#the comics arc did my girl so dirty

[ashmaenas]

Idc who you ship. Buffy Summers without internalised sapphic angst is like Spike without his eyeliner—it just doesn't hit the same.

[caffeinerabbit]

(Note: I originally started to write this as a quick and dirty backstory for Latte, which explained why she was chosen as Benji's mentor, and why she behaves the way she does. Once I started writing, however, it was like some floodgate opened and now I have a full blown setting and story arc in my head. I'd love to turn it into a comic, but I don't think I have the patience for that, so I'm giving serious thought about turning it into a multi-chapter illustrated fanfic, with the occasional comic for fun.

In any case, here's the first piece of lore, possibly with more to come. The story continues under the cut, with potential spoilers for down the line - and please forgive the melodrama!)

Latte's Story

Latte is a veteran exploration team member, and in her prime she was considered one of the Guild’s elites. Even though she’s semi-retired now (for reasons) she’s still highly regarded as one of the best, and from time to time the Guild will seek her help when they have a difficult task in front of them.

She’s also a thoroughly unpleasant person. Sarcastic, aloof, and generally unfriendly to most people, she spends much of her time alone, either drinking her days away or just kind of blankly existing.

(And yes, this PMD setting has booze. You can’t tell me that a civilization whose diet consists of 90% berries and fruit hasn’t stumbled upon fermentation.)

When Benji the human-turned-buneary just happens to show up one day and the Guild becomes aware of him, past experience tells them that something bad is about to go down. They know that Benji and his partner Finn need to be brought up to snuff ASAP, and to that end they enlist Latte to act as the duo’s mentor, which she reluctantly accepts after much pleading.

From the moment their eyes meet, Latte and Benji can’t stand one another. Although she’s typically hard to get along with in general, for some reason she takes an immediate and intense dislike of Benji in particular, constantly snarking at him, mocking him when he messes up, and directing a weirdly immense amount of ire his way. For his part, Benji is utterly perplexed as to what exactly he did to piss off this giant rabbit woman, returning her vitriol in kind. Her being the final evolution of his new form doesn’t help matters either, since he’s mildly embarrassed by his current situation, and she’s a reminder of what he has to look forward to if he winds up stuck in the Pokémon world permanently.

Ostensibly, as a lopunny, Latte has a firmer understanding of Benji’s potential capabilities than most, and can train him better than anyone else could. That’s the excuse given, anyway, but it’s only a small part of the whole truth on why the Guild chose her.

Which is that Latte once had her own human partner, and that together they saved the world.

When Latte was still a young buneary, she stumbled upon a hapless human in pokémon form, much in the same way as Finn did with Benji. Although shy, withdrawn, and slow to make friends at the time, she easily formed a fast friendship with the outsider, and he was able to draw her out of her shell. After joining their local Guild and going on multiple adventures together, their bond grew ever closer, with Latte effectively viewing her partner as the center of her world.

Eventually, the big apocalyptic threat that always seems to accompany humans made itself known, and after much grit and determination, Latte and her partner were able to defeat it. Despite the hardship they’d faced up to that point, the relief, pride, and closeness to her partner she felt in that moment left her the happiest she’d ever been in her life, triggering her evolution into a lopunny right there on the spot – an evolution that probably never would have happened if she’d never met her friend and remained that sad, lonely girl back in her home village.

The joy, however, was short lived. With his task fulfilled and his original life waiting for him back home, the higher powers determined to return Latte’s partner to the human world. Not long after the pinnacle of her existence, she watched as her closest and only true friend, the person that gave her life meaning, purpose, and who she was secretly deeply in love with, evaporated into a wispy yellow flow of sparks and energy.

And unlike in the games, he never came back.

Latte’s world was devastated. As the initial shock wore off, in its place took anguish, and a desperate pleading with the higher powers to please, please bring her friend back to her. Pleading that went silently, but firmly, unanswered.

In time, the anguish itself faded into numbness, and Latte again found herself feeling utterly, completely alone. She wasn’t even able to celebrate and take solace in the victory that she and her partner had earned, since the Guild swore her to secrecy lest the populace at large learn just how close it had come to complete annihilation – and in turn learn that this has all happened before, and will likely happen again. Outside of the Guild masters, her vanishingly small circle of friends, and a handful of other people privy to the information, nobody knew that they all owed their lives to Latte and her partner.

Trying to fill the void in her soul and distract herself from depression, Latte doubled down on her Guild work, becoming one of the top Explorers and Rescuers in the world’s Guild system. She eventually realized that she couldn’t remain in her home village and ever hope to become whole again, because everything there reminded her of him. Packing up what little she had, she moved far away to another village whose Guild master was sympathetic to her plight, attempting to build herself a new life.

It didn’t take. Between Guild missions and the bottle, Latte’s life went more or less on auto pilot. She took on fewer and fewer jobs, and eventually only took work when the Guild sought her out specifically. Regardless of his advisors’ grumbling, calling her a freeloader and dead weight, the Guild master made no effort to force Latte to do anything. He knew of the sacrifice she had made, and letting her live her life in what little peace she could muster was the least he could do.

Out of Latte’s numbness, a sense of resentment also took root, growing over time. She and her partner were still effectively children when they went on their adventures, and like most children, the transformed human had an upbeat and unblemished view of the world. He would regale her with stories about his world, about things like airplanes, movies, video games, amusement parks, all the different kinds of food you could ever hope to eat and all the different places you could ever hope to visit - they’d even been to their moon! She held the Earth in awe, and wished that someday, somehow, she could go there as well.

But when the time came, he didn’t take her with him. He got to go home to paradise. She was stuck here.

Alone.

In spite of herself, she found herself growing angry at her long-lost friend. A part of her knew that it wasn’t his fault, that he had no more say in the matter than she did, but nevertheless he had abandoned her. The hurt continued to grow, the resentment hardening ever stronger. How dare he. How dare he.

For several years, this was the internal stalemate in which Latte found herself. Going through the motions of life, doing what was needed of her when asked, drowning her sorrows when left to her own devices. The numbness dulled the resentment most of the time, and she had resigned herself to just playing out the clock on life.

That is, until he arrived.

From the first moment she laid eyes on him, Latte knew exactly what Benji was. His mannerisms, the way he moved, the way he talked, the way he held himself. Everyone else might have mistaken him for this clumsy, confused little first stage, but to her it was as glaringly obvious as though she were staring into the sun. And in tow he held another innocent, unsuspecting soul, one that undoubtedly worshiped the ground he walked on. One whose heart would inevitably be shattered into a million pieces and scattered into the wind, never to be made whole again.

All of the anger and resentment that she had fought so hard to bury came flooding back like a tidal wave. All of the broken dreams, all of the unfulfilled promises, of once bright future that now laid forever beyond her grasp. How dare this insipid little bastard come here and cause this to all play out once again. How dare he.

She knew what his being here meant, and knew what was at stake should he fail. With a generous amount of loathing she agreed to mentor the duo and train them for their appointed task, and to do so to the best of her ability. But she would be damned if she allowed history to repeat itself. All she wanted was to get this whole business over and done with, to send this little shit packing back to where he came from.

The sooner, the better.

[howlingday]

Trio Arc Mom Au: Can we get the moms showing off baby photos and embarrassing childhood photos of Jaune to his friends (and/or girlfriend) like when his sisters put him in a dress?

First / Previous / Previous

Yang: Wait, you knew our mom?

Mama Arc: I knew both of them, actually. In fact, I fought them by myself during the Vytal Tournament. I would have won, too, if she didn't fight dirty.

Yang: Sounds like Raven.

Mama Arc: Oh, no, she was actually the more honorable of the two. Summer was the one who was the underhanded one.

Ruby: Wait, what did Mom do?

Madame Arc: Oh, she did all kinds of things, if you can believe it. I've never met a woman so skilled in so many facets. Business, fencing, dance, art, cooking- There was nothing that could stop her!

Weiss: My mother? Really? She seems so... different now.

Madame Arc: Well, there's a reason for that, and it the one man who I'd call her only weakness.

Weiss: Was it my father?

Madame Arc: Pfft! Ohohoho! Hardly! Why, I wouldn't even call him a man! Khm... Excuse me. I was out of place. I meant no offense by what I said.

Weiss: Even if there was offense intended, I wouldn't hold it against you. My father's actions speak for himself.

Misses Arc: I thought as much. It seemed like a book you would enjoy.

Blake: I had no idea this book even existed. Where did you find it?

Misses Arc: It was stowed away on the shelf, next to "The Girl Who Fell Through the World". I thought about lending it to Jaune, but he seemed less interested in olden court intrigue and more fixated on comedic adventures, like his Pumpkin Pete books, as well as his comic books.

Blake: That makes sense. I never could get interested in them.

Misses Arc: Neither could I until I found an interesting loophole. See, Jaune loved his comic books, but he could never sit through one chapter of "Jester's Reign" until I found a graphic novel version of the story. Then I found other novel set in the world of his comic books. Soon enough, I'd found a common ground and managed to get him to read the entire "Harlequeen" trilogy without even realizing it!

Blake: Oh, I love that series!

Misses Arc: And so did Jaune.

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

Nora: So... What do you think your moms are doing alone with Team RWBY?

Jaune: Knowing my luck, they're showing my baby pictures again.

Ren: Again? I thought they only had the one photo album.

Jaune: They have three albums for each one of us, AND a slideshow for ALL of us.

Pyrrha: Well, for what it's worth, Jaune, you were a very cute baby.

Jaune: (Sighs) Thanks Pyrrha.

[fortemelody]

there are a couple universally hated sonic characters (for example chris thorndyke). but do you know who i think deserves to be shitted on more? DULCY. IM SORRY BUT SHE ANNOYS THE SHIT OUTTA ME. LIKE ESPECIALLY BECUS THEY JUST RANDOMLY ADDED HER TO S2 OF SATAM?? AND HER RUNNING GAG WITH HER MOM IS NOT FUNNY TO ME LIKE GIRL STFU

she got a whole episode named after her too 💀 i do kinda appreciate that they at least attempted to give her a backstory and the concept was sorta interesting but it felt like too little too late yknow

but the weirdest part is that this is coming from someone who LOVES antoine. he is legit my 5th fav character in the whole franchise. they literally both just serve as comic relief characters but idk antoine is just so much better to me. i think a lot of it is his design and VA tbh. but lowkey they did my man dirty later on in S2 becus the two episodes that mainly focused on him were the “odd couple/robbecca”, in which his house gets invaded by sonic and then he gets chased by a horny ass robot. this then lead to him just screaming the whole time (also his animation style change wasn’t my cup of tea either). this is like the equivalent to a squidward torture episode LET MY MAN CATCH A BREAK 😞

okay anyways back to dulcy sorry this just turned into an antoine ramble

but yeah i feel like she is there to just help the freedom fighters get to their destination faster and be a “new type” of comedic relief, one that isn’t really driven from fear like in antoine’s case. i also will admit that she’s probably more useful than antoine seeing as though he can’t fly but legit i still could not give two fucks about her. maybe it’s the lack of a personality and the randomness factor idk. and this is a more serious topic but istg if people think i’m hating on her just becus she’s a woman like the whole lanolin situation imma be so upset. i am afab myself and my first fav character is amy so like don’t even try to tell me that 😭 i would never stoop so low to say some of the awful things people say on twitter about sonic women (…or just women in general sometimes).

ALSO i’m solely referring to dulcy in SATAM, not the archie comics. based on videos i watched i remember she had a pretty big story arc and then was later rebooted as a normal sized mobian. i’m sure she’s much more bearable there cus i trust ian flynn but i haven’t actually read those for myself. double also i still have like 4 episodes left of SATAM to finish so if she possibly can somehow get better in the span of 4 episodes than ig i’m wrong

okay rant over basically fuck that dragon i hate her with a burning passion

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

(sorry if there are any mistakes, English isn't my first language)

I started to watch OG She-Ra and god I'm SO mad about what they did to Sea Hawk in spop.

Like he was such an interesting character. OG Sea Hawk was a pirate who was working for the Horde because it gave him and his crew freedom, and otherwise they would be arrested. In "The Sea Hawk" episode one of the pirates takes Adora on the ship to place she needed to get to and she has an encounter with Sea Hawk. He says that he works only for himself and freedom is the most important thing and while he sells equipment for the Horde it can't be taken away from him, Adora calls him a traitor of his own people and says that no one on the planet will be free until Hordak is defeated and Sea Hawk promises to think about her words, later Adora is seen on the ship and Sea Hawk sells her out to Catra, but later he comes to save her and promises to join the rebellion. It was such an interesting conflict and it was handled so well in ONE episode! Why the hell they made him just a dumb guy who sets boats on fire in the reboot? I understand that he is no longer a love interest, but they could've give him at least some depth.

another thing to add to the list, i guess. spop especially did all its male characters dirty.

bow was just there, despite being a main character. he had no depth to his personality, no character arc, not even any relevance to the plot. he doesn't do much fighting, he knows a bit about tech but entrapta is still vastly more knowledgeable and useful than him. he's just the token black friend.

i don't even have to go into detail about kyle. there was a joke going around that kyle was actually he-man, which 1. makes no sense and 2. just furthers the idea of "haha let's make all the men pathetic jokes, girl power!"

seahawk is just a blubbering idiot who, again, does nothing useful for the plot and just annoys everyone. he feels like a one-note character but for some reason, is featured in multiple episodes, even though he never gets any character development or interesting arcs.

hordak was probably the best male character but even he was just wasted potential. like i said in an earlier post, he's portrayed as way too weak and easily defeated. i'm not just talking about his physical strength, i can understand that he was disabled. but he doesn't even seem that smart? his key personality traits are angry™, insecure, and in love with entrapta.

so yeah, spop creators really need to understand that putting down men isn't the way to promote girl power. you can have strong and well-written female AND male characters, without reducing either of them to an annoying comic relief or a damsel in distress.

[nightmareinfloral]

Now that YJ Dark Crisis has been over for a bit and I’ve had time to reread I’m going to share my thoughts on it.

I do get what Fitzmartin was trying to do with calling out toxic fans who dislike legacy characters and diversity in comics. I also get her trying to call out YJ98 fans who don’t want to see the characters progress and want them to stay the same. However, this operates under the assumption that these characters have been treated well by DC, which they haven’t been! The fans are not holding YJ back, DC is. Cassie, Kon, Bart, and Cassie have not been managed well by DC. Tim is the only one who shows up somewhat consistently in stories and has arcs. Kon’s name was turned into a slur, Impulse hasn’t been focused on in years, Cassie hasn’t showed up in the main Wonder Woman comics in a long time, and Cissie has been more or less in the wind. The girls haven’t gotten solos and Cassie was completely done dirty post-YJ98 with the sexualisation and ooc writing. Hell, all of them suffered in Teen Titans with ooc.

Fitzmartin writes like fans want YJ to be their old selves and not change at all when that’s not the case with most fans I know. These characters have been treated like shit (w the exception of Tim) by DC since YJ98. I don’t want them back to their old selves, I want them to be treated right and grow as characters in ways that makes sense. I want them to actually be featured in comics and do things that are meaningful. The reason so many fans wish YJ98 was back is because this is the only time they were doing these things.

Fitzmartin’s argument only works for Tim and the backlash he has faced after coming out, and it’s kinda obvious she doesn’t really care that much about the others. It’s also quite obvious she hasn’t really read the material she’s critiquing. She makes Anita a villain, uses the wrong Bedlam despite that being the YJ origin story, and rehashes conflicts between the characters that have already been resolved.

All in all, the story had potential but fell short. It would have worked if it had been a Tim solo story. Fitzmartin’s lack of research into the characters and into the fans pokes holes in her argument and the story. I did like what she did with Bart and calling out his constant infantilization and the ableism often paired with it, but that’s about it.

[aevyk-ing]

Reading the W.I.T.C.H. reboot, part 1

Okay, W.I.T.C.H. reboot, here we go!:

AS: BTW, I was a huge fan of W.I.T.C.H. my whole childhood and most of my teenage years (where the writing quality dropped). The art style was a huge influence for my current art style and I even cosplayed Elyon three times. My favorite character was Hay Lin (then Elyon) and I still have most of the comics and the gifts they put on the magazine. So yeah, no pressure.

-Maybe it’s just me, but the cover looks… boring? It’s like Will here gave life to her dolls. Here’s a first look of the redesigns and… I guess I’ll talk more about them later, but: Taranee: sporty, weird, Irma: not bad, I guess, I like the combo of tan skin and curly ponytail, Hay Lin: well, that’s not my Hay Hey, but she looks cute, Cornelia: classy, not bad and… if I hadn’t read about it, never, in a million years, I’d have guessed that’s Elyon. She’s just an albino girl.

-BTW, I would have changed the logo. It makes no sense keeping it exactly the same. I’ve always thought the “c” is the odd one here.

-Oh, emojis, cool. But Taranee looks mad. And Irma looks like George of the Jungle. Sorry.

-You know, it’s sad when you put the six characters and then leave Elyon clearly out. No slide for her (even though her color was purple). And Taranee has an undercut? I’m guessing she’ll be quite different from the Taranee we used to know. Also, first look at the… magical outfits? They look like gymnasts. Or about to dance in the Dance Academy (I hated that arc).  Also, also, Taranee looks concerned about that light in her chest and… yeah, girl, I’d be concerned too.

-While I enjoy that a multi-artist (that exists, right?) is the one behind the project, now I wonder if she was given it because she’s actually good or because she’s famous. Is she the writer? I guess? Also, putting the old designs? For what? Nostalgia?

-According to the intro drawing, Will will be the most important character, then Elyon (holding the dusty remnants of something she vaporized, probably), and then the other girls. The Heart of Kandrakar is golden now and… sorry, but I can’t with Will’s eyelashes. She looks like an old cartoon. And while Elyon’s new design would look good for any other character, I think the old one worked better for both her good and bad sides. And that hairstyle was iconic. Also, now that I see her black eyebrows… maybe she’s not albino after all? Taranee looks pissed to be there, Cornelia now has dimples (cute!), Hay Lin has the curse of “Asian-girl-with-colored-streak” and she’s extra pale and Irma… well, she doesn’t look that bad. PS: I know Hay Lin being yellow in the original comic was bad, but at least she could be light brown? I remember doing a lot of research to find my OC Aury’s skin tone and I knew it had to be a shade of brown. She looks a little ghostly-like.

-I actually like the art style.

-LOL, they did Thomas dirty.

[insufferableburnout]

Some Thoughts About My Doctor Who (2005) Rewatch:

-LOVE Nine (always have)

-Rose Tyler the woman you are

-I still think 10 is my favorite and 10 and Rose together are *chefs kiss*

-Can’t lie though they did Martha so dirty

-10 and Donna are everything to me. Tennant and Tate are probably one of the best comedic duos. I still laugh every time I watch their Red Nose Day sketch

-I like the 11th doctor better this time around. I think I was too hung up on 10 to fully appreciate 11 before.

-Capaldi is still the goat. 10 is still my favorite but I love Punk Rock Grandpa. I always thought he was a good doctor with bad writing but actually the writing isn’t that bad. Sure there are some bad episodes but that’s true of any era.

-I actually like Clara a lot more now. I’m still not sold on her in season 11b but her whole time with 12 is genuinely really good. Face The Raven is still one of the best DW episodes of all time. The way that it’s followed up by Heaven Sent is also incredible. That whole season had so many bangers.

-Now 13 is the doctor who is a good doctor with bad writing. I love Whittaker and thought she did an excellent job. I think my biggest issue with Chibnall’s writing is that it doesn’t feel like Doctor Who and feels very disconnected from the rest of the show. Specifically, it feels like a lot of character development from season 10 was forgotten. Especially for The Master.

-Let’s talk about The Master. I LOVED Missy. I found her so complex and interesting and added new layers to Doctor/Master dynamic.

Now I love Sacha Dhawan (He was incredible in The Great) and I think his performance is fantastic and I love his interpretation of The Master but it doesn’t make sense looking at Missy character arc. I know new Regeneration means new personality but each Regeneration is still supposed to have the memories of all the Regenerations before and some feelings carry over. This is true for both the Master and the Doctor and with Chibnall I don’t really see the through line. I understand how much of a challenge this is for the writers, directors, and actors but it was really disappointing to watch Missy’s arc and then then go to DhawanMaster because it felt like that whole thing was totally ignored. There wasn’t even a reference to Bill or the Cyberman ship. It just didn’t feel connected to the previous seasons.

I feel like I could see more of how 11 could regenerate insto 13 than 12 into 13.

And the whole Timeless Child thing. I still hate it. It makes no sense within the context of the show and contradicts so much established lore (from both new and classic who). It makes everything 11 did on Trenzalore pointless. It puts so many plotholes into Clara’s Impossible Girl arc. It doesn’t make sense for motivation for the Master imo. It’s so inconsistent and confusing.

That whole Timeless Child arc really felt like “lets confuse the audience as much as we can” “even if it doesn’t make sense?” “Especially if it doesn’t make sense!”

Now before anyone says “oh well in this issue of the comic” or “In this episode of Big Finish” I haven’t consumed either of those. And personally I think that the continuity and lore of the show should stay consistent within the show and audiences shouldn’t *have* to go to other places for it to make sense.

-About to start season 13. This is the last season I watched before doing this rewatch (i’m showing dw to my partner for the first time) so everything after this season will be new to me which is really exciting!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

I hit 100 followers a while ago. It's not the biggest thing ever I know, but I also didn't really expect anything like that when I started this silly little blog about a mysterious lady and her goofy samurai gang. For 50 we did 27 favorites. People seemed to like it. Main cast taking up a bunch of spots is boring, though I do think a few of these could potentially end up in the main one. For now though that's Nami, Brook, & Jinbei. This time is more measured, I actually thought about a Sweet 16 and why. It's fun to see how it changes over time:

Cabbage: I love pretty idiots in anime. This one was necessary to keep me invested in Dressrosa. But there is a real amount of nobility there and the story of actually being a fallen prince obsessed with stardom is a good one! Most little guy Leo is surging but Cavendish is still my favorite of the Grand Fleet captains.

Queen Otohime: I've already said a lot about her with our Seafloor Sidestory. Such a great examination of a political leader, a civil rights icon. I've flirted with that role myself at times and always been around it as a quirk of fate...so it's cool to see someone who gets the nuances like Oda did with this story. How it plays off of Tiger's, influences someone like Jinbei. I rate Fishman Island very high and Otohime is a huge part of that.

Pudding: Pudding is such a two-faced little snot but young enough and cartoonish enough about it I think she's funny. Whole Cake is a great arc, love how she plays off of Sanji, the "Doll" element hits a little close to home.

Crocodile: He's got style, he's got grace. He'll throw sand in your face. Cool villain, loved him in Impel Down/Marineford, epitome of T-Boy swag.

Miss Goldenweek: Marianne, Goldie...such a treasure. Girl makes me laugh so much. Comically lazy but the secret weapon that was a nightmare for Luffy. Cover story that made her shine as a capable operative and Rainbow of Dreams rocks. Please come back to Cross Guild you little weirdo. I need you and Buggy playing off each other, I need Crocodile hyping up one of his superstar agents to Mihawk only for her to doze off/ask for snacks in the middle of it.

Nekomamushi: He is a massive yellow cat man. This is a great start. Had a nice theme song too. He loves lasagna but isn't an asshole like Garfield. Rising love. Samurai cat man. Then he's Kiku's lil bro and I enjoy pondering that dynamic. Goro nya nya.

Kin'emon: He was pretty funny before, making the chauvinist a simp for his classy af wife and the confused, but caring father figure to a sweetheart trans girl is hilarious. I love his devil fruit and impersonating Doffy was classic. His supernatural luck forced his way deeply into my heart.

Conis: Conis is lovely. Sweet angel girl...with a big ol bazooka she is not afraid to use. People forget Conis but I still love her. Sky Island was fun.

Jewelry Bonney: Being an angry child makes her so much more fun. Always thought she was a solid Supernova. Being such a glutton is funny. Egghead has elevated her. Interesting devil fruit, it's the one my sweetie would want to eat himself which is neat.

Izo: Izo is very, very pretty. He is also good at shooty but have you seen how pretty he is? He is also the dashing elder brother of #1 blorbo...

Kiku: I know this inclusion will surprise some of you. She's a total sweetie with hidden narrative weirdness. What's not to love and obsess over? Plus she's really tall and forgets that when hiding behind things. Imagine if we saw her trying to hide behind Chopper sticking most of his body out from behind a hiding place. That would tick us back at least one minute from midnight.

Cindry: The other Okiku and subject of our Spooky Sidestory. Maliciously compliant zombie with a showgirl vibe. Far out. Hucking plates rules as a combat style.

Ginny: Some might say she's too new. Some Might Say is a pretty good early Oasis song. Neither of those are relevant right now. I love Ginny. She's wonderful. She got done dirty because flashback characters always get done dirty.

Hina: Hina pleased to be included. Hina pleased. She was our Shackled Sidestory and I love her. The cool vibe mixed with a couple of childish traits. One of our truly good Marines who probably hasn't gotten high enough up the ladder to really know how depraved the World Government is. Cool fruit too, perfect for a Marine.

Monet: Punk Hazard came out right before I went into grad school. I love thinking of her as the beleaguered, far more talented assistant to Caesar Clown who I hate and should just die. Harpies are also classic cool and I will not accept statements to the contrary. I love her snow power too.

Gecko Moria: Touched on this in a post about him for Halloween. He's grown on me a lot as a villain as I've gotten old enough to understand him. There's a realism in his motivations that makes him more of a unique villain. I actually believe if he was serious from the start Luffy would never have stood a chance. Shadow fruit is cool and Thriller Bark is an excellent arc.

Bellemere, Kawamatsu, Denjiro, and Hancock would be the honorable mentions. But these are my true One Piece loves.

[stellahaze135]

Ok so hear me out, the reason my blanket OC NightShade or Shade (the one that has Umbrakinesis.) has that monicker is because of Ivy. Ivy n Shade have always been cool, almost like a sibling bond, and Ivy’s always called her different flower names. One night, one really stuck after Shade helped Ivy raid/sabotage a chemical processing plant, where Shade for one of the first times uses her powers in an effective combative way. Ivy makes the offhand comment of ‘Thatta girl! Beware The Deadly Nightshade!’ And it kinda stuck. Well years go by, Shade gets real damn good at tech things and espionage (you can tell she shadowed Selina a lot on her heists being an honorary Gotham City Siren.) but eventually an event happened where it kinda forced her to look for new surroundings.

The earthquake that practically leveled the city, forcing it to become a No-Man’s Land. (talking the comic arc not the season of Harley Quinn just to clarify.) So she was able to find work in, guess where, but Raccon City. She finds work, ironically, at the R.P.D in their tech dept. specifically under the S.T.A.R.S division. Where she meets and becomes friends with most of the team including Jill, Chris, and Rebecca (I actually have a headcanon that Rebecca is actually one of the first people in RC to find out about Shade’s powers but because Rebecca is a literal angel, she promises to never tell!) and of course Captain Wesker. Now, she always knew Umbrella and Raccoon were dirty, like more corrupted than Gotham, and THAT was definitely saying something. But she had no idea Wesker was working for Umbrella all along. Until she happened to unwillingly listen in on a phone call between Wesker and Birkin. She always had complicated feelings about the Captain. He was drop dead gorgeous but he was also a bit scary to tell the truth. And she was used to people like Scarecrow and Joker. But to learn that he was working with Umbrella well that put a bit of ice in her veins for sure. She knew that because of her status as metahuman/mutant that could put her in all sorts of danger that she didn’t want any part of. She spent enough time in Arkham to be incredibly weary of scientists. She never wanted to be another experiment ever again. But her feelings, destiny, and he had other plans.

Wesker took an interest in her anyway, despite not knowing what she was. He considered her quite intelligent resourceful and he had to admit that he found her incredibly attractive. If she was afraid of him she knew how to put up a good front. She’d give his sarcasm and snark right back to him, and definitely didn’t take any shit from anyone else. The teams would joke that you could definitely tell she was a Gotham girl. And despite everything, Shade and the Captain still managed to hook up. (Shade like me has a really hard time saying no to that little voice in our heads that tells us to not do the fucking thing that we really shouldn’t do.) Anyways skip to the mansion incident, and both Shade and Albert are forced to show their hands. And Wesker’s just plain impressed ok? Not only did she manage to hide this beautiful development (seriously he thought she was breathtaking the first time she used her powers. Would he ever admit that out loud to anyone else? Probably not.) but she managed to hide them while they were fucking? He definitely made a mental note to keep tabs on her in the future eventually trying to win her over to his side as an asset, and he silently hoped future Goddess to his God. Which he does. Well he wins her over to his side anyway. She hates to admit it but Wesker’s become the Joker to her Harley. He’s got her wrapped around his little finger, but she hates to do anything against Chris and the others. He’d call her weak but she’d counter that she still has a moral compass. A definitely damaged one, but it still works. Skip through 5 and his death. She comes to terms with their relationship however incredibly messy it was, and decides she needs to move on…. Then Chris gets wind of happenings in Eastern Europe. And well let’s just say a new distraction in the form of a burly crass sexy metal man that chain smoked the finest of cigars with enormous mommy issues. But oh is Karl actually so sweet to her. He puts up a good front she wasn’t gunna lie, but once they got to know one another work together to take down Miranda… Well she found Albert Wesker to be a distant memory. For now.

I wanna set up a love triangle and maybe eventual poly relationship with the three of them. Like after Village, Shade n Karl get sent to Arkham, but this time with Karl she’s willing to go cause fuck they’ve been through some shit and need to talk it out. Being years later, the city and asylum have been rebuilt.

Things seem to settle down, Shade’s content, and Karl’s been really receptive to therapy. That is until another curve ball was dealt. Wesker somehow survived the volcano, pulled out by his own people after the dust had settled, but as they were busy keeping Albert stable, the BSAA breaks in. They apprehend Wesker and where is it decided that he be sent to? Arkham Asylum of course. If they had the capability to contain the likes of Poison Ivy and Killer Croc then they had the facilities to keep him contained.

I‘d love to see Karl n Albert bickering and the sexual tension is palpable, and I don’t know who moved in first but in a split second the two are passionately making out. Wesker mostly doms both Karl and Shade, Karl’s a classic switch, and Shade for all her bark is a bit subby.

[gayrobos]

Favorite femme bot(s)

Favorite ship(s)

Least favorite ship(s)

A character you love that no one else seems to

A character you hate that no one else seems to

A pairing you love that no one else seems to

A pairing you hate that no one else seems to

i want to see ur hot takes lol

ohohoho still trying to get me in trouble I see

already you've posed me a REALLY difficult question because I know what "femme bots" actually means but I'll die if I have to say with my own ten fingers "cyclonus is not femme." anyway the answer to the actual question is arcee. I think it's neat how in idw2 and idw1 respectively cyclonus and arcee were the secret protagonists of the entire comics run because they were the only ones who got complete character arcs.

I feel like saying cosmos/soundwave makes me a basic bitch. it's just. SO autistic.

you know as many horrid ships as there are in this fandom, tfa megop REALLY takes the cake for me. has it all! completely bonkers ooc characterization. baseless worldbuilding designed solely to make optimus an abused wet kitten. weird size kink. What If Racism Was Sexy.

[points aggressively at my avatar] MY BOY SCROUNGE

tfp arcee. they did her so dirty. what was she? tough girl? what personality? weird sex jokes? substrate for villainous lesbianism? relentless torture and trauma? don't mistake me, I'm not just saying that I wish she'd been better written, I think the show would have been better if she weren't in it.

I haven't done my due diligence investigating the possibilities of ravage/megatron so I'm gonna go ahead and say perceptor/whirl. I went on ao3 and found 7 entire fanfictions of this but I adamantly refuse to read any of them because I don't think anyone's shipping it right. it needs to be way more like rachel/tobias from animorphs.

you may not believe this coming from the guy who still has CD+RW avatars everywhere but I don't like CDRW. I think I could vibe with it if people didn't insist on shipping it like... like if people love each other they should continue to be married? they NEED to divorce. conceptually it has potential because they're both so fucked up and codependent and it COULD be really interesting but in practice I hate to see it onscreen. DIVORCE PLEASE!!!

[keffirinne]

In one comic Black Mask tortures Stephanie Brown to death (it turned out later she had barely survived, but it was still really horrific).

In another comic, in order to get revenge on Catwoman, Black Mask kidnaps her sister Maggie and Maggie's husband. He drills out the husband's eyeballs and forces Maggie to eat them, which drives her insane. (Catwoman actually killed him for this, he gets revived though).

These are pretty much the two worst things he's done, but he's done a lot of a very fucked up things. He's extremely sadistic and he has no problem getting his hands dirty.

Also in the comics, his mask is actually burned onto his face and can't be removed. He carved the mask out of his father's casket, which is hardcore. He leads the False Face Society, which is also known as the Sionis Crime family. At one point, I think it was during the No Man's Land arc, he also led a cult.

He grew up a rich kid just like Bruce Wayne (he really fucking hates Bruce Wayne, like even more than he hates Batman). His parents sucked and he hated them, he burned down his family's mansion and murdered them. He inherited the family company, tanked it, became a criminal. He was really, really good at crime lol. He was a way better criminal than a businessman (and I think he learned from his mistakes with the company too, he's intelligent).

In the New 52 his mask had mind control powers, but they did away with that in DC Rebirth. Rebirth re-establishes him as one of Gotham's most powerful crime lords, along with Penguin. Black Mask, Penguin, and Great Shark form an alliance of Gotham mob bosses called the Black and Whites (since all three tend to dress in black or white, Gothamites are nothing if not committed to the fucking bit).

Anyway this is getting super long, but that's a basic overview of Black Mask in the comics! He's fucking horrible and I love him so much.

Thank you for this long post!

Damn, it sounds like real hardcore shit.

I knew about his background and childhood, really interested to read more about the first two stories you mentioned. I like that they made him intelligent and one of the most powerful crime lords in Gotham.

I was always interested in the thread where he inherited the company and had to run it and we all know, he failed. This topic is still somewhere in my mind, ripening for a better time to write something about it. Blame it on my corporate girl mind.

I think you summed it up really nicely - it sounds so fucking horrible and I love it.

Thanks for your asks!

🖤🖤🖤

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

Rant Incoming

This will not be as long as the last one, I swear. Just lots of caps lock and cussing and exclamation points, because hoo boy, am I mad.

Yeah, okay so for context, they just released the official (?) Marvel Tarot Deck, with characters featured on all the cards.

And excuse me but WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT

WHAT??? WHY IS HE THE DEVIL? NO, SERIOUSLY, WHY???

WHAT FUCKING PART OF "I WILL NOT SIT LONG IN ANY BOX BUILT FOR ME" DON'T YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND, MARVEL? WHAT PART OF THE ENTIRE EGO-DEATH ARC TEN YEARS AGO DIDN'T YOU GET? EVIDENTLY HE WAS RIGHT IN SCARLET WITCH WHEN HE SAID "EITHER WAY... I AM TO BE PUNISHED."

Look, let me come out of caps lock for a sec before it loses its emphasis. This doesn't make sense. It doesn't make any fucking sense for Loki to be the Devil. THE LITERAL DEVIL IS AN ACTUAL, RECURRING CHARACTER IN MARVEL COMICS. MEPHISTO IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE, AND YOU STILL DECIDED TO DO MY GIRL DIRTY LIKE THIS!

But okay, fine. You want a Thor character to play The Devil. I get it, we've all been there. We map out what we're going to do without thinking it through and we're like, we need this many characters from this series of comics, this many from this series, so that everyone can at least find their favorite groups. Okay, great. Guess what.

THERE'S BOTH A HELL AND A HEL IN THE COMICS!!! YOU CAN JUST MAKE HELA THE DEVIL! DUDE, THE PARALLELS? THE ANGRY RANTS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF TUMBLR? CAN YOU IMAGINE? IT'D BE GREAT!

Also. ALSO. You didn't even have to come up with a tarot card idea for Loki. Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez already did it for you! I made an entire, giant-ass post about it!!! Loki's already done for you, and he's not on the Devil card!

YOU COULD HAVE DRAWN INSPIRATION FROM DEFENDERS: BEYOND AND YOU STILL TOOK THE COP OUT AND MADE HIM THE DEVIL!

ARE YOU KIDDING.

[little-cereal-draws]

Imma be completely honest, I’m literally only here as a Marvel Fan because of MK and WWBN, the writing of everything else is atrocious.

This is my fifth year being an mcu fan so i definitely have not been following it since the beginning but those two definitely are the best of phase 4.

I know this isnt' what u asked for but i'm bored here are my ratings for phase 4:

Moon Knight. I'm not going to write all the reasons i love it bc that would turn into an entire essay lol but this show is phenomenal and has captured my heart and soul

Werewolf by Night. again, just like moon knight, it's creative and cinematic and perfect in every way

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It's funny, got good action, emotional parts, and i live for shang and katy's relationship. they're so funny and i'm eternally glad they didn't force them into a weird romance

Ms. Marvel. the kids were written like kids and kamala is so dorky and cute. i know a lot of ppl didn't like her for some reason but she also lives in my heart

Hawkeye. This is just bc im one of those comic book nerds and have read every single hawkeye book and have merch and stuff lol I'm a diehard fan and loved pointing out all the little details even if it deviated from the comics

Black Widow. I think people are right that Yelena did steal the show a little bit but i love it anyway. It always makes me cry. every time.

Thor: Love and Thunder. I liked this movie! I saw it in theaters multiple times and enjoyed it. I can see the reasons behind people's critiques and do agree that the first half felt a bit weirdly paced but the second half really saved it for me

WandaVision. I'm just a sucker for Wanda and Vision lol They were my first mcu ship and i'm glad they finally got a spotlight. ppl complain abt the ending but i thought it was pretty good

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I loved seeing all the different dynamics that came up in this show and the real world problems it addressed. It also made me cry. I loved Sam and Bucky but Karli really stole the show for me and I was on her side the whole time lol

What If...? I actually really liked the reimagining of the characters and the odd pair ups. It was fun to see all the new interactions we would never get in canon. I think the watcher was weird and didn't need to fight ultron but the rest of it was good. Also the animation was beautiful. I was on the edge of my seat trying to get a better look at it the whole time lol

Spider-Man: No Way Home. It was a really good movie but I haven't seen all the og spider man movies so i didn't know who a lot of the villains were. and peter could have thought his little stunt at the end through a bit more but oh well. Still funny though

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It was really exciting to see America (i'm also a fan of her comics) but really I was rooting for wanda the whole time lol Ofc I knew that america would live bc they need her for the young avengers but it was really fun seeing wanda be in her villain era. they did her dirty at the end tho and basically had her learn the lesson she just learned in wandavision... which was also the lesson she learned in civil war. when will they give my girl a new arc? also i'm in denial, I refuse to believe she's dead :) (and also dr strage was in it too ig)

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. This was fun, I had a good time. It was really funny and finally confirmed that peter and mantis were siblings but i don't think i'll watch it any time other than christmas (unlike werewolf by night which is a year round event lol)

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. ok this one got a lot of hate but i don't see why? i didn't think it was bad, i just wasn't gripped by the story. i only watched up to episode three so i can't judge the whole thing but it was a bit too slice of life-y for me to be engaged w the story but as far as i can tell, that's jen's thing. The parts that i did see weren't poorly written and it's not the shows fault the animation was so bad (cough marvelwon'tlettheiranimatorsunionize cough)

Eternals. Same problem as she hulk. it wasn't bad, it just wasn't interesting. I only made it through half the movie before i left but i was really confused by who was who. i kept getting them mixed up

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The only reason this is so low is because I haven't seen it yet. I've heard nothing but glowing reviews so i'm sure it'll go up to the top of the list but i can't judge it until i see it

Loki. I hate this show, i hate it so much. I am so fucking mad abt this bc it had so much potential! I've also read the loki comics and i think those set my bar too high. yes, the show acknowledges loki is bi but they make him fall in love with another version of himself instead of doing anything w that. yes, they acknowledge he's genderfluid but we never see it, not even in flashbacks. he's trying to redefine who he is and stuff but i was so distracted by the horrible self-cest romance, that i was actively rooting against, to notice character development. If you want a good story about a bisexual, genderfluid loki redefining themself in the most beautiful way, read the Loki: Agent of Asgard comic run

[ot3]

going to put the ask meme stuff under here so i dont spam people

Anonymous asked:

how's homura for the character opinion meme?

i haven’t rewatched PMMM since i was around 15 so my memory of it is REALLY not the best! i wish i had more to say here. homura is a fantastic character but of course i think she is at her best when being understood through her relationship to madoka. you really cant look at her in isolation. thats just what being a teen lesbian is like its really exactly that. she was so woke for stealing all those guns too

idlyingabout asked:

edgeworth and maya for the character opinion bingo

edgeworth:

god i love edgeworth his arc is so fucking good. incredible stuff. hit so much harder than i ever really thought it could going in. it might be a bit unexpected to see me calling him the best character in the work as a diehard phoenix stan but although phoenix is absolutely no questions my favorite, I truly think edgeworth has the better character writing. they really hit it out of the park with that litlte freak i’m so obsessed with him, i’m going to be thinking about him on and off for the rest of my life probably.

maya:

this makes it seem like i dont have that much to say about maya but the things i have to say about her are just mostly absent from this bingo sheet. i hate watching fans reduce her (and. every other girl in this series) to Narumitsu Advocate when shes really got so much to offer on her own. Also the shit they did with her in aa6 was so evil, it sucked to essentially watch her be a cardboard cutout that could only gasp in shock and tell phoenix to do something. really sad. there was a ton of stuff you could do with mayas character if you were gonna bring spirit channeling back as a plot point and they did none of it.

Anonymous asked:

krisgav for character opinion bingo

the fact that i will never know what is behind kristoph gavin’s black psyche locks will haunt me for the rest of my life

Anonymous asked:

Barok Van zieks and sholmes for bingo

bvz:

i think barok is funny but he is more of a comic relief character to me than anyone whose feelings or arc i actually give a shit about.

sholmes:

one of the most fascinating new types of guys takumi has invented.

Anonymous asked:

kim dokja for the bingo

kim dokja [bursts into tears]

Anonymous asked:

Apollo!! for the chara opinion bingo :3

my apollo opinions are very difficult for me to reckon with because i like him plenty in aa4, but most of what we get in aa4 is places his character Could go. he really doesnt get his own arc. i genuinely dont consider the stuff in aa 5/6 to be canon and i think the absolute trampling the writing got in those games killed any chance of him ever being a coherent or well executed character.

escaliburn asked:

Ema or Lana Skye

ema:

listen i know ema is in a lot of games and gets three whole designs but that doesn’t mean she’d had enough screentime. never enough ema screentime. i love ema so much shes fantastic i think she could carry her own games.

lana:

lana gets done dirty in that almost none of the fans who talk about her ever talk about her outside of the context of lanamia, which i think is really overblown as a ship. i think lana and mia were definitely fucking but i dont think theyre any kind of star crossed lovers. i say wasted potential because although i think rfta handled her perfectly and did exactly what it needed to do with her, the fact that she never comes up again is really tragic. shes a great character and i would have loved to see her brought back. i havent fully replayed RFTA yet and the first time i was playing it my focus was less on her as a character, obviously, but going through the whole thing for a second time ill definitely be picking her brain a bit more and will probably construct a few mind palaces there.

prringlecan asked:

Completely forgot if you’ve played dgs or not but perhaps susato for the character bingo? If not, maybe Mia?

yes ive played dgs!

SUSATOSWEEEP SUSATO FOREVER SUSATO BEST GIRL. give her her own game. give us Susato Investigations.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Ruby Alone

As you all have seen, since prior to the last episode, I’ve been sharing my thoughts and ideas on the theory of V8 concluding with the “death” of RWBY after they fall “off Remnant and into a mysterious Other World”, as alluded to by Oscar.

While I’m still inclined to believe that theory may become possible given what transpired in this recent episode, in reviewing the RWBY V8 Opening, I noticed something interesting about the visuals again which caught my attention.

During the opening, RWBY falling was hinted much earlier in the theme during these shots right here. It’s these two shots of RWBY’s signature weapons falling through negative space which is later followed up by the opening ending with the weapons landing together on the ground.

However, here’s the bit that I think is noteworthy that I didn’t take into account before. Although the weapons of all four main girls were shown falling together through space and landing on the ground, not only is Crescent Rose the last one to hit the ground but it is also the ONLY one shown in the final shot of the opening.

It is also worth noting that the weapons fall in this particular order---first Ember Celica, then Gambal Shroud, then Myrtenaster and final Crescent Rose which ironically spells RWBY backwards.

And going back to my theory about RWBY falling in order....with Yang falling first then this is all starting to make more sense.

Going back to my point---Crescent Rose---Ruby’s weapon is the only weapon that landed on the ground but didn’t fade to darkness like the others. Instead, Crescent Rose is the only one remaining in the snow on what appears to be Remannt. Keeping that in mind, it’s making me start to ponder an alternative to my V8 finale theory. 

What if…I’m actually mistaken about the whole RWBY team falling prey to the Other World ? 

What if…as an alternative prediction, V8 will end with Ruby as the last man standing and the sole surviving member of her team after the rest “die” to the void?

Thus; V9 becomes Ruby’s story as she deals with the depression of losing her whole team; all obviously culminating with her eventually reuniting with them in the Other World. But before that, it’s mostly just about Ruby. Not RWBY. But just Ruby since RWBY started with just Ruby on her own in Remnant, trying to become a huntress. She only ends up going to Beacon and meeting and forming her own team due to Ozpin’s influence.

So imagine if...after everything she’s been through these last eight seasons, things just go back to how they were before. Ruby is on her own again. No team to lead. No big sister to guide and protect her (although ALPNE is there of course). No “BFFs” or “future-sister-in-law” on the same team to fuel her spark of hope. She no longer has her main friends by her side.

Ruby will be on her own for the first time in a long time and it becomes just her story for the most part of V9 as she does her best to figure out things all while the rest of the cast who survived the fall---Penny, ALPNE and their allies in Vauco and eventually Vale---try to provide her with the emotional support that she needs in place of the one she lost.

For the first time, the story is not about Ruby having to be the spark of hope to support others but…her friends, at least the ones she still have, coming together to support her for once in a time when she can truly need it.

Like I said. It would be the story of Ruby. Not RWBY. Just Ruby. If you get what I mean.

...And now for a squiggly rant...about Ruby:

One general complaint that I’ve heard from the FNDM about Ruby including Little Red Ruby fans like myself is that Ruby has more or less received the shortest end of the stick in terms of development over the past couple of seasons since V4…despite the fact that she is our central main character who is the leader of our core team with her name literally being in the title. Not to mention that Ruby is also the face of the RWBY franchise. When RT isn’t promoting the whole RWBY team together, it’s mainly Ruby to represent RWBY since of all the girls, she is the main one as the main protagonist of RWBY. At least…she’s supposed to be?

To be blunter, I’m just going to call out the fat Heffalump in the room---Ruby Rose, despite being the leader of RWBY---despite being our title character and face of the franchise---the one characters in the show always turn to since she’s THAT important---despite all of that, Ruby has NOT felt like the actual main protagonist of RWBY for several seasons. Since V4 as some fans like to point out. 

And after closely observing her story over the last few volumes, I can’t help but agree with these critiques and comments of Ruby’s treatment when it comes to her own writing. Even when the CRWBY showrunners DO attempt to do stuff with her---it all falls...flat especially when you compare Ruby to other characters like Jaune Arc, for example, whose stories and overall development were handled much better. At least in my opinion.

Don’t believe me? Take for example, Ruby’s whole so-called “arc” as a Silver Eyed Warrior. First it was introduced as a new idea for Ruby during the FINALE of V3, then it got abandoned for two whole seasons between V4-V5. Then it got reintroduced back in V6 but was then rushed and dropped yet again for V7 only to be brought up again briefly during V8…kind of?

It’s really telling when you realize that Ruby gained control of her silver eyes despite never truly receiving any actual training from Maria in how to control her powers. Not only that but the showrunners really did Maria Calavera dirty. She was supposed to be the wise old mentor who was a badass in her prime meant to pass down her wisdom to her young eager apprentice who knew nothing of her own unique abilities including its mysterious origins.

Instead Maria didn’t know at all about where her powers originated from until she conveniently met our heroes after the Argus Ltd crash and just happened to be present when they asked Jinn about Oz’s secrets. Instead of being a mentor to Ruby which she was initially propped up to be, Maria ended up being relegated to the Granny Uber Driver of the hero team---no longer the wise experienced ex-huntress whose supposed to be teaching our title character but just a form of transportation who provides the occasional comic relief and support for Pietro Polendina, who she was put to work with…instead of Ruby…her alleged apprentice?

 Shoot---despite being a Silver Eyed Warrior, Ruby was never even a person of interest for this volume. Despite the main big bad being in Atlas and despite targeting her in the past, Salem…never goes after Ruby again while she’s in Atlas??? Ruby never even meets Salem? Despite…Salem targeting Ruby back in V4? Despite Salem’s history with capturing Silver Eyes? Despite Salem’s connection to Ruby through her mother???

Ruby is never actively a part of the Salem subplot on Monstra…even though… certain developments left over from previous seasons indicated that she should’ve been?

Instead…we got to watch Yang accost Salem for Summer Rose’s death after SHE is the one to be on the rescue party to save Oscar from Monstro. Even though…Yang has neither been a person of interest to Salem before NOR has the Xiao Long girl been shown to be a close affiliate of Oscar in the past prior to V8 NOR has the Xiao Long girl actually addressed Summer Rose as her mother since V2???

Up until V8, Ruby has always been the character of focus with all things Summer Rose and Salem and yet…we NEVER saw her meet Salem in the flesh period for this season…at all…???

Instead; Ruby spends MOST of this season cooped up at Schnee Manor, completely absent from and even oblivious to some of the more dire PLOT stuff that was happening outside of Schnee Manor (such as YJR going into Monstra to save Oscar before the Aces Ops blew up the whale).

Despite her connection to Oscar who became Salem’s prisoner. Despite her connection to Salem through her mother. Despite being a Silver Eye and a former target of Salem. Despite the Hound and what it turned out to be. Despite the showrunners literally teasing Ruby meeting Salem face to face back in V7---WE NEVER GET TO SEE RUBY MEET SALEM IN THE FLESH AT ALL DURING V8 WHILE SALEM IS IN ATLAS???

Salem targets Oscar which makes perfect sense given his connection to Ozma as his current incarnate. But Salem doesn’t target Ruby? DESPITE HER BEING A TARGET OF HERS IN THE PAST? DESPITE HER BEING A SILVER EYED WARRIOR? DESPITE WHAT THE HOUND REVEALED?

Why didn’t Salem send the Hound after Ruby? That would’ve made more sense, again knowing what the Hound actually was? Instead the Hound was sent after Penny which, in my opinion, felt mighty redundant since Salem already had Watts and Cinder Fall dealing with Penny.  

THEY EVEN TEASED THE HOUND TARGETING RUBY BUT IT WAS ALL A FLUKE.  RUBY IS COMPLETELY OMITTED FROM THE SALEM SUBPLOT EVEN THOUGH SHE IS THE TITLE CHARACTER AND THE ONLY ONE ON TEAM RWBY WITH A LEGIT CONNECTION TO SALEM AND HAS BEEN A TARGET OF HERS SINCE V4???

I DON’T GET IT!

…BUT… with my mini rant aside, those are just a few of the inconsistencies that I’ve noticed in the writing of RWBY in respect to Ruby Rose.

Overall; the point I’m trying to make here is this: for the sake of sounding like a Negative Nancy, I ask this honest question to the CRWBY Writers. How? How can you fumble this much with your own title character? I’m not saying this to come off disrespectful. I’m saying this as someone who has followed the story of RWBY since the get-go and has closely observed the treatment of its characters; particularly the main ones and particularly the ones that I personally love and Ruby is one of them.

Despite being our main girl, Ruby’s writing hasn’t been the squeakiest, admittedly. As a matter of fact, it’s been quite messy since V4 due to the amount of times the showrunners have introduced ideas for her only to abandon them later on thus creating those problems with consistency I mentioned earlier.

Overall, it’s difficult for me to even say that Ruby is the lead character of RWBY since often times; she doesn’t FEEL like the main protagonist despite the show claiming how important she is meant to be. And this sentiment is due in part to how messy her story is handled compared to other characters of lesser importance.

And it’s a sad thing for me to say as both a viewer and fan of Ruby’s character since Ruby is THE lead main character of RWBY. She’s like the Tony Stark of the RWBY-verse. She’s the one who started it all yet her story is one of the messiest I’ve seen in terms of direction and treatment. At least by my observations since this is just my opinion on the subject matter.

It’s one thing to blunder a bit on your side or even your supporting characters. But to slip up on your lead characters, especially your MAIN one who is the FACE of the show, c’mon CRWBY Writers.

And the events of V8 didn’t help change my opinion. After taking away all the bloat this season had for all the stuff they tried to shove into this one season, I realized that V8 didn’t really do much for Ruby. At least, not as much as I anticipated.

I was hoping that Ruby would’ve been a more focal character for V8 since V7 teased some stuff for her in respect to Salem. Instead, I watched a season where Ruby felt more like a supporting character for Penny Polendina since, in my opinion, Penny received much more focus and better development for V8 while Ruby, our LEAD took backstage to her story.

Because while Ruby was stuck playing supporting character, she was actively left out of subplots that she should’ve been a major part of. Not just because she’s the “protagonist” but because of elements to her story that were developed seasons prior but seemed to have gotten dropped for V8?

Ruby’s treatment for V8, to me,  is an example of a “build-up with no payoff”. All that stuff between her and Salem and her mother felt like it ultimately didn’t matter in the end because Ruby didn’t even meet Salem. 

Yang, to me, had the development with Salem that Ruby should’ve received.

Shoot---Ruby wasn’t even a thought on Salem’s mind…despite the events V4 and V7???

I just don’t understand. 

But like always, this is just how I feel about it. I’m disappointed with how Ruby was done for this season. While I liked the moment she shared with Blake in V8CH8 and Yang in V8CH11...that’s pretty much the ONLY thing I liked about Ruby’s story for this season. 

Outside of that, it felt to me like the showrunners didn’t do much with her for V8. In a season of so much happening, the stuff that happened with Ruby on her side of the story didn’t honestly stand out to me compared to what I saw the showrunners do for other characters who aren’t the lead this season.

It’s not like I’m trying to say she didn’t receive any development at all for V8. It’s more like most of what was done with Ruby didn’t quite stand out to me so it ends up feeling like not much was done for her. 

To me, Ruby falls into the same category as Nora Valkyrie for this season. Despite the PLOT preaching about them getting big developments, if you rock back and actually analyse the narrative, you’d actually see that not much was done for them despite the PLOT “talking the talk but not walking the walk” y’know what I mean?

And going back to Ruby, that’s disappointing since I wanted more for Ruby. I EXPECTED MORE for Ruby as our title lead but it didn’t happened. Instead it felt like some of the major developments that she should’ve received for this season went to other characters while she in turn took a backseat.

Things didn’t really start kicking up for Rubes until halfway through the season when the 100th episode aired and the Hound appeared. And even then the excitement of that reveal was short-lived since...Ruby was NOT the real target of the Hound. PENNY WAS. The Hound wasn’t sent to antagonize RUBY. It was sent for Penny which to me sort of undermines the reveal.

Some Ruby fans have been wishing for the show to feel more about just Ruby again for quite some time now and it is for this reason why I’m starting to dig this alternative theory of mine with Ruby surviving “The Fall of the Central Zone” alone with the rest of her team lost to the Other World.

While the concept of RWBY being trapped together in another world is still on the table of possibilities, I still wish to toss out this other one too.

I like the idea of a more Ruby-centric season where for the second time in the narrative, she’s separated from her core teammates only this time…it’s in “death” or rather “nonexistence” or “nothingness” since from Ruby’s perspective with her limited knowledge of magic (despite what she does know from Oz and Jinn) and the workings of the world that Ambrosius created, she doesn’t know what truly happened to her team.

The only thing she knows is that she watched her whole team dissipate into nothing before her very eyes and that is the last memory she has of them that haunts her for some time.

Imagine if…V9 will be about Ruby dealing with such a huge loss which could potentially touch more upon how she internalizes death in general tying back into probably flashbacks of her time with her mother before she learnt of her death at a young age.

While I understand we’ve had a storyline with Ruby being separated from her main team before back during V4-V5, however a plot line like this would be different this rounds since unlike before, Ruby at least knew that her team mates were alive. Far away. Separated by distance. But still alive and still a part of Remnant with the hope that she would be reunited with them again.

However this won’t be the case this second time. It would truly be Ruby alone since her team would be gone and no one could provide her with the solace of seeing them again---not even the friends she does still have (although that doesn’t stop some of them from trying to be there for the little red rose who has now lost more than her heart could handle)

I know the off-chance of this theory actually coming to fruition might be scarce. But like many ideas I’ve shared, it’s still worth tossing out since you guys know how this squiggle meister likes to roll.

~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)