#but just comparing it to all his other scenes

[hidingoutbackstage]

Something about Tucker being held to a higher standard than all of the other Reds and Blues in the later seasons. Sure he likes sex and makes “that’s what she said” esque sex jokes, but like, especially during Shisno trilogy, the show seems to really like putting him down or treating his love for sex like a comedic punching bag. Oh, Tucker’s a single dad who genuinely loves and cares about his one alien kid despite how that kid was forced upon him? Well actually he had sex with a TON of women on Chorus by using the fuck temple and now has a ton of kids that he’s reluctant to pay child support for. And speaking of the temple, despite it being said to make everyone on the planet super horny and sex obsessed, Tucker says he didn’t feel any different, because making him hypersexual is funny (why is it funny, RT?). And remember how Tucker’s arc during Chorus had him emotionally dealing with Felix’s betrayal? Well now he falls for the most obvious manipulative lies from Temple, I guess he’s just dumber now. And you remember that funny scene in season 5 where Doc is giving Sister a physical exam, and Tucker obviously really wants to see her naked, but because Doc keeps telling him to not come in, and likely out of respect, he doesn’t, while Red Team is secretly perving on her (which they never fucking get called out for), plus all the funny moments of him trying to flirt with her, and her either being receptive or so fucking weird that it takes him aback? Well Tucker still REALLY wants her, but he’s now a childish asshole who can’t stand the idea of her not wanting to sleep with him, and is now super self centered despite the arc he went through showing how he values others, and the series basically keeps fucking with him and making him miserable and barely ever giving him a moment of relief. And you know how he was mercilessly tortured for M O N T H S during Restoration? Well he doesn’t get to process that trauma, and despite all the growth he’s supposedly gone through throughout the series, his last moment is an offscreen sex joke because Tucker’s the perv, get it? We can’t let him have a fucking break despite literally everyone else being treated comparatively nicer or given some kind of levity. Why specifically Tucker, Rooster Teeth? What has he done that’s so bad to you that you continually treat his character this way despite the fact that he’s truly the best (and should have been main) character in this whole series?

[anthurak]

So here’s an interesting little detail I noticed while rewatching some of the Beacon arc:

Out of all the various disposable pawns, patsies and stooges we’ve seen utilized by Salem over the course of the show (not counting the stooges who make up her inner circle), it’s funny how the only one who seems to actually recognize how much of a pawn he really is, is TORCHWICK of all people.

Like when you look at Roman’s scenes with Cinder and her minions, and particularly his final fight with Ruby in Volume 3, it’s pretty clear that he was always acutely aware that he was a very small piece of a MUCH larger game.

Just compare that to the likes of Adam, Leonardo, Jacques and Ironwood, who by all rights were all COMPLETELY oblivious to how much they were getting played, or just how little they mattered to Salem.

And that gets even more interesting when you consider that Roman was probably the smallest piece in terms of both status and overall significance compared to Salem’s other pawns. Like I actually don’t think for a moment that Torchwick ever actually met Salem or even KNEW about her by name. I imagine all Roman knew was that there was some boss/mom that Cinder was reporting to.

Instead, Torchwick was able to look at everything Cinder was doing and plotting, between manipulating the White Fang, securing several warehouses of stolen dust, planning a full-on grimm-incursion of Vale during the Vytal Festival with the ultimate aim of toppling one of the four Huntsman Academies. Not to mention I imagine Roman had at least an inkling as to the whole Maiden business that Cinder was after, plus the fact that she seemed to be able to control grimm to a degree. Maybe even guess that this was a plot years if not decades in the making.

And it’s pretty clear that Roman took one look at all this and rightly surmised that he was a bit player in a truly MASSIVE game. As he implies to Ruby during their final fight, Torchwick may not have known much about Salem or her plans, but he knew ENOUGH that he didn’t want to be standing AGAINST her.

Again, just compare that to someone like Adam Taurus, so-called big-shot revolutionary with his big plans to topple the oppression of the humans… who seems to have had no fucking clue that his new ‘friends’ were fully intent on sending him and his followers out to die as a DISTRACTION for their own plans.

Or of course, James Ironwood the big, strong (self-appointed) defender of Atlas and (also self-appointed) last, best hope for humanity, who to his dying breath seems to have been ENTIRELY oblivious to just how completely Salem and her minions were playing him like the cheap kazoo he was.

Or just Jacques Schnee the big-shot corporate overlord who wasn’t even important enough to know about any kind of scheme. All he needed was Watts dangling an election win like keys in front of a baby to be a dutiful little pawn for Salem.

Though funny enough, to Jacques’ credit; the moment he hears about the heating grid going down he does seem to immediately catch on that Watts played him for a chump.

And it’s rather amusing that this is more than can be said for the likes of the ‘Faunus Revolutionary’ who bent the knee to a human girl who kicked his ass, or Ol’ Jimmy the Child-Shooter himself.

[brucewaynehater101]

Adding onto the ask I ended cuz my brain was melting and also classes

And taking inspiration from "Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Wake Him Up" by Lulu_Rhythm

What if Jason learned all about Tim's disguise Jane Doe, what he did as Jane, the fact civilians knew and rogues knew Jane was Robin before the Bats, and the rumors flying asking where the Robin went, certain he died?

plus just why he was so precious to Gotham?

And fucking flipped?

Next thing Gotham knows, Red Hood is channelling his inner 'Batman post-Jason's death' by going ballistic on the new Batman (Dick) and cutting all ties with the Bats as a whole

His guilt definitely fuels it as well, he's reaching out to the younger Bats as much as possible to ask if they need help for anything like getting out of the Bat lifestyle of if they're unsafe

Something he wishes he could've done for Tim

He's channeling some of his guilt and rage into bettering his territory in other ways, sure, but there's still a lot of blood spilling going on

Unlike Batman though, Red Hood still (mostly) holds back against anybody who isn't complete and utter scum who has it coming

All of this goes on during BruceQuest alongside the other madness in Gotham

When Tim comes back and Gotham breathes a sigh of relief because their Robin is alive and well?

Jason's is going Full Overprotective Big Brother, much to Tim's annoyance

Doesn't help that the kid is down a spleen

If Gotham thought Red Hood's Wrath was bad before he had Red Robin safe and sound in his nest most secure safehouse in Crime Alley?

They've seen nothing compared to what's coming

What do Gotham's Rogues and civilians, people out of Gotham, The JL, YJ, Batfam individually and Tim most of all think of Jason's Rage-Guilt fueled redemption arc of sorts? Idk, my brains melting

Hell what does Tim think, going from, "I've lost everything but I got Batman back!" To being abducted by Red Hood and smothered with mother henning?

"This is Red Hood, who I'm pretty sure is a demon from actual hell trying to redeem himself, and this is his emotion support victim Red Robin, who gets mother hen'd and doted on to hell and back" —random Gothamite

Ooh? Jason becoming a full mother hen to Tim after this incident is hilarious and adorable. I also imagine, after everything that happened during the BruceQuest, Tim is a feral little bastard with extreme trust issues. He only trusts those that Jane trusts.

So, Red Hood is trying his hardest to domesticate Tim, feed him, and make sure he's protected/has support. While doing this, RH is also turning the streets bloody in an attempt to make them safer. Basically, pure chaos as their conflicting personalities mesh.

I'd also like a cute scene where Jason starts using all pronouns for Tim since they seem comfortable with that. Jason checks Tim's reactions to ensure that's okay while Tim is pleasantly surprised.

[graveyardcuddles]

Some rambling personal thoughts on Astarion's endings since I can't sleep.

I find myself really loving Astarion's spawn endings and ALL of their variations even more the more I think about them (the exception ofc being the cursed af endings where you don't help him AT ALL and he either gets turned into a zombie or is still being hunted by cazador even after the game, but I'm obviously not talking about those).

I think I, like many others who grew very attached to his character, were left feeling very torn over his initial spawn ending before the added epilogue. Because Astarion being free from cazador and learning to truly relish in that freedom AND use it towards more positive ends is the entire point of his spawn endings. But we don't really get the chance to see that fully paid off in the narrative. One could argue that we do see the very beginnings of it with the graveyard scene and the morning after scene and how he makes several comments about never being a slave again after he kills cazador. But then we get a rather painful reminder of the fact that he's still been forced to give up something he's come to love and cherish so much over the course of your journey. And then we just kinda end on that note.

I definitely didn't regret keeping Astarion a spawn, even after that. But I will admit there was a part of me that still really wanted to see more for him. And that's why I really do adore the epilogue. I know people have their issues with it and say it's unrealistic for Astarion to be so "healed" after only 6 months but I disagree with this take because we're literally only seeing a glimpse of him on one really good, happy night, it's not necessarily a reflection of how he usually is. He could very well still be having days where he struggles, and he almost certainly does. But comparing his previous 200 years to his possible (good) spawn endings, it's not really surprising that he's thriving. Same with the "counterweight" comment. He's not saying the 6 months you've been together completely negates and erases the 200 years of torture. He's saying his freedom and your love have been such a HUGE contrast to what he's had to live through for so long that they feel like a counterweight to the horrors.

I think about how far he has to come for him to actually get to those endings. His bounty hunter/adventurer ending? Amazing! He's relishing in violence and living his best rouge life. Leading the spawn in the Underdark? Speaks so much to his character development that he actually cares enough about them to even attempt such a massive undertaking. Lots of potential for healing of course but also: Holy shit the potential for unhinged shenanigans as well. Going to the hells with Karlach? Incredible! He's not just getting to enjoy tearing up cambions all day he's devoted to Karlach and helping her it's literally so beautiful.

Something else I really adore about his spawn ending vs. his ascended ending is that he burns down cazador's palace in his spawn ending. Burns it to the ground and destroys it for good. Whereas ascended Astarion literally moves into the palace and like...sure you can headcanon that maybe he eventually has a new, even grander palace built. But the mental image of Astarion wandering those halls is just so fucking sad to think about. He could go anywhere and do anything but he's still physically occupying the space that hosted so many horrors and tortures for him. And it to me that just screams that he's still there mentally.

I'll always defend people who like the ascended ending because I understand the appeal of it. As a dark romance enjoyer, I very much understand the appeal of the dark consort ending. And I don't even think this is the "worst" ending for Astarion because there's at least still potential for him (as opposed to the endings where he dies or is still being hunted, which ARE the worst endings for him). But it does feel like a step backward for him. And I think the people who go "Well this is just NATURAL character progression for him he's selfish af of course he would want this" Think too little of him or at least underestimate his capacity to care for others.

Because he very obviously DOES care. And allowing him to get to a place where he can foster that sense of compassion for others is truly so beautiful and so profound to see. I'm someone who is easily moved by fiction already but Astarion's story really touches my heart just because of how rewarding it is to see how far he comes in those endings.

[buddiebeginz]

“You don’t find it you make it.” Aka what Buddie have been doing for years now. They keep trying to take everything that’s Buddies and give it to B/T. I saw a gifset the other day comparing the hospital kiss to Buck almost dying from the lightning strike and being rushed into the hospital. They had literally cut Eddie out of all the hospital scenes. As if Eddie hadn't been the one to save Buck's life, push his own captain out of the way to try and get to him, help keep his heart pumping, and then yell at the hospital staff to do more because he couldn't follow Buck in the back. It's just ship what you want to ship but you will never be able to downplay the importance of Eddie in Buck's life.

[niredsw]

reddit has some good theories yk?

for example: (i was too lazy to take a ss soo i just copy-pasted it)

THEORY NOT MINE!

The phantoms are using memories, emotions, and desires to transform them into phantoms.

Aiden -we probably know that he was suicidal at some point -he almost died in the phantom world, but Ashlyn noticed something wrong with him (he woke up earlier unlike tyler, he was creepily smiling at ashlyn in the phantom world, and the font clearly tells us that something's wrong with him) -it seems that he is somewhat turning more into a phantom but he doesn't know it since he was confused why ashlyn was shaking so much -his situation seems to be a 50/50 (the insane side is him and the more insane is the phantom) so he's like half dead and half alive

Tyler -he became the responsible brother ever since their father's death -we know that he doesn't want to die and leave Tayler and his mom like his dad did -he was severely injured in the phantom world, which put him in a coma (but it was short)

Aiden and Tyler -we know that aiden is acting strange compared to tyler who went through worse (no pun intended) -the fact that the two of them are going through a different situation after their near death experience is really weird

The Phantom Side Taking Control -we see this happen (ep 43) with Logan when he tried to confront his bully -ashlyn found it strange at first (cause logan wasn't that aggressive) but what's more strange is when the rest of tha gang started beating the bullies up and ashlyn can notice the presence of the phantoms around -it's also evident that lights flicker when phantoms are around (in other eps too) -there was also a scene where ashlyn screamed at a phantom to let her go, but the phantom understood her and actually let her go (ep 34) -all of this simply implies that they are slowly turning into phantoms and this is what ashlyn realized when she saw aiden woke up (chap 61)

The Theory -I believe that the phantoms are using their memories, emotions, and desires -logan had enough of his bullies and the phantoms took advantage of the opportunity -it seems that the others were also aggressive because they hated the bullies for what they did to logan -it also explains why Aiden is so different from Tyler -Tyler was always responsible and he didn't want to die so he was put to rest (as in coma) -but aiden wanted to die so he was put in a 50/50 situation -and this situation makes it so easy for him to transform into a phantom

More evidences -we can actually see this happen with Taylor (ep 54) when the parents didn't believe them -it just happen to be a perfect timing when the lights flickered and the parents saw a glimpse of the phantom world, this caused them to believe their children (the lights around taylor were already flickering when she was going through a rampage even before tyler woke up) -another detail is when tyler woke up, the light was flickering and his heart monitor was beeping fast (idk if other forms of electricity are affected too or it's just the lights)

So basically it's like the phantoms are fulfilling wishes, right? Well, no. For me, it's more of a karma situation, you reap what you sow, or be careful what you wish for. It seems that the phantoms are using these memories, emotions, and desires to drive them more insane, aggressive, and uncontrollable just like phantoms.

What about you? What do you think?

[lemotmo]

What are your top 5 favorite Buddie moments?

Gosh Nonny, that is a tough question. There are so many to choose from. 6 seasons in fact.

Let's start at the bottom of the list:

5. Buck coming out to Eddie as a bisexual man. I loved all of it. It shows just how much they care for each other and accept each other. It shows us an ever loving Eddie giving Buck the space to be himself.

4. The Poker date. Everything about that date was heightened in intensity. The way Eddie kept on gazing at Buck with this adoring look in his eyes, like he couldn't believe that Buck was actually here and alive and 'Thank God' and 'I love him so much'.

3. The 'You can have my back' scene from the very beginning. That is where it truly all began for me. The way Buck turned into a blushing idiot the moment Eddie complimented him was soooo good.

2. The kitchen scene. I truly believe that they would have started making out if Chris hadn't been there. It was so charged with sexual energy. Insanity!

The shooting scene. The way they gazed at each other when Eddie got shot. The way Eddie reached out to Buck and how Buck reacted. Buck saving Eddie and Eddie's 'Are you hurt?' It killed me. I remember watching that scene for the first time and crying my eyes out. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Perfection.

Honourary mentions: the will scene (iconic), the Whatta man scene, the post tsunami scene where Eddie followed Buck's eyes to get him to look at him (guh, so good), the construction at Sunset scene (that was so heavily husband coded)...

I could mention a dozen more and still not be done if I'm honest.

All of these scenes are the reason I ship Buddie so hard. They are the only way to go. The only couple who have the history, chemistry and love to become iconic. No other relationships they have will ever compare to all of the above. This is why I will never give up on them.

[randomthefox]

Stuff like this is what proves to me that people who defend IDW have never actually READ IDW. To them, the comic is just out of context panels. The context of what's happening AROUND that panel doesn't factor into the equation for them.

He seriously thinks this is a gotcha

"WHAT HE'S SAYING THE SAME THING IN BOTH SCREENSHOTS SO ITS EXACTLY THE SAME HOW CAN YOU HE OKAY WITH ONE BUT NOT THE OTHER!"

like, first of all, you're just fucking wrong. He's NOT saying the same thing in both screenshots. You are being disingenuous by suggesting he is.

In Sonic Battle screenshot he's saying " 敗北は 僕のアイデンティティに 関わるんでな･･･ 認められん. "

Those are not the same words as "cowards run, I win." They're not even the same language. I'm not being pedantic. The idea expressed, the intention conveyed, is NOT the same.

Words mean more than just the letters that compose them. The cultural meaning behind them matters. The word "coward" conveys a very specific and deliberate concept in the English language. None of the words Shadow says in Japanese carry the same meaning.

The thing Shadow is communicating is not remotely the same, even if you can technically turn some of those Japanese words into English words that are roughly equivalent. Shadow basically saying "I'm not a coward" MEANS something very different compared to "I cannot accept defeat because it affects how I view myself."

Second of all: in Sonic Battle Shadow is talking to Rouge, one of the only people in the world that he trusts enough to let his guard down around. In the Sonic Battle scene, Shadow is being VULNERABLE and admitting something personal about himself to her.

In IDW Shadow is boasting to someone that he hates, being a machismo dumbass as part of a dick measuring contest that only he is participating in. Whilst in the middle of a disaster scenario where people are dying. A SUICIDALLY machismo dumbass as it turns out.

This is NOT in character because Shadow WOULDN'T waste valuable time just to dunk on Sonic when PEOPLE ARE DYING WHILE HE IS SITTING THERE SAYING ALL THIS, and Shadow WOULDN'T throw his life away due to his own arrogance. The entire scene, every part of it, is OOC for him

You are being disingenuous by asserting otherwise, you're just taking two scenes of Shadow saying kind-of-but-not-really the same thing while completely ignoring all and I mean ALL the context around them as an impotent gottem IDW apologist post.

Absolute clown shoes.

[greenfiend]

i think the parallels between mike and brenner are meant to highlight the contrast between their intentions. like mike is doing this out of love and care and determination whereas brenner is acting out of vengeance and a need to control. i just don’t think the purpose of those parallels is to say mike is just like brenner. if anything it’s saying brenner is acting like a child, not considering the safety of another child. mike is not a bad person for acting that way in s1. he’s 12 years old and he just wants his friend back. i think it’s really cool we can find all these parallels but what do you think is the intent of them? what do you think the duffers are trying to tell the audience, what are they trying to draw our attention towards?

Noooo Mike is definitely not just like Brenner, anon! Their intentions are very different as you said. But the way their dynamics with El are comparable… both using her in a way? Housing her… and reaping the benefits of her powers. This does not mean that Mike is a bad person though… it’s more complicated than that. Like you said, he is just a child and he’s trying to get his friend back. He actually cares for her too and feels incredibly guilty when she “died”. That guilt is still present too imo.

As for the writer’s intentions… I think it’s for multiple reasons!

One reason I think is for foreshadowing. I think this scene will parallel Mike and El’s breakup. It’s not gonna be pretty (at first anyway). I mean, we already know that Mike and El are not currently in good terms with each other… they aren’t talking. Mike was lying to El in his speech and he knows it… and El knows it too. She was there. She’s not stupid, and Mike broke a major promise: “friends don’t lie”.

Another reason is Mike’s guilt. This is likely going to be a way for Vecna to target him. I don’t think we talk about the potential of Vecna!El hitting at Mike’s insecurities. Do I think El would accuse Mike in the same severity as she accused Brenner? Probably not. She does care for him too. But… Vecna!El? Oooooh boy. That’ll be intense. (I’d love to see it).

But finally it’s about El’s independence too! “Not Hopper… not Mike… YOU!” This poor girl has been controlled by men her entire life. Brenner… Hopper… Mike. Even though Hopper and Mike have good intentions, she is still… in a way… controlled by them. Brenner’s control is obvious. Hopper is a strict parent who wouldn’t let her leave the house (for her own safety I know but still…), and Mike kind of pushed her into a relationship (though he also felt pushed too to be far.) She’s only had brief moments where she could explore herself and her own identity, like with Max. She needs to be freed! She needs time to explore what she wants in life without the influence of others.

[xortstories]

Contrary Writing Advice: Tell, Don't Show

Wherein I give advice that runs contrary to commonly shared writing tips, because some short bits of advice get repeated without context until they become actively detrimental to the process.

Today, we're looking at a common adage: "Show, don't tell."

On the surface, this seems to be (and often can be) good advice. "Showing," in the context of writing, is all about description. Don't say "He was sad because he had to go to work", say "His shoulders were slumped and he walked with slow, trudging steps to his cubicle."

It paints a picture with words. It implies the sadness, allowing the reader to interpret it by picking up on the cues in the writing, thus increasing engagement in the story.

It's not always that simple, though. For the most basic problem, let's compare word counts. In the example given it's not that egregious—10 words for "telling" vs 14 words for "showing," but that's still a 1.4x increase to the word count of your book, and it could get much more than that. There is value in shorter, telling sentences. For starters, they break things up and can be used to punctuate the end of a sequence. Let's have an example paragraph, which we'll then try two final sentences for.

He desperately raised his shield as his foe rained down a series of heavy blows on him. Once, twice, three times the knight's mace collided with the shield, splintering the wood and driving him to his knees. His shoulder ached, and the shield began to fall low enough that his head would soon be exposed. Then, out of nowhere, another soldier—one of the many allies whose names and faces now bled from his mind as adrenaline washed away all conscious thought—appeared as if from nowhere, colliding with the knight and thrusting his dagger frantically at the weaker parts of his foe's otherwise impenetrable armor.

Probably not the best fight scene I've ever written, but it does the job of being a very strong example of "showing." Now let's look at two ways to follow up this paragraph.

#1: Showing

He turned, heedless of his ally's struggle, and dashed away. His heart pounded in his chest and he struggled to keep his shaking limbs steady, stumbling and faltering every few steps. The sounds of battle surrounded him, overloading his senses, and he narrowly avoided several errant strikes from others embroiled in conflict as he raced through the battlefield.

Again, not the best, but a pretty good paragraph. We'll talk more about it in a moment though, as now we're gonna look at a second followup:

#2: Telling

He ran for it, leaving the battlefield far behind him.

So, let's examine what each of these followups actually does for the story.

For starters, we need to consider what we want this scene to accomplish and how important it is. If this is meant to be a defining moment for the character, the culmination of several chapters of buildup where he trained for the upcoming battle, grew close to his allies, struggled with his fears and insecurities, and now in the heat of the moment loses his nerve?

Yeah, it might be worth it to drag things out and continue "showing" what he does.

But let's say instead that this, instead, is meant to be an establishing moment for an already-true fact about the character. Let's imagine that this is from the opening scene in a story that, we will soon learn, is about a cowardly soldier. The buildup of the main paragraph above sets up a suitably intense, epic fight scene. It paints the main character ambiguously, as someone who is fighting but unable to hold his own, but it leaves open the possibility that he'll join his ally and finish off the knight that was hammering him down.

And then comes the rug pull. Just when the reader expects the intense fight scene to continue, nope! He's running away. The short and to-the-point nature of "telling" what the character does there leaves things unambiguous and drives the idea home immediately. We see that the character is a coward, and that sudden rug-pull creates a great moment where the reader goes "Oh, I see. He's a coward."

Basically, it's a punchline. And a punchline has to be... punchy. You can't draw it out with sentences and sentences of "showing." You just "tell."

Let's also consider the fact that ending a long series of "showing" paragraphs with a short, simple "tell" can be a great way to transition out of a scene. It signals that that sensory feast is over, wraps it up and puts a bow on it, and lets the author move into another discrete chunk of writing.

"Telling" is also great to summarize boring, inconsequential parts of the story. If your book is about political machinations, where the draw is the characters going toe-to-toe with clever enemies in social scenarios, then it's totally fine—sometimes imperative, even—to just say "After three weeks of travel, where x, y, and z, happened, Bobson finally reached his destination."

I could go on, but this post is long enough already. Remember, the point isn't that "showing" is always bad, just that you need to understand the benefits of telling and know when it's best to do one or the other, because 100% of either does not make for a very good story.

Also I'll probably write more of these in the future. I've got plenty of beef with common writing tips.

[jayz4dayz]

RWBY Volume 9 Was A Total Missed Opportunity:

Putting this out there right now. Volume 9 is by far my favorite volume of RWBY for many reasons which I will not be addressing in this post, but there are a few things that have been on my mind since it's been released where I feel the storyline went wrong and could have been something so much more meaningful for the character's story arcs and development.

Starting off with our main man or should I say our old man Jaune Arc. His presence throughout Vol. 9 felt out of place not just for his character, but also the way his development was handled didn't feel right in the slightest. Becoming a crazy old crackpot because he foolishly made bad decision after bad decision, completely altering and undoing a lot of his character's timeline, and turning into this sort of secondary antagonist for Team RWBY made no sense to me. The way he said so many out of pocket things throughout the different episodes, including completely crossing a line with Ruby and being insensitive towards her mental and emotional condition instead of showing genuine concern like he normally would have, made me cringe to where I wasn't enjoying what I was watching anymore. Not in a good way!

Here's how I would have done it:

Going back to the very end of volume 8 where we see Jaune running towards the portal and barely missing it by mere inches, followed by seeing him fall into the dark abyss and joining the same fate as Team RWBY and Neo. Instead of that, we see him jumping through the portal at the very last second and making it to Vacuo by the skin of his teeth. The others see him and question why he's alone and where Team RWBY was, only for him to go "Uh..." and then the screen cuts to black and the credits start rolling.

We're gonna skip the three year hiatus and jump right into the beginning of Vol. 9 where only Team RWBY and Neo have fallen into the Ever After. For the first few episodes leading up to the reveal of the Rusted Knight, I don't think much needs to change except for the fact that they won't ever encounter Jaune, but they will still encounter the Rusted Knight who, in this version, is someone that would have had the entire fandom shook to their core when the big reveal of the Rusted Knight's identity happened: Pyrrha.

Now, how would she get to this point, you might ask? Well, remember when she got pierced by Cinder's Arrow and her body seemed to disintegrate? This scene:

This death compared to all the other characters who were killed off was unique in the fact that there was no body left behind and it almost appeared her energy was transported to another place. Hmm, perhaps another realm such as the In Between or the Ever After? Why this happened, in my opinion, was because of the use of someone else's semblance. We know very little about Pyrrha's family and have only seen her mother on screen once, so we don't know much about her backstory or semblance either. However, if her semblance worked anything like Raven's to where she needed to be attached to someone in order for her semblance to work and transfer her loved ones to a safer location to escape a deadly threat, now we have something. What if her mom's semblance transported the body to another realm of her choice right before the moment of death? (I like to call it a "divine intervention" semblance.) If that's the case, then why wouldn't it make sense for a mother's love to send her daughter somewhere familiar and (relatively) safe and still accessible to Remnant? The Ever After was based on a children's tale that everyone knew growing up and Pyrrha being as smart as she is would instantly recognize where she was transported to. Maybe she had knowledge of her mother's semblance and knew this might have happened one day, or maybe not. I find the one scene her mother is in to be very interesting because while she was talking to Jaune, she had a very bitter-sweet attitude about it and almost talked as if she knew more than she let on, but I digress.

In the story's timeline, when Team RWBY arrives in the Ever After, Pyrrha would have been there already for a couple of years. That would have given her enough time to establish herself and explore the different acres because let's be real here, Pyrrha wouldn't have stumbled upon the time travel fruit and messed around with it like Jaune did, nor would she have focused all her energy into the people of the land even though she would protect them with her life if she had to, but at the end of the day, she was just trying to figure out a way home. Once she stumbles across Team RWBY, it would all make sense why the Tree didn't let her return to Remnant yet. By this point, I'm sure she would have encountered Alyx, Lewis, and the Curious cat, probably handled the situation a lot better than Jaune did, and give Team RWBY a cautionary tale about the Curious Cat in a way that wasn't bitter or vengeful. The bee's having their special moment still would have happened, the team's fallout with the Curious Cat still would have gone down, and then we get to the scene with Neo's Jabber Walker clones and Ruby has her mental breakdown and identity crisis. I don't see Pyrrha blaming Ruby for what happened to the Paper Pleasers despite her immense sorrow for the loss of her only friends she had during her time in the Ever After. Her experiences with the Paper Pleasers would have been way different too because there's no way she'd be a gold-hearted tyrant like Jaune was painted out to be. I do see Ruby blaming herself and still running off anyway because she feels like a burden and a failure as a leader. I didn't enjoy the way Jaune was the center of focus when Ruby was very clearly in a dangerous state of mind and I'm positive Pyrrha would have picked up on it right away and address it to Ruby's team after the fact and not go off on her for not doing enough.

Team RWPY would go on the search for Ruby and still find her in Neo's torture dungeon, which would have been just as painful to watch, especially from Pyrrha's point of view. Ruby having to watch Pyrrha die in Vol.3 and now she had to witness Ruby "die" in Vol. 9 is kind of a trippy coincidence that fits so well. The only difference being Pyrrha immediately taking the initiative to find Ruby before the cat does and the final battle being way more epic. Jaune certainly gained a lot of battle experience throughout the series, but Pyrrha was always ahead of him in that respect and without a doubt would have sharpened her skills to perfection while she was on her own in the Ever After. Ruby emerges as a new version of herself, they defeat the Curious Cat, Neo ascends, and all of the girls finally get to go home together, hand in hand.

I can even go as far as to say this would have made Vol. 9 Beyond so much better too. Picture it, Team RWBY and Pyrrha leaving the portal and the first person to see them is Jaune. The potential for Arkos here is so strong it kills me inside! They'd have a raw moment between each other, there'd be lots of crying on Jaune and maybe even Pyrrha's part too, a long hug, and most definitely a romantic kiss that would have tied their relationship arc together in such a perfect way. It would have brought Pyrrha back and that's honestly all I want.

Of course, this is all just for shits and giggles, but I'd love to hear what y'all think or if you have something else to add! ^-^

[randomnameless]

Genuine question, not trying to start a fight, why do you get so upset about gods and churches being presented in a negative light in fictional works?

No pbs!

I guess it's a mix of being too common, too forced and having, in general, the cast use common tropish arguments to fight /defeat them.

I rant a lot about this game, but take TS where we have three sort of factions opposing each other, and each are supposed to suck. Who is the faction who never receives any "positive traits" or "pet the dog" moment?

The game force fed us a scene where an Aesfroti soldier - when Aesfrost is depicted as a highly militarised nation with a cult of personality towards their current ruler, that invaded the protag's home and slaughtered several civilians and NPCs in the process - say goodbye to his wife and kids before going to "war" to defend his land against, well, the protags who are invading it to kill their warmongering leader.

As force-fed as this scene was, it, I believe at least, tried to tell us that even the Aesfrosti who pillaged villages and killed their inhabitants are humans, and care about their loved ones, sure it's corny, but it's all about not deshumanising any party.

When we attack Hyzante? Niet, zilch, nothing. No similar scene where random soldiers, or NPCs, worry about what is going on and if they're going to die when their wall has been breached. They just, don't exist in this context.

I think the cherry on the cake is the Golden Route scene, where, apparently, nationalists Aesfrosti decide to turn back against their ultra charismatic leader because, uh, he "lied" when he declared the war and used a false pretense, so the soldiers and people who were butchering babies and invading a city where people were preparing a marriage apparently now have morals and rebel.

There's no similar scene for Hyzante when the cast reveals that the teachings of their Goddess were made up and salt wasn't exclusively given to them by divine intervention, because rock salt exists everywhere. Sure it would be a bit weird and forced that people thinking they're chosen ones and looking down on everyone else suddenly, hm, don't break down when their entire system of belief is shattered, but hey, if the Aesfrostian Gregor can have morals after washing his hands of all this Glenbrookian blood, why shouldn't religious npc #55 not make the same heel face turn?

And then, we have the slavery/human experimentation plot - in general, when TS tries to give nuance, they more or less explain/justify why something that "sucks" is done, it's basically Silvio's character.

Aesfrost' Gustadolph manages to push his "freedom" mentality because his land is a harsh place where people are desperate to survive, salt smuggling is reprehensible, but it's the only way to give some to the ones who cannot afford it. Of course is everyone is free, no one is because, as Gustadolph puts it, they're basically free to die for his ambitions.

Hyzante? Follows a racist creed where Rozellians have to pay for some great sin, and are slaved away in a lake to recover salt until they die. It's, later, justified by Hyzante wanting to keep its salt monopoly else they don't have anything, and wanting to curb down the Rozelle people because they know about the exitence of rock salt (and I guess getting free workers to harvest salt from the lake + having state enemies make his own population docile/not willing to rebel ?).

And then, we have the human experimentations, that are just done for, uhh, Idore's lol. When Hyzante is known for its "advanced medicine" and we could have had the usual dilemna of, idk, having those humans experimentations used to develop this medicine that is reknown in the world (idk, sacrificing a Rozellian to save someone else's life?) - it's not the angle the devs picked. Rozellians are sacrificed to power up an idol, Idore wants to control the world through his idol and soft power (compared to Gustadolph's hard power) and manipulates his people (just like Gustadolph) to do so.

The two are very similar, but who is the final boss? Complete with a transformation in an eldritch monster? The war-mongering imperialist or the jaded old man who is leading de facto a religion?

Hopefully there's the entire "human experimentations for no other purpose than the lols" to settle them apart.

---

I recently watched Dune, and even if I have some issues with the adaptation, the Bene Gesserit isn't portrayed as "comically" evil-er than the Harkonen Empire, I reckon the comparison isn't adequate, because Dune is multi book series when I'm mostly talking about video games.

Symphonia's church of Martel is a font for the Big Bad (tm) to put in motion his nefarious plans, and yet, through the game, we see how random clergymen use their, uh, religious buildings to help people around. Ultimately Martel herself is reincarnated through plot device and tells the big bad to stop being an ass and the story is less about "church and gods evil" but "big bad distorts Martel/church's teachings and role for his plans because he has a tragic backstory"

(but then Symphonia ends with the biggest whitewashing from every Tales I've played for its big bad so I'll stop talking about it because otherwise I'm going to be salty).

Abyss' church is more or less the same thing - the Church is supposed to help people deal with the fact their verse has "predestination stones" where the future is already written, and in the course of the game, we see how it has several factions and one opposes the group (who has the pope as a NPC!) - but it's not a story about "gods bad church BaD".

I remember playing Suikoden Tierkreis a long time ago, and while the game seemed to go through familiar "church bad gods bad" route and we end with defeating a god-like entity... I pretty much loved the twist that, in a game that relied on alternate dimensions/universe, the god-like entity was actually the protag if he made different choices!

In those games, if you fight a religious body and someone pretending to be a God or what not - it's not because people fight against an eldritch creature who wants world domination and to erase puny insects, or is the reason why everything goes wrong, but because, at the end, the conflict/fight is ultimately caused by someone, generally a human or at least a non "god like" entity, wanting to destroy the world.

I don't remember if FE was my first JRPG series or not, but I always liked the idea that if the world is doomed in those games and the heroes must prevent said doom, it's not because a god-like being wants to destroy the world, but because people, humans/randoms are the most shitty ones out there.

---

As for the "tropes" often used to deride fictional churchs and religious people, well, I will again point to TS - which did a splendid job in the Benedict Route where you smash Hyzante after allying with Aesfrost.

There's one battle where out protags diss Hyzantese because they worship a goddess and have no free will, listening to Her teachings and Her says (the traditional "religious people have no free will and listen to their churches who tell them how to think!") - which is immediately countered by one of those Hyzantese characters asking Serenor if he's not the same, but instead of blindly listening to a Goddess, blindly follows Benedict. And it ends with the final chapter title referencing automatons/puppets : who is that title talking about ? The fake "idol" Idore created, or the fake "king" Benedict created?

Anyways, the usual "religions people have no free will because their church/religion tells them how to think" trope reeks of r/atheism and the double standard - bar in this route of TS, but I guess, in TS itself in the Roland route! - is never called out, blindly following a charismatic leader is okay, as long as charismatic leader isn't religious?

Regardless of my IRL thoughts about religion, usually those tropes are presented as a "gotcha!" when they are... not at all, but the games/books leave it at that and we're supposed to roll with it.

I'd say it's lazy writing or, as we saw in Naruto, a quick way to end a story without having to dwelve in characters and their motivations : "you're a god/alien/other being and you're bad, so let us do what we want!" - end of the story.

Hopefully some fillers and to an extent, Boruto gave her more meat bar being the 11 hour villain we had to defeat quick and who manipulated the previous sad'n'lonely antagonists - but it still felt rich from Naruto, known for his famous "talk no jutsu" and trying to understand people he's fighting against, to drop the ball with Kaguya, calling her pure malice and ending with some "let us live the way we want" to wrap up the plot so he can wrestle with his boyfriend later on.

In the end, we often end up with "religion bad bcs the big bad manipulates people through it", as if those mangas/animes/vg never have other examples of charismatic people not using religion to manipulate their randoms/people or "gods bad they should let humans do what they want" when we've read/seen/played through various, uh, really fucked-up shit humans did - but on their own! and ultimately, but it's more in fandom spaces, with have Projection 101.

TLDR : church/religion/gods are too often used in those works as the ultimate scapegoat to either wrap up a story in a rushed ending or to pretend to have "nuance" but still have a common enemy where all the "nuanced" characters can grow/be whitewashed and side together against that "common enemy".

Just like in all things I guess, I prefer when something isn't painted as purely negative and all of the positive traits are erased because there is a need for a perfect scapegoat - sure, bring out too much "nuance" and writing/designing a game/manga/anime becomes harder because there's no "clear cut" antagonist, and yet, the one who always gets fucked in this scenario is the religious/church side.

Want a generic stock villain who will destroy the world so the heroes have to fight against them? Just create a "religion" in your setting, and have the big bad either hell bent on resurrecting Chtullu to destroy the world because Chtullu BaD, or have them be the most corrupt piece of shit who manipulate everything in the shadows, so the rest of the world, even the ones who slaughter others bcs they feel like they must start a war, can be whitewashed at the end.

I mean, there's a saying about diverting attention from a fire by starting a bigger one near, or a trope of "aliens made them do it" : who cares if Madara started a continental war and targeted a village full of random civilians he swore to protect because he lost the elections? Did y'know he was manipulated by a woman, I mean, an eldritch thing created by a woman, regarded as a God, who ultimately wanted to get out of her fridge to kill everyone?

Roland must get over his hatred for Aesfrost for barging in his kindgom and killing hundred of his people while they were preparing for a wedding, because hey, Idore is evil and plans on ruling the world through his sham religion!

I'll forever be salty at TS for not giving Kamsell the occasion to rise against Idore, or not even have minor NPCs get the same treatment as Sycras suddenly going all "u lied to me gustadolph so i won't listen to u anymore + sad goodbyes to my wife'n'kids".

Extremism of all kinds can lead to wars/tragedy/fucked up shit - Sure I don't want to get my History lessons in video game medium when I play lol, but what I really don't like is how it feels like depicting "they're extremists because they're religious" feels like the default/easy answer : want a bunch of brainwashed people the heroes must fight against and can't talk no justu their way out of this fight/will fight without looking too BaD? Depict those people as "misguided" members of a corrupt church/believers of a religion, no one will givea fig. If they are instead supporters of a charismatic leader who throws them through the meatgrinder to further their goals? Well, there's no automatic loyalty so either you have to show/depict it on screen, else it can be challenged at key points to demonstrate how those people - who follow the charismatic leader - aren't completely "mindlessly listening to their leader" or how their leader "isn't that bad after all".

[kaledya]

Bonjour. Guess who returned!!

I saw your post on how you can't really draw at the moment because of your back, I hope you'll be back at your thing soon ❤️

But to the questions, mainly about side characters:

1) I am curious about Mammon's daughter's character in further detail. Did you come up with a name yet? You said we could compare her to Charlotte from Princess and the frog in her sassiness and general demeanour, but is she really a bad person like her father or is she actually a good girl? How would she react if she found out (unless she knows) how Mammon treats his employees, mainly Fizzarolli (unless his character history changed in Sinners Symphony), for example Mammon threatening Fizz after announcing he's quitting his job? And lastly, what is her relationship with her "cousins" and "uncles/aunties"?

2) I was thinking about Bee's son, mainly about who's the father? I mean, since Beelzebub is currently dating Tex (unless she isn't dating him in Sinners Symphony), is he his father or not? If he isn't (which, Let's be real, I guess he isn't) what does he view him like, unless he doesn't know about him. What is his relationship with his mother like? Depending on the answer to the previous question, who was his real father and where is he now? What did Bee's son think about this? And lastly, do you have a name for him and again, what is his relationship with his "cousins" and "aunt's/uncles"?

3) What else could Belvedere (my precious favourite side OC of yours) do? We know he's a butler, and a good one for sure, and a teacher/nun for the royal offsprings, but where else his capabilities may lay? I doubt this is all he can do, perhaps he is more like Alfred than we thought?

Is the picture above accurate to reality? (Please be true please be true XD)

I just really want to see more of Hell's Alfred Belvedere in the future

4) Recently we have been revealed that there isn't such a fool that would fight Constantine. But let's say there would be a sinner that would be brave enough (or perhaps have nothing to lose?) to stand up against him for their honest opinion, for example speaking out what they think about his cold logic at the expense of his feelings and lack of empathy, and how they disagree with it (let's say based upon their experience in human life), perhaps even mock it. How would he react?

I just hope you'll get alright, and I will continue to watch your career with great interest.

Have a nice day/night, and may we meet again

Richard

Her name is Monet her nickname is Mone (I hate you Mammon) this name meaning wealty protector.

She's truly her father's girl, but

I can't call him completely bad. So let's look at it this way, she is the daughter of a sin and one of the most noble beings in hell. Why would someone like this treat imps well or respect them? Imps are beings located almost in the lowest layer of hell and have short lives. Monet grew up being taught that she was far superior to them In other words, she does not build the sets for evil, she does not think that what she does is wrong.

And in the scene where Fizz swears at mammon and quits, Monet took her father's side

"How dare that imp insult a Sin, even though my Dad spent his precious time for him!?

Monet even goes on stage and tells Fizz this

"I don't know what you think about your relationship with my uncle, but all you have your worthless body, you'll grow old and die, and all that's left will be my poor, heartbroken uncle."

""If you ask me, if you really loved him, you wouldn't put him through this pain."

Monet is really sassy and outspoken, but technically she's telling the truth here. Sins are immortal beings and 50 or 100 years is a very short time for them.And yes, according to Monet, Fizz is a pet. After all, you love your pet very much, but you know that it will die before you.And here Monet really doesn't want her uncle to be sad or heartbroken.Even though Mammon has a bad relationship with Oz, Monet loves her uncle.

After what Monet said, when Oz talks to Monet, Monet thinks, "Did I say something wrong?"So she doesn't realize that what she says is bad.

____

2-His nickname is Wasp

Wasp's father was a hellhound and died of old age a long time ago.Wasp really loved his father and had a good relationship with him.

Wasp considers his mother's relationship with Vortex normal. Bee had not had a relationship for 150 years, and when she became lovers with Vortex, Wasp was happy for his mother.

He's not on bad terms with Vortex, they're not too close.

Bee and Wasp have a really good relationship. Wasp is already very similar to his mother and likes the same things, so they have a very close bond.

He and Charlie are close, kind of like the Wasp, the fun cousin who loves to party.And they both have the same level of high energy,That's why they get along so well.

Wasp and Monet, they love to spend good time together and have fun. So they're really on good terms.

Constantine does not like Wasp's attitude and finds him irresponsible and childish. Wasp likes to get on Constantine's nerves.

Wasp finds the Satan's daughter very serious and boring, and the Satan's daughter finds him annoying. But still, their relationship is not bad, they get together from time to time and spend time.

3- Belveder is Alfred in every sense

He is a great and very strong warrior and also a very knowledgeable person.Someone who has been loyal and served Lucifer for centuries, even when lucifer was at his worst.

Belvedere is someone who gets his strength directly from Lucifer, so he can fight against most nobles without any difficulty if he wants, and he never loses his gentlemanly air while doing so.

He doesn't have a family himself, but he cares for Constantine and Charlie as if they were his own children.

Even though he is a hell born who is not born as a noble race, he is someone who no one will show the slightest disrespect to, thanks to his current position.

4.It is very rare for Constantin to talk to a sinner. He rarely talks even to overlords. The mere thought that a sinner could talk to him is an insult to him; if that sinner shows even the slightest disrespect, he will die right there.

Constantine is the prince of Hell, but he is disgusted with sinners. How dare a sinner come and criticize him?Just for this reason, that sinner crosses his limits.And he gets punished for it.

But if that sinner speaks logically and Constantine thinks they are right, he will not kill him, he will listen the sinner, and if he thinks the sinner is smart enough to deserve an answer, he will answer. So if you're smart and talk logically, chances of survival are higher.

The reason for Constantine's patience and tolerance towards the sinners in the hotel is Charlie, Charlie's presence protects them, especially Alastor. Constantine may be a loving brother to Charlie, but he is very cruel to others.

Have a good day too!

[callsign-relic]

I have been sipping over astrotrain, and my brain just reboots everything when I see him. Just imagine after a long day you just walk up to your very tall boyfriend and want snuggles. So you lay on his chassis, and he just has a single digit rubbing your back as you snooze. Imagine how big his spike would be, too; it'd probably he the size of serve ahhahdjdgsljdl. Astrotrain over here would be packing and would absolutely use his size to make you, his human partner, flustered. One session would be enough to make you unable to walk for about 3 days. Each time you have fun time, he then just pampers the shit out of you, never letting you leave the room and constantly carrying you. I feel like astrotrain would reprimand you for hurting yourself on his spike but then he just cleans you up and pampers you. Also, the amount of jealousy this bot would hold when you're around other mechs like oh my lord. He'd just snatch you off the ground and walk back to his habsuite for some fun time. He would absolutely not share you, and I just... I want the even taller train bot. And then there's when he's holding you, and you're barely the height of his digits...I'm not okay. I'm in simp mode rn. Just imagine you're walking with Rodimus when Astrotrain scoops you up and walks away. You try to convince him to let you go back but he just goes into his habsuite and locks the door. Before you can ask he's already stripping you and all. Then he slides you up and down the outside of his spike, his grunts hypnotizing you. You'd be covered in transfluid and he wipes you up, gives you back your clothes, and holds you the rest of the day. And since the sex was so good, you can't walk. Meaning that you can't hang out with other bots so he gets you all to himself. I just figured out who astrotrain was yesterday and I just thought up this whole scenario. Even better if it's first contact au and he is just so enamored by your size compared to him. He can't show that he thinks you're cute otherwise you'll tease him. But then he messes with you by just using his digits to stroke your hair or hold you and he just purrs as you sleep on his chassis. Oh my gosh I need train boy now I love him so much. Also what are your thoughts on Astrotrain?

Space anon🌌

YESSSS these are so good. Sadly I don’t know much about Astrotrain, the most I’ve seen is a compilation of all his scenes from Cyberverse so HAHA. I like the fact that he’s an ass to Dead End. Big man bully the teeny car SHDGDHBE

If I knew more about him I could add onto this, sorry!

[sophies-junkyard]

To delete later: HELP ME FIND A NARUTO FIC!!!

there was a Naruto fic I read years ago that was a found family story centered on Iruka taking care of Naruto over the years. I remember a LOT of specific scenes.

1. Iruka confronts Jiraiya in a brothel for spending all of Naruto’s money. There’s emphasis on gamachan looking sad and empty, plus descriptions of all the people in the bar knowing who Naruto is (cause he lives on a dangerous street) and wanting to help out.

2. I think it ended up being Kakairu?

3. Food as a metaphor for love??? Definitely something about. like. “Don’t neglect your heart, keep your heart as full as your stomach” etc.

4. All the other chunin/teachers are key characters. There’s definitely a scene where they go out and get drunk and give Iruka shit about liking Kakashi.

5. Over the course of the story, Naruto lowkey moves in with Iruka. He just doesn’t go back to his lonely apartment but since they’re not used to having family they just Don’t Talk About It.

6. Ends with iruka adopting Naruto. If I’m not mistaken, there’s literally a conversation about him taking Irukas last name vs Kakashi’s. Something about “scarecrow of the sea” and comparing which combo of names is better.

Anyways, I feel like it’s probably been deleted and that’s why I can’t find it. But if anyone can help or at least confirm they remember this fic it would be much appreciated!

[chirpsythismorning]

The Duffers literally light the left side of Mike’s face during intimate moments with Will (the same side his heart is on), while in contrast, leaving it in the shadows during his monologue to El + major moments involving El (feat. Will)…

And y’all expect me to believe byler isn’t endgame????

Based on this big brain analysis