#love the reincarnation theory going around that stuff has so much potential

[naoiseart]

Titans of Kronos Islands

[thatoneao3writer]

Okay. So. I told you that I had some Ideas. First of all, I’d like to preface this by saying that I know little to nothing about the lanterns in dc canon, so this may deviate a bit from that. Which is fine, since the ttau is mostly a chaotic mess operating by its own rules anyway.

Right. Well. You know how most of my asks start out these days. So I was reading through old asks and taking notes when I came across one of the older asks about Eret. Potentially the first. It was just one bullet point out of a bunch of headcanons, not much, but basically it just suggested that maybe Eret was guarding some sort of ancient power of Herobrine’s, keeping it from falling into the wrong hands. Now obviously this doesn’t 100% fit with our current conception of Eret’s character in the ttau, but I like to keep as many ideas I can from the asks in some form or another, so I was thinking that maybe there could be some sort of artifact that Herobrine was watching over.

Since we don’t have a ton of stuff for the black lanterns arc, I wanted the artifact to be related to that somehow. So I paid a brief visit to the Green Lanterns Wiki and found out about this fun little time called the Book of the Black. The black lanterns need it to start the Blackest Night, which is what they’re trying to do when they attack the other lanterns and all that.

So basically I was thinking. In my eternal duo fic, (ch11 is up now btw, it covers a fair amount of this stuff), I used the black lanterns causing trouble as the excuse for why Grian (then called Xelqua) was asking Herobrine to investigate Lucia’s disappearance instead of doing it himself. So my idea was that, around that time, Grian ends up stealing the book and gives it for Herobrine to safeguard, since the black lanterns probably wouldn’t think to look for it with him. This makes it so that the black lanterns can’t do any more large scale attacks until they get the book back.

Now, Herobrine kept this book in the trunk with all of his most valuable possessions. The one that Foolish has kept ever since his death. (Herobrine had told him to pass it on to his reincarnation to protect but Foolish hadn’t done it yet for the same reason he’s never opened it; he’s not quite emotionally ready to confront that yet). I was thinking that the trunk could go missing sometime during the election arc.

As for what happened to it… well… the Green Lanterns Wiki mentioned that someone named Scar had the book at one point, and while that Scar has almost nothing in common with ttau!Scar, aside from the name, I still thought that it was way too good a coincidence to pass up. So I was thinking that the Vex could ally themselves with the black lanterns. I haven’t figured out the specifics, but basically the Vex would end up possessing Scar a lot during that time period (like, a couple of seasons) leading up to the black lanterns’ attack, and he would be the one to steal the book for them. (Of course, it would take them a while to figure out how to open the trunk. It’s covered with a ridiculous number of padlocks of all possible varieties, and it’s warded to hell and back).

I have some really angsty eternal duo ideas for this arc too, but I can’t share them yet because they involve spoilers for the fic. But rest assured, they are very angsty. :)

-🤺

YOOO that is perfect, Fencer! :0 I love the idea of the Vex being allied with the Black Lanterns (there were fan theories going around about minecraft Evokers trying to raise the dead and the Vexes being souls they summoned). It's very fitting!

Not surprised that there's gonna be a lot of angst up ahead XD bring on the angst :)

[kittyprincessofcats]

RWBY Volume 6

So, I pretty much binge-watched this one in a few days because I really needed to know how things go on after Volume 5 and it was just so good! Lots of messy thoughts to come!

[There will be spoilers for RWBY up to Volume 6 in this post (duh). Please don’t leave any spoilers for anything after Volume 6 on this post, or I will block you.]

Thoughts under the cut because this ended up getting a little long.

- The character short for Adam was really cool! It was cool to see how the White Fang began, to see Sienna, Ghira, Ilia and Adam in action, to see the irony of Sienna being a mentor to Adam and encouraging his ways when you know he’ll end up killing her, and to see a glimpse into Adam and Blake’s past relationship (and how the stuff he said to her was textbook emotional abuse). However, I do have one criticism, and it’s something that really bothers me: There’s a continuity mistake with Ilia’s age. Let’s think about this: Ilia was always implied to be the same age (or around the same age) as Blake. In the part of this short where Ghira was still leader of the White Fang, Ilia appears and doesn’t look younger than in canon. But we know Ghira stepped down at least a few years ago. If Blake is meant to be a teenager in volume 1… there’s just no way Ilia could have been there and already been an adult. She’s supposed to have still been a kid when Ghira was leader, unless she’s at least a few years older than Blake – which I don’t think she’s meant to be? Yeah sorry, this kind of stuff just bothers me. I get that timelines can be hard to keep track off, but that was a really obvious mistake and it ruins my immersion a bit.

- I loved the whole opening fight on the train and just seeing team RWBY fighting together again.

- I’ve got to say, I do feel bad for Weiss: After everything she went through to leave Atlas, she now suddenly has to go back there. I mean, that must suck.

- I’m a bit sad they just but Ilia on a bus, but I get that her main conflict is pretty much over and they had to go back to focusing on the main characters’ quest. I still wish we’d have at least gotten a scene of her interacting with the other members of team RWBY, though.

- I really liked Ilia and Blake’s goodbye at the train station, though. (And the whole “wrong tree” moment with Neptune really made me laugh 😂)

- Also just wanted to say I love Ilia’s new outfit (and the fact that she has spots on her belly – this is really important information, okay?)

- There’s a certain irony in the Faunus becoming more accepted because they STOPPED Adam’s attack on Haven.

- I think Jinn and the whole concept of how asking her questions works is super cool.

- I totally get why everyone’s pissed at Ozpin both before, during and after Jinn revealed his and Salem’s backstory. He has been hiding an awful lot from everyone, even after promising not to anymore, and he actively tried to stop the team from finding out the truth. Plus, the whole fact that he doesn’t have a plan for defeating Salem and is potentially risking everyone’s lives for nothing. (That said, can they not take it out on poor Oscar, please? None of this is his fault.)

- Oscar fighting Ozpin from within and telling them how to summon Jinn was a really badass scene. And I feel super bad for Oscar overall. Not only is he kind of at war with someone who lives in his brain now, but he also just found out that he’ll eventually only become a part of Ozma. And on top of that, people are punching and blaming him for stuff that’s not his fault. That’s super harsh.

- I’m kind of glad Cinder’s alive, because as I said, I was hoping they’d develop her more and make her a more interesting villain… but I don’t feel like this volume did that. Right now, she’s still pretty superficial, unfortunately.

- And now, time to get into one of the highlights of this volume for me: Salem’s backstory! Because holy shit, that was one hell of a backstory! When I said back in my post about volume 5 that I hope Cinder’s alive because I would like to see them make her a more interesting villain, I didn’t expect them to do just that, but for Salem. I love villains that are interesting, but I didn’t expect Salem, the literal big bad of the show, to be the interesting one here! I am pleasantly surprised by this, though! (And just to be clear, because some people love to misunderstand this: When I say “interesting”, I don’t mean “She has a sad backstory, this excuses everything she’s doing”, I mean “She has a sad backstory, this makes her more compelling as a villain”.)

- So, about that backstory: Do we all agree that the gods are major jerks, or what? I mean, initially not bringing Ozma back to life was fair, death is a part of life, they can’t upset the balance, I get that – but making him repeatedly disintegrate in Salem’s arms after she just thought she’d gotten him back? And then making her immortal just to make sure she couldn’t be with him? And then killing ALL of humanity just because of the actions of a few? But still not letting Salem die? And then bringing Ozma back after all (because now it suddenly doesn’t ‘disrupt the balance’ or what?) and kind of tricking him into that whole relics task because he wanted to be with Salem? The god are jerks, I rest my case - and I’m not sure if bringing them back is a good idea.

- Also… I get that she’s like… evil and all… but am I the only one who thought Salem got way sexier after jumping into the pools of grimm? Is that just me? Because damn… I’m kinda into that version of her. (Come on, she’s a sexy goth witch and I’m a simple lesbian, what do you expect?)

- So yeah… in an unexpected turn of events, Salem might be one of my favourite characters now? Oops? (*insert obligatory ‘this does not mean I condone her actions in any way’ disclaimer here*)

- I feel super bad for Salem and Ozma’s kids, though. I hate kids getting hurt in media in general. (I imagine the grief over them stayed with Ozma forever. And I like the theory that he gave the original four maidens their powers because they reminded him of his daughters. In general, I don’t consider him to be the bad guy in this backstory at any point. His only mistake is not being honest with the people who are helping and protecting him in the present.)

- I am now convinced that this entire show has to end with Salem and Ozma dying. That’s the only way all of this can end. Salem will have to either be killed somehow or learn the lesson the gods tried to teach her and die. Ozma will have to fulfill his task and die as well – either through Oscar dying with him (😢), through only Ozma dying but Oscar getting to live without him, or through the reincarnation cycle ending and Ozma/Ozpin recognizing that Oscar is going to be his last life. Something like that would be my prediction.

- Speaking of interesting villains: This volume also did a great job with Emerald and Mercury! With those two, I’m actually hoping for a redemption now. (And Hazel is a great guy as well. The fact that he was willing to take the blame for their failure at Haven to protect Emerald and Mercury is something I really respect.)

- I also I want to say I find Tyrion super entertaining.

- It was great to see Neo again! (I’ve gotten so used to Chibi!Neo it was almost weird to see regular Neo again.) Her fight with Cinder was EPIC.

- (I basically feel like this volume did a great job on all villains except for Cinder. But hey, maybe that’ll still happen.)

- This was an interesting volume for Qrow. On the one hand, I get why hearing Oz’s backstory drove him into a sort-of depression and made his drinking habit worse and I feel bad for him, but from the point-of-view of Ruby and the others, it must have also been super frustrating that the one proper adult in the group couldn’t keep it together and everyone else had to keep doing the hard work.

- Maria is a super cool and epic character! I really hope she sticks around with the team for Volume 7 because she’s amazing and I love her. She was super badass in her backstory (that moment where she lost her eyes was painful just to watch), I love the fact that she was Qrow’s hero growing up (and that he based his weapon on hers!), that we finally met another character who has (well, had) silver eyes, and that she’s that funny, cranky, but also wise old lady now who mentors Ruby and is just super funny all around. Good stuff, I hope we see more of her!

- The Apathy are the creepiest grim yet. The whole concept of them draining you of your will to live without you even noticing is just SO scary – I love it, but I’m also low-key terrified. The crew’s trip to that farm estate could have easily gone very wrong. Pretty much nothing but Ruby’s silver eyes even worked on them. I like how those episodes set the whole thing up – Team RWBY having emotional conversations while they were in the house, everyone having doubts (which makes sense at that point in the story, so you don’t really question it at first), and then the sneaking realization of what’s going on. Also, the guy who sealed in those Apathy grim in in the first place was just so dumb. How could you think that was a good idea? Good job getting everyone killed, dude.

- I’m glad this volume gave us more on Ruby’s silver eyes! I like that she finally got to use them before the season finale (though I loved that joke on RWBY Chibi), and I also like that she first used them to protect Blake. (I don’t ship them as much as Bumbleby, but I feel like Ruby and Blake’s ship/friendship is super underrated.) It was also nice to learn more about how the Silver eyes work in general and how they came to be. (If they came from the god of light, I’m assuming all the people with silver eyes are the descendants of Ozma’s past lives? TV Tropes kind of helped me out here: Apparently if you freeze the picture where you see one of his past lives with his kids, you can see the kids have silver eyes.) People with silver eyes being hunted also comes as no surprise to me, that’s kind of what I was assuming already. (Which raises the question: Just how did Summer Rose die?) Also, interesting fact that they only work on the Grimm...

- That moment where they reunite with JNR in Argus was really sweet. I also loved the design of Argus as a whole.

- I LOVE Saphron, Terra, and their son!!! I love that we got to meet one of Jaune’s sisters, I love that we got some more LGBT+ representation, and their baby is adorable!! (I loved that scene of everyone cooing over the baby. Also, that moment where Ruby realized Jaune and Saphron were siblings. Also, that moment where the baby helped them distract the guards by crying.) Basically, I just love the Cotta-Arcs. (Also, I just want to say that Saphron is super pretty.)

- Cordovin and her two goons are hilarious. I mean, I also hate them because they’re overly patriotic Atlas-people and Cordovin was racist to Blake – but they’re also super freaking hilarious. Every little line of Maria and Cordovin’s beef with each other had my dying with laughter 🤣 (mainly it was Maria’s lines that had me dying with laughter).

- That whole scene with the statue of Pyrrha was such a tearjerker 😢. First the leaf, then the sad music, then Jaune talking to that red-haired lady (I’m guessing she’s either Pyrrha’s mom or sister?), and then Ren and Nora joining and giving Jaune a pep-talk 😭 😭. I think this was a really important moment for Jaune, not just to get closure, but also to stop blaming himself and putting himself down. I’m glad Ren and Nora told him they don’t want to lose him too, and that the red-haired lady said she’s “glad Pyrrha was surrounded by such amazing people”. Gosh, now I’m tearing up again writing this 😭. I miss Pyrrha 😭 😭.

- I love Oscar’s new outfit. It was time for him to finally drop the farm boy look.

- I love how Jaune is so down for crime that his plan is just “They only let Atlas airships though, so we steal an Atlas airship.” I mean, makes sense.

- I think their whole plan to steal the airship was super cool and although I get why things can’t be that easy in shows like this (and I love that we got the showdown with Adam), I still kind of wish it had worked just because it was a really cool plan and everyone had their part to play in it. Heck, even the baby got to help (and it was awesome)! But yeah, Adam just had to ruin everything, nothing new there.

- So, about Adam: First of all, he’s a major creep for victim-blaming Blake (again) and stalking her. I like how creepy his behaviour is from a story-telling perspective (and from an angst-loving “I like seeing my faves suffer” perspective), but his story was getting a little old, so I’m not too sad they killed him off now. It was a good point in the story to do it. (That said, holy shit is he a creep! “I wouldn’t have to be doing this if you just behaved”? Wow. I get that he’s meant to be abusive and controlling; that’s the point of his character (and like I said, I’m here for the angst), but… yikes, poor Blake.)

- And then we had Blake and Yang’s rematch with Adam. EPIC STUFF. First of all, I like that Blake was able to hold her own against him for a bit (and same for Yang later). I also love the whole dramatic setting by the waterfall and the fact that Blake lost her coat (this is important, okay? it symbolizes vulnerability – and also it just looks cool), the scar on Blake’s belly (from their fight at Beacon, right?), the face reveal of Adam – I just love how all of this was set up in such an epic, dramatic way. But the most epic moment, at least from the start of the fight, has got to be Yang just jumping down there with her motorcycle hitting Adam and that amazing music. I’ve said before that Yang is just too cool for words and I will stand by that. The fight itself was epic too, though I was so stressed the whole time I couldn’t completely pay attention. Blake and Yang fighting Adam together was definitely the best part, though. And I loved the irony of Yang’s metal arm saving her. In general, I like that Yang and Blake got to fight and defeat (and kill) Adam together because he’s been a demon for both of them, and I like that they clarified they’re doing it as equal partners. “We’re protecting each other” was a nice callback to earlier when Blake tried to reassure Yang she’d protect her, and to even earlier when Yang was protecting Blake at Beacon.

- Let’s talk about my other highlight of the volume: Bumbleby! Because sorry not sorry, there’s no way you can deny their romantic subtext anymore at this point. Early in the volume, there’s the conflict of things being weird between them, and Blake not knowing how to deal with her guilt and thinking she needs to protect Yang (and do stuff like getting her bag down for her) – while Yang feels insulted by this and thinks that Blake sees her as being incapable of doing anything now that she lost an arm. Then, when Blake first leaves to disable the comms, they give each other those really sweet, loving looks. And of course, it all leads up to them confronting their nightmare together, holding hands, and declaring that they’re protecting each other. Add Adam’s jealousy to that (He was making comparisons between himself and Yang and asking “What does she even see in you?” – that’s not a sentence you just say to your ex’s friend) and you’d have to be willfully ignorant to not see the subtext. And those soft moments after the fight just killed me: Blake breaking down crying, Yang immediately running to hug and comfort her, Blake’s promise not to leave, Yang reassuring her and wiping away her tears – I LOVE hurt/comfort stuff and I’m so soft for these two! They love each other so much!

(Pretty much the only downside of all this is that a few major parts were spoiled for me in advance. Look, it’s pretty impossible to follow lots of blogs that post wlw ships and not see that picture of Bumbleby holding hands, or the one of them hugging (or the one of them killing Adam) at some point. So yeah… I’d seen all three of those pictures before and knew this would happen. But it was still really nice to see it all come together and see how we got there!)

- The fight against Cordovin and her giant mecha was also pretty cool! It reminded me a bit of the Legend of Korra finale. Ruby going inside the arm canon was an especially epic moment. And I also liked that small moment when they were flying on the Queen Lancer and Ruby had her arms around Weiss’ waist (a bit of White Rose, yay!).

- I like that moment when the Grimm attack and the team first realizes they just destroyed the only thing capable of stopping them – but to be honest, that was mostly Cordovin’s fault. She brought out that mecha for something it wasn’t meant for and started the fight that attracted the Grimm in the first place. Also, how exactly did she think the people of Atlas would take it if she had actually hurt Weiss? So yeah, most of that mess was on her, tbh. I’m glad she at least came though to help in the end, though.

- Back to Bumbleby: Honestly, the strongest romantic undertones weren’t even in the fight with Adam or directly afterwards for me, but in the last episode when they’re all on the ship together. So, Blake is blaming herself for the plan going wrong, and Yang has an arm around, her, still half holding her and reassuring her. And then – and this one really gets me – Ruby hugs Blake and gives Yang that knowing look over her shoulder while Yang suddenly looks away shyly. They’re communicating without words and Ruby totally knows what’s up. She’s basically saying “So you and Blake, huh?” and suddenly Yang – YANG – is feeling shy. This isn’t subtle. And then later Bumbleby hold hands again and look at each other like that… they’re in love, I don’t make the rules.

- And finally, we of course have Ruby’s epic silver-eyed moment in the finale, which was AMAZING. I loved all the flashbacks and how they’re drawn pictures and not just stills from the episodes, I love how the memories of her friends motivate her, I love how much of Penny there was in there (bit of Nuts and Dolts, yay!), I loved seeing adorable little!Yang, and of course the first look at Summer Rose! (I still want a Team STRQ backstory episode at some point.) Also, the music during that scene was so good!

Gosh, now I’ve talked for way too long again, but there was just so much to say about this volume! Long story short: Loved it, can’t wait to continue! (I know exactly 1 major spoiler for volume 7 because it was unavoidable on social media, but that’s it. And it’s a spoiler I really didn’t mind knowing, so…)

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Good morning! Whats your favorite show/movie? Who are your favorite characters? Why do you like them so much? Also!! Did you have a good sleep?

Okay so I was a film major for a while, and I have opinions. 

Penny Dreadful 

I love this show. Like, so much. I adore it. I can not get enough of that show. Just all of the imagery, and the fantastic writing and acting. The episode intro alone is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Eva Green is a goddess and I love everything she’s been in. The take on classic horror stories is So Good, and it actually became the inspiration for my Gay Frankenstein story! (Started as a stitch AU, and then went completely OC after I had Ideas) but the show itself is so intimate? I think it’s largely that the period they’re in, everything was so repressed and restricted. So when the characters break out of those moments, it’s more meaningful. And the love-hate relationship between Ms. Ives and Malcolm in season one? Exquisite.  I could literally write essay’s about this show, but I’ll restrain myself and just say: it’s the best ensemble show I’ve ever seen. The characters come together, but they also each have their own distinct lives that sometimes intersect, but in s2 especially, are quite separate. They are constant with one another like ensemble shows usually portray. Also gothic horror and romance? My absolute favorite. 

Anything by Guillermo del Toro

This man Owns My Entire Soul. I’m not even joking, everything he writes and directs is perfection. Crimson Peak is probably my favorite (I have a stitch AU for this too ;) ) because again, Gothic horror and romance. I’m a slut for that shit. Also Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain? Delightful casting. I think it’s obvious by now that I love tragic relationships, so their dynamic is *chef’s kiss* amazing. they’re so damaged. And this quote right here is one of the BEST things I’ve ever read: 

“But the horror... The horror was for love. The things we do for love like this are ugly, mad, full of sweat and regret. This love burns you and maims you and twists you inside out. It is a monstrous love and it makes monsters of us all.”

Engrave that on my headstone, please?? I’ve got a sort-of Dorian Gray AU (it’s delightful) that’s basically built on this entire premise. Mitch makes the mistake of falling in love with Stiles, and does many terrible things because of it. Mostly to himself, at least. 

I think my love of Crimson Peak is very closely tied with The Shape of Water. another beautiful movie, I could wax poetic about this forever. it was beautifully written, and such an artistic movie. I love the way it was filmed, and the set design, and all of the subtle imagery. Such as Elisa’s apartment being cast in cooler tones, it always felt very damp and had evidence of water damage, compared to Giles’, a mirror image of her own, in more warm tones. This is another one I could (and have) write essays about. There is so much packed into this movie, from the themes on toxic masculinity and entitlement, to the conversation on queerness and race and disability, and how all the various relationships are portrayed. Like. there is so much to pick apart in this movie. 

Aside from that, ofc Hell Boy deserves an honorable mention because i grew up on those movies. I’m pretty sure the Golden Army especially is responsible for who I am today, given all the lore on the fae in that universe. Wow, that explains so much about me... Also one of my first WoW characters was an elf named Nuala xD I still have her, too, and it’s been like 12 years lol

Near-Future Sci-Fi

Sci-fi is one of my favorite genres, I am a huge nerd for theoretical and astrophysics. But my favorite kind of sci-fi is the stuff that still takes place on Earth, rather than epic battles in space. Ex Machina and Annihilation are at the top of that list. Alex Garland is another writer/director that I love. He has the same kind of approach as del Toro, where he puts a lot of fine details into his work. And I love that it’s very cerebral; there are so many layers to Ex Machina. My English 101 prof actually refused to analyze it in class when I suggested it to him, because he didn’t think my class could. Basically handle? Dissecting that movie? Because a lot of it comes across as very surface level, but in some cases when you look deeper, it’s actually suggesting the opposite of what you might think at first glance. (And he was right, my fellow students were awful. I miss that class though, it was one of my favorites T_T Mr. Ryder was an awesome dude and super chill.) 

Morgan is another good example. As you can see, I fucking love androids lol. Which brings me to another of my all time favorite movies: Cloud Atlas. I could literally watch this movie endlessly, I love it so much. The acting, the writing, the filming, all of it is top notch. And one thing they did in the movie that didn’t come across in the book, was reusing the same actors through the different eras in the book. That was just so neat, because it really encapsulates how connected these souls are, as we follow the threads of their story throughout time. If you haven’t seen the movie, I can’t recommend it enough.  

Another one I always think of alongside Cloud Atlas, even though they aren’t related at all, is Predestination. It’s a great movie that explores the idea of fate and free will in a really clever way, utilizes time travel in a very organized way that I think was neat (think Umbrella Academy. They even use briefcases! As you can see, I love sci-fi bureaucracy, it’s fun. In fact The Bureau is another movie I enjoyed) and the main character is actually, explicitly trans, which was cool. You basically get to see the entire story of their life, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s just. So good. Mindfuckery galore. 

Shoot, and I almost forgot! Arrival! That is one of the best movies, and another one I could watch nonstop. It focuses on mathematics and linguistics and I swear to god, I almost altered my entire college course because of this movie. Amy Addams is brilliant, Jeremy Renner is so soft and nerdy, and again, it has an amazing take on time travel. I am very particular about how time is handled in Sci-fi, and this portrayal was one of my favorite. (Most of my physics studies have been dedicated to the theory of time, so like. Strong Opinions.) 

Fantasy

Stardust! It wasn’t until Good Omens can out that I realized Neil Gaiman is responsible for most of the stories I loved as a kid lol, and I had no idea he wrote stardust! But that is such a beautiful movie (I have a Stardust AU lol) and it’s definitely one of my comfort movies. Captain Shakespeare is one of the best characters ever, bless Robert de Niro. I would die for him. Fun fact, i had no idea Ipswitch was a real place until like. 2019. I 100% thought it was made up for the movie 😂

Alongside Stardust, I’ve always loved The Golden Compass. It’s fantasy, but also with that old-timey steampunk science feel, which is so fun and surprisingly difficult to find! 

Mortal Engines also has the same kind of feel, and it was such an epic movie in every sense of the word. I’m a little sad that after all the work that went into it, it didn’t get a dedicated following or fan base, because I feel there’s so much potential in it. But at the same time, fandom tends to gather around media that has plenty of flaws for us to repair with gold, and there wasn’t much room for that in Mortal Engines. 

I’m going to put Jupiter Ascending here even though it technically fits with the sci-fi, because that section is long as fuck and also this movie has such a fantastic feel. Mila Kunis? beautiful. The CGI? beautiful. Eddy Redmayne? One of the best villain portrayals i’ve ever seen. The whole oedipal vibe he had was immaculate, as was their portrayal of reincarnation, and just. The world building. GOD. I get so weak for through world building. Also the fkn intergalactic bureaucracy when they’re basically at the space DMV? One of my all time favorite scenes in movie history. 

Horror

I have very little room in my life for horror. As I said, I have strong movie opinions, especially when it comes to horror movies. I don’t like how most of them rely on cheap jump scares and overused gore and gratuitous rape scenes, instead of, y'know, actual good writing. 

Which is EXACTLY why I adore It: Chapter 1 & 2. It has none of those things, but still manages to be so terrifying. They are my favorite horror movies, and I’m saying this as someone who has genuine childhood trauma bc of the novel. Like. I couldn’t shower/take baths alone until I was almost 10 T_T When I was 6-7 and saw kids play by storm drains, I would run over screaming about how Pennywise was going to get them. Like, I had issues man. I was terrified to see the first one, and wouldn’t go until I could go with my best friend after she had already seen it, so she could warn me when something scary was about to happen 😂

And, one of my favorite aspects of the movie, and the thing that gave me Mad Respect for Any Muschietti? The way he filmed Bev and her father. They have a character who is literally being molested, but they never once have to show it. And yet their interactions are still so viscerally upsetting to watch. Sexploitation puts me off of most horror, and the fact that Muschietti doesn’t use it here, even when it would be actually somewhat justified? *chef’s kiss*. I love him. 

I love horror as a concept, I’m just really picky about it because I expect the writing to be good. I don’t like short cuts. But in a lot of cases, even if I don’t enjoy the movie itself, I love to watch analysis videos on youtube! I love to see the philosophy and symbolism in different horror movies, even if i don’t like to watch the movies themselves. It’s a fun hobby. 

Misc. 

Then in general, some other stuff I love in no particular order:

The Internship (Bless Dylan, Stuart is such a bitch and I love him) 

American Assassin (ofc. The writing itself is eh, but Mitch is my man) 

Dylan’s episode of Weird City. (I actually have a lot of feelings about this one. Jordan Peele is another amazing writer/director, I really need to catch up on his works.) 

Dorian Gray (*chef’s kiss*)

Rogue One (Makes me cry every time) 

WARCRAFT (Obviously this is a fav. It made me so happy, words cannot express.) 

Coraline and most other stop motion animation. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for that. 

Literally anything associated with Tim Burton. Fun fact, when I was 12 and in middle school, I planned to decorate my future house inspired by tim burton. Like, i had Plans. 

Most adaptations of Alice in Wonderland!

So! this got long as fuck! But you said you like that kind of thing lol 😂 I had kinda Eh sleep since I was up so late lmao, and I kept waking up (as usual, rip). And I’m so mad I go up for nothing! The dude I was supposed to show my listing to never showed, and is refusing to answer my calls >_> It’s been 2 hours now, and I still haven’t heard from him. But whatever, I already have a full price cash offer on the house so who cares. And that means I can play WoW all day, now! 

[ridasverkisto]

for the black clover meme ask: 1, 13, 23, 30 and 48

Oh! I didn’t actually expect to get any asks for it...cool! For reference, the ask meme post is here.

1. Favorite Character?

This is a hard one—I don’t usually tend to have only one favorite character, but a herd of them that I love for a lot of different reasons. The two that jump out at me off the top of my head though are Dorothy and Noelle—Dorothy just because she’s fun and I love her, and Noelle because I love her character arc. Noelle specifically is the only character I’ve yelled at a TV screen for lol 😂

13. Favorite Clover Kingdom place?

...see, I don’t usually think about this sort of thing, just because I don’t get attached to places unless I go there in person. I guess just off the top of my head it would probably be the Capital, if only because I’m a shameless worldbuilding junkie and I’m extremely curious to see more of it.

23. Any (hetero or LGBT) romantic/platonic pairings you’re fond of?

I think the biggest is Magna/Luck, either romantic or platonic—I’m soft for two dumbasses sharing a brain cell and being best friends, regardless of whether it’s romantic or not. I also once saw a pairing for Charmy/Rill/Langris and I hold it close to my heart if only bc the potential for comedy and character growth is amazing.

Finral & Langris is also a good one, so long as it’s like...actual Sibling Energy and not thinly veiled incest wishing. Oh! And Yuno & Asta. I understand why people ship them romantically, and I can see it to some extent, but...you can’t tell me Yuno isn’t a Dramatic Bitch specifically to troll Asta, and if that isn’t peak Sibling Energy I don’t know what is.

30. Least favorite fandom theory?

Without a doubt, the idea that Dante could be Asta’s dad. Don’t get me wrong, I can see where the thought came from, but it just—it completely goes against how Black Clover handles tropes, and it’s just. Ugh.

If Tabata goes that way, that’s fine and I’ll live—but as it stands without better evidence and set up it just feels gross and I really don’t like it.

48. What do you feel is the series’s biggest flaw? How would you have handled it differently?

Hm. This is a hard one, bc overall I really do like how Tabata has been handling the series. I think the biggest flaw to me, personally, is how he handles his female characters in presentation. Like, personality-wise they’re pretty good overall (various female characters, each with different personalities and motivations, thank you!), but. How he handles crushes in the series, plus how Noelle and Mimosa in the art have been consistently drawn in fanservice-y ways is really bad.

First and foremost, let me get this out of the way: it’s not that I disapprove of the crushes in the series—in fact, I think they’re all believable. It’s the way the characters—specifically Charlotte—hem and haw around being adults about their emotions. Noelle and Mimosa—cool, fine, they’re 15, they’re not supposed to be adults about their emotions. And Charlotte’s a bit of a neurotic mess sometimes, so her struggling to tell Yami makes sense. HOWEVER.

I’m aware Tabata doesn’t rly want to write romance into the series (he’s on record saying so, tho I can’t find the source as of rn), but if you don’t want full on romance, then a crush shouldn’t be such an integral part of how you present a character to the audience. I’m also aware that this is probably mainly an anime problem due to fillers, but the point remains—Charlotte’s personality gets filtered down to “strict and serious on the battlefield” and “oh no it’s Yami 😖😳”

It’s a less serious problem with Noelle and Mimosa because we see more of them, and we get to see parts of their personalities that don’t revolve around their crush on Asta, but like. Maybe it’s because I’m aromantic, but constantly seeing “will-they-won’t-they” is so tired at this point.

My solution? Either a) don’t focus on it so much—flushing, being tongue-tied, cool, fine, but it’s not the CENTER OF THEIR PERSONALITY FFS. Or b) have one or all of them confess to their crush. Have it actually go somewhere, with the growth that entails; because whether or not Yami or Asta, etc., accept their feelings, that’s a change in the status quo. It’s progress and development. It’s INTERESTING.

Or you know, instead of having all of your romantic stuff being crushes, have someone like...Vanessa or idk, Dorothy or David or something with a background relationship. Not just a barely mentioned one with Kaiser—but one that is shown in the text and shapes part of their growth.

Also, male crush representation! Let the guys want a relationship and have a crush. Finral and Asta are the outliers here and they’re both treated as comedic relief—Asta has a sort of creepily insistent puppy crush on Sister Lily, and I really really wish it was written differently, and Finral is working on getting better already. But let the guys have interpersonal wants and needs without constantly playing it for comedic effect! Or using awful tropes!!

Basically, my take is that how romance and certain interpersonal relationships in the series is handled isn’t...terrible, exactly, it’s pretty Shounen standard, but how I’d like to see it handled is with more variety and respect. If you’re gonna write in crushes and implied romance, then actually commit to the bit and do something with it.

(Also please don’t get me started on the Silvas and how their treatment of Noelle gets sort of...hand waved, after they apologize during the Reincarnation Arc. Forgiveness and rebuilding a relationship of any kind from abuse like that isn’t easy, and I hate that it just sort of...gets ignored like everything’s fine now. Because it’s NOT.)

...that got long, sorry. I have issues with how mainstream media writes romance a lot of the time, and I think it shows. 😅

[sweetchcolate]

Because chapter 66 raised so many questions, I’ve reread the arc from the beginning and tried to make heads and tails of what’s going. This is a stream of observations + speculating on some stuff + being flabbergasted at that chapter 66 cliffhanger

This arc, the study camp, is about how too many supernaturals are popping up around the school. That is explained by the recent defeat of 3 of the 7 school mysteries (Yako, Tsuchigomori, and Mei), whose control over their personal boundary has grown weak as a result, as well as by the coming of Obon, a period of the year where Far Shore and Near Shore grow closer.

All school mysteries do their best to control this influx of supernaturals, and among them is no 6, whose methods are considered to be extreme. His plan:

To close the boundary and cut that uncontrolled flow of supernaturals from the Far Shore. And in order to do so, he appears to need a shrine maiden’s help. 

When he meets with Aoi, no 6 says the following:

Implying familiarity (”you’re the one at that time...”) and perhaps recognizing her potential as shrine maiden and means to closing the boundary (”perhaps with you-”)

The following is complete speculation on my part, but considering all the similarities between Sumire and Aoi, I believe they’re connected and that share the same soul (making Aoi her reincarnation). As such, no 6 sacrificing Aoi to the Far Shore pit (where, he’s stated, the body decays and leaves behind the soul) might be for the purpose of retrieving Sumire and asking for her help. After all, it’d be much easier for no 6 to convince his fiancée to help in stopping the supernaturals than to trust and impose that task on a normal high school girl.

Of course, that theory hinges on Sumire being dead and her soul having been reincarnated. On one hand, since Nene and Hanako have fallen into the Far Shore pit, it would make sense that Sumire is a dweller of the Far Shore, thus is dead. But on the other hand, Hanako states that he and Nene are still in no 6′s boundary: if Sumire is in the boundary with them, then did she truly die? Or is the Sumire in the boundary simply the form Aoi’s soul took now that it’s free from her body?

The other question is: since no 6 needs a shrine maiden’s help, what can she do to help with closing a boundary? We know Nene, a “shrine maiden”, has been able to destroy yorishiros, thus weakening the school mystery to whom it belonged as well as weaking its power over its boundary, so what if it worked in reverse?

What if a shrine maiden created a yorishiro to strengthen a school mystery and its power over its boundary? In that case, Sumire, a shrine maiden with ties to no 6 as his fiancée, could make him a yorishiro, make him stronger, and help him on his quest to close the boundary.

Plus, chapter 60 seems to support that yorishiros can be created

And finally... there’s this curveball:

This picture... oh my god this picture... 

I did not expect this. My mouth legit hung open for a good minute because I was so shook

This raises so many more questions, not only for Sumire, but for Tsukasa as well: is Sumire no 6′s yorishiro (maybe I should say “was Sumire no 6′s yorishiro?” if I go with the hypothesis she’s dead)? Does that mean Tsukasa could be Hanako's yorishiro, despite the anime portraying his seal as red on black (whereas yorishiros have been show to be white on black so far)?

Every chapter in this arc seems to answer one questions and raise 20 more. It’s wild, but it just makes this even more engaging and I love to hear other people’s thoughts/theories so far, with the information available!

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E52 (Feb. 26, 2019)

There’s a lot to unpack here.

This week’s guests are Laura Bailey and Liam O’Brien!

Announcements:

Travis Willingham’s Yeehaw Game Ranch debuted today on CR’s Twitch channel! Travis and Brian will be livestreaming every other week at 4 PM Pacific (alternating with MAME Drop). Today’s episode will go up on YouTube on Thursday. On Monday, March 4, the Kickstarter for the VM cartoon will go live! They’ve been talking about this almost since the start. This episode of TM will be uploaded to YT on Thursday morning, and will be available on a one-week delay in podcast form!

The cowboy hat makes the rounds. Laura points out that she was actually in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.

Okay, on to episode 52: Feral Business. (Liam, just as the splash screen comes up: “That means masturbating.”)

Laura: “I think everybody should refer to their penis as a tiefling. Anyway, continue.”

There’s a discussion about classes for said tieflings. It gets a little out of hand.

Stats! Jester got her 5th HDYWTDT of the campaign against the shoosuva. Caleb has now dealt over 1,400 points of damage. (Liam: “Really?”) Frumpkin got his first natural 20 to perceive the rats and shoosuva. 

Laura and Liam have a heated negotiation about who gets to cuddle the Jester and Kiri plushies.

100% of the out-of-character motivation for the Disguise Self was just Liam missing being Laura’s twin. Liam: “You know, I like to have fun in my D&D games.” They enjoyed getting to sit next to each other again at the live show. 

Brian: “What were you gossiping about?” Liam: “Your tiefling.” Laura: “Specifically yours.”

Jester’s view on Caleb hasn’t changed since his backstory reveal. Laura: “I feel like it makes more sense that he’s more standoffish, and it made me feel much more guilty for the times I gave him shit for being muddy and stinky and stuff.” She points out that Jester got to see a lot of different types of people pass through, not to mention listen in on their conversations, and probably has a broader experience with a variety of people than some might expect.

Liam talks about how Xhorhas is “rough, and the customs are different, but it’s a real place” and not the bogeyman often presented to the Empire.

He objects to a question talking about how Caleb’s planning to take down people in the Empire, pointing out that he’s never confirmed that. Laura immediately concocts a theory about Caleb being a top-secret spy for the Empire.

Laura: “Jester has no idea that her charisma isn’t as high as... Beau’s or... is Beau’s very high?” She loved leading a diplomatic conversation, and didn’t know how it would turn out, but she feels like she killed it.

Snoozy Henry!

Liam: “Caleb’s not scared of being manipulated. I think that’s done.” It feels off being away from the Empire, not because he still feels loyalty, but mainly because everything that matters to him is still there.

Another round of dick jokes comes to a climax (sorry) with “Cocks Machina”.

Gif of the Week! Jester learning the ways of the goth.

If the opportunity presents itself, even in Xhorhas, Jester will 100% pull a prank and try to spread the word of the Traveler. “Nothing is sacred to Jester!”

Laura mentions that she has no backup character planned if Jester dies; she feels like having a backup will make her more likely to accept the possibility of losing Jester.

Jester doesn’t really care about the Empire vs. Krynn conflict. “Political bullshit. I don’t think the Krynn are necessarily evil, but I don’t know.” Liam points out that nobody really knows the motivations behind the conflict in the first place. Caleb mainly sees it as a big mess. “Caleb will still have emotional ties to where he was born and raised, but he knows they’re flawed and awful. They’re really terrible people.”

Laura’s theory: “The Empire stole a lot of artifacts. They stole the dodecahedron. The Krynn just want it back. And now we have it. And we’re fucking everything up.”

Big Tiefling Energy.

Jester on tattoos: “Nah, I’m not afraid of the pain! I can take it! I’m really strong!” She’d totally get a tattoo if the right idea came along.

Caleb isn’t too concerned about the group getting sidetracked, since he doesn’t really have “an agenda for where he wants to go”. He wouldn’t want to do something boring, but that’s not exactly a worry with this group. “They keep going to places with things he’s interested in.”

Laura on Jester’s changing dynamic with Nott: “It’s interesting to find out that Nott’s a mom. She knows what that relationship means, and she is just devastated for Nott that she can’t be with her son.” What seemed the worst was that she didn’t have someone who thinks of her the way Jester thinks of her mom. “I thought about so many times just her not taking a bath. It just makes me so sad.”

Fan Art of the Week! A giant city-tortoise.

Liam: “Man, get a load of Brian’s kenku.” Dani: “This has to stop.”

What the heck does “consecuted” mean? Laura: “I think it means something about being reborn.” Liam: “Yeah, reincarnation.”

Liam on potentially picking the wrong spells: “I don’t worry that I will. I just know that I will.” Marisha warned him.

Brian asks Laura about where her vote’s hovering in the vote for DnD Beyond’s president. Laura: “I feel like Liam has a stronger platform.” Liam: “Is that a dick joke?” Laura: “I’m sitting next to Liam. So Liam.”

Dani: “Contractually, as Sam’s campaign manager, I have to vote for Sam. But he’s also not paying me, so I’m just saying, Liam, if you paid me, I could maybe switch sides. Look, I’m working for exposure only, and I’m feeling very exposed.” Liam: “Listen, my shell corporation will talk to your shell corporation after the show.”

Jester’s not too worried about the group being disrespectful by hanging onto the dodecahedron. “It’s a powerful thing! Look at it! We can play with it!” Liam: “Yeah, it’s not her god.”

Liam: “I miss playing twins.” Laura: “I do too, buddy.”

Henry is moved to the couch when Liam starts literally curling up on the floor to be closer to him:

Jester would create a Magical Viagra spell. Dani: “Like the Wand of Smiles, but for dicks!” Laura: “The point of it would be to just make people feel awkward.”

On Jester checking on Fjord’s tusks: “It’s important to her that he appreciates himself as much as others appreciate him.”

Liam: “My character will probably die soon anyway.” Everyone: “LIAM O’BRIEN.”

Laura points out that Jester’s come closer to death than Caleb. “If anyone’s going to die soon, it’s me.” Brian: “Stop it! Stop!”

Search for Grog Questions (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

The group played a private home game as Vox Machina for fun recently (”It didn’t make sense, but it was fun!”). Liam was envious of the group getting to play their characters again, so he wanted to play something at least VM-adjacent. He also loves building out the world and wanted to continue fleshing that out. “She saw VM, unbeknownst to them, a couple times.” He also wanted to be able to keep people from dying and “breaking the universe.”

Laura on playing VM again: “It was really crazy, and me and Taliesin gave each other the biggest hug after the show. I missed Percy and I missed that relationship so much!”

Having Lieve’tel around was painful, but Vex “didn’t have the same reaction to it the way Keyleth did. It was bittersweet. I think she appreciated that someone appreciated what her brother did.”

Gilmore and Allura’s voices were big moments of nostalgia. Percy-Vex banter. Scanlan wanting to kill Trinket. (Laura really thought she’d have to leave Trinket behind, and the “I can carry him” killed her.) Scanlan’s singing. Pike! Liam: “Roasting the shit out of Travis.” Laura: “Oh my god.”

[littlemisssquiggles]

as a fellow pinehead, i dont personally ship rosegarden. i have no problem with it, but i just wish there was more content that focused solely on oscar instead of his relationship with ruby. i appreciate your blog since you actually make a lot of stuff pertaining to oscar specifically, i just wish it was more common ;w;

Inthe fandom or in the series? I’m assuming it’s the series because I think there’sa good bit of Oscar-themed stuff in the Pinehead community like art andtheories =D

Asfor the series…I…well----IfI’m being completely honest Flame, even though I’m a big Rosegardener, Iwouldn’t want Oscar’s entire story revolve only around hisgrowing relationship with Ruby either. Though I enjoy every last Rosebud bonding momentthe series tosses my way, if Oscar’s character comes to only focus on his bondwith Ruby and nothing else then it would unfortunately fall into the same issueI had with Oscar’s story with Ozpin.

Whatintrigued me the most about Oscar as a character was his potential. What drew me towardsOscar wasn’t his connection to Ozpin but how the writers were going topotentially tell his story as this newestaddition to the hero cast while going through the transition of being theperson that’s meant to become Ozpin’s successor. I was intrigued to see how thewriters were going to handle Oscar’s development while juggling his conjoinedstory with Ozpin and any shared relationships the two might have with othercharacters.

However, thus far, one could make the debate that Oscar’s story and personality has mostly been forged by his ties to other maincharacters meaning that his overall presence thus far has mostly served todrive another character’s narrative while not really touching much on his own.

If it’s not Ozpin then it’s Ruby and if it’s not Ruby then it’s Jauneand there hasn’t been much attempt to fleshhim out beyond that. This justifies why C9 upset me so much. Rather than havingthe episode focus on how Oscar handled taking in Jaune’s accusations againsthim from C8 or even showing both Jaune and Oscar’s feelings in the episode as aforeshadow to them growing close as potential teammates. Instead, we only gotJaune’s perspective while Oscar’s was completely omitted from the episode, toldto have happened off screen which left some Pineheads very dissatisfied.

Oneother complaint about Oscar in V6 C9 that I’veseen is that the Writers used him as a plot device to drive development forJaune as opposed to what C8 set up which looked like Oscar’s feelings weregoing to get touched upon. As much as I’ve gotten over some of my gripes aboutC9, Oscar going from being depressed in C8 to being perfectly fine in C9without much on-screen address will always remain jarring me.

WhenI review C9,somehow I feel like there was supposed to be a short 12-13 minute standaloneOscar-centric episode between the events of C8 and C9 that would’ve explainedwhat happened with our farm boy after he went missing in Argus that got cutfrom the season. V6 was originally announced to have 14 episodes before reducingto 13. I feel like if the CRWBY had gotten the chance to do the original 14, wecould have gotten that Oscar-centric episode that tied into C9. But…that’sjust me assuming things.

Notsure how long you’ve been following my blog Flame but forthose who’ve been reading my musing posts since V5, I’ve been gunning for Ozpinto be temporarily taken out of the story solely for the possibility of theWriters finally  given more depth toOscar as his own person outside of his story with Ozpin.

InV5,Oscar mostly took a backseat to Ozpin. I went into V5 thinking we would get to seemore of Oscar’s own personality as he learns to become a huntsman whileconnecting with RNJR and simultaneously training to fill the big Wizarding shoesthat he was meant to take over. Instead what we mostly got was Ozpin stealingthe screen time rug from underneath Oscar’s feet pushing him to the back as wegot more of him than Oscar.

Oneof the common critiques I heard for Oscar is that he’s been treated like a body suit forOzpin---a new face the old Wizard could wear while the Writers didnothing to develop Oscar as his own person.

Asa Pinehead,I hated hearing that complaint about Oscar because obviously there was more tohim than just a body for Ozpin to take over when he saw fit, as most Pineheads seeOscar. However, I unfortunately couldn’t blame other fans for thinking that waysince…well…the show hasn’t really done much with Oscar within two seasonsadmittedly. Not really.

Evenwhen Ozpin is out of the story, we still didn’t get to learn much else aboutOscar. With Ozpin going into isolation, I was hoping V6 would have been the season wegot more insight into Oscar as his own person. Did we? Well the verdict is stillout on that since the season isn’t complete yet. But if I had to answer thisquestion based on what the volume gave us within the last ten episodes, theanswer would be a disappointing no. Though the set up for Oscar’s growth wasdefinitely there, it didn’t exactly go anywhere...at least...not yet, maybe there’s still a chance. 

I mean we still gotthree whole episodes left for our precious farm boy to shine like gold brighter thana supernova but I can’t help my slight skepticism based on this season’s run with him. Nonetheless I am curious to know what the full payoff of this season is going to be like for Oscar.

After all that’s happened this season in ties to Oscar and Ozpin, how is it all going to end?

This is why I started toying with the concept of Oscar returning from the dead as immortal after sacrificing himself to protect someone he cared about, like Ruby.

This way the Ozma legacy would continue with Oscar without the threat of him losing himself in the process. We all pretty muchanticipated Oscar eventually taking Ozpin’s place within the hero team but thisway, Oscar doesn’t have to change who he is. 

He can still be his own person, cementing what Ruby told him in V6 C4. 

“...I’m just going to another one of his lives, aren’t I?”“Of course not, you’re your own person.”

If immortalized, Oscar can still be himself and thus,we as an audience can still be given more opportunities to learn more aboutOscar as himself. Oscar can still fulfill his destiny as one of the Wizards ofLight but still make it his own by having his experience and final outcome be different from his predecessors.

Istill stand by my hunch that Oscar is meant to be the one to end it all. Endthe vicious cycle of reincarnation. End the curse. 

It would be such a cool twist if Oscar met the God ofLight in the Realm between Realms and begged the God to grant him immortalityso that he could end the suffering of Ozma and the past Wizards; instead usinghis newfound power to protect the lives of the people who matter the most toOscar all the while fighting to stop Salem as her true adversary.

Jinn said that in time Salem wouldmeet her adversary but when you look at it like this, was Ozma ever trulySalem’s destined foe?

Think aboutit. Ozmawas originally Salem’s lover. Her former companion and the father of her children.Though they became sworn enemies who fought against each other, a part of mewould like to believe there is a part of Salem and even Ozma that stillharboured love for each other.

What I love about the Fairy Tale romance is that they shared a deep love so strongthat Salem was even able to tell that it was Ozma’s soul from behind the faceof Diggs when they reunited the first time. Salem loved Ozmaso much she even recognized him in the body of another man. That’s powerful.

Iknow Salem hates Ozma now but imagine if all that hatred she feels is just herlove corrupted by the burning destructive magic that turned Salem into thewicked witch she is now. As a matter of fact, there is something I’ve wonderedabout Salem. If Salem was able to sense Ozma’s soulfrom inside Diggs due to their love, if Ozma’s soul is to disappear completelyfrom this world…would Salem feel it?

Likelet’s say my theory about Oscar coming back from the deadalone as himself immortalized with Ozpin and essentially the culmination of allthe other Wizards over the centuries, including Ozma, going off to the afterlifeto rest in peace…would Salem feel Ozma no longer being a part of Remnant?

I know this conceptseems farfetched but somehow I’m picturing Salem as being the type of person who holds a grudgefor a very long time but the minute they discover that the person they’ve hatedfor so long is gone---truly gone forever, suddenly all that anger and ragedisappears as their true feelings forsaid person start to resurface.

Likepicture Salem being alone in her lair when Oscar is revivedand she suddenly senses Ozma’s soul disappear.Like even though they’ve been apart for eons, somehow through her corruptedheart there has always been something that still connected Salem to Ozma. A little light oflove. Though Salem did her best to cover that light, still it remained.Taunting her. Bothering heruntil she had no choice but to snuff it out sendingher forces to kill the source of that light.

Butjust like life, the light would always return until one day, the light finallydisappeared and unlike the previous times, it felt different.

Imagine…how Salem would feel tolearn that Ozpin---Ozma is gone. Truly gone. Somehow, I can just picture Salembeing in her lair of darkness when she suddenly gets a feeling of the windbeing knocked out of her. She then clutches her chest as she realized whathappened. He’sgone. He’s…actuallygone. No longer did she have the light that connected her to Ozma. 

He…was gone again and for a second time, Salem found herself in a world withoutthe man she defied the Gods for. And for the first time in years, what she feltwasn’t pure rage. But a familiar sadness that she hasn’t felt since the day shefirst lost him and when Salem looked at her reflection, she was surprised tonot see herself but the face of a young woman crying for the loss of the manshe once loved for the second time in her lifetime.

Thatcould really interesting. I doubt we’ll get something like this for Salem inthe canon but it could’ve been something interesting to send off her characterstory for this volume. After all, we haven’t seen her since C4 but c’est la vie.

Ithink it would be really cool if the adversary Jinn foreshadowed Salem having isin fact Oscar. And if Oscar becomes an immortal justlike Salem, incapable of dying just as her then that would make him her true adversary as opposed to the original arrangement with Ozmaonly reincarnating in the bodies of likeminded souls.

Butas always, these are only my theories. I feel like we have a higher chance ofseeing Ozpin come back or the Merge occurring than Oscar actually changing thecycle with his sacrifice to be the last reincarnation.  Buuuuut I’m still going to play with the idea.Whether it becomes canon or not, I really like my Oscar Immortalized/ The Last Wizard of Lighttheory too much to let it drop. Can’t wait to discuss it more next week.

Inthe meantime, I’m really glad you enjoy my content Flame. Thank you so much forappreciating my stuff and putting up with my bazillion and one Pinehead headcanons XD 

I’dlove more Oscar-centric content too, mainly from the actual show. But we got threeepisodes remaining m’friend. Who knows? Maybethe CRWBY Writers might surprise us with something truly Oscar-worthy.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[mazojo]

Let’s Play

Sooo if you saw some of my previous posts, you know I've kinda gotten into webtoons and I binge-read another one called Let’s Play and I Looveeee. I will do a spoiler-ish review as of the chapters that have come out so far and and all the images and stuff included are from Mongie, the author of this baby.

Plot

So the plot basically revolves around Sam, who works for her fathers company coding and working on programming but her true passion is creating video games, more specially indie games. She creates this game called Ruminate and its all fine and dandy until super famous youtube Marshall Law plays it and jokingly says it kinda sucks so people and trolls go leave hate on her account so her developer score in this indie publishing website is almost 0.

Sam is disappointed nay this turn of events and tries contacting the company to help her score as its flawed but unfortunately nothing happens. Then we find out super Marshall Law is moving next door to Sam and she flops. He then later realizes how he messed up and as they start becoming friends (slowly but surely!) he is fixed on making it up to her becouse he is a cinnamon roll. There are also other characters involved, from Sam’s gaming crew which is hilarious, to her super hot and sexual tension boss, Charles who is trying to help her grow as a person and as a worker and we also have Lincoln which kinda has a crush in Sam and they’ve been friends for quite a while as Sam helped him overcome his dads death. 

The story is funny and filled with great moments, treating also mental health topics and the struggles of Sam discovering she may or may not have feelings for the hotties mentioned above ^^.

Characters

As I did with my Kiznaivers and I Love Yoo reviews, ill list the characters from my favourite to my least (I love them all so it sounds so bad to say the least!) including a song that reminds me of them. I won't list them all as their are many as you can see in the picture above but definitely the main ones <33

Sam

Angels - Owl City

Sam. is. such. a. mood. Like honestly, if you ever wish to know me and who I am as a person and how I work, read this and I am the literal reincarnation of Sam loll. She is very nerdy and suffers from anxiety, sometimes leading her to have asthma attacks. She really cares about those close to her and although she is quite shy and introverted, doesn't doubt the chance to jump in when someone she cares about is in danger. I have no words to describe her but I think I’ve found my long lost drawing form character.

Marshall

Lucky - Britney Spears

Yes, I choose a Britney Spears song for him, is it amazing? Y e s, do I regret it? N o p e. Marshall is just adorableeee. Like he is the literal reincarnation of a puppy and he is much more complex than what it seems? Yeah he’s got this bubbly exterior to himself but deep down he is dealing with depression and anxiety but hides it from anyone, to the point of literally breaking down. He is trying his best at making everyone happy and likes video games and ahhhh ??? I Stan Marshall.

Lincoln

Livin’ on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

Lincoln the embodiment of the dad friend, there I said it. He has such a pure soul and heart and protective aura around those he loves and he is so soft??? He struggled with his dads death and takes care of his brother (which makes a part of the guild Sam is with). He is a little oblivious but other than that Link must be protected at all cost and hopefully finds happiness at the end of the comic becouse if he doesn't I will riot.

Charles

Rude - MAGIC!

Charles is your typical cold but sexy filled with sexual tension moments boss character. He is Sam’s boss and what I love most about Charles is how he wants others to succeed, pushing them their limits to reach their full potential, something I think its quite admirable. Honestly in comparison to the other two boys I haven't connected much with Charles but I still really like his character and hopefully we are able to see more of him in the future!

Monika

Power - Little Mix

The image pretty much describes Monika lol. I decided to include her becouse although she is kindaaaa the antagonist, I feel like she isn't really that bad and honestly, her character is quite compelling. She is Marshall’s girlfriend and a beauty guru, so half of the time she talks about makeup-is things I quite honestly dont understand lolll. However she really cares about those near her and (cues alpha female aura) does her best to protect Marshall becouse she really does likes him, but due to the fame and their worlds they both manage, it makes things complicated at times. I hope she doesn't turn evil or something like that becouse I truly think she is good (or at least up till now) and hopefully she gets a happy ending too ~.

Ships

Sam x Marshall 

This was actually so hard to choose! Because I honestly ship Sam with Lincoln just as much but there’s just something about this couple that I just gahhh! They have this chemistry working over them and they complement each other so well too! Like Sam is very perceptive and a good listener while Marshall just fakes a smile every time and I believe she will be the one to notice something is wrong first <33 

Sam x Lincoln

AHhHHH I love Link so much?? And how he protects Sam and cares about her is so freaking adorable? I think their mutual support and understanding is what makes it one of the best and Sam clearly has some mixed feelings about him that she repressed for a while in order not to tarnish their friendship but now she knows that he likes her so ??? I hope Link and Sam end happy because they both have to be p r o t e c t e d.

Sam x Charles

As I mentioned before, I don't think I can compare Marshall and Link’s relationship to the one with Charles considering they have had more time together, I believe in the next chapters we will get to see their relationship increase. He is very protective and does whats best for Sam and they have this tension around them which gets Sam all flustered and its really cute. Its not my main ship but I’ll wait and see how things progress in the future.

Monika x Marshall

Okay so this is not one of the main ships and people often don't like this couple but I thought it was important to mention! As I said before, I think Monika is quite a complex character and they are both dealing with their own worlds and problems which may make it hard for the relationship to work and not seem toxic. Still, they both care deeply about the other and I know in the end, they would want to see the other happy soooo we’ll see how it ends ^^

Final Thoughts

I absolutely adoree this Webtoon! I’ll try to review the chapters as they go out like I love yoo giving my impressions and what nots. Here are some theories that I think may happen in future chapters too;

- I don't think I mentioned it but Marshall is really good at drawing and its kinda his passion but he hides it from everyone due to fearing failure. I think Sam in one way or another will encourage him to pursue his dream eventually drawing them closer, and as she needs an artist to help her with her next game, I am guessing Marshall will be perfect for that spot :333

- Charles will definitely appear more I think, most of the “romantic” moments have been with Link followed by Marshall leaving the Charles Stans in need of their baby <33

- I think Angela (one of Sam’s guild member and friend) likes Link?? I didn't talk about her much but in one of the latest chapters she gets flustered by him and I am not really sure? I'll definitely be on the look for that.

[robotspiderrampage]

Letter to Rebecca Moseley

Ashbury, 19 July 1887

To: Rebecca Moseley, 1 Old King’s Way, Caladon

Rebecca, 

I hope this letter finds you well, and I also hope that you remember how to read this. I have also enclosed a similar message for your father.

[The rest of this message is encoded in a series of pictographs, essentially Wingdings.]

Dearest sister, I apologize for the coded message. Though I personally have no more need for subterfuge, I’m sure that Dad would appreciate the gesture, given the sensitive nature of some of the things I plan to tell you.

I’m sure that at this point, you’re aware that I’m alive. I survived the crash of the Zephyr. I’m sorry for any grief I may have caused you before word got back to you. You were the only person who knew I’d left on the Zephyr initially, and I’m sure it wasn’t easy dealing with the aftermath when it crashed. I should have written you, but unfortunately, circumstances prevented me. 

You see, the crash of the Zephyr was just the beginning of the convoluted mess that I find myself finally nearing the end of. I found myself thrown unwillingly into a plot so inconceivable that you’ll probably think me mad if I tried to tell you all of it. But, given that this may very well be my last communication with you, I feel that I can risk you judging me as mentally infirm in addition to being physically infirm.

The Zephyr didn’t crash from mechanical failure. It was shot down in an effort to kill one of the passengers: a dwarf named Stennar Rockcutter. The reasoning behind this treacherous murder plot is even stranger. You see, Stennar was a member of the Black Mountain clan of dwarves, a clan that disappeared 60 years ago after Gilbert Bates revealed mechanical plans for his patented steam engine based on their own to the public. The cause of the clan's disappearance? Abduction. A group of Dark Elves (elves who defected from the main body of elves after the Age of Legends), masquerading as emissaries from Quintarra, lied to the leader of the dwarves, stating that Bates’ inventions had led to the destruction of uncountable elven forests and that the Black Mountain Clan was responsible for the damage, as they had given Bates the plans. They demanded that the clan be banished to the Isle of Despair, a prison island off the coast of Ashbury. As it happens, the Clan wasn’t banished to the Isle. They were banished to the Void. Yes, that Void. The same one that people tend to go to when they die, according to the Panarii. You know, the funny humans in robes that we used to see scurrying around Caladon? Those Panarii. I’ll be touching on the topic of the Panarii again in a moment. They’re pretty important to this story. Anyway, the dwarves were banished to the Void so that they could build some sort of device to break an individual stuck in the Void out. The individual in question? None other than Arronax, the villain of the Panarii holy book. See? I told you I’d get back to the Panarii. It turns out that the Panarii actually prophesied Arronax’s escape, and in their prophecy it was stated that their god, the elf sorcerer Nasrudin, would return and fight him, defeating him once and for all.

At this point, you’re obviously thinking two separate thoughts. First, that I’m insane and spinning conspiracy theories. This… is a fair assumption. Second, you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with me, and why I didn’t just come home after the crash. I thought endlessly about doing just that over the last two years. The problem was that I and the other survivors of the crash were erroneously identified as the reincarnation of Nasrudin. A young Panarii monk, Virgil, told us that because we had survived the fiery crash unscathed, that we had been “reborn on wings of fire”, just as the prophecy stated for Nasrudin. We tried to debate the validity of that statement, but Virgil's mentor, the Elder Joachim, agreed with him. Even the Dark Elves seemed to think of us as a new potential threat, as well, sending waves of assassins after us from the moment we clawed our way out of the wreckage. Admittedly, in their case, they probably considered us a problem due to our brief conversation with Stennar before he passed on from the injuries he’d sustained in the crash. From that point on, my fellow survivors and I have had no other option than to unravel the plot that I spun you above in an effort to figure out why everyone either thought we were a god, asked us to handle a difficult but relevant situation, or wanted us dead, all the while avoiding contact with our loved ones out of fear of you being used against us. However, as we worked to untangle the twisted knots of intrigue, we found even more complications. 

First, the Dark Elves had been led to believe that the Device that they had kidnapped the Black Mountain clan to build would be used to break Arronax out of the Void. It turns out that Arronax was never in the Void at all! He lives, alive and well, off the coast. Now, before you exclaim “but wait!”, don’t worry. He’s not the bastion of evil that the Panarii made him out to be. We met him. He’s just a sad old man struggling with daddy issues. Magick was able to extend his life to the present day. You may ask why the Device was built, then. It seems that Kerghan, the terrible necromancer that had been banished to the Void for crimes against sentient-kind in the Age of Legends, managed to trick the Dark Elves into thinking that he was their idol, Arronax. The Device exists to break him out. It uses the souls of the dead stuck in the Void to power itself.

 Second, the Device is ripping holes into our world. We’ve encountered many such rips and they allow the terrible creatures of the Void, demons, beasts and the like, to enter our world. The rips also destabilise reality, and if the current trend continues, there may be enough to end reality as we know it. 

Third, the monk that originally clued us in to the Panarii prophecy has far more to do with the situation than even he initially realized. He left us a year ago, angry and depressed from the stress of the quest and of us, and ended up in one of the rifts… and therefore the Void itself. He encountered the Device, but since he was alive when he did so, it couldn’t use his soul for power. Instead it shattered it. The shards were able to retain sentience and some were able to escape. Saint Mannox, the man who wrote the Panarii holy text, and therefore the prophecy that pulled us into this mess, was one such shard. The Panarii elder who mentored Virgil and encouraged him to stick with us was another. All of them seem dedicated to engineering our involvement in these rather unbelievable events. 

Fourth, it seems that the only way to stop the world ending and possibly save poor Virgil from the Device is to get into the Void and stop Kerghan. We have plans to do just that. Hopefully we’ll succeed, but there’s a very low chance that we’ll make it back out alive even if we do.

Rebecca, I’ve done and seen so much on this journey… and I don’t just mean the absolutely hairy series of unfortunate events that I just laid out for you. I roamed the continent. I got engaged and then (sadly) broke his heart. (Which, by the way, my ex-fiance is apparently in Caladon now. My companion, Thaddeus, mentioned to him that I have siblings, so… I’m sorry if you have a random new suitor.) I stood up to Councilman  Babcock and (accidentally) made a rude gesture at him while dressed as you (which you probably heard about and I’m sorry if that hurt your reputation, though I know you and you probably thought it was hilarious). I was arrested half a dozen times. I met the king of the dwarves and the leader of the elves. 

Best of all, I made friends. Real, live friends that aren’t related to me. Against all odds, I managed to fall in with a group of weird, funny, awful, lovely outcasts and… I have friends.Thaddeus, the human, is a fellow technologer, a practitioner of medicine, and possibly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He can be awkward and naive and frustrating occasionally, but mostly he’s just unflappably kind and the most loyal friend I could ask for. He’s known about Tarant as the Pervert of Tarant, but don’t listen to a word of it. He wouldn’t know a set of genitals if it bit him, He’s certainly no Pervert. Waltera is a quirky halfling who loves both love and other people’s stuff.  Utvald was a half-ogre that traveled with us for a short time before settling in Tarant. Last we saw him, he was in a rather dangerous situation. I hope he’s okay. Pog the Garringsburg’s half-ogre joined us for a while, too. He seemed quite smitten with me, but he eventually found acceptance at the University in Tarant. Wolf is a Dark Elf (!!!) who defected from the rest. She’s exceedingly odd, constantly nude, and occasionally a danger to herself and others, but I find her more pleasant than I may let on. Her sister Zan also travels with us, and she’s the calm, rational counterpart to her sister. She and I are of a like mind on many matters and I appreciate her greatly. Straf is… well he’s Straf. He was an elf, but thanks to a series of magickal shenanigans, he’s now some horrible salt golem/dragon hybrid. Don’t ask how. I really can’t explain it. He’s an awful person, a loudmouth, a bigot, and quite possibly the worst person I’ve ever met… But he’s also loyal and has saved my life more times than either of us would care to admit. Magnus, a dwarf, is intelligent, a fine craftsman of armor and weapons. He’s kind and just the right level of sarcastic and is also quite handsome, if I do say so myself. And last, though certainly not least, was our dear friend, Virgil. He was sweet, kind, and never missed an opportunity to be helpful. He could be surprisingly strong-willed when he wanted to be. He wanted to rise above his childhood of pain and poverty and make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, we pushed him to the breaking point. I miss him keenly, Rebecca. I hope we can save him.

Lastly, before I sign off on this letter, I have some news involving our father, Doc, and the reason I left. I’m sure, given all the other nattering on that I’ve done in this letter, that you thought I’d forgotten my goal. I didn’t. I found out exactly what happened to Doc. He’s still alive, Rebecca. Dad didn’t kill him, and he didn’t die of natural causes. He’s alive. Dad had to fake his death to protect him. It seems that Dad is the exact opposite of what I thought he was. He’s not a callous businessman exploiting a race of people for his own benefit. He’s helping them. He’s saving the half-ogres from the other gnomes. The Industrial Council is forcibly breeding half-ogres for use as unpaid labor. Dad knows and has been quietly trying to stop them. I met with him a few weeks ago and discovered the truth, after I had located and destroyed the facilities at one of the breeding colonies. Dad kept everything from us because he wasn’t sure he could trust anyone, including his own children. That made me angry, at first. After all, I had been pretty open with him about my views on the subject of half-ogre subjugation. Yet, he let me run off into danger that he was apparently fully aware of, given how much he knows about my exploits. I thought it was short-sighted or selfish. I thought maybe he was just doing it for the glory. But the more I think about things, the more I realize that that’s not the case at all. He didn’t think he could trust us. He put the needs of the many, many half-ogres over the needs of us. Yes, he let me amble off into danger. I might have been hurt or killed, but honestly, if I’d proven untrustworthy and he had told me, I could have doomed hundreds, possibly thousands of half-ogres. As much as it hurts, he was probably right. Their safety outweighs mine. This realization makes what’s to come in my own quest more bearable. I’m willing to walk into the Void if it helps save everyone else. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

But, sis, I do have one need of my own to fulfill before I go. We have to acquire one last thing before we’ll be able to take on Kerghan in the Void, but once we get it, we’ll head to Roseborough to be sent to the Void. It’d like to see you before I leave. If you head to the Roseborough Inn after you get this letter, we may be able to see each other before I go. If you don’t wish to do so, then I understand, though.

Love, Dyna