#yes the colour scheme is deliberate

[eimearkuopio]

Angelica, thank God!

Someone who understands what I'm

Struggling here to do!

I'm not here for you. (ooh!)

[justthegirlinthemirror]

wicked musical to movie costuming ramble because i'm procrastinating doing homework

fiyero's wicked for good costume is looking pretty similar to his musical act ii costume, and i'm glad. i am a booksical girlie, i do love the movie but it's not my favourite. i think the costuming in the first movie was incredible but it kind of feels like the watered it down a bit? idk musical glinda had blue, white, light pink, dark pink, and yellow, all in the fist act, but movie glinda literally just had different shades of light pink. musical elphie has dark blue, white, and black, but movie elphie just has blue/black. though i do think the costume changes were deliberate (and i do especially love glinda's movie ozdust dress), the musical costuming was deliberate too. elphaba wearing blue and slowly incorporating white in was part of the symbolism, part of showing how glinda changed her. glinda wearing a variety of colours in the fist act and ONLY variations of blue and green is the second act is a key part of the symbolism, a key part of the story.

i know, i know, movie glinda's nomtw dress is pink as a nod to 1939 glinda. but for me the blue bubble dress is so important. ALSO for some reason i dislike that they made movie elphie's ozdust dress black? idk why i just... i saw a post a while ago that was like 'back in the day gelphie was blue and green' or potentially 'blue and pink', i can't remember, but like. yes. musical gelphie will always have a blue component and that's important to me.

idk idk i know i'm not entitled to judge the dressing choices and i think that the designer ABSOLUTELY deserved the costume design oscar, but i will always love the musicals costume design. i have feelings about the movie and the choices made, but i will never hate it because honestly i've been in musical fandoms that have had some terrible screen adaptions, and we are so so lucky we got this masterpiece. but i have some feelings about it yeah.

i really hope part two has nessa in black though. it's really really important to, i have a feeling it might be a red/orangey colour scheme though. which i guess i don't mind, since munchkinland has been set up my part two as yellow/orange, and musical nessa has red/god compontents in act ii, it's just... like i really hope they can still keep the feeling that nessa's act ii costume and wwote have, even with the changes.

[pinkestmenace]

i cant believe i forgot to ask this but does ur gala change eye color depending on mood? seeing how he sometimes has redder eyes... 😳😳

Good catch! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)ﻭ Yes, I do change his eyes based on his emotions. Or rather, I add colours to his default magenta.

Generally speaking:

+ Yellow = Happy/Excited

+ Blue = Sad/Scared

+ Bright pink = Curious/Emotional/Hopeful

+ Red = Serious/Angry

+ Green = ??? but probably bad

Fading to grey = Hollow and lost

Eye shape:

Crescent eyes ◠ ◠ = Usually neutral to positive, or if he's being mean/scheming/petty he's at least only teasing.

Sickle eyes ◟◞ = Ohh, you goofed up! Run.

====================

Now, because I'm THAT kind of person (*ahem* obsessed with him), I actually have an entire reference note about the eye colours I've written him with. (You will notice several of them involve fruits. This is, uhh, semi-deliberate. I always end up following a theme somehow. Because he's a fruit basket. Nah. He just feels like a 'fruits' person to me.)

Magenta = Neutral

Black = Asleep or has given up

Apricot (++Y –R –B) = Happy

Salmon (+Y –B) = Excited

Peach (+Y) = Content/Nostalgic

Bright flaring/shimmering pink (+P –R –B) = Curious/Hopeful/Positively surprised. He briefly gets some childlike wonder back.

Raspberry (+R +B –Y) = Sceptical/Suspicious

Purple (++B) = Discouraged/Sad

Desaturated purple (+B –R –Y) = Scared

Plum purple (+R ++B –Y) = Weirded out

Ruby red (++R –Y) = Serious/Becoming angry

Crimson sickles (++R –B –Y) = Angry enough to inflict harm, lucid enough to do it on purpose. If he attacks it will be laser-focused 'Smite this guy/thing in particular.' violence.

Blazing red/scarlet (+R +Y –B) = Uncontrollable rage/blood knight. Manic. Is he grinning? Is he angry? Who knows, but you'd better run. 'Blow up the whole house with everyone in it.' type of violence.

Blazing green (???) = Uh-oh. Something went terribly wrong. And it's about to become everyone's problem.

Anyway. The guy has big emotions. Too big for one person to contain forever.

ଘ(੭ ꈍ▽ꈍ)φ__(♬���~Completely innocent things~♪♫)__

[arcanemadman]

The Castlevania franchise feels like it's getting more and more divided since Netflixvania started and it's getting really bloody frustrating to the point that while watching Nocturne I've felt disquieted, and I think I've realised why that is.

It's the fucking DmC:Devil May Cry white hair fiasco all over again.

For those that don't know, when the DmC reboot was revealed people had a lot of criticism, including turning Dante from a cool but likeable hero into a foul mouthed smoker, the dumbing down of the gameplay, the antagonism towards the fanbase, and turning his iconic white hair black. Of all these criticism, only the hair colour change was given any attention, painting the fan base in a very negative light and side stepping the real issues people had by only focusing on the cherry rather than the whole sundae.

All this attention directed towards something that in the grand scheme of things is very minor but it gets all the attention while the bigger stuff is ignore.

Yes, there are people mad about the show for racist reasons and they shouldn't be listened to, but there are genuine complaints that are being swept up with that.

The character changes have a sort of domino effect on everything. Maria being a serious revolutionary is interesting, but I saw someone put it best that what made her special was the fact that she was a little girl in a world of classic horror that believed she was in a fairy tale and had the power to force that reality on everyone else. Netflix Maria is good, but lacks the charm of Maria.

The second example is Juste. When I saw him I was very excited, but that was mainly because it was acknowledgement of the original canon than anything else. His magical prowess, the thing that makes him stand out among the Belmont linage, is mentioned and then brushed aside, and the worst ending of his game is what is taken as canon. And once Richter gets his magic back, Juste is gone. He feels like a plot point rather than the character. I sympathise with people who's favourite game was Harmony of Dissonance.

Annette was a compelling character with a well developed story, but anyone that says her original characterisation would never work are being disingenuous because they literally did that, except that did so with Tera. The connections to Richter and Maria, the damsel elements, the fact she gets turned into a vampire, all from Annette. Swapping them around wouldn't work for multiple reasons and I'm not going to say I can do better than people you get paid to write when I don't, but I feel I can say that if they had wanted to they could have done something closer to the original while still touching on the themes and narratives they wanted to.

Olrox... honestly the only criticism I can really think of is the removal of any reference to Count Orlock.

There's an elitism with both sides of the fanbase here. On the Netflix side, there's the feeling that since theirs is more popular that any criticism is because people are just nostalgic, and game fans feel that since theirs is the original foundation that anyone that doesn't agree with them is just a new fair-weather fan. And honestly, I'm more sympathetic to the game fans.

I've seen Netflixvania fans look at people complaining that the character have changed and go "yeah well the version you like sucks so you should just grow up" As if that's going to make everything better. And all the people complaining about the race changes or posting "WOKE?!?!?!" have poisoned the well for any actual discussion about this, not helped by the social media accounts deliberately stoking the flames in the mistaken belief that all publicity is good publicity, which raised the ire of nexflixvania creators. Unfortunately marketing can often be removed from the intentions of the creators.

Yes, Netflixvania is a great show, with beautiful animation and great storytelling, but it's not perfect and as an adaptation is leaves a lot to be desired. And that's the crux of it! The show is good, really good! But it doesn't feel like an adaptation of Castlevania. It's just a bunch of little details that pile up to make it less of what the game fans liked about the series. It's more grimdark horror than classic horror. It's more crude than it is philosophical. It's more hopeless than it is hopeful. And regardless of what you individually think, that's what people have liked about Castlevania for almost 40 years.

Ultimately I just have to ask, why do people seem to assume that you can't make a faithful adaptation while also making it interesting? They're not mutually exclusive.

[crusherthedoctor]

Eggman's design in Stellar

As you may know by now, Eggman looks a little different as described in Sonic Stellar. His design and anatomy are the same Modern Eggman we all know and love or pretend to love, in the case of those that deliberately misrepresent his character, but he's got a new outfit. Naturally I made sure to describe it in the fic proper, because it'd be weird if I didn't, but I wanted to go a little more in-depth here to give some insight on the thought process behind it. This won't take too long, since it's honestly not that complicated.

So what motivated this? Well, it was actually a late addition. Originally, as was the case in BtS, he was in his regular Modern attire, and even when I began to brainstorm it into existence, I hesitated on it for the longest time because I was concerned as to whether it'd be seen as leaving a piss mark on SEGA's design out of the arrogant belief that it needs to be improved... like what those in charge of certain adaptations tend to do with the characters and universe in general. However, after remembering that there is precedence for one-off shifts in the games proper - see Rouge in Heroes, or Sonic's soap shoes in SA2 - I considered it fair game.

That said, don't assume it's a change for the sake of change: there's a plot reason for it. Since Eggman is attempting to convince the locals of Viridonia (aside from Trudy) that he's a changed man, he switches his appearance to symbolize this... but since he can't help himself, he still has to stylize it so that it's as him as possible.

Now it's time to talk about the actual look. The basic gist is simple enough. Just a nice debonair suit, like this for example:

...but in the distinctive Rrrrrobotnik style, and with the waistcoat unbuttoned, because this man does not operate like most gentlemen. I tried to balance out the doctor's usual colour scheme for it, so you have black for the shirt and pants, red for the waistcoat, yellow for the golden lining within said waistcoat, and white for the shoes (with black tips, like Swanky here), as well as the gauntlets (see below). The Modern jacket may not be present, but I paid tribute to it in spirit.

Instead of having those goggles on his head that he only uses during leap years, I transferred anything they could do to his glasses, reminiscent of how they worked in '06. Yes, there was some '06 inspiration among all this. That's how you know the doctor is officially off his gourd by the time of Stellar.

Of course, the most striking aspect of his new attire are his aforementioned gauntlets, complete with a selection of nifty abilities that allow him to be even more hands-on than he already was... and some clawed tips, cause he felt like it. This was inspired by his control glove in the movies, as I figured that by this point in Game Eggman's career, after all that he's had to put up with, it was a logical next step for such an infamous control freak. Plus, I just think it's neat for him. :D Note that they're not cluttered compared to the rest of his design, they'd have a simplistic look despite some buttons and the like.

Why did I make them gauntlets, instead of just gloves like normal? I found an appeal in how they contrast with the rest of his otherwise low-key dress sense (for his standards). It felt like the sort of thing he would do, as an extra way of commanding your attention. And yes, I'm aware that some readers might assume he has actual robotic hands now, and declare it a brilliant SatAM JoJoke, but I hope repeated use of the word gauntlet should clarify that's not the case... >_>

Fun Fact: Originally, he was only going to have only one gauntlet, for a little bit of asymmetry. However, I realised that Starline already has a similar thing going on, and since I brought him into the story, it might be redundant. So Eggman has them for both hands. Think of it as his unspoken way of one-upping his #1 simp.

[szilverer]

since i already draw them a lot, I'll just take the opportunity to ramble about a few details behind their current appearance & stuff :3c

(tl;drs in blue)

- Starting by the most notable physical characteristic that Reisz themself latches on to as part of their identity, their scarred face:

The lacerations went deep enough to have damaged muscle, so that side of their cheek has reduced expression. It's most evident when they smile too wide as it gives them an asymmetrical crooked aspect.

some days are better than others. like all scars, the weather also has an effect on it. this is something they could fix nowadays but deliberately choose not to.

It also got in the way of speech (specially in the beginning as it healed) so they learned to never raise their voice and to talk moving as little of their mouth as possible. The physical difficulties + neurological difficulties combo after the coffin all contributed to developing them into someone rather quiet & expressionless in London – Reisz usually wears a polite reserved smile and not much else.

(yes, in contrast to all silly faces i usually draw them in... the context for these are them either 1 alone or 2 in parabola, where nothing matters. on their day to day london life, though? Resting unreadable vaguely uncanny neutral face)

In terms of other scars, they have slashes and stabs here and there, but they're nowhere near the state they used to be prior to the devouring.

- Aside from the pastel twilight gradient their preferred colours are reds, blacks and whites. That's technically their representative colour scheme for art. I also use dark blues to represent them but that's more due to the association with LF, depths, and a certain flower.

They literally only have these clothes:

(i make a few logical exceptions for period-accurate underwear & stuff like that but at the same time this is also one of the reasons why i decided to make them wear bandages instead lol.)

Between these, they use their new Slinky Dress and the Dignified Tailcoat the most for daily wear, almost like an uniform; the Parabolan Suit for serious high society business™; and the Ivory Gown for social gatherings (also what they usually wear around their husband, since its the dress they got married in)

- Reisz has excellent body awareness and therefore excellent posture! Standing at more than 1.81m, they are taller (and heavier) than the average victorian. The exception is when they're on fighting mode: hunched forward with bended knees, center of gravity low, half cryptid half wrestling stance. Optimal for pouncing on & tackling.

- They don't know their age and they don't care. People place them anywhere around 25. There's no leftover teenage youthfulness on their face but no actual lines of expression either. They've been through quite a few long-term stressful situations but their face hasn't been affected at all, in fact. Not like they would notice that though

- Reisz has a whole arsenal of body modifications they've designed on their MA/SA studies, but they don't sport all of them all the time. Claws and fangs are commonplace in London so these are more constant. Their favourite bodmod is their (relatively recent) knuckleclaws :3c

there's a couple of changes that just happened to their body without their knowledge as well, such as their pupils getting narrower (unclear if feline or serpentine influence), irises getting cloudier and bluer (stormy-eyed) & their tongue splitting halfway (connected with fingerkings too hard)

#1

What does your character look like? Do they have any notable physical characteristics? Do they have a set colour-scheme? What's their posture like? How old is your character?

[autisticsimonlewis]

Simon Lewis + @autistic-culture-is

[tsp-invisible-narrator]

I have so many questions! Feel free to ignore this ask if it’s too much.

1. What exactly do you think is going to happen if you can reach the Freedom Ending with Sockley?

2. How did you make him anyway? Did you deliberately make him look like you?

3. Did the original Narrator make you or were you an ordinary human, who existed before the story and then became the main character?

4. You can verbally talk!? Do you know how rare that is among Stanleys? Most of them communicate through sign language.

5. Do you love your original Narrator, either romantically or non-romantically? A lot of Stanleys have a love/hate relationship with their Narrators. Sometimes it swings more towards hate, other times it’s love. I’ve seen Stanleys who would utterly destroy their Narrators if they could and I’ve seen Stanleys who want nothing more than to give their Narrators a hug/possibly take them to bed.

6. What’s the deal with the cube? You said, that it might be blue and starry because Stanley wears blue and he’s the star of the story. That’s clearly not why it’s blue and starry so… what is the deal with it?

"Well, here's what I'm sure will happen: Stanley opens the last door, the story ends, I am finally free and get my old job back. The story resets, the real narrator is back and I can finally be with him again, listen to his smooth voice and try out the new pranks I've come up with so far, heheheh." Invis shows his true prankster self for a moment. "U-uh, I apologise."

"I said in the narrator's voice that he would stand in the room. That's all there is to it."

"I'm not quite sure. The narrator has sometimes claimed this and sometimes that. Personally, I think I'm just a normal person who has an invisible magical friend who likes to tell stories."

"Normally I prefer to be a listener and avoid talking. But when the narrator suddenly stopped coming back, I felt so lonely, I had to talk to myself to prevent myself from going crazy."

"Hm, I love to prank the narrator, to disrupt his story, but also to cuddle with him and listen to his voice. But I would never go to bed with him, I mean, he's some kind of cloud creature, how would that work? Besides… I don't have the desire for it. Romantic stuff yes, but anything above that is really not my thing. Pressing buttons and pranks are way cooler."

The old narrator has a blue colour scheme, glitters all over his body like a sea of stars and has blue eyes.

He is a shapeshifting cloudlike being who draws his energy from creativity. Due to the events that happened because of the skip button, the narrator was about to die. But because Stanley sacrificed himself and became the new narrator thanks to 432, the story and the old narrator were saved from destruction.

And because the cube was the last thing the old narrator had created, the last remnant of his essence got stuck in it and changed its color to a weak light blue.

But because Stanley is terrified of creating and consequently shows no creativity, the old narrator is trapped in a weak state and cannot recover.

[dapurinthos]

the outer office, the chancellor's office is red, yes, but when you get into the more private parts of sidious's office, which we only see in revenge of the sith, the red vanishes. red is used as symbol to outsiders of what sidious is.

look at the scene where anakin is led to finally know that sidious is the sith lord the jedi have been looking for:

the inner office is devoid of colour. it is the true representation of sidious, the black hole at the centre of the galaxy, of the story. the shadow that swallows everything.

even when the action moves to the outer office, look at the walls and the floor. the grey of the oncoming empire is swallowing the red. this was a deliberate move made by george lucas and the art department. i believe it was stated either in the rots art book or the making of book, i can't remember which one at the moment. the lack of colour is leaking outward from sidious's inner sanctuary, taking over the red.

red has always been the colour of diplomacy in the republic: consular ships are decorated with it, as seen on the one that qui-gon and obi-wan show up at the saak'ak with. the red and white colour scheme is mirrored on the jedi shuttles. sidious cloaks himself in the ideals of the republic until he needs them no longer.

red, for naboo? "amidala wore a crimson robe, the colo[u]r a traditional signifier of royal authority." [official star wars fact file 29, GAR 1 - 4: naboo royal garments] sidious's apartments would make the naboo uncomfortable in an entirely different way: it looks like he is overstepping royal authority.

Applying “maybe the curtains are just blue” logic to Palpatine’s apartment and office. The red is not significant.

[sokkastyles]

No, women don’t prefer Zutara because we’re shallow and think that Zuko is hotter than Aang. Women prefer Zutara because it’s a relationship where Katara gets to talk to Zuko like a friend, confidant, and equal instead of talking down to him like a child. It’s a relationship where Zuko takes care of Katara instead of her constantly having to coddle and take care of him and getting nothing in return. It’s a relationship where Katara gets to be her full, authentic self at all times and Zuko absolutely loves her for it instead of having to censor herself to make him more comfortable. It’s a relationship where Zuko respects Katara’s personal beliefs instead of trying to force his own on her. It’s a relationship where Katara gets to be crowned an actual queen instead of being reduced to a healer and “the Avatar’s wife.”

And yeah, maybe a beautiful teenage girl looks a little more natural standing beside a handsome teenage boy than she does standing next to a prepubescent middle schooler who’s at least a head shorter than her. Maybe red/blue is an attractive colour scheme. Sue me.

instead of talking down to him like a child

See, this is the thing that really gets me, and part of what really turned me off Kataang when I was watching. I love hurt/comfort stuff so I don't mind it when Katara comforts Aang, I actually initially found those scenes sweet (although it does annoy me when it's one-sided and Katara is expected to both mother Aang and be available as a romantic partner), I don't care at all about age gaps or the La Pieta thing. I grew up Catholic, sign me up, baby!

But stuff like this...

Katara: [Slightly annoyed.] Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!

Aang: [He and Sokka sit straight.] Yes, ma'am.

and

Katara: We've been through so many things together, and I've seen you grow up so much. You're not that little goofy kid I found in the iceberg anymore. [Aang blushes.] I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm really proud of you.

Err...

It's like they were deliberately trying to kill my investment in these two characters' relationship. How did "you're not that goofy little kid anymore, I'm proud of you" lead to French kissing?

[gleekto]

Fic: Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You (4/?)

Short Summary: Blaine coming of age in 1969. Columbia University. Hippie!Kurt. Elliott and Sebastian as Blaine’s mentor-friends. Unironic use of ‘groovy’. Coming out and fitting in and falling in love.

Amazing Poster by @caramelcoffeeaddict

For @slayediest who gave an inspired prompt for this way back when.

Day One, Day Two, Day Three

Day Four: Organization

Blaine has a skip in his step as he walks into music history on Tuesday. He's wearing his new purple-blue slacks with his colorful vertical striped shirt - classic but fun and he doesn't even let himself think about impressions. He surveys the room and decides to bite the bullet - He walks confidently into his row. The cute hippie who he now knows is Kurt, and sits himself down. Two seats away. But it's almost beside him. And he doesn't want to seem too desperate. To make friends of course.

Blaine has been so busy with work and with preparing for their dorm rap tomorrow that he almost forgets about Kurt. But apparently he remembers enough to chance sitting with him today.

Professor Cohen starts the lecture as soon as Blaine sits down which is maybe fortunate because Blaine doesn't have a chance to get nervous trying to figure out how to make casual conversation - which is usually his strong suit but apparently not when he thinks the guy is attractive and has a biting sense of humour.

Kurt is just sitting in his spot like he does every class, looking too perfectly coiffed for a true hippie but he certainly has the colour scheme - orange bell bottoms today with a silk cream, mustard and orange button down to match. And Blaine tells himself that he should stop noticing that Kurt's pants hug his thighs if he actually wants to be able to talk to him. In his experience, guys do not appreciate being appreciated by other guys. Lucky for him, Kurt doesn't turn to notice him looking.

"So as you can see, music here, and jazz specifically, is used as a rebellion against-" Professor Cohen, always animated. It's a good class.

"Excuse me, Professor." The class turns back to none other than Roger Smith interrupting the lecture. Blaine rolls his eyes - the guy just does not know when to listen and when to speak.

"Roger," Professor Cohen sighs.

"Yes, um. It's Roger Smith, here. And I just had a question."

Why does he always do this? Blaine mumbles under his breath. And that is what gets Kurt's attention. Well, at least Kurt turns to look at him and smirks. Not at him, but with him. Conspiratorily. Blaine smirks back. Blaine knows that he and Kurt and likely most of the rest of the class are sharing this smirk, at least in their heads - Roger Smith is not a difficult target - but still, he considers this progress. A shared moment. And a boost for his gut feeling that the two of them would get along - music history, different styles but deliberate fashion, a little bit of judgement, and well, that thing that makes Blaine wonder if maybe Kurt is- He knows he shouldn't be thinking that way. He has the Homophile League, anyways. Even if most of them see him as a little brother to mentor rather than a boyfriend.

Ten minutes later, Roger Smith has his hand up again and the Professor shakes his head. "Hold that until the end of class, okay Roger?"

Finally stops him, Kurt says under his breath and turns to look at Blaine. No prompting.

Blaine makes a mental note that he will have to thank dear Roger Smith.

... (Kurt POV)

"What are you doing, Kurt?" Rachel sticks her head into his dorm room where he is sitting at his desk and prepping his typewriter to write his Shakespeare essay.

"Clearly I'm taking a shower, Rachel," Kurt stares blankly at her. "What does it look like?" He gestures to the typewriter.

"Kurt, the dorm rap session starts in five minutes and you look like you're about to set in for an exhilirating night of essay writing? Did you forget?"

"No." Kurt hadn't forgotten. The Student Homophile League was coming to his dorm floor for a "rap". How cute. He couldn't get his mind off of it all day, actually. The organization prides itself on being a group of very nice "regular" homosexuals who just want to promote tolerance and kindness to others. Kurt scoffs at the idea. He's never been regular, could never be regular, and why should he have to fit into a box acceptable to others anyways?

Kurt had been waiting for college so he could finally leave Lima, Ohio for New York City and Columbia. His whole life he had heard the whispers behind his back and to his face - that people say that he’s a homo, a pansy. They say they see it in his walk, in the way he talks. Frankly, he’s sure it’s because he has a far better fashion sense than any of them, but anyways. He was exhausted by the whispers, by the never quite fitting in, of slow dancing at his prom with his best friend Mercedes instead of with a matching suit or bow tie. He was also tired of the self preservation, holding it all in, never saying a thing, pretending he was reading Vogue for the pretty girls (when obviously it's for the fashion). He knows it's not easy to be an open homosexual at college but Columbia is in New York with hippies and more black people than just his best friend, and people who aren’t afraid to be different. So he took his chances. And those chances led him to Rachel Berry, who welcomed him into their anti-war, hippie dorm living. In this hippie world, he feels like he can relax for the first time. And not just because of the weed.

“Do you actually think I need to be convinced to be tolerant of homosexuals?” Kurt dismisses.

"Come on, Kurt," Jesse St. James, their floor don and Rachel's new boyfriend, pokes his head over her shoulder. "You know you want to go." It's not entirely untrue. "I, for one, think it's a great thing they're doing. I've had guys think I'm attractive. Girls too, of course," Rachel smiles up at him. It's nauseating. "But I'm cool with that. Love for everybody, you know?" How hippie of him.

“Maybe you’ll meet someone," Rachel adds in. And that is exactly why he doesn't want to go.

“We homosexuals," Kurt emphasizes the word, "Also have taste, you know? We don’t just want to date anything that moves. So please, don’t try to set me up with the only other homosexual you've met here. Or the one you'll meet tonight. Because I know you don’t know any others.”

"Well neither do you," Jesse adds - a fact that is unfortunately true. "So I expect you to at least come tonight to get some free looove," Jesse sing songs. Idiot.

Kurt decides it's easier to just go and sit there silently rather than deal with these fools who wouldn't let him hear the end of it if he stayed back to work. Which he really needs to do, by the way. Anyways, it's only an hour of his life.

"I'll be down in a bit," He says. "But I won't be enthusiastic about it."

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Tár (Field, 2022)

This review contains mild spoilers.

I think what hooked me right away was the look of the movie. I do not always do well with movies that can be described as aesthetically austere (at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think modern arthouse cinema has a tendency of mistaking austerity for artfulness and is too often afraid of raising the audience's pulse), but I think there's a clear sense of purpose here behind the movie's visual strategy. The colour palette here can be described as pallid and glum, heavy on damp greys, a coldness creeping into the images. The interiors are orderly, defined by clean lines and sparse furnishings, like we've stepped into a morose IKEA commercial. If we get warmer colours, they're from the dimmed lights in hotel rooms or in dramatically structured concert hall, which don't always feel like friendly settings. There's a sense of deliberate curation here, not unlike the persona the protagonist has manufactured for herself or the precision with which she purportedly engages in her art, and the breaks from this aesthetic (the crumbling ghetto she ventures into in one scene, her neighbour's unkempt home, the spectral non sequiturs, the oaken tones of her childhood home, the tropical greens of the Philippines) perhaps find cracks in her psyche. Maybe this is pat visual metaphor, but I was engaged by the forcefulness of the execution.

I suppose social media and smartphones are still a new phenomenon in the grand scheme of things, but this movie bridges the gap between the personal and the digital more compellingly than I've seen elsewhere. Computer and cell phone screens are not inherently cinematic, and what I think this movie does wisely is tie a sense of perspective to them. We see the protagonist pore over and react to questionable emails to and from a figure in her past. We observe her through a smartphone camera, as texts are exchanged deriding her. The movie does not fully reveal the entire context around these communications. We do not get a definitive answer on the protagonist's role in that figure's fate, nor do we see who exactly the exchanges are between, although in both cases we can make educated guesses. But that ambiguity enhances a certain isolating quality inherent in the digital, the way that negative feelings tied to online activity exist partially in a void. And between the early scene where she chews out a student for not wanting to study Bach for half baked social justice reasons and her eventual cancellation, the movie observes how the online world can spill over into the physical world.

I also found the movie pretty compelling for its ability to resist the usual cliches about portraying difficult artists, in that it refuses to conflate her personal failings with her artistry. The movie repeatedly brings up other artists with personal failings (like the aforementioned Bach scene), as if to goad you into making that conclusion, but the cruelty we see her mete out here is much more covert and almost adjacent to her success as an artist. (One of the funnier examples is the pettiness with which she undermines her neighbour's efforts to sell her apartment. "Apartment for sale! Your sister's in jail! We're all going to hell!") And of course it helps when you have a performance both as controlled and as physical as Cate Blanchett's here, especially as the control seems to be the point. It's not a coincidence that we see her getting a bespoke suit and shirt made, and I must take a moment to commend her good taste with respect to the height of her collar, the rise of her pants, and the slouchy silhouette of her jacket. Yes, yes, I'm talking about clothes again.

I am still chewing this one over and suspect I will have smarter (or at least more) thoughts on this later, perhaps on an eventual rewatch that I will very likely be doing at some point. But what I can say was that I was enrapt for the entirety of its two and a half hour runtime, despite the very real possibility that I could have fallen asleep.

[wordsandrobots]

I think -- and this is just an immediate reaction -- that it is perhaps a mistake to say the red suits are always associated with the Char Clones in a setting. Yes, they often are, but I think it would be fairer to say that red usually denotes 'rival' more than it does 'Char Clone'.

Athrun is the obvious point of reference for this: he is Kira's rival, but doesn't take the antagonist role in SEED in a way that usually falls to the resident 'Char'. You've also got Epyon in Gundam Wing, which while end up in Zechs hands, it does so only after Zechs has ditched much of his Char-like symbols. Prior to that, Epyon serves as a test of character, a rival path that various people have to struggle with (there's a deliberate duality between it and Wing Zero, with Epyon being a dark reflection of any already dangerous force).

In Iron-Blooded Orphans, the Grimgerde is part of the confusion of symbolism surrounding McGillis; who exactly it will become the rival to remains unclear to then end of Season 1 and it is eventually set aside as the 'rival' characteristics shift elsewhere (the red is changed to blue, in opposition to purple). It's a deliberate invocation of Char, but not a straightforward one.

Meanwhile series like Turn A or Reconguista in G also have Char-adjacent characters who don't use red suits. Harry Ord adopts Quattro's gold colour scheme to go along with his status as a more straightforwardly good force in the plot (the red suit falls to Joseph, who does indeed act as a semi-friendly rival to Loran), while Captain Mask kind of dots around between various different colour schemes. Gundam 00 largely ditches all-red suits for its Char Clone: Graham uses mainly black, with red falling instead to Nina Trinity and Ali al-Saachez -- both rival characters to the heroes but not what I'd really call the Chars of the setting.

In short, while Char and 'rival' are synonymous in the original show, such that being a rival to the hero is one of the hallmarks of a Char Clone, not every rival is a clone of Char. Therefore, red gains a slightly different valence over the course of the subsequent shows than it had originally. (Heck, even in 79, Char's final suit is blue, not red.)

Given all this, I don't think it's weird that the red suit would go to Guel. He is firmly in the position of Suletta's rival throughout G Witch, even when neither of them really want that.

Huh, just realised something. Gundam normally makes a big deal about red Mobile suits, since it’s the colour associated with Char and the various Char Clones (I’m not gonna do a taxonomic breakdown right now, but the only Char Clone without those associations that leap to mind is Rau le Cruset, which is because Athrun is the one with red mobile suits in that series). So Red=Important, in other words.

Thing is, I can’t really think of any way Witch From Mercury uses this. Yeah, the Darilbalde above is red, and it’s piloted by Guel Jeturk, one of the Three House Rivals in Witch From Mercury, but it doesn’t really do much? And while Guel himself is an Antagonist, he’s nothing like Char.

So giving him a red suit seems pretty meaningless, moreso because he already had a custom pink colour scheme on his Dilanza. But it’s the only red suit we see, so….?

Feel free to let me know if I’ve missed something here.

[uniquevocashark]

A Good Servant

Part 1 of ?

Summary: You would do anything to keep her happy: be it keeping her pet healthy, running her house or making her wine. Everything but for what you both want.

Some content warnings for this part: there's heavily referenced sex/sexual activity, pet play (not with the reader, this is an angsty prologue fic), brief mention of adultery, casual contemplation of murder, brief mention of whipping and a joke made about catholics. If I missed anything that you think should be tagged, dm me and I'll add it.

--

You start down the hallway before you can stop to think, holding the tray aloft in one hand. It's very easy to hear the strangled sounds of Lady Dimitrescu's most recent pet, some twenty something woman from the village, which only makes your job that much harder.

As you had been here for quite some time, you knew one of the most taboo acts was to interrupt her during 'training'. As you got closer you could hear her voice clear as day, offering soothing encouragements before the snap of a crop reached your ears.

You stop just before the door, wondering briefly if she'd use it on you for interrupting. But you couldn't send the heads of the other families away, so you steal yourself, rebalanced the tray and knock thrice.

There's a shuffle and her pet screams louder than before, followed by a half slurred string of begging and moans.

You purse your lips. You knock again, thrice, harder this time. You finally hear the Lady curse, some Romanian word you can't quite grasp yet, followed by quick shushing of her pet. You hold the tray carefully and take a precautionary step back.

She slams the door open and you catch a fleeting look at her black silk underwear before you shift your gaze into the room. Her pet, whose name you don't know and dotn care to learn, sits uncomfortably on the floor beside her masters bed.

"What is it?" Lady Dimitrescu snarls down at you, and you look up at the filigree decorating the wall beside her head.

"The Heisenbergs and Moreau are here to see you, Madame. They bear a seal from Mother Miranda." You handover the letter one of them gave you and fill her glass while she reads it.

You drop a bit of her special wine into it and hand it over. She eyes you carefully, taking a lemon slice. "Help me dress." She says and walks back into her room.

The hallway beckons but you follow her in anyway. She won't kill you, not while Mother Miranda has need of you, but you know she forgets how fragile people are sometimes. Her pet is a keen example; she clearly hasn't slept much due to her servicing, she's bruised all over and the way her lips wobble stirs some momentary pity in you.

Unfortunately for her, any stronger feelings have long since been cut away and seeing her in such a state only brings up questions of how you can improve. Still, you try to put on some faux sympathy for her.

You fill the smaller glass and hand it to her pet with a small platter of apple slices. When you look over to Lady Dimitrescu her brows are raised.

"She hasn't eaten for two days, Madame." You say instead of explaining. It had been one of the cooks ideas, someone that knew her.

Clearly, Lady Dimitrescu didn't realise that, "Of course," she replies crisply, her tone too sharp, "You may eat, pet."

Without waiting, you walk over to her closet to pick a dress. They are the same style and differ in their colour scheme; three are the same shade of light cream, twelve are pure white and three more are tinged grey. You pick out a light cream one with matching undergarments when she calls you over.

You've been working for her a long time, excess of seven years, so you know how she prefers to be dressed after stringent activity. You slip her bra on and her underwear. Slowly, you put her stockings on, as to not rip the expensive fabric, and clip them to her garter belt.

Lady Dimitrescu choses which garter she wears each day rather than have you or her personal amod do so, today it is the one that tangles easily. Its notorious among the staff for how difficult it is to put on. You know your way around it, though, fastening it quickly about her hips and thighs. "Have you put any thought into what I asked earlier, Madame?"

Lady Dimitrescu scoffs, sipping her water, "I have a personal maid." She jerks her chin to her pet, who has been munching as quietly as possible on the apple slices.

"Yes," you say lightly, helping her step through into her dress, "I merely doubt she will have time to deal with any duties other than those of a pet."

She eyes you dangerously and sets her cup down. You ignore the passive aggressive ploy to retrieve the step ladder in the closet. You flick it open and climb it as you pull her dress up, admiring the muscles of her back when she flexes subtly, then guide her arms into the sleeves.

"Who do you recommend, my gracious head of staff?" She croons when you work your way up the buttons of her dress.

You overexargerate your sigh at her playful tone. You catch her smile in the mirror and go back to buttoning. It is much harder to accept some days that this cannot last forever.

"Jessica is a cheery and dedicated worker with a strong back for lashings should she ever disappoint," her pet looks at you with mild horror that you file away and you try to strain your voice a little more towards reluctance, "Mihaela may suit your temper better, she has a quiet nature, has little care for material things and does her best to avoid punishment." That and her aggressive asides about the Lady would stop if she wanted to live.

Lady Dimitrescu moves over to her vanity, and you follow, grabbing the scissors attached to your chatelain and three roses from the vase on her desk. "Who else?" She asks, flicking the cap off her lipstick.

"Louise may suit as well," You say as you clip the stalks, "but Miss Daniela has taken a fancy to her. It would not be the wisest choice. There is also Rachel but she is pregnant with the gardeners child."

"Leave it to humans to rut like base animals on my property," she taps her lips thoughtfully,  "Wasn't Rachel married?"

"She is, Madame."

"Do you remember to whom?"

You pause in your arranging of the flowers on her breast and she catches your eye with a smile that burns you, "It was to the southern most butcher. One of the Bradleys, I believe."

She clicks her tongue, breaking eye contact, and you move to brush her silky hair out before she repins it. "Tell Heisenbergs retainer to have her husband brought here. It may be time to cull that wretched family," she paused, sipping again at her water, "Also, Mihaela will do, inform her after the meeting."

"Of course, Madame." You set the brush down, and grab her powder, dusting it onto her cheeks as she fixes the curls back into her hair. She is most beautiful like this, when her face turns delicately pensive and she stills almost completely. You almost wonder what it would be like, with her, and have to take an extra second to cool your heating face.

When she turns to you, with that deliberate, unabashed affection stealing the faux indifference from her face, it makes your heart quake in a way you haven't felt before. You have to look away before you both do something stupid. Deliberately, you plant your hand on her shoulder to keep her at a distance and stare intently at her ear as you put her earrings on.

Her pet has come to sit at your feet, Lady Dimitrescu running her fingers through her hair and you vaguely wonder what it would be like. What if you were there instead and what if this and that and everything else you could want but can't have. Neither of you will cross Mother Miranda.

Her pet gives you the dishes, the glass and plate empty. You move away from them, so that you're not tempting anything again and refill the glass.

"Shall I also have inquiries made about a new gardener, madame?" You ask as you hand the glass back, then move to gather together a suitable outfit for her pet.

The softness is gone from her face and you tell yourself you're glad of it. "Yes, someone more appropriate."

"Not a Catholic then?" You ask innocently. She chuckles warmly and you go about dressing her pet with a little smile. "And would you prefer the current one be brought to your daughters or sent straight to the cellar?"

She regards you seriously in the mirror, and you stare back into her golden eyes before returning to fixing the bow on the back of her pets dress, "Bring him to me when I'm next available."

You usher her pet back to her seat, putting the cups back on the tray, "That would be after dinner for today, or at three tomorrow evening."

"After dinner will be fine." She replies, eating the rest of her lemon. She hands you the skin, her fingers brushing yours deliberately, and you take longer than needed to deposit it on the plate.

"The families are gathered in the dining hall, Madame. I had the kitchen staff prepare a light brunch."

"Tell them I'll be there momentarily."

"As you say, my Lady." You curtsy as you leave. You make a note to have Rachel serve dinner and to watch the Lady's pet while she's busy. You may even go so far as to ask the cook to make a broth; this pet seems to make her happy and you are determined that her pet remains able to do so.

It's all you can do, after all.

Hey, little note:

This is a multi chapter fic with a planned unhappy ending because Courtly Love Trope doesn't usually end well. There will also be references to Resident Evil lore from previous games. Do I care if its accurate? No, not at all. Resi purists beware this fic. And thanks for reading!

[fakeikemen]

The "Cave of Two Lovers" foreshadows the Zutara interactions in "Crossroads of Destiny"

[And maybe after that too; (yeah this part will be purely based on speculation)]

(See also: A meta that everybody has already written but I haven't because I was living under a rock and watched Avatar very recently)

Like seriously, it is so obvious? I see people try to interpret "The Legend Of Oma and Shu" in so many other ways; like yeah, you're free to interpret it however you want but— most people try to make sense of it while thinking that the tale is just a random occurrence? But it's not.

And here's why:

(I'm so sorry, I tried to add the "keep reading" link here because this gets kinda long but it just won't work) (Also click on the pictures if you want better resolution).

The tale of Oma and Shu is about two lovers who belonged to villages that were at war against each other. To continue meeting each other, they learnt earthbending to create caves in the mountain that divides the two villages. But one day Shu didn't come to the caves. He'd died in the war. So Oma unleashed a terrifying display of her power. And then when people were willing to listen to her, she called off the war and strived for peace between both the villages. As a result the city of Omashu was created— as a monument in remembrance of their love.

So in comparison:

1. Two people belonging to the opposite sides of the war

(Other than the 100 year old war that has been going on, Zuko and Katara are involved in a very fundamental conflict: Capture the Avatar Vs. Protect the Avatar.)

2. With the same colour scheme:

3. Share intimate moments in a cave lit by green crystals:

A popular argument for this comparison is that; Oma and Shu had a positive impressions of each other when they first met. Unlike Zuko and Katara where Katara's first impression of Zuko was pretty negative because he invaded her village.

Zuko and Katara's first proper conversation happens in "Crossroads of Destiny" i.e.; the scene I'm talking about here. After this interaction that they have, I think it's safe to say that they did have positive impressions of each other. (Until Zuko made the wrong choice.)

Other than that, about the colour scheme being a coincidence: Here and here are posts by @marsreds about how the colours are definitely not a coincidence.

But seriously guys? Oma and Shu were the FIRST EARTHBENDERS and yet, instead of greens and yellows they were designed with RED and BLUE?!? (I'll take about Oma's green dress below.)

And on that note, why were Zuko and Katara the only ones who were thrown into the catacombs when everybody else was being held at the dungeons? The dungeons wouldn't have been easy to escape, neither for Zuko nor for Katara.

It's because Zuko and Katara were meant to share an intimate moment in a cave that was supposed to jog our visual memory to remind us of the caves built by Oma and Shu.

(Seriously though, I wasn't really paying attention during CoTL and thought that the Omashu legend was just put in to consume screen time, so I missed the red/blue thing. But then I watched CoD and saw the catacombs and I was like: "Isn't this like that cave made by the lovers?" And then I proceeded to have an oh shit moment because, I knew that Zutara was not canon so I never even considered the possibility of the narrative hinting at anything between them but then this happened. I mean, it's pretty darn obvious).

The colour of the crystals being the same in both caves is no coincidence either— if they just wanted two random caves with crystals, then they could've used a different colour because crystals of different colours exist:

Moving on,

The Visual Cues:

According to the colour coding Zuko = Oma (red) and Katara = Shu (blue).

So,

EXHIBIT A:

I feel like this one speaks for itself.

(I personally think that in this parallel Oma is in red because Katara at this point still sees Zuko as the face of the Fire Nation.)

EXHIBIT B:

This sequence of frames show Oma (dressed in green, like Zuko was in the catacombs) and Shu (dressed in his usual blue), standing on neutral territory and reaching out to each other and then being torn apart by the war.

Pretty much like:

The first time they are in each other's presence without the cause of their conflict (i.e. the Avatar), Zuko and Katara reach out to each other empathetically and attain bone deep understanding of each other within a matter of minutes. This whole encounter is in Ba Sing Se, which counts for the neutral territory because it hadn't been completely taken over by Fire Nation at that point.

And honestly? The raw vulnerability and intimacy of this scene and the high emotional energy of their powerful dynamic is just— wow. (I put off my binging spree for a whole day because I didn't have the heart to see Zutara not become canon after all of this.)

And soon after, Zuko and Katara face each other in battle, their tentative friendship torn apart, as they fight from their respective sides of the war.

EXHIBIT C:

Whenever Oma and Shu appear in the same frame during the visualization of the legend, Oma is always on the left half of the frame and Shu is on the right.

Similarly, throughout all their interactions in the Catacombs, whenever the frame exclusively includes Zuko and Katara, Zuko (like Oma) is on the left half of the frame and Katara (like Shu) is on the right.

The parallels (or foils rather):

#1

In CoTL, we see Song who is a healer (cures Iroh of his poisoning). She mentions that she hasn't seen her father since a Fire Nation raid took place in her village. Zuko empathises with her and says that he too hasn't seen his father in a long while. But then he refuses to say anything else about it.

Later Song tries to reach out to Zuko and tries to touch his scar— which Zuko prevents her from. She shows Zuko her own scars to show that she understood him.

And yet, Zuko doesn't open up to her.

After a while of life-changing and eye-opening experiences, in CoD, when Katara has her meltdown and cries while saying that her mother was snatched away from her by the Fire Nation; Zuko sees an opening to offer an olive branch and he takes it, he empathises with her and tells her that how his mother was snatched away by the Fire Nation as well.

Then Zuko opens up to Katara in a show of complete vulnerability. He openly talks about his scar and what he feels about it. In response, Katara offers to heal his scar and then Zuko lets her touch his scar.

It was nothing but a deliberate choice to make Song slightly parallel Katara (a healer, lost a parent because of the war) and then making Zuko not open up to her and not let her touch the scar, only for Katara to be the one he opened up to and allowed to touch the scar.

#2

After being trapped with Aang in the cave in CoTL and sharing an intimate moment with him, as soon as they find their way out, Katara runs straight ahead without looking back.

But after her time with Zuko, trapped in the Catacombs in CoD, while leaving she turns back to look at Zuko.

Judging by the amount of time the animation puts into showing us Aang's disappointment at Katara running off and into making it clear that Katara did look back at Zuko and that Zuko looked right back at her, to me, it feels like the choice to show this was pretty deliberate.

(Turning back to look at a person while leaving is a romantic trope that has been overused to death? Or is it just bollywood?)

Also I wouldn't have paid this much attention to this small detail if not for the fact that just a hint of the Omashu legend theme is played here?

No, I swear I'm not making it up.

The Omashu legend theme is used in CoD:

The Omashu legend theme is largely dominated by the music of a stringed instrument (forgive me, I don't know what it's called) alongwith a steady melody playing in the background.

In CoD, when Katara and Zuko start conversing for real, (i.e.; when Katara says: "I'm sorry I yelled at you.") what sounds like a variation of the background melody in the Omashu legend theme, starts its subtle ascent as the background score, but sans the music of the stringed instrument.

It is when Katara says: "Maybe you could be free of it." [About Zuko's scar], when then first hint of the stringed instrument is heard. It is only a single note of the strings but it's there. And this "single note" sound keeps on repeating at regular intervals with the melody building up until Aang and Iroh burst into the catacombs.

But then, when Katara is leaving with Aang and she turns back to look at Zuko, this time the music that plays for a few seconds at best, is dominated by the stringed instrument again and this time it's unmistakable.

Also I don't think this music is used anywhere else in the course of the whole show? So it can't really be a coincidence? But I don't really know. I'm saying this on the basis of as far as my memory can reach.

And this is as far as canon stands testimony to what I am trying to say here.

But what about the second half of the story yk, the dying thing, you say?

Well this is where the speculations come in.

Speculation Time:

#1

As a thumb rule, a romance foreshadowed by a tragic tale is meant to have a happy ending.

So this time when Katara's (Shu) life is in danger (Azula's lightning bolt), Zuko (Oma) steps in at the nick of time to save her life (by jumping infront of Katara to intercept the lightning).

(Since I have crossed the limit of images in a post, here is a post by @araeph which illustrates this point.)

Yes, I am completely aware that Zuko taking the lightning bolt for Katara is not his declaration of love for her. What I mean to say is that the whole scene was so very painfully obviously romantically framed (the immediate change in music when Zuko realises where the lightning bolt was headed, both of their expressions, Zuko's agonized "Nooooo", the slow-mo throughout the shot).

I am also aware that Zuko would've taken the lightning bolt for anyone. But it is the narrative that demands that Zuko take the lightning bolt for Katara and Katara only. Because this has atleast 10 different payoffs (a direct callback to the Book 2 finale where Azula had shot Aang with the lightning; the grief of which was for Katara to bear but this time Zuko himself stands between the lightning and Katara instead of being the silent spectator, the culmination of both Zuko and Katara's personal character arcs, Zuko's scar would parallel Aang's: Aang got it because he chose Katara over the world and Zuko got it because he was willing to give up the world to save Katara, etc, etc).

Tl;dr: The lightning scene wouldn't hold all that much weight if it wasn't Zuko taking the hit for Katara because the narrative literally demands it.

#2

This is where we start wading into really murky waters.

From mucking around on Tumblr due to Zutara feels™, I came across this post where some of the ideas for Book 4 were written:

• The Southern Water Tribe experienced the longest series of attacks from the Fire Nation. Zuko and Katara become political partners and work together to help end the animosity and repair relations between their two nations.

• Just like how Zuko learned to appreciate the Earth Kingdom, he would learn to appreciate the Water Tribes. Katara also learns to respect the complexity of Fire Nation culture. There is no such thing as an “evil” nation.

And that basically means that Zuko and Katara would've been working together to de-escalate the hostility between their respective nations and improve the relations between the two nations, while learning about each other's cultures simultaneously as the world would be in the process of being rebuilt after the war and they would be major role-players in shaping the new world.

Which is quite similar to how Oma strived for peace between the two villages and then as a result of the improved relations between the villages, the city of Omashu was built as a monument to the love story of Oma and Shu; which might just be symbolic of building a new world where both the villages could live in peace due to the initiative taken by Oma on behalf of herself and Shu.

The story would've come a full circle; that's all I'm saying.

If you've stuck around for this long, thank you for taking the time to read this long ass post with points that you may already have read ♥️

[cyanocoraxx]

i’ve seen a few people say that it would have been more fitting for the V2 fight to happen in the pride layer rather than the greed layer, HOWEVER... i have some Thoughts. (naturally.)

pride can be summarized by inordinate self-esteem, a conceit of one’s superiority in talents or rank, and contempt of others. greed on the other hand, is a selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved.

there’s a few reasons why the greed theme works for v1 and v2′s dynamic. in the fourth layer of hell, a mutual indulgence in power and blood becomes mutual antagonism; imaged here by the antagonism between hoarding and squandering. they are almost equally as selfish.

to start, we have the hoarding vs squandering theme. v2 squanders its power and whole life by deliberately seeking v1 out to fight, not out of a desire to survive, but as a greedy desire to kick its shiny metal ass after how you dusted it the last time. yes, this is pride too, but i’d say that greed underlines it all - it’s unnecessary to fight this way. it knows it could be destroyed but tries to 1v1 anyway, and it throws away its pride when it tries to flee at the end. if pride was its only sin, it would have stayed and fought until v1 inevitably turned it into a red paste. instead, it realized its mistake and *she’s a runner she’s a trackstar song plays*

v1 and v2 take several things from each other through their fights - i mean, v1 literally has v2′s knuckleblaster arm at this point FFS... and then they go on to take the whiplash after the fact, too. also, v2 learns from the previous fight and uses v1′s own attacks against them, even going as far as too shoot v1′s own coins out of the air repeatedly. we also see the hoarding theme with both robots having more guns on them than in their last encounter and obviously taking a ton of blood from whoever stood in their way to get to this point

there’s also the coin mechanics that dominate the fight between the two. you’re literally throwing £££ at each other. the fourth circle of hell is made for those who spend too much money in pursuit of material gain, and there you two are, desperately trying to shoot each others’ money. 

v1 outright refuses to let v2 live. “you’re not getting away this time.” is this also pride? probably! but at this point, v2 is already fleeing for its life and v1 chases it down - they could let v2 live, maybe fight again later, but they get greedy, they want that blood and they want to win. it’s not just about pride, it’s also about that precious fuel that they’re not going to let slip away again. also, sidenote that v2′s colour scheme being red probably says something about their mutual greed for blood but idk how to articulate that right now BHNJM

basically. yes there’s definitely an element of pride at play in their dynamic but i’d say that greed is also a huge part of their rivalry too