it’s not okay to punch Watts. Despite the fact that he’s also a fighter. Despite the fact that his aura has broken. Despite the fact that he’s not currently a threat (seated on the bed/Ozpin on his knees). Despite the fact that he’s responsible for helping Salem try to take over the world. If we were to make a case for who deserves to get hit, Watts is a WAY stronger candidate in my opinion, yet he’s the one who a lot of fans are scrambling to defend. Why? I assume it’s because hitting him feeds into the generalized police state/dictator theme Ironwood has been thrown into. It helps villainize Ironwood for fans to go, “Poor Watts. He’s done horrific things but no one deserves to face police brutality.” I agree. The only problem is that a lot of those same fans seem to have gone, “Ozpin can get over it. He deserved to be hit! I would have done a whole lot worse to him…” So is the difference only that one attacker is a military professional and the other is… a huntsmen professional who soon after that scene starts working for the military? Yeah. The show continually ignores that the group aren’t the rogue heroes they pretend to be. They worked under Ironwood for weeks, if not months.

The show isn’t clear about its morals and neither are the fans, with both changing tactics whenever it helps blame the character they already don’t like. When Robyn punches the barrier, do we really think she wouldn’t have hit Jacques if given the chance? Why would it be heroic for her to hit the Evil Man but it’s not okay for the grunt minor character to hit the other Evil Man? These morals don’t change just because you like Robyn and don’t like Ironwood.

Jumping ahead for a moment, we get another example of this hypocrisy with Joanna. A reporter is informing the people that the military seems to have stopped evacuations and there is an unheard number of grimm hanging out overhead, both things that are objective facts. He’s reporting as he should, sticking to what’s known and provable, and thus is, notably, not some lackey of Ironwood’s who is hastily presented as evil. Yet Joanna treats him like he is. She snatches the microphone from him and, when he starts to protest, threatens him with her weapon. After she’s done hijacking the feed, she shoves him on her way out.

Look at how scared this guy is. These are our heroes? This back and forth doesn’t work. Prior to his random killing spree, Ironwood took his fear and frustration out on some furniture, yet the show acted as if he was hurting real people. The mere possibility that he might use violence and intimidation to achieve heroic goals—getting Amity up/escaping Salem—was enough to label him as an antagonist because the understanding was that you can’t act like that no matter what your intentions are. Yet our current heroes can use as much violence and intimidation as they want to achieve their own heroic goal of warning the people? Do we think the story will encourage us to be critical of the group if they start beating up a bunch of Atlas goons to reach the access point? Of course not. And it’s that flip-flopping that’s the problem. Your heroes have to function differently than the villains in order for them to be heroes. Under that logic, our heroes haven’t acted like heroes since mid-Volume 6 and it’s getting harder and harder to watch.

Especially when we take the scene before this into account. Yup, we’ve still got Qrow gunning for Ironwood. Robyn bemoans the fact that they can’t do anything, to which Qrow replies, “We can do something. We can kill the man who put us here.” I… feel like I shouldn’t start repeating myself given how long this recap is—we’ll be here for forever lol—BUT I hope everyone reading this understands precisely how little this makes sense. How god awful a choice it is. I mean c’mon. Robyn attacked Clover unprovoked, Qrow teamed up with Tyrian, he broke Clover’s aura, Tyrian murdered him, Salem is here, and now he’s sitting in a cell with Watts and Jacques… but Ironwood is the guy he wants to kill? REALLY, QROW? THAT’S WHO YOU’RE GOING TO GO AFTER? I really can’t with this show sometimes. RWBY, put your clown makeup on.

We get a cut to Ironwood’s image just so there’s no confusion about who Qrow wants to help kill next and Joanna threatens that reporter who, you know, is also a citizen in need of help and protection… Her “General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not” sounds absolutely ridiculous when we just watched her intimidating this guy to get what she wants. ‘You can trust us! Unless we randomly decide we don’t like you.’ I have other things to say about Yang calling out that racist woman later on, but she gets props for helping her regardless. Honestly, I don’t get that sense from the cast very often: that they’d help you even if they don’t agree with you. They certainly didn’t offer that to Ozpin, Ironwood, or the Ace Ops.

There’s a very long shot of a scared toddler staring out the window, just to hammer home how young and innocent Mantle is. Seriously, pay attention to our imagery: Mantle is scared children in homes, cute children fist-bumping Jaune, family photos lost in the street, a stuffed toy run over by hoverbikes. It’s meant to evoke a general sense of domesticity and, again, innocence. Meanwhile, Atlas is only shown via Ironwood and Jacques, the villains. Where are the families living up in the sky? The children? The humanizing details? Our racist woman is an outlier who is quickly silenced by Yang. The rest of Mantle is characterized as victims: scared women, worried fathers, the faunus huddling together in the slums, even another racist who, while an asshole, is supposed to have a point about things like the embargo. Which is all true. These characters are all of these things, it’s just that they’re not unique in this. All this exists above too—from those families, to the faunus slave labor, to the beloved objects that remind you of someone’s worth—but they’re ignored to provide a simplistic look at Atlas as the villain.

Throughout this entire episode the group tosses out snide remarks about how “They” don’t care about you and it’s just… they who? The other thousands of innocents who have nothing to do with Ironwood? The hundreds of Mantle citizens you already evacuated? The redeemable people like Winter and Whitley? The group fights alongside a Schnee who was one of the most vocal racists a year and a half ago, yet writes off the entirety of Atlas as the bad guys. What a mess.

As Joanna’s voiceover finishes, we cut to Yang’s group going after Pietro’s tech. I already covered this scene in our promo material, but to summarize here: horrible tone. Absolutely nonsensical given the situation. Salem is here and Yang is giggling over bikes. In fact, the tone is off for most of the episode (our end being the wonderful exception): Yang’s joy ride, antics with the Mantle citizens, Blake poking fun at Weiss, the tube scene… none of it fits the context of the series’ big bad here to kill everyone. Arguments along the lines of, “But it can’t be doom and gloom all the time” or “This is a brilliant parallel to Volume 3 with happy times heralding tragedy” don’t erase the fact that our cast isn’t taking this threat seriously. Last week Weiss’ “We’re never going to sleep again” moment worked because it’s humor in the context of how bad everything is. All of this? It’s just the group goofing off despite supposedly being in mortal danger. This?

This doesn’t read well. I’d argue this scene is even worse in context due to lines like “The others are definitely missing out.” In our promo material I assumed that the group just split for the sake of splitting and they were, in fact, just missing out on something cool. But we’ve since learned that they split due to a fundamental disagreement about how to help people, a split Ruby compared to Salem’s plans, a split that Yang started! Why is she now acting like their separation is a funny “missing out” moment? It’s like if half your friend group decided to go to the movies while the other half went to a party with an unexpectedly good DJ. The movie-goers are people who are “missing out,” not the group who went off to take over a military base and everyone left angry.

Keep in mind that Ozpin is also back. Every fun times scene with Oscar in it has the added problem of Ozpin hanging back, not saying anything, not acknowledged, still a secret.

The other issue I brought up weeks back was the lack of grimm. Why are the streets deserted? Shouldn’t the army be overrunning the city? Well, turns out that there’s no army because… Salem just hasn’t bothered to send it into the city yet? When Jaune and Ren take out the low-level grimm Oscar asks if they’ve “already pushed this far in,” to which Yang replies, “No, I think those are from last night.” A few minutes later, last night’s grimm change to new non-Salem grimm as Oscar observes, “It’s the negativity. Salem’s forces aren’t moving in, but it’s enough to attract the stragglers.” Later still, Joanna asks, “…grimm are circling out there. What are they waiting for?” GOOD QUESTION. We don’t know, but it’s real convenient, isn’t it? RWBY redeems itself a bit at the end of this episode with that Hound grimm, but I’m still calling it out for having Salem hold off long enough for the group to evacuate pretty much all of Mantle and infiltrate the base. That’s real nice of her. As the characters keep pointing out, it would be a staggeringly different situation if they were overrun with grimm right now, huh? Kind of like the situation Ironwood (rightfully) assumed they’d be dealing with.

Again, I’m so glad our Big Bad is kind enough to let the heroes do everything they need to before lifting a finger to attack them.

RWBY seems to be setting up a, “See! There was always time to evacuate the city!” accusation even though no one could have known that and it makes zero logical sense. Salem brings an army with her so she can not use the army against Atlas? Right…

This all segues directly into our other promo scene. My initial comments still stand: the tone doesn’t work, the lack of urgency doesn’t work (Jaune playing with the kid, Oscar politely knocking on doors), the low-level grimm are not a threat, that shield is useless against anything not driven by plot convenience, and it’s weird for Jaune to be yelling, “Heads up!” when there’s no one in front of him. As said, this moment really doesn’t sit well given everything that’s going on. I had hoped that it would read better when seen in the episode itself, but that’s sadly not the case.

After Ren one-shots the grimm Jaune suggests that they use his amplified semblance to get everyone to the crater safely. Ren seems less than pleased about this, but agrees. Right now, it’s easy to say that he’s in a bad mood because Nora is mad at him, but what about the Volume before? Where’s this underlying tension coming from? I can come up with lots of theories, but at some point the show needs to confirm something. The longer we go not explaining what’s wrong with Ren, the less faith I have that it will make sense when we get it.

We see the racist woman upset that they have to go live with the “animals in the slums” rather than going up to Atlas. As said, I like that Yang helps her despite clearly hating the woman, I also think her criticism holds up well (ignoring the simplified ‘They abandoned you’ narrative). The only thing that bugs me is RWBY continually presenting racism as a problem to throw a band-aid on and then pat yourself on the back for ‘solving.’ Racist drunk says shit? Toss him in the trash! Racist woman says shit? Remind her that her survival depends on you! It’s not that these responses aren’t earned, but that we’re given them instead of an actual arc that tackles the complexities of this issue. I mean, Blake has abandoned the White Fang and we’ve barely mentioned the faunus slave labor in Atlas. When they head to the dust facility it’s conveniently run by bots instead of faunus. Can you imagine if Weiss Schnee walked into a group of exploited minorities, hoping to use them to access a military base? But of course, there’s nothing like that. RWBY ignores the actual issues for these simple solutions. Heroes just attack/threaten racists and then it all goes away. Yay.

The other problem with this scene is that we learn the crater is the slums. Um… what? Hold on, Joanna made it sound like it’s a separate place, potentially inhabited by grimm, yet it’s the same area Oscar was in last episode? How is that area warmer? This makes no sense to me.

Also, ha, the crater below Atlas apparently houses all the “animals” that Team RWBYJNR is very protective of. I’m waiting for them to do something that messes with the Staff—Ruby reaching for it in the opening—Atlas crashes down on a whole city of exploited minorities, and then Ironwood is blamed for it somehow. Can’t wait for that episode.

So the group starts making their way there and hark! An Ozpin! I’m always thrilled to hear him, even if he’s treated just terribly by the show. Oscar is at the back of the group and comments that “It should not be this hard just getting people to cooperate.” Except… they are cooperating? Oscar, you are watching them cooperate right in front of you. That one woman might grumble a bit, but she hasn’t made a move or said a word about not doing what you say. Where did this complaint come from? Another example of RWBY insisting something is there when it simply isn’t. More importantly, Ozpin responds:

“And yet, it’s becoming something I’m increasingly concerned about.”

“You know, I really don’t need your additional comments right now.”

Then why did you comment out loud, Oscar? What, do you normally talk to yourself like that? You were clearly speaking to Ozpin! Don’t criticize him for responding. I hate traps like that.

Ozpin immediately says that Oscar has every right to be upset and apologizes for leaving… it’s not apologizing for his entire existence like I wrote on the bingo board, but it’s close. Who’s surprised that Ozpin is the first to offer (another) apology? Not me. Oscar corrects him with, “I’m upset you came back!”

Okay. Here’s the thing. I like the idea of Oscar rejecting Ozpin both because he’s taken over his life and because Oscar has suffered horribly due to Ozpin’s presence (punched, slammed into walls, kidnapping attempts, etc.) That makes sense, it’s actually morally complex, and it’s great groundwork for character growth. The only problem is… this came out of nowhere. Oscar was shown accepting this new life when he left the farm. Then again when he insisted on fighting Hazel. Then again all the times he’s been told he’s acting like Ozpin and seems to accept that just fine. He’s clearly pleased with this new badass self he’s got going on—he even says as much—yet doesn’t want to acknowledge Ozpin as the catalyst for all this positive change. Okay, that’s something we could still work through, but what about the group? Fans are already theorizing that this is why Oscar is keeping Ozpin a secret, because he’s scared of how the group will react, punishing him to get at Ozpin again, and though he 100% has reasons for thinking that will happen, Oscar hasn’t shown that fear before now. Qrow punches him? Bonding moment with Ruby. Jaune attacks him? I made you all dinner. They all smile over his inevitable death/disappearance? He smiles back. Yang is the most scream-y? Happy to have her using him as an armrest. The group continually ignores him and treats him with suspicion? Not a peep of protest. It’s horrifying that Oscar accepted how the group previously treated him, but he did accept it. Where did this fear come from if we haven’t seen it in response to the harm done towards him? Just as importantly, can’t we have an arc where Oscar is mad at the team some too? I’ll admit that the general premise of blaming Ozpin makes sense for the traumatized fourteen-year old, but after two years of blaming Ozpin for everything… aren’t we sick of this? His team has actively hurt him, outside of Ozpin’s ability to prevent, yet Ozpin is the one who takes all the heat for their behavior. “I felt like I was actually part of the team” should lead to the realization of, “Hey, Yang shouldn’t yell at both of us for things outside of our control” not, “Hey, you should stay away forever because others have decided they don’t like you.”

All of this following Ozpin saving Oscar’s life in the airship. Then saving his life again after Ironwood shot him. Our heroes are real grateful, huh. I hate that RWBY is taking another fave and doing them dirty, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

Ozpin also mentions his magic—would be nice if Oscar brought that up with the team!—and that he is now “recollecting my longest held memories.” He…is? When? Don’t you think that’s something important to show us? We keep being told that “the merge” is occurring but not shown what that actually means. Seriously, when did Oscar get slammed with that many memories??

Please just use the aura machine and give Ozpin a robot body. RT doesn’t have the chops for writing this situation.

As they continue on towards the crater Ren snaps at Jaune about not needing a “pep talk.” Jaune looks annoyed at the attitude which, fair. It says a lot about the writing the last few years that Jaune is the character I’m least frustrated with lol. Likely because they haven’t had him do anything lately which, given that he’s not one of the title characters and our cast is bloated enough as it is, I’m still totally fine with.

Ozpin concludes the scene with, “We need to find a way to work together. Not just the two of us, all of us” with the camera panning up to look at Atlas. I’m glad someone isn’t ready to throw Ironwood under the bus. Given how the group reacted to him sparing Lionheart’s name though, I don’t think they’ll follow Ozpin in his forgiveness. If anything, I expect this perspective to just be more hate fuel.

We move to Ruby’s group which now includes May. Woohoo! She still hasn’t gotten half the screen time as Joanna, but I’m really glad she’s here. In fact, between a useful semblance and that adorable courtesy, I love her already. Despite, you know, helping the team break into the base and all that. Everyone has their flaws lol.

She also frames the Amity plan as getting the world “talking again.” Why is everything presented like a fun romp rather than avoiding death via Salem? Absolutely terrible tone this episode.

The group hilariously waltzes past a sign labeled AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and enters the dust facility with the bots I mentioned earlier. This I do like. My hypothetical scenario incorporating the racism issue aside, I like that Weiss is using her knowledge and connections to further the mission, rather than something conveniently dropping into the group’s lap. Like Amity suddenly being ready for launch…So yeah, it makes sense that Weiss would know of a potential way in.

Sending someone up through the tubes though? Ehhh… I know they have aura and everything—and that Zwei was once mailed—but are we sure this is safe?? Doesn’t matter because Nora sends Weiss through with a misplaced button press. Good thing that was the tube heading to the base. Too bad Weiss is heading to a guarded military base alone. It should have been May going first with her semblance activated, but no. Chuck this onto the ever increasing ‘Bad Tone’ pile. There should not be giggles over Weiss being in that level of danger, especially with everything else going on. Ruby’s expression is the only one on point.

Before Weiss is yeeted off though, Penny and Ruby have a talk wherein Ruby lies her ass off. Penny says, “I do not like it when friends fight” and when Ruby starts talking about Yang she corrects her, revealing that she’s actually thinking about Winter and Ironwood. “They were our friends.”

I was ready to sing Penny’s praises and really, she still gets credit for being the only one who has acknowledged this, but her opinion is (once again) overridden by Ruby’s. Penny goes, “but then the Ace Ops attacked you” which Ruby doesn’t bother to correct. How would Penny know otherwise? The only information she has about that battle is what Ruby has told her, but Ruby is lying via omission here. The Ace Ops never attacked her. They very explicitly refused to start a fight. Ruby attacked them. Then when Penny is upset that Ironwood said “people were going to die because of me,” Ruby takes her by the shoulders and angrily insists, “That was a lie and he was only saying it to hurt you.”

Ruby… you’re the one lying. You know damn well Ironwood didn’t just say that to hurt Penny. Oh yeah, the general trying to keep a kingdom alive from an immortal witch is preoccupied with hurting Penny’s feelings for no reason other than being evil. That makes sense. More importantly, Ironwood is right. Look, I’m by no means blaming Penny for anything. She fought off Cinder, took the power when there was no other choice, and has now gotten caught up in Ruby’s plans which include incredibly misleading information that Penny has no reason to question. She’s doing her best and deserves that hug. But that doesn’t mean she lacks responsibility here. Ironwood needs Penny to evacuate. Penny—listening to Ruby—won’t help him. Ergo, if something happens to the people up in Atlas Penny will be partly responsible. If I have the key to a door with lots of people trapped behind it as a fire rages, and I refuse to open that door, I have indeed allowed a lot of people to die. As Penny says, she didn’t want this responsibility… but she has it. She has to deal with it. Too bad she’s with Ruby who encourages her to ignore it instead, insisting that nothing bad that happens after their choices could in any way be connected to them. Kind of like Qrow ignoring his own actions against Clover.

Because that’s the takeaway from this scene. Penny had empathy for their friends and then Ruby talked her out of it. She never even acknowledges that those were indeed seven friends that she betrayed. That’s horrible.

What happened to Ruby? I used to love this girl.

Continuing our tone issue, Nora is watching this show like her favorite soap is on. Okay then.

Weiss goes up the tube and then we cut to Fiona saying that… the Mantle police are helping them evacuate? So the military is bad, but the police are good? I need to stop trying to make sense of RWBY’s allegory.

When Yang and the others return Fiona makes an innocent comment about being worried about how they’d fare without the rest of their team. Yang is pissed.

Ah, so we’re back to her giving allies attitude for random observations. Remember the anger at Marrow for suggesting she and Blake try different team-ups? Now here Yang is, in a different team-up, doing quite well. Funny how we never acknowledge who first suggested that. Now, Fiona reveals a totally logical worry that losing four fighters might make a difference when fending off grimm, but Yang is poised to be angry at everyone, about everything, all the time. Which I get is something that a lot of fans like. I’ve already seen a couple of posts praising RT for letting Robyn and Yang be angry without consequences because women often can’t do that and, fair. That is indeed one way to read it. My problem is that their anger is actually irrational, not just called as much because we women are ~emotional~. Their anger isn’t justified: Robyn because she had a significant hand in all this nonsense (that she’s ignoring) and Yang because it’s clear Fiona means no harm here. This is anger that needs to be called out, not ignored because yay women expressing emotion. That kind of defense is reserved for a woman’s justified anger that needs to be expressed without criticism, especially in a narrative that tries to undermine her perspective. But what has Fiona done to Yang? Nothing. More importantly, the show has yet to teach Yang a better coping mechanism than lashing out at people, be it with her fists, words, or angry glares. Yang has been through the ringer and it makes sense that she’s angry, but that doesn’t mean she gets a lifelong pass to treat those around her badly.

Anyway, Joanna says they have a lot of people to keep warm even though the crater was supposed to be warmer? And they’re stealing dust? So what are they using it for it not heat? We’re not seeing any difference here and frankly all the civilians should be dead by now. Or at least entering hypothermia. (Give me that conflict: how do you keep people safe when they’re not all conveniently up for walking all the way to the slums?) Joanna also says that they’re trying to get the “Old mine shafts into a livable condition” which would take how long exactly? In fact, I’d say our timeline is already wonky. We’ve watched Yang hide the Ace Ops last Volume, fly to Winter and Penny, find the Happy Huntresses, wait around for Oscar to show up, ran off on her own at some point to scout, went to get bikes, evacuated all those people to the (far away) slums, then went back out to fight off the grimm. That had to have taken up a good chunk of the night, though it’s impossible to tell the time with Atlas’ snowy sky. I’m leaning towards a bingo mark though…

The faunus who I thought was a badger or something is… a bear I guess? He has a bear-like paw, but his nails seem too long… I honestly don’t know. But he’s Fiona’s uncle! Cute. She's off to deal with a fight that’s starting while the group goes to fight more grimm. Finally, the episode gets good.

The teamwork to take out the dragon grimm was nice, always glad to see it, but the real fight starts when two more grunts show up and then immediately run away. What could have scared them off?

The Hound. (I’m sorry, all I can think of is Game of Thrones when I write that, but it seems to be the name the fandom is adopting, so…) Remember how I said it was unlikely to be a threat on its own? I WAS WRONG. Holy shit this thing is terrifying. It snatches Oscar and in some wonderfully quick animation absolutely obliterates the kid. Oscar is thrown around like a chew toy, desperately trying to rabbit kick at this thing and it does [checks notes] absolutely nothing. I’d normally say something about our farm boy always getting the shit kicked out of him, but this scene was too good for my salt.

Then it changes shape, growing arms, and starts using Oscar as a shield. Yang can’t pull back in time and is snagged by her head, the Hound tossing her into the wall hard enough to break the stone. She’s still conscious though and warns the others about its strategy.

“But grimm aren’t that smart,” Jaune says. Maybe if you kids (Fiona keeps calling them kids) had stayed in school you would have learned that grimm get smarter with age! Oobleck knew that. Or, just as likely, this is a special Salem grimm. Hard to say at this point.

The point though is that the group is helpless in the face of this monster. I do want to emphasize this. I’ve seen a few people criticizing them for not doing enough to save Oscar and it’s like, what did you want them to do? Yang tried to attack and the grimm nearly had her hitting Oscar instead. Ren tried to attack and the grimm changed so fast his weapon was useless. Factor in that morphing—which the group has never seen before—the horror of Oscar hanging there limp, and the general fighter response of, ‘I can’t just keep attacking head on because that thing might kill me,’ and you realize the group was screwed from the start. They can’t stand up against this thing, not without a good strategy anyway, which there’s no time to think up. For the first time in years, ever since Tyrian, Salem actually made the right, villainous call.

Ren screams, “Give him back!”—which was just lovely in an angsty way—and the grimm creepily cuddles Oscar against his chest. Then he responds, “No.” Yeah, they’ve never seen that before either. Can you blame them for their shock? I’m impressed that they were on their bikes just seconds later, managing to keep the grimm in sight. That speaks to their combat experience. Not the ability to power through a situation where they’re clearly outmatched, but their ability to pick themselves back up and try again.

... Ah, so that’s why Pietro was oh so randomly making them bikes. The plot needed a way for them to keep up with a flying grimm. Got it.

My takeaway? RT should be writing horror. They’re far better at it. The animation, sound effects, voice acting, the grimm’s speech and protective instincts, that splatter of goo on Oscar’s cheek…

... stellar all around. Like the Apathy, this is the best I think RWBY has been since the lore episode of Volume 6. Granted, action sequences like this aren’t required to grapple with any of the messy morals and character consistency of other scenes, but still. If RWBY had just given me a lighthearted ‘Girls fight cartoon monsters’ show or a horror fueled ‘Girls fight monster abominations’ show, I’d have been happy. This? This is the only redeeming part of the episode. And it’s indeed one hell of a redemption. Look at this thing!

I’m not going to say it erases all the bad we got—it doesn’t—or that it likewise erases problems like Salem not using the rest of her army, but it’s a notable step in the right direction. This grimm is a threat. This grimm is a mountain the cast has to overcome. If this is the minion its master should be Everest. I still think this Volume is going down the tubes fast (it’s going the way of Weiss lol), but if it can give me more scenes like this? It might not be a total loss.

Last thing to acknowledge: What about Ozpin? I’ll admit it doesn’t look good. Given how fast he takes control he should have been able to override Oscar’s will and at least fight back a little with that spectacular magic we saw during the finale. So why didn’t he? I hope we get an in-world explanation: it happened so fast even Ozpin couldn’t do anything (shaky, but I’ll take it in a pinch), now that the merge is farther along he can no longer take control—something. Because I can easily imagine how quickly the fandom, and even the cast, will turn on him for not playing deus ex machina here. In reality, I think Ozpin didn’t take control simply because the plot needed him not to. The writers needed Oscar kidnapped so any potential out from that is conveniently forgotten… which is another knock against their writing, despite how great the scene otherwise was. The point is to take all these potential pushbacks and find a satisfying way to circumvent them, not pretend they don’t exist. RT can still save themselves here by providing that explanation later, so I hope they’re smart enough to do that. Ozpin has been blamed for everything at this point. His own kidnapping doesn’t need to be added to the list.

Also, still no word on Schrödinger's councilman. We’ve got to wait another week to see whether he’s dead or not.

Finally, let’s update the bingo card!

I’m crossing off “Ruby gives an ‘inspiring’ speech built on ignoring facts she doesn’t like” for that conversation with Penny. Yeah, it’s a speech to her alone about her worth, but Ruby mischaracterized the situation so badly I’m mad at her lol

I never thought the story would straight up just not have the grimm army attacking, so I think I’ll hold off on “Army of grimm conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians” until we see if/when it gets involved.

I’ll likewise hold off on the timeline slot until we see how bad things get…

Maria is on thin ice given that we have no idea what she’s supposedly doing while the group is off on their missions. Stay tuned.

Today we’re crossing off “Deadly cold conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians.” They should all be dropping like flies by now.

A friend pointed out that Cinder’s Cinderella flashback counts as an “Overly obvious fairy tale allusion.” In fact, I talked about how much of a shorthand that is, so that’s getting a mark.

From last week I’ve also decided to include Amity for “Retconning previous lore.” Now that the group is fully underway with their plan it reads as even more egregious that we were told it wasn’t ready.

I’ll hold off on Ozpin’s space for a while. See if he apologizes to the whole group and, if so, exactly what for.

“Oscar is finally kidnapped”—check!

Well, that’s a whole lot of headway this week. Can’t wait to see where the next episode takes us... Here’s hoping we spend a lot of time with that Hound. MVP of the episode.

Until next time! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

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iheartbookbran · 4 years ago

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1/ Okay, this is going to be a bit of a long reply, but do you honestly think Jaime is comparable to Cersei? Cersei has never done a single good thing in her life, has been murdering kids since childhood, and hardly regrets a thing. But Jaime? Like, pre-AGOT, what great crimes has Jaime committed with Cersei, besides incest? It’s pretty clear from Cersei’s POV that she’s been acting autonomously on everything besides conceiving Joffrey. Jaime hasn’t been involved.

2/ Getting into ASOIAF, Bran: yes, totally unforgivable, but a classic trolley situation in which GRRM states most people would do the same. And Jaime has said he’s ashamed in-text, more on that later I presume. Arya: his absolute lowest point, and he acknowledges it as such. It comes at a time when he’s practically out of his mind following Bran, and disturbs the hell out of him later. But hold him to account for sure, this is the closest he ever gets to being like C.

3/ Baby Tully: personally, I think it’s pretty clear in-text that Jaime isn't going to do this. If you look harder at Jaime’s whole relationship with bluffing, the way bluffing is being discussed in these chapters, and Genna, an insightful character, saying Jaime is NOT like his father, it becomes obvious that this is just an ugly attempt at imitating Tywin, complete with trebuchet. It’s dark to threaten this at all, sure, but Edmure is expecting dark so Jaime serves it.

4/ Slut-shaming Cersei - I mean, his thoughts are pretty fucking unpleasant, but… he’s human? This woman has cheated on him, multiple times (and not just as a means to an end, see Taena) whilst asking him to throw away his entire life since he was 15 to remain loyal to her. But sure, let’s just call it slut-shaming lol, Jaime should obviously be proud of Cersei and support her in fucking whoever she likes?

5/ Jaime and consent: GRRM is appalling at writing consent, I totally agree (look at Asha and Qarl)… but he has outright said that the twins’ sex is consensual, whether it looks it or not. You are going to have to use death of the author here if you want to argue that it’s anything otherwise, but by all means call GRRM out for his bad portrayal of it. Tysha: Jaime already knows he was wrong, and it’s plagued him his entire life. But let's not hold him accountable for his dad's extremes.

Oh boy, ok, let’s unpack all this, shall we? Honestly if someone had told me even yesterday that I’d be reciveing Jaime anons out of all the characters, I wouldn’t believe them. Because, again, I’m no renowned Jaime expert and my investment in him extends to... he’s interesting alright, I hope he stays alive long enough so that Bran gets to fling some shit at his face at some point or another in the next two books, but that’s really it.

1. So on the “Cersei has never done a single good thing in her life, has been murdering kids since childhood, and hardly regrets a thing. But Jaime?” part of your ask. I don’t believe there’s much difference on when someone starts committing crimes and it makes it somehow less bad of you don’t begin in your childhood, Jaime could have been attempting to kill/maim children at 13 or at 33 and guess what I would still believe he’s an asshole for it. He’s made choices that involve harming others in the name of maintaining his precious affair with his sister and upholding his family’s crimes, and it doesn’t matter to me when he started on it. This is not a fucking “evilness” point accumulation and Jaime doesn’t get a pass just because Cersei got a head start.

2. “Bran: yes, totally unforgivable, but a classic trolley situation” Sorry, nonny, but did you just compared Jaime pushing Bran from a window so he could continue with his toxic relationship... to the fucking trolley problem? WTF? Jaime, a goddamn adult with critical thinking skills, chose to continue that affair for years and years while having full knowledge of what the consequences of being discovered could be. He chose to be reckless and take his chances anyways. He was between the sharp object and the hard place because he chose to put himself there, and he doesn’t get to say “well I had no other choice” now because he fucking did, for years, he had a choice, and he went ahead with the most selfish one and when the consequences of his actions almost caught up with him, he again choose to be a selfish jerk and harm an innocent bystander, a child, that had no part in any of it. And you could argue that he did it to protect his own children but lmao, Jaime really doesn’t care that much about his children, lbr; just remember how he thinks of Joffrey. Cersei never gave him the opportunity to connect with them that’s true, and he only starts to bond a little with Tommen during aFoC, but I just think that if Jaime truly, sincerely, cared that much about his children’s well-being he could’ve oh idk stopped having sex with his sister??? Instead of being in a position in which he has to ruin a little boy’s life so that he can go on his merry way, even if he feels bad about it, that will never be good enough for me. Jaime had a choice, Bran didn’t.

3. “Baby Tully: personally, I think it’s pretty clear in-text that Jaime isn't going to do this.” I mean, given Jaime’s track record of shoving children from windows so that he can cover his and his own family’s ass, I’m not so sure about that, but fine, that still doesn’t mean that threatening someone with killing their baby so that they will submit to your will any less of a jerk move. I also think you’re kind of missing the point: Jaime here wants to have his cake an eat it too. He tells himself he’s upholding his oath to Catelyn (he really isn’t) while at the same time siding with the fucking Freys and aiding them, he’s basically giving legitimacy to the Red Wedding, the one thing most people agree was a hideous unforgivable act. I just think that if I make the active choice to defend and side with criminals, then I’m not less of a criminal myself.

4. Lol, I made that slut-shaming comment with a clear tongue-in-cheek intent, I obviously know their relationship at present is far more complicated than that, and I do think Jaime has the right to feel betrayed, I just also think that Jaime has this tendency of glorifying Cersei without actually truly seeing her for what she is. At times I almost feel like he considers her the fair innocent maiden to his noble knight, and that’s a big farce to both of them. When Cersei inevitably fails to live up to his expectations he’s shocked, as if he hasn’t known her all their lives.

5. “GRRM is appalling at writing consent, I totally agree” yes of course, he’s the same guy who considers Dany/Drogo consensual, that doesn’t mean I can’t still call it out and see it as a flaw. But even more than that, as you say next: “Tysha: Jaime already knows he was wrong, and it’s plagued him his entire life. But let's not hold him accountable for his dad's extremes.” like, again Jaime recognizing something is wrong and feeling bad about it doesn’t magically absolves him of it. Of course he’s not responsible for his dad’s fuckery but he’s guilty of withholding the truth from his little brother, whom he claims to love, with the full knowledge that it was an extremely traumatic experience for him, and that it had plagued him all his life, while patting himself on the back thinking that’s the right thing to do, and Jaime rationalizes it believing that of course Tysha couldn’t possibly care for Tyrion, so she was doing it for the money, which makes her no better than a whore (because Jaime, too, can be a misogynist UwU). You know, Tyrion has a lot of bad going on for him, but my god he’s 100% right in being furious with Jaime in this situation.

Like as you said, Cersei’s big problem is her lack of empathy, but Jaime’s is his apathy. With some big exceptions like when he killed Aerys and protected Brienne, Jaime’s apathy towards what he fully well knows is wrong and yet choses not to do anything about it is my biggest qualm with him. It’s something I believe GRRM is working with his development, but so far as the story goes, he hasn’t really made any significant turn, so I’m not giving him a gold star for participation. I mean, I realize that I’m the minority here when it comes to my opinion of Jaime, and maybe, nonny, how you and other fans interpret him is how he’s meant to be interpreted, but I don’t care lol. Writing this made me remember what GRRM said...

“Sometimes he felt like showering after writing a chapter about Cersei, though, as her world-view is quite unsympathetic.”—In this article.

I honestly wonder why he had to take a shower for Cersei torturing people (who yes, is a horrible evil person, I’m not trying to defend her), but not for Tyrion strangling a woman or Jaime crippling a child for life, but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#well now let’s stop talking about jaime i’m sick of him #better tell me about ur day anon babe #ask #Anonymous #ask pam #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #meta #my meta

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iwillnot-sink · 4 years ago

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Lookin’ at my history, I’m bad at love.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ~ Part 1

Growing up I was surrounded by hate, yelling, depression, and violence. I was the not so “accidental” conception that was supposed to keep a relationship from falling apart. The solution. But as you know, babies don’t fix everything - in fact, in most cases, they only make things worse in cases where there wasn’t an already healthy, loving environment to be brought into. Nothing demands attention, tests patience, prevents a good nights sleep, and adds stress to your life like a new life.

From as far back as I can remember, my Dad took every opportunity to tell me how I had ruined his life. How he only stayed because I was born, and how I essentially trapped him. Not to mention that my brother being born was also my fault... I just had to have someone to play with.

Over the next decade, I had a front row seat to how poorly my Dad treated my Mom and us. The hitting, the screaming, name calling, the threatening to take away our food and the roof over our head. As I got older, I became my very own lucky participant in these episodes. My Mom isn’t one for confrontation, so I had my fair share of yelling and screaming... in which I always paid for in the end.

This shaped my view of relationships for a long time but still, I tried to have hope.

The first boy I had a crush on, I was stuck on for years. He was nice to me and we had enough things in common. Hindsight is a powerful thing and it wasn’t until years later that I realized that I was chasing after a boy who strung me along, constantly told me I wasn’t good enough, would date me... then date my friends and come back to me, wanted me sexually but didn’t want to commit to me... and never stopped persuading my “no” to a “yes” with every chance he got. He manipulated me in the most subtle ways but never forgot to throw in a compliment. He had this power to make me feel happy and sad at the same time, liked but never enough to mean something, something to fill the time with until something better came along.

Naturally, I jumped at the next guy to really give me attention. Finally thinking I was actually worth someones time and attention, I believed it because I wanted to. Blinded by the overuse of compliments, gifts, and urgency/borderline obsession to always see me, I missed all the terrifying red flags. Mind you, the added beauty of Europe, the ocean, dancing, and overcompensating for being left on an island by my Dad, made this boy all the more charming. Now, every girl is quick and easy to rush in saying that they’d never be stupid enough to put themselves in a dangerous situation. But the truth is, most of the time you don’t know it’s dangerous until it’s too late. Most of us don’t go falling for people who are clearly aggressive or violent. It’s the ones that reel you in with their kindness, who make you feel important, who gain your trust first. Little to my knowledge, a picnic in the barn (how cute, right? No.) would lead to me getting physically and sexually abused.

I won’t get into that.. but needless to say, it set the mood for years to come.

The following year being my first year of high school, I thought I was ready to date. I was scheduled the off-lunch to all of my friends and was forced to meet new people. This is when I met what would be my next boyfriend. We had English class together, he played hockey, and had quite the sense of humour. My friends all gave me mixed feelings about him, even my Mom said there was something about him that she really didn’t like, but I thought I knew better. A few months went by and we had spent every day together, I sat with his mom at all of his hockey games and had family dinners. It wasn’t until SuperBowl night, he had a group of buddies over that I had never met before. We were sitting on the couch watching the game and he shoved his hands down my jeans. When I screamed “hey!” he looked at me and said “they don’t care. You want them to like you, don’t you?” and proceeded to do it again. They all chirped him for “striking out” and I ran to the bathroom upstairs to get away for a minute. He ran after me and knocked on the door, apologizing for his “gross friends” and told me to come out. When I opened the door, he proceeded to pick me up, carry me to his sisters room and drop me on the bottom bunk of her bed, and rip my shirt off. When I told him to stop while trying to push him off, he just ignored me and kept going. Thankfully his Mom came home at that second calling up from downstairs, and he rushingly got dressed and ran out of the room leaving me on the bed. I got dressed and ran out of the house and walked over an hour all the way home in the snow. The next day at school he told me he dodged a bullet for almost sleeping with a fat girl, and that he had actually been cheating on me with an eighth grader the whole time who “puts out,” anyway.

#me #personal #blogpost #triggerwarning #abuse

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tracle0 · 4 years ago

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hello hey hi and a splendid saturday to you, I come bearing a question for the wip4 gang and that question is: what is each of their most significant memories? additionally, are there any memories they would jump at the chance to get rid of? ok bye please have an excellent day \o/ (and before you yell at me I'm going to sleep now I swear)

I’m glad that when you even LOOK at me you think ‘oh sleep time’ I am Pavlov and you are my dog and this metaphor is stupid I will answer your question now

I’m gonna... assume this is uhh pre-story question because I know for a fact that at least three characters would change their answer to at least one question if it was post-story. My house, my rules.

Keaton’s most significant memory is p r o b a b l y the time when he was in year 12 (17), and he was called to the head of sixth form office. He’d been at this school since year 7 (11), and had realised he was trans in year 8 (12/13), and had then been fighting for the right to use his bathroom ever since. This had previously resulted in punishment. In year 10 (15), he made progress, being allowed to use the disabled bathroom, but he wanted the men's bathroom dammit.

Anyway, called to head of sixth form, assumed it was related to that issue. Pessimistic about the whole ordeal.

Turned out there was another student in like year 9 who had come out as trans as well, and the school had gone ‘UHHHHHHHHH LET’S DO BETTER THIS TIME’ so Keaton, being the only other trans student in this rural Norfolk school, was assigned as her... mentor??? I guess?

He was half like ‘fuck y’all’ and half like ‘I will not let this young woman go through the same shit you all put me through, I will guard her like a HAWK’. He was still not allowed to use his bathroom, but he makes her fight a little easier; she’s allowed to use her bathroom in year 10, after he left. They still meet up every now and then for coffee.

Memory to be rid of: First day on a Professional Set, he walked backwards whilst taking a tea order and fell into a bin. Terrible first impression. He still got jobs afterwards, but sometimes people will be like ‘oh yeah I’ve heard of you you’re the bin guy’ and he wants to punch them.

This is getting long already I’m gonna put the rest under a cut

I know you’re here for Mika so I’ll go to them, most significant memory: probably his first pride? He didn’t intend to go to pride, but he was in the city on the day of pride and just walked past all these rainbows and flags and people being so open and proud and themselves. He was maybe fifteen, and had been having those fun Gender Feels that you try and hide at age fifteen, because you’re only fifteen and most people tell you you’re not old enough to know anything about yourself, yknow?

Someone gave him a flyer at one point, and when he got back to his Ultra Christian Household, he hid it and would read through it some nights. When he had it memorised, he started to explore more about queerness online. He’s the guy who can tell you all about LGBT history due to this research. This was only done in the city on the library computers, where his trail couldn’t be tracked. It gave him some sort of start for labels, some sort of safe space, some sort of New Approach to everything he’d been feeling.

Memory to be rid of: last day in Ultra Christian School. He was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school and it wasn’t awful until he was about fourteen, at which point he started to grow his hair. They told him to cut it constantly. He was punished for it. He kept the hair.

It got bad but it wasn’t until he was about seventeen that it really buckled; first real notable psychotic episode. He told people, they were convinced it was some sort of possession, convinced he’d sinned, convinced of all these horrible things about him and drove him out until he could ‘act normally’ again. He did not go back.

In all honesty, the second he turned 18, he took his savings from various dead grandparents and a part-time job, bought a second-hand (maybe third-hand) camper-van and left home.

He goes back for Christmas only.

Mooooving on, Lynne! Who I do not talk about enough; she’s also part of the documentary squad, and actually the reason the whole squad exists. Producer and director, she’s very cool okcoolthanks

Most significant memory: That one time she was thirteen and her parents had officially declared their divorce. She was living with her dad and it was really, really weird and she was not enjoying it. Divorce is a big deal to some families, and this family was one of them, and she was really unsure about her entire future.

Cue Mika, young and mostly obedient, kicking down the door (not literally) and kidnapping her (again, not literally) to come pick blackberries with him (very literally). They stayed out until the sun went down in early Autumn. She forgot about the divorce for a small amount of time. They ended the day eating fish and chips straight from the paper whilst sitting in a tree and talking about nothing important at all.

They made jam out of the blackberries the next day. It was gross. Both of them refused to admit it was gross.

Memory to be rid of: She went camping one time with friends from school. Lynne is Muslim and so did not go to Catholic school with Mika, they just lived near each other, and so school friends went ‘hey we’re going camping you should come’ she did come.

It was a mess. They were fifteen and determined to drink, and English peer pressure to drink is weird, so she did take some drink but didn’t drink it. Someone threw up on her tent and blamed it on her. No-one bought any food or water, the only thing she was able to drink was lemonade bought for mixing and that had ants in it within two hours.

She woke up first and left them all there, then walked home because she was meant to be lift-sharing. It took an hour and a half. She preferred that to being in the car.

That group wasn’t her only group of friends, but it was her main group, so things were awkward for a while.

Moving on from Documentary Squad, Percival! Percy Percival who I wish I could call Percy because it’s so much easier to write.

Significant memory: winning an art contest when he was like. Eleven. Really living the high-life, ol’ Percival. It was a city-wide contest, with various age categories. He was part of the 11-18 clump, which put him at a disadvantage, but he still won. As a reward, his art was replicated on a mural in one of the shopping malls in town, and he got some fancy vouchers for a fancy art shop in the city.

Winning the art contest made him go ‘oh wait I’m actually good at this thing I really like doing I should learn how to do that more’ and you could barely pry him away from his sketchbook from that point on.

Those vouchers were stored away until he was 14 and doing art GCSE, at which point he bought a nice sketchbook and oil paints. He’s now very good at oil painting. I hate him for being good at oil painting. Oil painting SUCKS.

Memory to be rid of: I’m torn between three and they’re all similar so I’ll go for all of them.

#1 - losing an eye to Abby’s experiments. You read the lil short story I think (I know I checked just now) - she’s a very kind and loving sister who sometimes moves his body parts around. One time, he lost an eye and went blind for a few weeks. He had nightmares about it for months. It was very painful.

#2 - losing a finger. To Abby’s experiments. It was the middle finger on his left hand and it didn’t go back into place quickly enough - now it’s always numb and discoloured. Good news is he’s right-handed and not a musician so no worries about losing dexterity on that hand.

#3 - losing two ribs. To Abby’s experiments. There’s a very clear trend here. She wanted to try moving things she couldn’t see around. She moved two ribs away. She decided it was more dangerous to put them back. Now they just have two of Percival’s ribs lying around.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

On that note, final person, this is very long. Abby! She’s fun. Most significant memory;

okay the word ‘significant’ has caught me off-guard several times cause like wow how do you figure out significant memories for people. I don’t have just one, yknow? But I think I know one for her.

She’s the eldest out of her and Percival and, for a while, people wanted her to set an example for him, which she tried to do, but she wasn’t good at what people wanted her to be good at. She’s good with people. She’s good at very specific parts of biology. She’s good at psychology. She’s not good at school and tests.

So, when Percival started to beat the standards she set for him, her parents almost... egged competition on. Played favourites, compared the two siblings. Nobody really noticed what she could do, they only cared about what she struggled with. And the parents were rarely around to help out with what she was struggled with. So she struggled on and tried to keep her head high.

Cue a family wedding, she was snooping around the snack table at the reception and overheard her parents talking about her. And how they were almost disappointed in her. How they were annoyed that she couldn’t be more like Percival, honestly, what did they do wrong?

She got bitter. She pretends she doesn’t care but she’s bitter, and with no parents around to lash out at, she lashes out at Percival, who isn’t even aware. Good times. Not good times. Significant times.

Memory to be rid of: Honestly? Probably hearing her parents talking about her at the family wedding. It stings.

A n y w a y this was extremely long I like going into detail with short stories, if you read this far then thank you I appreciate it I will give you a feather from my feather collection. Probably a swan feather. I have a lot of swan feathers.

#wip4 #keaton #mika #lynne #percival #abby #all five of them wowza #'hey trade are you doing sts should you answer the other questions in your inbox'#I should but I won't I'm going to sleep soon but thank you for asking #this was fun! thank you logan this was helpful and fun and now I know more stuff about the characters

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ilovemygaydad · 5 years ago

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title: super cool

pairings: roceit, analogical, qpr remy/remus

summary: roman, who is a giant nerd, is pining after the most popular guy at school.

word count: 2.4k

warnings: swearing, anger, frustration, crying, a couple of sexual jokes (skip the tiny scene that starts with remy speaking), sympathetic deceit, remus, threats (as jokes), self-deprecation, lying, meddling with relationships, shame, brief humiliation, embarrassment, the briefest food mention, slight misunderstandings, awkward conversations, and possibly something else

a/n: this was commissioned by the wonderful, lovely @adultmorelikeadolt who suggested that i write this after complaining about not having any ideas on what to write. this definitely has room for a second part, so... maybe i’ll write another? idk. maybe if i get an idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also yes i know that there are a ridiculous amount of ace and aro people in this fic but guess what? idgaf!!!! ace!roman and aroace!pat, remus, and remy are all great and i’d be an idiot if i didn’t add them all in. not to mention a little bit of enby!logan!!!! i’m in love with them all so i get to make the rules

commission info (two slots for 50% off are still open!)

consider buying me a coffee

---

“Roman, stop being a fucking creep,” Virgil chided from his perch on Logan’s lap. He flicked an overcooked pea from his tray, which hit Roman square on the cheek.

“I am not being a creep,” Roman snapped, not taking his eyes off of the boy he was staring at. “I’m admiring.”

Logan quirked an eyebrow, shifting their gaze between Roman and the boy across the courtyard. “I’m almost certain that you’re being a creep.”

“You’re biased because you’re Virgil’s partner! That’s not fair at all,” Roman huffed. He turned to look at Patton. “I’m not being a creep, right?”

“Well...”

Roman gasped. He dramatically pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. “I can’t believe I’ve been betrayed by all of my friends! I thought you cared about me, but I was horribly mistaken!”

“Maybe if you didn’t awkwardly stare at Damien during lunch, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Virgil suggested.

“Well, it’s not as if I could talk to him!” Damien Taylor was easily the most popular guy at Sanders High. There was no chance in hell that Roman Fairfield, resident history nerd and drama geek, could so much as stand within five feet of him, let alone strike up a conversation.

Patton rolled his eyes. “It isn’t illegal to talk to him, you know. Just compliment him on his dress or something.”

“It isn’t that easy,” Roman griped. Damien was just so cool. He was suave and charming and unbelievably handsome, and he wore whatever he wanted with the confidence of a million superstars, regardless of the style or if it showed off his vitiligo. Nearly every boy, girl, and nonbinary person either wanted to date him, be him, or befriend him. He was practically irresistible, and despite the attention that he was given, Damien preferred his small friend group of Remy Xander and Remus Adams. Roman was simply another admirer. He wasn’t anything special like Damien obviously wanted.

“Stop doing that,” Virgil said, tearing Roman from his thoughts.

“Stop what?”

“The whole brooding thing.” Virgil vaguely waved his hands around. “I can practically hear the self-hatred from here.”

“Oh, whatever, Danger Days,” Roman hissed. He crossed his arms and turned away, more upset than angry. There was a bit of shuffling behind him, and within a few moments, Virgil’s arms had wrapped around his middle in a comforting hug. His resolve quickly crumbled, and he leaned into his friend’s side.

“We love and support you always, Ro,” Virgil whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss on the top of Roman’s head. “You are incredible.”

---

Despite Virgil’s sweet words at lunch, Roman felt anything but incredible.

He had stayed after class for forty minutes to chat with his teacher, which was pretty standard, but when he’d tried to turn his car on afterward, the engine refused to turn on. He had half a mind to call one of his friends to drive him home, but Virgil and Logan had mentioned earlier that they were going on a date, and Patton’s sister would be less than pleased to have to turn around to pick up one of her brother’s “weird friends.” So Roman was stuck, and he felt pretty damn shitty about it.

“Stupid car,” he muttered as he kicked angrily at one of his tires. “Stupid old car that’s held together by duct tape and safety pins!”

“You look upset,” someone said behind him, and Roman whipped around to find Damien standing there with Remy and Remus a few feet behind him, holding hands.

Oh, shit.

“Um, yeah, I guess. My car broke down, and all of my friends have left already.” He awkwardly gestured at the mostly-empty parking lot.

“I can help.” Damien walked around to the front of the car, waving Remy to follow. Roman absolutely did not stare as Damien’s yellow dress swirled around his legs like liquid sunshine. “I’m good at finding the problem, and Remy is just fantastic at the actual fixing.”

“Oh, um, thank you.”

Remy slid his shades into his hair with a bored expression. “It’s no problem, doll. Can you pop the hood for me?”

Roman nodded and did as he was told. While Damien and Remy poked around the engine, he sat on the pavement beside his car to watch. Remus, who had been explicitly told by Remy to not touch anything, searched for bugs in the grassy area a few feet away, occasionally making random, lewd comments to his QPP. Remy would retaliate by rolling his eyes and giving Remus the finger, and Damien seemed completely unfazed by their antics.

“So good news,” Damien said fifteen minutes after they had started. “I figured out what’s wrong.”

“And?”

“I can’t fix it,” Remy answered. He spouted off a bit of technical nonsense about how something had broken and would need to be replaced, which Roman didn’t get at all except for the underlying message that his car was still fucked up, and he still didn’t have a way to get home.

“Shit, okay.” Roman rubbed at his eyes in frustration. If he hadn’t been in the company of the three most popular kids at school, he probably would have started crying right then and there. “Okay. Thanks for trying to help.”

He heard the hood slam closed, followed by the retreating voices of Remus and Remy, but he still didn’t move. Hot tears started to well up in his eyes, and he internally kicked himself for feeling so upset. It wasn’t even that big of a deal that his car had broken down, yet he was crying like a baby. He sniffled and scrubbed harshly at his eyes. Thank god that Damien and his group had left already.

His momentary thankfulness, however, was shattered as crunching footsteps approached him. His eyes snapped open, and Damien was standing above him with his hand outstretched. Roman was caught between feeling shameful and confused.

“What are you doing?” he asked dumbly.

Damien rolled his eyes. “Attempting to help you up.”

“Why...?”

“Do I seriously need a reason to lend you a hand?” Impatience was starting to grow in his mismatched eyes, and Roman reached up before Damien decided that it wasn’t worth his time.

“Sorry, I just thought that you’d left with your friends,” Roman said, shoving his hands into his pockets as soon as he was on his feet.

“No, they...” Damien trailed off, looking in the direction that Remus and Remy had gone. “They have plans.”

“Oh. Well, thanks again for trying to help.”

“It’s no problem.” Roman could have sworn that an uncomfortable expression flashed over Damien’s face for a split second, but he unfalteringly continued, “Would you like a ride home?”

Roman’s eyes widened in shock. Damien Taylor was offering to drive him home. “You don’t have to, really--”

“Let me rephrase that. Would it be okay if I took you home? I would rather you not be stuck here for god knows how long.”

Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck--

“Uh, yeah, sure. That’s fine.”

“Great,” Damien said, smiling gently. “My car isn’t very far.”

“Cool...”

They were silent for the whole twenty second walk to Damien’s car, but once they were sat down, Damien spoke up. “Why didn’t you call your friends to get you? I don’t know much about them, but I feel like they would have been happy to help.” He put odd emphasis on the word “friends,” but Roman brushed it off.

“Patton gets a ride from his sister, and I didn’t want to make her turn around to pick me up. Plus, I think she ‘blames’ me for Patton being aroace since I came out as ace to him, which led to him learning about that whole spectrum in the first place, so she probably would’ve been unpleasant about driving me home. I probably could’ve asked Logan no problem, but they said they were going on a date with Virgil this afternoon. I didn’t want to bother them.”

“Why would you be bothering them?”

Roman burst out laughing, but after a few seconds of Damien not joining in, he stopped. Damien’s brow was furrowed, and Roman realized that he was serious. “What do you mean? It’s a date.”

“Yeah. Aren’t you dating Logan and Virgil?”

“Oh,” Roman exhaled. “No, I definitely am not.”

“Oh,” Damien parroted. A dark blush appeared on his cheeks in clear embarrassment.

“It’s easy to make that mistake, though,” Roman rushed in an attempt to dispel the awkward feeling in the car. “I mean, Virgil is a very touchy-feely kind of guy, and Logan is obviously dating Virgil, so... It’s not a complete stretch to assume that I was dating them.”

Damien nodded mechanically. “Right, well... Where do you live?”

Roman told him his address, and the entire ride there was silent.

---

“I really don’t know why you’re so upset about it,” Remy drawled. “He’s single. Didn’t you want that?”

“Yes, but I made a complete idiot out of myself!” Damien groaned, flopping onto Remy’s bed.

Remus sat down next to him with an evil smirk. “Dami, you shoulda seen the way he looked at you when you walked past him. It was like he just wanted to reach up your skirt and--”

“I suggest that you stop talking if you want your heart to continue to beat.”

“Kinky!”

Remy glared at Remus and said, “Seriously, though. The guy looked like he was about to faint when you offered to help. I’m no expert in romantic attraction, but I think he’s into you.”

“He was probably intimidated by me like everyone else at this stupid school is!” Damien rolled over and pressed his face into a pillow. “He’s just so fucking pretty.”

“Well,” Remus laughed. “At least now that you’ve seen his pretty face up close, you’ll have ‘shower-nozzle mastur--’”

“REMUS!”

“God, you’re such a buzzkill!”

---

Patton peeked around the corner of the hallway again. Damien was packing up his things, and neither Remy nor Remus were in sight, which was ideal for Patton’s plan. He waited until Damien pulled the zipper shut on his backpack to run over, using the acting skills that he had learned from Roman to look scared and upset.

“Damien, oh my goodness, I need your help!”

The boy in question looked up, surprised. “Uh, what’s wrong?”

“I was in a practice room, and a spider just came out from nowhere, and no one else is around, and I need you to get rid of it for me!” Patton rushed, clinging to Damien’s arm like it was a raft. In reality, the only thing in the practice room was Roman, who was under the assumption that Patton was going to show up to play piano for him, but what was a little bit of meddling between friends?

Okay, so maybe Patton felt bad for meddling with Roman’s love life, but Roman had called him up the night before fretting over “messing everything up,” which was just absurd in Patton’s opinion. He shared a class with Damien, and the amount of times he’d caught glimpses of the popular boy doodling Roman’s name in his notebook was honestly bordering on an absurd number. Patton had two pining idiots on his hands, so since neither of them were going to make a move, Patton was simply going to... nudge them in the right direction.

“Oh, um, okay,” Damien said.

“Thank you so much!” Patton began to drag Damien to the practice room, talking the whole way there so he wouldn’t ask any questions. “It was so scary! I was just playing the piano, and this huge black spider started crawling on the top end keys! It just showed up out of nowhere like the big, scary, creepy-crawly death-dealer that it is! I’m so glad that you’re willing to help me, Damien. All of my stuff is in there--oh my gosh! What if it’s in my bag? That would be dreadful! Oh, here we are!”

They stood in front of the plain wooden door of the practice room. Patton grabbed Damien by the shoulders and gave him the most serious expression that he could muster. “Damien, I wish you the best of luck in your task. However, if you are taken by the spider, I will not help you.”

“O-okay...?”

“Great! Thanks again!” Patton chirped as he flung the door open, pushed Damien inside, and pulled it shut again. He took out the keys that he had borrowed from the band teacher and locked the door, silently hoping that Roman would forgive him after everything.

---

Roman looked up, shocked to see Damien stumble through the door of the practice room, who looked equally surprised to see him. “Um, hello?”

“Hi.”

“Why are you in here?”

Damien awkwardly looked back to the door. “Uh, your friend Patton told me that there was a spider that he needed me to kill in here.”

“He must have been mistaken. I’ve been in here since school let out, and he told me he was running late to meet here--” Roman cut himself off in realization. Oh, that son of a bitch! “Patton lied.”

“What?”

Roman stood from the piano bench, striding to the door. He tried the knob, and like he had suspected, it didn’t budge. “He tricked us into the practice room!” He kicked the door in frustration.

Damien looked very confused and alarmed. “Why would he do that?”

“Because I have a crush on you, and that bastard is trying to get me to confess--” He clamped his hand over his mouth in horror as he realized what he was saying. To escape the disapproving glare that Damien was bound to give him, Roman turned away, hugging his arms round his waist. He could feel heat pricking at the corners of his eyes in the tell-tale sign that he was ready to bawl his eyes out. It would be super cool of him to cry in front of Damien twice. Not weird at all.

“You... have a crush on me?”

“Don’t,” Roman choked out. “Just forget I said anything.”

Damien shifted around behind him, and a hand gently landed on his shoulder. “Roman, will you please look at me?”

Slowly, he turned his head to look at the other boy, painfully aware of the redness of his eyes and nose and cheeks. There was a softness in Damien’s gaze, and Roman was only able to keep his mouth pressed into a firm line for the few moments that led up to Damien’s hand moving to cup his face.

“I, um... I actually have a crush on you, too.”

Roman felt like all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs. “Really?”

“Yeah. I really, really do.”

They smiled at each other for a few moments when the lock on the door clicked. Roman took Damien’s hand that wasn’t on his face and said, “How about we get out of here and talk about things over coffee?”

Damien grinned. “I think that sounds great.”

#sanders sides fic #roceit #analogical #qpr remy/remus #m writes things #roman sanders #ts deceit #sympathetic deceit #virgil sanders #patton sanders #ts remus #logan sanders

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roger-reblogs · 5 years ago

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Tagged by: @masterfuldoodler

Rules: Answer 21 questions and tag 21 people.

Name: My real name is Ethan.

Nickname: Pretzel, Roger Dear, Ephan, Your Majesty—take your pick.

Gender: Male, He/him, Son of Adam.

Star Sign: I guess it's Libra, but like, I don't care.

Current Time: 10:04 PM, Sunday, 4/26/2020

Song stuck in my head: Nothing atm, but I had the "Nester Was A Donkey" song stuck in my head an hour or so ago... oh no, I think it's coming back...

Last movie I saw: The Desolation of Smaug dir. Peter Jackson (man, guys, wait until I watch a new movie to ask me this question XD)

Last thing I Googled: Autodidact, au·to·di·dact /ˌôdōˈdīdakt/ noun, a self-taught person. :)

Other Blogs: @pretzelsketch, my art blog, that's it.

Do I get asks: No not really, not unless I do an "ask me" thing.

Reasons for your url: story time—get comfy. Once upon a time, me and my family were celebrating the fourth of July, we were doing our own little fireworks at home because we live too far away to go to a real fireworks show and still get to bed at a reasonable time. Now this one year we had a trampoline, (it blew away like, the next month or smth, rip) so all the kids who could sit still sat on the trampoline for a nice view. While we were waiting for the show to start, we all laid down to look at the stars. And then for some strange reason I started calling my sister Martha Dear, but I said it in an exaggerated British accent, like "Mah-thuh Dee-uh", and then "Martha" pointed to a constellation and asked me what we should call it, and I said, "Roger, after me — Rog-uh Dee-uh". And then for the rest of the night we just called each other by these new names. And a legend was born.

This has been Story Time with Roger Dear, thanks for reading.

Following: 141 blogs, and if you're reading this, chances are you're one of them.

Average Sleep: I try to sleep every night, but ya know, what ever works. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (7-8 hours idk)

Lucky Number: I am confused by all numbers.

Currently Wearing: Khaki cargo pants w/ a plaid button-up over a red t-shirt.

Dream Job: I think it might be fun to be a college professor actually,

Dream Trip: I wanna fly in a blimp. It'll be a big blimp, and the gondola will be like a camper van, with a bathroom and a bed and a table and everything. We'll fly over the ocean and the waves and feel the wind in our faces. We'll go everywhere and we'll see everything. We'll go to those places that look like they came right out of a fantasy book, and we'll pretend that we did too. Big cities with bright lights and small houses? We'll give them a visit. World wonders? We'll take all the classic pictures. Exotic animals? You bet. We'll go everywhere.

Favorite Food: I like things involving chicken.

Instruments: I don't play any instruments, but I can sing.

Favorite Song: I don't have one favorite song, but I've been enjoying mxmtoon's new songs, like "No Faker" and "Used To You".

Tags: Twenty people? I Don't know that many people. I'll just mention a couple. @cowboypagoda, @the-varmin, @scribbly-bear, @daylilydoodles, @hero-of-dork, @conquering-the-carnival, @meadow-roses, @granny-griffin @april-musings, @noomissama, @banana-with-a-bow-tie, and idk, I think a bunch of you guys have already been tagged...

#game #tagging #me

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kakusu-shipping · 4 years ago

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Overwatch Self-Insert plots

Ah yes, can’t breath, can’t see, perfect time to write down the overarching Multi Universe plot that is my Overwatch Self-Inserts.

This post is gonna be just like my DR SI post from the other day, only without drawings cause all my F/Os from Overwatch are Omnics and I can’t draw and also I’m like 70% blind rn so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

All of my Self-Inserts stem from the same baseline story, and branch off depending on certain plot points. I’ll cut off at branches as necessary. To anyone who cares enough to read, good luck following along. And thankyou.

Before the Omnic Crisis, my family operated a large branch of Omnic engineering and repairs, engineering many of the modern Omnic servant models, and offering near perfect repair services. I was raised in the Omnic crisis, and still mastered Omnic repair and care.

After a peace agreement passed in the USA, my family’s business went under, as the creation of new Omnics was considered illegal. And while they could still run a repair service for Omnics, they grew a hateful bias twords Omnics and refused service to any non-servant Omnics.

I, however, saw my work on Omnic repairs closer to that of a Doctor than a Mechanic. I didn’t agree with my family’s refusal to help Omnics unless they were owned like property. So, I made a plan to leave. (Branch begin)

Option A:

Pack up all I own and head across Country, serving and caring for Omnics I find injusticed.

Upon leaving my home in Kentucky, I traveled West blindly, eventually landing on Route 66, right in the middle of a gang fight.

I’ll admit, I’m short. It’s no surprise the Cowboy styled gang assumed as I was a child. It is surprising, however, that they cared enough to have the large Omnic, BOB, stop attacking to grab me and take me to cover.

When the Gang returned to the hide-out the Omnic had carried me too, I had already finished repairing any bullet wounds he’d taken while running off. I thanked them for saving my life, and apologized for getting in the way. In return I repaired their other injured Omnics as I explained my situation.

Both Ashe and McCree invited me to stay in Deadlocke. I may not have the firepower the rest of the gang had, but my engendering was top notch, and it turns out poor BOB takes a lot of hits.

I was more than happy to find somewhere my skills could be helpful, even if it meant I had to dress like a Cowboy. (End branch)

Option B:

Steal enough money from my family and purchase a plane ticket to the Omnic Monk village in Nepal to learn from Mondatta.

I am shit at directions.

Despite landing in Nepal, and getting very specific instructions on how to get to the Omnic village on the mountain top, I still got lost.

I wasn’t exactly dressed for mountain weather, either, so it’s no wonder I ended up passing out in the snow. I would have died out there if not for the Omnic who found me, Zenyatta.

Upon awaking in the Monk village, I over thanked my savoir, before immediately pleading my case. I wanted to meet Mondatta, and offer him my services. I wanted to do good for Omnics, and assist in any way I could.

Mondatta was very welcoming, even allowing me to stay in his own home. I was the only human in the village, and everyone had questions. I suppose I caused a bit of a stir my first few weeks.

On top of general check-ups and repairs, I also spent much of my time keeping the village clean. And while it took time to learn that spiders are free to build and keep nests in the sanctuary, I eventually settled into the customs.

It wasn’t long before I began to form a crush on the Omnic who saved my life.

Not JUST because he saved my life, mind you. Though yes, originally I may have caught feelings to him for just being my hero, I was willing to allow those feelings to fade over time. But they didn’t. They simply grew.

I watched Zenyatta wander the village in thought, or take walks with Mondatta as the two discussed the deep thoughts. I saw him pull harmless pranks on his brothers and sisters, play with the children from the human village down the mountain. I saw him laugh, and dance, and admire the world around him.

He was so full of life and love. He was so.. cute.

I suppose Brother Mondatta must have caught wind of my feelings, as whenever I needed to go to the village down the mountain for supplies, he would sent Zenyatta with me as some sort of escort. To make sure I wouldn’t get lost of course.

Then, we met Genji.

He arrived at the village the same way I did, passed out in the snow and discovered by Zenyatta.

He stayed with us at first very begrudgingly, he had no where else to go and no money to his name. We set him up above the stable near Town center, so he was close by both Zenyatta and myself.

I nticed very quickly how... poorly made his prosthetics were. His chestplate stabbed into his flesh, nerve wires hung loosely off his head, his legs had knives in them for pete’s sake! He couldn’t even wear a pair of jeans in those!

While examining him for frost bite or other injuries, I carefully brought up the topic of his cyborg body. He was defensive. I let it go.

After I while I noticed he spent more time around Zenyatta, rather than just holed up in his room. He even came with us to the village down the mountain. He still didn’t speak to me much, but I did drag him into a snowball fight against the village kids with me. We got our asses beat, but it was fun.

One day, he came to me, with a piece of paper and a request. He didn’t want to look like this anymore. He asked if I could fix him, make his body feel more.. complete. I was happy to assist.

I took him though every step. We designed and purchased the parts together, I took his measurements and planned a day for his surgery. We were lucky enough to have quiet a few Omnics from the medical field on hand to help with the human parts.

Genji changed after getting his new body. He was happier. He continued learning from Zenyatta, and the three of us spent a lot of free time together. He taught me how to throw a Shuriken, I taught him how to hit a baseball.

Being such close friends, we of course eventually spilled our guts on our crushes... which happened to be the same person. And in true solidarity, we both chose not to take action. If Zenyatta liked one of us back, he’d make the first move. We’d both simply pine together.

To bad Zenyatta assumed Genji and I had feelings for one another, and decided not to throw his own feelings into the mix.

Eventually, Genji returned to Overwatch, and life went on.

When Mondatta died, the village lost a lot of color.

The monks fell quieter. They mourned in silence and went on about their lives, but no one laughed, or joked, or gathered anymore.

I couldn’t stand living in Mondatta’s house anymore, knowing he’d never return, knowing he’d never walk though the door again, knowing I could never hear his wisdom again.

I stopped sleeping. I began to wonder the village late at night until the sun came up. I’d pass out in the flowers in the sanctum, or on the stairs to Genji’s room. I just couldn’t be in that house.

Eventually, Zenyatta caught me wandering at night, cold and exhausted. He invited me to his own home. He made us tea, though he couldn’t drink his own, it made him feel more human to hold the cup in his hands.

I had mentioned in passing all the Omnics in the village had a tune. They’d play it softly while meditating, wither they noticed it or not, and a group of the monks sounded like a beautiful choir.

Zenyatta asked me.. if I remembered Mondatta’s song.

I’m glad he asked me. I was the only one who ever heard Mondatta’s tune, it would have died with him if I’d forgotten.

After that night, I began to live with Zenyatta. The village eventually recovered from Mondatta’s loss, and we were once again smiling, and laughing, and singing.

(Branch begin)

Outcome A:

Zenyatta loves me

(This arc takes place in my Overwatch everyone lives together AU)

A few months later, we celebrated my birthday. The monks weren’t a mortal possession people, so there were no gifts. But we did have a cake, and some silly decorations. Sense most Omnics were made in batch on the same day, they didn’t normally celebrate birthdays, so this was a special occasion.

And while I love the monks, they can get a bit rowdy. After all they’re all in their 20s, they can get rather hyper. I ended up sitting outside with a piece of cake, staring at the stars.

Zenyatta came to join me, with his own slice of cake, despite not being able to eat it. We sat together and watched the stars, we joked. I may have elbowed him and made him drop his cake on accident.

Zenyatta laughed it off, and said he had a confession. He went against the rules, just this once... And got me a birthday present.

You can imagine my surprise when Zen handed me a Pachimari plush doll. Really, I almost cried. To live with the monks I had to leave all of my stuffed animals behind, and I talked constantly about my abandoned comfort teddy back at home. To think he really listened....

I hadn’t planned on confessing my feelings for Zenyatta, I really was going to stick to the pack Genji and I had made but... it was all too sweet. And really, at this point, Zenyatta already knew. He was just waiting for me to say it.

When Genji returned to Nepal, he had one request; For Zenyatta to join Overwatch with him. The newly awakened team needed him, and it was the chance to change the world Zen had been waiting for.

I’d be lying if I said Zenyatta leaving didn’t break my heart a little bit... But I could hold on. He was changing the world.

In the meantime, there was plenty of Zen and Genji themed merchandise to buy.

After nearly two years of being away, Zenyatta and Genji had some time off to return to Nepal. It was only while boarding the plane did Zenyatta learn Overwatch had a Family plan for allowing Partners and family to live on base. So that was exciting news to bring home.

Despite being in Nepal after we got together, Genji was still blissfully unaware that Zenyatta and I had started dating. So you can imagine his surprise when I can sprinting at them as full speed, jumped into Zenyatta’s arms, and kissed him strong on the faceplate.

He was... a little mad I went against our oath. Though Zen took most of the fall by saying he confessed first. So he let it slide, and continued to be my greatest friend.

I end up moving onto the Overwatch base with Zenyatta, and work on Omnic repairs with Brig and Torb. I make a lot of friends living in Overwatch, and getting to spend more time with Zenyatta is always a bonus. (End Branch)

Outcome B:

Zenyatta loves Genji

(This arc takes place in a semi-everyone lives together AU)

When Genji came back to Nepal to ask Zenyatta to join Overwatch, I begged to come along. I couldn’t stand the idea of being left behind, to be unable to help and provide assistance.

Join Overwatch, most of my effort is keeping Genji in working condition, as he refuses to let Angela or Brig look over his armor, even though I gave them copies of the blueprints. He just doesn’t trust anyone else. Angela says he was like this in Blackwatch too, though back then he trusted her at least.

I also spend time learning from Brig and Torb the workings of older Omnic models. Hana even teaches me about her Mech and how it’s put together.

I spend a lot of spare time with the younger group of Overwatch agents; Hana, Brig, Lucio, Junkrat, Lynx17, and Tracer. Mei and Genji also tend to wane in and out of group activities.

On Hana’s birthday, Lucio, Jamie, and I were tasked with keeping her distracted while the rest of the crew sets up a surprise party for her. So, we take Hana out on the town, and let her decide what we do.

We find ourselves in a Casino, with a bet, and a months worth of laundry on the line. We all start with $50, the person with the least amount of money at the end looses.

I take a seat at a Poker table next to an extremely attractive Omnic. Poker was the only gambling game I knew how to play, and while I wasn’t perfect at it, it should be enough to land me in at least third.

The Omnic next to me took interest in the crew I’d slumped in with. He asked questions, and I answered, more focused on my winning streak than what I was saying.

Eventually I had a good enough chunk of change I felt confident in my placement and started to get up, but a robotic hand on my knee stopped me. “One more game” turned into two more games. Then three. Four.

I played till I was out of money, all because Maximilian asked me to stay.

When I went over the amount I had to gamble, the Omnic payed my debt, and took me on a walk. Up some stairs, down a hall, and into his office. He just wanted somewhere more private to chat.

I sat on his lap and we continued to talk, about Overwatch, what I did, his Casino, the expensive chocolates he had, Talon, everything. He was in control of the situation, and I was oblivious.

At the end of the chat, he asked for my number, and I happily gave it to him, already crushing hard on the mysterious Omnic. He promised to call, and hoped to set a date to meet again.

Hana and Lucio were both over the moon excited to hear about this Max guy, and while Jamie was quick to bully me for my attraction to Omnics, he was just as enthusiastic.

Our first date was the classiest restaurant in town, and I was SHOOK. I didn’t own anything NICE. I basically had to beg Jack for a forward on my next paycheck so I could afford a suit.

Almost every date after was somewhere I never thought I’d be, classy restaurants, extravagant parties, high end movie premiers. And while at first Max was putting forth all this energy to gain an inside man at Overwatch, it slowly turned to a real relationship he put effort into because he really wanted it to work.

It was after my first on the field mission that I really learned who Maximilian was. Brig, Torb, Zenyatta, and I went to Germany to safely scrap the discarded Bastion units. Zenyatta was there to say a final resting prayer for the passing Omnics, I scanned for good parts, and Brig and Torb took the bots apart.

Suddenly, one of the units powered up, and upon sensing human presence, opened fire. I took a majority of the first round, luckily nothing immediately fatal, though I did black out instantly. Brigitte managed to get her shield up before any rounds hit herself or Torbjorn. Zenyatta, being the only one not targeted, took his fellow Omnic out to save our lives.

I was placed on medical leave from Overwatch duties for months. I spent those months at Max’s home, and got most of my care though Talon, mostly Moira.

When my medical leave ended, I didn’t return to Overwatch. I was offered a much safer position with Talon, one Max encouraged me to take, worried for my safety with Overwatch.

I worked as a medic for Talon’s Omnic recruits. I never saw field work, and remained mostly blissfully unaware of what Talon was really plotting. (End Branch)

#Self Insert #Self ship #Self ship community #Overwatch #Zenyatta #BOB #Max #Emile's Arts #I was GONNA do one for Lynx17 as well but like #Hhhhh I don't knooooow #It's not intresting #It's basically if I didn't meet Max that day I would have eventually ended up with Lynx17 #In the Max arc I do live off base in an apartment with Hana Lucio and Lynx #Lucio and I share a room with bunk beds #My friendship with Genji means the world to me you all don't understand #He's such a goob I love him he's my best friend #Ha ha there's such a power imbalance between Max and I it's clear he manipulated the shit outta me but like #Whatever it's fine I love him he loves me we're fine #Yes I worked way longer on my si with Zen than litterally anyone else so what #He was my first leave me alone #BOB means the world to me but it's such a slow burn of nothing it's not intresting I didn't bother writing most of it #I join Deadlocke and that's it really #When McCree leaves us I cry #I! LOVE! OMNICS!#Junkrat bullying me about loving Omnics is very related to Zayne constantly calling me a Robo fucker for loving Omnics #When he's simping hard for Hanzo so I mean #Who's really got taste here ZAYNE #It's both of us #Good thing he never reads my posts he'll never know

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natalinahq · 5 years ago

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𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔞 𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤

chicago’s very own natalina king has been spotted on madison avenue driving a rolls royce dawn , welcome ! your resemblance to barbara palvin is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-third birthday bash . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re hedonistic, but being committed might help you.

i think being a aries explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be ashes on silk dresses, lines on bathroom sinks and loose hundreds in small purses.

( she stole from her trust fund money and became a drug dealer, now supplying a lot of her entourage without her parents’ knowledge ) & cisfemale + she/her

bonjour, y’all! the name’s lana and this is my drug dealer mess of a child natalina! under the cut, you’ll find some background info that I have for her! not very developed right now bc she’s a brand new babe but hopefully i’ll be able to flesh her out with connections and stuff 😊 really excited to be here <33

triggers: drugs, crime (?)

BACKGROUND & STORY

born to famous homeboi (insert a fancy job i have yet to determine here) daniel king and his second wife vivienne reid

mommy is a designer and so natalina started pageants at a very young age, following on her sisters’ footsteps (she got two, connections hollaaa)

she eventually started modeling for her mother’s line but quickly realized she really wasn’t made for that and rlly didn’t like

she adored the spotlight but hated the work that came with it. she would find herself looking for the wealthiest of her parents’ friends instead and networking here and there, mostly out of boredom but also bc rich people just fascinated tf outta her

at 19, she was introduced to the world of drugs and substances and quickly grew a liking to the high

she fell in love with the man who supplied her with all her goods and he showed her the tricks of the trade. very much stupid and naive at the time, she wasted no time in helping him out by providing him full access to her trust-fund money so he could grow his business

soon enough, she was making clients of her own, mostly at her mother’s shows and her father’s fancy events. nat quickly realized that literally everyone who attended those affairs had a dependence of some sort and it wasn’t long before she started supplying everyone around her

when she turned 21, her mans got charged and locked up and she was left with a decision: take over his hustle or go back to her boring socialite life

ofc, we been known she doesn’t know how to make decisions so she went for the fun option and managed to keep business booming

now that she had access to most of the resources and having learned from the best, she quickly made a name for herself and is now the go-to for any substance need in her circle

though she still hides it from her parents and has repaid what was taken from her accounts, she's very dedicated to her hustle.

because she’s always liked painting, she’s made them believe that she’s been selling her work to justify the income. so far, her parents are uninterested enough to believe her

she enjoys the steadiness of the cash flow and finds her ‘craft’ quite soothing. when she’s not selling, she’s out partying or shopping, or traveling. if her parents cared in the slightest, they wouldn’t really approve but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

FACTS

her ‘career’ is technically modeling but she only does it to please her mom and to shut her up at dinner. she doesn’t agree to many shows anymore but just enough to keep up appearances

she’s really good at math and that’s how she was able to help her ex-boyfriend at the time but homegirl can’t finish a book to save her life

she will blow all of her money on pretty dresses, cars, and shoes bc college just ain’t an option rn

she actually does paint but no one really knows bc she’s very private abt that side of her

she does a lot of drugs and no one gives a fuck around her so she’s like “meh, why should I, then” and so we’ll see where that takes her

literally no ragrets/remorse, ever. she’s sold to people who ended up in the hospital/rehab but she’s grown desensitized to the whole thing and doesn’t really believe it’s her responsibility to monitor people’s consumptions (i can already hear you, quite the mother theresa, eh?)

honestly, she’s quite garbage but she knows how to have fun and gives mean head so hollaaaa

#wealthy:intro #( i'll wait until my follow has been posted to really reach out and everything )#( but I thought I would leave this here for now )#1.| et elle livre son âme confiante & détruite. ––––––– 「 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄. 」

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ralfstrashcan · 6 years ago

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3x18 Reaction / Commentary

Anxious feeling of imminent doom in my gut? Check. Skipping breakfast in favor of running to my laptop like a starving person? Check. Chances of surviving this episode with my sanity intact? Uhhh.... Well here goes nothing.

But one more thing before we get started (Does anyone wanna get out? Yeah, me!!!! Okay sorry.)

Who's this mysterious “Alex” person?? A new player on the board???

Alright alright, I'm stalling, I know. It's weird, last week couldn't pass quick enough but now I really don't wanna click the play button... okay anyway you're probably not here to read my angsting, so. Deep breath and here goes.

In terms of putting my nerves at ease this is working out pretty good. I love Becky, okay, and her sibling ship with Simon and the Sneak Peek made me real happy and I can't wait to see more of those two together (especially considering this'll probably be her last appearance on the show). So, yeah Team Lewis! (Also that comment about them and Clary never missing a Halloween together? I need all the kid fics!!!)

Lol dude I mean you literally died for knowing about it, but sure, make an understatement XD Also, “all the way from Florida”??? Last thing I knew about her she was lying in a hospital bed a week ago (aka 3A)? When did she get released? And relocated? I missed that???

:D :D :D <3<3<3

Queen Izzy :))))))) btw those kids had seriously lacking survival skills if you ask me. That wasn't normal, right? And where were their supervisors??

Effing f-i-n-a-l-l-y.

Also, Magnus with the deflecting again as soon as he's recovered just the tiniest bit is both painfully ic and also just painful </3

Ugh, can you believe Clace entered the Malec scene even though they must have felt it was a bad time and deranged it with their flirting? Unfair. In any case I agree, Clary was always and will always be an idiot XD haha okay sorry, I don't really mean that (only like, 83%) it's just the setup was too good to pass it up ;) I mean even Alec laughed at Jace calling her an idiot so I'm well within my rights to do it, too XD

Thanks, Alec, for sabotaging the one shot at open communication you had. I mean, I want to believe he does it because he realizes Magnus is back to his deflecting self and prodding will get him nowhere, but uhm, could he try for longer than three seconds before giving up? Is he really gonna let Magnus off the hook so easily and do something stupid and reckless instead?? *sigh* BUT ALSO HIS FRAKKING FACE OKAY I CAN'T

“Back from the Plot Fold”

Alec “Tact” Lightwood looooool

“Bitch I worked on this performance for centuries how dare you”

SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.

sdfshfsjdkfjsdf I love the way he talks okay. Exquisite. (Also he has a birthmark on his lip. It's really distracting. Am I implying Asmodeus is hot? Maybe. You can't prove a thing.)

............................................................your self-confident didn't make any progress since season 1, did it, Alec? *sigh* I mean he's basically agreeing with Asmodeus that this is what will happen if their situation doesn't change.

Okay what is structure, let me just yell my impressions of this scene at you. 1) Both of their acting is stellar. Love all the little body language cues, especially Asmodeus's mocking facial expressions. 2) “Return what you stole” and Asmodeus protesting it because clearly he had a “fair deal” with Magnus. 3) Alec breaking eye contact whenever Asmodeus lands a hit (“One he already regrets.” “You make him vulnerable, weak.”) 4) The fact that Alec protests the potential-line with “We love each other.” I was confused at first but when you think about it Alec says that they help each other access their full potential by loving each other and that's a beautiful sentiment. 5) Of course then Asmodeus lands another hit with “Then I'm afraid you will be the death of him” and Alec is back to looking away.

Thank you, Alec, for not being a total idiot.

“...or else the deal is off.” Obviously. Thank you, Asmodeus, for not being a total idiot either.

.........did he just nod? I knew I was right making that 'total' italic, implying he's still somewhat of an idiot XD

sooooo pretttyyyyyyyyyyyyy

And I can't believed Clary missed Luke so much she visited him in prison a total of 0 times.

Look I'm weak and I dig the Jace-Luke-father-son-in-law-dynamic.

Also can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that Alec is able to function as Head of the Institue even though he has to make the hardest decision of his life at the same time?? Just saying. Guy knows how to handle his shadowhunter responsibility. If only he was as capable in handling other things and omg this is not an innuendo you naughty people, I meant emotional intelligence goddammit.

I mean, he's not wrong? The way he cares about her is uniquely twisted, so.

.........................is Alec having 2x12 flashbacks? Because I sure am.

Hmmmm always admiring Clary's screaming skills :)

*sigh* I mean she didn't just SAY intense pain for a short while? Why am I even bothering.

The scientist has spoken lol.

1) They had a whole underground basement full of tons and tons of that serum, right? If those are all made up of nanoparticles then I really really wonder how big the Glorious splitter was that they extracted the serum from. Since, you know, that whole stash was supposed to be enough for the Downworlders all over the world. Wtf 2) I guess “self-destructing” that basement is gonna come back to roost them and they need to recover the original sword to eliminate the Evil Rune, right???? haha

Asmodeus wrote: Hurry up pretty boy, our deal isn't on the table forever ;)

I'm actually impressed Jace remembered to ask Alec about the proposal. You get some more diligence starlets, Jace <3

OMG ALEC ARE YOU SHITTING ME ARE YOU SHITTING ME ARE YOU SHITTING ME *sigh* I mean, those two situations are obviously totally comparable, right? I for my part am, again, having severe 2x12 flashbacks, where Alec asked Jace's council about something that Jace totally wasn't equipped to answer. *SIGH*

And I guess Jace isn't suspicious because of Alec's super suspicious behavior, right?????? Ugh.

The sad part is, Alec will probably see that as confirmation that he should go through with it because he doesn't want to be selfish. So while yay, Alec seeking council, he does it in the worst way possible :( at least I got some parabatai feels out of it :/

On the one hand I'm glad she sees it that way* on the other hand this is clearly supposed to be the influence of the rune, so that's kinda undermining her statement and making it even less credible. Thanks, show.

*Yes he was a victim, no he still carries some responsibility for his actions because free will is a thing and he's had some time on earth where he wasn't exactly coerced by anyone. Manipulated, yes. But he's aware of his agency and he should have used it better. I get that I'm asking for a lot here, maybe too much, and circumstances were always against him, but I'm also not absolving him of all his crimes.

Magnus deflecting because that's what he does. God forbid a scene that could be about him actually ends up being about him instead of a side pairing I couldn't care less about. *sigh*

Also, I'm not exactly sure if Magnus really thinks Alec thought being around Maryse could help him, or if he just said that as another means to deflect because honestly, the way Alec suggested to Magnus he go to Maryse was more the here-go-see-your-babysitter-approach than anything else, especially because he basically cut of the conversation they where having before Clace interrupted. *SIGH*

WELL I COULD

YOU NO FRIKKIN SAY, MARYSE

“My lips are sealed.... especially about my issues ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

THE DISDAIN AHAHHAHAHA CATCH ME WHEEZING ON THE GROUND

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SEELIE QUEEN IS QUEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is this.... actually......... a scene with Alec and Izzy???? HELL YEAH

Okay, words. First off, I LOVE that Alec spills all the beans, and to Izzy, the one emotionally capable Lightwood. I mean, yay Jalec and all, but it's an universally acknowledged truth that Lightwood Men seem to be pretty unable to handle their emotions in a productive way.

Second off, the music playing in the background? Is the one from the Malec Breakup Scene from 2x18. Yay mood reference, I mean. Thanks for that lovely detail, show. (Hahahaha I don't even know if I'm sarcastic or not because it's so witty but on the other hand it's just cruelly twisting the knife like r u for real man give me a damn break.)

Third off, I love basically every line of this dialogue. The fact that Alec (or anyone really) FINALLY acknowledges that Magnus gave up his powers and saved Jace for Alec. Alec's argument: “Magnus sacrificed everything so I could feel whole and now I have the chance to do the same for him.” Also that wording, “a chance”? Not an obligation, not a repayment of a dept. A chance. Because he loves Magnus and this is his chance to fix it. (In his eyes at least, pssssh.)

And Izzy's intent “He wouldn't want this. He loves you so much.” So valid. And less biased (aka skewed by shitty self-esteem) than Alec's assessment of the situation.

Also this

Ouch, just. Ouch. So ic.

Also this

Izzy asking all the right questions. The way Alec looks away means “No” and the determined way he meets her gaze again after means “But that doesn't matter.” Very good scene.

(Honestly the only thing I would have wished for is that Izzy is a little more firm in her assertion that Magnus wouldn't want this and she like, tries to change Alec's mind instead of just accepting his decision.)

hehehe :)

The same time you moved to Florida apparently.

hahaahahha <3<3<3 kick-ass sister material

.........<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 this deserves so much recognition okay. Since we all know drinking away his problems is Magnus's No 1 coping mechanism. Too bad he'll be pushed into his liquor again by Alec unwisely breaking up with him at the end of the episode (because I daren't dream of a change of heart on Alec's side.)

Also is this the part where Maryse blabs out Alec's proposal plans??

Ugh yay, so after Maryse reassuring Magnus that they are all here for him I guess the breakup is just gonna get 5 shades uglier. Yaaay.

Love that necklace damn.

Obligatory Sizzy moment in front of Becky so she can call Simon out on it later: Check. Just glad this role doesn't fall to Raphael. (Also you bet your ass I chose Becky's line as a picture for this because I'm really that petty.)

Also omg, I just peeked into the German dubbing because obviously the Count von Count pun doesn't work because the words for Count and the word for counting aren't the same here and the guy is named Graf Zahl. And just skdjfslkdjfklsdjfkld Simon's line “That does sound really made up” is honest to God transated with “You're right, I just made him up” like oh my God who is in charge of translating this and why are they so incompetent honestly!!!!!!!! W H Y

Lol that's gotta be the first time in his life that he called her Isabelle. Probably because she was slacking off during patrol.

AAAAAND I'M WHEEZING AGAIN AHAHHA HER OFFENDED FACE Honestly the seelie queen and Becky should start a comedy spin-off, I'd be watching the shit out of that XD

HAHAHAHAH HAVE MERCY XD XD XD Then again, can you blame Simon? Izzy is sooooo droolworthy.

1) She's gonna let Alec, Jace and Clary (two and a half shadowhunters ahaha) take on a whole nest of demons alone? Instead of backing them up? Okay???

2) Why they telling them that??? As far as they are concerned Simon and Becky are civilians, not their parents.

?????? NO SHE SHOULD TAKE BECKY WITH HER!!!!!!!! CAN YOU IMAGINE BECKY TOURING THE INSTITUTE? BECKY MARVELING AT ALL THE UNREALISTIC SHADOWHUNTER TECH?? BECKY KIDDING AROUND IN THE LAB??? I WAS ROBBED!!!

:)))) even Jace breaking out the comedy :D :D :D I approve

Those are some nice wings. Not perfect, but very very nice.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Okay, Parabatai Fight Scene!!! 1) Jace again with his axes, nice.

2) Being sassy instead of, idk, picking up his weapons: Check.

3) True dat, but uh, Jace, what was the plan if Alec hadn't shown up? Inviting Drevak Queen out on a date?

4) I mean, why shoot one when you can shoot five, right? Good motto. But I still kind of want an explanation how two of those arrows could land in the Drevak Queen's head and the other three in her chest, like, what are physics anyway amiright?

5) Shot meant to make Jace look heroic when really, since we earlier learnt that killing the Drevak Queen kills all her spawn*, this was just Alec doing Jace's work for him XD

*Uh, yeah what the hell is up with that. Chitauri Genetic Defect or something? *sigh*

*Feelings of terrible foreboding intensify*

sssssssssssssssssssssssudden

Look, I agree. I just don't think Maia could really comprehend / accept that so fast (and off-screen) because ugh reasons, too tired to repeat myself again *waves hand unhelpfully* but whatever, I can accept this. I made my peace with it.

1) Last time I checked those cells were secured with a combination lock thingy.

2) Thanks Lanaia for sabotaging Sizzy, I'll be sure to send you a gift basket (or, if what I think will happen happens, some flowers for your grave lol).

*snorts* Reminds me of Hannibal who was always making cannibal puns at people and no one noticed XD Also, her knocking Jace out was really dumb? I mean, he wouldn't have stopped her from saving Jonathan because, uh, that's saving her own neck, too. And if she'd portaled them both to the cell she could have disposed of him there way easier, locking him up – since apparently she didn't plan to kill him, and that nice straightjacket would have kept him from alerting the other Shadowhunters way longer than that pipe over the head. So, wholly unnecessary. I mean, in a way it's nice to know that Demonic Clary isn't smarter than Regular Clary.

Dude she's literally wielding a spear, how dumb are you.

Aaaaaand there goes my order to the nearest funeral wreath shop XD

Look I have questions (which, okay, I should have asked sooner but what even is continuity right). When that weird gratifying wing dream sequence started I thought it was Clary tapping into the rune connection and it was the real Jonathan communicating with her. When Jace entered the play field it was clear at least some part must be fake because Jace sure as heck wasn't unconscious / in trance at the time and later didn't give any indication that he participated in some creepy contest for Clary's affections. But now Jonathan is surprised by this, too? He, too, was a product of Clary's imagination? I have so many questions, first of all, why the wings? And the really cheap back-white-symbolism? Also, why did Clary feel so drawn to Jonathan if this was all in her own mind? Was it the influence of the Evil Rune? Does the Evil Rune have a user interface that's shaped to look like Jonathan? Does that mean Jonathan has a Clary-shaped interface??? I need answers.

Ugh. Let's make this long and painful, shall we.

OF COURSE IN THE ONE SCENE WHERE SHIT WILL GO DOWN THEY DON'T FAIL AT CASUAL INTIMACY THANK YOU FOR N O T H I N G

Let's not talk about the fact that the thought, Alec could mean anything but a break together from everything that's been going on, doesn't even cross Magnus's mind because no. Noooooo. I'd rather talk about how absolutey awesome both of their acting is. For Alec I really like the way he moves his eyes, like the gaze darting around alternating with the rigid stare. For Magnus, uh, everything, just like, his whole face is perfection?? Yeah, that works.

The way he interrupts because he just needs to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Dammit, he does this eyelid dip here, it's not a blink, it's just his eyelids twitching down for a second because this is like a slap in the face. And then he turns and takes a step away because his instinct is to run from this because what is this, this can't be

“Is this about last night? Because I'm going to quit drinking.”

Magnus “forever apologizing for being an 'inconvenience'” Bane, final installment.

Dammit, his face. And again with the deflecting, trivializing his feelings, anything to keep this conversation from going where he thinks it's going.

*EYE ROLL* Sorry but you don't get to play that card after being effin obtuse for 7 episodes, Alec. Nope. Nope.

Magnus, his usual walls rudely ripped away. He has no chance but to admit how shitty he's feeling. And if it wasn't for the circumstances I'd say “yay, finally some communication” but well.

“Fine. I'm in pain,” he says, and Alec turns away, breaking eye contact for a moment because the final confirmation is too much for him for a moment.

I love that Magnus doesn't deliver this line meekly. He's worked up, sure, but there's also a confidence when talking about their relationship. Breaking up is an unrealistic concept to him in that moment because it's so absurd. It's not fixing anything so why would it happen? Makes no sense. *insert weeping sounds*

Brutal and efficient. Very ic.

Damn how does even his blink convey so much vulnerability??? (Somewhere Lexa is nodding approvingly.) (Also why didn't I find gif sets of this :c)

“You said there's nothing I can do to make it better.”

There's an audible difference in his voice, because this part is true and he's not lying. The controlled monotone isn't there anymore. This is his real despair in the face of not being able to do anything to help Magnus.

“It's not your job to make it better.”

Again, if this was a constructive conversation it would be a great step in the right direction. But sadly it isn't, and so this is too little too late.

“Well, what am I supposed to do? Just stand by and watch you suffer for the rest of our lives?”

Alec is still speaking the truth, and this is his motivation to go through with it. Because a) he believes what Magnus said about never being happy again without his magic (sidenote, he didn't, in fact, say that, he said it might never pass (meaning being affected by the magic loss) and he's not happy at the moment, which isn't the same as he'll definitely surely never be happy again without his magic, but whatever) and b) he's sure he doesn't mean all that much to Magnus. He's his current love, but that's about it. Nothing special, not worth leaving such devastating traces in Magnus's life and he certainly doesn't mean as much to Magnus as Magnus means to him. And especially from that second part stems his gravely false assessment of the situation which in the course of consideration leads him to the conclusion that breaking Magnus's heart will hurt less in the long run than him not having his magic. There's also the fact that be probably didn't think about how him doing this to Magnus will confirm every last insecurity Magnus ever had about not being lovable, because I can't believe he would have gone through with this if he'd thought of that. Or at least, he would have been visibly more torn about it, maybe even talked out of it by Izzy, etc. But it's ic for Alec not to think like that, because in a way I guess he loves Magnus too much to really understand that Magnus has these doubts. And Magnus mostly playing his vulnerabilities close to his chest isn't working in his favor here either.

“This isn't you. You're not this selfish.”

This is what I mean. If Alec was less convinced that he's doing the right thing this line might have shaken him out of it. Honestly, I half hoped he'd object this, consequentally incriminate himself and Magnus would catch on that something was going on. But ofc that didn't happen.

The spark line, just. Ouch. Again, very clinical and minimalistc. The way Alec stares, his voice back to being monotone, the way he clenches his jaw. And then his work here is done and he's ready to leave.

It only gets worse from there. Magnus, frozen in disbelieve because this can't possibly be true, and then he starts begging and it breaks my heart every single time okay. To see him reduced to this desperation is just cruel.

I still can't help but note the way Alec readily turns around before Magnus has competely turned around himself. I think he was on the brink of giving in.

The way Magnus holds on to him, hands fluttering over his arms, shoulders, cheeks. The way Alec can't even look at him for the barest second, eyes closed, breath going heavy. Magnus's everything. Just kill me now.

And let's not talk about their kisses and Magnus's whispered words because no. There's nothing to say to that except perfection. Intense, top notch emotion portrayal on both parts.

Then Alec pulls away (how???? gotta admire commitment and an iron will when you see it but boy is it misplaced) and Magnus's hands tremble because this can't be happening, this can't possibly be real.

Note that Alec doesn't look him in the eyes once because he knows if he did, it'd all be over. Also note the look of utter betrayal on Magnus's face. It's not just hurt and heartbreak, it's betrayal because this is what this is. Alec promised him something, made him believe that he could trust in him, in them, and now he's going back on his word.

Well, this was fun, let's never do it again.

Look, I don't have the nerve for this anymore, so I'll keep it short and in no particular order: - Asmodeus is ass powerful and manages to distance-summon himself, yay, nice to know that the one time a shadowhunter doesn't act stupid and impulsive it still doesn't pay off. - Asmodeus killing pissed off warlock lady was both obvious and unnecessary. - His smile is creepy. - “My son needs me.” MY ASS - He still needs to support himself on the back of the chair because he's a weak bitch hahaha.

Conclusion: *sounds of despair*

I just watched the 3x19 promo and.... they're really gonna end Malec on a train wreck this season, aren't they?? Oh God. They hoped they'd have a forth season to work through it and that's why they served themselves with issues and second helpings of extra issues, and since s4 isn't a thing we're gonna get an unsatisfying as hell 2x20-style resolution in the finale. God please say I'm wrong but like. Arrgghhhh.

(Also, credit where credit is due: “Before we get started, does anyone wanna get out?” is the line from Captain America in TWS before the elevator fight.)

#shadowhunters #3x18 #alec lightwood #jace wayland #magnus bane #clary fray #jonathan morgenstern #isabelle lightwood #simon lewis #becky lewis #the seelie queen #meliorn #kyle #maia roberts #luke garroway #asmodeus #pissed warlock lady #malec #reaction

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owlmylove · 6 years ago

Note

Do you think being homeschool affected your social development? I know a lot of kids who got homeschooled while I was in high school, and even though they were all super cool it seemed like not spending the majority of their time with other people their age affected them in ways I don’t think a lot of adults recognized.

Oh boy, good question! Okay, short answer: this creative non-fiction piece I wrote about being scripted, based off my time spent as a telefund caller for my university (gasp, yes, I was one of those terrible, terrible people)

For a very long answer, see below my man:

My mother was asked that question constantly by concerned adults, and she always laughed bc my sister and I were usually the ones sparking up conversations with said adults. that being said, I definitely have mixed feelings about my own homeschooling vs. adolescent social development. my sister and I excelled at charming adults, but in middle & high school I tended to look at other kids my age with mild anxiety.

I really didn’t have any friends my own age until I came to college. Between online classes, dual-enrollment at the local community college, caring for my grandmother and working at a hair salon with dozens of conflict-avoidant 30-50yo women (all of whom deferred to me as the most responsible person in the place) I seriously had no frame of reference for communicating with people my own age in real life - which is one of the many reasons I’ve spent so many years on this site. it was my social life between the ages of 13 - 18, or thereabouts.

It’s really hilarious in a sad way that the first time I “hung out” with people my own age, it was two really incredibly sweet people who recognized me from tumblr and probably thought that I was way cooler than I was at the time. I was so excited to spent time with them, but had absolutely no concept of how to - it must’ve been like an alien trying to figure out instagram. I didn’t know what to say, or how to fill awkward pauses, and I look back on all their sincerity and kindness and just cringe so hard bc they probably expected someone a little more dynamic and engaging, as I was online. I still want to buy them apology coffee sometime

But! That was in the summer or two before I went to college proper. And I knew that college would have to be different - I had no intention of being a hermit. I perfected how to talk to adults via volunteering as I grew up, via my part-time jobs starting at 14, and I’d learned all my own scripts and conversational segues. I was already a fairly confident social entity, I just needed to figure out how to appeal to a different demographic. I figured college was just learning a different script. the summer before I went to college I literally read books on body language and conversation skills (which I probably didn’t need, but I’m a nervous researcher) and when I went to college, as gross and Hallmark-y as this sounds, I guess I flourished? Everyone clocked me as an extravert. I knew everyone in my year. I threw a lot of really bomb parties my freshmen year, met a lot of people, and basically just remained positive, confident, and open to new people & experiences. I put so much effort into figuring out how to be as sociable as other people that I honestly overshot, and landed in extra-sociable territory (which I don’t mind, but I honestly find hilarious now that people ask me for advice on how to be as extraverted & confident [which I had a lot of difficulty taking seriously for the first 3 years])

TLDR: I know I’m lucky, because not all homeschoolers get the chance to be so confident in socializing with adults (although the few I still know tell me they’re usually comfier with older people) and then basically adapt those skills/online socializing/overkill researching in time to really excel in college. It can be hard to form new habits, and it’s just sheer determination, reading and habitual positivity that helped me form mine. Also, plenty of years in customer service. So as much as I may have needed to take a crash course in learning how to relate to my peers, I acknowledge not all homeschoolers can or would want to. I think no matter how you’re schooled, it’ll have an impact on your sociocultural upbringing. I think mine just helped me be cool with being alone much, much earlier in my life. Also, gave me an excuse to wear pajamas to school, call the teacher mom, and read whatever I wanted ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#homeschooled #homeschooler #creative nonfiction #writing #spilled ink #creative writing

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littlepurinsesu · 6 years ago

Text

Mystic Party

I previously made a post about the invitations, and in this post I’m going to literally go through everything I remember about the party while it’s still fresh in my mind! ;)

A bit of a warning that this will be one heck of a long and detailed post with lots of information and images and links! This post is also going to include a lot more of my personal experiences and feelings rather than the more neutral info dumping, because this event was so major and I’m treating this a bit like a “diary entry” for myself ^___^

I’ve used subheadings to organise everything so that you can skip what you don’t care about or just read the specific part you’re interested in. *If you only want to read about the Rika and Vanderwood Route, it’s in the “SPECIAL GUEST SUJIN RI” section!

But if you’re in for the whole experience, it’s gonna be a LONG ride. So buckle up and let’s go! ;)

ARRIVING

The party was held on 23rd August from 1pm to 4pm, on the 5th floor of a fancy place that’s usually reserved for wedding receptions and other formal occasions, so we were told to dress decently :) No need to go all-out and wear a formal gown or anything (though some people really did!), but you needed to be well-dressed xD Oh, and cosplays weren’t allowed!

Lining up to enter the banquet hall!

Once you get in, the staff members will verify your identity to make sure you’re the person registered (so strict!). They also ask you to draw a card with a character on it for the “game” and give you a bunch of forms/cards needed for later and an RFA paper bag with your gifts.

Lining up to have your identity verified and to collect all the prizes and information you’ll need. Hello there, V.

Each table has a character emoji, which is also the emoji printed on your seat number card. My card had Zen’s emoji (YASSS), and my seat was in the very front row and right at the edge.

Our table. (My seat is no. 16)

A good thing because I can see things clearly and eavesdrop on the hosts/staff members/cosplayers when they’re waiting to go onstage, but a bad thing because sometimes the official photographers and news journalists try to take pictures or film stuff and block my view >.<” (Yes, there were news journalists from actual TV broadcasting stations because the event was such a big deal! :O)

GAMES

The first 50 minutes were for people to arrive, settle, buy merch, and most importantly, do the little “game” thing they prepared.

Seat card with Zen’s sparkly emoji, form for if you want to buy merch, and the card that lists the rules of the game. (Forgot to take a close-up... >.<)

Basically there are five “official cosplayers” playing the RFA members. They’ll be on the stage, and you go to the character you drew at the beginning for a short “game”. If you pass/win the game, they’ll stamp your card, and you can then go and put your card into the box corresponding to your favourite character (not necessarily the one you played the game with). The boxes will be used for raffles later where they’ll draw out names for prizes or for people to go up onstage for more “intimate” character interactions.

People playing their game with the character they got.

If you win your game, you come and put your stamped card in one of these boxes!

The card I picked out was Jaehee’s. I won’t deny that I was a bit disappointed (I DO LOVE BAEHEE I JUST LOVE THE MEN MORE DON’T KILL ME PLEASE), but after reading the instruction card and going through the game, I’m kind of glad I got her xD All characters have different games (win at paper-scissors-rock against Jumin, correctly answer a random times table question from Seven, draw a card and hope your number is bigger than Zen’s, beat Yoosung at “seaweed paper-scissors-rock”, or correctly answer Jaehee’s question about a random RFA member’s eye colour). 707′s and Jaehee’s are the only ones that weren’t left up to chance and the questions were easy, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to pass. Also, the male characters were pretty... “touchy”? For the fanservice, if you get what I mean? Like they might put their hands on your waist or bend down and talk to you really “intimately” xD

There are a bunch of standees on the right side of the stage. You line up in front of the character you’ll be playing your game with, and when they’re done with a player, you’ll be called up for your turn.

You line up like this for your turn at the mini game (which I didn’t have to do ;D)

To be honest, the “interaction with the cosplayers” thing was the part I cared for the least before coming; these characters are 2D, and no matter how good the cosplayers are, I’d personally prefer to keep them 2D in my mind xD

But then the Jaehee cosplayer personally came down the stage and approached me to ask if I needed assistance! I have no idea why or how she was allowed to leave her post and come to me? Maybe because I looked very confused, since my Chinese isn’t SUPER GOOD and the staff member explained the game rules to me very quickly and concisely ^^;; And when Jaehee saw that my card had her emoji on it, she was like, “Oh, then you’ll be interacting with me!” and explained the rules of the game to me again more slowly. By then I was pretty much like, “Eh, may as well” xD I didn’t go up the “normal” way by lining up on the right in front of the standees, because Baehee was already with me, so she literally took my hand and walked back up on the stage with me from the left side ahahaha I’m special :P The cosplayer was really nice and had a “big sister” feel, so it really was kind of like how I imagined Jaehee to be ^^

This is only a small detail, but I found it quite interesting that the cosplayer didn’t touch me until I explicitly said “Okay” to the game/interaction. I guess maybe there really are people who are uncomfortable with doing lovey-dovey and touchy stuff with strangers (since the characters are just regular people cosplaying). I found it quite nice that they were careful to respect people’s boundaries and only proceeded to touch you in any way when you’ve explicitly said yes :)

The games take place on the stage, but everyone’s doing their own thing, so it’s not like anyone was watching. Anyway, after leading me onto the stage and her position/place, Jaehee asked me who my favourite character was. Obviously Saeran isn’t an option here, so I said 707. Then she goes, “Okay, I’m going to test you! Can you tell me the colour of 707′s eyes?” And I’m like “yellow” (man, is it gold or yellow), and since the 707 cosplayer wasn’t doing their game with someone at the time, Jaehee goes, “707, come here,” points to their eyes (coloured contacts LOL) and says, “Yes, yellow! Okay, you pass!” She then leads me to the side of the stage (we were meant to leave ourselves ajksfh;asj why is Jaehee so niceee) and tells a staff member that I passed so I get my card stamped.

Then you come to this box area, and after you’ve written your in-game name and phone number on the card, you’re asked to put it into the box corresponding to the character of your choice. I knew that putting it in 707′s box would be an unwise decision, since that box would be filled with cards and you’d get a lower chance of winning anything, but Zen, my next-favourite, is almost just as popular in Taiwan xD So I went ahead and shoved my card into the 707 box anyway ahaha :P (A decision I would later regret as I didn’t win a single thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

The adorable emoji boxes! You put your stamped card into the box corresponding to your favourite character.

There were also a lot of small interactions between the cosplayers when they were idly waiting for their next player, and they were super in-character <3 Jumin brushed the huge paw-shaped cardboard sign he was holding against Zen’s hair and Zen literally flinched, patted down his hair, and turned around to glare at him xD Seven pulled at Yoosung’s suspenders and even stuck his head in to annoy and eavesdrop on Jumin when he was trying to have a serious conversation with Jaehee xD These cosplayers really know their characters well haha :D

FOOD

They also served food and drinks :) The highlight was obviously the original HONEY BUDDHA (TECHNICALLY “BUTTER”) CHIPS. I was pretty excited to finally try actual HBCs in real life, and I must say that the taste was... very oily and buttery? xD I mean, they are Honey Butter Chips, so I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the butter taste was a lot stronger than I thought it would be xD It’s nice, but I can’t imagine myself eating more than half a bag at once before I start feeling a bit gross/sick xD Seriously, how does Seven eat so much O___O

Finished my game with Baehee, and now settled with my juice and cake and Honey Buddha Chips.

OFFICIALLY STARTING

Waiting for the hosts to officially start the party!

The two hosts (more like MCs, but we all know that “MC” has a whole different meaning for MM fans, so I’m going to stick with “host” xD) are pretty popular among the Taiwanese MM fandom. They do weekly live streams/videos on the official Facebook page, where they talk about MM, upcoming events, joke around, and do raffles for MM merch. They’ve sort of become the unofficial “faces” of MM in Taiwan, and most of the Taiwanese MM fans (myself included) love them, so it was a real treat to see them in person! For this post, I’m going to call the female host “Cuby” and the male host “Fatty”, since that’s a direct translation of their Chinese nicknames (meaning “cube/square” and “fat”) and they’ve used these translations themselves at some point.

At 2pm, the lobby theme (“Mystic Chat”) finally stops playing and is replaced by Yoosung’s second theme, “Silly Smile Again”. Cuby goes onstage, talks a bit, and officially starts the party.

She then tells everyone that because this party is supposed to be “full of mysteries and surprises”, we should all check under our chairs! The chairs were covered in fancy silky fabric, so we had to dig under that. And SURPRISE! Each seat had a random sticker sheet stuck inside (the ones that come with the emoticon cushions), and it’s yours to keep! Cue intense screaming and fangirling throughout the whole room, to the point where the host had to put her mic down because she couldn’t talk over the screaming and she failed at getting us to calm down xD I got a 707 sticker sheet YASSSSS!!! (I could feel the envious stares of other people on my table hur hur nope not trading with any of you :P) And I just got the Ray stickers with my Ray emoticon cushion a few days ago ;___; Come with me, Saeyoung, I have your brother at home and I will reunite the two of you <3

The 707 stickers hidden under my chair!

After that, the opening video was played to signal the start of the party! I’ve watched that video countless times by now, but seeing it blasted through huge speakers and played on a giant screen gave me all the feels, and it was cute when Cuby cued everyone to sing along haha <3

The feelsssss ;___;

And when you think the next segment is officially starting, the lights dim again, the intro of the OP comes on once more, Cuby goes “Wth is going on?”, the big screen splits and opens, and Fatty enters with much fanfare, singing the Chinese version of the song xD

So much LOL (and yes, I will always snap a picture when Saeran shows up on the screen)

Cue everyone screaming and cheering for him (because this guy is so hilarious and therefore super popular). He even had a rose, which he threw to the girl sitting next to me. Guess I’m too close to the edge for him to bother reaching LOL

SPECIAL GUEST SUJIN RI (RIKA AND VANDERWOOD ROUTE INFO IN THIS SECTION)

They then played an exclusive video that featured all the VAs (minus Saeran, Rika, and Vanderwood), Han (the singer of the theme songs), some Cheritz staff members and Sujin Ri (founder of Cheritz and creator of Mystic Messenger) greeting and thanking Taiwanese fans. They’d teased that there would be a special guest coming to this party from Korea, and it was none other than Sujin Ri herself!!!

Sujin Ri in her adorable cherry dress <3

Sujin Ri is so cute! xD She spoke a bit of English, but most of her longer speeches and answers were in Korean, so she had a translator with her. The event planners had put together a list of questions that they knew everyone would be curious to know, and the hosts read out the questions one by one while Sujin Ri answered them onstage!

Q: “Why did you create this game? How did you come up with the script?” A: It was a long answer, but she basically said that she took a long break after her first two games and was wondering if she should continue. She then decided to make a mobile game, and wanted it to be more “relatable” for players, so came up with the idea of a messaging app! She also said something about how she really likes watching American shows and dramas, so a lot of her inspiration came from those. One of the hosts joked that American movies often have hackers, so maybe that’s why MM has a hacker (or two) :P

Q: Will there be a chance to release a Rika Route? A: She basically said something like (paraphrased), “The Taiwanese version hasn’t released V’s and Unknown’s stories yet, but they have been released in Korea [she didn’t say internationally, for some reason] and lots of Rika’s secrets were revealed. There will be more in the future, so please look forward to it.” The reactions were mixed, just like with the international fandom. Some people were frowning and shaking their heads, but there were definitely some people who cheered and clapped lol. Guess Rika is a controversial character in every country xD (Fatty revealed in the Facebook Live After Party that when he asked her, “Yes? Or no?” she replied, “Maybe!”) But yeah, her answer was vague and her words in no way confirm a Rika Route. But to me, just the fact that the party planners chose and put this question in the script seems to be a pretty clear indication that it’s probably going to happen...? Like, why tease something that isn’t going to be an actual thing? I dunno, maybe it’s just me reading too much into it and trying to be smart, so don’t quote me on an official confirmation for a Rika Route; I’m just relaying what I heard and sharing my own interpretation ^^;;

Q: Will there be a chance for the VAs to come to Taiwan? A: “Yes!” Short and sweet, so I take that as a sign that there might be more official MM events in Taiwan in the future! (My poor wallet...)

Q: Will there be plushie merchandise released in the future? A: Possibly! Again, not a direct confirmation, but just like with the Rika Route question, I take that as a pretty good sign that it might happen since they bothered to mention it! Dunno if it will be released internationally or be another Taiwan-only merch, though... (Either way, my wallet is crying again.)

Q: Please release LINE stickers with sound! A: “Good idea!” (in English!) Taiwanese people use the messaging app LINE a lot, and although there’s been two official MM sticker sets released, a lot of people have been wanting a version that has the characters’ voices (like how it is in the game).

Then they said there was time for ONE question from ONE fan in the audience, and a girl’s arm shot up so quickly that she was picked before I even had a chance to move my hand lmao xD But no worries, because it turns out that her question is exactly what I was going to ask! She takes the mic and speaks the holy words, “Will you consider making a Vanderwood Route?” CUE THE INSANE SCREAMS OF A BANQUET HALL-FULL OF THIRSTY MCS. INCLUDING ME. Seriously, the reaction was IMMEDIATE and the screams were RIDICULOUSLY LOUD. I hope the volume and intensity was enough to convince Sujin Ri that Vanderwood really is that popular and how much we really would love to have his route ;___; And her answer was basically (again, paraphrased), “Vanderwood wasn’t even meant to be an official character, but we ended up adding him into the game. I never expected him to get so popular, and since everyone loves him so much, I will take note of this and discuss with the company the possibility of making a route for him in the future.” NO OTHER WORDS NEEDED. EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO CRY TEARS OF JOY. THERE IS HOPE. And it’s even better because we now know for sure that the creator herself is the one who heard us and said those words ;___;

They then drew out some names for fans to go up and receive a gift and take a group photo with Sujin Ri. Two fans got a set of cards (game CGs) with the VAs’ autographs, and three fans got the official RFA badge set!

COSPLAYERS

So the official cosplayers had left the room after the games and were away during all this. After Sujin Ri left the stage and took her seat at her table, the hosts “officially” welcomed the cosplayers in for the first time!

(They’re just cosplayers and they’re actually all female, but for the purpose of this post, I’m just going to use the pronoun of the character they’re portraying and use the characters’ names as though they really are the character.)

They enter one by one with a rose and give it to a random fan. No chance for me because they entered through the aisle in the middle of the hall and I’m right at the edge at the front xD Jumin gave his rose normally, Jaehee didn’t give hers away (I’ll explain why later), Seven and Yoosung threw theirs to reach fans that were further back (still not far enough for me T_T), and Zen got down on his knee Zen-style and handed it to a lucky fan.

The RFA members (well, cosplayers) are formally introduced for the first time!

Once they’re all onstage, the members introduce themselves one by one (which was when I found out that they were all women as soon as they spoke xD) and answer some quick questions from the hosts. While it wasn’t top-notch acting or anything, the cosplayers were very much in character the whole time. The way they stood, their expressions, their manner of speech, their interactions with each other, everything was just like the character they were supposed to be, so props to them for that!

Jumin was asked why he didn’t bring Elizabeth the 3rd! Just as he was about to start talking, 707 cuts in and says, “Yeah, where’s Elly? Why didn’t you bring my Elly? She’s mine!” xD Jumin basically brushed him off (”She’s not yours!”) and said it’s because there’s a flu going around and he didn’t want her to get sick =^.^= The hosts kept jokingly begging him to please not purchase and merge their company with C&R xDDD Jumin also said that he’d like Zen to model for his cat food commercial, and the look on Zen’s face was priceless LOL xD (Zen said only if either the cat is put in plastic wrap or they just get a fake 3D cat instead xD)

Jaehee was asked why she still had her rose with her, and she said it’s because she wants to give it to Zen!!! It was super cute, and Yoosung and Seven were making love heart gestures behind them when she gave the rose to him xD But then Zen asked if he could give the rose to “one of the ladies down there” LOL WAY TO SHATTER BAEHEE’S HEART ZEN YOU AKSDJFHA;SKJ XDDD

Zen asking to give Jaehee’s rose to a fan. ZEN WHY XD

They chose a Jaehee fan from the crowd (a middle-aged man!!!) and Jaehee and Zen handed the rose to him together, which was really cute :) Jaehee also complained about her boss’ cat’s fur getting everywhere, that she was still using tape to get rid of them before coming in xD The hosts asked her if she realised her boss was standing right beside her, and she asked him for a raise. Jumin said, “For what you said just then, no.” xDDD They also asked her if she recommends any cafes. Jaehee said that while she enjoys Starbucks, the cafe she recommends is “The Who”, which is the one that has the MM collaboration going on right now lololol not-so-subtle advertising ;)

707 teased Fatty and said that he knows everything about him, and started listing his personal info, like his job, his height etc. But when he was about to reveal his weight, Fatty apologised for teasing and questioning “God Seven’s” abilities as a hacker and begged for forgiveness LOL xD

Yoosung was asked about his future plans, like whether or not he was planning to continue working for Jumin’s company. Yoosung said that rather than a career, he’s more interested in being a good husband ;) He wants to find a kind and pretty wife and have three kids, and even revealed the names he wants to give them xD (They’re all to do with stars, since Yoosung’s name means “Shooting Star” ^^) Such a cutie, and very Yoosung-like <3

Zen was last, and they asked him what he thought about Jumin LOL xD He admitted that he used to hate him, but now he thinks he’s actually a pretty nice guy ^^ The hosts then asked the two to “hug and make up” OMG. Cue the fangirl screams xD I feel like they know about the JuZen ship and are fueling it a bit xD Jumin walked towards Zen with his arms out, and Zen reluctantly went in for the hug xD They literally twirled around on the spot, with Zen keeping his hands OFF Jumin’s back despite having his arms around him, and the hug ended when Seven tried to put their heads together and make them kiss LOLLL. Seven and Yoosung were cheering and making love heart gestures (THEY SHIP IT), while Jaehee was filming it on her phone xD

JuZen huggles!!! (featuring shippy YooSeven and fangirl Jaehee)

After that, they basically had all the characters draw cards from those five emoji boxes, and the people chosen would go up onstage and draw a random ball with a number on it. Each number comes with some cheesy/romantic interaction (e.g. a romantic dance, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes for 10 seconds, a hug and a pat on the head, being fed Pocky etc.), and the player would then do this with their character while everyone watches in envy. I won’t upload any photos of these moments to respect the privacy of the fans, but I will and have cropped out YooSeven in the background mirroring the romantic moments with each other! It’s like they’re all aware of the fandom’s main ships and are fueling them xD

YooSeven dances and snuggles!!!

One of Seven’s fans picked out “being fed Pocky”, but being God Seven, he immediately said, “I don’t want any of that! *signals a staff member* Could you bring that over for me? The one I brought myself!” What else could he be talking about xD

707 awkwardly struggling to open a Honey Buddha Chip bag onstage xD

They also get to take a polaroid pic with the cosplayer at the end. And since Fatty is known to be really generous and is always “adding more” to raffles and games, he allowed like at least another 10 or so fans to be drawn for a polaroid with a character of their choice :)

And Jaehee herself also asked if she could have a polaroid with Zen! xD

Zen and Jaehee posing for a polaroid, featuring an unamused Jumin.

By the way, Cuby is a HUGE Jumin fangirl and she got a turn with the Jumin, too! xD

"Ju-Jumin... I... I’m willing to raise Elizabeth the 3rd with you—KYAAAAHHH~~~” (That’s exactly what she said ;D)

They then got Sujin Ri to come onstage again and draw more lucky winners who’ll receive the card set with the VAs’ autographs. Fatty also drew a bunch of people to win a Taiwan-exclusive cushion (or the space cushion for 707 because they ran out of his Taiwan cushions). Amazing that there were so many things drawn at random and I didn’t manage to get a single one LOLLL XD

I managed to snap a picture of the cosplayers as they were leaving the stage for a break. They literally walked right by me (because of the convenient position of my seat), and Jumin and Yoosung even waved and posed xD

CHARITY AUCTION

It was later revealed that a part of the money they raised for this party would be donated to an official animal protection association in Taiwan, just like how the RFA parties are for a good cause ^^ They even played a video about the association we were donating to (lots of sad and abandoned puppies ;___;) complete with “I Miss Happy Rika” as background music.

Additionally, they bring on three extra standees for auction, and all the money from the auction would be donated to charity, too! I love MM but I don’t want a standee LOL so I just sat back and watched xD They only had Yoosung, Jumin, and Zen, and I got a picture of the prices they were each sold for (all in NTD):

I’m still shook that the Zen standee was able to sell for NT$9900!!!!! That’s like... *throws it into Google to convert* $322-ish USD!!!!! Insane but also very impressive! :D (Wonder how much a 707 standee could have gone for if they offered one haha)

Sujin Ri was so happy, and said that they would be sending them some kind of official donator’s badge from Korea for contributing to a good cause <3 The host even said that it’s amazing and really beautiful how a simple mobile game can grow to the point where so many people come together and do things to make the world a better place ^^ <333

ENDING

After the auctions, the party came to an end ;___; They played “Like the Sun in the Sky” as the ED and listed all the people who helped to make the party happen. But then they said that “special thanks” go to the fans who attended, and literally typed out ALL of our names in the credits! <3 The hosts picked out random names to read, like “Thank you _____! Thank you _____!” including mine, so I guess that was the only thing I got picked for today LOL XD

Cuby reading out my name!

After that, they have an ending screen with the SNSplus and Cheritz logos, and when you think it’s all over, Fatty enters from the right of the screen (turns out to be a video) and tells us that they’re going to be releasing a big confetti ball to signify the end (one of those giant balls that explode and then confetti falls out).

A wild Fatty appears!

I was expecting a huge ball to explode in the middle of the hall or on the screen, but when the Fatty in the video says “GO!” instead we get “I just got your messages!” again. Turns out he TROLLED US, and instead, they played a self-made, absolutely hilarious and utterly stupid but amazing “music video” of Fatty himself singing the OP XDDD Needless to say, the entire room was a laughing MESS XDDDDD

(Not sure how interested the international fandom would be because Fatty really is more of a Taiwanese MM fandom favourite, but if you are, there will be a link at the end of this post with appropriate timestamps for anyone who would like to witness this... glorious mistake of a video xDDD)

They also ended the event by taking a big group photo together! I managed to get pretty close to the front because my seat was so close to the photo spot already xD

All hosts, cosplayers, important guests, and 150-ish attendees! (Credits to the official Taiwanese Mystic Messenger Facebook Page.)

PHOTO TIME

After that, they said that they would allow a few minuets for people to take pictures with cosplayers, with each other, of the venue, basically anything. But unlike almost everyone who immediately STAMPEDED to line up for the cosplayers (especially 707), I raced to look for Sujin Ri!!! There were quite a few other people going for her, too, and she was taking photos with fans and signing people’s merch and stuff. I was able to speak to her in English, and simply asked, “Can I please take a photo with you?” She was super nice, and so was her translator, who ended up taking all the pictures for everyone who lined up xD Before I left, she told me, “Thank you for playing!” Ahhh she’s so cute <333

Major fangirling!!! (Yes, that is me in the white dress. I have officially revealed my face >_<)

I then went and selfie-d with the two hosts (because why not? :D), and then selfie-d with the standees for a second time. Yes, I am literally more interested in standees than cosplayers... To me, the standees were more “like” the characters? They’re 2D anyway, so I prefer to keep them that way rather than pretending that a person who isn’t them, is xD

And even after I was done with the standees there was still time. On my way back to my seat to clean up my belongings, I literally JUST SO HAPPENED to walk past the place that was the end of 707′s line. At this point, I kinda thought to myself, “I already paid for this party and I’m literally already standing in the queue, so may as well.” xDDD I did end up taking a selfie with the 707 cosplayer! I even decided to just go with it and asked him for a hug, too, and he told me to be careful on my way home :) Two possible responses: “Awww what a nice cosplayer she is ^^” and “OMGGGG I TOOK A SELFIE WITH SEVEN AND HUGGED HIM AND HE TOLD ME TO BE CAREFUL ASD;KFJAHS;KJDA” May as well fully immerse myself in the experience and choose the latter ahahaha :P

After that, you were free to leave or make any final purchases at the merchandise section. The merch didn’t really appeal to me, so I only took pictures.

Cup holders and washi tape! They’re cute, but not really things I need or particularly want. I’m happy with just my Ray emoticon cushion and rubber keychain for now ^^

The RFA members are also standing at the exit and seeing everyone off!

Jumin even helped the fan who bid for his standee to bring it out of the hall. What a gentleman <3

Jumin waved goodbye to me as I was leaving, and 707 waved back when I turned for one last look ^^

GIFTS

I only really opened the paper bag once I got home, and inside were the gifts they promised!

The bag is huge!

You get a random big cookie with an RFA member’s face on it! I got a Jumin, and I would like to ask how anyone thinks I will be okay with eating this ;___;

My Juju cookie <3 You will eventually end up in my tummy ;~;

You also get a poster set that’s limited to this party only (there is no other way to get them)! I thought we would be getting one poster with all the characters, but no, they gave us five posters, one character each, separately :O

This is basically all the stuff I came home with haha <3

Overall, was it worth it? Yes, I think so ^^

The ticket was pretty expensive and the purchasing process was crazy and stressful, but I think it was worth the money and effort spent. The party was a lot more grand and fancy than I expected, and you could tell that they really did put a lot of effort into making it a really extravagant event. I did not come in expecting to meet Sujin Ri, and revealing that a lot of the money would be going to charity also made the party so much more meaningful <3 (I’m sure the RFA would be proud ;D) Of course, the experience would probably have been more unforgettable and rewarding if I had actually gotten drawn for just ONE of the many lucky draws they had LOL but I still had a great time and I’m just thankful that I got to attend such a fun and wonderful event <333

Not sure if they’ll be holding another one of these parties in other cities in Taiwan (or maybe in Hong Kong and Macau), but I’m pretty sure that this isn’t the last of these MM Taiwan events xD I hope my wallet can take it :P

Here is the official compilation video with footage from the party (featuring my embarrassing self being filmed selfie-ing with a 707 standee OH GOD WHY.) The caption on the video post also has a link to a Google Drive where you can look at some clearer photos taken by their staff members!

And here’s the “Mystic After Party” live video hosted by Cuby and Fatty. (Go to 2:20 [as in 2:20 REMAINING of the video, so about 40:35 minutes in] if you’re interested in watching Fatty’s music video xD Please imagine this video coming on with the shook-ness of a troll surprise when you’re expecting a confetti ball to pop out instead >.>)

If you’re still reading, I APPLAUD YOU :O LET’S BE FRIENDS! No, seriously, thank you for taking interest and reading until the end; I am so sorry that it’s so insanely long ^^;;

All posts on Mystic Messenger events in Taiwan can be found under my #mmtaiwan tag!

Check out my Saeran x MC fic: Waiting for Spring And my Choi Brothers fic: Of Roses and Resets

*All photos belong to me unless otherwise stated. Please do not repost without my permission!

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