#so he likes picking face claims to visualize as specific characters

[hurricanek8art]

My brother was catching up with Loki and made a comment about Sophia di Martino as a live-action face claim for Lana Beniko this afternoon and now I can't unsee it.

Like it's not perfect but... huh. Okay. Face claim accepted.

[vlovann]

Clothing stores don’t give a damn about what their product looks like anymore.

If you do, you’re doing too much which automatically makes you suck at your job somehow. They hate you now. You’re gonna be fired directly or silently in the end.

This is a lot because it happens too often and I need to let it out somewhere I can’t be fired from.

TL;DR at the bottom. You’re welcome.

Here’s a new one: The manager isn’t always right.

How many of you have been told that something you know is important…isn’t. That it’s “not a priority”? That you’re “overthinking it”?

🙋🏻‍♀️

That’s their favorite phrase isn’t it?

How many of you wake up and can’t get back to sleep on your off day because your brain wants to argue with your boss about something as simple as ORGANIZING?

🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️

How many of you have been left to feel like you can’t do anything right because you can’t do it by one specific person’s standards that doesn’t even understand the task at hand but controls whether or not you can afford to live?

🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️

Yeah…this is what I’m dealing with. Here’s my rant:

⭐️ Keep in mind, I am an artist (specifically character design) and an aspiring fashion designer. I want to open my own physical shop one day. Sooo…color, visualizing and making outfits is kiiiinda in my blood. It’s very much a passion.

🤦🏻‍♀️

I’ll start off with this…*ahem* VISUAL MERCHANDISING IS NOT JUST ABOUT “TEEHEE SIGNS AND MANNEQUINS.” It is about making your store look visually appealing to customers. I love dressing mannequins. It’s my favorite part of it, but…it’s just that. A part of it. I can understand that.

More than one place has treated it like that, shamelessly, I’ll say my past jobs at Forever21 and Nordstrom. Fuck them. I currently work at a fashion liquidation store. Somewhere that doesn’t even have a directive to follow and I was told to basically make shit up.

My current boss has claimed he fought the district manager to hire me because they needed somebody to help with visualizing. I’m starting to think this was a bold faced lie and somebody else they wanted to hire declined.

Because…

Well…then I started visualizing. I started colorizing the product, buttoning, tying, lacing, zipping, etc. Apparently, that’s not visualizing?

I have talked to all of our employees and my fellow management. You know what they told me?

They don’t care. They don’t like doing it so they don’t.

That’s whatever. I’m here now. I’ll help and I have the power to at least teach them how to.

You know what else? This really pissed me off internally.

It’s because they let the customers who come in and disrespect the product dictate whether or not they organize the fucking store and uphold the image of the company. The customers that put their entire stack of stuff in the wrong colors, the wrong size, or the wrong product all together. When the go-back rack is RIGHT THERE. They have submitted to the customers that don’t care about customer service workers and don’t care about making their jobs harder.

So no. It’s not about prioritizing other things. It’s about not wanting to put in or make time for the effort.

Gods this feels so similar to my experiences dating men 🤦🏻‍♀️

Do we listen to the person who actually cares? The one who comes in almost every day in a unique and coherent outfit instead of sweatpants (unless you schedule her to work 8 days in a row, closing almost every day while you and the other assistant get 4 days off)? The one who literally finds organizing stores calming?

NOPE

We listen to the ones that don’t care!

Riddle me this, Batman…

If you could hire somebody for any amount of time to organize your closet, would you rather:

A. The organizer take the time to “overthink” the details, but everything has a place and it’s easier for you to maintain without them?

Or

B. The organizer pick everything up off the floor and hang it up in a random spot and leave?

Can’t put text under a poll so please comment on/reblog this with your answer and optionally additional input. Or just think about it.

Let me tell you why organizing is important…in case you genuinely don’t know.

If you made it this far, you’re listening more than the people that are supposed to. You’re probably in the same boat. I’m sorry, dude. Here’s some rations to stay adrift 🍱🥗🍟🍿🍉🍎��� Don’t eat me, we’ll eat the rich corporations when we get to dry land 🏴‍☠️

1. When somebody is in a hurry, they can’t take the time to scavenge the racks to find what they’re looking for before they have say an interview, a first day on the job, a first date. They will walk through the racks looking for an ounce of organized product to look through. If they don’t find it, they leave to look somewhere else.

Congratulations, you lost a sale because you refuse to take the time to organize.

2. Someone is looking for a specific dress. Let’s say a champagne strapless lace up dress. You definitely have it. You go looking for it in the sleeveless section, knowing it’s supposed to be there, but it’s not. It takes like 5 minutes too long. Your customer is getting impatient. Says she’ll do it herself because obviously you must just be incompetent. She can’t even find it, scolds you, and leaves. Bonus point when you’re walking by the next day and you find that it’s been shoved in with the long sleeves in the middle of the navy blue section. You could’ve avoided that whole interaction.

Congratulations, you lost a sale because you refuse to take the time organize.

3. You’re the manager of a shop at a mall or plaza. You have competition. People look in your store as they walk by see that your shop is unorganized, your employees are being forced or applauded not to care where they put things because it’s not important, while other customers are walking all over you, leaving clothes draping over racks, not even taking 3 seconds to hang it back up. They keep walking, heading over to the store across from you.

This store has a team of people making sure their product always looks nice while someone who would rather stay at the register does so to make sure customers are still being taken care of. Their racks are color coded, sized, buttoned, zipped, tied, etc. Their mannequins look stylish. This store is easier to shop from.

Congratulations! You lost hundreds of sales because you refuse to take the time to organize.

Double Congratulations! The only customers you’re attracting are the ones who have never once worked in retail or have sympathy for those that do! You’ve made a reputation amongst Thieves and Karens for easy pickin’s!

Four, the new hire who wants to organize to make things easier on herself and others, poor thing, but you won’t let her, is “taking forever” to do the go-backs. You go over there to professionally tell her she sucks at her job, she’s an idiot, and tell her she needs to get better or else. She explains that she doesn’t know where to put anything because it’s all out of order and it’s stressing her out. You basically tell her “that’s a you problem”. The next day, she hands you her two weeks notice, saying she found a better opportunity.

This is the same employee who customers appreciate the fact that she takes the time to fold their clothes as she rings them out instead of throwing them lazily in a bag.

It’s very obvious she cares. Just too much for you. In reality, it’s just that she cares more than you and you feel threatened, so you want to push her out so she can’t take your job which she doesn’t even want to do. She just wants to work somewhere for someone that will value her input and skills.

Congratulations! You lost a valuable employee who could’ve helped fix your brand’s reputation for being a “dirty store”.

😤😤😤

I just…DON’T UNDERSTAND!?!?!

How can organizing NOT be one of the top priorities? Their logic doesn’t make any sense and it’s fucking maddening 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

What’s funny is that my SM has told me he wants to be a traveling merchandiser for the brand and yet he treats me like this over THE SIMPLEST visual task. If you ask me, I don’t think he’s cut out for it unless he can comprehend these basics.

What’s also funny is that when I worked at Forever21 the direct managers also treated me like shit over wanting to make the store look good which was a heavy task if you’ve ever seen an overstocked Forever21. The district and specialized, overhead managers came in and vocally appreciated me in the middle of talking to the store manager when I was organizing the racks. I thanked them loudly. I felt so pettily and insanely happy. I couldn’t hide my smirk.

We made it! 🏙️ Now go feast on the flesh made of little green pieces of paper.

Please share your stories like this! I’m curious to see where else this could be happening and what your experiences are.

TL;DR - Make store wook pwetty? Customers find things! They will like shop! They buy from shop! They come back and gib you more mo-nies, yeah?! What will they do? Incwease sales?! Yes, that’s wight! Wisten to empwoyee concewns? What will dat do? *GASP* You get to keep them! YAYYY! You’re such a smart, bwainwashed corpwate swave! Yes, you are! Good job! Now go! Be fwee!

[heartsfrommars]

an authors pearl ღ

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

synopsis .. oh nothing, just thinking about children’s author!armin when he first landed his eyes on illustrator!y/n.

content warning .. fluff all around !

word count .. 539

tags .. @gabzlovesu .. @y3ager .. taglist

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･･ ⋆ ･

children’s author!armin always had an imagination when it came to literature. he would always visualize the castles or the princes who would fight off all the evil knights. but he never found books that grasped his love of the ocean. of course he had his informational text, but he wanted much more.

so when he got his degree in english literature, he went straight to work to write and publish his own books.

children’s author!armin books consisted of ocean adventures that a group of friends took. during their journeys, they would encounter sea giants, new friends and more. but the crew of his story is what had kids and parents grab his books off the shelf. armin had such a way with words and he also knew how to characterize them so perfectly. despite them being so different, they still had the ability to compliment each other. for instance, he has a pairing where a female character is so science crazy and into adventure and enthusiastic. but her partner in crime is rather serious and stoic, but he still tolerates her. his friends would always pick at him and say he based the characters on them when they would purchase his books to read to their kids, but he would always deny that claim.

children’s author!armin was well known in his career despite being so young and he always received great feedback from his editors. but the moment the story was approved, he had to find an illustrator who can bring his words to life. that’s when things got difficult. armin was very picky and specific. he already felt so connected to his work, so he wanted to feel the same for the artwork that would express the words he took time to write.

he’s editors gave him the portfolios of many illustrators whose work would bring his true vision to life. they were all great, but they didn’t make anything in him spark. either they were too bright for his liking, or it was so animated to the point that it looked like it could be a drawn by a 2 year old. he was about to lose hope and just scrap the story as a whole before he saw your portfolio. you just had the right balance of realism and animation that armin asked his team to set up a meeting up immediately.

what he didn’t expect was to be greeted by such a beautiful face when he walked into the meeting room. he was so stunned he almost missed shaking your hand before he grabbed it tenderly, shaking it with ease as he stared at you. your smiling being the feature he admired the most. everytime his team would try to explain what he envisioned, he couldn’t help but watch the way you would doodle in your sketchbook to get a grasp of his words. it was truly admirable on how quick you can come up with such an image.

before children’s author!armin knew it, the meeting was over. but he didn’t want this to be the last time you two see each other.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

marley’s notes ღ .. IDK. idk what came over me for this but you cannot tell me you can’t see armin as a children’s author. like seeing him go down this path is literally adorable. and plus illustrator y/n? i’m a genius(in my opinion :p). but like i lowkey want to do some more with them, but idk. this was supposed to be a a little drabble, but it became a one shot real quick lmaoo, i just kept typing 😭. but i hope y’all like it!

[merrysithmas]

The good thing abt Steve and smth ppl are missing in the current discourse is he really did say Fuck America literally every chance he got and criticized the US govt every second he wore the suit and the govt absolutely hated him for it.

Even in the 40s he didnt want to kill anyone "for America", but as a disabled man couldn't fathom not standing up to the eugenicist Nazis. He wasn't politically motivated by nationalism but instead by human compassion. In fact, it is extremely likely he was highly critical of the US govt as a young man preserum given his impoverished life circumstances and constantly failing health. Living in NYC, seeing the shanty towns in Central Park, unable to afford life-saving medicine, watching Bucky and his mother kill themselves to make a nickle, surrounded by the radical leftist art scene in NY as an art student - Steve saw and lived injustice every day. And empathized with people who suffered different social misfortunes than he did (the woman crying in the movie theatre, "I don't like bullies", Peggy suffering sexism) although his personal list was extensive itself.

To him, the shield was always more of a philosophy and never attached to a specific country, which is what made it so easy for him to blow off 117 countries for Bucky, or tear the star from his chest yet defend the world in the vestiges of his armor against Thanos - he was fighting for what was right and not what was dictated by any country or political ideology (which is the main issue in Civil War with him being against the Accords, and one he was extremely well-positioned to understand having been used as a symbol and propaganda against his will many times, and having witnessed the dangers of state-sanctioned violence in WWII and CATWS. Even if Steve's argument was also faulty to an extent, you can absolutely see why he would argue for that perspective).

Steve was as FDR leftist artist in the Great Depression post Crash 1930s, disabled and chronically ill, diminutive and likely targeted by US eugenicits in NYC who vocally campaigned against disabled people being alive in the 30s (saying they should be sterilized or killed), son of an Irish immigrant single mother, lived in historically queer neighborhood of Brooklyn, an artist, and in the MCU coded as bi. He fights for whoever needs him, not for whoever tells him to. He was always highly critical and tongue-in-cheek/tired of the costume, drawing himself as the dancing monkey in CATFA ("Ready to follow 'Captain America' into the jaws of death?" he confides his mockery in Bucky, who heartwarmingly assures him that no, he is following Steve.) Steve continued to question, dog, and make trouble for the US continually after that until he wholeheartedly said Fuck You in CATWS and just dropped the shield (and never picked it up again until he handed it off to Sam, who he was confident could do something meaningful with it that he was not positioned to as a white man).

Steve visibly appears as a bygone era's "perfect man" and outright REJECTS both this supremacist definition and the shield's gatekeeping/the shield itself. Sam visibly appears as an "outsider" to exclusivist and systemically racist systems and yet EMBRACES the shield's potential. They are both radically standing up for the same cause in different ways and this comparison depicts why they are so closely aligned and best friends.

The irony of Steve Rogers as Captain America is hugely important to his character. In many ways, Steve is depicted as a reluctant hero who struggles with the strength of his own moral ideals versus the highly imperfect symbol he dons. This is different from other superheroes who usually self-create their alter egos as symbols of their more perfect, empowered selves.

In contrast, it is Steve's natural hardiness, independence, and righteous outrage in the face of wrongdoing which represents America's best ideals, but distinctly is opposed to its government which directs that he act as its image. As Steve holds the shield we see the image of a person who is critical of the govt for falling short of its principles and simultaneously embodies the ideal qualities that a equitable and free US is supposed to hold. Importantly, and definitively for his character, Steve as Cap shows how wanting the US really is for the goodness it robotically claims to have. And that is why he is important and impactful as Cap, essentially because he is uncomfortable with and critical of the costume.

The status of the suit often does not coincide with his personal beliefs. Yet he wears it to attempt to level up the system he is, for a while, mired in. Steve is not a patriot, not in the common sense of the world, he is instead a patriot of the humanist cause. This puts him on-site for many enemies, including those domestic to him and thus defines him as a hero.

Though his physical appearance suggests that he might wear the suit with a blind nationalist fervor a la John Walker (depicted as a perfect automaton soldier), Steve could not be further from that mindset (a good individualist man). As a now "perfect specimen" poised to be accepted and revered, Steve has the ability to choose an easy life where he is free of the hardships and ostracization he endured preserum. Yet instead, post CACW, Steve chose to continue to stand on the side of progress, the "little guy", to abandon the shield and now finally proudly embrace his pariah status and fight for those pushed aside or deemed unsalvagable or scapegoated (symbolized by Bucky) as he recognizes that while America's rule may benefit some, it still causes other to suffer and struggle (as he once did).

Not to mention, as a meta point, he was crafted as the "perfect man" from a sick, disenfranchised disabled boy who absolutely loathed Nazis by Jewish comic artists to mock the Nazi Aryan ideal - inverting their eugenicist visual image of perfection by empowering someone Nazis would view as worthless to burn their entire evil regime to ash.

He still, today, stands staunchly at odds with far right extremists and fascists in the US today and worldwide. He's the furthest thing from them and he'd have no problem in showing it. Choosing Sam as his successor, proudly, confidently, lovingly, and as a brother in arms who steps back so others can speak for themselves and tell their own stories, Steve shows his cultural and political understanding and his good heart once again - this time as an ally, friend, and a champion of the heroics of others.

[saphirered]

The Lovers

Spoilers for Campaign 2 Ep141

Man oh man oh man. I've had this one written since the day after the last episode but I've been soooooo hesitant to post it at all 🙈. Anyway... I'm just gonna regardless because it's just sitting there staring at me to either delete or post it 🤭. I hope you enjoy because I'm still so conflicted about his piece of writing 😅. Unless people actually like it I might just end up deleting it after all.

---

Jester had asked you to come along on another journey of the Nein Heroez. She needed your expertise for something but couldn’t get across what for within the twenty-five word limit. Regardless, the opportunity to see and travel with your friends is not one you’re just going to pass on so of course you happily made your way to Nicodranas. Maybe the ocean would do you some good. It’s been a while after all.

In the first few days of your journey Jester had been keeping a close eye on you, watching your responses and reactions. Specifically your reactions to any and all interactions with a certain lavender tiefling. When she was certain your responses to the tiefling in question were not in any way negative and cordial if not friendly you found yourself being paired with him more often than not. Watch, hoisting the sails or dropping them, food shifts and even at the helm a few times.

You caught an argument between Fjord and Jester a few weeks later. Fjord was defending you and telling Jester she couldn’t just play matchmaker after everything that had happened between the previous inhabiter of Kingsley’s body and you and how it might still be a painful subject of not once but twice being faced with someone that’s not the person you loved and lost.

Jester seeing reason in Fjord’s arguments put aside the love story she’d been trying to unfold with you and the poor tiefling as her main characters. The shifts you shared with Kingsley came to a close and would be no more often than any shifts shared with anyone else on the crew.

One day the Nein Heroez made port to stock up on some supplies after being hit by a storm and running short on food. The crew was given some downtime to enjoy the many pleasures port has to offer but you decided to stay back at the ship. You asked Jester for the cards.

You’re sitting crosslegged on the docks watching the sunset as the crew leaves in groups bidding you goodbye while they go. Once the majority of them have left you take out the cards and begin laying them in certain patterns starting with simple ‘yes/no’s onto the past present future and more complicated readings. You’re not paying attention to any particular results but instead study the drawings fondly.

“You’d call me a sentimental fool.” You snicker as the fool card is revealed in front of you.

“Sentimental? Yes. A fool? I’ve yet to decide.” You turn around at the familiar voice seeing the tails of the black sleeveless coat you’ve grown accustomed to seeing around. You pick up the cards and put them back in their order stacking them.

“Oh really? You’d think a few weeks of being not so inconspicuously paired together on any task possible would give you enough time to form an opinion on that?” You tease beginning a new read.

“Maybe that makes me the fool then.” You can almost hear the smirk in his words.

“Care to find out?” You put down card by card face down. You know how to push for certain results. A trick you’d picked up from your former lover. It feels right to use it against him in a strange twisted way like this. Not really him but close enough.

Kingsley sits down to the side, not trusting you to not push him off the docks if he were to make an offensive (in jest of course) remark. Gathering the cards back up you start over. Time for a bit of fun. You push for the first card setting it down face up in front of him.

“The owl and the bear. Some might say the most deadly combination when put together. Be watchful of the owl’s words or you might find yourself at the ends of the bear’s claws.”

“So it was a good idea to sit on this side and avoid meeting my waterlogged demise.”

“Are you doubting my capabilities, Kingsley?” You smirk and watch the tiefling gulp. You move on to the next card making a show of pulling it from the deck and displaying it.

“Look at that! What did I say. The fool has appeared. The cards have spoken. my fool.” You take a bow as if addressing the most pretentious royalty around limited only by your crosslegged position on the docks. Kingsley can’t help but let out a chuckle at your theatrics.

“The cards have spoken indeed! A fool I must be.” He plays along. You begin picking up the two cards and restack the deck.

“Hey hey hey, isn’t there supposed to be three cards for this one? Not two?” You stop. He’s not wrong technically. You raise an eyebrow at him, fan out the cards and allow him to pull one from the deck as per the variant of this reading, putting the fate in the hands of the drawer. Not really of course. Usually you’d still be able to push for a card for them to draw but for this one you’d leave it up to the divines. You’ve had your fun.

And fun it was until Kingsley kept the card for himself, studying it closely. You were curious to see which one he pulled but you hadn’t exactly paid attention to that like you’d otherwise done. You wait for him to either give it back or tell you what it is but he takes a long time.

“So what is it?” You ask, your curiosity getting the better of you. It still takes a good few seconds before he lowers the card so you can see it too.

“Oh.” Is all you manage to vocalise upon seeing the card. The Lovers. The familiar drawing of a lavender tiefling looking at another figure arm outstretched and love in their eyes. The image of the tiefling reaches for the outstretched hand of the other figure; your figure. You’re staring back at your own face and the expression Mollymauk had claimed to have plenty of visual references for to know he could properly draw you but would always ask for one more just to remind him.

“I’m so sorry.” Kingsley hands the card back to you and you keep staring at it. He stays for a little bit to make sure you’re alright as you’re hit with a whirlwind of emotions. Once he’s sure you’re alright he begins to get up.

“I’ll leave you to the rest of your evening. Someone’s gotta make sure these fools drink just enough and start a brawl or two.” You snap out of it putting the card back into the deck.

“Kingsley. It’s alright. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” The whirlwind subsides and you return back to a peaceful state of mind. You offer the tiefling a kind smile and he halts himself sitting back down still somewhat tense. He opens his mouth to say something but is quick to close it again. There’s a moment of silence between the two of you as you shuffle the cards absentmindedly. You catch onto the conflict and hesitation in Kingsley’s features.

“If there’s something you wish to say please do say it.”

“When you said you loved him… I think it never registered it was anything other than the love the others held for him. Strongly yes but I always assumed it was akin to Yasha’s. Why didn’t you say anything?” Kingsley states piecing things together watching you closely.

“It’s not a burden for you to bear.” You pull the Lovers card back up to the top and study it closely.

“I might not know much but I don’t think being faced with your dead lover’s body inhabited by someone not him doesn’t bother anyone. That’s just cruel.”

“It doesn’t bother me. Not anymore. I’ve grieved Molly when he died. I grieved him again when Lucien returned. I’ve gone through it all and accepted he’s not coming back and that’s okay. Everything comes to an end at some point. I don’t think it’s cruelty. I think everything is as it should be.” You speak honestly stroking your thumb over the card.

“I have so many questions.” Kingsley states. You get it. He woke up one day, recovering from death not knowing who he is or was before that moment beyond emotions and flashes of a past that didn’t feel like his. That’s exactly why you wanted to spare him another previous relation to figure out. Yes it might make things slightly more difficult for you but that’s not his fault. That’s no one’s fault.

“And I believe Beau gave you her notebook so you can read back about your predecessors. But you’re not ready for that yet, are you? That’s okay. Don’t read it until you feel ready.” Kingsley’s head shoots up to look at you. Why do you understand him? Maybe you’re wiser than he gives you credit for but he thinks you’re already pretty wise.

“Expectations. Everyone expected something of me but I didn’t live up to it. I’m not who he used to be and that disappoints people. But from you, you never expected anything from me. Why?” He’s piecing it together bit by bit. You never slipped up. Never asked him to put on a coat that wasn’t his or asked him if he remembered something. You never even asked him if he recalled anything about you or sought to involve yourself in his life without his permission.

“It’s unfair to expect someone to be or become someone they’re not and never will be. You get to be your own person free of the constraints of the past.” The answer is simple. There’s no deceit or doubt. No hidden message or intent behind it.

“How is it you of all people can say that without pain or regret or wishing it were different?” You turn the card back around and put it back in the deck in its place and put the cards away. You take a second before answering trying to formulate a proper answer as Kingsley waits studying every micro expression.

“Bear with me for this one.” You start and he nods. “Lucien was born lonely forced to fend for himself and make friends out of the need to survive. Molly rose from a grave alone and scared. He was taken in by friends but he had to find a home his home with them. He found that home and got kindness and love. You awoke surrounded by friends, no family you didn’t even know but would still love you regardless. No matter what, you’d always have a home with them. You’d be neither alone nor lonely unless you choose to be.” You explain and take breath before you continue.

“You plant random seeds in the ground it’s very unlikely you’re going to receive the same flower twice. The only similarity they have is that they are seeds and will grow as long as they have the right foundations to do so. When I look upon you I see Kingsley Tealeaf, a man that became a sailor after we brought him back from the Astral Sea. There may be similarities, your roots may even be the same but you are not the same. You are separate.”

Kingsley takes in your words very carefully with a sense of understanding and something with in him he couldn't quite pinpoint until now. Acceptance and content. Whatever might have been holding him back before, he’ll have to come to terms with that. That’s the past and if the past comes searching for him one day, so be it. Until then, Kingsley Tealeaf has a life of his own to live and to enjoy. Enjoy all life has to offer, to its fullest and don’t hold back.

Let the sailor become captain of his own ship knowing he has a home and a family that will welcome him with open arms to return to. Let the eight be nine despite the expectations of others. Be free and be happy. Live content.

[absolutebl]

Thai BL: Best Trope Execution Awards

Being an entirely arbitrary and opinionated decision making process of one... me. This is a decade long retrospective. During Award Season I’ll do one specifically for 2020. 

THE WINNERS!

Did You Bring a Towel? - there are more tropey executions of this (the sponge bath and the bridal hair dry in Make it Right come to mind), but when I think about towels in BL it’s always Win yanking the towel off Team that comes to mind, so WinTeam takes this category for Until We Meet Again. 

Proximity Alert - a hard fought category what with Puppy Honey's paint splatter incident but I have to give it to Ae & Pete and the bicycle meet cute because it’s two perfectly executed tropes in one. And because I love them so much. Love By Chance wins. 

Minister to my artful injury? - Pick & Rome in Puppy Honey because they manage to be both caring and silly about it, and it happens multiple times. 

The Fast and the Bicurious - another one I dithered over. In the end I went for Forth & Beam in 2 Moons 2 because it’s so in Forth’s character to scare Beam into dating him, and also I like that they played with the trope in a different way. 

The Heart Knows - I’m giving this to Can in LBC2 because he goes through it the most and takes the longest to realize what’s happening. Poor Can. 

Hair Tousle - okay so Sarawat and Ae do this trope the most, King and few others have very significant moments of head touching, but it’s going to go to Type in TharnType. These two aren’t the hair tousle kind of couple, but this marks the first time Type voluntarily initiates physical contact with Tharn entirely of his own free will. It’s also precipitates my favorite kiss in all BL, so they take the cake on this one. 

The Hand Hold – although Dean & Pharm hold hands the most, and I adore Tee & Fuse on the train, I have to give this trope to Phun & Noh in the bookstore in Love Sick. I doubt any other romance, let alone BL, will come close to the angsty teen pathos of that one moment. 

The Piggyback of Nobility - Korn & Knock in Together with Me. It marks a kind of breakthrough in their relationship and they’re so sweet about it. Plus I like the way the piggyback connects their adult love to their childhood friendship. 

Post-it Love Note - again one that probably should go to Sarawat & Tine but I just can’t with the product placement, plus Pete & Kao in the swing with the post it notes is so flipping precious. So Dark Blue Kiss it is. 

Pinky Promise - has to got to Mes & Thun in He’s Coming to Me partly because of the wistfulness of not being able to touch but still believing in the promise. It’s beautiful. 

Share My Earbuds? - this goes to Sarawat & Tine in 2gether, of course. Who else has the balls to share earbuds and listen to music at someone else’s concert?  

Bath Time! - oh Fighter & Tutor take this one, hands down (innuendo intended). Why R U? for the win. 

Kiss Me In The Car - Ae & Pete get this one in Love By Chance. It’s their first kiss, it starts as an accident, and goes from there. And Ae actually talks about it and tries to explain his feelings. It’s adorable. 

The Cheek Kiss of True Love - oh this one goes to Solo in Oxygen, who kisses Gui super early on in their relationship and as a way of making his intentions perfectly clear. It’s beautifully done. 

Clutch That Pillow - this one goes to Zon in Why R U? who does it multiple different times and in multiple different moods. 

Meet Me in the Library - King & Ram in My Engineer, of course. Dean & Pharm are adorable in their library kissing scene but King’s love at first tattoo is so good. Also (see with proximity alert above) I like when a trope is combined with a meet cute. 

This Pool Was Meant for Kissing - I am sorry to the other contenders, like Fighter & Tutor and Solo & Gui, but this was always going to go to Pete & Kao. Partly because it’s the first time we see Kao kiss Pete (in Kiss Me Again) and also the last time we see him initiate a kiss (in Dark Blue Kiss). I am a big fan of the uke showing sexual agency. 

Let Me Sing You My Feelings - I rightly should give this one to Oxygen since it beats our ears with this trope constantly, but it’s going to Ingredients for Ep 16. The number of emotions that cross Win’s face in the course of two songs while he watches Tops flirt with someone else is INSANE. Win keeps singing yet you see him go through an entire identity crisis - realization of love, jealousy, fear, adoration, loss, and more. It’s brilliant. And Jeff’s voice is crazy good. Even if you aren’t a fan of this series, you owe it to yourself to watch this episode.

In the next episode he sings, plays, and acts all at the same time. So yeah. Sorry everyone else. Win wins. 

I Saw You Feed Him! - Dean & Pharm. DEAN & PHARM. DEANANDPHARM!!! Like there is ANY other choice. Until We Meet Again is basically a love story to Thai desserts... with some reincarnation thrown in. 

Lie on the Ground, Stare Winsomely the One You Love - King & Ram take this category too for My Engineer. What can I say? When it comes to pining, no one does it better. 

Put Your Head On My Shoulder - although Kong & Arthit execute this one very very well it’s going to Phun & Noh because it’s such a signifiant moment for them in Love Sick 2. 

There’s Something About the Way He Swallows - a hotly contested category with every studly seme weighing in from Sarawat to Fighter to Forth. But it has to go to Tharn in TharnType. He basically seduced Type away from heterosexuality by drinking from a water bottle. That’s some seriously powerful swallowing.  

That’s MY BOYFRIEND - there are lots of good public claimings, and it’s one of my favorite tropes, but I’m giving this one to Arthit who does it twice: 

in front of all his friends in SOTUS, 

and then in front of all his co-workers in SOTUS S. 

(Look yes, Can kissing Tin in LBC2 is probably the single most impactful example of this, but Arthit did it first and did it twice, so I have to give it to him.) 

I Touch My Lips and Think of Kissing - I’m giving this one to Saint who does it as Pete and as Tutor, but totally differently each time, because he’s a genius actor. Normally I prefer to award characters, not actors, but for this one I’m making an exception. So Why R U? and Love By Chance take this category. 

Best Thing About a Boyfriend? His Closet! - giving this one to Sarawat & Tine because the matched jersey is such a thing for them. I wanted to give it Phun & Noh because of the uniform plot point in Love Sick, but the visual in 2gether is just too powerful. 

Under My Umbrella - oh it should be Pha & Yo in 2 Moons. It’s such a significant moment in that story and it basically established this trope for Yaoi. Except, then SOTUS comes in and sweeps this category with this gem... 

Baby is a Floppy Drunk - Tine is hands down the best comedic execution of this trope, and Captain gives us the best in character performance as drunk Noh in Love Sick 2, but it plays the most significantly into Tee & Fuse’s story arc so Fuse wins this category for Make it Right. 

K’ that’s it. Which trope did you want to see that I forgot? I’m sure I missed some. 

[eerythingisshaka]

Ficmas Day #17 “The Jabari-cracker”

[M’Baku x Reader]

Word Count: 1.2k

This year for extra pay, you booked a gig for seasonal work at the mall; specifically, to work in Santa’s Workshop.  The classic setting with candy cane poles lining a path to the main man’s regal red and gold throne, flanked by mounds of cotton wool to simulate the terrain of the North Pole.  

The line remains long as parents and children wait impatiently for a picture with Santa Claus.  As you get dressed in the bathroom, you struggle to get your feet through the offensively green tights without risking stepping in a mysterious wetness on the floor by the toilet.  You hear the bathroom door open, followed by the intense scurry of a small child.

“Mommy!  I wanna see Santa!”  the kid exclaims, bouncing in her Mary Jane shoes as her mother’s sneakers squeak behind her. 

“I know, Katie.  But the line is long and you had a lot of apple juice this morning.  So if you pee on Santa, he may put you on the naughty list.”

They take the stall next to yours, just as you’re putting on your elf shoes. 

“Mommy look!  It’s his elf!  They’re peeing too!”

Her mother shushes her.  “Sorry Ms. Elf!  Katie, don’t talk to people while they are using the restroom.  

You roll your eyes, picking up your bag and exiting the stall.  As you wash your hands in the sink, the child runs out of the stall to hug your leg.  You look down to see the desperate eyes of the 7 year old.

“Can you tell Santa how good I’ve been?  And that I want a bunch of squishmallows?”

Her mother pulls her off of you.  “I’m sorry again!  Remember boundaries, Katie?”

Katie pokes a lip out as she is led out the bathroom.  “But I get to sit on Santa’s lap, why can’t I hug the elf?”

You rinse off your hands, ignoring the child completely as you put your jolly green hat on.

“Did they wash their fuckin hands?”

--

In the mall, you stand by Santa watching the clock as the minutes tick by before showtime is at eleven.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!  Santa can’t wait to meet you all!”  he exclaims heartily.

You paste a smile on your face as best you can, waving at the children.

“You don’t like this much, do you?”  

You look over and see Santa looking at you.

You shrug, feeling annoyed.  “It’s paying.”

Santa chortles.  “That’s not what I mean.  I mean your holiday spirit isn’t really into this, right?”

You look back at him with an attitude.  “Listen, I don’t usually talk to the Santas, so we are off to a bad start.  Second, how I FEEL isn’t your business.  Just smile for the kids so we can get the hell off.”

Santa chortles again, seemingly unbothered by your bluntness.  “I understand the holidays aren’t for everyone, especially working with children.”

You look him over, confused by his words.  “I still don’t get why you’re talking to me.”

“Oh it passes the time.”

You cross your arms in exasperation.  “Well I hope you aren’t the Santa all week.  Hearing the children is enough, I don’t need this too.”

“Oh I won’t be here long.  It’s time!”

The clock strikes as it turns eleven o’clock.  You open the velvet rope as the first child runs in on Santa.  He picks him up, letting out a jolly huff and puff and asks the usual questions and getting the usual answers while you take pictures of the joy and fear of every child who visits him.  This goes on for four hours until it is time to call it a day.

Santa stretches his legs as you pack up some equipment.

“Say, you did a good job today!  Would you like a treat from Santa too?”

You shake your head.  “I don’t like candy canes.”

Santa waves his hands.  “No, I am fresh out of them anyway.  Here, I think this might be what you would like.”  

He pulls out an M’Baku Funko Pop from behind his back, min condition in the box.  You take it from him with a scoff.

“How’d you know he’s my favorite character?”  you ask suspiciously, looking over the figure.

Santa chuckles while holding his belly.  “Because Santa knows many things!  No matter how old, we are all children at heart and we all need someone to love in our lives.”

You put the box under your arm as you pick up your bag.  “Ohhh kay.  Dating advice from a mall Santa.  Never thought things would get lower.” 

You wave goodbye to him as he shouts Merry Christmas after you.  When you get home, you kick off your shoes and fly for your bed as soon as possible.  Rubbing the soft fabric of your sheets calms you as your body melts into the mattress.  Before you get too comfortable though, you reach your bag on the floor and dig out the M’Baku figure again.  Flipping it on the back, you notice a message that you swear wasn’t there before.  

Wish for this and never will you miss

A holiday cheer from the one you hold dear

You snort out loud, flipping the toy to face you again.  “I wish you were real.  Big ass M’Baku himself coming in here to claim me as his Queen and make a village together.”  You laugh to yourself, tossing the box haphazardly on top of the bag again before turning over for a nap.

---

As you begin to stir awake, your eyes drift open but your vision is blurry,  A few blinks and you realize that a figure is knelt beside you.

“AGH!”  your scream makes the stranger scream as you fall backwards off the bed in shock.

“Don’t hurt yourself!  Are you ok, my Queen?”

A man stumbles before you in a grass skirt and bulky armor to take your hand.  Sitting up and wide eyed, you get a full visual of the man who invoked your terror.  

“M-M’Baku?”  you ask quietly.  

He nods.  “Your love, yes.  I didn't mean to startle you, but I maintained watch as you slept.  We are in a strange land.”

He gets up to look out of a window as you look over at the now empty box lying on your bag. You pick it up and flip it around but the saying on the back is not there anymore. 

“How do you know me?”  you ask.

M’Baku looks back at you curiously.  “I am your husband, don’t be playful right now.  I’m trying to understand why we are here instead of Wakanda.”

You get up and go over to M’Baku, pushing your finger into his arm to check for realness.  He looks down at you and smiles, taking your hand in his.

“Are you feeling more playful then I assumed, my love?”

You take your hand back, growing hot in the face.  “I don’t know.  I…”  You think for a moment about the situation you are in and weigh out the pros and cons.  Pro: a big strong handsome man is in your bedroom giving you eyes that signal he’s ready to scoop you up and lick you clean.  Cons:  you don’t know this man for sure and you don’t know for sure if you are planning to fuck a toy that came to life that morning. 

M’Baku comes close to you, cupping the side of your face, appearing concerned.  “If something is troubling you, speak.  I can’t bear my wife looking apprehensive.”

You look at him, feeling your body make a choice before you can verbalize it.  You take his hand and lead him toward the bed.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Refuge”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Welcome to week two of… fourteen? Is that how many episodes we’ve got this Volume? Man, we’re going to be here for a while.

There’s a ton to unpack in “Refuge,” but as promised I want to delve into the opening first. Given the scattered, symbolic nature of our intro I think it’s easiest to just chuck out observations in list form. I’ll segue back into cohesive recapping in a moment.

So, what have we got?

The glitching between a happy, whole Atlas and the burning wreckage we’re now dealing with. That works well given both Atlas’ tech-focus culture and the ways that tech has led to some of our biggest tragedies (hijacked army, framing Penny, etc.)

Ruby looks scared and is standing behind the rest of her team, separated from them by the title. I’m not really feeling that theme so far though, given Yang’s incredibly weak challenge, Ruby’s immediate forgiveness (during her talk with Penny), and the fact that she’s still working with half the team who vocally support her, particularly Nora. Unless something drastic changes, the idea of Ruby being the outsider here is silly.

We get shots of the girls with their past selves superimposed over their bodies and weapons. I like the message here—they carry those versions of themselves with them—just not how it’s contrasted with Ironwood’s image of an earlier Atlas now burning. So that’s all he is now? Everyone gets to embody their growth except for him? His past is erased to focus solely on our current predicament? I’m not picking up any redemption flags here…

Robyn’s hand reaches down towards Clover’s badge, which then circles to show off the Ace Ops. The final image contrasts an angry Harriet with a defeated Qrow. At least, I hope they’re contrasts. It’s going to read as absurd if they somehow end up working together after Qrow helped get her leader killed.

This morphs into Qrow alone who sits, devastated, until Robyn offers him a hand up and they both smile. I’m not a fan of this symbolism after the prison scene we got this episode. It’s like Qrow might have thought about his choices until Robyn’s anger reminded him that, oh yeah, he can be angry at Ironwood instead. These two teaming up, when their last team-up led to a death, is worrisome to say the least.

We get our horrifying image of Salem looming over Oscar as he clutches his head. The group’s weapons fall. This makes sense given this episode’s kidnapping and the team’s sheer inability to do anything to stop it.

Jaune stands determined—also makes sense with his trend of giving “pep talks”—while Ren and Nora stand apart, facing opposite directions. Nora looks back though.

Paralleling them are Winter and Weiss who also face opposite directions. This is becoming a common visual theme: Harriet and Qrow, Nora and Ren, Winter and Weiss. Here though, Weiss looks determinedly ahead while Winter stares down at her feet, unsure. Ugh, I just know they’re going to have her betray Ironwood too.

We get a brief glimpse of Whitley and Willow, not a whole lot to go on. Then we see Salem turning her chess pieces into grimm—literally changing the game—while Ironwood’s white pieces are turned to dust. I could make a quip about how white is supposed to go first, but the initial move was made thousands of years before Ironwood existed and thus he never stood a chance, certainly not when his own allies are actively working against him… but I won’t lol

Watts is smiling at a terminal while at his back Pietro works at his. More opposites. Pietro’s reflection looks to Penny even as his body continues to work, his heart contrasting his head. Penny, in turn, looks upset as her reflection flinches at something off screen and the glass cracks. Watts hacking her, perhaps?

We see the new teams as a cherry blossom (I think?) floats across the screen. It melts in Ren’s hand while escaping Nora’s. Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of that just yet.

Ruby and Yang share a look—undermining their supposed conflict this volume. Couldn’t we have gotten sister unity over the last three years instead?—and a fight against grimm starts up. It freezes as Cinder walks through it, hopefully implying that the group’s attention is on the wrong threat. While they concern themselves with low-level grimm, Salem and her allies are walking free and wreaking havoc.

Then Cinder screams and clutches her grimm arm as things go up in flames. I hope that’s not a death flag given that we’ve teased her death twice already and we only just got a glimpse at her backstory. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning here that there’s a “Summer is the Hound” theory gaining traction which, frankly, I think is 100% unsubstantiated. It’s a fun crack theory, but not something I’m inclined to take seriously until we get some actual evidence behind it. There is, however, potential evidence for people becoming grimm in general: Salem falling into the pool and Cinder receiving that arm. That’s not much though. So while I’m far from convinced that the Hound was once human—let alone that it was Summer—there is something to the theory that Salem may be able to control Cinder via her arm like she controls other grimm. After all, she knew Cinder was alive despite everyone else thinking she’d perished. They seem to have some sort of connection that hasn’t been explained yet and now that Cinder has willingly walked back into Salem’s clutches, she may not be able to walk out.

There are shots of all our other villains, the Lamp and the Staff reflected in Salem’s eyes, and Jinn’s blue smoke, perhaps suggesting that we’ll see her again, or the entity residing in the Staff (if they exist).

Atlas glitches back to normal—a false victory?—before the ice breaks and Team RWBY falls into the darkness below. Volume 3 vibes all around. There’s light above them emanating from the Staff, but as Ruby reaches for it grimm arms circle and pull her deeper. I hope this means that the group will suffer the defeat we need to keep Salem as a legitimate threat, but we had very similar imagery back in Volume 6 and they made it out of that situation just fine, so.

“Happy Ever After” glitches into “Happy? Never Again.” Which isn’t ominous or anything. We finally end on the classic RWBY image of Crescent Rose buried in the snow underneath the shattered moon.

On the whole I think the opening is strong and I like a lot of the symbolism in it, though I do question how much will actually end up being relevant to the story. My only gripes are that there are too many different styles going on—it feels like three or four different Volume openings slammed together—and the fact that it also feels overly long. I don’t think it’s actually any longer than our Volume 7 opening, but it seems that way to me, perhaps because of those varying styles breaking things up.

So that’s what we’ll be watching for the next twelve weeks! Let’s move onto the actual episode.

We open on the image of Clover’s bloody badge in Qrow hand, the same one we got in the trailer. I theorized last recap that we’d be getting the rest of our trailer/promo material this week and I was almost entirely correct in that. This moment, retrieving the bikes, fighting off the grimm, Watts getting hit, Oscar carried away… all we’re missing are some eye closeups and Nora powering up her hammer. As said, it makes me nervous for what the rest of the Volume holds. I can’t decide whether the footage wasn’t ready to be included in promo materials that early, or if RT is just determined not to give us any information past the first two episodes…

Regardless, this is supposed to be a moment of grief and all I could focus on was Qrow’s hand. Specifically, the lack of detail in it. On the whole, I’ve been very happy with the engine upgrade and I quite like RWBY’s animation now, but a closeup here draws too much attention to how, sometimes, they’re just not animating their characters in a way that looks natural. Where is Qrow’s wrist? Why is his palm perfectly smooth? Stylistically that’s usually fine, but when given the chance to stare at it you realize how odd it looks. 

Says the woman whose own drawing skills suck but, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But we’re talking about the important bits in this episode! Out of frame Robyn is heard yelling, “This is your fault. You realize that, don’t you?” We’re meant to think that she’s telling Qrow this, especially with how he’s bent guiltily over the badge, until we cut to reveal Jacques right next to them.

I wish Robyn was saying all that to Qrow. It would mean that she was ignoring her own responsibility in Clover’s death, but at least it would have started an arc where Qrow has to grapple with what he did. Not the awful moment that’s coming up.

Before that though, Jacques claims that he’s the “victim” here who was “duped.” His hands may not be clean, but “at least I’m not a murderer.” Look, I’m not here to absolve Jacques of anything. The guy is an absolute shit stain on the Remnant world. However, he’s right in his overall point even if his words are BS. Meaning, Jacques is not a victim and he is a murderer, but he is not the one responsible for Clover’s death. Robyn has plenty of things to be furious at him for, but this is not one of them. Ironically, here we have Jacques functioning as the kind of villain the show wants Ironwood to be. He is a murderer because the company he runs exploits faunus and forces them to work in dangerous conditions (see: the death of Ilia’s parents). He is culpable because he a) had control over these conditions and b) has full knowledge of their flaws. He’s a racist who cares more about money than lives. His informed choices then led directly to deaths. Ironwood? Not anywhere near the same thing. Overlooking the “Omg Salem is here and I have to do something about it” context, he did not try to arrest Robyn. He did not force Qrow to resist arrest, or Robyn to get involved, or Qrow to break Clover’s aura, or Tyrian to stab him in the chest. Ironwood had no control or knowledge of these events, so he is not responsible for Clover’s death in the way that Jacques is responsible for the faunus’. RWBY is giving the right arc to the wrong character.

Robyn then insists that Qrow didn’t kill anyone. He didn’t strike the blow, but he certainly helped! Look, Qrow is one of my favorites, but I’m not about to claim that he didn’t have a hand in getting his friend killed. I seriously can’t believe the show is ignoring this.

We then segue into some, uh, questionable dialogue choices. Jacques is a “snake with a mustache”? Sorry, I can’t take Robyn seriously at the best of times, but definitely not when she’s tossing out laugh worthy insults like that. Nevertheless, this “snake with a mustache” is guilty because he “helped that man tear us all apart.” That man being Watts.

…why are they all in what amounts to the same cell with barriers dividing them? I suppose we could make the argument that they’re being held in some secret facility, given that they’re in this dark, garage-esque space with no lights and no other prisoners. Some sort of maximum security setup that... doesn’t have any other inmates and no additional security? Hmm. Then again, the power is supposed to be out and I don’t really trust RWBY’s ability to craft consistent backgrounds. I feel like they’re packed together merely because that’s plot convenient, not because it makes any sense in world.

Watts looks pretty comfortable in there though and Jacques is likewise full of confidence. He says that by now Whitley will have already called their lawyers to get him out. Now, non-imprisoned people know that the apocalypse is currently underway, as Joanna will later put it. No one is lawyer-ing at the moment, but it will be crucial to see whether Whitley is trying to get Jacques out despite the chaos. How faithful is he to his abuser? Can Willow start undermining Jacques’ influence now that they’re alone?

Jacque’s confidence thoroughly pisses Robyn off and she screams, punching the barrier between them. Keep this in mind for a second. 

A moment later two guards show up to take Watts somewhere and… oh no. Please don’t tell me Ironwood is going to team up with him now that Penny has written him off? I know the guy has (presumably) already killed someone, and he must assume he’s killed Oscar, so we’re definitely in full villain territory despite the stupidity of it… but please don’t start working with Salem’s henchmen too. You know what? I’m not going to assume the worst until I actually see it. RWBY gives me enough nonsense as it is lol.

What I really want to talk about is that hit. 

I’m somewhat concerned by a lot of the fandom’s reaction to this moment in comparison to another. Who remembers Volume 6? That scene when Qrow punched Ozpin directly into a tree? Now, I’m not keeping track of who says what when—this is a generalized reaction—but I saw a lot of posts defending that action. There were numerous justifications for the punch, but the three big ones were: 1. These characters are fighters and they’re used to it, 2. These characters have aura so it’s not that bad, and 3. Ozpin totally deserved it. Now, the problems here are that 1a. I don’t think punching someone when they’re crying on their knees is justified, whether they’re a fighter or not, 1b. Qrow was likewise punching Oscar, a totally innocent kid, 2. We had established earlier that Oscar was having trouble remembering to activate his aura and didn’t seem to have it active then (no ripple effect, he’s rubbing his jaw afterwards), and 3. Ozpin’s crimes are, as explored on this blog, not nearly the horrific actions that the story and fandom would like to paint them as. The point is that despite all this, lots and lots of fans said it was totally okay to punch Ozpin&Oscar. What’s the big deal? they asked. Now, lots and lots of fans—mostly when the trailer first dropped—say it’s not okay to punch Watts. Despite the fact that he’s also a fighter. Despite the fact that his aura has broken. Despite the fact that he’s not currently a threat (seated on the bed/Ozpin on his knees). Despite the fact that he’s responsible for helping Salem try to take over the world. If we were to make a case for who deserves to get hit, Watts is a WAY stronger candidate in my opinion, yet he’s the one who a lot of fans are scrambling to defend. Why? I assume it’s because hitting him feeds into the generalized police state/dictator theme Ironwood has been thrown into. It helps villainize Ironwood for fans to go, “Poor Watts. He’s done horrific things but no one deserves to face police brutality.” I agree. The only problem is that a lot of those same fans seem to have gone, “Ozpin can get over it. He deserved to be hit! I would have done a whole lot worse to him…” So is the difference only that one attacker is a military professional and the other is… a huntsmen professional who soon after that scene starts working for the military? Yeah. The show continually ignores that the group aren’t the rogue heroes they pretend to be. They worked under Ironwood for weeks, if not months.

The show isn’t clear about its morals and neither are the fans, with both changing tactics whenever it helps blame the character they already don’t like. When Robyn punches the barrier, do we really think she wouldn’t have hit Jacques if given the chance? Why would it be heroic for her to hit the Evil Man but it’s not okay for the grunt minor character to hit the other Evil Man? These morals don’t change just because you like Robyn and don’t like Ironwood. 

Jumping ahead for a moment, we get another example of this hypocrisy with Joanna. A reporter is informing the people that the military seems to have stopped evacuations and there is an unheard number of grimm hanging out overhead, both things that are objective facts. He’s reporting as he should, sticking to what’s known and provable, and thus is, notably, not some lackey of Ironwood’s who is hastily presented as evil. Yet Joanna treats him like he is. She snatches the microphone from him and, when he starts to protest, threatens him with her weapon. After she’s done hijacking the feed, she shoves him on her way out.

Look at how scared this guy is. These are our heroes? This back and forth doesn’t work. Prior to his random killing spree, Ironwood took his fear and frustration out on some furniture, yet the show acted as if he was hurting real people. The mere possibility that he might use violence and intimidation to achieve heroic goals—getting Amity up/escaping Salem—was enough to label him as an antagonist because the understanding was that you can’t act like that no matter what your intentions are. Yet our current heroes can use as much violence and intimidation as they want to achieve their own heroic goal of warning the people? Do we think the story will encourage us to be critical of the group if they start beating up a bunch of Atlas goons to reach the access point? Of course not. And it’s that flip-flopping that’s the problem. Your heroes have to function differently than the villains in order for them to be heroes. Under that logic, our heroes haven’t acted like heroes since mid-Volume 6 and it’s getting harder and harder to watch.

Especially when we take the scene before this into account. Yup, we’ve still got Qrow gunning for Ironwood. Robyn bemoans the fact that they can’t do anything, to which Qrow replies, “We can do something. We can kill the man who put us here.” I… feel like I shouldn’t start repeating myself given how long this recap is—we’ll be here for forever lol—BUT I hope everyone reading this understands precisely how little this makes sense. How god awful a choice it is. I mean c’mon. Robyn attacked Clover unprovoked, Qrow teamed up with Tyrian, he broke Clover’s aura, Tyrian murdered him, Salem is here, and now he’s sitting in a cell with Watts and Jacques… but Ironwood is the guy he wants to kill? REALLY, QROW? THAT’S WHO YOU’RE GOING TO GO AFTER? I really can’t with this show sometimes. RWBY, put your clown makeup on.

We get a cut to Ironwood’s image just so there’s no confusion about who Qrow wants to help kill next and Joanna threatens that reporter who, you know, is also a citizen in need of help and protection… Her “General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not” sounds absolutely ridiculous when we just watched her intimidating this guy to get what she wants. ‘You can trust us! Unless we randomly decide we don’t like you.’ I have other things to say about Yang calling out that racist woman later on, but she gets props for helping her regardless. Honestly, I don’t get that sense from the cast very often: that they’d help you even if they don’t agree with you. They certainly didn’t offer that to Ozpin, Ironwood, or the Ace Ops.

There’s a very long shot of a scared toddler staring out the window, just to hammer home how young and innocent Mantle is. Seriously, pay attention to our imagery: Mantle is scared children in homes, cute children fist-bumping Jaune, family photos lost in the street, a stuffed toy run over by hoverbikes. It’s meant to evoke a general sense of domesticity and, again, innocence. Meanwhile, Atlas is only shown via Ironwood and Jacques, the villains. Where are the families living up in the sky? The children? The humanizing details? Our racist woman is an outlier who is quickly silenced by Yang. The rest of Mantle is characterized as victims: scared women, worried fathers, the faunus huddling together in the slums, even another racist who, while an asshole, is supposed to have a point about things like the embargo. Which is all true. These characters are all of these things, it’s just that they’re not unique in this. All this exists above too—from those families, to the faunus slave labor, to the beloved objects that remind you of someone’s worth—but they’re ignored to provide a simplistic look at Atlas as the villain. 

Throughout this entire episode the group tosses out snide remarks about how “They” don’t care about you and it’s just… they who? The other thousands of innocents who have nothing to do with Ironwood? The hundreds of Mantle citizens you already evacuated? The redeemable people like Winter and Whitley? The group fights alongside a Schnee who was one of the most vocal racists a year and a half ago, yet writes off the entirety of Atlas as the bad guys. What a mess.

As Joanna’s voiceover finishes, we cut to Yang’s group going after Pietro’s tech. I already covered this scene in our promo material, but to summarize here: horrible tone. Absolutely nonsensical given the situation. Salem is here and Yang is giggling over bikes. In fact, the tone is off for most of the episode (our end being the wonderful exception): Yang’s joy ride, antics with the Mantle citizens, Blake poking fun at Weiss, the tube scene… none of it fits the context of the series’ big bad here to kill everyone. Arguments along the lines of, “But it can’t be doom and gloom all the time” or “This is a brilliant parallel to Volume 3 with happy times heralding tragedy” don’t erase the fact that our cast isn’t taking this threat seriously. Last week Weiss’ “We’re never going to sleep again” moment worked because it’s humor in the context of how bad everything is. All of this? It’s just the group goofing off despite supposedly being in mortal danger. This?

This doesn’t read well. I’d argue this scene is even worse in context due to lines like “The others are definitely missing out.” In our promo material I assumed that the group just split for the sake of splitting and they were, in fact, just missing out on something cool. But we’ve since learned that they split due to a fundamental disagreement about how to help people, a split Ruby compared to Salem’s plans, a split that Yang started! Why is she now acting like their separation is a funny “missing out” moment? It’s like if half your friend group decided to go to the movies while the other half went to a party with an unexpectedly good DJ. The movie-goers are people who are “missing out,” not the group who went off to take over a military base and everyone left angry.

Keep in mind that Ozpin is also back. Every fun times scene with Oscar in it has the added problem of Ozpin hanging back, not saying anything, not acknowledged, still a secret.

The other issue I brought up weeks back was the lack of grimm. Why are the streets deserted? Shouldn’t the army be overrunning the city? Well, turns out that there’s no army because… Salem just hasn’t bothered to send it into the city yet? When Jaune and Ren take out the low-level grimm Oscar asks if they’ve “already pushed this far in,” to which Yang replies, “No, I think those are from last night.” A few minutes later, last night’s grimm change to new non-Salem grimm as Oscar observes, “It’s the negativity. Salem’s forces aren’t moving in, but it’s enough to attract the stragglers.” Later still, Joanna asks, “…grimm are circling out there. What are they waiting for?” GOOD QUESTION. We don’t know, but it’s real convenient, isn’t it? RWBY redeems itself a bit at the end of this episode with that Hound grimm, but I’m still calling it out for having Salem hold off long enough for the group to evacuate pretty much all of Mantle and infiltrate the base. That’s real nice of her. As the characters keep pointing out, it would be a staggeringly different situation if they were overrun with grimm right now, huh? Kind of like the situation Ironwood (rightfully) assumed they’d be dealing with.

Again, I’m so glad our Big Bad is kind enough to let the heroes do everything they need to before lifting a finger to attack them.

RWBY seems to be setting up a, “See! There was always time to evacuate the city!” accusation even though no one could have known that and it makes zero logical sense. Salem brings an army with her so she can not use the army against Atlas? Right…

This all segues directly into our other promo scene. My initial comments still stand: the tone doesn’t work, the lack of urgency doesn’t work (Jaune playing with the kid, Oscar politely knocking on doors), the low-level grimm are not a threat, that shield is useless against anything not driven by plot convenience, and it’s weird for Jaune to be yelling, “Heads up!” when there’s no one in front of him. As said, this moment really doesn’t sit well given everything that’s going on. I had hoped that it would read better when seen in the episode itself, but that’s sadly not the case.  

After Ren one-shots the grimm Jaune suggests that they use his amplified semblance to get everyone to the crater safely. Ren seems less than pleased about this, but agrees. Right now, it’s easy to say that he’s in a bad mood because Nora is mad at him, but what about the Volume before? Where’s this underlying tension coming from? I can come up with lots of theories, but at some point the show needs to confirm something. The longer we go not explaining what’s wrong with Ren, the less faith I have that it will make sense when we get it.

We see the racist woman upset that they have to go live with the “animals in the slums” rather than going up to Atlas. As said, I like that Yang helps her despite clearly hating the woman, I also think her criticism holds up well (ignoring the simplified ‘They abandoned you’ narrative). The only thing that bugs me is RWBY continually presenting racism as a problem to throw a band-aid on and then pat yourself on the back for ‘solving.’ Racist drunk says shit? Toss him in the trash! Racist woman says shit? Remind her that her survival depends on you! It’s not that these responses aren’t earned, but that we’re given them instead of an actual arc that tackles the complexities of this issue. I mean, Blake has abandoned the White Fang and we’ve barely mentioned the faunus slave labor in Atlas. When they head to the dust facility it’s conveniently run by bots instead of faunus. Can you imagine if Weiss Schnee walked into a group of exploited minorities, hoping to use them to access a military base? But of course, there’s nothing like that. RWBY ignores the actual issues for these simple solutions. Heroes just attack/threaten racists and then it all goes away. Yay.

The other problem with this scene is that we learn the crater is the slums. Um… what? Hold on, Joanna made it sound like it’s a separate place, potentially inhabited by grimm, yet it’s the same area Oscar was in last episode? How is that area warmer? This makes no sense to me.

Also, ha, the crater below Atlas apparently houses all the “animals” that Team RWBYJNR is very protective of. I’m waiting for them to do something that messes with the Staff—Ruby reaching for it in the opening—Atlas crashes down on a whole city of exploited minorities, and then Ironwood is blamed for it somehow. Can’t wait for that episode.

So the group starts making their way there and hark! An Ozpin! I’m always thrilled to hear him, even if he’s treated just terribly by the show. Oscar is at the back of the group and comments that “It should not be this hard just getting people to cooperate.” Except… they are cooperating? Oscar, you are watching them cooperate right in front of you. That one woman might grumble a bit, but she hasn’t made a move or said a word about not doing what you say. Where did this complaint come from? Another example of RWBY insisting something is there when it simply isn’t. More importantly, Ozpin responds:

“And yet, it’s becoming something I’m increasingly concerned about.”

“You know, I really don’t need your additional comments right now.”

Then why did you comment out loud, Oscar? What, do you normally talk to yourself like that? You were clearly speaking to Ozpin! Don’t criticize him for responding. I hate traps like that.

Ozpin immediately says that Oscar has every right to be upset and apologizes for leaving… it’s not apologizing for his entire existence like I wrote on the bingo board, but it’s close. Who’s surprised that Ozpin is the first to offer (another) apology? Not me. Oscar corrects him with, “I’m upset you came back!”

Okay. Here’s the thing. I like the idea of Oscar rejecting Ozpin both because he’s taken over his life and because Oscar has suffered horribly due to Ozpin’s presence (punched, slammed into walls, kidnapping attempts, etc.) That makes sense, it’s actually morally complex, and it’s great groundwork for character growth. The only problem is… this came out of nowhere. Oscar was shown accepting this new life when he left the farm. Then again when he insisted on fighting Hazel. Then again all the times he’s been told he’s acting like Ozpin and seems to accept that just fine. He’s clearly pleased with this new badass self he’s got going on—he even says as much—yet doesn’t want to acknowledge Ozpin as the catalyst for all this positive change. Okay, that’s something we could still work through, but what about the group? Fans are already theorizing that this is why Oscar is keeping Ozpin a secret, because he’s scared of how the group will react, punishing him to get at Ozpin again, and though he 100% has reasons for thinking that will happen, Oscar hasn’t shown that fear before now. Qrow punches him? Bonding moment with Ruby. Jaune attacks him? I made you all dinner. They all smile over his inevitable death/disappearance? He smiles back. Yang is the most scream-y? Happy to have her using him as an armrest. The group continually ignores him and treats him with suspicion? Not a peep of protest. It’s horrifying that Oscar accepted how the group previously treated him, but he did accept it. Where did this fear come from if we haven’t seen it in response to the harm done towards him? Just as importantly, can’t we have an arc where Oscar is mad at the team some too? I’ll admit that the general premise of blaming Ozpin makes sense for the traumatized fourteen-year old, but after two years of blaming Ozpin for everything… aren’t we sick of this? His team has actively hurt him, outside of Ozpin’s ability to prevent, yet Ozpin is the one who takes all the heat for their behavior. “I felt like I was actually part of the team” should lead to the realization of, “Hey, Yang shouldn’t yell at both of us for things outside of our control” not, “Hey, you should stay away forever because others have decided they don’t like you.”

All of this following Ozpin saving Oscar’s life in the airship. Then saving his life again after Ironwood shot him. Our heroes are real grateful, huh. I hate that RWBY is taking another fave and doing them dirty, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. 

Ozpin also mentions his magic—would be nice if Oscar brought that up with the team!—and that he is now “recollecting my longest held memories.” He…is? When? Don’t you think that’s something important to show us? We keep being told that “the merge” is occurring but not shown what that actually means. Seriously, when did Oscar get slammed with that many memories??

Please just use the aura machine and give Ozpin a robot body. RT doesn’t have the chops for writing this situation.

As they continue on towards the crater Ren snaps at Jaune about not needing a “pep talk.” Jaune looks annoyed at the attitude which, fair. It says a lot about the writing the last few years that Jaune is the character I’m least frustrated with lol. Likely because they haven’t had him do anything lately which, given that he’s not one of the title characters and our cast is bloated enough as it is, I’m still totally fine with.

Ozpin concludes the scene with, “We need to find a way to work together. Not just the two of us, all of us” with the camera panning up to look at Atlas. I’m glad someone isn’t ready to throw Ironwood under the bus. Given how the group reacted to him sparing Lionheart’s name though, I don’t think they’ll follow Ozpin in his forgiveness. If anything, I expect this perspective to just be more hate fuel.  

We move to Ruby’s group which now includes May. Woohoo! She still hasn’t gotten half the screen time as Joanna, but I’m really glad she’s here. In fact, between a useful semblance and that adorable courtesy, I love her already. Despite, you know, helping the team break into the base and all that. Everyone has their flaws lol.  

She also frames the Amity plan as getting the world “talking again.” Why is everything presented like a fun romp rather than avoiding death via Salem? Absolutely terrible tone this episode.

The group hilariously waltzes past a sign labeled AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and enters the dust facility with the bots I mentioned earlier. This I do like. My hypothetical scenario incorporating the racism issue aside, I like that Weiss is using her knowledge and connections to further the mission, rather than something conveniently dropping into the group’s lap. Like Amity suddenly being ready for launch…So yeah, it makes sense that Weiss would know of a potential way in.  

Sending someone up through the tubes though? Ehhh… I know they have aura and everything—and that Zwei was once mailed—but are we sure this is safe?? Doesn’t matter because Nora sends Weiss through with a misplaced button press. Good thing that was the tube heading to the base. Too bad Weiss is heading to a guarded military base alone. It should have been May going first with her semblance activated, but no. Chuck this onto the ever increasing ‘Bad Tone’ pile. There should not be giggles over Weiss being in that level of danger, especially with everything else going on. Ruby’s expression is the only one on point.

Before Weiss is yeeted off though, Penny and Ruby have a talk wherein Ruby lies her ass off. Penny says, “I do not like it when friends fight” and when Ruby starts talking about Yang she corrects her, revealing that she’s actually thinking about Winter and Ironwood. “They were our friends.”

I was ready to sing Penny’s praises and really, she still gets credit for being the only one who has acknowledged this, but her opinion is (once again) overridden by Ruby’s. Penny goes, “but then the Ace Ops attacked you” which Ruby doesn’t bother to correct. How would Penny know otherwise? The only information she has about that battle is what Ruby has told her, but Ruby is lying via omission here. The Ace Ops never attacked her. They very explicitly refused to start a fight. Ruby attacked them. Then when Penny is upset that Ironwood said “people were going to die because of me,” Ruby takes her by the shoulders and angrily insists, “That was a lie and he was only saying it to hurt you.”

Ruby… you’re the one lying. You know damn well Ironwood didn’t just say that to hurt Penny. Oh yeah, the general trying to keep a kingdom alive from an immortal witch is preoccupied with hurting Penny’s feelings for no reason other than being evil. That makes sense. More importantly, Ironwood is right. Look, I’m by no means blaming Penny for anything. She fought off Cinder, took the power when there was no other choice, and has now gotten caught up in Ruby’s plans which include incredibly misleading information that Penny has no reason to question. She’s doing her best and deserves that hug. But that doesn’t mean she lacks responsibility here. Ironwood needs Penny to evacuate. Penny—listening to Ruby—won’t help him. Ergo, if something happens to the people up in Atlas Penny will be partly responsible. If I have the key to a door with lots of people trapped behind it as a fire rages, and I refuse to open that door, I have indeed allowed a lot of people to die. As Penny says, she didn’t want this responsibility… but she has it. She has to deal with it. Too bad she’s with Ruby who encourages her to ignore it instead, insisting that nothing bad that happens after their choices could in any way be connected to them. Kind of like Qrow ignoring his own actions against Clover.

Because that’s the takeaway from this scene. Penny had empathy for their friends and then Ruby talked her out of it. She never even acknowledges that those were indeed seven friends that she betrayed. That’s horrible.

What happened to Ruby? I used to love this girl.

Continuing our tone issue, Nora is watching this show like her favorite soap is on. Okay then.

Weiss goes up the tube and then we cut to Fiona saying that… the Mantle police are helping them evacuate? So the military is bad, but the police are good? I need to stop trying to make sense of RWBY’s allegory.

When Yang and the others return Fiona makes an innocent comment about being worried about how they’d fare without the rest of their team. Yang is pissed.

Ah, so we’re back to her giving allies attitude for random observations. Remember the anger at Marrow for suggesting she and Blake try different team-ups? Now here Yang is, in a different team-up, doing quite well. Funny how we never acknowledge who first suggested that. Now, Fiona reveals a totally logical worry that losing four fighters might make a difference when fending off grimm, but Yang is poised to be angry at everyone, about everything, all the time. Which I get is something that a lot of fans like. I’ve already seen a couple of posts praising RT for letting Robyn and Yang be angry without consequences because women often can’t do that and, fair. That is indeed one way to read it. My problem is that their anger is actually irrational, not just called as much because we women are ~emotional~. Their anger isn’t justified: Robyn because she had a significant hand in all this nonsense (that she’s ignoring) and Yang because it’s clear Fiona means no harm here. This is anger that needs to be called out, not ignored because yay women expressing emotion. That kind of defense is reserved for a woman’s justified anger that needs to be expressed without criticism, especially in a narrative that tries to undermine her perspective. But what has Fiona done to Yang? Nothing. More importantly, the show has yet to teach Yang a better coping mechanism than lashing out at people, be it with her fists, words, or angry glares. Yang has been through the ringer and it makes sense that she’s angry, but that doesn’t mean she gets a lifelong pass to treat those around her badly. 

Anyway, Joanna says they have a lot of people to keep warm even though the crater was supposed to be warmer? And they’re stealing dust? So what are they using it for it not heat? We’re not seeing any difference here and frankly all the civilians should be dead by now. Or at least entering hypothermia. (Give me that conflict: how do you keep people safe when they’re not all conveniently up for walking all the way to the slums?) Joanna also says that they’re trying to get the “Old mine shafts into a livable condition” which would take how long exactly? In fact, I’d say our timeline is already wonky. We’ve watched Yang hide the Ace Ops last Volume, fly to Winter and Penny, find the Happy Huntresses, wait around for Oscar to show up, ran off on her own at some point to scout, went to get bikes, evacuated all those people to the (far away) slums, then went back out to fight off the grimm. That had to have taken up a good chunk of the night, though it’s impossible to tell the time with Atlas’ snowy sky. I’m leaning towards a bingo mark though…

The faunus who I thought was a badger or something is… a bear I guess? He has a bear-like paw, but his nails seem too long… I honestly don’t know. But he’s Fiona’s uncle! Cute. She's off to deal with a fight that’s starting while the group goes to fight more grimm. Finally, the episode gets good.

The teamwork to take out the dragon grimm was nice, always glad to see it, but the real fight starts when two more grunts show up and then immediately run away. What could have scared them off?

The Hound. (I’m sorry, all I can think of is Game of Thrones when I write that, but it seems to be the name the fandom is adopting, so…) Remember how I said it was unlikely to be a threat on its own? I WAS WRONG. Holy shit this thing is terrifying. It snatches Oscar and in some wonderfully quick animation absolutely obliterates the kid. Oscar is thrown around like a chew toy, desperately trying to rabbit kick at this thing and it does [checks notes] absolutely nothing. I’d normally say something about our farm boy always getting the shit kicked out of him, but this scene was too good for my salt.

Then it changes shape, growing arms, and starts using Oscar as a shield. Yang can’t pull back in time and is snagged by her head, the Hound tossing her into the wall hard enough to break the stone. She’s still conscious though and warns the others about its strategy.

“But grimm aren’t that smart,” Jaune says. Maybe if you kids (Fiona keeps calling them kids) had stayed in school you would have learned that grimm get smarter with age! Oobleck knew that. Or, just as likely, this is a special Salem grimm. Hard to say at this point.

The point though is that the group is helpless in the face of this monster. I do want to emphasize this. I’ve seen a few people criticizing them for not doing enough to save Oscar and it’s like, what did you want them to do? Yang tried to attack and the grimm nearly had her hitting Oscar instead. Ren tried to attack and the grimm changed so fast his weapon was useless. Factor in that morphing—which the group has never seen before—the horror of Oscar hanging there limp, and the general fighter response of, ‘I can’t just keep attacking head on because that thing might kill me,’ and you realize the group was screwed from the start. They can’t stand up against this thing, not without a good strategy anyway, which there’s no time to think up. For the first time in years, ever since Tyrian, Salem actually made the right, villainous call.

Ren screams, “Give him back!”—which was just lovely in an angsty way—and the grimm creepily cuddles Oscar against his chest. Then he responds, “No.” Yeah, they’ve never seen that before either. Can you blame them for their shock? I’m impressed that they were on their bikes just seconds later, managing to keep the grimm in sight. That speaks to their combat experience. Not the ability to power through a situation where they’re clearly outmatched, but their ability to pick themselves back up and try again.

... Ah, so that’s why Pietro was oh so randomly making them bikes. The plot needed a way for them to keep up with a flying grimm. Got it.

My takeaway? RT should be writing horror. They’re far better at it. The animation, sound effects, voice acting, the grimm’s speech and protective instincts, that splatter of goo on Oscar’s cheek… 

... stellar all around. Like the Apathy, this is the best I think RWBY has been since the lore episode of Volume 6. Granted, action sequences like this aren’t required to grapple with any of the messy morals and character consistency of other scenes, but still. If RWBY had just given me a lighthearted ‘Girls fight cartoon monsters’ show or a horror fueled ‘Girls fight monster abominations’ show, I’d have been happy. This? This is the only redeeming part of the episode. And it’s indeed one hell of a redemption. Look at this thing!

I’m not going to say it erases all the bad we got—it doesn’t—or that it likewise erases problems like Salem not using the rest of her army, but it’s a notable step in the right direction. This grimm is a threat. This grimm is a mountain the cast has to overcome. If this is the minion its master should be Everest. I still think this Volume is going down the tubes fast (it’s going the way of Weiss lol), but if it can give me more scenes like this? It might not be a total loss.

Last thing to acknowledge: What about Ozpin? I’ll admit it doesn’t look good. Given how fast he takes control he should have been able to override Oscar’s will and at least fight back a little with that spectacular magic we saw during the finale. So why didn’t he? I hope we get an in-world explanation: it happened so fast even Ozpin couldn’t do anything (shaky, but I’ll take it in a pinch), now that the merge is farther along he can no longer take control—something. Because I can easily imagine how quickly the fandom, and even the cast, will turn on him for not playing deus ex machina here. In reality, I think Ozpin didn’t take control simply because the plot needed him not to. The writers needed Oscar kidnapped so any potential out from that is conveniently forgotten… which is another knock against their writing, despite how great the scene otherwise was. The point is to take all these potential pushbacks and find a satisfying way to circumvent them, not pretend they don’t exist. RT can still save themselves here by providing that explanation later, so I hope they’re smart enough to do that. Ozpin has been blamed for everything at this point. His own kidnapping doesn’t need to be added to the list.

Also, still no word on Schrödinger's councilman. We’ve got to wait another week to see whether he’s dead or not.

Finally, let’s update the bingo card!

I’m crossing off “Ruby gives an ‘inspiring’ speech built on ignoring facts she doesn’t like” for that conversation with Penny. Yeah, it’s a speech to her alone about her worth, but Ruby mischaracterized the situation so badly I’m mad at her lol

I never thought the story would straight up just not have the grimm army attacking, so I think I’ll hold off on “Army of grimm conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians” until we see if/when it gets involved.

I’ll likewise hold off on the timeline slot until we see how bad things get…

Maria is on thin ice given that we have no idea what she’s supposedly doing while the group is off on their missions. Stay tuned.

Today we’re crossing off “Deadly cold conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians.” They should all be dropping like flies by now.

A friend pointed out that Cinder’s Cinderella flashback counts as an “Overly obvious fairy tale allusion.” In fact, I talked about how much of a shorthand that is, so that’s getting a mark.

From last week I’ve also decided to include Amity for “Retconning previous lore.” Now that the group is fully underway with their plan it reads as even more egregious that we were told it wasn’t ready.

I’ll hold off on Ozpin’s space for a while. See if he apologizes to the whole group and, if so, exactly what for.

“Oscar is finally kidnapped”—check!

Well, that’s a whole lot of headway this week. Can’t wait to see where the next episode takes us... Here’s hoping we spend a lot of time with that Hound. MVP of the episode.

Until next time! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[sir-phineas-lost]

Continued

I’m moving my discussion with @theredhairedmonkey​ so as to not bother other people with constant notes.

Well, you’re the one who wants this exchange so badly. And look at the result, the number of notes you got for this post is in the high-80s now! Is that a new record for you? 

Is that supposed to be an attempt at sass? Dude, it wasn’t even my post. All the notes went to the original OP.

And I don’t “want” this discussion. I just refuse to let cowards who won’t debate in good faith win just because they think they can force the burden of proof onto everyone else.

Anyway, your criticism seems to boil down to “they could have made it better” and “they should have made it more obvious.” That’s just moving the goalpost. The way they did Ezran’s scene (which was remorse, not sadness, of the fact that he enabled Viren to make others do horrible things) was sufficient to get the point across. If you’re really going to argue that you’re too dense to pick up on that, fine. But that’s not really all too convincing of an argument. 

Again, you really don’t seem to understand what “moving the goalpost” means. And remorse doesn’t look like that. We have seen what faces other people in this series makes when they are remorseful.

And it looks nothing like Ezran’s face during Soren’s speech, and it is always accompanied by vocal admission of guilt. That really is what it boils down to. I don’t buy that this was just supposed to be “subtle” because this series has never been subtle about these things before. You making a huge leap from “Ezran looks sad” to “Ezran regrets his choices as king” doesn’t make you smart unless you can actually prove that this interpretation is consistant with the storytelling until this point.

The whole point of storytelling isn’t lights and design, but character arcs. Do Viren’s motivations become corrupted over time? Yes. Does this make him a villain? Absolutely. And that’s not a comment on his moral complexity, any more than Runaan’s status as a villain suggests he’s pure evil. Anti-villains have a place in this story too, to contrast with the motivations of the heroes. 

And in a visual medium, those arcs are communicated through lights and design. And again, you keep harping on Viren’s “corruption” even though I have repeatedly made a case for why that isn’t the point of his arc without ever addressing any of my arguments. Why does Soren make the point about “who his dad really is” if it is supposed to be about him being “corrupted”? If you are so ignorant about the language of visual storytelling that you think this...

...or this...

...is communicating that the person in the middle is an “morally complex” and not pure evil, then that is your problem. Like, the second picture doesn’t even require interpreting the visuals. He is just straight up admitting that he has no problem with throwing his best friend’s kid in jail. You would think that would be hard for him if he is supposed to be morally complex.

And here we see Viren’s motivations are complex too. He still wants to create a bright future for humankind, eschewing conquest until he’s convinced it’s necessary. He willingly risks his life at Lux Auera to reduce potential casualties on his side. And even though his status as the main villain is over, his arc will still continue. 

Yeah, except we have no reason to believe he really didn’t want to conquer Xadia from the beginning. He was raising an army long before he met Aaravos and Aaravos didn’t have to make any kind of argument for why conquest was “necessary”. He literally just went:

...and Viren relented. Again, no analysis of the “lights and design” necessary here. This is clearly portrayed as a man who wants power and conquest looking for any excuse he can find. And I remind you, this is explicitly confirmed by Soren to be Viren’s true character, not a corruption.

I have no doubt that Viren’s arc will continue. And it will continue to make him the only one responsible for everything that goes wrong in the world. Mark my words. When King Ahling is upset because Aanya murdered his son the solution will no doubt be to prove that Viren “killed him” first by turning him into a monster.

...yea, making Ezran’s arc simplistic and having enough time to flesh everything out are *totally* incompatible concerns! Seriously, all your edit of the exchange between Callum and Ezran demonstrates is that you’re angry the story shows rather than tells. That line you made up is campy, anvillicious, and unnecessary, because Ezran’s actions explain everything that line does. Maybe *you* didn’t pick up on that, but that’s a different problem. 

I wouldn’t say that they are incompatible, just that “simplicity” only seems to be concern for you in this specific case because you sure don’t seem to have a problem with Callum telling rather than showing his feelings.

And I really don’t see how the exchange I made up is in any way more campy than Soren’s monologue or Ezran’s pitch for peace to Kasef. Like I said, I just don’t buy that this show suddenly thought they could be “subtle” with Ezran making a complete heel-turn when they have always worn their intentions on their sleeve previously.

And no, this change needed more connective tissue to make Ezran’s choice of “no fighting” to his choice of “burn them all” to make any sense and not just come off as him always putting cute magical creatures over his own people, which is something of a pattern with him I might remind you.

This is part of what makes it difficult for me to see his “actions” as an indicator of anything but a preference for dragons.

Really? Corvus says Ezran is noble and wise? I seem to have missed that part. He doesn’t tell him he did the right thing, only that at the end of it, he’s shown great strength and courage. Ezran didn’t have to have made the right decision to be those things, and this was certainly the encouragement he needed to hear. If you paid attention to the rest of his arc as much as you do to this one line, maybe you would have picked up on that. 

Fair is fair, I kind of extrapolated the “wise” part but “noble” and “graceful” are synonyms (and isn’t it interesting that you did apparently miss that part?).

Ezran’s arc of not running from his problems came to a head at the end of last season when he went back to be king. This could have worked as a continuation of it if they hadn’t insisted on praising his every decision so darn much. Whatever you may think of Corvus little pep-talk it sure as fuck doesn’t express any indicatiion that Ezran just wanted to avoid the problem. And I think what Ezran (and his “arc) needed was something more along the lines of “you may not have thought everything through but you still have all the qualities of a great king”. You know, something to actually encourage him to work on these flaws.

When I look at Ezran’s entire arc, I see a kid who repeatedly claims to have empathy for everyone but abandons it when it is convenient for the people he cares about the most. It will always be “right” to help the dragon who burned his people alive before even checking to see who made it out of the blaze. It will always be “necessary” to fight a bloody battle and kill soldiers who have famillies at home when it is to defend his little dragon friend. And the story will helpfully make that even easier for him by dehumanizing the soldiers for him first. That is the pattern I see when I look at Ezran’s actions as a whole.

By long term consequences to Ezran’s actions, you mean “how people acted and reacted to his choices,” which...doesn’t change whether his choice was a good or bad one. Viren’s defeat was not a reasonably foreseeable outcome of Ezran’s abdication. I should not need to tell you.

Have you been listening to anything I have said? This is exactly why I have a problem with this whole thing and why I keep coming back to framing. Ezran couldn’t predict that this would save everyone so he shouldn’t have made that choice, but this is a story and by having the soldiers he saved come back to save the day again the narrative is telling us that this is something Ezran is responsible for and giving him credit for the victory. Combine that with the constant praise and the lack of any criticism and you have a story that says “Ezran always makes the right choice, even when all logic tells us that it shouldn’t work”.

How people act and react to his choices absolutely changes whether the choice was good or bad, because it is a story. This is how storytelling works. The way the characters react and the consequences of what happens is what tells us, the audience, how we are supposed to feel about it.

This dissonance between what we as real people can tell is bad leadership and what the story rewards as good behavior is literally the core issue I have been talking about since the beginning.

[allthatglittersisnotgoldrush]

Author Interview: Victoryindeath2 (by Mythopoeia

Thank you @abadpoetwithdreams! I hope you don't regret the last question you asked :D

1. You are responsible for creating the characters of Frog and Sticks! What canon Silm event are you most excited to see from their child perspectives?

Soooo many things—but I am interested to see how they will feel when Mae is back on his feet, a warrior more deadly with his left than he even was with his right, the sort of man who can in canon create the Union of Maedhros. The children have seen Maedhros at his lowest, seen him tormented and crushed into the earth in the cruelest of ways. They also saw how he could be his best even when there was no hope or light for him—he protected them and was kind to them and loved them. I am just interested to see how other men’s and women’s opinions might change as Maedhros moves into the next phase of his life, and how the children will, in some ways, always see Maedhros as their Russandol.

Sticks: yeah I knew he was cool before you all realized it

Frog: *drops a rock in Mae’s left hand and curls up in his lap* tell me and my pet rock a story Mae

Mae: I actually have leadership things to do....

Sticks: you owe us for all the stories you didn’t tell us back in the Bad Place

Mae: *tells them a story and Fingon finds the kids sleeping under Mae’s arms twenty minutes later*

(There is also a non-canon event sometime in the future that I want so VERY badly but guess I can’t say because of spoilers *sighs*)

2. We often joke about how this AU is basically our own crazy version of a Silm tv series. What are some of favourite moments in the series so far that stand out to you as particularly cinematic?

There are so many moments, some of the wondrous and stunning variety, and some of the quiet and beautiful....but here are a few that leapt right to my mind:

a. Maedhros and Fingon parting the last time before Feanor divided the families almost forever! Maedhros with his hair in the sunlight on his horse and the line, “see you on the other side, cano!”

b. Gosh DARN it Mae on the cliff, with Morgoth offering him the chance to leap to his death, and he doesn’t take it *cries*

c. FINGON’S CHILD OF THE WOLF MOMENT WHERE HE TAKES MAIRON OUT (ALSO RIGHT BEFORE WHEN MAE GRABS AT HIS ANKLE AND TRIES TO GET FINGON TO SAVE HIMSELF)

d. Maedhros riding into the thrall camp and basically falling into Gwindor and SLINGING AN ARM AROUND HIS NECK YES HUGS ALL AROUND YESSSS

e. Look Ceili fic I know we talk about it all the time but I am here to talk about it again, especially the moment where Mae pulls Caranthir out on the dance floor and then they all dance together and everyone ends up in a pile on the floor except for Mae who just stands over them all laughing I think doubled over and there is so much good energy in that scene I NEED IT ON SCREEN

f. Personally I like to think that Celegorm stalking his way into a club in New York City and beating the living daylights out of Eol was cinematic

g. Maedhros having successfully argued Huan’s way into the journey west, stumbling all tired like up to the stairs, and meeting Nerdanel there, and resting his head on his mom’s neck. The darling tol bby

h. MAE ATTACKING ULFANG FOR THE SAKE OF HIS BROS, GOING FROM DEPRESSED BROKEN BABY WHO HAS LOST ALL HOPE TO DEPRESSED BROKEN BABY WHO HAS LOST ALL HOPE BUT STILL WILL FIGHT FOR HIS BROS

i. Bby Mae lying on Feanor’s chest ;;;;;;;;;;; before Feanor became the worst

j. Can’t even remember what fic it was at this point but there is a dream? Mae has? Of like....the sea and red sun or something? It was a lot

k. There are many many more moments and I am mad that I can’t remember the one that stood out to me recently

l. ..........the whole fic Seven Card Stud

m. MOONLIGHT GUNSLINGER MAE AND HOW HE TOTALLY OUTCLASSED MAIRON

n. Every hug and brotp and found family moment ever. I have addictions and there is never enough of what I want on screen

o. THERE ARE MORE SPECIFIC ONES BUT I HAVE TO STOP AT SOME POINT DON’T I

3. Walk me through what an ideal day would look like for Caranthir?

The MOST ideal day would be Caranthir waking up in his little closet bedroom in Formenos and realizing he just had a horrible nightmare, and also realizing that he still has his mom and ALL of his brothers. And then at the breakfast table Feanor says something like “wow I’ve been stupid in a good many ways, and a rotten dad because of that, good thing I have recognized my flaws and shall now be a better person, also Mae you can stop going to live in the city if you want, just stay here with your brothers. Also you know, Caranthir, even though you’re still my least favorite child, I’m proud of you. And not just because these are the best pancakes I have ever tasted.”

Then Caranthir probably helps his mom in the garden, gets some quality one on one time with Mae when Mae helps him make a pie, Mae reminds him how special and good he thinks Caranthir is, and Celegorm and Curufin ask Caranthir to join them for fishing. Not that Caranthir necessarily wants to do that, but he does want to be asked. Then Amras and Amrod ask him to help them with sums, so that he feels like a helpful big brother, and without being asked, Maglor takes out his fiddle and plays the slow-moving, peaceful song that Caranthir loves and Maglor despises because it is not challenging enough

4. What is a character POV you have not written yet about but would like to?

I would like to write something from Maeglin’s POV—I feel a powerful urge to protect that lost boy. He’s had an odd and often terrifying life and he needs a break. Good grief imagine having a mom like his mom, imagine Morgoth commanding you to call him uncle. Ew. Anyway, he’s exactly the sort of character I usually adopt as my son. An angsty sad boy without much future, who needs LOVE

5. If you could recommend only one fic from each author (including yourself, of course) what would they be?

HOW TO PICK?!

TolkienGirl: wayyyyy too many to really choose from but I have to go back to the beginning and say “news, breaking” because of the way it introduces my Feanorian boys, and also because of Mae wearing a flowered apron one minute and then a half open leather vest the next, with his glorious hair tied back!

Mythopoeia: I feel like I have to say “those gathered beneath” because it was so DEFINITIVE of our favorite Irish family, and also Turgon is a great narrator (but since I always talk about this fic I shall also add another, lesser known perhaps: “save ourselves unaided” because it introduces Haleth and more people need to appreciate Haleth and Mythopoeia’s Haleth is SO GOOD)

Victoryindeath2: “a certain slant of light (where the meanings are)” because it was my first Caranthir fic, and so it holds a special place in my heart

Bonus Q: The Feanorians are now a KPop group. What are their hair colors and roles?

THE WAY I CHOKED ON MY LAUGHTER WHEN I FIRST READ THIS QUESTION

I ALSO GOT WAY TOO CAUGHT UP IN THIS SO IF YOU ARE AN AU READER WHO DOESN’T CARE ABOUT KPOP IN ANY WAY YOU CAN STOP HERE, I WON’T BE MAD. On the other hand I think I have really good answers so maybe you should continue lol

Maedhros: He has to be a coppery red-head, doesn’t he? Maybe something of the red color that you once told me you wanted Heeseung to try. He would make a great leader, but ALSO. Also I think that he has had enough stress in canon in and in our AU, so I really just want to give him the opportunity to be merely the eldest hyung, who everyone goes to for comfort, for hugs and advice, and who supports the leader quietly. He is a good vocalist and can maybe rap in a pinch? but we put so much emphasis on him as a dancer that he HAS to be the dance leader. Obviously. Is widely acknowledged as the visual of the group

Maglor: Longish black hair, maybe midnight blue or deep purple. Has tried several different hairstyles and regretted half of them. He claims a specific aesthetic in hair and dress is necessary for him to compose the group’s songs, and while he gets teased by everyone for this he also writes amazing music so? It works? Is definitely a vocalist. His vlives consist of him playing every instrument known to man, and half the time Mae is sitting in the background listening with an awed expression on his face—till he falls asleep. Maglor can’t decide if he is pleased by this or insulted

Celegorm: Usually rocks blond or silver hair, but one time some fool insulted Amrod’s pink hair and the next thing you know Celegorm had pink hair for three months. Probably disparaged Maglor’s mullet phase but tried it once himself as a penalty for a game in a Run Feanorian episode and kinda thought it wasn’t half bad.

Celegorm is the “I don’t follow what the company says” member, “screw the rules if they aren’t good for my fam.” He is also a sick rapper and his diss tracks and mixtapes are things of beauty. He also clearly frequents the gym and will toss an annoyed member—most likely Maglor, but sometimes Curufin—over his shoulder any chance he can get. Has definitely done pushups with Amrod or Amras on his back. He and Mae swept the ISAC games

Caranthir: Typically goes with brown/black hair, which only throws the fandom into more of an uproar when the rare occasion arises in which he actually dyes it some other color. Probably went mint for a music video and Curufin started calling him mint choco boy, which offends him deeply as he is (sadly) on the side of “mint chocolate ice cream tastes like toothpaste.” He’s a vocalist with a rougher voice that is surprisingly pleasing to listen too.

Speaking of surprises, Caranthir never quite understands his own popularity. He didn’t like to do vlives by himself for ages, until Mae encouraged him to do cooking and baking vlives, and now he does one once a month on a schedule. Fans are putting together a book of his recipes

Curufin: He does intense and striking hairstyles and colors, and is probably the most likely to do black hair streaked through with red, teal, green, gold, white, etc. He claims to be the visual of the group and Mae is the one member who always agrees with him. I’d say he is also a dancer, one almost as good as Mae but with a different style, and he has a quick and sharp rap. He is heavily involved in the production of their songs over time.

Here is the thing though—I think, in this better non-canon non-Gold Rush AU universe, that Curufin could be the leader. See, Feanor is not gonna be the company CEO loll. Fingolfin is. And Fingolfin mentors better than Feanor EVER could. And Curufin is a sharp lad, very smart and crafty, and if he could just be convinced to care about all his brothers/group members like he does about himself and Celegorm in the AU, and if he just has proper guidance, allowing Mae to assist him in struggles, going to him for support, I think he would be an excellent leader

Ambarussa: Amras and Amrod have tried every color and color combination under the SUN, and they often coordinate with each other either to match or complement. Amras sometimes gets tired of this, preferring to stick to the general group color scheme, and when that happens Amrod just says fine be like that and goes off and does his own thing. Sooner or later though, Amras always gives in and joins him once again.

The twins obviously have all their hyungs wrapped around their little fingers, even Maglor who is driven insane by them crashing into his room shrieking and giggling when he is trying to write music or run a very serious vlive. As far as their musical talents go, I love when maknaes are ridiculously well-rounded, and these are Feanorian maknaes, so I’m gonna say they can both dance, sing, and rap. People have placed bets on whether they will grow as tall as Mae (spoilers, they won’t, no one ever will, he’s the tallest in Kpop world)

Huan: is the team mascot, and lives in their large dorm with them because Celegorm said so

Anddd that’s all folks

[dtrhwithalex]

TV | Loki (105)

105: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY

D: KATE HERRON. W: TOM KAUFFMAN. Original Air Date: 07 July 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the fifth episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

Picking up from last week's mid-credit scene, we find Loki stranded in an unknown place, where he is found by four other Loki variants. The place, it turns out, is the Void, and it is where all destroyed timelines end up. The Void is home to Alioth, a cloud creature which devours everything thrown into the Void and removes it from existence permanently.

While Loki and his new companions hurry to safety -- a bunker they have survived in together since arriving in the Void --, back at the TVA, Sylvie is forcing Renslayer to give her the answers about the TVA and the Time Keepers she is looking for. Claiming to want those answers herself as well, Renslayer teams up with Sylvie and they use Miss Minutes to access data. They realise that, much like Sylvie had been able to hide from the TVA in apocalypses, whoever is behind everything may be hiding beyond the timeline, inside or behind the Void. However, going beyond the Void is impossible, except with a spacecraft specifically designed to do so. However, it turns out, Renslayer lied about the craft and has merely been stalling. She has no intentions to betray the TVA and join forces with Sylvie. In a stand-off with Renslayer and her agents, Sylvie -- still in possession of Renslayers TemPad -- decides that the only way to be sure about her theory, is to prune herself and be sent to the Void.

Meanwhile, Loki had learned about the individual stories of the Variants as well as the reality of the Void and Alioth, and has decided that the only way to leave the Void, is to kill Alioth. The variants laugh at this plan, so Loki decides to go at it himself, however, before he can leave the bunker, an army of other Loki variants led by PRESIDENT LOKI (TOM HIDDLESTON) infiltrate the bunker and seek to overthrow Kid Loki who is, among the Lokis, the current ruler. As it is a main characteristic of Lokis to betray others, a fight among the variants for the throne breaks out, and Classic, Kid, Alligator, and our TVA Loki make an escape. Reluctantly, the others decided to help Loki get to Alioth.

Having pruned herself, Sylvie has arrived in the Void and immediately has to escape from Alioth. In her escape, she uses magic to defend herself and realises that the creature could be enchanted. While running from Alioth, a small Pizza delivery car races towards her to aid her in the escape. The driver, it turns out, is none other than Mobius. While driving away from the creature, Sylvie makes a similar realisation as Loki: the only way out of the Void is through Alioth, so she has Mobius turn around.

While our Loki variants are in the Void, Renslayer seeks answers herself. Hunter B-15, who had aided Sylvie in her escape, had been imprisoned, and Renslayer goes to her for intel about Sylvie. B-15 realises that Renslayer was not entirely lying when she told Sylvie she, too, wanted to know who is behind the TVA. However, she tells Renslayer, Sylvie would manage to find out way before Renslayer would ever get to her, because she needed to, and Renslayer only wanted.

Back in the Void, the Loki variants arrive near Alioth and our Loki starts to lay out his plan of attack -- only to witness a ship being dumped into the Void and immediately being completely devoured by Alioth, making him reassess his plans. Sylvie and Mobius arrive at the same spot and Sylvie lays out her plans to them -- she wants to enchant Alioth and make it show them what it is protecting. While Sylvie and Loki share a moment outside, talking about the future and themselves, Mobius and the other Lokis are talking in a decaying house nearby.

The Lokis decide to remain in the Void, despite the possibility of escape with Sylvie's TemPad. Our Loki, too, decides to stay and help Sylvie defeat Alioth and find out who is behind the TVA. Taking the TemPad, Mobius says his good-byes to Loki and Sylvie and then returns to the TVA with the plan to burn the whole thing to the ground. Taking on Alioth, Loki starts to distract the creature in order to give Sylvie time to enchant it, however, his efforts are too small. In an act of extreme power, Classic Loki conjures up Asgard as a distraction, allowing Loki and Sylvie to enchant Alioth together. Just as Classic Loki's powers fail and he is, presumably, devoured by Alioth, who is now rapidly approaching the enchanters, the plan works. Within the clouds of Alioth, a space opens, revealing a building beyond the Void.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

I think unsurprisingly at this point, my favourite moments in this episode feature Mobius. I loved the moment when he picks up Sylvie in his little Pizza car. I may have yelled quite a bit when I saw his face again. Their conversation in the car is also quite lovely.

I also really liked the scene with Mobius and the Loki variants in the little hut while our Loki and Sylvie are outside. I just thought it was delightful how they immediately take to him and ask him questions.

Most favourite moment goes, of course, to the hug. I definitely cheered. I love their dynamic so very much. I just hope that this wasn't the last they see of each other. That would be a shame.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

Our main man Loki, once again, of course. Also, of course, again Mobius (I am still kinda mad about how much I like him). But I gotta say I also really enjoyed the Loki variants. Richard E. Grant as classic Loki was amazing. And I loved Hiddleston as President Loki also very much. That is an excellent costume.

Also, shout-out to Hunter B-15 for being a badass. I love her and I hope she gets to kick some TVA ass next episode.

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

Of course, like everyone else, I am wondering who is behind the TVA and the Time Keepers, but I am assuming we will find out exactly that next week. So, I'll talk about something else.

I am still very unsure about the whole Sylvie thing. She's definitely a Loki, that's for sure. But seeing all the other possible Loki variants who are all (if applicable) male, having her as the only female version kinda irks me. The comment about it, too. What was it, "that's a terrifying idea"? Something like that? It just doesn't really land right. Loki is, canonically, a genderfluid character. But if Sylvie is the only female version of him, that's not genderfluid. That's just an alternative timeline. And that bothers me.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

While overall quite a fun episode with some amazing visuals and lovely moments, something about this one was kinda off. I liked it very much, still, but the whole Sylvie/Loki thing feels very odd and the fight between all the Loki variants felt kinda thrown away for comedic effect. I thought the episode was great, but it had potential to be even better. But I am really pleased with this show generally.

[still image taken from the episode's imdb page]

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

A Creepy Christmas Cultural Conundrum: The Lasting Legacy of The Nightmare Before Christmas

A request by @lcvcdbyhim.

If you traveled back in time to the year 1993 and told someone that Tim Burton’s new stop-motion animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, was going to be the biggest holiday movie in for the next twenty years, they wouldn’t believe me.  They just wouldn’t.

Of all of the holiday films of the 90s, Christmas or Halloween, nothing comes close to the cultural giant that is The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Even family favorites like The Santa Clause or Home Alone don’t get nearly the attention and praise that this film has.  Every year, from Halloween through Christmas, stores are packed with shirts, wallets, keychains, sneakers, backpacks, banks, toys, clocks, jewelry, decorations and more, all covered with images of Jack Skellington, Sally, Oogie Boogie, Zero, and other characters and images from the film.  Even outside of the holiday months, the more merchandise-driven stores still dedicate an entire section to The Nightmare Before Christmas, putting it on the same level as franchises like Star Wars or the various superhero films.

The question is, why?

Why has The Nightmare Before Christmas’s imagery become nearly as recognizable as images of classic monsters like Dracula and the Frankenstein monster?  How is this oddball little movie fast approaching How The Grinch Stole Christmas and other classic Christmas specials in terms of popularity?

There has to be a larger reason that simply being available to be marketed for two holidays instead of one.  

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at The Nightmare Before Christmas in an attempt to figure out where all the hype came from, and more specifically, why it’s still so popular.

But first, we need a little background.

When The Nightmare Before Christmas was first released in 1993, it received modest critical acclaim and a decent opening.  Right in the middle of Disney’s Renaissance period, a throwback to stop-motion wasn’t really thought of as being quite on the same level as animated films like Aladdin and The Lion King.  As a result, the movie did okay, but just….okay.

So what happened?

Very simply, The Nightmare Before Christmas gained a cult following.  Very quickly.

In the years that followed, The Nightmare Before Christmas started being praised as one of the greats in the animated film category.  People started watching it for part of their holiday tradition, around both Halloween and Christmas, and the further we are away from that mediocre opening, it seems the more people laud it as a work of art.  Stores like Hot Topic started selling so much Nightmare merchandise that now the imagery from The Nightmare Before Christmas seems to be the face of a new goth/emo trend.  In fact, since the film’s release, the movie has been put on a rather bizarre pedestal, with some fans lavishing enormous amounts of praise on this movie.  In a way, it seems like disliking it is unheard of.

To return to our earlier question, why?  It doesn’t seem like anything special.  There have been other ‘weird’ stop-motion films, such as Corpse Bride or Coraline.  The characters and story are simplistic, almost childish at times.  The music is good, sure, but with all the hype around it, the movie can very much seem….overrated.

Once again: Why?

It all boils down to uniqueness.

In 1993, Tim Burton was still relatively new to audiences.  Directing since 1985, his biggest hits had been the likes of horror-comedy Beetlejuice, superhero blockbuster Batman, and drama flick Edward Scissorhands.  In other words, the world was still being introduced to the styles that we are currently familiar with: use of Johnny Depp, score by Danny Elfman, stripes, German Expressionism, and pale-skinned, dark haired, sunken-eyed outcast protagonists.  Thanks to the sheer number of Signature Style Burton-esque films, The Nightmare Before Christmas no longer seems like anything all that special in terms of style of film, but at the time, it was something very new, distinct, and different.

The same goes for the stop-motion aspect.

The stop-motion ‘weird’ films that we are the most familiar with: (Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman) have all come after The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Before Nightmare, stop-motion’s biggest claim to fame were the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials.  The Nightmare Before Christmas revolutionized and reawakened the style of filmmaking and started a new form of animation that is being used since.  Once again, it all comes down to that uniqueness of the time, especially when it applies to the story.

The story of The Nightmare Before Christmas, despite its aforementioned simplicity, is a rather unique one.  The idea came to Burton while watching Halloween decorations come down at the same time Christmas decorations were being put up, and the movie is really all about the juxtaposition between the holidays.  Jack Skellington, the king of Halloweentown, is dissatisfied with the ‘same old thing’ and decides to try something new.  The ‘new thing’ that captivates his interest turns out to be another huge holiday: Christmas.  Full of excitement at this strange new holiday, Jack decides to get the person in charge of Christmas out of the way (Santa Claus) and take Christmas for himself, assigning the denizens of Halloweentown the tasks necessary to bring about the festive holiday.

Being from Halloweentown, of course, Jack doesn’t fully understand Christmas, despite his frantic attempts to do so, and in the end, Christmas is a disaster, thanks to his botched interpretation of what makes the holiday.  In the end, Jack learns not to meddle with things he doesn’t understand, and the movie ends at around 75 minutes.

As basic as it is, the idea of one holiday trying to do another is pretty creative, as is the way it is done.  The concept of holiday worlds, based on the special day is extremely interesting, and it’s executed well.  In fact, when looking at the film for what and when it was, The Nightmare Before Christmas was actually very creative in everything, characters, the visual look, the way it was done, story, even the music by Danny Elfman is very fitting to the story and characters, and it’s all very catchy.

When contextualized into the time period it was made in, The Nightmare Before Christmas, for all it may seem stale and overdone now, was fresh and unique, noteworthy for being something audiences haven’t seen before.  

There’s more to the intense popularity of this film than quirkiness, though.

What I said earlier about the film being basic?  That is actually a point in its favor.

One of the remarkable things about The Nightmare Before Christmas is that, for having a reasonably complex concept, it’s execution is very simple.  The story never makes itself more complicated than it has to be.  It’s very straightforward, with no plot twists or surprises for the audience.  The direction the story takes is predictable, but that’s by no means bad.  Not only is the story uncomplicated, but the meaning is as well.

It isn’t hard for people to understand Jack’s predicament, nor is it difficult for even the youngest kid to know that his endeavors to make Christmas are doomed to failure, because they pick up that Jack does not understand what he is trying to do.  He has the feeling right, but he has no constructive direction to take it, and with a lack of understanding, ends up creating a mess.

Jack’s enthusiasm is for the holiday spirit, and it’s contagious, no matter which holiday you consider.  By never trying to ‘explain’ the good feelings of the holidays and just letting them be, The Nightmare Before Christmas actually continues a trend that one wouldn’t think it has much to do with at all.

In my opinion, the hype behind The Nightmare Before Christmas, especially in the up-and-coming generations, is much the same reason that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is still talked about by the older generations.  The holiday feeling.

Jack experiences the joy of Christmas without knowing why.  Despite his best efforts, he cannot decipher the whys and wherefores of it, he just accepts that ‘just because I cannot see it doesn’t mean I can’t believe it!’.  This tone, this viewpoint towards the holiday of simply enjoying it, is reminiscent of Christmas specials like How the Grinch Stole Christmas or the Rankin/Bass stop-motion productions.  It evokes nostalgic feelings for the holiday.  The Nightmare Before Christmas is to the post 90s generation what the other animated Christmas specials were to the ones before it: the traditional, good-feelings, familiar celebration of the holiday.

Most importantly though, it’s a film that people enjoy watching.

With a unique concept, design, and execution, nostalgic feelings and holiday warmth, and it just being a generally fun, charming movie, it’s not really a true wonder why The Nightmare Before Christmas got as popular as it did.

Is it overhyped?  Yes.  

Does that make the movie itself any worse?  No.  It just means that audience expectations are affected by the culture around it, some for the better, some for the worse.

Of course, it’s not a movie for everybody.  Some will like it more than others.  Some might love it, some might hate it, and some might just be okay with it.  But that goes for any film.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a cultural juggernaut, that’s for certain, and I doubt we’ll be seeing any fewer Oogie Boogie coin banks in the near future, but that’s more a reflection on the commercialism of film since 1977 (Thanks, George Lucas!) and how much people are willing to buy to reflect their tastes in film.  My point is, the movie is still popular enough that people buy stuff connected to it because they like it.

And that’s not a bad thing.  It’s a good movie, remarkably simple, but smart enough to hold up years later and continue to emotionally resonate with audiences.  It was something that no one had ever seen before at the time, and is packed full of enough distinctive style and imagery that it is still instantly recognizable as being from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It’s an immensely popular film for a reason, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

Thank you all so much for reading!  If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to say hi, feel free to leave them in the ask box, I’d love to hear from you.  I hope you guys enjoyed this article, and I hope to see you in the next one.

[crazygalore]

JOHN MILTON / SATAN ( THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE ) NSFW ALPHABET

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

He’s never bothered with such things in the past, but he’s never had a stable partner before. You - being the only person who’s managed to capture his ancient heart - on the other hand, are the sole witness to his more tender and caring side. So, after a thorough session of lovemaking, Milton will gladly cater to your immediate needs, then hold you until you fall asleep with your head on his chest. Sometimes, he even tells you stories about his fall from grace and rule in Hell, his voice soothing you into a peaceful slumber. In his arms, you feel safe from the evils of this world - which makes sense, because he is theoretically the most evil thing in this world. 

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

On himself, he seriously couldn’t pick just one body part he enjoys. Partly because of his own legendary vanity, but also because he uses every single function of his body to further break the laws of God: With his eyes, he can watch acts that are not meant to be observed, with his mouth and nose he can sample and devour whatever his heart desires, with his hands he can touch and take whatever he wants, while his feet take him wherever he is unwelcome.

On yourself ? Honestly, Milton lusts for your whole being - body and soul - with the intensity of a thousand bruning suns. You are perfect in his eyes, a glorious creature he intends to love, spoil and protect until the end of time.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Anything goes. Cuming deep inside of you or your luscious mouth ? Fantastic ! Marking you with his seed ? Why not ! If you have a specific personal preference, he will gladly oblige. 

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He is a master of the universe, a creature of immense power, beyond human comprehension. Sometimes, he is there even if you don’t see him, and he enjoys watching you commit daily little sins. His favourite, though, is definitely onanism - there is nothing quite like the sight of you laying on the bed, your hand between your legs and your soft moans filling the seemingly empty room.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Milton’s been fucking around since the beginnings of time - and he never abstained. He’s done everything at least twice, and some of the sexual acts he has engaged into are at the peak of human depravity. 

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Surprisingly, missionary. He loves being able to look into your lust-filled gaze as he fucks you into the mattress. That being said, you guys have probably tried almost every sexual position there is, except for extremely acrobatic ones - and only because you blatantly refused to risk dislocating a hip or a shoulder in the name of sex.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Depending on the mood, Milton is either serious and passionate, or goofy and mischievous. 

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

He keeps himself well groomed and neatly trimmed, like the vain fallen angel he is. Doesn’t usually shave down there, but he would di it, if you asked him to.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

You are the first and only person Milton has ever loved - and by the time he has met you, he was already anciet and embittered. He was drowning in a sea of darkness and moral degradation - and then you came into his life, like a glimmer of light and hope he didn’t even know he needed. Of course, he worships you body and soul, which is evident when he makes love to you, whispering words of adoration in your ear and peppering your face with tender kisses.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

He used to do it whenever fancy struck him if he didn’t have a casual partner in handy. But ever since he’s met you, Milton no longer feels the need to indulge in this sort of recreational activity.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Everything under the sun. Seriously, he’s tried it all - even the more extreme stuff - and he’s not opposed to doing it all over again, as long as you’re on board. 

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

To quote the man himself “ everywhere “ - be it in the safety of your shared home, or someplace more exposed. Naturally, he won’t pressure you to have sex with him in places you are not comfortable doing it. 

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Your overall presence puts Milton in a state of perpetual desire. However, he does have a thing for seeing you wear sexy lingerie and provocative clothes in general. In his defense, he never claimed not to be a dirty old man. 

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Personally, Milton has no hard limits whatsoever, and almost anything works for him. However, anything that makes you uncomfortable or endangers your physical or psychological wellbeing is out of the question. He would never, ever, intentionally hurt you in any way.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Why not both ? 69 happens to be one of his most favourite positions of all times, and for a good reason. He gets to taste your most delicate flesh, while having your pretty little mouth wrapped around his girth.

P = Pace (Are they fats and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

It truly depends on the mood. He can be an absolute savage in bed, but he can also make slow and sensual love to you. Regardless of the pace, making love to Milton is always a passionate affair.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Any kind of sex is great sex in his book - especially when he has you as partner.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Oh, Milton’s a huge risk taker, for sure, and he is always open to trying out new things with you, both inside and outside the bedroom.  

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Milton’s a fallen angel, a master of the universe, an ancient entity of immeasurable power - and he has a stamina to match. He could literally fuck you for a thousand years without breaking a sweat. He never cums before you do, and he doesn’t need time to recover after he’s reached climax himself.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Yep, they are most definitely on the table. One of Milton’s favourite pastimes is tying you to the bed, with your legs spread and a vibrator taped to your most sensitive area and its remote resting securely in the palm of his hand. He will then go through a maddening routine of edging you and giving you multiple orgasms for hours, until you are practically in tears.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Oh, he’s the king of all teases. There is no lover on this earth who is more unfair than Milton. 

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Milton’s not awfully loud, but he is definitely vocal. He will grunt, he will groan, he will moan and he will growl - but more importantly, he will whisper the dirties little things in your ear. 

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Milton can manifest his demonic traits at will - such as horns, claws, fangs, pitch black eyes and a long pointed tail. At first, he was hesitant to revealing these parts of him to you, but after you’ve expressed your appreciation for them, he began showing them to you more and more. The tail can come in handy during sex, if you catch my drift.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

His girth is long and thick, slightly curved towards the tip. Big enough to stretch you to the point where pleasure meets pain.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Highest sex drive you’ve ever seen. He’s the goddamn king of demons, for crying out loud.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He is a supernatural entity of immense power. He doesn’t need sleep. But he will quietly lay down next to you and gently hold you in his arms while you’re asleep.

[alecthedevil]

Spaghetti (Bat family x reader)

Characters: Bat family, Reader. 

Word Count: 1365

Warnings: You are a literal brat in this. Thats pretty much it.

No specific pronouns used.

Dinner’s at the manor were always full of drama and sibling rivalry. In the early days, when Bruce was naive enough to think his children could get along together, he let them choose where they sat. Now days, the seating arrangement was one of strategy.

Bruce, as the head of the house, sat at the end of the table, furtherest from the door, and directly in front of the window. In this position he had full view of the table, and it’s occupants. He could also see if someone tried to sneak in or out of the dining room, a small advantage he had against the children.

Dick sat to Bruce’s left. As the eldest, he had the privilege of choosing his seat, that, and the fact that he didn’t pick fights with the rest of the table. Next to Dick was Tim. Tim sat there so he was far enough from Jason, as to not cause an argument. An unfortunate consequence to this was that Damian took up the other head of the table, directly next to Tim. But Damian usually remained civil during meal times, as his time with his Grandfather had taught him to display impeccable table manners.

On the other side of Bruce, directly across from Dick, was Jason. Far enough from Tim and Damian, whilst also being close to Bruce in order to have some sort of control over his most rebellious son. Next to Jason and directly across from Tim was you. 

Unfortunately that was probably the worst pairing Bruce could have made.

You and Damian want to protest the menu? Fine by him, you’re both still eating it. He could handle the fact that you liked to play with your food. When Jason helped you get rid of the things you didn’t like on your plate, he could turn a blind eye. Even when you coaxed Dick into distracting Bruce whilst you helped your self to more desert, Bruce could deal with. But the one thing Bruce had trouble stopping, was your desire to ruin every meal that Tim was trying to enjoy.

Ever since Bruce had taken you in, you’d had a strange fascination with making Tim’s life a living hell. Why? Well nobody had worked that out yet. Truth was, there was a special kind of joy you got out of seeing Tim miserable. It was way more fun to mess with him rather than the others. With Dick, he took everything in stride, and mostly laughed at your antics. Jason could easily throw you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and dump you in the pool if you tried to mess with him. Damian either didn’t react or reacted to harshly, but Tim? Tim left himself right open. He made it easy.

And meal times were the perfect opportunity to annoy him.

Tonight, Alfred served steaming plates of spaghetti accompanied with garlic bread and unhealthy amounts of parmesan cheese. You and Jason wasted no time claiming the best slices of the bread, arguing back and forth that the biggest slice should belong to each of you, respectively. The argument ended abruptly when Jason argued that he was the biggest therefore he should get the larger slice, and you commented that since he was admitting that he was fat, he really should take a smaller slice.

Bruce got the biggest slice, and that was that.

The table was full of munching, chewing, talking and minimal arguments after that. All was well in the Wayne residence. Just a normal, quiet night. Yes sir. Nothing to comment on here. Just one big loving family. Nothing to see. Certainly, no trouble brewing…

“Where’s my phone?” Tim asks pausing as he feels his pocket to find that it is missing. “Who cares?” Damian replies stabbing at his pasta nonchalantly.  “No seriously. Where is it?” “No phones at the dinner table.” Bruce is quick to intervene, sick of restating the one rule he regularly enforced at the dinner table. “No Bruce, I don’t want to use it,” Tim explains, still patting down his pockets, “It’s just, I swear I... I had it before. Did I put it down? I could have sworn…No, it’s got to be here. I haven’t put it down.” Tim stumbles over his words in his frantic search. “Relax replacement. You probably left it upstairs.”  Tim glares. “No, I didn’t! It was in my pocket.” Dick Grayson, the ever-loving older brother, swoops in “I’ll help you look after dinner, okay? We’ll find it.”

“Alright. I just don’t remember putting it down. It’s like it…” Tim trails off. He had been staring at his plate intently, but now his facial expression is shifting, as though a thought had occurred to him. Slowly, he looks up, across the table to where Y/n sits, silently twirling pasta without ever lifting it to their lips. The playing of the food wasn’t unusual. But the silence was a dead give-away.

“Like it what?” Jason asks through a mouthful of pasta. Dick groans at the visual, and Bruce glares. “Finish your mouthful.” “Like it vanished into thin air.” Tim’s voice is hard, and the occupants of the table follow his eyes to Y/n. You chose this moment to look at Tim. His face is giving away his suspicion and you raise your fork to your mouth, chew and swallow slowly, before uttering one single word.

“Poof.”

Tim scowls. “Where is it you little brat?!” He demands. Dick scolds his name calling but he doesn’t lose his focus from you. “Where’s what Timothy?” “My phone, Y/n.” “Is It missing?” “You know its missing you little shit. Where’d you put it?!” “First I’ve heard of it.” “Cut the crap y/n. I know you have it.”  “Replacement you can’t just blame all your life’s problems on Y/n.” “I’m not. I just know that this life problem is one that they caused. Now where. Is. My. Phone?” Tim stresses. You smile sweetly. “No where that you’ll find it.”

The table launches into chaos. Tim takes turns at yelling at Bruce to make you give him his phone back and calling you names. You screech back that it’s got nothing to do with you. Jason shouts at Tim to leave you alone. Bruce rubs his temples and Dick desperately tries to coax you into relinquishing Tim’s phone. 

Meanwhile, Damian considers idea that dinners like these may just convince his father to stop adopting wayward children into his home. He also considers whether he could get away with faking the poisoning his own drink in order to escape this nightly occurrence.

“ENOUGH!” Bruce demands finally, and the noise in the room comes to a standstill. He’s still rubbing his temples, and it’s clear that he’s trying to fight the headache that comes with the trouble his children cause.  Tim still fumes but manages to control his fury. “All I want is my phone, and some spaghetti. Can I please have that?! ” He forces out. Bruce nods. “Y/n.” Bruce warns. “What?!” You’re whining and you know it’s like grasping at straws here, but maybe Bruce will have mercy. “Give him what he wants and be done with it.” 

Tim smirks smugly at you. “I’ll count, and when I get to three you’ll give me what I want.” He closes his eyes and extends his hand.

“1.” 

You don’t move. Bruce’s stare burns a hole into the side of your face.

“2.” 

Jason pauses shovelling pasta into his mouth, to watch what you’ll do.

“3…” 

Tim drags the number out, giving you a chance to do what’s right. So, you do. 

Everyone in the room is silent, and perhaps that’s why everyone hears the squelching as you do as you’re told. Tim’s eyes open, and unbelievably, his face remains blank as he considers this new update.  Tim nods to himself, perhaps he’s confirming that you’ve just done what he thought you did.

“Y/n.” His voice is quiet, and very calm for a man currently holding hot spaghetti in his hands. “Why?” “You wanted 2 things. Your phone, and some spaghetti.” You repeat. “Yes…” his voice is strained. “There’s your spaghetti, and here’s your phone.” Tim’s phone is unceremoniously dumped into his glass of soda.

Bruce can only sigh as the shouting begins again.

[meta-shadowsong]

Quick response to Mandalorian season finale

Behind a cut because, well.

Okay, yes, I am in this show for Dadalorian and Found Family etc. But I am at least as invested in the plotline this season about various factions of Mandalorians and their, for lack of a better word, sectarian disputes. Which frequently result in barfights. Because Mandalorians.

(AKA that scene where they picked up Bo and her minion was. A Delight.)

(Also, I love my girl Bo-Katan. Even if she’s very much a blunt instrument/not a politician going at this in all the wrong ways and was Very Rude to Boba but tbh I wasn’t 100% sure she was going to show up in this episode and I would’ve been Sad if we hadn’t gotten to see them meet. Either here or next season.)

(Still Sad at the lack of Sabine, though :( )

Leaving aside anything re: Gina Caranno (because that has been discussed by people much smarter and better-informed than myself), I’m kind of thrilled that the strike team was Almost Entirely Ladies.

(On that note. Uh. Does anyone else kinda. That little “Anyone else, we can take” smirk. And I just. Uh. Bo/Fennec, anyone??????)

(I kind of already ship Bo with Ventress tbh but a) multishipping ftw and b) threesome??????)

(Hi I’m shallow sometimes lol)

Anyway moving on.

Also the sound/almost-music when the Cylons Dark Troopers were activating was Excellent I approve.

And that Visual of the one trooper Din set on fire. ...honestly that whole hallway fight sequence was pretty Brilliant.

And the sort of...almost casual layer of the scene in the elevator. Even if these women haven’t worked together before, just that, “sure you don’t need any help with that?” “I got it. Excuse me.”

And that whole thing where Gideon was trying to Manipulate Din and he was like “...dude, I legit just care about the kid. I’ll fight for/with Bo-Katan because she’s pretty badass and I Might As Well plus she gets me what I want but I don’t...actually...Care about her Greater Cause?”

(Side note, I’ve spent a lot of time writing Bo-Katan/figuring out how her head works and literally all she cares about is Mandalore and its survival. It’s why she broke away from her sister in the first place, and has informed every single thing she’s done since. A lot of why she makes the specific choices she does goes back to the Mandalorian Civil War and her experiences there--especially since all the evidence indicates she was not with Satine and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. The way that separation and their different experiences of that conflict probably contributed to the eventual destruction of what seems likely to have been a Very Close Relationship before that is fascinating to me. And the subject of a fic I’ve been working on off and on for a couple years now, lol.)

(...anyway, where I was going with this was--I mean, yes, Gideon knows everything in terms of facts, but he doesn’t always interpret them correctly. IMO, Bo-Katan’s desire to rule Mandalore is less about power (for herself) than it is about Mandalore. Especially given some of what she says to Sabine in Rebels--if there was someone else she genuinely trusted to take the throne and rule her world, she’d be willing to cede her claim and be one of their generals. Especially since she’s very much not a political animal. She’s an excellent war leader, but not so much in terms of actual Governance.)

(insert long ramble about the Parallels between her and Anakin, which I touched on in one of my fanfics, lol; and will probably do more with in my BB project which involves the two of them and Padme as the main characters)

(And, yeah, she does want to fight Din for the right, but if she thought Din would be a good Duke/King of Mandalore, I think she would seriously considering swearing allegiance to him? Again, witness how she handled things with Sabine. Also she would probs prefer to avoid a third (fourth?) civil war in her lifetime. But, I mean. I love Din but he is. He is not a Leader. Not like her people need.)

(And I think the way things played out with Sabine affects her decisions here, too--she did accept the Darksaber as a gift/tribute then, but proceeded to lose it. Maybe she does need to fight for it the way Maul and Viszla did (presumably; we don’t know how he got the Darksaber; it may be something he inherited/have been held by House Viszla for a while, even if they never used it to dethrone the Kryzes until now).)

(But, then again, I mean, this has been her life for at least a decade, so...well, maybe she wouldn’t quite step aside. Even if an Absolutely Perfect candidate came along. But WRT Din specifically--given who he is and what he’s capable of, while she absolutely wants him in her camp (and on a personal level isn’t super thrilled about having to fight him like this; she seems to genuinely like this kid), my guess is she doesn’t want him ruling. Not without some more actual leadership training/experience. Because, well, he’s been either a follower or a loner in everything we’ve seen him in, and given Bo’s opinion of (possibly experience with?) the Watch/the group who raised him, and the fact that he’s consistently shown himself to have super-narrow priorities and not really caring about much outside of them...yeah, she probs has some Concerns.)

(Plus, he clearly doesn’t want it. And you have to Want It on some level in order to be an effective ruler--that Wanting can be from genuine altruism/wanting to make the world better, like we see with Bail and Padme; it can be from single-minded determination to Make Things Right, like Satine and I would argue Bo-Katan (Leia falls into either the first or second category, depending on the point in her storyline); and it can come from a desire for personal power and advancement (as we see with Pre Viszla and, of course, Skeev Palpatine himself; to be fair, rulers in this third category tend to be bad in other ways lol). But someone who genuinely doesn’t want power generally kind of Sucks when they’re unexpectedly handed it. Which I could cite several IRL historical examples of. And, I mean, obviously, this isn’t the only factor in play for what makes a good ruler/leader (see above re: Palps and Pre Viszla), but it is a factor.)

(Also, to clarify: none of these are bad qualities/traits, necessarily? Like, traits are good or bad depending on whatever context a person/character finds themself in. And in Din’s current context, with his current life and mission--even in situations where he has to coordinate with other groups in the service of a larger goal--these are excellent traits to have. But for someone who’s responsible for an entire nation? Not so much.)

(One could argue that Bo has some Issues there, too, albeit different ones, which is why I think she might be willing to step aside and cede her claim to a Genuinely Good/Better Alternative, if she found one. She’s a war-leader, not a ruler, and the two jobs require overlapping but different skillsets.)

(..........honestly? I don’t think the show would go there, but I think the two of them as a team/partnership ruling Mandalore would actually be really effective? Either on an equal footing or with one as the Official Ruler and the other as a second-in-command/right-hand. She has the leadership expertise and the actual will and drive to pull this off, and he has the diplomatic skill, as we see with the Tusken Raiders, among others.)

(Not a romantic partnership, lol, that would be Weird, but a political and probably eventually platonically affectionate one. Especially with how Mandalore feels about family of choice/adoption, and the fact that they’re both kind of alone now (whatever happened to Korkie, anyway??) even if no formal adoption is likely in their case...)

(Anyway. Uh. Long tangent aside...)

(also if there’s anyone who didn’t see Gideon trying to decapitate Din when his back was turned...IDEK what you were expecting. Like. I am All About guys like Pellaeon in the Imperial ranks, and the fact that there might be a few people who would make that offer/deal and be on the level. To say nothing of my best beloved Alexsandr Kallus. But. Uh. Gideon is. Not one of them.)

(Also, I thought it was a Nice Touch when the spear started turning red--because, no, the Darksaber can’t cut pure beskar. But it does generate heat, as we’ve seen in, say, TPM. And beskar does melt.)

Also, called it on tossing the Cylons Dark Troopers out the airlock Not Working in the long term.

While it’s not Cool or Flashy like a bomb or slicing, the Cylons Dark Troopers pounding the doors down with their goddamn fists was Cool and Terrifying in all the best ways.

Side note--I think even if I hadn’t been spoiled (forgot to mute the spoiler channels on the SW Discords I’m on before going to bed, and checked on autopilot), X-wing + Grogu perking up would’ve probably clued me in and I would’ve been SHRIEKING. I was still vibrating super hard even though I knew who was coming, but it probably would’ve been slightly more XD

(and then a moment of HAHA GIDEON KNOWS WHAT’S COMING)

(and so does my girl Bo)

(and then the green ‘saber and the glove and other costume details and IF YA DIDN’T SCREAM BEFORE YOU SURE ARE NOW!!!!)

(Kind of cool that they waited until the last minute before showing his actual face though)

NO MY GIRL BO-KATAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(IF YOU DIE WHO WILL GET DRUNK AND SWAP WAR STORIES AND MAYBE HAVE VICTORY SEX WITH FENNEC)

(shut up i’m shallow)

(also I love her she’s legit one of my favorite characters in this series I don’t want her to die DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:)

OH GOOD SHE GOT UP

(yeah that was my actual real-time reaction to her getting shot lol)

“Talent without training is nothing.” ::insert Obvious/Tired joke about Luke having all of three months’ training At Best::

(also, I mentioned this in my last quick reaction, as well as elsewhere, but I’m...still kind of uncomfortable with the continuing implication that the Jedi path is the only option other than Darkness. Not because it’s a bad one, either in the PT-era or with Luke’s reconstruction. But the idea that the only way to achieve the mindset/emotional stability/whatever needed to wield the Force without Falling is through adapting the Jedi philosophy sits wrong with me. especially the implication that you can only do so from an early age/in isolation from other influences or bonds; which is a word I’m using very specifically because there’s a difference between Attachment as defined by the Jedi and interpersonal bonds which they clearly have and I don’t want this to get derailed by that particular Discourse(tm) That doesn’t even super hold up on Earth, with a single species, let alone in a galaxy with trillions of beings of multiple different species. Basically, people and the galaxy--and by extension the Force, which is in part created/influenced by living beings--are way too complicated for there to be only one right answer.)

(Also, it...doesn’t really hold up with the core message of Star Wars, which is about Choice? If the only way you can be a Good Force Adept is by meeting this extremely narrow set of criteria, most of which are outside your possible control......but I should probably save this for a separate post, lol.)

(The point is, I mentioned earlier in the post how much I’m LOVING the throughline in this season about different factions/sects among Mandalorians, and I think it would be Great if we got more of that with Jedi/Light adepts.)

(Anyway. Uh. Back to the episode...)

That FACE MOMENT had me legit crying omg

ARTOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!@@21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omg had they MET

I...don’t know what I was expecting from the credits but Welp. I wonder who the body double was...

(And before you ask, I didn’t really get the Uncanny Valley effect from Rogue One, not even Tarkin, so.....yeah, I guess I don’t always pick up on that, or it hits me from weird directions, lol. Because I sometimes get that from the Rebels animation, especially in stills/gifsets, because everyone’s faces are all so Smooth...)

.........Jabba’s palace, okay.

.......Bib Fortuna, Okay.

(those fingernails, however, are Not Okay)

YAY RESCUE THE GIRL.

Good on you, Boba, just shooting him in the face instead of letting him posture!

although why you want to rule Tatooine is...okay then.

LOL at Fennec perching on the arm of the chair, sipping her booze all casual-like.

Right! So that was an Experience! Overall, I liked it. Looking forward to how Din and Bo handle things moving forward, in particular! Because, like I said, I’m in this series for Dadalorian (so IDK how I’ll feel with it no longer being the Core Story since Grogu left with Luke) and in this season for the Mandalorian factions/sects and how they interact.

I’m also not sure how I feel about three interconnected series leading up to a Major Finale Event? Disney’s Star Wars has not had a super great track record with giving all the information needed to follow things in the core product (see: the ST worldbuilding lol, and also some of the cameos/appearances in this season, even), so I’m Skeptical of how well they’ll do explaining what is Necessary in each of the three series, in case someone only watches one or two.

What were your thoughts?

[ionicspacemarmot]

Modern Visual Effects and the Ethics of Digitally Revived Actors

Since its earliest days, illusions have been a staple of cinema. Filmmakers like Georges Méliès sought to use the medium to achieve visual spectacles which could never be accomplished in a live setting like theatre.

Over the past century, special effects have advanced to an unprecedented extent. We now live in a world in which just about anything that can be visualized can be translated to the screen, whether through practical or digital means.

When CGI, or Computer Generated Imagery, was first introduced to mainstream cinema, one of the main goals of VFX artists was to perfect photorealistic human beings. In this industry, one of the most difficult tasks is to create a human being detailed enough to fool the audience into believing it's really there. This is an art which only recently has even come close to being achieved.

Why So Complicated?

When a CGI character is present in a film, it's very rarely seamlessly integrated. Many would argue that it still has yet to be perfected. This is generally not for lack of effort or talent on the part of the artists, but rather the fact that human beings have evolved over many years to identify other humans based on the smallest details and microexpressions. We, as a species, are incredibly good at picking up on the slightest inconsistencies. When a character teeters too precariously on the line between realistic and unconvincing, it runs the risk of falling into what is known as the "uncanny valley."

What is the Uncanny Valley?

The uncanny valley refers to our empathetic response to humanoid creations who look real, but not quite real enough to be completely convincing, thus eliciting a discomforting emotional response from the audience. As explained before, we are extraordinarily good at identifying when something doesn't look or behave as it would in real life, as we experience real world textures, lighting, and physics every single day.

This discrepancy is especially true when it comes to identifying flaws in other human creations. The animal part of our brains immediately recognize that what they're looking at resembles another human being, but those slight imperfections trigger something inherently off-putting. (1)

This is why 3D animated films opt for more exaggerated, cartoony character designs. Mr. Incredible does not look like a real person. Homer Simpson is not designed to look as though he exists in the real world. Our brains have a much easier time registering these designs because they are not designed to imitate reality and fool us.

A Very Brief History

In recent years, technology and techniques have evolved within the VFX industry to the point where convincing photorealistic characters are quite possible. This has been the goal of many artists since the introduction of CGI, meaning there is a great deal of research and development behind it.

While Disney is known today, for better or worse, for their recent advancements in 3D human animation, this is something that has been attempted many times over the past twenty or so years, with varying degrees of success.

Even at the time, this movie was criticized for its creepy, imperfect character models who fell deep into the uncanny valley. That being said, this film was still an immense technical achievement unlike anything that had come before, and paved the way for the truly groundbreaking effects of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, released the following year in 2002.

One of the earliest experiments in 3D human animation was the 2001 Japanese-American film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi. This was the first fully motion-captured mainstream film, as well as the first film to utilize "photorealistic" human characters.

The Beginning of De-Aging

The Two Towers introduced audiences to Gollum, a fully computer-animated character who is still praised today for his realism. This film took the technology introduced in Final Fantasy far beyond its limits, taking Andy Serkis's motion-captured performance and taking the time to ensure his character was composited as seamlessly as possible into the live action world of the film.

A wide variety of films followed, all trying to perfect the art of CGI human beings. While some of these projects were well-executed and have aged quite well, such as (some of) the Matrix sequels. Most, however, failed to properly bridge the uncanny valley, notoriously films such as The Polar Express and The Scorpion King.

In 2006, Bryan Singer's X-Men: The Last Stand, introduced a new frontier to this evolving art: Digital de-aging. In this film, a flashback sequence shows off actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, both digitally altered to resemble younger versions of themselves.

Today, of course, the charge in the effort to perfect 3D human animation is led by none other than Disney. Specifically, Marvel Studios.

The Reign of Disney

While a bit jarring by today's standards, this was extremely new and impressive technology for 2006. It was also a technique that would once again be taken on by a number of other filmmakers in subsequent films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Tron: Legacy (2010).

Tron was Disney's first real foray into the world of digital de-aging technology. While once again, the de-aged Kurt Russell featured in the film is quite unsettling to look at, it paved the way for 2015's Ant-Man. This film opens with a flashback in which actors Michael Douglas and Martin Donovan have been de-aged approximately twenty-five years.

2016 would also see an unprecedented use of this evolving technology upon the release of Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Using a miraculously found, highly detailed lifecast of the actors face from the 1984 film Top Secret, the artists at ILM were able to produce an accurate 3D sculpt of the actor's face and composite it onto the motion-tracked performance of Guy Henry. (2)

This effect was remarkably successful and the film continues to be praised for its use of the technology. This technology would again be applied the following year, in Captain America: Civil War, which features a rather convincingly de-aged Robert Downey Jr.

While imperfect, CGI Tarkin was a groundbreaking achievement in terms of technological innovation. However, it did raise a number of ethical discussions. In particular, is it ethical to use this technology to revive deceased actors? And by extension, do actors have a legal right to their physical likeness?

Star Wars Changes the Game

A major element kept secret in the marketing for the film was the prominent role of the character Grand Moff Tarkin, a major character from the original Star Wars in 1977. The immediate issue here is that the actor who originally portrayed the character, Peter Cushing, passed away in 1994.

Ethical Dilemmas

For this film, the immensely talented artists at Industrial Light and Magic were tasked not with de-aging a character, but with bringing a deceased actor back from the dead. This daunting project was achieved by casting a stand-in actor, Guy Henry, who could not only imitate Cushing's voice, but also looked a bit like him.

While Lucasfilm did receive permission from Peter Cushing's estate to use his likeness, this is something they theoretically did not have to do. Legally, it can be quite tricky to protect one's physical likeness. That being said, because they were granted permission by the estate, the studio was not heavily criticized. However, it certainly opened up an interesting ethical discussion. (3)

Again, it begs the question: is this the beginning of a trend? Disney is far from the only studio to attempt something like this. Usually when a deceased actor is revived for a role through special effects, it's for a specific reason. For example, Brandon Lee and Oliver Reed both passed during production of The Crow and Gladiator, respectively. Special effects were used to finish a project they were already heavily involved in. A character like Tarkin is different. (5)

Soon after Rogue One was released, Carrie Fisher tragically passed away before she could film her scenes as Princess Leia Organa in the ninth installment of the main Star Wars saga. Disney released a statement soon after claiming they would not use CGI to recreate her likeness for Episode IX.

As it came to pass, the film ended up utilizing unused footage of Fisher from 2015's The Force Awakens. Writers JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio attempted to write scenes around her pre-existing dialogue to try and fit her into the overarching narrative. Whether or not this worked in the film's favor is besides the point. From a technical standpoint, it's undoubtedly impressive and a testament to how far VFX has come. (4)

One again, however, many questioned the implications of such a practice. Like Peter Cushing's return as Tarkin, Fisher's role in The Rise of Skywalker did not face much scrutiny due to the fact that once again, the production was given the family's blessing to use her likeness in this way. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, actually plays a significant role in the film and shares scenes with her mother's character.

While exciting for hardcore Star Wars fans like myself to see, Tarkin was a character that could have been absent from Rogue One, or at least kept more to the sidelines. However, Edwards chose to make the character a prominent player for the duration of the film, showing him off in great detail quite often. They have essentially used special effects to synthesize an entirely new performance from an actor who has been dead for more than twenty years.

So again, could this be the start of a trend in cinema? Will we see the return of great actors who are no longer with us? Is that a bad thing? Who gets credited and paid? This is entirely new territory that comes with our rapidly growing technological advancements in the film industry. It seems that this is a phenomenon that will continue for the time being. The question remains as to whether or not legal and ethical attitudes change as a result of this ever-evolving medium.

Notes:

Bill Desowitz. "Advanced De-Aging VFX Are Crucial to The Irishman, Gemini Man, and Captain Marvel," Indiewire, October 1, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

(2)Bill Desowitz. "Rogue One: How ILM Created CGI Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia," Indiewire, January 9, 2017, accessed May 2, 2020.

Brian Welk. "How Samuel L Jackson’s De-Aging on ‘Captain Marvel’ Cut Shooting Time in Half," The Wrap, March 18, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

Carolyn Giardina. "Will Smith, Robert DeNiro and the Rise of the All-Digital Actor," The Hollywood Reporter, August 10, 2019, accessed April 20, 2020.

David Ehrlich. "James Dean Is Just the Beginning: Critics Debate the Future of CGI Acting," Indiewire, November 11, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

Erin Winick. "Actors are Digitally Preserving Themselves to Continue Their Careers Beyond the Grave," MIT Technology Review, October 16, 2018, accessed April 20, 2020.

Laura M. Holson. "A C.G.I. James Dean? Some in Hollywood See ‘an Awful Precedent’," New York Times, November 7, 2019, accessed April 20, 2020.

Leon Miller. "14 Actors Resurrected With Crazy CGI (And 6 That Can Never Be)," Screenrant, August 9, 2018, accessed April 26, 2020.

Luke Kemp. "In the age of deepfakes, could virtual actors put humans out of business?" The Guardian, July 8, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

(4)Jordan Zakarin. "It Took More CGI Than You Think to Bring Carrie Fisher Into The Rise of Skywalker," Syfy, January 7, 2020.

(3,5)Joseph Waltz. "Rogue One: the CGI resurrection of Peter Cushing is thrilling – but is it right?," The Guardian, December 16, 2016, accessed April 26, 2020.

(1)"VFX Artists React to Resurrected Actors Bad and Great CGI," YouTube video, 13:20, "Corridor Crew," June 1, 2019. https://youtu.be/2ZKPnuUFwOk