#to those who saw me post an intro on a blog that already had an intro. no you didn't.

[hihopelessromantics-writes]

my stuff <3

So y'all know what I've been up to basically. I'll put pieces that have a significant amount of progress down here.

Feel free to ask about any of these!

NNT:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/13luckyhopelessromantics

Novellas / Novels:

The Scarletts

The saga of abandoned bookworm Logan Duo, whose idea of making - or rather, collecting - his own family entangles him in the increasingly dangerous baggage of fellow alien orphans Pia and Rue, and the decades-old history of the house of horrors they chose to call a refuge.

Log

The implications of the Guardian's Tower aren't even an afterthought to the newly recruited Guardian, a prodigy bioengineer fresh off the worst mistake of her very short career. Which is perfect for a utopian government that relies on tunnel vision to get by . . . especially when their paradise must be evacuated, leaving the fate of Arorta's most precious treasure - their symbol and son, the pseudo-diety Maximo - in Sylvia Cornerstone's hands. The nature of Maximo's existence isn't quite what it seems, and even if it wasn't a concern before . . . it certainly is now. Because their ancestors never discovered what lies ahead of her in the Deep Woods. 

Aquamarine's Ordeal

Underappreciated monster hunters run into unanticipated danger and social drama on the open seas. Completed, 2020.

I'll Come With You, Friend

A blind girl's unconsenting camping trip brings good luck through adventures with a friend she meets at a spring. Completed, 2020.

Short Stories:

Wasteland

Anita specialized in the cycles of dying planets in college. No one has understood her passion for the subject so far in her career . . . here's hoping this civilization on the brink of being sucked into space can, now that she's tasked with persuading them to evacuate. Now this social orbiter has to endear herself to the mysterious children of the ruling class to stand a chance at saving their lives. Her job is to educate them on their options moving forward and provide assistance. Customer service. Basic, right? 

Ten

Orphan Liza's being honored with a party by the residents of her manor home and all their socialite friends! And if she's lucky, this will be the last party they ever get to throw for her. Her wealthy, manipulative guardians have finally found out about her friend Mia's magic, and she needs to leave. Now.

​A flash fiction for class I will expand into a full short story soon.

Poetry:

Flight

Do you think birds are tired? Completed, 2023

Save the World

The tale of an executioner who finds himself in the one he’s sent to slay, and takes the killing blow instead - except, the story has yet to end . . .

Inspired by the horror visual novel "Slay the Princess." I have such a great respect for what the video game medium has contributed to the art of storytelling. Truly inspiring. Completed, 2023

Ode to the Queen of My Heart

Inspired by the original characters of a good friend of mine, this sonnet was a gift for him. Completed, 2023

Other I guess:

To Protect A Child

"Animation Screenplay" 

POV: THE LITTLE ONES

In a strange landmark called the Ravine where the cave systems connect to some of the world's different dimensions, a group of young friends explore the 2nd layer around their town. They find themselves hunted by hungry creatures and, after one of their group is injured, have to rely on strangers with dangerous associations to watch over them until their parents arrive on the 1st level.  

POV: ADULTS 

Despite their ages dwarfing that of a young human adult, engaged couple Velvet and Bethie are only on the cusp of early adulthood. Them moving out into their own cottage whole layers away from their folks is truly peculiar until you consider Bethie's nightmarish controlling parents. Bethie's worst fear comes true one afternoon when a stressful day of demanding phone calls is complicated by her lover bringing home stray children, prompting serious conversations about Velvet's past and an "intervention" by the in-laws.

[manetsgarden]

The Directioner to marketing exec pipeline

For my fellow 2012-2014 Tumblr obsessives. A heartfelt tribute to the band, the years spent together online, and the many wonderful friends and life I made along the way. /

A few weeks ago it was my friend’s birthday. Six years ago, almost to the day, she and I met at a cupcake cafe, and bonded over the years we spent on Tumblr and Twitter as ultimate 1D girlies while we ate our cupcakes. We laughed about how we got follows from celebrities, or replies from the band, and how we spent every waking moment online, obsessed by different YouTubers, bands, and TV shows.

When I think about the string that lead me to that cafe in Edinburgh, it starts with Harry Potter. I was six years old in Orlando, Florida, and my parents took us to see the Philosopher’s Stone. In the rest of the pictures of our holiday, I have gigantic, frizzy hair because I begged my mom to braid it every night so I could look like Hermione. Six years old, but I knew how to immediately decide to devote myself to obsession.

Less than ten years later, I was watching trailers of movies on YouTube. At that point, I already had accounts on Twitter and Tumblr, but I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do with them. From the moment I clicked on the “What Makes You Beautiful” Youtube video, everything became second nature.

There was no call to action at the end of that video saying “now pick your favourite and love them forever.” There was no need: we watched it and knew immediately what our job was. I wasn’t even halfway through before I knew exactly which one was mine (and I’ve never wavered). Credit is due to the YouTube algorithm for filling my recommended videos with content from their X Factor days, because I spent the rest of that night watching the videos of them on the stairs, searching them on Tumblr, and falling down the 1D rabbit hole.

It was as easy as breathing! There was no ‘how-to’ guide, the word ‘stan’ didn’t even exist yet. The way the internet let us collectively fawn over anything from a band, to a character in a book, to a random person on YouTube felt like a brave new world. I followed One Direction online alongside girls from the UK, Brazil, the Philippines, everywhere. I started my deep dives into other worlds with Harry Potter, but it was as a One Direction fan that I became embedded in the globalisation of the internet. I went from One Direction, to Zoella, to Sherlock, to Doctor Who, to 5SOS, and eventually I graduated from high school and got a life. By the time I did that though, I knew, fundamentally, how the internet worked.

In 2013, I was there as the Mischacopolypse started. I saw those first few posts trickle in. Later that year, I watched the full 7 hour 1D Day livestream. Year after year, I waited for the new Zoella Vlogmas intro like it was the lighting of the Rockefeller tree. Online content, I learned, was addicting because it was the ultimate way to connect with people. I made friends with girls in Toronto, Vancouver, North Carolina, and England. Not just “internet friends” but real, solid, sweet hearted friendship. I still watch their lives unfold on the internet with pride.

By 18 I had built my own website on Wordpress; I knew how to optimise my blogs for SEO, and set up a tripod with a ring light. I knew how to edit on iMovie and MovieMaker, how to find the latest trends, and even how to search engine optimise on YouTube. And, I leveraged it. I had not only a blog and a YouTube channel, and I tried every new thing. I got my first brand deals, and by 21, I got my first job as a Social Media and Web Coordinator for the uni newspaper. When I graduated, there was only one place to go: the home of all my teenage obsessions, and the reason I was who I was, the UK.

Before moving, I debated between Brighton (home of Zoella) and Edinburgh (home of Harry Potter), and it was really just fate that made me choose the latter. Immediately upon moving, I went back to my roots and got a job as a Harry Potter tour guide. I started creating like you wouldn’t believe. I got invited to events, and even more brand deals.

By this point I knew what sold: the person, the story, the personal connection. People needed to feel like they knew me in order to be invested, so I mined my life for content. Within a year, I got a job as a marketing exec, pointing to my blog and my work as a content creator to get me in. Five years later, I have two degrees in history, but a big girl job in content marketing.

Last weekend that same friend and I were driving home together, listening to One Direction and laughing about how we both ended up in marketing. Both confident there was no reason for it other than our obsession with 1D in our teenage years. At the same time, on different sides of the ocean, we fell in love with One Direction, learned Wordpress, obsessed over Zoella, created Instagram personalities, built our “brands”, and eventually, settled for jobs big girl jobs in marketing.

More than our jobs, we have six years of friendship built (from my side) on the trust that because we both know what 2013 Twitter was like as a One Direction fan, we just get each other. We’ve shared countless jokes about the old days, (remember the pandemonium when the pictures of Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and baby Lux in Central Park dropped??!!!!), and looking forward to when we’re old and there’s inevitably a reunion tour. This was the norm, until she messaged our groupchat at 11:30pm on her birthday, and I only knew it was serious because she wouldn’t be so dramatic if it wasn’t. A quick Google search confirming the truth, one of the most jarring, official endings to anything so far in my life.

When you hear ‘stans’ say they owe their lives to a band or a celebrity, they don’t always mean it in a parasocial or ‘this song saved me when I had serious mental health problems’ sort of way. I was never that intensely obsessed with One Direction, but I wouldn’t have my career, I wouldn’t have met my friend, my husband, I wouldn’t have my home, or, god forbid, my cat(!) if I hadn’t clicked play on that video fifteen years ago.

It feels like a personal loss not because I have a parasocial relationship with Liam Payne, but because in my life there was a clear world before, with him in it, and now a world after, without. It is as simple as saying: it is hard to come to terms with a world without someone who completely created the world that you live in.

Support this essay on substack: https://atmydesk.substack.com/p/the-directioner-to-marketing-exec

[dunktape]

can you genuinely, i mean so genuinely not copy a creator who's already been through and is going through rough shit? i thought you were an alt of chocoperrito's, i saw you were "heavily inspired", same style and similar intro, this is plain disrespectful and cruel to do to an artist who's already stated they're not okay with that.

i hope you can find it in your heart to at least apologize to hym.

hey , saw this and genuinely wanted to address it as my intentions are genuinely not to copy anyone , let alone cause harm . summary is all the way down under the cut ( last paragraph )

first of all , i'm sorry to hear that reki isn't doing well . i hope hy'll get better soon , but i couldn't have known he wasn't in a well mental state because i don't want to and can't interact with hys blog . i've been blocked quite a while ago , just after the first post i made on this blog . what happened will stay private as requested , but ive apologised and as far as i know , we made up . hy doesn't want to interact with me and i respect his boundaries .

talking of boundaries , i did not know hy was uncomfortable with people getting inspired by his art style . it is true that i took inspiration from hym , but to be fair all i took inspiration from was the shape of fur . my colour theory was fully taught to me by ashenoranges , round shapes have been inspired by another artist who does not want to be named , the way i draw hands along with cartoon-ish ( and also the round shapes ) by an artist on tiktok whose name i forgot ( but did a lot of utau / fell art , something along the lines of pupbiteez ) and the eyes i've just always drawn that way because i adapted it from when i just started getting into animation memes , but i tend to add tearducts too ( which i've adapted from p0ny.world ) . also , i love the chalky way calciumdreams's and yokoneko's art looks which i'm trying to work on getting into my art . i also mentioned some other artists in a previous ask about my artstyle , those artists also provide me references for when i'm trying to draw animals that stand on all fours .

asked one of my friends if they had any art of reki saved , for comparison . i guess i can see the similarities ?

the thing is that i use several outlines and lots of rendering on top of it and use a shade between green and orange always - when reki uses one line-art layer , has highlights instead of shadows in the hair , usually a blue shade and overall has thinner line-art where parts between similar parts of clothing and / or fur gets coloured differently in line-art .

i'm not saying my and reki's styles do not look extremely similar or that he never said anything about not liking inspiration , but i did not copy ( or at least INTEND to copy ) hym , neither did i ( key word , i ) ever read he was uncomfortable with inspiration . if you would like to provide proof then i'd love to have you dm it to me /gen

my intro post had taken me quite a few months to come up with , going through a few things to get inspiration from . however , i can see why you think i copied him , especially with how i provided my links . asked a friend of mine to provide a screenshot of reki's blog to compare them after you sent this ask . to clarify - i actually got inspo for my graphic and the stars between links from a friend of mine , who used to make simple transparent background graphics and used the 𓈒 symbol in between links instead . since i'm a pretty big fan of stars , i used stars instead . went through tags to find introduction posts that i could take inspo from , which mostly used different colours , and since i usually use orange or green shades in my art ( since they're my favourite colours ) i thought i'd apply that to highlight parts i thought were important . just talked a bit about me , connected a link to my identity in case you want to get to know me better , provided a link to my toy house in case you wanted to see my characters , then talked a bit about asks because i barely really got any before . it looked a bit empty at that point , so i thought i'd largen up something , but doing that at the top of the post seemed like it went from big to small and i didn't like that . moved the links to the bottom , largened them up and that seemed pretty good . but now it was a bit empty on top of the page , so after messing around with the graphic i realised that maybe i should add something that would devide the graphic from the text - a divider . now everything looked tidy , while not being too little nor too much . a link to stuff that went more into detail ,, perfect right ? but ;

i can totally see why you think they look familiar : same colours , same link stuff , separate part about the inbox , divider between texts and images , but i don't have access to reki's blog so i wouldn't have known . even if i did before , i wouldn't have remembered that in the past 2 months where i was much more busy with other stuff than remembering what someone else's , who didn't want to interact with me , intropost looked like .

HOWEVER ! i do acknowledge that my EMOTE art looks incredibly - extremely , almost completely identical to hys . hand shapes , eye shapes , body shapes , even the yellow body and line-art , the SHADING - all of that . i guess that comes with having similar artstyles , then also worrying about whether or not your art looks ok . i actually asked a friend of mine what i could change about my art so other people would maybe like or use it more , and they said that i only ever use harsh - thick lines , so i should keep the line-art simple and try airbrushing stuff . this is basically what reki did , and so i did use one of hys emotes from a server i'm in as a reference - i really liked the result , and posted it not thinking about how familiar they looked despite literally having his emotes and mine side by side for comparison .

they're extremely similar , especially the little closed eyes and blush . they both have that little red eyelid bit above their eyes and shaded cheeks + hands . i admit this is my fault for not having realised earlier how i basically copied hys style , and i'll try to make it more into my own style next time . i'm unsure of how to yet , but i'll figure something out .

also , besides all that , i'm not really copying his appearances , sonas , other stuff hy might have made . the yellow guy is pretty popular after all since it doesn't have an actual appearance or anything that would relate to identity and can be interpreted as anyone . sure , there's blogs like k9emotes who make white sillies instead of yellow , but i prefer using yellow and i'm also going to use these emotes . not saying i won't change how i'll draw them , this is just a reason , but that's why my and hys emotes look so similar — they're exactly what i and my friends would like emotes to look like if we're going to use them frequently .

all of this is not an excuse but simply an explanation so i hope everything is more clear . as stupid as it may sound , the intro post was truly a coincidence . my art looks similar to hys ( but not that much ) because he was an inspiration , but not my only inspiration and definitely not my biggest but the hair / fur is something i do use the most . i deeply apologise for any harm i have done and crossing unknown boundaries , but i'm afraid i can't directly apologise to reki as he doesn't want to interact with me , boundaries are boundaries .

long story short — yes i got inspired by the fur , the intro post was purely coincidental , unconsciously took too much inspo from emotes , i apologise for what i did but can't apologise directly bc im blocked .

[persmo]

It’s weird to see others view fakeclaimers so harshly while simultaneously fakeclaiming systems whose plurality does not stem from trauma :/

Sincerely, a DID system whose cultural practices involve spiritual plurality. We exist hi hello.

To start, wow, just with like 3 real post without our intro and we already have our first attack-like thing, without counting the comment of and endo who already blocked us lmao, I feel important

Now, I could easily just ignore your comment cause you just want to tell me that I don't consider possibilities, I'm closed mind, I'm hypocrite, or something like that, don't you? And I get it, no one it's perfect and all that stuff that I know everyone have hear in their lives so I don't get to any point telling you all that

Ok so, if you read my two post carefully and with reading comprehension, thing that you didn't for what I see, you will see that I'm exclusively talking about the OSDDID community, the disordered plural community, I'm not talking about the system and plural community as a whole, thing that you're claiming I did, and I didn't. In any of my 3 posts and, more specifically, in the posts you're talking about I fakeclaimed other things like you say

And if you're gonna come at me and tell me "You're anti-endo, that's why you're fakeclaiming", well you're wrong, I'm not going to random endos and telling them they're fake, the exact definition of fakeclaiming, I'm not even interacting with endos, we say we're anti-endo so endos would leave us fucking alone cause we don't want them to interact with us

Our opinion about non-traumagenic plurality is so fucking extended and complex that we had to make another stand besides pro/neu/anti because it didn't even fit in one of those perspectives (Although for the instance of this three we use anti-endo cause it fits better regarding our opinion with most of the endos and get them away form us), but this isn't about that (Cause if you're even interested in that, you can wait till we do that post) this is about you that want to call us out because of that

Nowhere I was talking about endo fakeclaiming, just disordered fakeclaiming because our blog is about that, that's why we have a "Endo-DNI" in our description, cause we don't like them to interact with us, because many of them come to attack, harass, fakeclaim and many things to OSDDID and we don't want that

Like, if you even care that much about being "fakeclaimed by us" (thing that we didn't and we won't do, but probably you'll say we did) you would have blocked us like we say in the post, "fakeclaimers just want to mock you so ignore them and block them", but you didn't, instead you came here to give this complain about fakeclaiming and honestly made me laugh lmao

I don't know if you claim being a DID system because of cultural spiritual plurality, cause if that's the case you're right, I'll fakeclaim you, but if you're a DID system that apart of that is in spiritual cultural plurality I won't fakeclaim you, cause I know that's a thing and exists, so idk why you say "We exist hi hello" cause I know, I have been knowing before entering the OSDDID community, so I don't get the point of that final comment xD

Things like this make our point more valid, randoms in internet don't know about you, they're the first ones to make assumptions about you and attack/call you out for those, maybe this example is not in a fakeclaiming way as I explained in the post, but it's a good example of people mocking you for their assumptions and you have to react/respond mature enough, maybe for some people this isn't a mature respond but for us it is

So yeah, to conclude this I think is fair to say I don't care if randoms come to say things like this in our blog, cause they can't read correctly, and if you want to make assumptions is a you problem, but don't tell your assumptions so convinced like they're the truth cause you'll only embarrass yourself, and that's not funny, isn't it?

If you didn't block me and saw this post anon, you could send us another anon question in respond, or comment here if you want, and will read it, idk if we'll make a public answer but yeah

Let this post get as a future base to ignore and laugh about comments like this, and if you want to ask us or comment something in this post even if you're not anon do it freely, we assure you we'll read it... So for now, bye :)

[koduflower2000]

"It's time to think outside the box 🤔🧐"

Hi! I'm Kevin, but you can also call me Kodu, if you prefer. I'm the actual guy from Twitter (X).

Pronouns: He/Him/They/Them (any of these is fine)

Age: 19 years

Nationality: Sri Lankan

Timezone: Indian Standard Time (IST) (GMT+5:30)

A straight guy who supports the LGBTQ+ community (more specifically, I'm a straight cisgender ally)

A silly child at heart

Open talker (yes, you can be friends with me if you want)

Draws art just by using a mouse.

Speed variation of me drawing is frequent (sometimes I draw faster, other times I draw slowly)

I'm currently learning Russian BTW. Я не знаю что я делаю. 😔

Also I'm learning Spanish, and a little bit of German and French for entertainment. I hope to learn Ukrainian, Arabic and Danish any time soon.

I do music (it's actually one of my favorite things to do)

I do programming sometimes (I haven't uploaded a single cool project in here at all, as I remember) (another one of my favorites to do)

I mostly don't swear, except when I feel intense emotions. (if you're comfortable with reading my posts with swear words, go ahead. I won't judge)

I reblog a lot, so if you really wanna see what I've been working on, here are some tags in which you can look around.

#koduflower2000 art - art by me

#koduflower2000 projects - will be a tag in which i present my art and music projects.

#koduflower2000 talks - mostly something i wanna say

#koduflower2000 answers - a tag in which i answer to tumblr asks in my ask box

Interests

BFDI:TPOT (Battle For Dream Island: The Power Of Two)

BFB (Battle for BFDI)

BFDI (Battle For Dream Island)

III (Inanimate Insanity Invitational)

AvA (Animation vs Animator) series

AvM (Animation vs Minecraft) series

Bluey series from ABC Australia

Chickn Nuggit (i'm sorry i didn't tell you earlier)

Minecraft

Saw and Gaty (totally okay with those ships actually)

Airy and Popcorn from HFJONE (totally okay with those ships as well)

Fanfictions (started writing one btw)

Rhythm Games

Gaming

Computers

Linux

Information and Communication Technology

Language and Culture Learning

Science

Technology

Sports

DNI list:

Basic (you already know it)

Ableists

Anti-semitic people

Racists

Homophobic people (basically homophobes)

Pedophiles (basically MAPs)

Sexists

Xenophobic people (including islamophobes)

Transphobic people (basically transphobes)

TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, in other words, transphobic people who spread their gender opinions which are considered to be uncomfortable to trans people)

Advanced

Extreme NSFW accounts (a.k.a. the accounts with >=90% of the posts which are NSFW)

Pro-Israel people (I support Palestine, and no one can stop me)

People neutral with Palestine and the Palestinian people (Palestinian people are the best and they're considered innocent. Period.)

Zionists (If you try to interact with my account, I would like to fight you and block you.)

Proshippers (problematic ships, not professional ships)

Comshippers

People who spread misinformation against me

On thin ice

People who harass me or any of my moots.

People who think they're superior than everyone for no reason. (the only reason why i put it there is because i want people to talk with me instead of harassing me, because i already had a lot of traumatic experiences on twitter)

Blog Landmarks

tee hee moot rose! ^ ^

me too (a tribute to all my previous moots who have been disappeared from the internet)

kinda the reason why i don't interact in here as much as i wanna

the most important thing in tumblr that hits you hard like a high speed train

elements of the intro are subject to changes which occur periodically

[formulafixated]

The 2010 Season: The Greatest Ride

(This is an old blog post from July 19th 2023)

AKA: Niamh yaps about a random F1 advert from 2011. Here's a bit of a curveball.

My original plan for my second blog post (a deep dive of sorts into the mythic nature of being a Ferrari driver) has been momentarily put on hold to make way for whatever this will be. And I have yet to know what this will be or how it will turn out but stick with me, okay!

Some context first. Picture me at 11pm eating some Shreddies as a before-bed snack and finding things to watch on Youtube while I do (because eating without having a video to watch is a fate worse than death), when I come across a video titled "BBC F1 2011 INTRO". I'm instantly like "oh awesome, love me a bit of The Chain", thinking this would be similar to other F1 intros of the 2010s era.

(Try and tell me you can listen to that song without thinking of Formula One.)

I was wrong.

What I was witnessed to instead was enough to make me stop eating altogether. I put the spoon down. My Shreddies were left to drown in the milk but I didn't care, I was physically unable to move as a result of this video. It was a montage of various moments from the previous 2010 season (a beloved season to me), set amongst Hans Zimmer's iconic 'Time' from Inception and over the top was a poem narrated by Eddie Jordan.

"But Niamh, that sounds way more boring and normal than you made it out to be. Shreddies drowned for this?" I hear you say. You underestimate how much a bit of film soundtrack and spoken poetry can impact a girl. I was so impacted, in fact, that I was suddenly fully prepared to pause my planned blog post (which in all honestly I still have yet to find the inspiration for, so maybe this is a good thing!) and write this one instead. I have got to talk about some of these quotes and what they refer to. Think of this as a sort of 2010 season mini recap, but only the most dramatic moments.

Here is the video, by the way. I urge you to check it out.

https://youtu.be/k_hFOC42Qcw

Let's begin!

(A warning: this is all just going to be meaningless drivel from my brain. But you probably already knew that)

“It had charging snorting bulls in the ring tamed only by those two who rode them. Unable sometimes to tame themselves, unable to control their own beast within”

Who doesn't love a metaphor? Obviously this refers to Sebastian and Mark at Red Bull and their tumultuous relationship that had started to develop by the second year of their partnership. Most people think mainly about 2013's Multi 21 incident when talking about the pair's most tense moment, but 2010 had its fair share of these too. Firstly, the wildly entertaining Turkish Grand Prix saw them collide after Seb attempts to overtake Mark on the inside. Due to the angle of Seb's car they made contact and he is sent spinning off into the gravel, with Mark managing to escape being stuck and continuing the race. This moment is so iconic, I think, because of Seb's reaction to it (watch it on Youtube if you haven't already, it's great) and the fact it was the catalyst for the downfall of their relationship. Not helped by the fact that three races later at Silverstone, an incident with Seb's front wing in final practice meant that the team replaced it with Mark's newly upgraded one. Seb then went on to take pole position in qualifying. As a result, talk about favouritism within the team arose. But that's a blog post for another day. Anyway, I love this quote and I think it sums them up perfectly; sometimes they really were unable to tame the beasts within. The way the shot moves from Seb laughing with Britta to Mark in the background looking all solemn and serious? Art.

“It had intrigue and inviting. It had a prancing horse and a rider asked to take a fall”

It's quite easy to wax poetic when it comes to Ferrari, but I think this line is just so good. I love it when Ferrari is referred to as the 'prancing horse', there's something so elegant about it. The lineup for 2010 included newcomer Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who had already been part of the team for a few seasons. The season before Felipe had undergone surgery due to an accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and understandably he had a slow return back to his usual form once the 2010 season began. As a result, by the German Grand Prix, Massa was 31 points behind Alonso and therefore not a championship contender. It was during the last few laps of this race that Massa was ahead of his teammate for a 1st place finish when he received a message from his race engineer Rob Smedley informing him that Alonso was faster. He quite literally said, ‘Fernando is faster than you, can you confirm that you understood the message?’. Felipe let his teammate through to take the 1st place trophy. Ferrari, despite claiming that the incident didn't involve illegal team orders, were fined $100,000 for the controversy. It didn't help that Smedley literally apologised to Massa after the original message... whoops. How many riders of the prancing horse have been asked to take the fall?

"It had those who would not lie down and told that they were not the chosen one."

The term "chosen one" has so much weight to it, right? Obviously this line relates to Mark during his time opposite Seb at Red Bull. Mark frequently vocalised his feelings surrounding the apparent favouritism within the team despite their adamance that there was no such notion. The initial tension caused by the swapping of front wings at the British Grand Prix was soon diminished once Seb took a trip off track and received a puncture, meaning Mark was able to storm ahead and take the win. During his cool down lap he announced over the radio, "not too bad for a number two driver", referring to the idea that Sebastian was Red Bull's favourite. This wouldn't be the first time Mark brought the subject up in a public manner, so it's definitely true that he refused to lie down and accept what was happening. No matter how much they tried to deny it, Sebastian was always Red Bull's 'chosen one'. The chosen one hand picked personally to bring the team to the top after years of disappointing results. And that he did. But God, did Mark try his best!

"It had new and old; new faces, new machines, new blood. And an echo of the past, a name, a memory."

One of the moments that genuinely gave me chills. The 2010 season brought with it five rookies, including Nico Hulkenberg and Karun Chandhok, as well as new teams. There were also new regulations regarding a ban on refuelling, a ban on double diffusers and a collective agreement not to use KERS. But despite the fresh faces and rule changes this season indeed brought several echos to the past. The 2010 season saw the return of a familiar name in Team Lotus, which hadn't taken part in F1 since the 1990s. Their livery even referenced the classic green and yellow colours of the original Lotus cars of the 60s. One of the rookies introduced this year was Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna (who even raced for Lotus during his career). I remember while I was watching the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, Bruno's engine overheated and there was a shot of his eyes through his visor. Martin Brundle reacted to the shot by saying, "that scares me, that looks like Ayrton through the crash helmet when the visor is open... it stops me in my tracks." Despite his unremarkable rookie season, I'm sure he brought back a lot of memories for F1 personnel and fans alike. In a similar vain, 2010 was the year that 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher returned to the grid to drive for the also returning Mercedes GP team after retiring in 2006. 2010 was the year of throwbacks and nostalgia.

"It had the spectre at the feast; a falling god now reigning against his own mortality and risking that of others."

Used to talk about Michael, this line was SO interesting to me. Firstly, the description of him as the 'spectre at the feast'. This phrase can be linked to a scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth where the ghost of murdered Banquo appears at a feast, and is used to refer to someone or something that brings misery or sadness to a happy or celebratory occasion. So why was this used in reference to Schumacher? Of course, the legend's return to the sport brought with it a lot of hope and anticipation that he would return to his former glory once he raced again. Nevertheless, Michael struggled to get good results in his first stint back. A new generation of cars and regulations, and a team which struggled to improve upon its previous success (Mercedes GP replaced 2009 constructor's champion Brawn GP), can't have made it easy for him. Thus commenced a season of misery and disappointment for those once hopeful fans. A so called "spectre at the feast". "A falling god reigning against his own mortality"; a god of the sport attempting to reestablish his former glory but unfortunate timing and circumstances meant he had to accept he was no longer untouchable. The last part of the line refers to Michael's sometimes aggressive driving style, specifically the incident at Hungary where he squeezed former teammate Rubens Barrichello against the wall of the pit lane while defending. The dangerous move was punished with a 10-place grid penalty the next race. People often claimed that while Michael never lost his ruthlessness, he had lost other aspects once apparent in his original F1 stint. Whoever came up with that line deserves a Nobel Peace Prize in literature.

And there we go. The 2010 season recapped in the words of whichever brilliant mastermind at the BBC F1 team came up with that poem, and a bit of my knowledge sprinkled in as its one of my favourite seasons. There's just something about art when it's combined with Formula One because the effects it has on a simple girl like me is groundbreaking. I eat it up every time! It turns simple car racing to something much more dramatic and emotional and interesting and I value every person who creates art dedicated to F1.

Please never stop.

Anyway. That was really long and probably quite boring, but I had so much fun writing it. I love talking about old seasons and I'll probably do it again in other posts. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

🪽🪺🪷🫧

For whoever you'd like! Sorry if this is too many you don't have to do them all Oops (markbeakskisser)

HIII!!! No this is perfect!!! I kid you not I could get an ask saying to do the whole ask game and I would do it in a heartbeat haha!! I love answering questions! (Which I have highhhlllyyly considering doing one of those things where you do the whole ask game and like link back to the ask game or such.)

But I'll do this one for Lightning :3 I think answering for him best suits this combo of questions hehe!

🪽 - what was your first kiss with your f/o like, if you've had it?

*muffled screaming into a pillow* oh, so you're TRYING to kill me here??(/joking). Okay but really though, we got very comfortable with each other rather quickly, and so we already messed around a lot and were a little extra affectionate with just each other, not to mention having to share a bed..very frequently since a lot of traveling during race season, whether in hotels or whatnot, it was almost like a second nature sort of thing. Ack, I mean, I hardly know how to describe it! It was very much a shy "are we really doing this??" Sort of thing, but it was getting late at night and we had spent it laughing and goofing around with each other over video games, and so there was just so much lighthearted playfulness around it that it didn't feel like too intimidating or intense of a thing, if that makes any sense at all. There was a little bit of teasing, but then we just went back to playing some games before going to bed, it was great, really. Like the definition of fluff.

🪺 - describe your f/os perception of you before you got together, compared to what it is now!

Okay, I love this one so much cause depending on who it's asked for there's some really fun answers hehe!! Which is partly why I picked Lightning, cause I love the answer for this one with him! But, he actually started out probably pretty peeved and/or upset with me! I mean, not directly at me, but more so my presence or the fact that I had to be there. It wasn't a personal thing, but he was very big on being a one-man-show as a rookie, and so he didn't really like having to have a team that worked with him, even if it was more beneficial. It was practically like him going to a pet store and picking out a puppy, haha! He went with me and just settled with it, grabbed the first one he saw and then left. He wasn't very keen on getting close with anyone either for several reasons, so he was practically set up to be a bit distant towards me. But, funnily enough, we warmed up to each other! Like little icecubes left outside the freezer.

🪷 - if the roles were reversed and your f/o was the one selfshipping with you, what would their blog look like?

Lightning would probably just run one of those blogs where he would reblogs a lot of things and maybe occasionally mention things in the tags of reblogs, and that's really it. His few original posts would probably just be big bursts of like lengthy paragraphs, either rants or gushing. I feel like he'd also not care and be one of those bold(/positive) people that posts what few posts he already makes into the main fandom tags, and not care if anyone stumbled across his blog or not. I don't think he'd go the full mile of making a carrd/strawpage/etc., and he'd probably hardly even have an intro post. He'd probably just do the bare minimum, maybe change his blog color every now and then to whatever he's feeling like. Hard maybe for whether he'd even change is profile picture to something different than the default tumblr one.

(This was so cute to think about I am trying not to get carried away here with it!! Maybe I'll make some post about it sometime with my other F/Os hehehaha!)

🫧 - what song(s) remind you of your f/o?

Funnily enough, I just made an incoherent post a while ago talking about Applause by Lady Gaga and him!! I think that song suits him really quite well, and I also think he'd frequently listen to it as well. Maybe I'm just biased from the vision of edits that my brain provides for me. I don't know XD I wish I could say a bit more cause normally I have very vast or in-depth thingies about why I associate a song with someone, but this one is rather to the point! Then again in all fairness, the song itself is rather cut and clear as well.

Dynamite by Taio Cruz is also an honorable mention.

[avaantares]

(yet another) rant: Please stop with the frivolous Trigger Warnings

(Note: If you want to skip the recipe blog intro and get to the actual important stuff, scroll down to the header that says, "Which Warning to Use on Your Post")

Sooo I made a text post that had a few words in capital letters mixed in for effect (the rest of the text was in standard formatting). Someone reblogged it with the tags "tw: all caps" and "tw: capital letters."

The existence of these tags, specifically in the form of a trigger warning, struck me as weird. I mean, I can see why someone might be uncomfortable with an all-caps text block, if they've dealt with abusive/angry capslocked emails or something, and I can see how large blocks of capitalized text could be difficult to read, and some users might prefer to avoid them. But...

Limited capitalization as emphasis (e.g. dropping OH WAIT in the middle of otherwise lower-case text to indicate a shift in tone) does not present the same issues as a solid block of capslocked text;

I have not encountered this tag in the plethora of posts that employ the meme/joke format of subverting standard case usage or alternating case (yes, the SpongeBob meme is a thing with an actual academic definition, and it also predates the existence of SpongeBob by some decades); and

Most importantly, while formatting definitely affects user experience and can be worth tagging for that reason, I wouldn't have escalated it to the level of a trigger, which is a term with a pretty specific definition:

The concept of ‘triggering’ describes the re-experiencing of unpleasant PTSD symptoms such as intrusive thoughts being evoked by exposure to materials which spark traumatic memories. Hence, content warnings have a long presence in psychiatric literature. [source: Typology of content warnings and trigger warnings: Systematic review]

(Full disclosure for anyone who hasn't already learned from reading my rants: I have a background in behavior science, so I'm all about scientific definitions and correct application of same.)

But I thought that maybe I was misinterpreting what was being tagged, and I like learning what I should tag in future posts, so I thought I'd look deeper into those tags and see if I was missing something.

Welp. It sure was educational.

Turns out there are established "trigger warnings" on Tumblr for all of the following (not a comprehensive list; these are just the ones I also saw when scrolling through the caps tags, since many of those posts had more than one thing tagged):

any text with two or more capital letters in sequence

any text in italics

any text underlined

any text in boldface

any text in a font other than the default

any text in a color other than the default (as well as tags for each individual color)

images in black and white

images in color (how dare color exist)

images with... subjectively brighter? colors

images without ALT text

posts containing emoji

and my favorite entry, which for obvious reasons I can't describe by the content it's supposedly protecting us from:

"tw just in case"

O_o

So... where to even begin.

I guess I'll get the promised rant out of the way (for those of you who prefer to stay positive, skip ahead two paragraphs): It's no wonder that much of society mocks the very concept of trigger warnings, when they're used this... I have to come right out and say frivolously. Heck, even I'm having trouble taking the greater Tumblr community seriously right in this moment, and I've been part of it for *mumble* years and practically live here. Who in the academic/corporate/entertainment/quote-unquote real world is going to honor a request for content warnings when they see that the """kids these days""" consider italicized text a psychological trigger they need to be protected from? And you can just imagine some dudebro saying, "Wow, these special snowflakes are so fragile they're even traumatized by seeing color, lulz. We should see what really freaks them out!" ...and that won't end well.

The obvious rebuttal to that point is to argue that these tags aren't intended for use by the outside world, most of which already thinks Tumblr died years ago. Not that this has ever stopped Twitter and Reddit and Facebook users from screenshotting Tumblr posts to claim ownership of mock before, but honestly the extra-Tumblr world is the less important concern here, so I won't labor that point. The more immediate issue is how this affects Tumblr users, the Tumblr community, and the experience we're all so proud of being able to curate for ourselves.

The critical point is this: Tags exist for Tumblr users to find things of interest and avoid things they don't want to see. Warnings exist for Tumblr users to protect themselves. Conflating the two can cause not only confusion, but the opposite of the desired effect of being able to curate your experience.

Please note that it is not wrong to tag any of the things listed above. By all means, tag everything in your post! Tag away! Tag your text formatting and images and colors! Use that whole tag space so people can find/not find your content as desired! But none of these things should be categorized as trigger warnings. Trigger warnings, content warnings, and tags are all separate things, and should be used appropriately so people know what to look for/avoid in a post.

Now, you may well ask: Why do the semantics matter? If something's tagged, why does it matter how it's tagged? Isn't it better to warn people about anything and everything that they might possibly not like?

For those affected by PTSD, trauma, phobias, anxiety, psychosis, optically-sensitive medical conditions, etc., being able to trust tags -- and the community's overall reliability where they are concerned -- can be critical to their health and well-being. When the community's tags become imprecise, sloppy, or unspecified -- for example, when people start throwing tags like "tw just in case" on their posts instead of actually describing what is in the post -- it becomes unpleasant or even dangerous for those people to exist in that community. And although doubtless well-intentioned, the kind of overzealous helicopter tagging that labels things like text formatting or the presence of emoji as a trigger does two things: First, it can confuse filters and sandbag search results (for search purposes, tags are treated like a word bank, rather than individual line items). Second, it fosters a general lack of regard for real, life-threatening triggers. If Tumblr users get used to seeing every tiny little thing called out as a "trigger" -- trigger warning, there's a picture of a bird in this post! trigger warning, I can't spell so there's probably a word misspelled in this post! trigger warning, someone used a heart emoji in this post! trigger warning, here's a photo with the color orange in it! trigger warning, there's a banana in this post! Self image trigger warning, I'm having the worst hair day, lol! j/k! -- then subconsciously, "trigger warning" becomes synonymous with "lots of things random people find mildly annoying, so tag stuff if you happen to think of it" instead of "a few important things we should be diligent about tagging because someone's life might quite literally depend on it."

I know categorizing tags can be confusing, and in recent years there hasn't been much consistency in usage on Tumblr, so here's a cheat sheet to help you decide what warnings to use (and to be clear, I didn't make these up; these are sourced from academic literature and teaching guides, and were -- back in the Olden Days -- also more widely used on Tumblr.)

For a more thorough description of the most common types of content to post warnings about, see this PDF.

Which Warning to Use on Your Post:

Trigger warning (TW): Used to denote content that may trigger a PTSD episode, a severe psychological reaction, or a physiological reaction due to a medical condition (e.g. epilepsy). Broadly speaking, this warning is intended to mitigate risks that may exist because of a viewer's personal experience and/or medical status. Examples of things that should be tagged TW: sexual violence; child abuse; flashing gifs

Content warning (CW): Used to denote sensitive material that may make viewers uncomfortable or upset, or that some viewers may prefer not to see, but not necessarily invoke a traumatic personal experience. Broadly speaking, this warning is concerned with a viewer's comfort level. This can include general concepts (e.g. discussion of homophobia) as well as specific instances (e.g. use of homophobic language). Examples of things that should be tagged CW: racism; nudity; death

Descriptive tags (not warnings): Used to describe the content of a post, without value judgment, so that it is searchable and/or avoidable. (And also to write rambling comma-free essays, because Tumblr is just Like That. But that's a whole separate thing.) Examples of things that can be (generally) tagged: the themes or topics being discussed; black and white images; capitalized text; insects; the color green; memes; rainbows; digital art; literally anything else that appears in your post

Can people still dislike/be upset by things that aren't on a broadly-accepted TW/CW list? Absolutely. But that's not quite the same as a trigger, and that's why we also have general tags.

Here's an example of the difference between disliking or being triggered by content (source: "The right way to use a Trigger Warning," emphasis mine):

Trigger Warnings are here to prevent people who have experienced traumatic experiences to be exposed to something that might trigger a physical and/or mental reaction. Trigger is the key word here. “Trigger*” is used to talk about PTSD and mental illness. “Triggered” and “offended/upset” are not the same concept. I can be upset if I see a picture of a beautiful cake because I cannot bake, but it won’t trigger a post-traumatic reaction. 

You aren't going to be able to anticipate every single person's likes and dislikes, phobias, emotional associations, and so on. There's a temptation to try to cover every base imaginable, but that's actually... less than helpful. Actively unhelpful, in some cases. In addition to the reasons I cited earlier, here's an example of how "I'll tag it just in case someone doesn't like a thing" warnings can be confusing:

Let's say I have two followers: WingHater96 has a deep phobia of butterflies, while ButterSuperFly78 adores butterflies. Tagging a post "butterflies" helps them both navigate my feed more efficiently: WingHater96 can block the entire "butterfly" tag, while ButterSuperFly78 can search for it.

However, let's say I tagged that post in the form of a warning like "tw: butterflies" and hid it below a Read More just in case someone following me didn't like butterflies. WingHater96 would still have that post blocked, because it contains the word "butterfly" in the tag. It would also still appear in ButterSuperFly78's search results for the same reason -- the presence of the warning doesn't affect search results at all. But when ButterSuperFly78 sees the warning tag, they might now be confused about whether the post is full of pretty butterfly photography (which they would like to see), or if maybe the reason I put a warning on it is because it's about butterflies being harmed, because why else would you warn someone about butterflies when they're the best things ever? But wait, does OP know that they're the best things ever? Is the warning there because OP secretly hates butterflies?? Do they need to unfollow OP now because they're a butterfly-hater??? and ButterSuperFly78 would not know whether to view the post or scroll past until they psychoanalyze me to determine my personal feelings on butterflies.

Adding the warning provided zero additional benefit for the person who already had the tagged thing blocked, but it caused additional problems for the person actively seeking out that thing.

Obviously this is a bit exaggerated (...though, speaking from experience, only a bit), but it's a lot more efficient to just list the things that are in a post in the tags without framing them as warnings. That way, people with different likes and dislikes can curate their own experience more easily, and know to take trigger and content warnings more seriously when they DO appear.

-

TL;DR Trigger warnings exist to help people avoid PTSD or adverse psychological/physiological reactions. Casually throwing the word "trigger" in front of things that are not triggers makes people stop taking the need for warnings seriously, and can confuse people trying to curate their Tumblr experience. Reserve TW and CW for actual triggers/sensitive content and use standard tags for other things.

[zeroducks-2]

Man I am so tired of people whose DNI lists include some trait of mine interacting with/following my stuff it’s like having to keep dragging someone’s damn dog out of my yard ‘cause they ain’t bothered to put a fence around theirs. None of these damn puritans takes any responsibility for their own damn lives.

I know anon. It feels like they do it on purpose. I had to block A LOT of people who followed me despite having a big fat "PROSHITTERS DNI" or "BATCEST BLOCKED ON SIGHT" in their bio or intro posts, it's not even funny.

It's already hard with the other way around, with having to check blogs' intro posts and DNIs if I want to follow someone, because it really does happen a lot that they don't want "people like me" in their followers count, and I want to respect that. There's one Batman blog in particular that I have been following for idk around a year? And recently I saw a post of theirs which vehemently told their followers to fuck off if they liked batcest or something along those lines. Again I respected that and fucked off, despite being just a silent follower and not having ever interacted with them.

Add on top of this the fact that antis often follow you, and if you're not careful to block them asap they will also send you hate (according to my personal experience at least) once they realize you are a "nasty proshitter". To those folks that diminish this issue and paint the situation in the light of "both sides are exaggerating", I say, do you realize that these guys send people insults and death threats? That if you're not careful as a creator you might wake up one day with 200 hate notifications in your inbox?

And yes, it does feel like some of them do not take responsibility for their own lives, and in some cases it's because it's not true that they don't want "proshippers" to interact with them - they even get pissed when their DNIs get religiously respected! - they want to pick a fight and play the part of the "concerned for the children", pearl-clutchy angel of righteousness while telling artists and writers to kill themselves over an artwork they consider immoral. That's how they get their emotional supply, and that's why I immediately block them if I see them following me: either they want to pick a fight and that is why they followed me, or they didn't realize what they were doing and they WILL get triggered over my content, so I'm doing both them and myself a favor.

But yes, it is tiring and very frustrating. I started this blog out wanting nothing to do with fandom discourse and the likes, but it kind of slaps you in the face whether you want to deal with it or not, doesn't it. Especially if you are a creator but even if you're just sitting there reblogging and commenting the things you like.

[kakujis]

Hi! I'm sorry but what does CPL mean? that's okay, i'll answer on my computer too and the app is just glitchy, it's not worth the risk.

that's true, leander could definitely be a big plot twist like he may had already figured out how to cure the MC but keep it a secret so she won't leave the city anytime soon. i've seen their tumblr blog but i cannot do that because it would remind me of the long awaited release date which is forever away LMAO. are there just characters page for the love interests or is there one for sen/elyon too?

i suppose since they are the non-humans character, it does seem likely that is the case. maybe, vere broke into the senobium and learnt stuffs that he shouldn't had ? or maybe he own them some debt or something ? that's true but all of these vital info would probably be reveal in the halfway point of each route.

if the moon was a person, it would be mhin like look at their character design! that's interesting though because i'm sure they and ais are opposites. vere is definitely eye candy but the studio had poured their hearts into their designs because the artists have added distinctive touches to their faces.

but vere's and leander (marks and scars) are the only obvious one, with the rest, you do need to look closely like mhin's beauty mark, ais's eyebrow with the shaven streak across the centre and the golden teardrops underneath kuras's eyes.

that's sound fun! good luck with that. i really like mhin because their character design solely pulled me and their character/personality because i saw myself in them which is probably a bad thing LMAO. i was leaning towards ais too but when i noticed his eyebrow, i got reminded of my brother because he naturally have that with his one so it hasn't been the same since then ;-; but i like kuras a lot!

there was a fem!li for another otome game called ozmafia but i think it was platonic romance? i think it was more of a friendship route since it came out in 2013. that's true, i cannot recall other female characters in otome game and if they are, they're normally a shit stirrer or the mc's rival.

i hope the studio see the fan comments about sen so they won't change her design because it would be such a waste! ais would be terrifying as a yandere though esp since he have those soul eaters (is that what they call) at his beck and call. but i feel like their approaches would be very different from each other like ais would be upfront and controlling but leander would be patronising and gaslighting.

like with leander, the mc would need to be smart to realise what's going on otherwise it'll be too late or they're just simply naive where they will never realise and i dk which fate is more worst.

speaking of yanderes, do you read/write yan! contents? i read them a little bit but nothing hardcore and i am writing some yan fanfics (bnha and tokyo revengers series) but i'm posting them on ao3.

kuras is very polite and private, he does fit his profession but i felt like he was someone who used to wear his heart on his sleeve but shit happened. the other origins would reveal more of him considering his dialogue towards but it'll only be trinkets/hints so ppl will play the game when it come out.

there is a possibility because his basic summary sentence that he's looking for the one thing that money cannot buy so he seem to be the only rich character. but sometimes, i do wonder if sen will be blind (?) considering her eyes and the scar/stitches on her face, it does look like she was in a horrific accident.

i'm going to add it towards the end but my shipping cost will be $20-$40 so i might just abandon the idea. i'm sure there will be a chance to buy more merch when the game come out but it's probably be more expensive than the kickstarter version.

yh, i saw that goal! do you think we might get partial voice acting for them too? but the animated intro, that is the studio's biggest dream, it's the one that they want to unlock the most.

oh, i know what that is but never heard the official japanese term for it, thanks for explaining. do you ever feel embarrass with your? because i've noticed that most of them have inappropriate designs so i never went ahead and brought them. from your body pillow case, i'm assuming you're a gamer (?)

well, i think that's a bit hasty too because if studio fail to develop the game, kickstarter won't be able to refund their pledge but i highly doubt that will happen but that's always a risk regarding kickstarters. (i feel like this is something mhin would probably say too LMAO)

i think the studio added more slots for that but are already sold out or on the last one.

hiya <3! cpl is a shortened way to say: couple! i write with a ton of shortened words n phrases, i'll keep that in mind from nyeow on! also hard agree on the app being glitchy, i've seen a ton of ppl saying even their tags aren't working and i'm like tumblr can we get it together just once!!!!

maybe! i think the way that leander is strong enough to resist the curse is telling in itself! god he's so mysteriouss, i wanna know more, sobbing. also, i think kuras may also know as well since he IS a whole angel + doctor. i didn't see any chara pages for sen/elyon yet! but i think we'll probably get those :').

i think so! either that or he willingly went to the senobium and ended up getting captured! ORRR he could've been betrayed? I know kuras used to work with the senobium and vere HATES him. EEEE MAYBE THATS IT? i'm not sure why kuras would sellout vere though.. hm. UGH NONNIE WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG WHILE WE THEORIZE..

YOU'RE SO RIGHT ABOUT MHIN BEING THE MOON UGH. i wanna write a drabble on that line now hehe. they're so beautiful, so pretty, so handsome and everything in between and beyond. i wanna make mhin my computer bg cause i'm soo in love with their design. and IKR LOL. ais seems to be a lot more carefree and mhin is a lot more uptight. i agree w vere too! i love his outfit a lot also, like it's total inspo for me irl ngl! honestly, i think the reason why mhin's is so subtle is cause if you look at their design compared to the others they are the brightest palette, in the sense that they're almost completely white besides their cloak!

AYYY no don't worry about that! honestly, i liked leander because he reminded me of me! super helpful and not asking for anything in return (except this is touchstarved so what do u really want leander.. :eyes:) ALSO LOL THE SIBLING TURN OFF IS SO REAL HAHA. i'm into kpop right? so no matter how handsome josh from seventeen is i CANNOT be attracted cus he has the same name LOOL.

ahhh platonic ... i like platonic love, i really do but please gimme my wife!! i actually have a couple of fem charas in my drafts, so i won't be surprised if i start something for sen when she's released and we see more of her! also i agree, i hate the 'oh theres another woman.. shes a rival.' i dont want a rival i want a best friend or gf, the heck.

AH THE SOULLESS! yes yes, he could literally use princess to sniff u out and bring u back. thats kinda sexy. i love that. absolutely agree on leander being gaslighty and ais being controlling! eeee. i think leander would be a lil more easy to read tho, especially if he's being antsy about something. i think it's cause during the demo he kinda just lets his thoughts slip out, at least from what i remember! i think being naive and unknowing is worse, cus leander has always been leander to you, sweet and kind, if not a little clingy so why is he suddenly acting like this? type of deal.

i do write yan! i'm not the best at it though, like i think my yan!kakucho n yan!baji fics are both just awright on the yan aspect, i could've gone further especially with baji's but he's so nice in my head that i couldn't lool. i have a suuuper old yan!nightowl ficlet in my drafts that i wanted to convert to a tokrev chara, i was thinking kazutora buut we'll see. also really? i need to start using ao3 more! i have my baji fic queued but i need to put my kakucho one up too :>. if u wanna share them with me anytime i'd love to read!!!

agreed with kuras, it does mention that he's failed a ton in the past, so he's probably much more guarded now even though he's still a sweetheart! it did say sen was brought back from the dead and is seeking revenge and her own death so maybe! as for elyon, eee i usually don't like rich guys kjdsdsksdf unless u reo mikage LOL. but we'll see~

ahhh that shipping is insane omfg.. >< maybe in the future they could find a way to lower shipping prices eep.. but i know thats entirely dependent on the post office, not them. also YES I SAW THE PARTIAL VOICE ACTING KADSNFSDKFN, i already have voice claims for them in my head but ofc it's all japanese va LOL. i don't know many english vas... but i was telling my friend that mhin as paku romi's role in aot(hange) is sooo spot on in my head. just paku romi in general i assign with mhin hehe. we're actually soo close to that goal already for the animated intro!! im SO EXCITED to see the next stretch goals after we hit it!!

nahh i don't feel embarrassed haha. i've become a lot more indulgent on myself and if it doesn't hurt anyone, there's no harm in having it! i don't necessarily sleep with him because i don't want my dog to accidentally pee on it (shes a senior dog who has a lot of accidents now) but he does rest on my bed! and yes i am! i play a looot of games and as of now, one of my dream careers would be to work on a game to write lore or a character in the future! maybe make my own game? who knows! a lot of them do have inappropriate designs LOL, but there are some that are relatively sfw. i know the obey me! dakimuras just came out but i read they're super expensive.. like 100+.

LOL yeah i think mhin would say that too! they're soo serious. c'mon mhin gimme a smile, -pokes-. AND YEAH THATS kinda insane to me how fast those tiers sell!! like dang!!!

[kelseytheballerina]

Hi 2pretty! 💖

I just wanted to share some of the changes in my life inspired by you and the people around me. This is a lot of text and I understand if you can't read it or share it.

A bit of context: I've been following you now for almost a year, I found you just before starting my first semester at med school. I was already burnt out and I generally felt depressed and miserable, and I wanted to change that. I wanted a healthier mind and body, I wanted to meet my goals.

Better Friends

Like 6 months ago I noticed that my closest friends didn't really listen to me or valued my opinion after we had a fight. I analyzed what things we had in common, and found that our fundamental values didn't align anymore. I wanted to live a quiet life free of drama, gossip, misery and online bullying. I felt trapped, but my mind was set. I thanked them for our times together and explained that I just didn't feel like it was appropriate to continue treating each other.

Since then I've felt very calm, I do not regret my decision. People have shown me how they throw indirects about me in social media. They have written to me directly like 5 times trying to make me feel bad. I moved on (although it was very hurtful to see their behavior) while they keep trying to scare me? Make me miserable? Now I'm in a small group of friends. I'm still getting to know them, but I feel like they're generally more chill and so far I've felt good around them.

Grades

My first semester was very hard. Everything was still online and a lot of things in my life felt overwhelming. I tried to be a disciplined student, but I failed to sit down and study. I had to push myself very hard to do the bare minimum, but at the same time did as best as I could? I felt like I was a car running low on gas, I wasn't at my best performance, but I was still trying to go after my goals.

I ended up failing a subject for various reasons: lack of discipline, feeling like my worth depended on my grades, stressed out by the fight with my friends, trouble in my family...

Right now I am retaking this subject, and I have pushed myself harder. I still struggle to sit down and study everyday. In fact I can barely sit down and study for my finals. But I go to all my classes, I do all the readings, I prepared notes, paid attention in class and I was one of the students who participated the most. Absolutely in love with those butterflies in my stomach when the doctors ask a question which I know the answer to, and despite feeling a bit nervous of speaking up, something takes over me, and before I realize it my hand is up, I'm speaking, answering the question, and I get it right.

Every now and then I'm in a limbo where I feel like right now I've done well enough or feeling like I'm absolutely mediocre. Still, I feel WAY better than before and I know that at least I'm doing more than the first time I took this class.

Today I heard I got an 86 on my exam!! It was actually quite ironic because this morning I woke up all nauseous and crying, exaggerating what I remembered about the exam. This is one of the best scores I've gotten since I entered med school. This is in fact the best score I've gotten in this subject. Now I just need to push through and do well on my final to be back on the regular track. I'm still struggling to find that fire in my heart to study, but this is the best I've felt and performed for years ((with performance I don't mean results, I mean the actual journey, preparation, acquisition of knowledge)). I know I can do a lot better and will work towards it, but I'm so proud to see my progress after struggling for so long. Like I actually teared up when I saw my score. It felt so good to see my work come intro fruition.

Self confidence and looks

Still working on this aspect. The afternoon I found your blog I read ALL your posts about pretty privilege. A year ago I really wanted to elevate my presentation because I've always felt lesser than other girls in this aspect.

I haven't quite found my style, but one of my new friends is constantly saying how much she loves my outfits. Another friend said she looks up to me because she feels like I'm elegant? I had never recieved such compliments in my life. This isn't some purely materialistic thing. Dressing up makes me feel good and confident. I used to feel very nervous of what people would think or say about me. Now I just go on and do things without caring much. I don't feel so small anymore. Also, a month ago I went grocery shopping alone. 2 older men went out of their way to help me when I didn't even ask for help. Being kind and looking good definetly gets you to places.

Catholicism

I was raised Catholic, but drifted away from God for various reasons. A lot of other Catholics have tried to get me back in, but it felt like I was some project to them? I always understood it came out of love, yet this is a journey I had to come back to by myself.

When you started to speak more about your religious experience I felt something. I was mainly intrigued by the way you described your faith and connection to God.

One of my new friends is Christian, and when interacting with her I noticed so many details about her connection to Him. Her calmness, kindness, discipline. There was just something about her that really drew me in. I started to ask her questions about her experience with faith, and it felt so real? Before when I'd listen to people speak about it I'd get the ick. Even when I was religious I couldn't understand when people described feeling His presence, power, love. But when she described it, it felt like the most genuine thing I've heard.

I hadn't thought much about my curiosity until last week, when before sleeping I suddenly felt the urge to pray and just speak with Him. I still have a long way to go to reconnect with Him and rebuild our relationship, but I'm speaking with Him almost daily (some days I've fallen asleep before praying 😭😭, in fact, most times I drift off, wake up, and continue praying? 😭 idk why it's so soothing to the point of falling asleep mid-conversation).

I always heard people describing how they felt God's calling, but it was so foreign to me, I couldn't understand it at all. But that night I felt very drawn to him, and I think it was his way of calling ME. I still need to figure out what He has in his plans.

Discipline

Definetly something I wanted to work on, but still struggle with. I really really really do struggle with consistency and discipline. Yet I know this is the highest point I've been since 2019? 2020? Don't want to be too hard on myself for this because I know I'll probably end up in some guilt spiral, but regardless of my outcome in this class (I might fail and need to retake it for a 3rd time) I will spend all summer building my concentration and developing different skills.

I have cut off Instagram from my life, still struggle with Twitter tho... I deleted all games from my phone. I only watch TV when I'm downstairs. I have almost all notifications turned off my phone, so now I only reply to messages when I willingly open WhatsApp. This last thing is great progress, because every day I'd notice how I would stay there waiting for people to reply to my messages, and all the stress notifications caused me. Will definetly work more on digital-detoxing.

Health wise I've been eating better. I'm overeating way less, I try to eat a fruit at least once a day. I am now eating 3 times a day at normal times. Everyday I go to sleep before 12 p.m (feel sleepy at 11 but sometimes I have to delay my sleep a bit...), I wake up at more reasonable times.

Haven't been able to start a fitness regime (had surgery like 2 months ago for ovarian torsion, couldn't do physical activity for a month, and tbh now I'm putting it off until I'm done with exams). I plan on running a 5k marathon by November to motivate myself to consistently work out these months.

----

I still have a LOT to work on, but I am very proud of my progress so far. I know there's untapped potential in me, and I plan to squeeze it all out. My progress might not be much compared to others, but it's honest work and I'm thankful for all the little and big struggles I've faced.

Like I said, I used to feel like a beat down car running low on gasoline that was still forced to power through it all. I felt so tired, miserable, depressed, and most of all doomed. I might not be the happiest person in earth, but my mood is significantly better. I do not feel dread, I am not envious of others, I criticize people way less, I feel loved, I feel confident. I was so spiteful that I deemed nature as something stupid and childish (out of my own spite and resentment towards people who were happier than me), yet today I was so happy to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin as I walked next my school's trees. I really cannot thank you enough for being such a positive influence in my life. Whenever you post about good things happening to you, I feel so happy for you and at the same time I feel inspired. I don't know if my message properly reflected how you have impacted my life, but please know that you have inspired me to change for the better. I have never been so happy. Really, thank you so so so so much 2pretty. Have a great day! 💖

(Sorry for any typos or weird expressions, I just let my mind flow on the keyboard. And again, sorry for the long message 😭)

My jaw is on the floor 😍. This is incredible! I love your transformation and I am so proud to have been some help to you on your journey. I love you. Keep going strong 💘💕

[hamsternamedmarinette]

i don't know if i'm just stupid and you already explained it but i still don't know what the hell was going on with all your coq courage stuff

Not to worry, I don't think I ever fully explained it. Here's the full story, complete with screenshots:

For the past.... I actually don't know how long, I never really kept track, but let's just say two months, I would occasionally get an ask from an anon, requesting that I search Coq Courage in the Miraculous wiki and post the image that came with it (an image of the silhouettes of all the new heroes to appear in season 4). I wish I still had them so I could show you exactly what they said, but I usually just deleted them when I got them (sorry anon). It was always something like "there's a spoiler in the miraculous wiki, search Coq Courage and post what you find, please and thank you" or "if you search Coq Courage in the Miraculous wiki you will find a picture. Please post this picture once you find it. Thank you in advance." Nothing rude or anything, but I just didn't want to humor it.

Anyway, I got another one yesterday, and I guess I was in the mood to be a troll, so I just made a post that said "coq courage" and nothing else. Then I got this message:

I responded by reblogging the post I made and, once again, saying only "coq courage". Then I got this:

This was now officially getting hilarious to me so I reblogged my post again and added "......................coq courage"

"coq courage?"

In the meantime, a lot of my followers were like "what the hell is going on" because they didn't know about the anon, they just saw me reblogging the same post over and over and only saying "coq courage." So I got a couple of Non-Coq-Courage-Anon asks too. But I answered most of those asks with nothing more than a "coq courage" and also reblogged my original post and added "c o q c o u r a g e", and received this ask in response:

In the tags of one of the normal asks I got, in which someone said "isn't coq courage the rooster miraculous holder?" And I responded with "coq courage :)", I said something like "maybe anon will finally free me from my prison now that I've acknowledged who coq courage is." Then I got this ask:

I also got an ask (I'm too lazy to screenshot it right now but you can see it on my blog if you scroll down) from a "random anon" saying "I looked up coq courage because you're posting it so much and I think the person wants you to post a picture of the superhero silhouettes... you should do that." At this point I hadn't said anything specific about anyone in my inbox, just what I put in the tags above, so I knew it was Coq Courage Anon. I responded with "well dang, why didn't they just tell me that :/"

I can't really take anyone seriously when they aggressively call someone "Hamster," nor when they only thing they can do to me is just repeatedly send anon asks, so I reblogged my original post again and added "C O Q C O U R A G E". Then I got this very convincing ask:

Unfortunately at that point I had to go run some errands, so I couldn't respond, and by the time I got back home I felt like too much of an errand-running adult to keep poking a Tumblr anon with a stick. So I just made this meme to give you guys some vague context

and changed my header title to "Coq Courage is holting me hostag in a volcano Help" (a reference to a post I made during it all in which I just typed out the Miraculous intro but boldened some letters to spell "I am being helt hostag") and let it be. Anon never sent me any other messages after that so I can only assume they moved onto more worthwhile things.

I hope this clears things up. It must have been funny just seeing me post "coq courage" nonstop with zero context though

[stitch-n-time]

Hi! Saw your corset-under-clothes post, was just curious if you knew- do corsets carry any risk of weird rib issues? I've been thinking of trying one out, because no matter what bra I buy or how they're sized, they cause rib pain. Would the corset fix that? Thanks so much! Your blog has been a welcome intro to fibercrafts

If you try to tight lace, or if you already have joint problems (most specifically with your ribs subluxating or dislocating) there is always the possibility that a corset will cause rib problems. However, if you do not have pre-existing joint problems, lace properly, and get a well-fitted corset, there should not be much of an issue at all.

The pre-existing joint problems I can’t really speak toward except to say that I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, so have ribs that dislocate randomly, and have personally never had an issue with anything like that. I have heard of other people with EDS who use corsets to help stabilize ribs, but it works differently for every one of us.

Lacing properly can be an issue. Make sure the tightest lacing is on your natural waist, which is the midpoint between the bottom of your ribcage (including floating short ribs) and the top of your hipbone. Most readily available commercial corsets are not laced in a way that will offer the tightest fit there, so they have to be relaced to ensure the cinch is in the right spot. Also, there really is no need to tight lace. That’s what a lot of people hear all the time - nothing but “tight lace tight lace tight lace” and it’s absolute rot. Very few people actually did that. Normally it was the social elite, and those who would never have to actually use their bodies for... anything. Most people who wore corsets on a daily basis (and who still do) lace tightly enough that it’s snug, but not uncomfortable. I can lace “tightly” for me and still eat a full meal without any more discomfort than if I grabbed a pair of jeans a size too small.

Last, a well fitted corset... They’re lifesavers, if you can afford one or make one yourself. I normally don’t necessarily recommend her videos (for personal reasons) but Bernadette Banner did a comparison of an off the shelf corset and one she made for herself. I recommend you give it a watch. She makes some really good points and comparisons.

All of this said, let’s be honest: bras are terribly made. They are a result of fabric restrictions during WWI and WWII. They are not as supportive as most people need, and they can seriously damage a person’s ribs, back, neck, and shoulders - especially those with larger breasts. If you feel that trying a corset would help, then I absolutely would encourage you to do so.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Divide”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back! It feels good to be doing some normal RWBY-ing in this strange world of ours. First, some supplementary materials.

Number One: In response to any (valid) questions along the lines of, “Hey Clyde, it’s now been a full year since Volume 7 was airing and you still haven’t answered my ask about it. Or the ones about Volume 6… what’s up with that?” I’ve created what I hope is an informative video detailing the problem:

(I assure you, the Earth, Wind & Fire was a happy accident during the screen recording.)

Needless to say, there’s a lot and I’ve known for some time now that I will LITERALLY never get through all my asks. Which doesn’t mean I don’t want you to send future thoughts in! Just know that as we head into Volume 8 territory I’ll most likely prioritize those, as well as any Volume 7 asks that aren’t woefully out of date. But I do want everyone to know that I read all the asks I receive, appreciate them immensely, and think too much about hypothetical answers, even if I don’t have time to actually write them out 💜

Number Two: There’s a bingo board this year!

Jury’s out on whether I’ll remember to update it, but at the very least this serves as a decent glimpse into my — and others’ — expectations going into this volume.

Number Three: I’ve collected a list of things I’ve heard about Volume 8 from what seem to be reputable sources. I did this because RT is developing a tendency to talk up certain points and then fail to deliver, either because something was taken out of a volume/moved to another, or because RT apparently has radically different ideas about what including something means. So this might be handy to keep on file and ask ourselves two months from now, “Did RT actually deliver on what they promised?”

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

I was also going to include a list of all the threads that need to be continued/wrapped up, but honestly that would have taken too large a chunk off my life. Let’s just throw out the highlights:

Are we really going to have Qrow gunning for Ironwood?

Clover is dead regardless. Press ‘F’ to pay respects

Oscar bb you got shot please acknowledge this

Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this

Penny is a Maiden now. I feel like the fandom has been sleeping on this (myself included)

Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake.  

Ren spill your deep dark secret already and it had better be something more than just ‘Oh no Nora might someday die :( ’

Salem is here so how the actual fuck is the cast surviving this?

Will Ironwood likewise survive his descent into antagonism? Yes or please yes no?

I think that’s all the biggies. I strive to keep lists like this in mind while analyzing, but honestly RWBY has a hundred moving parts that are abandoned or changed or simply retconned at the drop of a hat. So an attempt will be made.

Number Four (last one I promise!): Normal disclaimers and reminders for Recaps apply:

Please don’t fill up the already full inbox with flames. It’s still 2020. No one has time for that nonsense.

There will absolutely be typos and wonky parts because I try to get these out the same day an episode premieres. I have now been working on this for ten hours, nearly straight, and have no more energy for edits. Apologies in advance and RIP to my Saturdays.

I reserve the right to use stupid GIFs and memes at my discretion.

I strive to keep my focus on recapping/analyzing but salt tends to worm its way in… If you’re a die-hard RWBY fan with little patience for criticism, let alone (at times) snarky criticism, please proceed with caution.

No wait I lied, this is the last thing:

Okay, got that out of my system LET’S DO THIS!

We start not with the episode itself but rather Rooster Teeth’s (RT’s) strange non-promotion of it. If you follow my blog you may have caught the post where I pointed out that there was nothing on RT’s website to suggest that one of their most popular shows—if not the most popular show—was premiering today. Nothing on the main page. Nothing on the RWBY page either, not unless you count the Volume 8 poster background (easily mistaken for the Volume 7 poster) and the trailer buried all the way down past Episodes, past Merch, in the Bonus Features section along with videos like Live From Remnant and the volume intros. RT… the promotion of your feature show is not a bonus. This should be front and center! Honest to god, five minutes before the episode dropped I was checking the website for a Volume 8 section, a countdown, anything that would tell me the episode was imminent without relying on fans on tumblr to keep me in the loop. We got nada, zilch. I’m not sure whether that speaks more to RT’s iffy management of the series or simply the website’s horrible design—RIP losing RWBY on Youtube—but I was surprised when I saw the episode a few minutes after 11:00am. At that point I honestly expected to hear about a dely.

So that’s the mood I entered the premiere in, but truly? We start off strong. Things take a pretty severe nosedive later on, we’ll get to that, but I was impressed with our beginning and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we start with our villains.

We open on a Cinderella character, Cinder, and thus I’m immediately pleased that we’re getting something about her backstory after all this time. Seven years! She appeared in episode one, folks! To say we’re overdue is an understatement. There isn’t a whole lot to go on, just a younger Cinder sadly scrubbing the floor, poised under a spotlight. What we learn, or potentially learn, is based far more in cultural knowledge than this scene. We know Cinderella’s story, which includes the abusive family, the longing for more, the eventual escape, and thus we’re able to read all of that in this image, despite the image itself not telling us any of this overtly. That means we could be wrong in our interpretation, but if we’re not it’s an easy shorthand in an already packed story.

What I’m really impressed with is the sound bridge between the scrubbing and her nails on the back of Neo’s chair. Fantastic way to confirm that this is Cinder as well as showcasing just how far she’s come. The sound of her labor has been replaced with the sound of her power and given that Cinder’s power is stolen, tied to a grimm arm, the property of a genocidal maniac… that’s messed up. It’s a Cinderella story gone wrong.

So yeah, Cinder tells Neo to head straight into the creepy, grimm infested blood cloud to see Salem and Neo is like, ‘Uh… no thank you?’ lol.

RT does a good job this episode with her expressions, ensuring we know exactly what she’s thinking despite an unwillingness/inability to speak.

Poor Neo might be in too deep, but I quite like the overall atmosphere of this opening. Say what we will about Salem’s awful characterization, at least she has style. This woman knows how to make an entrance and, piggybacking off of the Apathy, RT knows how to infuse horror elements into their fantasy. The red and purple coloring of the clouds, spiked whale teeth peeking through, bright orange in the background looking like explosions… that’s all 👌 Including the intro card.

The only thing I want to gripe about is this:

I’m sorry, why does the whale grimm have landing pads? Or something like it?? The whale otherwise works because it’s poised between the natural and the fantasy synthetic. It looks like a real grimm whale on the outside, but is sporting a throne room, a control panel, and other unnatural elements on the inside. It’s a visual indicator of Salem’s ability to control and change grimm. Now though, the additions are wrong, infringing on the line between organic and tech, the line between what helps the grimm individually (giving monkeys wings) and what just helps Salem. Every other aspect of the whale straddles that line wonderfully, adding to the creep factor, like a grimm version of the Uncanny Valley: it’s not quite a whale anymore… but landing pads? That looks ridiculous. Why does Salem even have that? How many ships are her people feasibly using? Why are there five?

Take it away, please.

Cinder waltzes in like this is a normal home visit, but Neo has an appropriate ‘What the actual fuck?’ face going on.

They approach Salem on her throne where Cinder immediately kneels, greeting her with, “My queen.” I mentioned during my trailer breakdown that I think Cinder is lying her ass off here, and I still think that based on a line we’ll get in a minute, but now at least we have a sense of how she can pull this off. A woman who started out as a (presumed) servant is going to know how to mimic subservience, even if her heart isn’t in it. Salem is very good at playing the girl who will still kneel and scrub the floor for you. She will scrub the floor, she’ll do everything you want, she’ll just be plotting her own rise to power while she does it.

There’s quite a bit of interesting cinematography in this episode, not all of it good, and I think one of the mistakes is here when we get a closeup on Salem’s mouth as she greets Cinder. A closeup like that should be reserved for more significant dialogue—“Rosebud”—and yet we get this shot again when Cinder tells Emerald to be quiet. It’s awkward and coupled with the numerous eye closeups we got in the trailer, I think RT is playing a little fast and loose with the camera. Each shot should add something to the scene, not distract from it. If you don’t have a reason for including a technique like that then leave it be.

Back to the actual dialogue though. We knew that Salem knew Cinder was alive and now it seems that she just expected her to come back? I’m slightly lost. It feels like we’re missing something here. Cinder goes off to secure the lamp, fails, nearly dies, wanders on her own for months, and then randomly shows back up on Salem’s whale doorstep, yet Salem isn’t angry at all? Did she have faith that Cinder would return when she has something to offer? Did she just not care about Cinder, considering her return an unnecessary but otherwise welcome surprise? That would make the least sense given that she holds the key to accessing Beacon’s relic… but that circles right back around to why Salem is seemingly indifferent to Cinder’s comings and goings. Surely she can’t actually believe that Cinder is loyal?

“So I trust you wouldn’t return to me empty handed,” she says. Yeah, trust means nothing in this show, Salem, didn’t you watch Volumes 6 and 7? Again, I simply don’t know. I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to confidence, that if Cinder did bail Salem knew she could track her down again. Deciphering her motivations and beliefs is a lost cause when the show continually gives us so little.

The important thing now is that Cinder does indeed have an offering and you can see that Salem is somewhat surprised at being handed the relic.

Cinder, of course, takes credit for the victory and we’re given another wonderful shot of Neo. ‘YOU took it?’

Oh, Neo. Best get out while you still can.

Tyrian appears having obviously made his way to Salem’s ship sometime between her arrival and now. The exchange is pretty standard for this group. He insults Cinder for failing and needing this victory to make amends, talks about how any win against Ironwood says more about his lack of intelligence than her skill, and Cinder… doesn’t have a whole lot of comebacks, actually. I’d say Tyrian won that verbal spar, enhanced by a better use of the camera when we get his tail looming menacingly towards Cinder and Neo.

He goes on to say that Watts was a “necessary sacrifice” so, uh… I’m just going to toss out the ask I answered yesterday. Based on our intro I’d say Watts is still significant to the volume—hacking Penny is my guess—but by the end? He could be in trouble.

(As a side note: I plan to analyze the intro next week. It’s just easier when it comes first.)

Tyrian also calls Neo “little one” which I just found absolutely hilarious. In an on brand creepy manner, that is. Not that Neo couldn’t kick his ass, but there’s something wonderfully chilling about having the serial killer use an endearment towards a potential victim, one that comments on her size while he’s looming.

In contrast, Cinder refers to Neo as a “valuable asset” and we get our third mood of the episode.

Who’s going to start a Neo reaction image collection?

It’s true enough on the surface—who wouldn’t want an ally who can turn into anyone else?—but we’re still bumping up against question of why Salem needs this. She’s immortal! She has an endless army! Magic! This scene works well with a villain who needs a skillset like Neo’s to succeed, but Salem doesn’t. RT is doing a great job writing a story thus far, just not the story we’ve previously been given. This isn’t the story they set up.

This will come back up when we reach the RWBYJNOR group. Just wait.

Before that though, the gang’s all here as Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel show up, all in new outfits.

I think I like everything except for the weird Xs on Emerald’s jacket—it’s way too distracting and frankly makes an otherwise good look ugly—and the fact that she’s showing her midriff in Atlas. Hazel doesn’t have any sleeves! Oh my god, why doesn’t anyone dress for the weather in this show?

Frankly, I found their reunion to be kind of lackluster. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Emerald does sound briefly excited, she does run, and it’s in character for Cinder to cut her off… it just didn’t resonate with me emotionally. I thought after two volumes of thinking she’s dead, then working through the knowledge that she’s alive, that I would feel Emerald’s shock and relief more, but I didn’t. And I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to level any accusations at the voice acting because frankly I know next to nothing about that skill (and from what I’ve seen it’s usually praised in the fandom), but I will say that throughout the premiere I was noticing it more than I ever have before. The lack of emotion here and some awkward deliveries later, like when Yang goes, “Ruby, there is no way Ironwood will cooperate with us” and I immediately thought, “Wow, that came out stilted.” These observations stick with me because, as said, voice acting usually isn’t on my radar. It’s not something I’ve studied or had practice analyzing. If you’d never told me that Ren or Qrow’s VA changed then after a year hiatus I literally wouldn’t notice… but there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit right. Anyone else get that sense, or was it just me?

Regardless, the arrival of our other three villains really doesn’t amount to much, though I’m happy for all the Emerald and Mercury fans who get to see them in new outfits. The focus is still on Cinder as she delivers a line indicative of her true motivations: “That power will be mine.” Yeah, she’s not loyal to Salem, she’s just power hungry. Of course, Salem immediately takes note of this and raises her hand, in another nice use of the foreground, reminding her that she hasn’t given that order.

Cinder is shocked, angry even, but quickly covers it up with her “Without you I am nothing” line. If I caught it right I think she also calls Salem “Ma’am”? Hilarious. Again, skilled at playing the servant.

Also, before I forget, it’s worth noting that almost everything from our trailer appeared in this episode. Yeah, there are a few details like Nora attacking some tech and the group on their bikes, but on the whole we’ve already seen the majority of our promo material and will likely get most of the rest next week. It makes me both interested and nervous for what another twelve episodes are going to hold.

Salem opens her whale, or opens a portal type view in it, something that gives us a long-distance look at Atlas. I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s pretty so I’ll take it.

She also delivers the frankly badass line, “Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn does not make you a player.”

She waves them all away with perfect ‘You mean nothing to me’ attitude and we sadly leave our villains.

Sad not because I don’t love my farm boy, but because things are about to get a whole lot messier.

Oscar has made his way to a camp of civilian survivors… all of whom are just hanging out in the supposedly deadly cold. Yeah, there’s a single fire, but at least four of them aren’t anywhere near it. Three of them also aren’t wearing gloves. What was that survival rate again?

A nice if gruff dude gives Oscar soup—water?—while showing off his… badger claws? I don’t know what kind of faunus he’s supposed to be, but he feels like the sort of two second, minor character who could easily become a meme lol.

Oscar thanks him (my polite son!) and hands the bowl back after a single sip. Which is impressive because I would have assumed the guy was giving me the whole bowl and just taken it. Hell, I’ve done that even when I didn’t assume it’s all for me. A Starbucks barista once approached me with a tray and a plate of samples, I knew I was supposed to take just one, yet for some reason my hand went to take the whole goddamn plate. He had to tell me off, then I was trying to explain that I didn’t actually want or think I should have eight shots of cappuccino all to myself, I don’t even like coffee, he clearly didn’t believe me… it was awkward. So good job, Oscar. You’re less awkward than me (though that’s not saying much).

Now a question, Oscar. Darling. Brilliant boy who has been through too much: why the fuck aren’t you talking to Ozpin? This will be A Thing later when he presents a lack of time to talk as justification for keeping more secrets (we’ll get to that too…) yet here is time! You’re just sitting there for who knows how long, with plenty of privacy to hide a supposedly one-sided conversation so the Mantle citizens don’t get weirded out or suspicious. Talk to Ozpin. Our headmaster gets two lines in this episode, utterly inconsequential lines like his airship scene, lines that feel like they exist to say, “See? He’s still included in the story!” even though he absolutely is not. Two volumes of mostly silence, a perfect setup to start the reconciliation process, but we’re going to put it off again?

Instead Ruby randomly and conveniently appears. I want to know how she found him. Oscar isn’t wearing a tracker. He clearly didn’t call them because he’s surprised when Ruby shows up. He fell alllllllll the way back down to Mantle and then wandered to a random part of the slums. You’re telling me they flew over the entire city—after beginning this search thinking he was in Atlas—and somehow managed to spot him from up in the air? C’mon. I would have rather had a beginning where Oscar makes his way back to the group himself, giving him and Ozpin time to hash things out.

“Need a lift?” Ruby says, eliminating that potential. Sigh.

Oscar immediately starts beating himself up when he gets onboard, saying that he “was stupid to think the General would listen.” Nah, you were stupid to buy into Ruby’s nonsensical confidence and for telling Ironwood he’s as bad as Salem. Sorry, Oscar, but everyone is written badly these days. I will, however, say that I am THRILLED at the group’s reaction to his return. Ruby says that she’s “just glad you’re alright.” Nora has a wonderfully tender moment where she hugs him gently rather than her usual glomp.

That? That added a year to my life. Everyone else seems relieved that he’s okay too, so kudos there. After four years of Oscar being an outsider in the group, this is one of the few moments that feel like he’s 100% accepted. Really glad to see it.

Now let’s see if it sticks after they learn Ozpin is back...

They fly to the Happy Huntresses’ base and I again feel like I’ve missed something crucial. When did they team up? I mean, RWBYJNOR was working directly under Ironwood up until the last hour and Robyn ran off to fight Tyrian/Clover in the last couple episodes. When did she have time to explain her (briefly) changed allegiance and why would the Happy Huntresses trust the group without that? Did Robyn share that Blake and Yang went behind Ironwood’s back for her? Do the Huntresses instinctively trust them because they’re now wanted by the military? How did they even run into each other?

Again, I think we would have been better served to have an episode before all this. Let Oscar make his way back and let the group struggle with the magnitude of their situation on the airship, before they find new allies. Transferring directly to, “They have help and a secret base and a plan in the works!” makes me feel like I missed the real premiere last week. You know, the one where Salem unexpectedly arrived and we left the group like this.

This is where we’ve ended up though. The group is cozy in this hideout, getting info from Joanna, and my only other thought is, “Why is she giving all this exposition?”  

Shouldn’t it be May? I mean, we were told that she was going to play more of a role this volume, a promise that’s pretty important imo given her status as a (so far off screen) trans character, so why not put her in the role of mediator between the Happy Huntresses and RWBYJNR? Giving her that setup as a leader among her people as well as lots of lines would be meaningful. A trans character just existing and being a part of this fight! May could obviously still fill that role—I’m well aware that we’re only one episode in—but it just seems like a missed opportunity to me. Out of all the undeveloped Happy Huntresses, our premiere focuses on the one who has the least importance to the fandom.

As said, Joanna talks a fair bit but what it basically boils down to is trying to get everyone to the crater below Atlas. It’s apparently not safe, but it’s warm, which is what matters right now.

So… let me get this straight. You want to gather everyone into a not safe crater, by leading them through an army of grimm, so that they can wait there in case someone moves the Staff, thus dropping an entire city on top of their heads? That’s the plan? Which admittedly isn’t Joanna’s fault. This is another instance of RWBYJNOR having information that a leader does not and they should really consider speaking up about it. But of course they don’t.

Also, how long does everyone have in regards to the cold? Shouldn’t there be dead civilians by now? The time it would take to find the Happy Huntresses, team up with them, get settled in the base, and find Oscar says that things should be pretty grim right now (pardon the pun), yet every non-aura user in this city seems content to just hang out in the snow. Either the cold is deadly enough to justify moving everyone to the crater, or it’s mild enough to let everyone survive this long, not both.

After hugs are given everyone obviously wants to know what happened to Oscar. His response?

“It’s a… long story. I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.”

That’s a check for the bingo card! We’re halfway through the first episode and we’ve already got another secret. Yes, this is a secret. Oscar actively chooses not to tell anyone that Ozpin is back—something Ozpin himself comments on—and then skillfully draws attention away from himself with “I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.” Indeed, all eyes go to Penny. Oscar’s plight is forgotten, which is what he wanted. His justification?

Ozpin: “You’re not going to tell them?”

Oscar: “You and I aren’t done talking yet.”

Along with this look.

Oscar no. There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s create a list.

As said, you had plenty of time to talk to Ozpin and chose not to. Miss me with this excuse.

You are now doing to your friends exactly what you and your friends did to Ironwood, which in turn is what Ozpin did to you! I can’t believe we’ve got Oscar critically side-eyeing him when they are still—still—repeating the behavior they drove Ozpin away for.

What is there to even talk about now? Oscar didn’t punch himself/Ozpin (lol) but he did steal Jinn’s name from Ozpin in the first place. You got what you wanted, drove him away, and have been lying and keeping secrets ever since. The only thing they should be talking about involves apologizing. Any further criticism—which is what Oscar’s expression and curt reply suggests—is beyond hypocritical.

Seriously, what needs to be discussed? There’s no reason not to tell the group unless Oscar wants to talk about whether they should tell them. There’s no good ending here...

Don’t you think it would be nice to know that Ozpin is back and you’ve got super magic powers while making plans to save the entire world?

This is all especially stupid given Oscar’s “Salem wants to divide us” reminder to Ruby in a moment. Oscar, you are doing the most to divide the group right now. By not forgiving Ozpin. By refusing to work with him. By keeping him secret from everyone else.

This is bad, friends, I worry for what the rest of the volume will bring…

The story is done with Ozpin for now so I guess I will be too. The group continues filling Oscar in and we get some shots of the base, including a rather prominent poster of what I assume are two Happy Huntresses. Did they die in battle perhaps?

It’s a little strange.

Oscar: “Where’s Qrow?”

Me: “Likely still making bad decisions.”

No one knows so they just drop it. Which I kind of get, only so much you can do to find him if he’s not out on the streets like Oscar, but it still reads as kind of iffy that two nieces look down at the ground for a hot second and then move on with their plans, content to leave Qrow to whatever fate befell him. In a minute we’ll see Yang firmly take Ren’s side regarding helping the people they can in Mantle, which frankly comes out of nowhere for her. I think an easy motivation would have been Qrow. Ruby wants to save the world, Yang wants to find and save their uncle, and that just happens to align with Ren’s desire to save the civilians who need immediate grimm and cold help. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there’s finally some division between the sisters, I just wish it hadn’t come about so abruptly. Ren had setup for standing up to Ruby. Yang did not.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Joanna lists the grimm horde and no heat as the major threats to everyone. The group agrees.

Me: What about Salem?

Joanna says that this is all doubly dangerous because there’s “no more military protection.”

Me: Oh, so now you want the military?

This is all so disjointed. Even more-so when Joanna mentions that Ironwood has stopped all evacuations to Atlas, likely due to the “hard light shields” that are the only thing standing between Salem and the city. Thing is, the show never makes this connection, I just did it myself based on this scene and the one that comes later. The show presents Joanna’s line as a pure condemnation. Ironwood won’t let more evacuees in because… he’s just evil, I guess. Yet there is a justification here, namely that continuing the evacuations even while he’s stuck without Penny leaves him wide open to a Salem attack, the death of everyone currently safe, but that argument is never presented to the viewer. I don’t need people to agree with Ironwood’s perspective, I just wish that perspective was offered as an option. The show is very good about acting like RWBYJNOR’s opinion is the only justified opinion, or simply the only opinion at all.

After everything is laid out Weiss goes, “We’re never going to sleep again, I just know it.”

I could make a crack about the lack of continuity and how the group should be collapsing right now… but that was a funny line. It can stay.

What is far more of a problem is the fact that no one is talking about Salem. Okay, that’s a lie. They do talk about her, but in a roundabout way like her presence isn’t impacting every decision they make. That’s the real issue. They’re acting as if Salem isn’t here right now, like she’s off far away, maybe approaching slowly, and they’re arguing over how best to prep the world for her eventual attack. There’s no emotion here—let alone action—to reflect that the series’ Big Bad has arrived and is poised to murder them all. Literally what is this? Ruby is yelling about warning the world and, ignoring the continued question of why that’s a good thing when the world can do nothing to stop Salem and knowledge of her continually drives people to horrible acts, she has yet to acknowledge that… she’s the world? Ruby is the world in this conflict. She, Mantle, and Atlas. Salem is here for you all. Right now. You are, this instant, in the situation you want to warn others about, so why don’t you try to do something about it? Or at least acknowledge it. Ruby wants to warn the neighborhood about a potential fire while her house is actively ablaze, and the fire could have totally killed her by now but decided not to for… reasons.

“Ruby’s right,” Nora says. They have to tell the world so “they can prepare.” How? How are they supposed to prepare for this? The story cannot continue ignoring Salem’s immortality.

“Ruby’s right,” is all Blake says and I’m starting to thinks that’s why her character exists now, to agree with Ruby. It’s great that she’s getting a little distance from Yang, but man.

As Ruby asks whether Pietro can get Amity up and running despite it not being finished (called it) we start an incredibly odd sequence of flashforwards to their individual missions. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this already and though I agree that, in theory, it’s a good way to save time, I found the actual execution to be jarring. Upon thinking back through our timeline, it became clear they were flashforwards, but while watching I thought they might be flashbacks (especially since that’s more common).

Some of the shots, like Nora’s, just look awkward when you’ve got the exact expression and pose transplanted from one scene to another, like she’s a cardboard cutout behind a green screen. To say nothing of how the flashforwards ruin any suspense (I use that word loosely) in the conversation itself. If the question is, “Will they decide to go to the military compound?” then that question is answered when we see Ruby scoping out the compound, not when the group actually decides on the course of action.

It just made an already muddled scene worse for me, so I hope this trend doesn’t continue.

And of course, Amity can be used despite all the info last volume claiming that it wasn’t finished. Pietro suddenly acts like it is finished and the only thing standing in their way is Ironwood providing access. If that were the case, he would have used Amity weeks or days ago like he wanted to! When was it finished? Not after Watts commented on how incomplete it was. When did they get back the resources they needed from Robyn? It’s as ridiculous and retcon-y as I thought it would be.

Yang points out that Ironwood will never listen to them and Ruby counters that “he doesn’t have to.” They’ll just take the access from him. Because why wouldn’t they in a series where they’ve already stolen two airships? Stealing from the super evil military that Joanna wishes were helping them right now is just the group’s go-to plan nowadays.

Pietro isn’t sold on this plan though. He lists at least three obstacles they’d need to get through “and then… oh boy, I might need to think about this some more.” “And just to clarify,” Oscar says, “This is the easy option?” Um...no it’s not? We also know there’s an access point in Ironwood’s office so… why not go there instead? They really think the Academy is less guarded than the military base? There’s a potential justification here along the lines of, “After Neo and Cinder broke into his office Ironwood will have the place on high alert,” but unless I missed it the group doesn’t assume anything like that. They just listen to Pietro point out all the ways they can’t get into the military base and jump straight to that being the best option. It feels like a transparent way to create conflict for the group. We’ll just have them taking the most dangerous route despite an easy route being offered alongside it. Why bother mentioning his office at all? Just have the access in the military base. Boom, done.

It’s that conflict and the fact that Ruby tends to hear “You can’t” and digs in her heels. You can’t go to Atlas. I’ll just steal a ship then. You can’t defeat Salem. Watch me. You can’t break into this base. Guess what I’m doing! She’s dangerous in her fairy tale, meta-driven insistence that everything will turn out her way because she wants it to.

Speaking of, we finally—FINALLY—get someone challenging Ruby. Sort of. Not actually but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten:

Yang: “Ruby, when we came here we said we’d follow your lead… but things haven’t exactly worked out.”

Now, there are two things to take away from this moment. The first is how utterly shocked Ruby and the others are. I mean, take a look at these expressions.

Ruby straight up can’t believe what she’s hearing. Weiss put her hand to her mouth like this is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. Oscar looks down in a ‘Yeah, I agree but please don’t look at me and make me admit that’ way. And Nora looks indifferent in the screenshot but animated she goes sort of stern, likely pissed that Yang would dare say that given her own agreement with Ruby. This not only reiterates that Yang’s challenge came out of nowhere—seriously, how did we move from following Ruby no matter what to this? Last volume she asked a single question along the lines of, ‘You sure?’ and when Ruby said ‘Yes’ Yang was entirely on board—but also demonstrates that no one has EVER said no to her before. Ruby is amazed that someone would challenge her. The act of challenging Ruby is, in and of itself, shocking. This group has gotten so used to following Ruby blindly that the teensiest little pushback is greeted with this.

Because it is teensy. This is the second takeaway: Yang barely challenges her and that challenge leads nowhere. She doesn’t accuse Ruby of anything, she doesn’t question her continued authority, she just broadly implies that things could be better. We followed you, now things are bad, take from that what you will. It’s incredibly mild as far as criticism goes, making the shock all the more, well, shocking, but it also amounts to—wait for it—nothing! Because Yang didn’t truly challenge Ruby’s leadership. She’s still in charge, she’s still calling the shots, and they���re still listening to her. We might have gotten some change if this division had been allowed to play out, but instead Jaune comes in with a, “Let’s go for both!” solution. It let’s both groups get what they want which, in turn, releases them from the need to grapple with whether they’ll listen to Ruby when she’s advocating for something they don’t agree with. We have now lost the chance to see whether, when push comes to shove, Ren and Yang will cave to Ruby’s will or stick by their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s more conflict than we’ve gotten in years, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly compelling conflict. It’s good by RWBY’s standards, which doesn’t necessarily make it good. The actual issues at hand—Ruby’s dangerous arrogance, the group’s loyalty, her choices up until now—are just swept under the rug. For all the visuals we get insisting that there’s this great divide in the group… there’s really not. Not in any way that matters.

Also, Ruby is an idiot. Okay, that was mean, but she really is in this scene. She’s actually not an idiot overall because she was written as wonderfully intelligent in the early volumes, but now? Lately? She makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

“But that’s how Salem got this far,” she cries. “By dividing us!”

Ruby… oh my god, Ruby. No one should have to explain to you that dividing people means turning them against each other, not literally dividing your team to complete separate tasks. This girl honestly thought that because there was this teensy disagreement and that half the team would complete Plan A while she and the other half completed Plan B, both of which notably work towards the goal of, “Protect people from Salem,” that this was somehow what Salem wanted. That is was dangerous. Honestly, it’s a scary look at her view of leadership too: If everyone doesn’t 100% agree with me and do what I say, that’s an objectively bad thing that the grimm queen wants, right? Does Ruby think that unification means following a single person (her) without question or variation? That would explain a lot...

The fact that Oscar needs to explain the difference to her is not good. It really doesn’t say great things about this version of Ruby. Though he was comparing Ironwood to Salem last volume, so really they should all be wearing dunce hats.

Penny offers to take the relic directly to Salem in exchange for her leaving the kingdom alone. I honestly didn’t expect that. If anyone took that risk I would have put my money on Ozpin (but of course, during all this talk of the women he knows best, he’s kept quiet). Oscar is again the voice of wisdom, pointing out that they have no reassurance that Salem will keep her word. At least Penny is thinking about Salem as a threat though, so kudos for that. When this plan is shot down she volunteers to get Ruby past the military security instead and, uh, she’s a little intense about it.

I’m not entirely sure what is going on with Penny. She disagreed with Winter but then seemed to come around to her point of view, enough to help anyway. They had another (stupid) disagreement about the value of individual lives, so that helps to explain why she’s teaming up with RWBYJNOR (if you ignore that Ironwood is also trying to save individual lives...). Did watching Fria die shake her up? Is it being the Winter Maiden that’s not sitting right? Does Penny have lingering feelings about the framing that haven’t shown up until now? Her status as a ‘real girl’? We’ve got a lot of reasons that could definitely explain this sudden need to fight, but we’re not told which—if any of these—is the driving force.  

We’re then given a lot of little details. Someone points out that if Salem gets the staff and “create[s] anything else” then Atlas will fall (so yeah, let’s move the people underneath it). We still don’t know what exactly the Staff does because “creation” is kind of broad and “powering a city to float” doesn’t seem to sit within that category at all. Pietro gives Yang the keys to his lab so they can get the bikes. We see the group dividing in the flashforwards, something I do like, especially since the show has gone out of its way to break up most of the usual duos. Nora in particular is pissed at Ren for his choice.

“Oh, I’m saving Mantle because I actually believe we can do this.”

#yikes. Well, I did say I wanted a conflict other than ‘Oh no, one of us might die’ and it looks like I got it. But Nora, the only reason you can do this is because the plot is in your corner: none of you are collapsing from two major fights, you didn’t lose your aura so the cold isn’t a danger, the military is barely a threat all of a sudden, Salem is helpfully hanging out in her whale instead of killing you, and the story decided that Amity can function so long as you all are the ones who get to use it. That’s why you can do this. Ren, who follows in-world logic and doesn’t want to risk a whole kingdom’s worth of lives on a pipe dream, thinks differently, oddly enough.

As they leave though Penny gets a call from Ironwood. I know precisely what the fandom is going to say here: “This evil man is just trying to use Penny to open the vault!” Of course he is. He needs it open to save everyone he can, Penny included. Plus the concept of “using” her is a double-edged sword. What do we think the group is doing right now? Using her to get past the security. Penny’s power is a tool any way you slice it. Granted, Penny volunteers to help the group, but notably here Ruby speaks for her. Penny seems torn and Ruby takes the scroll away with, “She’s not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.”

Sorry, Ruby, but coming from you that sounds less like a reassurance for Penny and more like just an order for Ironwood. Remember Harriet? We’ll stop attacking you provided you do what we want. Ruby has yet to learn about compromises, let alone acknowledge that she might be wrong. How about you let Penny decide where she goes, especially since by all logic she should have a lot of loyalty to Ironwood. She knew him before she ever met you. She’s worked with him since she was rebuild post-Volume 3. Despite what Penny has said, if the story would just let her think about his actions for a hot second—making her the protector of Mantle, sticking up for her after the framing, sending her to the party, teaming her up with Ruby, etc.—she might realize that the ‘He doesn’t want me to have friends’ and ‘He just treats me like a tool’ assumptions are just that, unfounded assumptions. But no, Ruby speaks for them both because Ironwood is evil now.

“If she makes it through our defenses,” Ironwood says, “everything that follows will be on your hands.”

That’s true! Kind of like how it’s own Qrow’s hands that Clover died. When you insist on making a bad situation worse you hold responsibility when the shit hits the fan. You know though that Salem won’t get through their defenses now, somehow, so that there’s no chance RWBYJNOR will be blamed for it. Or, by that point Ironwood will be so crazed that anything coming out of his mouth is dismissed, no matter how accurate it might be.

We then transfer to the Ace Ops who are, despite what the fandom theorized for many months, clearly upset about Clover. Also pissed. Which they have every right to be. Their friend and leader was killed. Imagine for a moment that Ruby had been murdered by Tyrian with an allies’ help. Exactly what do you think the group would do? Swallow it quietly and get over it? Ha.

I’ve already seen some speculation that Clover survived due to details like showing us the bandage and his room being listed as for a “Patient,” but he looks pretty dead to me.

He got gutted through the chest and left out in the snow for who knows how long. We saw him slip away. Qrow screamed over his dead body. He’s not breathing now. If RWBY suddenly claims he survived this, I’m calling BS.

Most of the other visuals we get here were already dropped in the trailer. Winter is pretty injured from her encounter with Cinder, likely permanently based on her new outfit. Ironwood had to replace his arm—and I am calling BS on that “Losing his arm is reflective of him losing his humanity” commentary from RT. Please go read up on a couple decades worth of ableism in media and then get back to me.

We get Ironwood’s line about the light shields and, notably, a whole lot of empathy. Regardless of what he might want Penny for, he still called her with compassion. He’s watching the Ace Ops mourn their friend. He’s talking about protecting his kingdom. The first thing he says to Winter is, “Thank you, Winter. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Ironwood has a heart! It’s always on display, which makes this scene utterly ridiculous.

I literally don’t know how to respond to this. The gunshot made me jump, both because it’s a gunshot and because, again, what the fuck? I know I said that next volume RT might just have Ironwood descend into full villainy, shooting whoever he pleases now that he’s shot Oscar, but I didn’t actually expect them to do it. Because he never should have shot Oscar in the first place! I wanted the story to let Oscar grapple with it a bit and then quietly backtrack, acknowledging it as the mistake it was. The concept that Ironwood, empathetic Ironwood, rational Ironwood, always thinks before he acts Ironwood, let’s kids yell at him Ironwood, tried to team up with Robyn Ironwood, did everything Ruby wanted Ironwood, won’t kill Watts after he destroyed his arm Ironwood would shoot this guy just to shut him up is absurd. It was absurd then, it’s absurd now.

That being said, there’s a possibility he didn’t actually shoot the council member, but rather just (“just”) gave a warning shot down the hallway. I say this because the reactions to this are pretty tame. Everyone looks startled, yeah, but after the initial shot there’s nothing that I would expect if there was now a guy bleeding out on the floor. The council woman doesn’t scream. Winter doesn’t seem overly shocked. No one is running to try and help him. Basically, if Ironwood had just killed a political figure in front of six witnesses, entirely unprovoked, I would expect a bit more of a reaction than this. This feels far more like a, “Damn he’s not joking around, letting off warning shots to get people to leave him alone” not “WOW, our general just killed someone in cold blood!”

What I really hate though—beyond just assassinating his character—is how many fans think my friends and I are delusional for calling it character assassination at all. I hopped onto the RWBY tag for five minutes this morning and was bombarded with posts about how Ironwood needs to be murdered horrifically, anyone who likes him is sick, the Ironwood stans are as bad as Adam stans, you’re an idiot if you want him redeemed… because apparently the concept of a story writing a character badly doesn’t compute. I’m not here to argue that Ironwood didn’t do these awful things (regardless of whether he actually killed the guy or not). I’m not here to argue that they’re not awful. I’m just here to say that we never should have gotten these scenes in the first place, or if we were going to get them, we deserved an actual descent into murder at the drop of a hat territory. I’ve already explained extensively on this blog how early Ironwood was not accurate foreshadowing for this, and Volume 7 certainly wasn’t setup, but it looks like the majority of fans aren’t interested in examining whether any of this adds up. Which makes my job, as someone trying to examine this series somewhat objectively—in as much as that’s possible for any single viewer—as well as simply enjoy it as a show, really hard. It’s bad enough when a story keeps taking the characters you love and villainizing them, and doing that badly, but then when you turn to the community and see them rallying around the idea that you’re awful for being dissatisfied—you’re the bootlicker, you’re the blind stan, you can’t see what’s ‘really’ going on here… that sucks. For those of you happy and satisfied with Ironwood’s arc, that’s great! I’ve also seen a lot of posts hyping up the complexity of his character now. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what we’ve been given and I’d never want to imply that just because it’s not what I wanted it’s somehow wrong. I’m honestly thrilled that after a year of worry so many people have adored our premiere, including this scene. I just wish that I could say RWBY had given me something I didn’t want in a persuasive manner and that the fandom as a whole was a bit more welcoming of differing criticisms.

Not that I didn’t already know the RWBY fandom had its flaws, but still lol.

That’s basically it for our premiere. Nice note to end on, huh? Our final scene is of Salem using the lamp to set her bloodhound grimm on the city. Why doesn’t she just go herself? What was she planning to do here in Atlas in the first place, considering that getting the relic was a surprise? Who knows. Little about this holds together. But we do end with another awesome shot, so small favors.

It’s always strange concluding a recap, but even more-so when it’s a premiere, during a historical moment in the U.S., amidst all the nonsense that is 2020. So for now I’ll just conclude with three quick things:

The updated bingo board will be listed at the end of each recap, provided I don’t forget about it lol. Today I’m checking off tone (not nearly enough freaking out about Salem), the team keeping secrets (Oscar), and major plot point dropped (Amity is suddenly finished). I could also probably check off the cold not killing civilians and getting Amity up and running, but we’ll see if any changes with those.

I’m including my Ko-Fi link at the end of recaps now. Not with any expectations. Not with anything resembling pressure. I thought long and hard over whether to include it at all—let alone mention it here—because I love doing these and never want anyone to feel like it comes with strings attached. But life is a little harder and weirder than it was last year, so I figure it can’t hurt. Feel free to pass on by and I won’t be bringing it up past this note.

Far more importantly: thank you for reading! :D

(Bonus 4. Editing this was an absolute nightmare — damn you, tumblr!  — so I apologize if anything is super wonky when I finally post.)

See you next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[dysgeneration]

What's in the Box, Sara?

I can't remember how many years had passed since my last blog, and honestly, I never thought that I'd be doing one again. But the Philippine Presidential Election is coming, and there is a specific topic that interests me. Well, not really! I'm just bored. I am talking about the withdrawal of Sara Duterte to run for Mayor in Davao City. Of course, some people said it was predictable, especially those who just learned this tactic from President Rodrigo Duterte. It makes me laugh seeing those TikTok kids acting like political geniuses.

Ok! That's enough for an intro.

Let's get straight to the topic.

When the headline first came in, I saw a lot of posts on social media making memes of Sara Duterte, saying that the old tactic she's recycling from her father will not work again. Unfortunately, that's true! This is about the theory that she will file a candidacy for Presidency at the last minute, like what her father did. Well, if I am a 15-year-old teen, that's the first thought I'll have most probably. Now, I'm not saying that it's not possible, but does it make any sense? Let me lay out some factors why it does not (to me, at least).

Factor #1:

As the critics said, the "last-minute strategy" was used already by Sara's father, so its effectiveness might not be as good as before. I totally agree! Using that kind of strategy again is next to useless, and Sara Duterte knows that. C'mon, guys!

My take is that her early statement that she will not run for a national post is not a strategy at all, but to distance herself from her father's party "PDP-Laban". If there is someone that PDP-Laban wants to be their Presidential bet, it's her. But based on Sara's recent statements, it looks like she's not delighted with the party and it must be because of the internal conflicts and issues that it's facing right now.

Factor #2:

Sara Duterte running for President could be an advantage to the opposition. Why? If she chooses to run for President, the votes could split between her and Bongbong Marcos. If that happens, it will just serve the opposition's objective.

Some may argue that Sara is taking the lead in the Presidential bet according to the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia, and she's not even announcing yet. So, the vote split is unlikely to happen, and it won't be a problem for her in case. The tide is on her side. Yes! That argument may be true! But if we look at the numbers, she only leads by 5%, and relatively, it's not that big. Remember, we're still seven months away from the election, and there's still a lot that could happen. We also have to consider the President's future performance for those months to come. It could affect the people's vote as well.

Factor #3:

If you would be running for President, you'll want a Vice-President that would be on your side (vice versa). If Sara runs for the highest position, I don't see any running-mate for her that is strong enough to beat Tito Sotto. That's right! Tito Sotto is currently 25% in the latest survey for the Vice-President position, and that's a pretty big number! I doubt that the current administration would want him on the seat.

Now, because of the recent meeting of Bongbong and Sara in Cebu, others think that Marcos Jr. might pave the way and will run as a Vice-President instead, but I doubt that too! He waited for this for a very long time, and it's not just for achievement; it's to rebuild his father's name in the political arena, and that is not a secret. The momentum is clearly on his side. It's now or never! The most tactical move that I see here is for Sara to run as Vice-President for Marcos Jr., and their own respective supporters will help both of them win.

Factor #4

Rep. Salceda's interview with Karen Davila. In this interview, Salceda said that Sara always wanted to run for President even from the start. Now, this may sound funny, but this interview even convinced me more; that Sara will run as Vice-President and not as President. The thing is, why would her ally say this kind of thing if Sarah Duterte herself hasn't announced yet the position she's vying for? I have a strong feeling that it was a diversionary tactic! And if that's the case, believe me, or not, it was not to confuse the voters but for the opposition to scratch their heads.

Factor #5

Sara already joined the "Lakas-CMD" after leaving her previous party "Hugpong ng Pagbabago". For those who didn't know, the President of Lakas-CMD is Martin Romualdez, the first cousin of Bongbong Marcos. I don't need to say much about that. Use your imagination!

The remaining question is, "What will happen to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Sen. Bong Go?"

My answer is "Do I really need to explain their roles in the coming election?"

If Sara and Bongbong join forces, what do you think they'll do? Yeah! You get the idea!

Looking at these factors, my conviction tells me that Sarah will run for Vice-President and not for President. And if that happens, I believe the opposition, especially the Liberal Party will be in dire straits. The possibility of a Marcos-Duterte tandem is like a bullet that is almost impossible to dodge, and it will be very hard to stop the bleeding!

But then again, all of these were based on my perspective. I can be wrong. Sara may run for President at all, and the decades of friendship between the Dutertes and the Marcoses will soon face its end.

<'))><

[unabashedrebel]

Top 10 Characters

In no particular order

1) Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) Can I just say that I love how the reboots, both the movie and the new trilogy of games were phenomenal as a long time fan of this character? They did her right. They focused on her origins, how she came to be this mythic Tomb Raider who delves into the greatest mysteries of the world while fighting against an evil Illuminati type organization.

But she always has tenacity. She always has grit. She’s not always sure of herself, or her abilities, but still continues to do it anyways because it’s the right thing to do. Not to mention I love the whole cultured rich girl who gets her hands dirty literally all the time. I’ve loved everything about her characterization in the last few years.

2) Really the entire FF7 cast but; Tifa Lockhart (FF7) Is anyone actually surprised by this one? Look at my blog. It’s pretty Tifa-rific lately. Honestly I have no good excuse for this, I can’t actually trace back what the reason was that started me on really liking her character. Basically because she’s been my video game wife since I was about 10 years old.

I guess, if I really thought about it, I enjoy her realness. She’s an optimist but not fully in your face about it, she promotes kindness, she’s the mom friend. Always looking out for everyone else at the expense of herself. They’re traits that I really admire in people, and you know what? It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that maybe those feelings were in part brought on by a video game character from my childhood. Not only that but I’ve always loved the story thread with her about the conflict she faces in doing what she believes is the right thing, and the fallout that ensues.

Not only that but she’s a fucking badass.

3) Spider-Man (Peter Parker, Marvel) Shout to to the most relatable super-hero ever created. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Spider-man is a staple of New York, even if he’s fictional. He’s just... boiled down to that essence of a Queens kid. It’s amazing as someone from around this area.

But seriously, I think I like Peter the most because he really is relatable. He really does worry about the same things I find myself worrying about. He really does shoot out quips like that’s his super power. He really does try and do whats right regardless of what others think. He’s conflicted, he’s unsure of himself, he’s been granted this great power and feels the need to go out and help people with it, and again at great personal expense. He’s, to me? What a hero should be.

I guess I like him so much because I see a lot of myself in him. I can relate and put myself in those shoes. I can relate my experiences to his, and i’m not talking about getting bit by a radioactive spider. I’m talking about the human side to Peter Parker. His stresses when he’s out of the tights.

4) Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher, and again I love all the characters Geralts just tops. Ciri was a close second.) Yeah, yeah call me out and say ‘someone just binged’. YOU KNOW WHAT MAYBE I DID FOR THE SECOND TIME YOU CANT STOP ME.

Seriously though. For a character who does not like being social? Geralt is so beautifully written for. Fun fact, I haven’t actually played the games save for the half way through 2 and the intro to 3. But I read the first novel and I’m working my way through the second, and Geralt? He’s a man of few words. But when he does speak? Everybody fucking listens.

5) Kassandra (AC: Odyssey) Uhhhh, first women to win the wrestling Olympics? How could I not.

As a long time fan of Assassins Creed and the wonderfully written characters that I have been lucky enough to get to know as protagonists? Kassandra takes the cake. She was blunt, sassy, smart, and took nobodies shit. Forever has she branded the word Misthios in my head with that Greek twang. To the point where I get excited when I hear it.

Maybe it was a mix of being in the Ancient Greek world with her, another one of my favorites. But there was just something about her character that stuck out to me. Something I haven’t seen in their writing since Ezio.

6) Joel (The Last of Us) How the fuck could I not love the gruff and sad dad?

Dude the characters in this game were so insanely well done. Like you could literally tell that, besides the fact that it was an amazingly fun game? The dev team TRULY cared about the story, the reception, and the buildup.

Lets be real. That first scene with him when everything starts is about as heartbreaking as it comes. It sets you up to really accept that this man has lost everything, that he no longer cares about anything but survival, because he’s already learned that when you care? Those things can be easily taken away.

He’s cold. He’s quick. He’s capable. He’s ignorant to everyone else. Right up until he meets Ellie and that little girl begins to peel back the layers and show that Joel, under it all, is actually a pretty good guy who has been dealing with his trauma by building up walls.

All and all? I would recommend anyone playing this game just to see the transition of Joel. Ellie, as well, by no small measure. But Joel’s growth was one of my favorite things to ever watch unfold in a game.

7) Revan (Star Wars) Okay so I know this ones a bit obscure. He was actually featured as a protagonist of one of Star War, in my opinion, best roleplaying games. 

Basically I love this character because I think he actually GETS the whole thing. The cults. He doesn’t really subscribe to either of them, rather he’s used them to further his own goals. Which you know, as an RPG you get to chose, usually I like to chose he did what he did for the right reasons. Because the Jedi were failing the people they had to protect. Because he couldn’t stand by and watch a war be fought while they deliberated what to do. He never fully reasoned with the Sith, and as far as I knew didn’t quite care to share their extremist values. Frankly, he’s by far been the best representation to what I feel is a very opinionated debate in Star Wars: Why chose either side? They both suck in their own ways.

He saw passed all that, started a movement, started a war of ideologies when the universe was still young enough to hear those kinds of debates play out.

His story will forever be one of my absolute favorites in Star Wars.

8) Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars) If you haven’t watched the Clone Wars animated series and you’re a fan of Star Wars? What the fuck are you doing. This character alone is enough to justify the 7 season watch.

The Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. How can that go wrong, right? Actually, Ahsoka is one of the reasons I began to like Anakin in the first place. The whole series shows a different side to characters we love, honestly, you got to see Anakin be the best Jedi general anyone had ever seen. You got to see him train this young woman into an incredible Jedi, and honestly? The younger sister relationship that Ahsoka has with Anakin is just so well done.

But beyond that there’s so much to love about Ahsoka. If you haven’t caught the theme, I really do love strong characters who still have flaws. Who still have a lot to learn. Who make mistakes. But even after she had, never once did Ahsoka give up on what she believed in. Her values, in the end, proving to be stronger to her then the values instilled by the Jedi, even if they aligned.

My favorite thing is that you got to see her journey, literally from a learning padawan to a fully fledged Jedi badass. 

If we don’t get an Ahsoka series on Disney+ I’m gonna be pissed.

9) Nathan Drake (Uncharted) Cheeky rogue with a heart of gold that often gets by on sheer luck alone.

Need I say more?

10) Tanjiro Kamado (Demon Slayer) Okay, so don’t really expect many people to know this one.This character is the main protagonist in an anime that has literally taken all my attention. From the animation, to the story, to the undeniable ways in inspires me to write Sori.

Tanjiro, perhaps, is the driving force behind this. I just love this kid okay? He started out as NOTHING. Literally, nothing. He fought against overwhelming odds, knowing full well he would die, to save his sister. And in that moment? The person he was fighting let him go. He then sent him down the path of becoming a demon slayer.

This kid, who as far as I know was part of a large family of commoners gave everything he had to training his body to fight demons. Every time he stumbled, he found the strength to continue. He never gives up. He learns, he thinks, he’s a smart kid with this absolute bottomless well of determination.

I don’t want to ruin the plot of the anime too much because honestly this has been my favorite thing since Dragonball Super. You should go watch it. I promise you will understand right off the bat why I love this character so much.

I was tagged by: @serelia-evensong​ @safrona-shadowsun

Gonna tag: @draenei-tales​ @wildname​ @zeehva​ @ravensteel​ @fair-fae​ @monster-of-master​ @palaceofthedeadmemes​ @zariasilverleaf​ @starforger​ @asharinhun​ 

I’m also not sorry this is a long post. How dare you ask me to talk about shit I love.