#this chapter is only 5 scenes so it shouldnt be taking this long

[rainyraisin]

The most I've wrote of Reticent in the past couple of days is some Mikey and Raph banter I wrote whilst at the cinema which I only stopped writing cause some kids around my age sat behind me and I got scared

Being a writer is so great!!!!

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 62. brb x oc

im sorry but this scene shouldnt be as hot as it is

a/n: aOKAY THIS CHAPTER MADE ME TEAR UP A BIT??? BUT HEY ITS ALL GOOD

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: Fluff, FLUFF MY GOD

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 

@lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2 @emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads 

-

Beatrice waits for Rooster by the cabin’s front door, pulling her hat tighter on her head as Jolene remains lying on the couch happily warm. They were going to visit his mother’s grave and noticed he was a lot quieter, she didn’t question him, she knew he had his own thoughts to deal with and she preferred to keep it to herself knowing that if he wanted to talk he would. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, hearing his footsteps approaching from the kitchen, the jingle of keys signaling he was ready to leave.

She looks up just in time to see Rooster gently pet Jolene’s sleeping form, meeting his eyes with a small smile, “Ready?” he asks and she nods in response, offering her hand to him. Immediately he grasps it, interlacing their fingers together and stepping out on the cabin’s porch. Beatrice waits for him to press the card to the locking sensor, it was weirdly satisfying to hear all the locks in the cabin work simultaneously and the windows immediately tint darker so they could only see their reflection. 

They wasted no time getting inside the car, Rooster rubbing his hands to warm them up and pushing up the wool collar of his jacket to stand higher on his neck, “I checked the weather app.” he comments, “There’s going to be a snowstorm later tonight. I have no clue how long it’s going to last,” he looks behind the seat to reverse the car, “Hopefully it’ll be just tonight, but if not I’d have to call Mav and let him know we might take the flight back on late monday or tuesday.”

It was understandable, it’d be extremely dangerous to fly back in such an intense weather, “That’s okay, I can let Penny know too if you want?” he nods, looking back forward to drive down the road, eyes flicking around to check their surroundings as they made their way out of the area. He was very tense, she could see by the way his shoulders were up and the muscle on his jaw popped every once in a while, he wasn’t even humming along to Mississippi Queen when he turned on the radio. 

She bit her lower lip, deciding to look out the window instead and allow him to have his quiet moment. She didn’t feel like talking would help right now. 

The cemetery was just as far as he said, forty minutes, forty five because there was a bit of traffic down the lane. He seemed to tense up more than before, clutching the steering wheel tight enough for his knuckles to turn white. Beatrice frowns, then places her hand on top of one of his, rubbing the knuckles soothingly but not saying anything else, still looking out of the window and feeling his hand relax a little bit.

When they stopped at the parking lot, the fairly empty parking lot, he just stood there with his hands now on top of his thighs breathing in slowly. A lot must be going on in his head, a lot of memories he was reliving right now and it felt wrong for her to intrude by asking if he was okay. But she reached for his hand again, keeping it there just so he knew if he needed her there she was. Beatrice smiled shortly when he squeezed her hand, he didn’t have to say anything besides that, in thanks.

He pulls back to step out of the car, with Beatrice doing the same. The wind wasn’t as bad as last night, while the cold was still awful but she could handle it. Bradley looks up at the cemetery’s entrance, the black curved iron gates appearing much smaller than he remembered the last times he was there, “Okay.” he says with finality, holding his hand back to her to grab, “Let’s go.” Beatrice grasps it, letting him guide the two of them up the steps and into the cemetery. He already knew where to go, he didn’t need to ask anyone for help, just tilting his head back and forth until he found specific hallways and rows that he remembered. 

It wasn’t a big cemetery, it had a lot of trees -that now were just twigs because of the winter - and colorful vases with fake flowers that gave the area a pop of color amongst all the neutral toned gravestones. The snow crunched beneath their feet, the only sound besides the casual wind rustling the branches around them, as they walked down a few more steps before Bradley stopped completely.

She blinks, turning to face the two tombstones right next to the other. The snow piled on the curves and on the name plaques, but didn’t hide the names of his parents from view. While it was his mother’s birthday, she knew he wanted to see his father too. Rooster sighs heavily, scratching the side of his jaw while cleaning his throat, letting go of her hand to wipe the pictures’ glasses that were covered with frost, exposing the smiling faces of his mother and father.

They both looked like they were staring at each other, she had a feeling it was actually their wedding picture that was cropped to make it that way. It was really sweet and yet, heartbroken at the same time, they had a whole life together and while she was sure that Carole did a wonderful job raising Bradley, she missed her husband dearly. Beatrice turns towards her silent boyfriend, who is now plucking the back of his gloves, stepping closer to touch his upper back, rubbing it gently, “Hey,” she says,snapping him out of his thoughts, his eyebrows immediately relaxing, “Do you need a moment?”

He didn’t want to say yes, she could see by the way his eyes moved from the gravestones to her. He invited her to come, he didn’t want her to leave. “...no.” he says, “No,I want you to stay.” and he grabs her hand again, interlacing his fingers with hers, pulling her to his side so he’d keep her warm. Bradley inhales the cold air with his eyebrows furrowing again, licking his lips before he speaks, “I should’ve gotten flowers, but she hated fake flowers. They made her sneeze.”

“Yeah,” he was so considerate, “Maybe we can give her something else?” she suggests gently, making her boyfriend turn his head towards her in confusion as she looks back to the cemetery’s entrance, “I saw someone selling those little angel sculptures, do you think she’d like that?” there was? God he hadn’t even noticed, but he did know there was a little shop where people did buy those fake flowers and other stuff to adorn the ground around the gravestone.

His mother would like that, “Yeah. She would.” Beatrice’s little smile made his heart soar, his eyes going back to the gravestones “...Maybe something for my dad too. Doesn’t have to be an angel, but, I don’t know…something else.”

“Maybe they have other types of sculptures.” she says softly, still holding his hand, “We can check it out later, if you want.”

Bradley smiled for the first time since they got there,”I’d like that.” he says, feeling the warmth spread from his heart to his limbs in a matter of seconds. He didn’t deserve her, there was no way he deserved her. How did she land on his life? He was thankful, of course, every single day, but how? She just knew what to say or do to calm him down, to ease his heart and it was possible she didn’t even know how often she did it. 

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again, “...how did you deal with your nonna’s passing?.” he mutters, holding her hand just a bit tighter, “If you can share that.”

Beatrice’s chest expands in an inhale and she looks up to the sky, squinting a bit when she sees a random leaf - probably from the fake flowers - floating away “I don’t know…honestly I…I can’t say exactly how it happened.” her eyes shine with tears she refused to shed, “I found out that she passed when I was in school, I was about to go to my science class when the principal called me…It was,I don’t…” she frowns, “I don’t know, I barely remember going to her funeral. I still miss her, to this day and it hurts she’s not with me physically but there’s some comfort knowing she’s with me spiritually.”

She doesn’t know if her explanation makes any sense, but seeing how Bradley nodded to her every word apparently she did make a little bit. “I feel the same way sometimes, I hate it. I wish they were both with me.” Bradley rubs the pad of his thumb against the side of her hand, their gloves making a brushing sound as they touch, “I was really angry at Mav for a long time, I was alone for a long time, I kicked him out of my life completely until I saw him again at TOPGUN…I guess I didn’t want to admit he was the one family I had left and that my parents would hate knowing I was so…mad at him.”

“It’s not your fault.” she whispered, “You had a lot of feelings you didn’t know how to deal with,Brad. Sometimes we lash out in anger when we don’t know.” Beatrice explains calmly, rubbing his arm with her free hand and then leaning her temple against the sleeve that covered his bicep “Plus, you and Mav are okay now. You two managed to work things out.” Bradley nods after a few seconds, his eyebrows still furrowed, “It’s how life is Brad. Sometimes it takes us years to figure things out, to know and understand our own actions. We can’t go back in time and prevent things from happening, it’s up to us to know how to deal with it.”

He turned his eyes down at her, seeing her sweet smile and the Peruvian styled flaps moving with the wind alongside her hair. His own smile returned and he leaned down to peck her lips, resting his forehead on top of hers with a sigh leaving through his nostrils, “You are just so incredible.” he murmurs, but his eyes blink open when he sees that she’s shuddering a bit, even with the thick layers of clothing she wore, “Hey, do you want to get some hot cocoa? There’s a lady that sells it down the street, she’s always there.”

Beatrice looks over her shoulder to the cemetery’s entrance, chewing her lower lip nervously, “D-Do you mind if I get it now?” her jaw is shaking because of the cold, “I can get you one too if you want?”

As much as he wanted her to stay, he also worried about her wellbeing way too much, “Sure, she’s just a few steps down to the right, next to one of the southern walls.” he explains, leaning down to kiss her nose as she nods, telling him she had some money left and he doesn’t have to worry about it. Beatrice hesitantly lets go of his hand and turns on her heel to the entrance, speeding her step so she’d arrive there faster. He keeps his eyes on her until she turns a corner and disappears completely, even leaning forward a bit to check if he could see her figure but there was no luck at all. She probably ran all the way out of the cemetery in hopes of warming up.

So now he was alone, just for a little bit, but he doesn’t feel bad as he usually did. He turns to face the headstones again, digging his hands in his pockets, “She’s great isn’t she?” he asks the air, smiling even if he gets no response, “Yeah, she’s incredible…I love her a lot,mom. I think…” his breathing hitches a bit and he turns to look around and see if she is coming back, “I’m really serious about her, you know? We’re going to move in together, soon enough, we’re just waiting for our leases to be done with.” he sighs, his breath coming out in a little cloud as he switches his weight to the opposite leg, “But,I mean…I also want, I don’t know, it’s crazy to think about it but I really want to be with Beatrice.”

His answer was silence, which was to be expected, but he could feel something else in the air. Approval. He felt like he was on the right path, he should still talk about it with Beatrice once they move in together, but he really couldn’t see himself without her in the future. It still sounded crazy for him how everything moved fast and yet smoothly, he felt if he continued like this everything would fall in place soon enough. Bradley looks up when he notices that Beatrice still hasn’t returned and he feels a bit worried, “I…I have to go guys but,I’m glad to see you two again.” he smiles, pressing a kiss to his fingertips and touching each of the headstones “I love you both.”

He turns around, speeding his step through the frozen lanes and hallways until he reaches the cemetery entrance. Bradley is panting from practically running away from the headstones until he can see the parking lot, still keeping a steady step as he walks down the right where he knew the hot cocoa lady usually was. Maybe she changed spots? God damn it why didn’t he go with Beatrice? She’s not from there, she doesn’t know anything around here. She probably got lost and now he had to live with the guilt of– oh there she was.

She was in front of the hot cocoa truck, speaking to a small child that was standing next to her. He could see from where he was that Beatrice was handing the child a cup of hot cocoa and crouching down enough to talk to them, probably to check if they were alright. She looks up when she sees Bradley approaching, his eyes closing in relief and he leans on his thighs to calm his wildly beating heart, “Roos? What happened? I– oh…oh no I’m so sorry! I lost track of time!”

He waves his hand to play it off as if it was nothing, but he does lean on the wall of the cocoa truck, rubbing his face with a hand, “Baby, don’t–” he engulfs her in a hug, burying his face on her hair, “Don’t do that again,I was really worried.”

“I'm sorry.” comes her muffled response, pulling back her head to look down at the tiny child, “I was keeping Isaiah company.” her boyfriend furrows his eyebrows, meeting the little boy’s eyes who was now sipping on his own cup of cocoa happily, “He got lost from his grandmama, was crying so much and so I gave her a call and told her we were at the hot cocoa truck.”

It took everything out of him to not kiss her in front of this little boy he had never met before, because of course she would. “I should’ve called you,I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave him alone but I also didn’t want his gradnma to think I was kidnapping him–”

“God, baby, baby it’s okay.” he sounds so enamored when he speaks, he can’t help himself, “It’s alright, I…” he has no words that could make sense, so he settles with another, “It’s alright.” Isaiah is slowly sipping his cocoa and standing close to Beatrice. She tells Rooster that while on the way out of the cemetery she saw him standing outside crying and screaming for his grandma. Apparently he walked out from where the grave they were visiting was and made his way out towards the parking lot, becoming confused when he could no longer see his mother.

Thankfully he knew his mother’s number and Beatrice gave her a call as soon as she saw him there. Both of them then look up when they hear hurried steps rushing out of the cemetery, a woman rushing over to them and immediately holding Isaiah to her chest, “Oh, baby, oh my god.” she looks up at Beatrice, “Thank you so much,I’m so sorry, I moved my eyes away from him for a minute–” she doesn’t finish her sentence, too ecstatic to have her grandson back, only placing him down so he could finish his cocoa by her side now.

“It’s okay, you really don’t have to thank me.” Beatrice says with a smile, “He was just alone and I just couldn’t leave him there.”

“Of course, of course,” the woman goes to say more but her eyes travel to Bradley’s. There’s a few seconds of silence but her eyes widen, “Bradley? Is that you?” 

With her looking at him right now, fully facing him, he finally could see who it was, “Mrs.Washington?” he whispers in pure wonder, the woman in front of him smiling brightly. He drops his arms from around Beatrice, looking from her to Mrs.Washington, “Oh, uh, this– she was my preschool teacher. This is my girlfriend, Beatrice.” she looked just the same, besides the few wrinkles on her face and her short hair was now graying at the sides.

“Oh!” Bea smiles, hugging his arm, “Well, hi! Small world! Nice to meet you.” Mrs.Washington shakes Beatrice’s hand and gives Bradley a look that also reminded him of approval, that she was happy by his choice of girlfriend. 

“I haven’t seen you in years,” Mrs.Washington’s brown eyes lift until she meets his own, a warm smile on her face, “Look at you,tall as a building.” Bradley laughs embarrassedly, his cheeks flushing and not only because of the cold, “I’m so happy to see you again, dear. You look great.” God knows what she had to see when he was a child and still understanding that he no longer had a father and he put it on himself to take care of his mom from that young age forward.

“Thank you ma’am. It’s good to see you too.” Mrs.Washington’s eyes softened at the honorific, before she picked her grandson as soon as he finished his cocoa, telling the two she unfortunately had to go. But she didn’t leave before hugging them both, especially hugging Bradley tight, rubbing his back soothingly. She tells Isaiah to say thanks to Beatrice, and he does, but it sounds like a ‘fank you’ in his cute little voice, making the girl melt on the spot and just say he’s welcome.

They both watch Mrs.Washington make her way over to her car, waving them goodbye one last time before she reverses out of the parking lot and away from their view. Beatrice is holding Bradley’s hand, looking at him from the corner of her eye and seeing how he looked…relaxed, a complete opposite from earlier that morning, “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I never thought I’d see her again.” he smiles, “She was my favorite teacher.” 

“She seems like she was amazing.” she says, then blinks, “Oh I never got hot cocoa for us, I’m so sorry.” She turns towards the truck but he holds her back, instead walking himself to it and ordering two cups before she did. Beatrice stays glued to his side, hugging his arm with both of hers. The smell was incredible, when she got it for Isaiah she was so worried about the little boy she didn’t even pay attention to it, it had hints of cinnamon and she loved cinnamon.

 He thanked the lady, who made it cheaper for them since Beatrice helped that little boy, and handed her the styrofoam cup, bringing his own to his lips as he looked up at the sky, pulling out his phone to check the weather app once more. The said snowstorm wouldn’t arrive until much later, so they had a bit of time for something else he thought about doing once they got there. 

-

“It’s okay, hold my hand.”

“I’m going to fall on my face.” she was clenching his hands so tight it was probably cutting the circulation but he didn’t care. He was glad the ice rink was still open after all these years, he remembered coming here with his mom when he was younger and always having a blast. Beatrice’s wide worried eyes looked down at her feet with the ice skates on, chewing on her lower lip, “I never skated before Brad.”

“It’s okay, I’m here with you.” he is gliding in front of her, much to her demise and worry, still holding onto his hand and on the wall around the ice rank as well, “I’m not going to let you fall. Here, give me your other hand.” Beatrice hesitates in letting go of the wall, but eventually does when he shows her his glove-covered palm, shakily and quickly slapping her own hand on top and holding his fingers, “There we go, now, just follow my lead.”

She tried to not look down at the ice below her feet, nor how she felt her own legs seemed to shake with nerves. She clenches her eyes, then pushes herself forward with the minimum amount of movement, blinking her eyes as she feels they are slowly moving.  Bradley grins at her, “There you go, see? It’s not so hard right?” she just nods, still holding tight on his hand, “Let’s go to the middle.” she snaps her head up in surprise, looking back where the wall was and where she could easily lean against if she lost her balance.

“O-Okay.” 

“Push your legs, don’t put a lot of weight on it– there you go. You are a natural.”

She felt like a doe trying to walk seconds after birth, her legs still shaking, nerver rising up to her head as she noticed they were getting farther and farther away from the walls. Honestly she wasn’t doing much, she was just letting Brad lead them across the rink, too nervous to move more than that. “I feel like I’ll lose my balance any minute and bring you with me.” she mutters, trying to keep her eyes on him instead of the ice beneath her feet.

“You won’t, it’s all good, gorgeous.” he smiles, “What do you know, we are already in the middle of the rink.” Beatrice blinks in surprise when she notices that indeed they are, the rest of the people around them moving around like they were professionals and…well…skinnier than Beatrice immediately made her feel uneasy. It didn’t help that she saw a group of college age students laughing while looking at her.

Bradley noticed how her eyes lowered, she wasn’t looking up anymore, instead she was focusing on her shoes. His jaw clenched, looking around the rink until he saw them still giggling, one of them even pointing subtly at Beatrice. “Baby, come with me.” she has no choice, she’s still holding his hands…but she’s surprised when he tugs the two to where the group of teens were, widening her eyes. 

The group however stopped laughing when they noticed that the two of them got closer than before, one of the girls who dropped her smile immediately because Bradley was looking them dead in the eyes. He didn’t say anything yet, he was clearly much bigger than any of the males in the group were. However when he did open his mouth, Beatrice looked up at him with her mouth parted open, “Move.” It was one single order, one that sounded like he was talking to a group of reckless recruits. But they obliged, quickly too, dropping their heads in shame and then apologizing under their breath as they walked out of the rink.

“Brad…you didn’t have to do that,” but it still felt good that he did, she couldn’t lie. His narrowed gaze melts back to a more relaxed one, offering her a smile and bringing her closer, pressing his lips to her hairline since she wasn’t wearing her hat indoors.

“I wanted to.” he mutters, cupping her chin to tilt her head up, rubbing the side of her jawline with his thumb, “Your comfort is important to me, and if anyone makes you uncomfortable I’m not going to let that slide babe.” and he means that. She still remembers how he acted back when that guy tried to get her number on Halloween, immediately stepping in and cutting that conversation short.

Beatrice smiles, crinkling her nose when he kisses it, “Okay.” she says, going back to holding both of his hands, “Well…let’s try again yeah?”

It takes a few minutes for her to get the hang of it, she’s still nervous but it is really fun. Beatrice tries skating on her own for a little bit, with Rooster being a very vocal supporter of her doing so, even spinning - or partially spinning- after a while. But it was very fun, especially since he was there with her.

They leave the ice rink when it’s nearing lunchtime, with him pulling out his phone and furrowing his eyebrows, “We better go back, the snowstorm is getting closer.” he says,pointing up to the sky where she could see the clouds are huge, grayish blue toned and the wind seemed stronger now. “But I want to go somewhere first, it’s a quick stop.”

“Oh, okay.” she says, both of them entering the car and Rooster maneuvering out of the parking lot once they adjust themselves. Beatrice can only see the clouds get bigger and bigger, although with them gaining distance it was easier to say they had a little bit of time before it actually hit. Bradley parks the car in front of a liquor store, Beatrice watching her boyfriend step out and quickly disappear inside, she can’t see much of what the store looks like because the windows are a bit dark, but Rooster returns with a paper bag that looks a bit heavy.

He hands her the bag when he gets in, “Got us wine.” he says with a smile, making the brunette blink and check the contents, seeing a green bottle with a box of wine glasses next to it. She smiles back, holding the bag close to her chest as Rooster drives them all the way back to the cabin, this time he was humming along to Killer Queen, bouncing his leg following the beat.

When they got to the cabin, she’s surprised to see him park the car a bit further where she saw something she hadn’t noticed before: a garage, well, sort of. It was a container-like space where you put the car but it wasn’t connected to the cabin itself. And considering the snowstorm was getting there, it was wise to leave the car in a safe enclosed area where it wouldn’t freeze. They walked out of the car, Beatrice was thankful she tied her hat tight under her chin because the wind almost made it fly away, it was howling loudly now and the scenery around them was getting harder to see.

Rooster unlocks the door, the noise making Jolene look up from the doggy bowl that Beatrice brought with her as the two humans walked inside. The lights and heating mechanism immediately turned on, “Oh, whew,” Beatrice sighs, pulling out her hat and scarf to place it on the coat hanger, “I’m glad we got here so quick.”

“Yeah,” he says, keeping an eye out, “It’s getting here faster than they said.” Thank God she brought the doggy pads for Jolene to use because even if the pittie liked the snow, she wouldn’t want to do her necessities outside. Especially in such weather. Jolene rushed over to greet them, thin tail slapping the couch repeatedly as her whole body shook, stretching herself on Bradley’s legs as Beatrice took the wine to the kitchen area.

The cabin was a godsend because it somehow filtered the winds howling outside, the glass panes still shook but it wasn’t as loud. Soon enough the scenery outside the large windows turned complete white, they could no longer see where the road and the sky were anymore, it was all completely white, “Thank God the porch and the garage area are heated too, or else we’d be locked in because of the snow.” he comments, dropping Jolene to the floor after he scratches her head, walking up to stand behind Beatrice.

She’s looking to the outside with her eyes wide and mouth parted open, holding the arms wrapped around her waist “We got here really quick.” she mutters, feeling him prop his chin on the curve of her shoulder, joining her on watching the snowstorm outside from the safe and warm space of their cabin, “Does it get bad often?”

“Sometimes, this one looks particularly nasty according to the weather app.” he explains, lifting his head to kiss her hair, pulling back only to check the inside of their fridge, “Well, we have food, so we don’t have to worry about that…it won’t be as bad. We also have–” he grabs a remote that she hadn’t seen the night before, aiming to the wall above the fireplace and smirking when it opens, exposing a flat screen tv “A tv.”

“Oh wow, that’s fancy.” she says, watching him surf through the channels until he stopped at a random movie, “I like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I like wall mounted tvs.” she smiles, walking around the kitchen table to warm up her feet, picking up Jolene in her arms so they could sit together on the couch, “I think we could watch something, right? We won’t be able to do anything else for right now.” 

He nods, tossing the remote in the air so it flipped, before he snatched it back preventing a fall, “Oh yeah,” he settles beside Beatrice and Jolene, the dog spread herself to lie on both of their laps as he leaned an arm on the back of the couch and around her shoulder “We can worry about lunch later.”

“I can make us something.” she says, rubbing his fingers sweetly, “You know? It’ll be like…I dunno, like those Christmas movies…except without Christmas.” she giggles, even more when he leans down to kiss her temple, leaning against his side the best she could since neither of them wanted to move too much and wake Jolene up.

“Sounds great to me.” he mutters, kissing her skin one more time, “Sounds really great to me.”

[khaleesiofalicante]

Yay I'm here!!

I missed a couple of hours, cause guess what?? I finally cut my hair!! Lexi's style!!! I'm so happy!! 😆It feels so good (although I had to take a shower cause returning home it started raining and I got all wet) anyways, lets dive into the pain:

Alec scaring the living hell out of David never gets old 😂

"But real strength was not in surviving the presence of pain. Real strength was in suviving the absence of love." Could David stop being perfect? Me heart cant handle it🥺

Someone among them!!! Shit.

The seelie queen was assassinated??? Wow

"David had to admit, he looked damn good with it." I shouldnt be laughing😂😂

Yessss. David is so precious I cant-

"It hurt David so much that he couldn’t give that to his boyfriend." My baby... 🥺🥺

“I’d like to take care of the New York institute,” David said now. “Because Jace Herondale and Clary Fairchild took care of me.” (I leigh screamed. Please... I love him so much its not healthy...)

This conversation is giving me 5 more years of life 💙💙

"The memory hurt. But not for long. It was replaced by another man. A man with golden eyes." I may have teared up a little bit 🥺🥺

"David hadn’t known love can literally change the world – not until he heard about Alec Lightwood changing the world for the man he loved." jdhehwlb THISSS. Like, he WILL be remember like this!!!

"All I ever wanted was to be like you.” I'm literally speachless...

“To be entirely honest, I did all of that for Magnus.”😂 And we love you for that Alec!!!

THAT QUOTE!! I REMEMBER THAT QUOTE!! (the one about being a hero) I even have it on my notes cause I loved it 😂

Now that I'm analyzing it... This doesnt give a good vibe... "He wanted to be the one the hero went to hell for"... Maybe.... You know what?? I'm not going to think more cause I'll get worried

“What’s that?” the Consul frowned, pointing at his neck. By the angel! David was going to have words with Max when he saw him again. “Uh,” David said. “Mosquito bite.”  (lmaoo😂😂 David, he is the inventor of bad excuses that have to do with necks!!! Thats not going to work!!)

"I came to check on how you were doing.” tysm for reminding me my love for Simon💙

Ok, but they are so right!!

OH gods!!! He noticed the hickey!! 😂😂

“But I have been to hell - and I know it’s real,” Simon Lovelace said, his eyes cold. “And when we find out who hurt my family, I will send them there myself.” (Dark!Simon has so much potential, just imagine!!)

Wuuu, second pov!!

“I did have a latte,” her mother said with a straight face. Georgia didn’t find that funny. (Sorry for laughing...)

I relate to Selena on a spiritual level

"She wondered if all siblings were like that – where one was the sun and the other was the moon." I LOVED THAT COMPARISON!

Maryse??!! OMG. That scene was so heartbreaking but beautiful!🥺 Like... The comfort Maryse gave Izzy just warms my heart 💙💙

“And once I do, I’m going to strangle them with my whip.” (THAT LAST LINES THO! SIZZY ARE SUCH BADASS!!)

Third pov here I come:

"People like Anjali and his Bapak – they were overwhelmingly beautiful. They executed so much power and confidence that sometimes it hurt the eyes to look at them." Yup, they are gorgeous💙💙

A row of colour coordinated file binders. A mug that said ‘Bad Bitch’. A battered copy of A Handmaid’s Tale. (Now I kinda want to do a moodboard...)

Anjali is such a badass who speaks nothing but truth

Sjhsjwnsi I'm screaming!!! My phone is literally connected in the bathroom and I cant stop reading 😂

“I need you to get better, Anjali,” he whispered. “Cause I would very much like to take you there.” (🥺🥺🥺My heart)

He had looked at the most beautiful institute and had been reminded of the most beautiful girl. (ngl, I love them more than I love myself)

“Not everything,” Rafael told her. “I know someone who can help.” (Yup, now I'm scared🙂)

Ok ok, last POV

“Well, now we don’t know that for sure!” Max grinned. “Who knows what they get up to? Maybe there is someone occasional boning in the bone city.” (Jesus fucking christ Max!! 😂)

“Besides, you will be immortal. You can keep an eye on Max.” Max grinned widely at the other boy. “You wanna be my immortal buddy, Jack-Jack?” “Okay now I do have second thoughts,” (the chaotic energy they give together!!)

The London Boys!! I'm so happy!!

Jackson and Max. Thats it. Thats the comment

Idk, but there is something so comforting in seeing Kit and Ty as adults🥺🥺

“If the assassination attempt on Magnus had been successful, we wouldn’t be sitting and talking like this,” Kit pointed out. “The nephilim and downworlders would be at war.” (Yess, if they would have killed Magnus the war would have started. Smart little shits!!)

Kitty be like: Will you☺️go investigate☺️☺️ a case☺️☺️with me?? ☺️

Mavid supremacy only!!

“Everywhere is Paris when I am with you.” My heart, my soul🥺🥺

Max, no!

“Marriage and children…They are not for everyone,” Kit said. “It doesn’t complete a relationship and the lack of it doesn’t make your relationship any weaker. Ty and I are we very happy together. And for us, that’s enough for now.” (OK, but its just feels so nice to have this topic included. THANK YOU!)

“Mina will have your head if you don’t get married. She has been working on a Pinterest board for years now.” (That lil shi. I love her 💙)

Wow. I loved their conversation. Its beautiful!! 🥺💙

I... I... WTF DANI??

SERIOUSLY?? SERIOUSLY?!?!? DANI I JUST WANT TO TALK- And the fun fact!!! Not funny Dani!!!

Now i'll go to sleep thinking about this 🙂

Anyway, amazing chapter, Mavid supremacy, love Alec, Rosewood shiper, and WTF is wrong with the end??? 💙💙

Your love for David makes me so damn emo send help 🥺🥺🥺

[mousehole5000]

more tgcf chapters 143-173 lets goooooo

PEI MING BOO HISS except actually okay he’s mostly funny i think but still boo hiss

“hey who’s this guy who’s really pissed at you?” “oh thats my sword. i broke it.” alright then!

i think i need to go back and reread the banyue pass arc bc im still confused as to whats going on with banyue and pei su

“Banyue dropped from the sky with two pots raised. Without a word, she plummeted with the mouths of the pots facing down, trapping and detaining the shocked Ming’guang and the roaring Ke Mo within.” - THATS MY GIRL

“It must be known that, to heavenly officials, it certainly was more than natural for kingdoms of the mortal realm to fight and annihilate one another; the acts of these plays progressing on endlessly. But when it came their own turn, it was often hard to let things go. If one must stand in the same court as the one who annihilated their own kingdom, and that man cavorted in the heavens, exceedingly flashy, then it must be vexing.” - hmmmm!!

“I’ve spoken too many words in this lifetime. What are you referring to?” - okay to be fair thats a mood

okay its nice to get some pei ming backstory and its funny that he and xie lian are bonding but also still whenever pei ming interacts with a female character my hackles rise like a cat lol

“Xie Lian watched as Banyue thought really hard before cheerfully pulling out a few long, wine-red scorpion-snakes, and putting them into the bubbling pot.” - THATS MY GIRL

“Although “smell” was something colourless and formless, the instant Banyue removed the pot cover, it was as if some mysterious physical object had twisted all the air around the mouth of that pot. The group stared at the sight within the pot for a long time. Their pupils reflected an endless, bottomless darkness; like it could pull them into the abyss. No words could describe the sentiment expressed within their eyes. A moment later, Xie Lian patted Banyue’s shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.” - like father-figure like daughter-figure. amazing.

“However, what if one day mortals discovered something completely new that ran faster than horses? Then, when this new invention overtook horses, worshippers of this heavenly official who controlled horses would inevitably decrease. Such heavenly officials, flashing by like shooting stars, made up the majority of the heavens.” - obsessed with this, genuinely. life and change. worship and its purpose. my religious studies diploma on my wall is screaming at me rn. ALSO i am once again thinking about celebrities

“...” It was only then that Pei Ming seemed to notice, and started to contemplate this question. A moment later, he answered, “A habit. In a dark, creepy place like this, isn’t it normal to hold women in your arms, to comfort them and calm their fears?” “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t scared,” Banyue said.” - BANYUE I LOVE YOU. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. god this takes me back to every college party i ever went to

LING WEN BACKSTORY????? shoeseller chosen for godhood bc she wrote a political essay and got arrested...... and now she’s face to face with the official who appointed her..... do go on.....

“Ling Wen laughed out loud, seeming to be enraged, and her voice dropped. “Very well! You said I couldn’t reach that high. Then, might I ask you: had the prominence of the Palace of Jing Wen at its peak ever reached even the knees of my Palace of Ling Wen??” - GET HIM!!!! BOO HISS JING WEN

“Compared to you, I’m not that bad,” Ling Wen said. “You’d personally order me to stay in the Palace of Jing Wen until midnight, then turn around and say I shamelessly hang around ‘til late to harass you. Words murder without form; I was much nicer responding with blatant violence.” - ling wen im love you..... also this bit... feels Real

BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN!! FLOWER PETALS TRANSFORMATION!!! see hua cheng? look as how cool it can be when you leave the story for a little while!! bc then you get to return and make an entrance!!

“Not only can you bring forth bloody rain, you can also make flowers shower. I didn’t know that. How fun!” - cute!! and in that moment we were all xie lian

“Everyone was stunned by his deed, and Ling Wen arduously gave him a thumbs-up. ”Ol’ Pei, what a man!” Pei Ming gritted his teeth. “WELCOME!” - aww three two tumors buddies!!

okay yin yu is here and xie lian did the equivalent of asking someone when the baby is due only to find out theyre not pregnant at all. then rong guang taunts yin yu and no one says anything. i do love the amount of awkward moments in this book tbh sometimes there are no words.

“All around was sand and mud crushing at him, exceedingly suffocating. The sand and mud was also moving endlessly; the feeling was like he was swallowed into the stomach of a giant monster, and that monster had also eaten a bunch of other things besides him, tumbling everything in its stomach, trying to digest” - ooooh creepy!!! the red string thing... is cute.... also xie lian being able to see hua cheng’s butterfly vision by looking directly into his eye is kinda cool. and obviously homoerotic.

“Are lower-ranked heavenly officials below other people?” Quan Yizhen asked. “No,” Yin Yu replied. Were they not? It was obvious that he himself didn’t believe in his own words, and Quan Yizhen also noticed. A good while later, he said bluntly, “I don’t like it here.” Yin Yu said nothing.” - im having emotions. and then yin yu also saying he doesnt like it there either.... also idk how this scene is going to play out but as much as im enjoying quan yizhen being an icon i can also possibly see how yin yu could eventually get to the point of “i am tired of being nice. i do just want to go apeshit” even if he really cares about qyz. it happens </3

“Indeed,” Hua Cheng said. “Half a year later when Quan Yizhen actually ascends, he won’t find it so funny anymore.” “Can we watch that part too?” Xie Lian asked. “We can. Hold on,” Hua Cheng replied.” - quan yizhen king of taking things literally. also why did this turn into hualian having a movie night

jian yu seems like the kind of asshole who would purposely give someone regular soda when they specifically asked for diet soda. god yin yu is really having a bad day i really feel for him in the whole situation with the brocade immortal

awww okay at least jian yu tried to take responsibility. im still mad at him tho that was objectively a terrible idea. god this whole situation sucked :(

“Rocks and earth crushed at them from all around, forcing their bodies to press tightly against one another, their faces brushing, their ears warm. Although it wasn’t the right time, a thought flashed through Xie Lian’s mind: “‘To die buried together’ doesn’t feel so bad.” - okay... im kind of emotional.... gay people....

okay obviously these murals and the prince of wuyong have some connection (im guessing pretty direct) to xie lian and are important but everytime they start analyzing one i feel like im back in art history class fhadskfhskjdhf not that thats a bad thing!! i liked art history a lot tbh

“Don’t worry, they’re not human,” Hua Cheng said. “It’s precisely because they’re not human that we have to worry, alright….” Xie Lian thought.” - goth ghost bf problems

xie lian: well, there is one person i trust more than anyone else, someone who’s first in my mind hua cheng, oblivious: oh :/ xie lian, also oblivious: what? hua cheng: you shouldnt trust so easily its dangerous xie lian: oh. haha. yeah. well. wanna,,, know who it is? hua cheng: its :) fine :) it :) doesnt :) matter :) but of course you can tell me if you want to gege xie lian, internally: well now ive made it weird hua cheng, 5 minutes later: actually i need you to tell me. right now. its totally for your security me: gay people smh

“As they suspected, he had been captured by Qi Rong. Although no one was bound by ropes, there were balls of greasily green ghost fires hovering over every one of their heads.” - completely off track but anybody else remember the great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts song

“Could there actually come a day when Qi Rong was embarrassed that someone might see the manner in which he ate? Before Xuan Ji entered, she put Guzi down. Guzi, ta-ta-ta, ran in, rushing straight to Qi Rong’s side. But when he saw him, he pointed his finger. He cried, “Dad is eating bad things in secret again!” “I’m not!” Qi Rong retaliated.” SCREAM IS QI RONG LEARNING THE POWER OF LOVE NOOOO also god that poor man whose body he has im starting to doubt if he’ll ever be free jimmy novak flashbacks

everytime we get another ghost king power somewhere someone should be writing hua cheng the cyborg bf in a high tech futuristic au i think thats the only other potential setting that could truly capture this wild ride

“In truth, throughout history, there was no man in the world who didn’t love bragging. A breeze could blow the handkerchief of a brothel girl into a man’s hand, and he would turn around and say the most beautiful of renowned escorts had fallen in love with him; holding shoes and wiping benches for the emperor’s mistress’s uncle’s grandson’s cousin’s mistress would for sure become him being an important administrator at the residence of royal relatives, raising his status. Thus, men who didn’t brag were a rare species.” - SCREAM this is going in my favorite tgcf quotes folder god... mxtx come here let me shake your hand

read the story of rain master yushi huang’s ascension. why am i crying. also this bit im crying again me with my stuffed animals “Thus, while Yushi Huang was cultivating at the Temple of Yulong, every time when she went to seek water and passed that door, she would rub the head of that ox. The door knocker soaked in her essence of life, and when the Rain Master ascended, the ox ascended with her.”

okay thats enough for now i have 7 more chapters to book 4!!! woo!!!

[nightfayre]

hi im the anon ! i dont remember what i said >

and I’m alarmed by the fandom mentality. Maybe HT means good - but how would we know? we don’t have access to his thoughts - but we must judge his actions, and his actions are for the least very troubling. It’s always abt coercing Mo and not respecting his boundaries. I see the trope “when she says no, she means yes” here and once again, the fact the fandom swallows it uncritically (bc HT is a poor, hot tortured boy) is alarming. Forcing Mo to wear his gift stinks of “this is my possession, don’t mess wt him” 2/5

Maybe im pessimistic n its actually to protect him by distance, but once again he totally disregards Mo’s will. What if he doesnt want to be protected ? what if he doesnt want to be an object to be pass around between self-entitled psychos ? The first step to protect and help someone is by listening to them. I hope Mo will react strongly and will tell HT that by saying this, he’s no different from She Li. And i hope that would provoke HT to self-reflect a lot - smth he lacks tremendously. 3/5

That being said i love HT and tianshan! And what i love is how realistic and flawed they are. Theyre both hyper violent, distrustful, and severly lacking in communication skills. Im thrilled to see how theyre going to evolve -for the better or the worse, both is good for me. But i’m very disappointed by the fandom reaction like “ooh how cute hes possessive it means love!” or “actually its not bad doing HT doing that bc his intentions are good”. 4/5

And I will be vry, vry disappointed if OX decides to follow this trend and to not show how this kind of actions is detrimental to their reliationship and use the tired and dangerous trope of “being violent means that you care”. I trust them to be more nuanced than that bc until now they are great at drawing grey relationship. So yea i hope next chapter, tianshan plunges (before being better). Anw sry for the rant, and plz continue the good work !! 5/5

phew. there’s a lot to unpack here – but I agree wholeheartedly with you. since this post is already kinda long, I will put my answer/explanation under the cut!

the parts that I bolded in your asks are what I intend to focus on in this answer. strap in, because this is going to be a long one. 

before anything, let me put a disclaimer: I love He Tian. I love Guan Shan. I love Old Xian. I love tianshan, and I love where they are headed in the manhua. does that mean I also love where tianshan are right now? no, it doesn’t. and I’m here to explain why I look forward to their potential rather than their current relationship’s dynamics.  

one of the hardest parts about being in a fandom is being able to separate fiction, reality, and morality. this is especially hard when a fandom is as old and endearing as 19 Days, and when you fall in love with & are rooting for all the characters. furthermore, 19 Days is not a tragedy. of course, when Jian Yi disappears, it will be tragic. but otherwise the majority of the manhua is a comical, romantic slice-of-life plot. as such, it’s easier for what would usually be seen as blaring issues/problems in tragedies to be disregarded for comedy or, in some cases, romance in a comedic, romantic slice-of-life. 

this is exactly the case with tianshan. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He Tian’s current relationship with Guan Shan is not healthy. he doesn’t listen to Guan Shan. he doesn’t respect his personal space. he doesn’t know where to draw the line. he doesn’t know how to properly communicate with him, and thus resorts to violence or threats. tianshan just have a problem with communication. and, sure, maybe it can be chalked up to the fact that they’re young and stressed and don’t know any better. but that excuse is almost as bad as the “boys will be boys” excuse, and that doesn’t make it any better nor does it justify their actions. 

He Tian’s idea of relationships is so twisted, and as I talked about in a previous answer, it can probably be stemmed back to his trauma with the puppy Cheng took away from him. I won’t get too deep into that since I explained it in detail in that answer, but keep this in mind nonetheless: He Tian grew up in a family of violence, distance, miscommunication, and lies. it’s all he’s ever known, and that’s what he’s applying to his relationship with Guan Shan. does that make it right? no, absolutely not. but he’s learning. 

when Guan Shan had a panic attack at the restaurant, He Tian learned that people aren’t robots/pawns to use at his disposal and rather have their own strong emotions/backgrounds that shape them. thus, he brought Guan Shan home without a word. when he had his night terror and woke up to Guan Shan holding his hands, He Tian realized that there are parts of Guan Shan he still doesn’t know and, potentially, an aspect of their relationship that they’ve only started to uncover. thus, he thanked him without preamble and with a bowed head. 

what I’m trying to say is that He Tian does have good intentions at times, but not always. he’s learning as he goes, because god knows he didn’t have a family to teach him how healthy relationships should be. there probably is a part of He Tian that only wants to protect Guan Shan against She Li, but he certainly doesn’t show it in the right way. he acts possessive because he knows that if he doesn’t, he’ll lose what he loves (*insert flashback to the puppy*). again, does that make it right? hell no. jealousy and possessiveness are not cute and are entirely unhealthy in a relationship. the fandom should view them as such, but should also keep an open mind when considering He Tian’s background. 

and honestly, the reason why I’m focusing so much on He Tian right now rather than Guan Shan is because if it were up to Guan Shan, he would’ve dropped He Tian within the first few days (maybe even hours) of meeting him. but because of He Tian’s persistence, Guan Shan has no choice but to be involved with him and retaliate when He Tian verbally/physically/emotionally attacks him. nonetheless, Guan Shan has tried to walk away from He Tian on multiple occasions when He Tian’s teasing became too much, and on those occasions, He Tian has given in. (ex. I can’t find the exact chapter, but there is a chapter in which Guan Shan refuses to use He Tian’s fork to eat He Tian’s leftovers, and he gets up and says, “I’m going home,” to which He Tian replies, “Fine, fine, I’ll buy you new food.”)

so yes – tianshan certainly have flaws. He Tian holds too much power, and Guan Shan can’t catch a break. the fandom romanticizes their interactions, but if you take a moment to think realistically and recognize that character flaws are essentially bad but also critical for character development, then there is an even balance in the readers’ relationship with the manhua. don’t support He Tian’s violent interactions with Guan Shan and claim “omg He Tian loves Guan Shan sooooo much when he forces Guan Shan to do XYZ,” but rather support the fact that he hasn’t physically manhandled/harmed Guan Shan in many chapters. support and celebrate He Tian’s development, not his flaws. 

and as for what you said about Guan Shan telling He Tian that he’s “no better than She Li”? while I don’t think He Tian is truly as bad as She Li, I actually think that would be a painful, great, and pivotal moment in their relationship. after all, the most consequential scene in tianshan’s relationship thus far has been the kiss. at that moment, Guan Shan had told He Tian outright that he disgusted him and to leave him alone. since then, I don’t think He Tian has ever looked so… taken aback. unsettled. 

and guess what? their relationship has only gotten better since then, and He Tian hasn’t touched him like that again. 

I don’t know, anon. it’s a tough call. I think tianshan have a lot more chapters ahead of them, and I don’t think Old Xian will allow them to end on bad terms. actually, I don’t think Old Xian will allow them to end on the terms that they’re on right now. they can only improve from here on out, but how Old Xian will go about showing that improvement is unknown to us. there are many paths this story can take, but rather than worrying about what might happen, let’s focus on the here and now. let’s focus on the problems at hand, and let’s focus on the development the characters are undergoing. 

don’t ignore the wrongness/cruelty of characters’ actions, but don’t romanticize them either. if you do, you’re only doing a disservice to the character’s personality, existence, and the author’s intentions.

(and as for this newest chapter specifically: I see why people can get excited about He Tian telling Guan Shan to wear the earrings. He Tian wants to verify to both himself and She Li that Guan Shan is with him now. that Guan Shan is no longer under She Li’s control. who doesn’t love a little verification of their OTP’s relationship, especially when it involves an enemy?

but at the same time, it’s unhealthy. Guan Shan doesn’t have a say. he’s being handed around like an object. I don’t think this is pessimistic thinking; I think it’s the truth that no one wants to acknowledge/hear. but I’m not saying that tianshan is wrong in this chapter; I’m saying that He Tian has good intentions, but he’s not showing them correctly. and there will be a chapter in which he does show them correctly, but we must travel this rocky road before we get to that point. patience is key, and I cannot wait until He Tian and Guan Shan reach that moment of clarity. you can’t have light without the dark.)

[i-am-the-entertainer]

RevieWBY: Volume 6

This has been stated so many times, but Volume 5 was bad. Okay, it wasn’t terrible, like I don’t feel offended by it being bad (unlike certain folks), but looking back on it I don’t have anything to say to really defend it as something Rooster Teeth should have talked up as much as they did at the time. It had some good things going for it, but the amount of problems it had in terms of animation and writing really put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. So for Volume 6 to deal with all that fallout, it was going to have to do a lot. And to their credit, CRWBY accepted the criticism in stride, and actively worked to make Volume 6 something that people who despised Volume 5 might enjoy.

Still, one had to go into this season with the understanding that some people were never going to be completely satisfied with whatever CRWBY did. Because at the end of the day, the RWBY that Rooster Teeth currently makes is not Monty Oum’s show anymore. No, this isn’t saying CRWBY is in any way disrespecting his legacy, it’s just Monty Oum had a certain method to running the show that only he could really get away with: epic fight scenes, suddenly throwing giant curveballs into the series’ mythology, taking vital time away from storytelling so the fights looked cool. I mean, there are people who criticize the show for doing that now when they didn’t give two shits when Monty did it, because Monty did it in a manner that somehow worked. I don’t know how he did it, but he did, and, well, he’s not here to do it, and there’s no way even a huge animation team can collectively do things like him. And they shouldn’t: if they can use a better industry standard animation engine than Poser, than the fact that Monty Oum didn’t like animating with Maya shouldn’t stop them.

Blah blah blah...this is all about FNDM reception. What did I think of Volume 6?

Well...

Focus

In my mid-volume review I cited this as Volume 6′s strongest aspect, and as far as I can tell this remains the case. By focusing our hero storyline on one group and for the most part the villain storylines on only a few characters who were paired off, Volume 6 effectively told a story that didn’t force the viewers to juggle multiple things and find some semblance of a continuing story. Everything happened linearly and the whole thing made for a more enjoyable watch overall.

Tone

Building off of that renewed focus, this volume felt like it had more of a consistent tone that lasted from beginning to end. RWBY markets itself as an anime show and uses a lot of that anime-style of humor (slapstick and comedically exaggerated emotions), but honestly it’s always played fast and loose with using that humor in a way that doesn’t feel out of place. In this volume it was more consistently used, and that’s largely thanks to the nailed down focus that allowed character interactions to utilize the humor in a natural way. Ruby and Maria Calavera were especially good sources for humor.

Now, things did get a little more screwball when Cordovin came into the mix, but it was interesting seeing CRWBY take that humor to a logical extreme for the first time in a while (not since the Beacon years). It interrupted the tone for a bit, but not in a manner that overall changed the genre this show is going for.

Animation

Beautiful. The improved production pipeline that we’ve heard about really came through. These episodes were the best they’ve ever looked, minus a few errors here and there, showing just how amazing RWBY can look when you give the animators time to add their own touches. There was some really great fight animation to boot: none of the fights this volume felt awkward, and you could tell the animators had a lot of fun.

Worldbuilding/Storytelling

It feels weird saying that Volume 6 did a better job with worldbuilding than Volume 4, which took place on four different continents and traveled across one, and Volume 5, which took place on two different continents and featured the second major skirmish between the villains and the heroes. I think this has to do with just how well it was integrated into the story: insight into the world came at points where the story needed it and when the viewers wanted it. Nothing ever felt like a massive info dump better suited World of Remnant; where there was just too much information delivered that wasn’t relevant to what was happening in the show. Volumes 4 and 5 had this same problem with establishing the world, often telling us too much in a way that just didn’t feel natural to the story. With Volume 6, almost every chapter up until the final Argus arc included some form of that insight:

Chapter 1 showed us how ordinary civilians deal with traveling through Grimm territory––the steps they take to protect themselves

Chapter 2 showed us some aspects of the Mistral criminal underground, not telling us too much about it but suggesting it was much larger than what Cinder encountered.

Chapter 3 showed us...so many things.

Chapter 4 offered a sense of the stakes RWBY faced in relation to all of Remnant.

Chapter 5 and 6 gave us a glimpse at another form of non-city life in Remnant.

Chapter 7 introduced us to Argus, my favorite of all the Remnant cities we’ve seen; plus a glimpse into the life of the silver-eyed warriors; and a more representative depiction of what domestic life is like in Remnant

Chapter 8 told us what Atlas personnel who aren’t Ironwood or Winter are like, plus the long-awaited insight into how the silver eyes work.

Chapter 9 shows something of the effect the Battle of Beacon, and by extension Pyrrha’s death, had outside of our core group.

Things kind of teeter off with the finale arc, but that’s because worldbuilding became a little less important to what was going on. This is kind of a stretch, but the mech fight and the arrival of the Grimm in Argus give us an idea of how large non-capital cities defend themselves without just spelling everything out.

All in all, this volume delivered on some impressive worldbuilding, probably the best the series has had in a while. It wasn’t massive info dumps unless it needed to be (e.g. Chapter 3), and it offered just enough for other important things like the storytelling and the action to still be in the forefront.

Characters

Volume 5, despite the fact it involved the major reunion of Team RWBY after two volumes, felt like it was simply putting the main characters through situations without those situations really doing anything to develop them or define them as anything beyond what we already knew. Some characters fared better on the development front, namely Yang, but others, especially Ruby, just seemed to be along for the ride without us getting any insight into them. This is where the writing issue that came from separating everyone starting with Volume 4 really came to a head: too many different characters with their own story to cover, and sometimes those stories just didn’t do much for the character beyond existing as a situation they were in.

Volume 6 feels like the refutal of that, and that mostly has to do with the fact that we’re not juggling so many storylines anymore. When a major event happens to the heroes, everyone gets affected at the same time. The train crashes? DEVELOPMENT! Jinn’s story? DEVELOPMENT AND INSIGHT! Snowstorm? INSIGHT! The Apathy? DEVELOPMENT! Telling team JNR about Jinn’s story? DEVELOPMENT! Adam ambushes Blake and Yang for the first time since Volume 3? DEVELOPMENT! WITH A HEALTHY DOSAGE OF ANGST!

Surprisingly, the same thing is happening to two of our favorite villains, Mercury and Emerald: even though they only really appeared in three chapters this Volume, we actually got a surprising chance to see how their defeat at the Battle of Haven affected them, and their increasingly strong misgivings about working for Salem. We get more of an idea of them as people rather than Cinder’s blind followers, understanding why they stuck with such an evil person for so long. It’s the most we’ve learned about them since Volume 3, and we didn’t even need lengthy flashbacks.

Even Adam got some more insight. RWBY has been following the path that Adam was an abusive ex-boyfriend for quite a while now, but there was always this underlying thought that he got into the White Fang business for a seemingly noble cause. The problem was the show hadn’t depicted how he got from Point A to Point B. The Adam Character Short offered us some of that much needed insight, putting some of his actions up to this point in a new context, even if it was set-up for clearing up some things so they could get rid of him.

Of course, there are still exceptions to characters getting character development, and honestly they’re kind of glaring ones. Oscar’s development arc, where he came to accept he was his own person, completely happened offscreen (for reasons that I’ve brought up before and will reiterate in the final section), robbing us of really witnessing his growth as a person. I enjoyed some of the stuff Cinder did this volume, especially her escape from the vault and her fight with Neo. But honestly she continues to be a pretty bland villain with little hints at her motivations for being such a terrible person: the Battle of Haven was such an utter defeat for her there needed to be some form of consequence that would’ve affected her character while also telling us more about her. Maybe it would’ve been her strategizing her revenge, which would’ve gotten more insight into how she thinks as a master planner. Instead, we get her leaving the vault, more or less going back to what she used to do but in a more low-key setting, fighting with Neo, plotting with Neo, and leaving with Neo. It felt more like “Hey, she’s alive, and here’s what she’s doing,” which while I appreciate it feels kind of a waste of time if you’re not doing anything with her beyond that. Honestly, a post-credits reveal that she was alive and then a pre-Volume 7 character short detailing how she made it to Atlas that covered her and Neo’s entire storyline this volume would’ve been more helpful.

Before I go on to my most major critique of this volume, I need to address the two Goliaths in the room.

Adam

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: they needed to get rid of Adam. The way things have been going, there was only so much more you could do with his character before he became a nuisance that was overstaying his welcome. I understand people wanted some deeper insight into him, but the fact was he was never introduced to be a major villain to anyone beyond Blake and later Yang. They could’ve had him have a thing against Weiss, but they didn’t, they focused the time that would’ve made him a major villain for everyone else on making people like Roman and Cinder and Salem the big villains. They decided on the path of abusive ex-boyfriend a very long time ago, and if you hadn’t figured that out after the Adam Character Short I honestly think you were being willfully ignorant to what’s been building up.

The best I can say is that Adam and his history is a missed opportunity for some pretty interesting storytelling and worldbuilding, but the fact remains: it is not his story that they want to tell, it is not his show. It may make something interesting to think about, but Adam’s story is supplementary, and works better in supplementary material, a la character shorts and maybe mangas.

Jaune

Y’all need to quit it with the “Hrrr drr Jaune took up time again moan moan Miles Luna is self indulgent” talk, he barely did anything this volume beyond Chapter 9 and having a sister that the whole fandom loved.

Pacing

This...this is where Volume 6 ran into trouble.

Overall, from the season premiere to the finale arc, this was probably the best-paced season of RWBY we’ve ever had. Major story events happened right when we needed them, and for the most part they didn’t drag out story arcs for any longer than they needed to be.

Well...until they reached Argus, that is.

At face value, a lot happened in the final couple of chapters. Chapter 8 gave us Maria explaining the silver eyes, Chapter 9 had the scene with Pyrrha’s statue and the mysterious Red-Haired Woman (I’ll headcanon whatever I want about who she is, Jen Brown) Chapter 10 started the Cordovin fight, Chapter 11 reinforced Blake and Yang’s partnership, Chapter 12 killed Adam, and Chapter 13 had Ruby finally use her silver eye powers to defeat a Grimm and they made it to Atlas. Yeah, it was a pretty eventful set of episodes.

So then why did it feel like it dragged? Here are a couple reasons that I’ve identified.

1. The Cordovin Battle sidelined story arcs for too long

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: the finale arc should not have been split up like that over so many episodes. It afforded us some pretty well-animated fights, some of the best the series has ever had, but the volume hadn’t been relying on that action to keep up the forward momentum, but on actually telling the stories of these characters. I get the need for CRWBY to prove that they can do well-animated fights, but as I’ve come to accept action should never take precedence over storytelling (I know, that’s hard to swallow when parts of the fndm spends hours complaining about how Monty’s not animating the fights anymore). And it’s clear to me in this final arc put emphasis on the action over the momentum of the story, bringing the actually pretty good storytelling the volume had had up to that point to a grinding halt.

Now, historically RWBY fights have delayed telling stories, but it’s never been for too long, at most maybe two chapters? But if you spend three chapters on a single fight, thereby devoting three weeks of your viewers’ time to high-octane action, people are gonna notice that the story is basically going nowhere.

What could’ve made this less of a problem? Well, perhaps establishing Cordovin earlier and making her less of a buffoon would’ve eased my hatred of this arc. Volume 6 lacks a clear antagonist for the story, but the way Cordovin was treated as a big deal in this final battle made it seem like she was taking up that role, except we didn’t even see her until the final half of the volume, and in her debut we couldn’t take her seriously as a villain, much less an antagonist, because of the pure comedy they used in her intro. There needed to be something about her at least a few episodes early––take this with a grain of salt because I think following JNR in Argus would’ve killed the balanced pacing of the first half of the volume (and just made the Jaune haters apoplectic), but maybe a few quick scenes of JNR arriving in Argus and getting rejected by her would’ve been helpful. Or honestly easing off on the comedy of her intro. Such a one-note character who we are primed to not take seriously isn’t interesting as a major force, so identifying her as a more threatening roadblock for the heroes would’ve made the stakes of the final fight a little more...present.

2. Important storylines got trimmed for time’s sake and weren’t addressed properly.

@hypeathon (whose excellent production analyses for this Volume are well worth a read) identified a tweet Miles made back in October, prior to the premiere and most likely when they were finishing storyboards, about “killing your darlings.” For those unaware and who may have severely misinterpreted that comment, “killing your darlings” is when writers have to sacrifice something they love or want to do so that the story works better. The timeliness of this tweet (after they would’ve finished the script but before they’d wrapped on storyboards and voice acting for the final episodes) suggests the writers’ room had to cut a lot of material from Volume 6 (what Miles called a massacre of darlings), most likely due to production limits or not having enough time to cover them.

Think about it: the story from Chapters 1-7 was really good: everything was properly spaced out, the scripts felt polished, there was a balance of action and comedy and legit storytelling, the good pacing lasted longer than it ever has within a single volume.

Then we hit Chapter 8 and suddenly it all changes: storylines don’t get the proper time devoted to them, arcs come to a screeching halt due to the big fight. Unlike previous volumes, where the imbalance was pretty much the entire volume, there’s actually a clear point right in the middle of this volume where things suddenly took a turn for the worse. And the fact is, some of the problems with the story in the final arc suddenly make more sense if you accept that time that would’ve been devoted to it got sidelined in this “purge”: Qrow’s alcoholism suddenly getting brushed aside after Chapter 9 hopefully to be addressed next volume, Oscar disappearing and all his development happening offscreen, Adam’s completely unsubtle return after only a vague hint in Chapter 1 that would’ve been stronger if he’d kept popping up in Argus. I’d even go so far to say the odd pacing of the final few chapters could easily have been the result of the writing team not being able to devote a single chapter to such a grand fight, so they needed to stretch it out so CRWBY could actually animate it within reasonable deadlines, which meant sacrificing time for those arcs that so desperately needed development.

So what overall is gonna fix RWBY’s pacing in the future? Well, I think at the moment the show is too ambitious. If it wants to keep to a reasonable production schedule, they need to control the scale of their finales so that it can be completed without needing to sacrifice other storylines. If it wants to hold onto that ambition and make the finales as grand as they want it to be to do their boy Monty proud, then they absolutely need to delay the actual release of the volume so they can put in the proper amount of time to both the story and animation. And I don’t think anyone would mind waiting a little longer for Volume 7 if it meant this show got the care and attention it needs to tell the story it clearly wants to tell.

Conclusions

Evaluating Volume 6 is impossible without evaluating what came before it. RWBY was never a perfect show, but when you lose someone who was responsible for the show’s popularity in the first place and have to change how it’s made to make up for his absence, there’s going to be backlash. Backlash from the fans, and, uh, backlash from inside the company. The fact is, people are never going to be satisfied with the RWBY that Rooster Teeth makes today, and Rooster Teeth is never going to push out a RWBY that will make everyone happy. All they can really do is keep moving forward.

And move forward they did. Despite my problems with the finale, Volume 6 was good. I’ve always been sort of ambivalent about the show (I was drawn to it by my brother shortly before Monty’s death and have been watching it out of respect for him and the company as creative artists), and even if I thought some of RWBY’s critics were being too harsh (or seriously needed to find something better to do), I didn’t find Volumes 4 and 5 enjoyable enough that I felt like defending them. But guys, Volume 6 did something amazing: it made RWBY fun to watch again. Focused, consistent, and compelling storytelling plus gradually eased-in worldbuilding made for a story that I could follow along without having to juggle so many different plots. Improvements in the overall animation made things nice to look at and when fights happened they were always entertaining, never making me cringe or grimace, always making me think “Hell yeah, beat the shit out of them!” Just like I felt back in the old days of the show.

I feel as though what’s holding RWBY back at this point, however, is adhering to the production schedule that its old vision called for in making its current vision. And it honestly cannot keep doing that. RWBY is a show trying to reach grand heights, and its rushed production timelines and lost story arcs are keeping it tethered to the ground. Yet I can’t help but say: Volume 6 is RWBY at its finest so far. It can’t fix the problems that previous volumes have had, but it builds on the void those problems left to build a story that makes this show feel like something worth following once more.

So, I can safely say I’ll be following along when RWBY returns for Volume 7...hopefully later rather than sooner (again, it needs a better production schedule).

[comicteaparty]

March 4th-March 10th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from March 4th, 2019 to March 10th, 2019.  The chat focused on O Sarilho by shizamura.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on O Sarilho by shizamura~! (http://sarilho.net/en/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until March 10th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think happened to the ancient people who left their satellites and other lost technology behind? Will the people of the present be able to recover this technology as they strive to do? Alternatively, are they going to find out secrets better left forgotten?

Capitania do Azar

Howdy everyone! I'm Shizamura and I'm the creator of O Sarilho and I'm very excited

varethane

I love all the scenes with the augur

it's such a creepy concept but the way they all handle it as being totally mundane and normal is gr8

Kaldra

agreed ^

varethane

also, the initial scene with the alien waking up, as the eyes light up and then gradually focus before the thing starts moving-- chilling. I love it.

Capitania do Azar

Augur is just a regular job for these guys, he

March 5, 2019

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Who or what are Argon and Xenon, the gods in the comic’s world? What do you think their original purpose was? Why do you think only Augur’s can deal with them?

RebelVampire

1) the scene where nikita realizes mikhail is, umm, not going to be joining him for anymore adventures. i liked this scene for two reasons. a-the framing was really great because it was fairly normal. like hes injured, of course hed be resting and of course nikita would have to shake him. no reason to suggest anything is off at first until it was all off. b- the pacing was also great. like everything was pretty speedy and then just wham, its like everything got halted for that beautiful moment of horrible realization. A+ adventure retirement scene. 2) I think the ancient people did what all dumb humans do: war against each other until they destroyed themselves. partly cause that be what humans do, partly cause the sense of war in the story seems very ancient and ingrained and i just get the feeling this has existed for longer than anyone can remember. i think eventually they will recover a lot of tech, but i also think theyre going to find out the true price that tech kind of comes at. and that the universe is more than their brains are ready to accept or comprehend.

3) Franquelim. I find him interesting and just in general I like his portrayal. Like you don't even need to know his job to take one look at him and go "this is the weird employee who doesnt fit in and is potentially hated by his superiors despite probably being good at his job." and to me, that makes him a lot of fun. i think he also adds some shenanigans to an otherwise serious and grounded group. and everyone needs some shenanigans in their life. 4) I want to assume Argon and Xenon are AI's that were created in order to advocate for the prosperity of humanity. Granted, probably damaged AIs or incomplete ones since they don't know everything there is to know. As for why only Augurs, I assume its as it was implied: only they can understand them. Which want to go on a limb and say maybe no because magic? It might just be Augurs got the right studying. Like they learned how to read C++ while everyone else only got taught Ruby.

Capitania do Azar

Ah @RebelVampire , these are all very interesting guesses!

varethane

....Franquelim is my favourite too LOL(edited)

Capitania do Azar

He's apparently a fan favourite I suppose it makes sense, he does have a strong personality!

varethane

he stands out in all the scenes he's in

Capitania do Azar

he loves the camera

stealing the show

snuffysam

I'm on team Franquelim as well

like he's just chillin

plus he's one of the few who (rationally) wanted to avoid getting ambushed by the lusitanians

daria is also a fav of mine too though

just, cuz... look at her. every scene she's in she's got the stage presence of someone who just tied a teammate's shoes together

RebelVampire

yeah i have to agree part of the reason i like franquelim is despite his shenanigans, he also is kind of the most grounded in the way. the dude who is like "maybe we shouldnt get ambushed." the dude whos like "hey maybe we should call for backup given the circumstances." he is the beautiful voice of reason in a world gone mad.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. How do you think Nikita came to be a “slave” of the Empire, and what else happened that makes him so sensitive about the topic of his past? Will Nikita be able to overcome this obstacle of his life?

5) http://sarilho.net/en/arquivo/comic/ch03p06 This page in its entirety. The contrast here is fantastic between the clean and normal art and the chaotic presence of the piece of god. It's also a fantastic demonstration of pushing the page and website capabilities to bring about a specific feeling, in this case uneasiness and horror. I also like this illustration because it's very well suited to the dialogue. Franquelim is trying to express his ardent belief they need help and this is beyond them. And this sort of illustration really helps connect you to his concerns because you can see with the imagery why he is freaked out. Thus, emotionally it connects you stronger with his emotional state in this moment and scream "YES YES GET THE HELP GET THE HELP." So all in all, I think this illustration has great contrast, pushes the envelope, and does what I think an illustration should do in a comic: make itself so both the story and illustration are needed together to create the full effect.

Capitania do Azar

Frank has had his share of battles and he's not keen to get into newer ones

Steffano knows that if they are caught (or bring an army in), war is bound to happen (again) and he's got his own selfish reasons for not wanting that. He's also not a particularly experienced leader and has trouble making these kind of decisions

The rest of the team kinda reflects what the empire thinks of itself, as Mikhail puts it "we're better trained, we have better resources and we're more talented". That attitude gotta interfere with decision-making as well

RebelVampire

at least mikhail is "retired" now and can no longer preach that sort of thinking? XD

Capitania do Azar

LOOK WHERE THAT SORT OF THINKING TOOK HIM

They're army kids, it's not like they ever had any change of thinking in other terms

Doesn't change the fact that MISTAKES WERE MADE

RebelVampire

6) Maybe some sort of empire betrayal? Like their dad got found guilty of a bad crime or something. As for his sensitivity, I honestly just think it stems from the fact he wants to move on and create his own path and life. And it doesn't help when everyone keeps reminding you and asking questions. That and if he doesnt talk about it, he doesnt have to face the reality himself. As for overcoming the obstacle, I don't feel it'll be solved in a tangible way? More I just feel like the bigger fish that need frying are going to dominant and more and more ppl will just stop caring. Cause again, bigger fish.

Capitania do Azar

ahha I guess people do remind him of that fact a LOT, I never really looked at it that way

what the other soldiers say about Nikita is right for the most part: he does keep a lot to himself and the part where he clearly can't control a lot of things in his life is a point of stress he'd rather ignore(edited)

(I hope I can bring up in the following chapter just how much he internalized his own social situation to the point that he almost forgets that other people can quit their jobs if they so desire)

mangalho

QUESTION wapy can you do a corno/not-corno alignment chart with your cast?

Capitania do Azar

didn't I do that already rsrsr

mangalho

did you????

Capitania do Azar

wait

keep up mango https://twitter.com/Shizamura/status/1096141513514536960

capitania dos azares (@Shizamura)

@Ulisaypo

mangalho

finally

Delphina

Gahhhh, just finished reading, such a good comic! I really liked Shizuka, even though she stayed behind (which turned out to be a SUPER GOOD CALL BECAUSE HOLY DANG). She seems fun, though!

mangalho

How the FUCK is Pimenta in the Corno area @Delphina SAME shizuka is good and also really relatable

Delphina

Daria's scene around the car (http://sarilho.net/en/arquivo/comic/p032) is my favorite fun scene because I love her whole-hearted quest to torment Timoteo. My favorite serious scene is where Mikhail gets his arm shot off because it was such a shocking transition between "here's a squad of kids making jokes and bickering" to "oh shit oh shit oh shit they are in so much trouble for so many reasons" (http://sarilho.net/en/arquivo/comic/ch02p29)

Capitania do Azar

Daria takes self-assigned clown job very seriously!

snuffysam

5) my favorite illustrations in the comic so far have been this page: http://sarilho.net/en/arquivo/comic/oh-nao and the page following it. not necessarily because of the drawing quality itself (these are good, but there's a couple better), but because of how the emotions are conveyed through the pages literally falling apart.

RebelVampire

the page was too strong and murdered my comp with lag XD

i really liked that page too tho

especially the angle

i think the angle really helps express like a sort of feeling of distance

like in the sense youre no longer connected with a person

Capitania do Azar

OMG maybe I should drop the resolution a bit hehe

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What do you think happened in Franquelim’s past that has him so terrified of being captured by the Lusitanians “again?” How might this affect his judgement in whatever situations are to come?

ShaRose49

Gah I didn’t realize this had started already I only barely got past the prologue! Really nice art and lots of character profiles

Delphina

The character profiles are SO HELPFUL, I also appreciate the role call at the end of the last two chapters.

Capitania do Azar

eheh I really like coming up with silly descriptions for characters, so figures it's a good idea to add them

ShaRose49

I just made my first character profile sheet a couple days ago and it’s not as in-depth as this one

Capitania do Azar

It's not that hard! I make most of my characters by making up a number of random facts, which eventually become the text

The stats are mostly out of comparison like this character is more talented than this one, but also slower..and so on

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserve attention?

QUESTION 10. What is the strange entity that Nikita and company discover, and what do you think its purpose is? Also, is it really a piece of God somehow? What implications do you think that has for the story in general, especially given Lusitanian involvement?

RebelVampire

7) Well I did enjoy seeing Nikita and Mikhail. I found their dynamic to be interesting due to the contrast. they were just both very different ppl who viewed themselves differently, viewed the empire sort of differently, viewed their place in the empire differently, etc. This kind of made their conversations really insightful into getting two diff perspectives on "the way things are." its too bad mikhail retired. 8) I assume torture at best, hardcore torture at worst. Though for him torture might have consisted of just keeping him eternally connected to god? cause thats be torturous info overload that probably wouldve hurt a lot. As for affecting his judgement, I def think he's the most likely to do something stupid based on it. Like do some drastic thing like set off a bomb just so he doesnt have to get caught again.

9) I want to say i really love the more rampant use of narrative boxes that specify the location in the most recent chapter. TBH, I really struggled to follow the second chapter because the transitions were hard to catch just cause matching uniforms. So in the third chapter this helped out immensely and i think its a detail that deserves to be appreciated. 10) If I stick with my Argon and Xenon are just AIs theory, then yeah, its probably a piece of god. A piece that got disconnected from the network but was original like some waypoint for vast interstellar communication. As for its purpose, I don't think it has one. I think it's gone bonkers cause being disconnected from teh core has made it unable to access primarydirective.exe. As for implications, I think it's going to spark a war at the rate things are devolving. even if nikita and then somehow disappear into the night, the lusitanians are clearly hiding something that cant stay hidden forever.

Capitania do Azar

Your theories are very interesting @RebelVampire!

Also I really appreciate that you enjoy Mikhail's and Nikita's relationship

Capitania do Azar

Mikhail's got a lot less pressure on him, so he gets to be more chill about some things (but not all the things, since he snapped at Dária anyways)

snuffysam

yeah i think you're spot on with the AI theory, rebel. if I may make a prediction - i'm thinking that once this specific incident is over, not only will a war break out, but nikita will be put into action against his will 'cause he never catches a break(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What do you think the Lusitanian Eurico wants to talk to Nikita about (or is it a ruse to fight some more)? How might the subsequent events affect the mission further?

Delphina

I think Eurico's goal is probably just to get this squad out of their lands. I expect some level of "you don't know what you're dealing with trying to interact with this God-level technology, so leave now or you're seriously going to get hurt" conversation.

Delphina

Regarding strengths and unique points, O Sarilho's very good at establishing extremely human-feeling characters very quickly. I like the fact that I know Nikita likes astronomy. I like the fact that Daria, Pfeiffer, and Timoteo have a dynamic and history of teasing each other. I like that Franquelim relies on drugs and coffee because he's Seen Some Things. The details brings a lot of personal stakes and heart into what could otherwise be a very dry military post-apoc story, and that's hard to do with a cast this large. I'm looking forward to learning more about the characters! It feels like we're just at the tip of the iceberg for worldbuilding, but I can tell that a lot of thought and care has been put into how technology affects their lives through big things like religious views and small things like what kind of curse words they use. I'm also looking forward to learning about the power/class dynamics that are happening with the military and Houses like Steffano's and Daria's. The integration of web design and animation for impact is also extremely well-executed wherever it's used, but it's not overused to the point where the reader becomes used to it, which is important for giving those scenes emphasis.

snuffysam

For me, the strongest and most unique part of the comic is the visual aspect. Like, even putting the animated and panel-busting pages aside, the colors used are outstanding at conveying the proper emotions. Like even on this early page: http://sarilho.net/en/arquivo/comic/prologo-8 Franquelim's colors are brighter, they're bleeding off his body, and they give off this aesthetic that's the perfect mix of computer-y and mystical. Right off the bat something seems unusual about this comic's universe, yet the other characters barely glance at him. That's great visual conveyance.(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Given everything that’s happened, how do you feel Nikita’s team will deal with the mission’s outcome so far? Also, will what has occurred affect the peace treaty with the Lusitanians in a negative way? Lastly, are more people doomed to die?

Capitania do Azar

Guys... You're too kind

RebelVampire

11) i agree with everyone else so far in that i think the comic's strengths are the usage of color and the use of animation and web design effects. every choice where these are concerned feels purposeful and really enhances the atmosphere of the moment. i feel they are what give a lot of the scenes their unique punch, as well as also add some visual context to characters' emotions where relevant. 12) Eurico just wants to have a tea party and needs to know if Nikita is game. But joke aside, he probably wants to tell Nikita some truths that Eurico thinks Nikita wasnt told. So that way maybe everyone can leave and nobody else has to die and no wars have to start. Which that last one is wishful thinking imo XD 13) I'm looking forward to more Franquelim doing his weirdo Augur things and everyone being like, "Sure my dude." But really, I just want to see more of that bundle of joy and fun. 14) I think the team is going to deal somewhat poorly. Cause not all of them seemed to take the mission all that serious and I think the hit of seriousness is gonna have some longterm PTSD affects. I mean I'm sure theyll play it off like theyre fine. But itll just be an army of Nikita's in that if they dont talk about it, they dont have to think or deal with it. XD As for the peace treaty, yes and no. I don't think Nikita and company will be responsible, but I think the piece of god might. And yes, yes more people are surely doomed to die. I'd even go so far as to say just assume everyone is gonna die by the end XD RIP

Capitania do Azar

ahaha oh no that is so bleak !!

I can't vouch that they won't die, but I hope they won't

Delphina

If you assume everyone is going to die, you'll be pleasantly surprised when some of them don't!

Capitania do Azar

WELL SOMEBODY'S GOTTA STAY ALIVE IF I WANT THE STORY TO KEEP GOING

(btw thank you for pointing out the big GIF files, I have changed their resolution so hopefully they won't kill more computers with lag )

varethane

Pls dont kill Franq plz plz plz

Capitania do Azar

>:)

Capitania do Azar

your theories are adding years to my life

Delphina

I gotta imagine the peace treaty is going to get affected, though. They're going to try to keep it quiet, but it's gonna get out somehow. Steffano's got a sinister aura around him, so maybe he'd spin the situation in a way that would benefit his political position.

(I could be wrong, but I adore it when people have ridiculously wrong theories about my comic so I'll just throw it out there.)

Also, was it Fausta that the "Foreigner" was trying to communicate through? I wonder if she's got some affinity for that and if she's going to be further used in that capacity

Capitania do Azar

Yes! Fausta is lusitanian-born, so she is naturally empathic and that's why the foreigner picked her out of the crew

snuffysam

it's interesting how the empath was affected rather than the augur. like, from my understanding, fausta's thing is reading people's emotions, while augurs can read the word of the gods/computers. so on the one hand, if the foreigner is communicating with fausta, does that mean the foreigner is human? but on the other hand, franq said that the foreigner's speech feels exactly like what connecting to the gods is like...

Capitania do Azar

I'm gonna throw ash into the fire and say that people tend to compare new things to things they already know ;D

It's past midnight for me, so I guess my time here is over!!

But thank you everyone who dropped by and had the care to read my comic and comment ;u; You make it all worthwhile

Delphina

Thank you for making an awesome comic!

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about O Sarilho this week! Please also give a special thank you to shizamura for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked O Sarilho, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://sarilho.net/en/

shizamura’s Store: http://sarilho.net/en/loja

shizamura’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shizamura