#vol 3 // neo

[ju5t777]

One of the pieces done for @ultra-zine — order Vol 3 digitally now!

[mixoloveseveryone]

RWBY VOL9X10 SPOILERS(?)

It felt like torture to watch. Torture to look upon the scene all over again. Grimm flying around the ship, and seeing Neopolitan herself fly off the ship. She watches carefully, her eyes growing sadder at how heartbroken the man in front of her looks.

"Neo!"

He reached his hand out to try to capture her in an impossibly long distance, almost as if that'd help. But it didn't. Of course it didn't. Neo tenses, her eyes growing sad as she sees Ruby climb back up onto the ship.

"I don't care what you say! We will stop them, and I will stop you! Bet on that!"

Neo doesn't do anything, watching Ruby dash towards Roman as an attempt to fight him. But Roman kept fighting back. But not in the way he was before. Did he really think that would kill her? She couldn't stand the thought of him being so broken over her flying over the airship. But then again, she couldn't stand the thought of anyone catching the two of them beforehand. But even so, fate decided to part the two.

Neo watches, her eyes puzzled. Was this truly going to be the last she sees of him? Before she... Changes? Before she... Ascends? Neo watches him yell in anger, his feelings bleeding with rage, and something only Neo could sense. Fear. Fear for her safety.

Neo doesn't do anything, her fists clenching. Before finally, Roman jumps away.

"As for me, I'll do what I do best... Lie..."

He raises one of his fingers, gritting his teeth.

"Steal..."

He slowly begins to step closer to Ruby, who slowly regains her balance, her body aching. She looked at Roman with narrowed eyes. Neo watched with sadness.

"Cheat..."

Roman finally raises his third finger, before his face contorted into a sinister grin. He brings his free hand to his cane, raising it up to hit Ruby. One. Final. Time.

"And survi--!"

She half expected to see him hit Ruby, before her eyes widen upon seeing the Grimm swoop onto the airship, shaking it slightly. Neo instinctively tries to run towards the man as the teeth of the Grimm sink into him and swallow him whole.

Neo tries to run towards him, tries to catch him, tries to scream out his name as a poor attempt to capture his ankle, or anything just to save him. But the fate ends the same. He falls into the creature of darkness, and Ruby kicks the Grimm backwards and slams into the airship. Then, Ruby makes her way off the ship.

Neo shuts her eyelids tightly, before sucking in a sharp breath.

'Oh, Roman...'

She thinks to herself, before opening her eyes. She's back in the dark void with the souls traveling around her. Neo looks around, almost surprised by the sudden shift in the atmosphere. There isn't faint sounds of Grimm screeching or the ship rumbling, only the silence, before the woman speaking to her softly.

"You have been led astray..." The woman speaks softly, before Neo turns, looking at the Blacksmith into her shadowy eyes, which somehow still gave a bit of kindness. A kindness that her aching heart feel it needs.

-

(This was based off of the interpretation of the tree showing Ruby a vision of her mother to somewhat explain a mystery Ruby has always wanted to know within, and that Neo would finally know what happened to Roman.)

[isolement]

open vol 3 starter

noire’s head slumps onto the desk, face planted firmly on the piece of paper that they had formerly been writing an essay on. all of that preparation, they thought, all of that preparation, and nothing about a brothers-damned essay. noire lifts their head off the table, resting it in their hands before going back to writing the papers. minutes pass until noire’s thoughts stall again, face once again resuming its previous position upon the desk. the chair opposite them scraping against the ground rouses noire from their respite. a glance upwards, and noire sits up right, scribbling a greeting on a scrap of paper.

'  hey there. come to rescue me from this hell? or are you here to join me in it?  '

[reckonslepoisson]

Last Year Was Weird Vol. 1 (2018), Last Year Was Weird Vol. 2 (2020), Last Year Was Weird Vol. 3 (2021), Tkay Maidza

The Last Year Was Weird trilogy amounts, as a whole, to Tkay Maidza’s most impressive artistic statement thus far. The first instalment arguably showed the most stylistic growth, varying up the hip house of her earlier releases with bits of dub and catchier pop rap; the second perfected the hooks and showed an inclination towards noisier and more experimental beat-making, while the third was somewhat more comfortable but certainly still punchy and soulful.

Pick(s): ‘Big Things’, ‘Grasshopper’, ‘Cashmere’

[itsfantasticac]

Mai illustration by Jun Tsukasa, for Neo Geo Gals Comic Anthology 2.

Neo Geo Gals Comic Anthology Vol. 2 (Jun. 20, '95), pg. 3

[salixsociety]

Germanic Paganism Resource Masterlist

Notes: - Updates will be beyond infrequent. - Feel free to pop into my ask box requesting resource recommendations at any moment. - Resources do not reflect my personal beliefs or practice. I may include otherwise great resources that include theories and ideologies I do not support (such as the 'sign of the Hammer'), because I make extensive use of cross-referencing, reflection, etc to determine everything I incorporate into my craft. - I will never consciously add resources written by (Neo-)Nazis and the like. If you spot them, feel free to let me know. - You may notice there is a seemingly disproportionate amount of sources also or primarily talking about Scandinavia and Iceland, and even some primarily covering England. This is because continental Germanic paganism has only barely survived the ravages of time, and one can only learn about it if they supplement their knowledge with the more complete pictures of Anglo-Saxon paganism and Norse paganism.

Legend: [No language identifier means the source is English.] [D] - The resource is written (primarily) in Dutch. [G] - The resource is written (primarily) in German. [ON] - The resource is written (primarily) in Old Norse. [OD] - The resource is written (primarily) in Old Dutch. [OG] - The resource is written (primarily) in Old High German. [L] - The resource is written (primarily) in Latin. [F] - The resource is written (primarily) in French. * - I have not read the resource in its entirety. ** - Read with caution. !! - There is more of the resource available/this is one part of multiple.

Historic Texts and References

Tacitus' Agricola and Germania

Tacitus' Annals

The Prose Edda

The Poetic Edda

The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus

Contemporary Books, Essays, Other Media

Myths and symbols in pagan Europe : early Scandinavian and Celtic religions - H.R. Ellis Davidson

Kleinere Altniederdeutsche Denkmälen - Heyne [G]*

Religion and Philosophy in Germany : a Fragment - Heine *

Deutsche Volkskunde - Adolf Bach [G]*

Teutonic Mythology - Grimm

Swedish Legends and Folk Tales - John Lindow

Scandinavian Mythology : an Annotated Bibliography - John Lindow *

Trolls : an Unnatural History - John Lindow

Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas and Sagas - H.A. Guerber

Northern mythology : comprising the principal popular traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and The Netherlands - Benjamin Thorpe | VOL 1, VOL 2, VOL 3

From Myth to Fiction : the Saga of Hadingus - Georges Dumézil *

The Stakes of the Warrior - Georges Dumézil **

Gods of the Ancient Norsemen - Georges Dumézil **

Zum Tamfana-Rätsel - Edmund Weber [G]*

De Tijdstippen van de Cultische Jaarfeesten - Boppo Grimmsma [D]**

Nederlansche Volksoverleveringen en Godenleer - Van den Bergh [D, OD]*

Tales and Legends of Tyrol *

Germanic Spirituality - Bil Linzie

Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Auberglaubens - Baechtold-Staubl, Hoffman-Krayer

Goden van de Lage Landen - Gunivortus Goos [D]**

Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples - Dickins *

Gods and Myths of Northern Europe - H.R. Ellis Davidson

Old Norse - Icelandic Literature : a Critical Guide - John Lindow

Vikings : a Very Short Introduction - Richards *

Norse Mythology : a Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs - John Lindow

Antwoord op de Vraag, door het Zeeuwse Genootschap de Wetenschappen - te Water [D]*

Verhandelingen over het Westland, ter opheldering der Loo-en, Woerden en Hoven, benevens de natuurdienst der Batavieren en Friezen - Buddingh [D]*

De Goden der Germanen - de Vries [D]*

Norse Revival: Transformations of Germanic Neopaganism - Stefanie von Schnurbein (in the series Studies in Critical Research on Religion which I highly recommend)

Digital Libraries, Dictionaries and the Like

Digitale Bibliotheek voor Nederlandse Letteren [D]*

Digitised Collection of Historic Sources of the WWU in Münster [G, D, OD, OG]*

Oudnederlands Woordenboek [D, OD]*

Ons volksleven : tijdschrift voor taal-, volks- en oudheidkunde. Jaargang 2-12 [D]*

Het Rad - Digitale Bibliotheek voor Germaans Heidendom, Runen, Seidr [D]*

Volkskunde (search results on Delpher) [D]*

Goden van Eigen Bodem - Digitale bibliotheek voor heidens erfgoed van de lage landen [D]*

Godinnen van Nederland en België [D]**!!

Forgotten Gods - Reginheim **

The Rune Poems *

Kronieken van de Westhoek (Flemish Folk History) [D]*

Brabantse Folklore, bulletin van de provinciale dienst voor geschiedkundige en folkloristische opzoekingen [D]*

Project Gutenberg has a wealth of resources about pre-christian Germanic religion*

Mimisbrunnr.info has a wealth of information including starter guides.

Author Recommendations

J.R.W. Sinninghe [D]

John Lindow

Benjamin Thorpe

H.R. Ellis Davidson

The Grimm Brothers

J. Haver [D]

To be continued.

[frostfire-17]

What is cuneiform?

@ipsomaniac asked if I could explain the cuneiform system, and so I am going to give it a shot. Here goes! (Update: it got long! But there's pictures!)

Part I: What does it look like? How do we work with it?

This is the cuneiform script:

This is a first-millennium BC text of Sargon II, in Akkadian (specifically Neo-Assyrian). My user icon is a much older Sumerian text. In a second we'll see some Hittite. Just like the Latin script is used for English, French, Turkish, and many other languages today, the cuneiform script was used for lots of languages in the ancient world. It changed a bit over three thousand years of constant use, but it remains pretty recognizable because of the wedges. "Cuneiform" is just Latin for "wedge-shaped," because scholars love giving things banal names and then translating them into Latin or Greek so no one can tell.

This is a Hittite tablet:

This particular tablet is part of the royal funerary ritual (which has many many MANY tablets, many of which are way more broken than this one, and/or missing entirely). It's been pieced together from lots of fragments, all excavated separately. (You can see their excavation numbers written on the fragments, e.g. 39/c.) It's written on clay, like most of their texts were. This is a pretty good amount of preservation for a tablet this size - many are more fragmentary. I wish the picture were better, but tablets are not catalogued by how good the pictures are and it would have taken a million years to find a really hi-res one suitable for our purposes.

You can see that each symbol is made up of a bunch of wedges. These were pressed into the clay with a stylus while it was still wet. If you look closely, you can also spot spaces between words (more obvious at the end of a paragraph).

Here's a little slice of our tablet:

And here's a drawing of that same little slice. This is how scholars usually interact with texts on a day-to-day basis, because taking readable photos of tablets is difficult and going to see the tablets is more difficult. Drawings are made by experts in the presence of the tablets and published so that everyone can look at them.

Here the scholar who did this drawing (published in Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazköi vol. 39, text no. 4) was working with only some of the fragments, and so has written in the transliteration of the left half, which they weren't copying. So you can see how each cuneiform sign corresponds to a written syllable, sometimes in lowercase, sometimes in all caps, and sometimes in superscript.

What does all this mean? How does it work? Okay. Cuneiform is a really difficult and frustrating writing system to read, for a few reasons. 1) It grew organically from a time before writing existed, so people were just kind of slowly figuring out how to use pictures to represent words; 2) it lasted for thousands of years, so there were all sorts of innovations tacked on without necessarily jettisoning any of the old stuff; and 3) it was borrowed through quite a few languages, almost none of which were related to one another, so it had to twist around and adapt to totally different sounds and word structures. So it's weird! And hard to learn, especially for us, because we are not native speakers of any of the languages that used it, and also we're not a single person existing in a snapshot of time, where cuneiform had a specific form and iteration - we're looking at its whole span of three thousand years.

THAT SAID. I can explain some stuff about it and how it worked! Here goes!

Part 2: How does it work as a writing system?

We start with a picture. Let's use a star. Like this: 𒀭

Or this:

(this is a student text copying the star sign over and over - ignore the leftmost column. I got it from this excellent thread here)

This is the cuneiform sign for the sky, or for a god. In Sumerian, the language that first used cuneiform, the word for "sky" is AN. The word for "god" is DINGIR. So this sign could be pronounced either AN, and mean sky, or DINGIR, and mean god. This sort of usage is called "logographic" - a sign equals a word. It started as just a picture of a star, and came to mean a couple of things associated with the stars.

Eventually, there reaches a point where it doesn't just only mean the word "sky," it also means the syllable "an." That is, you could use it to represent a part of a word, or a grammatical element, that was pronounced "an." (E.g., ma-ah-ha-an: mahhan, which is a Hittite word that means "when," and which is written with four signs, including our an.) This is called the rebus principle: like a rebus puzzle, a picture of an eye can also mean "I" because they sound the same. This usage supplements the logograms rather than replacing them: you could still use "an" to mean "sky." You know which usage is in play based on context. (Or at this stage, maybe you don't. Sumerian is real hard and we don't understand it perfectly.)

You can also use signs a third way, which is designed to make reading easier: as what's called a "determinative." A determinative tells you what type of thing a word is. So if you use the star symbol as a determinative, it comes before a word and indicates that upcoming is a god's name. It's not pronounced when it's used like that. Other determinatives include: male and female markers, plural markers, markers to indicate what something is made of, what kind of animal it is, etc.

So any sign you see could potentially be a word (logogram), a sound (syllable), or a soundless classifier (determinative). In practice, only some signs take on all three of these functions.

When we transcribe signs now, we write them in Latin script based on which function they're serving. That's why, in the above Hittite texts, some of the signs were written in all-caps (for logograms), some of them in lowercase (for syllables), and some of them in superscript (for determinatives).

So then Akkadian borrows the system. They like to spell words out a lot more than the Sumerians do, so more and more signs are used primarily for their syllables, rather than their meaning. The signs also take on more syllabic meanings, because Akkadian has different words behind the logograms, and also has different sounds than Sumerian. A lot of signs end up doing double, triple or even-more-ple duty (e.g. the sign for "ag" can also be read "ak" or "aq" in an Akkadian text). Once again, you know how to read a sign from context, and in Akkadian you usually actually do know, because Akkadian is a Semitic language rather than an isolate like Sumerian, so we understand it way, way better.

Akkadian keeps using the symbols as logograms, though, too. Sometimes they'll spell out a word, but sometimes they'll just use the logographic symbol for it - like how sometimes we write out "two," and sometimes just write "2". Sometimes there are full Sumerian words or combinations of words that have become logograms: that is, they're not loanwords. They're not pronounced in Sumerian. They're written as a symbol (like 2), and the Akkadian word would be pronounced underneath (like "two.") The Akkadians also keep using determinatives.

At this point, most signs at least have a logographic value and a few syllabic values. Also (to make it extra difficult) plenty of syllables have a couple of different signs that could be used to represent them. In total there's a bit over a thousand cuneiform signs, incidentally, but usually only a few hundred were in use at any given time and place.

Then Hittite borrows it! They actually overall reduce the number of signs used, and the number of signs doing double duty, so it's generally simpler to read. Hittite's sound system is totally different from Akkadian's, though - which is totally different from Sumerian's - so they do some weird stuff with which signs represent which sounds. (The result of this is that our understanding of Hittite phonetics is somewhat imperfect.) They do use a ton of logograms whenever they're talking about physical objects, especially ritual offerings. Ritual texts are A PAIN IN THE ASS to read because they're full up with obscure logograms, and so you pore over a signlist trying to work out what the bonkers twelve-wedge sign you've never seen before is, and then when you finally find it you're like, "oh ANOTHER kind of bread. cool cool."

Part 3: Let's Read Hittite! (This is probably excessive.)

So finally, let's read some together! This is two lines from the Ten-Year Annals of Mursili II, an account of the first ten years of that king's reign. It's mostly conquering, but this bit is calmer.

(ANNOYINGLY, Tumblr will not do superscript, or I cannot make it anyway, so I will put determinatives in parentheses.)

nam-ma (URU)Ha-at-tu-ši ú-wa-nu-un nu (URU)Ha-at-tu-ši

gi-im-ma-an-da-ri-nu-un nu-za EZEN4.HI.A ŠA MU.6.KAM i-ya-nu-un

That's the text rendered sign-by-sign. Everything that is separated by a dash, a period, a space, or a parenthesis is a separate sign. Words are separated with spaces. Here's a more normalized rendition of the words (still with the logograms, though).

namma (URU)Hattusi uwanun nu (URU)Hattusi gimmandarinun nu=za EZEN4.HI.A ŠA MU.6.KAM iyanun

"Then I went to Hattusa, and I spent the winter in Hattusa and performed the festivals of the sixth year."

The ú in uwanun in the first line is written with an accent because there are several signs that can mean "u" and this is the second one. Similar for EZEN4: there's more than one sign for EZEN, and this is the fourth. Scholars always write logograms and determinatives in Sumerian, because that's where the meanings were fixed. URU, used before Hattusa, is both the determinative for "city" and the Sumerian word meaning the same. ��A in the last line is italicized and capitalized because it's a logogram that comes from Akkadian: "ša" means "of" in Akkadian, and the Hittites used Akkadian words as logograms just like the Akkadians used Sumerian words.

Anyway, that's how cuneiform works! If you made it this far you're a hero! <3

[nov4-rocket5]

I completely understand why people hate Jaune from how he acts in canon, how he has too much screentime, to how he's portrayed as Chad Thundercock by fanfic writers, to how he's the writer's pet.

I get that but I still like the CANON character because currently as of right now whenever it's just team RWBY, shit is just boring. Blake lost some braincells somewhere in Menagerie and now is nothing more than a damsel in distress who needs Yang and Ruby to save her, Weiss never does shit besides threaten her little brother and drink tea in her mansion, Yang's too busy babying Ruby while making kissy faces with Blake, and Ruby's crying every two seconds about having some burden placed on her shoulders when NO ONE has done that. They had 5 whole episodes just to themselves in volume 9 and it was BORING SLOP. Ruby and Weiss never got to talk about Penny's death all of it was off-screen. Weiss never got to talk about the guilt she feels from letting Atlas fall. Shit only picked up once Neo and Jaune came into the story. But that's really because KERRY, EDDY, and MILES don't know how to write the female characters.

I like the blonde's blind optimism. I like how he treated Jessica in the movie helping some kid through her anxiety is great I just don't get why no one else volunteered to do the same. I especially like how human he comes off with him basically helping the community with small time shit. He's just consistently a good guy a boring one but a good guy nonetheless.

It also helps that his cut reminds me of Laios from Delicious in Dugeon.

Yeah, a lot of people like to blame RWBY's lackluster main cast development/characterization on Jaune eating up screentime. But the core problem is that CRWBY just seemed to struggle with juggling a huge cast of characters.

Which is odd, because Early RvB had a huge cast that all were handled pretty well.

Let's be honest, plenty of characters besides just Jaune eat up screentime. Pyrrha got loredumped on and is one of the main focuses of Volume 3, all while Team RWBY just kinda dicked around Vytal for most of the season.

Look at the WF subplot. Jaune wasn't stealing spotlight on that at all; CRWBY was just terrible at writing "le racism" and decided to drop it by Vol 6 because they realized how much they sucked at it.

The only reason Weiss is sometimes deemed the best out of the other 3 members of her team is because she's the only one with a tangible character arc and development. Even then CRWBY choked in the end on that too.

Jaune went from pretty bad, to solid, to kinda bad again but not as bad. Team RWBY aren't underdeveloped because of him, they're underdeveloped because the way they've been handled is just incompetent. If you cut him from the show entirely the problem would be blamed on some other character.

[eilwen]

Visiting the Dragon's Nest District

Most cities and towns in No Man's Land have been similar in appearance, with a ship or a portion of a ship watching over its people. However, in Ryutsu, where many things happen, the ship is not the only structure that dominates the landscape.

I wanted to do a dive into the city, what inspired it (and speculate on some of the visuals) and what we can potentially understand about No Man's Land.

Some spoilers for Vol. 4 and 5. Also, this is long.

Even without the baos and wonton-fonts on signage, Ryutsu visually does not match with other cities in No Man's Land. It’s not just the citadel which can be seen from afar, but it’s also the crammed housing and confusing architecture. The tone of Vol. 4 shifts and leans towards neo-noir. As this arc's villains move into the city, Hoppered says: "This place is truly the bottom of the dark. [...] We'll walk into a place where the light does not enter." These lines may not be literal but it certainly brings ideas of seedy places. They move through pitch black and eventually…

The big showdown happens at the city's main feature: the Dragon’s Nest District - an area that brings up memories of the old Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. No Man's Land is a sparsely populated planet, yet for whatever reason, people have sardined themselves into this city and into this district.

Kowloon Walled City had been called ‘City of Darkness’ and it was possible to move through the city without ever seeing daylight. It carries a bit of romantised nostalgia because of its weird part in Hong Kong colonial history, its uncontrolled and chaotic construction, and its lawlessness (though apparently the ungoverned city was tight-knit and communal). The city became a source of inspiration for a lot of media, but not many films were shot in the city itself. Those that I had seen tended to use the city as a 'cool film location' so apart from the examples below, there aren't many I know to recommend (happy to take suggestions for films I may have missed).

Clip from Bloodsport (Arnold, 1988)

"No joke, man. It's a random piece of No Man's Land in the middle of a tourist paradise. It goes way back to the old lease agreement between Great Britain and China. Once you step out of the sunlight into the narrow corridors, it's time to protect your nuts, guys."

Clip from Crime Story (Wong, 1993). This is the climax of the film, which featured actual explosions from Kowloon's demolition, according to its wiki page.

Off the top of my head, good fiction film substitutes (unrelated and unlike Trigun/Trimax) which more illustrate what life might have been like in these places, may be films like Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels (1995) and Chungking Express (1994) - though these films take place at the Chungking Mansions, Kowloon Walled City's more modern cousin. I thought of Wong's films because he treated the mansions as a character more than as a location. His films showed examples of immense density, globalisation, and a bit of that noir crime stuff within small and unusually intimate spaces. They also reflected Hong Kong's complicated anxiety as the city was approaching its handover from British to Chinese rule.

Panel from Vol. 4 Ch. 7; Screencap from Chungking Express (Wong, 1994).

To talk more about Hong Kong cinema itself would be much longer than a tumblr post but if Nightow is connected with Rodriguez's films via Desperado (1995), Rodriguez and his collaborative friend Tarantino are connected with Hong Kong films from those like John Woo and Ringo Lam. One example: Mexican standoffs are tropes used in various films, but we see them frequently enough in Tarantino's films and in Hong Kong action cinema that it becomes noteworthy.

Panel from Vol. 5 Ch. 3

Panel from Vol. 5 Ch. 5

Kowloon Walled City which was demolished in 1993, was visually ‘resurrected’ as Ryutsu's Dragon's Nest. Kowloon Walled City was not a city that just looked interesting. It was an agreement between China and Great Britain that was then kind of weirdly botched, thus leaving it pretty much ungoverned. Trimax Vol. 4 was released in 2000, three years after Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. We don’t get Ryutsu’s history and with the multiple panels of silhouetted buildings against the night sky and hanging laundry in balconies, Ryutsu’s citadel falls into the 'cool manga location' category. Also, I should be clear: these chapters in Trimax are not an analysis or an allegory of Hong Kong's colonial history.

Panel from Vol. 4 Ch. 4; Photo of Kowloon Walled City's alleyway from wiki article.

At the same time, many eyes, including those outside of Great Britain and China, were on the news when the handover occurred. The point is not if Nightow was considering that historic moment or if he happened to be watching Hong Kong films when he was working on these chapters. Instead, I wonder if readers, when they picked up these volumes from the bookshelves, had thought about Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s movies, and Hong Kong’s past and uncertain future, as they were skimming through the pages. But you know… this is 2023 me thinking about 23 years ago. All of this is daydreaming.

I bring up Hong Kong's history and cinema because I wanted to see what I can envision and interpret about Ryutsu and thus about No Man's Land. If Hong Kong via cinema brings imaginations of transnationalism then Ryutsu via Vol. 4 and 5 could do the same for No Man's Land.

There is no literal ocean to divide cities and there are no named countries. There is a broad ‘Federal Government’, so I assume that means the government concerns itself with all settlements in the entire planet. If Ryutsu itself is No Man’s Land’s ‘Hong Kong’ (which opens another discussion of the use and/or misuse of Hong Kong in media - some other time), then despite No Man’s Land being an incredible dystopia, the elimination of borders is, very plainly, very interesting. I am leaning to this being a good thing, considering that one major problem in No Man’s Land tends to be ‘Humans vs. X’ (plants, worms, the planet’s environment etc.). Also, No Man’s Land is already very sparse. No spoilers for later volumes but I am curious about the planet’s future if the population demographic changes.

Panel from Vol. 4 Ch. 4. Western and Eastern hats in the same panel.

There are also thoughts about its class struggles. Vash says in Vol. 4 Ch. 4: "There are too many people here. I don't like it. The lower and upper class all cramped together." ... which really made me think about the conditions the upper class were living in. Kowloon Walled City was known to be unhygienic, dark and cramped and the wealthy did not live there, so how rough was it to live in Ryutsu when a rich person might still need to live in the citadel? I didn't interpret Vash's statement to mean 'citadel plus those outside of it' when the high stakes in these volumes were because of the high density and maze-like streets.

Panels from Vol. 4 Ch. 6; Ch. 7; Ch. 7.

The above panels remind me of establishing shots in gritty crime thrillers than the sci-fi western I had been reading up to this point.

Featured is the Juukei Building - a building that looks pulled from the 20th century. It is tall, drawn sometimes in narrow panels to emphasize its height and to show how small the characters are in the claustrophobic space as they navigate towards it. As characters move through the structure once inside, it becomes more difficult to tell where in the building they are or if they are somewhere adjacent. Combining historical and futuristic designs in Trigun/Trimax isn't new, but it's not often you see 20th century structures. Maybe wealthier residents lived in buildings like this, though the interiors of Juukei look like abandoned offices.

Panel from Vol. 5 Ch. 3.

Or maybe this was meant to be a mixed-use building? But it seems the entire building is abandoned anyway.... So I'm not sure where the upper class is supposed to live or how I should imagine the upper class to be.

Panel from Vol 5. Ch 6.

... After the end of the battle, once morning comes, we no longer see the citadel. The landscapes return to those reminiscent of American Southwestern deserts. Like we dipped into darkness then we returned to the light.

Anyone who knows about Kowloon Walled City would instantly recognise it in Trimax. The imitative Ryutsu Citadel could be read as a cool manga location where a massive shootout plus some serious revelations occur, but I personally am always interested in what else a location can do. It matters if you set a film in New York City versus a nameless location and how you visually convey that city because it can tell us about its people and helps us understand its characters. So to me, I thought it would be fun to look at certain locations in Trimax (with all of Nightow's free-form inconsistencies and confusions) and imagine or interpret what they can tell us about No Man's Land and by extension, the people in No Man's Land.

Other fun facts include: "[...] Japan, in particular, developed a keen interest towards Kowloon. Its demolition in 1993 was broadcast on national television."

[eviltomb]

Salem vs Cinder, Creating teams and tactics of their use.

I was thinking about Salem and Cinder and saw how the writing is setting up how opposite they are to each other. this time as how they create their teams and how they are used, in and out of combat.

Salem operates off of Divide and Conquer. using her few specialized enforcers to drive her opponents apart.

Tyrian is her right hand, her primary enforcer/assassin/favorite little boy whose job is to kill what ever salem points him at. Hazel is targeted obstruction, his job is entirely to keep ozpin occupied. Watts is the 2nd most important person she has as seen in vol 7/8. and Cinder is the Backbone of her entire plan with obtaining the relics.

but when put in a corner or pressed for time she falls back on overwhelming firepower. Huge Grimm armies, Magic that dismantled Yang's rescue team in seconds, the immortality trump card.

Cinder, interestingly, is at her best fighting when she is outmatched. This is shown over the series with her changing tactics. in vol 1-3 she repeatedly kept her cards close to her chest. using stealth, trickery, false information and disposable units such as Roman (you know she wouldn't care if emerald or mercury had died against amber.) Pyrrha Changed this though. She was Cinder's first fight where Cinder fought with the advantage. When Cinder got her first taste of what power she imagines that Salem has. power that she does have.

once she got the maiden powers she tried many, Many, times to fight either people under her level (vs jaune or vs Neo (neo deescalated once cinder started ramping up)) or as equals who ends up besting her (vs Raven or vs Penny). Failing at reaching that overwhelming firepower that Salem executes when pressed.

But then Vol 8 finale rolled around and Cinder returned to form. She placed herself at the weakest position, in the middle. Used and disposed of her allies. picked of her enemies one at a time. and nearly achieved perfect victory. All started by One well placed, well placed, piece in vol 7. the taste of Cinder's true aptitude.

the two of them have ended up using best the tactic that the other wants to use against their enemies.

[heavenboy09]

#Batman85 Fact #5: On January 10, 1999, Terry McGinnis’ Batman debuted in the DC Animated Universe television series ‘Batman Beyond’.

Standing as a continuation of the DC television series ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ and then end to the DCAU, 1999's ‘Batman Beyond’ was created by The WB Television Network. A retired and elderly Bruce Wayne becomes teenager Terry McGinnis’ mentor as he becomes the new Batman in a Neo-Gotham City originally said to be set about 20 years into the future. Wanting to be the Dark Knight even after bringing Derek Powers, Terry’s father’s (Warren McGinnis) killer, to justice, Terry would continue to be Batman and battle his own villains in this futuristic metropolis.

‘Batman Beyond’ ran for two years, produced 52 episodes and included a short lived spin-off (‘The Zeta Project’) and one direct-to-video movie (“Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker”). Revealed in Dwayne McDuffie, Bruce Timm, and Dan Riba’s ‘Justice League Unlimited’ 2005 episode “Epilogue”, set 15 years after the events of ‘Batman Beyond’, Terry learns from Amanda Waller that his connection with Bruce is down to the DNA because Terry is Bruce’s biological son. Waller intended for Bruce’s legacy as the Caped Crusader to continue after he retired, so she created “Project Batman Beyond” that made Warren’s reproductive DNA (through the use of Project Cadmus’ engineering) identical to Bruce Wayne’s. Coming to terms with his destiny, Terry would continue to embrace his role as the protector of Gotham.

While the animated ‘Batman Beyond’ universe would gain tie-in limited comic series during the television run (1999-2001), Terry McGinnis’ Batman wasn’t included within the mainstream DC Universe continuity. In the Pre New-52, Terry would appear in several stories such as Jeph Loeb’s “With a Vengeance!“ (2005’s Superman/Batman #22), Adam Beechen and Ryan Benjamin's “Hush Beyond” (2010’s Batman Beyond (Vol 3)), and Grant Morrison’s “Time and the Batman” (2010’s Batman #700). McGinnis’ Batman would officially be part of continuity in 2014’s The New 52: Futures End and continue to thrive within the New 52 and DC Rebirth / Universe comics with his own self titled publications. From the small screen to the comic pages, ‘Batman Beyond’ for the first time placed a teenager in the mantle, which resulted in popularity among not just same age readers but also new and old Batman universe fans.🦇🎊📺

[bestworstcase]

Why didn't Salem recognize Yang as Summers daughter? Summers, not Yangs bio-mom, so Yang doesn't physically look like her. But there's no reason that Summer couldn't just show Salem a picture of Yang and say, "That's my other daughter." Even if Summer didn't have any pictures to show, she could have pointed Yang out during vol.3 while she was on camera.

I don't think Summer approved of Yang being framed by Emerald or of her being maimed by Adam(assuming that Summer knows it's him who did it).

But this begs the question of why wouldn't Summer tell Salem? Salem doesn't know that Raven is the spring maiden, so she shouldn't know that there's a possibility of Yang being next in line for the powers. But even if Salem knew about Raven, Summer withholding the fact that Yang's her daughter doesn't do anything to protect Yang.

(Or Summer doesn't consider Yang her daughter/doesn't value her as much as she does Ruby, which is a whole other can of worms that i don't think is the case).

well, when the story begins it's been twelve years since the last time summer either of her daughters and, having faked her own death, summer wouldn't have access to more recent photos necessarily. add to this that evernight—being hidden away in the recesses of an uninhabited continent—obviously wouldn't have been hooked into the CCTS even before the fall of beacon knocked out global communications.

summer could have described what yang looked like, sure, but no one is going to immediately recognize a nineteen year old on the basis of a verbal description of what she looked like when she was five, you know?

during V3, summer was probably on the ground at beacon academy (she's the only one of salem's circle with a motive to leave ruby alive when she pulled a grievously injured cinder off the tower) while salem remained at evernight; at this point she might have received reports from summer that both ruby and yang were enrolled at the school, but those would have again been verbal, over seer, because evernight is too far from the CCTS for summer to be transmitting video or pictures.

and after beacon falls, summer remains on campus while cinder et al return to evernight. at that point, salem would certainly know that ruby's glare injured cinder, seems to have been informed when ruby left home months later, and she might also have heard from summer that yang lost an arm and is still safe at home in patch.

<- that accounts for the disparity between salem's overt insistence on leaving ruby alive versus never mentioning yang at all; ruby was the one who hurt cinder (thus the one cinder had a motive to harm), and ruby was the one gallivanting across anima with only a few classmates and her alcoholic uncle to protect her. depending on how closely summer has actually been able to monitor what's going on in the xiao long cabin, there might be a significant gap between yang leaving and summer being able to confirm that yang has left or why. it's not like she can sit around spying on the cabin all the time—she has the academy to hold and a vault to find.

basically, the answer is fog of war. salem doesn't even know who neopolitan is when cinder brings her home in V8—and neo was one of the key infiltrators responsible for bringing beacon to its knees!

i do think there's a possibility that cinder targeted yang in the tournament specifically because yang is summer's daughter (<- nest parasitism), but from summer's point of view… like, getting yang disqualified and kicked out of the tournament isn't the worst thing in the world? because it means yang definitely will not be in the arena when the grimm hit it, and depending on how severe the disciplinary action is she might be removed from the campus altogether. it's unpleasant but there you go.

and then adam was one of cinder's pawns, not someone who answered to salem or summer, and "the rogue white fang lieutenant cinder recruited is the vindictive ex of summer's daughter's teammate and he decides to dismember summer's daughter to emotionally torture the teammate" is frankly not a scenario that anyone in salem's circle could have predicted, not is it something that summer could reasonably fault salem for. cutting off yang's arm wasn't exactly part of the plan.

i do, however, think that salem suspected that this girl was probably summer's other daughter—about the right age, blonde, violet eyes, and she's the girl who rushed to ruby's side when salem "your mother"-ed ruby yesterday. she might not have known for sure, but… this:

is an extraordinarily calm reaction to yang's deliberately provocative "all this endless death, just because something bad happened to you once upon a time?!" and if salem had even the faintest shred of suspicion that this girl is summer's eldest then that's all the more incentive to sharply rein in her temper. "and who is it i've taken from you, girl?" is a sly way of getting yang to identify herself.

sidebar. i also don't think summer knew that raven is the spring maiden—i think she fled from that confrontation before gretchen died and guessed that the power would have gone to someone unknown (remember how qrow specifically throws in "unless it's a dude" when they're explaining how the powers are transferred? remember how gretchen had a twin brother? assuming that her last thoughts would have been of hazel isn't a huge leap), hence why salem's people are also trying to find the spring maiden and hence why cinder doesn't walk into that camp forewarned that raven is the actual maiden. fog of war!

[scourgediva]

Finished Vol 8 a couple of nights ago. Pretty good! Spoilers Ahead! You've been warned! This is going to be an unorganized mess, we're sorry Ok, so. Huh. Some of that I saw coming, Emerald hitting the "Change teams" button for example. Some of the other stuff? Not at all. Oscar getting captured, I knew that Ironwood would go off the deep end but not like that, I got double baited with the red herring red herring that turned out to be my original idea coming true, just not when I thought it was. Speaking of seeing "Themes of death" as a warning before an episode was so jarring LMAO, I was excited but damn. Still dont like the aceops, glad most of them are gone. Glad Mr. Schnee is gone too (but thats mostly because we all have father issues in this head). Winter was good, having the whole like internal conflict of "This is my job but it isnt right" was great (and relatable. Fuck you schnee family stop being so relatable) Neo was great and I love her dearly and would do anything for her, she's SUCH a cunt (/pos). Cinder was pretty good too, the whole like, tricking Ironwood into thinking he was fighting Salem instead of Cinder was great! I hope this entails a return to "Silver Tongue Cinder" like we saw in vol 1-3 where she was there but alot of the chaos caused was because she was pulling strings in the shadows weeks before hand and it all fell into place like dominos. Her lying to Salem is based. "Oh they used the lamp, sorry" Girl. She might've killed you for lying and y'know what? good on ya for lying to Salem of all people LMAO. Emeralds semblance getting better to the point that she even deceived Salem was great too. Penny dying was not expected but was done well. Cinder got so close to getting the winter maiden powers too.. genius idea to just look at Jaune and tell him to kill her tho, cant have the powers if Winter has them lol. Portal room was pretty, and Im curious as to what the fuck happens now that they all fell into what I think is the void. Fucking mustache man (I dont remember his name) being held off the side of a building by Cinder and taking the "No one loves you" gamble was big brained, because either she drops you and you get the last laugh or she brings you closer, securing your life for a bit. All in all, 1 volume left. What will I do with myself once the credits roll for the last time?

[isolement]

@candlewick-corporation​ | vol 3 starter

‘  you’ve got that look about you again.  ’ neo uncrosses their arms, stepping into the living room of their small — but lived in — valean apartment. it had been their base for the past few years while working with the white fang. they pull out a chair across from roman, plopping themselves down on it. '  come on, what's up? doubts about the plan again? just hungry?  '

[banqanas]

(Summary) BATTLE OF TOKYO emergency broadcast for Jr.EXILE vs NEO EXILE [PART 1]

Features: ZIN, SEKAI, Yamasho, Kodai, Kensuke, Yuhi, Ryoji BOT writers team: Hiranuma Norihisa (Nori) and Sato Dai

This summary will focus more on the story and lore of BOT series that they're discussing.

※TL note: In his introduction, Nori said, "if you know me, you know." so I thought I should mention that Nori is the main scriptwriter as well as director for High&Low series.

This is also why I have high hopes for BOT story, as a fan of Highlow myself.

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

Point 1: Why are the teams "fighting"

Kensuke: It's the foreordained destiny of Neo Exile. Neo Exile and Jr Exile are fated to go against each other and are connected by the red string of fate.

Nori: Um, not in the least. Will be explained later.

Point 2: What are the teams fighting for?

Yuhi: The Final Facts!

ZIN: Correct!

What are the [Final Facts]?

- In Super Tokyo, a copying technology exists that enables them to multiply anything and everything as long as they have the data. - Except for, the Final Facts - These are rare treasures that cannot be copied or destroyed. - In the story, teams clash each other either to steal or recover the Final Facts - Final Facts that have been revealed: 1. Book of Chaos (Zero - Mad Jesters, Tekuu - Astro9) 2. Mirror (Itaru - Astro9) 3. Black Diamond (Sherrock - Mad Jesters) 4. Sword (Inui - Blue Shield) 5. Eternal Record (Claude - Jiggy Boyz)

Point 3: What of Blue Shield's boss, Inui

ZIN: In the ending on Vol 5, they were able to defeat Inui and got hold of the [Sword] however it was at the expense of Sherrock's life.

After collecting all the 5 Final Facts and uncovering the truth he has been seeking, Sherrock vanished.

Point 4: What happens after Sherrock's disappearance (the ending of Vol. 5)?

Nori: To create a new story that continues after that conclusion, what we needed were iPhones.

Nori: iPhone 8 that I used to have and the current iPhone series are completely different. They've not only upgraded, but the object itself has been upscale.

Nori: This is what Super Tokyo needed as well. Super Tokyo required an [Expansion]. Which is what the members and fans as well, are personally experiencing right now, that is...

Nori: The Super Tokyo Expansion Exhibition!

Point 5: What was the truth that MAD JESTERS have uncovered?

Sato: [Final Facts] are essentially [Keys]. Keys are used to open doors that leads to somewhere. And so, Sherrock, who has all the keys, have opened a door to [somewhere] and is waiting.

Sato: Where exactly is he waiting? In a simple term, he's in a multiverse that exists in the present, in the past, and in the future. It is a place that neither exist nor doesn't.

※ TL note: not simple at all. after this they took out the whiteboard and wrote a bunch of stuffs thats basically just them trying to make a story on why Gene isn't in this year's BOT and how NEO EXILE is suddenly thrown in the fray

They're basically reaching, but I respect the hustle.

And so, I will summarise the whiteboard in the next post after I regain some braincells 👍

[zinfinite-dreamer]

what I want to perform!

in no particular order, here is a list of dances I want to perform some day (+ the 3 I've already done, to ease confusion), should I get the opportunity! it's a long list (and yes, I'm fully aware that performing even half of these would take several years), sorted by number of suggested participants.

dances performed:

nemureru mori ni ikitai na | love live! (solo)

märchen star | love live! (solo)

ye mingzhu | love live! (solo)

to-perform (solo):

butterfly | love live!

tanoshii no tensai | love live!

sayonara chainsaw | kurageP ft. yuzuki yukari (choreography needed, will use chainsaw prop)

silent blaze | love live! (improve choreography, add sword)

eieisa | love live! (improve choreography, add sword)

kyun! vampire girl | im@s

meltdown | iroha ft. rin

luka luka night fever | samfree ft. luka

queendom | love live!

diabolic mulier | love live!

saikou heart | love live!

koufuku ressha ni norou | utsuP ft. gumi (choreography needed)

SLASH/ER | circusP ft. mayu (choreography needed)

ketsui no hikari | love live!

aoi canaria | love live!

muteki-kyuu*believer | love live!

E | utsuP ft. gumi (choreography needed)

meccha going!! | love live!

dokipipo emotion | love live!

to-perform (duo):

kaidan mairi | im@s

fascinate | im@s

black★party | im@s

beat in angel | love live!

otomeshiki ren'ai juku | love live!

furan furan zombie | nem ft. gumi & CUL (choreography needed)

butterfly on my right shoulder | noripy ft. rin & len

misty frosty love | love live! (I have a partner in mind...)

lonely snow planet | love live!

crash mind | love live!

manatsu wa dare no mono? | love live!

drop pop candy | giga ft. luka & rin

electric angel | yasuoP ft. rin & len

eternal light | love live!

super nova | love live!

SCAPEGOAT | love live!

to-perform (trio):

kyun! vampire girl | im@s

dancing dead | im@s

the immoral memory, the lost memory | natsuP ft. gakupo, kaito, len

binetsu kara mystery | love live!

shocking party | love live!

private wars | love live!

START:DASH!! | love live!

shiranai love*oshiete love | love live!

anone ganbare | love live!

kimeta yo hand in hand | love live!

otohime heart de love kyuuden | love live!

MONSTER GIRLS | love live!

braveheart coaster | love live!

new romantic sailors | love live!

psychic fire | love live!

cutie panther (metal panther mix) | love live! (choreography adjustments needed?)

onaji hoshi ga mitai | love live! (choreography needed)

genki zenkai day! day! day! | love live!

kinmirai happy end | love live!

to-perform (4-5 people):

kuraki hoshi, tooi tsuki | im@s (4 people)

beautiful moonlight | love live!

ENJOY IT! | love live! (4 people)

chururira chururira daddadda | kurageP ft. yuzuki yukari (5 people)

clover's cry ~ the Lord and the Lamb ~ | im@s

kururi uta | im@s

akai sekai ga kieru koro | im@s

dans l'obscurité | im@s (5 people)

to-perform (8+ people):

rikaisya | 22/7 (8 people)

bad ∞ end ∞ night | hitoshizukuP ft. miku, kaito, rin, len, gakupo, gumi, luka, meiko

bokuwa sonzai shiteinakatta | 22/7 (8 people)

natsuiro egao de 1, 2, jump! | love live! (9 people)

step! ZERO to ONE | love live!

nijiiro passions | love live!

daydream warrior | love live!

my mai tonight | love live!

kaguya no shiro de odoritai | love live!

LOVELESS WORLD | love live!

CYAZALEA KISS DADANDAAN | love live!

JIMO-AI DASH! | love live!

KU-RU-KU-RU cruller | love live!

mermaid festa vol. 1 | love live!

yume ga koko kara hajimaru yo | love live!

NEO SKY, NEO MAP | love live!

wild stars | love live!

mitaiken HORIZON | love live!

koi ni naritai AQUARIUM | love live!

no brand girls | love live! ( >:3 )

takaramonos | love live!

paradise live | love live! (I would LOVE to do takaramonos and paradise live together for a sif remembrance live...)

dancing stars on me | love live!

happy maker | love live!

hop? stop? nonstop! | love live! (9 people)

SUNNY DAY SONG | love live! (9-??? people)

sunshine pikkapika ondo | love live! (9-??? people)

love U my friends | love live! (9-12 people)

tokimeki runners | love live! (9-12 people)

eien no isshun | love live! (12 people)